Chapter 16: The Blessed Virgin

Blessed Virgin. SECT. 23. Pag. 267.

The twenty second Paragraph concerning the blessed Virgin, is absolutely the weakest and most disingenious in his whole discourse. The work he has in hand is to take off offence from the Roman doctrine and practice, in reference to her. Finding that this could not be handsomely gilded over, being so rotten and corrupt, as not to bear a new varnish, he turns his pen to the bespattering of Protestants, for contempt of her, without the least respect to truth or common honesty. Of them it is, that he says, that they vilifie and blaspheme her, and cast gibes upon her, which he sets off with a pretty tale of a Protestant Bishop, and a Catholick boy; and lest this should not suffice to render them odious, he would have some of them thought to taunt at Christ himself; one of them, for ignorance, passion, and too much haste for his breakfast. Boldly to calumniate, that something may cleave, is a principle that too many have observed in their dealings with others in the world. But, as it containes a renuntiation of the religion of Jesus Christ, so it has not alwayes well succeeded. The horrid and incredible reproaches that were cast by the Pagans on the primitive Christians, occasioned sundry ingenious persons to search more into their way, then otherwise they would have done; and thereby, their conversion. And I am perswaded, this rude charge on Protestants, as remote from truth, as any thing that was cast on the first Christians by their adversaries, would have the same effects on Roman-Catholicks, might they meet with the same ingenuity and candor. That any Protestant should be moved or shaken in his principles, by such calumnies, is impossible. Every one that is so, knows, that as the Protestants believe every thing that is spoken of the blessed Virgin, in the Scripture, or Creed, or whatever may be lawfully deduced from what is so spoken; so they have all that honor and respect for her, which God will allow to be given to any creature. Surely, a confident accusation of incivility and blasphemy, for not doing that, which they know they do, and profess to all the world they do, is more like to move men in their patience towards their accusers, then to prevail with them, to join in the same charge against others, whom they know to be innocent as themselves. Neither will it relieve our Author in point of ingenuity and truth, that, it may be, he has heard it reported, of one or two brain-sick, or frantick persons in England, that they have cast out blasphemous reproaches against the blessed Mother of God. It is credibly testified, that Pope Leo should, before witnesses, profess his rejoycing at the advantages they had at Rome, by the fable of Christ. Were it handsome now in a Protestant, to charge this blasphemy upon all Papists, though uttered by their head and guide; and to dispute against them from the confession of the Jews, who acknowledge the story of his death and suffering to be true; and of the Turks, who have a great honor and veneration for him to this day. Well may men be counted Catholicks, who walk in such paths, but I see no ground or reason why we should esteem them Christians. Had our Author spoken to the purpose, he should have proved the lawfulness; or if he had spoken to his own purpose, with any candor of mind, or consistency of purpose, in the pursuit of his design, have gilded over the practise of giving divine honor to the holy Virgin; of worshipping her with adoration, as Protestants say, due to God alone; of ascribing all the titles of Christ to her, turning Lord, in the Psalms, in most places, into Lady; praying to her, not only to entreat, yes, to command her Son to help and save them, but to save them her self, as she to whom her Son has committed the administration of mercy, keeping that of justice to himself; with many other the like horrid blasphemies, which he shall hear more of, if he desire it. But in stead of this difficult task, he takes up one, which, it seems, he looked on as far easier, falsly to accuse Protestants of blaspheming her. We usually smile in England at a short answer that one is said to have given Bellarmine's works; I hope, I may say without offence, that if it were not uncivil, it might suffice for an answer to this Paragraph. But though most men will suppose, that our Author has overshot himself, and gone too far in his charge, he himself thinks, he has not gone far enough; as well knowing, there are some bounds, which when men have passed, their only course is to set a good face upon the matter, and to dare on still. Therefore to convince us of the truth of what he had delivered concerning Protestants reviling and blaspheming the blessed Virgin, he tels us, that it is no wonder, seeing some of them in forrain parts, have uttered words against the very honor of Jesus Christ himself. To make this good, Calvin is placed in the Van, who is said, to taunt at his ignorance, and passion, and too much haste for his breakfast, when he curst the figtree, who if, as is pretended, he had studyed Catholick divines, they would have taught him a more modest and pious interpretation. It is quite beside my purpose and nature of the present discourse, to recite the words of private men, and to contend about their sense and meaning. I shall therefore only desire the Reader, that thinks himself concerned in this report, to consult the place in Calvin pointed to; and if he finds any such taunts, as our Author mentions, or any thing delivered concerning our Lord Christ, but what may be confirmed by the judgement of all the antient Fathers, and many learned Romanists; I will be content to lose my reputation with him, for any skill in judging at the meaning of an Author. But what thoughts he will think meet to retain for this informer, I leave to himself. What Catholick divines Calvin studyed, I know not; but, I am sure, if some of those whom his adviser accounts so, had not studyed him, they had never stole so much out of his comments on the Scripture, as they have done. The next primitive Protestants, that are brought in, to make good this charge, are Servetus, Gibraldus, Lasmaninus, and some other Anti-trinitarian Hereticks; in opposition to whose errors, both in their first rise, and after-progress, under the management of Faustus Socinus, and his followers, Protestants all Europe over, have laboured far more abundantly, and with far greater success, then all his Roman-Catholicks. It seems they must now all pass for primitive Protestants, because the interest of the Catholick-cause requires it should be so. This is a communicable branch of Papal Omnipotency, to make things and persons to be, what they never were. From them, a return is made again, to Luther, Brentius, Calvin, Swinglius, who are said to nibble at Arianism, and shoot secret darts at the Trinity; though all impartial men must needs confess, that they have asserted and proved the doctrine of it, far more solidly then all the Schoolmen in the world were able to do. But the main weight of the discourse of this Paragraph, lies upon the pretty tale, in the close of it, about a Protestant Bishop, and a Catholick boy; which he must be a very Cato that can read without smiling. It is a little too long to transcribe, and I cannot tell it over again without spoyling of it, having never had that faculty in gilding of little stories, wherein our Author excelleth. The sum is, that the boy being reproved by the Bishop, for saying a Prayer to her, boggled at the repetition of her name when he came to repeat his Creed, and cryed, My Lord, here she is again, what shall I do with her now? To whom the Bishop replyed, You may let her passe in your Creed, but not in your Prayers. Whereupon our Author subjoyns, as though we might have faith, but neither hope nor charity for her. Certainly, I suppose, my Countrimen cannot but take it ill, that any man should suppose them such stupid blockheads, as to be imposed on with sophistry, that they may feel through a pair of mittens; Tam vacui capitis populum Phaeaca putasti? For my part, I can scarce think it worth the while to relieve men, that will stoop to so naked a lure. But that I may pass on, I will cast away one word, which nothing but gross stupidity can countenance from needlesseness. The blessed Virgin is mentioned in the Creed, as the person of whom our Savior was born: and we have therefore faith for her; that is, we believe that Christ was born of her; but do we therefore believe in her? Certainly no more then we do in Pontius Pilate, concerning whom we believe that Christ was crucified under him: a bare mention in the Creed, with reference to somewhat else believed in, is a thing in its self indifferent; and we see occasionally befell the best of Women, and one of the worst of Men; and what hope and charity should we from there conclude, that we ought to have for her? We are past charitable hopes that she is for ever blessed in heaven, having full assurance of it. But if by hope for her, he means the placing of our hope, trust, and confidence in her, so as to pray to her, as his meaning must be, how well this follows from the place she has in the Creed, he is not a man who is not able to judge.