THE PASTORAL LETTERS Of the INCOMPARABLE JURIEU, Directed to the Protestants in France Groaning under the BABYLONISH TYRANNY, TRANSLATED: Wherein the Sophistical Arguments and Unexpressible Cruelties made use of by the PAPISTS for the making Converts, are laid open and exposed to just Abhorrence.  
Unto which is added, a brief Account of the Hungarian Persecution.  
LONDON: Printed for T. Fabian, at the Bible in St. Paul's Churchyard, a corner Shop next Cheapside; and J. Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill. 1689.   


MUNIFICENTIA REGIA. 171●   monument bearing royal blazon 
GEORGIUS D. G. ●AS BR PR. ET 〈…〉 D.   effigy of King George J.P. sc   

TO HIS HIGHNESS THE Prince of ORANGE.  
GREAT SIR,  
IT would be hard to find out Reasons which might justify the boldness of this Dedication; did not the Subject of the Book direct it to Your Highness' feet. Whither can Religion and Truth fly for refuge from foul Superstition backed with hellish Fury, but to the Protection of that fortunate Arm to which already so many Nations own the enjoyment of their Religion, their Liberty, and whatsoever is dear to Men and Christians.  
By Your Heroic Courage, and more than human Conduct it is, that Ourselves are not the Subject of a like lamentable History, and that we read the savage Barbarities of these Bigots in a Translation. Few Years, it was hoped, would have passed, before our own Country might have been the Scene of their Villainies; and what we now upon reading can hardly believe, we should then have seen and felt. But the God of Heaven of his infinite Mercy checked their Progress, forbade the proud Waves, and set bounds to their Insolence.  
Accept therefore, Mighty PRINCE, this humble Dedication of the best and fittest Offering can be made to Your Illustrious Name by us the Fellow-Sharers in that great Deliverance which Providence, by your Highness' means, has wrought for us.  
Your Highness' Most humbly devoted Servants,   

THE Translator's Epistle TO THE READER.  
1. 'TIS sufficiently known by those who have read the History of France, that Liberty for the exercise of the Reformed Religion was established by Law: 
See Mr. de Serres Hist p. 842.  The Edict of Nantes which allowed them that Liberty, was signed by Henry iv in April 1598. which Edict contained a Narration of the former Edicts of Pacification, and of the Troubles occasioned in France about matters of Religion.  
2. 'Tis true the Parliament of Paris were something unwilling to confirm this Edict, and some others made great opposition to it. The Bishop of Modena, who was Pope 's Nuncio in France, and Berthier, one of the Agents for the Clergy, made many Petitions to the King, and did greatly importune the Lords of the Council very seriously and deeply to consider the matter. 
Ibid. 843, 844.  After the King had heard what was to be said on both sides, he was satisfied of the Wisdom and Justice of what he had done, as well as of the Necessity thereof for the establishment of the Peace of France, which had been almost ruined by the Wars that had been made by reason of Religion. And thereupon the King addresses himself by a Speech to the Parliament of Paris, and told them, that he desired and expected they should establish the Edict that he had granted to them of the Reformed Religion; and in brief tells them, I have made it, and will have it observed, and his Will should serve for Reason, which is never demanded of a Prince in such an obedient state. After this Discourse they confirmed the Edict in February following.  
3. This Edict the Reformed accounted their great Security for the free exercise of their Religion, and it really was so in great degree for many years. 
See also a new Systeme of the Apocalypse, p. 219, 220.  How many Violations were offered thereunto in the Reign of Lewis XIII. I shall not enumerate in this place. Those that have been offered thereunto by the present French Monarch before its utter Repeal, may be read in a little Book written some seven or eight Years since, called the Policy of the Clergy of France to destroy the Protestants of that Kingdom; to which you may add a second, called, The last Efforts of Afflicted Innocence.  
4. And the truth is, their Practice is agreeable to their Doctrine; they do affirm, that no Faith is to be kept with Heretics, and that all Promises made to them are void of all Obligation; as in the famous Instances of John Husse and Jerom of Prague: more Instances of their Perfidiousness might easily be produced, 
Vid. Chronic. German. Bucholt p 313. & Florimond de Ralemond in Hist. of Heresy, p. 407.  but 'tis done so frequently by our own Authors in the English Tongue, that I think there is no need thereof.  
5. I do not think all those of the Catholic Religion equally false and perfidious. 
Vid. Jesuits Morals, p. 46, 47, etc.  I do believe that there is something humane in many of them, that as an Antidote does preserve them from the venom of their own Doctrine; and that they may be morally trusted— as other Men. But after so many Experiments as we have had of their Falseness, I think they are bold people that will run the hazard thereof.  
6. What Cruelties have been exercised against the Reformed in France, both before and since the Repeal of the Edict of Nantes, 
See Mr. Jurieu Advice to all Christians, prefixed to his Accomplishment of Prophecies.  may be learned in part from the following Letters of the Learned Monsieur Jurieu; concerning which, I think I may say, that instances of greater Barbarity can hardly be found in the Histories of the Primitive Persecutions by Heathen Emperors: and yet Court Flatterers would persuade the World, that there is no Persecution in France, but that all the numerous Conversions made there, have been by methods of sweetness, favour, and mercy: and by the same methods of softness and indulgence, how many throughout Europe may be made Turks in a short space of time, is not hard to conjecture.  
7. I wonder with what front these Men can impose such notorious Falsehoods upon the World: France entertains Ambassadors from all the Courts in Christendom, 
Vid. Jurieu ibid.  and is full of foreign Travellers and Merchants, they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, the Miseries, Calamities, the Groans and Cries of the Reformed. We ourselves have seen thousands of them forsaking their Houses, Lands, Friends and Estates, and coming over to us to find Bread in a strange Land: and it was never yet known that Men should forsake Plenty at home, upon the hopes of finding  to cover their nakedness, and Bread to keep them from starving in a foreign Country. Those that can believe, these Men are not persecuted, must disbelieve their Senses in more things than the Doctrine of Transubstantiation.  
8. The persecuted French themselves do acknowledge, that their great Monarch is not bloody; they impute all these Severities that have been exercised upon them, to the Solicitations of those who have the conduct of his Conscience. 
See a new Systeme on the Apocalypse, p. 224, 225.  They are the Priests and Clergy which have raised this Holy War against the Reformed: 'tis they that have blown the fire, and sounded the Alarm to this Persecution; and 'twere a wonder that there should be a Persecution, and superstitious Priests and Clergy have no hand therein. One of the sharpest Persecutions that was ever raised against the Primitive Christians, was promoted and encouraged by the Pagan Priests, as Sozomen, (I think) relates. The best things corrupted are the worst: profane Priests and Clergymen without Conscience perpetrate and encourage the greatest Villainies in the World.  
9 Though this Persecution be mostly, if not wholly, owing to the Clergy of France, yet I do not think them all equally guilty therein. Mr. Arnold, in his Preface to the Defence of the Perpetuity of the Faith of the Church, against Mr. Claude, speaks more humanely concerning those of the Reformed Religion in France, 
Vid. Preface in the beginning.  and professes a great unwillingness to disturb their outward Tranquillity and Peace, or to diminish any thing of their temporal Enjoyments and Advantages: He desires which all his heart (he says) that they might be won over to the Church by all sorts of Charity, Softness, and Goodness; but abhors all violent means and endeavours for their Conversion. And I am willing to hope, that there may be others of the same spirit and temper of this learned Man.  
10. But men's Sentiments alter, and what is sound Doctrine at one time is hardly so at another. The same learned Man, since the Persecution grew high in France, hath written sundry piqued Books with bitterness and gall enough against the Reformed, and thereby hath sufficiently countenanced and encouraged their Enemies against them. The Bishop of Meaux late of Condum, is a gentile Man, a florid Orator, and usually smooth in his Discourses and Conversation; 
Vid. Serm.  but has been a great Zealot (though more secretly than others) in promoting the ruin of what he calls Heresy; and no man needs farther proof thereof than to read that fulsome Sermon of his preached at the Funeral of the late Queen of France; insomuch that I am sometimes under a temptation to say of them all in the words of the Prophet, The best of them is as a briar, 
Mich. 7.4.  the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge.  
11. I speak not these things with desire to exasperate the Government against the Roman Catholics in England: Let us but be secured that we may enjoy our own Religion in Peace, and I am content that they have the private Liberty of their own. If they will hear what the Learned Men of our Church have to say for the Doctrine of the Reformation, and against the Doctrines which are properly and peculiarly Popish, and can be argued out of the one into a belief of the other, I should very much rejoice therein.  
12. Those Doctrines which are peculiar to the Church of Rome are evidently Novel, and by degrees introduced upon primitive and simple Christianity. This hath been irrefragably proved by the Divines of our own Church against the late Pamphlets and Pretences of the Romanists, 
See the Council of Trent examined by Catholic Tradition, by D. Stilling fleet.  as well as by the Famous and Learned Monsieur Jurieu in his Pastoral Letters. Christianity is invariable; what it was in the days of the Apostles and Primitive Churches, it is at this day: all Additions that have been made thereunto are either needless or false; and such are all the Novelties of the ROMAN Church.  
13. But if those of the Church of Rome cannot be argued out of their Religion, and become Proselytes to the Protestant Doctrine and Discipline, they must remain where they are. The Churches of the Reformation have not learned from their great Master to Dragoon Men into their Communion, and it seems to them to be utterly contrary to the Gentleness, Softness, and Kindness of Christianity. It accords well enough with Mahometanism and the Alcoran to proselyte Men by drawn Swords and Pistols, for there is but little Argument, 
See Memoirs of P. Mornay, vol. 1. pag. 25, 26.  Reason, or Demonstration, can be produced to persuade a Faith therein: and where Men cannot be converted by Arguments, they must make use of Clubs if they will gain any Proselytes. Christianity is furnished with so many of the one, that it has no need of the other.  
14. Whatever Provocations those of the Church of Rome may have given to the Church of England to treat them with Severity and Rigour, I would by no means that they should use them. They are Men, and partake with us in the same common Nature, and I would not have them treated like Beasts. If care be taken that they do us no hurt, I should never desire that any Violence be offered unto them; let them sit under their Vines and their Figtrees, and let no man make them afraid.  
15. I should be sorry that the Church of England should repay the measure to the Roman Catholics that the Reformed have suffered in France. The great Author of our Religion has learned us other Doctrine, and I hope we shall never departed from the Faith and Practice thereof. He hath taught us to do good for evil, to pray for them that curse us, 
Matth. 5.44.  and bless them that persecute and despitefully use us. We are willing to live peaceably with all men as much as in us lies, 
Roman. 12.18, 19, 20.  we will not avenge ourselves, we will leave that to God, to whom Vengeance belongs. If they hunger we will feed them, if they thirst we will give them drink, and by doing thus heap coals of fire upon their heads.  
16. I am as jealous and suspicious of the Gentlemen of the Roman Persuasion as any Man, and hope that all care will be taken that it shall not be in their power to do us hurt; and when that is secure, I wish they may be treated with all the kindness that Christianity requires of us. I am sure the Christian Religion is most full of Love, Sweetness, and Obligations; and there is nothing in the World that commends it more to the Acceptation of Men: and none do it more Honour, and more advance its Reputation, than those that delight in Kindness, and scatter their Obligations upon all sorts of Men: herein they do like the Majesty of Heaven, 
Matth. 5.45.  who causes his Sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and his rain to descend upon the just and unjust. 'Tis a thing of no great difficulty, to treat those with Kindness that oblige us; but to show Love to our Enemies, and an Affection for those that hate and destroy us, is a more difficult Lesson, and worthy of the Christian Religion, which teaches Men those heights of Perfection which cannot be learned any where else.  
17. The Author of these following Letters is a Person far above all the Eulogies that I can possibly give him. His Writings have been of very great use to the Reformed in France; his Praise is in all the Reformed Churches in Christendom, and he will be mentioned with honour to many Generations. The Subject-matter of his Letters is partly Doctrinal, and partly Historical. In the doctrinal part of them, he very well lays open the weakness and sophistry of the Romish Priests, in the defences they make for their Falsehoods and Superstitions. In the historical part of them, he reports such inhuman and beastly Cruelties exercised upon those of the Reformed Religion, as may cause a just horror to all that read it. He that can believe such Cruelties do receive any countenance or encouragement from the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles, may believe what he pleases. He may believe that the Sun is the cause of Darkness, and that all the Fruits of the Earth are the product of the Frosts and Snows of the coldest and most Northern Climates.  
18. When the Learned Arabian observed that the Romish Christians eaten their God, he said, Let my Soul be among the Philosophers. When I observe what Cruelties and Barbarities are committed by them, upon their Brethren, their Neighbours, and their Acquaintance, I do not say, Let my Soul be among the Philosophers, but with old Jacob, I will say, O my Soul, come not thou into their Secret, 
Gen. 49.6.  and to their Assembly mine honour be not thou united. Should I have Communion with them in such Villainies, I should think, I should never have Communion with my Saviour in his Heavenly Kingdom. I can never believe that a Person so kind, so tender, pitiful and compassionate as Christ Jesus was towards Mankind, could ever preach such Doctrine as doth encourage Blood and Rapine, Cruelty and Oppression, among any of his Disciples. I could as easily believe all the nonsensical Doctrine of the Alcoran, and all the ridiculous Fables of the Jewish Talmud, as that the Doctrine of our Saviour doth countenance, or justify the most Cruel and Imhumane PERSECUTIONS.  
19 Concerning the Translation of these Letters, I designed it for the Advantage of those of the Reformed Religion in this Nation, and I hope God will bless it to that end, and that it may create upon the minds of Men a suspicion of the falsehood of Popish Doctrines, and an abhorrence of Popish Practices. In Translating I have endeavoured to make the Author speak English: I have not kept myself strictly to his Words, but have endeavoured to represent his Sense truly, and have not willingly perverted it.   

The FIRST PASTORAL LETTER: IN WHICH Are discovered the Methods that are at this Day used to make Converts.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
YOu may be assured, that we are pierced and wounded with your Sorrows and Afflictions, and that from the Haven where the Providence of God hath placed us, we do behold with eyes bathed in tears, the terrible Waves of that Tempest that tosses you, and hath shipwrecked the Vessels in which you are embarked: We advise with our own hearts and affections, with our duty, with the uneasy state and circumstances in which both you and we are, what we may do for your consolation and security against the peril of seduction, and we can find almost nothing possible; insomuch that till God shall open those Doors that are at this day closed, we shall choose to speak to you at a distance, in hopes that God will not tarry long ere he give us the opportunity of a nearer and more intimate conversation. We will obviate and oppose that evil that presses most hard upon you. We do not think the Cross of Christ, which you now bear, is the greatest calamity to which you are exposed. 'Tis your Glory: and we find by Letters that come from those that persevere, that God is their Comforter, that he hath prevented our desires, that he hath given efficacy to a few words, that we have sent from far, that he hath absolutely, and without us, wrought upon you, that he hath very much surpassed our hopes, that he is in you a living Fountain of Consolations, more abundant than we could dare to hope. There do come Letters from our Confessors which are in Chains, in the Galleys, in Holes, and Dungeons of an hundred feet in depth, in dark Prisons, in Torments, which ravish us, which revive the ancient times, which give a new birth to our ancient Martyrs, which make us know, that the greater the Torments are to which you are exposed, the greater is the courage and strength that God doth communicate for the bearing and overcoming of them.  
That which we most fear on your behalf, is Seduction, the Examples that we have seen with our eyes make us tremble. Persons that we looked upon as Pillars, have been broken as Reeds. That which they call Conferences (that is to say, the Sophistry of false Teachers, who employ all their art to deceive) have perverted the Judgements of many, from whom we expected an invincible steadfastness and perseverance. They oppress and confound you with Disputes. They put into your hands Books, in which Falsehood is clothed in the dress, habit and appearance of Truth. They take from you all those things that may protect, and secure you from the Poison of those venomous Serpents that are perpetually hissing in your ears. Whilst our Hands are bound, and our Tongues tied, we do with grief behold the Sheep of Christ rend and torn from his Fold, to be carried into the dark Prisons of the Prince of Lies. What is to be done in this case? It seems to no purpose to write more Books, there are a thousand, and a thousand ready written, and very lately one was published, as an Answer to the malignant Subtleties of these false Teachers. But it will not come to you, by reason of the great care that is taken to prevent honest Men from going out of the Kingdom, and good Books from entering into it. If new Books should be written, they would have the same fortune. Besides, 'tis uneasy to trouble the world with Repetitions, when we cannot have the hopes or consolation of being profitable unto you thereby. If Repetitions must be made, it ought to be with some hopes of advantage. For this reason we are resolved to write no more Books, but shall content ourselves with Letters. It may be, that God may cause them to fly over all those Ramparts that the new Inquisition hath raised at all the Ports of the Realm. At least there is some reason to hope, that they will more easily get over those Obstacles and Impediments, which are opposed to the design that we have to fortify you against Temptation.  
We shall publish these Letters every month, or every fifteen days, or more frequently, according to occurrences and necessities: and in them we shall endeavour to discover the illusions by which we are assured that the Seducers will attempt to deceive you. Among others they make use of the Discourses and Writings of the Bishop of Meaux, of Petisson the great Converter, and Monsieur Nicholas. They oblige you perpetually to read over the Exposition of the Catholic Faith, written by that Bishop, to paint, and colour the Popish Religion. Some months since the same Prelate published a Pastoral Letter to the new Converts of this Diocese with the same design and intention, that is to seduce you, and withdraw from your eyes the Deformity and Ugliness of the false Religion. They never cease to commend unto you, the mischievous difficulties of Monsieur Nicholas his Book, entitled, The pretended Reform convinced of Schism. There 'tis proved to you, that by the way of Examination and Inquiry, 'tis impossible to find out truth, and that you will never hit on it, but by submitting to the Authority of the Church. Monsieur Petisson hath revived the same difficulties in a late new Book. And 'tis one of those Books to which those that have been seduced do send us, as one of the Sources from whence they have derived their Illuminations, These Books shall be the subject matter of these Letters, not that I intent to examine, and confute them line by line, but only to expose and lay open the falsity of these Teachers, the imposture and gullery of their Sophisms, and the unfaithfulness of all their advances and progressions, but we will not confine ourselves within the bounds of Controversy. We will take care to acquaint you with all things that are most considerable in this Persecution, we will inform you in those passages of the Life, Death, and Behaviour of our Martyrs, and Confessors, which are most proper for your establishment, and edification. For which reason we do entreat all those that know any thing that is certain therein, that they will inform us concerning it, that we may make it public for the benefit and advantage of the weak.  
We will begin with the Pastoral Letter of the Bishop of Meaux, to the new Catholics of his Diocese. We shall pass by his Prologue, and engage with him in the matter of his Letter, by reflections on the manner whereby the Reformed have been brought to their pretended Change and Conversion. In the mean time I cannot forbear to stay one moment on the Title thereof: The Pastoral Letter of my Lord the Bishop of Meaux to the new Catholics of his Diocese. 'Tis one of the pretended Successors of the Apostles, which causes himself to be Printed under the Name and Title of my Lord.  
These Gentlemen are well advanced since the Authors and Founders of Christianity, who called themselves plainly by their own names, without any other Title than that of Servants of Jesus Christ, and Apostles of our Lord. My Lords St. Peter and St. Paul had forgotten to set the character of their Grandeur on the front of their Pastoral Letters or Epistles. If the corruption of the World proceed so far as to authorize the custom of calling Bishops Lords, methinks their vanity should not be so great as to give themselves that appellation. 'Tis not very edifying to see the marks of pride and worldly vanity on the front of a Pastoral Letter. I do not observe this, to give any offence to the Bishop of Meaux in particular; my dear Brethren, 'tis to make you sensible of that Religion whereinto they would initiate and engage you; 'tis a Religion the soul whereof is Pride, and the principal members and heads thereof are monsters of Emptiness and Vanity. Christian Humility displays its Characters upon all things, but the false Religion carries Pride to its utmost height, and leaves the footsteps thereof on all things wherewith it hath any conversation. We shall one day have occasion to make you see it, in points of much more importance than this, which nevertheless is not so light, but that it deserves that we take some notice of it. Do not suffer yourselves to be abused by those that tell you, That in some Protestant States the Bishops retain the same Honours. The Bishops of England have this to say for themselves, That they are Peers of the Realm, to which state and condition the Name and Title of My Lord doth appertain and belong: but besides, I am persuaded that the wiser of these Gentlemen, will willingly sacrifice these Titles (which do not sufficiently bespeak the humility of a Minister of Jesus Christ) to a general Reformation in the Church, when it shall be received. On the contrary, Pride is so very much of the essence of Popery, that it will forsake all rather than renounce it.  
I come to the manner how Conversions are made in France according to my Lord of Meaux. I do not marvel, my dearest Brethren, that you are returned in Troops, 
Pastoral Letter; pag. 3.  and with so much ease, to the Church where your Ancestors have served God. The foundation of Christianity, and as I have already said, the Character of Baptism, hath secretly called you thither. These Gentlemen rejoice at the Facility they have found in bringing back the Protestants to their Church, that is to say, in forcing Subscriptions from an infinite number of Persons, who have conceded either to their threaten, or the fear of losing their Estates, or the torments and persecution of the Dragoons. 'Tis true there have been seen, examples of weakness therein, which have been strange and prodigious; and we know that they make a great prejudice and rock of Offence thereof; they tell you, If it were the true Religion, would not those that profess it adhere more closely to it? Some of our Brethren have wrote expressly to satisfy you against this Scandal. They have showed you that things have happened much after the same manner in the ancient Persecutions, and that Defections have fallen but little short of being general. In those times men ran in Troops to offer Incense to Idols, as in our days they have been seen running to make Signatures and Subscriptions. At all times there have been few persons capable of suffering torments. Martyrs are chosen Vessels, upon whom God pours out an extraordinary measure of his Grace, to strike with Astonishment the Enemies of the Truth, to shame and confound the weakness of those that fall, and to support the Faith of the infirm. These are Miracles, but if they were frequent and ordinary they would not be so. If the view and consideration of so many Persons as have conceded to Violence, or the fear, of Sufferings doth scandalise and offend you, look not that way, but behold and consider the stability and courage of your Ancestors, which established the Reformation in the last Age. Consider the number of our ancient Martyrs, behold their Constancy, their Christian Kindness, and the Blessings that they gave to those that burned them. Consider the strength which ennabled them to bear the most horrible Punishments and Tortures. They were burned by a slow fire, they saw their Bowels drop out in the flames, before they gave up the ghost: they were made to live, by skill and art, in the most cruel torments, sometimes many days, and sometimes many weeks together, and never did one word of murmuring or impatience escape from them: they prayed for their Hangmen, they gave Thanks to God, they sung his Praises, and to their last breath called upon his Name. When they tell you at this day, If your Religion were true, you would adhere more closely unto it; answer them, If our Religion had been false, they had never had so invincible an Adherence to it, and so strong a Passion for it, nor had they ever suffered death for the defence of it: or if there have been some heady persons that have maintained their Opinions with obstinacy even to punishment and death, their pains and death hath not been accompanied with an humility so profound, a patience so exemplary, a love and sweetness so perfect, a zeal so ardent, a piety so pure and undefiled, a submission so entire, a joy so firm, solid, bright and shining. The Spirit of Lies and Delusions doth not produce such effects. These are the Characters of the Spirit of God, they are the effects of Grace, and of that Grace that is not given to Reprobates and Martyrs of falsehood and imposture.  
My Brethren, these Objects are at a distance, they are behind you, and you will find some difficulty in reflecting on them, but you will find none in considering those that are before your eyes: they are sufficient to defend you against the scandal of that Facility wherewith they reproach you, and wherewith they affirm that your Brethren have forsaken their Religion. Oppose thereunto above one hundred thousand persons that have left the Realm within the space of one year last passed, without counting almost as many more that have forsaken it, within twenty years that this Persecution hath continued, though not in its height and rage. There are among them, those that have forsaken all those things which are called Goods, Honours, Ease, and the convenient Accommodations of Life: certainly they did not find it a thing so easy to enter with a satisfied mind into the bosom of the Roman Church. Oppose thereunto more than forty thousand Prisoners that are in the Goals and Cloisters of the Realm, which choose to suffer all sorts of miseries and calamities there, rather than to embrace the Popish Religion. Oppose thereunto Persons of Quality; such are the Marquis of Bordage, condemned to the Galleys, and afterwards to perpetual Imprisonment; the Marquis of , who every day expects the same condemnation; the Marquis of Rochegade, and the Gentlemen his Sons; the Marquis of Cagni; Monsieur Beringhen and all his Family; the Marquis of Lung; the Marquis of the Isle of Gast, who is in the Citadel of Angers; and an infinite number of other Gentlemen, who prefer the Galleys or a Prison before the pleasure to which the Bishop of Meaux invites them; that is, of rejoining themselves to that Church in which their Fathers served God.  
Oppose thereunto a considerable number of Martyrs and Confessors, whereof some are in Dungeons, that are really the Images of Hell, they being deep, obscure, dark, and a hundred feet under ground: such are the Reformed of deep, Haure, and other places, which are in the Prisons of Aumale, of whom we shall be able to tell you particular stories at some other time. Add to these more than six hundred persons that are now actually in the Galleys for their Religion. This is no hyperbolical Computation, but one made by a Roman Catholic, a maritime Officer, now living at Marseilles: we have his Letter, and without naming him, we shall be able to produce it at a convenient season: behold a line or two thereof at present, Here are six hundred Galleyslaves of the Religion called Protestant, who by their patience move compassion from the most hardhearted and unpitiful of their Officers. The number of them must needs be augmented since that time; for the Letter was dated from Marseilles the 27th of June, 1686. that is to say, more than two months since; and without doubt there are more arrived there. 'Tis newly reported, that at this time there are to the number of two thousand, some say four thousand, in that miserable state and case. The famous Monsieur Lewis of Marolles, Advocate of Stemenehaud, was not then arrived there, for he parted not from Paris, with the other Prisoners under the same condemnation with himself, till the 20th of July, and came not to Dijon till the 30th of the same Month, from whence at last he arrived at Marseilles laden with a Chain of fifty pound weight about his neck, and a violent Fever, which never left him during the time of that sad Journey. He is a Confessor of Jesus Christ, which all Paris beheld at the ‖ Tournello loaden with Chains of an extraordinary weight, 
A Court of Judicature in Paris, and also a Prison.  and preaching in the midst of his Irons. All France have their eyes turned upon him, as on the greatest example of Courage, Piety, and tenderness of Conscience, that this Age hath seen. We shall one day give you the History of his Confession, and make you to understand his Sentiments by his own Letters, where you will see the Spirit and Character of the ancient Martyrs. He is one of our most illustrious Confessors, but he is not alone; God raises up others every day, as you shall learn hereafter. The same Sea-Officer that wrote from Marseilles that there were already six hundred Galleyslaves of the Reformed Religion there, adds, 'Tis fifteen days since, that Monsieur de Lezan, a Gentleman of Quality, was condemned to the Galleys, being accused and convicted of having been at a Meeting. The day after, many persons were put to the Rack, to oblige them to accuse some men of Name. These unhappy Wretches endured both the ordinary and extraordinary Rack with such a constancy, as affrighted the Judges, and softened the Spirit of the Hangman to that degree, that the chief Magistrate was forced to stand over him with a Cane to oblige him to turn the Wheel. Behold here truth in matters of fact, which can never be doubted seeing they are attested by a person of a contrary Religion, who is upon the place, and in the Country where these cruelties are committed. Behold Confessors, which make it apparent that the Church of Rome does not find it a thing so facile, (as the Bishop of Meaux reports it) to cause the Reformed to enter into their Communion. Behold Examples of Constancy that are worthy of your most attentive Consideration. Death is more easy to be endured than the ordinary and extraordinary Rack, and those illustrious Confessors do well deserve the Title of Martyrs. But will you oppose to that Facility which your Converters find, and whereof they make an Argument to draw you into the Roman Religion; will you, I say, oppose to your Seducers Martyrs in all forms? Oppose to them, Monsieur Teissier Viguier of Durfort in Cevennes, who was hanged in the borders or entrance into that Country some months since, in a place called La Salle, only because he had served God in a public Assembly; as also one named Gysot, who was burnt alive at N●rac. This poor man was so weak as to sign an Abjuration of his Religion through fear and the persecution of the Dragoons, or it may be through the weakness and infirmity of his Age, for he was more than seventy, and drew nigh to eighty years of age. Being fallen sick, God restored to him his Zeal and Courage, that he might obtain the Crown of Martyrdom. He refused to communicate after the manner of the Church of Rome, and declared, That he retracted that unhappy Signature that they had extorted and forced from him. The Priest, that he might execute the Law, that ordains, that at any rate whatsoever, they must give the Holy Sacrament to the Sick, forced him to receive the Host, or consecrated Bread, and put it into his mouth: the old man (according to his duty) spit it out; and therefore was condemned to be burnt alive in the fire. He went to this horrible Punishment with the joy of the holy Martyrs. He was bound to the Post without any appearance of commotion: He sung the Praises of God in the midst of the Flames to his last breath. This Constancy made so great an Impression upon the Spirits of all the Inhabitants of Nerac, and gave so great an Astonishment to the Executioners, that they have not proceeded to execute a like Sentence pronounced against one named Fabiores, of the same City and of the same Country, condemned also to be burnt alive, for having, as the former, spit out the Host, which by force was put into his mouth. We have not yet heard that the Sentence hath been executed; when 'tis done, we shall give you notice of it. We have a Martyr of a more sublime and raised Order; 'tis Monsieur Rey of Mismes, Student in Theology, who after he had preached eight or nine months in Cevennes, was taken, arrested, condemned to Death, and executed at Beaucaire on the 7th of August. The Circumstances of his Martyrdom, his Courage, his Answers, his Piety, are too eminent and peculiar to be wrapped up and buried in a short Narration. We do promise it you at large, when we shall have collected from faithful Records all the parts of the holy History of this glorious Martyr.  
Behold already, my dear Brethren, many things that you have to oppose to those Words of the Bishop of Meaux, I do not wonder that you are returned in Troops, and with so much facility to the Church. But this is not all; Set him matter of fact against this pretended Facility, and assure him, that for more than four months' time there have been Assemblies almost every day in Cevennes, and in the adjacent parts, for the offering up Prayers and Supplications to God, sometimes in Woods, and at other times in Caves, and Rocks, and Dens of the Earth. The Dragoons, which almost always surprise them, put them to the Sword according to their Instructions, they Kill, and Hang, and drag them into Prisons: but all signifies nothing, they assemble nevertheless. In the month of June last, near the end thereof, the Dragoons having surprised an Assembly near Nismes, they killed many of them on the place, and four they hung upon the trees. The Hangmen withdrew, supposing that they would have no great inclination to return again to that place. But two hours after there was another Assembly in the same place, on the dead bodies, and in the view of the Carcases that hung on the trees of the mountains. There is not a week passes without like Assemblies, and like Massacres. They reckon more than sixty persons at an Assembly that was made between Uzes and Bagnol in the beginning of July: some add, That women were ravished, and others ripped up. But we reserve the particulars of these things till afterwards, and you may reckon that we tell you nothing but what is true and c●rtain; for which reason, we choose rather to defer the edification that you might receive from the firmness and constancy of our Martyrs ●nd Confessors, than to tell you any thing as certain that may prove false. But this is enough at present to give the B. of Meaux and others of his spirit to understand, that they have no great cause to triumph in our weakness, and the facility they find in overcoming us. It may be they have boasted too soon, they are not yet where they thought they were. We do already see the vanity of those Bravadoes, That in four months' time there would not be any thing heard of a Huguenot in France. These fine projects are shipwrecked, and the difficulty is yet to come. As for you, my Brethren, that which we shall say, and the Objects that we shall set before your eyes ought to shame you. If you have been so weak as to fall, you ought to take courage, and rise again, and to redouble your strength, if you have not had enough to support you hitherunto. But let us continue to hear the Pastoral Letter of the Bishop of Meaux.  
Not one of you hath suffered violence, either in his Person or Goods. Let them not bring you these deceitful Letters, which are addressed from Strangers, transformed into Pastors, under the Title of Pastoral Letters to the Protestants of France, who are fallen by the force of Torments. These Letters concern you not any otherwise than as they are made by persons that could never prove their Mission. So far have you been from suffering torments, that you have not so much as heard them mentioned. I hear other Bishops say the same. But for you, my Brethren, I say nothing to you, but what you may speak as well as I. You are returned peaceably to us, you know it. Behold one of those objects, whereunto we have not been accustomed. Maimbourg, Varillas, Brueys, and multitudes of others have had the front to say, that Conversions are made without violence. On that subject they have been baffled in a manner sufficient to have covered impudence itself with confusion. But 'tis to wash the Blackmoor's skin. These Gentlemen have Foreheads of Brass, and can blush at nothing. By this little judge of the fidelity of your Converters. You that have seen your Goods wasted, your Persons contained, your Neighbours dragged to Prisons, Women shaved, and put into Convents, Christians let down into Holes, where putrified Flesh and Carrion had been thrown. Others put into Prisons, where the Water runs under their feet, being supported by narrow planks, upon which they are mounted night and day, lest they fall as from a Precipice, and perish. Others have been burnt and roasted, and others made fools by watching them without cessation or intermission.  
All France hath seen it, all Europe is witness of it, and they dare affirm the contrary to what your eyes have seen. Do you think that these Gentlemen dare not lie about the Ages past, when they speak to you of Tradition, and of things said and done a thousand and twelve hundred years ago, when they have no regard to present Truths in matters of Fact, whereof there are as many Witnesses almost as there are persons alive in this part of the World. In the name of God think of it, when they forbidden you all trial and examination of Doctrines, and tell you that you must believe the Church; that is to say, false Teachers, which affirm, that you must believe things without taking any knowledge of them. See, I say, whether there be any confidence or trust to be put in such men which have consecrated themselves to Lying, and have renounced all modesty and shame.  
The Bishop of Meaux hath heard all the Bishops say, that no violence was used in their Dioceses. We ought to understand how these Gentlemen do define Violence, and what 'tis they call Torments. Among the Bishops, he of Autun will find difficulty to say so, and Monsieur de Meaux, that those of his Diocese had not so much as heard of Torments. He went accompanied with the Hangman to Madam de S. Andrew Montbrun, Widow of a famous General, which had the Honour to command in chief the Armies of the King, and those of the Venetians, with a great deal of Glory. This Bishop, I say, with the Missionaries, accompanied with the chief Magistrate, and the Magistrate taking two or three Hangmen, with all the Instruments of Torture, went thus to endeavour her Conversion. If this be false, they will do well to convince the Men and Officers of her House, which have seen, said it, and writ it. But the Bishop of Meaux hath done nothing, nor seen nothing of like nature in his Diocese. We have good testimony that violence hath been committed there as well as elsewhere. But although what he says should be true, behold a great marvel whereof he hath great reason to rejoice! Paris and the Country round about it were last of all attacked. All France had been covered with Fear, Tears and Blood. Paris and the Brie saw nothing round about but bloody Troops, and Emissaries loaden with the Spoils of the Reformed, and red with their Blood. 'Tis a great Miracle, that these Objects, without drawing nearer have anquished, and overcome them. As if the fear of an Evil, which one sees within four steps of him, were not as capable of doing violence to the mind, as the Evils which are felt immediately. On the contrary, a person has fallen under fear, which hath resisted pain and torment. The Dragoons of Bearn, of Guienne, of Poictou, of Languedoc, of Normandy had laboured for the Bishop of Meaux. After that let him glory if he can, of the Facility of Conversions.  
But I am weary of confuting these impudent Boldnesses by matters of fact, which our Persecutors dispute, and by Witnesses which they reproach. Let us see if Monsieur de Meaux will reproach and object against himself. He wrote his Pastoral Letter in the Month of April last, a little before Easter, to invite, and prepare the new Converts for the approaching Communion. 'Tis precisely on the same time that he wrote to one of his Diocese which was fled, the Letter following.  
From Meaux, April 3, 1686. MONSIEUR,  
I Continue to write to you, notwithstanding the Answer you made to my former Letter. I have there observed a Character and Style too much of a Minister, to attribute it to you. In a word, I apprehend, that it does not proceed from a Spirit such as yours. But although it be so, I shall not cease to invite you to return. I have seen in a Letter which you wrote to Mademoiselle of U. that the true Church does not persecute. What understand you by that Sir? Do you understand that the Church by herself never makes use of force? That is very true, since the Church hath no other Arms but spiritual. Do you understand that Princes, which are Sons of the Church, never ought to make use of the Sword which God hath put into their hands to abase the Enemies thereof? Do you dare to say contrary to the opinion of your own Doctors, who have maintained by so many Writings, that the Republic of Geneva had power and right to condemn Servetus to the Fire, for denying the Divinity of the Son of God. And without serving myself of the Examples, and Authority of your Doctors, tell me in what Text of Scripture Heretics and Schismatics are excepted from the number of those Malefactors against which S. Paul says God hath armed Kings and Princes? And although you will not permit Christian Princes to take vengeance of such great Crimes, because they are injurious to God, can they not take vengeance on them because they cause trouble and sedition in States? Do you not see clearly, that you build upon a false Principle? And if it were true, they were the Arrians, Nestorians, and Pelagians which had reason of complaint against the Church, since it was they that were the persecuted and banished, and Catholic Princes those that persecuted and banished them. And at present also the Catholics which are punished with death in Sueden, and so many other Kingdoms, would have reason to complain of those that are called the Reformed, and every one in his turn would have right and wrong, right in one place, and wrong in another, and Religion would depend altogether upon uncertainties. But this is enough on this Subject to convince so good a Spirit as yours. Only know, that when it pleases God to abandon us to our own thoughts, and imaginations, the best Spirits are touched, and affected by the least appearances. The fear that you have, that they will make you adore Bread, hath much appearance of truth through your prejudice and prepossession. Consider in the mean time, without entering into that Controversy, which passes the Bounds of a Letter; consider, I say, that it was a fear of like nature which made the Arrians and Disciples of Paulus Samosatenus, that they would not give divine Honours to a Man, an Infant, a Creature, how perfect, and how great soever his privileges might be. 'Twas human reason, 'twas sense, 'twas prejudice which inspired them with these vain fears. Take heed, lest your Religion, after their example, do not too much call in Reason and human Sense to its succour, and that your trouble and difficulty do not proceed from the custom of following them. However it be, you see that your Reformers have done nothing else but renew Controversies ended six hundred years ago, when Berengarius moved them. And if you call in doubt the Judgement which was given against him, others will doubt with as much reason concerning all preceding Councils, and then behold us under an obligation to examine anew all that hath been decreed, as if we began to be Christians, and all that our Fathers had resolved serve for nothing. In one word the meaning is, if Christians, when they are not of an opinion concerning the Sense of Scripture, will not acknowledge a living, speaking Authority, to which they must submit, the Christian Church is assuredly the weakest of all Societies that are in the World, the most exposed to remediless Divisions, the most abandoned to Innovators, and factious persons. This is that to which your Ministers with all their subtleties have never been able to find an Answer, and they content themselves with bringing Examples, where they pretend that Councils have not always determined well. All these Examples are false or ill alleged. In one quarter of an hours time, you which are a Man of Sense, will be convinced thereof; and you do receive things with too much credulity, without ever putting yourself on the labour to examine them. But without putting you upon these Disquisitions, consider only whether it be likely that God who hath permitted so many depths in the Scripture, and from thence have arisen so many Schisms amongst those that profess to receive it, hath not left some means to his Church to quiet and pacify them, in such manner, that there is no remedy for Divisions, but to let every one believe according to his fancy, and thence insensibly to carry Men to an indifferency in Religion, which is the greatest of all Evils. Think, Master, think of it, hear your own reason, and not the subtleties of your Ministers, who at what rate soever will defend their Prejudices, and not pass for Teachers of Lie. Think of these things: excuse those Expressions which may seem a little dark and disordered; it is much better that you attend to the simplicity of a Brother that endeavours to gain a Brother, than a polite and studied Discourse. Come, and assure yourself, that I will do all for you, whom I esteem, and who are dear to me; and that I am cordially  
Yours, etc. Thus Signed, 

J. Benign,  
E. de Meaux.    
Forasmuch as we have imposed a necessity upon ourselves, not to go beyond a Sheet, we pass by our Reflections on this Letter, till another Letter, which we shall give you in a few days; for this serves only as a Preface. In the mean time, we recommend you to the Grace and Mercy of God. Amen.  
Sept. 1, 1687.   

The SECOND PASTORAL LETTER: IN WHICH What Monsieur de Meaux says concerning the right of Persecutors, for submission to Councils is confuted. A considerable error of the same Gentleman about a matter of Fact in Antiquity.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
THE necessity of concluding, hindered us in our former Letter from adding our reflections upon that which the Bishop of Meaux wrote to one of his Diocese that was escaped by flight. At present we entreat both you my Brethren, and all reasonable Men in the World, to compare these two Letters together, the Pastoral Letter that is public, and this which is private, and particular. Will any one find the Bishop of Meaux here? Are they two persons, or is it but one? Himself in public, and the same person in private. According to Monsieur de Meauxes Writing, and Printing for the new Converts of his Diocese, neither he nor the other Bishops have ever heard any speech of Dragoons and Torments. According to himself writing in his Closet to a particular person, the Case is not the same. It is true there is a Persecution for the sake of Religion, but it is just, it is allowed, it is authorised by our example, by that of the Ancients, and by Divine and Human Laws. Good God How do these Men govern themselves? And what do they think? Can the Bishop of Meaux ever hope that his Printed Letter should never fall into the hands of him to whom this written Letter was addressed? I would fain know what will be answered thereunto. If Monsieur de Meaux hath right and reason on his side, in his Letter to Monsieur Deu.— why doth he say that himself and other Bishops have not heard any speech of Persecution? It is a pleasure, and an advantage to us to see these Gentlemen deny this Persecution, and thereby against public knowledge, and notoriety charge themselves with falsehood. It is an homage that they pay to Truth. It is a confession intelligible enough, that violence, and the means that they employ, are contrary to the spirit of Humanity, and that of the Gospel. But what a shame is it for them to contradict themselves, to confess in private, what they deny in public, and acknowledge themselves false Witnesses by their own people's declarations.  
However it be, behold us carried from matter of Fact to that of Right. It is no longer debated whether there be a Persecution, but whether they have right to Persecute for the sake of Religion. It is a question on which so much hath been lately written, that nothing new can be said concerning it. Nevertheless, having Printed the Letter of the Bishop of Meaux, and because there is something that is dazzling, and apt to deceive in his manner of writing, we think ourselves obliged to Print also a refutation thereof: we will therefore repeat his words, and examine them one after another. I have seen in the Letter that you wrote to Mademoiselle de V— that the true Church doth not Persecute; what understand you by that Monsieur? Do you understand that the Church by itself never makes use of force? That is true, since the Church hath no other Arms but those that are Spiritual. What means this little Paragraph of Gibberish, which is form and contrived on purpose to impose upon the simple? They are willing that it should mean, that it is not the Church of Rome that raises the present Persecution, nor is it according to the Principles thereof. For it is that which they persuade the new Converts. It is by this means that they take away the scandal that the new Papists take at the Conduct of their Church. It is the King, say they, that doth it, it is not the Church, for it serves itself only of Spiritual Weapons: if what is done be disapproved, it ought not to be imputed, they say, to their Religion, which neither appoints nor advises it. That which was written to us not long since, by one of their most illustrious, and best satisfied Converts cometh to this. I do not answer, says she, to all that which you have said concerning the ways that are made use of to gain Converts. I believe that nothing is to be imputed to any Religion, but what it appoints to be believed, and practised. This answer is very Gentile, and worthy of a Lady that thinks herself obliged to answer to nothing. But it ought to be rememembred that there is a Tribunal where answers must be made one day, without any regard to the difference of Sexes, where no evasions will be permitted us, and that we shall be punished there, for having been unwilling to attend to those things which might have made us understand the nature of that Religion that we had newly entertained. However it be, these Gentlemen persuade their Disciples that it is not the Spirit of the Roman Church that doth cause this Persecution. Nothing must be imputed to any Religion, but what it appoints to be believed. The Church never serves itself of force, for it hath no other Arms, but such as are Spiritual. There is among the Doctors of the Roman Church, on the one hand, an impudence, and hardness of Face, which is inconceivable, and on the other hand there is in their Disciples an abyss of credulity that is incomprehensible. Can hardiness, and shamelesness be greater than to say that Persecution is not of the spirit of the Roman Church. One of our 
* See the Letter of Doctor Sonstelle.  Brethre hath written concerning it a little while since, with so much brevity that every one may read it, and with so much strength as to convince them of the falsehood thereof. We prove that the Persecution is of the spirit of the Church of Rome by its Principles, its Doctrine, and its Practice. I do not know whether there can be any other source, or fountain of proofs, when we treat of matters of Fact. The Principles of the Roman Church are, that all those that are separate from their Church are damned eternally. It's Doctrine is that the Secular Power, with Fire and Sword, may be employed for the extirpation of those that she calls Heretics. The Council of Constance, which France esteems as the most Authentic, that hath been these thousand years, hath so determined, and so it practised. For it caused John Lous, and Jerome Osprague, to be burned. The Albigenses, Waldenses, Bohemians, and many others were not Massacred but by order of Councils, and Popes who published Crusadoes against them, and gave Indulgences, and promised Pardon of sin to those that should destroy them. The Tribunal of the Inquisition, which burns all those that are either suspected, or Convicted of Heresy, is a Tribunal of the Church, established, and maintained thereby; and it is looked on by the Popes as the great Rampart and Defence thereof. Never were there any Massacres committed which were not either Commanded, or Approved by Popes. They are matters of Fact notoriously known, and no body dares to descent unto them. Rome hath sung Te Deum, that is, We praise thee O God, etc. and given thanks to him for the Persecution of France. Nothing is more proper to make known what is the Spirit of the Roman Church, than the Conduct of the Court of Rome. We have said that the Pope publicly commends what hath been done in France, and hath caused Te Deum to be sung for it. In the mean time it is certain, that all Men of good sense in the Court of Rome, do both detest, and scoff at the Conduct of France. Whence comes it then that this Court seems to approve in public, that which it condemns in private. It is not to flatter the King, for they have no respect or regard for him in that Country, and every one knows the indignation that they have against him. But it is because that Rome dares not declare against the Principles of their Religion. If the Pope should condemn ways of violence against pretended Heretics, he would mutiny his whole Church against himself, and make himself worthy of deposition. He would condemn his Councils, he would reproach the memory of his Predecessors, he would overturn his own Principles from top to bottom. So that the public approbation which he gives to Persecution, is the Sacrifice which he makes of his Conscience, to his duty in quality of a Pope. But like a Man of good sense, he reserves the right of condemning in private all that which he publicly approves. The Letter of the Queen of Sueden, which hath been made public in the News of the Republic of Learning, hath conjectured discreetly concerning it. For it is not to be believed that Queen Christina would dare so openly to declare herself against the Sentiments of the Court of Rome, if that Court had approved of this manner of Conversions. Behold a second Letter of the same Queen, which tells us something more exact, concerning the Sentiments which prevail in the Country where she is.  
A Letter of Queen Christina to M—.  
'TIS with astonishment that I have seen my Letter made public in your Parts, I do not understand how it is come to pass, and I do assure you, that it is not I myself that have published it: Nor do I believe, that he to whom it was written, would so far disoblige his Master, as to be willing to do me that pleasure. However it be, I do not repent that I wrote it, for I do not fear any man. I pray God with all my heart, that this false Joy and Triumph of the Church, do not one day cost her true tears and sorrows. In the mean time, it must be known for the honour of Rome, that all those that are men of merit and understanding here, and animated with true Zeal, do no more lick up the Spittle of the French Court in this case than I do. They behold (as I also do) with pity, all those things which pass in the World, where there is given so much reason both of grief and laughter to those that are the Spectators thereof. Our only consolation is, that God will not abandon his Church, but give a glorious issue to all its Calamities, which are far greater than are imagined; but it behoves us to adore God and the incomprehensible dispositions of his holy providence in every thing that betides us. I hearty wish you prosperity.  
From Rome, May 18. 1686. Christina Alexandra.  
It behoves us to speak as the case is, the Court of Rome disapproves the conduct of the King, because it is his Enemy. The Persecution is of no value, because 'tis he that doth it: However it be, we are in no condition in France to make use of the moderate Sentiments of Italy. For the Galican Church hath renounced this moderation. She pays Men of Learning, to prove that ways of Violence are permitted.  
At this day all the Realm is full of Writers, which labour to justify, compel them to come in. They quote S. Augustin; they report his opinions concerning the Persecution that was raised against the Donatists. 'Tis notorious that the Clergy of France have been the Authors of the Persecution. They cannot deny that they have drawn up all the Edicts, and that they have solicited the execution of them; so that we cannot comprehend how the Converters can endure that their Disciples should say, That we ought not to impute any thing to a Religion, but that which it appoints to be believed and practised, and that the Roman Church doth not appoint any Violence to be practised against Heretics.  
But the Bishop of Meaux finds a very pleasant means to justify her, the Church never serves itself with force by itself, says he, that is to say, it calls to her secure the secular Power to cut off Heads, to hang, and burn; therefore it ought not to be imputed to her. A Sovereign Magistrate contents himself to be Judge, and to condemn to Death, but he doth not execute, he leaves that to the Hangman; by consequence, if he condemn the Innocent and cause them to die, it ought to be imputed to the Hangman, and not to him. The Church doth a very fine honour to Magistrates, she makes them her Hangmen; she herself doth not kill, but she constrains Princes to kill and burn. She constrains, I say, by Excommunications, Censures, Exhortations, Seductions, Solicitations; and the end thereof is, she would be able to say, The Church dips not her hand in Blood, the Church by itself never makes use of force.  
Did the Devil ever cheat after a more impudent and frontless manner? I will not say after a more fine and subtle manner; for it is to lie without any hope to deceive, the Snare is so broad and so ridiculous.  
It were better without Craft to take the way that the Bishop of Meaux takes at last, and to maintain that Christian Princes, as such, have right to punish pretended Heretics with Death. Understand you, says he, That Princes who are Sons of the Church, never ought to make use of the Sword to abuse the Enemies thereof? Do you dare to say contrary to the opinion of your Doctors, which have maintained by so many Writings, that the Republic of Geneva, had power and right to condemn Servetus to the Fire for having denied the Divinity of the Son of God? It must be avowed that these Gentlemen are admirable in their confidence. Do you dare to say? Yes we dare to say it, since we say it with most part of the Ancients, and with the wisest and most understanding of the Moderns. We dare say that the Doctrine which the B. of Meaux maintains here, is bloody and cruel, and that the Church ought to leave it in share to him who was a Liar and Murderer from the beginning. Servetus was burnt at Geneva, therefore it is lawful to burn Hugonots, and the Calvinists. God forgive these unhappy men which have the Cruelty to compare us with Servetus. This man was not only an Enemy of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, but he was an Enemy of all Divinity, he was impious, he was a Blasphemer. And although he made profession of believing one God, the irreverent manner wherewith he speaks of Holy Mysteries, makes it plain enough, that he had renounced all Religion as well as all Shame. It ought to be permitted us to quit our hands of such men. They object unto us the Sentiment of our Doctors. I answer, Our Doctors never did believe that we ought to persecute and burn men that confess God and Jesus Christ, according to the three Creeds. They never put Papists to Death for the sake of their Religion. But although some of our first Writers should have gone too far in speaking concerning the punishment of Heretics; it ought to be known, that our Authors are not our Teachers; we have but one only Teacher, and that is Jesus Christ, speaking by his Prophets and Apostles. We swear to no man's words, but to those of God. And without serving myself of the Examples and Authority of your Doctors, tell me in what place of Scripture Heretics and Schismatics are excepted from the number of those Malefactors, against whom S. Paul hath said, that God hath armed Kings and Princes? It appertains not to us to show you, that Heretics are not of the number of those against which God hath put a Sword in the hands of Princes. 'Tis for you Gentlemen Persecutors, to prove to us that they are comprehended there: For we have sense, reason, piety, and humanity on our side; and besides, we have the consent of sound Antiquity, for more than four hundred years. How could the Church be able to put the Sword in the hand of Magistrates for the punishment of her Enemies, in a time when the most scrupulous Christians found it difficult to consent to the Death of those Criminals that disturbed the public peace, and that of particular persons, and did maintain, that Christians without exception, never ought to dip their hands in Blood.  
In what Dictionary hath Monsieur de Meaux found, that evil thinkers and evil doers are the same thing? Princes have right to punish evil doers with Death, therefore they have also right to punish evil thinkers with Death. They have right to punish those whose Crimes are apparent to the public ruin, therefore they have right to burn men whose Crime is in the Conscience, the Empire whereof appertains only to God. If the Church have right to call in the Secular Power for the punishment of Heretics, why did S. Paul say simply, A man that is an Heretic reject, after the first and second admonition? Why did he not say, Deliver him to the secular Power that he may be burnt? Did he not know, that in a few Ages Princes would become Christians, and have the Sword in their hands? Did he only give Precepts for the present time and state? Hath this Cruelty of Massacring honest, well-meaning, but mistaken Persons, any affinity with the Precepts of Jesus Christ, which commands us to serve ourselves with Sweetness, Humanity, Prayers, Exhortations, and reasons for the reduction of them? It is then permitted to Massacre the Jews, for there are none greater Enemies to the Church than they are. Is that the Spirit of the Gospel which promises a return and conversion to that Nation? How shall they return if they be destroyed? Will men never be ashamed of this Antichristian Barbarity? Will they never know that it is the Beast in the Revelations, who makes himself drunk with the Blood of Saints, devours their Flesh, makes War upon them and overcomes them, and is therefore called Beast, Lion, Bear, and Leopard. For he must have renounced reason and humanity, and be transformed into a Savage Beast, that behaves himself towards Christians, as the Church of Rome behaves itself towards us.  
Monsieur de Meaux affirms, that what they do against us at this day, is nothing but a lawful exercise of the Power that Princes enjoy by Authority from God, for the punishment of Offenders. And I will prove to him in three words, that it is false. 1. Princes in the use of the Sword against Malefactor's design their ruin; that public Societies be no more troubled with them. 'Twas the end that was heretofore proposed in Persecutions for Religion. 'Twas the end that Charles the Ninth pretended to have in the Massacre of S. Bartholomew. 'Tis the end of the Inquisitors who burn all those that are suspected of Heresy. It hath been the end of all Persecutors in past Ages. But this is not their end at this day; they intent not the Destruction of the pretended Heretics, but their Conversion: Therefore although it should be true, that Heretics are not eccepted out of the number of those Malefactors, against whom God hath armed Princes; this will be only a power granted to punish them, not to endeavour their Conversion by Torments. 'Tis an abominable means of Conversion, which only makes Hypocrites. 'Tis sufficiently known, that reason cannot be gained thereby: The purging of Societies is the end of the Sword; but Persecution at the rate that it is at this day managed, will corrupt and ruin Societies by filling them with secret Heretics, who will disperse their Venom in a manner by so much the more dangerous, by how much it is more private and secret. What is there therefore of likeness between their treatment of us? Is the lawful use of the Sword against Malefactors? Do not lightly pass over what I have now said, but give attention thereunto. If that which Monsieur de Meaux hath said, to prove that Heretics are not excepted out of the number of those Malefactors, that Princes are appointed to punish, seem a little to startle you; tell him that is not the question; it is not debated whether obstinate Heretics may not be punished with Death; his Catholic Authors do affirm it: But we would learn whether they ought to extort Subscriptions, Confessions, Communions profane and sacrilegious, because joined with Hypocrisy and Incredulity; by Force, Plunder, Violence, and all kind of Torments. Now that is it which all the World with one accord condemn, and is abominable, according to the Principles of the rigid Inquisition, as well as our own: 'Tis that which the Clergy of France have lately invented and practised, and 'tis that which will render their present conduct, the horror of all future Ages.  
2. The use of the Sword that God hath put into the hands of Princes, hath Justice and Righteousness for the reason and foundation of it, for it is for the exercise of it; and secondly, Fidelity and Faithfulness, for it is to preserve and maintain it. But that which is perpetrated upon us at this day, is an uninterrupted course of Iniquities, Acts of injustice, violence, fraud, falsehood, breach of Promises, contradiction of Edicts, violation of Oaths, and of all things that can be imagined most horrid and affrightening. Doth not this well resemble the Sword of good Princes armed against Sins and Crimes.  
3. To conclude, the use of the Sword for the preserving and avenging the rights of God, preserves also the rights of Men. It hath for its end the honour of God, and the salvation of Souls: For Justice is exercised for the salvation of the Souls of the wicked, by the punishment of their Bodies. But in the present Persecution, they neither respect or regard the rights of God, or the salvation of the Soul, but only the Honour of the King. They labour plainly, not for the salvation, but damnation of Souls; and they take all imaginable care to make it sure. There is no man that is not ignorant of what is done, to whom what I have said will seem an extravagance and excess of discourse. But behold the proof thereof: The Dragoons come into a Town or Village, and without any antecedent instruction, demand in the Name of the King, from all the Inhabitants thereof, Subscription and Abjuration, on penalty of wasting their Goods, beating, imprisoning, and torturing their Bodies with all other evils except Death. All the People faint and fall, they own the Romish Religion without believing it; they sign the Condemnation of their own, they anathematise and damn Luther, Calvin, and all the Reformers. He goes to Confession, he goes to Mass, he communicates, he adores the Bread, he assists at the invocation of Saints, and outwardly consents to that Worship that they give to Images. He believes none of all this, but abhors it at his Heart. In the mean time they are content, they have all that they desire, and they demand no more. Now what have they made? They have made Hypocrites that say one thing and think another, profane persons that hate what they adore; Idolaters, that worship what they account Creatures, and the workmanship of men's hands. Behold what they have done, and what they have desired to do. For to say, that by the Dragoons, they desired the Calvinists to renounce their Heresy, is the most: foolish of all extravagances; 'tis well enough known, that they are no proper Arguments to persuade: Therefore they intended and desired to make Hypocrites, profane, sacrilegious persons, abuses of Sacraments and Idolaters. Now if these men be not in the high way to Damnation, I know not who are. So therefore plainly the end of these Persecutions, 'tis to damn men.  
But behold farther I do maintain that they take all kinds of security to be certain of the damnation of the new Converts when they die. This appears by the Declaration of the nineteenth of April, 1686, by which it is appointed, That if any of our Subjects of either Sex, which have abjured the pretended Reformed Religion, happening to be sick, do refuse to receive the Sacrament of the Church, from the Curates, Vicars, and other Priests, I do declare, that they will persist, and die in the pretended Reformed Religion. In case the said sick persons do recover their health, Process being made against them by our Judges, they shall be condemned, if they be Men, to make honourable satisfaction, and to the Galleys for ever, with confiscation of their Goods; and if they be Women, or Daughters, to make honourable satisfaction, and be imprisoned, with confiscation of their Goods. This is the Declaration that the Priests make to a person that thinks himself on his Deathbed, when he refuses to communicate. There is no Man so sick but he may recover. He that at first (according to his own conscience) refuses to communicate after the manner of the Romish Church, at length gins to think, that if he recovers, he must away to the Galleys: these thoughts affright him, and as the Disease of the Body increases the weakness of his mind, he falls under the fear of that hideous punishment that must last as long as life. He communicates, again he abjures the Truths which are in his heart, he adores that which he believes to be but Bread, he is profane in hating an holy thing, he is sacrilegious in usurping the Sacraments, he is an Idolater in worshipping a Creature. The Priest which hath seen him in these Conflicts, in these long Oppositions, in his Refusals to communicate, in Acts of Incredulity, and Aversion for these Miseries, constrains him by fear, and the Declaration of the King. Thereby he gains an assurance of the damnation of this wretch, and makes him die in the most fearful dispositions in which a person can die. These are not far fetched consequences, to discern them their needs neither Natural nor Artificial Logic. This is to cause him to renounce God before Death hath stabbed him at the Heart. All the World were struck with horror by the Declaration of the twelfth of July last, which condemned all those, that should make any use of the Reformed Religion, to death. They cried out that at this stroke the Persecutors could no more distinguish the Conduct of this day, from that of Charles IX. and Henry II. They said that never did any Persecution proceed further than blood, and that there was no further pretence to say, that they served themselves with moderate ways for our Conversion: but this Declaration of the month of July, is nothing in comparison of that of the month of April, for I dare say that Hell never produced any thing more horrible. I impute not this to the Supreme Powers, who have suffered themselves to be surprised to publish such an Edict. A spirit so employed with designs of finishing his Work, as is that of our King, is not capable of giving attention to any thing else. But I impure it to the Counsel of Conscience, to the Bishops, and Jesuits which draw up the Decrees, and cause them to be signed with blinded Eyes. I do maintain that never was there any Society gave so great marks and signs of reprobation, as that which forms and executes these projects. After that Monsieur de Meaux hath said that that which is done at present, is an exercise of the right Fidelity and Justice that Princes have to employ the Sword for the punishment of Malefactors. Let us see how he goes on, And although you will not permit to Christian Princes to revenge great Crimes, because they are injurious to God, may they not revenge them because they cause trouble and Sedition in the State? Without doubt those that trouble the State of what Religion soever they be, be they Orthodox, or otherwise, may be punished. But who are these that trouble the State, are they those which Kill, which Massacre, and Plunder, or those which live peaceably, and demand nothing but liberty to worship God according to their Consciences, and agreeably to the Edicts which have been granted them, with all sorts of promises and securities? What trouble do we make in the State? What evil have we done in putting the Crown in the Family of Bourbon, and in hindering it from falling from the Head of Lewis XIV. during his minority? Where are our Seditions and Revolts? Europe knows and sees who they are which trouble the State, whether we, or they which lay waste the Provinces, which diminish the Revenues of the King, which weaken and abolish Trade, and force more than a million of souls to search out ways to get out of the Kingdom. The Bishop of Meaux adds. Do you not clearly see that you build upon a false Principle? If it were true they were the Arrians, the Nestorians, and the Pelagians that had reason to complain of the Church, seeing they were those which were Banished, and Persecuted, and Catholic Princes were those that did Persecute and Banish them.  
First of all, I say, that they rendered to the Arrians not more but what they had done to the Church. They had removed, and chased away the Orthodox from their Churches: they had Banished the Orthodox, and they Banished them. Secondly, I answer that it is false, that Catholic Princes ever did that against the Arrians, the Nestorians, and Pelagians, that is this day done against us. Let Monsieur de Meaux a little unfold his skill in History, and let him make us see, that the Emperors did send Armies into the Arrian Villages, and by the most cruel treatments force Abjuration. Let him make us see, that they did exact subscriptions, that they did beat, imprison, send to the Mines, or Galleys, those that refused it. To conclude, I say, that there is a great deal of difference between Banishing, and Tormenting of Heretics. A Prince that will preserve his State clean may send Heretics, whose Doctrine he would not have dispersed, with their Families, and Goods elsewhere. If the King had been contented to have Banished us with our Families and Goods, we had had subject of complaint, because of the false opinion, that they have entertained concerning us; that we are Heretics, doth not give them any right to treat us as such, and to break the Confederations made with us, and our Ancestors. But nevertheless we would have suffered this injustice patiently, because it would have been nothing in comparison of what is done against us at this day.  
And at present also the Catholics which are punished with death in Sueden, and so many other Kingdoms, would have reason of complaint against those that call themselves Reform, and every one in his turn would have right and wrong, right in one place, and wrong in another, and Religion would depend upon uncertainties.  
Let not Monsieur de Meaux be displeased, it is not honest to advance matters of Fact so barbarous as these without any proof, yea matters of Fact the falsity whereof are notorious.  
They punish the Catholics in Sueden, and many other Countries with death. I demand for the Public, in the Age present, and in the Age to come, Justice for this Calumny. Nothing is more false, and more known to be so, for there is not a Protestant State, where the Papists have not permission to live, and live according to their Conscience, although in some places they have not the public exercise of their Religion, and they are very few: I know not whether Sueden be one of them. The rest of that period, every one has right and wrong, etc. is a Riddle which-covers at the bottom the most frightful Doctrine that ever was published. It is that every Prince in his Dominions hath right to exterminate by Fire, and Sword, all those which are not of his Religion. It is the established Law, which according to Monsieur de Meaux ought to be the same every where, to the end that it be not exposed to uncertainties. It is, I say, the most horrible Doctrine that a Christian can teach. For according to it, the Turks have right to cut the Throats of Christians in all places where they are Masters. Behold the argument of Monsieur de Meaux weakened and overturned, if I do not mistake; nevertheless it is certain that it comprehends in brief the best of all which these Gentlemen have to say on that behalf.  
I had designed to leave the rest of Monsieur de Meaux his Letter, because the Chapter concerning the Adoration of the Eucharist, and that of the Judge of Controversies, which he touches transiently, will have their place in the following Letters, and there be handled something at large. But I have thought, that the Readers love to find an Antidote wherever they find Poison, for which reason we will say something thereon, that the weakness of what he doth advance may appear, to the end that they may not be imposed upon by these appearances of demonstration.  
He touches the Adoration of the Bread, and says, The fear that you have that they will make you adore Bread, hath some appearance of truth according to your prejudice. I am well pleased that they do acknowledge, that our fear hath some appearance of truth at least. If the real presence were engravers in the Scripture as with a beam of the Sun, as they suppose, in producing those words, this is my body, our fear would have no foundation. To defend us against this prejudice, Monsieur de Meaux produces the false fear of the Arrians, and the Disciples of Paulus Samosatenus, who feared lest they should be made to worship a Man, an Infant, a Creature, however perfect, and highly privileged he were. Let not Monsieur de Meaux be displeased, behold a shred of Antiquity ill placed, and disposed for a person, that prides himself of knowledge. It supposes that the Arrians and Samosatenians have heretofore refused to adore Jesus Christ, under pretence that he was a Creature, a Man, an Infant, just as we refuse at this day to adore the Sacrament under pretence that it is but Bread. I would be very glad that he would a little show us those places in the Ancients, where the Arrians refused to adore Jesus Christ because he was nothing else but Man. First of all they did not say he was a mere Man, they acknowledged he was God of God, and Light of Light, and that he was before Abraham, but they said he was a God created before all Ages, and afterwards incarnate. And as for the adoration, they so little refused to give it to Jesus Christ, that all the Fathers made it their Crime, and convinced them of Idolatry, because supposing Jesus Christ was a Creature, they nevertheless adored him. It is good my Brethren, that you observe this passage, and that you conclude that these-Gentlemen know not how to quote the Ancients, without impressing some footsteps of their falseness and perfidiousness on those quotations. They ought to find an example about vain fear in Antiquity like unto ours, they can find none, and therefore it is expedient to make one. But although it were true, that the Arrians did refuse to adore Jesus Christ for fear that they should adore a Man, an Infant, they had been mistaken, and we shall have reason to be unwilling to adore the Sacrament for fear of adoring Bread. For the Orthodox did invincibly prove to the Arrians, that this Man was the Eternal Son of God, but the Papists will never prove that the Sacrament is the true Body of Jesus Christ.  
Your Reformers have done nothing but renew the Controversies ended six hundred years since, when Berengarius moved them. And if you call in doubt the judgement that was given against him, others with as much reason will doubt concerning preceding Councils, and behold us then obliged to examine anew all which hath been Decreed, as if we began to be Christians, and that all that our Fathers have determined is good for nothing.  
It is not true that we have done nothing else but renew Controversies ended six hundred years ago. We acknowledge no Authority in an Antichristian Church, such was that in which Berengarius lived, to determine Controversies. It hath no right to determine them, or at least we have right to have no regard to her decisions. It is precisely that which our Arrians do now at this day say unto us, your Divines and Schoolmen have done nothing else but renew Controversies already determined more than twelve hundred years ago in the Councils of Tyre, Jerusalem, Milan, and Ariminum. The date is a little older, and the Authority in my opinion a little greater. For the Church of the Arrians was much more pure than that of the Man of Sin.  
It had been a great marvel if Monsieur de Meaux had neglected to bring into this short Letter the Sophisms about the Judge of Controversies. These Gentlemen have nothing else to say, it is their only Rampart, it is necessary they always return thither. If it be permitted us to reject the Councils that have condemned Berengarius, behold us under a necessity to examine anew all the Councils which have decided the Controversies against the Arrians, Nestorians, etc. This signifies nothing, neither according to my Principles, nor those of Monsieur de Meaux. Hath Monsieur de Meaux forgotten that according to his Principles no Councils are infallible, but those that are General? Wherefore then doth he demand the same submission for the Councils that condemned Berengarius, as for those that condemned Arrius, Nestorius, and Eutyches? These last are considered as Oeconomical, and by consequence as Infallible in the Church of Rome. But a Council of Tours, of Verseille, a Council of Rome, which have condemned Berengarius, were but particular Councils. Therefore they were not Infallible. Some of them had the Pope for their Head, yea, but according to Monsieur de Meaux, a great friend of the Theology of the Gallican Church, the Pope is not Infallible, nor can he communicate it to any one. Let these Gentlemen fix their Principles, or let them not delude us by comparing Councils which can err, to Councils which according to them are Infallible, and cannot be mistaken.  
If this be worth nothing according to the Principles of Monsieur de Meaux, it is worth less according to mine. These Gentlemen will not take it amiss if we have mote veneration for Councils held in the fourth Age, where they judged by the word of God, than for Councils of the eleventh Age, held in a time in which the Church was plunged into an abyss of Corruption, according to the confession of Baronius, and others like unto him. Therefore one may doubt of the truth of decisions of the Councils of that Age, and not doubt of those of all the preceding Councils. But because we are willing to have some submission for the decisions of the Councils of the fourth Age, must we therefore pluck out our Eyes? Must we cease to see that they did decide conformably to the Scripture? Must we cease to build the submission, that we have for Councils, principally upon the conformity of their decisions with the Holy Scriptures?  
Behold us obliged to examine all anew as if we began to be Christians. Behold us obliged to examine all anew, yea, every one for himself. And does not every one of us begin to be Christian when he gins to live, and to make use of his reason. Monsieur de Meaux is at agreement, that when a Man gins to be a Christian he has right to examine. Societies, and Confederate Churches do not always begin to be Christians, and therefore it is not always necessary that they examine. And when once they have form their Confessions upon the word of God, it is not necessary that they repeat it, at least unless it be made appear that they have erred, and be mistaken. But every particular person gins to be a Christian, he hath therefore right to examine. And so behold the right of single persons re established by the reasoning of Monsieur de Meaux.  
We will not touch the rest of the private Letter of Monsieur de Meaux at this time, because what he adds concerning the Judge of Controversies, and the reflections which we have to make thereon, will fall in very well with what follows in his Pastoral Letter, to which we shall return when we have finished the examination of this. To fill up our sheet we will give you a Letter of one of our most famous Confessors, which will begin to acquaint you with the History of his Confession. And afterwards you shall have some other Letters which have followed this.  
At Paris from the Tournel, May 16. 1686.  
IT is so advantageous, in trials so barbarous, as that in which I have been, for six months' last passed, to be assisted by your good Prayers, that it was my design, Monsieur, to desire them from the very moment of my confinement at Strasburgh. But the difficulty which I find to get passage for my Letters out of the Kingdom, hath deprived me of this benefit. Now when it seems, that I have more occasion than before to procure for myself this happy assistance, I do desire it Monsieur with all earnestness possible, and entreat you in the name of God not to refuse me. The second of December last, I with my Wife, and four Children, which God hath given me, were arrested two Leagues on this side Strasburgh, and conducted to a Prison in that City, where we all were almost seven weeks. My Wife fearing to see our dear Family ruined fell under the temptation, and did what the Declaration of his Majesty demanded of her. For myself I have always supported myself by the Grace of God, and have suffered all that, which Zeal hath been able to inspire into the puissant Body of the Jesuits, to make me fall, but God hath perfected his strength in my weakness, and has given me the Grace boldly to maintain his Truth both with Heart and Mouth. From thence we were conducted by order of his Majesty with a good guard to the Prison of Challons, where I was just six weeks, fifteen days whereof I passed in a Dungeon, without being seen of any person, unless it were once or twice by my Wife. I was visited by many ecclesiastics, and amongst others thrice by Monsieur Bishop of Challons, of whom I received nothing but civilities. I was tempted by sweetness, by many offers of service, and in conclusion by severity, and God by his Grace having rendered all the means employed to seduce me ineffectual, the ninth of March last the Precedent condemned me to serve the King for ever in his Galleys, and my Goods to be Confiscate as those of a Galleyslave. Two days after I was removed, and carried to Paris, where I was put in a dark Dungeon, and where I have been two whole months. After my arrival, I was twice present with the Procurator General in a Chamber of the Prison. I answered to all that he said to me, that which Jesus Christ inspired me withal according to his holy promises. He visited me also once afterwards, and gave me this testimony, that it was rare to see me do that for error, which peradventure not one of them would do for truth. A little after Monsieur the first Precedent caused me to be taken out of the Dungeon, after the most civil manner in the World. When I was in the Chamber where he expected me, he caused all his retinue to go out, (which was made up of six or seven persons of worth) and honoured me with his discourse Face to Face for the space of two hours, he testified a great deal of kindness towards me, and desire to serve me, and as soon as he was gone out, he returned to his company and told them, as one of my friends which was present reported to me, I come from discoursing an honest Man. Monsieur, these are but words, nevertheless there is something of consolation in them. I have also received many marks of favour from Monsieur de Mesme, Precedent of the Tournel Chamber of Justice, where I was condemned, he talked with me at the entrance of the Dungeon, and after a little discourse told me, that it was with grief he saw me there, and that he wished me some gentle sickness, that he might have occasion to take me thence, and put me in the Hospital, and that as often as I desired to speak with him, I had no more to do than to tell the Gaoler of it, who would give him knowledge thereof, and he would not fail to come to the Prison, and see me. All these civilities had their design, but they were (thanks be to God) utterly ineffectual, God hath put into my Heart to be faithful to the death if there be occasion for it. In conclusion, upon the ninth instant I was brought into the place of Judicature, and presented to my Judges, they brought me to the Bar, and after I had taken my Oath, and they had drawn from me a confession, whereof I glory, the Precedent after some discourse of Religion said to me, Monsieur, bethink yourself well, you know that the Declaration of the King doth expressly determine your condemnation. I answered him, my Lord, I am past deliberations in this case, I am ready to suffer all those penalties to which the Court shall please to condemn me, how rough soever they may be, they will be less troublesome than to act against my Conscience, and to play the part of an Hypocrite, who is an abhorrence to God, and Men. They appointed me to withdraw. Nevertheless, contrary to the usual method, I was not condemned that morning, but the Tuesday following, the fourteenth instant my condemnation was confirmed by a Decree of the Court, and about three hours after I was drawn out of the Dungeon; they put Irons on my Hands, they put me in a Coach, and I was carried to the Tournel, where they put the persons condemned to the Galleys. The Governor here willing to treat me like an honest Man, put not the Chain but on my left foot, but on the morning the fifteenth instant, Monsieur the first Precedent, and the Procurator General told me, that they beheld my misfortune with grief, and that the King intended they should put the Chain about my Neck, as is usually done to those that are the lewdest Villains. This news was soon brought to me, I told our Governor I should obey the orders of the King with a very respectful submission. At the same time they took the Chain from my Foot, and put another about my Neck which weighed full fifty pound. Behold Monsieur the abridgement of my misery, or to speak more truly of my glory, for I give thanks every day to my God for the honour that he does me in not esteeming me unworthy to suffer for his name. Join your prayers to mine I entreat you, Monsieur, to obtain from the Mercy of God his assistance so long as it shall please him to continue my sufferings. Let Mademoiselle your Wife, if she pleases grant me the succour of her Prayers. Pardon the little order you will find in a Letter written by pieces, and by stealth, and in the midst of twenty seven Galleyslaves. I pray God to heap upon you both the most precious of his blessings.  
I entreat you, my Brethren, to mark here, the Character of sweetness and Christian patience, which is peculiar to those that suffer for the Truth; his modesty hinders us from naming him, but in seeing him behind his Curtain, you will learn from him after what manner we ought to suffer all things for the Truth, and to suffer with patience, as our Lord has given us example. The Grace of God be with you all.  
Septemb. 15. 1686.   

The THIRD PASTORAL LETTER, AND Confutation of what Monsieur de Meaux says to establish the necessity of a living, speaking Authority, concerning a Succession of Chairs, without a Succession of Doctrine: General Methods for making good the Sophisms and Fallacies concerning the Authority and Infallibility of the Church.  
My Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be unto you from God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.  
YOur Temptations which increase every day, do also redouble our grief, and cause us to desire with the greater passion to give you assistance and succour, for which reason we prosecute what we have begun. 'Tis to furnish you with Lights, for the dispelling of that Darkness wherewith they endeavour to obscure those Truths which you have learned from your childhood. Among other things they make great and prodigious attempts to take you off from that adherence that you give to the holy Scriptures, and to oblige you to forsake those living Fountains, and to run after the broken Cisterns of Egypt, which will hold no water. The last periods of Monsieur de Meaux his private Letter, and the second Article of his Pastoral Letter look that way. They are these Periods, and this Article upon which we shall make our Reflections, and we do beseech you to give attention to them. Behold then how Monsieur de Meaux prosecutes his Letter to Monsieur de V—  
In a word, the meaning is if Christians, when they cannot agree up●n the sense of Scripture, do not acknowledge a living, speaking Authority to which they do submit, the Christian Church is certainly the weakest of all Societies in the World, the most exposed to remediless Divisions, and most abandoned to factious Innovators. This is it to which your Ministers with all their Subtleties have never been able to find an Answer. In truth 'tis to put great confidence in the Credulity of Men, to tell them with so much impudence, that the Ministers have not been able to find an Answer to this Sophism. I do not think that there is any which hath been rejected with more force and more success. And we do defy Monsieur de Meaux, and Monsieur Nicholas to answer any thing that's reasonable, to what hath been said against the Infallibility of this pretended living, speaking Judge, in the Answer which hath been lately made to the Book of M. — Nicholas, entitled, The pretended Reform convinced of Schism. We have there answered it, and will answer it again. But this is no place to answer to it at large. We will content ourselves to entreat you, my Brethren, to make two general Reflections thereon. First, That Remedy can never be good, which never produces the effect, which Men say it doth always produce. M — de Meaux pretends, that this certain, living, speaking Authority is an infallible Remedy against Divisions and Heresies. For without it, says he, the Church would be of all Societies most abandoned to Divisions, Innovations and Factions. If this Remedy be so good, why hath it never produced its effect? Was not this living, speaking Authority in the world, was it not, say I, from the times of the Apostles, and the first Ages of Christianity? Why therefore have we seen from the beginning swarms of Heresies and Heretics, Simonians, Corinthians, Basilidians, Marcosians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Manicheans, and multitudes of others? Wherefore in the fourth and fifth Ages of the Church was it torn in pieces by Arrians, Nestorians, Eutychians, Photinians? Why do they account to the number of two or three hundred Heresies? Why did this brave Remedy against Divisions permit the Schism of the Donatists, more than three hundred years? That of the Eutychians, more than twelve hundred? That of the Nestorians, as long? Why doth not this excellent Remedy put an end to the Schism of the Greeks, after the duration of near eight hundred years? Was it this living, speaking Authority which suppressed the Waldenses and Albigenses, or the Fire and Sword of Simon de Montfort, and his Villains? Why hath this living, and speaking Authority permitted the Latin Church to be torn in pieces in these latter Ages? Behold, in truth, a fine Remedy good for nothing, and which over and above is established upon inconsistent Principles, as hath been proved an hundred times.  
The other general Reflection which I desire you would make, is on the great inconvenience that Monsieur de Meaux finds in acknowledging, That the Church is the weakest of all Societies in the World. I do profess, that it appears very uneasy to me, as well as to him, and I am not without all inclination to reason with him, and say, There is no appearance or probability that the Church should be the most impotent of all Societies under the Heavens, and by consequence 'tis not likely that it should have been the Tennis Ball of Persecutors, of Tyrants, of malignant Spirits, of Schismatics, of Heretics, of factious Innovators, and vicious corrupters of the Truth, and Worship of God. And so all that hath been said of Persecutions, Punishments, Heresies, Seditions happening in the Church, Strife among Bishops, their Quarrels and Divisions, of the fury of Schisms, of the horrible corruption of Manners that hath been seen in some Ages, and is seen in this, all these things, say I, are false. For 'tis impossible, that the Church should be the weakest of all Societies, which it would be, if what hath been said, yea, and what our eyes see, be true. So that it must needs be that all Histories be Romances, and all Objects that we see Illusions, and that there be a Wall of Fire about the Church that hinders all sorts of Evils from approaching it. 'Tis a Prodigy in my apprehension, that Men should be found that will destroy truths in matter of fact, sense and experience by Discourses in the air. These Gentlemen do never enter into the depths of God's ways, they do not perceive nor understand, that 'tis indeed by the order of his Providence, that to the apprehension of sense the Church is the most feeble of all Societies, most given up to the will and lust of Persecutors, and Men of Faction and Innovation. Where is the Society that hath been given up, and exposed to so many Schisms, Divisions and Persecutions as the Church? But the Power of God, and the Stability of the Church consists in this, that it subsists in despite to all Assaults, and that God preserves in the midst of those Schisms and Divisions, Errors and Superstitions, those fundamental Truths, and Precepts of Morality, by which the Elect are preserved, notwithstanding the general corruption that doth involve, and overwhelm it. Herein is the strength of the Church, and 'tis a Miracle, and on the occasion thereof we ought to say, 'Tis the Finger of God.  
Without putting you upon Inquiries, and Disquisitions, consider whether it be likely, that God who hath permitted so many depths in the Scriptures, and that from thence have arrived so many Schisms among those that profess to receive and believe them, hath not left some means in his Church to quiet and determine them. Is it likely, that there should be no remedy for Divisions, but that every one may believe according to his own fancy, and the minds of Men be thence led insensibly to an indifference in Religions, which is the greatest of all Evils? Is not this what I said but even now? To discourse in the air against known matters of Fact, and against such Truths as all the World confess and avow! Let us say with Monsieur de Meaux, it is not probable that God should leave so many depths in the Holy Scriptures, from which so many Divisions might arise, and not leave to his Church some means to put a period to them. Behold the Principle. And who can deny so plausible a Maxim? But behold my Conclusion. Therefore there have been never any Divisions about the sense of Scripture, which the Church hath not found means to determine. Therefore it hath well and easily determined the Divisions which continued well nigh the space of four hundred years about the Sense of those Words, The Father is greater than I Therefore it quieted the Difference about the Sense of those other Words, The word was made flesh. And 'tis not true, that there are millions of Christians in the East, Nestorians and Eutychians that have not agreed with the Church of Rome about the meaning of them for 1200 years passed. Therefore it hath raised the Divisions about the Sense of those Words of Jesus Christ to S. Peter, Feed my Sheep. And it is not true-that all the Greek Church is at a Schism with the Latin Church thereon, and are not of the mind that they mean that the Bishop of Rome ought to be universal Pastor of all Churches. They say, and 'tis believed, that the Latin Church hath been divided almost two hundred years, about the Sense of those Words, This is my body. The Lutherans give one sense, the Calvinists another, and the Romanists a third sense concerning them. But that is not true, 'tis a popular Error, and an illusion. It is not probable, that God should not leave any means to his Church to quiet the Differences that should arise about the Sense of Scripture. A Man would think these Gentlemen had a design to scoff and deride Mankind; they form an Utopia, a world made at pleasure, out of their own imaginations, and tell us, that the present world is so made, and that we are in it, and very well and safe there. 'Tis in vain that we deny it, and say 'tis not so, we see the contrary, the world is not made as you report it. They answer us, you deceive yourselves, you are blind Buzzards, and see nothing; you seem indeed to see the contrary, but nevertheless it can be no otherwise than we say, and we will demonstrate it by reason. My Brethren, you may there perceive the falseness and illusion of the method of your Converters. Learn from hence in three words what is the proper method of confuting them, have recourse to experience, and tell them you will prove, that it ought to be so, and I see with my eyes the contrary to what you say aught to be.  
It is not therefore true, that God hath given a sure and easy means to quiet the Differences, which may arise about the Sense of Scripture. God will save his select, but he will abandon his Enemies to blindness.  
'tis his pleasure, that there be Difficulties in the way of Faith and Salvation, but he hath filled the Holy Scriptures with Light to dissipate these Darknesses with respect to his Elect. And as for the Reprobates, he permit, this spiritual darkness, which hinders them from seeing the sparkling and lightsome Truths, which are in the Scripture, to remain upon their Hearts. God hath not left certain means to prevent and pacify Divisions, we are convinced of that by experience. For Divisions do continue among Christians, and have done so for fifteen Centuries, what means soever have been used to heal them. But he hath left means sufficiently certain for the conduct of his Children to eternal Life, by the way and path of Truth. 'Tis his Holy Word, together with the direction of his Spirit, which conducts infallibly, not whole Societies, but all that are his in particular, in all the Truths, that are necessary to Salvation, and preserves them from all those Errors, that are mortal to their Souls. Think, think of that, Mr. harken to your own reason, and not to the subtleties of your Ministers. Think, think of that my Brethren: consult both your reason and your sense, attend to that which your eyes report, and done't hearken to the vain reasonings of Men, who discourse not upon that which is, but upon that which ought to be according to their imaginations. Behold, that which we have to say at present about this important matter, which Monsieur de Meaux touches in his private Letter, We must now return to his Pastoral Letter, and see how he proves the Title of his second Article.  
The second Article has for its Title in the Margin, That the Pastors of the Catholic Church are the only true Pastors. He proves it by two Mediums. The first is, That the Pastors of the Church of Rome alone have the advantage of mutual succession in place and feat one to another. Monsieur de Meaux maintains that he is in the place of those that planted the Gospel in hit Diocese. And all other Bishops, he says, have the same Glory. The second proof is, that they have also a succession of Doctrine. 'Tis well when these two things go together, for otherwise to glory of a Succession. of Seats, without a Succession of Doctrine is, in my opinion, the most pitiful glory that any one can ascribe to himself. The Patriarch of Constantinople, who, according to Monsieur de Meaux, is a Schismatic, he and all his Predecessors for above 800 years, is also in the place of those who planted the Gospel in those Countries. Nevertheless the Bishop of Rome hath anathematised him an 100 times, and doth anathematise him every year on Good Friday, in the Bull De Coena Domini. The Arrian Bishops did hold the place of the Apostles in the East; and at this day the Bishops of Denmark, Sueden and England are also in the place of them which planted Christianity in those Countries.  
Monsieur de Meaux perceives well, that the Glory of Succession can do him no great good without Doctrine, and therefore does very fairly renounce it. To separate sound Doctrine from the Chair of Succession, is to separate a stream from the Channel, says he. 'Tis true, the Channel remains in the Church of Rome, we agree with them in that, from the first Bishop of Rome to the last we see no considerable interruption; either History is not to be credited, or Bishops have succeeded one to another. Behold the Channel marked and noted. But by misfortune they have separated the River from the Channel, and in this Succession of Bishops there has succeeded a dirty and empoisoned River, to pure water, and to a clean and clear River. Monsieur de Meaux is very happy therefore in his comparison in this small Paragraph, but he is not so altogethet in that which follows, And to vaunt (says he) themselves of the understanding of the Scripture, when they acknowledge they have lost the stream of Tradition in their Pastors, is to vaunt of having preserved the Waters after the Pipes are broken. Surely, if the Waters were not where but in the Channel, Monsieur de Meaux and his Brethren had some reason on their side, but 'tis happy for us, and mischievous to them, that the Water is in the Fountain before it can be in the Channel. The Channels may be broken, the Bishop's Successors of Seats may become Antichristian. The Fountain of the Gospel-Doctrine continues always pure in the Holy Scripture. It had been very fine, if they had reasoned so at the time when Jesus Christ came into the World. The Pharisees and Doctors of the Law were in Moses' Chair, and, as such, Jesus Christ commanded to hear them; but according to the new Philosophy of our Doctors, our Lord should have done otherwise: for instead of thundering against the vain Ceremonies and false Glosses of these Doctors which corrupted the Law, he ought to have followed them, and caused his Disciples to do so to. For to boast of understanding the Scripture, when they acknowledge they have lost the stream of Tradition in their Pastors; is to vaunt of having preserved the Waters after the Pipes are broken. The Pipes, that is, the Doctors were broken, but did not the purity of the Law remain in the Books of Moses, as in his Fountain? Let that be remembered therefore, and never be forgotten. The Gospel-Church in this regard is in no better condition than the ancient Synagogue. This had its Pharisees and false Priests in the Chair of Moses, that hath its false Bishops in the Chair of the Apostles, and Founders of Christianity. Let it be remembered also, that when the Pipes are broken, and the Rivers corrupt, we have the Fountain. Jesus Christ had recourse thither: he said, From the beginning it was not so. Frankly therefore 'tis to delude, and ridiculously to delude when they speak of a Succession of Chairs, at least, unless it be proved, that Truth hath remained in them, and that Infallibility hath always been placed there, and that in matters of Doctrine there have been made no Innovation. And thither Monsieur de Meaux comes at last. The Doctrine and understanding of Scriptures, says he, is come even to him, without any change or alteration. And it has been the pleasure of God that it should come to us from Pastor to Pastor, and from hand to hand without any appearance of Innovation. This is easily said, but I do not understand, how persons that writ in an Age so knowing, and illuminated, as ours is, should have the impudence to advance such a thing, that since S. Paul to the Bishop of Meaux, the Doctrine is come down without any Innovation. My Brethren, 'tis an important point, 'tis an Article about which they do miserably blind you, 'tis a voice that found'st perpetually in your ears, and does almost make you deaf. Antiquity, Tradition, constant Succession and Perpetuity of Faith; and how do they prove it to you? They tell you the Church is infallible, therefore it can't err, nor turn aside from sound Doctrine. Secondly, Monsieur de Meaux tells you, If there had been such changes among us, the Authors thereof would have been named, the Spirit of Truth which is in the Church would have noted them, and their Names would have been infamous, as that of the Arrians and Nestorians, etc. So that all which has been told us concerning insensible changes in Doctrine, whereof they do not produce any example in the Christian Church, is nothing but a vain accusation. Thirdly, To conclude, they take up certain Shreds of the Fathers, which they set to be seen with Glosses and in a false light, and afterwards tell you boldly, behold the Conformity of the Fathers with us, behold the Succession of the same Opinions in the same Seats. There has happened no change or alteration.  
This, say I, deserves that we stay on it a little, for 'tis the fountain of Illusions, by which they have seduced, and made some new Converts. Concerning the first of these three Proofs, which is drawn from the Infallibility of the Church, we hope at some time to show you the absurdity of that pretention. We will prove, that all that which M. Nicholas and M. Pelisson have advanced to prove the necessity of this infallible Authority, without which, according to them, truth cannot be found, is a Contexture of Fallacies, which lead Men directly to impiety. But in expectation thereof (my dear Brethren) we entreat you to give attention to what we are about to say concerning this sovereign and infallible Authority of the Church of Rome. I will give you two general methods, by which, without any great difficulty, you may be able to quit yourselves of the Fallacies of your Converters. First tell me, is there any reason can hold good against experience? The Church of Rome can't err, I'll prove it, say they, by just proofs and demonstrations, because the Church can't be left without a Guide, because private and particular persons can't understand the Scriptures, because there is a necessity, that an Interpreter which ought to guide others cannot himself be deceived. Behold, that which is the most stately and magnificent reasoning in the world. But by blowing upon these pompous Reasons of Right, I will make them vanish by one sole Proof and Demonstration of Fact. 'Tis that the Roman Church hath erred an hundred times by introducing Images into Churches, and establishing the Invocation of Saints, in taking the Cup from the Laity, and in causing a Sacrament to be adored, etc. Call to mind, my Brethren, the Man, to whom the Philosopher proved by subtleties, which he could not answer, that there was no such thing as motion. After having long laboured under the weight of his Fallacies, he risen up briskly, and walked about the Room. You find yourselves often perplexed with the Sophisms invented to support the ways of Prescription, and to prove the blind submission which ought to be had for the Church of Rome. I do not doubt but you are oftentimes in some perplexity in this respect. But go briskly out of that perplexity, and always come to this. The Church of Rome hath erred, therefore it can err. You will put your Converters, in their turn, into some kind of perplexity. For there will be a necessity either that they hold their peace, and say nothing but absurdities, or else that they endeavour to prove by discussion of Opinions, that the Church of Rome has not erred, and 'tis a Head of Discourse where I am in no fear or concern for you; for how little soever you are instructed in the Word of God, you will easily dismount the most able Sophisters, when you endeavour to prove, that neither Transubstantiation, nor the Worship of Images, nor the Invocation of Saints, nor the Adoration of the Eucharist, nor the Mass, nor Purgatory, are in the Scripture. There needs no greater ability for that, than for a Man to prove that a Chamber is empty when there is nothing in it. They object unto you, that the Scripture has not said all, but 'tis a sensible absurdity, that the Scripture should be given to instruct us concerning what we ought to adore, and it should forget three fourth parts of the objects of our Adoration. It speaks not to us but of the Adoration of God; and nevertheless Religious Worship must be given to Saints, to Images, to Relics, and to the Sacrament of the Altar. Are you so  as to be taken in so pitiful a snare? The Scripture has not said all, let it be granted with respect to the Ceremonies and Orders of Discipline, which are not of the Essence of Religion; but to believe that the Scripture has not told us all which is of the Essence of the Christian Religion, is ridiculous: I do maintain, that he ought to have lost all shame, that shall advance it, and to permit himself to be persuaded thereof, he must have lost all reason, and be degenerated to a Beast. Was it agreeable to the Wisdom of God, imperfectly to instruct the Apostolic Church, and to leave to posterity the charge of adding those essential parts which were wanting? But provided you can draw your Converters from these Methods of Prescription, which are the true Snares of the Devil, invented as his last Remedies, I shall not fear, or be concerned for you, although they should batter you with the Arms of Tradition, and though they should tell you an hundred times the Scripture has not said all, Tradition adds the rest. For you will always have an infallible Refuge in the Scripture, and you will be able to say, if Tradition may add to the Scripture, at least, it ought not to destroy, and teach or command that which the Scripture condemns. After which it will not be difficult to prove, that not only the Scripture says nothing of Transubstantiation, or the taking away of the Cup, or the Sacrifice of the Mass, of Purgatory, or the Worship of Images, or the Invocation of Saints, etc. but that the Scripture does formally condemn them. Behold the first general method for ruining the fallacious Arguments on the behalf of Infallibility.  
Behold another, the most sensible proof, (and that unto which you will be obliged to have regard, when they would prove that you ought to have a blind submission to the Church of Rome) is Texts of Scripture. 'Tis for example, that which our Lord Jesus said, Matth. 16. That he hath built his Church upon S. Peter, in such sort, that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. That which S. Paul says in 1 Tim. 3.15. That the Church is the pillar and ground of truth. There's that which is their strength. But first of all demand of these Gentlemen, whether the Church of Rome be mentioned there? Say, I grant, that Text signifies, that the Church is infallible, and that the Devil never can introduce any Error; but how shall I know that 'tis the Roman Church to whom this glorious promise of Infallibility is made? The Greek Church, that of the Nestorians, Jacobites, or Eutychians, are very great Communions in the East, which call themselves Christians upon as good a Title as the Church of Rome. The Apostles certainly founded the Eastern Churches, it is without peradventure, and it is apparent, that Jesus Christ hath left the privilege of being infallible to them. Why should he cause it to pass from the East to the West? To that they will say, you see that 'tis to the Church of S. Peter that the promise of Infallibility is made: Upon thee will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now the Roman Church is the Church of S. Peter. Upon that, demand that they prove by the Scripture these two Articles: First, That this promise was not made but to the Church of S. Peter. Secondly, That S. Peter is the Founder of the Church of Rome. The first thing is impossible to be proved. 'Tis a prodigious absurdity, that of the twelve Apostles to whom Christ Jesus said, that they ought to found Churches, he should have no regard but to S. Peter, and to the Church which he ought to found. 'Tis more clear than the day, that that which our Lord promised, he promised to the twelve Apostles and to other Churches. But your Converters will have yet more trouble to prove by the Scripture, that the Roman Church is the Church of S. Peter. There appears not any Footstep thereof in the whole New Testament: on the contrary 'tis clear, there was a Church at Rome, before S. Peter and S. Paul had been there. It may be, one may prove, that S. Peter was never at Rome. At least it may be proved, that he never resided there in the Quality of Bishop. For S. Paul says expressly, that S. Peter was the Apostle or Bishop of the Jews, or Circumcision; and that he was the Bishop of the Gentiles. Therefore S. Peter, in the Quality of the Bishop of the converted Jews, aught to have his Seat either at Jerusalem or Babylon, in the Confines whereof was the main body of the dispersed Jews. Moreover he writ and dated his Epistles from Babylon. You may therefore hold yourselves there, and say, I am well content that there be an infallible Church on earth; but when I see with all my eyes, that the Roman Church has erred, you shall permit me to search an infallible Church elsewhere, and to keep me where I am expecting till I sinned it.  
You may, I say, keep you there, but don't do it; move on further, and tell your Converters, Gentlemen, I perceive, that these words, the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church, may have two senses. For they may signify, that the Devil shall never introduce any error into the Church, of what nature soever it be. Or it may signify, that the Devil shall never ruin the Church, that he shall never entirely destroy it by ruining its Foundations, i. e. it's fundamental Verities. Tell me, do these words signify necessarily the first, that is to say, that the Devil shall never introduce any capital or considerable Errors into the Church, or to speak better, that the Church shall never fall into any Error? Not at all: For if one say to a Prince, I will take care that your Enemies shall never prevail upon you, that will not necessarily signify, that the Enemy shall never have any Victory upon him, or gain any considerable advantage against him. Although this Prince should lose some Villages, yea, and some Provinces, yet if the gross and capital parts of his Empire always subsist notwithstanding, he would have the accomplishment of the promise made unto him. Provided therefore, that the Church subsist in all Ages, although corrupt, provided that the Fundamentals of Christianity remain throughout in their integrity, the promise, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, hath its accomplishment.  
But your Converters will tell you, these words signify not so; for they signify that the Church can never fall into any Error. Answer them, That is the thing that is in question between you and me. But who shall judge for us, concerning the sense of these words? It must not be you, for you are a party; and who can better judge than Scripture, and Experience? Now 'tis clear by the Scripture, that the sense of these words, the gates of hell shall never prevail against the Church, is not that the Church shall never suffer any considerable Errors in its Faith. All the Holy Scripture affirms the contrary. It complains sometimes that the ancient Church was become idolatrous, and had served other gods. It foretells in express words, that the Christian Church should corrupt itself: That grievous wolves should enter into the fold not sparing the flock. That there would be perilous times in which there would be an Apostasy from the Faith, and seducing Spirits would teach Doctrines of Devils. That Antichrist the son of perdition should sit in the Temple, and in the Church of God. That the Church should be hid, and as in a desert for the space of one thousand two hundred and sixty prophetic days, that is one thousand two hundred and sixty years. That when the Son of Man shall come he shall not find faith, nor love among Men. That false Prophets, and false Christ's shall arise, and deceive many. To conclude, for one Text by which it may be proved that the Church cannot err, we can produce an hundred that do affirm, that false Teachers should introduce Errors there-into.  
Let us leave the Scriptures, and pass to Experience, and see whether the Church hath not actually erred. It is proved clearly that she hath erred, because she hath established a Worship directly opposite to that pure, and simple Worship, the Model whereof is found in the New Testament, (viz.) of Images, of Saints, and Saintesses, of a second sort of Mediators, of Masses, Sacrifices, and a hundred other things, that have not the least shadow of appointment there. Let us return to our Text, The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church. It is disputed whether this Text doth signify that the Church can never Err in any wise, or whether it signifies that the foundations and fundamental verities of the Church can never be overturned. In truth, the last sense is that of Jesus Christ. And all that can be granted to the Papists, is that they are capable of the other. But is it not very clear that we ought to choose the latter, seeing the Holy Scripture and experience determines us thereunto by a manner wholly invincible? It is true, and we see it, that by a singular Providence, God hath not permitted the Foundations of Christianity to be subverted in any of the Christian Communions, all receive the Creeds of the Apostles, Nice, Constantinople, yea even that attributed to St. Athanasius. Behold therefore what our Lord would mean thereby. But besides this we see that there is no Communion that hath continued pure, all have embraced Errors, and some of them such as are filthy, shameful, and mortal. Therefore it is not that which our Lord Jesus Christ would say, it is not a promise of absolute infallibility that is made to the Christian Church. Without doubt he foretold what is come to pass, and not that which never happened. Behold, my Brethren, two general methods by which you may be able to rescue yourselves from the Sophisms, and fallacious Arguments, which they call ways of Prescription, till we can clear up those difficulties that you yourselves cannot resolve, about that submission that people ought to have for their Guides, to the end that they may walk safely.  
The second medium, or argument, wherewith all these Gentlemen serve themselves, and whereof Monsieur de Meaux serves himself here to prove that they have a succession of Doctrine, as well as a succession of Seats, is the impossibility of insensible changes. If the Invocation of Saints, say they, the worship of Images, Masses without Communicants, the taking away of the Cup had been newly introduced, the Innovator would have been known, and his name would have been branded with infamy, as that of Arrius, and Nestorius. I do not think that ever any thing hath been done more opposite to reason, and fidelity, than the disputes these Gentlemen have thought fit to raise against insensible changes and alterations. I say first it is opposite to fidelity: For it is not possible that these Gentlemen can believe what they say, when they tell us, that we cannot determine the Authors, nor the times of the principal Changes whereof we complain, seeing on the contrary we observe to them the times, the principal Authors, and the noise that these Innovations made in the World. Does not every one know, that the introduction of Images into the Church, the taking away of the Cup, and the establishment of the Papal Authority did make a terrible noise, suffer great contraditions, cause great troubles, and even the shedding of much blood in the Church? It is therefore notoriously to dispute against honesty, and fidelity, to deny that we are able to give any account of the most eminent, and principal Innovations.  
But is it not to dispute against reason, and sound judgement, to say as Monsieur de Meaux doth, that if there had been any Innovators in the Church, the spirit of Truth would have marked them, and their names would have been infamous, as those of Arrius, Nestorius, etc. How could the names of these Innovators be infamous, seeing their Innovations were received, and entertained. The Authors of Heresies, and Superstitions which are rejected, are indeed noted with infamy, but those that are received are Canonised, and adored. Therefore those of the fourth Age, which introduced the Invocation of Saints had no note of infamy put upon them, because the beginnings of that unhappy Superstition were greedily embraced. The reason why those things, in those Ages, were not treated as Innovations, and the Authors of them as Innovators, was because they adopted and received them. Had they assigned any note of infamy upon them, they had condemned the worship which they admitted, they had accused it of Novelty, and by consequence the Authors thereof of boldness, and temerity, seeing it is an opinion that hath always prevailed, that it is a Criminal enterprise to Innovate in Religion. And so the Superstitions of the fifth Age were well content to suffer posterity to believe that the Invocation of Saints, and the Adoration of Relics were more ancient than the preceding Age.  
To conclude, about insensible changes, whereof the possibility is denied, I beseech you my Brethren, observe the spirit and temper of your Converters, and tell me what name ought to be given to them. We prove to them the changes that are happened in the Church by proofs more clear, and evident than the light of the Sun. For example we show them that in such an Age, there was no Invocation of Saints or Angels. We show it them, I say, not only by negative proofs, as we use to speak, that is to say, by the silence of the Writers of such an Age, but by positive proofs, and because the opinions of the Writers, and the practice of the Church then were wholly opposite thereunto. Afterwards we show them the first beginnings, the original, and the progress of Error, Superstition, and Idolatry. In one Age we see plainly that such worship was not practised, in the Age following it is as plain that it was practised. I do maintain that a Man must have renounced all shame to say as these Gentlemen, that from such an Age to the following there was no change, and the foundation of this impudence is because no single person is found, whose name is known, that did arise, and laboured to introduce such, or such an Error, or Superstition, which met with great opposition, but at length surmounted them all. They that please to make use of their understandings, and consult with History, may find that this affirmation hath no truth, nor place but in changes that happen at a push, and all together, the Novelty whereof doth affright, and stir up opposition; but in Customs, and Opinions that prevail gradually, and by little and little, it is not so. The Invocation of Saints, and the Worship of Images were not established by one single person, nor at one single heat. A whole people by a false Devotion, permitted themselves insensibly to fall into certain practices, that seemed very Innocent, and it may be they were not very Criminal. They which came after thrust forward this Superstition, and in fine it came to Idolatry. I will say yet once more, I know not how a Man's mind and spirit must be made to say that such manner of changes are impossible. These Gentlemen cannot deny that the Worship of the Church of Rome at this day, is very much different from that of the Apostolic Church. Take it for granted, my Brethren, that there is no Roman Catholic Doctor, who will not acknowledge that the Liturgy of the Mass at this day is more compounded, and less simple than it was in the days of St. Paul Were these additions made in a sensible manner? Were not these changes introduced by little and little? The more sincere of these Gentlemen, as Monsieur Baluzius, and the Author of the Dialogues against the Iconoclasts of the Sr Maimbourg, do acknowledge that in the first three Ages of the Church there were no Images; and we do affirm that in the fifth and sixth Age there were many. We cannot name the first Author of this attempt, and of the introduction of Images into Churches. Will Monsieur Baluzius therefore affirm that from the time of the Apostles there were Images in Churches?  
But What? It is to small purpose to speak; these Gentlemen persevere to maintain that no change hath been made in the Doctrine and Worship of the Church, and that none can be made: and we do maintain it can be made, because it hath been made. We have precisely the same thing to say which we said concerning the infallibility of the Church: the Papists say it hath not erred, for it is infallible, and we say it is not infallible, for it hath erred. Also, they say there has been no change made in the Doctrine of the Church, for it was impossible any should be made there; and we say it is very possible changes should happen there, for so it is come to pass. Who is it that reasons best? That depends only on the question in matter of Fact. We must see whether changes have actually happened in the Doctrine and Worship of the Church. Now it is my design to make it apparent that changes have arrived there; this is necessary for the dissipation of an unhappy illusion wherewith they serve themselves to blind you. It is Antiquity, Tradition, Conformity with the Religion of St. Augustin, St. Chrysostom, and St. Ambrose. I shall therefore undertake to give you a short History of the changes which have happened in the Church, at least for the first five Ages thereof. It is the surest method to show you how false the impossibility of insensible changes is, and this will be the surest remedy to lessen the charm of false Antiquity, by which they endeavour to deceive you. This shall be the matter of our following Letters, where we will set before your Eyes the State of Christianity, and the changes which are arrived there during the space of five hundred years.  
☜ To finish this Letter, my dear Brethren, I will set before your Eyes an example which ought to shame the most of you. If you confess God, it is in secret, if you sigh it is in your own Bosom: the most part of you dare not give any public mark, though never so little bright and shining of the Sentiments, that are in the bottom of your Soul. Learn the Conduct of our poor Brethren the Inhabitants of Cevennes. The Edict of Nantes was made void the year past, on the month of October: the Pastors were chased away, and all exercise of Religion forbidden upon great penalties expressed by the Declaration. But these Inhabitants of the Mountains began their private Assemblies from the month of November following. And God raised up from among them persons that without Study, and without Learning, put themselves at the head of these Assemblies for their Edification. I will not tell your their names, lest I should put them in hazard and danger.  
There was a private person of the place called V— to whose word God gave so much efficacy, that after some Assemblies where there were but a few persons, one night he had the pleasure of comforting many hundreds. And these Assemblies continuing almost every day, one day a little before night, there were found more than eight hundred persons upon the Mountain of Brion near to Caderles. They had there the consolation of hearing two excellent Prayers, and one Sermon: after all, those that had the courage to resist temptation, did partake in the Sacrament of the Supper of our Lord.  
Many of those which had fallen, with a great many fears, desired the Communion; among others a Woman of Quality was very desirous thereof weeping, and professing that she would never go to Mass; but it was refused her, until they should receive greater marks of the sincerity of her return and repentance. A few days after there was another Assembly in a Desert, under the covert of a Barn, in the Parish of St. Martin de Carcones, where there were full out sixteen hundred persons. It was in the night, and continued until two hours before day. Two days after there was another Assembly in the Parish of St. John de Gardoningue, where there were seven or eight hundred persons. The day after, on the Lord's day, in the Parish of St. Cross de Caderles, there was another, where there were about fourteen hundred persons from all the Neighbouring Villages. They had knowledge of this Assembly. The Intendant and Judges sent an Advocate named Joly, to inform them concerning it; all their diligence went no further than to discover three or four persons, there was so much fidelity among those that made up these Assemblies. They took one which they threatened with death, he seemed to comply, and promised to tell what he knew. But whether indeed he knew no body, or was not willing to name them, he discovered at first but two persons. Nevertheless those of the Village of St. John, who believed that they had been all discovered by the persons that had been taken, fled and saved themselves in the Woods. This flight discovered them, and the way with which they serve themselves to force confessions, learned the Persecutors almost all those which had assisted at these Assemblies. But they found the number of them so great, that it forced them, and also constrained them to cease these Persecutions, seeing that they must depopulate the Country if they proceeded rigorously against the accused. They therefore resolved to send them back upon promise that they would return thither no more, reserving nevertheless liberty to themselves of chastising those which they called Heads of these undertake.  
These threaten and these Persecutions could not oblige the faithful to give over, and a few days after, without more delay, they had another Assembly in a Meadow in the same Parish of St. John, where there were near two thousand persons. There was Prayer, Preaching, and the Communion. As they were in the middle of this exercise, a voice was heard to say that the Dragoons drew near, upon which, he that performed the Office of a Pastor, cried out La those that fear departed; but not one person stirred, every one prepared himself to suffer Martyrdom. The Dragoons came not on the place until the day after. They saw the Grass trodden, and thereupon the Priest which accompanied them, said that the Devil had kept his Sabbath there the day before. They made Prisoners some of the Peasants of the neighbouring Villages, and carried them to Montpellier, where they took their Depositions, and released them. These methods of proceeding were designed to affrighten them, but they prevailed nothing, for the Monday following there was another Meeting, or Assembly of two thousand persons in another place of the same Parish. An unhappy Apostate of the Town of Caderles, named Mazel, went and accused, and discovered them to the Curate of the Village of St. John, who went thither the day after with some Officers of Justice, that he might repair to Bebe, which was the place where the Assembly was held, they must pass over Precipices, and Rocks, which made them think it was impossible, that they should pass that way by night, and the Curate said in a Language common enough with those honest Men: I do not know how these Devils could pass here in the night.  
I would, my Brethren, that you should compare your tenderness with this unwearied Zeal. This is nothing to what you will see afterward, but it is nevertheless enough to show you, that God hath chosen the weak things of the World to confound the strong. These poor Inhabitants of the Mountains, with their ignorance, and rusticity, will rise up in judgement agaiest you. We hear that you run in troops to the Popish Churches, to hear their Sermons. It is not there that you ought to seek the word of God. You will not find it there, but corrupt, and mingled with human Traditions, and although some Preachers should affect, and choose to Preach nothing but Morality unto you, nevertheless there will be danger in going to hear them. But we intent to discourse you more at large on this subject, till when we recommend you to the Grace of God.  
October 1. 1687.   

