ABSTRACT
IN earlier years some teachers of Lutheran impiety, when they returned like mutinous students to the northern kingdoms from Wittenberg, a town in Germany, thought it a fine thing to put respect for secular and canon laws behind them and dispute before laymen about matters of faith, quashing the truth and injecting errors. They would overwhelm by force and fear timid Catholics, who, even so, never expressly agreed with them, would compel them to join in their humbug, and dictate to the simple populace that all their tenets were true and must be observed. So the best, and indeed essential, remedy for bringing back security will be that, on the authority of kings and princes, every single deviation from the praiseworthy ceremonies of the ancient Church shall, as far as possible, be blotted out by the honest decision of virtuous men. Careful precautions must be taken against them in good time, so that such destructive, illicit arguments, which will do incessant mischief to the whole people, may be allowed no more, but be checked by the ordinance of princes.
