Consciences are under their Direction. A Jesuit may tell a Man such or
such Things are allow'd to Him in particular, and give him Reasons for
it from his Quality, or the Post he is in, from the State of his
Health, his Temperament, his Age, or his Circumstances: But he'll not
deny or explain away the Self-denial and the Mortification in general,
that are commanded in the Gospel. When you come to this Point, he'll
not lessen the Difficulty and Irksomeness of Christian Duties to Human
Nature and the Flesh; but he'll refer you to the Founder of his Order,
and the great Self-denial he practis'd: Perhaps he'll relate to you,
how that Saint watch'd his Arms all Night, after he had dedicated
them, together with his Life, to the _Virgin Mary_. But that the Gospel
requires a literal Mortification of the Flesh, and other hard Tasks
from us, is the very Basis which the Pope's Exchequer is built upon.
He could have no Colour for enjoining Fasting and Abstinence, if it
was not supposed, that he had a Warrant for it from the New Testament.
It is this Supposition, that brings all the Grist to his Mill; and
thus a Man may eat Flesh in Lent, without a Sin; but tho' he can get
the Meat perhaps for Nothing, he shall pay for the Liberty of Eating
it. Buying Absolutions implies the Consciousness of having committed a
Crime; and No body would give Money for Indulgences, if he thought,
that what he desires to be indulged in, was lawful without them. All
Multitudes will sooner believe a Man to come from God, who leads an
Austere Life himself, and preaches Abstinence and Self-denial to
others tho' they themselves, I mean the Hearers, don't practice it, or
take any Pains to comply with his Precepts, than they will another,
who takes greater Liberties himself, and whose Doctrine is less
severe. This the wise Architects of the Church of _Rome_, who were
thoroughly skill'd in Human Nature, were well aware of; and
accordingly they have improved upon the Scriptures, and added Lustre
to all those Precepts, which is most difficult to comply with; and in
commenting on the severest Duties of Christianity, they have been so
far from extenuating and explaining away our Obligations to perform
them, that they have heighten'd and magnify'd them, not only by Words
and in Theory, but the Practice and Example; as is so manifest from
the hard and almost incredible Tasks, which many of them have actually
impos'd upon themselves, and gone through. They have flinch'd at
Nothing on this Head.
Hor. A Man must be very stupid to believe, that his close Attachment
to the World, and the Loosness of his own Morals can be atton'd for by
the recluse and strict Lives that are led in some Religious Houses.
Cleo. Not so stupid as you imagine: There is Nothing in it that
clashes with the common Notions of Mankind. Ceremonies are perform'd
by Proxy; Men are Security for one another; and a Debt is not more
effectually discharg'd, when we receive the Money from him who
borrow'd it, than when it is paid by his Bail, tho' the Principal
himself runs away. If there is but real Self-denial to be met with any
where in a Religion, it is no difficult Matter to make Multitudes
believe, that they have, or may buy, a Share in it: Besides, all _Roman
Catholicks_ are brought up in the firm Belief of the Necessity there is
of Self-denial. They are strictly forbid to eat Flesh on Fridays; and
Pains are taken to inspire them from their very Childhood with a
Honour against the breaking of this Commandment. It is incredible,
what Force such a Precept is of, and how closely the Influence of it
sticks to men, when it has been earnestly inculcated to them from
their early Youth. There is no Difficulty in the Thing when they are
grown up; and I'll engage, that a _Roman_ Catholick, who always has been
accustom'd to this Piece of Observance till he is Five and Twenty
Years of Age, will find it more easy afterwards to continue than to
leave it off, tho' he should turn Protestant, or even Turk.
Hor. I have often admired at the great Force this senseless Piece of
Superstition is of; for I have seen great Reprobates and very loose
Fellows among the _Roman_ Catholicks, who stuck at no Manner of
Debauchery, and would often talk prophanely, that yet refused to eat
Flesh on a _Friday_, and could not be laugh'd out of their Folly; tho'
at the same Time I could see, that they were actually ashamed of it.