The FOURTH PASTORAL LETTER TO THOSE That frequent the Popish Churches. Assemblies of Christians in Cevennes. The Martyrdom of many Christians of that Country, and particularly of Sr Fulcran Rey, Student in Theology.  
My dearly beloved Brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God.  
WE will begin our Letter where we ended the precedent. We have learned that those among you which have not yet been prevailed on to go to Mass, do nevertheless fill the Popish Churches at the hours of Service, and worship, particularly in great Cities, as Paris. You intent thereby to satisfy your Persecutors in part, you think by this means to turn away, or at least delay the violence wherewith they threaten you, that they may force you to go to Mass, and communicate. And besides you imagine that yond do no evil, because you go to hear Men that preach the Word of God, though not in a manner so pure as you desire it; and you think yourselves sufficiently able to separate the good from the bad. Moreover among Preachers you choose those, that out of complaisance and kindness to you, speak little of Controversy, and with very much moderation, and entertain you for the most part of the time with Truths which are common to us, with the Church of Rome, and Duties of Morality, the necessity whereof is acknowledged by all Christians. It is better, say you, to hear the Word of God in this manner, than not to hear it at all. Behold, these are your Excuses. But I pray, my Brethren, give heed to what I am about to say. You do not perceive whither this conduct will lead you. 1. In frequenting constantly the exercises of Devotion of the Romish Religion, and being often in the Popish Churches, you will insensibly abate in the aversion you ought to have for those places of Devotion, which Superstition hath rendered entirely profane. You enter without indignation into those places in which the great God, jealous of his Honour, is provoked to jealousy by Idolatry. You accustom yourselves to see Images before which men prostrate themselves, and to which they give Religious Honour, contrary to the express Commandment of that Law which was given in the midst of Thunders, to signify that the Transgressor's thereof should be smitten with the just Thunders of the Divine Vengeance. You behold without emotion those Altars where that unhappy Sacrifice is offered, which is so great a shame to the Christian Religion, and doth expose it to the reproach of Infidels, who reproach Christians as Furies, and mad Men, that offer their God in Sacrifice every day, and eat him when they have done. You account this nothing. We see the Images and Altars of the Roman Church, you say, without indignation, but we have no Faith, or Veneration for their Mysteries, and in this respect we are at the same distance that ever we were. Alas, how ill are you instructed in the wind and turn of the Heart of Man! The Devil serves himself of every thing; by diminishing the aversion that you have had for the places where this Worship is performed, you will insensibly lose your aversion for the Worship itself. After you have beheld, without any emotion of mind, the Altars on which they sacrifice, by little and little you will accustom yourselves to be Spectators thereof, and in conclusion you will soon come to partake therein. Believe me, you can never be too much on your Guard against Error and Superstition. They will gain upon you at such places where your Guard is weak; and with much more ease will they find means to enter into you by ways so sensible, and so open. A Christian, that hath any tenderness of Conscience, grows into some passion when he goes into a Mosque; or into a Pagan Temple. A tender person cannot behold those places, wherein his Parents or Friends have received violent outrages, without some commotion of Spirit. And how can you, without any turning of your Bowels, enter into those places, in which a Worship is practised, by which God is offended and dishonoured, and for which hitherunto you have no kindness, or adherence? Do you not remember that your Fathers were burnt, torn in pieces and quartered, because they would not meddle with this false Worship, and that they sacrificed them to those Idols of Jealousy that are before your Eyes? The memory of the outrages offered to the Blood that runs in your Veins, should preserve a just resentment thereof in your minds.  
Consider moreover that thereby you do not only accustom yourselves to the places of Superstition, but you do also habituate yourselves to behold the Romish Religion on its best and fairest side. They preach to you the fundamental Truths of Christianity; they display with great pomp the moral Precepts of Jesus Christ. In a little while you will come to say, yea, you do say it already, that the Romish Religion is not so bad as it hath been described; our Ministers have deceived us. Unhappy people who labour to deceive yourselves! Have we ever said, that there was nothing of Christianity in the Romish Religion? Why have we received its Baptism, if there be nothing in it that is Christian? But doth that which it hath of good hinder it from having an infinite number of things that are evil? 'Tis an Idol's Temple built upon the Christian Religion, but 'tis an Idol's Temple for all that. 'Tis a part of the Church, but 'tis that part where the Son of Perdition sits, according to the express Prophecy of Saint Paul, That the son of perdition ought to sit in the temple of God. Doth the good Morality that they preach, hinder it from being true, that there are persons tolerated there, that teach that we may commit sins without offending God but in a venial manner? That we may kill to preserve our Honour entire, and without spot? That we may steal with impunity? That we may continue in the habits of sin, when we cannot free ourselves of it? That simple Fornication is no great sin? That Repentance is not necessary during life? That we may be saved without having exercised one single act of love to God all the days of our life? That we may kill Kings when we are persuaded that they are become Tyrants? We do not say that these Men are tolerated, but that they tolerate others; for they are far the greatest number. They do not show you Popery on that side, nor on the side of its Idolatries, Images, Saints, and Saintesses, which they have set so near to God, that they cause them to partake with him in his Glory: nor on the side of its Pilgrimages, and the Relics which it adores, and a thousand other Superstitions: notwithstanding it is certain, that by accustoming yourselves to like and fancy the Preachers of the Popish Church, you will soon come to like all that they shall please to preach, and teach you. When an object hath two faces, the one fair, and the other foul and deformed, to the end that we preserve in ourselves that just aversion that we ought to have for it, 'tis necessary that we always look on it on the ill-favoured side. The way to Hell hath its Roses, bus 'tis the way to Hell for all that. If you look not on it but on the side of its Flowers, you will forget that there are Thorns wherewith your Souls will be pierced, and wounded with wounds incurable. Once more, my Brethren, run not to those Sermons where that which is good cannot please, without diminishing the hatred that you ought to have for the evil that is found there.  
This is not all; by going to these Sermons, you fill those Churches where they celebrate those unhappy Mysteries, for which you ought to have a very great aversation; and there you are at the very hour that those Mysteries are celebrated. I understand, that from seven in the morning you fill these Churches, to hear a Sermon, which is not preached till nine or ten. And in the mean while, in the Chapels round about you they say Mass, they elevate and adore the Host; and you call that no going to Mass, because you have not your eyes precisely turned towards the Priest that celebrates, and are not obliged to change your posture in the moment of Elevation, because you are removed at some distance from it. But good God do you think, that he whose Eyes are so pure, and Spirit so clear, will approve a conduct so faulty? Is it not a consent to Idolatry, to be found in the same place with Idolaters? They are there for the Mass, and you are there for the Sermon. But in expectation of a Sermon don't you assist at the Mass? You see it at a distance, but you will accustom yourselves very shortly to behold it nearer hand. And is it not to this very end and purpose, that at present they leave that, which they call the Holy Sacrament, always exposed in their Churches, that you may not be able to enter there, without seeing persons prostrate at the Feet of the Altars of Superstition, and being yourselves constrained to bear a part in that criminal Worship.  
To conclude, you assist at the Sermons of these Popish Preachers with a great deal of diligence; are you assured of what they will tell you? At the beginning they affect to speak nothing to you, but things that will not affright you; but very shortly they will take the liberty to set the Opinions and Worship of the Roman Church in open light. Are you assured you shall be able to resist these deceitful Charms, these curious Devices, these false Appearances, these gilded Sophisms, this studied Eloquence, this Logic full of artifice, wherewith they serve themselves to cover the ugliness of Falsehood, and to obscure the Beauty of Truth? 'Tis visibly to expose yourselves to a Temptation, against which God hath made no promise to protect you. So that, my Brethren, if you do not give over frequenting Popish Churches, I do foretell, that God will permit the bud of Truth, which is yet in you, to die, and that he will abandon you to a Spirit of Error.  
But you will say what shall we do then? Must we live without all Exercise of Religion? Must we be deprived of the Word of God? No; but you must inquire after the Word of God in your Houses, and amongst your Brethren. You must assemble amongst yourselves as often as you can, read the Scripture together, and good Books of Christian Morality, and you must recall what you can remember of former Sermons. You must mutually comfort one another by good Prayers, and good Conversations, and good Discourses, which without being studied are oftentimes of greater edification than Sermons, on which the fancy of a Preacher hath toiled and laboured many days. To conclude, you must imitate the zeal of our Brethren of Languedoc, of whom I have spoken something already, and will now go on to pursue their History.  
☜ We left their Assemblies in the midst of Winter. And we have seen, that in despite to the rigour of the season, the Precipices wherewith the ways are bordered, and the darkness of the night,, these believing Christians did not fail to be found in those places, in which they agreed to meet together, and pray to God. The last of the Assemblies whereof we spoke in the precedent Letter, was that which was made in a place called Bebe. We have seen that the Priest and Officers of Justice having removed themselves thither, found no Body but the Wife of him that dwelled in the Farm with her Child. They carried her Prisoner, with many other persons of the neighbouring places, which had not signed their Abjuration. They put them in the Castle of S John, where they were for the space of a Month, to oblige them either to change, or to confess those who were found at these Assemblies. They made them a Fire with Leaves and Straw, and all that which might make a dark and thick sinoak to choke them. They endured this kind of Torment. At the end of a Month they separated them, to the end they might cause them to fall the more easily. They said to one that his companion had subscribed; to another that he had confessed those that were found at these Assemblies. All this signifying nothing, they carried these poor People to Montpellier, where after three months' Imprisonment, they were condemned, and sent to the Galleys, except one old Man, named Mauris, who was imprisoned with some Women in the Tower of Constance.  
There happened at that time a thing considerable. A Man without Learning, of the Village of Colignac, being one night in Bed with his Father, believed he had a Vision, and heard a Voice saying, Go comfort my People. I know not whether it were the force of his zeal, and imagination which produced this effect, or whether it were actually a Voice from Heaven; however it were, all the reasonings and warn of his Father, who turned both his Vision and Design into Ridicule, could not hinder him from following this Call, which he esteemed as coming from Heaven: he gathered Assemblies, he spoke there with so much success, and with so much order and method, for a person of his quality, that every one was surprised at it, and all that heard him edified by it. Under his Direction Assemblies were made of three thousand persons; amongst others, one in a place called Cabanis, near S. Hypolite, and another in a Farm of the Parsonage of S. Roman, situate upon the Mountain Gezas, there were full five and twenty hundred persons in that Assembly. After the Sermon they named many Elders for the several parts of Cevennes, and charged them with giving notice of the places, and hours of Assemblies. Of these many have been since taken, and sent to the Galleys, as Monsieur Arnaud of S. Hypolite, and Monsieur Nadal of the Village de la Salle. There is no danger in naming of them, and 'tis an Honour we own them, seeing they are at this day among the Confessors of Jesus Christ, in the Galleys of Marseilles or Thoulon. Many others, which we will not name, because they are not taken, were hanged in effigy. In the same Assembly they agreed to give to him, that should preach to them, power to administer the Sacraments. In which we may not imagine that they committed any Irregularity. For the true Call depends on the People, and on the choice of Assemblies. The Mission of one Pastor by another is but a form, which ought to be observed in peaceful times of the Church, but may be neglected in cases of necessity. Before they departed they caused all those that were present, to enter into new obligations, not to go to Mass; and resolved to make another Assembly the Wednesday following, between S. Felix and Durfort. The Curate of S. Roman (or the Incumbent whereof the Farm depended, where this Assembly was made) caused a Vessel of Holy Water to be carried thither, and sprinkled it about every where, to expiate the place, as if the Devil had kept a Sabbath there.  
The Assembly was made the Wednesday following according to the project, and there met near four thousand persons, which was the cause they left the Farm which at first they had chosen, and assembled in a Field, and hung up Lamps on a Pear-Tree that was found there. This Assembly was discovered, they sent thither some Dragoons under the Conduct of one called Villeneufeu, an Apostate of the Town de la Salle; but the Dragoons durst not draw near, because they believed themselves too weak to attack so great a people: therefore they kept themselves in Ambuscade, and when the people began to departed, they took of them such as they could. Among others one named Pouget, of the Town of Valestalieres. They Arrested also some days after in his own House, Monsieur Teissier, of the Town of Durfort, who freely confessed that he was at the Assembly of St. Felix. Among many Prisoners, they chose Pouget of Valestalieres, and Monsieur Teissier of Durfort, to make examples, as they speak, that is to say, to make Victims of their fury. They were condemned to die in the Village de la Salle, by the Intendant, and Precedent of Nismes. Monsieur Teissier publicly confessed the Crime for which he died, and declared that if he had escaped their hands he had continued it, and would yet continue it if it were possible for him. Upon the Ladder he sung these words of Psalm xxxi. Into thy hands I commend my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me O God of truth. Pouget was so weak as to change his Religion on promise that they would give him his life, but they hanged him for all that. Their vengeance did not stay upon these Victims, it proceeded even to things inanimate. They pulled the Farm down to the ground where the Assembly was made, they plucked up the Pear-Tree by the Roots, on which they hung the Lamps, that they might see to sing Psalms: It is a circumstance very singular, and which makes known how far the fury of false Zeal may go. It is well nigh to what they do by the places where Sorcerers have celebrated their horrible Mysteries, and where Sodomites have exercised their abominable Brutalities. There happened on this occasion a thing which seems to me very surprising. It is that at the same hour that they condemned Monsieur Teissier of Durfort to die for having been at Assemblies; one was made at midday in a Farm of Sr. Roman, two Leagues from de la Salle, where there were found fourteen, or fifteen hundred persons. And the day after the Execution, another was made at midday also, near to Valerangue: whilst they were at Sermon an Apostate named Couchon, of St. Andrew, went away, and made haste to advertise the Dragoons thereof, which were in their Quarters at Valerangue.  
The Intendant, and the Marquis of Trousse, being in a rage, when they saw that nothing would hinder these nightly Assemblies, caused some Files of Dragoons to be drawn off, which ran too and fro all night over the Mountains, but they could meet with no Assemblies. But they made Prisoners all the single persons that they found, supposing they had been at Assemblies, or were going to them. The Lord's Day after the death of Monsieur Teissier, another Assembly was made on the top of the Mountain Liron, to the number of four or five hundred persons. A while after there was another in a Farm near St. : it was so numerous that the Planchers of the Room cracked and broke under the weight of them. But there was none hurt but one old Man, whom they were forced to carry away. The day after there was another near Connas. Whilst they were preaching, a Sentinel, that they had set at the entrance of the place, went and advertised the Dragoons, and Curate of S. , and betrayed the Assembly. The Dragoons discharged upon these poor people, who had no other intention than to pray to God. Many were left upon the place dead, and wounded; others betook themselves to flight, and in flying fell into a great Gulf of Waters, where a great number of them were drowned; others hid themselves in the Rocks, whither the Soldiers went, and apprehended them. 'Twas in one of these Assemblies that one of the Gentlewomen of Belcastell was wounded, by a great blow on the Head. A Priest or Jesuit standing by, cried out, Make an end of her. But nevertheless they were content with leading her, and many others, away Prisoner's.  
A few days after another Assembly was made, near a place called Boucovitan, where there were found full two thousand persons, and there they gave the Communion. Many persons which were present at this Assembly were discovered, and made Prisoners, and the Men were sent to the Galleys.  
We here take no notice of any Assemblies, but those that are considerable, for a great number of others have been made in Caves, and Woods, and private Houses, and the most part of them have been made peaceably enough, and without being discovered. It was this inconceivable firmness of resolution to assemble in despite to so many punishments, and persecutions, which produced that terrible, Declaration of the twelfth of July last, by which the penalty of death is imposed upon all those that shall be Convicted of having exercised any Religion but that of the Church of Rome. Before that time, the Dragoons had orders to put to the Sword all such as were found at Assemblies. And they discharged their Commission very well, as it appears by what we have reported concerning the precedent Assemblies, which were all made since October on the last year, and June on this. It was thought that the Order that the Dragoons had to Massacre, and the Declaration of the twelfth of July, would have put an end to these Assemblies. Nevertheless they are as frequent as ever, and many times at midday. And from that time there have been Massacres and effusion of blood.  
On the thirtieth of June there was an Assembly of about two thousand persons, upon the Road, from Calmette to Barutet. The Dragoons of Nismes were there, and took about thirty or forty Prisoners, which they carried to the Tower of Vineliere, it is a Tower that is joined to the Walls of Nismes, above the Arones'. The Thursday following there were two Assemblies, the one at St. Cesari, a Village half a League from Nismes, the other at Iron Cross, which is not above a quarter of a League from the same City. There have been many others in those parts, and every where there have been Massacres, bloodshed, and persons Hanged upon the place, and great numbers made Prisoners. But the most considerable Massacre was that which was made near Uzes upon the Road to Bagnol. Upon the seventh of the month of July, there were found on that place twelve hundred persons. The Dragoons of Uzes being informed thereof, hasted thither, and found them at their Devotions. They compassed them round. These Christians did nothing, but with Hands, and Eyes lift up to Heaven, fell on their Knees, and in that posture expected death. The Dragoons discharged upon these poor people without Arms, and without defence. They succeeded so well therein, that besides the wounded, the field was covered with the dead. An Eye witness that passed over the place three weeks after, found then there the bodies of thirty Women half rotten. Besides this, the Dragoons strangled many with the Halters of their Horses. They took more than three hundred Women, which they knocked, and beat upon the Breast and Sides with their Daggers, they cut off their Coats to their Hips, they stripped them naked, and having covered themselves with their , they returned with their spoils, and Prisoners to Uzes. Behold on one side how the Devil defends his Gospel. And on the other part, it was thus that the Primitive Christians, and our first Reformers planted the Gospel of Christ in the midst of Paganism, and Antichristianism, that is to say by Courage, Patience, and Sufferings.  
Since the month of July, Languedoc, and Cevennes have been a field of blood, and slaughter. The Dragoons, under pretence of Assemblies, kill all they meet, and Letters from those Country's report that a Man can scarcely take four steps upon the Mountains without finding a Carcase, either Hanging on a Tree, or lying on the ground. On the thirteenth of July, a Lieutenant of Dragoons having been informed that there was a Man near the old Castle of Vauvert, about three Leagues from Nismes, that sung Psalms, he ran thither, and finds this poor Man at the foot of a Tree, reading in his Psalm Book, having no other company, but another poor Man sleeping by him. He caused this to Hang the other upon the ●●ot. The Intendant, and Marquis of Trousse, publicly commended this action. A little before this a barbarous action was committed upon a Gentleman of five or six thousand Crowns Annual Rent, at the Bridge of Montvert in Gevaudan. This Gentleman that he might avoid the temptation of Abjuring his Religion, had passed seven or eight months in Caves. At last being forced from thence, being able to subsist there no longer, he returned to his House. As soon as the Commander of the Dragoons had notice of it, he sent a Detachment of eight or ten Dragoons, who having found him at one of his Houses, wounded him in the presence of his Wife, Plundered the House, threatened to cut off her Fingers, because she refused to give them the Rings that were on them. The Gentleman at the end of five days died of his wounds, and being about to expire, he called the Villain that wounded him, (for he never stirred from his House) he took him by the Hand, and assured him that he forgave him with all his Heart, and in this disposition of mind gave up his Soul to God. The Widow with three Children that she had, was carried to Nismes, the Children were taken from her, and sent to Beaucaire, and she had liberty to go whether she pleased upon her word.  
All these cruelties have nothing abated the Zeal of the Reformed in this Country. They continue their Assemblies, although they have taken from them one of their principal Guides, under whos● Conduct they held and observed them. It is Monsieur Fulcran Rey, a Native of Nismes, and a Student in Theology, who was hanged at Beaucaire, on the seventh of the month of July. I promised you an exact relation concerning him; but it hath been Printed since that time: it is worth your search and inquiry, that you may know the acts of the passion of this Martyr; we shall content ourselves to observe here the principal passages thereof, to the end that if these Letters go further than the entire relation thereof, those which shall not be able to read that, may know at lest something thereof here.  
This young Man was not above twenty four years of age when he suffered Martyrdom. He had been Consecrated from his childhood to Divinity, by his Father and Mother. By the Declaration of October in the year past, he was obliged to go out of the Kingdom in fifteen days, as well as the other Ministers of the Gospel: he either could not, or would not go out in the time appointed, insomuch that he was found and imprisoned in the Kingdom, and exposed to the penalty of the Galleys, according to the terms of the Declaration in case he were taken. God put it into his Heart to use no endeavours to go out, which without doubt he might have found, as well as so many others, who had that advantage. As yet he was only Student in Theology, the malignancy of the times hindering him from Ordination, but an extraordinary Call supplied that defect. He understood that when the House was on fire, all the World ought put to their hand for the extinguishing thereof, and that God who derives Praise from Children that suck, may very well serve himself of him to edify his Servants, notwithstanding his Youth and meanness of Learning. He traversed the whole Province of Languedoc. He went from Montaub to Milhaw, from thence to St. Africa, from thence to the Bridge of Cammares, from thence to Nismes, and to Montpellier, every where searching out persons that were willing to be edified. But the fear was then so great, that it had stifled all other Thoughts and Sentiments. Nevertheless they recovered a little, and this young Man found opportunity to gather some Assemblies in the Neighbourhood of Nismes, which cost liberty, or life to many persons, for of them some were Hanged, Massacred, and Imprisoned, and others sent to the Galleys. And this put a stop to the course of these Assemblies, and our Martyr himself ran a great hazard by the treachery of one named Audoyer, which made profession of friendship to him. He escaped this danger because his hour was not yet come, and God would yet make use of him some time for his Work. After he had made some Journeys to and fro on the borders of Castres', at last he returned to Cevennes, where he found a great many people disposed to hear him, and he resolved to fix himself to the edification of that part of the Country, because he believed he should there do most good. Nevertheless well understanding that he could not long escape the vigilance of Persecutors, who had filled that Country with Dragoons and Spies, he wrote to his Father a Letter of fare. ●●l, by which he declared he was perfectly ready to offer himself in Sacrifice to God, and suffer Martyrdom, and prepared his Father to hear soon the News of his being taken, and consequently of his death. This presage was not false, for it was not two months wherein he had edified the Faithful by his Sermons, by his Visits, and his private Discourses, before he was apprehended at Auduze by the falseness of one Almeras, an Inhabitant of that Village. This wretch had accompanied our Martyr in all the places of Cevennes where he had been, insomuch that he believed he had reason to confide absolutely in him. Nevertheless it was he that delivered him into the hands of the Dragoons. He was then at a House out of the Village, they took him on a Saturday night, whilst he was employed in Meditation. One of the Ministers of the fury of the Persecutors took him by the Hair, cast him to the ground, and cruelly beat him. Our Martyr complained thereof with great moderation, adding that God would punish him for an outrage so unjust. This Prophecy had its accomplishment, for the Soldier was slain two days after by one of his Companions, with whom he engaged in a quarrel. The Martyr was put in the Prison of Anduze, where he was loaden with Chains, and treated with all the severity they use to exercise towards the greatest Criminals. It was there he was first examined, they asked him whether he had Preached. He confessed it, and gloried therein, and declared that he had done his duty, and that he would yet do the same thing if he were in condition. They endeavoured to learn from him the places where he had Preached, and what persons had been present at his Sermons. But to that he would say nothing, because he would bring no person to hazard. After he had undergone this interrogatory, they put him into the hands of thirty Dragoons which carried him to the Prison of Alez, where he was to undergo the Persecution of the Monks of all Orders, besides the severity of the Judges. But he answered to all these people with firmness, and an admirable presence of mind, which touched them with admiration and compassion; a sentiment which is not ordinary with persons of this Character, when they are Persecuting true Christians. They saw well, that seeing the Monks were touched with his Discourses, they might produce the same effect upon others, for which reason they forbade all persons to see him. A few days after they took him from the Prison of Alez, to remove him to that of Nismes. Those that had been hindered from seeing him when he was in Prison, were willing to recompense the loss which they had sustained; an incredible multitude of people of all Ages, and Sexes, pouring out tears, followed him on the Road, accompanying him with their Prayers and good wishes: he returned them blessings, and added vehement Exhortations to rise speedily from their fall, and to glorify God, as he did, by their Sufferings. Whilst he was in Prison at Alez, there were no ways imaginable which were not employed to oblige him to change his Religion. The ecclesiastics served themselves of ways of Seduction, the Judges with that of Authority. They promised him not only impunity for what was past, but all kinds of Favours and Advantages. He equally resisted all, and with the same courage surmounted these different temptations. Whilst they carried him From the Prison of Alez to that of Nismes, approaching the place of his Nativity, and that where his Father and Kindred dwelled, he felt some movings of his Bowels, which made him fear, lest that should be the place where he was to endure the strongest temptations, through the softness and tenderness of nature. He earnestly desired of the Judges, that they would not let him see neither his Father, nor his Relations. Therefore he did not see them, but was content to let them know, that they might be assured of his stability, of his constancy and perfect resignation to the will of God. They kept him but a few days in the Prison of Nismes: the Monks and ecclesiastics of that City engaged him in new Combats, but 'twas with as little success as those that went before. They had no intention to put him to death at Nismes, because that City was full of Men of the Reformed Religion. They feared either some emotion, or at least, that the beholding the Martyrdom of this young Man, and his Constancy, should waken the Conscience of a great many People, who preserving the truth in their Heart, hide it under the veil of Dissimulation. They carried him therefore from Nismes to Beaucaire, a Village where all the People are of the Roman Religion. 'Twas there his Process was to be made, and he to receive the Crown of Martyrdom. 'Twas there also he was to sustain the most terrible Assaults. The Intendent was present, who began by Engines of Sweetness and Promises, adding thereunto all that which is most terrible in death. But to his Promises he answered, I love not the world, nor the things of the world, I esteem all those advantages whereof you speak as dung, I tread them under my feet. Unto the threaten of punishment he said, My life is not at all dear to me, if so be I may finish my course with joy, and gain Jesus Christ, whatsoever death is prepared for me, it will be always glorious if I suffer it for God, and for the same cause for the which my Saviour died. An incredible company of other people came to see him in the Prison, all to the same end; and nothing was forgotten of all that which might soften the mind, and weaken the firmness of his courage. All these means being unsuccessful, in conclusion the Intendent proceeded to his condemnation. He appeared at the Bar: when he was there, the Intendent said to him, Mr. Rey, there is yet time for your preservation. Yea, my Lord, answered he, and for that reason I will employ the time that remains, in endeavouring my salvation. He replied to him: But you must change, and you shall have life. Yea, saith he, I must change, but 'tis to go from this miserable world, and go to the Kingdom of Heaven, where a happy life attends me, which I shall speedily enjoy: done't promise me the present life, I am entirely disengaged from it, death is much more eligible. If I had been afraid of death, you had not seen me here. God hath caused me to understand his truth, and does me the honour to die for it. Speak no more to me of the good things of the world, they have no savour or taste with me; for all the Treasures of the Earth I will not renounce that which I expect in Heaven. When the Judges saw him thus firm and steadfast, they gave over vexing him about his Religion, and proceeded to make his Process. He answered to all their Questions with a respect, sweetness, and moderation, which melted all the Auditors. When they were ready to pronounce his Sentence, they solicited him anew to have pity on himself, and not by an unhappy obstinacy sacrifice a Life which was given him to preserve. I am no more, says he, in condition to advise about what I am to do; I have made my choice, here is no farther place for bargains, I am ready to die, if God hath so appointed it. All the promises which can be made will never be able to shake me, nor hinder me from rendering what I own to my God. Therefore they read his Sentence, by which he was condemned to be hanged, and put to the Rack before he was led to the Gibbet. He heard his Sentence read without any commotion; and when it was ended, he said, They treat me more gently than they treated my Saviour, in condemning me to so easy a death; I had prepared myself to be broken on the wheel, or be burnt. And lifting up his eyes to Heaven, he added, I give thee thanks, Lord of Heaven and Earth, for all the Blessings that thou hast bestowed upon me. I give thee thanks, that thou hast found me worthy to suffer for thy Gospel, and die for thee. I give thee thanks also, for that thou hast called me to suffer so easy a death, after I had prepared my Heart to suffer the most cruel death for thee. In execution of the Sentence he was put upon the Rack, he suffered it without any complaint, or one word of murmuring; answering no other thing, but that he had said all, and had nothing more to answer. And when he was taken from the Rack, turning to the Judges, he told them, I have not suffered the pain which you would have made me suffer, I believe that you have suffered more than I, I have had no sense of pain, I do profess before you. 'Tis an extraordinary effect of Grace; for although we should not give credit to those relations which tell us that the Rack was so violent, that it was believed, that he could not have made use of his Legs to go to execution; it is nevertheless certain, that naturally it cannot happen, that a person should be on those Instruments of Torment without feeling very great pains. But 'tis a Miracle which hath a hundred and a hundred Examples in the History of the Martyrs, both of the ancient Church, and that of the Reformation.  
They bring back our Martyr to the place where he was to prepare himself for death: he dined because they would have it so; and whilst he was eating, he said to those that gave him his meat, very calmly, Others eat to live, and I eat to die; this is the last Repast that I shall take upon earth; but against the Evening there is prepared a Banquet in the Heavens, to which I am invited, and whither I shall be conducted by the Angels. These happy Spirits will suddenly remove me to make me partaker with them of the Delights of Paradise. The rest of the day they let lose upon him many Monks, who received no other Fruits of their Assaults but disappointment, and confusion. Amidst all those Distractions, into which they endeavoured to cast him, he employed himself in singing of Psalms, in lifting up his Soul to God, and presenting fervent Prayers to him. About the Evening, as he went forth of the Prison, to go to Execution, two Monks drew near to him, saying, We are here to accompany, and comfort you. He answered them: I have no need of you, I have a Comforter that is more faithful, and which is within me for my Consolation. I have a Guard of Angels round about my Person, and which have assured me they will be with me to my last Breath. He marched toward the place of Execution with an appearance of satisfaction, and tranquillity of Spirit visible to all the Spectators; and having observed some of our Brethren, that were fallen, pouring out floods of tears while they saluted him, said to them, Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, I shall be soon out of Sufferings, and far from this Vale of Tears; but I see, and leave you there. In the name of God recover, and repent, and he will have pity upon you. When he was in a place and distance that he could see the Gibbet, where he was to end his Combat, he cried out with transport of Joy, Be strong, be strong, this is the place which I long since proposed to myself, and for which God himself hath prepared me; how welcome doth this place appear to me? I there see the Heaven's open to receive me, and Angels coming to accompany me thither. He would afterward have sung a Psalm, as he drew near to the Gibbet; but the Judges, which saw, that the Crowd was moved, and pierced, by the signs and tokens of his constancy, imposed silence on him, and forbade him to sing. He obeyed, because they constrained him; and arriving to the Foot of the Ladder, he said, Oh, how welcome is this Ladder to me! sine it must serve me as a step to finish my course, and mount to Heaven. They permitted him to say his Prayers at the Foot of the Ladder. And when he was ascended, he saw Monks ascending after him, which obliged him to repel them, saying. Retire; I have told you, and I tell you again, I have no need of your succour. I receive enough from my God to enable me to take the last step of my Journey. He would have gone on, and given a Reason of his Faith to that innumerable Crowd of People, above which he was raised. But they feared the effect of a Sermon preached from such a Pulpit, and by such a Preacher. They well foresaw, that he would speak, and therefore had set round about the Gibbet many Drums, which they appointed to be beaten at once. 'Tis a new kind of Gag, which is not altogether so frightful, as that of another kind, but produces the same effect. The Spirit of Hell is always the same, and hath always the same fears. He hath often felt the force of those Preachers which preach from Gibbets, and out of the Piles of Wood, he fears their Eloquence, and judges it most safe to impose silence on them. Our Martyr therefore speaks not but for himself, but his Countenance, his Eyes, his Hands bespeak his Courage, his Faith, and Constancy; and this Language was so effectual, that the Village of Beaucaire, although wholly plunged in darkness and prejudices for Popery, was moved thereby in an extraordinary manner.  
I do very earnestly wish, that three or four sorts of persons would make Reflections on this death. 

1. The Enemies of Truth. Is it possible, that they cannot observe therein the Character of true Religion? I do conjure them to consider what most resembles Jesus Christ and his Apostles, whether a Man that dies, as we have seen this young Man die, or persons which cause him to die for his Religion, and because he would not renounce it?  
2. I set this Object before the Eyes of the new Converts, who being seduced either by their Passions, or Illusions, behold the Religion which they have left as abominable, and such wherein the Spirit of God is not to be found, can they well persuade themselves, that so much Courage, so much Piety, so much Constancy, so much Moderation, so much Sweetness doth proceed from him, who is the Father of Lies, and the Fountain of Abominations? If it be the Spirit of God which produces these miraculous effects in our Martyrs, than our Religion is not deprived of it, than God has not forsaken us, than we are not out of his Church, out of which there is neither Grace, nor Holy Spirit.   To conclude, I demand here the attention of the weak, of those Men who bless themselves because they yet preserve the Truth in their Hearts, and which persuade themselves, that the Fault which they have committed in subscribing is very light, I demand of them, are not you obliged to do what this Martyr has done? Has he given to God more than he owed him? Who is he that is not obliged to seal and confirm the Truth by his Sufferings? You have withdrawn yourselves from paying that which you have received from God, in the opportunities which he has offered you. And you have withdrawn yourselves by a faulty weakness, and negligence, by a lie both of Heart and Hand. In what estate should we be, if God had not left us a Remnant? We should be like unto Sodom and Gomorrah, we should not have had one Martyr, i. e. one Witness of the Truth of our Lord Jesus. You will say, all are not capable of suffering Martyrdom. At least confess then, that you are in this respect in a great degree of Imperfection, and that your Fault is great. Don't justify yourselves at all, recover yourselves by Repentance, if you would that God should pardon you.  
I have given you the History of the Vigour which our Brethren of Languedoc have had to continue their Assemblies without interruption, and thereby expose themselves to Martyrdom and Death, with design to convince you of that which I have proved in the beginning of this Letter, i.e. that you ought not to procure to yourselves consolation by hearing the Word of God in Popish Churches, where you will find it seasoned, and tempered in a way mortal to your Souls.  
It is necessary, that you search it after the manner that our Brethren (of which I have been speaking) have done. I know well that your Flesh hath many things to say to me concerning it. Some will say they are a great People in that Country, and we are here but a handful of Men. The more easily m●y you communicate together, the fewer you are in number, the less are your motions perceived. Others will say, these People are favoured by the situation of their Country, we are in Cities where they watch us night and day. Hath the situation of their Country hindered them from the danger of being discovered, hanged, and sent to the Galleys? Have they been discouraged by having been discovered once, yea, twenty times? I do declare to you on the behalf of God, if you don't renounce this Spirit of Fear, and put on the Spirit of Martyrs, God will forsake you; you will not find a Man that will be able to comfort you; yea, you will not receive Letters to support you. You are afraid of the shadow of danger. God will be very much beholden to you, you will love him, and you will inquire after him when there shall be no danger therein. But 'tis at present, that you ought to make it appear, whether you yet love God, in exposing yourselves to all dangers, and often as you search consolation for your Souls, and edification for your Faith. I pray God to have pity on your state, and that he will give you such sentiments as you ought to have. The Grace of our Lord be given to you again. Amen.  
Octob. 15. 1686.   

The FIFTH PASTORAL LETTER. THE Christian Purity of the Apostolic Church opposed to that of Popery. Letters of some Confessors.  
My well beloved Brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God.  
IN our third Letter, we promised to give you a brief History of the changes that have happened in Christianity, in the first five hundred years of the Church, that from thence you may understand the-unfaithfulness of Monsieur de Meaux, and your Converters, which tell you with so much impudence, that Christianity is come down from the Apostles to them without alteration. We have been obliged to delay the performance of that promise, that we might make some reflections upon an information, that hath been given us concerning the Conduct of the new Converts. This was the subject matter of our fourth Letter. We will return again at this time to the matter which we have discontinued, and give a short portraiture, and description of the Christianity of the first Age, that you may see the changes that have happened in the Ages following  

The first Age of the Church.  
WE cannot know the opinions, and practices of an Age, with any certainty but by the Authors of that Age. We have no Authors of the first Age of the Church, but the Apostles and Evangelists And though others should be found, that may be referred to that first Age, we shall leave them to the second, to which also they do belong, because it is certain that those, (i. e. the Apostles and Evangelists) do suffice to teach us what was the Religion of the Apostolic Church. It is above all things just, that we see what was the Religion of that first Age, and by consequence we must consult the Writers of it. This is the more certain, because they were Divinely inspired, and are the only infallible Doctors that we have. In so much that if the Romish Religion be founded in these infallible Writers, we are content that you abandon, and give up yourselves to your Converters. But on the contrary, if nothing thereof be found there, it is just that you believe, that all that we reject hath been added to the Christian Religion.  
It is a prodigy that surpasses all belief, that Popery should be the Christian Religion, and that the Founders thereof should not speak one word concerning it. It is true, the Evangelists, and Apostles, learn us to believe one God in three Persons, and one Son of God made Man, who died for the sins of Mankind, Risen again, Ascended into Heaven, and will come again to judge the quick and the dead, and to send one part of them into everlasting Torments, and to give the other Rewards infinite, for extent and duration. But this is not Popery, this is Christianity. Popery is a Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of our Lord, every day offered to God for the sins of the living and the dead. It is a new Jesus made of Bread, descending at all hours between the Hands of the Priest, which they adore as the great God. It is the Worship, and Invocation of a second sort of Mediator, and Intercessor, to whom they build Temples, erect Images, and Altars, to whose honour they Sacrifice Jesus Christ, by whose name they swear, to whom they make Vows, and in one word to whom they give all those divine Honours that are given to God himself. It is an intermediate state betwixt Heaven and Hell, called Purgatory, in which for a time Souls endure the pains of fire, and the torments of the damned; Purgatory which is the foundation of a thousand other Worships, Penances, Prayers for the dead, Masses, indulgences, Stations, Jubilees, Mortifications, and human satisfactions. To conclude, for I will nor say all, Popery is an institution of a new Head, and Spouse for the Church, into whole hands the Lord Jesus hath committed all his Authority, and Rights to pluck up, and to plant, to build, and to destroy, to bind and to lose, to make and unmake Kings, and to keep the Keys of Heaven and Hell. Behold what Popery is, and once more I will say, it is a prodigy that God should give us Scripture to instruct us in his Religion, and that he should not say one word of the greatest, and most considerable parts of it there. In the Name of God, my Brethren, be not taken in this unhappy snare, into which I perceive that some of you are fallen. The Scripture could not say all, say they, it hath left Commission to the Church to say the rest. Now is it possible that persons can permit themselves to be taken by so gross an illusion? If the thing under debate were small, peradventure it might be conceded, but it is about Adoration of the Sacrament, that is to say a piece of Bread, and giving religious Worship to Creatures, and Images. The thing debated is about Celebration of a Sacrifice, the most important thing in the World in Religion, yea about the Sacrificing of Christ himself, the greatest Sacrifice that can be imagined. And can it be believed that God will send us to Tradition concerning it. It is to have renounced all honesty to advance such a proposition, and to be credulous even to blindness, to believe it. Therefore if I can prove that the Scripture says nothing at all for the establishment of Popery, I have gained my Cause, at least for the first Age, in which I now am, and have proved sufficiently that Popery was then unknown. Let us proceed to some of its Articles.  
The Sacrifice of the Mass makes a great figure in the Roman Religion, and holds a principal place there. It is the Idol for which they have the greatest jealousy. We cannot better understand what hath been the Opinion, and Sentiment of the Church in all Ages, concerning it, than from the Ceremonies, Actions, and Words which have been practised in the Celebration of the Eucharist.  
To search the Sacrifice of the Mass in the Old Testament, as the Papists do, is an extravagance that hath no example, for the Old Testament speaks only of the Worship, and Ceremonies of the ancient Religion. To search it in other Texts of the New Testament, than those which teach us the manner of its Celebration, is to search it where naturally it ought not to be found. It is therefore precisely in the Institution of that Sacrifice that we must find the Nature of it. Now the Evangelists, and St. Paul tell us with one consent, that what Christ Jesus did in that memorable Action is there. The night in which he was betrayed, he took Bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his Disciples, saying take eat, this is my Body. Afterwards he took the Cup, blessed it also, and said this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood, which is shed for you, drink ye all of it, take, and divide it among yourselves, do this in remembrance of me. In fine they sung a Hymn, that certain Psalms according to the Custom of the Jews. They arose, and so the Ceremony was ended. On that, I beseech you my Brethren, call to witness the Consciences of your Persecutors, and Converters, and inquire a little of them, what there is in it, that can have any resemblance with the Mass? Where is the Gradual, the Introit, the Canon, the Ite, Missa est? But you will say these are but indifferent Ceremonies, which may be added. It is a great question whether they might be added, yea, or no. Nevertheless let us let that Point alone at present. Let them show you at lest what is essential therein. Where is the Oblation? Where is the Elevation? Where is the Adoration? Where is the Genuflection? Where is the Sacrifice, and presentation of the Victim? Jesus Christ took Bread, and gave it to his Disciples, saying this is my Body. In the Roman Church these words are not said to the Communicant, they are said at the Consecration, a long time before the Communion. Jesus Christ gave Bread to his Disciples to be eaten without Cremony, or Mystery. They were sitting, or rather lying upon Beds, at a Table, as the manner of the Ancients was. It was a prodigious stupidity in the Disciples not to cast themselves on the ground, and Adore the great Miracle of Transubstantiation, and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, lying hid under the Species of Bread and Wine, whilst they bore him in their own proper Hands. These ignorant persons so prone to admiration, who Adored Christ Jesus when he appeased a storm at Sea, which was an action assuredly, that a Spirit of a Nature infinitely inferior to God could do, would they not have Adored him, when he did a Work so great as the Creation of the World. But if the Disciples were so stupid as not to Adore this Mystery, would Jesus Christ be so negligent as to suffer them in this state of impiety and indevotion? It was that which the Disciples did, or rather did not do. Hath it any thing in Commune with the Service. of the Roman Church, with that Action by which the Host is lifted up that it may be Adored, with that Worship that all the World give to it, by kissing the ground at the sight thereof, with the Custom of carrying it in Pomp about the Streets that it may be Adored. Press your Converters, and inquire of them, did the Apostles Adore it? If they say yea, ask them why they continued sitting, and why they never said one word of it? If they confess that they did not Adore, ask them why they will constrain you to do it? Why do you desire that we should do more than the Apostles?  
And as to the Oblation and Sacrifice, where are they? The Oblation of the Victim cannot be made till after the Transubstantiation, after that the Body of Christ is made present by Consecration, after these words, This is my Body. Now after these words, Jesus Christ presented nothing to God, he presented to his Disciples, yea he did not pronounce those words, This is my Body, but as he was giving the Bread to his Disciples. The Oblation therefore is not necessary, the Sacrifice is not essential, for Christ Jesus did not practise it.  
Stay not there. Press these Doctors to tell you, whether Christ Sacrificed himself in the first Institution of the Sacrament of the Eucharist? You will see them perplexed, if they say that he Sacrificed himself. Ask them why he Sacrificed himself upon the Cross the next day? The first Sacrifice of his Body which he made by breaking the Bread, was it not Propitiatory for the sins of the Living and the Dead? Behold then the sins of Men expiated before his Death, and therefore there was no need of his Death to make that expiation. The Sacrifice of the Mass is at this day, says Monsieur de Meaux, a Sacrifice of Commemoration.  
Now the Sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered in the first: Eucharist was no Sacrifice of Commemoration, for we do not Commemorate a future event, and a thing which is not yet come to pass, so that the Sacrifice which is at this day made, is not the same thing with that which was made by Jesus Christ in the first Eucharist. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the Sacrifice of the Flesh of our Lord bruised, and his Blood poured out, but in the first Eucharist the Flesh of Christ was not broken, nor his blood spilt. So that Christ Sacrificed that which yet was not, and presented an Oblation under a relation under which he did not yet subsist. There be certainly a thousand absurdities in saying, that Jesus Christ Sacrificed himself in the first Eucharist, many Papists have acknowledged it. If your Converters have as much sincerity as many of their Doctors have had, to confess that Jesus Christ did not Sacrifice in the first Eucharist, demand of them by what right they Sacrifice at this day? For they ought not to do any more than Christ did. And he has not commanded them in saying do this, to do any thing but what he himself did. So that if he did not Sacrifice, he hath not commanded them to Sacrifice afterward. Therefore it ought to remain certain, that in the first Age the Sacrifice of the Mass as well as its Ceremonies were entirely unknown.  
As to what appertains to other Sacraments, as is that of Marriage and Penance, he must have a mind blinded by prejudice beyond all imagination to believe they may be found in the Scripture. Marriage and Penance are indeed found there, but there is not one word which does establish them as sacred Ceremonies designed to seal the Covenant of Grace, and to confer forgiveness of sins. Confirmation is found there, i. e. the custom of laying on of hands for the giving the Holy Spirit, and that of Anointing the Sick to recover them from Diseases. Some of the Proselytes of these Gentlemen make a great business of it, and have said to us, as a great reproach, that we have taken away Confirmation and Extreme Unction. It is a great pity that minds which seem enlightened, should stumble at trifles. And is it not clear, that this Imposition of Hands, and Extreme Unction was designed for doing of Miracles, which are long since ceased? But they say that the following Ages did nevertheless practise it. That we shall see afterward.  
The Invocation of the Holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relics, Adoring of Images, and the Service of Creatures in Popery, is an affair so considerable that it fills almost all. Nevertheless the Scripture of the New Testament says nothing of it. Nor is it possible, that Men well Educated can persuade themselves, that these are Apostolical Traditions, when we see not the least footsteps of them in the Writings of the Apostles. It is a blindness which cannot be understood. As to matter of Fact we can have no dispute with Papists concerning it. They must acknowledge that the Apostles, and Evangelists speak not one word, either of the Invocation of Saints and Angels, nor of the Veneration of Relics, nor of the Adoration of Images. As to matter of Right, if the Church has power to introduce these new Worships, let it be proved, and put past doubt and Controversy: for I do affirm that he must be smitten with a spirit of blockishness, that maintains that we may Religiously invoke creatures without the Authority of God, and order of his Apostles. Plainly it will be said, that the Apostles have appointed the Invocation of Saints; and that they themselves have practised it, but they have left nothing written concerning it. I do affirm, that he must have a Forehead made of Brass who shall say such a thing. And the new Converts, who can be persuaded of it, make no use of their reason. It will never enter into the mind of a reasonable Man, that the Apostles have appointed Invocation of Saints, and said nothing of it in their Writings.  
Purgatory, which they would have pass for a little thing, is nevertheless a very great one. For Prayers for the dead, public and private Masses, and almost all the Roman Worship is founded thereon. So that the Holy Spirit could not let it slip. If there be a Purgatory, it must be in the Scripture, or there is none.. I take it for granted, and 'tis to scoff People, to go search this pretended Fire, in the prison whence we must not go out till we have paid the utmost farthing, in the fire that ought to try all things at the end of the world, in the prison where are the Spirits to which Noah preached. If Heaven and Hell were no other ways revealed in the Scripture, the profane would have a fair opportunity to laugh at us.  
The Authority of the Pope is the last of those Articles of Popery that I have represented. 'Tis an Affair about which there can be no Controversy, which has any foundation in the World. Ask your Converters whereis the Pope in the Scriptures, they will quote to you the Words of Jesus Christ to S. Peter, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church. Call a Turk, a Jew, or any other Man, that hath common sense, and ask him, whether he sees therein, that God hath established a Man at Rome with full authority to guide the whole Church, to damn, to save, to judge of all Differences, to determine without Appeal, to excommunicate Kings, Princes and Sovereigns, he will believe you laugh him to scorn. The new Converts which see therein the Apostolic Chair from S. Peter to Innocent the Eleventh, have very good Eyes.  
I beseech you, my Brethren, take your Converters a little to those Texts of Scripture, where S. Paul enumerates the Officers of the Church. He has given some to be Pastors, Teachers, Apostles, Evangelists, Bishops, Deacons, Elders and Prophets; in those places where he declares the Duties of those who enjoy the Offices of the Church. Press them, say I, and demand of them, whether they dare say, that the Apostle hath omitted the first of all Offices, an Office alone in its kind infinitely superior to all others. Ask them if they do believe in good earnest, that S. Paul declared the Duties of Bishops in general, and that he said nothing for the Regulation of the Bishop of Bishops. I am persuaded, if you press them earnestly thereon, they will blush in your Faces.  
Behold, I do maintain, that I have said enough already for the History of the first Age. The silence of the Scripture about all the Articles of Popery is an indisputable proof, that then it was wholly unknown. But there is much more, you have an hundred positive Proofs, that then the Christian Religion was wholly opposite to Popery. Against the Real Presence you have all those Passages where the Eucharist is called Bread, and a Commemoration of the Death of our Lord; all those where 'tis said, our Lord is on high, and not here below. Against the Sacrifice of the Mass you have all the Epistle to the Hebrews. Against the Worship of Creatures you have the Decalogue, and a thousand other Commandments which do appoint, that you adore and invoke God alone. Against the taking away the Cup, and the Adoration of the Eucharist, you have the History of its Institution. Against Purgatory you have an hundred Texts which tell you, that after this life Believers go to Heaven. Against the Pope you have all those places, where our Lord, and the Apostles forbidden the Domination of Churchmen, both over their Flocks, and one another. This is not a place to engage in a long Controversy by the Scripture; we compose a History, not a Disputation. Know therefore historically, in the following Articles, what was the Primitive Christianity. Behold what was the form of the Apostolic Church.  
1. Christian's having as yet no Churches, assembled where they could for the Service of God; and it was almost always from House to House. This is apparent both in the History of the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles of S. Paul  
2. In the Assemblies they preached, and declared the Word of God. This is also certain, and read in divers Texts in the Book of the Acts.  
3 They broke Bread from House to House, the Sacred Scripture says so expressly, that is to say, they had no Altars, Pattens, Communion-Cloaths, or holy Habits to remove from place to place. The Mysteries were celebrated in a perfect Simplicity.  
4. Ordinarily the Sacrament was celebrated at ordinary and sober Meals, where Christians came by invitation. About the end of the Meal they broke Bread, precisely with those Ceremonies which S. Paul describes in 1 Cor. 11.  
5. The Sacrament of Baptism was also administered with the same simplicity, they contented themselves with dipping persons in Water, with the Invocation of the adorable Trinity. As is seen in all the Baptisms spoken of in the Book of the Acts.  
6. It had been an Abomination to have seen Images. And those which have the confidence to show at this day Images, as made by S. Luke, and from the time of the Apostles, are impudent beyond all imagination. Although these Images should be things indifferent in Religion, how is it that the Apostles should scandalise the Jews, who had Images in that horror, that they broke in pieces the Ensigns of the Roman Emperors. How is it, that the Jews, which sought pretences against S. Paul to destroy him, as an Apostate, and Violater of the Law, never objected to him, that he proposed Images to be adored?  
7. In the Holy Places there was no Altar, but to consecrate, and communicate they served themselves of the first Table that came to hand, they sprinkled no Holy Water on those that entered their Churches, they made no Sign of the Cross in the Celebration of the Mysteries.  
8. They spoke and Preached in a Language understood by all the world; they officiated in Greek throughout all Greece, in Latin at Rome, and in all the West to every one according to their Language.  
9 They gave the Communion to all under both kinds.  
10. Celebration without Communicants was a thing altogether unknown; for the Eucharist was called a Supper or common Meal. Now a Meal where one Man drinks and eats alone was never called a Supper, or common Repast.  
11. The Pastors were equal amongst themselves. Not to enter into the Controversy about the Difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter, which is not at all necessary for you. It is certain, that all the Bishops of different Churches were all equal among themselves.  
If we falsify in any of these Articles, your Converters shall do well to shame us; but they will be obliged to do it by Holy Scripture. For they and you must remember, that we are upon the History, and that we follow the Ages in their order; and so it's necessary, that in the first Age they show us all by the Writers of that Age, which are the Apostles and their Disciples.  
Seeing it is not at all in our Design to make a Treatise of Controversy upon the first Age, no more than on those that follow, this is sufficient for its History, and we must pass to the second. But forasmuch as we cannot, at the present, go very far in the second Age, we will delay the History thereof to a following Letter, and we will finish this with some Letters of our Confessors, where you will see the Character of true Christianity, and Martyrs; you have already seen one Letter of a famous Confessor, behold another of the same Author. You will understand the Loveliness of this second Letter the better by reading that which was the occasion thereof, which was an Answer to the first. And therefore you shall have them both here.  
May 27, 1686. To our Dear Brother Monsieur de M— Confessor, and Martyr of Jesus Christ, condemned to the Galleys at the Tournelle.  
I Have received your Letter, my dear Brother, dated from the Tournelle. It hath caused me more joy than if I had received one from the Palace at Versailles, or Lovure, written by the Hand of the greatest King in the World. You do me much greater Honour than I do deserve, to choose me to whom you may impart the glorious advantages that God bestows upon you. Another, it may be, would answer by condoling, and complaining of the Evils that you suffer. But as for me, God forbidden, that I should look upon you as unhappy. Your state is worthy of Envy, your Chains are heavy, and your Irons shameful, according to the opinion of the world; and if you bore them with any other Spirit than you do, I should complain thereof. But with the Courage and Piety, which you seem to me to have, I do not believe, that there is a person in the world more happy, and more glorious. The Yoke of Christ is heavy to the Men of the World which are weak; but it is sweet and easy to faithful Souls that bear it with patience. Your Sentiments and Dispositions are Christian, my dear Brother, and worthy of emulation, but beware of one thing, that is Pride. If you continue this glorious Work as you have begun it, your name will be put in the Catalogue of holy Martyrs, whose names yet live laden with Blessings. God will distinguish you in his Rewards, you shall be with Jesus Christ amongst the first raised from the dead, which shall judge others. But attribute the Courage that you have to the Grace of God, which works this great Work in you, so worthy of admiration. Alas, we have seen pillars broken by the wind of Temptation, Men fall unhappily, which we had called the Successors of the Martyrs, but which have been found Successors to Peter, who through weakness denied his Master. Who is it that hath sustained you among so many Falls, but the Hand of the Almighty God, who supports whom he pleaseth, and permits to fall whom he will by the ununsearchableness of his Judgements? What an Honour is it, my dear Brother, to have been willing to choose you, and make you an example of that holy perseverance which is so rare at this day. Be of good courage in the name of our great God, and most compassionate Saviour Jesus Christ, and remember, my dear Brother, that you suffer for him who suffered for you, and render to him that which you have received from him. Remember that the loving Saviour offers you a Crown at the end of you Race, and that he says to you, Soldier of Jesus Christ be of good courage, Fight the good fight, he which overcomes, I will cause to sit down on my throne, as I also have overcome, and am set down with my father in his throne. Remember, that the Angels, are at present, Spectators of your Combat, that they wait the issue, and that they prepare a place for your holy Soul in their holy Society. Either you will continue in these Torments, or you will surmount and escape them. If this last happens, as I very much hope, how glorious will you be among your Brethren! You will have right to say as S. Paul, Let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks, and scars of our Lord Jesus. We shall kiss your wounds, and we shall behold you with envy and admiration. If you lose your life in your slavery and pains, God will prepare for you in the Heavens a Glory distinct from others; for you must believe the Crown of Martyrs is more rich, and illustrious than that of ordinary Believers. Say them, All things well considered, this light and transient Affliction is not worthy to be compared to the Glory which is to come, and which shall be revealed in me. Would to God I could depaint before you the Glory of Heaven, the Joy of Souls which see God and possess him, the Satisfaction of the Blessed, which are plunged in an Ocean of Delights, the Transports of Saints, which embrace their Divine Saviour, which are in the glorious Society of the Patriarches, which sing the Praises of God with Angels, and are full of Joy, which exceeds all understanding! In the name of God, dear Brother, lift up your eyes that way, and let that grand object support you.  
Take heed of the perilous Temptations, to which the World, and your own Heart may expose you. 1. Your Heart may peradventure say, the Difference which is between the Roman Religion and mine is so little, that 'tis not worth the while to suffer Martyrdom for it. Say thereon, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me. Rome is that spiritual Babylon, concerning which, God has said, Go out of her my people. The Church of Rome is the Court trod under foot by the Gentiles for the space of twelve hundred and sixty days. The Papists are the Gentiles, which tread under foot the Church of God, and oppress it; their Images are the Idols of the ancient Pagans, and their Saints are in the place of the false Gods of Antiquity. The Sacrament which they appoint to be adored, is an Idol which cannot be adored, without stirring up the holy Jealousy of the true Jesus Christ. Remember, my dear Brother, that our Truths are not less important than they were an hundred and fifty years ago, when our Fathers went joyfully to death, in defence of them. They deserved that they should die for them then, they deserve that we should suffer for them at this day.  
Take head of another very grievous Temptation. Your Heart will say, What, must I condemn to Hell all those persons that have fallen through weakness, which go to Mass by constraint? Without doubt God will show them mercy, and save them. He will do the same by me, I will follow their example, I shall have the same lot with them. To that, remember the Precept of Jesus Christ, Judge not that ye be not judged. Leave the Brethren that are fallen to the Judgement of God. We do hope that God will show them mercy, that is to say, that he will give them Repentance of their great fault; but in the name of God, be not tempted to imitate them. Is it not certain, that the state in which they are, is at least doubtful? And is not yours certain? Will it not be then a madness to quit a state, and way which certainly leads you to the Greatest Glory of Paradise, to put yourself in a way which may lead you to ruin and damnation; this is the best that you can think of it. Moreover, my dear Brother, you ought to remember, that where much hath been given, much will be required, the Favours which God hath bestowed upon you hitherto are so great, that you can never make sufficient acknowledgements for them. He hath given you a courage and resolution that hath few Examples. Oh! how precious is the Talon that you have received? But also how faulty will your laziness be if you go dig and hid it? When a person falls at the beginning of his Race, it will be said he was not fit for so long a Course, and Men will excuse him. But if he run vigorously within two steps of the end, and having his hand already upon the Crown, lets it go, and loses it, all Men will blame him, and treat him as wretched, and slothful. Run you therefore the race that is set before you with patience, and perseverance, seeing you are encompassed with so great a Cloud of Witnesses. Look to that Cloud of holy Martyrs of Jesus Christ, which have gone before you, which have been Burnt, Tortured, torn with Pincers, sometimes whole years together, which have seen their Bowels fall out in the Fire before they gave up the Ghost. The Chain which you wear about your neck is fifty pounds, but it is more supportable than flames of Fire. Say therefore, We have not yet resisted unto blood fight against sin. How glorious is the Chain that you bear about your neck! It is more precious than if it were of Gold and Diamonds. Being coloured with your sweat, and sometimes with your blood, it may one day prove, (if it pleases God) the most precious of your moveables, and you will say, behold there the Carcanet, and Collar that my Divine Spouse hath given me. Behold the Nuptial Jewel wherewith he hath honoured me. He hath done me the honour to make me conformable to him in his Sufferings, that I may be conformable to him in his Glory.  
In the name of God, my dear Brother, do not suffer yourself to be softened by the memory of your Wife and Children. God who is rich in Mercy, the Father of the Fatherless, and Husband of the Widow, will take care of her and them, and not leave them without all Consolation. He that loves Father or Mother, Wife or Children, more than me, is not worthy of me. We ought not to love any thing but God, and for the love of God, this good God will be to us in the stead of all things, and will comfort us effectually. The moment of time in which you leave the Prison, to go to the Galleys, to which you are designed, will be a terrible moment to you; but in the name of God fortify yourself against the horrors of it, and say, I follow Jesus Christ my Saviour, he went forth of the Judgment-Hall bearing his Cross, and I go out of my Prison bearing my Chains. I shall arrive at my Calvary, but I shall also arrive at the Mount of Olives, at the Mountain, of Peace, and at last I shall ascend up into Heaven to my God, and dear Redeemer. In your Journey you will bear your Chain by the Roads, but it will sparkle with glory, and whereas the shame and infamy wherewithal Galleyslaves are laden, is usually the heaviest part of their burden, on the contrary you will be laden with glory, and your Enemies themselves will admire you. I praise God for the moderation with which you speak of your Persecutors, therein I observe a proof that you are a true Martyr of Jesus Christ. Continue to bless, and pray to God for them. When Men suffer for an ill Cause, it is always with impatience, and fury against those that are the cause thereof. But the true Religion inspires this spirit of sweetness and kindness. So that without going further than your own Heart, you may there find evidences of the truth of the Religion that you defend. Call to mind our glorious Ancestors, and their Sufferings, and say, they were not Fools, and desperate persons, when they sufiered for the same Truths that I defend. On the contrary, they were full of Piety, good Understanding, and Zeal. I will therefore imitate them, and not be troubled at the Judgement that the Men of the World shall make concerning it. Endeavour to get a Bible, or a New Testament, it matters not what Translation it be, it will be always sufficient for your Consolation. If this Letter come to your hands, inform me, if possible, where your dear Wife is, to the end that I may comfort her. She it a good Woman, and I have always esteemed and loved her, and I hope God will have pity on her. Farewell my dear Brother. Mademoiselle de P— your Sister, is well. I communicated to her your Letter for her Consolation. Do not fear lest we should forget you in our Prayers. Do not forget us in yours. Pray to God to preserve this small Country, in which there are so many of his Children. Your Prayers proceeding out of Irons will be more effectual than ours. The Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Amen.  
From the Tournelle, July 2. 1687.  
I Have received that which you did me the honour to write, it hath been a great Consolation to me, and I did not expect less from so faithful a servant of God as you are. It hath not only edified and confirmed me, but it may produce the same effect upon some few others to whom we have thought fit to communicate it. I have not the satisfaction to read it, as often as I have desired, and do yet desire. I have not read, it but in secret, because of the difficulty of getting any thing from abroad without the knowledge of our Guards. I return you thanks for the care you have had of representing so much to the life, what I ought to fear, and hope, in the condition and state wherein I am. I had already form to myself Ideas sufficiently clear of those things, and thanks be to God, your good advice hath impressed them more strongly upon my Heart, so that I have reason to hope, that with help from on high, God will finish that good Work that he hath begun in me, and that my Sufferings shall end in his Glory, my own Salvation, and the Edification of my Brethren. When I make reflection upon the merciful conduct, of God towards me, I am ravished in admiration thereof, and cannot find words sufficient to testify my sense of them, and my acknowledgement for them. There are few Prayers that I make which are not accompanied with tears of joy, when I make mention of them. As soon as our Churches were shut up in the Province where I lived, and that precious liberty lost, which now we breathe after, God put it into my Heart to go and search it at Lixim, where yet they did enjoy it, and a few days after we were deprived of it there, as well as elsewhere; without staggering I put myself to find it among Strangers, forsaking with courage and joy, all the accommodations of Life which we enjoyed in France. In these Travels, and in the different Prisons, and Dungeons, through which the providence of God led me, I have been preserved from violent temptations, which have made almost all our Brethren fall, and which would not have failed to have born me down with the first. For the imprisonments that I have suffered this day seven months complete, are a small matter in comparison of those terrible trials, and nevertheless I have not been without giving some marks of my weakness. The tears of a Wife, and Family which are dear to me, and which could not shake me at Strasburgh, joined to those of two Brothers-in-law, which came to see me at Chalons, prevailed with me to accept certain propositions, which were made to me by two persons the most considerable of that Province; but a few days after God having showed me my fault, and presented me an occasion to repair it, I embraced it with Zeal, Joy, and Tears, and the Father of Mercies, that knows how to bring light out of darkness, made use of my infirmities to give me that vigour and firmness that I have had ever since. This gives me ground to hope that he will continue this favour to me to the end, and that he will always proportion his Gifts and Graces to the trials whereunto he shall please to expose me; for that which was done not being executed, other offers were afterwards made unto me, which touched me less than the former, and I rejected them without any deliberation; wherewithal they were so provoked, that on the morrow I was put in the Dungeon. Thirteen days before my Condemnation, being in the Prison at Paris, one of my friends, Tutor to the Children of the King, and Madam de Mortespan, with his Majesty's leave came to see me; he proposed to me, that I should go eight or ten months to the Bishop de Meaux to be instructed (so they speak here.) I soon returned him thanks, and assured him, that time was not capable of changing my Illuminations and Persuasions, and that I did believe, that Monsieur de Meaux would give me no more satisfaction than other ecclesiastics that I had seen. It is about eight days since that M. Morel le  Partisan sent me word, that he would take me out of my Chains on the morrow, if I would take time, and that undetermined, faithfully to employ for my Instruction, and did assure me, that the promise that should be made me should be faithfully observed. 'Twas Le— which spoke to me in his Name. I prayed him to go quickly and tell M. Morel, that I was sensibly affected with the kindness that he testified towards me, and that I made him all the acknowledgements imaginable, and gave him my humble thanks; but I was resolved to expiate my fault, by suffering the penalties to which I was condemned. I give you this particular account of things M. that you may know the Disposition of my Soul. The manner after which I suffer, and the bright side on which God causes me to behold all my Evils, persuade me, that he will do me the favour to be faithful to him even to the death. I do not fix my consideration on the estate; in which I am, which is much more uneasy to all those that see it, than to myself. I carry it only to those Recompenses that God has promised to those that fear his Name. I am certain that the light Afflictions wherewithal he is pleased to visit me, will produce in me, according to his promises, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. I comfort myself on this, that the Sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us.  
I assure myself of what S. James says, Blessed is he that endureth temptation when he is tried, for he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to those that love him. I rejoice in this, that our Saviour declares them happy that suffer for Righteousness sake. M. I make all my Glory and all my happiness to consist in this, that my Saviour has not thought me unworthy to suffer shame for his Name. I support myself on the Rock of Ages, I put my whole trust in him, I expect no succour or assistance but from him alone. Upon a Foundation so solid, I promise myself that nothing shall be able to shake me, at present he makes me feel the effects of a singular goodness, in the midst of wicked Passengers, which it pleases him that I suffer, he makes me to taste the sweetness of true and solid good, he fills my soul with that joy unspeakable and glorious, which surpasses all understanding, he fills me with that hope by which he hath sustained all the happy Confessors of his Truth, and by which I hope he will sustain me, as well as they. My principal study is to disengage myself from Earth, to conceive a disgust for the World, and an ardent desire for Heaven. This, Monsieur, is my ordinary employment, as far as the infamous place where I am imprisoned will permit it. I call it infamous, because one never hears an honest word there, all rings and sounds again with filthiness and execrable Blasphemies. There is such a noise for the most part night and day, that I have scarcely found heretofore one happy moment to lift up my Heart to God. I have been so oppressed with sleep that I have oftentimes fell under it before I finished my Prayers, when I awake at three or four in the morning, I endeavour to sleep no more, to the end that whilst we are a little at roast, I may with some attention perform my Devotions to God. I have had more liberty for ten or twelve days, for when the weather is fair they let the Prisoners go forth, and keep them in a Court all the day, unless it be six which they keep enclosed. I employ one part of this time in Reading, Meditation, and Prayer, and I take the liberty to sing some Psalms, as I have done in all the places of my Captivity, and no body hath complained thereof. Behold in two words an abridgement of our misery. We lie three and fifty of us in a place which is not above five fathom in length, and one and a half in breadth. There lies on my right side a Countryman sick, with his Head at my feet, and his Feet at my Head, and so it is with others. There is not it may be one among us, which do not envy the condition of many Dogs and Horses. This makes us all wish that the Prisoners may soon departed, but that is a secret that must not be told us; but as far as we can judge, they will departed the next week. There were 95 of us yesterday condemned, but there died two on that day, and one on this, and we have yet 15 or 16 sick, and there be few escape. I have had five fits of a Tertian Ague, but God bethanked I am very well recovered, and prepared to take my Journey to Marseilles. We shall take in Burgundy some of our Brethren, which are in Prison for the same reason with myself, who am the first that have had the honour to be Condemned by the Parliament of Paris. There remains no more, Monsieur, but that I entreat you to continue▪ to me the assistance of your Holy Prayers. I desire the same favour of Mademoiselle your Wife, whom (with your leave) I do here assure of my respect. Obtain for me, if you please, the same advantage from those Frenchmen of your acquaintance, which God doth admit to your Holy Assemblies. Monsieur M— arrived yesterday, but I have not yet had the honour to see him. Not having the liberty to write to my Sister, nor my Nephew her Son, I must be content here to give them my Salutations. I do not write this, but in great uncertainty whether it can go hence. If your great employment will permit you to give some Consolation to my Wife and Children, as you have made me hope, and she expects with a great deal of joy, I entreat you do it. You may well imagine that our separation will be a thing terrible to us all, and above all to her. Before I received your Letter, I did nor forget in my Prayers those things which you recommended to me. I pray God encompass you about with his protection, and preserve you many years to labour profitably in his Vineyard.  
N●●●mber 1. 1686.    

The SIXTH PASTORAL LETTER. WHAT WAS The Form of Christianity in the second Age.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Soviour Jesus Christ.  
WHereas many things worthy of your Curiosity, and proper to nourish your Piety, have been communicated to us by many of our Brethren, we have been tempted (for a few months) to communicate them to you at this time. But in conclusion we have chosen to satisfy the impatience of those, which are willing to see what we have to teach them, concerning the Christianity of the second Age. We remit therefore to the following Letters, that which we do not do in this, and we do promise those that have sent us any Memorials touching our Martyrs and Confessors, to enter them afterward in this Work, according as we shall find place and occasion therein.  

The second Age of the Church.  
WE must consider, first of all, the manner wherein they did Celebrate the Sacraments, and thereby we shall learn what Opinion they had of them.  
They were Celebrated as yet with great Simplicity in the second Age. Behold that which Justin Martyr says, concerning the manner of Administering Baptism. We will here Expound after what manner we Dedicate ourselves to Jesus Christ, fearing lest if we pass over any thing concerning it, we should be suspected of malignity and dissimulation. All those therefore, which are persuaded of the truth of our Doctrine, and promise to live according to our Rules and Laws, are commanded to Pray, to Fast, and beg the forgiveness of their sins, and we Pray and Fast with them. After that we lead them to a place where there is Water, and we Regenerate them after the same manner which we ourselves were Regenerated: for we Wash, or Baptism them in the Name of the Author of all things, of the Lord God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. Hitherunto we see nothing changed from the Apostolic Form. There is neither sign of the Cross, nor Exorcism, nor Salt, nor Spittle, nor nothing of that, which is at this day practised in Baptism.  
Behold after what manner the Mystery of the Eucharist was Celebrated in the same Age, according to the Testimony of the same Author, and in the same place. After, says he, we have Baptised after the same manner, him that doth believe, we conduct him to the place where are those Believers that are called Brethren, which are assembled on purpose to Pray earnestly to God, both for themselves, and for him that hath been illuminated or Baptised, and for all others in all places, to the end that we may be worthy to be found Disciples to the Truth, and Observers of those things that are commanded, and to converse in all good Works, for the obtaining of eternal Salvation. When Prayers are ended, we mutually Salute each other by a Kiss. After that they present to him of the Brethren which doth preside, Bread, and a Cup of Wine mingled with Water: he takes it, and pronounces over it praises to the Father of all things, in the Name of the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. Afterwards he enlarges much in Praises, for that it hath pleased him to give us these things. And when he hath finished his Prayers, and Praises, the people that are present, concur by their acclamations, saying Amen. Now Amen in the Hebrew Language signifies so be it. When the Precedent hath finished his Praises, and Thanksgivings, and the people have said Amen, those which amongst ourselves we call Deacons, distribute to every one, that are present, of this Bread that hath been blest, and of this Wine and Water, and they carry thereof to the absent. And this Aliment is called among us the Eucharist. It is not permitted to any one to eat thereof, unless he receive our Doctrine as true, and hath been partaker in the washing of Regeneration for the remission of sins, and lives according to the appointment, and Laws of Christ Jesus. To conclude, we do not receive this Bread as common Bread, nor this Drink as common Drink. But as by the word of God Jesus Christ our Saviour was made Flesh, and took Flesh and Blood for our Salvation: So we have been taught that this Aliment upon which have been pronounced Praises and Thanksgivings, are the Flesh and Blood of that Jesus that was made Flesh. Behold what was the Worship of the Ancients, and the Ceremonies with which they Celebrated their Mysteries. 

1. They caused him that was to be Baptised to confess and own the Name of Jesus Christ, and his Doctrine.  
2. They obliged him to Fast and Pray, and they Fasted and Prayed with him.  
3. After that they carried him into a place in which there was Water appointed for Baptism.  
4. The place was separate, because then Baptism was performed by immersion, and that they might not expose the Nakedness of Men and Women to the view of other Believers.  
5. He that was Baptised, was plunged in the Water, and they pronounced over him the Invocation of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, i.e. they Baptised him in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  
6. Afterwards they brought him back to the full Assembly, and there he was gathered, and received into the number of the Faithful.  
7. All the Assembly continued their Prayers, in which they Prayed for the Church, for the person Baptised, for the Powers in general, and in particular.  
8. When Prayers were ended, they prepared themselves for the Communion by a Kiss of Charity, which they mutually gave each other.  
9 They presented to the Precedent, and to him that had Prayed, common Bread, made after the ordinary manner, and a Cup in which there was Wine mingled with Water.  
10. The Precedent uttered, or pronounced some Prayers to the Glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  
11. He adds some Prayers, and Thanksgivings to God, that he hath been pleased to give to us the precious Gift of the Flesh, and Blood, of his Son at the Holy Table.  
12. When he finished his Prayers, all the people said Amen.  
13. In consequence whereunto the Deacons distributed to the People the Bread and Wine that had been Consecrated by Prayer.  
14. They carried it to the absent, they Collected the Alms of the People, they dismissed the Assembly, and finished the business and exercise.    
Observe first that which seems added to the Practice of the Apostles. 

1. They mingled Water with their Wine. We do not observe, that it was either Practised by the Apostolic Church, or that any such thing was appointed by them.  
2. They carried the Consecrated Bread to the absent.   It doth not appear that this was Practised in the first Age. These are indeed small changes, but nevertheless they ought to be observed, for the better knowledge of those that followed. But on the other side observe that we see not here, 

1. Either Oblation or Sacrifice.  
2. He speaks nothing of any Altar.  
3. That there was no Elevation made.  
4. That no signs of the Cross were seen there.  
5. That no Prayers were made but to God, and no Intercessions made use of but those of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.  
6. That he speaks nothing of Adoration.  
7. That it doth not appear that they Communicated upon their Knees.  
8. That they gave to the People the Communion under both Kind's.  
9 That the Service was performed in a Language understood by the People, for they answered Amen to the Thanksgivings.  
10. That all that were present did partake in the Mysteries, and not the Priest only.    
We Conjure you, my Brethren, to give attention to all this, and so if there be any thing therein that hath the least taste, or savour of Sacrifice. What a prodigious change must have happened since that time, to compose and frame such a Worship as they call the Mass, where a Priest covered with extravagant Garments, (which they say are Mysterious) heaps one upon another, in a Language that the People do not understand, a multitude of Prayers, some good, and some bad, all without order, and without reason, make Oblations, signs of the Cross, Elevations, where the people Adore, and Prostrate themselves before the Sacrament when it is lifted up, where the Priest eats alone, after he hath made a hundred Ceremonies on the Bread and Wine, Ceremonies that signify nothing, but render the Celebration of the Mystery ridiculous. Do not insist pertinaciously on what remains, (viz.) That Justin Martyr calls the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament, the Flesh and Blood of Christ Jesus. So we call them ourselves, and so have the Writers of all Ages called them. So our Lord Jesus, and S. Paul calls them. And it signifies no more in Justin Martyr, than those words of our Saviour, This bread is my body, this cup is my blood. Theophilus of Antioch, who lived in the same Age with Justin Martyr, acknowledges, that 'tis a Denomination, not a Transmutation. When Jesus Christ, saith he, said, This is my body, he called his Body Bread, which is made of many Grains. 'Tis not common Bread, saith Justin Martyr, 'tis the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ. But 'tis such Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, as nourisheth our Flesh and Blood, according to him. That is to say, which is changed into our bodily Nourishment, and passes through our Veins. Now no Man ever believed, or can believe, that the true Flesh of Christ passes into the Nourishment of our Members. The same Justin which calls the Eucharist Flesh and Blood, calls it Bread and Wine after the Consecration, and at the time of the Distribution. They give, says he, to all those that are present, Bread and Wine, over which Praises and Thanksgivings have been made. Because he hath said, that 'tis not common Bread, we must not conclude, that 'tis not Bread at all, if it be not thought fit, that we say a great Man is no Man, because it hath been said, that he is no ordinary or common Man.  
I must also give you notice in this place, my Brethren, that you beware of a snare, that they compose or make of several Passages of the Fathers of this Age, where they make you read the words Altar, Oblation, and Sacrifice on the Subject of the Eucharist, and by these Words and Terms, they endeavour to persuade you, that the Sacrifice of the Mass was then known. The word Altar is not found in the Authors of the second Age, whose Writings are indisputable. 'Tis found in the Canons attributed to the Apostles, and in the Epistles of S. Ignatius. But 'tis known, that their Writings are not owned by all the World. Nevertheless I am inclined to believe, that from that time they called the Table of the Eucharist Altar. For why should they make any scruple of using the word Altar, seeing they made use of the words Oblation, and Sacrifice when they spoke of this Sacrament?  
But you must know, 

1. That 'twas an Innovation in the Terms, and that in the Writings of the Apostles, you never find the words Altar, Oblation or Sacrifice on that Subject. Read the History of the Institution of the Eucharist, the Acts of the Apostles, where the breaking of bread is often spoken of, that is, the Celebration of the Sacrament of the Supper. Read the tenth and eleventh Chapters of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, where much is said of this Sacrament; you do not see these Terms there.  
2. You must know, that these terms Altar, Oblation and Sacrifice took their originals from the custom that Christians had in those times of bringing their Offerings of Bread and Wine, and other things necessary for the Service of the Church, and the maintenance of its Pastors, and setting them as an Offering to God on the Communion Table. Yea, they offered them to God by certain Prayers, the Forms whereof are still found in the ancient Liturgies.  
3 To conclude, you ought to hold for certain, that these Oblations, these Sacrifices, etc.   of the second Age, had no relation to the consecrated Signs or Elements. For no Oblation was made to God of the Signs or Elements of Bread, or Wine after their Consecration. Observe that in the passage of Justin Martyr, immediately after the Consecration of Bread and Wine, the distribution was made, and no Oblation between them. And for an undoubted proof thereof, observe, that they are the Believers that make these Oblations, and not the Priests alone. Hear S. Clement Romanus, the Disciple and Companion of S. Paul: Those, says he, who make their Oblations at appointed times are acceptable, and happy; for in following the Commandments of God they commit no sin. By this we do not intent to affirm, that afterwards the Priest don't bless these Oblations, and present them to God. But learn from S. Ireneus what's understood by these Oblations, and what they were: Jesus Christ, says he, hath given advice to his Disciples to offer to God the first Fruits of his Creatures, not that he hath any need of them, with respect to himself, but to the end they might not appear with respect to themselves, ungrateful and unfruitful, he took Bread, which is a Creature, and gave thanks thereon, saying, This is my body, etc. And he hath taught us a new Oblation of the New Testament, which the Church receiving from the Apostles, offer, as the first Fruits of his Gifts to God, which gives us food and nourishment. You very well see, that the Church offers not Jesus Christ the Creator to God, but Bread which is the first Fruits of his Creation. You see well that this Oblation is presented to God as a Thanksgiving, because he has given us the Nourishments of Bread and Wine, and not transubstantiated Bread, for a propitiatory Sacrifice. Hear how he speaks yet of these Oblations: They are not Sacrifices, that sanctify the Man, but it is the Conscience of him that offers, sanctifies the Sacrifice, etc. seeing then that the Church offers with simplicity, 'tis but Justice that its Oblation pass for a pure Sacrifice before God. Behold an undoubted Blasphemy, according to the Principles of Popery. The Eucharist is a Sacrifice, but the Sacrifice of the Body of Jesus Christ doth not sanctify the Man: on the contrary, 'tis the Conscience of him that offers, who sanctifies the Sacrifice of the Body of our Lord in the Mass. There is, say I, a Blasphemy in all shapes and forms. Acknowledge therefore, that nothing is debated there, but the Offerings that Believers set upon the holy Table. And that ye may have a perfect knowledge of what was then done in the Celebration of the holy Supper; add from S. Clement and S. Ireneus, that which was wanting in S. Justin: 

1. 'Tis the Believers brought Bread, Wine, Wax, Oil and other things necessary in the Church. And as for Fruits and Animals, Apples and Pulse necessary for the maintenance of life, they carried them to the Bishop's House.  
2. These things set upon the Table were consecrated to God by Prayer.  
3. Of the Bread and Wine which had been thus offered, they took one part for the Celebration of the Eucharist, and the rest was spent by the Ministers of the Church, and divided among them for their support and maintenance.   Behold the only Oblation that was then made, and 'tis nothing: nevertheless from thence is come an Innovation in the Terms, and from thence insensibly is come the Sacrifice of the Mass. Behold the meaning of the third, the fourth and the fifth Canons attributed to the Apostles. The third forbids, that they present upon the Altar Hony, Milk, Birds, Beasts and Pulse. The second permits to offer Ears of Corn, Raisins, Oil for the Lights, and Incense. And the fifth ordains, that they carry their Fruits to the Bishops, and Presbyters, to be distributed among them, and their Deacons. In the Margin of these Canons the Roman Doctors set these Words, The Sacrifice of the Mass appointed by our Lord. What shameless Foreheads have they? Do Men sacrifice Oil, and Incense in the Sacrifice of the Mass?  
In the second Age, where we now are, nothing is found of that which is called Confirmation, which is one of the Popish Sacraments. But it doth not appear, that the Primitive Christians, even to the end of the second Age, did employ any Unction for the giving the Holy Spirit, and for the Confirmation of those that had been baptised. 'Tis true, they imposed Hands on those that were baptised, both before their Baptism, and it may be after. But it is ridiculous to make a Sacrament of this Imposition of Hands. Concerning which, my Brethren, you ought to know, 

1. That Imposition of Hands is a Ceremony descended from the Jews; our Lord approved and practised it; for which reason he laid hands on all the Children they brought to him, when he blessed them.  
2. You ought to be advertised, that Imposition of Hands was an Appendage of Prayer, and that they served themselves of that Ceremony, as often as they would implore the extraordinary assistance of God upon any one.   When any one was sick, they prayed and laid their hands on them. When any one was reconciled to the Church, they begged of God pardon of sins for him, laying their hands on him. When any one was admitted to a public Office, they prayed to obtain that assistance that was necessary for him, and laid on him their hands. When they sent any one upon a difficult Commission, they laid hands on him, and prayed, as may be seen in▪ Acts 13. The fathers after they had fasted and prayed, laid hands on Paul and Barnabas; to the end they might go preach the Gospel amongst the Gentiles. They were already Presbyters, and had received Mission from God and the Church. When they married, they received also Prayer, and the Benediction of the Church with Imposition of Hands annexed unto it. 'Tis a prodigious Blindness, to make of these differing Impositions of Hands, so many Sacraments. I should as soon choose, or rather sooner choose, to make of these differing Prayers, which were made on sundry occasions, so many Sacraments. For 'tis certain, that Prayer over the baptised, the penitent, the sick, those that took Office, those that were sent on Commission, those that were married, was the chief of the Action, and Imposition of Hands was but a decent Gesture and a Rite; which signified, that they desired the Grace of God and his assistance on the person that was concerned therein. 'Tis a pitiful thing, that Men lay hold always on the Skin, and meddle not with the Marrow, and if the principal Action be accompanied with some little Ceremony, which is but accessary, the love of that which is external, and easy to practise, presently changes the principal into accessary, and the accessary into principal. Bowing the Knee and Imposition of Hands are two Rites of the same kind, and of the same necessity. To bend the Knee, and lift up the Hands, have been two signs, which almost always accompanied Prayer, the first signifies the Humiliation of the Spirit; the second the Elevation of the Heart; and when this Elevation of the Hands is made on the Head of any one, 'tis to signify, that the Heart lifts up itself according to the desire, and intention of him, over whom they lift up their hands. Behold the whole Mystery of this Ceremony, whereof they have made four or five Sacraments. And 'tis the first original of the Sacrament of Confirmation, of Penance, of Marriage, of Orders, and of Extreme Unction. If the Humour of Popery and Superstition had turned on the other hand, we had had, it may be, fourteen Sacraments instead of seven. For of the Genuflection, which is made in praying for the whole and sound, of that which is made in praying for the sick, for hardened Sinners, and for those that are penitent, etc. Of these Genuflections, say I, they might have made as many Sacraments with as much reason as they have made five Sacraments of the five Orders of Prayers, to which Imposition of Hands has been annexed. Let this serve, my Brethren, to make you understand, that nothing is more absurd, that to make a Sacrament of Confirmation, because in the first and second Age they laid hands on those which had been baptised. The Apostles practised it also because they had power to obtain the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost for those which had received Baptism. The Bishops affirming themselves Succession of the Apostles, appropriated to themselves afterward a Ceremony which became vain and empty, because they had not the power to cause the Holy Ghost to descend upon those on whom they laid hands. Jesus Christ laid hands not only on Children brought to him, but also on the sick, as it appears in the Gospel of S. Mark 
* Mark 6.5.8.13. , and that of S. Luke 
† Luke 4.40. . When he healed the Woman that had been bowed together during the space of eighteen years, he also 
‖ Luke 13.13.  laid his Hands upon her. When 
* Act. 9.17.  Ananias would give sight to Saul, he laid his hands on him. When S. Paul would heal the Father of Publius, Prince of Malta, of his Fever and Bloody Flux, he laid his hands on him. To conclude, a Man must have a Spirit prejudiced beyond all that can be imagined, not to see, that Imposition of Hands is a simple Ceremony annexed to Prayer.  
Concerning Extreme Unction, i. e. the Ceremony of anointing the dying to obtain for them Vigour and Strength, necessary to overcome death; 'tis that whereof there is not found the least footstep in all the Authors of this second Age. We do not doubt at all, but that they did serve themselves of that Unction of which the Evangelist and Apostle speak, an Unction wherewith they served themselves for the miraculous Cure of Diseases. As in the second and third Ages there continued in the Church some Remainders of the Gift of Healing, they might also serve themselves with the Ceremony of Unction. But boldly defy your Converters to show you, any Example of a Man dying, that was anointed with Oil in the second Age, with this intent to make the passage of death more easy to him.  
Press them with the same confidence about their other false Sacraments, Orders, Penance, and Marriage, and oblige them to show you by antiquity in the second Age, that the Doctors of the Church did regard them, as Sacraments.  
Purgatory in Popery is a Foundation upon which they build an infinite number of idolatrous and superstitious Worships; for which reason 'tis of importance to see what Men believed of it in the second Age of the Church. The State of Souls after death hath always been an Abyss, in which Men have seen nothing without Revelation. And for that reason the Pagans fell in this regard into prodigious Errors; and the Jews, before our Saviour, floated about in great Uncertainties. The Primitive Christians fell close to that which our Lord said to the good Thief: This day shalt thou be with me in paradise. To that which S. Paul had taught, 1 Cor. 5. Phil. 1. That if our earthly house of this tabernacle, etc. And that when we depart from hence we shall be with Christ Jesus. To that which the Holy Spirit hath said in the Revelations, that those which die in the Lord are happy, and their works follow them. About the middle of the second Age, a Christian apparently come over from Judaisme, but bred up in the Schools of the Greeks, having sucked the Spirit of Fables and Lies (wherewith those two Nations are justly reproached) forged the Oracles, which he attributes to the Sibyls, he caused to enter there as Oracles of those ancient Prophetesses, all that which he believed proper to support the Christian Religion, and render it plausible to the Pagans. The better to persuade the Greeks, he there mingled their Fables; and to please the Philosophers, he entered their Dreams there, making himself all things to all Men, that he might gain some. Among other Philosophic Dreams he inserts two in his Work: The first was drawn from the Platonic Philosophy: 'Twas that there was a certain separate place, into which he pretended the Souls of the Faithful were carried after death, and where they were lodged till the Day of Judgement, without enjoying the happy vision of God. The other was this, that at the end of the World, there would be a great Fire, through which all Men must pass that should be saved. An imagination which seems to have some likeness to the Stoic Philosophy, which teaches, that the World would be burnt, after which it would return into the State wherein it was at the beginning, and in a continual vicissitude pass through the same Revolutions and Changes. Or rather, 'tis taken from what the Holy Scripture says, that the World at last must be burnt by Fire.  
We are not able to say how these two Opinions, the one concer●●ng the separate state of Souls, and the other concerning the Torrent of Fire, through which they ought to pass, did readily diffuse themselves among those which had any Learning, and read any thing besides the Sacred Volumes. The Ancients, good Men, and credulous, being ravished to find Books, under the name of Pagan Prophecies, which foretold the coming of Jesus Christ, his Names, his Passion, the Circumstances of his Birth, of his Life, Death and Resurrection, much more clearly than the true Prophets, embraced with greediness what they found in these false Prophecies. Justin Martyr who wrote well nigh in the same time that these false Oracles were forged, falls into the persuasion, that Souls after death are in a separate place, where even in some sort they are subject to the Power and Persecution of the Devil. From thence it comes to pass, that he said it was the Devil that caused the true Samuel to ascend, by the Charms of the Witch of Endor: 
‖ Dial. cum Tryph.  For which reason, says he, when a person is near death, you ought to pray, that his Soul don't fall under such a power. S. Ireneus, Bishop of Lions, the most considerable Writer of this second Age, was of the same opinion concerning this separate place, where all Souls must be enclosed until the Day of Judgement, without seeing the Face of God. 
* Advers. Haeres. lib. 5.  He calls this place Paradise, whither Enoch and Elias were transported, but he also calls it Hades, Hell, and a place invisible. Note, that this Opinion is universally at this day rejected by the Papists, and passes among them for an Error. Pope John XXII. having been accused to be of this Persuasion, there was a terrible noise about it, and he was forced to retract it. Now this Opinion is the original of Purgatory. For as we shall see afterward, this place changes, by little and little, its-nature, until at length they made of it a place of Torments and Punishments for the purging of Souls.  
This separate state produced, a little while after, Prayer for the Dead, which we shall see had its original about the beginning of the third Age. But whereof nevertheless we see nothing in the second, unless it be towards its end. On the contrary, Justin Martyr tells us, that we must pray for dying Souls, to the end, that (in the place of their Separation) they fall not under the Power of Devils. He would not have failed to have added, that we must pray for Souls after death, to the end, that we might draw them from under the power of Devils, if Prayers for the dead had then been in use.  
On the Subject of this praying for the Dead, whereof they make such great boasts in Antiquity, tell them these three things, 

1. That it was not in use in the first and second Age.  
2. That the Reason why they began to pray for the Dead, is very different from that which causes Prayers for them at this day. At this day 'tis to draw them from Purgatory; than it was, to the end, that in the terrestrial Paradise, or other place of Separation where they were, God would increase their rest and joy; for it was believed, that they were there in the beginning of Happiness.  
3. To conclude, tell them, that these Prayers for the Dead are no important business in Religion, and that they are not the Reason of our Separation.   After that press them to show you in the second Age the least footsteps of this place of Torments, whither penitent Souls must go after Death, to pay the remainder of those punishments which they could not satisfy during their life. Demand proofs from them, that in this Age the Church prayed for Souls, that they might quickly get out of torment, and you will see them forced to confess, that there are none.  
I come to the Worship and Adoration of Creatures, such as are Relics, Images, the Blessed Virgin, Saints and Angels. They treat this as a small business: we shall have occasion to prove to you one day, that without running into any extravagance, 'tis a Pagan Idolatry. But for the present we will content ourselves to show you, that we do not find the least footsteps of these worships in the second Age, wherein we now are. If they did invoke Saints, the Blessed Virgin, and Angels, if they had Images, if they did kiss, and adore Relics, let them show it you, let them cause you to read one Author that speaks of it. Bellarmine hath the impudence to produce the words of Justin Martyr, to prove the Worship of Angels, We adore and venerate the Father, and the Son, which is come to us from him, who hath taught us, both us and others, which follow him, and the Army of good Angels, by the Spirit of Prophecy, etc. Apol. 2. He refers the word we adored, to that of Angels, as if the design of Justin Martyr had been to say, that they adored Angels. Whereas he ought to refer Angels to the word teach, his Sense being that Jesus Christ hath taught the Angels as well as us, the Mystery of the Gospel, according to what S. Paul says: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, Eph. 3.10. It is so clear, that this is the Sense of S. Justin, that at this day none of your new Doctors dare quote these words to prove, that they worshipped Angels in the second Age. This passage being set aside, let them produce you another. Was there therefore no Saints in these Ages? Had they no Martyrs? Why did they not invoke the Apostles, that had newly received their Crowns? Why did they then neglect the Intercession of the Virgin? Was it that her Credit was not well established in Heaven at that time, and that she wanted time to obtain the Empire which at this day she possesses?  
But why have the Authors of this Age been so impudent to say, that they adore God alone, and that they adore none but He? Justin Martyr says, speaking of Jesus Christ, He hath taught us, that we must adore but one only God, when he said, This the great commandment, thou shalt worship God, and him only shalt thou serve, Apol. 2. And a little after having quoted those other words of Jesus Christ, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are Gods: He adds 'tis for this reason that we adore but one only God. And as to what concerns you, we give you our Services with gladness in all other things. Let not your Eyes be dazzled by crafty Tricks upon the word Adore, as if Justin Martyr spoke of Sovereign Adoration, which they give to none but God, according to your Converters; for you ought to be advertised, that he serves himself of the word Proskunoumen, which signifies all sorts of Worship and Religious Service. A word which signifies properly to prostrate ourselves, and wherewith the second Council of Nice serves itself, when it appoints the Worship of Images. So the sense is, We do not prostrate ourselves, we do not give any Religious Worship but to God. See if they can say so at this day in the Church of Rome.  
Theophilus of Antioch, and Author of the same Age says, 
* Lib. 1. ad Autol.  The King will not that they call those Kings, which command under him. For King is his name, and it is not permitted to another to take it. So it is not permitted to adore any other but God. St. Ireneus, Bishop of Lions, speaking of the God, which gave the Law, 
† Lib. 5. cap. 22.  It is he alone to whom the Disciples of Jesus Christ ought to perform worship, etc. And a little after, The Law commands us to praise the Creator, and serve him alone. But hear a Testimony which will instruct you sufficiently concerning the opinions, and practice of that Age about it. They are the Acts of the Martyrdom of St. Polycarpus, Bishop of Smyrna. After the death of this Holy Bishop, 
⸫ Euseb. lib. 4. cap. 15.  his Church writ to that of Pontus an excellent Letter, which is one of the most precious monuments that we have of Primitive Antiquity. In this Letter the Believers of Smyrna, having reported all the circumstances of the death of Polycarpus their Bishop, say that the Devil used endeavours, that our Brethren might not obtain his body, which many among us did very much desire, to the end they might participate of that sacred body. Some therefore suggested to Nicetas, Father of Herod, and Brother of Dalces, to go find out the Proconsul, to advise him not to give us the body, for fear, say they, that having abandoned Christ, the Christians may come to Worship him; it was at the suggestion of the Jews, and at their pressing solicitation, that these Men thus represented the matter. For they were the Jews that observed our Brethren, when they endeavoured to take the body from the Pile of Wood Fools which know not that we can never forsake Jesus Christ, who hath suffered death, for all those that must be saved, nor serve any other. For we Adore him as the Son of God, and as for the Martyrs, we love them, and are kind to them as Disciples, and imitators of the Lord, because of the great love which they have shown to their King, and Master, and we wish to be their Associates, and fellow Disciples. The Centurion therefore seeing the obstinacy of the Jews, caused the body to be burnt upon the place, according to the custom. After which we gathered together his Bones, more precious than the most precious Stones, and more pure than Gold, and laid them up in a convenient place. In which place if it be possible for us, and God permit it, we will hold our Assemblies to Celebrate with joy, and gladness, the Birth day of his Martyrdom, in memory of those who have undergone this glorious Combat, and to instruct, and confirm our descendants by such an example. The passage is altogether such as we would wish, for we there see all which we search after, and what was the Religion of the ancient Christians with respect to Relics, and Saints, and from whence began the Superstition, and Idolatry which after appeared in the World. First of all you see that in the second Age they served no other but God, we serve no other but God. Secondly, That the Worship given to the Martyrs was a Worship of love, and simple imitation, we love them and have a kindness for them. These people had lost all sense not to have added, and we pray to them, if so be they had them prayed to the Martyrs. Thirdly, That they had no regard to the merits of Saints, and Martyrs, nor did they pray to God to make us partakers of them, we wish to be their Companions, and fellow Disciples. They might as easily have said, as they say now adays, we desire to be made partakers of their merits. Fourthly, That they did not assemble at the Tombs of the Martyrs, that they might invocate and serve them, but only with design to celebrate the Birthday of their Martyrdom, and the memory of their Sufferings. It is an amazing stupidity not to have added, and to recommend ourselves to their prayers, and intercession, if any such thing had been in use. Fifthly, That they did not rend the Bodies of Martyrs in pieces, nor distribute their Bones to fill Reliquaires. For they took the bones of Polycarpus, and laid them in a convenient place: that is to say, they laid them honourably in a Tomb. In all this we see the innocence of the worship of the ancient Christians. But in that which follows we see the first bloomings from whence afterward proceeded Idolatry.  
1. We see here an excessive love, which Christians did show towards the bodies of Martyrs, they say that they are more precious than the most precious Stones, and more pure than the purest Gold. 2. They assembled upon their Tombs, and their burying places served them as Temples, not simply through necessity, for they might have assembled more conveniently in Houses, but because they believed those places more Holy, and more proper to excite Devotion, because of the memory of the Martyrs. 3. They Consecrated certain days to remember the Passion day of the Martyrs. Indeed they did not Invoke, or Pray to them, but nevertheless this was done in their honour, as we Celebrate the Birthday of a Prince, to whom we give no kind of Religious Worship, and this is that which the Ancient Christians call here, to communicate with the body of the Martyr: that is to say, assemble where he was buried, Pray to God, and Celebrate the Mysteries of the Christian Religion in the same place, and even over the Tomb of the Martyr.  
In this there is nothing Criminal, all is done with a good meaning. Nevertheless we shall see how insensibly all did degenerate into Superstition. It does not appear that either they Prayed to Polycarpus, or that they Prayed for him, on the day Consecrated to his memory: but we shall see in the third Age they Prayed for the Martyrs, and in the fourth Age they Prayed to them. Give attention to this passage I earnestly entreat you.  
As to what appertains to Images, I think, I shall do a thing of great advantage, if I prove, that the Christian Church had none in their Temples in the second Age, for it will appear by the Ages following, that they had all sorts of Images, even out of Temples, in the greatest abhorrence.  
Fasts, Lent, Abstinence from certain Meats, and other Mortifications of like kind, which makes so great a part of the Roman Religion, which dazzle the Eyes of some of our New Converts, were entirely unknown in the second Age. We there see, and observe Prayers, and Fasts very often, but there is nothing Read which may make us suspect, that they were affixed to certain days of the week, or certain months of the year: all the days of Prayer, except the Lord's day, were almost always days of Fasting. But it was by accident, because the Fasting of the New Testament was often joined with Prayer, that the Ancient Christians made it a duty to Fast on days of Prayer. But it was a thing unheard of, precisely to make Devotion to consist of Fasting, without any respect to Prayer, and those that do affirm it was the use of the Primitive Church must prove it. Now we are certain, that they cannot find any proof thereof in the Writings of the second Age. And as to what remains, as we shall make it appear by the clearest evidence, that the Popish Fasts were unknown in the third Age, it will appear by consequence, that they were of no use in the second, only it appears that they prepared for the Communion of Easter by a Fast of two days. St. Ireneus writ to Victor Bishop of Rome, on occasion of the Controversy touching the day on which they ought to Celebrate Easter. 
* Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. 24.  is not only disputed concerning Easter-day, but also concerning the form of the Fasts antecedent thereto, for some think they ought not to Fast but one day, others two, others more, and others measure their Fastday by the space of twenty four hours, night and day, and this diversity in the observation of the Fast, had not its being in our Age, but hath begun from the time of our Fathers, who by negligence, simplicity, and ignorance, have suffered this custom to slip in. Nevertheless they lived in peace with each other, and we retain it to this day. Observe well, it is not Lent, but the beginning, and original thereof. These forty hours of Fast are greatned, and grown up to forty days. So it is, that the most innocent practices have been the original of Superstition, so dangerous is it, to make Innovations, although they seem without hazardous consequence, let them show you other solemn Fasts besides this in the second Age.  
It remains, that we speak a word concerning the Pope, and the prodigious Authority he arrogates to himself. It is a Capital affair in Popery, he is the Principle of Unity, he is the Centre unto which your Converters tell you, you ought to be united, if you will be saved. God knows what they think of it, but we defy them to show you, that the Church of Rome had then any Superiority over other Churches. We may assure you without rashness, that the most part of the Churches, which were in the extreme Parts of Asia, scarce knew whether there were any such thing as a Church of Rome, they neither knew the name of its Bishop, nor the form of its Government, nor Customs, and therefore were far enough from being subject to its Orders, and Decrees. We may also assure you, there were also Christians in Persia, and in the farthest parts of the East, which knew not whether there were a Roman Church in the World. Send your Converters to the famous de Launy, Doctor of the Sorbonne, who makes appear with sufficient clearness, and evidence, the independence of other Churches, and the few bonds and ties that they had with Rome, by proving, that the adherence they had to the Roman Seat, was not accounted necessary in any Age of the ancient Church. They produce to you in the second Age Victor, who cut off from his Communion the Churches of Asia, on occasion of the Controversy about Easter-Day. But you ought to understand, that this was an attempt without example, and which had no effect, but was despised of all the World. And besides this was no right, that was particular to the Bishop of Rome; for other Churches pretended to have that right of cutting off other Churches from their Communion, as well as that of Rome.  
Moreover, the nearer the Churches of the World were to Rome, the more respect and consideration they had for the Church which was there. The Churches which were without the Bounds of the Roman Empire, scarce knew that there was a Church at Rome. The Provinces at a distance from Italy, such were Asia and Africa, beheld her so far off, that they scarce knew either her Customs, or her Doctrine, nor did they think themselves under any obligation to be instructed in them, or to follow them. And therefore they continued a long time to celebrate Easter with the Jews, and to rebaptize Heretics, without any regard to the Decisions of Victor and Stephen, Bishops of Rome. The Churches of France, which beheld her near at hand, had her in greater value and estimation, because they were smitten and amazed, not at the Majesty of the Church, but at the Majesty of the Empire, which had its Seat at Rome. This is it which made Ireneus, Bishop of Lions, to say, That it was necessary, that the whole Church should travel to the Church of Rome, because of its more powerful principality. That is to say, because it was the Seat of the Empire, that all Nations come thither, and that Christians were found there of all the Provinces of the Empire, from whose Mouths might be learned what was that Faith which was scattered all over the Earth. Behold what was the Christianity of the second Age. And behold the Additions that we find there, which afterward was the Seed of Superstition and Idolatry.  
First of all they mingled Water with the Wine in the Eucharist, which was not used in the time of the Apostles. 2. They carried the Sacrament to the absent, which was not usual neither in the Apostolic Church. 3. They undertook a custom of bringing Offerings, and Alms, not in Silver, but in Merchandise, Bread, Wine, Corn, Raisins, Fruits, etc. And of that they offered on the Holy Table those things, which might be of use in the public Service, whereas in the Apostolic Church we see no other Alms, but such as were gathered by the Hands of the Deacons, either at the end, or beginning of their Assemblies. 4. Of these Alms of the Believers, they made Oblations to God, consecrating them by Prayer. 5. At the end of their Prayers before the Communion they added the mutual kiss, which was not of Apostolic Institution, and was afterwards abolished. 6. Many persons entertained an opinion of the separate state for Souls after death, a third place which was utterly unknown to the Apostles. 7. They conceive an excessive Love for the Bones of the Martyrs, nevertheless without giving them any kind of Worship, or Religious Homage. This excessive love for Bones was not reasonable, nor was it of the Apostolic Age. 8. About the end of the second Age they appointed Feasts, to celebrate the memories of the Martyrs; which was not neither of Apostolic Institution. 9 They appointed a day or two for Fasting before Easter. Behold the principal Innovations in the second Age, in which there is nothing almost that can be blamed, considered in itself, and separated from the Fruits and Consequences thereof.  
To conclude, to the end, that you be not abused by false Authors, you ought to know that we entertain none for the Writers of the second Age, but these: S. Clement, the Disciple of S. Paul, who writ an Epistle to the Corinthians: S. Ignatius, of whom we have many Epistles, concerning which the Learned doubt with reason, but we will nevertheless receive them in the present Affair: S. Polycarp, who wrote an Epistle to the Philippians: the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna, concerning the Martyrdom of S. Polycarp: Justin Martyr, whose Works ought to be distinguished, for there are many among them which are falsely attributed unto him: Athanagoras the Athenian, of whom we have an Apology for the Christians, and a Discourse concerning the Resurrection: Theophilus of Antioch, of whom we have three Books written to Autolycus: Tatian, of whom we have a Discourse in Defence of the Christian Religion, and against that of the Pagans. And in fine, S. Ireneus, Bishop of Lions, of whom we have a considerable Work against the Heresies of his Times. If they quote unto you the Liturgies of S. Mark, of S. James, of S. Peter, the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite, the Canons of the Apostles, and other like Discourses, you ought to reject them, as being false and forged, in the opinion of all the Learned, who have any thing of sincerity.  
November 15, 1686.    

THE SEVENTH PASTORAL LETTER. CONCERNING Songs, and Voices, which were heard in several places in the Air.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
IN the last of our Letters we engaged ourselves to communicate unto you certain notable matters of Fact, which some of our Brethren have thought adviseable to impart unto us. Amongst these matters of Fact, I do not think there's any one that better deserves to be examined, than that which hath been reported to us, That in many places where there have been formerly Churches, Voices have been heard in the Air, so perfectly like to our singing of Psalms, that they could not be taken for any thing else. If this be true, 'tis a wonder which very well deserves the labour of our attention. We shall think ourselves very ungrateful to the Divine Goodness, if we should suppress so illustrious a Testimony of his Approbation. He must be bold, in this Age, that dares speak of Prodigies, Marvels, Presages and other such like things. There are times in which Men believe every thing; in this wherein we now are, they believe nothing; I think there is a mean to be chosen, we may not believe every thing, but surely something ought to be believed. For this Spirit of Incredulity, and this Character of a brave Spirit, is good for nothing, and I have not as yet discovered the use thereof. 'Tis true, Credulity hath destroyed Religion, and introduced a thousand Superstitions; for these unhappy Tales of Miracles done at the Tombs of Saints, these Apparitions of Souls, these pretended Visions of Spirits, that come from the other World, these, say I, have produced the Invocation of Saints, the Adoration of Images, Purgatory, Masses, the Prayers of the living for the dead. For which reason I am content, that Men stand upon their Guard, when any thing is debated, and reported concerning wonderful, and pious Histories. The generality of those which are called honest Men are come so far from thence, that they have cast themselves on the other extreme, and believe nothing. 'Tis to expose a Man's self, and to be turned into Ridicule, to maintain that there have been Miracles, and that there may yet be, they mock at Presages, and have no Faith for that which they call Prodigies. Nevertheless whither goes this, and what will be the Issue of it? 'Tis to deny Providence, 'tis to make ourselves believe, God does not intermeddle in the Affairs here below, and to ruin all the Principles of human Faith, and by consequence to cast ourselves on a perfect Scepticism, which is peradventure a disposition of mind the most dangerous to Religion of any in the World. By doubting all matters of Fact which have any appearance of extraordinary, they tell us they have no intention to extend it any farther than the History of the World. But we don't perceive, that we insensibly entertain a habit of doubting, which extends itself to every thing. There is a God, we all consent thereto. There is a Providence, we all profess, and avow it. Nothing comes to pass without him. Is it possible, that God should so hid himself behind his Creatures, and under the veil of second Causes, that he should never at any time, though never so little, draw aside the Curtain? If we have taken a resolution to deny the truth of all extraordinary matters of Fact, what shall we do with History, both sacred and profane? Can we persuade ourselves, that the Historians of all Ages intended to deceive us, by making us believe, that the great Revolutions which have happened in the Societies of Men, and the Church, have been preceded by extraordinary Events, such as Earthquakes, Signs in Heaven, and Prodigies on Earth? They will say the most part of these Histories are Fables, it may be so: but if the most part be Fables, there have been some which have been true. If there had never been any true Prodigies, they would not have reported those that were false; for falsehood is an imitation of Truth. He must have a hardness and impudence that I understand not, that can put all Historians in one rank, and range them all together amongst Forgers of Lies. I admire the agreement of those Writers, which lived two or three thousand years from one another, who nevertheless have all conspired to deceive us, according to our Moderns, and there is neither Sorcerers, nor Magicians, nor Possessions, nor Apparitions of Demons, nor any thing like it. 'Tis much, that these Gentlemen have not pushed on their confidence, even to deny the truth of matters of Fact contained in the Scriptures, which would be very convenient for them. In the times that the Sacred Writers writ their Books, there were all these things; and where do we find, that they ought to cease, and that a time was to come, in which Devils should no more deceive Men, and in which he Heaven should speak no more Prodigies? Because Historians have not been infallible, must we believe they have been all Liars, and in all things? Can a Man, for example, honestly call in doubt the prodigies which Josephus reports to us, as coming to pass a little before the final ruin of Jerusalem? A Man walked round the City, and its Walls perpetually, crying, Woe, woe to the Temple, City, etc. and in fine, during the Siege, as he was upon the Wall, he added, Woe to me also: that which he never did before, and in the very moment, a great stone coming from the Engines of the Besiegers, knocked him on the Breast, and broke him in pieces. A Sword of Fire passed over the City Jerusalem, for a whole year together, from East to West. A Voice was heard in the Temple which said, Let us go hence. A brazen Gate in the Temple, which eighteen or twenty Men could scarce open, opened of itself. It must be, that Josephus had a design to prostitute his Reputation, reporting such matters of Fact, the falseness whereof he might be convinced of by a thousand Witnesses yet living, if they were not true. The Saviour of the World was willing to honour some mute presages, although he might well have passed them by, since he had so many living Testimonies on his behalf, 'twas his pleasure that the Heavens should produce a new Star at his Birth, or at least, that the Air should produce a new Meteor, that deserved that name. And what shall we say of that great Miracle, which was at the Pool of Bethesda, where an Angel descended, troubled the Waters, and the first sick person that went into them after the action of the Angel, was healed? This marvel was not ancient, and without doubt it had not continued long. 'Tis clear, that this was done about the time that our Lord arrived at the age of thirty years, and entered upon the Office of Mediator; and 'twas an admirable presage of the coming of him, who is called, A fountain opened to the house of Jacob for sin, and for uncleanness: whose Water, that is to say, whose Grace, was to heal and cure all our Maladies. I could bring you an infinite number of matters of Fact very well attested, that is to say, Visions, Prophetic Dreams, Signs seen in the Air, and in the Heavens, which have been Presages of Events little less considerable than those we see at present. 'Tis true, that under colour of Signs and Marvels, an hundred and an hundred Fables have passed current in the World; but all that we ought to conclude thence is, that every wise Man will have great Securities before he will believe. As soon as any event may have natural Causes, it signifies nothing according to these Gentlemen, as if God was not at all the Master of natural Causes, and could not dispose them for the production of certain Effects, when he would presage great Revolutions in the World. It seems to me, that Earthquakes have their natural Causes, and so have Famines, Pestilences and Wars: nevertheless Jesus Christ puts these things among those things which are to presage his coming. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there shall be famines, earthquakes and pestilences in divers countries. And why may we not interpret that which he adds of Eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and of Signs which are seen in Heaven, The Sun shall be turned into darkness, and the Moon shall not give her light, the Stars shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of Heaven shall be shaken. 'Tis believed, that this is a Description of what shall be at the last Day of Judgement; but if this were a place for it, I could prove, that it is no such thing. Not that I am persuaded all Eclipses, and all Earthquakes are Presages; but there are such Circumstances of time and place, and concomitant Signs, that a Man cannot (as I think) without rashness deny, that the Providence of God doth dispense them to strike the minds of Men with astonishment, and make them attentive to his Judgements. What shall we say concerning the Bow in the Heavens? It is made without doubt by natural Causes. Nevertheless it has been the pleasure of God in all Ages of the World, that it should be a Sign by Institution to assure Mankind, that there should never be an universal Deluge upon the earth. God granted to Gideon a Sign in Nature to assure him of the truth of his Mission. Ezekias received one in the Sun, at least, in the shadow of the Sun on the Dial of Ahaz, as a Sign of his restauration to life, we may not therefore imagine, that 'tis contrary to the order of Providence to do extraordinary things in nature for the marking and noting extraordinary events in the World. Let us conclude therefore, that the Credulity of our Ancestors hath caused many mischievous Tales to be received as faithful Histories; but also, that it hath been the cause, that very faithful Histories do at this day pass for false Tales. I could not refuse this little Prologue to the Year wherein we are presently to engage, as abundant in Prodigies as any has been for a long time: for on all sides, we have heard speak of nothing but extraordinary Storms, Fires falling from Heaven, others coming out of the Earth, of Signs speaking loud, which have appeared in the Air, of Infects of an unknown shape, which have been believed to have fallen from Heaven. The Writers of public News have not been able to forbear remarking them, and making their Reflections thereon. I believe 'tis the interest of the public to make evident all these Events; and there lies an Obligation on those that desire to fear God, to give a very exact Relation concerning all these Prodigies; if they intent to learn us any thing concerning them, we entreat them, that it be not on Reports and Hearsays, yea, that it be not on the report of persons whose fidelity is not very well known; for we have no design to deceive either ourselves or others: this will be known by the manner wherein we shall report a matter of Fact, that is to say, the singing of Psalms in the Air, which has been heard in divers places.  
It is near a year since, that we first heard any speech concerning it, and they told us, that these Sing had been heard in Bearne, the first Province whither the Dragoons were sent. Behold our Witnesses, every one will judge of what worth they are. Monsieur Magendie, Pastor of the Church of Orthez, having been questioned concerning this Affair, hath interrogated divers persons, according as it appears by his Certificate.  

I do declare, that Monsieur de Bazin, a younger Brother, and an Inhabitant of Orthez in Bearne, hath told me, that walking with some of his Friends, after midday, near the City of Orthez, he heard Voices which sung Psalms, and as he imagined, that it might be some Women that washed Linen in a certain River which passed through Orthez, he ran to them to demand of them, whether it were they that sung; they told him, that it was not they, and that they themselves for a long time had heard the same singing of Psalms. This happened some months before the Interdiction of our Church. The said Monsieur Bazin is a very honest Man, very judicious, and of great integrity. 2. I add, that Mademoiselle de Casenave of Orthez, said to persons worthy of credit, that being not able to believe that which was said concerning this singing of Psalms, a Woman said to her, that if she had the curiosity to hear them sing, she would come and take her at her own House, at a time convenient, which she did; for this Woman being at eleven of the clock at night in the uttermost part of the City, with multitudes of other persons, to hear these Voices which sung in the Air the Praises of God, having heard this singing of Psalms, she ran to Mademoiselle de Casenave, who immediately gets out of her Bed, causes one of her Neighbour's to rise, and they ran to that quarter of the City which was far removed from her House, where they found multitudes of persons, who were ravished with that pleasant Melody which they heard in the Air; they themselves returned to their Houses, with this great consolation to have heard those Psalms sung in the Air, which they could no more sing in their Church, which had been interdicted for some months past; and they added, that it seemed to them, that they heard them sing after the same manner which they used to sing in their Church, and that after the singing had ceased, there was a Voice which spoke, but after a manner inarticulate and confused, so that they could not distinguish what was said. This Gentlewoman is very well worthy of Credit. 3. I say moreover that an infinite number of the persons of Orthez do say, that they have heard the singing of Psalms, which they call the singing of Angels, and that they exhorted each other on the day to be present in the night, in certain places of the City, to satisfy this holy Curiosity, which was the reason, that the Magistrates of Orthez published an Ordinance, whereby they forbade all persons from going out of their Houses, or assembling themselves by night for hearing these Voices, which filled this poor afflicted people with joy, and extraordinary consolation. This is it which has been told me concerning this singing of Psalms, to which In find no difficulty to give a full consent, because the persons that have reported it, are of great sincerity.  
Given at Amsterdam, Novemb. 23, 1686. Signed Magendie, heretofore Minister of Orthez in Bearne.   
M. Garsin, another Minister of the said Church of Orthez, declares this which follows, concerning the singing of Psalms, which had been heard at Orthez for a long time.  

I whose Name is underwritten, heretofore Pastor of the Reformed Church of Orthez in Bearne, do certify to all those whom it may concern, that my Brother-in-law De Roux, a Lawyer, told me, that between the hours of eleven and twelve at night, being on the back side of his House in the City of Orthez, he heard a singing of Psalms above him, and that a little after he heard the same singing come from a place at a greater distance. After that he was fully convinced of the truth of this singing of Psalms, so much discoursed of all the World over. Moreover he thought, that sometimes during the whole night, when his Gout hindered him from sleeping, that he heard the same singing after a manner less distinct and intelligible. I am informed by Monsieur Clavier, a Lawyer of the same City of Orthez, that the Curate of the place, and a certain Priest, called Dufau, and Monsieur Lichigarai another Lawyer, as also a Brother of the Curate, called Monsieur De la Roque, sent to search out a certain Popish Damosel of Moncade, to know of her, if it were true, that she had said, that she had heard this singing of Psalms, and that she told them yea. And having demanded of her how she knew it was the singing of Psalms; she told them it was because she had heard the same thing, at such time as they sung in the Church of those of the Reformed Religion. And having further asked her how she had heard the singing of Psalms in the Church, she answered them, she had been once there at a Baptism; but that going to a certain Fountain, she had often heard this singing as she passed by the Church, at the hours of Preaching, and Prayer. After this Monsieur Clavier told me, that the Curate and others strictly forbade her to say any more, that she had heard the said singing of Psalms.  
Given at Amsterdam, September 23. 1686. Signed Garsin, Minister.   
I whose Name is underwritten, certify to all whom it may concern, that in the year 1685, about the Month of August, or September, I heard in the Air the singing of Psalms with different Voices, and very melodious, and this at two several times; the first time before the House of Poey, where I was lying upon a Bank half asleep, I was awakened by this singing of Psalms, which continued almost half an hour. Afterwards I went into the House of Monsieur du Poey, a Merchant Draper, with whom I wrought at that Employment. Having told this to Mademoiselle du Poey and her Daughters, they were much offended at me, that I had not given them notice of it at the time I heard the said singing. The second time, I and many others about an hour after midnight having gone on purpose to a place most high, and raised, in the City, near to Moncade, named the Posterle, I heard many Voices in the Air, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other; withdrawing myself a little, I found Mademoiselle des Pagnou, Daughter of Monsieur Dombideau, Merchant of Oleron, Wife to Monsieur des Pagnou, Merchant-Tanner, accompanied with many other Women of the Neighbourhood, I asked them from whence they came. They told me they came from the Bank of a River called Le Gaur, which passes by the City, near a Mill which they call the New Mill. I asked them if they had heard the singing of Psalms. They answered me, Yea. I asked them from what side they had heard the Voices: they told me it seemed to them it was from the place called the Posterle. I told them I came from thence, and that I had heard those Voices in the Air, and that it seemed to me, that they came from that side the New Mill stood; and both they and I agreed with one consent, that they were in the Air, and that they never had heard Voices so pleasant and charming. My Father (being a Neighbour of the said Mademoiselle des Pagnou) and those other Women being at the Gate two hours after midnight, with a Marshal named Maresque, a Papist of the Town of Lembege, of the Quarter of Bilbil, which belongs to the Partement of Navarre, my Father, I say, who had changed his Religion about two years and half since, enquiring of these Women if they had heard the singing of Psalms. They answered, Yea. And I too, said my Father. And Maresque the Marshal replied, he had never heard better singing: let Men say what they will, for my part, said he, I am persuaded, that it is a true singing of Psalms. The said Monsieur Poey, my Father, and the said Maresque came from a place called De Part, near to Orthez. And I add, that I have heard a Prohibition published to all sorts of persons, at the sound of a Trumpet, by the Crier of the City, called Monleres, containing, that none were to go out at night to hear the singing of Psalms, under the penalty of Imprisonment. In witness whereof I have signed the present Certificate, as it was desired of me. Given November 22, 1686. Signed Peter Mauperg of Orthez in Bearn, aged twenty three years.  
One named Monsieur Bergerit hath declared under his Signet, this which follows. About the month of September last, being in my Mother's House, she told me, that the Evening before they had heard singing of Psalms in the Air. I believed nothing thereof, but went away to Bed, because I was weary; this was about eight at night; about half an hour after some of the Neighbours came to the House to inquire whether I were so great a fool to sing Psalms, considering the strict Prohibition had been made thereof; and at the same instant my Mother entered into the Chamber to awake, and tell me, that Psalms were sung in the Air. I awoke, and awaking, heard this singing of Psalms, and thought it had been in the Garden belonging to the House. I arose and went forth into the street Montcade at Orthez, where all the Neighbourhood were gathered together, and they heard the singing of Psalms repeated two or three several times. Signed Bergerit.  
A person named John de la Bordette, hath declared under his Signet, this which follows. About the month of September last, being in my House at Orthez, the place of my Habitation, and having heard, that it was said, that Psalms were sung, I went out into the street about eight in the Evening, to see and hear what was said, and done, and I heard in the Air Voices which form a Vocal Music perfectly, like to the singing of Psalms. Nevertheless, without being able to distinguish what Psalm it was. Of the of this same thing many persons of the Neighbourhood were witnesses. Another time as I was at the Wine Press, amidst the Vines, above ten in the evening, I heard the same thing with many other persons. Signed John De la Bordette.  
A Damosel called Mademoiselle Deformalagues, hath declared under her Signet, in these words. I underwritten, do declare in the presence of God, that being at Orthez in Biar, the place of my Habitation, I heard clearly at three several times, on the month of October last, this which follows.  
On a Friday in the said month of October, about 8 or 9 at night, being in my Chamber, some Neighbours called me with earnestness, saying, that I must hasten to hear the Angels singing Psalms; I hastily went out of the House, and being arrived at the Street called St. Gille, I there found a great number of people, which had ran together from all parts to hear this Heavenly Music. And at that instant my Ears were smitten with a Melody so ravishing, that I never heard any thing like it. I could very well discern the Air and Tune of our Psalms, which were sung admirably well. I heard many persons say, they heard distinctly the first verse of the 42. Psalm. Like as the hart doth breach and bray. There were others that confirmed the same, and assured us moreover that they had heard the whole Psalm Sung. For my part I do acknowledge that I could not distinguish the words. I only heard a charming Music, which represented to me a great number of Voices that agreed exceeding well. There was one that raised his Voice above the rest, and made himself observed when the rest had done. After I had heard a long while this Melody with ravishment; I perceived that these Voices drew off, and abated by little and little, until they were insensibly lost in the Air.  
The same evening being on my return, and near the Gate of my House, with many of my Neighbours, as we discoursed together of the marvellous things that we had heard, behold all of a sudden the same Voices which we had heard some hours before, striking again our Ears with great pleasure, they filled us anew with ravishment, for the space of one quarter of an hour, after which this Melody withdrew, as it had done at the first.  
The Tuesday following, being at the door of my House, with one of my Relations at Evening, we both heard a great number of Voices in the Air, which resounded with strength, and made themselves heard with the greatest clearness: hearing this melodious singing, I ran hastily to the Lodgings of a Popish Physician who dwelled in my House, and was that year one of the Magistrates of Orthez, to the end that he himself might hear this wonderful Melody. He followed me to hear what it was. The singing founded clearly, the night being calm and serene, but he pretended to hear nothing. A while after the Voices reinforced themselves, and then having pressed this Magistrate to tell me if he heard the singing, he could no longer dissemble the truth. It is true said he (in the presence of all the world) I hear very lovely singing. I think I hear the Voice of such an one, and such an one, naming several persons in Orthez, which sung exceeding well; to this I replied, Monsieur, if Men hold their peace, the very stones will speak: but he, as if he had been troubled at the confession he had made, complains that, alas, I observe here a crafty wile of the Devil, he causes these Voices to be heard in the Air, to keep the World in error, and hinder this poor people from Converting, and embracing the Catholic Faith. Whereupon I inquired if he had ever heard that the Devil sung the praises of God; he smiled, and retired hastily to his Lodgings: nevertheless we bless God for the favour that he hath done us, in admonishing us of our duty by these heavenly Voices, who melodiously sung those holy Hymns, which we were wont to sound forth in our Church, which was then laid waist and destroyed.  
I protest before God that these things are so as I have reported them, and I am very glad to make known these truths, for the Edification of all those that fear the Lord. In Testimony whereof I subscribe myself at Amsterdam, September 4. 1686. V Deformalagues.  
I do maintain that a Testimony, such as this, though it were alone, is capable of putting the spirit of incredulity to distress: for what that is reasonable can be said against it? It will be said this is the Testimony of a Woman, but by being a Woman hath she renounced all Honour, Shame, and Conscience, in the matter of Testimony? She must have renounced all those things, to attest with an Oath a matter of Fact, with so many circumstances. She is but a Woman, but she is not a Woman that reports some Visions of the night, or particular Revelations, she is a Woman that reports things that happened in public, and whereof she hath for witnesses with herself many hundreds of persons. Though she be a Woman, it does not follow but she may be endued with good understanding: now she must have lost all sense to advance such a falsity, and to expose herself to be overwhelmed with shame, as a maker of Fables: to conclude, she is a Woman, but she speaks of a thing happened not above seven days ago, if I may so say.  
To conclude, behold a Memorial of Monsieur de Brassalay, a Gentleman of Honour, and acknowledged such by all that know him.  
Some days before the Interdiction of the Churches of Bearn, there were many persons, that heard the singing of Psalms in the Air, in the City of Orthez. The first that heard it was Lichigaray Brunier, a Lawyer, revolted some years since, the most malignant of the Persecutors, and who continually stirred up troubles to those of the Reformed Religion. He rose from his Bed to go tell the Curate, that there was an Assembly of people that sung Psalms without the City, he also went to a Sergeant named Gowlan, to conduct him to the place where he thought to surprise them, but this Popish Sergeant having laid his Ear to the Window, answered him there was nothing to be done, for he well perceived the singing was in the Air. Afterward it was heard from time to time, more than a month, by divers persons, sometimes at night, and sometimes by day: among others Lichagaray Canneille, an Elder of the Church of Orthez, protested and told me, that sitting upon the bank of the River, a thousand Paces from the City, reading in a Book, he heard a great singing of Psalms on that side the Church stands, which is in the midst of the City, and not doubting at all that is was an ordinary Assembly, that were met together at Evening Prayers, which was then very numerous, because of the hazardous conjuncture, and consisted at the least of two or three thousand souls, he hasted to go thither, and always heard a great singing of Psalms till he was entered into the City, but having found the doors of the Church shut, the Neighbours told him, that it was not yet the hour of Prayer. It is to no purpose to say they sung in some Cavern or Cave, for there is nothing but Houses, and the parts adjacent to Orthez are Vineyards, Meadows, and Fields, it has been a long time since forbidden to sing Psalms in Houses, and no body has dared to venture thereon, and least of all would they think thereon in a time when they every hour feared the Interdiction of their Church, and when they advised by all sorts of methods to defend themselves from it. Moreover this Elder hath assured me, that he never heard more lofty singing in the Church. This he told me, being in Bearne, about sixteen months since, in the presence of very many honest Men.  
After the Church of Orthez was razed to the ground, this singing of Psalms was heard no more for some time, but about the months of September and October last, it was heard by most part of the people of Orthez, and many others of the Country which tarried till night before they went home on Market-days, those of the Suburbs, as well as those of the City, heard it, every one in his Quarter, ordinarily at the same hour, viz. between eight and nine at night, some heard the words, others heard the Tune of the Psalms, and there is not it may be, a House in Orthez of which some one of the Family hath not heard it. The said Lichiguray Bruneir, went one night, he and two others, to that part where they heard this singing without the City, and they all three heard the singing for a long time over their Heads, the Tune of the 138. Psalms, whereof they could not hear distinctly but these words: Toward thy holy Temple I will look and worship thee, and praised in my thankful mouth, thy holy name shall be: even for thy loving kindness sake, and for thy truth withal, for thou thy name, hast by thy word, advanced over all. Du Faur a Physician, and Magistrate of the City, another Papist, heard it divers times, but their malice made them say they were Sorcerers and Devils. A young Damosel of the Suburbs of Moncade, which is near the Castle, the ancient Habitation of the Lords of Bearn, heard this singing, being in her Bed; she risen, and caused more than fifty persons to go out, who having heard it fell on their Knees, and wept through the joy they conceived to hear so incomparable a Melody in the Air, which continued more than half an hour. And it must be known that it was in a place much raised above the City, even as a very high Mountain, and the people heard this singing over their Heads, as if it had been in the Clouds: I have heard an honest Man, who was one of the Spectators, make this relation, who poured out Tears then when he spoke of it: the same thing I have heard from other places. To conclude, it is impossible to doubt of a truth, which the far greatest part of the Inhabitants of Orthez are able to certify.  
The Parliament of Pau, and the Intendent of Bearn, have also given their Testimony thereto by a Decree, which forbids Men to go hear these Psalms, and to say they have heard it on the forfeiture of five hundred Crowns: and by another Ordinance, which forbids the same thing, under the forfeiture of two thousand Crowns. The Consuls of Orthez did publish these Ordinances in their City.  
I do not as yet very well understand, what can be opposed to the Testimony of Monsieur Brassalny. Those that know him as we do, know that he is not of a temper to impose upon any one, nor to suffer himself to be imposed upon by any one whoever he be. Those things which he reports are not hearsays at a great distance, for they are persons of Credit an Reputation, who put into his Hands those things which they themselves heard.  
If after all this, the matter of Fact be false, I do avow that we must no more believe any thing. But there are but few people into whose minds it can enter, that two or three thousand persons, (for there are not less of the Reformed Religion in Orthez) should conspire to lie about an affair, which after all, is not of any great concernment to them. For although the Angels should not have sung in the Air, their Religion would not be the less true. Moreover it is to be observed, that our people are not Educated in the Spirit of Superstition and Credulity for Miracles. On the contrary, it is known that we have always made it part of our business to defend them against those delusions. Besides this he must have an impudence which cannot be found but in very few Men, to feign events as happening in the view of a whole City, and to introduce on the Stage, Men who can give them the lie, and whose interest it is so to do. To conclude, I do not know how any one can imagine that the Magistrates of Orthez, and the Parliament of Pau, should publish Ordinances to hinder Men from going to hear these Voices, if the thing itself were false. At least it must be granted that the Reformed in Orthez did believe they heard it. Incredulity which always finds out some entrenchment, and defence for itself, will demand that we produce the Ordinances of the Parliament of Pau, and of the Magistrates of Orthez. It is not at all probable, that Men who would stifle both the knowledge, and memory of so extraordinary an event, and which was so disadvantageous to them, should be willing to transcribe them upon Paper, and yet much less Print, and deliver these Ordinances, which would have immortalised the memory of that Fact, which they were willing should be forgotten. But having heard above the Deposition of a person of honour, who said that he heard with his Ears, the publication of these Prohibitions, he must be very incredulous that will deny the truth of this circumstance. And he must suppose that two thousand persons are furnished with a great measure of impudence to attribute to a Court of Justice, and to the Magistrates of a City, a thing that is false. If this be not sufficient to convince those that doubt, they may tarry if they please, till Men have found the secret of collecting the impressions that words make upon the Air, and rendering them visible, and then they will be made to see all things in their Original.  
The same thing hath happened in Cevennes: as this Country is full of Mountains, where there are Echoes, which multiply and return the Voice, and as night Assemblies have continually been made there where they sing Psalms with a loud Voice, therefore the relations of sing, which have been made in the Air, would be more suspected by me. But the Affair of Orthez, which is a Country close and without Mountains, being well proved, I see no reason to doubt of that of Cevennes, for which reason without scruple we will produce the Certificates which come from that Country.  
The first Certificate. I Certify that one of my Sisters wrote to me on Feb. 8. last, from a place called Collet, in Cevennes, where she than was, in these words.  

