The ministry of the letter vindicated from the charge of anti-Christianism. Or an answer to Mr. Woolston's four free-gifts to the clergy, and challenges on this question, whether the hireling priests of this age, ... be not worshippers of the Apocaly
Country curate
Lg” \ 4 5 * 5 5 9 aa — — 3 * N = Ce < 60 to come, may tempt ſome Wap to Perſo- nate Elias, and if he ſhould put the Ban- ter upon us, this would turn more to our Ridicule among the People, than our In- fidelity and Oppoſition to the true Elias, will be a Reproach to us. Let us there- fore think of proper Teſts to try his Spi- rit by, that no Falſe-Prophet do beguile us with a lying one. Old Elias, we know, challeng'd Baal's Priefts to a Con- teſt at the Sacrifice of a Bullock: And I have heard, that the new Elias will challenge us too, and chuſe the Moſ- chos of the Letter of the Law of Mo- ſes, which is the Apocalyptical Beaſt, for his Bullock. Pray, Sirs, let us look about us, that he play us no Hocus pocus, or Legerdemain Tricks. Let us ſee well to him, that it be pure, ſpiritual, imma- terial, prophetical and celeſtial Fire, that he makes to deſcend upon the Body of it. There is one Thing that Elias is to per- form in this his Sacrifice, that I think im- poſſible to be done in this Church, that is, as his Sacrifice is to be made for the Ignorance of the Prieſts, as well as of the People; ſo let any one look upon our Bi- ſhops, and other dignified Clergy, eſpeci- ally if they put on their ,demure Counte- nances, and judge, whether it be poſſible for Men to be more learned,” more ou. is ; OL an [ 61 2 and more knowing of the Nature of God and his Providence, than they ſeem to be. But why ſhould we Proteſtant Prieſts of the Church of England trouble our Heads at all about this Matter? If Elias, ſhould come, it will hardly be to our Clergy. It is the Opinion of * Lapide and 8 Suarex, which is founded on the Authority of the Fathers, that as Elias comes for the Re- formation of the Clergy, &c. ſo he'll come to that Part of the Church univer- ſal, where Anti-Chrift's chief Seat is, and where his Miniſters are moſt rampant ; which Opinion is our Security; or the Prieſts of the Church of Rome, when they hear of it, will laugh at, and inſult over us. But, | Seventhly, As to the. Fourth Head of my Diſcourſe, I don't doubt but to puz- zle and confound our Adverſary about his Notion of the Two Witneſſes. And tho we Proteſtants can't agree upon another Opinion about them; yet I, like the fa- — 1 — — — — 3 wh 7 CE mos. 4 FE Flias collapſos Cleri & Populi mores eft refor- maturus, ſuoque Zelo Apoſtolico ad avitum Nitorem omnia reparaturus, In Malach. cap. 4. e Præcipue ea circuibit Loca, in quibus vel Anti- Chriſtus ipſe, vel potentiores ejus Miniſtri verſabun- tur. In neſt. 59. Diſp. 55. Set. 2. | mous. [ 62 ] mous Chillingwerth , that could diſpute well againſt any Thing, and defend no- thing, can raiſe Objections enough againſt his Notion; and I promiſe my Readers before-hand to make pleaſant Work with his new Metamorphoſis of Moſes and Elias on Meunt Tabor. But, Eighthly, As to my Fifth Head, on which I am to expoſe our Adverſaries Blunders, lay open his Falfifications, and diſprove his ridiculous and incredible Tales; I long to be at it; and, once thought of poſtponing my other Heads of Diſcourſe to this, for the Pleaſure and Sa- tisfaction I ſhall give the Publick on it. My Fingers itch to be at him on this Score. None can imagine before-hand, how witty and facetious I will be on this Head, nor how ridiculous and contempti- ble T'll make our Adverſary. We have render d him very deſpicable already, and by the Stories We have told of him, have occaſion