That Your Lordship may long enjoy that peculiar vigor of mind and body, which has enabled You to discharge all the important offices, through which You have paffed, with honor to Yourself and benefit to the public, is the fincere wish of,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's most obliged

and faithful Servant,

CONYERS MIddleton.

A

Prefatory Discourse.

A

Late writer of a Popish book, intituled, The Catholic Chriftian inftructed, &c. has thought fit, in a preface to that work, to attempt a confutation of my Letter from Rome; which every reader, be fays, "whether Proteftant or Papift, would expect, "that he fhould take fome notice of, as it is directly levelled at their ceremonies, and has "been fo well received, as to pass through "three Editions within the compass of a few, " years."

I cannot think it strange, that a man, whose avowed defign and fole employment amongst us is, to make converts to the Romish Church, should treat a work with fome acrimony, that was published with no other view, than to blaft. his hopes, and obftruct his endeavours, to delude the people of this nation: but it gives me a sensible pleasure to observe, what these Mis fionaries of Rome are forced to confefs, that my little performance is a real obftacle to their designs; and that one of the first steps neceffary towards advancing the Popish Intereft in Eng

land,

-9

land, is to overthrow the credit both of the Letter, and it's Author.

Our Catholic therefore, in the execution of this tafk, fets out with a general Accufation against me of foul play, and difingenuity, and a refolution to fuppress the truth; because my charge against them is grounded onely, he fays, "on certain ceremonies and obfervan❝ces of lefs moment, without taking notice "of the substantial parts of their religion? "their belief of the Scriptures; of the three. "Creeds; of the Trinity; the Eucharift Sacrifice, &c. which none will pretend to be derived to them from the Pagans." This is artfully thrown out, to confound the true ftaté of the queftion; and to prepoffefs the reader with a notion, that, instead of Popery, I am attacking Christianity itself, and fuftaining the cause of Infidelity, not of Protestantism; but every man of sense will difcern the fallacy, and obferve, that it is Popery alone, with which I am engaged; or that Syftem of Ceremonies and doctrines, which is peculiar to the Romish Church, as diftinguished from other Chriftian Churches: the fource of which I have undertaken to lay open, and by an hiftorical deduction of facts, to trace it's origin in a direct line, from Pagan down to Popish Rome.

In

In the farther fupport of this charge, I fhall now procede to examine our Author's exceptions to it, in the order as they lie in his Preface, and vindicate all the particular proofs of it alledged in my Letter, to which, he has thought proper to give any anfwer: the chief of which, as he tells us, are," Incense; Holy "Water; Lamps and Candles; Votive offerings; Images; Chapels on the wayfides and tops of Hills; Proceffions; Miraclės [a]." On these I shall join iffue with him; and endeavour to fhew, that his defenfe of them is not only frivolous and evasive, but tends rather to confirm than to confute the inference which I have drawn from them.

As to feveral of these articles, he makes one general Apology; that I" am mistaken, in thinking every ceremony used by the Heathens, to "be Heathenifh, fince the greatest part were bor"rowed from the worship of the true God; in " imitation of which, the Devil affected to have "his Temples, Altars, Priests, and Sacrifices, " and all other things, which were used in the "true worship." This he applies to the cafe of Incenfe, Lamps, Holy-water, and Proceffions; and adds, "that if I had been as well read in "the Scriptures, as I would feem to be in the "Heathen Poets, I fhould have found the use

[a] Pref. ib. p. 4

"of

"of all thefe in the Temple of God, and that "by God's appointment [b]."

I fhall not difpute with him about the origin of these rites; whether they were first inftituted by Mofes, or were of prior ufe and antiquity among the Egyptians. The Scriptures favour the last; which our Spenser strongly afferts, and their Calmet and Huetius allow but should we grant him all, that he can infer from his argument, what will he gain by it? Were not all thofe beggarly elements, wiped away by the spiritual worship of the Gospel? Were they not all annulled, on the account of their weakness and unprofitableness, by the more perfect revelation of Jefus Chrift [c]? If then I fhould acknowledge my. mistake, and recall my words; and instead of Pagan, call them Jewish ceremonies, would not the use of Jewish rites be abominable still in a Chriftian Church, where they are expressly abolished and prohibited by God himself?

But to pursue his argument a little farther: while the Mofaic worship subsisted by divine appointment in Jerufalem, the Devil likewife, as he tells us, bad Temples and Ceremonies of the fame kind in order to draw Votaries to his Idolatrous worship: which, after the abolition of the Jewish Service, was carried on ftill with

[b] Pref. 5. 8. [] Galat. iv. 9. Heb. vii. 18.

great