at the court at whitehal, september the 11th 1667 by his majesty and the lords of his majesties most honorable privy council. england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1667 approx. 2 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a70021 wing e807 estc r26596 09506363 ocm 09506363 43361 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a70021) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 43361) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1327:11 or 1614:39) at the court at whitehal, september the 11th 1667 by his majesty and the lords of his majesties most honorable privy council. england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, 1630-1685. england and wales. privy council. 1 broadside. printed by the assigns of john bill and christopher barker ..., in the savoy [i.e. london] : 1667. an ordinance forbidding presence in the queen's chapel for mass. this item appears on both reel 1327:11 and 1614:39. wing number c2923 cancelled in wing (cd-rom). reproduction of original in the huntington library and the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholic church -england. catholics -england. 2008-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 megan marion sampled and proofread 2008-10 megan marion text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion royal blazon or coat of arms at the court at whitehal , september the 11 th 1667. by his majesty and the lords of his majesties most honorable privy council . his majesty having taken notice , and been informed of the daily concourse of very many persons of the romish religion , unto the chappel of her majesty the queen at st. jamese's , as likewise unto the chappel of the queen-mother at somerset house ; and also unto the houses of several forain ambassadors , contrary to the law ; it was thereupon ordered by his majesty in council , that if any persons whatsoever being his majesties subjects , except the family of her majesty the queen , and the families of the queen mother , and of forain ambassadors , and the children of the respective officers in their said majesties families , shall from henceforth repair unto the said chappels or ambassadors houses to hear masse , or perform any other exercises of the romish religion , that then such prosecutions shall be made , and such penalties and punishments inflicted upon them and every of them , as are by law provided in such cases . hereof all persons concerned are to take notice , and conform thereunto accordingly at their utmost peril . in the savoy , printed by the assigns of john bill and christopher barker , printers to the kings most excellent majesty . 1667. by the parliament a proclamation commanding all jesuits, seminary priests, and other romish priests, to depart out of this commonwealth. england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a83385 of text r211620 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.16[80]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 5 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a83385 wing e2192 thomason 669.f.16[80] estc r211620 99870331 99870331 163233 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a83385) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163233) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 246:669f16[80]) by the parliament a proclamation commanding all jesuits, seminary priests, and other romish priests, to depart out of this commonwealth. england and wales. parliament. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by iohn field, printer to the parliament of england, london : 1652 [i.e. 1653] order to print dated: wednesday the fifth of ianuary, 1652. signed: hen: scobell, cleric. parliamenti. with parliamentary seal at head of text. eng catholics -england -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. jesuits -england -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. a83385 r211620 (thomason 669.f.16[80]). civilwar no by the parliament: a proclamation commanding all jesuits, seminary priests, and other romish priests, to depart out of this commonwealth. england and wales. parliament. 1653 742 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion blazon or coat of arms ❧ by the parliament : a proclamation commanding all jesuits , seminary priests , and other romish priests , to depart out of this commonwealth . the parliament of england being informed , that many iesuits , seminary priests , and other romish priests are come into this nation , and do here with great boldness celebrate their idolatrous masses , exercise all offices of their profession , and seduce the people from the true religion , and from their duty and obedience to this common-wealth ; for which offences against the laws of this nation , some of those romish priests being found here , have lately been convicted and executed according to law ; and others of them being within the same danger , are liable to the same punishment , and their lives within the power of iustice : the parliament nevertheless being willing , that the like for the future , both the offence and the punishment may be avoided , and fit warning given for that purpose ; and for the prevention of the great mischiefs arising to the people of england , by such romish priests being among them ( whereby god is dishonored , and the peace of this commonwealth endangered ) have thought fit to publish and declare , and do hereby publish and declare , that all and every iesuit , seminary priest , and other priests , deacons , religious and ecclesiastical persons whatsoever , made , ordained or professed by any authority , power or iurisdiction derived , chalenged or pretended from the sea of rome , do , and shall be before the first day of march , one thousand six hundred fifty and two , depart forth out of england and wales , and town of berwick : and for that purpose , that it shall be lawful to all officers of ports , to suffer the said iesuits , seminaries and romish priests to ship themselves , and to depart thence into any foreign parts before the said first day of march : and that if any iesuit , seminary priest , or other romish or popish priests , after the said first day of march , shall be found or taken within england or wales , or the town of barwick ; or departing by force of this present act , shall hereafter return into this nation , or any the territories thereof , that they and every of them so found , taken , and returning , shall be liable unto , and undergo the penalty of the laws here in force concerning them or any of them , without hope of pardon or remission for their said offence or offences . and because there may be some romish priests and iesuits in restraint in divers parts of this nation , the parliament doth will and command all sheriffs , bayliffs , and all keepers of prisons , within twenty days after the publishing of this proclamation , to advertise the councel of state , appointed by authority of parliament , of the names of such iesuits , seminary priests , and other romish priests that are in their custody , and for what cause , and by whom they were committed ; to the end , that thereupon the councel of state may give order for their enlargement and transportation , if they see cause , which they are hereby authorized to do : and the parliament doth charge and command , all iustices of peace and other officers whatsoever , to be vigilant and careful to do their duties herein , and be diligent in discovering and apprehending of all iesuits , seminary priests , and other romish priests that shall remain here or come into this commonwealth , or any the territories thereof , contrary to this proclamation : and the commissioners of the great seal of england , are hereby authorized and required to affix the said great seal unto this proclamation , and to cause the same to be published and proclaimed in all counties of this common-wealth , according to the usual course . wednesday the fifth of ianuary , 1652. ordered by the parliament , that this proclamation be forthwith printed and published . hen : scobell , cleric . parliamenti . london , printed by iohn field , printer to the parliament of england . 1652. now we the lord lieutenant and council, in pursuance of his majesties said letters, and by virtue of the said clause in the act explaining the act of settlement, do by this our act of council, give and grant general licence and leave to all and every his majesties roman catholic subjects ... ireland. lord lieutenant (1670-1672 : berkeley) 1672 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45763 wing i1004 estc r36983 16170912 ocm 16170912 104975 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45763) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 104975) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1595:80) now we the lord lieutenant and council, in pursuance of his majesties said letters, and by virtue of the said clause in the act explaining the act of settlement, do by this our act of council, give and grant general licence and leave to all and every his majesties roman catholic subjects ... ireland. lord lieutenant (1670-1672 : berkeley) berkeley, john, sir, d. 1678. 1 broadside. printed by benjamin tooke ... and are to be sold by joseph wilde ..., dublin : 1671 [1672] title from first 5 lines of text. at head of title: to our right trusty, and well beloved counsellor,john lord berkeley, our lieutenant general and general governour of ireland, and to our kingdom of ireland, and to our chief governour or governours of that our kingdom for the time being, and, to the lords, and others of our privy council of that our kingdom. "given at the council chamber in dublin, the eighth day of march 1671" [1672] reproduction of original in the society of antiquaries library, london. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -civil rights -ireland. ireland -history -1649-1775. ireland -politics and government -17th century. 2004-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2004-12 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to our right trusty , and well beloved counsellor , john lord berkeley , our lieutenant general , and general governour of our kingdom of ireland , and to our chief governour or governours of that our kingdom for the time being , and to the lords , and others of our privy council of that our kingdom . now we the lord lieutenant and council , in pursuance of his majesties said letters , and by virtue of the said clause in the act explaining the act of settlement , do by this our act of council , give and grant general licence and leave to all and every his majesties roman catholick subjects , and all other his majesties subjects whatsoever , as well to hire and purchase from , as also to demise , alien , and grant unto each other their heirs and assigns , any house or houses , lands or tenements , within any of the cities or towns corporate of this kingdom , and the liberties thereof , as freely , and in as full , ample , and beneficial a manner , to all intents and purposes , as if the aforesaid clause of restraint in the said art had not been , and that none of his majesties subjects , shall from henceforth be molested , or incur any penalty , or forfeiture for any breach , or non-observance of the said clause of restraint , the person or persons so purchasing in the said cities , towns and places , taking onely the usual oath of allegiance , as formerly , the said act , or any other act , statute , law , or ordinance to the contrary , in any wise notwithstanding . and we do hereby further signifie , that his majesties will and pleasure is , and his majesty in and by his said letters , doth order and declare , that his majesties said irish roman catholick subjects , formerly inhabitants , natives , or freemen , and such as have , or shall have right to be freemen , in any of the said cities , towns and places , and all other his majesties subjects shall be forthwith restored unto , and enjoy their accustomed priviledges , freedoms , immunities and advantages , and be allowed , and peaceably admitted to inhabit , and trade by transportation , importation , whole-sale , retail , or otherwise , in the said respective cities , towns and places , without disturbance or molestation , as freely , as they , or their ancestors , or any other did , or hath been used at any time heretofore , in the time of his majesties dear father of blessed memory , and as any other his majesties subjects do at present , without making any distinction between his majesties subjects of this kingdom , or giving any interruption upon pretence of difference of iudgment , or opinion in matters of religion ; but that all act and deal together , as becometh dutiful and loyal subjects , the said former act , or any other act , order , or practice to the contrary notwithstanding ; whereof his majesties chancellor of ireland , his iustices of both benches , the barons of the exchequer , and his majesties council at law in this kingdom , and all magistrates , governors , mayors , sheriffs , and other officers of the said respective cities , towns and corporations , and all others whom it doth or may concern , are to take notice , & conform themselves thereunto . and it is ordered , that his majesties letters aforesaid , and this our act of council be forthwith published in all cities , and towns corporate in this kingdom , to the end all persons concerned , may take notice of the same . given at the council chamber in dublin , the eighth day of march 1671. ja : armachanus . mich. dublin canc. clanbrazill . heugh glenaully . jo. bysse . theo. jones . god save the king . dvblin , printed by benjamin tooke , printer to the kings most excellent majesty ; and are to be sold by joseph wilde , book-seller in castle-street , 1671. by the council of state. a proclamation. whereas the parliament assembled at westminster the third of november, one thousand six hundred and forty, is now dissolved, and the enemies of this commonwealth, in this interval, are likely to take advantage, to carry on their designs, for disturbance of the publick peace: and taking notice of the great confluence of papists, and other disaffected persons, at this time to the cities of london, and westminster, and places adjacent, with intention, probably, to put in execution their said designs, whereof, their great boldness and confidence expressed doth here, and in several parts of the nation, giveth just occasion of suspition, and more then ordinary apprehension of danger, to those who are well affected to the peace of the nation: ... england and wales. council of state. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a84473 of text r211707 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.24[25]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 5 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a84473 wing e783 thomason 669.f.24[25] estc r211707 99870413 99870413 163756 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a84473) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163756) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 247:669f24[25]) by the council of state. a proclamation. whereas the parliament assembled at westminster the third of november, one thousand six hundred and forty, is now dissolved, and the enemies of this commonwealth, in this interval, are likely to take advantage, to carry on their designs, for disturbance of the publick peace: and taking notice of the great confluence of papists, and other disaffected persons, at this time to the cities of london, and westminster, and places adjacent, with intention, probably, to put in execution their said designs, whereof, their great boldness and confidence expressed doth here, and in several parts of the nation, giveth just occasion of suspition, and more then ordinary apprehension of danger, to those who are well affected to the peace of the nation: ... england and wales. council of state. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by abel roper, and thomas collins, printers to the council of state, [london] : [1660] title from caption and opening lines of text. order to print dated: saturday the 17 of march 1659. at the council of state at whitehal. signed: w. jessop, clerk of the council. place of publication from wing. annotation on thomason copy: "march 19". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -england -london -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. exile (punishment) -england -london -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1649-1660 -early works to 1800. a84473 r211707 (thomason 669.f.24[25]). civilwar no by the council of state. a proclamation. whereas the parliament assembled at westminster the third of november, one thousand six hundred and england and wales. council of state. 1660 748 3 0 0 0 0 0 40 d the rate of 40 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the council of state . a proclamation . whereas the parliament assembled at westminster the third of november , one thousand six hundred and forty , is now dissolved , and the enemies of this commonwealth , in this interval , are likely to take advantage , to carry on their designs , for disturbance of the publick peace : and taking notice of the great confluence of papists ▪ and other disaffected persons , at this time , to the cities of london , and westminster , and places adjacent , with intention , probably , to put in execution their said designs , whereof , their great boldness and confidence expressed both here , and in several parts of the nation , giveth iust occasion of suspition , and more then ordinary apprehension of danger , to those who are well affected co the peace of the nation : for preventing the dangers that may be occasioned thereby : the council have thought fit to publish and declare , and doth hereby enjoyn , and require all , and every person and persons , born within this commonwealth , being a papist , or popish recusant , and all , and every person and persons , who have , or hath at any time born armes on behalf of the late king against the parlament , or since , in pursuance of that interest , and every of them ( who shall not have leave from the council of state , or the lord general of the army to the contrary ) do before the twenty fifth day of this instant march , or , if under restraint , then , within three dayes after his or their enlargement , repair unto his , and their place of dwelling , where he or they ▪ usually heretofore made their common abode , and shall not at any time after , until the first day of may next ensuing , return to the cities of london and westminster , without like leave or licence . or if such papists , or popish recusant , or other person aforesaid , have no certain place , dwelling , or abode , within this commonwealth , that then all , and every such popish recusant , and other person aforesaid , do , by the time before limitted , remove to the distance of twenty miles at the least from london or westminster ▪ and not at any time after return until the said first day of may , without licence as aforesaid , upon pain of being apprehended , and proceeded against as disturbers of the publick peace . and all iustices of peace , commissioners of the militia for the city of london , and the respective counties and cities of this commonwealth , and all other officers , civil and military , are to apprehend , or cause to be apprehended all , and every such papist , and popish recusant , and other person or persons aforesaid , as shall be found at any time after the said twenty fifth of march , until the said first day of may , within the cities of london and westminster , or within twenty miles thereof , contrary to this proclamation : and to secure all , and every such person or persons so offending in the premises , to be proceeded against as aforesaid . and likewise to seize on , and apprehend all , and every person and persons whatsoever , who shall raise tumults , or shall practise , or complot against the publick peace and safety , or make disturbance within this nation , or hold correspondence with any the enemies thereof , and them to secure till upon notice to the council , further order shall be therein given . and all officers of the ports , and commanders of ships , are required to apprehend and secure all suspicious persons that shall pass the ports , either going , or coming from beyond seas , without leave of the council , till the council , upon notice , take order therein . saturday the 17 of march 1659. at the council of state at whitehal ordered , that this proclamation be forthwith printed and published . jo. rushworth , clerk of the council . printed by abel roper , and thomas collins , printers to the council of state . a discoverie of the hellish plot against divers particular of the nobility of the kingdome of england also the papists gvnpowder-plot brought to light : with the copie of a letter sent from a noble-man in ireland to colonel lunsford, jan. 11, 1642 : shewing in a most true and reall reiation the manner how this hellish plot was laid and how these noble pillars of protestant-religion the earl of cork, the earl of kildare and the valourous lord iones should have been blown up : as also hovv they intended to burn dovvn the citie of dublin vvith wild-fire and how they were beaten back by the lord chief-justices in the castles. e. f. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a36128 of text r19461 in the english short title catalog (wing d1653). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a36128 wing d1653 estc r19461 12442269 ocm 12442269 62116 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a36128) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62116) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 249:e132, no 14) a discoverie of the hellish plot against divers particular of the nobility of the kingdome of england also the papists gvnpowder-plot brought to light : with the copie of a letter sent from a noble-man in ireland to colonel lunsford, jan. 11, 1642 : shewing in a most true and reall reiation the manner how this hellish plot was laid and how these noble pillars of protestant-religion the earl of cork, the earl of kildare and the valourous lord iones should have been blown up : as also hovv they intended to burn dovvn the citie of dublin vvith wild-fire and how they were beaten back by the lord chief-justices in the castles. e. f. [7] p. printed for iohn greensmith, london : 1642. the letter is signed: e. f. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng lunsford, thomas, -sir, 1610?-1653? catholics -england. dublin (ireland) -history. great britain -history -charles i, 1625-1649 -sources. a36128 r19461 (wing d1653). civilwar no a discoverie of the hellish plot against divers particular of the nobility of the kingdome of england. also the papists gunpowder-plot, brou [no entry] 1642 981 3 0 0 0 0 0 31 c the rate of 31 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2006-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2006-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a discoverie of the hellish plot against divers particular of the nobility of the kingdome of england . also the papists gvnpowder-plot , brought to light . with the copie of a letter sent from a noble-man in ireland , to colonel lunsford . jan. 11. 1642. shewing , in a most true and reall relation , the manner how this hellish plot was laid , and how these noble pillars of protestant-religion , the earl of cork , the earl of kildare , and the valourous lord iones , should have been blown up . as also , hovv they intended to burn dovvn the citie of dublin vvith wild-fire , and how they were beaten back by the lord chief-iustices in the castles . london , printed for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 smith . 164 〈◊〉 . a gun-powder plot in ireland , discovered . the rebels having intelligence that the noble earle of ormond , the earle of kildare , and the lord iones were fully resolved about the 7. of ian. to relieve the city of dublin , by reason that the rebels have besieged it a long time , whereby they wanted provision and ammunition very much , they resolved altogether to hinder their intents : therefore generall neale , and many other of the rebels invented a plot for the utter confusion of them all , and it was to be performed at that very instant when the aforenamed lords were marching with their forces towards the city of dublin . the manner how the plot was laid . the rebels for bringing their bloody and hellish designes to perfection , had provided shovels , spades , pick-hacks , and many other instruments for the said bloudy design , and about the number of 400. souldiers , and there with all speed they set them to worke which was to vndermine the ground for the space of two miles , and laid there great store of gunpowder : and so by that meanes to blow up the aforenamed lords in their marching over : thi● being done , the rebels intended to march against the city of dublin , and to destroy it by wild-fire : but they were prevented , and their hellish designs discovered by a miraculous means . the manner how this plot was discovered . colonell morton marching before the protestant army , and the two other lords bringing on their forces with puissant courage , they being come within the space of sixe miles of dublin , colonel morton feeling the ground quiver under his feet , it seeming like dry ground , caused the army to stand , and said , that hee feared that there was trechery intended against them , he therefore immediatly took one of their strongest pikes , and thrust it into the ground , to see whether it were hollow or not , the pike running in with such great force , and hee laying no strength to it , immediatly caused some of his souldiers to dig , to see what plot there was intended against them , and digging a yard deepe they espyed a vault , and great store of gun-powder , whereupon the aforesaid colonell caused them to retreat back , fearing that they had come too far , but not knowing how to discover the same : unlesse that some man would venture his life to goe in : where presently a young man stept forth , and spake to them as followeth . noble captain , to do you and my country good , i will venture my life to find out this hellish plot , then they let him down , who presently espyed 6 men , they immediatly questioning of him , he answer'd that he came from generall neale , chiefe generall for the rebels , to helpe them in their good enterprise , who being there about the space of two dayes , they resolved that onely one of them should tarry to bring this to passe , which was to give fire to the gun-powder , for to blow up the protestant army , the rest should goe forth , and retire back to the rebels : therefore they concluded together to draw cuts which of them should tarry , which as the lord would have it , it fell to his lot : and they being gone , hee seeing the place which they came out at , came presently to the said place , and opened the doore , which was of wood , and covered with turfe , in such a manner , that no man could perceive whether there were any doore or not : and comming forth , he re●ated to captain morton how it was . who presently set a strong guard about the said vault , and then 200 , of the protestants went in , and fetched all the powder out , and great store of ammunition they have also taken . the copie of a letter sent from a noble-man in ireland , to colonel lunsford . sir , we desire you to make ready your forces , as soo●e as possible you can , and to fall on with speed , you know our meaning , and wee vvill send you aid suddenly ; for vvee have gathered our forces together , since they were defeated by the scottish regiments , for in that fight vve lost 2000. men , and what you begin , vve vvill end , use your hands , and put in practice your wits ; for you know wee have many friends in citie and countrie , and what monies you disburst , vve vvill be ansvverable to you , your loving friend , e. f. finis . by the king. a proclamation commanding all persons being popish recusants, or so reputed, to depart from the cities of london and westminster, and all other places within ten miles of the same. england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1678 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). b02106 wing c3243 estc r171265 52528759 ocm 52528759 178725 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b02106) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 178725) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2768:14) by the king. a proclamation commanding all persons being popish recusants, or so reputed, to depart from the cities of london and westminster, and all other places within ten miles of the same. england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, 1630-1685. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by john bill, christopher barker, thomas newcomb, and henry hills ..., london : 1678. proclaimed on october 30, 1678. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -great britain -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. exile (punishment) -england -london -early works to 1800. broadsides -scotland -17th century. 2008-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms by the king. a proclamation , commanding all persons being popish recusants , or so reputed , to depart from the cities of london and westminster , and all other places within ten miles of the same . charles r. whereas the lords spiritual and temporal , and commons in parliament assembled , having taken into their serious consideration the bloudy and traiterous designs of popish recusants against his majesties sacred person and government , and the protestant religion , have ( for prevention thereof ) most humbly besought his majesty to issue forth his royal proclamation , to the effect , and for the purposes hereafter mentioned : the kings most excellent majesty hath been graciously pleased readily to condescend thereunto ; and doth by this his royal proclamation straitly charge and command all persons being popish recusants , or so reputed , that they do on or before the seventh day of november next ensuing ( under pain of his majesties highest displeasure , and of the severest execution of the laws against them ) depart and retire themselves and their families from his majesties royal palaces of whitehall , somerset house , and st. james , the cities of london and westminster , and from all other places within ten miles distance of the same : and that no person being a popish recusant , or so reputed , do presume at any time hereafter to repair or return to his majesties said palaces , or any of them , or to the said cities , or either of them , or within ten miles of the same . provided , that nothing before contained , shall extend to such housholders dwelling within the said cities , or either of them , or in any place within ten miles of the same , who being traders ; exercising some trade or manual occupation , have been there settled for the space of twelve months last past , in houses of their own , and have not an habitation elsewhere , and who shall give in their names , and the names of all other persons in their families , to the two next justices of the peace . and his majesty doth strictly charge and command , that immediately after the said seventh day of november , the constables , church-wardens , and other parish officers within the said cities , and either of them , and within ten miles of the same , do go from house to house in their several parishes , hamlets , constabularies , and divisions respectively , and there take an account of the names and surnames of all such persons as are popish recusants , or reputed so to be , as well housholders as lodgers , or servants , and to carry a list of their names to the two next justices of the peace , who are hereby required and enjoyned to send for them , and every of them , and to tender to them and every of them , the oaths of allegiance and supremacy , and to commit to prison till the next succeeding sessions of the peace , all such persons as shall refuse the said oaths , and at the said next sessions to proceed against them according to law : his majesty hereby giving the said justices to understand , that the better to enable them to tender the said oaths , his majesty hath commanded respective commissions to be issued under his great seal of england , to the justices of peace within the said cities of london and westminster , and the places within ten miles of the same , to authorize and require them , or any two of them respectively , to administer the said oaths accordingly . given at our court at whitehall , the thirtieth day of october , 1678. in the thirtieth year of our reign . god save the king . edinbvrgh , re-printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to his most sacred majesty . 1678. a proclamation for seising the horses and arms of papists, and persons above the degree of commons, not qualified according to the act of parliament. scotland. privy council. 1696 approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). b05688 wing s1920 estc r183544 53299292 ocm 53299292 180022 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b05688) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 180022) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2810:47) a proclamation for seising the horses and arms of papists, and persons above the degree of commons, not qualified according to the act of parliament. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign (1694-1702 : william ii) 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson ..., edinburgh, : 1696. caption title. title vignette: royal seal with initials w r. reproduction of original in: national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng anti-catholicism -scotland -early works to 1800. catholics -legal status, laws, etc. -scotland -early works to 1800. broadsides -scotland -17th century. 2008-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion wr diev et mon droit honi soit qui mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation for seising the horses and arms of papists , and persons above the degree of commons , not qualified according to the act of parliament . william by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith : to macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting : forasmuch as by the sixth act of the fourth session of this our current parliament , it is statute and ordained , that all persons who shall not swear the oath of allegiance , and subscribe the same , with the assurance to us , shall not be allowed to keep any horses above an hundred merks price , nor any sort of arms more than a walking-sword , certifying such as should be found to have horses and arms contrary to that provision , either in their own or in the keeping of others , that both the owner and keeper should incur the penalty of an thousand merks , the one half to the informer , and the other to us. and by the foresaid act , the lords of our privy council are authorized and impowered to take such further effectual methods for disarming these persons , and seizing of their horses above the foresaid value , as they should judge necessary . and we considering how requisite and needful it is at this time , that all papists , and heretors , and others , above the degree of commons within this kingdom , who have not sworn the oath of allegiance , and subscribed the same , with the assurance to us , should be disarmed , and their horses above the price foresaid seized and imployed for our use , to oppose and withstand the invasion now threatned from france . and for the better securing the peace and quiet of this our kingdom from all disturbance and commotion , that may be moved or made within the same , in case any such forraign invasion should happen , have therefore thought fit , with advice of the lords of our privy council , to require and command ; likeas , with advice foresaid , we hereby peremptorly require and command the sheriffs of the several shires of this kingdom , stewarts of stewartries , baillies of regalities , and their respective deputs , and the magistrats of burghs within their several jurisdictions , immediatly after publication hereof , to pass through every paroch within their respective bounds , and call before them all the papists , and the heretors and others above the degree of commons within the same , who have not taken , or will not take the oath of allegiance , and subscribe , the same with the assurance to us ; and require and command them upon oath to declare , what horses they had since the first of january last , or presently have above the price of an hundred merks , and in whose custody they are , and what arms more than a walking-sword , they since the day foresaid had , or presently have belonging to them , and immediatly to deliver into the custody and keeping of the said sheriff , or their deputs , or other magistrats respective foresaid , before whom they shall depone the saids horses and arms in their custody , to be keeped by the said sheriffs and other magistrats foresaids , in sure custody , untill they make report of the number thereof to the lords of our privy council , which they are hereby required to do , betwixt and the second day of april next for all upon this side of tay , and for all the rest of this kingdom betwixt and the fifth day of may next , under the pain of five hundred merks scots ; and where either the saids heretors , and others foresaids , do not compear and depone , or do not instantly deliver the saids horses and arms , acknowledged by their oath to belong to them . we with advice foresaid , require and command the sheriffs and other magistrats respective above named , within their several jurisdictions , to seize upon the horses and arms belonging to the saids persons , and take the same into their custody and keeping , where-ever they can be found , and make report thereof betwixt and the day foresaid , under the pains above-set-down . and for the more effectual execution of the premisses , we with advice foresaid , impower and authorize any of the magistrats respective above-named , to call for , and we hereby require and ordain the commander in chief of our forces , to grant sufficient parties of our troops whenever they shall be required , to go along with , and be assisting to the said respective magistrats , in feising upon , and searching for the saids horses and arms to be delivered to , and detained by the saids respective magistrats , and reported to our privy council , in manner above-mentioned ; and we with advice foresaid , require and command the saids respective magistrats , in the report to be made by them to our privy council , and likewise the officers of our troops that shall be imployed for their assistance , to declare upon oath , that they have not restored or given back any horses above the price of one hundred merks , or arms more than a walking-sword to any of the foresaids persons not qualified according to law , or others belonging to them , but that they have effectually seized , and reported all the horses above the price foresaid , and arms more than the said walking-sword belonging to any of the saids unqualified heretors , and others foresaids within their respective bounds , conform to the foresaid act of parliament , and the orders here set down , and how soon soever the said report shall be made ; we with advice of the lords of our privy council , will send the necessary orders to the sheriffs and other magistrats respective above-named , how to dispose upon the saids horses and arms to the best advantage for our service , which they are punctually to observe and obey , as they will be answerable . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly and command , that incontinent thir our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and remanent mercat-crosses of the head-burghs of the several shires and stewartries within this kingdom , and there in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make intimation hereof that none pretend ignorance , and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh , the thirteenth day of march , and of our reign the seventh year 1696. per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot , cls. sti. concilii . god save the king edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , anno dom. 1696. by the lords justices and councell. vv. parsons. io. borlase. whereas many malignant and divellish papists, and jesuits friars, seminary priests, and other superstitious orders of the popish pretended cleargie, ... ireland. lords justices and council. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87341 of text r211450 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.5[107]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87341 wing i849 thomason 669.f.5[107] estc r211450 99870176 99870176 160819 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87341) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160819) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f5[107]) by the lords justices and councell. vv. parsons. io. borlase. whereas many malignant and divellish papists, and jesuits friars, seminary priests, and other superstitious orders of the popish pretended cleargie, ... ireland. lords justices and council. 1 sheet ([1] p.) by william bladen, [printed at dublin : 1642] imprint from wing. with engraving of royal seal at head of document. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -ireland -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. ireland -history -1625-1649 -early works to 1800. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -early works to 1800. a87341 r211450 (thomason 669.f.5[107]). civilwar no by the lords justices and councell. vv. parsons. io. borlase. whereas many malignant and divellish papists, and jesuits: friars, seminary p ireland. lords justices and council. 1642 1053 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-12 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion royal blazon or coat of arms diev et mon droit ¶ by the lords iustices and councell . vv. parsons . io. borlase . whereas many malignant and divellish papists , and iesuits , friars , seminary prfests , and other superstitious orders of the popish pretended cleargie , most disloyally , treacherously and wickedly conspired to surprize his majesties castle of dublin , his majesties principall fort in this kingdome , the citie of dublin , and all other citties and fortifications in this realm , to massacre vs the lords iustices and councell , to destroy and roote out all the protestant brittish , and all other protestants in this realm ; and finally , to deprive his majestie of this his antient and rightfull crowne , and soveraignty of this kingdome , and to possesse themselves thereof , all which was by the said conspirators plotted , and intended to be acted on the 23. day of october in the yeare of our lord god 1641. a conspiracie so inhumane , barbarous and cruell , as the like was never before heard of in any age or kingdome , and if it had taken effect in that fulnesse which was intended by the conspirators , it had occasioned the utter ruine of this whole kingdome , and the governement thereof . and howsoever it pleased almighty god in his unsearchable wisedome and iustice , as a just punishment and deserved correction to us for our sinnes , and the sins of this nation , to permit then , and afterwards , the effecting of a great part of that destruction complotted by those wicked conspirators , whereby many thousand brittish and protestants have been massacred , many thousands of others of them have been afflicted and tormented , with the most exquisit torments that the malice of the divell could suggest to the mischievous rebells , and all mens estates ( aswell those whom they trayterously slue , as all others ) are utterly wasted , ruined , and destroyed , yet as his divine majestie hath in all ages shewen his power and mercy in the miraculous and gracious deliverance of his church , and in the protection of religious kings and states , so even in the midst of his iustice , he was graciously pleased to extend mercie to his majestie , and to this his kingdome and good subjects therein , not onely in miraculously discovering to vs the lords iustices , that hideous and bloudy treason , not many houres before the appointed time for the execution thereof , but also in preserving the said castle and cittie of dublin , and some other citties , townes and castles in the kingdome , from the bloudy hands of the barbarous conspirators , as also in thereby rendring deliverance to the lives of vs the lords iustices and councell , and of all the brittish and protestants in dublin , and in the said other citties , townes , and castles preserved , and of sundry other brittish and protestants , falne even into the hands of those rebellious conspirators , and likewise in sending vs succours , ( whereby with gods blessing ) we have hitherto continued safe under his mighty protection , notwithstanding the unexampled rage and implacable fury and malice of those mercilesse enemies of gods truth . wherefore as we doe most humbly and justly acknowledge gods iustice in our deserved punishments , in those calamities which from the councells and actions of those conspirators & their adherents , are falne upon vs , and this nation in generall , so we doe in like manner acknowledge , that even in exercising of that his iustice , he remembred mercie also , and magnified his mercie to vs , in those great blessings which we humbly confesse to have proceeded meerely from his infinite goodnesse and mercy , and therefore to his most holy name we doe ascribe all honor , glory and praise : and to the end this unfained thankfulnesse may never be forgotten , but may be had in a perpetuall remembrance , that all ages to come may yeeld praises to his divine majestie for the same , and have in memorie this joyfull day of deliverance . we doe ordaine and establish by this our act of councell ( in the meane time untill by authority of parliament it shall be made a law to be delivered over to posterity ) that all and singular ministers in every cathedrall and parish church , or other usuall place for common prayer within this realme of ireland , shall alwayes upon the 23. day of october say morning prayer , and give thankes unto almighty god for this most happy and miraculous deliverance , and for our preservation hitherto , farre above the expectation of those wretched conspirators . and that all , and every person and persons , inhabiting within this realme of ireland , shall alwayes upon that day diligently and faithfully resort to the parish church or chappell accustomed , or to some usuall church or chappell where the said morning prayer , preaching , or other service of god shall be used , and then and there to abide orderly and soberly during the time of the said prayers , preaching , or other service of god there to be used and ministred . and because all and every person may be put in mind of his duty , and be then better prepared to the said holy service : we doe ordaine and establish by this our act of councell , that every minister shall give warning to his parishioners publiquely in the church at morning prayer , the sunday before every such 23. day of october for the due observation of the said day . and that after morning prayer , and preaching upon the said 23. day of october , they reade publiquely , distinctly and plainely this our act of councell . given at his majesties castle of dublin the 14. day of october . 1642. ormond . ad. loftus . geo. shurley . gerrard lowther . i. temple . tho. rotherham . fr. willoughby . ia. ware . g. wentworth . rob. meredith . by the king, a proclamation england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1671 approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32683 wing c3636 estc r219344 14867780 ocm 14867780 102749 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32683) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 102749) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1566:51) by the king, a proclamation england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, 1630-1685. 1 broadside. printed by the assigns of jo. bill and chris. barker ..., [london] in the savoye : 1670/1 [i.e. 1671] "given at our court at whitehall, the three and twentieth of march, 1670/1. in the three and twentieth year of our reign." ordering catholic clergy into exile and the enforcement of the penal laws against catholic recusants. reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dissenters, religious -legal status, laws, etc. -england. catholics -england. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. 2008-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-10 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the king. c r diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation . charles r. whereas our loyal subjects the lords spiritual and temporal , and commons in this present parliament assembled , have by their humble petition represented to vs their fears and apprehensions of the growth and increase of the popish religion in these our dominions , together with the causes thereof , and also such remedies as they conceive may be proper to prevent such growing mischiefs . which petition of theirs we have seriously considered , and do with much contentment and satisfaction , accept and approve the great care of our said loyal subjects the lords spiritual and temporal , and commons in parliament assembled , for the preservation of the true religion established in this kingdom ; to which , as we have always adhered against all temptations whatsoever , so we shall still employ our utmost care and zeal in the maintenance and defence of it . and we do therefore by this our royal proclamation streightly charge and command all iesuits , and all english , irish , and scottish priests , and all others who have taken orders from the see of rome , or by the authority or pretended authority thereof , who are not under any restraint by imprisonment , other then such as by contract of marriage are to attend the person of our dearest consort the queen , or by the laws of nations are to attend forein ambassadors ; that they do before the first day of may next , depart out of this our kingdom of england , and dominion of wales , upon pain of having the penalties of the laws and statutes of this our realm inflicted upon them : and for their better means to depart accordingly , we do hereby declare and publish our further will and pleasure , that if at any time before the said first day of may , they or any of them shall resort to any port-town of our said kingdom of england or dominion of wales , and there declare himself to the magistrate of the town , or other officers of any port , that he is a priest , and that he is there to take shipping for his passage , they shall suffer him or them quietly to depart , and shall see them shipt and sent away for forein parts , and give them their furtherance for their departure . and to the end this our proclamation may be the better observed and obeyed , we do hereby strictly charge and command all our lieutenants , deputy-lieutenants , commissioners , iustices of peace , mayors , sheriffs , bayliffs , and all other our officers and ministers whatsoever , that they be circumspect and vigilant each of them in their several charges , from and after the said first day of may next , in searching for and discovering all such iesuits and priests as aforesaid , as shall presume to remain in this our kingdom of england and dominion of wales , contrary to our laws , and our royal pleasure and command herein declared , that so the laws may be put in due execution against them . and for the better discovery of all others who are popish recusants , or justly suspected to be so , we do also further require , charge , and command , that all our iudges , barons of our exchequer , iustices of peace , and ministers of iustice in their several places , do not onely observe our will and pleasure herein before expressed in all and every of the premisses ; but also forthwith put all other our laws in due execution against all popish recusants , and such as are suspected to be so , in order to their speedy conviction , and cause the said laws to be publickly given in charge at all and every their assises , gaol-deliveries , and quarter-sessions respectively , and then and there take order that such popish recusants , or persons suspected to be so , may be speedily presented , indicted , and convicted according to law , and that due process of law may from time to time be issued out upon such convictions . and we do hereby declare , that the names of such priests who do attend the person of our dearest consort the queen , shall be set down under her great seal , and such signification enrolled in the court of kings-bench : and because there may be some priests imprisoned in this our realm , yet unknown to vs , we do will and command all sheriffs , bayliffs , and keepers of prisons , within twenty days after publication of this our proclamation , to advertise our privy-council , or some of them , of the names of all such priests that are in their custody , and by whom , and for what cause they were committed , to the end that thereupon we may give order for their transportation , as the case shall require . given at our court at whitehall , the three and twentieth day of march , 1670 / 1. in the three and twentieth year of our reign . god save the king . in the savoye : printed by the assigns of jo : bill , and chris . barker , printers to the kings most excellent majesty , 1670 / 1. die sabbati, 29. januarii. 1641. an order made by both houses of parliament, to prevent the going over of popish commanders into ireland, and also to hinder the transportation of arms, ammunition, money, corne, victuals, and all other provision to the rebels, and for the sending back of the irish papists lately come over. england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a82921 of text r209753 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.3[38]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a82921 wing e1686 thomason 669.f.3[38] estc r209753 99868619 99868619 160596 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a82921) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160596) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f3[38]) die sabbati, 29. januarii. 1641. an order made by both houses of parliament, to prevent the going over of popish commanders into ireland, and also to hinder the transportation of arms, ammunition, money, corne, victuals, and all other provision to the rebels, and for the sending back of the irish papists lately come over. england and wales. parliament. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for joseph hunscott, london : 1641 [i.e. 1642] reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -great britain -early works to 1800. catholics -ireland -early works to 1800. ireland -history -1640-1660 -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1642-1649 -early works to 1800. ireland -history -rebellion of 1641 -early works to 1800. a82921 r209753 (thomason 669.f.3[38]). civilwar no die sabbati, 29. januarii. 1641. an order made by both houses of parliament, to prevent the going over of popish commanders into ireland, an england and wales. parliament. 1642 546 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die sabbati , 29. januarii . 1641. ❧ an order made by both houses of parliament , to prevent the going over of popish commanders into ireland , and also to hinder the transportation of arms , ammunition , money , corne , victuals , and all other provision to the rebels , and for the sending back of the irish papists lately come over . whereas great numbers of papists , both english and irish , some whereof have been , and are commanders in the warres ; and others , such as have estates in england , have gone out of this kingdom into ireland , immediately before and during the barbarous and bloudy rebellion there , and traiterously joyned themselves with the rebels of that nation , against his majesty , and the crown of england ; and likewise divers other popish commanders , and such as have estates in england , are daily preparing to go thither , to the same wicked ends : and great store of arms , ammunition , money , corne , and other victuals and provisions have been sent , and are daily preparing to be sent to that kingdom , for the assistance and encouragement of those rebels : for prevention whereof , the lords and commons in this present parliament assembled , do hereby order and straightly charge and command , all sheriffs , justices of the peace , mayors , bailiffs , constables , and other his majesties officers within the realm of england , and dominion of wales ; that they apprehend and examine all such persons , as they shall suspect to be papists , and going out of this kingdom , or the dominion of wales into ireland . and that they make also stay of all arms , munition , money , corne , and other victuals and provisions , which they shall suspect to be preparing for transportation into ireland , for the ayd and relief of the rebels there ; and to give speedy notice thereof unto the parliament . and whereas , also divers poor people , men , women , and children , of the irish nation , and papists , have lately come in great numbers out of ireland , into cornewall , devon and other parts of this kingdom , where they have been , and are very disorderly , and much terrifie the inhabitants where they come , and due care is not taken in all places for the suppressing and punishing of them . the lords and commons in this parliament assembled , do hereby further order and require , all officers before mentioned , that they put the laws in due exetion against such wandring irish papists before expressed , and that they cause them to be forthwith conveyed back into that kingdom . this order was read , and by vote upon the question assented unto , and ordered to be fair written and sent up to the lords by master carew . master carew brings answer , that the lords do fully agree with the house in this order . hen. elsing . cler. parl. d. com. london , printed for joseph hunscott . 1641. the declaration of his highness the prince of orange concerning papists not departing from the cities of london and westminster, and ten miles adjacent. william iii, king of england, 1650-1702. 1689 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66128 wing w2326 estc r18879 12560866 ocm 12560866 63163 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a66128) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63163) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 950:58) the declaration of his highness the prince of orange concerning papists not departing from the cities of london and westminster, and ten miles adjacent. william iii, king of england, 1650-1702. william iii, king of england, 1650-1702. england and wales. sovereign (1689-1694 : william and mary) 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by j. starkey and a. and w. churchill, london : 1689. reproduction of original in huntington library. signed: w.h. prince of orange. at end of text: given at st. james's the fourteenth day of january, 1688. broadside. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england -london. broadsides 2008-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-04 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2008-10 spi global rekeyed and resubmitted 2008-12 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-12 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the declaration of his higness the prince of orange , concerning papists not departing from the cities of london and westminster , and ten miles adjacent . whereas the lords spiritual and temporal , by their order of the two and twentieth of december last past ; for the better preservation of the peace and common safety , did require , that all papists ( except as in the said order is excepted ) should within five days after the date of the said order , depart from the said cities to their respective habitations , from which not to remove above five miles distant , as in and by the said order printed and published more at large appears . and , whereas , notwithstanding the said order , and the laws and statutes of this kingdom , great numbers of the said papists ( not excepted in the said order ) are still remaining in the said cities of london and westminster , and places within ten miles adjacent , raising and fomenting jealousies and discontents , by false rumours and suggestions , deluding and seducing the unwary , and conspiring civil dissentions and insurrections to destroy the peace and quiet of this kingdom . in pursuance of the good intents in the said order mentioned , we do hereby declare and require , all papists , and reputed papists , not excepted in the said order , within three days after the date hereof , to depart from the said cities , and ten miles compass of the same ; or otherwise , to be taken and proceeded against , and expect the utmost severity that the law , for their offences , can inflict upon them . and for the better making this our declaration effectual , we do hereby require the lord mayor of london , and the aldermen of the said city , and all sheriffs , justices of the peace , constables , and other officers within their respective counties , cities , parishes , and places , to cause diligent search to be made , and such as they find abiding or lurking , contrary to the said order , to apprehend , and as papists , and persons suspected to be conspiring and plotting against the peace and good of the kingdom , to commit and imprison , to detain till discharged by due course of law. and for the better finding out , and discovering all such papists , and reputed papists , we hereby require the constables and beadles of every parish , within the said cities and limits , to go through their respective parishes and precincts , and to take accounts in writing , from the respective house-keepers , of the names , qualities and additions of all lodgers within their respective houses , and whether they are protestants or reputed papists ; and their accounts so taken , under their hands , to deliver to the next respective justice or justices of the peace , by them to be returned and certified to us , under their hands and seals : and that the said respective justices of the peace , cause also the names of the said constables of the respective parishes to be certified to us , that thereby we may see how this our declaration is observed . and , whereas we have granted passes to several persons to transport themselves beyond the seas ; we do hereby farther declare , that if they do not depart from the said cities of london and westminster , according to the tenor of this our declaration , then all such passes shall be void , and of no effect . given at st. james 's the fourteenth day of january , 1688. w. h. prince of orange . london , printed by j. starkey , and a. and w. churchill , mdclxxxix . by the king, a proclamation for suppression of popery england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1673 approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32511 wing c3429 wing c3515a_cancelled estc r35884 14867323 ocm 14867323 103850 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32511) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 103850) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1566:48 or 1588:86) by the king, a proclamation for suppression of popery england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, 1630-1685. 1 broadside. printed by the assigns of john bill and christopher barker ..., london : 1673. "given at our court at whitehall the twentieth day of november, 1673. in the twenty fifth year of our reign." ordering enforcement of the penal laws against recusants. item at reel 1566:48 identified as wing c3515a (number cancelled). reproduction of originals in the harvard university library and the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dissenters, religious -legal status, laws, etc. -england. catholics -england. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. 2008-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-09 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-09 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms by the king. a proclamation for suppression of popery . charles r. whereas in pursuance of our gracious assurances to both houses of parliament at the late prorogation , to let all our subjects see that no care can be greater then our own , in the effectual suppressing of popery , we were pleased the fourteenth of this instant november , in council , to direct and command the lord steward and lord chamberlain of our household to hinder all papists , and popish recusants , or reputed papists and popish recusants from having access to our presence , or to our palace , or the place where our court shall be , from and after the eighteenth day of this instant november , and did then likewise command the iudges of our courts at westminster , to consider of the most effectual means of putting the laws in execution for preventing the growth of popery , and speedily to report the same to vs : now for the more effectual suppression of popery in all parts of our kingdom , and preservation of the true religion established , we do hereby declare and publish our further will and pleasure , and also strictly charge and command all the iudges of our courts at westminster , iustices of the peace , mayors , sheriffs , bayliffs , and other our officers and ministers of iustice whatsoever , that they do forthwith take effectual care for the prosecution of all papists and popish recusants , according to the laws and statutes of this realm ; and for that purpose , that they give the said laws in charge at their respective assizes , gaol-deliveries and quarter-sessions , and then and there take order that such papists and popish recusants , or persons suspected to be so , may be speedily presented , indicted and convicted according to law , and that due process be from time to time issued thereupon . given at our court at whitehall the twentieth day of november 1673. in the twenty fifth year of our reign . god save the king. london , printed by the assigns of john bill and christopher barker , printers to the kings most excellent majesty . 1673. by the lord protector. a proclamation commanding all papists, and all other persons who have been of the late kings party, or his sons, to repair unto their place of abode, and not to remove above five miles from the same. england and wales. lord protector (1658-1660 : r. cromwell) this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a81031 of text r211158 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.21[21]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a81031 wing c7188 thomason 669.f.21[21] estc r211158 99869891 99869891 163516 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a81031) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163516) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 247:669f21[21]) by the lord protector. a proclamation commanding all papists, and all other persons who have been of the late kings party, or his sons, to repair unto their place of abode, and not to remove above five miles from the same. england and wales. lord protector (1658-1660 : r. cromwell) cromwell, richard, 1626-1712. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by henry hills and john field, printers to his highness, 1659. and are to be sold at the seven stars in fleetstreet over against dunstans church, london : [1659] dated at end: given at whitehall the three and twentieth day of april, in the year of our lord, 1659. annotation on thomason copy: "april. 25 25". thomason copy imperfect; sheet cropped on right side, with loss of text. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng exile (punishment) -england -london -early works to 1800. royalists -england -london -early works to 1800. catholics -england -london -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. a81031 r211158 (thomason 669.f.21[21]). civilwar no by the lord protector. a proclamation commanding all papists, and all other persons who have been of the late kings party, or his sons, to r england and wales. lord protector 1659 555 20 0 0 0 0 0 360 f the rate of 360 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion r commonwealth blazon or coat of arms pax qvaeritur bello . p ❧ by the lord protector . a proclamation commanding all papists , and all other persons who have been of the late kings party , or his sons , to repair unto their places of abode , and not to remove above five miles from the same . for preventing the danger that may be occasioned by the confluence of papists , and oth●● ill-affected persons at this time , to the cities of london and westminster , and places a●jacent : his highness the lord protector , by , and with the advice and consent of h●● privy council , hath thought fit to publish and declare ; and doth hereby enjoyn a●● require all and every person and persons , born within this commonwealth , being papists , or popish recusants , and all and every person and persons , who have at any ti●● born arms against this commonwealth , or adhered unto , or willingly assisted the enemies thereof the late war , not being now under restraint , that they , and every of them do before the twelfth d●● of may now next coming , ( or if under restraint , then within three dayes next after his or their enlar●●ment ) repair unto his and their place of dwelling , where he or they usually heretofore made their co●mon abode ; and shall not at any time after , until the tenth day of june next coming , pass , or remo●● above five miles from thence . or if such papists , popish recusants , or other persons aforesaid , ha●● no certain place of dwelling or abode within this commonwealth ; that then all and every such papists , popish recusants , and other persons aforesaid , do , by the respective times herein before l●mited , repair to the places where he or they were born , or where the father or mother of such perso●● shall then be dwelling ; and not at any time after , until the said tenth day of june ▪ pass , or remo●● above five miles from thence , upon pain of being deemed and proceeded against as disturbers of t●● publick peace , and enemies to the commonwealth . and his highness doth hereby strictly cha●●● and command all mayors , iustices of the peace , constables , and all other officers , civil and mili●●ry , to certifie unto his highness privy council , the names of all and every such papist , popish ●●cusant , or other persons aforesaid , as shall be found at any time , after the twelfth day of may afo●●said , until the said tenth day of june next , above five miles from his , or their places of abode or h●bitation , or other the places herein before limited and appointed for him and them to repair unto ; the end they may be proceeded against as aforesaid . given at whitehall the three and twentieth day of april , in the year of our lord , 1659. london , printed by henry hills and john field , printers to his highness , 1659. and are to be sold at the seven stars in fleetstreet over against dunstans church . c.r. a letter sent from his majesty to the high sheriffes of the counties of yorke, lincolne, stafford, derby, chester, lancaster, nottingham, westmorland, cumberland, northumberland and the bishoprick of durham, &c. england and wales. sovereign (1625-1649 : charles i) this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78854 of text r210541 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.5[29]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78854 wing c2393 thomason 669.f.5[29] estc r210541 99869328 99869328 160742 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78854) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160742) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f5[29]) c.r. a letter sent from his majesty to the high sheriffes of the counties of yorke, lincolne, stafford, derby, chester, lancaster, nottingham, westmorland, cumberland, northumberland and the bishoprick of durham, &c. england and wales. sovereign (1625-1649 : charles i) charles i, king of england, 1600-1649. england and wales. parliament. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for i.t., london : 1642. includes: a proclamation for putting the laws against popish recusants in due execution. sir george wentworth has been appointed receiver of the revenue from forfeitures of popish recusants in the northern counties. .. -steele. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -great britain -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -early works to 1800. a78854 r210541 (thomason 669.f.5[29]). civilwar no c.r. a letter sent from his majesty to the high sheriffes of the counties of yorke, lincolne, stafford, derby, chester, lancaster, nottingha england and wales. sovereign 1642 678 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c. r. a letter sent from his majesty to the high sheriffes of the counties of yorke , lincolne , stafford , derby , chester , lancaster , nottingham , westmorland , cumberland , northumberland and the bishoprick of durham , &c. whereas by letters patents under our great seale of england , we have granted unto sir george wentworth the office of receiver of our revenew , arising by the forfeitures of popish recusants , in the northerne counties , thereby authorizing him to receive , and take up in our name , and to our use all the rents and forfeitures due and payable to us , for or in respect of recusancy , or conviction of any person or persons whatsoever , or by force of any act or acts of parliament made against recusants notwithstanding ; which , as we are informed , you have not onely taken upon you to discharge recusants within that county , from paying their rents and forfeitures into our receipt at yorke , to our said receiver , or his deputy , but pretend they have no power to receive the same . thereby making our grant of no effect : which having taken into our princely consideration , and foreseeing that by this meanes our revenew will not onely be impaired ; but if timely redresse be not applied , may be in danger to be destroyed and lost ; we have thought good , and by these presents require and command you , that from henceforth you forbeare , upon any pretence whatsoever , to receive the said forfeitures or compositions for recusancy , or to hinder the said sir george or his deputies in receiving or collecting the same , according to his said grant , untill our pleasure therein be further made knowne . given at our court at yorke quinto die maii , 1642. by the king a proclamation for putting the laws against popish recusants in due execution . the kings most excellent majesty , having been formerly moved by his parliament , for putting the laws in execution against papists , whereto he hath from time to time still given his gracious answers , expressing his willingnesse therunto : but now finding , that no such proceedings against them have been yet had , as might answer his majesties expectation : his majesty therefore , out of his princely and pious care , as well for maintaining the true protestant religion established in this kingdom , as for suppressing by lawfull wayes , all increase and growth of popery ; hath thought fit to publish his royall pleasure therein : wherefore his majesty doth hereby straitly charge and command , all and every his judges and justices of assize , sheriffs , justices of peace , and other his officers and ministers whatsoever , whom it doth any way concern , that they , and every of them , according to the duties of the r severall offices and places , do forthwith , and without further delay , put in due and effectuall execution the lawes and statutes of this realm , provided and made against popish recusants , and that without favour or connivence ; as they tender his maiesties just and royall commands , the good of this church and kingdome , and will answer for neglect of their duties herein . die martis , 20. maii , 1642. it is this day ordered by the lords and commons in parliament assembled , that the magazines of the severall counties in england and wales , shall be forthwith put into the power of the lord lievtenants of the said counties , respectively , ( being such as the parliament doth confide in ) for the service , and safety of his majesty and his kingdom . ordered by the lords in parliament , that this order shall be printed and published . ioh. brown , cler. parl. london printed for i.t. 1642. an act for continuation of the act for removing all papists, and all officers and soldiers of fortune and divers other delinquents from london and westminster, and confining them within five miles of their dwellings. england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a82365 of text r211255 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.16[1]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 2 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a82365 wing e1015 thomason 669.f.16[1] estc r211255 99869984 99869984 163158 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a82365) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163158) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 246:669f16[1]) an act for continuation of the act for removing all papists, and all officers and soldiers of fortune and divers other delinquents from london and westminster, and confining them within five miles of their dwellings. england and wales. parliament. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by john field, printer to the parliament of england, london : 1650 [i.e. 1651] order to print dated: die mercurii, 19 martii 1650. signed: hen: scobell, cleric. parliamenti. with parliamentary seal at head of text. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -england -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. mercenary troops -england -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1649-1660 -early works to 1800. a82365 r211255 (thomason 669.f.16[1]). civilwar no an act for continuation of the act for removing all papists, and all officers and soldiers of fortune and divers other delinquents from lond england and wales. parliament. 1651 296 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an act for continuation of the act for removing all papists , and all officers and soldiers of fortune and divers other delinquents from london and westminster , and confining them within five miles of their dwellings . blazon or coat of arms be it enacted by this present parliament , and the authority thereof , that one act of this present parliament , entituled , an act for removing all papists , and all officers and soldiers of fortune , and divers other delinquents , from london and westminster , and confining them within five miles of their dwellings , and for encouragement of such as shall discover priests and jesuits , their receivers and abbettors ; and all and every the clauses , penalties , powers and authorities thereby setled and appointed , and therein contained , be , and hereby are continued and stand in force from the twentieth day of march , one thousand six hundred and fifty , until the first day of november , one thousand six hundred fifty and one , and no longer . and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid , that the commissioners of the high court of iustice , established by authority of this present parliament by one or more acts of parliament now in force , have power , and are hereby authorized to proceed against any person or persons for the several offences mentioned in the act hereby continued , according to the several and respective penalties therein expressed . die mercurii , 19 martii , 1650. ordered by the parliament , that this act be forthwith printed and published . hen : scobell , cleric . parliamenti . london , printed by john field , printer to the parliament of england , 1650. the protestant's warning-piece or, the humble remonstrance of ieffery corbet citizen and grocer of london, composed for the view of his highness, the parliament, and all the good people in england, scotland, and ireland; and published to frustrate the designes of the incendiaries employed by the pope, and the king of spain, who have severall yeares contrived to fire the city of london in a 100 places at once, and then proceed to their long intended massacre. corbet, jeffrey. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a80546 of text r211849 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.20[37]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 11 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a80546 wing c6246 thomason 669.f.20[37] estc r211849 99870536 99870536 163454 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a80546) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163454) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 247:669f20[37]) the protestant's warning-piece or, the humble remonstrance of ieffery corbet citizen and grocer of london, composed for the view of his highness, the parliament, and all the good people in england, scotland, and ireland; and published to frustrate the designes of the incendiaries employed by the pope, and the king of spain, who have severall yeares contrived to fire the city of london in a 100 places at once, and then proceed to their long intended massacre. corbet, jeffrey. 1 sheet ([1] p.) s.n., [london : 1656] imprint from wing. signed at end: jeffery corbet. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -ireland -early works to 1800. anti-catholicism -england -early works to 1800. protestants -england -early works to 1800. london (england) -history -17th century -early works to 1800. a80546 r211849 (thomason 669.f.20[37]). civilwar no the protestant's warning-piece: or, the humble remonstrance of ieffery corbet citizen and grocer of london, composed for the view of his hig corbet, jeffrey. 1656 1803 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2008-08 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the protestant's warning-piece : or , the humble remonstrance of ieffery corbet citizen and grocer of london , composed for the view of his highness , the parliament , and all the good people in england , scotland and jreland ; and published to frustrate the designes of the incendiaries employed by the pope , and the king of spain , who have severall yeares contrived to fire the city of london in a 100 places at once , and then proceed to their long intended massacre . sheweth , that about the yeare , 1639. the pope and his councell sent william oconner , an irish jesuit unto the king of spain and the rest of the catholick princes for their contribution of money , arms and amunition to carry on the massacre of all the protestants in the 3. nations . and for that end the said oconner came over into england about iuly , 1640. and went daily in the garbe of a courtier attending upon the queen mother . about 1. septemb. 1640. the said oconnee did boast unto an jrish convert that he was the chief contriver of that intended massacre , and that there were 7000. men in private pay for the massacre in london . and that the l. cottington was to be lieutenant of the tower , and had 500. irish papists sent out of flanders to guard the tower under him . and that the queene was to goe beyond sea , and pawne the jewels of the crowne for that purpose . and that the money , arms , and amunition which the king of spain had sent over was secured at the spanish ambassadors house in london , and was disposed of amongst the papists by one garrat dillon an irish iesuit , who had his residence at the spanish ambassadors . that upon discovery of the massacre the said o conner was apprehended , and committed to the gate-hoase , 3. septemb. 1640. but divers persons in and about the city of london , and west minster , caused the said o conner to be protected from iustice above 4. years and then to be released , contrary to the law of god , and the laws of the land . and though the said o conner was so timely apprehended that the massacre was prevented here , yet because iustice was not speedily executed upon him that others might heare & feare , and do no more so wickedly . therefore the hearts of his confederates were fully set in them to do evill . insomuch that above 100000 protestants in ireland were barbarously murdered in cold blood severall moneths after the said o conner was apprehended . moreover those persons did not only prevaile , that the bloody massacre was not at all discovered to the protestants in ireland to fore-warn and arme them to fight for their lives ; but they improved such an interest here , that the popish party who had a hand in the massacre intended in england were never searched out . yea those persons wittingly and wilfully suffered the queen to goe beyond sea to pawne the jewels of the crowne for laying the foundation of the late warres here to carry on the popes hellish interest . that those persons have from time to time , protected the popes agents from iustice , when they were apprehended by his highness , and others during the wars , and sent to the parliament , to be tryed for their lives as trayterous incendiaries . insomuch , that the pope & his conclave finding such encouragement they sent over 300 chosen jesuits into england to make factions , and parties amongst professors , and so preach us into confusion as they have boasted . moreover the pope caused his buls to be hanged up on the church doores at antwerp and other places , in 1643. and 1644. giving dispensations to all priests , and iesuits to come into england and to transforme themselves into the various formes of religion amongst us , the better to divide the people and carry on their bloudy designes under a form of godliness . and by that stratagem they have all along exasperated the spirits of professors differing in iudgement and made them bite , and endeavour to devour one another . mean while the popes interest hath gone on unsuspected . and under this colour they have conspired divers yeares to set the city of london on fire in a hundred places at once , and then fall to massacre , and cut off the root and branch of all the protestants in these nations . yea , they have boasted that they are in constant readiness , and watch only for the remove of the army as they did in 1648. upon the scots invasion , and the insurrection in kent wales , &c. and the captain generall for that bloody worke had his constant resident at the spanish ambassadours house till hee removed from london . that the aforesaid persons have from time to time dammed up justice against the discoverers of those horrid conspiracies , and all others who have appeared on their behalfe . and have caused them and their friends to bee defrauded of estates above 40000. pounds in value . mean while they have caused divers friends to those discoverers to goe with sorrow to their graves , and others to lead languishing lives in disgrace and repreach . upon which account the foresaid persons being subtle secret enemies did improve such an interest in the three last parliaments , that no law was made to remedy such abhominable obstructions of iustice whereby the agents for the pope , and the king of spaine , and the king of scots have been encouraged , and protected in their barbarous conspiracies , and the friends of the common-wealth exposed to ruine . onely the good hand of providence hath preserved those discoverers , and many of their friends even to admiration for to make good the fore-going particulars on behalfe of this divided , and wel-nigh distracted common-wealth . that the king of scots hath many yeares since engaged to the pope to set up popery in these nations upon the popes engagement to improve his interest to settle him in his throne . and from that mutuall ingagement , the presbyterians in scotland , and here may gather that their making a party to bring in the k. of scots for the establishing of presbytery was to strengthen the hands of the popes party to murder them , and their posterities . and the protestant cavalier may likewise observe that if they should have conquered the parliaments party , yet all the advantage they would have gained thereby would have been only this to have been last destroyed . for the popes bloody monsters would have given them no more quarter then they did the 100000. in ireland , which they murdered in cold blood . that the spine saith . no prophesie of scripture is of any private interpretation . and because thou hast let goe out of thy hand a man whom i appointed to utter destruction , thy life shall goe for his life , and thy people for his people . and neglect to strengthen the hands of the poore and needy , was one of the sins of sodom , and god abhorres solemne fasts , and other duties where iudgement and righteousness are neglected , ( 2 pet. 1. 20. 1 king. 20. 42. ezek. 16. 49. isa 1. 11. to 18. amos , 5. 21. ) from whence it doth appeare that the unparalell'd mercies which god hath bestowed upon these nations have been hitherto intermixed with dreadfull iudgements threatning utter desolation . because ! the popes bloody monsters have been let goe from time to time by the aforesaid secret enemies . and , because men of knowne integrity , fearing god , and of a good conversation are not appointed for commissioners to bring these secret enemies unto speedy publick justice , and to breake the heavie yoke of oppression by delivering the spoyled from their oppressors and strengthen the hands of the poore and needy , which is the faft that god hath chosen , and promised a speciall blessing unto . in tender consideration of the premisses j doe earnestly beseech all protestants under what forme whatsoever , specially in , and about the city of london , and west minster ( as they will answer it at the great day of account , and desire to be free from the blood of themselves , and their wives , children and friends . ) that they would unite as one man , and improve their utmost interest in the parliament by petition and otherwise , for the obtaining of such cōmissioners , to the end the innocent blood which hath been spilt by the trechery of those secret enemies may be expiated , and the pope's bloody designes now on foot may bee defeated . and that the complainings in our streets may cease by setting the oppressed free from the obstructions of iustice which they have long groaned under . and i doe hereby engage my life to make good the aforesaid particulars before such commissioners , and do professe before god and men that j am moved to declare these things out of no self-end or by-respect whatsoever , but out of a desire to discharge a good conscience and a zeale to promote the good and welfare of these nations ; being fully convinced that the appointment of such commissioners would soone root out the popes incendiaries , and undeceive many thousands of deluded dissenters , and reconcile this divided people and open an effectuall doore for judgement , & righteousness to run downe like a mighty streame , and would give the people cause to blesse the lord , for raising and spiriting his highness , and this parliament , to be repairers of our breaches , and the restorers of paths to dwell in . prov. 14. 34. isa. 32. 17. iustice exalts a nation . and the worke of righteousness shall be peace . prov. 3. 27. withhold not good from them to whom it is due , when it is in the power of thy hand to doe it . iudges , 5 23. curse yee meroz because they came not to the helpe of the lord against the mighty . 8. novemb. 1656. jeffery corbet . by the lord protector. a proclamation commanding all papists, and all other persons who have been of the late kings party or his sons, to depart out of the cities of london and westminster, and late lines of communication, within three days. england and wales. lord protector (1658-1660 : r. cromwell) this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a81029 of text r211159 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.21[22]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a81029 wing c7187 thomason 669.f.21[22] estc r211159 99869892 99869892 163517 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a81029) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163517) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 247:669f21[22]) by the lord protector. a proclamation commanding all papists, and all other persons who have been of the late kings party or his sons, to depart out of the cities of london and westminster, and late lines of communication, within three days. england and wales. lord protector (1658-1660 : r. cromwell) cromwell, richard, 1626-1712. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by henry hills and john field, printers to his highness, and are to be sold at the seven stars in fleetstreet over against dunstans church, london : [1659] dated at end: given at white-hall the three and twentieth day of april in the year of our lord, 1659. annotation on thomason copy: "april. 25." reproduction of the original in the british library. eng royalists -england -london -early works to 1800. catholics -england -london -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. exile (punishment) -england -london -early works to 1800. a81029 r211159 (thomason 669.f.21[22]). civilwar no by the lord protector. a proclamation commanding all papists, and all other persons who have been of the late kings party or his sons, to de england and wales. lord protector 1659 989 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion pax qvaeritvr bello olivarivs dei ◆ gra ◆ reipvb ◆ angliae ◆ scotiae ◆ et hiberniae , &c protector ◆ rp blazon or coat of arms by the lord protector . a proclamation commanding all papists , and all other persons who have been of the late kings party or his sons , to depart out of the cities of london and westminster , and late lines of communication , within three days . his highness the lord protector being informed of the frequent meetings of divers papists , and other ill-affected persons ( who have born arms against this commonwealth , or otherwise adhered to the enemy in the late wars ) in and about the cities of london and westminster , and the places adjacent , and judging it necessary to use all means for preserving the peace of the nation , and to prevent the mischiefs which may arise by designs against the peace thereof , doth ( by and with the advice of his privy councel ) straightly charge and command all papists , and all other persons , who have been at any time in arms against the commonwealth , or have adhered unto , or willingly assisted the enemies thereof in the time of the late war , being within the cities of london and westminster , or the late lines of communication , and not under restraint , within three days after the date hereof ( or if under restraint , within three days after their respective enlargement ) to depart out of the said cities of london and westminster , and late lines of communication , and all other places within twenty miles of the said late lines , unless it be the places of habitation of themselves and their families , and not to return until the tenth day of june next ; and his highness doth require and command the lord mayor of the city of london , and the aldermen of the said city , and likewise the iustices of the peace within the said cities of london and westminster , and of the several counties of middlesex , surrey , hertford , kent and essex , within their limits and jurisdictions to cause strict wards and watches to be kept , and to make frequent and diligent searches for , and to apprehend or cause to be apprehended , all such persons aforesaid , which shall be found within the said cities , places , or distance aforesaid , after the time or times herein before limitted for their departure ; and them and every of them to commit to prison , and from time to time to certifie their proceedings therein to his highness councel under their hands and seals ; and all sheriffs , mayors , bayliffs , constables , and all captains of guards , officers and soldiers , and all other the good people of this commonwealth , are required to be ayding and assisting to the said iustices of the peace , and other officers aforesaid , in the due execution of the premises , as they will answer the contrary at their utmost perils . and for the better discovery of all papists and ill-affected persons , which now are abiding in , or during the time aforesaid shall resort unto the said cities of london and westminster , or either of them , or any place or places within the late lines of communication ; his highness by and with the advice of his said councel , doth expresly charge and require all and every housholder and housholders within the cities and places aforesaid , or any of them , on or before the second day of may next coming , to deliver in writing under his and their hands unto the alderman of the ward , if such housholder dwell within the city of london , or to the next iustice of the peace , a perfect list of the names of all persons now lodging within the house of such housholder , together with their additions ; and if they are papists , to mention the same in such list , and so from time to time , within four and twenty hours after the receiving of any person to lodge in his or their house or houses , to deliver in the names of such person or persons to such alderman or next iustice of the peace in maner aforesaid ; and the aldermen of the respective wards , within the said city of london , and the iustices of the peace within the said city of westminster , and places within the late lines of communication , are required to take care that lists be accordingly sent in unto them from all and every housholder and housholders aforesaid , and to make enquiry of the truth of such lists ; and all constables and other officers are enjoyned and required to observe the orders and directions of such alderman and iustice of peace respectively in the premises , and to yield obedience thereunto : and the said aldermen and iustices of the peace respectively , are hereby likewise required to transmit true copies of such lists unto the clerks of his highness councel , or one of them . and his highness doth hereby declare , that all and every such housholder and housholders as shall make default of sending in such list as aforesaid , or shall presume to send in a false list , shall be taken and deemed enemies to the peace and security of the commonwealth . given at white-hall the three and twentieth day of april in the year of our lord , 1659. london , printed by henry hills and john field , printers to his highness , and are to be sold at the seven stars in fleetstreet over against dunstans church . to the honourable knights, cittizens and burgesses, in the house of commons in parliament the humble petition of sundry the knights, gentlemen, freeholders, and others of the inhabitants of the county of suffolke, to the number of above 13000. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a62730 of text r220690 in the english short title catalog (wing t1421). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a62730 wing t1421 estc r220690 99832086 99832086 36555 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a62730) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 36555) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2100:05) to the honourable knights, cittizens and burgesses, in the house of commons in parliament the humble petition of sundry the knights, gentlemen, freeholders, and others of the inhabitants of the county of suffolke, to the number of above 13000. england and wales. parliament. house of commons. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by e. g. for henry overton, [london] : 1641 [i.e. 1642] dated at end: presented the 31. of january. 1641. [i.e. 1642]. a petition addressed to the house of commons requesting the dismissal of "popish lords and bishops" from the house of lords, and asking for aid for the protestants in ireland. reproduction of the original in the guildhall library, london, england. eng catholics -controversial literature -england -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1642-1649 -early works to 1800. ireland -history -rebellion of 1641 -early works to 1800. a62730 r220690 (wing t1421). civilwar no to the honourable knights, cittizens and burgesses, in the house of commons in parliament. the humble petition of sundry the knights, gentle [no entry] 1642 501 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-02 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2008-08 spi global rekeyed and resubmitted 2008-10 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-10 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the honovrable knights , cittizens and burgesses , in the house of commons in parliament . the humble petition of sundry the knights , gentlemen , freeholders , and others of the inhabitants of the county of suffolke , to the number of above 13000. humbly sheweth , that whereas by the blessing of god , his majesties grace and favour towards us , and the long continued labours of this honourable assembly , many grievances and burthens both in church and common wealth ( under which we had a long time groaned ) are removed , which with all humility and thankfulnesse we humbly acknowledge ; yet understanding that many bills tending to the honour of his majesty , the safety and welfare of this kingdome have by this honourable assembly beene voted , and now lye in the lords house unpassed , by reason of the popish lords and bishop , fitting thers , ( as we conceave ) by reason whereof together with the not execution of lawes against the papilts ( who notwithstanding through the providence of god have beene discovered and disappointed in many of their treacherous , plots against the king and state ) hey and their adherents are still incouraged , and imboldened in their mischeivous plots and conspiracies , a lamentable experience of whose treasons and bloudy cruelties , weheare is daily presented to this honourable assembly , from ireland , whosedolefull condition , your petitioners doe much pitty and bewaile , we therefore your petitioners being greatly distracted and full of feare of some sudden and cruell designe to breake out against the peace of the kingdome , which puts us into an unsetled condition and occasioneth a generall decay in trading , tending to the impoverishing of the nation , unlesse timely prevented ; and having most of us solemnely protected to maintaine the protestant religion against all popery , and to defend his majesties royall person , honour , & estate , and the high court of parliament , and to endeavour the vnion and peace of the three united kingdomes , doe humbly and earnestly pray , that this honourable assembly will be pleased to improve all good meanes , that the popish lords and bishops , may be removed out of the house of peeres , that this kingdome may be secured , and our poore distressed brethren in ireland may be speedily releived , that the lawes against papists may be put in execution , that delinquents may be punished , and our former petitions against bishop wren , and our scandalous ministers , may bee speeded , and that all burthens in church and common wealth , may be removed , with the causes thereof . and your petitioners according to their bounden duty , shall daily pray for a prosperous successe of this parliament . presented the 31. of january , 1641. printed by e. g. for henry overton : 1641. to the honourable, the knights, citizens and burgesses of the commons house in parliament now assembled, ianuary, 24, 1642 the humble petition of the lay-catholiques recusants of england. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a74209 of text in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.4[49]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a74209 thomason 669.f.4[49] 50811862 ocm 50811862 160671 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a74209) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160671) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f4[49]) to the honourable, the knights, citizens and burgesses of the commons house in parliament now assembled, ianuary, 24, 1642 the humble petition of the lay-catholiques recusants of england. england and wales. parliament. house of commons. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for geo. baily, london : 1642. caption title. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -england -17th century -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1642-1649 -early works to 1800. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -early works to 1800. a74209 (thomason 669.f.4[49]). civilwar no to the honourable, the knights, citizens and burgesses of the commons house in parliament now assembled, ianuary, 24, 1642: the humble peti england and wales. parliament. 1642 1033 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-11 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-11 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the honourable , the knights , citizens and burgesses of the commons hovse in parliament now assembled . ianuary , 24. 1642. the humble petition of the lay-catholiques recusants of england . sheweth , that the chiefest and most glorious attribute of power , being mercy , the safest addresse thereto must be submission , which makes us in all humility offer unto the consideration of this honourable assembly , the great and heavy burthen under which we grone , and though to lawe ; we humbly shall submit , yet such is the weight of some that lye upon us , that nothing lesse then linity can let us live , nor can we any way find our reliefe , but by applying our selves unto this high court , whereas fathers and supreame judges , you reside , retaining still full power to frame , or change , according to the exigency of times , and occasions , and being prudent and mercifull , can afford us patience , and favour in this short petition , wherein we shall yeeld our selves fit subjects for your mercy , or obedient submittees to your wills and resolutions . the many penall lawes in force-against your humblest petitioners are to this honourable assembly knowne , as is the ground on which they first were made not out of memory , haveing had their birth but under queen elizabeth , when partly extraordinary proceedings from the see of rome against her person , and partly the claime our dread soveraigns grandmother , wholly devoted to that religion , layd to the immediate succession of the crowne . occasioned severall destractions , and even cast jealousies and suspitions upon all , that in religion had relation to that see . whereupon from emergent reason of state . and by way of prudent cautions , and preventing future disobedience ( and not to put restraint upon the conscience of the subject or to punish contrariety of opinion or beliefe ) these lawes as we conceive were made , and afterward much aggravated and made more heavie to us all , by occasion of that ever most detestable plot of those few decayed , turbulent , and desperately discontented persons , indeed professors of the same religion , but quite neglecting and transgressing , and most inhumanely therein forgetting all duty and obligation . if thus ( right noble gentlemen ) these lawes originally were oppropriated to these times , and no such reason now ( we hope ) appeares , and stil these lawes overwhelmes us , it is either for the personal offences of other men , whose wicked facts we ( are no way guilty of ) with all good christians utterly abhorre , or for supposed errors of our understanding and beliefe , which as in it selfe ( according to all divines ) is an effect immediate of grace , and therefore not to be enforced : so in its tenents , there is not any thing forbids , invites , or hinders the professors of it , from their due obedience to their prince , and faithfull preservation of their countries liberties . in prosecution of which truth , wee here objure as false and most erronious , both assasination of princes , and faith is not to be kept with all sorts of people , and do detest them both , as most oppugnant to humanity , and not to be allowed by any religion whatsoever . we also shall and will be ever ready to maintaine and defend with all our power , lives , and fortunes , all our countries liberties , the right and priviledges of the parliaments , the subjects lawfull rights , liberty and propriety , the peace and unity of his majesties three kingdomes of england , scotland and ireland , and in all just and honourable waies , endeavour the punishment of all that seeke to worke the contrary : as dutifull , obedient , and loyall subjects are obliged , and as true borne lovers of their countries good are bound ; all which ( under favour ) as the lawes now stand we no waies are permitted , as having neither freedome , or fortunes of our own , for strictly are our actions , judgements , and our tongues tyed up . but the approaching storme that seemes to threaten her , moves us to take shelter under your mercies wings , most freely spread to comfort all agrieved , where we doe hope for shadow and protection . and humbly are petitioners , that you will be pleased to ease our sufferings , by mitigating the rigor of those penall lawes , that either ruine us and our posterity , or cast a thraledome on our consciences , so as we meekly walking in our forefathers steps , aspiring unto nothing but possessing our selve in peace , as people that seeke ease , not honours , and that the crime of catholiques before this horourable assembly now appeares , but onely different waies in serving the same god you serve , the same christ which you beleeve ( for whosoever in any other sort offends , qui peccaverit ipse moriatur ) we most humbly in your prudence and your goodnesse trust , in this publique jubilee ( when all 's intended to be joy and consolation ) we shall not be the onely subject of sorrow and desolation , nor that the lawes made for offenders in one time , should lay upon the innocent in another . and therefore humbly beg , you will cast your eye upon the schedule of these lawes annexed and then your mercifull repeale of what your wisedomes and mercy finde , shall give the conscience reliefe that is afflicted , and not the minde content that is ambitious , and a thing we thirst not after . and for so great a charity your humble petitioners shall ever ( as in duty bound ) pray for your continuall prosperity and eternall happinesse . london , printed for geo. baily , 1642. a letter to the right honorable a. earl of essex, from dublin declaring the strange obstinacy of papists, (as here, so) in ireland; who being evidently convict and condemn'd for criminal causes, yet at their death, and upon the gallows, absolutely deny the fact; and the erroneous and impious motives, given by their priests, by which they are deluded to do it. 1679 approx. 8 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a23600 wing l1747a estc r222064 99833301 99833301 37777 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a23600) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37777) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2173:10) a letter to the right honorable a. earl of essex, from dublin declaring the strange obstinacy of papists, (as here, so) in ireland; who being evidently convict and condemn'd for criminal causes, yet at their death, and upon the gallows, absolutely deny the fact; and the erroneous and impious motives, given by their priests, by which they are deluded to do it. essex, arthur capel, earl of, 1631-1683, recipient. [2], 4, [2] p. printed by tho: newcomb, london : 1679. dated at end: dublin, mar. 5. 1678/9. with "postscript" on final leaf. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library, oxford. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng anti-catholicism -england -early works to 1800. catholics -ireland -controversial literature -early works to 1800. confession -catholic church -early works to 1800. 2006-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-12 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-12 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter to the right honorable a. earl of essex , from dublin . declaring the strange obstinacy of papists , ( as here , so ) in ireland ; who being evidently convict and condemn'd for criminal causes , yet at their death , and upon the gallows , absolutely deny the fact ; and the erroneous and impious motives , given by their priests , by which they are deluded to do it . joshua vii . xix , xx . my son , give glory to god , confess to him , and tell me what thou hast done . and achan said , indeed i have sinned , &c. london , printed by tho : newcomb . 1679. a letter to the right honorable a. earl of essex , from dublin . declaring the strange obstinacy of papists , ( as here , so ) in ireland , &c. may it please your lordship , on sunday last i received yours of february the 25th , and have inquired into the truth of the story of an irish papist executed in this countrey , who at the gallows denied the fact for which he was to suffer ; but after he had hanged awhile , the rope by accident breaking , and the malefactor comeing to himself , confess'd it to be true . the person was one john curphy a papist , who , this lent assizes will be seven years , was tryed before mr. baron hene ( then his majesties serjeant ) for burglary in the county of monaghan , and being found guilty , was condemned to dye . at the gallows this curphy denied the fact with great confidence and asseverations of his innocency , and was turned off the ladder , persisting in his denial ; but after he had hanged some little space , the rope by chance breaking , and he falling down a little stunn'd , came again to himself , and fell to his prayers , thanking god that he had given him time to declare the truth , and not to go out of the world with a lye in his mouth , and then confessed himself guilty of the fact for which he was condemned . afterwards this curphy was brought back to the gaol by the sheriff mr. lucas , and application made to baron hene to reprieve the prisoner ; but he telling the sheriff that the judge had done his duty , and the sheriff must do his , curphy was executed . this account i write from mr. baron hene's own mouth , this very morning , who perfectly knows this narrative to be true , and was the person who acquainted your lordship with it , at your first coming into the government . he also tells me , that to the best of his remembrance , this curphy owned , that the priest had given him absolution , upon condition not to discover any thing , or declare his accomplices : and that he need not doubt his salvation , the fact not being committed against gods people , meaning ( as he supposed ) the papists , or to that effect . lucas the then sheriff , lives in monaghan , and the records of this tryal are there , wherefore i have waited upon mr. justice johnson , who goes that circuit , and left with him a memorial of these particulars , who will inquire into them , and give me an attested account thereof , which when they come to my hands , i will transmit to your lordship . mr. justice johnson also told me another relation , something of this nature there was a special commission lately directed to himself , to try several malefactors for murthers and robberies , committed in the county of cavan . the persons indicted , were two of the duffies , and one plunkett , all irish papists . the duffies when they were first apprehended , confest that they were guilty of the crimes laid to their charge , and gave the same evidence also against plunkett at his tryal , upon which , with other most undeniable circumstances , plunkett was condemned . the duffies were afterwards tryed for the same facts , and condemned also . i should likewise have told your lordship , that plunkett upon his first apprehension , owned to sir john edgworth , that he was guilty . after the sentence was past upon them , one brady a priest , came to these duffies in prison , and used arguments to induce them to recant their evidence ; but they persisting in the truth , would not be prevailed upon . mr. justice johnson hearing this , sent for brady , who , upon his examination , could not deny , but that he had been with the duffies , to persuade them to renounce their testimony against plunkett . whereupon the judge committed him . the conclusion was , that one of the duffies ( the other being reprieved ) suffer'd , confessing the fact , and persevering in his accusation of plunkett . and plunkett dyed as obstinate , on the other side , utterly denying , that he was guilty , with curses upon himself , and renunciations of salvation , if he were not innocent . i must also crave leave to trouble your lordship with another narrative of this sort , which i had from sir richard reynell , one of the judges of the kings bench. about october last was twelvemonth , there was tryed before him , upon a commission of oyer and terminer , one neile-o-neile , an irish papist , for a murther committed at rathdrum in the county of wicklow . this neile-o-neile in prison , and at his tryal , owned to several persons , ( amongst which i hear my lord of strafford then in ireland was one ) that he was guilty , and was so found by the jury , the fact being clearly proved against him : but at the gallows , he utterly denied it . these three particulars being averr'd to me this very day , by the three aforementioned judges , i humbly presume to send them your lordship as true . i fear i have tyred your lordship with this long letter , but i thought it my duty to give you the fullest account i could of your commands : who am , your lordships most obedient and faithful servant dublin , mar. 5. 1678 / 9. postscript . it is thought reasonable to suppress the name of the person that wrote this letter , for fear of exposing him to danger , from the party concerned in the information . a postscript in the same letter . my lord chief justice booth , my lord chief baron , and the three judges named in this letter , all tell me , that the criminals that dye in the romish persuasion , although apprehended in the very fact , yet never confess ; for after they have had absolution from the priest , the crime is ( according to their doctrine ) totally taken away ; and it having , as it were , never been , they may with a safe conscience deny it . finis . the marques hamiltons speech before the kings most excellent majesty: concerning his returne into england. spoken in parliament in scotland, novem. 6, 1641. vvith a briefe and exact commemoration of all the wicked plots of the papists, from the first intended malice unto this day against the protestants. hamilton, james hamilton, duke of, 1606-1649. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a86998 of text r8766 in the english short title catalog (thomason e199_22). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a86998 wing h484 thomason e199_22 estc r8766 99873391 99873391 157520 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a86998) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 157520) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 35:e199[22]) the marques hamiltons speech before the kings most excellent majesty: concerning his returne into england. spoken in parliament in scotland, novem. 6, 1641. vvith a briefe and exact commemoration of all the wicked plots of the papists, from the first intended malice unto this day against the protestants. hamilton, james hamilton, duke of, 1606-1649. [8] p. first printed at edinburgh by james brison, and now reprinted in london for t.b., [london] : 1641. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng charles -i, -king of england, 1600-1649 -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1625-1649 -sources -early works to 1800. a86998 r8766 (thomason e199_22). civilwar no the marques hamiltons speech before the kings most excellent majesty: concerning his returne into england.: spoken in parliament in scotlan hamilton, james hamilton, duke of 1641 1023 3 0 0 0 0 0 29 c the rate of 29 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the marqves hamiltons speech before the kings most excellent majesty : concerning his returne into england . ● poken in parliament in scotland , novem. 6. 1641. with a briefe and exact commemoration of all the wicked plots of the papists , from the first intended malice unto this day against the protestants . first printed at edinburgh by james brison , and now reprinted in london for t.b. 1641. marquesse hamiltons speech . dread soveraigne , i stand not up presuming any thing on my audacity , but am respectively suggested by the judicious councells of most of your loyall and wel affected subjects : it is not unknown unto your majesty , what develish machinations of late have beene plotted , not only against my self , but likewise against many more pious and religious members of this honourable house ; and god knowes , what succeeding danger may now be in agitation . wherefore i have received letters divers times from that strong pillar of religion , mr. ●ym , and many other pious men from england , who have oftentimes seriously requested me to move their quotidian wel-wishes unto your m●j●stie , beseeching you to respect their serviceable praiers : but not to wander in these preliminate exordiums , or to suspend your divine care any longer in its expectation : i speake it not in my owne behalfe , but in the generall and universall name of the whole kingdome of england . that in respect of these manifold perills , and impendent stratagems in this kingdome , & the late formidible insurrection in ireland , that mother of dissention , and nurse of rebells , your sacred majesty would preview your safety , & return into your flourishing paradise england , with all presupposed expedition : pardon i pray my boldnes herein : but i speak not this , as if i or we were weary of the emploiment of your blessed person : no , god ( that knows the secrets of all hearts ) knowes the intent of my unguilty minde in that regard ; for i speak freely , i could both live and dye in the happinesse of your presence ; but i speake it out of my indulgence to your majesty , who have beene alwaies carefull in my service for the safety of your royall person . for if the irish recusants should reduce their treason-growing malice hitherward , our fortifications are not so strong as theirs of england , neither can your majesty bee so secure in this kingdome , as in your owne . alas ! england hath growne big in expecttion of your returne , and i dare boldly say , your royall consort the queene , would esteeme that a most happy day wherein your majesty shall safely returne . but the chiefest argument that can possibly incite you hereunto , is that , concerning the prince , whom ( as we heare ) philips that father of papistery , did labour to seduce ; but thankes bee to god , who did avert his wicked imaginations , and according to the psalmist , hee that digged a pit of babilonish impiety to intrappe that illustruous stem of honour , is fallen himselfe therein ; and i hope your majesty will deservedly vindicate his treachery audacity . then a second argument appeares from their inconstancy of religion , which ( like a wavering door ) hangs upon two hinges ; and unlesse your majesty doe with an exact ratification confirme the settled forme of the doctrine and discipline of the church of england , i feare it will sinke as low in hereticall opinions , as it swelled before in popish ceremonies : yet these are but superficiall ambages to the reall intent of my heart , which aimes only at your security ; yet withall , i confesse , that if ten thousand enemies should entrench your royall person , they would seem but as a pigmie to hercules , for the irradiation of your splendent majesty , would ( like the arising sunne ) dissipate those mists of disloyalty . kings are placed on gods owne throne upon earth , therefore whosoever aimes at them , aimes at the divine nature , and whosoever aimes at that , shall receive an irrecoverable precipitation ; for god doth give his angels charge over them , who will pitch their tents of defence about them . yet i ingenuously acknowledge , that your mature returne to england with opportune tempestivity , would kindle the flame of their loves , for they waite in expectation of the establishment of a formall reformation . one thing especially i beseech your majesty to take into grave consideration , viz. the manifold plots of the papists against our protestant religion . first , that formidable armado in eighty eight , which was almost invincible , had not gods al-powerfull hand scattered them : then that hel-begotten plot of gunpowder-treason , which likewise god of his infinite mercy did prevent : then lately those stratagems against my selfe , and many other noble persons in this kingdome , & now last of all , those new sprung up hidra's in ireland , who like base catterpillars crawle amongst the fragrant flowers of true protestants , but i hope gods impartiall hand will avert their nefarious intents . i beseech your majesty to ponder the precedent premises , and you will finde , that conclusio sequitur deteriorem partem . first , i entreate your royall minde to ratifie the forme of religion in this kingdome , and in respect of these perilous times whether your majesty can bee more secure here , or in england , i leave that to your owne judgement : in the meane while , i beseech you accept of my devotion herein , and my prayers both externall , internall , and eternall , shall conclude with this inference , vivat in eternum rex carolus quem deus nunc & in secula seculorum defendat , oro . finis . by the council of state. a proclamation. whereas by an act of the last parliament, intituled, an act for dissolving the parliament begun the third of november 1640, and for the calling and holding of a parliament at westminster the 25 of april 1660. ... england and wales. council of state. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a84476 of text r211784 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.24[48]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a84476 wing e785 thomason 669.f.24[48] estc r211784 99870483 99870483 163779 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a84476) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163779) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 247:669f24[48]) by the council of state. a proclamation. whereas by an act of the last parliament, intituled, an act for dissolving the parliament begun the third of november 1640, and for the calling and holding of a parliament at westminster the 25 of april 1660. ... england and wales. council of state. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by abel roper, and tho: collins, printers to the council of state, [london] : [1660] title from caption and opening lines of text. date and place of publication from wing. "recites provisions of act for summoning parliament. no rebel in ireland, nor any one who has made war on parliament, nor their sons, may be elected. this to be proclaimed at the time and place of electing, before the elections." -cf. steele. dated at end: wednesday march 28. 1660. by the council of state at vvhitehal. annotation on thomason copy: "march. 29". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng england and wales. -parliament -qualifications -early works to 1800. catholics -england -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1649-1660 -early works to 1800. a84476 r211784 (thomason 669.f.24[48]). civilwar no by the council of state. a proclamation· whereas by an act of the last parliament, intituled, an act for dissolving the parliament begun the england and wales. council of state. 