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 LETTER 
 
 TO A 
 
 MEMBER of the HOUSE of COMMONS,
 
 A 
 
 SHORT VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHIEF ARGUMENTS 
 
 AGAINST THE 
 
 CATHOLIC PETITION 
 
 NOW BEFORE PARLIAMENT, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 ANSWERS TO THEM, 
 
 IN A 
 
 LETTER TO A MEMBER OE THE HOUSE 
 OE COMMONS. 
 
 Hy the Rev. J. MILNER, D. D. F. S. A . Soc. Acad. Cath. 
 
 Oman res ipsa ncgat, contenta doceri. 
 
 Hontion: 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY KEATING, BROWN AND CO. 
 
 No. 37, Dukc-Strcet, Grosvenor-Square. 
 
 Suld also byFAULDEK, and by Booker. New Bond-strrcf ; Gince*, 
 
 PiccaUillyj Bwbd, Pail-Mall; aid Svkosbs, Paun.eur-Kcw, 
 
 1803.
 
 . }s-i 
 
 
 LETTER 
 
 TO A 
 
 MEMBER of the HOUSE of COMMONS. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I Will not take up your time, nor trifle 
 with your understanding, by entering at 
 large into the politieal necessity there is at the 
 present time, of stifling, as much as possible, all 
 Civil and religious dissensions amongst the inha- 
 bitants of this empire, and particularly amongst 
 those of the sister island. So far back as the 
 year 1/78 his Majesty, and the then Parliament 
 of the kingdom in question, solemnly declared, 
 " that it must tend to the prosperity and strength 
 " of his Majesty's dominions, that his subjects 
 " of all denominations should enjoy the benefits 
 " of a free constitution, and, be bound to each 
 " other by mutual ties of^ interest and affection *."' 
 The same principle was the avowed basis of that 
 UNION, on which the present Minister so em- 
 
 * 12 Geo. III. 6. 24. Irish. 
 
 A 
 
 - I , : to*
 
 piratically declared, that he rested his reputation 
 with posterity. And even the bitterest enemy to 
 the majority of his countrymen now living has 
 admitted that, when the said Union should he 
 effected, no mischief could arise from removing 
 every subject of their complaint*. 
 
 At the time when the Legislature of Ireland 
 stamped its seal on the above quoted wise and 
 liberal sentiments, our empire was strong in the 
 armies and navies of other powerful states, as well 
 as in its own. The balance of Europe subsisted, 
 which Britain, couched on her JEgis nicely trim- 
 med, as she waved her imperial trident. But, 
 now that this balance is broken to pieces and 
 trodden under foot ; now that our enemies 
 multiply themselves by millions at a time; 
 now that amongst the few remaining indepen- 
 dent powers of Europe, not an ally is to be found, 
 or even subsidized to defend his own cause 
 as well as ours, would it not be infatuation to 
 reject our only resource, that of closing our ranks 
 and uniting in one impenetrable phalanx, by 
 healing our domestic broils ; the resource of re- 
 cruiting our numbers at home, by making every 
 description of subjects as contented and happy 
 as possible? Would it not be madness, in parti- 
 
 * If we were one people with the British nation, the preponde-. 
 " ranee ol the protestant body in the whole empire would be so great, 
 ' that all rivalships and jealousies between Protestants and Romanists 
 " would cease for ever, and it would not be necessary for the safety of 
 ' the empire at large to curb Romanists by any exclusive laws whut- 
 " ever." Dr. Duigenan's Letter to Mr, Grattan, p. 57,
 
 cular, to keep that high spirited and gallant 
 people, who already fight half the hattles of the 
 empire by sea and land, in a state of irritation 
 and conscious degradation *, merclv hecause 
 thev adhere to the religion of their and our an- 
 cestors ; a religion that, in spite of the still 
 repeated calumnies of its enemies, teaches them 
 to prefer duty and allegiance to fortune, life and 
 the temporal interests of this very religion "f"? 
 
 Yet there aie numbers even of educated men 
 and who wear line clothes so weak, or so blind, 
 and inattentive to the scenes that are passing in 
 the world, so bigotted themselves, or so obse- 
 quious to the narrow conceptions of others, so 
 wedded to their own dear interest, or to the 
 dearer passion of domineering and tyrannizing 
 over others; who, in defiance of all the aforesaid 
 considerations, wish the divisions and calamities 
 of Ireland to be eternal. This latter description, 
 (I trust it is not numerous,) is chiefly to be 
 found amongst the natives or inhabitants of that 
 
 * See the grievances that are stated, and those others, which, from 
 motives of mode ration and delicacy, are barely hinted at in theCatholic 
 Petition. By the legal distinctions that still exist between Protestants 
 and Catholics, the latter are obviously held out to their fellow-subjects, 
 throughout the British empire, as men only half loyal and half honest. 
 In Ireland, though forming thebulk of the inhabitants, they are not only 
 precluded, as an interior cast, from the chance o! ever rising to places 
 of considerable rank or emolument, let their talents or their services to 
 their king and country be as great as possible, but the actual benefits 
 that have been decreed to them by the legislature are witheld and ren- 
 dered void. 
 
 f See the oath that the Catholics actually have taken, and which is 
 repeated in the petition. 
 
 A 2
 
 6 
 
 jsame country. These sicken at the sight of 
 Catholic loyalty, and triumph to find or to occa- 
 sion sedition amongst the majority of their coun- 
 trymen. They are described by the great Burke 
 as men " who Mould become Papists in order to 
 " oppress Protestants, if, being Protestants, they 
 {c had not the power of oppressing Papists*'." 
 
 1 shall proceed, Sir, in obedience to your or- 
 ders, to state the most material arguments which 
 any of the above mentioned descriptions of ene- 
 mies have hitherto brought against the Catholic 
 Petition, now before you, as far as I have been 
 able to collect these either from the press j" or 
 private information, together with such answers 
 to them as appear to me sufficient for confuting 
 
 * Letter to a Peer of Ireland, p. 29. 
 
 -j- Amongst the ephemeral publications which have been industriously 
 circulated to counteract the Catholic Petition, besides innumerable 
 essays and strictures in newspapers and reviews, are the following pam- 
 phlets Observations, eye. on the Correspondence of Lords liedesdale and 
 Finsialt '; Catholic Emancipation; Considerations on the late and 
 present State of Ireland, in Answer to li. S. Tighe, Esq. A Letter to 
 Dr. Troy 071 the Coronation of Bonaparte by 1'ins VII. The three first 
 mentioned, though bearing the marks of different workmen, yet evi- 
 dently comeout of the samesh >p, and consist chiefly of the same mate- 
 rials. Thelast in the list gives proof of a more masierly hand, in point 
 of fabrication, but consists of the same base metal, which is a composition 
 'of jealousy and falsehood. They are all very much in the style of those 
 productions of John Wesley and the protestar.t associators in the year 
 1780, by which the riots were produced. Happily, however, from the 
 disposition of the public, they are not likely to be attended with 
 any very bad effects here. One reflection strikes me very forcibly in 
 reading them. I am not surprised at any disturbances that may happen 
 in Ireland, whilst there are men who can deliberately avow so much 
 rancour and calumny before a British public, possessing at the same 
 time a certain degree of influence and power in that devoted island.
 
 them. In doing this I shall chiefly consult bre- 
 vity and perspicuity. 
 
 I. It has been alledged that Papists * cannot 
 be good subjects or members of society, parti- 
 cularly under a sovereign of a different religion 
 from themselves. 
 
 I grant that all this has been advanced by the 
 writers alluded to in the notes; and it is clear 
 that a great part of their arguments which I 
 shall have occasion to notice, tend equally to 
 prove that our fidelity cannot be more depended 
 upon by a prince of our own communion than 
 by one of another; though this is more frequent- 
 ly and emphatically urged with respect to the lat- 
 ter case than the former. Indeed personages far 
 more respectable than those writers have main- 
 tained that Catholics, without renouncing their 
 religion and becoming Latitudinarians, cannot 
 be peaceable subjects under the present govern- 
 ment. 1 hey accordingly treat '"as mockery and 
 " folly" f those loyal and eloquent Discourses 
 and Remonstrances J which the Catholic Prelates 
 
 * T mrke use of this reproachful term in stating the objections of 
 our ad\ ersanes, because it is generally adopted by themselves. I must, 
 however, observe that it is not only a deviation from the liberality of 
 Catholics v ho always call persons of other communions hv the name 
 which themselves adopt, but also a violation ot the celebrated i, junc- 
 tions of Qu< en Elizabeth, which are considered as making part of the 
 constitution of the established church. See Injunc 50. in Bishop Spar- 
 tow's Col'ecti n, p. So. 
 
 + Correspondence between Ix>rds R. and F. Letter v. 
 
 X Sec collections of them in two parts, at Keating and Co.'s, No. 37, 
 Duke-street, Grosvenor-square.
 
 of Iveland addressed to those of their coinmu. 
 nion, during the late tempestuous seasons, for 
 the double purpose of reclaiming bad subjects 
 and confirming good ones. 
 
 To speak first of the immediate interest of his 
 Majesty and the nation, before I notice those of 
 Catholics ; I ask, would it be prudent, would it 
 be patriotic to hold such language as this, though 
 it were demonstratively true ? Supposing any 
 prince or state were so unhappily situated, as to 
 have five millions* of subjects destitute of every 
 religious or moral sentiment, mere Malays of 
 society, as the Catholics are called f, what end 
 could it answer for them to be constantly re- 
 proached, and even told from authority that they 
 are incapable of being good subjects, and for the 
 professions of their teachers to be spurned at with 
 contempt, except to make them desperate and 
 to precipitate them into all the mischief they are 
 capable of practising? The Catholics, however, 
 will be faithful and loyal (no thanks to their 
 enemies) because they are so from principle. 
 Their Prelates and Clergy will continue to en- 
 force these lessons, because it is their duty so to 
 do ; and they will look for their recompense to a 
 Master who will reward them according to the 
 uprightness of their hearts and the degree of per- 
 
 * Taking the Catholics of Ireland at two millions and a halt', the 
 Catholics of Great-Britain, Canada, the West Indies, including Trini- 
 dad and Malta, and the eastern empire, will certainly supply as many 
 more. Since writing the above I learn from Mr. Newnham's calcula 
 tions, that the Catholics of Ireland amount to above 4,300,000 person;. 
 
 t Considerations, p. 14.
 
 sedition they endure in performing this lesson of 
 their religion. I should not be surprised, how- 
 ever, it' they were to be less forward than tiiey 
 have been in publishing- to the world their Ad- 
 dresses of loyalty, however avowedly beneficial 
 they have proved # , when they find that even 
 persons of rank and consequence can descend to 
 the meanness of torturing their expressions into 
 meanings foreign to their hearts, and of distilling 
 the poison of sedition from the purest effusions 
 of their patriotism f . 
 
 To advert now to the truth of the above stated 
 objections; can we conceive a greater insult than 
 it offers to our christian ancestors during the 
 space of near ten centuries, and to the different 
 Catholic nations at the present day? What; 
 were the founders of our monarchy, constitu- 
 tion and laws, the virtuous Saxons, the magna- 
 nimous Normans, no better than collections of 
 perfidious wretches? Was there no faith, no 
 honour, no loyalty in the country, until they 
 were introduced into it. by Henry VIII. and his 
 daughter Elizabeth ? Or, 4 o speak of our con- 
 temporaries; though we arc at war with the 
 Spaniards, yet will any generous Englishman say, 
 
 * This was e:;pr< ss'y ?C\t t] in th letter oi the Viceroy of Ire- 
 
 land when the i-r nch fit t ?.ppi ; red in B ...try Hay, with respect to the 
 Pastoral L< tt< rof Dr. M >ylan, of Cork, to his flee*. 
 
 t T his has l-.ei u the occupation of a swnrmof liurty writers, arnonpt 
 Tvhom none is more malignant than Tht Woman . no mean m ,; ';. when 
 he puts off his rgimema >, and appears in k.s proper dress; in his 
 strictures on the very loyai Address of Dr. Troy.
 
 10 
 
 that perfidy and disloyalty form the character cf 
 that nation, devoted as it is supposed to he be- 
 yond all others to what is called Popery ? Were 
 the French themselves a disloyal people whilst they 
 were Catholics ? So far from it, the maxim of 
 the celebrated demagogue Mirabeau, at the be- 
 ginning- of the revolution, is well known : JVe 
 must un catholicize France, he used to say, before 
 we can effect our purposes. Or if the question be 
 concerning catholic subjects under sovereigns or 
 states of a different communion from themselves, 
 I ask ; do the King of Prussia and the Emperor 
 of Russia complain of the disloyalty of their 
 numerous catholic subjects ? Was the fidelity of 
 the Catholics in Holland, who formed one third 
 of its whole population, or of those in the pro- 
 testant states of Germany, ever called in question? 
 In short, to say nothing of ourselves, will even 
 the writers alluded to say that the Canadians 
 have proved themselves bad subjects to the 
 crown of England ? 
 
 II. But, these writers assign their reasons for 
 what they assert. They, one and all, shew that 
 it is impossible that persons holding the doctrine 
 of exclusive salvation, as Catholics do, and 
 living under a protestant government, should 
 sincerely and effectually perform their duty to it, 
 or be at peace with their fellow subjects; It is 
 precisely on this account that the dignified per- 
 sonage alluded to above has asserted, that, un-
 
 11 
 
 less the Popish Clergy will teach that " Pro- 
 " tcstants of every description are their bre- 
 " thren in the faith of Christ *," their " preach* 
 " ing loyalty, especially to the lower orders, 
 " and to those without property, cannot be sin-* 
 " cere- and seems to be cither mockery or fol/iff."" 
 Without going deep into theological matters, 
 it is sufficient to observe that these writers are 
 extremely misinformed on the subject they treat 
 of; and that even the noble controvertist, who 
 has had better means of understanding it than 
 
 * According to this authoritative decision, Catholics must become 
 brethren in faith with a great many different sects who will not be 
 brethren in faith with one another. They must teach, that the pro and 
 the con, in a prodigious number of question?, is equally " the faith of 
 Christ." To mention two or three instances, most likely to strike the 
 noble controvertist, they must, on one hand, teach as the faith of 
 Christ, (with the Quakers, whom he so much commends) that it is 
 sinful to hear arms in defence of the nation, to pav tythes, and to take 
 oaths in a court of justice; and that every extremity is to be endured 
 rather than do any of these things; and, on the other hand, they must 
 teach, conformably to their own doctrine, and that of the establish- 
 ment, that the fai'h of Christ is directly the contrary of all this. They 
 must maintain, that it is indifferent to the faith of Christ, whether 
 they continue to preach obedience to the Ian so/God and the state, or 
 whether they preach, with the numberless Anomeans of this country, 
 that there is no law whatever binding upon the faithful. Finally, they 
 must become fellow members in faith and church communion with 
 the Moravians, who are charged by Bishop Warburton and Dr. 
 Maclaine with such infamous tends and practices as ought not to be 
 named amongst Christians. See Maclaine' s Translation of Mbsheim'a 
 Eccl. Hist. vol. v. p. i. 
 
 f Correspondence, c\c. Letter v. The writer of Observations on the 
 Correspondence, treating of the same subject, says, "We agree with 
 " Lord R. that all these exhortations are given to the wind." P. $$. 
 
 B
 
 n 
 
 the others, is under an egregious and fatal mis- 
 take when he represents Catholics as not admit- 
 ting any persons to be Christians who are not 
 members of their church, and when he so con- 
 fidently tells Lord F. " Your Lordship will find, 
 " upon enquiry, that the appellation of Heathen 
 " is applied by those to every Protestant*." In 
 opposition to this I maintain, it will be found 
 that a catholic child who was to answer, at cate- 
 chism, conformably to this assertion, would not 
 be thought sufficiently instructed to receive 
 confirmation. I maintain also, that the Church 
 of Rome asserts nothing else on this point but 
 what the Church of .England also asserts in her 
 39 articlesf : to say nothing of the damnatory 
 clauses in the Athanasian Creed, which, however 
 complained of, is still publicly read thirteen times 
 in the year in all the principal churches of the 
 realm, and which forms part of that doctrine to 
 which every minister is obliged to swear his un- 
 feigned assent and consent. 
 
 But to speak more directly to the objection. 
 I ask, could the Protestants, during the reigns 
 of Queen Mary and of James II., who so firmly 
 believed that Popery was no other than the reign 
 of Antichrist, be good subjects '? Can a Pro- 
 testant nobleman or gentleman at present, who 
 travels through a catholic country, or makes a 
 
 * Ibid. Letter iii. 
 f Att. 18.
 
 13 
 
 temporary residence in it, sincerely premise 4:o- 
 observe fidelity towards it during the time that 
 he is under its protection, notwithstanding he 
 has unfortunately sworn that its religious worship 
 is idolatrous * ? How easily might this objection 
 be turned to the disadvantage of our protectant 
 countrymen at Lisbon or Vienna ! In a word, 
 was our Saviour Christ sincere in ordering: tribute 
 to be paid to Caesar f ; that Cccsar being a Tibe- 
 rius? Or was it a mockery in St. Paul to preach 
 up loyalty to the Romans J during the reign of 
 Nero because he did not, at the same time, open 
 heaven's gates to that monster? I may add, that 
 the innumerable Methodists who cover the land 
 universally hold that every person is in a state of 
 damnation, into whose mind faith, that is convic- 
 tion of his justification, is not suddenly shot, at 
 some unexpected moment. Yet are the Methodists 
 very good subjects. 
 
 III. Another and a more plausible reason as- 
 signed by these writers why Catholics cannot be 
 good subjects under a protectant government, is 
 because they can give no test of their fidelity to 
 it. For " it is laid down as a fundamental article 
 " of the Popish Religion, by many general coun- 
 " cils, particularly by the 4th Lateran, A. D. 
 " 1215, and that of Constance, A. D. 14-14, that 
 " no faith is to be kept with heretics, and that 
 
 * Declaration of the 30th of Charles II. c. i. 
 f Matt.xxn. 31. J Rora. xiiu 
 
 B 2
 
 14 
 
 " no oath of allegiance can bind any of its sec- 
 " taries to a protestant* or heretical state f." 
 
 For an answer to this vile and exploded calum- 
 ny, which, at the present day, can gain belief 
 with none but the most stupidly ignorant or the 
 most propensely malicious, I refer to the demon- 
 strative argument contained in the Petition. It 
 is then evidently clear that if Catholics could 
 but lull their consciences asleep for only five 
 minutes, whilst they took certain other oaths to 
 the present government as they have taken the 
 oath of allegiance, or if there were any expedient 
 in their church for so doing by way of indulgence, 
 dispensation, or occasional conformity, they need 
 not trouble themselves with petitions to parlia- 
 ment ; their remedy would be in their own hands, 
 and they might laugh at the malice of their 
 enemies. Yet it is equally evident that they 
 do refuse these oaths, by whomsoever tendered, 
 because, on one hand, their consciences can 
 neither digest them, nor, on the other, permit 
 
 * If it were worth while pointing out historical or chronological 
 errorsin temporary pamphlets, the only objects of which are to mislead 
 and inflame, I mi glit expose the absurdity of representing the councils 
 as condemning professors of the protectant religion, in one case a ccn- 
 lury, hvthe other three centuries, before such a description of persons 
 was ever heard of in the world. 
 
 f Observ. on Corresp. p. 14. "The following doctrines are main- 
 " tained and enjoined by some general councils as a religious duty to 
 "all Roman Catholics. To depose and murder heretical sovereigns 
 *' whenever they have it in their power so to do ; that an oath of fide- 
 " lity to an heretical state is null and void, &c" Considcrat. on State 
 of Ireland, p. 1 2. See also Emancip. p. 30.
 
 15 
 
 them to deceive a protectant governments' In 
 one word, the oaths framed hy the legislature, in 
 times of irritation and persecution for keeping 
 Catholics out of parliament, offices, &c. have, 
 down to the present day, fully answered their 
 intended purpose. Can the same be said of the 
 religious tests or oaths of office enacted by the 
 legislature with respect to other descriptions of 
 his Majesty's subjects? 
 
 IV. Still these writers urge, and their books 
 are chiefly made up of proofs that the violation 
 of faith with heretics is " a fundamental tenet 
 " of the popish religion, as having been laid 
 down by many general councils, *'' from the de- 
 cisions of which, as they prove by many quota- 
 tions, Papists are not allowed to depart ; in short, 
 that " they cannot renounce this and the other 
 " dangerous doctrines connected with it, without 
 " ceasing to be Roman Catholics |\" 
 
 My answer to this is : Be it as these writers 
 represent the matter, we have then, according to 
 their avowal, renounced the fundamental tenets 
 of the Popish Religion. AVe are no longer Pa- 
 pists. Of course they may safely dismiss their 
 religious and patriotic apprehensions, and no evil 
 can arise from the legislature's granting our peti- 
 tion. Because these two points, you will be 
 pleased to remember, are indisputably certain ; 
 first, that we have unequivocally and publicly 
 
 * Consid, 
 
 f Cath. Emanc, p. 37.
 
 16 
 
 renounced and abjured these perfidious and im- 
 pious tenets in our oath of allegiance, rehearsed 
 in the Petition ; and secondly, that the severe sa- 
 crifices which we make, by refusing to take 
 some other oaths that are proposed to us by the 
 protestant legislature, render us worthy of credit 
 with respect to those which we actually take. 
 How far, in making this abjuration, we reject the 
 decisions of the council of Constance and the 
 other councils is our own affair, not that of our 
 adversaries, and we are willing to discuss it with 
 them at our leisure f : but thus far the records 
 of the public courts will bear evidence that we 
 
 f It is easy to demonstrate that the Council of Constance did not 
 teach but actually condemned, as errors of the Wickliffites and Hussites, 
 the practice of lying for the sake of religion, and rebelling against and 
 punishing magistrates because they are not supposed to be in God's 
 favour. With respect to the burning of JohnHuss, he neither re- 
 ceived any safe conduct from the council, nor was he sentenced to 
 corporal punishment by it. That matter lies between the Emperor Si- 
 gismund and the magistrates of the free city of Constance. Trie for- 
 mer furnished him with a travelling pass, the latter executed him by 
 virtue of the old laws of ihe empire. Were these writers to persist in 
 cavilling, and in charging us with doctrines which we have abjured, in 
 consequence of the misrepresented or real tenets and conduct of indi- 
 viduals, I should be forced to retort upon them the outrageously 
 seditious doctrine and practices of Calvin and Beza in behalf of their 
 religion at Geneva and in France, and of Knox and Goodman in Scot- 
 land. " Neither promise nor oath," says Knox, " can oblige any 
 " man to give assistance to tyrants against God." Address to the People 
 of Scotland. A case more in point with respect to the Council of Con- 
 stance occurred at the General Reformed Synod of Dort, when the 14 
 Arminian deputies, at the end of the discussions, found themselves 
 seized upon as criminals, and hurried into perpetual exile, without 
 being allowed so much as to see their wives or children. See Gerca d 
 Brand. ILst. Ref. Abridg. t. ii. p. 171.
 
 17 
 
 have abjured the aforesaid tenets, and the acts of 
 the King and the Parliaments of both islands 
 will testify that they have received and been sa- 
 tisfied with our abjuration of them. 
 
 V. But, says one of these writers, "Though the 
 " leading Lay Roman Catholics of England and 
 " Ireland did renounce the most objectionable of 
 "these tenets of their faith, yet I do insist," 
 (who insists? some person, who will not even 
 pledge his name for his veracity,) "I do insist 
 " that there never has been any solemn universal 
 " renunciation of these opinious made by the 
 ".Roman Catholic Clergy of England or of Ire- 
 " land. They could not renounce them without 
 " ceasing to be Roman Catholics *." He then 
 quotes, at full length, the Encyclical Letter of 
 the three Catholic Bishops, dated Jan. 19, 1791, 
 by way of proof that the heads of the clergy 
 opposed the abjuration of these obnoxious articles 
 on the part of the laity f. 
 
 You, dear Sir, remember well the circum- 
 stances of that disagreeable contention amongst 
 the Catholics at the aforesaid period, concern- 
 ing the terms of the oath to be taken by them, 
 which gave occasion to the aforesaid letter, and 
 which, amongst some bad consequences, had one 
 good effect, in more fully satisfying Parliament 
 as to the delicacy of their consciences concerning 
 the nature and obligations of an oath. You kno ( w 
 
 Catholic Emancipation^ p. 37. 
 t Ibid. p. 38.
 
 18 
 
 there was not the least difference amongst them 
 concerning the lawfulness and duty of abjuring 
 all and every one of the perfidious and disloyal 
 doctrines in question, but only concerning the 
 terms in which certain theological matters, inter- 
 woven with the oath, ought to be expressed, the 
 determination of which the Bishops claimed, as 
 belonging to them. All these points Mere amply 
 discussed in both Houses of Parliament, and 
 were finally settled in the Upper House by that 
 ornament of his station, the truly learned and 
 exemplary Bishop of St. Asaph*, who most cer- 
 tainly did not connive at a traiterous or king-kill- 
 ing doctrine. Now as to the fact itself, upon 
 which this anonymous Gentleman insists, I insist. 
 on the other hand, that the same public records, 
 which prove the English Lay Catholics in general 
 to have renounced these wicked opinions, in the 
 terms prescribed by Parliament, equally prove 
 the English Catholic Clergy to have done the 
 same. With respect to their Bishops in particular, 
 no sooner was the Act passed than they published 
 their pastoral letters, exhorting the Catholics 
 to take the oath contained in it. I have every 
 reason to believe, that the Catholic Prelates and 
 Clergy of Ireland have as generally taken it. 
 Thus much I am sure of, that the truly respecta- 
 ble Dr. Troy, whose tried loyalty has been so fre- 
 quently calumniated, has an official certificate of 
 his having done so. To be brief, these uncharita- 
 
 * The Right Rev. Dr. Horsley.
 
 19 
 
 l>le writers may insist on it as long as they please, 
 that Catholics are bound to hold the doctrines of 
 treachery and rebellion, but I defy them to pro- 
 duce a single Catholic in alt his Majesty's domi- 
 nions Mho actually holds them, or who is not at 
 all times ready to anathematize them in public. 
 
 VI. But it will be said I have been here 
 speaking of the tenets and conduct of English 
 Roman Catholics. Now, " in England they are 
 " not papists, as they are papists in Ireland *. 
 
 ' They (the Irish papists) differ as much in point 
 "of moral principle from all other members of 
 " the Christian Church in the British empire, 
 " as the Malays do from all the other inhabitants 
 "of the east j." Hence ''Lord R. entertained 
 " a different opinion of the Catholics of Ireland 
 " from what he professed to entertain of the Ca- 
 " tholics of England. As Sir J. M. he had ap- 
 " proved of the tenets, the principles, and con- 
 " duct of the English Catholics; as Lord II. he 
 " condemns the principles, the tenets, and the 
 " conduct of the Irish Catholics. He brands 
 " them in a lump with the severest censures, 
 " Sec. ." ' The rational and laudable conduct 
 <l of a numerous body of English Roman Catho- 
 
 ' lies in condemning and renouncing the tenets of 
 <l their religion in 1790, notwithstanding the rigid 
 
 * Letter to Dr. Troy, by Mclanclhon, p. 47. 
 f Considerations on th<. State oJ'Irclu>id } p. 14. 
 X Letter to Dr. Troy, p. 2.
 
 20 
 
 ^inhibitions of their clergy, had exalted them 
 '" so much in the opinion of their Protestant 
 " fellow subjects, and of Lord R. in particular, 
 " that he moved for, and succeeded in procuring, 
 a repeal of the severe penal laws against them. 
 " Lord 11. was induced to think that Lord F, 
 " and the Irish Roman Catholics of a superior class 
 " were as enlightened and as free from those fatal 
 ft errors as their English fellow religionists ; 
 " but Lord It. was mistaken in the idea which he 
 " formed of the higher ranks of the Irish Ro- 
 " man Catholics *." 
 
 I answer these anonymous and malignant li- 
 bellers of a generous and loyal people, that in 
 vain they attempt to sow dissensions amongst 
 persons of the same communion. The English 
 Catholics have no other system of moral princi- 
 ples or religions tenets than the Irish Catholics 
 have; though a greater proportion of the latter, 
 owing to their forming the bulk of the populace, 
 and to their late immoral penal laws '\~, may have 
 disgraced these principles and tenets. The 
 English Catholics, though they will not hold re- 
 ligious communion with Anomeans, Moravians, 
 and Ezechielites %, yet they cordially and joy- 
 fully unite with Irish Catholics in doctrine and 
 
 * Observations on the Correspondence, p. 2. 
 
 f More particularly the gavel laws, by which brothers were tempted 
 to turn traitors to their brothers, and children to their parents. 
 
 % Whose favourite text is, as it was of the Puritans in the grand re. 
 bellion : To bind their kings in chains : and their nobles in links of iron, 
 
 Pa. CXlix.
 
 21 
 
 Worship, as " their true brethren in the faith of 
 " Christ." They have contradicted under their 
 hands, and they spurn at the idea that they have 
 condemned and renounced the tenets of their reli- 
 gion. On the other hand Lord Fingall, and the 
 higher rank of Irish Catholics, with all the Ca- 
 tholic clergy, equally spurn at the idea of their 
 entertaining-, or ever having entertained, or coun- 
 tenanced the perfidious and wicked doetrines im- 
 puted to them, and they point to their oath, 
 rehearsed in their present petition, and recorded 
 in the public courts, to prove that they have ab- 
 jured those doctrines in the same terms that the 
 English lay Catholics have done. I hope this 
 writer may have it in his power to prove that he 
 has always supported as pure a moral character, 
 and exhibited as gallant and disinterested a 
 loyalty as the nobleman has done whom he has 
 thus particularly aspersed *. 
 
 " Strange iti, that the greatpr part of these writers, andoftheauthora 
 they so largely quote, inclndh.g the lute Chancellor of Ireland, should 
 have been themselves, or have had parents v. ho were these incor- 
 rigible traitors and monsters of society; in short, these "Malays of 
 the Br'tish empire," until tiu-ir eyes were at some happy moment 
 opened to all the horrors of their faith and morality, by the effulgent 
 evider.ee of some emolument or preferment. 
 
 YV hat makes all doubtful questi >,.s clear f 
 
 A i 2000 , 
 
 About pounds r. vear. 
 
 200 ' 
 
 It is said that the father of a learned gentleman, who now sees the 
 deepest of all men into the niysterv of abomination caih'd Popery, 
 though originally a mere Irish peasant, was posse- ; ! of i:il 1 
 rally so bright as to have discovered all the wickedness an 1 absurdity of 
 Popery, in which lie had been educated, :tt the rate of 50!. per annum, 
 affixed to the management of a parish, school! But however, as the 
 
 C <2
 
 22 
 
 VI L But these writers cite a great number of 
 facts from .general history, and particularly from 
 the histories of England and Ireland, to prove that 
 Popery has in all ages undermined the happiness 
 of mankind, by the plots and insurrections which 
 it has produced. "Wherever Popery has raised 
 " its ominous standard," says one of them, "there 
 " was no peace for man *." 
 
 I answer, that to this religion every nation in 
 Europe owes its laws, constitution, arts, sciences, 
 Christianity and civilization. What savages were 
 the aboriginal Celts of both islands? What bar- 
 barians were our ancestors, the Saxons, when they 
 invaded this island from Germany, and for a 
 hundred years afterwards, till the monk St. Au- 
 gustine and his companions instructed and 
 humanized them at the same time that they 
 converted them. But man is an imperfect 
 being, and therefore the history of man, in every 
 situation, will present innumerable instances of 
 depravity, and of the abuse of the best institutions. 
 It is certain, however, that almost every one of the 
 facts referred to by these writers has been mis- 
 represented, and a great part of their quotations 
 misapplied J. To confine myself, in a field of 
 
 shades of death advanced, his intellectual darkness returned: lie died a 
 Papist, as did his mother aiso, who was originally a dissenter. 
 * Letter io Dr, Troy, p. 54. 
 % An instance of this malicious perversion occurs in these writers, 
 where they apply to Catholics all the evil consequences that Locke 
 has deduced from the tenet of dominion being founded in grace: a 
 tenet which the Catholic Church has formally condemned in Wyclitf. 
 and the Anabaptists. Obanv, on Corrcsp. p. 59. Considtrut. p. 16.
 
 23 
 
 such extent, to English history, it is certain that 
 the Catholics of this country saw the religion of 
 their ancestors changed with an unexampled pa- 
 tience, and behaved themselves as a body towards 
 Elizabeth, who was sworn to protect it*, with 
 unrivalled fidelity. It has been demonstrated 
 that almost all the plots against her or her suc- 
 cessors, with which individuals amongst them 
 are charged, have been either forged or essentially 
 misrepresented t- Even the infernal powder 
 plot, though thirteen Catholics were really im- 
 plicated in it, Mas much more of an anticatlwlic 
 
 Locke, with all his talents, was a bitter enemy to Catholics, but lie had 
 too much candour to charge Catholics with the doctrines they ana- 
 thematize. The former of these writt is not only quotes an old speech 
 of Mr. Pitt tor sentiments which he does not now entertain, but a so 
 falsifies it. Obs. p. 7. lie even descends to the quotation of scrawl- 
 ings and chalkings on posts and walls Ibid. p. 23. 
 
 * She insisted upon bemg crowned by a Catholic Prelate, and siie 
 swore to maintain the Church and Prelates as site found them. See 
 Jleylin and Collier. 
 
 + See Letters to a Prebendary, Keating and Co. Faulder, &rc. 
 Letter VI. in which the exemplarv fidelity of the whole Catholic Body, 
 Clergy and Laity, to t'.eir t)rant E izabeth, is displayed, particularly on 
 the trying occasions of Northumber'and's insurrection and of the 
 Spanish armada. The several p'ots a:so ascribed to individuals, are 
 examined by ancient documents : Cruipian, and his 200 fellow suf- 
 ferers, are prowd, on the authority ol the ' lueen's own historiographer 
 Camden, &rc. to have died political victim-, for the mere profes- 
 sion ot their religion. With respect to one preter. ictl plot, u huh tic 
 Observer has described it full length, p. 94. it is there iemo'istuated, 
 from Strype, &cc. that there is hr.nii) a word of truth i;i what he says 
 concerning it. Parry was no Catholic, cut an hypccniha: uhnistei il 
 spy, who quarrelling with his un pi over* about his rewar !, was h.. . ced 
 withahalter. See Letters to a Prebend, p. r6j. Were I to ': v.se all 
 the calumnies ofthis writer and his companions, 1 should be obliged i.o 
 write a tolio.
 
 24 
 
 than of a catholic conspiracy*. With respect to 
 what is called Oates's Plot, to say nothing of 
 several others of the same stamp, it is agreed 
 upon by all historians, and even the greatest 
 enemies of the Catholics, that there was no other 
 reality in it* except that streams of catholic 
 blood were poured out in order to support its 
 credit, and that those oaths and declarations were 
 framed by parliament, which it is the object of 
 the present Petition to remove. The real trial of 
 the subject's loyalty and fidelity occurred at the 
 time of the grand rebellion, when, it is well 
 known, that those who were the loudest in their 
 clamours against popish perfidy and disloyalty 
 overthrew the constitution both in church and 
 state, and murdered their sovereign, whilst the 
 Catholics performed their duty with such fidelity, 
 that half the estates confiscated, and one third 
 of the blood of noblemen and gentlemen shed 
 
 * See the new lights which are, in the last mentioned work, thrown 
 on that conspiracy. It was formed on the mode! of a former gunpowder- ' 
 plot in Scotland, contrived by the greatest men in the nation, by which 
 King Henry Darnley, with all his family, perished. It seems to have 
 been first set on foot by Secretary Sir Robert Cecil, through his agent 
 Tresham ; but it was certainly all along managed and directed by him, 
 as his own letters shew, with a view of implicating the head Catholics 
 in it, twenty of whom then sat in the house of peers. In this point he 
 failed, he could only engage thirteen youths of little consideration and 
 of desperate fortunes. But he succeeded in his ultimate designs, 
 namely, in forcing the king to break off his connections with the Catho- 
 lic party, and in raising a storm of indignation and calumny against 
 their religion, which is not yet appeased at the distance of 200 
 years.
 
 25 
 
 in their defence, belonged to Roman Catholics*. 
 If this will not satisfy Sir R. M., Dr. I)., and 
 Melancthon, so called, and if I am forced un- 
 willingly to make a set-off in order to silence 
 them, I Mould eall upon them to point cut a 
 country, in which the standard of the reforma- 
 tion was erected, without being attended with 
 the very effects they ascribe to Popery. 
 
 VIII. It cannot, however, be denied, that a 
 most horrible popish rebellion lately existed in 
 Ireland, attended with circumstances of the most 
 infernal barbarity, of which priests were the con- 
 trivers and conductors. 
 
 It is not denied that a most horrible rebellion 
 did lately happen in Ireland, attended with cir- 
 cumstances of the most dreadful barbarity, both 
 on the part of the rebels themselves and of very 
 many who opposed them. But I deny that this 
 was in any other sense a popish rebellion, than 
 the London riots in the year 1780, which Drought 
 the kingdom to the brink of ruin, was a pro- 
 tectant insurrection. In both cases the insurgents 
 were collected from the mass of the population 
 of the country. In the mean time, says an able 
 writer, " they were combated by catholic militia 
 " regiments, by catholic noblemen, gentlemen, 
 (i and farmers, that is, by all who had kept them- 
 " selves aloof, not from the religious, but the 
 
 * See their names, &c. in Lord Casthmuin's Catholic Apology, 
 edit. 3. p. 574.
 
 26 
 
 " political illusion *." These poor deluded 
 wretches, who had been peaceful and loyal at the 
 period when the enemy's fleet commanded the 
 Channel, and at a later period, when another fleet 
 appeared off Bantry Bay, were unhappily, in the 
 year 1798, "provoked, cajoled and seduced by a 
 " knot of Gentlemen-deists, some of Catholic, 
 " but more of Protestant education f/' The 
 most powerful device, however, for rousing these 
 ignorant peasants, according to the writers them- 
 selves, J (and a most powerful one it must have 
 been) was to persuade them that they were all to 
 be assassinated in the darkness of the night, by 
 their enemies the Orangemen. Accordingly it is 
 a well known fact, that at the time we are 
 speaking of, the peasants in certain districts used 
 to quit their cabins by night, and sleep under 
 hedges, not certainly for the pleasure of enjoy- 
 ing the nightly dews, but, as they supposed, for 
 the security of their lives. What gave a colour 
 to these reports were the unchecked violences 
 which they heard had been practiced some time 
 before on their brethren in the county of Armagh, 
 &c. who were literally hunted out of their houses 
 and province by night, and the cruel oppression 
 which they themselves experienced in so many 
 instances from their aforesaid enemies. It is ad- 
 
 * See an Argument against Extermination, occasioned by Dr. Duige- 
 nan's Hepresentution of the State of Ireland, p. 33. 
 f Ibid. p. 32. 
 J Obscrv. Pi 71.
 
 27 
 
 mittcd also that a few catholic priests, perhaps a 
 dozen out of fj.500, (in short not more in pro- 
 portion than there were clergymen altogether of 
 other communions) were implicated in the trea- 
 sonable proceedings*. But these Mere, for the 
 most part, men who had been publicly censured 
 by their bishops or were unemployed, on account 
 of their conduct and character. In the mean 
 time these bishops, with the whole body of parish 
 priests, exerted eyery degree of influence and 
 authority they possesed, to the extremity even 
 of excommunication, and at the hazard of their 
 
 * T shall not enter into a discussion of the numerous' charges brought 
 against the Irish Catholics for their conduct either in former or the 
 present times, because this has been done by writers, who, from theic 
 local information, are better qualified to perform this task than lam, 
 particularly bv Ilenrv Brooke, Esq. author of The Farmer s Letters^ 
 &rc. in his little spirited Trial of the R. Catholics of Ireland ; also by 
 Dr. Curry in his Historical Memoirs, and his History of the Civil Wars 
 of Ireland, 2 vols, and lastlv, by FrancisPlowden, Esq. in his History 
 vj Ireland, >, vols, quarto, which has been so much abused precisely be- 
 cause it cannot be refuted. I will barely mention here, with respect to 
 former affairs, that the Irish Catholics were in a singular predicament 
 during the reign of Charles f. when there wen: both English and Scotch 
 rebellions existing, one of the pretexts of which was the Lug's par- 
 tiality to the Catholics and the Irish, and that the latter ma- perhaps 
 be excused for standing on their own defence, especially as they were 
 secretly encouraged so to do, both by the aforesaid Charles 1. and 
 afterwards by his son Charles II. With respect to late events, I cannot 
 omit this opportunity of barely making one or two remarks on the 
 depositions ot the drummers and soldiers, which are so triumphantly 
 brought forward by the Observer in li'.s Appendix, in order to prove that 
 F. Peter O'Neii, who was so inhumanly whipped, and afterwards 
 transported, as having been concerned in the murder ot a soldier, was 
 actually guilty ofthat crime. Now what does the evidence against him, 
 as stated in the depositions, actually amount to? We have first the lev 
 
 D
 
 28 
 
 property and persons, to extinguish these fatal 
 flames ; for which exertions they are now requited 
 
 timony of Farmer Thomas O'Neil, who soon afterwards proved him- 
 self to be a very bad man, and therefore unworthy of belief ; who also 
 is nOw dead, and of course cannot be cross-examined by the accused or 
 his friends; and finally, who made this declaration against his name- 
 sake to save his own life : see No I. 2dly, We have that of F. Maguire: 
 but he also has been dead these four years, and I know it can be proved, 
 by the oaths of persons fully as credible and as intelligent as the serjeant- 
 ihajor, and the dram-major, that in other circumstances he gave a very 
 different character of F. Peter O'Neil, from that which he is stated to 
 have given at the place of punishment. If he were alive, I make 
 no doubt he would be able to reconcile the apparent contradiction in 
 his testimony, by shewing that what he said against his comrade at the 
 triangle, was in consequence of the strong assurances of his guilt which 
 he received from the respectable personages there present : for we may 
 be satisfied, they would not be wanting in magnifying the proofs of the 
 sufferer's guilt, after they had actually proceeded to the execution of 
 their sentence against him. In a word, it appears from the said evi- 
 ' dence, that " F. Maguire himselfseemed greatly agitated on seeing the 
 *' Priest tied up, (and who had actually then received fifty lashes) and 
 * 4 asked Lord Loftus, if he had any thing against him (Maguire) ?'* 
 No. V. Was the latter then in a situation and frame of mind to give 
 an impartial character ofF. O'Neil, unless we suppose him to have been 
 really endued with the fortitude of a martyr ? Lastly, we are presented 
 with the confession of F. O'Neil himself. But how was this obtained ? 
 By the force of tortures. " After being tied up, and receiving about 50 
 " lashes, Lord Loftus asked hi n, if he would confess, and the remain- 
 " der of his punishment should be remitted." No. V. In short, "after 
 "receiving, as he (the deponent) thinks, about 300 lashes at different 
 " periods, he heard him confess to Lord Loftus, that he had signed the 
 *' death-warrant of asoldier who had been murdered some timebefore; 
 that " he was the real murderer of the man :" in short, any thing 
 that was put into his mouth to say. Is this a proper evidence of any 
 man's guilt ? It may pass for such with an Irish court-martial; but it 
 will not go down with an English court of justice, nor with an English 
 public. 1 grant, that a Christian is bound to lose his life rather than, 
 tell the smallest lie; but will even the Observer vouch for it, that the 
 force of lengthened tortures, whilst the flesh is harrowed up, and the 
 blood is streaming from an hundred wounds, would not make him devi-
 
 29 
 
 hy a certain party with the grossest calumny 
 and insult*. 
 
 IX. Another most fatal principle of Papists 
 is that of persecution. " They are ordered to 
 '*' extirpate heretics, whenever they are able to 
 a do so; for which they are offered eternal sal* 
 " vatiojif," The 4th council of Lateran has 
 decreed it, and Dr. Troy and Messrs. Plowden 
 testify that it is not lawful for Papists 1,0 recede 
 from the decrees of a general council J. "They 
 " cannot do it without ceasing \o be Roman 
 " Catholics $." 
 
 Then there are no Roman Catholics on either 
 side of St. George's Channel ; because it is indis 
 putably certain, that there is not a man, whether 
 of the clergy or the laity, amongst those who 
 have hitherto passed for such, who either has not 
 
 ate from the strict truth, especially -,vhen the effect of it would only he 
 to criminate himself ? I say nothing of the glaring inconsistency of 
 F. O 'Neil's first auilmrizing the murder, and then giving absolution for it 
 as a crime ; or his abs jiving thirteen or fit teen men, as it appears, at the 
 eame time, and without any sacramental preparation on their part} or 
 of the other absurdities in the deposition, whicn cannot fail of striking 
 eyery catholic reader- In one point it is possible F. O'Neal may have 
 been mistaken in his Narrative, where he says that the three last lashes 
 were inflicted on him with a wire cat. He could only speak from his 
 ou.il senses of the effect they produced upon him. Possibly, he was 
 deceived by some stander by, who thought he saw wire, &c. in the 
 instrument. 
 
 * Considerations on the Statt of Inland, p. J3. 
 
 f Ibid. p. 12. 
 
 \ Emancip. p. 42. 
 
 Ibid. p. 37. 
 
 D 2
 
 30 
 
 sworn, or is not ready to swear, that he holds 
 himself to be under no such obligation. How 
 happy, for these writers, as I said before ! They 
 may henceforward sleep in peace, and leave the 
 legislature to exercise its wisdom and benevo- 
 lence in uniting all descriptions of subjects in 
 the bonds of interest and affection. 
 
 Buf, to answer the objection more directly. 
 I do not know any other church, except the Ca- 
 tholic, which has formally declared that she has 
 no power of inflicting sanguinary punishment 
 in any case whatever*. She carries this spirit 
 so far, as to render those of her clergy who con- 
 cur indirectly in the shedding of blood, whether 
 in a cause of heresy, or any other cause, incapa- 
 ble of receiving a benefice, or of exercising ec- 
 clesiastical functions. It is in virtue of this an- 
 cient law that the Bishops of the establishment 
 quit their seats in the Upper House when a capi- 
 tal cause comes before it. Neither does the 
 Church by her general discipline require or so- 
 licit temporal princes to put heretics to death. 
 On the contrary, she was bound to recommend 
 them to mercy, where the laws of the state used 
 to inflict sanguinary punishments upon them. It 
 is true, that a general assembly of almost all the 
 sovereigns as well as prelates of Christendom, 
 called the fourth Council of Lateran, having been 
 held for stopping the progress of a most infamous, 
 #s well as most impious and destructive sect, 
 
 * 3 Lateran, can. 27, &c.
 
 31 
 
 called Albigenses, which began to lay all Eu- 
 rope waste, and threatened to stop the propaga- 
 tion of the human species, a temporary ordinance 
 of discipline* took place for punishing those 
 feudatory princes, and their protector. Raymund 
 Count of Toulouse in particular, with the loss of 
 their territories, if they continued to do so. Cut 
 as this ordinance, being of a civil and temporal 
 nature, derived its force from the Emperors, 
 Kings, sovereign Princes and states present in 
 the council, so it never had any force or efficacy, 
 except in those places where it was received by 
 them, and at present it is of no force any where .f. 
 Most certainly it never was received in England, 
 nor was any person put to death here on the score 
 of religion, until two hundred years after the 
 Council of Lateran, when in consequence of the 
 murders, rebellions, and other violences com- 
 mitted by Wickliff's disciples, the statute De 
 Heretico Comburendo was passed, at which time 
 there Mas not a word said about the Council of 
 Lateran. With respect to the execrable fires of 
 Queen Mary's reign, they were lighted up by the 
 policy, not the religion of that remorseless Queen. 
 She received many instructions from the Pope, 
 and a synod was held by Cardinal Pole, but not 
 a word was dropped by any ecclesiastical power, 
 
 * It is highly necessary that these and other writers of th'ir class 
 should learn the necessary distinction between the unchangeable decisions 
 of councils on faith and morals, and the changeable ordinances regarding 
 discipline. 
 
 i See Van Espen Jus. Ecc. vol. ii.
 
 32 
 
 calling for or recommending persecution. Two 
 years of her reign passed without any measure of 
 this nature, and it was only after a second in- 
 surrection on the score of religion, within that 
 space of time, that she unfortunately resolved 
 to employ the impolitic as well as the cruel ex- 
 pedient of persecution, to secure her tranquillity. 
 But why need I resort to history in order to con- 
 vince Sir II. M-, Dr. D., &c. that Catholics are 
 not bound by their tenets to extirpate those of a 
 different communion, when they have it in their 
 power so to do? Have these Gentlemen never tra- 
 velled in Catholic countries? Have they never been 
 at Rome ? If they have not, I am-acquainted with 
 gome relatives of the former who have been there, 
 and who were most kindly received by the Pope, 
 though they neither concealed their religion nor 
 their connections ; and if these very Gentlemen 
 should choose to set out thither to-morrow, dis- 
 playing the lying History of all the Rebellions 
 in Ireland, with the rest of their works, both 
 avowed and anonymous, I will be answerable 
 with my life, that their lives will be in as much 
 safety there, as were those of certain Quakers, 
 who heretofore went to Rome to convert the 
 Pope, and who having opened their mission in 
 St. Peter's Church by exclaiming to him : Thou 
 Scarlet JVhore, 8$c. the Pontiff quietly dismissed 
 them to return to England, with money to conduct 
 them thither. If the Gentlemen are still haunted 
 with fears of being burnt by Catholics in conse-
 
 33 
 
 quence of the persecuting doctrine or practices of 
 former times, let them point out to me a Protestant 
 country in which the same doctrine has not been 
 taught, and the same practices has not prevailed ; 
 let them mention a sect, which being in power, 
 has not persecuted fellow Protestants as well as 
 Catholics. It suffices here to say, that Beza lias 
 written a large work on this subject, * in which 
 he cites Lutiier, Melancthon, Calvin, Bucer, and 
 every other eminent Protestant divine of that 
 age in defence of the persecuting system. The 
 sanguinary opinions and practices of Cranmer, 
 Kidley, Latimer, Edwin, King, &c. are well 
 known. It has been demonstrated | that many 
 more Catholics were put to death under Eliza- 
 beth ami the first Stuarts, for the mere exercise 
 of their religion (not to speak of a crowd of 
 Anabaptist and Arian victims) than all the Pro- 
 testant sufferers in Mary's reign. 
 
 X. It is objected, that whatever Papists may be 
 in themselves, they acknowledge a foreign juris- 
 diction, namely that of the Pope, which is esta- 
 blishing an Impcrium in I??tperio, and that " the 
 " Oath of Supremacy does not impose a restric- 
 " tion on any persons but rebels and traitors f." 
 It is true, that their Church being widely ex- 
 tended amongst nations and people of different 
 
 * T)c ILfrclicis cap'ita J i/':r punkndis a Civil* Magistrals. 
 t See letters to a Prebend, on Persecution. 
 J Considerations, p. 47.
 
 54 
 
 politics, habits, and languages, it is necessary 
 they should have a centre of union, which they 
 believe to be in the See of Rome, and that its 
 Bishop possesses a certain spiritual jurisdiction in 
 the mere concerns of religion. But unless this 
 can be proved to be in the same kind and of the 
 same nature with the civil and temporal supre- 
 macy of his Majesty, it no more establishes an 
 Imperium in Imperio, or derogates from his rights 
 and dignity, than if the musicians or painters of 
 this country were to appoint some celebrated 
 Roman artist to be their president, and were to 
 consult him about the rules of harmony, or the 
 merit of pictures. Now that there is no inter- 
 ference between the spiritual, and the civil and 
 temporal jurisdiction in the opinion of Catholics, 
 is proved by the very clear and explicit terms of 
 their oath, contained in their petition, according 
 to which they have sworn that they " Do not 
 " believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other 
 " foreign prince, prelate, state, or potentate, 
 " hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil 
 "jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-emi- 
 " nence within this realm." If any Englishman 
 giving credit to the sincerity of his Catholic 
 brethren in taking this oath, (a sinceriry which, 
 as the Petition states, and I have shewn, is so 
 invincibly proved by their conduct) if any 
 Englishman, I say, is still jealous of their alle- 
 giance, by reason of their acknowledging the 
 aforesaid spiritual jurisdiction, he is evidently 
 more jealous than the despotic sovereigns of
 
 35 
 
 Prussia and Russia arc, who even keep agents at 
 Rome. They are more jealous than the cautious 
 Pontius Piiate was, who being alarmed at our 
 Saviour claiming to be a king, was satisfied when 
 Christ assured him that, his kingdom was not of 
 this world* > and immediately went out of his 
 judgment hall to say to the assembled Jews, 
 / find in him no fault a! all t. 
 
 I am almost ashamed to take notice of the in- 
 decent ami seditious language of these libellers 
 of their brethren and fellow subjects cited 
 above. If the Oath of Supremacy imposes a re- 
 striction upon none but rebels and traitors, then 
 is the noble Lord, so often alluded to, who fought 
 at the hill of Tarah, a rebel and a traitor; then 
 lias his Majesty five or six millions of avowed 
 rebels and traitors amongst his subjects at 
 the present time; then all our Catholic an- 
 cestors were, as all the subjects of Spain, and the 
 other Catholic powers are still, virtually rebels 
 and traitors, in consequence of their objection 
 to the substance of this oath. [ must add, that all 
 the Dissenters of every persuasion were rebels 
 and traitors down to the reign of William and 
 Mary, when all the affirmative part of the Oath 
 of Supremacy was cut down.]; in compliance 
 with their scruples. In consequence of this 
 change a subject may now publicly acknow- 
 ledge the religious supremacy of the Patriarch of 
 
 John xviii. 36. f Ibid. vor. 38. 
 
 I See 1 W. ana M. sess. 1. cap. 3. compare! with 1 Eliz. cap. 1 
 
 F
 
 36 
 
 Muscovy, or of the Mufti of Constantinople, or 
 of trie Lama of Thibet, or of the General Assem- 
 bly of Scotland, without any inconveniency what- 
 ever from the laws. Happily however the King, 
 Lords and Commons of Ireland have decided, 
 in opposition to these fanatics, that those who 
 abjure the Pope's civil and temporal jurisdiction 
 in the terms of the oath " deserve to be con- 
 " sidered as good and loyal subjects *." 
 
 XL But it is urged, the Papal Supremacy is 
 not merely spiritual and religious, as is pretend- 
 ed; on the contrary, it claims the supreme direc- 
 tion of all human affairs here upon earth, parti- 
 cularly the right of dethroning sovereigns and 
 disposing of kingdoms and empires. Amongst 
 innumerable other instances, " Pope Pius V. in 
 " his Bull fulminated against Queen Elizabeth, 
 li declared her subjects absolved from their oaths 
 " of allegiance, and called upon them to rise in 
 " arms and to depose and murder her. It is 
 " well known that many persons by attempting 
 *' to conform to it, were hanged or transport- 
 ed |." 
 
 The question is not, what power has been 
 claimed by Popes heretofore, when they were 
 considered, by an almost general consent, as the 
 umpires of Christian Princes, but what power is 
 ascribed to them by English and Irish Catholics 
 at the present day. Now these, by their solemn 
 
 * 22 Geo. III. c. 24. Irish- -f Observ. 071 Corrcsp.y. 17.
 
 37 
 
 oath, inserted in the Petition, do "renounce, reject 
 " and abjure the opinion, that Princes excommu- 
 " nicated by the Pope and Council, or by any 
 " authority whatsoever, may be deposed or mur- 
 ' : dered by their subjects, or by any person what- 
 " soever." It is true, a Bull of excommunica- 
 tion and deposition was published by the afore- 
 said Pope against Elizabeth, though not of the 
 tenor these writers assert it to have been *. But 
 how, I ask, was the Bull received by English 
 Catholics, even in the times we are speaking of? 
 It was utterly disregarded by them. They con- 
 tinued to pray and to fight for their unnatural 
 stepmother, with the same zeal and fidelity as if 
 she had been their natural and affectionate mo- 
 ther. One Catholic alone of all the clergy and 
 laity, John Felton, Esq. (I defy the writers to 
 name a second, who was hanged or transported 
 on this account,) attempted to conform to the 
 Bull, and his conduct was u niversall y reprobated L ^\ 
 by those of his communion. If they still re- 
 proach Catholics with the conduct of Popes in 
 past ages, I will undertake to shew that a greater 
 number of Princes were deprived of their domi- 
 nions, in whole or in part, within a century and 
 a half after the first preaching of Luther, by the 
 liberty introduced of each man's interpreting 
 the scripture for himself, or of following the 
 movements of the supposed spirit within him, than 
 
 * There is not a word in the bull about the subjects rising in arms and 
 murdering Elizabeth. Seethe orginal Latin in Cumdcni Annulet, &c. 
 
 E2
 
 38 
 
 were deposed by Popes during the whole time 
 they claimed a power of doing this *. 
 
 XII. All this, however, says another writer, 
 will not do, because the present Pope, even Pius 
 VII. has " done a deed without a name. He 
 " has been guilty of impiety and blasphemy 
 " by conferring a crown upon an usurper, and - 
 " anointing him with the holy oil of kings 'JV' 
 
 My answer is, that this is one of those civil 
 and temporal transactions in which British Catho- 
 lics have renounced and abjured all connection 
 with the See of Rome. Neither they, in general, nor 
 
 * One of the writers threatens the Catholics with fresh oaths and en- 
 gagements, to prevent the consequences which he and others deduce 
 from their principles and history. In this case, it will he fair for Catho- 
 lics to call for a corresponding code of new tests, to restrain persons of 
 almost every other communion. It may be required of Presbyterians 
 snd Independents to swear that, notwithstanding the clearness of scrip- 
 ture for Israel repairing to his tents, they never will take arms against 
 the King and constitution, by way of defending them. The Anabaptists 
 may be called upon to swear, that, notwithstanding all things belong 
 to the just, and though God heretofore gave to John of Ley den and others 
 'whole cities at a time, they v, ill, notwithstanding any such divine pre- 
 sent, leave his Majesty in possession of his crown, and every sinner of 
 his estate and fortune. The Anomeans ought to swear, that, though 
 there is no law Jar the faithful, yet that they will observe the laws 
 of the land. And even the Quakers may be desired to affirm, 
 that however the spirit ft he Lord may move them, as it did their founder 
 George Fox, they will not enter into the steeple-houses and call the 
 impostors to come clown from their pulpits, or go naked about the streets, 
 &c. 1 really believe that all these descriptions are, at present, very 
 good subjects, and that such tests would be vexatious and impolitic. I 
 barely put these cases, by way of quashing the mode of reasoning 
 adopted against the Catholics. 
 
 f Letter to Dr. Troy on the Coronation of Bonaparte, by Mclaiicthon.
 
 30 
 
 that exemplary and loyal Prelate* hi particular, 
 who has met with such lid hounded abuse on the 
 occasion, and into whose mouth so many ridi- 
 culous arguments are put, for the sake of refut- 
 ing- them t, has said a word in defence of the 
 transaction, or is more accountable for it than 
 any other subject whatsoever. The Catholics 
 look up to the executive power of the state for 
 the rule of their conduct and relations with fo- 
 reign powers, and they neither do acknowledge 
 nor ever will acknowledge any civil power, au- 
 thority, style or title, except such as they shall 
 be authorized to acknowledge by his Majesty J. 
 
 XIII. There yet remains another chapter of 
 objections. It is said that whatever may be the 
 case with the Papists and the Pope, Protestants 
 
 * Dr. Troy. f See A Jxttcr to Dr. Troy. 
 
 \ Thovgh lam neither obliged nor disposed to enter upon a regular 
 dI the Pope's conduct, yet I think common sense and com- 
 mo . j Mil require me to suggest the following hints to Melancthon, 
 by wav of moderating that unbounded indignation with which he is 
 transported on the occasion. The See of Rome was faithful to the 
 grand conf-deracy against France, as loati as it was in the power of 
 Austria and the allies to protect it; but when this became im- 
 practicable, what was expected from it, according to the law of 
 nations, but to submit to its fate, and own the right of conquest ? If 
 the Pope abandoned the Bourbons, and acknowledged Bonaparte as 
 the first mag strute, so did ev< ry other government in Europe, and 
 ourown among the rest, when it entered into a treaty of peace with 
 him, and prosecuted poor Peltier for abusing him. The Pope did not 
 
 raise B to the rank of emperor ; the latter caused himself to 
 
 be declared such by his subjects, and to be acknowledge! such by 
 most of the powers of Europe, and amongst the n st b> Austria, v> i ose 
 rights were most invaded. The Pope did not pretend to confer . >r 
 li to* hold the imperial crown by the ceremony of coronation ;
 
 40 
 
 must look to the security of their own Church 
 and their political ascendancy ; both which are 
 incompatible with Catholic Emancipation *. 
 
