A

LE'ITER FROM ROMEIt

•
 A

LETTER FROM ROME,

SHEWING AN EXACT CONFORMlTY BETWEEN

OR,

'he Religion of the Present ROMANS, derived from that

of .'their HEATHEN ANCESTORS. ,
TO WBICB ARB ADDBD,

I. A PREFATORY DISCOURSE,
CONTAINING
.n AD!lwer to all the Objections of the ,Writer of a Pip. Book, iDtituJed,
" ne Cailtolie C1&rVtialt i!UlJ'tlded," &c. with many new Yacts and'Testimoaies,
in farthet: Confirmation of the general Argument of tile LBTTD :
AliD

II. A POSTSCRIPT,
III wBICR

Cr. WGrhrlOll'a Opinion concerning the Paganilm of Rotneia particularly COD!lidere4.

By the late Reverend and Learned

CONY-ERS MIDDLETON, D. D.
PriIIcipal Librria flf nl8 U!IiM"riIy ,q CIIl6rfcIp.
THE FIFl'H EDITION.
WITH

ADDITIONAL PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

~'d~ta~ri,aI, tJoral, aub political,
By PUBLICOLA.
" H 1'I;otestantt. I think.are as moeh eoeeeraed now, IIA ever • .0 be 'vigoro1l5 In their joint
I!bdea_ for tile maintenance of the Reformation. I rih all. that wi themselves 110, may
telRWailed with to illli_ the -u.
lIIId paiane the prlneiples oCthose great aad pioU men,
"110
f1'Od
were iDltnunental to bring as oat of Roman 0181'1'0_ and bo&dage. I heartily pray for
__ on llIl.nch endeavonn." LOCKE. ,,~. v. 10, P. JIJ.
; .. Lorda Dol Common. ofEnc1aDd' CooIider what nation it ia whereofye are, aad whereof

........
'-an the Governors '" MILTON_~ '

: '
PRINTED FOR THE EDITOR.
And Sold by
II. El' •• ~, 16, Pall-Mall fW. WIL801f, Mews-Gate; R. OGLa, !95, Hoillona;
ad J. M.RJ(:BoUlD80lf, 13, CorDbill.

181'i.
•
 THE EDITOR'S DEDICATION.

TO

THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,

SHUTE,
LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM.

;r

~[y LOltD,

,IN presuming toinscribe to your

Lordshipthis new'edition of the following cele-
bratedJJetter,,:l6;tttle'r:myself that I shall not
incur y()ur'displeasu~: for such has been at
aU /ti~ your venetation for the Church of
Engtand, ·suCh your, disgust· at the elTOTS and
~tibns :of the Hom ish pburch, that who-
eeer dtJiires tosuppoot the "power ,of the one,
&tld.to:(ltm.ken ·the:;jnterest of the other, is
,natnralIy'inauoodto look up to your ~hip
b
 ..
11

for encouragement and protection. "The

" restless spirit of Rome," says the learned
author of the Letter, " how often soever re-
" pulsed, will always be renewing its attacks."
If this, then, be a fact, and which daily ex-
perience appears to confirm, it becomes an
urgent duty on every member of the Church
of England, whether he be a Minister or a
Layman, to be at all times on his guard
against the assaults of the enemy. It was
justly and emphatically urged bv your Lord-
ship, in the Charge which you delivered to
the Clergy of your Diocese, in the year 1806,
that " the zeal of the' Rowaaistsshould oper-
" ate as a strong caution against indifference
" to the corruptions of their Church. The
" indulgences granted to them of late years
~, should not, in our minds, relax .the force
" ofthose.principles on which the :a.efor~a-
" tioa was·f~unded. We must not suft'erour
f' supineness to become an occasion of re-,
" preach to us, that the venerableFathers of

•
 11l

" the Reformed Church have sacrificed their

" lives in vain." These, my Lord, are admo-
nitions worthy of a faithful guardian of our
Church; they are worthy of " a good minis-
". ter of Jesus .Christ, nourished up in the
" words of faith, and of good doctrine,
" whereunto thou hast attained ;". and though
several Popish writers have attempted to
prove, that your Lordship is incorrect in
some points of your charge, yet, as you are
avowedly right in the main, permit me to ob-
serve, in the words addressed by Dr. Middle-
0011 to the learned and pious· patron of his
work, 4' that the. Church, .in proportion as it
'" has more such Bishops, will always have
" the fewer enemies."

l\fy Lord, it cannot, I think, lie denied,

that the· Romish influence in this nation has
increased very much ~~Jate. years, and is

1 Timothy, v.6.
b2
 IV

likely, without some check, to go farther.

That the zealof the Romanists is at this time
very 'grea:t~ may be collected from the nume-
rous Chapels, -Collegee, and Seminaries for
both .sexes, . which they haveestablished in
almost every part of the United Kingdom;
and from .the tna.ltJiy converts they. appear to
be makUIg; convents, not. only ·lowel'
{fWD the

classes -of the people, but occasionally from

persons of rank and education. In _every
quarter" ,jIBed, they are artittllyand busily
emp1l>~dtin 'aClv8Ilcing the intere$t -of their
Church. I have learned from very 'Cl!edij)le
authority:, ~t their activity ill the Isle of Mfln
bas.been.ef.sueh 'a nature astohave recently
roused the jealousy and caution of the British
Government i and well may the situation of
tlrclt IslebetweeIi Bngiandand Ireland render
it an~ot of the J.'M6t peculiar attenti.~
If, itDen"tke'zea!oF the ,Papists be S(),grea~
and their influence so widely extended, what
means should we employ to counteract their
 v,

artful designs? The best way of proceeding,

as it appears to me, will be to expose, the er-
roneous prejudices and corruptions of their
Church. It .is thus .we shall succeedmosr ef-
fectually in securing the people of. this couptry
from-the danger of conversion, ,:J3Y the ligp,f
of.such an expo.s,ure it was, ~t our ex~yUepf
countryman CUI'LLINGWORTH'fet,lWleHfrom
tlae darkness. of .Popery to, the bosom. of O,lU,"

Church. i .He applied himself when at Oxfo~d

to the study of divinity; but his-acquaintance
with .a celebratedJesuit pveJ.rt:Ufn~!~i faj,th,
and :wit4,;mQre zeal, th~judgm~nt, ~t::;~
braced ,:tn-ei)~n~ts;
~ of . ""'~
.th~ Catho,lic lWigiQaJ •
- F1

That .he .~ght, pur~e his. stud,il:s with IlJRr~

;su~,b~iretir~dtolthe. University of.Douay,
but' t;he:COITe6p.cm.~»ce.of ~QIJW!~~ ,apd
,~ .
~n$iiA,~lfJ.ndYl .
,~p.~, ~ 'rtrli-
,mAlt '
0......,P~,.~~~
0" •• ~~_AJ" ...., n.I..::. ..........o
.. ~"'1 ~~;,
"hIe
,iha~"be ~qpe ~f;BoI)lfti.... y-.wtit;b~,tIiJlf~e
.,~ behw)lin~.u}( Ibeli~V.~.1 ;:.lpl~~
.quence;t.·r~t~tohis Bative.couptrJ,.~
 VI

lived and died one of the brightest ornaments

of our Reformed Religion.

- Many and excelIent,indeed, are the writers,

who, from time to time, have exposed the
idolatry and COlTUptpractices of theehureh
of Rome; but there is none, perhaps, to whom
we are more indebted on this account, than
the learned author of the following sheets. In
his admirable Letter, written from the very
"Seatof papal authority, he has given a clear
and faithful detail of the religion of theRo-
raanists, and has succeeded- in identif}ing
Popery with Paganism; the religion of the
-present Romans with that of their Heathen
Ancestors. -This Letter was first published in
1729, and such was 'the interest it excited,
.that it. went-through three editions; An An-
,swer'tO it was then attempted by the C8.tholic
-Bishop Challoner; but, with what success,
-lrillappear bythe Doctor's Reply in the pre-
--fatory discourse to the fourth edit jon, pup.
 • vii

lished in 1741. Since that period, the Papists

have, .on various occasions, endeavoured to
confute the work, considering, and very
justly, that it is " a real obstacle to their. de-
H signs, and that one of the first steps neces-
"sary towards advancing the Popish interest
" in England, is, to overthrow the credit both
" of the Letter, and its Author."· . But these
attempts only served to shew the weakness of
their cause, and,tocon1irm the authority of
their antagonist. Hence it is obvious, that:it
is one of ;those excellent works which should
never be out of print, whenever it appears
that Popery is gaining ground. among us.

. Theconsideration of these circumstances

iJlduced me to direct my attention to aI;LeW
edition; tq,whif;h I have add~;such occa-
~iQnwprQ9ft ~iUu&tra.ti~ .as .the subject
 Vlll

at this moment seemed to require. ' The

Papists of the present day, at least the more
enlightened part of them, deny the charge
which we make of their adoration of images,
and their belief in the miracles wrought by
themr-but I trustthatt I, have proved. in a
note in its proper- place;' tha~r • t~·; faith
in these particulars <is-quite as ~tmng as
that which was manifested by their .Heatben
Ancestors. In regard to their Incense; limit
Helyl·water;(!tIieirJLatn~l and'~~~ their
\i~ti~e Offerings; their ~essioDS; ,they are
at presern! q\irte'as: Itlu&ii) use among them,
as when out !Artthortreated-of those Jluittm~
and as to their doctrine and practice about
tI\e sacri1ke-Jotth6 .mass', ' theieu~haristical
commmiibrii jlft-' one: kind'ODI.r" and the rclii.
'gi6Us in:vOcatioo"aJld,wdrsJllp paid by them
'«)J '~eIS departed ~aiDa~l~
!and ha"e~t~
duced such additional observations as will, I
think, tend' to corroberatetbe remarks which
 JX

the learned author has made upon those re...

spective subjects. *

-Having said thus much, both as to th~.eb-

ject. of this publication, and the motives
which. imp.dIed .me to lay it before the Public,
L am anxious, before I take .leave of yQUf

Lordship, -to anticipate the idle prejudice

whioll,soR;lc ma.y entertaia on.account of my
beih'gQi~BJM .•' rrhis, ,I -am- persuaded, ·1
CMlnot do. better, than by adopting the words
Of ithelrellr1led, Gilbert West,&q, in the, In.
trodqqlionrtD his .nnaaswerable "Q~S6f;vatipll8
uponitU HistQry Qf) the Resurr~ct~of;J~UJ
Christ.' ;.~f·.,i8utit may possibly bedemand-
....nec4>'\Vky~being a.layman, I presume toin •
•". teemeddle.In. a province commonly .tl;w»ght
.'¥; to: bqlcmg. peeuliarly. to the. ,clergy? To
: "., c}.; F"l" 'r:'~' ~', ~ -'I:'~ , , .' i : .' . "', _ " , •

• The reader will easily distinguisb the adclitiollaluores of

theEdiior fiOm'1.beOfiKillai W'lHOhbAuthor; the;reier.,
~~ ~o ~ l~~ .~~~ inc¥i.~i1t, cl'otch£ts! while,thO!"'
that indicate the formvf are marked with a hand, thus (<lJ").
 x

t, which I answer, that, besides the motives

" above suggested, this very prejudice was a
" powerful inducement in me to publish the
" following observations, and to prefix my
" name to them. The Clergy, I am sensible,
" are both ready .and able to maintain the
4;' cause of Christianity, as their many excel-

" lent writings in defence of it sufficiently de-

" monstrate; but as the generality of man-
" kind is more governed by prejudice than
" reason, the writings of the Clergy are not
" so universally read, or so candidly received
" as they deserve, because they are supposed
" to proceed, not from conscience and con-
" viction, but from interested views and the
" common cause of their profession: a sup-
" position evidently as partial and injurious
" as that would be.. which should impqte the
" gallant behaviour of our Officers to the
" mean considerations of tl\eir pay, and the
" hopes of preferment, exclusive of all the
"nobler motives of Gentlemen, viz. the •
 Xl

" sense of Honour, and the love of their

"Country. But the Clergy, I dare. say,
" who, if there be any thing besides prejudice
" in the above-mentioned imputation upon
" them, have alone the right to make this de-
" mand, will readily excuse my appearing in .
" the cause of Christianity. And the Laity,
:' I hope, such of them at least as are Chris-
" tians not in name and profession only, will
" join with me.in declaring against the vain
~, prejudices of unbelievers, that the Chris-
" tian Religion is of the utmost importance
" to all' orders and degrees of men; and that
" the greatest service that the most zealous
-" patriot can do his country, is to promote
" the Faith, and thereby encourage the Prac-
" ticeofthe truly divine virtues recommended
.4' by CHItIST --andhis Apostles.

. " .-For my own -part, if any sincere en-

" quirer after Truth, anyone honest man,
" shall receive the least benefit from the fol-
 XlI

" ,lowing observations, I shall think I have

" neither written nor lived in vain."

. l\tIyLord, I shall now conclude with ex-

pressing the fervent .hope, that the Divine
Providence .will be pleased to graIlt:yOtI a
long continuance among us. In your Charge
before mentioned, you stated to your Reve-
rend Brethren, that" two years exceeding the
" ordinary 'age of man' forbad you to look
" forward with .any degree of. confidence to
" the returnof the usual period·· of visiting
" in' your-Diocese:" but.I sincerely congra..
late your Diocese on the disappointment of
your, expectations; your Lordship. has sur-
vived that occasion, and I still hope, without
prejudice to. your comtOrt. and, tranquillity,
it will not be the Iast,' Of this, however, yon
may rest assured, that, as you have made full
proof of your ministrycso, when the time of

• Four years.
 XlII

your departure shall arrive, you may consci-

entiously exclaim, in the words of the great
Apostle, " I have fought a good fight, I have
" finished my course, I HAVE KEPT TH~

" FAITH; henceforth there is laid up for me

" a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
" the righteous judge, shall give me at that
" day: and not to me only, but unto all them
" that love his appearing.P'

I am, ~Iy LORD,

Your Lordship's most obedient,

And most humble Servant,

THE EDITOR.

Chelsea;
.April, ISH!•.

• 2 Tim. c.4, VY.7,8.

 'I'HE AUTHOR'S DEDICATION.

TO

THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD.

THOMAS,
LORD BISHOP OF NORWICH.

My LORD,

IFthe subject of the following

sheets be not a sufficient plea, for address-
ing them to a person of your Lordship's
character, I can' allege another, which will
give them a kind of right to your protection;
that it is- owing chiefly to your authority,
that they are now offered again to the pub-
lic, in this new and different fonn; enlarged
with a prefatory answer to the exceptions
of a Popish writer, who has charged t;1uQ.
 XVI

with falsehood and misrepresentation; not in

any of the facts, which they contain, but in
the conclusions, deduced from those facts,
to the dishonour of his church. Your Lord-
ship, who in every part of your life, has dis-
tingnished yourself, by a just zeal against the
Popish interest, thought it necessary for me,
to take notice of an author" who has the har-
diness to revive an exploded cause, and to
publish an elaborate defence of the Romish
church in our very metropolis. Thus far,
however, he must be allowed to act like a
gei:terottS' adversary, 'in referring the merit of
his argument to t1hetr1al of the press; which
J.li\ 'aU ~nntties, :Whore it can have its free
~~;Will e-ver be fou.'tid the: st!lr€St.~'guard~
aanof ri~t and trtkth.; a-nd: 1!0 which' this
ifjAttreular country, "'among tilie many great
~iii~, whIch it ,e'fijoys,. is.:manifestly in-
Jti~ed foc one of the greatest, its lldiveranct
fffltn (J Popish,la1Jery; as all our histories
~fy f"~ tl't0 fu:fonnatrolt, do'Wn to tllis
 XVll

day. In the very infancy of printing amongst

us, Cardinal frolsey foresaw this effect of it;
and in a speech to the Clergy, pdblicly fore-
warned them, that, if they did not destroy the
Press, the Press would destroy them.

If my endeavours, therefore; should be of

any service towards verifying the Cardinal's
prediction; or should in any degree answer
your Lordship's views, of giving some check
to the restless spirit of Rome, which, how "
often soever repulsed, will always be renew-
ing its attacks, I shall gain the end, that I
proposed by them. But while I was flatter-
ing myself with this hope, and fancying my-
self engaged in a laudable attempt, of dis-
anning these professed enemies of our reli-
gion and liberty, there were some, as your
I..ordship knows, even of our own Church,
'whose displeasure I incurred, and whose re-
sentment I have felt, on the account of t.bis
'"cry work, who, from the different D\OU:,.S
 xvin

of party, or envy, or prejudices hastily con.

ceived against me, were ready to join in any
"-clamour, that could blast the credit of my
performance. To such of these, as profess
to act from any good principle, I have en-
deavoured to give some satisfaction in my
preface; but my chief comfort is, in,this de-
cline of life, that I can appeal to your Lord-
ship, who knew me from the beginning of it,
and UDder all t~e attempts to depress my
character, and all the suspicions of those,
who were strangers to it, continued still to
treat me with all the usual marks of your
friendship, as believing me incapable of har-
bouring any thought, or pursuing any de-
sign, which could be injurious to virtue, and
true religion.

For your Lordship had always teo ien-

.,
larged and, liberal a way of thinking, to judge
of men or things, by the narrow views 'or pre-
judices of a party; and superior to all tbJ
 xix

impressions of envy or spleen, was ever ready

to encourage merit, wheresoever you obser-
ved it. This has been your constant rule of
acting in the University; where, as a gover-
nor of our youth, you have lived an example
of that discipline, which you injoined to'
others; punctual in discharging all the du-
ties of your station; nor more forward to
prescribe, than diligent to perform every
thing, that tended to promote religion, good
manners, and good learning.

These same qualities, which now exert

themselves in a higher sphere, are acknow-
ledged by the general voice of the diocese,
over which you preside; where all people
loudly celebrate your Lordship's unwearied
application to the labours of your episcopal
charge, your continual care, as a common
pastor of all, to extend the benefits of it
equally to all, your beneficence to the pO(>r,
obliging behaviour to the rich,· your gene-
c2
 xx

rous and hospitable table, open to all, who

seek access to you; where you know how to
unite the character of the gentleman, with
that of the prelate; to create an ease and
cheerfulness around you, and without de-
scending from your dignity~ to enter into a
familiarity with your guests. By these arts)'
you have gained the affections both of your
Clergy and Laity, and in a country, unhap-
pily divided into parties, have effected, what
was hardly thought possible, an agreement
of all parties in their esteem and praises of
your Lordship. By such happy fruits of
your prudence, your affability, and your mo-
deration in governing, you have shewn what
are the most probable means of healing our
public dissentions ; and that the Church, in
pr~portioll as it has more such Bishops, will
always have the fewer enemies.

That your Lordship may long enjoy that

peculiar vigour of mind and body, which has
 XXi

enabled you to discharge all the important

offices, through which you have passed, with
honour to yourself and benefit to the public,
,isthe sincere wish of;

~Iy LORD,

Your Lordship's most obliged

.And faithful Servant,
CONYERS MIDDLETON.
 A

~ttfatot~ lBt~rout£st. I

A Late writer of a Popi311. book, intituled,

c, The Catholic Christias; instructed; &c. has
thought fit, in a preface to that work, to at-
tempt a confutation of my Letter from Borne;
" which• .every reader," Jle3ays, " whether
" Protestant or Papist, would expect, that he
~, should take some notice of, as it is di...
~' reetly levelled at their ceremonies, and has
" been 80 well received, as to pass ,through
" three editions within the compass of a few
.., years," .
I cannot think it strange, that a man,
whose avowed design and sole employment
~ongst' us is to make converts to the, Bamish
Chureh, should·treat a work with some acri...
mony, that ,owaspublished .,,-ithno other view,
than to, blast his hopes, and obstruct his en-
deavours, to delude the people of this nation:
but it 'giv~ me $ sensible pleasure to observe,
 "

24
what these Missionaries of Rome are forced to
confess, that my little performance is a real
obstacle to their designs; and that one of the
first steps necessary towards advancing the
Popish Interest in England, is to overthrow the
credit both of the Letter, and its Author.
Our Catholic, therefore, in the execution of
this task, sets out with a general accusation
against me ofJoul pla.1Jand disillgenuity, and a
resoiution to suppress the trutlt; because my
charge against them is grounded only, he says,
" on certain ceremonies and observances of
" . less moment, without taking notice of the
",substantialparts of their'religion, theirbe-
" lief of the Scriptures, of. the.·threeC~ds;
" of the Trinity, the Eucharist Sacrifice, &c.
"which none will pretend to be derived to
" them from the Pagans." This is artfully
tha-own out, to confound the tTne;stateofthe
question, and to prepossess the reader with a
notion, that instead ofPo/Mry,J am attaclliDg
Christianity itself, and sustaining th~cause
of Infidelity, not of Protestantism : .butesery
man of sense will discern the fallacy,' andob-
serve, that it is Popery alone, with which I
am engaged, or that system of ceremonies
 25
and doctrines, which is peculiar to the R om-.
iglt Church, as distinguished from other Christ-
ian Churches, the source of which I have un-
dertaken to lay open, and by an historical de-
duction of facts, to trace its origin in a direct
line, from Pagan down to Popish Rome.
. In the farther support of this charge, I shall
now proceed to examine our Author's excep ...
tions to it, in the order as they lie in his Pre-
face, and .vindicate all the particular proof."
of it alleged in my Letter, to which he has
thought proper to give any answer, the chief
of which, as he tells us, are," Incense, Holy
" Water, Lamps and Candles, Votive offer-
" ings, Images, Chapels on the way-sides and
" tops of Hills, Processions, Miracles." [a]
On these I shall join issue with him, and en..
deavour to shew, that his defence of them is
not only frivolous and evasive, but tends
rather to confirm, than to confute the infer ..
ence which I have drawn from them.
48 to· several of these articles, he makes one
general apology, that, " I am mistaken, in
"thinkiQg every ceremony used by the

[a]- Pref. ib. p.4.

 26
" Heathens, to be Heathenish, since the grealt-
" est part were borrowed from the worship of
" the true God; in imitation of which, the
" Devil affected to have his Temples, Altars,
"Priests, and Sacrifices, and all other things,
" which were used in the true worship." This
he applies to the case of Incense, Lamps, Holy-
water, and Processions, and adds, " that if I
'" had been as well read in the Scriptures,
" as I would seem to be in the heathen poets,
" .I should have found the use of all these
" in the Temple of God, and that by God's
" appointment." [bJ
. I shall not dispute with him about the origin
of these rites, whether theywerefirstillstituted
by Moses, or were of prior use and antiquity
amottg the lEgyptians. The Scriptures favour
the last, which our Spenser strongly asserts,
~' their Calmet and Huetiusallow: but
should we grant him all that he can infer from
his argument, what will he gain by it? Were
not all,'those beggarly elements wiped away by
. the spiritual worship' of the Gospel? Were
they not allannulled, on the account of their

[6] Pre(. 5. 8.
 27
weakness and unprq/itableness, by the more per-
fect revelation of Jesus Christ? [c] If, then,
I should acknowledge my mistake, and re-
call my words, and, instead of Pagan, call
them Jewish ceremonies, would not the use of
-leunsh.rites be abominable still in a Christian
Church, where they are expressly abolished
and prohibited by God himself?
But to pursue his argument a little farther:
while the Mosaic worship subsisted by divine
appointment in Jerusalem, the Devillikewise,
as he tells us, had Temples and Ceremonies of
the same kind, in order to draw votaries to 'his
idolatrous worship, which, after the abolition
of the Jewish service, was carried on still with
great" pomp and splendour, and, above aU
places, in Rome, the principal seat of his
worldly empire. Now it is certain, that in
the early times of the Gospel, the Christians

[c] Ie But DOW after that ye have known God, or rather

c, are. known of God, how tum yeagain to the weak and
c, heggarly elements whereunto ye d~re again to be In
., bondager" Galat. iv. 9. ',.
" For. there is verily a disatuaulling of' thecommandmeat
., going befose, for the weak».e&s IU1d ullprofitablellw thereof."
Heb. vii. 18.
 28
of Rome were celebrated for their zealous ad-
herence to the faith of Christ, as it was de-
livered to them by the Apostles, pure from
every mixture either of Jewish 07' Heathenish
superstition; till after a succession of ages, as
they began gradually to deviate from that
Apostolic simplicity, they introduced at dif-
ferent times into the Church the particular
ceremonies in question, 'Vhence then can
we think it probable, that they should borrow
them? From the Jeioish. or the Pagan ritual?
From a Temple, remote, despised and demo-
lished by the Romans themselves; or from
Temples and Altars perpetually in their view,
and subsisting in their streets, in which their
ancestors and fellow-citizens had constantly
worshipped? The question can hardly admit
any dispute: the humour of the people, as
well as interest of a corrupted priesthood
would invite them to adopt such rites as
were native to the soil, and found upon the
place, and which long experience had shewn
to be useful, to the acquisition both of wealth
and power. Thus, by the most candid COIl·
struetion of this Author's reasoning, we must :
necessarily call their ceremonies JCTJ:is!l, or,!

i
 29
by pushing it to its full length,' shall be
obliged to call them, Devilish.
He observes, that I begin my charge with
the use of Incense, as the most notorious
proof of their Paganism, and, like an artful
rhetorician; place my strongest argument in the
front, [d] Yet he knows, that I have assigned
a different reason, for offering that the first:
because it is the first thing that strikes the
senses, and surprises a stranger, upon his
entrance into their Churches. But it shall
be my strongest proof, if he will have it so,
since he has brought nothing, I am sure, to
weaken the force of it. He tells us, that
there was an Altar of Incense ill the Temple of
Jerllsalem, and is surprised, therefore, how
I can call it Heathenish: Yet it is evident,
from the nature of that institution, that it
was never designed to be perpetual, and
. that, during its continuance, God would
never have approved allY other Altar, either
in Jerusalem, or any where else. But let him
answer directly to this plain question; was
there ever a temple in the tcorld not strict!."

[ d] Pref, p. 5.
 50

Heathenish, in which there were several Altars

all smoaking with incense, williin one view, and
at one and the same time? It is certain, that
he must answer in the negative: yet, it is as
certain, that there were many such temples in
Pagan Rome, and are as many still in Chris-
tianRome: and since there never was an
example of it, but what was Paganish, before
the times of POpfl';1j, how is it possible, that
it could be derived to them from any other
source? or when we see so exact a resemblance
in the copy, how can there be any doubt
about the original? [e]
C3jo (e] TERTULLIAN, who, in the second century, wrote
I his Apology in defence of the Christians, speaks of the use of
Incense, as the distinguishing rite of Paganism, and declares,
that idolatr!! might sooner be carried 011 without an idol,
than. without incense. (Apologet. xi.)
GIBBON (Decline and Fall, v, 5. p. 133) says, that "if,
" in the beginning of the fifth century, Tertullian had been
" suddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival Of
" some popular saint, or martyr, he woflld have gazed with
" allonw.ment, and ;lldignation, on the profane spectacle,
'.' which bad succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship of •
" Christian congregation. As soon as the doors of the
" church were thrown open, he must have been offended by
" the smoke of Incense, the perfume of Bowers, and the glare
" of lamps" and tapers, which diffused, at noon-day, a gawdy,
" superfluous, and, in bis opinion, a sacrilegious light."

1
 31

. What he alleges, therefore, in' favour of

incense, is nothing to the purpose, " that it
" was used in the Jewish, and is of great an-
" tiquity in the Christian Church, and that
" it is mentioned with honour in the scrip-
"tures," which frequently compare it to
Prayer, and speak of its sweet odours as-
cending up to God; &c. which figurative
expressions, he says, " would never have
" been borrowed by the sacred Penmen from
" Heathenish superstition ;"UJ as if such
allusionswere less proper, or the thing itself
less sweet, for its being applied to the pur~
poses of Idolatry; as it constantly was, in
the times even of the same Penmen, and ac-
cording to their own accounts, on the Altar«
rif Baal, and the other Heathen Idols; and,
when Jeremiah rebukes the people of Judali
for burning incense to the Queen 0/' heaven, [g)
one 'can hardly help imagining, that he. is
prophetically pointing out the worship now
paid to. the Virgin, to whom they actually
burn incense at this day, under that very
title~[~J
. Ul Pref, p.6. [g] Jerem. xliv. 17.
. [A] Vid. Offic. Beatee Virgo Salve Regina ca:lorum: D0-
mina Angelorum, &c.
 "

But, if it be a just ground for retaining a

practice in the Christian Church, because it
was injoined to the Jews,[iJ what will our
Catholic say for those usages, which were
actually prohibited to the Jeae, and never
practised by any, but by the Heathens and
the Papists ?-AlJ the ]Egyptian Priests, as
Herodotus informs us, had their heads shaved
and kept continualZlf bald. [k] Thus, the Em-
peror, Commodus, that he might be admitted
into that order, got himself shaved, and car-
ried the God Anubis in procession. [lJ And,
it was on this account, most probably, that
the Jewish Priests were commanded, not to
(/.J' [zJ The ceremonial law of the Jetcs, which, to use
The words of St. Paul, " stood olll!! in meets and drinks
" and dicere 'I1:a.~hillgs,and carnal ordinance." imposed
" on them until the time of reformation," was taken away
by our Saviour. To retain, therefore, the Jewish. prac-
tices in the Christian church would be to carry us back
from the Gospel to the Law. That Aaron's priesthood is
lost in Christ, whose blood is above all Lcrifice, is strongly
pressed by the Apostle in his epistle to the Hebrett'I, chap-
ters 8, 9, and 10.
[k J Herodet.L ii. 36.
Qui grege lioigerocircumdatus, 8tgregecalvo. Juv.vi.3S.
[IJ Sacra Isidis coluit, ut 8t caput raderet et Anubin po r-
,taret. Lamprid. in Commod. 9.
 33
iha'Ct theili heads, nor to make Imy baldness
upon them. [m]., Yet this pagan rasure, or
eunsur~, as'they chuse to call it, on the crown
c!f the head, has long been the distinguishing
mark of the Romish Priesthood. It was on
the same account, we may imagine, that the
Jewish Priests were forbidden to make any cut-
tings in their flesh; [n] since that likewise was
the common practice of certain Priests and
Deoxee« among the. Heathens, in order to ac-
quire the fame of a more exalted sanctity.
Yet the same discipline, as I have shewn in
my Letter, is constantly practised at Rome,
in some of their solemn seasons and proces-
sions, in imitation of those PaganEnihusiu.st.:
as if they searched the Scriptures, to learn,
not so much what was injoined by' the true
:e ligion, as what had been useful at any ti{ne
> In a false one, to delude the multitude, and
support an imposture.
Our Author makes the same apOlogy fot
Holft watri-t, that he has just made for Incense;
that, in the M08aic law, flJe'.findtJie mention of
4' _ter ~tified for religious 'lUIS'; whick
cannot therefore be called H'fllthenisA l ~
[m] LeYitic. xsi, 5.: Ezech. xliv. 20.
[n] Levi~. xix. ii. xxi. 5~·
J)
 34

that I might, with as good, a gace, have

proved the Sacrament of Baptism to. be Hea-
thenish, as their use of Holywater.[ 0] It is
surprizing to hear such a defense from any
one who calls himself a Christian. The Sa-
crament of Baptism was ordained by Christ,
in- the most solemn manner, and for the most
solemn purpose, as the essential rite of our
initiation into his Church; while there is not
the least hint in any part of the Gospel, that
flny other wafet' was either .necessary or ,pro-:
per, or useful in any degree to the washing
away of sin. But our Author's zeal seems to
have carried him hereheyond his prudence;
and he forgets what ground he is treading, if
be fancies that he. can defend, in this protest-
ant country, what he might affirm with ap-
plause in a popish; that the institutions 'of
Chris: stand upon no better foundation. than
lite injunctions of the Pope, or at least of the
Popislt Church.
1 have mentioned one use of their Holy
aJater, in a Festival of Rome, called the Bese-
,dittum of horses, which seems to perplex-him-
fie dares not deny the fact, yet labours to

[0] Pref. p•.7.

 35

render it suspected, and declares, "that

though he had spent the greatest part of his
life abroad,he had never seen or heard of any'
such thing:' [p] But whatever he thinks, or-
would seem rather to think of it, I know the
thing to be true from the evidence of my own'
eyes: yet as I had no desire that the reader
should take my bare word for that, or any
other fact in the Letter, I took care to add
such testimonies of it as everyone will allow
to be authentic. But if he really be a stranger
to so extraordinary a practice, he must be an
improper advocate of a cause of which he
owns himself to be ignorant. The learned
Mabillon, as I have observed, intimates his
surprise at this, as well as many other parts
of their worship which he had never seen till
he travelled into Italy; but, instead of de-
fending, chuses either to drop them in silence,
or to give them up as superstitious; which
might have been the case also of our Catholic,
if he had been better informed of the facts
which he has undertaken to vindicate. But
if these men of learning, and teachers of Re-
ligio~, know so little of what is done at Rome,

[p] lb. p. 7.
»2
how easy must. it- be to impose upo1l;tk~ PtHYfr
Cqtholics in England,. and keep them in! tb~
~f;k,. as to the more exceptionable parts of
thein ~o~hip, which, are- openly avowed and
practised: abroad, to the scandal of all the
candid, and moderate even.of their own CQm~
IpUIllon.
But though our: Cat/u)lic seems so mtdJ
ashamed at present- of this Benediction. ci
Horses it' their Clt/ureh, I' can give him such
light into the origin of it, as will mak~biro
proud of it probably for the future;. from! a
story ~ Lhave observed in St. JerOtn; which
s}lews,it to be grounded on a miracle,.and· de.
rived from a Spint: 1- mean St. Hilf,trWn, the
founder of the, M01l(($(ic; order» in Syria. tlfld
Palestule. [q]

[q] NecdulU: enim. tuqf; Monasttria era•• in. PalmiM,

nee q\lisq\llUJ) Mo"ac/u~m ante SQ1I.Ctum 1:lilariout1ll iA Byria
noverat, IUe fuadatos; &. eruditor hujus conversaUQm.· &.
studii in hac provincia fuit. Hieron, Op. t. iv. par. ii, p, 78.
Ed~Ben.
«)- BiI~ilN4 fixed his aboo., .in PaIettiIle» A.. D.J SiB.
He cal,lgb1 the spirit ot numkery from &. Jl."'1J,. the
fou\l~ of the monastic life in Egypt,A. D. SQ~.
JORTIN (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, v. 2. p. 22,)
informs us; that in the fourth century the number of the
monks and Duns in Em' alone amounted to more dlP
llinet;!l-lir thousa1lfJ.
 87
The story is this: " A Citizen Gaza, a of
Christian, who kept a Stable of running
horses for the Ci,.censian games, was always
beaten by his Antagonist, an Idolater, the
master ofa rival stable. For the Idolater,

" One reason of this nlUltiplicatiOll of monks was, that

they were a collection of all sorts of people, of beggars, fu-
Jitives, vagabonds, slaves, day-labourers, peasants, mechanics
of the lowest sort, thieves and highwaymen, inured to stripes,
poverty, hunger, and hardships, so that a monastic life, such
as it was,' was preferable to that ",bieb they had led, and by
.becoming monks, they became gentlemen, and a sort of saillts.
W 8 find from Augustin, that several of them refused to labour
with their hands, and expected to be maintained in lazin~s.,
prt:tending that the good instruction which they imparted,
aad the good example which they set, deserved such a recom-
pence; forwhich this father reprimauds ~m.
" The monks in aU times bad. their friends and their foes,
the first were generally of the clergy, and the second of the
laity.
" In the fourth century the people of Rome, for the most
part, (as we learn from Jerom) abhorred the monks who
repeired thither from the east, as beggarly impostors, and
hungry Greeks, who seduced ladies of fortunes and quality,
llnd oftw ruined their health by persuading them to practise
..igid mortifications and austerities,
.. When Jerom departed from Rome, A. D. 385, Paula,
.wiih her daughter Eustochiam, followed him. She was all
ilI.trious lady, of the family of the G racehi and the Conulii.
Before she llet ~t, she divided her etfects ~ongst her ehi!-
.clrCI1; &ad!tll~ went to ~ haven; aecQID~ by her
 S8

by the help of certain charms and diabolical

imprecations, constantly damped the spirits
of the Christian's horses, an~ added courage
to his own. The Christian, therefore, in de-
spair applied himself to St. Hilarion, and im-
plored his assistance: but the Saint was un-

young, afflicted, weeping family, her brother, her children,

and her kindred. Parous Toxotius, says Jerom, supplices
manus tendebat in litore. Rtifina jam nubilis, ut suas e:rpec-
taret nuptias, taciti« Jletibus obsecrabat, But Paula, like
another Regulus, brake through aU these dear obstacles.
She went to Cyprus, to kiss the feet of Epiphanius; thence
to Antioch to visit Paulinus, and thence I know not whither.
" 'Vhat a folly for a grave matron to leave her family out
of devotion, and, transformed into a religious gipsy, to roam
about by sea and land from place to place, to visit monks
and ecclesiastics! and what a still greater indiscretion in
J erom to countenance such things! The laics in those days
had just cause to dislike the monks, who put such supersti-
tions fancies into the heads of their mothers, sisters, wive!,
and daughters, and taught them to throwaway their time
and their money too; for these travelling ladies used to carry
alms and oblations with them, to be distributed as the direc-
tors of conscience should advise.
" Homer was a much better preacher upon this sUbjett
than the fathers of the fourth and following centuries :
'AU' ~'I~ uU'OJ! iovl1a ra ~aVT;'~ ~P'Ya ICO'p,Ii;E.
'1,0' v r' '1"-alCd"lv ~rE, Ka, clp.t/>nro?"o.l1. ICEAEV~
~Ep'Yov l1ro(XunJa.. n, Z.
It No ntore-":'but hasten to thy tasks at home,

lC There guide the spindle, aDd direct the 100m:'

 39
willing to enter into an affair so frivolous and
profane; till the Christian urging it as a ne-
cessary defence against these' adversaries of
God, Whose insults were levelled not so much
at him as at the Church of Christ, and his
entreaties being seconded by the monks, who
were present, the Saint ordered his earthen
jug, out of which he used to drink, to be filled
with water and delivered to the mall; who
presently sprinkled his Stable, his Horses, his
Charioteers, his Chariot, and the veryboun-
daries of tltecourse u.ith it. Upon this, the
whole City was in wonderous expectation:
the Idolaters derided what the Christian
was doing; while the Christians took eou..
rage, and assured themselves of victory;
till the signal being given for the race, the
Christian's horses seemed to fly, whilst the
Idolater's were labouring behind, and left
quite out'·o£ sight; so that the Pagans them-
selves were forced to cry out, that their God
Mamas "Pas conquered at last by Christ."[t']
'rhus this memorable Function, borrowed
originaUy from the Pagan Sprinklers of the
Circensian games, appears to be as ancient

[r] Ibid. p. so.

 40

almost in the Church as Monker~lj itself, and

One of the first inventions for which Pop~r!l
stands indebted to that religious institution.
As to the Lamps and Candles, which are
constantly burning before the Altars of their
Saints, he tells us once more, " that though
the Devil had procured them to be set up ~
his Temples, yet they were appointed origi-
nally by God for the service of his Taber-
nacle; and were not therefore 'borrowed from
the Heathenish, but the Mosaic worship." [.J
To which I need not repeat, what I have al-
re..a4.y said on the f~egoipg 1U'~ci~~ I had
deduced the origin of these lamps from
Egypt, upon the authority of Clemens Lt?e~a11~
drinus: but he declares, that Clem~~ sa!ls no
such thing: yet does not think fit to tell us,
. "
what it is that he has said, nor how IlC:;LI' i~
approaches to the interpretation which rh.av~
given of it. Clemens expressly ~crWest*"
invention of lamps to the Ji'.g.yptf4'1lS, ~~ which
he is fC»lpwed by Eusebiu» i and sin~e\amp:;
were used in all the Pagan Temples from the
earliest times of which ",e have a~'y ~tice, ~
take it; for a necessary consequence, . that .the

(8) Pref'lf' 8.
 4J.

EgQptians were the first who-made use of them.

likewise in their Temples. But let that be
4S it will, this at least is .certain that the use
of them in Christian Churches was con ..
demned by many of the primitice Bishops!md
Presbyters, as superstitious and Heathenish.
But all these our Catholic makes no scruple
to brand with the title of Heretic; (I] though
many of them, perhaps, might more truly be
called the Protestants 'oj' the primitiv.e C/mrch;
particularly ,V;gilanti~s, who, by all tbat I
have been able to observe about him, incurred
the Charge of Heresy for no other crime than
that.Qf writing against" Monkery; the Celi-
ha£y .of the Clergy; praying for ~he dead,
worshipping the reliques of Martyrs; and
lighti~g up candles to them, after the manner
9£ the P~gans." [u] But St. Jerom has given.
It] Pref. p. l~.
[u] lI.ieron. Oper. t.n.
part ii, p. 9.7~, 2.8~ Edi~ Bene-
~CL iL Cave's Hist, Li~r. par. i, .
~,l(osHEIM (Eccle$ia.stica,l fI~8ton:,v•.~.»t ~1-e.)
t~lJ8 rigUall~iu$ de.i~<lt,h~t. thl' t_s and th~
us' tl,lat'"
bones of the martgTs w~re to, bil ho~,,~!l with any sort ()f
hOJlUl&eor worship;, aud ther:efo~ cell5ured. the pilgrim/Ce$
that were ma.de to plac~s, that were' reputed h<>l1,. He
\~r~ into .derision theprodigie,s which were said to be
wrought in the tevtptes col18ec~ t9 mlVtYrsJ _: C;~
 42

the most rational definition of

Heres.v, where
he says, " that those who interpret Scripture
to any sense repugnant to that of the Holy
Spirit, though they should never withdraw
themselves from the Church, yet may be

demned the custom of performing vigils in them. He II!-

serted, and indeed with reason, that the custom of b."rllill!
lapel's at the tombs of the martyrs in broad day, was impru-
dently borrowed from the ancient superstition of the Pagaus.
He maintained,moroover, thatpro!Jers addressed to departed
,aints were void of all efficacy; and treated with contempt
fastipg and mortifications, the celibacy of the clergy, and the
various ~usterities of the monastic life. And, finally, he
affirmed, that the conduct of those who,' distributing their
substance 'among the indigent, submitted to the hardships of
a vohintary poserty, or sent a part of their treasures to Jtnr .
• alem. for devout purposes, had Ol)thing' in it acceptable to
the Deity. 1

II There were among the Gallic and Spanish bishops SI?

ver:q thattelished the opinions of Vigilantius: But Jerome,
the ~t monk of the age, assailed this bold reformer of reli-
gion with such bitterness and fury, that the honest presbyter
soon found that nothing but hiss~en<:e could preserve his
life from the i"ltmperale rage of bigotrg and sujerstition.
This .project then of reforming the corruptions, which a fa-
naticaland superstitious zeal bad introduced into tile church,
was choaked in its birth. And the name of good Vigilantius
remains still in t1le list of heretics, ",wch is IJcknowledged as
authentic by those .who, without any regard to their own
. judgment, or the declarations of scripture, followed blindly
the deci$ioDs of antiquity."
justly called Heretics:" [v] By which Crite-
rion the Romish Church will be foudlI more
Heretical than any of those who, either in
ancient or modern time, have separated them-
selvesfrom its communion on the account of
its doctrines.
My next instance of their Paganism IS, the
number of their Donaria or Votive ojfering~,
hanging around the Altars of their Saints:
whcl'courAuthor having nothing to allege from
Scripture, nor any example from antiquity, but
what is purely Heathenish, is forced to change
histone,and to declare, "that things innocent
in themselves cannot be rendered unlawful

JOllTIN (Remarks, v, 2. p. ssg) says, U A. D. 406. Vi-

gilantius was insulted and reviled by J erom as an enemy to
holy reliques, and to other superstitious and senseless practices. '
It is really a wonder that he fared no worse, and that some
zealousmonk did not beat his brains out with the jaw-bone
of a martyr."
. "It appears not," says FLEURY, "that the here&y of Vi-
~tiusgained ground, and that there was oocasioD for any
coondl to condemn it; so contrary was it to,tbetraditioo of
the universal ehurch,"
It is true enough, adds Jortin. It His heresy slept. till tl1e
Reformation awakened it; and since that time, all PI'Ote8taDtll,
all such, 1 mean, as have not renounced common sease, are
(If the same opinion about thete thioa. with Vigilantius."
[v) Hieron, ibid. par. 1. p. 302.
 44
forhaving been abused by the Heathens; aD!
that it cannot be disagreeable to the tro
God, that those, who believe themselves b
have received favours of him by the praYfll
of his saints, should make a public acknos
Iedgment of it." [w ] But can a practice b
called innocent, which is a confessed COP)
of paganish superstition? which tends b
weaken our dependence on God, and It
place it on those, who are not probably in i
condition, either to hear er to help tiS ?[l
who imprints the same veneration for t.
Christion Stlint$, that the Pagans paid b
their niJordinate Deities; and transfers t!k
[w] Pref. p. 9.
Ix] " For, the living know that they shall die: but 6
'*" know not any tlzi»g, neitlter ha\'ethey any more l~
.... ; fO!'tbe \Demory of them is forgotku.
~ ~lheiT luvt,tllnd their IuItTell, and tlreir ewc!j,u ..
perished; neither have they any more a portion for everl
.. y thiJag that is doae uneler the SUllo" '&cleaiwtt •.ix, 5,1
~ TIae boa,- Sai,-ea farther aBitm, that to Gocl al-,
beIorIptbe bam.ledfJe of die haart,_U l'lrou «lone .ItJMI.
1M Aeart. of all the claildren of men ;" (2 Chmn. vi. ~
wb_by; is stroagly implied ,that he doth not, oreinaril,., rIA'
municate 1bia. kDowledge to: any crealW'B. To Ilia, therchl
If,. alljltJh ought 10 ~." :Pal. bw. 2.
See faFdJer on,th. aubjectBVRiJiIl(J':De Staw MOdtfOrJ.
pp.56.84.91. l
l:
j

l
honourdue to God, to the Altars or departed
mortals?[y] Such a worship, I say, so far

~[!I} J'Olt'l'lN, (Remarks, v, 12,p. HiS,) says, "'I£'bi~

gotry and pcliticalgodliness did not eat up all slu»ne, Cliri»e-
iana would not presume to ascribe a wonderful deliverance
to Ambro,'e, rather than to JESUS-CHRIST, upon the autho«
rity of an obscure mortal, one Paulimu, who wrote a life. of
Ambrose, full of lying miracles, and who yet has not
atlinned it."
" But, it seems, the divine providence can do notbingwith-
out the intercession of saints. Rad/lgaislU be,wg.fl Florence,
TAi. city WQ.reduwl to tke utmost straits, when Saint .dm-
brose, who had once retired tkithe'l', (and who had nOfV been
tltnrlnint years,) appeared to a person 0/ the house where he
had lodged, and promised him thMt tke' cit,!!MOuJil b« de-
[irendfrom tlu! enem:Jo1t: t!tenext do!!. Tire '"" told iN;
the inhabitallts, who took courage; and resNmed the •
which they had quite lost: and on the next day came Stilicho
with his army. Paulinus, who relates this, learned it from
tl lady who lived, at Florence. And this prt'Ces what Saint
PaulimlS sa!ls, that God grQ1l.tedt~ preservationcif tilt
Romalls to the prayers 0/ Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and the
othermartyrs and coufessor« who tt'ere honoured by the cAurc4
tllroughout the empire."
Tlt.l.EMONT, Hist;'dtsEtnp. v:p. 640.
Upon this Jertin observes; ". Ode might liilYe ukM 'Saint
PaulinUB, the bilIbop'o£,Nohr, 'Where wllllt'fJiO«, when ~
apostles and-.martyrs- madesupplicatiOllfOr 'the ROlmfDst
Didsf thODstand by and hear them '? 'S*:y 1\0 lUore 'about it';
ittt go thy ways ancient· 'chips ont :of' (lte 'C7'OD, wMell; at
~ hast told,u-, gro_ ~ain asfd8t al'it,tr'dmtmil/,M·r\
 46
from being innocent, must necessarilyb
condemned by all unprejudiced men, as
profane and idolatrous ; as it will more evi
dently appear to be, from our consideration
of the next article, their worship of images.
On this head, our Catholic pours out all
his rage against me; charges me with" slan
del' and misrepresentation, and notoriou
untruths; says that I am no better friend to
Christianity than to Popery; that I imitate
the ancient Heretics, and copy my argu-
ments from the apostate Julian; [z ] by which
he shews, in what manner he would silence
me, if he had me under his discipline:
but I' can easily forgive his railing, while I
find myself out of his power; and rejoice,
that we live in a country, where he can use a
liberty, which no Popish government would
indulge to a Protestant. [aJ The ground of

[z] Pref. p. 13.

('0- [a] We ought never, for a moment, to lose sight 011
the religious despotism of the. PapJst,. That excellent ~t
triot, MILTON, in his admirable speech for the liberty oIf
Unlicensed Printing, tells us, that" To fill up the 1IleMW't'
of elM:roacbmeot, their last invention was to ordain that DO
book" pamphlet, or paper, should be printed, (tis. if ~ t
Pm' 1uld ~1wI1/o ... the I«p 'If the Preu «iM> .. ""1
 47
all this clamour, is, my treating their Image-
worship as Idolatrous; yet, he does not pre-
tend to contradict my facts, but the inference
only that I draw from them; and since he,
as of Paradise) unless it were approved and licensed under
the hands of two or three gluttonous friars: For example:
Let the Chancellor Cini be pleased to see if in this present
work be contained aught that may withstand the
printing. Vincent Rabbata, vicar of Florence.
I have seen this present work, and find 1l0tltillg athwart th«
Catlwlie faith and good manners; in witness whereof
I have given, &c.
Nicolo Cini, chancellor ofFJorenee.
Attending the precedent relation, it is allowed that thit
present work of Davanzati may be printed.
Vincent Rabbata, &oc.
It may be printed, July 15.
Friar Simon Mompei d' Amelia, chancellor
of the Holy Office in Florence,
II Sure," says Milton, "the,Y have a conceit, if be of the
bottomless pit had not long since broke prison, that thi,
quadruple exorcism would bar him down. I fear their next
design will be to get into their custody the Iicensing of that'
which they say Claudius intended, hut went not through
with. Quo oeniam daret jltJtum cl'epitumque ventns in
cOt/vivio emittendi." See Prose Works, vol, i, p. 294.
But it is not on subjects of religion alone, that the Church
of Rome has exercised her persecuting rage. Let us, for
inbtance, reflect upon her abominable treatment, in the thir-
teenth century, of our renowned' couutryman, ROGER
BACON, who was accused as a magician by the general of
his order, and by Pope Clement IV. cast into the prison of
 48
cannot overthrow my premises, IS the more
enraged at my conclusion.
I had defined Idols, upon the authority of
St. Jerom, to be Images of the dead': where
he is simple enough to imagine, that I in-
cluded in my definition, all images and pic.
tures what:;oever qf the dead; and calls it,
ibe:refore, a- brat of my oum, which I falsely
father ttpun St. Jerom. [b] Yet, every man
must see, that· I could mean no other images,
but such as I was there treating of; such as
had Temples, Altars, and a religious worship
instituted to them; for such are all the
Images rff the Popish Church;' and of aU such
I'Tiwges of the dead, I shall affirm again with
St. Jerom, that they are true and proper'Idols.
the Inquisition at Rome, where he remained shut up for
maDy years; and for no other cause than' his superiority to
the lage in whkhhe lived. Equally tyrannical was her con-
duct towards that celebrated ROreDtine GALILEO, who,
three buadred years afterwards, wllS thrown into the same'
prison in the sante city, for maintaining the eart''-. 'motioIi',
andtbesun'. immobility; a Mresywhich, at lengdt~ he-~
brought to ebjutre,. andina manueJ" die most htmriliating.
s..ehtllid!l-have been, and maybe:again; Give but the
€hurdt of 1RoD'se tne pott.'ef', and she-will not w~ the illclj;i
11111;0"* to teduee us' once more under the yoke of her eltter2
mineting de8p&tism.
[6J .p..... p. 10.
 49
It is not my present design to enter into a
formal discussion of the nature of Idolatry,
which, according to every sense of it, as our
Divines have fully demonstrated, is now ex-
ercised in Popish Rome, upon the very same
principles on which it was formerly practised
in Pagan Rome. The purpose or the follow-
iog Letter is to illustrate this argument by
the more sensible evidence of fact, and, in
spite of the cavils and evasive distinctions of \
their Schools, to shew their worship of Images \
or oj'Saint.'), call it which they will, to be .'
properly and actually idolatrous. But our
Authordefines Idols, " to be such images only
as are set up for Gods, and honoured as such,
or in which some divinity or power is believed
to reside by their worshippers, who accord-
inglyoffer prayers and sacrifice to them, and
put their trust in them." [c] Such, says he,
were the Idols of the Gentiles: and such, I
shallventure to say, are the Idols of the Pa-
pists. For what else can we say of those
miraculous Images, as they are called, in every
greatTown of Italy, but that some Divinity or
PlN«r is universallybelieved to reside in ~em?

[c) Pref. p. 11.

E
 50

Are not all their people persuaded, and do

not all their books testify, that these Images
have sometimes moved themselves from one
place to another, have wept, talked, and
wrougJu many miracles? And does not this
necessarily imply an e,rtra()rdina'l'!J power re-
siding in them? In the high street of Lorette,
which leads to the lfoly, House; the shops are
filled with Beads, Crucfiae», Agnus's Dei's,
and ~U the trinkets of Popish manufacture;
where I observed printed certificates" or testi-
menials, affixed to each shop, declaring all
~heirtoJs tc have been touched by the ble8$ed
Image :wh,idl certificates are provided for no
Vther: purpose than to humour the general pcr-
suasi~R, both of the buyer and the seller, that
some virtue is communicated by that touch
from apOi(:er residing in the Image.
In one of the Churches of Lucca, [d] they
«r [d] .All the Catholic churches abroad, however poor some
of them may be, have images or pictures in them; but the
following. acc01lJl~of, one of those images cannot fail, I. think,
to provoke a smile.
LADY W O,RTLEY MONTAGU, in a letter to the Countessof
Bristol, dated Nuremburg, Aug.Q~.O.S. 1716, says, "J
was particularly diverted in a little Roman-catholic church
which is permitted bere, where the professors of that religion
are not very rich, and con~eCluentlycannot adorn their image!
 51
shew an Image of the Virgin with tile Child of
Jesus in her arms, of which they relate this
Story) "That a blaspheming Gamester, in
rage and despair, took up a stone and threw

in so rich a manner as their neighbours. For, not to be

quite destitute of all finery, they have dressed up an image of
our Saviour over the altar, in afair full bottomed wig, 'L'ery
tt1ellpowdered. I imagine I see your ladyship stare at this
article, of which you very much doubt the veracity; hut upon
my word, I have 110tyet made use of the privilege of a travel-
ler; and my whole account is written with the same plain
sincerity of heart, with which I assure you that I am, dear,
Madam, yours, &'c. &.c." (Works, v. 2. p. 18.)
Image-wol'llhip made a great progress in the church .in the
tifth century. It was condemned by the council of Constan-
tinople (A. D. 754.) as a corruption of Christianity and a re-
newal of Paganism; but it was justified by Pope G~gory II.
(A. 727.) and sanctified by the second council of Nice,
(A. 787.) Of this second N.icene council (says GIBBON)
the acts are still extant; a curious monument of superstition
and ignorance, of falsehood, and folly. I shall only notice
(adds he) the judgment of the bishops, on the comparative
meritof image-worship and morality. A monk had con-
cluded a truce with the demon of fornication, on condition of
interrupting his daily prayers to a picture thut hung .in his
cell. His scruples prompted him to consult the abbot.
" Rather than abstain from adoring Christ and his Mother in
their holy images, it would be better for you," replied the
casuist, "to enter every brothel, and visit every prostitute, in
the city." (Decline and FalJ, v. g. p. 165.)
E 2
it at the Infant; but the Virgin, to preserve
him from the blow ,which was levelled at his
head, shifted him instantly from her right
arm into the left, in which he is now held;
while the blasphemer was swallowed up by
the earth upon the spot; where the hole,
which they declare to be unfathomable, is
still kept open, and enclosed only with a
grate, just before the Altar of the Image.
The Virgin however received the blow upon
her shoulder, whence the blood presently
issued, which is preserved in a Crystal, and
produced, with the greatest ceremony, by the
Priest in his vestments, with tapers lighted,
while all the company kiss the sacred relique

Pope Sixtus IV. was of a similar opinion. In the year

1471 he erected a famous brothel at Rome; and the Roman
prostitutes paid his holiness a weekly tax, which amounted
sometimes to twenty thousand ducats a year. (Jortin, Rt-
marks, v.S. p.S84.)
The last mentioned author (v. 3. p. 381.) tells us, that
" there is a list of the strangers who attended the couocit·
of Constance, (A. 1414.) as tradesmen, heralds, buffooD&,
&.c. amongst which are seven hundred courtesans; or, Il'
another Jist hath it, fifteen hundred; which (be observet};
seems to be the more probable account. He cites L' Elljil/d.
whose accurate and elegant history of this council is well i
known.

]
I
 53

on their knees." [eJ Now does not the at-

testation of this miracle naturally tend to
persuade people, that there is an actual power
residing in the Image, which can defend itself
from injuries, and inflict vengeance on all
who dare to insult it?
One of the most celebrated Images in Italy
is that of St. Dotninic,[f] qf Surriano in Ca..