1660 523 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the council of state . a proclamation . whereas by an act of the last parliament , intituled , an act for dissolving the parliament begun the third of november 1640 , and for the calling and holding of a parliament at westminster the 25 of april 1660. it is expresly declared and enacted , that all persons engaged in the late rebellion in ireland , and all who profess the popish religion , and all and every other person and persons who have advised , or voluntarily ayded , abetted , or assisted in any war against the parliament , since the first day of january 1641. and his or their sons ( unless he or they have since manifested their good affection to the said parliament ) shall be incapable to be elected to serve as members in the next parliament . and whereas the council of state is given to understand , that notwithstanding the good provision that is therein made , and albeit the happiness and settlement of the nation is so much concerned in the observance thereof , yet divers persons more respecting private interests , and personal satisfactions , then publique safety , do intend , and endeavor to promote the elections of persons not qualified , as by that act is directed , to the violating of that law , and the perverting of those good ends of peace and establishment which are thereby aimed at ; therefore , according to the trust reposed in them for the due execution of the laws , and to the intent , those who have not been hitherto acquainted with the tenor and purport of that act , may be the better informed how far they are thereby obliged , and that they may avoid the penalty imposed upon the infringers thereof , the council have thought fit hereby strictly to enioyn , and require all persons any waies concerned in the election of members to serve in parliament , to take notice of the said act , and of the qualifications thereby prescribed as aforesaid , and not to do , or attempt any thing to the contrary thereof . to which purpose , the sheriffs and chief magistrates of the respective counties , cities , and borroughs of this nation , are required , at the times and places appointed for electing their knights , citizens , and burgesses , and before they do actually proceed to such elections , to cause this proclamation to be publickly read , and proclaimed in their several counties , cities , and borroughs , that none may have colour to pretend ignorance thereof ; in which behalf , the council shall expect a punctual compliance , and call those to a strict accompt who shall neglect the same . wednesday march 28. 1660. by the council of state at vvhitehal . ordered , that this proclamation be forthwith printed and published . w. jessop , clerk of the council . printed by abel roper , and tho : collins , printers to the council of state . a letter from the pope to his distressed sons the catholicks in england. as it was intercepted, and now published by s.v. catholic church. pope (1667-1669 : clement ix) 1674 approx. 15 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 6 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33406 wing c4636 estc r215135 99827104 99827104 31517 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a33406) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 31517) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1863:28) a letter from the pope to his distressed sons the catholicks in england. as it was intercepted, and now published by s.v. catholic church. pope (1667-1669 : clement ix) clement ix, pope, 1600-1669. aut 8 p. [s.n.], london : printed in the year m dc lxxiv. [1674] signed at end: clement ix. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholic church -england -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. 2006-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-09 jason colman sampled and proofread 2006-09 jason colman text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter from the pope , to his distresed sons the catholicks in england . as it was intercepted , and now published by s. v. london : printed in the year m dc lxxiv . a letter from the pope . dear sons , whom now thy english den of hereticks despise , who now are by them made the ludibrium hominum , who for all your cunning stratagems and heroick plots and treasons , and all your learning , yet ( to my sorrow i speak it ) you are likely both now to be driven out from , banished , and utterly disregarded by these hgonots ( silly souls : ) yet i your old father , before i take my leave of the world and of you , which if hereticks still pursue to spit out their malice against you my sons the jesuits , and if as is reported the penal laws be put in execution against you , will suddenly put a period to this my now uncomfortable life . yet still me thinks i ought not to despair , but wait to see our halcyon days , and hereticks be again brought under the rod of our holy inquisition . you know sons how i have erected seminaries , and to what end ; which my enemies do call bad conventicles , no better then cockatrices to hatch treason : in these i never thought any cost too dear , whereby either to make your bodies fit for travail , or to help your natures inclination with fallacious art for the accomplishment of our purpose . and now my sons 't is high time that you fall from contemplation to practise , or else i say all is lost : for protestants give out that popery has seen its best days in england ; and i hear the parliament , that pope-marring assembly , will drive you like foxes into corners : nay , i am informed that heretick-like they have publickly burnt the effigies of my holiness ; and that d. s. a leading man among these hereticks , hath charged us with , nay not only charged , but proved that catholicks are idolaters ; and that they make no more of confuting cardinal bellarmine , then drinking of a glass of wine . ah now what is become of all our subtilty ? we are now begirt about with our father the divils devises . now therefore seeing it is thus , let none of you scorn your old fathers directions : for though your younger years be riper in art , yet my experience may teach you what in great designes is to be affected . english you are , whose albion-cliffs have heretofore seemed to my predecessors and me like rocks of pure diamond , where some have rightly loved us , and from the depth of their affection have embraced you my dearest children : but the greatest part now pursue me with deadly hatred , terming me no better than a blood-sucking cannibal , a robber of churches , a patron of heresies , a father of falsehood , the broacher of quarrells , the seed-man of sedition , the infringer of liberties , the controler of princes , the enemy of christ , the monster and astonishment of nature , in chayeing christians souls in miserable thraldom , and more then egyptian servitude . but we expect the time when these clouds may , nay will vanish : be not discouraged ; you know after a storm comes a calme , after persecution liberty ; the thoughts of which is unto me as it were a restorative , to revive my faint and languishing spirits : which hope doth chiefly depend upon your cunning in compassing ; and cunning consisteth in this which followeth : first , that you work upon such as are fit to be added to our catholick faction ; and secondly , in the manner of the performance . those that are the likelyest to be fitted to this frame , that is , to lend a hand when opportunity strikes allarme ( i speak not sons of those who already are devout catholicks , earnestly expect , and heartily pray for success in our cause ) either are male-contents whom envy or malice may make desirous of a change ; or loose professors , who have lent their love to voluptuous delights or prodigalities , children whom extreme want hath made desperately minded ; or wanton wanderers , whom long travail hath deprived of natural affection . and thus began mahomet to strengthen his state , by joyning himself with the angry souldiers of heraclius , stirring up their minds against the emperor , and encouraging them in their defection ; whereupon in process of time it came to pass , that although many could not abide him , from the baseness of his birth , and odiousness of his former life ; yet growing from a thief to a seditious souldier , and from a seditious souldier to be captain of a rebellious host , his mahometical force began to subdue mighty people . now as you must strike with mahomet while the iron is hot , and work those with diligence whose inclination you find pliable ; so must your wisdom appear in the manner of this work , wherein i would have you to propound to your selves the deceitfulness of the damned wretch before named . i would not for all the world it were known , my sons , that you followed so base a pattern of a cozening knave , for an example of imitation : this mahomet , not only to gratifie his companions , but also the more easily to allure all nations , received all religions ; the pertinacy of arrius , the error of nestorius , the vain invention of the thalmudists : therefore from the jews he received circumcision , from the christians sundry washings as it were baptism , and with sergius denyed christ his divinity . secondly , to inlarge his kingdom , he made such laws as were fit to win and allure the vilest ; as to his arabians , base wretches , accustomed to live upon spoil , he alloweth theft , and setteth a law for revenge : hurt him which hurt you ; he that killeth his enemy , or is is killed by him , entreth into paradice : he permits of having many wives , divorcement for trifling causes ; promiseth paradice to them that give liberally , and fight for his sake . thirdly , mistrusting his fall , with many bulworks hath he fenced his law , that no way be open to subvert it ; first , by commanding to kill them which speak against his alcoran ; secondly , by forbidding men to confer with a contrary sect ; and thirdly , by prohibiting credit to be given to any of a contrary religion . now sirs , why should not we prevail as well as this deceiver , whom for example i have mentioned to you my children ? have not we as many motives , as plausible rhetoricians to perswade ? for first , as he to allure all nations received all religions , so i your old father have found out such a religion as is compounded of all sorts , that all might be pleased ; and therefore our enemies have called it the cruse and budget of heresies . secondly , our doctrines are as mighty to prevail , as ever were the laws of mahomet . if old men be covetous , their young men voluptuous , nobles ambitious , and the common sort ceremonious ; we have such allurements as are also to win them : to the rich covetousness , with craft and cruelty , and the rest of her factours , we have coyned a purgatory , the fire of our gain : to ●eed the voluptuous , our religion admits simple fornication , and our practise hath erected stews : to draw on the riotous , dissolute and idle do-nothings , we have ordained many odd holy-days ; at rogation to carry banners , after pentecost to go about with corpus christi , play , and other knick-naks : nay , to encourage you in treason or desperate undertakings , we have canonized garnet , and other zealous catholicks , who suffered martyrdom for the catholick cause , after that heroick , and of all good catholicks to be commended , though unfortunate powder-plot . to keep men from the sight of their sins , we have taught them to mince them , and that the first motions are no sins unless they go with consent , that some are venial , and need but an asperge of holy water , or a bishops blessing : to win ambitious hearts , that fain would be aloft , you must teach that my power is to give kingdoms to such as can conquer them , and to discharge subjects from their oaths of allegiance and loyalty , as our pius the fifth and gregory the thirteenth did against that heretick ( though to all the world and to us our selves known most virtuous ) queen elizabeth . further , we give immortality to such as can pluck the crown from the princes head ; and tell you that ( which is a most damnable lye , but no matter so long as the catholick cause is advanced ) to murder a hugonot , or blow up at a blast an heretical parliament , are works meritorious . if the people will know nothing , to fit their humours we teach that ignorance is the mother of devotion , that images are books for lay men , that knowledge of the scriptures makes heresies ; and not as that heretick dr. s. teaches , that the scripture ought to be the rule of our faith , but that it is sufficient that their faith be folded up in our church-belief , without understanding or knowing what it is . again , to please the multitude , and to draw them to our side , we have holy reliques ( oh most pretious ! ) dispensations , indulgences , and thousands of years of pardon ; and that catholikes must believe not what christ and his apostles have taught , but what the church believes , right or wrong ; and that they ought to pin their faith upon the fallible infallibility of her , and not as dr. s. affirms , upon ( that heretical dangerous book ) the scriptures , which have made heresies , as wisely said that cardinal , when it was enquired how so many heresies came into the world : why , says he , we may think our selves for it alone : for bad we kept that dangerous book the bible in an unknown tongue , these heresies had never sprung so thick ; but now every private and lay heretick puts his exposition upon the scriptures . and was not this answered like himself , think you , my sons ? yea certainly : for now we finde it , to our woful experience . lastly , lest simplicity either in church-service or administration of sacraments should breed contempt , we have added many more petty matters to make them more commendable , more acceptable to the palat , and our followers more devout ; as in our churches gilded images , altars , super-altars , candlesticks , and such-like : in our massings and church-service , golden garments , costly colours , strange gestures , warbling and numbering of beads , &c. in our priests , square caps , bald crowns , great hoods : in our orders , crossing , anointing , shriving , sorswearing wedlock , & e. in our baptism , washing of hands , salting , spawling , exorcising , crossing : in receiving , to come with beards new shaven , and an imagination of a bodily and real presence ; which makes catholikes devoutly to receive , when they are taught and really think it so , but in truth none is , but as the hereticks own mystically so to be . and lastly , lest this our jugling should be espied , which i your old father hear begins to be too manifest , we have made as strong fences for papism , as ever did that wicked beast for mahometism . for first , we have endeavoured to bury the scriptures , lest by that light all our projects , obscure designes and darkness should be discovered ; which if sudden care be not taken , i have reason to fear it will too too suddenly . yet fear not , the fowler is fain many times to follow his game long before he can obtain it ; the angler is fain many times to sit whole hours by the river-side , before he can perswade the silly fish to snap up their own destruction . we have waited long , and many of our well design'd and heroick plots ( such as was the gun-powder-treason ) have miscarryed : but there may come a time when — secondly , church-service we have thrust upon silly people in a strange language ; sons , you know well why : for ' simon magus was never detected , before christ was preached in samaria . thirdly , we have forbidden our followers to confer with the hugonots : for they are always striking at us with the scepter of the word , and still cry , to the law and the testimony , &c. further , we tell you , that any thing , though the horridest murder or treason you should act , is highly meritorious , so that thereby the catholike cause may be respected , and the interest of our church ( i mean , that you may fill your own coffers ) advanced : and that as amongst the scythians he was reputed the bravest gentleman that spilt most bloud ; so i tell you , he is canonized for the worthiest catholick , that can bring most souls to confusion . and now , what can we do more ? yet what doth there else remain , but that you use all diligence , feeding your favourites with strong hope and large promises , standing at the court-gates with absalom , the lively image of courtly politicks , seeming to pity the peoples estate , when his ambitious humour did greedily aspire after his fathers kingdom . even so you my sons , tell them that their religion is good , and how i your father and theirs do pity them , and that if i had the disposition of the crown , plenty should follow the scepter , and peace should follow plenty . i say no more unto you , but walk closely , and keep your selves in tenebris : for your predecessors , i know not whether to ascribe it to angry starrs , the influence of the heavens , neglect of opportunity , want of secresie , by too great security , have had so bad success , that instead of supplanting a kingdom , they have broke their necks at tyburn ; and instead of reconciling souls to the romish faction , they have united their heads to a halter ; this cruelty have they sustained for my sake , whom therefore i have crowned with martyrdom , and question not but that they have as good rewards as they deserved . thus hoping and expecting to hear the downfal of hereticks , i am your tender ( though by hugonots despised ) father clement ix . finis . the confession of john browne, a iesvite, in the gate-house twice examined by a committee from the honourable house of commons wherein is discovered the late plots of the pope and papacy against these kingdomes, england, scotland, and ireland : and the manner how he poceeds in his intents to intrude himselfe into the temporall monarchy hereof : with the copy of the popes breve, & the fansinesse of his nuntio with the english ladies : and the event that may preoceed by stopping such proceedings. browne, john, jesuit. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a29831 of text r10825 in the english short title catalog (wing b5118). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 12 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a29831 wing b5118 estc r10825 12827698 ocm 12827698 94298 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a29831) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94298) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 255:e173, no 1) the confession of john browne, a iesvite, in the gate-house twice examined by a committee from the honourable house of commons wherein is discovered the late plots of the pope and papacy against these kingdomes, england, scotland, and ireland : and the manner how he poceeds in his intents to intrude himselfe into the temporall monarchy hereof : with the copy of the popes breve, & the fansinesse of his nuntio with the english ladies : and the event that may preoceed by stopping such proceedings. browne, john, jesuit. [8] p. s.n.], [s.l. : 1641. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng jesuits -england. catholics -england. great britain -religion -17th century. a29831 r10825 (wing b5118). civilwar no the confession of john browne a iesvite, in the gate-house. twice examined by a committee from the honourable house of commons. wherein is d browne, john, jesuit 1641 1921 9 0 0 0 0 0 47 d the rate of 47 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2002-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2002-06 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the confession of john brovvne a iesvite , in the gate-house . twice examined by a committee from the honourable house of commons . wherein is discovered the late plots of the pope and papacy , against these kingdomes , england , scotland , and ireland . and the manner how he poceeds in his intents , to intrude himselfe into the temporall monarchy hereof . with the copy of the popes breve , & the sansinesse of his nuntio with the english ladies , and the event that may proceed by stopping such proceedings . printed by barnard alsop 1641. the confession of john brown a jesuit in the gate-house , twice examined by a committee from the honourable house of commons . this iohn browne desiring to informe concerning some speciall points , for the weale of this state , as himselfe hath observed , for above 50. yeares past , which are reduced to these heads . 1. concerning the iesuits , and dammage they have done to these kingdomes , labouring that the oath of allegeance might not be taken , and the wayes which they use with their penitents , & projecting of monopolies of their ministers , & substitutes , and the way to roote them out of these dominions . that they have their lay-brethren , which collect duly their annuities , & rents , and play the marchants transporting cloth and other marchandize of great value . i doe know a brother in law of captain reades , who continually trades in marchandises for them , as also one cuthbert of lancashire , and one grey of barwick● , and they are protected by the spanish ambassadors . they have their marchants in london : namely , one evans , worth 5000 l. who meanes to make them his heires , and to disinherit his own kindred . he was appointed to be sheriffe of middlesex this last yeare , and by their perswasions did goe out of the city , and lived retiredly , untill michaelmas was past . more of their agents are doctor more , captaine re●d a scottish-man , lieutenant col. in ireland , under col. bruce , he lets their buildings in long-acre for them , and the faire buildings in lincolnes-inne fields , inhabited by sir george gage . &c. and at his death left to the lady gardeners , where the jesuits continually doe resort . they doe use with them penitents to tell the poorer sort , that to take the oath of allegeance is damnable , and they tell the richer sort ; that they may doe as their conscience will inspire them , not making conscience to performe . some have left by testament , others by donation , to bring up some 2 , some 3 , and paid 25 l. and 30 l. per annum , but since they are not willing to take the ●oyle , to take it yearly , b●t have entised the d●●ators to give them , some three , some foure , some 500 l. and in my knowledge , they have got in this manner for nourishing above 200 , extorting money from this kingdome , to the great prejudice of this state . 2. of the reformation of some things in the queens court , and of some persons which are fit to be removed . the actors are father philips , her confessour , and the superior of the capuchins , and a gray fryer , who hath intruded himselfe by degrees , to be a clark of her majesties chappell : sometimes he is called by the name of wilson , sometimes of tomson , and a doctor of divinity , a furious and unquiet spirit , by a nick-name called cackafugo : he rules father philips , he rules the businesse amongst them , that concernes the state ; and for the most part , the matters of rome , having three wives at this present all alive . there is also one penrick resident at rome , by his master mr. william hamilton , l●te agent at rome . there be many more , one francis maitland , alias quashet hath 100 crowns , per annum of her majesties pensioner , a firebrand intelligencer at rome , france , flanders , and spaine , with liddington , colonell syms , chambers , and penricke at paris . i should think it good to remove all these from about her majesty , except only father philips , who is of a sweet disposition : though so easily perswaded by sir toby matthewes , sir iohn winter , mr. walter mountague , who are of the cabinet counsell . 3. of the manner whereby the pope meanes to intrude himselfe into the temporall monarchy of this kingdome , and the manner how he proceeds . one seignior george was appointed by the pope to informe him of all important businesse of england and scotland : who as soone as english , scottish , or irish runnagates came to rome , he went to their lodging in the popes behalfe , and brought them of his holinesses bread , and wine , and other rarities , as bolognean , sassages , and such dainties , and shewing them all the antiquities of rome , and feasting them at the popes charges ( though they were protestants ) for this purpose 2000 families were requested of his majesty to be sent to rome , with a promise of their quiet abode there , and their use of liberty of conscience . to break the ice for the popes honours sake : then was nominated also mr. robert duglas , cozen german to the marquesse duglas , an eminent friend to father philips and seignor george a great traveller ; a great linguist , a courtier , whose directions were to be from cardinall richlieu , and from the court of france , receives moneyes for his journy , where he had great entertainment , and after a yeares space the viatick being dismist , they sent him with pictures a●g●● d●●s , and many other small gifts which they brought into england of presents : under pretence of a breve from his holinesse , the substance of the breve is this . to the clergy , secular , and regular , and lay-catholicks of the two kingdomes of england , and scotland , &c. his holynesse being very sorry for such jarres , and divisions between the secular , and the clergy , to the great prejudice of the catholike church ; and for that respect having a fatherly care of soules , in those kingdomes of england and scotland , he hath sent ( expressing his reverend fatherly care ) george pausanone of his family to compose , and recronicle them , if he can . this man at paris quits his priests robes , and drest himselfe in secular apparell : covering his shaven crown with a great periwig , & writes to father philips , to be the primum mobile , and directer of all who send to him at paris , as to an italian gentleman , desirous to see these kingdomes . that comming to london , he lodged first at the italian ordinary in the strand ; but being so much resorted to by persons of great quality : he removed to seigneor germines house neare the exchange , is you passe to covent-garden . in their meetings ( at last ) it was concluded , that they should speak honourably of the king , and queen , & be sparing to discourse of the oath of allegeance . it is worthy of consideration to observe the nuntioes carriage day and night , in courting of ladies and gentlewomen , in terme-time all the gentry of both sexes . such were his comportments . that it is a shame to relate them , his conversation abroad , and conventicles at home with ladies , sir iohn winter : her majesties secretary , sir toby matthewes , sir kellum digby , and mr. walter , were his cabinet counsell . he visited one of the best ladies in the land alone , and being found by her husband , and being asked why he durst be so bold , he was in feare to have bin precipitated out at the window . his manner was in the morning , sometimes two houres before day , to visit ladies and gentlewomen , enquiring of them , how they had slept that night . the pope had made his eldest nephew francisco protector of england , scotland , and ireland , and directing a particular congregation , for the matters of these kingdomes , and with him were joyned two other cardinals , and a new secretary , and other prelates of rome his counsellors . he entertained mr. francis mountague with great pomp , and sent him abroad in his nephewes coach , and so others the like . hee made segn●or georgeo patriarch of ierusalem . no lesse was his pride puft up , when sir william hambleton , brother to the earle of abercorn , and cozen to marquesse hambleton , whose carriage was like to segnior georgeo here : carrying ( clothed in mans apparell ) through scotland , england , france and italy ; his sweet-heart eugenius bonny . after segnior georgeo was sent hither , count rossey , who was intended to be made cardinall , in case he may have meanes . but it was dasht , and so will all correspondency be : no doubt hereafter by this grave counsell of the honourable parliament . so that mr. penricke agent there , be called back , and a certaine knight of the order of st. iohn of ierusalem , whom count rossey intends to send hither to keepe correspondency , be likewise dismist from hence . which done , all the project will end in smoake : provided that m. mountague , sir toby matthewes , sir kellam digby , sir iohn winter be removed , and bar'd from rome , or any of his holinesses territories . i heard a french-man of good worth say , that he had seene a breve from rome with this inscription . tobiae mathew sacerdoti , societatis jesu . that is , to toby mathewes priest of the order of jesus : wherein ( inter alia ) was confirma amazones illas quae strenue laborant in vita pro christo . first , confirme those amazonian court-ladies , that is , those brave catholicks , catamountaines of the popish-faction , that labour lustily for the advancement of popery . 4. that the roman catholicks shall be stopt from going over sea , with their goods and all . touching romish catholiks , they ( especially those that have lands ) should be stopt from going over sea , in respect that selling and morgaging their lands the money is transported to forraine parts , whereby the kingdome is depauperated , his majesty loseth his yearely pay for their recusantsie , the shires where they remain are disabled to pay such subsidies , as formerly in time of their residence , and finally the poore lose much by their absence . finis . a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot to the tune of packington's pound, the first part. a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot. part 1. gadbury, john, 1627-1704. 1682 approx. 13 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42971 wing g99 estc r213335 99825753 99825753 30140 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42971) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30140) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1793:21) a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot to the tune of packington's pound, the first part. a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot. part 1. gadbury, john, 1627-1704. 1 sheet ([1] p.) : ill., engr. s.n., [s.l. : 1682] by john gadbury. publication date from wing. verse "good people i pray you give hear unto me,". reproduction of the original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england -controversial literature -early works to 1800. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685 -early works to 1800. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2008-07 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion cartoon panel behold two crafty iesuits fighting , only to draw a zealous knight in , i charge ye keep y e peace cartoon panel whom striving to apease their brangle , that weak old man does basely strangle . 〈◊〉 oa●es berry watching a green cartoon panel see how they veiw him with delight , whilst ladys dance and pispot spright . was it not politickly done . b cartoon panel by watchful sentrie th' are not seen , for th' devil thrusts his paw between . hem hem. c d cartoon panel t is strange though how his joynts are bended , in chair ; and then againe extended . stretch out his leggs e cartoon panel our towns they burn our goods they plunder , by such sly tricks , 't will make you wonder . iesuits disguis'd trap. trap cum cruce . f sr. w.w. stop theife . cartoon panel you 'l wonder more how they durst venture , for killing king ; to signe indenture . we deliver this as o r act & deed. to the use of doctor o. this indenture tripartite made y e 24 day of aprill 1678 〈…〉 r.m. cartoon panel behold their generall , a stout tory. peters's fayme was only glory . l ●t gen l. bellai● lead up y e pilgrims l●●ut t. gen l. peters . we 'le give no quarter cartoon panel powis might hope to mend his fortune , what staffords end was , we are certain . we want our pay. pay m r : gen l. stafford . goe to y e treasurer my baggs are empty there 's pardons plen ty dispensations . pardons . bulls . the popes treasure . cartoon panel their chancelor nere studied law , their major general campe nere saw . maj r gen l. ratcliffe . where 's our commissions l d chancell r. arunde● on langhornes table bedloe saw them . g cartoon panel the pious pilgrims inclination , was to pervert , and damn this nation . spanish pilgrims plenary indulgence . to cross y e seas w'have made a vow but none knows how . cartoon panel and irish tory with black bill , wou'd kill us all ; if we sit still . irish army lies incognito . h where were these bills made at bilboe & salamanca . a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot . to the tune of packingtons pound , the first part. the contents of the first part . how sir godfrey is kill'd , his body they hide , which brought out in chair , a horse-back do's ride : how jesuits disguis'd , our houses do fire ; how subtly they plot , and king's death conspire ; of divers great lords drawn in , to their bane ; an army of irish , and pilgrims from spain . i. good people i pray you give ear unto me , a story so strange you have never been told , how the jesuit , devil , and pope did agree , our state to destroy , and religion so old . to murder our king , a most horrible thing ! but first of sir godfrey his death i must sing ; for how e're they disguise it , we clearly can see , who murder'd that knight no good christian could be . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . ii. at somerset-house there is plain to be seen , a gate which will lead you into the back-court , this ( 1 ) place for the murder most fitting did seem , for thither much people does freely resort : his body they toss'd , from pillar to post , and shifted ( 2 ) so often , 't had like t' have been lost ; to watch with ( 3 ) dark lanthorn the jesuits did go , but never mistrusted our honest ( 4 ) bedloe . the truth of my story , &c. iii. least such close contrivements at length might take air , when as his dead body corrupted did grow , they carried him out in ( 5 ) invisible chair , and set him a ( 6 ) horseback to ride at so-hoe . his own ( 7 ) sword to the hilt , to add to their guilt , they thrust through his body , but no bloud was ( 8 ) spilt ; t' have it thought he was kill'd by a thief , they did mean , so they left ( 9 ) all his money , and made his ( 10 ) shooes clean . the truth of my story , &c. iv. to shew now th' excess of jesuitical rage , they this loyal city to ruine would bring , ' cause you citizens are so religious and sage , and ever much noted for true to your king ; t' your houses they go , with ( 11 ) fire and with tow , then ( 12 ) pilfer your goods , and 't is well you scape so ; y'have seen how they once set the town ( 13 ) all in flame ; and divers times since have attempted the same . the truth of my story , &c. v. by ( 14 ) bedlo's narration is shewn you most clear , how jesuits disguis'd into houses will creep ; in a porter or carman's ( 15 ) frock they 'l appear , nay they will not disdain to cry chimney-sweep ; or sell you small-cole , then drop in some hole a fire ball , or thrust it up by a long pole ; but i now must relate a more tragical thing , how these villains conspir'd to murder our king , the truth of my story , &c. vi. at the ( 16 ) white-horse in april there was a consult , where jesuits a ( 17 ) covenant wickedly frame ; the ( 18 ) death of our sovereign was the result , to th' which at least ( 19 ) forty all signed their name , they wou'd not do that , i' th' place where they sat , trusty oates must ( 21 ) convey it , from this man to that ; to make sure work , by ( 21 ) poyson the deed must be done and stab'd with a ( 22 ) dagger , and ( 23 ) shot with a gun. the truth of my story , &c. vii . for fear at st. omers , their oates might be miss'd , th' agreed with a devil t' appear in his place . in a body of air , believe 't if you list , which squeek'd just like oats , and mov'd with the same grace ; 't cou'd lie , it cou'd cant , turn eyes like a saint . and of our great doctor no feature did want . thus forty might swear they ( 24 ) saw oates ev'ry day , but true oates was here , and the devil saw they . the truth of my story , &c. viii . from father oliva ( 26 ) commissions did come , to raise a great army much treasure is spent : th' old man was resolved to take post from rome , to ride at the head of them was his intent ; lord ( 27 ) bellas ' was fit , who can deny it , to command in his place , when 's gout wou'd permit ; lord ( 28 ) stafford was fittest to trust with their pay , old ( 29 ) ratcliff to range them in battel array . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out , ix . th' high-treasurer's place the lord ( 30 ) powis did please , men of desp'rate fortune oft venture too far ; lord ( 31 ) peters wou'd hazard estate , and his ease , and life for the pope too , in this holy war ; lord ar'ndel of old , so warlike and bold , made choice of a ( 32 ) chanc●llor's gown we are told . all these did conspire with the lord castlemaine , whose plot was to catch his old dutchess again . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . x. great store of wild ( 33 ) irish both civil and wise , designed to joyn with the ( 34 ) pilgrims of spain , thirty ( 35 ) thousand being ready there all in good guise , had vow'd a long pilgrimage over the main . to arm well this host , when 't came on our cost , ( 36 ) black bills forty thousand , are sent by the post , this ( 37 ) army lay privately on the sea shore ; and no man e're heard of them since nor before . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . my witnesses i bring , and produced the record , d' ye think th' are perjur'd ? 't is false and absur'd , wou'd th' godly hang papists for interest or pique ? wou'd a doctor swear false for ten pound a week ? finis . authors quoted . ( 1 ) hi●l● tryal , pag. 16. ( 2 ) viz. 4 times , p. 18.16 . ( 3 ) see the same try. p. 18. ( 4 ) the same , pag. 31. ( 5 ) the same , pag. 69. ( 6 ) the same tryal , p. 20. ( 7 ) the same , pag. 35. ( 8 ) ibid. ( 9 ) ibid. ( 10 ) see the coroners inquest . ( 11 ) see dt. oates's narrative page 22. ( 12 ) ibid. ( 13 ) see the piller near london bridge . ( 14 ) read bedloes narrative . ( 15 ) see dr. oates's narrat . page 68. ( 16 ) see ireland's tryal , page 19. ( 17 ) ibid. ( 18 ) ibid. ( 19 ) the same tryal , pag. 26 ( 20 ) the same , page 20. ( 21 ) see dr. oates's narrat . page 21. ( 22 ) the same , narrat . p. 47. ( 23 ) see pickerings tryal , page 23. ( 24 ) see st. omers certificate ( 25 ) see jesuits tryal , p. 47. ( 26 ) see dr. oates's narrative , p. 58. ( 27 ) ibid. ( 28 ) ibid. ( 29 ) ibid. ( 30 ) ibid. ( 31 ) ibid. ( 32 ) ibid ( 33 ) see lords journal and langhorns tryal , page 20. ( 34 ) ibid ( 35 ) see lords journal , p. 54. ( 36 ) see colemans tryal , p. 23. ( 37 ) see lords journal and langhorns tryal , as above . some notes on the picture ●● prevent popish cavils . a. read greens tryal , page 16 and 17. b. this is the famous spright with the chamber-pot , which did as certainly appear to the popish ladies , when they danc'd about the body , 〈◊〉 't is certain , it did afterwards appear to some true protestant ladies in the same place . c. hem , was the watch-word to perry to open the gate . see his tryal , page 19. d. and e. we may well suppose , the devil help'd them when they pass'd invisible so close by the centry : and we may be more assured , they could not without some diabolical art make him ( after so many days being dead ) bend his legs to sit in the chair , and then to stretch them out stiff again , as he was found on primrose-hill . f. the jesuits most ingenious game of trap , which to understand you must read bedloes narrative of the fires , p. 16. and 17. read it throughout : 't will shew you plainly , how the papists burnt london ; or if you desire to be confirm'd in so necessary a belief by an undeniable authority , read the new inscription on the monument , and that on the house in pudding-lane , which were purposely design'd to convince all the world of this truth , and safely to convey it to posterity . g. see langhorns memoires , and l. c. j. answer to bedloes articles . h. the dr. does not tell us , where these forty thousand bills were made ; but our reason tells us , that 't was very necessary they should be hammered as privately as possible ( for fear of discovery ) and therefore bilb●● and salamanca , may pass far more probable than london or any town in england . a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot to the tune of packington's pound, the second part. a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot. part 2. gadbury, john, 1627-1704. 1682 approx. 14 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a41361 wing g100 estc r213337 99825754 99825754 30141 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41361) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30141) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1793:22) a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot to the tune of packington's pound, the second part. a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot. part 2. gadbury, john, 1627-1704. 1 sheet ([1] p.) : ill., engr. s.n., [s.l. : 1682] by john gadbury. place of publication from wing. verse "the plot being thus subtly contriv'd as you hear". reproduction of the original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england -controversial literature -early works to 1800. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685 -early works to 1800. 2007-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-02 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2007-02 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion cartoon panel i mea culpa — mea culpa — mea maxima culpa . from poperie to save this nation a doctor ventures his damnation cartoon panel k so help me god — inset cartoon panel their witnesses did not agree . mar. 4. commits idolatry , for our sakes and of false oaths noe scruple makes . cartoon panel l m taisborough hides armes , in open roomes a knight in his fore fathers tombes . cartoon panel n fough — i smell gunpouder . an other where noe man woud thinke gunpowder hides , in filthy sinke . cartoon panel o something for a poor scholar . get you gone and be hang'd . the popes cheife agent was soe poor he begd an almes at pickerin's dore . cartoon panel p how are we cros'd . my flint was loose and my silver bullet's lost . pickerin had kild the king , noe doubt but bullets lost , and flint dropt out cartoon panel iohannes paulus de oliva one and twenty and powder too , was very scarse for w. ch old whitebread whips his arse . cartoon panel q how dare you — oh hold turns another in my coate . our doctor he does cudgell basely and dare you ( says he ) to my face lye . cartoon panel describe don iohn . a tall black man — since naught but blowes is to be got wise oates discovers iesuits plot. cartoon panel r s god forbid i shoud accuse him . — i know him not . his eyes are dim , by candle light and growing faint , does not swear right . cartoon panel t which hand will you have they life and mony , al refuse — the fatal rope , they freely choose . cartoon panel we are innocent god bless y e king. and forgive our enemies and to be cut into fowr quarters — cause they 'd be canoniz'd for martirs . some notes on the picture to prevent popish cavils . i. be not scandaliz'd at a word or two of latine ; 't is only to shew the folly of the papists , who pray in an unknown tongue . k. this is not meant of any oath against the papists , but of their wicked oath of secrecy ; which though the doctor often took , yet we may charitably believe he never did intend to keep it ; since he positively assures us he did but counterfeit : he only seemed to be a papist , but was all the while a true-protestant in his heart . see l. staf. tryal p. 123. l. arms for 5 or 600 men were hid in his parlour ; yet by art magick were invisible to the gentlemen of the country , who often dined with him in the same room . see his tryal . m. sir h. t 's . vault was search'd for arms , and coffins opened ; but all the arms they had hidden there were turn'd to bones . n. sir r. t 's . sink was searched for arms and gunpowder ; yet nor so much as one black-bill could ever be found there , nor in any other place . o. see wakeman's tryal , p. 73. p. grove , that he might be sure to give an incurable wound , did traiterously and maliciously champ a silver bullet with his poysonous teeth . see his tryal , p. 24 , & 81. q. either another man in such a coat , or else ( as some believe ) the devil in his likeness , went often to court , and occasion'd this unlucky mistake , which was the cause of his being beaten . see the jesuits tryal p. 16 , 17. many may perhaps wonder , that the crafty jesuits would suffer him to be in such a miserable beggerly condition ; and much more , that they would beat and abuse one , whom they had trusted with secrets of so high a nature . but we can easily answer this , and an hundred other seeming improbabilites , only by saying , they were infatuated . r. see coleman's tryal , p. 30. s. wakeman's try. p. 55 , & 82 , t. langhorn's memoirs , p. 6. a true narrative of the horrid hellish popish-plot . to the tune of packington's pound . the second part. the contents of the second part . of arms under-ground for horse and for foot ; the king almost kill'd , but gun wiill not shoot , for which pick'ring is whipt . all of them swear to be true to the plot ; yet oats , not for fear nor revenge , ( though turn'd away , and well hang'd ) discovers them all ; the jesuits are hang'd . i. the plot being thus subtly contriv'd as you hear , to god knows how many this ( 1 ) secret th'impart , some famous for cheats , yet their faith they don't fear ; to tye a knave fast they had found a new art. they ( 2 ) swore on a book , and ( 3 ) sacrament took ; but you 'l find , if into their grave authors you look , forswearing's no sin , ( as ( 4 ) recorder well notes ) nor treason , rebellion , nor cutting of throats . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . ii. still blinded with zeal , and inveigl'd by hope , store of arms they provide for fight and defence , three lords must command , as vice-roys of the pope , and all over england they raise ( 5 ) peter-pence . their letters they send by ( 6 ) bedlow their friend , or else by the ( 7 ) post , to shew what the intend . some hundreds ( 8 ) oats saw , which the jesuits did write , 't is a wonder not one of them e're came to light . the truth of my story , &c. iii. pounds two hundred thousand to ( 9 ) ireland they sent ; fifteen thousand to ( 10 ) wakeman sor potions and pills ; forty thousand in fire-works we guess that they spent ; and , item , ten thousand to pay for black-bills ; fifteen hundred more ( 11 ) grove should have they swore ; four gentlemen ruffians deserved ( 12 ) fourscore ; pious pickering they knew was of masses more fond , and for ( 13 ) thirty thousand they gave him a bond. the truth of my story , &c. iv. these two , to kill the king by fair promises won , had watch'd now some ( 14 ) years in st. james ▪ s park ; and pick'ring , who never yet ( 15 ) shot off a gun , was about to take aim , for he had a fair mark : just going to begin't , he ( 16 ) missed his flint , and looking in pa● , there was ( 17 ) no powder in 't ; for which he their pardon does humbly bese●ch , yet had ( 18 ) thirty good lashes upon his bare breech . the truth of my story , &c. v. but a sa●der mischance to their plot did befall , for oa , their main engine , fail'd when it came to 't ; no marval indeed if he cuzen'd 'em all , who turn'● him a ( 19 ) begging , and ( 20 ) beat him to boot : he wheeling about , th' whole party did rout , and from lurking holes did so ferret 'em out ; till running himself blind , h● none of them ( 21 ) knew , and fainting at ( 22 ) council , he cou'd not swear true . the truth of my story , &c. vi. to co●fort our doctor , brave be●loe's brought in , a m●re credible witness was not above ground ; he vows ●nd protests , though a rogue he had been , he wou'd now not swear false for five hundred p●und : and why shou'd we fear they falsly wou'd swear , to damn ●heir own ( 23 ) souls , and to lose by it here . poor oat , who before had no peny in purse , discov'ri●g the plot , was seven hundred pound ( 24 ) worse th●●ruth of my story , &c. vii . two ●itnesses more were let loose from the jayl , thogh ( 25 ) one 't is confest did run back from his word ; ( in danger of life a good man may be frail ) and th' ( 26 ) other they slander for cheating his lord. t' every one of these men the jesuits brought ( 27 ) ten , to dispro●e 'em in time and in place ; but what then ? one circ●mstance lately was sworn most clear by a ( 28 ) man who in hopes has five hundred a year . t●e truth of my story , &c. viii . and then we are told , we must always suppose , to murder the king a great plot there has been ; and who to contrive it so likely as those who murder and treason do hold for no sin. things being thus plain , to plead was in vain ; the jury ( instructed again and again ) did find them all guilty , and to shew 't was well done , the people gave a shout for victory won . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . ix . t is strange how th●se jesuits , so subtle and wise , shou'd all by the pope be so basely trepan'd , to hang with much comfort when he shall advise , and go to the devil too at his command . he may give them leave , to lye and dece●ve ; but what when the rope do's of life them bereave ? can his holiness , think you , dispense with that pain , or by his indulgences raise them again ? the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . x. yet ( like madmen ) of life a contempt they express , and of their own happiness careless appear . for life and for money not one would confess ; th' had rather be damn'd , than be rich and live here . but surely they rav'd , when god they out-brav'd , and thought to renounce him the way to be sav'd ; with lyes in their mouths go to heaven in a string ; so prosper all traytors , and god save the king . the truth of my story if any man doubt , w' have witnesses ready to swear it all out . concordat cum recordo . cl. par. finis . i do imagine some will say there never was such another strange ballad , with marginal notes and quotations . but i answer , there never was such another plot , and i am affraid , that if i did not cite very good authors , and bring witnesses of untainted reputation , the next generation might be so far deluded by popish shams , as not to believe it . authors quoted . ( 1 ) as it appears in the several tryals . ( 2 ) ireland's tryal , p. 23. ( 3 ) hill's tryal , p. 32 , ( 4 ) see his speech in ireland's tryal , p , 81. ( 5 ) the same tryal , p. 30. ( 6 ) jesuits tryal , p. 33. ( 7 ) the same , p. 29. ( 8 ) oats's narrat . all along . ( 9 ) see coleman's try. p. 23. ( 10 ) the same , page 40. ( 11 ) the same again , p. 21. ( 12 ) the same , p. 24. ( 13 ) the same again , p. 21. ( 14 ) ireland's tryal , p. 24. ( 15 ) the same , p. 25. ( 16 ) the same again , p. 24. ( 17 ) see jesuits tryal , p. 33. ( 18 ) ireland's tryal , p. 24. ( 19 ) wakeman's tryal , p. 73. ( 20 ) jesuits tryal , p. 91. ( 21 ) wakeman's tryal , p. 30 , & 55. as also coleman's tryal , p. 30. ( 22 ) the same again . ( 23 ) wakeman's tryal , p. 40. ( 24 ) thus oats and bedloe affirm in langhorn's tryal . ( 25 ) mr. prance . ( 25 ) mr. dugdale . ( 26 ) jesuits tryal all along . ( 27 ) viz. to prove that ireland was not in town aug. 19. see wakeman's tryal , p. 22. ( 28 ) mr. jenison . see th' authors i quote ; there 's witnesses plenty , approv'd by a — nemine contradicente . yet juries ( for tender conscience so famous . ) to save a true-protestant , write ignoramus . a proclamation commanding all papists, or reputed papists, forthwith to depart from the cities of london and westminster, and from within ten miles of the same england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1679 approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32369 wing c3239 estc r12006 12277588 ocm 12277588 58521 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32369) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58521) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 863:37) a proclamation commanding all papists, or reputed papists, forthwith to depart from the cities of london and westminster, and from within ten miles of the same england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, 1630-1685. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by john bill, thomas newcomb, and henry hills ..., london : 1679. reproduction of original in bodleian university. at head of title: by the king. at end of text: given at our court at whitehall the fourth day of may 1679. in the one and thirtieth year of our reign. broadside. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -great britain -legal status, laws, etc. popish plot, 1678. broadsides 2008-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-06 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-06 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the king. a proclamation commanding all papists , or reputed papists , forthwith to depart from the cities of london and westminster , and from within ten miles of the same . charles r. whereas notwithstanding the several acts of parliament , and his majesties late royal proclamation to the contrary , there is at this time a very great resort of papists , and persons justly reputed papists , to and about the cities of london and westminster , and places thereunto adjacent ; the kings most excellent majesty ( at the humble request of the commons now in parliament assembled ) doth by this his royal proclamation strictly chgarge and command all papists , and persons reputed papists , and such as have been so within six months last past , that they and every of them do forthwith depart from the said cities of london and westminster , and from all places within the distance of ten miles of the same ; and that they or any of them do not presume to return again upon any pretence whatsoever , within the space of six months from the date of these presents . and lest they or any of them should do the contrary , upon pretence of any licence formerly granted by any of the lords , or others of his majesties privy council , his majesty doth hereby declare , that he hath caused all licences of that nature formerly granted by any of the lords , or others of his privy council , to be revoked . and his majesty doth hereby further straitly charge and command all and every iustices of the peace , constables , and others his officers and ministers of iustice within his said cities , and either of them , and within ten miles of the same , that they do make strict search and enquiry for , and with all vigour proceed against all and every person or persons who shall be found within the said cities of london and westminster , and within ten miles of the same , during the said space of six months , contrary to the effect of any of the said statutes , and the purport of this his majesties proclamation . provided , that nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to any person or persons who being formerly of the popish religion , have fully conformed to the protestant religion , in such manner as is by law appointed , nor from the time of their respective conformity , to such as shall hereafter in like manner conform themselves . given at our court at whitehall the fourth day of may 1679. in the one and thirtieth year of our reign . god save the king. london , printed by john bill , thomas newcomb , and henry hills , printers to the kings most excellent majesty . 1679. a letter directed to master bridgeman, the fourth of january, and a letter enclosed in it, to one master anderton, were this day read, and ordered to be entred. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a74208 of text r210682 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.4[39]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a74208 wing e28aa thomason 669.f.4[39] estc r210682 99869456 99869456 160661 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a74208) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160661) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f4[39]) a letter directed to master bridgeman, the fourth of january, and a letter enclosed in it, to one master anderton, were this day read, and ordered to be entred. r. e. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for joseph hunscott, london : 1641. advising bridgeman "to absent himself from parliament, and to convey a letter to mr. anderton from r. e. this letter speaks of the impeachment of the five members and threatens the solicitor, fynes, and earl of essex, warwick, say, brook, and paget in the lords. it is written as from a roman catholic" -steele. reproduction of the original in the british library. to the worshipfull, and my much honoured friend orlando bridgeman esquire, and a burgesse of the parliament, at his chamber, at the inner-temple, these present -to the worshipfull, and my much honoured friend, master anderson, these present. eng england and wales. -parliament -history -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. great britain -history -charles i, 1625-1649 -early works to 1800. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -early works to 1800. a74208 r210682 (thomason 669.f.4[39]). civilwar no a letter directed to master bridgeman, the fourth of january, and a letter enclosed in it, to one master anderton, were this day read, and o r. e 1641 717 8 0 0 0 0 0 112 f the rate of 112 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2008-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-10 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter directed to master bridgeman , the fourth of january , and a letter enclosed in it , to one master anderton , were this day read , and ordered to be entred . to the worshipfull , and my much honoured friend , orlando bridgeman esquire , and a burgesse of the parliament , at his chamber , at the inner-temple , these present . sir , we are your friends , these are to advise you , to look to your self , and to advise others of my lord of straffords friends to take heed , lest they be involved in the common calamity , our advise is , to be gone , to pretend businesse till the great hubbub be passed , withdraw , lest you suffer among the puritans , we entreat you to send away this inclosed letter to master anderton inclosed , to some trusty friend , that it may be carried safely without suspition , for it concerns the common safety ; so desire your friends in coven-garden , january 4. to the worshipfull , and my much honoured friend , master anderton , these present . sir , although many designes have been defeated , yet that of ireland holds well . and now our last plot works as hopefully as that of ireland , we must bear with something in the man , his will is strong enough , as long as he is sed with hopes : the woman is true to us , and reall , her councell about her is very good : i doubt not but to send you by the next very joyfull news , for the present , our rich enemies , pym , hampden , strode , hollis , and hasterigg , are blemisht , challenged for no lesse then treason : before i write next , we doubt not but to have them in the tower , or their heads from their shoulders . the soliciter , and fynes , and earl we must serve with the same sauce : and in the house of the lords , mandevill is touched , but essex , warwick , say , brook , and paget , must follow , or else we shall not be quiet faulkland and culepepper , are friends to our side , at leastwise they will do us no hurt . the protestants and puritans are so divided , that we need not fear them ; the protestants in a greater part , will joyn with us , o● stand neuters , while the puritan is suppressed , if we can bring them under ; the protestant will either fall i● with us generally , or else , if they do not , they are so indifferent , that either by fair , or foul means , we shall be able to command them . the mischievous londoners , and apprentices , may do us some hurt for present , but we need not much fear them , they do nothing orderly but tumultuously : therefore we doubt not but to have them under command after one brunt , for our party is strong in the city , especially holborne , the new buildings , and wes●minster : we are afraid of nothing , but the scots appearing again . but we have made a party there , at the king last being there , which will hold their hands behinde them , while we act our parts at home ; let us acqu●● our selves like men , for our religion and countrey , now or never . the kings heart is protestant , but ou● friends can perswade him , and make him beleeve any thing . he hates the puritan party , and is made irr● concileable to that side ; so that the sunne , the moon , and starres , are for us : there are no lesse then twent● thousand ministers in england , the greater half will in their places , be our friends , to avenge the bishops di●honour . let our friends be incouraged , the work is more then half done . your servant , r. e. london , printed for joseph hunscott . 1641. a proclamation, by the king and queens majesties. ... whereas there have been several treasonable, and seditious designs and combinations, set on foot of late, in both our kingdoms, by persons enemies to the protestant religion, and ill affected to our government ... scotland. privy council. 1690 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). b05547 wing s1712 estc r183420 52528945 ocm 52528945 179010 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b05547) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 179010) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2775:81) a proclamation, by the king and queens majesties. ... whereas there have been several treasonable, and seditious designs and combinations, set on foot of late, in both our kingdoms, by persons enemies to the protestant religion, and ill affected to our government ... scotland. privy council. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to the king and queens most excellent majesties, edinburgh : anno dom. 1690. caption title. initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh, the nineteenth day of june. and of our reign, the second year, 1690. signed: gilb. eliot, cls. sti. concilii. ordering a search in edinburgh for the correspondents of henry navail [sic] pain. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng pain, henry nevil, fl. 1690. treason -scotland -early works to 1800. catholics -legal status, laws, etc. -scotland -early works to 1800. broadsides -scotland -17th century. 2008-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-09 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-09 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proclamation , by the king and queens majesties . william and mary , by the grace of god , king and queen of great-britain , france , and ireland , defenders of the faith ; to our lovits , _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting : whereas there hath been several treasonable , and seditious designs and combinations , set on foot of late , in both our kingdoms , by persons enemies to the protestant religion , and ill affected to our government , who have presumed to take commissions from the late king james , intending not only to support the rebellion in the highlands of this our antient kingdom , as appears by bonds , associations , and letters , but likewise , to form parties , and to creat sedition and commotion , in other places thereof ; to which end henry navail pain , prisoner in our castle of edinburgh , a traffecking papist , was sent into this kingdom , and seized in annandale , and several of his associats and correspondents , have been by our warrand secured in our kingdom of england ; and there being clear evidence of a correspondence betwixt the said pain and several persons in this our antient kingdom , and there being many suspect and disaffected persons , lurking in , and about our city of edinburgh ; therefore we , with advice of our privy council have thought fit for the security of the government , to cause search be made in , and about the city of edinburgh , for the apprehending and securing of several persons who have never acknowledged the government now established , and who are known to be persons disaffected and opposite thereto ; and because such persons will not be wanting to give sinisterous impressions of our procedure , and to insinuat in the minds of some , that there is great danger of an insurrection , or invasion , and in the apprehensions of others our good subjects , that they may be in hazard to be seized : therefore we , with advice of our privy council , have thought fit , to issue forth this proclamation , for the information of our good subjects , and assure all who do live peaceably and dutifully , that they are , and shall be in perfect security , and that we will give our outmost endeavour to protect and defend our good subjects , from the attempts of the enemies of the protestant religion , and our government . our will is herefore , and we charge you straitly and command , that incontinent , these our letters seen , ye pass , and in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make publication of the premisses , at the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and other places needful . given under our signet at edinburgh , the ninteenth day of june . and of our reign , the second year , 1690. per actum dominorum secreti goncilii . gilb . eliot , cls. sti. concilii . god save king william and queen mary . edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to the king and queens most excellent majesties , anno dom. 1690. a letter directed to master bridgeman, the fourth of ianuary, and a letter inclosed in it, to one master anderton, were this day read and ordered to be entred to the worshipfull, and my much honoured friend orlando bridgeman esquier, and a burgesse of the parl. at his chamber at the inner temple, these present. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a38353 of text r215025 in the english short title catalog (wing e28b). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a38353 wing e28b estc r215025 99825730 99825730 30117 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a38353) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30117) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1793:2, 1883:16) a letter directed to master bridgeman, the fourth of ianuary, and a letter inclosed in it, to one master anderton, were this day read and ordered to be entred to the worshipfull, and my much honoured friend orlando bridgeman esquier, and a burgesse of the parl. at his chamber at the inner temple, these present. r. e. aut 1 sheet ([1] p.) [s.n.], london : printed 1642. advising bridgeman to absent himself from parliament, and to convey a letter to mr. anderton from r. e. speaks of the impeachment of the five members and threatens the solicitor, fynes, and earl of essex, warwick, say, brook, and paget in the lords, and is written as from a roman catholic. item at 1793:2 identified on film as wing e2620 (number cancelled in wing 2nd ed.). reproduction of the original in: cambridge university library, trinity college library. eng england and wales. -parliament -history -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. great britain -history -charles i, 1625-1649 -early works to 1800. a38353 r215025 (wing e28b). civilwar no a letter directed to master bridgeman, the fourth of january, and a letter inclosed in it, to one master anderton, were this day read, and o [no entry] 1642 707 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-10 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter directed to m. bridgeman , the fourth of ianuary , and a letter inclosed in it to one m. anderton , were this day read and ordered to be entred . to the worshipfull and my much honoured friend , orlando bridgeman esquier , and a burgesse of the parl. at his chamber at the inner temple , these present . sir , we are your friends : these are to advise you to look to your self , and to advise others of my lord of straffords friends to take heed , lest they be involved in the common calamitie : our advise is , to be gone , to pretend busines , till the great hubub be passed : withdraw , least you suffer among the puritans . we entreat you to send away this inclosed letter to m. anderton , inclosed to some trusty friend , that it may be carried safely without suspition , for it concernes the common safety ; so desire your friends in coven-garden . jan. 4. to the worshipfull and my much honoured friend , master anderton , these present . sir , although many designes have been defeated , yet that of ireland holds well . and now our last plot workes as hopefully as that of ireland , we must beare with something in the man , his wil is strong enough , as long as he is fed with hopes , the woman is true to us , and real , her councel about her is very good : i doubt not but to send you by the next very joyful newes , for the present , our rich enemies , pym , hampden , stroud , hollis , and haslerig , are blemisht , challenged for no lesse then treason : before i writ next we doubt not but to have them in the tower , or their heads from their shoulders . the solicitor , and fynes , and earle we must serve with the same sauce : and in the house of the lords , mandevil is touched , but essex , warwick , say , brook , and paget must follow , or else we shal not be quiet . faulkland , and culpepper , are friends to our side , at leastwise they wil doe us no hurt . the protestants and puritants are so divided , that we need not fear them , the protestants in a greater part wil joyne with us , or stand neuters , while the puritan is suppressed . if we can bring them under ; the protestant wil either fall in with us generally , or else , if they doe not , they are so indifferent , that either by fair , or foule meanes , we shal be able to command them . the mischievous londoners , and apprentices , may doe us some hurt for present ; but we need not much feare them ; they doe nothing orderly , but tumultuously : therefore we doubt not but to have them under command after one brunt , for our party is strong in the city , especially holborne , the new buildings , and westminster : we are afraid of nothing , but the scots appearing againe : but we have made a party there , at the kings last being there , which wil hold their hands behinde them , while we act our parts at home ; let us acquite our selves like men , for our religion and countrey , now or never . the kings heart is protestant , but our friends can perswade him , and make him beleeve any thing . he hates the puritane party , and is made irreconcileable to that side ; so that the sunne , the moone , and starres , are for us . there are no lesse then twenty thousand ministers in england , the greater halfe wil in their places , be our friends , to avenge the bishops dishonour . let our friends be incouraged , the worke is more then halfe done . your servant . r. e. london , printed 1642. a copy of a commission under the great seale of ireland, granted by the right honorable sir william parsons knight and barronet, and sir john borlase knight, lords justices of that kingdom: for disarming all papists in and about the city of dublin, and restraining the accesse of any suspitious persons unto the said city, and for the preservation of the same in safety and good order. parsons, william, sir, 1570?-1650. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a80451 of text r3664 in the english short title catalog (thomason e240_25). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 15 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a80451 wing c6111 thomason e240_25 estc r3664 99872456 99872456 124893 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a80451) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 124893) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 41:e240[25]) a copy of a commission under the great seale of ireland, granted by the right honorable sir william parsons knight and barronet, and sir john borlase knight, lords justices of that kingdom: for disarming all papists in and about the city of dublin, and restraining the accesse of any suspitious persons unto the said city, and for the preservation of the same in safety and good order. parsons, william, sir, 1570?-1650. borlase, john, sir, 1576-1648. 7 [i.e. 8] p. printed for e. husbands and j. franck, london, : october 6. 1642. page 8 misnumbered 7. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -ireland -early works to 1800. ireland -history -1625-1649 -early works to 1800. a80451 r3664 (thomason e240_25). civilwar no a copy of a commission under the great seale of ireland, granted by the right honorable sir william parsons knight and barronet, and sir joh parsons, william, sir 1642 2783 7 0 0 0 0 0 25 c the rate of 25 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a copy of a commission under the great seale of ireland , granted by the right honorable sir william parsons knight and barronet , and sir john borlase knight , lords justices of that kingdom : for disarming all papists in and about the city of dvblin , and restraining the accesse of any suspitious persons unto the said city , and for the preservation of the same in safety and good order . london , printed for e. husbands and j. franck ; october 6. 1642. charles by the grace of god king of england , scotland , france and ireland , defender of the faith , &c. to our we●beloved our major of the city of dublin for the time being , sir william anderson knight , sir christopher forster knight , sir william vsher knight , sir philip percival knight , j●hn bysse esq recorder of our city of dublin , richard barry of dublin alderman , charles forster of dublin alderman , william smith of dublin alderman , william bladen of dublin alderman , william plunket esquire , captaine theodore sc●out , robert savill serjeant at armes , mathew ford , anthony dopping , captaine philip fernely , robert kenedy , john woodcock , john pue , sankey sulliard , josua carpenter , brian jones , thomas tallis , william rowlls , thomas leigh , thomaas hill , william scott , daniel forster , richard francis , joseph h●ll , daniel adrian , thomas hooke , frederick panchart , captaine balthazar creamer , john wogan , randall becket , james smith , john fisher , ralph bryen , richard stone , robert davies , ralph wallis , daniel hutchison , peter wybrant , john hill merchant , john norris , thomas haukins , thomas windall , nathaniel neve and robert scarborow greeting . whereas we have taken into our princely consideration the strange and unusual concourse of papists to our city of dublin , and the suburbs thereof , some of them not having formerly dwelt there . and others of them aswel masters of families as servants , having formerly dwelt there , but withdrew themselves into the country for a time since the present rebellion began , and of late returned again to the said city and suburbs , and there all of them now continue as inhabitanas or sojourners , not onely to the needlesse and exceeding great burden of the inhabitants , and disappointment of the souldiers , aswel in their lodging , as in the raysing of the price of meate and other needfull provisions , but also to the terrour of many of our good and loyal subjects inhabiting in this city and suburbs thereof , aswel in respect of the numbers of those papists , as in the advantages observed to be dayly thereby gayned to the rebels , aswel in frequent intelligences from our sayd city as in supplies of needfull provisions from thence from time to time . and forasmuch as in these times of open rebellion , when the rebells appeare in all parts of this our kingdom in open arms , with banners displayed against us and our royall authority , we are necessitated to take some extraordinary way whereby to free our said city and good subjects therin from the fears & dangers threatned against us and them , and against the peace & safety of this our kingdom , by that unlimitted concourse of people flocking so dangerously to our sayd city and suburbs , and for reformation of sundry other abuses and disorders in our said city of dublin and the suburbs thereof . know yee therefore that we reposing speciall trust and confidence in your fidelity and circumspection , have nomin●ted , constituted and appointed , and by these presents doe nominate , constitute and appoint you to be our commissioners . and doe hereby give unto you or any two or more of you ful power and authority from time to time , and as often as you or any two or more of you shall think fit to repaire to all and every part of the said city and suburbs , and there aswell by examination of witnesses upon oath , which oath and oaths we hereby authorize you or any two or more of you to administer , wh●n , and as often as you or any two or more of you shall from time to time think fit , as by all other lawfull wayes and means whatsoever to examine , search far , inquire and finde out what arms or munion are or shal be remaining in any house , houses , or other place or places in the said city or suburbs belonging to any papists , or in the house or houses of protestants , whose wives and children are papists . and the same so found out , to inquire how when and where 〈◊〉 they came by them , and all other matters touching and concerning the same , which you or any two or more of you shall think fit . and it is our pleasure , and we doe accordingly require and authorize you or any two or more of you to seize upon , and take into your hands , or the hands of any two or more of you all the said arms and munition , as also al the arms of what kind soever which you or any two or more of you shal finde any papist carrying about him either in his house or dwelling , or abroad in the streets , whether he or they be commorant in town , or traveller to or from the said city or suburbs . giving the party from whom the same shall bee so taken , a note in writing under the hands of you or any two or more of you mentioning the particulars and quantity of arms or munition or both so to be taken from him , her , or them to our use , and that thereupon you or any two or more of you cause the same to be delivered forthwith after you shal so seize the same into our store of arms and munition at our castle of dublin , taking the clark of the store's hand for receipt thereof , which shall be a good discharge for you against your said note or notes formerly given . and we also require and authorize you or any two or more of you aswel by examination of witnesses upon oath , as by all other lawful waies and means whatsoever to examine , search , inquire , and finde out what titulary popish archbishops , bishops , vicars-generall , jesuits , priests , or friars , or other superstitious orders of the popish pretended clergy are or shall be in and about the said city or suburbs . and them to apprehend & commit to prison there to remaine until further direction from us , or our said justices , or other our chiefe governour ▪ or governours and councell of this our kingdome . and in like manner to examine , search , inquire and finde out , what men and women that are papists , and what papists children of what quality or degree soever he or they be , have come to the sayd city or suburbs to reside , sojourne , or any way to continue therein since easter last ? where they now lodge , and since their coming to town have lodged either in the houses of papists or protestants ? what their names and sirnames are , and of what sept or kindred they be ? whence they came ? what occasions called them thither ? what now deteynes them there ? and all other matters concerning their being there , which you or any two or more of you shall thinke fit . and then that you or any two or more of you do comand so many of them as you or any two or more of you shal think fit to depart from the said city and suburbs within so many hours , as to you or any two or more of you shal be thought fit , and not to returne back to the said city or suhurbs without special licence from us , or our justices , or other chiefe governour or governours of this our kingdom for the time being ; and to enjoyne all those in whose house or houses either papists or protestants such person or persons so to be commanded away doe , or shall lodge , so journe or live , that they or any of them presume not thereafter to entertaine them , or any of them into his or their house or houses , as they will answer their so doing at their extreame perill . and we doe also require you or any two or more of you to cause two books to be made up , and in one of them to cause to be inserted in writing , the names , strnames , and qualities of all men and women ordinarily town-dwellers in our sayd city or suburbs aswel masters of families as servants that are papists . and in the other booke to cause to be inserted the names , sirnames , and qualities of all men and women whom you shall so command to depart from this city and suburbs . and in another part of that book to insert the names , sirnames and qualities of all such men and women that are papists whom you admit to stay , and expressing at their nams for what time their stay is admitted ; that so you may upon a new search ( wherein wee require you to be diligent and frequent ) finde out whether or no they have exceeded the time limited for their stay . we do also require and authorize you or any two or more of you to charge and command all person or persons whatsoever in the said city and subburbs in whose houses any such person or persons formerly lodged , soiourned or lived , and to publish and declare to all others whom it may concern that in case any of the said persons so to be cōmanded away shall return again at any time to the said city or suburbs , or any other men or women whatsoever that are papists , and not resident continually in the said city and suburbs , without any late intermission since the first of october last shall hereafter come to the said city or suburbs ; that then the person or persons to whose house or houses , he , she , or they so returning , shall return or come , do from time to time , and as often as any such shall happen within two hours after the receipt or entertainment into his , her , or their house or houses of any such person or persons return under his , her , or their hands unto two or more of you the names , sirnames , qualities and conditions of all and every such person and persons so received , lodged , or entertained . we likewise require and authorize you or any two or more of you in like manner to examine what victualls , cloaths , arms , munition , or other provisions whatsoever have been carryed ; or shall be carryed out of the said citie or suburbs for the relief of the rebells , and by whom , and who were furtherers and privy thereunto , and what towns-men , or their servants that are papists , have been since easter last , admitted into any horse troop or foot company or ward in our pay ? and by whom ? and in whose troop , company , or ward so admitted ? and what arms of any kind have , are , or shall be sold by any souldier horse-man or foot-man to any towns-man , or other inhabitant in the said citie and suburbs ? and where the said arms now are ? and what masters or mistresses of families or servants that are papists that formerly resided in the said citie & suburbs , have between the three and twentieth of october and the first of aprill last withdrawn themselves into the country , and having continued there a while , returned again to live in the said city and suburbs ? and if upon examination you or any two or more of you shall find them , or any of them , to have been with the rebells , to cause all such to be apprehended and committed to prison , and to certifie their names under the hands of you or any two or more of you to our justices , or other our chief governour or governours , and councell of this our kingdom . and what else shall appear unto you concerning them . and we also require and authorize you or any twelve or more of you , to view all thatched houses and cabins in and about the said city and suburbs , and to give six dayes warning to the possessors of such of the said thatched houses and cabines , as you or any twelve or more of you shall finde to be dangerous to the safety of the said city and suburbs , and therefore ought necessarily to be removed or pulled down , to remove or pull them down ; wherein if they faile , then and in such case you or any twelve or more of you are to cause such of the thatched houses and cabines to be removed and pulled down , as you or twelve or more of you shall finde not to have been pulled down by the possessors within the said six dayes according to the said warning given . and in case you or any two or more of you shall finde any person or persons disobedient to your commands in and concerning the execution of the premises , or any part thereof . we do in such case authorize you or any two or more of you to commit to prison such person or persons , when , and as often as there shall be just cause , and afterwards to release such person or persons , when you or any two or more of you shrll think fit . and for the better and more full and due performance of these services , it is our pleasure , and we do hereby authorize you or any two or more of you as aforesaid to administer from time to time an oath or oaths to any person or persons , witnesses touching or concerning all or any the points , clauses , articles , authorities or commands in these presents above mentioned . and that you our commissioners do divide your selves in and throughout the said city & suburbs into severall limits , streets and parishes ; and so to proceed in the execution of the premises either altogether or severally as you shall finde cause . and that you be frequent at least weekly , or oftner if you find cause in the searches , examinations , and other services by these presents committed to your trust . and we require all maiors , sherriffs , justices of the peace , and all other our officers , ministers , and loving subjects whom it may concern , and particularly all colonells , commanders , officers and souldiers of our army to be unto you or any two or more of you alwayes aiding , helping and assisting in the due execution of the premises from time to time , as there may be occasion . and we require you from time to time to give an account of your proceedings to our justices , or other our chief governour or governours of this our kingdom for the time being . and this our commission is to continue in force during our pleasure . witnesses our right trusty and welbeloved councellors , sir william parsons knight and baronet , and sir john borelase knight , our justices of our said realm of ireland . at dubin the ninth day of september in the eighteenth yeer of our raign . carleton & exham , finis . by the king. a proclamation declaring his majesties expresse command, that no popish recusant, nor any other, who shall refuse to take the two oathes of allegiance and supremacie, shall serve him in his army and that the souldiery commit no rapines upon the people, but be fitly provided of necessaries for their money. england and wales. sovereign (1625-1649 : charles i) this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78985 of text r210980 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.5[69]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 5 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78985 wing c2575 thomason 669.f.5[69] estc r210980 99869724 99869724 160782 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78985) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160782) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f5[69]) by the king. a proclamation declaring his majesties expresse command, that no popish recusant, nor any other, who shall refuse to take the two oathes of allegiance and supremacie, shall serve him in his army and that the souldiery commit no rapines upon the people, but be fitly provided of necessaries for their money. england and wales. sovereign (1625-1649 : charles i) charles i, king of england, 1600-1649. 1 sheet ([1] p.) by robert barker, printed to the kings most excellent [majestie, and by the assignes of john bill], imprinted by london : 1642. at bottom of text: given at our court at york the tenth day of august, in the eighteenth yeer of our reign. 1642. with engraving of royal seal at head of document. annotation on thomason copy: "august 15th". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -great britain -legal status, laws, etc. -early works to 1800. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -early works to 1800. a78985 r210980 (thomason 669.f.5[69]). civilwar no by the king. a proclamation declaring his majesties expresse command, that no popish recusant, nor any other, who shall refuse to take the t england and wales. sovereign 1642 885 2 0 0 0 0 0 23 c the rate of 23 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms ❧ by the king . ❧ a proclamation declaring his majesties expresse command , that no popish recusant , nor any other , who shall refuse to take the two oathes of allegiance and supremacie , shall serve him in his army : and that the souldiery commit no rapines upon the people , but be fitly provided of necessaries for their money . whereas we have heretofore , by our proclamation , straightly charged and commanded , that the laws should be put in due execution against popish recusants , and we have , and shall have it still in our care , to suppresse and prevent the growth of popery , and to use all good means that may tend thereunto , and not to countenance papists , by any imployment or trust , by or for vs . and whereas there are now at and neer london great forces levied , and in levying , and moneys raising , by way of contribution , and otherwise , towards the charge of raising , and maintaining an army , or forces , under pretence of the order of our two houses of parliament , not onely without our consent , but contrary to our severall expresse commands , published by severall proclamations , letters , and otherwise . and the same forces are actually in so much forwardnesse , as that t●ere are divers horsemen daily exercised , and trained in places about london , and great numbers of foot in raising ; and a generall , and other principall officers are nominated and declared , and they have accepted and taken upon them those places , and have already done severall acts of hostility against vs , which cleerly appear to be a levying of war against vs ; we have found it necessary , to raise and levy forces , for the defence of the true protestant religion , our person , the two houses of parliament . and now , lest any popish recusants should presume to offer to serve vs herein , or procure themselves to be listed , as officers , or souldiers in our army , without our knowledge , and to the end that our intention herein may be cleerly known , that whereas one principall aim of raising these forces , is , for the defence and maintenance of the true protestant religion , we may not be served with papists , as falsly and slanderously hath been objected against vs , we do hereby declare our expresse will and pleasure to be , and we do hereby straightly command , that no person or persons soever being popish recusant , shall presume to come to our court , contrary to the law in such case provided , nor any popish recusant , or papist take any office , or place , or list himself as a souldier in this service . and to the end there may be as full discovery as can be made of such as shall , contrary to this our proclamation , be 〈◊〉 listed into such our service , we do straightly command and charge all officers and souldiers , who shall be entred or listed for this our service , that upon the first muster-day after they shall be so listed , they take the oathes of supremacy and allegiance , both which we shall take care shall be tendered unto them according to the law , thorowout our army . and if any shall continue his name in those lists , and yet shall refuse the said oathes , we shall not onely cashiere them , but also otherwise proceed against them , according to the law . and as we shall be carefull that all our officers and souldiers shall be duly paid , that there be no occasion or pretence of necessity amongst them to burden any of our subjects , so we do hereby straightly charge and command , that none of the said officers , or souldiers presume to take any thing from any of our good subiects , without due payment for the same , nor commit any unlawfull violence or outrage . and to all these our commands we expect a strict obedience of all our subjects whom it may concern , as they will answer the contrary at their uttermost perill . and being thus carefull that by this our necessary service , our subjects should not in any degree suffer or be wronged , so we do expect and require , that all our sheriffes , iustices of peace , majors , bayliffes , and all other our officers and subjects , should use their best endeavours as there shall be occasion for the assistance and convenient supplies of our said officers , and souldiers , with such things as shall be necessary and fit for them , at reasonable rates and prices . given at our court at york the tenth day of august , in the eighteenth yeer of our reign . 1642. august 15th god save the king . ¶ imprinted at london by robert barker , printer to the kings most 〈…〉 prudential reasons for repealing the penal laws against all recusants and for a general toleration penn'd by a protestant person of quality. burthogge, richard, 1638?-ca. 1700. 1687 approx. 25 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a30635 wing b6155 estc r4360 13679334 ocm 13679334 101281 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a30635) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101281) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 839:21) prudential reasons for repealing the penal laws against all recusants and for a general toleration penn'd by a protestant person of quality. burthogge, richard, 1638?-ca. 1700. [4], 11 p. printed for matthew turner ..., london : 1687. written by richard burthogge. cf. dnb. "published by authority. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dissenters, religious -legal status, laws, etc. -england -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. 2003-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-03 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion prudential reasons for repealing the penal laws against all recusants , and for a general toleration , penn'd by a protestant person of quality . published by authority . london , printed for matthew turner at the lamb in high holborn . 1687. reader , you will admire perhaps at first the confidence of this person , who never was of the council , be sure , nor is of the parliament , that he should make so bold as to endeavour to shew the interests of all parties , and ev'n those of the king and of the country . but you will have cause to cease your admiration , if you consider , that the interests of the parties do not lie so deep under ground as is thought ; and that if men do not see them , it is not because they cannot , but because they will not ; not because the object is hid , but because their eyes ( with which they must see it ) are mop't in passions and prejudices . the author pretends to see no more , than every body else may , provided , that he will wipe his eyes , and be as impartial and as unprejudic'd as he. as for the king , whom god long preserve ; thanks be to god , he has a clearer prospect of his own and of his kingdoms interest , in the matters debated , than any his royal predecessors had ; and he pursues it too with that conduct and that vigor which corresponds with the miracles that preserv'd the crown for him , and also him , both for the crown , and for a glory greater than that of wearing crowns , to wit , to be the restorer of religion to liberty and freedom of exercise . prudential reasons for repealing the penal laws against all recusants , and for a general toleration . 1. christian religion and civil government are things so different , as in their originals , so in their natures ; and ordain'd for ends so different , ( the former being divine and spiritual , and ordain'd to be a means to mens eternal felicity ; the latter , human and secular , and appointed for their temporal welfare ) that in themselves , and absolutely taken , they are nothing a kin , and of no relation one to another . wherefore civil government ( as such ) cannot be oblig'd to concern it self in the business of religion , or to incorporate any , any further than as politic and secular respects do ingage it , that is , any further than as a concernment of religion may become a matter of state , and be for the quiet , safety , strength and support , and so do's make for the ends and the interest of the government . now it is for the interest , quiet , strength and safety of every government to give as much contentment , and to make it self as easie as is possible unto all its subjects , but especially in matters of conscience ; which , as they have the greatest ascendent over the minds of men , so the gratifications and displeasures that have reference to these , of all others do most deeply affect them . and therefore it is against the interest , the quiet , the strength and the safety of government to espouse religion ( in any mode thereof ) so as to establish it by law any further , or in any other manner than as may consist with the general liking , and give content unto all in reason ; for reason at last will rule , and over-rule both passions and prejudices . statebigottry ( in any religion ) cannot be for the interest of government . 2. but to circumscribe my self within a nearer compass . all the sanguinary and burthensome laws relating to religion , that from time to time have been enacted by our english parliaments , against either popish or other recusants ; they were all made in a passion of state , and only to humour the times , as might be prov'd by induction of all the particulars . and therefore as things of that production always have , so even these have something in them of violent , inequitable and extravagant , and of unfit and inconvenient at least for times of peace and tranquility : so that to repeal them , must needs be an act of moderation , clemency and justice , and of politic prudence and wisdom . 3. besides , the penal laws did never answer the ends and designs for which they were intended ; but instead of securing good order , quiet , peace and tranquility to the government , they too often prov'd a matter of embroylment and disturbance unto it ; and have been the handles which upon all occasions , ambitious , factious , discontented men have taken hold of , and have used to wind about the people , and make a property of them to serve their ill designs and intentions . 1. the penal laws never answered or effected their ends. queen elizabeth on several occasions , in several parliaments , gave life and birth to laws of extream severity , not only against the roman catholic , but also the puritan recusant ; but against both to little effect ; for notwithstanding all that severity , popery was not extirpated , and nonconformity grew and spread ; it is true , the less observedly , but not the less dangerously for that it grew in secret , and that it was not observed . king james succeeding queen elizabeth would needs be her successor as to her methods of prudence as well as to her crown , and in the same method was met with the same success : papists were more sharpned , and puritans spred more ; the severities of the law increasing only the number of enemies , without establishing the quiet , repose and peace of the government . when laws are enemies to any men , to be sure , say they what they will , and swear what they will , those men will be enemies to the laws . ay! the very being of the penal laws without a perpetual execution of them do's make enemies . for men will always hate what they always fear ; and the laws ( if in being ) are always feared , because if they do not strike always , yet they may strike , and no body knows how soon they will : which minds me of the second point . 2. that the penal laws have often ministred matter of disturbance and imbroylment to the government ; to evidence which we need not to go back to far remote and distant times , but may keep within our own horizon and ken , and yet have examples enough , and plain enough . when king charles the first , for certain reasons of state , had remitted the execution of the severity of the laws against roman catholics , and for other reasons permitted some severities to be used by the clergy for the suppressing of puritans ; occasion is taken hence for making complaints upon both hands ; to wit , of the non-execution of the laws against the roman-catholics , and of a too severe execution against puritans . popery ( the cry is ) is favored , and true-protestant religion , under pretence of puritanism and non-conformity , ( is ) discouraged and even undermin'd : at last out comes the popish royal favorite , and on comes war and confusion . 3. to come nearer yet ; when charles the second after a long experience of the unfitness and inefficacy of forcible courses for setling the repose of state , ( the which he had wisely observed ) found cause to emit his gracious declaration of liberty and indulgence , to quiet the minds of his subjects , that he might have peace at home , while he was making war abroad : presently the alarm is sounded , the church is in danger , an inundation of fanatics worse than that of the gothes and vandals , is like to run over all , and currat lex is the word , and this too , by men that would be thought to valew themselves on the doctrin of non-resistance . again , when by intercession of parliament and from other considerations , he was induc'd to revoke his declaration ( from which moment he might have dated the beginning of all the stirs , and all the imbroylments that followed ) in a little time , the fanatics being sufficiently mortify'd , up goes another cry ( god wot ) of the growth of popery , in which ( without doubt ) the fanatics did heartily joyn , both out of a sense of revenge , and from that of their interest . after this came plots upon plots , and difficulty upon difficulty , to the certain danger , and almost as certain ruin and destruction of the government . of such advantage are the penal laws to the safety , quiet , and repose of the state ! indeed while these are in being , there can never want pretexts , upon one hand or the other , quiet a movendi , to make complaints of ; as , either of too much severity , if they are executed , or else of too much remisness , if they are not . away then with these two-handed tools of contention and faction . 4. i may add , that severities , especially in matters of religion , are so contrary to the complexion and temper of our nation , which both by nature and by the frame of our government , in the fundamental constitutions of it , are much more mild and gentle than most others , that the very authors and promoters of the sanguinary and burthensom laws , in a little time , and when the heat was over , grew weary and remiss themselves in executing of them . fuller tells us , in his ecclesiastical history , cent . 16. that when these statutes ( he speaks particularly of that in the twenty third of elizabeth , against jesuits , &c. ) were first in the state and magisteriality thereof , they were severely put in practise on such offenders as they first lighted on . but some years after , the queen and her judges grew remiss in the execution thereof ; witness the only confining of many of ' them to wisbich castle . and in king james's days , this dormant law against jesuits only awaked some once in four or five years ( to shew the world that it was not dead ) and then fairly fell asleep again , being very sparingly put in execution , against some notorious offenders . thus he . 5. and if we consider this subject in a larger circle , and speculate upon it exactly , the prudentialness of what i have propos'd , and have hitherto argued , will appear the brighter . opinions then , and practices in matters of religion are either plausible and popular , or of a nature not so apt to take with the people . if opinions and practices are not plausible and popular , but of a nature unapt to take with the people , in that case there is no need of laws to suppress them , because no danger of them , they will expire of themselves ; laws against them , will but give them credit and reputation , and perpetuate their memory ; to despise and neglect is to extinguish and stifle them . it is true , when opinions and practices are plausible and popular , are well nick'd , and are apt to infect , and take with the people , but yet have not as yet infected them and spread among them , all things being as yet still and quiet , in that case the quickest and severest remedies seem the best , because they eradicate . and thus while the reformation was circumscribed in the breast of one only luther , if friar hogostrate's counsel ( indeed an achitophel's ) of applying chains , and fire , and flame , as the only proper remedy , had been follow'd , that course ( 't is very probable ) would have for ever prevented it . but god had better things in reserve . and this method even queen elizabeth follow'd as to the dutch anabaptists that came over hither : she burnt two , and banish'd all the rest that would not recant : which proceeding , according to the rules of policy , was certainly good ; but how equitable it was , and how christian , i leave to others to judge . but after that opinions and practices have gotten roots in the minds of men , that they have spread among the people , and are entertain'd with applause , so that there are some persons who think it to be a concern of salvation to them to propagate , and others that think it no less a concern of theirs to receive them ; in this case ( and this is ours ) the severity of laws , if executed , ( and laws without execution are scare-crows , seen and despised ) do's only hinder the open profession , but not the belief and secret practice : may repel the humors , and make them eager and virulent , and consequently encrease the danger ; but do's not expel or alter them . thus the body politic becomes replenish'd with malignities , and then any jogging and stirring of state endangers it ; whereof one day our neighbour kingdom of france may have a dangerous experience . and certainly even at this time some of our own church , who lately proceeded to so great extremities against dissenters , and thought by that proceeding to have got an absolute victory , begin to fear it ; and should his majesty please to grant his indulgence by proclamation , and under the seal , i believe they would find it a great truth , that severity and persecution may make conformists , but not converts : however the observation is not new . the burning of men and women like torches in queen mary's days , tho' it had this effect , that it produc'd an universal external conformity to the roman-catholic rites , yet seeing those fires did only heat the humors of the men , they did not burn without illuminating their minds ; no sooner was occasion presented , as , by the descent of the crown on queen elizabeth , it was not long after , but the ineffectualness , folly , and weakness of that proceeding appeared ; for the people , no more than the clergy ( generally speaking ) were now no longer what they seem'd before . again , the condemnation of udal , and execution of barrow and others , ( who were hang'd as felons ) for non-conformity in queen elizabeth's time , had no better effect , as the consequence shew'd ; for notwithstanding that severity , puritanism grew in her time as protestantism did in queen mary's , and possibly the faster for that severity . of this king james the first was fully convinc'd ( at last ) by the burning of legate and weightman ( for the writ de haeretico comburendo has done jobs for others , more than once , as well as for roman-catholics ) he finding by that experiment of fire ordeal , the truth of this observation , that severe executions in matters of religion , even when the opinions are but speculative and not apt to take , do ordinarily more hurt than good . the observation fuller has made of the success of those executions in king james's time , deserves that we should put our finger upon it . god may seem ( says he in his ecclesiast . history cent. 17. sect. 4. ) well pleas'd with this seasonable severity , for the fire thus kindled , quickly went out for want of fewel , i mean , there was none ever after that avowed these heretical doctrines , only a spanish arian , who condemn'd to die , was notwithstanding suffered to linger out his life in newgate , where he ended the same . indeed such burning of heretics much startled common people , pitying all in pain , and prone to asperse iustice it self with cruelty , because of the novelty and hideousness of the punishment . and the purblind eyes of vulgar judgments looked only on what was next to them ( the suffering it self ) which they beheld with compassion , not minding the demerit of the guilt which deserved the same . besides such being unable to distinguish betwixt constancy and obstinacy , were ready to entertain good thoughts even of the opinions of those heretics , who sealed them so manfully with their blood. wherefore king james politicly preferr'd , that heretics hereafter , tho' condemn'd , should silently and privately waste themselves away in the prison , rather than to grace them and amuse others with the solemnity of a public execution , which in popular judgment usurped the honor of a persecution . thus he . but to return . the only proper method then , in case religious perswasions have taken root , and are so largely diffus'd among the people that they cannot be eradicated but by barbarous cruelty , and with extream scandal , as by massacres and assassinates ; i say , the only proper method in this case is that which is lenitive , the method of toleration and indulgence , but with due regulations . for in this method , altho' recusants are permitted to continue such still as to the church , yet they cannot but become entirely the friends of the state , which by giving them such reasonable satisfaction , do's as well deprive them of just occasions of complaint , as take away from the multitude all occasions of compassion and pity . and in this state of things should any recusants be still contriving and intriguing it will be manifest ( to all ) that it is not conscience , but a lust of power and rule that acts them , the very suspition of which will lose them the people ; so that they may be punish'd by the hand of justice , not only without murmur , but even with general applause . tho' many will hear them that say , we preach our selves your servants for christs sake , but few will indure such as shall say ( but in effect ) we preach our selves your lords , and you our servants , for our own sakes . it may be added , that restraint doth whet the appetite , and therefore that indulgence and liberty will abate it : men will not care so much to hear recusants , when they are not restrain'd from hearing them . prudential reasons for repealing the penal laws against the roman-catholics particularly . 1. first , that his majesty having profess'd himself of the roman-catholic perswasion , it is but a just expectation , not only in those of his own profession , but in all the world , that he should procure a legal freedom of exercise for that religion ; which should he be unable to effect with the consent of his people in parliament , it would much obscure and eclipse the glory of his character abroad , it being impossible that he should appear as a king of great figure to the world abroad , if he shall appear to make ( as then he will ) but a little one at home : whereas it is for the interest and safety , as well as for the honor of the kingdom , that the king should make as great , and as illustrious a figure abroad as is possible , seeing the strength and power of the kingdom ( the reputation of which is its safety ) appears not to the world but in the greatness of the king , and in his power with his people . 2. a continuation of the penal laws against roman-catholics , when the king professes himself to be one , must needs have a particular ill reflection upon him even in other respects . for who can think or say of catholics , that they are so criminal and ill a sort of men , and of principles so very bad , that the utmost severity against them is but little enough ; but withal he must abate of regard and veneration for the king , who acknowledges himself a roman-catholic ? which how it can consist with that proportion of duty , love , and allegiance that we owe unto him as our sovereign lord , is too hard a point for me to conceive . 3. i am very confident , that many examples ( if any ) can't be given in all history , of governments in which the prince was of a religion , the exercise whereof himself did punish in his subjects , by his laws and judges ; and indeed it cannot be but a solecism in state to admit it . for , that a king should punish in others , what yet he publicly avows and owns and approves in himself , is very odd , and a self-condemnation . i know the case of sigismond the third , king of poland and king of sweden ; but i suppose it will not be urg'd as an instance against me . prudential reasons for tolerating other recusants , as well as , and together with , the roman-catholics . 1. not to give a toleration and indulgence unto protestant recusants , when it is given to roman-catholics ( if at any time it shall be given ) , would make the toleration of these , how just soever , to become invidious , and a subject of clamor and general scandal , and so a matter of disquiet and trouble to the government . 2. ay! and the roman-catholics cannot hope to hold and enjoy a toleration that should be giv'n them by act of parliament , if other recusants be not also joyn'd with them therein , longer than they may be sure of a toleration without such an act , only by the royal prerogative and clemency : whereas if the toleration is general , and all recusants , as well the protestant as roman-catholic , equally comprehended in the grant thereof , in one act , and upon one bottom , a consideration of the quality , the number , and the interests of the parties so joyn'd together in the liberty , will secure the possession of it in future : for , then , it will not be wisdom to go about to disturb it . 3. trade is the interest of england , and liberty of conscience the interest of trade ; it being beyond dispute to all considering men , that the body of the industrious trading part of the nation are either themselves dissenters , or favourers of those that are ( such . ) and it is as evident , that trade , which , before , lay ev'n gasping for life , since his majesties gracious intentions are known to lean towards liberty of conscience , and that he has extended his dispensations from the penal laws in matters of religion , is recover'd to a wonder , and grown brisk and quick , and that too so much to general satisfaction , that we hear no more now , as before , the idle stories of prophecies , prodigies , complaints , and murmurs , ( those certain symptoms of a diseas'd and crazy state ) but all is quiet and still . 4. it is for the interest of those that do profess themselves the true sons of the church of england as by law establish'd , if really they are lovers of the reformation , more than of their passions and humors , that all recusants , as well the protestant as the roman-catholic , should be equal sharers in the grant of liberty , if any is made . for seeing it is impossible that these two should agree but in things in which their interest joyns them , and as impossible that it should be the interest of either one of these ( any more than it can be the kingdoms ) to suffer the other to get uppermost , one of them will always ballance the other , and consequently both must be contented with liberty , without aspiring to power and rule . and thus the church will always remain undisturbed as well as the state. 5. but if the church of england will have security in the possession of the establishment they have , or may have , by law , upon their own bottom , without the assistance of ballancing and policy to support it , they must resolve to enlarge that bottom , ( which indeed is their true interest ) by parting with things to them indifferent , but not indifferent to others . for if some men resolve to be always stiff and inflexible , and not to condescend in the least to any abatements , for the love of peace and of unity , one may adventure to foretel , without pretending to prophecy , that sooner or later , they will find themselves in his folly , who rather than cast the worst of the loading over-board to save the ship , will sink with it . 6. to conclude , it is certainly for the interest of the royal family , as well as for the kingdoms interest , that such a settlement should be well deliberated , and be surely establish'd , as to the business of religion ; that whether the crown hereafter shall descend on the head of a roman-catholic , or of a protestant , ( for it may again ( as has already ) sometimes descend upon the one , and sometimes upon the other ) that that descent should make no change and alteration in the law , or the state of things in the government . preventive wisdom is the best wisdom ; and such a settlement will prevent convulsions and difficulties , which ( else ) on every demise of the crown , the state will be subject unto . but such a settlement , i doubt , can never be effected without resolving that the religion already establish'd , shall be the religion of the state ; and that those who dissent from it , shall yet have toleration and indulgence , but under due regulations and qualifications . for my own part , i admire the world is so fond of uniformity in the externals of religion , that in most things else prefers convenience before it. the world it self is elemented of contraries , diversly proportion'd , and the variety in it , is , of the being , and for the beauty and the ornament of it . finis . a discourse, prepared for the ears of some romanists (at a general quarter sessions, in the north, when they were summon'd to take the oaths.) by sr. christopher wyvill baronet, one of his majesties justices of the peace in those parts: and now profered to the eyes of them all wyvill, christopher, sir, 1614-1672?. 1679 approx. 20 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a67231 wing w3782b estc r204134 99825317 99825317 29697 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a67231) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 29697) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2105:22) a discourse, prepared for the ears of some romanists (at a general quarter sessions, in the north, when they were summon'd to take the oaths.) by sr. christopher wyvill baronet, one of his majesties justices of the peace in those parts: and now profered to the eyes of them all wyvill, christopher, sir, 1614-1672?. 14 p. printed by stephen bulkley, and are to be sold by richard lambart bookseller, york : 1679. with a preliminary imprimatur leaf dated: aug. 29. 1679. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england -controversial literature -early works to 1800. popes -temporal power -early works to 1800. popish plot, 1678 -early works to 1800. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-07 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a discourse , prepared for the ears of some romanists ( at a general quarter sessions , in the north , when they were summon'd to take the oaths . ) by sr. christopher wyvill baronet , one of his majesties justices of the peace in those parts : and now profered to the eyes of them all york . printed by stephen bulkley , and are to be sold by richard lambart bookseller , 1679. imprimatur , robert feild . aug. 29. 1679. a discourse , prepared for the eears of some romanists , &c. i am not onely sorry and troubled , but afflicted , to see so many persons standing there , who ( could they but quit themselves of one or two needless scruples , pardon me gentlemen , if i use that term ) were fit to sit here and mannage the affaires of the country . realy , i would not wish any of you ( upon the meer accompt either of your purses or persons ) to turn your backs of one fundamentall doctrine , that appears such , upon a serious and impartial enquirie ; but even in consideration of those your temporal concerns , you may have just occasion , to review your notions , and after due search easily find . 1. that that sort of supremacie which the laws require , on the behalfe of our kings , doe's no way violate , or invade the priestly function . 2. that that sort of supremacie , which the pope now clayms , was vtterly unknown to the primitive church ; and is neither consistent with , nor at all becoming the priestly function . 3. that this sort of supremacie has stragled , in the world , to the cost of many crowned-heads , and the destruction of numberless christian people . 4. that this sort of supremacie was ( first ) founded in bloud , and so fostered ever since ; having been formerly , and formally ( in direct , plain words ) declared against , both by a council , and a pope . 5. that the chief and most celebrated authors , in the romish church have writ in defence of their exorbitant supremacie , after such a manner , as does rended it rational , yea necessary ( especially it being compared with their former known actings , and the posture of this day ) to keep on foot the old , and perhaps to make new laws , in prejudice of recusants . 1. that we may discover the truth , or falsehood of this proposition , it will be requisit to know distinctly , what the challinges of the king are . what he absolutely and freely disowns . he expects then to be custos uriusque tabulae ; this was no more then all the kings of iuda exercised ; and those of them that were most zealously active in the purging the temple , in the preserving , or restoring the true worship of god , ( as iosiah ) we find most commended , most celebrated in holy writ : we find too , ( to note that by the way ) they still called to the law , the written law , and to the testimonies , making them their rule . 2. chorn. 17th . iehosophat 29 hezekiah 34. iosiah , he expects further , that all the members of the church within his dominions , should be subject to his courts ; and clergie-men , as well others , ( in case of notorious crimes ) tryable there . he expects to nominate , appoint , and call to any spiritual preferments , what persons he please , without the interposition of any forraign power , or potentate : this is no more then every patron of a parish-church looks at , as his own right . the whole of this is no more , then elutherius , bishop of rome , declared to be in lucius king of brittain , when he sent to him to desire , not his leave , but advice , in the resetling a christian church ; for the gospel had been both preached and owned here before ; and without any help from rome ; tho , at that time sadly over-run again with paganisme . but now negatively , let us see what the king pretends not to ; not the conferring of orders ; not administration of sacraments ; not to preach the word ; not ( of himself ) to define articles of faith ; and herein , both the preamble of the statute , and the injunctions which were afterwards purposely framed , ( to satisfie such as seem'd to mistake the point ) are so plain , that it 's a wonder how a considering man , can have any religious fear or scruple about it . these together , are such an innocent kind of supremacie , so just and so frequently exercised by christian emperors , and kings of england , ( even all that had any thing of judgement , spirit , or good fortune ) as certainly none that has lookt at all into historie only , will deny his prince . 2. doubtless if our blessed lord had meant , that this prodigious sort of supremacie ( joyned with a never failing infallibilitie ) should ever have been the main article of our faith , he would not have answered his inquisitive disciples so unsatisfactorily , as he he did ; mark 9.34 , 35. ver . nor would he have left the world without a clear direction , in a matter of so vast concernment ( to all it 's future generations ) now that he did not so , is evident , since st. paul when he sadly foretold the church , how , after his departure , grievous wolves should enter in ; and amongst them , many should arise speaking perverse things ; advises them not , to make their addresses to any one that should ( then ) happen to be bishop of rome ; but commends them to the word of gods grace , to be built up thereby : as we read acts. 20.29 , 30 , 31 , 32. a shrewd signe , that the apostle did not understand tu es petrus in the popish sence ; nor in that other place , which has a minatorie exhortation to rome ( as well as to other gentile churches ) least she also might be cut off , romans 11.18 , 19 , 20 , 21. ver . what think you , would all the eastern bishops have stood out so vigorously , and so long ( in that controversie about the celebration of easter ) if it had ever been received as a standing rule , that your vniversal monarch , in the west , was gods plenepotentiarie , in all causes ecclesiastical . would the third councill of carthage ( wherein st. augustine was present ) have past a decree , that none should be stiled head , or prince of priests ? would the great gregory ( even when he sat in the pontifical chaire ) have pronounced such a pretender the forerunner of anti-christ . even st. peter ( from whom you seek to derive it ) demonstrates , that he neither had , nor desired any such lordship , or superiority , 1 peter 5.2 , 3. would heirome have said , pari omnes , inter se authoritate fuisse apostolos ? would ambrose have slipt so , as to have writ , non habent haereditatem petri , qui fidem petri non habent ? would b●sil have assigned to alexandria , and antioch , a better title to the succession of peter ? would he , and so many other old fathers , have blamed , chid , derided ; nay , even contemned the bishop of romes pride , if all the world had been obliged to be led by the nose , what way he should please ? 3.4 . it is in vain then to seek after the sort of supremacie , now contended for during the first six hundred years ; but i shall presently lead you it's rise : and that leaning upon the authorities of such authors , as you will not refuse to call your own ; know then , that not halfe an age after gregory was gone off this stage : a certain man that went by the name of boniface had a mind to be paramount in the church , and there ( luckily ) fell out to be at the same time , a person of great power , who long'd to be emperor ; these two , struck a bargain ; mauritius ( the rightfull master of them both ) together with his whole family , cruelly was murder'd : ph●cas got the scepter ; and boniface was by him constituted universall bishop : from hence , all men must date the original of this fatal supremacie ; fatal , i say , because it has been so fruitfull , and teeming in slaughters , rebellions , ( you must bear with the term , since matter of fact , in almost every age bears testimonie thereof ) and massacres . it was indeed a fine cast of this new office , which anno 747. was given to chilpric ( the last of the first royal house in france ) by the then pope zacharie ; poor chilpric was an unactive , easie creature , and therefore must be sent into a monasterie ( where you may suppose , he lived not long after . ) but pepin was a brave young blade , and zacharie stood need of such an one : he presently absolves him from his sworne allegiance , and mounts him up to the throne . but tush ! this was nothing to the freaks ; the subsequent holinesses play'd all the empire , ( nay well-nigh ) all europe over , by pulling , yea kicking off crowns ( anno 1080 , gregorie the 7th . by arming subjects ( yes sonns ) against their princes ( anno 1110. paschal second . ) the two last henry's of paris felt the weight of the two swords , which the pope clayms as his own , though they fell but by two sorry knives in the hands of two wretches , but both disciples of the iesuits ; and all to make room for this monstrous supremacie ; at the cost , not only of albigences , waldenses , hussites , ( and such as they will call hereticks ) but even of their own children , who mistook that stepdame of rome for their true mother . t is true , st. ambrose ( pretty , early when the discipline of the primitive church was yet in it's right state and just vigor ) did stave off the hands of the emperor , from touching the sacred elements , when he found them polluted with it innocent blood . but , i beseech you consider ( for this very perticular may serve to rectifie your judgements . ) 1. what he was . 