of the Realm exprefly affirm in their common
Letters, not onely to the Pope^ but to Becket
himfelf; accufing him likewife of " traiterous
*' pradices, and of ufing all endeavours to excite
*' the King ot France, and the Court of Flan -
" ders, to enter into a war againft his King and
" Country [«]." When he was cited by the
King, to anfwer for his male adminiftration,
before the Bifhops and Barons of the Realm, he
abfolutely refufed to appear i declaring himfclf
[;«] Infedit alte cun£lorum mentibus, quam benignus
vobis Dominus Rex nofter extiterit, in quam vos gloriam
ab exili provexerit, & in familiarem gratiam tarn lata \05
mcnte Ajfceperit, ut — & diffuadente Matre fua, Regno rc-
clamante.. Ecclcfia Dei, quoad licuit, fufpirante Sc inge-
mifccnte, vos in earn, quapraeftis, dignitatem, modii om-
nibus ftuduit fublimare, etc. ibid. 1. i. Ep. 126.
Thomae Cantuarienfi Archi-epifcopo Clcrus Anglla;.
[r] AfTerebat Rex & fuorum pars melior, quod idem
Archi-epifcopus fereniflimum Regem Francorum in eum
graviter incitaverat, & Comitem Flandrcnfem confringuii.
ncum fuum, qui nullum prius gerebat rancorem, ad ipfum
fubito diffidendum, Sc guerram pro poffe faciendam indux-
erat, ficut fibi pro certo conftabat & cvidcntibus patebat in-
diciis. ib. 1. ii, 28. Alexandre Pap.x Williclmus Sc Otto Car-
.dinales.
D 3 *' refponfrblc -
54 ' ^ Prefatcry Bifcourfe
** refponfible to none but Godi and that as
" much as the foul was fuperior to the body,
" fo much were all people obliged to obey him
*< rather than the King, in all things relating
" to God and his Church-, who had eftablilhed
'' Bifhops to be the Judges and Fathers of
*' Kings themfelves.: and as neither law nor
" reafon allowed children to judge their parents,
" fo he renounced the judgment of the King
" and the Barons, and all other perfons what-
" foever, and acknowledged no Judge, but
** Gpd and his fovereign Vicar on earth, die
" Pope [i?].'* Yet this rnani is now adored, as
one of the principal Saints and Martyrs of the
RomiJI:) Church ; whofe chara6ler I have chofen
to infift upon the more particularly, as it will
teach us by an illuftrious example, from our
own hiftory, what kind of merit it is, that has
exalted fo many others in the fame Church, to
the farne honors.
Let our Catholic tells us alfo, if he pleafes,
what opinion his Church entertains of Garnet
the Jefuit, who was' privy to the Giinpoivder plot,
and hanged for his treafon : if he dares to fpeak
his mind, he will declare him to be a Saint and
Martyr of Chriji j for fuch he is held to be at
Rome and St. Omer*s: yet all Proteftants will
rank him, I .da^e fay, among thofe Saints,
whom I juftly call the difturbers of Kingdoms j
[o] La vie de Saint Thorn. Archevefqup de Canterb.
P.- f29, .
and
to the Letter from Rome. e^i^
and who merited the honor of their Sainljhip^
not by ipreading the light of the Gofpel, but
fcattering Firebrands and deftrudion through
the world.
Our Author cannot comprehend, why I
fliould bring in the adoration of the Hojl among
the other articles of my charge i Jincc, by my
own confefllon, I find no refemblance of it in
any part of the pagan worlhip [p] : but I have
given a good reafon for my not finding it there,
which might have taught him alfo, why I
brought it in ; becaufc it was too abfurd for
the Pracflice even of the Heathens^ who thought,
that none could ever be fo mad, as to make it
a point of religion, to eat tkeir God^ This I
fhcwed from the authority of Tully •, whom /
prefer therefore^ he f;iys, to the Apojiles and
Evangelijis : as if thofe facred writers had ex-
prefly declared the facrainental breads to be God;
which all Protellants deny, in that grofs and
ridiculous fenfe, in which the Papifis interpret
them. But as it is not my prefent purpofe to
examine the real merit of 'Tranfuhfiantiation^ fo
I Ihall take notice onely of one argument that:
he alledges for it, which, if it has any force,
mud he allowed indeed to be contlufive-, that
" the unerring authority of the Church has dc-
" clared it to be true, and injoined the belief
" of it •," and after fuch a decifion, *' that jt
[/] SecPrcf. p. 15.