[e] See Mr. Wright's Travels at Luera.

c:1)-U] Dominic was a Spaniard by birth, and the
founder of the famous order that bears his name. Just be-
fore his death, he sent Gilbert de Freslle.1fwith twelve of the
brethren into England, where they founded their first monas-
tery at Oxford, in the year 12~1, and soon after another at
kultm. In the year 1276, the Mayor and Aldermen rif
the city of London gave them two whole streets by the river
Thames, where they erected a very commodious convent,
whence that place is still called Black-Friars, for so the
Dominicans were called in England. In the priory church,
which was very large, were held several parliaments and other
great meetings. The Parliament, called the Black Parlia-
ment, was begun at the Black-friars, in the year 1524, in
which a subsidy of two shillings in the pound on all goods
and lands was granted. In 1529, Campfju.5 and Wolsty
sat at the :Black-friars to annul the marriage of Henry VIII.
with Catkerille of Arrag01~; and in the month of October in
the same year, the parliament which condemned Wolsey ill a
prremunire, met here.
Thill m,pnastery was dissolved by Henry VIII. in the year
1:;39.
 54

labria, which, as their histories testify, was

brought down from heaven about two centu-
ries ago, by the Virgin Mary in person, ac-
companied. by Mary ];lagdalen and St. Ca-
tharine. Before this glorious picture, as they
affirm, "great numbers of the dead have
been restored to life, and-hundreds from the
agonies of death; the dumb, the blind, the
deaf, the lame, have been cured, and all sorts
of diseases and mortal wounds miraculously
healed:" all which facts are attested by pub-
lic Notaries; and confirmed by the relations
of Cardinals, Prelates, Generals, and Priors
of that Order; and the certainty of them so
generally believed, that from the 9th of July
to the 9th of August, the anniversary Festival
of the Saint, they 'have always counted abuce
a hundred thousand Pilgrims, and many ot
them of the highest quality, who come frOID
different parts of Europe to pay their devo-
tions, and make. their offerings to this pic.
ture. [gJ
. Aringhus, touching upon this subject, in
his elaborate account of subterraneous Rome:

fg] La vie de St. Dominic, p. 599. 400. a Paris. )647.it

p.602.
 55
observes, " that the Images of the blessed
Virgin shine out continualZlJby new and daily
miracles, to the comfort' crf' their coteries, mId
the confusion of all gainsayers. 'Vithin these
few years, says he, under every Pope
successively, some or other of our sacred
Images, especially of the more ancient, have
made themselves illustrious, and acquired a
peculiar worship and veneration by the exhi-
bition of fresh signs; as it is notorious to all
who dwell in this City. nut how call I pass
over in silence the Image of St. Dominic; 80
conspicuous at this day for its never-ceasing
miracles, which attract the resort and admira-
.tion of the whole Christian world. This
picture, which, as pious tradition informs us,
was brought down from heaven, about the
year of our redemption, 1530, is a most solid
bulwark of the Church of Christ, and a noble
monument of the pure faith of Christians,
against all the impious opposers of Image
worship. The venerable Image is drawn
indeed, but rudely, without the help of art or
pencil; sketched out by a celestial hand;
with a book in its right, and a lily ill its left
hand; of a moderate stature, but of a grave
and comely aspect; with a robe ~eacbing
 56
down to the heels. Those who have written
its history, assert, that the Painters, in their at-
tempts to copy it, have not always been able
to take similar copies; because it frequently
assumes a different air, and rays of light have
been seen by some to issue from its coun-
tenance; and it has more than once removed
itself from one place to another. The \Vor~
ship therefore of this picture is become so
famous through all Christendom, that multi.
tudes of people, to the number of a hundred
thousand and upwards, flock annually to pay
their devotions to it, on the Festival of the
Saint; and though it be strange which I
have now related, yet what I am going to say
is still stranger, that not only the original pic-
ture, made not by human, but by heavenly
hands, is celebrated for its daily miracles,
but even the Copy of it, which ispiously.pre-
served in this City, in the Monastery called
St. JJ;Iary's abooe the Minerva, is famous also
in these our days for its perpetual signs and
wonders, as the numberless votive offerings
hanging around it, and the bracelets and
jewels which adorn it testify." [It]
[h) Aring. Roma Subterran. tom.ji, p. 464. § IS.
(t)-This devotion, paid by the Papists to the image of St.
 All their Apologists, indeed, declare, what.
our Catholic also says on this head, " that
they do not ascribe these miracles to any
power in the Image itself, but to the power
of God, who is moved to work them by the
prayers and intercession of his Saints, for the
benefit of those who have sought that inter-
cession before their pictures or Images : and
in order to bear testimony to the faith and
practice of the Church in this particular
article." [iJ But how can we think it PQs.
sible, that the Deity can he moved to exert
his power so wonderfully for the confirmation
of such ridiculous stories, of pictures and
statues sent down from heaven; which, while
they blasphemously impute to the workman-
ship of Saints or Angels, or of God himself,[k]
are yet always so rudely and contemptibly
performed, that a moderate artist on earth
would be ashamed to call them his own ?[l]

Dominic, is oothing more than what so fronk!! a Saint ought

to receive. He has the honour of being the {ather and
founder of that pious institution, the 11lfJuisitioll!
[z] CathoI. Christ. p. 251.
[k] Imaginem 6UJTE'IIl:TOV. Euagr.
<;lJ- (l] "The Olympian Jove," (says GIBBON, apeakihg
of the introduction of images into the Church) created by
 58

Or, is it at all credible, that the Saints in

heaven should be as busy and ambitious as
their votaries are on earth, to advance the
peculiar honours of their several altars, by
their continual intercessions at the throne of
grace? Or that their whole care above, if
they really have any, which reaches to things
below,should be employed, not for the general
advancement of religion and piety among
men, but of their own private glory and
worship, in preference to all their competi
tors? No; the absurdity of such notions and
practices makes it necessary to believe, that
they were all occasionally forged for the sup-
port of some lucrative scheme; or to revive
the expiring credit of some favourite super-
stition, which had been found highly bene-
ficial to the contrivers of such forgeries. For
the very effect of which they boast, as a
the muse of Homer, and the chissel of Phidias, might inspire
11 philosophic mind with, momentary devotion: but these
Catholic images were faintly and fiatly delineated by m~
artistBi" the last degeneracy of taste and genius."
" Your scandalous figures stand quite out from the caJl'
vas: they are as bad as a group of statues!" It was thus
that the ignorance and bigotry of a Greek priest applauded
the pictures 9f Titia«, which he had ordered and refnsed
OlCcept.(Declille and Fall, v, 9.p.I~1.)
 59
proof of the miracle, betrays the fraud; and
the multitude of pilgrims and l?fferiugs, to
which they appeal, instead of demonstrating
the truth of the fact, does but expose the
real ground of the imposture. .
But to return to my Antagonist: if we
should ask him once more, whether there
ever was a' temple in the world, not purely
heathenish, in which there were all.'IImages,
erected on altars, for the purpose of any rcli-
gious worship whatsoever; he must be obliged
to answer in the negative. He would be
forced likewise to confess, that there were
many such Temples in Pagan Rome, and
particularly the-Pantheon, which remains still
in Christian Rome; on whose numerous altars
as there formerly stood the Images of as
many Pagan Divi or Idols, so there are now
standing the Images of as many Popish Ditri
-DrSaints; to whom the present Romans pay
their vows and offer prayers, as their inclina-
tions .severally lead them to this or that par-
ticular altar: and no man will pretend to
say, that there is not the greatest conformity
between the present and the ancient Temple,
or that it would not be difficult to furnish out
a private room more exactly in the taste of
 60
the old Romans, than this Popish Chll1'ch
stands now adorned with all the furniture of
their old Paganism.
Weare informed by Plato, that there were
Images in the Temples of .!Egypt from the
earliest antiquity:[ m] and it appears evidently
from Scripture, that t.hey subsisted there as
well as in Palestine, before the time of Moses.
'The strict prohibition of them, therefore, to
the Jews, while several other rites of the
Heathens were indulged to them, in condes-
cension to their peculiar circumstances and
carnal affections, carries a strong intimation,
that Images are of all things the most dan-
gerous to true religion, as tending naturally
to corrupt it, by introducing Superstition and
Idolatry into the worship of God. The
Ch-ristian Emperors, as I have intimated in my
Letter, strictly prohibited their Pagan sub-
jects to light up candles, o.fferincense, or lamg
up garlands to senseles«Images: for these were
then reckoned the notorious acts of genuine'
. Paganism: yet we now see all these very acts
performed every day in Popish countries to
the Images oj' the Popish, Saints. In a word,

[m] Plat. de LeBib. ii. p. 656. Max. Tyr. »iss. S8.

 61
since there never was an Image in the Tem-
ple of the true God, in any age of the world,
yet perpetual use of them in the Temples of
the Heathens, it is in vain to dispute about
their origin; the thing is evident to a demon-
stration; they must necessarily be derived to
the present Romans, from those who always
used, and not from those who always detested
them; that is, from their Pagan, not their
Christian Ancestors. [n] They may quibble

<:!:j-[/I] TACITUS informs us, that the Jef1'S suffered no COl1~

secrated statues or images to be erected either in their cities
or their temples. Nll~la simulacra urblbus suis, uedum. tem-
plis sinuni; "The .iEg!jptians," says he, "worship various
symbolical represeutajions, which are the work of man; the
Jews acknowledge one God only, and him they see in the
mind's eye, and him they adore in contemplation, condemn-
ing, as impious idolaters, all who with perishable materials
wrought into the human form, attempt to give a representa-
tion of the Deity. The God of the Jews is the great govem-
iog mind, that directs and guides the whole frame of nature,
eternal, infinite, and neither capable of change, nor subject
to decay." (Hist, lib. v, c.5.) A little afterwards (c. 6.)
he tells us, that when Pompey conquered Jerusalem, and
madehilJ entry iatothe Temple, he found neither statues nor
images, but a void and empty tabernacle. In chap. 9, he
.ays, that Caligula had the frantic ambition to have his statue
placed in the Temple of Jerusalem ; but the Jews bad re-
C()urse to arms: another proof of their resolution not to
slIffer the tabernacle to be profaued by image. of any kind.
 62
therefore as long as they please; and talk of
their Decrees and Canons, contrived to amuse
the public, and elude the arguments of Pro-
testants, by subtle and specious distinctions;
while every traveller, who sees what passes at
the Shrine of any celebrated Saint, or miracu-
lous Image in Italy, will be convinced by
ocular demonstration, that their people are
trained, instructed, and encouraged to be-
lieve, that there is a divinity 01' power residing
in those Images, and that they actually offer
up pra~1Jersand put their trust in them.
For if there is no such belief amongst them,

Our SAVIOUR calls the Roman ar~y which besieged Je-

rusalem " the abomination of desolation." (Matth, xxiv.
15.) It was called" the abomination," because its ensigns
and images were so to the Jews;- among whom every image
of a man, and every idol, was an abomination. Foe this
'r<ea,lion,when Vitellins, governor of Syria, was going to pass
.through J udlea with a Roman army to make wal' against the
Arabians, the chief of the Jews met him, and earnestly ea-
treated him to lead his army another way. After the city
W8,lI taken, the Romans brought their eesigns into the teaaple,

and pIaeed them over-against the eastern gate, and sacnnced

to them there, The Roman army is therefore itly called
, the abomination,' and ' the abomination of desolation,' as it
was destined to lay waste Jerusalem. (Vide Grobi Annota-
tiones ad 24. cap. Matthaei com.. 15. Joseph. Antiq. lib. 18.
c.7,.),
 63
as this Catholic affirms, for what purpose do
they expose these Images so solemnly, and
carry them about processionally, on all occa-
sions of public [0] distress? Is there any charm

ti& [0] On the 17th January, 1798, while the late Pope
(PIUS VI.) was waiting the result of his letter to the French
government, offering satisfaction for the death of General
DUPHOT, his Holiness appointed a solemn procession of the
three most celebrated relics in Rome. In the proclamation,
publiMhedon this occasion, the sovereign Pontiff thus ex-
pressed himself.-" Your faith shall be animated by the sight
of sacred and holy objects, which the Clergy shall conduct
with devout pomp through the streets to St. Peter's, ex-
posing to public veneration for several days on the high altar
the venerable, most ancient, and most wonderful portrait of
the most holy Saviour-also the miraculous picture of th~
Santa M:aria in Portico-and the sacred chai9s wher~with
the prince of the Apostles was fettered. To any' OD~ whl>
in the aforesaid days shall visit St. Peter's, reciting before
the above mentioned sacred monuments the prayer beginning
.Ante oculos tuos, Domine, &c. or, in lieu of it, will repeat ten
times the Pater-noster and the Ave-Maria, praying as above,
his holit\ess grants for each time, in each day, an ind:ulgelu:e
for ten, years and/ort!! day.~." The portrait of the most
holy Sa,vio,ur hete, mentioned, and supposed to have been
paintedby s.upernatuFal agellC!!, was known b, the appella-
tion of Il Santo r olio, It had not been, publicly exhibited
siace the year 1709, after a terrible earthquake.
i Previous to the procession, the streets were strewed witlt
flowers aad myrtles; aU the religious orders, in their respec-
tive habits, and the cardinala, followed, with an immense
 in a block of wood or stone, to produce rain,
or avert a pestilence? Or, can senseless Images
have any influence towards moving the Will
of God? No; their Priests are not so silly as
to imagine it; the sole end of producing them
is, not to move God, but the populace; to
persuade the deluded multitude, that there is
a power in the Image, that can draw down
blessings upon them. from Heaven: A doc-
trine, that repays all their pains of inculcating
it, by a perpetual supply of wealth to the
concourse of people, many f!f the first distinction bare-
foot.' These' inestimable relics remained for three weeks
on the high altar of St. Peter's, and were then exhibited in
the churches of Santa Maria Maggior.e and St. Giovanni in
Laterano. See " A Brief Account of the Subversion of the
Papal Government, by R. Duppa, Esq." sect. 2.
Mr. BELsHA~I, in his History of Great Britain, vol. x,
p. 454. very justly remarks, that it is impossible to read the
pnpalprodamation upon this occasion withont emotions of
indignant contempt. "The nations of Europe," says Mr.
BURKE, "have the very same Christian religion, agreeing in
the fundamental parts, vaJ)ing a little in the ceremonies and
in the subordinate doctrines." (Thoughts On a Regicide
Peace.) It It might eertainly" (says Mr. Belsbam) "with a.I
much plausibility be affirmed, that the professors of rational
and genuine Christianity agree with the Ml!f~iof Constanti-
nople, or the Grand Lama of Tttrtary, intbeir religion, »
with the Pope of Rome, whose claims an;' indeed·the most
impious and impudent of the three."
 65
treasury of the Church. [pJ This, therefore,
as it appears from undeniable facts, is the
C3jP [p] That the Church of Rome employs quite as much
art at this moment, as ever she did, to delude the multitude,
may be seen by a most curious publication, entitled It Official
" Memoirs of the Juridical Examination into the Authenti-
" city of the Miraculous Events which happened at Rome
" in the Years 1796-7, including Tile Decree of Appro-
" boHoll, &c. with an account of similar Prodigies" bich
" occurred about the same time at AIIl~ona and other places'
" ill Itaiy. Translated from the French. ~olllpared wittl
" ~ Original Itaiian of Sig. Gio. Marchetti, Apostolic
.. Examil1lltor of the Clergy and President dill Gesu. By
.. the Rev, B. Rayment." London, Keating and Co. 1801.
pp.227.-1n this publication we are told, nay, it i•• worp
by a clOud of witnesses, that no less than twenty-six pictures
of the Virgill Mary opened and shut their eyes, which was
811PPOSedto be a manifestation of her peculiar grace and fa- .
Your to 1he Roman people. At Ancona, the pictare of the
blessed Virgin, under the title of Quem cif all the Saints,
opened and shut its eyes. At Veruli, arid other places, the
pictures of the blessed Virgin, and of her infant son Jesus,
opened and shut their eyes. At Torrice, there was a varia-
tion in the colour of the countenance in a statue of the
blessed Virgin, called our Lad!! of the !In:ell Dolors, and
some of the deponents add, that they observed a Perspira-
tion issue from the countenance. At Cepra7lo, a statue of
ollr Lad!! c1])('lor, harned its eyes. At Frascati, a mw ...
CItloU!lmevement of the eyes was observed in the picture of
a "b[odoll11aAdl/olorata. (His Highness the late Cardinal
Duke of York, Bishop of Frascati, is stated to have been
J' '.In~ye "'itaess" of this mirade, and accordingly he .uthen .. '
'F
 66
universal belief of all Popish Countries;
grounded, as they all assert, on the evidence
ticated the same under his hand.) In the United Diocese of
St. Angelo in Vado and Urbania, a picture of the blessed
Virgin, called our Lady oj Afount Carmel, was observed to
open and close its eyes. At Mercatello, in the same diocese
of Urbania, a picture of the blessed Virgin's Assumption into
heaven, moved its eyes. In the convent of St. Liberatus of
the Fathers Minori Osservanti, at the foot of the ApeD"
nines, between Sanginesio and Samaro, in the diocese of
Camerino, a miraculous Perspiration. was observed on the
picture of the Patron Saint, which is kept within an iroD
grate, and above his tomb, in the church of the convent de-
dicated to his honour. This miracle continued at intervals
for the space of twenty-three days. The perspiration was 80
copious, that besides humecting the linen applied to wipe
the face, it moreover wetted the tomb that was underneath.
It is. also affirmed, that not only the aforesaid perspiratiou
was visible, but tears, in great- abundance, gushed from tIJe
eyes of the painting; and that, notwithstanding the great
care taken to wipe them, they were observed to run doWll
even upon the pavement. At Calcata,. in the diocese of
Cioita Castellana, a. miraculous movement wa. observed ill
the eyes of two pictures which are kept in the parochial
church of St, Cornelius and St. Cyprian.. At Tad;, the
eyes of two pictures of the blessed Virgin were. seen to
move.
These miracles had 80 powerful an inBuence over the
minds of the multitude, as to produce an enthuaiaamlittL:
short of madness. The movement of the eyes in the picture
of the Virgin at the Church of St. Silvester, at HOOle,m.de
so strong an impression upon the people, tba~ "a pi_
mother placed her little lame daughter on the altar, and with
 67
of perpetual miracles, wrought by the parti-
cular agency of these sacred Images, of which
earnest prayers, ill u'hich she was joilt<td oy the spectators,
implored the cure of her child." And yet the Papists deny,
that they put their trust in images! But the English translator
of these oiJicial Memoirs tells us positively, that " if we
except the ancient and modern Iconoclasts, or image-breakers,
we shall find that a due honour and respect have at all times,
and in all places, been paid to the holy images aud pictures of
Jesus and his devoted servants. The late venerable, learned,
and pious POlltijj; adds he, was accustomed to go and in-
dulge his daily decotions before the image of his patron
Saint in the church of St. Peter." (See Official Memoirs,
p.63. note.) This account is, indeed, confirmed by D.,.
MOORE; in his ' View of Society and Manners in Italy.'
"Pius the sixth performs all the religious functions
of his office in the' most solemn manner, not only on
putflic and extraordinary occasions, but also in the most
common acts of devotion. I happened lately to be at
S1. Peter's church, when there was scarcely any other body
there: while I lounged from Chapel to Chapel, looking at
the sculpture and paintings, the Pope entered with very
few attendants; when he came to the statue of St. Peter, he
was not satisfied with bowing, which is the usual mark of
respect shewn to that image; or with kneeling, which is per-
fOnried'by more zealous persons; or with kissing the foot,
which I formerly imagined concluded the climax of devotion;
he bowed, be knelt, he kissed the foot, and then he rubbed
his brow and his whole head with every mark of humility,
fervour, and adoration, upon the sacred stump.-It is no
more, one half of the foot baying been long since worn awny
by the lip!!of the pious."
I could produce innumerable instances from
their own books.
Thus then, it is, that the Papists, influenced by the exam-
ple of the Head of their Infallible Church, fulfil the com-
mandments of the Almighty! Thou shalt not make unto thg-
serf any graven image: thou shalt not bow doen. to it, nor
'It'orshipit. 111e Scriptures teach us to put our trust in
God, who alone is able to help us; but the Church of Rome
can effect such miracles as to induce the deluded multitude
to forget their Creator, and to put their trust in images and
pictures.
Yet the Papists will ask, are not these miracles true? Are
they not confirmed by the most solemn oaths ef the Clergg?
To which I answer, I, for one, do not believe them to be true.
That the pictures moved their eyes, and perspired, I do not
question; but then these movements and perspirations were
contrived by the tricks of the priests, As to the solemn
oaths of the Clergy, let the reader turn to the note, page IS5.
and see what a solemn oath Robert de Nobili took, and was
commended, too, for taking, in order to deceive the poor
Indians. Besides, there is nothing ill these miracles but
what, the priests have often performed before,-nothing but
what their Pagan ancestors set them the example of doing.
In a word, I \ViIIfurnish the key that shall open the secret of
these miracles. .At the time when they were wrought, Gene-
ral Bonaparte, amazed at the extent and rapidity of his own
conquests, was threatening to proceed to Rome. These pic-
tures" therefore, very naturally opened their eyes and perspired.
They were apprehensive that the French would soon come,
and take them away. In this distress, the Papists acted over
again some of their old tricks; just as their PagQ1t ancestors
were wont to do. It is related by Liv!I' (I. xliii. 13.) that,OD
the approach of some public calamity, tke statue oj'ApOLLO
 69
In a Collegiate Church of regular Canons,
called St. ltfary of Impnmeta, about six

wept for three days and nights successively; and, on another

occasion, (I, xxiii. 3].) all the images ill the temple 0/ JUNO
«ere seen to sweat with drops if blood. So, the statue qf MI-
N RRV A, at the siege of'Troy, when carried away by Diomede,

" -- sternly cast her glaring eyes around,

That sparkled as they roll'd, and seem'd to threat:
Her heav'nly limbs distill'd a briny staeat:" JEn.2. v, 17.5.
Still, some superstitious person may demand, what interest
could the Priests have in performing these miracle», sup-
posing them to be the work of their hands? The interest, I
reply, was this. The Pope did not yet despair of making
some stand against the French; but then he wanted an addi-
tion to his u.'oys und means. Now these miracles were JIO
sooner wrought, than the deluded people made rich presents
to the pictures. "A celebrated artist was so impressed with
awe and veneration, that taking from bis finger a diamond
ring valued at 2,000 French lines, he placed it himself in the
crown of the blessed Virgin. He then hastened to the sa-
cristy, and entered into a bond to contribute ~,500 Iivres to-
wards any decoration that might be judged proper for this
picture.-A Turk was curious to see. the prodigy, and seeing
it, he said, in Italian, Woman, thou movest thy eyes; and put-
ting his hand to bis seymetar, which was richly ornamented,
said to his attendant, Give her this." These secrets are dis-
closed in a small pamphlet, entitled, I Miraculous Events,estu-
blisbed by authentic Letters from Italy,8tc.'Tbe fourth edition.
London; Cochlan, (now Keating) Duke St. Grosvenor Sq.
I must not conclude this note without mentioning, that the
late Pope granted an an1l:U(I1 mass with an l!.tpee for all .the
Clergy of Rome, on the 9th of July, to perp,tuate the
memory of'u-e prodigies. This grant for the oftice and
 70
miles from Florence, there IS a miraculous
picture of the Virgin Mar.1J' painted by St.
Luke, and held in the greatest veneration
through all Tuscanq : 'Vhich, as oft as that
State happens to be visited by any calamity,
or involved in any peculiar danger, is sure to
he brought out, and carried in procession
through the streets of Florence; attended by
the Prince himself, with all the Nobility,
Magistrates, and Clergy; where it has never

Mass, as also for an Indulgence, has been coafirmed and

extended by his present Holiness Pius VII.
In the list of Subscribers to the" Official Memoifs" above
eited, are to be found the following Archbishops and ~ishops
of Ireland!
Most Rev. Dr. TROY, Archbishop of Dublin.
The most Hev. Dr. O'REILY, Archbishop of Armagh.
The most Rev. Dr. DILLON, Archbishop of Toam.
The most Rev. Dr. BRAY, Archbishop of Cashel,
Rt. Rev. Dr. COPPINGER,Bishop ofCloyne.
Rt. Rev. Dr. CAULFIELD, Bishop of Ferns.
Rt. Rev: Dr. DELANl:Y, :Bishop of Kildare, &.c.
Rt. Rev. i». FRENCH, Bishop of EJphin.
Rt. Rev. W. GIBSON, Bishop of Acanthus, V. A. tP
COpies.
Rt, Rev. Dr. GEORGE Hav, Bishop of Daulis, V. A.
Rt. Rev. Dr. LANIGAN, Bishop of Ossory.
Rt. Hey. Dr., MOYLAN, Bishop of Cork, 12 copies.
lb. Rev. Dr. PLUNKET, Bishop of Meath.
Rt. Rev. Dr. SHARROCK, Bishop o,fTe1m~n. V.A.
Rt.Rev. Dr. SUGHRUE. Bishop of Ardfert, &.c.
 71
failed. to afford them present relief in their
greatest difficulties. In testimony of which
they produce authentic acts and records, con-
finned by public Inscriptions, setting forth all
the particular benefits miraculously obtained
fromeach procession; and the several offerings
made on that account to the Sacred Image,
for many centuries past, down to these very
times; from the notoriety of which facts it
became a proverb over Italy, that the Floren-
tines had got D Madonna, which did for them
whatever they pleased. [q]
Among the numerous Inscriptions of this
sort, there is one in the Church of Imprunetd,
to this .effect: "That the sacred Image being
carried with solemn pomp into Florence, when
it was visited by a pestilence for three years
successively, and received with pious zeal by
the great Duke, Ferdinand II. and the whole
body of the people, who came out to meet it,
and having marched about the City for three
days in procession, the fierceness of the pes-
tilence began miraculously to abate, and
soon after entirely ceased. Upon which the

[q] Vid. :Mem.Orie Istoricbe della Miracoloso Immagine,

~c. in Firen. 1714. 4to. pas80 in proverbio der tutta l'Italia ;
a
c:he i Fiorrentini hanno una Madonna, cbe fa lor modo.
ib.p.85.
 72
~Iagistrates of health, by a general vow ci
the Citizens, made an offering of ten thou-
sand ducats of gold, to be employed in pro-
viding portions for twenty young women of
Lmpruneta to be disposed of annually in mar-
riage, and placed that Inscription as a Monu-
ment of so signal a benefit, A. D. 1633." [r}
During the time of these processions, they
always inscribe certain hymns, or prayers, or
eulogiums of the Virgin, over the doors and
other conspicuous places ofeach Church.where
the Image reposes j tself for any time; in order
to raise the devotion of the people towards
the sacred object before them. In a proces-
sion made A. D. 1711, the following Inscrip-
tion was placed over the principal gate of
one of their great Churches.-" The gate of
celestial benefit, The Gate of Salvation.
Look up to the Virgin Herself. Pass into
me, all ye who desire me. 'Vhosoever shall
find me will find life and draw Salvation from
the Lord. For there is no one, who can be
saved, 0 most holy Virgin, but through
thee! There is no one who can be deli-
vered from evils, but through Thee. There
is no one from whom we can obtain mercy,

[1'] Ibid. p. 202.

 73
but through Thee."-In the conclusion are
these expreesions.c->' Nlary indeed opcns the
bosom of her mercy to all; so that the whole
Universe receives out of her fullness. The
Captive, redemption; the Sick, a cure; the
Sad, comfort; the Sinner, pardon; the Just,
grace; the Angel, joy; the whole Trinity,
glory." [s] Now what can we say of a devo-
tion so extravagant and blasphemous, but
that it is a revival of the old Heresq of the Col-
l.lJl'idians; maintained by a sect of silly uomen,
who fell into their foolish. error 01' madness, as
Epiphallius calls it, through an ezcess <if zeal
towards the blessed Virgin, whom they resolved
to advance into a Goddess, and to introduce
the worship of Her as such into the Christian
Church. [tJ
[s] Janna coelestis beneficii. Jallua Salutis, Ipsam Vir-
ginem attendite, Transite ad me omnes qui concupiscitis
me. Qui meinvenerit, inveniet vitam et haurier salutem a
Domino. Nemo enim est qui salvus fiat, 0 sanctissima,
nisi per Te. Nerno est qui liberetur a malis nisi per Te,
Nemo est cujus misereatur gratia nisi per Te.
Maria profecto omnibus misericordia sinem aperit, ut de
plenitudine ejll5 accipiant Universi. CaptivUB redemptionein,
lEger curationem, Trestis consolationem, Peccator veniam,
Justus gratiam, Angelus leetitiam, tota Trinitas gloriam.
Ibid.234.
[t) 08to. yup oj TOIITO ~1~cl(JICO"TE~ T{"E~ fil1Z, dU' ,
 74
I cannot dismiss the story of this wonder-
ful picture, without giving the reader some
'YvvailCE~ ;--K.a~avro yap EOO~OI U1I"O yuvatl:6iv 0 tud{3oAO!
i~E"lEiv. Epiph. adv, Heer, voI.i. p. 1058. edit. Par. 16~,
dvrl 8Eau rav"lv tdapwrayEtv l(T7(OVdalrora~. reat (T7(ovcal;opru(,
atc. Ibid. p.1054.
<l3" The CollYTidians were a sect of persons who sprang up
A. D. 386. They offered up cakes (collyrid(£,) to the Virgin
Mary, as to a goddess, to the queen of heacen, Epiphania
wrote against them, and treated them as heretics and idolaters,
But, says JORTIN, (Remarks, v, 2. p. 332.) "the idolatroos
worship of the Virgin became in process of time the mOIl
triumphant of all heresies; and Epiphanius, if he had livediJ
the latter centuries, would have been put into the inqui;itioR,
and roasted alive for censuring such idolatrous practices.'!
Mr. SPENCE observes, that "the goddessCybele, wll
one of the highest dignity, and worship, in the. re\igion of tht
old Romans. I have often, thought (adds he), that several01
the honours paid by thera to her, and several other ef their dei-
ties, have been at different times, united and transferred to !be
worship of the Virgin Mary, by the artifices of the Church oj
Rome. To mention a few instances, out of many: they 001
generally apply to the Virgin Mary all over Italy, for rain;jusl
as the old Romans did, to their Jupiter Pluvius.- The ladie!
at Rome who are desirous of having children, pay their dev()o
tions now, at the church of' Santa Maria Maggiore; Il
they did formerly, when it was the temple of Juno Bqintz.~
They look on the Virgil' now as the most present aid II
women in labour; as they did formerly, 00 their virgin-godde.t
Diana.-And they have now in Italy perhaps as many andal
magnificent processions in her honour, as they ,had formed!
to C,ybele.- There is some resemblance too iu4le ti~
 75
account of its origin, as it is delivered by
their writers, not grounded, as they say, on
vulgar fame, but on public records, and his-
iories,confirmed by a perpetual series of
miracles.-" When the inhabitants of Impru-
"eta had resolved to build a Church to. the
Virgin, and were digging the foundations of
it with great zeal, on a spot marked out te
them by heaven; one of the labourers hap-
pened to strike his pick-axe against some-
thing under ground, from which there issued
presently a complaining voice or groan. The
workmen, being greatly amazed, put a stop
to their work for a while, but having reco-
vered their spirits after some pause, they ven-
twedtQ open the place, from which thevoice
came, and found the miraculous Image." [ u]
This calls to my mind a Pagan story, of the
same stamp, and in the same country, pre-

~iveD~Q Cybele of old, and to the B. Yirgin now. The old

Romans called Cybele, Domina; Mater; Mater Cultrix;
Divina Mater; Alma ·Parens De1im; Sauct« Deum Gelle-
tri:t; SGMater Deum, As to the titles given to the VirgiIJ
Mwy in Italy at-present, some that resemble these will occur
to everyone; and to reckon tb'm up all, might make this.
note longer than my whole book." (Poljmetis, p. 240.)
(u] Ibid. p• .53, &c.
 76
served to us by Cicero, concerning the ori~
of Divination. "That a man being a
plough in a certain field of Etruria, and ha~
pening to strike his plough somewhat deeps
than ordinary, there started up before him
.out of the furrow, a Deity, whom they calla
Tages. The ploughman, terrified by so strang
an apparition, made such an outcry, than
alarmed all his neighbours, and in a shon
time drew the whole country around him; tl
whom the God, in the hearing of them all
explained the whole art and mystery of divi
nation: which all their writers and recore
affirmed to be the genuine origin of that dis-
cipline, for which the old Tuscans were after·
wards so famous." N ow these two stori~
forged at different times in the same country,
arid for the same end of supporting an idola-
trous worship, bear such a resemblance to
each other, that every body will see the ODe
to be a bungling imitation of the other; anrt
we may say of the Popish Madon~,. wbat
Cicero says of the Pagan Tages, that "mil
can be so sil(lj as to believe that a God was ever
dug out of the ground; and that an .attempt fa
confute such stories uould be as silly as to belia
 77
them. [v] My design, therefore, in collecting
them, was not so much to expose the folly of
them to my Protestant readers, as to admo-
nish our Papists, by unquestionable facts
and instances, drawn from the present prac-
tice of Rome, into what a labyrinth of folly
and impiety their principles will naturally
lead them, when they are pushed to their
full length, and exerted without reserve or
restraint; and to lay before them the forge-
ries and impostures which are practised in
their Church, t.o support the absurd doctrines
whicli she imposes, as the necessary terms of
Catholic communion.
But their constant method of recurring to
different Saints in their different exigencies,
is nothing else, as many writers have obser-
red, but an exact copy of the Pagan super-
stition, grounded, on a popular belief, that
their Saints, like the old Dremons, have each
their distinct procinces, or prtefectures, as-
signed to them; some over particular coun-
tries, cities, societies, and even the different
trades of men'; .others over the several
diseases of the body, or the mind; others-

[v] Cic, de Divin, ii. 28.

 78
over the winds, the rain, and various fruits
of the earth. [w] So that God's rebuke to

(w] Orig, con. Cels.8. p.33g. See Conformity ofaot

and mod. ceremon, p. 112, &c.
<.tr " What, I pray you, be such saints with us, to whom
we attribute the defence of certain countries, spoiling Goi
of his due honour herein, but Dii Tutelares of the Gentile!
idolaters? Such as were Belus to the Babylonians and JUs,.
rians, Osiris and Isis to the Egyptians, Vulcan to the Lem-
nians, and to such other. What be such Saints, to whom
the safeguard of certain cities are appointed, but Dii Pra:sidti
with the Gentiles Idolaters? Such as were at DelphO!,
Apollo; at Athens, Minerva; at Carthage, Juno; at Rome,
~~iri1tus; &c. What be such saints, to whom, cOlltl'iJr!l~
tke use oj the primitice church, temples and churches be
builded, and altars erected, but Dii Putroui of the Gentile>
idolatets'? Such as were in the Capito}, J'upit&; in Papbci .
Temple, Venus; in Ephesus Temple, Diana; arid such
lik-e. Alas, we- seem in thus thinking and doing to hllf/
learned our religion, not out of God's word, but out of the
Pagan poets, who say, Excessere omnes adgtis, arisfJue re-
Iictis, Dii, quibus imperium hoc steterat, &c. That is to
say, All the gods, by whose defence this empire stood, are
gone out of the temples, and have forsaken their altars. AIJl
where one saint hath images in divers places, the same saini
hath divers names thereof, most like to the Gentiles. Whea
you bear'ofourLady of WalsiTigham, our LadyoJ.lpsrdd,
our Lady of Wi/sdon, and such others ; what is it but au·
ilJlitation of the Gentiles idolaters? Diallfl Agtotera; Diat!l
Coriphea, Diona Ephesia, JTI!IIUS Cypria, Venus Paphia,
rellU!! Gnidia. Whereby is evidently meant, that tbe saiu/i
for the image sake should in those plat~, yea, in the imagtl~
 79

the Apostatizing Jews, is full as applicable to

the Papists, for committing uhcredoms 'li,ith
their Idols, and saying, I will go ajter my
looers, who give me m.'IJbread and my water;

themselves, have a dwelling, which is the ground of their

idolatry. For where no images be, they have no such
means. Terentius Farro sheweth, that there were three
nUlldred Jupiters in his time: there were no fewer Fenere«
and Dianas: we had no fewer Christop/iers, Ladies arid
Mar!! Magdalens, and other saints. lE'lOmaus and Hesiodiu
shew, that ill their time there were thirty thousand gods. I
think we had no fewer saints, to whom we gave the honour
due to God. And they have not ooly spoiled the true living
God of his due honour, in temples, cities, countries, and
lands, by such devices and inventions, as the Gentiles idola-
ters have done before them: but the sea and waters have aa
well special saints with .them, as they had Gods, with the
Gentiles, Neptune, TNtOTI,' Nerettl, Callor aad. Pollta,.
Venlt3i and such other: ill whose places be come ,St. Ck'ris-
topher, St. Clement, and divers other, and specially our
Lad!!, to whom shipmen sing Ave, maris stella. .Neither
hath the fire scaped the idolatrosa inventions. For, instead
of 17ulcan and Vesta, the Gentiles' g~ of the fire, our mell
have placed St • .Agatha, and make letters onher day for tel
quench fire with. Every artificer and profession hath his
special saint, as a peculiar god. As for example, scholars
have St. Nicholas and St. Gregory; painters, St. Luke;
neither lack soldiers their llfars, nor lOVeD their Venus,
amongst Christians. All diseases have their special saints,
as gods the curers of them: the p--x, St. Roche, the fallieg-
evil, ,St. Camelis, the tooth-ache, St • .Apollin, 8tc. Neither
 80

my icoo! and my fiax ; mine oil and m.1Jdrink-

for they did not know, that I gate them their
corn and wine and oil, and multiplied their silo
oer and gold, which the:lJprepared for Baal.[.r]
Our Catholic proceeds to affirm, that all the
devotion paid to their saints extends 110 farther,
than to desire their prayers, and that the. pic-
tures and Images qf them, which we see in their
Churches, are no more than mere memorials,
designed to express the esteem, which the.~
retain for the persO'llS so represented; or as
helps to raise their affection." to heavenly things;
and that every child amongst them knoic« this
to be true.[yJ Yet, I have demonstrated, from

do beasts nor cattle lack their god! with us; for St. Loy is
the horseleeeh, and St. ~411tho1t!! the swineherd, &'c. Whert
is God's providence and honour in the mean season? Who
saith, The heavens be mine, and the earth is mille, the fohole
world, and all that in it is: I do give ,dcto,:'/, and I put to
}light: of me be all the counsels and help, ~c. Escep: I
keep the cit!!, in vain doth he watch that keepeth. it. Tholl,
Lord, shalt sa1:eboth mun and beasts. But· we have left him
neither heaven, nor earth, nor water, nor country, nor city,
peace nor war to rule and govern, neither men, nor beasts,
nor their diseases to cure, &c."
See the third part of that excellent Homily of our
Church, " against Peril C!f Idolatr!!."
[.1'] .Hesea, ii. 5.7.
[y] Pref, p.9, 10. 12.
 81

their public Inscriptions, as well as the expli-

cit testimonies of their writers, that those
Images are placed by them in their Churches,
as the proper objects of religious adoration ;
and that they ascribe to their Divi, or Saints,
who are represented by them, the very same
titles. powers and attribut.es, which the Hea-
thens ascribed to their Deities; invoking them
as Tutelary Divinities; as presiding over their
Temples, and the a.tJail'sof men, as most poaerful,
invincible, and. always 1'eady to help and relieoe
their votaries. [z ] All which is confirmed by
the constant stile of their prayers, and the
express language of their Liturgies, JlrIissals,
and Breiiaries, set forth at Rome by public
authority; in which tile Vii'gin is called the
mother cif mere.'}, 110pe cif the '(florid, the on~1f
trust of Sinners; and tlte Saints addressed to
under the titles of Intercessors, P'l'otecto~s and
Dispensers of Grace. ]l;[aldonatus calls it all
impious and silly error of the Protestants, to
think t!tat no religious aorship is due to any,
\ but toGod. And some of their e,tplll'gat01:lJ
Illdc,t'c!j go so far as to expunge all those pas~

[z] See Letter, p.4e, 04$.

G
 sages of the Primitive Father's, which teach,
that creatures ouglu not to be adored. [a]
The Abbot de J\!Iarolles relates a converse-
tion, in which he was once engaged, with a
"'Capuchin, who had been employed in several
missions, and a celebrated Preacher of France,
in the presence of an Hugonot Gentleman;
for whose sake the Abbot took occasion to
speak of Images in the same moderate strain,
in which our Catholic thinks fit to treat them
in his present address to Protestants; "That
they were placed in their Churches, not for
the people to adore, or put their trust in
.them, but to edify their senses, by the repre·
sentation of holy things. But the Abbot's
discourse gave offence both to the Friar
and the Preacher; they insisted on a higher
degree of veneration, urged the stories of
their miraculous Images, and the extraordi-
nary devotion that was paid by the Pope,
the Bishops, and the whole Church to some
6f them, which had been known to speak, or
were brought down from' heaven, or made by
[a] Salve Regina; Mater misericordise, vita, dulcedo, et
spes nostra, salve. Ad Te c1amamus exules filii "Eyre, lILc.
Offic. Beat. Virgo MaJdonat m
Mat. v, 35. Index Expurgat,
Madrid 1612.
 83

the hands of Apostles and Angels; or had

been consecrated on the account of some
particular Virtues, and were carried for that
reason in processions, and worshipped on
Altars, as well as the sacred reliques ; whose
miracles could not be contested 'by any but
obstinateHeretics, who would sooner renounce
the testimony of their senses, than be con-
vinced of their errors. In short; the Capu-
chin declared, that the authority of the
Church was the sole rule of faith; and that
to resist it, was a manifest rebellion, and
worthy of the last' punishment." [b] And

[b] MaiB tout ce discours ne plut pas encore au Reli-

gieux, ni mesmes a M. Hersaut, qui vouloit quelque chose
de plus; pour preuve de quoy, run &. l'autre mireot en
avant les Images miraculeuses, &. marquerent mesmes les
res~ects estraordinaires, que Ie S. Pere, les Evesques, &.
toute l'Eglise rendent ~\quelques unes, qui ont parle, ou qui
sont descendues du Gel, ou qui ont ete fa,;onnees de la pro-
pre main des Apostres, &. des Anges, ou qui sent consacrees
pour quelque certu particuliere, lesquelles a cause de cela se
portent en procession &. sont reverees sur kll Autels, aussi
hieu que lei> ~aintes Reliques, dontIes miracles De peuveat
estre contestez, que par les Heretiques opiniastres, qui COlD-
battent mesmes le tesmoignage des sens, quand il s'agit de
la conviction de leur erreur:-Le Capucin estima, qu'il fal-
lait defeud¥e tout ce qui l'Eg1Ule ,e~()it ;-que cela seal
utait Ia regIo de la £oy: &. que ce seroit uue rebellion mani-
E 2
 84

this opllllon, after all, maintained by the

Friar, is the genuine notion of Image-w01>sllip,
which prevails at this day in the Ramish
Church, and especially in Italy, as I have
fully demonstrated by the facts above re
cited.[ c]
I have said in my Letter, that several of the
ancient Heroes were more worthy of veneration,
than some of the modern Saints, who haoe dis-
possessed them of their Shrines; and that 1

feste d'y resister; ce qui ne seroit digne de rien moins, ql/l

du dernier chatisement.--Memoires de M. de MaroUes,
par. i. p. 146.
[c] «;- In addition to what is stated ill the note, page6S,
as to the veneration which the Romanists have for relirks, I
beg to subjoin the following account, copied (rom Paru
Papers of the 3d April, ] 81 1. "The Church of Noll'!
Dame has possessed since the ninth century a relick of th~
Virgin, which was brought over by Clwrles the Bald. 'I'hil
relick has been exposed with great solemuity during the course
of prayers for the happy delivery of Maria Louisa. The
Chapter of the Cathedral had been accustomed from tiDl!
immemorial to send by six Deputies to the Queens of F rand,
on occasion of their first pregnancy, a counterpart or model
of this incaluabl« relick, The present Curators and GuardiaDl,
jealous of their accustomed privileges, and intent on per~\
tuating this religious custom, had the honour to be presenter
to the Empress, March 14th, by Mad. la Duchesse tit;

j!
AlI L
Montebello, in order to offer her tbis pimu homage.
lb. hew! of this depota tion, wu ,he BUTtop 'If r.enoill~!!
 a5
should sooner pay divine honours to the Foun-
ders of Empires, than to the Founders of
Monasteries. This our Author aggravates
into a heavy charge against me; as if I
were offended to see the Heathen Temples con-
verted into Christian Churches, and had ac-
tually preferred the Pagan Deities before the
Martyrs of Christ. Cd] 'Vhere, according to
his custom, he either widely mistakes, or wil-
fully misrepresents my meaning; for as to the
genuine Saints and lYlartyrs of the Christian
Church, that, is, all those who, in past ages,
have lived agreeably to the rules of the Gos-
pel, or died in the defence of it, I rti,verence
them as highly as they ought to be reve-

I renced by any Christian, yet shall never be

,induced to worship them: I consider them
lias illustrious proofs of the excellence of the
i Christian doctrine; and shining examples of
}piety and fortitude to all succeeding ages.
I' But as for the Popisli Saints, I believe several

i of them to be wholly: fictit.ious; many more to

I have spent their lives contemptibly; [e] and
[d] Pref. p. 12. 13.
«J"[e] MOSHEIM, (Ecclesiast. Hist. v, 2, p. 131.) speak-
ing of the Saints in the sixth century, says, " But by what
meane were these men lQinted'l By starving themselves with
 86

some of them even wickedly: And out of

these three Classes, let our Author chuse
where he will; out of the fictitious, the con-
temptible, or the reicked ; I shall venture to
affirm once more, that I would sooner wor-
ship Romulus or Antoniue, than any of them:
sooner pay my devotion to the Pounders than
to the disturbers f!f kingdoms: sooner to tile
Benefactors than to the persecutors of man-
kind; and this is the whole that I have ever
meant.
But our Author calls it a notorious false-
hood to say, "that many of their Saints
were never heard of but in their Legends; or
had no other merit but of throwing kingdoms
into convulsions, for the sake of some gainful
a frantic obstinacy, and bearing the useless hardships of hun-
ger, thirst, and inclement seasons, with stedfastness and per-
severance; by running about the country like madmen in
tattered gQrments, and sometimes hal£...... ~ked, or shutting
themselves up in a narrow space, where they continuedme-
tionleas; by standing for a long time in certain postures, with
their eyes closed, in the enthusiastic expectation of divine
light. All this was saint-like and glorious; and tile more
that any ambitious fanatic departed from the dictates of rea-
son and common sense, and counterfeited the wild gestures
and the incoherent conduct of an ideot, or a lunatic, the surer
was his prospect of obtaining an eminent rank among the
heroes and demigods of a cor1'ltpt and dtgtlH1'tlte dntteh."
 87
imposture :"[f] Yet I have produced several
instances of the first sort, which every reason-
able man must think decisive: .in the case of
Evodia, St. Viar, Amphibolus, Veronica: but no
sucl: Saints, he says, were ever honoured in their
Church: by which he means nothing more,
as he himself explains it, than that they never
were formally canonized, and entered into the
Roman Martyrology; [gJ which is nothing
to the purpose; since, as I have shewn from
unquestionable authority, they were all ho-
noured with Altars and Images, and open('1J
worshipped in Catholic Countries, as Saints and
Martyrs; and that Veronica in particular,
though the name only of a picture, was ad ...
vanced into a person, by the Authority of
Pope Urban; and placed as such upon an
Altar, in the face of all Christendom, in St.
Peter's at Rome. [h) Yet all men, who .know
any thing of History, either sacred or profane,
must necessarily be convinced, that the whole
story, not only of the Saint, but of the picture
also, which they expose on certain Festivals
with the greatest pomp, and for the original
U1 Pref. p.14.
fg] Pref. p, 14, 15.
[A] See Letter, p, 38, 39.
 88

of which different cities contend, is a mere

cheat and forgery.
It is a thing confessed and lamented by
the gravest of their own Communion, that
the names and worship of mallY pretended
Saints, who never had a real existence, had
been fraudulently imposed upon the Church.
The celebrated Dr. John de Launoy [z] was
famous for clearing the Calendar of several,
who had long been worshipped in France, as
the Tutelaru Dici of some of their principal
Towns: so that it used to be said of him,
" that there never passed a year in which he
did not pluck a Saint out of Paradise:,[kJ In
the Catacombs of Rome, which, in the times of
Heathenism, was the burial-place of the Slaves,
and poorer Citizens, and where the bones of
Pagans and Christians liejumbled promiscuous-
ly together, if they happen to find a little vial,
or piece qf glass tinged with red, at the mouth

c:tY [11 LAUNOY was a bold al1ddeter.

very learned man, a
mined enemy to legends, traditions, and saints, and lIhowed
himself so disinterested, that he refused benefices, .atisfied
with th~ independence of a humble situation. He died at
Paris 1678, aged 7.5. His writings, \Vbich are very many,
are enumerated by Niceron,
[k] Dayle. Diet. in LAtiNOV.
 89
of any particular hole, they take it presently,
as the learned M ontfaucon informs us, for a
certain proof of A-Iartyrdom; and, by the
help of the next inscription, that they carr
pick up from some neighbouring Grave-stone,
presently create a new Saint and J;Iartyr to tile
Popish Church, Jl,[abillon, as I have observed,
wishes, " that they would be more scrupu-
lous on this head; and not forge so many
fabulous stories of Saints, without any cer-
tain name; nor impose Paganish inscriptions
for Christian 'upon the Church.'ll]
Our Catholic himself, in this very work,
where he is labouring to give the most spe-
cious turn to every part of their worship, is
forced to allow such a confusion and jumble
among the Jl,Iart.1.Jrsand their relioues, as ap-
proaches very nearly to what I am now affirm-
ing: he says, " that many of their 'Saints
having borne the same name, it easily hap-
pens, that the reliques, which belong to one,
are attributed to another, and that there are
many ancient martyrs, whose names at pre-
sent are unknown, yet whose reliques 'have
all along been honoured in the Church; and

[I] MabiU. Iter. Ital. p. 22.5.

 go

that it was easy for the ignorance of some, 01

the vanity of others, to attribute to them the
names of other Saints."[m] The old Atheniam
were called superstitious by the Apostle, for
erecting an Altar to the unknown God; but
our Papists, we see, by their own confession,
ereci Altars to unknown Saints, and unknO'alI
rdiques.
Upon the mention of these reliques, I can-
not help observing, that, the superstitiou3 ve-
neration and solemn translations of them, which
make so great a part of the Popish worship,
afford another instance of a practice clearly
derived to them from Paganism; the whole
process and ceremonial of which, as it is ex-
ercised at this day, may be seen in Plutarcnl
account of the translation of the bones ([{ TM
seus; from the Isle of Sc.yrus to Athen,: and
as. this resolution was first suggested to the
Athenians, by an Apparition of Theseus him-.
self, and injoined to them afterwards by the
Delphicl: Oracle; so the disccyvery and transla-
t';080j'tlteir.reliques in the Homish Church, are
usually grounded on some pretended 'Vision 01
revelation from heaven.

[m] CathoJ. Christiaa, p. e46.'

 91
" \Vhen Cimon then had conquered the
Island of SC.1Jrus, where Theseus died, being
very solicitous (as Plutarch relates) to find
out the place, where he lay buried, and un-
able to procure any information about it, he
happened to espy an eagle upon a rising
ground, pecking the earth with its beak, and
tearing it up with its talons; and conceiving
this to be a divine omen and sign to him, .he
began immediately to dig, and found t1ie
coffinof a man of more than ordinary siae,
with a brazen lance and _sword lying by him;
all which he took awav-' with him into his
galley, and transported to Athens; where the
whole body of the people, upon notice of his
arrival, came out to receive the sacred relilfllel,
in a solemn and pompolls procession, performi~lg
public sacrifices and expressing all the same
marks of joy, as if Theseus himself had
been returning to them alive. They interred
his bones in the midst of the City, where hi;;
Sepulchre is still a Sanctuary for Slaves, and
the meaner Citizens; Theseus having always
been esteemed a particular patron of the poor
and distressed. The chief Festival, which
they celebrate annually to his honour, is the
8tlt of October; on which he returned victori ..
 92
OU5 from Crete with the young Captives of
Athens, yet they observe likewise the 8th of
every month, as a kind of inferior holiday 01
memorial of him."[nJ

[n] PIntar. in Thes. ad fin.

<t)- The following account of finding the Reliques 01
the prophet Zechariah resembles, as JORTIN observes, (Re-
marks, v, iivp, 396.) a story in Virgil,
The prophet appeared in Palestine to a man who was I
fanner and a rascal, as Sozomon himself informs us, aud
told him the place where he was buried,
" Dig here, (said he) and you will find a double coffiu,
and near it a vessel of glass, full of water; also two sTlaktJ
of a middling size, quite tame and harmless. When till
coffin ~as opened, the divine prophet was seen, clothed in
white. Beneath his feet lay an infant, honoured with I
royal funeral; fOI' he had a golden crown on his head, auG
golden shoes, and a magnificent robe. Now the prophet,
though he had been buried so long, was entire, close shaven
on the head, with a straight nose, a beard of a moderss
length, a short head, eyes somewhat hollow, and covered lVi~
the eyebrows.
" Zechariah had been dead about trulve hundred yeoni
and yet bis body was entire, and preserved as a blessing fOl
thejifth century. '
" The rnJO tame snakes, which were in his grave, were CO'
pied from Virgil (lEneid V.) where, when _Eneas had_
his offerings and his prayers at the tomb of Anc!tisu,-

-- adytis-lubricw; angllis ab imis

Septem inge1lsgyro" septma 'VolumillQtrasit,
 93
But to pursue the objections of our Catholic,
he declares my account of St. Oreste, whose
name I suppose to have been derived from the
mountain Soracte, on which his Monastery now
Amplexus placide tumulum, lapsusque per aras.-
Obstupuit oisu .tEneas. Ille agmine longo
Tandem inter pateras, et levia pocula serpel/.S#
Libavitque dopes, rursusque i1l1lOXiusimo
Successit tumulo, et depasta altaria liquit,
Hoc magis inceptos genitori instaurat honores,
Iucertus, Geniumne loci.famulumne pareuti»
Esse putet.
" Scarce had he tinisb'd, wben, with speckled pride,
A serpent from the tomb began to glide;
His hugy bulk on sev'n high volumes roU'd ;
Blue was his breadth of back, but streak'd with scaly gold:
Betwi:"t the rising altars, and around
The sacred monster shot along the ground;
With harmless play amidst the bowls he pass'd,
And with his lolling tongue assay'd the taste:
Thus fed with holy food, the wond'rous guest
Within the hollow tomb retir'd to rest.
The pious prince, surpris'd at what he view'd,
The fun'ral honours with more zeal renew'd,
Doubtful if this the place's genius were,
Or guardian of his father's sepulchre."
(DRYDEN.)

" So these two snakes were either geuii, and gods of a

lower class, or attendants upon the prophet and the young
prince.
Pinge duos angues: puert, saur e3t locus; extr«
Mejite.
(Persius, i, lIS. wh"re see CasaUboD.)
 94
stands, to be ridiculous beyond measure : yet, Mr,
Addison, who was no ridiculous Author, has
related it as a certain fact; which he borrowed
probably from some oftheir own writers, oral
least from some of the Antiquaries of Rome,
among whom I heard the same story. But if
the notion of fictitious Saints, be so noto-
riously false, as he asserts it to be, let him tell
us, if he can, in what History we may find
the acts of those very Saints, whom I haw
named, and whom their Church adopts as
genuine, St.Greste, Baccho, (-luil'inus, Romula,
and Redempta, Concordia, N.ymplw, llferclI-
nus. [0]
The creation of Saints is become as common
almost, as the creation of Cardinals; there
having seldom been a Pope who did not add
some to the Calendar. [pJ Benedict XIII.

