Invincible Ignorance.

  1. ’TIS all one to me if I am told of Christ, or some Mystery of Chri∣stianity, if I am not capable of under∣standing, as if I am not told at all, my Ignorance is as invincible, and therefore ’tis vain to call their Ignorance only in∣vincible, who never were told of Christ. The trick of it is to advance the Priest, whilst the Church of Rome says a Man must be told of Christ by one thus and thus ordain’d.

Images.

  1. THE Papists taking away the second Commandment, is not haply so hor∣rid a thing, nor so unreasonable amongst Christians as we make it: For the Jews could make no figure of God, but they must commit Idolatry, because he had ta∣ken no shape; but since the Assumption of our Flesh, we know what shape to picture God in. Nor do I know why we may not make his Image, provided we be sure what it is: as we say St. Luke took the picture of the Virgin Mary, and St. Ve∣ronica of our Saviour. Otherwise it would be no honour to the King, to make a Picture, and call it the King’s Picture, when ’tis nothing like him.

  2. Though the learned Papists pray not to Images, yet ’tis to be fear’d the igno∣rant do; as appears by that Story of St. Nicholas in Spain. A Country-Man us’d to offer daily to St. Nicholas’s Image, at length by mischance the Image was broken, and a new one made of his own Plum-Tree; after that the Man forbore, being complain’d of to his Ordinary, he answer’d, ’tis true, he us’d to offer to the old Image, but to the new he could not find in his heart, because he knew ’twas a piece of his own Plum-Tree. You see what Opinion this Man had of the Image, and to this tended the bowing of their Images, the twinkling of their Eyes, the Virgin’s Milk, &c. Had they only meant Representations, a Picture would have done as well as these Tricks. It may be with us in England they do not worship Images, because living amongst Protestants they are either laugh’d out of it, or beaten out of it by shock of Argument.

  3. ’Tis a discreet way concerning Pi∣ctures in Churches, to set up no new, nor to pull down no old.

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