they have brought it to that pass, that they reckon a single act of contrition, at any time, to be sufficient to take away the wickedness of a long life. Now that this is the avowed doctrine of the Roman guides of souls, will sufficiently appear in the writings of their chiefest, of which no learned man can be ignorant. The thing was of late openly and professedly disputed against us, and will not be denied. And that this doctrine is infinitely destructive of the necessity of a good life, cannot be doubted of, when themselves do own the proper consequents of it, even the unnecessariness of present repentance, or before the danger of death; of which we have already given accounts. But the reason why we remark it here, is that which we now mentioned, because that by the doctrine of vicious habits, having in them no malignity or sin, but what is in the single preceding acts, there is an excuse made for millions of sins: for, if by an evil habit the sinner is not made worse, and more hated by God, and his sinful acts made not only more, but more criminal; it will follow, that the sins are very much lessened: for they being not so voluntary in their exercise and distinct emanation, are not in present so malicious; and, therefore, he that hath gotten a habit of drunkenness or swearing, sins less in every act of drunkenness, or profane oath, than he that acts them seldom, because by his habit he is more inclined, and his sins are almost natural, and less considered, less chosen, and not disputed against; but pass, by inadvertency and an untroubled consent, easily and promptly, and almost naturally, from that principle: so that by this means, and in such cases when things are come to this pass, they have gotten an imperfect warrant to sin a great deal, and a great while, without any new great inconvenience : which evil state of things ought to be infinitely avoided by all Christians that would be saved by all means; and, therefore, all such teachers, and all such doctrines, are carefully to be declined, who give so much uneasiness, not only to the remedies, but to the sins themselves. But of this, we hope, it may be sufficient to have given this short warning.

3. The distinction of mortal and venial sins, as it is taught

b Granat. in Materia de Peccatis, tract. 8. disput. 1. sect. 1. F. Knott against Chillingworth, in his Infidelity Unmasked, pp. 105, 106, 107, &c. VOL. X.

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in the church of Rome, is a great cause of wickedness, and careless conversation. For although we do, with all the ancient doctors, admit of the distinction of sins mortal and venial; yet we also teach, that in their own nature, and in the rigour of the Divine justice, every sin is damnable, and deserves God's anger, and that in the unregenerate they are so unaccounted, and that in hell the damned suffer for small and great in a common mass of torment; yet, by the Divine mercy and compassion, the smaller sins which come by surprise, or by invincible ignorance, or inadvertency, or unavoidable infirmity, shall not be imputed to those who love God, and delight not in the smallest sin, but use caution and prayers, watchfulness and remedies against them. any man delights in small sins, and heaps them into numbers, and, by deliberation or licentiousness, they grow numerous, or are in any sense chosen, or taken in, by contempt of Divine law, they do put us from the favour of God, and will pass into severe accounts. And though sins are greater or less by comparison to each other, yet the smallest is a burden too great for us without the allowances of the Divine mercy.

But if

But the church of Rome teaches, that there is a whole kind of sins, which are venial in their own nature, such, which if they were all together, all in the world conjoined, could not equal one mortal sin, nor destroy charity, nor put us from the favour of God; such, for which no man can perish", "etiamsi nullum pactum esset de remissione," "though God's merciful covenant of pardon did not intervene." And whereas Christ said, "Of every idle word a man shall speak, he shall give account at the day of judgment;" and, "By your words ye shall be justified;" and, " By your words ye shall be condemned:" Bellarmine expressly affirms, "It is not intelligible, how an idle word should, in its own nature, be worthy of the eternal wrath of God, and eternal flames." -Many other desperate words are spoken by the Roman doctors in this question; which we love not to aggravate, because the main thing is acknowledged by them all.

c Bellarm. lib. i. de Amis. Gratiæ. c. 13. sect. Alterum est. Et de Sacram. Euchar. lib. iv. c. 19. sect. Respondeo.

Cap. 14. sect. Adde postremo. De Purgator. lib. i. c. 11. sect. Probatur ultimo.

But now we appeal to the reason and consciences of all men, Whether this doctrine of sins, venial in their own nature, be not greatly destructive to a holy life? When it is plain that they give rest to men's consciences for one whole kind of sins; for such, which because they occur every day, in a very short time (if they be not interrupted by the grace of repentance) will swell to a prodigious heap. But concerning these we are bidden to be quiet; for we are told that all the heaps of these in the world cannot put us out of God's favour. Add to this, that it being, in thousands of cases, impossible to tell, which are, and which are not venial in their own nature, and in their appendant circumstances, either the people are cozened by this doctrine into a useless confidence and for all this talking in their schools, they must nevertheless do to venial sins, as they do to mortal, that is, mortify them, fight against them, repent speedily of them, and keep them from running into mischief; and then all their kind doctrines in this article signify no comfort or ease, but all danger and difficulty, and useless dispute; or else, if really they mean, that this easiness of opinion be made use of, then the danger is imminent, and carelessness introduced, and licentiousness in all little things is easily indulged; and men's souls are daily lessened without repair, and kept from growing towards Christian perfection, and from "destroying the whole body of sin ;" and in short, despising little things, they perish by little and little.'

