middletore; leziefert
A N
INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE
TO A
LARGER WORK,
Deſigned hereafter to be Publiſhed,
CONCERNING
The Miráculous Powers which are ſuppoſed to have
ſubſiſted in the CHRISTIAN CHURCH, from the earlieſt
Ages, through ſeveral ſucceſſive Centuries ;
Tending to ſhew,
That we have no ſufficient Reaſon to believe, upon the Authority
of the PRIMITIVE FATHERS,
That any ſuch Powers were continued to the CHURCH, after the
Days of the A POSTLES.
WITH A
1
POST SCRIPT,
CONTAINING
Some REMARKS on an Archidiaconal Charge, delivered the laſt
Summer by the Rev. Dr. CHAPMAN, to the Clergy of the
Archdeaconry of Sudbury.
Tες καλα αλήθειαν ευσεβείς και φιλοσόφες μόνον τ' αληθές τιμών και σέργειν, ο λότος.
υπαγορεύει, παραλεμένες δόξαις παλαιών εξακολυθεϊν, αν φαυλαι ώσιν.
JUST. MART. Apol. 1.
Num fingo? num mentior? cupio refelli. Quid enim laboro, niſi ut
veritas in omni quæftione explicetur ?
Cic.
L O N D ON:
Printed for R. MANBY and H. Cox, at the Prince's Arms, on
Ludgate-Hill
. M.DCC.XLVII.
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Sexton
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1
Α Ν
Introductory Diſcourſe.
es
I
EST is an opinion commonly received among Chrif-
tians, and above all, among thoſe of the Romiſh
communion, that after the days of the Apof-
tles, there reſided ſtill in the Primitive Church, through ſeveral
ſucceſſive ages, a divine and extraordinary power of working
miracles, which was frequently and openly exerted, in confir-
mation of the truth of the Goſpel, and for the conviction
of unbelievers. This is generally alledged by the Divines of
all Churches, in their diſputes with the Sceptics, as a ſubfi-
diary proof of the Divinity of the Chriſtian Doctrine; and
as it is managed by the Church of Rome, is rendered more per-
ſuaſive and affecting to the multitude, than what the Goſpel
itſelf affords, by deducing the ſucceſſion of thoſe apoſtolical
gifts down to our own times, and offering the teſtimony of
the ſame miracles to the ſenſes even of the preſent Age.
B
This
1
2
An Introductory DISCOURS E.
This then being univerſally adopted by the Papiſts, as an
indiſputable fact, or an article rather of the Chriſtian Faith ;
and eſpouſed likewiſe in part by the Proteſtants, as fubfervient
in ſome degree to the Chriſtian cauſe, I thought it my duty
to inquire into the grounds of it. For as it is the part of
every Chriſtian, to inform himſelf, as far as he is able, of
every thing, which his religion requires him, either to believe
or to practiſe, ſo it is more eſpecially of thoſe, whom Provi-
dence has bleſſed with a capacity, and leiſure, and the op-
portunities of inquiring; nor yet merely for their own infor-
mation, but for the inſtruction likewiſe of others, who want
the ſame advantages.
It was this, which gave riſe to the preſent inquiry, and
what induced me alſo, to publiſh the reſult of it. I was not
led to the one, by an idle curioſity; nor to the other, by the
vanity of combating eſtabliſhed opinions, but the duty of
declaring my own : which, by the moſt impartial judgement,
that I am able to form, I take not onely to be true, but uſefull
alſo, and even neceſſary to the defence of Chriſtianity, as it
is generally received, and ought always to be defended, in Pro-
teſtant Churches.
- But if the facts and teſtimonies, which obliged me to em-
brace it, ſhould not have the ſame force, nor ſuggeſt the ſame
reflections to others, I ſhall neither be ſurprized, nor concern-
ed at it: for it is every man's right to judge for himſelf; and
a difference of opinion is as natural to us, as a difference of
taft: and when the ſenſual faculties are perpetually paſſing
dif-
An Introductory Discou R$ 8. 3
different judgements on the ſame objects, in different men, it
cannot be thought ſtrange, that the intellectual, in which na-
ture ſeems to have formed a greater diſparity, ſhould act with
the ſame variety. But if to the principles implanted in our
nature, we add that peculiar biaſs, which every individual re-
ceives-from education, example, or habit; and conſider what
ſtrong prejudices, a zeal for opinions once imbibed, or an inte-
reſt eſpecially accruing from them, is apt to inſtill even into the
better fort, we ſhould have cauſe rather to wonder, that any
number of men ſhould ever be of one mind, in any quæſtion of
difficulty or importance. Hence contrary doctrines in religion
are frequently deduced from the ſame texts, and contrary ſyſteins
of politics, from the ſame monuments.
Whatever judgement therefore any other man may form, or
whatever he may write, on the ſubject of this performance, I
Thall not eaſily be drawn into any controverſy with him about
it; but contenting myſelf with the diſcharge of my own con-
ſcience, by this free declaration of my real ſentiments, and in-
dulging the ſame liberty to every body elſe, ſhall leave the reſt to
the judgement of the public. I do not mean however, by this
profeffion, to preclude myſelf ſo intirely from all farther concern
with the preſent argument, as not to be ready on all occaſions,
to acknowledge any miſtake, of which I may be convinced, in
the repreſentation of any fact, or teſtimony, or character, which
I have applied to the ſupport of it, and to retract it, in the ſame
public manner, in which I committed it.
B 2
But
4 An Introductory Discourse.
But beſides that general obligation, which is common to me
with all other Chriſtians, of ſearching into the origin and evi-
dences of our religion, I found myſelf particularly excited to
this task, by what I had occaſionally obſerved and heard, of the
late growth of Popery in this Kingdom, and the great number
of Popiſh books, which have been printed and diſperſed amongſt
us, within theſe few years : in which their writers make much
uſe of that prejudice, in favor of primitive antiquity, which pre-
vails even in this Proteſtant Country, towards drawing weak
people into their cauſe, and ſhewing their worſhip to be the
beſt, becauſe it is the moſt conformable to that ancient pattern.
But the moſt powerful of all their arguments, and what gains
them the moſt proſelytes, is, their confident atteſtation of mi-
racles, as ſubfifting ſtill in their Church, and the clear ſuc-
ceffion of them, which they deduce through all hiſtory, from
the Apoſtolic times, down to our own.
This their Apologiſts
never fail to diſplay, with all the force of their rhetoric; and
with good reaſon; ſince it is a proof, of all others, the moſt
ſtriking to vulgar minds, and the moſt deciſive indeed to all
minds, as far as it is believed to be true.
Thus one of their principal Champions, with whom Dr. Mid-
dleton has been engaged, demonſtrates the orthodoxy of their
faith, and their true deſcent from that Church, to which our
Lord has promiſed his preſence to the end of the world. For
ſpeaking of the miracles of the Pagans, which the Doctor had
oppoſed to thoſe of the Papiſts, he ſays; “ 'God has been
pleaſed in every age, to work far more evident miracles in
I
o his
An Introductory DiscOURSE.
5
** his Church, by the miniſtry of his Saints ; in raiſing the
« dead to life ; in curing the blind and the lame; in caſting
out Devils; in healing in a moment inveterate diſeaſes, and
" the like ſtupendous works of his power; atteſted by the
« moſt authentic monuments; and very frequently, as may
“ be ſeen in the acts of the canonization of Saints,
by the depoſitions
depoſitions of innumerable eye-witneſſes, ex-
« amined upon oath ; and by the public notoriety of the
“ facts: which kind of miracles, fo authentically atteſted;
" will be to all ages a ſtanding evidence, that the Church, in
« whoſe Communion they have all been wrought, is not that
" idolatrous, pagan Church, which the Doctor pretends, but
" the true ſpouſe of Chriſt.” [a] And in a ſecond piece,
which the ſame writer has ſince publiſhed, he promiſes to
[a] See Catholic Chriſtian. Pref, xviji.
N. B. I have been well informed, that among the deſertors from the Engliſh
army in Flanders, who were taken in the time of the late rebellion and ſhot to
death in London, there was one, who profeſſed to die in the Romift Communion,
and being aſked by the Clergyman, who affifted him, what were the motives,
which induced him to forſake the religion, in which he was bred, made anſwer,
" That a Prieſt of a very grave and civil behaviour had aſſured him, that mira-
“cles had been wrought in confirmation of the Popith doctrine, and particularly,
that a Proteftant woman came one day to their Sacrament, with intent to
" make ſport with it, and inſtead of ſwallowing the confecrated bread, found
means to convey it into her pocket; but when ſhe was making merry after-
“ wards in company, with what ſhe had done, and was going to produce the
“ piece of bread, which ſhe had pocketed, ſhe found it changed into real felh
si and blood.” And he added, " that there was no reaſon to imagine, that a
« perſon, of ſo reverend a character, could have any deſign or intereſt,.to deceive
4 him in the atteſtation of ſuch a'miracle."
6C
.cc
give
6
An Introductory .
---
DISCOURSE,
give us an hiſtory of the Chriſtian miracles in a particular trea-
tiſe, deduced, I ſuppoſe, from the earlieſt ages, down to the
preſent.
Now theſe pious cheats of the Romiſh Church, as Mr. Leſlie
fays, are the foreſt diſgraces of Chriſtianity, and bid the faireſt of
any one contrivance, to overturn the certainty of the miracles of
Chriſt, and the whole truth of the Goſpel, by putting them all upon
the ſame foot [b]. This hiſtory therefore of miracles, which
is promiſed by that writer, induced me, more particularly at this
time, to inquire into the genuin ſtate and ſucceſſion of them,
through all the ſeveral ages of the Chriſtian Church, from the
times of the Apoſtles ; in order to diſcover the preciſe period
and duration of them; and to ſettle ſome rule of diſcerning
the true from the falſe ; ſo as to be able to give a proper rea-
ſon, for admitting the miracles of one age, and rejecting thoſe
of another.
It muſt be confeſſed however, in the firſt place, that this claim
of a miraculous power, which is now peculiar to the Church of
Rome, was univerſally aſſerted and believed in all Chriſtian coun-
tries, and in all ages of the Church, till the time of the Reforma-
tion. For Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory makes no difference between
and another'; but carries on the ſucceſſion of it's mi-
racles, as of all other common events, through all of them in-
differently, to that memorable period. But the light of the
Reformation diſpelled the charm: and what Cicero ſays of the
one age
[6] See Leſlies Short method, vol. I, p. 24.
Pythian
i
An Introductory : DISCOURSE.
7
Pythian Oracle, may be as truly fạid of the Popiſh miracles ;
when men began to be leſs credulous, their power vaniſhed [c]. For
that ſpirit of inquiry, with which Chriſtendom was then animated,
detected the cheat, and expoſed to public view, the hidden
ſprings and machinery of thoſe lying wonders, by which the
world had been ſeduced and enſlaved to the tyranny of Rome [d].
And as the miracles of that age could not ſtand the teſt of a
ſcrutiny, but were found, upon trial, to be the forgeries of a
corrupt Clergy, ſo it gave juſt cauſe to ſuſpect, that thoſe golden
legends of them, as they were called, which had been tranſmitted
to them from their Anceſtors, were of no better ſtamp, and that
the Church of Chriſt had long been governed by the fame arts.
This alſo was found to be true by thoſe, who made it their buſi-
neſs, to ſearch into the records of paſt ages: where, though it
was eaſy, to trace the marks of the ſame fictions, exerted in the
ſame manner, and for the ſame ends, even up to the early times
of the primitive Church, yet it was difficult, to fix the origin of
them, or to mark the preciſe æra, in which the cheat firſt began.
[c] Quando autem iſta vis evanuit ? an poftquam homines minus creduli elle
coeperunt? Cic. De Divin. 2.57
[d] Some of their Images were brought to London, and publicly broken there
at St. Paul's Croſs, in the ſight of the people; that they might be fully convinced
of the juggling impoftures of the Monks. And in particular, the Crucifix of Boxeley
in Kent, commonly called the Rood of Grace; to which many pilgrimages had been
made; becaufe it was obſerved fometimes to bow, and to lift itſelf up; to ſhake
and ſtir it's head, hands and feet; to rowl it's eyes; move the lips ; and bend it's
brows: all which were looked upon by the abuſed multitude, as the effects of a
divine power. Theſe were now publicly diſcovered to have been cheats. For the
fprings were ſhewed, by which all theſe motions were made, &c.
See Burnet's Hiſtory of the Reformation, vol. I. 242.
Many
2
8
An Introductory DiscoỦRSE,
Many learned men among the Proteſtants have attempted
indeed to ſettle this point; but with ſo little fucceſs, as to leave
it at laſt as uncertain, as they found it ; none of them having
been able to adjuſt the exact limits between true and falſe mi-
racles, or to Thew, by any ſolid reaſon, how long after the days
of the Apoſtles, the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit con-
tinued in the Church, or in what age they were actually with-
drawn.
The moſt prevailing opinion is, that they ſubſiſted through
the three firſt Centuries, and then ceaſed in the beginning of
the fourth ; or as ſoon as Chriſtianity came to be eſtabliſhed by
the civil power. This, I ſay, ſeems to be the moſt prevailing
notion at this day, among the generality of the Proteſtants;
who think it reaſonable to imagine, that miracles ſhould then
ceaſe, when the end of them was obtained, and the Church no
longer in want of them; being now delivered from all danger,
and ſecure of ſucceſs, under the protection of the greateſt power
on earth.
" that
Agreeably to this notion, Archbiſhop Tillotſon fays,
on the firſt planting of the Chriſtian religion in the world,
« God was pleaſed to accompany it with a miraculous power ;
“ but after it was planted, that power ceaſed, and God left it
« to be maintained by ordinary ways.” And in another place,
ſpeaking of the particular gift, of caſting out Devils, he ob-
ſerves, " that it continued the longeſt of any, and there was
« reaſon, that it ſhould continue, as long as the Devil reigned,
and Pagan Idolatry was kept up.-But when the powers of
" the
1
An Introductory Disco'ÚRSE.
9
- the world: became Chriſtian, and Satan's kingdom was every
“ where deſtroyed, then this miraculous gift alſo ceaſed, there
being no farther occaſion for it [e]". The late Dr. Marſhall
alſo, who tranſlated the works of St. Cyprián into engliſh, tak-
ing notice of the continuance of miracles and ſupernatural gifts;
and eſpecially of prophecies and vifions, in that Cyprianic age,
declares, “ that there are ſucceffive evidences of them, which
" ſpeak full and home to this point, from the beginning of
" Chriſtianity, down to the age of Conſtantine, in whoſe times,
" when Chriſtianity had acquired the ſupport of human powers,
" thoſe extraordinary aſſiſtances were diſcontinued [f]”. Yet
this opinion, though generally received by the Proteſtants, is
found liable ftill to ſuch objections, and perplexed with ſuch diffi-
culties, thát even thoſe, who principally eſpouſe it, cannot whol-
ly acquieſce in it, but are forced to propoſe it with ſome reſerve
and exception.
Mr. Dodwell, one of the moſt zealous admirers of primitive
Antiquity, and who has deduced the hiſtory of it's miracles with
the greateſt accuracy, through the three firſt Centuries, cloſes
his account of them, with the converfion of the Roman Empire
to Chriſtianity ; not daring, as he frequently declares, to venture
any'- farther, on account of the fabulous genius and manifeft im-
poſtures of the fourth Century [8]. But though he ſuppoſes the
true
1
[e] Serm. Fol. 3. it. Vol. 3. p. 488. Edit. 1735.
[f] Epiftles of Cypr. VII. not. b.
[8] Fateor ibi multa legi, quarti ſeculi impoſtorumque genium referentia, ut
nolim ea certioribus immiſcere Quam fuerint quarti feculi Scriptores fabulis
с
dediti,
10
An Introduktory DISCOURSE.
>
true miracles to have generally ceaſed from that time, yet he finds -
ſome particular inſtances of them, ſo ſtrongly atteſted by the
Fathers of the beſt credit, through the reſt of the ſame cen-
tury, that he cannot but admit them, as exceptions to his ge-
neral rule [h].
Mr. Whilton contends, “ that theſe miraculous powers were:
“ totally withdrawn at the very time when the Athanafian He.
" reſy, as he calls. it, was eſtabliſhed by the ſecond: Council
of Conftantinople, about 4, D.,38;1:, and that as ſoon as
“ the Church became. Athanafany Antichriſtian, and Popiſh;
they ceaſed immediately, and the Devil lent, it his own
cheating and fatal powers in theię ſtead-[i].".