" Thus," says JORTIN, "we are come to Pagan Christi-

anity, or to Christian Paganism, and to legends favouring,
not only relique-worship, but serpent-worship.
o sec/um iusipUllS, et iificetum !
" 0 age of fools beyond compare!
, 0 rank stupidity!"
" Ol~e would think," adds he," if there were not .full
proofs of the contrary, that these stories were made by the
Pagans, to ridicule the Christian religion."
[0] See Letter, p. 37, 38.
(o-[p]'l'be ptQQlt Pnpe, PUl6 VII. has not forgotten to
 95
canonized eight in one summer; and his suc-
cessor, Clement XII. the last Pope, four more.
During my stay at Rome, I saw the Beatifi-
cation of one Andrew Conti, of the family of the

make bis addition to it. In the Laity's Directory for this

year, we have an abstract of the life of St. Francis Carac-
ciolo, a most pious and genuine Christian; for we are told.
" such was the fervour of his life towards the Blessed' ER-
" diarist, that he spent almost whole nights in the adoration
" of it,-which pious custom he appointed to be retained as
.. the distillcth:e mark of his order. rrow.rda the Virgin
" Mother of God, be cherished the m08t tender tkvot;01t."
Such was St. Fruncis, who died "in the year one tl/QusQnd,s;;r
hUlIdred and eight. "Upon the incontestible evidence of mi-
" raclesthe Sovereign Pontiff ClenientXIV. declared, in the
Ires"
" usual form, his Beatification; and UPOII the proof cif
"miracles being irrefragablyestablished, he was solem",
u canonized, and his name inscribed in the Register of the
" Saints, by the Sovereign Pontiff Pius VII. anno ] SOj."
The ceremony attending the beatification lif" a Sili/it is
very amusing-or rather most intolerably dull. The busi-
ness is carried on in the manner of a law-suit. The Devil
is supposed to have an interest in preventing men from
being made Saints. That all justice IDay be done, and that
Satan may have his due, au advocate is employed to plead
against the pretensions of the Saint Expectant, and the per-
son thus employed is denominated by the people, the De-
vil's Advocate. He calls in question the miracles said to
have been wrought by the Saint and hill bones, and raises ..
many objections to the proofs brought of the purity of lUI
Pope, then reigning, Innocent XIII. ; for th~
is another source of supplying fresh. Sainu I,
the Church; when, t~ humour the ambition 0:
the Pope, or the other Princes of that Com
munion, this honour is conferred on some O!
their name and family: and as there must b
a testimony of miracles, wrought by eVe!}
person so canonized or beatified, either whel
living or dead, so I was curious to inquire,
what miracles were ascribed to this beatifm
Andrew; which I found to be nothing eist
than a few contemptible stories, delivers
down by tradition, which shewed only thi
weakness of the man, and the absurdity Oi

life and conversation as he can. It is the business of til:

Advocate on the other side, to obviate and refute these Cl-
vils, The result, as may be supposed, is, that the Dell
loses his cause, without the possibility of appeal. For i
more particular account of this ceremony, see Dr. :MOORE"
View of Society and ManDcrs ill Italy, v, 1. p. 354, &e.
Mr. ADDISON (Remarks on Italy) says, " It is the po~
of the Roman church not to allow this honour of canooUt
tion, ordinarily, till fifty Jcars after the death of the pel'SOi
who is caudidate for it; in which time it may be suppoS/i
that all his contemporaries will be worn out, who could e(}l1'
tradict a pretended miracle, or remember any iDtinnity of til
Saint."
 97
believing, thatGod should exert his omnipo-
tence for the production of such trifles. [q J
[q] The Papists, in their versions of the Scriptures into
the modern tongues, have contrived, by various falsifications,
to make them speak the language of their Missals and Bre-
f)iarie.~,in order to sanctify their novel rites by the authority
of the Apostles, and make the people believe, that they had
been practised from the times even of the Gospel. Thus to
l;:ountenance this practice of beatifying or making Sailtts
in the church, they have rendered a passage of St. Jarne.',
c. v. 11. not as it ought to be, Behold hom u:e account fhme
bkued; but, Behold how 'U'e BEATIFY those, who have I/l!f-
feTed with constancy: and in favour a180 of their proceS8;on8,
where it is said, Heb. xi. SO, that the walls of Jericho felt
doom, after they compassed it about seven days: their ver-
sions render it, after A PROCESSION of seven doys around it.
And to give the better colour to their trade of Pilgrimages,
St. Paul, according to their versions, requires it, as the qua-
lification of a good widow, that she have lodged PILGRIMS,
1 T"IDJ. v. 10. and St. John praises Gaius, for having dealt
faithfully with PILGRIMS-3 John, ver.5. See a treatise
entituled, Popery an enemy to Scripture, where the learned
and ingenious Author, Mr. Serces, has given a large collec-
tion of these falsifications, made to support their several
frauds and innovations.
<l.)' In addition to the falsifications of the Scriptures here
mentioned, I must state, that in a translation of the New
Testament, published by the Theologians of Louvai«, in the
year 1686, the ceremony of the Lord'8 Supper, wherever
it occurs, is called Tile Mas». For example, in the 22d
chapter' of St. Luke, verse 19 where, in the common
. '
ti'aQSlanoD, it is rendered II The Lorirs Supper i1lStituted,"
0-
 98
As to the proof of miracles, which is essen-
tial to these Canonizations, everyone will con-
ceive how easy it must be, in a function, con-
trived to serve the interest of the Church, and
the ambition of its rulers, to procure such a
testimonial 'of them, as will be sufficient for
the purpose. In tlte Deifications q/' ancient
Rome, the attestation also of a miracle was
held necessary to the act. In the case of
Romulus, one Julius Proculus, a man said to
be of a worthy and upright character, took a
solemn oath, " that Romulus himself appeared
to him, and ordered him to inform the Senate
of his bcing called up to the assembly of the
Gods, under the name of Quirinus ;" [1'J and
in the Deifications ql the Casars, a testimony
upon Oath, of an Eagle's .fl.ljillg out q/' the [u-
ueral pile, totoards heacen, which was supposed

those learned and accurate Theologians have expressed it

thus: " Institution de la Messe."
A copy of this translation, of which the title is It Noureati
Testament par les Theologieus de Louvaill. Bourdeees.
1686," is now in the possession of His Grace the Archbilihop
of Canterbury; and there is another in the library of the
Bishop of Ely. This translation is extremely scarce; for,
having been attacked by some of our celebrated diviues, al-
most all the copies were studiously bought up by the Papists,
[r] Vid: Plutar. in vito Homuli, DiODJS. Halicar. I. ii,
p.J24.
 99
to convey the soul of the deceased, was the
established proof of their Diomits}. [.~J Now
as these pagan Deifications are the only pat- .
terns in history for the Popi.~h Canonizations; I'
S0. the invention of miracles is the single art,
in which modern Rome is allowed to excel the {
ancient.
In tile Jesuit's College at St. Omer's, the
Father, who shewed us the House, happening
to produce some relique, or memorial of St.
Thomas, which he treated with much reverence,
one of our company asked me, what Thomas
he meant; upon which I unwarily said, " it
is Thomas Becket, who is worshipped as a
great Saint on this side of the water:" "yes,
Sir, (replied the Jesuit, with a severe look,) if
there is any faith in history, he deserves to be
esteemed a Great Saint." But I may venture
to affirm in England, what I did not care to
dispute in a College of Jesuits, that this cele-
brated Thomas had more of the rebel than of
the Saint in him; was a Prelate of a most
daring, turbulent, seditious spirit; inflexibly
obstinate, insatiably ambitious, intolerably
insolent j. whose violence the Pope himself
endeavoured in vain to moderate; as it ap-
[8] Dio. Casso p.,S98, 842.
l[Ji~lll
 100
pears from such monuments, as the Papists
themselves must allow to be authentic, a
collection if' Becket' s own Letters, preserved
still in the Vatican, and printed some years
ago in Brussels. [t]
From these Letters, I say, it appears, that
not only the King, and the whole body of his
Barons, but even the Bishops, Abbots, and
Clergy, openly condemned his behaviour as
highly rash and criminal; they charged him
with being the sole " disturber of the peace
of the kingdom; [u] that while he was making

[t] Prudentiam tuam monemus, consulimus &. oninimodis

exhortamur, ut -- pramominato Regi in omnibus, &. per
omnia, salva honestate Ecclesiastici ordinis, deferre satagas,
&. ejus tibi gratiam, &. amorem incessanter recuperate inten-
das, ~·c.
Alexander Papa Thomee Cantuariensi Archi-episcopo.
scripta Ann. 1164.
Discretionem tuam rogamus, monemus, consulimus, &
suademus, ut in omnibus tuis &. Ecclesie agendis te ca1l'
tum, providum, &. circumspectum exhibeas, &. nihil propere
vel preecipitanter, sed mature &. graviter facias, ad gratiam ~
benerolentiam illustris Regis Anglorum recuperandam, quan-
tum, salva libertate Ecclesiee &:. honestate officii, poteri~
enitaris modis omnibus &. labores.
Vid. Epist, &:. Vito Div. Thomee, 2 Vol. 4to. Bruxellis.
1682. l, i. Ep. 4. 43.-it. vid. I. ii, 1,94, 5rc.
[ u] Ad eundem diem ex preeceptc Regie, Archi-episcopi,
 101
all that stir about the liberties of the Church,
he himself was the chief infringer of them;
that he was not ashamed to publish the most
notorious lies in favour of his own cause; that
he refused to restore to the King forty thou-
sand marks, which had been committed to
him in trust; [v] that he was guilty of the
Episc;opi, &. ceeteri Ecclesiarum Preelati convocantur.-eon-
stituta die Catholici Principis conspectui se pressentat Regni
Turbator 8t Ecclesiee. Qui de suorum meritorum qualitate
non eecurus Dominicre Crucis armat se vexillo, tanquam ad
Tyranlli preeseutiam accessurus. Vid. ibid. I. i. Ep, 29.
Alexandro Papre 8t omnibus Cardinali bus Inimici Thomes,
tV] Totis enim studiis Dominus Cantuariensis desudat, ut
Uominum nostrum Regem anathemate, Regnumque ejus
interdieti poena constriugat. Potestatem, quam in eedifica-
tionem nODin destruetionem Ecclesiee suscepisse opportuerat,
sic exercet in suditos, ut omnes in Regis odium, &. totius
Regni Nobilium tentet inducere, &. eorum substantiis
direptionem, cervicibus gladium, aut eorporibus exilium
intente studeat proeurare.-Libertatem presdicat Ecclesire,
quam se Cantuariensi Ecclesiee viribus intrudendo sibi
constat ademisse.-Notoria, qure nee nota, nee veritate
subnixa sunt, asserat: &. in hunc modum plurima, qua
• potest potestate, confundat, Ad heec, quadraginta mar-
carum millia, vel amplius, ut sui asserunt, bonze sure
fidei commissa, Domino nostro Regi solvere, vel, quod jus-
tum est, exhibere detrectat, Et Regi suo negat &. Domino,
quod nee Ethnico denegare debaerat aut publicano, Sec. ibid.
J. ii. Ep.33.
Alexandro Pap~ Episcopi &. Clerus Anglire.
 102

most detestable ingratitude to the King,

whom he treated worse than a Heathen or
Publican, though he had been raised by him
from the lowest condition to the highest fa-
vour, and entrusted by him with the command
of all his dominions, and made his Chancel-
lor, and Archbishop of Canterbur.y, contrary
to the advice of his Mother, the Empress,
and the remonstrances of the Nobility; and
to the great grief and mortification of the
whole Clergy: [w ] all which the Bishops and
Clergy of the Realm expressly affirm in their
common Letters, not only to the Pope, but to
Becket himself; accusing him likewise of
,~ traitorous practices, and of using all en-
deavours to excite the King of Frtmce, and
the Count of Flanders, to enter into a war
against his Kip.g and Country," [x] 'V hen

[lC] Insedit alte cunctorum mentibus, quam benignus vobis

Dominus Rex noster extiterit, in quam vos gloriam ab exili
provexerit, &. in famiJiarem gratiam tam lata vos mente sus-
ceperit, nt-&. dissuadente Matre sua, Regno reclamante,
Ecclesia Dei, quoad licuit, suspirante &. ingemitlcente, vos in
eam, qua preeestis, dignitatem, modis omnibus studuit subl~
mare, &.c. ibid. 1. i. Ep, 12.6.
Thomm Cantuariensi Archi-episcopo Clerus Anglill!.
[x] Asserebat Rex &. suorum pars melior, quod idelll
Archi-epiBcoPU8 serenissiaum Regem Francorum ill eUJJI
 103

he was cited by the King, to answer for his

mal-administration, before the Bishops and
Barons of the Realm, he absolutely refused
to appear; declaring himsclf" responsible to
none but God; and that as much as the soul
was superior to the body, so much were all
people obliged to obey him rather than the
King, in all things relating to God and his
Church; who had established Bishops to be
the Judges and Fathers of Kings themselves:
and as neither law nor reason allowed chil-
dren to judge their parents, so he renounced
the judgment of the Kings and the Barons,
and all other persons whatsoever, and ac-
knowledged no Judge, but God and his
sovereign Vicar on earth, the Pope." [y] Yet
this man is now adored as one of the prin-
cipal Saints and Martyrs of the Romisl:
Church; whose character I have chosen to
insist upon the more particularly, as it will

graviterincitaverat &. Comitem Flandrensem consanguineum

Ilium, qui nullum prius gerebat rancorem, ad ipsum subito
diffidendum, &. guerram pro posse faciendam induxerat, sicut
sibi pro certo constabat &. evidentibus patebat iudicii!!. ib.
l. ii. ~8. Alexandro Papee Willielmus &. Otto Cardinales.
Lv] .La vie de Saint Thom, Archevesque de Cauterb.
p.129.
 104

teach us, by an illustrious example from our

own history, what kind of merit it is that has
exalted so many others in the same Church,
to the same honours. [z ]
Let our Catholic tell us also, if he pleases,
what opinion his Church entertains of Garnet
the Jesuit, who was privy to the Gunpowder
plot, and hanged for his treason. If he dares
to speak his mind, he will declare him to be
a Saint and Martyr of Christ; for such heis
held to be at Rome and St. Omer's : yet all
Protestants will rank him, I dare say, among
those ,Saints, whom I justly call the disturbers
of Kingdoms; and who merited the honour
of their Saintsltip, not by spreading the light
of the Gospel, but scattering Firebrands and
destruction through the world [ aJ.

I1T [z] Becket was solemnly enrolled in the highest rank of

Saints and MartJrs, in the year 1173, by Pope Alexander;-.
solemn jubilee was established for celebrating his merits; his
body was removed to a magnificent shrine, enriched wilb
presents from all parts of Christendom; pilgrimages were
performed to obtain his intercession with heaven; and it was
computed, that in one year above one hundred thousand pil·
grims arrived in Canterbury, and paid their devotions at hi!
tomb. See Hume's England, v.I. p. 420.
c;l;:;- [nJ 111at Garnet, though deservedly punished for hi!
 105
Our Author cannot comprehend, why I
should bring in the adoration Of the Host among
meditated crimes, passes as a martyr among the Catholic sn-
.thusiasts, may be seen from the following accounts:
" It may be justly said, that the Roman college, which is
the great College, and principal house. of the Jesuits at
Rome, is one of the finest palaces in the· City; the Library
is good and numerous, but there areno ancient manuscripts,
nor other considerable rarities in it.
" In a great Hall, which is adorned with the pictures of the
Jesuits that have suffered :Martyrdom, we took notice of the
famous Garnet, that bold servant of the Societg, who WBI
drawn, hanged, and quartered for the Gun-Poteder-Treason.
At his side there is the figure of an .Angel, who encourage.
Lim, and shews him the Heavens opened."
Nouveau f70gage d'Ltalie;
Par lUaximilien lWsson. Eng. trallSla.
(As I shall often have occasion to quote this writer, I beg
to observe that he is commended by Mr. Addison in the pre-:
face to his Remarks on Italy, in these words: " Monsieur
Misson has written a more correct account of Italy in gene-
ral than any before him." He died at London, .16 Jan.
1721.)
Mr. ADDISON (Remarks on Italy) says, " At Loretto I
enquired for the English Jesuits' lodgings, and, on the stair-
case that leads to them, I saw several pictures of such as
had been executed- in England, as the two Garnets, Old-
com, and others, to the number of thirty. Whatever were
their crimes, the inscription saJS, they suffered for their
"eligio7l."
Surely these extracts need no comment. View tlJe SAN.,
GUINAIlY medals in the H Numismata elega1ltiora f!l
 106
the other articles of my charge; since, hy my
own confession, I find no resemblance of it
in any part of the pagan worship: [bJ butI
have given a good reason for my not finding
it there, which might have taught him also,
why I brought it in; because it was too ab-
surd for the practice even of the Heathens;
who thought that none could eyer be so mad
as to make it a point of religion to eat their
God, This I shewed from the authority of
Tully; whom I prefer therefore, he says,fo
the Apostles and Evangelists: as if those sa-
cred writers had expressly declared tile sa·
cramental bread to be God; which all Pro-
testants deny in that gross and ridiculous
sense in which the Papists interpret them,
But as it is not my present purpose to exa-
mine the real merit of Transubstantiation, soI
shall take notice only of one argument thaI
he alleges for it, which, if it has any force,
must be allowed indeed to be conclusive;

Luckills;" in the It Medailles de Louis le Grand;" in the

IIHistoire metallique des XVII. Provinces des Pags b(uof
17an Loon;" in the U Numismat« Romanorum PontiJirilm
prestautiora of Venuti;" ill the U Numismata of the Earl
of Pemhroke;" aud in the cabinets of thecerioue-
{b] See Pref. p. 15.
 107

that " the unerring authority of the Church

has declared it to be true, and injoincd the
belief of it ;" and after such a decision, " that
it is the part of an Infidel, rather than a
Christian, to ask, how can this be?" [c]
This is the last resort of Poper:1J; the sum
of all their reasoning; to resolve all religion
into an implicit faith, and a slavish obedience
to the authority of the Church; which by in-
numerable teats C!l Scripture, says our Author,
is declared to be the indispensable duty of every
Christian. [£1] w- may spare ourselves then
the pains of thinking and enquiring; drop
the perilous task of studying the Scriptures j
the Church, like an indulgent mother, takes
all that trouble upon herself; warrants her
doctrines to be divine; and ensures our sal-
vation, on the single condition of taking her
word for it. But all Protestants must see the
horrible effects of such a principle; an Inqui-
sition ready to satisfy all their doubts; a pri-
son and tortures prepared for those who dare
to ask their priests, what Nicodemus asked
our Saviour, Hots can these things be? Thui

~f] See Catholic Christian, p. 32, 47,52,57.

r
d] Ibid. p. 47.
 108

our Catholic, in mentioning the case of a Pro

testant converted to their faith, who may ha~
pen to be possessed still with some scruple,
declares, " that he has nothing to fear in con-
forming himself to the authority of the Churci
but very much in making any scruple to hear
and obey his spiritual' Guides. [e]
[e) Ibid. p. 65, 66.
<.I::Y The doctrine of the Romanists is, that the Churcl
is the Judge, and not the Scripture; and that unlearntd
and ignorant men cannot understand the Scripture. HOI

came it, then, that our SAVIOURasked the Jews, Why1ht1

did not, even if themselves, judge what '{t;asright 'I (Luke
xii. 5"1.) How came he to direct them to call no ma1l7l16~
ter UpOlt earth, but themselves to search the Scriptures (Jo1m
v. 39) in order to be satigied that tltey testified of him. &
like manner he bade them consider his miracles. If" I'
not the toorks if my father, says he, beliece me not; whid
implied, that they were at liberty, and even were obliged,tv
judge both of the nature and the design of those mirades,
whether they were done in a good cause, and tty power It
ceived from God, or not.
As te the assertion, that the poor, the unlearned or ip
rant, .cannot understand the Scripture, how came it, then,I
ask, that the gospel was first preached to such pe1'SOll'
Our SAVI() U R says, in his figurative language, that the truths
of his gospel were revealed unto babes; (Matth. xi. 25.)that
is, "to pel'sons of the lowest rank and capacity; andmay,
therefore, no doubt, be comprehended by such at preseD~
who can either read the Scriptures, or have opportunityof
knowing them. If the Roman,ists answer, that such persODl
 109
In this doctrine of Transubstantiation, we
see a remarkable instanee of the prolific na-
may understand something, but not enough for their salva-
tion j why then doth St. Paul say to Timothy, The Scriptures
are able to make him wise U7Itosalvation ~
But the Romanists pretend that their Church is infallible.
Let us examine how far it is so.
In the twelfth century, the enthusiastic veneration for the
Virgin Mary, which had been hitherto carried to an excessive
height, was increased by the new fiction or invention relating
to her immaculate conception. About the year 11S8, there
was a solemn festival instituted in honour of this pretended
cOl/ceptiolt,the defenders of which maintained, that the Virgin
Mary was conceived in the womb of her Mother with the
lame purity that is attributed to Christ's conception in her
womb. This doctrine was vigorously opposed by St. Ber-
nard, and his followers, and was debated, with the utmost
animosity and contention of mind between the Franciscam
(who maintained it) and the Dominicans (who denied it) till
the seventeenth century; when the kingdom of Spain was-
thrown into such combustion by this controversy, that solemn
embassies were sent to Rome, both by Philip Ill. and his
successor, witb a view to engage the Roman Pontiff to deter-
mine the question, or, at any rate, to put an end to the
contest by a public bull. But notwithstanding the weighty
IOlicitatiousof these monarchs, the oracle of Rome pro-
nounced nothing but ambiguous words, and its high priests
, prudently avoided coming to a plain and positive decision of
the matter in question. For if they were awed, on the one
band, by the warm remonstrances of the Spanish Court;
which favoured the sentiments of the Franciscans, they were
restrained, Oil the other, by the credit and influence of the
 110

ture of error; and how one absurdity natu-

rally begets another: for the first conscquene
Dominicans. So that, after the most earnest entreaties aIt
importunities, all that could be obtained from the Pontiff
by the Court of Spain, was a declaration, intimating thr
the opinion of the Franciscans had a high degree of probt
bility on its side, and forbidding the Dominicans to oppilii
it in a public manner; but this declaration was accompane
with another, by which the Franciscans were prohibitei !
their turn, from treating as erroneous the doctrine of tit
Dominicans. MOSHEIM, observing upon this result oftil
dispute, says, "This pacific accommodation of matten
would have been highly laudable in a prince or civil mag~
trate, who, unacquainted with theological questions of sud
an abstruse nature, preferred the tranquillity of his peop~
to the discussion of such an intricate and unimportant point
but whether it was honourable to the Roman pontiff, w~
boasts of a divine 1'ight to decide all religious controversies
and pretends to a degree of inspiration that places him!'¥-
yond the possibility of erring, we leave to the considersis
of those who have his glory at heart." (Ecclesiast, H~t
v.5. p.230.)
That the Scriptures teach every thing which is necess'
either to be believed or practised may be seen by the follot
ing extract from the excellent CHILLINGWORTH, who,0:
all men, best understood the real grounds of the controvt)ll)
between the Protestants and the Papists.
I( The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of p~
testants, Whatsoever else they believe besides it, and the plail.
irrefragable, indubitable consequences of it, well may tbtl
hold it, as 11 matter of opinions, but as matter of faith and
religion, neither can they, with coherence to their 0"
 111

of it was, to render one half of the sacra-

mental institution superfluous, by den.1jillg the
Clip to the Laity; though our Saviour ex-
pressly commanded all his disciples to drink of
it, and declared, that, without drinking, they

grounds, believe it themselves, nor require the belief of it

of others, without most high and most schismatical pre-
sumption. I, for my part, after a long, and (as I verily be-
lieve and hope) impartial search of the true rL'QY to etemal
happiness, do profess plaiuly, that I cannot find any rest for
the sole of my foot, but on this rock only. I see plainly,
and with my own eyes, that there are Popes against Popes;
Councils against Councils; some Fathers against others; the
same Fathers against themselves; a consent of Fathers of
one age, against the consent of Fathers of another age; the
Church of one age, against the Church of another age; Tra-
ditive interpretations of Scripture are pretended, but there
are none to be found. No tradition but only of Scripture
can derive itself from the fountain, but may be plainly proved
either to have been brought in, in such an age after Christ,
or that in such an age it was not in. In a word, there is no
sufficient certainty, but of Scripture only, for any considerate
man to build upon."
Mr. LOCKE, in a letter to a friend, says, You ask me,
" What is the shortest and surest way to attain a true know-
ladge of the Christian religion, in the full and just extent of
it?" To this I have a short and plain answer :-" Study the
holy scripture, especially the New Testament: therein are
contained the words of eternal life. It has God for its au-
thor, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of
error,..for its matter:' (Works, v. s. p. 306.)
 112

could have 1/0 Life in them. [1J Yet granl

them their Transubstantiation, and the conch
sion is natural, as our Catholic has deduced it:
" for whosoever, says he, receives the body
of Christ, most certainly receives his blood at
the same time, since the body, which he re-
ceives, is a living body, and cannot be with-
out Blood. There is no taking Christ b1
pieces; whoever receives him, receives him
whole; and since he is as truly and really
present in one kind, as in both, he brings
with him consequently the same grace, when
received it). one kind, as when ~ceived in
both." [g] But if they were disposed to use
their reason on this occasion, a conclusion so
contradictory to the express· institution of
the Gospel, would convince them of the false-
hood of those principles, by which they were
Jed into it; and oblige them to distrust their
premises, which have always been disputed,
rather than reject a clear precept of C krist,
on which there never was, or can be any ree
sonable dispute. [h)

U] Mat. xxvi. 27. Joh. vi. 53/i Cor. xi. 23.

[g] Cathol. Christian, p. 64, 65.
e:ti" [h] The Romanists pretend, that our Saviour, at t!lf;~
last supper, made his apostles priests; whence they argucrl
I
I
 U3

As to my 6th and 7th instances of their

Paganism, since our Catholic has offered no-
that his command, that they should all drink:of the cup, having
been given to them in that quality, is, therefore, not to be
extended to the laity. To this it may be answered, that if
our Saviour's words were addressed to the apostles only, then
they do not contain any express precept to lay-persons for
receivingthe cup; but if the Romanists will say this, the,
mu~talso maintain, that there is no precept in them for lay-
pel'lOnsto receive the bread; for the words, Do this, relate
evilientlyto receiving the bread, as well as to drinking the
wille. But as the Romanists allow, that all Christians are
by these words commanded to take the bread as well 8S the
apostles are, they ought likewise to allow, that all Christians
are commanded to drink the wine.
And this, indeed, evidently appears from what is said by
81. Paul, 1 Cor. xi. ~O. The Apostle there addresses him-
self to the whole body of the Christians, in the Church of
Corinth, witllOut any distinction. He gives them an account
of the circumstance of the first institution (without the least
hint that only those among them who were priests were in-
tided to drink the cup) and says of them all in general, that,
by eating that bread and drinking that cup, they shewed forth
the death of our Lord till be should come, ver, 26. He bitts
every one of them, ver, 28, examine himself, and so eat of
that bread, and drink of that cup,joining constantly the doing
of the latter of these actions with the former.
It was the c6uncil of Constam:e,A.D. 1414. (see ante pag .
.'ll!, note.) Which decided, that although CllRlST gave the
eucharist in both kinds, yet ought the communion of only one
kind to be prefened; and then burnt John Huss and Jerom.
of Prague for maintaining the contrary. The COUDell of
I
 114

thing upon them worth the pains of conside

ing, I shall refer the reader to my Lettlri
without troubling him with any thing farther
about them, and proceed to the more import.
a nt article of their miracles.
Here he begins to grow warm again, aDli
declares, "that I am always offended with
miracles, wherever I meet with them; and jj
sorry that I do not speak out in favour of Ill}
friends the Freethinkers, and shew' the Je.1
and Christian miracles to be no better thall
.those of the Pagans:" [zJ This is the constan!
refuge of baffled zealots, to throw the odius
of i,yidelit.9 and free thifiking on those who '
dare to expose their impostures. But k

Trent (A. 1.$62), renewed this decree, or rather carriedit still

.farther, absolutely forbidding the cup to be granted totl1
laity on any occasion ; notwithstanding the pressing relllO!'
straaces of the emperor, the king of France, the duke J
Bavaria, and' many other princes and states. This fam~
council declared, that the church alone (i. e. its ruler, tit
.Roman pontiff) had the right of detenniniog the true meat
ing and signification of Scripture. To fill up, the measutt
of these tyrannical and iniquitous proceedings, the ChurehJ
Rome affirmed, that the holy scriptures were not com~\
for the use of the multitude; and, of consequence, ardettlf
these divine records to be taken from the people!
. (l]Pt~f. p. 4, J7.
I~..
,

I
 115
hoped, perhaps, to find some even of our own
Church ready to join with him in the cry;
since he appears to be no stranger to the
offence, which the freedom of this 1)eryLetter
had given to certain men, who are too apt
to consider their own opinions as the standard
of Christian faith, and to treat even the de-
fenders of our religion as deserters, if they do
not submit to act under their direction,
and defend it by their principles. These men
imagined, that I had attacked the popish mi-
raclell with a gaiety that seemed to contemn
all miracles, and particularly those of our Sa-
mur., by invalidating the force of those rules
which Mr. Leslie had established as tilt
criteritm oftrue miracles; whereas the truth
of the matter is, as I have often declared it
to my friends, that at the time of writing the
Letter, I had never read Mr. Leslie's treatise,
nor so mneh as knew what his rules were.
My only.view was, .to expose the forgery of
cthepopiBA . miracles in the strongest manner
that I was able ; and in $pite of all the evi-
dence which they pretend to produce for
them, to shew, that they stood upon no better
ground than those of their Pagan Ance't~.
1 had observed, not only from books but from
12
 116
experience, what these Cavillers perhaps were
not so well apprized of, that the pretence ~f
miracles was the grand support of the Rontish
Church, and what gave a sanction to an their
other frauds; that their constant appeal to a
divine power, exerting itself miraculously
amongst them; gave them not only their chief
advantage against protestants, but furnished
the Deists also with the most obvious argu·
ments against revelation itself: for ,,'these
pious cheats, as Mr. Leslie says, are the sorest
disgraces of Christianity; which have bid the
'fairest of anyone contrivance to overturn the
certainty of the miracles of Christ, and the
whole truth of the Gospel, by putting them
all on the same foot." [k] To destroy the
authority, therefore, of these cheats, was to
sap the foundations' of Popery, and overture
the main pillar on which its power subsists;
which was the real, motive of my dwelling
longer on this, than on any other article, a5
our Catholic observes, [I] as weII as of treating
.it with that freedom which alarmed even
some of our Protestants.
[k] See. Leslie'lS Short method widl the Deists, p.24-
'V 01. I. of his Works.
[fJ Preface, p. 4.
 117

That my sentiments, therefore, on this head

may neither be mistaken, nor suspected; and
that I may give satisfaction, as far as I am
able, to all whom, by any freedom of expres--
sion, I may possibly have offended, either
in this, or in anoYother of my writings, I
take this occasion to declare, that I look
upon miracles, when accompanied with all
tile circumstances proper to persuade us of
the reality of the facts said to be performed,
and of the dignity of the end 10r which thcy
wereperformed, to be the most decisive proofs
that can be given of the truth and divinity of
any religion. This was evidently the case of
the Jewish and of the Christian miracles;
wrought in such a manner as could leave no
doubt upon the senses of those who were the
witnesses of them; and for the noblest end
for which the Deity can be conceived to inter-
pose himself, the universal good and salva-
tion of man. For the Jewish and Christian
dispensations are but different parts of one and
the .same Scheme, mutually illustrating and
confirming each other's authority: and .from
this view of them, in which they should al-
ways be considered as necessarily connected
and dependent on each other, we sec the
 118
weakness of that objection commonly tnade
to the Mosaic part, on the account ofits being
calculated for the use only ofapeculiar
people; whereas in truth it was the begin-
ning '01' first opening of an universal Systen
which, from the time of Moses, was gradually
manifested to the world by the successive
missions of the Prophets, till that fulness ~
time or coming of the ~Iessiah, when life tmd
immortality were brought to light by the Gospe/,
or the chief good and happiness of man per-
fectly revealed to him.
. That Jfi1;acles have ever been thought the
most authentic proofs of a divine mission,
seems to be declared by the senseof all na-
tions, since there never was a religion pre-
'tending to be divine, which did not support
that pretension by an appeal to them: yet
the innumerable forgeries of this sort which
have been imposed upon mankind in all ~
are so far from weakening the credibility
of the Jewishand C hristinn miracles, that they
strengthen it. For how could we account for
a practice so universal, of forging miracl~
for the support of false religions, if on some
occasions they had not actually been wrought
for the confirmation of a true one? Or how iI
 119

it .possible, that so many spurious copies

should pass upon the world, without some
genuine original from which they were
drawn; whose known existence and tried
success might give an appearance of preba-
bility to the counterfeit? Now of all the mi-
racles of antiquity, there are none that can
pretend to the character of originals, but
those of the Old and New Testameet ; which
though the oldest by far. of all others, of
which any monuments now remain in the
world, have yet maintained their credit to
this day, through the perpetual opposition
and scrutiny of ages; whilst all the rival
productions of fraud and craft have long ago
been successively exploded, and sunk into
utter contempt. An event, that cannot rea-
sonably be ascribed to any other cause, but
to the natural force and effect of truth,
which, though defaced for a time by the
wit, or depressed by the power of man, is
sure still to triumph in the end over all the
false mimickry of art, and the vain efforts of
human, policy,
As to Mr. Leslie', rules of distinguishing
the true from false miracles, I have lately pe-
rused and considered them; and whatever
 120

force they may be supposed to have, I would

not advise an Apologist for Christianity to
trust his cause to that single issue. Mr.·
Leslie himselr' does not do it; but suggests
several other arguments for the divinity of
our religion,. so strong and conclusive, that
eoen miracles themselves, as he declares, would
not be su:fficientto over-rule them. [mJ-- His
marks however are so far certainly good, that
no pretence of miracles can deserve any at-
tention without them; yet it does not neces-
sarily follow, that all the miracles, in which
they may be found, ought to be received as
true; since, as far as I have been able to
observe, within the compass of my reading,
several might be produced both from Popery
and Paganism, which seem to possess them
all, and are yet unquestionably false. [n]
.I have charged the Popish Church in my
Letter with many instances ofjorged mirada,
to which this Author does not think fit to
make any particular reply, but contents him-
selfwith a general answer, which must needs
be thought curious--for he observes, that whe-
titer the miracles which I have pitched upon be ,
true orfalse, there is nothing at least heathelli8h ~
[m] See Lealie, ib. p. 21.
 121

in them, and consequently nothing that shews,

the conformity which I pretend to demonstrate
between Popery and Paganism. en] Which is.
in effect to say, that allowing them to be.
forged,yet they were not forged by Pagan,
but by Christian Priests; not for the purposes.
of Pagan, but of Christian superstition, so that
I cannot with any propriety call them hea-
tllellish.-But are they not all copied from
the patterns of Paganism ?[oJ Are they Dot

[/l] Pref. p.18.

en- [0] tt A. D. '374. Ambrose was made bishop of
Milan.
Barouius relates, as an ancient tradition, that Ambrose
coming to ROine, and lodging at an ion, his host boasted to
him how prosperous he had alwaJs been, and talked in a "aia
and arrog;lDtmanner, without returning thanks .to God. Thct
saint collecting from the pride and insolence of the man that
God's judgments would speedily overtake him, hastened from
the house with his companions; alld as SOOn as he was fairly
out of it, the earth opened and swallowed it up, with alI i~
inhabitants, and a lake was formed in the place.
u The very story of old Bauds and Philemon.
- jiex&e oc~IO$, et mersa palude
Co:tera prospicitt,lt.
" 'I'hia is one proof, to which forty more might be added.
that the Christians used to collect out of Ovid, Liv.'J, and
other Pagml poets and histonam, the miracles and portents
which are to be foUnd there ,and accommodate them to their
own monks and saints."
qORTIN, Remarks, '. ii..p. 304~
 applied to the same purposes of fraud and
delusion; to keep their people in a slavish
'Subjection to an Idolatrous ft'Orship, and to
acquire wealth and power to the priesthood?
This certainly is downright Paganism, and
the most detestable part of it .
.' He proceeds however to assert with his
usual gravity-U that God has been pleased
" in every age to work most evident miracles
"in their Church by the ministry of his
" Saints; in raising the dead to life; in cur·
" ing the blind and the lame; in casting out
" Devils ; in healing inveterate diseases in a
~'moment, attested by the most authentic
~"monuments; which will be a standing eri·
ac. dence to all nations, that the Church, in
, Ie which they are wrought, is' not .that Ido-
IC latrous Pagan Church which I pretend it
. ~·to·be, but the true Spouse ofChrist."[p}-
This is the constant voice of all the RomisA
Apologists; that the Catholicism qf tlteirChurcA
is demonstrated b.y the notoriety of their mira-
cles [9'] But since the end of all miracles is
to convert unbelievers; if their miracles-be

[p) lb'. 18, 10.

(q] N08tram Eccleaiam demOl1lltrabitnua ~ verarn Ie-
elesiam miraculis. Be1larm. de Eccles, Millt. 1. i., c. 14.
 123
really wrought by the power of Christ, why
are they not wrought, like the miracles of
Christ, in open day-light; in the midst of un-
believingnations; not for the acquisition of
gainor power to particular persons, but for
thebenevolent ends of conferring some gene-
ralgood, by reforming men's lives, enlighten-
ingtheir understandiagsoaad promoting truth
and peace and charity amongst men? Why
arenone of them wrought in protestant coun-
tries,[1'] for whose conversion they are always

«:1:)' r,,] It is observable, says J 0 RTI N, that the Saints, whose

auvi« wrought so many miracles in the fourth and follew-
iug centuries, lost all their power or inclination to perform
them at the Riformation. Doubtless, adds he, they were
offended at the wickedness of the Protestants, and ~
aulIenupon it: as Catullus observes concerning the P ago,.
Gods: (Epith. Thet, et Pel.)
SedplJllqUQm te/lus ace/ere est imhuJa nfJando,-
Omniafanda, nefa1u1o" malo permista fuTON!
Justifieam nobis mentem aoertere Deorum.
Quare nee tala dignantuT 'Oisere eteIw,
Nee si contingi patiuntul' lumine chlTo.
" But, when fell crimes this impious soil o'erspread-
.When vice, as virtae, was e8teem'd by men,
'nen Deities no longer grac'd this scene.
From earth's vile throng to their own beav'QI withdrew,
And never more appear'd to mortal view."
(Remark., v. i,,.~7<1.)
 124

alleged; but huddled over among their own

bigotted votaries, prepared by an habitual
credulity, to receive any imposture that their
Priests can invent? [s]

But the fact is, that the spirit of inquiry with which Eng-
/iJimen were animated at the time of the Reformation, de-
tected the cheat, and exposed to public view, the hidden
Iprings and machinery of diose lying wonders by which the
world had been seduced and enslaved to the tyranny of Rome.
Some of their images were brought to London, and pub-
licly broken there at St. Paufs Cross, in the sight of the
people, that they might be fully convinced of the juggliug
impostures of the Monks. And in particular, the CrucijiJ
of Bo.rlty be Kent, commonly called tile Rood f!I' Gra(e,
to which many pilgrimages had been made; because it was
observed sometimes to bow, and to lift itself up; to shake '
and stir its head, hands, and feet; to ron its e>'es, move the
lips; and bend its brows: all which were looked upon by
the abused multitude as the effects of a divine power. These
were now publicly discovered to have heen cheats. For the
springs were shewn by which all these motions were made,
&c.-See BtJI\NET'S History of the Reformation, vol, I.
p.242.
[s] :M. de :Marolles takes occasion to observe, from a
fact, which happened in Paris, 1644, how easily people,
possessed with a superstitious regard to miracles, can per-
suade themselves that they see, what in truth has no exist.
ence. The story is this; a certain man, out of a mere whim,
or with design perhaps to try his pistol, shot it off against a
sign in the street, Oil which tile Firgi» :Mar!! was painted.
The oe~hbourhood beiug alarmed, ran out to see what waJ,
 125

; .While St. Thomas's Shrine flourished at

Canterbury, his Saintship was demonstrated
by perpetual miracles; [tJ in which, as the

the matter; and observing the Virgin to be pierced through

withthe bullet, conceived it to be done by some Heretic or
Blasphemer, in open defiance of their religion, and amazed
at 80 daring an impiety, fancied that they saw drops of blood
issuefrom the wound: of which the whole multitude was 110
.trongly convinced, that there were thousands ready to de-
POIlethat they had seen it with their own eyes: the story be-
came famous, and a copper-plate of it was printed; till be-
ingridiculed by men of sense, and found to be wholly ima-
ginary, the copper-plate was ordered to be suppressed, and
the miracle fell gradually into contempt. But if it had not
happened in a country where the Protestants at that time
werevery numerous, it might have been stamped, perhaps, for
IS genuine a miracle as many others of the sawe coinage

whichI have taken notice of iu the present work.

[t] JoJu, of Salisbur!J, who lived at the time, with a great
reputation of teaming and integrity, and wrote Becket's life,
whosefriend and disciple he was, spe:dcing of the place and
manner of his burial, says, " Where to the glory of God
many and great miracles are now wrought by him, the
people ftoclciug thither in crouds, that they may see in
others, and feel also in themselves the power and mercy of
him,who is ever wonderful and glorious in his Saints. For
in the place on which he suffered, and where his body like-
wise was deposited that night before the great altar; and
. also where he was at last buried, the paralytic are healed,
the bliud see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lame wal~,
thedevils are cast out, all who are sick of fevers, or other
 126
Historians of those times tell us, he far outdid
not only all other Saints, but even our Saviour
himself. There were "two volumes of them
preserved in the Church of Canterbury; and
another book in France, in which there WlU
an account of two hundred and seventy. Peter
of Blois, a celebrated writer of that a&e, after
drawing a parallel between Thomas the Apostle
and Thomas the ltlartyr, says, " I do not pre-
tend to compare a Martyr with an Apostle;
for an Apostle is greater; but it is glorious for
wseases, are cured, and, what was never heard of in the da"
of our fathers, the dead are raised." See Vito S. ThoJDf
Epistolis pnefix. Vol. i. 142.
Pope A le:rander, the third of that name, in a letter to tIJe
Church of Canterbury upon the subject of T!uJmo¥, CmtflJ"
ization about four years after his death, 8a'8,- The whole
body of the faithful must necessarilj. rejoice to hear of the I
wonderful works of the holy and reverend man Thomas, YOUl. .
late Archbishop: but you must needs be filled ,nth a mol'
exalted joy, who behold his miracles with your OWD.f1e1,
and whose Church has the peculiar honour of poSl!cssinghi1
most sacred remains. We on our part having considered die
glory of his merits, by which his life was made so iIltJBb'ioul, .
I!.•
and having received full and certain information of his •
eleI, not only from common fame, but from the testimony of
Our beloved sons, Alhertus, and Theoduinus, cardinal priests,!
I
and apostolic legates, and of a great number of other ~ i
have solemnly canonized the aforesaid Archbishop, ~c. &.,
p.170. !
t
 127

us to have a J![artyr, who bears the name of

an Apostle, and. who equals or surpasses him.
in his miracles. That great Apostle cannot '
takeit amiss, that the Holy Spirit should ena-
ble others to work greater' wonders, and in
greater number than him: since the Lord both
of the Apostles and Martyrs is content to be
outdone by them himself in this particular:
Ye shall do, says he, not only these works that 1
do; but greater works than these shall ye do." [u]
Which prediction, as they declare, was lite-
rally fuHilled by St. Thomas: " Whose blood
being collected with care immediately after
his death, not only cured all distempers, but
raiSed even great numbers of the dead to life;
and when the., quantity was-found insufficient
..

for the demand that was made of it, they were

forced to supply it with water; the least drop
of whichv when tinged with the Martyr's
blood, and adniinistered to the sick, or in-
fused into the mouths of the dead, had all the
same effects; so that it was sent abroad into
all parts of the Christian world, as an infalli-
ble cure for all kinds of diseases," [v J
[u] John xiv. 12.
[v] La,vie de St. Thomas, p, 442. 4to. it. Vita Italid,
p. 430; ~c. Pet ••Blesens. Epist. 17. at 46. ~ ~nn.
 128
The fame of these miracles drew Kings and .
Princes from abroad; and infinite crouds at
home, with daily offerings to his shrine: [187]
1173. No. vii. Speculum Sanctor. ap. Labbe Biblioth.
Nov. Sfc.
c:o- [w] LEWIS VII. of France made a pilgrimage to the
miraculous tomb of Becket, and bestowed on the shrine a
jewel, esteemed the richest in Christendom. Diceto declares
the purpose of the pilgrimage of Lewis to have been, not that
be might obtain the recovery of his son, (who was then at the
point of death), but that, by the merits ulld intercessions of
.Becket he might be rendered worthy to pass from a tem-
poral to an everlasting kingdom; ut ii, ejus meritis et inler-
a.
cessicmibus regllo mutabili transire mereatur ad regnum 3;'"
.fi71emansurum: which is directly putting Becket in the place
of Christ.' And Christ himself was desired, in one of the
" authorised Popish Liturgies (V. HOnE beatissimee Marl!!
secundum usum Sarum, Parisiis,per Ni-.;olaum Hocqueman,
A. D. ]519; and Bishop Jewel's Defence of the Apology
of the Chnrch of England, part ii. c. 18.) to save the souls of
~he supplicants, not by his own blood, but by Becket's:
Til per Thom« sa7/guinem
quam pro te impendit~
Eac nos, Chrisle, scandere
quo Thomas ascendit.
, \Vhat the public opinion was of the greater benefit of eb-
latioDs to this wonder-working saint, than of those made to
Christ, appears from the ledger books at Christ Church i.
Canterbury, where in one year the offerings at the three prio-
.cipal altars stood thus"
At Christ'saltar - S 25 6
At Becket's _ 852 12 3
At the Virgin's 6S 58 6
 129
but this harvest was no sooner over, than the
power of the Saint fell with the gain of the
Priest; and all his miracles ceased when the
honour of his Altar stood most in need of their
support; so that the place where he was for-
merly worshipped, and where such mighty
wonders were once wrought, is, now shewn as
a monument only of the folly and superstition
of our Ancestors. But though he works no
miracles in England, where his bones lie de-
posited, he works them still in foreign coun-
tries, and will continue to do so, as long as
there is a Popish Church and a Priesthood,
who find their interest in supporting them.
For, as Lactantius justly observes, "among
those who seek power and gain from their

And the next year,

At Christ's altar - 0 0 0
At Becket's - 954 6 3
At the Virgin's - .. . 4 1 8
II Indeed," says Lord LYTTELTON, from whom I have co-
pied this account, "the greatest wonder is, not that Christ
shouldhave nothing or next to nothing offered to him, when
Becket had so much, but that the offerings to the Saint should
exceed those of the Virgin in the proportion here stated."
(See Hillt. of Hen. II. vol. 4. p. S48-9.)

K
 130

religion, there will never be wanting an incli-

nation to forge and to lie for it." [x]

('t'] Lactan. de fals. relig. i. 4.

@" Becket is adored annually on the 29th of Decem-
ber, on which day the Papists pray to blessed Thomas to in-
tercedc with the Almighty for them.
The unlawfulness of this practice of worshipping departed
Saints is demonstrated by the late learned Bishop ELLYS in
the following words:
« Our blessed Lord enforces the precept, Thou shalt f~or'
ship the Lord thy God, him only shalt thou serve. (Matth.
iv. 10.) And the New Testament declares expressly, that
there is but one mediator betaeen Godond man, namely,
Christ J esus ; (1. Tim. ii. .').) and that though there be that
are called gods, mallY, and lords, many, yet that, that to
Christians, there is but one God the F~ther, and one Lord
Jesus Christ, by «hom are all things, and we by him. (I.
Cor. viii. 5.6.) In the former of these passages St. Pa~
had been exhorting, that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and gi,-ing of thanks should be made for all men. Thii
might, naturally, have led him to mention the intercession of
Saints as proper also to be desired on _their behalf: but to
this effect there is not the least word or intimation. In the
latter text, he is plainly speaking of the notion which the
heathens had of many mediators, by which tenn they meant
I!entll and intercessors between God and man; for they bad
DO notion of mediators of redemption, 'In opposition, there-
fore, to their sense of the word, he must be uuderstood to
declare that there is, and ought to be, but one mediator be-
tueen God and man, ecen Clirist Jesus. Agreeably to this,
tile lame apostle cautious the. Colossians, chap. ii, 18, 19,
 131

They tell us indeed of man.?! miracles of the

greatest kind, wrought by their Missionaries

that they should not suffer allY man to beguile them f!f their
reward,in a 'Coluntary humility and worshipping of angels,
intruding into those things' tchid: he hath not seen, 'caillly
puffedup by hisfleshly mind, and not holding the hew1,Jrom.
fI!hichall the bodg by joints and bands hacing nourishment,
millistl'edand knit together, increasetb 'a:ith the increase of
God.
<t ST. CURYSOSTO:\I,on the Epist. to the Colossians, S. 1.
p. 90, saith, it was the chief design of that epistle, to beat
dowll the error of them who made addresses to God by
angels. And S. vi. p. 123, he saith, there were some who
said we must come to God by angels, not immediately by
Christ, for that is too high for us. .
<t This error, saith TUEODORET, upon the text, remained

longamong the people of Colossee, and the adjacent coun-

tries; and for that cause a council met (anno $64) at. Laodi-
cea, a city about twenty miles from Colossee, and made a
canon against praying t~angels. It is the 35th canon of
that council, This, saith the canon, the council ordain to
be done, namely, that men should not pray to angels pre-
tendinghumility, and saying, that the God of all things is in-
visible,inaccessible, and incomprehensible, and that it was
fitwe should procure God's favour by means of angels. (See
Theod. on the Epist. to the Colossians. See tbe Laodicean
can. in Johnson's vade mecum; vol. ii. p. 114, and Bever,
Pandect.)
"Bl~UOP STILUNGFI.EET'S Posthu. works, p.299,
says,that tbis canon of the Laodicean council having been
admitted into the Code:'[ Canorum of the universal church,

K 2
 132
in India: but they all rest upon no other au-
thority than the suspected relations of those
hath the same force as if it had been made in a general
council.
, it But whatever the notion of the Colossians was, the
apostle takes occasion to make a general declaration against
any religious worship that should be paid to angels j in
which declaration, since he makes no exception in favour of
the practice of invoking them as patrons or intercessors with
God (which he must very well know if it was then usual) we
may conclude, that he intended to condemn any such !)rac,
tice: in order to impress this more forcibly upon the mind>
of Christians, St. John was not suffered to pay even 8uch
worship or respect to all angel, as the high dignity and excel·
lency of such a spirit might otherwise have naturally required;
be was twice commanded to u:orship God, i. e. him ollly.
(Rev. xxii, 9.)
" But if it was not allowable to worship angels, it may. I'
with more reason, be concluded, that departed saints are Dot ;
to be worshipped; because, whatever reason holds against ;
worshipping angels, holds at least as strongly against worship-
ping saints departed. And there is one other circumstance
peculiarly strong against the latter; namely, there is no suf-
ticient ground either from reason or the Scripture to believe
that they are acquainted with our affairs, that they can always
hear our vocal, or, at least, ever be acquainted with our
mental petitions. The Romish school-men, indeed, have
imagined a way by which they hold the saints to see all
things, viz. in the essence of God, as in a mirror: but IS
this is a fiction. inti rely without any foundation in reason or
the holy' Scripture, no stress at aU can be laid upon it.
" The proofs which some Romisb writers draw from the
 133

Missionaries, and are even contradicted by

someof their gravest writers. A Royal Pro-
fessorof Salamancha, in one of his public lec-
tures, says, " It does not appear to me that
the Christian faith has been propounded to
the Indians in such a manner as would reason-
ably induce them to receive it; for I hear of
110 miracles performed amongst them, nor of
such examples of the Christian life as there
ought to be; but, 011 the contrary, of much
scandal and impiety. Anotlwr learned Je-
mit, who had spent many yean! among the
Apocalypse of St. John, are of as little weight; because the
representations in that book are mostlyemblematical, and not
intended to express the reality of things, as they ate in hea-
ven,but to denote the condition and future distressetl of dnl
church on earth. This is particularly true with regard to the
soulsrepresented as being under the altar, (Rev. xi. g,) as to
the angels qfferillg incense upon it, (Rev. viii. S,) and to several
other circumstances from which the Romanists argue; which
arguments, therefore, are of no avail. Now this is one
proof that God does not design that we should pray to saints.
sincehe has not given us reason to believe that they have
such a knowledge of our affaiTs as is a necessary foundation
for our addresses to them: and when this is added to what is
declared expressly in the Scripture againt worshipping even
angels, the proofs of the unlawfulness of both of them are so
strong, that no Christian ought to think ltimself l,'orronted to
practise them, but rather to be under a strong prohibitio/l of
'0 doing." (See Bishop Ell)'.'s Tracts, pp.lSg, tILe.)
 134

Indians, in a treatise on the method of con.

verting them, says, " What signifies all our
preaching? 'Vhat stress can we lay upon it?
w- work no miracles." ['I] But among all
the boasted miracles of these Missionaries,
they have never so much as pretended to the
gift of tongues; which is the first thing neces-
sary to the conversion of barbarous nations,
and without which all their preaching, and
even miracles themselves, would be useless:
Yet St. Xaccriu« himself, the Apostle qf tlte
Indies, and one of their great Saints and
tcorkers of miracles, laments, in several of his
letters, the insuperable difficulties which he
had to struggle with in his Mission, and his
incapacity of doing any good in those countries,
for the toaut of this gift. And in Japan par-
ticularly, where, according to his account, a
plentiful harvest was open to him, and great
numbers disposed to become Christians:
" God grant, says he, that I may soon learn
their language, so as to be able to explain
things divine, and do some service at last to
the Christian cause. For at present indeed
I am nothing better than a statue among

ll/] Hospinian. de Origin. Jesuitar, p. 230.

 135

them; and while they are "talking and inquir-

ing many things about me, am quite dumb
through my ignorance of their .tongue: but I
.am now acting the boy again in learning the
elements' of it. [z]

[z] Itaque cum neque illi meam, neque ego illorum lin-
guam intelligerem, &c. Xaverii Epist. l. v. Sane labori-
osum est, eorum, quibuscum verseris, funditus ignorare ser
monem. ib. i, 14. Faxit Deus, ut ad divinarum explica-
tionem rerum, Japonicam liuguam condiscamus quam pri-
mum. TUID demum aliquam Christiana- rei navabimus ope-
ram. N am nunc quidcm inter eos tanquam mute quredam
ItatUlilversamur, &c. ib.L iii. 5.
<I;)' After 'St. Xaverius, HOBERT DE NOBILl is looked
upon by the Jesuits as the ehief apostle of the Indians. This
man took incredible pains to acquire a knowledge of the re-
ligion, custo~. 'nd language of Madura, sufficient for the
purposes of nis ministry. But this was not all; for, to stop
the mouths of hi. opposers, and particularly of those who
treated his character of Brachman as an impostor, he pro-
duced an old, dirty parchment, in which he had forged, in
the ancient Indian characters, a deed, shewing that the
Brachmans of Rome were of much older date than those of
India, and that the Jesuits of Rome descended, in a direct
line, from the God Brama. Nay, Father Joucenci, a learned
Jesuit, tells us, in the Risto!")' of his Order, something yet
more remarkable; even that Robert de N obili, when the
authenticity of his smoaky parchment was called in question
by some Indian unbelievers, declared upon oath, before the
assembly of the Bracbmans of Madura, that he (Nobili)
 136
Sir Thomas Roe, in a letter to the Arcltbishap
fJf Canterbury, from the Court of the great
Mogul, [a] relates a fact very applicable to
our present subject; " That the Jesuit's
House and Church in that country happen-
ing to be burnt, the Crucifix remained un-
touched, which was given out as a miracle.

derived really and truly his origin from the God Brama,
"Is it not astonishing" (asks Dr. MACLAINE) <t that this
Reverend Father should acknowledge-is it not monstrous
that he should applaud, as a piece of pious ingenuity, this
detestable instance of perjury and fraud?" (See MOSHEIM'.
Eccl. Hist. v, 5. p. 11. note.)
(0- [a] Sir Thomas Roe went as ambassador to the Court
of the Great Mogul ill 1614, where he remained four yea,s. In
1621, he went as ambassador to the Grand Seignior, and
continued there till ] 628. UpOll his return, Sir Thomas
brought with him, as a present from Cyril, patriarch of Con-
stantinople to Charles 1. the famous Alexandrian MS. of
the Greek Bible, since transcribed and pu~lillhed by ]Jr.
Grabe.
The unfortunate Cgril, for opposing the tyranny of the
church of Rome and refusing to submit to the pope, WI!
slandered and persecuted all his days by the Jesuits, and at
last basely murdered at their instigation. His life, transac-
tions,anddeplorable fate, have been recorded byTholUll8 S'»th,
in his Narratio de Vittz, Studiis, Gestis et Martyrio Cyrilli
Lucaris, which is the third article of his MilcellaJlea, pu'"
lished at London in 8vo. in the year 1586.
 1S1
The King called for the Jesuit, and .ques-
tioned him about it; but he answered ambi-
guously; The King then asked, whether' he
did not desire to convert him? And being
answered in the affirmative, .replied, Yos
speak of your great miracles, and of many
done in the name of your Prophet: if you
will cast the Crucifix: into a fire before me.
and it does not burn, I will become a Chris-
tian. The Jesuit refused the trial, as unjust;
answering, that God was not tied to the call
of man; that it was a Sin to tempt him;
andthat he wrought miracles according to his
own will; yet he offered to cast himself into
the fire, as a proof of his own faith, whick
the King would not allow. U pop. this, there
arose a great dispute, begun by the Prince;
a stiff Mahometan, and hater of Christians;
whourged, that it was reasonable to try our
religionafter this manner; but withal, that if
the Crucifix did burn, then the Jesuit should
be obliged to tum Moor: He alleged exam-
ples also of mira~les said to be wrought for
less purposes than the conversion of so
mightya King; and spoke scornfully of Jesus
Christ." Yet nothing could move the Jesqit,
 IS8

to expose the authority of his religion to the

hazard of so dangerous a trial. [bJ
But as in the case of all beneficial impos
tures, the security of the managers is apt to
push them at last to an extravagance, that
betrays the whole cheat, so ithas happened
in the affair of the Popish miracles, which
have been carried to such a heighth of impu-
dence and absurdity, as renders them wholly
contemptible; while all their greatel' Sail/Is,
and especially the Founders qf the Monastic
Orders, St. Francis, St. Dominic, ~·c. arc pre·
ferred, not only to tile Apostles, but to Chri~
himself, for the number and importance of
their miracles; many of which dre authorist~
by tile Bulls C!f Popes, condemning all as He·
retics, who do not believe them: [c] though

[bJ See Collection of Travels published by Churchill, p,

805,806.
(;J It appears by this story, as the Doctor has elsewbert
observed, that the King had sense enough to know the dif·
ference, between the effect of a miracle and a martyrdom:
119t the last could prove nothing but the Jesuit's sincerity,is
what he professed to believe; whereas the first would ,iell!
the strongest cenfirmation to the truth also of what hi
taught. (Works, v, 1. p. 173.)
. Iel va Hospiniau, p. 398, 438.
 139

they are all pretended to be wrought for no

other end but the propagation of Enthusiasm
and J.lIonker,lj, and the confirmation of certain
doctrines and rites, which are not only use-
less,but apparently hurtful to mankind.
If any such miracles therefore were ever
wrought, of which there is the greatest reason
to doubt, we must necessarily ascribe them
to the power of the Devil, endeavouring by
such delusions to draw men away from the
worship of the true God. This we are war-
ranted to think probable, by the principles
ofour Religion, and the authority of the pri-
mitive Fathers, who exhort us on all such oc-
casions to try the miracles, by their end and
tendency, and the nature of that doctrine
whichis proposed to be established by them ;
for though miracles carry the strongest pre-
swnption, as I have said, of the divinity of a
doctrine in whose favour they are alleged~ yet
they are intended chiefly to rouse the atten-
tion of the world to the preacher or. prophet
whopretends to perform them, that his com-
mission may be openly examined whether it
be of God or not.
The Jesuit Maldonatus, in his Comment on
Matt. vii. 22, observes, " That St. Cllrysostom,
 140

Jerom, Euthemius, Theophylact, prove by see

'-' vera} instances, that real miracles had been
" performed by those who were not Catholic
"Christians." St. Cllrysostom declares, " that
" miracles are proper only to excite sluggis~
'"-and vulgar minds; that men of sense have
" no occasion for them; and that they fre-
H quently carry some untoward suspician
'" along with them "[ dJ '''We are to take
!' notice, says St. Jerom, that some are said
" to have the gifts of the Spirit who do not
"hold the truth of the Gospel, which may
t.' serve to silence those Heretics, who, if they

" ~ but work a miracle, fancy presently

.c that they have demonstrated the truth of
" their faith." [e J "If miracles, says St.
" Austin, are wrought in the Catholic Church,
&e. its Catholicism is not thereby manifested,
~ because miracles are wrought in it; but
" the miracles themselves are to be received,
" because they are wrought in a Church that
" is Catholic." And Theodoret tells us, ". that
" we are commanded not to give credit to

[d] Vide Chrysost. Opere Edit. Benedict. T. v. 271. a.

