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and ornaments be? To make the sacrifice of the mass more efficacious, it cannot be for; the efficacy of it proceeds from Christ himself, who made use of different ornaments than those the priests make use of. Nor is it to satisfy their own ambition, for they could get more by saying them; it is only to make Mistress Mass the more admired, and gain the whole people to be her followers and courtiers.

Ở that the Roman laity would consider the weight of these Christian observations, and if they will not believe them because they are mine, I heartily beg of them all, to make pious and serious reflections upon themselves, to examine the designs of the priests and friars, to mind their lives and conversations; to observe their works; to cast up accounts every year, and see how much of their substance goes to the clergy and church for masses. Sure I am, they will find out the ill and ambitious designs of their spiritual guides. They will experience their lives not at all (most commonly,) answerable to their characters, and sacerdotal functions; and more, their own substances and estates diminished every year. Many of their families corrupted by the wantonness, their understandings blinded by the craft, their souls in the way to hell, by the wicked doctrines, and their bodies under suffering by the needless impositions of priests and friars.

They will find also, that the pomp and brightness of a solemn mass, is only vanity to amuse the eyes, and a cheat to rob the purse. That the centenaria missa never known to them before, is a trick and invention of priests and friars, to delude and deceive them, and by that means impoverish and weaken, them, and make themselves masters of all.

They will come at last to consider and believe, that the Ro man Catholic Congregations, ruled and governed by priests and friars, do sin against the Lord, i. e. the spiritual heads do commit abomination before the Lord, and that they cannot prosper here, nor hereafter, if they do not leave off their wicked ways. Pray read the fifth chapter, the seventeenth verse, and the following, of Judith, and you shall find the case and the truth of my last proposition. While (says he) these people sinned not before their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them. But when they departed from the way that he appointed them, they were destroyed. This was spoken of the Jews, but we may understand it of all nations, and especially of the Romans, who are very much of a piece with the Jews of old, or no better. We see the priests de parted from the way that he appointed them. What can they

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expect but destruction, if they do not leave off their wickedness, and turn unto the Lord! And the worst is, tha the innocent laity will suffer with them, for God punishes, as we see in the old testament, a whole nation for the sins of their rulers. And it is to be feared the same will happen to the Roman church, for the sins of their priests. May God enlighten them. -Amen.

ARTICLE II.

Of the privileged altar.

A privileged altar is the altar to which (or to some image on 1) the pope has granted a privilege of such a nature, that whosoever says before it, or before the image, so many pater nos ters, &c.; and so many are maria's, with gloria patri, &c. obtains remission of his sins, or relieveth a soul out of purga tory. Or whoever ordereth a mass to be said on the ara of such an altar, and before the image, has the privilege (as they believe) to take out of purgatory that soul for which the sac rifice of the mass is offered.

The Cardinals, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and Bishops, can grant to any image forty days of full and free indulgence, and fifteen quarantains of pardon, for those that visit the said image, and say such a prayer before it as they have appointed at the granting of such graces: So not only the im ages of the altars in the church, but several images in the corners of the streets, and on the highway, have those graces granted to them by the bishop of the diocess: nay, the beads, or rosary of the Virgin Mary, of some considerable persons, have the same grants. And what is yet more surprising, the picture of St. Anthony's pig, which is placed at the saint's feet, has the granting of fifteen quarantains of pardon of sins for those that visit and pray before him. What the people do on St. Martin's day, I shall tell in another chapter.

I will not dispute now, whether the popes and bishops have authority to grant such privileges; but I only say, that I do not believe such a dream: for the pope has usurped the supremacy and infallibility, and his ambition being so great, he never will dispossess himself of a thing by which he makes himself more supreme, infallible, and rich; by keeping all those graces in his own hands, he would oblige all the bigots o seek after him and pay him for them, and have him in more veneration than otherwise he would be in.

These privileges are a great furtherance to carry on the to.istical interests, and to bring the people to offer their

prayers and money, and to be blinded and deceived by those papal inventions But because I have already treated of these privileges, I proceed to the third article.

ARTICLE III.

Of Transubstantiation, or the Eucharist.

I shall say nothing touching the scholastic opinions of the Romish church, about the sacrament of the Eucharist, or the real presence of Jesus Christ in it; for these are well known by our learned and well instructed laity: so I will confine myself wholly to their practices in the administration of this sacrament, and the worship paid to it by the priests and laity; and what strange notions the preachers put in the people's heads about it.

First, as to the administration of this sacrament, actual or habitual intention being necessary in a priest, to the validity and efficacy of the sacrament, open confession and repentance of his sins. He goes to consecrate the bread and wine, and, (as they say, believe, and make the people believe) with five words they oblige Jesus Christ to descend from heaven to the host with his body, soul and divinity, and that so he remains there as high and almighty as he is in heaven; which they endeavor to confirm with pretended miracles, saying, that many priests of pure lives have seen a little boy instead of a wafer, in the consecrated host, &c.