 Narrow-minded jealousy and bigotry are sure 
 to stand in their own light. If Catholic Eman- 
 cipation be necssary, or, at least, advantageous 
 
 as a mark of which, the latter is said to have put the crown on his own 
 head. There was not, as Melancthon supposes, any sacrament or 
 other rite performed, which required innocence or purity of consci- 
 ence, but the whole ceremonial may be reduced to benedictions and 
 prayers, such as we may bestow on any sinner whomsoever. If Me- 
 lancthon cannot reconcile himself to this, I would ask him, what were 
 those thousands of French priests, whom this nation, to its immortal 
 honour, so long supported, sent back to do in France, except to pray 
 for its ruling power, and to sing Domine sahum fac consulcm ? One 
 word more: had the Pope refused to acknowledge or sanction the au- 
 thority of B on the ground of his being a wicked man, or 
 
 an apostate, what would this have been but to assume to himself 
 the very claim here complained of, namely, that of giving and taking 
 
 away temporal crowns on pretexts of religion ? 1 shall now say 
 
 a word of the effects of this business in our own regard. Of ail the 
 mischiefs of the French revolution, the subversion of Christianity 
 and morality was viewed by reflecting men as the worst. They 
 were startled at the idea of a moral Algiers being fixed for ever on the 
 opposite shore, and they acknowledged, that their only hopes of the 
 general relations of peace and war being ever observed there, were 
 founded on the restoration of the Catholic Religion. This has accord- 
 ingly been effected by the Coiicordatum of Pius VII. which, contrary to 
 what is generally supposed, has even secured the spiritual independency 
 that was so long the subject of contention. The state of religion and 
 morality in France is certainly very different from what we could wish 
 it to be ; but that person must be blindly ignorant or prejudiced, who 
 will not admit that it is infinitely better than it was ten years ago, and 
 that there are now hopes, through the labours of our late guests the 
 edifying French priests, who are now at liberty to preach, of their 
 countrymen putting off that ferocious and unprincipled character, which 
 rendered them equally dangerous neighbours in peace and in war. 
 N. B. It ought not to be forgotten that the Pope refused to crown 
 Josephina as the royal consort 'till he had married her to B . 
 * Emaiicip. p. 45, &c.
 
 41 
 
 for the security of the state, as all able politici- 
 ans, even amongst those who oppose it, have 
 unequivocally proclaimed, it must obviously be 
 necessary or advantageous, in the same degree, for 
 the security of the Church. As to protestant ascen- 
 dancy, it is ridiculous to pretend that this will be 
 overturned by the permission of a mere handful 
 of Irish and English Catholics of rank and fortune 
 to take their chance of getting into Parliament 
 or office, whilst the Sovereign is, and by the Bill 
 of Rights must be, a Protestant of the establish- 
 ed Church. But why resort to this argument 
 now, since it was absolutely yielded at the late 
 Union, when even those who were most jealous of 
 this ascendancy, confessed with Dr. Duigenan, 
 that, in the event of such a measure, it was 
 perfectly compatible with Catholic Emancipa- 
 tion *. 
 
 XIV. There is an inconsistency, it is main- 
 tained, in having a Protestant Sovereign and a 
 
 Catholic Legislature. 
 
 The contrary was demonstrated in the most 
 flourishing periods of Protestantism. During 
 the whole rtigns of Edward VI., Elizabeth, 
 James I., Charles I. and down to almost the end 
 of that of Charles II., both Houses of Parliament 
 were open to Catholics in common with other 
 subjects, and they were frequently put into offi- 
 ces of trust and dignity. At length, in a mo- 
 
 * See above, p. 4.
 
 42 
 
 . . 
 
 itignt not of cool judgment, but of phrensy *', 
 (when the infamous Gates and his associates, b,y 
 dint of swearing, had worked it up into a belief, 
 that the Catholics were engaged in a plot to 
 shoot, stab and poison their best friend, the 
 aforesaid Charles, and to invade the kingdom 
 with an army of 30,000 pilgrims from St. J ago 
 in Spain, whilst a hecatomb of catholic victims 
 was offered up at Tyburn,) the Act entitled : For 
 the more effectual preserving the King's Person 
 and Government passed, by which the new quali- 
 fication for holding any office, sitting in Par- 
 liament, sueing in any court, remaining in the 
 King's presence, &c. was established, namely, 
 that the party should swear that the invocation of 
 the Virgin Mary and the Mass, as used in the 
 Church of Rome, is idolatrous f / I could wish 
 to ask the persons who have found out an in- 
 consistency that never struck their ancestors, 
 what greater opposition there is between Catho- 
 lic Legislators and a Protestant King, than be- 
 tween Jewish, Deistical, or Atheistical Legisla- 
 tors and a Christian King. I am far from mean- 
 ing to insinuate that there are such persons now 
 in Parliament, but the doors of it are evidently 
 open to all such, as the law stands, provided they 
 will swear that the Mass is idolatry']]. 
 
 * See Hume, Dalrymple, Isorttis Exa?nen, c. 
 f 30 Car. II. c. 1. 
 J It does not appear that the Prelates and other chief divines of die 
 Church of England were consulted in framing this passage of the oath ;
 
 43 
 
 XV. Bat: " The present question, " says ano- 
 ther writer, respectable for his moderation unci 
 services to his country, " cannot be debated on 
 " the various topics of general policy and national 
 " utility*, but merely with respect to the terms 
 " of the Coronation Oath.'' To every argument 
 of that nature in favour of the emancipation 
 "which the best and wisest Minister may suggest 
 to the Sovereign, the latter is bound to answer : 
 " I cannot consent to a measure contrary to my 
 " enfjaafement : whatever comes of it I must leave 
 " the consequence to God j\" 
 
 Having answered this and the other arguments 
 of the writer in question at full length J, I shall 
 content myself here with observing, 1st, That 
 neither the terms nor the meaning of his Majes- 
 ty's oath implies any such engagement as is here 
 expressed. The King engages, indeed, "to pro- 
 " tect the Protestant Religion as established by 
 " law;" but will any man seriously contend, that 
 
 which is certainly in opposition to the opinion of the most eminent 
 amongst them, namely, of all those who admitted the possibility of sal- 
 vation in the Church of Rome. Thus much is certain, that B.shop 
 Cunning, one of the most learned and exemplary Prelates on the 
 bench, warmly opposed the passage ahout idolatry, and declared that 
 he could not swear to it. See Burnet's History of his ozvn Times t 
 vol. i. p. 436. 
 
 * Considerations on the Coronation Oath, by John Reeves, Esq. 
 p. 6. 1 Ed. 
 
 f Ibid. p. 25. 
 
 X See The Case of Conscience solved ; or, Catholic Emancipation 
 proved to be compatible nith the Coronation Oath. Fauider, Wright, 
 Debrett, Stockdule, Keating and Co. &c. 
 
 F
 
 44 
 
 by this oath he is more firmly bound to protect it 
 against Catholics than against Presbyterians, 
 Deists and Atheists? Certainly not; unless he 
 is ready, at the same time, to maintain that there 
 is a greater opposition between the Church of 
 Rome and the Church of England, than between 
 Atheism and the Church of England. Now, if it 
 be admitted that his Majesty can protect the 
 Church against Atheism, without Members of 
 Parliament, &c. being obliged to swear that they 
 believe in the existence of God, why cannot he 
 protect it against Popery, without the same per- 
 sons being obliged to swear that the Catholic 
 service is idolatry? 2dly, "Whilst yet the coro- 
 " nation oath," as finally settled by the legisla- 
 ture, " was fresh in the mouth of King William,'' 
 as an illustrious writer observes*, this prince con- 
 curred with the other branches of the legislature 
 in altering the tests and repealing the penalties 
 against Dissenters -\, without either the consci- 
 ousness or the reproach of his thereby violating 
 his oath to protect the established Church; 
 though the Dissenters had, but about forty years 
 before that time, actually overturned the said 
 Church. But this is not all : for, 3dly, The 
 Sovereign was some time afterwards authorized 
 by law |, as is still the practice, to swear to the 
 protection of a different church within the pre- 
 
 * Bur!:c's Letter to Sh' 11. Langrish. 
 
 J i W. and M. i. cap, iS, i W. and M. i . cap. 3. 
 
 X 5 Ann, cap. 18.
 
 45 
 
 cincts of the same island, namely the Kirk of 
 Scotland. Can I avoid expressing my astonish- 
 ment at the inconsistency of these reasoners. 
 They can absolve King William and Queen Ann 
 from any violation of the Coronation Oath, in 
 absolutely establishing Presbyterianism on the 
 ruins and fragments of their altars, communion 
 rails, organs, surplices, croziers and mitres*, yet 
 they pretend that his present [Majesty is pre- 
 cluded bv the verv same oath from granting the 
 civil rights of subjets to the Catholics of Ireland 
 and England. 4thly, If there were any force in 
 the present objection, it would equally militate 
 against a score of other legislative or royal Acts 
 to which his Majesty's sanction is actually affixed, 
 namely all the different Acts of Parliament that 
 have been passed, either in Ireland or England, 
 during the present reign, for the partial relief of 
 Catholics, and more particularly the Quebec Act 
 and the Corsican Constitution"}". 5thly, Where- 
 as a particular stress is laid on the 30th of Charles 
 II. as -a. fundamental laic, which, it is pretended, 
 his Majesty cannot possibly consent to abrogate. 
 I answer, that he has already consented to the 
 abrogation of the most essential part of that Act, 
 
 Every one knows that at this period episcopacy, which had been so 
 zealously supported in Scotland by the Stuarts, was abolished bv King 
 William. He was obliged to take an oath to protect the Kirk, and to 
 persecute heretics. But the present oath was not settled in parliament 
 till the following reign. 
 
 f Seethe Corsican Constitution, ratified by the Viceroy in the name 
 of his Majesty, June 14, 17^4. Art. I. 
 
 F2
 
 46 
 
 according- to the spirit of it, as signified in 
 the title, namely the exclusion of Catholics 
 from the Royal Presence *. Lastly, It is incon- 
 controvertible that both the Parliaments of Eng- 
 land and Ireland, with his Majesty at their head, 
 haye recognized the principle ot the particular 
 privilege which is most disputed, namely, in the 
 Articles of the late Union, where they decree that 
 the members of the United Parliament shall take 
 and subscribe the usual oaths and declarations 
 " UNTIL THE SAID PARLIAMENT SHALL 
 " OTHERWISE PRO V IDE t-" 
 
 XVI. By way of conclusion, it is foretold, by 
 the former writers, whose unrivalled zeal -for the 
 protestant interest is so much extolled in many of 
 the Reviews J, that " Catholic Emancipation 
 " would jacobinize Ireland, and terminate in 
 " anarchy and turbulence ." 
 
 I answer, that other persons, full as clear- 
 sighted, and who have proved themselves to be 
 
 # 31 Geo. III. c 32. 
 
 t Art. IV. 
 
 % It is well known in the literary world, that there are ways and 
 means by which an author may be enabled to publish strictures on his 
 own work in the public reviews, and this is actually supposed to be the 
 case with the accounts published in them of some of the late pamphlets 
 alluded to. Be this as it may: there have been other persons possessed 
 of as ardent a zeal for Protestantism as any of the writers in question, 
 or their associates : for example, the late Lord G. Gordon, who him- 
 self was a convert from Popery, but who not succeeding in his attempts 
 against it ended his life in Newgate a professed Jew* with a long rabbi- 
 nical beard and a Hebrew mistress. 
 
 Considerations, p. 39.
 
 47 
 
 as good and as disinterested friends totheir 
 country, draw just the opposite conclusions from 
 this hypothesis. If ever there was a man whose 
 native powers of mind and long experience had 
 enabled him " to attain . . . to something like pro- 
 " phetic strain *" it was the late Edmund Bu.ke. 
 This illustrious patriot and statesman, speaking 
 of the -establishment of the catholic religion in 
 Canada, and ridiculing the predictions of certain 
 other short-sighted and narrow-minded prophets, 
 expresses himself thus: "It is true that some 
 " people, and amongst them one eminent divine, 
 " predicted at that time, that by this step we 
 " Should lose our dominions in America. He 
 " foretold that the Pope Mould send his indul- 
 " gences thither; and that the Canadians would 
 " fall in with France, declare their indepen- 
 " dence, and draw or force our colonies into the 
 ' same design. The independence happened, 
 ' according to his prediction; but in directly 
 " the reverse order. All our protestant colonies 
 " revolted. They joined themselves to France ; 
 " and it so happened that popish Canada was 
 " the only place which preserved its fidelity; 
 " the only place in which France got no looting; 
 " the only peopled colony which now remains to 
 " Great Britain -f." 
 
 * 11 Pcnjeroso. 
 
 f Letter to Sir II. Linri$h, p. 84.
 
 48 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Amongst the opponents of the measure in 
 contemplation, I understand there are two de- 
 scriptions of persons One of these (small and 
 insignificant I suppose it to be) is so far trans- 
 ported with hitter zeal against Catholics, that, 
 regardless cither of private or public benefit, its 
 jpaitizans scruple not to declare they would rather 
 concur to the renewal of the whole sanguinary 
 code of Queen Elizabeth, for the extirpation of 
 Papists, than to the adoption of any law or regu- 
 lation which might prove an indulgence to them. 
 The other class object only to what they impro- 
 perly call Catholic Domination, and declare it to 
 be just and politic to remove any real or specific 
 grievances under which they labour*. To, such 
 respectable personages I could wish to propose 
 the two following grievances, as equally affect- 
 ing the welfare of the Community and the con- 
 sciences of Catholics. 
 
 The veiy idea of exacting religious qualifica- 
 tions to fight the battles of the country in such 
 times as these must appear strange and unac- 
 countable to the nations of Europe. Yet so the 
 law stands. Not only Gentlemen are precluded 
 from holding military commissions in England, 
 without abjuring transubstantiation; but also a 
 
 * In this number is Mr. Reeves. See his Consid. on Coron- QuHk
 
 49 
 
 common man is not permitted by law to shoulder 
 a musket in the militia, unless he can swear that 
 he is a Protestant. This, however, is not the 
 subject of the present complaint, but the follow- 
 ing. In Ireland, which is the grand resource 
 for recruiting our regular regiments, as well as 
 our navy, the laws against the service of Catho- 
 lics, with the exception of the higher posts, have 
 been repealed these twelve years. In conse- 
 quence of this, thousands, and indeed hundreds 
 of thousands of Irioh Catholics have been en- 
 listed there under the idea, and under the positive 
 assurances of those, whom they considered as 
 the representatives of government, that they 
 xvere to be left at full liberty to praetice their ozvn 
 .religio?i y and that no eonf'ormity with any other 
 would be required of them. But no sooner are 
 these poor men shipped off to England or some 
 of its dependancies, according to the general 
 practice of the war-office (and frequently, as I 
 am told, even before they leave Ireland) than 
 the}' find themselves precluded from the < xcrcise 
 of their own worship, and forced, under pain of 
 the severest punishment, to attend another, in 
 opposition to their conscientious feelings. I 
 grant that the practice of commanding officers 
 is not uniform in this particular; a circumstance 
 which rather augments than lessens the evil. I 
 remember an instance of a regiment, consisting 
 chiefly of catholic soldiers, being permitted and 
 required here in England to attend their chapel,
 
 50 
 
 until they received their new clothes and arms. 
 This heing clone, they were assembled on parade, 
 and a letter was read to them purporting that 
 they were ordered by the Commander in 
 Chief henceforward to attend the service of the 
 Church : just as if grown men could, at once, 
 divest themselves of their earliest and dearest 
 sentiments, and change their religion as. easily 
 as they change their clothes! I say nothing of 
 the hardship and religious intolerance of this pro- 
 ceeding, and of the deception that is practiced 
 on those who venture their lives for their coun- 
 try ; which deception they fail not. in their 
 minds, to attribute to government itself; I chiefly 
 wish to call your attention, and that of other 
 moderate men, to the impolicy of it. Must it 
 not impede the recruiting service in Ireland ? 
 Must it not leave a degree of discontent and dis- 
 affection amongst the soldiers who are actually 
 serving? Can any thing more contribute to 
 make Irishmen feel that they are fighting their 
 own battles, than to make them feel that they 
 are fighting for the practice of their religion ? 
 
 The second grievance equally affects the public 
 welfare, because it affects the public morals. It 
 is generally known that matrimony, according 
 to the catholic faith, is not only a solemn con- 
 tract, indissoluble, even in cases of infidelity, but 
 also a sacrament, which is therefore celebrated 
 amongst them with the same kind of religious 
 preparation as the sacrament of the Lord's Sup-
 
 51. 
 
 per itself is. Hence they must necessarily have 
 : recourse to their own clergy for the performance 
 of' this sacrament. In Ireland the marriages 
 performed by catholic priests, after the publica- 
 tion of banns, &c. are good in law; but our 
 English Marriage Act having been passed before 
 the relaxation of the penal laws, at a tune wlien 
 the existence of a catholic priest could not be 
 recognized, Catholics were, on that account, and 
 that only, (as Ministry then declared, and as the 
 spirit of the Act, which is purely civil, proves) 
 excluded from the exception it contains in be- 
 half of Jews and Quakers. Hence their marriages 
 must necessarily be clandestine, and hence those 
 Very evils which the Marriage Act was calculated 
 to prevent, cannot but frequently take place 
 amongst them. The poor Irish knowing that 
 tlie catholic rite is sufficient for every purpose 
 ill their own country, and being actually taught 
 that it is a valid and sacred contract, frequently 
 do not take any measures to legalize it. The 
 consequence is, that when they become tired of 
 each other, they too frequenly enter into fresh 
 engagements. On the other hand, minors of a 
 higher rank are encouraged to elope from their 
 parents, in hopes of saving both their honour and 
 their conscience, by getting married by a catholic 
 priest. I know an instance of a protectant gen- 
 tleman saying to a catholic lady, I will marry 
 you cither at the chapel or the church, as you 
 choose, but I will not many you twice ; when the 
 
 G
 
 52 
 
 lady, agreeably to her conscience, preferring to 
 be married by a catholic clergyman, (though in 
 a public ambassador's chapel in London) the 
 gentleman, after a five years cohabitation, and 
 the birth of a child, was induced to abandon her 
 to scorn and perpetual celibacy, at the prospect of 
 marrying another lady of considerable rank and 
 connexions. The remedy of these public as well 
 as private evils is obvious and easy. The catholic 
 clergy wish to be put under the regulations of 
 the Marriage Act, a measure that seems naturally 
 to flow from their being now publicly licenced. 
 They wish to enter fully into the spirit of it; as 
 in fact it was modelled after the discipline of 
 their own Council of Trent. They are satisfied 
 that the banns should be published in the parish 
 churches, as well as in their own chapels ; or that 
 licences should be obtained, in the usual way, and 
 that all fees should be paid, as at present. The 
 whole that is desired is, that when these and such 
 other conditions as may be judged requisite, shall 
 have been complied with, contracts so solemn and 
 sacred as catholic marriages may not be rendered 
 void by the law, but that a due certificate of a 
 marriage having been so performed may be re- 
 ceived into a court of justice, in the same man- 
 ner as certificates of catholic baptism actually 
 are. 
 
 N. B. Just as the press was closing, a new 
 Pamplnet appeared, in support of those which
 
 53 
 
 are animadverted upon above, entitled, Obser* 
 Cations on the Petition of the II. Catholics of 
 Ireland. It contains very little argument which 
 is not* fully answered in these pages, and, though 
 it be written with greater moderation, both as 
 to the principles and persons of Catholics than 
 the former, yet it breathes the same absurd 
 jealousy of their subverting the civil and 
 religious constitution should the Petition be 
 granted. The author, however, does not pretend 
 to shew by what means this could be effected, if 
 the Catholics were desirous of attempting it; 
 nor does he offer a reply to any of those invin- 
 cible arguments by which the greatest statesmen 
 of the age prove that the measure proposed is 
 necessary for the security of this constitution. 
 In one point the writer is more unjust and extra- 
 vagant than his predecessors, namely, in imput- 
 ing to Catholics a creed of his own invention, 
 together with all the absurd and blasphemous as- 
 sertions of Tetzel, an obscure friar of the J 6th 
 century, which they equally detest and condemn 
 now, as they did at the time when they Mere first 
 broached. See Letters to a Prebendary, p. 16*6", 
 <2d. Edit. 
 
 riNis. 
 
 Erratum, -pa^e 14, lints 10, 21, for can neither rtad cannot. 
 
 Printed by KEATING, BROWN', and KEATING, No. 37, Dukc-Saeet, 
 Grosvcnor-iscjuare,
 
 May 3, 1805. 
 
 PUBLISHED by KEATING BROWN, and CO. 
 
 No. 37> Duke Street, Grosvenor Square, 
 
 The Second Edition of 
 
 The Humble PETITION of the Roman Catholics of 
 Ireland to the Parliament of the United Kingdom 
 of Great Britain and Ireland, with explanatory Notes 
 by the Editor.
 
 REFLECTIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 nn 
 
 rriE spirit, 
 
 &C. &C. 
 
 OF 
 
 Hrltgtotta Controllers^. 
 
 I llcrius ne tcnde odiis. 
 
 V leg. 
 
 rw i rg aci mM'll " 
 
 Eontion: 
 
 PRINTED BY KEATING, BROWN AND KEATING 
 
 J7, PUKE-STREET, GUOSYENOR-SQU ARE.. 
 
 180!-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 OME time ago, J drew up a defence of nearly all 
 the controverted doctrines oftheCatholic Religion; 
 and flattered, perhaps by the illusive partiality of 
 self-love, had the vanity to believe, that it icas calcu- 
 lated to increase the respect for truth ; and to widen 
 the spread of liberality, I prepared it for the press ; 
 under the general title of the Elements of Contro- 
 versy. But, reviewing it, lately, and finding, that 
 it contained truths more boldly expressed, than the 
 feelings of prejudice would applaud, I thought, it 
 would be wise, to preface it with some apology ; that 
 moderation, at least, might not be offended with it. 
 Accordingly, I composed an Introduction, in which, 
 after urging the importance of religious truths, and 
 the necessity of their discussion, 1 endeavoured to re- 
 concile prejudice to my freedom, and to convince mode- 
 ration, that I had written nothing, which xcisdom 
 would not approve. 
 
 However, on reconsidering mi) Introduction like- 
 wise, I was induced to believe, that some further ob- 
 servations extended beyond the limits of an ordinary 
 preface, would be useful ; not only as the medium for 
 my apology, but to convey some desultory rejections, 
 which J could not. easily, connect with the series oj 
 my controversial disquisitions. 1, therefore, made 
 additions to my Introduction ; and. insensibly, my 
 additions grew into a volume ; which, wit hoi't any 
 other approbation, or revision, than my own (I say 
 this, that if censured, the censure man attach merely 
 
 B
 
 ( n ) 
 
 to an individual) I cast upon the public ; anxious on- 
 ly, that if it be not fated to benefit the cause of reli- 
 gion, or to allay the force of prejudice ; it way be so 
 fortunate, as neither to lessen the kinuness of benevo- 
 lence, nor to irritate the ill-zvill of partiality. 
 
 It was not, indeed, zcithout a long combat with my 
 apprehensions, that I could be induced to engage in the 
 cause of controversy. I know the general disinclina- 
 tion to controversy, [know, that what zee now call li bc- 
 rality, frozvns upon it. 1 have, besides, many private 
 motives, which argued, powerfully, against the under- 
 taking. It is my lot to move within a small, though 
 respectable, circle of acquaintance, who loudly censure 
 every thing controversial. My Catholic friend con- 
 demns whatever is written against the Protestant, as 
 the source of fresh disunion, and my Protestant neigh- 
 bour, possibly for the same reason, reprobates what- 
 ever is written in defence of the Roman Catholic. 
 Thus, as I love peace, (if I know myself) as much as 
 the most peaceful ; and should equally with them be 
 unzvilling to disturb it; the fear of public disappro- 
 bation and the dread of private censure had nearly 
 arced my timidity to silence. 
 
 However, notwithstanding the impressions, which 
 these considerations made upon my mind, the convic- 
 tion, that controversy may be liberally conducted, and 
 that the aversion to it, when thus conducted, is the 
 effect of misconception, at length, prevailed over 
 my apprehensions, and emboldened me to write. For; 
 why, said I, may not the great truths of religion, 
 like almost every other subject, be treated with tem- 
 perance, and candor ? Why should the most interest- 
 ing of all subjects be the only one, which it is illiberal 
 to discuss ? 
 
 There is, I allow it, a form of controversy, which, 
 since the cera of the reformation, has always laboured 
 to keep open the unhappy breach, which the immode- 
 ration of the first reformers haa, already, rendered
 
 ( iii ) 
 
 too wide. There is a form of controversy, which is 
 harsh, petulant and mischievous ; the nurse of preju- 
 dice and the parent of ammonify. That the modera- 
 tion oj the Catholic, or the liberality of the Protest- 
 ant, should reprobate this kina oj controversy , I do 
 not wonder. I abhor it, equally, rvith them. 
 
 But, it is a very mistaken notion, to conceive, that 
 controversy is, essentially, oj this nature. A contro- 
 versial work, when dictated hv the love oj truth; 
 end written, as it should be, by the hand of' charity, 
 is directly the reverse. Its very object is to conci- 
 liate. It comes to unite the divided; and to shew, 
 that divisions are the effect of misunderstanding, 
 interest, or passion. A controversial work comes to 
 implore benevolence; to instruct ignorance; or to 
 enlighten prejudice. It comes to persuaae : and as 
 all persuasion should be calm, moderate and polite, it 
 ought, necessarily, to be free from all the indelicacy 
 of insult ; the exacerbation oj reproach, and all the 
 mean artifices of insincerity. It is an injury to the 
 mild religion of Jesus, to imagine, that it needs the 
 aid of passion ; or the help oj petulance and disinge- 
 nuity. These are the useful subsidiaries to bad causes. 
 Religion should be defended, in the spirit of reli- 
 gion; by the arms of truth, wielded by the hand of 
 charity. Religion reprobates, even the zeal, that is 
 not charitable : she desires no triumphs, but those, 
 which meekness can obtain. She does not permit the 
 strayed sheep to be driven back to the joliL by the 
 rudeness of compulsion ; but to be carried there, in 
 the arms of pity and affection. The mischief of con- 
 troversy, is, not in controversy itself ; but in the in- 
 jurious mode of treating it ; not in the nature oj' the 
 subject ; but in the intemperance oj the man, who 
 discusses it. 
 
 The unqualified disapprobation of controversy, is, 
 therefore, the effect of prejudice. Rut : is there not 
 something, strikingly singular, in the aversion which 1 
 
 13 2
 
 ( iv ) 
 
 a multitude of Catholics entertain to the publication of 
 catholic books ? For, when what even controversy says 
 is true, and when truth is presented with calmness and 
 moderation ; (which is, almost invariably, the case 
 with catholic controversy) in such circumstances, to 
 censure their publication ; what is this, in reality, 
 but to assert, that the Protestant is either too bigot- 
 ed, to love the truth ; or too illiberal, to admit it ? 
 Such aversion, evidently, implies the supposition that 
 he is afraid of contemplating the awful columns, 
 which support the venerable fabric of Catholicity ; 
 that he is offended with the voice of reason, or shrinks 
 from the light of evidence. There is, in this, a point- 
 ed satire, upon the liberality, or sincerity of the Pro- 
 testant. 
 
 As for the aversion, which nearly all Protestants 
 entertain, for the controversial works of Catholics, 
 or the disapprobation with which they see them, some- 
 times, steal into public notice ; there is an illiberality 
 in both, which is repugnant to the rules of charity, 
 and inconsistent with the love of truth. Let him, 
 that is averse to our publications, consult only the 
 works which the press is daily teeming out against 
 us. These arc alone sufficient apologies for us, to the 
 feelings of candor. These, to tli: feelings of candor, 
 will seem to render our publications even necessary. 
 In these, zee are accused of teaching a religion, which 
 is a " series of wicked corruptions, senseless idolatry, 
 and stupid superstitions : a religion, which sanctifies 
 guilt, and exempts its followers, from their moral 
 obligations :" in these, we are held forth, "as the 
 authors of infidelity ; the abettors of persecution ; 
 the apostles of imposture. " In short, whatever the 
 virulence of malice, the pertness of ill nature, or the 
 flippancy of vapid declamation can assert ; whatever 
 the severity of bigotry, the stupidity of ignorance, or 
 the injustice of prejudice can suggest ; all this, even 
 in the works and sermons of modern Protestants, is
 
 ( v ) 
 
 incessantly urged against us; and what is worse, all 
 
 this is incessantly urged upon the unreasoning cre- 
 dulity of the public. To men thus situated, is not 
 the aversion most illiberal, which would refuse them 
 the poor privilege to vindicate their principles ; and 
 'which censures them, if' they, modestly, attempt to 
 prove, that their adversaries are mistaken ? An 
 accusation imposes an obligation of defence, where 
 the justification h possible. Justice allows it to con- 
 victed guilt, in order to extenuate, as much as may 
 he, the ignominy of its offence. Silence, in those 
 cases, where a defence is urgent, is very properly 
 construed into an acknowledgment of guilt. And if, 
 therefore, it be not impossible for the Catholic, to de- 
 fend his principles, he owes that defence, to the credit of 
 his religion, and to the love of truth ; he owes it to the 
 respect, which is due to his own character, and to the 
 justice and good-will of his country. Indeed, equity 
 should applaud our vindication : should not only ap- 
 plaud, but recommend it, to the notice of all, who 
 have heard, or read our crimination, and who, from 
 the boldness of our accusers have, perhaps, been in- 
 duced to believe us guilty. However ; be this as it 
 may; the modest apology, which we, sometimes, offer 
 to the public candor, is the natural result of being 
 accused ; and all aversion to such apology, is the re- 
 sult of prejudice, bigotry, or passion. 
 
 Should it be said, that the aversion to Catholic 
 publications, is not to the vindication of Catholic 
 principle^ ; but to the blows which these publications, 
 aim at Protestant principles ; I must remark, that 
 the vindication of any principles, essentially, imp lies 
 the refutation of whatever principles are in contra- 
 diction to them. Jt is impossible to shew, that our 
 religion, or principles are true, without proving, that 
 all opposite religiuus, or principles are false. The 
 demonstration of' truth, is the refutation of error. 
 But; although, we do attempt to point out the
 
 ( vi ) 
 
 errors of the Protestant creed, provided we do it, 
 candidly, and with temperance, the 'mere attempt to 
 discover error, should not, in any case, or any 
 where, offend piety and wisdom. Wisdom will always 
 applaud its detection ; and piety above all, in so in- 
 teresting a concern, as that of religion, should kiss 
 the hand, that points it out. The detection of error 
 is, in every circumstance, laudable; and the man, 
 who sheds only one feeble ray, upon one latent error, 
 deserves the public gratitude. If therefore, the 
 Papist be able to point one error in Protestantism, 
 the candid Protestant should thank him : or, if he 
 attempts to do it, through charity, his candor should 
 still thank him. 
 
 But, let me add; there is something not only 
 peculiarly, illiberal, in the aversion, which the Pro- 
 testants entertain, for Catholic publications, there 
 is also something, strikingly ; 1 had almost said, 
 ludicrously, inconsistent, in it. It is a fact, which 
 the slightest observation may attest, that the works 
 of Catholic writers are, hardly ever, to be found in 
 the possession of Protestants. The timid parent, 
 cautiously, prevents them from falling into the hands 
 of his children ; the master, with equal vigilance, 
 withholds them from his domestic; the parson, with 
 a holy prudence, affrights his hearers, from the very 
 temptation of peeping at their contents. To possess 
 them, is deemed dangerous ; to read them, is quite a. 
 crime. Even the immortal works of our Bossuets, 
 and Hawardens, would be, j rightfully hideous, in the 
 study of a pious Protestant. And yet, these very 
 same pious individuals, will read, without apprehen- 
 sion, all the dangerous productions of modern irreli- 
 gion : and, with a gluttonous avidity, devour the im- 
 pious works of a Voltaire, a, Hume, or a D' 'Alembert ; 
 works, whose very object, is to undermine the basis of 
 Christianity ; xv hose effect, is to destroy public morals ; 
 and to wipe away private virtue. These works are
 
 ( vii ) 
 
 not uncommon in the libraries of our most zealous 
 Protestants. You may, often, see them, profanely 
 figuring, on those shelves, where piety should have 
 placed the narks of the holy hachers ; or where con- 
 sistency would have ranged, with more propriety, the 
 writings of Martin Luther, or the unchaste love songs 
 of their apostle Beza. I have, indeed, sometimes, 
 heard of the severity of Protestant virtue, or the 
 gravity of Protestant wisdom, censure these produc- 
 tions ; but even then, 1 always remarked, that they 
 censured them, with good nature; and reprobated 
 them, with a pity, which half bespoke approbation. 
 Surely, there is a degree of bigotry, in this conduct, 
 which rests on the strongest prejudice. 
 
 The period is not long since past, when, in this 
 seat of liberty, the writings of Roman Catholics were, 
 strictly, prohibited : and their controversial works 
 forbidden, under the most rigid penalties, to be im- 
 ported into the nation. A narrow system of per- 
 secuting policy made it treason, for a Catholic to 
 speak the truth ; and criminal, for a Protestant to 
 hear it. But, thank God ! those unhappy days are 
 past, Justice and humanity are now seated, on the 
 throne; audits steps are covered, with the liberal, 
 the enlightened, and the wise. A system of policy has 
 succeeded, which, as it is founded upon the basis of 
 wisdom, neither forbids truth to speak, nor ignorance 
 to hear. Satisfied, that the Catholic is attached to the 
 state by the ties o) loyalty and religion, it neither 
 considers our principles to be pernicious, nor our pub- 
 lications, dangerous : it permits us, to repel the shaft 
 of calumny ; and to vindicate our insulted maxims. 
 He are even told, in a recent publication, from the 
 pen of one of the most artful defenders of the cause 
 oj Protestantism ; and one, too, of the most ungener- 
 ous adversaries to Popery, that " at present, not even 
 a professed defence of Roman Catholic doctrines, 
 could have a/ty dangerous effect in this country.
 
 ( viii ) 
 
 / rejoice greatly, at the growth of liberality 
 among us. I rejoice to behold the silly fears, which 
 bigotry entertains, of Popery, rapidly subsiding. I 
 rejoice, particularly, at a declaration, like that of 
 Dr. S. * that not even the professed defence of Popery 
 has any thing in it, to alarm the timidity of' Pro- 
 testantism. These are the chief circumstances, which 
 "prompted my indolence to zvrite. 
 
 I was, indeed, in the next place, also urged to 
 write, by the great importance of my subject. I wish 
 much, to arm the good sense of the Catholic, against 
 some of the recent arguments of error ; to increase 
 the liberality, or diminish the intolerance of the Pro- 
 testant ; and to cast a ray of light, athwart the dark 
 atmosphere of prejudice, which the ignorance, and 
 misconception of our adversaries have formed, around, 
 them. 
 
 * Author of Reflections on Popery,
 
 REFLECTIONS 
 
 OX 
 
 THE SPIRIT, &c. 
 
 OF 
 
 RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY, 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. 
 
 ^I^JIE importance of religious controversy, will, 
 JL I am sure, be admitted, by all those, who 
 admit the importance of salvation. Salvation is, 
 essentially, connected with truth : and contro- 
 versy is the medium, through which truth must, 
 frequently, be discovered. The religion of Christ 
 Jesus, is not like the speculative opinions of a 
 Newton, or a Locke, in which error, is not Tiilt: 
 or the grossest mistake, no crime. The doctrines 
 of Christianity were delivered to be believed; as 
 much as its moral precepts were delivered to be 
 put in practice. Both, are essential to salvation. 
 To err, therefore, in faith, is not, merely, a 
 misfortune ; but an evil ; not an unconsequential 
 accident ; but an offence pregnant, with cverlast- 
 ing punishment. " lie that doth not believe, 
 " shall be condemned *." 
 
 There are, it is true, very different degrees, and 
 various shades of criminality, in error, (rod 
 forbid ! that I should apply the same severe sen- 
 
 * Mark xvi. 16.
 
 10 Importance of religions Controversy. 
 
 tence, to all deviations from truth, indiscri- 
 minately. There are errors, which are involun- 
 tary ; and some, I hope, which through the diffi- 
 culty, or impossibility of attaining the means of 
 rectifying them, may be deemed, invincible. But, 
 wherever religious error, is neither involuntary, 
 nor invincible ; where it is the effect of indiffer- 
 ence, or inattention ; the result of passion, or 
 dissipation ; in these cases, the disorder of the 
 understanding is sinful ; as well, as the disorder 
 of the will. Both are crimes, because both are 
 wilful. Where, even the ignorance of truth, is 
 not the result of wilful indifference, but the acci- 
 dent, or misfortune of birth ; this, which is often 
 pleaded, as the great apology, for remaining in 
 it, is a meagre excuse, in the eye of reason and 
 religion. For, if error be criminal, it is criminal, 
 wilful!} 7 , to profess it : if the religion, in which 
 we are born, be a wrong religion, it is, evidently, 
 wrong to live in it. If Luther did wrong, and 
 was guilty of heresy, by abandoning the church 
 of Rome, his followers and descendants do equal- 
 ly wrong ; and are, equally guilty of heresy, by 
 imitating him. Good sense cannot justify any 
 one, for believing falsehood, or professing error, 
 whatever may have been their origin ; whether 
 the effect of inheritance, or the result of choice. 
 The case is ; the law and guide of the Christian, 
 is revelation ; and revelation, pure and unadulte- 
 rated : pure, as it flowed from the bosom of the 
 Divinity ; unadulterated, as it was delivered, by 
 the apostles of our institute. Where that is attain- 
 able, error is inexcusable. I might illustrate this.
 
 Importance of religious Controversy. 1 1 
 
 from the nature, and from the obligation of human 
 laws themselves. Suppose, a human law, to have 
 been properly sanctioned, and sufficiently pro- 
 mulged ; neither ignorance, nor error, are titles 
 to impunity, for its violation, even at the mild 
 tribunals of earthly justice. Suppose, a subject 
 were to observe the civil law of a foreign nation, 
 when he is commanded to obey his own : or sup- 
 pose, he was to follow the law of nature, when 
 he should follow the law of his country ; such a 
 man, although the plea for his disobedience, were 
 the superior excellence of the laws, which he had 
 observed, over those which he had infringed, 
 would not only be esteemed censurable ; he would 
 be punishable ; and, in many instances, severely 
 punished. The reason is, the subject is bound 
 to obey the civil laws, which the state imposes 
 on him, when it is not in opposition to the law 
 of nature. If God, therefore, has revealed a 
 law, for our observance and belief, why is not the 
 refusal to observe and believe it, a criminal dis- 
 obedience to his will ; and an act of rebellion, 
 against his authority ? 
 
 Religious error, then, is criminal. And, who 
 will deny, that it is the misfortune of this coun- 
 try to be overrun with error ? The multitude 
 of its religions has, long, made it the reproach, 
 and table of foreign nations. Not many years 
 ago, upwards of sixty different sects, were enu- 
 merated, by the members of the Royal Society. 
 The number has increased, since that period. I 
 speak of public modes of worship, organised to 
 system ; and venerated as divine. To attempt 
 
 C 2
 
 1.2 Importance of religious Controversy, 
 
 to enumerate, or describe the countless errors and 
 extravagances, which are believed in private fa- 
 milies ; or exist in the breasts of individuals ; 
 would be impossible : they must be number- 
 less, in a nation, where the leading principle of 
 the established religion permits each one to ber 
 lieve what he pleases ; and to profess what he 
 believes. We know, too well, the infinite varie- 
 ties of the human character, its prejudices, pride, 
 and weakness, to imagine, that the unitv of truth 
 could subsist, under so wide a system of liberty ; 
 or amid so boundless a range of what is called 
 philosophic investigation. 
 
 Let it not, however, be thought, that it is my 
 wish to censure any thing, that is consistent, 
 with liberty, properly understood ; or with inves- 
 tigation, confined to its proper sphere. I owe to 
 the former, the privilege of speaking, as I do. 
 But; there is a liberty, which becomes the man, 
 or the philosopher; and a liberty, which becomes 
 the Christian, or the divine. In human things, 
 where an opinion is harmless to society, and in- 
 offensive to the state, liberty is free to believe, 
 whatever fancy may suggest. In the sciences, 
 liberty may wander, through all the uninvesti- 
 gated mazes of truth or error. This, frequently, 
 is useful ; and liberality, very properly, applauds 
 it. Yes; let even truth be sacrificed to the 
 dreams of folly ; provided this neither injure reli- 
 gion, the public, nor the individual ; liberality, if 
 it please, may applaud this, also. In ail these cases, 
 liberty acts within its sphere; the man, or the phi- 
 losopher, exert only the prerogative of their na-
 
 Importance of religious Co n trover* y. 13 
 
 ture: and truth terror, is almost immaterial. l>m, 
 in the divine system of revelation, the ease is diffe- 
 rent. Revelation is the lav/ of truth dictated bv 
 divine wisdom, and enforced by divine authority ; 
 established, as the fixed rule of our belief, and the 
 unvarying guide of our religious conduct. Reve- 
 lation, when improperly understood, ceases to be 
 revelation : or, religion, ill interpreted, becomes 
 irreligion. To say, therefore, that man is at li- 
 berty, to believe what he pleases, when what he 
 pleases to believe is not true, is to say, that man 
 is at liberty to disbelieve revelation ; that it is 
 religious to profess irreligion, and lawful to adore 
 the profane idol of the imagination, instead of 
 the sacred dispensations of the God of truth. 
 Liberty thus exercised, is not liberty, but licen- 
 tiousness. And while, therefore, the liberty of 
 the man and the philosopher, may be permitted 
 to range chc sphere of nature, without restraint; 
 that of the Christian, and of the divine, in the 
 holy sy>tem of revelation, is bound, respectfully, 
 to receive the divine dictate ; and, in humble sim- 
 plicity, adore it. 
 
 Such is the nature of revelation, and such the 
 necessity of believing it, pure and unadulterate. 
 I have, therefore, often been astonished to behold 
 the unhappy tranquillity, in which the great por- 
 tion of the christian world live easy, under the 
 manifest illusions of deceit ; and torpidly indif- 
 ferent, in all the confidence of error. I have 
 been astonished still more to behold it, so fre- 
 quent in my countrymen, who are blessed with 
 the most happy dispositions for religion, and dis-
 
 14 Importance of religious Controversy. 
 
 tinguished for their strength of reason and good 
 sense. In the little circle of my acquaintance, 
 curiosity has, sometimes, induced me to interro- 
 gate the feelings of a few of my honest neigh- 
 bours, upon these circumstances. Sometimes, I 
 have observed to them, that the possession of 
 the truth, must be infinitely interesting, to a 
 Christian. They, without hesitation, acknow- 
 ledged it. I have observed to them, that truth 
 being divine, must, essentially be, one; uniform; 
 and unchangeable ; they acknowledged this, also. 
 I have, then, remarked to them, that notwith- 
 standing its unity and unchangeable nature, they 
 behold the country divided into countless sects; 
 and truth made, every where, the plaything of 
 interest, passion, and caprice. They allowed this 
 too ; and expressed their pity, for human blind- 
 ness, and their astonishment, at human folly. 
 Well, then; I have said to them; tell me; by 
 what mark, are you assured, that yourselves are 
 not thus blind ; or the victims to this general fol- 
 ly ? How are you alone sure of possessing the 
 exclusive privilege of the truth ? They paused 
 But, though their reason could give me no an- 
 swer, that should suffice to satisfy even stupidity; 
 I always remarked, that they quitted me, per- 
 fectly satisfied, that themselves only, were in the 
 right ; and myself, and others in the wrong. I 
 have made, on other occasions, several other ob- 
 servations. But it were useless to repeat them, 
 The men to whom I made them admitted that 
 they were just, reasonable and wise; applicable, 
 to every body, but themselves ; applicable to all
 
 Importance of religious Cofitrorersy. \5 
 
 their neighbours of different persuasions ; and 
 peculiarly applicable, to myself, as a papist. Shall 
 I call this ; which is a very general case ; bigotry, 
 or ignorance, or prejudice, or passion ? Call it a 
 spiritual lethargy, or insensibility. 
 
 Surrounded, as my artless neighbours are, by- 
 neighbours, of about a dozen religious persua- 
 sions ; their good sense, if their prejudices would 
 allow it to reason ; would reason, thus ; each one 
 would say: "I live in the midst of neighbours, 
 whose belief is different from mine: who possess, 
 apparently, as much love of truth ; as much abi- 
 lity ; and as much learning, as I do. Why, 
 therefore, may not they be in the right, and my- 
 self in the wrong? I possess no privilege, which 
 my next neighbour does not : my reason is not 
 more infallible, than his : nor are the pains, which 
 I have taken to find out the truth, perhaps, equal 
 to his : why, therefore, should I prefer my opi- 
 nion to his ? Is not such preference the effect 
 of rashness? 1 ' It certainly, would be wise to 
 pause, at these considerations : and, indeed, it is 
 certain, that, on any other subject, save that of 
 religion, men would pause. In the opposition of 
 opinions, where human interests, or worldly pros- 
 perity arc concerned, they anxiously compare, 
 and weigh well each specious argument ; they 
 consult the wisdom of the experienced ; and the 
 ingenuity of the learned. Good sense does not 
 rest contented, till a minute investigation has 
 presented a well founded motive of security.- 
 Would it not seem, that piesumption is wisdom in 
 religion; and folly, in every other transaction !
 
 1.6 Importance of religions Controversy. 
 
 The Catholic grounds his belief, upon the ba- 
 sis of an authority, which he professes to be infal- 
 lible : and, therefore, deaf to the suggestions of 
 fancy, or to the insinuations of private judgment, 
 lie reposes secure, that he cannot be deceived. I 
 shall not stop here, to prove the necessity of this 
 doctrine ; nor point out its advantages. I am 
 speaking, only of the sources of security. Ex- 
 cept the Catholic, all modern churches profess, 
 that their establishments, and their pastors, are 
 fallible : and allow, of course, very consistently, 
 that their doctrines may be erroneous. The pos- 
 sibility of being deceived, is the public doctrine 
 of every reformed church. I might say, that this 
 possibility alone, should be painful to a heart, 
 that loves security. I am sure, it would be very 
 painful to mine; because if insecurity be always 
 painful, insecurity in religion, on which all my 
 future, and much of my present happiness are 
 bottomed, would be horrible, if secure of any 
 thing, I should wish most, to be secure, in the 
 invaluable possession of the truth. 
 
 But is not, moreover, the possibility of being 
 deceived, which the Protestant admits, united also, 
 with the probability, that he is deceived? Who- 
 ever is but, slenderly, acquainted with the history 
 of the formation of protestant creeds : how they 
 were, often, dictated by passion ; composed by the 
 hand of violence ; modified by policy ; whoever, 
 knows all the changes and variations, which they 
 have undergone, cannot help fearing, that such 
 may be his misfortune : he cannot help feeling, 
 (if he reason, at all, upon the subject) that the
 
 Analysis of Protest ant Security. 17 
 
 motives for diffidence, greatly outweigh the ar- 
 guments for security. Variations in faith, are 
 always the result of preceding error : and vari- 
 ations, it will not be denied, have been count- 
 less in almost every protectant establishment. 
 Bossuet, who had numbered a frightful multi- 
 tude of them, declared, that he was unable to 
 enumerate them all. Burnet himself allows, that 
 variations are the natural result of protectant 
 principles *. " We are neither infallible,"' says he, 
 '' nor inspired; nor do we aspire to either."' To 
 repose, therefore, rationally, secure, upon the 
 authority of any one of the reformed creeds, ap- 
 pears to me impossible. Whatever were the wis- 
 dom ; the learning-, or sanctity of the men, who 
 compared it, as they were neither infallible, nor 
 inspired ; their wisdom, learning and sanctity; 
 form, at best, but a slender prejudice in its favour. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF PROTESTANT SECURITY. 
 THE IU FAITH, PRIVATE OPINION*. 
 
 To come then, to the analysis of a Protestant; 
 what is the last link, in the chain of this analysis' 
 or what, the fundamental principle, on which his 
 faith is, ultimately, grounded r I speak of consist- 
 ent Protestants; of men, who are Protectants by 
 protesting principles; Protestants, not by birth, 
 but by reason. The Protestant, who has formed 
 his belief by protestant principles : and who 
 grounds it upon the foundation, which the apo; 
 
 * Burr:* Cr;t. op. the Variations.
 
 18 Analysis of Protestant Security, 
 
 ties of the reformation laid ; believes, because 
 what he believes, himself judges to be true: be- 
 cause himself has examined, discussed, compared; 
 and proved it true. His faith reposes, solely, 
 and essentially, upon his own reason; his own 
 judgment; and Ids own authority. To let it 
 repose, on any other foundation, though it were 
 upon all the authority of the protestant churches 
 united, would he a violation of protestant princi- 
 ples ; because these churches, are not more infal- 
 lible, than himself; nor more inspired, than any 
 private individual. It is, therefore, the weakness 
 of human reason ; the pride of private judgment ; 
 the partiality of self-love and self-conviction, 
 that constitute the basis of protestant faith, and 
 protestant security. Lulled by these only, he- 
 rests secure in easy confidence ; spite of the pro- 
 test of the whole christian world against it, dur- 
 ing the long lapse of above fifteen centuries; 
 spite of the decided opposition of innumerable 
 councils; of all the wisdom of the learned, and 
 of all the piety of the virtuous, till the eera of 
 the reformation. --Be the strength, and privileges 
 of reason, what they may; there is a something, 
 in this opinion ; an apparent presumption, which 
 alone demonstrates its impropriety. 
 
 At; an early period of the reformation, when 
 tiie Catholics urged forcibly, the absurdity of 
 constituting the presumption, or the weakness of 
 private judgment, the sole arbiter of faith; the 
 Protestants, in order to obviate it, answered: 
 that it was tree, indeed, that human weakness, 
 or private judgment might err: but, in order to
 
 Protestant Security rash. lp 
 
 prevent this, the divine goodness poured a ray 
 of inspiration upon the mind, which discovered. 
 tiie path of truth, and pointed out the dictate of 
 eternal wisdom. This system was, perhaps, the 
 only one, which could, speciously, or with any 
 thing like the appearance of reason, seem to meet 
 the objections of the Catholics. It was. very 
 zealously, defended, for some time: but, unfor- 
 tunately for the sect, which first used it, it was, 
 soon, employed by every new innovator, and 
 every absurd enthusiast, to prove every kind of 
 error. It, evidently, proved too much; and, 
 therefore, nothing. Its ingenious authors, very 
 prudently, dropped it. Consequently, it is now 
 true, that the consistent class of Protestants, 
 possess no better proof of their belief; no other 
 foundation of security ; than the mere authority 
 of their own private conviction, resulting from 
 private judgment. 
 
 PROTESTANT SECURITY RASH. 
 
 I smile, when I hear the Protestant deride the 
 servile system of Popery ; and exultingly boast, 
 that Irix belief is the liberal dictate of good sense: 
 his conviction, the evidence of reason, conducted 
 by the evidence of truth. Such confidence, I 
 must own, does, frequently, astonish me. And, 
 I am astonished much more, as 1 find it, gene- 
 rally, united with the most modest diffidence, in 
 every other branch of knowledge, or human sci- 
 ence. Curious to trace the origin of this confi- 
 dence, and to discover, by what happy art, it is 
 .'cquired, I have given myself some trouble to
 
 CO Protestant Security rash. 
 
 investigate its wisdom, consistency and prudence. 
 To do this, properly, I have divested myself, as 
 I conceived, of all the prejudices, and notions 
 of a Catholic. I have supposed myself a Protest- 
 ant, endeavouring by the rule of protestantism, 
 to acquire the confidence and security, which I 
 have observed so general, in them. But let it he 
 remembered, I acted and reasoned, as a consistent 
 Protestant ought to act and reason, in selecting 
 the divine system of his belief. As the object 
 was interesting, I adopted all the methods, which 
 I thought the prudence of a Protestant could 
 suggest, in order to attain it. In the first in- 
 stance, I proceeded thus. I placed before me, 
 what was recommended to me, as the best and 
 wisest system, or creed of the protestant reforma- 
 tion. I studied it, with the industry of a divine; 
 and analysed it, with the curiosity of a philosopher. 
 I considered it, in various points of view; in a 
 variety of its different bearings, relations, pro- 
 portions, excellencies, and defects. I traced its 
 authors, its origin, its history, its progress and 
 propagation. I found some circumstances, that 
 insinuated confidence; and many, that created 
 apprehension. I found some marks of truth, and 
 several marks of error. I found features, in its 
 authors, which did not well become the instru- 
 ments of heaven ; and methods, in its propaga- 
 tion, which did not figure in the introduction of 
 Christianity. I asked my heart, if it could repose 
 in calm security, in the belief and veneration 
 of such a creed ? I need not say ; its timidity 
 shrunk from the proposal. But, as comparison.
 
 Protestant Security rash. CI 
 
 .uul confrontation, are rules of prudence ; and par- 
 ticularly of protestant prudence; I hoped to he able 
 to obtain trom them, the security, which, hither- 
 to, I had sought in vain. Accordingly; suppos- 
 ing, that, I did belong to any determined sect 
 of Christianity; but, that, I had my belief to 
 choose, by the principles of the reformation ; I 
 called round ire an immense multitude of sects, 
 and societies, who all pretend to the exclusive 
 privilege or truth : I laid open before me, their 
 creeds, canons, and confessions. As all sects, 
 even the most impious, and absurd, with equal 
 confidence, and boldness, assert their claim to 
 the sole possession of the genuine depositum of 
 revelation ; I ought, perhaps, to have consulted 
 them all. But, their number, and apparent ab- 
 surdity, made me omit this consistency. Passing 
 over, therefore, the obsolete creeds of antiquity, 
 which the unanimous voice of ages has condemn- 
 ed ; and some of those, which the piety of mo- 
 dern wisdom, has strongly reprobated ; I ranged 
 before me. the most generally approved of the 
 countless confessions, or codes of faith, which 
 are the offspring of the reformation; the tenets 
 of Luther, and those of Calvin; the thirty-nine 
 articles of this country; the opinions of Zuin- 
 glius, Muncer, Socinius, .Sic. (Sec. from Martin 
 Luther, down to John Wesley. I learnt their 
 tenets, and discussed them, seriously ; I stu- 
 died their maxims, and compared them, atten- 
 tively. 1 endeavoured to find order, amid this 
 scene of confusion ; to call truth, from this 
 chaos of error ; and reason, from this farago of
 
 22 Protestant Security rash. 
 
 folly. After a very long, and patient investiga- 
 tion ; confounded, and confused ; afflicted, and 
 desponding; I was compelled to conceive the 
 thing impossible : and I concluded, that to rest 
 my conviction and security, upon the evident 
 superexcellence, or manifest divinity of any one 
 of these creeds, would be rashness and presump- 
 tion. 
 
 However, as the object was deeply important, 
 neither my interest, nor my curiosity, suffered me 
 to stop here. Determined, if possible, to attain 
 truth ; and with truth, security, by the arts and 
 principles, which the wisdom of protestantism 
 has suggested, I had now recourse to its best, 
 and most general rule, the holy scriptures ; 
 that divine, but much injured volume, which re- 
 plete with truth, is, impiously, quoted in defence 
 of every error. Well ; I took the sacred scrip- 
 tures, and without suffering myself, as I thought, 
 to be influenced, by the ideas, which my educa- 
 tion, or example, or prejudice, might have im- 
 pressed, I endeavoured, by the strength of my 
 .own reason, and private judgment, to call from 
 them the genuine tenets of revelation. I read, 
 discussed, and reasoned, on each truth. Some- 
 times, I met a specious evidence, that satisfied 
 me : sometimes, an awful obscurity, that per- 
 plexed me. However, my reason was my guide ; 
 and I affixed to the obscure passages an inter- 
 pretation, which seemed most consistent with its 
 dictates : I bent them, to its measure. By de- 
 crees, I formed for myself a complete code of 
 faith, the creature of my own judgment ; and
 
 Protestant Security rash. C3 
 
 the offspring of my own reason. Anxious now, 
 and curious, to discover, how nearly my judg- 
 ment and reason might have accorded with the 
 judgment and reason of other men ; and how 
 exactly, my system corresponded with theirs, i 
 placed my creed by the side of theirs ; and formed 
 the comparison between them. Behold ! to my 
 astonishment and confusion, I found, that I had 
 adopted some of the errors of Aries, Nestorius, 
 Donatus, and of half the hercsiarchs, who have 
 insulted the pure religion of Jesus Christ : some 
 of the impieties of Calvin : the dreams of the 
 Anabaptists : and even absurdities of George Fox, 
 the Quaker. My reason and my feelings, it is 
 true, are different from the reason and reelings of 
 other men ; and therefore, I found, that my creed 
 was different from every other : I found it a com- 
 pound, peculiar to myself: a system, -ach as- 
 none, ever, believed before me ; and such, pro- 
 bably, as no oilier man, in the universe, would 
 find reasonable, but myself. Yet; is this a sys- 
 tem, funned bv the rule of protestantism ; the 
 genuine fruit of its boasted evangelical liberty. 
 I studied it, as I imagined, without partiality; 
 and formed it, without prejudice : and, therefore. 
 by the maxims of the reformation, ii wa, wise, 
 reasonable, and secure. Why; though all the 
 maxims, ami all the authority ; and all th^ wis- 
 dom of the reformation, told my credulity to be- 
 lieve it: yet the good sense o^' my reason 
 me, far more impressively, that to believe it, was 
 unwise, presumptuous, and rash. Gieat Gcd ! I 
 then exclaimed; am 1 formed to live the sport
 
 24 Protestant Faith unsteady. 
 
 of error, and the victim of deceit ! Placed in a 
 path of darkness; is there no friendly hand to 
 conduct me, from it; no beam of light, to direct 
 my wandering step? If my salvation depend, 
 upon rny faith ; and my faith, upon the weak- 
 ness of my reason, alas ! I resign the fond hope 
 of attaining either ; and adore the dreadful seve- 
 rity of thy decrees. But ; behold ! while lost, 
 in this perplexity, I recollected the rule, which 
 guides the Catholic ; I acknowledged its neces- 
 sity ; and, gratefully, bowed submission, to its 
 wisdom. 
 
 PROTESTANT FAITH UXSTEADV. 
 
 Having, thus, investigated the light of truth. 
 by the rules and principles of the reformation ; 
 it appears to me evident; that it is impossible, 
 for a thinking man to possess that strong stabi- 
 lity of faith; that calm serenity of confidence, 
 which the nature of religion, or the nature of 
 human happiness should seem to require. By 
 these rules and principles, faith is founded, only 
 upon the same grounds, as any other opinion. 
 A man believes, because he thinks, that such a 
 belief is true. I allow, indeed, that there are 
 Protestants, who appear singularly, steady in 
 their faith; who Avould even resign life, rather 
 than renounce it. But, this is a circumstance, 
 which we may observe, in numberless unhappy 
 professors of every heresy, since the dawn of 
 Christianity. There is a steadiness, which is the 
 resu.t of prejudice, and bigotry: a steadiness, 
 which is, frequently, most obstinate in error, be-
 
 Protestant Faith unsteady. c 25 
 
 cause it is the effect of choice, and inclination: 
 a .steadiness, which is the creature of indifference, 
 that is too indolent to reason. But, consult the 
 Protestant, who will reason, candidly; and who 
 lias endeavoured to build his faith, upon pro- 
 testant principles ; ask him. whether, he be, very 
 fully, satisfied of the divinity and security of his 
 belief: whether he experience no doubts; enter- 
 tain no apprehensions : You will find, in gene- 
 ral, that his faith is but a fluctuating system of 
 philosophy ; an opinion resting upon opinion ; or 
 a prejudice reposing upon prejudice. I am my- 
 self acquainted, with some of this rational class 
 of Protestants, whose life, is an habitual state of 
 doubt and indecision; a flux and reflux, between 
 error and error : who are, for ever believing and 
 disbelieving; adopting tenets, and rejecting 
 them. The walks of life are crowded with men of 
 this description. They might, very justly be 
 compared with children industriously collecting 
 shells, upon the sea-shore ; who gather some, yet 
 soon tempted with thesight of others, throw the old 
 ones away : they gather again ; but again pleased 
 with some new trifle, they consign what they had 
 collected to the waves. Thus, gathering, and 
 throwing away ; for ever, delighted, yet never 
 satisfied : tired of the variety, and not know- 
 ing what to keep, they often end, with keep- 
 ing nothing, and return home, empty handed 
 and fatigued.
 
 [ 26 ] 
 
 THE CATHOLIC RULE. 
 
 The catholic rule of faith may be offensive to 
 the pride of reason, and to the licentiousness of 
 the imagination ; but to reason itself, there ap- 
 pears a wisdom in it, which, while it preserves 
 entire the holy depositum of religion, is wonder- 
 fully calculated to calm those apprehensions, 
 which piety must entertain, when abandoned to 
 the guidance of its own weakness, and incapacity. 
 The Protestant would do well to compare the 
 wisdom of his own rule, with ours; because it is 
 upon the wisdom and divinity of the rule, that the 
 security of faith is hinged. If the catholic rule be 
 the true one; that is, if the authority of the church, 
 and not the authority of private judgment, be the 
 guide and arbiter of faith, then, the whole fabric 
 of protestantism, which rests upon the basis of 
 private judgment only, becomes a fabric of error ; 
 a house, built upon sand ; a church, raised, against 
 a church. This, is a question, in which salvation 
 is deeply interested. But if the rule of protestan- 
 tism should be the true one, that is, if what we 
 call reason, and private judgment ; which are, in 
 reality, but prejudice, in the prepossessed; folly, in 
 the ignorant ; presumption, in the conceited ; and 
 imagination, in all ; if these be the interpreters 
 of faith, is it not evident that error is a harmless 
 thing, because it is an inevitable thing ; that, error 
 becomes reason, because it becomes the dictate of 
 what is termed reason : that, error is an object of 
 adoration, because it is the object, which private 
 judgment venerates, as revealed ?
 
 [ 27 ] 
 
 PROTESTANT LI D E R A LI TV. 
 