Dr. Waterland on the other hand, the perpetual defender of
Athanaſus in his, treatiſe on the importance of the Do&trine of
the Trinity, often affirms,, “ that, the miraculous powers of
" the Church continued through the three firſt centuries at:
. leaft; asza manifeft proof, that the true, faith was- there pre-
“ ſerved, where the ſpirit of truth,fo-viſibly refided {k}”: and
dediti, è vita Pauli Hieronymiana; and Atharafiana, Antonij, &ce intelligimus'
Differt. in Iren, 2. S. LV.
Ex ipfa miraculorum hiſtoria fatis conftat, a quarto tandem ſeculo & tempo-
ribus Eufebij, fenfim decreviffe vera, & in deluetudinem abiiffe miracula. ib. LIX,
Ego. me, infra prima, fecula continea, antę receptam in Imperio.Chriftianita.
tem, &c. ib. LXII.
[b] Chryfoftomus-fatetur ſuo etiamnum tempore nonnulla fuiffe figna, fed &
numero pauca, & locis variis hinc inde diſperſa.Qui hæc itaque agnovit nega-
tis tamen aliis, erat proculdubio & illa agniturus, fi pari, omnia evidentia ,copſti-
tiffent. ib. LIX.
[i] See his Account of the DæmoniçasP:
[K] See p. 299, 382, 383, 425.,
in
>
I
III
An Introduktory Discourse.
in the addenda 'to the fame' work, he corrects himſelf, as it
were, for a miſtake, in confining them 'to fuch 'nartow li-
mits, which, on the authority of Paulinus, he ſendeavours to
extend, to the latter end of the fourth century [?].
Dr. Chapman declares, that tho' the eftabliſhment of
“ Chriſtianity by the civil power, Jabated the neceſſity of ‘mi-
« 'racles, and occaſioned a viſible decreaſe of them, yet after
" that révolution, there were inſtances of thein ſtill, as public,
as clear, as well atteſted, as any in the earlier agés [m].”
-And not content, like Dr.'Waterland, with carrying the func-
ceſſion of them, to the end of the fourth century, 'he goes 'on
to aſſure us, that the fifth alſo had its portion, thoſréaller than
the fourth [m] : 'which he corifiems by ſeveral inſtančès, dtawn
from the middle of 'that fifth century, ard-then refers us to
-Dr. Berriman, for the accurate defence of another miracle,
wrought in confutation of the Arian · Hereſy, which brings us
to the lend of it [o].
"Thus theſe eminent Divines, purſuing their ſeveral
fyftems, and ambitious of improving' ftill upon téach
other's diſcoveries, ſeem unwarily to have betrayed the
«Pròteftant cauſe, by transferring the miraculous powers of the
Church, the pretended inſigns of truth and orthodoxy, into
the brands of it's enemies; and yielding up this ſacred depo-
fitum, like the old Ancilia of Pagan Rome, "to the defence
and ſupport of Popiſh Rome.
For it was in theſe very pri-
in] Ibid. p. 497
[m] See Miſcell
. Traits. p. 170.
[n] Ibid. p. 173.
[o] Ib. p. 175.
C 2
mitive
*
1
I 2
An Introdu&tory Discourse.
mitive ages, and eſpecially in the third, fourth and fifth centu-
ries, thoſe floriſhing times of miraculous powers, as Dr. Chapman
calls them, in which the chief corruptions of Popery, were ei-
ther actually introduced, or the ſeeds of them ſo effectually
ſown, that they could not fail of producing the fruits, which
we now ſee. By theſe corruptions I mean, the inſtitution of
Monkery; the worſhip of reliques; invocation of Saints ; prayers
for the Dead; the fuperftitious uſe of Images; of the Sacraments ;
of the Sign of the Croſs; and of confecrated oil; by the efficacy
of all which rites, and as a proof of their divine origin, perpe-
tual miracles are affirmed to have been wrought in theſe very
centuries.
For example ; Monkery had it's beginning in the third, and
a full eſtabliſhment in the fourth century : in which all the
principal Fathers of the Church, both Greek and Latin, em-
ployed their authority and eloquence, to extol the perfection
and recommend the practice of it; by writing the lives of
particular Monks ; celebrating their wonderful fanctity and mi-
raculous gifts; and founding monaſteries alſo, where-ever they
travelled. St. Athanapus was one of the firſt, who, from the
pattern of the Ægyptian Monaſteries, introduced them into Italy
and Rome, where they had been beld before in utter contempt [p].
St. Bahl calls it an Angelical inſtitution : a bleſſed and Evangelic
life, leading to the manfions of the Lord [9]. St. Jerom declares,
ir
A
[1] Ignominioſum, ut tunc putabatur, & vile in populis nomen-Hieron. Oper
Tom. 4. par. 2. p.780, Edit. Benedict.
(9) Baſil. Oper. Tom. 3. p. 101, 261, 310, 473:
the
An Introductory DiscouRS E. 13
the Societies of Monks and Nuns, to be the very flower and moſt
precious ſtone among all the ornaments of the Church [r]. Sit.
Chryſoſtom calls it, a way of life worthy of heaven, nor at all in-
ferior to that of Angels [s]. And St. Auſtin ſtiles them always,
in a peculiar manner, the Servants of God [t]. By the influence
therefore of theſe Fathers, and the many lies and forged miracles,
which they diligently propagated in honor of the Monks, in-
numerable Monaſteries, as they themſelves tell us, were ſpread
[r] Certe flos quidam & pretiofiffimus lapis inter Ecclefiaftica ornamenta,
Monachorum & Virginum chorus eft. Hieron. ib. p. 551.
[s] Και γαρ πολλέιαν έρανώ πρέπεσαν έιλανίο, και αγγέλων άδεν χειρον διάκειναι.
Chryſ. Oper. Tom. I. p. 94. A. Edit. Benedi&.
N. B. This ſame Father wrote three books againſt the Oppugners of the Monaſ-
tic life; [Oper. T. 1. p. 44.) and a ſeparate one beſides, to prove it to be pre-
ferable even to that of a King. [ib. p. 116.] Among many other inſtances of this
preference, he obſerves, that a King, when depoſed and fallen from his throne,
cannot recover it without the utmoſt difficulty; whereas a Monk, who falls
from his virtue, quickly recovers it by his penitence: of which he gives a curious
example, in a ſtory, which he relates in another place, of an old Monk, who
after he had nobly fuſtained all the difficulties and fatigues of that diſcipline, was
caught at laſt by the wiles of Satan, and fired with ſo violent a concupiſcence for
women, that he ran away from his Cell, to a baudy-houſe in the neighbouring
City, in order to quench his fame: where he had no ſooner ſatiated his luſt,
than returning prefently to his duty, he became fo ftrict a penitent, that within
a ſhort time after, when the country was afflicted with a famine, the people
were directed by an expreſs revelation from heaven, to apply to him, as the onely
perſon, who could relieve them from it by his prayers ; by the force of which,
the famine was accordingly averted. Ibid. p. 29, 30.
[t] De Servis Dei fæpiffime dicitur, tot annos ille in hoc vel in illo Monaſte-
rio ſedit. Auguft. Serm. 215. Op. T.5. p. 947. D. Edit. Bened.
Cupiebas in ea vita vivere, in qua Servi Dei, Monachi vivuntEpift, ad Bo-
nifac. 220. T. 2. p. 812.
more ]
over
14 An Introductory Discourse.
over the eaſtern World; but eſpecially in Syria, Palæſtine and
Ægypt; whoſe deſerts were covered with them; and where,
in the next age, there were ſome, which are ſaid to have had
five thouſand Monks in them [u].
As to the reliques of the Martyrs, we find St. Chryfoftom fre-
quently haranguing on the great bleſſings, which the Church
reaped from them, and the daily miracles which were wrought
by them [x]: and he concludes one of his Homilies, on Two
female Martyrs, Bernice and Profdoce, in the following manner;
" with this ardor therefore, let us fall down before their re-
liques: let us embrace their coffins ; for theſe may have
" ſome power, ſince their bones have to great an one : and
not only on the day of their Feſtival, but on other days
likewife, let us fix ourſelves as it were to them, and entreat
" them to be our patrons [y]:” and in his other Homilies, he
often uſes the ſame peroration to dwell in their Sepulchres,
to fix themſelves to their coffins; that not only their
bones, but their tombs, and their urns alſo overflowed with
“ benedictions [2].”
1
1
[u] Exemplo itaque tejus, per totam Palæftinam innumerabilia Monafteria delle
coeperunt. (Hieron. Op.' T. 4. par. 2. p.'8z:] Quid referamus Armenios, quid
Perfas, quid Indize & Æthiopiæ "populos, 'ipſamque juxta Ægyptum, fertiler
Monachorum cunctaque Orientis examina---ibid. p.551.
[*] "Ικανε μεν τον λόγον πιτώσαθαι, και τα καθ' εκάτην ημέραν υπό των μαύρων
govou sva baújääło. Chryfoft. Op. T. 2. p. 555.Ed. Bened.
[y] Ibid. .p. 645. C.
*[] Ib. p. 669. E.
.
L
St.
An Introductory. DISCOURSE. 15
St: Bafil informs us, " that all, who were preſſed with any
" difficulty of diſtreſs, uſed to fly: for relief to the tombs of
“ the Martyrs; and whoſoever did but touch their reliques,
« acquired: fome ſhare of their fanctity [a].” In the ſame
age alfas, when. Vigilantius, a learned and eminent, Preſbyter
of the Church, wrote a book, juſt: as a Proteſtant would now
write; agaißt: the, inſtitution of Monks ;, the celibacy of the
Clergy-s. praying for the dead, and.. to: the. Martyrs ; adoring
theig, reliquos;. celebrating their-Vigils; and, lighting up candles to-
them after the manner of the Pagans; Sta. Ferom, who anſwers
him, defends all thoſe rites; with a moſt outrageous zeal and
acrimony of language; and treats: Vigilantius; as a moſt profii-
gate Hererie, uttering the blaſphemies, with which the Devil
had inſpired: hin againſt the ſacred doctrines of the Church :
“ Anſwer:me, ſays, he, how it comes to paſs, that in this vile
«. duftcand alhes of the Martyrs, there is ſo great a. mani-
vs. féftation of;figns, and wonders. I fee, thou moſt wretched,
“ of mortals, what thou art fo grieved at, what ſo afraid of;
" that unclean, ſpirit, which compels thee to write thus, has
" oft been tortured, and even now is. tortured by this vile
duſt
, [b].” St., Auſtin alfo affirms, " that at Milan, while
“ he. was there preſent, the reliques. of; the Martyrs, Prota-
wwfallis and Gervaſius, which lay buried in a place unknown,
were. reveled, to St. Ambroſe in a dream; and that by.
" the touch only of the ſame reliques, a blind man was
[a] Bafil. Op. T: 2. p. 155. it. T. 3. 536.
[b] Hieron. Tom. 4. par 2. p. 285, 286,
reſtored
16
An Introductory Discourse.
." reſtored to his fight; of which the whole people was wit-
" neſs, who flocked in crouds to the bodies of the ſaid
“ Martyrs [c]."
In the ſacrament alſo of the Eucharif, ſeveral ſtrange abuſes
were introduced long before this fourth age. In Juſtin Mara
tyr's time, within fifty years after the days of the Apoſtles, the
cup was conſtantly mixed with water, and a portion of the confe-
crated elements ſent alſo to the abſent [d]: which foon became
the ſource of much Superſtition. For that mixture, confi-.
dered at firſt as prudential onely, and indifferent, is declared by
Irenæus, to have been taught and practiſed by our Saviour [e] ;
and by St. Cyprian, to have been injoined to himſelf by a di-
vine revelation [f]. The conſecrated bread alſo, which was
ſent at firſt onely to the ſick, was in Tertullian's and Cyprian's
days, carried home by the communicants, and locked up.in '
boxes as a divine treaſure for their private uſe [8]. From this
time it began to work Miracles ; and was applied to drive
.
[c] Immenſo populo teſte res gefta eft. De Civ. Dei. lib. 22. C. 8. Vid. etiam
Hieron. ibid. p. 552. 'Samariam pergere, & Johannis Baptiſtæ, & Elifæi, &
Abdiæ pariter cineres adorare.
[d] Juft. Mart, Apol. 1. p. 96. Edit. Thirlb.
[e] A panem, ſuum corpus effe confitebatur ; & temperamentum ca-
licis, fuum fanguinem confirmavit: Iren. 1. 4. C. 57. it. 1.5. c. 2, & 36.
[1] Nec nos putes, noftra & humana confcribere, aut ultronea voluntate hoc,
nobis audacter affumere-admonitos autem nos fcias, ut in calice offerendo Do-
minica traditio ſervetur-ut calix, qui in commemoratione ejus offertur, mixtus
vino offeratur. Epift. ad Cæcil. 63. Edit. Rigalt.
[8] Cum quædam arcam ſuam, in qua Domini fan&tum fuit, manibus indig-
nis tentafſet aperire, igne inde färgente deterrita eft. Cypr, de Lapſis: p. 176.
Devils
An Introdułtory Discourse.
17
Devils out of haunted houſes [b]; and carried with them by
people, in their journeys and voyages, as an amulet or charm,
to ſecure them from all dangers both by ſea and land [i].
This Sacrament was adminiſtred likewiſe, in all their public
communions, to infants, even of the tendereſt age, before they
were able to ſpeak [k]: and was conſtantly ſtiled, the Sacrifice
of the body of Chriſt; which was always offered up, as Cyprian ſays,
for the Martyrs, in their annual Feſtivals: as it was alſo, ac-
cording to St. Jerom, by the Biſhop of Rome, over the venerable
bones of St. Peter and St. Paul [2]. Hence flowed thoſe amaz-
ing titles, which were given to it in this fourth age ; of moſt tre-
[b] Nam etiam nunc fiunt miracula, in ejus nomine, ſive per Sacramenta ejus,
&c. Vid. Auguft. de Civ. D. 22. 8. $. 1, 6.
[1] St. Ambroſe relates a remarkable inſtance of this, in the caſe of one of his
intimate friends, called Satyrus; who was a pious and zealous Chriſtian, but had
not yet received the Sacrament, or been initiated, as he calls it, in the more per-
feet myſteries. In this ſtate, he happened to ſuffer Shipwreck in his paſſage from
Afric, and the Ship itſelf to be broken to Pieces, upon which, fays Ambroſe, “ Sa-
" tyrus not being afraid of death, but to die only, before he had partaken of thoſe
“ myſteries, begged of ſome of the company, who had been initiated, that they
« would lend him the divine Sacrament, (which they carried about with them)
" not to feed his curioſity, by peeping into the inſide of the Box, but to obtain
(6 the benefit of his Faith, for he wrapped up the Myſteries in his Handkerchief,
" and then tying it about his neck, threw himſelf into the Sea ; never troubling
himſelf to look out for a plank, which might help him to ſwim, ſince he wanted
" nothing more, than the Arms of his Faith: nor did his Hopes fail him, for
- he was the firſt of the company, who got ſafe to the Shore.” De Exceſſu Sa-
tyri, 1. i. S 43, 44. p. 1125. Op. T. 2. Ed. Bened.
[k] Cypr. ibid p. 175.
[2] Sacrificia pro eis ſemper, ut meminiſtis, offerimus, quoties Martyrum
paffiones & dies, anniverſaria commemoratione celebramus. Id. Epiſt 34. p. 48.
Vid. it. Hieron. T. 4. par. 2. p. 284.
D
mendous
18 An Introductory DISCOURSE.
mendous myſtery; dreadful ſolemnity; terrible to Angels.; Myſtic
table [m]; whoſe very Utenſils and facred coverings, as St. Jerom
ſays, were xot to be conſidered, like things inanimate, and void of
ſenje, to have no fanctity, but to be worſhipped with the ſame ma-
jeſty, as the body and blood of cur Lord [n]. And what is, all
this, but a deſcription of that Sacrifice of the Maſs, which the
Romaniſts offer at this day, both for the living and the dead; and
the ſame miraculous tales, which they ſtill relate, of their tran-
ſubſtantiated bread
The cuſtom of praying for the dead, had alſo a very early
origin: for it was common, as we learn from Tertullian, even in
the ſecond century [0]; and became the univerſal practice of
the following ages : ſo that in the fourth, we find it reckoned
as
[m] En' aŭtw warun Ogixwdesátw peusngiwu. [Chryfoft. Oper. T. x.
p. 568]. τραπέζης και σφόδρα Φρικωδεςάτης.