S76. b. T. viii. '296. a. '205. 455. '
[e] Vide Hicron. in Galat. iii. Opere T. iv. r- '251. Edit.
Bened,
 141

"them, when the performers of them teach

« things contrary to true piety.",[.!J
If agreeably then to the injunctions of the
Apostles and Primitive Fathers we sit down
to examine the pretended miracles of Rome,
we shall find them always the most numerous,
and the most confidently attested, in propor-
tion to the absurdity of the doctrine or prac..,
tice, in whose favour they are alleged; as in
the case of Transubstantiation, Purgatory, the
fl:orship of Images, Reliques, Crucifi.1'es, In-
ditlgences, and all the tricks of Monkery; as if
miracleswere of no other use but to subvert
thereason and senses. of mankind, and con-
found all the distinctions between right and
wrong: but if there be any rule of judging of
their reality, or any power in man to discern
truth from. falsehood, we must necessarily
'Conclude,from the nature and end qf the Popish
miracles, ' that, whatever testimonies may be
brought to support them, they were all, with-
.outexception, either wrought by wicked Spirit3,
• -(JJ' forged by wicked men. [g]

. 111 Vid.Hospin. dedoctl'ina Jesuit. p. SS8.

[g) .The Scriptures have expressly foresbewB, tleu tlu.
., <:l)-
Kingdom oj .A"tichris.t,should be mighty M mirtJtlu tUtti
eonders.
 142
I have now run through every thing that
seemed worthy of any notice in my adver-
sary's Preface; where I have the satisfaction
to observe, that though he accuses me so
freely of slander and folsehood, yet he has not
denied so much as one of the numerous facts

How precisely is the Church of Rome described by the

Apostle Paul, in the following prophecy, as translated by
Bishop NEWTON. It But the Spirit speaketlt expressly,
that in the latter times, some shall apostatize from the faitA i
giving heed to erroneous spirits, and doctrines concefllillg
demons through. the h.lfpocris!J qf liars; having their COil-
sciences seared with a red-hot iron; forbidding to marry,
and commanding to abstai» from meats." (I Tim. iv, v. 1.2.)
t< Here," says Bishop WATSON," you have an express pro-
phecy-the Spirit hath spoken it-that in the latter times-
not immediately, but at some distant period-some should
apostatize from the faith-some, who had been Christians,
should in truth be so no longer-but should give heed to
erroneous spirits, and doctrines concerning demons :-Press
this expression closely, and you will discover in it the er-
roneous tenets, and the demon of Saint Worship, of the
Church of Rome ;-through the hypocrisy ottiars ;-you re-
cognize, 110 doubt, the priesthood, and the martyrologists;-
having their consciences seared with a red-hot iron ;-caJ.
lous indeed, must his conscience be, who traffics in induJ..
gences ;-forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstaia
from meats ;- This Ianguegeueeds no pressing; it .discQo
vers atonce, the unhappy votaries of monastic life, and the
mortal sin of eati~ flesh on fast days," (See Apology for
Christianity, pp. 38-9.)
 143
on which I ground my charge of their pa-
ganism. It was upon the strength of these
facts that I first offered my Letter to the judg-
mentof the public, and the favourable recep-
tionwhich it has met with, shews, that it is
not thought trifling, and foreign to the pur-
pose,as he affirms it to be, but pertinent and
decisiveof the question which it professes to
illustrate. It is a folly therefore to attack
the credit of it, till he comes prepared to
overthrowthe facts on which it is built; for
whilethese are allowed to be finn, the in-
ference is undeniable, " that Popery has bor-
"rowed its principal ceremonies and doc-
"trin~s from the rituals of' Paganism:'
The truth of this charge is so evident to aU
who know any thing of Antiquity, that though
a Missionary, .as we may imagine, would be
glad to conceal it even from Papists, and
muchmore from Protestants, whom he is en-
deavouring - to convert, yet all their own
writers, who have any candour and learning, _
make no scruple to acknowledge it. M.de
:Marollesinforms us how he once surprized a
great A,;cltbishop of France by a frank declara-
tion of it; which he afterwards demonstrated:
to him at large, by a particular deduction o(it .
 144
through many of the same instances on which
I have insisted in my Letter. [h] 'Ihe Ieareel
Du Choul also thus concludes his book onthe
Religioo, of the old Romans: " lfwe consider
"the case attentively, we shall find very
" many institutions of our religion to have
"been borrowed from the ceremonies of the
" Egyptians and the Gentiles-all which our
" Priests now make use of in our mysteries, by
" referring to the only true God, Jesus Christ,
"what the' ignorance, false religion, and
" senseless superstition oftlie Pagans had ep
" plied to their Gods, and to mortal men after
. their consecration." [iJ
Our Catholic however concludes his work
.in a very different style: and in a kind of
triumph for an imagined victory, undertakes
by my own way of reasoning, to demonstrate
the sameCollformit.lJ betueen the English and
Bomish Church, which I have attempted to
[II] Un jour que j'etois aupresde Mons. deIa Feu'illade,
Arcbevesque d'Embrun-l'Occasion s'etant offerte de luy
dire, que beaucoup de ceremonies duPagaDisrne'.avoient ~
IaDctifiees par Ja piete de nostre ReJigi~ ce qui ne s'estoil
point fait sans mystere ; je m'appereeus, qu'il s'en eto~na '!JI
peu: Sur quoy je luy demandai audience, &.c. Memoiref
*ttJ
Marolles, par. ii. p. 209.
De religione Veter. Romanor. ad fin.
 145
shew between Popery and Paganism; from
the number of observances, whick O1J,r C kU1'eh
3till retains from tlte old Religion ofi.Rome : in
consequence of which, he says, " if my ar-
gument beright, our Protestancy at last will
be found to be nothing better than. heathen-
ish Idolatry ." But if we recollect the defini-
tion, whichI have given above, of Popery,the
question will be reduced to a short issue; by
considering only, whether any of those particu-
lars,which prove their religion to be Paganish,
are retained still in ours; whether we have
any incense,. holy-water, or lamps in our
Churches; any cotioe ojerings hanging round
our pillars;. any miraculous images; any'.
ration of Saints; any altars in the streeta,<tke
way-sides, and taps of kills; any F~;
miracles, or monkery amongst us: if after all our
refonnation, we retain any of these, we are so
far undou.btedI y as criminal as they; but. if
none of them can be found upon us, we are
. clear at least from all that paganidolatiy,
which glares out so manifestly from every
part of the. POpish worship.
AUthat he can object to us on this head,
amounts to no more than this; "That there
are several observances retained in. our
L
 146

sacred Offices, which we use 'in common with

the Church of Rome:" we own it : but take
them all to be such, as we may retain with in-
nocence. 'Ve, profess to retain all, that is
truly Christian; all, that is injoined by the
Gospel, or by just inference deducible from it.
.But if besides all this, they can discover any
thing amongst us, that they can claim a'Stheir
own: Of, that may be properly called Pupish;
I should willingly resign it to them; and eon-
sent to any expedient, that may remove ~
farther still from Popery, and unite us more
closely with all sober Protestants. But whether
any thing of this sort be remaining' in our
present establishment; or howfar any of the
instances, which he declares to htivebeert bor-
rowed from Rome, maywant a-review erfar-
ther reformation, as it is not the part of a
private man to determine, so I shall refer it, as
T ought to the Judgment of my Superiors. [k]
'(v- [k]' How little our Church is inclined to Id91atry may
lie seen by her excdlellt Homilies, publi~bed in the time o~
QueenELIZA.BETa; and how siDCe~ that SoTeteign was
in her opposition to image-worship, may' be coUectad .from
the followin& extract from the Rev. Mr. Cbrtozb ~ed
and t>ntertaining life of ALEXANDER NOWELL, Dean of St.
Paul's.
_ '.1 -In the course of the en81ling ye>ar{f56i, Nowt!ll was
 14V

But it is high time to put an end to the read-

er'strouble to which I shall beg leave only to
frequently ill the pulpit, on public occasions, before . large
auditories ; but his labours, in one respect, commenced a
little inauspiciously. On new year's day, being the festival
of the Circumcision, he preached at St. Paul's, whither the
Queen, Elizabeth, resorted. Here, says Strype, a remark-
able passage happened, as is recorded in a great man's me-
morials, (Sir H. Sydney,)who lived· in thosetimes. 'nIe
Dean, having met with several fine engravirigs, .representing
the stories and passions of the saints and martyrs, had placed
them against the epistles and gospels of their respective fes-
tivals, in a common prayer book; which he bad caused to
be richly bound, and laid on the cushion for the Queen'. use,
in the place where she commonty sat; intending it for a new
year'sgift for her Majesty, end thinking to have pleased her
fancy therewith. But it had quite a different eWect. For
sheconsidered how this varied from her late injnnc:tions and
proclamations, against the superstitious use of images itt
churches, and for the tJking away all such relicks of popery.
When she came to her plate, and had opened her book, and
sawthe pictures, she frowned and blushed: and then shut-
ting the book (of which several took notice) she called for
the verger, and bade him bring her the old book, wherein she
'wasformedy wont to read. After sermon, whereas she used
to get immediately on horseback, or illto her chariot, she
went straight to the vestry, and applying herself to the Dean,
thus she spoke to him: "Mr. Dean, how came it to pau,
lkat a new serciee book 'Was plated on m.'If eU8kion" To
whichthe Dean answered, May it please yOltt Majesty, I
caused it to be placed there. Then said the Queen, wAerto-
ti>re did you so't To present your Majesty with a new year'.
L2
 148
add the following anonymous Letter, which
has some relation to my present Subject, and
was sent to me by the post, while I was em-
ployed on the life of Cicero •.

gift. You could never pre8ent me with 4 alorse. Why so,

Madam? You know I have alt aoersion to idolat,,!/, to
images, and pictures of this kind. Wherein is the idolatry,
maj it please your Majesty? In the CUll, resembling angels
tJnd saiut«; nay grosser abmrdities, pictures resembling the
blessed Trinit!!. I meant no harm; nor diG I think itwould
offend your Majesty, when I intended it for a new year's
gift. You mvst lIeem be igl1Or4ltt then, Have you forgot
our proclamation agai1lst images, pictures, ond Romisn. re'
licks, in the Churches'! Was it not read in your deaneryY
It was read. But be your Majesty assured, I meant no
harm, when I caused the cuts to be bound with the service
book. You must needs be very ignorant to do this oft.r
anI' prohibitioll of them. It being my ignorance, your Ma-
jesty may the better pardon me. I am sorry for it: !Jd
glad to hear it 1ms your ignorallce, rather than Yflur
opinion. Be your Majesty assured, that it was my igno-
rance. If so, lllr. Dean, God grallt you his Spirit, and
more «isdom fOdhe future. Arnen. I pray God. I pray,
.Mr. Dean, hOle came !JOU by these pictures'? who e1lgra·
'lied them '# I know not who engraved them: I bought
them. From whom bought you them? From a German.
It i., "ell it !tas from a stra1lger. Had it betn any of O1lr
subjHts, we should haxe questiolted the matter. Pray let 1111
more of these mistakel,. ()1' of this kiltd, be committed
tcithin the churche« of aliI' rea/TIlfor the future. There
Ilball Dot."
 149

" SIR,
" You are desired by one of your Sub-
scribers, instead of amusing yourself with
writing the life 'oj Cicero, to answer the C ath..
olicOhristian~written (as the Author declares)
in answer to, and in order to shew your false
reasonings in your comparison of the Popish
tIIItl Pagan ceremonies €if religion- Thi4 CatJw..
lie Christian abuses the Protestant lteligion.
taxes its Divines with false translations and
quotations out of Scripture, which he pre-
tends'they\do not understand or misapply, to
make out their own Heretical doctrines.-
Such scandalous reproaches brought upoa
yourself, and also upon the Protestant, Reli-
gion by your writings, make it incumbent on
you to wipe off these stains which by your
means are contracted, before you enter upon
any other subject.
I am, Yours, «c:"

n P. S. It had been honester and fairer to

have answered the book, than to have com-
plained to the Bishop €if London against the
Printer, and got him put into Prison."
 ,
,
150
I do not know how far my unknown Cor-
respondent will think himself obliged to me
fOr performing the, task, that he prescribes,
6fdefandil':}'gmy Lett~J1'()rrt Rome from the
-cavils of the Catholic Christwn: I ami.
popes, however, that my pains _Iilay - be of
some usc, as well to admonish all serious Pa-
pists, of the fraud and foppery of ,their OWl
'worship, asto deter Protestants fromnmning
over to a Church, so notoriously-cormpt aua
IIeatllenisli.-As to the charge .intimated jll
-the postcript, of procurmgtJre;impri8onmentoj
,the Printer, instead of lll1mJtcing )tieJ1rdhor,
-it would have left indeed a justteptoach-upon
me if there had been any truth in ,it; but if
any man has been imprisoned~or -put:toany
-trouble, onthe Rceoml t of that book, I'dtclare,
that I aman utter stranger to it; that I have
not the honour to be known to tkeBisiMJp of
London; and that no personal provocation
whatsoevercould induce me, to desire the im-
prisonment of any man for the sake of his re-
.Hgiori. My aversion to P9per.'lJ is grounded, I
.not only on its paganism and ido[at'r!J,but 011 II•
-its being calculated for the support of despo-
tic power, andincohsistent with the genius I'
of a free government. This I take to be its
!
l
 151
real character; which I do not however ex-
tend to the particular professors of it, many
of whom I know to be men of great probity,
politeness, and humanity; who, through the
prejudice ef education, do not either see the
consequences of what they are trained to pro-
fess,·or through a mistaken point of honour,
think it a duty to adhere to the religion of
their Ancestors. 'Vith these I can live, not
onlyin charity, but in friendship; without
the least inclination to offend them any far-
ther, than by obstructing all endeavours to
introduce a religion amongst us, which
wouldnecessarily be ruinous to the liberty of
our country. Thus much I thought myself
obliged to say upon the occasion of the fore-
going Letter, that while the Papists look upon
me as an enemy, they may consider me at
leastas a fair one; an enemy to tile idolatrous
and slacish. principles of their Church; but
free from all prejudice, or enmity to their
persons ![1]

~ [1] In order that the reader's attention may not be divided

bet~een the consideration of the ecclesiastical part of this
subject, and the political, I have preferred reserving- my
relDarksupon the latter for an additional chapter, which will
be found at the end of this work.
 THE AUTHOR'S

ADDRESS TO THE READER .

•
THE following reflections were the subject
or several Letters written by me from Rome,
to my friends in England; and as the argu-
ment of them was much upon my thoughts,
and always i~ my view, during my stay in
Italy, so there hardly passeda day, that did
not afford me fresh matter and proof for
the confirmation of it, till my collections
grew up to the size in which they now ap.
pear. Upon a review of them at my return,
Ifound it necessary, for the sake of method
and connection, to dispose them into one
continued argument, and to collect into one
view, under the form of a single Letter, what
had been more slightly and separately touched
in several.

Many writers, I know, have treated the

same subject before me; some of which I
 154

have never seen; but: those' 'whom I have

looked into, handle _-it ill;~ _n¥l~~i;t,6()- 4i1fe~
rent from what I have pursued, that I am
under no apprehension of being thought a
Plagiary, or to have undertaken a province
already ,occupied. My observations arc
grounded QD facts, of which I have been
an eye- witness myself, and whioh. others
perhaps had not the opportunity of exa-
miningpersonally, or considering so partico-
larly as I .have done: ;and in my present
representation of .them, I have not' claimed
the allowed privilege of a Traveller; 'to be
believed on my own iword, but; ft.r each
I,1'ticlecharged on the Church.of Rome, have
generally produced such vouchers, as, they
themselves will allow to be authentic.

, ~Il,ldl leisure.with an inlinnstate of'bealth,

was the cause of my journey to Italy; and
on such an occasion, I thought it my duty to
use the opportunity given me by Providence,
towards det~ting and exposing, as far as I
 155
was able, the true spring and source of those
impostures, which, under the name of Reli-
gion, have been forged from time to time for
no other purpose than to oppress the liberty,
andengross the property of mankind.

But whatever be my opinion of the general

scheme of that religion, yet, out of justice to
the particular professors of it, I think myself
obliged to declare, that I found much can-
dour, humanity, and politeness in all those
Whom I had the honour to converse with;
aud though my character and profession were
well known at Rome, yet I received particular
civilities from persons of the first distinction
both in the Church and the Court.
 A

Ietttt trcm Routt.

•
SIR,
I AM sensible, that by this time you cannot
but be desirous to have some account of the
entertainment that I have met with in Rome;
for as you have often heard me declare a very
high opinion of the pleasure which a curious
man might reasonably expect to find in it, so
you will be impatient to hear how far my ex-
pectation has been answered, and my curiosity
satisfied. You have observed, without doubt,
from my former letters, that the pleasure of
my travels seemed to grow upon me in pro--
portion to the 'progress which I made on my
journey, and to my approach towards Rome;
and that every pla~, which I had seen the
last, still pleased me the most. This was
cerblinly true in my road through Lyons, Tu-
rin, GenQQ,Florence; but is much more re-
 153
mark ably so with regard to Rome; which, of
all the places that I have yet seen, or ever
shall see, is by far the-most delightful: since
all those very things which had recommended
any other placetn me, .anti which 1 had been
admiring before, single' arid dispersed, in the
~...
several cities through which I passed, may be
...... .
seen in Rome, as it were III one view, and not
only in greater plenty, but in greater, per-
fection.
I have often been thinking that this voyage
to Italy might properly enough be compared
to the common stages and journey of life.
At OUi" setting out th'roughFtanct~the plea'
sures that we find, like those of our yootb,
are ofthe gay fluttering kind,wmch gfuwby
degrees, as we' advance towards Italy, more
solid, manly, and rational, but attain not
their full perfection till we l-e3.ch--Rome; from
Which point we rro sooner tum homewanh
than. they begin again gradually to decline;
and though sustained for a while in some de.
gree of vigour through the other stages ana
cities of Italy, yet dwindle at last into we'd-
Tines~and fatigue, and a desire to be at home;
where the traveller finishes his course, as the
old 'man does his days, with the usual pnri-
 159

kge of being tiresome to his friends, by a

perpetual repetition of past adventures.
But to return to my story. Rome is certainly
of all cities in the world the most entertaining
to strangers: for whether we consider it in its
ancient, or present; its civil, or ecclesiastical
state; whether we admire the great perfection
of arts in the. noble remains of Did Rome;
or the revival of the same arts in the beauti-
ful ornaments of modern Rome; everyone,
of what genius or taste soever, will be sure to
find something or other that will deserve his
attention, and engage hisouriosity : and even
those who have no particular taste or regard
at all for. things curious, but travel merely for
thesake of.fashion, and, to waste time, will
still spend that time with more satisfaction at
Rome than any where else; from that easy
mannerin which they find themselves accom-
modated with all the conveniences of life; that
genera) civility'and respect to strangers ; that
quiet andseeurity, which. everyman of pru ...
dance issure to find in it. But one thing is
certainly peculiar to this city; that though
travellers have generally been so copious i~
~eirA.e~~ of it, and there are published
in all parts of Etlrope ~uch volumiaous col...
 160

lections of its curiosities, yet it is a subject

never to be exhausted: since in the infinite
variety of entertainment which it affords, every
judicious observer will necessarily find some-
thing or other that has either escaped the
searches of others, or that will at least afford
matter for more particular and' curious reo
marks dian a common traveller is capable of
making, or a general collector' has time to re-
flect on. The learned Montfaucon, speaking
of the Villa of Prince Borghese, says, though
its antique monuments and rarities have beenD
hundred time' described in print, that many more
of them stul have been overlooked and admitted, .
t
than. are yet published. m] And if thI;"be true
of one single collection, what an id~ must we
have of the immense treasure of the same
kind, which the whole city is able to furnish?
As for my own journey to this place, it was
not, I own, any motive of devotion, which
draws so many others hither, that 'occasioned
it. ~Iy zeal was not bent on visiting the loly
threshold» of the Apostles, or kissing tke fett of

[m] Adeo ut cum sexcenties in descriptionibus, CJu~de

villa Burghesiana in publicum emisSlllsunt, monumenta knf
multa enumerata recensitaque sint, multo plura pretermis81
lint inobservata. l1ir. Ital. c.,xvi, ..
 161

tluir successor. I knew that their ecclesiastical

antiquities were mostly fabulous and legen-
dary, supported by fictions and impostures
too gross to employ the attention of a man of
sense; for should we allow that St. Peter had
beenat Rome (of which many learned men
howeverhave doubted), [n] yet they had not,
Iknew, any authentic monuments remaining
of him, any visible footsteps subsisting to de-
monstrate his residence among them: and
shouldwe ask them for any evidence of this
kind, they would refer us to the impression of
lIiIface on the waJl of the dungeon in which he
1lla.! cmifined; or to a fountain in the bottom of
itt raued mi"aculously by him out of the rock,
in order to baptize IUsfellow-prisoners; [0] or
to the mark of our Saviour'sfeet in a stone, on
which he appeared to him, and stopped him, as

en] De Petri Romllm adventu, sede xxv. annorum, BU.

premo capitis supplicio ibidem, nemo, quipaullo hwnanior
fuerit, credere posset, Scalig. in Joh. xviii. 31. it. Vid. Frid.
Spanh. Miscellan. Sacrre Antiq. I. iii. Dissertat, iii. .
[oJ-Due gloriose memorie lasciarono di se in questli pri-
gionei detti santi Apostoli, &c. Vid. Rom. Modern. Giorn,
v. .c, 13. Rione di CampitelIi. It. Vid. Aringhi Rom.
IUbterran.J. ii, e. 1. It. Montfauc. Dial'. Ita!' c. xiii, p. ] 74.
Unda deest . Petri virga Tarpeia Rupes
Percussa, ~ Petris larga Ruenta dedit, Stc.
M
 162

he teas}lying out of the city from a persecutie

then raging; in memory of which, there was
a Church built on the spot, called St. Jlary
delle Piante,or of the marks of the feet; which
falling into decay, was supplied by a chapel,
at theexpence of our Cardinal Pole. [p] But
the stone itself: more valuable, as their writers
say, [qJ than any of the precious ones, bei1lg
a perpetual monument and proof of the Chrisu»
Religion, is preserced with all due recereuce ill
St. Sebastian's Church, where I purchased a
print of it, with several others of the same
kind: or they would appeal perhaps to the
evidence of some miracle wrought at his exe-
cution, as they do in the case of St. Paul in a
Church called At the three Fountains, the place
where he was beheaded: on which occasion,
it seems, " instead of blood, there issued only
milk from his veins; and his head, when se-
parated from the body, having made three
jumps upon the ground, raised at each place

[p] Rom. Modem. Giorn. ii, Rione di Ripa 21.

(q] Vid. Aring. ibid.!. iii. c. 21. Lapis vero ille dig.
nissimus & omni pretioso lapidi anteferendus, in D, Se-
bastiani ecdesiam translatus, ibidem, qllo par est religioPi!
cultu, in perenne Ueligionis Christiaure monumentun, asser-
ntw". Ibid.
 163

a spring of living water, which retains stiil,

as they would persuade us, the plain taste of
milk." Of all which facts we have an ac-
count in Baronius, lJlabillon, and all their
grarest Authors, [1'] and may sec printed
figures of them in the description of modern
Rome. [8]

[r]CUItl Sacrum caput obtruncaretur, non tam fluenta

IliDguinis,quam eandidissimi lactis rivuli, &c.
II. In ipso autem Martyrii loco tres adhuc perexigui
jugiler fontes, &c. horum primus ceeteris dulcior saporem
lactiaPi'll!se fert, &c. Aring. l. iii. c. 2. It. vid. Baronii
AIIlIaI. A. A. 69. It. Mabill. Iter Ital. p, 14!J.
e'l Vid. Rom. Modem. Giorn, ii. c. 17. Rione di Ripa,
(1;)0 The Bishop of Rome claims the inheritance of
"halsoever prerogatives he is pleased to attribute either to
the person,or to the office of St. Peter. But how does the
holy father prove his descent from the Apostle? And wbat
are thoseprerogatives to whieh he pretends to be entitled as
his SUccessor?In the first place, it is very much to be doubt-
ed whethe.oSt. Peter was ever at Rome. The learned
SCALIGER, SPANHEIM, Dr. OWEN, and many other ce-
lebr.ltedwriters, have vigorously attacked the Apostle's
journey thither: and it is certain, that neither St. Peter him-
&elf,uor any of the Sacred Writers, give us the least hint or
intimationof his having ever been at Rome. Mr. DOWER
very justly remarks, that, " in this controversy, the silence
of St. Palll ill particular, if duly attended to, must be
tlwught, by every un biassed man, a far more convincing
proof of St. Peter's oot having been at Rome, than all the
authQritiesthat have been yet alleged, are of his hayiug been
M .2
 164
It was no part of my design to spend ID!
time abroad in attending to the ridicules
there. For that Apostle, while at Rome, had frequentot
portunities of mentioning his ~enow Apostle, and fellot
Labourer, and yet, naming several others, he is quite silent.
to him. From Rome he wrote to the Galatians, to!W
EphesiallS, to the Philippians, to the Colossians; to 1'jlllot~
and to Philemon, without ever mentioning Peter, or sendi!
any Salutation from him; nay, it is certain, that St. Pd6
was not at Rome when the Apostle of the Gentiles wrote'
the Colossinns ; for, mentioning 1'.1JchicUIJ, o"esimuI, jnt
torchus, ~Iarcllll, and .l ustus, he adds, These alone, fII."jtlitf
trorkers unto the K ingdom '?f God, who havt hull a C~
III/to me. (Coloss, iv, 11.) Peter was not there, whea~
P aul wrote his second Epistle to TimlJth.lh where he'~
4.t my fl.'st Answer ItO man sto od with me, but all' Mea fl1'
sook me: (2 Tim. iv, 6.) nor was be there immediately bcftrt
St. Paufs Death, when the Time of hi. Depllrhm ftIJ'
hand; {or he tells Timothy, that tdl the BretJwen did,.ll
him; and, naming Euhulus, Pudens, Linus, lIIIId C1I#
(Ibid. iv, 21.) he omits Peter, whom we may thence coudJ
not to have been there. And yet it is a received T~
. in the Church of Rome, that St. Peter was then not ~I
that Metropeli~~ but confined and bound in tlte tame'"
with St. Paul. As that Apostle, in writing froOl Rome,-
110 Salutations from Peter, 80 in writing to R""., he gttt

many others, but never mentions him. (Ad Rem.llW.s-l~

Now who would not sooner chuse to reject audt T..-
than to suppose St. Paul guilty of such an unfriendly-
QnacOOlmtable Omission r" (See Hist, 0{ the Popes,I,'
p.4.)
But IUpJXlse we- sFlouid allow, though OIl]y for alllllllll'
 165

fictions of this kind; the chief pleasure which

I proposed to myselfwas, to visit the genuine
Uiat St. Peter really did. make a journey to Rome, what will
the holy father gain by this concession? Will he say, that St.
Ptler was invested with any greater authority than the rest
0( theApostles? His holiness, no doubt, wiU answer in W,
aimaative, and, to prove it, will produce the followiag de-
(IuatiOD of our Saviour: " Tkollart Peter, and upon thi,
rocklJill I build my Church, and the gates ~lIlel! ,/lOll not
pl'ttait against it." llut what does tbis prove? ST. A IJ·
GUSTIN remarks, that by the uord», 1tpQM this rock, is u,,.
dmtood tlte COllfesBio" made by Peter, l4!1ittg, t/w'" art
Cltrid the Son of the living Gud; for (stith be) it is 1IGt
IIIUItltoll art a Rock, but tlwu art Peter, but tke Rock r,,'as
C4ri.st. And St. DASIL, upon these words, Upoll this Hoek,
that u (saith he) upon this Faith I wllJ huild my Church.
And the most ancient Fadler ORIGEN, the &ck(tlaith he) is
ti:try di8cipleof CArist, ofter he h"th drunk of the SpiriOtal
Rock which follou1s; and upon ever!lstlch Rock is all the
Churches Doctrine built. Hence, let the Papists dwell
upon this text as long as they please, Jet can they never
prove, that Christ in these words gave any thing to Peter
apart from the rest of the Apostles, or that he made any
mentionof the Pope or City of Rome. Christ is the Rock, ,
C8rist is the Foundation; and "otMr Fo"ndation (saith
Sr. PAUL) CIffl1W man lay tAan that is laid, «'hick is JtSUA
ClINt." 1 Cor. 3. 11.)
The very learned Bishop
JEWEL, in his celebrated Apo-
logy of the Church of England, after having exposed many
IJfthe errors and comtptions of the Romish Church, BaJi,
(~1Jap.V. §. 7.)-'1 IJut I have a great desire to have a little
dl5\:Qun;e with the Pope ~mself, and to tell h~ seme thing.
 166

remains, and venerable reliques of Pagan Romt;

the authentic monuments of antiqui(y, that de-
to his Face. Be pleased then, 0 Holy Father! ~ho so often
boastest of Antiquity, and pretendest that all the Ancient!
are intirely addicted to thy Service to inform us; which ofall
the antient Fathers ever called !Jour Holiness the chief Pont~
or the Universal Bishop, or the Head of the Church? Which
of them ever said that both the Swords were given tp thee:
Which of them ever said that you have the Right and Autho-
rity to call Councils, that the whole world was your DioceS!'
Which of them ever said that all Bishops had receivedoi
your Fuluess] That all Power, both in Heaven and Earth
was given to you? That you could not be judged by Kingll
nor by the whole Clergy, nor by all the People r Whichof
them ever said that' Kings and Emperors, by the CommaDi
~l1d will of Christ, derived A uthority from you? Whichoi
them ever affirmed with a JJlathematical Exactness and Cer-
tainty, that your Authority was precisely seventy seven tDms
greatel' than that of the greatest Kings? Which of them ever
said that you had a greater power than the other PatriarCRji
Which of them ever said you were th« Lord God, or notl
mere Man like other Mortals, or stiled you a certain Hotch-
potch, a Mixture or Concrete of God and Man? Whichoi
them ever said that you were the fountain of all Law 1 That
JOu had an Empire and Dominion over Purgatory; and that
you might at your pleasure command the Angels of God'
Which of themever said that you were Kingf!! Kings, a~
Lord f!! Lords? And now we arern, we may enquire 9fl
few other things of the same N ature, What one Man of all
the ancient Bishops and Fathers ever taught you to say a pri-
vate Mass, whilst the People did nothing but look on; orto
lift the Euchatistabove your Head, in which you now place~l
- \.
 monstrate the certainty of those histories,
whichare the entertainment, as well as the
yaorReligion; or to curtail the Sacrament of Christ, and con-
traryto his Institution and express Command, to deprive the
People of one half of it? And that we may conclude, what
oneof all the ancient Fathers taught you to dispense the mood
of Christ, and the Merits of the Martyrs, and to sell your
Indulgences and all the Apartments ami Lodgings of Purga-
tory,like Commodities in the Market for. Money? They are
wontoften to celebrate their own wonderful secret Learning,
and their manifold and various Readings. N ow let your
Partizans at last produce something of it if they call, or let
them at least shew they have read, and do know more than
ordinary; for they have often made hideous Outcries amongst
their Hearers, that all the parts of their Religion are antient,
and approved, not only by the number, 'but also by the con..
tinuance and consent of all Nations and Times, .
" Well, then, let them at least shew this their boasted An.-
tiquity; let them make it appear, that what they so much
extol is indeed of so vast an extent; let them prove that all
ChrjstianNations have embraced their Religion. But alas!
(as I said before) they flee from their own Decrees, and have
already plucked up those Canons which but a very few years
since they made to last for ever. Why then should we trust
them in relation to what they pretend concerning the Fathers,
the ancient Councils, and the Scriptures? They have not, 0
good God! they have not 011 their sides what they pretend to
have; they have neither Antiquity, nor Universality, nor the
consentof either all times, or all Nations. And of this they
are not ignorant themselves, though they craftily dissemble
their Knowledge : Yea, at times they will not obscurely con-
fess it; and therefore sometim~s they will allege, that the
 r'

16S

instruction of our younger years; and which,

by the early prejudice of being the first know-
ledge that we acquire, as well as the delight
which they give in describing the lives and
manners of the greatest men who ever lived,
'gain sometimes so much upon our riper age,
as to exclude too often other more useful and
necessary studies. I could not help flattering
myself with the joy, that I should have, in
viewing the vel'.1Jplace and scene of those im-
portant events, the knowledge and explica-
tion of which have aver since been the chief
employment of the learned and polite world-
in treading that ground, where at every step
we stumble on the ruins of some fabric de-
scribed by the Antients; and cannot help
setting a foot on the memorial of some cele-
brated action, in which the great heroes of an-
tiquity had been personally engaged. I

Sanctions of the ancient Councils and Fathers, are such as

may lawfully be changed; for differellt Decrees (say they)
'will best suit the dif'erent State of the Church in diifmnt
times. And 80 they hide themselves under the name of the
Church, and by a wretched sham delude Mankind. .And ill
truth it is a great tamder that Melt should be so blind, tl3"ot
to see these things; or if the!! do see them, so patient, tu to
bear and endure them roith that stupidit!! and um:ollcernmeltl
the!!seem to h~e."
 169
amused myself with the thoughts of taking
a tum in those very walks where Cicero and
his friends had held their philosophical dis-
putations; or of standing on that very spot
wherehe had delivered some of his famous
orotion«,
Such fancies as these, with which I often
entertained myself on my road to Rome, are
not, I dare say, peculiar to myself, but com-
mon to all men of reading and education;
whosedreams upon a vo.yage to Italy, like the
descriptions of the Elysian fields, represent
nothing to their fancies, but the pleasure of
finding out and conversing with'those ancient
Sages and Heroes, whose characters they
have most admired. Nor indeed is this ima-
gination much disappointed in the event;
for, as Cicero observes, " [t] 'Vhether it be
from nature, or some weakness in us, it is
certain, that we are much more affected with
the sight of those places, where great and fa- .
monsmen have spent most part of their lives,

[t] Natura de nobis hoc, inquit, datum dicam, an errore

quooam, ut cum en loca videamus, in quibus Memoria dignos
vires acceperimus multos esse versatos, magis moveamur,
quam Ili quando eorum ipsoram aut facta audiamus, aut'
8Criptum aliquod legamu.. Cic. de Fin. v,

•
 170

than either to hear of their actions, or read

their works :" and he was not, as he tells us,
" so much pleased with Athens itself, for its
stately buildings or exquisite pieces of art, as
in recollecting the great men whom it had
bred; in carefully visiting their sepulchres;
and finding out the place where each had
lived, or walked, or held his disputations." [It]
This is what every man of curiosity will, in
like circumstances, find true in himself; and
for my own part, as oft as I have been ramb-
ling about in the rostra of old Rome, or in
that tfmple of Concord, where Tul~1Jassembled
the Senate I in Catiline's conspiracy; [v] I
could not help fancying myself much more
sensible of the force of his eloquence; whilst
the impression of the place served to warm
my imagination to a degree almost equal to
that of his old audience. [w]
[IlJ Me quidem ipsee iUrenostra Athenre non tam operibus
magnificis exquisitisque antiquorum Artibus delectant, quam
recordations surnmorum virorum, ubi quisque habitare, ubi
sedere, ubi disputare sit solitus ; studioseque eorum etiam
sepulchra contemplor, De Legib, ii. ~.
(llJ Vid. Orat, in Catilin, 3,4. It. Phil. ii, 4.
(tT [w] "In these celebrated seats," says J OHNSOS,
(speaking of our two '!Wble universitiel) "there is at least
one very powerful incentive to learning; I mean the G E x I U~
 171

As therefore my general studies had fur..

nished me with a competent knowledge of
Roman History, as well as an inclination, to
search more particularly into some branches
of its antiquities, so I had resolved to employ
myself chiefly in inquiries of this sort; and to
lose as little time as possible, in taking no-
tice of the fopperies and ridiculous ceremo-
nies of the present Religion of the place. But
I Soon found myself mistaken; for the whole
form and outward dress of' their worship
seemed so grossly idolatrous and extraoagant,
beyond what I had imagined, and made so
strong an impression on me, that I could not
help considering it with a particular regard;
especially when the very reason, which I
thought would have hindered me from taking
any notice of it at all, was the chief cause, that

oj the place. It is a sortuf inspiring deity, which every

youth of quick sensibility and ingenuous disposition creates
to himself, by reflecting that he is placed under those vene-
rable walls, Where a HOOKER and a HAMMOND, 8. BACON
and a NE WTO N, once pursued the same course of science;
~!1dfrom whence they soared to the most elevated heights of
literary fame. This is that . incitement which TULLY, . ac-
{:ordingto his own testimony, experienced at Atken,s, when
r e contemplated the porticos where Socrates sat, and the
laurel grotes where Plato disputed." (Idler, No. 33.)
.,
 172

engaged: me to pay so much attention to it:

for nothing, I found, .concurred so much
with my original intention of conversing
with the ancients; or so much helped my
imagination, to fancy myself wandering about
in old Heathen Rome, as to observe and
attend to their religious worship; all whose
ceremonies appeared plainly to have been
copied from the rituals of primitive Paganism;
as if handed down by an uninterrupted suc-
cession from the priests of old, to the priests
of new Rome; whilst each of them readily
explained and called to my mind some pas-
sage of a classic author, where the same cere-
mony was described as transacted in the same
form and manner, and in the same place, where
I now saw it executed before my eyes: 80 that
as oft as I was present at any religious exer-
cises in their Churches, it was more natural to
fancy myself looking on at some solemn act qj'
idolatry in old Rome, than assisting at a wor-
ship, instituted on the principles, and formed
upon the plan of Christianity.
Many of our Divines have, I know, with
much learning and solid reasoning charged,
and effectually proved the crime of idolatry 01~
the CIIllTC!t of Rome: but these controversies
 17S

(in which there is still something plausible to

be said on the other side, and where the
charge "is constantly denied, and with much
subtlety evaded) are not capable of giving
that conviction, which I immediately re-
ceived from my senses; the surest witnesses
of fact in all cases; and which no man can
fail to be furnished with, who sees Popery,
as it is exercised in Ttalu, in the full pomp
and display of its pageantry; and practising
'1.11 its arts and powers without caution or
reserve. This similitude of the P@pil7t and
Pagan Religion, seemed so evident and clear,
and struck my imagination so forcibly, that
I soon resolved to give myself the trouble of
searching te the bottom; and to explain and
demonstrate the certainty of it, by comparing
togethe- the principal and most obvious parts
of each worship: which, as it was my first
employment after I came to Rome, shall be
the subject of my first Letter. Reserving"
therefore, to my next, the account that I de-
sign to give you of the antiquities and other
curiosities of the place, I' shall find matter
enough for this time to' tire both you and
myself, in shewing the source and o1'igiu of the
 114
Popish Ceremonies, and the exact conformit!J
of them with those of their Pagan ancestors.
The very first thing that a stranger must
necessarily take notice of, as soon as he enters
their Churches, is the use of incense or per-
fumes in their religious offices : the first step
which he takes within the door will be sure
to make him sensible of it, by the offence,
that he will immediatel y receive from the smell,
as well as smoke of this incense, with which
the whole Church continues filled for some
time after every solemn service. A custom,
C without the epithet of perfumed or incensed. [x]
received directly from Paganism; and which
presently called to my mind the old descrip-
tions of the Heathen temples and altars, which
< are seldom or never mentioned by the ancients
In some of their principal Churches, where
you have before you, in one view, a great
number of altars, and all of them smoaking

[,1'] -T//AE"O~BW/AOITTE01J';H~. Hom. II.·", 148.

-e-Thuricremis cum dona imponeret Aris.
Virgo JEn. iv. ver, 453.
Theocrit.Id. ,{. 1!l3. Hom. 11. O. 48. Virgo lEn. iv. ver,
"86.
Seepe Jovem vidi, cum jam sua mittere vellet,
Fulmina, thure dato sustinuisse manum, Ovid.

I
f!
t

175
at once with steams cif incense, how natural is
it to imagine one's self transported "into the
temple of some Heathen deity, or that of the
Paphian Venus described by Virgil?

-Ubi templumUti, eeniumqueSabeo

Thure caleni are, sertisque receniibus halaut, JEn. i. 4'20.

Her hundred altars there with garlands crown'd,

And richest incense smoaJdng, breathe around
Sweet odours, &c.

Under the Pagan Emperors, the use of in-

cense for any purpose of religion was thought
so contrary to the obligations of Christianity,
that, in their persecutions, the very method
of trying and convicting a Christian, was b!!"
requiring him only to throw. the 'least grain of
it into the censer, Dron the altar. [y]

[y] Maximus dixit: Thure tantum Deos, Nicander, ho-

norato. Nicander dixit: Quomodo potest homo Christianus
lapides & ligna colere, Deo relicto immortali? &c. Vid.
Act. Martyr. Nicandri, &c. apud Mabill. Iter. Ita!' t, i, Par.
ii, p. 247.
Adeo ut Christianos vere sscrificere credereDt, ubi summis
digitispaululum thuris illjecissent aeerram, &e. Vide Du-
rant. de Ritib. 1. i. c. 9.
Non est in eotantum servitus Idoli, siquis duobus digitufili
thura in bustum arre jaciat. Hieron, Oper, t. iv. Epist. ad
Heliod. p. 8.
 176
Under the Ch1'istian Emperors, on the
other hand, it was looked upon as a rite so
peculiarly heathenish, that [z] the very places
or houses where it could be proved to have
been done, were by a law of Theodosius con-
fiscated to the government.
In the old bas-reliefs, or pieces of sculpture,
where any Heathen sacrifice is represented,
we never fail to observe a boy in sacred habit,
which was always white, attending on the
priest, with a little chest or box in his hands,
in which this incense was kept for the use of
the altar. [a] And in the same manner still in
the Church of Rome, there is always a boy ill
surplice waiting on the' priest at the altar,
with the sacred utensils, and among the rest
the Thliriblilum or vessel of incense, which the
priest, with many ridiculous motions and
crossings, waves several times as it is smoak-
ing around, and over the altar in different parts
of the service.

. [z] Nsmque omnia loea, qUal Thuris eonstiteret vapore

.umasse, si tamen ea fuisse in jure thurificantium probabitar,
fisco nostro adsocianda censemus, &e. Jac, Gothof, de Stat.
Paganor. sub Christian. Imper, leg. xii. p. 15.
[a] Vid. Mootfauc. Alltiq. tom. ii. plate 23, 24,25.
Damilti Tbura, puer, pi"glle,~facientia.ftamma,.
Ovid. Trist, f.5.
, The next
177

thing, that will of course strike

one'simagination, is their use of holy uater :
for nobody ever goes in or out of a church,
but is either sprinkled by the priest, who attends
forthat purpose on solemn days, or else serves
himselfwith it from a vessel, usually of mar-
ble, placed just at the door, not unlike to one
ofour baptismal jrmt!l. Now thiS:ceremony is so
notoriously and directly transmitted to them
trom Paganism, that their own writers make
not the least scruple to own it. The Jesuit
de la Cerda,' in his notes on a passage of Vir~
gil, where this practice is mentioned, says,
Hence was derived the custom of holy Church,
toprovide purifying or holy Water at the en-
trance of their Churche«. [6] Aquaminarium
or Amula, says the learned MO'lltjaucon, was a
vaseof holy water, placed b.y the Heathens at
the entrance 0.1 their Temples, to sprinkle them-
selveswith. [c] The same vessel was by the
Greeks called rrfplppI%VT~eIO'l; two of which, the
one of gold, the other of silver, were given by

[6] Sparge~s rore levi, 8tc. Virg.lEo. vi. 2so.'"id. Not.

(e] Vid. M:ontfauc. Antiquit. t. ii, P. i.l. iii. c. 6.
rca80pai{ ~E ~p0t101{

'A~II~papdpm). fE~XETt vaov{. Eurip. lone, v.96.

N
 178

Crasu« to the Temple of Apollo. at Delphi: [dJ

and the custom of sprinkling themselves was
so necessary a part of all their retigious of·
fices, that the method of excommunication
seems to have been by prohibiting to offend-
ers the approach and use of the lwly-~attr
pot. (el The very composition ef this holt
W8ter was the same also among the H6at1tmlt
as it is now among the Papist." being nothing
more than a tni.rtm-e qf salt u~lt common.·
ter :r.f'J and the form of the sprn,1clirlg-brrui.
called by the ancients tlspersoriltNl Of alptf"
gi/tum (which is much the same with what the
priests now make use of) may be seen in btl,.
-reliefs, or a71ciellt coins, wherever the itl~l
or emblems ~f the Pagan priesthood are de-
scribed, of which it is generally one. [g]
[d] Heredot. I. i. 51. Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. i.
[e] Vid. lEschin. Orat, contra Ctesiphoa. 58.
[1'] Porro siogulis diebu Dominicia sacerd. Missa ..
erum faet .. ·w, aqUlllll sale adspenam benedic:eodo revocart
debet, eaque populum adlpergere. Durant. de Rit.l. i, c. 21.
c
;".ura a'Xu,," f-!l!A.'"I!A.U'OV, Ik "fv~l~nu,.
eau; i""ppalJ'ulI itrTl"!A.lvo" tif3Xa{3;" iJ<.. p.
'Theocrit. ICC. !5.
[g] Vid. Montfauc. Anliq. t, ii, P. i, I. iii. c. 6. It
rna!! he seen on a sileer coin of Julia Caesar, as well 0$
man!! other Emperors. Ant. Ago!ltini liiiSCOl'SO IOpra le
Medaglie.
r
1

179
Pkltina,
in his lives of the Popes, and other
authors, ascribe the institution of this holy-
Wier to Pope Alexander thefirst; who is said
to ha\lC lived about the year of Christ 1.1S;
but it could not be introduced so early, since,
for some ages after, we find the primitive fa-
tien speaking of it, as a custom purely hea-
MenU1,.and condemning it as impioVland tit-
Krtabk. J UIItin Martyr says, " that it WR8
invented by dlelllons, in imitation of the true
baptism signified by ~ Prophets, that their
YOtatiesmight al80' uYe their pretended pu-
rificatim& by'water 'I' [It] and the Emperor Ju-
lima, out of spite to the Chrilt;Qfl8, used to
order the victuals in.themarkets to belpf'inkled
. flith l&oly*Olfder<j on purpose either to ,'stUve,
or force them to eat, what by their own
principles they esteemed polluted. [i]
Thus we see what contrary notions the Pri-
mitive and Rorms'"
Church M«' ~ this cere-
mony: thefirst condemns it as superstitious,
abominable, and irreconcileable with Christiflni-

m :letl rO NlW,Jtt c.J. rWr. ftKOWtJllllNC oi lied,.."" lui

10;1'_ '
'--T'IrOIlIl:EII:'IPVYf' """0", ,
El/'IpY'I6a" lI:al' pallf'h,,,,,
r • , 1'01/(
Eal/rOlle ,
lic Ta ifpd aJrii" i'll'c{3al"ollf'ae. JUIl. Mart. Apol. i. ~1. J';dit.
Thirlb.' ,

[11\Tid. Hospinian. deOrig. TempJof: 1. ii, ~.25>

N 2
 180

t!J; the latter adopts it as highly edifying and

applicable to the improvement of Chrislia.
piety: the one looks upon it as the contrivanct
qf tile Devil to delude mankind : the other as
the security of mankind against the delusions
of the Devil. But what is still more ridiculous
than even the ceremony itself, is to see their
learned writers gmvely reckoning up the !Ie-
veral virtues and benefits, derived from the
use of it, both to the soul and the body; [k]
and, to crown an, producing a long roil ~.
miracles, to attest the certainty of each virtuf
which they ascribe to it. [I] Why may we
not then justly apply to the pre~llt ptoplt oj
Rome, what was said by the Poet of itsoldiJt·
habitants, for the use of this 'Very cere1THJ'ny?

.1./' nindum faciles, qui triuia crimina cadis

Flumillea tolli posse putetis aquli! Ovid, Fast. ii. 4S.
Ah, easy Fools, to think that a ....hole Flood
Of water e'er can purgethe Stain of BI9od!

I do not at present recollect whether the

'«tlcknt. went so far.us to apply the ,use oftbis

[k] Durant. de Ritib.L i, c. 21. It. Hospio. ibid.

[I] Hnjus aqu~ benedictee virtus variiJ miraculia i1lustra-
tur, 8tc. Durant. ibid. . .,
 181

holy-water to the purifying or blessing their

horses, asses, and other cattle; or whether this
be an improvement of modern Rome, which
has' dedicated a yearly festival peculiarly
to this service, called, in their vulgar language,
the benediction of horses; which is always ce-
lebrated with much solemnity in the month
of January; when all the inhabitants of the
city and neighbourhood send up their horses,
Q8,eS, <te. to the amxeut of St. Anthon.'" near
St. Mary the Great, where a priest i'n·surplice
at the Church-door sprinkles with his bru,h all
the animals singly, as they are presented to
him, and receives from each owner a gratuity
proportionable to his zeal and ability. [m]
Amongst the rest, I had my own horses blest
at the expence of about eighteen-pence of our
money; as well to satisfy my own curiosity,
as to humour the coachman, who was per-
suaded, as the common people generally are,
that some mischance would befal them within
the year, if they wanted the benefit of this
[m1 Ma ogni sorte d'animali a questo santo si racom-
mauda. e pero 001 giOrDO della sua feste sono portate molte
offerte a questa sua chiesa, in gratitudine delle gratie,' ehe
diversi hanuo ottenute da lui sopra de'loro bestiami. Rom.
modern. Giom. vi. c. 46. RioDe de'Monti.
I
I
 182

Benediction. j,labillon, in giving an account

of this function, of which he happened also
to be an eye-witness, makes no other reflection
upon it, than that it was new and ,unusual to
him. En]
I have met, indeed, with some hints of a
practice, not foreign to this, among .the an-
cients; of sprinkling their horses. with, water in
the Circensian . Games: [0] but. whether. this
was done out of a superstitious '{)i~w of in-
spiring any virtue, or purifying them fur thQSC
races, which were esteemed sacred; or merely
to refresh them under the violence .ef suchan
exercise, is not easy to determine. But allow-

. [n] In Festo Sancti Antonii pr<'pe S. Mari~m:M:~jorem,

ritus nobis insolitus visus est, ut quicquid equorum est in
urbe ducantur cum snis phaleris ad portam ecclesie, ubi
aqua lustrali ab uno e patribus omnes &. singuli aspergontur,
dato annue censu. M:abill. It.ltsl. p. 136.
<& MISSON, (New Voyage to Italy, v.2. p. 216.)
speaks of this custom of blessing horses, in nearlI the same
words as the learned author. .. At St. Maria 'Maggiore,·
flays he, "there is a certain St. Antkony,,,,ho is the
protector of horses and mules. On the festival of tbilI
Saint, all the horses and mules that are in towu are
brought, with their saddles and other furniture, to the Church,
where they are blessed and sprinkled with Hol)"- Water for ~
much a bead!'
[0] Vid. Rubenii Elect. ii, 1S.
f
183

ing the Romish Priests to have taken the hint

from some9ld custom of Paganism; .yet this
however must be granted them, that they
alone were capable of cultivating so coarse
and barren a piece of superstition into a re-
vmue sufficient for the maintenance of forty
or.fifty idk Monks.
No sooner is a man advanced a little for-
ward into their Churches, -and begins to look
about him, but he will find his eyes and at-
tentionattracted by a number of lamps and
rva.f-.eandk" which are constantly burning be-
fore·the Shrine. and Images ftf their Saints.
In all the grMt Churches of Italy, says )10-
billon.[p] ·#.ey hang 1ip lemp« lit every altar;
asightwmch will not only surprise a. sttanger
by the novelty of it, but will furnish him with
an9ther proof and example of tIle conformity
rif the Bornish 'l1;iththe Pagan uorship; by re-
calling to his memory many passages of the
Heathen Writers, where their perpetlwl lamps
and calfd~ are described as continually bum-
iug before the altars and statues of their
Deities. [q]
[P] Ad llin<TQIas ecelesie aras (qui ritus in omnibusltali:e
Basilieiaobse:vatur) siogullil appeUSlll BUilt Lampades- :MII~
bi!. It. Ital, p. 25.
l.[q] Placuere &. Lychnuchi pensiles in delubris. Pli".
list, Nat. I. xxxiv. 3~
 184

Herodotus tells us of the .£g;lJptians, (who

first introduced the use of lights or lamps into
their temples,) [r] that they had a fammIJ
yearly festival, called, from. the. principal ce-
remony of it" the liglltin.g up of candles: [s]
but there's scarce a single festical. at Rome,
which might not for the same reason be called
by the same name.
The primitive 'Writers frequently expose the
folly and absurdity of this Jleathenilh cu.-
tom: [t] they light lip candles to God, says
Lactantius, as if he lived in the dark; and do
they not deserce to pass for madmen, wllo oJer
lamps to the A.uthor and Giller of Light? [u]
In the collections of old i1l8criptions, we
find many instances of presents and donations

Vidi Cupidinem argenteum .cum Lampade. Cic. in

Verr. ii.
Centum aras posuit, vig.ilemque sacreveret-ignem. Virgo
iEn. iv, 200.
[r] Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. i, c. 16.
[8] Kair; opr; oJJlo~a KEuoe AUXJlolM",. ' Herod.I.'ii.lil.
Edit. Lond,
[t] Hospin. de Orig. Templor. 1. ii, 22. -
c:o- [u] Of all the Latin Fathers LACTANTIUS is by far the
purest and most eloquent. His style is much in the manner
of Cicero. Of his works, the best edition is that of' Paris,
£ vols, 4to. 1748.
f'"
185

ffomprivate persons, of lamps and candlesticks

to the temples-and altars cf their gods: [v] a
. piece of zeal, which continues still the same
in modern Rome; where each Church abounds
with lamps. of mass.1f sdcer, and sometimes
even of gold, the gij~s of Princes, and other
persons of distinction: and it is surprizing
to see, how great a number of this kind am
perpetually burning before the altars of their
principal Saints, or miraculous Images ; as
St. Anthony qt' Padua, or the Lad.,! ofLoretto;
as well as the vast profusion of fm:t' candles
with which their Churches arc illuminated
on every great festival; when the higl' altar.
covered with gold and silver plate, brought
out of their treasuries, and stuck full of flJQZ
lights, disposed in beautiful figures, looks
more like the rich sideboard of some great
Prince, dressed out for a feast, than an altar
to pay divine worship at. (w]

[11] CUPIDINES II. CVM svrs LYCBN\'CHIS ET LVCERN.