My dear Brother,  
you would be informed touching the singing of Psalms, which Men have told you that they hear in this Country, there is nothing more true, Monsieur the late Baron of Cadorve, heard it two or three hours in the night, with his whole Family. I myself, and almost all the World in this Country, have heard this Voice, but we have not been able to discern whether they were Psalms, yea or no. It seems to us that it is a complaint, and even now at the hour I writ to you, I hear, and am sensible of it.  
La Roquette, Minister of Manoblet in Cevennes, given at Lausanna, March 30. 1686.   
The second Certificate. I attest that Monsieur of the Dark Valley, a Gentleman of Cevennes, living near St. John de Gardonnengue, writ to me September 17. 1685. this which follows. We see strange things in all the places in Cevennes, we hear singing of Psalms in the Air by night, as if it were in the Church. Wednesday last I was lying alone in my Chamber, and about midnight I heard upon the roof a Voice very shrill, which awoke me, and afterwards five of six other Voices that assisted it, and they sung five or six verses of the fifth Psalm: all those of the House heard it many times. The said Monsieur of the Dark Valley, confirmed me in this belief, by a second Letter, Jan. 27. 1686. That this singing of Psalms doth constantly continue. The said Monsieur adds, now the beating of a Drum is heard, as if Men of War were marching, and this is heard at midday in many places. Barjune, Minister of St. Marselle in Cevennes, now fled to Lausanna in Switzerland.  
The third Certificate. Towards the end of the month of September last, being with M. d' Esperies, a Gentleman of merit, which is of Vigan in Cevennes, and we flying to the Castle of a Gentleman of our friends, named M. the Montualian, we heard in the Air a considerable number of Drums. Five or six days after, being with the said M. d' Esperies, in a little place named Ablatatz, in Cevennes, in the Parish of Fraisin, and Fourques, and in the Diocese of Manned, whither my Family was fled for refuge, we heard in the Air a Holy Harmony, singing the Holy Praises of God; this is that which I do certify to be true, forasmuch as I heard it. Saligne de Marnis in Cevennes. D' Esperies de Vigan in Cevennes, do attest the abovesaid to be true.  
The fourth Certificate. Extracts of two Letters written to Lausanna, to Mademoiselle Lovise d's Vignoles, by her Cousin Mademoiselle Jane de Vignoles, a Maiden of Vebron, Sister of M. De Lavalett, who was Arrested in the Citadel of the Holy Ghost on the month of Octob. 1683. as it is reported in The defence of the Project, etc. which makes the third Tome of The Estate of the Reformed. This Jan. 3. 1686. How happy are you my dear Cousin, that you can Pray, and sing the Praises of God in public, when in the mean time so many good souls have their mouths stopped, and dare not discover that which passes in their minds. But as to the business of singing the Praises of God, it is necessary that I speak to you of the miracle which makes so much noise in this Country, which is, that since the entire loss of our Churches, and our Pastors, there has been heard in the Air Voices, and sounds of Instruments, very melodious, and that which is most extraordinary, is that many persons distinguish the Tunes of the Psalms, and I can assure you of the truth thereof, since I may self have distinguished more than thirty. It has been told me that my Brother (she means M. de Mont Vaillant, elder Brother both of her, and M. de Vallette) distinguishes them all perfectly well. Can you imagine that we hear these Voices night and day, and that we can so much as doubt that they are Troops of Angels which God sends to us for Consolation; to assure us that he hath not utterly forsaken us, and that our deliverance is at hand, God grant that we may make profit by these things. I had forgotten to tell you, that the noise of a Drum is also heard so clearly, that no body can doubt thereof.  
It hath been answered to this Letter, that this might be natural, considering the situation of the Country, in which they then made Assemblies, together with other circumstances, to which the following reply was made.  
This March 6. 1686. Be no more incredulous, I do conjure you, about the singing of Psalms, for there are so many persons of good understandings convinced thereof, that we ought to give up ourselves to the power of truth. I do avow that the thing passes all imagination, but be assured that all care imaginable has been taken to prevent delusion.  
The two Letters whereof my Brother has made the extracts above, were truly written to me by my Cousin de Vebron from Cevennes, whose Character and Spirit I so well understand, that I cannot be deceived therein. Lovise Des Vignoles.  
Mademoiselle de Vebron, is a person which hath so much of Wit, Understanding, Honour, and Piety, that I am persuaded as much as any one can be, that she has no intention to deceive us. I do not at all doubt, but that all those that have known her, will readily give her the same testimony with myself. She hath always been of the Reformed Religion, and God hath preserved her hitherto from the general fall, as it appears by two Letters, the original whereof I preserve to show them to such as desire it. From Lausanna, March 30. Still. Vet. 1686. Signed Des Vignoles, Minister of Lower Languedoc.  
I give the same Testimony to the Merit and Piety of Mademoiselle de Vebron. Baschi Aubais.  
We may add to these Certificates from Cevennes and Bearn, the Testimony of M. Jacquelot, Pastor of the Church of Vassy, whom we have heard say, that he was informed by one of his Parishioners (a Man that never did appear to him of a humour inclined to sell Fables for truth) that two hours after midnight passing by the Church of Vassy, he there heard the singing of Psalms. Testimonies of like nature may be reported from many other places, but these are enough. As to what remains, I am willing before I conclude here to defend ourselves against an injustice, which is very ordinary in this kind of affairs, and it is this, by one sole Negative Testimony, to endeavour to destroy many Affirmatives. They will say, I have asked a person that came from that Country, who hath said that there is no such thing, and the proof thereof is, that he never heard it. Behold a great Marvel, that in a large Country, and in a place where there are multitudes of persons scattered, some on one side, and some on the other, there should be some of them that should not see and hear that which thousands of others did! Let any Man judge if it be just to call in doubt, that which a hundred Witnesses have seen, for the sake of one that affirms he did not see it. But it will be said yet, that there are persons in Switzerland that after they had said they had heard the singing of Psalms in Cevennes, had afterwards retracted it. It is a matter of Fact that is told us here without any proof. But I am content at present to receive it as true. It is not a thing very extraordinary, that a Man hearing speak of a Prodigy which holds all minds in doubt and suspense, should boast to be of the Party, and cry with the crowd, I saw it, I saw it. These sort of Affairs were never otherwise, a hundred false Witnesses mingle themselves with true ones, when the thing discovered is only matter of report and hear-say. And it is likewise very possible that some may return to their integrities, and confess that they saw nothing. But can this invalidate the fidelity of those which Persevere, which Writ, which Depose, and which Sign with an Oath? These Histories being set in so much light, that it appears to me sufficiently difficult to call them in doubt. I think it may be permitted us to draw some Conclusions from them. Some will be for us, others against us. Against us, for it is a reproach, that the Providence of God makes unto us, because you have so easily suffered your mouths to be stopped, and because you have not dared, nor been willing any more to sing his Praises, and Songs of Thanksgiving, which are the Symbols of your Reformation. God has made mouths in the midst of the Air, and he causes his Praises to proceed from Stones and Rocks. And don't ye doubt but Rocks, and these invisible mouths, will rise in judgement against those that fear Men, and will not glorify God generously, and in the presence of Persecutors. The other Conclusions are for us, and against our Enemies. This event speaks, and tells them if these hold their peace, the Stones will speak. You ought to give thanks to God, that he approves your Worship by a Sign so considerable, and by a Testimony so evident. Let them not tell you that all this is nothing but delusion; for all illusions come from the Devil, who is the Father of lies, and who hath the Praises of God in horror and detestation. To conclude, behold the Event as a happy Presage, that God will not suffer your Voices and your Songs to die; the Angels have seized on them, and will shortly restore them, that you yourselves may sound them forth in the Air. You are obliged to make a great change in your life, that you may be worthy to receive this Grace from God. For which reason you ought to think of renouncing these worldly vanities of , Customs, Words, Food, Houses, Furniture, Pleasures and Divertisements; to take Sackcloth and Ashes, to  yourselves with an Humility, and Modesty truly Christian. The time of your deliverance is at hand, but it will not come till that of your Repentance hath gone before it: the Spirit of Life will not return, till the Spirit of Piety and Devotion be re-entered into your souls.  
Decemb. 1. 1686.   

THE EIGHTH PASTORAL LETTER. Alterations happening during the Third Age. Concerning Baptism, Confirmation, and the Sacrifice of the Mass.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
WE continue at this time the History of the Alterations that happened in the Doctrine and Worship of the Church. We are in the third Age thereof, we will divide what we have to tell you concerning this Age into three Letters, to the end that we may not overcharge your memory, and we will fill the Sheet with matters of Fact, respecting the Persecution which you suffer, and whereof our Brethren from divers places have given us information. The Doctrine of the Church is a Flood which rolls and swells in rolling, it unhappily gathers more of impurity than good things, we shall see it in the third Age. We have already observed Additions and Alterations in the Simplicity of the Christian Worship arrived in the second Age. We shall see many more in this.  
We will begin with the Sacraments, as we have done in the second Age. The first of these Sacraments is Baptism, we have not observed by the manner wherein Justin Martyr tells us they did administer it, that there was made unto his time (that is to say, until the year 160. of our Lord) any considerable Addition. But Tertullian, a Priest of Carthage, who wrote in the beginning of the third Age, about forty years after Justin Martyr, learns us, that in his time they had added some Ceremonies to Baptism, that they gave Milk and Honey to the baptised, when they came out of the Baptismal Font. E fontibus egressi lact is & mellis concordiam praegustant. During the space of seven days after Baptism they abstained from ordinary Washings, i. e. from going unto the Baths, they added also an Unction of Oil after Baptism, and the Imposition of Hands. Afterwards, says the same Tertullian, when we are gone out of the water we are anointed with the blessed Unction, according to the ancient Discipline by which they were accustomed to anoint the Priests with Oil, which they poured out of a Horn, etc. As to what concerns the Imposition of Hands, I believe sufficiently, that it was a Ceremony not used in Baptism. For it has always been an Appendage of Prayer when they prayed for any one in particular, and demanded on his particular the Spirit of God and his Grace.  
Tertullian does not say, that it was the custom to kiss those persons that were received to Baptism. But it appears by the Answer of S. Cyprian to Fidus, that Custom was afterward introduced. This Bishop Fidus made scruple to baptise Children before the eighth day, because that before that day the Impurities which proceed from their Birth do not appear well wiped off. Thereupon S. Cyprian tells him: Concerning what you say, that a Child in the first days after his Birth is not sufficiently clear, and that every one of us have some abhorrence to kiss him: we do not think that that can be any hindrance to the giving of him Grace. In the mean while, as we find no Authors of this Age who speak of this kiss, as one of the Ceremonies of Baptism; so it is more probable, that S. Cyprian speaks it with respect to the kiss which the faithful gave each other before the Communion: For than they caused Infants to communicate after their Baptism all together, after the same manner they did the adult; and before they did communicate it was necessary that they should salute them. The same S. Cyprian speaks of certain possessed persons, which they did efficaciously exorcise in Baptism in such a manner, that the Devils, which had resisted all kinds of Conjurations, gave place to the Sacramental Waters. But it does not appear, that this Exorcism was, as at this day, a Ceremony practised in the Baptism of all Catechumen in whatsoever state they were, nor did the Devil go out by virtue of any Exorcism, but by the sole virtue of the Baptismal Water sprinkled on them. So that we see nothing added to Baptism in this third Age but Milk and Honey, which they caused the baptised to eat, and the Unction wherewithal they did anoint them when they came out of the Font.  
These Ceremonies of Unction and Imposition of Hands, which were of use in the third Age, do oblige us to observe here, that they were not at all the pretended Sacrament of Confirmation, as they would since make us believe. It is true, they are that whereof the Roman Church have made their Sacrament of Confirmation. But it is false, that the Church did then consider it as a Sacrament. They were purely Ceremonies of Decency or Mystery, which made up part of the Baptismal Administration. 

1. This appears because this Unction and Imposition of Hands was performed immediately after Baptism, this no Man disputes. At this day Confirmation is deferred a long time after Baptism, and thousands of persons even amongst the adult die without being confirmed.  
2. The same Minister that had baptised was he that performed this Unction and Imposition of Hands, whereas afterwards this privilege was affected by, and appropriated to the Bishop.  
3. To conclude, Tertullian tells us expressly, that this Unction was in imitation of the ancient Jewish Discipline, according to which the Priests were anointed.   Which he would never have said, if he had believed it a Sacrament of the Christian Church. For the Sacraments of the New Covenant derive their original from Jesus Christ, and not from Moses. 'Tis the opinion of the Learned Dr. Reynolds, of the famous Grotius,. and of almost all the Learned that are unprejudiced, that these Ceremonies were Appendages of the Baptism of the Ancients, and that they were added in the second and third Age.  
But it's of very little importance to know how the Ancients did consider these Ceremonies of Unction and Imposition of Hands, whether as Dependences of Baptism, or as Ceremonies separate and distinct from it. It is sufficient, that they did not consider it as a Sacrament descended from Christ Jesus; and that Tertullian, who is the first in whom this Unction is observed, professes that it is in imitation of Judaisme, just in the same manner, as is the Imposition of Hands. The English Church, amongst the Reformed, hath rejected this Unction, which makes the principal part of Confirmation, and has retained nothing but the Imposition of Hands, to which she hath left the Name of Confirmation. 'Tis an Ecclesiastical Ceremony, which she might retain without crime, and which we might abandon without any prejudice to Christianity.  
We have learned that many of the new Converts, which have suffered themselves to be seduced, are very obstinate and wilful thereupon (viz.) about the Sacrament of Confirmation, about its antiquity, and because we have rejected it; but they ought to know that we have renounced it: 

1. Because they have made a Divine Sacrament thereof, whereas it was nothing but a Ceremony of human Institution.  
2. Because it is always permitted to reject those observances which are of no necessity, as the Roman Church, at this day, does not practise the giving Honey and Milk to those that are baptised, nor to forbid them bathing, during the space of seven days: Unction is a Ceremony of no other nature or importance than this.  
3. To conclude, we have judged it to purpose to omit the Ceremony of Unction with the others, because we were willing to restore the Christian Worship to its ancient Simplicity.   And it is certain, that these are Additions of the third Age.  
We must therefore know, that the Christians of the second and third Age being disgusted at the Simplicity of the Apostolic Worship, did blow up the Sacraments with Ceremonies that were added with intention to signify the Grace that God did communicate and give there. They caused the new baptised to eat Wine and Milk, because they were the nourishments of Infants, and they would signify, that Believers newly baptised, aught to be as Children new born. For which reason Tertullian makes the word infantare to design the Action, by which they made the new baptised to taste Wine and Milk. They anointed them with Oil, to signify that spiritual Unction of Grace which Believers did receive, they laid hands on them to signify the Descent of the Holy Ghost. The following Ages added Wax Candles and Torches to signify spiritual Illuminations; white Garments to represent the Innocence of the newly baptised, and with the same intention many other Ceremonies. But I know not how by an imagination which may be called rough and impolished in a little time after the Institution of these Ceremonies (which were not instituted by the Church but to signify) Men came to believe they had the virtue to confer Grace. And of the divers Graces which are confirmed to the Believers in Baptism, they attribute one to the washing with Water, another to Unction, and another to Imposition of Hands. They imagined, that the Water in Baptism did precisely give the Remission of Sins, that the Oil did bestow the spiritual Unction, and that the Imposition of Hands gave the Holy Ghost. This Divinity is found in Tertullian, in the Book which he has left us concerning Baptism. Where he proves the Imposition of Hands, after Baptism, causes the coming of the Holy Ghost; and he does it thus: 

1. Because the Priests and Magicians of Paganism did cause malignant Spirits to come upon their impure Waters by a Ceremony much like unto it.  
2. Because by the Imposition of Hands, Jacob drew down a Blessing upon the Children of Joseph.  
3. By the Figure of the Ark and Dove, who brought an Olive Branch from the the midst of the Waters of the Deluge, wherein this Dove was a Figure of the Holy Ghost, which falls upon him that comes out of the Baptismal Waters.    
S. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, who lived a little while after, taught the same thing (viz.) that Baptism gives forgiveness of sins, and that the Holy Spirit is communicated by the Imposition of Hands. But let it not offend these great Men, This Discourse signified nothing in their Age, and a person may see that it is a Language which is descended from the Age of the Apostles, and from those times in which extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit were communicated by the Imposition of Hands. For will they say, that Remission of Sins was given by the washing of Water, and the Holy Spirit by the Imposition of Hands, is it to be thought, according to their opinion, that sanctifying Grace and the Spirit of Regeneration are not at all given in Baptism? No, on the contrary S. Cyprian lays it down in express words, That the Spirit is received by Baptism. And in another place he does affirm, that sanctifying Grace whole and entire is given in Baptism, and that Men augment or diminish it afterwards by the good or evil use that they make of it, there is therefore no need of a new Ceremony for the donation of the Holy Spirit. He himself teaches us whence the Church took that custom of imposing Hands after Baptism. 'Tis from the Action of the Apostles Peter and John, who laid Hands on the People of Samaria, to the end, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. Which thing is done among us, says he, Those that are baptised present themselves to the Governors of the Church, and receive the Holy Spirit by our Prayer, and the Imposition of Hands, and are completed by the Seal of the Lord. The original of this Ceremony, which S. Cyprian acknowledges, aught to have made him confess the inutility thereof in his Age, since they had no longer the power of communicating the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost.  
This Imposition of Hands was an imitation of the Apostles ill understood, and Unction was also a pure Addition in this Age, the effect whereof they were very much perplexed to express. They said indeed this Unction was designed to give Grace; but what Grace since Baptism communicates it whole and entire? It is necessary, says S. Cyprian, that he who is baptised should also be anointed, to the end, that having received the Chrism, that is to say, the Unction, he might be the anointed of God, and have in himself the Grace of Jesus Christ. Now the Eucharist, and the Oil which they make use of to anoint the baptised, are sanctified upon the Altar. It is clear by these words, that Unction is nothing else but a Ceremony of Baptism, and that the Donation of the Grace of Jesus Christ is not attributed to it, but because 'tis annexed to Baptism. For to give the Grace of Jesus Christ is the proper effect of Baptism, according to all the Ancients. It seems by this Passage, that the Oil wherewith they anointed the baptised, was consecrated Oil; for S. Cyprian says, It was consecrated on the Altar. But this is not all; for the sanctification of the Oil upon the Altar signifies no more than what we have observed concerning the second Age. 'Twas that Believers brought Bread, Wine and Oil, and placed them upon the Holy Table. They consecrated these Oblations by Prayer, and they served themselves of them for the Usages of the Church: among others, they served themselves of Oil for Lights, when they assembled by night, and for the Unction of the baptised. As to what remains you may observe, that in the third Age nothing was seen but one Unction in Baptism, whereas we shall find two afterwards. Behold the Alterations which have happened to the Sacrament of Baptism in this Age. Let us consider the Eucharist.  
We have observed, that in the second Age they had added the mixture of Water with Wine, the Custom of sending it to the absent by the Deacons, and above all they had there annexed the Oblation of those Gifts that Believers made on the Altar, as a part of the Ceremony. This had already given it the appearance of a Sacrifice, and indeed gave the name to the whole Action. We shall not need to doubt, but this imagination increased with time, Christians having a very great desire to give to their Worship some appearance of a Sacrifice, to take away the scandal which the Pagans conceived against them. For they perpetually said to Christians, You have no Temples, Statues, Altars, nor Sacrifices, and by consequence you are impious. There was nothing in the Worship of the Christian Religion which might be dressed up in the likeness of a Sacrifice, but the Eucharist. They had that respect for the converted Pagans, that they added as many innocent Ceremonies as they could, to give to this Sacrament the appearance of a Sacrifice, with the same intention they gave it the name, with this intention, to the first Oblation used in the second Age, they added another. And they began to present to God by Prayer the Bread and Wine they were about to consecrate, and wherewith they made the Eucharist. This is called Oblation and Sacrifice. The Writings of the third Age are full thereof. And 'tis from thence, that Popery would draw some advantage, as if they found therein their Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead. But this pretence is false, for first of all it must be observed, that the Fathers says expressly, that 'tis a Sacrifice of Bread and Wine; we shall hear afterwards the Fathers of the fourth Age, and those following. At present we are to hear those of the third, Clemens of Alexandria says that Melchisedec gave Bread and Wine, as sanctified Provisions, in Type of the Eucharist. Which St. Cyprian explains in these words, Our Lord hath offered to God the same Sacrifice that Melchisedec offered, that is to say Bread and Wine, viz. his Body and his Blood. We see, says he farther, the Sacrament of the Sacrifice of our Lord prefigured in the Priest Melchisedec, according to what the Scripture testifies, where it says Melchisedec brought forth Bread and Wine. And a little below, The Lord accomplishing, and rendering perfect the image of his Sacrifice, hath offered Bread and Wine. Now, who ever heard say that there were Propitiatory Sacrifices of Bread and Wine? All propitiation is in the effusion of blood, and death of the Sacrifice. 2. Moreover, it is certain that the Fathers of the third Age called the Eucharist a Sacrifice, because it is the commemoration of the Sacrifice of the Cross. We make mention of the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ in all our Sacrifices, saith St. Cyprian. 3. We have yet an invincible proof, that the Fathers of the third Age did not look upon the Eucharist as a true Sacrifice, from the manner in which they answered the Pagans, upon the reproach which they continually offered to them, because they had no Sacrifices. In the second Age, Justin Martyr said, That the Prayers and Thanksgivings of Saints and Believers, were the only Sacrifices which were perfect, and acceptable to God, and were the only Sacrifices which Christians have learned to Offer, even then when they celebrated the Eucharist. In truth this Author had lost either his understanding or his memory, if the Eucharist itself had been a Propitiatory Sacrifice. Athenagoras, who lived in the same Age, answered also the Pagans after the same manner. What have I to do with Sacrifices and  Offerings, since God cares not for them? He demands an unbloody Sacrifice, a reasonable Service. Can any thing be more express, and more lovely than that which Minutius Felix says, in answer to a Pagan, that objected to him, The Christians have no Temples nor Altars, do you think that we hid what we adore, under pretence that we have no Temples nor Altars? The Sacrifice that ought to be offered to God, is a good Mind, a pure Conscience, a sincere Faith, it is to live Innocently, exercise Justice, abstain from Evil, and prevent his Neighbour from Perishing, this is to Sacrifice a fat Victim, these are our Sacrifices, this is our Service. Origen answers absolutely after the same manner, to the Objection which was made by the Pagan Celsus. If we read Clemens of Alexandria, he expresses himself almost in the same words. Arnobius producing the Objection of the Pagans, How then will some say, that you are under no obligation to offer Sacrifice? And answers after a manner very exact, We are not at all obliged thereunto. Lactantius answers not otherwise than those which went before. Now it is a prodigious blindness in these Men not to have answered the Pagans: You deceive yourselves, we have a Sacrifice, and the most glorious of all Sacrifices. For we offer the Body of Jesus Christ as a Propitatory Sacrifice to God, his Father. I entreat you, my Brethren, press your Converters, and demand of them whether they dare say to a Pagan, we have no other Sacrifices than Prayers and Thanksgivings, as for true Sacrifices we have no need to offer them.  
To Conclude, my Brethren, give attention to this last proof, that the Ancients of the third Age, did not account the Eucharist a true Sacrifice. It is that they Consecrated, and Celebrated this Sacrament out of Churches, in private Houses, and at their Meals, besides their solemn Communions, which were made in public Assemblies, they Celebrated the Mysteries in private, and among their Domestics. This we see in a Letter of St. Cyprian, where he disputes against certain persons who out of Mortification, and Abstinence from Wine, especially in the morning, will not Celebrate the Eucharist but with Water. Let not any one, says he, flatter himself with this consideration, that although in the mornings they offer with Water alone, nevertheless when they come to Supper, they offer the Cup mixed with Wine and Water. For when we eat this Supper, we cannot call together all our people, to Celebrate this Sacrament in all its truth, in the presence of all our Brethren. His sense is, these Water drinkers, against whom he disputes, did not satisfy the Commandment and Institution of Christ Jesus, to Celebrate with Wine, by these private Communions which were made in Houses, in which they mingled Wine with Water, because they ought to follow the Institution of Jesus Christ, and to Celebrate the Sacrament in its purity, and integrity, in the presence of all the Brethren, and in the midst of public Assemblies. It appears then from thence, 

1. That they Celebrated it in private Houses in the Evening when they Supped together.  
2. That they there Consecrated the Cup, and that it was not brought from Else, where,  
3. That the Bread, as well as the Cup, was Consecrated at the same instant, for why should they Consecrate the Cup, if they had not power to Consecrate the Bread?  
4. To conclude, these Communions were private amongst a few-people, and out of the presence of the people.   I do not doubt at all but it is of these private Communions whereof Tertullian speaks in Chap. 3. of his Book concerning The Soldiers Crown. We take, says he, the Sacrament of the Eucharist at Meal-time, as also at Morning Assemblies before day, where we do not Communicate but at the hand of the Precedents. It is a passage that Men do not, or will not understand. For the understanding of it, we must know that Tertullian made this Book on the occasion of a Christian Soldier, who would not set a Crown of leaves upon his Head, because it was forbidden to Christians. By this refusal he discovered he was a Christian, and exposes himself to Martyrdom, which he suffering, many blamed him, and said, why did he refuse to bear his Crown on his Head, where is the Text of Scripture that forbids it? Tertullian answers, that though it was not written, nevertheless the Soldier had done well, because when we dispute concerning Customs, Tradition without Scripture, is sufficient to Establish them, and he proves it by the Trine Immersion in Baptism, which was more commended, as also by the Milk and Honey that they gave to the new Baptised. Among the observances which had not been commanded, and in which they did a little deviate from the first institution, he puts the Custom of receiving the Eucharist in the Morning, in Assemblies before day, as St. Cyprian calls them. And he pretends that the Custom of taking the Eucharist at Meal-time, is that alone which Jesus Christ hath commanded, that is to say, hath Authorized by his Example: from whence it is clear he makes two sorts of Celebration of this Mystery, the one Solemn, which was done in their night Assemblies, the other private, that every Family did in their own House.  
Now it is to be observed, That in these Domestic Eucharists, it was the Master of the House, or of the Feast, that did Celebrate, that did Consecrate and Distribute. This is clear by a passage of Tertullian, where endeavouring to prove 2. Marriages unlawful to all sorts of persons, and not only to Priests and Ministers of the Altar, he says that all Believers are Priests, that all Celebrate, that all Baptism, and by consequence they are obliged by the Law which forbids second Marriages to Priests and Presbyters. We deceive ourselves very much, says he, if we imagine that what is forbidden to Priests, is permitted to Laics, for are they not all Priests? It is written he hath made us Kings and Priests to God his Father. It is the Authority of the Church which hath put a difference between the Clergy and ●he People, and which hath established this sacred honour for the body of the Clergy, this is so true, that when there ●s no Clergyman in a place, thou dost Celebrate, thou dost Baptism, and thou art to thyself a Priest: now where there are three, there is a Church, though they be Laics, for every one lives by his own Faith, and God has no regard at all to persons. Here are divers things which are contrary to false Principles that have been established some time since. First of all, In this time it was not believed that the distinction of Laity and Clergy, and with much more reason that of Priest and Bishop, was by Divine right. It was the Church, and positive Law, made this difference. 2. Every one for himself, and for those that were his might exercise the Ministry. 3. And above all, All might Baptism, and Consecrate, and Administer the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Offers & tingis, you Laics Administer the Eucharist, and you do also Baptism, that is to say in private Houses. For as to public Assemblies which met before day, Tertullian tells us, that they did not Communicate in them, but from the hand of the Precedents: that is to say, from the hand of Bishops, or Priests, which were present. In which he insinuates clearly enough, that out of these public Assemblies they Communicated by the hand of Laics. And I myself do not doubt, but that this Custom continued in some places, even till St. Augustine's time; who assures us that in his time they Communicated after Supper the Thursday before Easter, although on all other days of the year they thought it necessary to Communicate in the morning, and before they had eaten. And it was the Head of the Family that Administered the Sacrament on that day, in memory of the first Communion, where Jesus Christ, as Father of the Family, distributed the Holy Bread to his Disciples. The same thing was done also in the Churches near to Alexandria, and in Thebais, according to the Testimony of Socrates. We conclude at present from hence two things, 

1. That in the third Age they did not look upon the Eucharist as a true Sacrifice, for would they have permitted every private person to Communicate among themselves, whilst they were eating at the Table amongst their Domestics? Sacrifices are not offered but in Temples, and upon Altars.  
2. That according to the Christians of the third Age, Oblations, Liturgies, and other Ceremonies, were not considered but as parts of Decency, and by no means as things that were of the Essence, and of necessity in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: for in these Domestic Communions all this was omitted, they practised nothing but Consecration, Fraction, and Manducation of the Bread, it was nevertheless a true Eucharist.  
3. We conclude a third thing by the way, it is that there is no need of Mission, nor Vocation, for the Administration of Holy things, and by consequence those people who trouble us so violently about the Vocation of the Reformers, and our own, have no foundation for it in any Law, Divine or Apostolic.   We will here conclude what we are willing to say, at this time, concerning the Christianity of the third Age, we will add divers things for your Edification and Instruction.  
☞ First of all it has been judged convenient to let you understand what is the fidelity and honesty of M. de Meaux, and your Converters, on the Subject of the means wherewith they serve themselves to Convert you. It has been thought fit I say, to inform you, that we have received Letters from the Diocese of Meaux, which do fully confute, what the Bishop of the Diocese has dared to publish in his Pastoral Letter, viz. That the Reformed of that Country had not heard of any torments. There is a Letter dated Decemb. 15. 1685. that says, We are in confusion, Pray to God for us, the Dragoons are at Meaux, after they had caused all the Country of Clay to change their Religion, nothing stands before them, behold the pitiable state whereunto our sins have brought us. In another Letter of January 3. it is thus, In the confusion wherein we are, what shall I say to you? I am not able to speak to you but with tears of blood, the Dragoons have made all to change by force in the Provinces of Meaux and Soissons. Another Letter of Jan. 6. from the Diocese of Meaux, makes mention of the violences that were offered to a venerable old Man, de la Ferte au Col, of the Age of seventy eight years, called M. the Monceaux, Dr. in Physic. The Archers came to carry him away in the midst of Winter, and without giving him one days respite, they carried him away by force. When he was in the middle of the Woods he fell into so great weakness and faintness, that he resolved to cast himself down in the mire, and die there, but they would not do him the favour to let him die in peace. They tempted him by all sorts of methods, and in conclusion being able to again nothing upon him, they chose to imprison him with very many others. I do profess that reading the Pastoral Letter of M. de Meaux, I was tempted to believe that the Reformed of his Diocese had all fallen only under the fear of evil, for I was not able to imagine that any one should write falsely concerning a matter of Fact, whereof there are thirty or forty thousand Witnesses. But behold the Letters which teach us what we ought to believe concerning it. There are others by which it appears that all those Violences have been done in the Diocese of Meaux, which have been committed elsewhere. It is also known by an Eye-witness, that M. de Meaux himself made use of the King's Declaration to prevail with a sick person to Communicate, which Declaration appoints, that those who do not Communicate in their sickness, shall be sent to the Galleys if they recover their health.  
These things which precede are not reported but accidentally, for we do not make it our duty to report to you the Violences and Cruelties that have been done, and which shall be done, if it be not in such degree and measure, as shall be necessary to give you example of the courage and strength of our Martyrs. For the design that we have in these Letters is not to irritate and provoke you against your Persecutors, but to comfort and edify you by the constancy of those which Suffer. Upon this consideration, and with this intention, we will report some Histories which have been communicated to us, which will learn you, that thanks be to God, our Enemies have not accomplished the cruel design which they had form against us, which was to hinder us from having Martyrs.  
We ought not to refuse this Name, and Honour, to those which after they had been so weak as to sign I know not what form of Abjuration of our Religion, have had the courage to raise themselves, and to persevere even unto death in the profession of the Truth. We own also the same honour to those which are dead amidst the torments, which the Dragoons, and Persecutors have inflicted on them, and which have persevered even to the last breath in the bold profession of the Truth. To conclude, it seems to me that without extending the signification of the word Martyr too far, we may give it to those, who after suffering long and cruel torments, have seen death as very near them, and have beheld it as certain, without being the least shaken thereby. So that without reckoning those that are dead by the hand of the Hangman, or by the Sword of the Soldier, formerly for the sake of Religion; behold three sorts of Martyrs, whereof we ought to have some estimation, and of every one of these three Orders, we will repoot unto to some Examples which have been writ unto us.  
An Eye-Witness hath written to us, that in a Village of Poictou, called God's Town Dannai, an honest Man called M. Palmenteir, after having suffered all the first violences by the Dragoons, to wit Blasphemies, Threaten, Plundering of all his Goods, and other things of like nature, not yielding was treated as you shall understand, and in conclusion died amidst the torments. The Archbishop of Bourdeaux returning from the Assembly of the Clergy at Paris, about the end of the month September in the year past, comes into the House of the said Palmenteir, and asked the Dragoons why they had done their duty no better, and whether there were no fire to warm this Gouty old Man? After he had given this order, he went up the Chamber on high, and the Dragoons dragged the weak old Man out of his Bed, full of the Gout for many years. They dragged him on the floor, they applied an Iron Plate red hot to the bottom of his Feet, and to his Hands. In this torment he uttered dreadful cries; the Archbishop in the Chamber above laughed at it, and diverted himself with it. The Wife of the said Palmenteir came to the succour of her Husband, they knocked her down with blows of their Daggers, and the butt end of their Pistols: she fellinto a Swoon. In this estate they bathed her with two or three Buckets of Water. This punishment being endured a long time, this poor Man was so weak, not to Abjure his Religion, but to promise to use means for his instruction and information. The Archbishop desired at least, that he would sign this promise, but the condition his hands were in not permitting him to move them, the Archbishop signed for him, and sent the writing to the Bishop of Poicters, entreating him to send Missionaries to Convert this Family. This poor sick person had no sooner consented to this Signature, but he retracted it, and caused a person to write to the Bishops that he had no need of instruction, and would die in his Religion. In the mean time the Wounds of his burning, wherewith he was covered all over, grew to inflammation, and resisted all remedies, a Fever joins itself thereunto, and he died within a few days after, bewailing without ceasing his weakness, and repeating every moment those words of Psalm 51. God be merciful to me a sinner, and repelling courageously the temptations of a Carmelite, and a Jesuit, which persecuted him to the last breath. I see no reason why we should refuse the honour of Martyrdom to this Man, since he died confessing the name of God amidst the cruel Wounds, that had been given him, because he would not abjure it.  
We ought not to refuse a place in the Catalogue of our Martyrs to M. de Villiers, a younger Brother, of the House Juigne, a Family sufficiently known. This Gentleman was arrested at Francy, near to Bolonia, endeavouring to save himself by flight. They carried him to Calais, from whence the Intendant sent him to Paris by the Provost, where he was put in prison in Bishop-Fort, there he continued from Jan. 8. till the 22. of August last. During the whole time of his Imprisonment, he preached by his actions and words, after a manner the most efficacious in the world. He was both Learned and Pious, that he confounded all the Converters, after a manner that edified the other Prisoners, which suffered for the same Cause. The chief Precedent took the pains one day to come and see him. They entered into Discourse; but there was found that inequality betwixt him and Monsieur de Villiers, that he was constrained to leave him, saying what formerly a Cardinal said to Ariosto, on occasion of his Poem, called Orlando Furioso, Oh God where have you gotten so much Roguery? An Answer well worthy the Gravity of a chief Magistrate, about so serious an Affair. M. de Villiers had to do with all sorts of persons; Men of the Church, and Men of the Sword assaulted him, and he disengaged himself from all their Attacks, always with an admirable success. The inconveniences of the Prison caused him to fall into a Bloody Flux, whereof he died at the end of six weeks. During his Sickness they denied him all commerce, with the other Prisoners of his own Religion, he saw none but Persecutors and Tempter's. But nevertheless it was known by themselves, that he never ceased to praise God, and to bless him, that he died in and for the Defence of his Truth and Gospel; his Soul was always raised towards Heaven, his Discourses were full of Piety, Disingagement from the World, and of ardent Desires for the Kingdom of Heaven.  
I have told you already, that I do not believe, that we ought to refuse the Glory of Martyrdom to those who, through weakness, made their Subscriptions. Nevertheless without partaking in any Idolatrous Worship did afterwards recover, and die between the fear of being sent to the Galleys, if they returned to health, and the horror of being dragged all naked upon a Hurdle after their Death. This Fear and the Horror are true Punishments, so that I reckon those Women, which surmount the horror of nakedness, to which their dead Bodies were to be exposed after death, as dying in the midst of Torments for the Faith. Nothing makes a more violent impression on the Spirit of a modest Woman. And all the World knows the History of the Christian Damosels, which were cured of a certain melancholic Distemper, which put them upon hanging themselves. Nothing could give check to this rage. In conclusion, they thought it adviseable to draw some of them stark naked through the Streets in the view of the People. The fear of being thus prostituted to the Eyes of Men, stayed others, and hindered them from being their own Executioners.  
Of this sort of Martyrs we have an infinite number. For of all the new Converts which are dead in great numbers within a year past, particularly in Poytou, where by a just Judgement of God Death hath made such Spoils, that great Parishes are entirely depopulated of all these new Converts. I say there are not, it may be, one of an hundred which have given way to their Threaten, and permitted themselves to communicate after the Roman Manner. Thus 'tis also in Languedoc, there have been Women which they have affrighted with this punishment. But they answered courageously, that what they threatened as an evil, they desired as an advantage, and that they would offer this shame which they prepared for them to their Saviour, as an Expiation of their Crime. This great Resignator has not at all mollified the rage of their Persecutors. At Montpellier hath been seen the Body of a venerable Woman, named Mademoiselle Cauquet, Wife of M. Samuel Cauquet, a Physician, exposed all naked through the Streets, besmearing the Pavement with her Blood and Entrails poured out thereon. And when she was left at the Dunghill, there came two Dragoons, which caused their Horses to pass and repass over this poor body an hundred times. But that which is most edifying, is to know, that during her Sickness, the Answers that this holy Woman made to her Judges, and which are mentioned in her process, bear the marks of a profound humility, and of an extraordinary goodness. It may be they may be found one day in the Registers, if the malice of the Devil does not cause those precious Monuments to be suppressed, as they have almost entirely blotted out the Procedures against the ancient Waldenses, to the end that the proofs of their Innocency might be all made void. We have seen the Carcase of one named Peter Crousel, the Son of a Merchant of Clermont of Lodeve, dying a Confessor in the City of Montpellier, dragged at a Horse's Tail, and a Prisoner taken from the same Prison where the Martyr died, leading the Horse, and a Hangman striking the Body of the living person more frequently than the Horse which dragged the dead.  
The number of this kind of Martyrs being so great, we cannot make a Catalogue of them, without the assistance of those which are scattered in divers places in France, and have been eye-witnesses thereof. I will only report here two, which are more particularly come to my knowledge, and which have something peculiar in them, because of the Quality of the Persons. The first is M. Robert d' Ully, Viscount d' Novion, of the Church of Couci in Picardy, an old Gentleman of about eighty years of age, who had been Master of Camp to a Regiment of Infantry, and Governor of a place called Lafoy Motte au Bois, all covered with Wounds and Scars that he had received in the Service of the King, during forty years' space, and having yet a Bullet in his Knee, which could not be taken thence. This old Man was so weak, as to make his Subscription, as many others did; but he had also the courage to retract it not only by word of mouth, but also by a Writing signed with his own hand. They caused a Hangman with a Hurdle to come before his door, and told him he must be dragged. M. the Novion told them, that they should not tarry for him, for he was ready to go to the place of Execution. He arose from his Bed, although he had not been able to walk for many years; the Provost being astonished at this constancy, paid the Hangman and others for their Journey, and sent them back. This Gentleman a few days after was dragged from his House, and put into a Convent of the Order of the Premonstrants, where the Monks discharged themselves so well of the Commission, that they killed him by harassing him without ceasing. They made him lose his Voice many days before he lost his Life, by speaking eagerly to him, and he repelling them with vehemence. He died, continually thrusting them from him with his hand, and lifting up his Hands and Eyes to Heaven, when he was no longer able to lift his Voice thither. As soon as he was dead the Monks caused his Body to be cast into a Dog's Kennel, and gave notice thereof to the chief Magistrate of Couci; he came and caused his Body, without so much as a Shirt, to be laid upon a Cart to carry it to that City. A frightful Spectacle was there seen, the Head of this poor Man hung out of the Cart all bloody. All the Wounds that he had formerly received reopened all at once, and became so many mouths, which vomited Blood, and demanded Vengeance, that after so long Services they were so rewarded. When the Body was arrived at Couci, they cast it, in this condition, into the Sink of the Prison, they caused his Bowels to be torn out by a Chirurgeon, they threw them to Dogs upon the Walls of the City. This Body lying in the dirt continued some weeks, expecting that his Process would be made. At the end of fifteen days Sentence was pronounced, and executed, the Carcase was drawn through all the Streets of the City: and in conclusion, thrown into the Ditch, whither the Rabble went, and pelted it with Stones, till they left not one whole Bone; and for fear lest any one should take him by night, and bury him, they set a Sentinel upon the Wall of the City for many nights together near the place where they had cast him. And they added a Prohibition upon pain of death, that no Body should bury him, so that there he is to be eaten of Dogs, if it be not done already.  
To this Martyr so famous in the Wars, we will join M. Paul Chenevix, famous in the long Robe, Dean of the Counsellors of the Parliament of Metts, more than eighty years of age, and who had sat upon the Flower de Luce's from the 35 th'. year of his age. This venerable old Man died about the end of November, without ever having communicated, begging pardon of God for his weakness, confounding the Priests and the Bishop of Metts, the Governor, the Procurator of the King, and the principal Members of Parliament, which urged him vehemently by Threaten, lewd Reasonings, and Argumentations. When he was dead his Body was carried to the Prison in his own Coach, and condemned by the chief Magistrate to be drawn upon a Hurdle. The Parliament, who had some horror to see the most ancient Member of their Body thus treated, suspended the execution of the Sentence. But an Order came from the Court to execute it, and 'twas done the 28th. of the last month. This venerable Body was stripped stark naked, without the least covering for its shameful parts, they dragged it with the utmost reproach, all the Militia was put in Arms, and the Hangman himself was armed. The People at this Spectacle sent forth Cries that pierced the Heavens; and the Reformed of Metts did an Action of Courage, which ought to be immortalised; when the Body was on the Dunghill, they took it thence, and interred it honourably with a train of 400 persons, they did the same to a little Coffin wherein they had enclosed his Bowels, upon the Dunghill they sang Psalm 79.2. The bodies of thy saints most dear, Abroad to birds they cast: The flesh of them that do thee fear, The beasts devour and waste. A few days before they exercised the same cruelty in the same City of Metts, upon the Body of a Man named Robert a Knacker, a poor Man for his quality, but whose Courage appeared heroical, during a sickness of many days, in which he rejected with very great constancy and stability all those temptations, which without ceasing were offered to him. I do not report this with intent to introduce horror upon your minds for inhumanities' so prosecuted, but to the end that you may learn, that without doubt God has given the Crown of Martyrdom to Souls whose Bodies have suffered so many reproaches, and to have opportunity to conjure you to despise the like outrages which are prepared for your Bodies, provided you take care to put your Souls in a state of Security, and in the way to Glory by a holy and serious Repentance.  
December, 15. 1686.   

The Ninth PASTORAL LETTER. A Continuation of the Alterations happening in the Christian Church during the Third Age. Concerning Masses for the Dead, the communicating of Infants, the Real Presence, and Transubstantiation.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
WE told you in the last of our Letters, that we should divide the third Age, at least, into three parts, to the end, that we may not charge your Memories with too many things at once; we have found some Additions made to the Ceremonies of Baptism, and some in those of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The most notable Additions are Offerings, and Prayers for the dead, which are added in the Liturgy, which concerns the celebration of this Sacrament. Look to this point, there is a snare laid for you. In the Extracts, which your Converters make for you from the Fathers, of the third Age, they will show you some Passages of Tertullian and Cyprian, where they speak of Oblations for the dead, of performing Sacrifice for the dead, and of desiring refreshment for the dead. And upon this they cry boldly and say, Behold the Sacrifice of the Mass and Purgatory at the same time; for this Sacrifice is that of the Mass; these dead for which they pray are the Souls in Purgatory, and this refreshment which they beg for them is the deliverance of Souls out of that Fire. But these Men which instruct you are either ignorant Sots, which never saw the Fathers, unless in little Extracts; or else they are Knaves, which cheat and deceive you. For behold the Truth pure and entire as it is.  
So it is, that in the beginning of the third Age, or just at the end of the second they began to pray for the dead; the most ancient Writer which speaks thereof is Tertullian, a Priest of Carthage, who died in the year 217. Secondly, 'tis to be observed, that the Prayers, in favour of whomsoever made, and for whatsoever it was, were put into the Liturgy of the Celebration of the Eucharist, because the Ancients were persuaded, that Prayers joined to this Sacrament, which is the Commemoration of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, were much more efficacious, and acceptable to Almighty God. So that those who recommended themselves to the Prayers of the Church did carry, or cause to be carried, their Names to the Pastors, to the end, that they might insert them into those places of the Liturgies, where they prayed God on the behalf of particular persons. And 'tis from thence came the custom of saying Masses for all persons and all things.  
Those that desire that they should pray for their dead did not fail to bring their Names, and cause them to be inserted in their Liturgy.  
Now it must be remembered, that it was the custom of Christians from the first Age to bring their Alms and Offerings to the Holy Table. Before the Celebration of the Eucharist they consecrated these Offerings by Prayer, and the Names of those which had offered them were mentioned therein.  
When the custom of praying for the dead was introduced, the Kindred which desired that they should pray for their dead, brought Offerings according to their appointment. They declared, that these Oblations or Alms were made by the order of the dead, or that of their Relations, to the end that they would pray for them, and that mention might be made of them in their Liturgy, and in their Prayers. And those Oblations or Alms are called Oblations for the dead.  
And as those Offerings which are made by the living, have given the Name of Oblation to all the Action of the Sacrament: so these Oblations made for the dead, to the end they might pray for them, give the name of Sacrifice for the dead to all the Prayers made for them in the Celebrations of the Mysteries.  
To conclude, it must be known, that the Church of the first Age, which had a respect (it may be excessive) for the memory of the Martyrs, caused their Names to be registered in the Liturgy of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, particularly in the Celebration of the Mysteries, which were performed on the day of their Martyrdom, which was called the Birthday of the Martyr, and this was also called Oblations for the dead: We offer every year on the day of the Death of a Martyr Oblations for the dead, saith Teruillian.  
Behold from whence comes Masses for the dead, and the shadow of resemblance with what is done in the Church of Rome is capable of dazzling ye. But observe these great Differences. The first is that the Sacrifices that were offered for the dead (so they call them) were not accounted true Sacrifices, much less propitiatory Sacrifices. 2. That they did not beg of God deliverance from the pains of Purgatory. For Purgatory was not known at that time. The third is that they did not commemorate Saints and Martyrs as they do at this day, to have part in their Merits, or to offer their Merits to God.  
First of all it is indisputable, that the Church of the third Age did not think, that Prayers for the dead joined to the Sacrament of the Eucharist were a true Sacrifice, I will not repeat the proofs, those that please may see them in the preceding Letters. For since we have proved, that they did not at all account the Eucharist in general a true Sacrifice, although they gave it that name, 'tis clear, that they could not account as a true Sacrifice the Prayers which were joined to the Eucharist for the repose of the dead. So that the Ancients did not call that part of their Worship, which they called Oblations for the dead, Sacrifice, for any other reason, than because the Offerings which were consecrated upon the holy Table, were there placed on the behalf of the dead, either by their order, or according to their will and intention. And because these Prayers for the dead were joined to the Sacrament, which is a Sacrifice of Praise, and the Commemoration of the propitiatory Sacrifice of the Cross.  
Secondly, we say, that the end for which they make mention of the dead in the Celebration of the Eucharist, was not for deliverance from Purgatory, whereof no Discourse had been yet heard. To be assured thereof, there needs no more than to hear the Ancients concerning it. 1. At the beginning they were only simple Commemorations of the dead, to give thanks that they died in the Lord, and in the fear of God. 'Twas wholly to this end that they made mention of the Martyrs. S. Cyprian speaking of two Men of War who had suffered death, says, that they were true and spiritual Soldiers of Jesus Christ, and that in overthrowing the Devil by the Confession of the name of Jesus Christ. They had by a generous suffering been worthy to receive the Palms and Crowns of the lord Now you may remember, says he, that we offer Sacrifices for them. Observe, the S. Cyprian says expressly, that these two Martyrs were crowned in Heaven. Nevertheless he says that they offered Sacrifice for them; therefore it was not to fetch them from Purgatory. How could it be that S. Cyprian and the Ancients should offer a Sacrifice to fetch the Martyrs from Purgatory, when they believed they were in a state of Blessedness? 'Twas to do an injury to Martyrs, to pray for them, say they, according to that saying so much known among the Ancients, Injuriam facit Martyri qui orat pro Martyr. For 'twas to doubt of his happiness. The same S. Cyprian says in another place: Observe well the days on which they died, speaking of the Martyrs, to the end that we may remember them when we celebrate the Memories of the Martyrs. Although Terullian, our most faithful and devout Brother hath written to us, and doth write to inform us of the days in which our blessed Brethren, which were in Prison, passed to a glorious immortality, to the end that we may here celebrate Oblations and Sacrifices for their Memory, expecting, that with the help of God we shall celebrate them with you. That which he calls in the beginning Remembering the Martyrs, he calls afterwards Oblations and Sacrifices for the memory of them.  
But if to the Commemorations, that is to say, to the Praises which they gave to God for the glorious death of the departed, they added some Prayers to God, it was with respect to the Opinions then prevailing, touching the state of Souls after death. And these Opinions were such as had their Birth in the end of the second Age, and was almost generally established and received in the third. 

1. That Souls did not enter into the Heavenly Paradise till after the Resurrection.  
2. That they remained in a separate place and state, till that day.  
3. That they might go thence sooner or later, by a quicker or slower Resurrection; for they thought that the Resurrection was not accomplished in a day, but continued the space of a thousand years, at many and divers times.  
4. That at the day of Judgement the Souls pass through that fire which shall consume the World.  
5. That in conclusion, they present themselves in the day of Judgement, either to be Absolved, or Condemned.   There is not a learned and upright Man, which doth not acknowledge this was the Divinity of the third Age, yea, and of those that follow. So that with respect to these Opinions then prevailing, they begged of God for the Dead. 

1. That he would fix them in the place of Repose, which they call locus refrigerii, or the Bosom of Abraham.  
2. That he would increase their happiness in that place, and moderate the desire they have to go from thence.  
3. That they may go early thence, and partake in the first Resurrection.  
4. That they may pass through the fire at the last-day without receiving and damage.  
5. And to conclude, that they may be Absolved when they present themselves before the Throne of God: all this was not expressed in the Prayers of the Church.   On the contrary they were conceived in general terms, it was the intention of those which made Prayers for the Dead.  
But to what purpose is it to dispute farther, whether they offered Masses for the repose of Souls in Purgatory at that time, since we have ancient Liturgies, where we may see what they begged of God for the Dead. There are two Liturgies, of which one bears the name of St. James, the other of St. Mark. We shall do them a great honour if we put them among the Writings of the third Age. The Liturgy attributed to St. James, says, Lord God of the Spirits of all flesh, remember the Orhtodox, of which we have made mention, and whereof we have made none, from Abel the Righteous unto this day, cause them to rest in the Land of the Living, in the Bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in thy Kingdom, in the delights of Paradise. And that of St. Mark, Cause the Souls of our Fathers, and of our Brethren, which are dead in the Faith of Christ Jesus, to rest, etc. Cause them to rest in the Tabernacles of thy Saints, and give them the Kingdom of Heaven. That Composition which is called the Constitutions of the Apostles, is a Work of the fourth, and it may be of the fifth Age. Nevertheless we do not see there in the Prayers for the Dead, any Prayer for the deliverance of Souls out of Purgatory. According to the Liturgies of that time, they requested two things for the Dead. 

1. Pardon all his sins, voluntary, and involuntary, give him Angels for his guard. For the believed that in these separate places they were assisted by Angels.  
2. Place them in the Bosom of the Patriarches and Apostles, and of all those that have been acceptable to thee from the beginning of the World, where there is neither sorrow nor sighing.   It is the separate place, where according to them Souls rest to the day of Judgement.  
To conclude, will you have any thing more than all this? Behold it in the Book of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, of the false Dionysius the Areopagite. It is to do him great honour to quote him among the Authors of the third Age, since he is much more modern. But at least in teaching us what was done in the following Ages, he will learn us what was not done in the Ages preceding. He says, 

1. That when a Man was dead, high Relations and Friends sung Praises to God that had given him the Victory, and caused him to arrive at the end he desired.  
2. Afterwards they carried him to the Bishop as if it were to receive the Sacred Crown.  
3. The Bishop caused him to be carried, if he were a Laic, to the entrance of the Choir of the Church, and there they performed the Office of Prayers, which began with Praises, afterwards they read the Promises of the Resurrection, and sung Psalms: before they passed farther they caused the Catechumen to go out, after which they mentioned all the Saints heretofore dead, in whose Praises they thought the deceased might have some part. They exhorted all those which were present, to breath after a happy end in Christ Jesus, and in conclusion the Bishop made Prayers for the Dead, he saluted the deceased person, and after him all the living.   But what did these Prayers for the Dead contain? It is, says he, that all the sins which they have committed through human frailty, might be forgiven them, and that God would conduct them into the Land of the Living, into the Bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the place where there is neither grief, sorrow, nor sighing. In all this there is nothing of Purgatory.  
To conclude, For the third and last difference of the Sacrifice of the Mass at this day, where they make mention of the Dead, and the services which the Christians of the third and fourth Age did for them, it must be known, that at this time they distinguished the Dead, whereof they make two sorts, there are those which they put in the Liturgy to Pray for them for their rest, and deliverance from Purgatory: and others whereof they make mention to present their merits to God, and to be aided by their Intercession. For in the Mass they make mention of the Holy Virgin, of the Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, etc. to be aided by their Prayers, and to partake in their Merits, that is to say, they Prayed to them, instead of Praying for them, but this was a thing unheard of in those Ages. It was a thing so impossible that they should Invoke God by the Merit of the Apostles and Martyrs, that they Prayed to God even for them: just in the same manner as for the least Believers. This may be seen in the Liturgies that we have quoted, where we have seen they Prayed for all Saints, from Abel to this present day: and the Liturgy of St. Mark makes express mention of Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, as of persons for which it says, Cause them to rest in the Bosom of Abraham. This by the way makes it appear, that these good Men make little reflection upon what they say, for they request on the behalf of the Apostles and Martyrs, that God would set them in a place of rest, nevertheless it is one of the Articles of their Faith that they are there already, and that they had been there from the moment of their death. But as Bellarmin hath well observed, their Prayers for the Dead were conceived in the same terms as if they had been made at the instant of time when their Souls left their Bodies, an instant which is the precise time of Praying for the forgiveness of their sins, and the rest of their Souls. If after this the new Converts through their prejudice and blindness, will find the Sacrifice of the Mass in the third Age, we know not how to help it; let them only know, that this heap of Prayers for the Dead, and Oblations for the Deceased, which were added to the Celebration of the Eucharist in the third Age, was the unhappy Seed which the Spirit of Lies and Superstition did Sow in the Church, that he might cause from thence to spring the false Sacrifice of the Mass, Propitiatory both for the Living and the Dead: so that they ought not to be astonished if there be some shadow of likeness between these Oblations for the Dead, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, since the one is the Seed, and the other the Fruit, the one the beginning, and the other the end.  
This Article might suffice, not only for the Sacrifice of the Mass, and for Prayers for the Dead, but also for Purgatory; for what we have said proves that Prayer; for the Dead was by no means established upon the Opinion that Souls were in fire after death, from whence they might be drawn by Masses. And you may, my Brethren, boldly defy your Seducers to show you in that Age any passage in the Ancients that say so. Suffer not yourselves to be abused by the Word Refrigerium, which signifies refreshment, as if they had desired for Souls some abatement of the heat of the flames, for this Word signifies no other thing in the Authors of those times than pleasure, and locus refrigerii, a place of pleasure. Beware also of the Knavery of your Translators, who in those places where they find offer pro dormitione, that is to offer for those asleep, they Translate it to offer for their repose, as if the Souls for which they Prayed had been in some Pain and Travel. For to offer for those asleep, is simply to offer for the Dead. Sleep, according to the Style o Scripture, signifies nothing but Death, and to offer for the Dead, or for those asleep, was to offer by making mention of the deceased.  
Behold that which was added to the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the third Age, which began to give it some appearance of the Mass, but they yet wanted three great things, the Elevation, the Adoration, and the refusal of the Cup. We do not find the least trace of these three things, take it for granted, and put your Converters upon the necessity of proving the contrary, and you will reduce them to what is impossible. As for us, if we would bring you Proofs that they did Communicate under both Kind's, that they did not Elevate nor Adore, we should have nothing to do but to produce a hundred places where it is clear that they gave the Communion under both Kind's, without ever speaking of Elevation or Adoration. This Communicating of Infants which is not disputed, and by consequence we have no need to prove it, is a thing worthy of observation, for it is an addition of the third Age, which makes it appear, 

1. That the Church is not Infallible, by the confession of our Adversaries. For the Church of the third Age, and those that followed it, hath erred, according to them, in judging that the Eucharist was necessary to little Children, as well as Baptism: therefore she is not Infallible in the interpretation of the Holy Scripture, for the hath misinterpreted those Words, If any one eat not my flesh, and drink not my blood, he cannot have everlasting life. Since she hath believed that Children could not be Saved without Communicating.  
2. That Custom makes it appear that the Church is capable of introducing considerable Innovations, and those Universal, and of long duration. Your Converters grant that it was no Apostolic Tradition, that at the beginning it was not so, nevertheless it was an important Innovation, as it is clear, for according to us, It is no less than to profane a Sacrament, which requires self examination, by giving it to persons that cannot prepare themselves: and according to the Roman Doctors it is to expose the true Body of Jesus Christ to horrible indignities, by putting it in the mouth of an Infant, of some few days, or months old. And that which cannot fail to happen, is, that the Body of Jesus Christ was oftentimes spit out upon the floor. For Children do not fail to reject whatsoever does not please their Palat. Moreover, this important Innovation was so Universal, that the whole Church embraced and entertained it, and of so long duration, that we find examples thereof many Ages after the fourth.  
3. Learn from this Custom, that in those Ages they were not obliged to Adore the Sacrament before they cat it, for Children could not perform any act of Adoration.   Therefore press your Converters vigorously with this Example, and ask them if the Church cannot Innovate in other Articles of importance, since it hath plainly Innovated in this, and if we may not Correct Ancient and Universal Customs, since the Church of Rome hath rescinded practices, where were introduced but one Age after the Apostles.  
Behold thus much for Worship and Practice. As to Opinion, do not suffer yourselves to be persuaded that any change in Doctrine, touching the Sacrament of the Eucharist, did happen during the third Age. The proofs that your Converters bring thereof unto you, are very pitiful. For they are passages where the Fathers of that Age called the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist, The Body, the Flesh, and the Blood of the Lord. Behold verifying proofs! What is to be said concerning them, since it is the language of Jesus Christ himself, and of his Apostles? The question is not what they said; but that we are to know, is in what sense, and after what manner the Fathers of the third Age understood that the Bread of the Eucharist was the Flesh of Jesus Christ. Now I do maintain that your Converters must be either Fools or Knaves beyond all imagination, that dare to say, that according to the Fathers of the third Age, that the Bread of the Eucharist was the Body of Jesus Christ, by way of Reality and Transubstantiation, for the Fathers of that Age spoke as plainly, and clearly concerning it, as we do. Hear then Tertullian, who lived in the beginning of that Age, among other Heretics, with a sort of impious Villains, who said that our Lord Jesus Christ had no true Body. Thus he reasons against them, Our Lord having taken Bread, and distributed to his Disciples, made it his Body, saying this is my Body, that is to say the figure of my Body. Now this had not been a Figure if he had not had a true Body. That is to say, if the Figure had no relation to the true Body. For an empty thing, as is a Phantasm, is not capable of having a Figure. Another Author of the same Age, whose Work is ascribed to Origen, Disputing against the same Heretics, called Marcionites, says, If as these pretend, our Lord were destitute of Flesh and Blood, of what Body, of what Flesh, of what Blood, has he given us the Signs, and the Images, viz. The Bread and the Cup, by which he has commanded his Disciples to preserve and renew his memory? These Men had lost their Reason to speak in this manner, if they believed the Real Presence, above all in disputing against those which denied that Jesus Christ had a true Body. They say Jesus Christ was no Phantasm, he had a true Body, for he gave us in the Eucharist the figure and Image thereof. Now Phantasms have no Images, they themselves being Images and no more. These Men, say I, had lost their wits, for they should have said Jesus Christ was no Phantasm, he had a true Body, for he gives this true Body to us to eat every day. Since at this day he has a Body, and we eat thereof, with great reason it may be affirmed he had one when he was upon Earth. The first Reason taken from the Image and Figure, is of some weight I do acknowledge. But this taken from the Reality in the Eucharist, had been a hundred time better, and according to the Opinion of the Church of Rome, is an argument altogether invincible. So that we must suppose these Authors did betray, and abandoned the Cause of the Church, by making use of feeble Arguments against the Marcionites, when she had furnished them with one that was utterly impregnable. For, after all, it is not wholly true that Phantasms can have no Figures or Images. It is a reflection that you ought to make, to discover the vanity of the Sophistry wherewith your Converters serve themselves to answer to those passages, and an hundred others, without Hyperbole, where the Fathers of the seven first Ages, called the Eucharist, the Figure, the Type, the Image, the Symbols, the Signs, the Antitypes, of the Body and Blood of the Lord, it is, say they, because there are two things in the Eucharist. There is Figure and Reality. Figure, because of the Accidents of Bread and Wine, which are the Figures of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Truth and Reality, because of the Real Presence of the Flesh inwardly contained under the Species. Now the Fathers sometimes respected the Sacrament on its external part, that is to say, by the Species, in this respect they have called it Figure. It it be so, at least the Ancients ought not to consider the Sacraments on the side of the Figure, when it was necessary for the Cause which they defended, to consider it on the side of the Reality, as it was in the disputes against the Marcionites.  
Hear yet the same Tertullian, to the end that ye may not think that this slipped from him through inadvertency. Disputing against the same Heretic Martion, and upon the same Point, he sites to him certain Words of Jeremy, where according to the ancient Translation it is thus, let us cast the Wood upon his Bread, or let us cast the Bread upon the Wood, He would prove that this Bread signifies the Body of Jesus Christ, and that the Prophet had respect to his Passion, in which they put the Body of Jesus Christ upon the Wood of his Cross, and he adds, speaking to Martion. So hath God revealed it in our Gospel, calling the Bread his Body, to the end that thou mayst understand that at this day he hath given in the Bread the Figure of his Body, which the Prophet before had figured by Bread. The same Author says further, That Jesus Christ did not reject the water of the Creator by which he washed those that were his own; the Oil wherewith he did anoint them, the Honey and the Milk which he causes them, as Infants, to take from the Bread, by which he represents his Body. Mark these words, by which he represents his Body. I know not whether a Disciple of Calvin could speak otherwise.  
Hear Clemens of Alexandria, an Author of the same Age. Expounding the words of Christ, John 6. he saith, That by the Flesh and Blood which Jesus Christ commands us to eat, we must Allegorically understand Faith and the Promise. It is the fame Author that says, and maintains that that which Jesus Christ said Take drink this is my blood, aught to be understood by way of Allegory, and that it was true Wine: Ye know well, says he, that he drunk Wine forasmuch as he was a Man, and he blessed Wine, saying, Take drink, this is my Blood, the Blood of the Vine. And the word signifies by Allegory the sacred blood of joy, which was shed for many, etc. But that what he blessed was Wine, he caused his Disciples to understand, when he said to them, I will drink no more of this fruit of the Vine, until I drink it new with you in the Kingdom of my Father. This good Doctor was openly a Disciple of Zuinglius and Calvin, for he serves himself exactly with their Arguments.  
St. Cyprian says, That the Lord called his Body Bread kneeded and made up of many Kernels, and his Blood Wine drawn from many Grapes. He says not that he made, but that he called. He says that by the Wine is shown, or signified the Blood, as by the Water which is mixed with the Wine, is signified the People.  
To conclude, Origen in the same Age, Writing on those words Matth. 15. That which enters into the mouth defileth not the Man. He makes a difficulty on this, that it seems the Eucharist that enters into the Mouth doth not sanctify the Man, if so it be that what enters into the Mouth do neither sanctify nor defile him. To this he answers that the Bread which is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer, doth not of its own nature sanctify him which makes use thereof, for if it were so, says he, it would sanctify him which eateth thereof unworthily. He adds that there is advantage in eating the Bread of the Lord, when we participate thereof with a clear Mind, and a pure Conscience, etc. And at last concludes with these words, If all that which enters into the Mouth goes into the Belly, and be cast out into the draught, this Bread which is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer, according to what it hath that is material, goes into the Belly, and from thence to the place of Excrements; but in relation to the Prayers that have been made thereon it is profitable in proportion to a Man's faith, which does illuminate the mind, and make it attentive to those things which are profitable. And it is not the matter of Bread, but the Word which is pronounced over it, which profits him that does not eat unworthy of the Lord. Behold thus much concerning the Typical and Symbolical Body. Many things also may be said concerning the Word itself, which was made flesh, and which is become true food, whereof whosoever shall eat shall live for ever. No wicked man can eat thereof. For if it were possible, that he that perseveres in evil could eat the Word which was made flesh, that is, as it is the Word and the living Bread, it would not have been wasted. He which shall eat of this Bread shall live for over. I know not whether Calvin could have written more clearly: 

1. That the Bread, as to the matter thereof, remains.  
2. That this matter suffers all that which other Aliments do suffer, even to its descent into the draught.  
3. That its Faith which makes us partakers of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament, and that we eat in proportion to the Faith and Attention that we bring thither.  
4. That it is a symbolical Body of the Symbol of the Body of Jesus Christ.  
5. That no wicked Man or Unbeliever can eat Jesus Christ, because he is not eaten but by Faith.    
I do profess unto you, that I know not how these men's Minds and Souls are made, to maintain after these passages, that they believed the Doctrine of the Real Presence, and Transubstantiation in the third Age. It is some kind of pleasure to see how our Adversaries bestir themselves, and sweat both Water and Blood over these passages. Give attention, my Brethren, I do adjure you, and call to mind also that notable matter of Fact practised in the third Age, which we have proved unto you in the preceding Letter. It was that the Father of the Family, though no Priest, Consecrated the Eucharist at the end of his Meal. This continued in the Church of Africa till the time of St. Augustin. Judge you whether ever private person had the power of doing this great Miracle, that is to say, of changing the substance of Bread into that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and whether they would have permitted such a Profanation of the Son of God. Consider therefore, 

1. That in the third Age they spoke as clearly against the Real Presence as we do.  
2. That this aught to be the Rule of all the following Ages.   For, when afterwards they produce unto me an hundred hard improper expressions on the subject of the Sacrament, I am assured that they ought to be interpreted according to the Faith of the third Age; for what reason? Because none of the Ancients hath accused either Tertullian, or Clemens of Alexandria, or St. Cyprian, nor Origen of Heterodoxy, although they condemned without scruple many of their Opinions. I have been longer upon the Eucharist of the third Age, because it is important to understand well the Faith thereof, for it being the last Age of the Purity of the Church, it ought to serve as a Rule to Judge of those that follow.  
I will finish this Letter by continuing the History of our Martyrs, whereof we have made 3 Orders. I come to the third kind, such to whom they have presented death as present and certain, and who have courageously offered themselves thereunto. For 'tis a divertisement that the Persecutors often give themselves, and a kind of temptation which they have often exercised to declare to our Confessors, that the Sentence of Death is pronounced against them, and that they must die if they did not change their Religion immediately. And we have not heard that any one has fallen under this kind of trial. M. the Voutron, a Gentleman in the Neighbourhood of Rochel, hath given us within a few days a great example of this kind of Constancy.  
He endured for the space of a year the most cruel Imprisonment that could be imagined; he suffered hunger and thirst, he lay upon the ground with Irons on his feet in a Dungeon dark and deep without light, without fire in the winter, and without other nourishment than a little Bread and Water, whereof oftentimes they did not give him the half of what was necessary for his nourishment. At last in the end of the year, the Governor of S. Martin de Re, where he was Prisoner, came to see him, and told him, that it was with extreme grief that he was constrained to tell him very unhappy news: 'Twas that the King had appointed, that all those that were Rebels on the Subject of Religion, should be put to death; the Gentlemen were to be beheaded, and the others hanged, that he would very willingly have been excused from this Commission, but could not avoid it; that nevertheless he felt some joy in this, that at this time he might be the Instrument whereof God might serve himself to rescue him from Heresy, and the Precipice from which he was about to fall, that he had but one step to make to deliver himself from it, to gain Paradise, to establish his Fortune, and that of all his Family. Our Confessor believed the thing in good earnest, and it is not difficult to believe, that they would prosecute their cruelty to the uttermost, when they had continued it to an imprisonment so long, and so barbarous. But he was not moved thereby the least in the world, unless by emotions of Joy. He answered; Monsieur, this news is so far from afflicting me, that it rejoices and comforts me, since it will end all the troubles of my Imprisonment, and I shall enjoy the sight of my God. I have made my choice, and when it shall please you to cause me to mount the Scaffold, I am ready. The favour that I beg of you is, that if you cause any one to die before me, you will permit me to accompany him to his Execution.  
Instead of executing the Threatening, within two days after they drew him out of the Dungeon, and gave him the Castle at large for his prison, with liberty to see his Kindred and Friends. We shall see how long this will last.  
It is written also from Picardy, that two Damosels of inferior Rank, of Laon, Seamstresses by their Profession, saw the little that they had, wasted, without being moved or shaken; after which they imprisoned them in places where they passed the whole Winter without fire, or covering, but one single Coat. During the space of eight months, they made use of all that which the craft and rage of Persecutors in these last days could invent to vanquish and overcome them. They resisted all. In conclusion they pronounced their Sentence, which condemned them to death; they carried on the Play to the last, for they led them to the place of Execution, and caused them to see a Pile of Wood enkindled to burn them. Nothing struck them, they persevered; they undressed, and prepared themselves to be bound to the Post. The chief Magistrate laughed at what astonished all the world, and said, These are fools enough to suffer themselves to be burnt. They released them, and drove them out of the City; they forbade all the world to entertain or feed them. For my part, I do not see why this may not be called Martyrdom, seeing God regards the intentions and dispositions of the Soul much more than external actions, we can't doubt that he doth not reckon those for Martyrs, which have offered him their life, and put it into his hands with so much resignation, although death did not follow as they expected and believed.  
If we will have Martyrs according to the most perfect Rules and Laws, the Constancy of our Brethren in Cevennes will not fail to furnish us with a very great number, if we may believe some Letters that come from Nismes. The Governor and Intendant have within a few days caused 75 Men and one Woman to be hanged at S. Hippolyte. This Butchery appears to me so terrible, that I am resolved not to give a full belief to it till further confirmation. We may see in one of our precedent Letters the perseverance of these honest Men to assemble for Prayers to God, notwithstanding the Punishments and Dragoons. The severe Declaration of July 12. which condemns to death all those which exercise the Reformed Religion, has not at all abated this heat and zeal. For know, that they assemble every day, and that they cause them every day to suffer Martyrdom. The public News Printed at Amsterdam are sufficiently true and exact on this point, because they are published from Memorials that come from persons that are upon the place. These Memorials have told us that 40 persons were killed upon the place at an Assembly, that they have seized on a very great number of other persons, and that they have discovered and surprised these Assemblies. That a young Gentleman of the House of M. Julian, named M. the Frumey-rolle had his Head cut off, and that he received death with a piety and constancy in nothing inferior to that of the greatest Martyrs. His Brother, the eldest of the House, was sent to the Prison of Ayques Mortes. They have hanged of Men and Women a number that can't be determined, because the reports concerning it are something various. But 'tis certain that Executions are done every day, and that they die with all the Characters of the Martyrs of God, and of his Truth. A favour for which we are to give eternal Praises to our dear Saviour.  
The Martyrs of the Valleys of Piedmont alone would deserve a large Chapter. But we must delay it till we can receive exact Memorials concerning them. That which we know of them is, that some of the Ministers made Prisoners by the Duke of Savoy were hanged. Among others M. Leydet, whose constancy did astonish, and make the whole Court of the Duke to tremble: the poor Prisoners suffered unheard of Cruelties in their Imprisonment. The Duke's People have published abroad that they were very well treated, and that they gave to them the same quantity of Provisions which they gave to their Soldiers, that they oftentimes gave them fresh Straw, that they suffered the sick to take the air, and also that they gave them Wine. But the truth is, they did all that could be done to destroy them, that they might deliver themselves from the fear of seeing them in Arms, and returning to their own Estates and Possessions. They put Mortar in their Bread, they gave them nothing to drink but stinking water, and they let them die in their dung and ordure. And they have been so successful in their design, that there is a place where, of 400 persons, there are 250 dead; nevertheless we have not heard that any one did renounce his Religion, it were injustice to refuse both the Name and Glory of Martyrdom to those which have died in so constant and so difficult a Confession.  
The Church hath put its Confessors one degree below Martyrs, but in truth I do not find that they are much inferior to them. I do openly avow that there are Confessors which I admire more than Martyrs. It is in my opinion a more glorious Work to endure a terrible and furious Combat, during the space of many months or years, than to behold the face of death for a few moments. And we may say with assurance, that such persons have fallen in a long Confession, which would courageously have endured the sight of death. Therefore, my Brethren, do honour to so many Believers which have suffered to afford you an example. Remember how many righteous persons are in the Galleys, laden in Chains, but encircled with Glory. We have there two which are very famous among many others, who, it may be, are not inferior to them, though they be less known to us. We have there M. de Marolles, of whom we have spoken already, and some of whose Letters we have communicated unto you. We have there another Man of Learning and Merit, called M. Le Feure, of a considerable Family of Chastel Chinon in Nivernois, of the Church of Corbigni. This faithful Christian, after he had avoided with a great deal of labour, the occasions and seasons of Subscriptions, by shifting hither and thither, at length he puts himself on the way to go out of the Kingdom. He was seized upon the Frontiers, towards the beginning of the month of March, he was conducted to Besancon, where he was put into a Dungeon, in which, during the space of three months, he experienced all the Severities which they put upon the greatest Criminals, and he endured all the Temptations of Threaten, Promises and Disputes, which the Persecutors are wont to make use of, to vanquish the Constancy of the Saints. By word of mouth and writing he caused all his Friends to know, that they had no reason to fear on his behalf, and all his Letters bore the Marks and Characters of true Christianity, by the Humility, Sweetness, Piety and Patience which were manifested and displayed there. After he had languished many months in Dungeons, with a Body naturally weak and sickly, he was condemned for ever to the Galleys. They sent him in Chains to Dijon, where he met with M. de Marolles, which they brought from Paris. So these two illustrious Confessors, who already knew each other by the report of their Courage and Sufferings, were joined together to be a pair of eminent Witnesses to the Truth. They had the same Fortune as they had the same Heart, both were sick even unto death upon the way, whilst they dragged their Chains after them; both arrived at Marseilles, and both are actually in the Galleys, bearing their Chains both night and day, by express order from the Court, and both of them with the same courage pursue the glorious Race of their Martyrdom, until it shall please God to grant them the Crown after which they breathe.  
Amongst the Confessions which are well worthy of Martyrs, I cannot forbear to place that of a Gentlewoman of Poictou near St. Maixant, about the Age of fifty or fifty five years, whose name is slipped from us, though there be many Witnesses of the same place, who have informed, and assured us with one consent of the truth of the following History. She endured the first rage of the Dragoons, that is to say, the wasting of her Estate, their Threaten, Blasphemies, and other Evangelical means of our modern Converters. Her Goods being wasted, the Soldiers attacked her Person, and there was not any kind of Torment, Violence, Blows, or Reproaches, which they did not offer to her. They tied her to the post of a Bed, where she remained a long time the object of the impudence and fury of the Soldiers, who proceeded to commit all the outrages upon her, that an honest Woman could suffer, except Violation. In conclusion, one of these Wretches thought fit to tell her, if you can suffer a living Coal upon your hand during the space of a Pater Noster, we will let you go. She consented very freely. They then took the greatest, and the most burning Coal that was in the Fire; she had the Courage to stretch out her Hand, and to hold it herself stretched out, without complaint, and to pronounce Our Father, etc. from the beginning to the end, a Dragoon in the mean time blowing the Coal for fear it should go out, which scorched her Flesh and Skin, and made her Blood and Humours to bubble and boil: when this as done, one of the Soldiers raging, and swearing said, thou haft said the Pater Noster too quickly. I will say it myself, and if thou canst endure a light Coal of Fire on the other Hand, whilst I repeat my Pater Noster, we will give thee thy Liberty. This poor Woman consented to this second proposition, with the same cheerfulness which she had manifested at the first, this was done. The Soldier takes the Coal, she receives it, and held up her Hand in the Air, with the fire Coal, which consumed it, whilst the Soldier said his Pater Noster, putting a great distance between word and word. In conclusion, another Soldier overcome by an example of Courage so extraordinary, blamed him for repeating his Prayer so slowly, and struck off the Coal from her hand, and so they left her. Behold say I, in my Opinion, a Confession well worthy of a true Martyr. Praised be God, that we have yet souls so inspired of God to overcome such punishments, and so inflamed with his Love, that they can surmount the burning Fire.  
Jan. 1. 1687.   

The TENTH PASTORAL LETTER. Two Articles; the one of Antiquity, the other of Controversy: The Article of Antiquity, The Faith of the Third Age about the Invocation of Saints, Relics, Images, Fasts, Indulgences, Human Satisfaction and Confession. The Article of Controversy, Concerning the Unity of the Church; that 'tis not included in the Church of Rome, and that we are not excluded from it.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
WE have already begun in the last Letters, to give you a History of the Faith of the Church in the Third Age; and the last thing upon which we stayed was the Real Presence and Transubstantiation. We have nothing more to say about the Article of Purgatory than what we have said concerning it on the Subject of Oblations, and Sacrifice for the Dead; we will only add, that Origen, a Man of great sense in that Age, and also of great boldness, who among many bold and rash Opinions advanced that of a temporary Hell, that is to say properly, of Purgatory, of a Fire in which the Wicked aught to be purified, that they may be saved after some Ages of Torment. And 'tis of this temporary Hell, jumbled with the separate state of Souls, that the Purgatory of the Roman Church is at last form and made.  
We therefore pass to Worship, Adoration, and Invocation of Creatures, of Saints, of the Blessed Virgin, of Angels, of Relics, and of Images: This is a place of Triumph for the Truth, and Confusion for Error. Ask, my Brethren, ask, and be you never weary thereof; bid them show you Tertullian, Cyprian, Clemens of Alexandria, Minutius Foelix, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Arnobius, Lactantius, and Origen, of whom we have so many Writings; let them show you them (I say) recommending the Worship of the Virgin, the Invocation of Saints, and the Adoration of Relics. Their Silence suffices to make it known, that then men knew not what this unhappy Superstition was: and if their Silence be not enough, remember that which we have proved unto you; 'tis first, that then they prayed for all Saints in general, both Apostles and Martyrs: now it is inconsistent to pray to a Saint and for him, as your Converters will acknowledge; seeing to pray to a Saint supposes him glorified, and to pray for a Saint or Martyr supposes him not glorified. Secondly, Remember also, that in those Ages the prevailing Opinion was, That the Martyrs themselves and Apostles, were not yet in Heaven, and by consequence, did not see the face of God; so that they could neither learn from God the necessities of the Living, nor intercede for them before him.  
After this know, That in this Age, as well as that preceding, Christians made open Protestations, That they did not serve, adore, nor invoke, any other but God. Tertullian said, 
* Scorpiac. cap. 4.  That 'tis appointed, that I call upon no other God, that I may no more make another God by my tongue, than by my hand. 'Tis ordained that I adore or worship no other, after what manner soever it be, besides the One God, which commands this in his Law. 
* Ad Scapul. cap. 2.  We serve but one only God, which you naturally know, whose Thunder and Lightnings you fear, and from whom you receive Blessings with great joy. He serves himself of the Words Venerate, and Serve, and they are general words: Where is the Papist that will say, That he gives no Worship but to God alone? Clemens of Alexandria saith, 
† Strom. lib. 6.  The Greeks ought to learn from the Law and the Prophets to serve but one only God, who is truly Almighty. Origen repeats the same thing in a hundred places, That Christians worship and serve God alone.  
But if this be not enough, hear Origen after he had said in express words, 
‖ Lib. 5. cont. Cells.  That we ought to address all Prayer, Supplication, Request, and Thanksgiving, to the Supreme God, Lord of all things by the Eternal Word, God the High Priest, who is above all Angels; after that say I, he excludes by name Angels from the number of those which ought to be invoked. To the end, saith he, that Angels may be propitious to us, and that they may do all things for us, it suffices in the first place that we be very closely united to God, and disposed to imitate Angels who imitate God, etc. That 'tis best to trust in God, and to beg of him all the aid, and all the succour which can come to us from good Angels, etc. For 'tis, saith he, a thing altogether unreasonable, that we should invoke Angels, seeing we know nothing of their service, or knowledge, because it is above men. Although we should grant that their knowledge, which is admirable and secret, may be understood, this same knowledge which we have of their Nature, and of the thing over which every one of them presides, would hinder us from daring to invoke any other but the Lord who is over all things, and sufficient for all. 'Tis certain, that Origen had lost his Understanding, if at that time they invoked Angels; and if they did not invoke Angels, how could they invoke the Saints departed? Do we not learn from Scripture, that Angels are round about us, and by consequence, that they hear us? Do we not know that God hath committed to them the care and preservation of his Children? we know nothing of all this concerning Saints: so those which did not invoke Angels certainly never did invoke Saints. As for Relics, my Brethren, ask your Converters, ask their Proofs, that men took them from their Tombs, that they put them in Boxes, that every one carried his part thereof in great Devotion, that they wrought Miracles, that Men went in Pilgrimage to the Tombs of Martyrs, where Relics were laid, that they kissed them, and fell on their knees before them. If they cannot prove this, let them confess that this Worship was perfectly unknown in the third Age. Mr. Demabis, a revolted Minister, confesses clearly enough, that in the first Ages they gave not this external Honour to Relics; because, says he, the state in which they were did not permit it. Is not this a miserable defence? They say, 'twas a time of Persecution; I confess it; but it was the more easy for them to get the Ashes and Bones of Martyrs, for they made them every day: 'tis true, that in some places the Pagans hindered the Christians from taking their Bodies, but in many others they left them on the Dunghill to him that would first take them; and all their rigour could not hinder them from getting some one of their Bones from the flames, as did the Believers of Smyrna those of Polycarpus. The Persecution did not hinder Christians from kissing these Bones on their knees, in their private Houses and Oratories.  
As to what concerns Images, I cannot resolve to make an Article thereof, although I had intended it; for I do not think that there is any learned man among your Converters, who hath the impudence to maintain that there were Images in Churches during the time of the third Age, and that men worshipped them, after we have proved unto them, that in that Age Painters and Statuaries were accounted infamous, and that they drove them from the Communion of the Church, as they did Comedians, Bawds, and other instruments of Wickedness and beastly Pleasures, and that there the Christians scoffed at the Pagans, which prostrated themselves before Images of Wood, Copper, Stone, Gold and Silver, which might be stolen, and carried away; in the mouths and ears whereof Mice made their Habitations, and upon which Birds laid their Ordure. They offered, I say, a thousand Reproaches to the Pagans about their Statues, all which might be retorted against the Christians, if they had had any themselves; and to expose themselves to these Replies, it must be said, that they had lost both Memory and Sense. I would very willingly know what Clemens of Alexandria would have said, had he seen Images in Churches, who said concerning Women that beheld themselves in Glasses, 
* Pedag. lib. 3. c. 2.  If Moses did for▪ bid Men to make any Image which represented God, how can these Women be innocent, who by a fictitious Representation, make Images of themselves? Read therefore, Tertullian, Arnobius, Minutius Foelix, Lactantius, Clemens of Alexandria, and Origen. And if ye be not qualified, my Brethren, for the reading of them, ask your Converters, if what we have said above be not true: they will not have the impudence to deny it; 'tis a matter of Fact, which is confessed by the more honest of the Roman Religion; amongst others, by Baluzius, in his Notes upon Lactantius, concerning the Death of Persecutors.  
In the Third Age they began to give Rules concerning days of Fasting. The African Church, besides the Lord's Day, had two other days in the week consecrated to Prayer, that is to say, Wednesday and Friday. Instead of Friday, the Roman Church set apart Saturday to that end and use. According to the Discipline of the Ancient Church, it was not permitted to fast on the Lord's Day, and for that reason, she set apart two other days in the Week to join Prayer with Fasting, and called those days Stations. They were reckoned for half Fasts, because they fasted no longer than till three hours after Noon; whereas in complete Fasts, they abstained from eating till the Sun were set. At this day, instead of half Fasts (as they call them) they ought to call them Fasts less than half, for they fast not but from six in the Morning until Noon, in the Church of Rome; a great Mortification to make so great account on! These half Fasts were accompanied with public Prayers: For the Christians assembled together, continued in Prayer at the Church until three hours after Noon; and as it was the custom of that time to communicate in all public Assemblies, they concluded these Stations or half Fasts with the celebration of the Eucharist. They did not communicate in the Morning, in the beginning of their Assembly, because those days were accounted days of Fast, and they then believed that the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist, did break their Fast; for as yet they were not instructed in the method of withdrawing the Substance, and leaving nothing but Accidents there.  
To conclude, Lent, and the other Fasts of this day were then wholly unknown. They fasted in this Age (as they did in the second) the Passion-day and that which followed it, but no more. And because the Montanists, a sort of Heretics, amongst which Tertullian listed himself towards the end of his life, would consecrate two Weeks in the Year to fast in; The Catholic Church made a great stir about it; and that which is remarkable is, that then the Church served itself exactly of the same reason against the Montanists, which we make use of against the Fasts of the Papists, 
* Tertul. Lib. de Jejun. c. 15.  particularly they made use of those words of S. Paul, who said, That false teachers should come, who should command to abstain from meats, which God had permitted to believers; that we must not observe days, and months, and years; that we must eat of every thing, and at all times, without ask questions for conscience sake. We must suppose an extravagance of mind, without excuse, to believe that men who disputed thus against the Montanists about two Weeks Fasting, should themselves have and observe five or six. Nevertheless you must hold this for certain, that these two Weeks of Fasting of the Montanists were the beginning of Lent; for a little while after, the Church was ashamed to see itself surpassed with Mortifications, by persons they accounted Heretics, and therefore she was willing to outbid and out do them.  
My Brethren, they make you extracts from S. Cyprian Bishop of Carthage, a great Man, and a very holy Martyr, in which you oftentimes read the words Satisfactions and Indulgencies. But let this example teach you, not to suffer yourselves to be seduced by a similitude of terms and words; for those Satisfactions and Indulgencies have no alliance or cognation with those of the Church of Rome. Then the Discipline of the Church was extremely severe upon men's Faults and Crimes, against which, the Romish Confessors at this day, do oftentimes appoint but very gentle Penances, and no forbearance from the Sacrament: But they commanded Sinners the forbearance of many years together, with many long and tedious Fasts and Mortifications. Those who had accomplished their years of Penance and Forbearance, were said to make, and have made Satisfaction. But, First, They did not then imagine that these Satisfactions were intended to excuse them from the pains of Purgatory, as hath since been believed. Secondly, These Satisfactions were properly made to the Church, and its Discipline, and not to the Justice of God. 'Tis true, that S. Cyprian speaks sometimes of Satisfying God; but these words with him, signify no more than to appease God with Prayers and Humiliations.  
Those Christians which fell through the violence of Persecution, did owe to the Church very rough and severe Penances, according to the Rules of her Discipline. All were not capable of bearing the trouble of long Penances, therefore they desired that they would remit the whole, or some part of it, and receive them to the Peace of the Church. To obtain which, they made their applications to their Martyrs and Confessors which were in Prison for the Cause of Jesus. 
* Cypr. Epist. 10, 11, 12, etc.  These Confessors wrote Letters of intercession, addressed to the Bishop, Presbyters, and People, to the end that they might receive these Sinners to the Peace and Communion, without causing them to pass through the rigour of their Discipline. They had so great a respect to the Confessors of the Name of Jesus Christ, that they could deny them nothing. So that at their Intercessions they admitted Sinners without Penance, and this was called Indulgence, this is it whereof S. Cyprian complains in many of his Epistles. I entreat you, my Brethren, to observe in this place how the Devil takes occasion from things the most innocent, to establish Opinions and Practices greatly faulty and criminal. For behold the first original of application to the Intercession of Saints, Indulgences, and Merits of Supererogation.  
From Saints who were in Prison for the Name of Jesus Christ, they ascended to the Saints who are in Heaven. At first they prayed the Holy Martyrs that were on earth to intercede for them with the Church. Afterwards they came to pray the same Martyrs in Heaven to intercede with God for them. They called Indulgences the relaxation of the Severity of Discipline, which the Church granted at the request of the Martyrs. At this day they call Indulgence the relaxation of the Justice of God, which he grants as they suppose, in considerations of the Merits and Sufferings of the Martyrs, who suffered more than was necessary for themselves. To conclude, they have changed the Consideration and Respect which they had for the Intercessions of Confessors and Martyrs, into Merits and Works of Supererogation. The Church did retard the rigour of her Law against Sinners, because of the esteem which she had for those that suffered for the Name of Jesus Christ. At this day they grant Indulgences by the application of the Merit of those which have suffered too much, either by involuntary Persecutions, or by chosen and voluntary Mortifications. But hear how the same S. Cyprian speaks very aptly concerning one of these Confessors named Lucian, who carried himself too haughtily, and desired too earnestly that they should have respect to his Letters of Intercession. 
* Epist. 34.  The Lord Jesus Christ hath said that we must Baptise Nations in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and that all Sins past are forgiven in Baptism. But this man, that is to say, the Confessor Lucian, knowing neither the Law nor the Commandments, commands that we give Peace, and pardon Sins in the Name of S. Paul, not considering that they are not the Martyrs who make the Gospel, but that it is the Gospel which makes the Martyrs. Therefore at that time they did not allege the Threats of S. Paul, S. Peter, the Martyrs and Confessors, as the reasons for which they granted Indulgences, that is to say, the relaxation of the Discipline of the Church.  
In the same Age, that is to say the third, they will produce unto you the word Confession, and the terms of being on their knees at the feet of their Priests. And they will not fail to find for you there the Auricular Confession practised at this day; but there is nothing more false. For those which dazzle your Eyes thereby, do very well know, that the Greek word which signifies Confession, was not at that time any secret Confession. But the whole Act, or Actions of public Penance were so called: And if at that Age Penitents were seen at the feet of Papists, this was not done in secret, and in a place appointed for the receiving Confessions, where they acknowledged all their Sins in the Ear of the Priest. But in Churches and in public, that they might be admitted by Prayer and imposition of hands, either to Penance or to the Peace of the Church. It was so certainly a public Action, that the Pagans took occasion from thence to accuse the Christians of adoring the shameful parts of their Priests. This Confession was made in public, with Sackcloth, Ashes, and Tears, begging the Prayers and Assistance of all Christians. This may be seen fully explicated in the Ninth and Tenth Chapters of Tertullian's Book of Repentance.  

A Point of Controversy, Concerning the Unity of the Church, that it is not in the Church of Rome, and that we are not departed from it.  
WHen a City is besieged and assaulted of all sides, those that have a desire to defend it, would be every where at the same time, but they cannot, which is their trouble. My Brethren, we have the trouble at this day, you are besieged, you are attacked at an hundred places, they batter you by a thousand wicked Reasons, we would be every where, and defend you on all sides; but whilst we endeavour to defend you on one side, they deceive and ruin you on another. The rash and bold adventure of the Bishop of Meaux (who hath told you in his Pastoral Letter) That from the Apostles days to his, no alteration has happened in the Doctrine of the Church, hath engaged us (that we may confound him) to make you perceive the essential Changes which have been introduced, both in its Doctrine and Worship, at least in the first five Ages, to the end, that from thence you may judge of all the rest. But whilst we pursue this design, which cannot presently be executed; I understand that they seduce you by the Sophisms of the Church, of its Unity, Visibility, and the horror of Schism. And that which grieves us most is, that by the Letters which come, or are communicated to us, we see that the most part of you, who are willing (at any rate whatsoever) to be at ease and rest where they are, do also endeavour to possess themselves of, and obstinately to maintain these wicked Reasons, and it may be that one of you will know himself in the following words, All the World reasons concerning Religion agreeably to their own Light and Passions. But the Questions which do most trouble and confound it are these: 1. The positive separation which our Fathers made: 'Tis said that we ought to suffer without separating from the Communion of the Church, that the Abuses introduced by Governors may not be imputed to Believers. But the Scriptures that make mention of the Heresies that must arrive in the Church, do not command Separation for the sake of them: On the contrary they exhort us mutually to bear with one another; they say that Wood, Hay, and Stubble may be built on that foundation, which is Christ Jesus, and that he alone will separate one from the other, that the good Grain and the Chaff shall be separated at the last day, but we must let them grow together till then. Behold exactly the Religion, 

1. Of our revolted Ministers. There has been sent unto us an Account of a Conference which Cheyron an Apostate Minister of the City of Nismes had with the famous Confessor called Mr. Matthew an Advocate of Duras, who is in the Town of Constance at Aggues-Mortes, that which this Wretch says is the same with what hath been written and you have read.  
2. 'Tis also the Religion of all those which have any understanding or illuminations, they cannot but see, that the Church of Rome is extremely corrupt.   But the question is, say they, whether we ought to separate from it because of its Corruptions, yea, they say, we ought to bear them; and add further after all, there is but one true Church; and although it be corrupt, it is nevertheless the Church, and we must endure its Diseases and Imperfections. The Poison of this illusion is so eating and dangerous, that we have reason to fear that it continues long upon your Minds; it will penetrate into them and totally corrupt them, and so whilst we are pursuing other Subjects, your hearts will be poisoned by this mischievous Sophism, in that manner and to that degree, that you will never recover. This is it which obliges us to return to the Bishop of Meauxes Letter sooner than we intended. Nevertheless without forsaking the subject matter we are upon, for we will endeavour to intermix things in such a manner, that in every one of our following Letters you will find one Article concerning Antiquity, and another concerning the Questions of the Church, as you will find in this. And forasmuch as these Letters ought to be instead of Sermons to you, we will join unto them some words of Exhortation as often as we can. We return therefore to the Letter of Monsieur de Meaux, one of the Bishops of Rome. We are considering the third Article of his Pastoral Letter: This third Article, and that which follows, will give us an occasion to confute the Sophisms which they make, or you make for yourselves about the Church. The Bishop of Meaux in his Pastoral Letter does six things: 

1. He endeavours to establish the Idea and Unity of the Church principally upon the Testimony of S. Cyprian, and in consequence thereunto, the Unity of the Ministers.  
2. He proves, 
* Page 12.  There is none allowed to separate from the Church, and that all separate Assemblies are in a state of Damnation 
† Page 14. ; so that a Martyr which dies for the Faith of the Church out of this Unity, is nevertheless damned.  
3. 
‡ Page 13.  That we must not examine Opinions to know whether such an Assembly be the Church 
‖ Page 14. . But we must know if an Assembly be the Church, and judge from thence concerning the truth of Opinions.  
4. He endeavours to answer to that Text, Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, I will be in the midst of them. A Text that proves wherever is Truth, there is a True Church; and then comes to his Chimaera, that all Separation ruins Unity; a Chimaera which he supports by the Testimony of the great S. Cyprian, who is indeed his only Author.  
5. 
* Page 17.  By the same S. Cyprian he proves that the Church, with whom we must preserve Union, is the Church of Rome, or the Chair of S. Peter.  
6. In conclusion, he falls on the common place of the invalidity of the Call of our first Reformers, he proves their Vocation invalid; because they were either Laics or Renegado Priests which had renounced the Ministry.   The first never having Mission, the last having it no longer, cannot be lawful Pastors. This is the Abridgement of a great number of Volumes, which have been made to seduce you within twenty years' last passed; concerning which we do entreat you to be attentive to these invincible Arguments which we have to produce for the subversion of these wicked Engines. Although we do not account it a Duty to follow precisely the order of the Articles of the Bishop of Meaux: Nevertheless, seeing he gins with the Unity and Visibility of the Church, we will begin there also, and we will make you understand, 

1. What is the true Unity of the Church.  
2. What is the Unity of its Ministry.  
3. What is its perpetual Visibility.  
4. That to separate from a corrupt Church, is not to break the Unity thereof.  
5. That there is such a degree of Corruption that obliges to separation, and that the Church of Rome is corrupt to that degree.    
First, My Brethren, it is necessary that you make to yourselves a just and legitimate Idea of the Unity of the Church. They tell you that there is but one Catholic Church, and that there cannot be many. This is true, there is but one Church universal, and even the Word Universal, that is added thereunto makes it apparent, that there can be but one. Just after the same manner that the word Universe (by which is signified the World) signifies also that there is but one, for if there were another World besides this, ours would not be the Universe, seeing it would not comprehend totally all. But the Bishop of Meaux and those that are like unto him, give you a pleasant Idea of its Unity and Universality both together. The Church of Rome, say they, is this universal and only Church, it is universal, and yet nevertheless, out of it, and separate from it there are many other Churches. This is just as if I should say, our World is the Universe, nevertheless there be many other Worlds besides it. Is not this absurd? But it will be said, that these Propositions are not alike nor the same, for we mean thereby all other Churches; besides, the Roman Churches are false Churches. This is another absurdity altogether alike, as if a person or a man should say; 'Tis true, there are many Worlds besides ours; nevertheless, ours is the Universe, because all the rest are false Worlds. If they Church of Rome did say, Indeed I am but part of the Church Universal; but I am the only sound and entire part, the others are sick and diseased. where a man cannot be saved: If it should speak thus, say I, it would speak false, but it would speak nothing absurd or contradictory, and there would be reason to examine its pretensions to the bottom, to know if indeed it be the only Church that is sound and without Errors. But it must have renounced common sense, to avow that out of her Bosom there are many Churches, and nevertheless call herself the Church universal.  
However it be, her pretention is, that the Unity of the Church consists in a certain Communion, characterized and distinguished from all others by certain limits and boundaries, and under certain Pastors, out of which Communion, whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not, whether you have considerable Errors or no, you are always out of the Church and hopes of Salvation, although you should believe and maintain all the truths of the Gospel from the beginning to the end, though you should be Orthodox as S. Paul, retaining all the Articles of the Christian Faith, yea, of the Faith of the Church of Rome, if nevertheless you live in separation with this certain Seat and this certain Church, which is the Church Catholic you must be certainly damned. I entreat you, my Brethren, before you go further, propose a Question to your Converts. Tell them I am content to grant there is a certain particular Church, in which is that Unity from which we must never separate. But how shall I know that this Church, in which is that Unity to which we ought to adhere, is the Church of Rome? for I have heard say, that there are many other Churches; among others, it hath been told me, there is a Church in the East, called the Greek Church, which hath six Patriarches, that is to say, for Popes, the Bishops of Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, and these do all in like manner Anathematise the Pope of Rome. Propose to them, say I, this difficulty, and press it home, and you will see them brought into such straits, that they can say nothing but impertinences and absurdities: They will tell you that Rome is the seat of S. Peter, it is to her that this Privilege was granted, all those which separate from her, depart from Unity. So that the Greek Church, and the three Popes whereof we have spoken, are out of the Unity. Can there be a greater Absurdity than to answer by that which has been under dispute? It is not true that Rome is the Chair of S. Peter, we shall it may be have occasion to prove it to you in some other place. But although it should be true, where is it said that the Privilege of Unity ought to be affixed to the Chair of S. Peter? The Pope of Constantinople says, I am in the Chair of S. Andrew, who was an Apostle. The Pope of Antioch says, 'Tis I who am in the true Chair of St. Peter; for according to Tradition, St. Peter was seven years' Bishop of Antioch before he was Bishop of Rome: so that it is the first Chair, sounded by the chief of the Apostles. The Pope of Alexandria saith, I am in the Chair of St. Mark, who was an Evangelist, and had the Spirit of Infallibility as well as St. Peter. Behold three Popes against one, three Churches against one, three Apostles or Evangelists against one; wherefore then, gentlemans Converters, would you that I should esteem you as only in the rightful possession of Unity, to the prejudice of Persons which pretend to have as good a Title to it as yourselves? Press these false Babylonish Teachers on this point, and you will see such confusion, and such a multitude of Words in their Discourse, which will discover to you the falseness of their pretensions.  
After this we will consider the Proposition in itself, The Union that is necessary to Salvation is included in the Church of Rome alone; out of it there is neither Salvation, Faith, Grace, Remission of Sins, nor the True Church: so that every man which is separate from it by Schism alone, without Heresy, dies eternally. I do maintain, That this Proposition is the most foolish, but withal, the most cruel and barbarous that ever was asserted: and I do beseech you, my Brethren, to be attentive to the proofs that I shall make thereof.  
First, According to the Scripture, Fathers, and Evidence of Reason, the Unity of the Church ought to contain Universality in itself; that is to say, That Church which is One ought to be universal, and extended through all the World; it ought to comprehend all Christians. I will not prove this, for it's clear and also confessed: 'tis a truth so known among the Ancients, that they look on certain Schismatics of the fourth and fifth Age, called Donatists, as Fools. These People, in the beginning of the fourth Age, separated themselves from the rest of the Church of Carthage, and all Africa: this Separation was caused by the Election of a Bishop of Carthage. This hath always been one of the most fruitful Sources of Division. These Donatists said precisely that which the Church of Rome says at this day, 
* Aug. de Ago Christi, Cap. 28.  All the Church is fallen into Apostasy, and is only preserved in the Communion of Donatus: upon which St. Augustine thus cries out, Oh proud and wicked Tongue! Certain other Schismatics called Luciferians, fell into the same dotage, That the Church was perished, and continued not but in Sardinia, and some Mountains near Rome, where they had Followers and Disciples. St. Jerome treats them on that Subject, as men that had lost their Understanding. 
† Jerome Dialog. adv. Lucifer.  If it be so, says he, Jesus Christ died only for the Peasants of Sardinia: Where then is the accomplishment of that word of the Father, Ask of me and I will give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance? Behold exactly the folly of the Papists, the Church is perished throughout the World, except at Rome, and in the West; but we, with the Scriptures and the Fathers, say, Let the North give up, and let not the South keep back. All the parts of the World shall bring forth Children to God; and the Church ought to be extended to all places where the Gospel is. Now the Church of Rome is not at Constantinople, nor in Muscovy, Asia, Egypt, Africa, or Ethiopia, where nevertheless there are multitudes of Christians: it is not in England, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, nor in a great part of Germany. The Church of Rome reacheth not to all the Countries and Kingdoms; for 'tis ridiculous to say that 'tis dispersed throughout the World, because there are some Jesuits at London, in the Low Countries, Sweden, Constantinople, and in the East, and some Latins hid here and there, where they have small Congregations, but little known, and as it were under ground. I might as well say that Calvinism is extended through all Italy, because there are some of the Reformed scattered here and there in it.  
Secondly, According to the Hypothesis of the Church of Rome, every one that errs, though never so little, that is to say, who goes off from that which the Romanists determine, is out of the Unity of the Church, and without hopes of Salvation. Behold how ill this agrees with that notable Passage whereof those of ours that are weak and fearful make great use; 'tis that of St. Paul, 1 Cor. three 11. where the Apostle says, For other Foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this Foundation, Gold, Silver, precious Stones, Wood, Hay, Stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest, etc. and the fire shall try every man's work, etc. And if any man's work be burnt he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. Without taking notice of what may be difficult in this Passage, 'tis clear, That those which build are Teachers, that the Gold, Silver, and precious Stones are sound Doctrines, that the Wood, Hay, and Stubble are such as are unsound and false; 'tis also clear, that they which teach these false Doctrines may be saved, and with greater reason they which are seduced by them. It follows not from thence, as our perverted People pretend, that a person may be saved in the practice of that Worship which ruins the Foundation, as they do in the Church of Rome: but it follows at least, that a person may be saved that teaches Doctrines opposite to Truth, provided that they subvert not the Foundation: and by consequence, the Church of Rome is ridiculous, as well as cruel, to damn all those which are out of her Communion for Errors that are light and trifling; for having pronounced Anathema against those which deny, for example, that Infants dying without Baptism are damned, Mr. Nicholas makes no difficulty to condemn all those, which do not believe the sovereign and absolute necessity of Baptism.  
Thirdly, We have a third proof of the falseness of this Pretence, that the Roman Church is in possession of that Unity out of which there is no Salvation, in this, That God preserves the Ministry of his Word in many Places, and in many Churches, which do not submit to the Latin Church. The Word of God never returns without effect. The Wisdom of God will not permit, that he should preserve the Ministry in places where there are none but Non-elect and Reprobates; so that it is absurd, that God should cause his Gospel to be preached to a herd of Reprobates, among which there is not one person on whom the Word can produce its effect. It will be therefore in vain, that God should preserve Christians in all the East and South, for these Christians being out of the saving Unity, will be damned just in the same manner as if they were Pagans.  
Fourthly, The Schism of the Ten Tribes gives us a convincing Proof that in Schismatical Churches every single Person is not in a state of Damnation. Jeroboam separated ten Tribes from the other two; he would not suffer them to go up to Jerusalem, but engaged them in a formal Schism; nevertheless God there preserved both Prophets, as Elijah and Elisha, and a multitude of Persons which he affirmed to be his own, because they had not bowed the knee to Baal. There is therefore no particular Church that has reason to boast itself of having Unity alone, to the prejudice of all other Churches.  
Fifthly, The truth is, that on one side the Jews converted to Christianity in the time of the Apostles, and on the other side the Pagan Converts lived in a true Schism; for these Jewish Christians would have no Communion with the converted Pagans, nevertheless they did not mutually damn each other: therefore we ought not to damn those which live in Schism, whatever it be. The converted Jews had considerable Errors; they observed the Law, and would retain Circumcision with all their might, Things incompatible with Christianity, as S. Paul declares so positively as to say, If any one be circumcised Christ should profit him nothing: nevertheless, God suffers and saves them with considerable Errors. It is not therefore true that the Church is shut up in one sole Communion, and that every Error damns when we separate from a Society, that is justly called the Church: but it's true, that remaining in a Society bearing that Name, we may nevertheless be damned, when there are mortal Errors there, as there are in the Church of Rome.  
Sixthly, Ask your Converters, who would oblige you to return to the Church of Rome on pain of Damnation, under pretence that Unity is in that Church alone; ask them, I say, whether they would pronounce, that all the Greek Christians (of whom there are millions) are damned for this only reason, because they will not adhere to the Roman Church, who alone has Unity in her possession? If they have the front to say yea, ask them if they acknowledge the Greeks for Christians? They will also also answer you yea: pursue and press them, by ask how God can abandon to eternal Damnation an infinite number of Christians, who according to the Church of Rome hold no Capital Errors, and are only mistaken in things of small consequence? If the Papists boast of the consent of all Christians of other Communions, and particularly of the Geeks, in the Invocation of Saints, in the Adoration of Images, in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, the real Presence and Adoration: they do therefore hold all that the Church of Rome esteems necessary to Salvation; why therefore will they damn them for little things, and for this alone, that they will not live in this pretended Unity?  
To complete the confusion of your Converters, by themselves, on the subject of this Unity, out of which we are departed, Ask them if this Unity be not a certain circle in which the true Church is enclosed? They will answer you yea: proceed to ask them, Whether this certain Circle of Unity has not its Centre, that is to say, a certain eminent Church to which all the rest ought to have their Relation, to the end that they may be within the circled of Unity? they will also answer you yea; and they will add that the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, is this centre of Unity.  
Monsieur de Meaux finds a way to secure himself from the Thunders of Rome by frequent repeating this: and indeed this Supposition, according to their Hypothesis, is of absolute necessity; for if this Circle of Unity have no Centre of Adherence, it vanishes immediately; a man will always be able to say with good reason, To what Church would you that I should adhere? is it to that of Paris, or that of Toledo? These are particular Churches which may err; if therefore the Pope be ruined, if the necessity of Adherence to the Pope be removed, the circle of Unity perishes with him, which they call the centre of Unity. Now observe, that at this day the Divines of the French Church, your Converters, ruin the Pope from head to foot; they take away the centre of Unity, and by destroying the centre they destroy the circle. 'Tis to this that so many modern Writings of Maimbourgh, Gerbas, Noel Alexander, made, after the King's Declarations, and the Definitions of the Bishops on this Subject, or in prospect of them, do tend. But the Gallican Church never spoke so openly as she hath done but a little while since, by the Pen of a Doctor of the Sorbonne, called Elias Pin, touching the ancient Discipline of the Church. Those among you, my Brothers, which do not understand the Latin Tongue, may consult those that do; and they will inform you, that in this Book may be read, 

1. That the Bishop of Rome had originally no power over other Churches.  
2. That in the first Institution of Patriarches, he had no power but over the Suburbicane Provinces, that is to say, those near to Rome.  
3. That the Popes, by little and little, ruined the Rights of the Metropolitan Bishops, and by Usurpation ascribed them to themselves.  
4. That the Pope has no right to review, and finally judge the Causes determined by the Bishops.  
5. That the Privileges which the See of Rome at this day enjoys, are not by divine Right, but either by Usurpation or the Concession of Councils.  
6. That to be a good Catholic and a good Christian, it is in no wise necessary, in many Occurrences, to adhere to the See of Rome.  
7. That the Primacy of the Church, which the Pope possesses, appertains not to him but by a tolerated Usurpation, or as a Privilege granted by Councils.   This gives him no character of Infallibility, nor the right of judging finally, and above Councils. Behold exactly the Divinity of the Gallican Church at this day; for this man, in the view of the Court, had not written thus without its Order. Behold also the centre of Unity entirely subverted, and so subverted as it was by Calvin and Luther. This being so, why do these Gentlemen everlastingly beat upon your ears, about their Unity, and the centre of Unity? There is no more Unity in the Church of Rome since there is no centre of it there; for since adherence to the Pope is no farther necessary to be a true Christian, you are not departed from Unity and Christianity by departing from the Communion of the Pope: observe therefore thereon, that Monsieur de Meaux, and your Converters, are not men of Fidelity, to press you by Principles the falseness whereof they themselves confess: for in the Pastoral letter of Monsieur de Meaux, in his Catholic Exposition, and every where else, to hear him speak of the centre of Unity, you would say, that the Pope possessed this Title by divine Right: and behold these Gentlemen profess to us, That 'tis by a handsome Usurpation tolerated, and by the concession of Councils. That which Councils have given him they may take away from him. This makes it apparent how little of honesty there is in the Quotations, which these Monsieurs make from St. C●prian, who without doubt had a false Idea of the Unity of the Church, so false, and so ill form, that your Converters themselves will not dare to warrant it. We have treated this matter at large in our Answer to Monsieur Nicholas, where we have made it apparent, that this false Idea of the Unity of the Church, which St. Cyprian did communicate to St. Augustine, did put the latter to that perplexity and confusion, from which he could not withdraw himself on the subject of the validity of the Baptism of Heretics. In the following Letter we must say something as well on the point of Antiquity as that of Controversy; and we will make it evident also in the same Letter, that supposing this Roman Idea of Unity to be false, all their Arguments and Sophisms vanish and come to nothing.  
15. January, 1687.    