Cleo. No Set of People have so artfully play'd upon Mankind as the
Church of _Rome_. In the Use they have made of Scripture, they have
consulted all our Frailties; and in their own Interpretations of it,
most dextrously adapted themselves to the common Notions of all
Multitudes. They knew perfectly well, not only, that all Men are born
with the Fear of an invisible Cause, but likewise that it is more
natural, or, at least, that the rude and ignorant of our Species are
always more apt to suspect, that this invisible Cause is their Enemy,
than they are to think it to be their Friend, and will sooner believe
it to be an evil and malicious, than a good beneficent Being. To turn
this to their Advantage, they made Use of all their Skill and Cunning
to magnify the Devil, and cry up his Force and Subtlety, his
supernatural Art, his implacable Hatred to Mankind, and great
Influence over Human Affairs. All the strange Stories they have
spread, the monstrous Fables they have invented, and the gross Lies
they have maintain'd, of Spirits, of Witchcraft, and Apparitions,
never had any other Tendency than to manifest the Works of Satan, and
make Every body afraid of his Power and Stratagems at all Times, and
in all Places; which has been a prodigious Gain to them. They never
taught any Thing that contradicted Vulgar Opinions, and never gave
Men any Ideas of Heaven, that were not borrow'd from Something on
Earth. That Courts of Princes are not deem'd to be compleat without
Women, has advanced the _Virgin Mary_ to be Queen of Heaven. From the
Influence of Mothers, and the Authority they are known to exercise of
their Infants, they have drawn the most childish Conclusions to raise
Superstition; for to that Notion, and the great Honour which is every
where allow'd to be due to Parents, it has been owing, that the Mother
of God in the _Roman_ Communion has been all along more address'd and
pray'd to, than her Son; and of the Two She seems to be the more
venerable Person. All Patrons in ancient _Rome_ had their Clients, whom
the protected; and all Favourites of Princes have their Creatures,
whose Interests they espouse upon Occasion: This has produced the
Invocation of Saints and Angels; and that no Advocates might be
wanting in the Celestial Court on any Emergency, the Church has
provided, that there is no Town or Country, no Handicraft or
Profession, no Pain or Disease, Danger or Distress, but there is a
kind Saint for that particular Affair, whose peculiar Province is to
preside over and take Care of every Thing that relates to it; which
has made the Number of them equal with, if not superiour to that of
the Pagan Deities. She knew, that the Incredibility of Things is no
Obstacle to Faith among Multitudes; and that in believing of
Mysteries, Propositions will not be the less swallow'd for being
contradictory to Reason.
Hor. But I thought you was not for keeping Men in Ignorance.
Cleo. What I am for, is not the Question. Priests who would bear an
absolute Sway over the Laity, and live luxuriously at their Cost,
ought First to make them believe Implicitly: Whereas an honest Clergy,
that will teach Nothing concerning Religion, but what is consistent
with good Sense, and becoming a rational Creature to believe, ought to
deal uprightly with Men throughout the Whole, and not impose upon
their Understandings in one Point more than they do in another. From
the real Incomprehensibility of God, just Arguments must be drawn for
believing of Mysteries that surpass our Capacities. But when a Man has
good Reason to suspect, that he who instructed him in these Mysteries,
does not believe them himself, it must stagger and obstruct his Faith,
tho' he had no Scruples before, and the Things he had been made to
believe, are no Ways clashing with his Reason. It is not difficult for
a Protestant Divine to make a Man of Sense see the many Absurdities
that are taught by the Church of Rome, the little Claim which Popes
can lay to Infallibility, and the Priestcraft there is in what they
say of purgatory and all that belongs to it. But to persuade him
likewise, that the Gospel requires no Self-denial, nor any Thing that
is irksome to Nature, and that the Generality of the Clergy of _England_
are sincerely endeavouring, in their Lives and Doctrine, to imitate
the Apostles, as nearly as Human Frailty will let them, and is
consistent with the Difference of the Age and Manners between their
Time and ours; to persuade, I say, a Man of Sense, that these Things
are likewise true, would not be so easy a Task. By a Man of Sense, I
mean a Man likewise of some Knowledge, who, in the First Place, has
read the Bible, and believes the Scripture to be the sole Rule of
Faith; and, in the Second, is no Stranger to our Church, or any Thing
that is openly to be seen relating to her Clergy, especially the Heads
of them, the Bishops; such as their Palaces and Manner of Living;
their Translations, Revenues and Earthly Power, together with the
Worldly Honours, Precedency and other Privileges, which our Spiritual
Lords insist upon to be their Due.
