Synod deals in are Divine; and when they have voted a thing, if it be then true, 'twas true before; not true because they voted it, nor does it cease to be true because they voted otherwise. 6. Subscribing in a Synod, or to the Articles of a Synod, is no such terrible thing as they make it; because, If I am of a Synod, 'tis agreed, either tacitly or expressly, that which the major part determines, the rest are involved in; and therefore I subscribe, though my own private Opinion be otherwise; and upon the same Ground, I may without scruple subscribe to what those have determined whom I sent, though my private Opinion be otherwise, having respect to that which is the Ground of all assemblies; the major part carries it. Thanksgiving. T first we gave thanks for every Victory as soon as ever 'twas obtained; but since we have had many, now we can stay a good while. We are just like a Child: give him a Plum, he makes his Leg; give him a second Plum, he makes another Leg; at last when his Belly is full, he forgets what he ought to do; then his Nurse, or some body else that stands by him, puts him in mind of his Duty; Where's your Leg? Tithes. ITHES are more paid in kind in England, than in all Italy and France. In France they have had Impropriations* a long time; we had none in England till Henry the Eighth. 2. To make an Impropriation, there was to be the consent of the Incumbent, the Patron, and the King; then 'twas confirmed by the Pope: without all this the Pope could make no Impropriation. 3. Or what if the Pope gave the Tithes to any Man, must they therefore be taken away? If the Pope gives me a Jewel, will you therefore take it away from me? 4. Abraham paid Tithes to Melchizedeck. What then? 'Twas very well done of him; it does not follow therefore that I must pay Tithes, no more than I am bound to imitate any other action of Abraham's. 5. 'Tis ridiculous to say the Tithes are God's Part, and therefore the Clergy must have them. Why, so they are if the Layman has them. 'Tis as if one of my Lady Kent's Maids should be sweeping this Room, and another of them should come and take away the Broom, and tell for a Reason why she should part with it; 'Tis my Lady's Broom: As if it were not my Lady's Broom, which of them soever had it. 6. They consulted in Oxford where they might find * Impropriations, i. e. Lay-impropriations; appropriation being the proper term for any benefice given into clerical hands. the best Argument for their Tithes, setting aside the Jus Divinum; they were advised to my History of Tithes; a Book so much cried down by them formerly; in which, I dare boldly say, there are more arguments for them than are extant together any where. Upon this, one writ me word, That my History of Tithes was now become like Pelias' Hasta,* to wound and to heal. I told him in my Answer, I thought I could fit him with a better Instance. 'Twas possible it might undergo the same Fate, that Aristotle, Avicen, and Averroes did in France, some five hundred Years ago; which were Excommunicated by Stephen Bishop of Paris (by that very name, Excommunicated) because that kind of Learning puzzled and troubled their Divinity; but finding themselves at a loss, some Forty Years after (which is much about the time since I writ my History) they were called in again, and so have continued ever since. Trade. HERE is no Prince in Christendom but is directly a Tradesman, though in another way. than an ordinary Tradesman. For the purpose, I have a Man; I bid him lay out twenty Shillings in such Commodities; but I tell him for every Shilling he lays out I will have a Penny. I trade as well as he. This every Prince does in his Customs. 2. That which a Man is bred up in he thinks no * Pelias' hasta, i. e. the spear of Achilles, which was necessary to cure the wound it had inflicted on Telephus. cheating; as your Tradesman thinks not so of his Profession, but calls it a Mystery. Whereas if you would teach a Mercer to make his Silks heavier, than what he has been used to, he would peradventure think that to be cheating. 3. Every Tradesman professes to cheat me, that asks for his Commodity twice as much as it is worth. Tradition. AY what you will against Tradition ; we know the Signification of Words by nothing but Tradition. You will say the Scripture was written by the Holy Spirit; but do you understand that Language 'twas writ in? No. Then for Example, take these words, In principio erat verbum. How do you know those words signify, In the beginning was the word, but by Tradition, because some Body has told you so? Transubstantiation. HE Fathers using to speak Rhetorically, brought up Transubstantiation: as if because it is commonly said, Amicus est alter idem, one should go about to prove a Man and his Friend are all one. That Opinion is only Rhetoric turned into Logic. 2. There is no greater Argument (though not used) against Transubstantiation than the Apostles at their first Council forbidding Blood and Suffocation. Would they forbid Blood, and yet enjoin the eating of Blood too? 3. The best way for a pious Man, is, to address himself to the Sacrament with that Reverence and Devotion, as if Christ were really there present. Traitor. IS not seasonable to call a Man Traitor that has an Army at his Heels. One with an Army is a Gallant man. My Lady Cotton was in the right, when she laughed at the Dutchess of Richmond for taking such State upon her, when she could Command no Forces. She a Dutchess! there's in Flanders a Dutchess indeed; meaning the Arch-Dutchess. Trinity. HE second Person is made of a piece of Bread by the Papist, the Third Person is made of his own Frenzy, Malice, Ignorance and Folly, by the Roundhead. To all these the Spirit is intituled. One the Baker makes, the other the Cobler; and betwixt those two, I think the First Person is sufficiently abused. Truth. HE Aristotelians say, All Truth is contained in Aristotle in one place or another. Galileo makes Simplicius say so, but shows the absurdity of that Speech, by answering, All Truth is contained in a lesser Compass, viz. in the Alphabet. Aristotle is not blamed for mistaking sometimes, but Aristo |