] » . [ib. p. 245. D.3 mm 9 *Alys -
con opitiyon. Id. T. xi. p. 22. C.
In] Ut diſcant, qui ignorant, qua debeant veneratione fancta ſuſcipere,
& altaris Chrifti miniſterio defervire; facrofque calices, & fancta velamina, & ce-
tera, quæ ad cultum Dominicæ paffionis pertinent, non quafi inania, & fenfu
carentia, fanctimoniam non habere, ſed ex confortio corporis & fanguinis Do-
mini, eadem qua corpus ejus & fanguis majeſtate veneranda. Hieron. Ep. 88.
ad Theopil. T. 4. par. 2. p. 728.
[0] Enimvero & pro anima ejus orat, & refrigerium interim adpoftulat ei, &
in prima reſurrectione conſortium, & offert annuis diebus dormiționis ejus. De
Monogam. x. p. 682. A. Edit. Nic. Rigalt, N.B. This paſſage may want a
little explication. Tertullian, in this treatiſe, is labouring to prove, that the ſe-
cond marriages of Chriſtians are utterly unlawful, and forbidden to them by the
Goſpel, and though the parties be ſeparated from each other by the death of ei-
ther, that the matrimonial bond ſtill fubfifts, and obliges the Survivor, For the
widow,
'
" If
An Introductory DISCOURSE. TO
as a ſort of Herefy, kto deny the efficacy of it [p]. The pur-
poſe of it was to procure 'relief and refreſhment to the de-
parted fouls, in fome intermediate ſtate of expiatory pains,
which, according to the opinion of thoſe times, all men were
to ſuffer for their fins, except the Martyrs, and Sairits of the
firſt claſs [9]. A do&rine and practice, which could not fail
of giving birth to the Popiſh Purgatory.
The Sign of the Croſs likewiſe, was the ſubject of much ſu-
perſtition in thoſe ages, . “ Every ſtep that we tuke, ſays Ter-
“ tullian; when we come in or go out; put on our cloathis, or our
shoes; when we bath, eat, light up candles, go to bed, or fit
“ down ; we mark our forebeads with the fign of the Croſs.
“ for theſe, and other acts of diſcipline of the ſame kind,
you
demand a text of Scripture, you will find none; but
« tradition will be alledged to you, as the preſcriber of
“ them [r].” It was thought a fure preſervative againſt
all ſorts of malignity, poiſons, or fafeination; and effectual to
drive
away evil ſpirits ; and is affirmed by the principal Fathers
of the fourth century, to have wrought many illuſtrious mira-
cles.
widow, ſays he, prays for the Soul of her departed huſband; and begs refreſhment
for him in his intermediate ftate; and to be a partner with him in the firſt refur.
riction ; and makes an oblation for him every year, on the Day of his death. By all
which ſhe acknowledges and keeps up her conjugal union, and cannot therefore
marry any other man; becauſe, to have one huſband in the Spirit, and another in
the Fleſh, is adultery, &c.
[p] Vid. Epiphan. Hæref. lxxv. $ 3 and 7.
[9] Vid. Orig. con. Celfum. l. 6. p. 292. Tertull. De Anim. c. 55, 58.
[r] Adomnen progreffum atque promotum ; ad omnem aditum atque exitum, ad
veſtitum, ad calciatum, ad lavacra, ad menfas, ad lumina, ad cubilia, ad fedi-
lia,
D 2
20 An Introductory DISCOURSE.
cles. " This fign, ſays St. Chryſoſtom, both in the days of our
“ Forefathers, and in our own, has thrown open gates, that
were ſhut; deſtroyed the effects of poiſonous drugs ; diffol.
66 ved the force of hemlock; and cured the bites of venomous
“ beaſts [s]."
The ſacred oil alſo of the Church, was held in great vene-
ration in theſe ſame days, as an univerſal remedy in all diſeafes.
For which purpoſe, it was either prepared and diſpenſed by
Prieſts and holy Monks; or was taken from the lamps, which
were burning before the reliques of the Martyrs. St. Jerom
mentions great numbers, who had been cured of the bites of
venomous animals, by touching their wounds with the firſt fort [t]:
And St. Chryſoſtom ſpeaks of many, who had been healed of
their diſtempers, by anointing themſelves with the ſecond [u].
And St. Auſtin affirms, from his own knowledge, that a young
woman had been freed from a Devil; and a young man reſtored
even from death to life, by the uſe of it [x].
lia, quæcunque nos converſatio exercet, frontem crucis fignaculo terimus. Ha-
rum & aliarum ejuſmodi diſciplinarum fi legem expoftules Scripturarum, nul-
lam invenies, traditio tibi prætendetur auctrix, &c. De Coron 3.
[] Τέτο το σημείον και επί των προσόνων ημών, και νύν, θύρας ανέωξε κεκ-
delouévas, &c. Tom. 7. p. 552. A.
[t] Benedicto itaque oleo univerſi agricolæ atque paftores, tangentes vulnera,
certam ſalutem reſumebant. Vit. S. Hilarion. Op. T. 4. par. 2. p. 86,
[u] Και ίσασιν όσοι μεία πίσεως και ευκαίρως ελαίω χρισάμενοι νοσήμαια έλυσαν.
Chryf. ib. p. 337. C.
[x] Hipponenſem quandam Virginem ſcio, cum ſe oleo perunxiſſet, cui pro
illa orans Preſbyter inſtillaverat lacrymas ſuas, mox a Dæmonio fuiffe fanatam.
[De Civ, D. 1. 22. c. 8. $ 8.]
Laſtly,
t
1
2
21
An Introduɛtory Discours E.
Laſtly, as to Images and pi&tures, it appears from St. Chry.
foftom, that great numbers of them were ſtanding in the prin-
cipal Churches of that age [y]; and from the other writers
of the ſame age; that the acts of the Saints and Martyrs began
to be painted on the walls of thoſe particular Churches, which
were dedicated to their names.[2] : and it is natural to ima-
gine, that they would not long be conſidered, as mere orna-
ments, or memorials, or books, as they were called, for the
illiterate, but would gradually acquire a ſhare of that venera-
tion, which the bones of thoſe, whom they repreſented, had
already acquired in the ſame Churches : and we are told ac-
cordingly by St. Auſtin, that he knew many, who were actu-
ally the adorers of them [a].
Theſe were the principles and the practices of the fourth
Century ; as they are declared by the moſt eminent Fa-
thers of that age : whence every one may fee, what a refem-
blance they bear to the preſent rites of the Popiſh Church.
But ſome perhaps will be apt to ſuſpect, that I am really de-
fending the corruptions of that Church, by aſſigning to them
an origin, ſo ancient and venerable : and the ſuſpicion indeed
1
Rurſus apud nos, Irenæi cujufdam filius ægritudine extinctus eſt. cumque cor-
pus jaceret exanimum, atque exequiæ pararentur, amicorum quidam fuggeffit, ut
ejuſdem Martyris oleo, corpus perungeretur. factum eſt, & revixit. ibid. $ 18.
[y] Oper. Tom. xi. p. 78.
[z] Forte requiratur quanam ratione gerendi
Sederit hæc nobis ſententia, pingere Sanetas
Raro more damos, &c. Vid. Paulini Oper. Natal, ix.
[a] Novi multos eſſe Sepulchrorum & picturarum adoratores. De Morib.
Eccleſ, Cathol, Op. T. i. p. 34.
may
22
An Introductory DISCOUR'S E.
may ſeem plauſible, ſince I have 'been ſaying little elſe, but
what the Papiſts themſelves would ſay on the fame occaſion.
Yet it is no more, than what fact and truth oblige me to ſay;
and no controverſy, I hope will ever heat me, or prejudice
biaſs me ſo far, as to make me deny or diffemble, what the
conviction of my own mind requires me to confeſs. But
whatever advantage the Romaniſts may hope to reap from this
conceſſion, it really gives them none at all. Our diſpute with
them is, not how ancient, but how true their doctrines and
practices are: And if they are not derived from Chriſt or his
Apoſtles, nor founded in the holy Scripturés, it is wholly indif-
ferent to us Proteſtants, from what age they drew their birth;
whether it was from the four firſt, or the four laſt centuries of
the Church.
But this ſhort fetch, which I have been giving, of thoſe
primitive times, was not deſigned ſo much, to illuſtrate the
origin of their rites, as to lay open the grounds of their mi-
racles; and to thew what reaſons the Romiſh Church hath
to eſpouſe, and what the Proteſtant Churches, if they are con-
ſiſtent with themſelves, to ſuſpect and diſclame them. For ex-
ample, after the converſion of the Roman Empire to Chriſtia-
nity, we ſhall find the greateſt part of their boaſted miracles
to have been wrought either by Monks, or Reliques, or the Sign of
the Croſs, or conſecrated Oil: wherefore if we admit the Mi-
racles, we muſt neceſſarily admit the rites, for the ſake of
which they were wrought: they both reft on the ſame bot-
tom, and mutually eſtabliſh each other. For it is a maxim,
which
An Introductory. DISCOURSE. 23
which muſt be allowed by all Chriſtians, that whenever any
ſacred rite or, religious inſtitution becomes the inſtrument of rea!
miracles, we ought to conſider that rite, as confirmed by di-
vine approbation. «s. I know, ſays one of the ableft writers
"c. of the Romiſh Church, by the evidence of manifeſt and in-
"s corrupt tradition, that there hath always been a never-inter-
rupted ſucceſſion of men from the Apoſtles time, believing,
profeſſing, and practiſing ſuch and ſuch doctriness: by evi-
“ dent arguments of credibility, as miracles, fanctity unity,
“ &c. and by all thoſe ways, whereby the Apoſtles and our bleſſed
" Saviour himſelf confirmed their doctrines : And we are aſſured,
" that what the ſaid. never-interrupted Church propoſeth, doth
“ deſerve to be accepted and acknowledged as: a divine
“ truth [6]." And thus far we muſt own, the Jeſuit ar-
gues rightly ; that if we receive thoſe arguments of credịbility,
as, he calls them, we muſt receive the doctrines: which accom-
pany them, as ſo many divine verities, reveled, and atteſted by
Almighty God. So that if the authority, of a Chryſoſtom; or
a Jerom, or an Auſtin can oblige us to believe the iniracles of
the fourth century, they muſt oblige us alſo, to eſpouſe the rites,
which thoſe miracles confirmed, and thoſe Fathers practiſed.
Dr. Chapman however, not aware perhaps of this conſe-
quence, or not allowing it to have any force, is not ſatisfied
with aſſerting the miracles of the fourth century, but, as if more
were ſtill wanted to the ſupport of the Chriſtian cauſe, frank-
[6] See Mr. Knot, on Charity maintained, &c. in the Works of Chillinga
worth, 7th Edit. c. vi. p. 228. $ 6.
ly
2
24 An Introdưétory Discourse.
ly undertakes the defence alfo of the fifth ; in which all thoſe
ſuperſtitious practices, above mentioned, had gained a greater
root, and more general eſtabliſhment: And while the warmeſt
admirers of the primitive times, can hardly digeſt the wonder-
ful tales of the fourth age, on the united teſtimony of all its
renowned Fathers, he thinks himſelf obliged, to eſpouſe thoſe
of the more corrupt age, which follows, upon the ſingle au-
thority of Theodoret.
But to this, I ſhall ſpeak more fully hereafter, in that
larger work which I have prepared on the ſame ſubject; where
I ſhall conſider thoſe particular miracles, which the Dr, has
ſelected, as the proper objects of our belief, and defended as
ſuch, againſt the enemies of the Chriſtian faith. In the mean
while, I ſhall offer only a ſingle paffage from the fame Theodoret,
on whoſe teſtimony he lays ſo great a ſtreſs, which will help,
not only to confirm what I have already been advancing, but
give us a ſpecimen alſo, of the character of this Father, as well
as of the ſtate of Chriſtianity in this fifth age.
“ The temples of our Martyrs, ſays he, are ſhining and
“ conſpicuous ; eminent for their grandor, and the variety of
“ their ornaments; and diſplaying far and wide the ſplendor
" of their beauty. Theſe we viſit, not once or twice, or
“ five times in the year, but frequently offer up hymns each day
" to the Lord of them; in health we beg the continuance
in ſickneſs, the removal of it; the childleſs beg
« children, and the barren to become mothers ; and when
" theſe bleſſings are obtained, we beg the ſecure enjoyment of
so
them.
1
" of it ;
An Introductory Discourse. 25
« them.
When we undertake any journey, we beg them to
“ be our companions and guides in it: and when we return
ſafe, we pay them our thanks: and that thoſe, who pray
“ with faith and fincerity, obtain what they aſk, is mani.
feſtly teſtified by the number of offerings, which are made
" to them, in conſequence of the benefits received. For
“ fome offer the figures of eyes; ſome of feet; ſome of
" hands, made either of gold or of ſilver ; which the Lord
accepts, tho’ but of little value ; meaſuring the gift, by the
« faculties of the giver. But all theſe are the evident proofs
« of the cures of as many diſtempers ; being placed there,
“ as monuments of the fact, by thoſe, who have been made
" whole. The ſame monuments likewiſe proclaim the power
66 of the dead. Whoſe power alſo demonſtrates their God,
« to be the true God [c].”
Now this is nothing elſe, but the very picture of that ſame
fuperſtition, which is practiſed at this day by the Papiſts, and
was borrowed of old from the Pagans [d]. Livy tells the
fame thing of the Temples of the Heathen Gods, which Theo-
doret does here of the Temples of their Saints; that they were
rich in the number of offerings, which the people uſed to make
in return for the cures, and benefits which they had received
from them [e]. In both caſes, we allow the offerings to be
[c] Serm. 8. de Martyrib.
[d] See Dr. Middleton's Letter from Rome on this ſubject.
[2] Epidaurus, inclita Æſculapij nobili templo, --tum donis dives erat, quæ
remediorum falutarium ægri mercedem facraverant Deo. lib. 45. 28.
E
real,
26
An Introductory DISCOU R S Ë.
real, but take the cures, or the miraculous part of them at leaſt;
to be imaginary: and as we reject Livy's miracles without
ſcruple, or any hurt to the faith of hiſtory, ſo we may reject
Theodoret's too, without thaking the evidence of any thing elſe,
that is credible.
Thus we ſee, to what a ſtate of things, the miracles of the
fourth and fifth centuries. would reduce us : they would call
us back again to the old fuperſtition of our anceſtors; would
fill us with Monks and reliques, and · Maſſes, and all the other
trinkets, which the treaſury of Rame can ſupply : for this is the
neceſſary effect of that zeal, which would engage us in the de-
fence, of them. But if the miracles of theſe later ages muſt
needs be rejected; and if, as I have ſaid above, Ecclefiaftical
Hiſtory makes no difference between them, and thoſe of the
earlier ages, it may reaſonably be aſked, where then are we
to ſtop? and to what period muſt we confine ourſelves ? And
this indeed is the grand difficulty, which was the chief object.
of
my attention, through this whole inquiry; and what has
puzzled all the other Doctors, who have been conſidering the
fame quæſtion before me. But before I give any anſwer to it, or
declare my own opinion, it may be proper, to, premiſe a re-
mark or two, on the inſufficiency of the feveral ſyſtems already
advanced; and to lay down ſome general principles, which may
lead us to a more rational ſolution of the matter, than what
has hitherto been offered.
1
!
Mr
An Introductory DISCOURSE.
2
Mr. Dodwell, : as we have féen' above, chufes to. Mut up the
hiſtory of true miracles with the three firſt centuries ; condemning
thoſe of the fourth, as generally forged and fabulous ; for the
proof of which, he appeals to the monſtrous fictions, which St.
Athanaſius, St. Ferdinen and St. Gregory of Nuffa, Þave related: .
And thus far, I intirely agree with him; that the pretended
miracles of this age are utterly incredible; and particularly
thoſe, to which he refers us, and to which we might add
many more, affirmed alſo from their own knowledge, St.
Auſtin, St.: Epiphanius, and all the other Saints of the fame
times. Yet after ſo free a cenſure on the miracles of the fourth
age, the fame learned writer,' thinks it neceffary ſtill, to make
ſome exceptions,: for a few of them, which St. Chryfoftom has
atteſted.” But ſuch a diſtinction appears to be wholly ground-
leſs: or if there be any difference between this particular Fa-
ther, and the reſt of them, it is clearly to the diſadvantage of
Chryfoftom, when confidered in the character of a witneſs. For
his peculiar talents were thoſe of a declamatory Preacher,
whoſe art lay, in warming the paſſions, not in convincing the
reaſon; and whoſe pompous ftile and rhetorical floriſhes, in-
ſtead of being adapted to a ſimple narrative of plain facts,
was apt rather to exaggerate plain facts into miracles [fi].