P 4 " i-^
^$ A Prefatory Bifcourfe '
" is the part of an Infidel, rather than aChri*.
" ftian, to afk, how can this be ? [^]'*
This is the laft refort o^ Popery \ the fumm
of all their reafoning •, to refolve all religion in-
to an implicit faith, and a flavifli obedience to
the authority of the Church ; which hy innu-
merahle texts of Scripture, fays our Author, is
declared to he the indijpenfai?le duty of every Chri-
Jlian [r]. We may fpare ourfelves then the
pains of thinking and inquiring •, drop the peri^,
lous talk of fludying the Scriptures j the Church,
like an indulgent mother, takes all that trouble,-
upon herfelf ; warrants her dodrines to be di^
vine ; and enfures our falvation, on the fingle
condition of taking her word for it, But all
Proteftants mull fee the horrible effefts of fuch
z principle •, an In(^ui^tion ready to fatisfy all
their doubts -, a prifon and tortures prepared for
thofe, who dare to alk their priefts, what Nico-
demus alked our Saviour, How can thefe things
he ? Thus our Catholic, in mentioning the cafe
of a Proteftant, converted to their faith, who
jnay happen to be polTefled ftill with fome fcrur
pies declares, " that he has nothing to fear \r\
** conforming himfelf to the authority of the
" Church, but very much, in making any fcry-
" pie to hear and obey his fpiritual Guides [jj.
In this doctrine of Tranfuhjlantiation, wc fee
a remarkable, inllance of the prolific nature of
[^] See Catholic Chriilian, p. 32, 47, 52, 57.
[r] Ibid. p. 47, [..] lb. p. 6sy 66.
error ;
to the Letter from Rome. yj
error j and how one abfurdity naturally begets
another : for the firll confequence of it was, to
render one half of the facrarnental inftitution fu-
perfluous, by denying the cup to the Laity •, though'
our Saviour exprefly commanded all his difciples
to drink of it^ and declared, that without drink-
ing, they could have no Life in them [/]. Yet
grant them tlieir Tranfulflantiation^ and the con-"
clufion is natural, as our Catholic has deduced
it -, " for whofoever, fays he, receives the body
" of Chrift, mod certainly receives his blood at
'* the fame time, fince the body, which he re-
" ceives, is a living body, and cannot be
" without Blood. There is no taking Chrift
" by pieces •, whoever receives him, receives
** him whole i and fince he is as truly and really
*' prefent in one kind, as in both, he brings
" with him confequently the fame grace, when
" received in one kind, as when received in
'* both [«]." But if they were difpofcd t?o
ufe their reafon on this occafion, a conclufion,
fo contradidory to the exprefs infVitution of the
Gofpel, would convince them of the falfehood
of thofe principles, by which they were led into
it ; and oblige them to diftruft: their premifcs,
which have always been difputed, rather than
rejeft a clear precept of Ck>rift, on which there
never was, or can be any rcafonablc dif-
pute.
[/] Matt. \'.vvi. 27. John vi. 53. i Cor. xi. 23.
[u'] Cathol. Chriflian, p. 64, 65.
As
5? A Prefatory Difcourft
As to my 6th and yth inftances of their Pa^
ganifm, fince our Catholic has offered nothing
upon them worth the pains of confidering, I
Ihall refer the reader to my Letter^ without
troubling him with any thing farther about
them, and proceed to the more important arti-
cle of their miracles.