The ELEVENTH PASTORAL LETTER. AN Article of Antiquity: the end of the History of the Christianity of the Third Age: concerning Tradition, and the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome. An Article of Controversy. Reflections upon a Writing lately addressed to the Reformed of France: A Continuation of the matter concerning the Unity of the Church.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
I Have not obliged myself to acquaint you with all the sad Accidents that do betid us in our Exile and Persecution: but the death of the excellent Mr. Claud is an event so grievous, that I cannot forbear speaking one word concerning it. God hath taken him to himself since our last Letter. He was the Father of our Prophets, and we may well cry after him, My Father, my Father, the Chariot of Israel, and the Horseman thereof. God had formerly affixed him in a particular manner to the conduct of the most considerable of your Congregations, but Providence made him become in a manner your universal Pastor, by the care that he took to defend you from the dangerous Sophistry of those that endeavoured to seduce you; and he was herein successful in ●uch a manner, as might cover all our Enemies with shame and confusion. I acquaint you with the loss that you have sustained, that you may lament, and look on it as a mark of the continuation of God's displeasure against you. His Justice was not yet satisfied; the Arrows of his Quiver were not all drawn forth; this stroke was still owing to us: I pray God this may be the last. If you be grieved, your Enemies (you may be sure) rejoice at it; but they must know, that if the Ashes and Blood of the Martyrs hath been the seed of the Church, the Tombs of the Prophets do preserve their Spirit which passeth to their Disciples. If the Grave enclose the Flesh and Bones of this great Man, his Writings will preserve his Wit, Knowledge, and Illuminations; and God will not suffer a failure of Persons, which shall prophesy on his Tomb, for the maintenance of those Victories that he hath gained for the Truth. God will do his work in your fight, and you shall see this Church, which is▪ dead, rise again after four days: but it may be he will do this work himself; and when you see those fall and drop away one after another, whose Writings and Discourses might be of use to ruin the success and triumph of Lies, be persuaded that God will derive his Praise from the mouths of Children; and that he that laid the Foundation of the Kingdom of his Son by Fishermen, will re-establish the Ruins thereof by earthen Vessels, into which he will pour his Treasures. He whose loss we lament, was▪ whilst he lived, one of those Instruments which God served himself of, for your Edification and Defence. Whilst you pour out tears upon his Grave, and throw your showers there, you may gather sweetness thence. Out of the Eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. Death, that devours and takes all things from us, cannot hinder us from searching and finding our Edification in the Remains of this great Man. His last Words will serve as a Support to our Faith. It was not the pleasure of God that he should shed his Blood for the defence of his Truth; but he hath made his last Words (which are the effusion of his Spirit and of his Soul) give Testimony to those Truths which he had preached and defended. I have, says he, laboured all my life in the search of the best Religion; and being now about to give up my Soul to God, I do declare, That I have not found any but our own (which I have so often defended, and in which I am now about to die) which is the true way to Heaven. The Words of dying men are the proper Voice of Conscience; for in that last moment Dissimulation has no place; so that they are the Seal of all the Truths which he hath so gloriously defended. My design will not permit me to speak all on this Subject which it were necessary you should know; I shall leave it to some other Person, and return to the matter of our preceding Letters.  
This shall consist of one point of Antiquity, and another of Controversy. We are to finish the History of the Christianity of the Third Age. And after we have fortified you against the Illusions which your Seducers frame upon some Passages of the Writings of St. Cyprian and Tertullian, on the Subject of Repentance, Auricular Confession, and Satisfaction; I must also fortify you against the Snares that they compose for you from the Writings of the same Tertullian on the Subject of Tradition: for they do not fail to tell you, That the Fathers nearest the Apostles had a great respect for the unwritten Word; that they did often dispute against Heretics by Tradition, and that Tertullian himself did maintain, That there was no other way of disputing against them.  
But to secure you from this Snare, Learn First, That when Tertullian disputes, and proves that which he advances by Tradition, it is almost always about indifferent Ceremonies, and matters of practice. As in the Book concerning the Soldiers Crown, where he proves by Tradition, the bearing of no Crown upon the Head; of Dipping three times in Baptism; of giving Milk and Honey to be eaten by the newly baptised; of giving Alms and Oblations for the Dead; of not Washing seven days after Baptism. 'Tis true, that in his Book of Prescriptions, from the 15th Chapter to the 22th, he proves that we may not dispute against Heretics by the Scripture, but by the Tradition of the Churches. And he returns to it again in the 37th and 38th Chapters thereof. But if the new Converts which have written to us, and do send us to that Book, had read it with some wisdom and attention of mind, they would have seen that it neither doth nor can concern us.  
1. The Heretics, concerning whom the question is there, were no Christians, they were Magicians, Disciples of Simon Magus, who retained the Name of Christian, and no m●●● Besides, Tertullian says plainly, 
* Chap. 37.  That we must 〈◊〉 them at a distance from the Scriptures, because being no Christians, they did not belong to them. 2. These Heretics did not acknowledge the Authority of the Scriptures; they rejected them, or received only some pieces of them cut off from the rest, and which were wholly corrupt and falsified. And when the Catholics quoted to them the Holy Scripture, they derided it as a fabulous Writing. How then could any man dispute with them from a Book whose Authority they did not acknowledge? there was a necessity of having recourse to another sort of proofs.  
2. That which was good in the time of Tertullian, is not good at this time of day. I do maintain that it was then very easy, and very convenient to dispute against Heretics by Tradition. It was then not above an hundred years since the last of the Apostles died. There was nothing more easy than to learn what had been their Doctrine by their Successors. It is about a hundred and fifty years since the Reformed Church of Geneva had its existence. If the Doctrine of Calvin were now under dispute, nothing were more easy, than to prove without Book, that his Doctrine passed without alteration, even to those that now teach in that Church and School. But is it the same thing, when there are 1200, 1500, and 2000 years past? By what way can we search so far, and ascend so high through an infinite number of Men, of whom not one hath retained the Doctrine that he did receive, in the same estate in which it was delivered to him? Behold a very fine Comparison. 3. Add to this, that Tertullian sends us to the Testimony of those Churches which were founded by the Apostles, because those Churches had the Authentic Letters (as he calls them) that is to say, the Original Writings of the Apostles; so that to send the Heretics to the Churches, and to their Testimony, (by reason of those Authentic Letters) was to s●●d them to the Scripture itself. 4. Besides, let these 〈◊〉 ●nd She Converts, which have been seduced by the reading of this Book, read it from the 22 to the 32 Chap. and they will see, that the Doctrine which Tertullian would have us search in Tradition, is the same which was contained in the Writings of the Apostles, and not an unwritten Word, and certain Doctrines which the Apostles did commit to the Ears and the Memories of their Successors. The Heretics would not acknowledge the Authority of the sacred Volumes, Go to, says Tertullian to them, lay by the Holy Bocks, and let us lay hold of Tradition, let us see what the Bishops have taught since the Apostles, and I will prove, that 'tis precisely the same Doctrine with that which is written in our Books which you reject. Read, you that have suffered yourselves to be abused, read, I say, the 22 Chap. and those that follow, to the 27, and you will see that the Heretics spoke exactly the same Language which your Converters do, that we must not apply to, nor support ourselves by the Writings of the Apostles, 
* Tertull. de Prescrip. c. 25.  That the Apostles indeed might know all, and agree in the things which they did preach, but they did not reveal all things to all; that they said certain things publicly and to all, but that there were other things which they said in secret, and to a few; and that is it which St. Paul means, when he saith to Timothy, O Timothy, keep that good thing which was committed to thee. Behold exactly the Doctrine of your Converters, and that of the ancient Heretics! 'Tis that which Tertullian opposes, proving that the Apostles delivered nothing by Tradition, but that which is written. 5. Poor silly Fools! which have suffered yourselves to be seduced by I know not what shadows and appearances, and who put yourselves to judge of Antiquity without knowing any thing thereof. If you knew against what Heretics Tertullian disputed, you would see that the Contrversie was not about things that were not in the Holy Scriptures. These Heretics denied, that Jesus Christ was God, and that he was a true Man; They said that he had no true Flesh, and that his Passion was nothing but a Tragedy, and an appearance of a great many Phantoms; they denied the Resurrection of the Flesh. Was there any need to recur to Tradition to prove such things as these? Doth not the Scripture contain those Truths that are opposite to these wicked Imaginations, as clearly as Tradition? And do you not see that Tertullian forsakes the Scriptures on this Subject only, because the Enemies against which he disputed had forsaken them, and had no reverence for their Authority? 6. To conclude, If there be any hard terms in this Book, attribute them in the first place, to the heat of Dispute, which always carries Men too far; secondly, to the Genius and African manner of Tertullian's Expressions; and learn, that according to the same Author, 
* Lib. Prescrip. c. 15.  One cannot prove any thing which respects the Faith but by those Letters and Writings which are the Rule thereof. Learn by this excellent Passage of Tatian, who was then the Judge of Controversies, and the Source and Fountain of Instruction; 'tis to that he refers the manner of his becoming a Christian, 
† Tatian. Orat. in Graec.  As I sought every where with care, I happened on some Books of the Barbarians, (so the Pagans call the Books of Christians and Jews) and I sound them, as to time, much more ancient than the Philosophy of the Greeks, and much more venerable, if we consider the Errors which are in the Grecian Books. I gave credit to these Books, because their style was simple, and yet magnificent, because there was nothing affected in them, because the Discourses were not obscure, and many things to come were predicted in them: I was affected with them because of the greatness of the Promises, and because they learned me that there was but one Monarch in the Universe. This Ancient knew not as yet the Divinity of Monsieur de Meaux, that the first Article of Faith is, I believe the Church, and that we ought not to believe that the Scripture is Divine, but because the Church says so. And as to Tradition, you which suffer yourselves to be dazzled by the Words of Tertullian, ill understood, learn from the Example of St. Cyprian, who lived in the same Age, That Tradition was at that time a proof whereof Men made use according to the diversity of their Apprehensions, and their Interests. Tertullian seems to make great account of it; and St. Cyprian laughs at it, when on the subject of Heretics, which he would re-baptize, contrary to the Practice of the Church, they objected to him Tradition, Custom, ancient Usage and antique Practice, he rejected these Proofs with Contempt and Scorn. Stephen had written to him, Let nothing be innovated in Tradition. Where is this Tradition, answers he, 
‖ Epist. 74.  is it in the Gospels, in the Acts, or in the Epistles? An ancient Custom, without truth, is nothing but an old Error. And in another Epistle he saith, 
* Epist. 63.  Since we must hear none but Jesus Christ, we need not examine what those that went before us have done, but that which Jesus Christ hath done before all; for we must not follow the Custom of Men, but the Truth of God.  
To conclude, they endeavour to put Scruples in your minds on the Question of the pretended Primacy of the Bishop of Rome, and the Roman Church, by certain Passages of Tertullian and St. Cyprian, either corrupted, or ill expounded. But that is a business, the discussion whereof is too long to be handled at this time; yea 'tis above the capacity of most of you: only know, that 'tis so far from truth, that they did acknowledge the Sovereign Authority of the Pope in that Age; that Tertullian makes no scruple to scoff at the Pretensions of the Bishop of Rome, and to call him in Raillery the Bishop of Bishops, because of some kind of Primacy which he began to pretend to. For even in that time, the Mystery of Iniquity began to work. St. Cyprian despises the Excommunications of Stephen Bishop of Rome, and opposes himself to the attempt of those who would appeal to Rome about matters determined in the Provinces of Africa. This is that St. Cyprian to whom some Persons attribute the Acknowledgement of the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome, who said on the Question of the Baptism of Heretics, and of the Admission of Bishops which had lapsed and fallen, 
† Epist. 72.  In which case we will do violence to no man, nor will we give Law to others, observing that every Bishop may use the Power given him according to his Will, in the Government of the Church, being under no Obligation to give an account thereof to any one but the Lord. 'Twas to Stephen, Bishop of Rome, that he spoke thus. Judge you whether he acknowledged him for his Superior. Hear how the same Cyprian speaks in the face of a Council assembled at Carthage in the Year 258. Let none of us call himself Bishop of Bishops, or endeavour to force his Colleagues to a necessity of Obedience, by a tyrannical fear and terror, seeeng every Bishop is Master of himself, and cannot be judged by another Bishop, nor can he judge other Bishops. 'Twas also with respect to Stephen Bishop of Rome that he spoke thus. Has any one the front to say, That speaking thus he acknowledged him for his Superior? Observe that it was no small Affair that was now under debate; 'twas about the Baptism of Heretics, a Question which had made a great noise, and which Stephen would have decided with too much Authority.  
The Bishop of Meaux (after a hundred others of his Communion) to prove the Primacy of the Pope by S. Cyprian, quotes a Passage from his fifty second Epistle, which proves that these Gentlemen do not fear to make themselves ridiculous, provided they may seem to say somewhat. 'Tis a Passage where he pretends S. Cyprian says, That the Roman Emperor did suffer in Rome a Priest which was his Rival, with more impatience than he suffered a Caefar in his Armies which disputed the Empire with him; That is to say, that the Roman Emperors did impatiently suffer that the Bishop of Rome should be called High Priest, to the prejudice of that Dignity, which the Emperors assumed unto themselves. So that according to this reckoning, they were jealous of the Bishops of Rome, and looked upon them as their Rivals in the High Priesthood. In truth this is more ridiculous than if one should say, The King of England (who calls himself Head of the English Church) were jealous of the Curate of the Parish of St. Martin in London. The Christians certainly were not above one in a hundred in Rome, and the Bishops of Rome at that time made less Figure in the World, than an Incumbent of five hundred Crowns per annum makes at this day: for besides that they were Poor, they were also humble. What Agreement could the Emperor, in quality of a Pagan Highpriest, have with this pretended Highpriest of the Christians? To be his Rival, he must aspire to the same thing. I should rather have chosen to have said, That the Mufti looks on the Patriarch of Constantinople as his Rival. The meanest Scholar knows that the Word Aemulus which signifies Rival, signifies also Enemy; and 'tis clear, that S. Cyprian means that that cruel Persecutor, the Emperor Decius, beheld with more Indignation a Priest that opposed his Religion, than he would have looked upon an Enemy that had disputed the Empire with him. To conclude, although St. Cyprian should have intended to compare the Bishop of Rome with the Pagan Highpriest, it would not follow that the Bishop of Rome was Head of all the Christians in the World; for the Roman Priest was not Head but of the Religion of the City of Rome, and not of the whole Empire.  
'Tis true that St. Cyprian corrupted the Idea of the Church, and opened a door to the most cruel Doctrine that ever was advanced: he made a false Idea of the Unity of the Church, which he encloses in one only external Communion. And because the Unity of one visible Head was not yet invented, he imagined I know not what Unity of Episcopacy, which all the Bishops did individually possess; whereof nevertheless they all administered but a part. This inconsistent Imagination gave place afterwards for the Substitution of one single Head, to the end that a visible Head might be given to the Unity of the visible Communion, which might be the centre thereof. This suffices to give you an Idea of the Christianity of the Third Age; and by this History you may observe what was altered in Doctrine or Worship.  
1. They introduced the use of the Sign of the Cross, at least in private; for we find it not as yet in the public Acts of Religion. We have said nothing to you concerning it as yet, because it is a little thing, about which we should never make Complaints against any one provided they be not superstitious in the use of it.  
2. The Liturgy of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, was augmented and increased exceedingly by many Prayers, so that it became very long; whereas it was plain and short in the first and second Age.  
3. There they added, particularly, Oblations and Prayers for the Dead.  
4. To Baptism they added Unction, whereof hath been made a Sacrament by itself: they added there also Milk and Honey, which they gave to the newly baptised, and some other unprofitable Ceremonies.  
5. They appointed two days of Fasting and Regular Prayers every week: in some Places Wednesdays and Fridays, and in other Places Thursdays and Saturdays; and 'tis from thence the two Fish-days came, viz. Friday and Saturday, according to the use of the Roman Church.  
6. They increased their rigour of Discipline, on the one hand ordaining long Penances to Sinners; and 'tis from thence that the Doctrine of Humane Satisfactions had its birth.  
7. On the other hand, they loosened the rigour of this Discipline with respect to some single persons, by reason of the value they had for the Letters of Intercession written by the Martyrs; and 'tis from thence that Indulgences have their original, and the application of the merit of Saints to those who have not enough of their own.  
8. They began to put a value upon Tradition; and from thence came insensibly a contempt of the Holy Scripture.  
9 They introduced a false Idea of the Church and its Unity, by which they put out of the Communion of Jesus Christ, not only Heretics erring in the Foundation, but all Societies bespotted with Error, though never so little: this is that which has produced so many bloody Divisions, so many anathemas, unjust Excommunications, Hatreds and Quarrels.  
Add all these Alterations to those which we have already observed in the second Age, and you will see, that the exterior face of Worship was already wholly changed, although the interior had not yet received any considerable Alteration: but this change in the exterior part did afterwards wholly ruin the interior, in such a manner, that we cannot deny but from the Third Age Christianity hath received a considerable Alteration. When they had dressed up the Eucharist after the manner of a Sacrifice, it was not difficult to fall into a persuasion that it was one indeed. When they had introduced the words Merit and Satisfaction, they soon after changed the first sense and meaning of them. When they had established Prayers for the Dead, it was a good step leading to the Opinion of Purgatory. When they had clothed the Sacrament with so many pompous Ceremonies, that did insensibly dispose men's minds to search more than Bread in the matter of it.  

An Article of Controversy. Reflections on a Writing newly sent to the Churches of France. A continuation of the matter concerning the Unity of the Church.  
HAving finished our Article of Antiquity, it were convenient to engage in that of Controversy; and we should have done it without any delay, if we had not met in our way a Writing, Entitled, Charitable Advice to comfort the Conscience of those that are obliged to conform themselves to the Worship of the Roman Church; taken from the Letter of a private Person to his Friends. This dangerous Letter hath a design exactly opposite to ours; we would awaken you; this would lay you to sleep, and persuade you, that the Superstitions they oblige you to practice cannot hurt you, yea that they may serve you, provided that you make them means of uniting yourselves to God. That which makes the Poison of this Writing the more dangerous is, That there is mingled in it a character and appearance of Humility, Piety, and Devotion. We are informed, That Persons, who to make themselves acceptable at Court do design to bring you to a Submission to your Persecutors, have sent you many Copies thereof: so that we have all sorts of reason to fortify you against the peril unto which this pernicious Writing may thrust Persons who have already too much inclination to flatter and lay themselves to rest. It shall not be by refuting the Reasons of this Author, that we will defend you against him; it shall be by making him known unto you. That will suffice to learn you what credit you ought to give to the Principles of such a Doctor; you must know therefore, that he is none of your ancient Pastors, that hath thus written to you. 'Tis true, that the Author of this Letter had sometimes this Character, but he renounced it many years since, to put himself in the Arms of a certain hypocondriac Woman called Anthoniette de Bourignon. This Woman conceiving there was not already Sects enough amongst Christians, had it in her Head to make another. And moreover, Persons of her Sex having not been accustomed to be Foundr●sses of Religions, she thought that hers would make her considerable in the World by the singularity of its Original. With great appearance of Devotion (which is seen in all hypocondriac and doting persons) she puts herself upon Preaching to the World, by eighteen or twenty Volumes of Writings, which she either caused to be printed during her Life, or left to be printed after her Death. In these Works, besides Christian Verities, and particularly what appertains to Morality, which she hath adorned happily enough in some Particulars, she puts off a thousand paradoxical Visions, and a thousand empty Dreams against the Truths which are received by Divines. Mr. P. Author of the Writing of which we are now discoursing, more through weakness of Mind than corruption of Heart, put himself into this Sect, and is become the Head thereof. Thirteen Volumes of his may be seen, which without doubt do explicate and much promote the mysteries of his Mistress. It will suffice to learn you what is the character of these Gentlemen, by giving you some draughts of their Religion, drawn from that very Writing which hath been sent unto you. First of all, Their Opinion is to have nothing, to be fond of no body, to entertain among them Papists, Lutherans, Remonstrants, the Reformed, Socinians, Mennonites, Anabaptists. All are there welcome, without being obliged either to change their Opinions or Practices, if they think fit to retain them. But also their Religion is, to practise nothing externally. They go neither to Sermons, nor to Mass; they perform no exercise of Religion, neither public nor private. They have no Assemblies, as other Sects among Christians. If the humour takes them, they will go this day to Mass, and to morrow to the Church of the Reformed; but that doth not happen, it may be, once in a year, nor peradventure once in all their Life, for they do profess a very mean opinion and a great indifference for the exercises of Piety, looking on them as things without, which are of no use any further than the intention and manner of using them (to rectify the Mind and Conscience) makes them profitable, yea they do more hurt than good, because they draw the Soul out of itself. I believe that they have in this a great correspondence with the Followers of Dr. Molini, whom they call Quietists, and who make a very great noise in Italy. They reproach the Pastors excessively, and under an appearance of Zeal, there is nothing which they do not say, to make odious and contemptible both the public Ministry and those that exercise it, in the one and other Religion. This may be seen in the Writings of their Foundress, Anthoniette de Bourignon. They perform no private Exercises of Devotion in their houses, at least, which are visible: for Mr. P. himself hath made known to the Public, that Madam Meiselle de Bourignon had no Prayers in her Family unless it were at Table; and yet he observes, that that also was done with a low Voice, not that they do not permit the use of Prayers to such as will, as they permit them to go to Sermons, or to Mass indifferently: but those which are perfect among them do not concern themselves about it. And one of the Principles of Mr. P. is, That Desires, Prayers, Elevations of Heart towards God, and Meditation, are perfectly contrary to the Spirit of perfect Christianity, and hinder the descent of the holy Spirit, and the coming of his Grace. According to him, the only estate proper to draw down the holy Spirit, is that which he calls a state of Inaction, by which, in a privation of Prayers, Desires, and Motions, a man lets himself fall into nothing. And this annihilation of all the Faculties, is that acceptable Sacrifice to God which causes a descent of the Holy Spirit. They have perpetually those Words in their mouth, Let all Creatures keep silence, and let God speak; by which they signify, not only that we ought to impose silence on our Passions, that we may hear God, which is very true, but also that we ought to shut the doors to all external Objects, and to lay all our internal Faculties asleep, to procure a kind of Ecstasy, which whilst it continues, God speaks to the Heart immediately, and by himself. Behold one of the Dreams of this Sect; whereof you will see some footsteps scattered here and there throughout the whole Letter; for this is the meaning of those Humiliations, Annihilations, and internal acts of Adherence to God which you are there exhorted to make.  
Behold another Dream of these diseased Minds, which is read also in this Writing, in the fourth Page thereof, and the second Column: Moreover, says he, it must be remembered, that 'tis said in the Gospel, That all things are possible to him that believes, That Faith can remove Mountains, and that Jesus Christ always said to Men, Be it unto you according to your Faith. So that if those which officiate, and assist at the Celebration of the Eucharist, do believe that Jesus Christ is present there, this Faith is ratified by God, and it engages him (beyond his Word and his Promises) to make himself present, as it is believed; and this is a Conception so clear, that I do not doubt but you will comprehend the force thereof. Must not he have a besotted mind to call this a clear Conception? I will explain it to you. One of the Opinions of this mysterious Cabala is, that originally God created Man master of all things, in the literal signification of the Words, so that he was able to stop the Sun in his course, to remove the Globe of the Earth, to remove Mountains, etc. and the Instrument by which he doth this, or could do it, is his Faith; for all things are possible to him that believes, without any Figure, or Exceptions. The state of Perfection to which Christ calls us, is that of Faith, which makes all things possible to us: so that, at this day, to overturn the order of the World, you have no more to do, but to believe that you can do it, and it shall be done; for 'tis precisely in the literal sense that they would have us understand the words of Christ, If you had Faith but as a grain of Mustardseed, you should say to this Mountain, be thou removed and cast into the Sea, and it would be done. And that it was not a Privilege of the Apostles, but for all Believers. Behold that admirable Conception which he tells you is so clear, that it is impossible you should not understand the force thereof. If you don't understand its strength, at least you will understand the convenience of it; for when it shall please you to believe that Christ is corporeally present in your Andiron, and in the Mantletree of your Chimney, it will be so; and by that means, without going out of your Chimney-corner, you will go to Mass, and every one of you, by his Faith, will consecrate and transubstantiate all the Utensils of his House.  
In the same Writing you will find another Dream, which to me seems yet more ridiculous. 'Tis in the sixth Page, and the second Column, on the Subject of Purgatory. Then when it happens that a Soul departs this Life in the love of God, having nevertheless some impurities and evil habits in itself, the Blood of Jesus Christ, or the purifying Grace of Jesus Christ which comes after death into this Soul to purify it, or to finish its purification from all sin, finding there, as yet, more or less of the remainders of Evil, and of evil Habits and Inclinations, fights with them that he may expel them; this Combat of the purifying Grace of Jesus Christ against the evil which is in a Soul very sensible, which he would cleanse from all the remainders of Sin, is not done, nor can be, without great and sensible sorrows. Is not this very singular, That when a Soul is separated from his Body, the blood of Jesus Christ should thrust itself in there, (like Sand to scour) to cleanse this Soul, which is an occasion of quick and pungent Sorrows. Surely Mr P. could not have done better to excite the curiosity of the Public, than to give us this little spark of his Mysteries. This also will be worth something to his Printer; for I am assured, that the Curious of France would at any rate whatsoever see a complete Systeme of this admirable Theology.  
However it be, it is not without a particular Providence that it happens, that in a Writing, otherwise apt enough to flatter the minds of our Nicodemites, the Author hath sufficiently discovered himself, and made known what he is. After this, my Brethren, judge what credit you ought to give a man, who gives you an Idea of Piety according to which the Israelites might worship the Golden Calf without fault, because they believed it to be God; according to which, a Man may be a Turk, and adore even Cabbages, provided he makes use of them as a means of uniting him to God, and to excite his Love. These Gentlemen desire of us to leave them in peace; let them leave us so then, and let them not intermeddle to give Advice to our Congregations, being not called thereto. With all my heart, I am willing to leave them at rest, for I take no pleasure to trouble any body; and I will leave them in their Retirement very peaceably, provided they put themselves into a state of Inaction, as well in respect to us as to God; but if they continue to trouble us, the Dispute may have an Issue which will not turn to their honour.  
This Digression, which hath been longer than I could have wished, will be the cause that we cannot proceed far in the Article of Controversy. We are on the true Idea of Unity. The last part of our preceding Letter was employed in refuting the false Idea of Unity. We have made it appear, that 'tis a foolish and cruel Opinion to shut up Salvation in any single Communion, and that of all the Sects of Christianity, that of Rome has the least right to pretend to it. The Bishop of Meaux brags much of four or five Passages of St. Cyprian, to prove this cruel Paradox. This ancient Doctor goes so far as to say, 
* Lib. de Vnitate.  That there can be no Martyr but in the Church; that when a man is separated from its Unity, 'tis in vain that he sheds his blood for the Confession of Christ Jesus. This Maxim, in a large signification, may be endured; for indeed there may be Heretics, who confessing the Name of Jesus Christ, but on the other side ruining the Foundations of the Christian Religion, may die for the Religion of Jesus Christ to no advantage: but the Application which S. Cyprian makes thereof, is one of those faults over which wise men ought to draw a Curtain. He proceeds so far as to apply it to the Novatians. Now it must be known, these Novatians were good Christians, a thousand times better than are the Papists, seeing they did not ruin any of the Foundations, but retained and believed all the Christian Verities: only they were something severe in Discipline, and would not receive those that fell in times of Persecution to the Peace of the Church. Was not this a great crime? Was not this a fine occasion to say, as Cyprian did, That a Novation was no Christian? Was not this a very fine Foundation for that terrible and cruel Sentence, That a Novation dying a Martyr for Jesus Christ, was nevertheless damned? Of what make and constitution are the Doctors of the Roman Church, that make use of these Excesses, which ought to be hid out of Honour to those great men which fell into them. These are Scars remaining in their Flesh, to the end that we should not exalt them too much by reason of their great Virtues. Behold, my Brethren, the eye wherewith Mr. de Meaux looks on you: he, for your sakes, makes use of the eyes which St. Cyprian had for the Novatians, concerning whom he said, A Novatian is out of the Church, he is no Christian. So says Mr. de Meaux concerning you, The Calvinists are out of the Church, and are no Christians. And why then, gentlemans, do you address to us Pastoral Letters? Why do you call us your wand'ring Brethren? Will you dare to say, that we are no Christians? Let these Writers of Pastoral Letters, says Mr. de Meaux, who shroud themselves with some shreds of S. Cyprian, take all his Doctrine entire. Go to Mr. you may say unto him, If you find the Doctrine of S. Cyprian so good, why don't you take it whole and entire? Why don't you say that all the Greeks and all the Christians of the East are not Christians? Dare you say that all the Greeks which have been martyred by the Turks and Saracens since the Tenth Age are damned, and that they did not suffer Martyrdom although they suffered for Jesus Christ? For my part, I am persuaded, that if you press your Converters on this Subject with their Passages of St. Cyprian, they will blush on both Cheeks. Remember therefore, with respect to St. Cyprian, that the love which he had for the Peace of the Church, and the horror that he had for Schism, ran him into that excess, to believe, or say, That out of that, I know not what, exterior Unity of the Church, a man could not be saved. 'Twas in this Age that men began to corrupt the Idea of the Church, as I have already observed.  
To what will all this come, and what profit will you draw thence, my Brethren? 'Tis that thereby you will prove to your Converters the falseness of this Doctrine, That the Unity of the Church is included in the Roman Church, that out of this Church, or in any other private Communion, there is no Salvation; and thereby you will convince them, that they are not infallible: for if this Article be false▪ That the Roman Church alone possesses that Unity, she hath erred, and that in an important and capital Affair. You will also thereby convince them, That the Roman Religion is the most cruel, and the most damnable of all the Sects of Christianity, forasmuch as it condemns the most men: For by defming that she alone possesses saving Unity, and by condemning all those that are not in this Unity, she damns three fourth parts of the Christian World. And to conclude, you will establish yourselves in a holy confidence, that by being, or having been, out of the Roman Communion you have not b●en out of the Unity, and you have not shut the door of Salvation upon yourselves, since Salvation is not included precisely in the Roman Communion, and that saving Unity is not shut up within the circle of any certain Communion.  
On the Subject of this Unity, you will desire me, without doubt, that I will furnish you wherewithal to answer the Question which your Converters will put to you. In what then does the Unity of the Church consist, if it does not consist in adherence to such and such Pastors? Answer them, my Brethren, That this Unity consists, 

1. In the Unity of Spirit, forasmuch as God and the Spirit are the Soul of all Christian Communions which do retain the fundamental Truths.  
2. In the Unity of Doctrine, which is one through all the World where Jesus Christ is purely taught.  
3. In the Unity of Sacraments, which are the same every where, where they have been preserved and not corrupted.   Let Churches be separated, and set at a distance one from another as far as the Antipodes are from us, let them have no knowledge one of another, They will not cease to be one by this triple Unity of Spirit, Doctrine, and Sacraments. If there were a pure Church in the farthest part of Ethiopia, or in the utmost part of China, we should be one Church with them, though we had never heard any thing said one of another. It is not therefore the Unity of Ceremonies, of Worship, Discipline, and Pastors, which makes the Essential Unity; that's an accidental Unity, which a man may break without going out of the true Unity. So the Novatians which were separated from the Church for a little unhappy point of Discipline, were in the wrong no doubt, and greatly in the wrong, and Novatian above all, who was the first Author of that Separation. But 'tis a ridiculous Chimaera, to imagine that they were out of the Essential Unity, seeing that when they went away, they carried with them the true Jesus, the true Doctrine, and the true Sacraments. They were yet the Church; they were Christians, whatever St. Cyprian says of them: and not only their Martyrs obtained the Crown of Martyrdom, but their penitent Christians obtained Salvation, although they died in Schism. There are particular Unities, and a general Unity. Particular Unity consists in certain Bonds, such as are common Ecclesiastic Government, common Discipline, and certain common Ceremonies. You are not in particular Unity with the Episcopal Church of England with respect to Government. But this Unity signifies nothing to Salvation: he must be a mad man to damn Christians because they either have or have not Bishops. The general Unity, which consists in the three things which I have said, is the only essential, necessary, and saving Unity. If you agree with the Church in Government, Discipline, and Ceremonies, and done't agree with it in Opinions, in Sacraments, and Spirit, you have no Communion with it; if you differ in Government and Discipline, and agree in Truths, Sacraments, and the same Jesus, you are at Unity. with it, and with God.  
This Unity of the Church, whereof we have now discoursed, makes me think of that unity of Souls which ought to prevail among the true Members of the Body of Christ. It is the Character under which the Apostolic Church is described unto us, They were all of one heart, and one mind. 'Tis this holy Unity which draws down the holy Spirit; for when the fiery Tongues fell upon the Apostles, they were all with one accord assembled in one place. 'Tis the absence of this holy Unity which in part hath drawn down those unhappy Effects of the Wrath of God under which we now groan. Call to mind the Divisions, the immortal Hatreds, Jealousies, Quarrels, and Strifes, which have been seen in the midst of you, even on occasions, and in things, for which Peace, and the Spirit of Charity were particularly requited. One was of Paul, another of Peter, but not one for Jesus Christ. Men made their own Passions and Interests to triumph, and trampled under foot the Glory of God, and the public Edification. The strictest friendships were always ready to break on the first transport of Passion. The Spirit of Vengeance had no rest, till it had revenged the Injuries it thought it had received; and we knew not what it was to sacrifice a resentment to the Love of God, and his Christ. God has made these civil Wars to cease by a cruel and strange War. You have a common tye more than you have had: you have had the same Faith, the same Sacraments, the same Churches, and the same Holy Table; besides, you have at this day your common Affliction, and your common Misfortunes. 'Tis certain, that even in the World this makes a tye among Souls, and it should do, with far greater reason, when men suffer the same grief, for the same cause, and for the same God. You ought mutually to love each other, because you are afflicted for God; and by consequence, you ought to love those also who suffer for you: they are your Confessors, who have the glory to maintain, in the Prisons, those Truths with you have been so weak only to keep close in your Hearts, having not the courage to show them openly. Among those which are in divers Prisons of the Realm, for the Cause of God, there are an infinite number that want all things: these are Voices that cry against you to Heaven in a terrible manner, and say, What a shame is it that Jesus Christ is in Prison, that he is Sick, Hungry, and Thirsty, that he freezes with cold during the rigour of the Winter, and that these Peter, who grew pale at the word of a Servant, don't go to visit him, to give him Bread and . You know what will be the Sentence that the Lord will give to such; think of it, and partake-in the Bonds of your Brethren, though they be at the utmost ends of the Kingdom.  
Feb. 1. 1687.    

The TWELFTH PASTORAL LETTER. AN Article of Antiquity. The beginning of the History of Christianity of the Fourth and Fifth Ages. Of the Original of Monks. An Article of Controversy. Of the Unity of the Ministry.  
HAving finished the History of the Christianity of the Third Age, we enter upon the Fourth. We shall not distinguish that of the Fourth and Fifth, they are so interwoven, that they cannot be separated. All the Superstitions, false Worship, and Corruptions of Discipline, which are found established in the Fifth Age, took their beginning in the Fourth. We enter upon Ages in which the Church had entirely changed its Face; it is no longer a persecuted Church; it triumphs, it reigns, it ascends the Throne. The Emperors becoming Christians, drew along with them by their Authority and Examples, an infinite number of Pagans, who had that Complaisance and Civility for their Masters, as to become Christians. But the Church also on her part, had the Complaisance to burden Religion with vain Worship and Ceremonies borrowed from Paganism: All that which she thought might be innocently taken from thence, she took to draw them over to her. The Bishops enriched by the Liberality of Constantine and his Successors, became proud, they would have a distinct Jurisdiction from the Civil; they established for themselves Tribunals. It appears by the Book of Constitutions, falsely ascribed to the Apostles, that the Bishops had Flatterers which said of them, or rather they said of themselves, many incredible, proud, and impertinent things. 
* Vit. Const. lib. 2. cap. 37, & 38.  They set themselves above Kings; they said that they must pay them Tributes and Tenths, and that Men owed them greater Honours than Kings, and that they had power to condemn to everlasting Fire. Above all, the Pomp and Pride of the Bishops of Rome, that ruling City, became such, that they gave jealousy to the Chief Magistrates of the Empire.  
They added to the Sacraments new Ceremonies, an Unction before Baptism, beside that which followed after it; the Prayers and Ceremonies of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which they call at this day the Mass, were much increased and augmented; they made use of Holy Waters; they consecrated Oils and Chrism; their Funerals were enriched with Ceremonies borrowed from Judaisme or Paganism; they had their Ninth day, their Fortieth day, and their yearly Obits or Prayers for the Dead; they affixed Prayers to certain hours, which at this day they call Canonical, the Cock crowing, Nine of the Clock, Midday, Three of the Clock, and Vespers. In these Ages they did essentially alter Divine Service, by intermingling therewith the Service of Creatures. A kind of Fury for Relics seized on the Spirits of Men, nothing was heard to be spoken of but Visions, by which they had been discovered, and Miracles which had been done by them; they carried them in pomp, they kissed them, and built Churches to them; They prayed unto Saints, they relied upon their Intercession, they put themselves under their protection. To conclude, as the time of the manifestation of the Man of Sin drew near, and Christianity to be established, all things moved to wards it with prodigious speed.  
There was nevertheless a profound divine Providence which appeared then, and deserves to be admired, and to which we can never give sufficient attention. Antichristianity, which then advanced itself, was not to ruin Christianity, nor overturn the Foundations thereof. It was to be built upon those Foundations which were to remain entire from Age to Age. To set these Foundations of Christian Religion in security, God permitted that they should be violently assaulted by Heretics, and zealously defended by the Orthodox. The Arrians denied the Eternal Godhead of the Son; the Macedonians that of the Holy Spirit; the Nestorians gave him two Persons as well as two Natures, that is to say, they renewed the Heresy of Paulus Samosatenus, and Photinus, who made a simple or mere Man of Christ Jesus. This is a thing which some Persons at this time have not well considered, who excuse Nestorius and his Heresy. It seems to me, that 'tis easy to comprehend, that he which places a human Person in Christ, makes of him a mere Man: For if the joining the Divine Nature be not made in a personal Union, it can be no more than a Union of Grace and Assistance, such as is that of inspired Men. The Eutychians, by an opposite Error, confound the two Natures. All these Heresies gave opportunity for the clearing these matters, and setting the Foundations of the Christian Religion in great light and in lovely order, and fortifying them with the consent of all Christians. This is it which produced divers Creeds besides that of the Apostles, which is too general. If Providence had not taken this care and precaution, Antichristianity, which came a great pace, had entirely ruined the Christian Religion; for besides these Fundamentals, whereof God had taken care and set them in safety, in three or four Ages their remained nothing else sound in the Church.  
We will not therefore busy ourselves in reckoning all the Changes which happened in Religion during these Ages, that would carry us too far, and would not be peradventure very profitable for you; we will stay ourselves only on the most considerable Innovations: For example, we ought not to forget, that it was in the Fourth and Fifth Age that Monastic Life had its Original. Those among the Doctors of the Roman Church which will grant us nothing, make it descend from Elijab, the Rechabites, John the Baptist, and the Apostles; but this Opinion is so difficult to be maintained, that I do not know whether, at this day, any Men of Learning, which make any pretence to sincerity, will deny that this kind of Life had Paul and Anthony for its first Authors, who during the Persecutions of Dioclesian in the beginning of the Fourth Age, or about the end of the Third, withdrew themselves into the Desert of Thebais, and were followed thither by many Men, and there began that which they call the Eremetick Life. It must be, that this truth is plain in History, since many Doctors of the Roman Religion, notwithstanding the Interest they have to maintain the antiquity of this Institution, do confess that it is but of the Third and Fourth Age. 'Tis a long while since that 
* Polid. Virg. lib. Invent. 7. cap. 1.  Polidore Virgil, Bishop of Urbin proved it; and in our days Mr. d' Auteserre, Professor of Law at Tholouse, not only confesses it, but proves it by the Testimonies of S. Hierome, 
† Ascet. lib. 1. cap. 7.  Athanasius, chrysostom, Cassian, and Sozomon, and indeed he must be ignorant in Antiquity, or very knavish, that will not own it; and you may reckon this as a thing certain, since 'tis confessed by Popish Authors ●t this day, and by S. Hierome who lived in the Age when Monkery had its original, and who was one of the most zealous Lovers of Monastic Life that ever was. 'Tis true, that in the preceding Ages, the Fathers tell us of Virgins consecrated to God; yea, and of Men who preserved their Virginity, and lived in a chaste Celibate, to the end they might serve God with greater freedom; but this hath nothing common with the Life of the Monks and Nuns of the present Age. These young Damosels were not cloistered; it appears by S. Cyprian 
* Cyprian Epist. 72. , that they might marry when they pleased, that they lived with their Friends, or in their own Houses. And even in the time of S. Jerome the most part of them were so little restrained, that they made and received Visits, they went to Weddings, they were found at Feasts, they went to the Baths, they adorned themselves with the same Pride and the same Excess as did the Daughters of the World.  
Paul and Anthony having been driven by Persecutions into the Deserts, did there first establish the Hermetick Life: Afterwards they form there some kind of Convents and Societies. So they instituted in the Desert a kind of Cenobitick Life; but this kind of Life received its most perfect Figure about the end of the Fourth Age, by three Bishops, whereof two were Heretics, and the third Orthodox; one of these Heretics was Marathon 
* Socr. lib. 2. cap. 3.  Bishops of Nicomedia an Arrian and a Macedonian: The other Heretic was Eustachius of Sebaste in Armenia, a semi-Arrian, deposed by the Arrians, the eldest of all those who made Rules for the Cenobitick Life 
† Sozom. lib. 3. cap. 14.  The Orthodox was S. Basil Bishop of Cesaria in Capadocia: This last drew the Monks from the Desert, under pretence of confuting the Arrians, he form Societies of them near Cities, and gave them Rules: 'Tis he which the Greek Monks at this day acknowledge for their Author; and there are no Monks of any other Order in the East, but of that of S. Basil, whereas in the West there is an infinity of Orders.  
We doubt not many of those, and these, who in the beginning engaged themselves in this kind of Life, did do it with a good intention, yea, and there led a Life eminently Holy: But as God does not bless Institutions which respect Religion, which are but humane, we may observe that the Spirit of Darkness, and we may say, a Spirit of Malediction, fell upon this Institution, even from its beginning. It was not above a hundred years after there had been discourse of Monks and Nuns, but the Spirit of Fables, and Legends had seized on their Societies. S. Jerome hath left us the Life of Paul and Hilarion, two Founders of the Monastic Life: These Lives are written in good Latin, but with so little judgement and truth, that we may be ashamed thereof, for the sake of so great a man. There is the Life of S. Anthony attributed to Athanasius, which is also a Spiritaal Romance, made up of Stories which do no Honour neither to S. Anthony nor S. Athanasius, nor in general to the Christian Religion. I know not what Spirit of Fanaticism and Melancholy, does mingle itself therein; they had, or they feigned themselves to have Visions, the Devils appeared to them, they tempted and solicited them to fleshly Sins, and when they could not prevail upon them, they beat them cruelly. The Abbot Serenus in Cassian says, 
* Cass. Collat. 7. cap. 23. , As soon as we have form a Convent of Eight or Ten Monks, the fury of the Devil rages in such a manner against them, that they experience his Assaults very frequently, and in a plain and obvious manner, for which reason, they dare not sleep all together, but whilst some sleep others watch. To this may be joined a Spirit of Superstition, which produces Excesses, some whereof are capable of horror and astonishment. A Monk named Batteus 
* Sozom. lib. 6. cap. 34. , mortified himself through Fasting to that degree and measure, what Worms were bred in his Gums, and came out of his Teeth; another named Cyrus 
† Ibid. , lived Seventy years without tasting any Bread. Another named Acepsemus 
* Theod. lib. 4. cap. 28. , lived Sixty years shut up in a Cell, never going out, or being seen of any one. One named Macarius 
‖ Socrat. lib. 4. cap. 23. , during the space of Twenty years lived by Bread and Water, he did eat and drink by weight, he fastened his Body by night to a Wall that he might not sleep. Another called Dorotheus 
* Sozom. lib. 6. cap. 29. , made it a thing necessary, and a part of Devotion, never to stretch out his Legs upon his Bed. Another called Didymus, lived to the Age of Ninety years without speaking to, or seeing any Person. Another named Pior 
* Ibid. 6. , having made a Vow never to see any Person; his Sister, after Fifty years, passionately longed to see him, and he was obliged by his Superiors to give her that satisfaction. He came therefore and presented himself at the Door of his Sister, he made himself seen to her, but he shut his Eyes that he might not see her, and after he had repeated certain Psalms he went his way. Another Surnamed Stilites 
* Evag. lib 1. cap. 13. , (because of the Pillar on which he lived) spent Thirty Seven years thereon. And many afterwards in imitation of him did the same things, and obtained the Surname of Stilites. 
† Niceph. lib. 11.  Amonius, a Companion of S. Anthony, being chosen Bishop, cut off his Ear, to the end that he might not be so, and declared he would cut out his Tongue if they pressed him farther thereon. A Monk named Thomas 
* Soz. lib. 6. , an Inhabitant of Thebais, lived Thirty years without speaking. Another Monk named Paul 
† Ibid. , in his Devovotions imposed a necessity upon himself of making three Hundred Prayers to God every day, and that he might not miscount, he had three Hundred little Flints, whereof he threw one out of his Bosom at every Prayer that he made. Behold what was the Character of the Monks of the Fourth Age, and behold that which at this time men report to the Honour of these poor Idiots, which did pass for great Saints, or of these Hypocrites which did impose upon mankind.  
But can a Man read without horror that which Evagrius reports concerning the customs and manner of Life of the Monks of Jerusalem, in the time that the Empress Eudoxia Wife of Theodosius the younger went thither? Some of them made a War upon themselves so cruel, that oftentimes they remained upon the ground without appearance of Life, and were taken for unburied Carcases; others lodged themselves in Holes where they could neither lie nor stand; others hid themselves in Caves, and made it a piece of Devotion to live among wild Beasts; others, both Men and Women, stripped themselves naked, covering only their shameful Parts, and in this nakedness exposed themselves to be roasted in the Beams of the Sun from Morning to Evening in the Summer, and in the Winter they continued in the same estate, exposing themselves to the severest rigours of cold, they eaten nothing of what Men do use to eat, they fed on Grass like Oxen, they were also called Boscoi, i. e. Eaters of Herbs; and in time they became altogether like Beasts, not preserving the very appearance of Men, and human shape; if they saw Men afar off, they ran to hid themselves, as from Bears in some Cave, or they secured themselves upon Rocks with the swiftness of a wild Goat. But all this is nothing in comparison of what Evagrius adds, There are Monks who to make it appear, that they had extinguished Concupiscence, conversed in the World promiscuously, Men and Women all naked, they went into Brothel Houses, into the most infamous places, they lay together both Men and Women, the Men bathed themselves with Women, and Women with Men, and all this in public view without Shame, and without covering their Faces. Besides the Madness, is there not Impudence in these Devotions, and must not a Man have a depraved taste in matters of Piety, to look on these Extravagancies with admiration, as at that time they did?  
Besides all this, the Spirit of Lying and Error seized on these Men; a Man may say truly, that all the Depravations of the Christian Religion did take their Original from Monks. In the Fifth and Sixth Age they became Anthropomorphites, and Originists; and those who have any knowledge of the History of the Church, do know, that they stirred up many Troubles there. They maintained their Opinion and their Friends, not only by Words and Clamours, but by Blows. Socrates' reports, that during the Controversies that Cyril Bishop of Alexandria had with Orestes Governor of Egypt, 
* Soc. lib. 11. cap. 14. , five Hundred Monks came from the Mountain Nitria to the City, for the assistance of Cyril their Bishop: They stirred up a Sedition against the Governor; one of these Monks, called Ammonius, gave him a knock on the Head with a Flint, whereby he lost a great deal of Blood. There are no Heresies or Superstitions, of which they may not be called the Authors, 'tis they which introduced the Superstition of invocating Saints and adoring Relics. Eunapius a Pagan Author, who lived at the end of the Fourth Age, saith, That in Egypt they appointed Monks in the Village Cannopus to worship Slaves; so they called the Martyrs. And S. Austin, in the Book concerning the Work of Monks, says, That in his time a Swarm of Monks scattered themselves abroad every where, and made Merchandise of the Bones of Martyrs. It was they who brought Images into the Church, and that Worship which gives so much Grief to Souls, which are jealous of the Love of God, and so much Scandal to Christians. Also in the War between the Breakers of Images, and the Worshippers of Images, they were the principal Agents. The Monks at this day think it an Honour to acquaint us with the Combats, and the Travels which the Men of their Orders have sustained to hinder the Worship of Images from falling. 'Twas in the Convent of Corbie, and in the Brains of Paschasius the Monk, that the Opinion of Transubstantiation had its Birth. When that new sort of Monks which are called Mendicants came into the World; a Man cannot tell the Evils which they caused there, the Superstitions that they brought, and the Corruptions which they introduced into it. It is from them that those Excesses (whereof the honest Men of the Church of Rome themselves, at this day, have an abhorrence) took their Original: These Excesses, say I, which respect the Worship of the blessed Virgin, the Invocation of Saints, and the Adoration of Images and Relics; Excesses which are gone so high by the assistance of the Monks, that all which is most odious in Pagan Idolatry, did never go beyond it. 'Tis that whereof your Converters themselves are at an Agreement with us, 'tis of that which they tell you that we ought to make no use, that we ought not to impute those things to the Church, which were the foolish imaginations of the Friars of the last Ages, and the Devotions of Monks, as they themselves call them, and that honest Men did never approve. 'Tis a thing far enough from Truth, that the Church of Rome never approved these Excesses. But it is not a thing upon which we have any purpose to stay at present: It is sufficient for you that it is evil by the confession of your Converters, and that this Corruption took its original from Monks.  
They are the same Men which have dishonoured Christianity by a an Historical Theology more shameful and fabulous than was that of the Pagans and Poets: 'Tis to them that we own the Legends, the Lives of Saints, the Chronicles, and Annals, the Orders of S. Francis, the Jacobites, and the Carmelites, in which Works, the least trace of Truth and Purity is not to be seen, but a heap of ridiculous Fictions, impertinent Miracles, and filthy Fables, whereof at this day Men of the Character of Canus Bishop of the Canaries, and de Launoy are ashamed, and make no scruple to confute them in all their Shapes and Forms. Do not these Gentlemen also confess, that the Monks have been always the Instruments of the Violence of Popes, and the Incendiaries of Christendom? They were the Men that preached the Croisades against pretended Heretics: 'Twas they that kindled the Fires, and committed the Massacres: They were those that mutinied the People against those Kings and Emperors that would not obey the Pope: They were they that seized on the Rights of Bishops, and favoured the Pope in all those ways whereof he served himself to oppress the other Bishops. They have withdrawn themselves from the Authority of their Ordinances, by Immunities obtained in the Court of Rome. They have withdrawn Confessions from the ordinary Pastors: They were the Masters of the Chairs, and public Teachers during the space of four Hundred or five Hundred Years. To conclude, 'tis certain they have always been the most potent Supports of that Throne of Iniquity which hath raised itself in the Church.  
For their Manners, I can make it appear by Testimonies that cannot be reproached, that never were Lives so debauched as those of the Monks, that during more than seven or eight Hundred Years, they were the Sinks of all the Impurities that could be imagined, and we have the Confession of the arnold's, the Maimbourghs, and other famous Defenders of Popery in this Age concerning it. They add that it is not so now, and that the Convents at this day are well governed, and the Monastic Life very clean and innocent. He must be very bold to advance a matter of Fact so little known: If there be some Convents reform, there are a great many others that are not so.  
I have a little enlarged myself on this Article concerning the original of Monks, their History, their Spirit, and their Conduct, because I know 'tis a Snare in which many Persons shut up in Convents have unhappily fallen. They have written to us from thence, that they have been much moved with the great Piety which they have found in these Houses, with the Mortification of the Nuns, with their constancy in Prayer, with their Humility, with the continual elevation of their Hearts to God, and with their entire renunciation of the World. And they have given us to understand, that this hath been the principal Motive of their Conversion. And even very devout and pious persons, who, thanks be to God, do yet persevere in the Truth, have not been able to escape some surprise, by these fair Appearances and Formalities. God is witness that we have no intention to lessen the Reputation of any Person in particular, and yet much less of these Nuns, of whom so much good is spoken, we wish that there were more of truth therein. And if it be so, that there is so much virtue in Some of them, we hope that God will not suffer them to die in the sad estate wherein they are. But we do advise our Brethren and Sisters to be on their guard, and beware of this Temptation, and to consider First, That these Mortifications wherewith they seem to be so much charmed are human Devotions, upon which God doth not pour down his Blessing. It may be seen by that which we have reported concerning the Mortifications of the first Monks, how far this miserable Spirit of superstition and false Devotion may go. That kind of Life observed by the Monks of Attrappe, for example, doth not find its Original or Model in the Gospel, and they are those Worships of which it will be said, Who hath required these things at your hands? We must not make it a thing of Merit to be more wise than God, than Jesus Christ, and his Apostles, and do more than they have done. It is a folly and madness to believe that a Man is more acceptable to God, by shutting himself up in a place where he may see no body, where he speaks to no body, where he renounces his Friends and Relations, where he deprives himself of the society of good Men, whose conversation might assist his piety. 2. I do entreat them to consider, that in these kind of things the false Religions go farther than that which is true. Ask your Converters, and they will not deny, that the Mortifications of the Mahometan Monks, and those of the penitent Indians and Mexicans, are infinitely more cruel to the Body than are those of our most mortified Europeans; so they are at least equivocal things, with respect to which, we must be extremely upon our guards.  
3. In the third place it must be known, That there are depths in the conduct of God, which cannot be fathomed: 'tis his pleasure that we walk always in the midst of Thorns, and among Snares: 'tis for this reason, that in the true Church there be so many Scandals, so much Negligence, so much Indevotion, so many Debaucheries, so much Luxury, so little Reformation of Life, and so little Zeal for the conversion of those which go astray and wander. 'Tis for the same reason that he permitted the Reformers to have their faults, that they did not agree together, and that they intermingled humane Passions in their conduct: and on the other side, for the same reason God permits that in Churches the most corrupt both in Doctrine and Worship, there be Souls that seem to seek seriously their Salvation, who have at least the appearance of Christian Virtues, and it may be good Intentions. If the true Doctrine were always accompanied by a holy life, and an edifying conduct, in those that follow it; and that on the other hand, Error and Superstition were never found without disorder and an ill life, the choice would be too easy: Where would be the difficulty? Where would be the snares? Where would be the danger of wavering? Therefore God, who will lead his Elect to his end by obscure ways, that they may have recourse to him for his light; by rough Paths, that they may support themselves on him, suffers this mixture and confusion of good and evil, of evil Doctrine and good Manners, of good Doctrine and evil Manners. 'Tis his pleasure, by this profound conduct, to oblige us to regulate our Faith, not by Prejudices, but by his holy Rules and Word.  
4. In the fourth place, once more, though I condemn no Person in particular, nevertheless, I conjure you, my Brethren and Sisters, to stand at a defiance with hypocrisy: 'tis a grand Comedy, and an inexhaustible Fountain of Illusions; 'tis the Character of Persons that live in Convents, and a Character that has prevailed for a great number of Ages. I could produce to you Witnesses concerning it, against which nothing can be said; Arnald d' Villeneve, Nicholas de Clemangis,  of Bayeux, and an infinite number of other Popish Authors, have made descriptions of the humble and devout Appearances of Monks and Nuns, which hide and disguised an Abyss of Pride and Impurity. Do you think, my dear Sisters, which are in Convents, that you see the inward part of the Houses where you are, and of the Souls with whom you converse? Do you not think, in the first place, that the Persons with which you are placed have order to show themselves to you on the fairest side, and that they do not take care of letting you see their Faults, their Jealousies, their Quarrels, their Hatreds, their Lusts, their Mirths, if they have any? Besides this, Do not you apprehend, that they have chosen the Houses which they know to be best governed to lodge you in, and that you ought not to judge of all Convents by those in which you are? If you read the Relations of those which have traveled in Italy and Spain, they will inform you, That in those Countries, those Houses that are called Religious are infamous Places, where the most criminal Debaucheries are exercised with Impunity. Those of France are less irregular: but so it is, that we do not at all know the inside of them; but when the curtain is drawn never so little, we see that 'tis there almost as 'tis elsewhere. The Business of the Nuns of St. Claire and of Provence against the Cordeliers of the same place, which was pleaded a little more than twenty years ago, informs us thereof, and makes it apparent, That at that time, all the Convents of Nuns under the Government of the Cordeliers, in what place of France soever they were, were places of Prostitution. This is of no ancient date. Behold the original of Monks, which have caused so many Evils.  

An Article of Controversy concerning the Unity of the Ministry.  
WE having refuted, in our two preceding Letters, the Fallacy which your Converters take from the Unity of the Church. Before we leave the matter of Unity, we must say something of the Unity of the Ministry: for that also is another source of the Illusions of your Converters. The Ministry of the Church is one, and only one, say they; it hath proceeded from Jesus Christ and his Apostles; they have delivered to their Successors that which they received from the Lord; these delivered it to others: at length, this only Ministry is come to us, and he that hath not Communion with us hath no Communion with Jesus Christ, of whom we are the only legitimate Successors and Ambassadors. Is it possible that men should be capable of suffering themselves to be cheated by so great a Chimaera? Certainly if we did not see this we could not believe it. That men of good sense should be capable of believing that God hath tied Salvation to a Succession of men, which hang upon each other, and are fastened tail to tail like Sampson's Foxes, in such a manner, that out of this file of men, there is no Salvation, whatever a man does or says. These men make us a cruel God, who damns Christians only because hazard, birth, and a thousand other accidents, hindered them from being born and living under this thread or chain of certain Doctors which call themselves the Successive Bishops from Jesus Christ even to us. That is to say, that in the Bishopric of Meaux, for example, there hath been no Salvation but for those who have been precisely under the Pastoral Staff from Mr. St. Faron unto Mr. Bossuet, who shall be also one day Mr. St. Bossuet, if the Gods which rule at Rome favour him. In the extent of the whole World, he who hath not lived under the long Succession of those Bishops which have sat at Rome, from St. Peter to Innocent the XI. is damned as certainly as the Devil; be it that he that been chaste as Joseph, patiented as Job, zealous as St. Peter, orthodox as St. Paul, pure as the Virgin: for there is but one Ministry, and out of this Ministry all are in a state of Perdition. The Greeks have a Ministry, they have Bishops, and those true Bishops. According to Mr. de Meaux, they hold all the Doctrine of the Church; they believe. Transubstantiation itself: for we have good testimonies, that they have been well paid for it in these last days: but that signifies nothing, they are all damned, because they are separated from him who is the centre of the Unity of the Ministry; they are not under that one Ministry which alone is saving. I do maintain, that the time will come, when we shall no more believe that which we see at this day. It will be said, you would fain make us believe it, you would persuade us that the men of past Ages have lost their sense; yea, I do maintain they must have lost it to suffer themselves to be deluded with such Imaginations. It must be that the Medicine be given thee by such a hand, if thou wilt be healed, else it will poison thee. Ah! my Brethren, open your eyes upon this folly, and be ashamed thereof. Be assured, that every hand which gives you the true Doctrine, is good in that respect; the saving Remedy of Truth heals from whomsoever it comes. Where is this pretended Unity of the Roman Ministry? Where was this Ministry, and this Unity of Ministry, during the space of a hundred and fifty years, in the Tenth Age and half the Eleventh? a time in which Baronius, and all the Roman Doctors, do confess to us, that the Popes were Monsters, Ungodly, Wicked, Adulterers, Magicians, Poisoners, Simoniacs, and Blasphemers. 'Tis the Popish History itself which teacheth us this. Was not this a very fine centre of Unity? The Lines which proceed from this Centre to the Circumference, were they not very clean? The Rays which beam from such a Star, do they not pour down benign Influences? These were the Successors of the Apostles. Blessed Successors! They left what they did receive; they gave one another an infamous Mission (irregular and against the Canons) by the Ministry of two Whores which ruled at Rome. Behold the brave Unity and Succession of this pretended Ministry. What became of this glorious Unity of the Ministry in the time of the Western Schism, when we saw, for the space of fifty years, a Pope at Rome, and another at Avignon, which damned one another, of which one was the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and the other of Antichrist, who not only mutually damned each other, but also thousands of millions of Men which lived in the different Obedience of Avignon and Rome? What a fine thing was this, to see two Centres of Unity? How finely at ease would Mr. de Meaux, and his Colleagues, have been at that time? they who speak so much to us of the centre of the Unity of the Ministry, instead of one only centre to have had two. Confess, my dear Brethren, that this Unity of Ministry is a foolish dream in itself, yea vain in the Church of Rome, who find it no more there than elsewhere.  
The Church, as all Societies in the World, in its progress suffers a thousand changes in its form. We may not imagine that the Ministry of the first Ages of the Church was constituted as that of this Age. The Bishops were neither Worldlings, nor great Lords, nor Plenipotentiaries, nor Tyrants in the Church. They were the first Presbyters, and the perpetual Precedents of the Elders, or Presbyteries who were of the same Order with themselves. 'Tis the Pride and Vanity of Man which hath made this distinction between the Bishop and the Presbyter. 'Tis the mystery of Iniquity which began to work even in the times of the Apostles. The Presbyters were then so little distinguished from the Bishops, that even the Clergy were not essentially distinguished from the People. Remember, my Brethren, that which you have read in the eighth Pastoral Letter, that in the time of Tertullian all the Laics were accounted Presbyters, and that it was permitted even to them, to celebrate the Eucharist in private, and in their Families. So that this Unity of the Ministry could not depend upon I know not what external form: for this external form hath changed perpetually, until at length it degenerated into this Antichristian Power which is seen in the Roman Hierarchy. This Unity is no more in Succession. For we cannot find a Church which hath not suffered Interruption in its Ministry, either by the Violences of Persesecutions, or by the intrusion of false Pastors, or by the Crimes and Vices of wicked Bishops. If Mr. Bossuet were obliged to prove the Unity of his Ministry without interruption from Mr. St. Faron to himself, he would, it may be, have something of trouble therein. In what then consists the Unity of the Ministry? In the Unity of Doctrine and Religion. If the Bonzes of China, and the brahmin's of India did preach the same crucified Jesus with myself, and the same Christianity, pure and without corruption, they would have the same Ministry with me. It would signify very little, with me, from whence they derived their Succession, whether from St. Thomas the Apostle, or from another Thomas, a Nestorian Heretic. God has not tied Salvation to such and such hands, nor hath he obliged us to a necessity of receiving the Gospel from some certain men rather than from others.  
But enough concerning this Article of the Unity of the Ministry, because 'tis a matter which must be handled again, when we come to dissipate the cheats and juggles by which your Converters endeavour to perplex you, about the Character and Mission of those from whom we have received the Reformation.  
If we would see a lamentable Desolation, we must behold the Province of Languedoc. Persons worthy to be believed lately arrived from thence, do represent unto us this Desolation as one of the most hideous and frightful Objects which ought to have place in the Histories of these days. It can never be well understood how the fury of false zeal should transport the Court to make a horrible Desert of one of the most lovely Territories of the Kingdom.  
Cevennes and lower Languedoc are covered with Troops which find means to live where Turks would have died of Famine more than six months since, after the Plunder, Extortions, and Wastes that have been made there, that is to say, after these miserable People had suffered those Oppressions which had drawn from them that little Blood that did remain; so that Paleness, Fear, and Death may be seen written and engraven upon their countenances. There are Villages and Towns wholly depopulate. The Inhabitants that could not flee are guarded by Dragoons, which carry them to Mass with Muskets and Swords in their hands; and who at their coming out of the Church put them into Files, that they may number them, and see whether any be wanting yea or no. There are a great number that lie in Woods, which have no other places of Refuge but Rocks, no other Houses but Caves, neither Nourishment, but Roots of the Field, because whereof, they do better resemble Carcases than Men. The City of Nismes have had experience of new Severities; They have banished to the Islands, and I know not whither beyond the Seas, four hundred of its Inhabitants; and they have hanged eleven, and sent Prisoners the Heads of the chief Families; M. Baudan la Cassaigne, and others, all eminent Persons, to Carcassoon and Pierre An Cise. Who can doubt but this is a just Castigation of that unworthy Action which the Country suffered to be extorted from them? France did oblige a great number of men to give under their own hand, that from henceforward they would do all the duty of good Roman Catholics; that they would be found no more at Conventicles; that they would discover their Relations and Friends; that they would Communicate; and that if they failed in any of these things, they entreated the King to chastise them severely for it. Who doubts but such an Action as this is capable of bringing down the most terrible Judgements of God? 'Tis Violence, you will say, that hath extorted it from them. I doubt it not at all; but as men have Honour and Conscience, so they have also Lives to give, rather than consent to such base and abject Actions, unworthy Men of Honour as well as Christians: but it will be said, that these Persons of Quality upon whom the Chastisements fell, did not all sign this horrible Obligation. This may be; but nevertheless, they have been justly punished for not maintaining the Courage of their Brethren to assemble and pray to God. We know that they were not Persons of Quality that made up these Assemblies: but God hath chastised them in causing the punishment to fall upon them as well as on those which were found there. They could have been in no other condition if they had done their duty: moreover, they are culpable in that they did not oppose the Cowardice of their Countrymen, which have signed a Contract to renounce all their Duties, and have desired a severe Castigation in case they should serve God according to their Consciences. An Action done by some Persons, and tolerated by the silence of others, causes the Thunder of God's Vengeance to fall upon the whole body. To conclude, all the face of this Territory is hideous and frightful. There are nothing but Solitudes caused by the dispersion of the Inhabitants, of Soldiers, which outrage the poor people which are reduced even to the point of Death by reason of Famine, Cold, and other miseries. There are others which perish in Prisons, particularly in that fatal Tower of Aygue-Mortes, called the Tower of Constance, where the evil Air of the Place, Want, Misery, and the Stinks of the Prison kill a vast number of these miserable Creatures, which go out from thence dragged at the Tail of a Horse till they come to the Dunghill. On the other side we see in this Country a confused mixture, which also may be called frightful, a mixture I say of Courage and Weakness, of Lapses and Recoveries, of Sin and Repentance. Being constrained by the Violence of the Dragoons, they go to Mass, or suffer themselves to be dragged thither: on the day after they are found at a private Assembly to make their Prayers and Applications to God. Happy were they if their Conduct being always equal and always alike to itself, had made them Martyrs without spot and without offence. Amongst all this confusion of Light and Darkness, there are nevertheless found some lovely places: and from many hands the Courage of a Woman is brought to our Knowledge, of which we cannot doubt; She was one of those condemned to death for having been at a private Assembly. At the foot of the Gibbet she caused her Child which she suckled to be brought unto her, and once more gave it the Breast; The Hangman said unto her, Unhappy Woman, what Milk do you give your Infant in these horrors of Death in which you are? Is not the Milk become poison? To which she answered, If Death had been a horror to me, I had not been now here. This is an Example in which there is something of Prodigy or Miracle, in a Person of that Sex, and in that Condition.  
If you will have another sad Relation, I will give you that of the Persecution of our Brethren in the Valleys; a Persecution more cruel than the past Ages have ever seen. These poor People taken in one day, as in a Net, were wasted and consumed in the cruel Prisons of the Duke of Savoy, by the most inhuman Treatment that ever was. The Duke's People did industriously publish every where, that they were treated very well, and Letters to that purpose were sent to us out of Switzerland: but this Treatment was such, that at Turene and Verselles, of more than a thousand Prisoners there are not above sixty or eighty sent to Geneva; of whom we will give you the History in an Extract of a Letter from Geneva, expecting a more ample Relation thereof hereafter.  
An Extract of a LETTER from Geneva bearing Date January 24. 1687.  
BEhold, at length those brave and generous Men, the Confessors of our Lord Jesus Christ, arrived here; but they are but a small remnant of a great number who have all died Martyrs under long and grievous Sufferings. We have as yet received but the first Squadron, made up of 70 persons, of all Sexes and Ages, who came hither about two days since, in a Season so cold, that the Rhosne was frozen to the bottom. These 70 persons are the Remains of more than a thousand, who had been kept in two differing Prisons. And these 70 came not at us till after they had left twenty of their number on the way, who died of Cold, Famine, and other Miseries, and with this cruel circumstance, that their Conductors would not suffer any others to remain behind, to assist their poor Brethren dying and expiring, some here, some there, in the Snow and Ice, as if they had been dogs. It may be there was a Father which left his Child, a Mother her Daughter, Children their Parents, they with the rest following their pitiless Guides with bitter and piercing grief, as well through fear of blows, as through the rigour of the season, which was such, as seemed to extinguish all other Sentiments in these poor men, but that of their own proper Misery. Shall I tell you in what estate we have seen them arrive with us? All rend and torn, benumbed, and almost dead with Cold and other miseries, and those which could not go, laid like Calves on Horses. Moreover, they were no sooner arrived within our Gates, but they fainted through weakness and misery, mingling their tears with them of their brave Brethren, which had made so glorious a Capitulation for themselves in their Mountains; for to the Glory of Geneva be it said, all are yet here. But what grief did betid both the one and the other, when examining and endeavouring to count each other, one was found to have lost his Father and his Mother, another her Husband or his Wife, another his Children, not knowing as yet who they might find in the residue which were to come of those that were most dear unto them, and what to expect from the Remains of more than fifteen thousand Persons, who are reduced to two; for it is not believed that there are more left. (And 'tis a thing wonderful, that of thirteen or fifteen thousand Persons there are not ten which have renounced their Religion, if you except young Boys and Girls which were taken from their Parents in their Prisons, to be dispersed here and there.) This is that which makes the grief of all these poor men, the true Confessors of the Truth of Christ, the more sharp and bitter. Their History, whether with respect to their Calamities or their Piety, will be believed with difficulty in the Ages to come, as well as the Cruelty of their Prince.  
Feb. 15. 1687.    

The THIRTEENTH PASTORAL LETTER. A Prosecution of the History of the Christianity of the Fourth and Fifth Ages. The Original of Ecumenical Councils; Seven Reasons against their Infallibility drawn from their Original. An Article of Controversy. The true Idea of Schism. All those which are called Schismatics are not out of the Church.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our god and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
IN our preceding Letter we began the History of the Novelties which appeared in Christianity during the Fourth and Fifth Ages, and the first which we found there, was the Original of the Monastic Life: The Second thing considerable (to the Original whereof we ought to give attention) in the Fourth and Fifth Ages, are the Councils called General or Ecumenical. Not as to the Original of a thing evil in itself, but as to a thing of which ill use hath been made, and of which they make a snare at this day for ignorant and feeble Minds. The pretended Infallibility of the Church is the great Illusion by which they endeavour to deceive the new Converts. They know not where to fix this Infallibility, sometimes they fix it in the Pope, and sometimes in a Council: But the French Church, by the Authority of the King, hath declared herself boldly, a little while since, for the Infallibility of Councils against the Infallibility of the Pope; for which reason 'tis expedient, that you here learn in a few words, the History of the Birth of General Councils, that you may understand the absurdity of the Principle upon which your Converters build.  
You must therefore know, my Brethren, that the French Church not knowing assuredly where to place the Infallibility of the Church, distinguisheth Councils into Diocesan, Provincial, National, Oecumenick, or General. Diocesan Councils are those which the Bishop assembles, where he reads his Ordinances to his Curates. Provincial Councils are Assemblies of the Suffragan Bishops of one and the same Metropolitan. National Councils are those where the Bishops of one or more Nations are Assembled. They have not been so bold as to ascribe Infallibility to any one of these Assemblies; but there are Councils of an higher Order, which it pleases these Gentlemen to call Ecumenical, or General Councils, to which they ascribe Infallibility; they are, say they, those in which the whole Universal Church is assembled. When we ask them, where is the Institution of these Assemblies in the Holy Scripture? they cannot find the least footsteps thereof: I say the least; 'tis true, they there find Assemblies of Believers, of Pastors and Elders, who considered Matters that were disputed. We see one among others in the 15th Chapter of the Acts: Some of the Apostles, Elders, and Brethren which were at Jerusalem, assembled to advise about means to determine the Controversy, which the Pharisees had raised in the Church concerning the necessity of observing the Law of Moses. But it would be ridiculous to call a very small Assembly and very private, a General Council, where there appeared but three Apostles of thirteen, and only the Clergy which happened to be then at Jerusalem. When we continue to ask these Gentlemen, where we must then take the Original of Ecumenical Councils, they answer us, in the Fourth and Fifth Ages of the Church; and indeed they have reason for it. The First of those Councils which bears this Name, is that of Nice, assembled by the Authority of Constantine, in the year 325, to determine the Controversy of the Divinity of the Son against Arrius. The Second was assembled by Theodosius the Elder, in the year 381, to determine against Macedonius, who denied the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Third was called together at Ephesus, under the Empire of Theodosius the Younger, in the year 431, against Nestorius, who affirmed two Persons in Jesus Christ. The Fourth was assembled in the year 451, by the Authority of the Emperor Martian against the Heresy of Eutyches, who confounded the two Natures. Behold four in 125 years or little more; before this Men knew not what a General Council meant. Now I entreat you, my Brethren, give attention to six or seven short Reflections which I shall make thereon, that you may understand the great absurdity of affixing Infallibility to these kind of Assemblies; this is at this time of the greatest importance to you. You must throw to the ground this Phantom of Infallibility, which serves as a support to all the Errors of Popery: Now this Phantom knows not where to fix its foot, and when you shall have forced it out of this last Entrenchment where your Converters have placed it, you will see it vanish and disappear.  
1. Make reflection upon the silence of the Holy Scripture concerning it, and see if there be any probability, that the design of God was to establish a seat of Infallibility in certain Assemblies, and that he should never speak a word thereof. It must be granted, that there is nothing in the World more important in Religion than this. It is not enough that the Scripture hath established the Infallibility of the Church in general, as they pretend; for it would be in vain for God to say, the Church is Infallible, if we know not what this Church is, where the seat of this Infallibility is placed; and by what Mouth she ought to give her Oracles. 'Tis true, they send you to Tradition, for all that, whereof the Scripture says nothing. But this cannot be a Point for which we are to be sent to Tradition, for this is the Foundation of Tradition itself: Tradition is the consent of the Ancients, and this consent is found in Councils: All the Authority of Tradition is nothing, at least before the Infallibility of Councils is established. The Infallibility of Tradition is not in the testimony of single Persons, of S. Austin, S. Chrysostom, etc. for these single Persons were not infallible; and as yet it has not been thought advisable to make them so. 'Tis therefore the Infallibility of Councils which alone can make Tradition certain: Now Tradition is the second Rule of Faith, equal in Authority to the Holy Scripture; 'tis therefore necessary at least, that the Scripture hath given credential Letters to these Ecumenical Councils, that their Authority, and that of Tradition may be confessed and acknowledged: This is not, say I, an Affair for which we are to be sent to Tradition, as well because it is the most important Point of Christianity, on which the Faith of the rest depends, as because this were to send to Tradition to prove the Authority of Tradition itself, which is absurd; it is not absurd in the Scripture to have recourse to the Scripture itself, to prove the Authority of the Scripture, because it is the highest Principle, and because there is nothing beyond it, it must be that it prove itself. But the Scripture is above Councils and Tradition, and by consequence it is necessary, that the Scriptures establish the Authority both of Tradition and Councils.  
2. I entreat you to observe, that the Church continued three Hundred years without having one word of General Councils, she passed without them during all that time: Nevertheless, she had never more need of them, supposing them to be infallible means of ending Controversies and suppressing Heresies. For in the first three Hundred years the Church was plagued with near Fifty differing Heresies. Now judge you, whether it be likely, that God should appoint an infallible Judge to his Church, and a sure way of knowing the Truth, and that he should deny her the use of this means for the space of well near two Hundred and fifty years, that is to say, from the death of S. John the last of the Apostles, till the Council of Nice. So that in the Ages of greatest purity it will be found, that the Church did not derive this purity from any other Fountain, but from the simple and pure word of God; it makes it evident, that the Church may be pure without an infallible Judge in the midst of her. Now if the Church may continue pure for the space of two Hundred and twenty five years without a General Council, that is to say, without an infallible Judge, why may she not continue pure three, four, or five Hundred years? For my part, I call this a Demonstration, that the Church may very well make a shift without those Judges that are called Infallible. Let them answer it when they please. Observe also, that the Church was tormented with Fifty horrible Heresies, which thought to have overwhelmed and sunk her, and having no Councils, she was then left to a Spirit of Error, in those times that she had greatest need of a Guide, for she had no other Rule but the Writings of the Apostles, which according to our Adversaries, are Medals with two Faces, which may be looked on in a various manner, and which all men expound in favour of their own Persuasions. It is not amiss to bring hither Tertullian's Book of Prescriptions, of which they make use, with such success to deceive those that are weak among us. It appears by this Book, that the Orthodox were in the greatest distress in the World, to convince and stop the mouths of Heretics. The Heretics gave themselves to expound the Scripture after their own manner, and in a sense contrary to the truth. Tertullian complains thereof, and says, That false Interpretations do as much injury to Truth, as the boldness of those that corrupt the Scriptures. He adds, That the weak find themselves confounded, seeing Heretics, as well as Catholics, dispute from the Scripture. To get out of this perplexity, he recurs to the Succession of Bishops, by whom it might be proved, that they taught nothing but what the Apostles had taught before them, he found no other way of escape; this man had a Mind very much straitened, or he was very ignorant. Why did he not think of General Councils, who are the only infallible means of knowing the sense of the Scriptures? Neither he, nor any of the Writers of this Age, and of that which followed it, had any knowledge of them. Nevertheless, as it is said, it was a means established and appointed by God; and yet for the space of two Hundred years, it must be acknowledged, that God hide this means from the whole Church, and that he left her in a straight given up to the Humours of Heretics, and to their lewd and false Interpretations. No reasonable Man will ever swallow such a Prodigy.  
3. I entreat you, my Brethren, to consider if it be likely, that God should place Infallibility in Assemblies, whose Original was wholly casual and accidental. The occasion which gave birth to General Councils, was the Conversion of the Roman Emperors to Christianity, and the great extent of that Empire: For if the Emperors had continued Pagans, Councils from all parts of the Empire had never been assembled; the Emperors would have looked upon it as a Conspiracy, and would never have permitted it. Besides, if the Roman Emperors by becoming Christians, had lost half the Provinces of the Empire, there had never been any General Councils neither: For the divers Princes which had possessed themselves of the Provinces of the Empire, would not have permitted their Subjects to assemble with those, who continued under the Rule of the Romans, for fear lest these Conferences should be designed, to search out ways of returning under the Government of their first Masters. Now judge, if a Tribunal, which in the purpose of God, was to be the Fountain of the Oracles of the Church in all Ages, aught to owe its birth to a concourse of Affairs, and Mundane Circumstances, that were wholly and purely so. Ought not God to have established this Tribunal without dependence on the World and the Affairs thereof, as from the beginning he established Presbyteries (so S. Paul calls the Assemblies of Pastors) is every City, and in every particular Church? He must have a very obdurate Mind, I think, who is not moved and touched with this Discourse and Reason.  
4. What may be the assurance that a Man may have of such an Article of Faith which is founded on a Matter of Fact notoriously false. 'Tis that the Councils of the Fourth and Fifth Ages were assembled from the whole Universal Church. That, say I, is notoriously false; there were not above three Hundred and eighteen Fathers in the Council of Nice, the most ancient and the most venerable of all the Councils. What are three Hundred and eighteen Bishops for the whole vast extent of the Roman Empire, where there was an infinite number of them? It does not appear that all the Churches did depute their Bishops thither, nor that all the Provinces of the Roman Empire did assemble to choose some one out of their Body, who should carry their Counsel and Advice. Constantine called together all the Bishops in general, those that could, and those that would, appeared there; none appeared there, but those of the Eastern Church, there were not Twelve of the Latin Church there; out of all Spain, none were seen but Hosius Bishop of Corduba; out of all France, none but Nicasius Bishop of Die, or Dijon. Besides this, there were Churches out of the Roman Empire; it may be there were Churches even in the Indies, at least, those which tell us, that S. Thomas carried the Gospel thither, aught to believe so. 'Tis certain at least, that there were large Churches in Persia. Ecclesiastical History speaks of a great Persecution which was raised at that time against the Christian Churches of Persia, by the Impudence or ill guided Zeal of Maruthas a Bishop, who burned one of the Temples which the Persians had consecrated to the Honour of the Fire. These Churches of Persia were not called to this Council, nor did they appear there. All the World are at an Agreement, that the first Council of Constantinople, held under Theodosius the Great, was not General: There were none but Eastern Bishops there; yea, two Hundred years after, in the time of Gregory the first Bishop of Rome, the Western Church did not as yet receive the Canons thereof: So that frankly and openly, 'tis to scoff Men to call them General Councils in the sense which is given to the Word at this day. 'Tis true, that these first Councils called themselves so, but why, and in what sense? It was according to the Style which was then in use. The Roman Empire was then called Orbis, the World Universal, the Greeks called it Oikoumene the habitable part of the Earth, the Emperors thereof were called the Universal Emperors; the Vanity of the Emperors occasioned this; the great ones always blow up their Titles. The extent of the Roman Empire was great indeed, but as if they had been Masters of the whole Earth, they caused themselves to be called Masters of the World Universal. A General Council in this sense signifies no more than a Council assembled from all parts of the Roman Empire.  
5. I entreat you to give attention to that which is necessary, according to these Gentlemen, to make a Council Ecumenical. Is it necessary that there be Bishops from all parts of the Church? by no means; for then the Council of Constantinople were not Oecumenick. The Pope was not there, either by himself, or his Legates; and it is not known that there was any of the Western Bishops there. Nevertheless, 'tis Oecumenick; but why? because that all the Church consented to it at last: for its Canons were not received at Rome more than two hundred years after. The Church Universal, say I, hath approved it, not by Subscriptions and a formal Consent, but by a Consent which they call tacit and implicit: and this is indeed the Opinion of the Doctors of France, That to make a Council Oecumenick, 'tis enough that it be afterward approved. That is the reason why the Canons of the Council of Antioch, which is generally believed to have been an Arrian Council, are at this day seen in the Code of the Universal Church. That is the reason why many men are willing the Council of Sardis should be Ecumenical. 'Tis because though there were none but Western Bishops there, yet the most part of the Bishops of the East subscribed it afterwards. Now I entreat you observe the Absurdity which I am about to make you sensible of. Behold a Council, for example, the first Ecumenical of Constantinople, which in its form is but a particular Council, and by consequence cannot be Infallible; nevertheless, because God foresaw that the Council would be approved by all the Church, he presides there by a Spirit of Infallibility against all the Rules which he hath established for his own Conduct with respect to Councils. So that when God foresees that a Council which is particular in its Composition, will one day be accounted Ecumenical, because of a consent that will be given to it either by Subscriptions sent and separately made, or by a tacit consent, he there pours out a Spirit of Infallibility. But if he foresees that this Synod will be neglected, as a particular Synod, he lets it pass for as much as 'tis worth, and doth not make it Infallible. Is not this to play with the Spirit of God, and the Reason of Men? Who sees not by this example, that the Character of an Ecumenical Council doth in no wise depend upon a Spirit of Infallibility which presides there, but on the consent of men, which persuade themselves, right or wrong, that such an Assembly hath happily hit on the truth.  
6. I pray judge whether it be probable that these Assemblies, called Ecumenical, were infallible Judges of Controversies, without knowing it. At this day, when the Pope assembles an Ecumenical Council, this Council believes itself to be Infallible, it acts and speaks as such. Let them demonstrate to us this Character in the first Councils; let them show us, that they acted as infallible, and that they spoke as such. If I should make a Book, whereas I am only making a Letter, I could show you a hundred circumstances of these ancient Councils, which will make it evident, that this Dream never crept into the minds of any of the Members of those Assemblies, that they were there as Infallible Judges. But in this case, 'tis not we that are obliged to prove, 'tis the Papists, for they are those which do affirm. Press them, say I, about it, and ask them their Proofs, that the Ancient Councils believed themselves Infallible. Go farther, and ask them, Whether it be possible that these Councils should be Infallible, and that not one of the Divines of those Ages should doubt of it; and that in their Disputes with Heretics they should make no use of this Authority? St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Austin, St. Gregory, Nazianzen and St. Athanasius, had great Disputes against the Arrians, but they never thought fit to oppose unto them the Authority of the Council of Nice, as Infallible. Where were their Wits? Why did they not tell them, God hath promised, That when two or three are gathered together in his name he will be in the midst of them? 'Tis a Promise of Infallibility, belonging to General Councils. The Council of Nice was assembled in the Name of God, held in all its forms, and assembled from the whole Church: it is therefore Infallible, and by consequence you are obstinate not to submit unto it. Thus they reason against us, and 'tis thus that men ought to reason naturally when they are of the Opinion and Principles of Popery. We do not see one word of this in the Authors of the fourth and fifth Ages. On the contrary, St. Austin tells the Arrians, Let us lay by the Council of Nice on my part, and the Council of Ariminum on your part, and let us dispute from the Scripture, 
* Cont. Maxim. lib. 3. cap. 14.  confessing, the one and the other of these Assemblies might err, although it be very certain that the Council of Nice did not actually do so. 'Tis as if I should say to a Mahometan, Let us lay by my H. Scripture and your Alcoran, as supposing it possible that both the one and other of them may be false. It must be granted, that I were wicked, or a fool, to speak thus, if it were not upon those Suppositions which are called false, and whereof we sometimes serve ourselves to draw an Adversary to an absurdity. Behold then a Prodigy which passes all imagination; the Christians had among themselves infallible Judges, and knew nothing of it: but behold much more, St. Austin not only knew not, that he had right to oppose the Authority of the Council of Nice as Infallible, to the Arrians, but he even confesses to the Donatists, that no Authority of Council was supreme, and without Appeal. The Donatists, to prove to him that the Baptism of Heretics was worth nothing, brought him the Testimony of St. Cyprian; He answers, without ceremony, That he acknowledged no Testimony sure and certain but that of the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament; that as to the decisions of Bishops, those which came after, and above all Councils, might very well correct them. After which he adds, 
* De Bapt. cont. Donat. lib. 2. cap. 3.  And even the Councils which are held in every Country, and in every Province, do without difficulty give place to full Councils, which are assembled from all the Christian World; and these full Councils, (so he calls Ecumenical Councils) may be corrected by those which follow; when that which was hid is discovered, and by some experience men come to know what they were ignorant in. Observe, that the thing under debate was not a matter of Discipline only, as they will tell you, but to know whether the Baptism of Heretics were of any value. 'Twas a Point of Doctrine, if there were ever and such.  
7. To conclude, I conjure you, my Brethren, give yet attention to this, 'tis, that although the Dream of your Converters should have some foundation, and that the Church Universal assembled in a Body by its Guides were Infallible, the Church of Rome would have no part in this Privilege, nor would it extend itself to the Councils since Berengarius, which they desire you should look upon as the Rules of your Faith. For these Councils were never Assemblies of the Church Universal since the Schism of the Greeks: they are at most but Councils of the Latin Church: but the Latin Church, say they, is become the Universal and Catholic Church, excluding all other Christian Communions which are separate from her; and by consequence, her Councils are those of the Church Universal. This is the most foolish of all Pretensions, That the Roman Church should be the only Church, excluding all the Communions of Asia, Africa, and Europe. We have shown the extravagance of this Pretence in our former Letters, for which reason, at present we may well suppose it as indisputable, viz. that the Church of Rome, for 800 years past, hath had no Ecumenical Councils in the sense that she herself understands the Word; from whence you may conclude, that she hath had no Infallible Councils.  
Furthermore, 'tis necessary to oblige you to give attention to this Original of Ecumenical Councils in the fourth and fifth Ages; because, without doubt, it was one of the means which the Devil made use of to establish the Empire and Domination of Antichrist. Not that the first Councils called Ecumenical were not assembled with good intention, and were not very useful at that season, and in that time. But it happens to this good thing as to the most part of others which have been introduced with a good intention, the Devil hath taken occasion from thence to bring in either Opinions or Practices which have destroyed the Church. Martyrdom is an excellent work; yet from thence men have taken occasion to introduce the Opinion of Merits, and Works of Supererogation. Respect for the Martyrs is very just, and very reasonable; yet that hath made way for Indulgences, the Invocation of Saints, Adoration of Relics and Images. The use of Ecumenical Councils hath been found good upon several occasions. The Bishops coming from all Parts have appeared not as Judges, but as Witnesses of the Faith of their Churches, and this unanimous consent in the Faith hath produced a very good effect for the establishing of Points fundamental. But the Spirit of Lie hath nevertheless made use thereof afterwards, as a means to build that Universal Empire over the Church; an Empire which is one of the characters of Antichrist. At the beginning it was the Emperors which assembled these Councils. These Assemblies were made by their Authority; the Bishops of Rome were of the number of those called to them: he must have renounced all Sincerity that doth not agree unto it, after he hath read Eusebius, Socrates, Zozomon, and Theodoret. When the Roman Empire was ruined in the West, the Emperors having no Authority and longer to call Assemblies of the whole Church, because they were no longer Masters of it; the Popes, who advanced according to the measure that the Emperors declined, were willing to lay hold of this Right. They endeavoured to reunite, under their Authority, all the Provinces which had formerly been united under the Emperors; in which they were successful, and thereby form the second Roman Empire, which is the Empire of the Boast and of Antichrist. These Ecumenical Assemblies were of great use to them in this; at the head of which Assemblies they placed themselves in the quality of the first Patriarches. The custom which the Councils took in the Fourth Age, of adding anathemas to their Decisions, did also serve them afterwards to possess men with a Chimaera of their Infallibility. I have not been able to find that Councils did anathematise any one before the Council of Nice. We have the Council of Carthage, reckoned for the third in the Collection of Father Labbeus held under Cyprian in the year 258. Zonarus holds it for the most ancient of all the Councils, he means, whose Decisions we have. It seems to me, we have therein the form of the ancient Councils. Every one there speaks his Opinion modestly; that which had the plurality of Voices passed, but they there made no Decrees nor anathemas.  
We do not see that in the first two Ages, they held Councils for the deciding matters of Faith and Doctrine. There was one held about the Controversy concerning Easter, that is to say, Whether they ought to celebrate the Fourteenth of the Month of March? but this was a Point of Discipline. There was in those times an infinite number of Heretics, as appears by the Book of Irenaeus; but I have not observed that they did assemble Councils against them before the third Age: nevertheless, if they had looked upon Councils as Infallible, it would have been necessary to prevent Seduction, and to secure the Faith of Christians.  

An Article of Controversy. The true Idea of Schism. That those which are called Schismatics are not out of the Church.  
AFter having spoken of Unity, and confuted the Sophism which they draw from this Unity in the preceding Letters; we must answer the Sophism, which is drawn from the Schism which ruins this Unity. 'Tis a Point which your Converters do continually repeat, and beat upon you. Schism, say they, is a hideous crime: Schismatics are out of the Church; there is no Salvation for them: and although the Church of Rome itself were corrupt, you ought not to break with her. Their modern Writers which seem willing to soften the Maxims of the Roman Church, do nevertheless observe no measure on this Subject, and on this Point. They proceed so far as to maintain, That although it should be true that even the Church of Rome should be fallen into Idolatry, we ought not to forsake her, and could not justly set up Altar against Altar. We must return to these Gentlemen, not Paradox for Paradox, but Truth for Lies: but a Truth which is opposite to their Falsehood, as our Antipodes are opposite to us. They say, that though even the Church should fall into Idolatry, we cannot be saved if we separate from it. And I say, although even the Church of Rome should have Reason at the bottom, and were not Idolatrous, and that we were out in our Separation, we should not hazard our Salvation by continuing as we are. Men are every where well where they have Christianity and the marrow and substance of it; and 'tis a folly to imagine that the Salvation of men depends upon the humour of their Guides. It may be therefore that Luther and Calvin were mistaken, i. e. That the corruption of the Church of Rome was not great enough to oblige the Faithful to go out of her: let us suppose, they had done better to leave things as they were, I do nevertheless maintain, that at this day you do not in any wise hazard your Salvation by continuing where they have placed you; because however it be, you have Christianity in its integrity, you have it wholly pure and uncorrupt. In every Society where that is found, a man may be saved, after whatsoever manner it be form. The Idea which men have form of Schism for many Ages past is the most false that can be imagined: but besides the falsehood of it, 'tis the most dangerous and cruel Chimaera that could be found. Every Society would be Catholic Church to the exclusion of all others. The Church of Rome pretends thus far for herself. The Greek Church makes no less pretence thereto. He that goes out of this Church breaks the Unity, and he that breaks it is no longer in the Church. Now he who is no longer in the Church, is no longer in a state and way of Salvation, whatever he say and whatever he do. Behold what they say; behold the Chimaera.  
We must therefore rectify this Idea of Schism, according to the Unity which we have given you. The Unity of the Universal Church does not subsist within the bounds of one certain Communion, nor in adherence to certain Pastors, to the exclusion of all others: but in the Unity of Spirit, Doctrine, Sacraments, and Evangelical Ministry in general, i. e. of Pastor's declaring the Truth of the Gospel. What must be done then to make a Schism with respect to the Church Universal? He must renounce the Christian Doctrine, the Sacraments of the Church, and the Gospel Ministry; that is to say, He must be an Apostate, or an Heretic. But every Society that goes out of another and greater Society of which it was a part, makes no Schism with respect to the Church Universal, whilst it retains the Doctrine, the Sacraments, and the Ministry of the Gospel: it goes not out of the Church because it carries the Church with it, and it carries the Church with it, because it carries Christianity with it. It carries, say I, the Church with it, in such a manner nevertheless, that it leaves it in the Society which it leaves; for leaving true Christianity there, it leaves the true Church there also. And the advantage of being the Church, and of having Christianity, is a Privilege which may be possessed entire, and without prejudice to other Christian Societies.  
We must therefore know, that there is an Universal and Particular Schism. Particular Schism is a Separation from a particular Church: a Universal Schism is a Separation from the Universal Church. Universal Schism consists in the Renunciation of the Universal Church, by renouncing her Doctrine, Sacraments, and Ministry. For example, If the one half of Christians should separate from the other, and set up a new Gospel, according to which Moses should be set side by side with Jesus Christ, the legal Ceremonies reestablished, the Evangelical Ministry should be changed into the Ministry of Priests after the Order of Aaron; the Sacraments of the Church should be joined to the Sacraments of the Old Testament; it were certain that this would be a true Schism; for these Men would renounce the Doctrine, the Sacraments, and the Ministry of the Gospel. The Mahometans, without renouncing Jesus Christ, and calling him false Prophet, have set up a Prophet superior to him, and receive the Impostures of Mahomet, admit Circumcision, and reject Baptism, have made a Religion truly and essentially different from that of Christ's. 'Tis therefore a true universal Schism. The Socinians, who have renounced almost all the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion, who despise and neglect the Sacraments by going out of the Church, are become Schismatics, and true Schismatics with respect to the Church Universal; for they have not carried the Church with them, because they have not carried Christianity with them. According to this Idea, Universal Schism, or Schism with respect to the Universal Church, doth not essentially differ from Heresy and Apostasy.  
Particular Schism is when a Man separates from a particular Church, be it for some Point of Doctrine, be it for some quarrel about Discipline, be it for some personal Differences of the Guides among themselves. Of this sort of Schisms there is an infinite number of Examples. In the Second Age there was a Schism between the Church of Rome and the Church of Asia, about a controversy of Ceremonies, about the day on which Easter ought to be observed. The Churches of Asia maintained, that the Christian Passover ought to be observed on the same day that the Jews observed theirs; and they said, they held it as a Tradition from St. John. The Church of Rome, on the contrary, said that Christians ought to observe Easter on the Lord's-day following the Jewish Passover. And for the sake of this goodly Controversy, Victor Bishop of Rome was so rash, as to separate the Churches of Asia from his Communion. This Schism continued not only until the Council of Nice, but a very long time after; for mention is made of the Quartodecimani in the General Council of Ephesus against Nestorius in the year 431. So they called those who celebrated Easter with the Jews, on the 14th day of the Month of March. In the Third Age, Novatian form a considerable Schism, about a Point of Discipline; viz. Whether we ought to receive those who fell in times of Persecution to the Peace of the Church. This Schism continued a long time. We find this Schism continuing amidst all the great troubles that were betwixt the Arrians and the Orthodox; the union of Opinions that was between the Novatians and the Catholics with respect to the Doctrine of Arrius, did not put a period unto it. In the same Age, the Donatists made another Schism in Africa, about the choice of a Bishop of Carthage. Two Parties being form about it, a Division was made, it spread through all Africa, and continued many Ages. There happened another in the beginning of the Fifth Age, by one named Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, who taught there were two Persons, as well as two Natures in Christ. Another was made a little while after by Eutyches, Abbot of a Monastery in Constantinople, who desiring to oppose Nestorius, who distinguished two Persons in Christ Jesus, confounded the two Natures that he might not separate them; and these two Schisms have continued for 1200 years, and do continue to this day. In the Tenth Age happened the great Schism of the Greek Church from the Latin. The Church of Rome itself has had an infinite number of Schisms in her own Bowels, occasioned by her Anti-popes', And the greatest (which may serve for a Rule for all) was the great Schism of Popes and Anti-popes', whereof the one sat at Rome, and the other at Avignon. This Schism divided the West into two different Parties, under two distinct Heads. To conclude, in these last times a great Schism is happened in the Latin Church, which is divided into three great Bodies, the Papists, the Lutherans, and the Reformed. I pass by an infinite number of little Schisms, which have been in the East between Church and Church, and oftentimes among the Members of the same Church. Two Bishops were seen for a long time at Antioch; the Party of one of them was called Milesians, the other Party Eustathians, this was in the Fourth and Fifth Ages. These are, say I, particular Schisms. And it may be said, that not one of these Schismatical Parties did separate from the Universal Church, because not one of them abandoned Christianity; they returned and carried it with them.  
Now the Illusion in this matter comes from hence, that we confound these two sorts of Schisms, those that are Universal with those which are particular, and we ascribe to particular Schisms that which belongs only to Schism universal, viz. Exclusion from Salvation. For 'tis true, that he who makes a Schism from the Universal Church, by renouncing her Doctrine, Sacraments, and Ministry, is utterly out of the Church, and without any right to eternal Life. But 'tis false, that particular Schism either from the Church of Rome, or from the Greek Church, or Schism of the Church of Rome in itself, doth exclude from Salvation. This folly proceeds from another, and that is, that every particular Church looks on herself as the Catholic and Universal Church, and her particular Doctrines as the Universal and Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity: In such manner, that those who separate themselves from her, and renounce her Doctrines, she looks on them, as being separate from the Universal Church, and as having renounced the Universal Doctrine of Christianity. But no Church hath carried this folly to that degree of extravagance as the Church of Rome hath done; for she calls herself the Catholic and Universal Church, to the exclusion of all others: And she would fain, that the Doctrines which are peculiar to her, as the Supremacy of the Pope, Transubstantiation, Purgatory, etc. should be accounted the Universal Truths of Christanity. Thence it comes to pass, that she considers as Schismatics, and damned all those which separate from her, and renounce the most inconsiderable Doctrines which she hath consecrated by her anathemas. To make this foolish Pretention vanish and disappear, no more is to be done, but to make more evident the true Idea of Schism, which the Disputes of these last Ages, and the Prejudices of the Ancients, have strangely perplexed and confounded. To this end it will be useful to consider divers of those Schisms of which we have spoken, and see what we ought to judge concerning the Salvation of those who lived in them.  
First, there have been Schisms which have been made without any Controversies about Doctrine or Discipline, only upon personal Quarrels between Bishop and Bishop; such was that furious Schism of the Donatists in Africa, which was made only upon the occasion of the choice of a Bishop of Carthage: Afterwards the Donatists espoused the Opinion of S. Cyprian, about the Nullity of the Baptism of Heretics, and it may be, some other Opinions of little importance, that they might the more easily maintain and continue their Schism with the Catholics. But the true foundation of the Schism was nothing but a particular Quarrel. The Donatists held all the Opinions of the Catholic Church, they had the same Sacraments, the same Discipline, and the same Ministry. This being so, he must be very cruel that will damn an infinite number of private Persons, who followed their Guides, as the Inhabitants of Jerusalem followed Absalon, in the simplicity of their Hearts. I say nothing concerning the Authors of the Schism, nor of those who did maintain it; as they violated the Laws of Charity, and troubled the Peace of the Church, we leave them to the Judgement of God: We say nothing neither of the Circumcellians, a sort of People which arose among the Donatists, and offered an Hundred Violences to the Orthodox. I speak of those plain People, who in the simplicity of their Heart, do without Dissimulation believe in Jesus Christ, according to the Creed explicated according to the sense of the Church Universal, who believe all the Christian Doctrine, from the first Article to the last; and besides, labour with great diligence in the practice of Holiness and Devotion: to condemn these Men, say I, only because they do not communicate with the Pastors of the Catholic Church, is a foolish and a barbarous Doctrine, of which I do not think there is a Man in the World throughly persuaded, although there be a Thousand and a Thousand pretend so to be.  
There are other Schisms which were made about Controversies in Doctrine, such is the Schism of the Nestorians and that of the Eutychians, who continue at this day, and comprehend an infinite number of Christians in the East. I believe that Nestorius designed to reduce the Opinion of Paulus Samosatenus to another form; which Opinion is that of our Socinians, who make Jesus Christ a mere Man. But we must judge otherwise of their Successors. At this day the Nestorians and the Eutychians embrace the Apostles Creed, and that of Constantinople, as do the Greeks and the Latins, they believe in Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, God himself, dead, and raised again for the Salvation of Men; and the Disputes which they have with the rest of the Church, are at present, nothing but Questions about Words and differing manners of expression. To damn these Millions of People, because of the rashness of a single Man, who had the boldness a Hundred and twenty years ago, to teach contrary to the manner after which we ought to conceive of the Incarnation of the Word, is a Cruelty founded in a most prodigious Error and Mistake. 'Tis evident, that we ought to range them with the rest of the Eastern Church, which is not much more pure, than that of the West, and to leave their Salvation to the judgement of God, who alone knows how far his Patience will proceed. These two Schisms were without doubt criminal in their Original: But time hath changed the state of things, and at this day those Christians which are called Jacobites, and follow the Schism of Eutyches, supposing they embrace all Christian Truths necessary to Salvation, are as well where they are, as if they rejoined themselves to the other Christians of the East, provided they be endowed with a Spirit of Charity. If they be so rash as to condemn the rest, therein they sin; but the Greeks which condemn them are not less guilty than they, although they descend directly from the Catholic and Orthodox flock, and the others be only a separate branch. And this helps to show you, that although a Schism were criminal in its Original, and headily and rashly made, nevertheless it is not always necessary under pain of eternal Damnation, to return from whence we came. From whence I confirm the Thesis which I laid down at the beginning of this Question; that the Idea which they make to you about the horror of Schism, is a Dream, and that though it should be true, that our separation from the Church of Rome in the beginning of the past Age were rash, the People which followed it in the simplicity of their Hearts, would not hazard their Salvation thereby, they that made it were to account for it, and at the most, those which do maintain it. So my Brethren, you would be in safety, and only we in danger. But I very well perceive, that this is not enough to calm the Perturbations which your Converters, and your own Thoughts may give you about it: For you will say, supposing that our separation from the Church of Rome in the last Age were unjust and rash; 'tis true, that we who did not make the Schism shall not suffer thereby. Our Fathers when they went out of the Church of Rome, carried the Church and Christianity with them, and this Christianity may nourish, and save us, maugre the Separation. Nevertheless on this supposition, we do no ill, yea we shall do well to reunite ourselves to the Church of Rome: We shall heal a Wound, which being open, renders the Church deformed; Peace is to be preferred before Division: This is without doubt, the descendants which acknowledge that their Ancestors did wrongfully separate from a certain stock, do well to reunite themselves thereto for edification, although it were not absolutely necessary to their Salvation. Therefore that we may come nearer to the case in which you are at present with the Church of Rome, we must suppose a Separation which was made for reasons of some worth and value, i. e. because of Corruption in Doctrine and Worship. This is the case in which you are, and on this supposition we will show you in what follows, that you cannot return to the Church of Rome.  
March 1. 1687    

The FOUTEENTH PASTORAL LETTER. AN Article of Antiquity. The Original of the Hierarchy, and the Antichristian Tyranny of the Bishop of Rome. An Article of Controversy. A Continuation of the matter of Schism: Although the Corruption of the Church of Rome were not extreme, it would not be lawful for us to return thither. Some Objections of the new Converts concerning it.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
SInce we have been upon the History of the fourth and fifth Ages, we have found there two great Novelties, which have had very unhappy effects in the following Ages. They are the Monastic Life, and the Councils that are called Oecumenick. Behold a third of them; 'tis the Original of the Hierarchy, which hath given birth to the Antichristian Tyranny. This Word signifies sacred Rule or Government: and thereby is understood that Subordination of Pastors, which hath been seen in the Church for a 1000 or 1200 years. In this Subordination are seen the lowest Orders in the lowest Seats; above these lowest Orders are seen Priests subdivided into Curates, Deans, rural Deans, etc. Above the Priests are the Grand Vicars, above the Grand Vicars are the Bishops, above the Bishops are the Arch-Bishops or Metropolitans, above the Arch-Bishops are the Primates, above the Primates are the Exarches, above the Exarches are the Patriarches, and above all these is seen a Head, which was framed insensibly, and by little and little, and placed there; this is it which is called the Pope. All this is a new Invention with respect to the Apostles, and this Hierarchy was unknown before the Fourth Age. We have the Happiness at this day to have the French Church, that is to say, your Converters, for testimonies of this Truth. They do maintain, That the Apostles established no precise form of Government, that they contented themselves to preach the Gospel, to send persons to do so, and to place in every Church a Bishop to govern it. They say, that it is not certain that S. John, the eldest of the Apostles, i. e. he which lived longest, did give to the Churches of Asia, amongst whom he died, any form of Government; that it was in the Fourth Age that the Hierarchical form of Government was given to the Church; that therein they followed no divine Right or Institution of the Apostles, (who determined nothing concerning it) but the Polick Order and Form of Government found in the Roman Empire. As this Empire was divided into Provinces, Metropolitical Cities, and Prefectures, i. e. Governments, so they also divided the Churches into Metropolitan, Provincial, and National.  
And indeed, from the time of the Apostles there was no Principality, nor so much as any Primacy in the Church. The Apostles, by an Authority which they received immediately from Jesus Christ, governed the Church without Subordination, and without Division. The Spirit which guided them being one, and poured out on them all, they were always at agreement it what concerned the Edification of the Churches; but they did not leave any Successor that had the same Authority with themselves. It is not true that St. Peter was their Prince, it does not appear that he had any Primacy of Order above the rest; 'tis true he is often named first; but that doth not prove that he was the first, or the Precedent of the Apostolical College. We see that the other Apostles treated with him after such a manner, as makes it apparent, that they did not acknowledge in him any kind of Pre-eminence, which should advance him above them. We see that they sent him to Samaria; it would have appertained to him to send, and not be sent, if he had been the Prince of the Apostles. We see that after he had preached the Gospel to Cornelius and some other Pagans, they made great complaints thereon. We see that S. Paul rebuked him to the face, and even in public, because in the presence of the Jews he warped, and used some dissimulation with respect to the use of indifferent things forbidden by the Law of Moses: Men do not use to deal so with their Prince. The Successors of the Apostles left in all Church's Presbyters or Bishops to preach the Word, and administer the Sacraments: but in the beginning the Presbyter and the Bishop were not distinguished. Those which S. Paul calls Bishop in one place, he calls also Elders or Presbyters, in the same place or in another. 'Tis a matter of Fact which our Adversaries cannot deny. In the 20th of the Acts, the Apostle speaking to the Presbyters or Elders of the Church of Ephesus, calls them Bishops; and in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus, where he speaks sometimes of a Bishop, he speaks more frequently of Elders, and by Elders he understands the very same which he had called Bishops. In the Cities where the Churches were great, there were many Presbyters; one of them did preside over the rest, not by turn, but by a privilege which did always appertain to him. St. Paul speaks of this Precedent, The Elder which rules well is worthy of double honour. This presiding Presbyter, in the beginning of the second Age, arrogates to himself the name of Bishop, (which before was common to his Colleagues,) so that there was no other but the Precedent of the Presbytery who called himself Bishop. He attributed to himself also the right of imposing hands as well on those which were received as Pastors, as on the Penitents, and those which were received to the Communion of the Mysteries. In all this there was as yet no Hierarchy, no Dependence, no Appeals, no Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. Every Bishop, with his College of Presbyters, was Sovereign in his District, and in his Church; and this Church was not dependent of any other. You may remember how S. Cyprian, in our Eleventh Pastoral Letter hath told us in express words, 
* Epist. 74.  Every Bishop may use his Authority in the Government of his Church according to his own Will, being under no obligation to give an account thereof to any but the Lord. And elsewhere, 
† Concil. Carth. Anno 258.  That every Bishop is Master of himself, and cannot be judged by another Bishop, as he also cannot judge other Bishops. All honest men are agreed at this day therein. The Divines themselves of the Gallican Church maintain it, and at this time they lend us their Studies and Illuminations to refute the Flatterers of the Papal Tyranny, who would find in the three first Ages of the Church Proofs of the Primacy, i. e. of the Principality of the Bishop of Rome over all the Churches of the World. The Defenders of this Antichristian Power quote to us the Action of Victor Bishop of Rome, who about the end of the Second Age excommunicated the Churches of Asia, because they would not keep Easter precisely the same day that he did: and from thence they conclude, That the Pope was even then the Prince of all Churches. But to this your own Converters do answer for us, that in this Victor exercised not Right but what was common to all Bishops, and that the Bishops of Asia might exercise it on Victor, as he had exercised it on them; that this Excommunication of Victor was a separation from his Communion; that the Bishops did communicate one with another by Letters, which they called Letters of Communion, form Letters, etc. When they were angry or discontented one with another, they did no longer write these Letters of Communion to those of whom they believed the Church had reason to complain, and they received no more from them; that this is it which Victor then did, and that all Bishops have Right, by custom, to do the same thing. The Flatterers of Popes quote to us also the Words of Irenaeus, who speaking of the Church of Rome, says, 
* Lib. 3. cap. 3.  That it was necessary all other Churches should have recourse to this Church, because it was the principal, and the most potent. But the French Roman Catholic Doctors answer for us, that the sense is, That the Roman Church, because the City of Rome was the Capital City of the Empire, and because of its grandeur might be a sufficient Witness of Apostolical Tradition, because Christians came thither upon business from all Parts of the World, and that coming thither they might there be Witnesses of the Faith of all Churches scattered throughout all the Empire: and that so the Roman Church, made up and form of all Nations, might be a Witness of the Faith of all the Churches in the World. They object to us also, That it appears by the Works of St. Cyprian, that Bishops condemned and deposed in Africa, had recourse to the Bishop of Rome for their re-establishment. But the French Doctors answer with us, That by the same Letters of St. Cyprian it appears also, that these Attempts were disallowed and condemned, and that they gave the Bishop of Rome to understand, that he had nothing to do to receive the Complaints of any of the ecclesiastics of the African Church. So that these Gentlemen acknowledge with us, that in the three first Ages of Christianity there was no Principality, no subordinate Jurisdiction, nor no dependence of one Church upon another, not excepting the Church of Rome itself. But we do also maintain unto them, That from the Third Age, the Churches that had their Seats in those Cities which are called Metropoles, i. e. Heads of the Provinces, did obtain a certain Superiority upon the lesser Churches that were in the little Villages of the Neighbourhood, because of the need they had of them. The Metropolitan Cities were the dwelling places of the Governors of the Provinces, the Courts of Justice were there, 'twas thither they carried their Tributes; so that all the Provinces had business there: besides, the Bishops of these Cities were ordinarily more able than those of little Cities; for it has always been the ordinary custom to choose the ablest men for the conduct of the most important Churches, and such as were most exposed to the Temptations of human Authority. Besides this, there were in these Cities many Presbyters which assisted the Bishop, and who with him, made a Senate able and knowing in matters of Faith and Discipline. For these Reasons the Churches of the Country, and such as were Provincial, addressed themselves to the Churches of the Metropolitan Cities in all their doubts, and in all their necessities: sometimes to obtain Pastors, sometimes to know how they should suppress Heretics, and those which were scandalous, and sometimes in other cases, and on other occasions. This was the reason that the Churches of the Metropolitan Cities obtained by consent a kind of Superintendence over others. They confirmed, by imposition of hands, Pastors in vacant Churches, after the People of those Churches had made an Election of them. This is the estate in which the Government was found in the beginning of the Fourth Age. Before that time the Names of Arch-Bishops, Primates, Exarches, Patriarches, and every other Name of Power and Dignity, were wholly unknown in the Church. But the Emperors becoming Christians, Pride introduced itself into the Ecclesiastical Government; and in the space of an 150 years, or thereabout, that Hierarchy was seen to be born and to establish itself, which certainly made way for the birth of the Antichristian Empire of Rome: and behold how it came to pass.  
Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor, assembled a Council in the City of Nice, to determine the Controversy which Arrius had unhappily raised about the Divinity of the Son of God. The Council, after it had determined those matters which respected Faith, were willing also to regulate matters of Discipline, and made twenty Canons concerning it: in which they caused those Practices which were then in use, to pass into Laws, supposing it may be, that they were much more ancient than indeed they were. For example, it found that the Churches had yet preserved this mark of mutual Dependence, that is to say, not to make void the judicial Sentences of one the other, and not to suffer that a person excommunicated in one Church should have recourse to another to be reestablished in its Communion. It made a Law thereof in the fifth Canon, As to those that are separated from the Communion, be it that they are Layicks, be it that they are of the body of the Clergy, let the Bishops of every Province observe this agreeably to the Canon that says, Let those that are rejected by one, not be received by others.  
But finding also that it was a custom, that in difficult matters respecting Faith or Discipline, when it happened that any Persons were excommunicated or deposed, the neighbouring Churches were wont to assemble to judge thereof, of that also it made a Law in the same Canon, and ordained, that for the examination of Causes determined by particular Churches a Synod should assemble twice a year in every Province, to the end that the Bishop of the Province being assembled, might examine these sort of Questions. As the Chimaera of the Sovereign Authority of General Councils was not yet born, so the Fathers of the Council of Nice contented themselves to ordain, That Provincial Councils should be held, but gave no advice for the appointing General Councils, from ten Years to ten, as lately the Council of Constance did.  
The Bishops assembled at Nice also found, that by custom, the Churches that had their Seats in Metropolitick Cities, and entertained some superintendency over the Churches of the lesser Cities of the Province, they confirmed this usage, and made a Law thereof in the sixth Canon. Let the ancient Customs, say they, be observed, that is, that the Bishop of Alexandria have power over the Churches of Egypt, of Lybia, and Pentapolis, because 'tis so also, that the Bishop of Rome has been accustomed to have. In like manner at Antioch, and in the other Provinces, let the Privileges of other Provinces be preserved. There is nothing that has less foundation than the pretence of most part of the Doctors of the Roman Church, who imagine that here is the establishment of those Seats which were afterwards called Patriarchal: Neither the Name nor Power of Patriarches were known at that time. And the Council of Nice had no other design, but to confirm by a Law, that which it found established by custom, that is to say, that the greater Churches should have some superintendency over the lesser. There were then three great Governments in the Roman Empire, Rome for Italy, Alexandria for the South, and Antioch for the East: The Churches which were in these three principal Cities of the Empire, had arrogated some pre-eminence over the neighbouring Churches. The Council confirms to them this pre-eminence. But we may not imagine, as the Roman Doctors would persuade us, that the Council did then divide the whole Church into three Patriarchates, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, as if all the other Churches had been subjected to these three: These three Churches are named but for example, because they were the principal. Besides, it is added, Likewise, let the Privileges be preserved to other Churches; that is to say, let the Churches, which by custom have obtained a superintendency over their Neighbours, as lesser Churches, preserve that Pre-eminence. So the Church of Asia (which is not named in this Canon) is one of those which had Pre-eminence over her Neighbours, to whom this Privilege was preserved for some time. At that time therefore, by custom, and by the Law of the Council of Nice, Alexandria had inspection over the Churches of Egypt, Lybia and Pentapolis; the Bishop of Rome, had inspection over the suburbicarian Churches, that is to say, the Cities which were either of the Government of the Vicarship of the City of Rome, and no more. Now the Vicarship of Rome was so far from extending itself to the whole Empire, that it extended to but about half Italy on the side of Naples; the other part of Italy which is on the side of Milan, was of another Vicarship, that is to say, of another Government, whereof the City of Milan was Capital, and the Bishop of Rome had nothing to do there. The Bishop of Antioch had inspection over the Churches of Syria, and no more. The other Churches in the Roman Empire were independent of these three Seats, and had their Metropolitan Churches, under which they ranged themselves for the assembling of their Synods, so that in the Canon of Nice nothing is found of the Institution of Patriarches, but only a Confirmation of the Privileges that the Churches of the Metropolitan Cities had obtained by consent from the lesser Churches round about them.  
It is nevertheless true, that soon after the Metropolitan Bishops of these three Cities, Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, began to play the Masters, and to claim Right over the neighbouring Churches, much beyond the ancient use and intentions of the Council of Nice. They took advantage from this, that these three Cities were the three great Cities of the Empire; and because they alone were named in the Canon of the Council, they made use thereof, say I, to extend their Jurisdiction as we see: But it must be observed, that this Council of Nice (having found, that by custom the Metropolitan Bishops had inspection over other less considerable Cities, by contributing their assistance and their Care to establish Bishops there) did confirm also this Privilege by the same sixth Canon. This must remain certain, says the Council, that he who hath been made Bishop without the Advice of the Metropolitan, the Great Synod declares, that he ought to be no Bishop; but if Two or Three, through Obstinacy and a Spirit of contradiction, oppose themselves to an Establishment made by a reasonable common consent, and according to the Ecclesiastical Canons, let the plurality of Voices prevail against them. This second part of the Canon makes it appear sufficiently plain, that in the first part thereof, nothing is handled concerning the Establishment of the pretended Rights of Patriarches, but only of the Privileges of the Metropolitan Cities, without which, the Council will not suffer that any Ordination of Bishops be made in the Cities of the Province.  
The Bishops of these three Cities, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, making use of the Canon of the Council, began to raise themselves above all others. In the same time Byzantium, which had not been hitherto any other than a very obscure Church, subject to the Metropolitan of Heraclea, a City of Thrace, sees herself honoured by the presence of the Emperors. Constantine carried thither the S●at of the Empire, and called it Constantinople, after his own Name, and obtained for it the Name of New Rome. Then the Bishop of Constantinople began also to make use of an Advantage by the Dignity of the City where he was: So that instead of three Tyrants in the Church, which aspired to make themselves Masters of the Flocks, there are found four; the Bishop of Rome, he of Alexandria, he of Antioch, and he of Constantinople. But as Rome always preserved a Character of Greatness and Pre-eminence over other Cities, because it was the stock and root of the Empire, they allowed a Primacy of Order to the Bishop of that city without contradiction. And this by so much the more easily, as the Spirit which built the Mystery of Iniquity had universally established the Opinion, that S. Peter accounted the chief of the Apostles had placed his Episcopal Seat at Rome, where he established Successors; in such a manner that all Bishops in the World did silently consent to grant this Primacy of Order, and of Presidence to the Church of Rome for these two Reasons: the first that the City of Rome was the Capital of the Universe; the second, that the chief of the Apostles had had his Seat there; so the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged for the first in order in their Assemblies, but without any kind of Power or Jurisdiction over others. In the mean time, the rest of the Hierarchy was form after the Model of the Government of the Empire. The Rome Empire in the East was divided into Five principal Governments: 

1. That of the East, whereof the Metropolis was Antioch, and which extending itself over Syria, is called East by distinction from the other Oriental Provinces.  
2. That of Egypt, whose Head was Alexandria.  
3. That of Pontus, whereof the Capital was Caesarea.  
4. That of Asia, whereof the Capital was Ephesus.  
5. That of Thrace, whereof the Metropolis was Constantinople:   So that these five Cities, Antioch, Alexandria, Caesarea, Ephesus, and Constantinople, were the places where the five great Governors of the Oriental part of the Roman Empire had their abode. The Bishops of the same Cities advanced themselves also above the other Bishops of the Provinces, and form five Exarchates, i. e. five sorts of Patriarchates independent the one from the other, in every one of these Exarchates or Patriarchates, there were many Bishops, and even many Metropolitans in the sense that the Word is taken at this day. The Exarches of Antioch, of Alexandria, of Ephesus, of Caesarea, and of Constantineple, every one in his Exarchate, was above the Bishops in Government, whether they were Metropolitans or simple Bishops; so it was in the West also. There was in Italy two principal Governments under the Name of Vicarships; the Government of Rome and that of Milan, for which reason the Bishops of these two Cities imitating the Civil Government, advanced themselves also in the Ecclesiastic, above the other Bishops of Italy.  
The Bishop of Rome had therefore at that time a Primacy of Order and Presidence, as we have observed, because of the Pre-eminence of the City, and the false Opinion that had obtained, that S. Peter had been Bishop there. But he exercised no Act of Jurisdiction or Superiority over others. It was not permitted him to receive Appeals, nor to make void the Decisions of other Bishops. They were not the Bishops of Rome that called General Councils, they were the Emperors; it was not they that determined Controversies of Faith, they were the Councils; they could not send out their Interdicts, nor Excommunications against other Churches, or constrain them to Obedience by any Censure. If the Bishops of Rome did separate other Churches from their Communion, other Churches also kept themselves separate from their Communion, adherence to the Bishop of Rome was of no necessity to obtain the esteem of an Orthodox, and Catholic Church, and there were Churches in those Ages which continued many Years in separation, and without any Communion with the Church of Rome, without ever being esteemed either Heretics or Schismatics. Nevertheless, it was in the Fourth Age, that the Bishop of Rome did sow the Seeds of his Tyranny, and took upon himself to judge those which other Bishops had already censured. And this happened chief on the occasion of the Troubles which the Heresy of Arrius raised in the Church. The Arrians became Masters in the East, and drove the Orthodox Bishops from their Seats, as Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria, Paul Bishop of Constantinople, etc. These Bishops unjustly deposed and driven away, retired themselves into the West, where Arrianism had made far less Ravages. The Bishops of Milan, Rome, and the principal Seats of Italy, continued Orthodox. S. Athanasius, and others came into Italy, and to Rome, to implore the Succour of the Bishop thereof, and other Bishops of the West, to the end that by their Credit and Authority, as well with other Bishops, as principally with the Emperors, they might be reestablished in their Seats. The Bishop of Rome receives them, treats them as Bishops, and declares that he had no regard for the unjust and violent Decisions of the Arrians; yea he did all that was in his power to re-place them in their Seats. At this time, i. e. in the heat of these Controversies stirred up by the Arrians, the Bishops of the West which were Orthodox, held a Council at Sardis, in the Year 347. there to judge the Cause of Athanasius, and Paul Bishop of Constantinople. In this Council the Bishops of the West observing that the Violences which the Orthodox Bishops of the East had suffered from the hands of Heretic Bishops were without remedy, whilst these Heretical Bishops should be absolute Masters, they thought fit to make three Canons or Ecclesiastical Rules, according to which, when a Bishop found himself oppressed by unjust Judgement, he might have recourse to Rome; that the Bishop of Rome should have power to appoint a review of the Process, and for that reason send Deputies on his part which should cause a Synod of the Province to assemble and re-judg the matter a second time, that in expectation of this second Judgement, the Affairs should remain in suspense, and the place of the deposed Bishop should not be filled. Behold exactly the fatal Point of the first conception of this tyrannical Power, which hath since swallowed up the Church. The truth is, that the Council of Sardis was made up of Western Bishops, which had no power to make Laws for the Eastern Church: It is also true, that the Churches of the East have always scoffed at the Canons of Sardis, and never would receive them: It is also true, that in the West itself, these Canons were not received but very lately, and a long time after. But 'tis also true, that since that time the Bishops of Rome have never ceased to make valid, and even to extend these Canons very far beyond their intention. They have been willing to persuade, First, That they have right to receive Appeals, whereas the Council of Sardis grants them nothing but the right of appointing a review, which is very much different from it. Secondly, And above all, they would make us believe that they have this Power by Divine Right, and from the Apostles, whereas they have it not, but by the Canons of this Council of Sardis. In the Year 383, that is to say, about Sixty Years after the Council of Nice, and Thirty six after that of Sardis, was held the first Council of Constantinople, which is reckoned for the second of those which are called General, although it were made up of an Hundred and fifty Fathers, and no more, and though there were none at all of all the West. This Council enlarges and confirms the Hierarchy. But it did not yet establish the Patriarches, i. e. the four Seats which pretend to have Dominion over all the Churches of the World: On the contrary, in the second Canon it ordains, 

1. That the Bishops of one Diocese, i. e. of one Province, for then a Diocese did not signify the particular Church of one Bishop, 'twas a Collection of many Bishops under one Exarch. It appoints, say I, That the Bishops of one Province should not intermeddle in the Affairs of another; and this without excepting the Bishop of Rome.  
2. It appoints, That the Bishop of Alexandria administer only the Affairs of Egypt.  
3. That the Bishops of the East, i. e. of Syria, govern their Churches, preserving to the Bishop of Antioch the Pre-eminence that had been given him by the Council of Nice.  
4. That the Bishop of Asia, whereof Ephesus was the Head, govern the Diocese of Asia, without being subject to Antioch, Constantinople, or Rome.  
5. That the Churches of Thrace be governed by the Bishops and Synods of the Province, without any other Superior.  
6. That the Churches amongst the barbarous Nations govern themselves according to the custom of their Fathers, without Patriarches and without Pope.   There is no footstep of any Papal Authority, nor even of any Patriarchal and Universal. In the following Canon we read these words, That the Bishop of the City of Constantinople hath the Privileges of Honour after the Bishop of Rome, because it is new Rome. A Canon which gives to the Bishop of Rome nothing but Privileges of Honour and Presidence, and grants them to be enjoyed by New Rome in the second Place: For this reason the Bishops of Constantinople would no longer sit below the Bishops of Antioch and Alexandria, because the City of their Seat was the Imperial City. This makes it appear, that the Bishops had no Pre-eminence one before another, but by reason of the Cities where they had their Seats, and not by any divine Right. The Case is the same with the Bishop of Rome: That Bishop gained nothing by all this, as is evident; nevertheless, the truth is, he always grew higher, according to the measure that the Hierarchy advanced. For the Exarches assumed unjust Rights over those which were merely Bishops. The Bishops of the Four first Seats, Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, raised themselves by little and little above the Exarches, and at last subjected and swallowed them up. Particularly he of Constantinople, whose Ambition was not inferior to that of the Bishop of Rome, made himself Judge of the Exarchates of Pontus and Asia, and that of the Barbarian Churches, with that of Thrace, which he had already. 'Twas in the Fourth Ecumenical Council held at Chalcedon in the Year 451. where it was ordained, that 
* Can. 28.  The Church of Constantinople should enjoy the same Privileges and Honours in Ecclesiastical Matters, seeing the City of Constantinople in Temporal Matters, did enjoy the same Privileges and Honours with ancient Rome. But if Constantinople did then exalt itself, Rome did not do it less in proportion. Already the Bishops of Rome began to Lord it over all the West. Leo I. was placed in that Seat, a Man who had great Parts, but of great Pride, who played the Master in the Church: He declared that a Man is not of the Church, when he does not obey it; he proceeded so far as to say, That Jesus Christ intended that all his Gifts should run down from the Chair of S. Peter, as from the Head, on all the Body of the Church, and that he which dared to separate himself from the Chair of S. Peter, aught to understand, that he is excluded from the divine Mysteries, i. e. from the Church. This was the Leo that obtained a Law from the Emperor Valentinian, by which he was established Sovereign Judge of all other Bishops; for which reason we take this Episcopacy of Leo for the first Point of the birth of the Antichristian Empire.  
This is enough for my end, which is not to give you a History of the Hierarchy, and after that of the Papal Tyranny in all their Progressions, but only an Abridgement of the History of their birth in the Fourth and Fifth Ages. That which I have to observe for the conclusion of this Article, whereunto you ought to give good attention, is, that the brief History that I have given you, is perfectly agreeable to the Spirit of the Gallican Church at this day. She maintains 

1. That the Church of Rome is no more but a particular Church as others are.  
2. That S. Peter had nothing but a Primacy of Order and Presidence above the Apostles.  
3. That S. Peter could give (to his Successors) over other Bishops, no more, but that Primacy which he had over the Apostles.  
4. That the Bishop of Rome originally and by divine Right, had no power over the Universal Church.  
5. That he did not receive Appeals in the first Ages of the Church.  
6. That he had no Right to assemble General Councils.  
7. That he could take cognizance of the Affairs of no other Province but his own, no not by Appeal.  
8. That he had no Right to take knowledge of Matters of Faith, to make Decisions therein, which should oblige the whole Church.  
9 That before the Council of Nice and after, he had no inspection over other Churches, but those which were in the Neighbourhood of Rome.  
10. That he could not excommunicate other Bishops, any otherwise than the other Bishops could excommunicate him.  
11. That a Man might separate himself from the Bishop of Rome without being a Schismatic, and out of the Church.  
12. That the Pope had no Right over other Bishops.  
13. That the Council of Sardis is the Fountain of that Right of receiving Appeals, which the Pope claims.  
14. That the Rights which the Pope hath at this day, excepting his Primacy, are by human Law; and because he hath assumed them to himself, or because they have been conceded to him.  
15. To which they add, he is not Infallible, nor superior to Councils, nor Master of the Temporalities of Kings.   Behold the Foundation upon which we at this day exhort you, to make to yourselves no longer a frightful Phantom of the Authority of the Pope. Surely the Gallican Church in all this takes great steps in your favour, and you are obliged unto them for it. But yet there remains one, without which all the rest are absolutely nothing, and that is to break with the Pope. We are preparing a Work, in which we pretend to make it plain to these Gentlemen, that they cannot dispense with themselves from finishing that which they have begun, and that in the Estate in which their Divinity concerning it is at this day, they ought to consider the Pope as the greatest and the most hateful Usurper.  