2. how far he proceeded . he was bishop of millaine , a place alwayes reckoned in the territories of italy ; not bishop of rome : nor acting by any authority derived from thence . he went no farther then the episcopal power would bear him out : he kept him from the holy communion ; but he did not dethrone him : he did not absolve his subjects from their allegiance : he did not give away his dominions , to any that could catch them . that these things were acted in the face of the sun , plaetina , baronius , guiccardin de serres , with i know not how many more , are uncontroulable witnesses . let honest mathew paris ( the monk of saint albans ) tell you , how common it was for every priest , prelate , or fryar , transalpinare , to hite away to rome , and bring back with them an interdict , ( or not unfrequentedly , an excommunication ) against the king , and whole kingdom of england . but let him tell you too , how often the legate ( a later ) and other domineering , extorting agents from that proud see , have been kept on the further side of the dike , and not suffered transfretare , unless upon such terms , as our governours would admit of , and prescribe , notwithstanding all the power they pretended , or produced from his holiness . 5. as to this last charge ( wherein much of the present occasion seems to lie ) whether your church in her head , in her members , in her decretalls , in her canon-law , in some of her approved councills , have not made such declarations as must warn ( nay compel ) all princes and states , to make defensive laws against such encroachments ? doe but ( i beseech you ) peruse what the present right reverend bishop of lincoln has both candidly , and charitably , offered you : i shall content my self with instancing in a few ; let the language of clement the eights brevis ( when queen elizabeth had ( now ) one foot in the grave ) be first heard ; he strictly ( therein ) forbids all his catholicks to suffer any to succeed ( how near soever in bloud , or right ) unless such as should preingage to become a vassal to this romish church . and ( to see the luck of a thing ) these breves were directed to the hand of one henry garnet ; who , not long after , was found to have , more then a finger , in the powder-plot : with one arm he would have kept king iames from ; with the other , he would have blown him out of his three kingdoms . next , be pleased to consult bellermine ( who was made , in his time , and i think esteemed so ever since , but a little lower then the very pope . ) ask him , how we can be assured that his catholicks will prove good subjects ? his answer is legible ( lib. 1. de clericis ) they stand not bound to the laws of any prince coactively ; but directively onely ? ask him further , what if they will not be directed , but tread those laws under their feet ? yet ( says he , with the same front , and truth ) they may by no means receive punishment , by any secular magistrate , nor at all be brought before his trybunal . but what if they should chance ( and what has been may be ) to be found ingaged in treason ? the words of zimanca ( in his aphorismes , de confessione ) are positive , a clerks rebellion is not treason ; for he is not subject to the king : this is pretty well for the clergy , the notion being extended ( as they intend it ) to all their several orders of monks and fryars . but what say they to the laity ? take the summ of the whole matter from creswell , who , in pure love ( no doubt ) to his country-men , gives this forraign advice ; it is an undoubted point of faith ( says he ) that any christian prince whatsoever , if he have manifestly swarved from the catholick faith , and would draw others to do so , falls immediately from his power , and dignity ; and that , even before the pope have given sentence , his subjects may , and ought , if they have power , to remove him : ( andr ' . philopat ' . page 109. edit . 1592. ) it were no hard task , here to rake together , more then a good many of such dictates as these , from men of this stamp , whose works have been licensed , approved , printed , reprinted , and generally sold through all popish countries without contradiction ; and in this case , it may well be said , qui malum non prohibet , cum prohibere potest , perpetrat . 't is true , mariana's shameful book , was once at a crittical season ( for fear of a worse clap ) censured at paris ; but it was never so at rome : and i doe verily doubt the common doctrine of the iesuites ( with their adhaerents ) will be found , that the strongest knots , of promises , oaths , or vows , made for fidelity to temporal princes , may be cut asunder by their spiritual alexander , who ( unjustly ) would usurpe both the swords ; and ( perhaps ) is sorry he hath not more worlds to conquer . suffer me now , for a conclusion , and to abate a little the surprise you may be in , at the severities , at present , exercised towards you , ( though the late proclamations , as well as the statutes , must needs quit us from any blame in that behalf ) to remind you of one or two things , in which i have proof , more then abundant ; and of which , some ( yet living ) can give testimony . 't is confest , some of you gave signal , and very brave assistances to our late soveraign charles the first , in those unhappy warrs , ( upon what accompt , or motive , let it be decided at the last day ; ) but , that the whole body of romanists , could have been content to have sat down under a very bramble , in stead of the true oake , was manifest from the addresses pretended to come from them all ; wherein the catholick gentleman ( in a book publish't presently after anno 1652. or thereabout , with a great many arguments for his favour ) tells oliver , they had generally taken , and punctually kept the engagement : ( in that page , towards the latter end ; which , in that i have , is mark't 41. but should be 127. ) next , it would make one admire , how ( after the good services mr. huddleston , the honest pendrills &c. had done his present majesty ) the irish , of the same communion , and creed , could be perswaded to lay aside , their own commendable purposes . the natives of that kingdom were ( most of them ) upon the accompt of the bloudy insurrection , anno 1641. under the call , and subject to grievous paenalties at his majesties restauration : but he , according to his princely clemency , required them , onely to let him have new tests of their future loyalty , under the obligation of those oaths , you now stick at : he was pleased to allow them ( since they seem'd willing to the thing , but onely were dissatisfied in certain expressions , and those formes were not establish't in ireland ) after consultation with their own priests , to offer him , what might be equivalent thereto : they did so , and after some time , shew'd it to the king : he was willing to accept it , according to that draught : but one of the popes best be-trusts , then at bruxells , hastens ( in that nick of time ) to school them better ; and they neither durst ( it seems ) nor would proceed further in that business : and what use then ) can a through paced roman catholick make of his own conscience ? if , after such means , being arrived at settlement , he must yet throw away all , and implicitly give up his faith , to the most imperiously politick dictates , of an old ( perhaps ) doting mortal-man . and , now sirs , methinks i hear you say , what i have heard some of you say often ( and i verily think sincerely . ) 1. that you are wholly ignorant ( which is , in this case , the best sort of innocency ) of any design against his majesties person , or government . 2. that , if the pope himself should invade this land , and warr against the king , you would fight under the royal banner , and endeavour to cut his throat as soon as any mans . 3. that it 's a sad thing , if a few hare-brain'd fellows have imbarked in a desperate action , the whole communion ( though innocent ) should be involved in the suffering part . as to the two first , i can say little , but this : if i were a papist ( and durst consider the true state of things , and the wilde expectation of the roman see in these matters ) i should not know , how to make my due obedience to my soveraign , and my necessary submission to the pope's commands , lodge in one breast ? and for the last , i doe concurr with you . 't is , indeed , a very sad thing ; but ( gentlemen ) if you will not do it your selves , who can distinguish you ? what i have now said , i have said with clear intentions , with an ardent desire to serve you ; and after a long dilligent search ( to which no man living could be more engaged then my self . ) if any of you desire a farther discussion of things here briefly touched ( either in order to clearer satisfaction , or with a design of opposition ) they shall at any opportunitie command it , from yours , c. w. by the protector. a proclamation commanding all papists and all other persons, who have been of the late kings party or his sons, to depart out of the cities of london and westminster, and late lines of communication, on or before munday the 8. of march, one thousand six hundred fifty seven. england and wales. lord protector (1653-1658 : o. cromwell) this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a80970 of text r212149 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.20[72]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a80970 wing c7139 thomason 669.f.20[72] estc r212149 99870796 99870796 163488 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a80970) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 163488) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 247:669f20[72]) by the protector. a proclamation commanding all papists and all other persons, who have been of the late kings party or his sons, to depart out of the cities of london and westminster, and late lines of communication, on or before munday the 8. of march, one thousand six hundred fifty seven. england and wales. lord protector (1653-1658 : o. cromwell) cromwell, oliver, 1599-1658. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by henry hills and john field, printers to his highness, london : 1657 [i.e. 1658] dated at end: given at our palace of westminster the 27th day of february, in the year of our lord, 1657. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng exile (punishment) -england -london -early works to 1800. catholics -england -london -early works to 1800. royalists -england -london -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1649-1660 -early works to 1800. a80970 r212149 (thomason 669.f.20[72]). civilwar no by the protector. a proclamation commanding all papists and all other persons, who have been of the late kings party or his sons, to depart england and wales. lord protector 1658 1008 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-11 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion commonwealth blazon or coat of arms olivarivs dei gra : reipvb : angliae , scotiae , et hiberniae , &c protector pax qvaeritvr bello . ❧ by the protector . a proclamation commanding all papists and all other persons , who have been of the late kings party or his sons , to depart out of the cities of london and westminster , and late lines of communication , on or before munday the 8. of march , one thousand six hundred fifty seven . his highness the lord protector being informed of the frequent meeting of divers papists and other ill-affected persons ( who have born arms against this common-wealth , or otherwise adhered to the enemies in the late wars ) in , and about the cities of london and westminster , and the places adjacent , and having received of late certain intelligence of designes now on foot , and endeavoured to be carried on by correspondencies with the king of spain , and with charls stuart , and their agents and complices , and judging it necessary to use all means for preserving of the peace of the nation , and to prevent the mischiefs which may arise by such designes , doth ( by , and with the advice of his privy council ) straitly charge and command all papists , and all other persons , who have been at any time in arms against the commonwealth , or have adhered unto , or willingly assisted the enemies thereof in the time of the late war , being within the cities of london and westminster , or the late lines of communication , and not under restraint , on or before the eighth day of march now next coming , ( or if under restraint , then within three daies after their respective enlargement ) to depart out of the said cities of london and westminster , and late lines of communication , and all other places within twenty miles of the said late lines , unless it be their places of habitation for themselves and their families , and not to return until the first day of easter term next : and his highness doth require and command the lord mayor of the city of london , and the aldermen of the said city , and likewise the iustices of the peace within the said cities , and of the several counties of middlesex , surrey , hertford , kent and essex , within their limits and iurisdictions , to cause strict wards and watches to be kept , and to make frequent and diligent searches for , and to apprehend , or cause to be apprehended , all such persons aforesaid , which shall be found within the said cities , places , or distance aforesaid , after the time or times before limited for their departure , and them and every of them to commit to prison , and from time to time to certifie their proceedings therein , to his highness council , under their hands and seals . and all sheriffs , bayliffs , constables , all captains of guards , officers and souldiers , and all other the good people of this commonwealth , are required to be aiding and assisting to the said iustices of the peace , and other officers aforesaid , in the due execution of the premisses , as they will answer the contrary at their utmost perils . and for the better discovery of all papists , and ill affected persons which now are , or during the time aforesaid , shall resort unto the said cities of london and westminster , or places within the late lines of communication , his highness , by , and with the advice of his said privy council , doth charge and require all and every housholder and housholders , within the said cities and places aforesaid , on or before the tenth day of march now next coming , to deliver in writing under their hands unto the alderman of the ward , if such housholder live within the city of london , or to the next iustice of the peace , a perfect list of the names of all persons now lodging within the house of such housholder , together with their additions ; and if they are papists , to mention the same in such list , and so from time to time within four and twenty hours after the receiving of any person to lodge in his or their house and houses , to deliver in the names of such person and persons in manner aforesaid , to such alderman or next iustice of the peace : and the aldermen of the respective wards within the said city of london , and the iustices of peace within the said city of westminster , and places within the late lines of communication , are required to take care that lists be accordingly sent in unto them from all and every housholder aforesaid , and to make enquiry of the truth of such lists : and all constables and other officers are enjoyned and required to observe the orders and directions of such alderman and iustice of peace respectively herein , and to yield obedience thereunto . and the said aldermen and iustices of the peace respectively , are hereby likewise required to transmit true copies of such lists unto the clerks of his highness council , or one of them : and his highness doth hereby declare , that all and every such housholder as shall make default of sending in such lists as aforesaid , or shall send in a false list , shall be taken and deemed an enemy to the peace and security of the commonwealth . given at our palace of westminster the 27th day of february , in the year of our lord , 1657. london , printed by henry hills and john field , printers to his highness , 1657. strange and bloody nevves from miniard, or, a bloodie massacre vpon five protestants by a company of papists meeting them as they were going to miniard to take ship for ireland : also how they first encountred them and how after some discourse upon religion cruelly mnrdered [sic] them : as also how they were taken and carryed to bristow castle with the copy of a letter found in one of their dublets directed to the bishop of canterbvrie / as it was credibly reported by a gentleman of good worth ... gentleman of good worth, being an eye-witness. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a61735 of text r1505 in the english short title catalog (wing s5814). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a61735 wing s5814 estc r1505 12626874 ocm 12626874 64669 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a61735) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 64669) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 249:e132, no 5) strange and bloody nevves from miniard, or, a bloodie massacre vpon five protestants by a company of papists meeting them as they were going to miniard to take ship for ireland : also how they first encountred them and how after some discourse upon religion cruelly mnrdered [sic] them : as also how they were taken and carryed to bristow castle with the copy of a letter found in one of their dublets directed to the bishop of canterbvrie / as it was credibly reported by a gentleman of good worth ... gentleman of good worth, being an eye-witness. [7] p. printed for iohn greensmith, london : 1642. "a copy of a letter sent to the bishop of canterbvry" p. [5] reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng catholics -england -history. great britain -history -stuarts, 1603-1714. a61735 r1505 (wing s5814). civilwar no strange and bloody nevves from miniard: or a bloodie massacre upon five protestants by a company of papists, meeting them as they were going gentleman of good worth 1642 1311 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 b the rate of 8 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-02 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-02 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion strange and bloody nevves from miniard : or a bloodie massacre vpon five protestants by a company of papists , meeting them as they were going to miniard to take ship for ireland . also how they first encountred them , and how after some discourse upon religion , cruelly murdered them . as also , how they were taken , and carryed to bristow castle , with the copy of a letter found in one of their dublets , directed to the bishop of canterbvrie . as it was credibly reported by a gentleman of good worth , being an eye-witness to the same , and by the swiftness of his horse , escaped their bloodie hands , london printed for iohn greensmith . 1642. cr bloody newes from miniard . five english protestants intending their journey for ireland , purposed to take ship at miniard , a place some 40. miles beyond the city of bristoll . after they had travelled above a hundred miles , with many a weary step , drawing nigh to miniard , even within sight of the town , though scarce to be discerned , in regard the day was spent , and now one houre within night , they met with a company of papists , to the number of fifteen , every man with a good sword by his side , and a good cudgell in his hand . at the sight of whom , they were somewhat apal'd : yet tooke some courage , in regard they were not far off the town , and thought that therefore they did not dare to offer them violence . but it fell out contrary to their expectation , for being met together , the event well shewed that they had some ground and just occasion of their feare . the first salutation was this , gentlemen well met , pray from whence came you , and to what place do you travell : we ask not for any harm we mean to you , but only are desirous to know . these were smooth words you will say . well , the poor men thought no hurt , for true charity will favourably conster all things : and therfore plainly told them that they came out of kent , and were going to miniard , and so they purposed ( if the wind served ) to go for ireland . to ireland , said they , why ? that is strange you would go thither , knowing the estate of the kingdome , how all are up in arms , and the protestants in fear to have their throats cut every hour ; and now seeing we know so much , we wil understand before we part of what religion you are ; for we promise you , we may well suspect that you are not right : for there is something in the wind that moves you to go for ireland , in a time so dangerous , and troublesome . if it be so , said the protestants we are not ashamed of our religion we are ( to tell you the truth ) protestants , and go not to side with the rebels , but to see some friends of ours in dublin . what do you say , said they , do you call the kings subjects rebels : by st. peter , you are some of those that would banish us papists out of england , but wee will bee even with you ere we part : and so drawing their swords fell upon them , and bloudily sheath'd them in each mans bowels , whilst they pittifully cryed out for mercy : but what mercy could be expected from men of bloud , whose hearts were as hard as adamant , and their minds as cruel as progne , who bloudily slew her own son . the murder done , a gentleman on horseback riding by , and seeing so pittifull an object , returned back to miniard in sight of the murderers , who would fain have taken him , if they could ; and so raised the country with all speed , who tooke them in a wood , as they were at their orisons on their beads . o how they looked then one upon another : what a sudden palenesse came into their faces . all their devotion was gone in a moment , and they readier to take them to their heels , then pray a minute longer ; knowing well enough , that it was but lost labour to implore the aid either of peter or paul . to be briefe , they were all carried to bristow , and upon examination confessed the deed , and so were worthily adjudged to bee hang'd in chains the next sessions , where we will leave them , and come to the copy of a letter which was found quilted in one of their doublets , not any of them knowing one word within it , else they would not so carefully have preserv'd it . a copy of a letter sent to the bishop of canterbvry . the contents vvhereof are vvorthie our attension . my lord , may it please your grace to accept these poore impolished lines of him that writes only of good will , earnestly wishing an emendation of life , and reformation of manners , then your graces confutation ; for it is the duty of every christian to imitate his creator , not to delight in the blood of any man , but to preserve it . but again ( my lord ) as it is the part of a man to supply the corporall wants of his indigent brother : so especially , he is bound to supply the defects of the mind , and to study the welfare of the better part of man , his precious soule , which after the first death in a moment , either ascends heaven , or descends hell . my lord , it must needs be a precious thing , when the whole world it self is not comparable to it . were but this seriously digested in the stomacke of a sound judgment , i beleeve the world like rocks and quick-sands would not so miserably shipwrack , such an infinit number of mens soules as it doth . your grace knowes that rebus secundis omnes feri elati sunt , i will not say that your grace is so ; but i would desire your grace to enter into a serious solilogue with your self , and to see whether it be so or no ; and if your grace for the honour of this world , and outward pomp and glory ▪ have not made shipwrack of your faith , and pleased man rather then god . no better time to bring a man home then that of affliction ; for whereas martyrs buy heaven , as ignato spake , with their blood , and others steale it with their good deeds through faith in christ only , ( as a learned father sometime said ) a man in affliction is compelled to it . my lord , remember manasses , how hee prayed in prison , do you likewise . and for the world and glory thereof , care not for it : remember that thrice noble emperor henry the 4th . when his crowne was taken from his head , saw nothing but his deus videat & judicet . let god see and judg . god grant us treasure in heaven , where no thiefe can approach . amen . finis . london printed for fr. coules , and t. bankes . 1641. the irish colours displayed in a reply of an english protestant to a late letter of an irish roman catholique : both address'd to his grace the duke of ormond ... orrery, roger boyle, earl of, 1621-1679. 1662 approx. 32 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 10 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53467 wing o485 estc r22100 12362905 ocm 12362905 60294 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53467) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60294) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 218:8) the irish colours displayed in a reply of an english protestant to a late letter of an irish roman catholique : both address'd to his grace the duke of ormond ... orrery, roger boyle, earl of, 1621-1679. [3], 17 p. [s.n.], london : 1662. attributed to roger boyle, earl of orrery. cf. nuc pre-1956; wing. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -ireland. ireland -history -17th century. 2002-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 john latta sampled and proofread 2003-05 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the irish colours displayed , in a reply of an english protestant to a late letter of an irish roman catholique . both address'd to his grace the duke of ormond lord lieutenant of his majesties kingdome of ireland . similis in prole resurgo . london , printed in the year , 1662. the irish colours displayed , in a reply of an english protestant to a late letter of an irish roman catholique . both address'd to his grace the duke of ormond lord lieutenant of his majesties kingdome of ireland . similis in prole resurgo . my lord , it was yesterday my chance to meet a letter newly printed , though pretended by the title to have been given your grace about the end of october 1660. [ desiring a just and merciful regard of the roman catholiques of ireland ] wherein though i confesse much is spoken and little said , yet because the author of it seems to have been both a bold man in setting your graces name to it , and a wise man in not setting his own , i thought it fit to be taken notice of , and shall follow his example in both , though ( i fear ) neither that nor his precepts in any thing else . the contention lying ( as it ever has done , and i fear ever will , ) between his majesties british protestant subjects , and his irish roman catholique in the kingdome of ireland , i imagin'd it would become us ill , who never refus'd to fight them in the field upon the extremest disadvantage , if we should now avoid to do it in the presse upon the greatest advantages , that the justice of our case , the mercy of our king , your graces patronage , and the favour of heaven express'd in all these circumstances can allow us ; and therefore since they have drawn so much of our blood , i shall never grudge them a little of our ink , being i confess well enough pleas'd to see us both now at length putting on the same colour , whereas for so long together the black has been ours , and the crimson theirs . the matter of this pamplet is indeed so difficult to find , and so easie to answer , that i am a little loath to begin the search , being much of the same nature with that of a brass penny in a heap of rubbish , that before you find it almost puts out your eyes , and after you have it , 't is hardly felt in your hand ; and therefore before i quest after that little game it affords me , i shall give your grace some account of a word or a fear , which just now fell from me , that the contention between the two parties in ireland will never have an end , which may both startle your grace with the difficulty of your charge , whose chief end and task is to disprove this opinion ; and shock many others as an uncharitable thought , who are apt to believe the quiet of that countrey ; may be wrought out by tempering of interests , extinguishing feuds , by inducing a general oblivion of the past and security of future times ; and in a word , that a golden age may arise in that kingdome , out of one of iron that has lasted some hundreds of years , just as a fair and gentle morning does sometimes at sea after a long furious storm , without any reason for one or for t'other , but onely , that a general composure of minds happens at times like a calm sett of weather ; and no man the wiser though all men the happier for it . my lord , i wish i could be of this belief , i confess i am not , though i may justly say my temper and fortune both dispose me to it , the one giving me fear of losing a little , and the other despair of gaining the least by tumults and wars . i have long accounted the peace of my countrey to be like the health of my body ; without which all that men call pleasures turn sowre , or lose all their rellish at least . i will not say to make good my opinion , that saturn , mars , and mercury are the onely planets that influence that climate , though the sullen and angry genius , as well as the cunning , busie , chaffering vein of the inhabitants might help me out , nor that the kindly rays of venus and iupiter are too gentle to pierce a thick air that is accus'd so often to obscure the sun , and fully the moon among them ; but i must needs say , when i consider the rise of these two parties in that kingdome , which was the descent of our victorious ancestors among them , who at first held their lands from their swords , though our kings title to the whole was afterwards strengthned by alliances , by submissions as well as ( if they please to take notice of it ) by an absolute grant of that whole island from pope adrian the fourth to henry the second . when i consider that upon this original quarrel the natives of the countrey have ever since lock'd upon the english name , as that of usurpers and intruders upon their lands and inheritance , and the english planted there , upon the irish ; as enemies , for so they were styl'd in all publique acts for a long course of time . when i consider that these two parties have for above foure hundred years , been bred up , as i may say in mutual slaughters , and rapines , and wars , every age , begun by the irish , upon pretences of recovering their liberty and countrey , and return'd by the english , in defence of their king , their kindred , and the lands they had purchas'd by their ancestors blood , or by their own treasure . when i consider that these bloody animosities were constant and hereditary to them , so long before any division between them in matters of religion , and withal how much they have been sharpned by that accident , which has been so powerful as most unhappily to engrafft such numbers of old english families into the irish stock and interest upon this last rebellion ( for to that we must needs attribute it rather than to their long habitudes among them . ) when i consider how much of the irish lands have been given in a lump into the hands of british planters upon forfeitures in king iames his time , what quantities must now be disposed of , though the greatest tendernesse imaginable should be us'd in the adjudging their new forfeitures now in question , besides how perpetuall a memory the irish retain of these esteemed injurys , as i could give instances to amazement , and as severall of their articles in forty eight in some measure discover by their returning so far back and resolutions even in cold blood to unravel the settlements of ages past . when i consider that similitude of customes and manners is the common sodder of all friendships and good intelligences among men , and withall how strange a difference in both these as well as habit and language is between these two nations , unlesse it be where by long abode of few among many , either the civility of the english has corrected theirs , or the barbarousnesse of the irish has infected ours . when i consider among many others of the kind , that one old custome of theirs , in celebrating their funeralls after their savage manner , where the praises of the dead use to be rais'd and rehearsed , from no other vertue or prowess then the number of english slain or murtherd by him or his ancestors , either as souldiers in war , or as woodkernes or tories in peace , which is elegantly described by spencer in his short discourse of ireland , and i have been assur'd is still us'd in many of the wilder parts in the north , where upon such occasions they have no witnesses but themselves . when i consider the common conversation of the vulgar of both parties upon all the least occasions breaking out into terms of malice , suspition , revenge , and contempt , besides the strange ignorance of the common irish that subjects the whole conduct of their lives to the guidance of their priests and friers , which makes them all spanish papists , as the common tearm goes , and as i think indeed all roman catholiques living in protestant dominions throughout europe are in great degree ; and to this onely i can attribute that senselesse opinion among the vulgar irish , that the kingdome of ireland lawfully belongs to the crown of spain , and that his majesties title to it is like that of the english to their lands by usurpation and force . when i consider that , upon this present conjuncture , though his majesty has been pleased to exempt many of the roman catholique nobles and gentlemen from the stain and punishment of their common original guilt in the last bloody rebellion , by restoring them fully to their honours and estates , upon the amends they seem to have made by their personall services to his majestie abroad , yet not a man of them is content to save his own stake to break from the herd , or leave stickling in the patronage and defence of the common party , as if they valu'd not their estates without their dependances , and had something more in aime then what they pretend to in their ordinary clamors and complaints ; this i confesse is the onely thing which lessens many of them in my value , whom otherwise i should esteem very much as persons of good breeding , good meene , good wits , and good humour , and fit for the eye and for the service of their prince . and lastly , when i consider that all this cannot be attributed to the force of any constellation above , or conjunction here below , but rather to the common course of humane nature , and the passions incident thereunto , and that this implacable enmity of the irish to the english , springs from the same root with that of all other subjected people to their conquerors , till by time and prevailing number , wearinesse of mutuall fears , policy of laws and governours both come at length to be blended into one masse . that consequently the late unparallel'd massacres , though far greater in number then any upon record of story , yet had no newer cause or occasion then that of the roman citizens in the lesser asia , that of the french in scicily , that of the danes in england , and the frequent ones of europaean colonies in the indies ; till time and experience taught them to provide for their safety and so they have done , my lord , all wiser nations to secure their conquests , though it has ever yet been the reproach of the english government , that in so long a tract of time they have never been able to free themselves from a vast expence of blood and treasure upon an island which seems by nature to have been intended so much for the greatness of his majesties imperiall crown , by the mighty accesse of those two great strengths , money and able bodies of men , arising from the incredible fertility of the soil in all rich native comodities , aswel as the increase of people ; when all these thoughts i say run thorough my head , i cannot hope to live so long as to hear [ iam cuncti gens una sumus ] plaid by the irish harp , though i know it was sung by some english in their discourses about the beginning of the late kings reign , but never i think by any irish , and with how sad notes it then ended in the close some men i hope may still have leave to remember . now my lord , if all this be but vision and false imagery , rais'd up only by my own spleen or passions , i may possibly passe for a fanatique , or some malicious envious person , none of which i thank god i have yet ever done nor i hope ever shall upon any other score . for i have often deplor'd that my birth or my fotunes should cast me into an age or a countrey , where men cannot live together more like the sons of one father , the subjects of one prince , the servants of one god , then i see we are like to do . but if it be a true representation of the quarrel in that kingdome , of the disposition of the parties , and complexion of the climate ; then i think it will concern his majesty to secure his crown and his subjects peace in that kingdome , by the same arts of government that have been us'd in the same cases , with respect to such differences as circumstances may make , and whatever become of lands never trust our lives again in the power of a generation whose game and prey they have been , and whose design they must ever be unlesse my almanack fails , t is but a carelesse and will be but an unfortunate shepherd that quits his guard and suspicion , and neglects his flock because the old wolf has broke his teeth , though he can never lose his nature nor yet break the law of [ similis in prole resurgo . ] what those arts of government are , i shall not in the least presume to discourse of , all stories and all times are full of them , and the observations upon them very instructing , and no person able to make better use of them , and to improve them more than your grace under his majesties favourable influence , and in concurrence with so great , so wise , and so renowned a councellor to his majesty and friend to your grace as my lord high chancellour of england , whose justice and favour to us we must ever own , and shall endevour to acknowledge , with that devotion becomes us as true servants both of his virtues and fortunes . besides , my opinions in this point i confesse may be a little out of the common way , and i am so too in not being the least fond of giving them light without a direct occasion , and therefore shall make no inquiry here into the usuall wayes of securing acquisitions either by out numbring the natives , by introducing conformity of lawes , language , habit , custome , religion , by interchangeable removall of their seats , as in charlemain's time , of saxons into flanders , and of flemish into saxony , by assuming their lands and giving them a new dependancy , by entertaining feuds between themselves , by forts and standing armies according to the modern policy , or by distinct colony's according to that of the old graecian and roman states , i should only beg if my prayers were of any regard , that his majesty might but esteem this a matter worthy his care and thought , and then i should no way doubt of the successe ; and that you may judge it so the more , i shall onely be your remembrancer that as the onely good effect of such infinite slaughters and murthers as have hitherto infam'd that kingdome , and discouraged the plantation , has been the producing of this conjuncture wherein his majesty hath gain'd an occasion of setling it upon lasting foundations which has been so much desired by his ancestors , but the like never attain'd either in respect of power , justice , or honour . so whatever mischeifs or miscarriages shall ever happen in that kingdome in times to come , will by posterity be laid to the charge of this generation , but how to be answer'd i believe the next must tell . now my lord , how great a part of this care and conduct must needs fall to your graces share , i shall not need put you in mind , finding one among your titles that sufficiently does it , but in case you fall into the same opinion i professe to be of , that the peace and safety of that kingdome cannot be provided for by balancing interests between english and irish , but by boying up one or other of them out of danger of sinking again , i shall then offer to your thoughts , whether as duke of ormond as well as his majesties lieutenant of ireland , both your duty and your interest does not evidently lead you to the support , protection , and encouragement of the english who in that kingdom will come under your charge . and here i must begin to take notice of our secretary and his letter , the scribling of which gave me the occasion of mine , the greatest design of the whole draught seems by cogging and clawing , by professions of kindnesse and confidence , by terms of relation and good intelligence , to endear their cause and persons to your grace , and to work upon your affections where they despair to do it upon your judgement . he sayes they have been [ your constant beleivers , your passionate sticklers , their hopes of delivery have been by you , begs a demonstration of that justice and favour you intended them in forty eight , threatens your failing will lessen your esteem and dependencies among them , and at last compares you to joseph , and calls you the saviour of your brethren ] on purpose sure to put you in mind how your brethren sold and betray'd you , for how the irish came to be your brethren upon any other kindred i cannot imagine . on the other side , my lord , we are bold to claim and challenge you for ours , and upon many good tokens , by the birth of your ancestors and your own , by their and your unshaken loyalty to the crown of england , by your constancy to the old protestant religion , by your personal commands against the irish , and glorious victories over them the first two years of the rebellion , and which no question had continued had not your royall masters affairs at that time received a change there , by the fatall necessity of his others in england , and forc't you to a conjunction , where you had ever before been at defiance . if i may descend to lighter circumstances , we challenge you for ours by your breeding , by your person by your speech , by your disposition , by your lady and your children , in the mid'st of all which who ever should see you , let him be never so much a stranger to all our disputes , i durst trust him to judge whether you are english or irish , and dur'st dye for it , if one man in a hundred that was not stark blind would ever give you from us . as for our affections to you , our confidence in you , our dependence upon you in this occasion and upon all to come , we cannot give place to our adversaries , as knowing our own hearts , and that 't is well if any else knows theirs . if our hopes or our trusts have ever been estranged from your grace , it has been owing to those unhappy revolutions that have forc't you to a seeming good aspect upon them , but now that the occasion and necessity of that is all blown over , we return and throw our selves into your armes , with the same kindnesse and confidence that lovers would do into those of a mistress whose forced or feigned smiles to a rival , had for a while entertained them in sullen aking jealousies , which serve to make way for a kinder reconcilement , and now my lord , deceive us if you can , no , we know you are too wise , too loyal , and too generous . besides as to your personall interest , ( for as for that of your masters it 's too evident which way it must incline you ) you are arriv'd in command , in dependence , in estate to the heighth of what you can aim at in ireland without being too much envied and something fear'd , so that all the game that lies before you ought in prudence to be pursued in england , by preserving his majesties favour , gaining his subjects affections , preferring your children and increasing your fortunes , in a place where they may lye for a record of your honour and merit , and be both a testimony and a pawn of your families loyalty , if in ages to come your posterity should grow too great , or meet with a more suspicious master then now you have the happinesse to serve . and my lord , i need not tell you how much your countenance to the english in ireland would endear you to the nation here , nor how much that might be estranged from you , by your favour to the irish. for beleive me , my lord , we have here in england bled and paid too deep , and too often upon their occasion to be presently friends , and the horridnesse of this last rebellion , has too far reach't heaven with it's cry , and stain'd the earth with it's colour to be suddenly either forgiven in heaven or forgotten upon earth . the next thing i can observe in the letter i begun with , is a comparison it insists upon , between the roman catholique irish , and his majesties protestant subjects in the three kingdomes , [ many thousand of whom were he sayes far more hainously criminall , who have as little contributed or intended towards his majesties restauration as they . ] if any comparisons are odious they are those of mens vices and guilt , rather then of their vertues and innocency , which makes me unwilling to pursue this any further , yet i cannot but observe the offences of the irish sprung from a more generall quarrell , which was without comparison more generally infus'd through the hearts of the people , pursu'd by far more bloody courses , and which is remarkable began where other quarrells use to end , that is with slaughter and fury , whereas all others swell first in expostulations and manifestoes , ripen in threats , warning , and preparations , break at length in fair and open arms . but this irish rebellion clasht out like a sudden storm of lightning and thunder , defacing houses and fields , wasting countries , destroying man and beast , and giving an essay of what it meant in the end by the cold and treacherous murthers of so many thousand innocent souls in the first two moneths , before men were enough themselves to know almost from whence their danger came ; which number encreasing to that of above two hundred thousand in the first two years , makes the massacre unparallel'd , and excuses all cruelties may have been return'd by the english in the heat of the war. whoever imagins a troop of souldiers , among whom is hardly a man , but has lately lost a wife , a brother , a parent or a child by the butcherly hands of inveterate enemies , will not wonder to see them fierce in their assaults or furious in their executions . for the horrid murther of his late majesty of blessed memory , which this writer would throw into the ballance as a crime diffused thorough many thousands of the protestant subjects in the three kingdomes , i look upon it as a bold slander , and which is no more to be imputed to the protestants here , then the assassin of henry the fourth of france , to the roman catholiques there , this having been contriv'd by ravilliack , and perhaps half a dozen jesuites his complices , and that by cromwell , ireton , and perhaps half a dozen more , whose power , and name , and artifices , had at that time stun'd the nation into a sufferance of that impious fact , and inchanted the army into an outward complyance with what i am confident not one man in ten thousand throughout the three kingdomes but abhorr'd in his soule . for what he sayes of [ their having as little contributed or intended towards the kings restoration as the irish did ] because 't is modestly spoken he shall e'en go away with it , though no man i am sure , no not the birds nor the flies contributed lesse to it then the roman catholique irish , whereas there seem'd an universal conspiration towards it in the protestants of the three kingdomes , which past for some amends of their faults , and earnest of their pardons so graciously allowed them . and for their bare intentions they may best judge themselves , for by their former actions we should be apt to judge ill , and besides i have heard an unlucky proverb , that hell is full of good intentions . but we plead not our innocence neither here nor in ireland , we stand not upon articles , we claim his majesties grace held forth in the act of indempnity , and question not but the same reasons which then induc'd his majesty both to grant it us and deny it them , continue still , and will do so to both our posterities , unless we lose our memories , and change our religions , we grow to own dependence upon the pope , and they upon the king in all ecclesiastical matters , which , say what men will , draw civil after them . the next thing pleaded in this letter is that [ they fought for his majesty till over-power'd by multitudes , through gods unsearchable judgements , desertion by friends abroad , and home divisions , they lost both themselves and their country . ] that they fought so long for the king , or were overpower'd by multitudes , i cannot allow , for the quarrel persu'd by the long-parliament , and by the following tyrannous power , against the irish , was not for their show of adherence to the king , which was known to be the next covert they shrunk under for shelter , but it was for being murtherers and rebels against the english nation and government , and what advantages accrued to the rebellious arms in england , from the pretence of this national war and revenge upon the rebells of ireland , i need not enlarge ; i may safely say , that as the miseries of these nations began to break out with violence and blood , first in that kingdome , so they were fomented and heightned all along by the ill effects and ill colours of that irish rebellion . those who indeed so long and so bravely fought for his majesty in ireland , and were so violently pursued by the usurpers and their powers , we know well were those gallant and loyal troops of english , assembled under your graces command , and made up either of the first english army , or such constant subjects to his majesties interest in england , who after the ruine of their hopes here , went over into ireland , preferring the hazard of their lives once more before the servitude of their country : these are commonly comprehended under the name of such as serv'd his majesty in the war of ireland , before 49. and are a noble vital part of that body , i mean by the english interest in ireland ; and how well these were assisted and treated by the roman irish catholicks , i may safely leave to your graces remembrance . [ the over-powering them with multitudes , ] i before never heard , nor can any believe , who knows their numbers in proportion to ours much to the contrary ; i have heard and could tell , but that i love not to reproch men who have lost their arms , though cruelty and valour have been ever esteem'd , and are indeed by nature so little a kinne , that whoever knows much of the one cannot believe much of the other . for the rest of that paragraph it is so ingenuous , i must needs joyn with him in the acknowledgement [ that through the unsearchable wisdome of god , desertion by friends abroad , and home divisions , they have lost both themselves and their country . ] for matter of their articles in forty eight , which the writer of this letter presses to be observ'd that of trasplantation , corporations , and the disposal of the irish lands according to his majesties declared will , and the present pursuit of his english protestant subjects , they are particulars i shall not meddle with , as having heard that they all have , or will fall in debate before his majesty at council , where your lordship must needs be acquainted with all that can be argued upon those subjects , though in case i find need of more publick satisfaction , i shall not refuse to come once more into the presse upon that occasion , and question not to satisfie all unbias'd persons , concerning his majesties resolutions of setling the kingdome of ireland , upon the foundation of a protestant strength and interest , and make it evident he has taken them up upon grounds of piety , justice , prudence , and honour , not out of any [ fear from the power of the english army there as this letter would insinuate . ] whereas i am confident never any prince was better serv'd and obey'd then his majesty will be by his protestant subjects in ireland , whom i look upon all as one body . another shred of this work i am taking in pieces , consists of some well couch'd threatnings , [ how much the hearts of the roman catholiques in ireland , will be estrang'd both from his majesty and your grace ] if they are defeated of their hopes . i must agree with him again and acknowledge he tells you a great truth , and that he might have told you another in saying they are so already , past all means of firm reconciling , since they who aim at the whole , will never be contented with a part . i shall only desire your grace to take the warning they give you ; to trust and favour those who take themselves to be oblig'd by you , never those who think themselves offended . nor for ought i know will any man blame them so much for seeking their revenge , as us for not providing our defence , since in all like cases the same nature uses to imprint both the one and the other . all the rest of this pamphlet consists in quotations of scripture , from which its author [ exhorts to imitation of god in not destroying the righteous with the just , and denounces judgements against breakers of articles , from the example of saul and the gib●onites . ] i shall not pursue the parallel in those cases between the sins of sodome and those of the irish , nor between the scarcity of the innocent in the one , and the other of these nations ; nor shall i observe that the judgements of god were not sent down upon israel , for making the gibeonites hewers of wood and drawers of water , but as the text runs for saul and his bloody house , because he slew the gibeonites ; in which case we desire no paralell , but should as earnestly intercede for the lives of the irish , though yet in that case unpardon'd , as we must always sollicite for the safety of our own , in such a settlement as we hope to see atchiev'd by his majesties gracious care , and your lordships diligence in the execution of it . for the rest i will not go about to answer him at this weapon ( though it might easily be done ) as having i confesse an aversion from the late custome of our age , for every private hand as it serves its one occasion , to draw all stories and expressions of scripture into consequence , for the conduct of our lives and the framing our opinions ; i have observ'd this use to be of mischievous effect , and destructive in a great measure to the respect and obedience we owe civil authority . i revere the scriptures , but esteem them given us for other use then to fortifie disputes concerning state affairs out of every part of them , i know how apt we are to be deceiv'd with the likenesse of examples or precepts , in the unlikenesse of times and persons , and lawes and mannors , and constitutions and other circumstances , therefore i shall here leave him to his devotions , and betake my self to mine , a part of which are my hearty wishes and prayers , that all his majesties councells may be guided with that wisdome which will end in his own glory , and the prosperity as well as peace of all his kingdomes , and that your graces conduct in this great employment , may be as eminent as the rest of your fortunes , and enlightned with a clear sight of what is the true interest both of his majesty at present , the crown of england in all ages , and your own too in the present settlement and future government of that unhappy kingdome ; and because i both am , and desire to appear in charity with all men , i shall end my discourse as the roman catholique does his , with hearty wishes that you may be in your station [ the saviour of your brethren and your country . ] for my self , what i am as to my temper and opinions , must be referr'd to this paper , who i am is no matter , if that speaks either sense or truth , or successefully to the ends i intend it , which i am sure are fair and honest , as well as the professions sincere of my being your graces most humble servant . news from ireland, touching the damnable design of the papists in that kingdom to forge a sham-plott upon the presbyterians being the declaration of william smith gent. maintaining his late evidence against st. lawrence, a popish priest, who would have suborn'd him to have sworn the same. smith, william, 17th cent. 1682 approx. 17 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53145 wing n975 estc r13178 12599420 ocm 12599420 64118 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53145) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 64118) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 769:35) news from ireland, touching the damnable design of the papists in that kingdom to forge a sham-plott upon the presbyterians being the declaration of william smith gent. maintaining his late evidence against st. lawrence, a popish priest, who would have suborn'd him to have sworn the same. smith, william, 17th cent. 1 sheet ([2] p.) printed for richard janeway ..., london : 1682. broadside. caption title. signed: william smith. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -ireland. broadsides -england -london -17th century 2005-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-09 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-09 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion news from ireland , touching the damnable design of the papists in that kingdom to forge a sham-plott upon the presbyterians : being the declaration of william smith gent. maintaining his late evidence against st. lawrence a popish priest , who would have suborn'd him to have sworn the same . i am so well satisfied in my conscience , that i would not put forth these lines to a publick view , were it not for that others are concern'd : as for my self i value not the aspersions that any have or can raise against me , because i know my own innocency to be a sufficient testimony , maugre all the false , scandalous and lying reports that have been hatched , or that are now contriving against me ; but when i consider that my credit ( which ought to be dearer to every man than his life ) lyeth at stake ; and that ill-affected persons , who neither value what they say or act , are using their sole endeavours to render me ridiculous and a perjured person ; and also vent their malicious and reproachful aspersions on guiltless people ; i thought it convenient , in vindication of my self , and those i shall herein after mention , to demonstrate to the whole world the abuses done me , least by a continued silence , i might give advantage to my enemies to proceed in their villanies . and now i declare in the presence of god , that i have no other end in the writing hereof , than to justifie and clear my self from the injurious censures and fabulous discourses of some papists , who ( as i am informed ) have reported and given out , that whereas i swore to an information against one st. lawrence a popish priest , which business was tryed at the kings bench bar , on the 25th day of november last past , before judge jones , who at that time alone sate judge of the said court : and although my information , and what i then swore to , was , and is a real truth , yet the jury found him not guilty ; i do not alledge or say any thing against the said jury , or any of them , for indeed those i knew of them , are worthy and eminent persons ; yet no doubt my want of councel to manage the said tryal on my behalf , made it appear otherwise than it was ; for let the whole world judge , whether there was not great advantage on st. lawrence's side , when he stood by , never spoke one word either pro or con , but had three or four councellours all along to plead for him , and i had no assistance but that of my self : not to insist any longer in this nature , i hear since the said tryal , that the abovementioned papists have spread a rumour abroad , as if i had recanted all my proceedings aforesaid , and that i should confess my self to be heartily sorry for the same , and that i was set on by others ; nay , they presume to confirm it by reporting that i have sent a petition to his grace james duke of ormond , lord lieutenant general , and general governour of this kingdom of ireland , ( to the same effect ) and that i should therein acquaint his grace , who it was that set me on to swear against st. lawrence , desiring his grace to give me a pardon for so doing : all which sayings are false and very great untruths , for i never did recant , nor intead any such thing ; if i had , i should be the most vile creature upon the face of the earth ; in the first place to swear to a thing , and afterwards deny what i had sworn to : and as to a petition sent by me to his grace , it is easily resolved whether he did receive any such from me , or whether he did ever receive a petition at all in my name : 't is true , a little before his graces last going to kilkenny , i did employ one to deliver him a petition , which was not at all delivered , for i have the same still by me ; and whether or no that be the petition discoursed of , i know not ▪ but that all people may ( if they please ) be satisfyed with the contents of it , i have here inserted a true copy of the same , and can bring credible witnesses to prove it : the said petition is as followeth , viz. to his grace james duke of ormond , lord lieutenant general , and general governour of the kingdom of ireland . the humble petition of william smith prisoner for debt in the marshalsey of his majesties four courts dublin . humbly sheweth , that your petitioner did lately give in an information against one st. lawrence a popish priest , the contents of the said information ( among other things therein contained ) was , that the said st. lawrence would have suborned your graces petitioner , positively to swear to a presbyterian plot , which said business was on the 25th day of november last past tryed at the kings-bench-bar , and the jury at their return brought him in not guilty : whether the fault was in your petitioners want of councel to manage the business in behalf of your petitioner , he cannot say ; but certain it is , st. lawrence had at the least three counsellers to plead for him , notwithstanding your graces said petitioner will take it upon his death , that his information against the said priest , was , and is really true ; but since the above tryal , some of the priests evidence have grossly abused your petitioner , by calling him a rogue , and a perjured rogue : not to enlarge upon the aforesaid matter , he your graces petitioner humbly implores , you will be pleased to order the marshal of the above marshalsey , to bring him before your grace , he having a matter of great moment and importance to impart to your grace , it being a thing which will be satisfactory to you , ( as he humbly conceives ) desires his said request may be granted : and as in duty bound he will pray , &c. copia vera. now i refer this to any rational person , if there be any thing of a recantation of what i have done in my proceedings against st. lawrence , ( included in the above recited petition ; ) but if the devil has been so prevalent to tempt me to a recantation , ( as they alledge ) i would willingly know to whom in such manner i have declared my mind ; and if any person will justifie it , or whether i gave it in writing under my hand ; if so , 't is an easie matter to produce it , but if it can be made appear , i will be content to suffer the punishment justly due to those that are guilty in the like kind : why should i say more of it , when without dispute , had they a real ground to talk so of me , they would quickly make it apparent , i know , ( so great is their zeal to , and for their ghostly father ; ) they only speak of me as they would have it ; they are much mistaken , i 'le never acquit the guilty , and accuse the innocent : i am not for their turn , no , nor to be allured by a plenary indulgence , nor the hopes of being sainted by them will not do ; neither am i in the least related to their jewish witnesses , to swear and forswear the same again in a dayes time , or less : in fine , ( no ego tibi absolvo , &c. ) shall cause me to go from the truth : and here by way of digression , i very well remember some time after the happy discovery of the damned and hellish popish plot by dr. titus oats , &c. i was then held in great estimation by several papists in a certain place in this kingdom , and one day one of their priests and i being in company together , i told him that i much admired any roman catholick would appear as an evidence against those of their own religion : who replyed , you know not the mistery of it , time will make you more sensible , and this at last will be fathered upon shaftsbury and his gang , meaning the presbyterians , &c. we had other discourses at that time , which i shall here omit , till a more apt opportunity ; and the rather , since i intend nothing more by this , but only to give a general satisfaction , that i swore nothing against the said st. lawrence but what was truth , and from which i will never recede : for i had rather perish ( nay worse if any thing can be ) for truths sake , than by denying it obtain innumerable riches : for what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? and although the papists are pleased disingeniously , as also dishonestly to slander and reproach me , yet do i take but little notice of them , because if we do but look back into their actions , 't is easily discovered how many tricks and contrivances they have both studied and practised , and to no other end , intent or purpose , than to disparage and make invalid real evidence , that so they might obscure from being made known their notorious , inhumane and hellish designs : for certain it is , those that act any thing in defence of his majesty , or preservation of the protestant religion , or to detect their black designs , are either brought upon the stage , and witnesses suborned to swear against them , that they conspired the death of the king , and to introduce an arbltrary government , &c. or else they are barbarously murder'd , as was that worthy and late english martyr sir edmondbury godfrey , who for all the pretensions they have made use of to blind the eyes of the vulgar sort , by saying he was accessary to his own death , by running a rapier through his body ; yet was his life undoubtedly taken away by those bloody miscreants : for those that are so impious to be culpable of such contrivances , will be so cunning as to study some shift or equivocation to evade it , if their villanies should come to be called in question , yet let them use all their shifts , sham-plots , subornations , and likewise imploy all the help and subtilty of their crafty and king-killing jesuits , to put the burthen and weight of their diabolical confederacies upon the poor protestants ; i say notwithstanding all those devices , the omnipotent god is so just , that in due time he will unmask all their proceedings , and paint them and their rogueries out in their own colours : in the interim let us content our selves with this ordinary gramatical saying , quicquid sub terra est in apricum proferet etas : 't is strange to think what assurances these caterpillars of the earth proposed to themselves for the extirpation of the protestant , and reestablishment of their bloody romish religion : and albeit so many of their fathers have suffered by the hands of publick justice , the just rewards of their demerits ; yet how confidently do they endeavour to wipe off their too too deep dyed guiltiness , by proclaiming it a presbyterian plot , and that the dissenters of the church of england were dissatisfied with the kingly government , and their old rebellious tricks of raising a civil war was beginning again . to that i answer , if it were so , they condemn the gravest senators that ever were , and upbraid them with injustice ; i mean the learned and judicious judges &c. of england ; for had there been no popish plot , coleman , langborn , whitebread and the rest , would not have taken their last farewells at tyburn for it : but some simple ignorant people will object , that such learned men as they , would not have wrong'd their poor souls just at their going out of the world , by protesting themselves as free as the child newly born , from those crimes they died for , if they knew any thing to the contrary : to such objections i say thus , that not long since my self and a worthy gentleman who dyed very lately , being together in company with a popish priest , and discoursing this point of those that dyed in england , ( which i just now mentioned ) without a general acknowledgment of the crimes they died for , the said priest told us , that just before their executions , they confess all and every thing to some father confessor or other , who immediately absolves them from all their sins whatsoever , and gives them power to deny all in publick at their said executions : ( the priest that told me this , was one vicar mackaw , and the gentleman then in my company dr. wyat ) and for so doing they are assured to be cannonized for saints , and recorded as martyrs in their black registers at rome . i presume persons of loyal and honest principles , well wishers of his sacred majesty and the protestant religion , needs not require much time to understand and dive into the mystery of their endeavouring to throw off the whole plot upon the presbyterians , as is aforesaid , by reason 't is so near of kind to the usual and accustomed pollicies of those sort of cattle ( i mean the infamous famous jesuits ) who aim at nothing so much , as to breed a dissention betwixt our dread soveraign and his subjects , ( which god grant never may be ) that they may like wolves appear in sheeps cloathing , and inwardly smile at our misfortunes , and on a sudden strike home that blow they have so long desired , nay , endeavoured to accomplish ; but i do not doubt , at least i hope , that the people of england are so firmly grounded in their loyalty and obedience to their most gracious king , and also so sensible of the miseries that attended them in the late unhappy and unnatural differences , that they will sacrifice their lives and fortunes in the defence and right of his most sacred person , against all rebellions and plots whatsoever . i suppose i need not say anymore at present concerning the inveteracy of the papists in general against the protestants , it being well known in these times ; yet i thought it necessary to insert this , that by reason of dean burges's coming to visit me , and confirm me in the protestant religion , they have been pleased since to say , that he was something too busie with me about st. lawrence's business , and that they believed he much encouraged me in it : to such reports i answer as followeth , viz. the said dean burges never came to me but he discoursed much to the ensuing purpose , that if the information given in by me against st. lawrence were true , in the name of god i should go on with it ; on the contrary said he , if it be a thing of your own devising , confess it humbly before god , and ask him forgiveness , ( perhaps he may forgive you ; ) if it be a false thing , you will be a miserable creature ; and oftentimes he said , as he would not encourage me in an unjust action , so would he not discourage me in a just ; however mind , you have a soul which must once render an account to god for all your actions both good and bad : and how far the same dean was from setting me on to form my information against st. lawrence , let the reader judge : for i take god to witness , he knew nothing of it , till after the said priest was in custody ; and if i am not much mistaken , he was at that time in the countrey , ( where his benefits lyes . ) another thing of the aforesaid dean comes afresh into my memory , viz. he told me several times before he administred the blessed sacrament of the lords supper to me , that it was better for me to eat and drink so much poyson , if i had injured st. lawrence , and should come to the table with such guilt upon my conscience . in the next place these papists declare , that what i did , was to get my enlargement , and that i was hired to it by the presbyterians , which is like the rest of their aspersions ; for god , who knows the secrets of all hearts , and before whom i must one day give an account , well knows that i neither did it in hopes of a liberty , or any other temporal reward , nor was i set on , advised to it , or had the least encouragement from any soul breathing , but that it was my free and voluntary act , and that i had no other end in doing of it , than to discharge a good conscience , and that i may be the better understood , i beseech god that i may never enter into the kingdom of heaven , nor to enjoy everlasting bliss , if ever i saw mr. harrison or mr. jack the persons that st. lawrence would have suborned me to swear against , from the time of my creation to this very day , to the best of my knowledge : neither did i ever so much as receive a letter from them , or either of them . i further hereby certifie and declare , that i know nothing of any plot , contrivance or design against our most gracious king , or the government either in church or state , but that of the papists , whose devilish treacherous and bloody stratagems , i humbly beseech that god in his due time will convert to their own destructions . should i write ten times as much more as is contained in this paper , it would all be tending to one and the same effect : therefore i shall conclude ; but first humbly pray the almighty to send length of dayes , health , wealth and prosperity to our soveraign lord king charles , &c. and in testimony of the truth hereof , i have hereunto set my hand this 11 th day of february , anno dom. 1681. william smith . witness , george harrison , william boswell , william stuart , nathaniel dancer , quintin moore . london , printed for richard janeway in queens-head-alley in pater-noster-row . 1682. some reflections on the oaths & declaration appointed in an act past in the first year of the reign of king william and queen mary in reference to the roman catholicks of england / by sir d.w. baronet, of the church of rome. d. w., sir. 1695 approx. 34 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a65348 wing w12 estc r1216 12368308 ocm 12368308 60480 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a65348) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60480) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 903:10) some reflections on the oaths & declaration appointed in an act past in the first year of the reign of king william and queen mary in reference to the roman catholicks of england / by sir d.w. baronet, of the church of rome. d. w., sir. 27 p. [s.n.], london : 1695. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church and state -great britain. catholics -england -early works to 1800. oaths -england -political aspects. 2006-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-09 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion some reflections on the oaths & declaration appointed in an act past in the first year of the reign of king william and queen mary , in reference to the roman catholicks of england . by sir d. w. baronet , of the church of rome . london , printed in the year mdcxcv . to my worthy good friend . sir ; it was not yet my hap to be tendered the new oaths , but supposing that at some time it may , since in the last sessions of parliament there were agitations for barring all persons from voices in elections of members for parliament , and from practice in their professions , besides the penalties of this statute , and paiment of double taxes , in case of refusing to swear , and declare , as by this act is required ; these and some other considerations ( needless to particularize ) put me on search into the quality and sense of these oaths , with the duty and lawfulness of taking or refusing them . and first i observed , that in these oaths there is no declaring or swearing to the king's supremacy , in any things or causes , nor a renunciation of the rights or titles of any other person , nor a promise of faith and allegiance to the present prince's heirs and lawful successors , nor an acknowledgment before god and the world of the king 's lawful title to this realm , nor a swearing to the plain and common sense of the words ; all which were parts of the former oaths of supremacy and allegiance , and might have raised scruples , if inserted in these , that are now frivolous . i likewise observe , that the nonjurat protestants and the catholicks are not by the same reasons induced to refuse to take these oaths , the one having sworn the former , the latter generally refusing them . on the whole i have made the reflections , which i herewith present to you , my truly dear friend . i will not affirm to you , that i am so fully satisfied in this enquiry , as that i am resolved to take these oaths , when required so to do ; nor will i conceal from you , that my private opinion is , that i may , as a sound catholick , with a safe conscience , without hazard of salvation , both take these new oaths , and subscribe the declaration now framed by parliament . the matters therein contained are entirely within the consideration of the laws of the kingdom , without any relation to the mysteries of faith ; and therefore i believe you a competent and proper iudg herein , and earnestly request you to give me your thoughts hereof . i would not that it should be said of me , incidit in scillam qui vult vitare charibdim . i resolve to be governed by your sentiments of this affair , and ever to acknowledg to the world , that i very much honour you , and am , sir , 1st may , 1695. your real and affectionate servant . because in reading these reflections there may be occasion for comparing the several oaths , i have here set them down at large . the oaths and declaration in the act of 1 will. mar. 1. i a. b. do sincerely promise and swear , that i will be faithful , and bear true allegiance to his majesty king william . so help me god , &c. 2. i a. b. do swear , that i do from my heart abhor , detest and abjure , as impious and heretical , that damnable doctrine and position , that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope , or any authority of the see of rome , may be deposed or murdered by their subjects , or any other whatsoever . 3. and i do declare , that no foreign prince , person , prelate , state or potentate , hath , or ought to have , any iurisdiction , power , superiority , prehemmence , or authority , ecclesiastical or spiritual , w●thin this realm . so help me god , &c. the oath of supremacy , framed in the act , 1 eliz. c. 1. which oath is now abrogated . i a. b. do utterly testify , and declare in my conscience , that the king's majesty is the only supreme governour of this realm , and of all other his highness dominions and countries , as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes , as temporal ; and that no foreign prince , person , prelate , state or potentate , hath , or ought to have , any jurisdiction , power , superiority , preheminence or authority , ecclesiastical or spiritual , within this realm . and therefore i do utterly renounce and forsake all foreign iurisdictions , powers , superiorities and authorities , and do promise , that from henceforth i shall bear faith and true allegiance to the king's highness , his heirs and lawfull successors , and to my power shall assist and defend all iurisdictions , privileges , preheminencies , and authorities , granted or belonging to the king's highness , his heirs and successors , or united and annexed to the imperial crown of this realm . so help me god , and the contents of this book . the oath of allegiance in the stat. 3 iac. 1. which oath is now abrogated . i a. b. do truly and sincerely acknowledg , profess , testify and declare , in my conscience , before god and the world , that our sovereign lord king james is lawful king of this realm , and of all other his majesty's dominions and conntries ; and that the pope , neither of himself , nor by any authority of the see of rome , or by any other means with any other , hath any power or authority to depose the king , or to dispose of any of his majesty's kingdoms or dominions , or to authorize any foreign prince to invade or annoy him or his countries , or to discharge any of his subjects of their allegiance and obedience to his majesty , or to give licence or leave to any of them to bear arms , raise tumults , or to offer any violence or hurt to his majesty's royal person , state , or government , or to any of his majesty's subjects within his dominions . also i do swear from my heart , that notwithstanding any declaration or sentence of excommunication or deprivation , made or granted , or to be made or granted , by the pope or his successors , or by any authority derived or pretended to be derived from him or his see , against the said king , his heirs or successors , or any absolution of the said subjects from their obedience , i will bear faith and true allegiance to his majesty , his heirs and successors , and him and them will defend to the uttermost of my power , against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever , which shall be made against his or their persons , their crown and dignity , by reason or colour of any such sentence or declaration , or otherwise , and will do my best endeavours to disclose and make known to his majesty , his heirs and successors , all treasons and traiterous conspiracies which i shall know or hear of , to be against him , or any of them . and i do further swear , that i do from my heart abhor , detest and abjure , as impious and heretical , this damnable doctrine or position , that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the pope , may be deposed or murdered by their subjects , or any other whatsoever . and i do believe , and in conscience am resolved , that neither the pope , nor any person whatsoever , hath power to absolve me of this oath , or any part thereof , which i acknowledg , by good and full authority , to be lawfully ministred unto me , and do renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary . and all these things i do plainly and sincerely acknowledg and sweat , according to these express words by me spoken , and according to the plain and common sense and understanding of the same words , without any equivocation or mental evasion , or secret reservation whatsoever . and i do make this recognition and acknowledgment , heartily , willingly and truly , upon the true faith of a christian . so help me god. reflections on the oaths & declaration lately appointed in the room of the oaths of supremacy and allegiance . since the supreme power of this nation hath , for the security of its government , enacted , that all persons should either take these oaths , or suffer severe penalties for their refusal : it seems to be an act of charity , no less than of prudence , to consider the reasons for taking or refusing them : i apply my self to catholicks . the first of these oaths is barely promissory to bear faith and true allegiance to the present prince , who , whatever his title be , hath sufficient power to rule , govern and protect us : to him , whilest we live under his government , we are subjects : as it is undeniable that he is king of this realm either de jure or de facto , or both ways , ( which , matters not now to be considered , for no sort of right is here sworn to , as was in the former oaths to our lawful kings ) so it is plain , that we are his subjects de jure or de facto , or both ways . the right of a prince and duty of a subject are correllatives , they live and expire together . thus whilest he is our king , we are his subjects ; whilest we are his subjects we owe him duty and fidelity , and ought not to scruple promising it , when thereto required ; to which we are now more strictly obliged , by the authority of the kingdom commanding it . in all countries , as well catholick as others , fidelity is required from those in subjection , unto those who have the dominion , whether it be gained by conquest , or otherways . in our own , pope gregory declared , that ( notwithstanding the censures of his predecessor pius quintus ) the subjects of england ought to perform all duty to queen elizabeth : and whatsoever might be the catholicks inward judgments concerning her title , yet after the parliament had acknowledged her a lawful queen , all civil obedience was exactly paid to her . this oath of fidelity is generally taken in ireland by the catholicks , pursuant to the articles for surrender of limerick , by approbation of the primate and clergy of that kingdom . the fathers of the society of jesus , of the english province , decree thus , let us all profess , that as much obedience and fidelity ought to be sincerely sworn and exhibited to our king from every one of us , as is wont to be sworn and exhibited to any princes whatsoever from other catholick subjects . here is no distinction made between lawful or unlawful titles of princes , but the relation between any princes whatsoever and their subjects allowed to be a ground for fidelity . the second oath is a part of the oath of allegiance , made in the reign of king james , which oath was freely taken by the chief and others of the catholick clergy here in england , and by them the nobility and gentry were advised and exhorted to do the same , declaring it to be a duty incumbent on them by the law of god. sixty of the doctors of the sorbon subscribed to the said oath , these following words , we underwritten , divines and doctors of the sacred faculty of paris , do judg the oath , as it is on the other side , ( i. e. the oath of allegiance ) may with safety of faith and conscience be taken by english catholicks , &c. but pope paul the fifth sent a breve into england , directed to the english catholicks , wherein , reciting the said oath at large , he declares , that this oath contains many things plainly repugnant to faith and salvation , and admonisheth and requireth them not to take that oath . this breve his holiness seconded by another , and both were confirmed by succeeding popes . the fathers of the society in their provincial congregation afore-mentioned , decree thus concerning that oath , that the oath ( i. e. the oath of allegiance ) as it is now sprinkled with many heterodox clauses , cannot be taken , as being condemned by many breves of popes . these things considered , i 'll suppose , that oath might not be taken by catholicks , because it contained many things contrary to faith , &c. and is sprinkled with many heterodox clauses ; and lastly , because it is condemned by many breves of popes . but then it must be granted to me , that this oath , now to be taken , is not that oath which was required not to be sworn , which was condemned : this oath is but one clause amongst many which compose that oath ; the pope doth not declare that all the things in that oath are repugnant to faith , &c. his prohibition doth not fall on any particular clause , the fathers of the society do not impeach every clause in that oath , nor distinguish those heterodox ones that are sprinkled in it : both pope and fathers allow , that some things and clauses in that oath are not liable to censure : there are many clauses in that oath , whereof those which are condemned , though called many , may be fewest in number . now if this oath be not plainly repugnant to faith and salvation , there is no ground for refusing it , because it is a part of the former oath : and that it is not plainly repugnant to faith , &c. to abhor , detest and abjure that damnable doctrine and position , ( mentioned in this oath ) the word of god , the council of constance , the subscription of the doctors of the sorbon , the decrees of the parliament of paris , and subscription of the fathers of the society to an agreement with the sorbon , are full and sufficient convincing evidences : to all or some of which every one may easily apply himself for satisfaction . the declaration annexed to these oaths is not to be sworn to , but only to be made , repeated , and subscribed to , as a matter which the declarer believes to be true , according to a rational judgment and moral certainty thereof , which yet may be consistent with an absolute possibility of the thing being otherwise : it is an assertion of the truth of a thing , as it is in his conscience or rational judgment , not as it is in it self ; and this moral certainty may secure the declarer from a lie , and justify him before god and man. the reflections i make being with reference to the catholicks in england , i will consider the duty and lawfulness of their making , or refusing to make this declaration distinctly from others . 1. and to shorten my work i will here suppose , that by foreign prince , person , prelate , &c. is meant the pope and his successors . 2. that the pope hath , and ought to have , some jurisdiction , or power , or superiority , or preheminence , or authority , in this realm . 3. that the popes formerly had , and had a right to , some jurisdictions , &c. within this realm , which now are not enjoyed by them . 4. that the jurisdictions , &c. which popes formerly had , and now have not , they ought not to have in this realm . to explain my self in my second supposition , catholicks unanimously grant , that christ gave a power purely spiritual to his apostles , throughout the whole world , and in them to their successors , to preach , to feed his sheep , to bind and loose , &c. this power being derived to the pope , as successor to st. peter , his holiness hath a right to throughout the whole world , for thus large is the commission from christ . and this power being given by god , cannot be taken away by men , nor be denied by christians , either in this realm , or any other part of the world , without breach of faith. the spiritual power could not be exercised by kings or princes , it did never belong to them , or to their crowns , nor indeed was ever claimed or pretended to in this realm : therefore i will here only conclude , that it is not probable that this declaration intends to deny the pope's power purely spiritual in this kingdom . i shall endeavour to make this more plain hereafter . my third supposition grants , that popes had a right to , and enjoyed jurisdictions , powers , &c. these were in courts and matters called ecclesiastical or spiritual , as cases of marriage , tythes , wills , &c. these jurisdictions , &c. were merely external , political or civil , and came not to the pope jure divino . our saviour declared , that his kingdom is not of this world , and therefore gave no jurisdiction , power , &c. besides that which is purely spiritual , to his apostles , or their successors . the crown of england is , and of long time hath been , an imperial crown , depending only on god , by whom princes reign . from the crown divers privileges have been at divers times , either by the piety or inadvertencies of princes , granted to popes ( in the language of those days called the church ; ) at other times usurpations have been made , when the princes were weak or unfortunate : these privileges being long used , and their origine either forgotten or concealed , have been commonly look'd on , and claimed , as the proper and inherent right of those to whom they were granted , or came . this right being charily preserved by them , and freely confess'd by others to be a good title , accompanied with a long and quiet possession , and called ecclesiastical or spiritual , came to be thought at last to be a right given them by god , whereas in truth it proceeded from men ; and as all humane things are subject to change , may , by the same power from whence it was derived , be taken away . and thus hath it fared with the pope's power in temporals , which he had and exercised in this kingdom ; sometimes they have been disputed , other times taken from him and restored to the crown , then again restored to his holiness , and about 130 years since were again taken from him and restored to the crown , and so continue at this day , which is a matter so evident to every english-man , that no one of them can find reason to believe , that the pope , at this time , hath any jurisdiction , power , &c. ( besides that which is purely spiritual ) in this realm . the fourth supposition intends , that since those ecclesiastical or spiritual jurisdictions , powers , &c. which the pope enjoyed and exercised in this realm , and which were not purely spiritual , nor derived to him from the apostles , but came to him by the grants of princes , consent of people , or by some other mere humane means , as touching appeals , annats , first-fruits , electing of bishops , dispensations in humane laws , to the prejudice of the crown , and impoverishing of the subjects , giving licences in abundance of humane cases or things , putting bishops into their bishopricks , and priests into their parishes : since i say these powers , &c. came to the popes by times , or by concordates between princes on the one side , and popes on the other , which could not be divine or supernatural powers , that is , powers derived to him , or conferred on him jure divino , are abolished as to his holiness , and restored to the crown , by several acts of parliament , as antiently belonging thereto , it is as plain that the pope ought not to have those jurisdictions , powers , &c. of which he is thus legally divested , as it is apparent that at this time he neither hath nor exerciseth them . now to enlarge somewhat on the substance of the two last suppositions , i will instance in some few remarks , what interruptions the popes have met with in the exercise of their ecclesiastical or spiritual powers , &c. in matters merely temporal in this realm . king henry the first gave the bishoprick of winchester to william gifford , and forthwith invested him into all the possessions thereto belonging , though contrary to a canon . the same king also gave the archbishoprick of canterbury to radolph bishop of london , and gave him investiture by a ring and a crosiers staff. in the same king's reign thurstan , elect archbishop of york , got leave of the king to go to a council held under pope calixtus at rhemes , giving his faith to the king that he would not receive consecration of the pope , but notwithstanding he obtained to be consecrate at the pope's hand , which , as soon as the king heard , he forbad him to come within his dominions . king edward the first prohibited the abbot of waltham , and dean of paul's , to collect a tenth of every man's goods , for a supply to the holy land , which the pope by three bulls had committed to their charge . the same king impleaded the dean of the chappel of wulverhampton , because the said dean had , against the privileges of the kingdom , given a prebend of the same chappel to one at the pope's command . king richard the second , by act of parliament , prohibited that any should procure a benefice from rome , under pain to be put out of the king's protection . thus several catholick princes , in catholick times , disputed the pope's jurisdictions , powers , &c. in several ecclesiastical or spiritual matters . king henry the eighth ( no less a catholick , and likewise in a catholick time ) by several acts of parliament , consisting of lords spiritual and temporal , and commons , all catholicks , deprived the pope of several jurisdictions , powers , &c. which were supposed to be usurped from the crown , and the exercise whereof were much to its detriment . again , queen elizabeth revives all those statutes made by her father , restores all antient jurisdictions to the crown , and abolisheth all foreign powers repugnant to the antient jurisdiction of the crown : and thus they continue to this day . from what i have collected here it may appear , that no purely spiritual power hath been by the laws of this kingdom taken from the pope ; that whatever power hath been taken from the pope , hath been restored to the crown , as its antient jurisdiction , and no other : but since the words of the declaration deny any jurisdiction , &c. to be enjoyed by , or rightfully to belong to any foreign prelate , &c. i shall consider the meaning of those words , wherein , if i can hit on the sense which this declaration by the intent of the imposers of it bears , let that determine the lawfulness or unlawfulness of making it , for no more is required of us . this declaration is verbatim a clause in the oath of supremacy , formed in an act past in the reign of queen elizabeth ; and in another act made in the fifth year of her reign , it is enacted , that the oath made in the first year of her reign , shall be taken and expounded in such form as is set forth in an admonition annexed to the queen's majesties injunctions , published in the first year of her majesty's reign , that is to say , to confess and acknowledg in her majesty , her heirs and successors , no other authority than that was challenged and lately used by the noble king henry the eighth , and king edward the sixth , as in the admonition may more plainly appear . in that admonition the queen saith as followeth : for certainly her majesty neither doth , nor ever will challenge any other authority than that which was challenged , and lately used by the noble king of famous memory , henry the eighth , and king edward the sixth , which is , and was of antient time due to the imperial crown of this realm , that is , under god to have the soveraignty and rule over all manner of persons born within these realms , dominions , and countries , of what estate ( either ecclesiastical or temporal ) soever they be , so as no other foreign power shall or ought to have any superiority over them . now to shew that king henry the eighth neither claimed nor pretended to any power purely spiritual , let us see a proviso made in an act past in his reign , provided always that this act , nor any thing therein contained , shall be hereafter interpreted or expounded , that your grace , your nobles , and subjects , intend , by the same , to decline or vary from the congregation of christ's church , in any things concerning the very articles of the catholick faith of christendom , or in any other things declared by holy scripture , and the word of god , necessary for your and their salvation . the statute containing this proviso is revived and confirmed by the statute of 1 eliz. cap. 1. and it is undeniable , that all christendom , at that time , did own the pope's spiritual power , which was derived from the apostles . further , to shew , that the queen who made this oath , intended it only for to distinguish those who denied the pope's power in temporals , from others who would not , and that therefore she doubted of their loyalty . in the act made aforesaid is enacted , that forasmuch as the queen's majesty is otherways sufficiently assured of the faith and loyalty of the temporal lords of her highness's court of parliament ; therefore this act , nor any thing therein contained , shall not extend to compel any temporal person , of or above the degree of a baron of this realm , to take or pronounce the oath abovesaid . it was notoriously known , that the lords and commons in that parliament , wherein the oath of supremacy was appointed , were mostly roman catholicks , which includes their holding and professing the pope's pastoral power . it was treason and premunire to hold or profess what by the oath was denied to the pope ; but it was neither for a lord or other person to profess himself a roman catholick , there was no disloyalty in that . thus then , i conclude , that the pope's purely ecclesiastical or spiritual power is not denied in that oath , and that this is the sense , in which this declaration is to be made , as being a part of that oath . and this i am the more inclined to believe , because in these oaths there are no doubtful expressions of swearing the jurisdictions , powers , &c. to belong to any other person ; those which are here only declared , are , that no foreign prince , &c. hath or ought to have . nor is it to be past by without notice , that the powers taken from his holiness by king henry the eighth , were never meant to be other than those that were temporal , for queen mary , by act of parliament , restores to the pope such authority , preheminence and jurisdiction , as his holiness used and exercised , or might lawfully have used and exercised , by authority of his supremacy , &c. without diminution or enlargement of the same , and no other . which demonstrates , that the jurisdictions , powers , &c. which king henry the eighth deprived the pope of , were only such as an act of parliament could restore him to , which cannot be meant of that purely spiritual power given by christ . to sum up this discourse : the pope had a purely spiritual power committed by christ to him , as successor to st. peter , to be exercised throughout the whole world , that is , to teach , to bind , and loose , &c. this power , we say , no temporal prince ever had , or claimed , or could deprive him of . the pope likewise had in this kingdom ecclesiastical or spiritual power in courts and causes , or matters , called ecclesiastical or spiritual , as in divorces , tythes , oblations , obventions , &c. this power was external , political , civil , and meerly temporal , granted by or gained from the princes of these realms , which being found to be exercised to the great detriment of the crown , and adjudged to be so by the estates of the realm , hath been by several statutes divested from the pope , and restored to the crown above 130 years past , and so still it continues . the truth of this is assured to us by acts of parliament , and other credible histories , so manifestly , that there is no room for scruple in affirming , that ( rebus sic stantibus ) no foreign prelate , &c. hath or ought to have any jurisdiction , &c. in this realm , which is not derived from christ , and which the laws of this kingdom have deprived him of . here is authority commanding us to take lawful oaths , and to declare what we may reasonably judg and be morally certain to be true , no competent authority admonishing or requiring the contrary : here are the opinions of great and learned divines for the lawfulness and duty of taking these oaths : here are the highest of evidences for the truth of that matter which we are to declare our belief of ; the catholicks in england ( generally ) never took the former oaths of supremacy and allegiance , and therefore on account of some branches in those , they are not obliged to refuse the first of these oaths : these oaths neither are in themselves , nor are intended to be distinctive signs between catholicks and protestants , for the acts lately made for amoving papists and reputed papists , &c. and for disarming papists and reputed papists , appoint the declaration , made in the reign of the late king charles , to be for the trial and discovery of them , and that declaration is not scrupled at by protestants , who yet ( some of them ) refuse the first of these oaths : and had the declaration which is annexed to these oaths been a denial of the pope's pastoral power in this realm , there needed no other test for discovery of papists , since no catholick would disown that spiritual power to be in his holiness . these things considered , i must own , that i know no reason for the roman catholicks in england to provoke the government , to fall under the reputation of being entirely in the french interest , and to undergo severe penalties for refusing these oaths . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a65348-e500 protection infers publick obedience . in the provincial congregation at ghent , 5 july , 1681. 3 jac. 1. cap. 4. this declaration is assertory of something past ; it is an act of faith , depending on the probable evidence of what is past . king james in his premonition , p. 46. let the pope be primus episcopus inter omnes episcopos , and princeps episcoporum as peter was princeps apostolorum . 24 h. 8. c. 12. 25 h. 8. c. 20. 25 h. 8. c. 19. 25 h. 8. c. 21. 28 h. 8. c. 16. 1 eliz. cap. 1. 5 eliz. cap. 1. 1 , 2 p. m. c. 8. in france the clergy published this proposition , that the pope had no power in civil or temporal affairs , and that kings are subject to no ecclesiastical powers . 1 eliz. cap. 1. 5 eliz. cap. 8. 1 eliz. cap. 1● entituled , an act to restore to the crown the antient jurisdiction over the estate ecclesiastical and spiritual , and abolishing all foreign powers repugnant to the same . 5 eliz. cap. 1. admonition to simple men deceived by malicious . if any person shall accept the same oath with this interpretation , sense or meaning , her majesty is well pleased to accept every such in that behalf as her good and obedient subjects , &c. 24 h. 8. c. 21. 5 eliz. cap. 1. ● 2 p. m. c. 8. 30 carol. 2. johnson . the late commotion of certaine papists in herefordshire occasioned by the death of one alice wellington, a recusant, who was buried after the popish maner, in the towne of allens-moore, neere hereford, vpon tuesday in whitsun weeke last past. 1605. with other excellent matter thereby occasioned. truely set forth. hamond, thomas, fl. 1605. 1605 approx. 36 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 23 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a14924 stc 25232 estc s119650 99854857 99854857 20311 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a14924) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 20311) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1534:17) the late commotion of certaine papists in herefordshire occasioned by the death of one alice wellington, a recusant, who was buried after the popish maner, in the towne of allens-moore, neere hereford, vpon tuesday in whitsun weeke last past. 1605. with other excellent matter thereby occasioned. truely set forth. hamond, thomas, fl. 1605. e. r., fl. 1605. aut [48] p. by s[imon] s[tafford] for i. chorlton, and f. burton, imprinted at london : 1605. "to the reader" signed: tho. hamond. contains three letters--one from hamond to e.r., two from e.r. to hamond--and a prayer. printer's name from stc. signatures: a-f⁴. the first leaf is blank. reproduction of the original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng wellington, alice, d. 1605 -death and burial -early works to 1800. catholics -england -herefordshire -early works to 1800. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-02 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the late commotion of certaine papists in herefordshire . occasioned by the death of one alice wellington , a recusant , who was buried after the popish maner , in the towne of allens-moore , neere hereford , vpon tuesday in whitsun weeke last past . 1605. with other excellent matter thereby occasioned . truely set forth . avt nvnc avt nvnqvam printer's or publisher's device imprinted at london by s. s. for i. chorlton , and f. burton . 1605. to the reader . gentle reader , to satisfie thy minde , and to stop the mouths of the multitude , who listening after euery idle report , are easily induced to beleeue , whatsoeuer bee by vncertayne fame bruted abroad , i haue caused these seuerall letters , with a true discourse therein contayned , of the beginning and proceedings in these late popish actions , to be diuulged : and i haue the rather bene thereunto induced , because i know certaynly , that not a few , for their better satisfaction , are very desirous to vnderstand the truth thereof . furthermore , in perusall hereof , the vulgar people , & such as are wauering in religion , by reading his maiesties protestation , for the mayntenance of religion , herein contayned , and publikely vttered in the starre-chamber , by the mouth of the l. chauncellor of england , vpon thursday the xx . of iune last past , shall hereby bee incouraged to go on in the christian profession of the gospel , so long time by gods mercies , and the constancy of religious princes mayntayned amongst vs , and not bee discouraged by any idle perswasions , which seditious and trecherous papists , who haue vowed themselues vnto the seruice of the pope , shall closely and vndermyningly ( thereby seeking to alienate the hearts of his faythfull subiects , from their dutifull allegeance ) ▪ buzze into their eares . so that if any papist hereafter should seeke to perswade any of his maiesties subiects , that the tymes are like to alter , and that a toleration should bee graunted , ( thereby wronging his maiesty exceedingly , who is so fully settled in the trueth ) they may answere them , auoyd , false and lying varlets , your words are vayne , and your hopes are more vayne ; see here his maiesties protestation to the contrary . neither can i here omit to giue notice vnto the world , of that excellēt speach , which mine owne eares heard vttered vpon munday the fifth of august last past , at paules crosse , by the right reuerend father in god , the lord bishop of london , in his sermon there ; because it serueth for a strengthening and confirmation of that , which in the ensuing letter you shall read . his words tended briefly to this effect : that his maiesty had made a protestation before god and his angels , that he was so constant for the maintenance of the religion publikely in england professed , as that hee would spend his owne dearest bloud in the defence therof , rather then the truth should be ouerthrown : and that if he had ten times as many more kingdomes as he hath , he would dispend them all for the safety and protection thereof : and likewise , that if he had any childrē that should out-liue him , if they should maintayne or vp-hold any other religion , he desired of god , that hee might see them brought to their graues before him , that their shame might be buried in his life time , neuer to be spoken of in future ages . oh worthy speeches , and worthy so noble and religious a king ! shall we therefore that are his subiects , be discouraged , hauing so couragious a king ? no , god forbid . thus wishing thee to iudge none otherwise hereof , then as proceeding from one , that tendreth the good of his prince and country , and is willing to satisfy all such , as desire to be informed in the truth hereof , i rest a wel-willer to all that meane well . tho. hamond . a letter from a gentleman in london , to his friend in hereford . ❧ to his most affected and kinde friend , mr. e. r. in hereford . kind mr. e. r. the former proofes that i haue already had of your loue to me-ward , causeth me agayne to presume vpon your further curtesies . the matter is thus : there hath bene lately noysed abroad very commonly in london , a strange report , concerning the proceedings of some papists in your parts , and as fame goeth , not far from you : much haue i heard thereof , and that diuersly : whereupon being desirous to be satisfied with a certayne truth of that matter , ( because my mind cannot rest contented with an vncertayne relation thereof ) i repayred vpon thursday last , being starre-chamber day , vnto westminster , there expecting to heare something concerning those causes : neyther was i altogether deceyued in my expectation , although not fully satisfyed in any particulars of this matter , how the maner thereof was : for being there , vpon the same day , after that the lords were set , and that one or two matters , concerning some former misorders in those partes formerly committed , had bene heard , the right honourable , the lord high chauncellour of england , as from his maiesties owne mouth , beganne a most excellent speach , and deliuered the matter after such an vnexpressable maner , as it is impossible for me to come neere vnto , eyther the words , or perfit substance thereof , it was so pithy , so excellent , and so admirably couched together : and yet acknowledgeing that he himselfe was vnable to declare it vnto them in such maner , as his maiesty had deliuered it vnto him . but i will onely heerein relate vnto you , as neere as i can remember , such things as were vttered by his lordship , concerning these present matters : for his lordship , after that he had spoken somewhat largely , concerning some other poynts , sayd , that there had now happened a present occasion ( meaning this late commotion in your partes ) which did administer much matter worthy of consideration . then he began to shew how certainely his maiesty was informed , that the number of papists in england was mightily increased , since his maiesties comming , and that popish priests and iesuites ( factors for the pope ) lay lurking in many corners of this land , to seduce his maiesties subiects from their due and lawfull allegeance vnto their rightfull prince , to the acknowledgement of a forrain power and authority , namely , the pope of rome . then also , that his maiesty maruayled , how it happened , that papists could so increase daily , or priests and iesuites be intertayned within his kingdomes , considering , that his lawes are in force against them . and thereupon entring into a consideration of the estate of this land , and seeking by all meanes possible to finde where the fault might be ; after the examination of diuers supposed causes , he alleadged , that none was greater then this , viz. that iustices are too slacke and negligent in their places ; it being a thing impossible , that priests and iesuites should swarme so thick as they doe in any partes of england , or vvales , vnlesse iustices of peace in those parts where they frequented , were carelesse of their place and office . hereupon also he said , that his maiesty was informed , that many , who were in place of iustice , to punish others , either were themselues so affected , or atleast wise , for speciall respects , fauoured them that were . then spake he vnto the iudges , and such as were to go their circuits , remembring vnto them , how carefull his maiesty had bene for the good and happy gouernment of these his kingdomes ; how studious for the mayntenance of the true religion , professed and maintayned by the church of england ; how often his maiesty had held consultation with his councell and cleargy , for the sure establishment of matters in religion ; and how loth to alter , change , or disanull any of the lawes of england : because hee found , that there was no more perfit forme of gouernment in the world , nor any church that came so neere vnto the very substance of the trueth in euery poynt , as the church of england doth : and because that religion is the surest bond to knit mens hearts in vnity , he recited how great paynes , and what often cares his maiesty had taken for a perfit vnity in religion , and diuine worship , that not euery one should bee at liberty to serue god after his owne fashion , but all should ioyne in one true worship of god ; which , if euer any nation in the world had , we now haue . further also , giuing vnto the iudges a straight charge , that in their circuits they should haue an especiall care to inquire for all such as were priests , iesuites , or recusants , and to take such order , that they might be punished ; and more especially , for inquiry of all such iustices of peace , as were either , themselues , their wiues , children , or seruants , papists ; or knowne themselues to be fauourers of papists . hereupon further alledging , that there were some iustices , who although they themselues would not be seene to giue any entertaynement or countenance vnto priests , iesuites , or recusants , yet such should finde welcome at theyr wyues hands . and therefore his maiestyes pleasure was , that all such iustices , as can bee knowne to be as aforesayd , should haue their names sent vp , that they may be remooued out of the commission for the peace , as being vnfit members to hold such places . and as this his maiestyes charge extended vnto the punishment of such , as were obstinate papists : so , more especially , for the punishment of such , as were become papists since his maiesties comming : and yet a more strict charge for those parts about you , because they were alwayes most infestious and troublesome . then hee put the iudges in minde , how long a time they now had for search into these matters , and what directions they had receyued for their proceedings , assuring them , that as his maiesty had signified vnto them before their going , what course they should obserue : so at their returnes , hee would call them vnto an account , what they had performed therein . and amongst many other matters of speciall moment , he entred into a deepe consideration of this land , the estate therof how blessed it was , how much bounden vnto gods almighty goodnesse , for that he hath sent vs so gracious a king : a king , that did so constantly professe christes true religion established in the church of england : a king , by whose happy commaund we were free from many cares , many dangers , many perills . moreouer also , he shewed , that papists in diuers places , ( as his maiesty was certaynely informed ) did bragge in words , that they were in a good hope of a toleration : hereunto adding a speach of his maiestyes , concerning the folly of papists , how they were besotted , yea ; and more then bewitched , to suppose any such matter , wondering , whereupon they should builde their false hopes ; adding thereunto also , that his maiesty was so surely perswaded of the truth of his religion , so firmely grounded vpon the cercertainty thereof , and so constantly bent for the mayntenance thereof , as that he yowed vnto his priuy councell , that if he did know that any of his children after him ( which i hope neuer will be ) would goe backe from the religion which hee now professed , and maintayne any other , that vpon that childe hee would lay his curse . these and many other matters ( which not a little ioyed me to vnderstand , how constant his maiesty is for the mayntenance of the gospell ) i heard with mine owne eares , whereof i thought it not amisse to certify you : but because i cannot here know of the particular matters , and maner how those things fell out in your parts , i make bold to request your paynes , in learning , as neere as you can , the truth therof , and to let me vnderstand thereof by your letters . london , the 22. of iune . 1605. your friend assured , t. h. an answere vnto the former letter . to his most approued good friend , mr. t. h. in london . because reports are many and variable , and the world is giuen to inquire after nouelties , according as the saying is , est natura hominum nouitatis auida ; and also , because the further a tale goeth , the more it is made : for , fama crescit eundo : and lastly , because by your letters , you seeme to be so importunate , to know the truth in these late stirres and commotions in our parts . i haue ( though vnwillingly , but onely for your sake , vnto whome i acknowledge my selfe many wayes beholding , and whose request in any matter lawfull , is vnto me a strong commaund ) taken some paynes in collecting the trueth thereof , as neere as i could , without putting in of any thing , vnlesse it were credibly reported to bee true , or were matters of coherence with these actions . accept therefore these few lynes ensuing , as a further pledge of my vnfayned loue vnto your vvorship ; and as occasion shallserue , if any other matters worthy the writing doe happen , i will not fayle to performe whatsoeuer belongeth vnto a trusty friend , and one that wisheth all happinesse and prosperity vnto your fortunes . neyther may i heere omit to render you most kynde thanks , for your paynes taking , in writing so largely vnto me in your letter as you haue done . and besides that , the substance of your letter is so welcome vnto mee ( because i know , that had it not beene true , you would not haue written it ) as that it causeth my heart to leape for ioy within me , as often as i remember , how constantly his maiesty hath auowed to maintayne and vphold the truth of the gospell , which is now in england publikely preached . neyther doth the remembrance thereof seldome tymes with ioy affect me : for so many causes doe daily administer matter , to bring mee into the remembrance thereof , as that i am alwayes replenished therewith ; especially , when i bethinke me of papists , how vayne their hopes are , and how like vnto smoake they vanish away . god omnipotent , of his infinit mercy and goodnesse blesse vs all , and make vs heere faythfull seruants vnto himselfe , and the king , that after our seruice here on earth , we may all rest with christ iesus in the kingdome of heauen . hereford , the nyne and twentyeth of iune . 1605. yours to commaund , e. r. ❧ a true relation of the late commotion in herefordshire . there is a little uillage in herefordshire , called by the name of allens moore , distant from the city of hereford , two little myles . in this parish ( as also in many other thereabouts ) the priestes of rome haue so bestirred themselues , that with their doctrine , they haue so poysoned and made many drunke , with the dregges of the fornication of the whoore of rome , as that they are become obstinate recusants , to repayre to the church , and to participate of our churches sacraments , the true and vndoubted pledges of our saluation . and amongst the rest , without any further digression ( to come to our present purpose ) one alice wellington , wife of thomas wellington , of allens-moore , in the aforesayd county , peoman , being but a simple woman , and voyd of any true grounds of learning or diuinity ; but onely being seduced by the witcheries of baals priests , continued so obstinate in her erronious peruersnesse , that she , contrary vnto his maiesties lawes , would by no meanes nor perswasions , bee induced to repayre vnto the church , according to his maiesties lawes in that case prouided . whereupon , by the censure of the church , shee rested excommunicate . it pleased god , to visit this alice wellington with sicknesse , and to lay his hand so heauy vpon her , that she dyed excommunicate , not hauing submitted her selfe vnto our church . whereupon , the uicar of the parish being asked whether he would bury her ? hee the sayd uicar ( knowing that the law would not admit those to be buryed , according to the order of our church , being dead , who liuing , refuse to submit themselues thereunto ) refused the performance thereof , alleadging ; that hee should incurre the penalty and daunger of the lawe , if hee should yeelde therevnto . hereupon , many papists being aduertised of her death ; and drawing themselues together , they so determined , that among themselues , come what come would thereof , it should bee performed after their maner . whereupon it was agreed , that vpon the tuesday following , being tuesday in whitsun weeke in the morning , it should be done . understand by the way , that the uicars house being close to the church-yard , as hee lay in his bed , about sixe of the clocke in the morning , some houre and halfe after sunne rising , he heard the sound of a little bell ; and being vnacquaynted with such a sound , and wondring what it might be , hee started vp , and looked out at the wyndow , from whence he espyed ( as he gessed ) some fourty or fifty persons accompanying a coarse round about the church , one of which company had a saints-bell , another bare a crosse , fastened ( as it seemed vnto him ) vpon the end of a staffe ; before the coarse some carryed tapers burning , and other such trumperies : the rest of them being weaponed , some with billes , some staues , some swords , & other weapons ; some of which men the uicar himselfe knew , and some he knew not . hereupon , the uicar ( as soone as hee could ) arrayed himselfe : but before hee was dressed and come vnto them , the body was layd into the ground , and their ceremonies welneere ended . whereupon , the uicar drawing neere , spake vnto them , blaming them for their boldnesse . but they little regarding his words , gaue him many reuiling tearmes , and bade him get him gone , if he tendered his owne life , and not to disturbe them , nor approach neere them . the uicar being but himselfe alone , and seeing so many weaponed in offensiue maner , thought it bootles to say any more , or to make resistance against so rude a company , and thereupon returned into his house . after that the company was dissolued , the uicar gaue the right reuerend father in god , the lord bishop of hereford , then lying at the palace in hereford , to vnderstand thereof , both the maner how , the time when , and the names of some persons , whome he had seene and knowne in the said action . whereupon , his lordship hauing an especiall care , for the suppressing of such tumults and disorders , and also knowing how much hurt the wincking thereat might easily procure ; and withall , being zealously bent against their profane customes , directed a warrant vnto the high constable of that hundred , george wenlond , for the speedy search for , and apprehension of such as were knowne to be actors therein . the high constable hauing receyued the warrant , with other petty constables , speedily repayred vnto the shoppe of one iames cowle , a weauer of hungerstone , neere thereunto adioyning , where the sayde iames cowle was , and also one chadnor , a weauer like wise , who wrought in another roome adioyning , both of them being in the warrant , the sayd high constable , george wenlond , caused them both to be apprehended , by vertue of the sayd warrant . but they beganne to striue and struggle , and would not goe with them , according to the purport of the warrant : in which contention , the sayd chadnor escaping , some pursued him , the rest remayned with iames cowle : but cowle , contrary to the kings peace , desperately strooke at a gentleman , named master william gough , with a short knife , which weauers commonly vse to cut off their threeds , and there with grieuously wounded the sayd master william gough vpon the chynne . at which time also , one william rogers , one of the constables , was hurt in seuerall places vpon the hand . it happened , that as they were thus contending , one leonard marsh , of kynson , who had likewise beene in the former action , and was also one of the men named in the warrant , came into the sayd shoppe , where the same iames cowle was . whereupon the sayd leonard marsh was likewise apprehended ; and in their striuing , the constable being hurt , and master gough likewise , the sayd iames cowle escaped also ; in so much that none , saue onely the aforesayd leonard marsh , remained in their power . the rest hauing escaped , and wilfully indangered themselues , by committing such vyle misdemeanors against his maiesties sworne officers , the high constable tooke the sayd leonard marsh with him toward hereford ; and by the way as hee passed , he charged diuers such as he met with , in his maiesties name , to bee assistant vnto him , in conducting the prisoner vnto hereford : in so much , that hee had to his ayde some fifteene or sixteene men , euery one taking with him such weapons as they could come presently by , and as the haste required ; whereby they were but very meanely and slenderly weaponed . in this maner marching towards hereford city , suite was made vnto the high constable , by a brother of the sayd leonard marsh , that he would stay his course with the prisoner , vntill such time , as master william morgan of treble parke had spoken with him . but the high constable following the wordes of his warrant , aduisedly replyed , that hee might not stay his course ; for his warrant was to the contrary . whereupon , william marsh , brother vnto the sayd leonard marsh , called vnto his brother , and bade him not to goe with them . thereupon , the sayd leonard began to draw backwards ; but being himselfe alone , he was by strength forced forward softly . thus , hauing gone on softly some two miles , when as they came within a quarter of a myle of hereford city , suddenly they espyed themselues beset on euery side the way with men ( in number as they gessed , some forty or fifty ) weaponed , some hauing bowes & arrowes , some billes , some long-staues and pikes , some swords ; and so inclosing the high constable , and his company , they demaunded , whither he conuayed the prisoner ? he answered , that his warrant was to carry him to hereford . thē they demaunded , for what purpose ? he answered , that when he came there , they should know . at which words , one of them set a iauelin to his brest , and charged him , vnlesse he meant to see his owne guts , to let goe the prisoner . the high constable perceyning in what danger hee was ; and also knowing how far too weake his company was to make resistance , being ( as before is said ) but some fifteene or sixteene persons , and those also , ( as not mistrusting so bold a rescue ) but very meanely weaponed ; yea , welneere as good as altogether without weapons , after he had reasoned with those vnreasonable persons , and shewed them the danger that they had thrust themselues into , by making so rebellious a rescue ( seeing no meanes of resistance , let goe the prisoner , who as soone as he was loose , had a byll presently by some of the company deliuered vnto him : and then in most bold and presumptuous maner beganne to threaten diuers of those , that were with the high constable to ayde him . presently , as soone as the sayd leonard marsh was rescued , came the aforesayd master william morgan of treble parke ( who is now with some others sent vp to london ) vnto the high constable : vnto whome the high constable spake some words , as blaming him for the rescue , and that hee should be the cause thereof , and that his comming in afterwards , was but only to colour the matter . all which , the sayd master morgan denyed , excusing himselfe , that hee came onely to speake a word or two with him , not knowing any thing at all of the rescue . the prisoner being thus rescued , the high constable gaue present notice thereof vnto the bishop of hereford : wherevpon , the priuy councell was presently with all speed informed thereof : and suddenly were sent for vp to london , some such as were knowne , to be chiefe actors therein . upon which businesse , sir herbert croft was dispatched into the countrey . and after inquiry made , certayne gentlemen were sent vp to london , to answere the matter . upon which occasion , diuers iustices in this county haue bene since that time put out of the commission of the peace , as knowne to bee too much leauing vnto the popish faction . thus haue i briefly related vnto you , the true maner of the papists proceedings in these late actions : if any other matter of moment ensue hereupon , i wil not faile ( god willing ) but certify you thereof by my letters . hereford , the nyne and twentieth of iune . 