. EP I ST. V. 261 A our miracles are better then the Heathens, although the evem countenance both alike! RtJP- Ex fide & culw veri Dei : Miracles mu!l be judged by the doctrine which By<h< r,;,h rhey confirme; noc the dottrine by the miracles. The Dreamer, or Prophet mu~ :~~:~~r~~~-of be efl<emed, not by the event ofhis wonder, but by the fubfiance and fcope pfhtS teaching. The Romanifis argue pr<pofieroufiy, while they would prove the truth of their Church by miracles; ....here as they fuould prove their miracles by the trot h. _ To fay nothing ofrhe fafhion oftheir cures, that one is prefcribed to c_ome to our bdy rather on a Friday, as* Btnry LIJt'{; another, to wafh nme dayes m the water • P•g.7• of Ul11ntagu, as L<Dnard St~equeau; another to eat a peece of the Oake wh<re t~e image flood, as* Magdaleintthewidow of Brr1xtlles. All which, ifchey favour not • Hifioi«" firong ofmagicall receirs, letthe indifferent judge. Surely, eitl><rthere is no ~orcery, mind" de B o~ this is it. All !hall beplai~e, if the dodrine c~nfirm;d by their miracles be on.ce ~~:;·,~•m•. d;fcuffcd: for, Ifthat be d;v;ne ·nuth, we doe unjuOly 1mpugne thcfe works as d1a- P•g.m. bolicall;iffalfhood,they doe blafphemoufiy proclaime them fur divine.Thefe works tend all chiefly to this double dodrine; thatthe bldfed Virgin is to be invoked, for hermediation; That God and Saints are to be adored in and by images;Pofirions that would require avolume, and fuchas areliberally difputed by others: whereof one is againfl fcripture ; the.other (which in thefe cafes values no ldfe) befides it. One deifies the Virgin; the other a flock or fione. It matters not what fubtill difiincti· ons their learned Doctors make betwixt mediation of Redemption, and Inter- _ ccffion, &~Mt:t. and Alt'Tflitt, the Saim, andthe Image: We know ,their common people, i;~~~~3J~: whofe devotion enriches thofe fhrioes (by coofdlion of their owne Writers) climbe an~<'" HuC the hill of Zichtm with this conceit, that c.M.rJ istheir Savioreffe; that the fiocke t;"$0 "- m is thdr Godddfe: which unldfc it be true, howdoe their wonders teach them lies! r3uu:C:::~;: e and therefore how from God ~ But to take the firfl ac bell (for tlie fecond is fo Monud of gr~ffe, t_ha~ were not the fecond Commandement by _Papifis purpofdy razed out of ~;;,"~~;~:;~·" theu Pnmters, children and carters would condemne 11) 1t cannot be denyed, thatall ""'by ' PP'"" the fubllance of prayer !sin the heart; the vocall found is but a complement, and as ~~~~~ :'fd~~: an outward cafe wherem our thoughts are fheathed. That power cannot know the '"'· ~~'"at'• prayer, which knowes not the heart : either then the Virgin is God, for that fhe lnqu;Gto<,&. knowes the heart; or to know the heart is not proper to God: or to know the heart, and fo our prayers, is falfely afcribed to the Virgin: and therefore thefe wonders, which teach men thus to honour her, are Doctors of lies ; fo,notofGod. There cannot be any difcourfe wherein it is more eafie to be redious. To end; if prayers D were but in words, and Saints did meddle with all particularities of earthly things, yet b!effed c.MarJ fhould be aGod, iffhe could at once attend all hetfurers. One follicites her at HaOe, another at Schtrpenhtll•tl, and other at Luca, at our Walftng~am anoth<r; one in Eur~pt, another in Aft•: or perhaps another is one of her new Clients in AmtriC4. Ten thoufJnd devout Suppliants are at once profirare before herfeverall !brines. lfOtecannotheare all, why pray they~ If!he can, what can God doe more~ Certainly (as the matter is ufed) there cannot be greater wrong offered to thofe heavenly Spirits, then by our importunate fuperfiitions to be thrull into Gods Throne; and to have forced upon them the honours of their Maker. There is no contradiction in heaven : a Saint cannot allow that an Angell forbids , Stt thou doe it not, was the voyce ofan Angel! : ifall the miraculous blocks in theworld fhall fpeak contrary, E we-knowwhom eo belecvc. The old rule was,* Mttelttt~.tuftl(OeJIOXWJ!h(Ol: Eirherthat rule is Devilifh, or this pradice. And ifchis praillice be ill, God deliver me from the immediate authorofthefe mirocle<;Change bot one!doll for another,and what differ the wonders ofApoOmTemples,from thofc ofthefeChappels~We reverena(as we ought)the memory ofthat holy and happy Virgin:We hatethofe that difhonour her; we hate thofe that deifie her. Curfed be all honour that is flolne from God. This 01ort fatisfJction I give,inalongqueflion ; fuch as I dare reflin; and refolve that all popi01 miracles are either f•lfiy reported, or fJlfiy done, or falfiy miraculous, • or falfiy afcribed to heaven. To "Letnom.m wora1ipt~ VirginM4ry.
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