Here he begins to grow warm again, and de-
clares, " that I am always offended with mira-
" cles, wherever I meet with them -, and is
" forry, that I do not fpeak out in favor of
" my friends the Freethinkers, and fhew the
'^' Jewijh and Chrifiian miracles to be no better,
«* than thofe of the Pagans [^v]." This is the
conftant refuge of baffled zealots, to throw
the odium o^ infidelity and free thinking on thofe,
who dare to expofe their impoftures. But he
hoped perhaps to find feme even of our own
Church ready to join with him in the cry ; fincc
he appears to be no flranger to the offence,
which the freedom of this very Letter had given
to certain men, who are too apt to confider their
own opinions, as the flandard of Chriftian faith ;
and to treat even the defenders of our religion
as defertors, if they do not fubmit to aft under
their direction, and defend it by their principles.
Thefe men imagined, that I had attacked the
fopijh miracles with a gaiety, that feemed to con-
temn all miracles, and particularly thofe of our
[a] Pref. p. 4, 1-,
Savjour i
to the Letter from Rome. 59
Saviour -, by invalidating the force of thofe rules,
which Mr. LeJIie had eftablilhed, as the criterion
of true 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. Lejlie*s treatife, nor fo much as
! knew, what his rules were.
My onely view was, to expofe the forgery of
the popijh miracles in the ftrongeft manner that-
I was able i and in fpite of all the evidence, .
which they pretend to produce for them, to
fhew, that they flood upon no better ground,
than thofe of their Pagan Anceflors. I had
obferved, not onely from books, but from ex-
perience, what thefe Cavillers perhaps were not
To well apprized of, that the pretence of miracles
was the grand fupport of the Romijh Churchy
and what gave a fanflion to all their other
frauds; that their conftant appeal to a divine
power, exerting itfelf miraculoufly amongft
them, gave them not onely their chief advan-
tage againft Proteftants, but furnifhed the Dcijls
alfo with the moft obvious arguments againft
revelation itfelf: for " thefe pious cheats, as
** Mr. Leflie fays, arc the foreft difgraces of
" Chriftianity •, which have bid the faireft of
" any one contrivance, to overturn thp certain-
** ty of the miracles of Chrift, and the whole
** truth of the Gofpel, by putting them all on
" the fame foot [y]." To deftroy the authority
r.'] See Lejlie"% Short method with the Deifls, p. 24.
Vol I of his Works,
2 there*
^^t:\ '"""J Prefatory Difcourfe
therefore of thefe cheats, was to fap the founda- •
tions of Popery^ and overturn the main pillar,
on which it's power fubfifts : which was the real
motive of my dwelling longer on this^ than on
any other article, as our Catholic obferves [z],
as well as of treating it with that freedom which
alarmed even fome of our Proteflants.
That my fentlments therefore oh this head
n>ay neither be miftaken, nor fufpefbed •, and
that I may give fatisfa(n:ion, as far as I am able,
to all, whom, by any freedom of expreflion, I
may pofTibly have offended, either in this, or
in any other of my writings, I take this 6c-
cafion to declare ; that I look upon miracles^
when accompanied with all the circumftances
proper to perfuade us of the reality of the facls,
faid to be performed, and of the dignity of the
end, for which they were performed, to be the
moft decifive proofs, that can be given, of the
truth and divinity of any religion. This was
evidently the cafe of the Jewijh and of the Chri-
Jiian miracles ; wrought in fuch a rnanner, as
could leave no doubt upon the fenfes of thofe,
who were the witiiefTes of them ; and for the
nobleft end, for which the Deity can be con-
ceived to interpofe himfelf -, the univerfal good
and falvation of man. For the Jeivijh and
Chrijtian difpenfations are but different parts of
one and the fame Scheme i mutually illuftrating
and confirming each other's authority: And
\x] Preface, p. 4. . .,-
from
to //{'^Letter from Rome. ,£i
. from this view of them, in which they (hould
always be confidered, as neceflarily conncdled,
and dependent on each other, we fee the weak-
nefs of that objedjon, commonly made to ibe
Mofaic part, on the account of it's being calcu-
lated for the ufe onely of a peculiar people ;
whereas in truth, it was the beginning, or firft
opening of an univerfal Syftem j which, from
the time of Mofes, was gradually manifelled to
the world by the fuccefTive milHons of the Pro-
phets^ till that fulhiefs of time or coming of the
Mejfuih, luhen life ajid immortality were brought
to light by the Gofpel, or the chief good and
happinefs of man perfe<5tly revealed tq him.
