318 V ECil'D.IY. the holy conceit ofthat bldfed and dreadfull Trinity, I dare not cenfure, I dare nor A but commend your divine method. Thus !houldChrifiians afcend fromearth to hea. vcn, lro!l' one heaven to another. Ifl have given your devotiensany light, it is wdl : the lcaft glimpfe of this knowledge is worth all the full glea~es ofhu~a~• & earthly skill. But 1mtftake,ifyourown heart wrought uponwuhferrous m~ttattons (~nd<r that lpirit of·illuminatioa) will not proveyourbeft Mafter. After thts weake dtr<dion, ftudy to conceive aright, that you may prayaright 1 and pray iha~ you mar con ceive;and meditate that youmay <loe both: and theGodofheaven dtreCIyou,rnable you, that you may doe all . ToM. T H o M A s J A M.E s of Oxford. B EP.V I I I.A di(clur{t •fthtgr1011tls •ftht P•pijlsmsfitltnet i11•ppt•ling lllht FAJhtrs: . •ppfutli•g bit "'"'"' ljftrs •ntl tndt'I!IUrs ofdifnvtrlng the fo/ftfitatillls . •nd dtjrAV.riiiiS •f•ntiqMity. S I R, I know no man fo like as you to make pofterity Iris debtor. I doe heartily congratulateunto you fo worthy labours, fo noble a projet!. Our adv<rfaries knowing ofthemfdves (that which Ttrt•Oi•" faith of all h<refies) that ifap1 peale be made to the facred bench ofProphetS and Apoftles, they cannot ftand; r<· move the fuit ofRdigioncraftily,intothe Court ofthe Fathers: A reverend tri•ll as any underheaven; wher< it cannot b< fpoken, how confidently they triumph ere the conRiCi.Give.ust~e Fathers for ou~ Ju~ges(fay C•mpim~nd P•f{wine)the~ay is ours. C And whence 15 thiS courage!ls anuqurty our cnemy,thetr advocate!Certarnly it cannot be truth that is new: We would renounce our Religion, ifit could beover-lookt fortimt. Letgocequity, theoldertake both. There be twothingsthen,thatgive them heart in this provocation: One, the baftardy offalfe Fathers;the other,thecorruption oftbe true. What a flourith doe they make with ufurped names! Whom would itnot amaze tofee the frequent citationsof the Apoftles owneCanons, Con fhtutions, Liturgies,Malfes:of Clt1nfRS, Dtnys the ~reopagite, Linl(l,Hipp•littu,M4,. ti•/1 ofB•rJ.-•x,EgejippUI: Donations ofC•»fl•ntmt the great, and Ltwil the godly: Of 50. Canons of Niet: of Dlrllhtm, DAml[m his Pontificall: Epiftles decrmll of cltmens,Euarij/114,Ttkf}hmu,and an hundredotherBithops holy and ancient; of E•- •tliw, AnA[IAjiw, Sime•" Mtt•phrAj/ts, and moeyet then a number mor; moft where- D ofhavecrept out oftheVatican or Cloyftcrs; and all carry in them manifeft brands offalthood, andfuppolition: that I may fay nothingof thofe infinite \Ytitings,which either ignoranco,or wilfulnes, hath fathered upon every of the Fathers, not without· thamddfe importunity,and gro!fe impollibilities: all which(as the faid of Ptttr)their fpeech bewrayeth; or(as Aujlin faid of cypri•ns ftile) their face. This fraud is more eafily avoided : Foras in notorious burglaries, ofnimes there is either an hat or a glove,or a weapon left behind, which defcrieth the authors;fo the God oftruthbath befotted thefe impoftors to let fall fame palpable error, (though but offalfe calculation)whereby,il not their names, yet their ages might appeare, to theirconviCiion. Moft danger is in the fecret corruption of the true and acknowledged i!fueof thofe gracious parents; whom through clofe and crafty handling,they have induccd to be- E lye thofe that begot them; and tobetray their Fathers, either with filence, or falfe evidence. Plainly,howare the honoured Volumes of faithlull antiquity, blurred,interlined, altered,depraved by fubtile treachery; ~and made to fpeak what they meant not~ Fieon this, not fo much injuftice, as impiery, to rne the awfull monuments of the dead, and partially to blot ~nd change the originall Will ofthe dcceafed, iof.n our owne Legacies. This is done by our guiltyadverfaries, to the injury not more of thefe Authors, then ofthe pr.fent and fucceeding times. Hence thof< Fathers are fame-where not ours:Whanvonder! while they are not thomfclves. Your induflry hoth offered (and that motion is lively and heroicall) to challenge all their learned and elegant pages, from injury ofcorruption ; to reftore themro themfdves, and to us : that which all the learned of our time have but defir<d to fee done, youproffer to effetl:
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