d many a Man to give him a ſcornful Look; but the Jeſts and merry Animadverſions, I will paſs here on his Ignorance and Blockiſhneſs, ſhall make the very Boys of the Streets, for the fu- ture, to laugh at him. Old South and Sherlock, with their comical Remarks on each others Blunders, did not give the Town gon — [ 63 ] Town half the Diverſion, that T will in this Caſe. P. And now I have hinted at the Contro- verſy between thoſe Two Orthodox Di- vines of the Church of England, Dr. Sherlock, and Dr. South, I will tell you, Sirs, how impious and profane our Ad- verſary is in his Compariſons. ' He com- pares this Controverſy between theſe Two eminent Dzvines, to the Diſputation between a blind and a deaf Man, when the one is blind of Underſtanding, and the other dull of Apprehenſion. The Controverſy between the Athanaſians and Arians at this Day, he compares to Two blind Men a boxing each other, who, for want of Eyes in their Underſtandings and Heads, frequently, if not altogether, miſs their Blows : And Whifton and Va- terland, the Two Champions of this Con- troverſy, he ſays, are like Two Bulls con- tending for the Command of the whole black Herd. N Sic duo converſis inimica in Prælia Tauri, Frontibus incurrunt. | 8 Stat pecus omne metu mutum, muſſantque Tuvence, Quis pecori imperitet, quem toto Armenta ſequantur. And the Controverſy between the Popiſh and the Proteſtant Church, is like, he ſays, [64] ſays, to the ſcolding of Two Whores, in which ſhe is always reckon'd moſt pun- gent, that gives the worſt — And becauſe the Proteſtant Church has uſed the greateſt Multiplicity of Words, and given the moſt opprobrious Language, Series (juſt as it is at Billing ſgate ) the Laugh in England has gone on her S:de. Is not all- his, Dear Brethren, ve- ry profane, and little leſs than Blaſphemy, ſo to abuſe not only our Reverend Con- troverſiſts in Religion, as if the Bone of Contention between them was hardly worth tugging for; but the Two famous Churches of Chriſtendom, that are had in Veneration by Emperors, Kings, and Princes, as well as by an infinite Number of Biſhops and Prieſts of both of them. Our Adverſary with his myſtical and prophetical Harp, had beſt look to him- ſelf, of he may provoke one of theſe Churches, like a Fury, as upon dN of old, to fall on him and ſay, Ex] hic eft noſtri Contemptor, & Haan, Vatis Apollinei vocalia miſit in Ora. But, having faid this by the By, let me beg of you, Dear Sire, to remember to give me your Advice in the Caſes above; and do it with all Expedition, that I may pro- 5 proceed with the more Courage and Re- ſolution againſt our Adverſary, to whom I now turn my Face again, and, Sword in „ i. I think, Sir, I have ſliced you in many Places of this Diſcourſe; but all this is nothing to the Wounds I will give you in ſome hereafter. And if you don't ſoon cry Peccavi, and make Satisfaction, not only to the Church of England, but to the Chriſtian Church of all Europe, ( whom you pretend to have taken in Adultery with a Bull, that our Jupiter Olympinus is transform d into, and which, for theſe Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years, ſhe has been riding on more and more out of the Way in the Wilderneſs of Error) you ſhall find that III lay my Blows on you thick and heavy. But be- fore we part, and deſcend from the Stage of Contention, for this preſent, let me ſoberly, without Paſſion, expoſtulate with you, in theſe Two or Three Par- ticulars. Firſt, Can't you write gravely and ſe- riouſly, as I do, without Peſts, Puns, and Banter. There is nothing more nau- ſeous than Fe/ts in Polemical Theology; And it is a Sign in the Man that uſes a them, [ 66 ] them, that