That Miracles have ever been thought the
moft authentic proofs of a divine miflion, feems
to be declared by the fenfe of all nations : Since
there never was a religion pretending to be di-
vine, which did not fupport that pretenfion by
an appeal to them : Yet the innumerable for-
geries of this fort, which have been impofed
upon makind in all ages, are fo far from weak-
ning the credibility of the JeiJuifh and Chriflian
miracles, that they ftrengthen it. For how
could we account for a pradtice fo univerfal, of
forging miracles for the fupport of falfe reli-
gions, if on fome occafions they had not adually
been wrought, for the confirmation of a true
one? Or how is it pofllblc, that fo many fpu-
rious copies fliould pafs upon the world, wiith-:
out fome gcnuin original, from wliich they
WCiC
e
€2 A Prefatory Tiifeoiirfe
were drawn i whofe known exiftence and tried
fuccefs might give an appearance of probability
to trie counterfeit ? Now of all the miracles of
antiquity, there are none that can pretend to
the charadler of originals, but thofe of the Old
and New Tejiament; which though the oldeft
by far, of all others, of which any monuments
now remain in tlie world, have yet maintained
their credit to this day, through the perpetual
oppofition and fcrutiny of ages ; whilft all the
rival produtflions of fraud and craft have long
ago been fucceflively exploded, and funk into
utter contempt. An event, that cannot rea-
fonably be afcribed to any other caufe, but to
the natural force and efi'e<5t of truth, which,
though defaced for a time by the wit, or de-
prefled by the power of man, is fure ftill to
triumph in the end, over all the falfe mimickry
of art, and the vain efforts of human policy.
As to Mr. Lejlie*s rules, of diftinguifhing the
true from falfe miracles, I have lately perufed
and confidered them j and whatever force they
may be fuppofed to have, I would not advife an
Apologift for Chriftianity to truft his caufe to
that fingle ilTue. Mr. Leflie himfelf does not do
it i but fuggefts feveral other arguments for the
divinity of our religion, fo ftrong and conclu-
five, that even miracles thewfeheSy as he declares,
^ould not he fufficient to over-rule them [
Hi$ marks however are fo far certainly good,
[«} SeeLeflie, ib. p. zi.
that
to the Letter from Rome. 65
that no pretence of miracles can deferve any at-
tention without them ; yet it does not neceflarily
follow, that all the miracles, in which they may
be found, ought to be received as true ; fince
as far as I have been able to obferve, within the
compafs of my reading, feveral might be pro-
duced both from Popery and Paganifen, which
feem to poflefs them all, and are yet unqueftion-
ably falfe.
I have charged the Popifh Church in my
Letter with many inftances o^ forged miracles^ to
which this Author does not think fit to make
any particular reply, but contents himfelf with
a general anfwer, which muft needs be thought
curious : for he oblcrves, that whether the mira-
cles^ which I have pitched upon^ be true or falfe y
there is nothing at leaji heathenifh in them ; and
confequently nothing that fhews the conformityy
which I pretend to demonJlratCy between Popery
and Paganifm \h\ Which is in efFe(5l to fay,
that allowing them to be^forged, yet they were
not forged by Pagany but by Chriflian Priefls \
not for the purpofes of Pagan^ but of Chriflian
fuperjlition^ fo that I cannot with any propriety
call them heathenifh. — But are they not all copied
from the patterns of Paganifm ? Are they not
applied to the fame purpofes of fraud and de-
lufion ; to keep their people in a flavifh fubjec-
tion to an Idolatrous worfJjip ; and to acquire
wealth and power to the priefthood ? This cer-
ih] Prcf. p. ig.
talnly
^4 ^ Prefatory pifiourfi
t^inlv is downright Faganijm^ ajud the moft de-
tellable part of it.