 In the modern publications of our protcstanl 
 divines, there is a glow of liberality, while they 
 inculcate the privileges of reason, or prove the 
 holy liberty ot^ private judgment. I praise their 
 consistency, in this. I praise them too, when I 
 hear them urge their followers, to read the sacred 
 scriptures; to study well the best defenders of 
 protestantism; that, there they may trace the di- 
 vinity of their own establishment, and the silly 
 absurdities of popish superstition. All this may 
 be liberal. But, after all, it is not liberal enough. 
 It is philosophical, and consistent ; but it is nei- 
 ther so philosophical, nor so consistent as it 
 should be. Let them refer their followers to the 
 sacred seriotures, or urge them to study well the 
 best defenders of their own establishment, in or- 
 der, if they can, to convince themselves of its di- 
 vinity ; not our bigotry will object to this. I3ut 
 when, to trace the silly errors of popery ; or to 
 compare the sublime wisdom of their tenets, with 
 the absurdity of ours, they refer their readers, as 
 they always do, to protestant authors ; there is a 
 want of candour, in this, to which both wisdom 
 and consistency object. Where there is question 
 of knowing the properties of any two objects, and 
 forming a just comparison between them; their 
 properties should be investigated, in the mediums 
 where they really exist ; and the two terms 
 placed, honestly, side by side of each other. It is 
 thus comparisons are made ; and thus only, the. 
 understanding is enabled to avoid being milled 
 
 K 2
 
 28 Protestant Liberality. 
 
 Now, as it is natural to conceive, that the tenets- 
 of popery are best laid down in popish authors , 
 it is also true, that they are contained only in 
 popish authors. I do not know the modern pro* 
 testant writer, who represents them, fairly. 
 When, therefore, men urge the necessity of reli- 
 gious investigation, and comparison ; if, Avhen 
 they bid their readers investigate the errors of 
 popery and compare them, with the truths of 
 protestantism, they refer them to protestant 
 writers, they not only act inconsistently ; they 
 advise what must, if believed, essentially, mislead 
 the judgment. Yet, is this the nature of pro- 
 testant consistency, and protestant liberality. 
 Who, ever, heard the Protestant recommend the 
 investigation of catholic principles, in catholic 
 authors, or from catholic professors? Beware of 
 catholic books ! is the general caution: which is 
 the same thing, as to say, beware of the only 
 books, in which the doctrines of Catholics are 
 contained. Beware of the artful arguments of 
 popish priests ! that is, beware of the knowledge 
 of those men, who from their profession, and edu- 
 cation, are best enabled to inform you, what 
 popery, really is : beware of the only means, 
 which can guide you to discriminate, what is 
 true, from what is fictitious; what is wise, from 
 what is absurd. There is an illiberality in this, 
 which sports, with the rule of wisdom. For if the 
 preference, which the Protestant gives, of his own 
 tenets to ours, should be the result of conviction ; 
 and conviction be the result of evidence; and 
 evidence the result of comparison ; it is incontest-
 
 Ignorance of the Catholic RciigU-n 
 
 'tj 
 
 able, that the method, which protectant writers 
 inculcate to eii'ect it, is inadequate and unwise. 
 
 1GXORAXCE 1" THE CATHOLIC RELIGION*. 
 
 To them, who have not traced the acts of illi- 
 berally, or the effects of prejudice, it would ap- 
 pear singular, that, in a nation, where there pre- 
 vails so great a spirit of investigation; where, 
 every Sunday produces a thousand angry in- 
 vectives against popery; where, popery is the in- 
 cessant subject of conversation ; where, every fool 
 is vise enough to demonstrate its impiety ; to 
 such men, it would, doubtless, appear singular, 
 that nothing, in reality, is so little known, as the 
 true tenets of popery ; nothing so little studied, 
 as the proofs, by which its tenets are supported. 
 The little knowledge, which the Protestant pos- 
 sesses of our religion, is borrowed, almost entirely, 
 from the declamations of pulpit violence: and 
 the misrepresentations of interested prejudice. 
 There is hardly, a Protestant, who has the modera- 
 tion to investigate it ; few, who judge of it, with 
 patience ; or, in common conversation, speak of 
 it, with the temperance of common civility. I 
 will not say, whether the reverend authors, whose 
 learning so often teems out abuse, against oui 
 tenets; understand them or nut. lam willing, 
 for their sakes, to believe, ih.o the\ do not ; be- 
 cause I would rath-, r ...-;.:-.. , in 
 than impeach their h... . : . Hi 
 our tenet-; and con eib th'-ii" * 
 that thev neither e::pj;c then. 
 
 ei j* u mierstuiKiiiH' 
 
 v. a 
 
 v\a r Rnou'i 
 
 i "e;s. w:ii own, 
 .audidi"> , nor at-
 
 30 Ignorance of the Catholic Religion. 
 
 tempt to refute them, liberally. When I speak of 
 the works of our modern Protestants, in general : 
 I speak temperately, when I say, that they repre- 
 sent our principles, unfairly, and ungenerously. 
 In general, they exhibit them, in all the dark co- 
 lourings of malevolence, or place them, in all the 
 ludicrous shapes of low buffoonery. 
 
 A hideous figure of their foes they draw t 
 
 Nor lines, nor looks, nor shades, nor colours true ; 
 
 And this grotesque design expose to public view. 
 
 And yet the daubing ple.ises ! 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 The works, which are written against popery, are" 
 nearly all of them, the insipid declamations of 
 angry interested fanatics, attacking fanaticism, 
 that exists no where, but in the delirium of their 
 own imaginations. Our remonstrances against 
 this species of injustice have always proved inef- 
 fectual. In vain, do we call out, that these im- 
 putations arc false ; that these doctrines are not 
 ours. These men call out louder, than we do ; 
 and the case is, they are heard ; and we are not 
 They speak, too, to men, who listen to them, 
 with satisfaction ; and the consequence is ; they 
 arc believed, and we are disregarded. Moliere's 
 Medecin malgr lui, is not a bad representation of 
 our treatment. The protestant church abounds 
 with men, more cruel, than Lucas and Valere, 
 who by insults, injuries, violence, and invective, 
 make us idolaters, malgrz nous ; bigots, malgrc 
 7ious ; bad subjects, malgri nous.
 
 [ 31 ] 
 
 CATHOLIC BOOKS. 
 
 To impute to us doctrines, which we reprobate ; 
 and intrude them, upon the public, as our real 
 tenets, is not only an injury, done to us, but an 
 act of injustice to the public. While it creates 
 ill-will against our persons ; it sports with the 
 weakness ot* public ignorance and credulity. I, 
 therefore, caution the Protestant, against the 
 supposed doctrines of popery, which he meets 
 with, in protectant authors. Let him consult 
 our doctrines, in our own authors. Why seek 
 the muddy stream, when he can drink, with equal 
 ease, at the pure fountain's headr It ought, sure- 
 ly, to be supposed, that the Catholic knows his 
 own religion; and, that in proving his tenets, he 
 will expose them faithfully. The Catholic gives 
 this credit, to the Protestant, when he exposes, 
 or explains Ins tenets. When we seek for the 
 opinions of any sect, or society whatever, our 
 good sense directs us always to look for them, in. 
 their own writers ; and to prefer their testimony 
 to the impassioned assertions of their enemies. It 
 is singular, that the Catholic alone, is denied the 
 privilege of being believed. His denial of the 
 falsehoods, which malevolence attributes to him, 
 is never half so much credited, as the malevolence, 
 which imputes them. Were we, even, to suppose 
 it true, that the catholic controversialist might 
 deceive ; there are, besides the works of controver- 
 sialists, the writings, laws, canons, and customs, 
 of eighteen centuries. Let the Protestant con- 
 sult these. Not his prejudice can suppose, that
 
 32 Cause of the Censure of Protestant Prejudice. 
 
 all these can, possibly, deceive him. In short, 
 this is certain ; in whatever unadulterated medi- 
 um, the doctrines of popery, are examined, they 
 will be found, if not reasonable and divine; at 
 least, very different, from those disgusting fea- 
 tures, in which they are exhibited, in the writ- 
 ings of protectant divines. 
 
 CAUSE OF THE CENSURE OF PROTESTANT 
 PREJUDICE. 
 
 If I have cautioned the Protestant to act con- 
 sistently, I have done it, not because I seek to 
 induce him to quarrel, with his own religion ; but 
 because being inconsistent, he unjustly, quarrels 
 with mine. I have censured his prejudice, not 
 because he neglects what I may consider his spi- 
 ritual interests ; but because being prejudiced, he 
 is also intolerant to me. Were his inconsistency 
 or prejudice, injurious only to himself ; although, 
 not indeed indifferent to them; I should, how- 
 ever, have passed them over, without notice. But, 
 whoever is acquainted, with the history of the 
 persecutions of Roman Catholics ; if he have 
 traced effects to their causes; must know, that 
 half the prejudices and intolerance of the public, 
 had their origin, in the ignorance of our princi- 
 ples. It is to ignorance, that we must attribute 
 all the rancorous animosity, which has for almost 
 three centuries, in every corner of this island, 
 incessantly attacked our persons, and insulted 
 our principles. While a cruel policy suggested 
 the horrid laws, which persecuted us, it was ig-
 
 Violent JFr iters to be avoided. 33 
 
 norance that approved them; ignorance that en- 
 forced them ; ignorance that exulted in their 
 execution. It was ignorance, urged on by the 
 bigotry or wickedness of a few designing men, 
 that in 1780, enkindled the torch of sedition; 
 and had, nearly, reduced the greatness of this 
 country, to the emptiness of a name. Malice, 
 indeed, invented; hut it is ignorance, that voci- 
 ferates the seditious yell, " No popery." It is it, 
 that, still principally, inundates society, with 
 fabulous publications, and feeds that iiliberality, 
 which applauds, most feelingly, what assails us, 
 most unjustly. If the ignorance of the Protes- 
 tant Mere a mere harmless thing; or hurtful only 
 to himself; if he would only piously believe, that 
 " image worship is the established doctrine of the 
 church of Rome ; " that the Papist prays, every 
 day, to his wooden God; or looks up, to the 
 canvas of his pictures, or the ivory of his cruci- 
 fix, for salvation; if his piety would onlv believe 
 nonsense of this nature, and leave us unmolested, 
 or uninsulted, although, he might excite the 
 smile of pity, yet he would, hardly, merit the 
 reproach of wisdom. But the misfortune is ; his 
 ignorance is the source of injustice. 
 
 V I O L E X T W It I T E R S TO BE AVOIDED. 
 
 If it be not possible to induce the Protestant to 
 study our principles, in the only mediums, in 
 which they arc, faithfully, represented ; if protec- 
 tant divines alone must be consulted, as the in- 
 terpreters of popish doctrines ; at all events, I 
 
 F
 
 34 Violent Writers to he avoided. 
 
 caution those, who do consult them, against that 
 class of divines, who pretend to prove our errors, 
 fay the noise of declamation ; or evince our wick- 
 edness, by the boldness of their falsehoods. I 
 Caution them, against the angry invectives of our 
 angry adversaries, the Tillotsons, Burnets, See- 
 kers, &c. &c. ; the heroes of former fame: and 
 against the accusations of our modern enemies ; 
 the Reunells, Daubenys, Churtons, Towsons, and 
 a long et cietera of names, which the evil super- 
 eminence of abuse, has lifted to an evil super- 
 eminence of credit. Let good sense reflect, that 
 whatever is noisy will stun the ear of reason: 
 whatever is angry, will, easily, inspire anger, and 
 mislead the judgment. All violence is passion, at- 
 tempting to instil passion: and where it prevails, as 
 it will, sometimes, even over the moderate and the 
 just, if ill informed; it changes their moderation into 
 harshness ; and, placing objects in a wrong point 
 of view, makes their justice unjust. What need, 
 in effect, has truth of the help of passion? Truth, 
 is not like the thunder, that alarms; nor the light- 
 ening, that blasts. Placid, as the genial ray, it 
 sheds only a benign, enlivening influence around 
 it. To unite passion with religion, is a greater 
 destruction of the laws of harmony, than for the 
 painter to exhibit the horrors of a storm, in the 
 representation of a calm. Mildness is the art, 
 by which God designed, that man should in- 
 struct, or reform man. lie never conferred upon 
 the teachers of revelation the authority, either to 
 injure the most ignorant, or to insult the most 
 misled. So repugnant is either injury or insult.
 
 Ancient Protestant Writers. 35 
 
 i.n the genuine .spirit of Christianity, that the 
 man, who employs either; while he violates the 
 first lule of the religion, which he affects to re- 
 vere, which is charity; he injures also, in the eye 
 or' reason, the cause which he had undertaken to 
 defend. As abuse is the worst of bad arguments; 
 he proves, either that he has no good ones to pro- 
 duce ; or that he has no great dependance on 
 them; either, that he has no evidence to light up 
 his cause, or that he believes his readers have not 
 the acuteness to perceive it. At least, he proves 
 this, incontestably ; either, that his cause is bad; 
 or that his own heart, or understanding is bad. 
 When mission has begun to relent, and there suc- 
 ceeds a reflux to moderation, all this will be ad- 
 mitted ; and then, perhaps, the very abuse, which 
 has injured us ; will be converted into a source of 
 admiration of our principles. 
 
 A X C 1 E \ T P It O T E S T A X T W R I T E It S . 
 
 I could wish here, to be able to point out some, 
 among our modern protectant divines, whose 
 works, from their temper and erudition might 
 be read, with advantage, respecting the real doc- 
 trines of popery. I have not, indeed, read them 
 all; and, therefore, am not enable d to say, that 
 there are not some of this description. But, 
 among those, whom I have read, and I have 
 read many, I know none. (It must be observed, 
 that I speak only ot those, who pro] ess to attack, 
 or refute our tenets) All are violent, abusive, 
 and uncandid; although, with some difference, in 
 
 F 2 
 
 J. A4
 
 36 Ancient Protestant Writers. 
 
 the shades of their violence, abuse, and illibera- 
 lity. There are, however, among- the writers of 
 a more ancient date, a few, -whose works might he 
 read, with more propriety. I recommend to the 
 perusal of Protestants, the work of a protestant 
 clergyman, which I am told, has lately been re- 
 printed; an Essay to Catholic Communion. There 
 is too a moderation ; a degree of candor and eru- 
 dition, in the writings, of Pearson, Montague, 
 Forbes, Thorndike, &c. &c. which distinguish 
 them, greatly, from our modern publications. 
 They may, perhaps, be read, with profit. Al- 
 though, still, allowance must be made for some 
 prejudices: for prejudice will grow, in the hearts 
 of the most learned. In short, be truth sought 
 for, where it may; let it be sought for, consist- 
 ently, and candidly. Whether it be, in the 
 sources of protestantism, or among the defenders 
 of popery, Jet the mind be open 10 conviction; 
 and the ear shut to invective. Thus disposed, 
 let the Protestant learn, accurately, in the first 
 place, what our religion is : let him discuss its 
 tenets calmly ; and then, compare them honestly, 
 with his own. Let him look back into antiquity; 
 and placing the religion of past ages, by the side 
 of his own, and the catholic religion of this age, 
 let him study well their resemblance, and com- 
 pare their features. I will not anticipate the re- 
 sult of his comparison. I will, however, assert 
 with confidence, that whoever is pleased, thus, to 
 investigate the religion of Roman Catholics, al- 
 though his investigation may discoversomeshades, 
 and abuses m it; yet it will discover, too, that
 
 1'iety and Prayer the best Dispositions, S\C. 37 
 
 'ilie.se shades, and abuses have been greatly dar- 
 kened, and misrepresented ; and, that they form 
 no constituent parts of its integrity. The can- 
 dor, which knows how to discriminate, will se- 
 parate the.se, from the light; and will, I am sure, 
 acknowledge, that the passion, and petulance of 
 our enemies, hive, horribly, disfigured the noble 
 simplicity of our belief. 
 
 PIETY AND PRAYER THE BEST DISPOSITIONS 
 TO ATTAIN THE TRUTH. 
 
 In pointing out the method, by which our ad- 
 versaries might correct their prejudices and in- 
 form their ignorance, I have not supposed them 
 to adopt it, with the view of abandoning their 
 own tenets, should they find them false ; or of 
 taking up ours, should they find them true. 
 There are so many painful circumstances atten- 
 dant on <\n'\\ a change, so many awkward re- 
 straints to be put upon the corruption of nature; 
 that, considering the disposition of the times, 
 my presumption dees not expect this. I have 
 rather laid down, as a philosopher, the art of 
 correcting prejudice; than, as a divine, the means 
 of attaining truth. Did I, as a divine, suggest 
 to my readers the means of attaining truth, with 
 the view of inducing them to embrace it, I should 
 not only tell them to reject those works, which 
 irritate passion, by vilifying and misrepresenting 
 our doctrines ; not only to look for the principles 
 of popery in popish authors ; not only seriously 
 to discuss, and calmly compare, the distinctive
 
 SS The Method in which Protestants 
 
 attributes of truth, as they stand forward in the 
 catholic and protestant establishments ; I should, 
 besides, and more than all this, recommend a 
 spirit of piety and humility ; a serious attention 
 to prayer and meditation. Religion is a system 
 of piety and humility; and it is in holy commu- 
 nication with God, by prayer and meditation, 
 that he speaks most plainly, to the heart, and 
 unfolds the truths and beauty of his law. The 
 acuteness of human criticism, must be attended 
 by christian simplicity; and every feeling of hu- 
 man respect absorbed, in the generous ardor for 
 salvation : vice must be avoided, and the failings 
 of the heart reformed. By these means, the ray 
 of truth, would soon beam upon the soul ; 
 and that knowledge, easily, be attained, com- 
 pared with which, all other knowledge is but ro- 
 mance ; ail other science, folly. 
 
 But, the Protestant, not only errs, in borrow- 
 ing his supposed knowledge of popery, from 
 wrong sources of information ; he errs, at least, 
 equally, in his mode of reasoning, and in the 
 conclusions which he deduces from it. 
 
 THE METHOD IN WHICH PROTESTANTS STUDY 
 THE CATHOLIC RELIGION. 
 
 There are Protestants, I dare say, whom curi- 
 osity, or the desire of knowledge, has induced 
 to investigate, in their way, the nature of popish 
 doctrines; and after a very serious discussion, as 
 they conceived, have, very logically, concluded,
 
 study the Catholic Religion. .19 
 
 that the whole system is a compound of errors 
 and impositions. 1 will present the method, in. 
 which this serious investigation is conducted. It 
 is sure to begin at a point, where, in reality, it 
 should have ended : and, of course, the conclu- 
 sion is wrong - , because the premissa? were wrong. 
 When curiosity, then, or the desire of knowledge 
 has prompted a Protestant to investigate the na- 
 ture of' the catholic religion, he begins the im- 
 portant inquiry, by calling to the tribunal of his 
 reason, some of the great mysteries, which we 
 believe and venerate ; it is some prominent fea- 
 ture, in the sacred system. ; in general, the aw- 
 ful, and insulted, mystery of transuhstaniiaticn. 
 Here guided by the dictate of an unrestrained 
 imagination; or even, if you please, by the dic- 
 tate of human wisdom, he boldly attempts to 
 measure its immeasurable abysses; he interro- 
 gates its nature, its properties, and relations ; 
 and he compares these, with the nature, proper- 
 ties, and relations, of the objects which surround 
 him. He judges by the senses; convinced like 
 Dr. P. or Archbp. Seeker, that "it" we cannot 
 be sure of what the senses tell us. we can be sure 
 of nothing. * " 
 
 Well ; the sublime nature of the mystery places 
 it, transcendently, above the nature of human 
 things : its properties and relation-, heir little ana- 
 logy to human objects: its intrinsic qualities do 
 not act upon the senses. Behold '. therefore, with 
 all the dignity of power, and all the severity of 
 
 Brief Refutation of Poperv.
 
 40 Protestant Mode of Reasoning, <-<?. 
 
 justice, he, at once, pronounces the mystery im- 
 possible, absurd, impious, idolatrous: and by a, 
 consequence very well deduced, from such ar: 
 antecedent; the whole religion, which believes 
 it, false, foolish, wicked and superstitious. This 
 is the usual process of reasoning - , by which the 
 religion of Roman Catholics is proved erroneous ; 
 and condemned : this, the series of argumenta- 
 tion and deduction, by which the whole system 
 of popery is proved to be a chain of foolish and 
 wicked impositions. We are reprobated, for- 
 sooth, and our doctrines are all absurdity, be- 
 cause the puny reason of a bad reasoner, is un- 
 able to understand, what the divine wisdom had 
 ordained, should exceed the capacity of reason, 
 
 PROTESTANT MODE OF REASONING NOT CO\- 
 3ISTENT WITH THEIR OWN PRINCIPLES. 
 
 In the above mode of reasoning, there is some- 
 thing specious, where men reject all mystery, 
 and profess, only to admit what their reason cau 
 comprehend. But, although, it is no where, the 
 w r ay which conducts to truth ; it is, absolutely, 
 inconsistent with the principles of men, who pro- 
 fess to admit revelation. Whoever admits reve- 
 lation, essentially, admits mysteries, which he 
 professes exceed the reach of human comprehen- 
 sion ; which he allows, it would be even impious 
 to attempt to fathom, by the force of the strong- 
 est reason. The mysteries of revelation bear no 
 proportion to the measure of the human intellect;
 
 Sure Method to discover the Truth. 41 
 
 nor is either their truth, or falsehood evinced, by 
 tiie specious conclusions of common logical de- 
 duction. All mystery is above reason. And who- 
 ever therefore, rejects the mysteries of popery, 
 merely because his reason cannot penetrate them, 
 must either be a disciple of the school of incredu- 
 lity; or if consistent, should be one. The prin- 
 ciple is deistical ; and if applied to whatever it 
 extends, it would not only explode popery, it 
 would do away protestantism, and Christianity 
 itself. 
 
 SURE METHOD TO DISCOVER THE TRUTH. 
 
 In the investigation of the truth, or falsehood 
 of the catholic religion, a method should be 
 adopted something similar to that, which is pur- 
 sued in the researches into all other branches of 
 knowledge. The mind should proceed from the 
 clear to the obscure ; and from the known to the 
 unknown. Each idea should be a consequence, 
 regularly deduced ; and hinged upon a principle, 
 which wisdom had, previously, proved true. 
 There should be no vague conjectures ; no ha- 
 zarded, or self- formed suppositions, reposing upon 
 self-sufficiency ; which, while they are the dic- 
 tate of folly, are revered by self-love, as the off- 
 spring of wisdom. In short, there should be an 
 arrangement, and succession of evidences, though 
 not perhaps, essentially, so orderly, as the data 
 to a mathematical demonstration; should still, 
 be orderly, regular, and consistent. As an ex- 
 cellent method, for ascertaining the truth of the 
 catholic religion, I recommend that, which is 
 
 G
 
 42 Sure Method to discover the Truth. 
 
 emploj'ed in examining- the certainty of revela- 
 tion. When conducted by the rules of wisdom 
 and good sense, a man begins the important in- 
 quiry, into the certainty of revelation, he does 
 not, in the first place, call round him its dogmas, 
 and, immediately, im merge his reason, in the 
 sacred cloud of mystery. If he did this, his in- 
 quiry would be useless; and his incredulity, per- 
 haps, invincible. Having deeply impressed his 
 mind, with the importance, and necessity of re- 
 velation, he begins to ascertain its existence, by 
 discussing the motives, which render it credible ; 
 the prophecies, which have foretold it; the facts, 
 which attest it ; the miracles, which enforce it; 
 the authors, witnesses, evidences, and the whole 
 series of adjuncts, which confirm and recommend 
 it. If his reason be satisfied with these, of 
 course, he acknowledges the christian institute 
 to be divine ; and, therefore, believes whatever it 
 enforces ; although he be unable to fathom the 
 abysses, which it presents. The case is, it has 
 pleased God, to throw light enough, around re- 
 ligion, to render it credible: he holds forth the 
 torch of evidence to conduct us to its awful sanc- 
 tuary. But having conducted us there, a new 
 order of things succeeds ; the blaze of human 
 evidence is extinguished, and the power of the 
 divine authority takes its place. Nature is silent, 
 and God only speaks. Under these circumstances, 
 man listens, and adores. He sees, evidently, that 
 he should believe ; but he does not comprehend, 
 what he does believe. He hears God, distinctly 
 dictate, mvsteries, which he commands him to
 
 Sure Method to discover the Truth. 43 
 
 mere; but understands not the mysteries, which 
 he is commanded to revere. The docility of hu- 
 man reason, in this situation, is neither pusilla- 
 nimity, nor weakness. God speaks; reason hears 
 him, and i is word suffices to satisfy it. It is even 
 satisfied, more perfectly, than if it understood 
 what forms the object of its belief: because what 
 human littleness can understand appears less aw- 
 ful, less worthy the divine greatness, than what 
 human sagacity cannot penetrate. 
 
 It is, in this manner, and upon these princi- 
 ples, that the Protestant should discuss the di- 
 vinity of the catholic religion. 'J he same pro- 
 cess of reasoning, which establishes revelation, 
 proves catholicity. In both cases, there is a 
 progress of reasoning, which conducts to a 
 final principle, where dissent is criminal ; and 
 incredulity becomes impiety. In the investi- 
 gation of catholicity, as in the examination of 
 revelation, the mind is conducted, hy a pillar of 
 light, through a succession of proofs, evidences, 
 facts, miracles and propositions, till it arrive at 
 a barrier, where the pillar presents the dark side 
 only, and reason is bid to stop. It is here, faith 
 begins to speak ; and it becomes the part of rea- 
 son to adore. God takes the place of reason, and 
 his word becomes the rule of its belief. Guided 
 by these maxims, let the Protestant candidly ex- 
 amine the motives of credibility, which attest the 
 divinity of the religion of Roman Catholics. 
 There are motives of credibility, or distinctive 
 marks of the true church, which every Protestant 
 admits, who admits the Nicene creed; unity, 
 
 G 2
 
 4-4 Sure Method to discover the Truth. 
 
 holiness, universality and apcstolicity. Let him 
 study these marks attentively, and apply them 
 to our religion. (He would do well to apply 
 them, alternately, to ours, and to his own). 
 Let him view the venerable age of our establish- 
 ment, reaching up to the sera of the apostles : its 
 extent, reaching to every corner of the universe ; 
 its holiness, raising up saints and martyrs, in 
 every age. In short, viewing the long succes- 
 sion of facts, monuments, miracles, and autho- 
 rities, which confirm its divinity, let him discuss 
 these, accurately and honestly, and while they 
 compel him, at least, to revere it ; they will con- 
 duct him, to that last link, in the chain of rea- 
 soning, where reasoning is pride ; and investiga- 
 tion an act of folly. The divinity of our reli- 
 gion, or of any religion, that pretends to be re- 
 vealed, should, essentially, be discussed by these 
 principles. To reject any mystery, without ex- 
 amining first the authority which enforces it, is 
 both unphilosophical, and absurd. The evidence 
 of revealed truth, results, solely, from the evi- 
 dence, which the divine wisdom has shed around 
 it. Reason has nothing to do with the mystery, 
 but adore it. And thus, if reason would judge 
 of catholicity, as it does of Christianity, hy its 
 evidences ; and not, by its mysteries, it would 
 find catholicity as divine, and rational, as Chris- 
 tianity; it would acknowledge; it could not help 
 acknowledging, that the very arguments, which 
 induce it to admit the latter, impel it, forcibly, to 
 believe the former. Reader, try the experiment.
 
 [ 45 ] 
 
 ABUSES IN THE CATHOLIC UEI.IGION. 
 
 But, in the investigation of the principles, and 
 practices of the catholic ieligion, will not the 
 eye discover abuses, which hurt the feelings of 
 reason: Yes; it will; and it is here, that the 
 reason of the Protestant, because not reasonable 
 enough, either perhaps gives up the investigation ; 
 or, at once, pronounces the whole system of 
 popery, a compound of bigotry and superstition, 
 lint, these are the occasions, when reason, should 
 recollect, that there are abuses, every where; and, 
 that very frequently, the very best things, are 
 the things, which are most abused. Reason should 
 here inquire, whether these abuses, be sancti- 
 oned by our religion ; or authorized by our coun- 
 cils : whether, they form any articles, in our 
 creeds, or any essential part of our constitution. 
 Reason should ask, and investigate all this. And, 
 much we wish, for investigations of this nature. If 
 it can be found, that there is, one abuse, which is 
 sanctioned by the catholic religion ; and which 
 forms any part of its constitution ; for my own 
 part, I not only do not censure the wisdom, 
 "which condemns it ; I applaud the good sense, 
 which rejects the whole system, that approves it. 
 But if reason will examine the abuses, which sub- 
 sist among us, it will find, that they are all unau- 
 thorized, and unsanctioned abuses ; a few in- 
 ferior practices, which form no part of the con- 
 stitution of the church; and u inch the church 
 censures and condemns. I defy the ingenuity of 
 malevolence itself to prove the contrary. To de- 
 sist, therefore, from the investigation of the ca-
 
 46 Abuses magnified and misrepresented, 
 
 tholic religion ; or rather to reject it, on account of 
 a few unconsequential abuses, which are confined, 
 almost solely, to its ignorant members, is not un- 
 like that kind of folly, which refuses to reap the 
 field overspread with a golden harvest, merely 
 because here and there, is intermixed a thistle, or 
 some pernicious herb, sown there, perhaps by 
 accident, or planted by the hand of malice. In 
 reality, we are so habituated to behold abuses 
 blended with the best things, and institutions ; 
 and united with the most useful laws and regula- 
 tions, that, unless they be gross and injurious in- 
 deed, they never form motives sufficient for their 
 rejection ; they never form motives sufficient, for 
 general censure and disapprobation. 
 
 ABUSES MAGNIFIED AND MISREPRESENTED. 
 
 It is, however, principally, on account of the 
 small abuses misrepresented by the illiberality of 
 our enemies, and magnified to the grossest guilt 
 and superstition, that popery is, so petulantly cen- 
 sured, and, so precipitately, condemned. Who- 
 ever credits the accounts, which some writers 
 and preachers have been pleased to give of them, 
 must very naturally conceive, that there is no- 
 thing, in the annals of folly, so ridiculous ; no- 
 thing, in the history of superstition, so bigoted; 
 nothing even on the rolls of vice, so horrible, so 
 wicked, so extravagant. Although, in reality, 
 they are mere specks, which wisdom would over- 
 look, yet some of them, it is true, are of that na- 
 ture against which, it is easy for men of little ta- 
 lents, and malignant tempers to cavil, with an air
 
 Sources of Insult and Misrepresentation. 47 
 
 oi triumph. They form convenient topics for 
 popular declamation ; and as the ignorant and 
 superficial judge of most tilings, by their abuses ; 
 it is a few unconsequentiai abuses frightfully disfi- 
 gured by malevolence, that above every other 
 cause, has sunk our religion to disesteem ; and 
 withhplden from our persons, the common chari- 
 ties of christian benevolence. I hardly blame the 
 unreasoning credulity of the vulgar, for their er- 
 rors. They have few sources of information, be- 
 sides the invectives of declamation ; and while 
 their simplicity would esteem it criminal to sus- 
 pect the veracity of the declaimer, their igno- 
 rance knows not how to distinguish the abuses 
 from the law. Hence, the abuses of popery are 
 mistaken for popery itself; and the unapproved 
 practices of a few ignorant individuals, are con- 
 strued into the monstrous superstition of the 
 church. 
 
 SOURC ES OF INSULT AXD M I S REP RESE XT AT ION". 
 
 It is an object not underserving the attention 
 both of the philosopher, and the divine, to search 
 the origin, and trace the progress of the rooted pre- 
 judice, and its consequent ill-will which subsist 
 among the various sects of protestantism, and 
 ramble in the minds of its professors, against po- 
 pery and the papist. While bigotry, and igno- 
 rance are pleased to attribute 'hem, to the absur- 
 dity of our principles, and the wickedness of our 
 conduct, liberality, and wisdom will find their 
 origin and continuance, in other more obvious 
 causes. I will dwell, a few moments, upon this
 
 48 Truth odious. 
 
 origin, and continuance, after I have prefaced 
 their history, with a few reflections, on the na- 
 ture of truth, and the character of Christianity. 
 
 TRUTH ODIOUS. 
 
 Whoever has studied the annals of truth ; or 
 followed, from its introduction, any one moral, or 
 useful principle of science, is sure to have made 
 the observation, that, it was, no sooner introduc- 
 ed, but it was contradicted and vilified. If the 
 truth, which was introduced, were unpleasing to 
 passion, it was attacked by the school of vice : if 
 repugnant to general notions, it was assailed by 
 the hosts of prejudice : if contrary to the inclina- 
 tions of the vulgar, it was scouted by the herd of 
 ignorance. Truth ; above all religious truth, is 
 essentially possessed of some of these characteris- 
 tics ; and therefore it has always been ushered 
 into day, amid the murmurs of disapprobation, 
 and propagated amid the efforts of violence and 
 contradiction. There is hardly any truth, but 
 what is of such nature, as either to be too pure, 
 for the corruption of some hearts ; or too exalted, 
 for some understandings. Where the former is 
 the case, it is the interest of passion to vociferate 
 against it : where the latter, it is the property of 
 ignorance, to reject it. Hence some one, I think 
 it is Tertullian, says : " Plane olim, id semper est, 
 " Veritas odio est." In regard of Christianity, 
 therefore, it is very natural to imagine, that, as 
 its truths are opposed, both to the passions and 
 prejudices of the world, they would meet with con- 
 tradiction and insult from it. Christ Jesus foretold,
 
 Truth odious. 49 
 
 that such should be their reception. Accordingly, 
 whoever examines, in what maimer Christianity 
 was introduced, and grew; will find, that it was 
 amidst the resistance of power ; the outcry of 
 insult; the artiiiees of malice, and the injustices 
 of misrepresentation. It was, while it was diffusing 
 truth, and reforming the universe, that paganism 
 exclaimed, most loudly, that its errors and super- 
 stitions were the sources of all the misfortunes of 
 the Roman empire. " The accusations of the 
 whole world," says Tertullian, "impute all the 
 disorders of the universe to the gospel; and the 
 Christians are made answerable, both for the 
 dryness of the seasons, and the overflowings of 
 the Tyber*." The pure religion of the saints 
 and martyrs, was exhibited, as a monster of im- 
 piety, and a series of absurdities. Indeed, it is so 
 natural for falsehood to vilify the truth ; so es- 
 sential to its interests to misrepresent it; that in- 
 sults and misrepresentation become to wisdom 
 the clues, that lead to its discovery. They are 
 the attendants, that follow in its train. 
 
 I might, here, (although I will not) make the 
 comparison, between the horrible imputations, 
 which paganism, and protestantism have succes- 
 sively, urged against catholicity. Whoever 
 pleases to make it, will discover, that both have 
 been nearly, equally violent, illiberal, and uncan- 
 did. The Protestant calls the religion, which 
 we have inherited from the apostles, and the 
 saints, a chain of corruptions, superstitions, 
 
 * Tert, de Resurrect. Ciirms. 
 
 H
 
 50 First Reformers, their Violence. 
 
 imposture, and idolatry : a religion, which traf- 
 fics in impiety, and sanctions every crime. These 
 holy attributes of our religion may be found, in- 
 half the protestant publications, which make men- 
 tion of Roman Catholics : they may be heard, 
 every Sunday, in nearly half the pulpits of the 
 nation. The reason is ; falsehood, and passion,) 
 and prejudice, and ignorance, are in every age, 
 alike : alike illiberal, rancorous, bigoted, and 
 unjust. 
 
 FIRST REFORMERS, T HEI R VI6LENCE. 
 
 During the first struggles of the revolution, 
 which the reformation very naturally excited, it 
 is only reasonable to look for violence and ani- 
 mosity. The introduction, and growth of the 
 reformation, did not, in any respect, resemble the 
 introduction, and growth of Christianity. Both 
 were conducted, on very opposite plans ; and by 
 very opposite principles. While Christianity was 
 ushered in, and acquired influence, by the arts of 
 meekness ; the reformation was begun, and in- 
 creased by the arms of violence : while the for- 
 mer attracted proselytes by the gentle eloquence of 
 truth ; the latter excited followers by the more 
 powerful vociferations of calumny, and insult. 
 The professed object of both, it is true, was the 
 same, the reformation of error, and the establish- 
 ment of virtue. But, while the apostles of 
 Christianity reformed error, and established vir- 
 tue, every amiable quality, which could recom- 
 mend, or enforce either, shone conspicuous,
 
 First Reformers, their Violence. 51 
 
 both in their character, and their conduct. Mild, 
 modest, chaste, humble, patient, and beneficent, 
 they earned the triumphs of truth, by the tri* 
 umphs of holiness. They reformed the universe, 
 by exhibiting, in their own conduct, the pattern 
 .of true perfection. Far different from this, was 
 the conduct of the first reformers. Setting out, 
 like the late infuriate Jacobins in France, with the 
 subversion of law, decency, and order, their vic- 
 tories were sedition, plunder, and excess. Pro- 
 fessing to correct vice, they spread disorder ; af- 
 fecting to recall truth, they gave birth to every 
 form of falsehood. The reformation, in effect, 
 was the contest of party, against power ; or the 
 effort of fanaticism labouring to pull down, what 
 its leaders were pleased to term superstition and 
 idolatry. These leaders were men, who would 
 have figured in any revolution. They had the 
 passions, which opposition but inflames ; and they 
 possessed that rough kind of eloquence, which is 
 calculated to awake enthusiasm, and impose on 
 ignorance. Some of them; if we credit only the 
 accounts, which themselves have furnished of 
 each other; were fanatics, in the mantle of reli- 
 gion ; some of them hypocrites, under the veil of 
 piety ; some of them plunderers, under the mask 
 of zeal; some of them monsters, without mask, 
 mantle, or any veil whatever. From men of such 
 characters, armed with such principles, it is only 
 consistent to expect all those great excesses, 
 which attend on great revolutions ; the injurious 
 artifices, by which violence procures abettors ; 
 and the low expedients, by which party ensures 
 
 II 2
 
 52 First Reformers, their Violence. 
 
 its victories. As for these latter circumstances, 
 they were not merely consistent, hut necessary ; 
 because, if it was necessary to destroy popery, it 
 was necessary to prove it guilty; if necessary to 
 plunder the church, it was necessary to demon- 
 strate its idolatry ; if necessary to abolish conti- 
 nence, fasts, penance, confessions ; it was neces- 
 sary to vilify, and arm the public animosity 
 against them. This, Erasmus ohserves, the lead- 
 ers did, most effectually, in their harangues and 
 addresses to the populace. " In these harangues," 
 says he, " they inflamed their fury to madness: 
 they inspired such rage, that they seemed, even 
 possessed by the evil spirit*." 
 
 After the establishment of the reformation, it 
 might have been expected, or hoped at least, 
 that the violence, which had formed it, would 
 abate; and those ignoble auxiliaries be dismissed, 
 which had contributed, so powerfully, to its suc- 
 cesses. But, such was not the case. The springs 
 of too many passions had been put in motion, to 
 subside easily ; and the impulse was too strong, 
 for the vibration to cease at once. Violence and 
 illiberality still continued to support the reforma- 
 tion, which violence and illiberality had establish- 
 ed. The fanaticism, ambition, interest, or jea- 
 lousy of its leading members, still thought it wise 
 to retain those means for its preservation, which 
 had assisted, so nobl}', in its erection. These, there- 
 fore, with occasional pauses, and abatements, 
 have continued to be employed, in every protcs- 
 
 * Lib. 31, Ep. 47.
 
 The tolerant Policy of this Country. 53 
 
 taut government in Europe, until the late happy 
 dawn of liberality and benevolence. It is only, 
 within the short interval of a few years, that the 
 sword of persecution has been hung up in the 
 temple of concord, and that the Roman Catholic 
 can say, I do not tremble, to-day, for my life, my 
 property, or my freedom. 
 
 THE TOLERANT POLICY OF THIS COUNTRY. 
 
 In this country, the interests of the .state be- 
 came blended, it was thought, with the interests of 
 the reformation: and the fanaticism of the lesis- 
 lature adopted, as a fundamental principle of po- 
 licy, as horrible an error, as any, that disgraced 
 the civil code of a Dioclesian. It decreed the 
 wisdom of persecution. Its enlightened libera- 
 lity, very piously, sanctioned the frightful max- 
 im, that cruelty to Catholics "would much advance 
 ike glory of God* :" and with a horrible, though 
 proper consistency with such a maxim, its zeal 
 legalized ever;- expedient; enforced every me- 
 thod, that could enable cruelty to attain so desir- 
 able an end. Consult our penal statutes against 
 popery. It will be found, that the laws of half 
 the persecutors and tyrants, who have disgraced 
 humanity, are less cruel and vexatious. They 
 were, as Mr. Burke remarks, "a complete system, 
 full of coherence and consistency; well digest- 
 ed, and well contrived in all its parts : a machine 
 of wise and elaborate contrivance, and as well 
 
 * Sec Rushworth's Ccl. vol. i.
 
 54> The tolerant Policy of this Country. 
 
 fitted for the impoverishment, and degradation of 
 a people, and the debasement in them, of human 
 nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted 
 ingenuity of man*." In the pious work of per- 
 secuting popery, the ecclesiastical establishment, 
 whose distinguishing characteristic should be be- 
 nevolence, concurred with the civil power : it 
 sanctified the horrors of persecution, and render- 
 ed the hatred of Papists, a source of distinguished 
 merit. I might cite many examples of this illi-? 
 berality : but, I will produce only one, which is 
 expressive of the general temper of the protestant 
 clergy, during the course of above two hundred 
 years. During the reign of James the first, when 
 an alleviation was proposed of the punishments of 
 Roman Catholics, the meek Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, in his expostulation with that prince, told 
 him, " that such a measure would call down, upon 
 him and his kingdom, God's heavy anger and in- 
 dignation. *' In this age of liberality, it is not easy 
 for moderation to conceive, the extravagance of 
 the sanctified violence, with which the zeal of 
 protestantism was wont to assail us ; and, effectu- 
 ally, kept alive the animosity of the public. The 
 public re-echoed with abuse ; and the press 
 groaned with lies. Language had not words 
 sufficiently harsh to reprobate us; nor the ima- 
 gination images sufficiently horrible to represent 
 our wickedness. That divine repository of ma- 
 ledictions, threats and reproaches, the Apoca- 
 lypse, was too scanty to furnish bigotry with 
 
 * Letter to Sir H. Lansrrishe,
 
 The tolerant Policy of this Country. 55 
 
 epithets; or ill-will, with expressions, strong 
 enough, to urge prejudice to hate us. The chief 
 ingredient of protestant piety, and protestant or- 
 thodoxy, during these ages, was enmity to popery. 
 Speaking of the time of Queen Elizabeth, Dr. 
 Heylin says, " Xot to speak of private opinions, 
 nothing was more considered in them, than the 
 zeal against popery." And at a subsequent pe- 
 riod, Bishop Bedel mentioning the manner, in 
 which the Protestants usually treated us, he says, 
 'They give loose to their pens and tongues ; and 
 what they say, is only a series of calumnies and 
 injurious language *." Even Burnet himself, to 
 whose mildness, and candour, popery owes so 
 little, acknowledges, in his Life of the good Bi- 
 shop, the truth of this observation. I will not 
 crowd my page with quotations ; but as the erudi- 
 tion, and, in an instance of this nature, the can- 
 dor, of Bayle, render his testimony unexcep- 
 tionable in regard of the writings of Protestants; 
 I will just add, that he asserts ; that the contro- 
 versy of our protestant writers, consists only in 
 reproaching the Catholic, with what he does not 
 believe, and in animating their own party to in- 
 sult him. 
 
 In malice it begun, by malice grows ; 
 
 He (Luther) sew'd the serpent's teeth ; an iron harvest rose. 
 Dry den speaking of the Reformation, 
 
 When I reprobated our penal statutes, per- 
 haps, it would have been wise to have remarked, 
 
 * Sermons.
 
 55 The tolerant Policy of this Country. 
 
 that they had not, in general, the poor apology for 
 their enactment, that they Mere passed, in the 
 hour of danger ; or enforced against subjects, 
 whose loyalty was precarious. In general, they 
 owed their enactment to the wantonness of 
 cruelty, and to the industry of fanaticism ; 
 and were enforced against subjects of acknow- 
 ledged loyalty ; who had, on every occasion, 
 obeyed every call of their ungrateful monarchs ; 
 and assisted a protcstant government to repel 
 catholic invaders. They were enacted, and 
 enforced against men, whose only crime, Mas, 
 that they believed what their reason conceived 
 true ; and revered what their conscience told 
 them was divine. They Mere enacted against 
 men, for believing what they thought proper ; 
 bv men who professed, that to believe what each 
 one thinks proper is the privilege of nature, rea- 
 son, and religion. However ; peace to all those 
 M r hose narrow policy, or illiberal piety, thought it 
 M'ise and meritorious, to insult humanity; or to 
 violate the principles of protestantism for the 
 good of the reformation! The days of persecu- 
 tion have passed away; and M r e forgive the per- 
 secutors. The discernment of modern policy ; 
 and the wisdom of modem piety have, at length, 
 discovered, that it is reasonable and religious to 
 be just to Roman Catholics, and that moderation 
 may, possibly, create as good subjects, as the 
 sword of persecution. How much, is humanity 
 indebted to the man, whose bold arid enlightened 
 goodness, first ventured to attempt the solution 
 of the interesting problem ! He merits the first
 
 Modern Controversialists. 57 
 
 tribute of catholic gratitude. But, to him ; to 
 the beneficence of the best of princes ; to the en- 
 larged wisdom of the legislature, every tribute is 
 due, which gratitude can offer. It is due also, to 
 several of that class of men, to the morose preju- 
 dices of whose predecessors, the Roman Catholic 
 owed, so little. Several of the protectant clergy 
 have our warmest thanks. They felt the horrid 
 impropriety of our bloody statutes ; and, nobly, 
 stood forward to urge their abolition. They 
 acted, on that interesting occasion, as christian 
 pastors should do : they acted as christian pas- 
 tors ; as christian philosophers; and as christian 
 men. May their successors, in the ministry, re- 
 semble them ! And may the Catholic, in ages 
 yet to come, pay them the same tribute of gra- 
 titude, which we do ! 
 
 MODERN CONTROVERSIALISTS. 
 
 I have acknowledged the introduction and 
 growth of liberality, in this nation. However, 
 (perhaps, indeed, it should not be expected, yet) 
 it is not so general, as wisdom, and humanity 
 would require. There is, still, among us, a por- 
 tion of the community, and that not very in- 
 considerable, men of the old leaven; unhappy 
 splenetic characters, who seem to regret our little 
 comforts, and, industriously, counteract the be- 
 neficence of the legislature. There are still men, 
 who are, for ever, unsheathing those murderous 
 aims, which have wounded us so often; and, 
 
 I
 
 58 Modern Controversialists. 
 
 like their predecessors, whom Bishop Bedel de- 
 scribes so well, " give loose to their pens and 
 tongues, and say what is only a scries of calum- 
 nies and abusive language." That liberality, 
 which, adorns every other branch of literature, 
 in this country, has stopped short in contro- 
 versy, with Romau Catholics ; and, as if it were 
 criminal to be polite to them, it is, almost univer- 
 sally, true, that the works, which are written 
 against them, are harsh, peevish, and uncandid. 
 Without any cause from popery, to excite their 
 anger; or any subject, from the papist, to alarm 
 their timidity, they still teem upon the former, 
 the brimful chalice of abuse; and they labour to 
 keep awake against the latter, the spirit of suspi- 
 cion, and animosity; a spirit, which is not only 
 irreconcileable, with the mildness of christian be- 
 nevolence; but repugnant to the lenient temper 
 of true policy. Arrogating to themselves that 
 infallibility in their arguments, for which they 
 reproach the Catholic, they not only exult in the 
 supposed evidence of their demonstrations ; they 
 triumph over us, more cruelly, than the hero of 
 romance over the puny victim, which trembles 
 at his fury. Popery, if you believe them, is still 
 superstition trampling on the necks of deluded 
 mortals; glutted with the blood of protestant 
 martyrs, and yet thirsting: for more. It is the 
 great harlot sitting upon the seven hills, and 
 holding in her hand, the cup overflowing with 
 abominations. It is awkward, now indeed, to 
 prove, that the Pope is Antichrist; or, after so
 
 Injustice of modern Controversy. 5g 
 
 rany false predictions, demonstrate, with ma- 
 thematical accuracy, like the Whistons, or the 
 Newtons, the year or hour of his fall; however, 
 our religion is antichristiau, and ourselves the 
 disciples of Antichrist. Where, even what we 
 call moderation, undertakes to describe popery; 
 "With extreme forbearance, it gently calls, our 
 tenets, superstition, and our practices idolatry. 
 
 INJUSTICE OF MODERN CONTROVERSY. 
 
 Where the principles of a considerable portion 
 of society are impeached, and the impeachment 
 involves, perhaps, their personal security; or 
 weakens, at least, tire sympathies of good-will, it, 
 doubtless, should seem essential, that in so mo- 
 mentous a concern, each assertion should be sub- 
 stantiated; each argument well evinced. False- 
 hood and abuse are, in every case, improper; and 
 where they injure the happiness of but one indi- 
 vidual, they are criminal : but, when they sport, 
 with the interests of thousands; I pause, to rind 
 a term, by which such wantonness should be ex- 
 pressed. Yet is this the general nature of the 
 works, which the zeal of protestantism has pour- 
 ed out against popery. Having first learnt what 
 popery is; consult them. You will find, foi 
 proofs, assertions; for arguments, reproaches; 
 for reasons, ridicule; or often, where you find 
 neither assertions, reproaches, nor ridicule, you 
 will find, what perhaps is worse; the darkest in- 
 sinuations, unsupported by the slenderest proof 
 
 I 2
 
 60 Injustice of modern Controversy. 
 
 I believe it true, that the papist has not one ge- 
 nerous antagonist, in this generous nation ; not 
 one, who meets his catholic opponent, foot to 
 foot; and wields, fairly, the arms of controver- 
 sy. I believe, that the best apology for these 
 writers is, that they know little about our prin- 
 ciples. I doubt much, whether many of them 
 ever ventured to dip, half an hour, into a ca- 
 tholic writer, in their lives. This I am sure of, 
 it would be easy to refute the writings of half our 
 protestant controversialists, respecting the doc- 
 trines of popery, from the writings of the other 
 half. What a fund of proof would the ancient 
 Tborndykes, Pearsons, Montagues, Taylors, &c. 
 afford, against the bold assertions of our modern 
 antagonists ! 
 
 To question the erudition, or impeach the mo- 
 deration of many of the antagonists of popery, 
 may appear to betray ignorance ; or to manifest 
 intemperance, in me. The antagonists of popery 
 have been, and are yet, some of them, the first 
 literary characters of this nation. Several of them 
 are distinguished, in the walks of life, for the 
 humanity of their dispositions; and the polite- 
 ness of their manners. I allow the truth of all 
 this; I join my feeble eulogy of admiration, to 
 the general peal of applause, which honours them. 
 I respect them, for their erudition ; and I love 
 them, for their virtues. However, such is the na- 
 ture of the human mind ; and such has, before, 
 been the case with many exalted characters ; 
 great erudition is often united with great igno- 
 rance ; and great humanity, associated with great
 
 Injustice of modern Controversy. 61 
 
 illibcrality. In the characters, to whom I allude, 
 we find this, exactly verified. With the know- 
 ledge of every other science, they manifest a pu- 
 erile ignorance of popery: and the candor, which 
 distinguishes them, on every other subject, is 
 changed, on this hateful topic, into morose illi- 
 bcrality, or petulant intolerance. As if there were 
 something, in popery, too absurd to be investi- 
 gated ; or too wicked, to be discussed with pa- 
 tience, they condemn it, without any argument 
 to evince its falsehood ; and execrate it, without 
 any proof, which the justice of moderation could 
 deem reasonable. In almost every attack, which 
 they make on popery, it is plain, that satire holds 
 the pen ; and dips it, not where truth should, 
 in the milk of benevolence: but, where ill-will 
 does ; generally, in the gall of rancour. If the 
 protestant controversialist, when he combats the 
 errors, or describes the abuses of popery, piously 
 wishes to reform either, or to induce the reason 
 of the papist to believe him; as moderation is the 
 best weapon oi' religion, and candor the best arm 
 of truth; he should usher in the contest, with 
 the gentle soothings of goodnature ; and triumph 
 ovei our errors, by the honest artifices of sin- 
 cerity. Conceiving us wandering in the shades 
 of ignorance, he should pity our misfortune; or 
 lost in the mazes of superstition, he should pre- 
 sent a friendly hand to lead us out. This would 
 be, to act, generously; and to triumph over us, 
 nobly. This too, is the spirit of religion ; and 
 the only means, by which religion seeks to tri- 
 umph. Should the papist, ever become protes-
 
 6% Injustice of modern Controversy. 
 
 tant, through principle, these are the arts, that 
 would most powerfully prompt him to it. But it 
 is here, that protestantism fails. Moderation is 
 the great desideratum of protestant controversy. 
 It would render an attack upon popery, a pheno- 
 menon, in modern protestant literature. For my 
 own part, whenever I read a modern controversia- 
 list, he is sure to bring to my mind the idea of 
 an angry man, filled with indignation ; sitting 
 down to write an invective. As if convinced, 
 that a papist was either too blind, to discern the 
 beam of evidence ; or too obstinate, to embrace 
 the truth; he neither studies to convince him by 
 reason, nor conciliate him by kindness. His re- 
 futation of popery is a violent declamation ad- 
 dressed to his own party, whom he convinces of 
 our errors, by misrepresenting us; and of our 
 wickedness, by insulting us. J lis proofs, are his 
 own assertions ; his evidence, the coarseness of 
 
 his abuse. Since in the protestant church, 
 
 there arc multitudes, who are distinguished for 
 their liberality, and celebrated as learned theolo- 
 gians, and wise philosophers, it certainly is a cir- 
 cumstance very singular ; as it is very unfortu- 
 nate for us, that when there is question of popery, 
 neither their liberality condescends to gain our 
 good- will, nor their learning, or wisdom stoops 
 down to convince our reason. But; as Dry den 
 remarks ; and it is true : 
 
 Zeal peculiar privilege affords, 
 Indulging latitude to deeds and words.- 
 And 'tis their duty, all the learned think, 
 T'espouse that cause, by which they cat and drink.
 
 [ C3 ] 
 
 WARMTH NOT IMPROPER IF GENEROUS, 
 
 Let it not be supposed, that I censure the con- 
 troversial works of Protestants, because they arc 
 animat ;i. either in the attack, which they make 
 on popery; or in their defence of protestantism. 
 I censure them, only because they are illiberal, 
 and uncanclid. There is an animation, which is 
 both generous, honest and commendable ; which 
 forms the great charm of literature; and excites 
 that attention to truth, which its interests, very 
 properly, demand ; an animation, which is nei- 
 ther il! humour; nor petulance; nor passion. 
 Let our adversaries possess only this kind of ani- 
 mation ; and however it may injure or affect us; 
 not even our prejudice, or partiality shall com- 
 plain. We should love and respect such enemies: 
 and though we might regret to behold what was 
 meant to adorn truth, converted to ornament 
 error; yet we should praise it, as the result of 
 
 honesty, and conviction. 1 will however add; 
 
 that, while I do not censure animation in a wri- 
 ter, 1 recommend the greatest coolness, to his 
 readers. An animated writer, on the serious sub- 
 ject of religion, should be read with the calmest 
 circumspection. The animation of a writer, glows, 
 easily, into passion in a reader. Passion warms 
 to anger; and linger swells to injustice. Anima- 
 tion is the beginning of anger; and, conse- 
 quently, perhaps, of injustice. It is therefore, 
 only with the coolest circumspection, that men,
 
 6-i Protestant Writers in general. 
 
 above all of certain characters, can read, with 
 safety, -what animation has written, with elo- 
 quence. 
 
 PROTEST.WT WRITERS IX GENERAL. 
 
 It is the great misfortune of popery, as I have 
 " xemarked before, that every ignorant writer is 
 wise enough, to demonstrate its absurdity ; and 
 every fool, either sufficiently enlightened to be- 
 hold the truth of such demonstrations ; or cre- 
 dulous enough to believe them true. Hence, nei- 
 ther the abuse nor illiberality, which attack po- 
 pery, are confined to the learning of the polemic; 
 but extend themselves, through almost every 
 branch of English literature; from the sublime 
 theories of the philosopher, to the humble ele- 
 ments, in which childhood is taught to lisp its 
 alphabet. The abuse of popery is that happy in- 
 cident, which illumines the evidences of the his- 
 torian, and gives energy to the eloquence of the 
 rhetorician : it adorns essays, travels, geogra- 
 phies, poems, pamphlets, and romances: it gives 
 wit, to dullness ; sense to nonsense ; truth to lies; 
 and what is its main advantage, (such is the pub- 
 lic taste) it ensures praise, credit, and, better far, 
 
 than either, to some money, to the 
 
 hero, who employs it most profusely. I hardly 
 know which, in this liberal and enlightened 
 country, is most astonishing ; the multitude of 
 publications, which drag the absurdities of po- 
 pery into day ; or the promiscuous, variety of the 
 subjects, into which they are introduced,, No
 
 Protestant Writers in general. C5 
 
 matter, what be the nature of the subject ; there 
 ire authors, upon every subject, who either to 
 gratify the public prejudice, or their own ; or ge- 
 nerally, as I hinted, for a more substantial rea- 
 son, present the portrait of popery, or an etching 
 of its profile; but whether they present the por- 
 trait, or the profile, they distort every feature, so 
 hideously, that whoever believes the representa- 
 tion tiue, both, naturally and properly, abhors 
 popery ; and disesteems the Papist. Sometimes, 
 indeed, it is neither a portrait, nor a profile, that 
 these men present: it is only a feature; popish 
 superstition glutted with protestant victims, or 
 sighing for fresh ones; bigotry adoring pic- 
 tures; imposture vending the leave to commit 
 sin; idolatry worshipping a bit of bread. Who- 
 ever is conversant, in books, will allow the truth 
 of all this: and whoever has traced the temper of 
 the public, in regard of popery, to its causes; 
 will own, that the misrepresentations of our writ- 
 ers, added to their abuse and ridicule, have ; 
 after the misrepresentations, abuse and ridicule of 
 the pulpit; contributed more effectually to it, 
 than any other; perhaps, than all other causes 
 put together. Notwithstanding even our oaths 
 and protestations, the false imputations of these 
 writers, have formed the public creed respecting 
 popery; and this creed, eloquently paraphrased 
 with insult, has formed the public taste. 
 
 Discit enim citius, merrunitquc libentius llhid, 
 Quod quis deridet, quam quod ptobat, et vcneratur, 
 
 K
 
 f 66 ] 
 
 MORE rOLITE WRITERS. 
 
 Within the circle of those, -who have been in- 
 jurious to popery ; or who have contributed to 
 stay the feelings of friendship from us ; it may 
 appear singular, that I should include some writ- 
 ers, whose works are considered as peculiarly 
 distinguished for their moderation; and are, cer- 
 tainly, distinguished for the latitude of their prin- 
 ciples. However, such is the case: there are 
 writers, whose prominent feature is, their en- 
 larged principles of toleration ; and, who by their 
 praises of liberality, and the execration of all, that 
 looks like persecution, have contributed, perhaps, 
 as much, to rivet the public prejudices, which sub- 
 sist against us, and to keep back the tide of be- 
 nevolence, as either the violent controversialist, 
 who misrepresents, or the preacher, who insults 
 us. It is well known, that there are arts in writ- 
 ing, as there are stratagems in war; that it is not 
 always the assault of violence, that so effectually 
 attacks an enemy, as the silent artifice of cun- 
 ning. The sap; the mine; the hidden dagger : 
 the sword like that of Ilarmodius wreathed in 
 myrtle, are, frequently, the most formidable, and 
 fatal instruments of destruction. It is with arts, 
 and instruments similar to these, that the authors, 
 to whom I allude, our Humes, Gibbons, Robert- 
 sons, &c. &c. &c. stab the reputation, and aim 
 the most deadly blows, at the welfare of catholi- 
 city. In the writings of these men, we find all 
 the affected arts of moderation; all the soft terms
 
 More polite Writers. (37 
 
 of warm benevolence; all the cant of the pre- 
 tended school of modern philosophy, against in- 
 tolerance and persecution. By these methods, 
 they conciliate attention, and prepare the mind 
 to believe, that whatever they assert is the effu- 
 sion of sincerity. They arm reason, against it- 
 self; or rather, they arm prejudice, against rea- 
 son. Tor, behold ! spite of these professions, 
 whenever they speak of popery, it is to represent 
 its superstitions ; to paint its bigotry, to count 
 up its abuses : it is to present the long list of the 
 crimes of our Popes; the profligacy of our pre- 
 lates; the impostures of our clergy. All this, 
 indeed, if properly represented, might fairly be 
 inserted in the rolls of history; but, represented 
 as it is ; as the constitution of the catholic re- 
 ligion; as parts of its creed, and the proper ap- 
 pendages to its practices ; it is the most in- 
 jurious artifice, which malice could have devised 
 to calumniate us, with effect. The consequence 
 is ; whoever reads these works, if lie were, pre- 
 viously, unacquainted with our true principles; 
 be his benevolence what it ma}- : he always finds 
 that his benevolence is soured into dislike; or his 
 respect, if he had felt any, converted into cold 
 indifference. I know, that these effects are fre- 
 quent ; and that the authority of this class of 
 writers has formed a stronger basis of ill-will, in 
 the minds of some very enlightened readers, than 
 either the invectives of the pulpit, or the rage of 
 the polemic. In the name then of philosophy, 
 which men now affect to venerate, if the religion 
 of Roman Catholics, must be attacked, let it be 
 
 K 2
 
 68 Our Historians in general. 
 
 attacked openly; and rather let the storm of 
 violence, with all its thunders, hurst upon it, 
 than the disingenuous artifices of cunning, con- 
 cealed beneath the veil of candor, ingloriously 
 
 undermine it ! 
 