And as there is no ground for any preference, in his perſonal
character, ſo there is none likewiſe in the particular miracles,
[f] Ac ne forſitan Rhetores vobis diſpliceant, quorum artis eſt veriſimilia ma-
gis, quam vera dicere.Hieron. Oper. T.4. par. 2. p. 236 .
i
E 2
which
28
An Introduktory DiscouRSE.
which he atteſts; which are all ſaid to be wrought, not by
the miniſtry, of any living and holy men, but by the reliques
of the dead; or the oil of their lomps; or the fign of the Croſs.
Dr. Waterland ſeems to have been of the ſame mind in ge-
neral with Mr. Dodwell, concerning the miracles of the fourth
century; yet being loth to part with them, and much more, to
fix any ſlur on the credit of it's principal Fathers, has uſed a
little artifice in the manner of declaring it. For after he has
often affirmed, that the miraculous , powers of the Church fubfifted
through the three. firſt centuries at leaſt, he adds the following
amendment to it, Nay, and if we may believe Paulinus, who re-
ports it as an eye-witneſs, they continued down to the latter end of
the fourth [8]. But why muſt we be referred to Paulinus
onely, in a quæſtion of ſuch importance ? a name, unknown
to the greateſt part of his readers ; while the names of Atha-
naſus, Bafil, Auſtin, Jerom, Chryfoftom, are in every body's
mouth, and appealed to by himſelf on every other occa-
fion and who have written whole books, on the miracles of
that very age, . wrought by Saints, and Monks, and reliques ;
many of which they have reported likewiſe, as eye-witneſſes,
as well as Paulinus. The omiſſion therefore of theſe
greater
names, which could not poſſibly be accidental, is a clear, tho'ta-
cit confeſſion, that he knew them all to have forfeited their cre-
dit, in this particular cauſe: and that even his beloved Athanahus,
on whoſe faith he had pinned his own, and on the defence of
3
(8) Import, of the Trin. p. 497.
whoſe
An Introduɛtory. DISCOURSE.
29
whoſe orthodoxy, he had ſpent his whole life and ſtudies, was
not to be truſted at laſt with the report of a miracle. .
But what is it after all, that Paulinus could teach us, more
credibly than
any of the reſt? He was a noble convert from
Paganiſm, and Biſhop of Nola in Italy : where he built a
Church to St. Felix the Martyr, with whoſe acts he painted it,
and with whoſe reliques he enriched it; and has celebrated,
both in proſe and verſe, the miracles performed by thofe re-
liques [b]. But the particular miracle, for which we are re-
ferred to him by the Doctor, as an eye-witneſs, is this ; that
" when St. Ambroſe
, upon the conviction of a certain offen-
der, was pronouncing the ſentence of excommunication
againſt him ; in the very inſtant of delivering him over to
" Satan, and while the words were yet in his mouth, the Devil
« began to ſeize and tear him, as his own, to the great amaze-
« ment and wonder of Paulinus, and the reſt, who were pre-
"I ſent [i].”
On the whole then; after the ſtricteſt attention to what
both the ancients and the moderns alſo have delivered on this
ſubject, I find great reaſon to be convinced, that the pretended
miracles of the fourth century, were not onely in general, and
for the greateſt part, but intirely and univerſally, the effects of
fraud and impoſture. Nor can I ſee the leaſt ground to ad-
mit any exception, either with Mr. Dodwell, for thoſe reported
by St. Cbryfoftom ; or with Dr. Waterland, for thoſe, by Pauli-
[b] Vid. Paulin. Peom. XVII. p. 77, 78. Oper. Edit. Par. 4to,
[;) See Dr. Waterland, ibid.
HUS
30 An Introduktory DISCOURS E.
nus, For I take it to be a maxim, on which we máy fafelý de
pend, that wherever the Biſhops, the Clergy, and the principal
Champions of the Chriſtian cauſe, are found to be tampering
with falſe miracles, and eſtabliſhing new rites and doctrines by
lies and forgeries, it would be vain for us, to look for any true
miracles in that age, and that Church. And this was actually
the caſe of the fourth century : in which all it's moſt illuſtrious
Fathers, now Saints of the Catholic Church ; St. Athanaſus,
St. Epiphanius, St. Bafil, St. Gregory of Nyſa, St. Ambroſe,
St. Jerom, St. Auſtin; and St. Chryfoftom, have all ſeverally re-
corded and folemnly atteſted a number of miracles, ſaid to be
wrought in confirmation of fome favorite inſtitutions of thoſe
days, which, in' the judgement of all the learned and candid Pro.
teſtants, are manifeſtly fictitious, and utterly incredible.
We have now therefore gained ſome footing and ground as
it were to ſtand upon. For this diſcovery of the ſtate of the
fourth century, will reflect freſh light on our ſearches, both back-
wards and forwards; and from it's middle ſituation, give us a
clearer view, as well into the earlier, as the later ages. For ex-
ample; if we ſuppoſe the miraculous powers of the Church to
have been withdrawn, in the beginning of this century, the
firſt inference, which it ſuggeſts, is, that they were withdrawn
likewiſe through all the fucceding centuries. Becauſe the rea-
ſons, for which they are imagined to have ceaſed at this particu-
lar period, grow ſtronger ſtill in every later age, as the Church
was every day gaining ſtrength and a firmer eſtabliſhment, not
onely from the protection of the Magiſtrate, but from an au-
thority
I
An Introductory DISCOURS E.
31
thority and power of it's own, independent on the civil Go-
yernment.,
But above all, when, in all theſe later ages, inſtead of meet-
ing with genuin miracles, we find fables and fictions, aſſum-
ing that facred character, and abounding ſtill more and more,
and, by the pretence of a divine authority, giving a fanction to
Heatheniſh rites and ſuperſtitious doctrines, it would be childiſh,
to expect the revival of real miracles, unleſs it were to detect and
deſtroy the effects of thoſe falſe ones, which were ſo evidently
corrupting the faith and worſhip of the Chriſtian Church. Since
the miracles then of the fifth century, which our Doctors ſo
ftrenuoully defend, inſtead of defeating the frauds of the fourth,
tend-Atill to confirm them; being performed chiefly by the ſame
inſtruments, and for the ſame ends; we muſt neceſſarily rank
them all under the ſame claſs of mere forgeries. But theſe ad-
vocates of the primitive miracles have not yet given us the leaſt
hint, or reaſon to imagine, that they intend to ſtop here, or to
confine themſelves even to the fifth century: ſince the ſame
principles, which carried them ſo far, would carry them ſtill
farther, if the credit of Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory, or it's miracles
thould happen to be attacked by an Infidel or Heretic.
For example; Pope Gregory the firſt, commonly called the
Great, wrote four books of Dialogues, in which he deſcribes the
lives and miracles of the Italian Monks; many of them from his
own knowledge, and the reſt, as he declares, from the teſti-
mony
of grave and venerable perſons, on whoſe fidelity he
could depend. Theſe books were written in the end of the
fixth
32
An Introdu&tory Discours E.
CC
water as
ſixth century, and are filled with a number of ſtories, ſo groſs-
ly abſurd, and fabulous, that it would be difficult, one would
think, to find any old woman in theſe days, ſo weakly credu-
lous, as to believe them. They inform us
They inform us “ of many perſons
actually raiſed from the dead; many blind reſtored to fight;
and, all ſorts of diſeaſes cured, by the prayers or touch of
“ thoſe Monks [k]: Of their walking upon
freely, as upon dry land ; of rivers drawn by them from
" their natural courſe, and following them into a new channel,
" which they traced out to them. Of inundations of water
riſing up almoſt to the roofs of Churches, without entring
“ the doors of them, which ſtood open: Of the arm of an
" Executioner, fixed upright in the air, as it was lifted up,
to ſtrike off the head of one of thoſe holy men, and re-
" ſtored by him on condition, that it ſhould never again be-
any
Chriſtian: Of vefſels of oil and wine miraculoully
repleniſhed; and of pieces of gold, as freſh as from the
" mint, dropt from heaven into their laps : " with numberleſs
other miracles, more triiling ſtill and deſpicable; contrived
chiefly to advance the honor of Monkery; the worſhip of Saints
and of the bleſſed Virgin ; the belief of a Purgatory; and the di-
vine effects of Holy water, &c [1].
The apparent forgery of theſe miracles, and the confident at-
teſtation of them by Gregory, has induced many Proteſtants,
and even fome Papiſts alſo, to call in quæſtion the genuine-
" head
1
[k] Vid. Gregor. Magn. Dial. 1. 1. C. 2, 10, 12: 1. 2. 32: 1. 3. 17, 33, &c.
[l] Ibid. l. 2. c.7: I. 3. 9, 19, 37: 1. 1. 5, 9, 10, 1. 4. 15, 16, 39, 40.
neſs
J
An Introductory DISCOURSE
33
neſs of theſe books : but the learned Cave, after duly weighing
all the arguments, on the one ſide and the other, takes them to
have been really written by Gregory the Great ; who indulged his
credulity in them, he ſays, and gave more attention to fables, than
he ought to have done, as all, who judge equitably and without pre-
judice, will eaſily allow [m]. But theſe Dialogues contain ſe-
veral miracles, ſaid to have been wrought in confutation of the
Arian Hereſy; of which Dr. Berriman makes ſome uſe, in his
elaborate defence of the Athanaſan Doctrine ; where ſpeaking
of the objections, which have been made againſt the authority
of the Dialogues, he takes occaſion to obſerve; that as far as
thoſe objections ariſe from the miraculouſneſs of the things related,
be ſees not, why we ſhould diſpute the facts, unleſs it could be pro-
ved, as it certainly cannot, that miracles were then ceaſed [n].
Thus the miraculous powers of the Church are expreſsly
avowed by him, to the end even of the ſixth century ; in which
Popery had gained a full eſtabliſhment: yet this Proteſtant
Divine cannot conceive the leaſt reaſon to diſpute the miracu-
louſneſs of thoſe facts which eſtabliſhed it ; nay, defies any man
to prove, that miracles were yet ceaſed in this Popiſh age.
In his accurate defence of that miracle of the fifth century,
referred to above, amongſt his other teſtimonies, he mentions
the authority of this fame Gregory the Great, and of his con-
temporary, Iſidore of Sevil, who had too much learning and judge-
ز
[m] Hift. Litter. V. 1. p. 543.
[n] See Hiſtorical Account of the Trinitarian. Controver, Serm.yıl. p. 356.
not, q.
i
II)
ment,
34 An Introductory DISCOURSE.
ment, he ſays, to be deceived in ſo important a fact [o]. And
fince he thinks them infallible, in reporting a fact, which hap-
pened, as he owns, near an hundred years before, he has much
more reaſon, to think them fo, in relating the facts of their
own times: of which times however, Dr. Cave gives us the
following character, under that of Evagrius, the principal Hif-
torian of them, of whom he ſays; “ that he was agreeable
enough in his ſtile, and more accurate in the orthodoxy of
" his doctrines, than the other Hiſtorians, but too credulous,
" and much addicted to fables, as it is manifeſt to all, who
are not blinded by their prejudices, from the ſtories, which
“ he relates on every occaſion, concerning the Croſs, and re-
liques, and forged miracles, which began to be in high eſteem
" in thoſe days [p]. Yet neither the fabulous genius of this
age; nor the incredibility of the miracles, ſaid to have been
wrought in it; nor the impertinence, the abſurdity, nor
the impiety, I may fay, of the ends, for which they were
wrought, can ſhock the faith of Dr. Berriman; or raiſe any
ſuſpicion of the miraculouſneſs of facts, affirmed by the infallibility
of Pope Gregory.
Since the real then of theſe Proteſtant Guides has now
brought us within the very pale of the Romiſh Church, I ſee
nothing, which can ſtop their progreſs, from the ſixth age,
down to the preſent: from Pope Gregory, the Great, to Pope
Clement, the twelfth; the laſt of whom I perſonally
[o] See Berrim. ibid. p. 330.
[p] Hift. Litterar. Vol. I. p. 547.
knew,
An Introdu&tory DiscoURSE.
35
knew, and believe to have been as honeſt and religious a
Pontif, as the firſt. For each ſucceding age will fur-
niſh miracles, and witneſſes too, of as good credit as thoſe
of the ſixth. The next ſupplies a venerable Bede ; whoſe very
name carries authority; and whoſe learning, zeal and purity
of faith and manners, were celebrated through the Chriſtian
world ; yet whoſe works are filled with miracles, which no
man of ſenſe can believe [9]. The eighth age yields a Dama-
ſcene ; whoſe great knowledge and erudition in all the learned ſci-
encés, no body, ſays Cave, in his fenfes can deny : yet he was mon-
ſtrouſly credulous and, as the Popiſh writers themſelves allow,
abounds with lies [r]. And thus we may procede, through every
following age, to find men of the ſame character ; eminent for
their learning, zeal and piety; yet all of them ſtill carrying on
the ſame frauds; down to the Perrons, the Baronius's, the Bel.
larmines, and the Huetius's, of theſe later times; whoſe names
are full as venerable, and teſtimonies as credible, as any of the
more ancient.
From theſe premiſes, it is evident, that the forged miracles
of the fourth century, muft neceſſarily taint the credit of all the
later miracles, down even to the preſent age. For they depend
as it were upon each other, as the parts of one uniform ſeries,
or chain, ſo that where-ever we draw out a link, all the reſt
which hang upon it, muſt of courſe fall to the ground. Let
[9] Vid. Bed. de Vita & miraculis Sancti Cuthbert. Op. Hiſtoric. Ed. Cantab.
p. 229.
[r] Cave ibid. p. 624,
US
F 2
1
36
An Introdu£tory DISCOURSE.
us conſider then in the next place, what light the ſame for-
geries will afford us, in looking backwards alſo into the earlier
ages, up to the times of the Apoſtles.
And firſt, when we reflect on that ſurprizing confidence and
fecurity, with which the principal Fathers of this fourth age
have affirmed as true, what they themſelves had either forged,
or what they knew at leaſt to be forged; it is natural to ſuf-
pect, that ſo bold a defiance of ſacred truth could not be acqui-
red, or become general at once, but muſt have been carried gra-
dually to that heigth, by cuſtom and the example of former
times, and a long experience of what the credulity and ſuper-
ſtition of the multitude would bear.
Secondly, this ſuſpicion will be ſtrengthened, by conſidering,
that this age, in which Chriſtianity was eſtabliſhed by the civil
power, had no real occaſion for any miracles. For which rea-
fon, the learned among the Proteſtants have generally ſuppoſed
it, to have been the very æra of their ceſſation: and for the
fame reaſon, the Fathers alſo themſelves, when they were dif-
poſed to ſpeak the truth, have not fcrupled to confeſs, that the
miraculous gifts were then actually withdrawn, becauſe the Church
ſtood no longer in need of them [s]. So that it muſt have been
a raſh, and dangerous experiment, to begin to forge miracles,
at a time, when there was no particular temptation to it ; if
the uſe of ſuch fictions had not long been tried, and the benefit
of them approved and recommended by their anceſtors; who
[s] This will be particularly thewn in the courſe of my larger treatiſe
wanted
An Introductory Discourse.
37
wanted every help, towards ſupporting themſelves under the
preſſures and perſecutions, with which the powers on earth
were afflicting them.
Thirdly, If we compare the principal Fathers of the fourth,
with thoſe of the earlier ages; we ſhall obſerve the ſame cha-
racters of zeal and piety in them all, but more learning, more
judgement, and leſs credulity in the later Fathers. If theſe
then be found, either to have forged miracles theinſelves; or
to have propagated, what they knew to be forged ; or to have
been deluded ſo far by other people's forgeries, as to take them
for real miracles ; (of the one or the other of which, they were
all unqueſtionably guilty) it will naturally excite in us, the ſame
ſuſpicion of their predeceſſors ; who, in the ſame cauſe, and
with the ſame zeal, were leſs learned, and more credulous, and
in greater need of ſuch arts for their defence and ſecurity.