he has no true Senſe of Re- ligion, or that his Antagoniſts, for Dul- neſs, Ignorance and Stupidity, are pro- per Objects of Sport and Laughter, Old Elias, who was unqueſtionably a grave, wiſe, and prudent Man, did Jeſt and Pun with Baals Prieſts ; and how could he avoid it, in his Diſputations with ſuch Boobies as worſhipp'd Calves for Gods. I don't think that our grave Archbiſhop of —— could always have compoſed his Countenance, if he had been to Diſ- courſe with them. Somewhat or other in their Principles and Worſhip, would have moved him to Smile and break a Jeſt on them. But was Elias to come again to this Church, he would have no Occaſion for his bantering and jocoſe Talent. Though according to Dr. Gell, St. Auguſtin, and others, he is to act the whole Part of Elias over again, yet I can't think but this pleaſant Scene of his Tragi-Comedy would be omitted. He would meet with nothing in our Clergy, that is fit to laugh at, unleſs they really were ſuch Paltroons, Clodpates, Num- ſkulls, and Blunderbuſſes, as you, Sir, would make of them. Suppoſing our Clergy do Worſhip the Apocalyptical Beaſt, and, of the golden Onan 7 od, BW God, have made many groſs Bulls, Fat- lings, and Blunders, which they adore too for rational and divine Things; yet what's all that for a Jeſt, in Compari- ſon of the Calves that the old Baalitical Fools worſhippd 2 The moſt unhappy Circumſtance in our Proteſtant Prieſt- hood of this Church, that is obnoxious to Laughter, is our Tergiverſation and Circumvolation with every Wind of Do- ctrine, as it muſt be confeſsd that we can ſtand faſt to no Point long. But I hope that Eliat, when he comes to know that we would, if we could, ſerve God as well as Mammon, will rather pity than laugh at us for this, and look upon it as more our Misfortune than our Fault, that with the Changes of the Times we-thifc our Principles, and ſtick cloſe to no- thing but our Intereſts. — = — ——— —— — 2 — — ” 4D. 1 Ls — —ͤ— vi | ll 1 16 if 1 1 $ , * 4 4 4 of '* | * : vn. : y bed. 3 E. 11 £5 "I "i = *. 5 bf 4 „ ly,” = +»: ©; Jeſt at the Thoughts of it. But, | [ — 68 ] to. make the Experiment to humour you ; neither could you ſuſpect ſo much Wick- edneſs arid Idolatry in the Body of the . Clergy, if the Hiſtory of the Times paſt did not furniſh you with ſome forrowful Inſtances of the Inconſtancy of ſome of our moſt Pious, moſt Learned, and moſt Orthodox Divines of this Church, which puts me to the Bluſh, and is enough to make a Chriſtian to weep rather than to : Second, Let me tell you, Sir, you do very fooliſhly and imprudently to name Folks Names in your Free-Gifts. Could not you challenge the Body of the Clergy without deſcending to ſome Particulars ? You was before, by a Friend, admoniſh'd of this Fault, which has hinder'd the Sale of your Writings, that otherwiſe would have gone off, like your Exact Fitneſs of the Time of Chriſt's Advent, more cur- rently for the Sake of the Author, as well as Juſtneſs of the Diſcourſe, It is one of your pitiful Tricks to bear ſo hard on Mr. Hay, the harmleſs Vicar of St. Stephen Coleman Street, who would no more have defamed you at the Iuſtiga- tion of others,” if he thought of being fo lampoon'd, than his Countryman would have N | have caught the Tartar, if he had been apprehenſive before-hand of being drubb'd by him. I wonder that Arch- Deacon Stubbs, for 'want of a Pen, the proper Weapon for Reſentment in a Scholar, does not run his Fiſt in your Face. But you dare not go near Merehant: Taylor's School, for fear the Boys ſhould: eſpouſe that Quarrel which Dr. Smith their Ma- ſter, will no farther. be engagd in. And you might as well have ſpared your Breath, as