the Christian æra, to introduce this strange and unequalled contradiction; and to the schools, in process of time, to dispute, whether the body of Jesus Christ be absolutely and actually clothed or naked, in the Eucharist.*

It may be said, these are mad extravagancies; and that the most learned divines and philosophers have been uniformly against them. I do not deny it. But of this I am certain, that although no one convincing argument can be stumbled upon in their support, yet, that an hundred thousand quotations can instantly be produced for their validity. Truth is, I know, in its own nature, prior to all authority; and that without it, no authority can be proved. And hence the reason why our Saviour and his Apostles always appealed to the understandings of men, for the truth of their doctrines. But the Scriptures, you may say, are to be adduced, to warrant the interpretation of the Eucharist: even the express words of the gospel itself are decidedly in its favour; and therefore, whatever be the difficulties, that the doctrine of transubstantiation must be received. In like manner, you might as well tell me, that, in the early ages of Christianity, some heretics being shocked at

Histoire Critique.

the

the idea of Christ, the Son of God, suffering on the cross, declared the crucifixion to have been nothing else than a phantom, which imposed upon the senses of the beholders; and that with this interpretation, many of the multitude were satisfied. But from such latitude of exposition, I hope, it will not be deemed impertinent in me to dissent.

I cannot think every particular expression, word, and letter, in the New Testament, to have been dictated by the Holy Ghost; or that the Apostles were, in reality, nothing but its amanuenses. To me it is more consonant to reason, that the Almighty should have dealt with them in a manner more conformable to their capacities as human beings; that he suggested divine thoughts first to their minds, and that he ordinarily left them, to weigh them as they did other truths, and to put them into such expressions as their fancies, or judgments, were naturally inclined to use. And it is farther, in my opinion, evident, that the Apostles, like the prophets, must have had some share in the expression at least; for otherwise no solution can be given of the different styles of these sacred writers, which varied according to their tempers and education.

If the Holy Ghost, for instance, had dictated every word, why should Isaiah, who was bred in a court, be more florid and magnificent than Amos, who had his education among herdsmen ? Why should St. Luke, who had a polite education, write his gospel in better Greek, and more agreeable to the Greek and Latin histories, than St. John? Or why should St. Paul, who was brought up among Rabbies, discover more of Jewish learning, and rabbinical reasoning, than the other Apostles?

The Roman Catholics, moreover, on the subject of the Eucharist, are not aware, that while they insist upon transubstantiation, contrary to the evidence of their senses, they destroy one of the principal defences of orthodox Christianity, the very evidence of miracles. For men, being exhorted to believe that the bread and wine which they see, touch, and taste, are the real body and blood of Christ, may as reasonably suppose, that the healing of the sick, and the raising of the dead, were all delusions; and that there is nothing to be known by the senses only, of which they can be morally sure.* Yet such have been the doctrines, for which so many

Archbishop Tillotson.

many lives have heen sacrificed: such have been the authorities of a church, which would not only subdue the importunity and arrogance, of human reason, but, at the same time, would make even our senses captives to hierarchical infallibility.

The interested of the Roman Catholic church, indeed, were at all times much inclined to favour the opinion of the real presence, as it attributed to themselves a miraculous power. And the people, who believed they participated of the very body and blood of their Saviour, were loth to renounce so extraordinary, and, as they imagined, so salutary a privilege.* Still, however, even all these advantages and prerogatives were not sufficient. Under the papacy of Innocent III. who had established transubstantiation, arose the tremendous inquisition. To put a stop to the increasing progress of heresies, and more effectually to extinguish them, he founded the orders of Dominicans and Franciscans.

Do

minic and his followers he sent into the province of Languedoc, and particularly to Toulouse. Francis, and his disciples, he directed to preach and to persecute in Italy. Dominic preached

* Hume.

preached a crusade against the unfortunate Albigenses, and promised a plenary remission of sins to all who took on them the cross, for their extirpation. The miseries that ensued, you are, however, too well acquainted with, to need any detail from me; as you are, likewise, with the blessings that flowed from that divine and truly Christian spirit, which for ever put a stop to their further iniquitous progress in France.*

The Cardinal de Ribera, in his Memorial to Philip III. of Spain, for the expulsion of the Morescoes, referred to the holy writ. He argued, there was no precept so often repeated to the chosen people of God, as that of rooting out from among them idolatrous nations; and as the faithful in Spain were in danger from the infection of the Arabic example, the extirpation of these infidels was, in his opinion, as incumbent on the king of Spain, as that of the Heathens on the kings and judges of the Jews. And yet these very Arabian conquerors of Spain had introduced into that kingdom an hospitality, generosity, and refinement, unknown before in the west. The court of Cordova was acknowledged

to

*

Philosophical Rhapsodies.

+ Watson's History.