 OUR HISTORIANS IN GENERAL. 
 
 Had I to give the general character of our Eng- 
 lish historians, when they pretend to delineate, 
 the religion and conduct of Roman Catholics; 
 I should not hesitate to say, that there is little 
 more truth in their accounts, than in the idle 
 talcs, which fill up our romances. On this 
 odious subject, their works are historical ro- 
 mances : but, unfortunately, mischievous ones, 
 dictated by prejudice ; or composed by interest 
 to amuse the prejudices of the nation. Most of 
 them Mere written by a party, to please a party; 
 by declared enemies, to gratify declared enemies. 
 At certain periods of our history, to have spoken 
 moderately of popery, would have been dan- 
 gerous, to the author ; or would have damned his 
 work, to public execration. The public had not, 
 then, the temper to listen to moderation ; far less 
 the taste to esteem what was said in favour of 
 Papists ; or, with truth, of popery. Whoever, 
 therefore, wrote at these periods, if he consulted 
 his own advantage, the esteem of his cotempo- 
 raries, the reputation for wisdom, the hopes of 
 preferment, the sale, and circulation of his works, 
 was reduced to the dishonourable necessity of 
 becoming the echo of the public ill-will, and the 
 vehicle of illiberal falsehood. Such were most oi"
 
 Foreign Controverthls. 69 
 
 our ancient Antipapist historians : and, as the au- 
 thority of our modern historians is founded upon 
 theirs, (when an author does not please to fabri- 
 cate for himself; or, as most of them do, cull 
 from the fabrications of Hume) the consequence 
 is, that our modern histories are but the repetition 
 of ancient calumnies, and the renewal of ancient 
 declamation. It is, generally speaking true, that 
 to look in our English historians, for the real 
 doctrines, and real conduct of Roman Catholics, 
 is like consulting the pagan writers, about the 
 genuine doctrines and conduct of the early Chris- 
 tians. There is about ecpial accuracy in both: 
 and nearly equal wisdom, in consulting either, 
 .011 these subjects. We want, greatly, a candid 
 History of England. 
 
 FOREIGN COXTROVERTISTS. 
 
 Curiosity, or the desire of information, has, 
 lately, prompted me to compare some of the con- 
 troversial works of the foreign Protestants, with 
 the controversial works of the Protestants of this 
 country. About the period of the reformation, 
 I found all, that I consulted, nearly equally vio- 
 lent, coarse, uneandid and illiberal. 1, easily, 
 excused that period; because it was a period of 
 revolution. But, as I proceeded in my research, 
 to subsequent periods, I found, (with a i'tw ex- 
 ception^ that this country, Math all its superior 
 generosity, had produced more virulent polemics, 
 more illiberal antagonists of popery, than any 
 other protestant state, in Europe. Bayle makes
 
 70 Foreign Controvert ists. 
 
 the same observation; and whoever will make 
 the companion, will be compelled to make the 
 observation also. In the writings of some of the 
 French defenders of protestantism, there is an 
 air of candor, a glow of generosity, a respect for 
 truth. They meet their adversary fairly ; and 
 reason, like men, who speak from conviction; 
 or seek for conviction. To judge of the German. 
 Controversialists, from the answers to them, which 
 I have sometimes read ; although there is much 
 animation, there is also much sincerity ; although 
 much bluntnecs, there is also much liberality: 
 there are, indeed, errors and prejudices; but er- 
 rors, without calumnies; and prejudices, with- 
 out insults. Such, too, I am informed, is the 
 general temper of the Dutch polemics. To rea- 
 ders, who are not in the habit of tracing effects 
 to their causes, the moderation of foreign pro- 
 testant writers, when compared with the English, 
 may appear paradoxical. But, the cause is ob- 
 vious, and natural. The bigoted animosity, 
 which had given birth to the horrid arts of re- 
 ligious litigation, began to subside, much ear- 
 lier, in these countries, than in ours. After they 
 had secured the possession of all the wealth of 
 the ancient church ; and fortified their power, so 
 as to be able, to defeat the attempts of the Ca- 
 tholic to pull it down, a general pause of for- 
 bearance succeeded ; and the polemic no longer 
 thought it necessarv, for the good of the rcfor- 
 mation, to continue the low arts of invective and 
 misrepresentation. These melted away, to com- 
 parative benevolence and candor. It is, in this
 
 Catholic Controvertists. 71 
 
 country ; and among our writers only, that these 
 ignoble artifices have, longest, continued to sub- 
 sist. As if the enmity to popery were inter- 
 woven in the constitution of the English Pro- 
 testant ; or by education, naturalized to habit; 
 it is certainly true, that the most generous of all 
 nations, is the last, that has shewn its generosity 
 to Roman Catholics ; and the most enlightened 
 of all writers, the latest, who have resigned the 
 custom of vilifying us. But I am very inaccu- 
 rate, if I appear to express, that these writers have 
 yet resigned that injurious custom. There are 
 many who vilify us still ; many, who as Dr. 
 Thorndyke expresses it, and, as he acknowledges, 
 the protestant writers did in his time, still " lead 
 the ignorant by the nose ;"' and industriously fan 
 the dying embers of public ill-will. It is not 
 many years ago, that Mr. Gibbon made the ob- 
 servation, that, "there actually, subsists in Great- 
 Britain a dark and diabolical fanaticism, perhaps 
 beyond any other country in Europe*." Who 
 can wonder at it, who knows the temper of our 
 writers ? 
 
 CATHOLIC C O X T It O V L LIT I S T S. 
 
 Perhaps, in speaking of controversial writers, 
 it may seem proper, that I should take some no- 
 tice of our own ; that is, of the catholic con- 
 troversialists, who have defended the cause of 
 popery, or attacked the cause of protestan- 
 tism, in this country. They are not so numerous, 
 as might, from circumstances, have been expect- 
 
 * Letter 127 to Mrs, Gibbon,
 
 72 Catholic ConiroDertists. 
 
 ed ; neither have I given myself the trouble to* 
 read many of them. I have, however, read seve- 
 ral ; and they were those, whose reputation i 
 most distinguished. I think, that I am one of 
 those, who would censure illiberaiity, any where," 
 and hate insincerity, in whatever case it were em- 
 ployed. I, therefore, read these authors, with a 
 mind open to conviction; and a disposition pre- 
 pared to dislike whatever was harsh, peevish, and 
 uncandid. This is, then, the opinion, which I 
 formed of them. They are, nearly all, uniformly 
 alike : alike calm, moderate, charitable, candid, 
 and sincere : or if indeed, sometimes, they are 
 blunt, unpolished, pointed and severe ; the\ r are 
 blunt, without harshness; unpolished, without il- 
 liberality ; pointed, without malevolence ; and se- 
 vere, without asperity. There is neither insult, 
 nor calumny, nor ridicule, in their writings. 
 Whether they defend their own tenets, or attack 
 those of their adversaries ; their defence and at- 
 tack, are, every where, conducted and sustained 
 by authorities, facts, councils, arguments, and 
 proofs. They had not ; they could not have had ; 
 any other motive to urge them to write, except 
 the mere love of truth; neither interest, in per- 
 suading others, nor the desire of praise, place, c>r 
 pension. The attempt only to persuade, was trea- 
 son ; and to merit praise, by writing well, was in- 
 viting persecution. Hence, they wrote solely 
 from conviction ; and like men guided by con- 
 viction ; and ambitious only of doing good, 
 they assert only what they prove ; and they prove 
 what they assert, at the risk of their lives. Such
 
 Catholic Controvertists. 73 
 
 men could not wish to deceive. I will say little 
 of their abilities, or learning. The abilities of 
 some of them were of the most brilliant kind; 
 and they w< re Conned by habit, to wield the 
 sword of controversy, or to break a spear, with 
 the most gigantic hero of the reformation. Their 
 learning, was such, as great abilities, joined to the 
 best education, should possess: it was extensive, 
 solid, profound. Eminently versed in the lan- 
 guages of Rome and Athens, they learnt all that 
 antiquity has taught ; and they dnw their 
 knowledge of religion from the purest sources of 
 christian authenticity. The works of the holy 
 Fathers of the church, were the constant objects 
 of their study and meditation. If there be in their 
 writings, any fault, which may seem to render 
 them less estimable, it is the inelegance of their 
 style. Elegance they do not possess. But then, 
 how could they ? Reduced, if they wished "for an 
 education, to fly from their native country, and 
 to seek it among foreigners, their own language 
 was the only one, which they could not cultivate; 
 and which, insensibly, became almost foreign to 
 their understandings. Had they written in the 
 language of Cicero; their works, in point of 
 style, would have ranked with those of an Eras- 
 mus, a Bern bo, or a Sadolet. 
 
 Although I have thus taken upon me, to 
 speak to the character, and temper of the catho- 
 lic controversialists, whom I have read; yet as I 
 have not read all, I do not presume to say the 
 same of all. It is very possible; there may be 
 some among them, who are as harsh, violent, and 
 
 L
 
 74 Catholic Controvertists, 
 
 abusive, as their adversaries. If so; as I dc not 
 stand the apologist for the smallest intemperance; 
 I blame them greatly ; and regret, that so good a 
 cause should be, so very ill, defended. How- 
 ever, though my moderation may censure them ; 
 "would not philosophy, which accounts for the 
 nature of human actions, from the nature of the 
 human mind, which imputes moral evils, to the 
 moral causes, which produce them, would not 
 philosophy, I do not say vindicate, but benignly 
 excuse much of their intemperance ? What was, 
 or rather, what is, still, the situation of popery, 
 and the Papist ? Both ; insulted, calumniated, 
 loaded with every injurious imputation, which 
 the malice of enmity can suggest. " Popery is 
 identified with superstition, idolatry, imposture : 
 the Papist, with the bigot, the blasphemer, the 
 fool, the enemy to the state, &c. &c." Men are 
 not all, equally blessed with moderation. To be 
 unmoved by injustice ; or silent, under the accu- 
 sations of unmerited reproach, requires a temper, 
 which Providence has given to few. Let, what 
 may be, the strength of the mind, or the power of 
 religious principle ; still, there is another princi- 
 ple within us, which not only shrinks from insult, 
 but rouses to repel it. The principle of resent- 
 ment under evil treatment, extends from man, 
 through the whole animal creation, to the mean- 
 est insect. 
 
 Inest et formica: bilis. 
 
 When, therefore, the Papist is treated, as usually 
 lie has been ; placed the last link, on the chain of
 
 Ancient Illiberality. 75 
 
 noxious beings ; what wonder, that the sentiments 
 of honour should labour to repel the odious 
 charge: what wonder, that the principle of na- 
 ture should silence the better principles of wis- 
 dom ; or patience itself awake to indignation ? 
 If a writer take the liberty to call the Papist an 
 idolater, a bigot, and a fool; I think, that mo- 
 deration itself should not be astonished, if there 
 were found a Papist, who took the liberty to call 
 such an adversary, an ass. The latter appella- 
 tion, is less horrid, and less odious, than the for- 
 mer : and such mode of defence is in the nature 
 of the human constitution. At all events; it cer- 
 tainly does require violence, not to be violent, on 
 such occasions. But after all; to what purpose, 
 have I said all this? Are there any catholic 
 writers, who following the instinct of their 
 passions, rather than of their religion, have re- 
 echoed the abuse, which their louder antagonists 
 had vociferated against them ? I have consulted 
 some of my more learned acquaintance, on this 
 subject ; men deeply versed in controversial 
 knowledge ; and they have, unanimously, de- 
 clared, that, in the course of their reading, they 
 had met with none. I believe, that such accusa- 
 tion is not to be found even in protectant writers, 
 
 ANCIENT ILLIBE RA L I T V. 
 
 Since, then, I have asserted, that there prevails 
 a spirit of intemperance and insincerity among 
 the antagonists of popery, in this country, which 
 distinguishes them both from the controversial 
 writers of foreign countries ; and from their ca - 
 
 L 2
 
 76 Ancient Jlllherality. 
 
 tholic opponents; it may perhaps be deemed pro- 
 per, that I should produce some proofs to sub-? 
 stantiate so serious an imputation. The princi- 
 ples and forms of justice, essentially, require, that 
 whoever ventures to condemn, should attempt to 
 prove. Guided by this equitable maxim, it was, 
 long, my intention to have accompanied the 
 censures, which I have passed, upon the illibera- 
 lly of my countrymen, by passages extracted 
 from their works. I had commenced the un- 
 grateful task ; and compiled evidences, which 
 would have wounded the delicacy of moderation. 
 But, I found the quantum of abuse so great; the 
 multitude of calumnies so countless ; the in- 
 stances of sanctified malice, and malicious igno- 
 rance, so frequent, and disgusting, that although 
 they would have evinced very strikingly, the pro- 
 priety of my censures ; yet, as they would, also, 
 have swelled my pages, infinitely beyond the 
 measure, to which I had determined to confine 
 them, I was induced to omit the interesting 
 compilation. Indeed, when I reflected on the. 
 spirit of the times, which have intervened between 
 the reformation and the late dawn of liberality, I 
 was, also, convinced, that the compilation was 
 superfluous. It is easy, from the temper of those 
 times, to conceive the temper of the writers. 
 They were, in general, times, when as some writer 
 observes, " little else was regarded but the abuse 
 of popery:" times when, to use the expressive 
 words of an Archbishop of Canterbury, lenity to 
 Catholics was considered " injurious to the glo- 
 ry of God." To expect temperance, or truth, at 
 such periods, is not natural.
 
 [ 77 ] 
 
 M ODE R X 1 L L 1 1) E R A L I T V. 
 
 'Jo evince the, propriety of the censure, which 
 I have passed, on our modern adversaries, who, 
 within tiir eniiuhtened interval of the few late 
 years, have assailed oar principles, with all the 
 vim!- nee of antique acrimony, is a task, which it 
 would require neither much study, nor much dif- 
 ficulty to accomplish. It would require, only the 
 exposure of their own words. lam sure, that 
 few learned Protestants have read them, without 
 censure ; no moderate Protestant, without indig- 
 nation. However, instead of loading' my pages, 
 with long extracts ; or staining them, with angry 
 falsehoods, I content myself, with a general ap- 
 peal to the works of these writers. Let the 
 reader, if he wish to trace the surviving spirit of 
 anti-popish bigotry, prejudice, or malevolence, 
 consult the writings of our Rennells, Churtons, 
 Daubenys, Towsons, W'ranghams, Williamsons, 
 Sturgeses, Cambcls, Zouches, &c. <$cc. In these, 
 moderation will behold, with regret, that the spirit 
 of religious animosity, I'nd fanaticism is not ex- 
 tinct; and, that, I had as much reason to blame 
 the immoderation of our modern, as I had of our 
 ancient adversaries. 
 
 Gil I AT CHARACTERS. 
 
 If it must, forever, be considered useful to the 
 cause of protestantism to vilify the doctrines of 
 Roman Cathodes, it is pity, both for our sake, 
 and for that of charity, that the duty business is 
 not, totally, consigned to the illiberal and little-
 
 78 Great Characters. 
 
 minded. These, indeed, might injure us, greatly ; 
 but it would be, in the opinion only of the illi- 
 beral and little-minded, like themselves ; whose 
 good-will, although we covet, yet, we covet it 
 less, than the good-will of the liberal, and the 
 temperate. But, the hostility to popery is not 
 confined to the illiberal, or the little-minded. 
 Besides the host of antagonists of this descrip- 
 tion, the cause of popery numbers, among its ad- 
 versaries, some of the most amiable and enlighten- 
 ed characters of this nation ; men, .who move iu 
 the first spheres in life; and adorn the 'spheres, 
 in which they move; who are the ornaments of 
 their church, of society, and of literature The 
 hostility of such men is formidable; because, of 
 all the inducements, which excite belief, the 
 character of the man, is what, frequently, gains 
 most credit to his assertions. But, to me, it is 
 not the mere hostility of such men, that, alone, 
 appears striking ; the harsh and peevish manner, 
 in which, tempers so soft and gentle conduct their 
 hostility, appears more striking, still. It is a sin- 
 gularity, for which it is not easy for wisdom to 
 account. Whatever may be cause of it ; though 
 this, I believe, varies with circumstances ; the 
 effect is almost, uniformly, similar. Whenever 
 these mild, humane and enlightened characters 
 are induced, or compelled to speak of the popish 
 creed, we arc almost sure to find, that their mild- 
 ness glows, to anger ; their humanity sours, to 
 .severity ; and their learning degenerates, to pre^ 
 j ud ice. 
 
 To us, the consequence is serious. The lustre
 
 Dr. P 79 
 
 of their virtues exhibited in society, and displayed 
 in all the other branches of their writing's, cast- 
 ing an air of probability on whatever they are 
 pleased to assert, causes their falsehoods to be re- 
 vered as truths, and their insults to he considered, 
 as the dictates of a holy indignation : causes the 
 Catholic, of course, to stand forward the object 
 of public ill-will, or the butt of public ridicule. 
 If I take upon me, to present a few specimens of 
 the methods, in which these distinguished cha- 
 racters assail us, it cannot appear, either disre- 
 spectful, or illiberal, in me. Their works are 
 before the public ; and it is, principally, because 
 I esteem their general liberality, and respect their 
 virtues, that I shall presume to do it. I mean not 
 to attempt the refutation of their assertions ; nor 
 do I flatter myself, that I shall diminish the in- 
 decorum of future intemperance ; yet, T think, I 
 shall demonstrate, (which is what I have princi- 
 pally undertaken to prove) that protestant mo- 
 deration might be more moderate ; protestant li- 
 berality, more liberal ; protestant learning, more 
 enlightened, than it is. 
 
 DR. r 
 
 The following passages are extracted from a 
 little work, which one of the most justly distin- 
 guished of our prelates, composed, or compiled,, 
 or edited, some years ago, a, an antidote to 
 popery. 
 
 I do not, however, present all, or half the 
 passages, to which moderation might object, in 
 the series of the work. I present ynly a i^w ; but
 
 80 Dr. P 
 
 a few, which express, and resemble the genera! 
 tenor, and temper of the antidote. 
 
 " Some (Papists) had the wickedness to sup- 
 port transubstantiation, as an artifice, that in- 
 creased the authority of the priests." Page 38. 
 
 " A direct adoration of the elements of the 
 eucharist was never paid, till the dark and super- 
 stious ages introduced so senseless an idolatry.'''' 
 Page 39. 
 
 "They (the Papists) dare not say, that indul- 
 gences deliver the departed from hell, hut they 
 do every thing, they can, to make the ignorant 
 think it." P. 53. 
 
 "If any one does ask for leave (to read the 
 scripture in his own language) it is never granted, 
 where they dare refuse it." P. 66. 
 
 " In those countries, where they are obliged to 
 indulge it, most freely, as in our own ; it is but 
 during pleasure ; and may, at any time, be taken 
 away, when it will serve the turn better; nor dare 
 the poor deluded people, under pain of damnation 
 help themselves." P. 66. Brief Confutation of 
 the Errors of the Church of Rome. 
 
 I am one of those, who can applaud the merit? 
 of my greatest enemy ; and where the grossest 
 imputation, is only the result of ignorance or in- 
 advertence, I can, cordially, and easily, excuse it. 
 
 Non ego paucis 
 OlTcndor maculis. 
 
 The merits of Dr. P. have been, frequently, the 
 subject of my praise ; and some of his writings, 
 although, indeed, they be neither very eloquent,
 
 Dr. P 81 
 
 nor very polished, have been always the objects 
 of my esteem. I believe, that both his merits, 
 and his writings, have been useful to society ; 
 and have aided to stay the progress of immo- 
 rality. I, certainly, do respect both the man, and 
 the writer. However ; splendid, as are his vir- 
 tues ; and useful, as is the general tendency of his 
 moral writings, yet he has not concealed from the 
 public eye, the humiliating testimony, that the 
 greatest minds have their prejudices ; and, that the 
 greatest learning is subject to mistakes. Not his 
 piety, which is usually so kind, is kind, when he 
 speaks of popery ; not his humanity, liberal; not 
 his love of truth, impartial. Evidently, viewing 
 our religion, through the medium of an eye, that 
 is obscured by prejudice ; and with a mind can- 
 kered by dislike, he diffuses through the pages, 
 which speak on the odious subject, the dark co- 
 louring of the eye, and the acrid temper of the 
 mind. He is, when popery is his theme, ill- 
 naturedly illiberal ; and disingenuously inaccu- 
 rate. Whether, on these occasions, he hurl his own 
 Achillean spear ; or, ingloriousiy hid behind the 
 Medusan shield of Seeker, point only that oi' the 
 patron, he almost uniformly dips the dread dart 
 in poison, and aims it, Avith unlair and unfeeling 
 animosity. 
 
 I regret the temper of gome of Dr. P. 's publica- 
 tions, on account of the respect, which I enter- 
 tain for the man. I think them hurtful, to his 
 future fame. Should ever the long reign of in- 
 tolerance be succeeded by an sera of genuine li- 
 berality, when nothing will be esteemed but what 
 
 M
 
 82 Dr. P 
 
 is recommended by moderation; it is more than 
 probable, they will be set aside among the neg- 
 lected monuments of ancient prejudice ; and their 
 merits be forgotten, from the demerits of their 
 intemperance. Some of his discourses have, cer- 
 tainly, a claim to the gratitude of posterity ; and 
 were all his writings, equally mild with these, 
 both the writings, and their author might have 
 descended to generations yet to come, without 
 the imputation of a failing, or the suspicion of a 
 prejudice. As it is ; although even the writings 
 may be, long, esteemed ; although it may be, 
 long, remembered, that their author was wont to 
 preach assiduously ; that he promoted piety ; 
 that he was learned, wise, and accomplished; yet 
 it will be remembered too, that he had, sometimes, 
 the harshness of the illiberal, and the partialities 
 of the intolerant. The Brief Confutation of 
 popery will, for ever, be a monument to attest, 
 that the same pen, which could plead for benevo- 
 lence, could also invoke resentment ; that the 
 same erudition, which could communicate so 
 many truths, could also scatter many inaccuracies 
 among them. 
 
 But it is, principally, upon our own account, 
 that I regret the temper of Dr. P.'s controversial 
 publications. Whatever comes from the pen of 
 a great character, is an awful, imposing thing. 
 A great character, above all, if surrounded by 
 every circumstance, which should recommend it 
 to veneration, is an oracle, to whose dictate sim- 
 plicity listens, in silent credulity ; and ignorance 
 bows down, in stupid acquiescence. To the sim-
 
 Dr. P S3 
 
 pic, and the ignorant, the authority of a great 
 name is every thing. It is more powerful far, 
 than his reasons : it has the magic to change 
 falsehood, intotiuth; and nonsense, into wisdom. 
 When, therefore, a man so deservedly great, as 
 Dr. P., >eriously asserts, that the popish clergy 
 wickedly supported transubstantiation to prop 
 their own authority; that our veneration of the 
 holy eucharist, is senseless idolatry ; that our 
 priesthood, do all they can, to impose on the poor 
 deluded people, <Scc. ; how can the illiterate, gap- 
 ing, uninquiring, unsuspecting herd of his ad- 
 miring readers, or hearers, presume to call in 
 question his veracity ; or imagine, that the ve- 
 nerable gravity of a bishop, in the sacred func- 
 tion of instructing them, could possibly, intrude 
 mistakes on their simplicity ? The very idea 
 seems criminal. 
 
 If thus, the great sources of information, from 
 which the ignorant, and the simple must derive 
 their slender notions of the religion of Ro- 
 man Catholics, be imbittered by passion, and in- 
 termixed with errors, what wonder is there, that 
 the mass of general prejudice and misconception 
 should be great, in its regard : The vulgar, besides 
 their disinclination to reform their prejudices, 
 and the inattention to correct their errors, have 
 few means of correcting either. They read little ; 
 and they reason less. Their general practice is, 
 to believe what they hear ; at least, to believe 
 what they hear, from apparently good authority ; 
 and what is consonant to their own early preju- 
 dices. It is an easy thing to ingraft false notions 
 
 M 2
 
 U Dr. P , 
 
 upon ignorance. Falsehood enforced by elo- 
 quence, and inculcated by passion, or artifice, is 
 just as easily, made part of its treed, as the most 
 sacred truths. These, then, are the causes, to 
 "which wisdom may trace the strong* aversion, 
 which subsists in this country, to the principles 
 and professors of popery ; the singular and ab- 
 surd notions, which the public entertain of our 
 practices; and the very charitable opinion, that 
 we are idolaters, impostors, 8c c. Surely, it is 
 time to lay aside these ungenerous arts of refuting 
 popery ; or these disingenuous methods of main- 
 taining the cause of protestantism. 
 
 It is not, that I blame any man, either for at- 
 tempting to refute popery ; or for defending the 
 cause of protestantism. If conducted with pro- 
 per temper, such attack, or defence might be 
 useful : and where cither were the sober result of 
 rational conviction, we should respect the man, 
 who used them. If our antagonists would re- 
 member, that the first rule, in every kind of dis- 
 cussion, is to be just and accurate and in reli- 
 gious discussion, to be just accurate ; kind and 
 charitable ; then, whatever to us, might be the 
 consequences of their industry ; whether to tri- 
 umph over us, or not; whether to convict us of 
 error, or to prove us guilty of idolatry ; so far 
 from blaming, we should applaud their wisdom. 
 An attack, or defence, upon these principles, 
 would be noble. And in effect, it is an error to 
 imagine, that the defence of religion should ask 
 lor any other. It is always wrong, to misrepre- 
 sent : always wrong, to unite passion, with reli*
 
 Dr. P 85 
 
 gion. Misrepresentation, and passion, are aux- 
 iliaries, which religion disdains : even to the in- 
 stinct of good sense, they are calculated to sink 
 the credit, not only of the cause, which they de- 
 fend, but of piety, and truth itself. If, therefore, 
 the religion of Protestants be true, and that of 
 Catholics false, let the truth and falsehood he 
 pointed out calmly, charitably, candidly. No- 
 thing is more compatible with truth, than libera- 
 lity. United, they possess an irresistible influence 
 Over the mind, that is controlled by reason : for 
 while truth strikes the understanding, liberality 
 gains the heart. Indeed, if what Dr. P. asserts, 
 be true, liberality should be singularly conspicu- 
 ous, in the writings, and in all the conduct of Pro- 
 tenants. Protestants, he assures us, " by the 
 heavenly influence of the scriptures, upon their 
 souls, possess hearts, that melt within them, into 
 tenderness, compassion and love, for every human 
 being, of whatever denomination, party, sect, or 
 persuasion*." Should it not appear wonderful, 
 to behold any thing like illiberality in Protestants? 
 But should it not appear surpassing wonderful, 
 that the author of so beautiful a sentence ; one, 
 who has read the scriptures, so well ; and so 
 often ; should himself, be, sometimes, illiberal 
 also ! 
 
 I have, before, made the observation, that the 
 object of these pages is not to discuss the contro- 
 verted articles of icligion, nor to answer the accu- 
 sations, which prejudice and falsehood have urged 
 against ours. I shall do that, in my subsequent 
 * Sermon on Christianity vindicated from cruelty.
 
 80 Dr. P 
 
 publication. But, I will pause, a moment, to 
 shew, how easy it would be, to answer the un- 
 founded assertions, which I have extracted from 
 the Brief Confutation. To refute these assertions, 
 it is not necessary to have recourse to the works 
 of the holy Fathers, nor to the subtiltics of our 
 own polemic writers. The assertions respecting 
 the period which introduced the adoration of the 
 eucharist, and the "senseless idolatry 1 ' of Papists, 
 are easily refuted from the authority of pro- 
 testant divines ; while the bold mistake, respect- 
 ing our treatment of the " poor deluded people, 1 ' 
 may be, with still more ease, refuted, by consulting 
 the most ignorant Catholic, in our community. 
 The adoration of the eucharist, Mr. Thorndykc 
 tells us, was " the practice of the ancient and true 
 Church, before receiving*." And "I," says 
 bishop Andrews, " with St. Ambrose adore the 
 flesh of Christ in the mysteries "j* ." Bishop 
 Forbes, indeed, not only asserts, that "the exter- 
 nal adoration of Christ, in the eucharist, is the 
 practice of sounder Protestants ;" he adds ; " to 
 deny such adoration, is a monstrous error, of ri- 
 gid Protestants ." In the same manner, it 
 were easy to prove, from the authority of several 
 great protestant prelates, and divines, that the 
 imputation of idolatry to Roman Catholics, is 
 the effect of misconception ; or more generally 
 the result of ill-will. Dr. Taylor undertakes to 
 place the error of such imputation, in the evidence 
 
 * Thorndyke, Epil. L. 3. c, 30, 
 + Andrews to Bel. ch. 8. 
 % See Forbes de Euch. L. 2,
 
 Dr. P <tf 
 
 of a demonstration*. As for the bold mistake, 
 that we do not, even in tins country, permit the 
 poor deluded people to read the English scrip- 
 tures, under pain of damnation; this is an object 
 of practice, and, therefore, it is easy to ascertain 
 it. The truth is ; that the English scriptures are 
 in the hands of every Catholic, who pleases to pro- 
 cure them ; we often urge the poor deluded peo- 
 ple to read them ; we often distribute them gratis, 
 to the indigent, who are unable to purchase them. 
 When men speak of facts, at least, it would be 
 wise, if before they undertook to assert, they 
 would give themselves the trouble to inquire. 
 This, then, is what I would vish all Protestants 
 to do, after reading the works of Protestants, 
 against popery. Let them compare what they 
 have read, with our genuine tenets, as they are 
 laid down in catholic writers ; consult the well 
 informed of our communion ; or even, sometimes, 
 appeal to the more learned, and candid, among 
 the writers of their own persuasion. All this 
 should appear a duty, which the interest of salva- 
 tion owes to the love of truth: and haul every 
 Protestant the courage to do it: or only the wis- 
 dom, sometimes, to doubt of what he reads, or 
 hears against us, what a spring of benevolence 
 would be opened to the Papist ; and what a 
 source of ill-will and prejudice shut up to the Pro- 
 testant ! 
 
 With these observations, occasioned, indeed, 
 by the publications of Dr. P. ; yet, which do not 
 
 * Taylcr, Liberty of Pro*, sect. ;;.
 
 88 Dr. P ...... . , 
 
 allude to them alone, I might proceed to the 
 consideration of some other of our antagonists 
 But, before I do it, it may be well to inquire, en 
 passant, how it can so often happen, that men, 
 who are eminently distinguished for their learn- 1 
 ing ; and whom nature had destined to be even 
 more humane, than learned ; are guilty of misre- 
 presenting, and vilifying popery. The fact itself 
 cannot, I apprehend, be called in question ; but 
 the causes of it, may be less obvious, to numbers. 
 The causes, indeed, may vary ; and as they arc, 
 sometimes, odious, I will not here venture to 
 point them out. But, I will venture to point out 
 one cause, from which alone, it is not difficult to 
 account, both for the illihcrality of misrepresenta- 
 tion, and the intemperance of unmerited re- 
 proach. That cause is prejudice; which enter- 
 ing into the minds of the learned, as well as of 
 the ignorant : of the humane, as well as of the 
 morose ; spreads a cloud over the eye of reason, 
 and entwining itself round the heart, stints the 
 expansion of genuine benevolence. Whoever is 
 wise, in the history of human science; or with 
 philosophic mind, has traced the characters of the 
 learned; has frequently discovered, that erudition, 
 with all its industry, is often more remote from 
 truth, than ignorance with all its stupidity ; and 
 that, while the learned outstrip the vulgar in 
 knowledge ; their own prejudice, often, out- 
 strips their own knowledge. The case is this ; 
 when the minds of the learned are once tinctured 
 with prejudice ; they, very naturally, seek, only 
 for those circumstances and objects, which
 
 Dr. IV. . 
 
 H9 
 
 r.tiengthen, and confirm their prejudice. Thus, 
 if' prejudice make them partial, they stud}" most, 
 what will justify their partiality : if angry, they 
 love best, what will gratify their anger. J>y these 
 principles, it is easy to account for the disin- 
 genuous methods, by which the learning of our 
 adversaries is pleased, so often, to assail us. Their 
 prejudice rendering them either partial to their 
 own establishment; or hostile to ours; they study 
 only what may seem to justify it; and to cri- 
 minate ours. They apply to their own side of the 
 question, because they are prepossessed, in its fa- 
 vour: and they pass over ours, because they dis- 
 like it : malttnt nescire, quia jam oderunt* The 
 consequence is, they learn fifty circumstances, 
 that increase their acrimony, while they learn 
 one, that inspires respect; they imbibe a thou- 
 sand unfavourable errors, while they receive one 
 favourable truth. Another very natural conse- 
 quence is, they misconceive and misrepresent 
 our doctrines. 
 
 DR. W 
 
 The next writer, on the temper of some of 
 whose works, I will make a t'vw observations, is 
 Dr. \V. Jn naming Dr. W.. I am aware, that I 
 name one of the greatest ornaments of this coun- 
 try; a great divine; a great philosopher; and a 
 great statesman : and. what is better, than all 
 this; a good and amiable man. However, be the 
 cause what it may. in naming Dr. W., 1 name 
 one, to whose writings, (and I allude to them 
 
 * Tert. Apol, 
 
 X
 
 00 Dr. IV. ..... 
 
 alone) the religion of Roman Catholics has not 
 many obligations. His temperance has " seared 
 us, with a red hot iron;" his politeness honoured 
 us, with the dignified titles of " hypocrites, and 
 liars;" his orthodoxy refused us the general name 
 of Christians ; it has convicted us of being ido- 
 laters, and the sons of Antichrist. In his really 
 valuable Letters to Mr. Gibbon, whenever the 
 occasion presents itself to speak of popery, and 
 Papists, (and he finds that occasion pretty fre- 
 quently) it may be remarked, that the patience 
 and liberality, with which he treats the infidel 
 principles of his antagonist, are sure, always, to 
 abandon him : and as if patience, and liberality 
 were not due to our religion, he seldom mentions 
 it, without an air of ridicule, or in terms of ex- 
 ecration. I might cite several passages from his 
 writings, to illustrate these assertions : but I will 
 cite only one ; because one is sufficient to shew 
 the temper of the writer. In his second Letter, 
 to the above gentleman, intending to prove, that 
 the apostles had not predicted the speedy coming 
 of Christ, he selects, as a striking confirmation 
 of his other arguments, the prophecy of St. 1'aul 
 to Timothy*; where the apostle admonishes the 
 faithful, to beware of the spirits of error, and the 
 doctrines of devils, Sec. " You have here," says 
 the Dr., "an express prophecy, . . . in which you 
 may diseover the erroneous tenets, and the De- 
 mon, or saint worship of the Church of Rome ; 
 through the hypocrisy of liars you recognise, no 
 doubt, the priesthood and the martyrologists ; 
 
 * i Tim. iv. 1, 2, 3
 
 Dr. TV. .... 91 
 
 having their consciences scared with a red hot iron, 
 callous, indeed, must be his conscience, who 
 traffics in indulgences ; forbidding to marry, and 
 commanding to abstain from meats- this language 
 needs no pressing ; it discovers, at once, the un- 
 happy votaries of monastic life, and the mortal 
 sin of citing flesh, on fast days." Such is the 
 invincible proof, that the apostles did not foretel 
 the speedy coming of Christ ! 
 
 It is an unhappy circumstance, which we meet 
 with, in the annals of literature, that the greatest 
 abilities, when under the influence of prejudice, 
 or party, have often stooped to artifices, which 
 wisdom disavowed. Wit, has degraded itself, to 
 dull vivacities ; and learning, laboured to con- 
 vince ignorance, of what it would almost seem 
 impossible, for stupidity to imagine. These are 
 tributes, which the weakness of human nature is 
 found, too often, paying, at the shrine of passion. 
 But, without meaning to allude in this observa- 
 tion, to Dr. W. ; it doubtless, should seem won- 
 derful, at least, to meet with any thing like in- 
 sult, or illiberality, in a writer, who tells us that 
 <l he feels a most insuperable reluctance, to the 
 bandying abusive arguments, in public contro- 
 versy;" calls invective " a dirty business, at best, 
 which should never be undertaken, by a man of 
 any temper;"* and in some other, I don't know 
 which, of his writings, says, that " want of ge- 
 nuine moderation towards those, who differ from 
 us in religious opinions, seems to be the most 
 
 * Letter 6th to Mr. Gibbon, 
 N 2
 
 92 Dr. II. 
 
 unaccountable thing, in the world." Surely, the 
 writer, who is alternately so benevolent, and 
 harsh; so liberal, and intemperate; is at variance 
 with himself; or, when he professes an insuper- 
 able reluctance to abuse, he means only, to all 
 abuse, except that of popery and Papists. I wish 
 be had inserted this exception, for the credit of 
 his works ; since without it, there is, certainly, 
 a seeming incongruity, between his professions, 
 and his conduct. 
 
 When first, I read the angry passage, which I 
 have presented from the Letters of Dr. W., I was 
 greatly struck, with the novel application of the 
 texts of the apostle ; I paused to admire its in- 
 genuity, and to trace its justness. As it was not 
 easy to imagine, that any thing could come from 
 the pen of a great man, which if not luminous, 
 would be quite unintelligible, I studied, a con- 
 siderable time, to conceive its meaning : I read it 
 again and again ; I placed it, in every point of view, 
 that my reason, or imagination could suggest , 
 but I declare, that I was unable to ascertain, (as 
 I am, yet) whether it was designed for reasoning 
 or for wit; for a serious comment, or an enter- 
 taining joke. It is, indeed, probable, that, in 
 the writer's mind, it was designed for reasoning, 
 because the subject is serious; it is even pro- 
 bable, that it was designed for a demonstration, 
 because he, very confidently, tells Mr. G., that 
 he will " recognize no doubt :" that he will " dis- 
 cover at once," Sec. I know not what the pene- 
 tration of Mr. G. may have "recognized," either 
 in the text of St. Paul ; or in the ingenious inter-
 
 Dr. TV. 93 
 
 pretation of his commentator ; but for my part, 
 (such may be my stupid'ty) 1 have, hitherto, 
 been able to discover nothing*, in the interpre- 
 tation, but the great credulity of the commenta- 
 tor; or the unbecoming attempt to sport, with 
 the credulity of his readers. Urged however by 
 curiositv, or mortified by my own slowness of 
 apprehension, I have, since the period, when I 
 first read the passage, not only reviewed the text 
 of the apostle ; I have consulted some of his most 
 able commentators. But I could not find, that 
 either the ingenuity of these commentators, or 
 the wisdom of lit teen centuries, had ever con- 
 ceived an interpretation, which, even remotely, 
 resembled that of Dr. W. To conceive such in- 
 terpretation ; or rather " to recognize it, " beyond 
 doubt;" " to discover it, " at once,'' was left to 
 honour the invention of a few reformers, whose 
 abilities were sharpened by the enmity, which they 
 bore to popery. Until these men recognized it 
 beyond doubt, the learning of every age, the 
 wisdom of every ehri-tian commentator imagined 
 (so indeed does the common wisdom of common 
 Protectants imagine, still) that, in the texts al- 
 luded to from the Fpistle to Timothy, after hav- 
 ing mentioned the general departure from faith, 
 which would take place in latter times, the ma- 
 nifest inhnt'on of the apostle was, to point out 
 that cla-o of heretics; Gnostms, F.ncratitcs, Mar- 
 cionites, Alaniehieans, Me. ; who asserted, that 
 marriage, flesh meat, <xo. proceeded from the 
 Evil principle. Let the leader, in the first text, 
 measure his ideas of latter times, with the times,
 
 5H Dr. JV. 
 
 if he can find such, when the Church of Rome 
 departed from the truth. His notions of latter 
 times may possibly find the period of the refor- 
 mation more analogous to them, than the periods, 
 which the discordant, and angry heroes of pro- 
 testantism have, gratuitously, affixed to the sup- 
 posed heresy of the Church of Rome. In the 
 .succeeding texts, let him compare, candidly, the 
 genuine tenets of the catholic church, with those 
 imputed by the apostle, to the teachers, of whom 
 he speaks. Whatever fanaticism, or ill-will may 
 seem to discover; candor will discover, all the 
 difference between them, which exists between 
 truth and error ; between, wisdom and folly. 
 However, it is true ; if any author wishes to in- 
 trude an error, on the credulity of the public, he 
 acts wisely to do it, with the boldest air of con- 
 fidence ; because, to some minds, the mere air of 
 confidence, gives error the effect of truth. 
 
 But, probably, I am mistaken : probably, the 
 above passage of Dr. W.'s Letter, was not meant 
 for a serious argument : its object may have been, 
 by the playfulness of wit, to relax the mind, 
 under the dulness of a dry, though interesting- 
 disquisition. If that, indeed, be the case; if the 
 writer's intention were to make his readers laugh: 
 then, I believe, he may not have been disap- 
 pointed ; I believe, he has made many of his 
 readers laugh. But, alas ! are there not readers, 
 who will laugh, at any thing ; and laugh most, 
 at nonsense ; readers, to whom any dirty ridi- 
 cule is wit? How much beneath the attention 
 of Dr. W. are readers like these; how trifling a
 
 Dr. J 1 /. 96 
 
 tribute to his talents is even their approbation 
 and applause; However; he all this as it m?.y ; 
 1 am neither an enemy to wit, or good humour: 
 only in the name of good sense, and religion, if 
 authors must he witty, and persuade their readers, 
 by making them laugh; let them be witty, on 
 becoming subjects ; make them laugh, without 
 violating charity : or, at least, let them persuade 
 by real wit, which, as Bacon remarks, is, like the 
 best salt, always Avithout bitterness. 
 
 I have occasionally read the works of that 
 irreligious class of writers, who have arrogated 
 to themselves, the title of Philosophers. I have 
 studied the language, and traced some of the 
 arts, by which they laboured, too successfully, 
 to disseminate their doctrines ; to injure Christi- 
 anity ; and to increase the unhappy number of 
 their followers. I did this, not lor any advantage, 
 or pleasure, it could, possibly, procure myself; 
 but urged by curiosity, I did it. to establish the 
 comparison, between the language and arts, by 
 which these men have assaulted Christianity; and 
 the style, and methods, by which some Protes- 
 tants have assailed the religion of Roman Catho- 
 lics. Not partiality itself, if it made the com- 
 parison, could help discovering tills resemblance. 
 I have, by me, an instruction, composed by ai; 
 adept in the school of impietv; and destined to 
 promote the progress of what, lie is pleased to 
 term philosophy, by teaching others the unhappy 
 art of combating Christianity, with success. In 
 this, the author, among many other rules, lays 
 down the following. " Employ the most pointed
 
 $6 Dr. IV. 
 
 irony; the most virulent invective; the most 
 contemptuous ridicule. Let your accusations be 
 unjust; your imputations false: it matters little; 
 all is right, that is aimed at the idol of Chris- 
 tianity; all just, that helps to pull down the fa- 
 bric of superstition. Be sure to attribute to Chris- 
 tianity all the ignorance, credulity and bigotry 
 of the vulgar; and all the usurpations, and ty- 
 ranny of the great : degrade its heroes ; and exalt 
 its enemies. And then; substitute in its room, a 
 system of religion more grateful to the senses ; 
 more accommodated to reason; more consonant 
 to prejudice. The first article of this creed shall 
 be, that each one believe, as his fancy, or reason 
 dictates ; and act, as his nature prompts him, 
 To persuade men of the wisdom and propriety 
 of such a system, will neither be difficult, nor 
 tedious : nothing is so easy, as to impose upon 
 the vulgar: they are neither critics, nor rea- 
 soners. They will read any thing, that is agree- 
 able to their passions, or their prejudices; but 
 they will examine nothing. Only induce them 
 to read ; their passions, and prejudices will de- 
 cide the rest. Above all, accusation, is proof to 
 them ; and declamation, evidence. Thus, with- 
 out the difficulty of argumentation ; or the awk- 
 wardness of proving; by merely insulting, de- 
 claiming, accusing, denying, confusing, and con- 
 cluding ; the philosophy of reason shall triumph 
 over the philosophy of revelation; and the pure 
 religion of nature rise upon the ruins of Chris- 
 tianity." 
 
 If in the above instruction, we were to sub-
 
 Dr. IV. 97 
 
 stitute tlie term catholicity, in place of that of 
 Christianity, it would precisely correspond to what 
 some protestant divines, and preachers, success- 
 fully practice, in our regard. Whoever is con- 
 versant in the works of protestant divines; or 
 acquainted with the language of the protestant 
 pulpit, will, I am sure, acknowledge, that ridi- 
 cule, and misrepresentation, and invective, arc 
 there urged, with as much force, against popery; 
 as irony, and falsehood, and declamation, are 
 employed by the soi-disant philosopher, against 
 Christianity. Indeed, for my own part, I think, 
 that speaking in general, the latter is more polite, 
 than the former. There is a coarseness, in an 
 English antipopish controversialist, that seldom 
 occurs, in a French antichristian philosophist. 
 To break the fetters, in which the poor deluded 
 Papist groans ; or rather, perhaps, to affright the 
 protestant vulgar with their horrors; it matters 
 little with some, what methods, they employ; 
 say any thing of popery, is the maxim of these 
 men ; be it truth, fable, or falsehood ; all is 
 right. It is hence, we are, so often, honoured 
 with the dignified title of Demon worshippers ; our 
 priesthood so often complimented, with the pious 
 characteristics of hypocrites, and liars : hence 
 our religion, is so often termed idolatry, impos- 
 ture ; superstition ; legendary tales more prepos- 
 terous, than romances; practices, that mock at 
 reason; and maxims, that render our toleration 
 dangerous. What wonder, while thus learning 
 sports with truth; or prejudice with charity, 
 what wonder, that popery should be abhorred, 
 

 
 9S JDr. TV. 
 
 and the Papist hated ? It is easy to trace to these 
 sources the streams of public ill-will, which flow 
 th rough most of the walks of life. If popery be 
 abhorred, or the Papist hated, declamation, and 
 calumny are the causes. Why; I myself am ac- 
 quainted with a Protestant, who scared with the 
 abominations of popery, either by pictures, which 
 he has seen in protestant writers ; or by descrip- 
 tions, which he heard from protestant prtachers, 
 frequently protests, " that he would rather go to 
 hell, than become a Papist/' I do not, indeed, 
 believe, that so very extraordinary a degree of 
 protestant piety is very common. But, there are 
 many, who influenced, by the same causes ; and 
 in whom, education should seem to render such 
 absurdity impossible; many, whom no considera- 
 tion would induce to travel in the same carriage, 
 or to sleep, a night, in the same house, with a 
 popish priest. There is also another effect, which 
 is evidently reducible to the same causes; and 
 which I have, several times, traced within the 
 narrow circle of my own neighbourhood. Let a 
 man err, as he pleases ; become Methodist, Cal- 
 vinist, Independant; let him reject all revela- 
 tion ; or deny, although this is horrible, the 
 God, who made him; well; all this, is more 
 easily excused, than the heinous sin of becom- 
 ing a Papist. Yes; let a man become a Pa- 
 pist, who has been notorious for his crimes, 
 who has been a libertine, a drunkard, or what 
 not; let him reform his conduct, and grow vir- 
 tuous, chaste, and sober; such is the force of 
 prejudice; I have frequently remarked, that his 
 reformation has created him more ill-will, than
 
 Dr. IV. .... 99 
 
 his past disorders ; his piety, more enmity, than 
 .his former licentiousness. 
 
 Valgus tit valgus, is an old apology for the 
 prejudices, and tor the passions of the vulgar; 
 and, indeed, it would betray both prejudice, and 
 passion, not to admit, to a certain degree, the 
 justness of such apology. The circumstances of 
 the vulgar, reduce them, to the necessity of bor- 
 rowing their slender notions, and particularly 
 those of popery, from the slender, inaccurate, 
 partial, and illiberal notions of men, who perhaps 
 deem it their duty to deceive them. Their ig- 
 norance renders them unabie to discriminate false- 
 hood, from the truth ; and their indolence, makes 
 them unwilling to adopt the methods, by which 
 truth might be attained. The man, who con- 
 ceives, that there exists; or ever did exist, a vul- 
 gar, in any age, or nation, without prejudices, 
 is unacquainted with the history of mankind : 
 and whoever imagines, that they are not easily 
 the dupe to mere noise and declamation, is 
 equally unacquainted with the history of the hu- 
 man mind. The history both of men, and the 
 human mind is little else, than the annals of the 
 misfortunes and follies, to which prejudice gave 
 birth, instilled by fanaticism, or impressed by 
 the artifices of interest, ambition, or enmity. I 
 do not know, whether the English be more sus- 
 ceptible of prejudices, than other nations ; but I 
 believe there are i'cw, or no nations, that since 
 the period of the reformation, have imbibed 
 stronger religious prejudices; or suffered their 
 reason to be more easily misled by the extrava- 
 
 6 2
 
 1 00 Dr. W. .... 
 
 gances of error, or the deceits of sectarism, than 
 our own. We have, even at this more enlight- 
 ened period, proofs, every day, before us ; which 
 I deeply regret to see, with what unhappy faci- 
 lity, and success, the mere cant of hypocrisy can 
 cheat the credulity of the vulgar ; and the noise 
 of invective and declamation impress that preju- 
 dice, against the legal religious establishment, 
 which this establishment, once, laboured to in- 
 spire against popery. Methodism and sectarism, 
 with no other arms, than those, which fanati- 
 cism employs to create prejudice, have made an 
 alarming breach in the national church. 
 
 Whether it be, therefore, in teaching, or ex- 
 horting; in defence of our own principles, or in 
 the attack of the principles of others ; let the 
 pure love of truth, be united to the calmness of 
 moderation. Let the temper of the mind be 
 gentle, as the temper of religion. It certainly 
 is a gross violation of the maxims of the mild 
 institute, which we all profess to venerate ; to 
 substitute, noise, for sense ; insult; for demon- 
 stration ; or accusation, for conviction. Did men 
 even consult the sober dictates of common sense, 
 they would conceive every departure from bene- 
 volence, not only as a deviation from the duty, 
 which man owes to his fellow man ; but also, as 
 an injury to the cause, that was meant to be 
 promoted. In effect ; all insult, to the feelings 
 of good sense, should rather be a presumption in 
 favour of the cause, which it attacks ; than an 
 argument for that, which it, so improperly, de- 
 fends. Insult is the instrument, with which bad
 
 Dr. IV. 101 
 
 causes attack good ones ; with which error as- 
 saults truth ; and impiety, virtue. If it be in 
 the power of reason to convince ; why have re- 
 course to passion ? If facts, monuments, autho- 
 rities can establish evidence, why labour to pro- 
 duce it from violence and misrepresentation? 
 Passion is not reason; nor is misrepresentation, 
 reasoning. 
 
 Unfortunately, the great herd of mankind is 
 composed of men, the easy and willing victims 
 of passion ; and the sport of ignorance ; on whom 
 insult has an omnipotent influence; and to whom, 
 misrepresentation is true, as truth itself. Who- 
 ever, therefore, traces the arts, by which popery 
 has been attacked, in this country, will cease to 
 wonder at the mass of prejudice, which exists 
 against it; and at the spirit of animosity, which 
 glows in the breasts of its adversaries. But; 
 
 Dabit Deus his quoque finem. 
 
 We have seen and felt, the dawning of libera- 
 lity ; and we, still, see and feel it brightening to 
 that day, when every cloud of prejudice will dis- 
 appear ; and the spirit of anim os it} be converted 
 into mutual benevolence, and affection. -^-Mean- 
 while, however, should insult, violence or false- 
 hood, continue to level at our holy establishment 
 the efforts of their malevolence, the Catholic has 
 this consolation ; he knows, that. their efforts will 
 be levelled at it, in vain. Individual-, indeed, 
 may suffer:, so may the body of Catholics, within 
 this kingdom; but the establishment, to which 
 the Catholic belongs, will for ever remain trium-
 
 1 02 Dr. IF. . . . . 
 
 pliant. Erected by the hand of the Divinity, and 
 protected by the divine power, it is a fabric, 
 whose sacred columns, neither human violence 
 can shake, nor the strength of hell pull down. 
 The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. * 
 Already, it has subsisted during the long lapse of 
 eighteen centuries; empires, during this interval, 
 have flourished, and sunk to ruin: revolutions, 
 accidents, persecutions, tyranny, have consigned 
 to oblivion cities, men, monuments, actions and 
 events, which from their importance, it would, 
 once, have seemed, could never be effaced from 
 human recollection. During this time; the church 
 is, everywhere, discernible; and every where ma- 
 jestic ; combatted, it is true; but combatted, only 
 to triumph ; persecuted, only to acquire new glory ; 
 attacked, only to display more vigour. Since 
 the period of the reformation, the sacred edifice, 
 has been frequently attacked, by arts unknown 
 to the violence, or malice of antiquity; not by 
 the mere storm of common persecution, death, 
 tortures, banishments, imprisonments; trite ar- 
 tifices of ordinary enemies ! (we have, indeed, 
 seen it, even in this humane nation, attacked by 
 all these) but we have seen it attacked by the 
 more ingenious arts, of solemn predictions of its 
 downfal ; by holy prayers, and more holy curses 
 to hasten that great event ; by the vociferations 
 of uncooth eloquence; by insults, falsehood and 
 folly. What was the consequence ? Some indi- 
 viduals suffered ; but the church continued, to 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 18,
 
 Dr. IT. ... . 103 
 
 reai her head, in awt'ul greatness: not a stone 
 was moved from its place in the sacred ediliee. 
 However; notwithstanding*, the evidences, which 
 so powerfully attest the indefectihility of the ca- 
 tholic church, we know; such is the nature of 
 human prejudices; and such the positive assur- 
 ance of its Divine Founder; that she will always 
 experience opposition, and meet with enemies, 
 somewhere. We expect it; hut tracing in the 
 past, the certainty of her future victories, we ex- 
 pect it, without much solicitude. In order, then, 
 to stay the violence, he it merely of one of our 
 antagonists, let me remark to him the fate of 
 those, who have gone before him, in the sancti- 
 fied career of vilifying* us. Among these, there 
 were many, who possessed all the advantages of 
 great abilities, great learning, and great reputa- 
 tion. To these, they united also the greater ad- 
 vantage of being favoured with the aid of a pro- 
 phetic- spirit; permitted to read, and communi- 
 cate to their followers the secrets of that mys- 
 terious volume, whose contents are unfolded only 
 to the favourites of heaven. In their awful con- 
 demnations of popery, they brought their asser- 
 tions to evidence; and reduced nearly to mathe- 
 matical demons! rat tan, the year, month, almost 
 the very day, and hour, v ben Antichrist, and 
 the whore of Babylon should fall ! They corn- 
 batted popery, with such advantages, that they 
 could not, so well be said to combat, as to tram- 
 ple on it. Pitiful fanaticism ! their writings are 
 still standing monuments of their folly, and of 
 our wisdom; of their credulity, and of our strength.
 
 104 Dr. $ 
 
 Such will be, always, the result of every effort, 
 that is aimed at catholicity; be the cause what 
 it may, from which it proceeds ; be it passion, 
 prejudice, heresy, or incredulity. Catholicity, 
 which enmity has nick-named popery, is an edi- 
 fice built upon a rock, round which the winds 
 may howl, and the tempests heave, in furious in- 
 dignation : it will be always found ; as it has been 
 found, hitherto; that the winds will howl, in 
 vain ; and that the waves, which the tempest had 
 excited, will approach, and break harmless, at its 
 foot. Every species of attempt to overturn it, 
 will for ever prove impotent ; impotent, as snow- 
 balls thrown against a citadel; feeble, as human 
 weakness, against the omnipotence of the Di- 
 vinity. " The gates of hell shall not prevail 
 asrainst it." 
 
 DR. S 
 
 It may perhaps, to some, appear wrong in me, 
 to make any remarks, upon the writings of ano- 
 ther, very eminent and very amiable member of 
 
 the protestant prelacy, the Right Rev. Dr. S 
 
 His writings are not considerable, and he has said 
 so little, about popery, as hardly to seem to merit 
 a place, upon the list of its antagonists. I did, 
 indeed, pause, some time, before I could induce 
 myself to hazard any observations on them ; lest 
 by reflecting upon the writer, I might appear to 
 reflect upon the prelate; or in censuring the 
 writings, seem to censure a character, which, with 
 the whole nation, I respect. However; the mo- 
 tives, which, at first, prompted me to with-
 
 Dr. S 105 
 
 hold any reflections upon his writings, became 
 the very motives, which have induced me to 
 bring them forward. I shall notice the writings 
 of Dr. S., because I respect his character: I shall 
 notice them ; because they areastrikingillustration 
 of what I had undertaken to prove, that protect- 
 ant moderation might be more moderate ; and pro- 
 testaut benevolence more benevolent, than it is : 
 I shall notice them, because being recommended 
 by the virtues of their author, they have made 
 unfavourable impressions against popery and 
 Papists : in short, I shall notice them, because 
 they are conducted upon that plan of attack, 
 which being the most easy, is the most common ; 
 and being apparently the most temperate, is, in 
 reality, the most injurious. 
 
 I have extracted only one passage, from one of 
 the sermons of Dr. S. The passage is a fair spe- 
 cimen of the usual temper with which, I am told, 
 his Lordship, occasionally, preaches against po- 
 pery. I have borrowed it from the sermon, which 
 he preached before the Lords spiritual and tem- 
 poral in the year 1799 ; and which was published, 
 as is usual, at their request. " A form of Christia- 
 nity, "' says his Lordship, "exceedingly corrupt, 
 and by its corruptions liable, to the objections of 
 thinking men, and still more exposed to the 
 sneers and shafts of infidelity, had obtained an 
 establishment in many of the most powerful na- 
 tions in Europe. The establishment of the po- 
 pish creed, however at first acquired, has been for 
 many years continued not from any opi- 
 nion of its evidence and truth, but from utter in- 
 
 P
 
 106 Dr. S 
 
 difference to all religious truth whatever 
 
 Its effects, upon those, who conducted public af- 
 fairs ; or who ruled public manners, were habi- 
 tual insincerity in themselves, and a neglect of 
 that attention and of those provisions, which are 
 necessary to inculcate the principles of any reli- 
 gion to preserve its influence upon the people." 
 
 In this passage, good manners are not disgust- 
 ed with the scurrility of low abuse ; nor good 
 taste offended with the noise of vapid declama- 
 tion. I dare say, that its author is incapable of 
 either. But, in this passage, or in any, that re- 
 sembles it, there is something more painful to the 
 feelings of good sense ; (more painful, at least, to 
 my feelings) ; something more injurious in the 
 eye of reason, than there is, either in the scurrility 
 of abuse, or in the noise of declamation. ... A 
 general accusation, it is well known, (and the 
 above passage is entirely such) is always the most 
 illiberal accusation ; and nearly always, the most 
 unjust accusation. There is only evidence, in the 
 highest degree, against the accused, that can, in any 
 circumstance, justify it. A general accusation is 
 an accusation, without a proof; a condemnation, 
 without the forms of trial. It is an accusation, 
 which, at best, like an universal proposition, is 
 always suspicious, and generally erroneous, 
 
 For fallacies, in universals live. 
 
 Wisdom, usually, rejects ; at least, always 
 pauses, before it admits a general accusation. 
 When, therefore, a general accusation, of a nature 
 the most serious and interesting, conies to im-
 
 Dr. S 107 
 
 peach a large and respectable portion of society ; 
 and comes, unsubstantiated by one slender proof, 
 unaccompanied by one argument ; I am sure, that 
 I shall not appear to say too much, if I assert, not 
 only, that wisdom should pause, before it admit 
 it; but that such impeachment is disingenuous, and 
 illiberal. Suppose it even true, that popery is 
 '' exceedingly corrupt," and Papists "habitually 
 insincere,'' yet as every Papist is implicated, in 
 such charges, they should, in justice have been 
 proved; or. by the principles of liberality, have 
 been attempted to be proved : or else ; if the 
 mere accusation were intended to be the proof, it 
 should have been evident to the public, that 
 " popery is exceedingly corrupt,"' and the Pa- 
 pist " habitually insincere ;" more insincere, than 
 the professors of other religions; and insincere 
 too, from the principles of popery. But ; to assert 
 all this is easy ; to have proved it, might have 
 been tedious. 
 
 It, certainly, must be owned, that all general 
 accusation is a convenient mode of doing an in- 
 jury ; for, to accuse, requires neither learning, 
 nor ability ; neither industry, nor courage. Hence, 
 it is usually remarked, that it is the resource of 
 the ignorant, and of men of slender talents ; of 
 the indolent ; or of the coward, who stabs his 
 adversary in the dark : and, since men of these de- 
 scriptions abound most, in the walks of life, gene- 
 ral accusation, it is also remarked, is the general 
 mode of doing mischief. However, while I assent 
 to the justness of these observations, I must also, 
 here, remark, that the circumstances, which ren- 
 
 P
 
 108 Dr. S 
 
 cler the use of general accusation so frequent, are 
 the very circumstances, which excite my wonder 
 to find it employed, by such a character, as Dr. S. 
 I wonder to behold a great man, in whose nature 
 there is not a particle of those base ingredients, 
 which enter into the composition of the cle- 
 famer; I wonder, to behold him, stooping to 
 those ignoble modes of conduct, which are irre- 
 concileable with liberality, and repugnant to the 
 principles of generosity. I not only wonder at 
 this circumstance ; I regret it. In an exalted 
 character, be the mode of accusation what it 
 may, it is always injurious to the accused. A 
 great character, I before remarked it, is the oracle 
 of the public ; and if such character be a bishop, 
 he is the oracle of that servile class of mimic 
 preachers, in particular, who too steril to invent, 
 re-echo his errors as the plainest truths ; his in- 
 sults, as the effusions of pious indignation. Thus, 
 a vague, unauthenticatcd accusation from a great 
 man, becomes frequently a serious injury ; the 
 creed of the illiterate; and the belief of many, 
 whose good-will, if not soured by misconception, 
 would have caressed those, whom it now con- 
 ceives, it is almost religious to persecute 
 
 But, to illustrate the illiberality of general accu- 
 sations, I will proceed to notice some of those, 
 which Dr. S. has employed, against popery. 
 