This doctrine also is worse yet in the handling. For it hath infinite influence to the disparagement of holy life, not only by the uncertain, but, as must frequently happen, by the false determination of innumerable cases of conscience. For it is a great matter, both in the doing and the thing done, both in the caution and the repentance, whether such an action be a venial or a mortal sin. If it chance to be mortal, and your confessor says it is venial, your soul is betrayed. And it is but a chance what they say in most cases; for they call what they please venial, and they have no certain rule to answer by; which appears too sadly in their innumerable differences, which are amongst all their casuists, in saying, what is, and what is not mortal; and of this there needs no greater proof than the reading the little summaries made by their most leading guides of conscience, Navar, Cajetan,

Tolet, Emanuel Sà, and others; where one says such a thing is mortal, and two say it is venial.

And lest any man should say or think, 'This is no great matter;'-we desire that it be considered, that, in venial sins, there may be very much fantastic pleasure, and they that retain them, do believe so; for they suppose the pleasure is great enough to outweigh the intolerable pains of purgatory; and that it is more eligible to be in hell awhile, than to cross their appetites in such small things. And however it happen in this particular, yet, because the doctors differ so infinitely and irreconcilably, in saying what is, and what is not venial: whoever shall trust to their doctrine, saying, that such a sin is venial: and to their doctrine, that says, it does not exclude from God's favour, may, by these two propositions, be damned before he is aware.

We omit to insist upon their express contradicting the words of our blessed Saviour, who taught his church expressly, "that we must work in the day-time; for the night cometh, and no man worketh:" Let this be as true as it can in the matter of repentance and mortification, and working out our pardon for mortal sins; yet it is not true in venial sins, if we may believe their great St. Thomas, whom also Bellarmine follows in it; for he affirms, that by the acts of love and patience in purgatory, venial sins are remitted; and that the acceptation of those punishments proceeding out of charity, is a virtual kind of penance. But in this particular we follow not St. Thomas nor Bellarmine, in the church of England and Ireland; for we believe in Jesus Christ, and follow him. If men give themselves liberty as long as they are alive, to commit one whole kind of sins, and hope to work it out after death by acts of charity and repentance, which they would not do in their life-time; either they must take a course to sentence the words of Christ as savouring of heresy, or else they will find themselves to have been at first deceived in their proposition, and at last in their expectation. Their faith hath failed them here, and hereafter they will be ashamed of their hope.

e In 4. sent. dist. 21. q. 1. art. 2.

f Lib. i. c. 14. de Purgator. sect. Est ergo opinio vera.

SECTION VI.

THERE is a proposition, which indeed is new, but is now the general doctrine of the leading men in the church of Rome; and it is the foundation on which their doctors of conscience rely, in their decision of all cases in which there is a doubt or question made by themselves; and that is, "That if an opinion or speculation be probable, it may in practice be safely followed:" and if it be inquired, What is sufficient to make an opinion probable? the answer is easy, "Sufficit opinio alicujus gravis doctoris, aut bonorum exemplum," " the opinion of any one grave doctor is sufficient to make a matter probable;" nay, "the example and practice of good men," that is, men who are so reputed; if they have done it, you may do so too, and be safe. This is the great rule of their cases of consciencea.

And now we ought not to be pressed with any one saying, that such an opinion is but the private opinion of one or more of their doctors. For, although, in matters of faith, this be not sufficient to impute a doctrine to a whole church, which is but the private opinion of one or more; yet, because we are now speaking of the infinite danger of souls in that communion, and the horrid propositions by which their disciples are conducted, to the disparagement of good life,—it is sufficient to allege the public and allowed sayings of their doctors; because these sayings are their rule of living: and, because the particular rules of conscience use not to be decreed in councils, we must derive them from the places where they grow, and where they are to be found.

But besides, you will say, that this is but the private opinion of some doctors; and what then? Therefore it is not to be called the doctrine of the Roman church. True, we do not say, it is an article of their faith,' but a rule of manners' This is not, indeed, in any public decree; but we say, that although it be not, yet neither is the contrary. And if it be but a private opinion, yet is it safe to follow it,

a Emanuel Sà. Aphor. Verb. Dubium. Escobar. The. Moral. Exa. c. 3. de Conscientia probabili, &c.

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