1605. yours ( as before ) to commaund , e. r. the copie of a second letter from hereford , concerning some further proceedings in the former actions . all promises , that with honesty may bee kept amongst men , ought to bee obserued , and especially amongst those that by loue and inward affection are so neerely obliged each to other , as wee both are . i remember well , that by my last letter , i bound my selfe vnto your seruice , if any materiall accident worthy the obseruation , concerning the late broyles in our parts , should happen ; and although i must needs confesse , that my style in penning , be very blunt and harsh , yet know i this also , that the matter and substance of my lynes are true . which may in some sort counteruaile the glosing eloquence of some rhetoricians , who study more for sine and fyled phrases , then for the truth of matter : for vnlesse i be much deceyued , the thing that you most desired , was the truth , and that also was the end , whereunto my thoughts tended , and principally aymed at : and therefore , i hope , that you will rather accept of nudam veritatem , without eloquence , then of eloquence without the truth . within fewe dayes after that i had written my last letter ( dated as i remember , the nyne and twentyeth day of iune ) vnto your worship , the right honourable , the earle of worcester , came downe vnto his place of ragland in munmouthshire , with full authority from his maiesty , of present iustice to be executed vpon such as had beene actors in these causes . now , albeit that the matters were far gone , and diuers misorders committed , yet seeing it booted not to withstand any further , hauing waded too farre already , most of the principall of them came in , and yeelded themselues vnto his lordship . whereupon , such as his lordship in his wisedome thought fit to be proceeded with somewhat sharpely , after examination , he caused to be committed to prison , vntill his maiesties further pleasure be known , where diuers of them yet remayne : with others , who were lesse obstinate , and onely carryed away by false perswasions of popish factors , being of themselues inclinable to accord vnto the trueth , if their consciences might be thereunto perswaded . his lordship tooke a more milde course , seeking to wynne them vnto the trueth , by reasons grounded vpon gods worde , which is the onely rocke , whereupon the conscience must build . and so effectually hath his honour dealt in this case with many of them , as that from stiffe recusants , they are conuerted , and become new scholers in christes ▪ schoole , and i trust will proceed rightly , and in a rightful course hereafter . i could name diuers of good account , who haue reconciled themselues vnto our church , by his lordships honourable proceedings with them , and do now dutifully repaire vnto the church . what will become of those that are yet prisoners , i know not , as yet they onely remayne in durance , vntill his maiestyes pleasure be knowne . the countrey is now quieted ( god bee thanked ) and all things , by his lordships honourable carriage , well settled . god graunt the continuance thereof . thus , hauing performed my promise in what i know , i rest , as euer before , your friend in all obsequiousnes , e. r. hereford , the third of august . 1605. finis . ❧ a necessary and godly prayer . o most merciful lord god , and louing father , wee thy children and sheep of thy pasture , hūbly prostrating our selues at the foote of thy diuine maiesty , do here confesse , that we are not worthy of the least of those innumerable benefits , which thou in mercy , for thy sonne christ iesus sake hast bestowed vpon vs ; neyther are we worthy to be called thy children , but only in & through him , in whom thou art well pleased : for wee haue disobeyed thy will , broken thy lawes , contemned thy precepts , and cast thy commaundements behind vs : if thou shouldest call vs to account for our liues misspent , for our deeds misdone , and for our maniford trāsgressions which we haue commited , we are not able to answere thee one for a thousand , it is impossible that we should stand in thy sight : nay , lord , if thou shouldest but marke what is done amisse , why then , who were able to abide it ? we were not , and thou of thy goodnesse madest vs to be ; and when we were , we fell away from thee , and forsooke thee : but thou ( who before wee were , causedst our being ) when we were , wouldest not ▪ suffer vs to be lost for euer ; but didest send thy sonne christ iesus to redeeme our soules out of the hands of sathan , who otherwise would haue seyzed vpon vs , and greedily haue deuoured vs. not long since , o lord , we sate in darknesse , and in the shaddow of death ; we slept in ignorance , not knowing the precious sweetnesse of thy holy word ; we liued in blindnesse , not knowing whither we went , but as we were led ; and withall , our leaders were blind , in so much , that the blind leading the blind , ( hadst not thou sent vs a guide to conduct vs ) we had both fallen into the ditch . thy holy word , o lord , is a lanthorn vnto our feet , and a light vnto our pathes : thy holy spirit is the guide to lead vs vnto the light ; and the light , which is thy holy word , is that which leadeth vs vnto saluation . o lord , take not this light from vs , but let it euer shine as bright vnto vs , as the sun at noone day . and for this cause , o lord , we render vnto thee most humble and hearty thanks , for the long , happy , glorious , and prosperous raigne of our late dread soueraigne , queene elizabeth , vnder whose blessed and happy gouernment so many yeeres together , we inioyed the light of thy holy word , and by whose constancy the truth thereof was euer since the beginning of her raigne , mightily maintayned . we thanke thee , o lord , for all those blessings , that by and through her thou diddest conferre vpon vs thy vnworthy children : as namely , the practice and profession of thy holy word : the quiet possessing of that we had , ( euery man vnder his owne vyne , peaceably eating the labour of his owne hands : ) the great number of many paynefull , learned , and faithfull preachers , which vnder her gouernment thou diddest send into thy vineyard : the graue , wise , and honourable counsellours , that by thy gracious goodnesse , thou didst appoynt vnto her : their true , faythfull , and dutifull seruice , that ( guided by thy grace ) they performed vnto her : the preuention of many euils & dangers ( entended to haue bin wrought by the hands of villaynes ) which , had they taken effect , might haue bin the vtter ouerthrow and ruine of our whole countrey : the quiet and peaceable end , that ( protected with thy shield , maugre the malice of all her enemies ) after the common course of nature , peaceably dying in her bed , she made , leauing ( as in right they did belong ) her imperiall crownes vnto our now gracious and renowmed soueraigne lord king iames , by thy grace , of great brittayne , fraunce and ireland , king , defender of the same true , catholike and apostolike fayth , which she formerly did . lord , we humbly againe , and againe , vpon our bended knees , from the very bottome of our hearts pray and beseech thee , that , as of thine especiall loue and fauour vnto vs , thou hast giuen vs so gracious and religious a king : so thou wilt of the same thy louing mercy , protect and defend him , in all dangers and perilles whatsoeuer . guide , o lord , his going fotth , and his comming in : blesse him in all the actions that he shall take in hand . put ( o lord ) into his heart good desires , strengthen him with thy continuall grace , and in the end , bring him to thy euerlasting kingdome . as he is ; so , o lord , continue him , a faithfull professor of thy gospel ; a zealous and religious confessor therof ; a true and mighty defender thereof ; a barre and obstacle , to hinder all the courses and proceedings that either papists ( or other enemies of thy gospell whatsoeuer ) shall go about to inuent for the suppressing of the truth . discouer them , o lord , and let their deuices , if they perseuer in wickednes , redound vnto their owne shame and confusion . protect and defend him , o lord , in all his wayes ; counsell him in all his consultations ; let all his thoughts , wordes and workes , tend vnto the honour and glory of thy holy name , and his owne endlesse ioy and comfort . continue him a true maintayner of the truth : establish and confirme thy truth in his heart : root out antichrist , and pull downe his pride : let religion ( as now it doeth ) alwayes flourish in this kingdome : suppresse the power and might of sathan : cause an vnity in the church : graffe vs all into one stocke , and let vs be all composed into one body , whereof thy sonne christ iesus is the head . and because , o lord god almighty , that kings and princes , as they are here on earth , in highest offices and authority vnder thee , so are they chiefe markes for sathans instruments to shoot at , wee meekely pray and beseech thee , that thou wilt blesse and defend his royall maiesty from all the desperate & wicked attempts , whatsoeuer sathan , or wicked traytors , his ministers , shall vndertake . o lord , let them all ( who wish him any harme ) suddenly be consumed , perish , and come to a fearefull end . blesse , o lord , our gracious queene anne , our noble prince henry , and all the rest of the king and queenes royall issue : let their posterity neuer fayle ; but let them continue kings and queenes of this land , to maintayne the trueth vnto the worlds end . disperse , o lord , all the mists of error and superstition ; let those that are blinde , and fayne would see the light participate with vs in the truth : settle all misorders whatsoeuer , that are any where in these his maiesties kingdomes , either in church or common-wealth . let peace dwell in our quarters , and let not the name of warre be heard amongst vs. conuert those vnto thy truth , that are yet vnconuerted ; and establish those in the truth , who are already conuerted . finally , o good god , blesse and preserue all and euery particular member , and members of this thy church of great brittaine : make vs all ready to serue thee , and faithfull subiects vnto his maiesty . these , and all other blessings , whatsoeuer thou in thy wisdome shalt thinke necessary for vs , wee begge at thy mercifull hands , for his sake , in and through whome thou first louedst vs , euen christ iesus our lord and alone sauiour . amen . god saue the king. finis . the franciscan convert, or, a recantation-sermon of anthony egan ... preached in london on april 6, 1673 to which is annexed, a narrative of the strange behaviour and speeches of the papists in ireland since his majesties declaration of indulgence : and the commendatory letter in latine, given to the author by his superiour before his conversion. egan, anthony, b.d. 1673 approx. 35 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a38185 wing e248 estc r7765 12272802 ocm 12272802 58340 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a38185) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58340) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 182:15) the franciscan convert, or, a recantation-sermon of anthony egan ... preached in london on april 6, 1673 to which is annexed, a narrative of the strange behaviour and speeches of the papists in ireland since his majesties declaration of indulgence : and the commendatory letter in latine, given to the author by his superiour before his conversion. egan, anthony, b.d. ford, henry, sir, 1619?-1684. [5], 31 [i.e. 33], [2] p. printed for robert clavel ..., london : 1673. a letter "by the lord lieutenant general, and general governour of ireland" i.e. henry forde: p. 31. the commendatory signed: 15, march, 1670, frater carolus mack carty. numerous errors in pagination. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng anglican converts. conversion -early works to 1800. catholics -ireland. 2006-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-12 celeste ng sampled and proofread 2006-12 celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion advertisement . the author being informed , that after he had preached this sermon , the people judged him to be the capuchin fryer , who lately burnt his beads , crucifixes , &c. in the pallace yard at westminster : he desires to satisfie the world of their mistake , for , that to his knowledg , he never saw him in his life , neither was he in england at that time . anthony egan . finis . the franciscan convert : or a recantation-sermon of anthony egan , ( late confessor general of the kingdom of ireland , and guardian of the friory of monasterioris , in the province of lemster ; now a minister of the gospel according to the ordination of the church of england , ) preached in london on april 6. 1673. to which is annexed , a narrative of the strange behaviour and speeches of the papists in ireland since his majesties declaration of indulgence . and the commendatory letter in latine , given to the author by his superiour before his conversion . london , printed for robert clavel in little britain , 1673. the franciscan convert : or a recantation-sermon , &c. luke 22 , the latter end of verse 32. when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren . conversion is an hard work , but it is glorious ; it relates to the two great faculties of our mind , the understanding and the will. our understanding , that our faith be found ; our will , that our morals be good . i will begin with our morals , because it is no matter what our judgment is when our manners are bad ; lewd men credit no profession , but disgrace the cause they own . christianity consists of a redemption , and that redemption from the iniquity of our ways ; that is to say , a turning from sin to vertue , from satan unto god. a turning from a bad life is nothing else but a separation of a mans self from profane uses unto holiness ; as when a child and heir of hell becomes one of the sons of god , in scripture phrase this work of conversion is called a ceasing from evil , and a learning to do well ; a putting off of the old man , and a putting on of the new ; and it is called a new creature , a conformity to christ in his death and resurrection ; or according to the same apostle elsewhere , be not conformed to this world , but rather transformed by the renewing of your minds . or lastly , in our saviours language , a seeking the kingdom of god and the righteousness thereof , and being holy as he is holy in all manner of conversation . therefore christians , as you desire to have peace with god and your own minds , live soberly , righteously , and godly in this world. labour to prove the truth of your profession by your pious practices . endeavour to become living images of god , vessels of honour , and temples of the holy ghost . i might argue against sin from the common mischiefs of it , and remind sinners of the labyrinths into which it leads them , and assure you that gods service is perfect freedom . for if all the happiness which christian religion propounds to us were only confined to such promises as have a relation to eternal bliss , it might be thought that the lord jesus was only careful to make the end of a christian race glorious , yet had neglected to make the way pleasant which leadeth thither . but if it be truly considered on the other hand , that those very precepts which are enjoyned as the rules of our duty are in themselves infinitely conducing to our own present satisfaction , then we must conclude that none can be miserable in the next world but only such sots as will not give god leave to make them happy in this . for the laws of the holy jesus are so agreeing to our natures , that the execution of them are as great expedients of our present happiness as testifications of our duty , so that our duty and our priviledges run parallel in one line . in the next place , as conversion relates to our wills , so also to our understandings , that we may have such notions of god and his worship as becomes the solemnity of that duty we owe to our god. and what dangerous errors , education , and prejudice may breed is very obvious to all that have made remarks in the world. for we know that a dangerous principle hath hurried many into desperate practices ; saint paul's zeal for the mosaick law made him spurn against christ himself . so that the immoralities and debaucheries of some men are less dangerous than their tenents . god forbid that any thing that i say should give the least countenance unto vice , but to shew that we may fly from one extreme to another . i may compare the enormities of vice to a sore that is ulcerated , nauseous , and offensive to all mens view : errors in our judgment ( or a false worship of god ) is like to a sore skinned over , though not so offensive to our senses , yet more dangerous to the vitals . our saviour told the scribes and pharisees , that harlots and publicans entered into the kingdom of god before them ; not that we are to think that the kingdom of god is a place for either harlots or publicans , as such : but that the recovery of the one is more hopeful than the recovery of the other . the profane person is sick , but then he and all men know it : the heretick is sick , but he thinks himself well , and so neglects all means for a remedy , and the cure of such a one becomes a wonder . the subject i have chose this day is copious , and from it i might present you with many particulars , but i must forbear and come to the application , which i must center in my self : when thou art converted , &c. i hope this scripture is fulfilled this day on my self , being a monument of god almighties mercy in bringing me from the gross superstitions of popery to the glorious light of the gospel ; and seeing the consequent of my text is the strengthening of my brethren . i shall now give you some few of the principal motives which drew me from my former perswasions . you must know i was bred and catechized in all the absurd doctrines and practices of the romish church , and no little zealot in that way ; i was ordained deacon and priest , and made confessor general throughout the kingdom of ireland ; was a frier of the order of st. francis , and afterwards superiour of a convent , and chaplain to several eminent persons of qualety in that kingdom . upon a certain time i accidentally came to a publick house to refresh my self , i found that a lewd priest had pawned the consecrated host to the woman of the house for five and thirty shillings : which i redeemed : and with this remarke that christ was made by him , not an offering for sin , but a sacrifice for his lust . i need not tell you how great the scandal was to my self , but augmented by considering that the person was a superiour of an order , and in great reputation among his people . there are many sad circumstances in the story , but i will forbear at present to mention them . upon this great disgust i began to dispute the doctrine of transubstantiation , and all the ridiculous consequences of it became evident to my understanding ; for suppose a turk should tell me that i make my god , and then eat him ; and should he challenge me to produce so nonsensical a tenent in the alcoran , i must either change my opinion of transubstantiation , or quit my christianity . is it not strange that christ should eat himself , and that all the disciples should eat him alive before the jews had crucified him ? i know he calls the bread his body , but then he calls the cup his bloud , and shall one be allowed to be a figure , and not the other ? but that which expounds the whole institution are these words , do this in remembrance of me ; that is to say , this ordinance is a commemorative sacrifice of my self ; if christ be corporeally present , how comes there to be any exercise of our memories ? but others have said so much of this subject that i need say no more . another great motive of my conversion was their adoration of images , so flatly contrary to the second commandment . god told his people israel of old that they saw no similitude , for the prevention of all manner of worship by images . they say , by graven image is meant only an idol , but then these words following , nor the likeness of any thing before me , spoyls that interpretation . for if by graven images be meant only idolls , then the commandment is altogether superfluous , for idolls were forbidden in the first commandment by having no other gods ; and if they say , they worship not the image , but the person represented by it : i answer , this justifies all the heathens in their idolatries , for they said they worshipped nothing made with hands , neither did they believe them to be their gods , but that their gods were present in them in an extraordinary manner . in the next place , i will speak of the doctrine of purgatory , which upon serious examination became strange to me . indeed i read of a narrow way that leads to bliss , and a broad way that is the high road to misery , for that via media , that leads to purgatory , i find it not in my bible ; yet i hold purgatory , but it is in my saviours bloud : and it is that purgatory which only must purge my soul from sin ; and if that purgatory will do a sinners work , i will look for no other . yet for all this , purgatory in the popish notions of it is a gainful doctrine ; it is that fire which makes the popes pot boyl ; and therefore no wonder if they be so loth to have it extinguished . another motive that i had to abandon all communion with the church of rome , was that intolerable practice of having the service in a tongue unknown to the people : and chap 14 of the former epistle to the corinthians seems to be wholly writ against that custom . it is said exod. 12. 26 , 27. and it shall come to pass , when your children shall say unto you , what mean you by this service ? that you shall answer and say , it is the sacrifice of the lords passeover , &c. when i read this scripture it reminds me that gods service is a reasonable service , and that we ought to know the reason and meaning of that service we perform to god. edification and devotion are inseparable from the true worship of god. now should i in the language of this scripture come to the common people at the celebration of the mass , and say , what mean you by this service ? what satisfactory answer can be expected ? some of late ( i must confess ) have translated the popish prayers into the vulgar language , but the pope has forbidden the use of them . so that who shall so use them are not right catholicks . but above all the tenents of rome none seemed more ridiculous to me than that doctrine of infallibility , for if that be proved , i shall submit to any thing that she shall impose upon me . for had st. peter himself been appointed the infallible judge of controversies , what needed the council at jerusalem , acts 15. it would have been a much shorter cut to have had st. peters determination in the case , without giving the apostles any further trouble in it . the patriarch of antioch pretends that he is st. peters successor , and we have more reason to believe him so then the pope ; for antiquity is clear that he was bishop of antioch , and the scriptures are express that there he exercised his function , and that there it was that the disciples were first called christians . st. paul saitb , that to him was committed the care of all the churches . st. peter might have said those words with as much innocency as st. paul , but it was gods mercy that he did not , for then the pope would have pretended a good text for his universal pastorship . but that which makes the doctrine of infallibility more vain are those contradictory establishments which are in that church ; had i time i might give in endless instances . but that which is the most mischievous to them is their non-agreement among themselves where this infallibility is seated , which makes nothing more fallible than the very doctrine of infallibility . and i must tell you , that among the many other errors and ill practices which i discovered in the roman church , their cruelties were no small disgust to me , as if christianity had taught them to forget humanity ; i cannot but with horror think of those barbarous massacres which were committed in my own country , as if papists had guts , but no bowels ; so that it is not only their prayers , but faith that they have written in bloudy characters : you will hear them boast of loyalty : look into the irish histories , and then judge of those pretences . if by accident some have shewed themselves so in england , yet the constitution of their church looks with another aspect , for i am sure i ever thought it a meritorious action to murther either prince , or any protestant subject , provided i was commissionated so to do by the pope , but how to serve two masters , i understand not , the pope and the king ; i must tell you , that i my self am an instance of their intended cruelty , for after my conversion from their fooleries , and having by the good providence of god been instrumental in bringing seven friats and priests from their communion , and several of their laity , their malice was such , that preaching upon a sunday in a protestant church a musket was levelled at me as i stood in the pulpit , but through gods mercy the bullet went only through my hair without doing me any other mischief ; but when i saw my life was aimed at , i was forced to quit both my new preferment , and my country . but are these things according to the gospel of peace ? they that preach religion with fire and faggot surely know not what manner of spirits they are of , if our saviour's kingdom were of this world his servants would fight ; and indeed we read st. peter used his sword once in his masters quarrel , but he got so sharp a rebuke for it , that i do not read that he ever so much as wore one after . must the pope cut off heads because st. peter cut off an ear ? this is strange . the old romans thought to propagate the faith by dying for it : our new romans think to establish theirs , but by a quite contrary method ; reason is the crown of a man , religion is the crown of reason , christianity is the crown of religion , charity is the crown of christianity , and charity we know suffereth long , and is kind , and seeks its own establishment by means and methods the most like to it self . i must also tell you , that the prayers to saints and angels became very offensive to me , having in all the scriptures not one precept , nor one example to give countenance to any such custom . i am sure our saviour invites weary and heavy laden sinners to come to him , mat. 11. 28. and when i can come and have an access to the throne of his grace with boldness , i shall not think my self to stand in need of any other spokesman ; if i can be free with my prince , why should i trouble any courtiers to present my addresses . besides , we have great reason to believe there is an incommunicable gulf between the glorified saints and us , for the scripture tells us , that abraham knows us not , and israel is ignorant of us , &c. i could also give large narratives of their pious frauds , as they call them , by which they delude the people to fix them in their gross errors and superstitions . when i was made a frier , a great number of people were present at the solemnity ; i appeared in a spruce garb , had there my horse , my sword and pistols , and appeared with much gayety and splendour . the head of the convent advised the people to take notice of my pompous condition , and that i was willing to lay aside all those outward glories for st. francis his sake , and accordingly i disrobed my self , and put on the mean garments which belonged to the order , and then made three vows , of obedience , poverty , and chastity : after that took one and twenty oaths ; now in the oaths i swore never to come on horseback , never to wear shoes , to obey my superiour in what ever he commanded me , without examining the lawfulness of his commands , not to be ashamed to beg , never to be out of my friers habit . but that which was a cause of a disgust at that time unto me was this : the superiour tells me , that i must take my former garments , that is , return in the same posture i came , and go see my friends ; and though all these things were against my oaths , yet he would absolve me from them . i must confess this seemed to me a strange cheat to the people , that he should tell them what self-denial i was guilty of in taking those oaths , and yet he presently absolves me from them ; and this is the state of all the irish friars . and i may tell you what offence i took at those vain stories which they have of miracles , and especially when i discovered their grand impostures therein : for about seven years ago a priest , near the city of limbrick , by name william sarchwell , had for fifty shillings hired a woman to pretend her self a cripple from her birth , and that she had a revelation that if she dipped her self in such a well , whilst a priest said mass by the place , she should be recovered of her infirmity ; the plot thus laid , and accordingly executed , she comes halting to the well , returns out of it perfectly cured , which became a miracle to the people ; which did not only get the contriver of the cheat a vast sum of money , but also confirmed the people in their superstition . but after some time the counterfeit had some remorse of conscience , came to me to confession in order to absolution , which i would not grant till she had declared the whole story to the congregation , which she did accordingly . it is well known the poor miserable people are mightily deluded by these cheats . a frier of great note and zeal told me that he was at a franciscan convent beyond the seas , where was the image of the blessed virgin , made with a scrue in the head thereof , where they put in some water , and having a string that came undiscerned to a place where the friers stood ( and when they thought the people had brought a good offering ) then by the help of that string they could unloose the scrue , by which the blessed virgin seemed to weep , and this was one of their miracles . indeed the relator ( though a friar ) said it was a great scandal to him , and accordingly complained to the general of the order , but his answer was , should he make a reformation in that particular that convent should starve . it is said , that the monks of a certain convent had put the like fallacy upon st. bernard himself , who when he came into their church had prepared an instrument to carry a voice to the image of the blessed virgin , who when he came into the church saluted him with a salve bernarde ; but he , apprehensive of the cheat , gave no other return to the complement than this : it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church . but of all their fine stories commend me to this new miracle they talk of for the confirmation of transubstantiation , the story is this : they say , that in a certain place within the king of spains dominions , that as the sacrament of the mass was celebrated that all the perfect effigies and proportion of a man rose out of the host , but when the people came too near , that they might plainly see the miracle , he vanished away , therefore for ever hereafter it must be horrid blasphemy to deny transubstantiation shall be hardly guilty of so much vanity as to make any replication to such a ridiculous story , only let it be no offence to tell you what a remark a facetious person made to the rélator of it : you suppose , saith he , that it was christ himself that appeared , and it seems that upon the approach of the people he vanished a way , which is the only circumstance to make the story credible , for he might suppose the people were come to eat him , and so he vanished . upon these considerations , and reasons , and others , more than i have now time to mention , i renounce here in the presence of god and this great assembly my former popish ways , and withal i declare my self a protestant ; and that you may believe me a true protestant , i do further declare , that i am a protestant according to the church of england , as it is here by law established ; and i must further declare before the searcher of all hearts , that i speak none of these things either out of malice or prejudice , nor for any sinister end or corrupt design whatsoever , but that gods name may be glorified , his truth cleared , and my brethren edified , and that my own soul may be eternally saved . but will it not be enquired by some , whether i be not gone from popery to popery , that is , unto the same church , though of another denomination , it being objected , that the constitutions of this church are framed out of popery , and the common prayer book compiled out of the mass-book ? i answer , the devil hath many devices to carry on his own interest , and the papists do contrive many engines to distract protestants ; and i look upon this objection to be hammered in their forge to make us worry one another , and to break our communion . but to give a full answer to the objection , let me tell you , that i think i understand the mass-book better than any here , and can assure you the argument is vain and unworthy : my reason follows , first all is not popery that is in the mass-book , there are several particulars of the primitive litturgy that is not popery : there are several places taken out of the holy bible , neither is that popery . secondly , there are several other good things in the mass-book , and if it were not so the cheat would be evident to every eye . you know the devil could tempt our saviour in scripture language , shall we therefore expunge these scriptures because the devil used them ? he transforms himself sometimes into an angel of light , yet that makes him no less a devil , though harder to be discovered . the reformation quarrels not with the church of rome for any thing that is good , but what is really bad ; we differ not from rome in any thing but wherein she hath differed from her self , so the schism is in rome , not here : and from very good grounds i am apt to believe that rome hath altered almost as much in her religion as in her language ; for you may as well say that the italian is the ancient language of rome , as the present court of rome is the ancient church of rome . the church is compared to a spouse , the pope hath put her in a fools coat , and besmeared her face with filth and nastiness . the reformation washeth her face , and takes from her her ridiculous garments , but meddles not with her essentials , nor any thing else but what is an apparent scandal : but i know not how to represent the condition of our church at the time of the reformation better than by comparing it to a house infected with the plague ; the charity and wisdom of authority orders this house to be cleansed by burning all the infected rags , but the pewter , brass , or iron , and other goods not capable of any infection still abide to the use of the house . what remains of the comparison i leave to your own meditation to illustrate . i have only this to say , that as the papists have attempted my life , i must conclude that they will traduce my name , and bespatter my reputation , but i hope your charity will relieve me ; and for my own part , with the almighties assistance , i will be cautious that my life scandalize not my profession , that from thence the enemies of the lord may have no cause to blaspheme . i hope you will joyn with me in giving to the god of my mercies all honour and praise , the just tribute of all created beings , henceforth and for evermore . amen . a true narrative of some of the actions and speeches of several papists in ireland , since his majesties declaration of indulgence , published in that kingdome , whereby does appear the great disadvantages and hazards such persons as are converted from popery to the protestant religion , must of necessity expose themselves to : by me , anthony egan , now minister of the gospel , late a franciscan fryer , and guardian of the friery of monasterioris , in the kings county , in the province of leinster , confessor general throughout the said kingdom , and chaplain to several persons of quality of the popish religion there . by the providence of god , i was converted to the protestant religion about two years since , at which time i obtained from the succeeding guardian of the friery , whereof i was formerly guardian ( a guardian being used to be elected every three years ) a testimonial of my good behaviour before i declared my self in publick to be converted after my conversion , i applied my self to the lord bishop of clonfeart , who gave me a curates place in loughreah , with some other preferment in the county of galloway , worth about 80 l. per annum , where i , shortly after , in using my function in the church , was shot at by one thomas tressey , a papist , inhabitant of that place , but not wounded , for which he was afterward bound to his good behaviour , by the said bishop ; after which , the papists , there , did several times threaten me with death : whereupon , for preservation of my life , i was forced to retire into lymerick , whereby i lost such preferment as the said bishop had bestowed upon me : but before i went from loughreagh , several of the papists priests , and others , living thereabouts , which i am ready to name , and do hereby accuse , did publiquely report that his majesty , his royal highness , and all the nobility & gentry of the kingdome of england , were privately of their religion , which they used as an argument to make me fall back again to popery . after my coming to lymerick , i being appointed to preach an anniversary sermon in detestation of the late rebellion there , several popish priests , and others , came to hear me ; and after sermon ended , as i was going from supper , assaulted me in the night-time , and endeavoured to kill me , but by the providence of god , i defended my self , and escaped unhurt . after that , i came to youghall about christmas last , where one of the papists there , did report in the hearing of credible witnesses , that he should think himself very happy if he could have opportunity to kill me , though he should be hanged for it immediately , for which the said papist was by the mayor committed to prison . after which , to save my life , i was forced to go to dublin , and being recommended by the earl of orrary to the arch-bishop of dublin , and lord chancellor of ireland , i had authority , and did preach as well in the cathedrals as other churches there ; and as often as i preached , was assaulted in the streets by a rabble of papists of that citty : in one of which assaults , my man was wounded , and i hardly escaped their fury ; whereupon my lord lieutenant of ireland gave me his protection ; notwithstanding which , i was persecuted and assaulted as much as before , in so much that i was forced for safeguard of my life , to come for england , to my great discouragement , and the discouragement of all such that are protestants of that kingdome , and others that would be so , were they not held to their superstition , for fear of losing their lives by the fury and rage of the papists there . during my abode in ireland , since my conversion , i was instrumental in converting several priests and others to the protestant religion , and without doubt , many more would have been turned from the romish church , had they not been affrighted by the rigour and fury of the papists there against me , and others ; one whereof being guardian of a friery , and after some correspondence with me , had inclination to become a protestant ; whereof , talbot , that goes by the name of arch bishop of dublin , understanding , excommunicated him , and the whole inhabitants of two parishes procured a warrant from the lord dungan , who is a papist ; and made a justice since the indulgence , to take the said guardian or prior , who being brought before him , he caused him to be laid in irons , and committed to a dungeon , where he remained till complaint was made to the counsel of ireland ; whereupon the councel dispatched sir henry ingoldsby to know the truth thereof , with a habeas corpus for his removal , who found him in the condition before related , and committed for high treason , as appeared by his mittimus , whereby he could not be removed ; but all the said sir henry ingoldsby could do , by being bound for his true imprisonment , was , to procure him the liberty of the town , and a tollerable roome to lodg in , till he should be delivered by due course of law. all which i am ready to prove , not only of my own knowledg , but also by the testimony of several persons of quality ; some whereof are now in this kingdome : and many other things of like nature , which to avoyd prolixity , i now omit ; but if desired , will shew the particulars . by the lord lieutenant general , and general governour of ireland . essex . whereas we are informed , that anthony egan clerk , the last sabbath day , and several other times , hath been assaulted , abused and disturbed in the street , and other places , by boys , and other disorderly , loose , and idle persons , to his great discouragement in the performance of his function , and contrary to his majesties lawes , and all good order & government : for prevention of the like disorders in the future , we do hereby , strictly charge , require , and command all magistrates , justices of the peace , sheriffs , and their officers , constables , and all other his majesties officers and loving subjects whomsoever , not only to permit the said anthony egan , and his servant , quietly and peaceably to pass from place to place , as they , or either of them shall have occasion , within this city and suburbs , or elsewhere , in this kingdom ; but in case they , or either of them , shall hereafter be assaulted , abused , or disturbed , or any manner of violence or injury offered unto them , or either of them , openly , or privately , ( they behaving themselves civilly , as becometh loyal subjects ) to take , apprehend , and secure all such person or persons of what age , condition , or sort soever they are , that shall be found offending , as aforesaid , in any kind , and carry them before the lord mayor of this city , or the next justice of the peace , to the place where they shall be taken to be punished according to law : given at his majesties castle in dublin , the 4th . day of february , 1672. henry forde . this following commendatory was given to the author by his superior , a little before he was converted to the church of england . tenore praesentium licentiam concedo fratri patri antonio egano nostri instituti confessario eundi ad commitatum de clare circa quaedam negotio per agenda , nobis nota quibus finitis , sicut ipsi videbitur expediens , revertatur praecipue commendo praefatum antonium omnibus christi fidelibus ad quos contigerit in via , ut , benigne charitative illum tanquam verum obedientiae filium recipiant . 15. march. 1670. frater carolus mack carty guardianus . a briefe relation of the late martyrdome of fiue persians conuerted to the catholique faith by the reformed carmelites, who remaine in the mission of persia, with the king of persia, in his citty of haspahan. and of the increase of the christian faith in those parts. gathered out of the letters, which the fathers labouring in the said mission, haue written vnto their generall: which letters are printed in the italian and french, and are now translated into english for the good of the church 1623 approx. 39 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a09493 stc 19776 estc s114576 99849801 99849801 14969 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a09493) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 14969) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 857:1) a briefe relation of the late martyrdome of fiue persians conuerted to the catholique faith by the reformed carmelites, who remaine in the mission of persia, with the king of persia, in his citty of haspahan. and of the increase of the christian faith in those parts. gathered out of the letters, which the fathers labouring in the said mission, haue written vnto their generall: which letters are printed in the italian and french, and are now translated into english for the good of the church garayzabal, m. [40] p. printed with permission of superiours, doway : 1623. "this is a trans[lation]. deriving ultimately from the ms. relation in spanish by m. garayzabal, in religion prosper a spiritu sancto" (stc addendum). signatures: a-b c⁴. the first leaf is blank. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng carmelites -missions -iran -early works to 1800. catholics -iran -early works to 1800. 2007-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-04 john latta sampled and proofread 2007-04 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a briefe relation of the late martyrdome of fiue persians conuerted to the catholique faith by the reformed carmelites , who remaine in the mission of persia , with the king of persia , in his citty of haspahan . and of the increase of the christian faith in those parts . gathered out of the letters , which the fathers labouring in the said mission , haue written vnto their generall : which letters are printed in the italian and french , and are now translated into english for the good of the church . teach yee all nations , baptizing them in the name of the father , and of the son , and of the holy ghost . math. 28. 19. doway printed with permission of superiours . 1623. in my former letters i made relation to your reuerence , not onely of the state of this our mission into persia , and the bordering kingdomes , where by the goodnesse of almighty god , wee haue labourers who diligently trauell in the vineyard of our lord : but also i haue further signified vnto you , the fruit and increase which dayly proceedeth from our labours , sometimes by preaching , teaching and baptizing mahometans , whose conuersion is most hard : other sometimes by reducing the poore deceiued soules of the armenians , nestorians , iacobites , and other such like , vnto the faith of christ , which are heere in great number ; and haue little of christianity , more then the name ; amongst whom wee doe much good , and gather great plenty of fruit into the storehouse of our lord , which is the greatest comfort wee inioy in these desarts of infidelity . this onely heretofore , hath beene a discomfort vnto vs , that this our mission on our behalfes , hath gone on too fauourably , and hath not beene accompanied with tortures , torments , imprisonments , and effusion of our blood , for the gospell of christ which we professe , and desire to plant in these partes ; as we reade of in other missions ; and are necessary for vs to suffer , aswell for the testimony of the truth , as for the edification of others ; and incouraging them to bee constant in the faith ; which hitherto god hath not bestowed vpon vs , though we often desire it at his hands , for confirmation of his truth . true , it is , that heretofore there hath not beene wanting , nor yet at this present there is wanting , occasions , and opportunities , to merit , and to offer something to our lord : yet generally the king heere though a mahometan , hath heretofore alwayes shewed towards vs , so great signes of affection and loue ; that for our sakes he hath not molested any christian , vnder the name and title of a christian : but if at any time hee hath constrained some of the armenians to deny their faith ; he hath done it vnder colour , that they haue otherwise displeased him , or for that they had not wherewithall to pay him , that which they ought , or vnder some other pretext ; vntill now of late within these few dayes , it hath pleased his diuine maiesty in part , to heare our prayers , and to comfort his children , by giuing them a taste of the sweetnesse , which those inioy , who shed their blood , and yeeld their liues for his loue , though it hath not beene fully accomplished in vs , yet so it is that he hath giuen vs a little taste , to strengthen our hopes , that hereafter it may be fully accomplished in vs ; for not many dayes agoe , he hath blessed this mission with the happy death of fiue martyrs , and watered it with their blood : so that now wee hope that it will yeeld a most plentifull haruest , to the great content of all our congregation , but especially to your reuerence who hath beene so great a fauourer of it . amongst other persians which in these last monthes we haue baptized heere at haspahan ; there were fiue ( that is to say ) elia , chassadir , ( his cozen ) alexander , ioseph , and hebrani . elia hath serued vs sometimes in our house , and was the husband of that theresa , of which i made mention in my former letters , who was likewise baptized by our fathers ; and after baptisme god gaue her so great zeale ; that like an apostolike woman , shee preached and published the name of iesus christ in all places ; and trauailing into her countrey , which is a prouince of the ringdome of sciras , subiect to the king of persia , she conuerted diuers , and with the rest the aforesaid chassadir , and in those partes enkindled in them such a desire of christianity , as that the gouernour of that prouince sent diuers times , and lastly his owne proper sonne to our fathers in haspahan , earnestly intreating them to send two fathers vnto them , to the intent to teach them the faith of iesus christ ; which at that time could not be executed , because the king of persia was then incensed against the portugals , preparing to wage war against them in ormus , ( being an island of the king of spaines in the east indies , somewhat further distant from the firme land , then his other kingdomes are ) as accordingly he shortly afterward performed . these foresaid fiue christians being baptized at seuerall times , and instructed for some weekes , in the mysteries of the holy faith , departed to make their aboade in their owne houses . but we perceiuing the kings indignation to increase against the francans ( francks in persia are called the christians that follow the custome of the latines , to distinguish them from the greekes , armenians , and others ) thought it more safe , for them to retire themselues to ormus ▪ thereby both to secure themselues from the kings fury , and the better ▪ also to confirme them in the holy faith : to this effect father iohn of st. eliseus ( who hath bin long times vicar generall of the reformed carmelits in these countries ) wrote vnto our fathers , who resided there ▪ and to a captaine of ormus , that they would entertaine them , and prouide for them there , vntill the kings indignation was ouer-passed . hee sent his letters by elia , as by one who best knew the wayes , and the practise of the country , and in whom he put the more confidence , for that he had serued in our house . elia trauailed onwards with great alacrity , although hee fore-saw the great perill , whereunto he was exposed , for at that time the country was all in armes , and ormus was besieged by the persians . but the ardent desire , which this seruant of god had to endure any thing whatsoeuer for his sake , made him set light by al dangers , and thence-forth chusing only for his cōpanion in the iourney , his aforesaid cousin cassadir , he went cheerefully forward , vntill that in his way , he was discouered by an english-man , whereof some are resident in persia , to trafficke with the king for silke , which they finde there , and brought to be accused before the chan , that is to say ▪ the duke that gouerned the said kingdome of sciras , in the name of the king of persia , as his vice-roy , who was going to the siege of ormus , who presently shut him vp in prison , and searching him , found the letters , which after he had perused , he caused him to be racked , and asked him what he was ? elia answered that he was a francke , whereupon the chan or duke commaunded him , that hee should speake in the language of a francke , but being ignorant of the language , he pawsed a while , and then said , that he was a christian francke , ( which is as much as to say , in the persian tongue , a christian catholique , or one that yeeldeth obedience to the pope ) afterwards the chan asked cassadir , cousin to elia , what he was , and whither he went , and vpon what affaires ? and finding him to be a christian newly baptized , who went to accompany his cousin , and that they had no other businesse , but to carie the letters hee found about them , out of the hatred hee bore to christians : the chan begun to be enraged like a dogge , and endeauoured by diuers meanes , that is to say , by threatnings , torments , perswasions , and promises , to make these two new disciples of iesus christ , to deny the holy faith , and to returne to the false obseruance of mahomet : but god ( who neuer abandoneth those which trauaile for him , and put their trust in him ) fauoured them with so great aboundance of his graces , that they set light by the threats , and torments , and respected not the promises of the tyrant ; but freely confessed that they were christians , and that god had shewed his fauour vnto them , to draw them out of the darknesse of infidelity , and the false sect and doctrine of mahomet , to the end they might know the true and onely faith of iesus christ , in which they were both of them resolued to liue and dye . the words of elia like darts pierced the heart of the chan ▪ who inraged with new indignation , commaunded them to be caried into the sight of ormus , ( eight dayes distant from that place where they were at that time ) and in the presence of the christians of that citie to bee put to death , in such manner , as heare after shall bee declared . in these eight dayes of trauaile they were most inhumanely handled and iniured , induring hunger , thirst , and watching , to which the cruell instruments of the diuell , fierce in heart , and sauage in behauiour , added another more greater , which was to labour diuers times , to take from them the precious treasure of the sacred faith ▪ sometimes by threats , other whiles by promises , now by flatteries , and againe by stripes , vnder pretext to make them runnagates and apostataes . but these true seruants of god , tried like fine gold in the midst of so many persecutions , suffered and indured all these cruelties , with ioy of spirit , and vnspeakeable constancie , yeelding thankes to our good lord iesus christ , for the grace he bestowed on them , in making them worthy to suffer , and endure anything for his loue , and for the holy faith , which they had receiued in baptisme . being argued in sight of ormus , these fierce and cruell ministers flayed an asse , and sowed the martyr elia in the skinne , and afterwards nayled him on high to a great peece of wood : he liued in this most cruell torment some houres , praising and blessing god , and preaching the faith of iesus christ , after the best manner he could . cassadir was alwayes present at this spectacle , who in stead of astonishment , and loosing his courage , for the torments that were inflicted vpon his cousin , was the more animated , and remained alwayes constant , confessing iesus christ , and reiecting with an holy disdaine , all those that counsailed him to returne vnto the sect of mahomet , which was the cause that they tyed him to a stake , and ripped vp his belly . thus those two holy martyrs finished their fraile life , to the end to possesse and begin another eternall , and happy ; insomuch as the ministers of cruelty , and those other infidels that were there present , remained confused and astonished , at the constancie of those two martyrs . i could not as yet vnderstand what became of the bodies of these two glorious martyrs , but i hope that god will preserue and reserue so great a treasure . the chan of sciras being informed by these two glorious martyrs elia , and cassadir , what those three other christians were , which according to the fathers letters , were to be sent to ormus , and hauing notice both of their names , by which they were baptized , as for the others , they had when they were yet mahometans , signified the whole proceedings by his letters to the king of persia , and sent him those letters which the holy martyr elia was to carie to ormus . the king hauing receiued this newes ( who at that time was three leagues from the citie ) commanded the foresaid three christians to be apprehended , who were not as yet departed , and commanded the daraga ( that is to say , the gouernour of the citie of haspaphan ) and the captaine of the campe , to repaire vnto our couent , and shut vs vp therein : which they punctually performed , locking , and sealing vp the cells of the couent , and shutting all of vs together in one chamber : after this , they asked father iohn , whether hee thought he had done well , or that it were fitting , that hee should be the cause of such a matter , considering that the king had alwayes entertained , and honoured him ? wherevnto the father answered , that hee came not into persia for the honours and fauours which the king had bestowed on him ; but for the only hope he had , not only to conuert the king , but his whole kingdome to the faith of iesus christ. with this answer the gouernour and the captaine of iustice , departed , leauing the monastarie full of souldiers : god so would that one of the fathers was yet fasting ( notwithstanding that it was more then two of the clocke afternoone ) and thus consumated hee the holy sacrament . that night they forbad vs to performe our accustomed spirituall exercises , beleeuing that we would set some charmes , and sorceries a worke . yet did wee that which vpon such like occasion , the prophet . daniel did . your reuerence may consider in what estate we were , the house being full of watchmen , and sergeants that were infidels , the gates of the monastarie locked , when as we might not speake to any of our friends , or know what was done , but were all of vs closed vp in a chamber , preparing our selues to giue our liues for iesus christ . one onely thing afflicted vs , which was , that wee could not giue succours to the new christians ▪ knowing for certaine , that they suffered great necessity of all things , and for that wee could not counsell , and animate them , being doubtfull of their perseuerance in the faith . at that time , wee betooke our selues to our prayers , beseeching our lord to giue them force , and perseuerance , offering vp our prayers to the two holy martyrs elia , and cassadir , to the end they should interceede , and pray for them . wee remained prisoners thus , for three dayes space , during which time , each of vs prepared himselfe to dye , and made a generall confession after the best manner we could . the first day we read the life of st. ignatius the martyr , the second of st. lawrence , and the third that of st. katherine . i cannot expresse vnto you the consolation , and inward ioy that we felt , nor the feruour , or sensible apprehension and zeale of the fathers : euery houre was vnto vs a thousand , whilst we expected to giue vp our liues for iesus christs sake , and no lesse able am i to expresse vnto you , the desire which we had , that our deaths might be accompanied with many torments , neither the feruent acts which we did to that effect . we tasted ( deare father ) of the force , and efficacie of gods grace ▪ and the fidelity which god vseth towards those who expose themselues to dangers , by the meanes of holy obedience ; in such sort , that mee thought i saw , that which in such like occations god operated in the primitiue church . the second day of our imprisonment , the king sent these letters to father iohn ( by a secretarie , to the gouernour of the citie ) which hee had written by the holy martyr elia to father baltaser , and the captaine of ormus , with the interpretation of the same , but vnfaithfully and corruptly translated by the direction of the chan of sciras , commanding him to certifie him , whether these letters were his , and whether they were well interpreted , and that hee should interpret them himselfe , and call to his remembrance what honours and fauours he had done him , and whether this was the acknowledgement which he ought him , and the reward of the bread and salt they had eaten together ; intending hereby , how often times the king had inuited our fathers to eate with him , perticularly vpon the occasions of the arriuall of great ambassadours , and at feasts , at which time , the king is accustomed to make great banquets , to which hee alwayes inuited father iohn , with some other fathers , honouring them very much vpon such like occasions , placing them alwayes neere himselfe , feasting them at his owne dish , and doing such like things : ( this is a phrase amongst the persians to say , they inuite them to eate bread and salt , when they inuite to a banquet . ) father iohn read the interpretation of his owne letters ▪ which the king had sent him , and finding them full of lyes , and falshoods ; hee interpreted them , and signified to the messenger , which was sent vnto him by the king , that hee acknowledged the graces , and honours which he had alwayes receiued at his maiesties hands , that those were his letters ; and that it was true , that he had baptized those fiue . and being demanded why he baptized them ? the father answered : why doth the king inforce christians to forsake their faith , and become mahometans ? as his maiestie endeauoureth for mahomet , so will i doe my vttermost for iesus christ , in whose place i am here set : and for this cause , who so euer they be , that desire to become christians , those will i freely baptize , being onely sent into these countries , with these my companions , to that intent . the ministers deliuered the answere , which the father sent to the king , who was highly contented , both with the interpretation which the father had made of his owne letters , which he had sent vnto ormus , ( being much different from those which were sent him by the chan of sciras , translated wholy into a contrary sence , and as it may be thought , by some enemies of our holy faith ) as also with his constancie , and for that cause , the king said the father had reason . full two hundred mulaz ( which are the doctors of mahomets law ) were present with the king , when the fathers answere was brought vnto him , who making some tumult , and noyse ; and almost mad with anger , were assembled there , to the end to complaine vnto his maiestie , for that the law of mahomet grew out of request , and for that we had sent more then fiue thousand baptized persians into christendome , inciting him to remedy the same , and prouoking his displeasure against vs. the king being much displeased , turning himselfe towards them ( after hee had heard the fathers answere ) reuiled , and taunted them with bitter speeches , telling them , that the father had reason ; but that they were villaines , and old crafty foxes , commaunding them out of his presence : saying , for sixteene yeeres space , i haue frequented the fathers company , yet hath he neuer told me any vntruth , neither haue i found any ill beseeming behauiour amongst the fathers , and i hold them for honest men . hereupon the mulaz departed , confused : at this time the king expressed the affection which hee bare to father iohn , which truly is very great , whereupon wee suppose , that the seuerity which at this present he sheweth , and heretofore vsed towards the christians his subiects , as to the armenians and others , euill intreating them , and permitting sometimes , that their children should be made slaues , and forcing some of them to deny their faith , is to no other end , but to giue some satisfaction to the mulaz , and the people ; in that hee feareth some reuolt , hauing perticularly discouered diuers times conspiracies against himselfe , whereby he stoode in danger both of his life , and kingdome , wherein one of his sonnes was intended to be placed , which hath beene the cause that he hath put two of his sons to death , and as it is presumed , hath caused the third in like sort to be slaine , to the intent to leaue one of his eldest sonnes children , to succeede him in the kingdome , who as yet is a little infant , and incapable of the empire . true it is also , that the king naturally is both angry and chollericke , both by reason of the conspiracies which haue beene also addressed against him , as for the death which he hath inflicted on his owne naturall children , so that this passion hath gotten so great power ouer him , that sometimes he seemeth to be out of his wits , and at that time acteth beastly resolutions . all these thinges being thus past betwixt the king , and the father , the king commaunded those three prisoners to be brought before him , that were imprisoned in the citie of haspahan , by reason of the intelligence the chan of sciras had giuen him , together with these sixe other , who desired to bee christians , and were ready to receiue sacred baptisme , being for this cause also committed to prison . the king himselfe asked them whether they were christians or no ? to whom these catechumen ▪ answered together , with two of the three other christians , ( that is to say ioseph , and hebrain ) that they were none ; alexander onely answered with great courage , that he was a christian . the king commaunded him to forsake his faith , and to returne to mahometisme : whereupon alexander , with greater feruour , and freenesse of spirit , said , that he would neuer commit such a sinne , as to seperate himselfe from the true faith of iesus christ , for the false doctrine of mahomet , and that he hoped through the mercy of god , to liue and die a christian . the king ▪ being strangely moued by this free and confident answere ( as one who was vnaccustomed to heare replyes , and contradictions to his commaundements ) sentenced him to bee presently stoned to death , and afterwards burned to ashes . the ministers sodainly executed the kings commaund , and happy alexander publiquely confessing iesus christ , gaue him thankes , for that hee thought him worthy to loose his life for his sake . we cānot as yet , learne the other particularities of this glorious seruant of god , because the execution was sodaine , and without the citty : wee onely know that the reliques are in the handes of the christians , and are kept by them with honour and reuerence . the other eight ( that is to say ) the two christians and the sixe catechumens , who had beene brought before the king , with the holy martyr alexander , were by his maiesties commaundment led vnto father iohn , to know which were the two that were baptized , for all of them had denyed themselues to be christians . we thus locked vp as wee haue signified vnto you , the next day following about an houre within night , whilest we were occupied in mentall prayer which we vse to make for one houre in the euening and another in the morning ; behold the eight inchayned prisoners , together with the ministers of cruelty , came vnto vs , commaunding the father to certifie them , which of those were the two christians . the father animated and exhorted them , to confesse the true and holy faith , which he had taught them , and that god had engraued in them by holy baptisme , and which they , with so much gladnes , had at that time testified ; and also shewed vnto them , that it was not lawfull for christians to deny the name of iesus christ , at such time as they are constrained to confesse the same , and afterwards hee tolde these whom the king had sent , that ioseph and hebrain were the two , which he had baptized ( for the father knew that the king was well informed of all ) one of these two relented a little , because the father had discouered him , vttering forth certaine wordes , whereby hee discouered his apprehension of the danger , the other spake not one word . heere we haue an occasion , wonderfully to admire the meanes which his diuine maiesty vsed at this time , to assist those two soules , and to crowne them with the crowne of holy martyrdome , prouoking euen the very ministers of cruelty , who led them to martyrdome , to animate them vnto death for the loue of iesus christ ; for one of them said , be not afraid of death , because it is our most assured heritage : thou art a christian , dye then in the faith of iesus christ ; another said this life passeth in a moment , you shall goe and liue with iesus christ : the last said , iesus christ is aliue , and is not dead as mahomet is ; continue constant , and you shall ascend to the fourth heauen of iesus christ . the next day earely in the morning , they brought vs backe the eight that were chayned together , and with them a portugall called sebastian duz , taken prisoner by the kings souldiers in his warres , and for that cause detained in prison in haspahan ; this did god ordaine for his greater glory , and the ayde of these new christians : father iohn , issued out of the gate , with bread to distribute amongst them , and to refresh them a little , but the catechumens would take none , yet did ioseph and hebrain receiue the same , and gaue thereof likewise to sebastian duz , entertaining father iohn with a ioyfull countenance , and great contentment , who called all the other fathers and religious , for the common consolation of all , and after he had exhorted the two christians to perseuerance , and without feare to confesse their god and sauiour , who gaue himselfe for our redemption , and to esteeme it to bee a great grace and blessing to be reputed his martyrs , and to remember themselues of the vertue , courage , and constancy , of their three companions , elia , cassadir , and alexander , who like glorious saints , enioy and for euer shall enioy eternall glory : whose intercession he promised them , as also our prayers ; but aboue all the ayde and assistance of iesus christ in their passion , and that their torments would seeme sweet , and pleasant vnto them : after this each one with teares in our eyes , imbraced each other , enuying their happines , and reputing our selues not worthy of so great a fauour , we tooke our leaue of them , and they departed comforted , ioyfull , and inuested with a new spirit ; but we remained sad and afflicted , for that we were depriued of the crowne of martyrdome , which wee so much desired : wee setled our selues to prayers , to assist them the best that wee could , considering that it was not permitted to vs , to doe otherwise , neither to accompany them as wee desired , and as we endeauored to doe . but sebastian duz sufficiently supplyed our places , heartning , comforting , and inciting them alwayes to behaue themselues like the true souldiers of iesus christ . they two with the other seauen , which were in chaynes , that is to say , sebastian duz , with the sixe catechumens in religion , were led through the citty of haspahan , and turned three times about the same , and were then conueyed to the kings presence , meane while sebastian duz with the two new christians , confessed alwayes ( both passing thorough the citty , and in the way , with a loude voyce , and in the kings presence ) the name of iesus christ . the king seeing this , commaunded that ioseph and hebrain , should bee stoned to death , and their bodyes to be burned , and that sebastian duz , with the sixe catechumens , should be led backe to prison : and to this purpose it was proclaimed throughout the citty of haspahan , that those that loued mahomet should repaire to the execution place , with stones to chastice those , who had denyed the faith of mahomet . being arriued at the place where this execution of these two happy christians , was to bee performed , the gouernour of the citty who is an apostata , and hath abiured christian religion , alighted from his horse , & taking the mulaz with him to ass●●t him , enforced himselfe to perswade these two martyrs , to make profession of the law of mahomet , attempting them , with their ordinary , carnall , and temporall reasons , promising them not onely their liues , and the kings pardon , but also great rewards , considering that not onely the matter concerned and hazarded their reputation , but also the credit of their prophet mahomet : ioseph answered with great courage , saying ; that although he were the first that denyed himselfe to bee a christian , at such time as the king questioned him thereupon , yet now in no sort hee would commit such an errour , for that the offence he had committed was too great already , when in the kings presence hee had denyed himselfe to bee a christian , hoping that our lord iesus christ , who had shewed him so much fauour , as to call him to become a christian , would now giue him grace and force to suffer death for his loue : whereupon they that were about him , and particularly the mulaz tooke vp stones to stone him , which , whilest they performed , the saint hauing his head already broken and in peeces , cryed out with a loude voyce : blessed bee the holy name of iesus , his faith is holy and true ; and that of mahomets is false , and no man can be saued thereby ; but brethren god pardon you , and giue you his holy light : telling them further , that hee felt no paine . hebrain , that was the last to dye for iesus christ , was tempted and likewise assaulted anew , to deny the holy faith , and to professe and protest that of mahomet , whereunto hee answered ; that he would not doe it , and that hee was a true disciple of iesus christ , the true god , and true man , wishing them , that they should not loose any more time to perswade him to such lyes , and that they should not delay any longer , to bestow that crowne on him , which his companions enioyed in paradice , and that he was disposed to shed his blood for him , and for his loue , who with so great excesse of loue ▪ had giuen his corporall life for them and him , to the end to giue them an eternall life : and whilest they bound and fastned him to the stake , he said to the ministers of his execution , that hee pardoned them , and desired that god would not demaund accompt of his blood at their hands . it is impossible to expresse with what rage these ministers of the deuill stoned this holy martyr , out of the dispite they had , for that they could not peruert him , whereupon they remained wholly confused and derided by all men . hauing stoned these two saints , they burned their bodyes , and set a watch ouer the reliques and ashes of the saints , yet notwithstanding the christians gathered them all vp , so that nothing was left vnpreserued . the kings ministers repented themselues for that they had executed the martyrs , because they did not beleeue , that so great a constancy could bee in the saints , considering the torments which they suffered , and the rather , because they saw so great a murmure amongst the people , who flocked together in great multitudes , to see the spectacle they had neuer seene , and they openly said , that the faith of the christians was more strong , and better then theirs : whilst this martyrdome was a doing , wee that were locked vp , and guarded by our ordinary watchmen , prayed god that his holy name might be sanctified in these his saints . not long after this the king departed and went to kanda , where his army attended him ; but before his departure , hee caused the catechumens in christian religion , to be set at liberty , and ordained , that not onely they should haue their free liberty , but that they should be honoured , and and left free as they were before , to doe their offices in our church . signifying hereby , that what hee had done , hee had done against his will. but as we remained in the ministers hands , and the king was farre distant from vs , they left vs one of the guard in the ●●●ent , saying , that the king had so commaunded them , but this was not a guard but a mamonda ( that is to say a guard of guests or strangers ) and for this cause the christians frequented not our church , as they were accustomed . but god draweth the best from all things , for by this persecution , wee haue gotten the loue of diuers persians , and are in good reputation with them , and those that kept vs , testifie our pouerty in all places , and that we are good christians , which wee could not haue obtained in our prosperity . the sensible apprehension that all the citie sheweth , giues vs great occasion to praise god , because all of them thought , that wee should haue beene put to death , by diuers torments . for going once along the citie , and making some little walke , presently after the death of these martyrs , they all beheld vs , with ioy and contentment , and great reuerence , blessing god. although as yet , wee are vnder the afore-said guard , and in a manner imprisoned , yet doe we say our offices in the church , and we ring our bells ( which are very good ) as we did before , and as you doe in europe , and notwithstanding our need of money , wherewith we are pressed , yet within these few dayes , wee haue bought a very good bell , for feare least the other should bee broken , hoping in god that we shall one day see them , in the best idolatrous church in this citie ( that is to say ) in the synagogue of the mahometans . wee remaine very much comforted , and the rather because wee already see the efficacie of the intercession , which those fiue martyrs make for this mission , enioying the fruit of their bloud , wherwith it is watered , hoping to haue greater one day , and to see throughout this whole kingdome , the holy crosse triumphantly erected , which god graunt for his great and infinite mercy sake . the parents of the martyrs are very well affected towards vs , diuers of the most learned and principals of haspahan , send vs salutations , excusing themselues , that for the present they cannot come to salute vs in person , because as yet those thinges that are past , are new , and fresh in memory : and although we are thus closed vp , i will not say imprisoned , yet some haue not failed to come vnto vs ( although with great danger ) importuning vs to baptize them . the forty three territories of the armenian christians , who are vnder the kings obedience ( as at other times i haue certified your reuerence by my letters ) had playde the apostataes , in another persecution , and were for the most part become mahometans , ( although as i beleeue it was not in heart ) by the example of these fiue martyrs , they haue all of them declared themselues to bee christians , and protest they are ready to dye for crhists sake and his loue. the king hath taken no notice hereof , but hath commaunded , that euery one should liue according to that faith wherein hee was borne , and to the aforesaid forty territories , he hath made restitution of their christian bookes , which the persians had taken from them , when they abjured . these are the fruites of the death , and intercession of these fiue glorious martyrs . there are some , that for the present labour to put this information into an authenticall forme by a publique notary , with many witnesses , which were present at this famous martyrdome , amongst which there shall bee the ministers of the king : which once obtained , i will send it to your reuerence , with all the other particularities that may be knowne , to the end , you may make vse of them at rome . i will certifie your reuerence no further as touching the workmen in this mission , least i should grow too tedious , but this , that they liue in great obseruance , and with such perfection , as if this house were a nouiship , and they nouices . they humbly require the prayers of our congregation , and especially and particularly those of your reuerence , and your holy benediction , in which wee haue much confidence . beseeching you to succour this mission , and to send labourers , for the haruest is great , and your reuerence may beleeue me , that sometimes my heart bursteth ( if i may so speake it ) with compassion seeing them still crying out for the bread of the sacred gospell , and that wee cannot assist them all , as we earnestly desire : the zeale of your reuerence permitteth me not to speake any further , knowing what desire you haue to assist this mission , with the hazard of your blood . our lord reward you , and preserue vs , as wee pray to that effect . from haspahan the eleuenth of aprill . 1622. the good old cause rightly stated, and the false un-cased prynne, william, 1600-1669. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a56169 of text r219597 in the english short title catalog (wing p3970). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 28 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a56169 wing p3970 estc r219597 99831058 99831058 35520 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a56169) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35520) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2038:28) the good old cause rightly stated, and the false un-cased prynne, william, 1600-1669. 6, [2] p. s.n., [london : 1659] by william prynne. caption title. imprint from wing. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng catholics -england -controversial literature -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1649-1660 -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1642-1649 -early works to 1800. a56169 r219597 (wing p3970). civilwar no the good old cause rightly stated, and the false un-cased. prynne, william 1659 4810 29 0 0 0 0 0 60 d the rate of 60 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2002-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2002-06 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the good old cause rightly stated , and the false un-cased . by william prynne esq a bencher of lincolns-inne . when the a wilely gibeonites attempted to circumvent iosuah and the israelites , and draw them into a league with them , against b gods express inhibition , they accomplished their design with this stratageme , c by carrying along with them , old sacks , old rent wine-bottles , old shoes and garments , and old dry mouldy bread and provisions to the israelites camp at gilgal ; which they alleged were all new on the day they came forth from their country , but were all becom old by reason of their very far journy , which they believing , without examination , were insnared by them . this policy hath for many years past been pursued by iesuites and other gibeonites of rome , to circumvent over credulous protestants to enter into a holy league with them to the shipwrack of their faith and souls , by crying up their d new superstitions , relique , errors , for the only old religion , and decrying the antient protestant religion as a late novelty first broached by luther and calvin . whether this be not the present stratageme of some of their instruments , or fraternity , to engage the souldiers to joyn in a new confederacy with them , to bring our old religion , government , parliaments , laws , liberties , to speedy desolation , & irrecoverable destruction , under the disguise of maintaining the good * old cause , is not unworthy their strictest inquisition , & most serious consideration , which will be evidently demonstrated to them by discovering the only true original good old cause , grounds , ends , drawing the houses of parliament to raise and continue the armies under their successive generals ; most clearly , fully , and truly expressed in their own votes , orders , ordinances , declarations year after year , printed at large in two distinct volums for edward husbands 1643. and 1646. by order of the commons assembled in parliament ; which being almost quite forgotten , it will be both seasonable , and necessary to refresh the memories , and awaken the stupid , if not seared consciences of the nation , with a recital of the chiefest of them , to countermine the new plots of all seducing gibeonites . the first original of the unhappy breach between the late king and our long parliament , was (e) his comming personally into the commons house to demand the five members , 4 ianuary 1641. whom the day before he had impeached of high treason , and sent a sergeant at arms to apprehend : this breach of privilege induced the houses to require the power of the militia to be at their disposal , for the safeguard of their persons and privileges : which being denyed by the king , who condescended to it very far , but not in that latitude as demanded ; soon after the king departing from the parliament , and setting on foot the commission of array for his defence against the parliament , and the parliament raising the militia for their safeguard against the king , this first engaged them by degrees into a civil bloody war against each other , ending in their mutual destruction by the very new militia they contested for , as their only security against each other . the sole cause , grounds , ends of the parliaments raysing the militia , and after that an army , are thus fully declared by the lords and commons , in their prepositions for bringing in plate and mony , horse , horse-men , and arms for the defence of the king and both houses of parliament , printed and published by order of the lords and commons , 10 junii 1642. whereas it appears the king ( seduced by wicked counsel ) intends to make war against his parl. and in pursuance thereof , (f) under pretence of raysing a guard for his person , hath actually begun to levy forces both horse and foot , &c. so as the orders of parliament , which is the highest court of iustice in this realm , are not obeyed , and the authority thereof is altogether scorned and vilified , and such persons as stand well-affected to it , and declare themselves sensible of these publike calamities , and of the violations of the privileges of parliament , and common liberty of the subjects , are baffled and injured by several sorts of malignant men who are about the king ; some whereof , under the name of * cavaliers , without having respect to the laws of the land , or any fear either of god , or man , are ready to commit all manner of outrage and violence , which must needs tend to the dissolution of this government , the destroying of our religion , laws , liberty , and property ; all which must be exposed to the malice and violence of such desperate persons as must be employed in so horrid and unnatural an act , as the overthrowing of a parliament by force , which is the support and preservation of them . all which being duly considered by the lords and commons , & how great an obligation lies upon them , in honor , conscience , and duty , according to the high trust reposed in them , to use all possible means in such case , for the timely prevention of so great and irrecoverable evils ; they have thought fit to publish their sense and apprehension of this imminent danger , thereby to excite all well-affected persons to distribute their best assistance , according to their solemn vow and protestation , to the preparations necessary for the opposing and suppressing of the trayterous attempts of those wicked and malignant counsellors who seek to engage the king in so wicked and destructive an enterprise , and to destroy the privileges and being of parliaments . 1. they the said lords and commons do declare , that whosoever shall bring in any proportion of money or plate , or shall underwrite to furnish or maintain any number of horse , horsemen , or arms , for the preservation of the publick peace , and for the defence of the king , and both houses of parliament from force and uiolence , and to uphold the power and privileges of parliament , according to his protestation : it shall be held a good and acceptable service to the common-wealth , and testimony of his good affection to the protestant religion , the laws , liberties and peace of this kingdom , and to the parliament and privileges thereof . and lastly it is declared , that whatsoever is brought in shall not at all be imployed upon any other occasion , than to the purposes aforesaid , which are ; to maintain the protestan● religion , the kings authority , and his person in his royal dignity , the free course of justice , the laws of the land , the peace of the kingdom , and the privileges of parliament , against any force that shall oppose them : and this by direction of both houses of parliament . here you have the good old cause truly , clearly and fully stated by both houses of parliament in every particular branch thereof , when they first ingaged themselves , all the well-affected people of the kingdom , and army in it , as they published to all the world in these their propositions . which how diametrically contrary it is in every branch to the misstaken good old cause , now cried up and prosecuted with an high hand , & to the late practises , proceedings , counsels , papers , designs of those , who were first raised , commissioned by the parliament for its just defence , yet are at last degenerated into the greatest apostates from , and violentest enemies against it ; their own consciences can best resolve , and the blindest eyes most clearly discern , these propositions were seconded with a g declar●tion of the lords and commons to the same effect , printed and published by their order , 5 iulii 164● . in pursuance whereof iuly 12. the commons house pass●d and published these votes : * resolved upon the question , that an army shall be forthwith raised , for the safety of the kings person , the defence of both houses of parliament , and of those who have obeyed their orders and commands , and preserving of the true religion , the laws , liberty and peace of the kingdom : that the earl of essex shall be the general : that in this cause , for the safety of the kings person , defence of both houses of parliament , and of those who have obeyed their orders and commands , and preserving of true religion , the laws , liberty and peace of the kingdom , they will live and die with the earl of essex , whom they have nominated general in this cause . that a petition should be framed , to move his majesty to a good accord with his parliament , to prevent a civil war . which petition and votes were presented to the lords ; who returned answer ; they did concur with the house of commons , in omnibus . after this the lords and commons in their h ordinances of 14 martii 1642. and 3 august 1643. for the speedy raising and levying money for the maintenance of the army raised by the parliament , and sundry other ordinances , whiles the earl of essex was general , did declare ; that the only causes for which they have raised and do continue an army and forces , are the necessary defence of the true protestant religion , of themselves and the parliament from violence and destruction , of this kingdom from forein invasion , and bringing notorious offendors to condign punishment , the preservation of the laws and liberties of this kingdom , and the kings person . and the i earl of essex himself , in his proclamation to prevent plundering , the 24. of april 1643. as he stiles himself , captain general of the army , raised and imployed for the defence of the protestant religion , king , parliament and kingdom ; so he declares , that this army is raised for the defence of the king , parliament , and kingdom , the preservation of gods true religion , and the just rights and liberties of the subjects from violence and oppression . the year next following , when the scotish forces were called and brought in for our assistance to joyn with the english army and forces ; the self same good old cause in every branch thereof was avowed and espoused by them , and no other , as both houses of parliament and the scots themselves declared to all the world in (k) several printed ordinances , declarations , remonstrances , and in the solemn league and covenant , which the officers and souldiers of both armies , as well as members of the parliaments of both kingdoms , and all well-affected persons in england , scotland , and ireland , generally subcribed in a most chearfull , publick , and sacred manner : yea * oliver cromwell himself ( both as a member and lieutenant general ) being the 40th . member who subscribed it . the command of the parliaments forces and army , being afterwards translated from the earl of ess●x to sir thomas fairfax , by an (l) ordinance of the lords and ●ommons in parliament , 15 febr. 1644. for raysing and maintaining the sorces under his command : both houses ordained , that there be forthwith raysed and armed for the d●fence of the king and parliament , the true protestant religion , and the laws and liberties of the kingdom , an army consisting of 6600 horse , 4000 dragooners , and 14400 foot , under the immediate command of sir thomas fairfax knight , who is hereby constituted commander in chief of all the forces raysed by this ordinance , and shall from time to time be subject to such orders and directions as be shall receive from time to time from both houses of parliament , or from the committee of both kingdoms . and it is fu●ther provided by this ordinance , that all commanders and officers that shall be imployed in this army , and to be approved by both houses of parliament , and all the common souldiers of this a●my shall ●ake the national league and covenant of both kingdoms , within 20 dayes after they be listed in the said army ; and that all such who shall refuse the said solemn league and covenant , shall upon such their refusal be displaced , and shall not be admitted into any office or command in the said army , untill they shall have taken the said solemn league and covenant , in such form as is there prescribed , and such their conformity approved of by both houses of parliament . in the (m) ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament , for the speedy raysing and impressing of men for the recruiting the forces under the command of sir thomas fairfax , 27 febr. 1644. they declared , forasmuch as the true protestant religion , the laws and liberties of the subject were in danger to be subverted idolatry , and tyranny , like to be introdu●ed by the force & power of several armies raysed by pretence of the kings authority , &c. be it therefore ordained by the lords and commons assembled in parliament , that the committees of the militia for the city of london , the deputy lieutenants and committees of parliament in every county , city , or place within the realm , shall from time to time , raise , leavy , and imprest such number of soldiers , gunners , and chyrurgions , for the defence of the king , parliament , and kingdom as shall be appointed by both houses of parliament , the committee of both kingdoms , or by sir thomas fairfax . the like recitals of this good old cause , and ends for which this army under him and others was raised , are used in n other ordinances . if this be not sufficient evidence , that sir thomas fai●fax , and the general counsel of the officers and army under him took up arms , and engaged only for this good old cause and ends , and none else , thus declared by both houses of parliament , the very title of their several remonstrances , and declarations penned by themselves , printed by their own order in one collection , london 1647. will resolve the world , themselves , and all other souldiers since incorporated into the a●my past all contradiction , being thus intituled , a declara●ion of the engagements , remonstrances , representations , proposals , desires , and resolutions from his excellency sir tho. fai●fax and the general councel of the army for setling his majesty in his ●ust rights , the parliament in their just privileges , & the subjects in their liberties and freedoms also representations of the grievances of the kingdom , and remedies propounded for removing the present pressures ( by taxes and excises ) : and the resolution of the army , for the establishing of a firm and lasting peace , in church and kingdom . this being the title , sum of all their engagements , remonstrances , representations , proposals , r●solutions , it is superfluous to recite all the particular passages in them tending to these ends : only it will not be unseasonable to remind them of this one passage in their declaration of september 9. 1647. concerning the fundamental authority and government of the kingdom , p. 250. whereas a member of the general councel of this army hath publickly declared and expressed himself , that there is no visible authority in the kingdom but the power & force of the sword , ( the only good old cause now cryed up by some in deeds if not in words ) we therefore the said general counsel , to testifie how far our hearts and minds are from any design of setting up the power of the sword above or against the authority & government of the kingdom , and our readiness to maintain & uphold the said authority , have by a free vote in the said counsel ( 〈◊〉 man contradicting ) judged the said member to be expelled the said councel which we hereby thought fit to publish as a clear manifestation of our dislike and disavowing such principles or practises ( yet now revived , practised . ) this being the right state of the true good old cause & only ends for which all the forces , armies , under the forenamed or any other generals since , were first raised , commissioned , and hitherto maintained , continued , at the peoples vast expence , as both houses of parliament ; the kingdoms , parliaments of england , scotland , the generals , officers , and general councils of the army themselves , have thus from time to time remonstrated in print to all the world , yea ratified by the protestation , o the sacred vow and covenant , the national league and covenant , with other sacred oaths and obligations , obliging them faithfully , constantly , & sincerely to defend , maintain & persevere therein all the dayes of their lives ; and to promote the same to their power against all oppositions , lets & impediments whatsoever according to their power , without suffering themselves directly or indirectly by whatsoever combination , perswasion or terror , to be divided , withdrawn or make defecti●n from the same . which covenants , vows , protestations , they professed they all made in the presence of almighty god , the searcher of all hearts , with a true intention to perform the same . if there be any other cause now or lately espoused by any members of parliament , officers , soldiers , english , scots , irish , of what ever condition , sect , or party , inconsistent with , or repugnant , destructive to this good old cause , or any branch thereof ; it cannot without an apparent contraction , absurdity , & falshood , be stiled ; either a good or old , much lesse , the good old cause , for which the parliament , army , soldiers kingdom , or any others adhering to them first took up arms , and so long engaged in ; but rather a bad , a new unrighteous cause , or gunpowder-plot , originally contrived & secretly fomented by popish emissaries , i●suits , & their seduced disciples : or a good cause only as war is styled good , p bellum quasi belluinum , or minime ponum : and old only in these respects , ( if conscientiously examined by any who shall either promote or engage in it ) because it proceeds orig●nally from the q old serpent , and dragon , the devil , ( a seducer , lyar , murderer from the beginning ; the spirit who r now rules in the children of disobedience , to engage them in this cause : ) because it suits with , and proceeds , issues from the s old man , which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lusts , which they have not yet crucified , nor put off with his deeds , after all their fastings , humiliations , prayers ; because it strongly relisheth of the t old seven of malice and wickedness , which they have not yet purged out , that they might be anew sump , and is carried on with a despitefull and revengefull heart , ( to destroy , whatever they formerly engaged to preserve as the true good old cause ) because of the u old hatred : because they perceive , that this new pretended good cause they had set up and pursued , now decayeth and waxeth x old , and is ready to vanish away ; unless they put all their might , and the strength of the whole army to support it because , it is the y old way which wicked men , ( the old gunpowder traitors ) have formerly trudden ; which were cut down out of time ; whose foundation was overflown with a floud . or finally , because it was first set on foot and promoted , z by certain men crept in unawares ( into the army and nation from jesuitical seminaries & i. leydons ) who were before of old ordained to this condemnatiō ; ungodly men , turning the grace of our god into lasciviousness , and denying the only lord god , and our lord iesus christ at lestwise in their works , ( as iude and paul inform us by an unerring divine spirit ) a being abominable , disobedient ( to all their lawfull superiors and parliaments themselves ) and to every good work reprobate ; yea , b lovers of their own selves , covetous , proud , boasters , blasphemers , disobedient to parents , unthankfull , unholy , without natural affection , truce-breakers , fa●se accusers , incontinent , fierce , despisers of those that are good , traytors , heady , high-minded , lovers of pleasures more than lovers of god : having a form of godliness , but denying the power thereof , who have made these last dayes of ours perillous times , as st. paul of old predicted . if then the false good old cause lately and now cried up and prosecuted , upon serious inquisition of any already engaged , or sollicited to ingage therein , shall upon c st. bernards threefold inquiry , an liceat , an deceat , an expediat ( which every christian ought to make into every action , before he undertake it ) clearly appear to be the old , and the good old cause , only in these respects ; which render it most desperately wicked , ill , and new , ●otally inconsistent with , p●ofessedly repugnant to , subversive of that real good old cause , wherein they first ingag●d ; here truly stated : let all officers , soldiers of the army , and others who have any remainders of conscience , ingenuity , honesty , or indeared affections lest in them to the peace , welfa●e , safety , settlement , fundamental laws , government , parliaments , liberties , weal , prosperity of our endangered , shaken subverted church , state parliaments ; eternally renounce this spurious imposture , and gibeonìtish stratagem inevitably to destroy them all : and remember the genuine , true , good old cause here ●ightly stated , d from whence they have fallen ; and repent , and do their first works lest christ come upon them quickly , and remove both them , their and our candlestick out of its place , except they and we repent . and let all such commanders , officers of the ar●y , and their confederates , who against their commissions , trusts , duties , covenants , declarations , and solemn engagements , first mutinied the army against the houses , & members of parliament , for the defence of whose persons , privileges , & session they were principally raised ; and secluded , secured the members , dissolved both houses , and the parliament it self , one after another : and have since bin kept and thrust out of the parliament house , secured , dissolved themselves by their fellow . officers , and soldiers directly or indirectly , several times ; now seriously consider , how god hath scourged them with their own black rod , and president of disobedience , and taken them in their own snare : that ( e adonibezeck like ) as they have done to others , so god hath required them , & f recompenced unto them the deed they did to us . that g with the same measure they meeted to others , it hath been , and shall be measured to them again . if any of them , or their confederates , have an ear to hear , let them hear this further irreversible decree of the immutable god , and soveraign judge of all the earth rev. 13 10. he that leadeth into captivity , shall go into captivity . he that killeth with the sword shall be killed with the sword . he●e is the patience and faith of the saints . and if any engaged in the new fictitious , against the real true good old cause , believe & tremble not at the consideration thereof , he hath neither the faith nor patience of the saints , though he usurp and engross the name of a saint to himself : & shall find it experimentally verified in conclusion ; as many others have already done , who now like fools repent too late , of what is past their skill and power to redress . finis , notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a56169e-30 a iosh. 9.3 , &c. b exod. 23.31 , 32. c. 34.12 . deut. 7.2 , 3. c peter mouhis nouveaute du papisme oppose à antiquitè de uray christianisme . sed●n 1627. bishop ushers answer to the iesuites challenge . d the author of the protestant religion . london . 1621. kellisons survey of the new religion . doway 1603. * if they mean by this good old cause , their new-commonwealth , it was begotten but in march , 1648. had presently unknown guardians and governors set over it till 1653 then a new protector , under whose wardship it still continues as an infant , but of ten years birth , and if he be removed , it must be in ward to the army officers till its full age . how then can they call it old , or the good old man or cause , without a contradiction and absurdity ? (e) exact collect . p. 34 , 35 , 36 , &c. 59 , 60 , 61 , 66 , 67 , &c. (f) exact collection ; p. 339 , 340 , 342. * the true description of a cavalier : which some who most condemned them , have now actually drawn upon themselves in overthrowing the parliament by force . g exact collection , p. 456 , 457. * and by an ordinance of both houses , 14 martii 1642. a collection of ordinances , p. 8. h exact col. p. 932. an appendix , p. 4. i a collect. p. 43 , 44. (k) a collect of ordinances p. 305 , 308 , 313 , 327 , 363 , 371 , 416 , 418 , 420 , &c. 424 , 425 &c. * a collection . p. 426. (l) collection p. 598.606 . (m) a collection p. 623. n a collection , p. 666 , 667 , 668 , 669. nota. o a collection p 203 , 204 , 205 , 425 , 426 , 427. p cicero , calepine , holioke , tit. bellum . q rev. 12.9 . c. 20. 2. iohn 8.44 . r eph 2 1 , 2 , 3. s ephes. 4.22.22 . rom. 6.6 . col. 3.9 . t 1 cor. 5.7 , 8. u ezek. 25.15 . x heb. 8 , 13. y iob 22.15 , 16. z iude 4. a titus 1.16 . b 2 tim. 4.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. c de consideratione , lib. 1. d rev. 2.5 . e judges 1.6.7 . f ps. 137.8 . g luke 6.38 . the dolefull euen-song, or a true, particular and impartiall narration of that fearefull and sudden calamity, which befell the preacher mr. drury a iesuite, and the greater part of his auditory, by the downefall of the floore at an assembly in the black-friers on sunday the 26. of octob. last, in the after noone together with the rehearsall of master drurie his text, and the diuision thereof, as also an exact catalogue of the names of such as perished by this lamentable accident: and a briefe application thereupon. goad, thomas, 1576-1638. 1623 approx. 51 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 28 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a68099 stc 11923 estc s103155 99838912 99838912 3302 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a68099) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3302) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 595:02, 1450:13) the dolefull euen-song, or a true, particular and impartiall narration of that fearefull and sudden calamity, which befell the preacher mr. drury a iesuite, and the greater part of his auditory, by the downefall of the floore at an assembly in the black-friers on sunday the 26. of octob. last, in the after noone together with the rehearsall of master drurie his text, and the diuision thereof, as also an exact catalogue of the names of such as perished by this lamentable accident: and a briefe application thereupon. goad, thomas, 1576-1638. [60] p. printed by iohn hauiland, for william barret, and richard whitaker, and are to be sold at the signe of the kings head, london : 1623. foreword signed: t. goad. signatures: a-d⁴ f² h-k⁴. the first leaf is blank. leaves in quire d signed d, d2, e, e2. leaves in quire f signed f, g. variant: foreword signed "t.g." the relationship between this state and the "t. goad" state is complicated; see transactions of the cambridge bibliographical society 1 (1951), p. 240-59 and the library, 21 (1967), p. 128-35. in the "t.g." version, "a catalogue of the names of such persons as were slaine by the fall of the roome", quire k, is largely in the same setting of type as that in william crashaw's "the fatall vesper". identified as stc 11923a on umi microfilm reel 595. reproductions of the originals in the folger shakespeare library and the union theological seminary (new york, n.y.). library. appears at reel 595 (folger shakespeare library copy) and at reel 1450 (union theological seminary (new york, n.y.). library copy). created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions 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prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng drury, robert, 1587-1623. catholics -england -controversial literature. providence and government of god -early works to 1800. 2006-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-12 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-12 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the dolefvll euen-song , or a trve , particvlar and impartiall narration of that fearefull and sudden calamity , which befell the preacher mr. drvry a iesuite , and the greater part of his auditory , by the downefall of the floore at an assembly in the black-friers on sunday the 26. of octob. last , in the after noone . together with the rehearsall of master drvrie his text , and the diuision thereof , as also an exact catalogue of the names of such as perished by this lamentable accident : and a briefe application thereupon . matth . 7. 1. iudge not , that yee bee not iudged . london , printed by iohn hauiland , for william barret , and richard whitaker , and are to be sold at the signe of the kings head , 1623. to the christian moderate reader . vpon judden accidents men commonly passe sudden censures , and for want of deliberate and steady aime , vnder or ouershoot the marke : especially that kinde of marke , which the most skilfull hand , guided by the sharpest eie , can neuer certainly hit , scarce distinctly discerne . of gods iudgements iudiciously saint augustine , and modestly , iudicia dei nemo potest comprehendere , nemo certe reprehendere . no man can comprehend them , no man may reprehend them . boldly therefore may a moderate spirit vndertake to reprehend those encroachers vpon gods prerogatiue , who take vpon them to comprehend in the small vessell of their shallow vnderstanding the boundlesse ocean of gods secret iudgements : hauing no other conduit thereunto , then the ouert act of a corporall stroake , and outward chastisement . jn the sounding the depth of this late dismall accident , it is not hard to discerne what tongues and pens haue , out of partiall obliquitie , or precipitate iudgement , cast too short , or lost their plummet in the deepe . to auoid which inconueniences , the chiefe care and endeuor , taken in this ensuing tract , hath beene partly by a more certaine information to strengthen the line , and partly to lengthen the same by a more particular and fuller relation : that so the indifferent reader , taking the plummet into his owne hand , may cast with the better aime , for the shunning all rocks and quicksands , either of stupid neglect , in not considering at all , or of ouer-curious prying , in the personall application , of gods extraordinary works in this kinde . so iudge well , and farewell . thine in christ , t. goad . black-fryers london , 1623. octob. 26. nouemb. 5. stilo veteri nouo , being sunday . about three of the clocke in the afternoone of the aforesaid sunday , in a large garret , being the vppermost , and from the ground the third storie of an high building of stone and bricke , were assembled a multitude of people , men and women , of diuers ages and conditions , amounting to the number of two or three hundred persons , to heare a sermon there to be preached by one master drury , a romish priest , and iesuite of name , and speciall note . to this garret or gallery , ( being situated ouer the gate-house of the french ambassadors house ) there is a leading passage by a doore close to the vtter gate of the said house , but without it , open to that street : by which passage many men and women vsed to haue daily recourse to the english priests chambers there . there is also out of the said lord ambassadors with-drawing chamber , another passage meeting with this , and both leading into the said garret . which garret was within the side walls , about seuenteene foot wide , and fortie foot long : at the vpper end whereof was a new partition of slit deale , set vp to make a priuate roome for one of the priests , which abated twelue foot of the length . about the middest of the gallery , and neere to the wall , was set , for the preacher , a chaire , raised vp somewhat higher then the rest of the floare , and a small table before it . in this place the auditorie being assembled , and some of the better sort hauing chaires and stooles to sit on , the many standing in throng , and filling the roome to the doore and staires , all expecting the preacher , hee came forth out of an inner roome , clad in a surplice , which was girt about his waste with a linnen girdle , and a stole of scarlet colour hanging downe before him from both his shoulders . whom a man attended , carrying in one hand a booke , and in the other an houre-glasse . an embleme not vnfit to suggest to him , his auditorie , and vs all , that their , and our liues , not onely passe away continually with the defluxion of that descending motion of the sand ; but also , euen in such times and places , may possibly fore-runne the same , and bee ouerturned before that short hourely kalender should come to recourse . master drury the priest , as soone as he came to the chaire , kneeled downe at the foot of it , making by himselfe in priuate some eiaculation of a short praier , as it seemed , about the length of an aue marie . then standing vp , and turning his face toward the people , hee crossed himselfe formally : premising no vocall audible prayer at all , ( neither before his text , nor vpon the diuision of it ) wherein the people might ioyne with him , for the blessing and sanctifying an action of that nature . which omission , whether it were a lapse of memorie in him , or a priuiledge of custome belonging to those supereminent instructors , i dispute not ; but leaue it to the conscionable iudgement of euery christian . immediatly he tooke the booke , being the rhemists testament , and in it read his text , which was the gospel appointed for that sunday , according to the institution of the church of rome ; which day now fell vpon the fift of nouember by the gregorian kalender , current ten daies before ours , and accompted by the romanists the onely true computation . whereupon some goe so farre as to make a numerall inference of a second reflecting tragedy . but , for my part , i surrender all such iudiciarie calculation into the hands of the highest , who according to his prouidence disposeth of times and seasons , and of all euents befalling in them . the said gospell in the rhemists translation , is as followeth in these words : therefore is the kingdome of heauen likened to a man being a king , that would make an account with his seruants . and when hee began to make the account , there was one presented vnto him that owed him ten thousand talents . and hauing not whence to repay it , his lord commanded that he should bee sold , and his wife and children , and all that he had , and it to bee repaied . but that seruant falling downe , besought him , saying , haue patience toward me , and i will repay thee all . and the lord of that seruant moued with pitie , dismissed him , and the debt he forgaue him . and when that seruant was gone forth , he found one of his fellow-seruants that did owe him an hundred pence : and laying hands vpon him thratled him , saying , repay that thou owest . and his fellow-seruant falling downe , besought him , saying , haue patience toward mee , and i will repay thee all . and he would not : but went his way and cast him into prison , till he repayed the debt . and his fellow-seruants seeing what was done , were very sorie , and they came , and told their lord all that was done . then his lord called him : and hee said vnto him , thou vngracious seruant , i forgaue thee all the debt because thou besoughtest me : oughtest not thou therefore also to haue mercy vpon thy fellow-seruant , euen as i had mercy vpon thee ? and his lord being angry , deliuered him to the tormenters , vntill he repayed all the debt . so also shall my heauenly father doe to you , if you forgiue not euery one his brother from your hearts . which when he had read , hee sat downe in the chaire , and put vpon his head a red quilt cap , hauing a linnen white one vnder it turned vp about the brimmes : and so vndertooke his text ; first shewing in plaine and familiar stile the occasion of our sauiours deliuering this parable , then distributing the whole into parts , as they depended one on the other ; out of which he chose three principall points of doctrine , which he propounded to insist vpon in that sermon , viz. 1 the debt which man oweth to god : and the accompt which he is to make vnto him of that debt . 2 gods mercy in remitting this great debt . 