 "The religion of popery," says the learned 
 Prelate, " is exceedingly corrupt." This is a 
 general, and a vague proposition, calculated to 
 convey the most unfavourable notion of the 
 catholic establishment, and of its members: a
 
 Dr. S 109 
 
 proposition, therefore, which, unless it be evident, 
 it would have been better, and more charitable to 
 have proved, than merely to have asserted. It 
 Mould, at least, have been proper, to have distin- 
 guished, whether these exceedingly great cor- 
 ruptions belonged to our faith, respected our 
 practices, or were inherent, in our persons; or, 
 whether they regarded only a. few abuses, which 
 are not the popish creed ; and a few individuals, 
 who are not the popish church. In the true sense 
 of the proposition ; it applies equally to our faith, 
 practices, and persons; to the code of popery, 
 and to its professors : it is a general impeach- 
 ment of the Roman Catholics of this country ; 
 and of every Roman Catholic country through- 
 out the universe. How easy is the accusation; 
 but how difficult would be its proof ! 
 
 To justify, then, the general accusation of the 
 exceedingly great corruptions of popery ; either 
 these corruptions should form an evident, and 
 constituent part of our faith, practices, and 
 morals; or some powerful attestation should be 
 produced, to substantiate the charge, which im- 
 putes them to us. To know what forms the con- 
 stituent parts of the popish creed, is neither very 
 difficult, nor very tedious. The popish creed is 
 neither perplexing by its obscurity ; nor frightful, 
 by its length; it does not pos>esss the awkward 
 circumstance of varying, in various places; of 
 having changed with the change of times ; or of 
 having, ever, been retouched, by the busy hands 
 of new reformers. It is not like our modern 
 creeds, the outline of a pencil, or an etching,
 
 110 Dr. S . 
 
 which each Individual may correct, or change, at 
 pleasure. What learning discovers to have been 
 the creed of the early ages of Christianity, such, 
 wherever catholicity is professed, is the popish 
 creed, at present; written in characters too deep, 
 to allow us either the possibility to change ; or 
 the convenience to deny them. To come, then, 
 to the corruptions of this creed ; in what do they 
 consist ? In its mysteries ? Although the myste- 
 ries of the popish creed may offend the licentious- 
 ness of his reason, who believes only what human 
 reason can understand, yet there is, certainly, no- 
 thing in them, which reason trained to the docility 
 of revelation, can possibly term corruption. They 
 all rest upon the same basis ; and are stamped with 
 the same divine seal of authenticity, that marks any 
 of those, which the Protestant thinks it wisdom to- 
 re vere. In its maxims, and moral precepts ? 
 Even the school of infidelity has, repeatedly, borne 
 honourable testimony to their purity, holiness, 
 and sublimity. In the form of our ecclesiastical 
 government ? Its unity, and simplicity have been 
 always the objects of general admiration ; the 
 wisdom of our adversaries themselves, men like 
 Grotius, Leibnitz, &c. has made it the frequent 
 subject of their praise. The chief merit of the 
 protestant polity of this country is its imitation of 
 ours. In our rites, ceremonies and practices? 
 These are dictated by the nature of our senses, 
 and founded upon the principles of the human 
 constitution. By acting feelingly upon the 
 senses, they arc calculated to convey more lively 
 feelings to the soul. If, then, there be any ex-
 
 Dr. S l n 
 
 ceedingly great corruptions in popery, the}' are 
 the effects, not of popery, but of* the ignorance, or 
 neglect of popery ; the effects not of its tenets, 
 maxims, or practices; but of the "weakness and 
 malice of a small portion of its professors, who 
 acting, as some men always will do under the 
 wisest regulations, deviate from the spirit of 
 their institute; and pervert the most sacred 
 means, to the most unbecoming purposes. 
 
 I hate comparisons : they are, in general, very 
 odious things. But when a comparison, contri- 
 butes to shed light upon a subject ; or to vindi- 
 cate an insulted cause, not moderation itself can 
 condemn it. Indeed, to compare the catholic, 
 with the protestant religion ; to publish protes- 
 tant doctrines ; to repeat what the oracles of the 
 reformation have said, and written, ought not to 
 appear odious to a Protestant. The only odium 
 Mould be, to assert in a loose, vague, unauthenti- 
 cated manner, that the religion of Protestants is 
 exceedingly corrupt, vitiated and erroneous. I shall 
 make an appeal, then, to the authentic doctrines, 
 and professed principles of the authors of the 
 reformation ; men, whom the Protestant vene- 
 rates as the envoys of heaven, sent to correct er- 
 ror, and to re-establish truth. Are there no cor- 
 ruptions, or errors in their doctrines" It would 
 be painful to piety to consider; and offensive to 
 wisdom to contemplate the extravagance of them 
 all. I will enumerate only a i'ew of their opini- 
 nions. -Luther, the great apostle of the reforma- 
 tion, teache for example, that the immoitality 
 of the soul is one of those monstrous doctrines,
 
 112 Dr. S 
 
 that was engendered, in the dunghill of Rome* ; 
 that, God works in us, both good and evilf; 
 that, he is just, although he necessitates us to be 
 damned J ; that, if the wife refuse the marriage 
 debt, it is lawful to call in the maid ; that, the 
 Decalogue is useless || . Such, with a variety of 
 other principles, which every virtuous man would 
 blush to profess, were the tenets of him, whom 
 the piety, or zeal of protestantism lias, emphati- 
 cally, termed the chosen instrument of heaven. 
 The tenets of his associate instrument Calvin, are 
 about equally consistent, with the maxims of ho- 
 liness, and truth. lie teaches, that God is the 
 author of all sin ** ; that he created the greatest 
 part of mankind, with the intent to damn themff ; 
 that man has no free- will;]; J; that all sins are equal; 
 that when princes oppose God (he means, oppose 
 Calvinism) they forfeit their authority, and it is 
 religious to disobey them||]| . It would be tedious 
 to enumerate all the absurdities, and impieties, to 
 which the prolific talents of this reformer gave 
 birth. It is easy, from the nature of these, which 
 I have cited, to conceive the nature of many 
 others ; and as my object is rather to give a no- 
 tion, than an adequate idea, of the doctrines of 
 the first reformers, I pass over a vast variety of 
 them, without notice. I pass over likewise, the 
 
 ** Lib. de Pncdest. 
 ++ L. de Pracdest. 
 %\ Lib. 2. Inst. 
 Antid. Cone, Ind.-, 
 1111 In Dan. 
 
 * 
 
 T. 
 
 2. 
 
 fol. 107 
 
 t 
 
 I'. 
 
 2 . 
 
 f. 
 
 444. 
 
 + 
 + 
 
 T. 
 
 2, 
 
 f. 
 
 434- 
 
 
 
 T. 
 
 5- 
 
 f. 
 
 123. 
 
 !! 
 
 De 
 
 C; 
 
 U)t, 
 
 Bab.
 
 Dr. S ri3 
 
 mass of immoral, profanev irreligious, and pre- 
 posterous doctrines of the Zuingliuses, Bczas, 
 ihicers, Osiandcrs, Oehin.s, S:c. k,c. The reader 
 may consult their \v i'ks. '1 lv ease is; the 
 thing caiied the U form iti m. broke asunder all 
 those ties, which in:- mtrhority oi religion, and 
 the wisdom of u ;i ,: -- had put on the human 
 mind. If, as it is >aid, \ ; ; if it emancipated 
 reason, alone; v rea-.cn. it emancipated folly; 
 if it unri vetted the r un-> of liberty, ' r c.- ; o struck 
 off the fetters o; lie tbui^ncas. Xever since the 
 dawn of christi iuity, did there exist an epoch so 
 fruitful in errors, so wildly prolific of corrupti- 
 ons. The writings and opinions, which it pro- 
 duced, are, perhaps, the most striking attesta- 
 tions, which the annals of time contain, how 
 much reason may be abused ; learning perverted; 
 and the fairest talents prostituted to the meanest 
 purposes. 
 
 Let it be observed, that in speaking thus, I 
 ^peak of the reformation in general ; not of the 
 reformation, in this country. Perhaps, there is 
 not any subject, on which it is more difficult to 
 speak, with precision; or any object, winch it is 
 more impossible to describe, with accuracy, than 
 the reformation. The reformation is a Proteus, 
 that, every where, and for ever, changes ; puts on 
 every shape, figure, attitude, and colour. It is a 
 fabric, composed of the strangest mixture of ma- 
 terials ; and disfigured with ideous variety of 
 awkward parts. Jn it, ifhei , you tec u poliihed 
 stone; there, you behold a rough one ; if here. 
 
 Q
 
 114 Dr. S . , . , , 
 
 you be pleased with an ornament ; there, you are 
 disgusted with a monster : if here, you find 
 something sound ; there, you trace something 
 rotten, or decayed. There is, no where, propor- 
 tion, without great errors ; order, without great 
 confusion ; grandeur, without deformity. The 
 whole fabric is ill planned, ill founded, and ill 
 executed : if that can be called executed, which 
 is changing, every day. I would not say, that 
 some great talents, and some great men were not 
 employed, in its erection : but even prejudice will 
 own, that many of its principal architects were 
 mem whose sole rule, was their caprice ; whose 
 sole art, was their violence ; whose sole guide, 
 were their passions ; and whose sole object, was 
 the gratification of their pride, their interest, or 
 their lust. I might present the portraits of these 
 men, as they have been drawn by the pencil of 
 their admirers, or associates. Though drawn to 
 flatter, they exhibit features, which, in the more 
 correct judgment, or chaster taste of a modern 
 observer, excite neither admiration, nor respect. 
 They were, a Luther, whom Tillotson, very pro- 
 perly, calls, a bold rough man, ; a fit wedge to 
 cleave asunder a hard and knotty block ; and 
 who, as himself confesses, was aided in his plans 
 and labours, by the enlightened suggestions, and 
 industry of the devil : a Calvin, whom, now, 
 the Calvinists themselves acknowledge, possessed 
 a savage soul : a Carlostadius, who, Melancthon. 
 tells us, had neither learning, sense, nor piety : 
 a Zuinglius, infamous, as himself admits, for
 
 Dr. S 
 
 i 15 
 
 his passions, and impurities : an CEcolampedius, 
 who, according to Luther, was killed by the 
 devil: anOehiu, who denied the divinity of Je- 
 sus Christ, and even the existence of a God : a 
 Beza, notorious Tor his seditious maxims, indecent 
 poems, and still more indecent practices: aMun- 
 cer, the disgrace of human nature: a Knox, 
 whom Dr. Johnson terms, with great propriety, 
 the Human of the Reformation : a Cranmer, emi- 
 nent for his duplicity, his inconstancy, and his 
 amours: an Henry the Eighth, equally odious 
 for his immorality, ami his tyranny : an Ed- 
 ward the Sixth, an infant prince ; whose infant 
 reason was the easy dupe to a fratricide, and an 
 ambitious uncle : an Elizabeth, " whose reli- 
 gion,'" Dr. Prettiman informs us, " was not 
 pure." Such are the outlines, in the portraits of 
 the principal individuals, whose zeal, industry 
 and talents contributed, most effectually, to erect 
 the great fabric of protestantism. Surelv, it 
 ought neither to seem unnatural to imagine, nor 
 immoderate to assert, that what was planned by 
 such talents, or executed by such hands, should, 
 in the common course of things, be, at best, irre- 
 gular, imperfect, and incomplete. In the com- 
 mon course of human thing*-., it should be, like 
 the men, that raised it. disorderly, vicious, and 
 corrupted. 
 
 It is not the Papist alone who considers the 
 system of the reformation imperfect, or vicious; 
 the multitude of Protectants, who deem it almost 
 equally so. i> countless, and innumerable. Else, 
 whence the unceasing changes, which, almost
 
 116 Dr. S 
 
 every day, and in every country, are made for its 
 improvement ? Men do net attempt to change, 
 what they regard, as perfect.- -To my mind, 
 the system of reformation which is established 
 by law, in this country, appears, at: least, equally 
 wise and unexceptionable ; I will say, even more 
 wise and unexceptionable, than that of any other 
 country. And yet, how immense is the number 
 of our protestant countrymen, who censure it, as 
 defective ; or reject it, as erroneous. Near a hun- 
 dred sects ; many of them numerous, have, suc- 
 cessively, risen up to reform its errors; or to im- 
 prove its improvements. All these rejected, or 
 still reject it; some, as a corrupt system of 
 revelation ; some, as a corrupt system of phi- 
 losophy ; some, as a corrupt system of po- 
 pery : all, as a system pregnant with imperfec- 
 tions, and vitiated with abuses. Why; even 
 among the professors of the 39 Articles ; men, who 
 from interest should support, and from principle 
 revere them, even among these, there are many, 
 who in their writings, censure them with free- 
 dom ; and in their private conversation, condemn 
 many parts of them, with harshness. There are 
 few, who do not blame a something ; suggest a 
 something to be retrenched ; or a something to be 
 altered. Like Dr. Balguy, most of them conceive, 
 that they contain, at least " some ambiguities and 
 inaccuracies; some things unphilosophical; and 
 somethings, that may mislead, and draw men into 
 erroneous opinions*." Let it not, then, be said, 
 
 * Dr. Balguy, page 293,
 
 Dr. S 117 
 
 tint the doctrines of popery are corrupt ; as if they 
 alone were corrupt. Let the mind cast an eye, on 
 the maxims, and abuses of the reformation, la 
 contemplating these, if it be candid, it will excuse 
 or turret the comparatively trilling corruptions, 
 and abuses of popery: and if wise, in order to 
 prevent the reproach of protestantism, it will hush 
 the reproach of popery. 
 
 But, continues Dr. S., " Popery is liable to the 
 objections of thinking men, &C.'' Another ge- 
 neral accusation ! Whoever is conversant in the 
 writings of modern Protestants, could not help 
 remarking, as he read them, that most of the ar- 
 guments, which they urge against popery, are 
 borrowed from tile suggestions of human reason; 
 or derived from the testimony of the senses. 
 Such a doctrine, ir is triumphantly objected, is 
 absurd : is nonsense ; is foolish, &c. : or, what is 
 more triumphant still, is repugnant to the evi- 
 dences of die senses, and to the feelings of think- 
 ing men. The leading principle, by which the 
 antagonists ofpoperv are enabled to refute many 
 of its tenets, with so much ease, is neatly enough 
 expressed in the little work, which I have al- 
 ready cited of Dr. P. ; it is this; " if we can- 
 not be sure of what (mr senses tell us, we can be 
 sure of nothing ' .'' Setting out from this infal- 
 lible principle, the most awful of all our myste- 
 ries i> judged, at once: and by a consequence 
 equally infallible, rejected, and condemned. 
 Armed with this principle; and tutored to this 
 kind of logic, the most puny of our adversaries 
 
 * Brief Refutation of Popery.
 
 118 Dr. S 
 
 possesses more than Achillean strength against us. 
 I will not stop here, to remark, that if the same 
 principle, and the same logic were applied to the 
 mysteries of nature, and to the secrets of human 
 sciences, we might, by an inference equally just, 
 disbelieve what we know is certain ; and reject 
 what we, every (hy, experience is indisputable. 
 I will not stop to remark, that the mysteries of 
 revelation being ail impervious to the senses, the 
 testimony of the senses is a contradiction to their 
 nature ; that to believe with divine faith, it is 
 essential not to see ; for, "'faith," as St. Paul ob- 
 serves, "is the substance of things, that appear 
 not/ 5 I pass over many reflections, which might 
 be made upon the nature, and danger of the above 
 arguments. But, I will just observe, that if the 
 same arguments were applied, in the same man- 
 ner, to the mysteries of protestantism, they would, 
 by the same inference, refute and condemn them 
 also. 
 
 Whoever will compare the mode of reasoning, 
 with which some Protestants are wont to combat 
 popery, with the methods, by which the Socinian 
 is used to attack the mysteries of revelation, will 
 own, that there is a very .striking resemblance be- 
 tween them. The Socinian reveres ; or rather 
 affects to revere, very sincerely, the doctrines of 
 revelation ; and, very piously, calls them the rule 
 of his belief But, as he reveres bis reason, like- 
 wise; and conceives, that if we cannot be sure of 
 what the senses tell us, we can be sure of nothing, 
 he regulates his faith by ids reason; composes his 
 creed by the testimony of lus senses ; and rejects
 
 lSi -' ily 
 
 whatever is repugnant to the feelimrs of a thi.fi!> 
 big man. If he do not cwnpreiieau the r^rcat 
 mystery of the Trinity, lie reject:' it, as a fhi/tuing 
 man: if the narrow ness ox his capacity be 
 unable to conceive the* divinity of Jesus Christ, 
 he rejects it. as a thinking man : it his senses do 
 not penetrate the sacred veil of the- real pre- 
 sence, he rejects it. as a thinking man, &c. 
 Such is the method, by which the Sociniari 
 is led to reprobate ail mystery ; and such 
 precisely the arguments, by which the Protestant 
 is induced to spurn the mysteries of catholicity. 
 The principle, and its application ; the arms, and 
 the art of using them, are directly alike. The 
 only difference is, in the number of consequences, 
 which the two parties are pleased to deduce. 
 Who does not see the pernicious tendency of such 
 mode of reasoning? It tends immediately, to the 
 destruction of all revealed religion, of popery, 
 protestantism, and of the present state of socini- 
 an ism itself. For, if the rule of revelation must 
 be decided, by the rule of reason ; and what is 
 divine, by the testimony of the senses, tell me, 
 what mystery of Christianity should subsist? 
 Indeed; it would almost seem, that the men, who 
 reason thus, labour to place the religion of na- 
 ture, upon the ruins of revelation. 
 
 Far, however, am I from vsc:cting, that the 
 Right Revei end Preacher, whose words I have 
 placed at the heau of tiiise rt factions, is either a 
 Socinian, or a friend to s echdanism. lam con- 
 vinced, that he is neither: and it is hence, I not 
 only wonder much, but re 1 -: ret still more, to find aiiv
 
 li0 Br. $. . . . . 
 
 thing like Socinian logic, in his discourse. Jor^ 
 suppose a Protestant, who has hitherto, with un- 
 suspecting faith, piously believed, and honestly 
 professed, the established religion of this coun- 
 try ; who has questioned none of its doctrines ; 
 investigated none of its mysteries ; suppose, that 
 asserting the holy rights of reason, like a thinking 
 man, he should begin to interrogate his creed, 
 and by the measure of his reason, and the testi- 
 mony of his senses, examine how much, each ar- 
 ticle accorded, or was consonant with either ; 
 what, in such case, ought, naturally, to be the 
 consequence? Why, if, like a thinking man, he 
 ought only to believe, what his reason can com- 
 prehend ; or venerate, what the dictate of his 
 senses might report, behold ! above half the reli- 
 gion of protestantism would be, at once, abolish- 
 ed. For where is the thinking Protestant, whos# 
 sublimity of reason, can understand ; or acuteness 
 of sense, penetrate the great mysteries of the 
 Trinity, and Incarnation ; the divinity, and 
 death of Jesus Christ ; or even the modernised 
 system of the real presence ; original sin, justifi- 
 cation, predestination, &c. ? There are mysteries 
 in the protestant creed, as well as in that of 
 popery. And, if thinking men be Protestants, 
 only because their reason can comprehend ; or 
 their senses perceive the proportions, properties, 
 and relations of the mysteries, which they be- 
 lieve, either they must be more than men; or 
 they should cease to be Protestants. 
 
 D'Alembcrt foretold, that the Protestants, would 
 in the series of some years, become Socinians :
 
 Dr. S 121 
 
 and he foretold it. from the sole circumstances, of 
 the resemblance of their principles, and the like* 
 ness of their modes of reasoning. " Quand ils 
 (the Protestants) ne seroient pas Sociniens, il 
 faudroit qu lis le devinssent, non pour l'honncur 
 de leur religion, ma is pour celui dc leur philoso- 
 phic. Ce mot, de Sociniens, ne doit pas vous cf- 
 frayer ; mon dessein n'a pas et.6 de donner un 
 nom de parti ; mais d'exposer, par un seul mot, 
 ce qui sera infalliblement, dans quelques amines, 
 leur doctrine publique*." The reader may con- 
 sult the writing's; or the observer remark, in the 
 conversation of Protestants, how far, this predic- 
 tion of d'Alembert's is verified ; and, how ra- 
 pidly, it is hastening, every day, to its complete 
 fulfilment. For my own part, I regret its pro- 
 gress, very deeply. It is, upon the pretended 
 rights of reason, and the evidences of the senses, 
 that incredulity and impiety are erecting their 
 empire. Under the delusive pretext of acting 
 like thinking men, men not only reject popery ; 
 they ridicule protestantism, and mock at Chris- 
 tianity. As thinking men, they pity the imbe- 
 cility ; or sneer at the credulity of individuals, 
 like Dr. S. and myself, who still piously venerate, 
 what the sublimity of their reason has proved to 
 be, but the dreams of superstition ; what the 
 lynx-eyed acuteness of their senses has discovered 
 to be, but the artifices of imposture. Be the 
 mysteries, then, of popery, liable, or not, to the 
 objections of thinking men; yet, since p rotes* 
 
 * Lettre & Mons. Rousseau. 
 
 R
 
 U2 Dr. S 
 
 tantism nasits mysteries likewise, which are equally 
 impervious to human penetration, it is dangerous 
 to insinuate a prerogative, which, if extended 
 consistently, would, after rejecting popery, for 
 the same reasons, reject protestantism. We live 
 in an age, when the privileges of reason, should 
 be maintained with timid circumspection, and 
 when it is unsafe to throw ridicule, upon any 
 system of religion, merely because it is liable to 
 the objections of thinking men. I deprecate this 
 art of reasoning, for the sake of Christianity 
 itself. 
 
 Away, therefore, with all that pretended wis- 
 dom, which reduces revelation, to the measure of 
 the reason of thinking men ; and which brings 
 down the divine mysteries of faith, to a humble 
 system of human philosophy. Such principles, 
 while they destroy the whole merit, which arises 
 from the docility of faith, are repugnant to the 
 nature, and notions of revelation. Neither hu- 
 man reason, nor the senses have aught to tio with 
 the objects of revelation. The objects of revela- 
 tion are supernatural, divine, and invisible: those 
 of reason, natural, human, or sensible. The use 
 of reason in religion, is merely to weigh the mo- 
 tives, which render revelation credible; and to 
 ascertain the proofs, which make its admission 
 consonant to the rules of wisdom. It has pleased 
 the divine goodness to shed sufficient rays of light 
 upon these proofs, not only to render it safe, and 
 prudent to believe what they recommend ; but 
 to render the disbelief, an act of insolence, and 
 impiety. But then; behind these proofs; be^
 
 Dr. .?..... 1C:3 
 
 tween the evidences, which recommend belief, 
 and the mystery to he believed, the divine wis- 
 dom has hung a veil, which no mortal eye can 
 penetrate: which no human hand is able to draw 
 aside. When, therefore, human reason under- 
 takes to decide upon the modes and fitness of 
 mysteries; upon their supposed relations, and 
 proportions, it decides, upon what it is repugnant 
 it should understand; it judges of supernatural, 
 by natural objects: of the divine nature, by ite 
 own: and with bold impietv, intrudes, upon the 
 rights of the Divinity. Hence, in the investiga- 
 tion of the truth, or I'aKcho >d of the religion ot 
 Roman Catholics, if it-- adversaries, instead ct 
 scrutinizing its mysteries, would discuss its evi- 
 dences; if instead of attempting to penetrate 
 into the sanctuary of heaven, they would be eon- 
 tent to trace those lines of light, which conduct 
 toil: or rather, if, instead of the pride of hu- 
 man philosophy, they would bring to the exami- 
 nation of our tenets, the humble docility of chris- 
 tian wisdom, they would be compelled to ac- 
 knowledge, (if an honest acknowledgment could 
 be extorted) that, although our mysteries be im- 
 pervious to reason, yet they are, strikingly, cre- 
 dible to reason ; and that, although we do not 
 see, what we do believe, yet we see, evident] v, 
 what we should believe. Our mysteries are dark ; 
 but our evidences bright : our objects of faith 
 impenetrable, but our motives of faith, luminous, 
 and incontestable; satisfactory, bevond the proofs, 
 which evince anv other truth, save that of the 
 
 R '.'
 
 124 Dr. S 
 
 immediate establishment of Christianity, But; 
 faith is not a human gift. 
 
 I shall take notice of only one imputation 
 more, in the discourse of Dr. S. He informs the 
 nation, or at least his illustrious audience, that 
 " the etfects (of popery) upon those, who con- 
 ducted public affairs, or who ruled public manners, 
 were habitual insincerity, &c." By the con- 
 ductors of public affairs, his Lordship means, no 
 doubt, the men, who sate, at the helm of the 
 state ; ministers, magistrates, and so on. In " the 
 rulers of public manners" he alludes, most pro- 
 bably, to the priesthood. This is another ge- 
 neral, and like the past, an unauthenticated ac- 
 cusation: it is a general accusation of the prin- 
 ciples of popery; a vague accusation of a great 
 multitude of its members ; and an oblique ac* 
 cusation of them all. For, if habitual insincerity 
 be the natural effect of popery, on the conductors 
 of public affairs, and the rulers of public manners, 
 there is no real, nor even ostensible reason, why 
 it should not produce the same effects, on the 
 conducted, and the ruled. There is no distinct 
 code of belief; no separate principle of morals, 
 in popery, that is limited to any peculiar class of 
 its professors. Our rules of belief, and morals 
 are uniform, and general ; equally applicable to 
 all ; to the conductors, and conducted ; to the 
 rulers, and to the ruled. As much as mere po- 
 pery produces effects, it produces the same ef- 
 fects, on all : it renders us all alike : Hoc sumus
 
 Dr. S 125 
 
 singulis quod ct onirics ; and the reverse is, equal- 
 ly, true; hoc sumes omnes, quod ct singuli. * 
 
 Custom has reconciled us to bear, with patience, 
 a great variety of illiberal impeachments. We 
 can, in general, without any reeling of indigna- 
 tion, see ourselves insulted, by the vilifying ap- 
 pellations of fools, bigots, and idolaters. Trained 
 to hear these pious, and polished epithets inces- 
 cessantly sounding in our ears, we are so bronzed 
 with impudence, as only to smile at the malevo- 
 lence, or ignorance, that dignifies us with them. 
 But when a distinguished prelate, from the sup- 
 posed seat of truth ; in the presence of the most 
 august assembly of the universe; of men, whose 
 good-will we ambition; and v. ho hold in their 
 hands, our lives, liberties, and fortunes; when 
 he, solemnly, informs them, that the effect of 
 popery is to render men " habiluaUy insincere ;" 
 at such an imputation ; from such a prelate ; and 
 before such an assembly ; not only we do not 
 smile'; we shrink from it, with horror, and tre- 
 pidation. For; were what his Lordship asserts, 
 believed; where is the Papist, that could, with 
 consistency; be trusted ? Or, were what his 
 Lordship asserts true ; where is the Papist, that 
 should be trusted ? When it is said, that the 
 effect of popery is to render men " habitually in- 
 sincere," it is not merely the religion of popery, 
 that is impeached ; it is, I myself; every Papist 
 of this nation ; every Papist of the universe, that 
 are implicated in the odious impeachment. 
 
 Tcrt.
 
 126 Dr. S 
 
 If, indeed, it be true, that the effect of popery 
 is to be^et habitual insincerity : it is, certainly, 
 commendable in his Lordship to announce it to 
 the nation. It is arming it against deceit : and 
 preventing, possibly, the mischief of our hypo- 
 crisy. I believe, that his Lordship's word may 
 be a sufficient proof to many, that insincerity is 
 one of the pernicious fruits of popery; and may 
 arm the prudence of some with timidity of our 
 designs. However, I think also, that it would 
 have been more liberal in his Lordship, and more 
 beneficial to the nation, had he pointed out the 
 maxim of popery, which sanctities insincerity; 
 or the doctrine, from which our " habitual insin- 
 cerity" results. This would have been con so- 
 nant, at least, to the habitual sincerity of his 
 Lordship: it would have prevented us from com- 
 plaining ; and, what is more interesting still, it 
 would, perhaps, effectually, have secured the pub- 
 lic against the pernicious artifices of our cunning, 
 or the injuries of our duplicity. This M'ould have 
 
 been honest, open, and beneficial. 1 hope, hi* 
 
 Lordship is acquainted, with the principles of 
 popery. 
 
 I hate all insincerity: and could I persuade 
 myself; or be convinced, that there is one prin- 
 ciple of my religion, that taught any of its pro- 
 fessors to be insincere, I solemnly declare, that I 
 would abandon it. My reason would not suffer 
 me to conceive, that any system can be divine, 
 which inculcates insincerity ; or which only to- 
 lerates, and approves so heinous, and so odious a 
 disorder. There may be, indeed, in the bosom
 
 Protestant Sermons. 127 
 
 of the catholic church, men habitually insincere; 
 because 1 believe, there are such, every where. 
 But 1 defy Ins Lordship's learning, or all his 
 Lordship's ingenuity to prove, that there is one 
 principle of popery, that makes them insincere, 
 or that sanctions their insincerity. There are 
 malevolent, violent, uncharitable characters, in 
 the protectant church. But, I should esteem it 
 bad logic, and bad manners, to assert, that the 
 principles of protestantism made them such. The 
 malevolence, violence, and injustice of the latter, 
 like the habitual insincerity of the former, is in 
 the man ; not in the religion : in the Protestant, 
 and the Papist; not in protestantism, and po- 
 pery. 
 
 PROTESTANT SERMONS. 
 
 There is one other species of illiberality ex- 
 ercised against popery, which, as it is general and 
 injurious, induces me to make it the subject of a 
 lew rerleetions, It is a fact well known to almost 
 every inhabitant of this country, that the abuse 
 of popery, is almost every Sunday, in numberless 
 protectant pulpits, the standing subject, with 
 which eloquence enlivens piety; or zeal en- 
 lightens ignorance. 1 dare say, that there is 
 hardly one Protestant, within the precincts of 
 thi* island, who has not, at sonic period, or in 
 some place, or other, heard the doctrines of po- 
 pery treated with severity ; and its practices de- 
 rided, with all the low buffoonery of holy ridi- 
 cule. The pulpit has been always, since the in- 
 troduction of protestantism; and is, in many
 
 128 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 places still, the source of public prejudice, and 
 the theatre of public animosity. It is thence, 
 that combustible materials are administered, to 
 keep alive the fire of passion ; or to enkindle those 
 passions, which bigotry has not, yet, inflamed. 
 It is thence, that unceasing war is declared us; 
 the drum ecclesiastic beats to arms ; and the mar- 
 tial hero of the parish drills his dull followers to 
 ' the noble art of subduing us, with ease : or else; 
 fearful, lest their ardor, by the long interval of 
 six days labour, might, possibly, begin to relax, 
 inspirits them afresh, to hate us, with increased 
 animosity. Such is the employment of that day, 
 which is the emblem of eternal repose; the truce 
 from every exercise, save those of piety: such 
 the use, which is made of that sacred place, the 
 temple of the God of charity, beneath whose 
 hallowed vault, no voices should be heard, but 
 the tender breathings of peace; no sounds re- 
 echo, but the gentle accents of charity and love 
 What a mockery of religion ; what an insult to 
 humanity 1 
 
 There was a period, when to preach against 
 the Pope and popish superstition, was, four times 
 in the year, the standing obligation of every 
 protestant minister. We know, how well, and 
 with what effect, they were wont to perform this 
 part of their sacred functions. Sermons upon 
 these subjects, as it was intended; and it could 
 hardly be otherwise, were coarse addresses to the 
 passions, by which the Pope was, easily, de- 
 monstrated to be Antichrist ; and popery, with 
 equal ease, idolatry : they awoke to indignation
 
 Protestant Sermons. \fl\ 
 
 the stupidity of the torpid ; and enkindled to rage 
 Hie activity of the zealous. The act. or injunc- 
 tion, which imposed this obligation, is not, in- 
 deed, any longer, enforced by ecclesiastical au- 
 thority; however, 't is, still, unrej)ealed ; it, still, 
 stands, with many similar act--, and ordinances 
 to establish ,.< reformat m in a monument of pro- 
 tectant intolerance, n.a piot<. j.tant illibeiaiity. 
 But; although it i;e not en.oiced. it is not neg- 
 lected : abandoned to the discretionary zeal, or 
 piety of individuals : it is --till observed, in a 
 multitude of places, by the volunteer activity of 
 the supposed zealots, or real bigots of protes- 
 tantism. We live, it is true, in an age, which 
 compared with the ages past, is really liberal, 
 enlightened, and humane : and, thank God i the 
 number of the protectant clergy, who are liberal, 
 enlightened, and humane, is not inconsiderable. 
 However, even in an age of liberality, all are not 
 liberal. The herd of tin prejudiced and unen- 
 lightened, in every communion, and community, 
 still, exceeds the portion of the liberal, and the 
 wise. While the enlightened part (if the protectant 
 ministry has, with just contempt, spurned the 
 ranatical ordinance, which condemned them to 
 vilify us; the unenlightened, winch is a very 
 large portion, stdi continue to observe it; still 
 continue the hoh function of in .citing us. As 
 if the piet\ of these men were iricconrileablc with 
 charity: or, as if, like the protectant ministers, 
 whom \ oscitic ' : mentions, thev conceived pro- 
 
 * Vo^iiis '.;:.. th.it he, on. u.i--. n'jv.'n 'to i pro*-? runt 
 rrarwsu-r, :t Doe, that it wis vr::-- to enpos': upon the
 
 130 Protectant ScrmCns, 
 
 testantism in danger, if they did not calumniate 
 
 popery, they incessantly renew those pious false 
 hoods, or vociferate those angry imputations, 
 which by cheating ignorance, and inflaming pas- 
 sion, have, so long, kept awake the spirit of acri- 
 mony, and fed the petulance of ill-will. The 
 abuse of popery is the nerve, the soul, the es- 
 sence of their eloquence. As for the Pope: un- 
 happy creature ! our religion; degraded object ! 
 they are almost sure, to be dragged into the pul- 
 pit, as the first Christians were formerly" into the 
 Roman amphitheatre, to gratify the cruel curio- 
 sity of an indignant populace ; to be held forth, 
 as the objects of public aversion, and the butts 
 
 of public mockery.-- If I undertake to pass 
 
 some censure, on this mode of treatment; although 
 such censure, may offend the bigotry of the men. 
 who thus unfeelingly sport with the laws of cha- 
 rity, yet I think, it cannot be offensive to the 
 liberal, and humane. In censuring it, I plead 
 the causa, not of my own religion, but of all re- 
 ligion ; the cause of charity, benevolence and 
 justice: I reprobate, what the honest feelings of 
 every unprejudiced Protestant, must reprobate, 
 equally, with myself. 
 
 people, although it were even in regard of popery. What 
 then ! answered the minister, do you mean to take the part oi 
 the Papists:' No; believe me, continued lie, you cannot 
 abuse them too much; it is our duty to make the people de- 
 tect them. \ ossius informs us, also, that he heard the like 
 observations, from the ministers, at Amsterdam ; if we leave 
 oil preaching, they said, that the Pope is Antichrist, the peo- 
 ple will leave our communion. Excellent vindication of false - 
 liopd, and injustice !
 
 P rotes tan t Sermons. 
 
 I shall divide these heroes of the pulpit, whose 
 ardor assails u>, with so much intemperance, into 
 two distinct classes. In the former, I shall place 
 the unenlightened, and the bigoted ; men ol slen- 
 der talents, and more slender knowledge; who 
 declaim against <>. becar.se declamation is an 
 easy thing; or abuse us, because abuse is conso- 
 nant to their feelings. In the second class, I 
 shall include a small portion of men, who are dis- 
 tinguished by their learning, and eminent for 
 their talents, who vilify popery, either to 
 prove their zeal, foi protestantism, and as a step 
 on the ladder of preferment; or from mere un- 
 happiness of disposition, and the peevishness of 
 iiliberality. 
 
 As for the fir.->t of these two classes: the wis- 
 dom of some men would not. perhaps, consider 
 it, in a much more serious point of view, at pre- 
 sent, than the writers of romance, or the actors 
 of tragic nonsense. Indeed, the discourses of 
 this class of preachcis are but romances; and 
 themselves n -emblc grcatlv the mimic actors ot 
 a farce, whose nonsense, auake> the laughter, or 
 excites the pity of good >eu.M.-. On the feelings 
 of moderation, thev leave i-o dangerous impres- 
 sions. The farce ends ; and tin i'arce. and the 
 actoi are forgotten. . . . Toe discourses ot' these 
 men ;u< . vo'v strikingly, alike: devoid ot rea- 
 son, reasoning, or learning, they consist, en- 
 tirely, ot mi-reprc.-cniatioii and abuse. Where 
 there does exist an\ diilerence. in the darkness 
 of the shades, or in tin coarse. c>> ot the;; co- 
 louring, it may be, almost uniformly, found, that 
 
 5 '.'
 
 1 39, Protestant Sermons. 
 
 those depict us in the most frightful features, who 
 know the least, about us. The most ignorant 
 are the most copious, in their abuse; passing 
 over every thing, that resembles the true doc- 
 trines of popery, they exult, in sill v triumph, 
 over what exhts no where; or what exists only, 
 in the visions of their own imagination. I, cer- 
 tainly, do entertain a very high opinion of the 
 wisdom of my countrymen ; and, therefore, flat- 
 ter myself, that sermons of this description, can- 
 not, no:v, be seriously injurious to us. But, who 
 will deny, that the preachers of such discourses, 
 are odious? odious ; because it appears to be 
 their intention to inflame the passions of their 
 hearers; and to render popery and the Papist 
 hateful: odious; because they labour to keep 
 alive the lire of religious bigotry, or fan the dy- 
 ing embers of superstition : odious ; because the 
 natural tendency of such discourses, is to put 
 again the poniard, into the hand of prejudice; 
 and to cad back the spirit of persecution; that 
 spirit, which has been a source of evils to this 
 nation; which had so long disgraced our statute 
 books; and immolated hecatombs of guiltless 
 victims, at the shrine of fanaticism, and mis- 
 conception ? 
 
 If only the wise, and moderate were the wit- 
 nesses to these effusions of ill-will, and rapsodies 
 of ignorance, I should, merely for our own sakes, 
 rejoice at such extravagance. To minds possessed 
 of wisdom and tempered with moderation, they 
 would insinuate the weakness of the cause, which 
 employed them, and the force of that, against
 
 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 153 
 
 wnich so feeble :i flefer.ee was urged ; they would 
 excite disgust for the men, who insulted us, so 
 grossly; and pity tor the objects, against which 
 such unmerited insult was directed. If all au- 
 diences consisted of only the wise and moderate, 
 I would compliment these heroes of the pulpit, 
 upon tr.cir laurels ; and wish them joy, in their 
 welt earned victories. But, unfortunately, their 
 audiences do not consist of the wise and moderate 
 only. They consist, principally, as all promis- 
 cuous audiences must do, or' men, whose igno- 
 rance is unable to discriminate falsehood from 
 the truth ; and whose feehn-as are sure to mistake 
 the noi^e of insult, for the voice of eloquence 
 and religion. These ignorant, prejudiced, bi- 
 goted, and irritated parsons become, therefore, 
 the oracles of their ignorant, prejudicial, bigoted, 
 and irritable parishioners. And hence, whoever 
 will give himself the trouble to interrogate the 
 knowledge, and consult the feelings of the illi- 
 terate eia-.s of Protestants, will find, that al- 
 though they is new not the A, i', C, of protes- 
 tantism, they are learned in the lore of popery; 
 and while they entertain no rational esteem for 
 the former, the\ are all rancour, against the 
 latter. The fact is certain : the religion of most 
 illiterate Protestants, is a mere negative thing, 
 made up of the disbelief ot popery. They arc 
 Protestant-, not because they believe the thirty- 
 nine Articles ; but, because they believe popery 
 to be idolatry: not because they believe the king 
 to be the head of their church; but, because 
 thev believe Antichrist, or the Devil to be the
 
 ] 34 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 head of ours : not because they love the system 
 of protestantism, but because they detest the 
 supposed creed of popery. The religion of a 
 multitude of vulgar Protestants is the dictate of 
 ignorance; not of knowledge ; of prejudice, not 
 of v/isdom ; of passion, not of reason. Such are 
 the effects, which proceed, in part, from the ser- 
 mons, whose intemperance I have presumed to 
 censure- 
 As for the effects, which these sermons, de- 
 livered to men of easy credulity, and irritable 
 tempers, might, possibly, produce against us, I 
 will not undertake to calculate them. But, I 
 think it is a fortunate circumstance, that between 
 the ill-will, and prejudices, which they are formed 
 to beget, there is placed a paladium ; the wisdom 
 of our laws, ami the liberality of our governors; 
 which protect us from their influence, and liush 
 the apprehension of danger. However, remove 
 this: and what might not ; what should not, the 
 the Papist, very naturally, expect? We recol- 
 lect the sources and severity of our former per- 
 secutions. They owed their popularity to decla- 
 mation, and much of their cruelty to the preju- 
 dices of the vulgar. It is only from the influence 
 of fanaticism, kept alive by the influence of 
 abuse, and misrepresentation, that in so humane 
 and beneficent a nation as this, we can, consis- 
 tently, account for the singular approbation, 
 which formerly, was sure to await every act of 
 injustice, that was done to Roman Catholics. 
 Where the voice of falsehood is mistaken for the 
 language of religion ; and the roar of invective
 
 fro l extant sermons. 
 
 !;.> 
 
 lor eloquence, it is easy to account, either for 
 tiie past, or for future persecutions. 
 
 Ou; 
 
 :ur funcsta tra^edi; 
 
 I would not ask, these angry zealots, for the 
 supposed cause of protestantLm, not to point out 
 the errors of the popish creed ; nor would I soli- 
 cit them not to attempt their refutation. We do 
 not shrink from reason, nor argumentation. I 
 would not urge them to honour us with their 
 praises ; nor would I crave the favour of their 
 commendation. All, that I would request of 
 them, is; that they would cease to be unjust; 
 and continue, no longer, to sport with the laws 
 of humanity and benevolence. But, I will add a 
 few more reflections, on this species of illiberality, 
 in speaking of what I have called the* second 
 class of our preaching antagonists. 
 
 I have before observed, that the preachers, 
 whom I have ranked in this class, are a small 
 portion of men, who are distinguished for their 
 learning, or eminent for their talents. They are 
 men. also, who, I believe, are, in general, re- 
 spected, in their public: and beloved, m their 
 private, characters. It might be expected there- 
 fore, that, it' even popen had aich men. for its 
 adversaries, they would, at iea-a. be generous ad- 
 versaries ; that their candor would extend to po- 
 pery; and their benevoier.ee reach the Papist. 
 But, unfortunately, it is a cheer stance, w3 : eh 
 we, often, meet with . the greatest men nave 
 faults - preiudice often resides with learning; 
 
 in the h^art, 
 
 and great illiberality often \v
 
 136 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 where some of the noblest virtues flourish. We 
 rind numberless instances of this, in the annals of 
 religious animosity. Behold; then, in the above 
 features, what we find precisely realized, in the 
 conduct, and characters of the preachers, to 
 whom I am alluding. If I understand their dis- 
 courses, they appear to me, absolutely to forget, 
 that universal philanthropy is a law of Chris- 
 tianity ; and that candor js a duty, which they 
 owe to Roman Catholics. I know nothing more 
 virulently severe, or more disingenuously uncan- 
 did ; more petulantly harsh, or more illiberally 
 insincere, than what they either boldly urge, or 
 artfully insinuate against our religion, and irs 
 professors. It is. true, I remarked ; the number 
 of these antagonists is not formidable; but ; it is 
 also true, that they contribute far more effectu- 
 ally, than the class of preachers, whom I have 
 censured before, to create, or perpetuate preju- 
 dice, in those, whom it is our interest to please; 
 and our duty to respect. Their influence is for- 
 midable. By the reputation, and popularity of 
 their names, they often impose, even upon the 
 reason of the sensible ; cheat the moderation of 
 the virtuous ; play with the unreasoning credulity 
 of the weak; and by a consequence very natural, 
 and obvious, convert the good-will of all these, 
 into asperity } and malevolence. 
 
 It might be supposed, that the methods, by 
 which this distinguished class of preachers pro- 
 duce these great effects, would be widely different 
 from the means, by which the unlettered and the 
 unpolished are wont to malign and insult us.
 
 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 13: 
 
 The difference of their abilities, and the difference 
 of their educations should give, it would seen), 
 a difference to their modes, and artifices of as- 
 sailing us. Well; it is true: there is a difference, 
 and a great one too. Instead of the coarse vul- 
 garity of common language, in which the un- 
 lettered are accustomed to revile us; these more 
 celebrated orators insult us, in the pomp of sound- 
 ing words, and the elegance of flouing sentences: 
 instead of declamation in the style of Billingsgate; 
 they calumniate us, in the language of eloquence, 
 and injure us, by the magic of apparent wisdom. 
 By these artifices, they produce effects, where 
 the ignorant could not. But after all; abstract- 
 ing from mere sound, and the shape of sentences ; 
 the manner of attacking us, is alike in bctfh. In 
 both, if their sermons were analysed, we find tor 
 proof, misrepresentation; for reasoning, invec- 
 tive; for demonstration, insult. Not even the 
 polished orator, introduces the mention of po- 
 pery, but to place it, in some false point of view; 
 to treat it, with the severity of reproach ; or, far 
 worse, than the honest severity of reproach, the 
 obliquity of dark insinuation. 
 
 I do not know, whether 1 experience moie con- 
 tempt, or admiration, when I find in the dis- 
 courses of these Gentlemen, all the tender pro- 
 fessions of great benevolence, all the gentle breath- 
 ings of the softest, and most undistinguishing 
 philanthropy. If all professions were truths; it 
 would be true, that their hearts are the seats of 
 kindness; and that not a spark of rancour cuuld 
 live there, for the worst of human beings When 
 
 1
 
 1 58 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 they reprobate persecution, their indignation glow* 
 to eloquence ; when they vindicate, or assert the 
 sacred privileges of reason ; of liberty of thought, 
 and liberality of sentiment ; it would seem, that 
 wisdom itself, were laying down the principles 
 of philosophy, Miserable cant! with unhallowed 
 plagiarism, extracted from the works of such meiij 
 as the Voltaires, Rousseaus, and DAlemberts ; 
 who talked most of liberality, in order to be il- 
 liberal; of liberty, to promote licentiousness ; of 
 reason, with the desijni of underminino; revela- 
 tion. These are the tricks, by which the mind 
 is, most easily, prepared to imbibe the poison oi^ 
 rancour, prejudice, and misconception. Tor, be- 
 hold ! no sooner does the eloquence of our great 
 oratorial adversaries, introduce to observation the 
 doctrines of popery, or the conduct of Papists, 
 but their liberality, which had just pitied error, 
 is changed into indignation; their philanthropy, 
 which had embraced every member of society, is 
 'on verted into unfeeling severity and invective. 
 They, first, misrepresent our doctrines; then 
 hold them out to ridicule: first, expose our con- 
 duct with infidelity; then censure it, with harsh- 
 ness. The misrepresentation renders the ridicule 
 consistent; and the unfaithful exposure makes 
 the censure appear becoming. Thus, our re- 
 ligion becomes, seeming!}', a just object of ex- 
 ecration : and even our niggard toleration is 
 deemed, by some, a dangerous, and unholy pri- 
 vilege. Surely: the philanthropy and benevo- 
 lence of these preachers, must be delicate, when 
 even their gratitude treats thus, the religion, to
 
 Protestant Sermons. 130, 
 
 which they owe all their present domestic com- 
 forts, their artlueiice, their honours, and theii 
 ease; to which they owe the charter of their li- 
 berties; and their knowledge of Jesus Christ. I 
 Avill not presume to say, that these philanthropic 
 orators would persecute us : hut, I say, that they 
 impute to us doctrines and dispositions, which if 
 true, would render our persecution natural, and 
 perhaps becoming. We are " idolaters, impos- 
 tors, lovers of human blood, dangerous citizens, 
 Sec. Sec." What can constitute litter objects for 
 persecution r I will not assert, that these men 
 Mould hang us; but their discourses labour to 
 keep alive that spirit, which did hang us, once; 
 and which converted the humane tribunals of this 
 nation, into tyrant inquisitions against popery. 
 For my own part, 1 should tremble, had these 
 preachers the power of doing every thing, that 
 their ideas of justice might suggest. 
 
 Just emerging, as the Catholics of this nation 
 are, from a storm of almost three hundred years; 
 a storm, in which perished many of the best, and 
 noblest characters, that adorn our annals; a storm, 
 which Mas marked by the wreck of great tor- 
 tunes, and by all those evils, which attend on 
 great calamities; just emerging from such a state, 
 and hoping, that, at length, we were going to 
 taste the common comforts of other men, it is 
 peculiarly distressing to behold any thing like an 
 attempt to replunge us, into our former misery ; 
 distressing, to behold any thing like the envy of 
 our present comforts and security. I Know, in- 
 deed, that it is uot, in the nature of fanaticism 
 
 T 2
 
 140 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 to relent ; nor to behold the pause of persecution, 
 without the snarl of disapprobation ; I know, too, 
 that it is not, in the morbid habits of some con- 
 stitutions, to contemplate the happiness of other 
 men, without experiencing the yearnings of jea- 
 lousy and discontent. Whether it be fanaticism, 
 or constitution, that gives animation, to the bili- 
 ous eloquence of our adversaries, I will not say ; 
 but certain it is, that from some cause, or other, 
 they frown upon the little liberty, which we en- 
 joy ; and censure the humanity, that would in- 
 crease it; they boldly lie, when they pretend to 
 explain our tenets, and artfully insinuate suspici- 
 on, when they allude to our allegiance; in short, 
 as I just observed, they attribute to us, what, if 
 believed, should consistently make us odious : and 
 what, if true ; should, perhaps deservedly, make 
 us the victims of persecution. More eloquent 
 than our ancient enemies, they are equally intem- 
 perate. They have added a polish to their rusted 
 arms ; given a point to the weapons, which long- 
 use had rendered blunt ; and dipped them, in 
 fresh poison envenomed, as the rancour of their 
 own malevolence. 
 
 It is, principally, since the amelioration of our 
 condition, that this class of preachers have attack- 
 ed us, thus : it is principally, since the nation 
 has been convinced of our loyalty; and liberality 
 has applauded the justice, that rewarded it, that 
 they have risen up to vilify our tenets. Struck 
 with so singular a circumstance, in such an age, 
 when religious animosity, is every where, subsid- 
 ing to mild forbearance; and in such characters.,
 
 Protest tint Sermons. i -* 1 
 
 who, in every other branch of their conduct, arc 
 said to be liberal, and polite; I have endeavoured, 
 (knowing-, that every effect must have its cause) 
 to trace the cause of this phenomenon. I find, 
 in the annals of all our persecutions, that the sup- 
 posed gronth of popery, even when popery was, 
 most, declining, was always one of the great pre- 
 texts to injure, or insult us. I have, therefore, 
 studied whether this, can again, be the motive, 
 which animates their anger. In order to be en- 
 abled to ascertain, whether popery be on the in- 
 crease, or decrease, in this nation ; I have given 
 myself some trouble to learn its present state ; and 
 I have weighed, moreover, some of the moral 
 probabilities of its future state. Without laying- 
 down all the facts, which 1 have certified ; suffice 
 it to say, that for my own part, I am perfect- 
 ly convinced, that popery is on the decrease, 
 in this nation. The truth is humiliating ; but 
 whoever will reflect on the nature of the times, 
 and the circumstances of events, cannot well help 
 believing as I do. We have, within the space of 
 a few years, lost several of our great nobility, 
 and men of aftiuer.ee. With the loss of their ex- 
 ample, and the loss of the resources, which their 
 former piety had supplied, the losses to popery 
 among their dependants, and within the wide 
 circle of their influence, are immense. By the 
 French revolution, we have not only been depriv- 
 ed of the great nurseries for our clergy ; but we 
 have been deprived of the means, by which, 
 in future, any thing like the usual supply of our 
 clergy can be supported. Already many of our
 
 142 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 congregations arc without pastors : and a congre- 
 gation without a pastor, it is well known, soon 
 goes astray. The consequences from this evil, 
 have been most serious. In an age, too, when in- 
 dolence, and indifference ; vice, luxury, licenti- 
 ousness, and incredulity have taken from every 
 sect and society, multitudes of their adherents, it 
 is not to be imagined, that these also extending 
 their influence to the Papists, have not also com- 
 municated, with their influence, their unhappy 
 effects. Certain if is, that the corruption of the 
 times has robbed us of a host of members, and pa- 
 ralysed the principles of a countless multitude, 
 who siill adhere to us, by name. Another cause, 
 which has greatly contributed to thin the ranks 
 of popery, (I drop a tear on this cause, when I 
 mention it) is the relaxation of industry, and the 
 want of talents, learning, and address, in the 
 men, who compose the body of our sacred mi- 
 nistry. I may be wrong, in my opinion ; or 
 perhaps too bold, in the assertion ; but, it is my 
 opinion, not only, that our clergy are, in general, 
 inactive ; and deficient in talents, learning, and 
 address ; I think them, in all these respects, 
 greatly inferior to their predecessors. I hope to be 
 understood with some exceptions ; for there is a 
 little portion of our clergy, of whose zeal, abili- 
 ties, and erudition, too much could not be said. 
 But, this exception admitted ; it is a painful 
 truth to acknowledge ; the rest, although they 
 may be what the world calls virtuous, or what ig- 
 norance may deem learned, yet neither their vir- 
 tue is that active thing, which animated their
 
 Proles [an t Sermoh's. 
 
 24! 
 
 oredecessors ; cur Challoners, Gothcrs, Sec; nor 
 dots their learning, remotely, resemble that, of our 
 Campions, Waitons, Hawardens, and Butlers. 
 Their virtue, is without warmth for prosehtism ; 
 their learning, without the slightest pretext to 
 erudition. (The regulars ; lest I may seem to 
 make any exception in their favour; are con- 
 sidered, even less active, and less learned, which 
 is natural, than the seculars.) From these 
 causes, then, with some secondary ones, which I 
 pass over, it is impossible, with reason, to sup- 
 pose, that popery is increasing in this nation. 
 But if the timid piety of our adversaries, be 
 really alarmed, upon this imaginary score; let 
 them only reflect upon the effects of popery : -they 
 will rind in these alone, sufficient reasons to allay 
 their apprehensions of its great diffusion. The 
 effects of popery, are to restrain the licentiousness 
 of passion, and the liberty of thought ; and this, 
 neither the taste, nor temper of the age can suf- 
 fer. The effects of popery, are to render men, 
 chaste, sober, temperate, and humble; and, the 
 dispositions of the times lean to all the contrary 
 vices. Hence ; since the attachment to pope ry is, 
 nearly correlative with the attachment to piety ; in 
 proportion, as the love of the hitter decreases, 
 so will the love of the former. The general disin- 
 clination to piety is, alone, a suilicient proof of 
 the general disinclination to popery.- -But, 1 will 
 proceed. 
 
 Can the zeal of our preachers be excited by the 
 losses, which the protectant establishment sus- 
 tains ; and the apprehension of any consequent
 
 144 Protestant Sermons* 
 
 revolution, in it? As for a revolution in the pro- 
 testant establishment, I should myself be ex- 
 tremely sorry to behold that. But, since I have 
 shewn, that the danger of such a revolution can- 
 not proceed from popery ; since few even of its 
 losses are the gains to popery ; it is not probable, 
 that these motives can either awake their zeal, or 
 inspire their apprehension. I allow indeed, that 
 the protestant religion, as it is established by the 
 laws, is, very sensibly, on the decline. In the 
 lower classes of society, its numbers are, every 
 day, crowding the ranks of methodism ; and 
 in the higher walks of life, they are thickening 
 the lines of Deism, and infidelity. The industry 
 of fanaticism, in this country, is only equalled by 
 the boldness of irreligion; and our legal estab- 
 lishment is, between them, frittering into parts, 
 more different far from itself, than itself is from 
 popery. That, therefore, there is not room for 
 industry and apprehension, I will not deny. 
 There is room, for both ; but it is, where our 
 preachers manifest neither. It may appear .sin- 
 gular, that a Papist, should give advice to Pro- 
 testants, for the benefit of the protestant estab- 
 lishment ; but, if our eloquent adversaries, be 
 really interested for the cause of protestantism ; 
 let them employ, not indeed the illiberality ; but 
 the zeal, which they exert against popery, in 
 combating modern innovations : let them display 
 the powers of their abilities, and the brilliancy of 
 their eloquence, in proving the superior excel- 
 lence of their own establishment; in teaching 
 wisdom to admire it, and ignorance to respect it.
 
 Prof est an t Sermon*. 
 
 14.5 
 
 Their exertions thus employed, would he, usefully, 
 employed : and, if they be not employed thus, I 
 tremble, with the timid, for the consequences. 
 With the decline, or fall of the p rotes tan t estab- 
 lishment, I augur nothing favourable to the cause 
 of catholicity. 
 
 If the mere petulance of animosity were at- 
 tempting- to account for the unusual violence, or 
 sudden efforts of any sect, or establishment ; it is 
 possible, or rather probable, that it would afreet 
 to consider them, as the natural symptoms of its 
 approaching dissolution. We know, that it is 
 the fate of sects, and human establishments, as it 
 is of the human body ; after the series of their 
 growth, and maturity, to decline, sicken, anidie 
 away : and, as the body, in its agony, is most 
 convulsed, and seems to resume new vigour ; so 
 the unusual exertion of any sect, society, or in- 
 stitute, may be regarded as the indication of its 
 speed} - extinction. The resemblance of effects in 
 objects, which are found by experience to resem- 
 ble each other, might seem to justify the bold- 
 ness, which drew such consequences. However: 
 although it be my opinion, that the protestant 
 icligion, or an}' institution, that is not divine, 
 will, of its own nature, die away, and be number- 
 ed, in tune, among the monuments of human er- 
 ror; a name, to amine the curiosity of the learn- 
 ed ; yet, 1 am far from believing, that this is, at 
 present, the case v. irh protcaantism ; or that the 
 efforts of our adversaries, are thus to be account- 
 ( d for, rational!}'. 
 
 If then. 1 were asked, to what motive Lvould 
 
 I'
 
 146 
 
 T to test an i Sermons. 
 
 attribute their animosity, I would venture, though 
 with reluctance, to guess, what I would not ven- 
 ture to assert. I Mould venture to guess, what I, 
 heartily, wish may he false: I would guess, 
 that, when the hand of eternal justice shall draw 
 aside the veil, which now conceals the springs of 
 human actions, wc shall discover, that interest, 
 and the hope of preferment were the animating 
 motives, which gave virulence to their illibera- 
 lity. It is not a secret in the history of men; it 
 is a fact well established, and well known, that in 
 the divisions of party ; and, above all, in the di- 
 visions of religion ; noise, violence, and invective, 
 have been the arts, by which interest has labour- 
 ed, most effectually, to insure itself success. The 
 case is ; these are, easily, mistaken for zeal ; and, 
 of course, naturally, attain the rewards of zeal. 
 Whoever is conversant in history, will allow, that 
 it was, generally, by these trite methods, that 
 ambition raised itself to the head of parties, and 
 ability lifted itself to eminence and distinction; 
 " pretending public good, to serve their own." 
 
 I may be wrong, in my conjecture, respecting 
 the source of the intemperance of our enemies. I 
 hope 1 am wrong; because the motive is odious. 
 But, Iain not wrong, when I assert, that, be the 
 source "fit, what it; may : it is illibera! to insult, 
 and unjust to calumniate us : it is injurious even 
 to the religion, winch they profess to revere, to 
 defend its supposed divinity by abuse ; and its 
 truths, by falsehoods. Had we, by the intempe- 
 rance ol our sermons, provoked intemperance; 
 *>v, by the severity of our writings, given occasion
 
 Pro testant Sermon. 
 
 14/ 
 
 oi offence; in such cases, our modesty would for- 
 bid us to complain. Hud our public conduct ren- 
 dered our allegiance dubious, or our private con- 
 versation made oar devotion to the present line 
 or our monarchs, suspicious ; were we ever seen 
 heaving 1 sighs, or expressing regret, for the 
 proscription of our popish princes, that cause, 
 which rendered our ancestors, so long, the ob- 
 jects of political apprehension ; in these cases. ] 
 should cease, again, if not to wonder, at least, to 
 complain. Hut, without any of these causes; 
 with the evidence, thai no such causes exist ; it is, 
 certainly, illiberal, still to attempt to render us 
 the objects of public ill-will. But; at least, 
 popery is so absurd ! \\V11 ; but only, then, point 
 out its absurdity, calmly, rationally, liberally; in 
 the manner, in which every serious absurdity 
 bhould be pointed out. Doubtless, religious dis- 
 cussion, conducted by the ministers of religion. 
 should be, of ail others, most peaceful. Such, also, 
 is the nature of truth, that its most striking evi- 
 dences are often invisible, amid the storms of pas- 
 sion : the slightest breath will, sometimes, divert 
 ir> rays, from falling upon the mind. Or : sup- 
 pose a certain degree of animation be useful in 
 the refutation of popery; provided it lie used with 
 equity , used, as it is. in refuting irreligion, A nan- 
 ism, Soeinianism, and the various sects ot inno- 
 vating Protestants; not even our moderation, or 
 partiality shall blame it. Between the established 
 church and irreligion ; or between the established 
 church and the sects, which have departed from its 
 
 V 2
 
 148 Protestant Sermons. 
 
 bosom, there is a wider difference, I have before 
 remarked, in many instances, than between itself 
 and popery ; and yet, in the refutation of the ab- 
 surdities, impieties, and errors, which either irre- 
 ligion, or these sects maintain, we meet with tem- 
 perance, candor, liberality, and politeness. This, 
 then, is all we ask for, whenever the zeal for 
 protestantism may prompt its advocates to com- 
 bat popery. We ask no privilege, but candor ; 
 no indulgence, but truth ; no favour, but mo- 
 deration. We are willing to be refuted, not in- 
 sulted ; to be tried, not calumniated; to be con- 
 demned, provided wisdom dictate the awful sen- 
 tence. Although we be idolaters, still we are 
 men, and citizens ; and as such, we have a claim 
 to the common rights of humanity and justice. 
 
