pious. But we with truth say to protestants, You cannot but confess that our doctrine contains no damnable error, and that our church is so certainly a true church, that unless ours be true, you cannot pretend any: yea, you grant that you should be guilty of schism, if you did cut off our church from the body of Christ and the hope of salvation. But we neither do nor can grant that yours is a true church, or that within it there is hope of salvation: therefore it is safest for you to join with us. And now against whom hath your objection greatest force?

9. "But I wonder not a little, and so I think will every body else, what the reason may be, that you do not so much as go about to answer the argument of the Donatists, which you say is all one with ours, but refer us to St. Augustin, there to read it; as if every one carried with him a library, or were able to examine the place in St. Augustin: and yet you might be sure your reader would be greedy to see some solid answer to an argument so often urged by us, and which indeed, unless you can confute it, ought alone to move every one that hath care of his soul, to take the safest way, by incorporating himself in our church. But we may easily imagine the true reason of your silence; for the answer which St. Augustin gives to the Donatists is directly against yourself, and the same which I have given, namely, that catholics approve the baptism of Donatists, but abhor their heresy of rebaptization. And that as gold is good, (which is the similitude used by St. Augustin',) yet not to be sought in company of thieves; so though baptism be good, yet it must not be sought for in the conventicles of Donatists. But you free us from damnable heresy, and yield us salvation, which I hope is to be embraced in whatsoever company o Ad lit. Petil. lib. 2. cap. 108. P Contra Cresc. lib. 1. cap. 21.

it is found; or rather, that company is to be embraced before all other, in which all sides agree that salvation may be found. We therefore must infer, that it is safest for you to seek salvation among us. You had good reason to conceal St. Augustin's answer to the Donatists.

10. "You frame another argument in our behalf, and make us speak thus 9; If protestants believe the religion of catholics to be a safe way to heaven, why do they not follow it?' Which wise argument of your own you answer at large, and confirm your answer by this instance: The Jesuits and Dominicans hold different opinions touching predetermination, and the immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin; yet so, that the Jesuits hold the Dominicans' way safe, that is, their error not damnable; and the Dominicans hold the same of the Jesuits; yet neither of them with good consequence can press the other to believe his opinion, because, by his own confession, it is no damnable error.'

11. "But what catholic maketh such a wise demand as you put into our mouths? If our religion be a safe way to heaven, that is, not damnable, why do you not follow it? As if every thing that is good must be of necessity embraced by every body! But what think you of the argument framed thus: Our religion is safe even by your confession; therefore you ought to grant, that all may embrace it? And yet further, thus ; Among different religions and contrary ways to heaven, one only can be safe: but ours, by your own confession, is safe, whereas we hold, that in yours there is no hope of salvation; therefore you may and ought to embrace ours. This is our argument. And if the Dominicans and Jesuits did say one to another, as we say to you; then one of them might with good conseq Page 79. Ff

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quence press the other to believe his opinion. You have still the hard fortune to be beaten with your own weapon.

12. “It remaineth then, that both in regard of faith and charity protestants are obliged to unite themselves with the church of Rome, And I may add also, in regard of the theological virtue of hope, without which none can hope to be saved, and which you want, either by excess of confidence, or defect by despair, not unlike to your faith, which I shewed to be either deficient in certainty or excessive in evidence; as likewise, according to the rigid Calvinists, it is either so strong, that, once had, it can never be lost; or so more than weak, and so much nothing, that it can never be gotten. For the true theological hope of Christians is a hope which keeps a mean between presumption and desperation, which moves us to work our salvation with fear and trembling, which conducts us to make sure our salvation by good works, as holy scripture adviseth: but, contrarily, protestants do either exclude hope by despair, with the doctrine, that our Saviour died not for all, and that such want grace sufficient to salvation; or else by vain presumption, grounded upon a fantastical persuasion, that they are predestinate; which faith must exclude all fear and trembling. Neither can they make their calling certain by good works, who do certainly believe, that before any good works they are justified, and justified even by faith alone, and by that faith whereby they certainly believe that they are justified. Which points some protestants do expressly affirm to be the soul of the church,'' the principal origin of salvation,'' of all other points of doctrine the chiefest and weightiest,' as already I have noted, chap. 3. n. 19. And if some protestants do now relent from the rigour of the aforesaid doctrine, we must affirm, that at least

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some of them want the theological virtue of hope; yea, that none of them can have true hope, while they hope to be saved in the communion of those who defend such doctrines as do directly overthrow all true Christian hope. And for as much as concerns faith, we must also infer, that they want unity therein, (and consequently have none at all,) by their disagreement about 'the soul of the church,' 'the principal origin of salvation,'' of all other points of doctrine the chiefest and weightiest.' And if you want true faith, you must by consequence want hope: or if you hold that this point is not to be so indivisible on either side, but that it hath latitude sufficient to embrace all parties, without prejudice to their salvation, notwithstanding that your brethren hold it to be the soul of the church,' &c., I must repeat what I have said heretofore, that even by this example it is clear you cannot agree what points be fundamental. And so (to whatsoever answer you fly) I press you in the same manner, and say, that you have no certainty whether you agree in fundamental points, or unity and substance of faith, which cannot stand with difference in fundamentals. And so upon the whole matter I leave it to be considered, whether want of charity can be justly charged on us, because we affirm that they cannot (without repentance) be saved, who want of all other the most necessary means to salvation, which are the three theological virtues, FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY.

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13. "And now I end this first part, having, as I conceive, complied with my first design, (in that measure which time, commodity, scarcity of books, and my own small abilities, could afford,) which was to shew, that amongst men of different religions one side can only be saved. For since there must be some infallible means to decide all controversies concerning religion,

and to propound truths revealed by Almighty God; and this means can be no other but the visible church of Christ, which at the time of Luther's appearance was only the church of Rome, and such as agreed with her; we must conclude, that whosoever opposeth himself to her definitions, or forsaketh her communion, doth resist God himself, whose spouse she is, and whose Divine truth she propounds, and therefore becomes guilty of schism and heresy, which since Luther his associates, and protestants have done, and still continue to do, it is not want of charity, but abundance of evident cause, that forces us to declare this necessary truth, PROTESTANCY UNREPENTED DESTROYS SALVATION."

THE

ANSWER TO THE SEVENTH CHAPTER:

That protestants are not bound by the charity which they owe to themselves to reunite themselves to the Roman Church.

THE first four paragraphs of this chapter are wholly spent in an unnecessary introduction unto a truth, which I presume never was, nor will be, by any man in his right wits, either denied or questioned; and that is, that " every man, in wisdom and charity to himself, is to take the safest way to his eternal salvation." 2. The fifth and sixth are nothing, in a manner, but references to discourses already answered by me, and confuted in their proper places.

3. The seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh, have no other foundation but this false pretence, that "we confess the Roman church free from damnable error."

4. In the twelfth, there is something that has some probability to persuade some protestants to forsake some