He procedes howeyer to afT^rt with his ufual
jgravity, " that God has been pleafed in every
*' age, to work moft evident miracles in their
*y .Church, by the miniflry of his Saints-, ii)
*' raifing the ,4ead to Hfe -, in curing the blind
*' and the lame ♦, in cafting out Devils ; in heal-
*' ing inveterate difeafes in a moment, attefled
*' by the moft authentic monuments-, which
*' will be a ftanding evidence to all nations,
•*, that the Church, in which they are wrought,
'' is not that Idolatrous Pagan Church, which
" I pretend it to be, but the true Spoufe of
"*' Chrift — [r].'* This is the conftant voice of
all the Romijh Apologias j that the Catholicifm
fif their Church is demonjlrated by the notoriety of
their miracles [^d]. But fmce the end of all mira-
cles is to convert unbelievers ; if their miracles
be really wrought by the power of Chrijl^ why
are they not wrought, like the ptiracks of Chrift^
in open day-light i in the midil of unbelieving
nations j not for the acquifition of gain or
power to particular perfons, but for the bene-
volent ends of conferring Ibme general good, by
reforming men's lives, enlightening their un-
derllandings, and promoting truth and peace
and charity amongil men ? Why are none of
[r] lb. 1 8, 19.
[/] Noilram Ecclefiam demonftrabimui efTe veram Ec-
clefiam miiuculii. Bcllarm. de Ecclef. Milic.l. iv. c 14.
I • them
to thi Letter from Rome. 65
them wrought in protejiant countries^ for whofe
converfion they are always alledged •, but hud-
dled over among their own bigotted votaries :
prepared by an habitual creduHty, to receive
any impofture, that their Priefts can invent [^] ?
"While St. Thomases, Shrine florifhcd at Can-
terbury^ his Saintfliip was demonftrated by per-
petual miracles [/] j in^ which, as the Hilto-
^ rians
[e] M. ie Marolles takes occafion to obferve, from a faft,
which happened in Paris, 1 644, how eafily people, pof-
fefled with a fuperftitious regard to miracles, can perfuade
themfelves, that they fee, what in truth has no exiftence.
The (lory is this ; a certain man, out of a mere whim, or
with defign perhaps to try his pillol, fhot it off againft a fign
in the Street, on which the Virgin Mary was painted. The
neighbourhood being alarmed, ran out to fee what was the
matter 5 and obferving the Virgin to be pierced through
with the bullet, conceived it to be done by fome Heretic,
or Blafphemer, in open defiance of their religion, and amaz-
ed at fo daring an impiety, fancied that they faw drops of
^/(?oi/ iflue from the wound : of which the whole multitude
was fo ftrongly convinced, that there were thoufands ready
to depofe, that they had feen it with their own eyes : the
ftory became famous, and a Copper-plate of it was printed ;
till being ridiculed by men of fenfe, and found to be wholly
imaginary, the Copper-plate was ordered to be fupprefled,
and the miracle fell gradually into contempt. But if it had
not happened in a country, where the Proteftants at that
time were very numerous, it might have been ftampcd per-
haps for as genuin a miracle, as many others of the fame
coinage, which I have taken notice of in the prefent work.
[/] John of Salijl'ury, who lived at the time, with a great
reputation of learning and integrity, and wrote Becket's li/t^
whofe friend and difciple he was, fpeakihg of the place and
Vol. V. £ marniar
'•^6 A Prefatory Difcourfe
rians of thofe times tell us, he far outdid riot
only all other Saints, but even our Saviotir him-
felf. There were two volumes of them pre-
ferved in the Church of Canturbury \ and ano-
ther book in France^ in which there was an ac-
count of two hundred andfcventy. Peter of Blois^
a celebrated v/riter of that age, after drawing a
parallel between Thomas the Apojile, and Thomas
manner of his burial, fays, " Where to the glory of God
** many and great miracles are now wrought by him, the
*' people flocking thither in crouds, that they may fee in o-
•' thers, and feel alfo in themfelves the power and mercy of
- ** him, who is ever wonderful! and glorious in his Saints.
** For in the place, on which he fuifered, and where his body
•' likewife was depofited that night before the great Altar ;
" and alfo where he was at laft buried, the paralytic are
•• healed ; the blind fee ; the deaf hear ; the dumb fpeak j
•* the lame walk ; the Devils are caft out ; all who are fick
•* of fevers, or other difeafes, are cured j and what was
*' never heard of in the days of our fathers, the dead are
5* raifed. See Vit. S. Thomae Epiftolis praefix. Vol. i. 142."