3 mans hardnesse of heart , and frowardnesse , both towards god and towards his brethren : together with the remedies , which man may vse for the procuring of gods mercy , and curing himselfe from this contagious disease of ingratitude . mans debt he amplified in regard of our creation , and redemption , the spirituall and temporall benefits , which we enioy in this world , and in gods church , &c. vpon the following parts hee discoursed with much vehemency , insisting especially vpon those words , i forgaue thee all thy debt , shouldest not thou also haue had compassion on thy fellow , euen as i had pitie on thee ? and thence extolling the infinite mercy and goodnesse of god , whereby he doth not only giue vs all that we haue , but forgiues vs all our trespasses and offences , be they net uer so deepely stained with the scarle ▪ dye and tincture of our guiltinesse which mercifull bounty of our heauenly father is here parabolized vnto vs by a certaine man that was a king , &c. two or three of that auditory auow with ioynt testimony , that , in the processe of the latter part , which he handled , he earnestly laid open the terrors and burthen of the heauy debt of punishment , which we are to pay at the last iudgement , if the debt of sinne be not acquitted before . declaring withall the mercy of god in prouiding meanes to cancell this debt , by the sacraments ordained in the catholique church , in speciall by the sacrament of penance ; and therein by contrition , confession , and satisfaction . and thence inferring in what miserable case heretiques are , who want all such meanes to come out of this debt , because they are not members of the catholique church . but whatsoeuer the matter , or manner of his last speech was , i doe not curiously enquire , as making interpretation of gods iudgement in stopping the currant of his speech at that instant . lest in ouer forward censuring the same , we should be deemed as vncharitable , as our aduersaries , especially the iesuits , are against those churches and persons that admit not the papacy . most certaine it is , and ouer manifest by lamentable euidence , that , when the said iesuite had proceeded about halfe an houre in this his sermon , there befell that preacher and auditorie the most vnexpected and suddaine calamitie , that this age hath heard of to come from the hand , not of man , but god , in the middest of a sacred exercise , of what kinde or religion soeuer . the floare , whereon that assembly stood or sate , not sinking by degrees , but at one instant failing and falling , by the breaking asunder of a maine sommier or dormer of that floare ; which beame , together with the ioyces and plancher thereto adioyned , with the people thereon , rushed downe with such violence , that the weight and fall thereof , brake in sunder another farre stronger and thicker sommier of the chamber situated directly vnderneath : and so both the ruined floares , with the people ouerlapped and crushed vnder , or betweene them , fell , ( without any time of stay ) vpon a lower third floare , being the floare of the said lord ambassadors withdrawing chamber ; which was supported vnderneath with arch-work of stone , ( yet visible in the gate-house there ) and so became the bundarie or terme of that confused and dolefull heape of ruines , which otherwise had sunke yet deeper by the owne weight and height of the downfall : the distance from the highest floare , whence the people fell , to the lowest , where they lay , being about two and twentie foot in depth . of the gallery floare only so much fell , as was directly ouer a chamber of 20. foot square , called father redyates chamber , and being the vsual massing roome for the english resorting thither . the rest of the gallery floare , being not so full thronged , stood firme , and so was a refuge and safeguard to those of the auditorie that had planted themselues at that end . from whence they beheld that most tragicall scene of their brethrens ruine ; themselues also being not onely surprized with the stupifying passions of affright , and apprehension of that danger , which as yet they could not think themselues to haue escaped , but also , for the time , imprisoned in the place it selfe ; from whence there was no passage by doore , or otherwise , vnlesse they should aduenture to leape downe into the gulfe of their fellowes wofull estate . in this perplexity , dismay it selfe not bereauing them of counsaile , but rather administring strength to their trembling hands , they with their kniues opened the loame-wall next vnto them , and so making their passage thence into another chamber , escaped that danger . as for the rest ( being the farre greater part of this assembly ) who in a moment all sunke downe to the lowest floare , their case , as it can scarce be paralleled with a like example of calamitie , so hardly be described with the due and true circumstances . who can to the life expresse the face of death , presenting it selfe in so ruefull and different shapes ? quis talia fando temperet à lachrymis ? what eare , without tingling , can heare the dolefull and confused cries of such a troope , men , women , children , all falling suddenly in the same pit , and apprehending with one horror the same ruine ? what eie can behold , without inundation of teares , such a spectacle of men ouerwhelmed with breaches of weighty timber , buried in rubbish , and smothered in the dust ? what heart , without euaporating into sighes , can ponder the burthen of deepest sorrowes and lamentations of parents , children , husbands , wiues , kinsmen , friends , for their dearest pledges , and chiefest comforts in this world , all bereft and swept away with one blast of the same dismall tempest ? such was the noise of this dreadfull and vnexpected downefall , that the whole city of london presently rang of it , and forthwith the officers of the city ( to whom the care of good order chiefly appertaineth ) and in speciall sergeant finch the recorder , repaired thither the same euening , carefully prouiding for the safety of the said ambassadors house and familie , and , for preuenting all disorders in such a confusion , that might arise by the confluence of the multitude , shut vp the gates and set guards vpon the passages . with all speed possible some were imployed for the releeuing and sauing such as yet struggled for life vnder this heauy load : which could not so soone be effected , as they in charity desired ; for that the ruines , which oppressed the sufferers , did also stop vp entrance to the helpers : who thereupon were faine to make a breach in through an vpper window of stone . from hence they hasted downe with pickaxes and other instruments , to force asunder , and take of , by peece-meale , the oppressing load of beames , ioyces , and bords . at the opening whereof , what a chaos ? what fearefull obiects ? what lamentable representations ? here some bruised , some dismembred , some onely parts of men : there some wounded , and weltering in their owne and others bloud , othersome putting forth their fainting hands and crying out for helpe . here some gasping and panting for breath , others stifled for want of breath . to the most of them being thus couered with dust , this their death was a kinde of buriall . haue the gates of death beene opened vnto thee ? or hast thou seene the doares of the shadow of death ? verily if any man could looke in at those gates , and returne , he would report such a pourtrait as was this spectacle . in this dolefull taske of withdrawing those impediments , laying forth the dead bodies , and transporting the maimed , all that night , and part of the next day was spent , though charitie and skill did whet their endeuours with all dexteritie and expedition . the next morning , according to the lawes of our land , which prouide that the kings maiestie should haue an account of his subiects dying per infortunium , the coroners inquest was there impanelled vpon the dead corpses , that after their view of them , they might be buried with conuenient speed . by the said coroner , and iury , especiall care was taken to suruey the place , and materialls of the ruines with all diligence , for the finding out the immediate cause and manner thereof : the rather for that it was giuen out by some presently vpon the mischance , that some protestants , knowing this to be a chiefe place of their meetings , had secretly drawne out the pins , or sawed halfe a sunder some of the supporting timber of that building . which was found to be a calumny no lesse ridiculous , then malitious . the most probable apparant cause of the suddaine failing of that floare , charged with such a weight of people , was iudged to bee in the maine sommier thereof , which being not aboue ten inches square , had in the very place , where it brake , on each side a mortaise hole directly opposite the one against the other , into which were let the tenants of two great pieces of timber , called girders : so that betweene those mortaises , there was left not aboue three inches of timber . this sommier was also somewhat knottie about that place , which , in the opinion of architects , might make it more brittle , and readie to knap in sunder . the maine sommier of the lower roome , was about thirteene inches square , without any such mortaise ; and brake , not ( as the former ) in the middest , but within fiue foot of one end , and more obliquely and shiuering then the other . no foundation , nor wall failed . the roofe of the gallery with the seeling vpon it remaine yet intire ; as also a small filling wall , fastned to the rafters , which yet hangeth where the floare is gone . this downefall was not to al deadly : to some only frightfull , or in part hurtfull : who being thus taken vp out of the pit of horrible danger , nay plucked out of the very iawes of death , as also those other of this assembly , who ( as before said ) fell not at all , but yet stood in the verie brinke of this mortall ieopardie , haue all great cause neuer to forget this day , but to enter it into their kalender for a mercifull and miraculous deliuerance . neither is it enough for them to lift vp their hearts in thanksgiuing to god ( as i make no doubt they doe ) for this vnexpected rescue from so great an vnsuspected death , but they are also to lay it to their hearts , whether this sudden stroake and cracke be not the hand , and voice of god , to call them home from wandring after forraine teachers , that lead the ignorant people captiue and carry them hood-winked into the snares of danger , corporall , ciuill , and spirituall : that hereupon they may seriously consider what ground they haue to forbeare , or forsake our church-assemblies , and to refraine from hearing so much as our diuine seruice , against which they haue no other exception , but this , that in hearing it they may heare , and vnderstand , whereas in the romish seruice , euen in the euen-song then intended in this conuenticle , audientes audirent , & non intelligerent , videntes viderent , & non cernerent . the women , and common people might vnderstand as much as they doe this sentence in latine , taken out of the prophet isay , too truly prophecying of such . of those that fell , and escaped without any notable hurt , i heare of by name some persons of note , as mistris lucie penruddock of a worthy family , who fell betweene two that then perished , the lady webb and her owne maid seruant , yet was herselfe preserued aliue by the happy situation of a chaire , which falling with her , rested hollow ouer her , and so became to hir a shelter , or penthouse to beare off other ruines : also the lady webbs daughter , though falling neere vnto hir mother , and eleanor saunders , who was couered with others that fell vpon hir , yet by gods mercy , recouered out of those bloudy ruines . there was also a scholler , ( whom my selfe since saw and had speech withall ) who was the easier drawne to that assembly , because he formerly was inclining and warping to that side , as hath appeared by publike euidence . he was also inuolued in this common downefall , whereout he escaped beyond expectation : being one of the vndermost in that heape , and lying vpon the very floare , and ouerwhelmed with the boards and timber , which lay vpon him , yet not so flat , and sad , as vpon others , but somewhat hollow and sheluing , by the leaning of some of the timber against the wall . out of this den of death he , with maine strength & much difficulty , wrought himselfe , by tearing the laths of the seeling , and creeping betweene two ioyces , from vnder the timber to an hole where he espied light : & then one of the ambas . family opening a doore releeued him being yet so astonished that he scarce was apprehensiue of the courtesie done to him . who thus refreshed , presently returned and vsed his best strength to draw others out of that snare , which he himselfe had newly broken , without any other detriment than of his clothes ; of which faire escape i hope , he will make good vse , & often call to minde our sauiours caueat , ( which since in my hearing hath beene rung in his eares ) vade & ne pecca amplius , ne deterius conting at tibi . there was also ( as he reporteth ) a young girle of the age of ten yeeres , or thereabout , who then crying said vnto him , o my mother , o my sister , which are downe vnder the timber and rubbish . but hee wishing her to be patient , and telling her that by gods grace they should get forth quickly , the child replied , that this would proue a great scandall to their religion . a strange speech proceeding from a childe of so tender yeeres , who , euen in that perplexity , seemed to haue a deeper apprehension of publique scandall , then of priuate losse . a lesson fit for farre elder to learne , ex ore infantium , & lactentium , &c. out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength . moreouer , one of the men that fell , then saying , o what aduantage will our aduersaries take at this ; another of them replied thereto , if it be gods will this should befall vs , what can wee say to it ? a pious answer , and christian resolution , borrowed , as it seemes , from the patience of the prophet dauid , tacui , domine , quia tu fecisti . i held my peace , because thou , lord , hast done it . an hard taske it were to vndertake the giuing a particular account of the number and quality of those that any waies suffered in this fall , the diuersity of reports , according to mens priuate inclinations , enlarging or contracting the same . in generall most euident it is that of the people that fell , those that escaped best for bodily hurt , were , at 〈◊〉 howsoeuer deeply stricken in their minds with affright and feare : others were bruised or wounded , but not mortally , receiuing only a gentle stripe from the mercifull hand of a chastizing father ; others for the present came forth , or rather were carried out , with life , but enioyed it for a short time , yeelding vp the same in their seuerall homes within a few daies , yea some not many houres , as by after-enformation to the coroners iury , yet depending , may appeare . but the greater number of those that fell neuer rose againe , nor shall , till the elements shall melt with heat , and the ruines of a farre greater fabrique than that house , ( euen of the whole earth with the workes thereof ) shall awake them , and vs all , out of the bed of death , to giue account of what we haue done in the body . of these , whom it pleased god thus to call out of this world , the number is most currently estimated to be betweene 90. and 100. if any man , out of affection to them , or curiosity , enquire more exactly , of the ambassadours house , was digged a great pit , ( eighteene foot long , and twelue foot broad ) in which were laied foure and forty corpses in order , piled one vpon the other , partners in the same bed , as a little before they were in the same passage to it . vpon this common graue , was set vp in the earth , a blacke crosse of wood , about foure foot high , which on tuesday in the afternoone , was by one of the ambassadors seruants taken vp and carried into the house , lest ( as it seemeth ) any scandall should bee taken thereat by the people , that then , and after , came to that house to view the stage of this mournfull tragedy . there was also another pit , ( long twelue foot , broad eight foot ) made in the said ambassadors garden neere adioyning , wherein fifteene other were interred . beside these dispersedly here aboue numbred , there are heard of vpon diligent enquirie of the said iury and others , diuers more encreasing the list of this funerall troope , whose names follow in the catalogue . as for interpretation and application of this so remarkeable and dolefull an accident , our duty is first to entertaine a christian and charitable opinion of their persons whose lot it was to become an example vnto others : and secondly to make a profitable vse thereof vnto our selues . too well knowne it is to the world , how hardly our aduersaries conceiue , speake , and write , not onely of our religion , but also of our persons , damning and tumbling downe all of vs without difference into the bottomlesse pit of destruction , and throwing vpon our heads , not the ruines of one loft or house , but the whole mountaines of gods wrath and heauiest iudgements . such curses and edicts of damnation against vs their pulpits thunder out , their printing presses grone vnder , their pamphlets and libells proclaime ; all wee are giuen gone for cast-awaies , miscreants , damned heretiques ; with vs no church , no faith , no religion , no god. if such a calamitie had befallen any flocke of ours in our common prayer , or sermons , all must haue gone quicke to hell : there would haue beene more inuectiue seuerall censures and bookes against vs than were here persons suffering . what exclamation of the downfall of heresie , of the passing away of nouelties with a cracke , of receiuing a terrible blow , of the very beames in the wall crying out against vs , of the ruine of old wormeaten heresies , of the trash and rubbish of the new gospell demolished . in such sort vpon lesse occasions , are wee and our profession traduced and slandered publikely beyond the seas , and priuately in corners at home . nor is it maruell that such flashes to scorch vs in our good names , are cast forth out of that fiery aetna of romish zeale , which hath sent forth materiall flames to consume many of our liuing bodies , and some also of our dead . hic liuor nec post fata quiescit . and though this fire hath beene couered with ashes in these parts , for many happy yeares , yet of late a sparke thereof brake forth , euen in the middest of the bonfires kindled in london at the happy returne of our prince ; when as a certaine roman zelote , repining at the excessiue expense of fuell therein , said openly in the hearing of many that if such waste of wood were made , there would shortly be neuer a fagot left to burne heretiques . but we haue otherwise learned christ , who being reuiled , did not reuile againe , but committed his cause to him that iudgeth righteously ; et preces effudit pro ijs etiam , qui sanguinem eius effuderūt ; and powred out prayers for those , that shed and powred forth his bloud , ( as saith an ancient father . ) from him we learne not to insult ouer our enemies , or to reioyce at their ruine , but to weepe at their calamitie : not to enter into gods secrets , but to tremble at his iudgements . and therefore our dutie , in regard of their persons , is first to be tender and carefull how so much as in our inward thoughts we passe any particular iudgement vpon them . for though the euent it selfe may seeme to offer a topicall inference from the fall of both the floores ; namely , of the preaching and the massing roome , that both their doctrine and sacrifice are weakely and slenderly supported , and that god was displeased as well with their pulpits , as altars ; yet for the particular estate of those who were combined in that action , and enueloped in the same passion , it were most vncharitable and groundlesse from their temporall destruction in this time and place , to collect their eternall confusion . and howsoeuer our aduersaries for the truth of their church draw an argument no lesse vnnaturall than vncharitable , from the supposed , sudden , and vnhappy ends , of some of those whom they call heretiques , and to that end forge hideous fables of the death of luther , caluin , &c. and in particular , very lately some of them haue passed an heauy censure vpon doctor sutton , a learned and painefull preacher , and solid refuter of their errors , whom to the great losse of our church , abstulit vnda vorax & funere mersit acerbo , ouer whom they triumph , as if the deepe therefore swallowed him , because he was vnworthy to tread vpon the earth , or breathe in the ayre ; yet we ought to be , and are farre from saying that the plancher of that building would not beare these romanists , because they were more loaden with the weight of sinne , then others . wee are taught by the chapter appointed in the kalender to bee read in our churches the very next morning after this dolefull accident , to iudge otherwise . luke 13. there were present at that season , some that told him of the galileans , whose bloud pilate had mingled with their sacrifices . and iesus answered , and said vnto them , suppose yee that these galileans were greater sinners then all the other galileans , because they haue suffered such things ? i tell you nay . secondly , wee are to condole for them , and that in three respects . first , out of naturall humanitie , as they are men , of the same mould with vs , subiect all to the same passions , and liable to the same outward calamities , and dangers of this mortall life . in this consideration euery of vs is to say to himselfe , of himselfe and others . homo sum , humani nihil à me alienum puto . secondly , out of morall ciuilitie , as fellow-borne country-men , and naturall subiects vnto the same most gracious king , in whose eies the death of his meanest subiects is precious . in this respect euery of vs , either presently viewing that tragicall spectacle of so many bruised and battered carkases , so many smothered corpses , which yesterday breathed the same english aire with vs : or shortly after hearing of so wofull an historie , is , with teares in the eye , and melting griefe in the heart , to deplore at least with some such epitaph , or funerall elegie , as was vsed by a lacedemonian . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . thirdly and principally , out of christian charitie , as towards those who professe the name of christ , and deuotion in his worship , howsoeuer tainted with many errors and superstitions , of which their leaders and guides are more guilty than the simple obedient flocke misled by them . in this duty we are euery of vs to grieue for those that are gone , and to commiserate with the holy apostle , the present estate of such other as remaine captiuated in the same blindnesse of ignorance , rom. 9. & 10. i have great heauinesse , and continuall sorrow in my heart , for my brethren , my kinsmen according to the flesh . brethren , my hearts desire and praier to god for israel , is that they might bee saued . for i beare them record , that they haue a zeale of god , but not according to knowledge . this for our construction hereof , as we looke downe vpon others in their fall . now for our instruction as this example reflecteth vpward vpon our selues . wherein first our ingratitude is checked , and thankefulnesse awaked which we owe vnto god for our manifold preseruations , as in other kindes perpetually , so not seldome in this . surely if our heauenly father should cease his care of preseruing vs , as we too oft giue ouer our due care of seruing him , nor field , nor house , nor church it selfe should be safe vnto vs : carnall security and forgetfulnesse of god creeping into not only our chambers , halls , and receptacles of mirth and iollity , but too oft euen into the house of god it selfe : the temple of our spirituall sacrifices being not so reuerently frequented as our duty and profession require . and yet , howsoeuer wee may obserue gods hand sometimes to haue ouertaken diuers of our brethren by downfalls vpon the earth , or into the water , and of late by the fearefull dint of fire darted from heauen with thunder , and other humane casualties , at home or abroad , yet haue our sacred assemblies ( for ought i can remember ) beene free from mortality by ruine . and whereas we haue many examples of the decay and sudden lapse of diuers our materiall temples made with hands , yet hath god so disposed of the time or manner of such ruines , that none of the liuing temples of the holy ghost haue beene demolished thereby . witnesse in london the churches of lothbury , of st. butolfs , of st. giles in the fields , and the church it selfe of the black-friers : in all which the stones forbare their downeward motion , till the peoples absence . and most lately in the towne of netesherd in norffolk , the beames of the church roofe being by the fall of the steeple beaten downe among the people in time of prayer , yet not one perished thereby . to these perhaps many reading and pondering this , can adde other examples of the like preseruations in other places of this land . the memory whereof must reuiue our hearty thanks to god , with praier for our future protection , especially in the houses of praier , wherein he is worshipped in spirit and truth by vs , and his word preached soundly and faithfully vnto vs. secondly , forasmuch as some few of this assembly were not in opinion romanists , nor came thither out of affection to the popish partie , but rather out of curiositie , to obserue their rites and manner of preaching , especially vpon the ●ame giuen out , and expectation of then and there hearing a rare man , an admirable iesuite , a preacher nonpareil , in comparison of whom the greatest lights of the protestant ministerie are but glowormes ; this may be a speciall caueat to such roauing wanderers as only tasted of that cup whereof others dranke the dregs : they were some of them iustly stricken in body , though not mortally , but all in minde , with terror , amazement , and horrible consternation . and one , as is said , felt the vtmost of that stroke , and for company tooke part with those in death , with whom he consented not in life and opinion . plinie the elder ( as his nephew reports of him ) paid deare for the satisfaction of his curiositie , when , not content with contemplation , and relation from others , hee would needes in person approach neere , to behold with his eies the very flames of the burning hill vesuuius in italy , the sulphureous smoake and vapour whereof , presently stifled him . to come neerer to our selues , those christians escaped not much better , who ( as both tertullian and cyprian obserue ) when they were present at the theaters and shewes , instituted to the honour of the heathen gods , were suddainly surprised and vexed by the deuill , who was nimble enough to maintaine his claime to them , by pleading inueni in meo , i tooke them as i found them , vpon mine owne ground . what though the romanists presume farre without warrant , and dare out-face our lawes , which wholesomly prouide against such conuenticles , yet let euery obedient subiect and childe of our church , beware how he put his foot into such snares : resoluing rather with the holy patriarch , and saying in his heart , o my soule , enter not thou into their secret : vnto their assembly mine honour be not thou yoaked . in such cases the prophets haue vsed and enforced from exorbitant examples argument , not of imitation , but auersation , and opposition . though israel transgresse , yet let not iuda sinne . thirdly , for vs all , these dead corpses ought to bee a liuely mirror , wherein we are to behold what we may expect in that kinde , or some other , euen farre worse , if we doe not preuent and auert gods iudgements by iudging our selues , and vnfeinedly repenting of our sinfull courses . out of such examples our sauiour readeth vs a double lecture , not onely of charitie , in not censuring others , but also of repentance , in censuring and condemning our selues , that we be not condemned of the lord. vnlesse yee repent , yee shall all likewise perish . a vaine plea it will be , that wee haue cast out of our churches romish superstitions , if wee still reteine in our soules and bodies our predominant corruptions ; that our faith & doctrine is most pure , if our liues remaine impure ; that we haue faire leaues & blossomes in our outward profession , if we bring forth no fruit in our practise and conuersation . reatus impij pium nomen , saith the most religious bishop saluian . an holy title and profession , if the life bee not sutable , is , not a plea , but a guilt , not a diminution of offence , but an improuement . well said tertullian of himselfe that , whereto euery of vs is to subscribe his owne name , ego omnium notatorū peccator , nulli rei , nisi poenitentiae , natus . a sinner i am , marked with spots of all kinds , & born to no other end , thē to make my life a taske of repentance . we are all by profession bound apprentises to this christian trade , nay borne vnto a kinde of interest and propriety to it . of all intelligent natures onely man is capable of that . god cannot repent , because he cannot sinne , nor erre : an angell , though mutable in his owne nature , ( and so liable to sinne ) yet once falling by sinne , can neuer rise by repentance . onely man , falling , both in the vniuersall ruinous estate of all his kinde , and daily in his actuall lapses , hath by the hand of gods grace and mercy in christ , the cords of loue reached forth , and let downe into the pit vnto him , whereof by repentance and faith he taketh hold , thence to be raised to newnesse of life , and so forward to eternall life , through the merits and passion of our blessed redeemer , who came , not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance . lament . 3. 22. it is of the lords mercies that we are not consumed : because his compassions faile not . a catalogue of the names of such persons as were slaine by the fall of the roome wherein they were in the blacke-fryers , at master druries sermon , the 26. of octob. 1623. taken by information of the coroners iurie . master drurie the priest that preached . mr. redy are the priest , whose lodging was vnder the garret that fell : the floore of which lodging fell too . lady webbe in southwarke . lady blackstones daughter , in scroops court. thomas webbe her man. william robinson taylor , in fetter lane . robert smith , master 〈…〉 anne dauison , mr. dauisons daughter , of the middle-row in holburne , tayler . anthonie hall his man. anne hobdin . marie hobdin . lodging in mr. dauisons house . iohn galloway vintener , in clarkenwell close . mr. peirson , iane his wife , thom. & iames , his two sonnes . in robbinhood court in shooe lane . mistris vdall . katharine pindar , a gentle woman in mrs . vdals house . in gunpowder alley . abigal her maide . iohn netlan a taylor of bassingborne in cambridge shiere . nathaniel coales , lying at one shortoes in barbican , tayler . iohn halifaxe , sometimes a waterbearer . mary rygbie , wife to iohn rygbie in holburne , confectioner . iohn worralls sonne in holburne . thomas brisket , his wife , and his sonne , and maide , in mountague close . mistris summers , wife to captaine summers in the kings bench. marie her maide . mistris walsted in milkestreet . iohn raines , an atturney in westminster . robert sutton , sonne to mr. worral a potter in holburne . edward warren , lying at one adams a butcher , in saint clement danes . a son of mr. flood in holborne , scriuener ▪ elizabeth white , andrew whites daughter in holburne , chandler . mr. stoker tayler , in salisburie court. elizabeth sommers in graies-inne lane . mr. westwood . iudeth bellowes , wife of mr. william bellowes in fetter lane . a man of sir lues pembertons . elizabeth moore widow . iohn iames. morris beucresse apothecarie . dauie vaughan , at iacob coldriches , tayler in graies inne lane . francis man , brother to william man in theeuing lane in westminster . richard fitzgarrat , of graies inne , gent. robert heifime . mr. maufeild . mr. simons . dorothy simons . thomas simons a boy . in fesant court in cow lane . robert parker , neer lond stone , merchant . mistris morton , at white-fryers . mistris norton , marrian her maide . at mr. babingtons in bloomesburie . francis downes , sometimes in southampton house , tayler . edmond shey , seruant to robert euan of graies inne , gent. iosilin percy , seruant to sr. henry caruile , lying at mistris ploidons house in high holburne . iohn tullye , seruant to mr. ashborn , lying at mr. barbers house in fleetstreeet . iohn sturges , the lord peters man. thomas elis , sr. lewis treshams man. michael butler in woodstreet , grocer . iohn button , coachman to mistris garret in bloomesberry . mistris ettonet , lying at clearkenwellgreene . edward reuel , seruant to master nicholas stone the kings purueyor . edmund welsh , lying with mr. sherlock in high holborne , tailer . bartholomew bauin , in white lyon court in fleetstreet , clarke , dauie an irish man , in angell alley in graies inne gent. thomas wood , at mr. woodfalls ouer against graies innegate . christopher hopper , tailer lying there . george cranston , in kings street in westminster , tailer . iohn blitten . iane turner , lying at one gees in the old baily . frithwith anne . mistris elton . mr. walsteed . marie berrom . henry becket , lying at mistris clearks house in northumberland alley in fetter lane . sarah watsonne , daughter to master watsonne a chirurgian . iohn beuans , at the seuen stars in drury lane . master harris . mistris tompson , at saint martins within aldersgate , habberdasher . richard f●●guift . george ceaustour . master grimes , neere the hors-shooe tauerne in drury lane . mr. knuckle a painter dwelling in cambridge . master fowell , a warwickshire gent. master gascoine . francis buckland and robert hutten , both seruants to master saule confectioner in holburne . iohn lochey , a scriueners sonne in holburne . one william seruant to master eirkum . iohn brabant , a painter in little-brittaine . william knockell , a man-seruant of mr. buckets a painter in aldersgate street . one barbaret , walter ward , richard garret , enquired after , but not found . the particulars concerning those that suffered in this lamentable accident , hath beene so obscured that no exact account could bee had of them , no maruell then that dilligence of enquiry could not preuent some mistake in the catalogue formerly printed with this relation ; which catalogue is now renewed and rectified , by more certaine intelligence than heretofore hath beene related . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a68099-e230 the gospell vpon the 21. sunday after pentecost . iob. 38. 17. this party was one of the assembly , yet liuing , and receiued a marke of remēbrance there , by a peece of wood , who thus a little before took care for sauing wood . gen. 49. 6 luke 13. 4. an exact discoverie of romish doctrine in the case of conspiracie and rebellion by pregnant obseruations: collected (not without direction from our superiours) out of the expresse dogmaticall principles of popish priests and doctors. morton, thomas, 1564-1659. 1605 approx. 72 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 30 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a07806 stc 18184.5 estc s113001 99848242 99848242 13322 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a07806) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 13322) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1249:5) an exact discoverie of romish doctrine in the case of conspiracie and rebellion by pregnant obseruations: collected (not without direction from our superiours) out of the expresse dogmaticall principles of popish priests and doctors. morton, thomas, 1564-1659. [4], 54, [2] p. imprinted by felix kyngston, for c. b[urby] and e. w[eaver] and are to be sould in paules church-yard at the signe of the swan, at london : 1605. signed at end: t.m., i.e. thomas morton. publishers' names from stc. running title reads: romish positions and practises for rebellion. the last leaf is blank. this edition lacks erratum on h3v; b1r last line has "proued". quires b and d are in two settings: b2r line 1 has (1) "prooued" or (2) "proued"; d4r line 1 begins (1) "inveterate" or (2) "late". sheets may be mixed with stc 18184. identified as stc 18184 on umi microfilm. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholic church -controversial literature -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 simon charles sampled and proofread 2005-04 simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an exact discoverie of romish doctrine in the case of conspiracie and rebellion , by pregnant obseruations : collected ( not without direction from our superiours ) out of the expresse dogmaticall principles of popish priests and doctors . isay 29. 9. but stay your selues , and wonder ; they are blinde , and make you blinde . at london imprinted by felix kyngston , for c. b. and e. w. and are to be sould in paules church-yard at the signe of the swan . 1605. to the sedvced brethren whosoever , grace and peace from god the father , and from our lord iesus christ. marueile not ( beloued brethren ) that i salute you in the name of brotherhood , whom i acknowledge seduced : it pleased our sauiour to call some * sheepe , whē as yet they were wandring : and his apostle nameth them * brethren , whom hee esteemed bewitched . with whom giue me rather leaue to marueile in your behalfe , * why are you so easily remoued from the gospell of christ ? and in the earnest desire of your blessed conuersion , to expostulate in the same tenour : * who hath bewitched you , that you should not obey the truth , in whom iesus christ was described ( that is , liuely preached ) among you ? it is not then any who , who may either preiudice a truth , or priuilege an error : because , if truth ; then doe as they say , although 〈…〉 be a pharisie : if any other doctrine , not receiued from christ , then * hold him ●●cursed , although the minister be an * angell . and seeing ( brethren ) it hath pleased almightie god ( who bringeth light out of darknes , and life out of death ) from this late sinfull attempt , as namelesse for vglines , as matchlesse for example , to draw this inspiration of grace , that you , through the detestation of their practises are now brought to a suspition of their inchantments : i thought it therefore my bounden dutie to discouer vnto you positions and practises of your priests , whereby , as with tongues and hands , they conspire together in like mischiefe : nothing doubting , but when you shall perceiue the damnablenes of their doctrine , you will christianlie auoide the danger of their charme . now then let vs ( beloued ) ioyntly examine these spirits ; and not , till in the end of this tract , take our mutuall farewell . a plaine discoverie of the rebelliovs doctrine of the romish church . pregnant obseruations , directlie proouing romish schooles to be seminaries of rebellions in all protestants gouernment : and popish priests , as also their adherents , to be worthily executed for seditious and traiterous persons , proued by many reasons , collected from their owne publique positions and practises . the first reason . their generall assumption , whereupon all their rebellious positions are f●unded , is this , that all protestants are heretiques ; and excommunicate . now then we may argue , first : they who by their slanderous doctrine make all protestants ( in their common censure heretiques ) so odious , as vnworthie of any ciuill , or naturall societie , must necessarily be iudged seditious , and intolerable amongst the protestants : but the romish seminaries and iesuites doe brand all protestants with detestable crimes ; thereby to denie them all ciuill or naturall respects . ergo. the minor hath two parts : crimes slanderouslie obiected . all humane societie detracted : both proued . the first part proued . first a stranger saith , that a protestants beleeue not one article of the apostles greede . our countriman more strangely : * protestants haue no faith , no religion , no christ ; but are meere infidels . the master of the seminarie at rhemes writeth and in●ituleth his booke : b caluinish-turcisme , and plaine mahometisme . which booke deane gifford doth no lesse impudently than impotently m●●ntaine , saying , that c caluins doctrine is worse than the alcoran of the turkes . the iesuite possiuinus with the same spirit of blasphemie doth c●mpile a booke , d wherein he calleth protestants doctrines , concerning christ , to be meere atheismes . and all to this end , that all humane societie with protestants may be vtterly dissolued . the second part prooued : as first the societie in neighbours . e neighbours , if heretiques , may lawfully be spoyled of their goods ( by force ) though it be better to be taken from them by authoritie . 2. jn parishioners . where the question is concerning paying of tithes ▪ it is resolued : f parishioners may lawfully defraude protestant ministers of their tithes . 3. jn debtors , and whosoeuer haue any matter of trust committed vnto them . g such are not bound to restore that which they haue receiued , or to satisfie their creditors , who are heretiques . h they are not bound hereunto . i this is an ancient decree . 4. jn seruants . k also keepers of forts , and all other vassals and slaues are freed from the oath of subiection to their lords . 5. jn vviues . l wiues are not bound to render due beneuolence vnto their husbands , if heretiques . 6. jn parents . m the father must disinherit his sonne , if he will be a protestant . 7. jn children . n a priest returning into england , if his father bee a protestant , hee may denie him to bee his father : meaning that hee is not such an one , as hee ought to acknowledge his father . o for by the heresie of the father the child is freed from obedience . 8. jn all kinred . p heretikes may not bee termed either children or kinred ; but according to the old law , thy hand must be against them to spill their blood . 9. jn natiues . q if any finde his natiue citie to be most part infected with heresie , hee may denie it to be his countrie . finally , by r pope gregorie his constitutions : by heresie a man is depriued of all his iurisdiction , whether naturall , ciuill or politique . so that the tenour of the oath of the leaguers in france is this : s if ever i make marriage , vse traffique , yeeld aide , hold friendship , giue credence vnto heretiques , or once salute them , then let god confound me . shall we call this religion which dissolueth the dutie of seruants , subiects , de●t●s , and strangleth the vitall spirits of humane societie ; and by not acknowledgement of naturall duties of wedlocke , naturall parents ; naturall children , naturall countrie , doth bowell vp nature , as it were , and depriue men of humanitie it selfe ? o babylon 〈…〉 this in all particulars were needlesse ; one kinde may satisfie . practise . the papists in france did libell against t henry the 3. as hereticall ; a manslayer : so likewise against this henry the 4. calling him a u kitchin-dogge , long-bearded iulian , most heathenish apostate , and the very excrement of satan . no lesse was the ranckor of our cardinall poole against his soueraigne . x desirous to diuert the emperors forces from the paganes , and to inforce them vpon henry the 8. as vpon an enemie more pernicious than the turke . the second reason . whosoeuer doe professe any ciuill power soueraigne ouer kings , whether directly , or indirectly , are to be accompted seditious : but all popish priests doe professe a double prerogatiue ouer all kings : democraticall , and monarchicall ; namely both of people , and pope : both which are proued by the positions . first of the people . parsons : * the common-wealth hath authoritie to choose a king : and to limit him lawes at their pleasure . the french iesuite sheweth a reason : a for maiestie ( saith he is rather seated in the kingdome , than in the king. like to stapleton his glosse : b people are not ordained for the prince : but the prince for the people . but more finely reinalds ; c a king is but a creature of mans creation . secondly the pope . to auouch his preeminence , these men goe beyond the moone : as first bozius , d the pope the head of the church , hath power in all temporall causes and states . e this is true ( saith bellarmine ) vnderstood indirectly , as it may auaile for the spirituall good . in briefe , * this supremacie of the pope ( saith stapleton ) is a doctrine to be holden of all christians vpon paine of damnation , and separation from the church of god. we demaund how farre th●se pretended powers may extend ; and hereupon we argue . the third reason . whosoeuer vpon any pretended supremacie , whether of pope , or people , d●e denie the necessarie right of election , or of succession of protestant princes ; are to be holden amongst all protestants , seditious : but all popish priests doe vtterly abolish the title of succession in all protestant princes , by pretended prerogatiue of pope and people . ergo. the minor prooued by their positions . in election . 1. the romish cardinall : a there is no election , whether of king , or emperour , of any force , if he that is elect ( such they esteeme all protestants ) be excommunicate . in succession . reinalds . b the right of kings christian must depend rather vpon their religion , than vpon order of succession : and therefore all christians are bound to cut off all hope , least that any such ( speaking of protestants ) may aspire to the throne . c otherwise ( saith stapleton ) what do people else but euen preferre man before god ? hereupon doth simancha conclude , that d the kingdome , of an heretique departed , doth lineally descend vpon his sonne : but if the sonne in the race royall be heretical , the catholique common-weale may chuse a catholique prince : but if also the kingdome be hereticall , then the choice of the king belongeth to the pope : and so the kingdome may be taken by catholiques . and least peraduenture any should consent to the lawfull succession : father parsons doth pronounce sentence ; e whosoeuer shall consent to the succession of a protestant , is a most grieuous and damnable sinner . thus farre of the position . now behold their practise . 1. in france . reinalds doth forewarne the french. f will ye proclaime nauarre a caluinist , king of the most christian kingdome of france ? what is this else , than to aduance a dogge to be soueraigne ouer men ? g shall catholiques pray god saue that king , whom they may not admit into their houses ? h for suppose ( saith father creswell ) that hee professe to bring in a more sound religion ; what is this to the purpose ? he is bound to defend the romish faith . from france we will returne home , where father parsons busieth himselfe to disable the title of succession of our most dread soueraigne king iames , * with intent to aduance the infanta of spaine thereunto . thus much of successors : now of possessors . the fourth reason . when the king is established in his throne by common consent of the kingdome ; whosoeuer shall manacle the hands of his subiects , detracting all obedience , may iustly by order of law be challenged and condemned for a disordered and rebellious person . but all popish priests doe dissolue the oath of obedience to all protestant gouernours . ergo. the minor proued by their positions . first , one of their bishops resolueth , that a as soone as a christian king becomes hereticall , foorthwith people are freed from subiection . secondly , their cardinall : b as long as the prince continueth excommunicate , the subiect is freed from the oath of subiection . by whom are they freed ? c by the pope ( saith the iesuite ) who vpon iust cause hath power to absolue from oathes both himselfe and all others . sometime the prince is personallie excommunicate : what then ? d then ( saith their lawyer ) subiects are freed from their allegeance : and all his hereticall assistants to be rooted out , and their land to be exposed to be possessed of ( strangers ) catholiques . but how if he be not excommunicate by name ? yea , what though not excommunicate ? e if ( saith another ) his heresie be publiquely knowne , there needeth no pronunciation of the sentence of excommunication . f so that ( saith the iesuite ) subiects may lawfully denie him obedience . how so ? g for the euidence of the crime ( saith their whole schoole ) doth inferre a sentence of condemnation , because ( as the more common opinion defineth ) there must wee vnderstand the pope his will is to haue him excommunicate , whom vpon the knowledge of his fault he would excommunicate . say father creswell is this true ? h it is certaine , and of faith auouched by the vniuersall voice of schooles . satisfie vs yet in one question more : suppose that the protestant prince haue a iust quarrell : what then ? * no warre can be lawfully denounced or waged by the queene ; ( being excommunicate by name ) though otherwise in it selfe it were most iust : because her power is vnlawfull . thus farre of the positions . practise . first pope gregorie the 7. alias hildebrand , beginneth his pageant : i we by apostolicall authoritie doe absolue al from their oathes , which they haue giuen to persons excommunicate . and another gregorie vseth the like tenour : k we absolue &c. in the same case . lastly , pius quintus their successor in place ; but superiour in malice : l we commaund all subiects ( saith he , &c. ) and absolue them from the faith they haue plight with elizabeth their queene . we haue alreadie vnderstood how they forbid obedience to kings . now will we examine how they also inforce violence : and in this case we argue thus : the fifth reason . whosoeuer suggesteth a doctrine of forcible deposing of princes from their thrones , are therein manifestly rebellious : but all popish priests defend violent deposing of kings and emperours . ergo. their positions . costerus : a this power ( saith he ) of deposing kings of their crownes , and emperours of their dignities in behalfe of the good of the church , was alwaies peculiar to the pope : b who hath no lesse authoritie , as christs vicar ouer christians , than the hireling hath ouer his beasts : c so the pope hath authoritie ouer the emperor ( saith molina ) because the emperour is but the popes minister , and is to vse his temporall sword only at his beck . but what if kings will not inthrall themselues to the popes authoritie ? d it is not lawfull for christians ( saith the cardinall ) to tolerate anie king , who draweth his subiects vnto heresie : e but subiects ought ( saith saunders ) to endeuour to set vp another in his place . f yea they ought ( saith creswell ) to expell him out of his kingdome , as the enemie of christ. an vndoubted doctrine among the learned , and agreeable to apostolicall truth . yea which is more : g although the pope ( saith bannes ) should tolerate an hereticall king ; yet may the common-wealth remoue him . and yet behold a greater mysterie of this iniquitie than all these : for suppose that the king deposed shall be willing to be reconciled to the church : h yet notwithstanding ( saith simancha ) he may not recouer his crowne . let vs now see this familie of corah . practise . we will omit their henries , fredericks , otho's , and like emperours and kings of former times : call but to minde that which hath been visible in our daies , the late henry of france , concerning whom their owne prophet hath published a treatise , the scope thereof is this : i the french haue with good conscience borne armes against king henry the 3. and depriued him of his crowne . returne home , there wee see a comet . the rebell o-neele is vp in armes against his queene : the colledge of sal●man bring pitch to quench this flame , and resolue thus : k whatsoeuer catholiques shall not forsake the defence of the english , and follow the o-neele , doth sin mortally , and cannot obtaine life euerlasting , except he desist . shall we thinke that other priests can haue more loyall spirits ? impossible ; as long as they receiue their breath from that maister , who commendeth the former positions against the foresaid king of france . l those diuines ( saith pope xistus ) haue done the parts of good lawyers , confessors , and doctors . his predecessor pope pius against our late soueraigne : m we commaund the subiects of england to take armes against elizabeth their queene . hitherto hath been manifested onely their violence against the dignities of princes : now heare of their violating of their sacred persons in conspiring their deaths . the sixth reason . whosoeuer doth intend , designe , or practise the murther of princes , must necessarilie be holden for desperate traitors : but all popish priests are guiltie in some of these kindes . ergo. the minor proued by their positions . they professe all , that it is lawfull to take armes against their kings , as we haue prooued : from whence wee may argue against them , as hee against a seditious one ; * quis sensus armorum ? what other meaning can armes haue , but onely blood ? but not to dispute from our suppositions , but their positions , by these degrees . first the french defence saith , that a any man may lawfully murder a tyrant : which i defend ( saith hee ) by common consent . now b it is euident ( saith our reinolds ) that euery heretique prince is most properly and perfectly a tyrant . which is supposed by the spanish iesuite ; speaking of this point , c that if ( saith he ) they may bee bereaued of their liues , then much more of their liuings and renownes . and , which is the height of furie : d hereticall kings ( saith simancha ) deserue more grieuous punishment than priuate men : therefore the scythians ( as he well deserued ) did put to death their king scylen , for violating their bacchanals . scythia a most barbarous nation is the fittest glasse that these priests can finde to looke their faces in . well , shew vs then your scythian and heathenish practises . practise . let vs trauell ( but in your thoughts ) into india , e where ( as your arnoldus in his publique oration in the vniuersitie of paris did contest ) the generall clamour of the poore people was , that iesuites were the causes of all tyrannie which was exercised amongst them . passe homeward through germany ; there we see f duke rodolph persecuting the emperor henry his king by force of armes , through instigation of the pope . from thence wee come to france ; where clemens the monke , as a bloodie parricide , did murder henry his king. lastly , to arriue at home , where after the bull of pius quintus few yeres passed without such desperate attempts against their soueraigne : that bull bellowing thus , g we will & command subiects to take armes against their queen . which breath possessed all those late conspirators : arden , someruile , parry , cullen , squire , lopez , with others , all by instigation of priests sought the death of our and their soueraigne . and now at this present , behold , and be astonished . a fornace prouided to consume at once , not onely the king , but also ( because an absolute state assembled ) the whole kingdome . durst these inginers doe any such thing without direction from their priests ? first , they conspire by oath vnder the seale of the ( here is a priest ) sacrament . secondly , he that was to put fire to it runneth once and againe to the seminarie at doway , doubtlesse to consult with that priestly oracle . thirdly , he will not bewray his complices , except he may be warranted by a priest . and that this kinde of act is their priestly function , will appeare in the subsequents . the seuenth reason . seeing , * it is in a manner all one to commit a villanie , and to commend it : we may argue , that whosoeuer shall iustifie acts of treasons , and parricides , are not vnguiltie of the same crimes : but all priests doe iustifie such hainous parricides . ergo. the minor proued by their positions practicall . the famous cardinal and publique reader in rome saith : a many popes haue iustly deposed many princes . our countrimen b cardinall allen , c reinalds , d parsons , inciting subiects to armes against their prince , do perswade by examples meerly rebellious : as resisting of king iohn , of edward the 2. of richard the 2. of henry the 6. as presidents to be followed . the author of the booke of e deposing henry king of france , doth sing a d gaudeamus for his death . and againe , allen approueth the perfidious rendring vp of f douentore ; and incourageth the english malcontents to ioyne their forces with g the spanish inuasion . so the colledge of the iesuites at salamane approued the insurrection of * tyrene . and doe not the most of that sect canonize in their conceits all such popish ones , as haue been executed for manifest treasons ? an example of a notable patron of high treason . h xistus quintus maketh a publike oration in his consistorie of cardinals : the subiect matter he sheweth is this : i the king of france is slaine , by the hand of a monke . and what of this ? k this ( saith he ) is a notable , rare , and memorable act . but why ? l because he slew not ( saith he ) a king painted in paper , or grauen in stone , but the king of france , in the middest of his host . is it a wonder any should wonder that a monke could murder a mortall king ? seeing popish historie doe record , that m pope hadrian being guiltie of the like seditious practise against the emperour henry the 2. was choaked with a flye . nay but if the monke had killed a painted image , that had been an act farre more memorable , and lesse intolerable : notwithstanding no fact is good , because great ; but therefore great , because good . say then what is to be thought of the worthines of the fact ? n it was a fact done by y● admirable prouidence , will , and succour of almightie god. how ? by gods will counselling and approuing it ? o holy iudith is famous ( saith he ) for the slaying of holophernes , which she did not without the suggestion of gods spirit . p but this religious man hath done a farre more marueilous worke . o marueilous religion ! yet so it is in this sinne of parricide , where a monke doth murther his king. the best word the pope affoordeth the murthered , is , q an vnhappie king , and one perishing in his sinne . the worst he ●oth bestow vpon the murtherer , is , r religious man. and thus in not condemning , but rather commending one traitour , he hath made vp two . lastly , this henrie ( a note very materiall ) was a papist ; onely he fauoured the protestants , and especially prince nauarre ( because a protestant ) excommunicate . by this pope , this was his crime , vpon which ensued , this fact ( to paraphrase truly of the popes words ) rare for the attempt ; notable for the wickednes ; memorable for the shame of the sect. the eighth reason . those snakes that do naturally sting , as soone as they get warmth , may not be harboured in the bosome of the common-wealth : but all popish priests professe rebellions , as soone as they can presume of their strength : ergo , &c. the minor proued by ▪ their positions . bannes maintaineth this as a necessarie parenthesis : a subiects before sentence of excommunication ( if they haue sufficient force ) may then depose their king. this father creswell addeth as a warie caution : b let subiects take heede ( saith he ) that they haue competent strength in such case : otherwise it may preiudice the catholique cause . and least any taking an antidote against their poison , should obiect the condition of the church of christ primitiue , and of the glorious christians in those times , who intended not killing of kings the enemies of the gospell ; but to be willingly killed for the profession of the holy faith : marke with what vntemperate morter these men daube vp the consciences of christians , c then ( saith the french defence ) the christians did only suffer , because the church was not yet perfect , and because their enemies were more in number . againe , d it is commendable to suffer when thou canst not resist . which is the last ▪ miserable refuge of their desperate cause . whereunto notwithstanding their grand cardinall is glad to betake himselfe . e i answere ( saith he ) that christians in ancient times did not beare armes and seeke to depose emperours and kings , enemies to the catholique faith , because they wanted power . whereby the now romish faith doth seeke to make wicked men excuseable . f by this second conclusion ( saith bannes ) the english catholikes , who now doe not take armes against the protestants , are excused , because they want sufficient power . hence we may perceiue that , that as long as protestants liue safe , they must acknowledge thēselues beholden to the popish faction , because they haue no power to hurt them : otherwise they may heare of thē before they can see them , peraduenture in such manner , as to * receiue a terrible blow , and yet not know who did them the hurt . yea they must perish : for g christian people ( saith creswell ) are bound in conscience and hazard of their soules , whensoeuer they can make resistance . these are yet positions . now their practise . in the yeere 1580. when campion and parsons came into england , they procured a dispensation from the pope , that all papists in england , notwithstanding the excommunication of the queene , might professe a large obedience in all temporall causes : but with this addition ( rebus sic stantibus ) the case thus standing : that is ( as the sequell did interprete ) till you waxe stronger : for in the yeere 1588. when the spanish armado was a flote , when by doubling their strength , they might presume of the better : then our countriman allen doth write an admonition to the nobilitie of england , making his booke the popes nuncio to expound his former parenthesis . h though the pope ( saith he ) hath tolerated obedience vnto the queene in temporall conditions : yet now our holy father xistus quintus doth discharge all men of their faith and loyaltie vnto her . this is the popes common guise ; when he doubteth his faction shall be ouermatched , then to inioyne obedience : but it is onely in policie to gaine his souldiers a breathing , as clement the late pope dispensed with the irish for their fidelitie to the queene , till that he had some confidence of tyrones successe . for then in the 20. of ianuary , the yeere 1601. writ a letter for incouragement : i fili dilecte nobilis vir salutem , &c. my deare sonne , all health , &c. after he calleth the rebellion , sacrū foedus , an holy league ; promising in the way of blessing an happy successe : deus pugnabit pro vobis , conteret inimicos suos ante faciem vestram : god will fight for you , and tread your enemies vnder your feete . but he ( god be thanked ) prooued a false prophet . the ninth reason . whosoeuer doth perfidiously either denie or violate , with men of diuers religion , an oath , the most sacred bond that * god hath allotted vnto men , as the most secure * confirmation of all fidelitie with men , and * end of all contention ; must necessarily be esteemed of them as a person perfidious and treacherous : but popish priests are guiltie of such perfidie : ergo , &c. the minor will appeare in these three : 1. in the manner of disallowing : 2. of deluaing : 3. of dissoluing of a necessarie oath . from the manner of denying a requisite oath , we reason : whatsoeuer seruant being demanded of his master , to say or sweare , whether if he saw his master assaulted by his professed enemies , he would defend or betray him , would either dislike the article , or deferre his answere , he should euidently bewary a treacherous disposition : but all popish priests in like articles concerning loyall subiection to protestant kings , are in like manner affected : ergo , all their other kinde of * haile master , is but to kisse and betray . the minor prooued by their positions and practises . when as it is demanded of priests ( a necessarie article in ciuill states ) what if the pope should authorise the queenes subiects to rebell , or other forraine princes to inuade her realme ; whether they would take part with the queene , or her enemies ? first they dislike this interrogatorie . allen calleth it , a an vnlawfull , vnnaturall , intolerable search of mens consciences . this kinde of examination which princes make for preseruation of the liues of themselues and subiects , creswell termeth , b vniust and bloody demands . and these questions stapleton nameth c captious questions , wicked , and full of all impious subtiltie . as though sampson were bound to put his head in * dalilahs lap . nay but their answere sheweth that this interrogatorie was as necessarily inuented , as it is wicked impugned . for this being an inbred law of * nature , to studie for a selfe preseruation : these men call iniust and vnnaturall : but how sensleslie , let the very * heathen iudge : theeues watch to murder , doest thou not awake to saue thy selfe ? now secondly their delaying . when the question is vrged : whether if the pope , or any by his appointment should inuade the land ; which part they would take , then they shift footing , and some ( as our gouernours haue obserued ) haue answered : i wil then take counsell when the case shall happen : others , i will answere then and not before : others , i am not yet resolued : lastly , i shall then doe as god shall put in my minde . as though these maskes were large enough to shadow their faces : which their creswell hath alreadie discouered , saying , that d if by the popes command the warre should be vndertaken , to the end of restoring religion , then ( to answere ) that he is bound in conscience to hold with the romish . this man speaketh without parables : make then but a pretence of religion , and farewell all subiection . the second point is , their deluding of an oath by a new tricke of equiuocation , as they ( vnproperly ) terme it . others call it reseruation : but most fitly we may name it collusion . their position in the maior . e when any iudge ( saith one ) shall demaund an oath vniustly , then may the examinate sweare by an aequiuocation : as for example , being thus demanded ; whether didst thou that fact or no ? he ( though he did it ) may answere ; i did it not , vnderstanding secretly in his minde ; at this time , or i did it not , meaning to tell it to you : or some such like euasion . if you desire to know the author , it is cardinall tollet : if his authoritie , f vasques the iesuite sheweth , he hath a speciall priuiledge from pope gregorie 13. writing thus vnto him : we so approue of your singular learning , that wee hold it vnmeete that your bookes should be subiected to the censure of others . now their assumption in this case of our english iustice concerning examination of priests : g the officers of the queene of england ( saith martin ) cannot challenge answers and oathes iudiciously , because an hereticall queene is no queene . vpon this sand is builded that which they conclude , namely , allen , parsons , gregorie martin , that h if a priest shall vpon suspition chance to be asked either in any hauen , or elswhere , concerning his ancient name , his countrie , kinred , or friends : he may denie all . and againe , i when a priest is conuented before a iudge , after the oath taken , concerning such questions , he may answere by the foresaid aequiuocation ; because those that aske this oath , are not to bee accounted iudges , but tyrants : which point of aequiuocation ( saith * parsons ) is not only to be allowed by all diuines , but iudged necessarie also in some cases for auoiding lying and other inconueniences . this man we see ( as if he would driue out satan by satan ) teacheth by lying how a man may auoide a lie . yet this is the generall doctrine of their * schoole , more than heathenish : for among pagans this was a decree of conscience : k craft in an oath doth not lessen , but strengthen periurie . now the practise . the practise of this deuice of aequiuocation in priests hath been found to haue been common of late , by experience of magistrates . it may be thought to haue crept out of their s. francis sleeues . for l he ( as nauar writeth ) being asked which way the murderer did flie , which runne by him ; putting his hands in his sleeues , answered , he went not that way , meaning thorow his sleeues . the third abuse of oathes is in dissoluing them . that th●ugh they take an oath of allegeance in cases temporall , yet their common interpretation is still with respect of their more supreame head , * during the will of the pope , who ( say they ) hath power to free both himselfe and others from the bond of an oath , which is their old glosse , saying , m that the case is so to be interpreted , namely ; except the pope shall release him from his oath : because in euery oath the authoritie of a superiour must be excepted . practise . their practise we haue showne in the former reasons : we may here adde a more ancient example . n a canonist ( saith a iesuite ) did inueigh against pope gregorie the 12. who in the time of a great schisme , did openly and solemnely sweare , that if he were made pope , he would giue it ouer again : but being elected , hee performed nothing lesse . the canonist doubtlesse wanted not a canon to condemne this periurie , though the iesuite vpon presumption of [ iusta causa ] doth defend it . who also in the same volume holdeth their generall position , saying , o other mens oathes may be dissolued by the pope : so that when the pope shall send but his bull of freeing of our english , the bond of their oath will prooue as strong as the knot of a bulrush . the tenth reason . whosoeuer is so possessed with these former seditious positions , that ex officio ( that is ) as he is a romish priest , he must professe them : such an one is to be iudged a most desperate traitor : but al romish priests , as priests , professes me , and othersome all of those seditious positions . ergo , &c. the minor 1. prooued , 2. confirmed . prooued by an argument of relation : that seeing the authors of this rebellious doctrine , are the principall rabbies of that sect , and publiquely authorized with the ordinarie priuiledge of that church : it may not be imagined , but the schollers are infected with the leuen of their professors and doctors aboue named : to wit , 1 tollet a late cardinall , whose writings haue this speciall priuiledge by pope gregorie the 13. that ( saith vasques the iesuite ) they may without censure or examination of any , be published to the world . now the booke , wherein these positions , or rather poysons are contained , is intituled , de instructione sacerdotum : that is , the booke of instructions for priests . 2 cardinall bellarmine publique reader in rome , in his booke intituled , of the pope of rome , dedicated to b xistus quintus pope of rome , and authorised by the same pope of rome , to no other end , but ( as he confesseth ) c to instruct those schollers , whom his holinesse did send for from beyond the alpes : that is , all scottish , polish , flemmish , danish , and english extrauagants . 3 cardinall allen , created of the same pope xistus quintus , anno dom. 1588. to the like end : for in the same yeere , when the spanish inuasion was intended against england , he published his booke , intituled , an admonition to the nobilitie of england , as a trumpet of rebellion , to take armes against their soueraigne . 4 molina , diuinitie reader in the vniuersitie of * ebor. 5 gregorie of valentia , diuinitie reader in the vniuersitie of * ingol . 6 doctor stapleton , diuinity reader in louan .. 7 dominicus bannes , diuinitie reader in the vniuersitie of * salma . another much infected with the same leauen , and yet priuiledged in spaine with these commendations : d a worke admirable , and profitable for all diuines . dignified also of the colledge of the friers , called minors , in these tearmes : e a glorious worke , which least it want his deserued obedience , this wee challenge in the power of the holy ghost , vnder our formall command ( without all exceptions ) in the name of the father , sonne , and holy ghost , amen . we haue also alleaged the resolution of the iesuites colledge of the vniuersitie of salamancha in spaine , anno 1602. as likewise creswels philopater , printed at rome , licentia superiorum : by the licence of the superiours ; signifying the iesuites there . what shall i neede to mention reinolds ( in his rosaeus ) a doctor of diuinitie , and chiefest man in the english seminarie at rhemes ? father parsons ( in his dolman ) a principall rector in the seminarie at rome ? seeing all these be seminaries , you may trie the young plants by their fruites . if any desire further experience in this kinde , he may consult with carolus malinaeus , and pontus tyardaeus , both parisiens , and but euen now , before i can reade them , to be read of all men . the confirmation . it will not be denied of any priest , but that in these popish seminaries he hath vowed obedience to his generall fathers in those schooles : and it is as notorious , that all generals are absolutely in●bralled to their chiefe generall the pope : all of them , as hands and feete , to walke and worke , as that their head shall deuise . which ( as we haue heard in gregorie the 7. gregorie the 9. pius quintus , and others ) haue absolued subiects from all obedience , and charged them to take armes against their emperors , kings and queens excommunicate , &c. shall wee now imagine , the old foxes being such , that their cubbes can degenerate ? if euer any of that kinde gaue hope vnto vs , it was the secular priests : who for a fit did write many things very truly against iesuiticall rebellious practises : but after , perceiuing the recusants to withdraw their beneuolence , as rather deuoted to the iesuites ; and that the pope also took part against them , they searing their consciences , wholy submitted themselues vnto the arch-priest , whose command , vpon occasion , is countermanded by the faction iesuiticall . so that now we may aswell expect grapes from thornes , or a white aethiopian , as loyall subiection from this religion . thus haue i proued ( deare brethren ) the dogmaticall doctrines of these men , not particularlie improuing , or confuting them ; for this ( as i vnderstand ) was not your desire , and therfore might not challenge of me such discharge : especiallie seeing that they be in themselues so naturally vnnaturall , that it may be concluded hereof , 1 haec recitâsse refutâsse est . so that ( according to the example of our blessed sauiour ) onely relating the fact [ doe , &c. ] without examination of the guilt , we may pronounce [ 2 woe , &c. ] a condemnation against them : in as much as all such sinnes haue a brand of impietie in their forehead , whereby any may discerne them , as the apostle teacheth : 3 the workes of the flesh are manifest , which are these ; adulterie , hatred , contentions , seditions , murders , and such like ; which whosoeuer doth , cannot inherit the kingdome of god. being so condemnable in themselues in euery reasonable mans iudgement , that it may be said of them , 4 some mens sinnes goe before them to iudgement . notwithstanding if , as among these romish professors , malefactors of all kindes vse to take sanctuarie : so these mischiefes shall dare to challenge the name of sanctitie or religion : know ( dearely beloued ) that ( as s. hierom saith ) this 5 dissembling of sanctitie doth double the iniquity : and that i am as ready to consute all forged pretences , as they can be to suggest them . only at this time be you exhorted ( my brethren ) to take this antidote and preseruatiue against all such poysonable positions and practises ; it is compounded but of two simples , simplicitie of apostolike precept , & practise of primitiue examples . the blessed apostle and true peter , farre differing from this personate , doth thus admonish all christians : 6 but let none of you suffer as a murtherer , an euill doer , or as a busie bodie , in other mens matters : but if any suffer as a christian , let him not be ashamed , but glorifie god in this behalfe . so then christians suffering for murders , may happily become martyrers , but neuer be martyrs . secondly , the primitiue example is plainly recorded by tertullian in his apologie , in behalfe of zealous christians , who being in his daies persecuted of tyrants for the profession of the holie faith , yet auouched alwaies their faithfull allegeance after this tenour : 7 our humble prayers to god , in the behalfe of all emperours , are , that he would vouchsafe them long life , secure reigne , safe guard , powerfull armies , faithfull counsellors , godly people , and a peaceable world . and to remoue all ielousies of princes , though apostates from christ , holy nazianzen is bold in defence of christian loyaltie to stand at defiance ( as it were ) against all calumnious accusations , saying : 8 against whom of you did we at any time make any insurrection among your people , though of themselues prone to rebellion ? or whose death did wee euer conspire ? now in conclusion , doe but consider the last ( i pray god euer the last ) treason , and see whether it may not challenge the name of 9 legion , seeing there is found in it so many murderous spirits , intending and attempting in one blow so many execrable murders : that none can say of this most infamous euill , as the prophet spoke of that most excellent good : 10 as we haue heard , so haue we seene : but contrariwise ; that which wee haue seene , the like was neuer heard . god of his great mercie fashion vs to true thankfulnes , and them to repentance , to disclaime the guelphish faction , and alwaies out of the confusion of their sinnes worke the conuersion of their soules : establishing vs all that call vpon the name of christ iesus with his sanctifying spirit , to the glorie of his sauing grace . whereunto yours t. m. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a07806-e100 * luk. 15. * gal. 3. 1. * gal. 1. 6. * gal. 3. 1. * gal. 1. 8. * gal. 1. 8. notes for div a07806-e360 a protestantes articulum omninò nullum tenent symboli apostolici . andraeas iurgiwicius , lib. tit . euangel . quinti professores . * wright in his late booke of articles . b en caluini turcismum , & plane mahometismum , &c. reinaldus in libro , qui inscribitur , caluino●turcismus . c caluini pseudo-euangelium alcorane esse in nullo melius ; in multis tetrius & flagitiosius . d. giffordus decan . d. petri , praef . in lib. d. reinaldi . d institui protestantium atheismos explicare , &c. possiuinus ies ▪ libello de atheismis protest . theft . e haereticis licitum est auserri quae habent , melius tamen est , quod autoritate iudicis fiat . decretum p●pale apud grat. caus . 15. q. glossa . sacriledge . f non est dubium , quin populus catholicus iure possit haeretic●s pastores deci●●s defraud●re . alanus cardinalis & pa●sonus . perfidie . g is apud quem haereticus aliquid deposuerit , non tenebitur post manifestam haeresin , rem depositam illi reddere . simancha episc. pacens . instit. cath. tit . 46. sect . 73. h non tenentur reddere rem verbis contractam . tolletus ies. instruct. sacerd. de excom . i si iurani me soluturum alicui pecuniam , qui excommunicatur , non teneor exsoluere ; quia qualiter cunque possumus , debemus vexare malos , vt cessent à malo . apud gratian. caus . 15. q. 6. glossa . peri●rie . k cust●des arcium et ●aeteri vassalli eadem constitutione liberati sunt à vinculo sacramenti , quo dominis fidelitatem promiserant . simancha episc. quo supra , sect . 74. a kinde of disloyaltie . l quinetiam vxor catholica viro haeretico debitum reddere non tenetur . simancha pacens . episc. instit. greg. 13o. dicatis , & eiusdem iussu romae impressis . vnkindnes . m pater , qui filium habet haereticum , qui conuerti non velit , si pater liber & sui iuris esset ad disponendum de bonis suis vt vellet , tenetur exhaereditare filium talem . huc adiunge . parentes mortaliter peccant tradendo filias matrimonio haereticis . card. alanus . disobedience to parents . n sacerdos in angliam reuersus , & rogatus de parentibus , qui sunt haeretici , respondere possit & veraciter negare , eos sibi esse parentes ; intelligendo quales habere debet : quia patres solent re●puere filios propter religionem , & filij parentes . alanus , & parsonus . o nam propter haeresin patris filij sunt sui iuris . simancha quo supra , tit . 46. sect . 74. the professed bloodie massacre against the protestants , without distinction of sexe or kinred . p haeretici filij vel consanguinei non dicuntur : sed , iuxta legem , sit manus tua super res , vt fundas sanguinem ipsorum . apud grat. gloss . in decret . lib. 5. ex decreto greg. 9. caus . 23. q. 8. cap. legi . q si ciuitas tota , vel maior pars sit haeretica , potest ille negare hanc suam esse patriam : intelligendo , quod haereticam non habeat loco patria . card. alan . & parsonus . r iuxta constitutiones gregorij 9. haereticus priuatur omni dominio , naturali , ciuili , politico . simancha inst. tit . 46. sect 74. s si vnquam ad haereticorum partes deflexero , si amicitiam , si foedus , si matrimonium cùm ●is faxo , si opem fidemuè d● , si a●e , si vale dixero , illa die fulmine ferito . lodouicus d'orleance , part . 29. t henricum 3. haereticum , homicidam , &c. lib. de abdicat . henr. 3. u henricum 4. culinarem canem , pogonatum iulianum , bipedum nequissimum , apostatam , foetidum satanae stercus . ludouicus d'orleance . x si caesarem intellexerim cùm omni sua classe aduersus turcam cursum d●rigere , ac si iam hellesp●nti fa●ces tenentem conspicerem , nunquam acquiescerem donec conuenirem , & in haec verba apud eum prorumperem : caesar , quo paras ? quid cogitas ? si amor reip . christianae te ma●et vt regem turcarum antiquum christiani nominis hostem aggrediare , annon vndè maius periculum reip. christianae imminet , & vbi nouus hostis viget , multo quàm turca infestior , eò potius cursum conuertere oportet ? viz. in angliam , cuius semen adulterinum vix à turcic internasci possit ? card. poole ad henr. 8. pro vnit . eccles. defens . lib. 3. pag. 384. notes for div a07806-e1600 * parsons in his dol●●an . pag. 13. and pag. 199. ● a maiesta● regni est in populo , potiùs quàm in persona regis . les . libro de iusta abdicat . pag. 36. b non populus in principum gratiam factus ; sed principes in populi commoda creati . didymus pag. 261. stapleton . c rex humana creatura est , quia ab hominibus constituta . reinaldus de iusta auto●●t . pag. 8. d pontificem esse caput totius ecclesiae , & habere potestatem etiam circa omnia temporalis , probamus ex theologis , & canonistis . bozius de eccl. monarch . tempor . epist. dedicat . ad clementem 8. pontif. a new article of faith . e habet , sed tamen indirectè in ordine ad bonum spirituale . bella●m . libr. 5. de pontif. rom. cap. 6. & 7. * stepleton in his english counterblast against master horne . notes for div a07806-e1920 a nulla est imperatoris , aut regis electio , si , cum eligitur , excommunicatus sit . tolletus ies. & card. lib. 1. instruct . cap. 13. § aduert . autem . they suggest a forraine inuasion . b 〈◊〉 ad regna christianorum mai●● est in religione , 〈◊〉 in success●●●e : maius in vltione haeresis ( loquitur de protestātibus ) quam in cognatione sanguinis . debent igitur christiani omnem tali spem praescindere , nè ad eam ce●sitatem aspiret . reignaldus anglus in suo rosaeus pag. 649. & pag. 670. c qui contra facit , deum homini postponere , carnem spiritui anteponere dicendus est . stapletonus in suo didym . pag. 122. a professed inuasion . d regnum haeretici defuncti ad filium catholicum pertinet ; quod si filius & consanguinei eius haeretici fuerint , regnum catholicum possit regem orthodoxum eligere : si verò regnum haereticum fuerit , electio regis catholici ad summum pontificem pertinet : sed & regnum illud possit à catholicis occupari . simancha instit. cath. tit . 46. sect . 75. e parsons in his do●●an . pag. ●16 . f vultis in regno galliae christianissim● regem proclamare nauarraeum caluinistam ? eadem operâ hominibus imperare iubetis canem ; templum dei vi●entis prostituitis satanae , & in vineam domini immittitis truculentum aprum , qui eum vastet & depascatur . reignaldus in suo rosaeus pag. 466. g illinc clament , viue rex , quem nè salutare possint , nec in d●mum suam recipere ? ibidem pag. 476. h dicit sortassis nauarraeus , ego saniorem religionem induco , sed hoc ad rem nullo modo pertinet , tenetur enim religionem romanam defendere . creswellus in suo philopater . * parsons in his booke called a conference concerning the next succession of the crowne of england . notes for div a07806-e2350 a quam primùm reges christiani facti sunt haeretici , protenùs eius subiecti ab eorum dominio liberantur . simancha episc. inst. tit . 23. sect . 11. b durante excommunicatione qui obnoxij erant vinculo fidelitatis vel iuramenti , tali vinculo liberabuntur . tolletus card. instruct. sacerd. libr. 1. cap. 13. c non videtur negandum posse rom. pontificem se & alios soluere à 〈◊〉 religione & lege , modò iusta causa subsit . azotius iesuita inst. mor. cap. 15. §. sextò quaeritur . d postquàm per pontificem ( nominatim ) excommunicatur , extunc vasalli ab eius fidelitate denunciantur absoluti : & terra eius exponitur catholicis occupanda , qui eam , exterminatis haereticis , absque vllae contradictione possideant . massouius iuris●ons . de maiestate . milit. eccl. par . 2. libr. 4. de imperijs pag. 676. e cùm est crimen notorium nulla est opus declaratione sententiae excommunicationis . panormitan . cap. cum in homine extra de iudicijs . f crimen haeresis , si sit notorium , vt nulla possit tergiuersatione celari ; etiam ante iudi●is sententiam ; incurritur ( ex parte ) poena praedicta : nim●rum eatenus , vt subditi licitè poss●●t tali domino negare obsequium . valent. ies. tom . 3. in thom. disp . 1. q. 12. punct . 2. pag. 463. §. nunc. g in hoc articul● sunt felinus & caietanus , & communt●r sententia apud discipulos d. thomae ; & probant , quia in hac causa adest semper voluntas interpretati●● pontificis , qui obtinet vim sententiae atque euidentia facti habet vim sententiae . bannes in 2. 2. q. 12. act. 2. conclus . 2. h hoc vniuersa theologorum & iurisconsultorum schola tenent , & est certum , & de fide . creswellus ies. in suo philopater , pag. 194. * in the copie of a letter sent by cardinall allen to sit william stanley . pag. 10. i nos eos , qui excommunicatis fidelitate & sacramento constrictisunt , apostolicâ autoritate tur amento absol●imus . gregor . 7. pontifex apud grat. cans . 15. qu. 6. k nos excommunicamus vniuersos haereticos , vt absolutos se nouerint omni fidelitatis debito , qui ijs iur amento tenebantur astricti . greg. 9. pont. lib. 5. decret . tit . 7. cap. 5. glossa . l volum●s & iubemus &c. & absoluimus subditos vinculo iuramenti , quo reginae elizabethae constricti tenebantur . pius 5. pontifex in bulla . notes for div a07806-e2890 a pe●es romanos pontifices semper fuit potestas ad tollend● incommoda ecclesiae , & damna animarum ; reges regnis , & imperatores imperijs priuandi . costerus ies. apolog. pro part . 1. enchirid. pag. 64. b non enim minus autoritatis à christo collatum est vicario suo , ad ●uium tutelam & commodum , quam a villi●o datur mercenario , qui pecora pascit . ibidem pag. 64. c depositio imperatoris ex iusta causa pertinet ad summum pontificem : quia imperator est tanquam minister summi pontificis gladiū iurisdictionis temporalis ad nutum summi pontificis exercens . molina ies. tract . 2. de iustitia , disputat . 29. ad secundum pag. 149. d non licet christianis tolerare regem haereticum , si conetur pertrahere subditos ad suam haeresin . bellarminus ies. lib. 5. de rom. pont. cap. 6. 7. & 4. e sed debent subditi operam dare , vt in eius locum alius quampri●ùm surrogetur . sanderus theol. professor . de visib . monarch . libr. 2. cap. 4. §. ius autem pag. 70. f debent illum , tanquam christi hostem , ex hominum christianorum dominatu eijcere : quae est virorum doctiss . indubitata sententia , doctrinae apostolicae confermis . creswellus ies. in suo philopater . pag. 194. g etiamsi pontifex toleraret regem apostatam , tamen resp. christiana possit illu● pellere è regno ; quoniam pontifex sine ratione permittit illum impunitum . domin . bannes in tho. 22. 22. quaest . 12. art . 2. h nec ius hoc recuperabunt , quamuis postea reconcilientur ecclesiae . simancha inst. cath. tit . 33. sect . 11 ▪ i henricum dignitate regiâ excidisse , gallosque securâ conscientiâ in eum , vt publicae fidei violatorem , bellâsse . liber de iusta abdicat . hen. 3. pag. 370. k eos omnes catholicos peccare mortalitèr , qui anglorum castra contra hugonem o-neele sequuntur ; nec posse eos aternam salutem consequi , nec ab vllo sacerdote à peccatis absolui , priusquam resipiscant , & castra anglorum deserant . determinatio salamanae . l theologi illi fecerunt quod consultorum , confessarierum , doctorum fuit . xistus quintus papa , vt habetur lib. de iusta abdicat . hen. 3. pag. 370. m volumus & inbemus vt aduersus elizabetham angliae reginam subdui arma capessant . bull● pij quinti pont. max. notes for div a07806-e3450 * cicero orat . pro ligaria . a tyrannum occidere honestum est , quod cuiuis impunè facere permittitur , quod ex communi consens● dico . libr. de iusta abdicat . henr. 3. pag. 262. & 270. b facilè constat eum , qui quamcunque tu●tur haeresin , apud christianos non minùs propriè perfecteque tyrannum effici ; quàm qui apud philosophos , spretâ ci●ium conseruatione , omnia in republica stupris , rapinis , & hominum caedibus implet . reinaldus in suo ros. pag. 157. c vita priuari possint , tum multò magis omnibus alijs bonis , atque adeò etiam praelatione in alios . greg. valent. tom. 3. disp . 1. q. 11. punct . 2. d imò grauiori poena digni sunt principes haeretici , quàm priuati homines ; 〈◊〉 igitur & meritò scythae regem suum scylaen occiderunt , propter externos ritus , quia in bacchanalibus sacris initiatus erat . simancha inst. cath. tit . 23. sect. 12. & 13. e arnoldus in synodo parisiensi omnem tyrannidem hispanorum apud indos solis iesuitis ascribit . gallobelgicus tom . 2. lib. 10. f rodolphus c●mes contra henricum 4. ( fulmine gregorij pontificis percussum ) bellum gessit , &c. abbas vrspurgensis , cranzius , & alij in suis chronicis . g iubemus vt aduersus reginam angliae subditi arma capessant . bulla pij quinti . notes for div a07806-e3850 * nihil interest faueas ne sceleri , an illud facias . seneca . a multi pontifices principes multos autoritate su● regiâ meritò priuarunt , vt leonem 3. fredericum 1. othonem 5. childericum regem franciae . card. bellarmin . lib. 5. de rom. pont . cap. 6. & . 7. b in the copie of his letter to sir william stanley . pa. 35 ▪ c reinaldus in suo rosaeus cap. 2. d in his dolman . part . 1. pag. 62. e gratias agimus deo immortali , qui operis huius fructum ( nimitùm , per parricidium monachi ) tàm benè anteuerterit . lib. de iusta abdicat . henr. 3. d in his dolman . part . 1. pag. 62. f in his letter to sir william stanley , anno 1587. g a booke intituled , an admonition to the nobilitie and people of england . the inscription : gul●helmus mise●atione diuina s. r. e. tituli s. martini in montibus cardinali● , c●nctis ●egnt angli●e & h●ber●ae pr●teribus . * see aboue reason 6. li● ▪ ● . h xisti quinti pont. maximi de henrici tertij morte oratio habita in consistorio patrum . 2. septembris , anno dom. 1589. i mortuus est rex francorum per manus monachi . pag. 3. k rarum , insigne , memorabile facinus . l occidit monachus regem non pictum aut fictum in charta , aut pariete , sed regem francorum in medio exercitus . m hadrianus pontifex excommunicationem henrico 2. denuncians , ipse à deo maledictus , à musca suff●catus est . nauclerus generat . 139. n facinus non sine dei opt. max. particulari prouidentia & dispositione : ( pag. 5. ) non sine expressa eius voluntate , ( pag. 4. ) & succursu perpetratum . o nota quàm insignis est historia illa sanctae mulieris iudith , quae vt obsessam ciuitatem suam , & populum dei liberaret , coepit consilium , deoque sine controuersia suggerente , de interimendo holopherne , hostilis exercitus principe , quod & perfecit , &c. pag. 8. p hic verò religiosus aggressus est , & confecit rem l●ngè maiorem , non fine dei concursu . pag. 10. q rex infoelix , & in peccato mortuus . pag. 3. & pag. 9. r vir religiosus . pag. 9. & 10. notes for div a07806-e4640 a sit haec tertia conclusio : vbi euidens ●dest notitia criminis , ante declaratoriam pontificis sententiam licet ( si modo vires ei suppetunt ) regem de ponere . dominicus bannes in thom. 2● . 2● . q. 12. art . 2. b sit haec cautio adhibenda , vt ▪ vires habeant ad hoc idoneas subditi : alioqui in religionis catholicae praeiudicium cederet . creswell . in ●uo philopater , pag. 198. & 199. c quasi verò eadem instituendae ecclesiae ratio atque institutae esse credenda fit ; adde quod id tum non lic●it , dum impi●rum multitudo superior esses : sed neque illi christum professi erant , vt cogi in verbae eius mortis supplicio possent ; sed tum demum , scilicet , id datum est , cum impletum fuit id prophetae * reges erunt nutriti ; tui : & in quae temporae venimus . lib. de iusta abdic . regis henrici 3. pag. 278. * esa. 44. notes for div a07806-e4670 d illud non mo●eat quemquam , id landabile est ; cum resistere nequeast . lib. de iusta abd . pag. 371. e quod si christiani ●lim non deposuerunt di●●letianum , iulianum valentem , id fuit quia deerant vires temporales christianis . bellam. libr. 5. de rom. pont. cap. 6. & 7. & 4. f ex hac secunda conclusione sequitur , excusand●s esse anglos , quia non se exi●●nt exsuperiorum potestate , nec bellum contra eos gerunt : quia non suppetunt illis vires , ●b consequentia pericula . dom. bannes in 2● . 2● . thom. quaest . 12. art. 2. * the letter of tresham to the lord mounteagle . g populus christianus obsistere tenetur conscientiae vincul● arctiss●●● , & extr●●● animarum periculo ; si praestare rem possit . creswell . in suo philopater , pag. 201. notes for div a07806-e5040 h in his booke of admonition . i clemens octa●us . notes for div a07806-e5190 * ierem. 4. 4. * heb. 6. 16. * heb. 6. 16. * matth. 26. a allen in his booke intituled , a true defence , pag. 68. 70. b examen iniustissimum & postulata sanguinaria . creswellus in suo philopater pag. 350. & 351. c no●ae & capti●sae , in quibus i●est ina●ditum quoddam nequissimae impietatis , & barbarae calliditatis exemplum . stapleton in suo didymus . pag. 205. 206. * iudg. 16. * nata lex quam non didicimus , sed à natura exhausimus . cicero pro milone . * vt i●gulent homines , surgunt de nocte latrones : vt teipsum serues non expergisceris ? horatius . d si p●ntificis iussu de religione restituenda bell● decertar●tur , se conscientia salua facere non posse , quin partibus catholicis adhaereant . creswellus in suo philopater pag. 352. e cum iudex n●n iuridicè petit iuramentum vel contra iustitiam , licet vti aequiuocatione secundum mentem suam , contra a mentem iudicis , vt puta , quaerenti , fecisti ne illud ? respondeat , non feci ; intelligendo inter se , non hoc tempore , aut , vt narrem tibi , aut aliquid simile . tollet . card. lib. 4. inst. sacerd. cap. 21. & 22. f de hoc illustri cardinali gregorius 13. pontifex sic scribit : dilecte fili , &c. tanta est tua doctrina , quae longo & intimo vsu nobis cognita est , vt tua scripta , sicut caeterorum aliorum , iudicio atque examini subijci aequum non sit . vasques ies. epist. dedicatoria ante com. in luc. g officiarij reginae angliae non iuridice iuramentae exigunt , quia regina haeretica non est regina . greg. martin . in libr. resolutionis casuum . h si sacerdos interrogetur in portu , vel alibi , de antiquo suo nomine ab aliquibus , qui ●um habent suspectum , possit respondere illud non esse suum nomen , atque eodem modo si interrogetur de patria , pareatibus , am●cis , &c. resolutio quorundam casuum nationis anglicanae . i cum sacerdos sistitur ad tribunal , vbi adsu●t magistratus regni , accepto iuramento , possit illud praestare iuramentum , aequiuocando , quia qui quaerunt non iuridicè interrogant , cum sint tyranni & velint punire bona opera . ibidem . * parsons in his briefe apolog . fol. 193. * see aquinas . k fraus non dissoluit , sed distringit periurium . cicero . l sanctus franciscus regatus quâ perrexisset quidam homicida , qui iuxta ●um transierat ; manus per manicas immittens , respondit non transiisse illàc ; intelligens , non transiisse per illius manicas . nauar. tom. 3. cap. 12. * before in reason 4. lit . ● m debuit intelligi ; nisi papa remittat ei iuramentum : nam in iuramento excipitur au●oritas maioris . glossa ad decret . lib. 2. tit . 24. cap. 10. n ca●onicus quidam i●●ehitur in gregorium 12. p●ntificem , quòd tempore magni schismatis antequam port●●en crearetur , iu●●uerat publico & solenni ritu sese abdicaturum pont ficia potestate ; postea verò ponti●ex electus noluit pontificatum d●ponere . azorius ies. inst. mor. lib. 5. cap. 15. o aliorum quoque iuramenta possunt p●ntificis autoritate relaxari . ibidem lib. 11. cap. 9. notes for div a07806-e6280 b beatissimo , sanctissimoque patri xisto quinto pontifici max. robertus bellarminus . in principio voluminis primi . epist. dedicat. de pontifice romano . c ad eos iu●enes instituendos , quos à transalpinis regienibus autoritas tua reuocauit . ibidem . * ebor●ensis . * ingolstadensis . * salmanticensis . d legi & expendi diligenter iussu & imperio senatus f. dominici bannesii cathedrarij sacro-sanctae theologiae in salmaticensi academia in 2● 2● d. thomae commentarios , & nihil reperi limâ dignum , sed admiratione : vt appareat fore opus theologis vtilissimum & fructuosissimum . idque ego ratum mea fide iubeo . frater daques regis hispaniae confessarius in commentarios francisci bannesij . e ne tàm glorioso operi sanctae obedientiae meritum deesse contingat , hoc ipsum ei praecipimus in virtute spiritus sanctisub formali praecepto , in nomine patris , filij , & spiritus sancti , amen : non obstantibus in contrarium quibuscunque . fratrum minorum de d. bannefij commentarijs encomium . notes for div a07806-e7060 1 the very commemoration o● them is a iust confutation . 2 woe be vnto you scribes and pharisies , for you do &c. 3 gal. 5. 20. 4 1. tim. 5. 23. 5 simul●ta sanctitas duplex iniquit●s . 6 1. pet. 4. 15. 7 tert. apolog. nos precamur , pro omnibus imperatoribus vitam prolixā , imperium securum , domum tutam , exercitus ●ortes , populum probum , orbem quietā . 8 nazianz. orat 2. in iulianum . in quos vestrūm ; populum exastuantem contra vos , insurgere solicita●●mus ? quibus vitae periculum attulimus ? 9 mark. 5. 9. 10 psal. 48. 8. serious considerations for repressing of the increase of iesvites, priests, and papists without shedding blood written by sir r.c. and presented to king james of happie memory. cotton, robert, sir, 1571-1631. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a34722 of text r30275 in the english short title catalog (wing c6497). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 66 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a34722 wing c6497 estc r30275 11282092 ocm 11282092 47272 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a34722) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 47272) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1458:10) serious considerations for repressing of the increase of iesvites, priests, and papists without shedding blood written by sir r.c. and presented to king james of happie memory. cotton, robert, sir, 1571-1631. [2], 52 p. s.n.], [london? : mdcxli [1641] place of publication supplied by wing. reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. eng anti-catholicism -england. catholics -england. a34722 r30275 (wing c6497). civilwar no serious considerations for repressing of the increase of iesuites, priests, and papists, without shedding blood. written by sir r.c. and pre cotton, robert, sir 1641 11363 3 10 0 0 0 0 11 c the rate of 11 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion seriovs considerations for repressing of the increase of iesvites , priests , and papists , without shedding of blood . written by sir r. c. and presented to king iames of happie memory . printed anno dom. mdcxli . considerations for the repressing of priests , jesuites , and recusants , without drawing of blood . i am not ignorant , that this later age hath brought forth a swarm of busie heads , which measure the great mysteries of state by the rule of their self-conceited wisdome ; but if they would cōsider , that the common-wealth governed by grave counsellors , is like unto a ship directed by a skilfull pylot , to whom the necessities of occasions and grounds of reason , why hee steereth the helme to this or that point of the compasse , are better knowne , then to those that stand aloofe off ; they would perhaps be more sparing if not more wary in their resolutions . for my owne particular , j must confesse , that j am naturally too much inclined to his opinion , who once said ; qui bene latuit , bene vixit , and freshly recalling to mind , the saying of functius to his friend at the houre of his untimely death : disce , meo exemplo , mandato munere fungi : et fuge ceu pestem , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . j could easily forbeare to make my hand-writing the record of any opinion , which neverthelesse i protest to maintaine , rather deliberatively then by the way of a conclusive assertion ; therefore without wasting precious time any longer , with needlesse prologue , i will briefly set downe the question in the termes following : whether it be more expedient to suppresse popish practises , against the due allegiance to his majestie , by the strict execution of the lawes touching jesuites , and seminary priests , or to restraine them to close prison during life , if no reformation following . the doubt propounded consisting of two branches , necessarily requireth to be distinctly handled , that by comparing either part the conveniency , mentioned in the question , may be cleered with more facilitie . 1. in favour of the first division there are not a few , who grounding themselves on an ancient proverbe , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a dead man bites not : affirme that such are dangerous to be preserved alive , who being guilty , condemned , and full of feare , are likely for purchase of life and liberty , to ingage their utmost in desperate adventures against their king and countrey . 2. no lesse is it to be feared , that while the sword of justice is remisse in cutting off hainous offenders , against the dignity of the crowne , the misled papall multitude in the interim , may enter into a jealous suspence , whether that forbearance proceed from the feare of exasperating their desperate humours , or that it is now become questionable , whether the execution of their priests be simply for matter of state , or pretended quarrell for religion . 3. and whereas in a remedilesse inconvenience , it is lawfull to use the extremity of lawes against some few , that many by terrour of the example may be reformed ; what hope can there be , that clemency may tame their hearts , who interpret his majesties grace in transporting their priests out of this realme to be a meere shift , to rid the prisons of those whom conscience could not condemne of any capitall crime . 4. neither are their vaunting whisperings to be neglected , by which they seeke to confirme the fearefull soules of their party , and to inveigle the ignorant , doubtfull , or discontented persons ; for if the glorious extolling of their powerfull friends , and the expecting of a golden day be suffered , to winne credit with the meaner sort , the relapse cannot be small , or the meanes easie to reforme the errour , without a generall combustion of the state . 5. let experience speake somewhat in this behalfe , which hath evidently discryed within the current of few yeares ; that the forbearance of severity hath multiplied their roll in such manner , that it remaines as a corrasive to thousands of his majesties well affected subjects . 6. to what purpose serves it , to muster the names of the protestants , or to vaunt them to be ten for one of the roman faction , as if bare figures of numeration could prevaile against an united party resolved and advised aforehand , how to turne their faces with assurance unto all dangers , while in the meane time , the protestants nestling in vaine security , suffer the weed to grow up that threateneth their bane and mercilesse ruine ? 7. sometimes the oath of supremacie choked their presumptuous imaginations , and yet could not that infernall smoake be wholly smothered , nor the locusts issuing there-out , be cleansed from the face of this land . now that the temporall power of the king , contained in the oath of allegeance , is by the papall sea , and many of the adorers thereof , impudently avowed to be unlawfull ; shall the broachers of such doctrine be suffered to live , yea to live and be received of us , for whose destruction they groane daily ? 8. to be a right popish priest , in true english sense , is to beare the character of a disloyall renegade , of his naturall obedience to his soveraigne ; whom , if by connivence he shall let slip or chastice with a light hand ; what immunity may not trayterous delinquents in lesser degrees expect or challenge after a sort , in equity and justice . 9 if there were no receivers there would be no theeves : likewise , if there were no harbourers of the iesuites , it is to be presumed that they would not trouble this isle with their presence ; therefore rigor must be extended against the receiver , that the jesuite may be kept out of doores ; were it then indifferent justice to hang vp the accessary and let the principall goe free ; namely to suffer the priest to draw his breath at length , while the entertainer of him vnder his roofe submits his body to the executioners hand ? without doubt if it be fit to forbeare the chiefe , it will be necessary to receive the second offender into protection . wherewith a mischiefe must ensue of continuall expence ; and scandalous restraint of so great a number . 10. reputation is one of the principall arteryes of the common-wealth , which maxime is so well knowne to the secretaries of the papacie ; that by private forgeries and publicke impressions of calumniations , they endeavour to wound us in that vitall part ; howsoever therefore , some few of that stampe being better tempered then their fellowes in defence of this present government , have not spared to affirme ; that tyranny is vnjustly ascribed therevnto , for so much as freedome of conscience , after a sort , may be redeemed for money ; notwithstanding there want not many pamphleters of their side , who opprobriously cast in our teethes , the converting of the penalty , inflicted on recusants , and refusers of the oath of alleageance from the kings exchequer to a particular purse : surely we cannot presume that these libellers may be disswaded from spitting out their venome maliciously against vs , when they shall see their priests mewed vp without further processe of law : for either they will attribute this calme dealing to the justice of their cause , the strength of their party or patience , or that tract of time hath discovered our lawes importing overmuch sharpenesse in good policy , to be thought fitter for abrogation , by non vsance , then repealed by a publicke decree . 11. moreover it is fore-thought by some , that if these seminaries be onely restrayned , that they may prove hereafter like a snake , kept in the bosome , such as bonner , gardiner , and others of the same livery shewed themselves to be after liberty , obtained in queene maries dayes ; and if the losse of their ghostly fathers agrieve them , it is probable , that they will take armes sooner , and with more courage to free the living , then to set vp a trophie to the dead . 12. how soever the iesuites band is knowne in their native soyle , to be defective in many respects , which makes them vnderlings to the protestants ; as in authority , armes and the protection of the lawes , which is all in all : neverthelesse , they insinuate themselues to forraigne princes , favouring their party , with promises of strange assistance at home ; if they may be well backed from abroad ; to which purpose they have divided the inhabitants of this realme into foure sects ; whereof ranking their troupes in the first place ( as due to the pretended catholiques ) they assumed a full fourth part to their property , and of that part againe they made a subdivision into two portions ; namely of those that openly renounced the established church of england , and others whose certaine number could not be assigned : because they frequented our service , our sacramēts , reserving their hearts to their lord god the pope . the second party they allot to the protestants , who retaine yet , as they say , some reliques of their church ; the third ranke and largest , was left vnto the puritans , whom they hate deadly , in respect , that they will hold no indifferent quarter with papistry . the fourth and last maniple ; they assigne to the politicians : huomini ( say they ) senza dio , & senz anima : men without feare of god , or regard of their soules ; who busying themselves onely with matters of state , retaine no sense of religion : without doubt , if the authors of this partition have cast their account aright , we must confesse , the latter broode is to be ascribed properly vnto them ; for if the vndermining of the parliament house , the scandalizing of the king in print , who is gods annoynted ; and the refusall of naturall obedience , be workes of those that neither stand in awe of god or conscience ; well may the papists boast , that they are assured of the first number ; and may presume likewise of the lasts friendship , when occasion shall be offered ; for the preventing of which combination ; it is a sure way to cut off the heads ; that should tye the knot , or at least , to brand them with a marke in the forehead , before they be dismissed , or after the opinion of others , to make them vnwelcome to the faeminine sexe ; which now with great fervency imbraceth them . these are for the most part arguments vented in ordinary discourse , by many who suppose a priests breath to be contagious in our english ayre ; others there are , who maintaine the second part of the question , with reasons not vnworthy of observance . death is the end of temporall woes ; but it may in no wise be accounted the grave of memory ; therefore howsoever it is in the power of justice to suppresse the person of a man , the opinion for which he suffered ( conceived truly or vntruely in the hearts of a multitude ) is not subject to the edge of any swor● how sharpe or keene soever : i confesse that the teeth are soone blunted , that byte only out of the malice of a singular faction : but where poyson is diffused through the veynes of a common-wealth with intermixture of blood , good and bad , separation is to be made rather by vacuation , then by present incision : the greatest byter of a state is envie ioyned with thirst of revenge , which seldome declares it selfe in plaine colours , vntill a jealousie conceived of personall dangers breaketh out into desperate resolutions : here comes it to passe , that when one mal-contented member is grieved , the rest of the body is sensible thereof ; neither can a priest or iesuite be cut off without a generall murmure of their secretaries , which being confident in their number , secretly arme for opposition , or confirmed with their martyrs blood , ( as they are perswaded ) resolve by patience and sufferance to glorifie their cause ; and to merit heaven . doe we not daily see , that it is easier to confront a private enemy , then a society or corporation : and that the hatred of a state is more immortall then the spleene of a monarchy ; therefore except it be demonstrated , that the whole roman city which consists not of one broode , but of a succession of persons may be cut off at the first stroake , as one entrei head , i see no cause to thinke our state secured by sitting on the skirts of some few seminaries , leaving in the meane time a multitude of snarlers abroad , who already shew their teeth and onely waite opportunity to bite fiercely . i will not deny , that whom we feare , we commonly hate ; provided alwaies , that no merit hath interceeded a reconciliation ; for there is great difference between hatred conceived against him that will take away the life , and him that may justly doe it , and yet in clemency forbeares to put it in effect , for the latter breedeth reverent awe , whereas the former subjecteth to servile feare , alwaies accompanied with desire of innovations . and although it hath bin affirmed of the church of rome ; quod pontificium genus semper crudele ; neverthelesse out of charity , let us hope that all devils are not so black as they are paynted ; some or perhaps many of them there are , whom conscience or in default thereof , pure shame of the world will constrain to confesse , that his majestie most graciously distinguisheth the theory of popery , from the active part thereof ; as being naturally inclined ; parvis peccatis veniam , magnis sever itatem commodare ; nec poena semper , sed saepius poenitentia contentus esse . 2. mistaking of punishments , legally inflicted , commonly proceeds from fond pitty , or the interest which we have in the same cause , both which beget blind partiality . admit then that the papall side , affecting merit , by compassion may be meerely touched , with the restraint of their seminaries ; that cannot be denyed , i hope , except they had the hearts of tygers ; that in humanity they will preferre their ease of durance before the rigor of death : and albeit that parsons , bellarmine , and the pope himselfe , constraine their spirituall children , to thrust their fingers into the fire , by refusing the oath of alleageance : notwithstanding we have many testimonies in judiciall courts , and printed bookes , that the greater part of them are of that theban hunters mind , who would rather have seen his dogs cruell acts , then have felt them , to his owne cost . garnet himselfe also in one of his secret letters lamented , that after his death , hee should not be enroled amongst the martyrs : because that no matter of religion was objected against him , yet it plainely appeares in his demeanure ; that hee would gladly have survived the possibility of that glory , if any such hope had remained , neither is it to be presumed , that being in prison , he would ever have conceived that we durst not touch his reverence , or that the law was remisse , which had justly condemned him and left his life to the kings mercy , it was the distance of the place and not persons , that interpreted the sending over seas of the priests , to be a greater argument of their innocency , then of his majesties forbearance : for had father parsons himselfe bin coram nobis , his song would rather have been of mercy then justice . it is truely said , that we are all instructed , better by examples then precepts ; therefore if the lawes printed , & indictments recorded cannot controle the calumniations of those that wilfully will mistake treason for religion , by the execution of 2. or 3. of that backbiting number , i doubt not , but the question may readily be decided , namque immedicabile vulous ense recidendum est , ne pars sincera trahatur . to dally with pragmaticall papists , especially with those that by their example & counsell pervert his majesties subjects , i hold it a poynt of meere injustice : for what comfort may the good expect when the bad are by connivence freed to speake and imboldened , to put their disloyall thoughts in execution ? for explaining therefore of my meaning , it is necessary to have a regard vnto the nature of the kings liege people , that are to be reformed by example of iustice , & other forrayners who will we , nill we , must be censurers of our actions . it hath been truly observed , that the nations of europe , wch are most remote from rome , are more superstitiously enclined to the dregs of that place , then the neare neighbours of italy : whether that humour proceed from the cōplexion of the northern bodies wch is naturally more retentive of old customes , then hotter regions ; or that the vices of the city , seated on 7. hils , are by crafty ministers of that sea , concealed from the vulgar sort , ilist not now discusse , but most certaine it is , that the people of this isle exceed the romans in zeale of their profession : insomuch , that in rome it selfe , i have heard the english fugitives taxed by the name of pichiapetti inglesi . now as our countrymen take surer holdfast of papall traditions , then others : so are they naturally better fortified with a courage to endure death for the maintenance of that cause ; for this clymate is of that temperature , out of which vegetius holdeth it fittest , to choose a valiant souldier , where the heart finding it self provided of plenty of blood to sustain sodain defects , is not so soone apprehensive of death or dangers , as where the store-house of blood being small , every hazard maketh pale cheeks and trembling hands ( angli ) say ancient writers , bello intrepidi , nec mortis sensu deterrentur : and thereunto botero the italian beareth witnesse in his relations of many strangers , therefore comming out of forraine parts , among the rarities of england , desired to see whether report hath not bin too lavish in affirming that our condemned persons yeeld their bodies to death with cheerfulnesse . and were it not that by daily experience , we can call our selves to witnesse of this truth , j could produce the reverend judge fortescue , who in commendation of our english lawes , made suteable , as he well observeth , to the inbred conditions of the inhabitants of this soyle , avoweth that the english people in tryall for criminall causes are not compelled by tortures to confesse , as in other nations it is vsed , for as much as the quality of the english is known to be lesse fearefull of death , then of torments , for which cause , if the torments of the civill law were offered to an innocent person in england , he would rather yeeld himselfe guilty and suffer death , then endure the horror of lingring paines ; insulani plerumque fures ( saith one ) and so true it is , that this country is stained with that imputation , notwithstanding that many are put to death , to the end that others , by their fall , might learne in time to beware : if then it doth appeare that terror prevailes not to keep men from offences , which are condemned by law and conscience , what assurance can there be to scare those who are constantly satisfied in their minds , that their sufferings are either expresly or by implication for matter of religion and health of their soules ; in such a case to threaten death to englishmen ; quibus nihil interest humive , sublimive putrescant , is a matter of small consequence , purpuratis gallis , italis aut hispanis ista minitari , to a setled resolution of death , menaces to prolong a wearisome life , prevaile much more in such cases . rightly did clement the 8th consider that by burning two englishmen in rome for supposed heresie , he rather impaired his cause , then bettered it ; jnsomuch that many present at the resolute death of mr. marsh , who was brought to dust in campo di santa fiore , spared not to proclaime him for a martyr , carried away of his ashes for a relique , & wished their soules in the same place with his ; which newes brought to the popes eare , caused him ( as it was bruted about in rome ) solemnly protest ; that none of the english nation should publiquely from that time forward , be consumed with fire ; on the other side , if we read the volumes written in praise of their priests constancy , their martyrologie or kalender of martyrs , and path way of salvation , as it were chalked out vnto the papists , by sacrificing their lives for the pope ; we shall find that by taking away of one , we have confirmed and invited many ; whereof i could give particular instances , if i thought any scruple were made in that point . as for forraigne parts , which hold with the papall supremacy , it is cleere , that they will be severe and partiall judges in this cause ; for albeit that here in england it is well known to all true and loyall subjects ; that for matter of roman doctrine , no mans life is directly called into question : but that their disobedience in reason of state , is the only motive of their prosecution ; neverthelesse where a great canton of christendome is rooted in a contrary opinion , & things in this world are for the most part esteemed by outward appearance ; this land cannot escape malicious scandals , neithet shal there be want of colledges to supply their faction with seminaries . therefore again , and again i say , that if the state of the question were so set that it were possible by a generall execution of the priests and their adherents , to end the controversie , j could in some sort with better will subscribe thereunto ; but seeing j find little hope in that course , j hold it safer to be ambitious of the victory , which is purchased with lesse losse of blood , and to proceed , as tully teacheth his orator ; who when he cannot wholly overthrow his adversary , yet ought he to doe it in some part , and with all endeavour to confirme his owne party in the best manner that may be . 4. he that forbeareth to sowe his ground in expectance of good winde , or a favourable moone , commonly hath a poore crop , and a leane purse ; so shall it fare with this state , if private whisperings of discōtented persons , that neverlearnt to speak well , be too nicely regarded ; yet ought they not to be slightly set at nought , lest our credit grow light , even in the ballance of our dearest friends . the papasticall libels informe against vs , as if we were desirous to grow fat with sucking of their blood , the very walls of their seminary colledge at rome , are bedawbed with their lying phansies , and in every corner , the corner-creepers leave some badge of their malicious spleen against vs , crying out of cruelty and persecution : but if the penalty of death be changed into a simple indurance of prison , what moate can they find in our eyes to pull out ; or with what rhetorick can they defend their obstinate malipertnesse , wch with repaying vs ill for good , deserve to have coales of indignation powred vpon their heads , visne muliebre consilium , said livia to augustus , let severity sleepe a while , and try what alteration the pardoning of cinna mayprocure ; the emperour harkened to her counsell , and thereby found his enemies mouthes stopt , and the malice abated ; some there are perchance , that will terme this clemency , innovation , and vouch the precedent of that city , who permitted none to propound new lawes , that had not a corde about their necks , ready for vengeance , if it were found voprofitable : but let such stoyicks know , that there is great difference between the penning of a new law , and advise given for the manner of executing it ; neither by their leaves , are all jnnovations to be rejected ; for divine plato teacheth vs , that in all common wealths , vpon just grounds , there ought to be some changes ; and that statesmen therein must behave themselves like skilfull musitians , qui artem musices non mutant , sed musices modum . 5. that an evil weede groweth fast , by example of the new catholiques increase is cleerely convinced ; but he that will ascribe this generation simply to his majesties heroicall vertue of clemency , argueth out of the fallacy which is called ignoratio elenchi . was not the zeale of many cooled towards the last end of queene elizabeths raigne , hath not the impertinent heate of some of our owne side bereft us of part of our strength ? and the papacy with tract of time gotten a hard skinne on their consciences ; parva metu primo , mox sese attollit in altum : but if we will with a better insight , behold how this great quantity of spawne is multiplied , we must especially ascribe the cause thereof to their priests , who by their deaths prepare and assure more to their sect , then by their lives they could ever perswade . it were incivility to distrust a friend , or one that hath the shew of an honest man , if he will franckly give his word , or confirme it with a sacred oath : but when a protestation is made upon the least gaspe of life , it is of great effect , and possesseth those that cannot gain say it upon their owne knowledge . the number of these priests , which now a dayes come to make a tragicall conclusion , is not great ; yet as with one seale many pattents are sealed , so with the losse of few lives numbers of wavering spirits may be gained , sanguis martyrum semen ecclesiae ; and though these priests having indeed a disadvantagious cause , are in very deed but counterfeit shadowes of martyrs unto a true vnderstanding , yet will they be reputed for such by those that lay their soules to pawne vnto their doctrine , with whom , if we list to contend by multitude of voyces , we shall be cryed down , without all peradventure ; for the gate of their church is wide , and many there are that enter thereinto . 6. by divers meanes , it is possible to come to one and the selfe-same end ; seeing that then the some of our welwishings is all one ; namely that popish priests may have no power to doe harme ; it is not impertinent to try sundry pathes , which may leade vs to the perfecting of our desires . politicians distinguish ; inter rempub : constitutā & rempub : constituend : according to the severall natures whereof , statists are to dispose of their counsels and ordinances . were now the rhemists and romulists new hatched out of the shell , the former course of severity might soone bury their opinions with their persons ; but sithence the disease is inveterated , variety of medicines is judiciously to be applyed . the romans did not punish all crimes of one and the selfe-same nature with extremity of death ; for some they condemned to perpetuall prison , and others they banished into an island , or some remote country , even in the case of religion , they were very tender to dip their fingers in blood ; for when cato was consul , and it seemed good vnto the senate to suppresse with violence the disordered ceremony of the bacchanals , brought by a strange priest into the city ; he withstood that sentence , alleadging that there was nothing so apt , to deceive men as religion ; which alwaies presents a shew of divinity ; and for that cause , it behoved to be very wary in chastizing the professors thereof , lest any indignation should enter into the peoples mindes , that somewhat was derogated from the majestie of god . others more freely , have not spared to place religion ( j meane that religion which is ignorantly zealous ) amongst the kinds of frensie , which is not to bee cured otherwise then by time , given to divert or qualifie the fury of the conceit ; tantum religio potuit suadere malorum ! howsoever , in valuing the power of a city , or strength of arguments , quality , and worth is to be preferred before number : neverthelesse , where the uttermost of our force is not known , it imports much to have it conceived , that the multitude stands for us ; for doubts and suspitions cast in an enemies way , evermore make things seeme greater , & more difficulty thā they are indeed ; we have by gods mercy , the sword of justice drawne on our behalfe , which upon short warning , is able to disunite the secret vnderminers of our quiet , we have a king zealous for the house of the lord , who needeth not to feare lesse successe in shutting up of priests , then our late queen had in restraining them in wisbich castle ; where lest their factious spirits should grow rusty , they converted their canker to fret upon themselves , and vomiting out gall in quodlibets , shewed that their disease was chiefly predominant in the spleen . whattempests they have raised in their colledge at rome , their owne bookes , and many travellers can witnesse ; the storme whereof was such , that sextus quintus complained seriously of the vexation , which he received oftner from the english schollers , then all the vassals of his triple crowne . and untruly is the magistrate noted of negligence , or overmuch severity , that layeth waite to catch the foxes , and the little foxes , which spoile the vinyard ; though afterwards without further punishment , he reserve them to the day , wherein god will take account of their stewardship . for if aristotles city defined to be a society of men , assembled to live well , be the same , which in our law hath reference to the maintenance of the poore in peace : so long as we taste of the sweet of a peaceable government ; we cannot say , but that we live well , and that the city consisting of men , and not of walls , is happily guided . 8. an oath is a weake band to containe him that will , for pretended conscience sake , hold no faith with hereticks , or by absolution from a priest , thinketh himselfe at liberty to flye from any promise , or protestation whatsoever . therefore when i remember , that watsone the priest , notwithstanding his invectives against the jesuites , gained liberty to forge his trayterous inventions , and had others of his society in the complot : i judge it safer to make recluses of them , then to suffer such to dally with us by bookes , and some idle intelligences cast abroad onely , as a mist to bleare our eyes : but how shall we find the meanes to apprehend those disguised romanists , that borrow the shapes of captaines , marchants , gentlemen , citizens , and a●l sorts of people , and by equivocation , may deny themselves to be themselves ? in answer to this question , i will first shew the reason , why they are not pursued and taken , and hereafter make an overture , how they may be boulted out of their hutches . the nature of man , howsoever in hot bloud it be thirsty of revenge ; in a cooler temper , it hath a kind of nausea , as i may call it , or a distaste of taking away of the lives , even of the nocent : insomuch that in all assizes and sessions , an offender can hardly be condemned , whom the foolish pitty of many will not after a sort excuse , with laying some imputations on the judge , part on the jury , and much on the accuser ; and such is their blind affection , that the prisoner who , perhaps , was never recommended for handsomnesse , will be esteemed of them , for one of the properest men in the company : from hence it comes , that the name of a serjeant , or a pursevant is odious , and the executioner , although he be the hand of iustice , is esteemed no better then an enemy of mankind , and one that lost honesty and humanity in his cradle . reverend master foxe was wont to say , that spyes accusers , where necessary members in a commonwealth , and deserved to be cherished , but for his owne part , he would not be of any of that number , or wish his friends to affect such impliments , and albeit that the law permits and commands every man to apprehend a fellon ; doe we not commonly see very many content to stand by and looke on , while others performe that office ? likewise , it is evident , that if such as are tender of their reputations , be very scrupulous , personally to arrest men for civill actions of debt , they will be more unwilling instruments of drawing their bodies to the racke , or the gallowes ; especially when their is any colour of religion to be pretended in their defence ; the diversity of mens faces is great , but the difference of their minds in this case is more variable , wherein the meanest have thought as free as the highest , besides this , there are too many of the blind commonalty , altogether popish , though not reconciled papists , who , in their foolish ignorance , will say , it is pitty any should dye for their conscience , though indeed they make honourable amends for their treason ; verily i know not , what misgiving of their mind ? it is , that maketh men forecast the possibility of alteration in matters of religion , and for that respect , they are exceeding backward , in discovery and laying hands on seminaries , yea , and are timorous , in enacting sharpe lawes against them , as those that silently say among themselves , sors hodierna mihi ; cras erit illa tibi : some also survive , who remember , that in queene maries time , the protestants alleadged a text , that the tares should not be plucked up before harvest : nay , shall i speak a bugges word ; there is no small number , that stand doubtfull , whether it be a gratefull worke to crosse popery , or that it may be done safely without a sowle aspersion of puritanisme , or a shrewd turn , for their labours at some times , or other : by which unhappy ambiguity it comes to passe , that these , animalia amphibia , the priests i mean , that prey on the soules and bodies of either sex , unattached revell where they list , though they be no more seene , then a man dancing in a net . how much fitter were it for us couragiously to invite them to our party , by preaching , or confuting them by writing , and unto the state wherein we stand , wisely to apply the exhortation of the assyrian king to his souldiers , you are fooles ( quoth he ) if there be any hope in your hearts , to redresse sorrow , by flight , or rather endeavour to make them flie that are the causers of your griefe , assuring your selves , that more perish in flight , then in the battle , even as many seeking to meete the papists halfe way , discomfort our owne party . 