Grot. Insc. clxxvii. 3.
(l)o [rt] ST. JEROME, (who is otherwise too great an ad-
mirer of external things) in his treatise of the Life of Clerks
~oNepotian, speaks very freely against the superfluous deck-
IlIg of Churches. But the Papist" fond as they are of citing
this writer, haveescellent reasons for not adopting his advice
 186

But a stranger will not be more surprised

I
at the number of lamps or wax J.ig/rts, burning
before their altars, than at the number of
f!fferillgs, or votive gifts, which are hanging
all around them, in consequence of VOl'tS
made in the time of danger; and in gratitude
for deliverances and cures, wrought in sick-
ness or distress: a practice so Common among
the Heathens, that no one custom of antiquity
is so frequently mentioned by all their writers;
and many of their original donaria, or votive
f!fferings are preserved to this day i)l the 00·
billets of the curious, viz. image! of melal,
stone, or cloy; as well as legs, arms, and other
parts of the body, which had formerly been
,hung up in their temples, in testimony of
some divine favour or Cure effected by their
tutelar deity in that particular member; [.rJ
but the most common of all qffeJ71lgs 'were
pictures, representing the history of the mira-
culous cure or deliverance vouchsafed upon
the vow of the donor.

in tllis particular. What their object is, in conectin ... "'real

,treasures within their churches, will be made to appea; :1my
next note.
[.rJ Vid. Montfauc. Antiquit. t, ii. par. 1. J. iv, c. 4, .5,6.
r 187
N,tu:, dea, nunc $uecure mihi; nom posse metieri
Pieta do~et temp/is multa tabella tuis;
Tibul. El. i. S.
Now goddess, help, for thou canst help bestow,
As aU these pictures round thy altars show.

A friend of Diagoras the philosopher, called

the. Atlleist; having found him once in a
temple, as the story is told by Cicero : [y]
You, says he, wiw think the Gods take 110
'IIoticeof human offair«; do not you see here
by tMs number of pictures, !low man.1Jpeople,
for the sake W tkeir vow8,ha;ve been .saved in
st0f'rn8 at sea, and got safe into harbour i' Yes,
says Diagara" I see 'lOW it is; for those are
neverpainted, who happen to be dro'lVlled. The
temples of £8CUlapius were more especially
rich in these offerings, which, Livy says,
were the price and pa!! for the cures that he
had w:rougkt for the sick: [z] where they used
always to hang up, and expose to common
view, in tables of brass or marble, a catalogue
of all the miraculou» cures, which he had
performed for his votaries i [a] a remarkable

[y] Cic. Nat. Deor. J. iii. ~53.

[z] Tum donis dives erat, quae remediorum salutarium egri
mercedeUlsacraverant Dee. Liv.l. xlv. 26.
[aJ To if~O" 'If>"ijpEr Ix.otrro'i rid T"" TE "a~"O..,.",,,. "a£ '
 188

fragment of one of these tables is still re-

maining and published in Gruter'« [b] collec-
tions, having been found in the ruins of a
temple of that God, in the island of the Tiber,
at Rome, upon which the learned 1\;Iollifaucoll
makes this reflection; that in it are either
seen the wiles of the Devil, to deceive the ere-
dulous ; or else the tricks of Pagan Priests,
suborning men to counterfeit diseases and mira-
culous cures. [c]
N ow this piece of superstition had been
found of old so beneficial to the priesthood,
that it could not fail of being taken into the
scheme of the Romisli 1Vorship: where it
reigns at this day in as full height and vigour,
as in the ages of Pagan idolatry ; and in so
gross a manner as to give scandal and offence
even to some of their own communion. Po-
l!Jdore Vergil, after having described theprae-
tice of the antients, " in the same manner,
,~ays he, do we now offer up in our-Churches
Iittle images of wax; and as oft as any part

T,:iV ava/Wlt'v.", 'Invalr.,v, iv Off avajlE'Yp£tltf.llval TII'YxavDvlfu'

at 8Ef'a'iTEial. Strabo, T. l. 51.1,
[hJ Gruter.ln8cript. p.71.
Et Montfauc. Antiq. t. ii. p. t. I. iv. c.6.
[rJ Ibid. .
 189
of the body is hurt, as the hand or foot, &c.
wepresently make a vow to God, or one of
his Saints, to whom upon our .recovery we
make an offering of that hand or foot in wax:
whichcustom is now come to that extrava-
gance, that we do the same thing for our
cattle, which we do for ourselves, and make
offerings on account of our oxen, horses,
sheep; where a scrupulous man will question
Whetherin this we imitate the religion or the
superstition of our ancestors." [d]
The altar of St. Philip N eri, says Baro-
llius, ' [eJ "shines with votive pictures and
[d] Pol. Verg.de Iqv.Rer.l. v; 1.
[e]'Baron. Ann.i. An: 57. n, 162. It Aring. Rom. Subter.
J. i. c. SO. it. 1. vi. 27.
This Philip Neri is a Saint in high esteem in all parts of
flaig, where he has many ,Churches dedicated to him: he
was founder of the ,congregation of the oratory, and died
about a century and half ago: bis body lies under his altar,
with the following inscription, in a fine Church called Cltiesa
Nuova, which was .foUDded and built for the service of his
congregation; where we see hispieture. by a uido, and his
statue IJy .I1lga1di.ClIrdinal Baro"il4S,wbo was one of his
disciples,lies buried too in the Slime Church.
CORPVS
s. PHILIPPI NERll CONGR. ORATORII
FV~DATORIS
AB,IPSO DORMITIONIS DIE ANNOS
 190
images, the proofs of as many miracles; re-
ceiving every day the additional lustre of
freshoiferings from those who have been
favoured with fresh benefits:" amongst whom
the present Pope himself pays, as I have been
told,a yearly acknowledgment for a miracu-
lous deliverance, that he obtained, by the in-
vocation of this Saint, when he had like to
have perished under the ruins of a bouse,
overturned in an earthquake.
There is commonly so great a number of
these c1feri'ngs hanging up in their ChurcAt$,
that, instead of adding any beauty, they ofteil
give offence by covering or obstructing the
sight of something more valuable and orna-
mental: which we find to have been the case
likewise in the old heathen temples; where the
Priests were obliged sometimes to take them
down, for the obstruction which they gave to

QVATVOR ET QVADRAGINTA
INCORRVPTVM DIVINA
VIRTVTE SE'RVATVM OCVUIS FIDELIVM
EXPOSITVM A DILECTIS IN CHRISTO
FILIIS SVB EIVSDEM S. PATRIS ALTARI
PERPETV AE SEPVLTVRAE MORE MAIORVM
COMMENDATVM EST
ANNO SALVTIS M.DC.XXXVIlI.
 191

the beauty of a fine pillar or altar. [f] For

they consist chiefly, as has been said, of arms.
and legs, and littlefigures of wood or wax, but
especially pie~s of board painted, and some..
times, indeed, fine pictures, describing the
manner of the deliverance obtained by the
miraculous inttrposition qf the Saint invoked :
of which C!fferings, theblelBed·Virgin is so sure
always to carry off the greatest share, that it
may truly be said of her, what Jucenal says
of the Goddess Isis, whose religion was at that
time in the greatest vogue at Rome, that the
painter, get their li'Velihooo out qf'lter.
Pictores quis nelcit ab Iside pasci~
As once to Isis, now it may be said,
. That Painters to the Virgi» owe their Bread.

As oft as I have had the curiosity to look

OVer these Douaria, or cotioe Offerings, hang-
ing round the Shrines of their Images, and
consider the several stories of each, as they
are either expressed in painting, or related in
writing, I have always found them to be mere
copies or verbal translations of the origjlwls ql'
Heathellism: for the 't'05) is often said to have
. U1 Ah his columuis, quit! incommode opposita videbantus
SIgna amovit, 8tc. Liv.L xl. !i 1.
 192
1
been divinel.lJ inspired, or e:rpressly commanded;
and the cure and deliverance to have been
wrought, either by the visible apparition, and
immediate hand of the tutelar Saint, or by the
notice of a dream, or some other miraculous
admonition from Heaven. " There. can be no
doubt," say their 'Vriters, [g] "_ but that the
Images of our Saints often work signal mi-
racles, by procuring health to the infirm, and
appearing to us often in dreams, to suggest
something of great moment for our service."
And what is all this, but a revival of the
old impostures, and a repetitition of the same
old stories, of which the ancient inscriptions
are full, [h] with no other difference, than
[g] Extm omnem controversiam est, Sauctorum Imagines,
mirifica designare miracula, ut & debilibus valetudo bona
per eos concilietur, Sl2peqtle in sonmiis apparentes optima
qureque nobis consul ant. Durant. de Ritib. 1. 1. c. 5.
[II] SILVANO SALVTARI SILVANO
L. ~ANLIVS SATVR.(\INVS
&.c.
EX VISO POSYIT.
SOMNIO MOl'ilTA.
Gruter, p. 65. ib.~;
l\I1NERVAE. I\fEl\rORl
JOV} 0 PT. 8te.
CAEMA.IVLIANA.
FLAVIVS. COSMY$
IN DVLGE~TIA • .MEDICIN AR'Of
IVSSV DEI FECIT.
Elvs GRAVl. IN}·IR~IJTATE.
20.
LlBERATA. D. P.
48.
1 193

what the Pagans ascribed to the imaginary

help of their Deities, the Papists as foolishly
impute to the favour of their Saints? As may
be seen by the few instances that I have sub-
joined, out of the great plenty, which all
booksof antiquities will furnish; and whether
the reflection of Father jllottntfacon on the
Pagan Priests, mentioned above, be not, in
the very same case,' as justly applicable to
the Romish Priests, I must leave to the judg ..
ment of my reader.
But the gifts and offerings of the kind,
that I have been speaking of, are the fruits
only of vulgar zeal, and the presents of in-
ferior people; whilst princes and great per-
sons, as it used to be of old, [iJ frequently
make qfferings of large 'vessels, lamps, and
even statues of massy silver or gold: with

And this is the stile also of votive Inscriptions among the

Papists, we see by the following one in a Church at Milan.
DIV AE. SAVINAE, &'c.
LIVIA. EVPHEMIA IN
ACERBO. STOMACHI.
CRVCITATV. OPEM. NACTA.'
v. S. M. D. XI.
[i] Consul Apollini, lEsculapio, Saluti dona vovere, &:.
dare signa inaurata jussus: qwe vovit, deditque, Liv.l. xl.
37.
o
 194

diamonds, and all sorts of precious stones of

incredible value; so that the Church oj Lo-
retto is now become a Procerb for its riches
of this sort, just as Apollo's Temple at Delphi
was with the ancients on the same \ccotmt.
'Ova' (Jua Xa{vo~ ovco~ a'prfTopo~ iVTO~ iip'YEt
~{f3ov ·ATOXN.>VO~. II. I.~·

Nor all the wealth Apollo's Temple holds

Can purchase one day's life, lite.

In the famed treasury of this IIoly House,

one part consists, as it did likewise among
the Heathens, of a wardrobe. For the1Jery
'Ldol«; as Tertullian observes, used to be dressed
.out in curious robes, of the choicest stuffs and
fashion. [kJ While they were shewing us,
therefore, the great variety of rich habits,
with which that treasury abounds; some co-
vered with precious stones, others more cu-
riously embroidered by such a Queen, or
Princess, for the use of the miraculous Image;
I could not help recollecting the picture which
old Hornet' draws of Queen Hecuba of Troy,
prostrating herself before the miraculous
Image of Pallas, with a present of the richest
[k] Cum ipsis etiam Idolis induantur preetextee & trabee,
lItc. De Idolat. p. 116. Edit. Rigalt.
 195

and best wrought gown that she was nus-

tress of.
T~" I" dupap.il''1 'E"ciJ3, cpipE 'cwpo" 'A(J~""
. ·O~"ciULCrro~ ~'1" 'lro,,,lAp.atfIV ';ci P.''Ylflro~ ;
'AtfT1jp 0' ~~ d'lrE'Aap.TE, &c. n. (. 293.
A gown she chose, the best and noblest far,
Sparkling with rich embroidery, like a star, &c.

The mention of Loretto, puts me in mind

of the surprise that I was in, at the first
sight of the hol,y Image: for its face is as
black as a Negro's; so that one would takc it
rather for the representation of a PrQserpine,
or infernal Deity, than, what they impiously
stile it, of the Queen of Heaven. But I soon
recollected, that this very circumstance of its
complexion, made it but resemble the more
exactly the old Idols of Paganism, which, in
sacred, as well as profane Writers, are de-
scribed to be black'it'lt.h the perpetual smoke of
lamps and incense. [I] .
[l) .Baruch. vi. 19, ~l. Amob.I.,vi.
<q- Th~ ornaments with which our Lad!) of Loretto wal
decked, were of an inestimable value. Her triple Crown,
covered with precious stones, was the present of Lewis XIII.
King of Francs. She had a great number of robes (or
change, and seven different mourning habits for the Holy
Week. Whenever the Priests undressed or dressed her, they
did it wi~ a great deal of ceremony, kissing every port of
o 2
 196

\Vhen a man is once engaged in reflexions

of this kind, imagining himself in some
the apparel they took off from bel', bending their knees to the
groulld before the statue, and adoring it. The people that
were present upon their knees, all the time the ceremony was
performing, beat their breasts, and nothing was heard through-
out the chapel, but sighings and groans, with interrupted
words and ejaculations: Holy rirgin of Loretto, help me!
or
.ll[othc/' God, hear me! and the like.
Dr. MoORt: (View of Society and Manners in Italy, v. i.
P: :3,')':!) says, that the jewels and riches to be seen at anyone
time in the Holy Chapel, were of small value in comparison
cf thole in the Treasury, which was a large room adjoining
to the ~estry of the great Church. In the presses of this
room were kept those presents which royal, noble, and rich
bigots of all ranks had, by oppressing their subjects, and in-
juring their families, sent to this place. To eaumerale
c\'cry particular would su' volumes. There was not room
in the presses of the treasury to hold aU the sil.;er pieca
w"ich had been presented to the Virgin. Several other
presses in the vestry were completely full. These pieces,
the Doctor tells us, were occasionally melted down by his
Holiness, for the use of the State; and also, that the most
precious of the jewels were picked out, and sold for the same
purp!JSC, false stones being substituted in their room.-
" This," (adds he) " is an affair entirely between the Virgin
and the Pope: if she does not, I know no other person who
'has a right to complain:'
Mr. ADDISON (Remarks 011 Italy) observes, that CI some
have wondered that the Turk never attacked this treasury,
since itlies so near the sea-shore, and is so weakly guarded.
But, besides that he has attempted it formerly with no sue-
 197
Heathen Temple, and expecting as it were,
some sacrifice, or other piece of Paganism to

cess,it is certain the Venetians keep t90 watchful an eye

overhis motions at present, and would not suffer him to enter
the Adriatic. It would indeed be an easy thing for a Cbri&-
tian Prince to surprise it, who has ships still passing to and
fro without suspicion, especially ifhe had a party in the town,
disguisedlike pilgrims, to secure a gate for him; for there
have been sometimes to the number of Ollt hundrea tJwu-
land in a dais time, as it is generally reported. But it is
probable the veneration {or the Holy Hou~e, and the horror
of an action u,at would be resented by all the Catholic Prin('c,
of Europe, will be as great a security to the place all the
.trongest fortification. It ii, indeed, an amazing thing to
ICC such a prodigious quantity of riches lie dead, and un-

touched in the midst of so much poverty and misery III reign

on all sides of them. There is no question, however, but
the Pope would make use of ~se treasures in case of any
great calamity that should endanger the Holy See; u an un-
fortunate war with the Turk, or a powerful league among
the Protestants. For I cannot but look on those vast heaps
of wealth, that are amassed together, in 80 many religious
places of Italy, as the hidden reserves and magazines of the
Church, that she would open on any pressing occuion for
her last defence and preservation. If these riches were all
turned into current coin, and employed in commen::e, they
would make Italy the mOlt tlouriahing country in Europe."
It may be proper to add to these Remarks of Mr. Addison'.,
that in February 1797, • division of the Frencb army, after
having taken Ancolla, and other places in the Ecclesiastical
States, proceeded to Loretto, wheoce the greater part of the
treasure bad been previously removed.. The remaius of that
ensue, he will not be long in suspense, before
he sees the finishing act and last scene of
genuine Idolatry, in crouds of bigot votaries,
prostrating themselves before some Image of
uood 01' stone, and paying divine honours to
all, Idol of their own erecting. Should they
squabble with us here about the meaning of
the word, Idol, St. Jerom has determined it
to the very case in question, telling tis, that
by Idols arc to be understood the Images 0/ the
Dead: em] and the uorsluppers of suclt Images
are used always in the stile cif' the Fathers, as
terms s-ynonymous and equivalent to Heathens
or Pagans. en]

costly but absurd and useless collection of wealth, the con-

jributions of superstition and folly, were, however, secured;
the mysteries of the sacred chapel, and the miraculous house,
or sancta casa, with all the religious trumpery which they'
contained, were exposed to vulgar gaze; and the celebrated
lI-fadona, or image of the Virgin, so long the object of awe
and adoration, was packed up in a case, with the relics of
her wardrobe and furniture, consisting of rags of coarse
woollen cloth, earthen spoons, &'c. and sent as trophies to
the Directory. .
[m 1 Idola intelligimus Imagines mortuorum- Hier. Com.
in Isa. c. xxxvii.
[ n] Innumeri sunt in Gracia exterisque nauontbus, qui se
.jn discipulatum Christi tradiderilnt, non Sine 'jrl~entiodio
 199

As to the practice itself, it was condemned

by many of the wisest Heathens, and for se-
veral ages, even in Pagan Rome, was thought
impious and detestable: for Numa, we find,
prohibited it to the old Romans, nor would
suffer any Images in their Temples: which
constitution they observed religiously, says
Plutarch, for the first hundred and s,eventy
years of the City. [0] But as Image uorship

eorumqui simulacra venerantur. Pamphili Apol. pro Orig.

vid.Hieron. 01" tom. v. p. 233. Ed. Par.
[0] Vid. Plutar, in Vito Num. p. 65. C.
(t)o The passage in Plutarch here referred to is so very
much ,in point, that the reader may not ,be displeased with
havingit before him, .
" The regulations of Numa concerning images seem to
have some relation to the doctrine of Pythagoras, who was
of opinion, that the first cause was not an object of sense,
nor liable to passion, but invisible, incorruptible, and discern-
ible only by the mind. TllU~ Numa forbad the Rom~ns to
represent the Deity in the form of either man or beast. Nor
wasthere among them formerly 'any image or statue of the
Divine Being: during the first hundred and seventy years
they built temples, indeed, and oilier sacred domes, but
placed .in them no6gure of any kind ; persuaded that it is
impious to represent things divine by what is perishable, and
that we can have no conception Qf .God but by the under-
Blanding." (LA N GaORN E.)
OUf SAVIOUR'S own words are, It God is.a Spirit; and
i they that worship him must worship him ,in spjrit and in
truth." John 4, 24.
I
I
 200

was thought abominable even by some of

the Pagan Princes, so by some of the Chris-
tian Emperors it was forbidden on pain of
death: [p] not because these Images were the
representations of Damons, or false Gods, but
because they were 'Vain senseless Idols, the
work of men's hands, and for that reason un-
worthy of any honour: [q] and all the instan-
ces and overt-acts of such worship, described
and condemned by them, are exactly the
same with what the Papists practise at this
day, viz. lighting up qt' candles, bU1'1lingin-
cense; hanging of garlands, efc. as may be
seen in the law of Theodosius before-men-
tioned; which confiscates that house or land
uhere any such act of Gentile superstition had

[P] Prenre capitis subjugari pnecipimus, quos simulacra

colere constiterit. Vid. Gothof. Comment. de statu P80aaD.
sub Christian. Imperatorib. Leg. vi. p. 7.

e» [q] LACTANTIUS severely attacks the foolish idolates,

who bowed before the workmanship of their own hands; the
images of brass and marble, which, had theg been endowed
with sense and motion, would have started from the pedestal
to adore the creative power of the artist. II Nec intelligunJ
homines ineptlseimi, quod si sentire simulacra et moveN pos-
,ent, adorattJra "omilIem fuissttd a quo srmt expolit«."
(Divin. Juatit.l. 2. c. i.)
 201
beencommitted. [rJ These Princes, who were
influenced, we may suppose, in their consti-
tutions of. this sort, by the advice of their
bishops, did not think Paganism abolished,
till the adoration of Images was utterly extir-
pated; which was reckoned always the prin-
cipal of those Gentile Rites, that, agreeably
to the sense of the purest ages of Christio1lity,
are never mentioned in the imperial laws,
without the epithets of prophane, damnable,
impious, o/c' [s]
What opinion then can we have of the
present practice of the Church. ofRome, but
that by a change only of name, they have
found means to retain the thing; and by
substituting their Saints in the place of t~
old Demigods, have but set up Idols of their own,
instead of those of their Forefathers? In which
it is hard to say,. whether their assurance, or
theiraddress is more to be admired, who have

(r] In nulla urbe sensu carentibus simulacris, vel acceDdat

lwnina,imponat thura, serta suepeadat,
Si 'luis vero mortali opere facta, &. ;evum pauura simulacra
impositothure venerabitur-is utpote violatle religionis relU,
ea domo seu possessione mnltabitur, in qua eum CObltiterit
geDtilitiasuperstitione (amw.tum. Ibid. Leg. tii. p. 15.
[3) Ibid. Leg. xvii. 20.
the face to make that the principal part of
Christian worship, which the }ii'st Christians
looked upon as the most criminal part even of
Paganism, and have found means to extract
gain and great revenues out of a practice,
which in primitive times would have cost a
man both life and estate.
But our notion of the Idohitry of moda»
Rome will be much heightened still and con-
firmed, as oft as we follow them into those
Temples, and to those very A liar», which
were built originally by their Ilea/hen ancI'S-
tors, the old Romans, to the honour of their
Pagan Deities; where we shall hardly see any
other alteration than the shrine of some {lltl
Hero filled by the meaner .statue 'of some
modem Saint: nay, they have not always, as
I am well informed, given themselves the
trouble of making even this change, but have
.
been content sometimes to take up with the
old Image, just as they found it; after bap-
iizing it only, as it were, orconsccratillg it
anew, by the imposition of a Christian name.
This their antiquaries do not scruple to put
strangers in mind of: in shewing their Clwrclm:
and it was, I think, in that of St. Agnes where
they shewed me an antique statue of ayoulIg
 203

Bacchus, which with a new name, and some

little change of drapery, stands now wor-
shipped.uiiderthe title of afemale Saint.
Tully reproaches Cloditis for having pub-
licly dedicated the statue of a common strum-
pet, under the name and title of the Goddess
Liberty; a practice still frequent with the
preseJ21 Romans, who have scarce a fine image
orpicture of afemale Saint, which is not said
to have been designed originally by the SCII/p-
tor or painter for the representation of his
own mistress : [t] and who dares, may we say
ironically with the old Roman, to violate such
a goddessas this-the statue of a tehore ? [It]
The noblest H eathen Temple now 'remain-
ing in the world ~s the Panilleon or Rotunda;

~ [t] Many of the paintings in the Catholic Churches

arelittle better, in point of decency, than that which Charea
ill Terence beheld. In these paintings is set forth (as our
Homilyexpresses it) by the art of the painter, an image with
a !liceand wanton apparel and countenance, more like to Ve-
nus, or Flora, than Mary Magdalen; or if like to Mary
Magdalen, it is when she played the 'harlot, rather than when
abe wept for her sins. (See the third part of the Homily
"again'tPeril of Idolatry.")
[It] H~I}C Deam quisquam violate audeat, imaginem me-
lclricis? Cic. pro Dom. 43.
 !04

which, as the inscription [v] .over tile portico

informs us, having been imPiously dedicated
of old by Agrippa to Jove and all the Gods,
u'as piously reconsecrated by PORe Bonnifacethe
fourth to the blessed Virgin and all the Saillts.
",Vith this single alteration, it serves as ex-
actly for all the purposes of the Popish, asit
did for the Pagan worship, for which it was
built; for as in the old Temple everyone might
find the God of his own country, and addn.>ss
himself to that Deity whose religion he was
most devoted to; so it is the same thing
now; everyone chuses the Patron whomhe
. likes best; and one may see here differellt
services going on at the same time at different
altars, with distinct congregations around
them, just as the inclinations of the people
lead them to the worship of this or that par-
ticular Saint.
And what better title can the new Demi-

lvl PANTHEON1 &.c.

Ab .Agrippa Augusi Genero
Impie Jovi, Creterisq; Mendacibus Diis
A Bonifacio lIlI. Pontifice
Deipara &. S. S. Christi Martyribus Pie
Dicatum,
&c.
 205

gods shew, to the adoration now paid to them,

than the old ones, whose shrines they have
usurped? Or how comes it to be less criminal
to worship Images, erected by the Pope, than
those which A grippa , or that which Ne-
buduulnezzar set up? If there be any real
difference, most people, I dare say, will
be apt to determine in' favour of the old
possessors: for those heroes of Antiquif,v were
raised up into. Gods, and received divine
honours, for some signal benefits, of which
they had been the authors to mankind; as
theinvention of arts and sciences; or of some-
thing highly useful and necessary to life: [w ]
whereasof the Romish Saints it is certain, that
many of them were never heard of, but in
their own legends of fabulous histories; and
many more, instead of any services done to
mankind, owe all the honours now paid to
them, to their oices or their errors; whose
merit, like that of Demetrius in the Acts, [t'J
[w] Suscepit autem vita hominum, consuetudoque com-
munis, ut beneficio excellentes viros in creJum falDll, et vo-
luntate toJlerent, &c. Cic. Nat. Deor. J. ii. ~'23.
Imitantem Herculem ilium, quem hominum fama, bene-
ticiorummemor, in conciJium crelestium collocavit. Off. iii.
299.
[x] Act. Apost. xix. 23.
 206
was their skill of raising rebellions in defence
of an Idol, and throwing kingdoms into con.
vulsions, for the sake of some gainful im-
posture.
And as it is in the Pantheon, it is just the
same in all the other Heathen Temples, that
still remain in Rome; they have only pulled
down one Idol, to set up another ; and changed
rather the name than the object of their wor-
ship. Thus the little Temple 0/ Vesta, near
the Tibel',mentioned by Horace, fy], is nOW
possessed by the Madonna cif the Sun; (z] that
of Fortuna Virilis,. by Mary the Egyptian; [a]
that of Saturn, [bJ (where the public treasure
was anciently kept) by St. Adrian; that of
Romlllu~ and Remus in the Via Sacra, by two
other brothers, Co.<;mas and Damianus; (c]
that of Anttmine the Godly, by Laurencetfte
[y] Curro. I. i. s.
[z] Rom. Mod. Gioni. ii, Rione di Ripa. v,
[a] Ibid.jv, -
[b] ,lb. Gior. v. Rione di Canlpitelli, xs:
[c] Vrbanus VIII. Pont.1vIax. 'Templurn G~pWjUs
Urbis Conditoribus superstitiose dic~tqPl
A Felice IIII. S. S. Cosma.
&, Damiano
..;
Fratribys
... ,1.·

Pie consecratum, vetustate labefactum

In Iplendidiorem formam redegit
Ann. Sal. M.D.C.XXXIII.
 207

Saint: [d] but for my part, I should sooner

be tempted to prostrate myself before the
statue of a Romulus or an Auionine, than that
of a'Laurence or a Damian; and give divine
honours rather with Pagan Rome, to the
founders of empires, than with Popi-sh Rome
to the founders of monasteries. [e]
At the foot of Nlount Palatin, in the way
between the Forum and Circus Maaimus, 011
the very spot, where Romulus was believed to
have been suckled by the wolf, there stands
another little round Temple, dedicated to him
in the early times of the republic, into which,
for the present elevation of the soil without,
we now descend by a great number of steps.
It is mentioned by Diollysius of Halicarnassus,
[d] Ibid. xvi.
~ [e] " It is indeed," says Mr. HUME, cc a mortifying re-
t1ectionto those who are actuated by the love of fame, so
justly denominated the last infirmity of noble minds, that the
wisestlegislator, and most exalted genius that ever reformed
or enlightened the world can never expect such tributes of
'praise as are lawshed Gntbe memory of pre!JeJlded saints,
whosewhole conduct was probably to the last degree odious
or contemptible, and whose industry was entirely directed to
the pursuit of objects pernicious to mankind. It is only a
conqueror, a personage no less entitled to our hatred, who
canpretend to the attainment of equal renown and glory!'
Hist, of England, v, i, P: 420.
 .208

who says, that in his time there stood in it a

brazen statue oj antique uork, of the wolf git1ing
suck to the infant brothers ;[fJ which is thought
by many to be the same which is still pre-
served and shewn in the capitol: though I
take this rather, which now remains, to have
been another of the same kind, that stood
originally in the capitol, and is mentioned
by Cicero to have been there struck with
lightning; [g) of which it retains to this
day the evident marks in one of its hinder
legs: .it is however to one or the other of
these celebrated statues, that Virgil, as Servius
assures us, alludes in that elegant descrip-
tion:
--GemiJws hlSic ubera circum
Ludere pendente» pueros $j lambere mat rem
Impaoidos : Illam tereti ceroice refiesam.
Mulcere altemos, et fingere corpora lingu.a.·
.lEn. 8. 6;31.
The martial twins beneath their mother lay,
And hanging 011 her dugs, with wanton play,

U'] K at\' TEj.U/lOr

,. Ert ""-
EJ'va • \
EtK_ -
KEtTa, -'8
TOll ".a OV' ""a
"vetil,
'Il'UtOlOte OVl7t Tovr j.tUI7TOV, f1flxoVI1U, XaYl(Ul 1f01tlj.tUTa ...«Mia,

Ipyatria,. Dion, Hal. i. e. &. Edit. Hudson.

[g] Tactus est etiam iUe, qui bane urbem condidit, Romu-
lus, quem inauratum in Capitolio parvum atque lactantewl
uberibus lupinis inhiantem fuisse meministis. Orat. in Ca-
til. iii. 4.
 209
Securely suck'd ; whilst she reclines her head ,
To lick their tender limbs, and form them as they f~d.

But to return to my story: from the tradi-

tion of the wonderful escape, which Romulus
had in this very place, when exposed in his
infancy to perish in the Tiber; as soon as.he
came to be a God, he was looked upon as
singularly propitious to the health and safety
of young children: from which notion, it
became a practice for nurses and mothers
to present their sickly infants before his shrine
in this little Temple, [lJ in confidence of a
cure or relief by his favour: now when this
Temple was converted afterwards into a
Church, lest any piece of superstition should
be lost, or the people think themselves suf-
ferers by the change, in losing the benefit of
such a protection for their children; care was
taken to find out in the place of the Heathen
God, a Christian Saint, who had been exposed
too in his infancy, and found by chance like
Romulus; and for the same reason, might be

[i] A questo Tempio dedicato ·a Romolo portarano Ie

Donne Romaue ad offerir i loro ngliuolini, quand pati-
vano di qualche in6rmiu\: e percbe questa usanza andavano
seguitando l'istisae anchora fatte Christiane, &:.c. ROID. Mo.-
derna. Giomato 2da. c. xxxvi. Rione di Ripa.
p
 sio
presumed to be just as fond of children, as
their old Deit.lJ had been: and thus the wor-
ship paid to Romulus, being now transferred
to Theodorus, the old superstition still subsists,
.and the custom of presenting children at tkis
shrine continues to this day without inter-
mission; of which I myself have been a wit-
ness, having seen, as oft as I looked into this
Church, ten or a dozen women decently
dressed, each with a child in her lap, sitting
with silent reverence before the altar of the
Saint, in expectation of his miraculous.influence
on the health of the infant.
In consecrating these Heathen Temples to
the Popish worship, that the change might
be the less offensive, and the old superstition
as little shocked as possible, they generally
observed some resemblance of quality and
character in the SaiNt, whom they substituted
to the old Deity: " If in converting the pro-
fane worship of the Gentile», (says the De-
scriber of modern Rome) (j] to the pure and

[J1 :si net ~voItM"e it prOfano -culbl de Ge1ltili Bel sacro

e Yero, 6Uenltrono i kdeli qllalche proportione, qui la ri-
trovarono _slIai cOI1¥ttliente nel dedicare i\ M.ria VergiAe UII
Tempio, ch'Ml ~ bona dee-Rom. Mod. Oior. ii. Rioo
di Ripa x,
 211

sacred worship of the Church, the faithful use

to follow'some rule and proportion, they have
certainly hit upon it here, in dedicating to
the Madonna or holy Virgin, the Temple for-
merly sacred to the Bona .Dea, or good God-
dess," But they have more frequently on
these occasions had regard rather to a sitn..ili-
tude of name between the old and new Idol.
Thus in a place formerly sacred to Apollo,
there now stands the Churcli of Apollinaris;
built there, as they tell us, [k ] that the" pro--
fane name of that Deity, might be converted
into the glorious name of this Mart.yr: and
where there anciently stood a Temple of Mars,
they have erected a Church to Martina, with
this inscription :

Martyrii gesum« virgo Martilla coronam,

Ejecto hinc Martis uU1/Iine, Templa tenet •
•U"rs hence expell'd: Martina, m.artyr'd !paid,
ClaiIl1ll now the worship; which to him waB paid.

In another place, I have taken notice of

[k] La Chiesa di S. ApoUinari fu rabbricata in questo Ju-

ogod'Christiani; affinche il profano nome d'Apolline fuDe
convertitonel santo nome di questo glorioso Martire. Ibid.
Gio. iii. ~ I. "
p2
 212
a1l. Altar erected to St. Baecho : [1] and
in their stories of their Saints, have ob-
served the names of Quirinus, Romula et Be-
dempia; Concordia, Nympha, Mercurius: em]
which, though thcy may, for any thing that I
know, have been the genuine names of Chris-
tian lflartyrs, yet cannot but give occasion to
suspect, that some of them at least have been
formed out of a corruption of the old names;
and that the adding of a modern termination,
of Italianizing the old name of a Deity, has
given existence to some of their present Saints:
thus the corruption of the word Sorocie (the
old name of a mountain mentioned by Ho-
'Face [n] in sight of Rome) has, according to
:Mr. Addison, added one Saint to the Roman
Calendar; being now softened, [0] because it
begins with on S, into St. Dreste ; in whose
honour a monastery is founded on the place:
a change very natural, if we consider that the
title of Saint is never written by the Italians
at length, hut expressed commonly by the

[l) Ibid. Gior. vi. 37.

[m] AriDg.Rom. Subter.L'ii. ~l. 1. iii. l~. 1. iv.16,22.
J. v, 4.
[PI) Carm, i, 1.9.
[0] Addison's Travels from Pesaro, &'c. to ROllle.
 213

single letter 8. as S. Oracle: and thus this

hal,1J
mountain stands now under the protection
of a Patron, whose being and power is just as
imaginary, as that of its old guardian Apollo:
Sancti custos Soractis .Apollo. Virg.1En. ix.

No suspicion of this kind will appear ex-

travagant to those who are at all acquainted
with the History of Popel'Y; which abounds
with instances of the grossest forgeries both
of Saints and Reliques, which, to the scandal
of many even among themse1ves,[p] have been
imposed for genuine on the poor ignorant
people. It is certain, that in the earlier ages
of Christianity, the Christians often made free
with the sepulchral stones of Heathen monu-
ments, which being ready cut to their hands,
they converted to their own use; and turning
downwards the side, on which the old epitaph
'Wasengraved, used either to inscribe a new
one on the other side, or leave it perhaps with-
out any .inscription at all, as they are often

{P] UtiD1lm bane religiaoem imitarentnr, qui sanctorum

TeeeDS absque certis no..w.ibus ,inventofU1I1 fiotas historias
comminiscuntur ad coafusiooem ove.r.arumhi.t.oriartlm, imo
lit qui Paganorum Iwrcriptiones aliquando pro Christiallis
,u)g8l1t,.kc. MabaL her. Ital. p. sss.
 214

found in the Catacombs of Rome. [q] Now

this one custom has frequently been the oc-
casion of ascribing Mart.lJrdmn and Saintship
to persons and names of mere Pagans.
Mabillor; gives a remarkable instance of it
in an old stone, found on the grave of a Chris-
tian with this inscription, [t'J
D.M.
IVLIA EVODIA
FILlA I;ECIT
MATRI.

And because in the same grave there was

found likewise a glass 'Vial, or lacry,natory
vessel, tinged with a reddish colour, which
they call [8J blood, and look upon as a certain
proof of martyrdom, [tJ this Julia Evodia,

[q] Ab iDltilanibus enim &. pervetustis superstitiosre "Uf-

bis coestruetioaibus atque sepulchris ad suos obtegendos
tumulos Christiani lapides non raro auferre consueverant.
Aringh. Rom. Subt. J. iii. c. 22__
[r] va. Mabill. Ibid.
[s] Si forte rubore quodam inimo tiocta 'ritrea ampulla
fuerit, pro argumento Martyrii habetur, Mont. Dia r. It.
p.218.
t:t)o [t] GIBBON (Decline and Fall, v. 2. p.427. 8m.
ed.) tells us, that 1he Catholics DOW reqaire, as a proof
()f sanctity and lrirtyrdom, the letter. B. M.a Viol IiIll
of red liquor, suppeeed to ..~ b~or the Jigure ()f a
 215

though undoubtedly a Heathen, was presently

adopted both for Saint and ]lim'fyl', on the
authority of an in8CriptiOH~ that appears evi-
dently to have been one of those above-men-
tioned, and borrowed from a heathen Sepul-
chre. But whatever the party there buried
might have been, whether Heathen or Chris ..
tian, it is certain, however, that it could not
be Evodia herself, but her mother only, whose
name is not there signified.
The same author mentions some original
papers, which he found in the Barbarine Li-
brary, giving a pleasant account of a nego..-
ciation between the Spaniards and Pope Urban
the VIIIth, in relation to this v«y subject'(tt]
palm-tree. But, adds he, the two former signs are of litt1~
weiglrt, and with regard to the last, it is observed by the
critics, 1. That the figure, as it is called, of a~, ill per-
haps a cypress, and perhaps only .... stop, the 4ourU!boi
a comma, used in the monumental iascriptions, 2. That
the palm was the symbol of victory alDong the PaglU1ll-
3. That 811Wftg the CbriBtiam it served as the emblem, not
only of martyrdolll,but in gene .... f a joyful retlurrectiOR.
(See the epiatJe ~of P. Mab,iUou, on-the 1Vomhip of uoknown
saints, and Muratori Bopra le Antichita Italiane, Disser-
tat. lviii.)
[u] AltenuB notatloldigDUlJ\t quod Urbanus ~... Hillpaois
quibusdam interpellatus de concedendis indulgeutliis obcm-
tum Saacti, cui DOmen VJAR, lk.c• .a1latuB eat. in quo
 216

The Spaniards, it seems, have a Saint, held

in great reverence in some parts of Spain,
called Viar ; for the farther encouragement
of whose worship, they solicited the Pope to
grant some special indulgences to his altars;
and upon the Pope's desiring to be, better ac-
quainted first with his character, and the
proofs, which they had of his saintship, they
produced "« stone with these antique letters
S. VIAR. which the antiquaries readily saw
to be a small fragment of some old Bomall
Inscription, in memory of one, who had
been PrdfectuS VIARum, or overseer oftht
highways.
But we have in England an instance still
more ridiculous, of a fictitious saintship, in
the case of a certain Saint, called AmphiiJolus;
who, according to our Monkish Historians,
"was Bishop of the Isle of Man, and fellow
Martyr and Disciple of St. Alban: yet the
learned Bishop Usher has given good reasons
to convince us, that he owes the honour of
his saintship, to a mistaken passage in the
old acts or legends of St. Alban: [v] where the
billlitereereliqua:eraut S. VIAR, lite. Yid. Mabill. Iter.
ltaI. r- 145.
[VJ Uesef. de Britao. Eccles. primord. c. xiv. p. 539. 4to.
 217

A.mphibolus mentioned, and since reverenced

as a Saint and Mflrlyr, was nothing more
than the cloak, which Alban happened to
have at the time of his execution: being a
word derived from the Greek, and signifying
a rough shaggy cloak, which ecclesiastical per-
Sonsusually wore in that age.
They pretend to shew us here at Rome,
two original. impressions of our Saviour's Face,
on two different handkerchiefs; the one, sent
a present. by himself to Agbaru« Prince of
Edessa, who by letter had desired a picture
of him ; the other, given by him, at the time
of his execution, to a Saint, or holy woman
named Veronica, upon a handkerchief, which
she had lent him to wipe his face on that
occasion: both which handkerchiefs are still
preserved, as they affirm, and now kept with
the utmost reverence; the first in St. Silvester's
Church; the second in St. Peter's; whe~ in
honour of. this sacred relique, there is a fine
altar built by Pope Urban the VIIlth, with
the statue of Veronica herself, with the fol-
lowing inscription: [tV]

It Bp, Lloyd's Histor, Ace. of Ch. Govern. in Gr. Brit.

e. vii:p. 151.
[IV) Vide Aring. Rom. Subterran. tOlD. ii. p. 4.SS.
 218
SALVATORIS IMAGINEM VERONICAE
SVDARIO EXCEPTAM
VT LOCI MAJESTAS DECEN'TER
CVSTODIRET URBANVS VIII.
PONT. MAX.
MARMOREVM SIGNVM
ET ALTARE ADDIDIT CONDITORIV.M
EXTRVXIT ET ORNAVIT.

But notwithstanding the authority of thu

Pope, and his inscription, this VERONICA,
as one of their best authors has shewn [:rJ,
likeAmphibolus before-mentioned, was not any
real person, but the mime given to the picture
!tse7f by the old writers, who mention it; being
formed by blundering and confounding the
words VERA [CON, or true image, the title
inscribed perhaps, or given originally to the
handkerchief, by the first contrivers of the
imposture.

There is a prayer in their books of offices, ordered bythe

I"llbric,to be addrestJed to this .SIlcred and mil1l'Cuio\18 pic-
tt..-e in 1118".llpwing terms .-C9Ndctrt "', 0 thou blmtd
~e, to o.rprope1' home, where we ,mt!J behold the pure
face of Christ.-See Conform. of ADc. and Mod. Cere-
'monies, p. 158.
[x] Hrec Christi Imago a recentioribus VERONICE
dicitur : i~lliginem ipsam veteres VERONICAM appella-
bant, &c. Mabill. Iter. Ital. p. 88.
 219

These stories, however, as fabulous and

childish as they appear to men of sense, are
yet urged by grave authors in defence of their
Image-worship, as certain proofs of its divine
origin, and sufficient to confound all the im-
pious opposers of it. [!I]
I shall add nothing more on this article,
than that whatever worship was paid by the
ancients to their heroes or inferiot· deities, the
ROIllGlIisfs now pay the same to their Saiids
and ,l\Iart.lfrs; as their own inscriptions plainly
declare; which, like those mentioned above
of Sf. Martina, and the Pantheon, generally
signify, that the honors, which of old had been

[Yl Imaginem hane ab Edessenorum eivitate tran8~,

condignoad heec usque tempera venerationis cultu in D. sil-
vestriecclesia, veluti divinum quid 8c. perenne saerarum ima-
giaum monumentum, pariter ae propugnaeuIum adversus
iusanosIconoclastas asservari, &. suspieiendam fidelibus ado-
randamqueproponi.
Sacrosancta autem Redemptoris Imago, gemmarum The--
sauris quibusque longe anteferenda, in Vaticana Basilica,
~uopar est venerationis cultu asservatur. Aring. Rom. Subt,
t. ii.L v, e. 4.
E.ffigie. piu d'ogni altra sublime t adoranda, par esser nOD
fattura di mano Angelica o'd'humana, rna del Fattor medi-
silllG degli Angeli &. degli huomini, Rom. Mod. Gior.
1 Rion. di Bor.
 220
impiously given in that place to the false GoJ,
are now piously and rightly transferred to tht
Christian Saint: or as one of their celebrated
Poets expresses himself in regard to St.
George.
Ut Martem Latii, sic nos Te, Dive Georgi
Nunc colimus, 8fc. MantliaD.
As Mars our Fathers once ador'd, so now
To Thee, 0 George, we humbly prostrate bow.

And every where through Italy, one set'S

sacred inscriptions speaking the pure languagt'
of Paganism, and ascribing the same POri'as,
Characters and Attributes to their Sail/is,
which had formerly been ascribed to the Heo-
then Gods; as the few here exhibited will
evince. [z)

«i'[z] Mr.ADDlsON (Remarks 011 Italy) says, tt I haveof teO

wished that some traveller would take the pains to gathtr
all the modem inscriptions which are to be met withill
Roman Catholic countries, as Grater and others have cO'
pied out the ancient heathen monuments. Had we twoor
three volumes of this nature, without any of the collector'.
own reflections, I am sure there is nothing in tbe wond
could give a clearer idea of the Roman Catholic religiOll,
nor expose more the pride, vanity, and self-interest of cOD"
Tellts, the abuse of indulgences, the folly ~d impertinence
of votaries, and, in ShOI1, the superstilio/I, credulilJ' and
childwmeSl, of tlte Roman Catholic religion.»
 221
Popish Inscriptions. Pagan Inscriptions.
[aJ MERCVRIO ET !\UNERVAB
MARIA ET FRANCISCE DIIS TVTELARIB. (h]
1'UTELARES MEl.

DIVO EVSTORGIO 011 QVI BVIC TEMPLO

\;!YI BVIC TEMPLO PRAESIDENT.
PRAESIDET.

NVMINI. NVMINI
DIVI GEOBGJI MERCVIUI SACR.
POLLENTIS. POTENTIS HERCVLI. VICToilJ.
INVICTJ. POLLENTI. POTENTI
INVICTO.

PRARBTITI IOVI
DIVIS s.
PIIAESTITIB'VS IVVANTIBVS IIUb
GEORGIO STEPANOQVE DRABVS
CVM DEO OPT. MAX. QVE. CVM
lOVE.

Boldonius censures the author of the last

inscription, for the absurdity of putting the
Saints before God himself; and imitating too
closely the oniient inscription, which I have
set against it, where the same impropriety is
committed in regard to Jupiter.

[aJ Vid. BoldoniiEpigraphica, p. 439. It. p. 348. It.

p, 422. It. 649.
[bJ Gmter. Corp. Iescript. p. 50. It. Cic. Or. pro Lege
Man. 15. It. Gmt. p. 54. It. p. 50. It. p. 22. It. ib.
p.2.
 As to that celebrated act of Popish Idola-
t',.y, the Adoration of the Host; I mnst con-
fess, that I cannot find the least resemblance
of it in any part of the Pagan Worship, and
as oft as I have been standing by at Mass,
and seen the whole congregation prostrate on
the ground, in the humblest posture of ador-
ing, at the elevation of this consecrated piece ~f
bread; I could not help reflecting on a pas-
sage of Tully, where speaking of the absurdity
of the Eleathells in the choice of their- Gods,
but was an.v man, says he, ever so mad, as to
take that u'hich he feeds upon,for a God?[c]
This was an extravagance reserved for Popery!
alone; and what an old Roman could not but
think too gross, even for .!Egyptian Idolatry
to swallow, is now become the principal part
of TYorship, and the distinguishing Article of
Faith,. in the Creed of modern Rome. [dJ

[cJ Sed ecquem tam amentem esse putall, tui ilW, 1UO
vescatur, Deum credat esse? Cic. de Nat. Deer, iii.
e:t1" [d] AVERROES, an eminentArahiall physician, thought
he had great reason for triumpbiJ.1g over the Gospel of
Christ, on account of dris article of faith. If I have tra-
velled over the world, says he, and have found divers sects;
but so sottish a sect or law I 'never found, as is the sect of
the Christians, because with their own teeth they dt'VOUf'
the God whom they worship." (See Archbishop TILLor-
 But their temples are not the only 'places
wherewe sec the proofs and overt-acts of their
SON'S admirable Discourse agaillstTransubstantiation, where
thispassage is cited.)
A later author of good credit tells us, that a F~enrh priest
at Constantinople went to the Vizier in full divan, and be-
gun with declaring his intention to embrace the Mahometall
religion: at the same time he drew out of his pocket a box
full of consecrated hosts, which he himself had deified as a
priest,and whereon the worms had preyed, crying out-
Seehere.the Gods of the Romish creation, 'which cannot prt-
·\(I1'e themselvesfroJJl corruption.-(De la Motraye's Tra-
vels, London Edit. 1723. Vol. I.p. 222.)
Hence we perceive how extremely absurd the doctrine of
Transubstantiation is.- This word was first used by Petrus
Blessensis,anno 1160. "Petrus Blessensis primos omnium
jiLit, qui in re Eucharistic« Trausubstantionis sxxabulum
asurpassedicitur;" Cave ii. 223.
JOllTiN informs us, that" Till Innocent III. (A. 1215.)
themanner of the change in the eucharist was not accounted
anarticle of faith: but he in the Council of Lateran esta-
blishedTransubstalltiation, both the doctrine and the aord.
Matthew Paris (says he) does justice to this Pope by saying,
tbat be was the most avaricious and ambitious of men, and
capable of committing aU sorts of ~I'imes. He adds, that
Innocent caused 3e7)ellt!l articles of faith to be read before
the Council, and commanded the holy fathers there as-
sembled to approve them in the lump, rdthout elllerillg into
any examinatien, And Allix affirms, that the decree which
t.'Jtablish~ transubstantiation never obtained the force of II
law till some time afterwards; and indeed the doctrine. of
transubstantiation, notwithstanding this decision, was still
 224

superstition: the whole face of the country

has the visible characters of Paganism upon
it; and wherever we look about us, we can-
not but find, as St. Paul did in Atltells,[e]
clear evidence of its being possessed by a su-
perstitious and idolatrous people.

contested and rejected by several prelates and doctors."-

(Remarks, v. S. p. 308.)
When Cardinal PERRON was asked by some of his friends,
in his last sickness, what he thought of Trallsubstanliation'!
He answered, that it was a MONSTER. And when they
asked him, How then he had written so copiously and
learnedly about it? He replied, That he had done the ul·
most which his wit and parts had ena bled him, to colourott!'
this abuse, alld render it plausible j but that he had done
like those who employ all their force to defend an ill cause.
a
Drelincourt, Reponse lettres de MOllseig.le Prince Ernest
(lUXcinq Mi1listres de Paris. Gf1leVe, 1664.
Archbishop USHER, a prodigy of learning and humility,
having been so happy as to convert several Roman priests
from their errors, and enquiring diligently of them, what
they, who said Mass every day, and were not obliged to
confess venial sins, could have to trouble their confessol1
with? They ingenuously acknowledged to him, that the
ehiefest part of their constant confession, was their InfidelitJ
as to the point of TUlnsuhstarltiatio71', and for which they
mutually acquitted and absolved one anotber.-Preface to
Archbi~hop WAKE'S Discourse oj the hoi!! Eudulrist i.
t~o points, oj the Real Presence and .Adoration, 168S.
[e] Act. Apost. xvii, 17.
 The old Romans, we know, had their Go.d.~,
who presided peculiarly over the roads,
streetsand highways; called Viales, Semitales,
Compitales: whose little temples or altars
deckedwith flowers, or whose statues at least,
coarselycarved of wood or stone, were placed
at convenient distances in the public ways,
for the benefit of travellers, who used to step
aside to pay their devotions to these rural
Shrin~s, and beg. a prosperous journey and
safety in their travels. [fJ N ow this custom
prevails still so generally in all popish coun-
tries, but especially in Italy, that one can see
no other difference between the old and pre- .
3ent superstition, than that of changing the
name of the Deity, and christening as it were
the old Hecate in triviis, by the new name of
Jfaria in Trivio; by which title, I have ob-

[J] Ut religiosie viantinm mons eat, cum aliquis lueus,

aut
d aliquis locus sanctus .in vita oblatus est , votum postulare ,
onumapponere, paulisper assidere.
~equejustius religiosam motam viatori objecerit aut ara
ftonbusredimita-aut truncus dolamine effigiatus, &.c.
. Apuleii Florid. i.
.Jnvoce vos, Lares viales, ut me bene juvetis.
Plaut. Mere. v. ~.
Q
 226
served one of their Churches dedicated in this
city: [g] and as the Heathens used to paint
over the ordinary Statues of their Gods, with
red or some such gay colour,[hJ so I have oft
observed the coarse Images of these Saints so
daubed over with a gaudy red, as to resemble
exactly the description of the God Pan in
Virgil.
Sangulneis ebuli baecis minioque rubeniem, Eel. 10.

In passing along the road, it is common to

see travellers on their knees before these rlt.~tit
altars ; which none ever presume to approach
without some act of reverence; and those,
who are most in haste, or at a distance, are
sure to pull off their hats at least, in token of
respect: and I took notice, that our postil.
lions used to look back upon us, to see how
we behaved on such occasions, and seemed
surprised at our passing so negligently before
places esteemed so sacred.
But besides these Images and Altars, there

(g) Rom. Modern. Gior. Rion: di Colonna, c. xi.

Ih) Fictilem fuisse &. ideo mimari solitum. Plio. H~t
N. 1. xxsv, 12. &. a Censoribus J ovem miniandum locan.
Ibid. 1. xxxiii, 7. ' It. Pausan. ii, 2.
 227

are frequently erected on the road huge

wooden crosses, [iJ dressed out with flowers,
and hung round with the trifling offering of
the country people; which always put me in
mind of the superstitious veneration, which the
Heathens used to pay to some old trunks qf
trees or posts, set up in the highways, which
they held sacred,UJ or of that venerable oak in
Ovid, covered with garlands and votive offer-
mg«
Stabat in his ingens ann080 robore quercus ;
Una nemus: Yitto: mediam, memoresque tabella
Sertaque cingebant, ooti argumenta potent is. Met. 8.

Reverend with age a stately Oak there stood.

Its branches widely stretch'd, itself a wood,
With ribbanda, garlands, pictures cover'd o'er,
The fruits of pious vows from rich and poor •

.This description of the Pagan Oak puts me

in mind of a story, that I have met with here,

[i) Sanctee Imagines &. Cruces in viis publicis eriguntur,

& DOS propter Deum, &; puram erga sanctos ejull fidem,
sancta ejusmodi ubique erecta adorsmus &. salutamus, Du-
rant. de Ritib. 1. i, c. 6.
[j] Nam veneror, seu stipes habet desertus in agris,
Seu vetus in trivio florida Berta lapis.
, Tibul. EJ. i. 11~
Q2
 228

of a Popish Oak very like it, viz. how a certain

person, devoted to the worship of the Virgin,
hung up a picture of her in an Oak, that he
had in his vineyard, which grew so famous
for its miracles, that the Oak soon became
covered with votive qfferings, and rich presentt
from distant countries, so as to furnish a fund
at last for the building of a great Church to
the miraculous picture; which now stands de-
dicated in this city, under the title of St. Mary
of the Oak. [k]
[k] Essendo egli divotissimo dena Madonna, fece dipia-
gere l'imagine di lei, e l'appese ad una Quercia--dove com-
mincio a manifestarei con molti miracoli, intanto che sino
dall' Africa, e da Constantiaopoli l'erano mundati voti in .
tanta quantita, che vi si feee una gran Chiesa.-Rom. :Mo-
dern. Gior. iii c. so. Rion. delJa Reg.
(t)- In addition to what is here stated concerning the ve-
neration which the heathens used to pay to trees, I beg to
subjoin the following accounts.
It is mentioned of Xerxes, that, in marching through Lydia,
he saw a plane-tree, of so stately a growth, and of so beauti-
ful an appearance, that he was struck with admiration: and,
before he quitted the spot, he decked it with ornaments of
.gold, and appointed a person of consequence, ODe- of those
called the immortals, particularly to tend and look 'after it.
(Herod. 7. 31.)
The Romans esteemed these trees highly, and insteadof
water used to refresh them with a profusion of wine. Of
 229
"But what gave me still the greater notion
of the superstition of these countries, was to
see those little Oratories, or rural Shrines,
sometimes placed under the cover of a tree or
grooe; agreeably to the descriptions of the
old idolatry, in the sacred as well as profane
writers; [l] or more generally raised on some
eminence, Of, in the phrase of Scripture, on
high places; the constant scene of idolatrous
'Worship in all ages; it being an universal
opinion among the Heathens, that the Gods
in a peculiar manner loved to reside on emi-

their attentioa in this respect we have a curious instance

in -Macl'obi'us. He tells us, that the two great orators
Hortensius and Cicero were upon a time engaged in the
same cause, where Horlensitu was to take the lead. But
when· the hour came, he begged of Cicero to change tums
with him, and plead first: for, saJs he, I must just step to
Tusculum, and give my plane-tree a little wine, and I will
return immediately. (&tuTllal.lib. 3. cap. 13.)
Livy speaks of an ambassador's addressing himself to an
old oak, as to an intelligent person, and a divinity.-
Lib. 3. § 25. .
A very particular instance of this mode of heathen wor-
ship, which the Papi&ts keep up so carefully, is related by
M~1Uieur ik le Coloniel in his Memoirs, vol. i,P: 56 to &l.
Ed. lkuuels, 1737.
[I] Lucus &. Ara Diana!. Hor.
llences or tops oj mountains: [m] which Pagan
notion prevails still so generally with the
Papists, that there is hardly a rock or precipice,
how dreadful or difficult soever of access,
that has not an Oratory, OF Altar, or Cruci.fi$
at least, planted on the top of it.
Among the rugged mountains of the Alps in
Savoy, very near to a-little town called lrIlho
dana, there stands on the _top of a rock, a
chapel, with a miraculous Image of our Lady,
which is visited with great devotion by the
people, and sometimes, we were told, by the
King himself; being 'famous, it seems, for a mi-
racle of a singular kind, (viz.) the restoring of
dead-born children to life; but so far only as to
make them capable of Baptism, after which
they again expire: and- our landlord assured
me, that there was daily proof of the truth of
[m] AUTOl; c'i .. r:opvt/l;at r:a(J{'ETO r:VCEi"-yU{lUV. It. 6. 50.
Tuque ex:tuo edito Monte Latiali, sancte Jupiter. Cic.
pro Mil.
c:v- The, sage 'I'acrrus.alsor was infected- with this ab-
surdity. Speaking of certain high mountains· where the
Gods were worshipped, he expresses himself thus: Marime
calo appropinqu4re, precesque mortalium a Deo nusquam
propius audiri, "As approaching nearer to heaven, the
prayers of mortals are there more distiDctly heard,"
 �31

this miracle, in children brought from all

v

quarters to be presented before this Shrine;

whonever failed to shew manifest tokens' of
life, by stretching out their' arms, or opening
their eyes, or even sometimes making water,
whilst they were held by the priest in presence
of the Image. All which appeared so ridicu-
lous to a French gentleman, who was with me
at the place, but had not heard the story from
our landlord, that he looked upon it as a
banter or fiction of my own, till I brought
him to my author, who, with his wife, as well
~s our Voiturins, very seriously testified the
truth of it; and added farther, that when the
French army passed that way in the last war,
they were so impious, as to throw down this
sacred Image to the bottom of a vast preci-
pice hard by it, which, though of wood only,
Was found below entire and unhurt by the
fall, and 60 replaced in its Shrine, with greater
honour than ever, by the attestation of this
new miracle,
On the top of Jl!IOU1lt Senis, the highest
mountain of the Alps, in the same passage of
Sa'coy, covered with perpetual snow, they have
another Chapel, in which they perform divine
 service once a year, in the Month of Augmt;
and sometimes, as our guides' informed us, to
the destruction of the whole congregation, by
the accident of a sudden tempest in a place
150 elevated and exposed. And this surely
comes up to the description of that worship,
which the Jews were commanded to extirpate
from the face of the earth: " Ye shall utterly
destroy the places wherein the nations served
their Gods, upon the high mountains and
upon the hills, and under every green tree:
And ye shall overthrow their altars, break
their pillars, burn their groves, and hew
down the graven Images of their Gods." en]
When we enter their towns, the case is still
the same, as it was in the country; we find
every where the same marks of Idolat1'Jb and
the same reasons to make us fancy, that weare
still treading Pagan ground; whilst at every
corner we see Images and Altars, with lamps or
candles burning before them; exactly answer-
ing to the description of the aniieni writers {oJ

en] Deuteron. xii, ~, S.