Fourthly, As the perſonal characters of the earlier Fathers
give them no advantage over their Succeſſors; ſo neither does
the character of the earlier ages afford any real cauſe of
pre-
ference, as to the point of their integrity, above the later. The
firſt indeed are generally called, and held to be the pureſt : but
when they had once acquired that title, from the authority of
a few leading men, it is not ſtrange, to find it aſcribed to
them implicitely by every body elſe, without knowing or in-
quiring into the grounds of it. But whatever advantage of
purity thoſe firſt ages may claim in ſome particular reſpects, it
is certain, that they were defective in ſome others, above all,
which have ſince fucceded them. For there never was any
period
38
An Introduɛtory Discourse.
period of time in all Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory, in which fo many
rank Hereſies were publicly profeſſed [t] nor in which ſo many
Jpurious books were forged and publiſhed by the Chriſtians, under
the names of Chriſt, and the Apoſtles, and the Apoſtolic Wri-
ters, as in thoſe primitive ages : ſeveral of which forged books
are frequently cited and applied to the defence of Chriſtianity,
by the moſt eminent Fathers of the ſame ages, as true and
gea
nuin pieces, and of equal authority, with the Scriptures them-
felves [u]. And no man ſurely can doubt, but that thoſe, who
would either forge, or make uſe of forged books, would in
the ſame cauſe, and for the fame ends, make uſe of forged
miracles.
But the true character of theſe ages may beſt be learnt from
one, who lived in the very midſt of them, and was him-
ſelf the chief ornament of them, I mean St. Cyprian, who
has left us the following account of the ſtate of the Church,
1
[t] The learned, I think, have reckoned about ninety different Hæreſies, which
all ſprang up within the three firſt centuries.
[u] See Archbiſhop Wake's Preliminary Diſcourſe to the Genuin Epiſtles of
the Apoſtolic Fathers, p. 89. where he has given us a liſt of a great part of thoſe
ſpurious pieces, with a fhort account of each in which he tells us, that it
would be endleſs to inſiſt on all the ſpurious pieces, which were attributed onely to
St. Paul; but that the ſuperſtitious books, aſcribed to St. Peter, viz. his Acts, his
Goſpel, his Preaching, his Revelations, were of much greater authority even to the
times of Euſebius. [$. 18, 19.] He obſerves alſo, that the book called the Recogni-
tions of St. Clement, which he takes to be the moſt learned, as well as the moſt an-
cient of any of thoſe pieces, was not ſet forth till about the middle of the ſecond Centu-
ty; and is rejected by Euſebius, as one of thoſe many Impoſtures, which were even
then publiſhed under the name of that Saint. §. 28.
juſt
An Introdu&tory DISCOURS E. 39
juſt before the Decian perſecution; about A. D. 250, when it's
diſcipline, as he ſays, was corrupted, and it's faith almoſt loſt,
by the long eaſe and peace, which it had then enjoyed, for near
forty years ; during which interval, he tells us, “that the body of
« Chriſtians ſtudied nothing, but how to increaſe their patrimony:
" and forgetting, what the faithful had done, either in the times
“ of the Apoſtles, or what they ought to do at all times, had no
“ other paſſion, but an inſatiable ardor, of inlarging their fortunes.
“ That there was no true devotion in the Prieſts, no ſound faith
" in the miniſters: no mercy in their works, no diſcipline in
“ their manners: that the men deſtroyed the comelineſs of their
beards, and the women of their faces, by paint and falſe
"arts: their eyes alſo, fo finiſhed by the hand of God, were
" adulterated; and their hair ſtained with colors, not their
own. That the ſimple were deluded, and the brethren
“ circumvented by craft and fraud. That it was common,
" to contract marriages with unbelievers : and to proſtitute the
“ members of Chriſt to the Gentiles : and to ſwear not onely
rafhly, but falſely: to contemn their rulers with an info-
" lent pride; to ſpeak againſt them with ſpite and rancour ;
" and to quarrel among themſelves, with an obſtinate hatred,
" That great numbers of the Biſhops, who ought to be an
example and leſſon to the reſt, contemning their divine Stew-
ardſhip, made themſelves the ſtewards of ſecular affairs;
rambling about into other people's provinces ; and ſeeking
“out the markets of traffic and gain ; and inſtead of relieving
« their hungry brethren in the Church, were eager onely, to
“ heap
(
I
40 An Introduktory DISCOURS E.
heap up money; to ſeize people's lands by treachery and
« fraud ; and to increaſe their ſtock by exorbitant uſury [x].”
This is the picture of thoſe ages, which people affect to
call the pureſi, as it was drawn from the life, by the ableft
Maſter of the times, which he deſcribes: and tho' the cha-
racter of the drawer muſt oblige us to believe, that it bore a
great likeneſs to the original, yet it is ſo far from giving us any
idea of purity or perfection, that if it had been drawn, even
for our own times, we might juſtly think the coloring too
coarſe, and the features charged beyond the truth.
Now from all theſe conſiderations taken together, it muſt, I
think, be allowed, that the forged miracles of the fourth. cen-
tury give us juſt reaſon, to ſuſpect the pretenſions of every
other age both before and after it. My argument would
be much the ſame, if it were grounded on the allowed
forgeries of any later age. Dr. Chapman, who defends the mi-
racles of the fifth century, declares, that there were ſome of
theſe later inſtances, as public, as clear, and as well at-
teſted, as any in the earlier ages; and by an evidence, e-
qual to that, by which moſt of the ancient miracles are ſup-
ported [y]. Dr. Berriman, in his defence of a particular
miracle near the end of the fame century, inſiſts, that it
cannot be diſcredited, without ſhaking the whole faith of Hiſtory,
and rejecting all accounts of miracles, except thoſe of the Scrip-
[x] De Lapfis. p. 170. Ed. Rigalt.
[y] Miſcellan. Tracts, p. 170, 175.
tures,
An Introdu£tory Discourse.
41
tures [z]. And ſo far I agree with them both, and own their
defence to be true ; that the earlier miracles reſt on no better
foundation, nor are ſupported by any better evidence, than the
later. But then, if theſe later, after all the confidence of their
Advocates, may certainly be diſcredited, and muſt conſequently
be rejected; it follows from their own principles, that the
earlier may, with as inuch reaſon,
with as much reaſon, be rejected too. Which
brings me at laſt to that general concluſion, which I have
undertaken to illuſtrate ; that there is no ſufficient reaſon to be-
lieve, from the teſtimony of antiquity, that any miraculous powers
did ever actually ſubfijt in any age of the Church, after the times
of the Apoſtles.
But this will be the proper buſineſs of my larger work,
above-mentioned ; in which, I ſhall endeavour to evince, by
particular facts and teſtimonies, what this general view of the
queſtion, here given, and the reflections naturally ariſing from
it, would previouſly diſpoſe us to ſuſpect ; that the pretended
miracles of the primitive Church were all mere fictions; which
the pious and zealous Fathers, partly from a weak credulity,
and partly, from reaſons of policy ; believing ſome perhaps to be
true, and knowing all of them to be uſeful, were induced to
eſpouſe and propagate, for the ſupport of a righteous cauſe.
I have already obſerved, that many ſpurious books were
forged in the earlieſt times of the Church, in the Names of
Chriſt and his Apoſtles, which paſſed upon all the Fathers, as
genuin and divine, through ſeveral ſucceſſive ages. Now as
t
[z] Serm. p. 327.
G
the
1
42
An Introdu&tory DISCOURS E.
the high authority of the Apoſtolic writings, and the zeal,
with which they were fought for by all Churches, was the mo-
tive, without doubt, which excited ſome of the ableſt, and
moſt learned of the Chriſtians, to take the pains of forging
and vending ſuch books under thoſe falſe titles, ſo the great
fame and ſucceſs of the Apoſtolic miracles, would naturally ex-
cite ſome alſo of the moſt crafty, when the Apoſtles themſelves
were dead, to attempt ſome juggling tricks in imitation of
them, and by the pretence of a divine power, to impoſe upon
that fimplicity and credulity, which diſtinguiſhed the character
of thoſe early ages. And [a] when theſe artful pretenders, by in-
ſinuating themſelves chiefly in private houſes, or among the ig-
norant populace, had been able to maintain their ground
through the three firſt centuries, the leading Clergy of the
4th, who were then eſtabliſhed by the civil power, and at li-
[a] The Primitive Chriſtians were perpetually reproached for their groſs cre-
dulity by all their enemies. Celfus ſays, that they cared neither to receive, nor to
give any reaſon of their faith, and that it was an uſual faying with them, do not
examine, but believe only, and thy faith will ſave thee. Julian affirms, that the
fum of all their wiſdom was comprized in this fingle precept, believe. The Gen-
tiles, ſays Arnobius, make it their conſtant buſineſs to laugh at our faith, and to
laſ our credulity with their facetious jokes. Orig. Con. Cell. l. 1. p. 8, 9. Greg.
Nazian. Invect. 1. Arnob. I. 2. p. 22, 23.
The Fathers, on the other hand, defend themſelves by ſaying, that they did
nothing more on this occaſion, than what the Philoſophers had always done ;
that Pythagoras's precepts were inculcated by an Ipfe dixit, and that they had
found the fame method uſeful with the vulgar, who were not at leiſure to examine
things; whom they taught therefore to believe, even without reaſons : and that the
Heathens themſelves, tho' they did not confefs it in words, yet practiſed the ſame
in their acts. Ibid.
berty
t
An Introduɛtory DISCOURSE.
43
berty to apply all arts without reſerve to the converſion of
the Heathens, underſtood their intereſt too well, to part
with the old plea of miraculous gifts, which had been found
fo effectual, to dazzle the ſenſes, and poſſeſs the minds of the
inultitude.
This ſeems to have been the general ſtate of the caſe in
queſtion: and though it may ſhock the prejudices of many,
and claſh with the ſyſtems, which are commonly entertained;
yet it will be found, I dare ſay, to be true, or at leaſt the moſt
probable; and as ſuch, the moſt uſeful alſo, to the real De-
fence of the Chriſtian cauſe. For as far as miracles can evince
the divinity of a religion, the pretenſions of Chriſtianity are
confirmed by the evidence of ſuch, as of all others on record,
are the leaſt liable to exception, and carry the cleareſt marks of
their fincerity; being wrought by Chriſt and his Apoſtles, for
an end ſo great, ſo important, and ſo univerſally beneficial, as
to be highly worthy of the interpoſition of the Deity; and
wrought by the miniſtry of mean and ſimple men, in the open
view of the people, as the teſtimonial of that divine miſſion,
to which they pretended ; and delivered to us by eye-witneſſes,
whoſe honeſt characters exclude the ſuſpicion of fraud, and
whoſe knowledge of the facts, which they relate, ſcarce ad-
mits the probability of a miſtake. This is the genuin ground
on which Chriſtianity reſts; the hiſtory of our Saviour's doctrine
and miracles, as it is declared and comprized within the canon
of the Holy Scriptures. Whenever we go beyond this, we
weaken it's foundation, by endeavouring to inlarge it ; and by
recurring
G 2
44
An Introductory DISCOURSE.
recurring to an evidence leſs ſtrong and of doubtful credit, take
pains only, to render a good cauſe ſuſpected, and expoſe it to
the perpetual ridicule of the Sceptics and Freethinkers.
Should our Infidels then be diſpoſed, to make themſelves merry
with the miracles of a Symeon Stylites, or any other crack’d-brain
monk of the 4th or 5th century, there is no reaſon for Dr. Chapman,
to be ſo angry with them [b] : let us ſuffer them to laugh on, and
even laugh with them ourſelves; and by throwing out an empty
tub to their ſport, ſecure the veſſel itſelf from their attacks.
Or ſhould the Romaniſts, on the other hand, pretend to urge
us with their miracles, and to thew the ſucceſſion of them from
the earlieſt ages, we have no reaſon to be moved at it, but may
tell them without ſcruple, that we admit no miracles, but
thofe of the Scriptures ; and that all the reſt are either juſt-
ly ſuſpected, or certainly forged. By putting the controverſy on
this iſſue, we ſhall either diſarm them at once, or if they per-
fiſt in the diſpute, may be ſure to convict them of fraud and
impoſture : whereas by granting them but a single age of mi-
racles, after the times of the Apoſtles, we ſhall be entangled
in a ſeries of difficulties, whence we can never fairly extricate
ourfelves, till we allow the ſame powers alſo to the preſent age.
1
A
[b] This Symeon, (who acquired the name of Stylites, by a moſt extravagant
whim, which he took, of ſpending the beſt part of his life on the top of a pillar,
fix and thirty cubits high) was a mad, enthuſiaſtic Monk of the 5th Century,
to whom many monſtrous and ſuperſtitious acts are aſcribed, by the Ecclefiafti-
cal writers, as the effects of a divine inſpiration; all which Dr. Chapman moſt
ftrenuouſly and zealoufly defends, againſt the raillery of the Author of Chriſti-
anity as old as the Creation. See his Miſcell. Tracts, p. 165. S. 111.
And
}
1
An Introductory DISCOURSE. 45
And in truth, it has always been conſidered, as a fundamen-
tal principle of the Reformation, -that the Scriptures are a com-
pleat rule both of faith and manners; and as ſuch are clear alſo
and intelligible, in all fundamental points, to every private Chrif
tian. In this, all Proteſtant Churches agree, how much fo-
ever they may differ in any other article: and if this be true,
then whatever be the characters of the ancient Fathers, or
whatever they may have taught, and practiſed in any age of
the Church, is a matter wholly indifferent, and makes no
part in the religion of a Proteſtant: and conſequently, no dif-
ference of judgment with regard to thoſe Fathers, ought to
give any cauſe of offence or hatred among the members of that
communion. For if the Scriptures are ſufficient, we do not
want them as guides; or if clear, as interpreters. Every one
therefore may enjoy his opinion of them, with the fame li-
berty, as of any other writers whatſoever, with this caution
only ; that an eſteem of them is apt to carry us too far, and
has actually carried many into great and dangerous errors :
whereas the neglect of them cannot be attended with any
ill
conſequence, fince the Scriptures teach every thing, that is
neceſſary, either to be believed or practiſed.
I cannot illuſtrate this principle fo effectually, as, by the fol-
lowing words of the excellent Chillingworth, who, of all men,
beſt underſtood the real grounds of the controverſy, between the
Proteſtants and the Papiſts.
" The Bible, I ſay, the Bible only, is the religion of Pro-
" teftants. Whatſoever elſe they believe beſides it, and the
4
“ plain,
46
An Introductory Discours E.
plain, irrefragable, indubitable conſequences of it, well may
they hold it, as a matter of opinion; but as matter of
“ faith and religion, neither can they, with coherence to their
own grounds, believe it themſelves, nor require the belief of it
“ of others, without moſt high and moſt ſchiſmatical preſump-
" tion. I, for my part, after a long, and (as I verily believe
" and hope) impartial ſearch of the true way to eternal bap-
pineſs, do profeſs plainly, that I cannot find any reſt for the
“ ſole of my foot, but on this rock only. I ſee plainly, and
“ with my own eyes, that there are Popes againſt Popes ;
« Councils againſt Councils; ſome Fathers againſt others; the
" fame Fathers againſt themſelves; a conſent of Fathers of one
age, againſt a conſent of Fathers of another age; the Church of
one age, againſt the Church of another age: Traditive in-
terpretations of Scripture are pretended, but there are none
to be found. No tradition, but only of Scripture, can derive
“ itſelf from the fountain, but may be plainly proved, either to
« have been brought in, in ſuch an age after Chriſt, or that in
« ſuch an age, it was not in. In a word, there is no ſufficient
certainty, but of Scripture only, for any conſiderate man to
"s build upon, &c."
But tho this doctrine of the ſufficiency of the Scriptures be
generally profeſſed through all the reformed Churches, yet it has
happened, I know not how, in our own, that it's Divines have
been apt on all occaſions, to join the authority of the primitive
Church, to that of ſacred writ; to ſupply doctrines from the
ancient. Councils, in which the Scriptures are either filent or
thought
(c
?
An Introductory DISCOURS E. 47
thought defective ; to add the Holy Fathers, to the College of
the Apoſtles; and by aſcribing the ſame gifts and powers to
them both, to advance the primitive traditions, to a parity with
Apoſtolic precepts.