Hor. I have often laugh'd my Self at Apostles in Coaches and Six; but
what must at that Rate the Men of Sense and Sincerity among the _Roman
Catholicks_ think of their Prelates, who live in much greater Splendour
and Luxury than ours? What must they think of the Cardinals and the
Pope himself?
Cleo. Think of them? What they please, so they dare not to open their
Lips against them, or any Thing which the Clergy are pleas'd to call
Sacred. In all _Roman Catholick_ Countries, you know, no Books or
Pamphlets may be publish'd, but what are Licensed; and no Man is
allow'd to divulge any Sentiments concerning Religion, that are not
entirely Orthodox; which in all Countries, so regulated, is a vast
Ease and an unspeakable Comfort to the Clergy of the establish'd
Church.
Hor. I never thought to hear you speak against the Liberty of the
Press.
Cleo. And you never will; for tho' Orthodoxy and the National Clergy
are always the Gainers by these Curbs and Prohibitions, yet Truth and
Religion are ever the Sufferers by them. But all prudent Men ought to
behave according to the Condition they are in, and the Principles as
well as Privileges they lay claim to. Reform'd Divines own themselves
to be fallible: They appeal to our Reason, and exhort us to peruse the
Scripture Ourselves. We live in a Country where the Press is open;
where all Men are at full Liberty to expose Error and Falshood, where
they can find them; and No body is debarr'd from Writing almost any
Thing, but Blasphemy and Treason. A Protestant Clergy ought always to
remember the Reasons, which their Predecessors alledg'd for separating
themselves from the _Roman_ Communion, and never to forget, that the
Haughtiness and Luxury of the Prelates, as well as the Covetousness,
the Insolence, and barefac'd Encroachments of the Clergy, were a
considerable Part of the Complaints against Popery. No equitable
Guides, that have open'd our Eyes to see the Frailties of others,
ought to expect from us, that in Regard to themselves we should keep
them shut close, and never look upon their Behaviour. The _Roman_
Pastors, who keep their flocks in the Dark, teach them blind
Obedience, and never vouchsafe to argue with 'em any more than if they
were real Sheep. They don't advise Men to read the Bible, but such
Books of Devotion as their Priests shall think proper for them; and
are so far from appealing to their Judgment, that they conjure them,
on Pain of Damnation, never to trust their Reason, but implicitly to
believe whatever the Church shall require of them.
Hor. You put me in Mind of Father _Canaye_, the Jesuit in St. _Evremond_.
No Reason! No Reason at all!
Cleo. Where the Clergy are possess'd of, and keep up this Authority
over the Laity, and the Secular Arm is at their Devotion, to punish
whom they condemn, they need not be nice or circumspect in their
Manner of Living; and no Pomp or Luxury will easily lessen them in the
Esteem of the Multitude. No Protestant Clergy have wrote better in
Defence of the Reformation than ours; but others have certainly gone
greater Lengths in it, as to Worship and Discipline in outward
Appearance. The Difference between the _Roman Catholicks_ and us seems
to be less irreconcilable, than it is between them and the Reformed
Churches of the united _Netherlands_ and _Switzerland_; and I am fully
persuaded, that the Mother Church despairs not of bringing back to her
Bosom this run-away Daughter of hers, and making this Island one Day
or other repay with Interest the Losses she has sustain'd by its long
Disobedience. Arguments alone will never keep out Popery; and _Great
Britain_ being once reconciled to the Church of _Rome_, would add such a
Weight to her Power, that it would not be difficult for her in a
little Time to reduce all the Rest of the Protestants by main Force,
and entirely to Triumph over what She calls the Northern Heresy.