blow it after the Country "Clergy, ſuch as Mr. Cotterel, Liptrot, and others; who, like the Fox, with his Head in a Hole, think none ſee them; and, ſo long as your Satyr reaches not the Ears of their poor Neighbours, care not what the Learned ſay of them. I know your Deſign in mentioning of Names, is to provoke ſome of them to a Publication of the Scandal they have ſpread of you, that you might have an Opportunity to recriminate, and be more than avengd on vs; but 'we are not to be caught in that Snare. Don't you know that, Secundum* uſum Sarum, the bad Character of a great Man, whom we dont love, is not to be publiſh'd till after his Death, when none hardly can contradict us, or will ariſe in Defence of him. L 70 ] him. Was your Head laid in the Duſt, without any farther Diſturbance of the Church, you ſhould not want for a Bio- grapher, who ſhould make * 4 as black as ever we have made old No“ of Sidney, who ſubverted the Government of both Church and State in theſe Kingdoms, and tyrannically uſurpd the Throne of the King of them; as you would over- turn the Miniſtry of the Church univer- ſal, and place your ſelf in the Moſaick and Patriarchal Chair of Eccleſiaſtical Authority, like an infallible Pope, Judge and Moderator of Controverſies. But, Thirdly, and Laſily, Let me adviſe you, as an Enemy, Fa, eſt 2 ab Hoſte doceri, that you never more reflect on the great Reformers of the Church, ſuch as Lu- ther, Zuinglius, Calvin, Knox, and Pe- ters. For theſe are our Proteſtant Saints, and we'll no more ſuffer them to be a- buſed, than the Papiſts will their Domi- nicus, Franciſcus, Loyola, Fryar Bacon, and Dr. Fauſtus, Though the Fathers have given * a large Commiſſion to in- veigh againſt the Miniſtry of the Letter; | yet 2 2 3 J 4 Y » "2 47 Ch r = * "> 1 — A 4 2 TIF: - - 0 of We, % . Sx 8 «4 * - 2 2 >. 2 — * GS 5 "a. AC 72 r . . PF * * N * — — - b 2 * FE _ 4 - — — wF- IC ws 0 ys G — 1 . Swe 3 13 * £ 1 0 1 5 * a SC pF $ ——_— 9 . 8 — —. TEL - =. 4 3 1 = FE +: *. ©; £ 1 yet that ſhall not be your Protection for any Aſperſions to be caſt on theſe our choiceſt Heroes. Whole Countries have one or other of them in Veneration, and your Abuſes of them is an Affront to the Underſtandings of all their Admirers. Do you think the Chineſe and Turks would like to hear Mahomer and Confutius, who were their falſe Prophets, ill ſpoken of: Much leſs will the Proteſtants bear with any Reflections on their Saints above, who, are the prime Apoſtles of the Re- formation, and illuſtrious Founders of numerous and renown d Sects and Par- ties. Think ont, that ſome of the great- eſt Men of the Church and State in this Kingdom, may profoundly admire one or other of them, and may be provoked to extend a ſmall Reflection to the Length of a greater Crime. I have not con- ſulted with any Lawyers, and ſo can't tell whether there be any Thing in the Law of the Land, for the Puniſhment of a Man for his perverſe, ſtubborn, and ob- ſtinate Adherence to the Authority of the Fathers; but the firſt Opportunity J have to talk with Biſhop W——, that true Pro- teſtant, III ask his Opinion, whether you hereupon may not be as culpable as was, once upon a Time, Mr. ay the 75 J 7 the Jour naliſt; ſo wiſhing your Amend- ment, and ff peedy Return to the Fah a Proteſtant "Pricft which” you think f Man upon Earth can give ar'- Account» of, 1 fubſribe my ſelf, with the Do" of 55 Sword, as Tow, auaw w'd, 3 % * * 7 1 9 © & * 314 # L + & , » {3 * # de n 7 10 Dns „ Hoi re bann brig Meng gl 10 90 cl * 4 1 * 814 | WG profeſi d A ntaponiſt, | : " |: * 1 4 þ #7 * 4 a 0-3 þ '{ F. 1 8 * © SES" 1 & F = of The CounTrEty CURATE; | Fi DA er jd wal * - * 4 ot - — 4 a x. 