[0] 'A"'I""-p.ara r~JI iJl ""'I0pa. 8fMJI. Xeaoph, I. tv. It,
Eurip, Elec. 387. MElJTai ~i Alci~ ra.lTat p.iJl ""'II/Jal. &.c.
Lucian. in Prometh.
 233
and to what Tertullian reproaches the Heathens
with, that their streets, their markee, their
baths t't'ere not without an idol. [PJ But above
all, in. the pomp and solemnity of their Holy-
days, and especially their religious processions,
we sec the genuine remains of Heathenism,
and proof enough to convince us, that this is
still the same Rome which old Numa first
tamed and eivili.zed. by the arts of religion:
who, as Plutarch says, [q] " by the institu-
tion of supplications and processions to the
Gods, which inspire reverence, whilst they
give pleasure to the spectators, and by pre-
tended miracles, and divine apparitions, re-
duced the fierce spirits of his subjects under
the power of superstition." .
The descriptions of the religious pomps and
processions of the Heathens come so near to

Omnibus vicis Stature, ad eas Thus &. Cerci. Cic, Off.

3.26.
[p] Spectac. c•.viii.
[q] Td 1t~J/ frO>':>':« 8vIT£a,~ "a, ".olt ...ai~ "a, Xopda,( 11p.a.
.f/J,J//inrn ola'Y"''Y~J/ i"'£Xap'" "a' I/lI-XaJ/8pUl1roJ/ ;ooJ/~v iX°rJITu,(
~"".a'Ya'Yj;" "a' TI8a"ITfrJ",,, TO 8vf'0UOi~, &c. '£.cov')..ov Ttl"
~iriJ/o{QIl dvr;;;J/ V'TO ~EIInoalp.ov£a,.. &C. Ibid. Plutar. in NUBla.
p.16.
 234

what we see on every festival of the Virgin, or

other Romish Saint, that one can hardly help
thinking these Popish ones to be still regulated
by the old ceremonial of Pagan .p.ome. At these
solemnities the chief magistrate-used frequently
to assist in robes of ceremony; attended by the
Priests in' surplices, [1'] with tea» candles in
their hands, carrying upon a pageant or thensa
the Images of their Gods, dressed out in their
heat cloaths: these were usually followed by
the -principal youth of the place, in white linen
vestments or surplices, singing hymns in honour
of the God, whose festival they were cele..
brating; accompanied by crouds of all sorts,
that were initiated in the same religion, all
withflamheaux or wax candles in their hands.
This is the account which Apuleius, and other
authors, give us of a Pagan procession; and I
may appeal to all, who have been abroad,
whetherjt might not pass quite as 'Yell for
[1'] Antistites sacrorum candide linteamine-ad usque
vestigia strictim injecti. Defun proferebant insignes exuvias,
querum primus Iucernam prremicantem claro porrigebat lu-
mine, &:'c.-Eas amoenus Iectissimss juventutis, vesteniveG
pnenitens sequebatur chorus, carmen venustum iterantes.-e-
Magnus prreterea sex lIS utriusque numerus, Iucernis, tledis,
eereis, &c. A put ibid. Vid. Pausan, ii. 7.'
 235
the description of a Popish one. Monsieur Tour-
nefort, in his travels through Greece, reflects
upon.the Greek Church for having retained
and taken into their present worship many of
the old rites of Heathenism, and particularly
that of carrying and dancing about the Images
Df the Saints in their processions, to singing and
music: [ s] the reflection is full as applicable
to his own, as it is. to the Greek Church;
and the practice itself, so far from giving
scandal in Italy, that the learned Publisher
of the Florentine Inscriptions takes occasion to
shew the conformity between them and the
Heathens, from this very instance of carrying
aboutthe pictures of their Saints, as the Pagans
did those of. their Gods, in their sacred pro-
cessions.[t J .

[8] Toumefort, Lit. iii. 44,

{t] Cui non abludunt (si sacra cum profanis conferre fas
est) plcteetabulee Sanctorum imaginibus exornatee, quoo, &'c.
Insc,ipt. Antiq. Flor. p. 377. '
<l;)- Just as the ancient Romans carried the statue of their
goddess Forlulla with a great deal of pomp to some fixed
place, and then back again to her shrine; (see Horat.lib. i.
ed. 35.) so do the modem Romans carry in procession the
~tatuesand pictures of the Yirgin Mary. :
JUt'ellal, however, (sat.~. v, 365.) say8,-
 In one of these processions made lately to
St. Peter's in the time of Lent, I saw that
ridiculous penance of the flagellantes, or self-
whippers, who march with whips in their
hands, and lash themselves as they go along
on the bare back, till it is all covered with
blood; in the same manner as the fanatical
Priests of Bellona, or the Syrian' Goddess, as
well as the votaries of Isis, used to slash and
cut themselves of old, in order to please the i

Goddess, by the sacrifice of their own blood;

which mad piece of discipline .we find frc·

" NULLUM Nume« habes, si sit prudentia: nos te

Nos facimu,t, Fortuna, Deam."
H Thou, Fortune, art not a Goddess, though men are
foolish enough to worship thee as such." Ami" may nol
the same be said of the Virgin Mar.1J? The Scriptures nO
where, that I know, call her Goddess; on the contrary,
our SAVIOUR himself calls her l1'oman. "Woman, "hat
have I to do with thee?" (John 2, 4. and 19, ~6,) Where-
fore does he say this? An ancient Father of the Church,
speaking against some who began in his time to worshipthe
Blessed Virgin, says, ~~Our Lord 1aUed her W01I'II11J, lest
some should think of the Blessed Virgin more highly !bill
they ought. He called her Woman, all it were foretening
those schisms and heresies that should arise upon her account.
But GOG permits us not to w,orship .Allgels; how much
less the daughter of Alina'?" ,
 237
quentlymentioned, and as often ridiculed by
thealltient writers. [u]
But they have another exercise of the same
kind, and in the same season of .Lent, which, .
under the notion of penance, is still a more
absurd mockery of all religion: 'when on a
certainday, appointed annually for this dis-
cipline,men of all conditions assemble them-
selvestowards the evening, in one of the
Churchesof the City; where whips or lashes
madeof cords are provided, and distributed
to every person present; and after they are
all served, and a short office of devotion per-

«:l:i" [u] Mr. WRAXALL, in his very entertaining Memoir~

of the Court of Berlin, &c. says, in a letter dated Buda,
Apil 19th, 1778, "The. first object which I saw from my
windows, 011 the morning after my arrival, were flagellants,
marching slowly through the streets, covered with blood,
and dragging along crosses of a vast weight, followed by
crowds of people. It was Good Friday, and the whole city
leemed to be animated by the same spirit of penitential and
gloomy devotion. The flagellants wore hoods or sacks over
their faces, in order to conceal them; but their bach, which
went entirely naked, bore the sanguinary marks of the scourge
at every step. I am assured, that the persons who inflict dn
themselves this voluntary punishment, are frequently men f?f
rank, and that the practice is by no means confined to the
iufedor orders."
 !S8

formed, the candles being put out, upon the

warning of a little bell, the whole company.
begin presently to strip, and try the foreeof
these whips on their own backs, for the space
of near an hour: during all which time the
Church becomes, as it were, the proper Image
of Hell: where nothing is heard but the noise
of lashes and chains, mixed with the groans
of these self-tormentors; till satiated with
their exercise, they are content to put on their
cloaths, and the candles being lighted again,
upon the tinkling of a second bell, they all
appear in their proper dress.
Seneca, alluding to the very same effectsof
fanaticlsm in Pagan Rome, says: "So great
is the force of it on disordered minds, that
they try to appease the Gods by such methods
.as an enraged man would hardly take to re-
venge himself. But if there be any Gods, who
desire to be worshipped after this manner,
they do not deserve to be worshipped at all:
since the very worst of Tyrants, though they
have sometimes torn and tortured people's
ltmbs, yet have never commanded men to
torture themselves:" [v] But there Is no oc-
t11] Tantas est trerturba~ mentis furor, ut sic Dii pia-
 239

casion to imagine, that all the blood which

seems to flow on these occasions, really comes
from the backs of these Bigots: for it is pro-
bable, that, like theirjrantic Predecessors, they
may use some craft, as well as zeal, in this their
fury; and I cannot but think, that there was
a great deal of justice in that edict of the
Emperor. Commodus, with regard to these Bel-
lonarii, or Whippers of antiquity, though it is
usually imputed to his cruelty, when he com-
manded, that they should not be suffered to im-
I

pose upon the spectators, but be obliged to cut

and slash themselves in good earnest." [w]
,If I had .leisure to examine the pretended
miracles and pious frauds of the Romisl:
Church, I should be able to trace them all
from the same source of Paganism, and find
that the Priests of New Rome are not degene-
rated from their predecessors, in the art of
forging these !wIg impostures; which, as Li:vy
centur, quemadmgdum ne bominea quidem s&viunt.-Dii
autem nullo debent coli genere, si &:. .hoc volunt.- Teter-
rimi tyranni laceraverunt aliquonlID membra; neminem
sua lacerare jusserunr, Seneca Fragm. apud Lipsii Elect.
I. ii. 18.
[w] Bellone servientes vere exsecare brachium preecepit,
studio crudelitatis, Lamprid. iu...Commodo, 9.
 240

observes of old Rome, [x] teere always multi-

plied i1~.proportion to the credulity and dispo-
sition of the poor people to sicallo» them.
In the early times of the republic, in the
war with the Latins; the Gods Castor and
Pollux are said to have appeared on white horses
in the Roman army, which by their assistance
gained a complete victory: in memory of
which, the General Posthumius'Cowed and built
a Temple publicly to those Deities; and for a
proof of the fact, there was shewn, we find, in
Cicero's time, the mark of the horsel hoofs ona
rock at Regillum, where they first appeared.[y]
. Now-this miracle, with many others, that I
could mention of the same kind, [z] has, I
dare say, as authentic an attestation, as any
which the Papists can produce: the decree of
a Senate to confirm it; a Temple erected in
consequence of it; visible marks of the fact on
the spot where it was transacted; and all this
[.1'] QUI!! quo magis credebant simplices &:. religiosihomi-
nes, eo plura nunciabantur. Liv. l. xxiv. 10.
[y] Cic. de Nat. Deor. I. iii. 5~ lb. ii. 2. Vid. de Dit.
i.84.
[z] Cic. Nat. D. ii. 2. Plutar. in vita P.1Emil. Val.
Max. c. viii. 1. L. Flor.l. i. 11.... 2. 12.
 241

supported by the concurrent testimony of the

best authors of antiquity; amongst whom Dio-
n!Jsius of Halicarnassus says, [aJ that there
were subsisting in his time at Rome many
evident proofs of its reality, besides a yearly
festival, with a solemn sacrifice and procession in
memory of it: yet for all this, these stories
were but the jest of men of sense, even in the
times of Heathenism ; [bJ and seem so extra-
vagant to us now, that we wonder, how there
could ever be any so simple, as to believe
them.
What bettter opinion then can we have, of
a~lthose of the same stamp in the Popish Le-
gends, which they have plainly built on this
fOlmdation, and copied from this very ori-
ginal? Not content with barely copying, they
.seldomfail to improve the old story, with some
additional forgery and invention of their own.
Thus, in the present case, instead of tuo per-
sons on white horses, they take care to intro-
duce three ; and not only on white horses, but
at the head of tehite armies; as in an -old his-
tory of the holy wars, written by a pretended
(aJ Dion. Halic.l. vi. p. 337. Edit. Hudson.
[b] Aut si hoe fieri potuisse dicis, doeeas oportet quo-
modo, nee fabellas aniJes proferras. Cic. ibid. iii. 5.
R
 eye-witness, and published by ltfabillon, it is
solemnly affirmed of St. George, Demetrius,
and Theodorus. [c} They shew us too in
several parts of Italy, the marks. of hands and
feet on rocks and stones; said to have been
effected mi raculousl y by the apparition of some
Saint or Angel on the spot: [d] just as the
impression iI' Hercules's feet was shewn of old
on a stone in Scythia, [eJ exactly resembling
the footsteps of a 'man. And they have also
many Churches and public monuments [1]
[c] Tres itaqne milites persequentes illos sedebant super
albos equos--credenda est ism veritas, &. nullo modo prohi.
benda-hoc vero firmatum est testimonio eorundem Turco-
rum-s-Isti vero fueruut Christi milites Sanetus Demetrius,
Sanctus Georgius, &. Sanctus Theodorus, quos Deus man-
davit, &e.
Adjuvante eos Domino &. visibiliter mittenteeis ill adjlfo
torium sauctos suos Bellatores, vide}. Demetrium multotiens,
aliquando Georgium, neenon &. interdum Theodorum j ali-
quando totes tres cum suis dealbatis exereitibus, videntibus
non soTum Christi militibus, sed etiam ipsis inimieis Paganis,
&.e. Vid, Bell. Sac. Hrst, in Mabill. Iter. Ital. t, i, Par. ii,
p. IS8. 155.
[d] Si conserva poi in questa Chiesa una pietra, sopra Ia
quale apparendo l'Angelo in Castello, vi lascio Ie piante de
suoi piedisimpresse, e d'un fanciullo paiono le vestigia. R.
Mod. Gior. v. Rion. di Campetalii, c. 1.
[e] Herodot.l.iv. p. 4.2.5.1, Edit.'Lond.
rn There is an Altar of marble in St. Peter's, one of
 ereeted in testimony of such miracles, viz. of
Saints and Angels fighting visibly for them in
their battles; which though always as ridicu-
lous as that above-mentioned, are not yet
supported by half so good evidence of their
reality. [g]
the greatest pieces of modern sculpture, representing in
figures as large as the life, the story of .dttita King of the
Hunna, who in full march tswards Rome with a victorious
amlY, in order to pillage it, was frightened and driven back by
the apparition of an Angel, in the time of Pope Leo the
first.
The Castle and Church of St. Angelo have their title from
the apparition of an Angel over the .place, in the time of
Gregor!! the Great. Rom. Moder. Giorn. i, Riou, di
.Borgo i,
[g] Divum Jacobum nationis Hispanicee, qui armatus
Sll!pevisus in sublime preeire ac protegere acies Hispanorum,
nobilesque iis victortas iu saeris bellis conciliare. Boldonii
Epigraph. I. ii, p. 349.
<lJ We are told, that, so late .as in the sixteenth Century, a
gallant Spaniard, Peter de Paz, was seen to assist his coun-
trymen, som~ months qfter his decease, when they made all
assault at the siege of .Antwerp.
'The following extract (cited by the learned Mr. HARRIS
in his Philological Inquiries') is taken from the Disqui-
C

8itiones MagiciB of Marti" Del Rio, printed at Mentz,

an. 1617, cum gratia et pnvilegio Cesar. Majest. together
with the approbation of Oliverius Manama, Vice-Pro-
vincial of the Belgic Jesuits, and Gulielmus Fabricius,
stiled .4:postolicv, tt Rep, Librorum Ce1UDr;and attested
R 2
 244

The religion of Ceres of Enna was cele-

brated, as Cicero informs us, with a wonderful
devotion, both in·public a:'J.9.private, through
all Sicily. for her presence and divinity had
been frequently manifested to them by nume-
rous prodigies, and many people had received
immediate help from her in their utmost dis-

also by the evidence multorum gravium militum, QUI VI-

DlSSE SE SANCTE JURADANT.
The besieged, it seems, and their Allies, the Dutch and
English, were upon the point of forcing a post (aggerem)
possest by the Spaniards, who besieged the city. DelRio's
words after this area Tum a regiis militibus (Hispani&.
scil.) primo paueioribus CONSPECTUS. 'PRO:PE AGGERRM
PETRUS DE PAZ, Hispanus Tribunes, vir et militanb. et
pietatis ornameuiis laudatissimus, qui, jam MENSIBUS ALI-
QUOT A~TE DEFUNCTUS, ViSU.5 his armatus, UT SOLEBAT,
legionem preecedere, et suis quondam militihus, MANU AD-
VOCATIS, sequerentur ut se IMPERARE. Indicant primi
secundis ; sic tertiis; sic sequensibu»; VIDENT m.iNES
IDEM, miraniur, animisque resumptis NOTUM SEQUUNTUR
DUCEM, &c. .Disquisit. Mag, p.262.
LORD BACON, after having related some singular stories
of equal probability, concludes with the following 'obllervation:
]}I!I Judgment (says he) is, that they (be means the sto.
t win-
ries) ougltt all to be despised, and ought to seroe bl1:.for
ter-talk by the fire-side. Though when I say despised, I mean
asfor Belid'; for otherwise the spreading or publishingf!f'lhem
is ill no sott to be despised, for t!te.1J ha-ve done much mu..
chief, (Essaye and CouDaelll by Lord Verulam, No., nn,)
 '245

tress. Her image, therefore, in that Temple

was held in such veneration, that whenever
men beheld it, they fancied themselves be-
holding either' Ceres herself, or the figure of
her at least, not made by human hands, but
dropt down to them from heaven." [It) Now
if, in -the place of Ceres qf Enna, we should
insert into this relation, our lady of Loretto,
or of Lmprunein, or any other miraculous
Image in It(/~1J; the vcry same account would
suit as exactly with the history of the mo-
dern Saint, as it is told by the present R.OJJlC/11S,
as it formerly <tid with that of Ceres, as it is
transmitted to us by the Ancients. And
what else, indeed, are all their miraculous
Images, which we see in every great town,
said to be made by Angels, and _sent to them
from heaven, [iJ but mere copies of the an-

[h] Mira queedam toto Sicilia privatim ae publice religio

est Cereris Enncnsis. Etenim multa srepe prodigia vim ejus
numenque declarant: multis s~pe in dlfficillimis rebus pr~-
sens auxilium ejus oblatnm est, &e. In verr. iv. 49.
Alterum autem Enn~ (simulacrum Cereris) erat tale, ut
hominis cum viderent, aut ipsam se videre Cererem, aut effi-
giem Cereris, non humana manufactam, sed ctelo delapsam
arbitrarentur. lb. v, 7.
[tJ Sed quorsurn hie Sancti Dominici imaginem, qme
apud Surrianurn in Calabria jugibus nunc miraculis pra-ful-
 246
cient Fables, of the ~I07rE1';~ 4.A'YI%Af-tXl or Image
cif Diana dropt from the clouds; [jJ or the Pal-
ladium of Troy, which, according to old Au-
thors, [kJ was a wooden statue, three cubits
long, whichfellfrom heaven.
. In one of their C hurches here, they shewa
picture of the Virgin, which, as their writers
affirm, [/] was brought down from heaven with
great pomp, and after having hung awhile,
with surprizing lustre in the air, in the sight
of all the Clergy and people of Rome, was deli-
vered by Angels into the hands of Pope Jolm
the First, who marched out in solemn proces-
sion, in order to receive this celestial present.
And is not this exactly of a piece with the old
Pagawstoryof King Numa, when, in this same
City, he issued from his palace, with Priests
and people after him, and with public prayer
and solemn devotion received the anciie, or hea-
get, silentio obvolvimus? de Coelo quipe, ut pia traditio ~t,
heec primum anna 1530 delata validissimum adversus impios
iconoclastas propugnaculum exhibet, Aring. Rom. Subter,
tv. c. 5.
De imagine ilIa, quree cum ab AngeJis confecta fuerit
aXElpoTV1rO' vpcatur, nil nisi tritum suecurrit. Montfauc.
Dial'. ibid. 137.
[j] Act. Apost. e, xix. 35.
[k] Vid. Pitiaci Lexie. Alltiquitat.~
[I] Yid, Rom: Model'D. Giorn, ii, Rion eli Ripa, c, xliii.
 �47
~ly shield, which, in the presence of all the
people of Rome, was sent down to him with
muchthe same formality from the clouds? [m]
And as that wise Prince, for the security of
his heavenly present, ordered several others to
be made so exactly like it that the original
could not be distinguished; (n] so the Romisli
Priests have thence taken the hint, to form,
after each celestial pattern, a number of copies
soperfectly resembling each other, as to oc-
casion endless squabbles among themselves
about their several pretensions to the divine
original.
'I'he rod qf Moses, with which he performed
his miracl::s, is still preserved, as they pretend,
and shewn here with great devotion, in one of
the principal Churches; and just so the rod of
Romulus, with which he performed his augu-
ries, was preserved by the Priests, as a sacred
relique in old Rome, and .kept with great reve-
[m] A media Crelum regione dehiscere coepit :
Submisere oculos cum duce turba suos.
. Ecce levi scutum versatum leniter aura
Decidit, a populo clamor ad astra venit, &c.
Ov. Fast. I. iii.
[n] Plora jubet fieri simili crelata tigura;
Error ut ante oculos iDSidialltis eat.
Ov. Fast. 1. iii.
 248

renee from being touched or handled by the

people: [0] which rod too, like most of the
Popishreliques, had the testimony of a miracle
in proof of its sanctity; for when the Temple,
nhere it '[Baskept, teas burnt to the g1'Olllld, it uas
found intire under the ashes, and untouched by
the flames: [pJ which same miracle has been
borrowed and exactly copied by the present
Romans, in many instances; particularly, in
a miraculous Image of our Saciour in St. Joll1l
Lateran; over which theflames, it seems, had
110 pou'er, though the G hurch. itself has been
twice destroyed by fire. [q]
N otlling is more common among the mira-
cles of Popery, than to hear of Images that on
certain occasions had spoken; [r] or shed
[0] napaAaI3o}'n~ O( TO ~JAOV ,j(I'IUP dAAo Tl T~V
(lPEi~
Plutar. in Camil. 145, D.
(qJ/;;v cItJ,alluTov iqw'XaTTOv.
[p] POSSUllt &, illa miraculorum loco poni : Quod deusto
sucrario Saliorum, nihil in eo preeter lituum Ramuli integrum
repertum est. Valero Max, c. viii. 10. It. Cic. lie Divin, i.
17. Pluto in Rom.
[q] E questa imagine non s'abbrucio, essen do la Chiesa
stata abbruciata due volte. Rom. Moder. Gior. vi. Rion di
Monti xi.
(/,JF [1'] In a letter to the Lady X- dated Vienna, Oct. I.
]716, LADY WORTLEY MONTAGU, speaking of the
convent of St. Lawrence, says, "But I could not forbear
laughing at their shewiug me a aooden head of our Sat'iO/ll
 249
tears; or sweat; or bled: and do not we find
the very same stories in all the Ilea/hen 11'l'i-
ters r Of which I could bring numberless
examples from old as well as new Rome, from
.Pagan as well as Popish legends. Rome, as
the describer of it says, [sJ abounds with these
treasures, or speaking Images: but he laments
the negligence of their ancestors, in not rc-
cording, so particularly as they ought, the
'['er,lJ11.'0,.£18 and other circumstances l!l such. CO/l-
versatious. They shew us here an Image (!f'
tile Virgin, which reprimanded Gregory the

which, they assured me, spoke during the siege of Vienna,

and, as a proof of it, bid me mark his mouth, which had
been open ever since." Works, v, 12. p. 70.
111 a letterto Mr. POPE, dated Vienna, a few days after
the above, her Ladyship, describing the Emperor's treasure-
house, says, ,( But the next cabinet diverted me yet better,
being nothing else but a parcel of wax babies, and toys in
ivory, well worthy to be presented to children of five years
old. Two of the rooms were wholly filled with these trifles
of all kinds, set in jewels, amongst which I was desired to
observe a Cl"uri/i.l', that they ·assured me had spoken vcry
Wisely to the Emperor Leopold."

[s] Non si puo negare, che 'per Ie grande abbondanza,

che ha' Roma in simili tesori, non siano stati negligenti i
a
nostri maggiori, ill dame buon conto posteri loro, Rom.
}lod, R. di MOllti xxi,
 250

Great, for passing by her too carelessly: [t]

<n- [t] St. Gregory's adventure with this Image is related
in the following verses, which some ascribe to the Abbot
Joachim, and others to the venerable Bede. However it be,
the dialogue is too curious to be omitted.

Heus tu! quo properas, temerarie claviger! heus tu !

Siste gradum. Qure reddita vox mihi percutit aures?
Quia Cedi Regis me sceptra vices-que gerentem
Impius haud dubitat petulanti lredere lingua?
Siste gradum l conoerte oculos, cenerare vocantem!
o mirum ! 0 portentum! effundit Imago loquelas !
(At forte illudunt sopitos somnia sensus)
:Mene vocas, 0 Effigies! Hanc labra moventem,
Flectentemq: caput video. Quid quaris, Imago?
Nomen, Imago, tuum Jiceat cognoscere? Mater
Sancta tui Domini, tibi lle est ignota, Gregori1
Virgo parens, ignara tori, tactusq : virilis;
Regia Progenies; Rosamystica; Federis Arca ;
Excelei Regina Poli; DOr/LUsAurea; Sponsa Tonantis;
Justitia: speculum et cl!Jpeus; Dovidica Turris;
Janua Calorum, tibi ne est igllota? Gregori "!
Ignaro veniam concede, insignia Imago.
Virgo Maria prius nunquam mihi visa: Ioquentem
K unquam te prius audivi: quis talia vidit ?
Porco lubens : posthac sed reddere verba salutis
Debita, mente tene, Quo te nunc semita dllcii '?
Supra Altare tuum missam celebravit odoram
Presbyter Andreas; Anima;n liberavit, et ecce
Impatiens Semicocta jacet prope limina clausa
Coelorum : ilia viam petita me. Perge, Gregori.
" (Image.) Hark !Ie, Mr. Turnkey, tt'/tit/ter so fa# '?
You! bold face, You!
 �51
and, in St. Paul's Church, a crucifix, which

(Pope.) What profane noise invades my sacred ears?

Who dares revile, with his unhallowed tongue
The great Vicegerent of the King of Heaven?
(Image.j Stop, turn thy eyes, and worship her that calls
thee.
(Pope.) 0 miracle! 0 prodigy! a speaking Image!
Some dream perhaps my drowsy senses cheats :
No, 'tis no dream; but didst thou call me, Image?
What art thou? or, what wouldst? speak, I conjure thee.
(Image.) Dost thou not know the Mother cif tlly LOl'J,
Gregory'?
TlieVirgin-Mother neoer touch'd by MaTt;
Off-3pring cif sacred Princes; M!Jstick Rose;
Ark of the Covenant; Queen o' th' atONY sky;
Temple of Gold; the Thuncfrer's much-Zov'd.spouse;
lrlirror and shield, of Justice; David's tower;
T"'e Gate of Heaven; dost t}uru not k7WW her, Gregory 'I
(Pope.) Pardon, illustrious, sacred, much-wrong'd
Image:
Forgi"e an injury, ignorantly done:
My ignorance caus'd it: let it excuse my crime:
I never saw the Virgin Mary before,
Nor ever heard thy heavenly voice till now: .
What mortal ever saw or beard such wonders ?
(Image.) I do forgive thee willingly.
But as~ not pardon for a second error:
,Still with a decent Salutation greet
Me in thy passage.-Wbither was thy journey?
(Pope.) My brother Julio having said a Mass just now,
upon one of thy Altars, he has aton'd Heaven's anger, and
deliver'd a Soul; and 10,
 ,25.2
spoke to St. Bridguh, [uJ Durantus mentions
another Madonna, which spoke to the seaicn in
commendation qf the piety of one of her 'cota-
ries. [v] And did not the Image of Fortune
do the same, or more, in old Rome? ·Which,
as Authors say, spoke twice in praise of those
matrons, who had dedicated a Temple to her.[w]
i

The half-roasted ghost, impatient of delay,

Lies at the close-shut gates of Paradise,
Where longing it waits my coming for admittance.
(Image.) Go thy woys, Gregory, and make haste."
(See Misson's New Voyage to Italy. v. £. p. 39, &c.)

The Church in which this conversation passed, is said to

have been formerly a Temple of Remus, or of Remus and
Romulus.
[u] Imaginem ·Sanctre Marire custodem Ecclesiee aileen-
tam & Alexii singularem pietatem commendasse. Durant.
de Rit.I. i, c. 5.
[v] Fortunre item Muliebria simulacrum, quod est in ria
Latina, non semel, sed bis locutum constitit, his pame ver-
bis: Bene me, matronm, vidistis, riteque dedicastis, Valero
Max.i.8.
e
[li'J Vi una Madonna detta di St. Gregorio, della quale
IIidice, che un giorno passando il detto Pontifice, & non sa-
lutandol~, gli dicesse, &c. Ibid. Gior. v, Rion. di eampe-
talli .
.Ad sanctum Paulum, ubi vidimus ligllcam Grucifixi ima-
ginem, quem sancta llrigida sibi Ioquentem audiisse perhi-
betur, Mabill. D. Italic. p. 133.
 253
They have a Church here dedicated to St.
Mary the Weeper, or to a Madonna famous for
shedding tears: [x] They shew an Image too
of our Saviour, which for s~me time before the
Sacking of Rome aept so heartily, that the good
fathers of the ~Iollastery were all employed in
wiping its face 'l£;ithcotton: [1,1] And was not
thecase just the same among their ancestors,
when on the approach of some public cala-
mity, the statue qf Apollo, as Lil'!J tells us,
7i.'Cptfor three days and nights successivel,lJ? [z)
They have another Church built in honour of
an Image, which bled very plentifully, from a
blow given to it by a blasphemer: [a] and were
not the old Idols too asful! of blood, when, as
Liv!J relates, all the Images in tile temple of
Juno were seen to eueat t~)ith d1'OpS of it? [6]
[x] S:Maria del Pianto. Rom. Mod. Gior. iii. Hion.
della Regosa v,
[y] Dicono, ch'avanti il sacco di Roma pianse pill volte,
e li Padri ci venissero ad asciugar [e lagrime con bombace.
lb. Gior, vi. Rio di Mon. xxxi.
[s] Apollo triduum &. tres noctes lacrymavit. Liv.L xliii.IS.
[a] Comminciarono a tirarle de' sassinel .viso, e ne usc]
sangue, del quale si vedono insiu' hora i segni, &:c. Rom.
Mod. Gior. iii. Rio. di Ponte xvii,
[b] Signa ad J uncniaSospitee sudore manavere. Liv. xxiii.Sl.
Ad lucum Feronies sanguine sudarunt. lb. xxvii. 4.
(0' Under the empire of Caligula, the statue of Jupi-
 254

All which prodigies, as well modern as tJ1I-

cient, are derived from the same source, 'Viz.
the contricance of priests or governors, in order
to. draw some gain or advantage out of the
poor people, whom they thus impose upon.
Xenophon, though himself much addicted
to superstition, speaking of the Prodigies
which preceded the battle of Leuetra, and
fer, which was at Olympia, burst forth into such loud fits of
laughter, that those who were taking it down to carry it to
Rome, fled away alarmed, and left their work.
Firgil, in speaking of the Palladium (the little tutelary
statue of Minerva, which was kept at first so carefully at
Troy, and a!&erwards at Rome), ascribes a certain fury and
motion to the eye' of that figure, in a very particular man-
nero It is when Diomede had stolen the Palladium, and
brought it into the camp.

Vix positum castris simulacrum, arsere coruscee

Luminibus flammre arrectis ; salusque per artus
Sudor iit: terque ipsa solo (mirabile dietu)
Emicuit, parmamque ferens hastamque trementem.
lEn. 2. v, l7.>.
<IWheo first her fatal image touch'd the ground,
She sternly caat her glaring eyes around,
That IpOrkled QS t!ley roll'd, and seem'd to threat:
Her heav'nly limbs distill'J Q briny S'fuat.
Thrice from the ground she leap'd, was seen to wield
Her brandiah'd lance, and shake her horrid shield."
DRYDEN.
 255
portended victory to the Thebans, tells us,
that some people looked upon them all as forged
and contriced by the magistrates, (c ] the better
to animate and encourage the multitude:
and as the originals were but impostures, it"is
no wonder, that the copies of them appear
such gross and bungling forgeries. ,
I have observed a story in Herodotus, Ed]
not unlike the account, which is given of the
famed travels of the house of Loretto; .,pf cer-
tai11sacred mystical things, that travelled about
from country to countrq, and, after many remo-
vals and journeys, settled at last, for good and
all, in Delus. But this imposture of the llO(lJ
housemight' be suggested rather, as Mr. Addi-
son has observed, [eJ by the extraordinary
-veneration paid in old Rome to the cottage cif
itsfounder Romulus: which was held sacred b.1J
the people, and repaired with great care from
time to time, with the same kind of materials, so
as to be kept up in the same[orm in which it was
originally built.[f] It was turned also, I find,

[e] 0; fllv ~" rIVE, >"lyoVITIV tJ, ravra 1I'Rvra- rExvdl11-Wf'lt

~)' rii .. 1I'(J0E6N/I:tJrfJv. Xenoph.
Ellen. I. vi.
(d] Herodot. 1. iv. p. 235. Edit. Lond,
(el Addison's Travels from Pesaro Rome.to
[I] Dica, Halicar. l. i,
like this othet cottage of our Lady, into a
temple, and had divine service performed in it,
till it happened to be burnt down by the fire
of a sacrifice in the time of Augustus: [gJ but
what makes the similitude still more remark-
able is, that this pretended cottage of Romulus
was shewn on the Capitoline Hill; [h] whereas
it is certain, that Romulus himself Jived on
Mount Palatine: [i] so that, if it had really
been the house of Romulus, it must needs, like
the holy house of Loretto, have taken a leap in
the air, and suffered a miraculous translatioll,
though not from so great a distance, yet from
one hill at least to the other, [jJ '

[g] IK11Vt/ Ij TOU 'P6Jfw'Aov ii lEfJovpy[a~ TtJ'O~ oj" 0; 'l"of1'"

iptKE~ EV aVTy E7rE7fOt1iKEUaJl,iKaVe'l. Dio, 1. xlviii, p. 383.
[It] Per Romuli casam, perque veteris Capitolii humilia
tecta juro, Val. Max.L iv, c. 11.
Item in Capitolio commonefacere potest &. significare
mores vetustatis Romuli casa in arce sacrorum. Vitruv.L
ii. c. 1. Vid. etiam 'Macrob. Sat. i, 15. Vi!g . .lEn. viii. 65.
[i) llEpl n/v El~' TOV 17f7fOOpoP.OJlTO" p.{ya" iK naMirlo'
ti:ani{3c!ul". Plutarch. in Rom. P: =30.
'Pul,.,.JXor ,.,.iv TO IIaXuTlOv ti:arlx';'", TuTto~ OE TO Ka7fIT"'Alo,.
Dion. Hal. l. ii. p.1l0. Ed. Huds.
«T LJJ The Holy Chapel of Loretto, all the world knows,
was originally a small house, in Nazareth, inhabited b)' the
Virgin Mary, in which she was saluted by the Angel, and
where she conceived our Saviour. Dr. MOORE (View of
 251
But if we follow their own writers, it is not
the holy house of Loretto, but the homely cradle
of our Saviour, that we should compare rather
with the little house qf Romulus; which cradle
is now shewn in St. Mar.1J the Great, and on
Christmas-day exposed on the high altar to
the adoration of the people, being held in the
same veneration by present Rome, as the
humble cottage of its founder had been by its
old inhabitants. Rome, says Baronius, [k]
1\ Is now in possession of that noble monu-

Society and :Manners in Italy, v, i, p. 336 to 341) relates

the miraculous conveyance of this sacred edifice, by a band
of aRgels, to Loretto; and observes, that " when the house
disappeared, the landlords made inquiries, and offered r~
wards, allover Galilee, without being able to get any satis-
.factory accouat of the fugitive. • They felt their intere-st
muchaffected by the incident; for, as houses had never be-
fore been considered as moeeables, their value fell imme-
diately. This indeed might be partly owing to certain evil-
minded persons, who, taking advantage of the public alarm,
for selfi.!lhpurposes, circulated a report that several other
houseswere on the wing, and would most probably disappear'
in a few days."

Ramuli, &e. Vid. Baron. All. i, Cbrieti v.

Rom. Subt. 1. vi. i,
q.
[k] Porro in Christi natalia nobile monumentum ex ligno
confectum nullQque argenti vel auri cleJaturi confectum,
Roma possidet, eoque multO feliciUs illustratur Tugurio
It. AJiac.
 258

ment of Christ's Nativity, made only of

wood, without any ornament of silver or gold,
and is made more happily illustrious by it,
than it was of old by the cottage of Romulus;
which, though built only with mud and
straw, our ancestors preserved with great care
for many ages."
The melting of St. Janllarius' s blood at
Naples, whenever it is brought to his head,
which is done with great solemnity on the
day of his festival, [lJ whilst at all other times
-it continues dried and congealed in a glass
phial, is one of the standing and most authen-
tic miracles of Italy. Yet Mr. Addison, 'W1to
.twice saw it performed, assures us, that in-
stead of appearing to be a real miracle, he
thought it one of the most bungling tricks that
_ he !tad eoer seen. [Ill] .
ftIabilloll's account of the fact seems to
solve it very naturally, without the help of a
miracle: [11] for during the time' that a Mass
[1] De saneti Januarii cruore mirum quiddam narratur in
Breviario Romano-quoa ejus saoguis, qui in ampulla vi-
trea concretes asservatur, cnm ill conspectu capitis ponitur,
a~inirandum in modum colliquifieri videtur, Aringh. Rom.
Subter. 1. i. 16•
.• (l1i] AadiSdn'~'t;av. at Naples.
ttl] Ad pnesentiam capitis colIiquitieri videtur, ampulla
ell parte) qua sanguis, uaturaliter in 8ubjectam .ampullz.
 259

or two are celebrated in the Church, the other

priests are tampering with this phial of blood;
which is suspended all the while in such a situa-
tion,that as soon as anypart ~lit beginsto melt
by the heat of their hands, or other manage«
meu, it drops qf course into the lower side of the
glass which is empty; upon the first discovery
of which, the miracle is proclaimed aloud, to
the great joy and edification of the people.[oJ
But by what way soever it be effected, it is
plainly nothing else but the copy of an old
cheat of the ~ame kind, transacted near the

partem cadere debet, suspensl\; missa interim una duave,

dum sanguis decidat, celebrantur. Mabill. Iter. ItaI. p. 106.
<t;- to] A phial of St. Stephen's blood was annually liqui-
~ at Naples, .till he was superseded b,r St. Januarius.-
(Rumart. H ist. Persecute Vandal. p. 529.)
Innumerable were the miracles, even resurrecticns from
the dead, which were performed by the relicks of St. Ste-
phen. FrecuJphus (apud Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, t, viii.
p.249.) has preserved a GaJJie or Spanish proverb, " Whoever
pretends to have read all the miracles cif St.··Stephen, he lies."
MISSON, describing the relicks, statues, and miraculous
images at N~ples, says, "They keep at St. Lewis of the Pa-
lace, a· considerable quantity of the rirgills milk, which
becomes liquid 011 all our Lady's festivals. At St. JOhn
Carbonnara, the blood of St. Januarius boils up, when one
puts it near the shrine in which h!s body is kept ; and the
blood of St. John Baptist, which is at St. Maria Donna
Romito, makes a like ebullition, while they are sa)ing the
s2
 260
ry 'with in his journey to Brundusium-telling
-us how the priests would have imposed upon
him and his friends, at a town called Gnatia,
by persuading them, that the Frankincense in
the temple used to dissolve and melt miraculously
of itself, without the help of.fire. [p]
In the Cathedral Church cif° Ravenna, I saw
in lVlosaic 'a'Ork' the pictures of those Arch ..
bishops of the place, who, as all their histo-
rians affirm, [qJ were chosen for several ages
successively by the special designation of the
HoZ'lf Ghost, who, in a full assembly of the
Clergy and People, used to descend visibly
on the person elect in the 'shape of a Dove.. If
the fact of such a descent be tine, it will easi-
ly be Accounted for by a passage in AtJu$
Gelliu« (whence the hint was probably taken),
mass of the beheading of that saint. Nothing (adds he) is
.moreeasy titan to prepare certain composition or mixture of
drugs of an!! consistence and colour, tha: shews some Motion,
wit/lOutfire, by their fermenting togtt~r':'
[P] Hor. Sat. i, v. ver, 98.
[q] Quill enimnescit, quod sacne telltantur bistorill!, tunc
temporis cum Fabianus in summum Ponti1icem salu~tus
est, COhUDbam crelitils advenisse, ejusque capiti iucidendo
suffragium detulisse ? &:.C. Hoc idem in complurium Raven-
natum Episcoporum eJectionibu8 soJenae extitit, quorum
memoriam Rubeus recolit, Hilt. Raven.ltc • .Aringb. Rom.
Subt, I. vi. c. 43.
 261
, same place, which Horace makes himself mer"
who tells us of Archytas the philosopher and
mathematician, that he formed a pigeon of
fVQod so artificiallg, as to make itfly by the power
of Mechanism just as he directed it. [1'] And
we find from Strada, that many tricks of this
kind were actually contrived for the diver-
sion of -Charles the Fifth in his Monastery,
by one Turrianus, who made little birds fly out
f!f'the room aOO back Oj5ain by his great skill in
Machinery. [sJ ,.
. It would be endless to run through all the
Popish Miracles, which are evidently forged,
since or copied from the originals of paganism;
there is scarce a prodigy in the old Historians,
or a fable in the old poets, but what is trans-
cribed into their Legends, and swallowed by

[r] -Plerique nobilium Gnecorum affirmatissime scrip-

serunt, simulachrum Columbee e ligno ab Archyta ratione
quadam, disciplinaque mechanica factum volasse: Ita erat
librameutis suspeneum, &c. A. GeH. N oct. Att. 1. x. 12.
[8] Vide Gronovii. Not. in GeH. Ibid. .
«J" ROBERTSON says, that Charles 10 astonished the
ignorant Monks by. the puppets he made, which, by the struc-
ture of internal springs, mimicked the gestures and actions
of men, that they sometimes distrusted their own senses, and
sometimes suspected Cbarles and'Turnano of being in com-
pact with invisib)~ powers. (Hist. of Chao V. vol. 4. p. 228.)
 their silly bigots as certain and undoubted
facts.
The story of Arion the Musician,· riding
triumphant with his harp on the back of a Do/,.
phin, that took him up when thrown over-board
at Sea, is, one would think, too grossly fabu-
lous, to be applied to any purpose of Chris-
tian Supersiition: Yet our present Romans so
far surpass the old in Fable andlmposture, that
out of this single story they have coined many
of the stamp, viz. of D~lphins taking up and
bringing ashore with great pomp several of
their Saints, both dead and alive, who had
been thrown into the Sea by I'.,ifidels, either to
drown, or to deprive them of burial. [t]
The fable of the Harpies; those furies or
'{~ingedmonsters, who were so troublesome to
.!Eneas and his Companions, [u] seems to be
copied in the veryfir-st. Church within the walls
of Rome, close to the gate·of the people, as it
is called, by which we enter it from the north:
where there is anAltar with a public Inscrip-
[t] Quos Judex subniersos in.mare necavit; sed Del.
phinorum obsequio corpora erorum ad littus delata sunt:
Sed de obsequio Delphinorum martyribus impenso plura
infra suo loco. Aringh. Rom. Subterr, 1. I, c. 9,10.
[u] Virg.lEn. ill. 211.
 tion, [v] signifying, that it was built by Pope
Paschal the Second, by diciue Inspiration, in
o-rderto drive away a nest of huge demons or
monsters, who used to percli upon a tree in, t!tat
very place, and fer1'ibly insult all 'ldw entered the
city.
The Popish Writers themselves are forced to
allow, that many, both of their reliques and
their miracles have been forged by the craft
of Priests, for the sake of money and lucre.
Durantus, a zealous defender of all their cere-
monies, gives several instances of the former';
particularly of the bones cd' a common thief,
which had for some time been honoured with
an altar, and worshipped under the' title ~f a
Saint. [14"] And for the latter; Lyra, in his
[v] Altare a Paschali Papa n. divino afflatu
ritu solemni hoc loco erectum,
quo deemones proceros
nucis arbori insidentes,
transeuntem hine populum dire insultantes,
coo.festim expulit,
Urbani VIII. pont. max. auctoritate
excelsiorem in locum quem conspicis
translatum fuit
An Dom, M.De.XXVII.
[w] S. Martinu! altare, quod in honorem Martyris ex-
. structum fuerat, cum 088a &. reliquias cujusdam latronis esse
deprebendisset,llubmoveri jnssit, Durant. de Ritib. 1. i, c. 25.
 204
Comment on Bel and the Dragoo, observes,that
sometimes also in the Church, Very great cheats
are put upon the people, by false miracles, coo-
trived, or countenanced at least, b.y their priests
for some gain and temporal advantage. [.2'] And
what their own authors confess of some of their
miracles, we may venture, without any breach
of charity, to believe of them all; nay, we
cannot indeed believe any thing else without
impiety; and without supposing God to
concur in an extraordinary manner, to the
establishment oifraud, error, and superstition
in the world.
The refuge or protection given to all, who
fly to the Church for shelter, is a privilege di-
rectly transferred from the heathen temples to
the Popish Churches; and has been practised
in Rome, from the 'time of itsfoullder Romu-
lus; who, in imitation of the Cities of Greece,
opened an Asylum or Sanctuary to fugitives
of all nations. (g]
But we may observe the great moderation

[.1) Aliquando fit in Ecclesia maxima deceptio populi in

a
miraculis fictis sacerdotibus, vel cis adhereDtibus propter
lucrum temporale, &c. Vid. Nie, Lyr. in J;>an.c. 14.
[y] Romulus, ut saxo lucum circumdedit alto,
Quilibethuc, inquit, confuge, tutus eris- Ov, Fast-iii.
 265

of Pagan above that of Popish Rome, in re-

gard to this custom; for I do not remember
that there was more than one Asylum in the
times of the Republic; whereas there are now
some hundreds in the same city; and when
that single one (which was opened rather for
the increase of its inhabitants, than the pro-
tection of criminals) was found in the end to
givetoo great encouragement to mischief and
licentiousness; they enclosed it round in such
a manner as to hinder all access to it: (z]
whereas the present Popish Sanctuaries stand
perpetually open, not to receive strangers,
but to shelter villains; so that it may literally
·be said of these, what our Saviour said of the
Jewish temple, that they have turned the House
of Prayer into a Den of Thieves. [a]
In the early ages of Christianity there were
many limitations put :upon the use of this
privilege by Emperors and councils; and the
greater crimes of murder, adultery, theft, o/c'

[z) Oilr'" 'Yqp frEfJlEtppax8rr, iJtrrE ,.,,,Uva tTl TO frapcbra"

itrEA.OEjp i~ atlro ~lIv,,6;;)'al. Dio, l. xlvii. p. 385.
c::o- For a full account of the origin and progress of sanc-
tuaries, see Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, lib. ii.cap. 21.
See also Spanheim, De Usu Numismatum, cap. ix.
.[a] Matth. xxi, 13.
were especially excepted from the benefitof
it: [bJ but now they scruple not to receiveto
sanctuary, even the most detestable crimes;
and it is owing without doubt to this policyof
holy Church, that murders are so commonwith
them in Italy on slight provocations; whilst
there is a Church always at hand and always
open, to secure offenders from legal punish-
ment; several of whom have been shewnto
me in different places, walking about at their
ease, and in full security within the bounds of
their sanctuary. [c]
(6] Neque Homicidis, neque Adulteris, neque virginum
'raptoribus, &:c. tenninorum custodies cautelam ; sed etiam
bide extrahes, & supplicium eis inferes, Justin. Navel.
xvii. c. 7.
l(& [c) JORTIN relates the following miracle in favour of ,
sanctuaries :
" A. D.466. A certain man fled for protection to a mo-
nastery, of which 5t.Marcellus was abbot. Some soldiers
were sent to fetch him out by force: but the abbot would
not give him up. The soldiers surrounded the monastery in
the night, threatening to break in at the morning. But they
saw a fire from the top of the building, darting its rays at
them, like flashes of lightning; upon which they laid down
their weapons, and went to prayers. This miracle is sup-
posed to have given occasion to the eelebrated law of the
emperor Leo, in favour of sanctuaries, &c.
" Thus an artificial Phosphorus served for many excellent
purposes." (Remarks, v, 2. P: 433.)
 261
In their very Priesthood they have con-
trived, one would think, to keep up as near a
resemblance as they could, to that of Pagan
Rome: and the sovereign Pontif, instead of
derivinghis succession from St. Peter, (who,
if everhe was at Rome, did not at least reside
therein any worldly pomp or splendor) may
with more reason, and a much better plea,
stilehimself the Successor of the [d] Pontife»
Maximus, or chief Priest of old Rome; whose
authority and dignity was the greatest in the
Republic; and who was looked upon as the

I must just add, that the Heathens sometimes putfire and

combustible materials around an AS!llum, that the person
might apptsar to be forced away, not by men, but by ~ 0<><1,
Vulcan. See Plaut. Mostellar. v. i, 65.
How precisely do the Papists copy the Pagans in all
things!
[d] Multa divinitus, Pontifices, a majoribus nostris in-
venta, nihil preeclarius, quam quod vos eosdem, &. religioni-
bus Deorum Immortalium &. summee Reipublicee prseesse
voluerunt. Cic. pro Dom. i.
Maximus Pontifex dicitur, quod maximus rerum, qure ad
.acra &. religiones pertinent, judex sit, vindexque contumacire
privatorum, magistratuumque. Fest. I. xi. in voce Mox.
Quod Judex atque Arbiter habetur rerum divinarwn, hu-
manarumque. Id, in Ordo Sacerdctusn; .
T. Coruncianum Pontiticatu maximo ad principale ex-
tulere fastigium. VeIl. Pater. 1. ii, 128.
 268
arbiter or judge of all things, civil as well as
sacred, human as well as divine: whose power,
established almost with the foundation of the
City, " was an om~n (says Polyd07'e Vergil)
and sure presage of that priestly Majesty, by
which Rome was once again to reign as uni-
versally as it had done before by the forceof
its arms." [e]
[e] Certum portentum quo est significatum, Urbem Ro-
mam postremo perinde Pontificia Majestate, qua nunc late
patet, gentibus moderaturam, atque olim potentia impe-
rasset, Pol. Verg. Inv. ver, I. iv, 14.
«T The more we investigate the corrupt practices of
the Church of Rome, the more we shall discover how exactly
they have been borrowed from the Pagan superstitions. The
•Pope calls himself the arbiter or judge of all things, civilas
well as sacred, human as well as divine; and EXCOMMUNI'
CA TES those who refuse to obey him. And what is thisbut
a complete copy of the power exercised in the times of pa·
ganism by the priests of the gods? That it is such, willap-
pear evident to those who cast an eye upon the following
passage of Ceeear, De bello Gallieo, lib. vi. cap. xiii, cited
by Mosheim, (Ecclesiast, Hist. v. £. p. 229. <I Si qui
aut privatus aut publicus Druidum decreto non steti~
sacrificiis interdieunt. Heec prena est apud eos gravissima.
Quibus ita est interdictum, ii numero impiorum et scelera·
torum habentur, iis omnes decedunt, aditum eorum sertDo-
nemque defugiunt, ne quid ex contagiol/e incommodi aed·
piant; nequc iis petentibus jus redditur, n~que bonOl
uUus eommunicatur.' If allY prit'llte man or State do
.flOt obey their decree, they interdict him from holy dilly,
 269
But of all the sovereign Pontifs of Pagan
Rome, it is very remarkable that Caligula was
the first, who ever offered his foot to be kissed
by any, who approached him: which raised
ageneral indignation through the City, to see
themselves reduced to suffer so great an indig-
nity. Those, who endeavoured to excuse it,
said, that it was not done out of insolence,
but vanity; and for the sake of shewing his
golden slipper, set with jewels. Seneca declaims
upon it, in his usual manner, as the last at:'
front to liberty; and the introduction of a
Persian slavery into the manners of Rome. (f]
Yet this servile act, unworthy either to be

which i~ the .greatest punishment that is amongst them.

Such as are th'us interdicted, are reputed in the number of
impio1Ls and wicked men, every man leaves their compa"y,
Ilud doth avoid to meet them, or speak '(!'ith them, lest they
should receive any hurt by their contagion; neither have
they law or justice.when they require it, nor arlY respect or
honour tlw:t. doth belong unto them. "
. This the true origin of the ex~ensive and horrid influence
of the European and Papal excommunication. .
[f] A~oluto 8t gratias ageDti porrexit Qsculandum sinis-
trum pedem--qui excusant, negant id insolentill! causa fac-
tum j aiunt Socculum auratum, imo aureum;' margaritis dis-
tinctum ostendere eum voluisse-natus in hoc, ut mores ci-
vitatis Persica servitute mutaret, &.c. Senee. de Benef.
1. ii, 1i.
 .270

imposed or complied with by man, is now

the standing ceremonial of Ch'ristian Rome,
and a necessary condition of access to the
reigning Popes; though derived from no bet-
ter origin, than the frantic pride of a brutal
Pagan Tyrant. [gJ

e:t)o [g] The Popes did not always presume to display this
frantic pride. In the year 800, Charles the Great, or
Charlemagne, was made Emperor of Rome, and crowned
by Pope Leo III. who prostrated himself before Mm, and
acknowledged him as his temporal lord. But the popes in
following times learned better things, and treated kings lIIId
emperors as their vassals, slaves) and footmen.
According to several doctors of the Romish communion,
I the homage paid to the Pope byki$$ing Ms'toe, is not a civil
ceremony, or human respect, but a religious homage founded
on texts of Scripture, and rendered to the Pope not 8$ a
Prince, but as a God.
DR. MOORE (View of Society and Manners in Italy, v,
!. p. 50.) gives a pleasant account of his friends and himself
being presented to the late Pope. His Holiness, it seems,
indulgent to the prejudices of the British nation, had agreed
to dispense with the ceremony of kissing his toe; and there-
fore a very low bow, on being presented, was all that he re-
quired of them. II A bow!" cried the Duke of Hamilton
to the ecclesiastic who usually attends the English On such
occaSioQs, and who, without the knowledge of his Grace,
had effected this treaty with the Pontiff, II I should not have
given myself any trouble about the matter, had I suspected
that all was to end in a bow. I looked on ki$$ing tlu! toe as
the only amusing circumstance of the whole; if that is to be
 271
The great variety of their religious orders
and societies of Priests seemed to have been
formed upon the ,plan of the old colleges or
fraternities of the Augurs, Pontifices, Salii, Era-
ires Aroales, o/c. The Vestal virgins might
furnish the hint for the foundation cf Nun-
neries: [h] and I have observed something

omitted, I will not be introduced at all. For if the most

ludicrous part is left out, who would wait for the rest of a
farce'?" .
~ [h] The learned reader may see a very curious Disser-
tation on the Vestals; in the Memoires de I'Academie de.
Inscriptions, tom. iv, P: 161-:-227. The Vestals of the
ancient Romans were only si:r:in number; but the Nunnerie«
of the. modem Romans exceed all calculation. I lament to
.y, that there. are still several unhappy establishments of this
kind in our country. What can parents mean by coadenm-
ing their daughters to such absurd superstition?
" Lost ill a convent's solitary gloom !" Pope.
Was not woman, as well as man, formed by nature for
social communication? No less truly 'than beautifully does
the poet say,
" Man in society is like a flower
Blown in its native bed; 'ti.q there atone
His faculties, expanded in full bloom,
Shine out; there only reach their proper use."
The" Task."