Pope Alexander y the third of that name, in a Letter to the
Church oi Canterbury upon the fubjedl oiThomas's Canoniza-
tion, about four years after his death, fays, — The whole
body of the faithfuU muft neceflarily rejoice to hear of the
WonderfuU works of the holy and reverend man Thomas,
your late Archbifliop : But you muft needs be filled with a
more exalted joy, who behold his miracles with your own
eyes, and whofe Church has the peculiar honor of poflef-
fmg his moft facred remains. We on our part having con-
fidered the glory of his merits, by which his life was made
fo illuftrious, and having received full and certain informa-
tion of his miracles, not onely from common fame, but
from the teftimony of our beloved Sons, Albertiis, and Iheo-
duinusy Cardinal Priefts, and Apoftolic Legats, and of a
great number of other perfons, have folemnly canonized
die aforefaid Archbifhop, l^c, lb. p. 170. •
, ihe
to the Letter from Rome. 67
the Martyr, fays, " I do not pretend to com-
" pare a Martyr with an Apojik \ for an Apojlle
*' is greater > but it is glorious for us to have a
" Martyr, who bears the name of an Apojile,
*' and who equals or furpafles him in his mira-
*' cles. That great Apojile cannot take it amifs
*' that the Holy Spirit (liould enable others to
" work greater wonders, and in greater num-
*' ber than him : Since the Lord both of the
*' Apojiles and Martyrs is content to be outdone
" by them himfelf in this particular: Te Jhall
*' do, fays he, not onely thefe ivorks, that I do ;
" hut greater works than thefe JIj all ye do [^].'*
Which prediftion, as they declare, was literally
fulfilled by St. Thomas : " Whofe blood being
" collefted with care immediately after his
" death, not onely cured all diftempers, but
*' raifed even great numbers of the dead to life :
*' And when the quantity was found infufficient
" for the demand, that was made of it, they
" were forced to fupply it with water \ the leaft
*' drop of which, when tinged with the Martyr's
" blood, and adminiftred to the fick, or infuf-
*' ed into the mouths of the dead, had all the
*' fame effects \ fo that it was fcnt abroad into
** all parts of the Chriflian world, as an infal-
*' lible cure for all kinds of difeafes \h\'^.
\£\ John xlv. \z.
\J}\ La vie de St. Thomas, p. 442. 410. it. Vita Italice*
p. 430. ^c. Pet. Blcfenf. Epift. 17,5:46. iJaron Ann.i 173.
N°. vii. Speculum Sandor. ap. Labbe Biblioth. Nov. iffr.
E 2 • The
6S A 'Prefatory Bifcourfe
The fame of thefe miracles drew Kings and
Princes from abroad ; and infinite crouds at
home, with dayly offerings to his Shrine : but
this harveft was no fooner over, than the power
of the Saint fell with the gain of the Prieft j and
all his miracles ceafed, when the honor of his
Altar flood mofl in need of their fupport -, fo
that, the place where he was formerly worfhip-
ped, and where fuch mighty wonders were once
wrought, is now fhewn as a monument onley
of the folly and fuperftition of our Anceflors.
But though he works no miracles in England^
where his bones lie depofited ; he works them
Hill in foreign countries, and will continue to
do fo, as long as there is a Popifh Church and
a Priefthood, who find their interefl in fupport-
ing them. For, as La5lantiu5 juilly obfcrves,
" among thofe, who feek power and gain from
*' their religion, there will never be wanting an
*' inclination to forge and to lie for it [/].'*
They tell us indeed of many miracles of the
greateft kind, wrought by their MifTionaries in
India : but they all reft upon no other authority,
than the fufpedted relations of thofe Miflion-
aries ; and are even contradifled by fome of
tlieir graveft writers. A Royal ProfefTor of Sa-
lamanca, in one of his public ledures, fays ; " it
*' does not appear to me, that the Chriflian