A Point of Controversy. A Continuation of the matter of Schism. Although the Corruption of the Roman Church were not extreme, yet it would not be lawful for us to return thither. Objections of the new Converts about it.  
MY Brethren, in the preceding Letter we have made it appear, that although we had been in the wrong in our Separation, and that the Church of Rome had not been corrupt, you would not wholly hazard your Salvation by continuing out of it. I am at present to make it appear that the Church of Rome being corrupt, with far greater reason you need fear nothing by not returning thither again. But for the greater illustration of this matter, let us suppose two sorts of corruption, the one in some sort tolerable, and the other wholly intolerable. Let us argue upon the first, and suppose that Persons separate themselves from a Church which hath Errors in Doctrine, which nevertheless retains the Fundamentals in their Integrity, which hath Superstitions, and those very great, in its Worship, but which is no formally Idolatrous. Those which separate from such a Church had done better if they had made no Separation. They ought to have attempted all sorts of methods to have reform their Church. Those Remedies not succeeding but exasperating the evil, they ought to exercise Patience, and to expect a more favourable time for Reformation. But supposing that whilst these men employ methods of Softness, matters insensibly grow warm, and fierce by the Contentions of Men, a thing which happens almost always, and necessarily; supposing, say I, that the fierceness and heat of the one and the other Party thrust on things to an entire Rupture and Schism, do you believe that the Party which separates itself from the main Body, and embraces a Religion more pure than that which it left, is obliged to return to the corrupt Party from which it is separated? Not at all. It may, and aught to say, If things had proceeded otherways, 'tis true, we could have born for a while those Corruptions which are in some sort tolerable; but things, by the Providence of God, happening thus, we will stay where we are, and keep ourselves in that Purity which we have chosen and not return to the corruption which we have forsaken. I do maintain that this separated Church had reason, and were not obliged to return. It were not obliged to return for Salvation for having carried Christianity with it, yea having purged it, it would be sure that a man might be saved in its Communion. It will not be obliged for Edification, for 'tis not for Edification, that being in a pure Church we should join ourselves to another Church which we believe impure, and is really so. I go farther, and maintain, That such a separate Church were obliged not to return to its corrupt stock. For when God hath separated us from corruption, although this corruption be not extreme, we are obliged to keep far from it. 'Tis true that Preservation of Peace is worth much; but 'tis a good thing which must not be purchased at the price of Truth. Schism which is making, and in action makes a great noise, and gives great scandal: for which reason I have said, that when the corruption of a Church is in some sort tolerable, it were better to suffer it than to make a violent Separation: but the continuation of a Separation is not of the same scandal; Custom reconciles us to every thing: and the scandal of such a continuation is not so great that we should sacrifice important Truths for the sake thereof.  
Let us at present apply these Reflections to the Subject that we are debating, and do the Church of Rome that favour, to suppose, for one moment, as true that which is very false, viz. that her corruption is in some sort tolerable; that she hath Errors, but doth not ruin Fundamentals; that she is Superstitious, but not Idolatrous. Let us suppose also, that for this reason our Fathers did not do ill in continuing for some time in the Roman Church, and exercising Patience therein. But let us consider at the same time, that things did not take this course there; that the Providence of God did otherwise dispose thereof. Our Fathers did their duty in demanding a Reformation: they were obliged thereunto, although the corruption were in that degree where we suppose it, i. e. tolerable. But whilst the one demanded Reformation with Zeal, and the other refused it with Passion, a Separation is made. There came anathemas from Rome, and Thunders from the Temporal Powers, with Fires and Gibbets, etc. which took from us the liberty of remaining there. It signifies nothing who had right or wrong in the manner of Separation: however it were, behold it done. Now I maintain, my Brethren, the thing being done, neither Edification, Conscience, Honour, nor your Salvation, can suffer you to re-enter into the Roman Church, although you should suppose that her corruption is not extreme, but in some sort tolerable. First of all, your Edification will not permit it. You suppose that the Worship of Images, the Invocation of Saints, the Adoration of the Eucharist, etc. are at least great Superstitions; how doth the Edification of the Church permit you to partake in all these things? The Edification of the Church obliges you to do all that you can to purge it from these Superstitions; and your returning to a Union with the Roman Church, is a proper means to confirm all Men in them. Conscience will not permit it neither; for being convinced that they are Superstitions, although you believe them in some sort tolerable, you ought to have no more part in them. 'Tis a kind of Sin against the Holy Ghost to sin against Conscience, and the Illuminations which God gives to you; and that which would be a small fault in a state of Ignorance and Error, becomes a great crime, when 'tis committed against knowledge: so although the Invocation of Saints were but a little fault in an ignorant and a prejudiced Papist, it is certain, that in you 'tis a heinous crime, because you know the evil thereof. Don't say that you do not invocate Saints, for you do invocate them in the public Service, wherein you do partake, and that is enough. I add, that neither will Honour permit this reunion with the Roman Church, even on supposition that her corruption is not extreme; for 'tis a shameful cowardice, and unworthy of an honest man, to betray his own Sentiments, and to give to a Church which he believes impure, that homage which is due only to a Church that is clean and undefiled. To conclude, I say, that your Salvation will not permit you to put a period to your Separation from the Roman Church, even supposing that her corruption is in some sort tolerable: for that corruption which might not destroy your Soul when you were there, having been educated, brought up, and instructed therein from your Infancy, becomes mortal when you receive it, not having been born, brought up, nor instructed therein. The difference is clear, and the reason thereof is evident. It is certain that there is a Superstition, ungrateful to God, which he tolerates in an ignorant Person, but he will not suffer nor endure it in a Man of Knowledge and Understanding; for a Person which practices a considerable Superstition against his Conscience, makes appear therein an Abyss of Perverseness, contempt of God, his Laws, and Truth, and such a love of the World, and the interests of the Flesh, which put him absolutely out of the state of Salvation. Behold already something advanced, to deliver you from those vain horrors which they would thrust upon you for your Separation, under the name of Schism; for, 

1. Although the Schism or Separation had been rash, you would have no reason to be afraid of your Salvation.  
2. Although the corruption of the Roman Church had been in some sort tolerable, and although there had been something of Precipitation in the Separation, nevertheless you would have no Obligation to return to the Roman Church, but you would be obliged to the contrary.    
And here we shall find an occasion to answer to the Fallacy which the new Converts (as they call them) put upon themselves, and which we have mentioned in our Tenth Pastoral Letter, and which is one of the most effectual means by which they lay themselves to sleep in that unhappy state where they are. There is in it a Question of Right, and another of Fact. The matter of Fact is to know whether indeed the Roman Church be corrupted to that degree that we report it. The Question of Right is, Whether supposing the Roman Church very corrupt, we may separate ourselves from it, and persevere in that Separation to this day. We will first handle the Question of Right, because 'tis thereby that they enchant you, and thereby that the most part of you do quiet and calm yourselves, 'tis thereby, say I, that they do enchant you; for your Converters following the Principles of the Author of the Legitimate Prejudices against the Calvinists, and Mr. Ferrand's Treatise concerning the Church, tell you, 
* Book of Prejudices. p. 147, 148, etc.  That although the Church of Rome were Idolatrous and Heretical, the Calvinists had no right to separate themselves from it, and to set up other Churches, and another Ministry. 'Tis also thereby that those which would be at rest in the Roman Church do lull themselves asleep: for this Proposition, that though the Roman Church were Heretical and Idolatrous you ought not to separate from it, in the Writings of your Converters Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Ferrand, is nothing but a false Supposition, to make you see the more clearly the necessity of Adherence to the Church of Rome, and the horror of Schism. And if they found themselves pressed too hard on this spot of ground, they might be able always to retrench themselves behind, and say, Now it is not true that the Church of Rome is Heretical and Idolatrous. But at this day one part of these new Converts, from a false Supposition draw a very solid Conclusion. They receive the Supposition as true, That the Church of Rome is very corrupt; and maintain this Thesis, That nevertheless they ought not to separate from it; and that Men may or aught to return to it. We have heard the Reasonings of one of these Men in our Tenth Letter; we must hear it once more; for he says all that these Men think. Speaking of the Questions which perplex the New Converts, First, says he, on the positive Separation which our Fathers made, we say, that we ought to suffer many things rather than separate from the Unity of the Church; that the Abuses introduced by the Governors thereof may not be imputed to the Faithful; that all Scripture which makes mention of Heresies doth not command Separation for the sake of them; on the contrary, it commands us to bear them. It says, that we may build upon the Foundation, which is Christ, Wood, Hay, and Stubble; that Jesus Christ only will make Separation the one from the other; that the good Grain and the Chaff will be separated at the last day; but that they must grow together till then. After he adds some Reflections on a Conjecture of the Author of the Accomplishment of Prophecies, which 'tis not necessary to report here, because they will have their place elsewhere. And he concludes this Points with these Words, And although the Pope should be Antichrist, that would not infallibly hinder Christians from being saved in the Roman Church. The Letter contains another Article on the Question, Whether the Roman Church be Idolatrous in worshipping the Eucharist, or Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This also shall have its place elsewhere. Afterwards he adds, At last they conclude two things; the first, That all the Fundamental Truths of Christianity being confessed by the Roman Church, we are obliged to continue united with it, without making a positive Separation, which is against all the duties of Charity, and which instead of bringing back those which err, produces nothing but an eternal Distance and Animosity. In the second place, they do maintain, That we do not necessarily partake in the Errors of a Communion in which we are; the common Confession of Faith ought to be esteemed as an agreement to live under the same Ministry: but we are not therefore responsible for all the Abuses which may be or can be introduced into the Ministry. Provided we adore the same God, and profess the same Fundamentals of Christianity, the rest cannot be imputed to single Persons, above all, when there is a necessity of joining ourselves to this first Christian Society, and we cannot find any public Worship more pure and more edifying. The Examples of our Fathers before the Reformation prove clearly, That we may secure our Salvation in the Roman Communion even in adhering to the public Worship. Whatever Men say, it is inconceivable that Men born and brought up in a Religion, who never heard speak of any other Doctrine, and who lived and died without protesting against the Opinion of their Church, should not partake in the Worship thereof. Behold an exact account of all the Illusions which these new reunited Persons put upon themselves, and an account which does honour enough to the Spirit and Wit of him that made it. Would to God he would take as exact an account of his own Heart. Our Sheet being full, you shall have no Answer to these Juggles till the following Letters.  
March 15. 1687.    

The FIFTEENTH PASTORAL LETTER. AN Article of Antiquity. The Birth of the religious Worship of Creatures in the Fourth and Fifth Ages. The proofs of the Novelty of this Worship. An Article. An Answer to the Reasons of the new Converts on the Subject of Schism and Separation.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
SInce we entered into the Fourth Age, we found there three great Innovations, Monnachism, General Councils, and the Hierarchy. The fourth important Change, which altered the form of the Church happening in the Fourth and Fifth Ages, is the Worship of Creatures, the Adoration of Relics, and the Invocations of Saints. If there be any thing certain in the World, it is, that this Worship was wholly unknown in the preceding Ages; and no man can give attention to those few Proofs that heretofore we have made thereof, without being convinced of it: 'tis certain that we have seen the Occasions, and if I may so say, the Blossoms thereof, in that excessive respect which they had for the Persons of their Confessors, in the regards which they had for their Intercessions, and in the care that they took to collect their Bones, and to bury their Bodies honourably: and this is it which gave occasion to the Pagans of accusing the Christians for worshipping their Martyrs; as we have seen that the Jews of Smyrna did accuse the Christians thereof on the occasion of the Body of Polycarpus, which they hindered from being given unto them. This is that which caused the Pagans, under the Persecution of Dioclesian, to dig up the Bodies of those two Martyrs Dorotheus and Gorgonius, and throw them into the Sea, For fear, saith Eusebius, 
* Lib. 8. Hist. Eccl. cap. 6.  that if they continued in their Tombs they should be adored and taken for Gods, according to the Opinion they had concerning us. We have seen how the Christians of Smyrna, and Eusebius who transcribes their Epistle, did refute this calumny. Moreover, Eusebius saith in this last Passage, According to the Opinion that they have concerning us. This makes it appear, that the Opinion was false. They had therefore in the beginning of the Fourth Age a very great respect for the Tombs of Martyrs; but 'twas a thing unheard of, to open them, take out their Bones, and put them in Chests and Boxes, to the end that they might be scattered over all the World; yea long before in the fourth Age, St. Anthony being about to die, declared that it was his Will that his Body should be buried, and not kept upon a Bed, after the manner of the Egyptians Because, says he, 'tis an affront, and a Violation of the Laws, not to bury the Bodies of the Dead, how holy soever they might be. These were the last Words of dying Truth; for afterwards Men began to search all Places, and to disinterr the Bodies of Saints. The deceit of Priests, the Innocence of the People, and the malice of the Devil, advanced this unhappy Superstition. Persons ran about in the search of Relics, nor would they build any Temple or Church without them; they feigned Visions and devious Dreams, which revealed unto them where the Bodies of Saints were laid, and they took the pretended Bodies of Apostles and Martyrs from their Tombs, three hundred and four hundred Years after their Death. As it was impossible that this foolish Superstition should not soon degenerate into Idolatry, so it did not fail to come to pass: for these Relics drawn from their Tombs wrought Miracles, these Miracles were ascribed to the Saints whose Relics they were: Men could not fail of invoking those Saints, which they believed did work Miracles in favour of those who did venerate and honour their Relics. We see no sensible marks of the Invocation of Saints, till after the year of our Lord 360, and the most ancient Authors that speak thereof are St. Ambrose and St. Basil; not that we are not persuaded, that the People (the Authors of this Superstition) did not practise it a long time before, as in the time of St. Austin, we observe the Worship of Images to have taken its birth by the Superstition of some ignorant People; notwithstanding the generality of the People and Pastors did not suffer themselves to be carried away to this unhappy Idolatry, till a long time after. In like manner, it may not be doubted, but that from the beginning of the Fourth Age, there were some ignorant Persons among the People, who ran into excess in the respect which they gave to the Ashes of the Martyrs. But the practice did not become universal till the Fifth Age, and the Doctors and Teachers began not to be born down thereby, till about the end of the Fourth. And yet there was but little of it, for in all the former part of the Fourth Age, we see very few Monuments or Footsteps thereof in the Authors of those times; but in the Fifth Age this Torrent ran with a prodigious swiftness, in such a manner, that in less than Fifty Years this Superstition became as it were the reigning Religion of the People. Behold then a matter of Fact, which we dispute not with the Papists, 'tis, that about the end of the Fourth Age, some Examples of the Invocation of Saints are seen, and a great many more in the Fifth; so that it is to no purpose that they quote to us Passages from S. Austin, S. Basil, Chrysostom, and Theodoret, to prove the Invocation of Saints in that Age; for 'tis a Point we do not dispute with them. But we do maintain these Two things, 

1. That the Worship of Saints took its original from that of Relics, and that Men only invoked the Martyrs whose Relics they had.  
2. That this Worship was new in that Age, and that it was unknown in the Ages preceding:   The first Point will serve in what follows for a proof of the second, which is the important Point we have to prove, viz. The novelty of this Worship in the Fourth and Fifth Ages.  
1. We prove the novelty of this Worship by the silence of Christian Authors during the space of three Hundred or four Hundred Years. 'Tis a thing impossible that so many Writers having so much occasion to speak of the Martyrs and Saints, and having said so much concerning them, did never find it convenient to speak one word concerning the Worship and Honour that was to be given them after their death. The lesser Doctors among the Papists, such is that from whom Mr. Pelisson produces a Latin Fragment, treat this negative Argument with Contempt; but no Man of good Sense will treat it so, and no wise Man will ever persuade himself, that for the space of three Hundred and sixty Years Justin Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, Ireneus, Cyprian, Eusebius, Athanasius, Hillary, and so many others, should not speak one word of this religious Worship of Creatures, if it had been then in use. Besides this negative Proof, we make use of all those positive Proofs which we have proved from the Second and Third Age, by which it appears, that the Primitive Christians invoked none but God, and that they did not invoke even Angels. 'Tis that which Origen hath plainly told us, and 'tis that which Ireneus had said before him 
* Iren. lib. 2. cap. 58. : That the Church doth nothing by the Invocation of Angles, nor by any other wicked Curiosity, but by Addressing purely, plainly, and openly her Prayers to the Lord the maker of all things.  
Among these positive Proofs, we have seen some of them which formally tell us, that the Church neither worships, invokes, nor adores Martyrs, such is the Epistle of the Christians of Smyrna about the Martyrdom of Polycarpus. Is it not therefore an amazing boldness in your Converters to mantain to you, that there was no change in the Doctrine and Practice of the Church thereon in the Fourth Age? 'Tis clear that Men did not invoke Saints in the Third Age; it is clear that they began to do it about the end of the Fourth; it is therefore clear, that a Change did happen. But they will say, where is the Author of this Change? Where is the Innovator? This Question is absurd. 'Twas not one single Person that introduced this alteration in Worship, 'twas the superstitious People, the great respect which the People saw Men had for the Tombs of Martyrs carried some Dotards to advance, that the Souls of Martyrs were about their Tombs. And 'tis apparently according to the conjecture of Albespinus that which the Thirty fourth Canon of the Council of Eliberis hath respect unto 
* Albasp. Annot. in Concil. Eliberitan. , That we ought not to light up Torches in the day time in the Coemetaries, lest we disturb the Spirits of the Saints. They imagined that these Spirits fluttering about their Tombs, might suffer inconvenience by the Smoke of Torches and Candles. Is not this a pleasant Imagination? S. Jerome writing against Vigilantius doth also say, That the Souls of Martyrs love their Ashes hover about then, and are always present with them. We know that the Vulgar are naturally inclined to Superstition, and 'tis easy to conceive how the People instructed in such an Opinion should conceive an extraordinary respect for those places, where were the Bodies and Souls of Martyrs: And conceiving that these. Souls which conversed about their Tombs, had also the liberty of flying back to Heaven, when they thought good; it was very easy for ignorant People to fall into a persuasion that it was very good to recommend themselves to their care and intercession: There was therefore no need of an Innovator or a new Preacher, nothing more was needful, but to let the People do as they pleased. Mark this well, all Heresies have been introduced by Doctors, for there is need of Wit and Knowledge to innovate in Opinions; but all Superstitions have been introduced by the People: For nothing more is needful to become superstitious, than Sottishness, Simplicity, and Ignorance; therefore the Authors of Innovation in Doctrine may be observed, for they are ordinarily single Persons; but we cannot observe the first Innovators in matter of Superstition, because they are the People. But it will be said, why did not the Doctors oppose themselves to the Superstition of the People? First, it is not true, that the Doctors did not oppose themselves to Superstitions at their birth. S. Austin, and S. Jerome himself blamed the Superstitions which began to take place in their Age, and which afterwards overcame all Contradiction. But nevertheless 'tis true, that they did not oppose them as they ought to have done, yea, that they suffered themselves to be carried away with them as others did, because that these Superstitions were established by little and little, and that the beginnings which the Doctors did easily suffer (because 'twas but a small matter) gave place to the toleration, of that which was introduced afterwards, which nevertheless was altogether intolerable. To conclude, 'tis of little importance to us, how and why the Doctors suffered themselves to be carried into Errors and popular Superstitions. The matter of Fact is certain, and aught to be indisputable, by the proof that we have made thereof, and by that which we shall make thereof in what follows.  
Our Second Proof of the novelty of this Worship in the Fifth Age is, that then Men did not invoke all the Saints, as 'tis done at this day; yea, they did not invoke those Saints which are most eminent, such were the Apostles, excepting S. Peter and S. Paul, whose Relics were believed to be at Rome, others had not Churches, Temples, Memorials, nor Persons devoted to them. S. Basil the most ancient of all those which speak of the Invocation of Saints, celebrates the Memory only of the Forty Martyrs, that of Julitta, and the Martyr Mamas: In this Homily upon Julitta the Martyr, there is nothing that teaches us they did invoke her: In the Homily upon the Forty Martyrs, he says indeed, that Persons fled to them for refuge, and that the pious Wife prayed there for her Children, that she there desired the return of her absent Husband, and his Health when he was sick: First it appears, that this was the Devotion of Women, who are inclined to Superstition. Secondly, 'tis not very clear, that these Prayers were addressed to Martyrs; for in the beginning, these Prayers are addressed to the God of Martyrs, with respect to the Merits and Sufferings of Martyrs, to whom God would do Honour by Miracles. 'Tis true, that in the Homily on the Martyr Mamas, the Invocation of the Saint appears more express. But observe, that this Julitta, this Mamas, and these Forty Martyrs were obscure Saints, and of little Reputation in comparison of the Apostles, concerning the Invocation of whom, S. Basil speaks not one word. This is a strange thing, and that whereof they know not how to give us a reason. Make the same observation upon the Passages of S. Austin, which they quote unto you for the Invocation of Saints: He there speaks of the Invocation of S. Protais, and of S. Garvais; Good God what Saints are these in comparison of S. Matthew, and S. John. 'Tis true, that this Father speaks of the Invocation of S. Stephen the first Martyr. But however eminent this great Saint was, he was but a Deacon, and we ought not to make him equal with the Apostles. Nevertheless there appears no Invocation of the Apostles in the Writings of S. Austin. I call not this a simple Proof, 'tis a Demonstration of the Novelty of this superstitious Worship. If the Worship and Invocation of Saints were ancient, if they were from the time of the Apostles, why is it we see so few Saints called upon in the Fourth Age? Why did they not call upon S. Peter, S. Paul, and all the Apostles? Is it not clear from thence, that neither the Apostles, nor the Apostolic Church did institute this Worship? Why did they forget all the Saints of the Old Testament, and almost all those of the first and second Ages of the Church? 'tis evident, that it was men's Superstition for Relics which gave birth to this Superstitious Invocation, and that then they invoked only those whose Relics they believed they had, as I shall make appear in what follows.  
Behold a third demonstrative Proof of the Novelty of this religious Invocation of Saints. 'Tis that in the same Age in which they invoked Saints, they formally condemned the Invocation of Angles. Theodoret is assuredly one of those Authors of the fifth Age, where we see the most express Invocation of Saints 
† Lib. 8. De curandis Graec. affect. : nevertheless the same Author condemns the Invocation of Angels in a manner so express, that one knows not what to answer to it. 'Tis in his Commentary on those Words of the second Chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians, Let no man persuade you through humility to the Worship of Angels: Those which were for the Law, says Theodoret, persuaded Men also to the Worship of Angles, saying that the Law was given by Angels; and this Superstition continued a long time in Pisidia and Phrygia, for which reason a Synod assembled at Laodicea, the Metropolis of Phrygia, made a Law to hinder the Invocation of Angels. Behold the most ridiculous and fantastical Conceit that ever was. It is certain by the Scripture, and the consent of all Christians, that Angels are administering Spirits sent forth for those which shall inherit Salvation; they are in our Churches, they assist at our Assemblies, and by consequence hear and understand us; moreover, they give an account to God of their conduct: they know what we do; they hear our Prayers; whereas according to the Opinion of the Doctors of the Fourth and Fifth Ages, it was very uncertain whether the dead Saints did hear the Prayers of the Living, and yet more uncertain whether God gave them any Commission or Charge with respect to us; nevertheless they looked upon it as an impious folly to adore Angels, but were willing it should be accounted a reasonable Worship to invoke a Saint. What a fantastical Imagination is this? And is it not clear that this savours of Superstition in its birth, which hath as yet no Principles, and which guides itself by the practice of the People, and establishes itself upon popular Errors? We have yet some invincible Proofs of the Novelty of this Worship, but we will reserve them for the following Letter.  

An Article of Controversy. An Answer to the Reasons of the New Converts on the Subject of Schism and Separation.  
AT the end of the preceding Letter, we heard the Reasons which the New Converts offer to themselves, to abide peaceably in the Estate where Violence hath placed them. Behold exactly the Disposition of these gentlemen's minds: they find some difficulty to resolve to acknowledge that there is Idolatry in the Church of Rome; or rather, they find it difficult to confess it; for at the bottom, we may believe they are convinced thereof. But this Point being excepted, they do confess that there are all sorts of Corruption in the Roman Church; that the Real Presence, and Transubstantiation, are Errors; that the Sacrifice of the Mass established only upon this Transubstantiation is therefore a false Sacrifice; that Adoration, which is a consequence of the real Presence (as they pretend) is superstitious; that Masses, without Communicants, are contrary to the Institution of Jesus Christ; that the Privation of the Cup is criminal; that Purgatory is a dream; that Service for the Dead, Masses, Penances, and Indulgences, are Superstitions; that the Invocation of Saints, the Worship of Hyperdulia, which is given to the Blessed Virgin, the Service of Images, Veneration for Relics, are loathsome Additions made to Christianity, and that they pollute and dishonour it; that the Latin Tongue, to very ill purpose, hath been preserved in the Public Worship, to rob the People of that Edification which they might find by understanding what was said, that the Government is tyrannical, that the Pope usurps a Power which appertains not to him, and that it may be he is Antichrist, that the Church of Rome is so far from being Infallible, that she hath erred in a Hundred and a Hundred things. Behold, say I, exactly, the Idea which these Gentlemen form of Popery: Nevertheless, they prove by Reasons which we have heard, that they may continue there. Now upon this supposition let us hear them speak, and examine their Opinions one after another.  
'Tis said, That we must suffer, and not separate from the Unity of the Church. My dear Brethren, who seek to deceive yourselves, hear me: What is this Unity of the Church, according to your Principles, from which we must not separate? Do you believe that this Unity of the Church is the Unity of the Roman Church? If it be so, according to you, there is no Church out of the Roman Communion; if there be no Church out of the Roman Communion, there is then none among the Christians of the East which are out of the Communion of the Pope, and the Latin Church. If there be no Church out of the Roman Communion, there is no Salvation out of it; and if no Salvation, it follows that you damn all those Men which are in those Christian Communions, some whereof are far less corrupt than the Roman Church. But that is not all; in the Church where you have lived hitherunto, and where your Fathers died, there hath been no Church; for what reason? Because these Assemblies, according to you, were out of the Unity of the Church. Nevertheless, you do acknowledge, that the Assemblies of your Fathers had a Christianity more pure, without Mass, Images, Invocation of Saints, Purgatory, a barbarous Language in the Worship of God, and other Superstitions, and that the Roman Church hath all these; so that you will put the Church, and Salvation in a Society where Christianity is altogether corrupt, according to you, and you will take it from a Society where, in your own opinion, Christianity is entirely pure. Are not these foolish Errors, and such whereof you will be ashamed, my Brethren, as soon as you shall duly consider them? It comes from this, that you are willing to reconcile the Form of the Communion in which you are entered, with those sentiments of Truth which you have preserved in your Hearts. They inculcate these Maxims to your Ears continually. Unity must not be broken, you must not go our of it. There is but one Church, you ought to keep in it, to separate is to go out of the Unity. These miserable Juggles have some probability, whilst we suppose as the Roman Church doth, that the Church is included in her Communion, that she is Infallible, that out of her there is no Salvation: But this Language becomes a frightful Gibberish in the mouth of Men which are convinced as you are, 

1. That the other Communions of Christians which do not adhere to Rome, are nevertheless as much Christians, or more, than she.  
2. That your Fathers doing ill in separating, nevertheless did well in purging Christianity, and that their Christianity is entirely pure.  
3. That the Communion of our Reformers was not dangerous, and that a Man might be saved therein, yea, much more easily than in that of the Roman Church, because he would not have the trouble of making a Separation in his Mind of true Opinions from false ones.  
4. That the Roman Communion is corrupt.  
5. That in separating from it, a Man separates from the Corruption without separating from the Christianity, seeing that he carries that which is Christian along with him.   Behold, say I, that which you think, and that which the exact account of your Illusions speak, being form by one of yourselves. Now see how this agrees with this Unity, and with separation from that Unity whereof you speak: For if the Church be out of the Communion of Rome, I may go out of that Communion without going out of the Church, and by consequence without separating myself from the Unity; where the Church is, there is the Unity. If the Roman Church be corrupt, as you confess, by separating from that which is corrupt in her, a Man does not separate from the Unity, seeing that Unity is not in Corruption, it is in Christianity. If a Man may be saved out of the Roman Communion, as you do fully believe, not concluding us damned, we are not out of the Unity; for whoever is out of the Unity, is out of a state of Salvation, because Salvation is not found, but in the Church, which is one, and which alone possesses Unity. In the Name of God, my Brethren, learn by this Example not to speak without understanding what you say, to please your Converters, and above all your own Self-Love.  
But let us return and retake the same Opinion. 'Tis said, that we must suffer without separating from the Unity of the Church. I entreat you, my Brethren, how far must this Toleration go? Set me the Bounds unto which my Toleration must proceed, that I may continue in this pretended Unity. Are you of the opinion of M. Nicholas, and of M. Ferrand, That though the Roman Church were Heretical and Idolatrous, yet we ought not to separate from it by a positive Separation; all that we are obliged unto, is not to communicate in its Heresies and Idolatries; I do very well perceive, that the inclinations of your own Hearts would carry you even thither; and indeed, that is needful to set you in full security. For whilst you say, if the Church of Rome be not Idolatrous, although she be very corrupt, we ought nevertheless to continue there; you will never have your Hearts at case and liberty, and you will never be without Fears lest the Invocation of Saints, Worship of Images, and the Eucharist should be Idolatry. The Heart finds it difficult to rest upon an it may be; the Roman Church is not it may be Idolatrous; so that to procure that false Peace which you seek after, you must disenthral yourselves, and say with your Converters, That though the Roman Church were Heretical and Idolatrous, we ought not to separate from it. My Brethren, I knock hard at the door of your Consciences; awake you that sleep, and behold the horror of this Proposition. If it be true, we know not reasonably how to give any bounds to this toleration for the Errors of the Church. If we ought to continue there, though she become Idolatrous and Heretical, we must continue there if she embrace the Heresy of the Manichees, who believed two Gods and two Principles; if she embrace the Error of the Socinians, who destroy the Trinity and Incarnation, who deny both the Resurrection of the Body and Immortality of the Soul. We must continue there though she embrace Mahametism, and adore the Sun and Moon, provided she continue to worship Jesus Christ, and bear the Name of Christian. Are ye able to stand firm against these frightful Consequences? Every Church which is not Infallible, but may err and be corrupt, may ascend to the highest degree of Corruption: For who is it that shall stay it in the midst of its descent from a Precipice, or hinder it from tumbling to the bottom? Tell me, do you believe that a Society which becomes indeed Heretical and Idolatrous, can continue at the same time the true Church, and the true Body of Jesus Christ? Is there any thing more opposite to Christianity than Idolatry? How will you reconcile this? It is true, that God who is rich in means and ways of bringing Men to Salvation, may save some Persons in Idolatrous Communions: This is that which we shall consider, and therein we shall follow the order of your Ratiocinations: But doth it follow from thence, that therefore we must tolerate Idolatry and Heresy, without separating from it? This is that which we shall see hereafter.  
My Brethren, make a third Reflection upon this unhappy Principle; We must suffer the Corruption of the Church, rather than separate from its Unity. And give me leave to tell you, that in the apprehensions wherein you now are, there are the losest Dispositions of mind which can happen to Men of Honour, such as you make profession to be; for you are not of opinion, that the Corruption of the Church extends itself only to Manners and Discipline; you confess that it extends to all things, you do not believe that her Errors and Superstitions are light and small, and how can your Conscience be otherwise than dead and past all feeling, to have Churches full of Images, before which Men offer Prayers, Incense, Supplications, Adorations, and Homages to Creatures, to Saints and Saintesses; to have withdrawn the Cup, made a false Sacrifice, covered a hidden divine Service under a barbarous Language, to amuse the People with Relics, Bones, Indulgences, Stations, Jubilees, etc. How, say I, are you able not to perceive, that this is not an extreme Corruption? But what need have I to solicit your Conscience thereon? Your mouths speak, and yourselves tell us; though the Pope he Antichrist, we may not separate from him: This is that which I call the losest Opinion that can be imagined; to perceive that a Man is in a Communion so corrupt, that it may well be Antichristianity, and to say that we may not separate ourselves from it: Tell me, I pray you, is the state of Corruption in which you find the Roman Church, is it, say I, the natural state of the Church? Is it well in this condition? You will answer me, no: If your Answer be true and sincere, is it not true, that 'tis my Duty to do all that I can to recover the Church from this state of Corruption, because it is a state of Violence, and against Nature? Now how can we recover the Church from this Corruption, but by separating ourselves from it? You will say, we ought to continue in it, and remonstrate against its Corruption. But you know well that this is impossible, you know that they burned our Fathers, because they made remonstrance against it. By continuing and remonstrating against Idolatry and Superstition, should we not be immediately seized by the Inquisition, or by the Bishops and secular Judges, where there are no Inquisitors? Should we not be put in Prison, hanged, and burnt? Therefore it is necessary that we go out, or remain there in silence. Now behold, what kind of looseness is this, to know that we are in a very corrupt Communion, and which is, it may be, Antichristianity, and to keep and continue there without saying any thing! If this state of Corruption be violent to the Church, if it be contrary to the nature of it, certainly the intention of God cannot be to leave her always in it; for the intention of God is, that when things are at a distance from their own natural state, they should return unto it as soon as may be. Now with what means can God serve himself for the Reformation of the Church? Certainly he ought to serve himself of Men; for it is not his ordinary method of proceeding, to send Angels to preach upon earth. Now how can these Men reform the Church, if they do not represent unto her her Corruption, and if they do not break with her in case she do not reform? If separation be not granted, Reformation will never happen: For a Church persuaded that she is pure, and even Infallible, takes no care to renounce those Doctrines and Worships, for which she produces to you a possession of many Ages, and a Title of Infallibility. Tell me a little, I entreat you, my Brethren, what will you do to reform the Roman Church, by continuing in it? If you speak freely, saying, that her Worship, Innovations, and Adorations of Creatures, are true Idolatries, they will send you the Dragoons, and peradventure hang you: If you hold your peace, will your secret Sighs and Groan reform the Church? Will God send from Heaven a secret and immediate Inspiration for Reformation, though no body speak one word of it. And this in the favour of whom? Either the ancient Catholics who are plunged in Superstition, or in favour of many ancient illuminated Papists, and those that are reunited to them, who, both one and the other, are lose Dissemblers which retain the Truth of God in unrighteousness? You ought to understand at present, my Brethren, that we shall never attain the end of reforming the Roman Church, unless we have right to go out of it; because she will never stir for Complaints and Counsels; experience has made it plain enough: And therefore the temper of your Soul ought to be such as this, rather than move ourselves, and trouble our repose, 'tis better that we suffer the Church to perish, and be overwhelmed with Corruption. This, say I, is the most wicked sentiment which can enter into the Mind of an honest Man, and much more of a Christian.  
But let us continue the examination of your Illusions: Abuses introduced by Governors may not be imputed to private Christians, you tell us. This is it which we will refute in that which follows, at present we go on: All the holy Scripture which makes mention of Heresies, doth not command Separation. How dare you say this? Do you not read that Passage so express? Go out of Babylon my People, for fear lest by partaking in its Sins you partake in its Plagues: This Babylon is a false Church, which says of her Church, I am a Queen, and shall see no sorrow: I am the Church which cannot fail. It imports not at present where this Church is; but do you not see, that God commands those that are there to go out of it? Wherefore doth S. Paul say to his Disciples, A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject. How can a Person shun any one, and stand at a distance with him without Separation from him? Doth not S. Paul say to the Corinthians, Put from among you that wicked person; will you restrain these wicked Persons to the vicious, and except the Heretics? See how the same Apostle describes those Heretics that denied the Resurrection? he says 
* 2 Tim. 2. , That as to the faith, they made shipwreck thereof, that their words eat like a gangreen, that they have proceeded even to impiety, and that they are vessels of dishonour. These are therefore wicked Wretches, and by consequence ought to be cast out. Do you not remember, the same Apostle saith to the Galathians, That if any none preach to you any other Doctrine besides that which you have received, let him be to you Anathema. Do you believe that it is allowed you to adhere to those which you ought to have in execration, and to whom you ought to say Anathema?  
The Scripture on the contrary exhorts us to a mutual support of each other. And where is it that you find this? It exhorts you to support the weak, but about what? About the distinction of Meats, about the use of some Ceremonies of little importance. Behold the things about which St. Paul commands that we bear with each other. 
* Rom. 14.  Now as to him which is weak in the Faith receive him to you, but not to doubtful disputations; one believes that he may eat all things, another that is weak eateth herbs. But where do you find that we must tolerate Heresies, which ruin the Worship of the true God, and oppress and sink Christianity under a heap of Superstitions? But I will confound you with your own Weapons. If it be the Spirit of Christianity, and of the true Church, to tolerate Abuses and Corruptions, you are not in the true Church, for that Church will allow no Toleration; she burns and condemns to Death. If we are obliged to suffer her in her Corruptions, at least she is obliged to bear with us in our Complaints and Admonitions. If we ought to hear with her when she speaks false, with much more reason she ought to bear with us when we tell her the Truth. She hath no Charity, she is cruel, erroneous, and raging in her Error. See if you can have Communion with such men.  
The Scripture says that we may build upon the foundation, which is Christ, Wood, Hay, and Stubble. Do you understand, that this Wood, Hay, and Stubble, which we may safely build, are Idolatries, Superstitious Doctrines, Depravations in Morality, monstrous and enormous Opinions, such as are found in the Roman Church? Is that it which you think? But to persuade ourselves into the belief of so great a Paradox, we must have either Authorities of Reasons. For Reasons, have you any which can persuade you, that the Invocation of Saints, by which are given to the Blessed Virgin all the Title, Attributes, Privileges, Powers and Homages which appertain to the Deity: That the Worship of Images, by which we prostrate ourselves before Wood and Stone against an express Prohibition of the Law, by which we adore that which is but Bread: That the setting up a new, real, and true Sacrifice, unknown to Jesus Christ and the Apostles: That the taking the half of one Sacrament, and the addition of five whole ones: That to cover a superstitious Worship, and bury it in a barbarous Language; do you believe, say I, that all this is called Wood, Hay, and Stubble? Doth not sound Sense tell you, that Wood, Hay, and Stubble are light are trifling things, but that they are not filthy and wicked, and by consequence that it doth not represent any thing but light and trifling Doctrines, but such as have nothing in them that is filthy or evil, such as are besides the Word of God, but not against it? There is no Man which does not perceive this; and he must be blinded by Interest not to see a thing so obvious and visible. You have not therefore any reason to put the pernicious Doctrines of Popery amongst Wood, and Hay, and Stubble: nor have you any Authority for it. I do not know any Text of Scripture which may make you suspect, that God is not jealous of seeing you give that Worship to Creatures, which is due only to the Creator. He hates Idolatry, and defines it by giving his Honour to another, As I live, saith the Lord, I will not give my glory to another. Now are not Temples, Sacrifices, Prayers, Vows, Oaths, and Altars, the Honour's due to God? and by consequence, they not of the number of those things of which he says, I will not give my Glory to another? Nevertheless in Popery they are given to the Saints, and above all, to the Blessed Virgin. You may fairly pluck out your eyes, you cannot hinder yourselves from seeing it; and in what follows we shall have an opportunity to prove it.  
Jesus Christ alone, you add, will make Separation of this Wood and this Gold; the good and the fair Grain shall be separated at the last day, but we must let them grew together till then. I fear, my Brethren, that if you go on to blind yourselves, God will abandon you to your darkness. You are strange Commentators on the Gospel Text, you ought first to read the Interpretation which the Lord gives of the Parable, before you give your own: Behold it proceeding out of the Mouth of Jesus Christ, He which sowed the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the World; the good seed are the children of the Kingdom, the Tares are the children of the wicked one. The field is the World, then 'tis not the Church; 'tis therefore in the World that we ought to tolerate Heretics and Idolaters, and not in the Church. But besides know two things, 1. That Parables are good Proofs when we don't abuse them; but 'tis very easy to abuse them, when Piety and Religion doth not guide us. I compare you to your Converters, who at this day press those Words of the Parable of the Marriage Supper so hard, Constrain them to come in. Behold their Text, Let them grow together till the Harvest, and then I will separate them; behold yours. The one and the other is unhappily wrested and turned to another sense, because Men will not enter into the Spirit of the Parable, which is the only thing essential, and to which we must give attention to make a good use of Similitudes. It is therefore necessary, in the second place, that you learn the design and inward meaning of those Words, Let them grow together till the Harvest, etc. 'Tis to show the Patience of God towards the Wicked, and not the Patience that we ought to have towards them. God represents himself as a Master which hath Right to destroy the World, and ruin both good and bad; because that the Wicked are infinitely the greater number in the World than the Good. But he will not do it. He stays to display his greatest Judgements upon the World till the last day, when he will make a Separation of the Good from the Bad: therefore he has no design to teach us, that we must peaceably suffer Heresies and Idolatries to grow together with the Truth: and I can prove it by a hundred Reasons; but I will content myself to show you that these Words, Let them grow together, &c. cannot signify, Let Heresies grow together, suffer them, and live peaceably in a corrupt Church; since the intention of God, on the contrary, is, that with all our Strength we pluck up the Tares out of the Field of the Lord; That he hath appointed us to say Anathema to him who shall preach any other thing to us than what hath been preached in the Gospel; that we should avoid an Heretic, that we should cast the Wicked out from among us; that we should go out from Babylon, and that we should not drink of the Cup of her Enchantments. If the end of the Parable, Let them grow together till the Harvest, were that which you give to it, we should have no right to drive from our Society neither the Vicious, nor the Troublers of the Church, nor any sort of Criminals. A Magistrate might not hang a Murderer, nor burn a Sodomite. It might be always said unto him, Let them grow together till the Harvest. I may add to this, that by the Tares which grew up with the good Grain, we must understand Hypocrites and false Christians. Now 'tis true that we must have this kind of men, and give them up to the judgement of God; for he only perfectly knows them, and hath the only right to punish them. We will answer to the rest of your difficulties in the following Letter.  
The Uniformity of the Persecution is the cause that we have less of History to furnish you withal. 'Tis always and every where the same. Persons are imprisoned, others are sent to the Galleys, Women are shut up in Cloisters, Bodies are drawn on Hurdles, and thrown to the Dunghill: so that it will be always the same thing; there will be nothing but differing Names, which may increase the horror which you have for the Persecution, as you see the rage of your Persecutors increase: for example, in that kind of Executions which are made upon the Bodies of those which will not communicate in their last Sickness. Was there not something singular in the Cruelty which was exercised on the Body of a Woman about 60 years of Age, who died at Soubize the 16th of November in the Year past? This Woman was called La Jarnat, Widow of one named Rame; fell sick about the end of the Month; during her Sickness, the Curate and the Officers of Justice employed Exhortations, Threaten, Kindness, and Terrors, to obtain of her to communicate against her Conscience, i. e. that she would damn herself with all possible care. This poor Woman, fearing God more than Men, resisted all their Temptations, and constantly refused to participate in this false Mystery, which would have deprived her of true Communion with Jesus Christ. After her Death the Justice seized on her Body, and before Sentence was pronounced against her, they plucked out her Eyes, they cut off her Nose, pulled out her Tongue, they cut off her Fingers and Toes, her Lips and Ears, and committed those kind of Indignities on this poor Body which we dare not name. Good God What Spirit is this, what kind of fury? And of what Persons did the Holy Spirit speak, if it be not of these men, when it said, Even the Sea-monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones, but the Daughter of my People is in the hands of cruel and barbarous persons like the Ostriches in the Wilderness. [So some translate the Words.]  
We will place here a matter of Fact, which we had determined to have acquainted you with long since, but could not find a convenient place for it. And eye-witness hath sent us the Relation of the Martyrdom of one called Monsieur Charpentier, of the Village of Rufac in Angoulmois, who died in the midst of Torments about the time that the Edict of Nantes was revoked. We shall pass by the ordinary Violences committed by the Dragoons on the Goods of this poor Man. These mischievous Villains fell on his Person, they lighted up many Candles, and caused him to dance round about them, until he had lost both Sense and Breath. They hindered him from sleeping, which having heated his Blood, put him into a malignant Fever; the Dragoons seeing him in this condition, forsook him, and he was carried from his own House to that of one of his Relations. When he was there the Dragoons of Pinsone came to Rufac; they soon learned the House where the sick Man was; thither they went, and at first contented themselves to keep guard about his Bed, offering him a thousand Outrages, accompanied with Threatening and Blasphemies. At last, seeing this did not shake him, they caused him to drink down twenty great Glasses of Water; and his Daughters drank as many more to excuse their Father. This prevailing nothing as yet, they caused melted Grease to drop down upon his Eyes for a whole Night together. He lost his Sight, and his Eyes never opened more. He lost his Life also, and died in those Torments without the least appearance of Weakness, confessing the Truth courageously to his last Breath.  
April 1. 1687.    

The Sixteenth PASTORAL LETTER. An Article of Antiquity: A Fourth Proof of the Novelty of the Invocation of Saints in the Fifth Age: They did not Invoke the Blessed Virgin: And Article of Controversy: A Continuation of the Answer to the Illusions of the New Converts about Schism.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
IN our preceding Letter, we have confessed to your Converters, that the Invocation of Saints began to be practised about the end of the Fourth Age, and in the Fifth. But we have offered to you three Proofs, that that Worship was New. Behold a Fourth proof, of the Novelty thereof; 'tis, that in the Fourth and Fifth Ages nothing was known concerning the Invocation of the Blessed Virgin. We know what difference Popery puts at this day, between the blessed Virgin, and other Saints. She is vastly preferred before them; her Worship is called Hyperdulia, and the Worship of others simple dulias. For one Prayer addressed to other Saints, there are a hundred to the blessed Virgin: where St. Paul hath one worshipper, she hath a hundred. The Titles which are given to the holy Virgin are a thousand times more pompous and great than those which are given to the greatest Apostles. And there is some reason for it. For surely the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ought to have greater Privileges than his Servants. If then the Invocation of Saints be an Apostolic Tradition, we ought to Invocate the holy Virgin Mother of God in the first place, and as the Head of our He and She Mediators of the second Order. The Second Age ought to have known this Worship, or if any politic reason had hindered the Invocation of Saints from manifesting itself in the Third Age; certainly the Invocation of the Virgin ought to have appeared in the front of the Fourth Age amongst others, like the Sun among the Stars. What folly, what a humour was it then to Invoke St. Mamas, St. Julitta, and forty Soldiers which suffered Martyrdom in the beginning of the Fourth Age, and not to Invoke the Virgin Mother of God.  
As to matter of fact, we do maintain, that the blessed Virgin was not prayed unto, till near 100 Years after the first birth of that Worship. And you may, my Brethren, boldly defy your Converters on that subject. Whilst there were Churches consecrated to St. Stephen, St. Mamas, St. Julitta, to the forty Soldiers, to St. Gervais, St. Protais; and many others which they show unto you, there was not so much as a little Chapel for our Lady. Nothing was then spoken of but Miracles done by the Martyrs: Mothers desired of them the recovery of their Husbands, and of their Children, the blind went to them to recover their sight, and the paralytic to be restored to strength and soundness, they took them for Protectors in their Voyages. And as a mark of the acknowledgement of the miraculous Deliverances they had received from them, they enriched their Churches with precious and invaluable Treasures. This we learn from Theodoret, who writ about the Year 450. And all this while, nothing is said of the Miracles of the Virgin, who nevertheless afterwards wrought many more than all the other he and she Saints together, except only that Zozomen says by the by, that about the time whereof we speak, it was believed at Constantinople, that the Virgin appeared there; and wrought Miracles in the Church of the Resurrection, called Anastasia. But he does not say, that they prayed unto her in that Church. The Martyrs had not only their Churches, but they had also their Feasts in the Third Age, in which mention was made of their grievous sufferings. The Virgin had then no Feasts. At this day she has seven, but the most ancient of them is not above 800 or 900 years old. 'Tis true, that that which at this day is called Candlemas, which the Greeks call Hypapante, is more ancient. But at the beginning it was celebrated in the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not of the Virgin. 'Twas the Presentation of Jesus Christ in the Temple, and not the Purification of the Virgin. It was called Hypapante, which signifies meeting, because of the meeting of Simeon and Anna, the Prophetess who went before the Child, and both concurred to prophesy concerning the Wonders of this newborn Infant. To conclude, that which is found most ancient for the Invocation of the Virgin, is what Nicephorus Calistus saith 
* Lib. 15. c. 28.  concerning it; viz. that Peter Cnapheus, the false Patriarch of Antioch, an intruding Eutychian Heretic did of his own head mention the Mother of God in all his Prayers, and invoke her Divine Name. This was about the Year 470, or 480. Behold a great reputation for the religious Worship of the Virgin to be invented by an Heretic. This unadvised Zeal for the Virgin began upon occasion of the Nestorian Heresy, who affirmed a Humane Person in Christ Jesus, as well as a Divine, and for that reason did not think fit that the Virgin should be called the Mother of God, because she had not been made use of for any thing else, but to conceive in her Womb the Humane Nature and Person of our Saviour. To oppose this, men fell into other excesses, they began to give to the Virgin great and magnificent Titles. But Invocation and Worship of her came not so soon. 'Tis true, 'twas the first original of her adoration. Nestorius' was rash without doubt, and God forbidden that we should ever be of his Opinion, if he did indeed put two persons in Christ Jesus, as well as two Natures. Neither do we deny, that the Holy Virgin may in a good sense be called the Mother of God, seeing she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, who is God. But nevertheless, it was an unhappy rashness in the Doctors of the Fifth Age, to innovate in the terms. The Virgin is not called the Mother of God any where in the New Testament, but only the Mother of Jesus, and we ought to have kept there. This Name, the Mother of God, hath something which sounds ill, and is opposite to the Idea of God, who can have no Mother. Moreover, God did not pour out his blessing upon the false Wisdom of these Doctors. On the contrary he hath permitted, that the most criminal and excessive of all the Idolatries of Antichristianism should take its original from thence. Theodorus Lector tells us of a Temple of the blessed Virgin 
* Lib. 2. ; In which the Patriarch Timothy appointed Prayers for the day of preparation. But this was under the Empire of Anastasius, at the end of the Fifth Age. If they quote to you Authors of the Fourth Age, and those that did precede it for the Invocation of the blessed Virgin, maintain boldly to them, that they are suppositious Pieces, and we are ready to prove it by the Testimonies of our Adversaries themselves.  
Father Crasset hath lately taken a great deal of pains, to find Testimonies in the Ancients for the Invocation of the Virgin before the Sixth Age. But altho' all his Book be a declared war against good sense and honesty, nevertheless there is not any subject in which he hath bid greater defiance to the one and the other than on this. He quotes to us two Epistles of St. Ignatius in the First Age, the one to St. John, the other to the Virgin; two sottish Pieces which are acknowledged supposititious by the learned of the Church of Rome, as well as by those of our own. And yet what is there in those two Epistles? No religious Invocation, but only some excessive Praises, and a Prayer to the Virgin, who was yet living, that she would fortify the New Converts in the Faith. He produces Dionysius the Areopagite, another false Work, and which some Impostor did forge under the Name of this Saint, more than 400 Years after his death. And yet there is no Invocation of the Virgin found there, but only excessive Eulogies and Praises. In the Second Age he quotes under the Name of Justin Martyr, a Book of Questions and Answers to the Orthodox. He must have as little Judgement as this Jesuit, to quote under the Name of Justin Martyr, a Work where the Author speaks of Clemens Alexandrinus, and of Origen, who writ almost of hundred Years after the death of Justin. Moreover, they quote nothing from this Book to which we cannot subscribe, for 'tis an explication of the just Honour, which is due to the Virgin, exactly according to our apprehensions and sentiments. Father Crasset could quote nothing more to his own disadvantage. This Jesuit, who heaps together all the Impertinencies of those which went before him, could not forbear to imitate the falsehood of those who quoted those words of Ireneus; That the Virgin Mary was the Advocate of the Virgin Eve. As if St. Ireneus intended to say, that Mary prays and intercedes at this day in the Heavens for the sins of Eve, the Mother of all men. But these Gentlemen have been advertised a long time since, that the word whereof Ireneus serves himself in the Greek, which is lost, is Paraclete, which signifies rather a Comforter than an Advocate; His meaning is, that Mary becoming Mother to the Saviour of the World, hath comforted Eve concerning the evil which she did by destroying Mankind. And Father Crasset is so injudicious, that in the same place, he quotes from the same Ireneus another passage, which ruins the advantage he would drawn from the first. 'Tis a passage where St. Ireneus says 
* Iren. l. 3. c. 3. , Eve by her disobedience, was the cause that she herself and all mankind have been subject to death. But the Virgin Mary by her obedience, was the cause of her own salvation, and that of all mankind. By her obedience, i. e. by the faith which she gave to the words of the Angel, by which faith the Lord was conceived in her Womb. Behold now this Ancient understands, that Mary was the Comforter and the Advocate of Eve. In the Third Age he quotes a passage of Origen, (Homily the 1st, in Matt.) which says nothing which we don't say every day touching the purity of the Virgin. In the same Age he quotes under the Name of Gregory of Neocesarea, called Thaumaturgus, three Sermons on the Feast of the Annunciation. But this man knows not that the Feast of the Annunciation was unknown in the Third Age in which Gregory of Neocesarea lived; how could he make Sermons on that Feast? And how could there be a Feast in that Age to the memory of the Annunciation, when there was none as yet to the honour of our Lord and Saviour's Birth? St. Chrysostom learns us, that it was in his time, i. e. about the end of the Fourth Age, that men began to celebrate this latter Feast. That which he reports from St. Cyprian and Dionysius of Alexandria, is nothing to purpose. He reports in this Third Age, a passage attributed to Methodius, Bishop of Tyre, who suffered Martyrdom under Dioclesian; but this Sermon belongs not to him, nor to any other contemporary Author. For there are Impertinencies therein which we cannot ascribe to a wise man; as this which he says, that God is debtor to the Virgin, and that God who hath said, Honour thy Father and thy Mother, ought himself to observe the Commandment which he hath given to others. In the Fourth Age he quotes St. Athanasius, St. Ephraim, St. Jerom, St. Chrysostom, and St. Austin, Sermons or Works that are none of theirs: and a man needs but indifferent Learning and little Sincerity to be convinced thereof. But Father Crasset, who has neither the one nor the other, neither Skill nor Science, takes and gives all for good. In the Fifth Age he quotes Cyril of Alexandria, who is surely one of the first which gave occasion to the Religious Worship of the Virgin. For by opposing Nestorius, who would not suffer Mary to be called the Mother of God, he passed unto the other extreme, and advanced as far and as high as he could the praises of the Virgin Mary. Nevertheless this might be reduced to Apostrophes, Figures of Oratory, and great Eulogies; but there is nothing of Invocation therein. No Author of the Fifth Age speaks more expressly nor vehemently of the Invocation of Martyrs, and of the Worship which is given to the Relics than Theodoret. Nevertheless in the passage which Father Crasset quotes from him in his Commentary, on the words of Solomon's Song, My beloved is one, there is nothing that favours the Worship of the Virgin in the least. He applies these words, My Dove, my only one, to the Virgin, and that were the place to speak of the honour, which ought to be given to her, if ever there were any. But all that he says concerning her is, that she is the Mother of God, a pure Virgin, that all Nations call her blessed, that she is the Dove, and the only one which brought Christ Jesus into the World, that in Charity she surpasses the Cherubims and Seraphims. That were the place to have said, that we ought to commend ourselves to her Charity, and invoke her as our Mediatrix. To conclude, let these Gentlemen find us in the Fourth and Fifth Ages, Chapels and Oratories consecrated to the Virgin, as they find them consecrated to the Martyrs, unless it be about the end of the Fifth age. Now this being supposed, I dare say, that a man must have renounced all honour, all modesty, all sincerity, and all judgement, not to confess that here is an indubitable evidence, that Invocation of Saints was a Novelty in the Fourth and Fifth Ages. For these men had been fools not to have invoked the Virgin in those times when they invoked St. Protais, and St. Gervais, if they established Invocation upon the merit, the dignity, and the reputation that these Saints might have with God. I would fain know if those two Giants which suffered Martyrdom under Decius, were in condition to intercede with God with so much efficacy as this Virgin-Mother to the Saviour of the World? This false Worship had its birth from that foolish love which men had for Relics. And as they had no Relics of the blessed Virgin, so they consecrated no Churches or Chapels to her, and in consequence thereof, they did not call upon her. We shall bring you yet in what follows new Proofs of the Novelty of this Worship.  

An Article of Controversy: A Continuation of the Answer to the Illusions of the New Converts.  
LEt us take up again, at present, what follows of the Illusions, which the New Converts make for themselves, who endeavour to lay their Consciences asleep: They conclude two things, 1. That all the fundamental Truths of Christianity, being Confessed by the Church of Rome, they are obliged to remain with her, so you go on. These fundamental Truths which Popery hath preserved, are the Articles of the Three Creeds, that of the Apostles, that of Niece, or Constantinople, and that which is called by the name of St. Athanasius.  
'Tis true that the Church of Rome hath retained these; but to conceive how you cheat yourselves, I entreat you to suppose Christians which receive these three Creeds, and who nevertheless Adore the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and almost all the Idols of Paganism; you will say that these things are inconsistent. But you deceive yourselves: for there is nothing more possible, than that, that a man should believe God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, that Jesus Christ is his eternal Son, and the Creator of the World, that he was Born, that he Died, that he was Crucified, that he will come to Raise and Judge the Living and the Dead; and nevertheless, that he should believe that we may Adore the Earth, the Trees, the Sun and Moon, because God does animate and fill them. The 'Greed says not, that we must Worship none but God, yea, it says not that we must Worship him. So that a Religion may receive the Creed in good earnest, in the sense of the Universal Church, and adore every thing but God: Why may not men be capable of Adoring the Stars, because God fills them, since they Adore Bread under a supposition that Jesus Christ is there, after a manner invisible, precisely as God is in the Stars and Elements? It is therefore, a particular Providence, that Christians, who Adore the Eucharist, are not fallen so far as to Adore the Sun, Moon, and Stars; for I do maintain, that the Papists may be carried to Adore a Stone, as naturally as they are carried to Adore the Bread in the Eucharist, on supposition that Jesus Christ is included under it. Suppose you, that they were come so far, would you yet say, Since all the fundamental Truths are Confessed by this Communion, which Adore the Sun and Moon, yea, Stones, we are obliged to continue with it? Learn you therefore, that we may retain the fundamental Truths of Christianity, and build thereon Dung, Poison, and all sorts of Impurities: The spirit of Man is capable of reconciling those things that are moult irreconcilable.  
Behold another thing, whereof you ought to be advertised, that you ought to distinguish fundamental Truths from fundamental Errors: You imagine, that to retain all the fundamental Truths, and to have no fundamental Errors, is the same thing; and because we do confess the Roman Church retains all the fundamental Truths, you think, that we confess to you, that she has no fundamental Errors. In this you are much mistaken: a person may retain the fundamental Truths of Christianity, and add thereunto fundamental Errors. I gave you an Example in men who might believe the Creed in good earnest, in the sense of the Church, and which might add (under a hundred false pretences of Devotion) Pagan Idolatries. I do maintain, that a man may adopt into the Religion of Christians, almost all the Abominations of the Bonzes of Japan, and the Brachmns of India, without any formal Renunciation of the Doctrine of the Christian Faith. I demand, if whilst men retain the fundamental Truths, they do not add fundamental Errors by espousing these Pagan Worship? 'Tis exactly that which the Church of Rome has done: upon the Foundations of Christianity, she hath built a thousand Superstitions, which are purely Pagan: Popery is Paganism renewed, and built upon Christianity; 'tis an Idol Temple raised upon the Temple of Jesus Christ. A fundamental Error is therefore an Error or Practice which in itself is inconsistent with the Foundation.  
I say, in itself, and by itself; for men find ways of reconciling all things, Impiety and Religion, Piety and Superstition: But we may not conclude, That all that which men do join together, is in itself reconcileable, and compatible. The Roman Church hath a hundred Errors and Practices of this sort: her Worship of Saints, Images, Relics, and of the Sacrament, is not by any means reconcileable with the Worship of the true God, and with true Faith in Christ Jesus.  
There is yet a third Advice which I have to give you, on this subject, 'tis that to be able to say as you do, That the Church of Rome confesses all fundamental Truths: 'Tis necessary not only that she hold the fundamental Truths of the Christian Religion, but also those of Natural Religion. 'Tis a Fundamental of Natural Religion, that we ought to Worship God; the Church of Rome retains this Fundamental. 'Tis another Fundamental of Natural Religion, that there is but one God, and that we must Worship none but him; Popery has ruined and rejected this Fundamental, for it Adores a many other things beside God: So that to speak properly, we cannot say, that the Church of Rome retains all Fundamentals. We might yet observe other Fundamentals, which slew receives not. Don't flatter yourselves therefore, my Brethren, any more by this wicked Illusion, The Roman Church confesses all fundamental Truths, therefore we may continue there in safety: For that reasoning is no better than this, This Wine retains all the substance, the strength, the taste, and the spirits of Wine, therefore we may drink of it, with safety, though it be mingled with Poison. Idolatry, Errors, and Superstition take away from the Doctrines of Christianity, all that which is saving in them.  
We are obliged to continue in Union with the Roman Church, rather than make a positive Separation, which is contrary to all the Duties of Charity, and which, instead of bringing back those which Err, produces nothing but an eternal Distance and Animosity. This is that which your Apologist says, concerning which you ought to know, That Christian Truths are Friends, and do not desire that we should sacrifice one for the other: We must not sacrifice Faith and Truth for Charity. 'Tis a false Charity which makes those that are reunited to the Church, speak thus; 'tis indeed self-love, and the love of ease: If they could find means to cast off the Popish Superstitions, which are uneasy to them, from Religion, without prejudice to their own Advantages, it is sure that they would do it, without having any regard to Charity, and without concerning themselves about the scandal of Separation, and the trouble of their Countrymen. For which reason, while the King permitted every one to live peaceably, without offering Violence to his Conscience, Separation did not appear scandalous unto them. I entreat you, my Brethren, to know, and examine yourselves thereon; do not suffer the Devil and Self-love to illude you, and disguise himself into Charity, and an Angel of Light. Charity demands Toleration; I confess it, but it hath its bounds: For it is not expedient that you imagine, that we ought to suffer all things under pretence of Charity. Popery is Anti-christianity; you can't doubt it, without blinding yourselves; Popery hath fundamental Errors; to conclude, Popery hath spoiled the Efficacy of those fundamental Truths which it hath preserved, and by consequence is in no condition to require or expect Toleration. Instead of bringing back those that Err, Schism produces, nothing but an eternal Distance and Animosity, say you: Do you think that this lead Complaisance, which you are willing to have for those that Err, is capable of reducing them? Will you not confirm them in their Errors, by living with them, communicating with them, and by partaking in their false Mysteries? But let us hear what you have farther to say to us.  
In the second place, you say, we do maintain, That persons do not necessarily partake in the Errors of a Communion in which they are: This is that you told us in the beginning of this Writing. Abuses introduced by Governors, cannot be imputed to the Faithful. You add, The common Confession of Faith ought to be esteemed as an Agreement to live together under the same Ministry; but we are not therefore, accountable for all the Abuses which may be, or can be introduced into this Mnistery. My Brethren, this second thing which you tell yourselves, and one another, is no better than the former: Where have you found that Abuses introduced by Governors, may not be imputed to the Faithful? Do you not very well know, That there are no Abuses in the Church, which have not been introduced either by the Malice, or by the Ignorance of Governors? They are the Doctors and Teachers which frame Heresies: Were not those private persons seduced by Arrianism, culpable, because that Heresy was introduced by the Bishops? Are you obliged to follow your Governors without examination. Have you not a reasonable Mind as well as we? And ought you not to make a good use of it? And if you fail therein, do you think that God will fail to take an account of you for it? If we mull give no account of the Abuses introduced by Governors, when the People of Israel suffered themselves to be seduced by a false Pastor, to commit Idolatry, were they not therefore culpable? Nevertheless, you see how God, on such occasions, thunders against both People and Governors, When the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch, saith our Lord. He did very ill to speak so, according to your Principles; there was no body but the first blind man, that lead the way, who ought to fall into the Ditch. Jesus Christ said to the Jewish Doctors, You compass sea and land, to make a Proselyte; and when you have gained him, you make him twofold more the child of hell, than yourself. And why so? why doth this poor Proselyte become a-Child of Hell, since he follows his Governors, yea, Governors which had a lawful Call, and were Pastors of the Church? If Truth be the only way to Heaven, it concerns you much how you go out of it, be it of your own inclination, or by the instigation of another, you will always fill short of Heaven: Whether you go to Hell, or whether another leads you thither, what difference will it make, will you not be certainly there? Discharge yourselves therefore, of this pernicious Chimaera, That you are not at all accountable for Abuses introduced by your Guides.  
But you say, Me do not partake, necessarily, in the Errors of a Communion where we are. How do you understand that, whilst you subscribe these Errors, and practise these Idolatries? There are Errors of Speculation, and Errors of Practice; the means of not partaking in Errors of Speculation, is openly to disavow them, without Scruple or Hesitation: The means of not partaking in Errors of Practice, which are Superstitions and Idolatries, is, to abstain from them, give no consent to them, not assist at them, but condemn and call them by their own names: If you can continue in the Roman Church, doing thus, I consent unto it; say, without Scruple and Hesitation, That the corporal and real Presence is a Dream, Transubstantiation a Monster, Purgatory a Fable, Humane Merits and Satisfactions Doctrines of Pride, the Mass a Profanation of Mysteries, the Worship of Bread, the Service of Saints, and the Adoration of Images Idolatries: be never present at the Mass, never Adore the Bread, never be found at those Vespers and Martin's where they call upon Creatures; retract the Subscriptions you have given to Lies, and after that, stay, if you can, in the Communion of Rome. But you call it no participation in the Errors of the Roman Communion, to subscribe them, as you have done without believing them; to assist, or be present at Mass, accounting it a vain pomp of Ceremonies; to prostrate yourselves before the Eucharist, believing, nevertheless, that 'tis but Bread; to communicate under One Kind, retaining an Opinion, in your Heart, that they do you wrong, to take away the Cup; to assist at Vespers and Matins, at Processions where they bear Images and Relicques in pomp, and where they give Religious Worship to Creatures, in the mean while believing these are Superstitions, whereof it were well to discharge Religion: Behold, say I, that which you call not to partake in the Errors of a Communion where we are; and this is that, which I call, (and all those that are wise, with me) to partake in them after the lewdest manner in the World, and that which, is most criminal, and capable of ruining you. Be assured, that these poor Biggots, which are perpetually kissing their Images, and who know no other God, but their Patron Saint, are in a better estate than you; for they partake honestly in Errors and Superstitions, but you partake in them against your Conscience.  
TO satisfy the Promise that we have made, to acquaint you with some Circumstances of the present Persecution, we will tell you, what we certainly know concerning it: At this day the great Theatre, on which the Persecutors execute their greatest Rage, is Languedoc, where nothing is heard spoken of, but Punishments, Imprisonments, Bodies drawn to the Dunghill, Persons condemned to the Galleys, others appointed for America, and embarked to be sent thither: The particulars there will be very curious, and make a considerable part of the History of this Persecution. The fear, which the Prelates assembled in the Country of Nismes, and the Dragoons (a People at this day of the same Order) have put the minds of men into, has forced the most part of the Inhabitants of Nismes and Cevennes, to consent to all that they have demanded of them: but by such a Consent, as gives horror and amazement to those that have done it, and to all that hear thereof: For these speak and unhappy People have proceeded so far, as to make Subscriptions, in which they beseech the King, to Chastise them with the severest Rods, if they fail to perform all the Duty of good Catholics. We may judge how sincere they were therein, by all that hath been seen since that time: They did not cease to assemble on the Feastivals of Christmas last, in great numbers in the Neighbourhood of Nismes, and their hearts not being able to Ratify the Promises, which their mouths and hands had made, they have acquitted themselves of those Duties of good Catholics, less than ever; so that the Rage of' their Persecutors is grown to its height. The Intendant Mr. de Baville, caused five or six of those which were imprisoned for being found at their last Assembly, to be hanged, and sent to the Galleys: He caused these six to draw Lots, that he might hang but two of them. The happy and glorious Lot fell upon Mr. Barbutt, Merchant, who dressed the. Stuffs of the Country, and upon one named Miblasse; a Youth of the same Profession, neither the one nor the other would redeem their Life, by promising to practise the Popish Ceremonies and Worship. Mr. Barbutt exercised, to the utmost, all the Patience, and all the Art of the Jesuits, which accompanied him to his Death: He spoke the most Edifying things in the World; and did not testify less of Constancy and Greatness of Mind, than the Illustrious Mr. de Rey had lately done, who died at Beaucaire: When they saw they could gain nothing upon these two Martyrs, they caused a Drum to be beaten at the foot of the Gibbet, that no body might hear the edifying Discourses which proceeded out of their mouths. Since this time, they have made two Martyrs at Ledignan; in the same Province of Languedoc: One of them is named Meyrien, and the other Satindse; this lag never changed his Religion, nor made any Subscription. After he had been a long time Prisoner in the Tower of Constance, he escaped thence, but being retaken with his Companion, whom they surprised at an Assembly, they were both Martyred about the beginning of the Month of March, this present Year.  
To overcome the Constancy of those who have resisted Prisons, Galleys, Dungeons, Hunger, Thirst, Vermin, and Rottonness, they have thought of a new kind of Persecution, in the Council of Persecutors, and 'tis to send our Faithful Brethren to Canada: They conduct them in Troops to Marseille, and to Casteldy, where they must be embarked. In one Month's time they have drawn from the Prisons of Mempellier, of Aygues-Mortes, of Nismes, and of all the parts of Cevennes, a number of Prisoners so great, that we know not how to count them, for fear of speaking it too little, or of not being believed, for reporting it too much: This is certain, that the Letters which have been written, more than six Weeks or two Months since, do say, that there are already 400 Prisoners at the least, which have been embarked at Marseille, or are ready for it, to be led into Slavery in those new Countries.  
It is expedient, that you see here some extracts of Letters that came from that Country: One Letter from Arles says, That a great number of Men hath been seen to pass with their legs tied under the bellies of Horses, followed by twelve long Carts, covered over, and filled with Men and Women, tied by the wastes to the Carts: These are persons of Upper Languedoc, which were carried to Marseille, to be sent into America. Among these persons there were some very famous: Amongst others, an Advocate of Nismes, who is famous by a Confession of eighteen Months, which he passed in a dark. Dungeon, nasty and infectious, tired with the Verbal Persecutions of the Bishop of Mirepoix, but was never prevailed upon, to make any Subscription. A more glorious Testimany cannot be given to the Courage, Piety, Constancy, and Zeal of a Confessor, than is with one consent given to this man; Behold him at present going to carry the Torch of his Faith into another World: and I hope that it will kindle other Torches there. There are also Mr. Guirant and Mr. Martin, both of Nismes, which are not less Illustrious for their Perseverance and their Piety, having never made any Defection from the Faith. Mr. Serre, of Montpellier, Mr. Guy, of Bederieux, a Widow named Madam de Bosc, and her Sister, Mademoiselle de Cavaille, with Mr. Martin also of Mompellier, two Sisters of Mr. Anauld, Minister of Vaunert, are also of this number. There are also Gentlemen and Persons of Quality, which we will not name unto you, until we are perfectly assured thereof. Behold, a Letter from one of these honest Men, which will acquaint you with the disposition of Mind in which they are, on the Subject, and in the prospect of this new kind of Punishment.  
Feb. 12 th', 1687. From Aiguemortes, from the Tower of Constace.  
I Have thought (my dear Mother) that before I am removed into another World, as they threaten us, it is my Duty, to inform you of my State, and to acquaint you with the true sentiments of my Soul: Oh how happy are you, and my dear Sisters, whom GOD, by his infinite Mercy, hath preserved so long in your Retirement, and preserved from the Snares that have been so often laid for you, but more especially in that he hath led you in so miraculous a manner out of this sad and unhappy Kingdom, that you may taste his Divine Consolations in Holy Assemblies, with all the liberty that can be desired. Be never forgetful of Benefits so great, if you do desire that GOD should continue his Belssings and Mercies upon you, and yours: Pray continually for the Liberty of Zion; for all our poor Brethren that have unhappily fallen; and for the Prisoners of Jesus Christ. You have begun gloriously, but all that is nothing, if you don't persevere to the end; therefore give up yourselves to Divine Providence, and be assured that God will give you, all that is necessary in this life, and that which is to come, if so be you offer unto him that acceptable Sacrifice of your Goods, your Families, and even of your Lives: Never turn your face back again through Trouble, and regret for what you have forsaken; done't do as the Wife of Lot, lest you partake in the same Punishment. I do acknowledge, that there is need of extraordinary Endeavours, and very great Grace to surmount our Natural Affections; and that Tenderness and Natural Compassion which does so strongly bind us to eath other, but when the Glory of God, and our own Salvation is discoursed, on, we ought not to stagger one moment from following our Duty; for he which loves Fathor or Mother, Husband, Wife or Children more than his Saviour, is not worthy to be called his Disciple: Wherefore, my dear Mother and Sisters, make appear to your last breath, the difference you make between Earth and Heaven, betwixt the perfect love which we have for our Divine Redeemer, and that which we have for the things of the World; and let us assure ourselves of his Protection and Favour, if we persevere to the end. The death of my Father hath extremely edified and comforted me, his Patience and Perseverance hath given a joyful and certain Assurance of his Happiness; that 'tis so far from afflicting me, that I desire to be dissolved, as he is, to be with Christ Jesus, which is much better: I reserve my Tears for the sad and deplorable State of the Church, and for the fatal hard-hartedness of my poor Brethren, for whom I pray unto God night and day, that he would cause them to return from their wander, and show them Mercy and Grace: This is that true Affliction which eats up my Soul, and sadly overwhelms my Spirit; for my own part, I was never more content, and at rest, than I find myself at present: So that after having exactly considered the World, and all its Vanities, I esteem (with St. Paul) that all things duly reckoned, the Sufferings of the present World are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be Revealed. So that, my dear Mother, I am fully resolved to do my Duty, even to my last moment: They have already conducted to Marseille a hundred Prisoners; and the seventeenth of this Month, we, being Seventy in number, departed from Montpellier thither. They have brought from Sommieres twenty four Maids, or Wives, and to morrow they bring forty more from thence: 'tis the general Randevouze. I know not what will be the eevent of all this; nevertheless, all are perfectly resolved for this long Voyage. Monsieur de Cross is always here, who is shortly to be embarked with his own Daughters, and four of Monsieur Audemard's, who never changed their Religion. Whatever be our fate, we shall always be under the Eyes of God, and his Protection: Pray for us, as we do for you; and let all our Friends, and all your Churches redouble their Prayers for those poor unhappy Persons which are carried away, it may be to the Shambles. God be with you, my dear Mother, and dear Sisters; be assured, that I shall be Faithful to my God, to my last breath, in whatsoever place I shall remain.  
This last kind of Punishment has stricken men with more horror than all the preceding; whilst persons remain in their Country, they endure the labours of flight, the uneasiness of sojourning in Woods, Famine, Thirst, Prison and the Galleys, in some hopes of change, and alterations; but to see their Entrails torn from their bosoms, the half of ones self, a Wife, a Husband, Children unmercifully forced into another World, exposed to the rage of the Sea, to the dangers of a long Voyage, and at the end of all, to a cruel Slavery upon barbarous or unknown Shores, where they live without any Communion which those that are their own, without Consolation in the Rigours of a very calamitous Servitude: This is the new kind of Punishment, say I, which puts the Patience of the most Confirmed to a period. But nothing does more discover the temper of the Devil of Persecution: It does not suffice to lay waste the Kingdom after a hundred manners, to put to flight an infinite number of Men, and to make Wildernesses of Countries heretofore well Peopled, they will Depopulate the State, and Transport the best of its Inhabitants into barbarous Countries. Poor Slaves remember, that God is , and that the Gates of Heaven are open in all places: Be you persuaded, that Canada will rejoice to see your Constancy, and that the Voice of your Confession will pass the Seas, and come even to us; but above all, that it will pierce the Heavens, and arrive even at the Throne of God, where you will find favour, and it may be your Enemies will find displeasure, and wrath, for the Voice of your Suffering will solicit Divine Vengeance, and hasten their Punishment: the Lord have pity on them, and convert them; they ought to be the Objects of our Compassion, rather than those of our Wrath. Whilst they empty the Citadels on one side, they fill them on the other. A Letter written ab●●● three Months since, says, That they had conducted from th● Country of Castres' to Montpellier, more than five hundred Prisoners, who, without doubt, must travel into the New Found World, as well as others. How sad soever the lot of these poor People, that are carried into another World, may seem, I reckon it more easy than the state of those who are in the Prisons of the Province of Languedoc, where they treat them as cruelly as they can do the worst of Criminals and Parricides, yea, they insult over them in a more insolent manner. It hath been written within a few Months, That one of the Prisoners of Aigrie-mortes, having had licence to go out of his Dungeon, to take the Air for a few moments, and having delayed to return to it a little longer than a Soldier which stood Centinel, thought he ought to have done, immediately he discharged his Musket at him, and killed him upon the place. 'Tis an action like that which, I think, I may have reported elsewhere, concerning one named Moliere, a gallant man, and a very good Christian, Prisoner in the same Tower of Constance, who was taken thence to assist at the drawing of one of his Brethren to the Dunghill, his heart failing him, he fell down, and a Soldier, that was near him, knocked him on the head, without giving him leisure to return, or recover from his langour and weakness. We have also Letters, that of many Prisoners transported from Nismes to Aiguemortes, three finding themselves very ill, desired that they might be visited by Physicians, to the end it might be certainly known, that they were not in a condition to undertake the Journey. They laughed at them, and on the evening, when they arrived there, they cast them into a hideous Prison, where, not being able to obtain so much as a little Water, to moderate the Fire which devoured them, they fell into Delivation, and died the day after. And this is exactly that which they desire, for they don't tyre them, by these Transportations and hideous Prisons, to any other end, but that they may make them die without noise, but after a manner more sad and lamentable, than a death upon a Gibbet, or the Wheel would be: If they excuse some Women, from the Voyage to Canada, 'tis to put them into the hands of Rapine, the most wicked of all the Hangmen, Converter to the Bishop of Valence: The Punishment to which he exposes those Women, is to whip them night and day, till the blood come; none hath escaped his hands, except one that died in the Dungeon. To the end that the new Converts, whose Conscience is a kind of Hell, may receive no Consolation by any Communication which their Brethren, they have established a new kind of Inquisition upon Letters: They have not only granted Commission to Persons at all Post-houses, to open Letters, but on the sixteenth of February, they made a general Inquisition in all the Houses of the new Catholics, to find not only persons that might be hid there, but also the Letters which discovered the Commerce which they held with those which were gone out of the Kingdom. By this Search, the City was in the state of a place where they were about to make a Massacre; and indeed all the Inhabitants were under the fears thereof, and every one believed himself at the point of Death: for all the quarters of the City, and all the corners of the Streets, were filled with Soldiers and Guards, and men were forbidden upon great Penalties to go out of their Houses: Thus the Persecutors tempt the Weak by fear, and the horrors of Death which they set before their eyes: this Tragedy ended in the Imprisonment of a great number of persons: To conclude, as the Rage of Persecutors never went farther, so the Fear and Terror that hath seized the minds of Men, was never greater.  
All the Attempts of our Enemies would be vain, if we had the Spirit of Martyrdom, and Feared God more than Men. This is that (my Brethren) which you must endeavour to obtain; and to that end, set always before your eyes, the great difference that God proposes and promises to those which shall suffer Martyrdom; we know not how, sufficiently to express them: Consider the glorious Rewards that God promises in the two first Chapters of the Revelations, the Crowns, the Thrones, the hidden Manna, the new Name, the Rule over Nations, the Iron Sceptre to Subdue them, and the White Garments. 'Tis true, that all true Believers will have part in these advantages; but 'tis true, nevertheless, that 'tis of Martyr's only that God speaks there: and 'tis certain, that they shall possess these advantages in a degree of pre-eminence above others. The Peace of GOD be with you all.  
The 15th of April, 1687,    

The Seventeenth PASTORAL LETTER. An Article of Antiquity: Three new Proofs of the Invocation of Saints in the Fifth Age. An Article of Controversy. A Continuation of the Answer to the Illusions which the New Converts put upon themselves on the Subject of Schism.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
THere is not a Point of Practice in the Roman Church, concerning the Antiquity whereof your Converters make so much boast, as that of the Invocation of Saints, which they find in the Fifth Age. For which reasons you ought not to think it strange, that we heap Proof upon Proof, to make it evident to you, that this unhappy Superstition did not descend from the Apostles, nor their Successors, but that it had its birth about the end of the Fourth Age. Behold yet a new Mark of the Novelty of this Worship. 'Tis, that at the beginning men prayed only to the Martyrs, and not to the other Saints. What is the meaning of this? At this day there is no necessity of being a Martyr to obtain a Canonization. There are a hundred and a hundred persons in the Popish Calendar, which were no Martyrs. We must not do that injury to the Church, to believe that she hath had no persons of eminent Sanctity, except such as have suffered Martyrdom. The Principles upon which the Invocation of Saints is established, are, That the Faithful see God; that in him they can know all our needs and wants, and understand and hear our Prayers; and that being near to God, they can intercede for us. Now these Principles ought to establish an Invocation of other Saints, as well as of the Martyrs. There were without doubt, in the four first Ages of the Church, many holy persons, which were not martyred: but they never prayed to any of them, and we desire your Converters to show us any instance thereof.  
'Tis necessary that you know, that they did not Invocate even all the Martyrs, they prayed only to those whose Relics they had in possession. Examine well all the passages which you quote from St. Basil, St. Gregory, St. Austin, St. Jerrome, and Theodoret, and you will find that they all generally express this; that they went to the Shrines and Memories of the Martyrs, (so they called the places where they had put the Relics) that there they performed their Devotions, that they recommended themselves to the intercession of the Martyr, that they expected from him miraculous deliverances. But not one will tell you, that they invocated the Saints in their Closets, or in Churches, where their Relics were not. Now who does not see, that this is an extravagance? If the Invocation of Saints be good, why is it not as good in a Closet, as in a Church? Why not in a Church where there are no Bones nor Ashes of a Martyr, as well as in one where they are? But this practice was founded upon a vulgar opinion, that the Souls of Saints were not found, but near their Tombs, and that they loved their Ashes, as St. Jerome tells us. And behold the reason why, 

1. They did not invocate Angels whilst they did invocate Martyrs, 'twas because the worship of Saints began with that of Relics, and Angels having left no Relics here below, their invocation did not make the same progress.  
2. 'Tis for the same reason that they invocated only Martyrs, and not other Saints, 'twas because they had recollected with care only the bones and ashes of the Martyrs, and for others they suffered them to rest in their Graves, because their flesh had not been honoured by the Cross of Christ.  
3. 'Tis the reason also why they did not invocate all Martyrs, but only those of whom they had Relics.  
4. To conclude, 'Tis for the same reason that they began so lately to invocate the Virgin.   They had no Relics of her, they knew not where her Tomb was; and this was it that gave occasion to the Fable of the Assumption of her Body into Heaven. Her other Relics, her Shifts, her Slippers, her Girdles, her Vails, her Hair, her Milk, all these were not invented and produced till a long time after. This is a point upon which you will do well to press your Converters. Desire of them, that they will show you in the fourth or fifth Age, those Relics of the Virgin which are at this day the object of the Piety of the Devotes. Those believers were very negligent in not searching after the Milk of the Virgin, whereof at this day the World is full. And 'tis wonderful, that among the Relics which gave occasion to invocate the Martyrs in the fourth and fifth Ages, they did not reckon those old Clothes and Rags which have since been put among the precious moveables of the Devotes. There was nothing but Ashes and Bones which did then pass for true Relics, and such as were worthy of veneration.  
Gather together I entreat you, my Brethren, all these things, and make reflection upon them. About the end of the fourth Age men began to invocate Saints. But 

1. They did not invocate all Saints, no not the Apostles themselves.  
2. They prayed only to the Martyrs, nor did they invocate all the Martyrs themselves, and those which they did invocate, they did not invocate in all places, but only where their Relics were.  
3. They did not invocate Angels, who are much more worthy of honour and invocation than the Saints.  
4. They did not invocate the Virgin, who is above all Saints and Angels.   Is it not plain, that this was an unformed Worship, a Worship in its birth, a Worship which as yet had no Principles to establish it upon, and which had for all its foundation, a popular superstition for the ashes of those who had suffered Martyrdom?  
Last of all, to convince you, that, indeed, this Superstition was as yet a Religion in its birth, without Form, and without Principles, give attention to this which follows: 'tis that this Devotion was without form in its Doctrine, as well as in its Worship. All Religious Worship is founded in some Doctrine. The Worship of Saints is established upon the opinion, that they know our Needs, hear our Prayers, and see the Face of God, with whom they can intercede. Now in the fourth and fifth Ages, all men were in doubt concerning these things. They knew not whether the Saints did hear the Prayers of Men, yea, or no. Gregory Nazianzen, in his Funeral Oration for his Sister Gorgonia, speaks to her, but knew not whether she heard him: If thou hast any regard, says he to her, to the Honours that we give thee, if holy Souls receive from God the gift of knowing things, kindly accept our Discourse. St. Ambrose, in the Book concerning the Death of his Brother Satyrus, says, that God had withdrawn him from the World, to the end that he might not see the miseries of the age, and speaking to him, says, Considering the compassion which your holy Soul had for those which belonged unto you, if now you know that Italy is oppressed by an enemy, so near unto it, how will you sigh, how much grief will you feel by reason of it?  
It seems to me, that this supposes, that the dead know not what is done below. St. Jerome, who speaks often of the dead, speaks always of them as not knowing what the living suffer. He says concerning Nepotian, that he saw not what was done here, and that we could not speak unto him. He says to Demetrius, to comfort her concerning the death of her Father, that he is happy in that he did not see the desolation of his Country. We see that 'tis Nature that speaks; and St. Jerome in these passages deserves much more to be believed, than when he tells us, that the Souls of Saints move about their Tombs.  
'Tis a thing very observable, that St. Austin was very unquiet and uncertain in this matter, whereby we discover also the uncertainty of the Divines of his age. This is seen chief in the Book which he writ concerning Care for the Dead. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, had consulted him about the Devotion of a Woman, who wished that her Son had been buried near the Tomb of St. Felix the Martyr, formerly Bishop of Nola. This gave him occasion to handle the Question, how the Dead knew our Necessities. He durst not deny, that the Martyrs did help and assist us, because of so many Miracles that were done, says he, near their Remains. But he doubted very much, whether they heard us, and knew our wants. Afterwards he proceeds beyond doubt, and lays down, and proves plainly and strongly, that they do not hear us 
* Cap. 13. De cura pro mort. . Afterwards he says, that Souls may know not all, but part of that which is done here below, either by the report of Angels, or by that of the Dead, or by some immediate Revelation 
† Cap. 14. .  
But at last it may be seen apparently, that he inclines to believe, that Souls have no knowledge of our Prayers, and that they are Angels which do Miracles in the name of Saints; yea, that altho' the Souls of Saints are said to appear, 'tis not they which return, 'tis the Angels which appear, and speak for them. Behold, I pray you, how unformed and floating this Theology is.  
But there is more than this, in these same ages, when they prayed to Martyrs at one time, they prayed for them at another. They prayed, say I; for the Martyrs, and for the Apostles, yea, for the blessed Virgin; and this is a new Proof of the Novelty of this Superstition. This appears by the Liturgies of that time: In that of St. Chrysostom we read, We offer to thee this reasonable Service, for those which rest in the Faith of our Ancestors, our Fathers, the Patriarches, the Prophets, the Apostles, the Preachers, the Evangelists, the Martyrs, the Confessors, the Continents, and for all the Spirits which were initiated in the Faith, principally for the most holy immaculate, and blessed above all Women, our Lady Mary, Mother of God, and always a Virgin. And in that which is attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem: O God, have mercy on our Fathers, on our Brethren, which are at rest, whose Souls are acceptable unto thee, give them repose; and remember also all the holy Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Evangelists, and all the Spirits of the Just, which are dead in the Faith, and principally the holy and the glorious Mary, Mother of God, always a Virgin.  
It would be at this day the greatest of all absurdities to pray for a dead man, and pray to him at the same time. Indeed if he be in a condition of doing us good, if he see God, if he be with him, he hath no need of our Prayers. The inconsistency of these two Worships, which nevertheless were both used at the same time, is a demonstrative proof, that the Invocations of Saints was a Novelty. Prayers for the Martyrs were found in the ancient Liturgies; out of respect to Antiquity they were left there, but the torrent of Novelty added unto them Prayers unto the Martyrs, without taking notice, that these latter were inconsistent with the former. To conclude, I do maintain, that those who will not give attention to these Demonstrations, which prove the Novelty of the Invocation of Saints in the 4th Age have an insensible and seared Conscience, and so I think it unprofitable to dispute any more against them.  
I well understand, that the New Converts, who are willing to be content with their change, will yet find two Fortifications for their security. They will say, that this Worship of Saints was then new, but that it was not evil, and that therefore the Church might introduce it, as a pious Custom, and proper to incline the minds of men towards Devotion. But let these Gentlemen have a little patience: Monsieur de Meaux, in that which follows, will give us occasion to make it plain to you, that this Worship, and this Invocation is Paganism renewed, and that it is in nothing better than the Invocation of Angels, and Hero's which the Pagans practised in their Devotions: we will make them see that 'tis a true Idolatry. The other Fortification is the Antiquity of this Worship: However it be, say they, you do confess, that the Invocation of Saints hath more than one thousand two hundred Years on its head. Does this put you to no troubles? Have you no respect for so goodly a piece of Antiquity? and how can you believe that God hath left his Church under Idolatry, for so many Ages? We answer, That we cannot have respect for Antiquity without Truth; and in this we are of the Religion of St. Cyprian. We add, That we are not astonished to see an Idolatry so aged in the Church, because it hath been expressly predicted to us: The Prophet St. John calls Idolatrous Christian's Pagans; and the Spirit saith to him, 
* Revel. 11. cap. 12.  I have given up the outward Court of the Church to the Pagans, that they may tread it under foot for forty two Months: These are the thousand two hundred and sixty Days in which the Woman, i. e. the Church ought to be hidden, as in a Wilderness, for the space of these thousand two hundred and sixty Days. And the two Prophets which prophesied in Sackcloth, i. e. the Truth published by a small number of Witnesses, and those under the Cross ought to continue under the oppression of Idolatry, the same number of Days, i. e. a thousand two hundred and sixty: Now these thousand two hundred and sixty Days, are so many Years, according to the stile of the Prophets, who denominate Years by Days. We shall have, it may be, in what follows, an opportunity to prove it to you. It must be therefore, that Idolatry Rule in the Christian Church one thousand two hundred and sixty Years. It hath done so almost for that space of time; it is therefore near its end. But we ought not to be amazed that it hath continued so long.  

An Article of Controversy: A Continuation of the Answer to the Illusions that the New Converts put upon themselves.  
WE take up again the Continuation of the Controversy, at the place where we left the Illusions of the New Converts: The common Faith, say you, is a kind of Agreement to live under the same Ministry, without being accountable for all the Abuses that have slipped into the Church. By this fine reasoning, we may live in safety among the Turks, we believe, as they do, that there is one GOD, one Paradise, one Hell, and that Jesus Christ is the greatest Prophet which ever came into the World. This common Confession of Faith will be an Agreement to live together safely under the same Ministry: And we will leave to the Turks their profane Abuses, and their absurd and impious Doctrines. Believe me, such an Agreement resembles that of Pilate and Herod, who agreed to despise and put to death Christ Jesus. When the Ministry introduces small Corruptions, this may be granted; but when Corruption goes to the heart of Religion, the Agreement signifies nothing, and lays no obligation; all is deadly, either by itself, or by its neighbourhood or contagion: Provided that we Adore the same God, and Profess the same Fundamentals of Christianity, all the rest is not imputable to private persons: Above all then, when there is a necessity of joining ourselves to this first Christian Society, and when we cannot find any public Worship more pure and edifying.  
This is the Continuation of your Apology: There are two words therein, Provided and above all, which destroy you: Provided that we profess the same Fundamentals. I have made it appear already, that this provided is insufficient. You must add, Provided that fundamental Errors be not added to the Foundations. Now Popery hath added to the Foundations of Christianity, Tyranny, Superstition, and in one word, Antichristianism: So, behold yourselves thrown out of your Fortification, Provided that. The Above all is no better: Above all, when there is a necessity of joining ourselves; There is no necessity of joining ourselves to a Communion which we acknowledge corrupt, and defiled in its most noble Parts. Do you believe, that those Illustrious Confessors, which fill the Prisons and the Galleys, and whom you yourselves admire, do you believe, I say, according to them, there is a necessity of joining yourselves to Popery? They have found ways of dispensing with this necessity: But your necessity of joining yourselves unto it, comes from the love and adherence that you have for your Estates, your Ease, and your Lives. An unhappy Necessity, which has not its original in Charity, but in Covetuousness; in the Name of God take heed of it.  
But, you say, we cannot find any public Worship more pure and more holy. I answer, It is not always necessary to adhere to public Worship, whatever it be: The Martyrs and Confessors of Jesus Christ, served him after a more grateful manner, although their Worship were not only private but hidden, but covered in the darkness of a deep Prison; although you cannot assemble yourselves to pray unto God with your Brethren, you have your Closets, of which you may make Churches, and your Hearts, of which you may make Sanctuaries and Altars. This necessity of Adherence to public Worship, is another Illusion made by your love of the World: 'Tis better, saith one, that hath written to us, to adhere to a corrupt Worship, than to live without Religion: What lewd Morality it this! Those seven thousand men which were so hidden, that Elijah knew nothing of them, had they therefore no Religion, because they did not adhere to the public Worship of Baal, which was intermixed with that of the true God? To refuse to participate in an Idolatrous Worship, is to be truly Religious; to adhere to a Worship which is known to be full of Superstition and Impurities, is to have no Religion at all.  
In conclusion, you come to the example of our Fathers: The example of our Fathers, say you, before the Reformation, proves clearly, that we may secure our Salvation in the Roman Communion, though we adhere even to the public Worship: Whatever men say, 'tis inconceivable that men born and bred up in a Religion, and which never heard any thing said of any other Doctrine, and who lived and died without protesting against the Doctrines of their Church, should never partake in the Worship thereof. Would to God you would stay yourselves on the examples of your Fathers, and Grandfathers, without ascending so high as your Ancestors: When you have done all that you can, you will not save them all; you will find among them, by ascending, a great number which worshipped Devils, and the Idols of the Pagans, you must necessarily leave them to the sad Judgements of God. This example of your Fathers, which were saved in the Church of Rome, is a subject which comes to us often, and from all parts; 'tis the universal Illusion; 'tis the Pillow on which you all lay yourselves to sleep: Many of your Ancient Pastors have endeavoured to dispute this unhappy Illusion; this would be a large Chapter, if we should say all that may be said concerning it, but I do not think it necessary, therefore I will say but two or three important things about it.  
First, The first is, That we do willingly confess, That before the Reformation, there were persons saved in the Roman Communion: About two hundred Years ago, there were no Communions in the World which were not corrupt, at least not considerable Communions or Societies. It must needs be, that God had his Elect there, for he never leaves the World without them: Do not fear lest we should send you to find these Elect among the Waldenses, Abbigenses, Wicklefists, and Hussites; these were Forerunners, and like Mornings which went before the Sun of Reformation: but these Societies did not continue, nor did they make a Figure great enough in the World, to include all the Elect there.  
Secondly, But on the subject of those men which were saved in corrupt Communions, before our Reformation, know first, That we must not (almost at all) seek them among the Adult: Of a thousand Children that are born, there is not the tenth part of them that attain to the Age of Reason; now all Children born in the Popish Communion, are saved, dying before the Age of Reason, because they have part in the advantage of the general Covenant of Christianity, which is preserved in Popery, and they have no part in the Corruptions which have been added thereto; for persons have no part in the Errors which corrupt the Covenant, but when they know, receive or tolerate them: Behold, therefore, nine hundred of a thousand which were saved in the most corrupt times. Now, when God has nine hundred Elect among a thousand men, we cannot say he has left the World without Elect persons, and that Christianity remained unprofitable: there were therefore always a great number of Elect persons in the Roman Communion.  
Thirdly, But after all, it must be known, That among the Adult, the number of those, of whose Salvation we might well presume, in the times preceding our Reformation, is so small, that we may well be amazed to think of it: for Histories do represent the Corruption not only of Worship, but also of Manners so horrible and universal, that a man knows not where to fix his eyes, to find a person that might be saved: The Clergy were overflown with Debauchery; the Monks were Assemblies of profligate Persons and Hypocrites; the Houses of Nuns were filthy Bawdy-houses: The People suffered themselves to be born away by the torrent and examples of their Guides; the devout People scarcely knew the difference between the Creator and the Creature, and their Piety spent itself in Superstitions, which are even a horror to the wiser Doctors of the Roman Church at this day.  
Fourthly, Nevertheless, let us suppose, that among all these, there were some Elect, and some saved, I do maintain, that it was absolutely by Miracle; I say, by Miracle, in the literal sense of the word, and without figure: As a man which lives in a hideous Mire, sunk over head and ears, lives there by a Miracle. For the Roman Communion is damnable; that is a certain point: Men are saved there; 'tis because the Promise of God cannot be in vain, and he cannot be without Children; but the time of Miracles doth not continue always; and we do not find ourselves obliged to explicate unto you the manner of Miracles; for we do not know, by that alone, that these are Miracles. And 'tis to you, my Brethren, a prodigious rashness to re-plung yourselves in a Communion, where your Fathers did not live, but by Miracle, in hopes that naturally you shall live there: 'Tis just as if the Jews, at this day, should run headlong into the Red-sea, in hopes to pass well through it, because their Ancestors did heretofore go through it without danger. God hath ways of withdrawing those that are his, from a Spirit of Lies and Superstition, whilst they live, or at least at their death, which we do not exactly understand. Nevertheless, what your Apologist hath advanced, is very rash, and very criminal; for he supposeth, with Monsieur Nicolas, Monsieur de Meaux, and your other Convertors, That all those that live in the Romans Church, and which were saved there, did partake in all her Superstitions. This is false: and we are persuaded, that an infinite number received Christianity there, without taking part in Antichristianity, or that they repent of it before their death: Because they do not comprehend how this may be done, was it not therefore done? This is to put bounds to the Divine Power: God hath his ways which are known to none but himself.  
Fifthly, But I have almost no need of all this, that I have said in the present Affair; for I declare to you, that although all your Ancestors should be saved in the Roman Church, whilst they partook in her Worships, although all the honest Papists at this day should be saved, nevertheless you would not be in the way of Salvation, in the way in which now you are; and I will convince you thereof, in two words: the first is, That your own Apologist condemns you, Your Father, saith he, were born and bred up in a Religion, and never heard any other Doctrines discoursed on. How dare you compare your state to that? Although he should have mercy for such persons, would he have it for such who have been brought up in the Bosom of Truth, who have not forsaken the Faith, but only the Profession of it, who have subscribed to Errors against their Conscience, who adhere to Worships whereof the strong and the weak do know the Filthiness and Impurities? I have already said unto you, and I do say it over again, To act contrary to Conscience, hath something so aggravating in an evil action, that it makes a moderate Superstition become a kind of Sin against the Holy Ghost. You do well perceive this, when, you go to Mass with such terrible regret and reluctancy: it is your Conscience that accuses and condemns you. The other circumstance, which puts you absolutely out of all condition to compare with your Ancestors, is, That by your weakness, you have ruined the greatest Works of the Grace and Providence of God, which hath appeared since the Establishment of Christianity, that is to say, the Work of Reformation. 'Tis a thing past doubt, that since the death of the Apostles, there hath nothing happened so great as this magnificent Work, whereby God at one shock did overthrow almost half the Antichristian Empire, and very much weakened the other half.  
God is jealous of his Works, and he cannot but look with a Sovereign Indignation upon the lapse of those, who by their fall runied the late glorious Reformation, and who proceeded so far as to blame it, and say as you say to us, We must not Separate, we must tolerate Abuses, we must expect the Separation that Jesus Christ will make at the Day of Judgement. Oh criminal Imagination! We must live in the Dirt and Slime; we must not restore to the Church her primitive Beauty; we must not disengage the Truth from a hideous Mass of Lies, that do oppress it; we must not restore to God that Worship that hath been ravished from him; we must not remove from before his eyes so many Idols of Jealousy; Have you never no holy Compunction for entertaining such thoughts? Do not you perceive that your weakness in suffering yourselves to be led to Mass, will ruin the Reformation, if God don't bring a speedy Remedy thereunto? The Protestants of the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, will have the same Complaisance for their King, that you have for yours. Popery reunited, will confederate against all Protestant States; and then behold them speedily tumbling into Superstition by your Principles, and by your Conduct: So that by following you, we shall soon see the fruit of much Blood, so many Martyrs, and so many glorious Confessions perish and come to nothing. If you give attention to this, you will no more compare yourselves to those poor miserable Ignorants, which went whither they were led, who being placed in a night of deep Superstition, saw not a beam of better Light, which way soever they turned their eyes; on one hand they saw behind them a multitude of Ages corrupt as their own, a Corruption which came by so long a descent to them, that it appeared a natural state; on the other hand, they saw before them an Authority which swallowed them up; a Clergy Magnificent, Powerful, Tyrannical, Numerous, rich, and abounding in Spiritual and Temporal Thunders; all this amazed them in such a manner, that they could not distinguish the state in which they were: We do not think them savable in this state, but we think you far less so in the estate in which you are. God by a blow from Heaven (the most miraculous that ever was seen) hath broken this dismal Charm, he hath thundered, he hath lightened from Heaven, and dispersed this Darkness. See whether you who have been Partakers of this Heavenly Light, be in an estate to flatter yourselves with a Toleration which God might have for your Ancestors; so than if you gain any thing by your reasonings, it will not be for you, but for your Children: for 'tis of them concerning whom we may say, it seems, they were born in that Religion, they were educated therein, 'tis probable God will save them, although they do communicate in a Worship Impure, and full of Superstitions. But, in truth, you gain nothing either for your Children or yourselves. The past time will return no more: the times of Darkness and Ignorance may indeed return, but the times of Toleration and Sufferance will never return again. That which is done, can never be undone. The Light of the Reformation hath cast abroad a very great Lustre, and although at this day men endeavour to stifle it, the memory thereof will never be extinguished, and the Truth which we have set in so great a light, can never be abolished: For which reason, both we and our Posterity, in all following Ages, are obliged to see, follow, and entertain this Light: If we do otherwise, there will be neither Excuse nor Illusion which will be able to save us out of the hands of the Judge of the World.  
IN the preceding Letter, we sent you some News from Languedoc: Behold a Letter that will tell you more, we will give it you without any change or mutation.  
You have heard of the Death of Monsieur de Cross, Monsieur Brousson had bailed him, seeing him sick in the Vessel which was to carry him, with others, into America. He was an Example without Equal. The Bishop of Marseilles, told him, Monsieur, If your Religion be true, I must confess that you are a Saint. Let him die in his Religion, and be buried in a Dormitory of the Turks. He had not the grief to understand the death of his youngest Daughter, who had been carried some little time since from the Castle of Saumiere to Valence, with another of her Sisters, and four Daughters of Monsieur Audemane's, and Mademoiselle de la Farelle: All these persons are a thousand times worse treated, than if they were among Barbarians. At their arrival in the Hospital, he which hath the Government thereof, caused them to be shaved; afterwards he caused them to be stripped of their Shifts, to give them others of Hair, which made Sores and Ulcers on them to their finger's ends. They give them little Food, and a great many Blows: Mademoiselle de la Farelle received a blow with a Cudgel over her Face, which beat out all her foreteeth. They seize on persons every day of the Reformed Religion, on the Borders of Lions and Geneva. Some days since they killed Monsieur Quista, who was conveying his Wife and Child out of the Kingdom. Meeting some Countrymen, and finding himself well horsed, he made opposition to them; but one of them gave him a knock with a Flint, which overturned and killed him. His Wife and Child are now Prisoners. On this Accident the Wife of M. Bonigoll escaped, and is now at Geneva.  
April the 5th, 1687.  
HE which commits these Cruelties, of which this Letter speaks, is the famous Rapine, of whom we have already told you something. The Cruelties which he exercises in the Prisons of Valence, deserve a particular History; which we will give you as soon as we can.  
I hope that Marseilles, which has seen the last hours of the Martyrdom of Mr. Du Cross, will become more famous by the number of Martyrs, than by its Antiquities, and other Singularities. We have been informed that two good old men of Vassi in Champagne, have there received their Crowns. One of them is called Monsieur Chantguyon, of seventy four years of age, of which he employed thirty four in the service of that Church, in quality of an Elder, which great care and fidelity. This good old man was arrested on the Frontiers of Champagne, endeavouring to go out of the Kingdom; he was condemned to the Galleys; he appeals to the Parliament of Mets, whither he was transmitted; his Sentence was confirmed, and there he received that glorious Chain under which he breathed his last: he was so oppressed with Age and Infirmities, that he was so far from being able to bear a Chain, that he was not able to bear himself. His Judges were touched and afflicted with it; but they said, they must make Examples. He went from Mets about the end of September, with his Brother-in-Law Mr. Chemet, who was Sixty nine years of age, and also in Chains, and much more infirm than he, having both a Rupture and an Asthma. They were both full of joy, and gloried that they were found worthy to suffer for the Name and Truth of God. In all the places, through which they passed upon the Road, they found persons which have given Testimony to their Constancy and Courage. These two Martyrs bore their Chain to Marseilles; but the end of their Journey was the end of their Race, and the time of their Coronation. They both died within a few days of each other, giving glory to God, and confessing his Truth, having never had any inclination to deny it, to deliver themselves out of this sad condition. Mr. Chantguyon is of the Blood of the Martyrs; for he had for Grandfather Peter Chantguyon, who was one of those that suffered death in the Massacre of Vassi, which was the Signal to the Civil War of the past Age.  
How sad soever the state of these Confessors, which suffer for the Name of Christ, may seem to be; 'tis nevertheless infinitely less calamitous than that of those who are lapsed and fallen, whose Conscience makes them feel those torments, which cannot easily be expressed. We have thought ourselves obliged to communicate to you on this subject, the Letter of a Person of great Quality, Wife to one of our most famous Confessors. She had imitated the courage of her Illustrious Husband for the space of above a whole year: but the Tempter assailed her at an ill season, and caused her to lose her Crown. Behold how bitter the Tear are, which dropped from this unfortunate Gentlewoman!  
Alas, my dear Mr.—, blame me not, if I have not acquainted you with the unhappy State in which I am; so great is my Confusion, by reason of my Fall, that I have not the boldness to publish it myself. It is impossible to express unto you my Grief; 'tis such, that I am not able to bear up against it; I am oppressed by the weight thereof; I am neither able to live, nor die; no body can conceive how lamentable my State is. I was so content with my Trial, and so resigned to the Will of God, that I could willingly have suffered death, if he had called me thereunto. I was acceptable, and in good reputation among all persons, and enjoyed a wonderful rest, and repose of mind. 'Tis true, it was a little disturbed by the coming of my Son, who tormented me extremely; but all was to no purpose. God bestowed those Mercies on me, that I did not deserve, nor did I make any suitable returns for them. I presumed too much on myself, yet I was not altogether without suspicion. Alas, how do I find true in experience, that the Spirit is ready, but the Flesh is weak; and that it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an offended God How great are my sins, since the castigation of them is so terrible! Whilst I writ, I pour out tears, I do assure you; and they flow from me night and day. I repent, O my God, help my weakness. I forgive you, that upon the first hearing of this thing, you cried out to all against me, and did judge that it was the World, Estate, and Ease, and to conclude, whatsoever you please, that was the cause thereof. I do not justify myself at all, nor do I plead any thing for my excuse. I was weak and feeble, my Faith failed me in a time of need, and God did not enable me to suffer for his Name. In my unhappy state, I have nevertheless this perfect confidence in the mercy of my great God, that he will raise me up, and I shall glorify him, whether it be in life or death, and that my Christ will be always gain to me, whether I live or die. He desires not the death of a sinner, but his conversion and life. My God, draw me, and I will run after thee, and do thou lead me to the Haven of Happiness. Thou seest my heart, O my God, 'tis entirely thine, as well as my mouth: I will confess thee . For the space of four hours I was tormented by fifteen persons; I cried with all my strength, begging the Gallows and Death. I was nigh unto death; and how happy had I been, if I had died. I had not one moment of rest, I knew not where I was, by reason of the great noise that was made: They made use of this great trouble and confusion, and well perceiving that if they suffered me to return to myself, they would gain nothing; therefore they repeated their Assaults with the greater force, and reduced me to the most pittiable condition in the world. I do not hid my anguish from any one; and I speak with greater courage than ever, by the grace of my God I am prepared to suffer all the evil which can betid me in the world. The good God will be my defence, and my support. I entreat you to pray to God for me, and done't think that I am fastened to this World, I am more estranged from the love of it than ever. It seems to me that my House is a Tomb: I will never more see any person; every thing that I see, reproaches me; my own Soul smites me so sharply, that 'tis deplorable. Suffer with me in my grief, I pray you, I am worthy of pity: and oh that the great God would pardon and deliver us quickly from the Torments which we feel.  
From— 15 Jan. 1687.  
THis Letter, which hath made known what Conscience can do, in the matter of Subscriptions, obliges me to bring to your minds a matter of fact which happened lately. In the month past, forty persons embarked themselves on the Borders of Normandy, in a Veslel of seven Tuns, that is, to speak properly, in a Challop, and this without any Provisions for the support of Life: They abandoned themselves to death, and it may be said, to a death apparently inevitable. For in such a Vessel, if the Wind and Sea had been contrary to them, they might have continued there long enough to have died of Famine. But as it pleased God, they were not above four days  they gained the Coast of England, and they passed them without eating. Behold what the force of Conscience can do, and 'tis a good proof, that those who are newly reunited to the Roman Church, are in great distress and perplexity. Amongst these persons there was Monsieur the Count of Marancay, aged about seventy years, of the Province of Normandy; and Madam his Wife, Sister to Monsieur the Marquis of Rochegifar. This new Story brings to my mind another of an elder date, which makes it farther appear what horrible Violence these forced Subscriptions do to the Consciences of men. 'Tis the examples of a Woman named Jane Baille, Wife of a Chirurgeon named Isaiah Viridit, of a little Village in the County of Charollois, named Parayle Moyneau. This poor woman being pressed to the uttermost by her Persecutions, took Pen from the hands of a Jesuit named Father Langeroon, but at the same instant she fell down as one dead, without any other sign of life, than a convulsive motion in her right arm: The Jesuit returned again another time accompanied with the Major, the Delegate of the Intendant, and many other Papists. This poor woman, for fear of losing her Children, took the Pen a second time in her hand to make her Subscription; but in the very moment that she made the letter I, which is the first letter of her name, she fell into the same condition, and continued in it more than six hours. Every body was affected with it; the Major protested that he would have given a great deal of Money not to have been there on that occasion, and it was more than five days  he did recover from the disorder that this Accident did occasion to him. The Delegate himself was also moved at it, and promised to endeavour to get her a Passport. There was no body but the Jesuit, which was not moved at it; who said, Let her burst, she is but an Hypocrite. The Delegate, instead of a Passport for this poor woman, received Order to carry her to a Convent: to execute his Order, he caused her to be seized on by four Sergeants, in whose arms she fell into the same state in which she was in the two preceding times. But nevertheless, they laid her on a Horse, like a Pack without motion, and without life, and carried her to the Convent of the Religious of St. Mary.  
On occasion of these Events thus happening, (which discover the cruel Oppressions and Troubles of Mind in which those are which have signed their Abjurations) I cannot forbear to speak to those that have been so unhappy, and have yet no sense of it, nor sorrow for it. And here I will speak not only to those who are yet in that unhappy state, but also to those who have found opportunity of getting out of the Kingdom, and are risen from their falls. We have seen some that have been touched and affected with it; but in truth the insensibility of the most part, makes me fear: And I tremble for some persons, whose Piety was very eminent, who nevertheless count as nothing the fault which they have committed, in withdrawing themselves through cowardice from the honour whereto God called them, by suffering for his Name. I will make but one Reflection thereupon, to make you perceive how much their heart deceives them. Let us suppose that all the Reformed of France had imitated them, and that all preserving the Truth in their hearts, had abandoned themselves to this unhappy complaisance for their Persecutors, and signed their Abjuration; I say, if all had done so there had not been at this day in France one Confessor, one Martyr, one man that had spoken for God, and maintained his Truth in Prisons, and in the midst of Torments. Now this would have been the most dreadful of all God's Judgements, the greatest mark of Reprobation for the Church, and the most frightful Curse of Heaven. For this would have been a Castigation of God, singular in its kind; for since there was a Church and Persecutors, there was never any such thing seen: there have been always Martyrs, always Confessors, always Believers that have persevered in Prisons, and in the midst of Punishments. 'Tis the Honour of the Church, 'tis her Triumph, 'tis the Glory of God, and the Crown of Men: Yea, in humane Affairs, in Interests purely secular, in causes where men suffer only for Truth and humane Right, there are no Examples where all forsook it, and no body remained steadfast thereto. So that if the Reformed Church of France had remained without Confessors and Martyrs, she would have been charged with an eternal Reproach, which the Blood of all mankind would never have washed off. Now 'tis not owing to these weak persons, who have subscribed to save their Lives, and secure their Ease and Repose, that the Church of France is not branded with this horrible Reproach. For if all had imitated them, that had been exactly our case. I easily forgive this weakness to those whose Zeal and Piety was not eminent; but I do acknowledge, that without difficulty I cannot forgive those, who after they had obtained the Reputation of very Pious and Devout persons, have denied and refused to Jesus Christ the Sacrifice of their Sufferings. Good God? what discouragement is this, to those who persevere in the Confession of the Truth, the most part of whom never appeared so zealous as some of those who are fallen, and flatter themselves because God has given them the opportunity of going out of the Kingdom, and recovering themselves in a Country of Liberty and Freedom. I do not call this Perseverance. I commend the prudence of those which secure themselves, but to account it their honour and reputation, I cannot. They sacrifice their Country, their Wives, their Children, their Goods, and their Ease. I confess it, and 'tis true that is much. But what will not a man give for his life? Every one will give skin for skin, and all that he has, for his life: but put forth thine hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. He who hath not suffered thus far, hath not as yet given sufficient proof of his love for the Truth. What shame and abatement of glory do these weak ones bring to our glorious Confessors, who reckon their lapse and fall, for a thing of naught. According to them, our Martyrs are fools and obstinate persons, who suffer for a trifle, for a signature and subscription which is required of them; which when they have given, they may save themselves by going out of the Kingdom. Alas, if this fault be so small a thing, why do the holy Champions of God suffer so many Evils to avoid it? Is it the Spirit of God which inspires them with this Courage? If it be God that is the cause of this Holy Perseverance, to what Spirit may we attribute this cowardice of refusing to Jesus Christ our Bodies to glorify his Name, and do honour to his Truth? All that these poor Wretches say to us, is this: If you had been in our place, it may be you would have done no better than we have done. This may be true, but is it a lawful Excuse? Is the Crime the less, because we are all capable of committing it?  
I complain therefore, but do not rigorously condemn those who have been so weak as to yield by Persecution, provided they sigh and lament in the secret of their own Souls, acknowledging and confessing their fault and their sin. But I confess, I am not able to bear those, who after they have received much, have returned so little, and who being persons of great understanding, have had so little stability and courage, and cannot yet confess the fault they have committed, is ver● great and heinous.  
The first of May, 1687.    