9. it followeth now , according to the methode prescribed before , that an overture be made , how to get the jesuites and their shaddowes , the priests into possession : it hath bin heretofore recited , that the unwelcome name of a blood-sucker , a busiebody , or a puritane hath bin shrewd scarecrowes unto many honest minds , by abrogating therefore of those or such like imputations , many will be stirred up to undertake the apprehending of the adversaries unto the truth : especially , when for their paines and time imployed , they shall deserve , and have the titles of good patriots , dutifull subjects , and zealous christians : how ready is every common person to carry a malefactor to the stokes , rather then to the goale or execution , and doubtlesse , they will be no lesse forward to attach a priest when they are assured that the worst of his punishment shal be a simple restraint within the walls of some old castle . a certaine kind of people there is , with whom mony playes a more forcible orators part , then any perswasion of the dutifull service , which they owe to their common-wealth : these men will not be negligent to give intelligence , and also to procure it faithfully provided , that reward may helpe to line their thred-bare purses , and exempt them from need to sell liberty unto seminaries : and where assurance of gaine is propounded , for discovery what master or housekeeper will trust his servant with keeping of his priest , or sleepe quietly while he is engaged to the danger of a mercenary ? i remember , that in italy it was often told me , that the bountifull hand of sir francis walsingham , made his intelligencers so active , that a seminary could scarcely stirre out of the gates of rome , without his privitie : which successe , by mediation of gold , may as readily be obtained from sivill , valcdolid , doway , lovaine , paris , and other places , and by forewarning given of their approach , they may be waited for at the ports , and from thence , soone conveied to a safe lodging . but whence shall the streame follow that must feed this bounty ? it is a doubt easily satisfied . if some thousands of pounds out of the recusants penalties be reserved in stock , and committed by his majesty into the disposition of zealous distributers , who will not be afraid to conclude perdat fiscus ut capiat christus : neither need we seeke any further succour to repaire decayed castles , and therein to defray the charge of the priests , with a sure guard to keepe them : then the foresaid forfeitures , that by the justice of the lavv may bee collected : which course , if ever it come happily to bee entertained , and that recusancy cause to be an ignominous prey to the subjects , the proceedings for religion shall be lesse blamed , and perhaps altogether unjustly accused , by any gracelesse , gretzerus or cacodaemon , johannes , tincting their pennes in gall , and vineger , for besides occasion of calumniation , given by suites of that nature , it is evident that many recusants that would be indicted for the king , and the effecting of the project aforesaid , shall escape without punishment , and be borne out against the power of a private person , begging them to no other purpose , then hath heretofore bin used , and albeit the penalty be rated at xxl a moneth , yet was it never the law-makers intent , that such as was not able to pay so great a summe , should goe scot-free . but that according to the proportion of their abilitie , they should doe the penance of their purses for their disobedience ; whereas now ( if the voice of the people , which is said to be the voice of god , is to be credited ) the poorer sort is skipt over , as if they ought no soules to god , nor duty to their soveraigne , a poore man , saith one , is to be pittied , if he offend thorow necessity : but he doe amisse voluntarily , he is more severely to be chastised ; forasmuch , as wanting friends , and meanes to beare him out , it sheweth that his fault proceedeth from presumption . 10. let us now presuppose that all the whole regiment of iesuites and seminaries , were lodged in safe custody , may we then perswade our selves that popery will vanish like a dumb shew ? i am cleerly resolved , that though it receive a great eclipse , notwithstanding , without other helpes , the kingdome of antichrist will onely lye hidden as a weed , that seemes withered in winter , and is ready to sprout out with the spring . temporall armes are remedies serving for a time : but the spirituall sword is permanent in operation , and by an invisible blow workes more then mortall man can imagine . the word of god carryeth this two edged weapon in its mouth , which is to be vsed by faithfull ministers of the church , whom pure zeale , without respect to wordly promotion or persons , ought to encourage . of judges , the scripture saith estote fortes , and daily we see that sitting in their judiciall seates , god inspireth them with greater courage , then whē , as private persons , they are to give their opinions : no lesse is the power of the holy ghost in his servants , that out of the pulpit are to deliver his embassage . let them therefore not be dismai'd to speak out plainly , and tell the truth without running a middle course betweene heate & cold . unprofitable descanting upon the scripture with an old postell , or for want of better matter , waste the poore time shut up in an houre glasse , with skirmishing against the worthy pillars of our owne profession . rumour which is ever ready to take hold of evill , hath raised a secret , though ( as i hope ) a causelesse suspition ; that there should be some secret combination under hand , by changing the state of questions , to put us in our old dayes , to learne a new catechisme ; and when they haue brought us out of conceit with the reverend interpreters of the word , to use us then , as the wolves ( mentioned in demosthenes apologie ) handled the shepheards , when they had delivered up their dogs . most sacred was that speech of our most gracious king concerning vorstius ; he that will speake of canaan , let him speake the language of canaan . how can we draw others to our church ; if we cannot agree , where , or how to lay our foundation ? or how may we cleanse the leprous disease of dissension , which the papists , which are least assured to themselves , and most doubtfull of their salvation , are not ashamed to ascribe unto many of us ? i would not have ministers indiscreet , like dogs , to bark against all , whether they know , or know them not . i like better the opinion of aristotle , who adviseth those that stand in guard of a place , to be curst ; onely to such as are about to endammage the city . if pursevants , and other civill officers , would learne to keepe this rule , they might goe about their businesse , with much credit . the imagined feare of inviting the romish faction , by force to deliver their ghostly fathers out of prison , move me not a whit ; for i cannot believe , that they esteeme them at so deare a price , that they would runne the hazard , by freeing others out of hold , to put themselves into their places . some will say , that a man of straw is a head good enough for a discontented multitude . that the papists are very cholericke , it appeares sufficiently by their writings : yet it hath pleased god to send those curst cowes short hornes , that when they could not finde a man of sufficiency to serve their turne , they were faine to doe homage to garnets straw ; forgetfull as they are , that such stubble cannot endure the tryall of fire ; but unto us , that ought to be doers , as well as professors of the gospell , let this remaine as a memorable theoreme : religion is the mother of good order ; good order , is the cause of prosperous fortune , and happy successe in all counsels , and enterprises ; wherefore in what estate soever , their wanteth good order , it is an evident argument , that religion goes backward . 11. i have ever held it for a kind of injustice , to omit the executiō of mean laws , made to prevent the effects of idlenesse , & then to apply main extremity of the sword , whē the proling habit gotten by the vice comes to light . no lesse is the course uncharitable ( with par-don for this presumption be it spoken , when wee spare them that have no religion at all , and censure those that can give account of somewhat tending to that purpose . he that is in misery must be borne withall if he speak miserably , and when the child from his mothers brest hath suckt nothing but popery , a man had need to be angry with discretion , if he heare him speake in the voyce of a papist . god calleth some by miracle ; but the ordinary meanes in his word : if that means , in many places of this land be wanting ; of what religion is it likeliest , the people will be ? i suppose , that few men will gainsay my assertion , that outward sense will direct them to popery which is fuller of pageants , then of spirituall doctrine . and what is the cause , that after so many yeares of preaching of the gospell , that the common people still retaine a sent of the roman perfume ? the cause is , for that the formall obedience of comming to church , hath bin more expected , then the instruction of private families ; publique catechising is of great vse , but the first elements thereof are to be learnt at home : and these , which we learn from our parents , stick most surely in our minds . what was the cause why the spartans continued their governmēt so many revolutions of times , without mutations ? histories record , that learning their countrie customes from their infancy , they would not be induced to alter them ; and in this our native soyle , we perceive that the common lawes which relye on antient customes , are better observed then late statutes of what worth soever they be : so doth it fare with the poore people , which being once seasoned with the old dregs of papisme , will hardly be drawne from it : till the learning of the true faith be growne to a custome . i will prescribe no order of aff●ires , to effect this ; but i suppose , that the antient laudable course by the bishops confirmation , will not be sufficient to fulfill so great a taske ; the ministers must and ought , to be the principall and immediate hāds to give assistance to so gratious a worke , and in case , any be defective in their duty , the reverend bishops may take notice thereof in their visitations . perhaps it will be thought a hard taske to constraine old people to learne the a. b. c. of their christian beliefe . but how hard soever it be , i hold it no incivility to prepare people of all ages for the kingdome of heaven . by the order contained in the booke of common prayer , on sundayes and holidayes , halfe an houre before the evensong , the curate of every parish ought to examine children sent vnto him in some points of the catechisme , and all fathers , mothers , masters , and dames should cause their children , apprentises , and servants , to resort unto church , at the time appointed : there obediently to heare , and be ordered by the cutate ; untill such time , as they have learnt all that in the said book is commanded : and when the bishop shall appoint the children to be brought before him , for their confirmation , the curate of every parish shall send or bring in writing , the names of those children of his parish , which can answer to the questions of the catechisme ; and there ought none to be admitted to the holy communion , untill such time as he can say his catechisme , and be confirmed : many times i have stood amazed , to behold the magnificence of our ancestors buildings , which their successors as this day are not able to keepe up ; but when j cast mine eyes upon this excellent foundation : laid by the grave fathers of the church , and perceive their children neglect to build therupon : with exceeding marvaile , i rest almost besides my selfe . for never was their better ground-plots laid , which hath bin seconded with lesse successe . it was not the hanging vp of the bull of pius quintus on the bishop of londons doores , or the forbearing to hang vp priests , that hath wrought this apostasie : but the idlenesse , and insufficiency of many teachers , conspiring with the peoples cold zeale , that hath bin the contriver of this unhappy web . untill the xith . yeare of queen elizabeth's raigne , a recusants name was scarcely knowne : the reason was , because that the zeale , begotten in the time of the marian persecution , were yet fresh in memory ; and the late persecutors wat so amazed with the suddaine alteration of religion , that they could not choose but say digitus dei est hic . in those dayes , there was an emulation between the clergy and the laity : and a strife arose , whether of them should shew themselves most affectionate to the gospell ; ministers hanted the houses of worthiest men , where iesuits now build their tabernacles ; and poore country churches were frequented with the best in the shire . the word of god was pretious , prayer and preaching went hand in hand together : untill archbishop grindals disgrace , and hatfields hard conceit of prophecying , brought the flowing of these good graces to a still water : the name of a papist smelt ranck , even in their owne nostrills , and for pure shame to be accounted such , they resorted duly , both to our churches and exercises : but when they saw their great coriphaeus sanders had slily pinned the name of puritans , upon the sleeves of protestants , that encountred them with most courage , & perceived that the word was pleasing to some of our own side , they took hart agrace to set litle by the service of god , & duty to their soveraign , therwith start up frō among us , some that might have bin recommended for their zeale , if it had bin tempered with discretion , who fore-running the authority of the magistrate , took upon them in sundry places and publikely to censure , whatsoever agreed not with their private conceits , with which crosse humours vented in pulpits and pamphlets , most men grieve to be frozen in zeale , and in such sort benummed , that whosoever ( as the worthy lord keeper bacon observed in those dayes ) pretended a little sparke of earnestnesse , be seemed no lesse then red fire , hot in comparison of the other ; and as some things fare the worse , for an ill neighbours sake , dwelling beside them , so did it betide the protestant , who seeking to curbe the papist , or reprove an idle droane , was incontinently branded , with the ignominous note of a precisian . all which wind , brought plenty of water to the popes mill , and there will most men grind , where they see apparence to bee well served . 12. if without great inconvenience the children of papists could be brought up out of their company , it were a happy turne : but i find it to be full of difficulty ; there is provision made to avoid popish schoole-masters , but there is no ward against popish schoolemistresses , that infect the silly infants while they carry them in their armes , which moveth me to suppose that the former proposition to examine how children and servants are brought up ; and truly to certifie the list of the communicants , and recusants , will be the readiest meanes to let his majesty know the yearly increase or decrease of the church in every diocesse : and whosoever shall send his children , or any of his majesties subjects , to be placed in monasteries , or seminary colledges , or popishly to be brought up in sorraine parts : i thinke that for punishment both the one & the other , worthily might be disfranchised of the priviledges , due to natural english-men ; so far-forth , as any good by the lawes may descend to them : but not to be exempted from the penalties thereof ; or the regall jurisdiction of the crowne . j know well that contradiction is odious , and makes a man seeme ambitious , to be thought more understanding then others . in which case , the spanyard useth onely to terme him presumptuous , whom he would call foole , if civility would beare it . but in my defence , i hope it shall suffice againe , to revive my former protestation , that idiscourse by the way of proposition , rather then arrogance of defining any thing : with pardon therefore , may i be permitted to say . that the first easie law of xijd . inflicted on him that could not give a reasonable excuse , for his absence from church or sundayes , was one of the best ordinances , that hath hitherto bin enacted . but while wee sought to make new statutes , savouring of more severity , we neglected the old , and were loath to execute the new : for it is a certaine rule , that whosoever in policy will give liberty , and yet seeme to suppresse a crime , let him procure sharpe lawes to be proclaimed , which are onely necessary for some times , and rare occasions to be put in execution ; but not to be an ordinary worke , for every day of the weeke . daily use likewise teacheth us , that it is lesse grievous to punish by an old law , then by a new : forsomuch , as truth it selfe , seldome gets credit without proofe , and it is hard to free the people of suspition , that new lawes are not rather invented against the particular persons and purses of men , then against the corrupt manners . by force of which reason , i am induced to conceive that the old use of the church , contained in good nurture , and ecclesiasticall censures will much more prevaile to muzzell popery , then any fresh devises whatsoever . neither doe j thinke it blame-worthy , to affirme that our cause hath taken harme , by relying more on the temporall , then the spirituall armes . for while we trusted that capitall punishments should strike the stroake ; we have neglected the meanes , which would , for the most part , have discharged the need of such severity . the oath of allegeance is not offered generally , to servants and meane people ; who if they had taken the oath by absolution of a priest , might recoyle from it , or change their opinion at leisure , without any ready meanes to discover their leger-demaine : that oath i feare will not bee often pressed , and to them that shift from place to place , how can it be tendered ? the principall papists now cover themselves , in the crowde of the multitude : but if we can discover the affection of the multitude , they easily will be unmasked , and being singled out , rest ashamed of their nakednesse ; which under correction of better judgment , may be effected , if every new commer , to inhabit in a towne , and servants newly entertained within a weeke , or xiiij . dayes , be caused to repaire to the minister , there in presence of the churchwardens , and other honest men ; to subscribe unto such briefe and substantiall articles concerning faith , and allegeance , as shall be according to gods word , and justice , ordained to distinguish the sheepe from the goates . in forraine countries , every host is bound to bring his guest before an officer ; there to certifie his name , with the occasion of his comming , & intended time of his abode in those parts ; and in case he stay longer , he must again renew his licence , so curious and vigilant : also are they to keepe their cities from infection , that without a certificate , witnessing their comming from wholsome places , they may not escape the lazeretto . no lesse ought wee to be watchfull to prevent the contagion of our soules , then other nations are of their bodies , every thing is hard , and scarcely pleasing in the beginning : but with time , some such course may be readily put in execution : which i propound rather as matter for better heads , to worke on ; then peremptorily to be insisted on in the same termes . but lest any charge me with temerity ; that when i desire to know the multitudes inclination , by the meanes aforesaid : i satisfie my selfe with their parrots language , pronouncing it knowes not what : i thinke it not impertinent , to put them in mind , that heretofore i have required instructions , both precedent and subsequent ; and am ever of the mind , that though all this cannot be done at once ; yet it is necessary alwayes to be doing our best : knowing , that not to goe forwards in religion , is the ready way to goe backwards . it is not the outward obedience of comming to church , that discovers the inward thought of the heart : it is the confession of the tongue that must utter these secrets . and where the curates are insufficient , or the parish great , i wish they had catechistes to assist them , maintained by the purses of the recusants : which pension being collected for gods cause , will free us of scandall ; though it grieve them to pay the spirituall army , waged against their owne stratagems : surely by giving them way in petty matters , they are growne to be very masterfull in their party : plato affirmeth , that the popular state proceeded from the licence , which the people took to make immoderate applauses in the theaters : when , as by arrogating that immunity , without contro ement , in place of their governors , and perceiving the nobility to joyne with them in the same passions , they thought their heads as worthy to governe , as any of those that were made out of the selfe-same mould : in like manner , while we suffer ignorance openly to maintaine such petty glimpses of popery , as are thought to be scarce worthy , to be look't at , and in small matters runne an indifferent course , which neither make sure friends , nor feeble foes ; unawares they take the bridle from us , and eate out religion , as it were by an insensible gangrena . principiis obsta , serò , medicina paratur . cum malaper longas convaluere moras . for by sufferance of breaking smaller lawes , people are emboldned to set the greater at nought . to comprehend all things in a law , which are necessary to the reformation , i neither hold it profitable nor expedient ; yet it is discretion to provide for the most important : smaller matters , whereof the lawes speake not , are to be commended to the discretion of parents , masters , and other reverent persons , who by example and advice , may prepare younglings , by education and custome , to obey the lawes : especially such as are in high place ought , in this behalfe , to be like caesars wife . non solum crimine , sed etiam criminis suspitione vacare , and with circumspection to behave themselves ; that the world may conceive , in requiring obedience to god and their soveraigne , that they hold the multitude rather for companions , then slaves : if great men take another way , they may seduce many by example ; though by words they expresse not their concealed opinions ; tace & loquere , said god to moses , it is the speech of the heart , which utters more then words and syllables : and in our common lawes , it is held maintenance , when a great personage , onely by his presence countenanceth a cause . neither let us secure our selves with this argument : the papists are plyable in small matters , ergo , they will yeeld in greater ; and because they tooke no armes in 88. therefore it were needlesse curiosity to suspect them now : for who knowes not , that small baites are used to take the greatest fish , vt cum esca una etiam hamus devoretur . warinesse is the sinewes of wisdome , and nothing is more dangerous , then to be secure in matters of state : therefore for the lawes already made , i wish that the most effectuall of them , which least concernes life , may be executed ; for better it were not to make them , then by neglect to set them at liberty ; seeing that many offences there are , which men would abstaine from , if they were forbidden , but when a strict commandement is avoided without punishment , therout springs an unbridled licence , hardly to be reformed by any rigour . to conclude , i say freely , that who so endeth his dayes by a naturall death , he shall be subject to receive many mens doomes , for every particular offence ; but when for religions sake , a man triumpheth over the sword , that one eminent vertue razeth out the memory of other errours , and placeth him , that so dyeth , in paradice ; if common opinion may be lawfully vouched ; which glory having many followers , and admirers , awaketh even dull spirits to affect their footesteps , and to sell their lives , for the maintenance of the same cause : j need not envy the name of a martyr to the jesuit ; for his cause if it be rightly weighed , will blanch that title : but i desire to have all those lineaments defaced , which may compound that counterfeit image , in prosecuting of which purpose , if j have failed in my advice , and by confused handling intricated the question , j humbly request , that a wise mans verdit , may mitigate the heavines of yt censure . it is neither good to praise bad counsels , because of their good successe ; nor to condemne good counsels , if the events prove not fortunate ; lest many be animated , to advise rashly , and others dishartned , to counsell gravely . illi mors gravis incubat , qui notus nimis omnibus , ignotus moritur sibi . senec. trag. finis . to j.s., the author of sure-footing, his letter, lately published, the answer of mer. casaubon, d.d., concerning the new way of infallibility lately devised to uphold the roman cause, the holy scriptures, antient fathers and councills laid aside casaubon, meric, 1599-1671. 1665 approx. 68 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-02 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a35564 wing c811 estc r3910 13677198 ocm 13677198 101247 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a35564) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101247) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 841:25) to j.s., the author of sure-footing, his letter, lately published, the answer of mer. casaubon, d.d., concerning the new way of infallibility lately devised to uphold the roman cause, the holy scriptures, antient fathers and councills laid aside casaubon, meric, 1599-1671. [4], 24 p. printed for timothy garthwait ..., london : 1665. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sergeant, john, 1622-1707. -sure-footing in christianity. catholic church -controversial literature. catholics -england -early works to 1800. 2005-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-11 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-11 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , may 29 , 1665. john hall , r. p. d. epis . lond. á sac. domest . to j. s. ( the author of sure-footing ) his letter , lately published : the answer of mer. casaubon , d. d. concerning the new way of infallibility , lately devised to uphold the roman cause : the holy scriptures , antient fathers , and councills laid aside . london . printed for timothy garthwait , at the kings-head in st. pauls church-yard . 1665. sir , i have by the help of a friend , lately received your letter to me , which you have published with some other pieces of yours . had i apprehended any difficulty in the business , i could have found an excuse , from my present indisposition of body , which hath been upon me this long time . but i think i shall not need much study , to answer you ; this letter , i mean. i will not insist upon personal things , which do not at all concern the cause it self , no further than civility doth oblige me . first , you challenge me ( so i understand you ) of somekind of breach of friendship . a great crime , i shall acknowledge it , if truly guilty . but the truth is : now that you have put me in mind by those circumstances you mention , i remember well , when bp. morton ( of reverend and blessed memory ) lived in durham-house , ( which was at the beginning of the late troubles ) there was a civil gentleman in the house , ( whether in the quality of chaplain , or secretary , i do not remember ) with whom i did walk some time : but what our communication was , about religion , or any thing else , i can give no account . it should seem by your letter , you are the gentleman . but whether this may be called acquaintance , or friendship , i know not . for since that time ( so many years ago ) i never heard of you , that i remember : neither did i think my self by any law of friendship ( such as this ) obliged to inquire . if your memory of me , and my name , hath been more tenacious ; i wish you much good of it : i have often grieved , that mine is no better . if it were your kindness , to think of me , when i did not of you ; i am beholding to you for it . but how i should know , 20 years after , that s. w. the author of schism dispatcht ( now turned into i. s. in sure footing , &c. which i prosess i do not understand : ) was the party whom i had seen in durham-house , especially after so much trouble of body , and mind , which those times did occasion , i will leave it to your further consideration , i protest to you seriously , that neither by any information i have had from any body else ; nor by any suspition of mine ; i never had the least thought of any such thing . before i enter into the cause ; i will make an end of this business , of our acquaintance . you charge me at the end of your letter , that i was accessory to your change . truly sir , because i acknowledge we did talke together , but can give no account of particulars , in any thing that i think , ( as my mind and my apprehension of things then was ; which i remember very well : ) could possibly proceed from me ; so far i may and will , in civility believe you : but to believe that i said any thing to you , wittingly and willingly , which i knew to be false and fictitious , contrary to my sense and judgement ; and this too , to no end at all , that is , without any provocation , or inducement , but to do my self hunt ; when , for ought i knew , what i said to you , might probably come to the knowledge of that reverend prelate , a zealous protestant , and who entirely loved me ; you must pardon me , sir , if i believe you not in this , but absolutely deny it , and offer my self to take my oath to the contrary . but because i am not willing to believe , that you willfully devise , but rather , that your memory hath deceived you ; i will see what i can do to help you . first then you say , i told you , they were mad , who read the antient fathers , and saw not , that they meant christ was as really in the sacrament , as in heaven . i remember it was once , by a jesuite , laid to my fathers charge publikely ; that he should write somewhere , in the margin of a book written by a learned protestant , where he treateth of the eucharist : omittamus patres : nam corum authoritate velle uti ad nostram sententiam confirmandam , est exquisitissimo genere insanioe insanire . though the words might be justified ( being written hastily too ) if by nostram sententiam , we understand them , who make a meer figure of the sacrament . yet i shall not need to fly to that ; in case it be granted , these words were written by my father . for there was a time , ( and i have acknowledged it , in a book dedicated to king james , that learned and religious king , above 40 years ago : ) when my father , who then followed other studies , was very much set upon by cardinal perron in matters of religion : neither could he avoid it , because it was by order from the king. what opinion you , or any others now , have of the cardinal , i know not : but he was then generally accounted the greatest wit , and most eloquent man of his time . and i can shew , how at that time my father did write many things from his mouth , ( so expresly acknowledged by him ) for his remembrance ; which afterwards , upon further perusal and consideration , himself , in the same paper , condemned and consuted . i have at this time by me , a very considerable collection of such notes ; and had them when i answered the jesuite . no wonder then , if he had written such words at that time ; who afterwards , at more leisure , took infinite pains to satisfie himself about that matter , having examined all the testimonies of antient fathers , and records of all ages , of that argument , with great accuracy ; which work of his had been published soon after his exercitations , if he had lived . no wonder then , i say . however , i had no reason to believe it then , upon his report , whom ( the jesuite , i mean , before spoken of ) in other things i had found very bold , and partial ; to say no more . but afterwards , it was my luck in the king ( now charles the second our gracious lord and soveraign ) his library , at st. james's , ( where for ought i know it is still ) to light upon the book , and i do acknowledge , i found the words there . now the thing being in a manner publick already , though not , perchance , so publickly known ; it is possible i might say somewhat of it to you , ( the word , mad , makes me think i did ) who , probably , being before resolved , were willing upon very little ground , as i conceive , to make some advantage of it . and how much less , i pray , as to the matter of the eucharist , doth calvin himself say , in that passage by me produced in the book you mention ; substantiam vcri corports & sanguinis jesu christi utì ex utero virginis illam semel accepit , proesentem esse in cana tam sidelibus , quàm infidelibus , which passage is out of his epistles ? but many other , to the same purpose , may be collected out of his other works , as that , idem corpus , quod passum est pro nobis : and , substantia christi , manentis in coelig ; lo , arcanâ vi nobis communicatur : and the like . so that you have no reason to except against calvins interpretation of the reality , except you deny god that power , ( for calvin makes it a great miracle ) to exhibit the body and blood of christ , truly and really ; and yet spiritually which , i think , is not more incredible ; than a corporeal presence , and yet invisible . sure i am , and can shew it under his hand in more then one place ; my father was well pleased with calvins doctrine , in this point . judge you therefore , how likely it is , i should tell you , your second objection ) that either father or grand-father , did hear calvin say , he would willingly cut off one of his fingers , on condition he had never written what he had written , concerning that sacrament , or that kind of reality . but what say you , if i can help you in this also ? i am very confident i can . for this i can shew you , or any body else , written with my father 's own hand ; that a person of credit and integrity , as he believed , and one that had been very intimate with mr. calvin , had heard him say , dolere sibi vehementissimè , quod usus exhibendoelig ; eucharistioelig ; morientibus esset sublatus . et affirmabat ( idem ) semel audivisse calvinum , orto super eâre sermone , dicentem , optare se ut sibi unus è manu digitus esset proelig ; cisus et ille usus esset restitutus ; sed se reverentiâ earum ecclesiarum , quoelig ; usum bunc damnant , impedirl , quò minus de eo restitaendo cogitaret . here , you see , calvin doth profess his grief , wishes one of the fingers of his hand cut off , on a condition : gives a reason , why he cannot help it : all this , you have . your mistake is about the subject : you say , reality ; which was , according to the true relation , the denying of the sacrament to dying persons . sir , you see how willing i am to save you from suspition of wilful falshood . for otherwise i might have thought it enough absolutely to deny , what you lay to my charge . i might have done it with a good conscience ; and i think my negative , with impartial judges , would have carried as much shew of probability as your affirmative . the matter of friendship and private talk answered ; your next charge is , that i have shewed my self an absolute stranger to science ; and withal very uncivilly injurious , without any need or provocation . first , an absolute stranger to science ( if i mistake you not ) because i slight so much your way of infallibility , in matters of faith ; which you so much extoll , as grounded upon self-evidence , upon principles of reason and nature ; so demonstrable , that nothing in the world can be more . then secondly , injuriously uncivill : in what ? first , in the harshness of the terms , whereby i express my judgment : and secondly , in wrongfully , or standerously imposing upon you things , or words which you never wrote , you say . now , sir , will you please , laying aside all passion , as i shall endeavour in this answer , to hear what i have to say my self : and it may be you will be of another judgement . i will not tye my self to your order ; but as neer as i can , i will not leave any part of your charge unanswered . first then i say : your book schism dispatcht , came to my hands from a learned gentleman , who desired me to look upon it at leisure , intimating that it was much cryed up by some men of your side . he was pleased to give it me , and tied me to no time . at last , the time came ; i was at leisure . you may believe me , as you please : i shall onely desire , if you think it reasonable , that you will not judge till you have read all . i have naturally a great antipathy to fanaticks and fanatick opinions . i look upon them , as the great enemies of mankind ; that is , of true religion , and civil government . you know what this kingdome hath lately suffered by them , and how neer it came to utter destruction . when i had read your opinion , of orall tradition , ( a thing , as you explain it , i had never met with , nor heard of before : ) upon which you would have us to ground our faith , and without which you acknowledge no right christianity ; i profess i took you for either a right fanatick ; or one , who cunningly did endeavour to undermine all religion . but of the two , rather , i thought , a fanatick . whether i had any just ground for such an opinion , or suspicion rather ; i shall by and by further satisfie you : in the mean time , think of me as you please . i could not but think the worse of you too , for handling that pious worthy man , against whom you write , so unhandsomely . an ingenuous man , would love worth : and a good christian , piety even in an enemy . i know you give him some good words in your first chapter : but in your preface ; in you : book generally , and at the end of your book , where you pretend to reckon his faults ; truly , sir , though confidence , i know , and high language goes a great way with them , that cannot judge ; and might be proper enough to your end ; such scorn , such petulancy , did not become you . these two considerations , without any particular grudge , or provocation ; made me , i confess , somewhat beyond my ordinary straine , or genius , to express my self , in delivering my judgement . i should now , in the next place , give you some reasons for my judgment . but i will first see how i can acquit my self from imposing upon you , and mis-relating your words . before i wrote , what i have written , ( where you are mentioned : ) i had read ( in part , for it is a great book , you know : ) dr. hammond his answer , intituled , the dispatcher dispatched . i supposed he had read you more at leisure , ( indeed i never did , but here and there by parcels : ) than i had done . besides , i found some others , to whom you referr us , and from whom you profess to have learned ; mentioned by him ; and their words often quoted , and compared with yours . i had them not ; never saw them ; much less , read them . that he would or could mistake , or misrelate you ; or them ; so candid and judicious a man , as he was ; i had not the least suspicion . this made me less heedfull , whether i used your own words , precisely ; and in your own order , or method ; so as i set down nothing , but what was your sense and meaning ; clearly to be gathered from your own words . sure i am , i intended it no otherwise ; and i am yet very confident , if i have laid no more to your charge , then dr. hammond hath done , to you and to those others , which concurr with you in the same opinion ; i have done you no wrong . for , as i take it ; the question is not , whether you protest against your absurdities , sometimes ; and seem to disclaim them , in words : ( which is ordinary enough , to writors ; especially , when they have an uncouth opinion , or assertion , to make good : ) but , whether you have positively declared your self , this , or this , to be your opinion ; and , whether that be not the principal end , and scope of your discourse , to maintain such an opinion . if therefore you take the advantage of any words , casually misplaced ; or of pages mis-quoted , to criminate : this is not to criminate , properly ; but to cavil . give me leave therefore to remind you , ( for i profess i did partly rely upon him , and upon those grounds i have mentioned , i thought i had reason so to do : ) how he ( dr. hammond ) upon accurate examination of what you had written , and some others had written , doth represent your opinion : and it was some argument to me , that you did not think your self wronged by him , because i never heard of any answer that you had made . however , it shall be upon this condition , that if i cannot make good my charge to the full , from what you have written , and i have read , since ; i will make no advantage at all of his words . first then ; the main business , as i conceive ; what you mean by orall tradition : orall tradition is that , ( faith mr. white ; they are doctor hammonds words : ) which the mothers flatter into their children : and is the most sweet and connatural way that can be imagined , to beget a firm and undoubted assent : and this , ( faith doctor hammond , from you both ) if not exclusively ; yet , comparatively , so , as to carry it clearly from scripture , and fathers , which are but dead letters , and mute writing in comparison of this , which alone he looks on , as gods living word . this then is your opinion . that all the assurance we have of our faith , and the onely thing christianity stands upon , is by this teaching of flattering mothers ; or in your words , of fathers and mothers of families . dr. hammond faith ; if not exclusively . but whatever you do in schism dispatcht : ( where nevertheless you plainly enough exclude scripture and fathers , as dr. hammond doth else where tell you : ) it is apparent , that in your sure footing , you do very positively exclude both scripture and fathers : as when you say , there is no arguing against tradition , out of scripture : and that none canin reason oppose the authority of fathers and councils , against tradition . insomuch that you will not allow christs promise to his church , ( which both protestants and papists , if true christians , have so much relied on , and found so much comfort in : ) to bear any part in the rule of faith : that is , ( what else you mean ; by rule of faith : i cannot tell ) to be trusted to , as certain and infallible without your tradition : nor allow us to say , that tradition is certain , because christ hath promised it ; no further than can be made good , or demonstrated by principles of nature , and such mediums as you call intrinsecal . of the scriptures particularly , dr. hammond doth give us this account , that never any romanist , jew , heathen , or mahumetan , hath attempted the like against them , to bring their credit down ; as rushworth hath done in his dialogues , to establish this oral tradition , which you maintain . and if the same ( though truly i do not see what can be done more , by any ) be not done , or attempted by you : yet you are answerable for what is done by rushworth in those dialogues , because you refer to him , without any exception ; and that both are engaged in one cause , which doth oblige you , if not to say , yet to think no less . another thing which doth much add to my wondring and indignation , is , the newness of your way : the consequences whereof is , that if this way have not been known to former ages till this late discovery , it must of necessity follow , ( and your corollaries acknowledg it ) that christ hath had no church all this while : no people , or nation upon earth , that could be called faithfull . you indeed , for the most part , cunningly hide , as much as you can , the monstrousness of your doctrine , under the generall word of tradition ; which you know both papists , and protestants , under several notions ; or in the same notion , with some limitations ; do own and acknowledge : though you still understand but one thing , by that word : that is , the teaching of flattering mothers , in every age . of mothers , i say , and upon them , it seems , you most rely , because dr. hammond , who hath read all your books , doth most keep to those terms ; but , of fathers and mothers of families , if you will , as you expresse it . so you tell us in a place , this way ( of tradition ) is the way every catholick in the whole church , none excepted , holds and follows : your way therefore , not a new way : as if a man would prove , that a dogg is a man , because both dog and man , are animals . all romanists hold tradition ; therefore they hold the tradition of fathers and mothers ; that , and none but that , as the onely foundation of their faith : for so it must be understood , or else you say nothing . now , by mr. whites account ( as i find in dr. hammond ) the first invention , or beginning of this , was in a sleight familiar conference ( afterwards exalted to no less , then divine revelation or inspiration ; you shall know what i mean , by and by : ) which made dr. hammond say , that this discovery of mr. whites , as it is the greatest blessing , the richest jewel ; so it is the greatest riddle and mystery in the world . and again to propose it to his readers consideration , whether it be credible , that so great a jewel as this pretends to be , should be withheld from the christian world for above 1600 years , and at last brought forth , not onely by one man that pretends not to inspiration , ( then he did not , it seems ) but also in a sleight familiar conference , between two kinsmen . so that if dr. hammond , who made it his study , and had read all your books , ( as was said before ) did not ignorantly mistake , or wilfully falsifie , as you charge me ; what can be more horrid , and monstious ? and then again , by your own corollaries ; that body of men , who adhere to tradition , ( oral still , that is the teaching of fathers and mothers of families : ) can evidence clearly and plainly , who are truly faithfull , who not , — who are of the church , who not : pag 97 , 98. and again ; no company of men hang together like a body of a christian church , or common-wealth , but that which adheres to tradition : p. 99. by these corollaries , i say , it is clear , and must of necessity follow , that till this way of tradition was hatcht , ( whether new , or old ) christ had no church , no faithfull people in the world. as the consequence of your doctrine is horrible ; so the doctrine it self , both at first hearing , and the more a man looks into it , ( if he have the patience ) with reason and judgment , no less prodigious , and incredible . the doctrine of faith , on which gods catholick church is founded ; true christianity , on which depends eternity of bliss , or misery ; to be preserved in every age , sound and entire ; and so conveighed from age to age ; by fathers and mothers of families ? this , the way , and the onely way god hath appointed , and mankind must trust unto ? it is far from my thoughts , in this short answer to your letter , to reason the case with you , by way of confutation ; there be some about it , you tell me , who i hope will make you sensible , how miserably you are mistaken in your grounds . give me leave onely to insist a while , on the monstrousness of your opinion , as it doth appear unto me . you know the world is much amended generally , in point of knowledge , within these hundred , or two hundred years . who hath not heard of that admirable or regeneration of learning , by all kind of writers , since , or about that time , so much extolled and magnified ? let pope leo the x. who then was , and his cardinals , have a great part ( under god ) of the thanks , if you will ; i am not against it : though by the aversness you shew frequently to books and learning , i doubt you will be more ready to curse , than to bless them for it . but durst you , even now , undertake , that every twentieth or fiftieth man , or woman generally , among you , is able to give an account of their faith ? i will not say rational , but reasonable , so that they may deserve the name of sound christians , in the main fundamentals , wherein we , for the most part , agree ? england , i think , i may say , ( not to disparage others ) is furnished , and hath been these many years , with as able ministers , as any nation can boast of in europe . i have been a minister and preacher here these forty years , and above : i know what i have found , to my grief , in more places then one . we may thank the puritans of england , if it be no better ; whose endeavour hath alwayes been in all places , to set up their lectures , and pulpit-preaching , instead of catechising ; whereas three moneths right catechising , will make more christians , i am confident , then forty years pulpit-preaching . do not think , i pray , to take any advantage of this , and tell me , though it be so among us hereticks ; yet , you thank god , it is otherwise , among catholicks , as you call your selves : for i could tell you strange things , from your own writers , men who never were suspected , in the least degree , to favour protestants ; concerning your preachers ; what manner of men they are commonly : how able , or how carefull to discharge their duties . i will name but one to you , ( till you desire more ) laurentius villavineentius , doct. theol. de reite formando studio theol. which book ( though not that particular passage of ministers ) he did almost verbatim transcribe out of hipperius , a protestant ; though otherwise , a virulent inveigher against protestants , as any i have read . read him there ; but especially , de sacris concionibus formandis , lib. i. c. 2. and i think you will say , you have your belly full . so now : will you have a fight of former times , from unquestionable records ? in the dayes of alfrid , king of england , the ignorance of the land was such generally , that himself complaineth in his preface to gregories pastoral , christianity was become an empty name , without any substance , or reality . and asserius , one of his masters , in his life , doth relate that it was a long time before he could read , because he could get none to teach him ; though he much desired it . some six or sevenscore years before , when cuthbert was archbishop of canterbury , and ethelbald , king of the mercit , or middle-land counties , a synod was held at clyff , by which it was ordained , that ( for the time to come ) all priests should learn the creed , and the lord prayer , that they might be able to teach them to others . so in england : how elsewhere ? in the dayes of charles the great , in france , there were so many ignorant priests , that a law , or capitulum , was made for the rebaptization of such , as had not been baptized in the name of the father , the son , ( a hard lesson , it seems , for the priests of those dayes ) and the holy ghost . yet we deny not , but the worst dayes afforded some men of worth : but what the generality was , we may guess by these particulars . i have read a book intituled , fragmenta caroli magni , printed at antwerp , a. d. 1560. in a place it treateth of the ancient manner , as the marginal note doth import , of choosing bishops . first he is chosen , à clerosen populo ; that is , by the clergy , and the people , according to the language of those times : then he is presented to the apostolick : ( that is , the pope ) for consecration . then faith the record , ( pontifex jubet inquiri de quatuor capitulis canonicis ; ) inquisition is made concerning the four canonical articles ; by which it seems , the capacity or incapacity of men , for such a degree , was wont in those days , chiefly , or in the first place , to be judged : the first is ; whether he had not been arsanoquita , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sodomite ? ) the second , whether he had not lain with a nun ? the third , with a beast ? the fourth , whether he had not married one , that had been married before ; or a widow ? et de his inculpabilis inventus , &c. and being found innocent in these , he further takes an oath , he will be so for the time to come . some few more questions being asked , ( among which i find none , except it be included in dimissoria ab episcopo ; concerning his sufficiency , in point of learning : ) he is consecrated the next day . i could tell you of italy , and other places . but , by this , i hope , you will give me leave to ask you ; what you think of the fathers and mothers of families , of those times ; in what a capacity they may probably be supposed to have been , to preserve and transmit sound christianity , without any further helps of written word , or record , unto posterity ? ordinary romanists , i know , when they are put to it , about the popes infallibility ; they fly to christ his promise , and peculiar providence : which is a good plea , could they prove by scripture , or true tradition , ( that is , the consent of primitive fathers ) that such infallibility was ever promised by christ , unto the pope : which to say , your friend , and master ( as i find him stiled , in dr. hammond ) mr. white , doth resolve to be heretical ; yea , archiheretical ; where , dr. hammond will tell you , p. 263. for i have not the book . but a plausible plea , however , i say , as it pretends to ground upon christs promise , but not your plea , because you disclaim christs promise , and all plea of a peculiar providence , as a principle to be grounded upon : is not the church of rome much beholding to you ? one thing i must grant to you , that your way , though few romanists , i think , will acknowledge it their way ; is no new way , absolutely . for it was indeed the heathens way , as is objected unto them by ancient fathers ; which they made use of , to uphold their heathenism , against christianity : and what those ancient fathers thought of that way , you may read in them , or may be told by others , in due time . it was also the very way the infidel jews used , as by others hath been observed , by which they endeavour , to this day , to just fie their infidelity . i cannot say , it is the way of the mahametans , as yet : they have somewhat else to plead for themselves ; success , and multitude . but this i can say , whenever it shall please the mahumetans to make use of this way , who now can plead above a thousand years oral tradition ; you leave us no way how to deal with them ; how to confute them . and have not you well deserved of christianity ? but again ; do not we see that a great part of the christian world , ( the greater part i may say , if you allow them not christians , who are not under the pope ; ) where once christianity flourished , hath already failed , notwithstanding tradition ? those flourishing churches of asia ; of africa ; those apostolical sees ; where are they what security have you from principles of nature , which you onely allow of ; that the same may not befall these churches also , supernatural pleas of divine promise , or providence , being laid aside , as you would have them ? sir , be not offended , i pray , with my plain dealing . i have no desire to anger you . what i thought of your opinion before , i have told you . but since the reading of your sure footing ; what i did but suspect , before ; seems now to me , very apparent and visible . first , i consider your language , such as this , for example : [ seeing by this time , that my discourse , by stooping from my first principles , while i applied them to my business , seem'd immerst in matter ; and by the blunder of many more and more particular terms , then were in the meer principle , forcibly taken in , began to look with a contingent face ; ( though indeed i still perch'd upon the specifical nature of things , and so never flagg'd below the sphere of science , ) therefore , &c. ] then secondly , your confidence , as though , if your opinion should not prove true , the whole course of nature were in danger to be turned back , and the elements to return to their original chaos : for to this purpose , you often express your self . and then : i fear not the gates of hell ; ( for which you choose rather to trust to the strength of your own wit ; than to christs promise : ) and , hence i set tradition on her throne ; and the like . thirdly and lastly , your science , certain sense , self-evidence , intrinsecal mediums , connexion of causes , demonstration , principles of nature , and the like ; which you inculcate in every page , as though science and demonstration were meat and drink and sleep to you , and you lived by nothing else ; whereas ( let me be accounted mad , i am willing , if it be not true : ) all that you ground upon ; your principles ; ( as you apply them : ) your reasons , your consequences , are so ridiculous , and childish , and senseless , that a man may with as much probability undertake to reduce all story , all truth , all religion , to esops fables ; as to reconcile your doctrine to sense and reason . believe me , sir , these be shrewd arguments of a distemper , which is not ordinary . i could tell you of pregnant instances , but i doubt you would not thank me . but above all things , mr. white , ( whose scholar you have acknowledged your self . dr. hammond doth tell me , in this new device ; ) let his case awaken you , and make you ( if it be not too late ) sensible of yours . it cannot be unknown to you , i believe : but because this answer , ( as your letter ) may come to the hands of others , who know it not ; give me leave to set it down here . this good man then , ( a rational man otherwise , it cannot be denied : what he hath written against apparitions , and false miracles , not to speak of his other works , which i have not seen ; shew him to be so : ) being , it seems , highly conceited of his parts and performancess , fell into a conceit , that god himself , by immediate inspiration , had inspired him in all he had written ; of religion , especially : and moreover , that god , to the end all men should know and believe he was indeed inspired , and by what they now saw , might judge of his other works by him published ; had wrought a great miracle ( upon himself ) visible and apparent , able to satisfie any rational man. i say miracle . yet true it is , and i must take notice of it , lest i hear of it afterwards , as a calumniator ; that mr. white , where he doth begin his story , to prevent somewhat , which he cunningly foresaw , might be objected ; doth say somewhat , to decline the presumption of a miracle , as not so proper in this business ; but , how agreeably to the rest of his tale , and to his conclusion , quod superest , tibi consule , & ostentum à coelo ad te delapsum , ne contemnito ; let the indifferent reader judge . now the miracle , ( or ostentum , which you will : ) as himself relates it . is ; that whereas , neither by books , nor by masters , he never had applied himself to the study of geometry , so as to think himself , or to be accounted by others , a man of skill in the art of science : god , on a sudden , had made him a perfect mathematician : so perfect a mathematician , that he took upon him to resolve greatest doubts in that art , which had posed the wits of greatest mathematicians in all ages ; as particularly , the quadratura circuli . with what success , i will not take upon me to judge : but one of his own profession , in point of religion , hath told him and others ; in an answer , titled , querela geometrie : who , pag. 40 , 41. doth conclude in these words : that , whereas mr. white aimed to be accounted a person , whom almighty god particularly designed to use as his instrument , for the governing of his church , in this present conjuncture ; and to this effect , to have received great light , and infused knowledge from him ; ( as we heard him speak in his preface : ) he hath now given such a character of himself , that it is impossible any man should be so simple , &c. who also , for the readers further satisfaction , hath reprinted mr. whites whole preface to his book , titled , tutela geometrica ; both in latin , at it was written , and in english , translated by himself ; where the reader , if he please , may find such expressions of deepest enthusiasm , or infatuation ; as can scarce be parallelled out of any book , now extant , and written by a christian ; that i can , at this present , call to mind . of any book , i mean , written and published by the author , or enthusiast himself . for otherwise , stories of enthusiasts , their high language , great brags , and confidence ; yea actions , and deportment , suitable to their words , even unto death ; we have good store . whether mr. white , since that , become to himself again ; ( as to this particular , i mean. for a man may be out of reason ; out of his witts , i will not say ; in some one particular , through much intention : who yet in other things , may be very sober and rational : it is a known case among physicians : ) or indeed , whether alive or dead , i know not ; you do , i suppose . me thinks this example should be a warning to you , to make you sensible of your case ; more then those great wits , you so often tell us of , ( who perchance look upon you , as a crazy man , and think it charity not to offend you : ) their applause , to confirm you in your distemper . if i had so much interest in you , as some have ; i know what advice i would give you : if , that mentis gratissimus error , ( as the poet expresses it ) which ordinarily doth accompany such distempers , have not taken too deep root . to tell you truth ; that whole passage of yours in your letter of advice to your answerer , p. 14. i easily yeeld to those great discoursers , &c. i do not like . your language is modest enough , were it in another cause : but in such a cause as this , ( your opinion , i mean : ) such study , such sedulity , yea such zeal , as you there mention ; must needs do you great wrong . sir , the worst i wish you , is , that , you may be sensible of your case , before it be too late : and the best i can wish to our cause ; were it lawfull , or charitable , to wish hurt unto any , that good may come of it ; is , that all romanists , who meddle with controversies , were of your mind and opinion ; which i make no question , but all men truly rational , on either side , would look upon , as the ultimus conatus , ( a pittifull one , god knowes ) of a dying cause : as to reason , i mean , and good authority , either of scripture or of ancient fathers . now i come to particulars , in the order i find them . infallibility you say ( the popes personal infallibility ) is not the thing you build upon : and therefore not very sollicitous , what becomes of it . you do not , it may be ; and mr. whyte doth not : but others of your profession , both for number and account , incomparably the greater part , ( who perchance will think i do them wrong , to call you a part : ) tell us otherwise , and make it their chiefest article . of this , somewhat hath been said by me , in my late booke ; and it is the opinion of divers others , papists and pretestants , that it is the main point , or controversie : till you have disproved this , i need to say no more . now if you , and mr. whyte , and some more , whom you think considerable , or a considerable partie , be of another opinion ; and think it heretical , or archiheretical , to maintain the contrary ; what occasion you romanists have to boast of your good agreement , who are of such different beliefe , in main fundamentals ; i leave to you to consider . but was not this a sufficient ground ( which you call my mistake ) since you dispaired , and gave over this , which others of your company , built so much upon ; to make you , ( since you would not be so ingenuous , or had not so much light yet , as to acknowledg your error , and return to us ) to make you look about , i say , to find somewhat else , that you might build so many strange practises , and opinions of your church upon ; for which you know , and partly acknowledge , you have no ground at all , or at least , not sufficient ground , either in scripture , or what we call tradition ; that is , the consent of ancient fathers ? i say no more . in the next place , you endavour to countenance your new way though not under the notion of new ) by the temper of the times , which hath produced so many attempting witts . truly , sir , it cannot be denyed , but your opinion or way , hath much of the temper of the times ; be it spoken without any disparagement , or disrespect , to any of reall worth ; whether you call them witts , or otherwise . not to speak of england , lest i may be thought , to aime at any , particularly ; you cannot but know , by report , and by books , that in some places beyond the seas , there is a sect of men , who take upon them to be the onely witts of the world , and glory in that title ; whose chiesest witt is , to make a mock of all religion , and to scoff at the scriptures : which the dullest complexions , if they make it their study , are very capable of ; and indeed , rather deserve the name of boufons ( some , naturally have a faculty that way , who are good for little else ) then wits . you might better have forborn that word , ( which you often use ) when you tell us of men of real worth . i am not so addicted to old things , though you make me so ; but i can embrace new , with thanks and congratulation , when i shall see just cause . their attempt , or project , i profess , i do not like , who to make themselves the more admired , trample over all , that former ages , which produced so many excellent wits , had in great respect , and esteem , under the notion of learning , or science . however , though some innovation in matter of humane learning , or science , may be born ; yet in such a fundamental of religion , as you make your way to be ; no man truly sensible of religion , but will abhorr it . it is the ready way to no religion at all ; or , to any ; and you know many account them the onely witts shall i say , or wise men of the world , that are of that temper . i will not say , it is your end ; but that it will be the effect of your new way ( give me leave to call it , as i find it : ) should it prevail , ( which god forbid ) i have much reason to believe . as for the rest , that you object ; i have said it before , but i must repeat it : you play the sophister too grosly , and abuse your reader shamefully , when you tell us , your way is not new , because the ancients of vincentius lirinensis , i have given you a particular account ; i wonder you would name him : ) maintain tradition . there is as much difference between that tradition , which they maintain , and that which you do ; as there is between a brute , and a man , though both be animalia . neither will that help you ; to say they maintain ( some may speak so ) tradition , unwritten ; therefore , oral for it may be so called , in regard of the first original , or authors ; though , since that , recorded , and attested by multiplicity of authors . and though there were no such attestation extant , ( which cannot be said of true tradition ) yet still you are as much to seek , to bring it to fathers and mothers of families in your sense , which seem confident , never came into any mans mind , till you , or mr. whyte dreamed it : of all other inventions , in this kind , the most ridiculous , i ever heard of . so much of mistake , laid to my charge . now to the injuries you complain of . the first is , that i confess my selt a stranger to rushworths dialogues ; and that i make some doubt whether schisme dispatcht , and rushworths dialogues , might not be of one author , though under two names . your descant upon this , is , my genius doth not incline me to trade in books , that pretend to reason . you do pretend , indeed , and so do most in your case , with as much , or more confidence , ( ordinarily : ) though the matter appear never so ridiculous to others , and false ; as the most rational , in best causes . as in our english story , he that could not confirm his new revelations by miracles , ( mr. white 's miracle , it seems , you do not much trust to : ) endeavoured to do it , by strong asseverations , and from thence proceeded to oaths and execrations , against himself , if it were not true : &c. so d. hammond tells you , you know where . you are not come to oaths and execrations , i am glad of it : for then we should be forced to stop our eares : instead of them , we hear of strong asseverations , of principles of nature ; and connexion of causes . and demonstrations : these we may hear , and laugh . the doctor , it seems , by this application , began to suspect somewhat , which i do more then suspect . but i believe had he seen your sure footing , and these pretty corollaries ; he had never taken so much pains to consute you , as he hath done . but he also i perceive made some question , whether rushworths dialogues , the apology , and the dispatcher , were three , or one . the next injury ; i charge you , you make nothing of , and disclaim the testimonies of popes , and prelates , &c. i say so ; you say , you do not ; in that very page , it may be ; but all that you have written , doth tend unto this , and you do it eminently , in your corollaries , page 100 , 101. still provided , that tradition be taken in your sense , for orall tradition , ( that is , the instruction and catechising of fathers and mothers of families ) in opposition to written . and so you explain your self , schism disp . p. 47. to stop the way against the voluntary mistakes of mine adversaries , i declare my self to speak here , not of written tradition , to be sought for in the scriptures and fathers , which lyes open to so many cavills and exceptions ; but of orall tradition . all the rest of your accusation , is but words , and impertinencies ; which i will not spend time upon . to this may the third also , ( which you call injurie ) be referred ; that i charge you , you slight scriptures , fathers , and councils as and call them in scorn , wordish testimonies . it is not your bare professing , you respect and honour them , in such and such a sense , that will serve the turn . the greatest rebell in the world may tell his king , he doth honour him ; as he is a man , perchance ; gods creature , made after his image , &c. when he hath a knife in his hand , to stab and murder him , as a king. so you deal with the scripture , you cast upon it all the dirt and scorn you can ; as scripture , in general : you call it , a dead dumb letter ( what do you think of the author in the mean time ? ) you make it to be of no use at all , as to the rule of faith , or deciding of controversies of religion . but if fathers and mothers of families tell you ; that understood ( in points of faith ) in this and that sence , it is good scripture , and the word of god ; then it shall be scripture with you , and not till then . as for other uses , which godly people might make of them ( so highly recommended unto all people by the ancients , upon that score : ) those uses you take away also , whilst you forbid them to read them . but this , you will say , doth not concern oral tradition , properly : in so doing , you do no more , then other papists . but then i must tell you , it doth not a little aggravate the case , that flattering mothers should be trusted by you for the conveyance of faith and religion ( sound and sincere ) and the true sence of scripture , ( in things controverted ) to posterity and so many brought up to learning , and so much more rational and intell gent , not allowed ( where the inquisition reigneth , especially : ) the use of them , for fear they turn hereticks . before i proceed ; you charge me , i call ordinary citations , testimonies , though many citations have nothing in them of a testimony . true ; but he that cites , commonly , doth intend his citation , as a confirmation of somewhat that he saith , and so it becomes a testimony , in a larger sence , as the word is commonly taken in bellarmine , for example , and others , testimonia patrum ; any words of theirs , are so called though never intended for such by the authors ; nor attired in the formality of a testimony . i wonder you should stick at such a thing : but you may as wel ' wonder , i take notice of it . the fourth injury ; i say , the onely thing you place infallibility in , is oral tradition and the testimonies of fathers of families . have not you told us many times you admit of nothing , to have any part in the rule of faith but oral tradition ? do not you upon that account , exclude christs promise to his church ? do not you forbid your adversaries , to use dead testimonies , ( that is , fathers and councils : ) or some book granted to be sacred ? yea , elsewhere , expressly , any kind of testimony , either from scripture , councils , fathers , or history ; except your oral tradition be first granted to you ; which granted , all testimonies become uselss ? is not this your business every where , that tradition ( your tradition ) is the onely thing , against which nothing must be heard , and which onely gives credit unto all other things ; such credit , as they are capable of ? you would make a man hope sometimes , that you begin to be sensible of the absurdity of your doctrine , which makes you so often say , and unsay , and contradict your self . but i fear , it is not so well , but rather , that you are afraid to offend your party , and therefore write so variously and inconsistently . you say , you place infallibility in other things too , though you make that the greatest . either you aquivocate in the word , infallibility ; and abuse your reader : or manifestly contradict your self , and overthrow your own grounds . but popes , and prelates , are masters of families also , you say , and therefore have a part , or bear a share in your tradition . i could answer , that flattering mothers is the word in dr. hammonds reply all along , or most occurrent , not without ground , certainly : and in the very manner , or nature of this tradition , as it is explained ; it is certain , they must be the greatest part , incomparably . but if we take in fathers , as well as mothers , ( which i suppose is your intention : ) then popes and prelates may come in , i will grant you ; but then it must be , in the most literal sense , as they are fathers of children , as well as other men , though they have no wives . for though he may be called pater familias , i know , that keeps a house , though of servants onely : yet servants , men and women at large , are not for your purpose , as you explain the business of tradition ; but such only , who were taught by their fathers and mothers , when children : neither are others mentioned by you , that i remember . yea most of your arguments , fall to the ground ; as natural affection , and the like ; if others be admitted , besides children . if therefore you take in popes and prelates , as partners , or actors in your tradition : it must needs be , you presuppose , they have children , all , or most . which though it may be true enough ; yet whether they will take it well , at your hands , to acknowledg it so publickly , i know not . but all this granted ; yet it is but little , that you grant to popes and prelates . for you say , they are a part , and the eminentest members ; that , is somewhat : but you add , ( and indeed could not avoid it , by your grounds : ) pag. 333. in proportion to their number and what is that , among so many millions of other men ? the fifth injury : i charge your way , or doctrine , with many chymerical suppositions , and impertinencies . i have said enough to this , which i shall not need to repeat . i shall onely add ; i understand by you , some body is appointed to answer you . you know what dr. hammond hath done already , whom i think you never answered . but by your sure footing , first and second part , i perceive you , or rather indeed your disease , or delusion , hath made a great progress . if therefore it should so fall out , that you have been mis-informed , and your dreams are not thought so considerable as to deserve an answer ; pray for my life , and health , ( for it may do you good , and i look upon you still , as an ingenuous man , however this hath happened to you ; ) and i will promise you , very mathematically , and scientifically , ( as great an enemy as you take me to science ) to examine all your grounds ; and to make it appear clearly , to your self , if possible ; but to all men that have but eyes and ears , ( to use your own expression ) that nothing can be more contrary to the course of nature , and to reason and providence , grounded upon certain and approved experience of all ages ; than what you ground upon . what you may think of it , i know not : but i do not conceive that there is any thing of bragging in this undertaking : else , it would not become me , and i should be sorry for it . in that which followeth , by ours and yours ; i know not what you mean , whether poepists and protestants , in general ; or whether you , and me particularly : but i think , and it is more probable , papists and protestants , in general . however , it is apparent , you do brag and vapour egregiously , as if you intended to put your adversaries out of countenance , by calling them cowardly rogues ; and by telling them , what brave things you have done ; when in very deed , it is but a dream , and pure imagination . put this is , as all the rest , tradition on its throne : and , the gates of hell , &c. it is no good sign . but i have said , ( or indeed suspected , i say no more ; but i will not stand upon that ) you are no friend to ancient books , or learning : truly , sir , i think a man may gather so much by your own words and profession . what mean you else , when you so often tell us of , wordish learning ; aicry descants and discourses ; knacks of humane learning ; grammar and criticisms ; bookishness , and much reading ; and the like : but if it be granted , all this may come from a man that is a lover of true learning , but impatient to see how much it is wronged by many false pretenders ; ( which is true enough : ) yet if fathers and mothers of families , who , i think , generally , do not pretend to much learning , are able and sufffcient , nay the onely sure means appointed by god , to preserve truth , in matters of faith and religion ; what further use have we of all books , ancient and late , that have been written on that subject ? you know , sir , that ancient fathers and councils , and other ecclesiastical writers , their translations , and what hath been written upon them , by sundry learned men , will make a great part of that , which we ( divines , at least ) call learning : that such books , in greatest libraries , take up most part of the room . it is not enough to say , a man may read them , for his recreation , if he will , and we are not bound to burn them : you need to say no more , but that there is no need of them : what will follow , should you be believed , generally , by men in authority ; any man may foresee , without the gift of prophesie : in this age especially , so much addicted to new knacks , and inventions ; so fiercely set , to disgrace and cry down whatsoever former ages have most esteemed , and reverenced . your division of books into several classes , and sentiment of them so divided , i have no mind to quarrel at , or examine , because it is not much to the purpose , or main business . that many deserve no better then to be burned , even of them that fill catalogues and libraries ; i should easily yield : so it were done by them that could judge of books indeed , not by self-conceited men , or by men addicted to one kind of study , who are apt to think all needless , that comes not within the verge of their cognisance , or capacity . but i do not like your counsel of abridging : for that hath been the destruction of best authors , in all ages , and hath brought many a curse upon the abbreviators . among them that deserve to be burned , it would not much trouble me , if dr. dee's tedious legend about his spirits , were one . and because you tell me of him , i am very willing to take this occasion to acquaint others , ( in case this paper be ever printed ) how i came to have to do with him . i know , i have said enough elsewhere ; but because many have heard of the book , by relation , who never saw it ; and because somewhat is come to my knowledge , since , which i did not know then ; i hope it will not do amiss here . when i lived at sir john cottons , ( where , besides the comfort and honour of that truly noble and learned gentlemans company , i had the use of a choise library , as any england , for the number , doth afford ) in his father , sir thomas ( then living ) his house , at westminster ; i had not been there many months , but sir thomas did mention these papers of dr. dees unto me ; adding , that my lord of armagh had seen them , and wished them printed ; not for their worth or exellency ; but because he found in them so much of the humor and language of the times , as that he thought many would be convinced by the book , from whence , either , ( canting language , and affected sanctitie ) did spring . when i had perused them , my answer was , i was very fully satisfied of the reality of those things w ch the book related : that i knew dr. dees hand very well , ( i did know it , because i had divers books , which had been his ; among others , a simleri bibliotheca , where dr. dee had written , in the margines , the names of divers manuscript books , in england , greek , and others , w ch he had seen in several places : i know not how i came to part with it , as i did with many others , for which i have been very sorry since : ) and was sure it was his hand ; and made no question , but the devil , or deluding spirits , ( whom he thought to be good ) had appeared to him , in that manner , as is there related . but for the printing , i doubted scarce any man would adventure upon it , because it was such mad uncouth stuffe , for the most part . so the business rested , halfe a year , more , or lesse . after that , sir thomas spake to me a second time , and seemed very desirous that the book were printed . i told him i would look upon it again , and if i found , as i had done before , i would bestow a preface upon it ; and then we would try , what could be done . this was done , and the book ( so it fell out ) printed . what i have said of it , in the preface , for which i have had thanks from many , who were not much pleased with the book ; i retract not . if the book hath not given content unto all men , i have no great reason to wonder at it . onely this , by your good leave , i shall add , to confirm the reality of the relations , that are printed . many other papers of dr. dees , since that book was printed , came to my hands ; containing more visions and revelations ; with many letters from great princes , and particular transactions ; by all which ( for the hands and seals , with many other circumstances , will satisfie any rational man of the sincerity of the records ) it doth further appear , in what credit he was then , in the world ; what use he made of his spirits ; or rather , they of him ; and that some great matter was attempted by the devil in him , & by him , but that god disappointed it . among those papers , there is a particular relation of a conference they had , ( dr. dee , and his mate kelly : ) with a great prelate , ( bishop , or archbishop , i do not well remember : ) in germany , but not a german ; in the conclusion whereof , because the bishop would not yield these apparitions were true , ( that is , from god , and by good angels ) kelly in a great rage challenged him to go down with him to the open fields ; he should pray , and he would pray ; and they should know , which of them god did own for his , and which not . which the bishop refused , but gave him very good reasons , ( such as became a sober grave christian , and prelate : ) why he would not . that relation , i think , is in latin. i conclude ; what you say in scorn of that book , doth not concern me . if you have any thing to say to the preface , i will answer you . these late papers i have mentioned , if you desire to know , are to be found ( with the permission of the worthy , and honourable owner ) there , from whence the others , now printed , came . and now to return to you , sir ; it doth offend you , that i said atheism and mahometism would get well , by your way , how can it be otherwise , when all faith , all christianity , practical , and other , necessary to salvation , is reduced to such authority ? you have already been told , that you justify mahometism , and atheism : it is the way that the atheists anciently took , to uphold their cause ; and the mahometans may , when they please : now , they need it not . neither , may you be sure , will ever be converted by your principles . and for christianity ; in very deed , i cannot phansie them , ( i will except you ; i conceive yours is a different case : ) much better then atheists , that build their faith upon such a ridiculous ( good sport to atheists , or atheisticall men : ) senseless foudation . the sixth , and last injury , which , you say , you account the worst ; that i should write , others of approved worth and abilities , had met with you , who i thought had done you more credit , then you deserved . i am sorry i should express my self , which i avoid as much as i can , so obscurely , you should be so much mistaken in my meaning . but when you know my meaning , whether you will like it better , i know not . however , i will tell you : my meaning was , that dr. hammond , a man of approved worth and ability , had already answered you : who i thought , had done you , ( your book , not your person ; ) more honour , by so long and elaborate an answer ; ( which indeed i did wonder at ) then you had deserved , by that book of yours . i think i have done with all that concerneth me . nothing now remaineth , but that , as obliged , if by nothing else , yet by your example i subscribe my self , sir , your well-wisher and humble servant meric casaubon . finis . mr. coleman's two letters to monsieur l'chaise, the french king's confessor with monsieur l'chaise's answer to mr. coleman, which the house of commons desired might be printed : together with the d. of y's letter to the said monsieur l'chaise, which sheweth what mr. coleman wrote to him, was by his special command and appointment. two letters to monsieur l'chaise coleman, edward, d. 1678. 1678 approx. 51 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33736 wing c5046 estc r6884 12527872 ocm 12527872 62696 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a33736) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62696) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 310:7) mr. coleman's two letters to monsieur l'chaise, the french king's confessor with monsieur l'chaise's answer to mr. coleman, which the house of commons desired might be printed : together with the d. of y's letter to the said monsieur l'chaise, which sheweth what mr. coleman wrote to him, was by his special command and appointment. two letters to monsieur l'chaise coleman, edward, d. 1678. la chaise, françois d'aix de, 1624-1709. james ii, king of england, 1633-1701. [2], 26 p. s.n.], [london : 1678. place of publication from wing. errata on p. 26. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england -political activity. 2006-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-09 celeste ng sampled and proofread 2006-09 celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mr. coleman's two letters to monsieur l' chaise . the french king's confessor , with monsieur l' chaise's answer to mr. coleman : which the house of commons desired might be printed . together with the d. of y's letter to the said monsieur l' chaise ; which sheweth , what mr. coleman wrote to him , was by his special command and appointment . mat. 10. 26. luke 8. 17. fear them not therefore ; for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed , and hid that shall not be known and come abroad . psal . 7. 14 , 16. behold he travelleth with iniquity , and hath conceived mischief , and brought forth alye ; his mischief shall return upon his own head , and his violent dealing upon his own pate , job 5. 12. he disappointeth the devices of the crafty , so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise . printed in the year , 1678. the first letter of mr coleman's to the french kings confessor , monsieur le-cheer . since father sir germaine hath been so kind to me as to recommend me to your reverence so advantagiously or to encourage you to accept my correspondence ; i will own to him that he has done me a favour , without consulting me , greater than i could have been capable of , if he had advised with me , because i should not then have had the confidence to have permitted him to ask it in my behalf ; and i am so sencible of the honour you are pleased to do me , that though i cannot deserve it , yet at least to shew the sence i have of it ; i will deal as freely and openly with you at this first time , as if i had the honour of your acquaintance all my life , and shall make no apollogy for so doing , but only tell you , i know your character perfectly well , tho i am not so happy as to know your person ; and that i have an opportunity of putting this letter into the hands of father sir germaines nephew ( for whose integrity and prudence he has undertaken ) without any sort of hazard . in order then sir , to the plainness which i promise , i will tell you what has plainly passed between your reverend predecessor father ferriers and my self , about three years ago , when the king , my master , sent a troop of his horse-guards into the most christian majestys service , under the command of my lord duras : he sent with it an officer called sir william frogmorton , with whom i had a particular intimacy , and he had then very newly embraced the catholick religion , and to him did i constantly write , and by him address my self to father ferriers . the first thing of great importance , which i presumed to offer to him ( not to trouble you with lesser matters of what passed here ; and immediately after the fatal renunciation of the kings declaration for liberty of conscience , to which we owe all our late mischiefs and hazards ) was in july , august , and september , 1673. when i constantly inculcated the great danger the catholick religion , and his most christian majesties interest would be in , at our next session of parliament , which was then to be in october following ; at which , i plainly foresaw , that the king , my master , would be forced to something in preiudice , of his alliance with france , which i saw so evidently and particularly that we should make peace with holland , that i weighed all the arguments i could ( which to me were demonstrations ) to convince your court of that mischief , and pressed what i could to perswade his christian majesty to use his utmost force to prevent that sitting of our parliament , and proposed expedients how to do it . but i was answered so often and so positively , that his christian majesty was so well assured by his ambassador here our ambassador there , the lord arlington , and even the king himself , that he had no such apprehensions at all , but was fully satisfied of the contrary , and lookt upon what i offered as a very zealous mistake , that i was forced to give over arguing , tho not believing as they did , but confidently appealed to time and success to prove , who took their measures rightest . when it happened , that which i fore-saw came to pass , the good father was a little surprised to see all the great mens mistake , and a little one in the right , and was pleased by sir william frogmorton to desire the continuance of my correspondence , which i was mighty willing to comply with , knowing the interest of our king , and in a more particular manner , of my more immediate master the duke , and his most christian majesty to be so inseperably united , that it was impossible to divide them without destroying them all . upon this i shewed , that our parliament , in the circumstances it was mannaged , by the temerous counsels of our ministers , who then governed , could never be useful either to england , france , or the catholick religion , but that we should as certainly be forced from our neutrality at their next meeting as we had been from our active alliance with france the last ; that a peace , in the circumstances we were in , was much more to be desired than the continuance of the war , that the desolution of our parliament would certainly procure a peace , for that the confederates did more depend upon the power they had in our parliament , than upon any thing else in the world , and were more encouraged from thence to continue the war , so that if that were dissolved , their measures would be all broken , and they consequently , in a manner necessitated to a peace . the good father minding this discourse some what more than the court of france thought fit to do my former , urged it so home to the king , that his majesty was pleased to give him order to signifie to his royal highness , my master , that his majesty was fully satisfied of his royal highnesses good intention towards him , and that he esteemed both their interests but one and the same ; that my lord arlington and the parliament , were both to be lookt upon as very unuseful to their interest ; and that if his royal highness would endeavour to dissolve this parliament , his majesty would assist him with his power and purse to have such a new one as would be for their purpose . this , and a great many more expressions of kindness and confidence father ferier was pleased to communicate to sir william frogmorton , and commanded him to send them to his royal highness , and withal to beg his royal highness to propose to his most christian majesty what he thought necessary for his own concern , and the advantage of religion , and his majesty would certainly do all he could to advance both or either of them . this sir william frogmorton sent to me by an express , who left paris , june 2 , 1674. stilo novo . i no sooner had it , but i communicated it to his royal highness , to which his royal highness commanded me to answer , as i did on the 29th . of the same month. that his royal highness was very sensible of his most christian majesties friendship ; and that he would labour to cultivate it with all the good offices he was capable of doing for his majesty : that he was fully convinced that their interests were one : that my lord arlington and the parliament , were not only unuseful , but very dangerous both to england and france , that therefore it was necessary that they should do all they could to dissolve it . and that his royal highnesses opinion was , that if his most christian majesty would write his thoughts freely to the king of england upon this subject , and make the same offer to his majesty of his purse to dissolve this , which he made to his royal highness to call another , he did believe it very possible for him to succeed , with the assistance we should be able to give him here ; and that if this parliament were dissolved there would be no great difficulty of getting a new one , which would be more useful : the constitution of our parliament being such ; that a new one can never hurt the crown , nor an old one do it good . his royal highness being pleased to own those propositions , which were but only general , i thought it more reasonable to be more particular , and to come close to the point . that if we hapned to agree , we might go the faster about the work and come to some issue before the time were too much spent . i said this for my maixme , the dissolution of our parliament vvould certainly procure a peace . which proposition was granted by every body i conversed withal , even by monsieur ravigny himself , with whom i took liberty of discourting so far , but durst not say any thing of the intelligence i had with father ferriers . next , that a sum of money certaine , vvould certainly procure a dissolution . this some doubted , but i am sure i never did , for i knew perfectly well , that the king had frequent disputes with himself at that time , whether he should dissolve or continue them , and he several times declared , that the arguments were so strong on both sides , that he could not tell to which to incline ; but was carried at last to their continuance by this one argument ; if i try them once more , they may possibly give me money , if they do , i have gained my point , if they do not , i can dissolve them then , and be vvhere i am novv ; so that i have a possibility at least of getting money for their continuance , against nothing on the other side . but if we could have turned this argument and said sir , their dissolution will certainly procure you money , when you have only a bare probability of getting any by their continuance ; and have shewn how far that bare probability was from being a foundation to build any reasonable hope upon , which i am sure his christian majesty was sensible enough of : and how much 300000 l. sterling certain ( which was the sum we proposed ) was better than a bare probability ( without any reason to hope that that would ever come to pass ) of having half so much more ( which was the most he designed to ask ) upon some vile dishonourable terms and a thousand other hazards , which we had great reason to be afraid of . if , i say , we had had power to have so argued , i am most confidently assured we could have compassed it . for logick in our court built upon money has more povverful charmes than any other sort of reason . but to secure his most christian majesty from any hazard as to this point , i proposed that his majesty should offer that sum upon that condition , and if the condition were not performed , the money should never be due , if it were , and that a peace would certainly follow thereupon , ( which no body doubted ) his majesty would gain his end , and save all the vast expences of the next campagne , by which he could not hope to better his condition , or to put himself into more advantagious circumstances of treating than he was then in , but might probably be in a much worse considering the mighty oppositions he was like to meet with and the uncertain chances of war. but admitting that his majesty could maintain himself by his great strength and conduct in as good a condition to treat the next year , as he was then in , which was as much as could then reasonably be hoped for , he should have saved by this proposal as much as all the men he must needs loose , and all the charges he should be at in a year , could be valued to amount to more than 300000 l. sterling , and so much more , in case his condition should decay , or it should be worse than it was when this was made : and the condition of his royal highness and the catholick religion here , which depends very much upon the success of his most christian majesty , delivered from a great many frights and real hazards . father ferriers , seemed to be very sensible of the benefit which all parties would gain by this proposal , but yet it was unfortunately delayed by the unhappy and tedious sickness which kept him so long from the king in franche conte , and made him so unable to wait upon his majesty after he had returned to paris , but so soon as he could compass it , he was pleased to acquaint his majesty with it , and did write to the duke himself , and did me the honour to write to me also , on the 15th . of september 1674. and sent his letters by sir william frogmorton , who came express upon that errand . in those letters he gave his royal highness fresh assurances of his most christian majesties friendship and of his zeal and readiness to comply with every thing his royal highness had or should think fit to propose in favour of religion , or the business of the money , and that he had commanded monsieut ravigny , as to the latter , to treat and deal with his royal highness , and to receive and observe his orders and directions ; but desired that he might not at all be concerned as to the former , but that his royal highness would cause what propositions he thinks fit to be made about religion , to be offered either to father ferrier , or to monsieur pompone . these letters came to us about the middle of our september , and his royal highness expected daily when monsieur ravigny should speak to him about the subject of that letter , but he took no notice at all of any thing , till september 19 , the evening before the king and the duke went to nevvmarket , for a fortnight , and then only said , that he had command from his majesty to give his royal highness the most firm assurance imaginable of his friendship , or something to that purpose , making his royal highness a general complement , but made no mention of any particular orders relating to the subject of father ferriers letter . the duke wondring at this proceeding , and being obliged to stay good part of october at nevv-market , and soon after his coming back hearing of the death of father ferrier , he gave over all further prosecuting of the former project . but i believe i saw ravigny's pollicy all along , who was willing to save his masters money , upon an assurance we would do all we could , to stave off the parliament for our own sakes , that we would struggle as hard without money as with it , and we having by this time upon our own interests prevailed to get the parliament prorogued till the 13th . of april , he thought that the prorogation being to a day so high in the spring , would put the confederates so much beyond their measures , as that it might procure a peace , and be as useful to france as a desolution . upon these reasons , which i suppose he went upon . i had several discourses with him , and did open my self so far to him as to say that i could wish his master would give us leave to offer 300000 l. to our master for the desolution of the parliament , and shew him that a peace would most certainly follow a dessolution , which he agreed with me in , and that we desired not the money from his master to excite our wills , or to make us more industrious to use our utmost power to procure a dissolution , but to strengthen our power and credit with the king , and to render us more capable to succeed with his majesty , as most certainly we should have done had we been fortified with such an argument . to this purpose i promised monsieur pompone , frequently , by sir william frogmorton , who returned from hence again into france , on the 16th . of november , the day our parliament should have set , but was prorogueth , monsieur , pompone , as i was informed by sir william , did seem to approve the thing , but yet had two objections against it . 1. that the sum vve proposed vvas great , and could very ill be spared by his majesty in the circumstances he vvas in . to which we answered ; that if by his expending that sum he could procure a dissolution of our parliament , and thereby a peace , which every body agreed would necessarily follow , his most christian majesty would save five or ten times a greater sum , and so be a good husband by his expence ; and if we did not procure a dissolution , he should not be at that expence at all , for that we desired him only to promise upon that condition , which we were contented to be obliged to perform first . 2. the second objection was , that the duke did not move it , nor appear in it himself . to which we answered , that he did not indeed to monsieur pompone , because he had found so ill an effect of the negotiation with father ferrier , when it came into monsieur ravignys hands , but he had concernd himself in it to father ferrier . yet i continued to prosecute and press the dissolution of the parliament , detesting all prorogations , as only so much loss of time , and a means of strengthening all those who depended upon it in opposition to the crovvn . the interest of france , and the catholick religion , in the opinion they had taken , that our king durst not part with his parliament , apprehending another would be much worse . 2. that he could not live without a parliament , therefore they must suddainly meet , and the longer he kept them off , the greater the necessities would grow , and consequently their power to compel him to do what they listed would increase accordingly ; and therefore if they could but maintain themselves a while , their day would certainly come in a short time , in which they should be able to work their wills. such discourses as these kept the confederates and our male-contents in heart , and made them weather on the war in spite of all our prorogations , and therefore i pressed , as i have said , a dissolution until february last , when our circumstances were so totally changed , that we were forced to change our councils too , and be as much for the parliaments sitting , as we were before against it . our change was this . before that time the lord arlington was the only minister in credit , who thought himself out of all danger of a parliament , he having been accused before them and justified and therefore was zealous for their sitting , and to increase his reputation with them , and to become a perfect favourite , he set himself all he could to prosecute the catholick religion , and to oppose the french. to shew his zeal against the first , he revived some old dormant orders , for prohibiting the roman gatholicks to appear before the king , and put them in execution at his first coming into the office of lord chamberlaine . and to make sure work against the second , as he thought , prevailed with the king , to give him and the earl of ossery , who married two sisters of myn heere odyke's , leave to go over into holland with the said heere , to make a visite , as they pretended , to their relations , but indeed and in truth , to propose the lady mary , eldest daughter to his royal highness , as a match for the prince of orange , not only without the consent , but against the good liking of his royal highness ; insomuch as the lord arlingtons creatures were forced to excuse him with a distinction , that the said lady was not to be lookt upon as the dukes daughter , but as the kings , and a child of the state , and so the dukes consent not to be much considered in the disposal of her , but the interest only of state ; by this he intended to render himself the darling of the parliament and protestants , who would look on themselves as secured in their religigion by such an alliance , and designed further , by that means to draw us into close conjunction with holand , and enemies of erance . the lord arlington set forward upon this errand , november the 10th . 1674 , and returned not till january 6 , following . during his absence , the lord treasurer , lord keeper , and duke of lauderdale were the only ministers in any considerable credit with the king , and who all pretended to be intirely united to the duke , declared loudly and with great violence against the said lord , and his actions in holland , and did hope in his absence , to have totally supplanted him , and routed him out of the kings favour ; and after that they thought they might easily enough have dealt with the parliament , but none of them had courage enough to speak against the parliament , till they could get rid of him , for fear they should not succeed , but that the parliament should sit in spight of them , and come to hear that they had used their endeavours against it , which would have been so unpardonable a crime with our omnipotent parliament , that no power would have been able to have saved them from punishment . but they finding , at his return , when they could not prevail against him by such means and arts as they had then tried , resolved upon new councils , which were to out-run him in his own course , which accordingly they undertook , and became as fierce apostles , and as zealous for protestant religion , and against popery , as ever my lord arlington was before them ; and in pursuance thereof , perswaded the king to issue out those severe orders and proclamations against catholicks , which came out in february last , by which they did as much as in them lay to extirpate all catholicks , and catholick religion out of the kingdom . which counsels were in my opinion so detestable , being levell'd ( as they must needs be ) so directly against the duke by people that he had advanced , and who had professed so much duty and service to him , that we were put upon new thoughts how to save his royal highness from the deceits and snares of them upon whom formerly we depended , we saw well enough that their design was to make themselves as grateful as they could to the parliament ( if they must sit ) they thinking nothing to be acceptable to them as the persecuting of popery ; but yet they were so obnoxious to the parliaments displeasure in general , that they would have been very glad of any expedient to keep it off , though they durst not engage against it openly themselves , but thought this device of theirs might serve to that purpose , hoping that the duke would be so alarm'd at their proceedings and by his being left by every body , that he would be much more afraid of the parliament than ever , and use his utmost power to prevent its sitting , which they doubted not but he would endeavour and they were ready enough to work underhand with him for their own sakes , not his , in order thereunto , but durst not appear openly ; and to encourage the duke the more to dissolve the parliament , their creatures used to say up and down , that these vigorous proceedings against the catholicks vvas in favour of the duke , and to make the dissolution of the parliament more easie , vvhich they knevv he coveted , by obviating one great objection vvhich vvas commonly made against it , which was , that if the parliament should be dissolved , it vvould be said it vvas done in favour of popery , vvhich clamour they prevented by the severity vvhich they had shevvn against it before hand . as soon as we saw these tricks put upon us , we plainly saw what men we had to deal with , and what we had to trust to if we were wholly at their mercy , but yet durst not seem so dissatisfied as we really were , but rather magnified the contrivance as advice of great cunning and skill . all this we did purely to hold them in a belief , that we would endeavour to dissolve the parliament , that they might rely upon his royal highness , for that which we knew they longed for , and were afraid they might do some other way , if they discover that we were resolved we would not . at length when we saw the sessions secured , we declared we were for the parliaments meeting , as indeed we were from the moment we saw our selves used by all the kings ministers at such a rate : that we had reason to believe they would sacrifice france , religion , and his royal highness too , to their own interests , if occasion served , and that they were led to believe that that was the only way they had to save themselves at that time ; for we saw no expedient for to stop them in their carreirs of persecution , and those other destructive counsels , but the parliament , which had set it self a long time , to dislike every thing the ministers had done and had appeared violently against popery , whilst the court seemed to favour it ; and therefore we were confident that the ministers having turned their faces , the parliament would do so too , and still be against them , and be as little for persecution then , as they had been for popery before . this i undertook to mannage for the duke , and for the king of frances interest , and assured monsieur ravigny ( which i am sure he will testify if occasion served ) that that sessions should do neither of them any hurt , for that i was sure i had power enough to prevent mischief , tho i durst not answer for any good they should , do , because i had but very few assistants to carry on the work , and wanted those helps which others had of making freinds . the dutch and spaniard spared no paines nor expence of monys to anituate as many as they could against france . our lord keeper , lord treasurer , and all the bishops , and such as call themselves old cavaleers , who were all then as one man , were not less industrious against popery , and had the purse at their girdle too , which is an excellent instrument to gain friends with , and all united against the duke , as patron both of france and of the catholick religion . to deal with all this force we had no money , but what came from a few private hands , and those so mean ones too , that i dare presume to say , that i spent more my particular self out of my own fortune , and upon my single credit , than the whole body of the catholicks in england besides , which was so inconsiderable in comparison of what our adversaries could command , and we verily believe did bestow in making their party , that it is not worth mentioning . yet , notwithstanding all this , we saw that by the help of the nou-conformists , as presbyterians , independents , and other sects who were as much afraid of persecution as our selves , and of the enemies of the ministers , particularly the treasurer , who by that time had suplanted the earl of arlington , and was grown sole mannager of affairs himself , we should be able to prevent what they designed against us , and so render the sessions ineffectual to their ends , though we might not be able to compass our own ; which were to make some brisk step in favour of his royal highness , to shew the king that his majestys affairs in parliament were not obstructed by reason of any aversion they had to his royal highnesses person , or apprehension they had of him or his religion , but from faction and ambition in some , and from a real dissatisfaction in others . that we have not had such fruits and effects of those great summes of mony , which have formerly been given as they expected . if we could have made then but one such step , the king would certainly have restored his royal highness to all his commissions , upon vvhich he would have been much greater than ever yet he was in his whole life , or could probably ever have been by any other course in the world , than what he had taken , of becoming catholick , &c. and we were so very near gaining this point , that i did humbly beg his royal highness to give me leave to put the parliament upon making an address to the king , that his majesty would be pleased to put the fleet into the hands of his royal highness , as the only person likely to give a good account of so important a charge as that was to the kingdom ; and shewed his royal highness such reasons to perswade him that we could carry it , that he agreed with me in it , that he believed we could ; yet others telling him how great a damage it would be to him if he should miss in such an undertaking ( which for my part i could not then see , nor do i yet ) he was prevailed upon not to venture , though he was perswaded he could carry it . i did communicate this design of mine to monsieur ravigny ; who agreed with me , that it would be the greatest advantage to his master imaginable to have the dukes power and credit so advanced , as this would certainly do it , if we could compass it : i shew'd him all the difficulties we were like to meet with , and what helps we should have . but that we should want one very material one , money , to carry on the work as we ought : and therefore , i do confess , i did shamefully beg his masters help , and would willingly have been content to have been in everlasting disgrace with all the world , if i had not with the assistance of 20000 l. sterling from him ( which perhaps is not the tenth part of what was spent on the other side ) made it evident to the duke , that he could not have missed it . monsieur ravigny used to tell me , that if he could be sure of succeeding in that design , his master would give a very much larger sum ; but that he was not in a condition to throw away money upon uncertainties . i answered , that nothing of this nature can be so infallibly sure , as not to be subject to some possibility of falling , but that i durst venture to undertake to make it evident , that there was as great an assurance of succeeding in it , as any husband-man can have of a crop in harvest , who sowes his ground in its season ; and yet it would be accounted a very imprndent piece of wariness in any body to scruple the venturing so much seed in its proper time , because it is possible it may be totally lost , and no benefit of it in harvest . he that minds the winds and the raines at that rate , shall neither sow nor reap . i take our case to be much the same now as it was the last session , if we advance the dukes interest one step forwards , we shall put him out of the reach of all chances for ever ; for he makes such a figure already , that cautious men do not care to act against him , or always without him , because they do not see he is much overpowered by his enemies . yet he is not at such a pitch as to be quite out of danger , or free from opposition , but if he could gain any considerable new addition of power all would come over to him as the only center of our government , and no body could contend with him further . then would catholicks be at ease , and his most christian majesties interest secured with us in england , beyond all apprehensions whatsoever . in order to this , we have two great designes to attempt this next sessions . first , that which we were about before , viz. to put the parliament upon making their humble request to the king that the fleet may be put into his royal highnesses care . and , secondly , to get an act for general liberty of conscience . if we carry these two , or either of them , we shall in effect do vvhat vve list aftervvards . and truly vve think vve do not undertake these great points very unreasonably , for that we have good cards for our game ; not but that vve expect great opposition ; and we have reason to beg all the assistance we can possibly get ; and therefore if his most christian majesty would stand by us a little in this conjunction , and help us with such a sum as 20000 l sterling , which is no great matter to venture upon such an undertaking as this , i would be content to be sacrificed to the utmost malice of mine enemies , if i did not succeed . i have proposed this several times to monsieur ravigny , who seems alwayes of my opinion , and has often told me that he has vvrit to france on this subject , and has desired me to do the like ; but i know not whether he will be as zealous in this point as a catholick would be , because our prevailing in these things will give the greatest blow to the protestant religion here , that ever it received since its birth , which perhaps he would not be very glad to see , especially when he believes that there is another way of doing his majesties business well enough without it , which is by a dissolution of the parliament , which i know he mightily depends upon , and concludes , that if that comes to be dissolved , it will be as much as he need care for , proceeding , perhaps upon the same manner of discourse which we did this time twelve month . but with submission to his better judgement , i do think that our case is extreamly much altered from what it was then in relation to a dissolution , for then the body of our governing ministers ( all but the earl of arlington ) were intirely united to the duke , and would have governed his way had they been free from all fears and controule , as they had been if the parliament had been removed , but they have since that time engaged in quite different councils , and imbarqued themselves and interests upon other bottoms , having declared themselves against popery ; and to dissolve the parliament simply , and without any other step made , will be to leave them to govern what way they list , which we have reason to suspect will be to the prejudice of france , and catholicks , because their late declarations and actions have demonstrated to us , that they take that for the most popular way for themselves , and the likeliest to keep them in absolute power , whereas should the duke get above them , after the trick they have shewed him , they are not sure he will totally forget the usuage he has had at their hands . therefore it imports us now to advance our interest a little farther , by some such project as i have named , before we dissolve the parliament , or else perhaps we shall but change masters , a parliament for ministers , and continue still in the same slavery and bondage as before , but one such step as i have proposed well made , we may safely see them dissolved , and not fear the ministers , but shall be established and stand firm without any opposition . for every body then will come over to us , and worship the rising sun. i have here given you the history of three years as short as i could , though i am afraid it will seem very long and troublesome to your reverence amongst the multitude of affairs you are ingaged in . i have also shewn you the present state of our case , which may by gods providence and good conduct be made of such advantage to gods church that for my part i can scarce believe my self awake , or the thing real , when i think of a prince in such an age as we live in , converted to such a degree of zeal and piety , as not to regard any thing in the world in comparison of god almightys glory , the salvation of his own soul , and the conversion of our poor kingdom , which has a long time been opprest and miserably harrassed by heresie and schism . i doubt not but your reverence will consider our case , take it to heart , and afford us what help you can , both with the king of heaven , by your holy prayers , and with his most christian majesty , by that great credit which you most justly have with him . and if ever his majesties affairs or your own can ever want the service of so inconsiderable a creature as my self , you shall never find any body readier to obey your commands , or faithfuller in the execution of them , in the best of his power , than your most humble , and most obedient servant . september 29. 1675. the answer from monsieur l' chaise to mr. coleman from paris , 23d . of october , 1675. sir , the letter which you gave your self the trouble to vvrit to me , came to my hands but the last night . i received it vvith great satisfaction , and i assure you that its length did not make it seem tedious ; i shall be glad on my part , to assist in seconding your good intentions , i will consider of the means to effect it , and vvhen i am better informed than i am as yet i vvill give you an account , to that end i may hold intelligence vvith you , as you did vvith my predecessour . sir , i desire you to believe that i vvill never fail as to good vvill , for the service of your master , vvhom i honour as much as he deserves , and that it is vvith great truth that i am , your most humble , and most obedient servant , d. l. c. the second letter of mr. coleman's to the french kings confessor , monsieur l' chaise . i sent your reverence a tedious letter on our 29th . of september , to inform you of the progress of our affaires for these two or three last years . i have now again the opportunity of a very sure hand to conveigh this by , i have sent you a cypher , because our parliament now drawing on , i may possibly have occasion to send , you something which you may be vvilling enough to knovv , and may be necessary for us that you should , when i may want the conveniency of a messenger . when any thing occurs of more concern than other , which may not be fit to be trusted to a cypher alone , i will , to make such a thing more secure , write in lemon , between the lines of a letter which shall have nothing in it visible , but what i care not who sees , but dried by a warm fire shall discover what is written , so that if the letter comes to your hands , and upon drying it any thing appears more than did before , you may be sure no body has seen it by the way . i will not trouble you with that way of writing but upon special occasions , and then i will give you a hint to direct you to look for it , by concluding my visible letter with something of fire or burning , by which mark you may please to know that there is something underneath , and how my letter is to be used to find it out . we have here a mighty work upon our hands , no less than the conversion of three kingdoms , and by that perhaps the subduing a pestilent heresy , vvhich has domineer'd over part of this northern world a long time . there was never such hopes of success since the death of our q. mary , as now in our dayes , when god has given us a prince who is become ( may i say by miracle ) zealous of being the author and instrument of so glorious a work : but the opposition we are sure to meet with , is also like to be great : so that it imports us to get all the aid and assistance , for the harvest is great and the labourers are fevv . that which we rely upon most , next to god almighties providence , and the fervor of my master the duke , is the mighty mind of his christian majesty , whose generous soul inclines him to great undertakings , which being mannaged by your reverences examplary piety and prudence , will certainly make him look upon this , as most suitable to himself , and best becoming his power and thoughts ; so that i hope you will pardon me , if i be troublesom too upon this occasion , from whom we expect the greatest help we can hope for . i confess i think his christian majesties temporal interest is so much attracted to that of his r. h. which can never be considerable but upon the advancement of the catholick religion , that his ministers cannot give him better advice even in a politick sence abstracted from the considerations of the next world , then that of our dear lord , to seek first the kingdom of heaven , and the rightcousness thereof , that all other things may be added . yet i know his most christian majesty has more powerfull motives suggested to him by his own devotion , and your reverences zeal for gods glory , to engage himself to afford us the best help he can in our present circumstances : but we are a little unhappy in this , that we cannot press his majesties present minister here , upon these latter arguments , which are most strong , but only upon the first , monsieur ravigny's sence and ours differing very much upon these , though we agree perfectly upon the rest ; and indeed though he be a very able man , as to his majesties service , in things where religion is not concern'd , yet i do believe it were much more happy , considering the post he is in , that his temper vvere of such a sort that vve might deall clearly vvith him throughout and not be forced to stop short in a discourse of consequence , and leave the most material part out , because vve knovv it vvill shake his particular opinion , and so perhaps meet vvith dislike , and opposition though never so necessary to the main concern . i am afraid we shall find too much reason for this complaint this next sessions of parliament , for had we one here for his christian majesty who had taken the whole business to heart , and who would have represented the state of our case truly as it is , to his master , i do not doubt but his christian majstey would have engaged himself farther in the affair then at present i fear he has done , and by his approbation have given such counsells ( as have been offered his r. h. by those fevv catholicks vvho have accesse to him and are bent to serve him , and advance the catholick religion , vvith all their might ) more credit with his r. h. then i fear they have found ; and have assisted him also with his purse as far as 100000. crovvns or some such summe ( vvhich to him is very inconsiderable but vvould have been to them of greater use then can be imagined ) tovvards gaining others to help him , or at least not to oppose him , if vve had been so happy as to have had his most christian majesty vvith us to this degree , i vvould have ansvvered vvith my life for such success this sessions , as vvould have put the interest of the catholic . religion in his r. h. and his most christian majesty out of all danger for the time to come . but vvanting those hopes of recommending those necessary , councells vvhich have been given his royall highness in such a manner as to make him think them vvorthy of his accepting , and fit to govern himself by , and of those advantages , vvhich a little money vvell managed vvould certainly have gained us , i am affraid vve shall not be much better at the end of this session then vve are novv : i pray god vve do not loose ground . by my next , vvhich shall be ere long , i shall be able to tell your reverence more perticularly vvhat vve are like to expect : in the mean time i most humbly beg your holy prayers for all our undertakings , and that you vvill please to honour me so far as to esteem me , vvhich i am , entirely and vvithout any reserve sir , most reverend father , your reverences most humble and most obedient servant . a coppy of his r. h. his letter to l' chaise , about the time mr. coleman vvrote his long letter , 1675. the 2d . of june , last past , his most christian majesty ; offered me most generously his friendship , and the use of his purse to assistance against the designes of my enemies and his , and protested unto me , that his interest and mine were so clearly linckt together , that those that opposed the one , should be lookt upon as enemies to the other ; and told me moreover his opinion of my lord arlington , and the parliament ; which is , that he is of opinion that neither the one nor the other is in his interest or mine ; and thereupon he desired me to make such propositions as i should think fit in this conjuncture . all was transacted by the means of father ferrier ; who made use of sir william frogmorton , who is an honest man and of truth , who was then at paris , and hath held correspondence with coleman , one of my family , in whom i have great confidence . i was much satisfyed to see his most christian majesty altogether of my opinion , so i made him answer the 29th . of june , by the same meanes he had made use of to write to me , that is , by coleman , who adrest himself to father ferrier ( by the forementioned knight ) and entirely agreed to his most christian majesty , as well to what had respect to the union of our interests , as the unusefulness of my lord arlington and the parliament , in order to the service of the king my brother , and his most christian majesty , and that it was necessary , to make use of our joynt and utmost credits to prevent the success of those evil designs resolved on by the lord arlington and the parliament , against his most christian majesty and my self ; which of my side i promise really to perform ; of which , since that time , i have given reasonable good proof . moreover i made some proposals , which i thought necessary to bring to pass , what we were obliged to undertake , assuring him that nothing could so firmly establish our interest with the king my brother , as that very same offer of the help of his purse , by which means , i had much reason to hope i should be enabled to perswade to the dissolving of the parliament , and to make void the designs of my lord arlington , who works incessantly to advance the interest of the prince of orange and the hollanders , and to lessen that of the king your master , notwithstanding all the protestations he hath made to this hour , to render him service . but as that which was proposed was at a stand by reason of the sickness of father ferrier , so our affaires succeeded not according to our designes , only father ferrier vvrote to me , the 15th . of the last moneth , that he had communicated those propositions to his most christian majesty , and that they had been very vvell lik't of , but as they contained things that had regard to the catholick religion and to the offer and use of his purse , he gave me to understand he did not desire i should treat vvith monsieur ravigny upon the first , but as to the last , and had the same time acquainted me , that monsieur ravigny , had order to grant me , vvhatsoever the conjuncture of our affaires did require ; and have expected the effects of it to this very hour , but nothing being done in it , and seeing on the other hand that my lord arlington and several others endeavoured by a thousand deceits to break the good intelligence which is between the king my brother , his most christian majesty and my self , to the end they might deceive us all three , i have thought fit to advertise you of all that is past , and desire of you your assistance and friendship to prevent the roguerys of those who have no other design than to betray the concerns of france and england also , and who by their pretended service , are the 〈◊〉 they succeed not . as to any thing more i refer you to sir william frogmorton , and coleman , who i have comanded to give an account of the whole state of our affair , and of the true condi●●●●of england , with many others , and principally my lord arlingtons endeavours to represent to you quite otherwise than it is . the two first i mentioned to you are firm to my interest , so that you may treat with them without any apprehension . finis . errata . page 1. line 6. for le-cheer , read l'chaise , and so where-ever you meet with that name . l. 