Hor. We have very good Laws to secure us from the Usurpation of _Rome_;
and the Abbey Lands, that are in the Possession of the Laity, I
believe, are a better, I mean, a stronger Argument against the Return
of Popery, than ever will be shewn in Print.
Cleo. I believe so too; but it is not easy to determine, what
Difficulties and Discouragements true Politicks and never ceasing
Industry may not surmount in Time. The Church of _Rome_ is never without
Men of great Parts and Application; she entertains Numbers of them;
and there is no Government, without Exception, of which the true
Interest is so well understood, or so steadily pursued without
Interruption, as hers.
Hor. But why may not Protestants have Men of good Sense and Capacity
among them, as well as _Roman Catholicks_? Do not other Countries
produce Men of Genius as well as _Italy_?
Cleo. Perhaps they do; tho' none more. The _Italians_ are a subtle
People; and I believe, that consummate Knowledge in State Affairs, and
Worldly Wisdom are less precarious at _Rome_, than in any other Place
you can name. Men of uncommon Genius are not born every Day, no more
in _Italy_ than any where else; but when in other Countries a good
Politician goes off the Stage, either of Life or Business, it is often
seen that a Bungler succeeds him, who in a few Years does more Hurt to
the Nation, that the other had Time to do them good in a long
Administration. This never happens at _Rome_; and there is no Court in
the Universe so constantly supplied with able Managers and crafty
Statemen as hers: For how short soever the Lives of most Popes may be,
the Sacred College never dies. Tell me now pray, what unlikely Change,
what Improbability can you imagine, of which we have not Reason to
fear, that, if it be possible at all, it may be brought about by such
a Set of Men; when every one's private Interest, as well as that of
the Common Cause, are highly concern'd in it, and they are not stinted
in Time?
Hor. Assiduity and Patience, I know, will do strange Things, and
overcome great Obstacles. That the Church of _Rome_ is more diligent and
sollicitous to make Proselytes, than the Protestants generally are, I
have long observed.
Cleo. There is no common Cause among the Reformed: The Princes and
Laity of different Persuasions would have been firmly united long ago,
if the Clergy would have suffer'd it; but Divines, who differ, are
implacable, and never known to treat any Adversary with Temper or
Moderation; and it has never been seen yet, that Two Sects of
Christians did agree, and join heartily in one Interest, unless they
were oppress'd, or in immediate Danger of suffering by a common Enemy
to both. As soon as that is over, you always see their former
Animosities revive. If the Church of _Rome_ had no Hopes left, and given
over all Thoughts of ever bringing this Kingdom back within her Pales,
you would see the English Seminaries abroad neglected and dropt by
Degrees; which she now cultivates with the utmost Care: For it is from
them only, that She can be furnish'd with the proper Instruments to
keep Popery alive in _England_, and buoy up the drooping Spirits of the
distress'd _Catholicks_, among the many Hardships and Discouragements,
they labour under beyond the Rest of their Fellow-Subjects. Such
Offices as these, are every where best perform'd by Natives: Whatever
Persuasion People are of, if the National Church of their Country, be
not of their Religion, it is natural the them to wish it was; and that
all imaginable Care is taken in the English Seminaries to encourage,
and with the utmost Skill to heighten and encrease this Natural Desire
in those under their Care, no Man can doubt who considers the
Abilities of the Tutors that are employ'd in them, and the vast
Advantage the Reduction of _Great Britain_ would be to the See of _Rome_.