The Eighteenth PASTORAL LETTER. A. M. D. J. Upon occasion of an Act falsely ascribed to the Synod of Montpazier in Perigort; by which they would prove, that in the year 1659. the Reformed of Lower Guyenne did Treat with the English about their entering into France, and delivering several Places in the Kingdom into their hands.  
Monsieur,  
YOU have thought that the Accusation, which Soulier the Priest hath renewed against the Protestants of France, does deserve, that we interrupt the course of our Pastoral Letters, to give the Public a small Apology concerning it. And indeed seeing we do employ ourselves in refuting errors in matters of Right, for the justification of our holy Religion, we ma●, and aught to confute errors in matters of Fact, for the justification of persons who make profession of this Religion. So that I yield to your Reasons, and at this time shall make an Apology for ourselves against this barbarous and inhuman Accusation. And first I advertise the Public, that they give attention to the business about which we are now to treat, for they will see one of the most famous Impostures, that the eyes of him who seethe all things, ever did behold; they will see what is the Spirit of the Religion which for so long time we have opposed: they will know what our Persecutors are capable of.  
I Know not what cheating Priests, and Apostate Ministers, did forge some years since an Act in the Name of the Synod of Lower Guyenne which was held at Montpazier in the year 1659. on the first of July, and some days following, that they might persuade, that the Reformed of that Province did at that time treat with the English about giving them entrance into the Kingdom, and delivering into their Hands all those places of which they could make themselves Masters. This piece of Forgery appeared at that time, when they laboured with an incredible Heat, to thrust the Reformed of France with all the speed they could to their utmost Ruin. 'Twas all this time, that all the World (to please the Court) thought it a Duty to endeavour by all sorts of Accusations, to render them Odious. All places were full of Books, and Libels against Calvinism, endeavouring to show the Impurities of its Birth, the Horrors of its Life, the Furies of its Conduct, the Civil Wars that it did occasion, the Spirit of Rebellion wherewithal it is animated, the Dangers in which it engaged the Crown, the Precipices, to the very borders whereof, it carried the Realm, its divers attempts against the Persons of our Kings, and the State. All then was well received which promoted the principal end of the Clergy, and Court of France. And 'twas to animate the King to a speedy execution of his Design, that this piece was forged. This Conspiracy of the Synod of Monpazier, which was sufficiently new, was the most proper means in the World to swell, and enlarge the Libels, which were made against the Reformed. Nevertheless no Writer would own, or assert this Villainous Piece, because 'twas visible to be bad Metal; Mr. Maimbourg was not a person scrupulous in the value, and worth of his Testimonies, when he endeavoured to support what he had advanced; and this pretended Conspiracy of Montpazier was a Testimony sufficiently good, it seems to me to prove the Thesis which he had endeavoured to defend in his History of Calvinism, 'tis that the Spirit of Violence, Fury, and Rebellion is the Soul of our Religion. Nevertheless neither he, nor Mr. Arnald in his Apology for the Catholics, nor Mr. Feure who came sine, did ever dare to hazard their Reputation on a Calumny so evident, and an Accusation so ill proved and established. I entreat you judge, whether it be true as they pretend, that the Court had the Act, and the Proof of this Conspiracy in their hands, that the resolution of Montpazier in its Original had been put into the hands of the King, by Mr. Joly Bishop of Again, and by the Cardinal Bovillon, and that the Court had judged the piece true. Consider, say I, whether Mr. Maimbourgh who writ by the Order of the Court, and on purpose to make Calvinism Odious, would have had no knowledge, or cognizance of it? And in case he had known, or understood it, is it not plain, and clear, that he would have made use of it, if he had thought it good, and valuable?  
But at last a Person is found fit to serve as a Godfather to this Reprobate, and Bastard-Child, 'tis Soulier the Priest, a man the most given up to the Spirit of Calumny, that ever was in the World, the most desperate, and frontless Liar that Popery ever bred up, and to make his Elegy in one word, Bipedum nequissimus, the greatest of Knaves. This man publishes in the year 1682. a furious Libel against the Reformed, under the Title of, The History of the Edicts of Pacification, in which amongst other Proofs of our lewd, and Criminal Conduct prosecuted, and carried on to the end, he makes use of this Act, drawn up says he, by the Synod of Montpazier, in the form, and words, in which it is here seen.  
The Pastors and Elders of the Churches of Lower Guyenne, Assembled in the Synod at Montpazier the first of July 1659., and some days following.  
UPON the report made by Mr. Ricottier, 
The first was the Minister of Clairac, the other of Nerac.  of the Care that he hath taken with Mr. Vignier now absent at the desire of some of the Society, to obtain that our Brethren of England should concern themselves in the preservation of our Liberties, which they endeavour every day to destroy, wherein they think he hath laboured happily by the interposition, and assistance of Mr. Daret. And having learned from the Mouth of Mr. Daret, and seen by Letters which have been written to him, and whereof he had given a Copy to the said Mr. Ricottier that to maintain us in our Privileges, and prevent the dissipation of our Flocks, they offer not only to interceded for us, but also in case of refusal to bear Arms into this Province, if we promise them, 
Cromwell was yet alive.  and give them assurance to put into their hands all the Cities, and places whereof we can dispose. The Society approving the Care of the said Messieurs Ricottier, and Vignier, after having all promised by Oath made to God not to reveal a Secret of this importance, return Thanks to the said Mr. Daret for what he had already done to make it successful, and do entreat him to go assoon as he can, and know what assurances they desire, and promise on our part that we shall give all those that are possible, and as a Pledge thereof, they have drawn up the present Act which shall be dispatched to him to this end, and purpose, and the Original put into the hands of the said Vignier, to be secretly, and faithfully kept there, until the business can be executed to the Glory of God, and the Comfort of our poor Afflicted Flocks, etc.  
The Original is Signed by the Precedent, the Assistants and the Register of the Synod.  
This Imposture caused all those that saw it to tremble, and the Reformed stirred all that they could to justify themselves from this Calumny; but this was no time to succeed in an Enterprise of Justification, for Persons whom they had resolved to destroy after the most cruel manner in the World, and whom by consequence they would look upon as Criminals. Nevertheless the Synod of the Province of Guyenn● did what they could, and took the Resolution expressed in the Act of the last Synod held in the Province, and I think she last Synod that was held in France. Behold the Act faithfully printed according to the Copy, Signed by the Secretary himself.  

An Extract from the Legier Book of the Acts of the Synod of the Reformed Churches of Lower Guyenne, held in the City of the upper Thonneins, by the Permission of the King, the ninth of December, and some days following, in the year 1683.  
ARTICLE the Sixth.  
THE Deputies of the Church of Bordeaux having represented to the Society, that in a Book made by Mr. Soulier the Priest, printed at Paris, 1682, Entitled; A History of the Edicts of Pacification; the said Soulier in the 393 page of that Book, and in that which follows, it hath reported an Act, which he pretends to be made by the Synod of Monpazier, to give thanks to Mr. Ricottier, and Vignier, both Ministers for the Care they had taken to engage the English in the Interests of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom, with these two Circumstances noted in the Margin of that Book, the one that the said Mr. Ricottier was Minister of Clairac, the other that Cromwell was yet alive then, and at the time of the said Act, adding that the Original thereof had been put into the hands of the said Vignier, and taken in his Closet after his Death by Mr. Monier Minister of Nerac, that this Act was put into the hands of Monsieur the late Bishop of Again, and whereas this Act is a suppositious piece, and injurious to the Honour of the Synod, and to the Memory of the said Ricottier, who was then Minister of the Church of Bordeaux, they account themselves particularly concerned to make the Calumny of this Act appear, and also their inviolable Fidelity to the Service of the King; therefore they represented the said Book, and likewise the said Legier Book of the Synod held at Montpazier, the first of July 1659., desiring the Commissioners to view the said Book in the page marked, and quoted, and likewise the Legier Book of the Synod of Montpazier; but the Gentlemen, the Commissaries said, it was no part of their Commission to examine Books, or Papers of preceding Synods, that it appertained to the Society to look to their justification, where, and as they should think good, that for their parts they pretended not to take any cognizance thereof. Whereupon the Society after they had reflected upon the Importance, and meaning of the said Act, and having examined it together with the Legier Book of the Synod held at Montpazier, the first of July, 1659., it appeared by comparing these two pieces, that the aforesaid Act printed in the Book of Soulier is not in the said Papers of the Synod; and moreover that the falseness of this pretended Act is clearly proved by two Circumstances in matter of Fact, one whereof is that by the Table of the said Legier Book of the Synod of Montpazier, it appears that the late Mr. Ricottier was not Minister of the Church of Clairac; the other Circumstance is this, that 'tis certain that Oliver Cromwell died the thirteenth of September, 1658, and so it was impossible that the Churches of this Province could have any Correspondence with him in the year 1659. After which the Society resolved that humble Remonstrances should be made to his Majesty, to assure him of the inviolable Fidelity that the said Churches had preserved, and should always preserve for his Service, and to desire that he would be pleased to appoint that the said Soulier should be Condemned to make them such satisfaction. as he should judge fit, with prohibition both to him, and all others, that for the time to come they injure them no more by Calumnies of that nature.  

The present Extract is taken from the Papers of the Act of the Synod held at the City of the Upper Thonniens, the ninth of September, and some days following in the Year 1683, by me Francis Senilh, heretofore Minister of Lavardac, in Guyenne, and chosen to Collect the Acts of the said Synod, who have the said Papers in my possession.  
Given at Amsterdam the five and twentieth of April, 1687. F. Senilh, Secretary of the said Synod.  
The Priest Soulier hath made his Reflections upon this Motion and Act of the Synod of Thonniens, after his manner; we will examine them by and by. The Court of France being under no disposition to hear the Justifications, which they could produce on this subject, they were obliged to justify themselves to the Public. And because France was no place, nor had been for a long time, in which it was permitted to defend the cause of God, and the Innocent, they were forced to Print what they had to say thereon in a strange Country. The Author of a Book entitled, The Spirit of Monsieur Arnold, inserts in his Work, the Arguments by which this pretended Act might be proved false: and he finds no less than Nine which he calls invincible, and which indeed are so, and will always be so, in the opinion of every equal and disinterested Judge. At the said time he there makes a little History of the divers Gradations, by which the Priest Soulier hath passed to become an Author, since he was either a Tailor or a Shoemaker, at Paris, to show what credit ought to be given to the Reports of such a man, who owes his Advancement to his Missionary Spirit, i. e. to a Spirit of Violence, Passion, and Falsehood against the Reformed. For behold exactly the Spirit of Mercers, Shoemakers, and Cutlers who have left their Trades and Shops to ascend the Bench, and to run about France with the Memoirs of Veron. The Priest Soulier, who had been very well recompensed for his History of the Edicts of Pacisication, by a Pension which the Clergy had assigned unto him, being alured by the Bait, judged it convenient, to make a great Book exactly on the same subject, upon which he had made a little one. 'Tis no longer the History of the Edicts of Pacification, 'tis at this day, The History of Calvinism, containing its Birth, its Progress, its Decay and End in France. But done't mistake yourselves, 'tis the same thing, the first was in little, this is in great; 'tis, nevertheless, the same Countenance, the same Picture, as well as the same Author, and the whole Dedicated to the King, that is to say, Monsieur Soulier is willing to raise himself Successor to Monsieur Maimburgh. He had put his Calumnies against the Reformation of France, into an Abridgement in his first Work, this got him only a moderate Pension; his knowledge and his parts are very mean and limited; to turn to some other subject, and make a new Book against the Calvinists, to gain a new Pension; this was not very easy, therefore he judged it more convenient to make again the same Book under a new form, much larger than the former, hoping that this would procure for him a much more ample Reward: Nor was he mistaken, for as a Recompense of this last Work, they have procured for him an Abbacy in Xaintonge; so that from hence forth 'twill be no longer Soulier the Priest; 'tis Monsieur the Abbot: and I hope for his next work it will be, My Lord the Bishop. And then we shall see the Proverb exactly turned, it will not be from a Bishop to a Miller, but from a Miller to a Bishop.  
In the Preface of this new Book, which we expect, and which must promote Monsieur Soulier to a Bishopric; he will say no more as he hath in the Preface of this, I content myself to answer these passionate Writers, that my Conscience doth not reproach me, about any of these matters of Fact, and that I have so little laboured for temporal Considerations, that I assure myself the Minister Jurien, how able soeven he seems in his Searches and Inquiries, will not find my name in the distribution of Rewards, nor of that of Benefices. The Ministers without being very able in Searches and Inquiries, will then easily find the name of Monsieur Soulier among the Distributions of Rewards and Benefices, and they hope that this lucky Historian will suddenly have a new degree of Honour, when he shall have put the History of Calvinism under a third form. In expectation of this new Dignity, and without regarding what he has at present, we shall not take notice of this honest man, under any other appellation but that of Soulier the Priest, as hath been customary unto him. So than Monsieur Soulier the Priest hath thought good to give Calvinism a hundred Blows after its Death, and to covet it with Infamy by a great Book of seven hundred Pages, in Quarto: He must be an Enemy to his own Repose, and search out business out of briskness of Humour, that will trouble himself to Answer the Accusations and Falsities wherewith this great Volume is filled: for excepting a few matters of Fact, there is nothing in it but what Monsieur Arnold and Monsieur Maimburgh, and others have said, to which it is believed that the Calvinist of Holland, as Monsieur Soulier calls them, have answered very well, and very much at large. But we cannot, nor ought not to neglect this business of the Conspiracy of Montpazier, because 'tis a new thing, and because Soulier, in pursuit of a Commission granted him by the King, hath made a furious expense of Wit to defend the Truth of what he had affirmed: As he hath repeated in his History of Calvinism, all which was in his History of Edicts, but dressed up after a more magnificent and ample manner, he hath likewise repeated the Conspiracy of Montpazier, with all the circumstances and reasons which may support the truth of it. We have seen the first Act without Form, and without Subscriptions; we must see it, such as it is, at present, in this new History, corrected and augmented by the Author: corrected in the name Daret, which is changed into Durel; augmented by four Subscriptions which are here below. But after all, maimed of three Marginal Annotatiods, which do a great deal of Honour to the Piece, and him that produced it. Behold it therefore according to its new Edition.   

The Pastors and Elders of the Churches of Lower Guyenne, Assembled in a Synod at Montpazier, the first of July, 1659., and some days following.  

The Conspiracy of the Synod of Montpazier.  ON the Report made by Monsieur Ricottier, of the care that the took with Monsieur Vignier, now absent, at the desire of some of the Society, to obtain, that some of our Brethren of England should concern themselves in the Preservation of our Liberties, which they endeavour every day to destroy: wherein they think he hath laboured happily, by the interposition and assistance of Monsieur Durel. And having learned from the Mouth of the said Durel, and seen by Letters, which were written to him, and whereof he had given a Copy to the said Monsieur Ricottier, that to maintain us in our Privileges, and prevent the Dissipation of our Flocks, they offer not only to Intercede for us, but also in case of Refusal, to bear Arms into this Province, if we promise them, and give them assurance to put into their hands all the Cities and places whereof we can dispose. The Society approving the care of the said Messieurs Ricottier and Vignier, After having all promised by Oath, made to GOD, not to reveal a Secret of this importance, return Thanks, to the said Monsieur Durel, for what be had already done, to make it successful, and do entreat him to go a soon as he can, and know what Assurances they desire, and promise on our part, that we shall give all those that are possible; and as a Pledge thereof, they have drawn up the present Act, which shall be dispatched to him to this end and purpose, and the Original put into the hands of the said Vignier, to be secretly and faithfully kept there, until the business can be executed to the Glory of GOD, and the Comfort of our poor afflicted Congregations, etc.  
Signed, 

Ricottier, Moderator.  
E. Durel, Assistant.  
J. Asimont, Chosen to Collect the Acts.  
J. Meysonnet, Secretary.     
There are no attempts imaginable which the Priest Soulier doth not make, to defend this false Piece: But we see that God doth strike these Impostors with a Spirit of Blindness, so that they stumble in places where it were easy for them to be upon their guard. The Work hath appeared in public a long time since, and we were advertised from France, that this part thereof was envenomed, lewd, and worthy that we should make the Injury and Reproach thereof fall upon its Author. But the Calvinists of Holland, of whom Monsieur Soulier speaks with so much contempt, have so little esteem for his Works, that they did not put themselves to the trouble of obtaining this. And the Printers of Holland, who print all things at are saleable, did not think that the Sale of the History of Calvinism would pay the charge of the Press. The reason therefore why we Answer to it so late is, because we could not recover any Copy thereof, at last we resolved to obtain it by an Express, otherwise it had never passed our Frontiers. We have therefore seen and read it, and have judged that the Conspiracy of Montpazier, did indeed deserve that we should reply to it. But before we defend our Arguments for the Falsehood thereof, and produce new ones, 'tis necessary once more that you know who the Priest Soulier is, that you may also know of what weight his Authority is: but I choose rather that you know it from the mouth of one of his Brethren, than from ours; for which reason we shall here produce a Letter which Monsieur Le Feure, a Doctor of the Sorbonne, did write to one of his Friends concerning this Gentleman, and this since the History of the Birth, Progress, Decay, and Ruin of Calvinism appeared in the World.  
A Letter of Monsieur Le Ferre, Doctor of the Sorbonne, to Monsieur de M. concerning Monsieur Soulier the Priest.  
I Must confess faithfully, Monsieur, that I have always believed, that a politic Dissimulation of those Resentments, which a man cannot discover without prejudice to his interest, was not the Vice of our Nation, and that it ought to be the horror of men of the Character which we bear; I speak of Resentments which are believed just, and whose end is the Defence of Truth, and not a Chimaera of Reputation, or false worldly Honour: I have been hitherto, and am yet persuaded that 'tis to be an Enemy to Truth, to suffer it to be oppressed then, when there is reason to fear that a man shall draw upon himself the Persecution of those which oppose it; for I have made to myself a Rule of that ancient Maxim of the Fathers of the Church, Let us be Banished so the Truth be Preached. Behold, Monsieur, the only reason why I have had so few Contests with persons of eminent Merit, so that the Priest Soulier had passed in silence, if he had not observed a quite opposite conduct. Judge thereof, Monsieur, by the following History, in the Year 1681, the learned Jesuit, Father Mesnier, being chosen by the Clergy for their Agent-General, and Counsel to the Syndicks of the Diocese of this Kingdom, prosecuting the Destruction of the Temples of those of the Reformed Religion, built contrary to the Edicts, published a Collection about those matters, printed at Paris by Monsieur Leonard, Bookseller to the Clergy: In the time of this Impression, Monsieur Soulier published a little Work, where, by way of Essary, he accuses the Syndecks of Ignorance, as having suffered the Preservation of many Churches which ought to have been destroyed. The Father Mesnier, seeing that this blow would fall directly upon him, thought himself obliged to refute this Dream of Monsieur Soulier: he therefore employs about twenty of the last Pages of his Book, to convince this Monsieur of Ignorance. He concludes them by accusing him of Falsehood, of Calumny, and of being a person that at most knew no more than to Read and Writ, and sending him to the exercise of his first Trade and Employment.  
Monsieur Soulier saw and dissembled the thing from 1681, until the end of this Year 1686, that is to say near six Years. Why did he keep silence so long? and why speaks he now, after he had been so long dumb? Think of it what you please, Monsieur, but behold that which I think most reasonable concerning it: The Father Mesnier was alive, and is now dead. Soulier owed to him what he knew in the matter of Edicts, against those of the Reformed Protestant Religion, which he hath dressed over again to give a taste of them to the World. The Father Mesnier made use of him to be a Servant and a Scribe, and he is not the first, who from the Servant of an Author, is become an Author himself. The Servants of Physicians do every day steal the Secrets of their Masters.  
The Father Mesnier is therefore dead, and Monsieur Soulier hath filled up his place in a very short space of time. The Revocation of the Edict of Nants followed, by the Destruction of the Churches of those of the Reformed Protestant Religion, having rendered his pretended Employment much more unprofitable, than the Work which he reproaches me for sending into the World a little too late; nevertheless, being puffed up with his new Place and Preferment, he was not able to endure any longer to be accused of Ignorance.  
But why does he fall upon me? 'Tis because I being necessarily engaged to take part in the business contested, by Father Mesnier, and him, I put myself on the side of the Master against the Servant, and to save myself the labour of confuting Soulier, I said that it had been done by Father Mesnier. Yea, I had the Charity not to name Soulier, when I said, as a simple Historian, in the 208th Page, of the second Part of my collection, That this Father, knowing what had been his first Employment, counselled him to explain that Greek of Aristophanes, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is expressed by another Proverb, Let not the Shoemaker go beyond his Last. Nevertheless Monsieur Soulier fears not to advance, by the blackest Calumny which can be imagined, in the 678th Page of his Book, That I have exceeded (in that which is most gross) what all the Protestant Writers have published against him. Where is Faith, where, is Conscience! The Father Mesnier (which I have transcribed, in the Chapter concerning Monsieur Soulier) doing him the same favour in a multitude of heads wherein he is accused by this Father; Is he a Protestant? I could sooner have pardoned him, if he had only dissembled that the Father Mesnier is the Author of the Evil which I have done him: Dogs by't the Staff wherewithal we strike them. But that he makes me the Echo of the Protestants, in the contempt which they put upon him, when I played the good Husband in what concerned his Reputation, by treating him less ill, than those of our Religion which know him better than I; this is that which cannot be endured.  
I do nevertheless affirm, Monsieur, that I find myself all at once disarmed, when I think that there is nothing of Merit or Honour to be gotten by such an Adversary. He boasts at this day, that he hath studied the business of Edicts thirty Years, and in his Work of 1681, he confesses (as Father Mesnier reproaches to him) that he had never seen those that Henry the Fourth had granted to the Cities of the League, whereof, nevertheless he was willing to make use against the Syndicks, and the Censors of the Diocese of the Kingdom.  
Who will not despise an Adversary which proves that I have not the least knowledge of the Affairs of those of the Protestant Reform Religion, because I have quoted a National Synod held at Loudun. And to maintain this false Accusation, he says, Page the 681 of his Book, That if I had only read the first leaf of the Ecclesiastical Discipline of those of the Reformed Religion, I should have found in the Table of the National Synods, of those of that Religion, that there war never any held at Loudun. For if there were never any held at Loudun, why did he write in the 63 Page of his New Bernard, this which follows in express terms: The twelfth Article of the National Synod held at Loudun, the 5th of April, 1596, & c? This was pity, but there is more in the case. This Doctor, in point of Tables of Books, this man conversant in the matter of Edicts, for these thirty Years, knows not, that in the Year 1659., there was a National Synod of those of the Reformed Protestant Religion held at Loudun, by the permission of his Majesty: A man is therefore Ignorant, according to this unlearned Author, because he knows that which is, arid is not ignorant of it; or because he doth not fain himself ignorant thereof, as he doth.  
After this, is he to be believed, when he, says, I have transcribed, or copied him? My Work contains 800 Pages, and he accuses me to have Abridged the biggest, and the most considerable of his Books, in the fifteen first. Never was falsehood published with so little colour: I make the Public Judge thereof; and if I have any thing wherewith to reproach myself, it will be that I was not willing to see the faults of his Works, that I might not be obliged to reprove them. I have said for example, in the twelfth Page of my Work, that Peter Mengin was burnt at Meaux, with thirteen of his Companions, by a Decree of the Parliament of Paris; he says, in the ninth Page of his History of Edicts of Pacification, that he was burnt with fourteen of his Companions, which is contrary to the Decree, which takes notice of no more but thirteen, and those mentioned by their Names, and Surnames. I could produce a hundred faults of like nature, but to what good purpose would It be? An Author like him, who fears not to give the Lie to the Clergy of France, and to some of its illustrious Members, bears so visible a Character of Malice, in the opinion of all honest men, that if they would pray for him, it is that the Clergy might double his Pension to put him to sitlence.  
Behold the proof of what I affirm, Authors of the Reformed Protestant Religion, having maintained in their Works, that the Edict of Nantes was granted to their Fathers, as an acknowledgement of the Service they had done for the State, Monsieur Soulier, in his History of Calvinism, says, That it was the strangest Paradox that ever was published it being not true that they had obtained this Edict by their Services. Nevertheless, the General Assembly of France, held at Paris in the Years 1655, and 1656, in a Session where Cardinal Mazarine sat Precedent, did acknowledge, that King Henry the Fourth, coming out of the bosom of Heresy, 
* Page 152, of the Verbal Process of this Assembly.  and being willing to acknowledge the Services which had been done him by those of that Party, granted them the Edict of Nantes. And the late Monsieur de Perefixe, 
† History of Henry the Great, p. 223. of the Paris Edition in 1662.  Archbishop of Paris, speaks of him in these words: Henry the Fourth, with all his Prudence, had scarce enough to govern himself in such manner, that the Catholics, and the Pope might be content with his Conduct, and that the Huguenots might have no cause of Fear, or Division; his Duty and Conscience inclined him to the assistance of the former, but Reason of State, and the great Obligations he had to the latter, would not permit him to make them desperate. Therefore to keep a necessary temperament, he granted them an Edict larger than those which went before, which is called the Edict of Nantes.  
After this, Monsieur, will you not think me dispensed withal, for answering more at large to the Dreams and Dotages of Monsieur Soulier.  
'Twas six Years since that Father Mesnier reproached to him, That he understood not Latin, and that he had scarce wit enough to Writ and Read: He ought at least to have applied himself thereto sine that time, but he hath neglected to do it, and labours himself to revive the old French Proverb, 'Tis a brave thing for a Priest to know how to Read and Write. Behold some proofs thereof: He writes in Page the 632, of his last Book, Je plaidè ces affairs; it ought to have been written, Je plaidai: at the 678, I' y âjoutè, j'en donnè, instead of saying, I' y ajoutai, j'en donnai; the same place he hath written Plagieres instead of Plagiaires; you will find a hundred of this kind.  
But behold enough to justify me against so feeble an Enemy. Let him write till Doomsday about these matters, I shall not lose my time to recover him from his Wander, because the Public never loves Repetitions; and besides, when a person hath once written things, like a man of Honour and Conscience, he must leave God to do the rest, and aught to be assured, that time will always acknowledge and confess true Merit. 'Tis a long time since it was said concerning the Books of Homer, That they would become more valuable every day: Posteritate suum crescere sentit opus. I am very much mistaken, if the contrary be not verified concerning the Works of Soulier. But to what purpose is it to offer violence to Nature; he was never born to make choice Works: Nevertheless he is willing that men should range him amongst illustrious Persons. He may pretend to it with as much reason as he has to maintain what he had advanced in his History of Edicts, that Cromwell dying in the Month of September, 1658, was yet alive in the Month of July 1659., becaucause his Son, which Posterity will never know. under the name of Cromwell, lived then; I consent, that Posterity acknowledge Soulier for an Author, when it shall acknowledge Cromwell the Son, under the simple name of Cromwell.  
From Paris the 7th of September, 1686.  
It seems to me, that these two Authors, Father Mesnier the Jesuit, and Monsieur le Ferre, are worthy of credit in the present Affair: We have therefore affirmed nothing against Soulier the Priest, which is not certain: he is of base Extraction, he came from the Dunghill; he understands neither Greek nor Latin; he was a Mechanic; he stole some Learning from Father Mesnier, and of a Servant is become a Master. We have reported this after others, without any intent of making an Accusation or Crime thereof: On the contrary, it would be much to his Reputation and Praise, if he had advanced himself by honest ways and methods: If could be said, he was nothing, but has made himself something by his Industry, and by the Learning he hath obtained; he ought to he commended instead of being blamed for it. But we conclude quite otherwise from thence, 'tis that taking his Original from the Dunghill, and receiving a mean Education, he retains the inclinations thereof, and is become eminent by surpassing his Masters in Cheats, in Iniquities, Falsehoods, and Lies, etc. On this last point we call his Master, Mesnier, Witness against him, who instructed him in the Profession of bidding Defiance to Honesty, and Conscience, in favour of the Catholic Church.  
He concludes, says Monsieur le Ferre, by accusing him of Falsehood, and Calumny, and as being a person who at most knew no more than to write and read, and by sending him to the exercise of his first Trade and Employment. Monsieur le Ferre is not content to prove the Falsehood of the Priest Soulier, by the Authority of Father Mesnier, he makes it evident by Instances, and Examples which he gives thereof, which doth demonstrate, that this man is capable of denying the most notorious matters of Fact, as is this, that the Edict of Nantes was granted by Henry the Fourth, to our Fathers, as an Acknowledgement of the Services which he had received from them. Such is that which he affirms , that we have always been the Aggressors in all the Civil Wars; such is that which he says, That upon all occasions, by secret Practices, or open Rebellions, we have conspired the Ruin of the Monarchy, and the Regal Authority: To conclude, such is that which he maintains, That the Massacre of St. Bartholomew was not a contrived business, but the Resolution was taken upon the spot, and that it was rather an event of Chance, or Hazard, than an effect of Deliberation. A man may find a hundred passages in this History, much more loud and heinous than these, which make it appear how much this man is consecrated to Lying, and devoted to the Prince of Darkness: Therefore nothing hath been affirmed in the History given of his Life, but what is true, and those two small circumstances, concerning the Falsehood whereof, he makes such Out-cries, viz. his Residence in the Street Geures, and his Curacie in one of the Lordships of Monsieur de Marillac, are not sufficiently important, to make thereof an Accusation of Falsehood, especially when we had been misinformed therein: Seeing these are the only things to which he hath thought fit to reply, in the Abridgement of his History, 'tis a proof he hath nothing to say, about all the rest which is much more important; but this is enough to make known our Accusor; let us come now to the Accusations.  
We will follow our Author step by step, nevertheless without staying ourselves upon the Impertinencies which he mingles among things, which may seem to be of some weight. After he hath reported the pretended Act of the Conspiracy of Montpazier, he gives the reason why he produced it in his first History without Form, and without Subscriptions.  
As I had no design to do wrong to particular persons, says he, but only to show what was the Spirit of Calvinism, and what it is capable of; I suppressed the names of those who Signed this Confederation, in my History of Edicts. So that 'tis out of Charity, that Soulier the Priest did suppress the Names of those that Signed this Act; This is admirable, good Priest! Who is there that does not admire his Charity? Are not all his Writings full of the Characters of this excellent Virtue? 'Tis out of Charity that he blew the fire to kindle the Persecution, and that he made odious Libels, full of Lies, against persons that never did him any wrong. Observe that the Charity of this good Priest doth not consider, that to spare some single persons, it neglects what it owed to the King: for a man is always obliged to discover Conspirators, without having regard to single persons. He will not fail to answer to this, the King knew the business: for he tells us, that this Act was given to Monsieur the Cardinal of Bovillion, by Monsieur Joly the Bishop of Again, and that Monsieur the Cardinal of Bovillion, gave it to the King. This is very well, but this is the very thing that makes us suspect his Charity. For since the King knew the Names of the Conspirators, a man could not do them wrong, nor expose them more to the Displeasure of the King: his Majesty having not judged it fit to chastise them, they had nothing farther to fear by the publication of their Names. So that till the Priest Soulier hath given us more valuable proofs of his Charity, we will say, that the true reason why he gave us this Act without Subscriptions, was because he very well foresaw that the Subscriptions would discover the Mystery, and the Cheat.  
It may be that his Monsieur Daret, who was not in the World, nor never had been, and of whom he had never heard any thing spoken, did appear to him, a person very improper to fill the place of an Assistant-Moderator, in which he ought to do and say much, and by consequence could not be supplied by a Phantom. Besides Monsieur Asimont, who was the Secretary then living, speaking, and residing in France, would have been able, although he were a Minister, and a persecuted Minister, and had his mouth stopped, to have returned upon him the injury of this Falsehood: for 'tis known that single persons take these sort of matters more warmly, than whole Bodies and Societies of men, because the danger is more urgent and pressing upon them.  
'Tis true, that the Synod of Thonnins, in the Month of December, in the Year 1683, drew up the Act which we have seen above. But the Priest Soulier says thereon, Nevertheless these Gentlemen, who had never taken this Resolution, but the better to hid their Game, stayed there. And some Pages after, Did they proceed any farther in pursuit of this Resolution? That is to say, to carry their Complaints to the King, and prosecute Soulier as a Calumniator: All these threaten, says he, are vanished into smoke, and it was well seen, that all this noise war nothing else but a pure effect of their Policy. This is very wicked in the mouth of a man who knows, as all the World doth, that from the Synod of Thonnins, unto the first Mission of the Dragoons, there passed not above fifteen or sixteen Months, that the ruin of the Reformed was sworn, and determined to a stated time, that for the space of four Years no Paper of Remonstrance, Complaint, Justification, Request, or thing of like nature would be received from them; that the person of the King was inaccessible for them; that all the Tribunals of the Kingdom had in like manner been shut upon them: Soulier tells us, that the Province of Guyenne had Monsieur Janicon for Deputy-General at Paris; but he might very well have known also, seeing he knows so many things, that it was in the Synod of Thonnins, in 1683, that Monsieur Janicon discharged himself of this Office, because he knew that from thenceforth it would be to no advantage, and that they would hear no man who had any thing to say for Justification of the Reformed. 'Tis true that the Synod named Monsieur Charron an Advocate, and another Deputy to go and carry this Complaint to the King; But who then dared to appear at the Court? He must have a desire to see the Bastile, and to understand what Bread men eat there. This Villain knows all this, and insults over poor oppressed persons, because of their silence in a time when it was for them a Crime no less than Treason, to dare to complain of any kind of Injustice whatever it was. The Deputies of the Synod of Lower Guyenne, would have been well received, had they gone to complain of Soulier, a man that the Clergy had purposely set up to Defame, Injure, and Destroy them; in a time when the Court had already dispatched, if I may so say, Commissions to the Dragoons to treat the Reformed as Rebels, and open declared Enemies.  

The first Argument of Falsehood, and the Justifications thereof.  I pass the Reflections which Soulier makes use of to destroy the Arguments and Mediums which we have made use of, to prove this Act of Montpazier to be a false Imposture. First we have said, That there never was a Synod more known, and understood by our Enemies: Besides an infinite number of Papists, Monks, and paltry Priests, the Bishop of Cahors was there, and especially Monsieur Soulier, as he himself informs us. This Circumstance may be of use to us, to make very probable Conjectures concerning the Original of this Act. Besides all this, the King had a Commissary there. From all which we conclude, that there was no likelihood that these Ministers should be such Fools, to treat of an Affair of this nature in a place where there were so many persons their Enemies. Soulier says thereon, That the Catholics were not admitted to their Assembly; that we know well, but we also know that the Clergy are at expense for Spies, and that they never fail to know all that they please. 'Tis known that this Assembly was made up of about one hundred Pastors, and well near as many Elders: that among these men there were those which had no true Piety, nor any Zeal for their Religion, as it appears by their Revolt and Apostasy. These men are indiscreet, interested, easy to be gained, and the Agents of the Clergy know them very well.  
Concerning the Commissary, Soulier says things which the Providence of God hath permitted, to confound these Impostures. First, he says, That Monsieur of St. Blancard was the King's Man in this Synod, and we shall see by and by, from the Deposition of four Witnesses, which were there present, that it was Monsieur de Villefranche of Vivans, who was Commissary. This is, say I, an effect of the Vengeance of God for the Confusion of these Impostures. For there was nothing so easy as to know who was the King's Agent there; the Acts of all the Synods were sent to the Court, the Commissaries were always named there, and they even subscribed, and made a particular mark on the Copy which they sent to the King. And these Copies are kept in the Office of Monsieur Chastean-neuf. This makes it suspicious, that this Imposture was not form at Paris, but in the Province, in some place where not having sufficient Memorials, they depended too much upon the treacherous Memory of the Contrivers. Yea, it appears that Soulier is a Liar, when he speaks as an absolute Disposer of all that was in the Office of Monsieur Chastean-neuf. For if he had been admitted thither, he would have rectified the Error that himself, or other Authors of this Forgery had made. And that Soulier may not deceive the Public, by saying, that Monsieur St. Blancard, and Monsieur de Villefranche de Vivans are two names, but not two persons: it must be known that Monsieur Blancard was a Gentleman of Agenois, Uncle of the Chevalier Montand, heretofore Captain in a Regiment of Dragoons, and this Monsieur de St. Blancard hath been dead these six or seven years: And Monsieur de Villefranche de Vivans was a Gentleman of Perigort, Uncle to Monsieur the Count of Vivans, Lieutenant-General in the Army of the King. He died not above three or four years since.  
The second thing which he says is, That Monsieur St. Blancard was of the Reformed Religion, that he might be of Intelligence with the Synod in this Conspiracy, and that so 'tis not to be admired, that he did not reveal it. What a Prodigy is this! That a Commissary of the King in our Synods, should betray his Master, and his Prince in a point of Conspiracy against the State, without giving him any notice of it: Although these Commissaries had been capable of shutting their eyes on some small thing, hath there been any example in these last times of a man commissioned by the King, in our Assemblies, who hath suffered, or dissembled such undertake? Would not the Justice of the King have prosecuted a person guilty of such a Crime, with the utmost severities of punishment? The King knew, saw, and was informed of all this Conspiracy, and the Court kept silent, both with respect to St. Blancard, the pretended Commissary, and with respect to the Synod. Be it St. Blancard, or de Vivans, the one and the other were yet in the Land of the Living, in the Year 1677, when this forged Piece was put into the hands of the King, and yet they were never prosecuted. We see this man hath lost all judgement and understanding.  
The third thing which Soulier says is, That although the Commissary were faithful to the King, they might act in this Affair without his knowledge, or participation, because in Affairs of this nature, the secret is not committed but to some principal persons, and the other Members of the Assembly have no part therein: Behold another Conjecture well worthy the contrivance of Soulier the Priest: that is to say, that there are four persons which made this great Conspiracy, and without communicating it to the Pastors, or the Elders, they treat about introducing an Enemy, and a foreign Nation into France: And how could four Ministers give Assurances in an Affair which depends upon so many, without communicating it to them? Four Ministers attempt to manage a whole great Province! We know the Jealousy which reigns among all men of what Character soever they be: Is it imaginable, that a hundred Ministers, and so many Elders, should think themselves obliged to follow the Inspirations, and discharge the Obligations of four Ministers, in an Affair wherein they were not trusted, and in which there is no less than their Life, and being broken alive upon the Wheel, at stake? In truth a man would think that a clap of Thunder had astonished this miserable Calumniator.  

The second Argument of Falsehood, and the Justification thereof.  The second Argument that we employed, to prove the Falsehood of this Impostor, was▪ That there was no likelihood that the Reformed of Guyenne should attempt a thing which might have such mischievous Consequences, in a time when they had no reason to complain of the Court, because they enjoyed their Liberties peaceably enough. To this Soulier says two things, First, That in our Conduct there are many examples of Unfaithfulness, in the very times that we peaceably enjoyed the Favours that had been granted to us; and therefore we have been very silly in desiring to justify ourselves from this Treason, because we had no occasion that should prompt us to commit it. Thereupon he reckons up the proofs of this Accusation: For Example, saith he, they enjoyed peaceably all the Privileges which had been granted them by the Edict of January, in the Year 1561: they had the public Exercise of their Religion, in the Suburbs of Paris, etc. this did not hinder but that they treated three Months after with the English, and delivered unto them Haure de Grace. Another Example: These Gentlemen enjoyed peaceably the Edict of Peace, which was granted them before Orleans, in the Year 1563, nevertheless, to the prejudice of this Peace, and the Edict which the Calvinists did very peaceably enjoy, they took Arms again in cold Blood. He adds many other Examples to prove his Accusation; but in truth my patience is spent, and for the ease and quiet of my mind, I cannot resolve to follow this Calumniator to the end: Who can endure, without Indignation, that which he hath the boldness to affirm, That it was the Hugenot Party which began the War, after the Edict of January. All the World knows that it was the Princes of the House of Guise, who caused the Massacre at Vassy, in the midst of that Peace which we did so quietly enjoy. He who answered Maimburgh's History of Calvinism, hath made it appear, by the clearest light, that the first Civil War which came after the Edict of January, was no War of Religion, that it had its source in the implacable Hatreds which were between the Houses of Guise and Montmorrency; 
Mizeray Castalnau. le Labourreur Cardinal d' Ossat. Daubigne.  that it was caused in part by an infinite number of Discontents, which the Tyrants of the Court had made in the Kingdom; and in part by an infinite number of cashiered Soldiers, and disbanded Troops which had been accustomed to live in disorder; that the principal spring thereof, was the Resentment of Lewis of Bourbon Prince of Condy, who had received the utmost Outrages from the Guises, seeing they had caused him to be condemned to death, and had procured his Execution, had it not been prevented by the death of Francis the Second: To conclude, it was the enormous Ambition, and detestable Policy of Catherine de Medici's, who united and knit together this Party, and set all the great Men of the Kingdom together by the ears, that she might Reign in the midst of these Dissensions, and Ruin the one by the other. All this hath been made good by Witnesses that cannot be reproached; it hath been made evident, that Religion was only the pretence, which the great men made use of to mutiny the people: It hath been proved, that during this pretended Peace, which the Calvinists did quietly enjoy, under the shadow of the Edict of January, saith Soulier, there were above three thousand persons which perished by Massacres, or by Courts of Justice; that the Duke of Guise came to Paris with twelve hundred Horse, that he seized of the King, and the Regent, which were at Fountainblean, and that 'twas properly there, that the Declaration of War was made. And this villainous Calumniator hath the boldness to tell us, that we were the Aggressours in this first War, and Aggressours in full Peace. It must be observed here, that this man follows none of the Rules of an Historian, he generally dissembles, and passes over all those matters of Fact which give light to a History, and show the original of an Evil; he insists only on those things by which he may be able to give a very ill aspect to the Actions of the Protestant Party. Maimburgh, and other Popish Writers have not carried their Unfaithfulness so far.  
The Unfaithfulness of Soulier, is not greater on occasion of the second War, which broke the Peace of Orleans; We were, saith he, in full Peace when we made that hideous Attempt which is called the Conspiracy of Meaux. Lying costs this man nothing. All the Authors of that time, who have any thing of Honour of Conscience, do agree, that never was there War more mischievous than this pretended Peace of Orleans. They oppressed the Protestants  by the utmost Violences; no Justice was to be had for them; they Massacred them with Impunity; they conspired their Ruin, they treated about it with the Duke of Alva, 
Mezeray. L● Labourreur. La Nove.  the House of Austria, and the Pope; they killed a great number of their Nobility; they Massacred more than three thousand of them; they resolved to seize the Prince of Condy, and the Admiral, to cut off the Head of this, and commit the other to perpetual Imprisonment: To conclude, they did not re-take their Arms, but to repel those which were taken against them, and to give way to the greatest necessity that ever was of defending themselves. By these two Examples we may judge the Fidelity of Soulier in the rest.  
The second thing which this Priest says upon occasion of that which we had said, That in the Year 1659., we were not treated so ill, as to incline us to a Conspiracy with the English, 'twas that even than the Court designed our Ruin, that we knew it well, and that it already appeared by many Declarations which had been published to our disadvantage, which he quotes. To this we answer, That the design of the Clergy, was to destroy us, we do not doubt, and that it may be the Court might have the same intents and purposes; that 'tis true some Declarations had been already published against us. But we say, That the fear of a future and uncertain Evil, or some little present Evils, did never engage us to make use of actual Conspiracies for our Preservation: The Declarations and Decrees which the Clergy obtained against us, were as yet nothing, and then did us not Evil. The King himself granted us a National Synod at Laudun, in the Year 1659.; a Favour which had not been conceded to us since the Year 1641; an evident proof that the Court was not then under those wicked Inclinations, in which it hath been since engaged, or at least, if it had already conceived the design of destroying us, it was not possible for us to guests at it, seeing their actions spoke the contrary.  

The third Argument of Falsehood drawn from the State of England and France.  But to the sense of this second Argument drawn from the Condition of the Affairs of the Protestants in France, we will add a third, drawn from the State of Affairs in France and England at that time, which will show both the Ignorance and Bruitishness of Soulier himself, and the other Authors of this Imposture: They are pleased to affirm, That in the Month of July, in the Year 1659., we did treat with the English about their entering France. We must inquire whether it be not a thing against all Sense, at that time, to attribute to the English a design of entering into France, with Weapons in their hands, through Guyenne: First we must know, that then the English were in the most strict Alliance with France, which could be betwixt two States: The English had caused their Troops to pass into Flanders, to join those of the King: Dunkirk was jointly Besieged by both Nations; it was taken from the Spaniards, put into the hands of the English, to the astonishment of all Europe, and the scandal of all true Frenchmen; yea, there were some that had the boldness to complain thereof by their Writings. This may be seen in a Writing made by Monsieur Sillon, to justify the Conduct of Cardinal Mazarine, his Master; and in some of the printed Letters of Monsieur Coster, Archdeacon of Mans. This Union of England and France, was yet so great in 1660, that an English Garrison was received at Amiens, to whom the public Exercise of their Religion was allowed in the City: This obliged the General Assembly of the Clergy, to make complaint thereof to the King, and to content them, a Promise was made, to give to the English a Farm-house in the Suburbs, there to exercise their Religion out of the City. Behold the English and French at Peace and perfect Correspondence, and their Armies united against the Spaniard, and France in so great a confidence of them, that it delivers to them the important place Dunkirk, and receives their Garrisons into their proper Cities. When men make Fictions, if they are not directly brutish, they choose proper seasons for them: he should have assigned to this Conspiracy of the Protestants of Guyenne, some time in which France had been in War with England; but in truth 'tis to have a distempered mind, to take a time of the most perfect correspondence, that ever was between the two States.  
But this is not all, 'tis needful to see in the second place the Condition of the Affairs of the English in themselves, to know whether there be any probability, that they then had a design of entering France: It must therefore be remembered, that Cromwell died in the Month of September, 1658, and that from that time, till the return of Charles the Second, England was always in a dreadful Confusion, as may be seen by the History of that time, and by the News Books published one after another. Richard was proclaimed Protector immediately after the death of his Father; and he who hath collected the News of that time, tells us, 
See the Collection of News, Ordinary and Extraordinary. Relations and Reports of things happening in this Kingdom, and elsewhere, in the Year 1659. Printed at Paris 1660, with Privilege.  That Richard did not think he could do better, than preserve himself in the Friendship of those whose Alliance his Father had sought after, and to continue War against those against whom his Father had declared it. He continued therefore in a strict Alliance with France, and at War with Spain. Behold the man which they make to Treat with the Protestants of Guyenne, to carry his Arms into France, against the only Support that he could have to maintain himself in the place which he possessed, who was otherwise uncapable thereof. If Richard were not a mad man, I don't understand how he could engage in this Affair: This new Protector calls a Parliament, in the beginning of the Year 1659., which is exactly the Year of the Conspiracy of Montpazier: the Extraordinary of the sixth of March speaks of the opening of this Parliament, and says, That from the fifteenth of February, to the twentieth, it was employed in examining the Title and Rights of my Lord Protector. In the following Sessions, they endeavoured to Regulate the Power of this new Protector, and to retrench the Excesses which he enjoyed to the prejudice of the Rights and Liberties of the Nation. From that time, behold Richard attacked, and yet he enterprises new Work abroad, which alone required a man, and a whole Kingdom besides. From the thirteenth of March there were great Contests in the Parliament, touching the manner how it ought to be composed, whether they should there permit two Houses, the Upper and the Lower; what persons ought to be received into the Upper House, in case they suffered it to subsist. These Differences continued all the Month of April, with the utmost heat, and with great violence and rage: Behold these people in a good condition to carry Arms into France. In the Extraordinary of the fifth of May, is seen a large Remonstrance presented to the Protector Richard, by the Officers of the Army, in which they complain, 

1. That they were not paid.  
2. That they blasted their Reputation, by blaming all which they had done under Cromwell, as faulty and against the Laws.  
3. That the Officers which had served the King, had their Cabals and Assemblies in divers places of the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from whence it may be judged, say they, that the public Safety of the State, is in such ill condition, that 'tis in danger of being destroyed.   Was not the Militia in very good state to be transported to make an Irruption into a foreign Kingdom beyond the Sea? At the same time Richard being displeased with this Parliament, who would have reduced his Authority, to a very little thing, dissolved them in the beginning of the Month of May; and three days after, on the fifth of the same Month, he published a Proclamation; by which he appointed all suspicious persons to go out of London, in three days, and to come no nearer to it, that within twenty Miles. Immediately after the Parliament, which the Protector had assembled on the Month of February, was dissolved, on the second of May, the old long Parliament assembled, and began to sit on the seventeenth of the same Month: This old Parliament pulled down Richard, and appointed, that Monarchical Government should be abolished, together with the House of Lords. It caused also the Effigies of Cromwell, which was at Westminster, to be taken away, Fearing, say they, lest it should give occasion to some popular Commotion in this Conjuncture, and change of Affairs. This is plainly the time when the Protestants of Guyenne, promised to introduce the English into the Realm: for the circumstance of Affairs was altogether favourable to them: as they had nothing to do among themselves, so they might secure their good Friends  else. On the twenty second of May, old Style, the Officers of the Army agreed with the old Parliament, to abolish all Title of King, and Protector, and to establish the three Nations in a Government entirely Free. On the twenty fourth the Parliament appointed, That no other Seal should be farther made use of, but that on the two sides whereof were engraven the Arms of England and Ireland; and caused the Seal which Oliver Cromwell made use of, to be broken: They named, for the space of many days, thirty one persons to make up a new Council of State: 'Twas at this very time, i. e. upon the beginning of the Month of June, in the Year 1659., that they forced the Protector, Richard, to remove from Whitehall. Behold then the three Kingdoms in a perfect Anarchy. Without doubt it was in this happy and tranquil Estate, that the English made offer to the Protestants of Guyenne, to secure them, provided they would deliver to them all the places whereof they could dispose: To speak seriously, 'tis unavoidable, that the Forgers of this Piece were the most ignorant Bruits that were in the World, or that their Brains were disordered to that degree, that there was never any thing like it. Let not Monsieur Soulier be displeased at all this: He hath neither Science nor Knowledge of the matters of the World, nor common Sense; for if he had one grain of Understanding, or good Knowledge, he would never have engaged in so dirty a Business.  
Let us go on, for this is not all: After we have considered the State of Affairs in England, let us consider those of France: This Kingdom was in an Estate of Prosperity, with respect to Affairs abroad, which would have taken away all thoughts from troublesome persons, of making any Commotions at home, although there should be such which had it in design and purpose: 'Tis the very Year of the Peace of the Pyreneans, and of the Marriage of the King. In the beginning of the Summer, in the Year 1659., a Suspension of War, by Sea and Land, was signed: that nothing might cross the Negotiations of Peace, which were already advanced very far, Marshal Turenne was gone to execute the Orders of the King, on the subject, of this Suspension. Cardinal Mazarine, at the same time that this pretended Conspiracy was made in Guyenne, passed through the Province, to go to the place where the Peace was to be concluded. He arrived the twelfth of July at Libourne, on the nineteenth at Cadillac, and at the same time their Majesties parted from Fountainbleau, to begin their Journey towards the Frontiers of Spain. Must it not be confessed, that the Ministers and Elders of Guyenne, are very cunning at Confederations, and Conspiracies; that they know admirably well how to take their time, and that no circumstances could be chosen more favourable to Embroil a Kingdom within, than a time of general Peace, which leaves the King in a condition to fall with all his power upon the Conspirators? To conclude, Hath Soulier no Shame, and will he never cover himself with wholesome and salutary Confusion? If you don't think him sufficiently sunk, and overwhelmed, take pains to follow me a little farther.  

The fourth Argument of Falsehood: Soulier convinced of Juggling in his Answers.  We brought for a fourth Argument, the evident Falsehood that is in the name and in the person of Daret: This is the man, says the Act of Soulier, which negotiated this Affair, and treated with the English to engage them to enter into France. This Daret is a man unknown, a phantasm; and, if without saying any thing else, we had obliged Soulier to find out his Monsieur Daret, we had reduced him to the utmost difficulties: but, happily for this Historian-Priest, a Conjecture was made, which was thought sure, that the Impostors having heard say, that there was in the Province, a Minister born a Subject of the English, named Monsieur Durel, they might very well choose this person, to make of him a Negotiator with those of his own Nation. Soulier, ravished to find this passage open, to go out of this dirty place, hath stooped thereto: Yes, says he, 'tis Durel, the Copy which was taken from the Original, was ill transcribed, they took an a for an u, and a t for an l, and whereas Daret in the first Act was nothing else but a Negotiator between the Ministers and Elders of Guyenne, and the English, in the second Edition, he becomes Assistant-Moderator, and is subscribed E. Durel. Here is a heap of Juggles and Lies, so pressed upon each other, that 'tis a difficulty to rang them into order: first 'tis certain by the Table of the Synod of Montpazier, the Acts whereof ought to be in the Office of Monsieur Chastean-neuf, that Monsieur Durel was not Assistant-Moderator at this Synod, 'twas one named Monsieur Dorde, Minister of Montpazier itself. And we do entreat the honest men of Paris, that they may be assured hereof, to go and consult the Original hereof, in the Office, if they will not believe four living and speaking Witnesses, which were at the said Synod, whose Depositions we shall suddenly see in good form and method: I hope that in the third Edition, of the Act of Montpazier, Monsieur Soulier the Priest, will tell us, they took the o in Dorde for an u, that they transposed the d, and set it at the end, and made thereof an l; so we shall find Dorde in Daret, and Durel, as good Etymologists in plat do find chopine. A new Falsehood, Monsieur Durel had no name which began with E, 'twere expedient that it were Etienne, or Elijah, or Esay: but, by misfortune for Monsieur Soulier, his name was John; at lest 'tis the name which he gave himself in the Thesis which he maintained at Saumur; 'tis the name that he hath set in the front of a Book called, Vindiciae Ecclesiae Anglicanae, i.e. A Vindication of the Church of England. To conclude, 'tis the name that the Approbator of the Translation, which he made of the Liturgy of the Church of England into French, hath given him. I have read the French Version of the English Liturgy of Mr. John Durel, and I have found it in all things agreeable to the original English. Signed, George straddling S. T. P. Chaplain to Gilbert Bishop of London, from the Savoy, April the sixth, 1663. Therefore I know not what we shall do with this capital E. in this Act of Soulier the Priest, unless we make an F. of it to find Friar John there. But by misfortune Mr. Durel was never a Monk.  
Another misfortune for Soulier, much greater than the former, is, That Mr. Durel was never Pastor in the Province of Guyenne, nor Deputy in any Synod, he was only Minister to Monsieur the Duke de la Force; he preached indeed at la Force when the Duke was there, but he was properly affixed to his person and his Family: for which reason he followed him , and did not belong to the Synod of any of the Provinces. 'Twas one named Mr. Barte, who as then Minister of the Church de la Force, a Member of the Province, and lawful Deputy to the Synod. 'Tis true, that Mr. Durel appeared at the Synod of Montpazier, and was therein favour of one named Mr. Hesperien, who was his Friend, and had business there. And Mr. Betoule, Minister of Duras, who was Plaintiff against Mr. Hesperien, seeing Mr. Durel in the Assembly, said to him, What do you here? you are no Pastor of the Lower Guyenne, nor Deputy to the Synod. To whom Mr. Durel answered in these very words, I am no fixed Minister in any Province; but in all Provinces where the Duke is, I have the honour to assist at the Synods which are held during the time of his residence there. The Synod took this Remonstrance into consideration, and granted to Mr. Durel no decisive Voice, but only Session among them, and a deliberative Voice. The said Mr. Durel was never seen in any of the Synods of Guyenne, but only at this time, and never was seen there afterwards. Behold a subject well chosen, to make him Assistant-moderator of a Synod, and the Negociator in a great affair; of a Synod, say I, of which he was no Member, where he was no Deputy, where he had no decisive Voice, and where he had never appeared before. Behold therefore a new Errata of the third Edition of the Act of Montpazier. It may not be doubted that the Art of Soulier, which hath made him find Durel in Daret, will also make him find Dorde in Durel. But we do advertise him, that this new Correction will be of no service to him; for when Durel shall be taken away, and Dorde put in the place thereof, all his Engine will be overturned: we shall have no Englishman proper to negociate with the English, no man unfixed from any Church, and by consequence fit to employ his time in Negotiations; no man which was oftentimes in Paris, and in Normandy, places proper to entertain Gorrespondence with the English. All this was found in Mr. Durel, for which reason they judged it fit to make him the Negociator, and afterwards Assistant-moderator. But poor Mr. Dorde was a Minister of the Province, serving in a little Town or Village of Perigort, very far from the Sea, without Commerce, without all advantage to entertain Correspondencies, not stirring from his place, affixed to a Congregation made up of persons very unfit to furnish means of Negociating Treaties. In good earnest, behold a heap of cross Accidents for Mr. Soulier. Is not a man very unhappy, when he would edify the Church by a pious Deceit, to find so many stumbling-blocks in his way?  
To strengthen this Argument, we added a matter of fact, notorious to all those who had never so little knowledge of Mr. Durel, viz. that there was not a man amongst the English, who had a greater hatred for the Parliament than he. So that it was to lose all sense, to choose this person to treat with them of a Conspiracy against France. This matter of Fact is notorious, and 'tis known by all the English Church, that the King of England looked upon him at his return as one that had suffered exile for his sake, and recompensed him not only with the Deanary of Windsor, but with many other Benefices which he had given him before that. To this the Priest Soulier answers, A very fine thing 'tis that Cromwell was then dead; and that though Durel were an Enemy to Cromwell, it doth not follow that he was an Enemy to his Son, and to those that then ruled among the English. That is to say, that Mr. Durel, who had a general indignation against the Enemies of his King, reconciled himself to them, as soon as they had lost their Head, and joined another party to them to betray another King, into whose Country he was fled for refuge. This is very well contrived. He adds to this a Letter from Mr. de Vane a Gentleman belonging to the Queen Dowager of England, who says, That the Deanary of Windsor was not given to Mr. Durel to recompense his fidelity, but to discharge a Debt of 2000 l. Sterling, which was owing to him by my Lord of Manchester. As we have not the honour to know Mr. de Vane, so we shall leave his Testimony to signify according to its worth. We shall only say, that the Deanary of Windsor is at the Nomination and Disposal of the King, and not in the Disposal of the Counts of Manchester; and that 'tis not probable that the King, at the solicitation of the Lord Manchester, should give a Benefice of that importance to a man who was not known to be a zealous Friend to the Royal Family. Seeing we are now showing the Falsehoods of this Act, and the ignorance of those who framed it, we must not forget that these men make Ricottier the Minister of Clairac. By consulting the Table of the names of those who appeared at this Synod of Montpazier, it may be seen that Ricottier being Minister of Bourdeaux, and not of Clairac, he could have no other Title, seeing he appeared at the Synod on the behalf of the Church which he then served. It must be confessed, that never were there so many Falsehoods heaped together.  
For a Fifth Argument, we produced the Marginal Note of Mr. Soulier; 
A fifth Argument of Falsehood: Soulier's Impertinencies thereon.  Cromwell was yet alive. Now he had been dead almost a year. To this he answers, that he might say that Cromwell was yet alive, For that could not be referred to any one but his Son, which succeeded him in the Government. For this I remit him to the Letter of Mr. Le Feure, which we have seen above. This is curious, and will give very fair advantage to the Learned to resolve the difficulties of History. Such a one was yet alive, 'tis true; he was dead some ten years since, but that signifies nothing, his Son was alive, and reigned in his stead: 'Tis the same thing. At the most, says Mr. Soulier, this can be no more than a mistake of the Historian, which cannot prejudice the truth of the Act, which speaks not of Cromwell, or his Son, but of the English in general: By your favour, Mr. Soulier, 'tis a great prejudice to the Act: For if it had been made whilst Cromwell lived, it would have been much more probable, because 'tis known that Cromwell did very much concern himself, or appeared so to do in the preservation of the Reformed Churches of France. Besides, his Throne was so well established at home, that he could attempt any thing abroad. 'Tis also known that France never feared any man so much as Herald So that whilst he lived, the English were in condition to attempt, and it may be to execute the Project which they charge upon them; but after his death it was no longer so, the Scene changed from white to black. If the Priest Soulier did put Cromwell in the Margin, under this apprehension, as it's very probable he did, this makes it appear, that he was not altogether a Beast. He thought it was much more reasonable to make the Ministers of Guyenne treat with Cromwell, than with that Chaos of Government that came after him; there was only this little difficulty in the way, that Cromwell was dead. But this is a small matter with these Gentlemen, who have done in our days that which we thought impossible.  

A sixth Argument of Falsehood: the lewd Answer, of Soulier.  Among the Arguments, we said, that it was to invent without judgement, to suppose that an affair of this nature could be treated of in a Synod, where there was a hundred and fifty Deputies, that it was to put a Rope about all their necks, and deliver their lives into the first Fool or Traitor. To this he answers, what he had already answered elsewhere, 'Tis that there is nothing more easy than to cause an Act to be signed by those who preside in these Assemblies, without passing it by a plurality of Voices; and above all, then when the Moderator is in the Conspiracy, as he was upon this occasion, where Ricottier was one of the principal Instruments thereof. But this is called reasoning like Soulier the Priest, and like Doctor Shoemaker. We are not disputing about signing an Act, or causing it to be signed. We know very well, that nothing is more easy, than to get Acts signed by the Precedents in a Chimney-corner: That which is disputed, is about the execution of an Act, and of putting it into a condition to be executed. For this 'tis necessary not only that it pass all the Voices of the Synod, but also that it be debated and considered in all the Consistories; otherwise the Signatures of Ricottier, and three others, would serve as little to give assurance to the English for the pretended delivering up of places, as the word of the poor men of the Hospital of Quinzevint in Paris. Now we demand once more, whether in such a time as this, there were men foolish enough to make such a deliberation pass before a thousand or twelve hundred persons? for there were not less in all the Consistories of Guyenne. Surely this were to expose their lives at a very cheap price.  

A seventh Argument of Falsehood; and the Fooleries that Soulier speaks thereon.  For a new Argument, we had said, that these men of Montpazier had lost their sense, to engage to deliver places to the English in the year 1659. when for almost forty years they had had no places or Town which they could deliver to Strangers. Soulier the Priest makes very judicious Reflections thereon. First he saith that they make this Act speak what they please, to render it ridiculous; But the men of the Synod did not engage precisely by this Act to deliver places to the English. We know not whether this man dotes, or hath a design to make himself ridiculous. The men of the Synod did not promise to deliver places; what then do those words signify? The English require that we give them assurance to put into their possession all the Cities and Town whereof we can dispose. What did the Synod thereupon? It gave command to Mr. Durel to know what assurances they desired; and of what? of the delivery of places? for there was nothing else under dispute. At the same time they give order, To promise on our part all the assurances that were possible. I understand not the Language of the Synod of Montpazier, if this be not in formal words to promise the delivering up of places: so then in despite to the exceptions of Mr. Soulier, behold four or five Ministers, and it may be so many Elders, promise to the English to deliver them Bourdeaux, Blage, etc. and other places of Guyenne. In truth, this is so absurd, that the Priest Soulier cannot hinder himself from seeing the absurdity thereof; and for that reason he gives a ridiculous gloss to this Act. The second thing which Soulier answers, is, that we need not be amazed that this Act took no effect: the Act, says he, was in the month of July, in the years 1659. Now immediately after two things happened, which hindered the execution; the one was the Peace of the Pyreneans, the other, that the Minister Durel arriving in England, found many differing Factions there. But Mr. Soulier ought to remember, that the two things, which according to him hindered the execution, aught to have hindered the project, and the deliberation: for they happened not after, but before. We have made it appear that these Factions happened in England immediately after the death of Cromwell; and for the Peace of the Pyreneans, its true, it was concluded after; but the Negotiation thereof was begun, and the success certain, many months before the Synod of Montpazier. The third Answer of Soulier, is taken from a Book entitled, The last Efforts of afflicted Innocency: Where to that which the Author objects, that the Hugenot party was in no condition to make themselves feared, he answers, Remember what the Poet said, Furor arma ministrat; Fury finds Arms, and when they have no Cities, they will take them. There is some probability that Mr. Soulier knows how to read Latin, for he hath transcribed three words thereof, and this makes much to his honour against the Accusation of his Master Mesnier, and Mr. Le Feure. We answer to Mr. Soulier, that we cannot warrant all the thoughts of other men; but though it should be true that there were yet some reason to fear the Reformed, as much abased, and subjected as they are, because Fury furnishes Arms, yet there was no reason to fear them in the time of the Synod of Montpazier, because then there was nothing which might move their Rage. Lambs become Lions, when they are run against the Walls. The despair into which they thrust the Reformed, might indeed have furnished them with Arms, if God had not prevented those unhappy Commotions. But it was impossible that the condition in which they were in 1659. should put them into that despair, which puts them upon any thing, and makes them sometimes successful therein.  

An tighth Argument of Falsehood; and its Defence against the Wrangles of Soulier.  We drew an invincible Argument of Falsehood, against this wicked Piece, from the Silence of the Court: The King knew many Years since, by the means of Joly Bishop of Again, and the Cardinal of Bovillion, That they had form a horrid Conspiracy in Guyenne, against his State; he knew the Authors thereof, they were yet alive, but he said nothing of it, he did not chastise those who had made this bold Attempt: He complained not of it any where; and from whence comes this Spirit of Patience? Have they forgiven the least fault to the Reformed, for the space of twenty Years? Have they not laid to their charge, a thousand false Crimes? Have they not had an open Ear for all their Accusors'? Have they not punished them severely for Faults falsely imputed, and ill proved? And would they neglect the punishment of Treason, in him that was Principal therein; who will believe it, and whom can Soulier persuade of the truth of it? Besides, at what time was this? Observe, it was at a time in which they had sworn the Ruin of the Protestants; in which they earnestly wished to find them culpable; in which they did even all that can be imagined, to make them so: Was there any thing so much desired by the Clergy, and the Court, as to have a small occasion to say, Seeing that our said Subjects have always persevered in a Spirit of Faction and Rebellion, even in the times when they entirely enjoyed our Favour, under the benefits of our Edicts, as appears by the Conspiracy of Montpazier. This would have been conveniently inserted in the Edict which revokes that of Nantes: but there is nothing like it seen there; they give no other reason there, But that the greatest, and the best part of our Subjects, of the said Reformed Protestant Religion, had embraced the Catholic, so that the Edict of Nantes, and all that had been granted in favour of the said Reformed Protestant Religion, continues to no purpose. It is very much worthy of Observation, that only two Years before, in the time when the utter Destruction of the Reformed was resolved, the King gives a public Testimony to their-Fidelity; 'tis in the Act of Oblivion, granted to the pretended Rebels of Dauphine: that is to say, to those poor Men who were willing to pray to GOD upon the Ruin of their Churches, without doing injury to any one, but also without desires of being troubled there. The King, say I, in the Oblivion which he granted to these men, says, The  Fidelity of all our other Subjects of the said Religion, hath inclined us rather to entertain thoughts of Clemency, than of Rigour towards the Guilty. How could it be, that the Court should have such apprehensions of the Fidelity of the Protestants of the Kingdom, if it had in its hand an Act capable of convincing them of desiring to expose the Kingdom as a prey to Strangers? And if it had them not, but knew well the Conspiracy of Montpazier, and gave credit to it, what could oblige it to insert a Clause so false in this Act of Oblivion? I know very well, that Kings in these fort of Acts pretend themselves satisfied oftentimes with persons which they do commend, at that very season when they are least satisfied with them. But it is when there is something to fear: 'tis when they would oblige men to lay down their Arms, who are in a condition to make themselves feared, and when actually, and indeed they are afraid of them. But, I entreat you, what is it that the King, with 200000 Men in Arms, without any foreign Wars, hath to fear of a thousand or twelve hundred Peasants of Dauphine, Vivarets, and Cevennes, of whom they had already massacred more than two thirds? If Soulier can reconcile this with a pretended persuasion, that the Court hath of the truth of the Conspiracy of Montpazier, he will do us a kindness to do it: But, saith he, the conclusion which they draw from the silence of the Court, is no proof, that it doubts the truth of this Act: the liberty which the King hath given me of defending myself, and maintaining it, is an indisputable proof; that his Majesty doth not doubt thereof. A very fine proof! The King hath permitted Soulier to defend this Piece, therefore it is true, and he believes 'tis so. First, the King it may be knows not who this Soulier is, and 'tis known that these kind of Permissions pass by the means of a Father Confessor, or some other Ecclesiastic, who says concerning it, what he pleases, being much assured, that he shall never be reprehended for it. Besides, behold a great Wonder, that they suffer such a man as Soulier is to hazard his Reputation: If he succeed to persuade this pretended Conspiracy of Montpazier, with good luck, the Court will always gain thereby; and 'twill be a reason and pretence to justify its Conduct. If he does not succeed therein, the shame will remain upon him alone; no name or person of Quality appears therein, the hurt will not be great. 'Tis thus that men reason naturally in the World: So that the Permission which the Court gives him, to defend the truth of this Conspiracy, is so far from being a mark of the value they have for him, that 'tis a proof they look on him as a Wretch which they abandon, and leave as forlorn. Let him show us any man of Reputation, which joins with him in this Cause. There is nothing more pleasant, than to see the Value and Reputation which this Priest Soulier puts upon himself: He demanded leave from the Court, says he, to defend himself, and the King was pleased to permit it. And speaking of an Author which goes for a person a little more able than he, If this Writer expects I should do him the Honour of Answering him. This makes a man smile; and he can hardly forbear to remember the Lesson which his Master, Father Mesnier, gave him, Let every one meddle with his own Trade: Ne Suitor ultra Crepidam; Let not the Cobbler go beyond his Last. I never knew those Authors, which took it for an Honour to have such an Antagonist: First, a Lacque; secondly, a sorry Mechanic; thirdly, a small Missionary, though in the last place, he be Monsieur the Abbot, for men ascend by a criminal Ability more easily, than by a true Merit. But let us go on, since we have begun, and see what he says to prove the truth of his Act.  
If those, saith he, which are accused to have Signed this Act, find themselves as Innocent, as this Author would persuade us, how comes it to pass, that they have not attempted it, since the time that my Book appeared in the World? We have already answered to this: How, and before whom could they provide for the maintenance of their Innocence, seeing there was no Judge to receive their Complaints, nor Notary who dared to receive their Protestations, nor even a Bailiff that dare signify the least thing on their behalf? Soulier the Priest knows this, the thing is of public Notoriety, and he hath the boldness to draw advantage from a Silence forced, and which was impossible to be broken. Therefore these Gentlemen speak when they can speak; and I pray take the pains to hear them in the following Act:  

UPon this day, being the 24th of April, 1687, the Gentlemen, Joseph Asimont, James Brun, Isaac Goyon, and James Philipot, all Ministers, fled to this City, were personally present before me Henry Ram, public Notary, admitted thereto by the Noble Court of Holland, residing in the City of Amsterdam, and in the presence of the Witnesses under-named, who at the desire of him to whom it appertains, have said, and do declare to be true and certain, under Oath offered to them, and made by them; And first, Monsieur Asimont alone saith, That yesterday he received a Letter, by which he is Summoned and Adjured to speak the Truth, on the subject of a pretended Act of the Synod held at Montpazier, in Perigort, in the Year 1659., which Monsieur Soulier has produced in his History of Calvinism, at p. 552, of the Paris Edition, containing in substance, That the Ministers and Elders of Lower Guyenne, assembled in Synod at the said Montpazier, had made an Act to call the English to their Help, and solicit them to Arms for the Defence of their persecuted Churches: Upon which Monsieur Joseph Asimont, after he had read, and considered exactly the Tenor of the said Act, did say, That indeed he remembers that he was chosen to draw up the Acts of the Synod of Montpazier, but at the same time doth Protest, and that with an Oath before GOD, who searches the Hearts, and as if he actually stood before the Tribunal of JESUS CHRIST, who must Judge the Living and the Dead, That he, the first Deponent, never drew up, nor signed the said Act; and that he never heard any thing spoken of it, till since the said Soulier inserted it in his Writings; and that therefore it is a Piece forged by a Spirit of Lies; and he calls the GOD of Truth to be both Witness and Judge of this Imposture, which bears in its own Characters, the marks of its Falsehood; forasmuch as the said Act is said to be Signed by Durel, Assistant, which is notoriously false, as may be seen by the Papers of the Acts of the Synod, which were put into the hands of Monsieur de Villefranche de Vivans, who assisted there on the behalf of the King, and which Monsieur de Villefranche sent to the King's Council, according to the Custom. And afterwards the other Witnesses, upon the same Summons, did declare, That they remembered that they assisted in the Synod of Montpazier, in the Year 1659., from the beginning to the end; that Monsieur de Villefranche was there sole Commissary of the King; and that Monsieur Durel, Minister to the Duke de la Force, was not Assistant to the Moderator there, but Monsieur Dorde, Minister of the said Montpazier. In this manner they did protest, by Oath which they made to God, That they heard nothing there, of the Act alleged by Soulier in the said History of Calvinism, in the 552 Page; and that since that time, they never heard any Minister or Elder speak of it, nor any private person of the Reformed Religion, but on the report which Monsieur Soulier hath made thereof; alleging, for reasons of their knowledge, That they assisted at the Synod held at Montpazier, from the beginning to the end, and consequently what is abovesaid, must be well known unto them.  
This thus passed, and done faithfully, in the City of Amsterdam, in the presence of John Hoekeback, and Marcus Bavelaer, called as Witnesses thereunto; which I Testify, Henry Ram.  
WE Burgomasters and Governors of the City of Amsterdam, do make known, and certify for Truth, by these Presents, That the Gentlemen, Joseph Asimont, James Brun, Isaac Goyon, and James Philipot, all Ministers, fled for Protection to this City, did appear before us, who, at the desire of him to whom it appertains, by solemn Oath have said, declared, affirmed, and deposed the Contents of the Attestation, and Affirmation abovesaid; for all, and every one of them did declare and affirm it to be true and certain, after the reading of it unto them by the Secretary under-written: So help them GOD.  
In Testimony whereof, we have Sealed these Present by the Common Seal of this City, the 25th of April, 1687. The place of the Seal. Pelters.   
As to the Form, nothing can be found to object against this Protestation: It was received not only by Notaries, but by the chief Magistrate of the most considerable City of the Country, and is sealed with the Common Seal thereof. As to the Sincerity of those who protest, and attest it, he must have renounced all Modesty,' who shall call it in doubt: They are persons that are in a place of security, who have almost nothing more to hope, or fear from France: it cannot be conceived, that men would damn themselves by such an Oath as this, for the maintenance of a Falsehood. If the Accusation were true, why do they not permit Soulier, and his Book, to pass without saying any thing to it? What great good can come to them hence forward, when they shall have obliterated in the minds of the Public, the opinion that there was a true Conspiracy at Montpazier? If the Affairs of the Reformed were in sound and good condition in France, they might say, That by this false Oath, they have been desirous to prevent the Evils that such a thing, if it were believed, might draw upon the whole Body, and also every single Member of it: but at present, when the business of our Ruin is consummate, must he not have the Soul of a Devil, and be willing to damn himself out of humour, by engaging the name of God, and those which bear his Image upon Earth, to maintain a Lie which he knows to be a Lie, and a Lie from which very little good can come, in comparison of the evil? The pleasure of making Soulier pass for an Impostor, is not (I think) great enough to be willing to purchase it by Perjury. When Soulier, and his Companions Forged this Act, they were supported in their Crime by the consideration of the great advantage which was to come (according to them) to the Catholic Church, by hastening the Ruin of the Heretics in France. But behold men who commit a crime by an horrible Perjury, without being suported by the consideration of any profit or interest: Can this enter into the mind of any man of sound sense and understanding? Behold then four irreprovable Testimonies, who assisted at the Synod of Montpazier, who attest the Falsehood of the History in all its parts; who say that Durel or Daret were no Assistants in this Synod; that Saint Blancard was not Commissary, but Villefranche of Vivans; that nothing of like nature did pass in the Synod against the Service of the King: But behold in particular, this Monsieur Asimont, who was Secretary to the Synod, he who by consequence must be privy to the business, who must have digested the pieces that were drawn up, and who did really Sign the Act, as the Priest Soulier pretends: 'tis this Asimont to whom Soulier addresses himself in particular: As to what respects the Signatures, and the Subscriptions of the Minister Asimont, and the Secretary Meyzonet, saith he, I know them so well, and they are so conformable to other Acts which they have signed, that I assure myself they will not dare to disavow it: However, it will be very easy for me to convince them by other Acts which they have signed; the Minister Asimont may remember the Conference that we had in the City of Eymet, in the Diocese of Sorlat, in the Year 1657, and that the Original, signed by him, at the foot of all his answers, is remaining in my hands. If any honest men have a desire to compare the Signature of the Act of Montpazier, with the true Signatures and Subscriptions of Monsieur Asimont, they will see them very true, and very well attested; and till then, seeing the Priest Soulier appeals to the Conscience of the Minister Asimont, and to the Conference of Eymet, I am of opinion we ought to hear Monsieur Asimont himself in particular.  
The Letter of Monsieur Asimont.  
I Never was of the humour to detain the Truth in Unrighteousness; on the contrary, I have always taken a great freedom to declare it, as far as Charity doth permit it; and I have had great joy in seeing it triumph over Lies and Falsehood: As you labour vigorously to make it victorious, and triumphant over its Enemies, I received with respect the Adjuration you have given me in your Letter, to bear Testimony to that Truth, which Monsieur Soulier doth engage, and combat in his History of Calvinism. I have shown your Letter to the Gentlemen, the Pastors of the Province of Guyenne, who can give Testimony concerning it with myself, and I have sent you their, and my Declaration upon the subject of the Act of the Synod of Montpazier, with the Affirmation upon Oath, which we made before our Lords the Sovereign Magistrates of this City: My Brethren have thought that we ought to note the name of the Assistant to the Moderator of the Synod, to prevent the Impostures of this Wrangler; for my part I have not expressed it in my Deposition, for fear lest it should make a new wrangle about the names of Dorde, and Durel, and lest he should say, that the Transcriber, by this allusion of names, putting Dur for Dor, and all for the, in imitation of the great Etymologist who derived the Latin word panis from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; And how so? Why, by changing, saith he, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into pa, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into nis. Make what use of them you judge fit. As to what concerns me in particular, as Soulier attributes to me the Subscription of this pretended Act, and says that he knows my Subscription, because of a Conference about Religion, which we had by Writing in the City of Eymet; so I hearty wish I could recover an Original of the said Conference, which I have among my Papers in France, to make it appear, that he has the gift of Impudence in the highest degree, and cannot forbear Lying, since he there gives himself the Lie by a gross and manifest Contradiction: but I fear this Writing was burnt with many others, as well as my Books: But for want of this Piece, which would render him unworthy of all Belief: I can say, to justify myself from the Accusation, by which he charges me to have signed an Act of secret Correspondence with the Enemies of the State, That I have been so far from being suspected of Unfaithfulness to the King, that some of my Brethren grew jealous of me in their own minds, by the very close adherence which I testified to his Service in the Civil Wars, and by reason of a Letter under the Great Seal, which his Majesty caused to be written to me in the Year 1654., to assure me, That he took in good part my Fidelity and Zeal, with assurance of Recompense according to my Merits, when occasion should be offered to him. By the Grace of God I never desired, nor caused it to be requested of him, although occasions thereof presented themselves unto me: This Letter could not protect me from divers Decrees of Imprisonment, which the Parliament of Guyenne did afterwards grant against me, for the cause of my Religion, nor from the Decree of the Intendant of Agesseau, for preaching in forbidden places, by the order of the Synod; nor from the Imprisonment and Quartering of Soldiers, appointed by the Intendant of Ris, because, going from Bergerac, I wrote to one of my Friends, That I went away because I would not see the Abomination of Desolation, which was about to fall upon this Church. God hath bestowed on me the Mercy of escaping happily out of these troublesome Affairs, by manifesting the Integrity of my Conduct, and the Sincerity of my Intentions. 'Tis true, at last, perceiving I could not serve two Masters, in France, who were of such contrary Sentiments, viz. GOD, and the Most Christian King, I desired of him, in the Year 1683, three Passports, for myself, and two Sons, both Ministers, (by Monsieur of Corbichet, heretofore the Steward of the Duke de la Force, and who was then in the Service of Monsieur the Prince of Condy, who obtained them with great ease) to allow me the liberty of going out of the Kingdom. From whence I reason thus against Soulier: If the King, having been informed of the pretended Act of Montpazier, had given credit to the Accusor, would he so easily have granted my Passport, before our general Banishment? Is it credible he would have permitted a Minister convinced of Rebellion against his Majesty, and of Conspiracy against the State, to go out of his Kingdom? He who had kept in Prison other Ministers of Guyenne, for Preaching or Praying after the Prohibitions, would he have given the Keys of the Gates to a Minister known guilty, not only of the same faults, but of a crime worthy of the severest Punishment? Certainly there is nothing could have protected me, and I must have expected to have been condemned to Prison, or to the Galleys for ever: Seeing therefore, that after the sight of this Act, he gave me my Passport, and was content with my Banishment, as well as with that of others, 'tis an indisputable proof, that he gave no credit to it, and knew the Falsehood thereof, only he thought fit to leave Soulier at liberty to fight us with the Weapons of his Tongue and Pen. To conclude, though we have to do with a King who hath condemned his Faithful Subjects to Banishment, even those who exposed their Goods, their Lives, and Liberties to his Service, yet I do not repent the performance of my Duty; 'tis matter of Confidence to me, and gives me the boldness to implore the Protection of GOD against the Cruelty of Men.  
Two things are considerable in this Testimony of Monsieur Asimont; the first is, That he is a man of great Age, and of whom it may be said, that he expects the moment in which he must go and appear before God. Can any one believe that a man so near to leave the World, should be willing to keep measures with it, for the preservation of I know not what trifle of Honour and Reputation; and that being so near his appearance before God, should dare to profane his holy Name by so many Falsehoods and Perjuries? The other thing observable is, The Circumstance which he observes in his Letter, concerning the suspicion, though unjust, under which he fell, in the minds of some of his Brethren, by reason of a certain Letter of Favour, and Thanks, which the King caused to be written to him, as an Acknowledgement of his Fidelity to his Service. This is notorious, and all the World knows it. Is there any probability, that they would trust such a man with a Conspiracy, which they knew to have been so faithful, and so perfectly in the Interests of the Court? But is there any probability, that a man who had been so faithful to the King, and so fast and sure to his Service, would have any part in such a Confederacy and Conspiracy? I do acknowledge, that I have no more to say after this, and that if the Priest Soulier does continue to maintain his Act, and Conspiracy of Montpazier, he may very well boast, that he hath the gift of Impudence to the highest degree and measure: For never had Romance and Fiction, so many marks of Falsehood. Let us see them a little altogether.  
1. Ricottier is here Minister of Clairac; and in truth he was Minister of the Reformed Church of Bordeaux. 2. Saint Blancard is here Commissary for the King; but in truth 'twas Monsieur Vivans of Vilefranche. 3. Daret is he by whose Mediation they treated with the English; this Daret is a Phantom who never was in the World. 4. Durel, Minister of the Duke de la Force, substituted in the place of Daret, was not Assistant to the Synod; 'twas Dorde Minister of Montpazier itself. 5. To Durel, who treated with the English, they give the name of Elijah, or Estienne, or Esay, or some such name beginning with an E; and yet his name was John. 6. Durel is present, he receives the Act, and nevertheless he was not so much as deputed to the Synod. 7. Durel treated with Cromewell, who even had been dead ten Months. 8. Durel treated with the Parliamentarians, to whom he was a mortal Enemy, and by whom he was mortally hated. 9 The English offer to enter France with their Arms, in a time when they were in the greatest Confusion among themselves, in an Anarchy, and by consequence in a state of the utmost weakness. 10. A Conspiracy is discovered to the Court, part of the Authors are living, and the Court says nothing thereof. 11. Asimont, one of the principal Conspirators, begs leave for himself and his two Sons, to departed the Kingdom, 'tis granted him without any difficulty. 12. They suppress the Edict of Nantes, they Persecute the Reformed even to death, without objecting this Conspiracy as a fault unto them. 13. Men enterprise and attempt to deliver places to an Enemy, which they have not had in their hands these fifty Years. 14. Men attempt to raise a Civil War in the time of the Peace of the Pyreneans, at a season when the Kingdom remained without any trouble from abroad. 15. They are four or five Ministers, and it may be as many Elders, which make this Conspiracy, and pretend to execute this great Design without communicating it to any one. 16. Or they did communicate a Secret on which the Lives of an infinite number of persons depended, to an hundred and fifty Deputies, yea, to all the Consistories. 17. To conclude, the Reformed attempted to trouble a Kingdom, and themselves in a time when they enjoyed a very great Peace. I do maintain, that here are a heap of Falsehoods, Contradictions, and Follies so plain, and sensible, that a man must have a head and heart made like those of Soulier the Priest, to be able to digest them.  
To conclude, let us see a little the Channels by which this Piece hath passed, and Providence will therein show us new Indications of Falsehood: As to its source, 'tis sufficiently difficult to discover it; according to Soulier, this Act made by the Synod of Montpazier, is put into the hands of the Minister Vignier; Vignier died in the Year 1666, and dying, committed this Piece in trust, into the hands of Mounier, Minister of Nerac also, and his Colleague; the Minister Mounier turns Catholic in the Year 1675, and dies in the Year 1677, at Paris, in an Inn near the House of Soissons. Monsieur de Quesne, Archdeacon, and Vicar-General of Condom, goes to see him in the time of his Sickness, he gives him this Act of Montpazier, Monsieur de Quesne gives it Monsieur Joly, than Bishop of Again, Joly gives it to Monsieur the Cardinal of Bovillion, the Cardinal of Bovillion gives it to the King, and at last the King gives it to Monsieur Chasteauneuf, who puts it in his Office, where it is sealed up, and joined to the Acts of the Synod of Montpazier. Behold a great many hands which are either unknown to us, or suspected by us. As to the Minister Mounier, we do continue to say, he was a man wounded in his Reputation, by Suspension from his Ministry, he was besides an Apostate from the Truth, and had the Character of all voluntary Apostates, i. e. hatred for the Truth, and for those which do profess it.  
But there is in this place one circumstance so evident, to convince these Villains of their Knavery, that a man cannot escape the sight thereof, The Minister Vignier died in the year 1666, as Soulier himself says: Why did he, when he was about to die, give this Act of Montpazier, as a thing in trust? To what could this Act serve? It was seven years since that this pretended Conspiracy with the English was made; the Affairs of England had entirely changed their face, the King was restored, and at War with the Hollanders: every one knows he was so far from entering Leagues in favour of the Protestants, that on the contrary, he rather engaged against them. There was not a man living in the World, upon whom they could cast their eyes to accomplish the Conspiracy, but Cromewell, or the Parliamentarians: this Piece therefore was absolutely on one hand of no use, and on the other hand, 'twas capable of destroying an infinite number of single persons, and the whole entire Body of the Reformed in France: Monsieur Vignier therefore, when he was dying, lost his Understanding and Charity itself, to be willing to preserve a Paper which was good for nothing, but to destroy his Brethren; a Piece which ought to have been burnt, and which he should have burnt when he was dying. The father we look into this thing, the more we find that these Villains were smitten with a Spirit of Blindness, in all the circumstances of their Fiction.  
As to the Bishop of Again, he was a Court Bishop, which had always a thousand good reasons to continue at Paris about the Affairs of his Diocese. I have had a long time in my hands a Letter of Monsieur the Procurator-General, who appointed him in the name of the King, in a manner very rough and harsh, speedily to put an end to his Non residence, and to return to his Diocese, whither he went very seldom. These sort of men are always at watch, that they may have something to produce, which may make them stay at the Court, where they are willing to be, that they may be always ready to hunt after a Benefice greater than their own. As to Monsieur de Quesne, Vicar-General to the Bishop of Condom, we know him not: he may say true, and yet all that we have said, receive no blemish nor disadvantage thereby; he might really receive the Piece from Mounier, a revolted Minister: Mounier might be the man that forget it. And that which I find most probable is, that Soulier and Mounier are the two Authors of it: Soulier was at the Synod of Montpazier, he rejoices to produce an Affair which passed there, in a Synod where he was. Mounier, principal Author of the Falsehood, might furnish the Names, he inserted that of Durel, as a person proper to Negotiate with the English. Soulier, who knew not Monsieur Durel, reading over the Act forged between them, read Daret. And 'tis probable that 'twas he who made him Assistant-Moderator, at the foot of the Act, for Mounier would never have committed so gross a fault. Soulier had a Conference with Monsieur Asimont, the Missionaries, above all, those of the parts and strength of Soulier, who knew neither Divinity nor Language, receive nothing but confusion from those Conferences, and they always carry a mortal hatred against the Ministers that do confound them, with design to revenge themselves at any rate. Monsieur Asimont had been really Secretary to draw up the Acts of the Synod of Montpazier, for which reason this Synod was to be chosen rather than another, that the Minister Asimont might be chastised for the trouble which he had put this Missonary to, in the Conference. This Act was put into the hands of the King, the King delivered it to Monsieur Chasteauneuf. Neither the one nor the other made any account of it, because Monsieur Chasteauneuf, who had the true Acts of Montpazier, saw no conformity betwixt them, neither in the Commissary, nor in the Assistant; besides that, the Piece bore many other Characters of Falsehood: Nevertheless it is kept in the Office, as they keep a thousand and a thousand false Pieces in such places. For example, the Chests of the Evidences of Abbeys are inexhaustible Fountains of forged Pieces. Monsieur de Launoy hath given us notice thereof somewhere on the subject of the Abbey of Saint Dennis, by reason of the Pieces which Doublet hath produced in his History of Saint Dennis. And saving the respect which is due to the King, and his Library, 'tis full of false Manuscripts. For example, the Jesuit Mesnier, the Priest Soulier, and Doctor le Feure, do say, that they have drawn from that Library, the Secret Articles of the Edict of 1577, in one of which 'tis said, The King permits to the Prince of Condy the Exercise of Religion in his House upon the Loire, yea, although he himself were absent. Nevertheless 'tis certain, that there never was in the House of Monsieur the Prince, any Land which bore the name de la Ferte, upon Loire, and that there is not any City or Village of this name upon the Loire, from its Fountain till it enters the Sea. Let this be observed by the by, That we may know what account we ought to make of the Manuscripts of the King's Library, which Soulier quotes so often. Men throw into these Repositories all Pieces that go up and down, whether they be true or false; the true, fifty Years hence, will be so confounded with the false, that nothing will be certainly known. Fifty Years hence the Act of Montpazier, well kept in the Office of Monsieur Chasteauneuf, will be as good as if it were true. Behold how things go! If the Son of the Minister Mounier (at present Canon of Tarbies) be troubled, that we make such a Knave of his Father, he ought not to accuse us, who do not make men, but take them as they are. As to the Letter which he hath written for the Justification of his Father, 'tis evident, that 'tis worse than nothing in the present Affair; his Testimony is of no weight, and henceforth 'twill be his interest to retract it, unless he will have his Father pass for the most profligate of all Men. For if it be true, as he would have it be believed, that his Father put this Piece into the hands of Monsieur de Quesne, 'tis unavoidable, that he was the Forger of it, it being certain, as we have proved it, that the Piece is false, and that he could not receive it from Monsieur Vignier. So that 'tis no officious Lie in favour of his Father, 'tis an Act the most wounding to his Reputation, that could be produced against him.  
We will stop here, because we have imposed a necessity upon ourselves to speak nothing but of the Act of the Synod of Montpazier, for which reason we will not refute all the Calumnies of Soulier, nor repel all the Injuries which he speaks in every Page against the Author of the Policy of the CLERGY, and of the Answer to the Calvinism of Maimburgh: We only know concerning this Author, by report, that he hath a great Contempt for Soulier, and his Works; so that if he make Books expressly to vex him, he may set his heart at rest, for he will never obtain his end.    

The Ninteenth PASTORAL LETTER. An Article of Antiquity: The Original of Images: An Article of Controversy: A Continuation of the Matter of Schism: The Corruption of the Roman Church was so great, that we were forced to a Separation: A notable Letter concerning the Confessors carried to America.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given unto you, from God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.  
WE have been obliged to interrupt the subject of our Pastoral Letters, to refute a heinous Calumny cast upon one of our Synods, and which reflects upon the whole Body. At this time we take again our matter and our order: we remember that the last Article of Antiquity which we handled, was that of the Invocation of Saints, which took its birth in the fourth and fifth Age: 'Tis the fourth change which altered Christianity in those Ages: the first was the Original of Monkery; the second was the Establishment of the Hierarchy; the third was Ecumenical Councils; and the fourth was the Invocation of Saints, and the Worship of Relics: Behold a fifth, 'tis the Introduction of Images into Churches. The Worship and Adoration of Images did not come so soon, and we do not see the spreading thereof, till the sixth Age: But in the fourth and fifth Ages men began to bring Images into some Chapels consecrated to the Memory of Martyrs. And 'tis a thing that could not fail to happen; One depth calleth to another; and when men fell into Idolatry to men, they were not far from Idolatry to Images: for 'tis very natural to represent those men which we Invoke, and to give Honour to their Images. For which reason I am amazed that the second Part of Paganism, viz. The Adoration of Images came so slowly after the Worship and Adoration of Saints. But the aversation which the first Christians had for Idols, held firm as yet for some time after the Birth of the Superstitious Worship of the Martyrs, and their Relics: It is therefore true, that in some Provinces, about the end of the fourth Age, a person may show you Historical Representations in the Churches; they began to paint the Histories of the Bible: It appears by a passage of Gregory Nissen 
* Greg. Niss. Orat. de Divin. filii & Sp. S.  that the History of the Sacrifice of Abraham was painted in some Church▪ And by another Homily of the same Gregory Nissen 
† Orat. in Theodor. Martyr. , it appears, that they began also to paint the Histories of some Martyr, or Martyrs in their Temples: The Painter, says he, hath expressed the Flowers of his Art, drawing on a Table the great Actions of the Martyr, his Resistance, his Combats, the savage and brutish Assaults of Tyrants, the flaming Furnace, and the happy Consummation of the Martyr; and a Table in which was Jesus Christ in Humane shape, overlooking the Combat. If we were of the mind of your Convertors, we would hid such things, as you might very well be ignorant in; but we are sincere in our Confessions, as we are willing to be in our Defence and Allegations: 

1. For first we do maintain, That in the fourth Age the Church had as yet a horror for all Worship of Images: They begun to introduce them into Churches only for Ornament. And if your Convertors do produce to you any thing of these Ages, which seems to signify that they Adored Images, hold it for certain, that they are false passages, or taken from false and suppositious Books.  
2. We do maintain, That the use of painting Historical Tables in Churches, did not begin till about the end of the fourth Age: And before Gregory Nissen of Capadocia, who lived about the Year 380, we do not find any mention thereof among the Ancients.  
3. In the third place, you ought to know, That this Custom was then very rare, and that we cannot discover any Churches, but those of Cappadocia, in Asia, and a certain Church in Italy, where Images were seen in their Temples.   'Tis true some quote a passage of St. Basil, taken from his Homily upon the Martyr Barlaam, by which they would prove, that in the Chapel of this Martyr, they had set the History of his Martyrdom: for St. Basil there invites the Painters to represent magnificently the Combats of the Martyr. But it is certain, that the Painters to whom he speaks are Orators, which he exhorts to represent well in their Discourses, the glorious Sufferings of Barlaam. But although it should be to Painters (without Figure) that Basil speaks, as the City of Caesarea, whereof he was Bishop, was in Cappadocia, this would serve to fortify that which we maintain, (viz) That this dangerous Custom of introducing Images into Churches, was not any where else, but in the Province of Cappadocia: for no Author of this Age speaks of it, but the Bishops of that Country: unless it be Paulinus Bishop of Nola, who tells us, That he caused the Representation of the Sufferings of St. Faelix the Martyr, to be put in the Chapel that was dedicated unto him. Now 'tis to be observed, that this Paulinus Bishop of Nola, fells us also two considerable things, First, That the Custom of placing of Pictures in Churches, was very rare. The second, That that which put him upon doing it, was a design to represent to the Eyes of the Country People, those Combats, the painting whereof would make more impression upon them, than Descriptions made by the mouths of Orators.  
Some peradventure will demand of me, 
Faulinus Bibliothec Pat. Tom. 14. Edit. Lugdu.  says he, what was the reason which occasioned me to resolve to make the Figures of Animate Creatures, to be painted in Sacred Houses, seeing the Custom thereof is very rare. And he adds, That it was to try whether the sight of these enamelled and raised Shadows of Colours, would not make some impression upon the gross and stupid minds of the Vulgar. He says also, in the same place, That his end was to employ these Dregs of the People in the Contemplation of these Figures on Feast days, to the end that they might spend the less time in Debauchery. Observe thereon, that then it was very rare to see Pictures in Churches, therefore they did not expose them to the Adoration of the People. For Objects of Adoration and Worship ought to be known by all: besides, they were put there only for the use of the Vulgar; 'twas not therefore to give any Worship to them: for they are not only Country People which are obliged to Religious Worship. To conclude, Paulinus says expressly, That it was only for Commemoration, and not for Worship. 'Tis therefore from this good, but superstitious man Paulinus, that this lewd saying hath taken its original, That Images are the Books of the Ignorant. 4. The fourth thing to which you ought to give attention is, That then they did not set in Churches any Figure, Image, or Statue of a single person, but Historical Representations in large Tables, where many persons and many actions were represented. This makes almost an infinite difference: for it never entered into the mind of Man, that Historical Tables, whereon were some times represented the Devil tempting Jesus Christ, oftentimes Hangmen pblucking off the flesh of a Martyr, with Pincers, were placed there for Worship. For so men would Worship the Devil, as well as Jesus Christ, and the Hangmen as well as the Martyr. Indeed when the Idolatry of Images was brought into the Church, 'twas by Pictures or Statues which represented but one or two of the Saints. Now 'tis certain, say I, that about the end of the fourth Age, those which gave themselves liberty of introducing Images into Churches, placed nothing there but Historical Pictures and Tables. To prove the contrary to you, they may produce a passage of Gregory Nazianzen, where he complains of this, That some would destroy the City of Diocesarea, raze the Temples, and pull down the Statues thereof: 
* Epist. ad. Olympium.  Our greatest grief, says he, is not that the Statues are plucked down, although that be troublesome too. Because immediately before he was speaking of the Ruin of Temples, some it may be will serve themselves of that, to persuade you, that Statues were in their Temples. But that is false, and 'tis certain that he speaks of Statues which were in their public places: Our grief is, says he, that with the Statues, they pull down and destroy an ancient City. And to the end that you may not be able to delude yourselves thereby, be advertised, That the Greeks would never suffer Statues in their Churches, and that yet to this day they Adore nothing but Images, or plain and flat Pictures; and by a humour sufficiently pleasant, they accuse the Latins of being Idolators, because they Adore Statues: As if their Images of Mosaic Work, were much more worthy of Adoration, than Embossed Figures. However it be, this demonstrates, that Gregory Nazianzen could not speak of Statues which were in Churches.  
5. To conclude, the last thing whereof you are to be advertised, about the Original of Images, is, That in the time that this mischievous Custom of putting Images in Churches began in some places, the good Bishops opposed themselves thereto with Zeal, and treated it as an Abomination. It were convenient that you should read thereon a passage of Epiphanius Bishop of Salamina in Cyprus, who lived about the year 375, that is to say, exactly in the same time that Gregory Nissen suffered Pictures in the Churches of Cappadocia, I came one day, says Epiphanius, into a Village which is called Anablata, ('twas a Village in Palestine) 
* Epiphan. in Epist. ad Joh. Jerus.  having seen there, as I passed by, a burning Lamp, I enquired what place it was; I learned that it was a Church, and being entered there to Pray, I found on the Door of the Church, a died Vail hanging there, having an Image painted on it, as it were of Christ, or some Saint: for I do not remember, in good truth, whose Image it was; having therefore seen that contrary to the Authority of the Scripture, they had hung the Image of a Man in the Church, I rend the Veil, and advised the Sexton of the place, to employ it rather to wrap up the body of some poor dead person to carry him to his Grave.  
John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, took it ill, that Epiphanius had attempted such an Action in a Diocese where he had no Jurisdiction, but he did not condemn the Action in itself.  
This passage is without reply, and your Seducers will never have any thing to answer to it. It appears that the use of introducing Images into Churches, was so rare, and so little received, that he which undertook to put one in the Church of Anablata, did not dare to put it any farther than the Door. At this day men have the insolence to set them upon Altars. And even Epiphanius, a little while before, in the Church where this Image was, looked upon the attempt as the Violation of the Law, although it were even the Image of Jesus Christ: for he supposes it might be the Image of our Lord; nevertheless he made not the least scruple to rend it, and hated not the attempt ever the less. Notwithstanding 'tis very probable that after St. Epiphanius, the Custom of so placing Pictures and Tables in the Churches of the Martyrs, did continue and increase. The People which naturally fall into Superstition, did not tarry long ere they abused those Images, which were placed for them in the Sepulchers of the Martyrs: 'tis from the People that the Worship of Images came, as well as the Invocation of Saints; that could not stay long after this; for when they adored men, which might be painted, 'tis natural to make Images of them. So St. Austin learns us, that in his time the Invocation of Saints passing from the People to the Pastors, the People running much father, began to Adore the Pictures of the Martyrs. But behold how he speaks of it: The Manichees heaped together all the popular Superstitions, and all the Actions of private Persons, to make Crimes of them against the Church; and upon that St. Austin tells them, 
* Lib. 1. de-Moribus Eccl. c. 34.  Do not collect those who making profession of being Christians, have nothing which answers to their Profession; do not join yourself to the crowd of ignorant People, who being on the side of true Religion, are superstitious, etc. I know there are many which Worship Pictures, and Sepulchers. Unto the middle of the fifth Age, nevertheless, few Images were seen in Churches: after the year 450, many of them were seen there: 'Twas not only those of the Martyrs that were placed there, they put also those of the Bishops in the Churches of their Dioceses. The Image of Thomas Bishop of Apamea, was set on the top of the Church 
† Evag. lib. 4. cap. 26. : Theodorus Lector, tells us, That in the Reign of Anastatius, 
* Lib. 2.  Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople, caused his Images to be set in Churches; and that Timothy, who was put in his place, some time after, would not perform Divine Offices in any Church, before he had caused the Images of Macedonius to be removed. It cannot be imagined these Images were set there for Adoration, for no man makes his own Images to be adored.  
But that in the fourth and fifth Ages men did not give any Religious Worship to Images, by the public Authority and Approbation of the Pastors, is a truth which cannot be disputed by those who have any remains of Conscience and Honour: This appears by the Testimonies of Authors of that time: by the Deed of Epiphanius, which we reported touching the Image which he found in Anablata; and by another passage of the same St. Epiphanius, cited by the Council of Constantinople, against Images, in the Reign of Constantine Copronimus, and reported by that Image-worshipping Council of Nice, 
† Evag. l. 4 c. 26.  Take heed to yourselves, says Epiphanius, retain the Traditions which you have received, turn not from them to the right hand, nor to the left; Remember also, that you put no Images in Churches, nor in the Dormitories of the Saints, etc. nay, put them not even in your own Houses.  
St. chrysostom saith, in a passage alleged by the same Council 
* Synod. 7. Act. 6.  We have the presence of Saints by the Scriptures, and not by Images. Amphilochius 
† Synod. ib.  Bishop of Iconium, Contemporary of St. Basil, also saith, We take no care to paint the fleshly Countenance of Saints with Colours upon Tables, but we imitate their Life and Conversation, by Piety and Virtue. St. Austin, upon the 123 Psalms, doth expressly deny, That among the Movables and Ornaments of the Church, there were any Images that had Mouths and spoke not, and Eyes that saw not. This appears also by the Fact of Serenus Bishop of Marseilles, and of Gregory the First, Bishop of Rome, which was not till the end of the sixth Age: Serenus had broken the Images of his Church, because the People adored, and fell down before them; as those of which St. Austin speaks. Gregory blames him for breaking the Images, and praises him that he hindered men from worshipping them; which makes it evident, it was not then believed generally, that they might be adored. 'Tis true, nevertheless, that in the fifth Age, the brutish and superstitious People in some places began to believe, that the Images of the Saints had some Virtue in them. For Theodoret, in the Life of Simeon Stylites, reports, That it was said, that at Rome men set the Images of Simeon Stylites at the entrance of all their Shops, to obtain some Protection and Security from them. But besides, that this was but a report apparently false; 'twas a popular Superstition in which the Church was not concerned.  