In winter, twice every month, and in summer, every week, the priest is to consecrate one great host, and a quantity of small ones, which they do in the following manner:-After the priest has consecrated the great and small, besides the host which he is to receive himself, the priests of the parish, or friars of the convent, come in two lines, with wax candles lighted in their hands, and kneel down before the altar, and begin to sing an hymn and anthem to the sacrament of the altar (so it is called by them); then the priest opencth the tabernacle where the old great host is kept between two crystals, and takes out of the tabernacle the custodia, and a cup of small consecrated wafers, and puts them on the table of the altar; then he takes the great old host, eats it, and so he ducs the small ones; then he puts the new great consecrated host between the two crystals of the custodia, and the new small ones into the communion cup, because the small ones serve the common people. Then he incenses the great host on his knees, and ha ing a white, neat towel round his neck, with

the ends of it he takes the custodia, and turns to the people and makes the figure of a cross before the people, and turning to the altar, puts the custodia and the cup of the small wafers in the tabernacle, and locketh the door, and the priests go

away.

The reason why the great host and the small ones are renewed twice a month in winter, and every week in summer (as they say), is (mind this reason, for the same is against them) because in summer, by the excessive heat, the host may be corrupted and putrified, and produce worms, which many times has happened to the great host, as I myself have seen. So to prevent this, they consecrate every week in summer time; but in winter, which is a more favorable time to preserve the host, from corruption, only once in a fortnight. If Christ is then in the host with the body, soul and divinity, and David says, that the holy one (i. e. Christ who is God blessed forevermore) never shall see corruption, how comes it, that that host, that holy one, that Christ, is sometimes corrupted and putrified? The substance of bread being only subject to corruption, being vanished, and the body of Jesus Christ substituted in its place this body by a just inference is corrupted; which is against the scripture, and against the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Again: I ask, whether the worms engendered in that host, come out of the real body of Christ, or out of the material substance of the host? If out of the body of Christ, every body may infer from this the consequences his own fancy suggests, And if they say that the worms are engendered in the material substance of the bread, then the substance of the bread remains after the consecration, and not (as they say) the real substance of the body of Christ.

Again: It is a rule given by all the casuists, that that host must be eaten by the priest. I do ask the priest that eats the host with the worms, whether he believeth that host and worms to be the real body of Christ or not? If he says no, why doth he eat it to the prejudice of his own health? And if he believeth it to be the real body of Christ, I do ask again, whether the worms are Christ, with body, soul, and divinity, or not? If they are not, I give the said instance: And if they answer in the affirmative; then I say, that a priest did not eat the host and worms, (as I saw myself,) on pretence of the loathing of his stomach, and after the mass was ended, he carried the host, (two priests accompanying him with two candles.) and threw it into a place which they call Piscina; a

place where they throw the dirty water after they wash their hands, which runs out of the church into the street. What can we say now? If the worms and corrupted host is the real body of Christ, see what a value they have for him, when they throw it away like dirty water; and if that host comes out of the running piscina into the street, the first dog or pig passing by (which is very common in Spain) may eat it. And if they are not, besides the said instance of eating it to the prejudice of their health, we may add this, namely: Why do the priests and two more carry the host in form of procession, and with so great veneration, with lights and psalms, as if it was the real body of Christ?

Now, as to the way of administering the sacrament to the people, they do it in the following manner, which is also against the fantastical transubstantiation. I said that the priest or friar consecrates small hosts once a week, to give them to the people when they go to receive. The priest in his surplice, and with the stola on, goes to the altar, says the prayer of the sacrament, opens the tabernacle, and taking out of it the cup, opens it, and turning to the communicants, takes one of the wafers with his thumb and the foremost finger of his right hand, lifts it up, and says, See the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, which he repeats three times; and after goes straightway to the communicants, and puts a wafer into each of their mouths. When all have received, he puts the cup again into the tabernacle, and goes to the vestry. This is when the people receive before or after mass; but when they receive at mass, the priest consecrates for himself a great host, and after he has eaten it, he takes the cup out of the tabernacle and gives the small wafers, consecrated before by another priest, to the communicants, and putting again the cup into the tabernacle, or sacrarium, (as they call it,) drinks the consecrated wine himself.

I will not spend my time in proving, that the denying of the chalice to the laity is a manifest error, and that it is only to extol and raise the ecclesiastical dignity to the highest pitch: But I come to their ridiculous, nonsensical practices in several accidental cases, viz: First, I myself gave the sacrament to a lady, who had on that day a new suit of clothes; but she did not open her mouth wide enough to let the wafer on her tongue. and by my carelessness it fell upon one of her sleeves, and from thence to the ground; I ordered her not to quit the place till I had done; so, after the communion was over, I went to her again, and cutting a piece of the sleeve, where the wafer had

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