JOHNSON (see Boswell's life of him, v.2. P: 456.) ob-

serves, that" All severity that does Dot tend to increase good,
or prevent evil, is idle.'~ He adds, U I said to the Lady
 272
"cry like to the rules and austerities of the
monastic life, in the character and manner of
several Priests of the Heathens, who used to
live by themselves, retired from the world, near
to the Temple 01' Oracle of the Deit:1J,to whose
particular service they were devoted; as the
Seili, the Priest 0/' Dodonann Jove, a self-mor-
tifying race. [iJ
aMi U IE).).ol
IOL valov(f' WOtpijTUt dYt'lC'Tlf1t'oaE~xap.atlVvat.
n. xvii, !34.
Whose groves the Selli, race austere, surround ;
'Their feet unwash'd, their slumbers on the ground, UJ
Mr. Pope_
Abbess of a Convent, 'Madam, you are here notfor tAe
love of virtue, but the fear of vice: She said.," She should
remember this as long as she lived:'
[i] To TWY tEpl",v 'Y{vo~ a7fo T"'Jf aU", .. X"'pLtr a~opt(fftlyfW.
Plato in Timeeo. p. 1044.
From the character of these Selli, or as others call them,
Elli, the Monks of the Pagan World, seated in the fruitfuJ
Soil of Dodona; abounding, as Hesiod describes it, with
every thing that ,=ould make life easy and happy; and whither
no man ever approached them without an offering in his
hands, we may learn whence their successors. of modem
times have derived that peculiar skill or prescriptive right,
of chusipg the richest part of every country for the place of
their settlement, Vid. Sophoc, Trachin. p. 340. v. 1175.
Edit. Turneb. &. Schol, Triclin,
~ [j] I shall here introduce a few words relative to the
t<libory of the Romi$k clergy.
 .273

But above all, in the old descriptions of the

'/uzymendicant Priests among the Heathens, who
Bishop ELLYS says, "there is no reason to pretend, as
the Romanists do, that the spiritual characters of our bishops
and clergy were, or are made worse or blemished by their
being married; for a state designed by God for mankind in
general, even while they were in Paradise itself, can never he
impure in a moral sense. In the Mosaic law, which insisted
much on outward purity, it was allowed to the high priest
himself. .
" In the New Testament, marriage is declared to be ho-
nourable in all; (Heb. xiii. 4.) and the bishops are ex-
pressly allowed to be the husbands of one wife, (I. Tim. iii.
2. Tit. i, 6.) although, in times of persecution, St. Paul did
not advise it to them, or even to Christians at large; yet there
is no intimation, that, in quiet times, the clergy ought to be
under an obligation to celibacy. .
; I. In the .third and fourth centuries, indeed, celibacy was

. magnified by some, and, in the fifth century, injoined by

others; but it was not universally practised; In the eastern
church, marriage was allowed, and the celibacy of the clergy
~id not obtain generally in the west, till the ambition and
usurpation of the popes, having drawn to themselves a power
over most of the great preferments, allowed or forced most
of the clergy upon celibacy.
" The true reason why the popes were so intent upon
gaining this point was, because they thought the clergy,
having no wive. or children, would be more dependent upon
their see. This made them connive at the immorality and
incontinence of the unmarried clergy, which was so great,
that even P9pe Pius II. said, that the clergy ought to be
1I11owedto marry. (See also St. Bernard, q¥oted by Arch-
l'
 274

used to travel [kJ from house to house, with

sacks on their backs; and, from an opinion of
their sanctity, raise large contributions of

bishop Parker, in Anselmo, p. 186. edit. Lond. 1729.)

" Indeed, in the views of policy, this conduct of the seeof
Rome was expedient for its qwn grandeur; but this consi-
deration is of great force, 'to shew that the marriage of the
clergy is far more to the advantage of civil states, than their
being in celibacy; in regard that the former contributes to
increase the people, makes them better subjects to civil go-
vemment than the latter; and, at the same time, more es-
emplary to their fellow-subjects. U pon whi~, as well as
other accounts, all princes and states in their petitions and
remOQJtra8ces for reformation, constaDdy desired the elergy
IIligbt be permitted to marry. Accordu.gly, the marriage of
Our clergy is 80 far from being an objection to our esta-
blishment, that it is a recommendatioD to it." (Tracts,
pp.122-3.)
That St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, (as the Papists
call him) ,,~ married, appears from the followiog texts.
" Peter's '(IIife's mother waa sid of a fever." (Matt. viii. 14.)
" And Simon's alife's mother was sick of a fever." (Mark i,
SO.) "And Simon'lI wij;'s mother," &0. (Luke iv. 38.)
But it was expressly foretold, that, "in the latter times,
some should tlpostati:te from the faith, FOIUUDDING 1'0
MABRY!" (See ante pag. 142, note.)
[k] Stipes areas, immo vero &. argellte8B, multis eertatim
olferenbbull sinu recepere patulo: nee non &. vini cadum &
lactis &. caeeos avidi.'Janimis corradentes &. in lIaccul08 buic
'lUltSbu de industria ~paratos farcieDCe8, ac. ApuJeiut
Afetam. 1. viii. p. 202.
 275
money, bread, wine, and all kind qf cictuals, for
the support of their fraternity, we see the very
picture of the begging Friars; who are always
about the streets in the same habd, and on the
same errand, and never fail to carry home with
them a good sack full of provisions for the use
of their convent.
Cicero, in his book of laws, restrains this
practice of begging, or gathering alms, to one
particular order of Priests, and that only on
certain days; because, as he says, [1]' it pro-
pagates s.uperstiticm and impoverishes families.
Which, by the way, may let us see the' policy
of the Church of Rome, in the great care, that
they have taken to mUltiply their begging
orders. em]

ll] Stipem sustulimus, nisi eam quam ad paucos dies

propriam Ideeee Matris excepimus: Implet enim super·
stitione animos, exhaurit domos, Cic. de Legib. 1. ii. 9. 16.
~ [m) -The impious wiles of the Ramish Priests, called
Mendicants, may here deserve some mention. I borrow the
. following account from Mosheim, (Ecclesiast. Hist, v. S.
p. 2Q4.-5}-" We Dlaygive as a specimen of their notorious
frauds, the ridiculous fable which the Carmelites impose
upon the credulous, relating to Simon Stockius, the General
of their order, who died about the beginning of this (the 13th)
Century. To thiI ecclesiastic, tbey tell us, that the Pirgill
"J[aty appeared, and gave him a solemn promise, that the
T 2
 276
I could easily carryon this parallel, through
many more instances of the Pagan and Popish
ceremonies, if I had not already said enough,
to shew from what spring all that superstition
flows, which we so justly charge them with,
and how vain an attempt it must be, to jus-
tify, by the principles of Christianity, a worship
formed upon the plan, and after the very pat-
tern of pure Heathenism. I shall not trouble
myself with ~nquiring at what time, and in
what manner these several corruptions were
introduced into the Church: whether they
were contrived by the i:ntl'igues and aoarice of
Priests, who found their advantage in reviving
and propagating impostures, which had been

souls of such as left· the world with the Carmelite cloakor

gapulary upon their shoulders, should be infallibly pre-
served from eternal damnation. And here (says Mosheim)
let it be observed to the astonishment of all, in whom tke
potoe» 0/ superstition has not extinguished the plainest dic-
tates of common sense, that this fiction, ridiculous and im-
pious as it was, found patrons and defenders even among
the Pontiffs. Be late Pope Benedict XIV. notwithstand-
ing his pretended freed6tn {rom superstition and priestly
fraud, has deigned to appear among the supporters of this
gross fiction, though he defends it with his usual air of pru-
.
dence and timiditv, in his book De Festi» B. Maria: - Firg•
Jib. ii, cap. vi. p. 472. tom. X. opp. edit. Rom,'"
 277
of old so profitable to their predecessors : or
whether the genius of Rome was so strongly
turned to fanaticism and superstition, that they
were forced, in condescension to the humour
of the people, to dress up their new religion
to the modes and fopperies of the old. This, I
know, is the principle, by which their otcn
Writers defend themselves, as oft as they are
attacked on this head.
Aringhus, in his account of subterraneous
Rome, acknowledges this conformity between
the Pagan and Popish rites, and defends the
admi~sion of the ceremonies of Heathenism
into the service of the Church, by the autho-
rityof their uisest Popes and Governors, [11]
" who found it necessary, he says, in the con-
version of the Gentiles, to dissemble and wink
at many things, and yield to the times; and
not to use force against customs, which the

[1l) Ac maximi subinde Ponti6ces quamplurima prima

quidem facie dissimuIanda duxere, optimum videlicet rati
tempori deferendum -esse ; suadebant quippe sibi, baud ul-
lam adversus gentilitiosritus vim, utpote qui mordicus a fide-
Iibus retinebaatur, adhibeudam esse; neque ullatenus eni-
tendum, ut quicquid profanes saperet mores, omnino tolle-
retur, quin imo quam maxima utendum Ienitate, sacrarumque
legum ex parte intermittendum imperium arbitrabantur, &c.
Vid. Aring. Rom. Subter. tom. i, 1. 1. c. 21.
 . 278

people were so obstinately fond of; nor to

think of extirpating at once every thing, that
. -had the appearance of profane; but to super-
sede in some measure the obligation of the
sacred laws; till these converts, convinced by
degrees, and informed of the whole truth, by
the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, should be
content to submit in earnest to the Yoke of
Christ ."
It is by the same principles, that the Jesuits
defend the concessions, which they make at
this day to their Proseljte» in China; who,
where pure Christianity will not go down,
never scruple to compound the matter be-
tween Jesus and Confucius; and prudently
allow, what the stiff old Prophets so impoliticly
condemned, a partnership between God and
Baal: of which, though they have often been
accused at the Court of Rome, yet I have
never heard that their conduct has been cen-
sured. But this kind of reasoning, how plau-
sible soever it may be, with regard to the first
ages of Christianity, or to nations just con-
verted from Paganism, is so far from excusing
the present Geniilism of the Church of Rome,
that it is a direct condemnation of it; since
the necessity alleged for the practices if ever it
 279
had any real force, has not, at least for many
ages past, at all subsisted: and their tolera-
tion of such practices, however useful at first
for reconciling Heathens to C hristiallity, seems
now to be the readiest way to drive Christians
back again to Heathenism. [0]
[0] JORTIN (Remarks, v. s. p. 364.) assigns some ex
cellent reasons why Christianity can receive no good from
Popish missions.
" From the attempts of Papists to convert infidels, no-
thing very beneficial to Christianity can well be expected;
not because the former are always deficient ill learning and
abilities, but because their own religious scheme labours under
insuperable difficulties. Some of them can reason well, and
some have written well upon the evidences of natural and
revealed religion. But to make men Christialls is the
smaller part of their task; they must proceed, and make
them members of the Church of Rome, and receivers of her
doctrines, some of which are contrary to the testimony of
the senses, and abounding with contradictions; so that rea-
son must be discarded from the Romish system, and a fa-
natical sort of faith required from the converts.
" But this is not all. Suppose that infidel Princes
should by some way or other get an insight into Ecclesiasti-
cal History, into the papal usurpations-the power which the
Vicar of Christ claims O1Jerall men, both in temporals and
spirituals-the use of SI. Peter's two swords-the pretellsions
to i1lfallibility-the extortions-r-the indulgences-tlte inqui-
sitiollS-the piOU3frauds-the lying miracles--the expur-
gatory imle:J;es-the opm violellce-the iuterdicts-tl;e ex-
commll1licdtio1ts-the breach 0/ public faith-the massacre,
 280

But it is high time forme to conclude, being

persuaded, if I do not flatter myself too much,
that I have sufficiently made good, what I
first undertook to prove; an exact Confor-
mity, or Uniformity rather, of 'Worship, between
Popery and Paganism: for since, as I have
shewn above, we see the present people oj
Rome worshipping in the same Temples t at
the same Altars; sometimes the same Images;
and always with the same Ceremonies, as the
old Romans; they must have more charity, as
well as skill in distinguishing, than I pretend to
have, who can absolve them from the same
superstition and idolatry, of which we cO~ldemD
their Pagan Ancestors. ,
of heretics and irifidels......,.ekeabsolving subjects from tkeir
allegiance-the deposing and assassinating of princes-the
disposing of crowns and sceptre~nd a long catalogue of
enormitie« practised by the Roman CA"rcn and its rulers;
it cannot well be supposed that such princes would be foDII
of admitting such teacher. into their domiaions,"
 THE

antbor'£\ ~ost~(tipt•
•

AFTER I had sent these Papers to the

Press, I happened to meet with a paragraph
in NIr. Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses,
whichobliges me to detain the reader a little
longer, in order to obviate the prejudices,
whichthe authority of so celebrated a writer
may probably inject to the disadvantage of
my argument; which, though it has been
maintained, as he observes, by many able wri-
ters, he has taken occasion to condemn, as an
utter mistake, and a misapplication of their time
and learning, in the pursuit of afalse principle.
The paragraph runs thus;
'f There is nothing obstructs our disco-
veries in antiquity, (as far as relates to the
knowledge of mankind) so much as that false
though undisputed principle, that the general
customs of men (in which a common like-
ness connects, as in a chain, the manners of
 282
its inhabitants, quite round the globe) are all,
whether civil or religious, traductive from one
another. vVhereas in truth, the original of
this similitude is the voice of one common
nature, improved by reason, or debased by
superstition, speaking to all its tribes of in-
dividuals. But it is nowonder men have been
misled by this false principle. For when a
custom, whose meaning lies not very obvious,
requires some account to be given of its ori-
ginal, it is much easier to tell us that this
people derived it from that, than rightly to
explain to us what common principle of rea-
son or superstition gave birth to it in both.
How many able Writers have employed their
time and learning to prove Christian Rome to
have borrowed their superstitions from the
Pagan City? They have indeed shewnan
exact and surprising likeness in a great va-
riety of instances. But the conclusion from
thence, that therefore the Cath~lic borrowed
from the Heathen, as plausible as it seems,
is I think utterly mistaken .. To offer at pre-
sent only this plain reason, the rise of the su-
perstitious customs in question were many
ages later than the conversion of that Im-
perial City to the Christian faith: conse-
 283
quently, at the time of their introduction,
there were no Pagan prejudices that required
such a compliance from the ruling Clergy.
For this, and other reasons, therefore, I am
rather induced to believe, that the very same
spirit of superstition, operating in equal cir-
cumstances, made both Papists and Pagans
truly originals, t}c." [p] .
I am at a loss to conceive what could move
my learned friend to pass so severe a cen-
sure upon an argwnent which has hitherto
been espoused by all Protestants, admitted
by many Papists, and evaded, rather than
contradicted, by any, But whatever was his
motive, which, I persuade myself, was no
unfriendly one, he will certainly pardon me,
if pursuing the full conviction of my mind, I
attempt to defend an established principle,
confirmed by strong and numerous facts,
against an opinion wholly new and strange
to me, and which, if it can be supposed to
have any force, overthrows the ·whole credit
and use of my present work.
To proceed therefore to the consideration
of his reasoning. He allows that the writers

[P] Div. Legation. vol. ii, par. l. p. 355.

 284

who have undertaken to deduce the rites of

Popery from Paganism, haoe sheton an exac:
and surprising likeness betueen them in a great
variety of instances. This, one would think, is
allowing every thing that the cause demands:
it is every thing, I dare say, that those writers
desire. But this question, according to his
notion, is not to be decided by facts, but by
a principle of a different kind-a superior
knowledge of human nature, which would teach
us, that, notwithstanding all that esact and
surprimlg likeness, the Papists are as truly ol'i-
ginals as the Pagans,and borroieed nothing at
all in reality from their Heathen Ancestors>-
He offers one plai1~ reason, in the support of
this assertion-" That the rise of the super-
stitious customs in question uere many ages later
than the conversion of Rome to the Cln'istian
faith; and consequently, at the time of their
first introduction, there aere no Pagan pre-
judices, that required such. a compliance [rom
the 'ruling Clergy." But this reason is so far
. from being a plain one, that, till it be more
precisely stated, it will hardly pass for any
reason at all. It consists, we see.of an histo-
rical fact, and of a consequence deduced from
it; but till the era of that fact be settled, or
 285
the number of ages determined by which the
introduction of those ceremonies was later than
the conversion of Rome, it is not possible for
us to judge of the consequence, which he
draws from it, or to know whether there were
any Pagan prejudices subsisting at that time
or not--on which the whole force of his rea-
son depends. I

To set this argument therefore in its proper

light, let us take a summary view of the Chris..
tian religion in Rome, from the reign of Con-
stantine the Great, the known eera of its esta-
blishment in that Imperial City.
From this eera then, according to the ac-
counts .of all writers, though Christianity
became the public and established religion
of the Government, yet it was forced to
sustain a perpetual struggle for many ages
against the obstinate efforts. of Paganism,
which was openly espoused by some of the
Emperors, publicly tolerated, and privately
favoured by others, and connived at in some
degree by all.
Within thirty years after Constantine, the
Apostate Julian entirely restored it, abrogated
all the laws. which had been made against it,
and prohibited the Christians to teach or pro-
 286

pagate the Gospel. [qJ The three Emperors

who next succeeded, Jovian, Valentinia«, Va-
lens, though they were Christians by profes-
sion, were yet wholly indifferent and neutral
betsoeen the two religions, granting an equal
indulgence and toleration to them both; and
Gratian, the fourth, though a sincere believer,
did not think fit to annul what Julian had re-
stored. [1'] He was the first, however, who re-
fused the title and habit oj' the Pontife» Max-
imus, as giving a kind of sanction to the old
idolatry. But this affront provoked the Pagan

[q] Petunt etiam, ut iUis privilegia deferas, qui loquendi

&. docendi ncstris communem USUUl, J uliani lege proxima
denegarunt.--Ambros. adv. Symmach. lib. i.ad Valen-
tinianum.
[r) Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived in that very age,
gives this character of the Emperor f7alentinian; Postremo
hoc moderazsine principatus incIaruit; quod inter religioulllB
diversitates medius stetit; nee quenquam inquietavit; neque
tit hoc coleretur imperavit, aut illud, Nee interdictis mi-
nacibus subjectommcemcem ad id, quod ipse coluit, incli-
nabat; sed intemeratas reliq.uit has partes, nt reperit, Jib.
xxx, c. 9.
Symmacltus,in his- memorial to rakntinian the IId. speak.
ing with a reference to the five Emperors just named, says;
numerentur Principes ntriusque Seetes, utriusque SententilE:
proxhnus e011118ca:remonias patrum coluit, recentior nOD
removit. Symmach. Epist. !. x, 54.
 287

Priesthood so highly, that one of them is re-

corded to have said, since the Emperor refuses
to be our Pontifex, we will very shortly take care
that the Pontifex shall be ]-fa~imus-which
they Soon after made good by the murder of
Grutian, and the advancement of Maximus
to the throne. [s]
In the following reign of Theodosius, whose
laws were generally severe upon the Pagans,
Symmachus, the Governor of Rome, presented
a petition or memorial,in the strongest terms,
and in the· name of the Senate and People of
Rome, to Valentinian the younger, Theodosius's
partner in the Empire, for leave to replace the
Altar cf-Victory in the Senate House, whence .
it had been removed by Gratian, and to re-
store their antient privileges and revenues to
tke Vestal Virgins. [t] This w~<'Qrial was
answered by St. Ambrose, whc \ ,'~ a Letter
upon it to the Emperorvobser. cs, that when
the petitioners had so many Temples and Altars
open to them in all the streets of Rome, and par-
ticularly an Altar of Victory, where they might
freely offer their sacrifices, it seemed to be a mere
(s] Vie. Jac. Gothofred. De Statu Paganor, sub Christ.
Imperatorib. Prref.
(t] Vid. Symmach. Epist. ibid.
 288

insult on Christianity, to demand still one Altar

more; and especially in the Senate House, where
the greater part we1'e then Christians. [u). Yet
it appears from some hints in another letter,
that this majority of Christians durst not ven-
ture to oppose the petition, but were content
to withdraw themselves only, that they might
not be said to have voted for it. [v] The pe-
tition was rejected by Valeniinian against the
advice of all his Council; but was grantett
presently after by the Usurper Ugenius, who
murdered and succeeded him.
Theodosius the Second, pursuing the maxims
of his father, published a law to punish all
those who were caught in the act of sacrificing
to Idols, wlth banishment and corifiscation of
goods: and when this was not sufficient to
restrain them, he made the punishment capi..
tal, and ordered their Temples to be demolished.

[u] H ujus aram strui in U rbis Romee Curia petunt; hoc

est, quo plures convenient Christiani. Omnibus in Tem·
plis arse ; ara etiam in temple Victoriarum; quoniam otl-
mero delectantur, Sacrificia sua ubiqueconcelebrant. Quid
est nisi insultare fidei, unius arle sacrificium vendicare 1-
Non illis ntis· sunt lavaera, non porticus, non plateee ocu-
patee simulacris ..-Ambros, adv. Symmach. lib. ii, ad Va-
lentin.
[11] Ibid. lib. 1.
 .289

Yet-he prohibited the Christians at the same

time by another law, from injuring either
their persons or goods, on the account of their
religion, as long as they behaved themselves
quietly, and with due respect to the laws. [w]
During this period therefore, which includes
a full century from the conversion of Rome, in
which the Christians and Pagans lived promis-
cuously in every City of the Empire: enjoy-
ing, for the greatest part, not only t~e free
exercise of their several religions, but an
(w] Sed hoc Chnstianis, qui 'Del cere sunt, 'Vel esse di-
euntur, specialiter demandamus, ut Judreis ac Paganis in
quiete degentibus,-non audeant manus inferre religionis
auctoritate abusi, &c.
Vid. Jac. Gothofred. de Statu·Paganor. leg. xxiv. A. D.
423. .
N..B. This law, which was published above a Century
after the establishment of Christianity, is addressed, in very
peculiarterms, to all Christians, whether real or nominal;
whether they were truly so, or passed only for such.-Which
shewsus in the first place, from what source a great part of
those pagan prejudices, that infected the discipliIle of the
Church, would naturally arise; oiz; from the numbers of
the pretended converts, who were Pagans still in their
hearts, and conformed only through fear, or flattery to the
reigningpowers: and ~dly, that these false Christians used
to cover their hypocrisy by the mask of an extraordinary
zeal, and were the most forward to insult and persecute both
ihl1 Jews and the Pagans. .
tr
 equal share of the honours and magistracies
of the State, it is evident, as well from the
nature of the thing, as from the facts above
recited, that there were many strong prejudices
in favour of Paganism actually subsisting in
all ranks of men, which an ambitious and
temporizing Clergy would naturally apply to
the advantage of their ease, their profit, or
their power; so that, if any of the ceremonies
in question were introduced into the Church
within this period, their Pagan origin cannot
be disputed, and 1lJr. Warburton, I am per-
suaded, according to his own reasoning, will
allow.the mistake to lieon his side. [x]
~ [x] GIBlJON, whose impartiality in a controversy of
this nature will be universally allowed to give additional
weight to his authority, notices this passage of Warburton's,
and declares, that he has 'distorted his ideas, by rendering
them too general and absolute.' The religion of Constan-
tine, says Gibbon, atchieved in less than a century, the final
conquest of the Roman empire; but the victors themselves
were insensihly subdued by the arts of their vanquished ri-
vals. He then observes,· in a note, that" The imitation of
Paganism is the subject of Dr. Middleton's agreeable letter
from Rome. Warburton's ani ....adversions obliged him to
connect the history of the two religions j and to pr0ve the
antiquityof the Christian copy." (Decline and Fall, vol. 11.
p.136.)
The literary character ot W AJI.BURTON is 'Veryaccurately
 Let us enquire then, in the next place, what
light the monuments of those times will af-
ford concerning the rise of these ceremonies:
but as it is of little moment to the public to
know the exact time of their introduction, so
I will carry the reader no farther into this
search. than will be necessary to convince
him, that I have not been imposing upon him
a specious error, or fancifitl hypothesis, ground-
ed on a false notion of human nature, but an
historical relation of the Paganism of modern
drawn by WARTON, in the following words: li Warburton,"
says he, li had certainly wit, genius, and much miscellaneous
learning; but, was perpetually dazzled and misled, by the
eager desire of seeing every thing in a new light unobserved
before, into perverse interpretations and forced comments.
~is passion being (as Longinus expresses it) TOU ~EJla~ JlO1JITEl~
/tIEL KIVEJI. It is painful to see such abilities wasted on such
unsubstantial objects. Accordingly his notes on Shakespear
have been totally demolished by Edwards and Malone; and
Gibben has torn up by the roots his fanciful and visionary
interpretation of the sixth book of Virgil. And but few
readers, I believe, will be found, that will cordially subscribe
to an opinion lately' delivered, that his notes on Pope's Works
are the very best ever given on any classic whatever. For to
instance no other, surely the attempt to reconcile the doc-
trines of the Essay on Man to the doctrines of Revelation, is
the rashest adventure in which ever critic yet engaged. This
is, in truth, to divine, rather than to explain au author's mean-
ing." (See Warton's Pope's Works, v, i. p. 174.)
U 2
 Rome, deduced from unquestionable facts,
and the clear testimony of Antiquity; and
this I shall be able to shew, as far as there
will be occasion, from some of the hints al-
ready given in my Letter and my Preface.
Everyone knows what a perpetual use
there was of Incense and sueet Odours in all
the Temples of the Heathens. Tertullum
speaks of it, as the distinguishing rite of Pa-
ganism; and declares, that Idolatry might
sooner pe carried on. without an Idol, than with-
out Incense: and for this reason, as he inti-
mates, if the Perfumers, who furnished this
Incense to the Pagan altars, continued to carry
00 that trade, after they had embraced the Chris-
tian .faith, they were to be rejected from the
Church. Cy] This was the primitive disci-
pline, before the conversion of Rome, when
the Church was cautious of admitting into her
worship, whatever had any relation to the old
Idolatry: yet even in this period Gregory
Thaumaturgus is commended by his namesake
of Nissa, for changing the Pagan Festivals into
Christian Holydays, the better to draw the Hea-

[y] Si &. nunc etiam sine Idolo opus Idolatries incendiia

odorum perpetratur-nam facilius sine Idolo, Idololatria,
quam sine Turarii merce, Apologet. xi.
 thens to the religion of Christ, [zJ But after
the establishment of Christianity, when the
policy of complying with the popular preju-
dices began to prevail among the Clergy;
and the Church, as St. Jerom says, declined as
much in its oirtue.; as it increased in its pO'[R)er,
we find not only the Incense-sellers, but the
incense itself, and the Thuribulum taken into
the service of the Christian Altars, and men-
tioned by St. Ambrose and St. Chl'!Jsostom, as
of common use both in tho Eastern and 'Yes-
tern Empire. [a]
The Pagans, as I have shewn, besides the
constant use of lustral water in their Temples,
used to sprinkle their horses with it in the Gir-
censian games, to preserve them probably from

[z] Nissen. in vito Greg. Thaumat.

[a] Atque utinam nobis adolentibus Altaria, sacrificium
"deferentibus assistat Angelus, &c. AriIbros. in Luc. i.
Diaconus, -"l..a{3Jv TO 6v/lcanlptOv teai TO 6v/lla/la, &C.
Chrysost. Liturgia. vid. Beverigii Annot. in Canon. Apost.
w.
Some learned men have asserted the use oj Incense to be
oj Apostoli~ institution, from the authority of the Apostolic
Canons: but the testimony of Tertullian, quoted above,
_clearly shews, that it was not introduced into the Christian
worship in his days, and consequently, as other learned men
have with more judgment inferred, that the Apostolic Eanous
were the preduction of a later age.
 294
the power of charms or incantations, that
might be prepared against them by their
adversaries. I have shewn, likewise, how, in
imitation of that custom, the practice of
sprinkling horses and other animals with Holy-
water, was first introduced among Christians,
by the authority of Hilarion, the JJ!lonk; whose
peculiar doctrine it was, that the Deoii, out of
his great hatred to men; and for the sake of doing
them the greater mischief, used to enter eveJt into
their cattle, with intent to destrou them. Eh] For
when we see so singular a custom continued
to this day at Rome, by the Monks cd'St. An-
tony, the Parent of Monkery itself, and the
friend and contemporary of Hilarion ; we
cannot think it a mistake, to deduce it from an
origin; which, from its great success in that
first trial, is saidto havedrawn many Pagans
to thefaith of Christ. [c]
St. Jerom takes notice, that Paganism had
many observances, which, to the reproach even of
Christians, implied a great strictness of manners
and discipline. Juno, says he, had her Priest-
['b] Docebat autem Senex, hominum causa, Diabolum
etiam jumenta corripere, &.c. Hieron, tom. iv. Par. ii, P: b~,
edit. Bened,
[c) Indubitata ergo victoria &. illis &. multis retro Circen-
.ibus plurimia fidei occasio fuit. Ibid. p. 80. .
 295

esse», devoted to one husband: Vesta Iter perpe-

tual Virgins, and other Idols their Priests also,
under vows of chastity. [d] To wipe off this re-
proach therefore from the Christian Church,
Monasteries and Nunneries began to be multi-
plied in this age, through all parts of the
Christian world, recommended chiefly by the
writings and authority of St. Jerom. [e] Vigi-
lantius, who lived towasds the end of the 4th
Centur.y, not long after the conversion 0/ Rome,
publicly charged the ruling Clergy u'ith Ido-
latry and Paganizing, on the account of
several Heathenish customs introduced at
that time into the Church; particularly the
vows of chastity imposed ttpon the Clergy;
the veneration of reliques j and the lighting
up of candles to them, in broad day-light.
« We see, says he, in effect, a Pagan rite
introduced into our Churches, under the pre-
text of religion; when heaps of ua« candles
[d] Quid DOS oportet facere, in qllorum condemnationem
habet, &. Juno Univiras, &. Vesta Virgines, &. alia Idola con-
tinentes ] Ibid. tom. iv, Par. i. "314. It, Par. ii. p. 154. &.
744.
[e] Certe Bos quidam &. preciosissimlls lapis inter Eccle-
siastica ornsmenta, Monachorem &. Virginum chorus est.
Hier. t. iv. Par. ii. p. 551.
Initum est inter Monacho8 consilinm, 118m in eodem loco
circiter quinque miUia diversis cellulis habitabant. lb. p. 44.
 296
are lighted up in clear sunshine, and people
every where kissing and adoring, I know not
what, contemptible dust, preserved in a little
vessel, and wrapped up in precious linen.
These men do great honour truly to the bles-
sed Martyrs, by lighting up paltry candles to
those whom the Lamb, in the midst of the
throne, illuminates with all the lustre of his
majesty." [fJ St. Jerom, who answers him,
does not deny the practice, nor its being bor-
rowed from the Pagans, but defends it. That,
says he, was once done to Idols, and toas then to
be detested; but this is done to the Martyrs, and
is therefore to be received. [g] Vigilantius ap-
pears to hve had several Bishops and Pres-
byters on his side in this controversy, and
particularly Rujfinus; yet the Church in ge-
neral was so strongly infected at this time
with Pagan prejudices, that his remonstrances
were treated with no better terms, than here-
tical, impious, and diabolical. [h]
Upon the conversion of the Empire to the

(J] Hieron. ib. p. 282.

[g] lUud iebat ldolis, &. idcirco detestandum est: hoc fit
Martyribus, at ideirco recipiendum est. Ibid.~.
[h) Proh nefas! Episcopol sui sceleris dicitur habeJ'e
eoasortes, Hieron, adv. Vi,il. p. ~81. Oper, t, iy. Par.ii.
 297
Christian faith, when the Church found itself
supported by the laws, and invested with
authority: it is natural to imagine, that one
of the first acts of her power would be, -to
render all due honours to the memory of those
Martyrs, by whose blood she' had obtained it.
This therefore was the peculiar zeal, and reign-
ing devotion of that age: in consequence of
which it was a kind of fashion for the new
Converts, who were of eminent birth and for-
tunes, to build Churches at their own ex-
pence, to the honour of the Martyrs, and for
a repository of their bones: which, after the
manner of the Pagans, they affected also to
adorn with paintings; representing the stories
of the Old and New Testament, and espe-
ciaUy the acts of those Martyrs, to whom the
Churches were consecrated; in opposition
to the fabulous acts of the Old Heroes, or
pretended Deities, with which the Heathen
Temples were usually painted.
Thus Paulinus, a Convert from Paganism,
of Senatorial rank, celebrated for his parts
and learning, and who died afterwards Bishop
of Nola, rebuilt in a splendid manner his
Episcopal Church, dedicated to Felix the
J/artyr; -on whose porticos were painted tire
miracles of ];foses and of Christ, together with
the acts of Felix, and the other Martyrs,
whose reliques were there deposited. He gives
a short description of these paintings in one
of his Poems; where, to obviate an objection,
that might probably be made to this new and
unusual method, as he' calls it, of painting
Churches, he says, "that it was done with a
design to draw the rude multitude, habitu-
ated to the profane rites of Paganism, to a
knowledge and good opinion of the Christian
doctrine; by learning from these pictures,
what they were not capable of learning from
books, the lives and acts of the Christian
Saints." [11 Thus Sulpicius also, another
[lJ Forte requiratur quanam ratione gerendi
Sederit heac nobis sententia, pingere san etas
Raro more domos, animantibus adsimulatis,
Aeeipite, &. paucis tentabo expoDere causas,
Q.uos agat hue Saneti Eelicis gloria coetus
Obscurum nulli ; seg turba frequentior his est
Rusticitas non cassa fide, neque docta legendi,
H rec adsueta diu sacris servire profanis
Ventre Deo, tandem convertitur advena Christo,
Dum sanctorum opera in Christo miratur aperta,
Cernite quam multi coeant ex omnibus agris, 8tc.
. Vide S. Paulini Opere Nat. ix.
Pope Gregory, caned the Great, about two centuries
later, makes the same apology for Imagu or Picturtl ig
 299
noble Convert, and Paulinus:s friend, built
two Basilicas, or spacious Churches, with a
Baptistery between them, in which was painted,
on the one side, St. Martin, whose life he also
wrote; and on the other hand, his living
friend Paulinus. [j]
Thus were pictures or Images introduced
into the Christian Church, about the end of
the 4th, or the beginning of the 5th Century,
by the Pagan Converts; who seem to have
vied with each other, in the magnificence
of building, adorning, and painting the
Churches of the several Martyrs. [k ] Their

Churches; declaring them to have been introduced for the

sake of the Pagans; that those, who did not know, and
could not read the Scriptures, might learn from them what
they ought to worship. Unde &. prrecipue Gentibu« pro
lectione, pictum est, &c. Epist.l. ix. c. 9.
(jJ Recte enim in loco refectionis humanee Martillus pin-
gitur, qui ceelestis hominis imaginem perfecta Christi imi-
tatione portavit; ut deponentibus in lavacro terrenee imagi-
nis vetustatem, imitanda coelestis animee occurrat effigies.
Nostne vero quis illic locus est, &.c. Vide ide Epist. ad Se-
ver.xii.
[k] Tu vero etiam Baptisterium Basilicis duabus inter-
positum condidisti ; ut nos in horum quoque operum, qure
visibiliter extruuntur, redificatione superares. Sed Domino
gratias, qui dedit nobis in quo &. vinci victoriam duceremus.
Vid.ibid.
 �oo
design was to do honour to the memory of
those Martyrs; and to edify the people by the
example of their lives; but above all, as Pau-
linus, one of the first Introducers of them,
declares; "to draw the Heathens the more
easily to the faith of Christ, since by flocking
in crowds to gaze at the finery of these paint.
ings, and by explaining to each other the
stories there represented, they would gradu-
ally acquire a reverence for that religion,
which inspired so much virtue and piety into
its professors:' But these compliances, as
Bishop StillingJleet observes, were attended
with very bad consequences; since Christianity
became at last, by that means, to be nothing else
I

but refo1'med Paganism, as to its divine fl'or-

ship: [lJ and as the learned Mr. Turreiin also,
describing the state of Christianity in this
very age, says, "the Empire was brought
over to the faith, but the Church also infected
with the pomp of the Empire; the Pagans
were converted to Christ, but the worship of
[I] See Bishop Stillingjleet's De{e~ce of the Charge of
Idolatry against the Romanists, vol, v. of his works, p.4.59,
in which learned and excellent Treatise, the reader will6ud
the whole question examined to the bottom, and demoDBU*"
bly proved against the Church of Rome.
 SOl

Christ also depraved to the fashion of Pa-

ganism." [m)
I need not trouble the reader with any more
testimonies of this sort, which the writers of
all times would abundantly furnish: the facts
already produced sufficiently prove, that it is
no mistake to affirm, that the Catholic borroued
from the Heathen; or that Pagan ceremonies
were introduced into the Church, while there
were strong prejudices sub~'isting in favour of
them; which, from these beginnings, have
been operating in it ever since, with more or
lesseffect, in proportion to the decay- of its
discipline, and the corruption of its rulers,
till they have perfected that form and System
of worship, which we now distinguish by the
name of Popery.
From this view then of the question, as it
is now placed in its true light, it appears im-
possible, in any sense whatsoever, that the
Papists could be ~riginals, in their use of those
ceremonies. From the first promulgation of
the Gospel, as all history informs us, there
em] Imperio ad fidem adducto, sed 8t Imperii pompa
Ecclesiam inficiente: Ethnicis ad Chris tum conversis, sed lk
Christi religione ad Ethnicee formam depravata, 8tc. Orat.
Academ. De variis Christ. ReI. fatis.
 S02

was a perpetual contest between the Pagan

and Christian 'rites, through a long succession
of ages; in which the Pagan rites were for.
cibly imposed upon the Christians, by the
Pagan Emperors; rejected again in their tum
by the Christian Emperors; and all of them
distinctly marked out and described in dif-
ferent times by the Imperial laws, so as the
Christians in all ages might clearly know and
avoid them. For example; the laws of The»
dosius, as I have already observed, forbad all
people, under severe penalties, to light tip
candles, burn incense, or !tang up garlands to
senseless images. [n] 'N ow these laws, from

[1l] Nullus omnino-in nullo penitus loco, in nulla urbe,

sensu carentibus simulacris-accendat lumina, imponat tura,
serta suspendat, &c. Vid. Jac. Gothofred. De Stat. Ps-
ganor. Leg. xii. p. ]5. .
Notwithstanding this prohibition of the ceremonies,here
specified, to the Pagans, it is very remarkable, that they
were actually in use in the Christian Church, at the same
time, and under the same Emperor, as it appears ~ythe
testimonies produced above. This was the effect of a p0-
litical compliance with the Pagan prejudices, that the Pa.
gans, when no longer allowed to perform their favourite
rites to their Idols, might be induced the more easily to e~
brace the faith of Christ, by a liberty of performing theDl
at the altars, and to the honour of the Marty,,; wheie
there was' 110 application of them however to Idol, (I
 303

the time of their publication, have been in

the constant possession of the Romish Church;
perpetually read, commented and published
by their Clergy ; [oJ so that, when the par-
ticular rites, therein prohibited, were intro-
duced into the Christian worship, in what age
soever we should suppose it to have hap-
pened, the introducers could not be ignorant
of their being Pagan rites; and consequently
could not be originals, or inventors, but, as
I have affirmed in my Letter, the mere bor-
-roteer« of them from their Pagan Ancestors.
I will not pursue this point any farther,
how much soever the occasion. may invite me.
Images, which, though they now began to be introduced
into the Church, yet had no religious worship paid to them
ill this age. But after so large a concession, it was not easy
to stop, till the whole pageantry of the old Idolatry was re-
stored, as we now see it exercised in Popis!, countries, with
all its pomp of candles, incense, garlands, &c. applied again
directly to the worship of senseless Images.
[0] Paulinus, the Bishop of Nola, above mentioned,
published a sort of Panegyric upon the Emperor Theodosiu«,
containing a particular defence or apology for his laws: III
relation to which, St. Jerom, in a letter to him says, IIapp',!
TkelXkJsius, who Itas such an Orator of ellrist for Ilis De-
fender. You have illustrated his dignit!l, altd consecrated
the utility of hi, law, tofuture ages. Hieron. ad Paul. 0 P:
t, i•.P: 567. init.
 S04

I have no desire to enter into controversy with

any man; much less with one, whose friend.
ship I value, and whose uncommon abilities
I shall always esteem. 'Vhat I have thrown
together hastily in this Postcript, will be con-
sidered, I hope, as a necessary act of defence;
not due so much to myself, as to the judge-
ment of the public, and the merit of an old
argument, that has long been of service to the
Protestant cause; and which, in all ages of
the Church, if it had been attended to, as it
ought, would have prevented the admission
of those corruptions, which, at this day, so
grossly deform the simplicity of the Christian
worship, through the greatest part of the
Christian world.
 ADDITIONAL CHAPTER
BY

THE EDITOR.[aJ
'!1

THE reader ll~s now, it is presumed, be-

come fully satisfied of what it was the object
of the foregoing pages to demonstrate;
namely, that ·there is an exact uniformity
between Popery and Paganism; Of, that the
religion ,of the fTesent Romans is derived from
that of their hedtlten ancestorS. To be satis-
fied of this, however, is not the only thing
that is necessary under existing circum-
stances. To know, indeed;' that the religion
of the Papists is derived ,from that of the
Pagans, Will be quite enough to deter every
sober Protestant .from embracing the idola-
trous and corrt1ptpracti~ of that religion;
but to know i]S(), that he may one day be
compelled by lits professors, .either to abjure

[tI] Jl~rerredto nteptil. 151.

X
 306

'his own faith, or be burnt, as an heretic, for

refusing so to do, is a matter which cannot
fail to excite ap prehensi ods' of the most
gloomy nature. And yet the occurrence of
such an event is so far from being impossible,
that the page, of .history, .and the known
principles of the Romish church, declare it
to be extremely probable; nay, it will not be
too much to add, that it may not belong to
a very remote posterity to ,~, the unhappy
witnesses of it, unless, whilei}¥p have still the
pow~, we e.npI<i>y~suitable;pl.eans to guard
~pst ,"SQ dreadful a calami t~.
': a'he R~l)lan Catl19licsof I~til~nd are now
r,<rnewiQg,'their Petition to the Legislature,
to grant them wh,atth~y. eall, Emancipation;
or, ill other words, to release them from those
, , .
laws which the, wisdom iof our ancestors
framed fer ,theprqtection of our Church and
CivilConstitutio,. The policy or impolicj
of,acceding to their wishes, bas occasioned
IffflK and ,repea~ddiscuS5ions, both in and
out of doors; ,hut the ~ubjffit.itself, when
proper! .
y, cpn~dered, lies, i..q 1J. very narrow
. ·,a

compa~.. Tile C~tholics praYlor,Emancipa-

tion ; and the merits upon which they ground
their Petition ·areJ~lese ;-}'irs.t', that it is un-
 S07
just to deprive any set of men of civil rights
and privileges, merely on account of their
religious opinions; secondly, that they only
ask for those concessions which they would
, concede to all men ..
N ow to these two points I shall take leave
to make the 'following objections :-First, I
deny that the Roman Catholics suffer any
thing by the laws on account of their mere
religious opinions; they do not suffer for be-
lieving Transubstantiation or Purgatory, or for
praying to Saints, or bowing' down before
Images, but they suffer for acknowledging
the Supremacy of the Pope; a doctrine 8'0
hurtful to the welfare of our religious and
civil liberties, that it would be the height of
folly and madness in our Legislature to grant
Emancipation to those who profess it: Hence,
the Catholics have no just cause to complain
of the laws in force against them. They
have the fun and free exercise of their re-
ligion, and this is all they-ought to have con-
sistent :with its prineiples. .
For, SOOQIldly,as to what they aver, that
they only' ask for those concessions which
they would concede to all men, who, that is
ubqufiinted with the prifteiples. and practice of
.x2
 308
their religion, can venture to confide in such
an assertion? Is not the persecution of those
whose conscience cannot subscribe to their.
doctrine and worship (let them be ever so
good subjects iI) all other respects), among the.
principles of their religion? And, as the, per-
secution of those who differ from them is one
of their principles, has it not ever been their
practice also, ultenever it has been in their
po'(a;r? So far, indeed, from granting to ll&
those concessions for which they now ask,
they would not, if tl1ey.possessed the means
which wepessess, allow us even the exercise of
ourhoJy religion :,on the contrary, t~y would
Com pel .lis to. return to tbeCatholic , faith; .Qr
'Would burn and' destroy us for refusing so to
do .. For when; let me ask, did they manifest
to the Protestants that spirit of concession;
which, at this time, they 8,0 specieuslyem-
ploy as .a colour to their claims ?The truth
is" that the spirit of Poperj-.is a:1rin(ijctive,a
, cruel spirit. Cruelty 'i~ .the ;ge!)iu& of that
religion, The religion i~lf teaches .it,
breathes it every where, and inspires it into
its votaries. It is calculated t~ st,itlethe ten-
dcrC$t emotions. of .the. he&lt. If: it.. does not
universaJ.ly succeed; 110 tbQnk$tQ UJe,rcli.,op~
 'That teaches, the husband to betray the wife,
,the wife the husband, the daughter the rno-
,ther,"and the mother the daughter, [bJ 'Vhat
-could ever give birth to the principle, that it
-is no more sin to kill an heretic than a dog,
'but that spirit of
cruelty that has interwoven
'itself with their religion?' The histories of
Christendom for these last three hundred years,
are replete with the hardships and suffer-
.ings of Protestants, from the hands of Pa-
pists, when they have had them ill their power.
Jq'QUEEN ;MARX'S short reign of five years,
-some hundreds of fires were lighted up in
:Smithfield, and other parts of this kingdom,
for the purpose ,of destroying heretics; and si-
milar bonfires would have been lighted in Ire-
land, had it not been for the interposition of
.Divine Providence. (c] In the Massacre of

[bJ Clarkson ill hi~ Practical Divinity of Papists destruc-

tive of Christianity, P: 328.
, [c ]1'hiIl' appears from a very singular adventure, of which
the account, as it bas been copied frOID the papers of Ri-
'char-d, earl cif COJ'k, aud is to be found among the manu-
'scripts of Sir James TVare, is as follows:
, "QuEEN MARY, hiving dealt severely with the Pro-
testllOts in Elegland, about the latter end of her reign signed
a commission for to take the same course with diem in Irc-
1and ; and to execute the same with greater force, she nomi-
Paris, which was the commencement of a.
general slaughter of the Protestants over the
nates Dr. Cole one of the commissioners. This Doctor
_coming with the commission, to Chester on his journey, the
Uayor of that city, hearing that her Majesty was sending a
messenger into Ireland, and he being a churchman,
waited on the doctor, who in discourse with the Mayor,
taketh out of a cloak bag a leather bbx, saying unto him,
, Here is a commission that shall lash the heretics of Ire-
land' (calling the Protestants by that title). The good wo-
man of the house, being well affected to the protestant re-
ligion, and also having a brother named John Edmonds, of
'the same, then a citizen in Dublin, was much troubled at the
doctor's words; but watching her convenient time, while
the Mayor took his leave, and the doctor complimented bim
down the stairs, she opens the box, takes the commission
out, and places in lieu thereof a sheet of paper with a pack
of cards wrapt up therein, the knave of clubs being faced
uppermost. 'The doctor coming up to his chamber, suspect-
ing nothing of what had been done, put up .the box 8S for-
merly. The next day going to the water side, wind and
weather serving him, he sails towards Ireland, and landed
on the 7th of October, 1558, at Dublin. Then coming to
the castle, the lord Fitz- Walters, being lord deputy, sent
for him to come before him and the privy council; who,
_coming in, after he had made a speech relating upGn what
account he came over, he presents the box to the lord deputy,
-who causing it to he opened, that the secretary might read
the commission, there was nothing save a pack: of cards
with the knave of clubs uppermost: which not only startled
the lord deputy and <;,ouncil, but the doctor, who assured
them he had a commission, hut knew not where it was gone.
 311

kingdom, the number destroyed is computed

at one hundred tlwusand.-For this j}lassacre
a solemn thanksgiving was made at Rome,
accompanied with a Jubilee to all Christen-
dom: for which one of the reasons given
was-that they should thank God for the
slaughter of the enemies of the C hureh. late~1J
executed in France! [dJ-In thelrish]}Jassacre,

then the lord deputy made answer, t Let us have anether

commission, and we will shuffle the cards in the mean while.'
The doctor being troubled in his mind, went away, and re-
turned into England; and coming to the court, obtained
another commission; but staying (or a wind on the water
aide) news came to him that the Queen was dead; and thus
God preserved the Protestants of Ireland."
Q~n Elizabeth was so delighted with this story, which
was related to her by Lord Fitz- Walter on his return to Eng-
land, that she sent for Elizabeth Edmonds, whose husband's
name was Mattershad, and gave her a pension of forty
pounds during her life.-See Cox, Hibernia .A'Ig{icalla,
or History of Ireland, vol. ii.p. 308.-Harleian Miscellany,
vol. v, p• .568.
[d] The Pope sent Cardinal Ursin his legate to France to
thank the king for 80 great service done to the church, and
to desire him to go ,pn, and extirpate heresy root and branch,
that it might never grow again.-And as the le;ate passed
throllgb in his journey to Puris, he gave a plmary absolution
to all that had beea actors in the massacre!
I have now before me an oration of .AlltollY ]lluretus, ill
praise of Charle, IX. pronounced at Rom« before Pope
Gregory
.
XIII.. in which he blesses that memorable night ill
 312

above om hundred thousand Protestants are

said to have been killed. -This appears by a
book printed at Lisbon soon after, written by
a Priest who called himself Constantius Ma-
rullu«; and who, to shew his Catholic charity,
adds, U TIN AM OMNES! I wish they had ALL
been killed j
But these, it may be said, are now old
stories. Let us, then, come nearer to our
own times, in which we shall see the true
disposition of Popery towards heretics.
In the reign of LEWIS XIV. upon .the re-
vocation of the Edict of Nantes, how many
thousand Protestant families, after dragooning,
imprisonment, and every other hardship, were
driven out of their own country, and took re-
fuge among us! And was not this done in viola-
tion of the most solemn oaths which Lewis had
made to the Proteetants? But oaths to he-
retics, as he was taught by his Minister CAR-

'Whichthis accursed slaughter was committed; extols the king,

queen-mother, and brethren of the kinr; .for the share they
had in it i a~d calls the Pope himself most blessed Fatker, for
his going in procession to return thank! to God alia ST.
LEwIsfor the welcome n8Ws,when hrought to him.
"0 noctem illam memorahilem,·'&'c. Murd. Drat. Vel. I.
,J>. 197, 1~8! Edit. Lubec,
 SiS

DIN AL MAZA~INE, were not to be kept.