An Article of Controversy. A continuation of the matter of Schism; that the great Corruption of the Roman Church, forced us to a Separation.  
HItherunto in speaking of Schism, we have reasoned upon one or other of these two suppositions; either that our separation was not established upon good Reasons, or at least that the corruption of the Church of Rome was not at the highest degree, and therefore it was in some sort tolerable. We have proved in our thirteenth Pastoral Letter, that although our Fathers had done ill in their Separation, nevertheless you do not hazard your Salvation by continuing in the Protestant Communion. Afterwards we made it appear, that supposing the Church of Rome very corrupt, although the Corruption were not wholly intolerable, you cannot return thither at this day, without destroying yourselves, because the Providence of God hath drawn you thence by a Miracle, in the persons of your Fathers. And we have dispersed the Illusions which you put upon yourselves therein, and which some amongst you have communicated to those which are fled for Protection into these Countries. But at present let us no longer suppose any thing which is false; let us consider things as they are, i. e. let us consider the Corruption of the Church of Rome in its utmost extent, and reason upon it: It is the third Supposition, according to which I will show you, that you cannot with a good Conscience return to Popery: If the Corruption of the Church of Rome be extreme, if she be Idolatrous, if she be Impure, if she be Antichristian, if she have introduced true Paganism into the Church, we must necessarily Separate from her, as soon as we can; and the Separation being made, to reunite ourselves unto her is a Crime for which we can expect no Mercy. There can be nothing of doubt in this kind of reasoning, but the Supposition, (viz.) That the Corruption of the Church of Rome is extreme, and wholly unsufferable; So that this is the only thing which remains to do, about the matter of Schism, to justify our Separation, and prove to you, that you cannot return to Popery without Damnation; this we shall do in this, and the following Letter.  
To give you a true and natural Idea of the Corruption of Popery by a short Description, 'tis necessary at first, That you discharge yourselves of those vain Charms, and false Appearances, wherewithal they dress, and present it to your Eyes. First, you may not consider Popery by the Christianity upon which 'tis built, for 'tis thither that you turn your Eyes immediately. 'Tis a Religion, say you, where the true God is worshipped, and the true Jesus, where the Holy Trinity is believed, the Incarnation of the Son of God, Redemption by the Death of Christ Jesus, the last Judgement, the Resurrection of the Flesh, everlasting Life, and everlasting Death. How can such a Christianity be ill? Distinguish my Brethren, in the Popish Church Christianity from Popery. That which I would have you consider, and which I have told you is Christianity. But that which I will describe unto you, the ugliness whereof I will set before you in an abridgement, is quite another thing, 'tis that which hath been added to Christianity, 'tis Popery. Say not it sufficeth us that Christianity doth continue in the Roman Church, that is false, it is not sufficient. 'Tis not enough that the Substance doth continue in poisoned Wine to make it safe, and wholesome. Do not you imagine that this is only a plain Comparison, 'tis an example that doth demonstrate, and prove Wine as good, and excellent as it is, is not more spoiled by the Mortal Poison mingled with it, than Christianity in the Church of Rome is spoiled by the Popery added thereto. Have you never read any where that the Roman Church is like a great double Temple, whereof the lower part is consecrated to God, and the superior part to an Idol? This is a Comparison which hath all the force of Examples to prove, and demonstrate. Do you believe, that a man after he had worshipped in the Church below, consecrated to the true God, should ascend into the Church above, and adore Idols? Do you believe, say I, that such a man were in a good and safe way? 'Tis true, Christianity remains in the Roman Religion, 'tis the Church below; but they have built upon it the Idol Church, and that is Popery. Do not you imagine therefore, that you can Worship only in the Church below, or live in the Christianity of the Roman Church without partaking in Popery. This cannot be, these two parts of the Roman Church are not built together as two Churches, whereof the one is below, and the other above. By an unhappy Art of the Devil you cannot enter into the one without entering into the other. You cannot worship God without partaking in the Worship of Idols. You cannot partake in the Heavenly Sacrament of Jesus Christ without participation in a false and corrupt Sacrifice; and without prostrating yourselves before the Idol of Bread. You cannot confess Jesus Christ Head of the Church without adhering to a false Head, to the Head of a Body which is altogether Antichristian. You cannot call upon God in public Worship, unless at the same time you call upon Creatures: It remains therefore, that we prove unto you, that Popery, so confounded and mixed with Christianity, is mortal, impure, and intolerable.  
The second general Advice which I have to give you is, That well to understand Popery, you must not look upon it in the Books of your Convertors, in the Explications of the Catholic Doctrine, or other painted Tables which disguise to you the Religion into which they force you to enter. Discharge yourselves also from this wicked imagination, That we ought to attribute nothing to Popery but what is ordained by its Councils. For there is nothing more false, and more distant from truth, then that the Councils have not expressed in their Decisions, all those frightful Excesses into which Popery is fallen, therefore they are not to be imputed to her. 'Tis a wicked consequence, all that is done in a Church, be it by order of her Councils, be it by use and common custom, aught to be imputed to her. 'Tis true, that St. Austin, in a passage which we quoted above, would not grant, that the Manichees should impute certain Superstitions which the People practised, to the Church: but 'twas because there were few persons, in comparison to others, that fell into them: And the Teachers condemned them, instead of supporting and maintaining them. But we impute nothing to Popery, but Extravagances universally practised, and defended by their most famous Doctors. I will give you yet a third Advice, 'Tis that for the true understanding of Popery, and all its Deformities, you must not look on it in certain places, and at certain times. For Example: At this day in France, they show you the Popish Religion in a smooth and polished condition, with respect to the Authority of the Pope: they tell you, that to speak properly, he is no more than the first Bishop, he is not the Vicar of JESUS CHRIST, that he is not the true Head of the Church, nor the true Centre of Unity, that he is not Infallible, that he has no more Power over the Bishops, than the Bishops have over him: they speak to you with great indifference concerning the Worship of Images, as a thing esteemed not very necessary; they do extremely mollify the Invocation of Saints, reducing it to a small matter. The Bishops give order, that little of those popular Devotions which are capable of giving you scandal, be practised in their Dioceses. I do declare to you, that it is not by the small Country of France, nor by this little space of present time, that you ought to look on Popery, to know and see all its Deformities. In what follows, we shall have occasion to show you, that all these Reformations are nothing, that they are fictitious; and that although they should go further than I know not what appearances, it would not suffice; but in expectation of that, I advise you at present, my Brethren, that for a true understanding of Popery, it behoves you to look on it , and in all times: You must behold it in Italy and Spain, as we as in France and Germany: you must look on it in all preceding Ages, at least in the seven hundred or eight hundred Years which went before our Reformation; observing these three Rules, 

1. That you look on Popery such as it is in itself, distinct from Christianity.  
2. That you look on it in its practice, and universal usage.  
3. To conclude, that you look on it above all in Spain and Italy, as well as elsewhere;   and that you look on it in all those times which preceded the Reformation. If you do thus, say I, I do maintain that you cannot behold the Deformity of Popery without horror.  
First you will there see a Head which calls himself the most Holy Lord, his Holiness, and the Vicar of Jesus Christ, who bears on him all the Characters of Antichrist: He sits in the Temple of God, as if he were God; he makes himself to be adored as God; he has his seat at Rome, the City upon seven Hills; he hath ten Kings under him, which give Obedience to him; he is clothed in Scarlet, as the Whore in the Revelations; he bears a Triple Crown; he has upon his Forehead the names of Blasphemy, calling himself God on Earth, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Spouse of the Church, the Mouth which pronounces infallible Oracles; he sits upon a Beast, i. e. on an Empire, viz. the Roman Empire, which he hath raised up again: He makes the Image of the Beast to speak, and be adored: he hath established in the Church the true Image of the Roman Empire; and causes this Image to be adored on pain of Death; he hath two Horns, two Powers, as a Lamb, the Temporal and Spiritual; speaks like a Dragon; and is the Protector of Lies and Falshood: He works false Signs and Wonders to support his false Religion; his Teachers make profession of Austerity, Celibate, Abstinence, and Fasting, and refuse Marriage: He hath his seat in Babylon, that City of Merchandise, where all things are sold, and where they make Merchandise even of the Souls of Men: He causes his Mark to be born, i. e. his Profession, upon the hands and upon the forehead; The name of Latin Church, and Latin Pope, contain exactly 666, which is the number of the Beast: This Pope, this pretended Vicar of Jesus Christ, is seen under a Canopy, or Cloth of State, in pomp, and in magnificence; he is seen trampling crowned Heads under his Feet, making himself to be carried on the shoulders of Emperors; causing Princes to kiss his Feet: He hath been seen as a furious Lion in all Ages, covering the Earth with Blood, dethroning Emperors, pulling off their Crowns, Absolving Subjects from the Oaths of Fidelity given to their Kings, and thereby putting a Sword into their hands, from whence have followed cruel and barbarous Civil Wars: He has been seen encouraging the Father against the Son, and the Son against the Father; Subjects against their Kings, and stirring them up to run their Swords into the Bowels of their Sovereigns: He has been seen putting all Europe into a flame, and carrying confusions, blood, and disorder  by his Ambition: He hath been seen fight with Competitors, called Anti-popes', conducting Armies, shedding Blood, dispeopling Cities, and laying waste Fields by Fire and Sword: He has been seen with his Arms in his hands, like a mad man filling the World with Horror and Desolation, to maintain his pretended Succession to the Inheritance of Christ Jesus: He has been seen some times keeping Whores, sometimes a Sodomite, some times a Sorcerer, sometimes a Murderer, and a Parricide, sometimes an Adulterer, and Corrupter of Wives, and Women; sometimes like a Bloodsucker devouring Provinces, swallowing up Kingdoms, exhausting their Substance, and drawing Tributes from all the Earth: He hath been seen Cheating, Deceiving, making false Oaths, violating Treaties, stirring up Seditions, moving to Wars: He has been seen to make an horrible Traffic of Sins, selling Pardon for Sodomies, for having lain with Sister and Mother, and even with a Beast, for having killed his Father, his Benefactor, and even his King: He himself hath been seen killing, poisoning, robbing, exercising rage, ambition, and dreadful robberies. I do profess, that he must be fallen to a reprobate sense, to call such a man the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and to imagine that such a See is the seat of the Church.  
After you have looked upon the Head, if you consider the Members of Popery, you will see great Lords, Lovers of the World, who call themselves the Princes of the Church, who being oftentimes nothing but the dregs of the People, dispute place with Sovereigns: They keep Houses, and the Train of Princes, they have magnificent Equipage, stately Lodgings, sumptuous Furniture, and delicate Tables: They are the Councils, and the Senate of the Pope; they are the Cardinals which call themselves the Pillars of the whole World, upon which the Church stands: These are the Ministers of Jesus Christ, who said to his Disciples, That he who will be greatest among you, let him be your servant. Verily, verily, I say unto you, That if you humble not yourselves as a little child, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Below these Prince-ministers of the Antichristian Empire, we see Bishops, another sort of secular Princes, Governors of Dioceses, i. e. the Provinces of the Pope, who call themselves Bishops, Archbishops, etc. by the Grace and Favour of the Holy See, after the same manner that the Govournours of the Provinces of a Kingdom take the Title of their Dignity, by the Favour of their King: These men possess a great Revenue, which was appointed by the Donors to nourish the Poor, but serves nevertheless to maintain the best Table in the Province; a great number of debauched and unruly Servants, Cooks that are most expert in the Art of making curious Meats and Sauces, Coaches with six Horses, paeks of Hounds, and oftentimes a race of prostituted Whores. These men cause themselves to be called my Lord in the World, and treat their Inferiors like Pages and Footboys: These have not the least grain of that which is called the Spirit of the Gospel, but are animated by the Spirit of the World, that of Disorder, Debauchery, Ambition, and Avarice: They watch not over their Flocks, but after some Benefice greater than their own, after which they gape always like Wolves after their Prey. Below these Superiors are seen an inferior Clergy, composed either of Cannons appointed to sing Vespers and Matins in Cathedral Churches, whose repose, ease, good cheer, long sleep, drunkenness, sloth, fat and plumpness have always served, and do serve still for matter of Satyrs and Jests: or they are Curates who are not only for the most part the dregs of the Clergy, but dregs of the People; excepting those of great Cities, who put themselves to the labour of instructing themselves at the least, in the way to live like the World, the rest are ignorant, brutish, drunken Whoremasters, & given to the basest & most shameful Vices: And besides this, the Clergy is made up of an infinite number of little Priests, which are (above all in Italy and Spain) as they were heretofore , Ministers of the filthiest pleasures, and of the most criminal attempts. Are these the Guides of Jerusalem, or the Builders of Babel? My Brethren, look not upon the Clergy of Paris, who are better governed, consider that during the space of seven or eight hundred years, the Popish Clergy were of this make in all the Roman Church; look upon Spain and Italy, where it is publicly known, that the Clergy are yet thus form and fashioned: Consult those which have seen Rome a little near at hand: Learn from them that Religion there is an Interlude, and that all the ecclesiastics are Comedians which do not believe in God. An honest man came a little while since from Italy, and told us, from his own observation, That when they are at their Devotions, they commit Indecencies, and make such noise there, that honest men in France would not do at play. Judge whether it be likely, that God hath permitted so horrible a Corruption of Manners in a Church pure and infallible.  
From the Clergy, i. e. from the Priests pass to the Monks, which are the holy part of Popery, where are found the Reverend Fathers, the seraphical and angelical Doctors: Draw the Curtain from their Hypocrisy, and you will see an, Abyss of Impurities; men who under pretence of long Prayers, devour Widows Houses, Wolves gaping after a prey, which compass about the Beds of the sick and dying, to obtain great gifts and presents; men who think Gain to be Godliness; who dress Religion like a Play, that they may draw Spectators, who in their Houses perform Paganish Devotions, and such as are ridiculous and worthy of the Theatre, to draw the crowd of people, and to obtain Offerings, who by this means obtain those Alms which belong to the Poor, who by these Alms maintain themselves in a criminal sloth and idleness, without being of any use to Church or State; who behind their own Walls and Curtains, abandon themselves to the utmost Extremities of Wickedness, who eat, and drink, and sleep like Hogs, who go not without the Walls of their Cloisters, but to run after strange Flesh, who corrupt Wives and Daughters, and to that end, serve themselves 〈◊〉 all the most hideous and diabolical ●●rts: The pretence of Religion, Sacraments, ar● the most hol● things are employed therein. You will see Houses of sacred Virgins, (so they call them) which are the Lodgings of Impurity, the Houses of ●rostitutes, the places of those that are Debauched. Behold those who are the principal, and the most illustrious Members of Popery, during the space of seven or eight hundred years, by the confession of all the World, and what they are yet to this day, in an infinite number of places unto which the Reformation has not come: 'Tis by this, that you ought to look upon the Members of Popery, and not by some Reformed Societies which are in France, whereof they let you see nothing but the outside. Judge whether the true Church, and the true Religion, could permit and suffer such horrible Disorders! Are these the Pastors of Jesus Christ, or the false Pastors of him, who in the last times was to teach a Doctrine of Devils, by men whose Consciences were seared with a hot Iron, forbidding to Marry, and abstaining from Meats, which God hath created to be received by Believers.  
IN our seventeenth Letter, you may read the Continuation of the Cruelties which are exercised in Languedock; you have there seen that they fill Vessels with Confessors to send them to America: The last News from that Country doth inform us, That two of these Vessels are gone for Martinique, and among other eminent persons, there is Monsieur the Baron of Verliac, with Madam his Wife, but with this augmentation of Cruelty, that they have put then in divers Vessels, to the end that whether they li●● or die in the Voyage, they may be no Consolation to each other. Monsieur Matthew, an Advocate of Durass, of whom we have spoken heretofore, one of our most illustrious Confessors, is also of that number. How sad soever the lot of these exiled Confessors which are carried into another World, I do not think that they have so much reason to complain, as those that abide in the Kingdom: For the most cruel Hangmen remain there to put the Constancy of those which persevere in their Religion, to the utmost trial. Above all, Rapine continuing in France, the New World cannot boast to have a more cruel Tormentor. This Monster, nevertheless, would be very proper to revive the Cruelties, which the Spaniards exercised heretofore upon the poor Indians. We have promised you a History of the horrible Actions of this Villain, and we will not fail to give it you, when it shall be sent unto us.  
We thought, even at this time, to have given you the memorable History of the Martyrdom of which he caused Monsieur Menuret to suffer, the most illustrious Martyr it may be that the Church hath ever seen; and also the History of some other Women martyred by the same Rapine, the most cruel Rrascal in the World: But this Letter which comes to be communicated to us, must go before it; it comes very opportunely to acquaint you with the News of the Confessors, which are sent to America, and whereof we speak but now.  
From Cadez, April 17th, 1687 MOnsieur—  
I don't doubt but you are informed of what passes in France, with respect to our Families, which groan under the Yoke of cruel Persecution; but it may be you are not yet informed of a new kind of Persecution which they have lately invented: After they had tired out the Constancy of an infinite number of unhappy persons; for seeing that they had made no farther progress in the Work of Conversion, they send them to the Islands of America, in the King's ships, to be sold to them who give most for them. These things are an abhorrence of Nature, that those who are called Christians should sell other Christians for Money; 'tis a thing that was never heard of, till this miserable Age in which we live. The Tears which I have, and do pour out every moment, permits me not to tell you all that I have seen, being accompanied by Monsieur—, your Son, and an Officer, which escaped, and is now in our Vessel; a tempestuous Wind hath caused us to put in, and refresh ourselves in the Haven of Almaria, which is in the Kingdom of Granada, and hath kept us there five Weeks, and every day we see Vessels arrive there from some Nation or other, which this tempestuous season doth oblige to seek some place of safety. On the sixth of April, a Vessel, bearing the Admiral's Flag of France, arrived there: As soon as the stormy season was over, Monsieur the Count of Stirum, sent one of his Lieutenants to the said French Vessel, to inform himself whence it came, and whither it went; we learned that it came from Marseilles, and that it went to carry them for Slaves to America. This obliged me to desire a Challoupe, that I might satisfy myself in the doubt wherein I was, suspecting there might be in it men of our Religion; and indeed it proved two true. After we had been on Board the French Vessel, they brought us a Collation, and soon after we saw some Gentlewomen appear, upon whose Countenances Death was drawn, who came upon the Deck to take the Air: We asked them upon what account they went to America; they answered us, with an Heroic Constancy, Because they would not Worship the Beast, nor Prostrate ourselves before Images: Behold, say they, our Crime. We enquired of them, if there were any from Cevennes; they answered, there was two from thence, the one of fifteen, the other of sixteen years of Age, who were below, and they were of a Village called St. Ambrose. This increased my Curiosity to see them, the one was sick unto Death, the other was with her to assist her in what she could: At my desire the Captain granted, that she who was not sick, should come up; as soon as she appeared on the Deck, I well perceived that her countenance was not unknown to me: Monsieur your Son asked her, Made-moiselle, from whence are you? She said, I am from St. Ambrose. What is your Name? I am named Peirique. I needed no more to assure me, that they were my Cousin Germans: I had resolved to permit her to speak a while, but the tears which began to run from my eyes would not suffer it: I drew near to her and said, Madam, do you not know me? At that very moment, casting her eye upon me, falling on my neck, she said, Is it possible, my dear Cousin, that I should see you once again in my Misfortunes. She added a hundred other things so affecting, that there was not a person in the Ship, which did not pour out a river of tears, at least of those who had the guard and keeping of them. I desired leave of the Captain to see her Sister, which was not able to come upon the Deck, which he freely gra●●ed me: I was no sooner below, but I saw fourscore Women, or Maids, lying upon Mats, overwhelmed with Miseries; my mouth was stopped, and I had not one word to say. They told me, the most moving things in the World, and instead of giving them Consolation, they comforted me; and I not being able to speak, they told me, with one common voice, We put our hands upon our mouths, and say that all things come from Him who is King of Kings, and in Him we put our trust. On the other fide, we saw a hundred poor miserable persons, oppressed with old Age, whom the torments of Tyrants had reduced to their last gasp: We saw there of all sorts, of all ages, and of all qualities, for they spare none. They told me, when they left Marseilles, they were two hundred and fifty persons, Men, Women, Girls and Boys; and that in fifteen days, eighteen of them died. There is but one Gentlewoman that is of Poictou, all the rest are of Nismes, or Mompellier, and the Countries in the Neighbourhood thereof. A Countryman who lived about a League and half from St. Ambrose, who had suffered all that he could suffer, upon whom these Barbarians could gain nothing, was put on board among others, and is since dead in the Harbour of Granada; his Son, who was in the same Ship, knew me at first sight; he is called Griollet, and the Village of his abode Ceurla. There are yet six Vessels upon their departure from Provence, laden with these poor Men, who expect nothing but a fair Wind to hoist sail. I was willing to have encouraged my Kinswoman, she told me, Dear Cousin, 'tis not Death that I fear, if God will call me hence, I shall escape a great many Miseries which I have yet to suffer, but I am resigned to whatever he shall please to lay upon me. A young Gentleman which the Captain entertained at his own Table, died of Grief about some eight days since. After I was returned to our Vessel, and had given a particular account of what I had seen, Monsieur the Count of Stirom signified a great deal of trouble at it, and sent me back again with some Fowls, Wine, and other things, together with some Money for their refreshment; and if it had been in his power to have rescued them from their Misery, I am sure as he would have spared nothing to have done it. Mademoiselle, your Sister, is yet wand'ring about, as my Kinsewomen informed me; they themselves lay hid a long while in the Woods of D●forfre and Arowbac. They told me so many things that I have not power to express them to you. The day after we drew up our Anchor, at the point of day, to my very great trouble; I went to bid them Farewell, and in that little time that I was there, with one voice, they repeated to me, We entreat you to remember us in your Prayers, that God would give us Grace to persevere unto the end, that we may obtain the Crown of Life. You will take it in good part, Monsieur, that I desire, on the behalf of these poor unhappy persons, the same thing which they desired of me; I assure myself that you will entreat Monsieur d' Marais to be mindful of them; they repeated it to me a hundred times after the most moving manner in the World. I conclude in professing myself—  
The Mother of a Minister, and her Sister, who are also in the same Ship, entreated me to give intelligence concerning them to her Son, who is a Minister in Holland, he is called Monsieur Arnolt, of Languedock. Monsieur, your Son would have written to you, but we have thought that this will suffice for us all.  
As soon as this Letter was communicated to us, we have not delayed one moment to give it you, that it may be scattered all over Europe, and that all the Reformed Churches may answer the Wishes and Desires of these illustrious Confessors, by praying to God for them, by Name, and that without ceasing. We see by this Letter, what false Zeal and Cruelty, animated by a Spirit of Superstition, may do; this is an example thereof which has no precedent. It cannot be said, that these were Rebels, and such as defended themselves by Arms: they were poor innocent Women, and such as had no other Faults, but that of desiring to Worship God without serving the Creature: 'Tis a voice that cries loud towards Heaven. Oh God of Vengeance, when wilt thou awake? We entreat all those who have Friends in divers parts of the World, to disperse this Letter among them, without delay, that the Voices of all Believers, united together, may pierce the very Heavens, and render God favourable to these poor Victims, who bear our Iniquities into another World, and suffer the Evils of a Persecution which our Sins have caused. They are the Innocent and the most Just which suffer, the Criminal and Faulty withdraw themselves from Sufferings, either by their Apostasy, or by their Dissimulations. Those among them, who are of this number, aught to make serious Reflections thereon.  
The first of June, 1687.    

The Twentieth PASTORAL LETTER. An Article of Antiquity: Concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass, in the fourth and fifth Ages: An Article of Controversy: A Conclusion of the Matter of Schism: A Description of the Corruption of Popery, which engaged us to a Separation.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given unto you, from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
IN the preceding Letters we have Examined the divers Alteration which have happened in Religion, in the fourth and fifth Ages, and we have there found five very considerable ones: 

1. The Original of the Monastic Life.  
2. That of Ecumenical Councils; to which at this day some men ascribe Infallibility.  
3. The Hierarchy, which hath been changed into a Government purely Monarchical.  
4. The Invocation of Saints, and Worship of Relics.  
5. And to conclude, the Introduction of Images into Churches.   I will not speak of other Changes, such are the Establishment of Lent, and Fasts, which took their utmost perfection in these Ages, because these things are of less importance, and were not the Causes of our Separation: I will conclude the History of these two Ages, with four or five things which were not changed: 

1. The Sacrament without Sacrifice.  
2. The Opinion of the Real Absence.  
3. The Communion under both Kind's.  
4. The kind of Veneration men had for the Sacrament.  
5. The Opinion touching the State of Souls after Death.    
1. The remained in the Opinions in which the Church was, with respect to the Sacrifice, which at this day is called the Sacrifice of the Mass: The Heresy of the Church of Rome about it, is one of the most novel, and also of those which have had the longest time to digest and complete itself; it received not its highest perfection till the Council of Trent. In the fourth and fifth Ages, men continued to speak of the Sacrament as of a Sacrifice; the exterior form of Sacrifice did augment by the addition of some Ceremonies, and because the Liturgy did always enlarge itself by some new Prayers: Nevertheless, at the bottom they understood that it was no new Sacrifice, but improperly so called, a Sacrifice of Bread and Wine, a Sacrifice of Commemoration, the Image of a Sacrifice, a Sacrifice as the other parts of the Worship of Christian Religion are Sacrifices. We need no more than hear the Authors of those Ages upon this subject: Eusebius saith, 
a Lib. 1 c. 10. Demonst. Evang.  That Jesus Christ hath appointed us to offer unto God the Memory of his Sacrifice. St. chrysostom 
b Homil. 17. in Heb.  saith, That we every day offer the same Sacrifice, or rather the Commemoration of the same Sacrifice. St. Austin 
c Lib. Quest. 83. Quest 61.  That we Celebrate the Image of this Oblation in memory of his Passion. 
d Lib. 20. Cont. Faust. cap. 21.  That we Celebrate the Sacrifice of our Lord, by a Sacrament of Commemoration. Theodoret 
e Euseb. Dem. Evan. lib. 5. c. 3.  That we offer no other Sacrifice, but we celebrate the Memory of that only Saving Sacrifice of the Cross, etc. to the end that by the Contemplation of the Figure, we might call to mind that which he hath suffered for us. I do not know whether a man can say more plainly, that the Eucharist is nothing but a Sacrifice of Commemoration: And if it be a simple Commemoration, where is the Real Presence, where is the Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead?  
They are the same Authors which say, That Jesus Christ by his Servants, 
f In Epist. ad Heb. cap. 8. vers. 4.  hath accomplished among men, that which respects Sacrifice, representing by Bread and Wine, the Mysteries of his Body, and of his Saving Blood. The Author of the imperfect Work upon St. Matthew, under the name of chrysostom, s●●●h, That the Christian 
g Homil. 19 ib.  offers the Sacrifice of Bread and Wine. And St. Jerome, 
h Jer. lib. 2. Advers. Jovin.  That Melchizedeck did not offer the Victims of Flesh and Blood, but that he did dedicate the Sacrament of Jesus Christ with Bread and Wine, which is a simple and pure Sacrifice. And St. Austin, 
i Lib. 16. de Civit. Dei. c. 22. & lib. 17. c. 5. & 17.  That to eat Bread under the New Testament, is the Sacrifice of Christians, and that men offer  under the Highpriest Jesus Christ, that which Melchizedeck brought, when he blessed Abraham: That is to say, Bread and Wine. And Isidore of Pelusium, 
k Lib. 1. Ep. 401.  That the Oblation of Christians is an Oblation of Bread. And St. Fulgentius, 
l Ad Petrum de Fide. cap. 19  That the Catholic Church does not cease to offer throughout all the Earth, an Oblation of Bread and Wine. And Eucherius Bishop of Lions, 
m In Genes. lib. 2. cap. 18.  That Jesus Christ hath commanded Christians to offer in Sacrifice, not Victims of Beasts, as did Aaron, but the Sacrifice of Bread and Wine. I would willingly know, how an Oblation of Bread and Wine, can be a true Sacrifice of Humane Flesh, propitiatory for the sins of Men? They have not spoken otherwise even until the establishment of the Opinion of the Real Presence, for venerable Bede, in the eighth Age, saith, 
n In Psal. 133.  That the Lord hath changed the Sacrifices of the Law, into the Sacrifices of Bread and Wine. And Isidore of Sevill, in the seventh Age, 
o Lib. de Alleg.  That the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, i. e. the Oblation of Bread and Wine, is offered through all the World.  
The same Fathers have also said, with one consent, That the Christian hath no other true Sacrifice, but that of the Cross: Origen, in the third Age, did say, 
p Homil. 17. in Numb.  That when the perfect Oblation, and Lamb without spot, came to take away the Sins of the World; the Sacrifices which were offered to God one after another, did seem superfluous, seeing that by one only Sacrifice, all the Worship of Demons was destroyed. It had been natural to say, that the Worship of the Sacrifice of the Mass was put in the place of the Worship of Devils.  
And St. chrysostom, 
a Homil. 17. in Johan.  That Jesus Christ hath offered one only Sacrifice for Sins, and that he always cleanseth us by this Sacrifice alone. And elsewhere, 
b Hom. 13. in Heb.  There is no other Sacrifice, one Sacrifice alone hath purified and cleansed us. To speak thus, is indeed to forget one's self, seeing we have a daily and continual Sacrifice, which is that of the Mass. It would be to no purpose to quote more Authors, for they all speak after the same manner.  

An Article of Controversy. A Conclusion of the Matter of Schism; the extreme Corruption of Popery hath forced us to a Separation.  
IN the preceding Letter, we began to make for you a Picture of Popery, to convince you of the Justice and Necessity of our Reformation. This Corruption of Popery may be either considered in its Guides, its Head, and principal Members, or in its Doctrine: We did consider this Corruption in its Head, i. e. the Pope; in its Guides, i. e. the Cardinals, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops: in its principal Members, such are the Priests, the Monks, and the Nuns; and in all this, we have seen the Characters of the Conductors of Babel, and the Emissaries of Antichrist.  
These are the Mouths of Popery, but what can proceed out of such Mouths? 'Tis easy to judge: They appoint for you at this day, Preachers which speak good things. There have been for some time past, a number of persons raised up to obtain the use of the Word of God, and the Holy Scripture, for the people: But this is neither ancient nor general, you must know the Popish Ministry by what it was not long since, and by what it is in all places where 'tis regnant: hear those which tell you the Holy Scripture is a dangerous Book, an obscure Book, all full of Traps, Snares, and Precipieces; that an infinite number of men have ruined themselves thereby; that 'tis from thence that Heretics have drawn their Heresies; that 'tis imperfect; that it contains not half the Christian Religion; that to understand the true sense of this half, there needs another which is called the Unwritten Word, Tradition, the infallible Voice of the Church. And a man knows not where to find this Voice. However it be, they do assure you, that the Scripture has no Authority without Tradition; that without the Testimony of the Church, we were no more obliged to believe the Gospel, than Titus Livius, or the Fables of Homer. Moreover, at this day the Jansenists, great Defenders of the Holy Scriptures, tell you plainly, and without scruple or hesitation, That by the Holy Scripture we cannot prove the Divinity of Jesus Christ; and that it were a Folly more clear than the day, to go about to prove the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures by the Scripture itself. There is nothing that Popery doth not do to decry this sacred Book: Not only 'tis insufficient, obscure, it has no authority by itself, but it is maimed, imperfect, many Books thereof are lost, those which remain are corrupt, either by the Jews, or by the negligence of Transcribers; we cannot know with any certainty what is entire, or what is not; the Translations thereof are spoiled, there are none of them conformable to the Original. Good God, what a Prodigy is this! And how great must the patience of God be, to tolerate a Religion which makes it its business to annihilate, to vilify, and abase those Oracles which ought to be so venerable among all Christians? What Christianity is this, but that, in which for the space of more than a thousand years, the Scripture was an unknown Book almost to all Christians, and is so yet at this day in all those places where Popery domineers without contradiction? Observe also the profound Ignorance in which those people live, that are subject to the Popish Inquisition. To find among them the Figures of Aretine, or some other infamous Work, is no fault; but to find there a Bible, in the Vulgar Language, is a crime not to be forgiven: for which reason, in these Countries, they know GOD no better, and it may be a great deal worse, than in Turkey. The sacred Histories are utterly unknown to them; they know nothing of Christianity, but what we find thereof in their Catechism, mingled and confounded with the Errors and Superstitions of Popery.  
Instead of the true Gospel, what do they preach in those places that are under the Dominion of Popery? And what have they preached in the times when it did Rule, and prevail without contradiction? They did there preach, 1. Corrupt Morality, according to which a man might commit Murder, to save a Crown, to defend his Honour, and secure himself from some small Affront; according to which a man might Rob, when a person did not think himself sufficiently recompensed for his labours; according to which a man might exercise Usury, and infamous Monopolies; according to which a man might keep Concubines, and abandon himself to Sodomy, without mortal Sin; according to which a man might Lie by Equivocation, and mental Reservations; according to which he might live all his life without the Fear of God, without performing one act of Contrition, or the Love of God to his death; and he might be Dispensed with, that at the point of death, provided he exercised an act of the fear of Hell, when he receives the Sacrament of Penance. Popery hath produced this detestable Morality; it hath taught it where it could, inspired it into private persons, and suffered it where it durst not teach it. For Holy History, instead of the pious and sacred Histories of the Scripture, which might turn men's minds towards Devotion, they entertain the people with Fabulous Legends: Instead of speaking to them of the Miracles and Greatness of Jesus Christ, they speak of the Greatness of the Virgin; they say that she was conceied without sin; that her Father and her Mother had been advertised of her Birth by an Angel; that at her Birth the Angels assembled together, and form a Choir and Consort in the Air; that this Celebration of the Birth of the Holy Virgin, is repeated every year on the same day; that many Saints have heard them in the Air; that this Holy Virgin was bred and brought up in the Temple, and in the most holy Place called the Sanctuary; that when she conceived Jesus Christ, it was by three drops of her Blood, which the holy Spirit took from her heart; that after she had lived most holily, she died in the presence of all the Apostles, whom the Holy Spirit brought in the Air from all parts of the World, whither they were gone to preach the Gospel; that three days after she risen again, and was carried up into Heaven, with charming Music made by the Voices of Jesus Christ and the Angels; and that she was set very near to Jesus Christ, above all the Seraphims. After the Assumption of the Virgin into Heaven, they made her do a thousand and a thousand ridiculous Miracles upon Earth: sometimes she appeared to a Monk, sometimes to a Pilgrim, sometimes to some one of her devoted Servants: she kisses them, she makes them kiss her; she opens her bosom to them; she gives them suck from her breasts; she appoints them to build a Chapel to her in such a place, and that they should perform such or such Devotions to her; she fixes herself in certain places, and there makes her choice to dwell, and do Miracles: All those which come thither for Sickness, Blindness, Palsy, loss of Blood, Deafness, loss of Members, return thence safe and sound: when one of her Houses formerly frequented, ceased to be so, she transported it beyond the Seas, and fixed it in another Country to draw thither new Servants to her Devotion; she forgets nothing that may favour those which serve her: In one Convent she takes the place, office, and figure of a debauched Nun, which ran to the places of Prostitution, because this Nun, when she was going, did devoutly commit the Convent into her hand; In another place, because an Abbess did most devoutly commend herself to her, when she had polluted herself with her Domestics, she delivered her in private of her great Belly, and restored her Virginity, in such sort, that those who had accused her, remained ashamed and confounded.  
Instead of entertaining the people with the Miracles and Virtues of true Saints, as were the Apostles, to oblige them to an imitation of them, Popery hath substituted unto them new Saints, which were Fools, and wicked Fools too, St. Francis, St. Dominick, St. Hyacinth, St. Vincent Ferrerius; or imaginary Saints, as St. Christopher, and the eleven thousand Virgins, or modern and unknown Saints, such as St. Milorus, St. Alldem, St. Colganus, and a thousand others: To which they attribute ridiculous and impertinent actions for Virtues, and such sottishnesses for Miracles, as are unworthy of those little Demons called Hobgoblins. One to testify his Humility, made himself to be tossed in a Sieve by little Children; another, to draw upon himself contempt, counterfeited the Fool and the Idiot; another fouled the Bed of his Host, that he might be despised of him; another kept company with Beasts, Wolves, and Swallows; another preached to Fishes, or Birds; another stripped himself naked, and in that condition exposed himself to public view; another made himself Women of Snow, and embraced them to cool and extinguish his Lust; another, through great Mortification, lay with the fairest Women without touching them; another made himself a Bed of Stones, and Sticks, and crowns of Nails, and Girdles of Iron; another thrust Thorns into his Body, washed his hands in quick Lime, and covered his face with an eating Powder, which made the flesh thereof one entire Ulcer. Behold a small part of the Idea that Popery gives us of the Virtue of its Saints. As to Miracles, they produce to the people faithful Chronicles, as they say, by which it appears, that some of these Saints, for their parts, have raised fifty two dead persons; another thirty; another twelve; another six, three, or four: They have healed desperate Diseases, raised Dogs, Parrots, and other Animals from the dead. The Water in which they washed their hands cured all sorts of Diseases; the clippings of their Hair, and the parings of their Nails, put into the craks of Walls, closed them up again, and have made Houses ready to fall, firm and strong. When these Saints preached to the Birds, these Animals reached out their bills, and clapped their wings; when they preached to the Fishes, they gathered together on the top of the Water, that they might hear; when they pleased they drove away not only evil Spirits which troubled them, but also living Creatures which interrupted their Discourse: They made Angles serve them not only at Mass, but also they used them as Grooms to dress their Horses: They caused themselves to be carried by the Devil to places whither they would go; they made him hold the Candle till he burned his fingers therewith: if the Devil turned himself into a Cat, they put him into such distress, that he left behind him a matter which infected the Air: When Birds were roasted, and set upon the Table, with signs of the Cross they made them fly away: Another nourished a Child in a Desert, by making him suck the clapper of a little Bell: another hung his clothes upon the shadow of a Tree, or on a ray of the Sun, as upon a Peg: another made whole again a Basket of Eggs that had been broken: another made a golden Cup of a pound of Butter: another by sucking a leprous person, drew from his Navel three great lunchions of fat matter, whereof he made so many Ingots of Gold: To conclude, there are no Impe●tinencies, nor ridiculous things which Popery doth not make its Saints to do; and behold the History which they put in the place of the Evangelical Story.  
As to what concerns Doctrine, they speak but little of the August Mysteries of Religion to the People, such as are those of the Divine Attributes, the Persons of the Trinity, the Incarnation and Redemption of Christ Jesus. These Mysteries were laid by and neglected, or if they spoke any thing of them, 'twas after a Scholastical manner, and method, 'twas by mingling with it a barbarous Philosophy of entities and quiddities, with obscure and unintelligible distinctions; 'twas by raising foolish questions on the subject of the most venerable Mysteries: For example, Whether God could make matter without form; whether he could command sin; whether this proposition, God is a Beetle, or a Gourd, could be as true as this, God is a Man; whether the number of three Persons in God, aught to be referred to the first, or second intentions; whether the second Person in the Trinity, could take the nature of a Devil, or of an Ass, as he took the nature of Man? The Books which contain these fine questions, are not yet destroyed.  
At least they entertain people with the false Doctrines of Popery. Instead of speaking to them of the efficacy of the venerable Sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross, they speak nothing to them, but of the greatness and utilities of the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar called the Mass. It was good for every thing, for the sound, and for the sick, to cure all diseases for Travellers, for those who undertook great things, to find Silver, Horses, Asses, and Hogs that were lost. 'Twas good for the Dead, as well as for the Living, 'twas excellent to fetch Souls from Purgatory, or to abate their Sufferings, for which reason they could not tell how to say too many for that purpose, 100 200. 300. 1000 2000 3000. 4000 and all with design to draw by this practice Maintenance for a million of Sluggards, who have nothing to live upon but these Masses. Instead of exalting the divine Virtue of the Blood of Jesus Christ, they spoke nothing but of Purgatory, of a certain Fire which was to burn Souls after Death; but of what sort of Men? of those who had not made pious Foundations, who had not left great Revenues to Convents, and who had not left great Alms to the Monks to say Masses. And upon this account they had always some Soul in pickle which came from Purgatory bringing News from thence, who desired Masses, and Suffrages, and who complained lamentably that his Friends had forsaken him. Amongst the means of appeasing the wrath of God, true repentance which consists in contrition, and amendment of life, was passed over very lightly. But they insisted mightily upon Satisfactions, Mortifications, Whip, hair , and Pilgrimages; they advanced the value of these things they spoke of them with prodigious Excesses, and ascribed Salvation wholly to them. And because all the World were desirous to be saved, but few were capable of these hard penances, they found out ways more easy, and commodious. If you give money to a Monk, he will whip himself for you, and you shall go to Heaven for him. If you give great Alms to a Convent of the Frior Minors, or the Preachers, or the Augustine's, or the Carmelites; if you take the Cord-girdle, or the Rosary of the Fraternity, and bestow great bounty and liberality on them, and get the Letters of Adoption of St. Francis, or St. Dominick, by these means you partake in the merit, i. e. in all the scourge and macerations of the Monks of that Order scattered all the World over. For greater security they have established a lovely, good, and inexhaustible Treasure of Indulgencies, made up of all the superabundant scourge of the good Monks, mingled with the infinite merit of the passion of Jesus Christ. And from this Treasure the Bishops, and the Popes as Sovereign Dispenser's fetch Indulgencies, and Remission for all Sins, for 40000 years, for a 100000 years, for 500000 years, and all this by paying well for it. So that if a man had committed so many enormous Crimes, that they could not be expiated under less than 500000 years' penance, he becomes discharged of them in a moment by his Money. And there was no distinction of Sins, Incests, Adulteries, Parricides, Sodomies, Brutalities, all fell under the grace of Indulgencies.  
Instead of abasing man before God, by speaking nothing to him but of Grace, and the forgiveness of sins; instead of saying to him perpetually you are saved by Grace, through Faith which is the Gift of God; instead of making him understand that his good Works could merit nothing before God, because they were very imperfect; instead, say I, of doing all this, they endeavoured to fill man with himself; they spoke nothing to him but of the merits of his Works, and of the profitableness of humane satisfactions. They made him believe that above all in matter of satisfactions he could do more than he was obliged unto, that he had merit remaining, and that he did works of supererogation, and there are found even in this age devout persons so foolish, and proud, as to say to their Friends, that they will give them their Merits. They never speak any thing to them but of their power, of their free will, of their good works, of their merits, of the crowns which are prepared for them above others. And above all these works to which they affix these Crowns, are not prayers, devotions, severe Morals, or holy lives, Charity, and alms to the poor. But they are sack-cloaths, and hare-cloaths, 'tis to shut themselves up in Covents, and there make vow of Virginity, 'tis to abstain from certain Meats, 'tis to live in Retirement without seeing or speaking to any one, 'tis to wear a Frock without a Shift. With this Furniture of good Works these men look on Heaven as an Inheritance, by full Right, and according to all the Laws and Rigour of Justice. And for other men, these pretended righteous persons full of pharisaical pride looked on them with a great contempt, by saying, Come not near me, for I am Holy.  
Instead of instructing men in the true way of possessing, and uniting ourselves to Christ Jesus, they have invented a carnal and corporeal manner, and of small expense to receive him, and taste all the saving Fruits of his presence. They have enclosed him under a morsel of Bread, from whence they have withdrawn the substance, leaving nothing but the accidents there. And under these accidents they have conveyed in the substance of Jesus Christ, by the virtue of Transubstantiation Concomitancy, and I know not how many monstrous Imaginations, and barbarous Expressions. Behold thus much for the Opinions and Doctrine of Popery.  
Let us a little consider its Worship instead of the Adoration, and Worship of the only true God, who is jealous of his Honour, and Glory, they have truly reestablished pure Paganism. The most blessed Mother of Jesus Christ hath taken the place of the Mother of the Gods, they have set her upon the Throne of God, they call her the Mother of Mercies, the Redemptrix of Mankind, the perfection and accomplishment of the Trinity, the Queen of Heaven. They give her the power to command her Son by the Authority of a Mother, they address to her in all their needs, they desire of her remission of Sins, Health, the life of Men, the recovery of the Sick, and the resurrection of the Dead. Those which are devoted to her, are much advanced above all others. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is an infallible Mark of Predestination. He can't be damned that prays to the Blessed Virgin. She hath oftentimes fetched men from Hell, she hath raised them to the end that they might do penance, she hath rescued the Souls of wicked men out of the hands of Devils, who had already dragged them down into the bottomless Pit. Persons rejected by the Son have been received into favour by the Mother, the white Ladder of the Virgin's Milk, is a more sure way to ascend to Heaven, than the red Ladder of the Blood of Jesus Christ. In the place of the Gods, and Demy Gods of Paganism, of their Tutelor Gods, their Household Gods, their Protecting Gods, subordinate to the great God Jupiter, Popery hath put its Saints, taken not only from among the Apostles, Martyrs and Confessors, but from among its Bygots, its devout People, its Hypocrites, its Monks, its Founders of Orders, its fanatics, and proud Pharisees. It hath placed them in Heaven very near unto God. It hath pulled Jesus Christ from the Right Hand of the Father, where he was to intercede continually for us, and hath placed there in Conjunction with him its Tutelar Gods, and the Patron Gods that are there, not only to offer to God their Intercessions but their Merits, for they pray unto God to have regard unto the merits of these Saints. These Patron Gods have here below their Temples, their Chapels, and their Altars which bear their Names. For here are to be seen the Churches, and the Altars of St. Paul, St. Peter, the Virgin, and other Saints. They have their Sacrifices of the Mass, that is to say, the adorable Body of the Saviour of the World, and God of the Universe, by a Worship as fantastical as it is criminal, is offered to the honour of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Roch, and St. Francis: Littanies, Prayers, Supplications, Genuflections, and generally all Religious Worship is given to these inferior Gods, to these canonised Saints: they have their part , they are taken for Protectors, Kingdoms, Cities, Families, and persons, are put under their Defence: Men beg of them Life, Health, Forgiveness of Sins, and Eternal Happiness: They are constituted Princes, Regent's, Governors of the World, to break the Nations with Rods of Iron: 'Tis not enough to adore their persons, men adore their Relics; they expose their Ashes, their Bones, shreds of their , their Girdles, their Slippers, their Shifts, the Iron, Nails, the Wood, the Blood, the Tears of Jesus Christ; the Teeth, the Milk, the Hair of the Virgin; the Cradle of Christ, and a thousand other things which are a shame to the Christian Name. These Relics do wonders, heal the sick, open men's eyes, raise the dead. They are laid with great respect and honour upon Altars; men bow down to them, and kiss them with great devotion: they are carried in state about the streets; men cry before them, as before Joseph, Bow the Knee; men expect from them rain and fair weather, plenty and abundance, peace and war. That Paganism may be complete, they have filled the Churches with Idols, which they call holy Images: They picture God against his express command; they represent Angles, tho' altogether spiritual, by corporeal Figures; they set up material Crosses, and Crucifixes of wood, stone and metal in all places. The Virgin hath her Pictures, where she is painted with a Child in her arms. All the Saints have their seat in their Churches, and upon their Altars; men fall down before them, they offer Incense to them, they kiss them, and act towards them, as if they thought some divine Virtue in them. For although the Doctors do sometimes say, that we ought not to affix any divine Virtue to them; they do nevertheless authorise, by their toleration and examples, the fury of the People, who make their Nine-days Devotions, and Pilgrimages to them; who there rub their Beads and their Handkercheifs, who make their Children touch them to sanctify them thereby. They dress them up after a stately manner on their Festivals, they crown them with Flowers and Garlands, they carry them in pomp, and cause them to go in procession, they put their confidence in these Relics and these Images. The devout persons bear about them a little pieco of the pretended wood of the Cross; some small filings of the Nails thereof; a pretended Thorn of his Crown; and a little bit of the Bone of a Saint. They carry, say I, these about them as Preservatives against the Devil, against death, and all perils by Sea and Land: Every Family has his Patron, every particular person his Saint, for whom he hath a singular devotion; he hath the Image thereof placed in his Oratory, he prostrates himself before it, to make his Prayers. To indemnify the true God for all the losses which he hath sustained in those Worships given to his Creatures, they have dedicated to him in particular, an Idol which they call the Sacrament of the Altar; there they adore, in his honour, a little morsel of dry and flat Paste, which they call in great reverence Our Lord; which they make all the World adore with great ceremony, which they carry in state about the streets, that every one may worship it, and whoever does not so, is execrable and accursed: they enclose Jesus Christ therein in a state of Annihilation, without head, feet, hands, soul, motion, or life, subject to be eaten by Rats, stolen by Thiefs, trod under foot by the Profane, and vomited by the Sick. But in compensation to God, they adore this Tomb of Jesus Christ, as the sovereign God, Creator of Earth and Heaven. If on the one hand they have corrupted the Worship by adding in the Eucharist, that which is not there, on the other hand they have taken away half thereof: they give but one part of the Sacrament, and by so doing give nothing. They have made private Masses, contrary to the Institution of Jesus Christ, and the custom of all sound Antiquity. To conclude, What have they not done, to disfigure the Worship of God? How many vain and ridiculous Ceremonies, and of no use? How many signs of the Cross, holy Waters, Exorcisms, Agnus Dei's, and other Toys And above all, they cover this with the Veil of an unknown Tongue; they speak Latin to the Peasants of France, Germany, and Spain, who are edified by what is said, as much as if they spoke Arabic. Behold, my Brethren, a very short, but very true Picture of Popery. After this, will you think that our Separation was unjust? You will yet say, that we must bear many things; and that 'tis a Religion in which a man may conveniently enough be saved. In the Name of God do not say that this Picture is extravagant, and that you do not see all this therein. For 'tis a true Description of Popery, such as it hath been in France, as well as elsewhere, for more than seven or eight hundred years. There is no man that knows any thing of Antiquity, that can descent from it; 'tis yet at this day the Popery of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and all Countries where the Reformation hath not been tolerated. Yet at this day, do the people of Spain and Portugal, know any thing of God, and of Jesus Christ, but the Names? The Object of their Devotion, is an Image, which works Miracles on the top of a Mountain, or in some Church of a Monastery; and their Piety spends itself in Foolish and Pagan Processions, in which there are mingled all those things which may render a Show ridiculous, and Devotion impious. We wish you could hear those which being banished from this Country, a while since by the order of the Court of France, are again returned hither. The Bible is imprisoned in those unhappy Countries: An illustrious Fugitive carried one of them thither, the Inquisition, who laid hands on him, seized it, and kept it as you keep a dangerous Enemy: and never could that illustrious Exile get it out of their hands, till he came out of the Country, than they permitted this dangerous Book to carry its poison elsewhere. God grant that you may give attention to all this, to the end that you may remain fully persuaded, that your Fathers were obliged to separate from the Church of Rome, and that you cannot return thither without Damnation.  
WE shall now give you that which we omitted in our last Letter, 'tis the History of some Cruelties exercised at Valence by Rapine, which deserve to be consecrated to the memory of all Ages of the Church. First you shall know how he treated the Daughters of that illustrious Martyr Monsieur d'Cross, and thereby at the same time you will learn after what manner he labours in the Conversion of all others: When these Gentlewomen were arrived, and delivered into his hands, he separated them, and put them in differing Dungeons filled with Dirt and Ordure; he took away their  and Linen, and sent them to an Hospital to inquire for Shifts, which had been many Weeks, and sometimes many Months upon Bodies covered with the Itch, Ulcers, and Carbuncles, full of matter and putrefaction: after this manner he clothed the Daughters of Monsieur d'Cross. This Villain gives them nothing to support their Lives, but a little Water and Bread which Dogs would not eat. Rapine visits them many times in the day, with his Lacques, by whom he strips them, and gives them many blows with a Bull's Pisle, and he himself beats them with his Cane on the body, and upon the very face itself, in such a manner, that they have nothing of humane shape remaining; he breaks them with so many blows, that they are not able to set one foot before another, nor lift their hand to their mouth, nor move their arms; besides this, he causes them to be plunged many times in a day in a deep Mire, moistened with stinking water; he draws them not from thence, till they have lost all sense and knowledge; at last they faint under these Torments, which have no example in the History of the most barbarous Pagans; after which they were exported to a Convent, where they are having neither form nor figure, covered with wounds from head to foot. This we have received from an honest Man who saw them in this frightful state. Mademoiselle d'Farelle of Nismes, is at this day in the hands of this Villain, with many other Gentlewomen. The Parliament of Greenoble, a little while since, sent him twenty five, or twenty six persons, both men and women, to be converted by these ways and methods. Monsieur the Baron d'Faugere of Languedock, whose Fidelity is known to all those who know his person, met the Rector of the Jesuits of Nismes, at S. Esprit, who told him, he was going to Valence to labour in the Conversion of an obstinate Hugenot, who had resisted all the means that they had made use of. And a few days after, meeting the same Gentleman, told him, That he could prevail nothing; and that he had said to Rapine, that no body but he could be successful therein, and that he ought to labour in it. So that this poor Gentlewoman, with many others, have without doubt passed the ingenious Cruelties of this famous Hangman.  
We may very well boast, that he has given us an example of Courage and Constancy, which may dispute it with all the ancient and modern Martyrs: 'Tis the famous Monsieur Menurett, an Advocate of Montlimar, he was eminent throughout his Conversation, for an exemplary Life and Devotion: when the Missionary Dragoons were sent into Dauphine, and to Montlimar, he strengthened all persons about him, by his Exhortation and Example. The Governor of Montlimar caused him to be arrested, they put him three Months into something like a Chamber, where he had nothing to lie on but a sorry Matt. After these three Months, they put him into a hideous Dungeon. He went thither full of joy, comforting his Friends who wept, and bewailed him as they accompanied him thither: He told them, they ought to rejoice, that God did him the favour to suffer for his Name. He was six months in this noisome Dungeon, and there became Dropsical. They drew him from thence to carry him to Valence, and put him into the hands of Rapine, which is the last trial to which they put the Faith of the Martyrs of that Country. Rapine drew near to him with the countenance of a Lion, and with words like roaring, concluding, We will see whether thou wilt be so obstinate in my hands. He put him into the entry of a Chamber, under which ran all the sinks of the Hospital, even those of the Bogg-houses, and Jaques; and for a bed, they gave him a Plank. This place was opposite by another little entry to the Chapel of the Hospital, where they said Mass every day; they would have obliged our Martyr to have assisted at the Mass by this entry, but they could never effect it. All these evil treatments not being able to vanquish this illustrious Confessor, Rapine comes to his last Remedies; he caused Monsieur Menurett to descend into the Court, where there was a Mulberry-tree, and fastened his arms on high thereto, his feet scarce touching the ground; he rend off his  to his very Shirt, and caused him to receive an infinite number of blows with a Bull's pisle: this treatment was continued for the space of fifteen days, with so much violence, that our Martyr voided blood by his Urine, and by all the parts of his body. In the midst of these horrible Torments, without ceasing, he begged mercy and grace from God for himself, and for his Persecutors, and implored the compassion of his Hangmen in so moving a manner, that two Capuchins, who heard his cries, exhorted Rapine to cease his cruel punishment; he did so, and was content to employ our Martyr to carry stones for a building which they were making at the Hospital. The first day of April last, the Bishop of Valence went to visit him in this stinking Sink, but gained no more upon him at this time, than at others. In conclusion, Rapine enraged with his long opposition, entered like a Devil into the Prison of this holy man, accompanied with two Lacques, or Sergeants, and gave him so many blows with a Bull's pisle, and for so long a time, that the cries of the Martyr did even rend the Air all round about. This Monster about two hours after, (after he had been wearied with the pains that he had taken to martarize this Saint) returned with his Searjeants', to repeat the punishment; but he found our Martyr expired in the midst of these cruel torments. He was put into the hands of Rapine in the month of June 1686, and died in the beginning of April 1687. I cannot tell whether after this, they will have the impudence to maintain, that all these Cruelties which have been exercised, have not been authorized by the Ministers of his Majesty, and the Judges, nor by the commandment of the Dragoons; but that they are the Violences of the Soldiery, which have been condemned and punished when they have been known. Rapine is neither Soldier nor Dragoon, he has no Commission to exercise these Cruelties, but such as he receives every day: He is Guardian of the Hospital of Valence: The Parliament of Greenoble have sent him twenty five or twenty six persons at a time, as I said but just now, to be converted by these cruel Methods. The Bishop, and the Jesuits put into his hands all those upon whom they cannot prevail: But to the end that they may not say any more, that Authority does not interpose in these Cruelties, they ought to be informed of a memorable story happening at Uzes, and which I think has been attested by twenty Letters of different persons, all which agree in the thing: There is at Uzes a House of Propagation, governed by four Creatures, called the Daughters of the Propagation; in this House are many Gentlewomen of the Reformed Religion, imprisoned, who have resisted preceding Violences and Temptations: One of these four Daughters of the Propagation went to complain to the Intendant, of the rough answers which these poor persecuted Gentlewomen gave, and of the small disposition they had to be converted. The Intendant, Monsieur d' Baville, whose name for his conduct in Languedock, deserves to live to all future Ages, this Intendant, I say, immediately appointed Scourging against ten of the most intractable. In the execution of this command, four Soldiers were set at the Gate with Muskets charged, and lighted Matches, ready to give fire. Two Priests went in with the Major of Vivon, and the Judge Larnac, Sub-delegate to the Intendant: in their presence these Creatures of the Propagation, stripped these Gentlewomen from the Girdle upward, and doing the Office of Hangman, scourged them after the most cruel manner, with straps made of Coards, at the end of which hung Bullets of Lead; afterwards they were thrown into a dark Prison. During the time of this punishment, they uttered cries which were heard into the street; but they encouraged each other to suffer these Trials for the Name of Jesus Christ.  
I will at this time tell you no more sad News, but on the contrary, I will comfort you by giving you to understand, that in this general Misfortune, wherein the Reformed Church of France sees so many persons, in some sort fall under the Temptation, we have the joy to know, that scarce one falls in love with this wicked Religion. We have taken care to inquire concerning it, of those which came from all parts; and we have caused inquiries to be made upon the places, as much as is possible for us; but we can assure you, my Brethren, as a thing certain, that the hatred of the Roman Religion increases every day, insomuch that the Persecutors are farther every day from accomplishing their designs, than ever: We may say, without fear of lying, or hyperbole of expression, that this Persecution has not gained to the Church of Rome two hundred hearty Converts; and although I know a vast number of persons have been prevailed withal to make their Subscriptions, yet the number of those, which have with a satisfied Judgement embraced their Religion, is so small, that it does not deserve to be computed. But on the contrary, by a surprising marvel of Divine Providence, this Persecution has opened the eyes of a great number of ancient Catholics, as they are called. That which we tell you, is no Conjecture or Fiction, 'tis that which we know upon good Testimony: So that it is certain, that the Church of GOD has gained more Souls than it has lost. These Seeds will bring forth in their time. Every day we see persons arrive here, who Abjure the Roman Religion; and amongst them there are such as are eminent by their Merit, by their Birth, by their Parts, and by their Learning. When we know that they will not take it ill, if we name them, we will do it; for 'tis necessary that all the World know it, that the depths of Divine Providence, and His Judgements may be admired thereby.  
June 15. 1687.    

The Twenty first PASTORAL LETTER. An Article of Antiquity: The Fathers of the Fourth and Fifth Ages said, that the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the Figure and Image of the Body of Jesus Christ. An Article of Controversy. An Answer to the Prejudices that have been drawn against our Separation from the Authors of it.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you, from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
WE have already seen one essential thing in which the Fourth and Fifth Ages had introduced no alteration; 'tis the Opinion concerning the Nature of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. We shall now see that the Faith of the Church did not change in the Point of the Real Presence, and Transubstantiation. This Article being long, we shall divide it into two. And we shall see at this time, that the Fathers did believe as we do, that the Sacrament of the Eucharist was nothing but an efficacious Figure of the Body and Blood of the Lord.  
As they persevered in the custom of calling the Sacrament of the Eucharist, a Sacrifice and Oblation, they continued also in a custom much more ancient, since it descended from Jesus Christ and his Apostles, that is, to call the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist, the Body, the Flesh, the true Flesh, and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said then, that we eat the Flesh of our Lord Jesus; that we really receive him; that Jesus Christ hath given his Flesh to eat, and his Blood to drink; that it is truly his Flesh, and truly his Blood; that we may not doubt, that Jesus Christ doth not give what he promised, viz. his Flesh and his Blood; nor that the Bread is not the Body of Christ; that Jesus Christ, who changed Water into Wine, could easily change the Bread into his Body, and the Wine into his Blood; that we must communicate with a full certainty, as in the Body of Jesus Christ; that Jesus Christ, who is the invisible Priest, changes the visible Creatures into the substance of his Body and of his Blood. After all that which they quote unto you of most strength concerning the Article of the Eucharist for Transubstantiation and the Real Presence in the fourth and fifth Ages amounts to this.  
But I pray you, what doth all this signify? Is there any thing therein of more strength than that which Jesus Christ and his Apostles have said? The Lord said, My Flesh is Meat indeed, and my Blood is Drink indeed, this, or this Bread is my Body. St. Paul said, The Bread which you break is our Communion in the Body of Jesus Christ. That which is under debate, is to know how they understood this, and if we prove, that Jesus Christ and his Apostles did understand that the Bread continueth Bread, being nevertheless changed into the Body of Jesus Christ, if we prove that they meant the Bread is the Body of Jesus Christ, because it is the Sign, the Sacrament, and the Means by which the efficacy of his Death is applied unto our Souls; it is certain, that we have ruined all the advantages that can be drawn from these high Expressions. In like manner, if we can prove, that the Fathers of the fourth and fifth Ages did understand that the Bread and Wine became the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and are changed into his Flesh and Blood, because they are the Sacraments, the Signs, the Figures, the Images, and the Means by which God doth communicate the virtue of his Flesh, and the efficacy of his Death, without any change happening in the substance thereof; if, say I, the Fathers of these Ages declare this plainly, it is obvious, that they cannot draw any advantage from all these Expressions, how high soever they appear; now I take it for granted, that they could not declare themselves more plainly thereon, than they have done, as we shall hear hereafter.  
And to the end that their Declarations may appear to us more express and significant, it is necessary that you be acquainted with one thing, of which your Converters are at an agreement with us, and by consequence I need not prove unto you; and 'tis this, in these Ages it was the custom to hid the Mysteries not only from Unbelievers, but also from the Catechumen which had not as yet communicated. This conduct had two Reasons or Foundations, the first was the design to increase the respect which they desired Christians should retain for these Mysteries; the second was an earnest passion to diminish the contempt which the Pagans had for a Mystery wherein nothing was seen but Bread and Wine. These two Considerations obliged them never to speak of the Sacrament but in obscure and dark words. They desired never to name the Bread and Wine; as much as they could they served themselves of Periphrases, saying sometimes, that which you well understand, sometimes that which the Priest takes, sometimes the nourishment made of many Grains, and the drink drawn from many Grapes, or something of like sort. This was, in my opinion, the meanest subtlety in the World. For in despite to all their Precautions, every body knew, that they took nothing but Bread and Wine in the Eucharist, and they themselves said it oftentimes contrary to the design which they had of saying nothing concerning it. But at last the design of hiding the matter of the Sacrament engaged them to speak nothing of it but in dark terms, and always to serve themselves of the mystical terms, of the Body, the Flesh, and the Blood of Jesus Christ, and always to use these expressions, and always to avoid those that were plain and without figure, as much as they were able. So that when it happens, that they call the Signs by their name, and to speak to things as they are indeed, one only passage is more worth than a hundred, where they speak figuratively and mystically. For this mystical Language was among them a Language of necessity, and duty which they had imposed upon themselves, whereas when they spoke of things plainly and nakedly, 'twas the Language of truth, 'twas the Language of the Heart and Soul which rescued itself from politic slavery and bondage. It will not be therefore amazing, if we find few passages in Antiquity, where the truth of the opinion of the Fathers was plainly expressed. Nevertheless, we find so many of them, and so plain, that 'tis not conceivable how prejudice hinders our adversaries from seeing the truth in this case.  
First of all, altho' we had no other passages of the Fathers, but those where they call the Sacrament, the Figure, the Sign, the Image, the Symbols, of the Body and Blood of the Lord, these were enough. Now of these there is almost an infinite number, what other things do we say thereof, than that the Sacrament is the Figure, the Sign, and the Symbol of the Body of Jesus Christ? why did they say the same thing with us, if they had not the same thoughts and conceptions with us? St. Austin said 
(a) Cont. Ademas, cap. 12. , Our Lord made no scruple to say, this is my Body. The Author of the Book of Sacrament, under the Name of St. Ambrose, saith 
(b) Lib. 4. cap. 5. , That the Oblation of the Eucharist is the Figure of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Ephraim saith 
(c) Lib. De Nat. Dei non fruit. , That our Lord, taking Bread in his hands, broke it, and blessed it, that it might be the Figure of his immaculate Body, and that he blessed the Chalice, and gave it to his Disciples, to signify his Blood. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, from whom they bring you many passages, to prove Transubstantiation, says, that 
(d) Mistagog. 4.  under the Figure of Bread, is given to us the Body, and under the Figure of Wine, is given to us the Blood. And St. Gregory Nazianzen saith 
(e) Orat. 42. , that we are made partakers of the Passover, but always figuratively, altho' our Passover be much more clear than that of the ancients, for the legal Passover, I dare say, was a dark Figure of another Figure, i.e. of the Eucharist. St. Jerome saith 
(f) In Jerem. cap. 3. lib. 2. advers. Jovin. , that the Figure of the Blood of Jesus Christ is made with Wine; and elsewhere, that Jesus Christ hath offered not Water, but Wine for the Figure of his Blood. Theodoret saith 
(g) Dialog. 3. & 1. , that the Eucharist is the Figure of the Passion, and that the Sacred Nourishment is the Figure of his Body and his Blood. In these Passages the Ancients make use of the word Type, which exactly signifies Figure.  
They have also expressed the Nature of the Sacrament by the word Antitype, which signifies an opposite Figure, or a Figure that has respect unto the thing signified, as one Pillar answers to another, which is placed just over against it. So the Author of the Constitutions attributed to the Apostles, saith 
(a) Lib. 5. cap. 13. , that our Lord gave to his Disciples the Mysteries, which are the Figures answering to his precious Body and Blood, and that we celebrate the Figures answering to the Body and Blood of our Lord. In the Liturgy ascribed to St. Basil, 'tis said 
(b) Lib. 6, & 29. , we beseech thee, by offering the Figures of the Body and Blood of thy Christ. St. Cyril of Jerusalem saith 
(c) Mystag. 5. , that we taste the Figures answering to the Body and Blood of our Lord. Theodoret saith 
(d) Dialog. 2. , that the Divine Mysteries are the Figures answering to the true Body.  
Can any thing be more express than all this, unless it be what we see with our eyes? In proper terms they tell us, that the Sacrament in nothing but an Image. Eusebius, Bishops of Caesarea saith 
(e) Demonst. lib. 8. , That Jesus Christ commanded his Disciples, to make the Image of his own Body. Procopius, upon Genesis, saith 
(f) Cap. 49. , that Jesus Christ gave to his Disciples the Image of his Body. And Pope Gelasius, or some Author of the same Age, saith 
(g) Gelas. de duabus nat. , certainly the Image, or the Similitude of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, is celebrated in the Mystery. This therefore shows us plain enough, what we ought to believe concerning Jesus Christ our Lord, even that which we profess, that which we celebrate, and that which we receive in his Image. I do not think, that Zuinglius and Calvin have spoken more plainly and significantly.  
To conclude, they call the Bread and the Wine, Symbols, a word which every one knows signifies as much as the word Figure. Eusebius saith, 
* Demonst. lib. 1. cap. 10.  We have learned to make a Memorial of this Sacrifice upon the Table with the Symbols of his Body and Blood. And St. Chrysostom, 
‖ Hom. 83. in Matth.  If Jesus Christ be not dead, of what are the consecrated things the Symbols? And Theodoret, 
* 1 Cor. c. 11.  When we shall have the presence of our Lord, we shall have no more need of the Symbols of his Body. Nothing is so common in the Fathers, as these Expressions, To partake in the Symbols of our Lord, to take the Symbols, to burn the Symbols, etc.  
These same Fathers do give us the same Reasons of the Names, Body, and Blood, which are give to the Bread and Wine, that we ourselves give of them. 'Tis because they are the effectual Representations of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ. If the Sacraments, saith St. Austin, 
† Epist. 23. ad Bonifac.  had no resemblance of those things whereof they are Sacraments, they would be no Sacraments; and 'tis because of this Resemblance, that they take the name of the things themselves: as in the Sacrament of the Body of Jesus Christ, the Sacrament of his Body and of his Blood, are in some sort his Body and Blood. It seems to me, that a person must be prodigiously blind, to believe, that he which speaks thus, does not think as we do. The same St. Austin saith elsewhere, 
* Serm. ad Infantes apud Bertram.  How is the Bread his Body, and that which is in the Cup his Blood? My Brethren, these things are called Sacraments, because 'tis one thing that is there seen, and another thing which is understood; that which is seen, is a corporeal Species; and that which is understood, is a spiritual Benefit and Advantage. To what end does he take this compass of discourse? and why does he not answer without scruple, 'Tis because the Body of Christ Jesus is really there, after the words of Consecration?  

An Article of Controversy. An Answer to the Prejudices which some persons have raised against our Separation from the Actions, the Conduct, and the Personal Qualities of the Authors thereof.  
WE have finished our Answer to the Sophisms which they propose unto you on the subject of our Separation, by making it evident to you, that it does not hazard your salvation, that it was necessary, and that it was just. But before we pass to other Questions which respect the Church, we must say something concerning those who made this Separation; for 'tis the most fruitful Source and Fountain of Illusions, and a Subject of perpetual Harangues and Declamations. And this we own especially to a Woman of Quality, among those which are called new Converts, who places the little Edification that our Reformers have given to the World, or rather the Scandal which they have given to it by their Conduct and Divisions, as one of the Reasons which hath most affected her, and prevailed on her to embrace the Roman Religion. 'Tis a subject on which an infinite number of Books have been made, to which I might send you, were it not that Books are taken from you for the most part; besides, my design being to spare you the labour of reading great Books, I am to abridge and reduce what our Authors have said thereon, to the compass and extent of a Letter. Behold then the Accusations which they form against the Authors of the Separation, which I have justified in my preceding Letters. 1. That these pretended Reformers did no Miracles, to support their extraordinary Mission and their new Gospel. 2. That they led a scandalous life, and such as had no conformity with the Spirit of a Reformed Gospel, which they boasted to bring into the World. 3. That there appears in their Expressions a dark Malignity, and an implacable Hatred against the Roman Church, and that their Books are full of cruel Injuries both against the Roman Religion, and against its Doctors, a thing absolutely contrary to the Spirit of Charity. 4. That they are divided into three Sects, of which Zuinglius, Calvin, and Luther made themselves the Heads. That if the Spirit of God had sent them to Reform the Church, he would also have united them in this great design, and have inspired them with the same thoughts, and the same apprehensions. 5. To conclude, they say, that they have rend and torn each other by transports of Passion, which are the true Characters of false Pastors, and false Christians.  
As to the first Objection, I cannot avoid baptising it by its own name, and calling it an Impertinence. Why should our Reformers work Miracles, and why were they obliged thereunto? When Jehu reform the Church of Israel, pulled down the Temples of Baal, broke in pieces his Statues, rooted out his Prophets, and abolished his Worship, did he work Miracles, or had he any need thereof? Was it any spot to that Holy Reformation, that Josiah made, when he reestablished the Service of God, which was almost wholly under a heap of foreign Idolatries, that he wrought no Miracles? When Theodosius the Great reform the Christian Church, and drove away Arianism, which was become the reigning Religion, did he do Miracles, or had he any need thereof? There is no need to work Miracles, but when men bring a new Religion, and a new Revelation. For that reason the Apostles wrought Miracles, because they had a new Revelation to propose to the World. They brought a Gospel unknown to Jews and Gentiles, and opposite to the prejudices of the one and the other. We brought no new Gospel into the World, we propounded the Old and the New Testament; the one and the other were received, without contradiction, by all those Christians which we desired to reform. When it shall please God to convert the Jews to Christianity, according to his promises, there is much probability that he will send them some Prophets which will work Miracles, and that will be necessary. For although the Gospel-Revelation be already manifested, and we have the Books of the Evangelists and the Apostles, nevertheless this is nothing with respect to the Jews, because they do not esteem our Books Canonical, but believe the Apostles to be Cheats and Impostors. There is therefore need of new Miracles to recover them from their prejudices, and oblige them to give attention to the truth. But as for us, it was in no wise necessary to work Miracles to establish that Book whereof we served ourselves. Otherwise, as often as the Kings of Judah produced the Law of Moses to make Reformation in their Church, they had been obliged to work Miracles. They had nothing else to do, but to produce the Book, and make it evident, that the Abominations which had been introduced into Religion, were either forbidden, or not commanded there. Behold all that they had to do; behold all that we have to do; and 'tis to misunderstand the Conduct of God, and the Spirit of the Gospel, to imagine that the truth cannot be commended to Unbelievers, but by Miracles. How many millions of men have been converted to Christianity, since the days of the Apostles, and the cessation of the gift of Miracles? Miracles are designed to deliver men from their evil prejudices, and to endue them with such as are good, that they may hearken to the truth: Men that believe not the Christian Religion, but only for the sake of its Miracles, are very ill-Christians. And among those which became Converts by the preaching of the Apostles, those who had no other reason to embrace this New Religion, but the Miracles which they saw done by those which preached it, were very miserable Converts; such persons are the seed of Apostasy, and adhere to the Church but by a very feeble root. We ought to adhere to it for the love of truth, now 'tis the knowledge of the truth, and not the sight of Miracles, which gives birth to the love thereof. If Miracles be not necessary for the Conversion of Unbelievers, with far greater reason they cannot be of necessity for the bringing back of wand'ring Christians to the right way. For there needs no more, but to show them the holy Scripture, which so exactly marks out the path in which they ought to walk. As to what they say, that those who will establish a new Ministry, must have Miracles for the support of it, 'tis an Affair to be treated on elsewhere. We have already said something concerning it, and we shall have yet farther occasion to speak of it, and show that we have no more established a new Ministry, than we have introduced a new Gospel. Where there is no new Revelation, there is no new Ministry; our Ministry is that of the Apostles, because our Doctrine is theirs.  
The second Accusation which they make against the Authors of our Separation, is their Scandalous Life. There is no probability, say your Converts, that God should suffer so strange an Alliance, as that would be, of a great abundance of the Spirit of Light on the one part, and of so great disorders of Manners on the other. And thereon they publish a hundred ugly stories to cry down the Memory of Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, Martyr, Beza, etc. First we say, that truth is truth, without any dependence on those who declare it. Your Converters have said somewhere, That the Citizens of. Babel may sometimes build Jerusalem. 'Tis a truth so certain, that to deny it, a man must be ignorant and false: For in all Ages there have been very Evil men, who have defended the part of truth, and who have even maintained it against Heretics, whose Conduct and Manners have been very regular, and oftentimes more edifying than that of the Orthodox. We must not form a prejudice against the Doctrine, upon the ill Conduct of those which preach it; we must judge of Truth by itself. So that although it should be true, that our Reformers were such as they report them, nevertheless it would behoove us to see whether these Citizens of Babel were not the Builders of Zion. But God forbidden that we should have no other fortification to defend ourselves. We have made to appear the innocence of the Lives of the Authors of our Separation, by Apologies of so much strength, that their Calumniators have been covered with Confusion; and the most part of our most resolved Enemies have been obliged to renounce them. The Bolsacs', the Bertheliers, the Florimond de Raymond's, and other like Calumniators, aught to be the Horror and Execration of all Honest men. The Author of the Legitimate Prejudices against the Calvanists and other like Authors, who are willing to preserve themselves in the Esteem of Honest men, fortify and establish themselves upon notorious matters of fact, such is for example, Marriage of Priests. Persons who have made a Vow of Chastity, say they, and who were obliged to celibate by so many Oaths, have violated their Vows in the face of the Sun; they have opened Cloisters to take Wives from thence, and so have committed a double Adultery against Christ Jesus. These are pitiful Declamations, according to my apprehension. To judge of the nature of these Actions, we must know what were the Principles of those who did them. Why should they observe Celibacy, since they looked upon it as a Yoke of which they desired to deliver the Clergy, because it had produced a world of Impurities and Abominations, so that a Deluge was not capable of purging them? They have broken their Vows. They were unlawful Vows, made under a tyrannical Empire, conceived in a false Religion, unacceptable to God, because they served as a Veil to an infinite number of Corruptions, and at the same time to a debauched and hypocritical life. They forsook Babylon, and it behoved them to forsake all the Badges thereof. This kind of life, which under an appearance of Piety hides such great Disorders, is the true Character of the Beast. These Monks are those Hypocrites whose Consciences are seared as with a hot Iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from Meats which God hath permitted; which teach a Doctrine of Devils, and serve as a Support to the Throne of the Beast. So that these Reformers being delivered from the tyrannical Yoke of this unhappy Empire, aught to return to the enjoyment of all their Rights, and of all their Liberty; and being put in the possession of it, they may and aught to use it. There needs but one thing to confound all these Calumniators, who are willing to slain and blacken the Lives of the Authors of our Reformation: What have these Reformers gained, what have they gotten, to do the work of Impostors? Have they gained Riches, Honours, or great Dignities? Have they left great Houses, have they left Heirs, and Children that were great Lords? Never did persons despise their own Interests more than they did, they never got wherewithal to be buried decently, and scarcely got wherewith to live. Their Zeal, Firmness, Constancy, and Perseverance, joined with a contempt of their own Interest, make up a Character very opposite to that of dishonest men. If they had been debauched effeminate Lovers of Pleasure, why did they go out of the Body of the Roman Clergy, who enjoyed all the pleasures of the flesh, even those which were most infamous, with so much convenience and advantage. These Gentlemen say, that the principal reason which gave such success to the New Gospel, was the licentiousness of the Churchmen and the Monks of that Age. This is it which that same Lady does confess, who makes the ill Conversation of the Authors of our Separation, one cause of her return to the Church of Rome. But this Confession and this Truth which is publicly known, doth it not utterly ruin the Accusation which the Papists make against our Reformers? Is there any probability that the great number of people, which forsook the Roman Church, being scandalised by the wicked Lives of its Guides, should list themselves under the Ensigns of other wicked persons, which were no better than those they had forsaken? If they were not vicious and debauched, at least, say they, they were fierce, proud, Lovers of themselves, passionate, ambitious, vain, and violent. These are strokes stricken in the Air, and Accusations which make it evident they have nothing to say. Concerning Ambition, there doth not appear any footstep thereof in their Conversation. And that which they call Pride and Fierceness, is according to us, Zeal and Vigour in the maintenance of Truth, as we shall make▪ it appear in examining the third Accusation.  
The third Accusation is, that it's evident the Authors of our Separation were inspired with a dark Malignity against the Roman Church; they vomited out against her, say they, floods of Injuries, and  is to be seen a Character of black Gholer, which discharges itself both upon their Persons and Religion. They support and strengthen this Accusation by the Confession of some Protestants, who were of another frame and temper of mind, and did not approve those methods of proceedure that were so full of flame and fire. I answer, That Grace which changes men's Manners, does not change their Temper and Constitution, but governs and serves itself thereof. Although it should be true, that there appeared a great deal of fire in the Authors of our Reformation, that would be no sufficient cause to condemn them, it being the temper of all Great men. And this temper is of so great necessity for the execution of great things, that without it 'tis very difficult to carry on and prosecute great Designs and Erterprises. This is a thing unto which those men have too little regard, which at this day do so highly commend, and advance the Eulogies of sweetness and moderation in Controversies, and who persuade us to imitate other Great men, who are of a quite contrary Character, and temper of Mind. If these honest men of this last Order, that is to say, these soft and moderate men, had been born in the past Age, and had been engaged in that great Work, they had neither maintained, nor carried it so far, as did those men, the heat of whose Temper they would fain make a Crime. If Luther had not had a heart fearless, and of inconceivable courage, he had never been able to bear up against the Torrent of Contradictions and Oppositions that he met withal, and repelled. Father Paul the famous Venetian Divine, who became famous on occasion of the Affair of the Interdict of that Republic, knew assuredly the Corruption of the Roman Church, at least as well as Luther: He made no secret of it, no eminent Protestant passed by Venice, to whom he did not discover himself concerning it. They often represented to him, that he was obliged in Conscience to break with a Church, the Impurity and Idolatry whereof he so well understood. He had a thousand Reasons to offer on his own behalf: sometimes that he separated the good from the bad, sometimes that he was of use to a thousand persons that lay hid, and had good sentiments; at last when he was pressed hard, he would say, that God had not given to him the Heart and Spirit of Luther. It is certain, that if Father Paul had been of the Temper and Spirit of Luther, Venice had been at this day what Geneva is. And it is also certain, that if Luther, Zuinglius, and Calvin, had been of the Temper and Spirit of Father Paul, all Europe had been yet what Venice is at this day. It behoves us therefore to admire the great and profound Wisdom of God, who chose for so great a Work, men whose Temper was fit to maintain, improve, and exercise Zeal effectually. To this Consideration add another; the Authors of our Reformation have indeed spoken ill of the Church of Rome, of its Priests, of its Highpriest, of its Monks, and its Guides. And why might they not speak ill of them? I do maintain, that they said nothing but what was true; they could scarcely speak too much ill of Popery. They said, that the Church of Rome was mystic Babylon; that she was a famous Harlot; that she was a debauched Adulteress; that her Pastors were Dogs and Swine. This was true. There was nothing in the World so corrupt as the Roman Clergy. Rome is Babylon, and all her Members are the Inhabitants of Babel. Was this a time to speak things by halves? What reason had they to flatter Rome? Ought they not to paint her in all her Colours, that they might make her odious? If it had been possible to exceed in the description of her, that had been more pardonable, than the tenderness of those who abate her ugliness by their smooth and soft Pencils. It was then expedient to awaken men who were in so deep a sleep, and in order thereunto 'twas necessary to speak loud. And after all, these Gentlemen have but little reason to reproach us with the Violences and Injuries of Luther and Calvin, against the Church of Rome: that is little, in comparison with the Rage which that Church has exercised against us. The Calvinists call the Papists Idolaters and Swine, and the Papists returning a thousand Injuries more severe, add thereunto Cruelties unknown to Pagans, and the most barbarous Nations. They burned them by a slow fire, they hanged and quartered them, they caused them to die in Prisons by unheard-of punishments, they hunted after them as after Lions and Bears. Although there should have been something humane in the heat of our first Reformers, had it been very surprising, that men whom they burned, which they rend and tore in pieces, should grow into some little choler against their Persecutors? Let the present Conduct of those who at this day would form a prejudice in the minds of the New Converts, on the occasion of the transport and heat of our Reformers, be looked into and examined. These Gentlemen have addressed Pastoral Letters unto us, with a Quill dipped in Gall, and afterwards have sheathed their Swords in our breasts and bowels. They condemn to death those who exercise any other Religion but that of Rome. They drag the Bodies of those to the Dunghill, who die refusing to embrace their Doctrine. They send those to the Galleys, who will not submit unto it. They cause those who will not subscribe to their Superstitions, to be burnt, torn in pieces, eaten up, and devoured by their Dragoons: Those who resist them by the Weapons of the Word of God, they sent for Slaves into the other World. And after this, they tell you, your pretended Reformers were violent and passionate persons; they could not be the Messengers of God, for God is Love and Kindness. Tell them on this subject, you cannot be the Ministers of God, for you do the Work of the Devil, and the Father of Lies, who was a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning.  
But behold a new Accusation founded on this, that the Authors of our Separation poured out their Gall not only against the Roman Church, but also against their own Brethren. The Popish Authors of all Orders take a great deal of pleasure in heaping together all the injuries which the Lutherans, and Calvinists have said against each other; and they have found therein the marks of Reprobation. On this subject we have answered, That we condemn these transport, that we acknowledge them opposite to a Spirit of Charity. We say, that the Authors of our Separation did not utterly strip themselves of all that was Humane; that they did retain some tinctures of Popery from whence they came, which were blemishes and spots in their conduct and conversation: Impatience, fury, and transport against those who oppose themselves to their sentiments, and contradict them, is the Spirit of Popery, and particularly that of the Monks. This is certain, for which reason the Romish Church treats all her Enemies as Devils, damned, reprobate, excommunicated Heretics. Let a man read the History of Popery, and he will see these furies reigning : let him observe what bloody and cruel Tragedies, the Monks stirred up a little before the Reformation, on subject of the form of their Hoods; and of the Question concerning the property of those Commodities and Goods which the Friar's Minors spent. The thing proceeded even to fire, for the Popes caused some of these poor Monks to be burnt, who obstinately maintained, that what the Minors spent, was not their own. What is the injustice of the Inquisition against those who are guilty of the least contradictions to the sentiments of Rome? Let a man read the Furies of the Popes, when they had Opposites, and Antipopes. Let him read the frightful Bulls of Excommunications against Kings, Princes, States, and persons, who had the boldness to oppose themselves against the torrent of Corruption, and the attempts of Tyranny. 'Tis from thence that the impatience and passion into which the Reformers fell against one another, in the maintaining their sentiments, did derive: 'Tis from the same tincture of Popery, that some of them took those harsh methods of procedure, which they believed they might take against Heretics. So that if these transports, and this impatience of suffering, with respect to their Brethren, hath been in our Reformers a mark of Reprobation, 'tis unavoidable that the Roman Church is reprobate, and the Synagogue of Satan; for 'tis she that inspired this Spirit into those which came out of her bosom. We say also, that in all Age's men have been made much after the same fashion, they have grown into heat, and transport one against another upon very light occasions, even to the making of scandalous Schisms. The Bishops assembled in the Council of Nice, to condemn the Doctrine of Arrius, tore one another, and gave Libels to Constantine to ruin each others reputation. Constantine, to reconcile them, thought it convenient to throw their Papers into the fire, without reading them. We learn from the Writings of Athanasius, that the Orthodox, who agreed in the sense of the Doctrines against Arrius, disagreed among themselves about the words Substance, Persons, and Hypostasis; some being willing it should be said there were three Hypostases in the Deity; others saying, That it was an Heresy, because it was to make three Gods. The Luciferians, who with all the Church were enemies to the Arrians, suffered themselves to run into the highest passions against those who were willing to receive the Arrian Bishops, and permit them in their Sees, after their repentance. The Controversies of St. Cyril of Alexandria, and St. chrysostom, who called each other Traitors, and Judass, have been already quoted to these Gentlemen. Examples of this sort taken from the most happy Ages, and such as were nearest to the fountain of Charity, have been quoted to them, as the transport of Stephen Bishop of Rome, who treated St. Cyprian as a false Christ, a false Apostle, and a deceitful Worker; St. Cyprian and Firmilian, the Adversaries of St. Stephen, on the other hand said concerning him, That he was wicked, obstinate, presumptuous, proud, inhuman, bold, insolent, schismatical, foolish, inept, blind, and smitten with a Spirit of Giddiness. To conclude, their own Authors have been quoted to them, who in these last times, on the subject of some Disputes about Grace, have spoken against each other, a thousand and a thousand heinous Calumnies. Therefore if eagerness and transport against Brethren, be always a mark of Reprobation, 'tis avoidable that St. Epiphanius, Jerome, Cyril, chrysostom, as well as all the Hero's of Popery, be esteemed Reprobates. This is enough to make it evident, that instead of drawing prejudices against Doctrine, from the faults of those who teach it, we ought to admire the profound Wisdom of God, who serves himself of weak Instruments to execute great things, who leaves in men the faults of their temper, and nevertheless fails not to use them profitably, in his great Work of building up Jerusalem, to the end that all the glory may be of God, and not of us, and that we may have reason to say, We have this Treasure in earthen Vessels.  
To conclude, the last Accusation is founded on the difference of sentiments in which the Authors of our Separation were found, with respect to some points. I consider, writes the Lady of whom we have spoken, I consider, says she, three men which appeared almost in the same time, who attempting to reform the Church, in the mean while could not agree among themselves in the most essential points. If a person had a mind well form and fashioned, as it ought to be, instead of being scandalised at this, that the Reformers were at a difference about some Articles, he would be edified by this, that they were at an agreement in so many. I am troubled at this, that they were not at an agreement in all; but I much more admire this, that without consultation, as it appears by their Controversies with each other, they agreed in so many points; and I look on it as an evident proof that God guided them in this great Work. For 'tis certain, that if they had been inspired by a spirit purely Humane, as all the Patrons of Heresies have been, they would have agreed in nothing, but in the general design of troubling the Peace of the Church. Let a man read the History of Heresies, and Heretics, and he will see, that they made Sects and Parties that differed in every thing; the Gnostics, the Manichees, the Arrians, the Entychians, the Nestorians, and a hundred others: They might agree in certain points, as the Gnostics and the Manichees might agree in the Heresy of two Principles, but it was with such enormous differences, that it was visible they could not be guided by one and the same Spirit. But I entreat you, by what accident did the Authors of our Separation, agree to condemn in Popery, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the taking away of the Cup, Transubstantiation, the Adoration of the Eucharist; the Procession of the Sacrament, private Masses, Purgatory, Indulgencies, Humane Satisfactions, the Adoration of Images, the Invocation of Saints, the Worship of Relics, Monastic Vows, the Pope, and Antichristian Tyranny, a barbarous Language in the Worship of God, Prayers for the Dead, false Sacraments, the abuse of Ecclesiastical Power, the Merit of Works, Works of Supererrogation, Pilgrimages, Idolatrous Devotions to the Blessed Virgin, Legends, Institution of divers Orders of Monks, Miracles, the Infallibility of the Church, the supreme Authority of the Pope, or Councils over Consciences, Traditions, the pretended imperfection, obscurity, and insufficiency of the Holy Scripture, and the prohibition to read it. This is the object to which we ought to give attention, that we may admire and say, it must be, that all this be false, wicked, vicious, and of such corruption as is plain and obvious, since men that were at no agreement or correspondence among themselves, yea, who divided, and oftentimes evil entreated each other, should agree, and be at good accord therein. Indeed 'tis a thing which we can never admire enough, that men who were no Prophets, nor inspired persons, nor led by an infallible Spirit, should condemn in Popery, not that which continues of Christianity there, viz. the Fundamental Doctrines contained in the Creed, but precisely, and only all the pernicious Additions, yea, and that one and the same Additions. Wherefore did not one of them take one part of Popery, and reject another? Why, without any correspondence, did they treat as Abominations, all these pieces patched on to Christianity? Why did they agree, that we ought to receive only the Word of God for the Rule of our Faith? Why, and how did they agree so admirably in the Interpretation of this Word of God? If a man does not acknowledge something Divine therein, he must be smitten with a spirit of Astonishment. But they are not at an agreement about the manner how the Bread in the Eucharist is the Body of Jesus Christ. Behold a thing very amazing, that among a hundred and a hundred points, in which they are agreed, there should be one in which they could not come to an accord: Moreover, Popery cannot reasonably draw any advantage from this dissension; for if they be not at an agreement among themselves, they agree to condemn the Opinion of the Roman Church therein. The Lutherans have nothing in this point in common with the Papists: 'tis a thing which we shall make plain to you one day. This is therefore but one point against a hundred: Is this worthy of consideration, and thereof to make a Stumbling-block, and a Scandal?  
But however it be, some will say, how little considerable soever it may appear, 'tis the Foundation of a Schism; the Lutherans, and the Reformed make two different Communions. On this subject, and in general of all the Faults which are observed in the Authors of the Separation, such as passion, excess of heat, quarrels, divisions, controversies, too too warmly managed, injuries, and calumnies; and to conclude, the Schism which their Successors live in among themselves: 'Tis fit to admire the providence of God, and to bring hither the excellent Reflections of Mr. Paschal, saying with him, A man will never understand any thing in the Works of God, if he do not lay down this as a Principle, That He does illuminate some, and blind others. Hear the Comment on this Maxim, given by himself, 
* Thoughts of Mr. Paschal, cap. 17.  God hath been willing to Redeem Men, and to open the Door of Salvation to those that search it; but Men make themselves so unworthy, that it's just that He refuse to some, because of their Hardness and Impenitency, that which He grants to others by a Mercy that is not due unto them. If He had pleased to surmount the Obstinacy of the most hardened, He could have done it by discovering himself so manifestly unto them, that they should not have doubted of the truth of his Existence, and so will appear at the last day, even with such a lustre and brightness, that the most blind shall see him: It was not his pleasure to appear after this manner in estates of Grief and Humiliation; because so many men making themselves unworthy of his Clemency, it was his will to leave them deprived of those good things which they would not have. It was not therefore just that he should appear after a manner so manifestly Divine, and absolutely capable of convincing all men; but neither was it just, that he should come after so secret a manner, that he could not be known by those that sincerely search after him: He communicates light enough for those that desire to see, and obscurity enough for those that have a contrary disposition; brightness enough to enlighten the Elect, and darkness enough to humble them, obscurity enough to blind Reprobates, and light enough to condemn and make them inexcusable. This is the true Key of Providence; Light and Darkness throughout, is exactly the Character of the Word of God, of his Mysteries, and of his Conduct. 'Tis not the Will of God, that Babylon should fall all at a time; 
* Revel. 16.  The great City must be divided into three parts. Before it drink the last Cup of the Wrath of God; 
† Revel. 14.  it must be reaped before it come to the Vintage. The Latin Church before the full or entire Reformation, was to be divided into Papists, Lutherans, and Reform: God to accomplish this design, came to Reform the Church the first time by mixing darkness with light. There is light enough to save humble minds, and there is darkness enough to offend and scandalise the proud. The Evidence of the Testimonies of the Word of God, which the Authors of our Separation did discover; the Ughliness of the Corruption of Popery, which they did observe; the Zeal with which they began this Work; the admirable Success with which they carried it on; the unanimous Accord in which they were to retain Christianity, and reject Popery, all this, say I, forms the light in this great Event: but their Divisions, private Quarrels, humane Passions, and the sad Schism found among them, make that Obscurity that God hath permitted, because his Design was not to throw Popery down to the ground all at once. It is of necessity therefore, that those who have any care of their Salvation, give attention to the light to maintain and support themselves, and that they serve themselves with the obscurities for their Humiliation and Abasement: 'Tis necessary that they admire the Finger of God in this great Work; and that they admire it so much the more, because he hath accomplished it by Instruments so weak and feeble. If you give attention to all this, I may assure you, that you will find wherewith to satisfy yourselves, in all those Scruples they put into your minds on the subject of the Authors of our Separation.  
If you have at this time no matters of Fact, 'tis not because we have not those that are sufficiently considerable to communicate unto you, but 'tis because the Apologies for our Reformers, could not well be divided into two Letters. You may please to know only at this time, That the Cruelties and Violences do continue; but they dispense them after a manner that we little understand, or can account for: In some places there is some Abatement and Relaxation; that which may be understood concerning it, is that the Convertors are in some distress what course to take, to carry on their great Work. The desertion, and forsaking the Kingdom, which is greater than at first, makes them well see, that as yet they have advanced nothing, and that they will keep no more of the Reformed in it, than those which they shut up in Prisons, and send to the Galleys.  
July 1, 1687.    

The Twenty Second PASTORAL LETTER. Testimonies of the Fathers of the fourth and fifth Ages, about the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Concerning the Communion under both Kind's: An Article of Controversy: Concerning the Visibility of the Church; three false Consequences drawn from thence.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you, from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
WE began in our last Letter, to hear the Depositions of the Fathers of the fourth and fifth Ages, about the Eucharist, and against Transubstantiation; at this time we shall hear them farther, even as far as is needful to convince the Papists of being Innovators. We have heard St. chrysostom, St. Austin, Theodoret, and Gelasius, i. e. the chief Lights of the Greek and Latin Church, who tell us more boldly, and clearly than ever did Calvin and Zuinglius, That the holy Symbols are Figures, Images, and Types of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ: Nevertheless they did not deny that any change did happen in the Signs of Bread and Wine, nor do we deny it neither. But hear how they spoke of this change: 'Tis true, when they spoke thereof before the Catechumen, or before the People, to whom they desired to give the greatest and most venerable Ideas of Sacraments, there is nothing great and bold in the Figures of Rhetoric, and Similitudes which they did not borrow to express this Change. From thence come those great and magnificent Expressions of St. chrysostom, which are abused, that an Opinion might be ascribed unto him, of which he never thought. This St. chrysostom oftentimes speaks, as if the Bread and Wine had been really and actually changed into Flesh and Blood, and as if our Lips and Mouths were died and stained thereby: But by one single passage of this Father, learn what he understood, and how he ought to be understood; when it was intended to speak without Mystery, and without Rhetoric, of the Change which happens by Consecration, this Author, and others of the same Age, speak of it as plainly as we ourselves can do. St. chrysostom says in his Epistle to Caesarius, The Bread of the Eucharist is called Bread, before it be sanctified, but the Divine Grace having sanctified it by the Ministry of the Priest, it bears no more the name of Bread, but is thought worthy to be called the Body of our Lord, although the nature of Bread remains. And Theodoret 
a Dialog. 1. , Jesus Christ hath honoured the visible Symbols by the name of his Body and Blood, not by changing their nature, but by adding Grace to Nature. And elsewhere, 
b Dialog. 2.  The mystical Symbols, after their Sanctification, do not lose their proper nature, for they continue in their first substance, in their first Figure, and in their first form, and are visible and palpable as they were before. The contemporary Author, whom we have quoted under the name of Gelasius faith, 
d De Duab. Natur.  Certainly the Sacraments of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ which we receive, are a thing Divine, from whence also it comes to pass, that by them we are made partakers of the Divine Nature, and nevertheless they do not cease to be a substance of Bread and Wine. Ephraim the Patriarch of Antioch in the fixth Age says also the same thing 
(b) Apud Photiun. m. l. 229.  That the Body of Christ which Believers receive, doth not lose its sensible substance, and remain inseparable from the intelligible Grace: as Baptism, being made entirely spiritual, preserves the property of its sensible substance, i. e. of Water. This man had lost all sense to speak thus, if he had believed Transubstantiation, or unavoidably he believed that a Transubstantiation was made in Baptism. In the same sixth Age Facundus Bishop of Hermiane doth very neatly express, wherein this change consists, 
(c) Lib. 9  We call, says he, The Sacrament of the Body and Blood which is consecrated in the Bread, and the Cup, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, not that the Bread is properly his Body, and the Cup his Blood, but because they contain the Mystery of his Body and Blood; and thence it comes to pass that the Lord himself did call the Bread, and the Cup which he blessed, and gave to him Disciples his Body, and Blood. In what kind of frame of mind must a man be to say, after this, That Facundus believed Transubstantiation, and the real Presence. It must be confessed, that we own something to the Heresy of Eutyches, who confounded the two Natures in Jesus Christ. For 'tis in refuting this Error, and for the confutation of it, that Theodoret, Gelasius, and Facundus made use of the example of the Eucharist; and have explained the change which is made there with such clearness, that our own Divines never did it more plainly. 'Tis in disputing against these Heretics, that Theodoret says this, That a man would believe it had been transcribed from the Books of a Calvinist 
(d) Dialog. 1. , Our Saviour, saith he, did make a change of Names, he gave to his Body the name of the Symbol; and as he named himself a Vine, so he also called the Symbol his Blood, etc. Tell us in good earnest, whereof think you, that the holy Element is a Sign and Figure? Is it of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, or of his Blood? 'Tis evident that 'tis of those things whereof they take their names: For the Lord having taken the Sign, says not this is my Divinity, but this is my Body, and this is my Blood. My Brethren, as a matter of Fact, tell your Converters, that those passages which we produce unto you, are not the tenth part of what we are able to produce to the same sense and importance.  
To conclude, when the Ancients please to express plainly, and without circumlocution, the manner how we feed on Christ Jesus, they say exactly the same things that we do. 'Tis a strange thing, that being of such contrary sentiments, as they are supposed, they should have expressions so very much alike: Behold a Calvinistical Paraphrase upon the sixth Chapter of St. John, taken from Eusebius Caesariensis, he makes Jesus Christ to speak thus: 
* Theod. Ecclesiast. contra Marcel. lib. 3. cap. 12.  Do not think I speak of the Flesh wherewithal I am enclosed, as if it were necessary that you should eat it; nor do not think that I appoint you to drink sensible Blood, but know that the words which I speak to you are Spirit and Life: For they are my Words, and my Discourses which are this Flesh and this Blood, in which whosoever does always partake, shall be a Partaker of Eternal Life, as being nourished with Bread from Heaven. 'Tis pity that St. Athanasius, so great a Defender to the Truth against the Arrians, should have also been a Calvinistical Heretic. After he had quoted these words of our Lord, Doth this offend you, etc. He adds, ‖ Our Lord ‖ Hom. On, That whosoever shall speak a word against the Son, etc. speak of the one, and of the other, i e. of his Flesh and of his Spirit. And he distinguished his Spirit from his Flesh, to the end, that not believing only that which was visible in him, but also that which was invisible in him, they might learn, that the things which he spoke were not carnal, but spiritual. For to how many persons must his Body serve as Meat, to become the Nourishment of all the World? 'Tis for that reason that he makes mention of the Ascension of the Son of Man into Heaven, that he might withdraw them from all corporeal thoughts, and learn them, that the Flesh whereof he had spoken to them, was a heavenly Meat, and a spiritual Nourishment, which He must give them from on High. 'Tis a thing very surprising, that the Arrians who watched the steps of Athanasius so very warily, and made faults of every thing, did not accuse him for being estranged from the Faith of the Church.  
As to St. Austin, he is upon th● matter more a Calvinist than Calvin himself: And if the Jesuits have degraded him because he is a Jansenist in the matter of Grace, I know not why they should treat him with more civility in this Case. 'Tis he that saith, 
‖ Lib. 3. de Doct. Christiana, cap. 16.  That Jesus Christ seems to command a Crime, when he says, If ye do not eat my Flesh, and drink my Blood, you have no life in you; but 'tis a Figure which commands that we communicate in the Passion of our Lord, and that we do gratefully, and profitably remember, that his Flesh was wounded, and crucified for us. 'Tis he which saith also, 
* Se●●. 33. de Verhis Domin.  Do not prepare the Throat, but the Heart; Why do you prepare your Teeth, and you Belly? Believe and you will eat him. You Converters, my Brethren, are not ignorant that we could easily make a Book of like passages of this Father; for he speaks often of the Eating of the Flesh of Jesus Christ, and never speaks otherwise thereof. He says that this eating is by Faith, and that the Wicked the Unbelieved and Unworthy Communicants have no part therein. I conjure you, my Brethren, to consider, whether any thing solid can be opposed to Testimonies so plain, and express? What can the Harshnesses of St. Ambrose, the Rhetorications of St. chrysostom, and the perplexed Ratiocinations of St. Hillary, do against this? Can it hinder, that the Testimonies which we have heard, do not make a clear and convincing Deposition against the Real Presence? I inquire of you, Whether, if we must explain one by the other, it be just to explain those which speak simply, clearly, and without ambiguity, by those who speak like Orators, or in a mystic Style, that they may not be understood by Infidels and Catechumen? Besides, is it not just to explain an Author by himself? Are not five or six passages of St. chrysostom, where he speaks in plain terms, and discourses of things as they are in themselves, more than sufficient to give the Reader a true understanding of the sense and spirit of this Author? Where are the Christian Orators with whom a man may not find Heresies, if he will thus take them at advantage? And in the Books of Protestant Meditations, may not a man find a hundred passages which Posterity may abuse after the same manner that they abuse those of St. chrysostom, to establish the Perpetuity of the Faith of the Eucharist, in the sense of the Roman Church? I will stop here, and take it for granted, that the Faith was not changed in this Article, neither in the fourth nor fifth Ages, nor in the three that followed them.  
There happened neither any change in the Administration of the Sacrament under both Kind's. And we boldly defy all your Converters to give us any proof, or any example of any Communion celebrated in those Ages under the Species of Bread alone. Monsieur de Meaux, who writ last on this subject, hath found no other example but that of St. Ambrose, concerning whom the Author of his Life says, That he died as soon as he had swallowed the Body of Jesus Christ. A fine proof, that they did not also give him the Blood! As if it were not known that the whole Sacrament were not often expressed by the Flesh, or the Body of Jesus Christ: And as if there were any Figure more common, than that of signifying the whole by a part. I will not stay on this Article, to prove that no Change happened therein, in the fourth and fifth Ages, for 'tis a thing notorious, and not disputed by our Adversaries themselves: All that they say is, That it was also permitted to communicate der one Kind; although the Custom than was to communicate under both. But that they can-never prove. Monsieur de Meaux could not have made a Book which would have done him less Honour, than that which he hath made on this subject. It will never be believed that a man speaks sincerely, when he charges himself with Falseness in a thing so publicly known as this is: 'Tis that for the space of four hundred, or five hundred Years, the Custom of Communicating under one Kind, was wholly unknown.  

An Article of Controversy: An Answer to the fallacious Arguments drawn from the Visibility of the Church.  
I Thought that I had finished telling you, what was necessary you should know, to disentangle yourselves from the Sophisms which are drawn from the Unity of the Church, and from that Schism which breaks this Unity. We have employed Eleven Articles on that Subject in the Eleven Letters which are from the 9th to the 21th. We shall at this time open a second Fountain of the Illusions of your Converters, on the Subject of the Church, 'tis that of her Visibility. 'Tis a long time since, that one of our most illustrious Confessors desired of me some Elucidations thereon, not so much for himself, as for many plain persons which they had ruffled and perplexed. But it was not possible for us to come at it sooner, for if we had sooner left off our Discourse about its Unity and Schism, we should have omitted something essential. Behold after what manner they form the Sophism drawn from the visibility of the Church. 'Tis necessary, they tell you, that the Church be always visible; for she is a City set upon a Hill and cannot be hid. How could it be, that the Pagans in all Ages should be able to come over to the Church, if she had been hidden? The Gate of Conversion had been shut upon them. Your hidden Believers are Chimeras. Besides, 'tis necessary that the Ministry of the Church be always visible. For you will never persuade us, that the Ministry hath entirely failed; so that it was needful, (as your Confession of Faith says) that God should extraordinarily raise up Men to re-establish it. Besides, 'tis of the essence of the Church to be visible; your Church cannot be the true Church, for it was not visible 200 years ago; it was not visible, say I, since it was not at all.  
Concerning this, in the first place, Don't you engage yourselves to maintain, that the true Church is Invisible, as if this point were necessary to defend your Cause, and our Church that was hidden before the Reformation. Your Converters quote many places of Scripture, (as Monsieur de Meaux has done in his Instructions, to Mademoiselle de Duras) to prove to you, that the Church is a visible Society. Tell them, that is to no purpose; for we are at an Agreement therein with them. They may quote unto you many of our Doctors who have maintained, that the true Church was Invisible. But know, my Brethren, that this is nothing but a Dispute about Words, and that we are at an accord with them in the sense of the thing. Our Divines mean, that the true Members of the Church are Invisible, and not that the Society, in which the true Members of the Church are, is Invisible. This is true, the true Members of the Church are Invisible, for there are none but true Believers that are true Members of the Church: If you hear my voice, then are you my Disciples indeed: Now true predestinated Believers are visible, as Men, but they are not visible as Believers; for no body sees true Faith, 'tis in the heart, and the actions which appear without may be equivocal: But the Society where these true Members are, is visible; for 'tis a Society of Men that serve God according to his Word and Laws, this is visible. Understand this by the example of a Man, he hath a body and a soul, but the body in which this soul is, is visible. True Believers are the soul of the Church, that is invisible; the body of the Church is the external Society, and that is visible. Therefore as you may say of a Man, that he is visible, and invisible; invisible with respect to his soul, visible with respect to his body; so it may be said concerning the Church, that she is visible and invisible, invisible with respect to her soul, which is true Faith, and true Believers; visible with respect to the Society, in which this soul, i.e. these true Believers are enclosed. This is so clear and evident, that your Converters cannot disallow it. Behold already one point of Sophistry made void: The Church is visible, be it so, as a Man is visible.  
After this, if they inquire of you, Is this visible Church the Body of Jesus Christ? Distinguish, and tell them, She is the Body of Jesus Christ, forasmuch as she contains in herself truly righteous persons, and true Believers; but not because she encloses wicked, hypocritical, and vicious persons. For 'tis impossible that these persons should be the Body of Jesus Christ; otherwise Jesus Christ would have rotten and stinking Members; otherwise Dogs, Swine, etc. would be in the Communion of Jesus Christ. Now this is absurd, for if any one have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his, and there can be no communion between light and darkness, Christ and Belial. So that a Christian which hath nothing but a simple Profession, and neither Virtue nor Charity, a Lover of the Word, in the Christian Society, is no true Member of Jesus Christ, or his Church, be he Priest, Bishop, or Guide thereof. Make Reflections in this place on the monstrous Doctrines of your Converters, of whom the most part will tell you, that to be a true Member of the Church, it suffices to make profession of the Faith, and to adhere to lawful Pastors. So that Priests that are Sorcerers and Sodomites, which you have oftentimes seen burnt at Paris, were the true Members of Jesus Christ. This is capable of making a man tremble with horror. They will say to you thereon, if they were not true Members of the Church, and of the Body of Jesus Christ, they could not be the Guides thereof. Such a one is an evil Man, he is nevertheless a true Bishop, he must therefore be a true Member of Jesus Christ, and of his Body. Answer to this, that which one of the Writers of Port Royal says somewhere, That oftentimes those which Build Jerusalem, and Guide it, are the Citizens of Babylon. Tell them, that to be a lawful Pastor and Guide of the Church, to be able to administer the Word, and Sacraments, with Authority, it's enough to be a Member of the external and visible Society, it is not necessary to be a Member of the true Church, to be in the hand of God an Instrument of his Work. A King may administer Justice, and administer it very well by a wicked man, who hath inwardly all sorts of inclinations to Injustice. It will be said a man cannot be the Head and Guide of a Body, without being a Member thereof, for the Head is one of its principal Members. It must be answered, That false Pastors are true Members of the visible Society of the Church, and that they are also true Heads of that Society whereof they are true Members: but they are neither Heads nor Members of the principal and invisible part of the Church, who are true Believers, and truly righteous persons: They are not therefore true Heads but of that part whereof they are true Members, and that sufficeth them for the external Administration of the Word and Sacraments, for the truly Righteous receive the Word and Sacraments in quality of the Members of the external Society.  
They will press you further, and tell you, You do confess the Church is visible, because she hath a Body, which is an external Society. But is it always visible? Although you should answer, That it is not necessary that the Church be always visible; they would not be able to convince you of the contrary by reason: For a man who is visible by his body, may be sometimes hidden, and by that means be invisible. May not the external Society of the Church, which is visible, have been at sometimes, and in some seasons hidden, through the Persecution of Pagans, or Heretics? But confess to them, that the Church hath been always visible, and will be to the end of the World. 'Tis true, that the Persecutions under the Pagan-Emperours were very great, but they never proceeded so far as utterly to destroy all Assemblies of the Church to that degree that there were no visible Society of Christians; the Christians were well known under the Persecutions, seeing they knew where to find them to make Martyrs of them; the Church was visible in the midst of the flames: She remained visible in the Heretical Assemblies of the Arrians; for those that held the Truth in those Assemblies themselves, were more numerous than those that erred concerning it. If there were any place where the Church were become invisible, it was in the Papism, for never was there a Church so corrupt and drowned in Superstitions, as that: Nevertheless the Church continued there visible, because that Christianity, and the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion did abide there: I do not say that they did remain there in their Integrity, but the contrary; nevertheless it sufficeth, that they did continue there, 'tis necessary therefore that you know, that wherever Christianity fore that you know, that wherever Christianity remains sensible and visible, the Church remains visible, for it is Christianity that makes the Church. If a Sect become so corrupt that Christianity is no longer visible in it, such are the Mahometans, and the Socinians who have rejected the Foundations; the Church is no longer visible among them, unless it be as a dead man remains visible, but it is also visible that he is dead, without life, and without soul: so in the Sects which have rejected the Foundations, the Church remains visible, but it's also visible that such Churches are without life, without soul, without salvation. In the Sects which preserve Christianity, although they have added very many things thereunto, and even such things as overturns the Foundations thereof, the Church doth not fail to remain visible, because Christianity both is there, and is seen there. If therefore they do inquire of you, Where was your Church before Luther, and Calvin? Answer them, She was in the Christian Societies that were in Aethiopia, in those which were in Egypt, and in Africa, in those which are, and were in Asia, in the Greek Church that was at Constantinople, and Antioch, in Muscovy, and the Churches of Russia, and she was even in the Church of Rome itself. If they ask of you, Was the Church visible in these Societies, or were the Members thereof hidden? Answer them, That the Church was visible in these Societies, forasmuch as Christianity, and the Creed of the Apostles, in the true sense thereof, explained in the first six General Councils, were visibly preserved there: Add you, that the true Members of Jesus Christ, and of the Church, were hidden, and not visible, because those that sincerely and truly adhered to this true Christianity, contained in the Creeds of the Christian Church, were not known by name: but that these Believers were hidden, was not at all peculiar to these corrupt Churches, because of their Corruption; for the case is the same in the purest Churches, the true Members of Jesus Christ, and of his body are hidden, because we do not certainly know those which adhere to the Christian Faith in sincerity, and with the heart. Behold a pure and native Explication of the true Visibility of the Church, and of the Perpetuity of that Visibility.  
The Bishop of Meaux, and your other Converters, will seem to you very well pleased in this, that you confess the Church is visible, and always visible. Behold they will say one point gained: For if the Church be always visible, 'tis of necessity that there be a Succession in the Ministry, a train of legitimate Pastors: There will always be Teachers with whom Jesus Christ will teach, and the true Teaching will never cease in the Church. These are Monsieur de Meaux, that great Converter's own words: That is to say, from the perpetual Visibility of the Church, he draws these three conclusions: 

1. That pure and true Teaching hath never ceased in the Church.  
2. That there will always be a series and train of legitimate Pastors.  
3. That Jesus Christ will always teach with these Pastors, i.e. they must be Infallible.    
I entreat you, my Brethren, to attend to what I shall say concerning these three Consequences.  
1. These Gentlemen suppose that the Church cannot be perpetual, and perpetually visible, without being pure, and without continuing pure, and exempt from corruption in the Faith. The Church is always visible, therefore pure preaching must always remain there. Can a man argue more pitifully? 'tis just as if I should say, Whilst Man hath a Soul in his Body, he must be always sound, and hail, as if Health were inseparable from Life. Where have they found that Purity, with respect to Faith, is in separable from Visibility? And because the Church is always visible, doth it follow, that she is always sound? if the nature of the Church consisted in an indivisible point. and in that certain state of purity of Faith in which there was no kind of Errors; 'tis true, the Church would perish, cease to be, and by consequence to be visible, as soon as the Christian Doctrine should come to be mingled with any Doctrine that is strange and foreign thereto: And indeed 'tis the supposition of your Converters. But 'tis the most foolish Dream that ever entered into the mind of Man, the most contrary to the Word of God and Experience, that ever was asserted. The most contrary to the Scripture: for the Scripture says, That there shall be in the Church thorns and thistles mingled with the good grain. Wolves will creep in and destroy the flock. That there must be heresies. That men will build upon the foundation wood, bay, stubble. And that even the Son of perdition will sit in the Church and Temple of God. The most contrary to Experience, for for the space of 1300 or 1400 years, which way soever we cast our Eyes, we behold Christianity  spoiled by false and strange Doctrines. Lay down this therefore as a thing indisputable, that the Church must be always visible, that she must always subsist, but not that she must always subsist pure and underfiled. The Church began to be corrupt considerably in the fourth Age; and in two Ages the Corruption became such, that Antichristianity, which is the highest degree of the corruption of Christianity, proceeded and came out from thence.  
But in the midst of this great Corruption, Christianity nevertheless preserved itself, it remained very visible, and by consequence the Church also continued visible: for yet once more the Church remains , where Christianity remains; and the Church remains visible , where Christianity remains yisible. Remember-therefore that Popery is a very high and extreme Corruption of Christianity, but 'tis not the Annihilation of it: for we must well distinguish betwixt Annihilation and extreme Corruption of it. If the Church of Rome had rejected the Foundations, as the Turks and the Socinians have done, she would have been no more visible than as a dead Body is visible: But because she hath only added an infinite number of false Doctrines superstitious and idolatrous, whilst she hath retained Fundamentals, she hath only corrupted Christianity. But Christianity in the midst of these Corruptions, hath not failed to remain visible, to those which search, after it with diligence and attention. Imagine you an Egg not broken, which swims in dirty and stinking water; 'tis the perfect Emblem of the Roman Religion. The Egg whole and not broken, is the Christian Creed preserved in its integrity in the sense of the Church. The filthy and stinking Water where this Egg swims, is the heap of Superstitions, Errors, and Idolatries of Popery. The Egg remains visible in the midst of this filthy Water, and even the opposition of the blackness of the Mire to the whiteness of the Egg, make it in some sort more visible. The Body of Christianity is also visible in the heap of Popish Errors; and to him that will give attention thereunto, it may be said, that the true Christianity which doth continue in the Roman Religion, serves to discover and make the ugliness of Popery more horrible. The Mud and the stinking Water which encompasseth this Egg, is visible as well as the Egg. 'Tis the light of the day which manifests the one and the other. The Corruption introduced by Popery in the Roman Religion, is visible as well as Christianity. 'Tis the light of the day, i.e. the light of the Word of God which manifests both: for the Word of God manifests Christianity in the Romish Religion, by the fair conformity of the three Creeds; that of the Apostles, that of Nice, and of Athanasius with the Revelation. This same word manifests Antichristianity, the Mud and the Dirt of Popery, by the frightful dissimilitude and unlikeness which is between Popery and Revelation. It seems to me that he must be very blockish, not to perceive all this, and not to see that the Church may always endure, and always be even visible, although it be not necessary that she always continue in perfect Purity.  
But nevertheless, there is in the first consequence of your Converters some truth, which serves for a foundation to that gross Illusion which they would put upon you. They say, The Church is always visible, therefore pure Preaching must always continue there. If the meaning be, 'tis of necessity that something of pure Preaching do always remain there, yea, and that the essential parts of true Preaching remain there, 'tis true: for if the Fundamentals and essential parts of Christianity were not there, there were no Church there. Moreover 'tis true, that in Popery, in the Religion of the Greeks, in the Oriental Communions, the Cophtis, the Nestorians, and the Armenians, pure Preaching doth continue, as to the Fundamentals of the Creed, which make the Essence of Christianity. But it doth not follow at all, that Preaching must necessarily remain there wholly pure and incorrupt.  
Not being able to proceed at this time to the examination of the two last consequences, which your Converters draw from the perpetual visibility of the Church; I will conclude by answering a Question which they put unto you, and which it may be you put unto yourselves: Can a man be saved in Communions which you compare to a great Basin full of Dirt and stinking Water, in which swims a good Egg, clean, and in its integrity? This respects those who desire to save themselves in the Roman Church, because she retains the Egg, the Creed of Christians, in its perfection. You may well think that we should have a great many things to say to them, if we would say all, and were willing to repeat what we have said concerning it in our Seventeenth Letter. But in this place I shall only answer to them, That it does not follow, that a man may be saved in a Communion which retains the Egg of Christianity, whilst he swims in the Dung which compasses the Egg, and nourishes himself with it; a man plunged in a hideous Mire, which receives the stinking dirt by his mouth, because he sees some Fruits useful for nourishment swim in this slime, can he live thereby. Yea, suppose that he eats of these Fruits, if at the same time he eats this corrupt slime, will he die e'er a whit the less? If this man finds an Art to separate the slime from the nourishments which swim there, so that he take nothing but the nourishments, I do confess that he may live. In like manner, if a Christian can live in the Roman Communion, and separate the good from the bad, he may be saved. But this is that which we do maintain to be impossible at this time, for the adult. These corrupt and dirty Communions are therefore saving to those alone, who partake in Christianity, without any participation in the corruption thereof. For example: We ought not to call in doubt the salvation of Infants which die in the Church of Rome; for they have eaten the Egg, God hath communicated to them his Grace by their Baptism, or their Birth, because they were born within the borders of Christianity. As for the adult, if they can eat the Egg, and not swallow the Dung, if they can partake in pure Christianity, without taking part in its corruption, they may, I do confess, live and be saved in that Communion. But this is the difficulty, or rather impossibility, Who is he that can live in the Roman Communion, without assisting at the false Sacrifice of the Mass, without worshipping Bread, consenting to the Invocation of Saints, and the Worship of Images? This is enough at present to disabuse our unhappy Indifferents, who would very falsely persuade themselves, that they may be saved in the Estate wherein they are.  
FOR News we give you this day a Letter, which will teach you the Constancy of some of our Confessors of Dauphine.  
We have yet in Dauphine some Illustrious Persons, which maintain the Cause of God in the midst of their Enemies. There is Mr. de l' Alo of the House of Epheluche, a Counsellor in the Parliament of Dauphine, who being at Paris in 1685. and refusing to change his Religion, was banished with Madam his Wife, into a paltry Village, where he could not get so much as one person that would serve him for his money. After that they had been kept there some months, Madam de l'Alo fell into very great indispositions; they sent her into Dauphine, and removed Mr. de l'Alo to the Castle of Trumpet, where he was confined within four Walls, without suffering him to have any other society than that of a Monk, who went every day to torment him after a thousand ways; and when he could gain nothing, he left him, and said to him; He must make himself ready to be transported to the Pyrenees. This is it that he wrote to one of the Gentlemen his Brethren about six months since, testifying to him, That he reckoned all that he had suffered as nothing, or any thing that he could suffer; and that he would never abandon the Faith which he had professed to that moment.  
Monsieur the Marquis of Pierre, also a Counsellor in the Parliament of Grenoble, is one of our most Illustrious Confessors; he was extremely famous in his Religion as well as in his Employ: so that his Zeal went an equal pace with his Knowledge, and both the one and the other hath gained him great Reputation among his Brethren. The Court, which feared he might confirm them, if he were suffered among them, commanded him to render himself at Paris, by a Letter under the Privy Sign, which they sent him a little before the Dragoons came into that Province. This Lord, who was not conscious to himself of any fault, and who had long before prepared himself to suffer not only the loss of his Office, and of all his Goods, and to beg from door to door with Madam his Wife, and the Gentlemen his Sons, but also to lose his Head upon a Scaffold, yea to be burnt alive, rather than betray his Saviour, yea to be burnt alive, rather than betray his Saviour, as he said in these very words to a Pastor of his Province. (It was to him who gave us this Intelligence about three weeks before he received that Letter under the Privy-Sign.) He was in that generous resolution, when he went for Paris in the month of August, with one of the Gentlemen his Sons. Arriving at Paris, he addressed himself to the Ministers of State, to know the cause of that Summons that they had given him. But they said nothing to him. He abode at Paris about six months, without having any thing said to him, at the last they proposed to him to change his Religion, he refused it. They took from him Monsieur his Son, who was all his comfort, and said to him, that the King would have him brought up in the Roman Catholic Religion: This was the most smart stroke of all the rest. He resolved to departed from Paris, he went thence with Mr. de Vic, and some other Gentlemen. They were arrested at Laudrecy; the other for ●ear, changed their Religion. Mr. de la Pierre would not do so. There was an Order from the King to convey him to the Citadel of Cambray, and thither he was conveyed. A Counsellor of the Parliament of Tournay had a Commission to examine him, and to make his Process. He answered him always with a perfect freedom of mind, and unmovable firmness. The Commissary told him, that he deserved the Galleys, for attempting to go out of the Realm without leave, and that he could not hinder his condemnation. He answered him, That he was ready not only to go to the Galleys, but also to death. We have not yet learned that he hath been condemned. He continues a Prisoner, but always stout and firm.  
We must put in the Rank of our Illustrious Confessors, Madam de Bardonnanche, Wife of a Counsellor in the Parliament of that Name, and Vicountess of Trienes in Dauphine. This Lady who was formerly distinguished by her great Knowledge, (above all in Piety) and by her Eminent Virtues as well as by her great Quality, is now distinguished after another manner in these last Trials.  
About four years since she saw that revolt of her Husband, which she testified by a great Grief: Since that they took from her one of her Daughters, to bring her up in the new Religion of her Father: she was more wounded for this, then for the loss of her Husband: In fine, she saw the last and great Desolation of our Churches: But all this hath not the least moved her, nor frighted her in any sort. When that the Dragoons had put all into Dispair in her Country, and the rest of the Province, she boldly exhorted every one to be firm, and as a Pastor of her acquaintance, (it was he who wrote her Story) bade her to think of departing out of the Kingdom, because she saw herself unprofitable there; (the Edict of Nantes was not revoked) She wrote to him that she must not be one of those Mercenaries, who seeing the Wolf coming fled away; and he alleging his own Exemple, she said that she would not departed out of the State, at least till the King commanded her, and that she hoped that God would give her the Grace to surmount all, and abide firm. After that they had subverted all the Churches of that Country. The Intendant Le Bret, M. le Camus, Bishop of Grenoble, and at this time Cardinal, the Marquis de la Trousse, Commander of the Troops in Dauphine, went to see her in her Castle du Monotier of Clermont; they disputed against her, they made Requests to her, with Promise, and Threats; she defended herself vigorously against all their Attaques, and in the end they left her. Some days after they sent to take her away, by the Dragoons, to confine her in a Covent at Grenoble: Seeing she was always the same, they threatened to send her to Valence, and to put her into the hands of Rapine; she answered that she would go whether they pleased, even to the Fire, but not to the Mass. In the end they? executed one part of the said threatening upon her, sending her to Valence, but not to the Butchery of Rapine, they put her into a Convent of the Religious, with a prohibition to permit her to speak to any of them, which they call the New Converts. This Lady suffered her Removal, and her Imprisonment in that Cloister, with so much patience, and sweetness, that 'tis said she abated the rage, and fury of her Persecutors. She entertained the Religious with so much Decency, and spoke to them such handsome things of our Religion, that she won at first their Heart, and almost persuaded them to be Christians. The Intendant, and the Bishop of Valence understanding that this Prisoner triumphed over her Gaolers, gave order that she should be fetched from the Convent where she was put, and be removed into another, which was done, and Madam de Bardonnanche behaved herself there, after the same manner, there she made also the same Progress upon the Spirits of her new Hostesses. They took her also from that Convent, and confined her in another in the same place, with a Command not to speak to her, nor to ●uffer her to speak to any body. Since we have learned by one of our Brethren well worthy of Credit, who came lately from that Province, that there hath been a new Order to remove her into another Convent at Vif, a Town which is not above two leagues from Grenoble.  
I could increase these Relations with divers Circumstances, and with others like them, as that of Monsieur de Saint Cross, the Son of a Counsellor of the Parliament of Grenoble, who hath been at Pierre Size these five Months, because he would not change; that also if the three Pastors of Orange, Mr. Chion, Mr. Gondran, Mr. Petit, and Mr. Onet Pastor of Courteson near Orange, who have long been kept in the Prisons of Valence, and who are now at Pierre Size, though they be not able to reproach them for having done any thing against the King, in whose State they lived not, and who testify an admirable Constancy, although very many did yield before their Eyes. That of Monsieur de Beauregard, Burgess of St. Anthony near to St. Marcelin, in the same Province, who after he had seen all his Goods devoured, which were very great, hath suffered the most cruel torments in his Body, until they had hardened, and shrunk up the Nerves of his Legs, by the violence of the approaching Fire, and had laid him upon a pile of wood, saying unto him, that he should be burnt alive, in one word, whom they had tormented till he lost his Reason, who being at length set at liberty, is happily retired out of the Kingdom into Switzerland. That of Monsieur Delis, a Gentleman of Trienes in Dauphine, who chose rather to suffer Martyrdom, and hath actually suffered it in the Month of January 1686, at Grenoble, rather than change: But of this enough for this time.  
News from Nismes, written June, 17th 1687.  
EVery day they bring Prisoners from Lions into this City, and once or twice in a Month they condemn to the Galleys, those which had abjured and communicated and afterward were taken attempting to get out of the Kingdom. As for them which neither have, nor will abjure, they condemn them to America. The Prisons and the Tower of Vennatiere (which is a kind of Prison) are always full of these poor miserable Creatures. They are very much relieved by those in this City, which have done what they would never do; it is not known why God has left them here, without it be for the relief of those Confessors of Christ, which would die else by Famine in Prisons. About eight days since they carried twenty one Persons (some Women, and some young Girls, that were condemned) to Marseille, viz. nineteen for America, and two for the Galleys, on whom they bestowed great Charity Every Month we make a contribution for the General Hospital which is established in this City, in the Church, and in the Houses adjoining, which belong to the Consistory, every one according to his Ability. Since the eighth of May we have had the Regiment of Vivonne, on which day they begun to work upon the Citadel, tho' that were Ascension-day, and they take great pains therein: They have enclosed from the form of Paulian unto the Wall of the City, drawing a Line from the Tower of Corconne unto the Watch-Tower at the end of the Tennis-Court. Two days since there was a Detachment of five Companies to go to Valeraube, where there was a numerous Assembly in the Presence of the Priest of the place, and before the Sermon the Priest would dispute with him that was to Preach, and after that he would hear his Sermon. We know not yet what was the issue of that Affair.  
In this City whilst M. the Intendant was here, they say there are Assemblies, notwithstanding all the ill Treatment with which they have been continually exercised. They say that the Daughters of Mr. Ducros and of Andemar, are out of the hands of Rapine, since their fall through their ill treatment. But Mrs. Parelle persists with an incredible constancy: When her cruel Hangman said to her, Madam, I am astonished that you can suffer such Miseries: She answered him again, As for me, I suffer nothing, this is nothing, Jesus Christ hath suffered much more for me.  
Since the writing of this Letter we are informed of two faithful Persons, which have suffered Martyrdom in the said City of Nismes the 26th of the last Month; the name of the one is Mr. Manuel, the other is called Iloque: You shall have the History of their Martyrdom some other time. We could also give you the News of our Brethren of Metz, if this Pastoral Letter could contain the Copy of that which was written from that place. In the mean time, cease not to pour out your Prayers in the presence of the Great God for the Consolation of these afflicted Persons.  
July 15, 1687.    