 It is time, that the violence, which has, so long, 
 disgraced the protectant pulpit should cease; 
 time, that laying aside rancour, the protectant 
 orator should speak his sentiments in charity : 
 that while his eloquence extorts our praise, his be- 
 nevolence may gain our love. Benevolence can 
 never be injurious to the cause of protestantism. 
 Indeed, if any thing would induce the Papist to 
 abandon his religion, benevolence would be the 
 most powerful inducement to it. It is a good 
 observation of Dr. Hey's (I wish himself did not, 
 sometimes, forget it) that, " though men may 
 have evidence enough to act upon, they may not 
 have enough to intitle them to insult others, or 
 to triumph over them, as being certainly in error. 
 Indeed, those, who are clearly convinced, seldom
 
 Pi otustant Sermons. 
 
 ) 
 
 insult : satisfied with themselves, they are kind 
 and candid to others * ." No doubt ; insult is an 
 injury to truth ; and should create suspicion, 
 against the cause, that needs it. Here, therefore, 
 is what I would propose to those preachers, who 
 have made it their custom to calumniate po- 
 pery. I will not propose too much ; I will not 
 propose to them to ascend their pulpits, which 
 have so often re-echoed with abuse, to tell their 
 hearers, that, hitherto, they have sported with 
 their credulity : I do not propose to them, to sav ; 
 ''Dear parishioners, the application, which we 
 have made, so often, of the mysterious signs in 
 the sacred Book of Revelations, to Popes, and 
 popish doctrines, are the inventions of protestant 
 fanaticism, or the suggestions of protestant igno- 
 rance : they arc tales, which the interested bi- 
 gotry of oar ancestors, and our own, made use 
 of to support vour faith in protestantism ; or to 
 affright your weakness from relapsing into 
 popery."' Liberality might say all this : but, I do 
 propose what is half >o arduous. I propose 
 only, that guided by that m idcration, which they 
 profess to love, tiiev would labour to suppress 
 rancour, and to extend the divine influences of 
 charity ; that ceasing to vilify us, they would en- 
 deavour to conciliate affection for us, if not as Pa- 
 pists ; as men, and members of society. By the 
 arts of eloquence thus exerted, the virulence of 
 bigotry would melt away ; and the ill-will of our 
 enemies be soothed to kindness : distinguishing 
 
 * ] r.. 
 
 vol. lit. p. 400.
 
 DO Protestant Sermons. 
 
 between our supposed superstition, raid our per- 
 sons ; while they might continue to reject the 
 former, they would, in charity, embrace the lat- 
 ter ; and the Protestant, and the Papist, would 
 live together in harmony. How nobly, would 
 eloquence, thus employed, be exerted ! How de- 
 serving the best eulogies of praise, would be that 
 preacher, who would display his talents, in so 
 divinely sublime a function ! While ignorance and 
 fanaticism applaud the men, who foment division ; 
 wisdom and liberality would revere the orators, 
 whose enlightened eloquence, thus piously labour- 
 ed to suppress it. 
 
 It is not only a subject of my regret ; I wonder 
 also, that circumstanced, as the protectant estab- 
 lishment is, at present ; losing many of its mem- 
 bers by the spread of irreligion, and still more by 
 the indefatigable zeal of interested sectarism ; I 
 wonder, that any, who consult its interests, or the 
 benefit of their country, should labour to keep 
 open the breach, which exists between it, and the 
 religion of Roman Catholics. That unhappy 
 breach is too wide already; and it is the dictate 
 of charity, as it should be the care of policy, to 
 close it up, for ever. As for the civil constitu- 
 tion of this kingdom ; let ignorance, or male- 
 volence deny it, if it pleases ; it is certain, 
 that the principles of Roman Catholics are fa- 
 vourable ; even fondly, partially favourable to it. 
 Our constitution was begotten by Roman Catho- 
 lies ; chiefly by the Roman Catholic clergy: it was 
 cradled, grew, maturated, and received its vigour, 
 and perfection, from the care of our catholic an-
 
 Atlithm attributed to Popery. 
 
 151 
 
 cestofs. Surelv, the hand of a Catholic would 
 never be lifted up to pro fane it. As for what 
 forms even the religious part of our present con- 
 stitution ; I am sure, that every Catholic beholds, 
 -with pain, any particle frittered from its fabric, to 
 be added to the conventicles of modern heresy 
 and superstition. After the veneration, which 
 we pay to the divine institute, to which we deem 
 it the first and best of blessings to belong, we, 
 unanimously, respect, in the next place, the pro- 
 tectant establishment of this eouutrv. It is 
 
 The least defcvmecl, be 
 
 ice! the least/ 
 
 When the virulence of fanaticism shall have sub- 
 sided; and the papaphobia of ignorance be done 
 away, neither the propriety of maintaining divi- 
 sion, by abuse, will be a maxim of protectant. 
 theology ; nor the wisdom of restricting us, a 
 problem of protectant policy. The time is not far 
 distant, when it will be owned, that, although our 
 creed; may di tier, our mutual interests are. inti- 
 mately, blended. We shall begin to appear like 
 two neighbouring princes, whose reciprocal ad- 
 vantage it is, to assist each other; to caress each 
 other: and generously, stand forward for each 
 other's welfare, and prosperity. 
 
 ATHEIsrvI ATThl il-UVED TO FOPLIiY. 
 
 Having thus I nefi ", : 
 theds. with which pot' . :y 
 and preachers ot tin- com 
 my subject A gem t 
 of our antagonists -, 
 
 mi c , the illiberal u : 
 . : .iited. bv the wi itei ; , 
 ;.\ I might h< redismi 
 j; nation of "be temper 
 uut I had de ; . 
 
 1!
 
 152 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 include, in these reflections. But ; since an ob- 
 jection against popery, originating in the same 
 illiberality, which L have censured, has, very re- 
 cently, been propagated in the public mind, both 
 from the pulpit, and the press, I will give it also a 
 place, among them. It is not uneonnected with 
 my subject; as it serves, as a striking illustration 
 of the malevolence, which, unceasingly, perse- 
 cutes the cause of popery. 
 
 The objection, to which I allude, is this. It is 
 said, that " our modern irreligion is the off- 
 spring of popery ; and that the horrors of the late 
 revolution in France, derived their origin, from 
 the same prolific source of guilt. " The objection, 
 though not very ingenious, has the merit of be- 
 ing new; and though new, has become general 
 almost, as the enmity to our religion : it has been 
 re-echoed, through half the pulpits of the nation; 
 and instantly waited round the island, by bigotry, 
 and prejudice. I need not add, that it has, in 
 some instances, been injurious to us. As for the 
 refutation of so groundless and absurd a calum- 
 ny, I greatly doubt, whether it is wise, seriously 
 to undertake it. It is almost vilifying truth to 
 shew, that it is not the source of error; and insult- 
 ing the purity of religion, to prove, that it is not. 
 the principle of guilt. Indeed: it is observable, 
 that very i'^^v Catholics have deigned to discuss 
 the malicious slander. They conceived, that good 
 sense would not believe it ; and as for prejudice, 
 where it could not hurt us, they were pretty indif- 
 ferent, whether it believed it, or not. Or, per- 
 haps, they conceived, as I do, that the very men,
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 153 
 
 whose malevok nt ingenuity first broached the ca- 
 lumny, did not themselves believe it ; conse- 
 quently, to it!: nipt to satisfy them, they deemed 
 it, useless ami unavailing. 
 
 When evils of the horrid magnitude, with those 
 attributed to popery, are made the subjects of 
 pubbc instruction; it ought, no doubt, to be ex- 
 pected, that the imputation would come forward 
 hung round with arguments, or lighted up with 
 evidence : it should be supposed, that it would 
 be evinced, cither from some principle, or some 
 practice of our religion ; or, at least, from some 
 consequence deduced, or deducible from them, 
 Equity requires, that it should be proved, " some 
 hole.'' For, without some proof, not the ipse dixit 
 of any Right Reverend in Europe, would excuse 
 from a breach of charity, not only the men. who, 
 in servile imitation, have re-echoed the injurious 
 charge ; but the uninquiring credulity of the 
 public, who have believed it. Yet, is it true ; 
 that it has been, twenty thousand times report- 
 ed : and repeated, twenty thousand times, without 
 the authority of one single proof. (Perhaps, it 
 needs none, because it is an accusation of popery:) 
 It stands substantiated, by the mere insinuations, 
 or mere assertions of a few men, whose influence 
 over the public mind, is the result of sour- virtues, 
 and of great illiberality ; of some abilities, and of 
 much abuse of them. 
 
 There are occasions. 1 know it, when a mere as- 
 sertion will gain belief, where the attempt to 
 prove it, would destroy belief. Probably, the 
 audiors of the imnutatiuii i'eic tius * and if it were
 
 154 Atheism attributed to Popery, 
 
 wise to impose upon the public ; it was wise in 
 them, only boldly to assert, what, they knew, it 
 was impossible to prove. Boldness, after ridicule, 
 is the best possible substitute for proof. 
 
 It is a mifortune, I have remarked it before, 
 which we have reason to lament, that, very fre- 
 quently, the more learned among the protestan? 
 clergy, are profoundly ignorant of the true tenets 
 of the catholic religion. They derive their sup- 
 posed knowledge of them, from streams so re- 
 motely distant from the fountain's head ; and ren- 
 dered, besides, so muddy, feculent, and corrupt- 
 ed, by the malicious industry of our enemies, that 
 they perceive nothing of their true nature ; learn 
 little of their real properties. Their ideas of 
 popery, are as different from what constitutes the 
 religion of Roman Catholics, as the grossest 
 error is from truth. As for our moral maxims, 
 and approved religious practices, if they were 
 examined by the eye of rational curiosity, or hu- 
 man philosophy ; neither curiosity nor philosophy 
 would discover in them aught that is even dis- 
 tantly, allied to vice, or congenial to irreligion ; 
 nothing, on the contrary, that is not favourable 
 to virtue, and consonant to piety ; nothing, that 
 does not tend, of its utv?i nature, to exalt human 
 dignity, and in its observance, actually, exalt it. 
 'i he school of French philosophy, which knew our 
 religion far better, tb.au our protestant divines, 
 has often allowed ibis., 
 
 [four adversaries mean, (which I suspect they 
 ;!;, if they mean anything;) that the iinpene- 
 trab.'e depth of the mysteries of our religion, by
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 \5J 
 
 disgusting the pride of reason, are calculated to 
 create irreligion ; if they mean this,- I will only 
 say ; it is extremely wise in them, not openly to 
 have declared it. We allow, that there are mys- 
 teries in our religion, which are impenetrable to 
 the profane eye of human reason ; and which it 
 is, therefore, natural, that the pride of reason 
 should reject. There are tenets, which impiety 
 may ridicule; bur it is the very nature of religi- 
 ous tenets, to be at variance with impiety. 
 However, if mysteries be a source of incredulity, 
 has not protestantism its mysteries also : Is all, in 
 protestantism, plain, open, and unveiled to the 
 eye of reason ? If so; protestantism would, no 
 linger, be a system of revelation. No ; pro- 
 testantism has its mysteries, not only as unsearch- 
 able, as those of popery ; but, in many instances, 
 more impenetrable far. That monstrous aggre- 
 gate or' the thing called the Reformation, has been 
 prurient, it Mere easy to shew it, of more myste- 
 ries, and absurdities ; even of more immorality and 
 impiety, than the Coran itself. Let reason only 
 call round it all the authors and opinions ot the 
 countless sect's, which, with prolific fecundity, 
 have pullulated from its principles: which, with 
 unholy liberty, have profaned the purity of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ; withhold hnpiely. in- 
 suited its divinity; debased its sublimity; lace- 
 rated and destroyed its integrity. Why ; when 
 popery, with its mysteries, and all its abuse:., is 
 placed by the side of tin se, it appears quite ra- 
 tional ; quite noble, and divine. And, of course, 
 it the mere depth of mystery could be the source 
 
 X2
 
 156 
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 of irreligion, the mysteries of protestantism ought, 
 more powerfully, than those of popery, to contri- 
 bute to that unhappy consequence. 
 
 But, it has been insinuated, by a few very emi- 
 nent characters, rather, I believe, than openly as- 
 serted, that the atheism and irreligion of France, 
 proceeded " from the lack of knowledge occa- 
 sioned by the prohibition of the catholic church, 
 for the laity to read the scriptures." As it may 
 appear natural enough to conceive, that so stupid 
 a thing, as atheism, must repose upon the stupi- 
 dity of ignorance, the above imputation may ap- 
 pear to many, a plausible mode of accounting for 
 it; at least, it may appear plausible to the preju- 
 diced, and the ill- informed. There is, certainly, 
 much ignorance, in atheism. 
 
 It would be a convenient circumstance, to the 
 defenders of the catholic religion, if its adversa- 
 ries would always, I do not say, express ; but, ho- 
 nestly insinuate, upon what specific cause, they 
 rest their accusations ; and not, as nearly all 
 dn, in the ca.se of French impiety, assert, vaguely, 
 and arbitrarily, that popery is its source ; that 
 the absurdities of popery, (God knows what) 
 have been the occasions of all the disasters of 
 the revolution. The attempt to subdue such ad- 
 versaries ; or to refute imputations, which either 
 have no foundation, any where ; or exist wrapped 
 up, in the mists of the prejudices of our accusers, 
 serves only, for an useless display of strength. 
 As the blows have no visible object to fall on, 
 they beat the air, to no purpose. Thanks, then, 
 I. the candor of the Gentlemen, whose insinua-
 
 Atticism attributed to Popery. \57 
 
 tions I have just stated ; they have, timidly, 
 presented something specific : they have enabled 
 the Catholic to give a direction to his answer, 
 and to aim it, at that point, where truth, and evi- 
 dence are seated. In their charges, it is insinu- 
 ated, that ignorance, and the privation of the sa- 
 cred scriptures, were the causes of French atheism, 
 arid French irreligion. 1'hc question is thus sim- 
 plified ; and instead of the long ambage, about 
 popish absurdities, and superstitious, it is melted 
 down to the discussion of a fact. For; if it be 
 true, that France is the seat of atheism; and that 
 ignorance is the cause of it ; then, it must be 
 true, that France was the seat of ignorance ; or at 
 least, of greater ignorance, than what prevailed in 
 other nations. If France be the seat of irreligion , 
 and irreligion be the effect of not reading the 
 holy scriptures; then, in France, the holy scrip- 
 tures must have been unread ; or, more grossly 
 neglected, than they arc, in other nations. 
 
 Although the imputation of ignorance, or of 
 the want of religious knowledge, to a nation like 
 that of France, may be useful to a party, to de- 
 ceive the prejudiced, and i lie uninformed ; yet, I 
 wonder, how it could, ever, have been, seriously, 
 repeated, or believed by men, who have either the 
 reputation of good sense, or the pretensions to 
 knowledge. France, before the epoch of the re- 
 volution (this will be allowed, by whoever pos- 
 sesses any historical, or local information of that 
 country,) was overspread with nurseries of learn- 
 ing. The number of its universities was well pro- 
 portioned to its immense population ; every .town.
 
 158 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 was crowded with schools ; and scarce was there 
 a village, which, however destitute of other ad- 
 vantages, did not possess an establishment, where 
 knowledge, particularly religious knowledge, was 
 distributed, gratis, to the poor. To benefit from 
 these advantages, it will not, surely, be said, that 
 the French did not possess the abilities, or the in- 
 dustry. The countless constellations, or rather 
 the boundless galaxy of its writers, and learned 
 men, area striking contradiction of so groundless 
 a supposition. For my own part, I believe that 
 the French were more fitted, by nature, to learn 
 with ease, than any other people of the universe. 
 Lively, ardent, loquacious, and discerning, a 
 .French child is half learned, while our serious, or 
 less vivacious little ones are, comfortably, slum- 
 bering over the profound philosophy of their 
 A, B, C. Had it been said, that the abuse of know- 
 ledge, rather than the lack of knowledge, had 
 been the source of irreligion, there would have, 
 really, been something plausible in the assertion. 
 " But, the people did not read the scriptures, 
 in their own language. 1 ' That is false, in general; 
 and where the people did not read them, the fault 
 was in themselves. The translations of the sacred 
 scriptures were common in Fiance, as they are in 
 England ; and as the prohibitory decrees of the 
 Council of Trent in regard of them, were not ad- 
 mitted in France, there was no painful restric- 
 tion, which rendered the reading of them un fre- 
 quent ; or, in the eyes of the people, improper. 
 However; were it even true, that the people did 
 nor rand the sacred scriptures ; they incessantly.
 
 AtLcixm attributed to Popery. 159 
 
 v. ilich is tlit* equivalent, h< ard them read, and in- 
 tei preted to them, by their pastors, more intel- 
 ligibly, more accurately, and wisely, than their 
 own incapacity could have don;- it. This, to ig- 
 norance, and passion, is even better far, than per- 
 mitting them to be read, only to be misinterpret- 
 ed and abused. * 
 
 I have mvself had some opnortunities of ascer- 
 tabling the comparative knowledge, which the 
 vulgar French, and the lower classes of my own 
 countrymen possess of their respective religions. 
 I say it, without partiality; after making the 
 comparison, 1 do seriously believe, that, speaking 
 in general, the religious knowledge of the poorei 
 French, was erudition, compared with the slender 
 notions of the poorer English. If this assertion 
 should, to any one, appear the dictate of preju- 
 dice, I will present a single cause, which alone, 
 may seem to account for the striking difference: 
 it is the method, by which the minds ci the 
 French were trained to the science, and practice 
 of religion. Xo sooner, had a child, in France, 
 been taught to lisp the language of reason, than 
 its parents, (who it is already supposed, had 
 taught it the usual prayers, tor children) were 
 
 * Whoever will calculate ail tl.e 001.'.', super titions. im 
 pieties, and abuses, which ignorance, and fanaticism have (J.: 
 rived from the holy scripture^, will probably be .nduced to 
 allow, that it would have been better foi religion, reason, and 
 governments, if they had been totally wkhholder. from tl. ; 
 people; or.a least. Letter, if they hail remained, . ; Dryc:n 
 observes, hi the Hck^-J. Latin of St. ] r .me e '-- have b - ; 
 out, iudisc:i:iiir:ut f . .- , e ::.'. A : . I
 
 160 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 compelled to usher it into the parish church, to 
 learn and repeat its catechism. These repetitions 
 were exacted, every Sunday of the year; with the 
 exception, sometimes, of the season for the har- 
 vest. During some parts of the year, in Advent 
 and Lent, they were exacted, more frequently. 
 A catechism, in France, was not, like our com- 
 mon protestant catechism in this country, the 
 immense length of half a dozen questions, with 
 the same formidable number of answers : it was a 
 book, adequate, from its size, to contain ; and 
 hy its clearness, convey, a very comprehensive, 
 and accurate knowledge of religion. This was 
 learnt, verbatim, by heart. The Cure, or his 
 Vicairc, explained it; and as the French possess 
 an case, and happiness of expression, which we, 
 in general, do not, they explained it clearly, na- 
 turall} r , and pleasingly. The series of these in- 
 structions was continued, during the space of 
 several years; always, till the period, when the 
 child was deemed sufficiently informed, to be 
 admitted to the participation of the holy Eucha- 
 rist. The degree of knowledge, which was re- 
 quired, for this purpose, was not inconsiderable. 
 It was required, that the person to be admitted; 
 should not only understand the importance and 
 obligation of this sacred action, and the nature 
 of the sacred rite ; but should, also, be able to 
 conceive, and give a tolerable account of all the 
 great mysteries, and precepts of religion.- I 
 might have added to this method, by which the 
 children in France attained the knowledge of 
 religion; the attention of parents, the assiduity
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 10 i 
 
 of their schools, the frequency of. other private, 
 and public instructions. I might add also, that 
 the knowledge, which was thus acquired in youth. 
 was afterwards maintained, and increased by the 
 weekly admonitions of their pastors ; by sermons, 
 and discourses; by the use of the sacraments, 
 and by the circulation, and gratuitous distribu- 
 tion of pious books. There were circumstances, 
 in the religious education of the French, which 
 rendered it difficult for them to be ignorant, 
 with ease. Even the poorest, that were ignorant, 
 were ignorant, amid the fairest opportunist's ; 
 and in spite of the strongest inducements to 
 knowledge. 
 
 It would be wrong to censure ignorance, where 
 it is only the result of the absence of means to 
 remove it. Where ignorance' is not the effect of 
 indolence, it is, in general, a guiltless thing. I 
 should, therefore, regard it, not on!}" harsh, but 
 unjust, were I to censure, with severity, the ig- 
 norance of the vulgar English Protestants. Ig- 
 norant, the vulgar English Protestants, most cer- 
 tain]}', are: ignorant, not only of the protec- 
 tant principles, or the thirty-nine articles; but 
 ignorant, frequently, of the first elements of re- 
 velation ; ignorant of all its mysteries; and 
 ignorant even of Him, by whose mercy, they 
 have been redeemed. Let candor interrogate the 
 poor, upon these objects. I wish, it ma}" find the 
 statement exaggerated. It is such, as some ex- 
 perience has taught me to believe exact: such, 
 as is acknowledged by several protectant writers: 
 such, as the Bishop of London himself, in a late. 
 
 Y
 
 1672 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 charge, complains of, in sonic parts of his own 
 diocese. His Lordship says, they were in " a state 
 little short of pagan ignorance and irrcligion." 
 Indeed, whoever reflects, on the circumstances, 
 in which our poorer Protestants are placed, will 
 perhaps acknowledge, that ignorance, is the na- 
 tural result of them. If we except from the ser- 
 mons of their clergy, which are generally too 
 dry to interest; or too obscure to be understood 
 by the illiterate ; if we except from these, and a 
 few questions in a catechism, which is seldom, I 
 believe, explained ; an English Protestant must 
 be a self-taught man ; his knowledge, must be 
 the fruit of his own investigation, and Ids wis- 
 dom, the effect of his own private industry, and 
 zeal; qualities, which, under the pinch of pover- 
 ty ; the drudgery of business ; and the love of 
 dissipation, are seldom found, indeed. It is a 
 truth, which most English acknowledge, who 
 have travelled into other countries, and observed 
 the conduct of foreign Protestants; that the at- 
 tention, which is paid, in this nation, by the es- 
 tablished clergy, to the instruction of the illite- 
 rate, and the formation of public morals, is less, 
 very considerably less, than what is paid to these 
 interesting objects, by the protectant clergy of 
 any other reformed state, in Europe. It is, cer- 
 tainly, very trifling, when put in competition with 
 the industry of the Catholic Church, in France, 
 before the epoch of the revolution. 
 
 If then, effects proceed, naturally, from their 
 causes; and French irreligion be the effect of 
 French ignorance; what ought, in this nation,
 
 Atheism attributed to Poptry. 
 
 10': 
 
 to be the effect of the grosser ignorance of our 
 ? ess instructed countrymen? But; without call- 
 ing in the aid of what may be considered an odious 
 comparison; I might have proved, that French 
 atheism was not the effect of ignorance, nor the 
 consequence of withholding the Scriptures fiom 
 the people : by shewing, that the men, who pro- 
 fessed atheism, were not the ignorant ; nor those, 
 who had not read those sacred volumes. They 
 were, in general, men, who had some pretensions 
 to knowledge ; the half-learned, whose learning 
 obeyed the dictates of their passions. They Mere 
 some of them, men of very eminent knowledge, 
 and very distinguished abilities: the Condorcets, 
 \ olneys, Fab re D'Eglantines, Isnards. I might 
 have proved, that French atheism was not the 
 result of the lack of knowledge, nor of the luck 
 of scriptural knowledge; by merely remarking, 
 that the French had piofessed the catholic re- 
 ligion, during the long lapse of fourteen hundred 
 years ; more ignorant, during the greatest part 
 of that period, than they are, at present ; and by 
 their ignorance, more strictly precluded from the 
 use of the holy scriptures; yet, never was athe- 
 ism observed gi owing, from their maxims; nor 
 irreligion engrafting itself upon their practices ; 
 newer, since the introduction ot Christianity had 
 religion, or society been much disturbed by 
 either, till the reformation cairn to instruct man- 
 kind, that it is the right of reason, to think, as 
 it may please, although even it max please to 
 think wrong: the privilege of Christianity, to 
 believe what each one max judge proper, al- 
 
 Y <J
 
 16-* Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 though what each one judges proper, may be 
 impious and false. Protestantism reduced reve- 
 lation to a humble system of human philosophy ; 
 and the effect has been such, as ought only to 
 be expected, where human reason, or human 
 weakness ; where passion, and prejudice are the 
 judges. Pleased, as it was natural, with the bound- 
 less liberty of such a principle, multitudes adopted 
 it; and, as it was more natural still, the great 
 body of Christianity, which had been hitherto al- 
 most every where, compact, was split, frittered, 
 divided, and subdivided, into a countless variety 
 of sects, schisms, heresies, and reformations ; 
 some, wicked; some, foolish; some, half chris- 
 tian ; all of them the creatures of error, and the 
 offspring of passion. Atheism soon grew, from 
 the same principle. And it is, perhaps, (all cir- 
 cumstances considered) as natural a consequence, 
 as any other, of the abandonment of the prin- 
 ciples, and authority of the catholic religion. 
 I mean to shew this, after I have traced, in the 
 iirst place, the general causes of irreligion. 
 
 Independently, either of the above principles, 
 or of any peculiar principles, there exist, in every 
 age, and in every nation, some general causes of 
 atheism, and irreligion, which it is neither diffi- 
 cult to discover, nor arduous to trace. The ge- 
 neral causes of these evils, as they have existed, 
 and will for ever exist, are repeatedly, and for- 
 cibly pointed out to us, in the sacred scriptures; 
 they are legible, in the corruption of our nature; 
 and both modern experience, and the acknow- 
 ledgments of our modern unbelievers, render
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 ifc 
 
 them Incontestable. Irreligion, it is true, more 
 impudent in this age, than in ages past, has ar- 
 rogated to itself the title of philosophy. But, 
 this, in reality, is only ;i veil, artfully invented, 
 to conceal what it is the interest, and the instinct 
 of passion, not to discover. Nothing is, in na- 
 ture, less philosophical, than it is: nothing, less 
 bottomed upon the principles of sense and wis- 
 dom. The general causes, then, of irreligion, 
 both at present, and in every age, are the cor- 
 ruption, and weakness of the heart. In every 
 age, irreligion is the offspring of libertinism ; the 
 fruit of voluptuousness, vice, pride, luxury, and 
 dissipation. Swift, whose experience had wit- 
 nessed the growing impiety of his time; and 
 whose sagacity had traced it to' its causes, re- 
 marks, that before men became unbelievers, they 
 had always become vicious. And, D'Alembert 
 himself, whose interest it should have seemed to 
 have concealed the interesting truth; even 
 D'Alembert allows, that, " what lills society 
 with infidelity, is the desire of casting off the 
 curb, which religion puts on passion.'' 
 
 To suppose, that under the influences of re- 
 ligion, or under the dominion of divine grace, 
 there should not exist, and easily exist, such 
 things as inc;edulity, and vice, were to betray an 
 ignorance, both of the nature of religion, and of 
 the nature of grace ; both of the nature of human 
 liberty, and of the human constitution. Ik the 
 influences of religion, or the powers of grace 
 what they may, they do not deprive the will of 
 its liberty, nor take from the heart its inclhia-
 
 iGG Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 tions: they do not act upon the soul, as physi- 
 cal, and mechanical forces ; like weights, whose 
 effects may be measured by their gravity; or 
 levers, whose powers may be calculated by their 
 length. Acting in harmony, or correspondence 
 with the inclinations of the will, and the dispo- 
 sitions of the heart, while they enlighten the 
 docile and perfect the attentive, they neither 
 withhold the negligent, and the proud from dis- 
 belief; nor deprive the dissipated, or the sensual 
 of the unhappy liberty of becoming vicious. 
 Amid the influences of religion, the will con- 
 tinues free; and along with all the energies of 
 grace, liberty subsists entire. 
 
 If, therefore, instead of obeying the impulses 
 of religion, or corresponding with the insinua- 
 tions of grace, men listen to the invitations of 
 their passions, and the seductions of bad exam- 
 ple; not only vice becomes the natural conse- 
 quence of their inrlocility; but incredulity be- 
 comes the natural consequence of vice. The 
 first position is evident; the latter, reposes upon 
 reasons, which are almost equally obvious. For; 
 let it be admitted only, that the heart is corrupted ; 
 and that the dominion of vice has succeeded to 
 the dominion of virtue; in this case, it is certain, 
 that the alarms of a guilty conscience will, fre- 
 quently, intervene to disturb the career of guilt; 
 piety will utter its reproaches; the frown of an 
 angry God will east a gloom, even upon the 
 scenes of debauchery and pleasure; religion be- 
 comes a monitor, whose importunities passion 
 cannot endure. In such situation ; what conse-
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 IC>7 
 
 quence can appear more natural, than, that guilt 
 .should tear out the sting, which torments the. 
 conscience; pleasure turn away from the object, 
 which alarms it ; passion shut its ears to the ad- 
 monitions, which condemn it? It is, unfortu- 
 nately, the interest of vice, pleasure, and passion, 
 to remove every obstacle, that impedes their gra- 
 tification ; and to do away whatever gives them 
 uneasiness and pain : it is their interest, that the 
 truths of the gospel should be fictions; and the 
 punishments, with which it threatens them, fables 
 and chimeras. As, therefore, men can shut their 
 eyes to the brightest beams ot' light; and do, 
 actually, shut them, when the light becomes 
 painful ; so they may close them to the evidences 
 of religion, and turn away from the contempla- 
 tion of what is only a source of anxiety and re- 
 morse. " 7 he sinner lores darkness, better than. 
 light, because his deeds are evil/' Indeed, while 
 it is the interest of passion to love darkness; it is 
 likewise the 'property of passion to create it. For 
 passion spreads a cloud over the eye of reason ; 
 and, frequently, extinguishes the light of the 
 understanding: it sub;. ;is the soul to the senses; 
 and filling full, the vast capaciousness of the 
 heart, it neither loves, seeks, sei s, nor admires 
 aught, which does not tend to gratif\ its sen- 
 suality. Hence, having consid, red the interests 
 and the properties of eicc; if we consider, how 
 luxuriantly it vegetates, in all the walks of life ; 
 how its votaries crowd all the circles of society ; 
 we shall cease to wonder, that il rejects what 
 condemns it ; or, that it has, eagerly, adopted
 
 IGS Atheism attributed to Popery, 
 
 the convenient creed of incredulity. I believe, 
 for my own part, that if all the haunts of society 
 were examined, there would be found few un- 
 believers, who are not the public, or the private 
 slaves of passion ; whose unhappy interest it is to 
 disbelieve, because it is their unhappy interest to 
 sin, without remorse. Let any one look round 
 the sphere, in which he moves, and examine the 
 conduct of his acquaintance, who profess incre- 
 dulity, He will not discover, that they are men 
 distinguished for their virtue, their chastity, so- 
 briety and moderation ; men, who reason with 
 wisdom, and reject revelation, because they have 
 made it the serious subject of their stud)-. He 
 will find, that they consist of men, who sport 
 with what virtue reveres; and laugh at what wis- 
 dom most respects. Such, at least, is the general 
 character of the school of infidelity. It is com- 
 posed of the children of libertinism, and the vic- 
 tims of dissipation ; who reject whatever is not 
 corrupt, as their own hearts ; or low, as their 
 own ideas , who are profane in their professions, 
 because they are profane in their practices; athe- 
 ists in their creed, because they are atheists in 
 their conduct ; the worshippers of Venus, and 
 the votaries of Bacchus. 
 
 To these general, and leading causes of im- 
 piety, might be added many subaltern, and in- 
 ferior ones, which aiding the cause of corruption, 
 and weakening the influences of religion, have 
 contributed, very powerfully, to extend its do- 
 minion ; books, fashion, ridicule; in some, the 
 want of time to examine the truth ; in others, an
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 169 
 
 unwillingness to examine it; in some, the licen- 
 tiousness of an unrestrained imagination; in 
 others, the pride and affectation of singularity ; 
 these, with occasional other correlative causes, 
 have brought down the truths of religion, into 
 contempt; and the practices of piety, into de- 
 rision. As for the xvorks of impiety ; I will, just, 
 observe, that irreligion owes much of its growth to 
 them. It is a very striking, and a very unhappy 
 circumstance, that a man is no sooner tainted 
 with the maxims of infidelity, but he labours, 
 with diabolical industry, to diffuse their poison 
 around him ; and miserable in his own perversity, 
 studies to associate others, in the same misfor- 
 tune. I will not attempt to decide, upon the 
 motive of this conduct; whether it be the object 
 of these men to lessen their own shame, by uniting 
 others in their guilt; whether it be the envy, 
 which they experience, of the happiness of the 
 true believer; whether it be the pitiful ambition, 
 to figure at the head of a sect; and the honour 
 of beating down what wisdom and virtue have 
 long revered ; be these, or any other, the motives, 
 which direct their conduct, certain it is, that the 
 professors of irreligion have laboured, and still 
 unceasingly labour, to swell the unfortunate mul- 
 titude of their disciples. There is no art, or ar- 
 tifice, which either talents possess, or malice can 
 suggest, that have not been employed to corrupt 
 the principles of the public. The press has 
 groaned with productions, which, strikingly, 
 unite whatever can captivate the passions, and 
 impose upon the weakness of reason ; which join 
 
 7
 
 170 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 to the profane speciousness of argumentation, all 
 the colouring, that fancy can bestow ; all the 
 ornament, that the powers of language can con- 
 fer; all the charms, that the lasciviousness of the 
 imagination can impress. Wise in the science 
 of seduction ; and knowing, probably, by ex- 
 perience, how vast is the influence, which passion 
 possesses over reason, it is to passion, almost 
 solely, that these writers make their appeal. 
 Softly persuasive, they are for ever pressing to its 
 lip, in golden goblets, the intoxicating beverage 
 of pleasure. To do away the respect, which the 
 conscience may, yet feel, for the sacred injunc- 
 tions of christian piety, they combat these,, as 
 prejudices; or as the childish impositions of the 
 nurserv, and the college : to overcome the vene- 
 ration, which the mind may entertain for the 
 dictates of revelation, they attack revelation, 
 with the weapons of buffoonery ; and contrasting* 
 its doctrines, with the supposed maxims of hu- 
 man reason, ludicrously exhibit them, as a series 
 of impostures and superstitions. We know the 
 force of ridicule. It is the strongest, arm of im- 
 piety. It will make wisdom ashamed of truth ; 
 modesty blush at virtue; and vice itself con- 
 fused, at not being more vicious, than it is. 
 When, therefore, the voice of ridicule is joined 
 to the persuasions of passion, to the charms of 
 eloquence, and the illusions of sophistry; where 
 is the wonder, that since men will read the works 
 of incredulity, multitudes should become its vic- 
 tims? The only wonder would be, if they did 
 not. I will say nothing, respecting the mis-
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 17] 
 
 chievous industry, with which works of this de- 
 scription, are profusely circulated through all the 
 classes of society ; from the palace, to the cot- 
 tage ; and from the seats of wisdom, to the lowest 
 recesses of foilv. Nothing, of the versatility of 
 style, with which they are accommodated to the 
 level of every capacity : nothing, of the per- 
 nicious cunning, with which their prices are 
 fitted to the measure of every circumstance. 
 But, to arts like these; and to the conveniences, 
 which the system of incredulity presents to the 
 immoral ; irreligion is indebted for its principal 
 prevalence, and diffusion : by these, it has en- 
 gaged under its banner, the libertine, the vo- 
 luptuous, the vain, the frivolous, and the igno- 
 rant. It is hence, that to be a philosoplie, is the 
 ton ; the fashion of the age. Indeed, this is a 
 circumstance too, which I should not pass over, 
 without notice : for although it be the effect of 
 immorality, that incredulity is become the fashion; 
 yet the prevalence of this fashion, again operates, 
 very powerfully, as another cause of the growth 
 of incredulity. Fashion has always a leading in- 
 fluence, over the minds of the superficial. In 
 our age, its influence is tyrannical; it regulates 
 the ideas, and conducts the actions of half the 
 coteries, and circles, in society. And, it is doubt- 
 less, that the mere fashion of incredulity, set off 
 by fashionable names, and fashionable titles ; dig- 
 nified by the appellations of philosophy ; strength 
 of mind; emancipation from prejudice, bigotry 
 and superstition ; has engaged multitudes under 
 its dominion, who never troubled their under- 
 
 Z <2
 
 172 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 standings, either about the supposed errors of 
 popery, or the real errors of protestantism ; who 
 know little, beyond the cut of a coat, or gown ; 
 the points of their hunters ; or the language of 
 their hounds. 
 
 In speaking, hitherto, of incredulity, I may 
 have seemed to suppose, that its professors con- 
 sist only of the immoral, or the superficial : of 
 the men of pleasure, or the ignorant; and in 
 that case, so great is its diffusion, my assertion, 
 I am aware, will, to some, have appeared ha- 
 zarded and rash. Besides men of the above de- 
 scription, it will not easily be believed, that the 
 school of incredulity does not contain many in- 
 dividuals, whose moral character is unimpeached, 
 and whose talents are distinguished ; who arc 
 even respected for their virtues, and admired for 
 
 their learning. If there be such ; I can only 
 
 say, that in speaking as I have done, of un- 
 believers, I have spoken of them, in general. I 
 have not denied, that there may not be some 
 among them, who possess some moral virtues; 
 and who unite much learning to much industry, 
 and penetration. But, in my statement of their 
 general character, whoever is conversant in the 
 circles of life, will, I am conlident, acquiesce; 
 and as for the exceptions from it, they are, for- 
 tunately, scattered so thinly, through the ranks 
 of society, that the authority of their example is 
 not very formidable to Christianity. 
 
 Admitting, then, that there are men, who dis- 
 believe the doctrines of Christianity from princi- 
 ple ; and rest their disbelief upon the basis of
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 1 73 
 
 their reason ; it is a mutter equally easy to ac- 
 count for their incredulity, as it is, for the im- 
 piety of the vicious. The reflections, which I 
 am about to make upon this subject, while they 
 present the cause of such disbelief, will likewise 
 serve, as an answer, to an objection, which will, 
 very naturally, be made to what I have stater!, 
 respecting the source of incredulity, in the 
 wicked. I have attributed the incredulity of 
 these men to their corruption. But if incredulity 
 be the natural offspring of corruption ; it will be 
 objected, or inferred ; that (t since corruption 
 lias been always common, incredulity should have 
 been, always common, likewise; since vice has, 
 at different periods, almost inundated the chris- 
 tian universe, the contempt of revelation should 
 also have been its companion;" circumstances, 
 which did not take place, since incredulity, as 
 a general evil, is an evil of recent origin. The 
 objectioii, or inference, is not only specious, but 
 founded upon the dictates of reason : and, it, of 
 course, becomes necessary to investigate still 
 further the cause of the newness of this cir- 
 cumstance. This, therefore, is what I shall do, 
 in the account, which I am proceeding to give of 
 the infidelity of the supposed moral, and learned. 
 In it, I shall show; that, while the incredulity of 
 these, is the result of a cause peculiar to these 
 ao-es; the unusual diffusion of impiety, has been 
 aided by the same powerful auxiliary. The same 
 cause will, equally, account tor both. And to 
 discover that cause; to trace from it, the growth, 
 progress, and prevalence of inlidelity; or, what
 
 174 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 the foppery of fashion is pleased to call philoso- 
 phy, are subjects, which deserve the attention of 
 the philosopher, and the divine. 
 
 If the cause, to which I am going to attribute 
 much of the evils of infidelity, should appear 
 odious to the Protestant ; let it not be, at least, 
 supposed, that I am prompted to attribute them 
 to it, either by the suggestions of malevolence ; 
 or in order to avert the odium from my own re- 
 ligion. I would reprobate in myself, as I would 
 deprecate in others, any thing, that is the dic- 
 tate of party, or the creature of ill-will. What 
 I shall assert, has been asserted by multitudes 
 before me ; and acknowledged by many Pro- 
 testants themselves : it is not a bold affirmation, 
 without a proof; but rather, itself, a proof, 
 evinced by the clearest arguments, and set round 
 with facts. I assert, then, that the incredulity 
 of those men, who profess to disbelieve the doc- 
 trines of revelation from principle ; and the pe- 
 culiar diffusion of impiety, which distinguishes 
 the modern, from former ages, derive their origin 
 from the maxims of the protestant reformation ; 
 that infidelity is a natural result of its constitu- 
 tion ; and impiety an effect, which corruption, 
 at once, deduces from the tendency of its prin- 
 ciples. I assert, also, that it is to this nation, 
 that Europe owes much of the mischiefs, which 
 impiety has diffused through other states, or 
 cities. Such are my assertions. ISehold their 
 proofs. 
 
 Whoever is acquainted with the first elements 
 of the religion of Protestants, know;;, that the
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 175 
 
 foundation, upon which the faith of its con- 
 sistent professors reposes, is their own private 
 judgment, and opinion. When its first apostles, 
 mere individuals, rose up against the authority 
 of the catholic church; consistently with their 
 departure from her bosom, and with the tenor of 
 their conduct; they decided, that her authority 
 is fallible; her power tyrannical; and her creed 
 erroneous. All this, to palliate their boldness, 
 and to vindicate their rebellion, was necessary. 
 In the room, therefore, of the authority, which 
 had hitherto enlightened, and the jurisdiction, 
 which had conducted the faithful, they were 
 compelled to substitute another guide ; and to 
 erect a new tribunal. They did so. And this 
 guide was the holy scripture ; the new tribunal, 
 private judgment. To have made themselves the 
 arbiters of revelation; and their own opinions 
 the rule of public faith, Mas a piece of insolence, 
 which after rejecting the greatest authority, that 
 the universe had ever respected, not even their 
 arrogance presumed to intrude upon the most ig- 
 norant individual. "No; open the scriptures 
 yourselves ;"' they very modestly cried out, to 
 all; " read them ; and your own judgment will 
 do the rest. Councils, and synods are fallible, 
 as you are; and learning has been employed only 
 to increase the mass of error. Head; and judge, 
 for yourselves." Such was the language of the 
 iirst reformers, to their followers. And, indeed, 
 it was consistent. It was the onlv language. 
 which they could employ, with the hope, or 
 prospect of success. It is, therefore, true; that
 
 176 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 private judgment, be that what it may, false, 
 foolish, or impious; the dictate of ignorance, or 
 the suggestion of fancy ; it is true, that private 
 judgment is the sole arbiter of protestant belief; 
 the basis of the protestant establishment ; the 
 essence of the protestant constitution. It is, so 
 necessarily such, that, do it away; and whoever 
 admits a rule of authority in faith, would be re- 
 duced, as Rousseau observes, to re-enter the bo- 
 som of the catholic church. 
 
 When, thus, that power was destroyed, which 
 had restrained the licentiousness of fancy, and 
 withheld the evagations of private judgment ; 
 when every individual ; the vicious, as much as 
 the virtuous ; the ignorant, as well as the learned, 
 were constituted the arbiters of their own faith ; 
 ] need not say, what, in the common course of 
 things, should infallibly, be the consequence. 
 Formed as men arc, with all their passions, pre- 
 judices, and weaknesses ; viewing truth, through 
 so different mediums ; and placed, in so various 
 situations to contemplate it ; it is impossible, 
 that it should, to all, appear alike; to all, equalty 
 pure, beauteous, and divine. Formed, as men 
 are; and circumstanced, as are the Protestants ; 
 circumstanced, particularly, as they xverc, at the 
 vera, of the reformation \ emancipated from all 
 control; observing their apostles, whom they 
 revere, as the envoys of heaven, trampling on 
 the venerable landmarks, which since the dawn 
 of Christianity, had restricted the overflowings of 
 licentiousness ; hearing them proclaim, that all 
 authority in faith is tyranny and usurpation ;
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 177 
 
 thus formed, and thus circumstanced, it was, 
 morally, impossible, that the unity of truth, 
 should subsist ; or that truth should not, by 
 many, be regarded as an imposture; and reve- 
 lation, scorned as a romance, bo obvious are 
 these cons; queuces, thatMelancthon himself, when 
 lie reflected on the boundless liberty, which the 
 reformation had conferred, emphatically exclaim- 
 ed, " Good God ! what a tragedy are we pre- 
 paring for posterity !' 
 
 It is easy to calculate v\hat ought to be the 
 effects of the unrestrained liberty of judging, by 
 the effects, which we have, often, seen produced 
 from the unrestricted liberty of acting. Between 
 the liberty of judging, and the liberty of acting, 
 there is an immediate connection, and similitude. 
 Both, of themselves, or abstractedly, are the 
 best prerogatives of our nature; both, when 
 guided by wisdom, and confined to the proper 
 sphere of their activity, are the sources of what- 
 ever is great, good, and useful, in human life. 
 But, if abused; if suffered to exceed the limits, 
 with which the Eternal Wisdom has circumscribed 
 them; both, are the greatest evils of our being, 
 and the most prolific sources of evils to society. 
 Let the liberty of acting admit no guide, hut 
 inclination; no rule, but the specious dictate of 
 its own prerogatives; straight, it degenerates into 
 licentiousness, and converts the principle of hap- 
 piness, into tile cause of private, probably, of 
 public miser}'. The late revolution, in France, 
 is a. striking instance of the evils, which the 
 workings of una wed liberty will produce. Setting 
 
 A a
 
 178 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 out with honourable professions ; and an appa- 
 rent zeal, for the supposed prerogatives of man- 
 kind, it, no sooner, acquired power, but it ge- 
 nerated mischief; and marking its progress with 
 anarchy, raised its throne, for a time, upon the 
 ruins of human greatness, and the wrecks of 
 human comforts. The progress, and the con- 
 sequences of unawed liberty of thought, is simi- 
 lar. Adopting prejudice, or fancy, or inclina- 
 tion, for its guide, it wanders, soon, from the 
 path of truth, and erects the illusions of its pre- 
 sumption, or folly, into maxims of consummate 
 wisdom. If prejudice be its guide, it naturalizes 
 its prejudices, into principles; and then, deduces 
 from these, consequences more pernicious, than 
 the principles themselves. It is probable, indeed, 
 that these consequences will, again, be converted 
 into principles, till religion, and good sense be- 
 come the scorn of impiety and folly. If /'unci/ 
 direct the judgment; the most airy forms, are 
 turned to substances; or the most solid sub- 
 stances, to shadows. If inclination; its per- 
 suasive eloquence gives an air of truth to the 
 grossest errors; or casts a blaze of evidence, 
 upon the most, impenetrable obscurity. In short; 
 we see and feel it, every day ; the mind, when 
 left to its own guidance, is the sport of error; 
 and, as error is blind, presumptuous, and vain, 
 it rejects whatever it cannot understand ; till by 
 an easy descent, it concludes, by believing no- 
 thing. But, if to a mind already seduced by 
 en or, you add the force of passion; or, unite 
 the licentiousness of the heart, to the licentious-
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 179 
 
 ness of tlie understanding' ; there is nothing holy, 
 in this case, that they will not vilify; nothing 
 true, that they will not ridicule. Atheism is the 
 proper offspring, which so impure an union will 
 
 beget. Wherefore it is evident, that, as the 
 
 liberty of acting- does not consist in doing what 
 we please, but in doing only what is right ; so 
 the liberty of belief consists,- not in believing what 
 we choose, but in believing what is true. 
 
 But, does not the Protestant admit a guide, to 
 direct his judgment ; a monitor, to dictate wis- 
 dom to his belief? Yes ; the society, to which 
 lie, professionally, belongs, puts into his hands a 
 book, containing the divine 1 and mysterious doc- 
 trines of revelation. But, to interpret it ; they do 
 not give him, they cannot, consistently, give 
 him, any surer, or more infallible instructor, than 
 his own weak, and fallible opinion. They put this 
 book, into his hands ; and silent, obscure, diffi- 
 cult, mysterious, sublime, as it is ; it is, from it, 
 alone, that the stupidity, the caprice, the ima- 
 gination of every consistent Protestant must call 
 forth, and combine the genuine system of revela- 
 tion. Prom it, ignorance must cull truth ; pre- 
 judice, wisdom; passion, the rules of piety*. 
 Why ; reason itself the most enlightened, would 
 be perplexed, in the awfully dark investigation. 
 Indeed, if reason, as it is acknowledged, be 
 
 * " It is the unalienable privilege of every Christiuii to form 
 his own religious opinions, and to worship God. in the man- 
 ner, which appears to him most agreeable to the scriptures." 
 Sermon before the IIou.se of Lords, an. 1789, by the Bishop 
 of Lincoln. 
 
 AaC
 
 ISO Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 the rule, and director of protestant faith; and faith 
 should be made to accord with the principles of 
 reason ; I do not well conceive, how a mysterious 
 code of belief could be selected from the sacred 
 volume. Reason directs the mind to admit, only 
 what reason can conceive; and half the contents 
 of the holy scriptures are, transcendently, above 
 the reach of its conception. Thus, it always ap- 
 pears to me ; that, if I had the system of my be- 
 lief to form, bv the srenuine rule of protestantism, 
 and by the mode of reasoning of most Pro- 
 testants ; if, for example, I thought proper to re- 
 ject transubstantiation, because I could not con- 
 ceive it ; or any other mystery of popery, because 
 I thought it absurd; I do not see, upon what 
 principle, or with what consistency, I could ad- 
 mit the great tenets of the Trinity, Incarnation, 
 or any other mystery of protestantism, which lam 
 equally unable to conceive ; and which appear to 
 me, equally absurd, merely because they are 
 equally impenetrable, and obscure. I do not see, 
 with what wisdom, I could admit any mystery, 
 because it is the nature of a mystery, to be im- 
 pervious to human reason. At least ; this I 
 
 think is obvious : if it be. true, as the apostles of 
 the reformation have defined it is; and as their 
 successors are, unhappily, bound to admit; that 
 private judgment is the interpreter of revelation ; 
 and that, under the sanction of gospel-liberty, 
 reason is free to determine what is wise, and what 
 is foolish ; what is true, and what is false; or, as 
 Dr. Watson expresses it, " et sentire ijiuv velit t 
 tt (j'.ia ioMat loqui" I think it very natural to
 
 Atheism attributed io Popery. 181 
 
 expect; formed and disposed, as men are; that 
 the tenets of religion should fall off, one by one, 
 till not one remains, that is ungrateful to the dic- 
 tates of fashion, or repugnant to the caprice of 
 fancy. It is this principle, or privilege, that fills so- 
 ciety with infidels, and the church with heretics : 
 it crowds the pale of protestantism, with a kind of 
 half Christians, who unwilling, or unable to do 
 away all the prejudices, or elfects of their educa- 
 tion, while they profess a very profound respect 
 for a i'cw less consequential mysteries of the 
 gospel, boldly, like Sir Joseph JMngle *, strike 
 out of it whatever they do not like. Thus, they, 
 artfully, lull their conscience to a false security, 
 and vainly arrogate to themselves the title of 
 rational Christians. Indeed ; such is the nature 
 and tendency of the principle of unlimited li- 
 berty of opinion ; extending to the farthest 
 
 * Sir Joseph Pringle had been educated in the principles, 
 snd reared to the practice, of piety : but seduced by the 
 fashionable maxims of the times, he fell into incredulity. 
 However, the force of the evidences of Christianity, brought 
 him hack to its profession. Rut then ; he built his faith, upon 
 the bails of his reason, by the leading principle of protestan- 
 tism ; the dictates of his private opinion. Studiously perusing 
 the sacred scriptures, he discovered, that they, no where, 
 cxnress the name, or mystery of the Trinity, therefore he 
 disbelieved it. Me discovered, that the pains of hell are not 
 eternal ; therefore, he rejected them. He proceeded in this 
 method, with many other puts of the sacied scripture, 
 adopting what he pleased, and rejecting what he disliked ; 
 until having formed for himself a convenient and raliojiai 
 code of belief, he, very graciously, deigned to profess himself 
 i. Christian !
 
 182 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 Teachings of pride, passion, prejudice and folly ; 
 that admitted, as it is, by an immense portion of 
 society, I wonder less, that any tenet of revelation 
 should be disbelieved ; than, that any should be 
 respected. Atheism is but the last link of reason- 
 ing- attached to such a principle. 
 
 But, we will take a short review of the effects, 
 which resulted from the protestant dogma of li- 
 berty of conscience and opinion. No sooner was 
 the great charter of gospel-liberty proclaimed, 
 than error, in every horrid shape, became the ob- 
 ject of adoration ; and impiety was seen vene- 
 rated, as the sacred dictate of religion. Religion 
 professes hardly one truth, that was not denied ; 
 nor irreligion one error, that was not publicly 
 taught. Each article of revelation, which piety 
 had most revered, was by some considered, as a 
 problem ; by some, as an error ; by some, as an 
 absurdity. Some adored Jesus, as a God; some 
 respected him, as a man ; some insulted him, as 
 an impostor. Some worshipped the Divinity, as 
 the author of good; some vilified him, as the source 
 of evil. The spread of error was so rapid, and 
 the growth of incredulity so alarming, that even 
 the authors of the principles, from which these 
 consequences were deduced, in their address to 
 the confederates, at Smalcald, complain, that the 
 devil had employed a multitude of agents to dis- 
 seminate impiety. During the short period of 
 Luther's ministry, that is, from the commencement 
 of his revolt, an. 1517, till the period of his death, 
 an. 1546, there were formed above two hundred 
 organized systems of belief; and the extravagance
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 1S3 
 
 of each system found men sufficiently extrava- 
 gant to venerate them ; in several instances, to 
 die, for them. The case was ; the reformation 
 was a storm, that tore away from the holy an- 
 chor of faith, whatever was light and superficial ; 
 broke asunder those bands, which had held men 
 steady ; and, violently, forced them, into an 
 ocean of perplexity. In this situation, the mind 
 floated in a tide of uncertainty and doubt; and, 
 as the weather- beaten bark veer- with every ^ T ind, 
 it obeyed the impulse of every loud declaimer : 
 and adopted, at least for a tune, the impiety of 
 every error. "We freed ourselves," says Bo- 
 lingbroke, " from spiritual tyranny, and we fell 
 into spiritual anarchy *." 
 
 It was the peculiar advantage, or privilege of 
 the reformation, that each individual possessed 
 the same right of reforming Lutheranism, which 
 Luther had claimed to reform the church. Hence 
 the doctrines of Luther, were 1 early reformed by 
 Zuinglius, Calvin, Muncer, and a hundred others. 
 It was in vain, that the great patriarch, now be- 
 come sensible of t tie dangerous tendency of his 
 own principles, laboured to awe these new re- 
 formers to obedience: in vain, did he urge the 
 authority of the scriptures ; or the evidence of 
 his own doctrines. Lach enthusiast, or each in- 
 terested fellow, produced in his own support, the 
 scriptures, as veil as he did ; and maintained, 
 that the evidence of his own opinion*, was more 
 striking, than that of the great apostle. Each 
 
 '* philosophical Es:a V ;. ith.
 
 184 Atheism attributed to PoptYij, 
 
 had the same authority, for believing; his own : the 
 same right to propagate them ; and the same mo- 
 tive to defend them. Hence, multitudes pro- 
 pagated their errors, with success ; and defended 
 them, with ability at least equal, to that of Lu- 
 ther. To counteract, therefore, more effectu- 
 ally, an evil, which lessened his power, and 
 thinned the ranks of his followers, Luther boldly 
 attempted to call back the stronger influences of 
 jurisdiction. lie endeavoured to re-establish the 
 authority of the episcopacy ; or even to substi- 
 tute, the civil, in room of the apostolic power. 
 He took up the very arms, in his own defence, 
 which popery had employed against him. The 
 principles, indeed, which he now called in, 
 to his support, were, in general, wise and true; 
 yet, in him, they were glaring contradictions; 
 they raised the outcry, and excited the indigna- 
 tion of most of the reasoning members of the re- 
 formation. " for, if authority," they very pro- 
 perly observed, " be again admitted, as a guide of 
 faith ; then, it will be necessary for us all, to run 
 back to the pale of popery. To urge the influ- 
 ences of authority, they continued, is counteract- 
 ing his own principles; undermining the basis, 
 upon which his own power reposes ; or rather, it 
 is, at once, overturning the whole fabric of the 
 reformation. " Their reasoning was unanswerable 
 by Luther; or by whoever lias rejected the au- 
 thority of the Catholic Church. And therefore, 
 even the errors, which result from the unrestrict- 
 ed liberty of judgment, which is the great pri- 
 vilege of the reformation, are the consistencies of
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. ]85 
 
 the reformation. As for the attempts of Luther, 
 to stay the growth of impiety, it is useless to 
 add ; they Mere ineffectual, and fruitless. The 
 tide of error continued to rise, and the swell 
 of licentiousness increased so rapidly, that the 
 voice, which had ushered them into society, was 
 unahle to compel them to suhside. Reformations, 
 and re-reformations, and counter-reformations 
 were innumerable ; or as Melancthon, more em- 
 phatically, expresses it ; " theie was a war of 
 errors, more relentless, than that of the Centaurs." 
 There is some apology to be admitted, for the 
 great extravagances, which disgraced the a?ra of 
 the reformation. The reformation, if it must be 
 called so, was not only a reformation, but a revo- 
 lution : and like most revolutions, it was attended 
 by all those mental, and political excesses, which 
 arc the companions of licentiousness. The re- 
 formation, was the emancipation of the passions. 
 It broke asunder the bands, which had with- 
 holden error; and, of course, became free. It 
 struck off the fetters, which had chained down 
 impiety ; and, of course, impiety wantoned in 
 disorder. Indeed if a comparison were instituted, 
 between the conduct of the first reformers, and 
 that of the French Jacobins, in an early stage 
 of their revolution ; between the writings of the 
 apostles of protestantism, and those of the apos- 
 tles of liberty, I do honestly believe, that the ex- 
 travagance, errors and ineligion of the latter, will 
 be found to have been equalled, only by the ex- 
 cesses, corruptions, and impiety of the former 
 
 Bb
 
 186" Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 For a short account of these, I refer the reader to 
 the fourth, letter of Mr. Milner to Dr. Sturges. 
 
 There may he men of greater moderation than 
 myself, who will not, so easily as I do, excuse 
 these first effects of the reformation ; who will 
 conceive, that the dawn of the reformation, which 
 was to give hack to religion its purity, its piety 
 and perfection, would resemhle the rising of that 
 day, which first brought the doctrines of truth to 
 light : that, its apostles should have resembled 
 the first planters of the gospel. There are men, 
 who might expect all this : and such expectation 
 is natural enough, iiut, for myself; 1 will nei- 
 ther make any pointed reflections upon these cir- 
 cumstances; nor, here, deduce any obvious in- 
 ferences from them. I Mill suppose, that the first 
 abuses of the reformation, were merely acciden- 
 tal; the casual ebullitions arising from the effer- 
 vescence of an agitated epoch.- Quitting, 
 
 cherefoie, this period, and allowing much for the 
 evils, which disgraced it, I will proceed to ano- 
 ther; giving lime, during the interval, which 
 separates the two, for passion to subside ; for 
 the mind to reflect; and for reason, coolly, to de- 
 duce the consequences, which are contained, in 
 the leading principles of the reformation. 
 