Thus the late Dr. Waterland, who was ſuppoſed to ſpeak
the ſenſe of our preſent Rulers, ſeldom appeals to the Scriptures
in his controverſial writings, without joining antiquity to them,
or the authority of the three firſt centuries at leaſt, that golden
age of Chriſtianity, as he calls it [c]. He declares, “ that
“ the true interpretation of Scripture, cannot run counter, in
things fundamental, to the judgement of the firſt and pureſt
ages : that to depreciate the value of Eccleſiaſtical Antiquity,
" and to throw contempt on the primitive Fathers, is to wound
Chriſtianity through their fides [d]: and that Chriſt never
" ſits ſo ſecure and eaſy on his throne, as with theſe faithful
" guards about him [e]; and he concludes his elaborate trea-
“ tiſe on the uſe and value of Antiquity, in theſe words.
6- The ſum of what I have been endeavouring through this
« whole chapter is, that Scripture and Antiquity (under the
conduct of right reaſon) are what we ought to abide by, in
ſettling points of doctrine. I have not put the caſe of Scrip-
os ture and Antiquity interfering, or clathing with each other.;
“ becauſe it is a caſe, which will never appear in points of im-
portance, ſuch as this is, which we are now upon. How-
ever as to the general caſe, we may fay, that thoſe two ought
[c] Import. of the Doctr. of the Trin. p. 4.26.
[d] Ibid. p. 3950 [e] Ibid. 396.
always
48
An Introductory DiscoURS E.
" always to go together, and to coincide with each other : and
“ when they do ſo, they ſtand the firmer in their united
Itrength : but if ever they claſh, or appear to claſh, then
“ undoubtedly there is an error ſomewhere, like as when two
" accountants vary in caſting up the ſame ſum, &c [f]."
Here we ſee Antiquity joined as a neceſſary and inſeparable
companion to the Scripture, and put even upon a level with
it, by this eminent Advocate of the Chriſtian Faith. But ſince
this ſeems to be a flat contradiction to the principles of the Re-
formation, and dangerous to the general credit and intereſts of
the Proteſtant religion, it may be worth while to conſider a
little, from what particular motives and circumſtances, ſo in-
conſiſtent a practice ſhould happen to prevail more remarkably
in this, than in any other Proteſtant Church.
Our firſt and principal Reformers, in the reign of Henry the
VIIIth, had not the power, to carry the Reformation fo far,
as they deſired ; nor to make ſuch changes in the old worſhip,
as put them under a neceſſity of diſcarding the authority of
the primitive Fathers; but on the contrary, were obliged againſt
their wills, to comply ſtill with many rites and doctrines,
which had no other foundation, but in that authority; which
therefore, in thoſe circumſtances, they were forced to aſſere
and defend. For how much ſoever they might be diſpoſed,
to aboliſh ſuch rites, and the authority too, on which they
ſtood, they were reſtrained by the will of an arbitrary Prince,
[f] Ibid. 465.
who
An Introductory DISCOURSE. 49
who would not ſuffer them, to take the leaſt ſtep but by his
immédiate direction, and from his high conceit of his Theo-
logical learning, gave the law even to his Biſhops, in all the
religious diſputes of thoſe days: and whoſe chief view after all
was, to baniſh rather the power, than the religion of the
Pope, out of his realm.
In the next reign of Edward the ſixth, tho' the ſame re-
forming Biſhops found themſelves at liberty, to carry on their
great work to it's full perfection, yet for the ſake, either of
their former conduct, and prejudices; or to preſerve a cha-
racter of conſtancy ; and to give the leſs ſcandal to the Clergy,
who ſtill generally favored the old forms; they endeavoured,
as far as they were able, tho' ſometimes by forced and unna-
tural conſtructions, to juſtify all their procedings, by the ex-
ample and uſages of the ancient Fathers.
On the acceſſion therefore of Queen Mary, and the ſad ca-
taſtrophe, which enſued, when the fame Reformers, now doom-
ed to be Martyrs, and eſpecially Cranmer and Ridley, (two
Fathers of the Proteſtant Church, as truly venerable, as Chrif-
tianity perhaps has to boaſt of, ſince the times of the Apof-
tles ;) when theſe, I ſay, were brought out of their priſons,
on pretence of holding public diſputations, but in truth, to be
expoſed onely to the ſcoffs and contumelies of their cruel ene-
mies; and when they had ſolidly evinced the truth of their
doctrines, and baffled all the ſophiſtry of their opponents,
by the clear and unanſwerable teſtimonies of the Scriptures, it
grieves us after all, to ſee them laboring and gravelled, at a pal-
H
ſage
:
50
An Introductory Discou'RSE.
ſage of Chryfoftom, or Ambroſe, or Hilary, &c; and giving their
adverſaries an occaſion of triumph, by ſubmitting to an au-
thority, which was nothing to the purpoſe, and which in thoſe
unhappy circumſtances, they were neither at liberty to reject,
nor yet able to reconcile to their cauſe.
Queen Elizabeth, who next ſucceded, and finally eſtabliſhed
the Reformation, affected to retain more pomp and ſplendor
in the external part of religion, than many of her chief Di-
vines approved; who, in compliance however with her humour,
ſubmitted to ſeveral things, which they hoped in time to get
rid of [8]. Her view was, to moderate the prejudices of the
Popiſh clergy; and to reconcile them by degrees to the new
ſettlement, by leaving in it an outward Thew, and ſome re-
ſemblance of the old. From the ſame principle, a reverence
was ſtill kept up to Antiquity; and appeals made on both
fides, to the primitive Fathers and ancient Councils, by the
Profeſſors of the new, as well as of the old doctrines · which
:
[8] In the Preamble of the Will of Edw. Sandys, Archbiſhop of York,
who died A. D. 1588. there is the following paffage relating to the rites
and ceremonies of the Church, as they were then ſettled by public Au-
thority.
" I am perſuaded, that ſuch, as are now ſet down by public Authority
are no way either ungodly or unlawful, but may with good conſcience, for
« order and obedience fake be uſed.-So I have ever been perſuaded, that ſome of
" them be not ſo expedient for this Church, but that they may better be diſuſed
“ by little and little, than more and more urged. As I do eaſily acknowledge,
“ that our Ecclefiaftical polity may in ſome points be bettered-So I do ut-
“ terly diſlike all ſuch rude platforms, &c."
practice
i
i'.
o
An Introductory DISCOURSE. 51
practice has been followed ever fince, by the greateſt part of
our leading Churchmen. . But from the little ſucceſs which it
has had, .or ever can have, in our controverſies with the Papiſts,
it is evident, that it cannot be conſidered in any other light,
but as a vain oſtentation of learning, and an impatient' zeal,
to repel that charge of ignorance and contempt of primitive
Antiquity, with which the proteſtant Churches are conſtantly
reproached by the Romaniſts.
In the two following reigns, the Popith intereſt began to
raiſe it's head again in England. James the Firſt was a mere
School-Divine, fond of theological diſputes; and tho' he wrote
againſt the Papiſts, - yet being afraid of them, as Biſhop Bur-
net ſays, always. acted for them [%]. And Charles the Firſt's
Queen, who was a zeálot to that religion, uſed all her
power
with the King, which was very great, to ſupport and propa-
gate it's credit in the Kingdom, and to ſuſpend the rigor of
the laws againſt it " By the King's connivence, ſays the
«s learned Dr. Heylin, and the Queen's indulgence, the Po-
piſh -faction gathered not onely ſtrength, but confidence ;
multiplying in ſome numbers about the Court, and reſorting
« in a more open manner to the Maffes at Somerſet Houſe;
“ where the Capuchins had obtained a Chappel and Con-
vent [i].” The leading Churchmen alſo, from a compli-
2
5.6
[6] See Biſhop Burnet's Hiſtory of his Times, Vol. I. p. 11, 12.
[i] See Life of Archbiſhop Laud by Dr. Pet. Heylin. Par. 2. I. iv. p. 337.
:
H 2
ance
52 An Introductory DISCOURSE.
ance with the principles of the Court, and an abhorrence of
thoſe of the Puritans, ſeemed to have formed that ſenſeleſs
project of a reconciliation with Rome, and made conſiderable
advances towards it,' by giving ſuch an interpretation to the
doctrines and form to the diſcipline of our Church, as might
invite all moderate Papiſts, to join with them in it’s com-
munion. But this compliance had no other effect, nor ever
can have, than to weaken the Proteſtant cauſe, and to fur-
niſh it's enemies with the greater power and means to oppreſs
it. Nor did they fail to make their full advantage of it ; by
repreſenting it, “ as a proof of the fickle and unſettled ſtate
“ of the Engliſh Church; that it was grown fick, as it
were, and weary of itſelf,
of itſelf, and could find no reſt in the
- novelties, which it had embraced, but was returning apace
" to it's old principles, and reſuming many of the rites and
“ doctrines, for which it had forſaken the Church of Rome."
All this was urged with great force againſt our Chillingworth,
by that ſubtil Jeſuit, Mr. Knot; and exemplified by him in
many particulars, which the learned Dr. Heylin, who was
perfectly acquainted with the eccleſiaſtical principles of that
age, and a ſtrenuous eſpouſer of them, declares to be true, in
the following words, drawn from his Life of Archbiſhop Laud.
“ If you will take the character of the Church of Eng-
“ land, ſays he, from the pen of a Jeſuit, you ſhall find
" him ſpeaking, among other "falſehoods, thefe undoubted
si truths; viz. that the Profeffors of it, they eſpecially
" of greatest worth, learning, and authority, love temper
" and
ز
66
An Introductory DISCOURS E.
53
6 and moderation ; that the doctrines are altered in many
« things ; as for example, The Pope not Antichriſt; Pic-
tures, free-will, predeſtination, univerſal grace, inherent
" righteouſneſs; the preferring of charity before knowledge ;
" the merit, or reward rather of good works ; the thirty
nine articles ſeeming patient, if not ambitious alſo of ſome
“ catholic ſenſe ; that their Churches begin to look with a
“ new face; their walls to ſpeak a new language ; and ſome of
so their Divines to teach that the Church hath authority in deter-
mining controverſies of faith, and interpreting the Scrip-
tures; that
men, in talk and writing, uſe willingly the once
" fearful names of Prieſts and Altars, and are now put in
mind, that for the expoſition of Scripture, they are by Canon
« bound to follow the Fathers. So far the Jeſuit, ſays he, may
“ be thought to ſpeak nothing but truth. [k].”
It is needleſs to deſcend to the later reigns; or to obſerve,
how far the diſcipline and principles of Archbifhop Laud were
adopted again at the Reſtoration ; or what credit they ftill
obtain with ſome of the principal Clergy of our own times ;
ſince this can hardly eſcape the notice of all, who pay any
attention to Ecclefiaftical affairs. But there is another circum-
ftance, that I muft not omit to mention, as it is peculiar to our
Church, and from Queen Elizabeth's time down to our own,
has had no ſmall influence on it's principles and practice, and
which will always keep up amongſt us a full reſpect to Ec-
1
[k] See Ibid. p. 238. and the Life alſo, of Mr. Chillingworth by Monſieur
Des Maizeaux. p. 113. Not. (AA.)
cleſiaſtica]
54 An Introductory Discourse.
cleſiaſtical antiquity. I mean thoſe unhappy diffenſions among
the Proteſtants of this nation, which have ſplit them into diffe-
rent ſects and ſeparate communions. For in theſe diſputes,
which wholly turn on points of diſcipline, and external forms
of worſhip, as the authority of the Fathers, whatever weight
it ought to have, is moſtly on the ſide of the eſtabliſhed
Church, fo the Church will always be diſpoſed to ſupport that
authority, which helps it to depreſs a ſet of men, who, tho
agreeing with it in eſſentials, and diſſenting onely about things
indifferent, are yet more odious, than the Papiſts themſelves,
to all the zealous advocates, and warm admirers of the primi-
tive Fathers.
Theſe ſeem to have been the chief reaſons, which from the
time even of our reformation, have advanced the credit of Ec-
cleſiaſtical antiquity to an higher pitch in this Kingdom, than
in any other Proteſtant country. Which fame principles, by
the encouragement, which they have generally received from
our Governors, are now carried, as we have ſeen, to an
heigth, that muſt needs alarm all ſerious Proteſtants, as
they have no other tendency, nor can have any other effect,
but to throw us again into the arms of the Romiſh Church.
For I have long been of opinion, that the ſucceſs, which
their Miſſionaries have ever found in this Illand, and which
of late has been more particularly complained of, is chiefly
owing, to thoſe high notions of the primitive diſcipline, and
that great reverence for the ancient Fathers, which are enter-
tained and propagated by a great part of our Clergy. For by
agreeing
1
1
An Introductory DISCOURS E, 55
agreeing with the Romaniſts thus far, and joining with them
in a common appeal to primitive antiquity, we allow all,
which they can fairly draw from it, to be found and ortho- .
dox; and tho in the end, they may not perhaps gain every
thing, which they aim at, yet they will be ſure always, to
come off with great advantage.
Mr. Chillingworth himſelf is a memorable example of this
truth: who, in his account of the ſeveral motives, which in-
duced him to embrace the Romiſh faith, mentions the two
following;
" Becauſe, if any credit may be given to as creditable re-
cords, as any are extant, the doctrine of Catholics hath been
frequently confirmed, and the oppoſite doctrine of Proteſ-
tants confounded, with ſupernatural and divine miracles.
" Becauſe, the doctrine of the church of Rome is confor-
• mable, and the doctrine of Proteſtants contrary, to the doc-
“trine of the Fathers, even by the confeſſion of Proteſtants
" themſelves : I mean thoſe Fathers, who lived within the
compaſs of the firſt ſix hundred years; to whom Pro-
" teſtants do very frequently and very confidently appeal. [2]."
Theſe ſeem to have been the principal arguments, which
abuſed this great man, as he expreſſes it, and hurried him into
the Church of Rome. Silly Sophiſms, as he afterwards calls
them, grounded on miſtakes and falſe ſuppoſitions, which he un.
adviſedly took for granted [m] Till upon a clear view of the
[1] See Pref. to Charity maintained. Si 43. in Chillingworth's Works, ſeventh
Edition, m] See ibid. S. 42.
errors,
-
56 An Introduétory DISCOURSE
Yet our
errors, into which they had drawn him, he perceived, that the means
could not be pure, when the end was ſo corrupt, and found
no other way of retrieving his miſtake, and becoming Proteſ-
tant again, but by diſcarding thoſe fallacious records, and ficti-
tious miracles, which had ſeduced him, and committing him-
ſelf to the ſole guidance, and infallible authority of the holy
Scriptures. On this foundation, he has built the moſt folid
and rational defence of the Proteſtant cauſe, which has ever
been offered to the public ſince the Reformation.
Champions of theſe days are employing all their ſkill, to de-
moliſh what he had built, and to adopt again into the ſyſtem
of our faith, all that he had thrown out of it; all the non-
ſenſe, the ſuperſtition, and the pious frauds of the primitive
ages ; nor will they allow us even to be Chriſtians, but on
thoſe very principles, which muſt finally make us Papiſts.
The deſign of the preſent treatiſe, and more eſpecially, of the
larger work, which I have prepared on the ſame ſubject, is, to
give ſome check to the current of this zeal, and to fix the
religion of Proteſtants, on it's proper baſis, that is, on the fa-
cred Scriptures ; not on the authority of weak and fallible men,
the detection of whoſe errors, and the ſuſpicion of whoſe
frauds would neceſſarily give a wound to Chriſtianity itſelf;
which
yet in reality, is no more concerned or affected by the
characters of the ancient, than of the modern Fathers of the
Church. But to declare my opinion in thort on the real va-
lue of thoſe primitive writers, I freely own them to be of ſome
uſe and ſervice on ſeveral accounts,
Firſt,
2
+
I
An Introdu&tory: DISCOURSE. 57
iſt, In atteſting and tranſmitting to us the genuin books of
the holy Scriptures. Yet this is not owing to any particular
ſanctity or fagacity of thoſe ancient times, but to the notoriety
of the thing, and the authority, with which the books them-
ſelves were received from their firſt publication, in all Churches :
whence they have ſince been handed down to us, in the fame
manner, as the works of all other ancient writers, by the per-
petual tradition of ſucceſſive ages, whether pure or corrupt,
learned or unlearned.
2dly, Their more immediate and proper uſe, is, to teach
us the doctrines, the rites, the manners, and the learning of the
ſeveral
ages, in which they lived: yet as witneſſes onely, not as
guides: as declaring, what was then believed, not what was
true ; what was practiſed, not what ought to be practiſed : ſince
their works abound with inſtances of fooliſh, falſe and dange-
rous opinions, univerſally maintained and zealouſly propagated
by them all.