〈…〉 sir germaine , r. saint germaine ; and so throughout 〈…〉 exile exiled occasioned by a mandat from rome, procured by tho. flemming alias barnwell, archb. of dublin, and friar of the order of s. francis, from the congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide, for the banishment of paul harris out of the diocesse of dublin. by paul harris priest. harris, paul, 1573-1635? 1635 approx. 107 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 31 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a02680 stc 12811 estc s119022 99854229 99854229 19638 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a02680) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 19638) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1070:06) exile exiled occasioned by a mandat from rome, procured by tho. flemming alias barnwell, archb. of dublin, and friar of the order of s. francis, from the congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide, for the banishment of paul harris out of the diocesse of dublin. by paul harris priest. harris, paul, 1573-1635? [4], 56 p. society of stationers], [dublin : printed anno dom. 1635. place and name of publisher from stc. includes letters relating to the excommunication of peter caddell and harris. reproduction of the original in the harvard university. library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng fleming, thomas, 1593-1666. harris, paul, 1573-1635? caddell, peter. catholics -ireland. 2008-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-10 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion exile exiled . occasioned by a mandat from rome , procured by tho. flemming alias barnwell , archb. of dublin , and friar of the order of s. francis , from the congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide , for the banishment of paul harris out of the diocesse of dublin . by paul harris priest . in umbra alarum tuarum sperabo , donec transeat iniquitas . psal 56. printed anno dom. 1635. to the reader . s. paul tells us of some kinde of men , that they profite , but still to the worse , 2. tim. 3. it is not long since that there was a booke set forth , admonishing the friars to be sober , but they have burnt so many of those bookes , and read so few of them , as from folly they have profited to extreame madnesse . it was little sobriety to excommunicate one man , for the fault , or no fault of another . but howsoever clave errante , vel non errante , the censures are episcopall . but for a prelat to throw away his keyes , & to take the sword , & to hang it at a friars belt , & with it to play the fencer , yea the offender . spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici ? the italian sayes , that before a man falls into any great calamity , god first gives him a rappe upon the pate , that is , hee deprives him of his judgment , well expressed by the poet , de ponto lib. 4. crede mihi , miseros prudentia prima relinquit , et sensus cunre , consiliumque fugit a wretched man , right , reason first forsakes , he reckes not of advice , nor counsell takes . the friars began with excom . they arrived at exile . what 's the next ? assises and quarter-sessions . the prophet sayth , de radice colubri egredietur regulus , esay 14. from the root of an adder shall issue out a cockatrice . by which is signified ( as lyra expounds it ) that from a small beginning , & contemptible , great and intollerable mischiefes doe arise . but the adder of exile being prudently oppressed , the hatch of the cockatrice was prevented . is it not to be lamented , that the ecclesiasticall & politique estate cannot consist together , but that the advancement of the one , must bee the abatement of the other ? in so much that some doubt not to say , that a catholique can be no good subject : vtinam abscindantur qui conturbant nos : i would to god they were cut off who were the occasions of that scandall . for my part , i professe my name in the number of those who are both good catholiques & good subjects : and i trust in the mercies of god , so to be found living and dying . and whosoever reades this little worke , i wish him of the same mind , and to be as i am , excepting those afflictions , persecutions , & continuall vexations , which i endure à falsis fratribus , and their abused followers , whom god amend , as also thy friend ( good reader ) pavl harris priest . a letter from card antonio barbarini , praefect of the sacred congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide , unto tho. flemming archb. of dublin , and by him published not onely thorough this whole diocesse of dublin , but generally thoroughout all ireland , in the moneths of august and september , of this present yeare 1635. to which letter , for the better understanding thereof , is added a glosse by paul harris , very necessary to bee read of all such , to whom that letter is communicated . the letter of card antonio , unto the archb. of dublin , tho. flemming . most illustrious and reverent lord , as brother . heere it is written unto the bishop of meath , that hee command that same paul harris to depart forthwith from your diocesse , otherwise to give order byauthority of the same holy congregation , to the faithfull people , that none shall receive from him the holy sacraments , nor heare his masse . and that some scandall arise not by meanes of this order , your lordship may give unto the said bishop ( when hee receiveth this inclosed ) such advertisements and informations as you shall thinke fitting for prevention thereof . to conclude , i commend my selfe unto your lordship . rome 13. decemb. your honors most affectionat as brother card. antonio barbarini . francis ingoli secretary . the gloss . most illustrious and rev. lo : as brother vid. thomas flemming alias barnwell , to whom this epistle was directed , as himselfe publisheth . heere it is written to the bishop of meath subandi inclosed within this letter . the name of the b. of meath is , tho. dese do. of sorbon in paris . that hee commaund that same paul harris viz. mentioned in the inclosed letter unto the b. of meath , not yet published . to depart forthwith your diocesse to wit , the diocesse of dublin . cap. i. now this same paul harris is doubtlesse the english priest , who lives in dublin , who wrote a booke in answer to tho. flemming his excom . as also a second called arctomastix , against a libelling friar , who shadoweth himselfe under the name of vrsulanus ; and since that , a third booke against the false doctrine of habits and scapulars , and donna luissa her saturdayes fast . so then it seemes this same paul harris the english priest , is to be commanded by the bishop of meath do. dese , authorized by the congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide , to depart the diocesse of dublin . certs if the bishop of meath his warrant come in the name of king charles , it will doubtlesse bee obeyed ; but if it come in any other mans name , paul harris ( as farre as i understand his minde ) is resolved not to depart . nay , if all the friars , priests , bishops , cardinalls , popes , and a generall councell , shall command him to depart , he will not remove a foot out of the diocesse of dublin . the reasons of this his resolution he hath abundantly yeelded , and published unto the world , in an answer unto the archbishops excom . cap. 3. yea , but it is said in the text of this letter , that the bishop of meath is to command him forthwith to depart . alas good friars , give him leave to pay his way , and bid his friends farewell . forthwith is very sudden . let him at least depart with bag & baggage , as souldiours doe from the fort they can no longer defend . happily paul harris cannot say as old bias did , omniamea mecumporto . the friars say , hee is rich : will they not allow him time to transport his wealth to the place of his future residence , to make sale of his houses , and lands , and to recover the arreeres of his rents , to call in his debts , to make an end of his suites in law , &c. all which require time , and cannot be dispatched forthwith . patrick cahil being banished the same diocesse by the present archb. was allowed 15. dayes of abode before he removed . o but he was a native , and harris is an english churle , and must not be so kindly dealt withall . forthwith : this is like the summons of gads hill , or salesbury plaine , stand & deliver . well , perambulet mare & aridam , quaerens quid devoret . let the friar compasse sea and land , seeking what he may devoure , yet old paul is resolved to live among his old neighbours of dublin , notwithstanding the friars should determine the contrary in a generall chapter . by this then gentle reader , you see ( at least if this letter came from rome , as our archb. pretends , and would have it to be beleeved ) that the sword of exile is taken out of his fist , and put into the lord bish . of meath his hands ; who for all the perswasions that our bish . flemming can use ( see the luck of it ) absolutely denyes to draw out the same ; in plaine termes that he never intends to pronounce any sentence of exile against harris , and so hath declared himselfe to the face of our archb , and his friars , and to as many as deale with him about it . but how will the bish . of meath answer this neglect , or rather contempt of the romane command ? o! let it alone : he knowes how to give satisfaction unto the holy congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide , or to any other mis-informed , and abused superiour . and now it pittyes me to see , ( and yet i cannot but laugh ) how our archb. plemming , and his friars , torment themselves in this businesse . for now that they cannot induce the b. of meath by no perswasion to this horride fact , viz. to sentence a priest to exile , yet never called to his answer , and much lesse convicted of any fault , and consequently innocent , ( for so the law presumes reg. 8 ) they now cry out ; o frustra nostri suscepti labores ! o malè impensi sumptus ! o all our labour in vaine undertaken ! o costs cast away ! albeit in truth , all their labours , costs and charges , were no more then the addressing of one letter unto friar wadding , a man according unto their owne heart , resident continually in the citty , and prest to negotiate all their causes , a man of that zeale & earnestnesse in procuration , as he would well weene to obtaine a sentence before a citation , a condemnation before a conviction . cordiger esuriens in coelum jusseris ibit . i tell you perdy : a hungry friar , hungry of maintenance , hungry of honour , hungry of vanity and vain-glory , & to conserve his declining reputation among his fellowes , what will he not doe ? ad stygias si jusseris ibit . so then our archb. and his friars , seeing all their proceedings against paul harris , come to no better a passe in the roman court. the archb. disarmed as a party , & therefore partiall . the bishop of meath onely authorized to pronounce sentence , and refusing that service . i say , all designments & machinations so untowardly succeeding on our archb. side . at last , as desperat of all better successe , he betakes himselfe to this silly refuge , forsooth to publish a privat letter received frō a card. the popes nephew , which letter is nothing else in the world , but the case or cover of the letter sent unto the b. of meath : as if one bereft of his sword , should lay about him with the scabberd . for it plainely appeares , that the b. of meâth hath the sword , and our b. nothing left him but the scabberd , with which he maketh this goodly flourish , sending abroad the coppyes thereof like so many butter-flyes among his followers and devoto's , presuming ( as he well may ) of the many-headed multitude , in all communityes as most injudicious , so with all most factious , being as ready as the blind senator in iuvenal , sat. 4. to applaud what they heare others to cōdemne : adding of his own invention , as likewise his friars in their perambulations , that the sentence of harris his exile , awarded by the ordinary , is now ratified & confirmed by the popes sentence , which is as farre from truth , as rome is from dublin nothing sent frō his hol. in these parts insinuating the same . and that now harris ( sayth the archb. ) may turne the edge of his stile from me , upon the cardinalls , who have confirmed my sentence : and this he may doe with smal labour : for it is no more but to change the title of his booke frō me to them . so tho. flemming . al which ( with due respect unto your place my lord ) are manifest untruths , and so convicted to bee by the tenure of this very epistle of the card. published by your command into so many hands . for if that sentence be put into the power of the b. of meath to be pronounced de futuro , without relation to your sentence at all . how then is your sentence confirmed of which no mention is made ? a sentence of which it seemed your selfe being ashamed , before a grave audience , did in expresse termes before many witnesses , disclay me and deny ever to have given . for you may remember my lo. archb. that being called before the lo. bishop of derry , and sir george radcliffe knight , there being then present do. peter caddell , do. patrick cahil , william brown , patrick brangan , edmund doyle priests , that you acknowledging and avowing your command of peter caddell out of your diocesse , you constantly denyed the exile of paul harris , but onely that you willed and advised him to depart , by reason of which your deniall , hee was forced to produce his witnesse william browne priest , who before those two honorable persons , being charged by them upon his conscience , as an honest man to speake the truth , whether you onely desired or commanded him to quitt your diocesse ; the said william browne did testifie , that you absolutely commanded paul harris to depart , and to leave your diocesse , and that himselfe was the man who was also commanded to deliver that message unto him in your name . all those before named can witnesse that businesse so to have passed . and therefore i say , had your exile of paul harris been most legall , ( which i will never grant ) by your voluntary deniall thereof it was revoked , and utterly quashed , no lesse then a sentence of excommunication , suspension , &c. by the like deny all remaines cancelled and revoked . how then now confirmed ? it followeth . otherwise to give order by authority of the same holy congregatiō , to the faithfull people , that none shall receive from him the holy sacraments , nor heare his masse . the order which tho. flemming gave foure yeeres agoe , was ; that none under paine of excom . should be present at his masse . the nullity of which excom . being declared by an answer thereunto , it was the lesse observed , especially of such as were of iudgment . what order the b. of meath was to lay down , appeareth not , for that the serpent was crushed in the egg. this sacred congregation of card. de propagandâ fide , was instituted about the yeare 1612. by paulus 5. of which congregation at this time , card. antonio barbarini , the youngest of the three nephewes of this present pope vrbanus 8. is head , or praefect , a man about 30. wise , but not much learned . and it is strange that being wise , and an italian ( a natiō so respective ) writing to forraigne countreyes , he would not command his secretary , to stile his epistles in latin , unlesse ( peradventure ) latine is become a stranger among the latine secretaryes . wee tramontani ( as the italians call us ) directing our letters unto the court of rome , neither write them in english , or irish , albeit we are not ignorant , that there wants not of these countreyes in the citty , who are able to translate them into italian . this congregation of cardinalls ( i confesse ) have a glorious stile conferred upon them by his hol. as to be propagators , advancers & promoters of the faith , but surely their endeavors will never answere unto those honorable titles , so long as ( giving eare to a company of turbulent & malecontent friars ) they shall seeke to disturb the peace & tranquillity of those kingdomes , over or in which they have no principality . i say , by exercising a secular power over those who are none of their subiects . for as his majesty of great brittaine , never attempted to exile any of the popes subjects out of rome , or any other his territoryes ; so neither ought they to banish any of his majesties liege people , either out of this , or that city , province , or diocesse , but to know their owne bounds , and not to transgresse the same . and truly were i either wise or learned , i would endeavour to perswade those most eminent l. cardinalls ( in acknowledgment of their error ) either to send an embafsadour unto his majesty , or at least to direct a deprecatory epistle unto him , by which he might be induced to passe over that injurious entrenchment upon his crowne & dignity . and alas what lesse can they doe ? this truly would be a cōmendable act , beseeming their greatnesse , and answerable unto their high titles ; by this meanes , the faith might either be propagated , or certs lesse scandalized . and it may be hoped , that in so generous a brest of our renowned soveraigne , it would find both a gentle admittance and remittance . and as for the faithfull people here mentioned : surely as many as be of understāding & capacity ( who i cōfesse , are not the greatest part of your flock ) doe well see & discerne , that all these machinations of the friars against harris , proceed meerely from malice , who for his desire & zeale of their reformation , as well in their corrupt manners in life , as abhominable errors in doctrine , doe labour by all meanes to ruinate & undoe him . but p.h. is confident , that qui habitat in adjutorio altissimi , in protectione dei coeli commor abitur : hee that dwells in the helpe of the highest , shall remaine in the protection of the god of heaven . neither is he better then his predecessors , so many worthy prelats and priests , who for seeking to reforme abuses among monkes & friars , have suffered at their hands extreame persecutiō , not alwayes ad exiliū , but sometimes ad sanguinē . examples whereof both ancient and moderne , our ecclesiasticall historyes doe recount . and it is no smal comfort unto p.h. and an affront to his adversaryes , that his bookes being by the friars presented unto the roman censors , and by them read & perused , tryed , sifted & bolted , yet came off as gold from the fire , without the least note , obeliske , or asteris ke of reproofe , which is also no small honour unto our holy faith , because hereby those who are otherwise perswaded in matters of doctrine , may plainely see that the catholique church maintaines none of those fooleryes , which the friars profructu ventris doe daylie vent , and were largely confuted in his aforesaid booke . it followeth in the epistle . and that some scandall arise not by meanes of this order , your lordship may give unto the said bishop , when he receiveth this enclosed , such advertisements & informations , as you shall thinke fitting for prevention thereof . ] but no advertisements , or informations , that dublinensis could give , seemed sufficiēt to medensis to the prevention of scandall , maturely considering , that it was a thing impossible , without notorious scandall , indictâ causâ to banish a priest out of the diocesse wherein hee hath his habitation , his friends , acquaintance , and benefactors , and that in a continued residence of more then 20. yeeres , and to be sent into pontus , i mean , to uncouth & unknowne places , where being separated from his friends & wel-willers , he may with lesse difficulty have his throat cut by a malicious friar , or some suborned wood-kerne . o! but harris might passe into his native countrey of england . true indeed , and so he may ( but not for sic volo , sic jubeo of a prelate ) though as yet he is not so minded : these 20. yeeres of a continued absence , having made him well-neere as much a stranger in his owne countrey , as in the county of tirconnell , where as yet he never set foot . such are the fruites of time , whose nature is as the poet menander saith , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to procure oblivion . no no , with the good leave of the state , p. h. now of the age of 63. hath set up his rest , and is resolved to say of ireland , and in particular of this diocesse of dublin , hic habitabo , quoniam elegi eam : heere will i dwell , for that i have made choyse thereof , till such time as his better part bee translated into a better habitation . againe , the lo. bishop of meath no doubt doth well consider , that a banishment inflicted without an examination of the cause , without the bill of the plaintiff , and answer of the defendant , can not but be most injurious , & illegall , and so by the same non-sense of a nolo , that a party is removed from this diocesse of dublin , he may also be excluded from any other diocesse , and so consequently out of all christendome , for that there is no place in any countrey of the christian world , but is contained in some diocesse , and so perforce must bee cōpelled to live either vpon the seas , or among turkes and infidells . lastly , the lo. b of meath had good cause to refuse to be imployed in such a piece of service , viz. to pronounce sentence of exile against any of the kings subjects , for hee being a do. of that famous vniversity of sorbon , & as by profession a divine , so also seene in the canons & lawes of holy church , doth well understand , that exile is a punishment beyond the spheare of episcopall jurisdiction , proper to the crowne , and not to the miter , and accordingly to be managed by the secular , and not by the spiritual arme . so s. bernard in his 5. booke de consideratione , unto pope eugenius , tells us ; that as the keyes belong unto the prelats , so the sword unto the civill magistrate . forsitan tuo nutu , non tua manu evaginandus : peradventure by your will ( sayth he ) not by your hand to be unsheathed . which doctrine is layde downe , and canonized in the decretals of gregory lib. 5. de cler. excom . tit . 27. cap. 2. si quis presbyter , aut alius clericus fuerit degradatus , aut ab officio pro certis criminibus suspensus , & ipse per contemptum & superbiam aliquid de ministerio sibi interdicto agere praesumpserit , & postea ab episcopo suo correptus in incepta praesumptione perduraverit modis omnibus excommunicetur , & quicunque-cum co communicaverit , similiter se sciat esse excommunicatum . similiter de clericis , laicis , vel foeminis excommunicatis observandumest . quod si aliquis omnia ista contempserit , & episcopus minimè emendare potuerit regis judicio ad requisitionem ecclesiae exilio damnetur : if a priest or a clergy-man shal be degraded , or for certaine crimes suspended from his office , and thorough contempt & pride , shall presume to doe any thing in his ministery forbidden unto him , and after being by his bishop reproved , shall notwithstanding persevere in his former presumption , by all meanes let him be excommunicated , and he who shall communicate with him , let him know that he is excommunicated . and this to be observed with clerkes , laicks , & and women excommunicated . but if any shall contemne all these things , and that the bishop can put no remedy unto it , then by the judgment of the king , at the request of the church , let him be banished . in which canon is plainly distinguished the office of the bishop , & of the king. the spirituall censures of excom . suspension &c. to be inflicted by the bishop , & not by the king. the temporall punishment of exile &c. to be commanded by the king , and not by the bishop . againe , in this canon may be observed the order & method of a legall processe ; as first , conviction of crimes , or contumacy , including in his nature & essence , a citation of the party accused ; next , infliction of spirituall censures by sentence of the bishop , as excom . suspension &c , which being cōtemned , & the delinquent incorrigible . what then is to bee done ? mary the bishops power being exhausted , in the last place comes in the sword , to wit , corporall punishment of exile , to bee adjudged by the king , at the instance of the church . by which it is manifest , that exile is a punishment transcending all spirituall power & episcopall jurisdiction . for else should the law have said : then by the judgment of the bishop , let him be banished ; but here it is said in terminis , in expresse termes , by the judgment of the king let him be banished . like unto this is that other canon de judiciis , lib. 2. t is . 1. cap. 10. in these words . si clericus in quocunque ordine constitutus , in furto , vel homicidio , vel perjurio , seu alio crimine fuerit deprehensus legitimè , atque convictus , ab ecclesiastice judice deponendus est . qui si depositus incorrigibilis fucrit , excommunicari debet , deinde cotumaciâ crescente anathematis mucrone feriri , post modum vero , si in profundum malorum veniens contempserit , cùm ecclesia non habet ultra quod faciat , ●e possit esse ultra perditio plurimorum , per secularem comprimendus est potestatem . ita quod ei deputetur exilium , vel alia legitima poena inferatur . that is , if a clergy man in what order soever , shal be found in theft , or man-slaughter , or perjury , or other crime , and being lawfully convicted by the ecclesiasticall iudge , he is to be deposed ; who , if after deposition he shal be incorrigible , he ought to be excommunicated , afterward his contumacy encreasing , to be stroken with the sword of anathema : but if arriving at the depth of all evills , he shall remaine in contumacy , whenas the church hath not further what to doe ( that there be not besides the destruction of very many ) he is to be repressed by the secular power . so as exile may be deputed unto him , or some other lawfull punishment inflicted . so the canon . in which we see , as in the former , that the power of the church & of the prelat , proceedes no further , even with the greatest delinquents , but to excommunication & to anathema , at which once arriving , they make a period , confessing ( as we see in this canon ) that the church can passe no further , but leaves exile , & all other corporall punishments , to the secular power to be awarded & inflicted . what then may we thinke of that prelat , who not content with his spirituall sword of ecclesiasticall censures , will with his owne hand unsheath the temporall sword of the civill magistrate ? which s. bernard conformable unto the doctrin of the church , lay de downe in these two canons above cited , flatly denyeth not onely to bishops , but to the pope himself , non tuâ manuevaginundus : not by thy hand ( o pope eugenius ) to be unsheathed . yet hath our archb. contrary unto the lawes of holy church , & the practise of all times , unsheathed the sword of his soveraigne and liege lord , once by his owne confession , & twice more by conviction of witnesses , before honorable personages , by exiling out of his diocesse , three priests , albeit ( i confesse ) with very bad successe , their disobedience to unlawfull commands , being so justifiable as we have seene . i doe not marvaile then , though the b. of meath like a good subject , did refuse to meddle in a busines of that nature , not having the consent and approbation of the state. all temporall jurisdiction in inflicting corporall punishments , from the least to the greatest , being essentiall unto his majesties crowne & dignity . and i can not but wonder , that the archb. flemming & his friars , should perswade themselves , that albeit a prince be of another opinion in some points of doctrine , from the roman , which wee call the catholique & apostolicall church , that therefore he is a lesse absolute and soveraigne commander within his realmes & dominions , over which almighty god hath placed him , then any other the most catholique prince in the world : which is a doctrine so undoubted , as it is defined by the church , as a matter of divine faith , which whose denyeth , * is to be ranked among heretiques . how then say i , comes it to passe ? that , what no prelate under any prince in christendome at this day would doe or with the integrity of his faith to god , or allegiance to his prince could doe . what no prelates for these thousand yeeres & upward , under any king of england ( since our first conversion from paganisme , unto christianity , under pope gregory the great ) did , or durst doe . that this present ●rchb . tho. flemming , now in these dayes , dare so boldly attempt , namely ; to exile & eject the kings subjects , without invocating the secular arme . cap. ii. an objection against some points of the former discourse answered . it will happily be alledged in defenee of the bishop by his friars : that the times are such , as they doe not permit that correspondencie twixt the prelats , and the civill magistrate in these kingdomes , as in dayes of yore , and that therefore they can not expect that the secular arme will condescend to execute any such their designes or desires . to which i answere . and is it then good logicke , that the bishops may usurpe their power , and entrench upon the right of the secular arme ? that because the king will not strike , that therefore the bishop may take the sword out of his hand , and lay about him ? let me illustrate this by a familiar similitude : there is a friar in paris , & he wisheth with all his heart , that the archb. of that place would excommunicate one titius an adversary of his , who lives in his diocesse , and is one of his flock , but he dares not impart his mind unto him , for that he is perswaded he will never condescend thereunto , & in moving him in that affayre , he shall but loose his labour , and peradventure be repulsed with blame . well , what then ? what doth the friar ? mary he sayes , courage m●●n frers , and without any further delay , hee excommunicates the party himselfe . i demaund in this case , quid juris ? it● answered , that the friar is mercifully dealt withall , 〈◊〉 he bee but set upon the pillary , or upon an asse , and whipt naked from the waste upward thorough the streetes of paris . and why ? because he presumes to execute that power which he never had . true it is , that conformable unto the canons above alledged , as also the immemorable customes & constitutions of these kingdomes , in case of enormous crimes , as theft , murder , perjury , simony , heresie , &c. as also disobedience , proceeding to incorrigibility &c. and that not onely in clearkes , but in laicks , unto their ecclesiasticall superiours , as bishops , & other prelates , after spirituall remedies used , as admonitions , censures , depositions , degradations &c. at the instance of the church upon a siguificavis , there commonly issued out a writ from the kings high court of chancery , decapiendo excommunicate . de comburen do baretico &c. according to the quality of the delict . if then our archbish . hath proceeded in this legall manner with his subject , & is arrived at the uttermost extent of episcopall jurisdiction . he may then require the assistance of the secular arme , by intimating his processe into the kings court of iustice , which if they answere his desires , so it is ; if not , he must rest contented , and not thinke to erect a new tribunall , and a new course of proceeding , contrary to what before , by authority of church & common-wealth is established , and by custome of so many ages , confirmed . to make him selfe both prince , & prelate ; both bishop , and civill magistrate , to plucke the roses from the kings crowne , and to place them in his owne miter . for by so doing , he may draw the sword of the secular arme upon his owne neck , and in prosecuting others , make himselfe an offendor in the highest degree . how often doe we finde in former ages ? when both prince and prelate were of one lip and heart in divine worship , and acknowledged obedience unto the pope in matters spirituall . yet even in those times , did not those catholique princes alwayes answere the instance and requisition of their bishops , in lending them the assistance of their sword and secular arme , but sometimes were slow and remisse in that kinde of correspondency , yea sometimes did absolutely deny the same . as who so will peruse the ecclesiasticall history of the church , collected by that learned card. caesar baronius in his annalls ; or our countrey-man nicholas harpsfeild in his ecclesiasticall history of england , shall easily finde . and so often as this hapned , what did those prelats ? forsooth contained themselves within the bounds of their spirituall and episcopall juvisdiction , never attempting to hang , burne , or banish , as our hor-spurre frians have perswaded our archb. to the great scandall of gods church , and his owne utter ruine , if the king bee not the more mercifull unto him . which matters well pondered by the b. of meath , it is no wonder that hee told our arch that they were none of his friends that procured him that commission from rome , to pronoūce sentence of exile against any of the kings liege people ; by which act , himselfe might come to bee in the same predicament with tho. flemming archb. not onely a bad member of gods church , but a disloyall subject unto his majesty , verifying that of the prophet , psal . 49. cùm videbas furem , currebas cum to &c. cap. iii. the informations , by which the archb. & his friars procured from the congregation of cardinalls de propagandâ fide , the commission of paul harris his exile from the diocesse of dublin . popes , and princes , cardinalls , & bishops are men , and no angells , & according as they are informed , so they speake , so they write , so they determine causes ; so they absolve , and so they doe condemne . i remember i have read in philip commines his history of the warres twixt the french king lewis ii. & charles duke of burgundy , that in some services wherein the french had the worse , & routed ( more upon a pannick feare , then any just cause of terror ) some commanders being after by the king called to an accompt for their cowardise : the author observes , & so reports it : that certaine captaines , and great monsieurs , that ran from the field but six leagues off , were severely punished for their offences ; and others who fled from the field , and ran ten leagues beyond them , were highly rewarded for their valour & good service . noting ( as i said before ) that princes by reason of an impossibility of proper knowledge in themselves as touching the estate of absent affayres , are forced ( resting upon informations ) to judge accordingly , walking sometimes upon the right hand , and other whiles upon the left . and so it hapned in the cafe of p. h. who by friar wadding , the archb. his agent in the citty , and others of his fraternity , as well shodd , as bare-footed friars , his mortall & sworne enemies , is accused to be a most turbulent ; & a seditious person , disobedient to all lawfull authority , and as one confirmed in contumacy , remaines incorrigible , and so incurable , without hope of amendment &c. and thus have the friars chanted their mattins at rome . p. harris the defendant of his innocencie , in the mean time lyes at anchor in the port of dublin , little knowing how the windes blow abroad , till upon these suggestions , there comes from the citty , not a commission to any particular bishops , or other prelats , to examine his cause , or to heare what the archb. can alledge against him , or he make answer thereunto , but the perclose of all judiciall proceedings , namely sentence , and that is thought fit to bee of exile out of the diocesse wherein he lives , and that sentence commanded unto the b. of meath to pronounce . but now heare ( good reader ) what paul harris saith unto this information . albeit nothing more , or other can hee say , then what he hath delivered in his former bookes . even the same which all the cleargy of dublin doe know at this day to be true . that which so many of the laity as take notice of our troubles , doe know to be true . that which the friars themselves , the onely causers & procurers of all these intestine broyles twixt the cleargy and the regulars , best of all know to bee true : namely , that this information made by the archb. and his friars , unto the cardinalls at rome , is most false , most unconscionable & wicked , that it is a meere chimera , & an en●rationis , without any existent foundation . and to the end that the world may againe & againe understand in all places , that which in these parts is most palpable . i could wish , not the shell of a triton , but the trumpet of an arch-angell to sound it thorough sea & land , that all the inhabitants of the earth , and not onely of rome , may heare it , and take knowledge of the injustice and falshood of those , who by their places & office in gods church , should be lights & lanthornes unto others , to direct their paces into the wayes of justice , peace , and truth . for it is so farre from any shadow of verity ; that paul harris hath beene disobedient unto his superiour the archb. or that ever he denyed upon any summons , citation or message , to appeare before him , or to answer any accusatiō , or matter , litle or great , layde unto his charge , that in all his life he never received any message or citation at all from his ordinary which hee hath not obeyed . and this to bee true , the archb. in his owne conscience knowes , and none better then himselfe understands the innocencie of p. h. in that behalfe . but in case it bee otherwise , since it is a matter of fact , why hath not the archb. ( in all this time since harris wrote his two bookes , ) for his owne credit & reputation , and to the greater affront of p. h. declared here at home unto some sufficient & understanding men either of the cleargy , or laity , the falsity of this his so bold assertion , naming the partyes by whom he sent his citations , or his messages , to what place he called him unto his answer ? the time when , the day , the moneth , or the yeare , that so p. h. being challenged of so notorious an untruth in his writings , might be disrespected accordingly ? doubtlesse such an advantage would not have been let passe , had p. h. been guilty of any such disobedience unto his ordinary : since it is well understood , that the archb. is not so tender of that mans credit & reputation . and such have beene the accusations and informations of the ordinary and his friars , against p. h. at rome , himselfe never being called to his answer either here or there . cap. iv. paul harris not admitted to any hearing of his diocesan , was forced to seeke for iustice at the hands of the civill magistrate . it is the office of a prelat , not onely to feed , but to governe his flocke . as the sheepheard doth not only lead his sheep to holesome pastures , but protects them from the jawes of all ravenous beasts , & such of their fellowes as would be hurtfull unto them . this our savior teacheth , setting down the parts of a good sheepheard , ioh. 10. from whose office , among all other professions in the world , it pleased him to transferre that name unto the governours of his church , tearming both himselfe , and them , sheepheards , or pastors , saying ; ego sum pastor bonus &c. now tho. flemming a pastor , having p. h. a member of his flocke , whose cure & charge belonged unto him , and being wronged by some of them , who were also under his charge , and complaining of his aggrievances unto his pastor , could not bee admitted unto his presence , sending them by the hands of others , he spedd no better . and this p. h. doth averre to be true , not by his owne testimony , ( which in his owne cause is worth nothing ) but by the attestation of most grave & rev. persons yet living , who have firmed the same with their owne hands , and are ready to justifie it before any tribunall . reade then as followeth . vvee whose names are here subscribed , doe witnesse ; that in our presence tho. flemming archb. of dublin , did renounce all correspondency , either by word , or writing , with paul harris priest , telling us plainly , that thence forward he never would receive either letter or petition from him , or would medle in any matter of his , for him , or against him ; but wholly disclaimed all jurisdiction , or power over him , wishing us to signifie so much unto the aforesaid paul harris , which accordingly wee did , may 24. 1631. peter caddell pr. vvilliam shergold pr. thus p. h. being excluded from all audience & correspondencie with his pastor , he addressed himselfe unto the temporall magistrate , yet neither in ecclesiasticall or criminall cause , but meerely civill , such as was the detayning of some bookes from him by a priest , & a friar , and the same most injustly , as it appeared upon the hearing before the now lo. chiefe iustice of the kings bench , for by his order they were restored him . after this againe , p. h. understanding of some slanderous informations , made by friars , and others against him , unto the ordinary and weening that after so long a space hee had beene come unto a better mind , hee sollicited him againe for an audience , but being repulsed as before , he sent him this message ; as followeth . this 15. day of may 1633 , wee whose names are here subscribed , doe witnesse ; that being requested to deliver a message unto the r. r. tho. flemming archb. of dublin , wee accordingly the yeare and day above written , delivered the same : the which was this . that whereas divers slanders & accusations are intimated unto your ho. against the aforesaid paul harris pr. and presented unto you his pastor , as also published abroad by divers friars , and others , to the prejudice of the good name & fame of the aforesaid marris : his request unto you the lo. archb. by us , is ; that you would be pleased according unto the lawes and canons of holy church to judge him , first admitting him unto audience , and to his just defence . the lo. archb. answer unto us , was : that in case paul harris would admit and receive an absolution for the excom . that he had notoriously incurred , hee would ; otherwise not . iames talbot pr. vvilliam shergold pr. thus reader thou seest , that two yeeres after the former denyall p. h. is againe debarred of audience by the archb. or else to be admitted upon such tearmes , as to acknowledge an excom . of which excom . for that himselfe hath written very largely in two former bookes , he will be here more briefe . the excom . pretended against him , is ; that he commenced a suit ) as hath beene formerly said ) before a temporall magistrate against a priest & a friar , for detaining of certain bookes from him . for our archb. & his friars are of opinion , that no ecclesiasticall persons , ought to bee brought before a temporall magistrate , for what cause soever ; and that the party so conventing them , incurres excom . de iure . to which p. h. answers ; that no such canon was ever received , or practised in these kingdomes , as hee hath largely declared in his former bookes , and that he preferres the judgement of all antiquity under his majesty , and his predecessours , before the opinion of tho. flemming and all his followers . since those who are learned in the lawes , as well canon , & civill , as common , doe with one voyce agree , and have assured him : that in all causes & actions , meerely civill , of which nature this was , against the priest & the carmelite friar , that as well bishops , as priests , abbots , and priors , did sue , and were sued in the kings courts , & none other . if then all bishops and priests , abbots and friars , who have consented and allowed of this practise , for these thousand yeeres & upward , did maintaine an error , i thinke p. h. had better venture upon that error , then upon the skill of a prelat who never yet studied out of his owne friary , or tooke degree in any vniversity . but this physician who is so liberall of his plasters , offering his absolutions , before the penitents aske them : sith he can not cure himselfe , let him seeke a remedy in time for his owne sores , not being ignorant that himselfe is notoriously excommunicated ab homine , and by authority of this present pope vrbanus 8. in the controversie twixt patrick cahil , & patrick brangan , frō which ( to the great scandall of gods church ) we never heard that yet hee received an absolution . and i pray god , that not guilty of schisme , and heresie , he stands not also excommunicate de iure . but now ex abundanti : let it be supposed , ( for granted it will never be ) that to draw ecclesiasticall persons before secular tribunalls , in all causes as well civill as ecclesiasticall & criminall , is unlawfull , and that the canons inhibite the same under excom . suppose also , that this law be received , and in all times hath beene in viridi observantiâ , practised in these kingdomes . i say all this being granted as most true & undoubted , p. h. is as cleare from all spot of excom . as the sun-beames , or the water in the fountaine . as how ? forsooth upon this ground ; that before he convented those ecclesiasticall men , to wit , the priest & the friar above mentioned , hee was denyed all audience and correspondencie with his prelate the archb. either by word or writing , as before hath beene declared & testified . in which case it is lawfull , not onely for a priest , but for a layman to seeke for iustice at the hands of the temporall magistrate , against a cleargy-man , and to convent him before a secular tribunall : i say , in case his prelate refuse to heare him , or to admit his complaint , or to doe him justice , reade for this de iudiciis tit . 1. cap. 7. qualiter & quando , together with the gloss , & you will find these words : quod in defectum justitiae , clerici ad judicium seculare trahi possunt : * that for want of iustice , clergy-men may be drawne to secular tribunalls . casus ; titius a priest is indebted one hundred crownes to sempronius priest , or lay-man , the debt cannot be denyed , the day of payment is expired : but titius will not performe . sempronius is of our friars opinion , that it ought to bee tryed & recovered before the ordinary ; but the ordinary will not heare him , or receive his libell . where shall sempronius sue his bond against titius ? at rome ? but that hath not beene seene or heard of , since the capitoll was built . ergo , he must either loose his debt , or take the benefit of the canon . in defectum justitiae , clerici ad seculare judicium trahi possunt , as before . and s. athanasius : doubted not long before the canon was thought of , to convert the arian heretiques his false accusers of foule crimes before constantius the emperour . athan. in apolog. ad constant. and before him s. paul , act. 25. appealed in the controversies he had with his owne nation the iewes , unto caesar . appello casarem . but if you answer , that in the aforesaid cases , there was no spirituall superiour prelat or bishop to heare , or to determine their causes . i then reply : and what distinction make you twixt a prelat that will not heare a priests cause , and no prelat at all verily none . and this was , & still is the case of p. h. who before his ordinary never yet could be admitted either plaintiffe or defendant . wherfore i conclude , that in conventing his adversaryes , though priests , before the temporall magistrate in civill causes , hee did not incurre any censure of excom . being warranted by the canon above alleadged ; in defectum justitiae , clerici ad seculare tribunal trahi possunt : for want of iustice , cleargy-men may be convented before the secular iudgment . vnlesse wee will maintaine the archb. tho. flemming to be above the canon , which is not onely absurd , but hereticall . and let my reader ( whether friend or adversary ) observe , that neither brangan , or doyle , can be excused from excom . de iure , in the conventing of p. h. before the temporall magistrate , he never having to this day declined the jurisdiction , or forum of the ordinary . so as the canon de iudiciis , qualiter & quando , which hath excused p. h. for drawing them before secular iudgments , namely in defectum justitiae , can no sort militat in their behalfe , who have suffered no defect of iustice from their ordinary . in fine then , they remaine absolutely excommunicated , together with their master , and may say ; iam sumus ergo pares . cap. v. of the want of judgment and discretion in the bishop and friars , the persecutors of paul harris . is it possible , that man a reasonable creature , & made unto the image of god , should have his reason so over-ruled with passion , and his judgment so over-mastered with malice , as they should be powerfull , not onely to obscure , but in a sort to extinguish the light thereof ? for not to speake of conscience , & common honesty , which as in every christian ought chiefly to prevaile , so , especially in church-men , who are to be guides , & leaders of others unto their salvation . how is it possible , that wit , capacity , or common sense , should not avert these men from such violent and out-ragious courses against p. harris ? is it because that glorious greatnesse who sits at the helme of government is pleased most graciously to grant unto us some more favourable respect then in times past using us ( not with standing what difference soever with others in points of doctrine ) with all indiffērecie in the politique government : as if he should say , tros tyriusque mini nullo dìserimine habetur . papists and protestants are one to mee , who in subjects ducties so well agree . such is the influence of that blessed aspect in our dread and no lesse beloved soveraigne , with that gracious & propitious starre , to their perpetuall glory , and our unspeakable comfort . o then ! what pitty is it ? that golden peace , and gowned rest , should be the parents of so foule an off-spring , as is discord and dissention . is it ? that we have already surfetted of ease , and in so short a time become weary of so long-expected a well-fare , that now ( the rod and rigour of state being removed ) we should embolden our selves upon domesticall broyles . is it ? for that a way is given , nor onely to the freedome of our consciences , but even to the moderate & discreet exercise of our spirituall functions , as well episcopall , as priestly , that we should contend also for secular power and preheminencie , to the encroaching upon our caesars jurisdiction ? is this the gratitude , and thankfulnesse wee owe and shew , for these our , halcyon dayes in which no storme is either for the present felt or for the furure feared : if our owne ungraciousinesse , and intemperate ambition doe not abbreviat and shorten the same . verily , if our friars had but read their esops fables , they might have better understood themselves . the sluggard is sent , to schoole unto the pismire with a vade ad formicam tiger , pro. 4. goe to the pismire o sluggard , and may not the friar be sent unto his fables of esop , with a vade ad esopum stulte ? get thee to thy esops fables , o foole ; and from the example of the frog and the mouse , learne wisdome : for there thou mayst observe , how the frog assaulting the mouse , & the mouse defending himselfe : in the heat of that fierce combat , when neither of them had leysure to look about them , downe comes the hawke suddenly from the stand , and at one stoop , seasing upon them both , ended their quarrell . alas ! have these men so soone forgotten s. stevens day ? when for the non-observance of some points of a proclamation , all our houses and oratoryes were in one houre seased unto the kings use . may not our franciscans remember , that the first blast and brunt of that tempest , discharged it selfe upon their owne cells & oratoryes ? for as we reade , that some cityes have beene rased , and sowed with salt ; others , their walls dismantled : so was that their convent in cooke-street defaced , having their roofe & timber-work pull'd downe & levelled with the ground . a sad spectacle and exemplar ; for whose offence , and the rude uproare of that day , others ( no doubt ) were the lesse spared . alas ! hath malice against one man so blinded their judgments , and so perverted their wills ? that sooner then they will cease to wage an unplacable warre with one priest , they will not onely hazard their own peace & quiet , but even of the church in these parts . know they not how soone , and how suddenly the royall falcon , ( if he will daigne to so low a stoop ) can end the battle betwixt the frog & the mouse , to the ruine of both ? doe they not yet understand , that two scratches of a goose's quill , can banish both bishop , priest , and friar , & that not only from their severall dioceses , parishes , & convents , but even out of his majesties dominions ? at what time as well friend as foe , beholding ( for our demerits ) such calamities to befall us , shall point us out with the singer of gens absque consilio , & absque prudentiâ &c. loe , a people without wit & understanding . had p. h. apostated from his faith , or had he turned a iew , or a turke , then had his persecution frō these men wholly calmed . nay , many doubt not to say , that our regulars would have much rejoyced , and gloryed therein . but now that ( through gods mercy ) he preserves himselfe , and endeavours to keepe those also in the catholique faith , who begin to swarve there-from ; therefore is he made ( if not the onely butt , yet ) the principall marke against whom they shoote their poysoned darts . but p. h. may comfort himselfe in this : that regium est benè facere , & malè audire ; it is one of to doe well , and to be evill spoken of . and it is one of the eight beatitudes pronounced by our saviours own mouth , math. 5. beatì estis cùm maledixerint vobis , & persecuti vos fuerint &c. cap. vi. p. h. is in hope , that the archb. and his friars , looking back into themselves , will in time be reclaymed , and become his friends . we have in our english proverbe ; that , they goe very farre who never returne . and seneca out of the poet menander tels us ; that friendships should indeed be eternall ; but enmityes mortall and determinable . immortales inimicitias ne retine , mortalis existens . but nothing ought to bee more effectuall with christians to this purpose , then the doctrine of our saviour , which teacheth , that the marke by which his disciples are knowne & distinguished from others , is charity among themselves , iohn 13. by this shall all men know that you are my discipl●● , if you love one another . and the beloved disciple , speaking of the contrary vice , 1. iohn . 3. omnis qui odit fratrem suum , homicida est , &c. whosoever hateth his brother , is a murderer . and why should i not hope , that these men may not onely come unto their wits againe , but also to their wills , rectified and reformed , and as new-borne babes , abandoning all malice , deceit , simulation , envy , and detraction , grow up unto salvation ? i say , why should i not hope these things of them ? for i understand , that some of them already doe day lie pray for me . and i doubt not but their prayers are , that god will give mee patience to endure all injuryes wrongs , and persecutions at their hands ; and above all , to deliver mee from their bad tongues : and i thanke god , in this christian duetie , i am not behind , for i also pray for them , inter schismaticos & hareticos , till such time as god shall be pleased to give them grace to recall their doctrines of habits and scapulars , and cease to commend unto us the luissian fast . but howsoever they should ( as god forbid ) persevere still mine enemies and persecutors , yet am i also bound by the precept of christ , both to love mine enemies , and to pray for my persecutors . notwithstanding i may in the meane time endeavour to defend my selfe , & to seeke justice against them , since the prophet david hath taught me ; that charity & iustice are compatible , and that peace and iustice way kisse each other . and as touching this union of charity and iustice : it is not frō the purpose to recount an accident which hapned in sivill of spaine , in the time that my selfe lived there . a certaine iudge of a court , called in their language an oydor , riding somewhat late in the evening , was by his enemy who sought his life , assaulted in the street , and by whom he was mortally wounded , yet so as he lived in perfect sense & memory some few dayes after . the murderer in the meane time was apprehended , and being brought unto the party , he humbly upon his knees confessing his most wicked attempt , besought him with many teares to forgive him . to whom sayth the wounded iudge , being at hand to yeeld up the ghost : yes brother , from the tyles of the house upward , i freely forgive thee ; but from the tyles downward , i desire iustice may bee done upon thee . and in the same minde that hee was dying , am i now living ; from the thatch of the house upward , i freely forgive all my adversaryes , persecutors , and enemyes : that is , i desire all heavenly graces & good gifts from the father of lights to descend downe upon them , and after this life , the salvation of their soules in heaven : moreover i desire that the good angells of god may keep them in all their wayes , & protect them from all harme in body , goods , & good name . notwithstanding from the thatch downeward , i will not desist to call & cry for iustice , and satisfaction against them , so long as i amable either to write , or speake ; which satisfaction & reparation of wrongs , as in part i have already by the iudgment of the civill magistrate , received against some , ( for which i shall ever remaine most thankfull , ) so am i in hope , the like iustice remaines for the rest ; which with patience i will expect . for the former , reade as followeth . rev. father paul harris , vvhereas fa. thomas dowd , & fa. richard fortrell priests , chosen orderers between us two , made an order against mee , for the repayring of your good name , & that i alwayes refused , & neglected to performe the said order , untill such time as the r. ho. the lord deputy generall commanded me thereunto . now then i being no lesse willing to shew mine humble obedience to his honour , then also sorry to have detracted of your fame : i doe by these presents most willingly and submissively , aske forgivenesse of your rev. fa. paul harris , this being a point of the order , for all such abuses , obloquyes , detractions , as i have done against you , either by words , or writings , or otherwise . and i doe hereby ( acknowledging my fault ) earnestly pray you in christian charity , to accept of this mine humble submission , tending to the restitution of your good name . and withall , i doe hereby sincerely promise , never hereafter to speake in any sort which may directly , or indirectly , tend to the obscuring of your good name . witnesse my hand this 23. of feb. 1633. edmund doyle . being present iohn fitton . stephen iellous . robert nugent . vvilliam hechins . how truely is it said ? quae nocent , docent , those things that doe hurt us , doe instruct us . and the prophet esay 28. vexatio dabit intellectum , tribulation will give understanding . and day lie experience sheweth , that to those dutyes whom prosperity can not draw , affliction drives , even as froward children are forced to kisse the rod & hand that whipt them . it is observed , that some sort of birdes doe sing more sweetly imprisoned in a cage , then either in the fields , or woods abroad . howsoever it fareth with birdes , i am assured , these notes & palinodious dittyes had never been sung , but in a cage ; but now the author of this submission being at liberty , for all his castle-promises , redijt ad ingenium or rather ad vomitum , hath returned to his old disposition , or rather to his vomit . otherwise had he persisted in the accomplishment of what he solemnely promised , his submission at this time had neither beene pressed on published . cap. vii . of the conveyance of these letters from rome , into ireland , and by what meanes they came unto the hands of the archb. flemming . being lately in the country , it was my chance in some communication with one of my acquaintance , to ask of him , if he knew , or could guesse , how the cardinalls letters were passed into ireland , and came to the hands of dublinensis , whether by the post of paris , or antwerp , &c. he answered very pleasantly , he could soone resolve mee in that point , and that they neither came by the way of paris or antwerp , but by the way of loretto . your reason quoth i. why ? quoth he , wot you not that there passed from ireland certaine pilgrims for loretto the last yeare , & so from loretto , to rome , and returned back this last spring ? now , before they returned home from their pilgrimage , there was not a word spoken of these letters ; but since their arrivall , all the countrey hath sounded of them . this discourse of my friend , made mee remember a passage which i read some 50. yeares agoe , in a sermon of hugh latimer , which as then , so i now relate , to parallell his conceit . it hapned in the dayes of henry 8. that many ships being cast away upon the coast of kent , especially in that place which to this day is called goodwins sands . the councel thought good to grant a cōmission to examin such as were of the most ancient inhabitants of those parts , if there could be any cause found thereof , who being called to dover , were required to say their opinions in that case , what they thought might be the occasion of those dangerous seas & sands , now infamous for shipwracks , which informer times had no such note of danger . among the examined , one old man stood up & told the commissioners , that for his part , he wist well what was the cause of those troublesome sands , which swallowed up so many ships , and by my hood ( sayth he ) it is no other then tenderton steeple . i say ( quoth he ) and will abide by it , that tenderton steeple is the cause of goodwin sands . for i can well remember the building of tenderton steeple , and before it was built , there was no goodwin sands , but soon after the building of that steeple i could heare the sea-faring men in the church-yard after even-song , and in the ale-house , complaine much of those sands , and they would tell , how such a ship , such a barque or pinnace was there sunke &c. well , well , quoth my friend ( interrupting me ) it is enough , you have very strongly confirmed my opinion of the letters ; but what matter is it whether the pilgrims are the cause of goodwins sands , or tenderton steeple brought the letters frō rome , let those whō the matter concernes more then you & me , look to it . for since they have the threed by the end , they know how to wynde it up . but since by this occasion we are fallen into mention of the pilgrimage of loretto , i pray you resolve what opinion you hold of that strange house of our ladyes , of which there runneth so great a fame , as it drawes us out of ireland from our houses , wives & children , to the great danger of our persons , & expence of our purses , unlesse for such as make a bon voyage of it , & receive fifteene for five at their returne home . and as for the miracles , we heare very much with our cares , but wee see little with our eyes ; neither the blind or deafe to returne welsensed : as for the halt and the lame , i lesse marvaile , for few of them can reach so farre . nay bi r lady , i have known some to carry hence a paire of good leggs with them , & scarce have brought them so sound back again . besides they tell us , that house did use to flye in the aire , by sea & land , above a thousand leagues : now it is strange to us , that a house that hath no leggs to goe upon , should have wings to flye withall . of these & other matters no lesse wonderfull , i pray you shew us the truth , and how farre they may bee beleeved ; for i confesse , god's above all &c. and i thinke by this time there was as many gathered about to listen to our talke , as were assembled in queene dido's hall , to heare aeneas discourse of the trojan warre . well then ( quoth i ) if so great a longing you have to heare the history of the lauretan house , & the stupendious wonders of that holy place . albeit the lights upon yonder cup-bord are now spent farre below their wastes , & so invite us rather to retire our selves unto our lodgings , then to begin any new discourse : yet to satisfie your no lesse earnest , then harmlesse curiosity , i will begin . know then , that i have not onely read and heard of this house but i have seen the same , and ( which i more esteeme ) my selfe within it . and for the reasons which shall after be alleadged ) i am perswaded this is the very same house in which the blessed virgin the mother of god was borne , in which she received the angelicall salutation , and in which the saviour of the world in his infancie was nursed and bred . and albeit ( i confesse ) that of some it is scarce beleevod , how this house ( now used as a chappell ) came to be transported from nazareth , so many , hundred leagues by scarce & land , et per varios casus , after so many remouealls , to be placed where now it stands in the picene territory , neere unto ancona in italy . * first then for the posse , those who believe the omnipotencie of god , cannot doubt of the possibility of the transportation of this house , no more then they can of that history of the prophet habaccuck , who by the haire of the head was carryed by the angell , from indea into babylon , to daniel , to give him his dinner in the lyons denne , and from thence back againe , dan. 14. or of the assumption of elias in a fiery chariot into heaven . 2. kings 2. or of philip , who ( frō the eunuch whom heliad baptized ) was by the spirit placed in azotus , act. 8. the difficulty then is , defacto esse , whether indeed this transportation of the lauretan house is by the same faith to be beleeved , as the former examples out of the old and new testament . i answere , no. those by divine faith excluding all uncertainty for the authority of the revealer , the holy ghost this leaning upon humane testimony , hath accordingly humane credibility , not voyd of all uncertainty , yet not dangerous unto salvation , and may bee embraced without disparagement to any mans wisedome , were he equall therein to solon , or salva●●on . for as we beleeve the citty of rome to have beene founded by romalus , because some prophane . writers doe so report : why may not so much credit given unto the relatours & legendars of that history called domus lauretana , being christians , & more pious historians then the former ? it seemes to me not much different from a miraculous preservation , that m. manlius , one man , in the night defended the capitoll from the gaules , after they had ascended the height thereof , expulsing and throwing them downe head-long , being destitute both of weapon & armour . memorable is that also & in my opinion not much short of a miracle : that horatius cocles , a valiant roman , & blind of one eye , by his alone prowesse with-stood porsenna king of the tuscans , & his whole army , invading the citty , & standing upon the bridge , defended the passage , & made it good , one man against a multitude , till such time as his citizens ( being at dinner , & not understanding of that danger ) comming to their doores and windowes , and seeing in what estate matters were , issued forth to his ayde , and breaking downe the bridge behinde him , hee with no lesse admiration , threw himselfe into the river tibris , and in his armour , swamme unto the citty shoare without any harme . what thinke you of the two twinnes romulus & remus , immediatly after their birth , throwne into the river tibris , at the command of amulius , & being cast upon the shoare , were no lesse wonderously preserved by the kinde fostership of a shee wolfe , who left her owue whelpes to give them suck ? what shall we say of tarquinius priscus the fift king of the romans , who cut a whetstone in two parts with a rasor ? servius tull us seene many times with a flame of fire about his head , licking his haire & temples . can wee beleeve all this , and many other things no lesse strange , for the authority of one livy , renowned in the roman history ? and must whatsoever is related by so many pious authors , and consented unto , by the suffrages ( in a manner ) of all christians , as touching that sacred house of loretto , be throwne out of doores ? to come to ecclesiasticall history , we reade that gregory , b. of neocesarea , called ( for his great & many miracles ) thaumaturgus , removed a rock out of his place ; & this is related by no meaner an author then the great s. basil , a primative father , and an ancient doctor of gods church , who doubteth not to compare the aforesaid gregory , to moses , the prophets & the apostles . this s. gregory lived in the yeare 233. after our saviour , & s. basil 370. both of them in the primitive times of the church . we know who said unto his disciples , if they had faith , as a graine of mustard seed , they should say unto this mountaine , remove hence , & it should obey , math. 17. and the like of the mulberry tree . luke 17. neither doe i applaud that opinion , that maintaines all miracles to have ceased with the apostles and disciples of our saviour . for ( methinkes ) that doctrine is not consonant to these scriptures , mar. 16. signa autem cos qui crediderint hac sequentur , &c. the signes that shall follow such as beleeve , are these ; in my name shall they cast out devils , they shall speake with new tongues , they shall take away serpents , & if they drinke any thing that is deadly , it shall not hurt them : they shall lay hands upon the sick , & they shall be healed , &c. of which miracles , albeit some of them were wrought by the apostles , and recorded in their acts , yet why this scripture may not extend to the faithfull in all ages , according to that order & distribution of gifts , layde downe by the apostle , 1. cor. 12. i would willingly understand ? and some verily god hath set in the church : first apostles , secondly prophets , thirdly doctours , next miracles , then the graces of doing cures , helpes , governments , kindes of tongues . are all apostles ? are all prophets ? are all doctors ? are all miracles ? have all the grace of doing cures ? doe all speake with tongues ? doe all interpret ? this text then that proves unto us , that in the church are placed doctors , helpes , & governments , tells us also , that in the same , god hath set miracles , & graces of healing ; neither was the church which our blessed saviour purchased with his owne bloud , and the holy ghost , enriched with those divine graces , to endure only for the time of the apostles , and the 42. disciples , but even unto his second comming , & yeelding up his government into the hands of his father . by the same reason then that they exclude miracles , they must also exile doctours , helpes , & governments out of the church , all concluded by the apostle in one catalogue , & these later confirmed to be perpetuall in the church . ephes . the 4. and consequently the former . againe , our saviour sayth , iohn 14.12 . amen , amen i say unto you , he that beleeveth in me , the workes that i doe , he also shall doe , and greater workes then these shall be doe . but we finde not this scripture fulfilled in any of the apostles , or of his disciples , or in all of them put together , whose miracles ( so farre forth as we reade of them in holy writ ) did neither in number or excellencie , equall our saviours miracles , and much lesse exceede them . who then be they that shall doe greater workes then our saviour did ? but the faithfull who were to succeed in the future ages of the church ? of which times now to descend to speake , me thinkes it would argue either too much simplicitie , or singularitie , to discredit all those miracles , ascribed as well to the saints departed this life , and their reliques , as to the living ; by those fathers and doctours of gods church , who for their antiquity , sanctity , and learning , all ages have , and ever shall admire . s. iohn chrysostome , in a whole booke against the pagans , proveth that christ was god , because he wrought miracles , not onely by s. peters shadow , and s. paul his hand-kerchiefe , but also by the reliques and monuments of saints , and namely by the ashes of s. babilas . as almighty god by the bones of the prophet elizeus gave life unto a dead corps , so soone as it touched them , 4. reg. 13. see for this s. chrysost . lib. de babilamar . tom . 5. eusebius . b. of caesarca , who flourished in the yeare 326. reports in his ecclesiasticall history , that the woman who was cured by our saviour of a flux of bloud , mat. 9. having the image of our saviour made of brasse , and placed before her doore , there did grow up a certaine strange hearbe at the foot of the image , which so soone as in growth it came to touch the hemme of our saviours garment in that statua , it became medicinable to the curing of all infirmityes , but being taken before it sprung up to that height , it had no vertue at all . and the same author tells us , that this same brasen image of our saviour continued till his time , and that he saw it with his owne eyes . euseb . eccles . histor . lib. 7. cap. 14. what shal we say unto the miracles wrought by s. paul. the first hermite , and by hilarion , recorded by s. hierom ? the miracles of many saints , wrought at their tombes and monuments , testified by s. augustine in his bookes de civitate dei ? the miracles of s. martin , written by severus sulpitius . the innumerable miracles of the holy ermites , living in the desarts of lybia , recounted by theoderet in his religious history ? the miracles approved by s gregory the great in his dialogues ? the miracles reported by s. bede in his ecclesiasticall history & lives of saints ? with infinite others , recorded by ecclesiasticall writers of later times : must all these bee ranked with the legends of amadis de gaule , of huyon of burdeaux , of primaleon of greece , or the knight of the sun ? o no : neither judgment , nor piety can allow of it . but to draw to a conclusion , that it may appeare unto our senses , that miracles are not ceased , but continued among us even till these times : and that almighty god hath not so restrained his power to the ordinary course of secondary causes , as that sometimes , and so often as he is pleased , he transcendeth not all the works of nature , shewing such wonders among us , as that the most refractary cannot but say with the unbeleeving iewes , act. 4.16 . ecce manifestum signum factum est , & non possumus negare : behold , a manifest miracle is wrought among us , and we cannot deny it . i will then only insist in that kinde of miracle which is called : gratia sanitatū , the gift of healing diseases , inserted in the list of miracles , both by our saviour , mar. 16. and by the apostle 1. cor. 12. which gift ab effectis , is apparant to have beene conferred from above , unto two christian princes , as it were by an hereditary descent frō immemorable times , namely , the king of england , and the french king , who onely by the touch of their hands . ( calling upon almighty god ) doc cure that diseafe which in greeke is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in latine struma , and in our english tongue scarce known by any other name then the kings evill , soyclepped from the crowned curers . neither is this infirmity helped by any other prince , or potentate upon earth , but by those two sacred & anointed kings , neither have they the gift of helping any other disease or infirmity in mans body , this onely excepted . by what then hath beene said , as touching the authentication of miracles , as well in moderne , as ancient times , i see not but according to the weight & worth of the reporters , they may receive admittance : it being no lesse a fault of indiscretion to beleeve nothing , as to beleeve every thing in that kinde published . and now in the last place , it remaines to answere unto my friends objection , made in the beginning of this chap. that ( forsooth ) many infirme & diseased persons returne from rome & loretto , & other holy places , with as little health as they passed hence ; which difficultie shal be the better resolved , if wee consider the varietie of pilgrimes , and digest them into their severall rankes : sith among those that passe into forraine countreyes , you have in a manner as many ends & purposes , as persons . for first we have the curious pilgrim , whom cōmonly we call the traveller , either some yong gallant in his minority , or lately wived , or who either upon some discontent leaving their home , & friends , make the scope & end of their peregrination ( according to the best interpretation ) to furnish themselves with knowledge & experience , observing the various manners of men and cittyes , & not alwayes in motion , but sometimes at anchor in some famous vniversity , to heare a pythagoras , a plato , or an aristotle . who ( to observe that short precept of tully ) it shall never repent thē at their cōming home . peregrini , & incolae officium est , nihil praeter negotium suum agere . officer . it becomes a pilgrim , and an inmaco , to meddle with nothing but his owne affaires . neither would i wish this our curious pilgrim to bee too long absent from home , lest he taste of such discommodities as vlysses did , at his returne to ithaca . our second pilgrime is the covetous pilgrim , a venturer , though no merchant , who designes his voyage to some one set place , admitting a probability of danger , either in respect of the countrey so remote , or of the indisposition of his body , for age , or infirmity , in regard whereof , he covenants before he departs from his own smoake , to multiply the greater , by the lesser number , according to the exposing of his dollors , dublons , rings , chaynes , iewels , horses , coaches , & what not : that at his returne ( if ever ) he may say . — i am mihi quarto : i am decies redit in rugam . pers . sat. 6. his creditors at home ( in the meane time ) cursing those leggs that shall ever bring him back . our third pilgrim , is the counterfeit pilgrim , who under pretence of devotion , visiting the most memorable pilgrimages of christendome , he walkes by cathedrall churches , abbayes , & hospitalls , not disdayning also ( si spes refulserit nummi ) to visit places of inferiour note . to which purpose , as the prologue to his intended & pretended pilgrimage , he puts himselfe into a pilgrims habit , which is a gray frise coat , side to the mid-legg , well girt unto him , a stiffe felt of a course hat of the same colour , a strong ashen staff in his hand about his own pitch , with two bigg knots toward the upper end . his knapsack , and his calavas , accommodated under his left arme , with the provision in them of an noahs arke . and to the end it may appeare , that he beggs not of any necessity , but onely like a young iesuite for mortification , his holland-shirt hangs halfe a foot out of his sleeve at the hand , & below his frise habit , you shall discover a faire silke stocking upon his legg , for by that sleight he shall be held by strangers , a man of note & fashion in his countrey , & that thorough extremity of piety , he travells so disguised , to give satisfaction unto his supposed most sincere devotion , either voluntarily undertaken , or injoyned for pennance . and whereas the needy beggar , vested as well in-side , as out-side , with pure unfayned poverty , shall with much importunity get a penny , this counterfeit will purchase a pound , and after a few moneths , returnes home , like a spanish gallion from the west indyes . our fourth pilgrim , who from his motion may bee termed the rolling pilgrim , being very penurious , makes a vertue of necessity , no lesse mindful of his wallet then of his devotion , eating the sinnes of the people by whom he passeth , whose travells commonly do end either with his health , or with his life , imitating the motion of the heavenly bodies ; for as they rolle about the circumference , so he about the center . neither doth it much import where he beginnes , since hee is not determined where to conclude & make an end . meeting him then upon the borders of france , comming from the never-wasting taper of arras , he tends for amiens in picardy , there to visite the head of s. iohn baptist . thence he passeth to s. denis , where besides many other rare reliques in rich inclosures , he doth reverence the thorne of our saviours crowne . and so to paris , prostrated at the shrine of s. genovefa , neither forgets he in his walke the rest of the nostre dames of france : descending to marsells in provence , hee religiously adores the reliques of s. lazarus , whom our saviour iohn 11. raised to life : next hee arrives at baubne , where hee tenders his devotion at the body of the blessed magdalen , who anointed our saviours head , and washed his feete with her teares : then entring into savoy , & passing the alpine rocks & mountaines of snow , hee descends into piemont , where he visits the reliques of s. eusebius b. of vercells . at millan in lombardy , he visits the monument of s. ambrose ; as also of s. carolus borromeus , both bish . of that place : thence to padua , to honour the reliques of s. antony . from thence he speeds himselfe to the holy chamber of loretto , made glorious by the presence of our saviour in his childhood , his mother , and s. ioseph . quam virgo coluisse domum magis omnibus unam posthabita fertur galilea . hic illius icon hic stabilis cultus . locus hic quem tempus in omne esse suum voluit , quem nunc habitatque , fovetque . where after the tribute of his devotion payde , ( if his poverty , and no better and out-side , bee not an impediment ) he shal be admitted into the sacristia , to beholde not onely the sumptuous ornaments of the church , but the rich offerings of emperours , kings & princes , of queenes , nobles , and ladyes , of greater value then all the land and fertile soyle he can behold from the hill of tarro , where i advise him to looke to his conscience in the matter of the tenth commandement . and now taking his leave of loretto , i wot well hee hastens to rome , the queene of cityes , somtimes empresse of the earth , where hee presents himselfe ad limina apostolorum , before the altar of the two apostles s. peter and s. paul , he visits the seven churches , he makes the holy staires , ( being charitably entertained for three dayes diet , and lodging , in the hospitall of the holy trinity ) it may be also his good hap to be admitted ad mensam papalem , to dine in his hol. presence , being the dayly ordinary of twelve poore pilgrimes , but let him not expect to be admitted to that table the second time . and now enriched with beades , graynes , and meddalls , and happily with some reliques of the eleven thousand virgins , or of the martyred legions in the dayes of dioclesian preserved at the trefontani , a mile from rome ( of which there be great store , and so the lesse esteemed ) he bids rome farewell , with a non habemus hic civitatem permanentem , & setting his palmers staffe upon one end , he is indifferent which way it falls , but resolved that way to wend ; if towards the south , he holds his course for naples , not staying at all for the convoy , knowing that the empty purse , feares not the theefe , inviting in his way the hospitalls to supper & lodging ; arriving at that noble citty ( mindfull of his vocation ) first , with devout pases , he sets forward to the monument of s. ianuarius , where with much admiration hee beholdes the martyrs bloud in a viall , so often bubbling , & boyling , as his head is brought in presence of it : having complyed with his devotions at the rest of the churches & chappels , & collected the charitable almes of the citty , he cuts over some two dayes sayle , to ligorne in tus●●ane , & so betakes himselfe to luca , to the miraculous crucifixe : thence by sea or land to pavia in lombardy , where hee humbly loutes at the tombe of the great s. augustine , in a church , common both to the ermites & canon regulars of his order . and so our palmer bids sweet italy adieu , the garden of the world , & a terrestriall paradise : importuning his charitable passage from genoa in a galley bound for barcelona , whore comming a shore , after one dayes journey , he tastes the entertainment of our blessed lady of monteserrate , who hath a diamond in her crowne , valued at fourteene thousand duckets , the most frequented pilgrimage , not onely of catalaunia , but of all spaine , admirable for the situation , a monastery placed in the top of a mountaine , among the cloudes , the passage thereunto cut out with sawes , from whence it hath the name of monte-serrate : after this he passeth to sarragosa , where he bids his beades before nuestra sinnora de la pillar , our lady of the pillar ( her statua being advanced on the top of a high smal pillar in the chiefe church , ) which done , he bends his course to our lady of guadalupa ; from thence to sivill to nuestra sinnora de antigua , with so many silver lamps in silver chaynes depending , & ever burning . and so leaving andaluzia , he coasts over siera morena , to burgos , to worship the sweating crucifix : & never rests till he arrive at the body of s. iames at compostella in gallicia a rich monastery of the benediotines ; where refreshing himselfe some few dayes , he betakes himselfe to his accustomed employments , and bidding spaine a dios , hee bends his course for france , passing the mount of s. adrian , among the pyren hills , trusting to god , and to his good leggs , to finde himselfe at towres , against the anniversary solemnity of s. martin , sometimes b. of that place , whose feast falls upon the 11 of november . and i pray god ( quoth my friend interrupting mee againe ) that your head grow not addle , with so many windings , & turne abouts of your wandring pilgrime ; but now having brought him to france where first you found him , i pray you bid him farewell , and give him leave to rolle where he list , for it seemes , that it is one of his vowes , never to rest , so long as he can either goe , or creepe ; & ( i trow ) i have heard you sometimes to say , such pilgrimes were seldome holy men , * to whom ( quoth i ) if my discourse have proved long : it is your invitation at the first , and heedfull attention , which have beene the causes thereof . nothing more encouraging a man to draw out the threed of his speech to the ful length , then attentive auditors , which i have found you hitherto to be . having then passed through so many pilgrimes : the curious , the covetous , the counterfeit , and the wanderer , give me leave to adde to that number the fift , which is the distressed pilgrim , in speaking of whom , had you my friend not interrupted my discourse happily by this time i had given you an account of what you desired at my hands in the beginning , which ( if i doe not mistake ) is this . how comes it to passe ( say you ) that in those which you call holy places , and have in so high an estimation , & glory so much of their miracles ? that we behold so great a number of halt , blinde , deafe , dumbe , lamed of their limmes , diseased of their bodies , of dropsies , palsies , consumptions , convulsions , gouts , sciaticks , phrensies , ielousies , epilepsies , & c ? so few to be cured , or to returne home sound of winde , & lim , & in perfect health ? to which i answere . it seemes no more strange then that so many sitting at home , ( where they have almighty god still present with them ) doe not recover of the same infirmities , for albeit we heare it said , petite & dabitur vobis , quarite & invenietis , pulsate & aperietur vobis . luc. 11. aske , & it shal be given you ; seeke , & you shall find ; knock , & it shal be opened unto you . yet s. iames saith . petitis & non accipitis , eò quòd malè petatis , iac. 4. you aske & you receive not , & the reason is added , because you aske amisse . whether then at home , or abroad , you aske amisse ; that is , either things unlawfull , or in complacency of sin , or with an inordinat desire , as of health , or any other temporall benefit , which happily denyed , is better then obtayned . this inordinate desire , not conformable to the will of god , & repugnant unto our soules health , may be a sufficient impediment of not receiving what is asked . our distressed pilgrime repaires unto loretto ; he speeds not ; he went blinde , he returnes blinde ; he went crooked , he returnes with the same nemesis upon his shoulders ; hee went hence with two good legges , hee comes limping home ; hee went with a dropsie , he comes home with a timpany ; hee went to be cured of his phrensie , or his jealousie , and he returnes madd . was there then any insufficiencie of almighty god , to have supplyed these defects , or to have remedied these diseases at the memory of his saints ? o no. the poet could say , pers . sat. 2. poscis opem nervis , corpusque fidele senectae : esto , age : sed grandes patinae , tucetaque crassa annuere his superos vetuere , iovemque morantur . thou askes sound lims & strength against old age , but up-heapt plates , the long and fat sausage forbids the gods ; and iove to grant suffrage . it is said of our saviour , mar. 6. that in his owne countrey of nazareth , by reason of their incredulity , non poterat virtutem ullam facere , he could not worke any miracle , but onely heale a few sick persons . not that our saviour being god , could not work miracles , but that on their part there wanted apt dispositiōs & capacity unto them . of which dispositiōs , faith is the principall ? & note , that non possum is often in the scriptures put for nolo , i will not . so our saviour sayth in the gospell : the children of the kingdome cannot fast while he be with them , non possunt jejunare , as much as to say , nolunt jejunare , they will not fast . so when a man takes himselfe to be wronged , hee will commonly say , i can not put up this wrong at his hands : i can not disgest it : as much to say , i will not . againe , we must not inferre , that where dispositions requisite in the person of the patient are found , as a true faith , purity of heart , resignation to the will of god , that there is alwayes the benefit of cure in their corporall infirmityes , because it is ever a ruled case : that our heavenly father knowes what we have need of , & what is best for us : many moe being driven by adversity to seeke out their salvation , then by prosperity : those who have but one eye , one foot , one hand , entring into heaven , when others who have two eyes , feet , hands , are cast into hell fire . mark. 9. and we know the parable of the sun & the wind. albeit then we see twenty for one returning from such places ( where almighty god is pleased sometimes to work miracles , in honor of those who on earth were his faithfull & true servants , & now triumphant in heaven ) laboring still of those maladies , for which they sought relief at the memories of saints , it would be great presumption & temerity in us , to suspect , much more to judge , that they were not prepared for so great a benefit . we know what apology our saviour made in the case of the man blinde from his nativity . when as the iewes demanded of him , quis peccavit , hic , aut parentes ejus , ut coecus naseeretur ? iohn 9. who was it that sinned , he , or his parents , that he should be borne blind : the answer was , neque hic peccavit , neque parentes ejus , &c. neither hath this man sinned , nor his parents , but that the workes of god might bee manifested in him . and by analogy the same may be applyed to our case . besides , it is not to bee doubted of , but many infirme & diseased people repaire to such places , more for devotion & spiritual comfort , then for any desire , or expectatiō of their bodily health . non ut benè sit pedi , aut lateri , sed ut benè sit anima : not so tender of the well-fare of their corruptible bodies , as of that immortall part , which is , and ought to be most deare unto them . and so much ( my friend ) to answere your difficulty , why so many returne from pilgrimages without reparation of their health . the last knot to be untyed in this argument , ( & rather insinuated by you , then clearely propounded ) is this . how is it to be beleeved say some ? that so many signes and works surpassing all power of nature , which we call miracles , should be wrought at the memory and monuments of saints , rather then in other places . the omnipotencie of god ( the author both of nature , grace , and all miraculous workes ) being one and the same in all places and times . to as many as urge this reason , and thinke it worthy to be insisted upon . i might say as our saviour said unto the sadducees , math. 23. erratis nescientes scripturas , & virtutem dei : you erre , not knowing the scriptures , or the power of god. our blessed saviour tells us , luke 4. quòd multa erans vidua , &c. that there were many widowes in the dayes of elias in israel , when as the heavens were shut for 3. yeares and six moneths , in which time there was a great famine thorough the whole earth , and unto none of those was elias sent , but in sarepta of sidonia , unto one woman a widow . and there were many lepers in israel , in the dayes of elizeus the prophet , and none of them was cleansed , but naaman the syrian . now what was the cause why no other widow was exempted from that famine , but only the widow of sarepta ? because ( notwithstanding the presence of god in all places ) there wanted also the presence of the prophet elias . and why were not the rest of the lopers clennsed , but onely naaman the syrian ? wanted there the power of god , or due preparation in the subject : who can say so ? no , but the presence of the prophet elizeus . by which we see the circumstance of personall presence , though not necessary unto the power , yet many times required unto the will of the worker of signes and wonders . and albeit our saviour in the gospell , sometimes did cure the absent , to givers to understand , that his power was not restrayned to presence , yet commonly , and so the most part , hee cured none but the present : and so the people did understand , both by laying his hands upon them in the cure : as when by reason of the presse of people , they uncovered the roofe of the house , mar. 2. to let downe the paralinique in his bed before him . so the prophet elias raised not the widowes son to life , before him selfe came unto him . and our saviour went unto the grave of lazarus before he revived him . he took the governors daughter by the hand , math. 9. as also in naum he touched the coffin of the dead , before he raysed them to life . and no lesse also doe we behold a presence required even in those livelesse instruments , which it pleaseth the divine wisdome to use in this kind . so the bones of the prophet elizeus , quickned the dead corps throwne into his grave , by a physicall touch or contact . the waters of iordan in like manner , the leprosie . the hemorissa ( being so many yeares diseased ) found no cure , till she touched the hemme of our saviours garment . the waters of the pond in hierusalem , iohn 5. did not heale before they were touched . s. peters shadow , healed none but such as it passed over . and the napkins & handkerchiefes which were sent from the body of s. paul , being applyed , did not onely cure diseases , but cast out devils acts 19. by which , & many other examples ( which for brevity i omit ) it may appeare , that either presence , application , or physical contact in most miracles , have beene required as a condition to the effecting of them . that we may the lesse marvaile , if present at the reliques and monuments of saints , we receive those helps both spirituall and temporall , which being absent , wee might misse of . and so i conclude this chap. of pilgrimages , my selfe unfit for those ttavells , to which some against my will , most willingly would compell me . and now our artificial starres being ready to set , & to descend below their horizons . it is time to end that discourse , to which your attention hath thus farre drawne me . and so wishing all well-fare & happines to the whole company , i bid you all good-night : resolving my selfe to sleepe , till some other occasion shall awake mee . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a02680-e910 * coneil . constant . notes for div a02680-e3020 * so aaor . c. 14. q. 2. farinas . q 8. de inquisit-ambrosinus cap 18 n. 39. molina de iust . tract . 2 , disput . 31. conclus 4. salas de leg . disp . 14. sect . 9. n. 111. with many others . notes for div a02680-e4760 * the house of loretto came into italy , 1294. blondus , 1389. lib. 1. de italia illustrata reg . 5. wri●eth of it , and pet. georgius , 1461. so also hieron anglitanus in the same age , baptista mantuan . erasm . in his liturg. and in his sermō thereof in our dayes pet. canisius , muretus . turselinus . * qui multum peregrinantur , rarò sanctifican●u● . gerson de i●●● as , chr. the late apology in behalf of the papists reprinted and answered in behalf of the royallists lloyd, william, 1627-1717. 1673 approx. 115 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48822 wing l2684 estc r30040 11239066 ocm 11239066 47021 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48822) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 47021) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1446:1) the late apology in behalf of the papists reprinted and answered in behalf of the royallists lloyd, william, 1627-1717. 46 p. printed for henry brome ..., london : mdclxxiii [1673] reproduction of the original in the merton college library, oxford university. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng castlemaine, roger palmer, -earl of, 1634-1705. -catholique apology. catholics -england. great britain -politics and government -1660-1688. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 john latta sampled and proofread 2005-01 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the late apology in behalf of the papists , reprinted and answered in behalf of the royallists . london : printed for henry brome , at the gun in s. paul's church-yard . mdclxxiii . to the author of the apology . sir , about fourscore years ago , in a time when there were such apprehensions of the papists as now there are , ( and howsoever they are now , surely then they were not without cause ) some of your predecessors , to palliate the matter , and to make their governors more secure of them ; writ a book to this effect , that catholicks are to imploy no other arms against their prince but the arms of christians , viz. tears , and spiritual means , daily prayers , and watchings and fastings ▪ . so you begin , [ my lords and gentlemen , the arms which christians can use against lawful powers in their severity are only prayers and tears . ] we cannot say that you writ your book for the same end as they did . but we do not like it , that you jump so together in the same beginning . [ now since nothing can equal the infinity of those we have shed , but the cause , viz. to see our dearest friends forsake us , we hope it will not offend you , if ( after we have a little wip'd our eyes ) we sigh out our complaints to you . ] of the cause of your tears , we shall say more anon . of the quantity of them , you say very extravagantly , nothing can equal the infinity of those we have shed . for you might have excepted those of the protestants in queen maries dayes , or of them that suffered in the late irish rebellion . you ought to have excepted the fears of your fabulous purgatory : and yet those are said to be short of infinity . but you jesuites love to be hyperbolical , whether ranting or whining ; as if that religion which obliges you to damn all other christians , had likewise forbidden you to speak like other men. [ we had spoke much sooner , had we not been silent through consternation to see you inflamed , whom with reverence we honor ) and also to shew our submissive patience , which used no slights nor tricks to divert the debates of parliament : for no body can imagine where so many of the great nobility and gentry are concerned , but something might have been done ; when as in all ages we see things of publick advantage by the managers dexterity nipt in the bud , even in the very houses them selves . far be it from catholicks to perplex parliaments , who have been the founders of their i riviledges , and all antient laws : nay magna charta it self had its rise from us , which we do the less boast of , since it was not at first obtained in so submiss and humble a manner . in the same roman style you commend your owne silence and patience . you boast that you have been the founders of the parliaments priviledges , and all antient laws . of the first , let every man believe as he sees cause . but the second we cannot allow , in either sense , whether you mean it of your selves , or of your predecessors . for as now in your church , men are of two sorts , even so they were heretofore in this realm . there were some that wholly minded the common interests of christian religion and civil government . others were papalini , asserters and promoters of the popes usurpations . they which acted in those first capacities were not more your predecessors than ours . they which acted in the other were truly and only yours . you say , [ we sung our nunc dimittis when we saw our master in his throne , and you in your deserved authority and rule . ] 't is very well . and yet * some of you sung your venite exultemus when you saw his blessed father upon the scaffold . but what of that ? since the son is king , who is not glad † that he is king ? or whom would it not grieve to have his loyalty called in question ? [ nor could any thing have ever grieved us more , but to have our loyalty called into question by you even at the instigation of our greatest adversaries . [ if we must suffer let it be by you alone ; for that 's a double death to men of honor , to have their enemies not only accusers , but for their insulting judges also . ] sir , he that is loyal , and a man of honor , has no cause to fear death , double or single . for our kings have alwayes declared * that they put no man to death for religion . therefore if you truly fear death , it is for treason . if you only pretend this , it is a calumny . either way you are no friend to the government , for all your pretences to honor and loyalty . [ these are they that by beginning with us , murthered their prince , and wounded you : and shall the same method continue by your approbation ? we are sure you mean well ; though their design be wicked : but never let it be recorded in story , that you forgot your often vows to us , in joyning with them that have been the cause of so great calamity to the nation . ] how far it is true , that the kings murtherers began with you , we shall consider anon . but it seems you take the liberty of bestowing that character upon whom you please ; that no man hereafter may dare move for the execution of any law against you , for fear of being said to continue the method of the kings murtherers . as for any vows that we have made to you , whatsoever they are , you are more sure of them than we can be of any that you make to us ; for we have no pope to dispense with them . neither is it recorded in story , * that english protestants ever joyn'd with the enemies of their nation . [ of all calumnies against catholicks , we have admired at none so much as that their principles are said to be inconsistent with government , and they themselves thought ever proue to rebellion . ] 't is a calumny of yours to call those things calumnies , which are true , and which you cannot deny without such a presumption as we should much admire in you if it were not so very ordinary . concerning your principles , where should we look for them , but in your councils , your decretals , and the books of your divines ? in each of these we are taught , that the pope has a power to depose kings , and to discharge subjects from their allegiance : which doctrines are utterly inconsistent with government : for whosoever believes them , no prince can be secure of him . but whosoever is a papist , is bound to believe them . and he that has imbib'd this faith , may well be thought ever prone to rebellion . the council of lateran under pope innocent iii. expresly ordains , that in case any prince be a favourer of hereticks , after admonition given , the pope shall discharge his subjects from their allegiance , and shall give away his kingdom to some catholick , that may root out those hereticks , and possess his kingdom without contradiction . 