Whilst those Colleges are constant supply'd with _English_ and _Irish_
Youth, the Popish Interest can never die in this Realm, nor the Church
of _Rome_ want insinuating Priests, or hearty Zealots, that will act any
part, put on any Disguise, and run any Risque for their Cause, either
in Strengthening the _Roman Catholicks_ that are among us in their
Faith, or seducing Protestants from theirs. No Foreigners could do us
half the Mischief. People love their own Language from the same
Motives as they love their Country; and there are no Priests or
Clergy, whom Men will sooner hearken to and confide in, than such, as
take great Pains and express an uncommon Zeal in their Function, at
the same Time that they exercise it at the Hazard of their Liberty or
their Lives. The Church of _Rome_ has fit Tools for every Work and every
Purpose; and no other Power upon Earth has such a Number of Creatures
to serve it, nor such a Fund to reward them when they do. That the
Protestant Interest lost Ground soon after it was well establish'd,
and is still declining more and more every Day, is undeniable. To one
_Roman Catholick_, that is converted to the Reform'd Religion, Ten
Protestants turn Papists, among the highest Quality as well as the
Vulgar. What can be the Reason of this Change? What is it that this
Evil ought to be imputed to?
Hor. Either the Church of _Rome_ is grown more vigilant and mindful of
her Cause since the Reformation, than She was in _Luther's_ Days, or the
Protestants are become more negligent and careless of theirs.
Cleo. I believe both to be true, but especially the latter; for if the
Maxims, that were most instrumental in bringing about the Reformation,
had been continued, they certainly would have prevented, at least in a
great Measure, not only this Evil, but likewise another, which is
worse, I mean the Growth of Irreligion and Impiety: Nay, I don't
question but the same Maxims, if they were to be tried again would
have that Effect still.
Hor. This is a fine Secret, and what, I dare say, the Clergy would be
glad to know. Pray, which are those Maxims.
Cleo. The Sanctity of Manners and exemplary Lives of the Reformers,
their Application and unwearied Diligence in their Calling; their Zeal
for Religion, and Disregard of Wealth and Worldly Enjoyments, either
real or counterfeited, for that God only knows.
Hor. I did not expect this. The Bench of Bishops won't thank you for
your Prescription: They would call it an Attempt to cure the Patients
by blistering the Physicians.
Cleo. Those who would call it so, must be strange Protestant Divines.
Hor. I am sure, that some, if not most of them, would think the Remedy
worse than the Disease.
Cleo. Yet there is none equal to it, no Remedy so effectual, either to
cure us of those Evils, and put an entire Stop to, or to hinder and
obstruct the Encrease as well of Atheism and Prophaneness, as of
Popery and Superstition. And I defy all the Powers of Priestcraft to
name such another, a practicable Remedy, of which there is any
Probability, that it would go down or could be made use of in a
clear-sighted Age, and among a knowing People, that have a Sense of
Liberty, and refuse to be Priest-rid. It is amazing, that so many fine
Writers among the Clergy, so many Men of Parts and Erudition should
seem very earnestly to enquire into the Causes of Libertinism and
Infidelity, and never think on their own Conduct.
Hor. But they'll tell you, that you make the Doctrine of the Gospel
stricter than it really is; and I think so too; and that you take
several Things literally, that ought to be figuratively understood.
Cleo. When Words are plain and intelligible, and what is meant by them
in a literal sense is agreeable to the Tenour and the whole Scope of
the Book in which we meet with those Words, it is reasonable to think,
that they ought to be literally understood. But if, notwithstanding
this, there are others, who are of Opinion, that these Words are to be
taken in a figurative Sense, and this figurative Sense is more forced
than the literal, and likewise clashing with the Doctrine and the
Design of the Book, we have great Reason not to side with their
Opinion: But if it appears moreover, that those who contend for the
forced, figurative Sense, should be Gainers by it, if their Opinion
prevail'd, and it would bring them Profit, Honour, Pleasure, or Ease,
then we ought to suspect them to be partial, and the figurative Sense
is to be rejected.
Hor. I don't know what to make of you to Day. You have shewn the _Roman
Catholick_ Religion to be a bare-faced Imposture; and at the same Time
you seem to blame the _Protestants_ for having left it.