 F might rank, as Mosheim does, not only the 
 principles, but the most important doctrines of 
 soci 'danism, coeval with the eera of the reforma- 
 tion ; out advancing, as I have engaged to do, 
 beyond that period, and tracing in the historic 
 {'age, tiie series of events, and the growth of opi-
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 is: 
 
 nions, 1 arrive, after tlic lapse of about twenty 
 years from the revolt of Luther, at an epoch, 
 when I find the first principles of the first re- 
 formers systematically digested ; and conse- 
 quences, equally systematically, deduced from 
 them. I find a class of men, named Socinians, 
 (from the name of one of their leaders), men of 
 profound erudition, indefatigable industry, and 
 brilliant talents ; calmly, and with serious deli- 
 beration, raising upon the original basis of the re- 
 formation the superstructure, which its first 
 architects had left unfinished. The Socinians are 
 a sect of Protestants, nursed in the bosom of pro- 
 testantism ; Protestants in their profession ; and 
 strictly Protestants in their principles. They are 
 the philosophers of protestantism ; its hest logi- 
 cians ; and its most consistent disciples. To 
 explairx the system of these men; or to develop 
 the consequences, which are hinged upon it, are 
 objects extremely simple and incomplex. They 
 bottom their whole system upon this principle, 
 (the fundamental principle of protestantism) that 
 reason is the sole interpreter of the rule of faith; 
 and, although the consequences, which result 
 from such a principle must be numerous, yet they 
 may all be narrowed to this; -they believe only 
 what their reason can conceive, or understand ; 
 and reject what it cannot ; they admit what ap- 
 pears conformable to its dictates ; and contemn, 
 as false or superstitious, whatever seems repug- 
 nant to them. Asa Catholic, 1, certainly, do 
 
 reprobate and abhor the whole system of sociniau- 
 >sm. Put, were 1 Protestant, 1 seriously think, 
 
 lib '2
 
 1 88 Atheism attributed to Popery, 
 
 that I should be a Socinian ; because, were I to 
 admitthe protestant principle, that my reason is the 
 sole arbiter of my faith, I think, as a consistent 
 Protestant, lougbt also to admit its consequences; 
 reject whatever my reason could not conceive, 
 and believe only what appeared consistent with its 
 apprehensions : I would not respect one mystery, 
 and insult another; disbelieve one tenet, because 
 it is incomprehensible, and profess another, which 
 is just as unintelligible. Acting up to a princi- 
 ple, which excludes all mystery, I would reject 
 
 all. Curiosity has induced me, sometimes, to 
 
 interrogate the Protestant, why he did not be- 
 lieve in Transubstantiation, the Real Presence, or 
 some other of the mysteries of popery ? Why, 
 said he, because they are unintelligible, and ab- 
 surdThe answer was precisely consonant to 
 his rule of faith ; and I rather applauded his con- 
 sistency, than reproved his impiety. But, I ask- 
 ed him why he admitted the Trinity, the Incarna- 
 tion, Original Sin, &c. ? If he understood them, 
 I remarked, they ceased to be mysteries, and the 
 objects of religious faith; if he did not conceive 
 them, then, by the same rule, which induced him 
 to reject the mysteries of popery, he ought also to 
 reject them. He paused, but gave no answer. That 
 there is much inconsistency, in the mode of rea- 
 soning of Protestants in general, is certain. The 
 Socinians struck with it, very justly observe, that 
 their protestant brethren contradict their own 
 leading maxim; or stopping mid-way, in its ap- 
 plication, without knowing the reason why, de- 
 ducc from it, not half the consequences, which it 
 obviously contains. Ihey, therefore, withhold,
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery, 189 
 
 but unholy consistency, apply it to all the myste- 
 ries of revelation ; and, by an obvious conse- 
 quence, disbelieve and reject them. 
 
 The growth, and progress of socinianism were 
 such, as might be expected, from the nature of its 
 principles ; they were lapid, and soon widely ex- 
 tended. Multitudes of the learned became So- 
 
 cinians, because they already professed the max- 
 im, upon which socinianism reposes ; multitudes 
 of the licentious, because its doctrines are grate- 
 ful to their disorders. In every protestant coun- 
 try ; or in every country, where protestantism sub- 
 sists, its professors, although under a variety of de- 
 nominations, of Hocovians, Arians, Unitarians, 
 Anabaptists, Latitudinarians, Arminians, &c. Sec. 
 became countless. In this country, they early, 
 and have always composed; and still compose, 
 a large and respectable portion of the protestant 
 community. Indeed, wherever men are taught 
 to bottom their faith upon the authority of their 
 reason, socinianism must be the creed of multi- 
 tudes, who affect to reason with consistency : 
 and where the dissipated, the vain, and the igno- 
 rant, are allowed the same privilege with the wis- 
 est, socinianism, with the long train of its errors, 
 must crowd the walks, the circles, and recesses 
 
 of society. As for the errors, and even the 
 
 impiety of socinianism ; I have no difficulty to 
 repeat it; tracing them from the principle of 
 protestantism, upon which they repose, they are, 
 in general, ( I think) philosophical, logical, and 
 obvious. The errors and impiety are in the 
 pijnciple, not in the reasoning ; in the rule of
 
 1Q0 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 judging", not in the conclusions, which result 
 from it. If the rule of protestantism be wise, I 
 think socinianism the wisest system of Christi- 
 anity, which society professes. Its errors, to me, 
 appear better proved, than the truths of other 
 sectaries. 
 
 Socinianism is, then, the offspring of the re- 
 formation ; and deism, it cannot be disputed, 
 is the lineal, and immediate offspring of socinian- 
 ism. The Deists acknowledge the Socinians to 
 be their fathers, although they reproach them 
 with pusillanimity and inconsistence : they bor- 
 row from the Socinian the fundamental maxims 
 of their incredulity, which the Socinian borrows 
 from the authors of the reformation. The max- 
 im, that reason is the guide and arbiter of faith, 
 is common to them all. It is the pillar, that sup- 
 ports deism, socinianism, and all the multifarious 
 sects of Protestants. As the Protestant conduct- 
 ed by it, is induced to laugh at popery; so the 
 Socinian, led by it, derides the mysteries of re- 
 velation ; and the Deist, prompted by it alone, 
 mocks both mystery and revelation. The prin- 
 ciple, and the mode of using it are alike, in the 
 Deist, the Socinian, and the Protestant. 
 The difference, which exists between deism, and 
 socinianism, is only a slight shade in the colour- 
 ing; or the distance of a few steps very little se- 
 parated from each other. Deism is a small exten- 
 sion of socinianism; as socinianism is a bold ex- 
 pansion of protestantism. The difference between 
 them all, is the difference of the number of con- 
 clusions, which each system is pleased to draw
 
 Atiieism attributed to Popery. }yl 
 
 horn a principle, which will prove every error, ana 
 refute every truth. 
 
 It is in error ; as it is, in improvements. There 
 is a growth and progress, in both. The boldness 
 of one man suggests a falsehood; the rashness of 
 a second supports it ; and the impiety, or the ig- 
 norance of a third adopts it, as a truth. This is 
 the history of the growth of deism (extended 
 one step further, it will be found the history of 
 atheism, also.) The authors of the reformation 
 laid it down, as a principle, " that the scriptures 
 understood in the stn.se, xchich each individual 
 judged true, is the rule of' faith." By this rule, 
 they corrected, as they called it, and retrenched 
 many of the mysteries of popery. The Socinian 
 adopted the same principle ; but bolder than 
 his protectant brethren, he reproached them 
 with timidity, in its application. He ex- 
 tended it farther: lie extended it to all the 
 mysteries of revelation ; and, or' course, re- 
 jected them. lhit; bolder still, than the Soci- 
 nian or his protectant brethren, the Deist suc- 
 ceeded ; and adopting only the same rule, which 
 they did, he applied it to popery, to protestan- 
 tism; and, with as much reason, to revelation 
 itself. He found equal mystery in them all; and 
 as his rule prompted him to reject whatever he did 
 not understand, he, with equal reason ; but with 
 more consistency, rejected them all. For, said 
 he, to both of chem ; if reason be the guide of 
 your opinions, v.hy do you admit aught, that 
 reason docs not comprehend ? Why believe one 
 mvsierv, and disbelieve: another : Why blend
 
 192 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 with the rays of reason, the mists of revelation ? 
 Revelation, where reason is the guide, is super- 
 fluous. But either reason is a sufficient guide, he 
 added, oritisnot. If it be a sufficient guide, 
 then discard all other authority, but that of rea- 
 son. If it be not a sufficient guide ; then admit 
 the necessity of one, which cannot err; and run 
 back to the pale of catholicity. I have ob- 
 served already, that the reasoning of the Socinian 
 appeared to me more consistent, than that of any 
 other class of Protestants. But I spoke then 
 from comparison. And continuing the compa- 
 rison, I think, that the logic of the Deist is more 
 philosophical, than that of either. 
 
 I proceed again. Error is a restless thing. 
 When the mind has, unhappily, adopted the 
 tenets of deism ; and by a series of argumen- 
 tation resting upon the principles of believing 
 only what reason can conceive, been induced to 
 reject the whole system of Christianity, it soon, 
 if it continue to reason, discovers, that deism 
 itself is beset with difficulties, and perplexed with 
 many of the inconveniences of revelation. It is not 
 revelation only, that is obscured with clouds, and 
 big with mysteries. The religion of nature, 
 which the Deist has adopted, presents a mist 
 equally impenetrable, and as long a code of se- 
 crets. It has, as the Atheists have demonstrated, 
 its mysteries, its miracles, its revelations, and 
 contradictions. Even the common order of 
 natural objects, is a series of mystery. Hence ; 
 after having rejected the forcible evidences of 
 Christianity; after foregoing its promises, and
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 ltf:i 
 
 renouncing its consolations ; the Deist, when he 
 views the uncertainty and incongruities of the 
 creed, which lie has adopted, becomes uneasy, 
 contused, restless and distressed : agitated by 
 tears, and haunted by perplexities, he doubts 
 every thing. This, is evidently, a state of 
 violence too painful, for the mind to endure ; to 
 endure, at least, for any length of time. The 
 vigour of the strongest mind, which has reasoned 
 away its reason to this stage of incredulity, shrinks 
 
 under it. Unwilling, therefore, to return to 
 
 the creed, which he has rejected; seldom tempted 
 to measure back the way to the Catholic Church, 
 where alone error is chained down ; the Deist has 
 no other resource remaining, but the last fatal 
 step, to atheism. His passions, his perplexities 
 
 urge him; and he takes it. It is thus that 
 
 doubt and scepticism generally terminate ; it is 
 the natural consequence, which results from the 
 principles, which iirst led the mind to wander; 
 and if we look into the annals of the Deists, we 
 shall hardly find one, who having believed, or 
 professed the doctrines of deism, did not finish his 
 career, by professing the tenets of atheism. ' ; 11 
 est naturel,*' says Chateaubriand, who had him- 
 self been an Incredule, '" que Ic schisme muie tl 
 liner cduliti ; et que latheisme se montre avec llie- 
 resie.- Bayle et Spiuoza, u'eleierent apres Cul- 
 viu* ."' In continuation or what I have said, 
 respecting the growth of atheism, I might pro- 
 
 Cenic elc la Rclig 
 
 C c
 
 li)4 Atheism attributed io Popery, 
 
 duce the attestations of many distinguished writ- 
 ers, Avho have ranged through all the mazes of 
 error, from protestantism down to Universal Pyr- 
 rhonism. But I shall content myself, with the 
 opinion of the writers of the great French Ency- 
 clopedia ; a class of men, who, not by the dictates 
 of their partiality to popery; but, by their know- 
 ledge of the nature of the human mind, and by 
 the observation of its workings, had traced with 
 philosophic eye, the impiety of atheism, from its 
 source, through all the progress of the errors, and 
 evagations, which conducted to its establishment. 
 " La Religion Catholique, Apostolique et Ro- 
 ma in e, est, incont est ab lenient, la seule sure 
 
 Mais, celte religion txige, en mime temps, de ceikv 
 
 qui Vembr assent, la soumission la plus entiere de la 
 
 raison. Lorsquil se trouve, dans cette communion, 
 
 tin komme dun esprit inquiet, remnant, et difficile 
 
 a contenter, il commence d'abord, a s'itablirjuge de 
 
 la verile des dogmes, qu'on lui propose a croire ; 
 
 et ne trouvant point, dans cet objet de laj'oi un degre 
 
 d* evidence, que lear nature ne comporte pas, il se 
 
 fail Protestant ; $ upper xevant, bientot, de I'incoJie- 
 
 rence des prineipes, qui curacterisent le protestan- 
 
 tisme, il cherche dans le socinianisme, une solution 
 
 a ses doutes, et a scs difficult is ; et il devient So- 
 
 cinieu. Da socinianisme, au deismc, it ny a qu'une 
 
 nuance tres imperceptible, et un pas a j'aire : il le 
 
 fait. Mais, comme le deisme, n'est lui me me qu'une 
 
 religion inconsequante, it se precipite, insensible- 
 
 ment, dans le Pyrrhovisme, itat violent, et aussi 
 
 liumUiui'l pour rumour proprc, qu' incompatible
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. H,5 
 
 ai 'cc la nature de V esprit humain. Enjin, il jinit 
 pat- tc^ibcr dans t'atheisme * ." In the generation 
 of atheism, thus traced, from the principles of 
 deism, or rather from tho.se of protestantism, there 
 is neither conjecture, nor desultory speculation. 
 It is the history of error founded upon the nature 
 ot error; and attested by experience. Indeed; 
 say tlie learned authors of the late edition of the 
 above Encyclopedia, the step from deism to 
 atheism is inevitable, because there is not one ob- 
 jection against revealed religion, which does not 
 fall with all its weight, upon the pretended reli- 
 gion of nature j*. (They afterwards shew, also, 
 that protestantism is the parent of deism. 
 
 There is something painful, in the seeming im- 
 putation of impiety to any sect, or society of 
 men, who, in reality, reprobate impiety, just as 
 much, as I do. But, it is not upon men, that I 
 wish, in the least, to reflect ; it is, merely, upon 
 principles. I respect the piety of every man, that 
 adores the mysteries of revelation ; and I rejoice, 
 at his credulity. But, whoever weighs well the 
 leading principles of protestantism, must allow, 
 that if followed up with consistency, bv all the 
 various forms of the human character and capa- 
 city, they extend through all the various forms of 
 error. For; if, often, the plainest truth, observed 
 through different mediums, and in different 
 situations, will not, even to the wise, appear 
 alike , how. when freedom of inquiry, and Ii- 
 
 * Article Unitaires, Tome 17. Ed. de Neuchatel, 
 ? Art, Deisrae. 
 
 C c c z
 
 196 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 berty of belief become both objects of fashion, 
 and articles of faith, sanctioned by the supposed 
 wisdom of religion itself, and publicly inculcated 
 by its ministers ; how, under the authority of 
 so boundless a privilege, can it be imagined, that 
 the dark and divine objects of revelation should 
 not, to different capacities, appear very different : 
 how, be expected, that, under the influence of 
 such a privilege, every species of error should not 
 vegetate and multiply, with rapid and proline 
 luxuriance? There is not one feeling In human 
 nature, which it is more grateful tor vice, vanity, 
 seii-iove, a rd passion to indulge, than the free- 
 dom of belief: . ud there is not a feeling, y, hicli 
 it is more easy to abuse. While vanity or self- 
 Jove may amuse themselves with adoring the 
 phantoms of folly ; vice and passion will trample 
 upon truth, and remove all those restraints, which 
 are obstacles to their wanton gratifications. It is 
 the pernicious privilege of unrestrained freedom of 
 thought, that, in every age, has generated heresy 
 and falsehood ; that, since the asra of the reforma- 
 tion, has vilified protestantism beneath its origi- 
 nal imperfections ; that has taught the Socinian to 
 undermine revelation ; the Deist to reject it; the 
 Atheist to laugh at God. Is there, indeed, any 
 kind of irrengion and impiety, which is not de- 
 fensible, by such a principle ? 
 
 I will not say, that it is an object of triumph 
 to us ; I will say, it is an object of striking, 
 though melancholy curiosity, to observe, how 
 uniformly, and early, men, who had once begun 
 to dogmatize, and refused submission to the au-
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 197 
 
 t'ity of tlic Catholic Church, became vic- 
 t'ms to their own presumption; and dupes to 
 their own passion , and insubordination. I do 
 not dcn\ . tiiat .some oi' these. imposed upon by the 
 ardor ft' a strong imaginat on, stt out, as thev 
 conceived, in the hon< si .1 ireli for truth, lint, 
 
 t i"; r, l.i line their preju- 
 . or th< ir s .i'-love, or their 
 
 thev had nor proe 
 dices, or their o iss : 
 
 ignorance, cor 
 "woieh, becair 
 f< lings, tlr 
 
 1 .lis. the\* .,; 
 
 turu reasc ng 
 
 in' . tucm t > some tai.se notion, 
 
 .eeabie, or congenial to theii 
 
 ..opted, as a principle, of wisdom. 
 
 I down. as the criterion of their fu- 
 
 ; and the basis of their future con- 
 
 clusions I hey advanced from consequence, to 
 comequi ice ; deduced error from error: till, 
 soon, v. ,dom v/as reasoned into folly, and reli- 
 gion i.sto impiety.- U 'hen only one false maxim 
 is erected into v. principle of truth, the mischiefs, 
 h proceed from it exceed calculation: the 
 progress from it to downright irreiigion, is not a 
 gentle declivity, it is a precipice. Luther, it is 
 probable, meant onlv, at first, to reform the 
 abuses of indulgences ; but, soon, he denied the 
 use of them : and, n< xt. in order to support his 
 opinion of their inutility, lie denied the necessity 
 of good works and satisfaction; the efficacy of 
 the sacraments, and the principle of justification. 
 '1 he Socinians, first, attacked the merits of 
 Christ : then, they denied his divinity. Ochin, 
 Spinoza, Bayle, and the whole herd of the teach- 
 ers of incredulity, began their researches aftei 
 truth, from the first principle of protestantism ; 
 they rested their conclusions, upon its praunissaj
 
 19S Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 and the general result of their investigations, was 
 to adopt the creed of deism, or the more dreadful 
 code of atheism. 
 
 It were easy to confirm the genealogy, which 
 I have traced of irreiigion, by the authority of 
 dates, facts, and the attestations of writers. But, 
 I think, the evidence of the genealogy is suffici- 
 ently visible, in the nature of the principle, from 
 which it commences. The ease, with which every 
 conclusion is deduced from it, may be calculated 
 by the various tempers, and general perversity of 
 mankind. Should curiosity prompt any one to 
 examine the authority of dates and facts, I refer 
 them to the Histoire Dogmatique, Sec. of the 
 Abbe Bergier; the Histoire du Socinianismc, writ- 
 ten by the Socinians themselves ; to the partial 
 Mosheim himself; or to any candid ecclesiastical 
 historian. Even the prejudice, that refuses to 
 inquire, cannot venture to deny, that the Socini- 
 ans appeared, soon after the reformation ; the 
 Deists, soon after the Socinians ; and the Athe- 
 ists, soon after the Deists. The order of the suc- 
 cession forms, alone, a presumption, of the con- 
 nection of the system ; or, that they were only 
 links, which constitute the same chain. The inir 
 piety, which vilifies religion, says Jurieu, both a 
 bigoted Protestant and a Socinian, \\ as generated 
 in the bosom of protestantism, and diffused by the 
 disciples of Episcopius and Socinus*. 
 
 It is, therefore, obvious, that the progress to 
 infidelity, through protestantism, is natural and 
 
 * See Juries passim ; and the Avertisemens of Eossuet,
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 199 
 
 easy. However, it is not my intention to assert, 
 that all, who become infidels, become such by the 
 slow progress of discussion, conducted by the 
 principles of protestantism. I have already ob- 
 served, that the broad, and most beaten path t<> 
 infidelity, is through vice. I have observed, 
 that there are infidels, who are such, from no prin- 
 ciple whatever, but convenience ; infidels, \vh/ 
 have never reasoned, at all ; or who are incapa- 
 ble of reasoning. The causes of infidelity are 
 various. Before the improved sagacity f Dr. 
 Kennel had discovered, that it owed its origin to 
 popery, his wisdom had detected its source,, art- 
 fully linking, " in the unmeaning combinations" 
 of a pack of' cards* ! 
 
 If, then, a Papist, or a multitude of Papists, 
 become unbelievers, and atheists, the consequence 
 is neither logical, nor true, that popery is the 
 cause: it is just as unlogical, and false, as, that 
 Christianity is the cause ; for a Papist, like the 
 professor of any other code of Christianity, may, 
 it' once corrupted by vice, or enslaved by dissi- 
 pation, fall into the abyss of incredulity and irre- 
 ligion. Vice, in reality, and dissipation were 
 the causes of incredulity and irreligion, in France. 
 
 Or; if this should, still, be contested; if 
 
 any believe, that some more effectual cause con- 
 tributed to these evils; I repeat it; no cause 
 after these, could of its own vulture, contribute. 
 
 * " The gamester frequently mistakes Ins skill for general 
 . . andjrovi tl.-zt jticeit, either totally rejects the gospel 
 viiicnces ; or embraces the prevailing heresy of the times,'' 
 *v r:i on on Gaming.
 
 00 Atheism attributed io Popery, 
 
 so efficaciously, to them, as the adoption of the 
 privileges and principles of protestantism. For; 
 suppose only, for a moment, that the Papist 
 nobly arrogate, to himself these privileges, and 
 employ these principles ; the privileges of a 
 thinking man, and the principles of thinking and 
 judging, as he please : well ; as it is easy for him 
 to abuse these principles; easy to think, and 
 judge wrong ; it is consequently easy for him to 
 fall into error ; and, of course, into infidelity : 
 and, therefore, again, it is easy to become an in- 
 fidel, through the medium of the same maxims, 
 by which the Protestant believes in protestantism, 
 Or, suppose again, (for this, too, is possible, 
 in the Papist,) suppose, that the Papist instead of 
 viewing the combination of all the parts of his re- 
 ligion, the to Evarwjozlov ; instead of weighing its 
 proofs, contemplating its perfections, isolated 
 every part; considered the subordinate, without 
 reference to its principal ; compared each object, 
 with some object of the senses; studied only the 
 arguments, which militate against it ; viewed 
 only the abuses, which impair and obscure its 
 beauty : in such eases ; above all, if the Papist, 
 who acted thus, were corrupted, or self-con- 
 ceited ; behold ! he is, perhaps, a downright Athe- 
 ist, at once. The truth is, corruption and vice 
 are always atheistical ; and pride, and self-con- 
 ceitedncss are easily the victims of illusion Thus, 
 a Papist may become an infidel, although neither 
 popery, nor popish principles urge him to the im- 
 pious act- 
 But, I come now, to that other imputation,
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 1 
 
 that " popery was the cause of all the evils of the 
 French revolution."' That the man, who can 
 imagine, thai poperv couki beget atheism, should 
 also believe, that it produced the horrors, which 
 desolated 1 ranee. I do not wonder. Although 
 many other causes contributed to produce them, 
 yet atheism, it is certain, was a common, and a 
 very prolific source of mischief. There is an in- 
 timate connection between atheism, and mischief. 
 On the supposition, therefore, that popery pro- 
 duces atheism, there is a consistency in the be- 
 lief, that it will produce every species of abomi- 
 nation. And, I excuse, most willingly, the folly, 
 which believes the latter, on account of the stu- 
 pidity, that believes the former. There is just 
 equal truth, and equal grounds for belief, in 
 both: that is, both are just equally false ; both 
 are groundless calumnies, the suggestions of ma- 
 levolence, or the dictates of bigotry. 
 
 In the refutation of the charge, that "popery 
 produced the evils of the French revolution," I 
 shall not dwell, with so much patience, as I have 
 done, in proving, that it is not the source of athe- 
 ism. It is, perhaps, useless to dwell upon it, at 
 all ; because the proof, that popery does not be- 
 get atheism is a sufficient proof, that it did not 
 beget the crimes of the revolution. Besides, not 
 even the ill-will of our adversaries has pointed out 
 one principle of popery, that is immoral ; not 
 their ingenuity suggested one tenet, that is preg- 
 nant with disorder. Neither have they proved, 
 against the Papist, that there was aught in his 
 conduct, which aided the cause of impiety, and 
 
 D d
 
 202 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 profanation. This, by the bye, or some part of 
 this, ought, essentially, to have been proved ; 
 both to render the vindication of popery ne- 
 cessary, and to make the charge against it ere- 
 dible. 
 
 I wonder that any Protestant, should be so un- 
 wise, as to object against popery, what popery, 
 with greater appearance of evidence, might have 
 objected against protestantism. There is no 
 room to doubt, that if an accurate comparison 
 were made, between the principles of protestantism, 
 as it was professed in France, and the principles 
 of Roman Catholics ; between the conduct of 
 Protestants, and the conduct of Catholics, during 
 the period of the revolution ; not only wisdom, 
 and moderation ; but common discernment, and 
 common candor would allow, that, if either the 
 principles of protestantism, or catholicity ; or the 
 conduct of Protestants, or Catholics, contributed 
 to effect a revolution, and to produce its mis- 
 chiefs, it was the principles and conduct of the 
 former, much more, than the tenets, or behaviour 
 
 of the latter. 'On this part of my subject there 
 
 is no need of vague conjecture. We have the 
 strong attestation of established dogmas, and the 
 authority of incontestable facts. 
 
 Whoever has read the works of the ancient 
 apostles of the Protestant Church of France, of 
 Calvin, Beza, and their disciples; or whoever is 
 acquainted with the constitution, which these men 
 established, knows, that Equality is the great 
 and fundamental tenet,, both of their civil and 
 religious creed ; knows, that, consistently with
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. Co:i 
 
 the above tenet, liberty, or a total emancipation, 
 not only from princely, but, where it is deemed 
 unpleasing, from magisterial authority, is another 
 article of their code : knows, that loyalty, or 
 submission is but a tie, v. here independanee is un- 
 attainable ; that insurrection is often a holy duty ; 
 the right of resistance, by any method, an ob- 
 ligation, which the nature and welfare of their 
 
 religion, sometimes, impose. These, with the 
 
 consequences, which it is easy to deduce from 
 them, were some of the leading principles of pro- 
 testantism, in France*. 
 
 Neither is it only, in the works of the first apos- 
 tles of the French reformation, that we find these 
 principles. Their successors, through every pe- 
 riod of the French history, have revered and 
 taught them, equally with their masters. They 
 are the doctrine of their synods, of their preach- 
 ers, writers, and professors. Indeed, they are so 
 essentially the doctrine of French protestantism, 
 that whoever did not profess, or believe them, 
 was not a Protestant of the French establish- 
 ment. 
 
 If we examine, in the annals of France, how 
 steadily, the great herd of this sect were faithful, 
 not only to the cold profession, but to the active 
 observance of these tenets; we find, that when- 
 ever circumstances presented a gleam of success, 
 
 * If any be curious to know the true principles of Cal- 
 vinism, relative to equality, liberty, independanee, &c. let 
 him consult the works of our own countrymen, during the 
 period of English republicanism, &c. &c. 
 
 DdS
 
 04 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 they rushed into rebellion, and laboured to 
 establish their independance, upon the ruins of 
 legal power. From the date of their acquiring 
 any influence in France, till the reign ot Lewis 
 the Fourteenth, the history of that country is 
 little else, but a series of rebellions, seditions, 
 and their attendant horrors, and excesses * . 
 France only became a happy, and tranquil nation, 
 when protestantism had lost the power of being 
 
 rebellious, with impunity. 1 am not one of 
 
 those, who applaud the revocation of the edict of 
 Nantes ; but. I think, that had the principles of 
 protestantism been expelled from France, along 
 with the Protestants, France would not, yet, 
 have been revolutionised ; nor should we have 
 heard the reproach of its misfortunes, absurdly, 
 cast, upon that very religion, which alone with- 
 stood their progress. I was, myself, in France, 
 
 * Sully himself, although a bigoted Protestant, yet some- 
 times an honest man, admits the dangerous principles and sedi- 
 tious manoeuvres of the Protectants of his own time, even un- 
 der the mild administration of their favourite prince Henry the 
 Fourth. i; Je ne puis m'empecher," says he, " de dire, que 
 les Pro'eslans agisspient, en France, de maniere, a n'etre pas 
 plaints, si, quelque jour, ils recevoient un chatiment en peu 
 severe." L. 18. vol. 5. He allows, that the protestant 
 loaders, the Duke of Bouillon, Du Plessis, D'Aubignee, Con- 
 stant. Saint Germain, Lesdiguieres, &c. subscribed an in- 
 strument, ' : Dont," lie adds, " 1'existanee n'a ete que trop 
 bien prouve, dans lequel, on jcttoit les fondemens d'une re- 
 publique Calviniste, au milieu de la France, libre, et ab- 
 solument independante du souverain.-" L. 22. vol. 6. The 
 late revolution only executed, what the Calvinists had 
 planned,
 
 Atheism attributed tc Popery. 205 
 
 during the greatest part of the revolution ; and 1 
 remember well, that several distinguished writers, 
 who had observed its origin, and traced its 
 growtiu with a philosophic eye. attributed much of 
 both, to the principles of protestantism, and to 
 the manoeuvres of its professors. Indeed, it re- 
 quired very little philosophy, either to trace the 
 manoeuvres of its professors, or to discover the 
 resemblance of the revolutionary principles, with 
 the tenets of protestantism. Let only an En- 
 glishman look back to the horrible period of our 
 own history, when Calvinistie-protestantism 
 through streams of blood, and the midst of pro- 
 fanations, had reached the sovereign power. 
 There, he may trace the true principles and the 
 true spirit of Calvinism ; the same principles 
 which guided, and the same spirit, which ani- 
 mated the leaders of the French revolution. There 
 he will find, that the history of our commonwealth, 
 is the history of the Trench commonwealth : that 
 ours is the prototype, and theirs, a very perfect 
 copy: rather, lie will find that both are but tire 
 genuine offspring of Calvinism ; whose essence it 
 is, to pull down the high, in order to exalt the 
 low ; to resist, as Calvin expresses it, by any me- 
 thod, what the interests of their religion is pleas- 
 ed to term the injustices of men in power; to 
 destroy all the ext(rna) pump of religious wor- 
 ship ; to approximate to the nakedness of de- 
 ism ; and above all to hate catholic ity. Under 
 the guidance of such principles, it is evident, 
 that there is hardly an excess, which may not, 
 eventually, become an act of piety ; hardly a
 
 105 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 crime, which if useful to the establishment, may 
 not be sanctified into virtue * . 
 
 If, accordingly, we examine, in what parts of 
 France, the first excesses of the revolution were 
 committed ; if we remark, in what place, the first 
 revolutionary sparks, which rose from the Pari- 
 sian furnace, and were carried by the violence of 
 the storm to the extremities of the provinces ; 
 if we remark, in what places, they were, most 
 easily, enkindled to a flame ; it will be found, al- 
 most universally true, that it was, where pro- 
 testantism principally prevailed. They fell upon 
 materials, that were combustible ; and which soon 
 blazed forth, with horrible conflagration. It was 
 at Nismes, under the auspices of protestantism, 
 that the first massacres of the catholic priesthood 
 commenced f ; it was an army, chiefly composed 
 of Protestants, that deluged in blood, the once 
 happy counties of Avignon; and it was often as- 
 serted, during that period, and generally believed, 
 that it was from the ranks of protestantism, that 
 
 * It is the observation of Dryden, while a Protestant ; 
 that " wherever Calvinism was planted, and embraced, rebel- 
 lion, civil war, and misery attended it." Pref. to Rel. Med. 
 The reason is obvious ; for, as Mr. Burke remarks, the Cal- 
 vinists *' all rose Irom the discord of civil strife, and their sole 
 claim to power, in any state, or city, reposes upon the ruin, 
 or oppression of its power." 
 
 f "The Protestants," says the author of the Anecdotes of 
 the French Nation, " have greatly contributed, towards the 
 revolution ; and it is they, perhaps, who under the protection 
 of Necker himself a Protestant, and their patron, have been 
 the secret springs of that treatment, which the catholic clergy 
 have received." Pae ioi
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 07 
 
 the revolution selected most of those infuriated 
 satellites, the monsters called the Marseillois, who, 
 with unprovoked impiety, spilt the purest, and 
 the noblest blood in France. 
 
 But; it will he wise to consider, in what relative 
 point of view, the men, who directed the revolu- 
 tionary storm, themselves contemplated the 
 tenets of catholicity, and those of protestantism ; 
 and with what feelings, they beheld the profes- 
 sors of each religion. The sentiments of these 
 men, upon these objects, lead to a strong pre- 
 sumption of the comparative tendency of the two 
 systems. It is a fact, ascertained by innumerable 
 monuments ; written too deeply in characters of 
 blood, to admit a doubt, that they universally 
 deemed the principles of catholicity to be unfa- 
 vourable to their cause, and the great obstacle 
 to the diffusion of impiety, and licentiousness. 
 " Si vousvoulez line revolution" the great Mira- 
 beau used to say, " it jaut commencer par di- 
 catholiserla France." Accordingly, " La guerre, 
 a la Religion Catholique ; les Eveques, a la lan- 
 teme ; la ?nort, aux Pre! res" were the first 
 watchwords of the revolution. It was at catho- 
 licity, that all its rage was directed. Catholicity 
 was esteemed more dangerous, than the principles 
 of royalty ; and zeal tor its preservation less par- 
 donable, than the crime of loyalty to the mo- 
 narch. The case was ; the revolutionists knew, 
 that the religion of Catholics was the *reat source 
 of virtue, heroism, piety, and fidelity ; and, as 
 these were the chief enemies to the revolution : 
 they wisely conceived, that by suppressing the
 
 203 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 cause of these, they should suppress these dan j 
 
 gerous effects. 1 will not draw the picture of 
 
 the persecution, which Fiance exhibited against 
 catholicity. All Europe ; even the bigoted of 
 this nation ; shrunk with horror, from the scene. 
 Had not the clergy been immensely numerous, it 
 is probable, that one stroke of policy would, un- 
 ceremoniously, have immolated them all together, 
 as a hecatomb, to the demon of impiety. But, 
 the measure was both difficult and dangerous ; 
 they, therefore, banished, and imprisoned, those, 
 whom their fears alone had not ventured to de* 
 stroy. They expelled above GO, 000 pastors from 
 their (locks ; and condemned above 60,000 other 
 ecclesiastics to languish in the damp of prisons; 
 victims to every want, and the sport of every cru- 
 elty. Not even the feeble sex, whom anger is 
 wont to pity, were suffered to remain unmolested. 
 The innocent, powerless, and unoffending vestal, 
 because Catholic, was, every where, persecuted ; in 
 many places, put to death. Whatever was Catho- 
 lic, became the object of persecution. It was 
 
 the hatred of catholicity, that invented the so- 
 lemn farce of decades ; and the inexplicable non- 
 sense of their new calendar : it destroyed almost 
 every monument of piety : and converted the 
 few temples of the Divinity, which it suffered to 
 remain, into theatres of irreligion ; into club- 
 rooms, hospitals, and barracks. Surely ; if 
 catholicity be "congenial to atheism, and fa- 
 vourable to the propagation of impiety,"' as some 
 of our protestant countrymen have asserted, the 
 very incongenial, and unfavourable manner, in
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. coy 
 
 which atheism, and impiety have treated their 
 good ally, are circumstances so paradoxical, 
 that, I think, no ingenuity, but their own, can 
 either penetrate, or explain them. 
 
 Compare, now, with the above, the treatment, 
 which protestantism experienced, from the con- 
 ductors of the revolution. Not merely tolerated, 
 and permitted to remain unmolested , protestan- 
 tism was zealously encouraged, befriended, and 
 caressed. Its professors, considered as the friends 
 of the revolution, on account of the resemblance 
 of their principles, were, early, placed under the 
 protection of the law; and guarded, under the 
 same holy banner, that guarded the revolution. 
 In the torrents of the blood of christian pastors, 
 which deluged France, there was not mixed one 
 drop of the blood of one single protectant mi- 
 nister. In the surrender, or wreck of property, 
 they did not lose one preaching house, one par- 
 sonage, or one pasture*. The partiality of the 
 
 * The answer of the protectant minister Marron, to Bom- 
 pane ; on the occasion when the protest. nit deputation waited 
 upon him, to present the congratulations of their body, on 
 his election to the consulship for life ; presents not an imper- 
 fect notion, both of the principles, and conduct of the Protes- 
 tants, during the revolution, and of the principles and conduct 
 of the revolutionists, in their regard. ' Prav." said the con- 
 sul to the venerable pastor, how did you escape the storm 
 of the revolution ?''' This is very simple;" replied Matron, 
 " re:- fcithjuHy oh y J all thost\ who so rapidly succeeded cdv\\ 
 other, and ,v j e re never molested." See the public pipers for 
 August, or September 180a. I will nor make any comment 
 upon the minister's answer. But, were its meaning given ; 
 
 E c
 
 10 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 revolutionists to protestantism, is well attested, 
 Indeed, it will be allowed, such partiality was 
 political, and wise. The Protestants had a claim 
 to all the partialities, and favours, which the re- 
 volution conferred upon them. Their principles, 
 I have observed, were the same, with those of its 
 best abettors ; and their conduct was consistent 
 Avith their principles. They entered eagerly into 
 the vortex of the revolution ; preached zealously, 
 its doctrines; and propagated, industriously, its 
 cause. As if anxious to avenge the blood, which 
 a horrid policy, or a more horrid bigotry, had 
 shed, on the feast of St. Bartholomew, they pi- 
 ously, joined in the harshest persecution of the 
 catholic clergy, and were active, in some of the 
 most tragic scenes of cruelty*. 
 
 noes it not, obviously, seem to signify- ' ; We were faithful 
 to our lawless, and unjust usurpers ; and faithless, to our law- 
 ful monarch ; therefore, the usurpers ciid not molest us. We 
 sacrificed our duty, to our convenience; and joined in the re- 
 volution ; therefore, the revolution spared us." 
 
 * Notwithstanding the favours which protestantism re- 
 ceived from the revolution, it seems to have derived but slen- 
 der advantage flora them. According to the accounts, which 
 have been transmitted from France, since there-establishment 
 of order and tranquillity, the number of its professors have, 
 very strikinglv, dwindled away, within the ancient boundaries 
 of that country. With the exception of a few old men ; a few 
 sober individuals ; and a few teachers, who are interested in. 
 its preservation, protestantism is hardly a name, where once it 
 was popular, numerous and formidable. Has not their prin- 
 ciple of the freedom of religious investigation, and its conse- 
 quence the freedom of religious belief, led them to discover, 
 and believe, that the religion of reason, is more, consonant to
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 L N 11 
 
 Let it not, th< n, be said, that " popery was 
 the cause or' the evils of the revolution;" as well 
 as the sources of atheism. Will le the malevo- 
 lence, which assert* it is criminal;, the credulity, 
 that believes it is pitiful. Popery, in reality, was 
 the only mound, which withstood the tide of 
 cither; the only adversary, which the revolution, 
 and at lv- 1 is m persecuted. It cannot be sup- 
 posed, that the men, who sat at the helm of the 
 revolution, were unacquainted with the maxims, 
 either of protestantism, or poj vvy: they were, 
 in general, men of distinguished talen's, and 
 erudition. Nor can it be supposed, that they 
 were, so punily, versed in the arts of cunning-, 
 as to encourage maxims, that were inimical ; 
 and suppress those, which were favourable to 
 their cause. They were villains, that were, deeply 
 shrewd, in all the tricks of policy. However, 
 it is certain, that these men, with all their ta- 
 lents, and erudition; their cunning and policy, 
 most kindly befriended protestantism, while they 
 laboured to extirpate popery. They allowed the 
 teachers, the principles and writings of pro- 
 testantism, the same liberty, and privileges, with 
 impiety itself; while they cruelly persecuted the 
 professors, tenets, and works of popery.- There- 
 lore, I think, I am intitled to draw this conclu- 
 sion, at least ; that the French rulers, and revo- 
 lutionists judged popery, and its principles to be 
 
 their principles, than protest intism ; 01 perhaps, that no r: 
 lij "i jii it all, is mare consonant to them, than Cithei 
 
 r:e-
 
 212 Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 adverse tc their cause ; while they conceived pro- 
 testantism, and its doctrines to be favourable 
 to it. 
 
 It is unwise, in any Protestant, to impute the 
 origin of impiety, and its attendant, or subse- 
 quent mischiefs to popery : but, for an English 
 Protestant to attribute them to such a cause, is 
 unwiser still : it is, peculiarly, indecent. Whilst 
 it is obvious, that the source of impiety was, 
 first, laid open by the talents, and industrious 
 hands of the apostles of the reformation ; it is 
 notoriously true, that until the late revolution, 
 when it burst through every mound, with which 
 human policy had surrounded it; it diffused it- 
 self, with less restraint; was circulated, and 
 spread abroad, with more zeal, by our country- 
 men, than by the inhabitants of any other nation 
 of Europe. The English writers, by being more 
 free, were of all others, the most boldly irreligious ; 
 and the most unblushingiy impious. " Never," 
 says Leland, " in any country, where Christianity 
 is professed, were there such repeated attempts to 
 subvert its authority carried on ; sometimes under 
 various disguises, and at other times, under no 
 disguise, at all.*" Mosheim asserts the same 
 thing. " No where, he testifies, have the ene- 
 mies of the purest religion, and consequently of 
 mankind, appeared with more effrontery, than 
 under the free governments of Great Britain, and 
 the United States. More especially, in England, 
 
 * View o: Dektical Writers.
 
 Atheism attributed to Popery. 213 
 
 it is no uncommon thing to meet with books, in 
 which, not only the doctrines of the gospel, but 
 also the perfections of the Deity, and the solemn 
 obligations of virtue are called in question, and 
 turned into derision*." The impiety of our Eng- 
 lish writers must be known, by all those, who 
 know the history of our literature. Bat, as it is 
 the nature of impiety to be contagious; and the 
 misfortune of our worst writers to be admired ; 
 the French, within the period of the last century, 
 began to read, and relish them. England became 
 the great school of infidelity ; and English writ- 
 ers, the oracles to whom French vanity and 
 French corruption listened, with complacent and 
 fond attention. It was from our Herberts, Shafts- 
 burys, Collinses, Tindals, Morgans, liobbeses, 
 Bollingbrokes, &c. &c. that the Voltaires, D'Alem- 
 berts, Diderots, &c. imbibed their principles of 
 impiety. The master.-, were English. Indeed; 
 whoever will read the works of the French Incre- 
 dulcs, and compare them with the writings of our 
 English Infidels, will discover, that the former are 
 little else, than the echo, or translations of the 
 latter: improved translations, it is true; because 
 impiety has the taunt of improving, on impiety. 
 The French pupil is generally bolder, than his 
 English master. But it is still true, that the 
 basis of the poison is English, rendered more pa- 
 latable, by tire sweetness of French periods, and 
 the delicacy ot French eloquence. 
 
 * M a cl aine's Tvjnshiion, Vol. 5.
 
 '2l4f Atheism attributed to Popery. 
 
 It is a circumstance, not perhaps generally 
 known, in this country, that the circulation of 
 English books was very considerable, in France. 
 It was, long, the misfortune of the French to ad* 
 mire our writers ; and as a great portion of our 
 most conspicuous writers, are distinguished, if 
 not for downright impiety, at least, for a bold- 
 ness of principle, which levels the way to impiety; 
 by reading them, the belief of some was lost ; 
 and, the faith of multitudes weakened. These 
 effects became so visible, upon the principles, 
 and morals of the people, that the circulation of 
 English books, alarmed the feelings, and excited 
 the complaints of the clergy. The wisdom of 
 some of them was even prompted to foretel, that, 
 irons this evil alone, added to the intercourse, 
 which the French courted with our irreligious 
 countrymen, some misfortune would, ere long, 
 befal their imprudent, and ill-fated country. 
 Had the prudence of the government been equal 
 to the sagacity of these men, France Mould not, 
 yet, have been polluted with the abominations of 
 impiety ; nor. of course, disgraced by the horrors 
 of a revolution. But; it is long, since the go- 
 vernment of France was distinguished for its pru- 
 dence, or its piety. Not only did some of its 
 ministers permit the circulation of our most im- 
 pious writings ; they encouraged, and applauded 
 it: they were themselves the patrons of incredu- 
 lity. The consequence was such, as ought only 
 to be expected ; above all, among a people, whose 
 levity is characteristic. The pleasure of reading,
 
 Toleration. 215 
 
 suggested the desire to write. Some wrote: and, 
 as they had had the misfortune to write, elegant- 
 ly, they were applauded in the circles of fashion; 
 where it became a recommendation to have read 
 them. Impiety, like vice, is contagious; and 
 the school of irreligion increased. Soon, the num- 
 ber of its writers, some, urged by vanity ; some, 
 excited by interest; some, induced by the mere 
 wantonness of vice; became countless. They 
 teemed the poison of infidelity, in copious, and 
 unceasing draughts, into the minds of the peo- 
 ple. The contagion spread : multitudes disbe- 
 lieved. From di -belief", to revolution, the dis- 
 tance is but a step. The man. who disbelieves, 
 
 is armed for every measure of excess. Thus. 
 
 English incredulity prepared the way, for French 
 incredulity. We sowed the seeds, which the 
 more genial soil, and the warmer bieezes of France 
 brought to maturity. 
 
 TO LERATION. 
 
 I have extended my reflections, much beyond 
 the limits, which I had marked out for myself, 
 when, I, first, sat down to make them. But; 
 they stole upon me, insensibly; and as they ap- 
 pealed to me interesting, I suffered them to grow. 
 1 will, even, add to them a few observations, 
 which are not inar.alogous to what I have said, 
 already, respecting the uivon.'u.stmt mode of treat- 
 ment, which the Catholic experiences from the 
 illiberally of those, who dissent from his opi- 
 nions.
 
 2 1 o Toleration. 
 
 In order to bring the reflections, which I am 
 going to make, nearer to the feelings, and ap- 
 prehensions of common discernment, it will he 
 proper to go back to the origin of the reforma- 
 tion ; and to repeat some of those principles, 
 on which I have already reflected. 
 
 There is a very striking resemblance in the 
 means and artifices, by which, not only the re- 
 volutions of states, have been established ; but, 
 by which all those changes in religion have been 
 introduced, which error, and heresy have, cun- 
 ningly, concealed under the specious names of 
 improvements, and reformations. When faction, 
 or ambition had conceived the design of a revo- 
 lution, we almost uniformly find, that they com- 
 menced the plan of its execution, by the outcry 
 against abuses ; and vociferations against ty- 
 ranny. These fomented the passions of the vio- 
 lent, and imposed upon the credulity of the 
 M-eak. As the multitude of followers increased, 
 boldness increased with them ; till, through a 
 series of artifices, and crimes ; gratifying the 
 vicious, the selfish, and the turbulent; repres- 
 sing, or destroying the virtuous, the temperate, 
 and the wise; the pretended advocate for the 
 public welfare placed himself upon the ruins of 
 authority ; and completed his career, by creating 
 grosser abuses, than those, which he had pre- 
 tended to correct; and by fixing a heavier ty- 
 ranny, than that, which he had affected to de- 
 stroy. In the things called reformations, the 
 
 progress was similar. Every reformer, (and the
 
 Toleration. 2 1 7 
 
 countless herd of heresiarchs were all such) set 
 out, with the professed, and, apparently, ardent 
 zeal for truth. They remonstrated and declaimed 
 against abuses ; they misrepresented and vilified 
 their opponents; they gained hearers, and ad- 
 mirers; and they finished, by establishing heresy. 
 
 Thus, also, did the apostles of the proles- 
 
 tant reformation proceed. Artful, sagacious, and 
 wary; they trod in the footsteps of those, whose 
 plans they found had been attended with success. 
 They, first, insinuated the existence of abuses ; 
 and, gently, urged the wisdom of reforming 
 them. Soon ; for the specious interest for reli- 
 gion gained them abettors ; they spoke, more 
 plainly. They declared, that the church was im- 
 mersed in errors, and its members the dupes of 
 tyranny. Credulity, and faction, and fanati- 
 cism believed them. They, then, declared, that 
 Rome, is Babylon; the Pope, Antichrist; the 
 Catholic, an idolater. They needed, now, no 
 proof, but the boldness of the assertion. Having 
 thus, wisely laid the foundation of their own 
 power, they concluded, by erecting altar against 
 altar; and rearing a fabric of heresy, the 
 strongest, and most formidable, winch Chris- 
 tianity has beheld, since the date, or decline of 
 Arianism. 
 
 But ; it will be asked ; upon what principles, 
 did these men establish the supposed divinity of 
 their new reformation ; or how, evince the truth 
 of the doctrines, which they laboured to intro- 
 duce? This is a question, of all others, the most 
 interesting, in the discussion of whatever regards 
 
 If
 
 218 Toleration. 
 
 protestantism ; and upon it, are hinged all the 
 reflections, which I am about to make, concern- 
 ing it. When the reformers produced their doc- 
 trines, and improvements ; as they were new, 
 and contrary to the established dogmas of the 
 church, they were compelled to reject her au- 
 thority, and with it, all those vouchers, which 
 stood as witnesses against them, councils, sy- 
 nods, canons, fathers, &c. &c. They discarded 
 these, as the fallible, and false testimonies of men 
 misled by prejudice, or guided by the artifices 
 of papal influence and tyranny. They discarded 
 all human, or public authority, even their own, as 
 liable to error, and subject to deceit. In its 
 room, they substituted the sacred scriptures only ; 
 and they gave, as their sole interpreter, the soli- 
 tary, private, judgment, of each individual. Read 
 the scriptures ; they called out, they alone are 
 divine; and your own judgment will guide you 
 to the evidence of their doctrines : read them : 
 and while you trace the falsehood of popish te- 
 nets, you will discover the beauty of truth. 
 
 These exhortations, it is useless to add, had their 
 effect; the people read the sacred volume ; they 
 reasoned, and judged.-- -We know the result of 
 their reading and reasoning. 
 
 In all this, there is some repetition; but it be- 
 came, in some degree, necessary, in order to make 
 the conclusion, which I shall deduce from it, 
 more obvious. Private judgment is the great 
 basis of protestant belief. Sentire quae vetit, as 
 Doctor Watson, in the words of the great Roman 
 historian, neatly, and accurately, expresses it,
 
 Toleration. 5219 
 
 et quir scntial dicerc, is the religion of every con- 
 sistent Protestant. 
 
 Before 1 proceed to draw any conclusion from 
 the above principle, I might, very reasonably, 
 pause here, a few moments ; and inquire, how 
 consistently with it, any jived articles of belief 
 can be imposed upon Protestants; and imposed, 
 as they are, som('times, upon their clergy, with 
 the awful solemnity of an oath, or conscientious 
 declaration, that they believe them to be divine? 
 Must not either the principle be false, which de- 
 clares, that it is the privilege, " the unalienable 
 privilege , " as Dr. Prettiman calls it, " of every chris- 
 tian to form his own religious opinions*;'* or, if 
 true, is not the intrusion of creeds and the obli- 
 gation of believing them, an act of incroachment 
 upon the liberty of the individual? Doubtless, 
 if it be the privilege of each individual, to judge 
 for himself, and to believe, as he pleases, it is 
 wrong to chain him down, to any determined 
 creed. Creeds should be burnt, as the dictates 
 of spiritual tyranny; for creeds, according to 
 the maxims of protestantism, being the opinions 
 ot' men, who are liable to errors and mistakes, to 
 propose them, is but proposing what is, probably, 
 false; and to oblige men to swear, that they be- 
 lieve them, is obliging them to believe what, 
 perhaps, is impious, or absurd. Is there not, in 
 all this, a solemn mockery of the principles, upon 
 which protestantism reposes : 
 
 * Sermon before the Lord?, 17?). 
 
 F f 1
 
 220 Toleration. 
 
 I do not deny, that creeds are, eventually, 
 wise, political and convenient. They check the 
 progress of error; contract the spread of impiety; 
 and are useful to the peace and stability of go- 
 vernments. Still ; it is true ; when compared 
 "with the principles of the reformation, they are 
 its inconsistencies, and contradictions. The ut- 
 most influence, that any protestant creed, should 
 possess over a protestant mind, is a mere hope, 
 or presumption, that it may be true ; a mere pre- 
 judice, that its fallible authors may have been, 
 infallibly conducted, in its composition. But 
 then; although even this presumption, or pre- 
 judice may seem to render the belief of such 
 code, in some degree, rational, and safe . is it 
 enough, to render the solemn attestation of such 
 belief, rational, safe, or yet unprofane ? I believe, 
 that if the pill was not gilt, which men sometimes 
 take, the stomach would reject it. 
 
 However; it is not mine, to stand forward the 
 defender, or assertor of protestant liberty. No; 
 although, I think, there is much inconsistency 
 in what I have stated to be the conduct of the 
 protestant establishments, yet, it is an incon- 
 sistency, at which I rejoice. There are many in- 
 consistencies, that are useful; and such, in my 
 opinion, is the above inconsistency. Having, 
 therefore, thus far digressed, I come to the in- 
 ference, which alone, it was my object to deduce 
 from the great, and fundamental maxim of pro- 
 testantism. It is this; that, if each individual 
 be the arbiter of his own faith ; if it be " the un- 
 alienable privilege of every Christian to j'orm his
 
 Toleration. 221 
 
 Outi religious opinions;'' it is inconsistent, into- 
 lerant, and illiberal in the Protestant, to restrain 
 the belief, or to stint the religion of Roman 
 Catholics. The Roman Catholic, in believing 
 the creed of catholicity, believes, what he pleases; 
 and in that, he but makes use of the privilege of 
 the reformation: he believes what his reason tells 
 him is divine; and in believing that, he but ex- 
 ercises what protestantism terms the right of 
 nature and Christianity. He compares the tenets 
 of his religion, with the texts of the sacred scrip- 
 cure; he judges, that they agree; and in com- 
 paring and judging, he precisely follows the 
 protectant rule of faith. Yes ; suppose even what 
 he believed Mere nonsense ; yet, merely, because 
 he conceived it proper to believe it, it is, by 
 the principles of protestantism, his right, his un- 
 alienable right to believe it; and the Protestant, 
 that would deny him that right, would deny the 
 only tenet of protestantism, which it is heretical 
 in the Protestant to call in question; would wish 
 to control, what he professes to be uncontrolla- 
 ble ; and to chain down what he proclaims to be 
 free as liberty itself. 
 
 The Protestant frequently censures the intole- 
 rant spirit of the Roman Catholic. There is no 
 principle of our religion, that has inspired his in- 
 vectives, with greater warmth. Indeed, where 
 catholic intolerance verges (though, that is not 
 its nature) to persecution, I censure it, likewise. 
 But, after all; catholic intolerance is not, like 
 protestant intolerance, inconsistent and absurb. 
 The Catholic believes, that the society, to which
 
 222 Toleration. 
 
 he belongs is infallible ; and, therefore, in oblig- 
 ing men to believe with him, he obliges them, he 
 is assured, only to believe the truth : he believes, 
 that his religion is divine, and that faith is one; 
 therefore, he considers all difference of opinion 
 respecting it, as licentiousness; and all denial of 
 its tenets, as heresy, or error. In this kind of 
 intolerance, which is the only intolerance of Ca- 
 tholics, there is neither inconsistence, nor viola- 
 tion of charity. 
 
 But ; without any pretexts of this nature to 
 intolerance: with principles directly opposed to 
 these pretext.:; without infallibility; without 
 claiming an exemption from error: with the ac- 
 knowledgment that faith is free, and that private 
 judgment is its interpreter : with these princi- 
 ples, and these professions, when I infer, that 
 protestant intolerance, to Roman Catholics, is an 
 inconsistency, I think, I draw an inference both 
 theologically, and logically, accurate. I think 
 the inference just, that, with protestant maxims, 
 to restrict the belief of catholicity is a positive 
 contradiction of the leading tenet of protestan- 
 tism. Yes; if the Protestant conceives, his rule 
 of faith to be wise; if all be allowed to judge, 
 and believe, as they please; let the Papist be 
 allowed the same privilege. If the Protestant be 
 free to err ; let the Papist be suffered to believe 
 the truth ; or ; if all have a right to quit the 
 catholic church, let all, who think proper, be 
 permitted to dissent from the protestant church. 
 At all events, let the Catholic remain un- 
 molested, in his own.
 
 Toleration. 23 
 
 It is a subject, on which I, sometimes, dwell 
 witli melancholy satisfaction ; my mind turns 
 back to the ancient ages ot' Christianity; traces 
 the intolerance ot" paganism, to the religion of 
 Jesus Christ; the hardships and persecutions, 
 which it then sustained ; and compares these with 
 the intolerance, the hardships and persecutions, 
 which catholicity has experienced Iron, Protes- 
 tants, since the ana of the reformation ; and, winch 
 she, in some degree, experiences, still. There 
 are circumstances, very strikingly, similar in the 
 conduct of its ancient persecutors; and in that 
 
 known, that the pagan nations, particularly the 
 most enlightened and refined, very liberally, to- 
 lerated the propagation of every error; and gave 
 the most boundless liberty to every sect, and 
 species of superstition. In general, they adopted 
 the deities, however monstrous they might be, of 
 every country, which they subdued; and erected 
 altars, for their worship. Heme itself, the seat 
 of wisdom, erected altars, and offered adoration, 
 not only to the gods of Italy, but to all the 
 impure divinities of Greece ; to the foolish idols 
 of Egypt; and to the demons of t\cry adopted, 
 or subjugated .one. Their Pantheon is, still, a 
 standing monument of their liberality, and su- 
 perstition; of their toleration, and ie^otrv. 
 
 However; anna ad tln-j enlarged expansion of 
 liberality, and toleration, Christianity wis pro- 
 scribed: the mild, the beneficent, the divine, and 
 only true religion, was, alone, proscribed, per- 
 secuted, and vilified. The most illiberal edicts
 
 224- Toleration. 
 
 
 
 prohibited its profession; the most sanguinary 
 laws forbad its exercise ; and restrictions, which 
 were often injurious to the public welfare, with- 
 held its members from every office, trust, dig- 
 nity, and employment. If the cause of tliis con- 
 duct were asked ; the answer would be easy. It: 
 is, because error being indulgent to error; and 
 superstition allied to superstition, they both, na- 
 turally, conspire against truth and piety, be- 
 cause truth and piety condemned their folly and 
 extravagance. Need I, here, describe the con- 
 duct of the reformers, until the late dawn of li- 
 berality ; or depict what catholicity had, long to 
 sustain, from the inhuman policy of protestant 
 fanaticism ? It is only taking a copy, from the 
 original, which I have, just, presented. But; 
 without describing the conduct of Protestants, 
 in different states; or depicting what catholicity 
 has, every where, suffered from them, I will con- 
 tent myself, with just sketching what prejudice 
 itself will, now read, with regret, in the annals 
 of our own country. In this country, the scat 
 of liberality and refinement; the school of 
 science, and the noblest temple, in which liberty 
 is worshipped ; we find both the civil, and re- 
 ligious establishment admitting, as the funda- 
 mental article of the public creed, the boundless 
 tenet, " that faith must repose, upon the reason, 
 and conviction of each individual :" we hear the 
 ministers from the pulpit, and the most able writ- 
 ers, in their works, inculcate, that liberty of 
 thought and freedom of judgment, are the un- 
 alienable prerogatives of our nature, and the no-
 
 Toleration, m J 
 
 blest privileges of the gospel. Very consistently 
 with these doctrines, we heboid tolerated, in this 
 country, every form of error, which folly, or 
 fancy may please to venerate. We hear the Ana- 
 baptist divulging his visionary dreams : the Qua- 
 ker groaning forth, at ease, the labouring of his 
 silly spirit: the Methodist, with hypocritical 
 cant, trafficking with the unreasoning simplicity 
 of ignorance: the Socinian, without apprehen- 
 sion, denying the divinity of Jesus Christ: the 
 Dei-^t, insulting revelation : and even the Atheist, 
 with unblushing effrontery, publicly, calling in 
 question the existence of the (rod who made 
 him. In short, we discover, that belief in this 
 country, is free as fashion ; and that every raving 
 enthusiast, or dogmatizing sceptic may, without 
 molestation, publish error, or heresy : or non- 
 sense, or impiety. Amid ail this scene of to- 
 leration, and latitude of principle, must it not, 
 then, appear astonishing to find one religion ex- 
 cepted : to find one religion, and tiiat the very 
 reverse of those, which I have just enumerated, 
 wise, liberal, and enlightened : the religion of 
 the best and wisest, in every civilized nation ; to 
 find it alone, proscribed, persecuted, and insult- 
 ed? Yet; such zvas the case. The religion of 
 Roman Catholics, amid all this liberty, was alone 
 forbidden ; amid this masquerade of folly and im- 
 piety, it alone was proscribed. To profess it, 
 was high treason ; and countless, almost, is the 
 number of its pastors, who, for preaching piety 
 and the love of God, were hanged, quartered 
 and burnt ; or else, persecuted, exiled, or im- 
 
 Gg
 
 226 ioleralion. 
 
 prisoned. The same spin's which pursued Chris- 
 tianity of oh 5 , frowned horribly, upon the Ca- 
 tholics of this country. 
 
 Thank God 1 those frightful times have passed 
 away. Philosophy has seared that species of per- 
 secution, which delights in scenes of blood ; it 
 has expelled it from the haunts of bigotry itself. 
 There are few so rigidly tenacious of their ancient 
 prejudices, as not, now, to own, that it is unwise 
 to attempt to enlighten faith, by the gleams of 
 fires; or to inspire piety, by the sublime eloquence 
 of the gallows. It is now, pretty generally, 
 allowed, that persecution is calculated to make 
 only hypocrites, or martyrs; to damn the pu- 
 sillanimous, and to saint the hero. Bigotry has, 
 therefore, now sheathed the murdering steel, 
 and the Catholic, compared with his goed fore- 
 fathers, wantons in luxurious comfort : he sits 
 down, secure, under his own vi)>e, or Jig tree: 
 and his native country is a land of Canaan to 
 him. 
 
 O Melibcce, Dcus nobis usee otia fecit ! 
 
 iilius araiTij 
 Su:pc tener, nostris ab ovilibus, imbuet agnus. 
 
 However, although much: has been done to im- 
 prove the situation of Roman Catholics, and, 
 they feel much, for what has been done ; still, it 
 is true, that much, yet, remains undone. It is 
 true, that the Roman Catholic, and his religion, 
 are, still, set round with tests, penalties, and
 
 a Olci ': i i J, 
 
 Vj-W 
 
 prov^riptions ; ; .re still >t !:itcci, and restricted; 
 :,t:\\ insulted, calumniated, and reviled. While 
 :1ivolii's, and honours, unci offices, are open to 
 every form of error; open to the Deist, or 
 the Atheisr, provided their piety will abjure 
 the truth:, ot" popery; to the Catholic, de- 
 cree ;e his conscience will not, basely, abjure 
 w nar. his reason reveres, they are shut, for ever, 
 lie alone is distrusted, and disgraced. Be his 
 loyally, his wisdom. )r his virtue what they may ; 
 in the eye.- ot [in nation, his religion is a higher 
 crime, a just cr cause ot' seclusion from honours, 
 offices, or favours, than either protestant dis- 
 loyally, protcstant ignorance, 01 protestant in- 
 famy. 
 