Laſtly, Their very errors alſo afford an uſe and profitable
leſſon to us: for the many corruptions, which crept into the
Church in thoſe very early ages, are a ſtanding proof and ad-
monition to all the later ages, that there is no way of preſerving
a purity of faith and worſhip in any Church, but by reviewing
them from time to time, and reducing them to the original
teſt and ſtandard of the holy Scriptures.
POST-
( 58 )
AGO
లో
0910
PO S T Ś C R L P T.
A
FTER I had finiſhed this Introductory treatiſe, and
was preparing to ſend it to the preſs, I happened to
meet with an Archidiaconal charge, delivered to the Clergy at
a viſitation, by the fame learned Dr. Chapman, whom I have
had frequent occaſion to mention, in the courſe of my ar-
gument. And ſince this charge is of a ſingular kind, and bears
ſome relation to the ſubject of the preſent inquiry, with regard
both to Popery and Primitive Antiquity, the reader, I hope,
will excuſe me, if I detain him here a while, with a few
Thort remarks upon it.
The Archdeacon enters directly into the matter of his ſpeech;
and inſtead of congratulating with his reverend brethren, on
their deliverance from the late rebellion, drops but a ſlight
hint on that, as the prelude onely to another plot, of a more
dreadful and fatal kind, which he is in haſt to communicate;
the laſt effort of fubtil Feluits, who ſeeing every other method
baffled and ineffettual, reſolved to try a new, tbobold expedient
for their Church; more big, he ſays, with poſt and confuſion,
than all the former devices of their party againſt-us; ſtriking de-
cifvely at the very root of the Reformation, and at the bafis of
all proteſtant Churches; and ſecretly working, at this very time,
incredible
POSTS CRI PT.
59
incredible miſchief againſt our whole religion [a]. Then as to
the Leader in this plot, he deſcribes him like another Catiline;
furniſhed with every great talent, proper for the purpoſe ; an
head acute and prolific ; learning extenſive and various ; language
dogmatical and lively; a zeal never deſtitute of addreſs, and length
of days, attending conſtant ſtudies and vivacity of genius : in
ſhort, with every art, to draw every creature; Papiſt and Pro-
teſtant ; zealot and freethinker, into his ſcheme [5.]
After ſuch an exordium, one cannot help figuring to
himſelf what a ſurprize, ſo ſtrange a piece of news muſt
needs excite in this reverend Affembly, to find themſelves ex-
poſed again ſo unexpectedly, to the effects of ſo direful a con-
ſpiracy; and what an impatience it would create, to hear
the reſt, and to learn, by what arts and inſtruments, this
calamity was to be brought upon them; which the Arch-
deacon procedes to diſcloſe in the following manner :
That there were certain Loyolites in France, who had aſſumed
of a ſudden a new character, and blazed out moſt faſtidious
Hypercritics: that theſe had entered into a vow, to deprive us
of all our learning and religion at once, and by one deſpe-
rate furious puſh, to ſtab the proteſtant cauſe to the heart,
with the admired ſpirit of incredulity and freethinking : that their
method of doing it was; to make all the world believe, that
the ancient writers of Greece and Rome, were either figments,
or worthleſs triflers; and by that means, to confound and diffin
[a] See pag. 1, 2, 3.
[c] Pag. 11, 12, 18, &c.
1
»
I 2
pate
60
POST SCRI PT.
pate all our notions in Chronology, Hiſtory, Laws, uſages, doc-
trines eccleſiaſtical and prophane, together with the genius and
vitals of all the dead languages : that, in the execution of this
deſign, they had already gone ſo far, as to reproach Thucydides
and Xenophon very tartly, with modern Galliciſms and fufpi-
cious phraſeologies ; and had ſuperciliouſly laſhed all the reſt; Dio-
dorus, Polybius, Dionyſius of Halicarnaſſus, Livy, Juſtin,
Suetonius, Quintilian, Tacitus, Plutarch, Athenæus, Dion
Caſſius, with multitudes of others, as mere counterfeit Romances;
the works of recent Sophifts, Impoſtors, and Fabulators [c].
And left any one ſhould interrupt him here, and aſk; how
the proteſtant cauſe could be ruined, and our whole religion over-
turned, by the loſs onely of theſe Pagan writers, he clears
up that doubt in the following words, by declaring; that
this blow, how daring foever, was but the introduction to the
fatal ſtroke, which was to infue; for that the Clements, the
Chryſoſtoms, the Jeroms, and the Auſtins, were to fall the
next in this maſſacre ; and the ancient Councils themſelves, both
general and provincial, would not long ſurvive them [d.]
This is the ſubſtance of his plot, as it is ſet forth by him-
ſelf. For if we could penetrate the very marrow, as he ſays,
or, in a metaphor ftill more elegant, the very vitals of the
dead languages themſelves, we could not find any words, ſo
well ſuited to his ſubject, or ſo adapted, to ſpread wonder
and amazement through an Affembly, as his own. As to the
[c] See pag. 3, 4, 5.
[d] Page 6.
ſucceſs
POSTSCRIPT.
61
ſucceſs of the plot, he repreſents it every where, as moſt
eaſy and probable. For the Papifts would favour it of courſe,
as it could not fail of reducing all Chriſtendom under the
abfolute power of Rome ;
of Rome ; and the Proteſtants, among whom
a fantaſtical paſion for novelties, and a briſk giddy ſpirit of
Pyrrhoniſm was riſing very faſt [en] would rejoice at any blow
given to eccleſiaſtical hiſtory and the Scriptures, and readily give
up even their favourite Virgils and Horaces, &c. on condi-
tion onely, that the Jeroms might be ſacrificed at the ſame
time [[ ].
Now whatever ſurprize the firſt opening of this ſpeech
might give, either to the hearer or reader, the concluſion,
I dare ſay, will give as great, to find this crafty projection,
as he calls it, which he has been dreſſing up with ſuch
folemnity and laboured pomp of words, as a moſt defpe-
rate plot of the Romilh Church, to be nothing at laſt but
the ſtale and ſenſeleſs whim of a ſingle old Jeſuit, formed
by no concert or confederacy with any ſet of men in the
world, and publiſhed about forty years ago without any c-
ther effect whatſoever, than of being laughed at ever ſince
by all men of ſenſe, and particularly contemned at Rome,
as I have been certainly informed, as the mere delirium of a
doting Critic.
One would not eaſily conceive, at the firſt thought, what
Lhould put it into this Archdeacon's head, to think of alarm-
>
[e] Page 12.
[f] Page 22, 23.
ing
62
POSTS CRI PT.
ing the Provincial Clergy, at this time of day, with the vain
terrors of ſuch an exploded and obſolete tale. But his ſcheme
was artfully laid, and the time exactly hit by him.
He ſaw,
that a Panic was ſpread over the land ; that people's heads
were filled with nothing, but conſpiracies and Popiſh inva-
ſions; that this was the moment, to make a figure with his
plot, and if the diſcovery was poſtponed, the merit of it
would be loſt. He ſtruck in roundly therefore, as he expreſſes
it, and like a true man of craft, with this taſte and turn of
the age [8]; and ſnatched the opportunity of diſplaying his
abilities before his reverend brethren, and while he was rouſing
all their fears, of adminiſtering comfort to them at the ſame
time, by ſhewing; what a champion they had got to defend
them; that the old Jeſuit himſelf could not outdo him, in
thoſe very talents of his, which he had been enumerating ;
the acuteneſs of his prolific head; the extent of his various learn-
ing ; the force of his dogmatical language : and that the Free-
thinkers were nothing to him, even in their own arts, and
the management of thoſe everlaſting arms of theirs, in which
their ſtrength lay; the alertneſs of their fneers ; their affetta-
tion of appearing ſignificant in erudition, and their fluent pom-
pous shew of ſome depth in letters [b].
But ſurely, no Archidiaconal Charge was ever more learn-
edly trifling, or pompouſly abſurd than this. He confeſſes,
that this conceit of the Jeſuit raiſed ſo general an outcry
[8] See page 12.
[b] See page 22, 23.
2
againſt
63
POST SCRIPT,
againſt it, among the Papiſs themſelves, that he was obliged to
recant it, as ſoon almoſt as it was divulgeda; that his own So-
ciety of the Jeſuits publiſhed a formal proteſtation againg it [i];
and that the learned of all the other Orders both in France and
Italy, Sherply declared their abhorrence of it [k]: Yet this de-
ſpicable project of a cloiſtered viſionary, conceived ſo many
years ago, retracted by himſelf, cenſured by his own Order,
and abhorred by all the other Orders of France and Italy,
is here puffed and dreſſed out by our Archdeacon, in an Al-
ſembly of Engliſh Clergy, as a moſt dreadful plot, ſpreading
it's infection far and wide, threatening ruin to our whole reli-
gion, fire and ſword to all Proteſtants [1].
In opening the evidences of this plot, he declares from his
own knowledge, that it was certainly begun, and is carried
on to this day, with art and ſucceſs; and is aſiſted alſo by a
favourable concurrence of circumſtances in this very age [m] : that
one great man in France had loudly proclamed a very high
eſteem for the author : that another perſon at Amſterdam had
the confidence to ſuppoſe gravely, even in print, that the Fefuit's
new Syſtem would bear a debate among the learned, and by de-
grees gain a ſtrong, if not the ableft party to it's ſiden): and
if any farther proof be required, he aſſures us, that though it
may juſtly feem ſo extravagant and chimerical, as to make ſome
good men believe it incapable of doing any miſchief, yet he can
577 (Note +).
[4] Pag. 20.
[l] Pag. ibid.
[m] See pag. XI.
[n] Pag. 19.
prove,
64
POSTSCRIPT.
prove, on the contrary, that it has already spread a taint too far:
among fome, for catholic advantages, among others, for want of
knowing that ſecret, or from paſſionate biaſes to their coins, or
to favour their Pyrrhoniſm [0].
The reader will be apt to wonder here again, why our
Archdeacon is not more explicit and particular in declaring
his proofs, in a cauſe, which, of all others, ſeems to want
them the moſt. He knows, that the plot is carried on with ſucceſs
to this day; and can prove, he ſays, that it has ſpread a taint
too far: yet after he has prepared us, to expect the hiſtory
and progreſs of the infection, and what particular perſons it
has tainted in this and that nation; he drops all that at once,
as if there were ſome latent fore in it, too tender for him to
touch. But it is not very difficult to gueſs at the reaſon : it
is his great regard for certain good friends of his, whom he
is loth to impeach, as accomplices in this Jeſuitical plot,
which yet he muſt neceſſarily do, whenever he is forced to
ſpeak out; I mean the Tunſtalls and the Marklands of our
own country: who, with that fame malignant ſpirit againſt
the ancients, of which he talks [p], have been lately making
the ſame deſperate, furious puſh, in this very proteſtant land, to
deprive us of the works of Cicero, by adding them to the
Jeſuiſt's liſt of counterfeit romances, and ſhewing them to be
the fragments of thoſe ſame buſy Sophifts and recent Fabulators.
For of all the learned in this kingdom, there are none, who,
20.
[0] Pag. XI.
[p] Pag. 17. Note [t].
2
like
POSTSCRIPT.
65
like the Loyolites of France, have ventured, to aſſume that new
character, of blazing and faſtidious Hypercritics, or have puſhed
their proteſtant Pyrrhoniſm ſo far, as they.
Yet after all, which I have been ſaying of the Archdeacon's
Speech, I muſt do him the juſtice to own, that there are
many obfervations occaſionally interſperſed in it, both exced.
ingly curious, and intirely new. I ſhall juſt give one of them,
as a ſpecimen of the reſt ; by which he informs his reverend
brethren, that the real neceſſaries of learned authors, in thefe
times of ours, are extremely great ; nay, almoſt infinitely ſo, be-
yond any thing, which the multitude can imagine [9]. This is
a diſcovery ſo recondite, and remote from vulgar apprehenſion,
that it could not poſſibly be made by any, but himſelf. For,
though his modeſty would fain conceal it, he is but drawing
his own picture, under the character, which he gives of thoſe
great lights and pillars of Proteſtantiſm, whom he propoſes to the
Clergy as patterns of their ſtudies: men, who ſpent their whole
lives in the purſuit of erudition, penetrated the very marrow of
all the learned languages, traverſed, with the ſame zeal, every
ancient, and monument they could find, had all antiquity before
them in one grand comprehenſive view, and attained to that abound-
ing richneſs in learning, which rendered them the glories of their
age, and a ſcourge and terror to any bold fuperficial pretenders,
who should offer to impoſe upon the public any miſchievous ſophiſtries
or chicane of ſcience [r]. For, how could any man know, the
real neceſſaries of ſuch deep ſcholars, as theſe, if he himſelf was
[g] See pag. 26,
[r] Pag. 27, 28.
K
not
66
•POST SCRIPT.
not as profound, as they? or how indeed can any one elſe;
reach even the ſenſe of ſo deep a diſcovery; for as to thoſe bold
and fuperficial pretenders, whom he juſtly derides, for ſkim-
ming onely the ſurface of literature, and contenting themſelves,
as he tells us, with a few ſelezt authors, the moſt eminent, and
elegant in each claſs [s]; they would be apt to pronounce at
once, that there is no ſenſe at all in it.
But, if I may preſume to offer my opinion, the ſenſe of it,
I think, will be found clear and good, by a due attention to the
context; in which the Archdeacon, having firſt taken occaſion
to declare, that our Church is far inferior to the Romißh, in the
proviſion of emoluments for the clergy, artfully introduces his ob-
ſervation, by way of complaint, or petition, as it were, to
the public, on behalf of himſelf, and all the other learned
authors, among the Clergy, that, whereas their learning, in
theſe proteſtant days, is infinitely ſuperior, to what it was in
the Popifh, yet our Governors do not conſider, that their real
neceſſaries are increaſed to them likewiſe, in the fame propor-
tion. For though he has not given any reaſons, to confirm
this, yet the truth of it may be demonſtrated by a known
memorable fact. For inſtance; Eraſmus, an Author, com-
petently learned, for thoſe Popiſh times, was ſupplied with all.
real neceſſaries, and a large overplus beſides, from one ſingle
benefice, conferred upon him by an Archbiſhop of Canterbury:
Our Archdeacon, on the contrary, in theſe proteſtant times,
holds the ſame benefice, which Erafmus then held, with a
[s] Pag. 27
ſecond
POST SCRIPT. 67
fecond ſtill better, and the profits of an Archdeaconry into the
bargain, yet, out of the infinite ſuperiority of his learning, wants
the addition ſtill of more preferment, to ſupply his infinite
want of real neceſſaries.
· But I am drawn inſenſibly too far, and waſting too much
time in pointing out the ſolemn trifles, and elaborate nonſenſe
of this ſtrange ſpeech. My chief purpoſe, in taking notice of
it, was of a more ſerious kind; to Thew, by the example of
this very performance, to what poor ſhifts this Defender of the
primitive monks, and their miracles, will naturally be reduced,
whenever he finds it expedient, to give a public teſtimony
of his zeal againſt Rome; and while he pretends to be fighting
againſt Popery, how he will be driven, by the force of his
principles, to make but a mock-fight of it, a mere theatrical
fhew, and to combat onely phantafms of his own dreſſing up.
This, I ſay, is the neceſſary conſequence of his principles ;
of that ſuperſtitious veneration of the primitive Fathers, and that
implicit faith in Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory, which it has been the
buſineſs of his life and ſtudies, to inculcate. For I have al-
ready ſhewn, by facts and inſtances produced in this Introduc-
tory treatiſe, how thoſe Divines of our Church, who carry
the
authority of the Fathers ſo high, as to make them the guides
and interpreters of our religion, and who appeal to them eſpe-
cially in our controverſies with the Papiſts, preclude themſelves
of courſe, from attacking any of thoſe principal corruptions,
for the ſake of which, the Proteſtants found it neceſſary, to fe-
parate themſelves from the communion of Rome.
Yet our
Archdeacon
K 2
68
POSTSCRIPT.
Archdeacon maintains ſtill, as we have ſeen, in this ſpeech,
that the Ancient Fathers and Primitive Councils, the Clements,
the Chryfoftoms, the Jeroms, and the Auſtins, are the very
bul-
warks of Proteſtantiſm, and the inſtruments, through which
we may moſt glaringly expoſe to every common eye, the unfcriptural
and unprimitive crudities of the Romiſh Church [t].