Cleo. I am very consistent with my Self. I have laid open to you the
Politicks, Penetration and Worldly Wisdom of the Church of _Rome_, and
the Want of them in the Reformers, who exposed the Frauds of their
Adversaries, without considering the Hardships and Difficulties, which
such a Discovery would entail upon their Successors. When they parted
with their Power, and gave up their Infallibility, they should have
foreseen the necessary Consequences of the Honesty and Candour. A
Reform'd Church, that will own she may err, must prepare for Heresies
and Schisms, look upon them as unavoidable, and never be angry with
those who dissent from her. They ought likewise to have known, that no
Divines, who will preach the Gospel in its Purity, and teach Nothing
but Apostolick Truths without Craft or Deceit, will ever be believ'd
long, if they appeal to Men's Reason, unless they will likewise lead,
or at least endeavour or seem to lead Apostolick Lives. In all Sects
and Schisms it has always been and will ever be observed, that the
Founders of them either are, or pretend to be Men of Piety and good
Lives; but as there never was a Principle of Morality that Men have
set out from, so strict yet, that in Tract of Time Human Nature has
not got the better of it, so the Successors of those Founders always
become more remiss by Degrees, and look out for Ways and Means to
render the Practice of their Doctrine, or the Exercise of their
Function, more comfortable and commodious: And all Persuasions have
ever lost Ground, and been sunk in their Reputation in proportion, as
the Teachers of them have relax'd their Manners. No Doctrine ever
prevail'd or got any Advantage over the establish'd Religion in any
Country, that was not accompanied with a real Austerity of Life, or a
Pretence at least to a stricter Morality, and greater Forbearance,
than was generally to be seen in the National Church, at the Time in
which the Doctrine was advanced. These are eternal Truths, that must
flow from the Fabrick, the very Essence of Human Nature. Therefore the
Clergy may write and preach as they please: They may have all the
Skill and Learning that Mortals can be possess'd of, and all the
assistance into the Bargain, that the secular Power can give them in a
free Nation, they will never be able long to keep up their Credit with
a mixed Multitude, if no Show is made of Self-denial, and they will
totally neglect those Means, without which that Credit was never
acquired.
The Third Dialogue Between _Horatio_ and _Cleomenes_.
Horatio. Tho' it is but Two Days ago that I troubled you almost a
whole Afternoon, I am come again to spend the Remainder of this, and
sup with you, if you are at Leisure.
Cleo. This is exceeding kind. I am no Ways engaged; and you give me a
vast Deal of Pleasure.
Hor. The more I have thought and reflected on what you said of Honour
last _Tuesday_, the more I have perceiv'd and felt the Truth of it in
Spight of my Teeth. But I shall never dare to speak of so wretched an
Origin.
Cleo. The Beginning of all Things relating to Human Affairs was ever
small and mean: Man himself was made of a Lump of Earth. Why should we
be ashamed of this? What could be meaner than the Origin of Ancient
_Rome_? Yet her own Historians, proud as they were, scrupled not to
mention it, after she was arrived at the Height of her Glory, and
become a Goddess, _Dea Roma_, to whom Divine Honours were paid
throughout the Empire, and a stately Temple was erected within her own
Walls.
Hor. I have often wonder'd at that _Dea Roma_, and her Statues
resembling those of _Pallas_. What could they pretend her Divinity to
consist in?
Cleo. In her vast Power, which every Freeman had the Privilege to
imagine, he had a Share in.
Hor. What a _Bizar_, what a monstrous Humour must it have been, that
could make a wife People suppose that to be a Goddess, which they knew
to be a City!
Cleo. Nothing in the Universe, but the Pride of the Citizens. But I
don't think, that the Humour, which you seem to be so much astonish'd
at, is altogether worn off yet. In Poetry, Painting and Sculpture, you
see Rivers, Towns, and Countries continue to be represented under the
Images of Men and Women as much as ever. Look upon the Marble Figures
about the Pedestal of Queen _Anne's_ Statue at St. _Paul's_.
Hor. But No body is so silly as to worship them.