 Thus men un^odd^d raav to places rise. 
 
 \"o dans r to the church, or state from these ;. 
 i he I'.-.piit op. v i as ids writ of ease. 
 Xo " ui fid ofiice giws him the pretence 
 i o^:;nd the >uh : ect. or defraud the rjriucc. 
 Vv r )i i i. ccui'cy.rv. _ : or iiuci u.scei:ce. tr.av deserve 
 io i::nve; but ,..'> ,..'. : is ptivde_,'d to starve. 
 
 D r : n z x . 
 
 Indeed, there must he a progre: . in t very tiling. 
 [\ is tin a tit re ot' ati habits, changes, and im- 
 emeiits. i he nation lias matte immense 
 otrulci to moderation, in out regard. And there 
 is reason to hope, that Having discovered the 
 impolicy, and inhumanity ot persecuting us, it 
 will, erelong, th-covci the wisdom oi being li- 
 h('],'i to us : will, ere long, di-a'o\er, that the 
 source ot' loyalty, is generosity; the best
 
 228 Toleration. 
 
 source of proselytism, (if it should wish to make 
 us proselytes) reason, and liberality. Mean while, 
 however, we continue to labour under many un- 
 merited restrictions- and there lurks, still brood- 
 ing- in the public mind, a portion of that spirit 
 of intolerance and rancour, to which all our 
 past persecutions owed their origin. 
 
 Neither, (I mention this circumstance, because 
 it is singular) is the spirit of intolerance to po- 
 pery, confined to the members of the legal estab- 
 lishment, to whom alone, it should seem, into- 
 lerance to us could be useful. It extends to every 
 class of sectarism, in this nation: it is even, in 
 general, greater in these, than in the former; for, 
 it is observable, that every further remove from 
 popery, is a further remove from affection to 
 it. I will not pretend to explain the cause of 
 the phenomenon; yet, certain it is, that while 
 the Protestant and Presbyterian; the Methodist 
 and Quaker ; the Anabaptist and Independant, 
 are divided from each other in their tenets, more 
 widely, in some cases, than they are from the 
 Church of Rome; in their common hatred of 
 popery they are united ; they forget their own 
 disunion; or rather ; such is the effect of religi- 
 ous*animosity, and prejudice against us, they con- 
 vert their very disunion, into a band of mutual 
 union and attachment. The hatred of popery is 
 the rallying point of modern heresy. Were we 
 to look only for precedents of this conduct, we 
 nnght find them numerous enough, in the annals 
 of ages past. It was so, Tertullian mentions, 
 among the heretics of his time. " Schisma est uni-
 
 Toleration. 2p 
 
 tas ipsis. * M Division is the source of union, among 
 heretics. If we seek for the cause, although I do 
 not pretend to point it out, exactly ; I would 
 guess, that it is similar to that, which prompted 
 paganism to hate Christianity. The Catholic 
 condemns heresy ; therefore heresy indignant, 
 condemns and abhors the Catholic. 
 
 I am aware, that it may, possibly, he observed, 
 that what I have said, respecting toleration, might 
 appear to come mighty well, from an advocate 
 for toleration. But ; that a Papist should plead 
 for liberty of faith, who dees not grant it ; or cen- 
 sure intolerance, while he professes intolerance, 
 as a dogma of his creed ! surely, this is neither 
 wise, nor modest. ' ; -Merely because he is in- 
 tolerant, he deserves to be treated intolerantly." 
 
 In reply to these observations, I remark, that 
 the Protestant, who makes them, is neither ac- 
 quainted with the principles of Papists, nor with 
 his own; neither with the nature of popish into- 
 lerance, nor with the fundamental maxim of the 
 protestant reformation. As for popish into- 
 lerance; it is true, that the Papist is intolerant. 
 But, it is, also, true, that intolerance is neither 
 an enemy to charity, nor a violation of benevo- 
 lence : it is neither persecution, nor harshness, 
 nor injustice. The Catholic believes, as I have 
 often remarked before, that his religion is divine, 
 and indivisible; consequently, whatever is in 
 contradiction to it, he believes, is impious, erro- 
 neous, or false; and, therefore, justly deserving 
 
 * Apologet.
 
 230 Toleration, 
 
 condemnation. lie believes, that revelation Is 
 the essential rule of his religious faith, proposed to 
 him by the Eternal Wisdom, and imposed upon 
 him by the divine authority ; therefore he regards 
 all erroneous explanations of it, as fictions, at 
 best, which insult the Legislator, who dictated it ; 
 and considers all wilful deviations from it, as acts 
 of disobedience to the power, which laid it on 
 mankind. Catholic intolerance, in this point of 
 view, is nothing bur the intolerance of truth to 
 error: the irreconciliation of the Divine Wisdom, 
 with human folly; the incompatibility of holi- 
 ness, with impiety. Indeed, it' it be impossible to 
 reconcile error with truth; or, if the intolerance 
 of error, be a necessary property of truth, why is 
 it not, too, the property of the true religion : In 
 effect ; whoever conceives, that tire true religion, 
 may bereeoneiled with error, absurdly conceives, 
 that truth can cease to be divine ; he divides 
 Christ; and makes Christianity a hideous com- 
 pound of light and darkness; of truths and fa- 
 bles ; of wisdom and folly. 
 
 i have compared these principles, with those, 
 which were taught by the first preachers of the 
 christian institute. I have, also, compared the 
 conduct of the Catholic Church, with the con- 
 duct of these men, whose actions form an unexc( p- 
 tionable rule for imitation. I found, that the 
 principles of both are alike : and I discovered, 
 that, the hated intolerance of the Catholic 
 Church, as it has been exercised, of late, is but 
 a mild, and softened repetition of the intolerance, 
 which was exerted by the apostles. I refer the
 
 j ultra? ten. 
 
 2S1 
 
 reader to their wricimrs. In his Lpistle to the 
 
 " // any an- 
 
 rn, 
 
 uauaus, 
 
 w, m ,,i 
 
 Sll'.'i u) liiC.'.), 
 
 .u ounce to ijou LU'i) thing contrary to what I have 
 preached, let nun be accursed* .'" And, he adds 
 the reason ; iC Because, zchat I hare preached to 
 you. I did not receive, or learn J rom man, but jrom 
 the revelation of Jesus Christy." The apostle 
 confide red the religion of Jesus Christ, as divine ; 
 end therefore, all deviation from it, he regarded, 
 mid treated, as an act of disobedience to the au- 
 thority, which had dictated it. These principles 
 were common to all the apostles ; and, actuated 
 by them, we rind these mild disciples of the most 
 beneficent .M^icy, exercising power; inflicting 
 punishments, and issuing censures, with a degree 
 erf severity, and vigour, with which modern into- 
 lerance is unacquainted. Saint Paul delivered up 
 Jlomcnaras and Alexander to Satan, because they 
 had j alien into error *. Saint John forbids the 
 Christians to receive ih.e h.eretic, into their houses, 
 or even to salute him. " If any man come unio 
 you, and bring n:it tnis doctrine xcith him, receive 
 hun not in to year houses : do not tve>> salute hini^d' 
 There is, then, an intolerance, winch is neither a 
 spirit of persecution nor hardiness : an intolerance, 
 which may reside in the bosom of mildness and 
 liberality; which is the result of charity itself. 
 Tor, not even the rwrnemm/t of liberality, if it 
 still venerate the sa.icd text, \.i ; i denv, that the 
 
 apcstics acted une.er the illicit mm 
 
 ses 
 
 )1 cha- 
 
 Gm 
 
 G?.l. 
 
 T;m 
 
 . ?. ]o}r:i :.
 
 252 Toleration. 
 
 rity ; and, that their conduct, as well as their 
 principles, was the effect of inspiration. 
 
 Behold, precisely, the nature of the only into- 
 lerance, which the Catholic professes, as a dog- 
 ma, or appendage to his faith. His principles 
 are those of the apostles ; and his conduct, when 
 he follows his principles, is a gentle repetition of 
 what they sanctioned by their example. Catholic 
 intolerance, in speculation, is a steadiness of be- 
 lief, and a refusal to compound with error. In 
 practice, it is the care, with which the shepherd 
 attends his flock; and the vigilance, by which he 
 withholds contagion from it. For, if truth be a 
 deposit, that is worth preserving, reason must ap- 
 prove the industry, that places barriers around it : 
 if error be a guilty thing, piety must applaud the 
 means, that preserve the public from it. How 
 different are these maxims, from those of persecu- 
 tion and injustice ! 
 
 But, suppose now, the case, that the church is, 
 actually called upon to restrain the artifices of 
 error, and to awe its contagion from her chil- 
 dren. I do not say, that the method, which on 
 such occasions, she employs, may not excite the 
 censure of the guilty ; but, they are such, as 
 wisdom will allow, the guilty themselves make 
 necessary. On such occasions, the first method, 
 which the church employs to stay the growing 
 evil, are prayers, persuasions, and entreaties ; the 
 arts of a fond parent, endeavouring to prevent the 
 misfortunes of her children. If her prayers, per- 
 suasion, and entreaties prove ineffectual; and error
 
 Toleration. 
 
 ~ V J 
 
 still boldly persist to diffuse its poison ; she raises 
 tile voice of her authority, and commands the 
 daring innovator to desist : she threatens ; and. 
 holds forth the terrible consequence of his refusal. 
 Then, indeed ; but then only ; when both her 
 benevolence, and authority have been contemned ; 
 when every other argument has proved vain; and 
 the security- of the (lock demands the awful expe- 
 dient, she orders him to quit her fold ; and. reluc- 
 tantly, pronounces the anathema, which shuts him 
 out. -This is the utmost extent of catholic intole- 
 rance ; this the nature of the conduct, which the 
 church observed in regard of Luther, and of al- 
 most every other heretic. Whoever believes, that 
 any other kind of intolerance is necessary, or ap- 
 proves any other mode of conduct, believes and 
 approves, what the catholic religion neither 
 teaches, nor recommends. 
 
 The principles, upon which the church always 
 acts, when she punishes the corrupters of her 
 doctrines, or secludes them from her pale, are 
 similar to those, upon which states, and civil go- 
 vernments, chastise the wicked ; or banish from 
 their society, the disturbers of public harmony. 
 The principles, indeed, in the case of the church, 
 should appear more powerful, than in that of civil 
 governments; because the interests of our future 
 stat'-', which are intimately blended with the truths 
 of revelation, are of higher consequence, than 
 those of this life. And yet, in any we!! regu- 
 lated state, or under any established government, 
 let sedition attempt to court allegiance from its 
 duty ; let it endeavour to sow in the public mind 
 
 Ilh
 
 34 Toleration. 
 
 the seeds of anarchy ; let it labour to undermine 
 the constitution; who is there, that in such 
 eases, would say, that the government would act 
 unwisely, if. to stop the spreading evil, it would 
 punish the seditious ; or expel the rebellious from 
 its bosom ? Moderation itself would approve such 
 conduct. If there be aught severe annexed to it; 
 the cause of the severity is in him, who wilfully 
 provokes it: it is in the perversity of the men, 
 who first proclaim hostilities, and in the obsti- 
 nacy, with which they boldly persist in them. 
 Severity, in these circumstances, is, in reality, 
 the love of peace, and zeal for the public happi- 
 ness. However, not the greatest severity of the 
 church, is similar to that or" civil governments. 
 There is nothing cruel in her censures ; nothing- 
 bloody in her punishments. She dees not wield 
 the sword of human justice ; nor permit her mi- 
 nisters to stain their hands in the blood of the 
 most impious heretic, that ever vilified the truth. 
 Whenever the urgency of general danger compels 
 her to launch the awful thunders of her autho- 
 rity ; she holds them long suspended, before she 
 does it : before she does it, she entreats the offen- 
 der to spare her the affliction of being severe ; 
 and when the thunders are just poised to be hurl- 
 ed, she points out to him the method to avoid 
 them . when fallen, she recalls them, the moment, 
 that he revokes his cirors. But after all, give 
 them then fuil effect; what is that effect, in this 
 life, which even delicacy can call cruel? They 
 neither affec t life, liberty, nor property. The 
 power of the eiiureh is spiritual ; and the punish-
 
 Toleration. 
 
 )lo5 
 
 ments, which she employs, arc, like her authoritv, 
 spiritual only. They consist, in depriving the 
 guilty of th ioC graces and privileges, of which 
 she is the depository ; or in prohibiting the exer- 
 cise of tli >se functions, which are subject to her 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 I own, that it is unhappily too true, that a 
 multitude of the professors of the religion ol Ro- 
 man Catholics, have not always adhered to these 
 gentle maxims : I own, that they have deviated, 
 very greatly, from them. But experience knows, 
 and moderation will allow it ; the professors of 
 the true religion, under the sacred mantle of re- 
 ligion ; and in the insulted name of religion ; 
 have committed crimes, and perpetrated horrors, 
 which religion execrated. Religion has frequent- 
 ly been made, the tool of interest ; the instru- 
 ment of ambition ; and the plaything of every 
 passion. The ministers of religion have, often, 
 had the weaknesses, or possessed the same pas- 
 sions, as other men : and often, like oilier men, 
 have yielded to them : or else, mi -taking the 
 suggestions of their weakness, or the dictates of 
 their passions, tor the language of reason and 
 piety, have rushed into excesses, over which rea- 
 son, and true piety base wept. i)ut, then; 
 whenever they acted thus ; whenever, although 
 impelled by upright motives, they acted wrong ; 
 when they persecuted, or applauded persecution, 
 they ceased to act, as the representatives ot the 
 catholic u ligion. The}' acted, as unauthorized 
 individuals. Neither the catholic religion is an- 
 swerable for their excesses ; nor is tile Catholic 
 
 Hh2
 
 236 Toleration: 
 
 amenable to justice for their crimes. No ; when- 
 ever Pope, or Primate, transgressed the bounda- 
 ries of moderation, they did it, not under the 
 guidance of any catholic principle; but under 
 the direction of their own passions, or of the 
 passions of other men. When even they defended 
 religion, as they conceived , at the expence of 
 humanity, they violated the religion, which 
 they professed to defend : they acted, as religious 
 tyrants, whom catholicity condemns ; or, as igno- 
 rant fanatics, whom it equally abhors. At all 
 events ; themselves alone are answerable, for 
 their conduct. 
 
 But, if I were, now, to ask, upon what princi- 
 ple the Protestant is intolerant; or by what rule, 
 he can attempt to restrict the religion of Roman 
 Catholics ; I see nothing, that his reason could 
 reply to satisfy the question. Toleration is the 
 very essence of protestantism : all are allowed to 
 examine, to discuss, to judge ; and, of course, 
 else the examination and discussion would be 
 fruitless, to decide for themselves. Therefore, to 
 refuse the Catholic this privilege, or rather this 
 right, if it be not a breach of protectant ortho- 
 doxy, it is, at least, the combat of protectant 
 prejudice, against protestaut principle. I think, 
 it is unorthodox. But, be that as it may ; it is a 
 circumstance, which is not novel in the rolls of 
 history, or in the annals of human passions : Ave 
 often find the spirit of an institution, and the spi- 
 rit of its partisans, extremely different things. 
 Inconsistency is a common appendage to huma- 
 nity: and, perhaps, it is the best apology, which
 
 Toleration. 237 
 
 the Protestant could offer for his intolerance. - 
 Certain this is ; that nothing can- differ, more 
 v/idely, from each other, than the maxims of 
 protestantism, and the conduct of Protestants. 
 This made Rousseau remark, that protestantism 
 is the most inconsequent of all the sects of Chris- 
 tianity. " De toutes les sectes (hi Christianisme, 
 la Lutherienne me paroit la plus inconsequente; 
 elle reimie contre ellc seule, toutes les objections, 
 qu'elles se font 1'une a Pautre. Elle est, en par- 
 ticulier, intolerante, comme PEglise Ptomaine. 
 Mais ie grand argument de celle-ci lui manque. 
 Elle est intolerante. sans scavoir pourquoi* ." 
 
 In order to obviate, or silence the imputation 
 of contradiction ; or to justify the persecutions, 
 which protestantism has enforced, and the into- 
 lerance, which it still retains, against the profes- 
 sors of the catholic religion; the wisest, or only 
 arguments would be: that the security of the 
 state; the nature of our principles, or the tenor 
 of our conduct, rendered these contradictions ne- 
 cessary. 1 will amwer each of these argu- 
 ments, separately; although a single reflection 
 might suffice to shew their fallacy. We have 
 been persecuted, durhr." *>ome of the most flou- 
 rishing epochs of our history ; when the state, in 
 the midst of tranquillity, hud ne cher foreign, nor 
 domestic enemy to dread. Multitudes have been 
 put to death, who were i either accused, nor sus- 
 pected of disloyally, .a ii:;ii1ect':on ; whose sole 
 crime, was their religion : uho;e sole impeach-
 
 238 Toleration. 
 
 ment was their belief. Are we not still, indeed. 
 restricted, although the state entertains no appre- 
 hension of insecurity from us ; although it is sa- 
 tisfied, both of the honesty of our principles, and 
 the loyalty of our conduct? Let moderation 
 look into the history of this country ; it will dis- 
 cover, that the hatred of popery, and Papists, 
 have been, since the ajra of the reformation, one 
 of the most prominent features, in the character 
 of its inhabitants ; it will find, that it was the zeal 
 and bigotry of the protestant pastors, that, most 
 fervently, invoked persecution, on us : that, it 
 was protestant intolerance, not protestant policy ; 
 protestant illiberality, not protestant wisdom, 
 that condemned our holy predecessors to the gal- 
 lows. 
 
 But, I come to our principles ; that is, to those 
 principles, which alone have any relation to the 
 state. They are these. We revere our Sovereign, 
 be his religion what it may, as the vicegerent of 
 the King of Heaven; and, independent of the 
 nature of all the various systems of right, we 
 consider the obligation of submission, and 
 obedience to him, as a strict, and formal in- 
 junction of our religion. With St. Paul, Ave 
 profess, that il lie who resist cth power, resist- 
 eth the ordinance of God*." Accordingly; wt 
 submit, not through fear of punishment, but as the 
 same apostle advises, from a principle of consci- 
 ence. We admit, and make the plainest distinc- 
 tions; between the privileges of the church, and 
 
 * Rom. xiii.
 
 Toleration. 
 
 39 
 
 the prerogatives of the state : between the power 
 .of the Pon ti if, and the authority of the Monarch. 
 We own both to be of a nature entirely distinct, 
 and independent on each other : so that neither 
 all the privileges of the church, nor all the power 
 of the Pontiff, can, in any ease, detach us from 
 the obligations, which we owe to the state ; nor 
 absolve us, from the allegiance, which is duet to 
 our lawful Sovereign. We admit no temporal ju- 
 risdiction of our Popes, beyond the limits of their 
 own territories ; and we should regard their most 
 slender, if illegal, interference, in the civil rights, 
 and regulations of states, sovereigns, and subjects, 
 as a deviation from the nature of their own 
 power, and a departure from the maxims of our 
 religion. Such arc the principles of Roman Ca- 
 tholics. We say anathema, to him, who rejects 
 them. 
 
 Although these be the tenets of the religion of 
 
 Roman Catholics, sanctioned by public autho- 
 rity, and stamped with public authenticity ; 
 consequently, sufficient to silence the imputa- 
 tions of malevolence ; or to satisfy states, that 
 their security is not endangered by our most 
 perfect emancipation ; still, in this country, to 
 our profession of these tenets, we have added the 
 .solemn testimony of an oath, that ne sincerely, and 
 i)i our hearts, believe t hem. The chain, thus form- 
 ed by our tenets, and linked to so sacred an en- 
 gagement, ought, surely, to appear suiheiently 
 strong, I do not say, to hold us down to our 
 duty : but to calm the apprehensions of the most 
 suspicious. However, yet further; we have net
 
 340 Toleration. 
 
 only, most unequivocally, professed, and awfully 
 pledged our allegiance to our sovereign ; we have, 
 with equal solemnity, testified our abhorrence 
 of every horrid doctrine, which ignorance, and 
 malice, had, with mischievous industry, so long, 
 imputed to us. We have sworn too, that, should 
 the protection of our monarch, or the defence of 
 our country, demand our efforts, we will stand 
 forward to assist, and shield them, at the expence 
 of our property ; and with the sacrifice of our lives. 
 Catholic allegiance is, therefore, more forcibly 
 expressed, and more powerfully secured, than that 
 of any other denomination of Christians, or class 
 of British subjects. We can say to our country- 
 men, what Tertullian once said to the Pagans ; 
 " Our Sovereign is more ours, than yours.''' 
 Ncster magis Csssar, quam vester. 
 
 I neither impeach the loyalty of any portion of 
 his majesty's subjects, nor will I make a compa- 
 rison of their principles with ours ; but whoever 
 is conversant, in the writings of a multitude of 
 political, and moral writers, in this country ; 
 will own, that there is a latitude in their opi- 
 nions, respecting the nature of civil governments, 
 and the obligations of the subject, widely dif- 
 ferent from those, winch the Roman Catholic 
 professes. While the above writers consider go- 
 vernments, as mere human institutions; we re- 
 spect them, as the ordinances of God : while they 
 regard the Sovereign, as the mere agent, and 
 representative of the people ; we revere him, as 
 the instrument, and the image of the Lord of 
 heaven : while they inculcate obedience, as a
 
 Toleration. 41 
 
 matter of expedience; we enforce it, as a religi- 
 ous obligation. In short, as far as principles are 
 the guardians of a throne ; the principles of Ro- 
 man Catholics are a better guarantee to it, than 
 those of any of the countless sects of the re- 
 formation. And, bound as we are, by our prin- 
 ciples, with the additional chain of our oath; I 
 confidently repeat it; "Our sovereign is more 
 <>ur sovereign, than the sovereign of any other class 
 of British subjects.''' Noster majis Ccesar, quam 
 vestcr. 
 
 As for the conduct of Roman Catholics ; it 
 was. where the right of succession was evident, 
 always, strictly, in unison with their principles. 
 But ; before I present any proofs of this, let me 
 ask; whether, if they had not been always, true 
 to their principles of allegiance, common mo- 
 deration would wonder at it ? The Roman Catho- 
 lics of this nation, during; the loim* course of 
 above two hundred years, were persecuted, re- 
 stricted, insulted, debased, and injured. What 
 wonder, therefore, if they had laboured to throw 
 off a yoke, which gailed them ' 
 
 During this lion id interval, the Catholic, 
 nick-named the Papist, was the victim of every 
 artful minister's designs ; the butt of every en- 
 thusiast s fanaticism. If avarice sought for 
 wealth; the Papist was the object devoted tosa- 
 
 tisfv its avidity : if cruelty thirsted for blood; 
 
 the Papist was the sacrifice, that was immolated 
 
 to glut its cravings: if' ambition aspired to 
 
 popularity; to degrade the Papist, was the sur- 
 
 I i
 
 242 
 
 Toleration. 
 
 est method of attaining it: if bigotry aimed, 
 
 at preferment ; or ignorance, at the reputation of 
 sanctity, to insr.lt the Papist was the medium of 
 
 success :- if even error, or infidelity wished 
 
 for the fame of orthodoxy; to misrepresent the 
 Papist was the unfailing criterion that evinced 
 it. During the whole series of this long interval, 
 the only comforts, which the Papist was permitted 
 to enjoy, were the occasional pauses of persecu- 
 tion : temporary truces, which were necessary, 
 that cruelty might recover breath. But, never 
 had he one motive, save that of his duty, to ani- 
 mate his loyalty ; never one inducement, save that 
 of obedience to his religion, to prompt him to 
 love his country. What room is there, then, for 
 surprise, if thus circumstanced, lie had not proved 
 loyal? Both the language of duty, and the voice 
 of religion,, often, sound feeble, and languid, 
 where nature frets, under the scourge of injus- 
 tice ; or when the louder calls of passion stimu- 
 late revenge. Only treat a man as an enemy, it is 
 the natural mode of making him an enemv : treat 
 him as disloyal, it is the way to render him dis- 
 loyal, lint ; when, to tins mode of treatment, 
 there is added, every circumstance, lhat can pro- 
 voke, injure, and degrade ; disloyalty under such 
 aggravations, becomes, as much the dietate of 
 nature, and of the temper of the human consti- 
 tution; as loyalty, under the opposite treatment 
 of kindness, and benevolence, becomes the result 
 of gratitude, and interest. Philosophy; if philo- 
 sophy only v/t'YC the judge ; would attribute the 
 miselnef, which arose from the conduct of the
 
 Toleration, 
 
 '243 
 
 disloyal, thus rendered dishy a! ; not to the men 
 themselves ; but to the injustice, or bigotry, 
 which goaded them into it. And thus, the blame 
 of catholic disloyalty would be brand to repose, 
 on protectant injustice. 
 
 iu;t; it. was not thus. The Catholic, under all 
 the tempting circumstances, which 1 have enu- 
 merated, was not disloyal to any one of his per- 
 secuting sovereigns, whose claim to the crown 
 of these kingdoms was manifest, and undisputed. 
 He obeyed with equal fidelity; and fought, with 
 equal loyalty, for the prince, who persecuted 
 him, us he had ever done, for the monarchs of 
 his own religion. I will not take an extensive 
 review of the past conduct ot' Roman Catholics. 
 The narrowness of my plan, renders that im- 
 practicable. I will only call back to recollec- 
 tion, a few of the many epochs, that were trying 
 to their principles, and loyalty.- The first shall 
 be the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The intole- 
 rance of Elizabeth, and the cruelty of her mi- 
 nisters to the professors of our religion, stand 
 recorded in our annals, in characters of blood. 
 The severity of their persecution ; the penalties, 
 proscriptions, confiscations, mulcts, imprison- 
 ments, banishments, racks, tortures, :n\d execu- 
 tions, which stained that period, put it, almost, on 
 a level, with the sanguinary reigns of the early per- 
 secutors of Christianity. Still ; under the pres- 
 sure of all these hardships, the Catholics were 
 loyal; and Elizabeth herself had the generosity 
 to acknowledge it. They were loyal, spite of 
 their own interests : spite of the ease, with which 
 
 I i 2
 
 ^44 Toleration. 
 
 they might, once, have dethroned her : spite of 
 the excommunication, which the Pope had issued 
 out against her ; and the release, which he had 
 affected to grant them from obedience to her 
 authority. Never, did the prospects, which some- 
 times presented themselves of improving their 
 situation, tempt them from their duty ; not even 
 the flattering prospect of re-establishing their be- 
 loved religion, when the invincible armament of 
 Philip seemed to bring triumph to their cause. 
 They exhibited proofs of fidelity, of which his- 
 tory has few examples. They defended a so- 
 vereign, who persecuted them ; against men, 
 whose object was to relieve them : fought for a 
 princess, who repaid their loyalty with disgrace ; 
 against invaders who, would have rewarded their 
 disloyalty with honours. They exhibited the 
 phenomenon of the slave combating, for his 
 chains ; the captive, for his prison ; the con- 
 demned, for his gibbet.- But; Elizabeth was their 
 lawful sovereign : that was enough. 
 
 The next epoch, to which I refer, is that of 
 the great rebellion ; an epoch, perhaps, the most 
 
 awful in the annals of this nation. It is well 
 
 known, that Charles, like his protectant prede- 
 cessors, had persecuted the Catholics; and though 
 naturally mild and humane, yet, teazed by the 
 importunities of his bigoted subjects, had en- 
 forced with great severity, all the sanguinary 
 laws, which former reigns had enacted against 
 them. Some were put to death ; many were im- 
 prisoned, and exiled ; all were oppressed. How- 
 ever, this mattered little; unjust as Charles was
 
 Toleration, 245 
 
 to them, still lie was their sovereign ; and urged 
 by this motive alone; forgetful of their own 
 sufferings, and of his ingratitude, they crowded, 
 with more than loyal impatience, round his 
 standard; they lavished their riches in his cause ; 
 and multitudes of them fell, nobly, in his de- 
 fence. Their conduct, during this great event, 
 stands a striking monument of rare fidelity : it 
 has extorted the reluctant tribute of praise, even 
 from the partiality of our enemies. 
 
 The devotion of Roman Catholics to the cause 
 of Charles the Second, who, till the close of his 
 life, was both a Protestant, and a persecutor, 
 was similar to that, with which they had fought 
 for his royal father. The zeal, with which they 
 hastened to his support ; the numbers, who fell 
 in the battle of Worcester; the pious care, with 
 which they assisted him in his dangers; and kept 
 seciet, in spite of the temptation of great re- 
 wards, the places of his concealment; these are 
 examples, which only the most heroic loyalty is 
 capable of exhibiting.- 1 might detail man}- in- 
 stances of catholic fidelity, on other occasions, 
 and at other periods: bui whoever calls it in 
 question, until the eera of the revolution, must 
 be, grossly, ignorant of the history of his own 
 country. 
 
 At the ana; then, of the revolution, it ;s true, 
 that the great bodv of Ren. an Catholics die. not 
 applaud the sudden change : nor did their steadier 
 principles prompt them to transfer their attach- 
 ments from a line of moiiarchs, whom they had 
 long revered, to a succession, which seemed to
 
 24-G Toleration. 
 
 intrude itself, upon them. It is true, that at that 
 period, and for sonic years after, their ill-fated, 
 and ill-timed loyalty remained, unhappily, de- 
 voted to a cause, which Providence did not pro- 
 tect. I will neither defend, nor excuse their 
 obstinacy: but it were easy, I think, to offer 
 something, by way oi' an apology. There is 
 much, in their conduct, which moderation will 
 forgive; and something even, which wisdom 
 will admire. 
 
 The sera, when William's good fortune placed 
 him on the throne of James, should be considered, 
 in the same point of view, with every other re- 
 volution ; as an epoch of violence, contest, per- 
 plexity, and doubt; as a storm, which, like those 
 of nature, could neither be unattended by some 
 unhappy accidents; nor, possibly, subside, at 
 once. Be the cause what it may, which places a 
 new sovereign, upon an ancient and hereditary 
 throne; it cannot be supposed, so various are 
 the shades in the characters of men; so various 
 their interests, their principles, and inclinations, 
 that all will, instantly, exult in the novelty; 
 that all will own its justice; discover its pro- 
 priety; or be gratified with the manners of the 
 mail, who comes to rule them. The Catholics 
 had several peculiar motives to regret the ab- 
 dication of James. Persecution, during his short 
 reign, had paused : they had begun to taste, 
 like other subjects, the comforts of liberty; they 
 felt the happiness of practising unmolested the 
 ditties of religion ; and they beheld before them 
 the prospect of honours, and preferment. These
 
 Toleration. "247 
 
 circumstances, very naturally, tended to increase 
 their attachment. However; it Mas not upon 
 these circumstances, that the loyalty of Roman. 
 Catholics to James, and Ins descendants, was 
 bottomed. The loyalty of Roman Catholics to 
 the unfortunate house of Stuart had, for its real 
 foundation, those political principles, which all 
 the wisdom and all the learning* of the nation 
 had, for ages hefore, held sacred, and inviolable. 
 It is well known, that the great, and fundamental 
 principles, which lead always regulated the claims 
 of our princes to the throne of tins kingdom, 
 were t'ne-e; "that the succession is hereditary; 
 and that the crown shall ahcaj/s devolve, to ivhc- 
 tver is heir to if. in the. direct cud lineal order of 
 descent." These maxims weie sanctioned by what- 
 ever is most expressive in Common Taw; best 
 legalized by constitutional custom ; or binding 
 by ih;, rule of universal precedent. They had 
 subsisted, as the basis of our constitution, almost 
 nine lu.udiYil \ cars, from the union of the Hen- 
 
 1 
 
 tarcln ; and above six hundred, from the ana of 
 
 the Conquest. Now, it is a circumstance, as 
 
 undeniable, n :., above n a'xims ; that the right 
 of James to the crown, wa^ stiictly hereditary, 
 and attended by every title, which law, custom, 
 or precedent, leqmKo: it was directly lineal; 
 thcivi ore directly eonstiiutional. The partisans 
 
 of Vv'uliam, pieteuded not to contest it. The 
 
 revolution consequently, vuiitli deprived him of 
 it, and established Wiiiiam in his stead, as it was 
 a deviation from the order of inheritance, was a 
 deviation from the orciir of the constitution; as
 
 248 Toleration. 
 
 it was a deviation from the direct line of out* 
 ancient monarchs, it was a direct deviation from 
 the laws, customs, and precedents, which habit 
 had instructed men to respect. At this period, 
 neither the voice of the laws ; nor the wisdom of 
 the politician ; nor the learning of the universi- 
 ties, had suggested the distinction, between such 
 deviation from the constitution, and the breach 
 of the constitution. It was, in effect, the mis- 
 fortune of the Roman Catholics to conceive it, a 
 breach of the constitution. They conceived, that 
 as James was the only lineal heir, he was the only 
 constitutional heir; and that having been ac- 
 knowledged, as their lawful monarch, he could 
 not cease, unless by voluntary resignation, to 
 continue their lawful monarch. All this, under 
 existing circumstances, and the prevailing no- 
 tions of right, was a consequence, too easily, 
 deducible, and, unfortunately, too easily de- 
 duced. The abdication, by which James for- 
 feited his title, was considered as a mere tempo- 
 rary retreat, the effect of violence, and the dic- 
 tate of necessity. Neither, indeed, were the Ca- 
 tholics singular in these ideas. The same ideas 
 divided half the subjects of the kingdom: they 
 produced a schism in the protestant church ; at 
 the head of which, were not only many of the 
 most eminent members of our universities, but 
 nine of the most learned and virtuous on the 
 bench of bishops : the multitude of protestant 
 nonjurors, was countless : and in Scotland, hardly 
 was there a voice, that was heard to declare for 
 the claims of William. Thus; situated, as Ca-
 
 Toleration. ~-\'J ( 
 
 (.holies were, at this perplexing- period; sur- 
 rounded by the laws, and customs, which pre- 
 ceding ages had hoiden sacred; beholding Pro- 
 testants refuse their allegiance to a Protestant 
 monarch; attached by prejudice, interest, and 
 inclination to the fugitive prince; who can won- 
 der, that the new order of things did not find 
 them, its advocates, or promoters? Judging. 
 from the letter of the constitution, they believed 
 James their sovereign; and from the principles 
 of allegiance, which is due to a sovereign, they 
 thought it criminal to refuse him their assistance. 
 Thus, their fault was in their ignorance, rather, 
 than in their will. They did not,- as they should 
 have done, distinguish between the letter of the 
 constitution, and the spirit of the constitution. 
 While the former favoured James, the latter ex- 
 cluded him from the throne. But then, as I ob~ 
 served ; this distinction, too, was, yet, a problem, 
 which nothing, in our laws; nothing, in the 
 varied scenes of our history; nothing, in the 
 boldest evagations of our polities, appeared either 
 to establish, or admit. The Catholics gave their 
 allegiance to James, for the same reason, they 
 supposed, as they had given it, to preceding 
 princes ; for the same motive, which rendered 
 them faithful, even to their mo,i sanguinary per- 
 secutors. It was, because they conceived him to 
 be their lawful sovereign. Such was their steady 
 attachment to this principle, that had James been 
 the catholic invader, and William their protest- 
 ant, and hereditary monarch, they would have 
 defended the protectant and hereditary monarch,
 
 ^>50 Toleration. 
 
 against the catholic invader. Thus had they 
 acted, on previous occasions; and thus, front 
 the nature of their political principles, they would 
 have acted again. They defended "James, not as 
 a catholic prince; but as an hereditary, con- 
 stitutional, and, as they conceived, legal prince. 
 However, after all; whatever may have been 
 the errors, or the faults of the Roman Catholics, 
 either at the period of the revolution, or for some 
 time subsequent to it, the Roman Catholics of 
 the present day are not answerable for either. 
 The errors and faults of our forefathers were their 
 own. They did not ; they could not, transfer 
 them, like original sin, to their posterity. We 
 acknowledge no original sin, but that of Adam : 
 and the man, whose malevolence still presses 
 their faults upon us, their descendants, commits 
 p u n act of injustice, which his reason, and religion 
 
 reprobate. But, thank God, for it! the whole 
 
 problem is solved, whose obscurity was the cause 
 of all the errors of our forefathers. The deviation 
 from the rule of the constitution, has been proved 
 constitutional ; the claim of our present monarehs 
 has been acknowledged ; and the Roman Catho- 
 lics have unanimously, and cheerfully transferred 
 the devotion, which marked their loyalty to the 
 house of the Stuarts, to the illustrious house of 
 Hanover. We have, even, in order to calm tin 
 apprehensions of the timid, and the prejudiced, 
 solemnly appealed to God, to our country, and. 
 to the world, to witness, the sincerity of our ac- 
 knowledgment, and the steadiness of our loyalty,
 
 Toleration. 251 
 
 For manv years previous to this test or' our 
 fidelity, the nation had been convinced of the 
 lovalty of Roman Catholics ; and the wisdom and 
 justice of multitudes had felt the propriety of 
 
 rewarding it. Since that period; I do not 
 
 hesitate to assert it; there has not occurred one, 
 single, solitary, circumstance, which, I do not 
 say. was calculated to excite, or revive the sus- 
 picion of our disloyalty : there has not occurred 
 one, single solitary, circumstance, that has not, 
 striking!}', evinced our loyalty, patriotism, and 
 affection. Here, then, if faults are not immor- 
 tal ; the faults of our ancestors cease to be im- 
 putable to us ; and loyal, faithful and patriotic, 
 as we are, although the liberality of the state may 
 not deem it prudent to reward our patriotism , 
 the liberality, at least, of the public should shut 
 their ears, to the insinuations which spleen and 
 bigotry are still pleased, sometimes, to pour out 
 against us. 
 
 I do not know, whether it be wise to take 
 notice of this circumstance, or not. Notwith- 
 standing the general conviction of our loyalty; 
 in the very teeth of facts, which render it incon- 
 trovertible; there have, lately, risen up a few 
 writers, who by hints dark as their o^vn charac- 
 ters, have insinuated ; or by imputations malevo- 
 lent as their tempers, have asserted, that "' our 
 loyalty is precarious; that our attachment is only 
 artifice; and our allegiance policy." Ir is true; 
 the government is too wi^e to regard the injurious 
 impeachment; the public, too liberal to believe 
 it; and the prejudiced themselves, too well in- 
 
 K k :
 
 i^O! 
 
 Toleration. 
 
 formed to conceive it just As for the Catholic; 
 he contemns it, as the impotent attempt of ma- 
 lice. Malice, it, surely, must be; for, what, 
 more properly, can deserve that name, than an 
 accusation, which makes us guilty, amid the 
 clearest proofs of innocence ; disloyal, in face of 
 the demonstration of our loyalty ; which provokes 
 real, and present punishment, for what is, at most, 
 allowed to he problematical, and jutare guilt? 
 These are the arguments of persecutors : they 
 would persecute us, forever; because by them, 
 we shall be, for ever, guilty : they are the very 
 arguments, which the pagan persecutors em- 
 ployed, against Christianity. The Christians, these 
 men said, hold secret, and dangerous doctrines, 
 which render their persecution prudent, and grate- 
 ful to the gods. 
 
 I have stated already what are doctrines of 
 Roman Catholics : they are loyal as the timidity 
 of our government could desire them. Secret 
 doctrines \ve have none, any more than the early 
 Christians. I have stated also, what has long- 
 been the nature of our conduct. The loyalty of 
 our conduct, is the result of the loyalty of our 
 doctrines. But, again, I will bring forward our 
 conduct, in opposition to these dark insinua- 
 tions. Let even ill-will examine it, during the 
 late eventful revolution in France, or during 
 the present awful and interesting contest. Is 
 there aught, which appears to indicate that our 
 loyalty is precarious? Is there aught, which in- 
 dicates, that it is not equally steady, with that of 
 the most faithful motcstant subject? View the
 
 Toleration. 253 
 
 great body of our society; they stand forward 
 with the same zeal, as their protestant neigh- 
 bours, to awe invasion from our shores; to sup- 
 port every burden, which the state imposes, and 
 to encounter every difficulty. There is neither 
 evasion observed, nor murmur heard among them. 
 Our gentry, with impatient patriotism, have, 
 unanimously, tendered their services to their 
 country. In the nax-y, we number an immense 
 multitude of Roman Catholics; and whoever 
 suspected, that any of these skulked, more in- 
 gloriously, from dangers; or fought with less 
 ardor, than the wannest advocate tor protestan- 
 tism. In the army, our numbers are not incon- 
 siderable; and when was it remarked, that the 
 Catholic wields his sword, with less energy; or 
 points his musket, with less truth ; than his 
 protestant fellow soldier? Among the members of 
 our clergy; although it is, perhaps, there, that 
 disloyalty may principally be supposed to lurk; 
 among them, there is nothing can be traced, 
 which is not strikingly expressive of loyalty and 
 attachment. They preach the most unequivocal 
 principles of allegiance, submission, patriotism, 
 and affection. In their prayers, they solicit a 
 long lilr, and a happy reign for our sovereign; 
 and they invoke blessings, upon all the royal 
 offspring. In peace, they implore prosperity; 
 and in war, they call down success to crown their 
 country's efforts. If' there be among us one, 
 whose principles are not such, as I have laid 
 *hem down : or whose conduct does not corre- 
 spond with them ; we disown him for ours; and
 
 254 Toleration. 
 
 did the state expel him from its bosom, his ex- 
 pulsion should have our applause, and approba- 
 tion. 
 
 When, therefore, notwithstanding the loyalty 
 of our doctrines, and the patriotism of our con- 
 duct, it is asserted, that " our loyalty is preca- 
 rious :" or to use the words of Dr. Kennell ; that 
 our " substantial and permanent loyally is not 
 Only precarious, but chimerical" I pause; I am 
 at a loss, to imagine, upon what cause, an as- 
 sertion so apparently groundless can be bottomed. 
 My ingenuity can only imagine, either, that some 
 demon, like that of Socrates, must have dic- 
 tated it; or the strong impulse of a prophetic 
 spirit have suggested it. If neither be the case 
 how much more becoming would it have been; 
 how much more secure for the public, to have 
 Satisfied them with the proofs; or laid before 
 them the causes of our future disloyalty, than 
 wantonly to have impeached us ? If neither be 
 the case, (as I am informed, the Doctor is fre- 
 quently observed, in the public streets, with his 
 finger anxiously pressed upon his pulse) I won- 
 der, whether when lie wrote, or spoke the above 
 words, he laid his finger upon the pulse, or his 
 hand upon his heart. I recommend this obser- 
 vation to him, should he ever repeat them, cither 
 from the pulpit, or the press. 
 
 Tange. pucr, venas; et pone in pectore dextram. 
 
 It is not, most certainly, by any logical de- 
 duction ; not by any of the usual arts, or prin-
 
 Toleration. 
 
 OKf. 
 
 ciplcs of reasoning, that the bold conclusion, or 
 assertion is deduced. The logic, and the prin- 
 ciples, which the great logician must have em- 
 ployed to make it out. were these: " The Catho- 
 lic was always loyal to every prince, whom he 
 acknowledged for his lawful sovereign, although 
 even he persecuted him: therefore, his loyalty is 
 precarious to the prince, who does not persecute 
 him. The Catholic is loyal at present; there- 
 fore his future loyalty is chimerical.' He was 
 loyal, when he had temptations to be disloyal, 
 and dissatisfied; therefore he will be disloyal. 
 when he has motives to be loyal, and contented." 
 I will say nothing of the absurdity of such mode 
 of reasoning. Only, how differently would the 
 wise, and enlightened logician reason: From 
 the monuments of our ancient fidelity ; and the 
 evidences of our present loyalty, he would draw 
 conclusions, directly, the reverse. He would 
 conclude ; that, since we were always loyal to 
 every prince, whom we acknowledged for our 
 sovereign, we should continue loyal to one, to 
 whom we have pledged our loyally, by an oath. 
 Since we were loyal when ill treated, we should 
 he loyal, when well treated : since we were loyal; 
 when loyalty, from the nature of the human pas- 
 sions should appear unnatural ; we should, pro- 
 bably, be loyal, when not only no provocation 
 goads us to rebellion; but when kindness, li~ 
 bcraiity, and gratitude prompts us to love our 
 sovereign. Thu-j reasoned the wisdom of our 
 Senate, when, in the year 17-0. it struck off some 
 ot the links ot^ our fetters, which the bigotry of
 
 aa Toleration, 
 
 the preceding ages had rivetted iipon lis. With- 
 out prying into the mists, and visions of futurity, 
 their philosophy, and their policy, were contented 
 with adopting, as the basis of their legislation, 
 the common data of common sense, common wis- 
 dom, and common justice ; our present prin- 
 
 ples, and our present eonduct. Satisfied, that our 
 principles were loyal ; and that our conduct cor* 
 responded to our principles ; they felt the impro- 
 priety of persecuting us ; they enlarged the 
 sphere of our activity ; and read the proofs of 
 our future loyalty, in the testimony of our pre- 
 sent loyalty. Thus, too, did all reason, who arc 
 wise and moderate, in the nation; and convinced 
 of our allegiance, and fidelity to our reigning 
 princes, by a general peal of approbation, they 
 sanctioned the act, which gave us back the com- 
 mon rights of fellow citizens and fellow men. 
 
 I do not know, whether the men, who call in 
 question our future loyalty, be much versed in 
 the principles of the logic of good sense, or not ; 
 whether they have studied the analogy of oc- 
 currences ; or calculated events, or probabilities, 
 in the nature of the human passions ; but, when 
 they call it in question, I am sure, they take no 
 maxim of common logic ; no principle of usual ana- 
 logy ; no precedent in the general effects of pas- 
 sion, for their prcemisso3. For, whoever will exa- 
 mine, in the annals of states ; or trace in the his- 
 tory of the passions, by what means, loyalty has 
 been soured to disaffection, and duty tempted 
 into rebellion ; he will find, that injustice, and 
 ill treatmeut were their usual sources : that
 
 Toleration. 57 
 
 persecution, penalties and restrictions ; suspicion, 
 frowns, and illiberality Mere the common princi- 
 ples, from which they grew. They arc, indeed, 
 (the heart of the most virtuous man will feel it.) 
 the natural principles, from which they should 
 grow; the proper leaven by which these evils 
 
 should he fermented. "When, therefore, not 
 
 only the injustice of policy has ceased to perse- 
 cute ; and the virulence of fanaticism to do us 
 much injury ; when, not only we are, compara- 
 tively happy, and free ; but, when every religious, 
 and civil cause is done away, which either sus- 
 pended our attachment to the house of Hanover, 
 or kept alive the public apprehension ; when the 
 ancient sources of dissatisfaction are dried up, and 
 itisourinieresttobe loyal; insuch circumstances; 
 and at such a time, to say, that " our loyalty is 
 chimerical '," is an assertion, or prediction, which 
 not only appears improbable and unphilosophical ; 
 it appears ridiculous and absurd ; it looks like 
 ill-will, that invokes fresh misery upon us ; like 
 rancour, that would i't<dd, with relish, on fresh 
 victims of persecution ; or like envy, at least, 
 that pines at the few comforts, which we enjoy. 
 
 But; may not Dr. R., possibly, suspect, 
 
 that the government of this country may, again, 
 be unjust to us; and thus the precariousness of 
 catholic loyalty, repose upon the precarious- 
 ness of its good-will? May he not suspect, 
 that it may tease us into disloyalty ? Although 
 such suspicion is just as well founded, as any 
 other, that fancy can suggest, yet it is, so palpa- 
 bly, unlikely ; it is such a satire upon the justice 
 
 LI
 
 58 Toleration. 
 
 of our government ; such a libel upon its huma- 
 nity and wisdom, that strange and unaccounta- 
 ble, as the notions of Dr. R. may be, I do not 
 suppose, that it is the basis of his prediction; nor 
 the foundation of his fears : if he, really, have 
 any. 
 
 To the multiplicity of these circumstances, 
 then, -which appear to render the loyalty of the 
 Catholic neither precarious, nor chimerical, -hi's 
 past, and present loyalty; his oath ; his profes- 
 sions ; his principles, &c. ; I will add only one 
 other ; that ; to be disloyal, would be, not only, 
 in us, an act of extreme wickedness, but, an act 
 
 of extreme madness, and folly. To be dis- 
 
 lo\ 7 al, we have the good sense, and the instinct to 
 fed it, would be, sillily, to provoke the goodness, 
 and call upon 113 the anger, of the men, who rule 
 us. To be disloyal, would be stopping up the 
 
 fountain, whence all our comforts flow ; and turn- 
 ing away the hand, while it is extended to offer 
 
 favours. To be disloyal, would be our ruin. 
 
 Doctor, we are not madmen. No; we have the 
 wisdom to understand, that our security is de- 
 pendant upon our loyalty ; that to be loyal, is 
 our interest, our gain, our advantage : that, to 
 procure ease, favours, or honours, we must de- 
 serve them; and, that we only can deserve them, 
 by our zeal, fidelity and attachment. It is, there- 
 fore, evident, that the man, who can suspect our 
 future loyalty, must necessarily conceive, that 
 either we, or our posterity, must, hereafter, be- 
 come fools, and heroes lit for Bedlam. 
 
 However; I will now make the supposition.,
 
 Toleration. 
 
 25Q 
 
 that the loyalty of Roman Catholics is really 
 "precarious and chimerical;" let me ask, by 
 what arts, wisdom and true policy would labour 
 
 to secure and reclaim it ? lam sure, they are not 
 those, which the petulance of Dr. R. would seem 
 to recommend. Where men are not composed of 
 the basest ingredients of human nature ; their 
 loyalty, like their love, is under the control of 
 kindness, and moderation. The heart of an En- 
 glishman ; (and the heart of the English Catho- 
 lic is formed of the same stuff, east in the same 
 mould ;) is, peculiarly, susceptible of the fine 
 influences of gratitude, and attachment. The 
 loyalty, therefore, of the subject depends, great- 
 ly, upon the conduct, and the liberality of the 
 prince, and the wisdom of his government. If 
 the prince be beneficent ; his subjects will love 
 him : if his government be wise, moderate and 
 humane; the people will be dutiful, obedient, 
 and contented. It is not natural to imagine, 
 that the throne, which is the seat of goodness, and 
 justice, should be surrounded by disaffection and 
 disloyalty ; or that the sceptre, which awes in- 
 justice from the guiltless, should not be, in re- 
 turn, protected from the insults, or ill designs of 
 the guilty. The prince can have few enemies, 
 whose conduct present no causes of enmity : the 
 state contain t'cw dangerous subjects, when the 
 equity of its administration i*> the source of hem- 
 piness and security. ** Just and moderate go- 
 vernments," Mr. Locke remark-, "are everv 
 "where quiet, every where safe."" " If' men inter 
 Into seditious conspiracies" he had said, before th-. 
 
 L 1 v
 
 60 Toleration, 
 
 above words, " it is not religion inspires them t& 
 it, in their meetings ; but their sufferings, and 
 oppressions, thai make them willing to ease them- 
 selves*." 
 
 These principles are the dictate of wisdom and 
 experience: and if, either heretofore, the Catho- 
 lics were admitted, not to have been loyal ; or if, 
 hereafter, they should become disaffected, it is in 
 the violation of these principles, that wisdom 
 would seek the cause. Let the sovereign treat the 
 Catholic, with justice ; and the Catholic will re- 
 spect him. Let him treat him with moderation, 
 he will revere him. Let him treat him with kind- 
 ness, he will love him. If the sovereign make 
 the Catholic happy; the Catholic, like other 
 men, has not only the gratitude to feel for good- 
 ness ; he has the instinct, not to destroy the fabric 
 of his own comforts. His very passions are inte- 
 rested in defending the prince, who makes him 
 happy ; because, in defending him he, most ef- 
 fectually, defends himself. Neither the voice of 
 faction could move ; nor the invitations of fana- 
 ticism, seduce such man from his duty ; because 
 faction, and fanaticism have little influence over 
 men, who are happy, and contented. 
 
 I speak of effects, as they are, naturally con- 
 nected, with their causes and as they have been 
 
 * First Letter en Toleration. To the above reflections,, 
 Mr. Locke in the same letter, adds the following ; " I know, 
 that seditions are, very frequently, raised upon pretence of 
 religion ; but it is as true, that for religion, subjects are fre- 
 quently ill-treated, and live miserably."
 
 Tulcration. 26\ 
 
 found to have been realised, in the series of hu- 
 man occurrences. What effect the late acts of 
 
 moderation, in our government, have had upon, 
 the feelings, and conduct of Roman Catholics, I 
 have mentioned already. Although loyal before; 
 loyal always, where the obligations of loyalty 
 were not problematical ; we have increased the 
 demonstrations of our loyalty, with the increase 
 of our sovereign's goodness. We have exulted, 
 at every occasion to shew our gratitude ; we have 
 used our liberty, only in protecting the power, 
 that broke our chains ; and our influence, what- 
 ever it may be, we have employed, only in diffus- 
 ing patriotism, and affection. To the nation, 
 what has been the consequence? It has increased 
 its resources, as it has increased its moderation : 
 it has improved its security, as it has displayed 
 its liberality : it has broadened the basis of its 
 prosperity,' as it has widened its confidence. In- 
 stead of considering the Catholics as its enemies ; 
 and foregoing the advantages, which it might 
 derive from their assistance ; it now, beholds 
 them, in the ranks of its friends, and sees them 
 combating, with the most loyal, the invaders, or 
 adversaries of its prosperity. The case is; the 
 Catholics, although loyal before, from duty only; 
 are now loyal from duty, gratitude, affection, and 
 interest. Their sovereign is now, not their sove- 
 reign only, but their protector : not their ruler 
 only, but their friend. His throne is not, the 
 tribunal, before which they were wont to trem- 
 ble ; but the asylum, where now, they confidently 
 run for shelter his sceptre is not the scourge,
 
 262 Toleration. 
 
 under which they, once, used to bleed ; but the 
 shield, under which they now repose with confi- 
 dent security. 
 
 I would not say, that the writers, who labour 
 to keep awake the diffidence of the government, 
 in the loyalty of Roman Catholics, or to excite 
 the distrust of Roman Catholics, in the good-will 
 of government ; I would not say, that it is their 
 intention, either to censure the equity of our par- 
 liaments ; or to do an injury to their country. I 
 say nothing, about their intentions. But, who- 
 ever considers well the tendency of their writ- 
 ings, will allow, that they imply, at least, a cen- 
 sure, upon the wisdom of our Senate ; and are 
 calculated , to do an injury to the country. In 
 regard of the censure, upon the Senate ; suppose 
 it true, that the loyalty of Catholics is, really, 
 "precarious and chimerical ;*' then, it is doubt- 
 less unwise to remove those restraints, which 
 withhold us from doing mischief: it is imprudent 
 to do away those disabilities, which limit the 
 sphere of our infectious influence: it is an injus- 
 tice to the country, to suspend that suspicious 
 vigilance, or to lay aside those salutary punish- 
 ments, by which persecution awed our disloyalty 
 from rebellion. For my own part, although a 
 Roman Catholic ; yet, if it were true, that the 
 loyalty of Roman Catholics is u precarious and 
 chimerical ;" as I wish well to my country, I 
 would recommend to its wisdom to take back the 
 rights, which its justice has, too rashly, conferred 
 noon us ; to erect again the gibbet ; and to hang 
 the sword of persecution over our ungrateful
 
 Toleration, 263 
 
 heads. Or, if persecution to death, be conceived 
 too cruel, for this enlightened age, I would advise 
 it by new disabilities; by exiles, and imprison- 
 ments, to scare our disaffection, from indulging 
 the hope, or hazarding the attempt of overthrow- 
 ing its prosperity. This is wisdom, where the 
 loyalty of a considerable portion of the commu- 
 nity is " precarious and chimerical." 1 ' In short, I 
 would counsel it to adopt all those measures and 
 precautions, which are likely to produce most 
 good: if persecution, to persecute us ; if into- 
 lerance, to restrict us: or, let me add ; if mo- 
 deration, to become more moderate; if liberality, 
 W) become more generous still. I leave it to 
 philosophy to decide, which is best calculated, to 
 create, or which has, actually, created, the 
 greater advantage, and security to the nation. 
 I said also, that the writings, which impeach 
 
 our loyalty, are injurious to the state. It is a 
 
 principle, which policy will not contest, that it is 
 nor by raising up enemies to the state, that the 
 state is more secure ; not by fomenting discon- 
 tent, that loyalty is increased. Every state is in- 
 secure, in proportion, principally, to the number 
 of its internal enemies ; and to the aggregate of 
 discontent, that grows within its bosom. Now; 
 vhut is the effect, which groundless imputations, 
 and false impeachments are calculated to pro- 
 duce ? Their natural effect, is to destroy affec- 
 tion ; and by generating ill-will, to rob the state 
 of the exertions of the men, whom the false im- 
 peachments come to injure. Place the state, then,
 
 254 Toleration. 
 
 in the crisis of danger ; in one of those mo- 
 ments, when the union of every heart, and the 
 energies of every hand, are wanted for it defence; 
 
 -r-in a moment like the present. Why ; on the 
 
 supposition, that the accusations of catholic 
 loyalty had produced the effect, which it is in 
 their nature to produce ; or, which it is the ap- 
 parent aim of some writers to produce ; the state, 
 under the apprehension of our disloyalty, ought, 
 justly, to distrust us ; and if prudent, to forego 
 the hazardous trial of our exertions. Above a 
 hundred thousand nerves would, consequently, 
 be unstrung, and the strength of a powerful bo- 
 dy of the country paralised, and lost. I do nof 
 say, that the security of the state, would in such 
 circumstances, be much endangered ; but, it is 
 evident, that with the accession of such a force, 
 its danger would be less. Therefore, the writings, 
 which, without evidence in their support, tend to 
 excite suspicion, in the state, against the subject ; 
 or ill-will, in the subject, against the state ; as 
 they weaken the bands, by which the prosperity 
 and safety of kingdoms are linked together, tend 
 immediately, and directly to their injury, and 
 disadvantage. 
 
 I may, perhaps, have appeared, in the above 
 pages, to have considered the insinuations, and 
 impeachments of our enemies, in a more serious 
 point of view, than they, in reality, deserve. Since 
 they have produced little sensation on the public 
 mind ; and none upon the minds of the liberal, 
 but that of indignation j it may be thought, that
 
 Toleration. 265 
 
 ihey merited no other notice, than that of pity, 
 or contempt. Perhaps, these notions are right. 
 But, whoever reflects, either upon the nature o\' the 
 attack, which is made upon our loyalty ; or upon 
 the manner, and style, in which it is made ; will, 
 with me, allow, that no mode of repelling it can 
 appear too serious. The mere insinuation, that 
 is aimed at our loyalty, pains us in the tenderest 
 part. It is levelled at all our comforts, as Ca- 
 tholics, as subjects, and as men. It is not like 
 the rant of bigotry against our idolatry ; nor like 
 the silly abuse, which the pertness, and petulance, 
 and foppery of Dr. It ... . "s rhetoric, inces- 
 santly pours out, against our tenets, and supersti- 
 tion. We can smile ; and often do amuse our- 
 selves, with these comparatively harmless evapora- 
 tions of ill-will. Every thing, that is dear to us, 
 on this side of the grave, is connected with the 
 conviction, which our country entertains of our 
 loyalty; the liberty of practising our holy reli- 
 gion ; the confidence of our fellow citizens ; the 
 case, comforts, and security of domestic life. 
 The fine feelings of sensibility ; the chaste senti- 
 ment of honour, must be lost, that does not re- 
 sent the attempt to cover it with ignominy. I 
 felt for the attempt ; and I felt, principally, be- 
 cause the attempt is made, without cause, or pro- 
 vocation ; substantiated by no proof" but the 
 bold impeachment ; evinced by no testimony, but 
 the dark forebodings of a splenetic temper. 
 
 I conclude, by observing to those, who have 
 already attempted, or who may hereafter at- 
 
 Mm
 
 266 Toleration. 
 
 tempt to do us an injury ; that the ambition, 
 which can be thus gratified, is a mean ambition 
 truly ; that the merit, which can be thus pur- 
 chased, is ignoble and base indeed. 
 
 Ouantula, heu ! laus est, vel plurima, posse nocere ! 
 Frigidus hoc serpens, hocque cicuta potest. 
 
 ERRATA; 
 Page vii. line 8, heard of, dele of: p. n, 1. io, fuch a man, i/< a :~ 
 p. 17, 1 19, for analysis of a Protestant, read analysis of the security of a 
 Protestant: p. 17, 1. 24, jar protesting principles, read Protestant princi- 
 ples : p. 21,1. 5, for that I did belong, read that I did not belong : p. 23, 
 * 1 3> f' absurdities, read the absurdities: p. 26, 1. 23, for prepossessed, 
 read prejudiced : p. 47. 1. 25, for ramble, read rankle; p. 54, 1-25, /or 
 public re-echoed, read pulpit re-echoed ; p. 150, 1. 27,/w if i( pleases, 
 read if it please : p. , ft g ) 1. 21, for reported, ,ead repeated: p. 151, 1. 9, 
 joy ambage, n id ambages : p. 185, 1. si, /" ol -course became free, read ot 
 course error became free : p. 193. I. 5, fo r doubts every thing, read doubts 
 of every thing; p. 211, 1. 3, for sources of atheism, read source of atheism 5 
 p. 224, 1, 10, for condemned, read condemn : p. 227, 1. 25, for the nature, 
 read in the nature ; p. 299, 1. 27, for that intolerance, read his intolerance: > 
 p. 234, 1. 4, Jot would punish, read should punish; p. 239) 1. 10 5 fur et 
 our popes, read in our popes. 
 
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