Now, as in all diſputes, the readieſt way to find out the
truth, is, by reducing them, as far as it is poſſible, to quæſti-
ons of fact, and to the trial of our ſenſes, ſo in this, I ſhall re-
fer myſelf to a fact, which I have endeavoured to exemplify in
the foregoing work, with regard to thoſe very Fathers, to
whom the Archdeacon appeals ; and particularly, to Chryfoftom,
Ferom and Auſtin; concerning whom, I have there affirmed,
and do now again affirm, that they have all ſeverally taught, and
practiſed, and warmly recommended to the practice of all Chrif-
tians, certain rites and doctrines, which, upon their authority,
and example, are received and practiſed at this day by the Romiſo
Church, but condemned and rejected by Proteſtant Churches, as
unſcriptural, ſuperſtitious and idolatrous. If the Archdeacon al-
lows this fact, every one will ſee at once, without aſking his
opinion any farther, on which fide thoſe Fathers are to be
ranged : if he denies it, he muſt deny at the ſame time, that
thoſe paſſages, which I have produced in proof of it, are really
to be found in them; or otherwiſe, in ſpite of any
diſtinction
or comment, which he can frame upon them, every man of
fenſe will allow the fact to be true.
[t] See pag. 2. &A
.
But
69
POST SCRI P 0.
But of all the Primitive Fathers, Jerom ſeems to be the pe.
culiar favorite of our Archdeacon, and, as we may
we may collect
from this very ſpeech, is ſuppoſed by him, to be of more
eminent ſervice to us than any of them, both againſt the Pa-
piſts and the Freethinkers : for which reaſon, I have choſen to
employ the few pages, that remain, in conſidering his particu-
lar merit and principles a little more preciſely: and with that
view, ſhall propoſe another fact or two, drawn from his wri-
tings ; which will inable the reader to form a clear judgement
of his character, as far as it relates to the point, now in dif-
pute, between the Archdeacon and myſelf.
This Ferom then, as I have obſerved in the foregoing work,
was a moſt zealous admirer and promotor of the monkiſh life ;
and, for the ſake of advancing it's credit in the world, wrote
the lives of two celebrated Monks; the one called Paul, and
the other Hilarion ; in which, after he has invoked that ſame
Holy Spirit, which inſpired the ſaid Monks, to inſpire him alſo
with language, equal to the wonderous acts, which he was going
to relate, he has inſerted a number of tales, and miracles, ſo
groſsly fabulous, as not to admit the leaſt doubt, of their be-
ing abſolute forgeries. The Life of Paul was publiſhed the
firſt, and, as we learn from Yerom himſelf, was treated, as a
mere fable, by the Freethinkers, or Scyllaan dogs, as he calls
them, of thoſe days [u]. Nor is it confidered at this day in
[u] Unde & nos --- coeptum ab eo opus aggredientes, maledicorum voces.
contemnimus: qui olim detrahentes Paulo meo, nunc forte detrahent Hilari-
verum deſtinato operi imponam manum & Scyllæos canes obturata.
aure tranfibo. Prolog. in vit. S. Hilarion. Op. T. 4. par. 2. p. 74.
oni
any
70
POSTSCRIPT. .
1
any other character, or mentioned by the learned on any other
account, than as a proof, of that paſion for fiction and impoſture,
which poſſeſſed the Fathers of the 4th century [x]. Now whe-
ther Jerom forged theſe tales himſelf, or propagated what he
knew to be forged by others, or whether he really believed
them, and publiſhed onely, what he took to be true; our Arch-
deacon may chuſe which he pleaſes, I ſhall not diſpute it
with him, ſince the fact, which I would lay before the rea-
der, and with which alone, we are at preſent concerned, is
unconteſtable, that it was one of the principal views of Jerom's
zeal and writings, to recommend to all Chriſtians, as the per-
fection of the Chriſtian life, a fpecies of monkery, not onely
abhorred by Proteftants, but, in my opinion, more contemptible
and ſuperſtitious, than any that is profeſſed at this day in the
Church of Rome.
Again, Jerom, as I have intimated alſo above, wrote a little
piece or two againſt Vigilantius, in which he treats him, as a
moſt blaſphemous Heretic, and gives us all the particular articles
of his herefy, drawn from Vigilantius's own words, to the
following effect.
That the honors paid to the rotten bones and duſt of
" the ſaints and martyrs, by adoring, kiſſing, wrapping
*s them up in filk and veilels of gold, lodging them in their
" Churches and lighting up wax candles before them, after
[*] Quam fuerint quarti feculi Scriptores fabulis dediti, e vita Pauli Hieronymiana.
ex Athanafiana Antonii, &c. intelligimus. Dodw. Differt. in Irenæum 2. §. LV.
" the
I
*POSTSCRIPT.
7
?? the manner of the Heathens, were the inſigns of Idolatry [y].
“ That the Colibacy of the Clergy was an Härefy, and
" their vows of chaſtity the ſeminary of lewdneſs [2].
“ That to pray for the dead, or to deſire the prayers of the
“ dead, was ſuperſtitious: and that the ſouls of the departed
* Saints and Martyrs were at reſt, in ſome particular place,
şe whence they could not remove themſelves at pleaſure, ſo as
to be preſent every where to the prayers of their vota-
«ries [a].
.
". That the Sepulchers of the Martyrs ought not to be wor--
« ſhipped, nor their faſts and vigils to be obſerved [6].
" That the ſigns and wonders, ſaid to be wrought by their:
reliques, and at their Sepulchers, ſerved to no good end of
purpoſe of religion [c]."
Theſe were the facrilegious tenets, as Ferom: calls them,
which he could not bear with patience, or without the utmoſt
grief ;
[y]. Ais Vigilantium 08-foetidum rurſus aperire, & putorem fpurciſſimum
contra Sanctorum Martyrum proferre reliquias, & nos, qui eas ſuſcipimus, ap,
pellare cinerarios & idolatras,, qui mortuorum hominum Offa veneramur, &c.
Vide Hieron. Op. T. 4. par: 2. p. 278, 279, 282, &c.
[2] Dicit continentiam, hærefim ; pudicitiam, libidinis ſeminarium.
ibid. p. 281.
[a] Ais enim vel in finu Abrahæ, vel in loco refrigerii, vel ſubter aram Deig,
animas Apoftolorum & Martyrum conſediſſe, nec poffe de ſuis tumulis, & ubi
voluerint, adeffe præfentes dicis in libello tuo, quod dum vivimus, mutuo
pro nobis orare poſſumus; poftquam autem mortui fuerimus, nullius fit pro alio
exaudienda oratio, &c. ibid. p. 283,: &c
[b] Qui Martyrum neget fepulcra veneranda, damnandas dieit effe vigilias
ibid. 281.
[c] Argumentatur contra figna & virtutes, quæ. in Bafilicis Martyrum fiunt;
p. 285
72
POSTSCRIPT.
grief [d] ; and for which he declares Vigilantius, to be a moſt
deteſtable heretic, venting his foul-mouthed blafphemies againſt the
reliques of the Martyrs, which were working daily hgns and won-
ders. He bids him, go into the Churches of thoſe Martyrs, and he
would be cleanſed from the evil ſpirit, which poleſed him, and feel
himſelf burnt, not by thoſe wax candles, which fo much offended
him, but by inviſible flames, which would force that Dæmon, who
talked within him, to confeſs himſelf to be the ſame, who had per-
fonated a Mercury, perhaps, or a Bacchus, or ſome other of their
Gods among the Heathens [e]. At which wild rate, this good
Father raves on, through ſeveral pages, in a ſtrain much more
furious, than the moſt bigotted Papiſt would uſe at this day,
in the defence of the ſame rites. :-
Let our Archdeacon then ſpeak directly to this fact, and
tell us, which of theſe two, is acting here the Proteſtant
part, and ſerving the Proteſtant cauſe: whether it be Yerom
or Vigilantius : whether the Primitive Father, who, by lies
and forgeries, fo fiercely maintains the honor of morkery and
reliques ; or the Primitive Heretic, who, by the Principles of
reaſon and the Goſpel, ſo firmly rejects them.
But he has told us already in his ſpeech, that the Jeroms
are the men, who muſt enable us, to expoſe the unprimitive
crudities of the Romiſa principles and practices : and he will try
[d] Fatebor tibi dolorem meum. Sacrilegium tantum, patienter audire non
poſſum, p. 280.
[e] Ingredere bafilicas Martyrum, & aliquando purgaberis: invenies ibi mul- ,
tos ſocios tuos, & nequaquam cereis Martyrum, qui tibi difplicent, fed flammis
invifibilibus combureris &c. p. 286.
I
again,
;
73
POST SCRIPT.
again, perhaps on this occaſion, what he has tried with ſuc.
ceſs on others, to accommodate theſe very facts to his own
ſyſtem: and by an art, which he has learnt from Jerom him-
ſelf, will teach us, " that we ought to diſtinguiſh between the
dogmatical and the agoniſtical file; that in the firſt,
indeed, truth is the object aimed at, but in the ſecond,
" nothing but victory; that ſincerity therefore is neceſſary in
" the one, but art onely, in the other : that Jerom was not
" here dogmatizing, but fighting with an enemy; and in that
" caſe, according to his cuſtom, not ſaying. what he thought
true, but what was neceſſary to his cauſe, and catching up
any words, to throw at him, which would beſt ſerve, to
« knock him down : then he will cry out again, in the
" ſame lamentable ſtile, that this is not the firſt time, that
poor St. Jerom bas been tbus mangled and mifrepreſented [f];
" that I have ſuppreſſed the very expreſſions, which would
" have cleared up the matter and juſtified the purity of his
“ principles ; for when Vigilantius charges him with Idolatry,
" for worſhiping rotten bones, in the manner above-mentioned,
" that I had omitted to acquaint the reader, how Jerom de-
“ nies the charge, and declares, that they paid no divine wor.
ſhip to any thing but to God, that by honoring the reliques
of the Martyrs, they meant to adore him, whoſe Martyrs they
were ; and gave honor to the ſervants, that the honor of the
ſervants might redound to their Lord, who ſays, he that re-
[8] See Dr. Chapman's defence of Jerom - in Miſcellan. Tracts.
66
1
pag. 30, &c.
het? '
« ceiveth
74
POST SCRIPT.
" ceiveth you receiveth me [g].” And what is this after all,
but the ſame trifling and evaſive diſtinction, with which the
Romaniſts defend the fame practices at this day, and ſhift off
that charge of Idolatry, which is urged againſt them by the
Heretical Proteſtants ?
But to purſue this point a little farther. There is another
ſhort paſſage, in the ſame work of Jerom, where he urges
Vigilantius, in the following manner: “That if it were ſuch
«s fuch a facrilege, or impiety, as Vigilantius contends, to pay
" thoſe honors to the reliques of the Saints; then the Emperor
Conſtantius muſt needs be a facrilegious perſon, whọ tranſla-
" ted the holy reliques of Andrere, Luke, and Timothy, to Con-
* ftantinople: then Arcadius Auguſtus alſo muſt be held fa-
crilegious, who tranſlated the bones of the bleſſed Samuel
" from Judæa, where they had lain ſo many ages, into Thrace :
" then all the Biſhops likewiſe were not onely ſacrilegious, but
ſtupid too, who ſubmitted to carry a thing, the moſt con-
temptible, and nothing but mere duſt, in filk and veſſels of
gold : and laſtly, then the people of all the Churches muſt
“ needs be fools, who went out to meet thoſe holy reliques,
" and received them, with as: much joy, as if they had ſeen
" the Prophet himſelf, living, and preſent among them : for
" the proceſſion was attended by ſwarms of people, from Pa-
læſtine, even unto Chalcedon, ſinging with one voice the
[8] Honoramus autem reliquias Martyrum, ut eum, cujus funt Martyres,
adoremus
. Honoramus fervos, ut honor - fervorum redundet' ad Dominum;
qui ait; qui vos fuſcipit, me ſuſcipit. Hierom. Op. T. 4. par. 2. p. 279.
praiſes
I
POST:SCR PT.
75
« praiſes of Chriſt, who were yet adoring Samuel perhaps, and
not Chriſt, whoſe Prophet and Levite Samuel was [b].”
Now let the Archdeacon declare once more, what it is, that
we muſt ſay and think, of theſe tranſlations and proceſſons of
boly reliqués, which were ſolemnized, as Ferom here deſcribes
them, with ſuch pomp and pageantry of devotion, by the
Emperors, Biſhops, people, and all Chriſtian Churches of thoſe
Primitive times. Muſt we with Vigilantius, call them acts of
impiety, ſuperſtition and ſtupidity; or with Jerom, treat ſuch
an opinion, as blaſphemous and hæretical? but whatever an-
ſwer he may give, we may venture to affirm, without waiting
for it, what is ſufficient for my purpoſe, and notorious to all,
who have heard or ſeen, what paſſes in the Church of Rome, ,
that Ferom's account of thoſe primitive reliques and their tranſ-
lations, is the very form and pattern, by which the Romaniſts
tranſlate, receive and venerate their holy reliques, at this day.
I have now ſaid enough, for the preſent occaſion, concern-
ing the uſe of the Fathers, and particularly of Jerom, with re-
gard to our controverſies with the Papiſts, yet cannot put an
end to this Poſtſcript, without adding a word or two, on what
the Archdeacon has farther intimated, with reſpect to the ſame
Ferom, and another fort of enemies, the Freetbinkers; who
make him likewiſe, as he would perſuade us, the particular
object of their ſpleen, and would be glad, as well as the Papiſts;
to get rid of him at any rate. Now if this had been ſaid of the
Freethinkers onely, in Popiſh countries, there would have been
[1] ErgoSacrilegus fuit Conftantius Imperator, &c. ibid. p. 282, 3.
ſome
L 2
76
POSTSCRIPT.
ز
ſome ſenſe in it; but as it is here applied, there is certainly
none at all. For in the Romih Church, there are many with-
out doubt, who from a freedom of thinking, ſuperior to that
of the vulgar, muft needs condemn the whole fyſtem of their
monkery, their worſhip of Saints and reliques, their holy water,
holy oil, croſſes, maffes, exorciſms, and all their other ſuper-
ſtitions; manifeſtly contrived, to ſerve purpoſes merely ſecular ;
to ſupport the power, and increaſe the wealth of the Clergy :
and it is natural to imagine, that men, whoſe ſcepticiſm turned
chiefly on thoſe rites and practices, might be particularly gall-
ed, by the writings of Jerom, or the other Fathers, by whoſe
authority, they were all at firſt propagated, and are ſtill main-
tained, and forcibly impofed upon them. But the caſe is
widely different in Proteſtant countries; where we are neither
teized with ſuch fopperies, nor tied down to the authority of
the Fathers ; and where the Freethinkers conſequently have no
reaſon, to fancy themſelves ſpecially hurt by any of them; but
on the contrary, many obvious reaſons, why they ſhould enjoy
and rejoice in them all; as affording infinite matter for the
ſport of ſceptical wits; in the credulity, the ſuperſtition, the
pious frauds, and forged miracles of thoſe primitive times : all
which, they have never failed to ſet forth, as the genuin charac-
ters of the Chriſtian Prieſthood, and Chriſtian Churches of all
ages ; and to play them off with all their art, ſo as to make
them bear againſt religion it felf; and they bear indeed in the
ſtrongeſt inanner againit the religion of Rome, as being wholly
Founded, and ſtill ſupported by thoſe very arts.
But the Pro
teſtants
I
POSTSCRIPT.
77
teſtants ſtand clear, and unconcerned in the diſpute ; and have
nothing to do, but to look on, and divert themſelves with
the iſſue of it. For their religion reſts on quite another foot,
on the fingle, but folid foundation of the ſacred Scriptures ; un-
mixed with rubbiſh of ancient tradition, or ancient Fathers;
and independent on the characters and writings of any
men whatſoever, except of Moſes and the Prophets ; Chriſt
and the Apoſtles. But when Proteſtant Divines, urged on by
an unhappy zeal, or the vanity of diſplaying their fuperior
learning, think fit, to take
up
the quarrel, as their own; and
when Archdeacons eſpecially, and Lambeth Chaplains, come
forth, with a ſort of oracular authority, to defend thoſe pri-
mitive frauds and forgeries, and declare the cauſe of the Fa-
thers, to be the common cauſe of all Chriſtians ;. then the
affair indeed becomes ſerious; for this adds a real force and
fting to the railleries of the Sceptics ; turns their flight cavils,
into grave objections, and points them directly againſt Pro-
teſtantiſm itſelf
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