Nor did the zeal of this Prince extend itself
only to his own kingdom-he . influenced the
Duke of Savay to persecute his subjects, the
poor Vaudois; declaring that, in a treaty
which he had with that Prince, and by
which he was obliged to take anus against
the King's enemies, the present Vaudois were
intended to be comprehended. Their being
Protestallts was sufficient to make them be
considered as his enemies. Upon this ground
he joined his troops with those of the Duke,
either to extirpate them, or to make them
change their religion, which they tried by
all sorts of cruelties. [e]
[e] BISHOP BURNET, who went over the greatest part of
France during this persecution of the Protestants, tells us,
that LEWIS XIV. declared, that" he considered himself as
&0indispensably bound to endeavour the conversion of all his
&ul1ects,and the extirpation of heresy, that if the doing it
'hould require, that with one hand he ,hould cut off the other,
he would submit to that 111"
Such was the eonduce of this king in regard to religion;
a king who, from his general policy, has been called Le
·Grand Monarque. ADd what wa. the conduct of the people 1
The same learned and accurate writer says, that" the fury
whichappeared on this occasion did spread itself with a sort
of contagione for the intendants and other office..., that had
been mild and gelltle in the {onner parts of their life, seemed
 514

As for the executions at Thorn, and the

persecutions in the Archbishopric of Saltz w

burg, whereby between twenty and thirty

thousand innocent people were forced at a
short day to leave their native country, and all
their effects behind them, only for their steady
adherence to the reformed religion, they are
so recent, that some now living may possibly
remember them. [f] But the year 1'745 fur-
nishes us with a still later instance of the
same persecuting spirit of Popery, by two
Edicts published in France, one bearing date
:E'eh.l,theother Feb. 16; whereby the P1'()OO
testants in and about Montauban, who either
had, or should assist at the assemblies for
now to have laid aside the compassion £if Ch1'istians, the
breeding £if gentlemen, and the common impressions of huma-
nity. The greatest part of the CLERGY, the regulars espe-
eially, were so transported with the zeal that the king shewed
on this occasion, that their sermons were full of the most in-
flamed eloquence that they could invent, magnifying their
king in strains too indecent and blasphemous to be mentioned
by me !l!" (Burnet's Hist. of his Own Time, v, 2. p. 850.)
U'J The cardinal primate of Poland says, tke sacred aeClt-
timt at Thorn, against the projQ7ters of holy things ougbt
uecer to beforgottm. He seems to look back upon tl!e be-
heading, and choppings, and manglings, and dreadful whip-
pings, with pleasure! See Primate's Letter to the Palati-
nates of Poland. Political State, Aug. 1783.
 315

divine worship after the reformed way, ,cere

instantly, without so much as the form or ap-
pearance of a trial, to be sent to the French
King's Gallies for life, there to serve as slaves;
ana' the women and children to be shut up for
ever in places which should be appointed for
them: and more than this, if any assembly
was held in anyone community of a division,
the whole division was to be responsible for
it, subject to a fine arbitrary, to be levied by
a military force; which Edicts were procured
by the Popish Clergy, at the price of their
advancing tu'entY-:four millions of livres for a
freegift to their Sovereign instead of sixteen;
and these Edicts were most rigorously exe..
cuted. [g]
But the history of this cruel and per-
secuting spirit of Popery is not yet at an end.
For, let me ask, does not that horrible tri ..
bunal, the Inquisition, exist at this very mo-
ment in Portugal? [h] And were there not
[g) See, Cursing no argument of Sincerity: or, an Answer
to a tract, intituled, "A Vindication of the Roman Catho-
lic8." By William Primatt, M. A. Rector of a MEDIETY
of West Walton in Norfolk. Norwich, printed 1746, in
quarto.
[h) That it doe. exist, and what itt temper is, is exempli-
fied ill the following work. .
 516
seoeral hundred protestant» put to death by the
papists in Ireland, so lately as in the year
1798? [iJ How then shall we be brought to
Ii Narrativa da Persequican: de Hippol!/to Joaeph D/J
Costa Pereira Furtado de Mendonfa, Natural da Cafol/i/J
do Sacramento; no Rio-da-Prata, prezo e Processado em
Lisboa pelo prf!teriJo Crime de Fra:.Mafon, ou PedrtiTO
Livre." 2 Tom. Bvo, Londres, 1811.
Mr. Da Costa su~ered ten gears' ('()J!finemeJlI from !hi.
tribunal for the aIIeged crime of free masonry, and probably
would have perished in a dungeon, if he had not found meaDl
t.o escape.
[h] In the County of WeJjord aloo~, upwards of Fi~'
hundred protestants, (among whom there were men of lauded
property, magistrates, clergymen, merchants, farmers, labour·
ers, and mechanicks) were cruelly put to death by the papists ;bul
that the papists intended a Itltal extirpation of the proteslanU,
will appear by the following authentic account of the beha'
"iour, conduct, and confession, of Jemes Beaghan, whoWil
executed on Vinegar-hill, on Saturday the £4th day of Augus~
1799: taken before Christian Wilson, esquire, high sheriffof
the county of Wexford, and J. H. L!/ster, esquire, one of tile
justices of the peace for the said county.
The day but one before his execution, two popish pritliJ
went to visit him, and upon their entering his cell, he es'
claimed against them in these words: " Begone fromlIIe,
you accursed, who have been the cause of my eternal damJl3'
tion; for were it not for yon, I never would have beenguiI~
of murder,"-Having so said, he turned from them, andIt-
quested that they might be put out; and ill some short tilDe
af~r, he requested that captain Boyd might be sent fOfl to
whom he made the following confession:
 317

believe, that the religion of the Papists is not

at this day, what it has ever been? 'N e shall
" I,James Beaghan, acknowledge and confess that I am
guiltyof the crime for which I am to suffer; but that I did
not commit it from ill-will to the people that were murdered,
but from the order of Luke Byrne; (a priest and' a com-
mander in the rebel army:) I could not disobey him-no
person dare refuse to obey the orders of the commanders. I
am sure that any man in command could save the lives of the
poor; every man that 'Crasa protestant tea» called an orange-
mall, and ever!! one teas to be killed, from the poorest man in
the country. Before the rebellion, I never heard there was
any hatred between Roman catholicks and protestants, they
always lived peaceably together. I always found the pro-
testants better masters and more indulgent landlords than my
ownreligion; during the rebellion, I never saw anyone in-
terfere to prevent murder, but one Byrne, to save aman. I
th~nkall that were present were as guilty as those that had per-
petrated the murders. It was thinking that we were all
equallyguilty, that prevented me from flying the countr;'. The
,.-omen uere numerous, and were as bad as the melt. The
rebels treated the prisoners with great severity, very different
from the way that I have been used in gaol. They thought
it no more a sin to-kill a protesltiitt'tJmn-a dog; ha.d it not
been that they were so soon quashed, they would have fought
with each other for the property of the protestants. They
were btginmng before the ,b~ttle ofVinegar:-hill. Ever since
the rebellion, I never heard one of the rebelS express the
least sorrow for what was done; on the contrary, I have
heard them say, they were sorry that wltilst the!! had tht
POWER tMy did not kill more, a"d that there were not half
mOrAgh killed. I how that the rebels were determined to
 318

not, I trust, suffer ourselves to be deceived by

words, when facts the most stubborn are op-
posed to them. In a letter, indeed, from the
Congregation of Cardinals, of Propaganda Fick,

rise if the French should come; and I believe they did not
give up half their arms. There are guns, bayonets, and
pikes, hid in the country."
[The following words were then spoken by Beaghan, with-
out his having been asked any questions, and spoken with an
earnestness and in a manner that shewed his sincerity.]
" Now, gentlemen, remember what I tell you: Ij'you and
the protestants are ever in the pott:er oj the catholics again,
as they are now in YOUY s, the.lfwill not lease one rif you ali-.:e;
)'00 will all go smack smooth; even those w.ho campaigned
UJith them, if things had galle '«'ell '«'ith them, would ill the
end, have been killed. I HAVE llEARD THEM SAY SO
Jr1ANY TIMES.
Taken before us, August 23, 1799, , his
CHRISTIAN WILSON,Sheriff. JAMES ~ BEAGHAS,
J. H. LYSTER,JustiC!!ojthe Peace. mark.
Having arrived at the place of execution, captain .Boyd
brought him aside, and read his confession, and asked him if
it was correctly takea down, to which he answered in the
affirmative. Just as the executioner was about to tum him
off, he called out, saying,." Stop!" and lifting up his cap
said, with a v,ery loud voice, " Captain Boyd, you have taken
down my confession perfectly correct; if it was not for the
priests I never would have been g~ilty of murder, nor have
dragged five unfortunate persons out of the windmill to be
murdered." (See SIR RICHARD MUSGRAVE'S Memoil1oi"
the late Rebellion in Ireland, Appendix,. pp. 100-101.)
 319

"ritten by order of the late Pope Pius VI. to

the Archbishops of Ireland, dated Rome,
23d of June, 1791, it is said, that" The See
of Rome N~VER taught, that faith is not to be
kept with the Heterodox; that an oath to Kings
separated from Catholic Communion, .can be
violated; that it islawfulforthe Bishop of Rome
to Jnvade their temporal Rights and Domi-
nions:" But who that knows any thing of the
history of the Romish Church, will be cre-
dulous. enough to believe these assertions?
What! shall we at this time of day be
told, that the See of Rome NEVER taught
these doctrines? In this very declaration,
indeed, we have one of the strongest possible
proofs of the hypocrisy and falsehood of the
Papists; a proof, I say , which ought, in the
highest degree, to put us upon our guard
against giving a premature assent to whatever
they may allege in support of their object.fj ]
r.n BISHOP BURNET, iahis history of the reign of KING
JAMES THE SECOND, (See Mist. of his Own Time, v.2.
p. S6~.) says," Anno l686, Sir Edward Hales, a gentlemau
of a noble family in Kent, declared himself a papist, though
he had long disguised it; and had once to myself so solemlll.!J
denied it, that I was led from thence to see, there was 110 ere-
dit to be given to that sort of men, wheretlu!ir CHURCH 07'

RELIGION was concerned;"

The same may be said, and with the greatest truth, at this
 320

For how can they have the effrontery to tell

us, that they NEVER held such doctrines?
Have these learned Cardinals then forgotten
the council of Lateran under Pope Inno-
cent Ill? Does not that council impose heavy
penalties upon the neglect of exterminating
heretics, and promise great retoards for doing
it? Did not. Innocent, in consequence of that

day; fort at the very moment when the Papists in IrelaJul

were holding meetings, providing themselves with arm', aDd
printing and circulating aDlQng one another the most horrid
resolutions for the total extirpation of the protestants; at this
very moment, I say, they voluntarily took, both clergy and
laity, the rhost solemn oaths before LORD MOVNTNORIlIS,
and other. magistrates, that they would be true to their alle-
giance, and would use every possible exertion to prevent and
suppress all tumult, riot, or secret conspiracy. Thia treache-
rous and wicked conduct induced the protestant clergymen,
churchwarlic>t!s, and protestant parishioners, of different pa-
rishes, to subscribe a certificate of the loyalty and peaceable
deportment of their ROJlla~ catholic fellow-subjects. One of
these certificates was given by the Rev. Mr. Halldcockt rector
of the parish of Ki!coTTIrUtkt in the ~unty of Weiford; in
return for which kindness, John Murphy, the popish curate
of this parish, laid a plot to assassinate Mr. Hondcock, and
hill congregation, on Whitsunday, when in church, but very
fortunately the breaking out of the r~bellion prevented them
from going to divine service, (See Sir Richard M1ugrtrc,'s
Memoirs, Appendix". 80.)
 321

council, employ armies against the Albigenses

(the predecessors of the Protestants in France)
who destroyed above 200,000 in the space of
Somemonths? Did not that very Pope lay
England under an interdict? Did he not issue
out excommunication against the King's per-
son, and by this impious act absolve the Eng-
lish from their allegiance? Did he not also
write to Philip Augustus, King of France, to
execute this sentence, to undertake the con":
quest of England, and to unite that kingdom
to his dominions for ever? Did he not, at
the same time, publish a bull, exhorting all
Christian princes to contribute.whatever was
in their power to the success of this expedition,
promising such as seconded Philip in this en-
terprise, the same indulgences that were
granted to those who carried armsagainst the
infidelsin Palestine? And is it not well known,
I ask, what the resolution and practice of the
council of Constance were in the case of here-
tics, in burning John Russ and Jerome of
Prague, though the emperor gave them a safe
conduct; the council insisting, that the em-
peror could not hinder the church from exer-
cising her just authority, in the punishment
of heretics, whenever she had it in her power 'll !!
y
 322
And 'yet, forsooth, we are to be told, that the
See of Rome NEVER taught these doctrines!
Surely, I say, this learned Congregation of
Cardinals have never looked into their own
history, or they would not tell us so. For if
these doctrines, I repeat, were never taught,
how comes Cardinal D'Ossat to inform us,
that Clement VIn. 'in the time of Queen
Eliz'abeth, importuned" the King of France
to join with Spain, for the invasion of Eng-
land? The king told the pope, that he was
tied ·by an oath to the queen of England;
to which the pope replied, that the oath w~st~
an heretic; but that M was bound in another
oath to God and the POP(' [k] To these clear
and positive instances concerning the popish
doctrine, that faith should not be kept with
heretics, though many more might be ad-
duced, [I J I will add only this one of King
, James the Second. When that sovereign came

[k] Card. d'Ossat. Epist.47. ad Doc de Villeroy.

[I] See a large collection of decrees of councils, CIJIOIII
and constitutions of churches, royal ediets, imperial mao-
dates, and Popes' bulls for the extirpating of hereticsj ina
book intitled-A discourse concemin«o the laws ecclesiastical
and civil made agai,l8t heretics, 8,"c. Reprinted iD tile year
J7~S.
 S2S
to the crown, he declared, before his council,
in the most solemn manner, that, though he
was a papist himself, he would preservethe
protestant religion, especially the church of
England, as by law established. This decla-
ration he afterwards repeated, in his speech
to both houses of parliament, and published
it in the most authentic manner. But, not-
withstanding all this, it is well known wl~at
open attempts he soon made upon the uni-
versities, the bishops, and the whole body of
the clergy: and how he declared too, that
the reason of his proceeding in so violent a
way was, because he was solicitous to have
. the merit of converting the nation, and esta-
blishingpoperyhere before his death. [m]

(m] That King James not only designed, but attempted,

and made considerable progress in destroying the Protestant
religion, and English interest in Ireland, and in altering the
veryframeand constitution of the Government, may be seenin
the followingexcellent work of Bishop KI N o's, "The State
of the Protestants of Ireland, under the late King James's
Government; in which their carriage towards him is justi-
fied, and the absolute necessity of their endeavouring to be
freed from his Government, and of submitting to their pre.
seiltMajesties is demonstrated." London, 1691.
In chap. 8. sect. S. (p. 58, 8tc.) the learned writer shews,
ill ",bat manner James dealt with the courts of Judicature.
y 2
 524

Such then are the principles-such isthe

practice of the Romish religion; and such
" Sir A lexander Fitton, It person detected of forgery not only
at Westminster, and Chester, but Ii~'ewise fined by the House
of Lords in Parliament, was brought out of gaol, and set 011
the highest court of the Kingdom, the Ckallctry, though he-
had no other quality to recommend him, besides his being a
Papist. What the disposition of Fitton was to~ards the
Protestants, appeared from his declaration on all occasions
agaim!: them; he did not stick, on a hearing, to declare that
they were all Rogues, and that amongst forty thousand there
was not one who was not a Traitor, a Rebel, and a rillain:
for this reason he would not allow the Guardianship of a
Child to the Protestant mother; but gave it against the posi-
tive words of the Iaw, to the Popish relations: for this reason
be refused to hear so much as a demurrer in the Popish Dean
of Christ's Church, Mr. Stqffort£s case. "For this cause, be
over-ruled both the common rules of practice of the Courts,
and the laws of the land, declaring, in open Court, that the
Chancery was above all laws, that no law could bind his con-
science i and he acted accordingly in many cases where Pro-
testants were concerned. After hearing a Cause between
one of them and a Papist, he would often declare, that he
would consult a Divine before he gave a decree; that is, he
would have the opinion of a Popish priest, his Chaplain,
educated in Spain, and furnished with distinctions to satisfy
his conscience how far he should do justiee to Protestants;
many Papists came and made affidavits of being in Posses-
sion when they never were. and got Injunctions and orden
without any more ado to quiet their PQssessions. But a
Protestant. though never so palpably disturbed. eould not
procure any Order; but was sent to the Common-Law to
 325
they must ever continue as long as the religion
itself exists. For how can those principles be
recover his Possession, by a Popish Jury, returned by a Po-
pish Sheriff, before a Popish Judge: that is, he must expect
Law from Judges andofficers that sat and acted in defiance
orIaw. If at any time the Chancellor was forced to grant
an Injunction or Decree, it was with all the difficulties and
delays that could be, and often the thing was lost and de-
stroyed before the order came fur recovering it."
"The Courts of Common-law were put into the same
method, and great care taken to fill them with Judges who
might be engaged in a professed enmity to the Protestant In-
terest. In Ireland there are only three Judges on a Bench;
and it was thought fit, for a colour till things were riper, to
keep one Protestant on every Bench; but whilst there were
two votes to one, the Protestant Judge could neither do right
to Protestants, or retard a Sentence to be given in the favour
of a Papist. This mock: method, of seeming to trust Pro-
testants, they took likewise in naming Burgesses and Alder-
men for Corporations; they generally put some few into their
New Charters to serve for a pretence of impartiality, and yet
to signify nothing: this method of continuing some few Pro.
testants in Courts and Corporations serving only to silence
and exasperate us, to be thus imposed on, but contributed
nothing to relieve us, as we found to our Costs: and the Pro-
testant Judges and Burgesses, fiTlding that they tcere made
Cyphers IUJd Properties, C?f themselves declined at last to act
in their stations."
The learned writer having then exposed the conduct of
the Popish Judges in the Courts of King's Bench, Ex-
chequer, and Common Pleas, sa)"s, (p. 66.) .", Into, such
. bands aJ we have been speaking of, tb., AdnuDlstrabon q(
 326
disowned, which, according to the professors'
of popery', are thedictates of the Holy Ghost'
How can those decrees and canons be altered,
which, as we are told, were framed by infalli-
ble councils? To give up those canons and
decrees, would be to give up the doctrine of
irifallibi?ity; but, as that doctrine cannot be
compromised without giving up the religion
itself,· so must those canons and decrees be
binding as long as the Catholic faith endures.
. 'This, then, being admitted, what shall
we say to those, who, through a mistaken
zeal for liberty, are the great advocates for
the Catholic claims? Is it not astonishing,
that they are the very persons who call them-·
selves Whigs? Is it not wonderful, that they
should profess to be the descendants of those
worthies, who, in the true spirit of liberty, re-
sisted the arbitrary measures of a Popish
prince? They who, at this day, call them-
selves Patriots, call themselves such upon the

Justice and of the Laws was put, which were· so far from
preventing our ruin, that they were made the means and i1l-
etruments thereof, and it had been much better (or us to have
had no laws at all, and been left to our natural defence, thllll
to be cheated into a necessity of submission by law. that
_ere executed only to pun;,", and .oot to defend us."
 327
principles of those, who invited that glorious
hero, King William hither; and doubtless
they are anxious to receive a portion of that
praiset which must ever be bestowed on those
great men. But what ,can they mean by pro-
moting the Catholic cause?" It will be in vain
for them to plead, that they think it but just,
that the Catholics should have complete tole-
ration; since some of the greatest patriots
and wisest men that ever lived,-men whose
uames will ever stand conspicuous as the most
.zealous champions of freedom, thought that
popery was no fit subject for toleration. Such
wa~ the opinion of that bold asserter of civil
and religious liberty, :MILTON ; En] and such,
let me add, was the opinion of the great
LOCKE. [0] .Aud here I cannot forbear to cite

(ll] See his tract, entitled, ({ Of True Religion, Heresy,

Schism, Toleration; and what best Means may be used
against the GROWTH OF POPERY." Printed in the year
'1673, and inserted in his Prose Works, v, 4. p.259.
[0] See a Letter concerning Toleration. Edit.2.-.-The
'rst edition of this incomparable letter was printed in latin.
The title of it is, " Epistola de Tolerantia; ad clarissimum
virum T. A. R. P. T. O. L. A. [theologie apud remonstran-
tes professorem, tyrannidis osorem, Limburgium, Amstelo-
a
damensem] scnpta P. A. P. O. I. L. A. [paeis amico, per-
secutioais osore, Joanne Lockio, AngloJ] Goudae, 1689.
 a passage from a French writer, who, though
in religion a lying oracle, was certainly not
- wanting in political sagacity : "There is only
one case," says he, " in which toleration may
become fatal to a country; it is when it to-
lerates an intolera~t religion: and such is the
Roman Catholic. This religion no sooner olJ..
tains the ascendant in a state, than it is sure to
shed the blood of its stupid protectors; it is a
serpent which stings the basom which cherishes
it. Let Germany be aware of this, as its
princes have a particular interest to enter into
a communion which offi rs them large esta-
blishments; and when they are become ca-
tholic, theywill not fail to compel the faith
of their subjects, even by the most violent
methods, should gentler ones prove ineffec-
tual. The fires of superstition and intolerance
are not yet thorough(lJ extinguished; a light
breath uould kindle them ofresh, and set Eu-
rope in a blaze. 'V here the conflagration
would stop, it is impossible to foretel. Would
Holland be sure to escape ? Would. Great
Britain be able, from the height of her cliff's,
to brave the Catholic fury? The ocean is but
an impotent barrier against fanaticism.
What should hinder it from preaching a new
 329

erusado : from anning Europe against.

EnO'-
I::>

land; from there striking root, and one day

treating the British, as it formerly treated the
Albigenses ? [pJ Let then our patriots reflect
upon this; let them pause for a while, before
they give power to those, who, at perhaps no
very distant day, may make them suffer for
their folly. For let them be assured, that
those very persons, whose cause they are
now so anxious to advance, will not rt'-
member their services any longer than their
interest requires. The following extract
from Strype's Annals of the Reformation
under Queen Elizabeth, vol. 2. P: 86. will
justify this prediction. DERBYSHIRE, an
English Jesuit, in Queen Elizabeth's time,
being in France, and speaking of Mary,
queen of the Scots, then in custody, said,
" besides that all the Catholics in the realm
of England were at her devotion, there
were" (and he thanked God) "diverse that
were well affected to her, which was no
small miracle that God had so blinded their
eyes; as that they should be so inclined to
her, that in the end would yield to them their
. JUST DESERTS, unless tJuy returned to the

[p] Hel-. ch, 21. de rIlomme.-<Euvre p08lhume.-Hel

p

Yetiu8died in 1771. '

 530

rotholic faith! l !' And to the same pur-

pose speaks the Letter (in Echard's
History) written, during the violences of
King JAMES the second's reign, when the pa-
pists thought themselves sure of success, to
a person who was intirely in with. the King's
measures, as to absolute power in the state,
but was a protestant. It is. to exhort him
to change his religion in time; and threatens
him, if he did not, there would be little distinc-
tion made between those against the King in all
hi~ measures, and those that were so i~ that
point which he most set his heart upon! !!
Here then the Whigs, as they are pleased
to call themselves, . here, I say, the de-
scendants of those glorious Patriots, who, as
real lovers of their country, invited KING
'V ILLIAM hither to restore and secure our
civil and religious liberties, may see what
they have to expect, if they should unhappily
succeed in establishing the Catholic claims,
For again and again I repeat, that none of
the principles of the Romish religion are al-
tered. In a former place I have shewn, that
the Church of Rome is as fruitful in miracles
as ever; [q] and here I maintain, that popery is

[q] See ante pag. 65.

 SSL

at this moment stimulated by the same spirit of

cruelty as ever. If the papists do not indeed
at this time act openly against us, it is only
because they have not the PQ7t'el' to do so; their
inclination, however, is not atall relaxed. Else,
why such cruelties practised against protest-
ants abroad? WhJ does the Inquisition still
exist? And why were our protestant brethren
murdered in Ireland, in the year 1798? Now
that the hands of the Papists are tied, they
can only bestow curses and denounce divine
judgments upon us; but whcn they arc at li-
berty, they will most assuredly act differently;
then cruelty will be called charity, charity to
the soul; and this same charity (says JORTIN)
" as it is of a fruitful and diffusive nature, pro-
duces anathemas; informations, calumnies; ba-
nishments, imprisonments, confiscations, in-
quisitions, and so forth." Nor is this in contra-
diction to the authority of the Romish Church
itself. There is nothing said here but what
all the Popish writers have roundly affirmed,
from Pope Gregory the Great, down to Cardinal
Bellarmine ; namely," that it wf.{snot the want
of WILL, but of the POWER only to rebel,
which made the primitioe Christians so patient
under tile persecuting Emperor&, and particu-
 larly under Julian, because the Church had not
!Jet acquired STRENGTH enough to controul
the Princes of the earth l l l" [q]
Hence I maintain, that to grant the Catho-
lic claims would most undoubtedly tend to
subvert the protestant religion; and I need
not scruple to assert, that the subversion of
our religion would e~d also ill the subversion
of our civil liberties. What, for instance,
would become of the freedom of the Press 1
Do the Whigs suppose, that the Papists would
"be favourable to that glorious palladium of
. our rights? Our history tells us otherwise,
and no case more strongly proves it, than that
of the Seven Bishops, in. the time of James the
second: For what did that Popish Judge
Allybone declare from the bench at their trial t
" No man can take upon him to write any
thing whatever concerning the Government,
unless he first have leave from the Govern-
[rJ See Chillingworth's Worb, 7th Edit. p. 283. and
Not .••
The Papists are very fond of citing BOSSUET, Bishop of
:Meaux; but Bossuet, whate~r moderation he atr~ted Oil
some occasions, yet asks what reason is there to exempt here-
tics out cif the 'lumber qj'those malefactors whom God h(l.$
put the Btl10rd into .the Magi,trate', hand, i,. order to
,"n;sh " !!I
 SS3
ment.' These were the words of that Popish
Judge, and they are the words of every Papist
that is in power. But it is our happiness,
that the English nation, at that time, would
not brook such slavish doctrines; and there-
fore we are bound, both in gratitude to our
ancestors, and as a duty which. we owe to
posterity, who will claim our excellent con-
stitution at our hands, to take care, that our
laws and liberties are never again exposed to'
the mercy of a Catholic bench.
But suppose that the Catholic claims should
. be granted; we should then not only have a
Catholic Bench, but a Catholic Lord Chancel-
~oralso. Have our Bishops, I wonder, thought
of this? I mean those Bishops, who, to the
astonishment of every Pr~testant, have been
heard to advocate the cause of the Papists.
If the Lord Chancellor should be a Catholic,
then, no doubt, he would present Catholics.
to those valuable livings which every Lord
Chancellor has in his gift. "That, in such an
event, would become of the Established
Church? 'Yhat, in a very short time, would
be the fate of our Bishops, and of our inferior
clergy? Do our Prelates, then, forget the dying
gt11ans of those glorious martyrs, CRAN MER,
 334

LATIMER, and RIDLEY? Will they, (to

use the words of the truly good Prelate,
to whom this work is inscribed), " suffer
it to be a reproach to them, that the vene-
rable Fathers of the Reformed Church
have sacrificed their lives in vain?" I trust
that those Bishops, who have hitherto favour-
ed the Catholic cause, will be induced to.re-
consider the impolicy of their proceeding;
I trust that they will remember for what pur-
pose they were placed in their exalted stations,
namely, to defend, and not to betray the Pro-
testant Religion; for let them be assured,
that to grant the Catholic claims, would be
to expose our religion once more to the piti-
lessmercy of those, who, both from education
and principle, are its avowed and determined
enemies. In our book of Thanksgiving, ap-
pointed for thefijth of November, the following
emphatical words were introduced into the
prayer by the special direction of King James
and the Parliament; "u'hose religion is rebellUm,
fdlOsejaith isjaction,u'hose practice ismurthel'ing
-of souls and bodies, and to 1'00t them out of tke
confines of this Kingdom," <S-c.tS-e. cj-c.; and so
it stood till it was altered through the interest
of some of the Clergy, who desired to pleaifl·
 335
'their friends the papists. [sJ A very learned
.divine, who was afterwards Bishop of St.
.Asapb, and of Licbfield, addressing himself
to the Papists, says, " Who doubts less of the
dangerousness of your principles and practices,
than t!tey who have read most, and had most
experience of them?" 'Ve can give you no
greater instance than in King James, who
was no stranger to you either 'li'ay, and this is
his judgment of you. "That as, on the one
·part, many honest men, seduced by some of
[.~] See It The treachery and disloyalty of Papists to tileir
Soveraignes, in doctrine and practice, etc. The second edi-
tion enlarged. By WILLIAM PRYNNE, Utter-barrester of
Lincolnes Inne, London, 1643, in quarto, p.!i!. In the
Title appears also" It is this second of May, 1643, ordered
by the Committee of the house of Commons in Parliament
for printing, that this book intituled, Tile Treachery alld dis-
loyalty oj Papists to their Soveraignes, etc. with the addi-
tions, be re-printed by }jfich.ael Sparke, senior. John Wlute:'
See also "The execution of justice in England, for main-
tenance of publique and christian peace, against certeine stir-
rers of sedition, and adherents to the tray tors and enemies of
·the realm, without an!! persecution cif them for questiolfs l!f
religion, as is falsely reported and published by the fautors
and fosterers of their treasons. Secondly imprinted, at, Lon-
'don, mense Jan. 1583, with some small alterations of thing!'!
mistaken or omitted in the transcript of the first origiDal."-
·A master tract, by the lord treasurer Burleigh. The running
'title of it is, " Execution for treaso" and 1101 for religio ....
 ss6
the errors of Popery, may yet remain good and
faithful subjects; so on the other part, none
of those, that truly know and believe the
whole grounds and school conclusions of their
doctrines, can ever prove either good Christian'
01' good subjects." [t]
Let not, then, our Prelates think, that the
dread which some people entertain respect-
ing the consequences that would ensue from
granting the Catholic Claims, is wholly
imaginary. On the contrary, it may be
conceived. as reasonably founded on past
experience, and the unaltered tenets of the
Romish faith.
In the year 1729, the popish bishops of
Ireland applied for, and obtained, a bull from
the pope, to raise money by the sale of indul-
gen.ces, to be speedily applied to restore
James III. to his right, and to puthis majesty
George II. and all the royal family to the
sword. The whole of this plot is to be found
in the sixth volume of the journals of the house
of Commons, page 342 ~
[tJ See It The late Apology in behalf of .the Papists
[supposed to have been written by Roger Palmer, Earl of
Castlemayne, assisted by Robert Pugh, a secular priest] reo
printed, and answered. London, 1667~ in «i"arto-by Wa.
liam Lloyd, D.D.
 SS7
It appears, that a number of popish prelates
and other ecclesiasticks, being assembled at
the house of Teigue M'CaJlthy, alias Rabagh,
titular bishop of Cork, Conner Keefe, bishop
of Limerick, •presented a letter to the said
M'Carthy, from Doctor Butler, titular Arch-
bishop of Cashel, informing him, that his ho-
liness the pOpe, had at last complied with the
request of the Irish archbishops and bishops,
in granting them an indulgence for the above
purpose.
The purport of the bull was this; " That
,every communicant duly confessing, and re-
ceiving the sacrament on the patron days of
every 'respective parish, and every Sunday,
from the first day of May to September, hav ...
ing repeated the Lord's prayer five times, and
(lUCC the apostle's creed, and upon paying
two-pence each time, was to have a plenary
indulgence for his sins; and all approved
confessors had full power to absolve in all
cases, with intent that God would speedily
place James III. on the throne of England.
Every parish priest was to pay five pounds
towards this fund, and was to account upon
oath for the collection of it; and the pre-
z
 338

tender had an. agent in each province to col.

lect it."
Some of the. papers of these traitors were
discovered, and seized, by which the con..
spiracy was detected. [u] •
But this is not the latest history that can
be given, of the treacherous conduct -and in-
tentions of the titular Archbishops and Bishops
of Ireland.
It appears, by certain informations ,upon
oath, taken before the Mayor of Kilkermy,
and other magistra:tes of that county, Tippe-
rary, &c. in the years 1766 and 17M, that
several of the Bishops and Clergy of Ireland
were then very active, in planning a rebellion
in favour of prince Charles, 'otherwise the
Pretender, to these realms. At the head of
this plot was doctor BUT LER, titular Arch-
bishop of Caskel, who bound several' of his
priests in the following oath: ". To be true a'lld
faithful to the Church cf Bome~.tmd to promote
its good, and to be faithful to him the said
doctor Butler, their Archbishop." . In con-
junction with this Butler, were PIERCE
CREAGH, titular Bishop of Waterford; doc-

[u] See tbejournals before cited; also Sir Richard Mus-

glllVe'S Memoirs, p. 30.
 S39
tor BUTLER, titular bishop. of Cork; doctor
FITZSIMMONS,titular archbishop of Dublin;
HELEY~popish priest of Arraglin; DOYLE,
popish priest of Ardfinnan; and several others
of the popish clergy.
At one. of the meetings, holden for the pur-
pose of furthering the views-of these traitors,
a bull was produced by NICHOLASSHEEHY,
a popish priest, (who was afterwards hanged
for inciting persons to commit murder; and
is revered as a .Saint by the popish rabble)
which, he said, came directly from the Pope.
This bull was publicly read by Sheehy; and
it stated, that the sovereign Pontiff granted
" a plenary .pardon and indulgence to such of
the insurgents as chose to conform to the protest ...
ant religion, in order the better to carry on and
execute their. glorious enterprize, and to restore
the pure and kolycatholick religion IN ITS FULL
. PORCE AND STRENGTHin Ireland." [x]
But, perhaps, these accounts are not enough
to satisfy some of our Bishops, of the dangers
that would probably ensue to Protestants
from granting the Catholic claims. Let me
[xl- See the Papers relating to this plot in the Appendix
to Sir Richard Musgrave's Memoirs, No. I. 1. 2. S. 4. 5. 6.
7.8.
then add, that in the year 1768, when an
oath of allegiance, to be taken by the Roman
Catholics of Ireland, was in the contemplation
of Parliament, Thomas Maria Ghillini, the
Pope's legate at Brussels, who had a complete
control and superintendance over all the nor-
thern churches, and spoke ex cathedra, made
the following observation on that oath, in four
letters to the titular archbishops of Ireland;
and these letters are stiled by THOMAS
BURKE, who published them in his Hibernia

Dominicana, literee vere aureee, cedroque

dignre.[y]
The legate treats the clauses in the proposed
oath, containing a declaration of abhorrence
and detestation of the doctrines, "that faith
is not to be kept with hereticks, and that
princes, deprived by the pope, may be de-
posed or murdered by their subjects, as abso-
lutely intolerable; because, he says, those

[y] Thomas Burke was made titular bishop of Ossory ill

1759, and died at Kilkenny in September, 1776. The first
part of his Hibernia Dominicana was printed at Kilkenny in
the year 1762, the second in 1772, both by Edward Fmn i
but it was stated to have been published at Colope, Colonia
Airippillle •

..
 541

doctrines are defended, and contended for by

most Catholic nations, and the Holy See has
frequently followed them in practice. On the
whole he decides, that as the oath is in its whole
extent unlawful, so in its nature it is invalid,
null, and of no effect, insomuch, that it can by
no means bind or oblige consciences." [z]
Still it may be asked, are these the deci-
sions of the Catholics at the present day? To
which I answer by referring to the late rebel.
lion in Ireland, when the popish multitude,
and many of the Romish clergy and gentle-
men, paid .no regard whatever to their oaths.
What, then, will those Bishops who favour the
Catholic claims, rejoin to this ? It is, indeed, a
most fatal delusion for any of them to sup-
pose, that the Romish religion is not at this
time as intolerant as ever. Surely our Bishops
never see the publications which are con-
stantly disseminated among the Catholics, or
they would soon discover what are the real
articles of their faith. In a book, entitled,
J' Fifty Reasons, why the holy Roman Ca-

[z] , Page 9£5. This was in the supplement of that work

published in the ,ear 117'l.
 342

tholic religion ought to be preferred to all the

sects in Christendom," printed by Woman
and Cross, in Bridge Street, Dublin, and
which is annually circulated among the ~
ple by their priests, there are the following
sentences:
" They" (protestant ministers) " are not
priests, since they have not power to conse-
crate. in the Eucharist, nor to forgive sins,
which is yet the main office of priestly dig-
nity." Page 80.
" Hereticks themselves confess, that R~
man catholics may be saved; whereas these
maintain there is no salvation for such as are
out of the Roman catholic church. What
madness then were it for any man not to go
over to the Roman catholics, who may be
saved in the judgment of their adversaries!"
Pages 17 and 90.
'1.'hese doctrines were strictly enforced on
Trinity Sunday, the Sd of June, 1798, in a
sermon preached in the chapel at Wexford,
to a large congregation. Father ROCHE, the
preacher, and chaplain to the popish bishop,
doctor CAULFIELD, inveighed from the altar
against the errors of Protestants, whose rel i-
 gion he represented as an abominable heresy.
He then explained and enlarged upon the
doctrines of popery, particularly that of ex-
clusive salvation; and desired them to per-
severe with firmness, as they werefighti'llg in
the cause of God against hereticks. [a]
. But the charge of intolerance which we
.make against the Catholics does not end at
this period.-An advertisement has lately
been circulated in Ireland, of 'a new and
cheap edition of the Holy Bible, in 'five yo-
lumes duodecimo, price to Subscribers, in
bds. 11. 12s. 6d. in plain calf II. 178. 6d.
This Bible may be had in weekly numbers,
. of eighteen pence' each, 'in order to give the
w01.:king people and well disposed, an oppor-
tunity of purchasing the Bible at an easy
rate:'
This publication is intended, it seems,
'substantially to refute the calumny indus-
triouslycirculated' (by the Protestants, no
doubt) 'that the Catholic Clergy prohibit
the faithful from reading the word of God,
or having it in their possession:
But this same advertisement is most of

[aJ See Sir Richard Musgrave's Memoirs, P: 453-4,

 344

all remarkable for the abuse it contains of

OUf venerable reformers, and the faithful.
learned translators of the Bible. I trans-
cribe the following shameful passage:-
- " It was the boast of the first pretended
reformers, and continues to be the boast of
their disciples in the present day, that they
had emancipated their followers from the
shackles of Catholic despotism, and had re-
stored to them the freedom of the children of
God. This freedom, it appears, consisted in
reading an erroneous version of the inspired
writings, and in venerating as the dictates of
.eternal wisdom, the blunders of ignorallJ and
interuttd trtmslators. What crime more foul
in its nature, more prejudicial in its conse-
quences, more allied to diabolical malignity,
than that of designedly corrupting the sacred
Scriptures? and, by such corruption, leading
the sincere enquirer into error, and converting
the food of life into the poison of deoth? And
do we not every day hear those deformersof
the Holy Writ calling on Catholics to read
their spurious and corrupted Iranslou0'Il8' (b]-

[b] What sort of translations,the Catholic. give, may be

seen in the note
aDte pag. 97.
 345
but Catholics answer, We will not read your
Protestant Bible,-we will not drink at the
muddy part of the stream, while we can drink
with equal ease at the fountain head."
Such is the zeal of the advertisers of the
Catholic Bible; such is their intolerant at-
tack upon the Protestant Church, at the mo-
ment they are seeking an enlargement of their
Catholic liberties!
Surely this is enough to open the eyes of
our Bishops.
Let us, therefore, now direct our attention
to the Ministers of State .
. We will suppose the Catholic claims to be
granted, and a Catholic to be Prime Minister .
. Does not the reader tremble at the very idea
of it? Does not his mind revert to Cardinal
Mazarine, who, as I have already shewn, per-
suaded Lewis XIV. (great and pelitic as
he was) to- break his oaths to the Protestants,
and to destroy them all as heretics? The
reflection, indeed, is shocking; nor would I
have introduced the circumstance, but that
the reader might be made to know his danger,
in order that he may place himself on his
guard against the machinations of his enemy.
 546
The laws of our country require, that the
.King should be a Protestant. Is it not ne-
cessary, therefore, that his Ministers should
be Protestants also? The question can admit
of only one answer. '
Next, we will enter the House of Com-
mons. There, when the Catholic .claims a1'6
granted, we shall see the Catholic Members
sitting, devising and enacting laws in favour
of their peculiar interest, to the prejudice,
and probably the subversion, of the estab-
lished Church.',
Some, perhaps, will be disposed to ridi-
cule our fears ; but let us not he amused
by ridicule. No'sooner (let the reader re-
member} did Queen Mary come to the
Throne, than she effected the ruin of the
Reformation that had been -proceeded upon
in the-reigns -of Henry VIII. and Edward
VI~ and' probably she would, if she had
lived, have established Popery beyond all
possibility of being shaken; In the first year
of her reign she procured the enactment of a
law to restore the Romish religion, and with
it the Romish slavery f and we read, that at
the time when that law was passed, both
 347

Houses of Parliament
went donm on their knees
to acknowledge the errors of the Protestant
Religion. [c]
Nor let it be objected, that the recurrence
of such an event is impossible in our days;
for, should the Catholics be released from
their existing restraints, does the reader sup-
pose, that they would not exert themselves to
the utmost to return Catholic Members to
Parliament? Would' they not employ all
their resources, and, contribute all their endea-
vours, to accomplish that object? When
king James went over to Ireland, he con-
trived, by the aid of the Catholics, to fill the
House of Commons with Popish Members. [d]
Now, should the power of making and repeal-
ing laws come into such hands, what security
could protestants promise to themselves? "\'Ve
have seen enough, I think, of what the Ro-
mish religion prescribes to its disciples; and
should they but conform to its doctrines,
we may readily ascertain what we have to

[c] See Bum. Ref. vol. ii. p. 272.

[d] See Bishop King's 'State of the Irisb Protestants

pnder the late King James's Government,' p.ISl.
 348

expect at their hands, whenever they have

the power of making laws for us.
As for the argument, which some have em-
ployed, that it is only the lower orders of the
Irish Catholics, who are likely to be influenced
by the horrid principles and practice of the
Romish religion, and that no danger is to ~
apprehended from the enlightened minds of
the nobility and others, I do not see what
weight it carries with .it. For, as a late
learned writer very justly -remarks, " it oughi
_to be considered, that when the lower classes
of people become very numerous in a religion,
they may possibly draw, or, as it were, force,
the. upper part of mankind into it, The
Christian religion was this way propagated;
arid this is much more practicable in a free
nation, where the lower people have votes in
chusing the members of the legislature. And
if ever there should he a great interest, to this
purpose, formed among the low people, there
would not be wanting persons of that religion,
or of no religion, hut pretending to be of that,
who would put themselves at their head, and
make use of their numbers, zeal, and wealth,
to promote their purpose:' [e]
[t] Bishop ElIy,'s Tracts, p. 5'l3.
 549
Let us then, for the sake of argument, ad-
mit, that it is only the lower classes of the Pa ...
pists whom we have to dread; we have here
a very faithful representation of. what we may
expect from granting the Catholic claims. To
this account, however, must be added the
amazing influence which the Priests are known
to possess over the lower and unenlightened
part of their flock; for if the Nobility and
superior orders of the Catholics do not profess
those horrid principles of the Romish faith
which I have before stated, the priests at least
profess, and instil them into ·the multitude.
The awe and veneration which the Catholics
have for the Pope is almost beyond belief ;[f] .

[f] They speak of the Pope as follows, 'Our Lord

God the Pope; another God upon earth; king of kings, and
lord of lords. The same is the dominion of God and the
pope. To believe that our Lord God the Pope might not
decree, as he decreed, it were a matter of heresy. The power
of the pope is greater. than all created power, and extends
itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal. The pope
doth whatsoever he listeth, .ven things unlawful, aud is more
than God.'-See Bishop NEWTON on the Prophecies, "t. 2.
p.S77. who says, that such blasphemies are not only allow-
ed, but are even approved, encouraged, and rewarded in the
writers of the Church of Rome; and they are not (adds he)
only the extravagances of private writers, but are the lan-
page nen of public decretal. and actsof councils !
 350

nor is their respect for their clergy in general

of a much inferior nature. For the troth is,
that the Romish religion abounds with pomp
and ceremonies; and as these are calculated to
surprise the outward senses, so the attach-
ment of the vulgar to them has always been
favourable to the ambitious views of the Ro-
mish clergy, since the pomp of religion natu-
rally casts a part of. its glory and mag-
nificence upon its ministers, and thereby
gives_them, imperceptibly, a vast ascend-
ancy over the minds of the people. The
late Lord Bolingbroke, being present at
the elevation of the host' in the cathedral
at Paris, expressed to a nobleman who
stood near him his surprise, that the king of
France should commit the performance of
such an august and striking ceremony to any
subject. Thus then it is, that the priests be-
come possessed of the minds of the people;
and thus posssessd, can urge them to the
performance of whatever serves their own am-
bitious views. They can tell 'them, what is,
indeed, a most powerful argument, that none
can be saved out of the pale oftheir·church;
that to persecute heretics is to do God service;
and that for such persecutions they receive,
 351

the greatest rewards. The council of Late-

ran says,' that "Catholics, who 'having taken
the badge of the cross, shall set themselves to
extirpate heretics, shall erdOY the same indulg-
ence, and be fortified with the same privilege,
as is granted to those who go to the recavel'Y of
the holy land." [g]This was the doctrine holden
by all the Popish Priests in the several perse-
cutionsof the Protestants, which I have be-
fore mentioned; it is the doctrine holden at
this moment by the holy inquisition abroad;
and doubtless it would be the prevailing doc-
trine in this country, on the event of an effect-
ive ascendancy on the part of the papists.
Having thus shewn what dangers are likely
to arise, though it be only from the lower
orders,[h] by granting the Catholicclaims, I

[g J'. Vide· Cooeil. Lateran, c. 3. De privilegiis concessis

catAolic:is qui }ltzreticorum ~xtermi1lio insistunt.
[Il} But Srr Richard Musgrave, in his Memoirs of the late
Rebelli6n in Ireland, pp. 36S~ 870. says, "it appears, that
~ny Roman Catholics, who had led irreproachable lives,
and were esteemed for their moral conduct prior to the re-
bellion, embrued their hands in human blood, without any
horror or remorse."
" Unwilling to disgust the reader, I will give," says he,
" a circumstantial account of but a few of the various cruel-
ties practised on the victim. who were immolated on Vinegar-
 552
shall conclude with the following addresses to
the Prince Regent, to the two Houses of
hill by these ferocious fanaticks; had they1Jeen perpetrated by
tke dregs of tlte people, some allowance might have been made
Cor the force of religious bigotry on the minds of the vulgar
'herd; but we have to lament, that man!! ptrIOIU w/wse birtA,
education, or opulence, raised them far abooe tkat descrip-
tion, were present at, or were consenting to, the perpetration
of these atrocities; for we find, that they were constantly in
the rebel camps, where they daily took place, and that they
could have prevented them is unquestionable; for no instaDce
that I could discover ever occurred, that the personal inter·
ferenee, or the written protection of a rebel officer, or ODe of
their priests, did not save the life of a person destined {or
destruction!'
In page 496, Sir RiMmvl says, "Many persons of un-
doubted veracity assured me, that the popi'h bi,ltop, doctor
CAULFIELD, gave his benediction to the savage pikemell
as they proceeded to the massacre on the bridge; yet I
should not think (adds he) ~f inserting it in this history,
if it were not authenticated on the oath of a respectable
gentlewoman ""bo beheld it; because, howevet sanguine
the doctor might have been in the cause, I could DOt .have
supposed, that he would ha\le been ~ void of discretion.
Mrs. Crane, sister to judge Chamberlain, Ul.de tb.is alicia-
'Wit:' (See the Appendix to Sic Richard'. Memoirs, p. 149,
where tbe Affidavit is il1lJerted~)
But, farther, Sir Richard inforRUl us. " That while this
massacre was going on, a rebel captain, being shocked at
the cries of the victims, ran to Bishop CAULFI£LD, whl
wu then drinking wine with the utmost cOIDpoBureafter di.
etr; and knowing that he could 8to.p the_en 1000f,
 353

Parliament, and to the whole body of Pro-

testant people.

To the Prince Regent I shall ~g leave

respectfullyto say-

than any other person, entreated him, for the mercy of God,
to come and save the prisoners. He, iu a very unconcerned
manner, replied, " It was no affair of his," and requested
the captain would sit down and take a glass of wine with
bim, adding, " That the people must ~ gratified." The
captain refused the bishop's invitation j and, tilled with ab-
horrence and distress of mind, walked silently away! ! !
In his description of the camp on Vinegar-hill, Sir Richard
says, I' it was constantly attended by from ten to twenty
priests, who daily said mass at the bead of each rebel column,
and afterwards pronounced an exhortation to animate them
in the extirpation of heresy, and in the EXCLUSIVE establish-
ment of their own, the only true orthodox faith."
On the day when the dreadful massacre of protestants
took -place at Wesford, the papists made a processioo
through part of the town, bearing a black flag, with a cross,
and the letters 1\1. W. s. inscribed on it in white; this meant
lllurder without Sill! on the other side was a red cross.
After this flag had been carried about for some time, it was
fixed on the custom-house quay, near the fatal epot where so
much blood was soon after shed; and where it remained
flying for about two hours before the butchery began.
Soon after the massacres at Wexford, the following sen-
teuces were carved on the rails of the portcullis of the bridge,
A.a
 354

Sir, the family of your Royal Highness

were placed upon the throne of these realms
to protect the Protestant religion. The oath
which tile king, your father, took, and
which your Royal Highness, when you come
to the Crown, will be required to take, is this:
" I promise, to the utmost of my pO'l£'er, to
maintain the Protestant Reformed religion
established by the law." How rigidly our
much-beloved Sovereign has observed this
oath, his subjects are well aware; and they
have the utmost confidence, that, should he,
through the mercy of divine Providence, be
restored to the enjoyment of the kingly func-
tions, nothing could ever induce him to
vi-alate so sacred an engagement. You, Sir,
much to the satisfaction of the people, have
been appointed by the legislature to govern
the kingdom during His Majesty's incapa-
city; and the people look forward with hope,
that you will feel the same tie upon your
conscience respecting this oath, as your

the place where they were perpetrated; and they were le-
gible in the month of Jnne, 1':'99. "Sacred to the . chris-
tian doctrine of sending orange-men to the meadows of ease,
Jnne, 179S: The holy hereticks that were slain]" (See Sir
Richard Musgrave's Memoirs, pp. 485. 512.)
 355

Royal Father has ever done. And, indeed,

notwithstanding what some short-sighted
politicians, led away, perhaps, by the wannth
of party, or by the treacherous -invitation
of popular applause, or by the more ignoble
impulse of venal considerations, may say, to
the contrary, it is as much your Royal High-
ness's interest, as it is your duty, to maintain
the Protestant Religion. For, surely, your
Royal Highness need not now be· told, that
the family of the Stuarts were excluded from
the throne on account of their Popish prin-
ciples and practices; and it was to protect us
against the confusions and miseries which tltey
introduced, that the illustrious House of Ha-
nover was invested with the sceptre of these
realms. Now, it must be admitted, that the
excfttsion of the Stuarts was just; and the
, reason that it was so is, that it was found ne-
cessary to the public welfare. Are not, then,
the laws which are in force against the Ca-
tholics just? Most unquestionably they are;
for they, like the exclusion of the Stuarts,
were found necessary to the public welfare.
Such being the case, let us presume, that
your Royal Highness will not be persuaded
Aa2
 356
to pull down and destroy these bulwarks
of our Constitution. For if it should be
argued, that the laws against the Papists
are no longer necessary, may it not, upon
the same grounds, be maintained, that the
exclusion of the Stuarts is no longer neces-
sary? Your Royal Highness will, perhaps,
be told, that the last of the Stuarts is now
dead, and, therefore, no danger is to be appre~
hended fro~ the former pretensions of that
family to the throne. You may also be told,
that the power of the Pope is now reduced
almost to nothing; consequently, no appre-
hensions need be entertained on that head.
J-
But are there, then, no other Catholics, besides
the Stuarts, who might aspire to the crown
of England? The professors of the Romish
faith would naturally prefer a Prince of.that
persuasion; and, should the existing laws
. against the Catholics be repealed, what rea-
son could be assigned, why the King of Eng-
land should not be a Catholic, as well as his
Ministers? Referring to the power of the
Pope, although it is indeed, at this time, at its
lowest ebb, yet may it not rise again to some
consideration among temporal states? Your
 357

Royal Highness is too well .acquainted with

the page of history not to know, that no
annals whatever present a greater number
of instances of revolutions, depositions, and"
imprisonments, than the history of the Popes.
Besides, the Pope is now in the hands of
our most inveterate enemy, who can either
restore him to his power, or substitute ano-
ther in his stead. '''hat, then, should we
not have to expect from a Pope, nomi-
nated by such influence, exercising his sway,
as the Pope ever must, over the minds of
those professing the Roman communion?
These, I beg leave to repeat, are consi-
derations well worthy of your Royal High-
ness's attention; and I most fervently pray,
that your knowledge of our history, your love
and respect for our laws, your veneration for
our holy religion, and, by consequence, your
hostility to the errors and practices of popery.
may direct you, at all times, to support the
gloriolls principles of the Revolution, " to the
utmost qf your potoer;"
To the two Houses of Parliament I beg to
addJ,"essmyself, in the very emphatical lan-
guage of MILTON, "Lords and Commons of
 358

England! Consider tehat nation it is whereof yt

are, and «hereof ye are the Governors!" [h)
Some of you are descended from patriots of
immortal memory; and many of you are often
speaking, both in and out of doors, of that
glorious cause, for which HAMPDEN bled in
the field, and SYDNEY suffered upon the
scaffold.
•• But oh! ifany ancient blood remains,
One drop of all your fathers in your veins," [z]

consider, I beseech you, what the Catholics

petition you to do. They petition you, not
to maintain the cause of Hampden, and of
Sydney; no; tbose brave and excellent men
sacrificed their lives in resisting those arbitra-
ry principles, whic~ identified themselves, in
an eminent degree, with popery and despo-
tism. [j] The Catholics ask you for Emanci-
[/IJ See ' Areopagitica,' or, Speech for the liberty of Un-
licensed Printing. Prose Works, vol. 1. P: 294.
[11 Quunquam, 0 ! si solitee quicquam virtutis adesset, ~c.
lEn. xi. 415. Dryden's transla.
U1 In his admirable ., DisCOUT3eScoueerniug Governmellt,"
SYDNEY, speaking of what sort of Government we may ex-
pect from a Prince of Popish principles, says (c. S. ~ 4S.)
.. The principles of that religion are so full of meekneu a"d
flwrit!l; the Popes have always shewed themaelves so gell-
 359

pation : but look at the consequences that

. would follow from granting their request. Go
back for a moment to the reign of Queen ];[ary;
behold both your Houses on their knees, acknou-
[edging the errors of the Protestant religion ; re-
member the bonfires of hereticks which she
lighted up in England, and would have lighted
up in Ireland: then reflect upon the oaths of
King James, and how he violated them, in
order that he might introduce p<?pery here:

tie towards those wlw txould no; submit to their authority ;

the Jesuits, who may be accounted the soul that gives life to
the whole body of the faction, are 80 well-natured, faithful,
and exact in their morals; 80 full of innocence, justice, and
truth-tkat I/O violence is to befeared ji-om sucl: as are go-

verned by them! The fatherly care shewed to the Pro-

testants of France, by the five last Kings of the House of
Valois ; tile mercy of Philip the Second of Spain to hi»
Pagan subjects in the Trest Indies, and the more hated Pro-
testants in the Netherlands; the moderation of the Duke of
Savoy towards the 17audois in the Marquisate of Saluzzo
and the Vallies of Piedmont; the gentleness and faitll of
the two !Iaries, Queens of England and Scotland ; the
kiudues« €if tlte Papist. to the Protestants of Ireland il{ the
year 164], with what we have reason to believe they did and
dQ still intend, if they can accomplish the ends of their
conspiraey ; in a word, the sweetness and apostolical meek-
neess of the Inquisition, may sid/identl!! convince liS, tlrat
notking is to befeared where that principle reig1l$!"
 360

d well upon the prmciple« and practice of the

Church of Rome; revert to the late persecu-
tion of the Protestants in Ireland; examine
the publications, which, at this moment, the
Catholics disseminate in that country; and,
after you have well considered and digested
these things, be cautious that you do not suffer
your eyes to be so blinded by the Papists, that
in the end they may yield you your JUST
DESERTS, unless you return to the Catholic
faith!!! [k]
Finally, I address myself to the whole body
of Protestant people.
And to them I say, FeUow-countrymen,
and fellow-subjects,· Be assured, that the
grant of the Catholic claims would involve the
subversion of our religious and civil liberties.
I t becomes every man, therefore, whether he
be a Member of the Established Church" or a
Dissenter, to keep a constant watch over the
Papists, and not to suffer himself to be surprised
by any stratagem which they may employ
against him. Let him not think it an idle alarm, •
that the Protestant religion is now in dan-
ger; let him not throwaway the shield, which
the wisdom of his ancestors has bequeathed
[Ie] See ante pag. 329.
 361

to him; let him not trust to words, but look

to facts; and then he will not suffer himself
to be persuaded, as the Trqjans were, to ad-
mit the enemy within his gates. The Dis-
I

senters, I say, are' equally bound with the

Members of the established Church to keep
this watch; both the one and the other have
every thing to dread, and nothing which either
could possibly gain, by promoting the Catho-
lic interest. The Dissenters in the time of
James II. were so fully aware of what I am
now advancing, that they readily entered into
all measures with the Membcrs of the Es41-
blished Church for the common safety, and
were among the first and firmest friends of
the Revolution, under 'King William III.
Some, indeed, may say, that the Dissenters
ought not, in policy, to oppose the Catho-
lics, because, if the Catholic claims should
be granted, then the Test Laws must inevi-
tably be repealed; but I think, that aU re-
flecting and well-informed Dissenters would
much rather be subject to those laws, than
hazard the whole of their liberties, both civil
and religious, by supporting the Catholics in
their pretensions. For, should the Catholics
sueceed, and should they, in consequence, as,
 362

I firmly believe they would, overthrow the

Church of England, and establish an arbi-
trary government in our country, what would
be the fate of the Dissenters? The Dissent-
ers are many of them conceived to be friends
to a republican form of government; but the
Catholics are decided enemies to that form j
nay, their religion can perhaps hardly have
any existence under it. Absolve, then, the
Catholics from their existing restraints, and,
from that moment, the extirpation of the
Dissenters, as well as of the Members of the
Established Church, commences. (l]

[1] A most enlightened Statesman of former times, in ad-

dressing himself to the Dissenters, who were then courted by
the Papists to assist them in their views, says, "I have to
offer to your consideration two things. The first is, the
cause you have to suspect your new friends. The second,
the duty incumbent upon you, in Christianity and Prudence,
not to hazard the public safety, neither by dellire of ease, DOS
of revenge. Consider, that notwithstanding the smooth lan-
guage which is now put on to engage you, these new friends
did not make you their choice, but their reftlge; they have
ever made their first courtships to the Church of England,
aud when they were rejected there, they made their applica-
tion to you in the second place. The instances of this,
might be given in all times. I do not repeat them, because
whatsoever is unnecessary, must be tedious, the tlUth of
this assertion being so plain, as Dot to admit 8 dispute. YOll
 s6S
In concluding, ·if I may venture to say one
word concerning myself, it is this. I have
cannot therefore reasonably flatter yourselves, that there if
any inclination for JOU. They never pretended to allo\f'
Jon any quarter, but to usher in Liberty for themselves under
that shelter. I refer you to Mr. Coleman's Letters, and to
the Journals of Parliament, where you may be convinced, if
you can be so mistaken all to doubt; nay, at this very hour,
they can hardly forbear, in the height of their Courtship, to
let fall hard words of you. So little is Nature to be restrain-
ed; it will start ollt sometimes, disdaining to submit to ilia
usurpation of art aud interest.
1/ This Alliance between Liberty and Infallibility, if
bringing together the two most contrary thihgs that arc in
the world. The Church of Rome doth not only dislike the
allowing Liberty, 'btlt by its principles i, cannot do it. Wino
is not more expressly forbidden to the JJfahometalls, than
giving Hereticlc:s liberty is to Papists. They are no mort'
able to make good their vows to you, than men married be-
fore, and their wife alive, can confirm their contract witll
another. The continuance of their kindness would he II
habit of sin, of which they are to repent, and their abrwlutiol1
is' to be had lIpon no other terms, than their promise to de-
stroy you. You are therefore to be hugged now, only that
you Dlay be the better squeezed at another time. There
must be something extraordinary, when the Church of Rofue
setteth up bills, and otfereth plaisters for tender conscieneas.
By all that hath hitherto appeared, her skill in ChirurgerY
lieth chiefly in a quick band to cut off limbs; but me i& the
Worst at bea1iug, of any that ever pretended to it."
" The Protestallts have but one Article ofhuman strtngth,
to 0ppOSf!the IJou'cl' It.,l,ich is now against them, and that i$,
 364

been born and bred in the principles of liber-

ty, and in those principles I hope to die. For
this very reason, I have here delivered (hav-
ing some leisure on my hands, and thinking
that it could not be better employed than inmy
endeavours to servemy country) my sentiments
upon this great and important question: for
I am not to be led away, as too many I fear
have been, by a false reasoning upon this sub-
ject. Mostof the advocates for the Catholic
claims declare themselves to be the friends of
liberty; but popery, I am certain, is not li-
berty; it is misery, it is cruelty, it is any thing
but liberty. Nor let our adversaries talk of
persecution; we do not persecute; we do not
wish to persecute; the great LOCKE was no
persecutor, but he was an enemy to popery.
flot to lose the ad-vantage of their Numbers, by being so un--
wary as to let themselves he divided.-lT IS AS JusTIFIABLE
TO HAVE NO RELIGION, AS WILFULLY TO THROW AWAY
THE HUMAN MEANS OF PRESERVING IT.-(See"ALetter
to a Dissenter, by George, Marquis of Hallifax," in Lord
Somers's Tracts, vol. ii, p. 64. written upon the occasion of
the memorable declaration of James II. ill 1687, for the
liberty of Conscience; which was soon followed by another,
which notified, that Papists hall been appointed to all the-
principal offices of the State, and recommended to the people
to send Papist Representatives to the New Parliament.)
 365

The Papists enjoy, what-they would never suf-

fer us to enjoy, the free exercise of their re-
ligion. As for emancipation, they..ought not
to have it, inasmuch as the principles of their
religion are quite inconsistent with the princi-
ples of our constitution. Between us and them
there must, therefore, be for ever an insur-
mountable barrier; yet all that we desire is,
not their destruction, but our SAFETY. May
every Protestant, into whose hands this work
may chance to fall, remember this distinc-
tion!

Cn."\Ut RICHARDS, Printer) 18, W~ick Street, Golden Square-.