The Twenty Third PASTORAL LETTER. An Article of Antiquity: The Church of the fourth and fifth Ages did not Adore the Sacrament of the Eucharist: And Article of Controversy: An Answer to the Consequences which are drawn from the perpetual Visibility of the Church: Notable Matters of Fact.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to your from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
IN the two preceding Letters you have seen what the Ancients of the fourth and fifth Ages did think on the subject of the Eucharist. You have seen that they acknowledge nothing there but Signs, and Images of the Body, and Blood of our Lord, and that they apprehended no other change there, but a change of Grace, which made no alteration in the nature of the species of Bread and Wine. So the Faith of the Church was not changed therein; there remains the Adoration, concerning which it is also certain, that there happened no change in the Ages where we are. They did not Adore the Sacrament in the three first Ages, nor did they Adore it in these. Suffer not yourselves to be surprised, my Brethren, by five or six words which they quote to you from St. Ambrose, or St. Austin, who say, That 'tis necessary that we Adore the Flesh of Jesus Christ in the Mysteries, and that we must not eat the Flesh of Jesus Christ when we have not Adored it. We must not search the practice of an Age in rambling, and extravagant Expressions, as these are. 'Tis in History, and in matters of Fact. There is not a person among us, that does not acknowledge, that we must Adore Jesus Christ in the participation of the Mysteries; that is not the thing whereof we dispute. It must be known whether they bowed the Knew before the Sacrament, whether they lifted it up before the Communion, that it might be Adored; now we do maintain that this was not done. And I do not know whether your Converters have the boldness to say the contrary; at least they have not Ability enough to prove it. They dazzle your Eyes with a passage of Theodoret, who says, speaking of the Symbols of Bread and Wine, 
(a) Dialog. 2.  That we conceive by the understanding that they are what they were made, that we believe them, and Adore them as being that which we believe them. But observe, 'tis the same place where this Author tells us, that which we have mentioned unto you before; That the Mystical Symbols do not lose their proper Nature after their Consecration, but that they remain in their first Substance, their first Figure, and their first Form, they are visible, and palpable as they were before. He adds then immediately after the words, which are abused to prove the Adoration of the Sacrament. 'Tis the same Author which hath told us after a very express manner, that God in the Sacrament doth not change Nature, but add Grace to Nature. After this 'tis unavoidable, that he must have lost his Wits to say, that we must Adore Bread, and Wine, which remain such, and which have received no change in their Substance. Who doth not see then that the word Adore is here taken for Venerate, and in the same sense that we call the Mysteries of Religion Adorable, and that we say we must Adore the Conduct of Providence. In the sense that St. Isidore of Damietta calls the Gospel's 
(b) Lib. 1. ep. 136.  Adorable. That the Emperors were called 
(c) Conc. Calced. part. 1.  Adorable by the Councils themselves: And that the Table was called the Adorable Altar by the same Councils. To conclude, Theodoret must be understood as he desires to be understood, for 'tis he that says in the following Dialogue, If the Body of Jesus Christ seems to you vile, and of little value, Why do you esteem its Figure whereof is Adorable, and worthy of Honour, can itself be abject and contemptible? Behold again, the Eucharist which is nothing but a Figure, and a Figure opposite to the Body, and which by consequence is not the Body. But 'tis nevertheless an Adorable Figure. Judge whether Theodoret were so pitiful a Christian to believe we must Adore a Figure.  
If we would find the practice of the Church in passages like these, it were better to search it in passages of St. Austin, where this Father says for example, 
(d) Serm. 2. de diversis.  That that which he Adores is not a thing towards which he could stretch out his Finger, and say, Behold the God which I Adore. Or rather in the place where he says, 
(e) Serm. 74. de diversie.  Whilst we are in the Body we are absent from the Lord, and if any one doubt or deny it, and say to us, Where is your God? we cannot show him. Jesus Christ is always with his Father, as to the presence of his Glory, and Divinity; as to his Corporeal Presence he is now above the Heavens, at the right Hand of the Father, but he is in all Christians by a presence of Faith. It must be professed, that St. Austin is an inconvenient Author for these Transubstantiators, we can't make him open his mouth, but Thunders proceed from it against the now reigning Heresy and Idolatry. It appears here, that he neither adored the Sacrament, nor looked upon it as his God; for he could not have found any difficulty in answering that question, Where is your God? It appear also, that he had comprehended this admirable corporeal presence of Christ in the Sacrament: for he reserves all the corporeal presence of Christ to the Heavens, and leaves nothing to Earth, but a presence of Faith. This poor man understood his Religion very ill.  
We ought also to give attention to what St. Austin says, speaking of sacred Signs, that there are some of them subsist after the action, as the Brazen Serpent, 
* Lib. 3. de Trinit. cap. 10.  But others which cease after they have served the use to which they were designed, as the Bread which we make expressly to be a sacred sign, and is spent in the receiving the Sacrament. But because these things being made by men, are known to men, they may well receive honour, and give occasion for admiration, as things miraculous. What a poor man was this St. Austin, and how many oversights in four lines! 

1. He would not have us worship the Bread, we ought only to give it some respect, as to a religious thing.  
2. He would not have us admire the Eucharist, as a thing miraculous. Of what did he think, thus to speak of the greatest Miracle that ever was since the creation of the World? Is it not a thing miraculous, that the Body of Jesus Christ with all his substance should subsist in a point, should be stripped of all its Accidents, and be in an infinite number of places at once? I cannot tell then any more what will be called a thing miraculous.  
3. He supposes that 'tis man that makes this Transubstantiation, these things being made by men.   Behold an admirable Divine, which believes that a man can make a God, and do a Miracle, if I may so say, that exhausts all the Divine Power.  
To conclude, to these three or four words of St. Austin, That none eats the flesh of Jesus Christ, before he hath adored it, we ought to oppose what he says in the third Book concerning the Christian Doctrine, 
† De Doctr. Christ. lib. 3. cap. 9  That every one knows the Sacrament of Baptism, and the celebration of the Body and Blood of our Lord, that 'tis well known whereunto they have respect, and that they are reverenced not by a servitude, i.e. after a carnal manner, but by a spiritual liberty. Here St. Austin desires that we give to Baptism the same honour, as to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We must confess, if St. Austin did adore the Sacrament, we ought to make no scruple therein; we own him this complaisance, for that he hath spoken as absolutely concerning it, as ourselves. For during the space of two hundred years past, there hath not been either Zuinglian or Calvinist, which hath spoken more boldly or more clearly against the Real Presence and Transubstantiation.  
If this suffice not to know what kind of Worship was given to the Eucharist, we must learn it from the History of matters of fact. We learn from Mr. de Valois, in his Notes upon Eusebius, 
‖ Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 9 Hist. Eccles.  That the Believers which were to communicate, approached the Altar, and there received the Body of Jesus Christ from the hand of the Priest, standing upright, and not on their knees, as at this day. The Author has passed for a good Roman Catholic, he is learned, and he is a Modern Writer: so that he wants nothing to give him an authority in the hearts of the New Converts, who refer themselves much more concerning Religion, to what their new Authors speak of it, then to what is said thereof by those that are more ancient. And indeed how could they communicate otherwise than standing, since they prayed standing on the Lord's day, and the fifty days which are from Easter to Whitsuntide, in memory of the Resurrection? When they were ready to consecrate, they put out the Catechumen, i.e. well nigh half the Christians, is it probable that they would deprive them of the comfort of adoring their Saviour, if it had been then the custom of adoring him in the Sacrament? In those Ages they did communicate Infants, and how could they exact Adoration before the Manducation, since Infants are not capable of performing an Act of Adoration?  
I may also reckon amongst those Articles, concerning which there was no change in the fourth and fifth Ages, that of Purgatory. For the opinion of a separate place, where Souls were to be kept till the day of Judgement, without seeing the face of God, but without suffering any thing there, was the Opinion of the greatest men of those Ages; of St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, St. Hillary, St. Jerome, and under names so great, it may not be doubted, but it was the prevailing Opinion. 'Twas the third place of the Christians that then were, but as yet there were but few footsteps of a fourth place seen. 'Tis true, that in these Ages a man may show you some passages of Gregory Nyssen, and even some of St. Jerome, which speak of a Purgation of Sins, which ought to be made after death by the means of a Penal Fire. But this is not the Purgatory of Popery, 'tis that of Origen: according to whom, we have seen that all intelligent Creatures, without excepting Devils, and wicked men, who die impenitently, aught to be recovered and reestablished. Originism did not die with Origen, and many famous Fathers of the fourth Age were infatuated with it. Those which know the History of the Quarrels between St. Chrysostom and Epiphanius, are not ignorant thereof. I think indeed that few men did then dare to maintain the Opinion of Origen, crude as he left it, touching the future salvation of the Devils and the damned. But many endeavoured to soften and smooth it, and said at least, Christians who died in the profession of the Faith, but without Holiness and Repentance, would one day be recovered. 'Tis without doubt, that this Opinion mitigated and softened, was one step which made the Church fall into the Error of Purgatory: For after they had restrained those that were to be purged by a Penal Fire, to such as died without Holiness and Repentance, by little and little they restrained them to such, who dying without Repentance, had not satisfied the Canonical Penances of the Church.  
St. Austin was not of the opinion of those who believed that ill Christians dying without repentance, were to be purged by fire; nevertheless he thought it probable, 
* Enchir. cap. 67  that those who had too much affection for temporal good things during the space of this Life, after death would be afflicted with grief for the loss of them, and that this would serve them for a Castigation. Nevertheless he proposes this but as a doubtful conjecture. It is not incredible, says he, 
† Enchir. cap. 69.  but that something of like nature happens after death, and it may be disputed, whether it be so, that some Believers shall be saved sooner or later by a purging fire, according as they have more or less loved these perishing good things. By this Purgative Fire, or Purgatory, he understands nothing but the grief of being deprived of these perishing things. And this is that which he means in the same Book 
‖ Enchir. cap. 109.  That during the whole space of time between a man's death, and the last Resurrection, Souls are in hidden Receptacles, according as they are worthy of repose or misery, with respect to what they have been during this life. A man cannot deny, but this is Purgatory in its birth, but it was not as yet believed and received of all the Church, nor hath it been received nor perfected any where but in the Latin Church.  
Behold that which I have to tell you concerning the changes happening in Doctrines and Worship. I will not pass on to the following Ages, because 'tis not my design to give you a complete History of all the changes which have happened in the Church for 1700 years. I only desire to confound the boldness of Monsieur de Meaux, and suchlike, which dare to affirm that Christianity in their hands is in the same estate in which it was when it passed from the Apostles to their immediate Successors; and that time hath changed nothing that is essential in the Doctrine and Worship of the Church; that insensible changes, whereof some men speak to you, are but Dreams. Behold, say I, enough to ruin these rash affirmations of your Converters: for from this short History, which I have given you, of the Doctrine and Worship of the Church, for the space of 500 years, it appears, 

1. That during these five Ages there has happened very considerable and essential alterations, since that in this time men have overwhelmed Religion by an infinite multitude of vain Ceremonies, which have degenerated into Superstitions; that they have introduced the criminal Worship of Creatures; that they have established the distinctions of Powers and Tribunals, which at last have destroyed the true Authority of the Holy Scripture.  
2. It appears by that which we have shown to you, that far greater changes have yet happened since the fifth Age, than had happened before; for seeing that in these Age's men knew neither Transubstantiation, nor the Real Presence, nor the Adoration of the Sacrament, nor the Worship of Images, nor Purgatory, nor the Sacrifice of the Mass, nor the Communion under One Kind, nor the Sovereign Authority of the Pope; all these points being at this day fundamental Articles of Popery, 'tis unavoidable that since that time there have happened great changes and alterations.   And to prove the truth thereof against the illusion of the impossibility of insensible changes, you have nothing to do, my Brethren, but to serve yourselves of the Proofs which we have put into your hands, and say, In the fifth Age the Real Presence was not believed, 'tis believed at this day; they did not adore the Sacrament, they adore it now; they did not worship Images, they do worship them at present: therefore a change is happened.  
To convince your Converters of the possibility of changes in things that are essential, serve yourselves only of the Example of Masses, without Communicants. They will not dare to deny, that this is not a thing wholly unknown to all Antiquity. And I dare tell you, that if they had seen a Priest communicate alone in the Mysteries, they would have believed the Spirit of Reprobation were fallen upon the whole Assembly.  

* Canon 10. of Apost. decret. de Gratian, de consecrat. Dist. 2. Canon per acta & distinct. 1. Canon Episcopus.  It was not so much as permitted to assist, when they did not communicate; and the Regulations thereof are yet found in their Canon-Law: nevertheless 'tis an important affair, if there be any such in Popery. For 'tis a frightful difference, that a Feast instituted to be eaten in common by all the Believers should be changed into a Spectacle, where all the Devotion of the People consists in seeing without eating, and without understanding. Besides, thereon depends the question concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass: for if it be a true Sacrifice, they have some reason to say, that 'tis not always necessary that the Faithful eat thereof. But that the Ancients did never permit any to assist at the Mysteries, without participation in them, is an evident proof that they did not then look on them as a Sacrifice, the efficacy whereof depends upon the Oblation, but as a Sacrament, the whole efficacy whereof depends upon the reception.  

An Article of Controversy. An Examination of the two last false Consequences which the Papists draw from the perpetual Visibility of the Church.  
IN our preceding Letter, we have explained how the Church is Visible, and always Visible; and we have refuted one of the Consequences which the Converters draw from thence: behold another of them, unto which it behoves us to answer: The Church, say they, is always Visible, therefore 'tis necessary that she should always have had a Succession of lawful Pastors. This is designed to make you confess, 

1. That the Pastors of the Church of Rome are lawful Pastors, and always have been so.  
2. And by consequence, that we are separated from lawful Pastors, and a lawful Ministry.   To this answer, That from this, that the Church is always Visible, it doth indeed follow, that there hath always been true Preaching in some points, i. e. in fundamental Articles; in like manner, that it doth follow, that there hath been always true Pastors in some things, and in some respect: but it doth not follow, that the Ministry which is legitimate in some things, is so in every thing; for you must know, that the Ministry depends only upon the Doctrine. If the Christian Doctrine be wholly corrupt, and annihilated in a Society, the Ministry is nulled, nor is there any thing lawful there. If the Doctrine be pure, and Christian in all its parts, the Ministry is entirely legitimate in all respects. To conclude, if the Doctrine be partly Christian, and partly Antichristian, the Ministry is partly lawful and partly unlawful. This is the condition of the Ministry of the Church of Rome; in that Church there is Christianity and Antichristianity, Christianity in the Creeds, and Antichristianity in the superstitions and Idolatrous Additions. The Pastors of that Church receive Commission to preach both Christianity and Antichristianity; the Ministry is legitimate in that they receive Commission to preach Christianity, their Ministry, and their Mission is wholly illegitimate in that they receive Commission to preach Antichristianity: 'Tis null, for we can do nothing against the Truth. If you well understand this, you will easily answer the question proposed unto you, Why do you Separate from a true and lawful Ministry? Answer, we do not separate from the Ministry of the Roman Church in that which it teaches of Truth, in the preaching of the three Creeds, nor in that which it hath of Lawful. In this respect we are united, for we are in the same Doctrine, and by consequence in the same Ministry: We are not separate from the Ministry of the Church of Rome, but with respect to the Commission she gives her Pastors to make the Body of Jesus Christ, and teach Idolatry; now this part of her Ministry is null, vain, criminal and illegitimate.  
The third false consequence which your Converters draw from the perpetual Visibility of the Church is, That Jesus Christ will always teach with these visible Pastors. If Monsieur de Meaux, and those like him, understand thereby, that Jesus Christ ought to guide them by a Spirit of Infallibility, the supposition is false, and there is no necessity of adding any thing to make the Falseness thereof appear: For I have proved that perpetual Visibility doth not signify, that the Church by remaining always visible, must necessarily be always pure and infallible. This is true in its Pastors as well as in its other Members; for the Pastors have no privilege of being infallible, any more than the other parts of the Church. If you desire that I should add something thereon, it shall be only this: 'Tis that the Church is as a Man, who after he hath been young and sound, becomes old and diseased: This Man is visible, with his grey Hairs and his rotten Teeth and Wrinkles, just as he was when he had his complexion fresh, his colour lively, & the air of his countenance brisk & vigorous. In like manner the Church hath been young, sound and pure, in the Ages next to the Apostles, by little and little she is grown old, and at last is become deformed through corruption: but she is visible in this old age an corruption, as she was visible in her youth and purity: so that neither her youth nor her old age, neither purity nor corruption signify any thing to Visibility. The case is the same concerning the Perpetuity of the Ministry: the Ministry is perpetual, therefore 'tis incorruptible. Deny that consequence without scruple, for 'tis false; but some will say, Does not the Lord teach with those Pastors which follow one another in the order of Ages? Answer Ye; because these Pastors teach the three Creeds, conformably to the Holy Scriptures; Jesus Christ teaches with them, and they with Jesus Christ. But because they teach beyond the three Creeds, Idolatrous and superstitious Doctrines, they teach against Jesus Christ. My Brethren, that which I have said unto you in this, and the preceding Letter, is sufficient to make you understand what is the perpetual Visibility of the Church. Read it, and read it again, until you understand, and possess it very well, and you will easily answer the two Sophisms which your Adversaries put upon you.  
The first is, That if the Church hath not been always visible; the Pagans for a thousand, or twelve hundred years before Luther's Reformation, had no door open to their conversion: For how should they be converted, and how should they find the Church, if she were invisible? Now 'tis a prodigy contrary to all reason and probability, that God for the space of so many Ages, should hold the door of the Church close and hidden: Besides, this is contrary to History and Experience, which learns us, that the most part of the Northern Nations, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and many Provinces of Germany, did not receive the Christian Faith till since the eighth Age, i. e. since the time that Antichristianity was mixed with the Christian Doctrine: For the Roman Church began according to us to be Antichristian before the sixth Age. This is a difficulty which they propose to you; to which you ought to answer, That according to what we have told you, we do not teach that the Church became inusible by the Antichristianity which is entered there; she is corrupt but she continues visible. Christianity hath not failed to continue its integrity in Popery, therefore the Church remains entirely there. I have told you that Christianity and the Church are the same thing. This Christianity continuing visible in the Books of the Old and New Testament, and in the three Creeds, which the providence of God hath preserved in Popery, the door of conversion hath been always open to the Pagan Nations: for Jesus Christ crucified, and his true Mysteries, have not failed to preserve their force and efficacy, in despite to all the Darkness which the bastard Mysteries of Antichristianity have brought in thither.  
There hath been Conversion and Perversion, and Perversion in the Pagan Nations, which have joined themselves to the Church of Rome since the eighth Age. There hath been Conversion, for they have entertained one God in three Persons, one God Creator of Heaven and Earth, one Jesus the Eternal Son of God, the Word made Flesh, who died and risen again for the Sins of Men, who will come to Judge the Living and the Dead, and having raised men from their Graves, will send some men to everlasting Torments, and some to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is Christianity; by receiving this they became Converts to Jesus Christ. There hath been Perversion also; for by receiving a Vicar of Jesus Christ, a Vice-God upon Earth, a Sovereign to all the World, a Master of Kings, as of Subjects, of Crowns as of Shepherds Crooks; by adoring Bread, Angels, Saints, Relics, and Images; they have done nothing else but changed their ancient Paganism for a new one. But however it be, their Perversion has not hindered their Conversion; and that they have entertained Antichristianity, hinders not that they have not embraced also the Christian Doctrine. So that the Gate of Conversion to Christianity was never shut. But the question is, Whether this Gate be saving? whether these Conversions be profitable, or whether we ought to say of the Missionaries of the Roman Church, what Christ Jesus said of the Pharisees, That they compass sea and land to make Proselytes, whom they made twofold more children of hell than themselves? The question is, Whether the Antichristianity which they have embraced, hath more power to destroy them, than the Christianity which they have received, hath to save them? It behoves you to answer, that these People who are joined to the Church of Rome, since the eighth Age, have some portion and lot with her ancient Members; that God doth nothing in vain; that he hath not converted so many men to Christianity, to destroy them all: though it be a corrupt Christianity, which in the times when there were no Churches, which were not very corrupt as well as the Church of Rome, it may be granted that God did preserve unto himself children in these corrupt Societies; that in these Pagan Nations which are joined to the Church of Rome, God had his Elect, and that he found means to save these Elect from among the Nations by the Christianity which they had embraced, and that he gave them the grace to separate the Antichristianity, and not to be hurt or injured thereby. How this was done is not for us precisely to determine. These are the depths of the ways of God. We will say the same concerning the Conversions which the Roman Church hath made in the Indies: that God saves his Elect from among these Nations by the Christianity which the Missionaries cause them to embrace, and defends them from the wounds and hurts which the Antichristianity that is joined unto it might do unto them, by ways known to his profound Wisdom. We might believe this, say I, were it not that according to the report that the Papists themselves make unto us of the Christianity which the Jesuits teach the Indians, and the Chinesees, is not so much as an honest Paganism. This is it which must be answered to the first Difficulty.  
Behold the second: If you confess say they, that the Church is visible, and always visible, the Church of Luther and Calvin cannot be the true Church, for it was not visible two hundred years agone, having no existence in the World. When you shall have made a dissection of this Difficulty, you will find it the most pitiful one that ever was made. Know then, my Brethren, that when we say the Church was visible, and always visible, we understand the Church Universal, and not any particular Church. By the Universal Church must be understood Christianity dispersed through all Nations in the East, West, North, and South, in all places where they retain the Books of the Old and New Testament, with the three Greeds, which are the Abridgement of them. This Church is always visible, for God cannot permit that she perish wholly, nor yet that it be wholly hidden: but the particular Churches of which the Universal Church is made up and form, neither have, nor can have this privilege of being always necessarily visible. For Experience makes us see that God permits that they perish wholly: For Example, the great Churches of Africa, of Carthage, and Numidia, etc. where were the Cyprians, the Augustine's, the Saints Fulgentii, that is to say, the prime Lights of the Church. These Churches, say I, are not at all; therefore they are not visible, and perpetual Visibility was not affixed unto them. At present consider you, that the defect of Visibility may be found in a particular Church for one of these two reasons, either because she is no longer, or because she is not yet; the Churches of Africa are invisible, because they are no more; and the Protestant Churches were invisible two hundred years ago, because they were not yet. Understand, I entreat you, the folly of the Objection which they make unto you by this: The true Church is always visible, the Church of St. Austin, and St. Cyprian is no longer visible, therefore the Church of St. Cyprian, and St. Augustine, was not the true Church. Can any thing be more foolish and ridiculous than this? You very well understand what you ought to answer, when the Church of St. Austin was in the World it was visible, and it was then the true Church, but after it was extinct and abolished by the Invasions of the Saracens and the Moors, how can you wish or desire it should be visible?  
So when they tell you, The true Church is always visible, now the Church of Luther and Calvin was not visible two hundred years ago, therefore it is not the true Church. You can answer, that a man can say nothing more absurd, and that a Church is far enough from being visible, when as yet it is not. Ah, on that occasion they will say to you, the novelty of your Church is a proof of the falseness thereof. For a new Church cannot be a true Church. Another Absurdity: The Church of China, erected by the Roman Missions is about a hundred years since. I reason against that, as they reason against us: A new Church which was not visible a hundred years since, cannot be a true Church, for the Church is ancient, and always visible, now the Church of China is new, and was not existent a hundred years ago, therefore it is not a true Church. I desire that they would tell me the difference, unless it be that the Church of China newly came out of the bosom of Paganism, and that ours is newly come out of the bosom of Antichristianism. He must be a little cracked in the crown, not to perceive by this example, that the new erection of a particular Church ought to be no prejudice unto it. Nothing can prejudice it but new Doctrine: If a new Society which teaches a new Doctrine doth arise then in a new Church, and in that case is worth nothing. But they will say, Behold exactly your own state and case, you are a new Church that teach new things. That's the question; that's it which we deny, and which must be examined to know whether we teach new things: We must therefore come to the Foundation, to see if we teach the ancient Religion of Christ, and his Apostles, and not ridiculously amuse ourselves in wrangling about circumstances concerning a new Church, of new Establishment, of perpetual Visibility, etc. for if we teach the true and ancient Religion of Jesus Christ, all that they say of these things are Illusions: And if on the contrary, our Doctrine be not that of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, though we were as old as the World, and had been always as visible as the Sun, we should be nevertheless a false Church. This is that therefore which I will stand to, that we are not to search the character of perpetual Visibility in any particular Church, forasmuch as it agrees only to Christianity in general, and the Church Universal. Before our Reformation the Church was not visible in our Society, which did not yet exist, but it was visible in the Greek Church, in the Arm●nian, Cophti, Abyssin, and Aethiopian Churches, because all these preserved Christianity entire in the three Creeds. When we came into the World, the Church became visible in our Society, as it was before in others, with this difference, that the Church and Christianity were visible before our Reformation, as the Egg whereof we have spoken was visible in the midst of that dirty, unclean, and filthy water in which it swum; and that in our Church Christianity and the Church are there visible as the Sun dis-engaged from dark clouds and fogs. My Brethren, if you take pains to read and meditate deeply, and more than once upon what I have said unto you, I tell you frankly, I shall no more fear on your behalf the Sophism concerning perpetual Visibility.  
WHatsoever desire we have to give you the News of our Martyrs, for this time they must give place to certain Prodigies, more significant than any ever happened before. The first shall be that which is come from St. Malo, attested by a Letter from the Vicar-General of that Bishopric.  
The Copy of a Letter from Monsieur Simon, Doctor of the Forborn,  of Rinan, Cannon, Penitentiary and Vicar-General of the Bishopric of St. Malo, the sixth of July, 1687.  
I Wrote to you the last Post, my dear Monsieur, but how can I forbear to tell you of a late Accident which you will hear of by the public Relations? Behold a small Extract of it, which I draw in haste: Upon Thursday last, being the third of this Month, the Thunder (after a very small noise in the borders of this City) fell upon our Church, by the Steeple, killed a young Man which tolled the Bell in the Belfery, fell into the Seat of the Choir, or Singing-men; broke all the lower part of the Crucifix in divers pieces, and left the Image hanging by its hands; it fell among the Musicians which sung, and answered at a Mass in Music, that Monsieur de Sales celebrated at the Altar of St. Julien, it smote down the said Sieur de Sales, with the Deacons and Subdeacons, who were some time without knowledge; overturned the consecrated Calais which stood upon the Altar, on the Ground, and on the Garments of the Priests. The same thing happened at the Altar of St. Peter, at the entrance of the Choir: A Priest being at the Postcommunion, saw in an instant (in a Chalice which fell not) one part of the Blood of our Lord consumed; the rest sprinkled upon the Ornaments of the Priests, and upon the Linen of the Altar. Monsieur Lagons being at the Credo of the Mass, at the Altar of St. Malo, was thrown upon his back, and there the Sacrifice ceased. The Thunder broke many parts of the Vestry, burned the Altar-cloaths, and left a mark upon the Patten, as if it had been shot with a Pistol, it left many other marks upon the edge of the Chalice. In the Choir one named Banville, the best Voice of our Church, whose back was near the Crucifix, remained there as dead, and was there a long time without feeling, sight, or knowledge; it is not known whether he can be recovered; for they say, to day, that all his back is burnt, and that he vomits his entrails. The Gentlemen of the Chapter take all possible care of him. As it was the first Thursday of the Month, immediately after the Mass of the Sacrament, the Church was extremely full; very many swooned, and were carried off without knowledge. The Church appeared for sometime all on a fire, and filled with a thick black smoke, and a very stinking savour. It would take more time than I have, to make you an exact Picture of our Misfortunes. I was in the Chapterhouse upon the Tower, close by the place where the Thunder fell. I thought it necessary to write to my Lord of St. Malo, at Beignon, five Leagues from hence, to have his Orders and Advice upon this whole matter. Our Express went thither in a few hours, and my Lord came hither on Horseback, with two or three only of his men, where a great and famous Procession was prepared against the Afternoon, at which all the body of the Religions were to attend at three of the Clock. Behold the Advertisements which God has given us, which afford fair occasion for Reflections. Adieu. I am wholly yours. About two hundred years ago, the Thunder fell nigh the same place.  
It is not safe in this Age to entertain the Public with Prodigees, and yet much less to draw Consequences and Presages thence, nevertheless this speaks so loud, that he must be as deaf as a rock that hears not: The Thunder almost without any Tempest falls into the Church, attacks the Images, breaks the Crucifix, goes directly to three Priests, saying Mass at three different Altars, burns the Ornaments of the Altars, consumes the Blood of Jesus Christ, (as they call it) in one of the Chalices, overturns the other, imprints the mark of a Pistol-shot on the Patten, kills the most famous Singer, fills the Church with a most horrible stink. Behold enough! it needs no Commentary. Mr. Simon had reason to say, that these are Advertisements from God, which give fair occasion for Reflections. We desire these Gentlemen, at the same time, to do so upon that which happened at Paris, upon Corpus-Christi day, which we will report also as it hath been written by an infinite number of persons.  
The last Corpus-Christi day, in this Year, 1687. in most places it was as calm as any Summer-day could be. On the contrary, it was very tempestuous almost throughout all France; they could not make their Processions at Montpellier, and other places of Languedoc, because of the Rain. And the same Tempest was also at Paris. The Sacrament, being brought out of the Church of St. Saviour, had not gone far, when the Wind, or a Blow from Heaven smote down the Pix, or Box, in which the consecrated Host was carried, to the ground. It fell into the Water and Dirt, the Vessel opened, and the Host fell out, and mingling with the Dirt, was confounded and moistened by it. And all the care which they could take to restore it, by taking away the Dirt, the Water, and pieces of the Ground that stuck to it, could not hinder it from suffering the utmost indignities. Let him that please make Reflections, I cannot forbear observing it as a visible Judgement from God, and as a Presage. In the greatest of the Popish Festivals, in the greatest City, where Bread-worship reigns, in the going out of a Church, which bears one of the Names of Jesus Christ, and which ought not to be given to any thing but himself, the Idol of Bread fell with its face on the ground, and was buried in the Mire.  
Behold a third Matter of Fact, which is not less notorious, it is the burning of the great Church of Rochel: this Church was formerly the great Church of the Reformed. They took it away from them after the Siege and taking of the City. Every one knows, that the day on which the Inhabitants made a Bonfire, the fire took hold on this large and fair Church, none knows how, nor where, and that it was consumed, the Lead was melted, and all the Vaults burnt, without being able to quench it: there is something singular in the event, the day, and the occasion, and 'tis impossible not to see the finger of God therein. God grant, that it may signify, that the Life and Health of the King may not be so favourable to the Persecutors, as they hope.  
If you would have Matters of Fact like that of St. Malo, behold here are some: There happened one at God-derville, in the Country of Caux, upon Corpus-Christi day, as the Inhabitants discharged their Muskets to the Honour of the Sacrament, the fire took hold of some Houses, and ran in such a manner, that there was more than 80 burnt down. On the third day of July, the very same day that the Thunder fell upon the Church of St. Malo, at Seven of the Clock at Night, the Thunder likewise fell upon the Church of a Place called Poville, situated in Normandy, carried away the Weathercock from the Steeple, entered into the Church, and burned all the Altars. It also fell at B●yeux, in Lower Normandy, upon a Steeple, where it killed twenty five persons. In the Suburbs of St. Gervas' of Rouen. It carried away the Roof of a Garden-house belonging to the Curate of the Parish. It must be confessed, that the Thunder hath done much this Year to Churches, and all things belonging thereunto.  
After these notorious Matters of Fact, which speak so loud, it may be permitted us to report two others contained in a Memorial, which was sent us from Poictou by a very honourable person.  
The Memorial.  
AT Jasenevil, in Poitou, there happened this which follows, while Mr. Marillac did such mischiefs in the said Province. A Peasant, by Name, — Bardon, married to a Wife of the Roman Catholic Persuasion, who pressed him vehemently to change his Religion; meeting the Curate of the place, in the Field, suffered himself to be persuaded to go to Mass, and to change his Religion. Which when he had done, he immediately repent thereof, greatly, as he said to one of his Neighbours, whom he found as he returned home; and being come to his House, while his Spirit was in disorder, instead of opening his Lock, he hampered it in such sort, that he was forced to send for a Locksmith to take it off: when the Door was open, he saw all the Chamber on fire, and he crying out Fire, five or six of his Neighbours ran, with his Wife, and altogether saw this miraculous Fire, which filled all the Chamber, and burned nothing, and in the end disappeared. This Man, some days after, fell sick, praying God, without ceasing, that he would give him the grace, that he might never return to the Mass, and to this purpose, that he would take him out of the World; and because that he well saw, that his only Son would be forced to follow that Religion in which he began to be engaged, he prayed God to take his Son out of the World, and that he might see him die before he died himself. Two days after the Son fell sick, and in two days he died in the presence of his Father, and the Father himself died the day after, rendering a thousand Thanks to God, that he had heard his Prayer, and that he had taken them both out of this World to give them a better Life.  
I learned this Story from St. Maixent, the 10th of August, 1684. from two persons worthy of credit, viz. the Husband and Wife who had a Child nursed by the Wife of the said Bardon; he which made me the Report of this Matter, is called Mr. Lavergnac, Master of the Grange of the Village of Luzignan in Poitou, a person of good credit, and full of zeal for Religion, his Wife also being present.  
In the Year 1685. the 20th of January, a Woman of Jonzac in Saintonge, called Susan de Lisle, the Wife of Boynard, a Glover, being with Child, as she was in her House, sitting upon a Settle by the Window, rising up, she felt that her Child stretched itself in her Womb, and at the same time she heard it utter a very extraordinary cry: and a little after, this Infant, having again moved itself, cried out about a quarter of an Hour with the true Voice of an Infant, whereupon the Mother was much frighted, and called some persons to help her, she having then no body with her, but her own Daughter, about nine Years old, who having plainly heard this cry, said to her, Mother, my little Broth●r cries in in your belly: this Child was born three Months and nineteen Days after this; it was baptised at Linieres by Mr. Covyer, Pastor of the said place, and was a very vigorous Child, and grew in six months' time twice as much as it ought to do. We have learned this story from Liniers, from the mouth of the Mother of this Woman, and from the Daughter, which was present, and from the Husband of the Godmother of the Child.  
From Martinique, the 24th of May, 1687.  
MOnsieur Poysonnel, who commanded a Frigate from Marseille, which had taken two hundred Maids and Women, and almost as many Galley slaves, to bring hither, was lost three days since, as he was coming into this Town. The whole number of persons, which were on board the Vessel, were 320, and were all drowned, as 'tis said, excepting 30 of the Soldiers and Mariners. This was by the imprudence of the Pilots. God hath given rest to these poor miserable Creatures.  
This Note teacheth us the sad and glorious end of the Confessors, which we spoke of to you. Others writ, that this Shipwreck was by command, because the Wind was very fair to bring them into the Haven of the Isle, and that all the Soldiers and Mariners were saved. As for me I will not prejudice the Spirits of men concerning this Fact, it being an Action so enormous. This is certain, that God was pleased to deliver these blessed Confessors, and snatch them from the cruel slavery which they had prepared for them.  
August 1. 1687.    

The Twenty fourth PASTORAL LETTER. That the Church of Rome is not visible, and that she has no mark which makes her visible. A confutation of those Means whereof Mr. Nicholas pretends to serve himself, to make his Church visible.  
Dear Brethren in our Lord, Grace and Peace be given to you, from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
BEfore we pass to another part of the Controversy about the Church, and leave the Question concerning its perpetual visibility, and after examination of the visibility of the Church in general, 'tis needful that we take cognizance of the visibility of the Roman Church in particular: 'Tis needful that you say to your Converters, since 'tis so, that the Church is always visible, and that you are the Church, help us to see her; in and by what is the Roman Church visible? If they show you great Churches full of Men, that pray, and adore, which here Vespers and Matins, who prostrate themselves before Wafers and Images, you will answer, this is not to show me the Church. For if I were at Constantinople, a Turk would show me his Mosques all full of Worshippers, which cry, there is but one God, and Mahomet is his Prophet. Tell them, If you please to go to London, I will show you the Church in England, as you show it me in France: I will show you great Churches full of men, which pray, and adore, which prostrate themselves before God, who pray, and understand what they pray for. 'Tis unavoidable therefore, that you show me not Men, and heaps of Stones, which are called Churches, but sensible and visible marks, that Popery is the true Religion of Jesus Christ, and that the Church of Rome is the true Church. Add to this, that the marks which they give you ought to be suitable to your capacity, i. e. the capacity of plain persons, and without learning. For the space of twelve or fifteen Years the Popish Doctors of France have changed the Controversy this way. The business is not to instruct the learned, 'tis acknowledged on both sides, that the multitude, and greater part of the Church, is composed of men without learning, and of plain people, which must be saved as well as the more able. From henceforth therefore it is necessary to furnish a means to the common people, to inform them of the truth in matters of controversy, and a means altogether suitable to their weakness. Particularly in this Controversy, Whether the Church of Rome hath certain and evident marks of her truth, which make her visible. For 'tis an important Affair, and which the weakest ought too understand. It is certain, that a Church cannot be visible in quality of a Church, by any other means than what they call her marks; of this we are at an agreement.  
We must therefore see, whether the Church of Rome hath those marks, which may make the weakest perceive she is a true Church. I will not here engage you in that Labyrinth of Disputes, which the Doctors of the Church of Rome have form about the marks of that Church. 'Tis their manner to bury the truth under a prodigious heap of useless words and obscure questions. I will not examine the sixteen marks which Bellarmine has given, nor the forty which others have produced. You cannot read those Books, nor are they those which they put into your hands; and since that time, they are become more able in Sophistry. Mr. Nicholas, who is the last that hath laboured on this Subject, has employed three Chapters to prove that the Church of Rome is very visible, even to the most weak, and plain. In the first of these three Chapters, he says, 
* Chap. 17, 18, 19, of the 1st Book, The Reformed convinced of Schism.  That a man may prove the Church to the weakest by Scripture. In the second, That a man may prove the Church to the most weak by Tradition. And in the third, That the Church of Rome is not unfurnished with exterior marks, which make her known to be the true Church to the weak. Behold three Sources of visibility for the Roman Church: 

1. Tradition.  
2. Exterior Marks.  
3. The Scripture As this is one of the Books which your Converters put into your hands, I do entreat you to give attention to what I have to say to you thereon.    
I begin with Tradition. They understand by Tradition, the Testimony of the Fathers, Councils, and Authors of all Ages, therefore the meaning is, they can prove the Church of Rome is the true Church by the testimony of the Greek and Latin Fathers, and by the Councils of the Greek and Latin Church. And at first, this is a contradiction that stairs you in the face. It may be proved, says he, to the weak by the Fathers, and the Greek and Latin Councils, that the Church of Rome is the true Church. And how can a man prove to the weak, a truth by the testimonies of the Greek and Latin Fathers? To those which understand neither Latin nor Greek, or who have neither means nor time to turn over the Leaves, or read and examine these great Volumes. Behold the way, nothing more remains than to employ these two means, the first is a Principle founded on a Rule of St. Austin, that all Customs that are found universally established whose original and beginning we know not, may be very justly ascribed to the Apostles. The second means is included in this Syllogism which Mr. Nicholas makes. The Scripture and Tradition teach, that there hath been always in the World one Church, visible and successive, and that this Church is infallible for the instruction of believers in the truths of Faith.  
Now the Church of Rome is this only visible Church.  
Therefore the Church of Rome is the infallible Church, and to her alone it belongs to instruct men in the truths of Faith.  
And behold how Mr. Nicholas forms a light upon the first medium which makes the Church of Rome visible to the weak. All the Traditions which the Heretics dispute, say he, have their certain Epoche's or beginnings which are not disputed by them. The Calvinists agree, that in the fourth Age men called upon Saints, adored Relics, and observed Lent, that in the seventh Age they worshipped Images, in the eleventh they believed Transubstantiation: The weak have no need to assure themselves of this matter of fact by way of examination, for 'tis confessed on both sides. Apply the Principle of St. Austin, that all Customs found universally established in one Age, and whose beginning we know not, may be justly attributed to the Apostles. Now the customs of invoking Saints, adoring Images, observing Lent, and worshipping the Sacrament, are found generally established in some Ages, as the Calvinists confess, and we know not where to find the original of them, therefore they ought to be referred to the Apostles. A man cannot tell how many Illusions there are therein, which are unworthy of an honest man, yea, a man of a good understanding. First, 'tis to scoff at mankind, to say, 'tis a light proper to make the Church visible to the weak. For this method of reasoning doth necessarily suppose, 

1. That a person must know that this pretended Rule, on which they support themselves, is St. Austin's.  
2. That the Ministers consent to the truth of this rule.  
3. That they confess, that upon certain times, the customs of adoring Images, praying to Saints, etc. were generally received.  
4. That from thence it follows, that these customs, generally established in some Ages, aught to be referred to the Apostles.   All this is disputed, and there are large Books written on the Subject, which the weak cannot read, and this requires an examination, which is above the capacity of those which are not men of learning. This is that which we have proved invincibly in our Answer to Mr. Nicholas 
* System of the Church, l. 2. c. 16. . Secondly, It is to be observed, that this fine Principle upon which this pretended Evidence is founded, viz. the Rule of St. Austin is false, especially if it be applied to all Ages. It hath been observed, that the Fathers of the fourth Age were very much inclined to support the Novelties crept into the Church upon the authorities of the Apostles, and to make all things pass for Apostolic, the beginning whereof the People were not then able to see. It is therefore false, that all Customs which are found established in a certain Age, although we be not able to find the beginning of them, in a distinct manner ought to be ascribed to the Apostles. For example, The custom of adoring the Sacrament of the Eucharist was not generally established in the Latin. Church till the twelfth Age. Although we could not find the original of this Idolatry, it were an impiety to attribute it to the Apostles. There are certain Practices which are insensibly established by little and little, the first point of whose original cannot be precisely observed. It doth not follow therefore, that we must ascribe the original to the Apostles. We must attribute nothing to the Apostles but what is in their Writings. 3. I observe, that there is a faulty and shameful falseness in the application of the Rule. Mr. Nicholas pretends, that the Customs which are found generally established in certain Ages, aught to be referred to the Apostles, and that for this reason, the custom of falling prostrate before Images must be referred to them, because this custom is found generally established in the eighth Age. I do maintain, that Mr. Nicholas does basely betray his conscience in this example, for he is persuaded as well as I, and all those Roman Catholics in France, which are men of knowledge and understanding, do know, that the Apostles did not establish Image-worship; and these Gentlemen do not refuse to confess it, when they are not in dispute. Fourthly, I say, that this reasoning supposes a thing which is altogether false, 'tis that we are not able to find the original of those Customs which are generally established in certain Ages: this is false, the custom of praying to Saints is found established in the fifth Age. In our preceding Letters, we have shown the original and birth thereof. In like manner we find in all the following Ages the birth of the Worship of Images, of Purgatory, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Real Presence, and Transubstantiation. They make a wrangling with us about it, unworthy of honest men. Show us, say they, who was the first Heretic that taught either the Invocation of Saints, or the Worship of Images, or those other false Worships which you condemn.  
I answer, that I have no need to name their Author, seeing I have shown the Age of their birth. I prove for example, after a manner invincible, that they did not invocate Saints in the three first Ages of the Church. I find afterwards the Invocation of Saints about the end of the fourth Age. Is not this to observe the point of its birth? what does the name of the first Author signify in this case? Besides, superstitious and idolatrous Practices had not one single Author, they had many, 'tis the sottish and ill instructed people who introduce Superstitions, and who introduce them insensibly, and by little and little. But for speculative Heresies, 'tis the learned which give them birth, for which reason 'tis easy to mark both their Authors, and the precise time of their original. Fifthly, To conclude, I observe in this light which Mr. Nicholas forms to us, to make the Church of Rome visible, there is no more of sound judgement, than of honesty. For although even all that he says were solid, and his method would prove the Invocation of Saints, the Adoration of Relics, Lent, etc. were Apostolical Traditions, this would not prove, that which ought to be proved here, viz. that the Church of Rome is the only true Church. For it must be known, that the Greek Church, which according to the Papists is schismatical, and which a man cannot secure his salvation, do also invocate Saints, worship Images, and observe Lent. 'Tis therefore necessary to find in Tradition a proof which makes it evident, that the Church of Rome is the true Church, with exclusion to all other Sects; and this is it which the reasoning of Mr. Nicholas doth not prove neither directly, nor indirectly.  
The other Source from whence Mr. Nicholas will draw a light by Tradition, to make the Church of Rome visible to the weak, is yet more dark and obscure. 'Tis a ratiocination, which supposes, 

1. That Tradition teaches, that there hath been a visible and infallible Church in the World. Tradition doth not teach it, and although it should teach it, a plain weak man which cannot read the Greek and Latin Fathers, the Councils, and the Opinions of the Doctors would not be in a condition to assure himself thereof.  
2. This reasoning supposes in its second Proposition, that the Church of Rome is this only visible infallible Church.   And this is that which must be proved, that is, that which is obscure, and must be made plain to the eyes of the weak. Is it not therefore very absurd to pretend to make a light for the weak to render the Roman Church visible, of that which is denied and contested by all the World? yea, although it should be true, that there is one visible and infallible Church, it would not follow, that this were the Church of Rome, for three fourth parts of Christians dispute this privilege with her. Mr. Nicholas hath found an admirable secret to draw the weak out of this difficulty. It is not needful, as he insinuates, to make known to the weak, that there be other Sects as ancient as the Church of Rome, who pretend to be the Church. Nothing more is necessary than to make them see the new Sects of Lutherans and Calvinists in opposition to the Church of Rome. For they will easily see, that this visible Church, which ought always to be in the World, cannot be that of Luther and Calvin, and they will not be so much as tempted to search any other Church but that of Rome. I think I have pressed Mr. Nicholas thereon, after such a manner, as to cover him with a confusion, out of which he will never escape. For I have made him see, that it is properly to cheat the weak, to let them believe there is no other Church in the World but the Roman and the Protestant. The Protestant Church not having the marks of perpetual visibility, since she was not till about two hundred years ago, the weak, without enquiring further, believe, that the Roman Church is the only true Church, on supposition, that she is the only ancient Church. Mr. Nicholas confesses, that this supposition is false, for he acknowledges the Greek Church is as ancient as the Roman. But nevertheless, according to him, 'tis expedient to permit the weak to believe this false supposition as if it were true, that they be not tempted to search any other Church but the Roman. On this matter of fact, and about all the rest of the Book against Mr. Nicholas, we do declare to him, that his silence is looked upon as a conviction. They writ, that he prepares an Answer to the first Part of the System of the Church, where the Nature of the Church is spoken to. If it be so, we declare to him, that that is not the capital Controversy between him and me. 'Tis about the impossibility of examination of particular Controversies, 'tis about the Authority of the Church, which he ought to answer, and to which he will never answer.  
the 2d light which Mr. Nicholas forms to make the Church of Rome visible, is drawn from the external marks, which make her known for the true Church to the weak and ignorant. These external marks, according to him, may be reduced to two, they are Miracles and Sanctity. Now this Sanctity and these Miracles which must make the Roma Church visible, are either those of the present, or those of past Ages. Mr. Nicholas searches the visibility of the Church of Rome, more in the Miracles of the first Ages, than in those of this. And behold how he reasons, the Church of the two or three first Ages, had marks sufficiently evident of the Divine Spirit wherewithal she was animated, the miraculous Holiness of her Members, and the Miracles which were done there, made her sufficiently visible, and sufficiently supported her authority. If the Church of the three first Ages had this character both of authority and evidence, we cannot refuse it to the Church of the fourth Age, for 'twas the same Church. She possessed all the advantages of the three first Ages: That is to say, her Miracles, and her Prodigies of Sanctity which appertained to her by right of succession, and she had those which were her own, and which were not inferior to them. For she had her Martyrs, her Prodigies of Sanctity, and her Miracles, and these Miracles were done in that same Church where by the confession of the Ministers, they prayed to Saints, and worshipped Relics. These Prodigies of Sanctity, and these Miracles, did yet continue in those Ages, in which the Ministers do confess that they had Images, and believed Transubstantiation. For example, in the Age of St. Bernard, which is the 12th. This St. Bernard wrought Miracles, and taught all that which is believed in the Church of Rome. Fellow on from Age to Age, and you will come even to the Church of the present Age, who hath right to attribute to herself not only the Miracles of the Apostles, but all those which have been wrought since, and above all, those which were done by the Relics of Saints in the fourth and fifth Ages. As the Miracles which St. Austin reports to have been done by the Relics of St. Stephen in Africa, those of St. Martin in France, and those of the Anacorites in Egypt and Syria.  
Not to enter into a long dispute on the subject of this pretended mark of the Church of Rome, I answer three or four things briefly, to which I pray give attention.  
1. That this pretended fountain of light, fit and proper to make the Church of Rome visible, is not for the simple and unlearned. For to see the bottom and solidity thereof, they must examine the History of the pretended Miracles which were done in the fourth and fifth Ages. They must see what we have said in opposition to it, they must examine circumstances, and see if there be not reason to believe, that all these stories of Miracles are either frauds, or fictions. They must also examine by History, whether these pretended Prodigies of Sanctity, be not either Fables, or the disorders of sick and melancholic minds. They must therefore be able to understand Latin and Greek, and to read great and large Volumes. To offer this as a light suitable to the capacity of the weak and unlearned, is to scoff and deride them.  
2. I say, that the Miracles of the Apostles, which are certain, and the Prodigies of the Sanctity of the three first Ages, does not appertain by right of succession to the Church of the fourth and fifth Age, but as far as she inherits the Doctrine of the Apostles. These Miracles were good to prove the Divinity of the Christian Religion to Pagans. But they are worth nothing to prove Novelties, as are the Invocation of Saints, and the Worship of Relics, which are purely Pagan Practices. With far greater reason the Church of Rome hath no right by succession to the Miracles of the Apostles, to prove her Worship, her Idolatries, and Superstitions. We have as much right as she to these Miracles. They are truly and properly our Miracles. They are good for us all in common against the ungodly, and against Infidels, to prove, that there is one God in three Persons, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the true Redeemer of the World. But they are nothing to prove our Additions, our Corruptions, and our Alterations, if it be so, that either the one or the other of the Christian Sects, whether Popery or Calvinism, have introduced them into the Church. This is clear, the Miracles of the Apostles appertain not to us; but as far as we have and do inherit their Doctrine.  
3. As to the Miracles of the fourth and fifth Age, which were done in the times when they prayed to Saints, and worshipped Relics, we say, that they were false Miracles. It is to be observed, that from the death of the Apostles, until the end of the fourth Age, nothing was spoken of Miracles in the Church, or so little, and in so doubtful a manner, that it doth not deserve to be reckoned for any thing, but when the Devil desired to set up the Worship of Creatures, he poured out a Spirit of Lying, and a Spirit of Credulity, which began to entertain discourses of Miracles. 'Tis a thing of importance, press your Converters thereon. Why did these Miracles cease for the space of well nigh two hundred Years, or at least why were they so rare? And why did they begin again exactly at the time when the Worship of Relics grew famous? Do we not see clearly, that 'tis a Wile of the Devil? Hath God any interest to serve by Bones and Ashes? was it necessary that he should begin again to do Miracles at that time? And if it were of use to persuade the truth of the Religion which the Martyrs declared to the Pagans, why did not God work Miracles by the Bones of the Martyrs for the first three Ages? This had been much more profitable, than when Paganism was rampant, and the Church persecuted and oppressed. Wherefore did not the Bones of Polycarpus, of whom the believers of Smyrna speak with so much love, work miracles? Why did not so many Martyrs, whose Relics they had, and whose Anniverssaries they observed in the time of St. Cyprian, work signs and wonders? your Converters will never be able to answer this; be you therefore persuaded, that these pretended Miracles done by the Relics of St. Stephen, St. Gervais, St. Protais, St. Martin, etc. were Illusions of the Devil, whom God permitted to work false Miracles, or the Cheats of Villains, and lewd Superstitionists; or to conclude, Stories of the Vulgar, and Fables which honest men received as Truths upon hear-say. And as to the Miracles which are ascribed to the Anacorites of Egypt, and Syria; I know not how Mr. Nicholas is not ashamed to draw from them a Light to make his Church visible. They are Fables for the most part so gross, that the Falseness of them stairs in the face of the most Ignorant. The Lives of St. Paul the Hermit, of Hilarion, and others written by St. Jerome, that of St. Antony composed, as they say, by Athanasius, are written with so little modesty and judgement, that a man ought to be ashamed of them.  
The judicious Readers that would preserve respect for the Authors of those Lives, say, that the Fathers composed them not as Histories, but as pious Romances to divert Christians from reading the Pagan Fables. We see in the Lives of those solitary persons of the Desert, such as found Centaurs in the Woods, Satyrs, Men half Horses, and half Goats, who spoke to them, and prayed them to entreat the common Saviour to have pity on them, and to give them part in the common Salvation with them. We see Hermites-which were in perpetual contests with the Devil, always tempted, and often beaten by him. We see them which herded among the Beasts. We there read in one word, almost all the Impertinencies of our new Legends. This makes it evident, that the Fabulous Spirit entered into Christian Religion, as soon as the Spirit of Superstition, and Idolatry. 4ly, I say that although it should be true, that these Miracles wrought in the Age of the establishment of the Worship of Saints and Relics, should be true Miracles, it would not be a Light for the Roman Church, any more than for the Greek, who also worship Saints and Relics. 'Tis therefore needful that we have Miracles from the Church of Rome, since she was separate from the Greek Church, and that it appear this Gift of Miracles is departed from all other Churches to affix itself to the Church of Rome. Now the Greek Schismatics have their Saints, their Legends, and their Miracles, as well as the Latin Church: Besides, we do maintain that all the Miracles of the Church of Rome, those of St. Bernard, as well as others, are Legendaries, Tales, or Illusions of the Evil Spirit. 5ly, To conclude, I do maintain that every person who hath no other support of his Faith but Miracles, is a false Believer. I have said it elsewhere, Miracles are not designed principally to prove Truth; they are appointed above all to awaken men's minds, to oblige them to give attention to Truth.  
Mr. Nicholas to the Miracles and Prodigies of Sanctity of the Ancients, which make the Church of Rome, according to him, visible, joins also the Sanctity of the present Church of Rome, her Reformed Orders, her great Men, the Nuns de Trap, etc. and concludes, That although a man should have regard to nothing but the Sanctity of the Manners of the Church of Rome, she is even thereby distinguished from all other Societies, and that she hath, in persons of eminent Piety, sensible Characters of the Spirit of God, which will animate and inspire her to the end of the World. Mr. Nicholas speaking of all preceding Ages, did always join Miracles with Sanctity: At present he lays by Miracles, and why is this? He well knows his Church pretends, as yet, to have the Gift of Miracles. And there is not a place eminent for Devotion, as are the famous Ladies of Arsillieres, of Montferrat, of Loretto, where they do not pretend to see Miracles. The Father de Aviano ran all the World over to make it evident, that the Gift of Miracles did not die with the Apostles. He dares not produce to us, that as a Light, he perceives very well that all these Miracles are suspected. Plainly, he himself hath not much Faith for them. And so by this silence Mr. Nicholas doth tacitly consent, that at this day the Roman Church doth no Miracles. If it be so, I would very willingly know why the Roman Church work no more Miracles at this day, when she had never more need thereof to convert so many ill converted Heretics, and which cry out so loudly of the Violence which they have suffered by the sending of the Dragoons? The Miracles whereof they tell us, as done at present, may very well be Juggles or Fables, according to what Mr. Nicholas lets us think by saying nothing of them, for what reason may not all those of the Ages passed for seven or eight hundred years particularly, be very well also accounted Impostures? These Miracles of the Church of Rome, and of Popery, do very well deserve that we should make larger Reflections on them, and an occasion thereof will be presented to us elsewhere. But in the mean while, I pray give attention to this: It is if they reckon the Miracles which are found in the Legends from the fifth Age, wrought expressly to support the Invocation of Saints, Adoration of Relics, Worship of Images, and of Purgatory, it will be found, that God hath wrought without Hyperbole, a thousand times more Miracles for the establishment of these false Doctrines, these wicked Worships, than he hath wrought to confirm the Christian Religion. We have told you long since, that a Monk for his part raised two and fifty dead persons, and others in proportion. Now judge if it were probable that these new Doctrines; supposing they were true, should be so important that to confirm them, God should work a thousand and a thousand times more wonders, than he hath wrought to establish the Faith of the greatest Mysteries of the Christian Religion. As to the Article of the Holiness of the Church of Rome at this day, whereof Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Arnold make an evidence for her, I can destroy it by making appear the enormous Corruptions which are yet seen in her most considerable parts of Spain and Italy: I can prove the disorders of her Clergy, and of her Monks; I can prove that these prodigious Austerities which they produce to us as the effects of the Spirit of God, are but the effects of the Spirit of Hypocrisy, or Fanaticism. But to the end that I may not trouble those that pride themselves of the Virtue and Piety in the Roman Church, I will say, that if there be Piety in some of the Members of that Church, they own it not to Popery and Antichristianism, but to the remainders of Christianity which continue in that Communion.  
I come to the third Light by which Mr. Nicholas would make the Church visible: It is the Holy Scripture. To conclude, behold him come to the only place from whence the true Light can be drawn: It is false, saith he, that this Author hath believed that the point concerning the Church cannot be proved by the Scriptures, and that the proofs are not accommodated to the capacity of the Vulgar. We have shown Mr. Nicholas how much there is of Absurdity in what he says here, that a man may prove the point concerning the Church by the Scripture, after a manner that is fitted to the capacity of the Vulgar: and yet we know not how to prove the other Articles of Faith which are controverted after the same manner. It hath been made evident, that the Controversy concerning the Church, is the most difficult of all. It hath been represented to him, that to decide this Controversy by the Scripture, according to the method which he hath employed against us, it is necessary that an ignorant man should be able to compare the Translations with the Originals, and by consequence, that he should understand Greek and Hebrew, that he may be able to read the Commentaries of the Ancients, and the Moderns, and by consequence, that he should be able to understand Latin. All this is as necessary to determine one single Controversy, as to determine a hundred. We have proved unto him, that it is false to say, that a man may very well prove by Scripture the Sovereign Authority of the Church, but that he cannot prove thereby the Trinity or Incarnation, and on that subject, he is reduced to an eternal silence. For which reason we shall not press him farther on an Article which he grants us by his silence. But it is necessary to acquaint you, that his Affirmation is entirely false and rash, viz. That the Holy Scripture furnishes sufficient Light to the Vulgar, to make them see that the Roman Church is the true Church. Either these Gentlemen mean, that by the Scripture they can easily prove that there ought to be always a visible and infallible Church upon Earth, or they mean that the Holy Scripture shows with its finger the Church of Rome, and makes it known for the true Church, to the Exclusion of all other Sects of Christians; or to conclude, they mean the Holy Scripture forms a Light to make the Roman Church visible, because it contains, includes, and teaches all the Doctrines and Worship which this Church doth authorise and command.  
As to the first sense, although it should be true Popery would gain nothing thereby; although they should prove even by the Scripture, that there ought always to be a visible and infallible Church upon Earth, this would not prove that this must be the Church of Rome: For the Greek Church pretends to be that Church which is built upon the rock, and against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, to the exclusion of the Latin Church, and 'tis that in which we ought to observe the perpetual Illusion of the Roman Doctors. They oppress you with Sophisms, to convince you that there ought to be a Judge, an infallible Interpreter of Scripture, a Church that cannot err. Answer them in one word, Although all this which you say should be true, it would be no advantage to you; we must seek this Church, and this infallible Interpreter elsewhere, for 'tis certain you have erred. I come to the second sense, viz. That the Scripture makes a Light which renders the Church visible, because it shows with the Finger the Roman Church as the true Church to the exclusion of all others. Now this is a Falsehood sensible to all the World, the Holy Scripture speaks not one word of the Church of Rome, or of her Infallibility. 'Tis true there is an Epistle addressed to the Church of Rome, but St. Paul so little thought of her as infallible, that he speaks to her as a Church that would fall, or at least as one that might be cut off from the true Olive, and from the root of Jesus Christ.  
There remains only the third sense in which your Converters can say, that the Scripture forms a Light which makes the Church of Rome visible: 'Tis that the Doctrine of the Scripture is found perfectly conformable to that of the Church of Rome. That is it which they must say, if they will say any thing that is solid: for the truth is, that there is not any mark of the Church but this, viz. Her conformity to the Holy Scripture. Let alone therefore all this pretended heap of Marks of the Church, which are either false, or equivocal, and keep you close to this alone. Tell your Converters, if you will make your Church visible to me, let me see it conformable to the Scripture; and 'tis there you will reduce them to Extremities. 'Tis here that we have an evident proof that Popery is an Antichristian Religion. Behold a proof to which all the subtlety of Hell can never oppose any thing; we say then, every Society, and every Religion which hath nothing conformable with the Law of Jesus Christ, is not the true Religion; now Popery hath nothing conformable to the Law of Jesus Christ, therefore it hath nothing of Christianity.  
I entreat you to give attention to this: If a Sect of the Turks, calling themselves Mahometans, had nothing among them like to the Alcoran, which is the Law of Mahomet, would you not tell them that they lie? If the Jews calling themselves Jews, should re-establish a Worship which hath nothing like the Worship prescribed by Moses, would any one endure that they should say they were of the Religion of Moses? Every Religion hath its Books, and every Sect (to show that 'tis of such a Religion) ought to prove its conformity with those Books. Common sense say thus: If therefore Popery have nothing at all like the Writings of Christians, 'tis clear that 'tis not Christianity. Now this is it which we take for granted, and which we are ready to prove before all sorts of Judges, even Jews and Pagans, viz. That Popery hath no conformity with the Scripture, which is the common Law of Christians. To be convinced of this, my Brethren, first separate Christianity from Popery in the Roman Church, and done't suffer yourselves to be blinded by what your Converters say unto you: Are not we Christians? Do we not believe one God in three Persons, one Jesus crucified for the sins of men, one Resurrection, one Paradise, and one Hell? Does not the Scripture teach all this? Is not our Religion therefore conformable to Revelation? Answer them thereon, Yea, you are Christians in all that you believe with us; but you are Antichristians in that wherein you believe without us. These points whereof you speak are in the Scripture 'tis true, but 'tis my Religion rather than yours; 'tis Christianity whereof 'tis true I acknowledge you have preserved the Fundamentals: But this makes nothing for your Religion, which is Popery, it makes nothing for Purgatory, Invocation of Saints, Adoration of Images, and Relics, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Adoration of the Sacrament, the Latin Tongue in the Worship of God, a Communion without the Cup, a Head of the Church besides Jesus Christ. Behold Popery, and 'tis that which we maintain hath no conformity with the Scripture. Indeed when your Converters will prove their Doctrines by the Scripture, it seems they have renounced common Sense, as well as Faith and Honesty. To understand this, there is no need to examine any Books of Controversy, as they would fain persuade you, there needs no more but eyes to open and read them. For Example: When they endeavour to prove the Pope is the Sovereign Head of the Church, the Centre of Unity, the Mouth that utters Oracles, and him to whom we must adhere if we will be saved, and they produce to us, for the whole proof, these words, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; feed my sheep. When, say I, they produce this, and produce nothing else to prove the most important point of Popery, which is the Authority of the Pope, I do maintain, that he must be stricken with a Spirit of Blockishness to regard it as proof. He must, I dare say, be abandoned to a Spirit of Reprobation, to suppose that the Scripture, that tells us of Pastors and Teachers, as Guides of the Church, should not speak one word of this great Office of Pope and Sovereign Pastor. When for the Sacrifice of the Mass propitiatory for the living and the dead, they produce to us, as proof, from the holy Scriptures, these Texts: Melchizedeck offered bread and wine, they shall offer to my Name a pure sacrifice from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same. Sovereign wisdom hath prepared her victuals, and mingled her wine. We have an Altar of which they have no right to partake, which serve the Tabernacle. Do this in remembrance of me. When, say I, they produce these passages for the entire proof of the Sacrifice of the Mass, are you not tempted to believe they do not speak in good earnest? for nothing seems more opposite to sound sense. To prove that we must invocate Saints, they refer us to those words of Jacob, The Angel which delivered me from all evil, keep the lads; and those of Eliphaz to Job, And to which of the Saints wilt thou turn thyself? that is to say, of the Saints which are upon Earth; and those of Daniel, Have mercy upon Israel, for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To prove that we must prostrate ourselves before Images, and worship Relics, they produce those words of God to Moses, Pluck off thy shoes, for the place where thou standest is holy ground; and those of David, Worship before his footstool; and those of St. Paul to Timothy, From thy childhood thou hast learned the holy Scriptures.  
Here is nothing to be laughed at, 'tis that for which we ought to pour out tears of blood, that Christians should fall into so prodigious a Stupidity, and into so great a want of Reason, that if the Mahometans should fall into one like it, and would prove their Religion after this manner by their Alcoran, we should take them for mad men. They ought not to tell you I dissemble their principal proofs drawn from Scripture, for those points whereof we speak unto you, for they have no other, and the case is the same in all other Articles of Popery, without excepting their Faith concerning the Eucharist. For these words, this is my Body, although they should signify a real Presence, do not signify Transubstantiation by any means in the World. 'Tis a truth so evident, that Cajetan, and many other Doctors after him, have confessed it. Is it not a shame, that on an Article so important as is the Adoration of the Sacrament, when they should produce proofs from Scripture, they cannot produce so much as one, but these words, this is my Body; which do not speak one word concerning Adoration. When they ought to prove the Power which is given to the Church to take away the Cup, again they quote, this is my Body. This is in propriety of speech to mock men, being not willing to confess plainly that which is truth, i. e. our Religion hath no conformity to the Holy Scripture.  
My Brethren, that I may completely possess you of this truth, that Popery hath no kind of Bond, Union, or Conformity with the Scripture, observe these two things: First, That Popery treats the Scripture as a declared Enemy. It disputes against its perfection, its clearness, its sufficiency, and its authority. It makes vast Volumes to prove it is obscure; that 'tis a Nose of Wax, that 'tis a Sword with two edges, that it hath been an occasion (by its obscurity) of all Heresies, that it contains not half the things that are necessary for salvation, that it hath no authority without the testimony of the Church, that it must be interpreted according to the Voice of the Church and her Practices, that she contains a hundred things capable of raising scruple, and giving scandal. You have heard of the famous Cardinal Perron, who collected together all that seems ridiculous to the profane in the Scripture, as the Jawbone of Sampson's Ass, and other like things to make it lose its authority. They add, that the Scripture is maimed and half lost, corrupted by the Jews or Heretics, and as the top of all, the Popes, the Councils, the Doctors, the Inquisitors, and the Parliaments, have even forbidden the reading of it to the People, as a dangerous Book. Is not this to declare themselves, and to act as enemies to the Scripture? The other Reflection, which I wish you would make, is, that the Church of Rome looks on the Scripture as her Enemy; Popery is always on its guard against the Holy Scripture, always prepared to give a Push, always drawing back and recoiling, always answering, always distinguishing; sometimes distinguishing Sacrifice into bloody and unbloudy, sometimes Adoration into Dulia and Latria, sometimes the Head of the Church, into Principal and Ministerial, sometimes the Essence of the Body of Jesus Christ into natural and sacramental, sometimes Mediators, into Mediators of Intercession and of Redemption; always to repel the Scripture, and always to serve themselves of it. Is it not therefore very clear that Popery is at a perfect opposition with the Scripture? It attacks it as an Enemy, by a hundred false Accusations; it defends itself against it as against an Enemy, by a hundred and a hundred imaginary distinctions to ward off the blows the Scripture gives it. To attack and defend, is all that Enemies do to one another. Observe well, my Brethren, in the Instructions which your Converters give you in these late times, the Scripture doth not enter among them. They are ashamed of the proof which their Doctors have heretofore drawn from the Scripture to support their Doctrines. At this day they beat and press upon you by nothing but the pretended Authority of the Church, and Passages of the Fathers, which you never read.  
From all this I conclude, that Popery in the quality of true Religion, and the Church of Rome in quality of the true Church, are by no means visible, seeing they are destitute of that Light which alone can make the true Church visible, viz. Conformity with the Holy Scripture.   

An INDEX for the first Year OF THE PASTORAL LETTERS.  
1 LEtter. A Refutation of what M. de Meaux says, in his Pastoral Letter, concerning the Manner of Conversions. A Letter of M. de Meaux to M. D. V.  
2 Letter. Concerning the Right of Persecutors. A Letter of Queen Christiana, about Persecution. The Use of the Sword of Princes extends not itself over the Conscience. They do all that is necessary to assure themselves of the Damnation of the New Converts. A Letter of M. P. M. a Confessor condemned to the Galleys.  
3 Letter. Against the Necessity of a living and speaking Authority: Against Successions of Seats. Assemblies in Gevennes.  
4 Letter. Advice to those which frequent the Sermons of Papists. A History of many Assemblies in Cevennes. The Martyrdom of the Blessed Teyssier of Burfort and Fulcran Rey, in Languedoc.  
5 Letter. The Form of Christianity in the first Age. A Letter to M. de M. a Confessor, and his Answer.  
6. Letter. What was the Form of Christianity in the second Age.  
7 Letter. Concerning sing, and Voices heard in divers places.  
8 Letter. The Christianity of the third Age. M. de Monceaux, Doctor in Physic, of La Ferte Au-Coll, his Confession. M. the Juigne of Villiers, a Confessor, his Death in Prison. M. Palmentier, of Ville Dieu l'Aunay, his Martyrdom. Mademoiselle Carquett, Vicountess of Novion, and M. Chenevix, drawn to the Dunghill.  
9 Letter. The Christianity of the third Age. M. the Voutron, with two Damsels of Laon, their Confession. The Massacre of the Christians in Cevennes. M. de Toumeyrol his Martyrdom. M. le Feure a Confessor of Nivernois. Mademoiselle de Chalmot, endured the burning of her hand, her Confession.  
10 Letter. The Christianity of the third Age. Concerning the Unity of the Church, we are not gone out of that Unity.  
11 Letter. The Christianity of the third Age. A Continuation of the matter concerning Unity.  
12 Letter. Concerning the Original of Monks. Advice to persons which are in Convents. Concerning the Unity of the Ministry. A Letter from Geneva, concerning the Christians of Piedmont.  
13 Letter. Concerning the Original of Ecumenical Councils. Seven Reasons against their Infallibility. The true Idea of Schism.  
14 Letter. Concerning the Original of the Tyranny of the Popes, and the Hierarchy. Concerning Schism: Although the Corruption of the Church of Rome were not extreme, it would not be allowed us to return thither.  
15 Letter. Concerning the Original of the Invocation of Saints in the fourth Age: Three Proofs of its Novelty. An Answer to a New Convert, about Schism. The Martyrdom of M. Charpentier of Rufac, in Angoulmois.  
16 Letter. Concerning the Invocation of the Blessed Virgin: It's Original, and in what Age. An Answer to the New Converts about Schism. The Martyrdom of M. Barbut at Nismes. Confessors sent to the Western Isles. A Letter of M. Guirant, Confessor of Nismes. The Martyrdom of M. Mollieres. A false Alarm about a Massacre at Nismes.  
17 Letter. Three Proofs of the Novelty of the Invocation of Saints. An Answer to the New Converts about Schism. The Martyrdom of M. du Cross. Other Confessors. M. Chantguion, and Chemer, Martyrs and Confessors of Vassey. A Letter of Madam the V The Confession of Jane Balle, in the County of Charollois.  
18 Letter. An Answer to Soulier the Priest, about a pretended Conspiracy at Montpazier.  
19 Letter. Concerning the Original of the Worship of Images. The Corruption of the Head, and Members in Popery, did force and constrain our Separation. M. Matthew de Durass, a Confessor. M. the Baron of Verliac, and Madam his Wife, sent to America, and drowned. A Letter from Cadez, concerning the Confessors sent to the Islands.  
20 Letter. Concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass in the fourth and fifth Ages. A Description of the Corruption of Popery. A Confession of M. the Cross his Daughters. The famous Martyrdom of M. Menuret. The Cruelties of Rapine. The young Women Whipped.  
21 Letter. The Faith of the fourth and fifth Ages, about the Eucharist. An Apology for our Reformers. Father Paul the Venetian, his Reasons why he did not break with the Church of Rome.  
22 Letter. The Faith of the fourth and fifth Ages about the Eucharist. Concerning the perpetual Visibility of the Church. M. de Lalo, M. de la Pierre, M. the Saint Cross, M. de Beauregard, M. de Bardonnanche, Confessors of Dauphine. M. the Lies a Martyr of Dauphine.  
23 Letter. The Sacrament was not Adored in the fourth and fifth Ages. An Answer to the Confequences of the perpetual Visibility of the Church. A Letter of the Vicar-General of St. Malo, concerning the Effects of the Thunder which fell into the Church. An Accident happening to the Host on Corpus Christi Day, at Paris, The Burning of the great Church at Rochel. Thunder falling on divers Churches. Confessors drowned at Martinique.  
24 Letter. The Church of Rome hath neither Tradition, nor Conformity with the Scripture, which make it visible to the Vulgar.  
Aug. 15th, 1687.   

AN APPENDIX, Containing A NARRATION OF THE WARS and SLAUGHTERS Occasioned by the Jesuits and Missionaries in Aethiopia, FOR THE Promoting and Establishing their Religion there: AND Some brief ACCOUNT OF THE Late Persecution in Hungary.  
IN the beginning of the precedent Age, James Alvarez, a Priest of Portugal, brought Letters from David the King of Aethiopia, to Pope Clement the Seventh: He found him at Bolonia with the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and gave him those Letters, which promised Obedience to him on the part of the King of Aethiopia. This Promise of Homage coming from the South, was very acceptably received by Clement the Seventh, who saw all the West ready to revolt and shake off the Yoke of the Roman Church. The Letters of King David to the Pope (which are certainly very submissive) are yet to be seen, but at present the Aethiopians pretend that James Alvarez was an Impostor and a Cheat, who falsified the Civilities of the Emperor, and interpreted his Letters wholly otherwise than they signified in the Original, because Obedience to the Pope, and the Terms wherein they are expressed, were utterly unknown in Aethiopia at that time. John Bermudes came to Rome at the same time to desire assistance from the Pope against the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Adel. The Pope received and treated him with great kindness, and furnished the Abyssines which were at Rome, with what was necessary for their entertainment, and to imprint Bibles and Littanies in their own Language. All these Civilities were so many Snares to make them fall by an entire submission to the Bishop of Rome, and oblige them to embrace the Romish Religion. Ignatius Loyola, the Founder of the Order of Jesuits, earnestly solicited a Commission to go and labour in what they call the Conversion of this Great Empire. He could not obtain it, but it was given to John Barrett a Jesuit, with the title of Patriarch of the Abyssines. This Barrett took or received for a Companion Andrew Oviedo, with the title of Bishop. They both embarked in Portugal for the Indies, to the end that they might pass from thence into Aethiopia. King Claudius had succeeded to David his Father. The Patriarch and his Suffragan Bishop, would not venture themselves with this new King, without knowing of what spirit and humour he was. They sent three Jesuits, James Dias, Goncal Rodrighes, and Friar Fulgentius Freyra, to get intelligence concerning him; they came and were received with sufficient kindness by the King of Aethiopia. But he learned that the King of Portugal sent him these men, and prepared others, to instruct him and his people in the Roman Religion; this affrighted him. He stood in doubt a long time betwixt the fear that he had, that these new Evangelists and Converters should trouble both Church and State, and that of offending the King of Portugal, of whose friendship he thought he had need. He had divers Conferences with them, the sum whereof on the part of the Portugese was, That if the Abyssines would be saved, they must acknowledge the Pope for the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and submit to him under that Character and Title. But the Abyssines answered, That it was an Affair which could not be concluded without consulting the other Patriarches. At last King Claudius permitted that the other Priests of Portugal should come, and promised to receive them kindly. The Patriarch John Barrett nevertheless durst not hazard his Patriarchal Dignity upon the Word of the King. He continued in the Indies, and sent the Bishop Andrew Oviedo, accompanied with five Priests of that Society. The King of Aethiopia received them very civilly, and permitted them to perform Divine Offices according to the Roman Church; yea, it was permitted to all to join themselves to the Communion of the Church of Rome. But Oviedo not content with that, was very importunate with the King to oblige him to submit himself to the Pope. He answered, That his Ancestors had never acknowledged other Superior in holy things, than the Successors of St. Mark, that is to say, the Patriarch of Alexandria. This is worthy of observation, and makes it apparent, that Alvarez exceeded his Commission, when he came to yield obedience and submission to the Pope, in the name of David the Father of Claudius. For the Son could not have said, that his Ancestors had never acknowledged any other than the Successors of St. Mark, if very lately his Father had designed to submit to the Bishop of Rome, and did actually do it. Oviedo presses the business, Claudias obstinately refuses. At last he consented to Conferences, in which the Jesuits had great advantage upon the Abyssines, because they were very ignorant. But King Claudias interposing therein, had almost as much advantage on the Missionaries of Portugal, as they had on the ecclesiastics of Aethiopia, because he was without comparison the most able man of his Kingdom, as well in Divinity, as in the Art of Government. Oviedo seeing that he got nothing by these ways, resolved to employ those which were more violent. He left the Court to testify his displeasure, and published a Writing injurious to the Abyssine Church, in which he accused it of many Heresies, and forbade the Portugese to have any Communion with it. The King was angry also on his part, but a little while after he was slain in a Battle, and left his Brother Adamus Saghed Successor to his Realm. This Prince used more rigour against Oviedo, and his Companions; he revoked all those Acts of Grace which his Predecessors had granted to them. He forbade them, upon pain of death, to trouble his Estates by their new Gospel. The Bishop withdrew to Fremone upon the Frontiers of the Kingdom, and there abode thirty years with the Portugese, under the Title of the Patriarch of the Abyssines, which he took after the death of John Barrett. Adam Saghed died, and his Son Malec Saghed succeeded him. He treated the Portugese more kindly; and they being reform by the correction they had received, acted more wisely, and with greater moderation. Nevertheless, this Mission was extinct, because they had no way of sending Successors, the Turks having possessed the Ports of the Red-Sea, which gave admission into Aethiopia. And the Portugese which would have converted all the Nation, were found without Priests to give them the Communion.  
But in the beginning of this Age, in the year 1604. a Jesuit named Peter Pais, was more happy than all those who had preceded them. He entered into Aethiopia, and made himself admired by an Ability, which although it were but very indifferent, seemed extraordinary among people which knew nothing. He came to the Court of Zadengel, who was then King of Aethiopia, and managed him so well, that he obtained an express Promise from him, that he would submit to the Pope and the Religion of the Romans. This Prince began with an Ordinance which forbade the observation of Saturday, or the Sabbath, which the Abyssines venerate as the Lord's Day. The Great Men of the Realm being provoked by this Enterprise, conspired against him, and slew him, after a Battle, in which he was not successful. Behold already the death of one King which Papery caused in Aethiopia. This death cost the Jesuit Converters nothing; on the contrary they found in Susneus, the Successor of Zadengel, a Protector much more proper to make the Minister of their Violence. Susneus' permitted himself to be managed by these Missionaries of Portugal in such a manner, that they prevailed with him to declare openly, that he would change the Religion of the Country, and submit the Abyssine Church to the Pope. He wrote concerning it to Clement the Eighth, and to Philip King of Spain, who was then also King of Portugal. Many Great Lords of the Court, and Officers of the Army, out of complaisance to their King, embraced the Religion of the Romans, and communicated with them. Susneus having received many kind Letters from Paul the Fifth, writ to him again another Letter dated the 31th of January, 1613. by which he acknowledges him for Pastor of the Universal Church, and desires his assistance to confirm his Religion. This Prince, guided by the Jesuits, to the end that they might do things a little in form, caused many Conferences to be held upon the Question of the two Natures in Christ Jesus. For the Aethiopians following the Schism of Eutyches, acknowledge in him but one. But the truth is, there is at this day nothing but a dispute of words thereon: for the Eutychians acknowledge the Divinity and Humanity in Christ Jesus, but it pleases them to say, this Union makes but one Nature compounded of two, as the Body and Soul in Man make but one Compound; so that 'tis certain, that we may very well give ourselves indulgence therein, but 'tis not of the Spirit of Popery to tolerate any thing. The King at the solicitations of the Jesuits, made an Edict, by which he ordained, That henceforward they should believe two Natures in Christ Jesus. The Abyssine Monks which fell in the Dispute, sustained themselves in their ignorance with obstinacy in their Opinion; but one of them having spoken a little too freely, was brought before the King, and was beaten with a stirrup-leather. Behold the Spirit of Popery, which began to discover itself without disguise.  
This first Violence awakened their sleeping Spirits. Simeon the Metropolitan of the Abyssines came to Court; he complains, That without consulting him, they had done such things upon Religion. The King answered, That for his satisfaction there should yet be a Conference on that subject. The consequence was, that after the Conference the Jesuits obtained an Edict, by which it was forbidden, on pain of death, to say there was but one Nature in Christ Jesus. This frightful Decree was a clap of Thunder which seemed to reduce the whole Empire of the Abyssines into powder; and Aethiopia knew then by experience what Evils the Spirit of Popery drew along with it; all the Realm was alarmed, and the most moderate lost their moderation, and considered that in truth the Controversy about two Natures in Christ, in the estate in which now it was, was of no importance, but that such a severity was unheard of in Aethiopia since the times of the Apostles; and that it was wholly opposite to the nature of the Christian Religion, for which Religion they concluded they must not suffer such Violence. Jamanaxus, Brother by the Mother's side of the Emperor, puts himself at the head of a very powerful Confederation, into which many great Lords entered, with all the Churchmen, and a great part of the People.  
The Metropolitan Simeon, who strove less against the two Natures in Jesus Christ, than for his Dignity, (which they would have taken from him, in favour of him whom it should please the Pope to name) excommunicated all those which followed the Religion of the Franks, for so they call the Religion of the Romans. This boldness caused some fear to the Emperor; he grew a little moderate, and made another Edict, in which he gave Liberty of Conscience to all his Subjects; and in all appearance he had continued so to do, if he had followed his own Inclinations. But at the instigation of the Jesuits he returned to more violent Counsels. The Queen-Mother, the Metropolitan, the Churchmen, and the Monks, threw themselves at his feet in favour of the ancient Religion; but he rejected them all with violence, so that there was no more hopes of Peace. Jamanaxus the King's Brother, Elias his Son-in-Law, Governor of the Province of Tigris, with a great Party, resolved to oppose the Violence by force. The Metropolitan renews his Excommunications; the Swordmen take Arms: Aelius commands all the Portugese to go out of the Province whereof he was Governor; they came to blows. The Party of the King and the Jesuits, was the stronger. Aelius was slain. Simeon the Metropolitan was taken, whom they beheaded: they made a great Butchery among the People; but Jamanaxus was pardoned. Behold already how much Blood hath been shed by Popery.  
But things will not continue there. The Jesuits and their King, puffed up with the success of their Victory, proceed to a new Reformation. The Prince forbade them the observation of the Saturday-Sabbath, and commanded, that they should labour on that day, upon the penalty of confiscating their Goods for the second Offence. 'Tis indeed an affair sufficiently small, about which it were very possible to have given a toleration; but Popery understands not the meaning of that word: they severely chastised, for an Example, one named Buc, a person very eminent in the Kingdom for his Military Employments. This new severity gave occasion of a revolt to one named Jonael Viceroy of Bageindra. All the Court, the women, and the Favourites interposed in this affair, a little to soften and bend the Spirit of the King, but the Jesuits prevailed upon him. He would not comply with their Persuasions. So they came a second time to war; Jonael was beaten many times, and withdrew from the Kingdom. This did not affright others. Those of the Province of Damos took Arms for the ancient Religion. The Hermit's, which are there in great abundance, were willing to signalise themselves in this Holy War. Nevertheless, their Party was beaten; but there was great effusion of Blood on both sides.  
Behold the ordinary Methods by which Popery arrives at Empire: After these repeated Victories which cost the King of Aethiopia great part of his Subjects, he accomplished his design. The Jesuits by his Authority entirely overturned the Religion and Church of the Abyssines; all gave way either to seduction or violence. They swore Fidelity and Obedience to Urban the Eighth; the Pope sent there a Roman Patriarch; all those who would not obey were severely chastised. The new Patriarch passed through the Kingdom, baptising and confirming an infinite number of persons. They established Seminaries of the Children of the Abyssines, and Portuguese. In one word, Popery by its ordinary ways which are violence, and the sword, became master of all Abyssinia. One named Tecla Georgius, another Son-in-law of the King, put himself at the head of the Malcontents, which were in great number, but the fortune of the Jesuits did yet accompany the King in this Affair; Tecla Georgius was slain, and his Sister hanged on a Tree, because she had spoken a little too freely against the Rites of the Latin Church.  
The Patriarch Alphonsus Mendez, a Jesuit, knew not how to use his good Fortune, but believing that henceforward he might abandon himself without constraint, to that spirit of Tyranny which hath its seat at Rome, ill entreated all the great Men of the Court, excommunicated the prime Officers of the Kingdom, for things which were not Ecclesiastical: he domineered over all with so much insolence, that at length the King himself, and all the Courtiers opened their eyes upon the conduct of these new Tyrants. Rebellions were renewed in most part of the Provinces; Battles were fought, and blood spilt under the Authority of the King, who was still abused by Popery. But a certain person called Ras Seelax, a great Favourite of the King's, and a great Protecter of Popery, having lost his Reputation, the Affairs of the Jesuits, and Popery sunk, and fell into decay thereby. The King being tired by the Troubles which these new Evangelists brought to him every day by their Rigours, and seeing that the Hydra of Rebellion, after it lost one head found a hundred, began very much to abate of his rigour, and granted liberty to whosoever would use it, to preserve, and observe the ancient Religion. This goodness of the Prince which agreed very well with natural Equity, displeased these imperious Masters; they made violent opposition thereunto; but favour continued no longer on their side, the same Prince which had abolished the ancient Religion, doth re-establish it, or rather permits that it should be reestablished after ten or twelve years' interruption. Susneus dies a little while after. This Protector of the Religion newly established, being dead, Popery tumbled with haste and violence towards ruin. They repaid to the Jesuits the cruelty they had used; they took away their Churches, and Goods, and drove them out of the Kingdom. They tried all ways, they set their Friends and Creatures on work; they entreated, they desired the help of Arms, and Soldiers from Goa, for their Defence, but all to no purpose. The Patriarch Alphonsus Mendez, was put into the hands of the Turks, from whence he was redeemed with Money: but his Companions the Jesuits Almeyda, Father Hyacynthus, Lewis Cardyra, and many others were hanged as Disturbers of the public Peace. The Congregation for the Propagation of Faith, were willing to attempt the Recovery of this brave Kingdom, which they had lost: they send six Capuchins to try if they could pass once again into Aethiopia; but two of them died by the hand of the Cafres', two were stoned in Aethiopia, the other two returned without doing any thing. In conclusion, three other Capuchins were willing to make another attempt: they came ashore at Suaquene, a Port of the Red-sea, possessed by the Turks; from thence they wrote to the King of Aethiopia, (as if it had been a thing grateful to him) that they were there ready to pass into his Country, as soon as he should furnish them with necessary Accommodations. For answer, Basilides, who was then King of Aethiopia, after his Father Susneus, writ to the Turkish Bassa who commanded the place, that he would do him the kindness to send him the Heads of those three Franks. This was done, they cut off their heads, they flayed off their skins, which they filled with Hay, and sent them to Basilides. So these poor miserable Wretches bore the punishment of all the Blood which the Jesuits, and Popery had shed in the Kingdom of the Abyssines. This History, as it seems to me, is very proper to show, that in all places, as well as in all Ages, the spirit of Popery is the occasion of Trouble, Confusion, Tyranny, and Persecution; and God did permit that Popery should prosecute its usual methods in Aethiopia, as elsewhere, to hinder the Abyssine Church from continuing under the Papal Tyranny. For if these Emissaries of the Court of Rome had proceeded with more Moderation, and spared Blood, and offered no Violence to the Consciences of men, without doubt Popery had this day been regnant among the Abyssines.  
The Liberty of the Reformed Churches of Hungary, was established upon very good Foundations: the Kings of that Country had granted to the Protestants divers Declarations, by which the exercise of the Reformed Religion was permitted in all places. On the year 1606, was made the Treaty called the Pacification between Rodolphus Emperor, and King of Hungary, and Stephen Bothskey Kis-ma-ria: The first Article whereof grants, That the Reformed Hungarians should not in any thing be troubled in the exercise of their Religion, and that all the Churches taken from them during the Troubles, should be restored to them. All the Kings of Hungary which have been since Mathias, Ferdinand the Second, and Ferdinand the Third, have confirmed these Privileges by their Declarations: To conclude, the present Emperor in the year 1655, when he was crowned King of Hungary, confirmed by an express Declaration, all that his Predecessors had done. The eleventh Article of that Declaration concedes, That for the Conservation of Peace amongst all the Orders and States of Hungary, the business of Religion shall remain free without receiving any Disturbance, according to the Constitution of Vienna, and the Articles published before the Coronation; in such sort that the exercise of Religion shall be entirely free for the Barons, Lords, Nobles, free Citizens, and generally for all Estates and Orders of Hungary, as also for the Towns and Villages which will embrace it; so that no person of what estate or condition soever, may be hindered by his Majesty, or other Temporal Lords in any manner, or under any pretence whatsoever, from the free use and exercise of the said Religion.  
Things were in this estate in the year 1671, when a Jesuit named George Barze, Titular Bishop of Warradine, calling himself Counsellor to his Imperial Majesty, published a Book with this Title, Truth declared to all the World, which makes it appear by three Arguments, that his Imperial Majesty is not obliged to Tolerate the Lutheran, and Calvinist Sect in Hungary. It is easy to understand what a Work of this Title, that has a Jesuit for its Author, doth contain: The design thereof was to justify the Persecutions which had been already made against the Protestants of Hungary, as well as those they were preparing to make: For already, a long time before the publication of this Writing, some particular Lords had set up for cruel Persecutors. Among others Francis Nadasti, Paul Esthersiazy, and many others, at the instigation of the Priests and Jesuits, had employed both fire and sword: they had massacred the Reformed in their Churches, hanged them up on the bars of their Church-doors, and many others they had thrown headlong from Turrets. The Archbishops, Bishops, and Popish Gentlemen had thus used them, and also pulled down the Churches in the Countries which held, and depended on them. The free Cities, and those who depended only on the Emperor, were exempt from this storm; but they shall have their turn on the occasion following.  
Many great Hungarian Lords of the Popish Religion, as the Nadasties, the Serinies, the Frangipanes, join themselves to Francis Rakotsqui, and took Arms against the Emperor for private Quarrels. The Troops of Austria on this occasion entered into Hungary on the year 1670, and defeated these Rebels. The Archbishops, Bishops, and Jesuits of Hungary, thought they must not let slip the opportunities they now had to persecute the Protestants. They served themselves of these insolent & victorious Troops in all the free Cities, to do the same Violences which had been done by particular Lords against the Reformed. Without form of Process they took away their Churches, they banished the Ministers, they put them in Prison, they massacred a great number, they charged the People, and even the Nobility with Taxes, Soldiers, and Garrisons; they offered a thousand and a thousand Violences to oblige people to change their Religion. All the ecclesiastics every one by himself acted like unbridled Furies. The Prisons were filled with these miserable Wretches; the Churches were razed ; in the most places there were horrible Massacres, and even whole Villages burnt, because they were wholly inhabited by Protestants; they hung the Ministers at the Doors of their Churches: There was one named John Baki, a Minister of the Church of Comana, who was burnt. At Cassovia and Posonium they put to death a great number of persons of all Sexes, of all Ages, and all Qualities: They banished all those whom they dare not kill. In one word, all Hungary became a place like Hell for the Reformed, where death, punishments, and torments presented themselves  before their eyes.  
To give some colour of Justice to these Violences, they established a Chamber at Posonium, made up of all such as were found most cruel Enemies to the Protestants: They summoned the people before they summoned their Pastors, hoping that they would fall the more easily by the Temptation, and that fear would cause them to change their Religion; those which appeared, and supported themselves on their innocency, were cast into Prisons, oppressed with Fines, persecuted after a hundred manners, and constrained at last to change their Religion. To those which had courage enough not to renounce the Truth, they presented a Writing to be subscribed, by which they made them promise they would forsake their Pastors, that they would not protect them, and that they would not oppose the Priests in taking possession of their Churches: On which Condition they promised to let them live in peace, in hope and expectation that the Spirit would enlighten and Convert them. Some fell, and made their subscriptions, others perished through misery, famine, and torments in the prisons. When they had thus subdued and abused the people, they turn themselves to their Pastors; they established three Chambers of Justice, the one at Tinew, and two at Posonium, before whom they summoned at first a small number of Pastors of the Confession of Augsburg. They appeared to the number of thirty two, or thirty three, the 25th of September, 1673; they presented them a Writing to be subscribed, importing, That it was their will and pleasure, that they should say, that to escape the sentence which might be pronounced against them for their Rebellion, they did consent to one of these three things: Either to Renounce all exercise of their Office for ever, and to live as good Subjects privately in the Realm; or to go voluntarily into Exile, with promise never to return again into the Estates of the Emperor; or to embrace the Catholic Religion, in which case they might remain in the Kingdom, and enjoy all sorts of Advantages there. The providence of God permitted this unjust, and altogether unrighteous procedure, to the end that these poor accused persons might have an opportunity to justify themselves from the Crime of Rebellion, whereof they were accused. Is it so that men used to proceed against those that are Traitors? And has it been usual to punish them with a voluntary Exile, or by a simple Renunciation of their Offices, and Charges? They did all that they could to oblige the Pastors to subscribe this Writing; and the most part of them fearing death, did subscribe, confessing themselves culpable, though they were innocent, and went voluntarily into Banishment.  
Section.  
This attempt having succeed sufficiently well to the Persecutors, the year following, in the Month of February 1674, they summoned before their Tribunals generally all Ministers, Regent's, Professors, and Masters of Schools, of the Reformed Religion in Hungary, as well those of the Confession of Augsburg, as those of the Confession of Switzerland: part of them refuse to appear, others fled, and others tarried at home, under the protection of their Lords, who were Protestants. Nevertheless there were to the number of two hundred and fifty which had the courage to appear at the day appointed. These were they which God had appointed to be the Objects of the most cruel Rage that ever was exercised. Of these two hundred and fifty, they chose out six to answer in the name of all, to the Accusation which was thus form against them: That renouncing the fear of God, and Men, they had accused all the Members of the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary, and by consequence the King himself, of being Idolaters; that they had spoken insolently in their Sermons against the Blessed Virgin, the Saints departed, and against their Images, and those of Jesus Christ; that they had violated the Oath of Fidelity made to their Prince; given Succours to his Enemies, opened the way to the Turks, to the end they might possess themselves of the Kingdom of Hungary, and by consequence, that they were guilty of Treason against GOD, and Man, and worthy to lose both their Goods and Lives. The first part of the Accusation was an Affair purely of Religion, and 'twas that alone for which these poor afflicted persons suffered Persecution. For the fault of Rebellion, there was not the least ground to suspect them guilty of it; their Judges themselves justified them therein, and Forgatz the Precedent of the Chamber, said to some that did solicit him, In the Name of God trouble me no more; for before God, I myself am in no security, for if I speak but one word on their behalf, they will accuse me of Rebellion, and cast me into Prison. But in truth they were ready to discharge them of the punishments which these horrible Crimes deserved, and whereof they were accused, provided they would sign the Writing which others had signed, confess themselves guilty, and go into voluntary Exile: Yea, they offered to give them Money to conduct them whithersoever they would go. There is a great deal of probability, that persons who had caused the Turk to enter into the Country, should be permitted to quit it by a voluntary Banishment: Moreover, this Accusation seems so absurd, that I can see no reason why they should choose it for a pretence. 'Tis a hellish Wickedness to determine Banishment to persons only for Religion, and yet make them confess a Fault of which every one knows they were innocent, to the end they might have opportunity to say, that they were punished for a Crime against the State. 'Tis the Spirit that hath always reigned among Persecutors. The Pagans made the Christians suffer horrible punishments only for their Faith: Nevertheless, to deprive them of the glory of Martyrdom, they would make them confess these enormous Crimes whereof they were accused.  
On this pretended Crime, or to speak better, upon the refusal of these Hungarian Pastors to quit their Ministry, their Churches, and their Country, on the fourth of April, 1674, they were condemned to die. And happy had they been if the Sentence had been executed upon them, since never were Martyrs and Confessors under the first ten Persecutions of the Pagans exposed to such cruel trials and temptations. Leopold of Colonitsch, Bishop of Newstadt, the Jesuit Nicholas Kellion (Monsters of barbarity and cruelty) were the chief Ministers of those horrible torments which they caused these glorious-Confessors of Jesus Christ to suffer, whereof we shall give you a very short Abridgement: They had no design to put them to death, according to the sentence pronounced against them; that had been to deliver them too soon, and it 'twas in their design to make them pass through a thousand deaths successively. Some of them they put into Irons, giving liberty to others, thereby to oblige them to renounce the truth, through fear of the Chastisement which they saw fall upon their Companions. For the space of eight whole Weeks they employed all sorts of Artifice to get them to sign the Writing, and to go voluntarily into Banishment, confessing themselves guilty. But seeing they encouraged each other to bear the trial, they separated them, and put the Ministers of the Confession of Augsburg by themselves. Many fell, subscribed, confessed themselves guilty, and went into Exile. There was forty six which refused, and were cast into prisons: and a few hours after they fetched them thence, and transported them, some by Wagon, and some by the Danube, into divers Fortresses of the Kingdom: They carried twenty to Comarine, eight to Sawarine, eight to Berenstchine, and nineteen to Leopolstadt; all of them laden with Chains and Irons. They gave for Conductor to those nineteen carried to Leopolstadt, a Hangman, which carrying Halters in his hand throughout the whole Journey, threatened to hang them on the first Gibbet, if they did not yield to what he demanded of them. The Reformed Pastors of the Confession of Switzerland, had more courage than the most part of the Lutheran Pastors; for except two, they all resolved to suffer all things, rather than sign that Writing, by which it was intended they should sully their innocence by confessing a pretended Rebellion, and that they should renounce their Ministry. Upon their refusal they distributed them (as the others) to divers Citadels of the Kingdom. They carried seven of them to Sawarine, as many to Kapuwarin, six to Eberard-Castle, and the twenty one that remain were sent to Leopolstadt: they were all chained, and put into deep and dark Dungeons. In all these places they received unheard of Treatments, those which were conducted to Berentschin were coupled two and two, as they yoke Oxen. They put Irons on their feet, all filled with Nails which passed through their shoes and stockings, and pierced their very flesh. The Prison where they were put was as dark as Hell, 'twas a low stinking Dungeon, full of Excrements, Mud, Man's Dung, Serpents and Toads, into which they could not enter, but on their hands and knees. The Governor of the Citadel having represented to Colonitsch the Bishop of Newstadt, that these Prisoners had not strength enough to suffer such torment, and that they would die under it; 'Tis no matter, said the Bishop, when they be dead, earth enough will be found in the Fields to cover them. They took them not thence, but to make them carry Wood for the use of the Citadel, and to draw Water from a deep Well. Of those which had been conducted to Comorin, the most part having suffered the most horrible Prison during the space of many months, were so weak as to suffer themselves to be overcome, and abandon their Confession. There were not in this place above three Confessors that persevered, whom they caused to serve in all those painful works, in which they employed Turkish Slaves.  
The Archbishop of Eberard, eighty years old, full of fire and rage in that age which naturally is of Ice, took the pains to beat with blows by a Mallet, those which had been brought into the fortress of that place, and he had bruised and broken their limbs in such sort, that the most part of them were not able to move themselves. Others were employed in cruel labours under which he took pleasure to see them sweat even to Blood. But nothing is like to that which thirty nine Pastors suffered; seventeen of the Confession of Augsburg, and twenty two of the Confession of Swiss, which were conducted to Leopolstadt. There were three which abandoned the Truth, being overcome by the length and cruelty of their punishments. The rest were given up to the rage of the Jesuit Nicholas Kellion, the most cruel of all the Monsters of Lybia. These poor men protesting their innocency before him one day; he said to them, I do indeed believe that the most part of you are not guilty of Rebellion against the King, but you deserve all sorts of Punishments for your Rebellion against the Church. This wicked Wretch takes them not from their dark Dungeons▪ but to make them labour at those Employments which had killed the strongest men, to carry horrible burdens, to remove Earth, and to make Fortifications about the Citadel. And because those Martyrs (to whom they did not give of corpse black Bread a quarter so much as was necessary to nourish them, and almost no Water) could not lift up their hands, nor set one foot before another, he caused them to be beaten by blows with rods, with staves, with the butt-end of Muskets, and with cords moistened, and full of knots. After these horrible pains, he cast them into a dark Dungeon, where lying among Rats, Serpents, and Toads, they were not able to rest one moment. So that 'tis unconceivable how Bodies so wasted, could be able to endure such long Torments. If any one touched with compassion, did endeavour to give any refreshment to these Confessors, they punished them severely. A certain Person attempting to give some Onions to one of them, the Jesuit caused both him that gave them, and him that received them, to be torn with the blows of a Whip, by the hand of a Hangman. And because a certain Woman had given them a little Bread, and some other Provisions, she was dragged through the City, put in the Pillory, and treated as they do public Whores. They gave them neither Shoes nor , insomuch that they went barefoot, and scarce had they rags enough upon their Bodies, to cover their more shameful parts: Upon the least and smallest pretence they saw a Hangman come into their Dungeon, who beat them with Rods till the Blood came. We cannot express the horrible Violences that were done unto them, to oblige them to adore the Host; they dragged them because they would not go. On Feast-days, and on the Sabbaths, the Jesuit Kellio came with a Troop of Soldiers, who with kicks of his foot, blows with the Musket and wooden Bars, pushed forward these miserable Creatures to their Churches; insomuch, that they made them at one blow to leap a great height into the Air; they fell back upon the Pavement bruised and broken; and when they could not go, they dragged them on the ground, which they stained and tinctured with their Blood. The Jesuits one day beat two of these venerable old Men to that excess, that they died a little after. This Monster perceiving well that his Cruelties would do him injury, even amongst those of his own Party, towards the end of his Commission, thought it advisable to treat them a little more kindly, and afterwards by violence, threaten, and evil treatments, he drew from them a Testimonial, by which they acknowledged that Father Kellio had permitted the Money which was sent them by their Friends to be given to them: That he had suffered them to eat the Provisions also which were sent them; yea, that he had granted liberty to their Friends, and Neighbours to discourse with them. And this vile Villain having form this Confession and Testimony after his own pleasure, immediately made it public, that he might dissipate the Reports which had been spread abroad concerning his Cruelty.  
Nevertheless this was not the end of the Troubles, and Afflictions of these Confessors: They were condemned to be sent to the Galleys in Spain; and on the 18th of March, 1675. they were delivered to some Companies of Soldiers that had been raised in Austria; and to the 36 which had been taken from Leopoldstadt, they joined five others, who had been brought from Brenchstin. We cannot express the Barbarities exercised against these forty Confessors: They were to travel those long distances which are from Hungary to the Adriatic Sea, on foot, (there Feet being laden with heavy Irons) cross the Sands, the Rocks, Mountains, and the Stones, beaten with Cudgels, and Bulls-pisles; their Feet did crack, and were wounded, and you might follow them  by the tract of their own Blood, which fell from all parts of their Bodies. When they came to Tergeste, they were in such condition that they could go no further with their Irons; therefore there was a necessity that they must be broken off from their feet, and this was not done without covering their feet with bloody wounds, and taking away some pieces of their Flesh. They gave them not above twelve Ounces of corpse Bread by the day to live on. Judge you if that could support these miserable Creatures in so tedious a travel. At night they lodged them in Stables like Dogs, where they could find no rest. If there was any one not able to go, whom they were forced to set on Horseback, when the Beast did not go, they beat him that sat thereon with great blows of Cudgels and Whips: At Theate there remained six, four whereof died of these horrible Journeys, the two other were transported to Naples.  
When they were arrived there, they would have constrained them to be listed in the Spanish Troops, which they refused: they sold them to Masters of the Galleys of Naples, at the price of 50 Rix Dollars a piece. These poor miserable Pastors treated as they had been, were in no condition to do any Service in the Galleys; for which reason those which had bought them, made no haste to pay for them; whereupon the Germane Captains resolved to kill all these Galleyslaves; but the Viceroy of Naples hindered them. They were nine Months in these Galleys, where they suffered all the Evils, Reproaches, and Outrages that can be imagined, At last God sent them, as by a Miracle, Mr. Ruyter the Holland Admiral, who rescued them from these horrible Miseries. These are the Adventures of those Pastors that had been Imprisoned at Leopoldstadt.  
There were yet twenty in the Prisons of Sarwar, Capuwar, Tergeste and Buccari in Dalmatia, who were treated as those of whom we have spoken. They caused them to go down into Caves full of Dirt, Toads, Serpents, Excrements, that had been long heaped together. At length, after they had passed through a succession of Cruelties, whereof Phalaris himself was never guilty, on the first of July, 1675, they were ordered, as others, to be sent to the Galleys, in hopes that somebody would buy them; for the Viceroy, and the Venetians absolutely refused to buy those miserable Creatures, who on the one side were innocent, and on the other were incapable of doing any Service, by reason of the Afflictions that they made them suffer.  
The Bishop, of Newstadt that famous Persecutor, put them under the conduct of one of his Hangmen, and caused them to be conveyed to Tergeste, a City situated on the Borders of the Adriatic Sea: There they shut them up in a Stable, and because one of them escaped, they cruelly scourged all the rest. The Fugitive being pursued and taken, they forced all the rest to whip their Companion twice a day. Not content to satisfy their Rage on these unhappy persons, they would satisfy their Avarice also, they treated with them for their Ransom at a great sum of Money, which they received, and then delivered but two men. In the month of October in the same year, they carried them from Tergeste to Buccari, to put them on the Galleys of Malta: While they expected, the coming of the Galleys, they put them in a Vault which belonged to the Prison, where Ordure, Filth, Urine, and the Waters of the Prison ran; there they cast unto them, by a hole, some morsels of Bread, which they went on hands and feet to gather up in the midst of Man's Dung. They fastened them with Chains which came under their Throats, and held the Chin raised up, that they could not incline it downward. They put Irons on their feet, and they were bound cross their bodies with Irons besides. They were thirty nine days in this posture, and sometimes they carried them out into the Street to make them a Spectacle to the People. Those who had endured a great many horrible Punishments, fell under these. Ten of them signed the Writing which had been required of them at first, and that Subscription having done nothing towards their deliverance, they abjured their Religion some time after, being forced thereto by the length of their Torments. Two of those which persevered, died on the seventh of December, and their Companions buried them in the Sand on the Seashore, having scraped with their hands to make Graves for them. There remained but six of those which were cast into this horrible Prison. The one of these six being in an Agony on the Sand of the Sea, after so many sufferings, and being in no condition himself to return to Prison, was dragged by the Sergeants with so much violence upon the Stones and Stairs of the Vault, that in all places where his Body passed, there was left of the Blood, and pieces of the Flesh of this poor Sufferer, who died within a few hours after, and remained without burial in the stinking Sink. They told the other five, that they were appointed to die in the same place of Dung, Misery, and Corruption, if they did not abjure their Religion. God fortified them in these their last Combats, in which they continued till the month of May 1676. at which time God sent them for a Deliverer the Ambassador of the United Provinces, who demanded them, and they were granted to him. When they drew them from their Cave, they had no humane shape; their Throats were putrified their Teeth were fallen out, and they could not endure any Meat in their Mouths, without feeling very sharp and pungent pains. They put them in good Beds; two famous Popish Physicians undertook their recovery; one of the five died at Venice the 24th of May; the four others escaped by Miracle, and came into Switzerland, where Mr. Heydekker says, that he saw with horror upon their Bodies the glorious Marks of their long Confession: so that 'tis from themselves that he learned the History of their Martyrdom.  
I am very much persuaded that there are no honest Men in the Church of Rome itself, which do not tremble at such a Report; and I am unwilling to charge these Roman Catholics, with the infamy of such Cruelties, which are not guilty of it, nor capable of committing it. But this does not hinder, but that we may see therein the Spirit of Popery. Behold what the Priests and Monks are capable of, in whom this Spirit does properly reside. 'Tis the Spirit of Murder, and Falsehood; and therefore 'tis the Spirit of the Prince of Darkness. If this be not a powerful Prejudice against Popery, I think there can be none. Let a Man look on Popery with its Cords, Whips, Gibbets, its Racks, its Wheels, its Fires, and Flames, snarling and threatening like the Devil, to tear Bodies, shed Blood, torture Souls, extend Sufferers upon Crosses, tying them to Posts, and casting them into Flames: Let a Man behold it, I say, in this frightful Dress, and horrible Employment, and let him tell me, if he finds any thing like it, in the Character of the Christian Religion. How can a Man fail to find therein the Babylon of the Revelations, which makes herself drunk with the Blood of the Martyrs of our Lord Jesus.  
These Two Histories are taken out of Mr. Jeurieu 's Prejudices against Popery, Chapter the 27th, and 28th of the Second Part.  
FINIS.