't is observable , that this pope was himself a deposer of kings , namely of john king of england , and of otho iv. the emperor ; and also that this council which made rebellion a duty , was the first that made transubstantiation an article of faith. next for the bulls and decrees of your popes , which according to bellarmine are sufficient to make that to be sin which is not sin , or not to be sin which is sin : it would be tedious to instance in all that could be produc'd to this purpose . from gregory vii . downward ▪ such a trade was driven of deposing kings , that no weak prince could wear his crown , but at the pope's courtesie . and that it might never be otherwise , pope boniface viii . declares it for law in these words : † we say , and define , and pronounce , that it is absolutely necessary to salvation , for every humane creature to be subject to the bishop of rome : which oracle is thus interpreted by bertrand ; every humane * creature , ( i. e. ) every magistrate , must be subject , &c. ( i. e. ) must submit himself to be deposed , when the pope thinks fit . and that the gloss doth not injure the text , it appears by the tenor of the decree ; especially by those words about the middle of it , that the spiritual power ▪ is to order the worldly power , and to judge , it if it be not as it ought ; according to that in jeremy , i have set thee over nations and over kingdoms , &c. in which suppletive , &c. these words are wound up ; to root out , and to pull down , and to destroy , and to throw down , to build , and to plant . all which powers this law-giver of yours endeavoured himself to exercise . he endeavour'd , saith platina , to give and take away kingdoms , to expell men , and to restore them at his pleasure . agreeably to this doctrine and practice your great canonist lancelottus teaches you , that the pope may depose kings and emperors , and transfer their kingdoms and empires from one line to another . which wholsome doctrine , no doubt , as well as the rest of his book , pope pius iv. has made authentick by his unerring approbation . lastly for your divines , they have generally own'd it ; and many of them have written large books in defence of it . we do not tell you this as news , for your clergy-men know it already ; but that your laity may not be ignorant of it , we shall quote them some few of the greatest doctors of your church in this age. and we shall leave it upon you to shew them , when and where they were condemned , what justice has been executed on the persons , what index expurgatorius has censur'd the writings of these authors . nay , if you deal honestly , you cannot but confess , that their works are generally approved , and that their persons are had in admiration among you that are the guides of the lay-mens consciences . we pass over the gross things of mariana's book ▪ ; because , they which once licens'd it for love of the doctrine ; have since condemned it , for fear of their king 's heavy displeasure . but pray sir , who condemned your cardinals , bellarmine and baronius ? who teach you , that the pope may do with any king , as jehoiada did with athalia ; that is , he may deprive him first of his kingdom , and then of his life . bellarmine indeed elsewhere expresses it more like a jesuite , and a man of distinctions , in these words ; the pope does not allow you not to obey your king , but he makes him that was your king to be not your king ; as who should say , when the pope has done his part , then you are free to do yours . again , who condemn'd your great school-men , suarez and valentia ? of whom the one writes against his majesties grand-father , that a king , canonically excommunicated , may be deposed or killed by any man whatsoever : the other says , that an heretical prince may , by the pope's sentence , be depriv'd of his life , much more of his estate , and of all superiority over others . nay , who has condemned our country-man parsons , or cresswel ? ( for the high-fliers of popery have been those of our own nation ) by whom this is laid down as a conclusion of the whole school of divines and canonists , and declar'd to be certain , and of faith ; that any christian prince whatsoever , that shall manifestly swerve from the catholick religion , and endeavour to draw off others , does immediately fall from all power and dignity , &c. and that , even before any sentence of the pope is pronounced against him ; and that all his subjects whatsoever are free from all obligation of any oath of obedience which they have made to him as their lawful prince ; and that they may and ought ( if they be strong enough ) to eject such a one from the government of christians , as an apostate , an heretick , a deserter of christ , and an enemy of his common-wealth , &c. cardinal perron went not altogether so high ; but yet he held to the roman catholick principle , that kings may be deposed by the pope when he sees cause . he seemed to be of another opinion while henry iv. was alive : but when he was dead , and a child was in the throne , then he ventur'd to declare this publickly in his oration * on behalf of the whole clergy of france . † he maintained that this was the current doctrine in france till the time of calvin : and for the contrary doctrine , viz that kings are not deposable by the pope , rossaeus * calls it the paradox of the lutherans ; perron calls it a doctrine that breeds schisms : a gate that leads into all heresie ; and to be held in so high a degree of detestation , that rather then yield to it , he and his fellow-bishops would chuse to burn at a stake . but how has this doctrine taken among the papists in our kings dominions ? it has not taken with some of them : either because you have not thought it seasonable for you to instruct them in it ( for doctrines of this sort are then only proper to be inculcated , when they may do execution ) or else because your instruction has been over rul'd by some better principle ; as we doubt not there have always been some of your church , in whose generous breasts the english man has been too strong for the papist . but yet this doctrine has taken with others ; and many of them have practised according to it , as we shall shew you hereafter ; and many more would have been practising , if there had not been something to hinder them or deterr them . for 't is allowed by your divines , as a very good reason , for catholicks to omit the duty of rebellion , if they are not strong ●nough to go through with it . so bannez excuses our english catholicks , and so bellarmin * does the primitive christians : nay your † casuists say , if there be any notable danger of death or ruin , without which you cannot perform it , that then you are not bound to endeavour it . long may these good reasons continue ; for if these were remov'd , we know not how far we may trust you . for one of your brethren , another poisoner of the people , has been so forward already , since his majesties restauration , as to declare in print , that in case your pope should take upon him to deprive our king , he would not meddle between them . i leave that question , saith he , to be decided by the two supream powers , the pope , and the king , when occasion shall be for it . [ my lords and gentlemen , had this been a new sect not known before , something perchance might have been doubted ; but to lay this at their doors that have govern'd the civilliz'd world , is the miracle of miracles to us ] sir , we know not how to cure your wonder , but by shewing you , 't is unreasonable . for you can it a miracle , that men judge according to good evidence . who doubts less of the dangerousness of your principles and practices , than they that have read most , and had most experience of them ? we can give you no greater instance , than in king james of blessed memory , who was no stranger to you either way , and this is his judgment of you : that as on the one part , many honest ●en s●d●ced with some errors of po●ery , may yet remain go●d and fait●ful subjects : so on the other part , none of those that truly know and believe ●he whole grounds and school-conclusions of ●heir doctrines , can ever prove either go●d christians or good subjects . but pray sir , when was it that you govern'd the civiliz'd world ? for the eastern and southern churches never own'd your government ; nor yet the western , while learning flourished : but when barbarity had over-run it , then popery grew up by degrees , and made it more barbarous both in ignorance and in cruelty . then came in those doctrines of transubstantiation , &c. then came in those papal usurpations , &c. which the wo●ld , being again civiliz'd , hath partly thrown off , and partly reduced into more tolerable terms . [ did richard the first , or edward long-shanks , suspect his catholicks that served in palestine , and make our countryes fame big in the chronicle of all ages ? or did they mistrust ( in their dangerous absence ) their subjects at home , because they were of the same profession ? could edward the third imagine those to be traiterous in their doctrine , that had that care and duty for their prince , as to make them ( by statute ) guilty of death in the highest degree , that had the least thought of ill against the king ? be pleased that henry the fifth be remembred also , who did those wonders , of which the whole world does yet resound ; and certainly all history will agree in this , that 't was oldcastle he feared , and not those that believed the bishop of rome to be head of the church . ] the reigns of those kings whom you speak of , were in those dark times ; when all goodness declin'd , and corruptions were daily growing upon us . richard the first , being told he had three wicked daughters , pride , covetousness , and leachery , said he could not match them better than among your templers , fathers , and friars . edward the first out-law'd the whole clergy of this realm , for refusing to pay the king any taxes , because the pope had forbidden them to do it . and both those other princes whom you mention , made laws against his usurpations . edward the third made a notable one of this kind , by advice of that very parliament , in which he enacted his laws against treason . and certainly , henry the second was more vex'd with becket , than ever henry v. feared oldcastle . we doubt not , those kings had many good subjects , and our king hath some better than you seem to be . but they differed not in religion , as you do from ours : and yet then , your faction was always encroaching where it was suffered , and dangerous where it was opposed . did not your pope force king john to do him homage for england ? did he not wrestle with edward i. * for the sovereignty of scotland ? hath he not often laid claim to the kingdom of ireland ? if the old gentleman in a pet should go to turn out his tenant , what would our king have left , when these are disposed of ? [ we will no longer trouble you with putting you in mind of any more of our mighty kings who have been feared abroad , and as safe at home as any since the reformation of religion . we shall only add this , that if popery be the enslaving of princes , france still believes it self as absolute as denmark or sweden . ] the french king will believe what he pleases , but not all that you say of him . for he cannot but know , that the pope gave away that kingdom from some of his predecessors ; and maintained war in it against his grandfather , till he brought him to his terms . and why hath not his holiness dealt so with him that now is ? partly for the sake of his religion ; but chiefly for fear of a storm , lest his coin should do that which lewis the twelfth's only threatned in the inscription of it , perdam babylonis nomen . [ nor will ever the house of austria abjure the pope , to secure themselves of the fidelity of their subjects . ] for the austrian princes that are so link'd to the pope ▪ and whose subjects are all papists ; you suggest a mad way to secure themselves by firing their countrey about their ears . but what is this to england ? where , since the exclusion of that trash , which you call the catholick faith , the king and the greatest part of his people are no papists , and have had so much trouble and danger for it from them that are . may not reason and experience teach us to fear , that having to do with the same kind of adversaries , we may still have some troublesome and dangerous enemies ? no , we have none to fear but our selves , if we may believe you . for , say you , [ we shall always acknowledge to the whole world , that there have been as many brave english in this last century , as in any other place whatsoever : yet , since the exclusion of the catholick faith , there hath been that committed by those who would fain be called protestants , that the wickedest papist at no time dreamt of . ] pray sir , what may that be ? for you have murthered kings , and them of your own religion , four or five in this realm since the conquest ( not to speak of those numbers elsewhere . ) but that was in the growing age of popery . in latter times , have you so soon forgot our kings grand-father , henry iv. murthered by ravilliac ? or his predecesfor henry iii. murthered by fryar clement ? and the people you have kill'd up by whole families and townships ? witness england , ireland , france , piedmont , which you may hear of elsewhere . these things have been done by papists broad awake ; and what must that be which the wickedst of them never dreamt of ? [ 't was never heard of before , that an absolute queen was condemned by subjects , and those styled her peers ; or that a king was publickly tryed and executed by his own people and servants . ] first , you tell us of the queen of scots being put to death in queen elizabeths reign . it was by the same colour of right , we suppose , that wallis suffered in edward the first 's reign , namely of that sovereignty that our princes challenged over scotland . but edward i. was ere while a laudable papist ; and queen elizabeth , for all this , might be a very good p●otestant . sure we are , that king james and king charles , who were nearest concerned in this matter , never imputed the fault of it to her religion . your other instance is , of that most execrable murther , committed on the best of kings , by his own subjects , and by such as you say , would fain be called pro●estants . sir , we would fain be called christians , and members of the catholick church : would you take it well of a turk , that should therefore charge our faults upon you ? but you do worse than a turk , in charging these mens faults upon us . they were neither then nor since of our communion ; but that blessed prince was , whom they murther'd . he declared upon the scaffold , i dye a christian , according to the profession of the church of england , as i found it left me by my father . he charged the princess elizabeth , not to grieve , and torment her self for him ; for that would be a glo●ious death which he should dye , it being for the laws and liberties of this land , and for maintaining the true protestant religion . he died with some care not to leave you this advantage by his death ; as it appears by these words of his last letter to his majesty that now is . the scandal of the late troubles which some may object and urge to you against the protestant religion established in england , is easily answered to them or your own thoughts in this , that scarce any one who hath been a beginner or an active prosecutor of this late war against the church , the laws , and mee , either was or is a true lover , embracer , or practicer of the protestant religion established in england ; which neither gives such rules , nor ever before set such examples . [ my lords and gentlemen , we know who were the authors of this last abomination , & how generously you strove against the raging torrent ; nor have we any other ends to remember you of it , but to shew that all religions may have a corrupted spawn ; and that god hath been pleased to permit such a rebellion , which our progenitors never saw , to convince you perchance ( whom for ever may he prosper ) that popery is not the only source of treason ] but do you indeed know , who were the authors of this last abomination ? pray sir be plain with us , for in these doubtful words , there seems to be more truth than every man is aware of . the rebellion that led to it , began we know in scotland , where the design of it was first laid by † cardinal richelien his majesties * irreconcileable enemy . then it broke out in ireland , where it was blest with his holiness's letters , and assisted by his nuntio , whom he sent purposely to attend the fire there . lastly here in england , you did your parts to unsettle the people and gave them needless occasions of jealousie , which the vigilant phanaticks made use of , to bring us all into war and confusion . both in england and scotland , the special tools that they wrought with , were borrowed out of your shops . it was his majesties own observat on ( by which you may guess whose spawn they were ) their maxims , saith he , were the same with the jesuites ; their preachers sermons were delivered in the very phrase of becanus , scioppius , and eudaemon johannes ; their poor arguments , which they delivered in their seditious pamphlets printed or written , were taken almost verbatim out of bellarmin and suarez . in ireland , where you durst do it , you imploy'd iron and steel against him ; with which you might as well have preserved him , if you had pleased ; but you denyed to do that , ( as he tell us ) * only upon account of religion . then followed the accursed fact it self , agreed to in the councils of your † clergy , contriv'd and executed by the phanaticks . in vain did the poor royallist strive against it , for what could he do ? when two such streams met against him ; of which the deepest was that which came from rome , where the false fisherman open'd all his flood-gates , to overwhelm us with those troubles , which , for the advantage of his trade , he had often before endeavoured , but could never prevail till now to send them pouring in upon us . [ little we think , ( when your prayers and ours were offer'd up to beg a blessing on the kings affairs ) ever to see that day , in which carlos gifford , whitgrave , & the pendrels , should he punish'd by your desires for that religion which obliged them to save their forlorn prince ; & a stigmatized man ( for his offences against king & church ) a chief promoter of it . nay less , did we imagine , that by your votes huddleston might be hang'd , who again secured our sovereign ; and others free in their fast possessions that sate as judges , and sealed the execution of that great prince of happy memory . ] that many gentlemen of your church were not of your party , we do willingly acknowledge ; and that some of them in that critical day of danger , did the king very eminent service . but so did protestants too ; therefore you cannot ascribe this to your religion . nor does it seem reasonable , that to requite particular persons for their service , we should abandon those laws which may secure the publick against as great a danger . to question his life that had freely exposed it for our sovereigns , were too great a barbarity for any christians but of your sect , or any age but queen maries dayes ; for then sir nicholas throgmorton was indeed so dealt with ; but we do not more detest those times than such examples . and we know that his majesty , without any trespass on his laws , may protect and reward those persons whom he judgeth deserving it ; as well as his royal predecessors did , in whose reigns the penal laws were made . pray be you as favourable to the stigmatized man , ( whom sure you are not angry with for his offence against king and church , whatsoever you say ; ) and if he be now a promoter of any thing that displeaseth you , bear with him , as his majesty doth ; for whom he lately did his utmost against phanaticks toward the bringing of him in : and he would not willingly live to see the pope turn him out again . for the regicides , be as severe with them as you please ; only beware how you tax his majesty's mercy , for fear you may have need of it . [ we confess we are unfortunate , and you just judges , whom with our lives we will ever maintain to be so ; nor are we ignorant the necessity of affairs made both the king and you do things , which formerly you could not so much as fancy . yet give us leave to say , we are still loyal ; nay ▪ to desire you to believe so , and to remember how synonymous under the late rebellion ) was the word papist and cavalier ; for there was never no papist that was not deemed a cavalier , nor no cavalier that was not called a papist , or at least judged to be popishly affected . ] your fawning upon the parliament , and commending of your selves , we pass over as things of course . and we equally believe you now , as you did the phanaticks heretofore , when they called us papists ; or as we did you e'rewhile , when you called them protestants . for pray sir , what did they to be called protestants ? or what did we to be judged popishly affected ? and if all papists , as you say , were deemed cavaliers ; we hope some of them have had the grace to be ashamed of it . in ireland there were whole armies of irish and english , that fought against his majesty , solely upon the account of your religion . in england it is true , some came in voluntarily to assist him ; but many more of you were * hunted into his garrisons , by them that knew you would bring him little help and much hatred . and of those that fought for him , as long as his fortune stood ; when that once declined , a great part , even of them , fell from him . from that time forward , you that were , always , all , deemed cavaliers , where were you ? in all those weak efforts * of gasping loyalty , what did you ? you complied , and flattered , and gave sugar'd words to the rebels then , as you do to the royallists now . you addrest your petitions † to the supream authority of this nation the parliament of the commonwealth of england you affirmed * that you had generally taken , and punctually kept the ingagement . you promised , that if you might but enjoy your religion † you would be the most quiet and useful subjects in england . you prov'd it in these words . * the papists of england would be bound by their own interest ( the strongest obligation amongst wise men ) to live peaceably and thankfully in the private exercise of their consciences ; and becoming gainers by such compassions , they could not so reasonably be distrusted , as the prelatick party that were losers . you prov'd it more amply by real testimonies ; which we have no pleasure in remembring , and you would have less in hearing of them . these things were too lately done to be talk't of . if after all this said and done for your own vindication , you were still deemed cavaliers , the more was your wrong . but who could help it ? all the right we can do you , is , not to believe it . [ we know though we differ something in religion ( the truth of which let the last day judge ) yet none can agree with your inclinations , or are fitter for your converse than we ; for as we have as much birth among us as england can boast of , so our breeding leans your way both in court and camp : and therefore , had not our late sufferings united us in that firm tye , yet our like humors must needs have joyned our hearts . if we err , pitty our condition , and remember what your great ancestors were , and make some difference between us ( that have twice converted england from paganism ) and those other sects that can challenge nothing but intrusion for their imposed authority . ] as for religion , we agree with you in all that is truly catholick : we differ from you only in not admitting your innovations . and whether justly , we say also , let the last day judge . your converse , breeding , &c. we heartily respect as far as 't is english. but we suspect every thing that leans toward a forreign jurisdiction . and we would be loth , by our kindness to those things wherein we agree with you , to be drawn into the danger of those things in which we differ from you . by that flam of your having twice converted england from paganism , sure you mean that we in this land have been twice converted by persons sent to us from rome . which you will never perswade any one to believe , that dares trust himself to taste of church-history without one of your fathers chewing it for him . but , supposing this to be true , pray what would you infer from it ? that because we received good from the primitive christians of that place , therefore we should lay our selves open to receive any evil that may happen to us from their degenerous successors . [ but 't is generally said , that papists cannot live without persecuting all other religions within their reach . we confess , where the name of protestant is unknown , the catholick magistrates ( beliveing it erroneous ) do use all care to keep it out : yet in those countries where liberty is given , they have far more priviledges than we , under any reformed government what soever . to be short , we will only instance france for all , wher they have publick churches , wher they can make what proselytes they please , and where it 's not against law to be in any charge or employment . now holland ( which permits every thing ) gives us , 't is true , our lives and estates , but takes away all trust in rule , and leaves us also in danger of the scout , whensoever he pleaseth to disturb our meetings . ] what is generally said of the popish persecutions , is also generally believed . but sir , you answer it deceitfully . for you tell us of the manner ; first , of those countries where the name of protestant is unknown : and next , of those countries where liberty is given : but you slip over a third sort , namely , of those where the name of protestant is well known , and yet no liberty is given . pray what liberty have the protestants in flanders ? we are told they have none : and yet the name of them is very well known there . the like may be said of divers other countries : nay in england , while it was yours , did you give any liberty at all ? yet the name of protestant was very well known here , and was sufficient for the burning of any one that was known by it . but you say , you will only instance france for all . very wisely resolved : for it would not have been for your credit to instance any other . in france then , whatsoever liberty the protestants enjoy , it is by vertue of their edicts : which how they were obtained , we shall have occasion to mind * you ; and how they are observed , let the poor hugonots tell you . but if they were observed to the full ; should we therefore grant you that liberty which is against law ? because they are allow'd that which you say is not against law. in holland , the papists may have some reason to complain , if their masters allow them no more liberty than you speak of . for , it was chiefly by their hands , that the spanish yoak was thrown off : which , on the contrary , our papists were so fond of , that for divers years together , we had much ado to keep them from pulling it on upon our necks . [ because we have named france , the massacre will perchance be urged against us : but the world must know , that was a cabinet-plot , condemned as wicked by catholick writers there , and of other countries also : besides , it cannot be thought they were murthered for being protestants , since 't was their powerful rebellion ( let their faith have been what it would ) that drew them into that ill machinated destruction . ] the french massacre , which you next speak of , was a thing of so horrid a cruelty , that , as thuanus * tells us , considering-men , having turn'd over the annals of the nations , could find no example of the like in all antiquity . * it was cloak'd over with shews of the greatest amity in the world ; namely of a marriage between the houses of valois and bourbon ; to which all the chief of the protestants were most lovingly invited . there , after the jollity of mirth , and caresles of entertainment , in the dead-time of the night , the whole city was in arms about them ; they fell upon all the protestants houses and lodgings ; they butchered them without distinction , men , women and children , till the channels ran down with blood into the river : and scarce a protestant was left alive , except the * bridegroom and the prince of conde ; who turned papists to escape their hands , and yet they could not escape them ; the one being poisoned , and the other stabb'd by men of your religion . this hellish stratagem , you say , was condemned as wicked by catholick writers . it was likewise extoll'd as glorious by catholick writers . but pray sir , what think you of it ? you are bashful in company , but one may guess at your meaning . first , you say it was a cabinet-plot : a fine soft word , for the butchering ▪ * of 30000 persons . next , in answer to them that call it murther , you seem to blame it as a thing done to halves ; for what else can you mean , by calling it an ill-machinated destruction ? lastly , whatsoever it was , that which drew it upon them , you say , was their rebellion ( let their faith have been what it would . ) nay sir , it was their faith ( let their obedience have been what it would . ) for neither had that king better subjects than those which were massacred ; nor had his successor erranter rebels than those that did massacre them . brave coligni was the first murthered ; and his head was sent to rome , while his body ( according to his own ominous * wish ) was mangled and dragged about the streets of paris . the duke of guise was chief of the murtherers ; whose factious authority , as you sweetly style it , was as black a rebellion as ever that kingdom saw . but to end this question , whether these men were massacred for protestant religion , or for rebellion ; let us take judges between us : for possibly , we may be partial for the one , and you for the other . first , of rebellion , a king should be the most competent judge : hear therefore what king james saith , who lived in the fresh memory of those dayes . i could never yet learn ( saith he ) by any good and true intelligence , that in france , those of the religion took arms against their king. in the first civil wars they stood only upon their guard , they stood only to their lawful wards , and locks of defence . they armed not , nor took the field , before they were pursued with fire & sword , burnt up and slaughtered . besides , religion was neither the root nor the rinde of those intestine troubles . the true ground of the quarrel was this ; during the minority of king francis ii. the protestants of france were a refuge and succor to the princes of the blood , when they were kept from the king's presence , and by the power of their enemies were no better than plainly driven and chased from the court. i mean the grandfathers of the king now reigning , and of the prince of conde , when they had no place of safe retreat . in regard of which worthy and honorable service , it may seem the french king hath reason to have the protestants in his gracious remembrance . with other commotion or insurrection the protestants are not justly to be charged . certain it is , that king henry iii , &c. by their good service was delivered from a most extream & eminent peril of his life , &c. they never abandoned that henry iii. nor iv. in all the heat of revolts and rebellions raised by the pope , and the more part of the clergy , &c. then of religion , since you will allow none but the pope to be judge , let us hear his judgment from thuanus , who was a roman catholick , and a most authentick historian . he tells us , the pope had an account of the massacre from his legate at paris , that he read his letter in the consistory of cardinals , that there it was decreed that they should go directly to st. marks , and there solemnly give thanks to almighty god for so great a blessing conferred upon the roman see , and the christian world. that soon after a jubilee should be publisht through the whole christian world , and these causes were exprest for it , to give thanks to god for destroying in france the enemies of the truth , and of the church , &c. in the evening , the guns were fired at st. angelo , and bonefires were made , and nothing was omitted of all those things that use to be performed in the greatest victories of the church . some dayes after , there was a procession to st. lewis , with the greatest resort of nobility and people . first went the bishops and cardinals , then the switzers , then the ambassadors of kings and princes : then under a canopy , went his holiness himself , with the emperor's ambassador bearing up his train for him , &c. over the church-door was an inscription set up , in which the cardinal of lorain , in the name of the king of france , congratulated his holiness , and the colledge of cardinals , &c. for the plainly stupendious effects , and altogether incredible events , of their councils given him , and of their assistances sent him , and of their twelve years wishes and prayers . soon after , the pope sent cardinal ursin in his name , to congratulate the king of france , who in his journey through the cities , highly commended the faith of those citizens that had to do in the massacre ; and distributed his holiness's blessings amongst them . and at paris , being to perswade the reception of the council of trent , he endeavoured it with this argument , that the memory of the late action , to be magnified in all ages , as conducing to the glory of god , and the dignity of the holy roman church , might be as it were sealed by the approbation of the holy synod : for that so it would be manifest to all men that now are , or hereafter shall be , that the king consented to the destruction of so many lives , not out of hatred or revenge , or sense of any injury of his own , but out of an ardent desire to propagate the glory of god. that , what could not be expected whilst the faction of protestants stood , now since they were taken away , the catholick apostolick roman religion which by the synod of trent is cleared from the venom of the sectaries , might be established without controversie , and without exception , through all the provinces of the french dominion . well spoken , worthy head of the church ! we will take thy judgment about cutting of throats at any time ; thou dost not mince the matter , as this english limb of thee doth : who yet is thus far to be commended ; that since he durst not say of it as he desir'd , for fear of provoking us , yet he would not call it as it deserved , for fear of too much contradicting thee . [ may it not be as well said in the next catholick kings reign , that the duke of guise and cardinal , heads of the league , were killed for their religion also ? now no body is ignorant , but 't was their factious authority which made that jealous prince design their deaths , though by unwarrantable means . ] the duke of guise and his brother , were not killed for their religion ; for they were killed by * one of the same religion , and one that was bent against the protestants as much as they . only because he spared the blood of the protestants your zealots hated him ; and so much the more , because a protestant * being his heir , he would not declare him uncapable of the succession . for these causes , by the popes consent , these guises ( whom he called the maccabes † of the church ) entred into an holy league against their king ; and called in the succors of spain and savoy , which they paid for with the rights of the crown ; they maintained a sharp war against him , and did all that was in their power to deprive him of his kingdom and life . whereupon that jealous prince ( as you favourably * call him ) for his own preservation , was urged to deal with them , as they had dealt with the protestants ; from whose case , this of the guises is so vastly different , that one would wonder why you should mention it . but since you have led us thus far out of the way , let us invite you a little farther . the pope excommunicated the king for this action , and granted 9 years of true indulgence to any of his subjects that would bear arms against him ; and foretold , * ( as a pope might do without astrology ) that e're long he should come to a fearful death . the subjects took arms , and earned the indulgence . a friar took his knife , and fulfilled the prediction ; by ripping up those bowels that were always most tenderly affected with kindness to the monkish orders . but what joy was there at rome for this ! as if the news of another massacre had come to town , one would think so , by the popes oration * to his cardinals : in which he sets forth this work of god ( the kings murther ) for its wonderfulness to be compared with christs incarnation and resurrection . and the friars vertue , and courage , and fervent love of god , he prefers before that of eleazar in the maccabees , or of judith killing holofernes : and the murthered king ( who had profest himself to dye in the faith of the roman catholick apostolick church ) he declared to have died in the sin against the holy ghost . pray sir , may it not well be said , that papists cannot live without persecuting protestants ? when we see a popish king stabb'd and damned for not persecuting them enough , or for doing the work of the lord negligently . [ if it were for doctrine that hugonots suffered in france , this haughty monarch would soon destroy them now , having neither force nor town to resist his might and puissance . they yet live free enough , being even members of parliament , and may convert the kings brother too ; if he think fit to be so . thus you see how well protestants may live in a popish country , under a popish king : nor was charlemain more catholick than this ; for though he contends something with the pope , 't is not of faith , but about gallicane priviledges , which perchance he may very lawfully do . ] [ iudge then worthy tatriots , who are the best used , and consider our hardship here in england , where it is not only a fine for hearing mass , but death to the master for having a priest in his house ; and so far we are from preserment , that by law we cannot come within 10 miles of london ; all which we know your great mercy will never permit you to exact . ] you say , if this were true , then this hanghty monarch would soon destroy his hugonots now . no such consequence , sir , for he may persecute them , and not destroy them ; he may destroy them , but not so soon . princes * use to go their own pace , whilst they are upon their legs ; but if any misfortune throws them upon all four , then the pope gets up and rides them what pace he pleaseth . nor is this monarch yet so catholick as charlemain was ; if he were , he would do as charlemain did . he would be patron of all the bishopricks in his empire , even of rome it self , if it were there . he would make the pope himself know the distance between a prelate and an emperor . he would maintain the rights of his crown ; and not chop logick about gallicane priviledges , which you say , like a sly jesuite , that perchance he may lawfully do . he would call a council when he pleased , to separate errors from the faith ; as charlemain himself called a council * against image-worship , which was then creeping into the church . this were a good way of destroying the hugonots , by taking away all causes of strife amongst christians . by any other way than this he cannot destroy them , without the violation of his laws : which , as they are the only forces and towers , whereby subjects ought to be secured against their king ; so , since he is pleased to allow them no other , these laws , backt with his puissance , are forces enough to secure them against their fellow-subjects . we cannot pass this paragraph , without observing your jesuitical ingenuity ; how you slight those favours that you have ; how you complain of those hardships that you have not ; and how you insult over the poor hugonots , by comparing with them , who generally would mend their condition by changing with you . pray sir , do not popish-peers sit in our english parliaments , as well as protestants in the french ? or have you not as free access to our kings brother , as they have to theirs ? or would you have his highness to catechise , as the abbot had the duke of glocester ? perhaps that you would have . otherwise we know nothing but his highness's wisdom , and care of his conscience , that guards him from you . of the laws you complain hideously , worthy patriots consider our hardship . and yet , those very laws you complain of , you never knew executed in your life ; and you tell us soon after , that you know they never will be . for what cause then were they enacted ? plainly for this cause , to guard the lives of our princes against your traiterous practices . [ it hath often been urged , that our misdemeanors in queen elizabeth's days , and king james's time , was the cause of our panishment . ] your misdemeanors ! we cry you mercy , if they were no more ; but that comes next to be argued , whether they were misdemeanors or treasons ? [ we earnestly wish that the party had more patience under that princess . but pray consider ( though we excuse not their faults ) whether it was not a question harder than that of york and lancaster , the cause of a war of such length , and death of so many princes , who had most right , q elizabeth or mary stuart : for since the whole kingdom had crowned and sworn allegiance to q. mary , they had owned her legitimate daughter to henry the eighth ; and therefore it was thought necessarily to follow by many , that if mary was the true child , elizabeth was the natural , which must then needs give way to the thrice noble queen of scots . ] under queen elizabeth , you wish your party had more patience ; and we think they needed none ; for in the first ten years of her reign they had no business for it . in all that space of time , which was twice as long as queen maries reign , though it was fresh in memory what the papists had done , yet not one of them suffered death : till the northern rebellion : which being raised against her , only upon the account of her religion ; it appears that she was the persecuted person : she had the occasion for patience ; and you would have wished them more loyalty , if any such thing had been in your thoughts . but perhaps you wish they had so much patience , as not to have discovered their design before it was fully ripe for execution . not unlike . for it appears , you account rebellion no fault ; by this , that you say , you excuse not their faults , and yet you do excuse their rebellion . you excuse them , by saying , it was a very hard question , whether the right of the crown lay in her , or in the queen of scots ; for that many thought queen elizabeth illegitimate . pray sir , who thought it ? or when arose that question ? the arch-bishop of york though a papist , in his speech at the publishing of queen maries death , said , no man could doubt of the justness of the lady elizabeths title to the succession . the whole kingdom received her , and owned her as queen , more generally and freely than eyer they did queen mary . the neighbour kings of spain and france , and the emperor offered * marriage to her , in hopes to have got the crown by her . the queen of scots her self did acknowledge her , and claimed nothing more than to be heir to her , and so did king james that was her successor . so that whosoever opposed queen elizabeths right , if they were english , 'c is apparent they were rebels ; and if they were papists , we may guess what led them to it for the first that questioned her title , was pope * paul iv. who would not acknowledge her for sundry causes ; the chief that he alledged , were these : first , because this kingdom is a fee of the papacy , and it was audaciously done of her to assume it without his leave . the second was , because she was illegitimate : for if her fathers marriage were good , the pope must let down his mill. but after all this , his successor pius iv * did own her , and would have done any thing for her , so she would have owned him . which because she would not , the next pope pius v. issued out his bull * against her , and deposed her ; not for bastardy † but for heresie ; that is , for being a protestant ; for which heresie it was , that the northern men rebelled against her , and many more of her subjects disowned her : and some or other were every foot plotting how to take away her life . true it is , that some of these pretended to do it in favour of the queen of scots . but how if that queen had not been a catholick ? or queen elizabeth had not been thought illegitimate ? would a legitimate protestant have been so contended for ? or would a popish bastard have been rejected by them ? pope gregory xiii . had occasion to consider this . for his holiness had a bastard * of his own to provide for , and another † of the emperors ; no doubt good catholicks both of them . to one he gave the kingdom of ireland , and set out stukely * with forces to win it for him . to the other he gave the kingdom of england , and gave him leave to win it for himself . but what was all this to the thrice noble queen of scots ? possibly she might have been preferred to have married one of the rwo ? but then it must have been expresly with this condition , that her son king james ( who was a heretick ) should have nothing to do with the succession . when their bubbles were broken , and she was dead , all her right descended to king james , who being as little to the pope's mind , as q. elizabeth was , sixtus v. only took no publick notice of him , but he proceeded with all his might against her. he curst her afresh , and publisht a croysade against her , and gave the whole right of her kingdoms to philip the ii. king of spain . but neither that popes bounty , nor his three successors blessings , nor the spanish arms , nor the italian arts ( for no way was left untried ) could ever prevail against gods providence ; which , till the end of her days , kept that queen always fast in her possessions . at last , pope clement viii . seeing there was nothing to be done against her , resolv'd to let her go like a heretick as she was ; and to take the more care that another heretick should not succeed her . for which cause he sent over two breves into england , one to the clergy , and the other to the laity , commanding them not to admit any other but a catholick , though never so near in blood , to the succession : that is to say , in plain words , not to admit king james to reign after queen elizabeths death . so 't is clear , that your popes never stuck at that hard question that you speak of . let us see what our country-men did , who , as you say , suffered for it in those days . they did like obsequious members , at every turn , as their head directed them . they acted for the papal interest as far as they were able . they made the house of scotland the cloak for it , as far as it would reach . and it reacht pretty well , as long as the title was in queen mary . but after the title came to be in king james , pray sir , name us those papists , or but one single person of them , that either died or suffered for him : and then you bless us with a discovery . what then ? were they idle for so many years as past between the commencing of his title , and the death of queen elizabeth ? nothing less . for they were as busie as bees , in contriving how to hasten her death , and how to put him by the succession . and if it were for his service , that they would have destroyed her ; pray for whose service was it , that they would have defeated him ? but that will be known by the story . soon after his mothers death was the spanish invasion ; which would have defeated him with a witness , if it had sped ; and yet our papists , both negotiated * it , and writ in defence † of it . afterwards in scotland your jesuites procured the earl of huntley * and others to raise a powerful rebellion against him . in england , they endeavoured to perswade the earl of derby † to set up a title to the crown ; who honestly revealing it , was poisoned soon after , according to the prophetical threatning of hesket whom they had made use of to perswade him . when these single shots failed , father parsons * gave a broad-side to the royal house of scotland . for he publisht a book under the name of dolman , wherein he set up divers competitours for the succession , and consequently so many enemies to the unquestionable right of that family . and to provide one sure enemy upon the place , he found out a title for the earl of essex , the most ambitious and popular man in the nation , to whom also he craftily dedicated his book . in which he mentions , † among other books of this nature , one written by lesley concerning the queen of scots title ; another by heghinton for the king of spains title ; and another concerning the prince of parma's ; but for his part , before these and all others , he prefers the title of the infanta . and , to shew that he meant as he said , * he caused their scholars in the seminaries abroad to subscribe to it , and made them swear to maintain it , and bound the missionaries to promote it in those places whither they were to be sent . whereas for king james his title , he preferrs several others before it , and tells us , † i have not found very many in england that favour it : meaning sure of your catholicks , with whom his converse chiefly was ; and concerning whom he gives this remarkable testimony , that * the catholicks make little account of his title by nearness of succession . we have reason to believe he did not wrong them , because when an answer was written to his book , † the arch-priest blackwel would not suffer it to be published . and your next head-officer , the provincial of the jesuites , * declared he would have nothing to do with king james his title ; and 't was the common voice of the men of his order that * if king james would turn catholick , they would follow him ; but if not , they would all die against him . which pious resolutions were seconded with agreeable actions . for they endeavoured , as far as catholicks are obliged by their principles , viz. as far as they durst and were able ; at first ; to hinder him from coming in , and afterwards to throw him out again , or to destroy him in the place , as we shall have occasion to shew you in the answer to the next paragraph . the mean while out of this present discourse , in which you cannot deny any thing that is material to our purpose ; it appears that this hard question of right to the crown , was not between the parties themselves in one or t'other of whom you confess the right was . it appears that your infallible judge of controversies very easily and impartially resolv'd it , by denying both sides of the question , and assuming the whole right to himself . it appears that your catholicks , who are said to have sided with one against the other , did in truth side with the pope against them both . and lastly it appears that their misdemeanors were inexcusable treasons , if any treason can be inexcusable that is befriended with such an apologist . [ 't was for the royal house of scotland that they suffered in those days ; and 't is for the same illustrious family we are ready to hazard all on any occasion . ] sir , we have found you notoriously false in that which you affirm : pray god you prove true in that which you promise . [ nor can the consequence of the former procedure be but ill , if a henry viii . ( whom sir w. raleigh , and my lord cherbury , two famous protestants , have so homely characteriz'd ) should after twenty years cohabitation turn away his wife , and this out of scruple of conscience as he said ) when as history declares that he never spared woman in his lust , nor man in his fury . this character would better agree with many a head of a church whom we could name you , than with henry viii . of whom better * historians speak better things . but if he were such a monster as you would make him , perhaps it was for want of a better religion ; for he was * perfectly of yours , except only in the point of supremacy . and you had no occasion for this flurt at him ; unless that , having undertaken to put the best colours upon treason , you might think you did something towards it in bespattering of kings . we have a touch of the same art in the next paragraph . where having undertaken to excuse the gun-powder-treason , you call it first a misdemeanor , then the fifth of november , and then a conjuration ; soft words all of them : but you deal wicked hardly with the great minister of state ; whom you make to have been the author of it ; as if the traitors had not conspired against the state , but the state against them . but before we come to answer this , it will be needful to set down the story , as it appears out of the examinations and confessions of the traitors themselves . the rise of this treason , was from the before-mentioned breves of pope clement viii . in which he required all his catholicks , that after the death of that wretched woman queen elizabeth , they should admit none but a catholick to reign over them . these breves were by garnet the provincial of the jesuites , communicated to catesby and others : who in obedience thought best to begin their practices in her life time . so they sent father tesmund and winter into spain to crave the assistance of that crown . the spaniard sent them back with the promise of an army . but soon after queen elizabeth died , and no army came . therefore again they sent christopher wright into spain to hasten i● and stanley out of flanders sent fawks thither upon the same errand ; who finding the councils of spain at this time wholly enclined to peace , returned quickly back , and brought nothing but despair along with them . yet the breves had so wrought upon catesby , that he could not find in his heart to give over ; but still casting about for ways , he hit upon this of the powder-treason , which as being much out of the common rode , he thought the most secure for his purpose he communicated this to winter , who approved it , and fetcht fawks out of flanders to assist in it . not long after piercy being in their company , and offering himself to any service for the catholick cause , though it were even the kings death : catesby told him , that that was too poor an adventure for him : but , saith he , if thou wilt be a traitor , there is a plot of greater advantage ; and such a one as can never be discovered . thus having duly prepar'd him , he took him into the conspiracy . and the like he did with so many more as made up their number thirteen of the laity . but where were the jesuites all the while ? rot idle , you may be sure . the provincial garnet was privy to it from the beginning , so were divers * more of the society . insomuch that when watson endeavour'd to have drawn them into his plot ( for the setting up of the lady arbella's title , in opposition to king james his ) they declin'd it , * saying , they had another of their own then afoot , and that they would not mingle designs with him for fear of hindering one another . but watson miscarried with his plot , and the jesuites went on with theirs . they absolv'd the conspirators of the guilt , and extenuated the danger of their design ; they perswaded them how highly beneficial it would be in the consequences of it ; they gave them their oath , by the holy trinity , and the sacrament which they did then receive , that none of them should reveal it to any other , or withdraw himself from it without common consent : and for the pittiful scruple of destroying the innocent with the guilty , garnet answered , they might lawfully do it in order to a greater good . yet it seems there was a spark of humanity in some of them . which the divinity of this casuist had not quite extinguish't ; as appear'd , either by the absenting of some lords that were afterward fined for it in the star-chamber , or certainly by that letter of warning to my lord monteagle , which was the happy occasion of the discovery of the whole treason . in warwick-shire , where the princess elizabeth then was , they had appointed a meeting , under the pretence of a hunting-match , to seize upon her , the same day in which the king and his male issue were to have been destroyed . there met about fourscore of them , which was a number sufficient for that business . but the news of the discovery coming among them , they were so dismayed at it , that they desisted from their enterprize , and fled into stafford-shire ; where , the countrey being raised against them , they were some of them kill'd , and the rest taken ; and those which were left alive of the prime conspirators were sent up to london , and there executed . this is the plain story , now let us see how you colour it . [ now for the fifth of november ; with hands lifted up to heaven , we abominate and detest . ] what is it that you abominate and detest ? that day which is the festival of our deliverance ? we can believe you without your hands lifted up to heaven . or mean you the treason which was to have been acted upon that day ? why then do you not speak out and call it so ? for if you cannot afford to call it treason , it is not the lifting up of your hands that can make us believe you do heartily abominate and detest it . [ and from the bottom of our hearts say , that may they fall into irrecoverable perdition , who propagate that faith by the blood of kings , which is to be planted in truth and meekness only . ] it was a good caution of a philosopher to the son of a common woman , that he should not throw stones among a multitude , for fear of hitting his father . you might have had that caution when you threw out this curse ; for your father the pope stands fairest for it of all men that we know in the world. [ but let it not displease you , men , brethren , and fathers , if we ask whether ulysses be no better known ? or who hath forgot the plots cromwel framed in his closet ; not only to destroy many faithful cavaliers , but also to put a lustre upon his intelligence , as if nothing could be done without his knowledg . even so did the then great minister , who drew some few desperadoes into this conjuration , and then discovered it by a miracle . ] having spit and wip't your mouth , now you make your speech . and it begins with a mixture of apostle and poet ; to shew what we are to expect from you ; namely , with much gravity , much fiction : and so far you do not go about to deceive us . the scope of your speech is to make the world believe that your catholicks were drawn into this plot by secretary cecil . you are so wise , that you do not offer to prove this ; but you would steal it into us by an example , that we are concerned in . as cromwel trepann'd many faithful cavaliers , even so cecil drew in some few desperadoes . comparisons ( they say ) are odious : but to the business . first , admitting your fiction , as if it were true , that cecil did draw in those wretches into this treason . was it ever the less treason because he drew them into it ? for , according to your own supposition , they did not know that they were drawn in by him . but they verily thought that they had followed their own guides ; and they zealously did according to their own principles . they did , what they would have done , if there had been no cecil in the world ; provided there had been a devil in his room , to have put it into their heads . for your excuse only implies , that they had not the wit to invent it : but their progress in it shews , that they wanted not the malice to have executed it . so that according to your own illustration : as those faithful cavaliers whom cromwel drew in , had their loyalty abused , & were nevertheless faithful still ; so those powder-traitors whom you say cecil drew in , had their disloyalty outwitted , and were nevertheless traitors still . for as well in the one case as in the other , this very thing that they could be drawn in , is a clear demonstration that they were before-hand sufficiently disposed for it . secondly , when you have considered the absurdity of your excuse for your friends , you may do well to think of an excuse for your self . for that which you affirm of cecil's having drawn them into this plot , is a very groundless and impudent fiction , and you are properly the author of it . for though others perhaps may have spoken this in raillery ; yet you are the first , that we know of , that has asserted it in print . pray sir , whence had you this tale ? by what tradition did you receive it ? or had you some new revelation of the causes threescore years after the fact ? for 't is plain , that king james * knew nothing of it . bellarmin and his fellow apologists in that age never pretended it . the parties themselves , neither at their tryal , nor at their execution , gave any intimation of it . can you tell us which of the conspirators were cecil's instruments to draw in the rest ? or can you think he was so great an artist , that he could perswade his setters to be hang'd , that his art might not be suspected ? for 't is well known that he sav'd not any of those wretches from suffering . and they which did suffer , charged none other , but themselves , in their confessions . particularly , father garnet said , before doctor overal , and divers others , that he would give all the world , if it were his , to clear his conscience , or his name from that treason , these are strong presumptions of the negative ; but you ought to have proved your affirmative , or at least to have offered something toward it . for if barely to say this , be enough , then here is an excuse indifferently calculated for all treasons in the world that miscarry : ( and if they prosper , who dares call them treasons ? ) here is a never failing topick for any one that would write an apology in behalf of any villany whatsoever . for if the traitors be discover'd by any kind of accident , this will alwaies remain to be said for them , that the then great minister drew them in . but why did you not say this for those conspiracies in queen elizabeths daies ? you might have said it perhaps with less improbability . but then had you a higher game to fly at , namely the queens title to her crown ; and if you durst have made so bold with king james his , you would not have stoopt at so low a quarry as a minister of state. but by the way we cannot but acknowledge , that you jesuites are a sort of most obliging gentlemen . if men will believe what you say , nothing that you do can fall amiss . in your attempts against the life of queen elizabeth , you obliged his majesty that now is , as being martyrs for the royal house of scotland . and in your plot to blow up that royal house , you were a kind of fellow-sufferers with the faithful cavaliers ; for as they us'd to be trapp'd by cromwel , even so you were drawn in by secretary cecil . it is worth observing in this paragraph , how you diminish that hellish plot , by calling them that were engag'd in it , a few desperadoes . the fewness of them will be considered in your next . but in what sense do you call them desperadoes ? were they such in respect of their fortunes ? that is so well known to be false , that it needs no answer . were they such in respect of their discontents ? that seems to be your meaning . but there was little reason for any . for at the time of this conspiracy , there was none of your priests in prison , there was no mult taken of any lay-man , nor was there a man of them , as king james . * said , that could alledge any pretended cause of grief . and yet they were continually restless , as we have shewn you in their story . was it because they had not all the liberty they would have had ? this is so far from excusing them , that it rathet gives us occasion of suspecting you. 't is no wonder that you , who cannot afford to call this conspiracy a treason , are not willing to allow the discovery of it a miracle . yet you might have forborn scoffing at it , in respect to king * james , who was pleas'd to name it so . especially when his adversary bellarmin * acknowledges that it was not without a miracle of divine providence . and sure our king makes a better use of this word miracle in the thankful acknowledgement of gods great mercy in his deliverance ; than your pope * sixtus v. did in his insolent oration upon the king of france's murder ; by which we may guess what some body would have called this plot , if it had sped . [ this will easily appear , viz. how little the catholick party understood the design , seeing there was not a score of guilty found , though all imaginable industry was used by the commons , lords , and privy council too . ] the design it self was understood but by few , because it was neither safe nor needful to impart it to many . but the papists generally knew that there was a design in hand ; and though they did not know the horrid nature of it , yet many of them pray'd for the success of it : and if the plot had taken effect , and the hunting-match had gone on , we should then have been better able to have judg'd how your catholick party stood affected toward it . sure enough though there were but a * score in the treason , yet there appear'd fourscore in the rebellion : and it cannot be imagin'd , that so small a number could expect , without any other assistance , to have made any great advantage by surprizing the lady elizabeth . but when the treason had miscarried , as hateful as it was , ( for who does not hate treason when it is unsuccessful ? ) yet many of you had a high veneration for some of those wretches that were deeply engaged in it . what a coil here was about the miracle of father garnet's straw ? and perhaps you have seen his picture , and gerard's too among the * martyrs of your society . nay his holiness himself shew'd his good will to them , when after all this , he made tesmund penitentiary at s. peters in rome . [ but suppose , my lords and gentlemen , ( which never can be granted ) that all the papists of that age were consenting , will you be so severe then to still punish the children for the fathers faults ? ] [ nay such children that so unanimously joyned with you in that glorious quarrel , when you and we underwent such sufferings , that needs we must have all sunk , had not our mutual love assisted . ] you suppose that which is false , to avoid that which is true. for who ever said , that all the papists of that age were consenting to the gun-powder-treason ? or who can deny that some papists in this age retain the principles of them that were consenting to it ? who , although they are not to be punisht for what their predecessors did ; yet they ought to be so restrained , that they may not do like their predecessors . and though , by that long word unanimously , you endeavour to shuffle in the men of these principles , amongst them that served his majesty in that glorious quarrel : yet we think it no hard matter to distinguish them . for those among you which did the king service , are not so many but that they may be numbred . and as for the rest of you , which only suffer'd with us , we thank you for your love , but not for your assistance . for we could not well have sunk lower than we did . but some of you floted the while ▪ like cork ; and others of you swum upon the bladders of dispensations . so that as we received no help from you in your swimming ; so we can apprehend no assurance of you by your sufferings . [ what have we done that we should now deserve your anger ? has the indiscretion of some few incensed you ; 't is true , that is the thing objected . ] sir , our anger is only a necessary care , that what you now call your indiscretions , may not grow to be such as you lately call'd your misdemeanors . [ do not you know an enemy may easily mistake a mass-bell for that which calls to dinner ? ] we know he may upon a fast-day ; for then you use to ring your vesper bell before dinner . and how can a simple heretick tell , whether it calls you , to pray , or to eat fish ? but we do not know that ever any of you was brought in trouble about this question . [ or a sequestrator be glad to be affronted being constable ? when 't was the hatred to his person , and not present office , which perchance egg'd a a rash man to folly . ] possibly he may be glad of it . for it was your jesuitical distinction between person and office , that first holp him to be a sequestrator . and now he sees that distinction come in play ; he may hope , within a while , to have his place again . ( we dare with submission say , let a publick invitation be put up against any party whatsoever ; nay , against the reverend bishops themselves and some malicious informer or other will alledge that , which may be far better to conceal . ) ( yet all mankinde by a manifesto on the house door are incouraged to accuse us ; nor are they upon oath , though your enemies and ours take all for granted and true . ) what an ambush you have laid here for the bishops ! to have them thought popish , because you reverence them , and obnoxious , in such matters , as ( you say ) it may be far better to conceal . but as in the one , your kindness to them is sufficiently understood . so they are able to defie your malice in the other . 't is for a bishop of donna olympia's * to need concealment . our bishops in england are of another make , than to hold their credit at any one's courtesie . for the manifesto that troubled you , what could the parliament do less , when the complaints of you were great in all parts of the nation , than to invite men to bring their grievances to the proper place of redress ? but then say you , men were not upon oath , for what they said against you . what a hardship was this , that the house of commons would not do that for your sakes , which no house of commons ever did upon any occasion ? [ it can not be imagined where there is so many men of heat and youth , ( ever joyned with the happy restauration of their prince ) and remembring the insolencies of their grandees , that they should all at all times prudently carry themselves ; for this would be to be more than men . and truly we ecteem it as a particular blessing , that god hath not suffered many through vanity or frailty to fall into greater faults , than are yet as we understand laid to our charge . ] the king will never be out of your debt , if a jesuite may but keep the reckoning . your old treasons you put upon the account of his family and friends , and your late insolencies upon the score of his most happy restauration . but would you seriously perswade us , that , at six years distance , so many men of heat and youth were still transported with the joy of that blessing ? that there were some fresher causes of this jollity , has been vehemently suspected by many , who considered the great unseasonableness of it , in so calamitous a time , while the fire was ranging in our metropolis , and a french army lay hovering upon our coasts . ( can we chuse but be dismay'd ( when all things fail ) that extravagant crimes are fathered upon us . it is we must be the authors ( some say ) of firing the city , even we that have lost so vastly by it ; yet in this , our ingenuity is great , since we think it no plot , though our enemy an hugonot protestant acknowledged the fact , and was justly executed for his vain confession . again , if a merchant of the church of england buy knives for the business of his trade ; this also is a papist contrivance to destroy the well affected . ) there can be nothing charged on you , more extravagant than those things were , which your predecessors committed , and which here , you have taken upon you to justifie or excuse . the particulars of your charge , whatsoever they are , we leave to the consideration of the parliament : where we heartily wish there may appear more reason on your side , than there is to be found in this apology . for as to the firing of the city , if according to your words ( which we have not hitherto found to be gospel ) you have lost so vastly by it ; yet that will not acquit you from the suspicion of the fact. in the judgment of any one that considers the determination of your late provincial , * viz. that it is lawful to destroy the inrocent with the guilty in order to a greater good . and it seems this vast loss goes not near your heart ; one would think so by your pleasantness in the very next passage . for there you call hubert your enemy , and a hugonot protestant : which hubert , after father harvey had had him at confession , did indeed affirm himself to be a protestant ; but then being askt whether he meant a hugonot ( which it seems was beyond his instruction to say ) he earnestly denied that , as he very well might , for he then also declar'd that he believed confession to a ptiest was necessary to his salvation : and being admonish'd to call upon god , he repeated an ave-mary , which he said was his usual prayer . so that it evidently appears , he was neither hugonot , nor protestant , nor your enemy upon any account of religion . and yet you , being about to avouch this knot of falshoods , are pleased to usher them in with this preface , ( either in praise of your brother harveys pious fraud , or of your own proper vertue ) truly in this , our ingenuity is great . [ we must a little complain finding it by experience , that by reason you discountenance us , the people rage : and again , because they rage , we are the more forsaken by you . ] [ assured we are , that our conversation is affable , and our houses so many hospitable receipts to our neighbours . our acquaintance therefore we fear at no time ; but it is the stranger we dread : that ( taking all on hear-say ) zealously wounds , and then examines the business when it is too late , or is perchance confirmed by another , that knows no more of us than he himself . ] [ t is to you we must make our applications , beseeching you ( as subjects tender of our king ) to intercede for us in the execution , and weigh the dilemma , which doubtless he is in , either to deny so good a parliament their requests , or else run counter to his royal inclinations , when he punishes the weak and harmless . ] he that complains without a cause , must be heard without redress . we only desire to be safe from those dangers , to which your principles would expose us , and against which neither affableness nor hospitality will secure us . the protestants of ireland were never so treated and caressed by their popish neighbors , as they were the very year before ▪ they cut their throats . the best means of our security , is , that which his majesty has been pleased to require , viz. the discreet execution of his laws . by which ( if others shall please to distinguish themselves from the rest by renouncing their disloyal principles ) only the disloyal and seditious will be kept weak , that they may be harmless . [ why may we not , noble country-men , hope for favour from you , as well as french protestants finde from theirs ? a greater duty then ours none could express , we are sure ; or why should the united provinces , and other magistrates ( that are harsh both in mind and manners ) refrain from violence against our religion , and your tender breasts seem not to harbour the least compassion or pity ? ] [ these barbarous people sequester none for their faith , but for transgression against the state. nor is the whole party involved in the crime of a few , but every man suffers for his own and proper fault . do you then the like , and he that offends , let him dye without mercy : ] [ and think alwayes , i beseech you , of cromwels injustice : who for the actions of some against his pretended laws , drew thousands into decimation , even ignorant of the thing , after they had vastly paid for their security and quiet . ] we have answer'd your instances , of the french protestants , and the dutch papists ; and your unjust upbraiding us with the greatness of your duty , and with our want of compassion and pity . and yet , as if all these were unanswerable , you come over with them again and again . these barbarous people , you say , sequester none for their faith ; but pray what did you , when you govern'd the civiliz'd world ? you hang'd and burn'd men , for no other cause but their faith ; and this you did with abundance of civility ; so it seems we may be worse than barbarous , and yet much better than you . but that were little for our credit , unless we had this to say more ; that not the worst of you suffers any otherwise than by known laws , or any more than is of pure necessity . for , we hold it necessary to maintain the authority of the king , and the peace of the nation . if you call any thing religion , that is contrary to these ; must we therefore alter our laws ? or ought you to mend your religion ? you put the effigies of cromwel upon any thing that you would render odious ; as your inquisition bedresses one with pictures of devils , whom they are about to burn for his religion . for such disguizes are apt to work much upon the weak judgements of the multitude . but he must be very weak indeed that cannot perceive the wide difference , between the edicts of cromwel , that were design'd to ruine men for their loyalty , and those laws that our princes have made to restrain them from treason and rebellion . [ we have no other study , but the glory of our sovereign , and just liberty of the subjects . ] sir , if we may judge by your works , there is nothing less studied in your colledge . [ nor was it a mean argument of our duty , when every catholick lord gave his voice for the restauration of bishops ; by which we could pretend no other advantage , but that 26 votes ( subsisting wholly by the crown ) were added to the defence of kingship , and consequently a check to all anarchy and confusion . ] this is no argument of your duty ; for , sure , you are no lord. nor is it likely that these lords follow'd your direction in the doing of this duty . [ 't is morally impossible but that we who approve of monarchy in the church , must ever be fond of it in the state also . ] if you mean this of papists in general , that which you call morally impossible , is experimentally true. for in venice , genoa , lucca , and the popish cantons of switzerland , where they very well approve of monarchy in the church ; yet they are not fond of it in the state also . but if you mean this of the jesuitical party , then it may be true in this sense , that you would have the pope to be sole monarch both in spirituals and temporals . [ yet this is a misfortune , we now plainly feel , that the longer the late transgressors live , the more forgotten are their crimes , whiles distance in time calls the faults of our fathers to remembrance , and buries our own allegiance in eternal oblivion and forgetfulness . ] we can now allow you to complain , and commend your selves without measure ; having prov'd already , that you do it without cause . [ my lords and gentlemen , consider we beseech you the sad condition of the irish soldiers now in england ; the worst of which nation could be but intentionally so wicked , as the acted villany of many english , whom your admired clemency pardoned . remember how they left the spanish service when they heard their king was in france ; and how they forsook the employment of that unnatural prince , after he had committed the never to be forgotten act of banishing his distressed kinsman out of his dominions . these poor men left all again to bring their monarch to his home : and shall they then be forgotten by you ? or shall my lord douglas and his brave scots be left to their shifts , who scorned to receive wages of those who have declared war against england . to swell up the bill of the merits of your party , you take in the services of the irish and scottish soldiers , as if they were a part of the english catholicks , whom you profess to plead for in the title of your apology . and that you may seem to have done this , in kindness to them , and not to your selves ; you exhort us to consider them , in such terms , as if you were the first that had ever thought of them . god forbid but they should be consider'd as they deserve ; and he is neither good christian , nor good subject , that would grudge to contribute his proportion toward it . but you seem to have a farther drift in the mentioning of these loyal irish. for you immediately mingle them with the worst of that nation ; namely with those infamous butchers , that in times of as great peace and liberty as ever that nation enjoyed , and in the name of that gracious king under whom they enjoyed these , cut the throats of above an hundred thousand of his protestant subjects of all sexes and ages . it was so black a villany , that you , the apologist of such actions , knew not how to mention in its proper place , viz. after the french massacre , because you had not wherewith to colour it . and yet being conscious to your self that this lay as a blot upon your cause , you thought fit to place it among these brave men ; as if their names would mend the hue of an action that will make the names of all that had to do in it , look black , and detestable to mankind , throughout all generations . nor do you deal much better with our royallists themselves ; of whom you do not stick to affirm , that in their admired clemency , ( and if this were true , who would not admire it ? ) they pardon'd many english , whose acted villanies were so wicked , that the worst of the irish nation could be but intentionally so wicked in their villanies . [ how commonly is it said that the oath of renouncing their religion is intended for these , which will needs bring this loss to the king and you , that either you will force all of our faith to lay down their arms ( though by experience of great integrity and worth ) or else , if some few you retain , they are such whom necessity hath made to swear against conscience , and who therefore will certainly betray you , when a greater advantage shall be offered . by this test then you can have none , but whom ( with caution ) you ought to shun . and thus must you drive away those who truly would serve you ; for had they the least thought of being false , they would gladly take the advantage of gain and pay to deceive you ] you proceed , concerning the irish and scottish soldiers , in these words ; how commonly is it said , that the oath of renouncing their religion is intended for them ! pray sir , can you tell who are said to intend this ? for if they are such as have no authority , it is frivilous . if they are such as have authority , it is false . and we do verily believe it was never said , wisht , or thought of , by any one that lov'd the king , and the peace of the nation . but what trick had this jesuite in his head when he fram'd this ? one may guess at his design : but let it pass . perhaps he only imagined this , to heighten his fancy , that he might think and write the more tragically toward the end of his oration . [ we know your wisdom and generosity , and therefore cannot imagine such a thing ; nor do we doubt when you shew favour unto these , but you will use mercy to us , who are both your fellow subjects , and your own flesh and blood also ; if you forsake us , we must say the world decayes , and its final transmutation must needs follow quickly . ] here you un-imagine for the souldiers , and imagine for your self ; and , as if you really thought your self in danger , you beg for mercy of the royalists , in such words as your predecessor * us'd to the rebels . only for the last strain , we do not know that any one hit upon it before , nor do believe that any one will ever use it again . [ little do you think the insolencies we shall suffer by commitee men , &c. whom chance and lot , hath put into petty power . nor will it chuse but grieve you to see them abused ( whom formerly you loved ) even by the common enemies of us both . ] it seems committee-men are intrusted with his majesties authority ; or that none must use it against papists for fear of being accounted committee-men . it is time to have done , when we are come to the dregs of your rhetorick . [ when they punish , how will they triumph and say , take this ( poor romanists ) for your love to kingship ; and again this , for your long doting on the royal party : all which you shall receive from us commissioned by your dearest friends , and under this cloak we will gladly vent our private spleen and malice . sir , though you set your self before to speak tragically , this does rather seem a piece of drollery . but you have your design either way . for no man can read it , but he must either laugh , or shake his head . [ we know my lords and gentlemen , that from your hearts you do deplore our condition , yet permit us to tell you , your bravery must extend thus far , as not to sit still , with pity only , but each is to labour for the distressed as far as in reallity his ability will reach : some must beseech our gracious sovereign for us , others again must undeceive the good , though deluded multitude : therefore all are to remember who are the prime raisers of the storm ; and how through our sides they would wound both the king and you : for though their hatred to us our selves is great , yet the enmity out out of all measure increases , because we have been yours , and so shall continue even in the fiery day of tryal . protect us we beseech you then , upon all your former promises , or if that be not sufficient , for the sakes of those that lost their estates with you ; many of which are now fallen asleep : but if this be still too weak , we must conjure you by the sight of this bloody catalogue , which contains the names of your murthered friends and relations , who in the heat of the battle perchance saved many of your lives , even with the joyful lofs of their own . sir , in answer to this paragraph , you oblige us to speak plainer , what before we only intimated to you . it was the policy of the rebels in the beginning of the late war , to harrass the papists in all parts of the kingdom . one reason of it was to make his majesty odious ; for , the papists being his subjects , and having none but him to fly to , it was certain he would do what he could to protect them , and this would make many zealous people believe ▪ that what the rebels pretended was true , viz. that his majesty was a friend to popery . another reason was to enrich themselves with their spoils , and to invite the needy rabble with a prospect of booty ; among which , if they found a string of beads , or a crucifix , it serv'd them upon both accounts , both to fill their pockets , and to justifie the cause . by this means you were driven into his majesties garrisons ; where , besides those that voluntarily offer'd themselves to his service , many of you were necessitated to it for a subsistance , and many more of you did not serve him at all , but only shrowded your selves under his protection . whereas the protestant royallists had no such necessity , for they might have been welcome to the rebels , to do as they did ; or they might have been permitted to live quietly at their home . but they chose to do otherwise , and were hated the more for it by the rebels , because they preferr'd their duty before those considerations . from this account of the motives that brought us together , it is easie to judge how far we are in debt to one another . first , as for them which lost their estates with us , we remember those things were alledged in their defence , * which we would have been loth to have admitted in ours . but possibly it was not their fault that these things were alledg'd , nor was it to our advantage that they were not accepted . for the rebels , having devour'd these gentlemens estates , fell to ours , with the more colour , and never the less appetite . in your catolague of those papists which were slain in the service , you have omitted some names which we are able to reckon . but perhaps you did this in design , that you might the more excusably reckon some names that you ought to have omitted . so you begin with my lord of carnarvon , the onely noble man in your catalogue , who was indeed too negligent of his religion , till he came to be in view of death ; but then , in his extremities , he refus'd a priest of yours , and ordered the chaplain * of his regiment to pray with him . if you take this libert of stealing martyrs , we have reason to wonder , that you had not taken in one that would have adorn'd your cause indeed , viz. his majesty himself ; since militiere * was not asham'd to publish , that that blessed and glorious prince died of your religion . him alone we might weigh against all that ever was good in your church . but besides , we could reckon you a far greater number of protestants , than you pretend to do of papists , that lost their lives also in the day of battle . they lost them joyfully , in hopes to have sav'd his majesty's life ; and 't was an accession to their joy , if perchance they sav'd any of yours . but did they ever intend their sufferings should go for nothing , or become ciphers to yours in the day of reckoning ? or that their blood should be made use of to stop the execution of those laws for which they shed it ? did they think your condition was so deplorable , or their own was superfluously fenced and secured against you before the late troubles ? pray sir do not perswade us to believe a thing so incredible , or to do at the rate as if we did believe it . rather if you have such an opinion of your own faculty ; try what you can do with your own party , and perswade them to do what is fittest & best for themselves . but because the genius of your writing does not give us any such hopes of you : we shall rather make bold to say something from our selves , by way of advice , to as many of them as may happen to need it , and are capable to receive it . we desire them to content them selves with that condition which they enjoy'd under his majesties royal predecessors : and neither to disparage those dayes , by endeavouring to perswade the world that they which suffered then for treason died for religion ; nor to undervalue all the liberties which they now enjoy , if they may not be allow'd to exceed the measures of their fathers . we wish they would not , for the paring of their nails , make all christendom ring with cries of persecution . we wish them deeply to lay to heart , the honor , and peace , and welfare of their nation . to abhor him , that could wish to see it in troubles , in hope that at next turn it would settle in popery ; or that could finde in his heart to bid a foreigner welcome upon the terms of restoring catholick religion . we desire them to keep their religion to themselves : and not lay about them , as some do , to make proselytes ; of which they have had a plentiful harvest in the late confusions ; and if they should think to go on at that rate , we have reason to fear , it would be a means to bring us into confusion again . we desire them at least not to abuse the weakness of dying persons : nor under pretence of carrying alms to condemn'd prisoners , to convert some of them with drink , and to cheat others with hopes of salvation upon easier tearms than ever god yet declar'd unto men. we desire them not to hinder the course of justice , by interposing in the behalf of any criminal , because he is a catholick . we desire them to content themselves , as their fathers have done , with such priests as are known and protected * by the civil power ; and that they would be pleas'd to demean themselves as priests ought to do : not disguising themselves like hectors , or mingling with gentlemen , to poyson the clubs and coffee-houses with phanatick discourses , or even with atheism it self , to destroy all religion that they may have their will upon ours . we desire them not to fill the world with their pamphlets , parallels , philanaxes , exhortations , apologies , &c which tend only to the fermenting of mens passions , not at all to the conviction of their reason . if they please to come into the fair field of controversie , we shall not decline them ; and we think we are not in debt to them upon that account . but for books of the other sort which are apt only to inflame parties , and make the people jealous , and the government uneasie , we wish they would spare their own pains , and consequently ours . if they will not ; let them bear their own blame , and let them answer it to the world what occasion they had to give us this trouble of answering them . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48822-e90 v. cambdeni annales . anno 1586. concerning babington's conspiracy . * answer to philanax , p. 85 † so argyle said let them take all , since my lord the king is come home in peace . * k james premonition , p. 336. of his works . * v. i●● . k. charles his testimony in his letter to the prince . conc. lateran . iv. c. 3. bellarm. in barclaium c. 31. † extrav . de majoritate & o●ed . c. 1. unam sanctam * 1 pet. 2. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ●ulg . lat. om●● humanae 〈◊〉 . jer. 1. 10. plat. in vit. bonf. viii . lanc. in temploomn . judic . l. 2. c. 1. sect. 4 ib. in traef . bell. de rom. pont. l 5. c. 8. baron . anno 800. sect. 10. bell. in bar claium c. 3. suar. in reg. m. b. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 20. greg. de val. tom. 3. in thomam dis . 1. q. 12. p. 2 . ●hilopater . p. 149. * jan. 15. 1615 † note that the pope sent him thanks for it ; & king james writ in answer to it , that solid defence of the right of kings * ross. p. 85. * bell. de rom. pont. l. 5. c. 7. † watsons quodlibets , p. 255 , and 295 , &c. out of bannez , valentia , and parsons . the exhortation in the afternoon , p. 22. 1. his speech in parliament . p 504. of his works . daniel's hist. ric. i. in fin . walsingham . edw. i. 1298. 25. e. 3. vide statute of provisors . * mat. westm. 1301. thu. hist. l. 1. the spaniard holds the kingdoms of navar and of naples , and sicily , only by the popes gift ; by which he should have ireland too , and england , but that the right heir keeps them from him . walsingham , hist. edw. i. 1306. letter to the prince . † v l'estrange 1639. in habernfields relation . * answer to the reasons for no address . large declaration concerning the tumults in scotland , p. 3. * answer to the reasons for the votes of no address † answer to philanax , p. 59 dolemans conference of succession , part 2. p. 237. * second moderator , p. 43. * 1647 , 1656 , 1659. † first moderator , p. 59. * second moderator , p. 41. v. answer to philanax , p. 63. of father bret. . † first moderator , p. 31. * first moderator . p. 36. * k. james defence of the right of kings p. 479 , 480. * thu. hist. l , 53. * thu. hist. l. 52. * guignard , in his oration said , it was ae great error that they had not cut the basilick vein . * id. l. 53. * thu. hist. l. 52. saith , that being forewarn'd of the plot , & advised to stand upon his guard ; he wisht rather to have his body drag'd , &c. than to see any more civil wars in franc. defence of the right of kings , in his works , p. 479 , 480. thu. hist. l. 53. * henry iii. of france . * henry iv. † thu. hist. l. 91. * rossaeus , one of your predecessors , calls him a thousand times worse than mahomet , p. 170. & saith , from the beginning of the world , no nation or state ever endured such a tyrant , p. 171. * sixtus ● . quoted his own prediction in his oration that follows . * printed at paris , 1589 , by the printers of the holy league , and approved by the sorbon . * k. james works , p. 483. canon agatho dist. 63. fauchet . anno 801. c. 10. that the pope ador'd him , not he the pope . * council of frankford , an. 794. philopater . p. 103. ross. p. 223. saith of them that were pretended to die for your religion , where was it ever heard that they denied her to have been the lawful queen . * philip ii. and henry iii. for themselves , & the emperor maximilian for his brother charles . * council of trent . l. 5. an : 1558. * in his letter by parpaglia , dated 1560. may 5. * dated 1570. feb. 25. † see the bull it self , there is not the least mention of bastardy in it . * james buoncompagno . † don john. * whom his holiness had created marquess of lemster , earl of wexford , &c. thu. hist. l. 64. cambden , eliz. 1600. * cambden eliz . 1588. † cardinal allen's admonition . v. watson's quodl . p. 240. and 247. * cambden eliz . , an. 1589. watso . quodl . p. 150. † cambden ib. anno 1593. watson ib. p. 154. * cambden ib. anno 1594. dolmans conference about the next succession to the crown . † dolman . part . 2. p. 9. * cambden ib. 1602. watson . ib. p. 279. † dolman ib. p. 109. * ib. p 110. † vvatson . ib. p. 107. * tortura torti . p. 197. * watson . ib. p. 150. * v. thu. hist. l. 1. * philopater , p. 308. and 323. & v. thu. ib. * baldwin , hammond , tesmund , and gerard , were named by the conspirators , as privy with them . * v. vvatsons confession . * v. his speech in parliament 1605. and his relation , &c. warmington , p. 7. saith ▪ none were therein culpable , but only jesuites and catholicks . casaub. epist. ad front. du●●um . * king james speech in parliament , 1605. * ib. * tortus , p. 85. edit . colon. * sixti orat. * 5 jesuiteb 13. lay-men , besides owen and stanley ▪ * at la fleche , and elsewhere . * v. her life . p. 61. and p. 156 , 157. * garnet in the case of the powder-plot . lord orory's answer to w●lsh , p. 20. saith . within few months about two hundred thousand . * first moderator , p. 76. your own kindred and allies , your own countrymen , born to the same freedom with your selves ; who have in much less measure ( than the scots ) offended in matter of hostility , nay divers of them not at all . * second mo derater , p. 43. most of them in the begining of the late war ( seeing themselves unprotected by the parliament , & exposed to the plunder of the then soldiery ) fled into the king's garrisons , to save their own lives , without taking up arms to offend others . * second moderator , p. 43. * mr langford * in his victory of truth . d. of medina in 88. said his sword knew no distinction between catholick and heretick , * v. cambden's eliz. 1602. [the bleeding iphigenia or an excellent preface of a work unfinished, published by the authors frind, [sic] with the reasons of publishing it.] french, nicholas, 1604-1678. 1675 approx. 108 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 53 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a40452 wing f2177 estc r215791 99827560 99827560 31982 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a40452) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 31982) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1847:23) [the bleeding iphigenia or an excellent preface of a work unfinished, published by the authors frind, [sic] with the reasons of publishing it.] french, nicholas, 1604-1678. [106] p. s.n., [london : 1675] leaf [cross]6 verso signed: n.n. = nicholas french. cf. dnb entry on french. title from leaf [cross]1; this work consists entirely of prefaces, without title page, in all copies known. imprint from wing. signatures: [cross]⁶ [chi]¹ *² 3*-7* 8*⁴. iphigenia = ireland. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sall, andrew, 1612-1682 -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. catholics -ireland -early works to 1800. ireland -church history -17th century -early works to 1800. 2006-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-02 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-02 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the bleeding iphigenia or an excellent preface of a work unfinished , published by the authors frind , with the reasons of publishing it . the picture of iphigenia ( one of the rarest peeces of antiquity ) goeing to be sacrifised for appeasing the anger of diana offended with her father king agamemnon for killing a stagg consecrated to that goddess , made timanthes the author therof very famous . hee placed in lively cullors , round about this faire princes , her kinsmen , frinds , allyes , and suite in great consternation , all drown'd in lamentations and teares ; but the gallant lady ( nothing in nature appear'd more comly ) smiled , bearing in her countenance a majesty , and contempt of death : soe charming was the art of this picture , that few could view it without teares . courteous reader , the author of this preface hath drawne another iphigenia of the body of a noble , ancient catholick nation cla'd all in redd robes , not to bee now offered up as victime ; but already sacrific'd , not to a profane deity , but to the living god for holy religion : look but on this our bleeding iphigenia , and i dare say you will lament her tragedy . 1. in the first place the author sets downe his owne feare and care about long eternity ( which should be the chiefest care of a christian ) confessing with griefe and compunction of hart , that hee had walk'd in daunger , even to the age of 71. years , and at length found himselfe touch't with that dreadfull theme : aut paenitendum aut ardendum . that is : either wee must doe pennance , or burne . this drove him to a resolution of laying aside all wordly intanglements , and conversations , for obtaining the kingdome of heaven and taking order with the house of his soule , for that hee was sure to dye , and could not live longe . 2. hee expresses a godly anger against his frind sall an apostata . sanctè irascitur qui pro deo irascitur . hat is : thee is justly angry , that is angry for gods cause . 3. hee delivers in sencible language the slavery ▪ ruine , and distruction of his deare country . 4. hee presents to the view of our gratious king charles the second a catholick people , his faithfull subjects wounded by theeves , and left halfe dead , like the miserable man , that went from hierusalem to ierico ; desiring his majesty with prayres , and teares to com neare and binde up rhe wounds of the afflicted , powring in oyle and wine , as did de godly semaritane . his language to the king is with submissive duty , and yet with a priestly freedome iudging with saint ambrose . neque imperiale est libertatem dicendi denegare , neque sacerdotale , quod sentiat , non dicere . that is : it is neyther kingly to deny the freedome of speaking , nor priestly , not to speake what hee thinks . 5. hee names in particulare certaine capitall , implacable , blooddy enemyes of his country , and gives them the caracters , they deserve : and to justify this , says with tertuliane , in hostem patriae , omnis homo miles est . that is : every man is a souldier against the enemy of his country . the subject of his writing was to reprove sall a iesuit of the fourth vow , for abjuring the catholick faith , and leauing his holy order : in the work hee proceeded to 8. or 9. chapters , and went noe further ; but i hope some zealous israelite will build upon the foundation hee hath laid , a handsome structure . you will perhaps inquire who hee is that began , and did not finish a good work ; hee is a learned worthy priest , of whome , all that know him , will say , ( his modesty may not be offended with the trueth's i utter ) hee hath beene all his life tyme , sincere in all his writings , ways , and conversation ; ( hee is truly one of those can say with seneca : quod sentimus loquimur , & quod loquimur sentimus . that is : i thinke what i speake , and speake what i thinke . ) ever loyall to his prince , faithfull to his country , and true to his frind ; and soe harty a lover of peace , with all kinde of men ; that hee neuer ingag'd in any contention , but what was pious for defending religion , and the jurisdection of the holy sea : in quarrells of this nature hee was still fervent , and feared noe man , and used to say with great ambrose in such incounters . nemini facio injuriam , si omnibus deum praefero . that is : i injure noe man by praeferring god before all . having considered with attention this sound preface , and finding the contents sollid , well ordered , and such as may be usefull to my poore country , i thought it my duty to make all publick to the world ; hoping that pious christians beholding the grievous wounds wee have received for god , and religion , from the enemys of both , will open the bowells of mercy to us soe sorely oppressed . i conclude with a word or two to my deare countrymen , recommending seriously to them all , at home and a broad , to humble themselves under the iudgments of god , and powre forth theire harts like water upon the earth , in contrition , teares , and prayrs ; which is the only way left for asswaging the anger of god , come upon us , for our owne sinns , and those of our forefathers ; initium salutis ( saith holy hierome ) est nostra intelligere , & flere peccata . that is : to understand and deplore our sinnes is the beginning of salvation ; and because a disease deeply rooted ( as ours ) needs a strong and long cure , it is fitting wee calle to minde that saying of saint ambrose . grandi plagae , alta , & problixa est opus medicina ; and apply the same . i beseech you , gentle reader , pray to god for my afflicted country , and for the catholick religion therin persecuted , that it be not wholy extinguished , and soe commending you to the tuition of the almighty , i remaine your humble servant in christ iesus n. n. amicus anonimus ad authorem anonimum . qvam bene magnates stringis : tibi dicere verum innatum est : aliis dissimurare placet . fallacias mundi , scriptor venerande , nec artes ; tu curas , ut mundum falsa docere probes . errata .   faults . corrected . pag. 5. discere dicere ▪   scilentio silentio pag. 7. syrus cyrus pag. 27. indigint indigent pag. 40. repelere repellere pag. 46. defensiones defensionis pag. 52. contumiles contumelies pag. 55. tili tell pag. 60. extorpated extirpated pag. 70. place peace pag. 76. weddower widdow 's pag. 79. erat erant pag. 83. furoro furore pag. 85. dissoluite dissolute . the censurs of a venerable and learned prelate , and three professors of divinity given of the bleeding iphigenia , in theire letters written to the publisher therof . the first . as for the bleeding iphigenia i perus'd it sencibly , and according to my sentiment , it is the best i perus'd yet upon that subject , and i am sure the fittest for the gaine of the nation , and therfore the more welcome that ever since theire misery i have seen . i would all our writers had contained themselves intra istos limites for the greater satisfaction of poore soules , qui persecutionem patiuntur propter justitiam . if i had the tree of life in my custody , i would give of the fruite to the author , vt deponeret senectam , aeternumque patriae viveret . i have noe more to say , but remaine your owne for ever . tertio februarii , 1675. the second . gratias humillimè ago pro iphigenia mihi nuper transmissa , quae verè sanguinolentam hiberniae faciem vivis coloribus adumbrat : opus est peridoneum , ut afflictis catholicis non parum suppeditet solatii , atque animorum , ut laeto vultu tristes casus , & erecta fronte iniqua persequentium tela excipiant . scenam quoque sat apertam adversantium oculis proponit , in qua sua delicta sine fuco agnoscant , agnita plangant , ac laesam aequitatem resarciant , nisi velint supremi tribunalis feralem catastrophen experiri ; quando scilicet in scenam prodibit laesa metanaea , ac mucronem iphigeniae cervicibus incumbentem ipsa arripiet , ad sumendam de iniquis ultionem . gratulor ego hujus operis authori , in quo agnosco singularem eruditionem , cum sincero patriae a more decertantem , utraque apud aequum lectorem palmam feret . utinam in aliis tantum valeat religio & aequitas , quantum in authore scientia & charitas . 27 februarii , 1675. the third . i have exacttly perused the preface or bleeding iphigenia , and read it twise over , it is full of sollid truths , excellently well expressed . for my owne part i never took it into my hands , but i found my selfe mou'd to a tender compassion upon the account of those distressed fuffering catholicks in ireland . our good god the father of mercy , be to them a mercifull comforter , i think morouer that those , who shall read this preface and feel not themselves moved to pitty the affliction of those distressed , and now violently oppressed servants of almighty god , have harts harder then stones , and that god will show his iust iudgment upon them , even in this world . much more i could say in commendation of this little book , but am loath togive you the trouble of soe long a letter . the prefiged title pleases mee extreamly . and shall not the bleeding iphigenia make the most obdurate to relent ? i am sure the whole learned , and well pondered discourse will draw teares from innumerable . my cordiall wish is that it draw compassion from those that have massacred iphigenia , and should before all others shed teares with repentance . 13'th februarii 1675. the bleeding iphigenia deserves a virgil or homer to commend it . no such poets now living , be pleased to receive my judgment of that discourse in the ensuing vers. i am ever your owne . 23'th ian. 1675. iphigenia sanguinans . sanguinat ante aras hoc iphigenia libello , quis nisi praedurus temperet a lacrimis ? magnates , duros magnetes innuit esse , quos non confringit , non movet iste cruor . transit levites plangens ; quid samaritanus ? durus percussam morte perire sinit : sic gentem superis fidam , & te semper amantem rex das mactandam ? regis an iste amor est ? insontem perimunt amente furore rebelles ; te regem ostende , & ne patiare mori : lex naturalis , lex hoc divina reposcit , sunt jura haec regi non violanda pio . parcito subjectis , & debellato superbos ; in te ne justi saeviat ira dei. tandem levites vinumque oleumque puellae infundit plagis , & ducit in stabulum . est medicus levita pius ; nec dicere verum principibus trepidat ; totus amat patriam . vive diu levita precor , quo fcribere possis , omnes ô mecum dicite , vive diu . the preface to the studious reader . after a toylsome peregrination for the space of full seaventy years in this babilon of confusion and miseryes , ( wherin men are soe strangely tormoyl'd , that the pleasures they enjoy , often become theire greatest torments . ) i began at length with a sencible care to consider of long eternity , purposing , to lay aside all false contentment , deceiving illusions , and prophaine conversations , heavy chains i haue carry'd to long with small pleasure , and great feare ▪ and although i found great danger in carrying them , yet i had not courage enough to shake them of for good and all . vere trahebam catenam meam ( to use s. augustins language ) solui timens . my declining age forewarning mee the downfall of my decaying body would be soon , and perhaps suddaine , bid mee prepare for a surer , and a more durable habitation ; and it seemed to mee my guardian angell whispered to my disquieted soule even the same words the prophet isaie uttered to king ezechias when dangerously sick . thus saith our lord : take order with thy house , for thou shalt dye , and shalt not live . this inevitable alarme of dying raysing a high storme within mee , i concluded without further fluctuation to spend the short remnant of tyme i haue to live , in pennance , holy contemplation , prayers , and mortification for schanselling with tears ( if god would be soe pleased ) the sinns and vanitys of my former life . i had hardly begun to settle my minde in this devine meditation , when behold a printed paper from london came to hand , of a publick abjuration of the roman catholick faith made by andrew sall a iesuit of the fourth vow . this paper indeed gave mee a great heaviness of hart , for i loved the man dearly for his amiable nature , and excellent parts , and esteemed him both a pious person and learned , and soe did all that knew him , but i see wee were all deceiu'd in him . however this suddaine change of him made mee say with a sad attention those words of saint paul. hee that thinketh himselfe to stand , let him take heed least hee fall . for god knowes i noe way feared this man would have falen into herisy . as i was reading with great attention sall's abjuration i call'd to minde that great read dragon , whose tayle drew the third part of the starrs of heauen , and cast them to the earth . and then said to my selfe , the tayle of an infernall beast had cast this sall to the earth out of a little heaven : ( the state of religion ) wherin for a tyme , hee shined like a small starr in vertue , and learning . after deserting the socitey of iesus and running away with infamy and shame , out of the whole house of god i could not endure him , and therfore resolued to give him a sharp reprehension : at which if hee shall repine , and fall into choller for my indevouring to doe him good , i shall hould that for an ill symptome of his disease qui corripientem eum contemnit ( saith salomon ) non sequetur eum sanitas . some sick men there are , that now and then think themselves sound and well , when they are most sick , all those can not abide the sight of a doctor , which is a kinde of madness : if sall be one of those , his cure will be the harder ; however for charity-sake , and for the ancient amity wee had , i will imploy all paynes , and dilligence for healing him , but the cure must come from aboue , ab illo medico in caelis , qui spargit medicamentae in terris . farre it is ( god knowes ) from my minde to add affliction to his afflictions , sufficiat diei malitia sua : nec unquam fuit mea consuetudo lacerato animo discere vitia amicorum , talem zelum ( ut cum s. augustino loquar ) semper fensui magis impetum punientis , quam caritatem corrigentis . the same saint tells mee how to handle sall. dilige , ( saith hee ) & dic quod voles . but what shall i doe to a man , that hath stained his soule with the spott of herisy ? with what waters shall i wash him for wyping away the staine , with those of siloe , quae fluunt cum scilentio , or those of rasin quae transeunt cum tumultu ? the last seem the more naturall for purifying him ▪ though my inclination is more for the soft running waters of siloe . had sall's sinn beene noe more then a slipp of ignorance , or frailty , wee could have covered him with a mantle of charity ; but the abominable abjuration of faith being a sinn of a high nature , and full of impiety against god , against christ and his unspotted spouse , against charity and the holy ghost , i can not be silent , but must openly rebuke his wickedness , and maintaine truth against him before all the world : can i see aman deare to mee , vaunting and soe desperatly defying the hostes of the living god , and say nothing ? that cannot be : silence here were a great sinne being the true tyme of taking up davids sling and stone and throwing at this gyant dominering and vaporing against the camp of israell . i am not to powre oyle upon the head of such a sinner , flattery will not cure him , i must then in charity chide him and exprobrat his deserting the catholick faith ; and if hee is wise and penitent , hee will say with repenting david . the just shall rebuke mee in mercy , and shall reprehend mee : but let not the oyle of a sinner fatte my head . after lamenting sall's woefull perversion , i begin to think of my deare contry's affliction , and with feare , and amazement to inquire the ground and cause of persecution there and in enland . nothing was less feared ( i am confident ) by the catholicks of both kingdoms then a tempest of this nature to come upon them , lying safe ( as they conceived ) under the wings of soe great and mercyfull a monarck , as charles the second , a king of pardons . how then say men came this about ? how could soe clement a king be induced to afflict soe loyall a people , as the catholicks of england , and ireland ? i see noe mistery in this business , all is cleare : theire affliction , and cause therof is well knowne over all europ , and is ( as i may say ) even the same with that of innocent daniell , whose loyall fidelity to syrus king of babylon , was soe cleare , as his malignant enemys said expressly of him , wee shall not finde against this daniell any occasion unless perhaps in the law of his god ; the crime then against daniell and all the jews was theire religion : upon this ground the counsellers and great men of the kingdome gott the king to sett forth an edict against the jewes for professing theire religion , and by this means daniell was cast into the lake of the lyons by a king that lou'd him . the king lou'd daniell but hee feared the great men , who pressed the law to be executed against daniell , and this feare more strong in the king then love , made poore daniell companion to the lyons . your religion noble contry-men , your religion is the sole cryme , for which you suffer : ( blessed for ever be the name of god for this ) your religion hath stirred up this tempest , which ought not to terrifye you over much , seeing the apostles our first captains and leaders in this holy cause , those darlings of god , endured hard things for religion : prisons , whippings , contumilies , and all sorts of vexations were to them delights , and consolations : they after being scurged went from the sight of the councell rejoycing , because they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of jesus . doe not therfore feare all that men can doe against you , while with tears and patience you march under the purple standart of crucify'd jesus , for in the end , the day , and victory will be yours : feare not the power of men in this glorious tryall , there be more with you , then against you , ( legions of angells though you see them not ) those heavenly hostes are pitching theire tents round about you . hee that led the children of israell out of egypt in wonders through the redd sea , neuer wants power to deliver you : waite for his good tyme , for hee will come . a table of sage counsells , that hung by the bed of ptolomeus arsacides king of egypt , ( by him religiously obserued all the tyme of his raigne , ) was delivered by a priest of the idols to the wise emperour marcus aurelius , whoe dying gave it to his sonn with this short speech . my sonn leaving you emperour of many kingdoms , i presume you will with that great power be feared of all , and if you wil faithfully keep the godly counsells in this table , you shall be infalibly beloved of all . the table of counsells . 1. i neuer deny'd ( said the vertuous king ptolomeus ) justice to a poore man , for being poore ; nor pardoned a rich man for being rich . 2. i neuer loved a rich wicked man ; nor hated a poore just man. 3. i neuer granted favours to men for affection ; nor distroy'd men to satisfy my passion . 4. i neuer deny'd justice to any demanding iustice ; nor mercy to the afflicted and miserable . 5. i neuer passed by evill without punishing it ; nor good withovt rewarding it . 6. i neuer did evill to any man out of malice ; nor villany for avarice , 7. i was neuer without feare in prosperity ; nor without courage in adversity . 8. my dore was neuer open to a flatterer ; nor my eare to a murmuring detractor . 9. i indeavoured still to make my selfe beloved of the good ; and feared of the evill . 10. i ever favoured the poore that were able to doe little for themselves ; and i was evermore favoured by the gods , that were able to doe much for all . those rare counsells should be exposed in the houses of kings and all puplick places to the view of men , to be knowne of all in theire respective dignitys and callings : and it would be a pious and noble action , if our gratious souveraigne would be pleased to consider seriously with himselfe , how farre these just and laudable counsells haue been regarded during the tyme of his raigne , especially in conferring of estates and lands from one part of his subjects , to another part of them contrary to all due course of law , and without hearing of the partys oppressed , which hath been procured to be done by the undue information , and perswation of certaine of his councellers , and ministers of state , and chiefly of the chancellor the earl of clarindon . if his majesty shall doe this grace , and justice to his catholick subjects of ireland , thousands of widow's and orphans will be eased and relieved , who now sitt downe in great poverty , lamenting extreamly their lands , houses and all they had wrongfully taken from them , and this day possessed and injoy'd by those invaders . god bindes all kings , and iudges by this commandement : thou shalt not doe that which is uniust nor iudg uniustly . consider not the person of a poore man , neither honour thou the countenance of him that is mighty . judg justly to thy neighbour . god alsoe forbids to give away one subjects bread to another ; reason , vertue , and the lawes of god , nature and nations are the rules that ought to guid all princes and magistrats in the goverment of the people under them . did not god himselfe complaine of evell iudges in this kinde . how is the faithfull cittie , full of iudgment , becom an harlott ? iustice hath dwelled in it , but now man-killers . the princes are unfaithfull , companions of thieves ▪ al love guifts , follow rewards . they iudge not for the pupil : and the widowes cause goeth not in to them . and againe our lord saith . they are made grosse and fatt : and haue tranegressed my words most wickedly . the cause of the widow they have not iudged ; the cause of the pupil they have not directed , and the iudgment of the poore they have not iudged . shall i not vissite upon these things , saith our lord ? or upon such a nation shall not my soule take revenge ? certainly it is against gods just iudgment to omitt such things , and crimes unpunished . there are thousands of distressed catholick pupils , and wedowes ( his majesty cannot chuse but know it ) that have not gott iustice ; whose cause and complaint had noe entrance into his courtes ; they cry'd out for iustice , and were not heard , they cry'd for mercy , and found it not ; and such as live of those oppressed soules are still crying to heaven , and the king for remedy ; poore desolate and dejected , they are waiting at the doore of the kings pallace and noe regard is had of theire tears , prayres , and petitions . wee are indeed becom the reproach of all nations round about us , by the craft and iniquity of states men , that have poysoned the fountaine of iustice , it is said of some of those that theire vices have farre exceeded theire vertues , and that in all theire proccedings against our nation , there was found in them noe truth , noe integrity , noe religion , noe shame ; but an insatiable covetousness , and a flameing ambition of making themselves great and powerfull : and are not such men say you able to poysen the fountaine of iustice ( and mercy toe ) in a kingdome . this sore oppression , and our necessitys every day growing greater , forceth us to implore iustice and mercy , and to minde the king of what the apostle saith to a king. non enim sine causa gladium portat . if the law of god will alow of soe many thousands of innocents to be destroy'd , is a maxim , that toucheth much his royall wisdome , and to be distroy'd and sacrificed to augment the estates of men , that were great and rich enough before : can iustice suffer this ? can the mercifull brest of a clement king endure to see soe many sad spectacles of woes , and miserys without all relief ? will not god at long running look downe , and examin these cruell proceedings ? it hath been a principall care , and study of some statesmen neare the king , to oppress and overthrow the catholicks of ireland , and at the same tyme to perswade his majesty , that wee ought to be destroy'd by iustice and law. theire malice they have evidenced in theire language , and viperous writings . of this stuff you have enough in the earle of orerys answer to peter welsh his letter to the then marquis , now duke of ormond desiring ajust and mercifull regard of the reman catholicks of ireland : what could be more rationall then such a demaund ? yet orery must quarrell with the contents of said letter , and beleh out poyson against the whole ▪ nation and theire religion . to this answer p. w. replyed and solidly confuted orery : lett the indifferent reader after deliberation iudge of which side truth , sollid reason , and learning is in the writings of both . it vexed orery above all measure that p. w. advanced these two propositions . 1. that the worst of the irish papists were no regicids , 2. that the irish papists fought against such men , when england , scotland , and the protestants of ireland deserted the royall cause . to the first orery makes this pittifull answer . that the irish papists are no regicids ; let it be considered , that the doctrin of regicids is common in romish schools , and the practice in theire courts . this is a false calamny , tell us orery in what romish university or school is this doctrin common ? in what catholick court is this practice ? you can not tell us , and therfore you are convinced of calumniating catholick schools , and courts , which is no creditt for you . in the meane tyme wee demaund orery in what school was the doctrin had , by which crumwell and the rabble of blooddy rebells murthered the good king charles the first , in the school of geneve or rome ? speak freely your minde , and tell us on what side were you when the king was murthered , of crumwells party or the kings ? of crumwells party you were then , and had you been then in london likely ( this is the opinion of many ) you had been a high man in that blooddy jury ; and after that kings death noe man desired more ( as was generally spoken of you ) to king crumwell , and unking our present soveraigne then you . to p. w. his second proposition you answer thus . that to touch the annoynting , is virtually to touch the annoynted , take away the regalia , and in effect you take away the king. orery all this is true , but what illation make you of this ? who i pray are those that touched the annoyntings , and the annoynted , the catholicks of ireland ; or cromwells party ? ( whose faithfull ianniser you haue been . ) the annoyntings you haue touch'd formally , all the regalia , the kings cittys , townes , forts , militia , and for addition to your treason you made open warre against the crowne and king , ( it was crumwell and you all touched then the annoynted virtually ) and here you stayd not , but touch'd the annoynted formally , when you put him to death by an unheard and most blooddy solemnity , and as it were by iustice or course of law , an asacinate , that hath contaminated the glory of the english nation , though the best and most of the peers and good people of england abhorr'd it . your answer to this second proposition you conclude thus . had the devill had leave to touch jobs person , hee would not haue spar'd him , when hee touch'd all that was his . you say right orery ; but what say you to this ; that you and your companions after touching all that was the kings , have touched his sacred person , and barbarously kill'd him . see and recken among your selves , what kinde of divells you were then , and if you haue not gon a stepp farther against your owne king , then the divell did against job . orery you might take us for men of short memory , if wee should forgett , how you by a way of rallery said of 54. catholick gentlemen nominees , that were to be restored , ( and made account they should be soe ) to theire chief houses , and 2000. akers of ground , that it was intended by the act , they should be only nominees , nomine restorable , but not re . you have play'd the prophett orery ( though you spake in a leering way ) for as yet none of them have been restored , ( as wee are informed ) nor likely shall ; yett at that tyme you abused the kings goodness and credulity , assuring his majesty , there was a sufficient stock of reprisalls to satisfy all . after taking some paines , in reading over the hott ( papering ) contention between the earl of orery , and father peter welsh frier minor lector of divinity , i found orery's answer to p. w. his letter to the then marquis now duke of ormond , to be an eloquent , pollished , elaborated piece , but full of cavills , artifice , fallacies , untruths , and sophistry ; all his study and paynes tend to render the catholicks of ireland odious , and infamous , and theire peace of 1648. voyd : ( rem non bonam facis orere , ultra vires tuas est negotium ) hee showes in his writings a bitter soule , and a great pride and presumption , ( i owe not soe much to his degree as to spare telling him truth , nor want i confidence to defend truth , and my country , against a person of higher quality then hee is . ) neuer came in my way an author , that writes of a whole nation , and theire religion , less christianly , less nobly , and less truly ; and for his paynes hee is worthy of the praise s. angustin gives to such aman , as this : ingenium in malo venenum in auro . upon a bull of vrbanus 8. to the confederate catholicks of ireland anno 1643. he makes a mocking malicious coment . this bull imports noe more then an exhortation to the catholicks to free themselves from the oppressions , and grivous injuries , theire fellow subjects the protestants did them , who had designed to pull them up roote and bransh , ( as was evidently made appeare ) hee alsoe praised the catholicks for indevouring to defend themselves , and theire religion , and gave them indulgences in soe just and good a quarrell ; his holliness speaks not a word in all against the king , nor obedience due to the king ; richard belings esquire agent to that pope from the confederate catholicks hath atested , that his holliness commaunded him to tell his children the catholick confederats , that hee would have them in defending themselves , and religion , to continue constantly obedient to theire king , and after his holliness sent an excellent and pious letter to the suprem councell of the confederate catholicks , of which i shall speak more hierafter . will not the world rather believe his holliness owne letters , and the messenger wee sent him , in declaring his sence in the aforsaid bull , then orery the popes enemy ? what i pray is contained in that bull , that an honest man can reprehend ? would orery have the pope be soe madd , as to forbid his children to defend themselves and religion against him , and his companions ? good god how this man doth abuse this popes pious and good meaning expressed in foresaid bull , which orery tells the world was a cherishing of the catholicks in rebellion , as if our taking up armes for our necessary defence of lives , and religion against the protestants our fellow subjects could haue been a rebellion , as hee would faine perswade his reader , and that the popes aforsaid bull was a cherishing of the catholicks in a rebellion : to which purpose hee speaks thus . if the popes power over the irish be soe great , theire obedience to the king must be little : as if the religion of the catholicks had an inconsistency with theire duty and obedience to the king , which is most false . the popes power over the people is in spiritualibus ; the kings power in temporalibus ; and those powers doe wel agree ( as is evidently knowne over all the world ) in the power of catholick princes over theire subjects , and in the popes power over the same people ; those powers , and juridictions in catholick tymes in england did not clash , nor doe they now in theire nature , the catholick people paying theire duty to both ; it is true the luminare majus ( the pope ) catholicks venerate more , then luminare minus ( the king ) because luminare majus hath the greater light and influence ; yet they doe not therfore omitt to pay due veneration to the king. orery brings noe proofe , or sound argument , to prove what hee assumed , ( that the pope's bull was sent for cherishing a rebellion , ) but his owne authority , which with us hath little creditt , and will soe with any , that shall know his ways and dealings . i pray orery to make this reflection , whether there have ever been in the world more execrable and blooddy rebells then himselfe and companions ▪ who had noe dependence upon the pope , but quite contemned his authority , and his person hated . hee will not ( i hope ) say the pope cheris'd theire rebellion . the man hath much strained his brains in impugning the mentioned bull ; and as if hee had done a great bussiness , says thus of the irish catholicks . if they succeed , heaven and ireland is theirs ; if they succeed not , heaven is theirs . orery by the quarrell , wee intended to hold what of ireland was ours , against invaders ; who can blame us for this ? and fighting for religion , wee had a good claime to heaven ; and though wee succeeded not in fighting , our claime to heaven is still good by our faith and good works ; this claime all our enemys , with the protestant parlaments of england , and ireland are not able to take from us . orery and all of his band , and combination hath dealt with us as the divill did with iob ; the divill touch't all that was job's , except his life ; orery and his people have touched all that was ours except our soules , which wee hope in his devine mercy god will preserve for his owne worship and glory , soe as wee have still title to say , heaven is ours : but hee and his cannot say for themselves , heaven is ours , untill they shall change , theire religion into a true faith , doe good worcks , and restore what they haue uniustly taken from us . i will here sett downe a few of orerys propossitions , let the reader after perusing them , iudge of them . in his auswere to p. w. his letter to the marquis of ormond hee calls the irish nation a beast , the country a very pest-house , and the religion of the catholicks somthing that pinns them upon the sleeve of the pope . was ever such a diffinition given of religion ? s. paul defines faith thus . est fides sperendarum substantia rerum , argumentum non apparentium . the apostle speaks nothing here of pinning , or of the popes sleeve . orery this kind of scoffing rallery in holy things is ignoble , and better becoming comedians then counsellors . wee owe the pope and his sacred dignity due obedience , which wee will with gods blessing religiously pay all our lives , fremant , frendeant , rumpantur invidia oreri & mille impij nugatores ; and this obedience did neuer take away , obedience due to our king , nor ever will. who but a beast would call a noble and ancient nation a beaest ? sum will tell him he kicks against the whole nation , because hee is a beast , highly pampered , and fed with honours , lands , and riches . did ever any call the faire country of ireland a pest-house but this man ? why came soe many poore indigint men out of england this age into this pesthouse to make theire fortunes ? why came his father thither ( likely hee hath herd , in what state , and plight his father then was ) hee found himselfe very well for many yeares in this pest-house . in his answer to p. w. hee speaks these godly words . let it not seem strange or hard , at least to p. w. and his country-men , if a continued series of covenant-breaches , rapines , murthers , massacres , crueltys , perfidies , treasons , and rebellions , exercised against the crowne , and protestant religion , raise jealousies in the harts of all iudicious protestants . is not this a pious gloss of a geneua presbiterian upon a wicked theme ? doth not hee show the spleen , and rancor of a cankered hart , in this high tone , and storme of language against a whole catholick nation ? orery it is a great callumnie , that the body of the confederat catholicks exercised , rapins , murthers and those other abominations , or acted any thing against king and crowne . to the contrary in theire oath of association you will finde an express branch of defending the crowne , king , and royall family . wee are not accountable for what murthers , some of the common people at the first rising in the north , committed against poore protestants , with the taking away of theire cattel and goods ; which wee pittied with all our harts : the body of the catholicks were not , as yet com into the quarrell ( but awhile after were forced to take arms to avoyd theire owne destruction which could not be otherwise avoyded ) and since taking arms they have done all a long what the lawes of a just warr allow'd . but when you have your selfe commaunded a part of the parlaments rebellious army have you contained your common soldiers from murthering , and robbing the innocent common people ? wee found the contrary by experience . orery pagina 28. of his answer to p. w. plays the hypocrite with a great show of holiness . however ( saith hee ) the once seduced protestants of ireland are willing to take shame to themselves , and give glory to god in confessing their guilt such , ( though not by causing , yet by complying wtth the late usurpation , though to a good end ) that they redily acknowledg , they owe theire lives and estates to his majesty's grace and indulgence . this is humble and dutifull language , and such as should be spoken to a king , but all is spoken to a king coming home with tryumph , and entring , into ierusalem with osanna in excelsis , benedictus qui venit in nomine domine : but to this kings father , a king and the fountaine of iustice , as well as the royall sonne , sorely afflicted , what were the salutations , and cry's of orerys companions ? tolle , tolle , crucifige : some men have witt to change theire dialect of speaking according to the change of tymes , and fortune , orery is said to be one of these . i pray you heare the scurrill impudency of this people in tyme of theire rebellion , sending in a derisory manner huae and cry after his majesty , when they could not light on his royall person . if any man can bring any tale , or tydings of a wilfull king , who had gon a stray these foure years from his parlament , with a guilty conscience , bloody hands , a hart full of brooken vowes , and protestations : if these marcks be not sufficient , there is another in the * mouth , for bid him speak and you will soone know him : then give notice to britanicus , and you shall be well payd for your paines . god saue the parlament . who may not doubt but these kinde of men are those crept in unawarrs , who ( as the apostle jude tells us ) despise dominion , and speak evill of dignities : did not the same apostle foretell , that there should be such mockers in the last tyme , whoe should walke after theire owne ungodly lustes . i hope orery will not say the great rebells , the irish catholicks ( such hee would haue them be ) did ever revile afflicted majesty in such a scoffing way : truly they did not , but at all tymes , and upon all occations in theire pulpitts , theire congregrations , and publick assemblyes they spake of the king with all veneration , and compassion . now his majesty coming home in prosperity , those mockers of his father are all becom purify'd musaellmans and speake nothing but magnalia of the king. for all this , there are thousands of good true protestants , royallists in england that still feare , those new penitents , for abusing royall autority ( or at least faigne themselves soe to be ) would be glad to heare once more that millitary word as you were , and if this shall com about , the king will not have soe dutifull language from them . that orery says hee and other protestants complyed with the usurpation to a good end , is a strange expression , hee needs explaine himselfe . they invaded all the regalia , that is , they took away the kings navy , forts , townes , militia , and in the end they murther'd the king himselfe . does orery call this a good end of complying with the usurpation . the truth is , orery and his companions in ireland came home , when they could noe longer stand of ; the king may thank generall muncks ingenious stratagem for theire coming in , theire intention and ways were well knowne . now the kings worke being don by munck with all wished success ( soe as those in ireland had noe power to hinder it ) then orery and the rest thought fitt to cry out let the king live ; and as hee and his trusty comrades syding with the usurpation , had goverment and places of trust and profitt ( they then all danced to crumwells pype ) soe now they court the king returning home , and show themselves great penitents , taking shame to themselves of theire guilt , and giving glory to god. is not this a great glory to god , to confess a rebellion , they could noe more deny , then wee can deny its day when the sonne is shining and scorching the earth . that which much troubles orery , is , that the irish catholicks doe not acknowledg themselves guilty of a rebellion with him , and give glory to god that way , but they being , not guilty of such rebellion and treason against the crowne answer with s. augustine , praestat magis innocentem esse quam poenitentem . orery ingag'd ( as aboue was said ) in a horrid rebellion , if hee could make the catholicks confess themselves to have been rebells , if this hee could compass , hee would indeed triumph , and say in a leering way : behold the irish catholicks confess they have been rebells as well as wee ; but wee have obtain'd pardon , which was denyed them , and have gott theire estates and lands to boot ; let them now walk through out the world like poor and naked rebells . but of our side some will say , that at the tyme orery and his people had pardon , and the catholicks not : non erat rex iupiter omnibus idem . and that his majesty's censure in the case between us was that the poet speaks of . dat veniam coruis , vexai censura columbas . certainly his majesty , in our , and your case , orery , hath not walk't according to plato his excellent rule : non infaelix , sed malus semper castigandus est , ut fiat melior . not the unlucky , but the wicked man , is allways to be chastysed , that hee may be amended . the royall iudgment went quite another way , for the unfortunate irish catholicks were severly punished , and the wicked crumwelian people have bin pardoned , and rewarded with the estates of the irish catholicks . kingdoms a broad can hardly believe matters were soe carryed . likely these people are now contented , having theire harts desire in this world , soe as they may say without feare ireland is ours . but theire memory will perish , and themselves , or theire posterity will be distroyd by as wicked men as themselves that distroy'd us . salomon sayd well : the memory of the just is with praises : and the name of the impious shall rott . i will give orery and his frinds a good counsell out of the wise man ▪ stuppa collecta synagoga potententium , & consumatio illorum flamma ignis . the sinagog of sinners is as tow gathered together , and theire consummation a flame of fire . this man for wounding catholicks makes arrows of all wood , and frequently brings out this expression of the king against them . wee doe extreamly detest the odious rebellion , which the recusants of ireland have without ground or cullour , raised against us , our crowne , and dignity . hee further says : these words of the king were not spoken in a corner but under the great seal , and were worthy to be written with a beame of the sonne . all this is but an exaggeration to render us more odious . but will orery tell us , with what beame would hee have the blooddy rebellion of crumwell , of himselfe and the rest written ? if there be any brighter then that of the sonne wee are to seek out for it . orery knows well there is noe fouler staine , ( except heresy which is a spirituall rebellion ) then that of rebellion , and therfore leaves noe stone unmou'd to make our warre such : the name is execrable and ignominious , and the marks of reproach inflicted upon rebells , are full of disgrace . the civilians speak much of them , as thus . rebellis , incurrit , ipso jure paenam mortis . rebellis , perdit ipso jure dominium bonorum rebellis , potest a quolibet impuné occidi . rebelli , nec jus reddi debet . rebelles , subditi , tanquam piratae & latrones tractari solebant . rebellium domus solo aequari debent & sale spargi . rebellium legati possunt occidi . rebelles perdunt privilegia , & pro mortuis habentur , non habent civitatum beneficia , non jus azili , neque servanda est eijs fides . rebelles non debent in iudicium citari , sed celeri vindicta puniri ; & rebellionis factum fufficit absque sententia declaratoria . seing rebells are soe odious and execrable persons , orery is to make in this place a dubble reflection ; the first , how infamous and wicked men they have been , whose guilt was a confessed rebellion ; secondly they are for ever to praise the kings clemency , who pardoned soe wicked a crime . the iudgment of civilians , of rebells being as above specifyed noe greater injury can be done to the irish catholicks , who have beene still loyall to the king , then to tell the world , theire just warre was a rebellion . however it imports not much , that our enemys call us soe , for an enemys testimony against another enemy , is of small force : my possitive denyall of what hee affirmes is a iustification good enough ; if hee brings not against mee , tabulas , testes and great evidences , hee does nothing . my present subject of writing is not to iustify the irish warre of 1641. which , i heare , is already don by a learned penn ; yet somthing i will say for confuting orery's ill affected iudgment of us and our quarrell . that a defenfive warre can be raised without the consent and authority of any prince is a common doctrin of divines , canonistes , and civilians , and that it may somtymes extend it selfe in effect to the nature of an offensive warre . this doctrin is warranted by the law of nature , ( a more binding law then are the possitive law 's of men , ( which if repugne to that of nature are noe law ' s ; ) for by this law , aman can defend himselfe against violence with out recurring to the prince . the law of god is alsoe for the like defence . si effringens vir domum sive effodiens fuerit inventus , & accepto vulnere mortutus fuerit , percussor non erit reus sanguinis . if the tbiefe be found breaking up the house or undermining , and receiuing a wound dye , the stricker shall not be guilty of blood . by this divine precept , as alsoe by the law of nature , it is cleare and evident a private man may kill another in defence of his houshold goods . sed multo magis ( says s. thomas ) licitum est defendere propriam vitam , quam propriam domum . that is to say ' it is much more lawfull for aman to defend his life then his house . ergo if aman kills another in defence of his owne life , hee shall not be guilty of murther : which case is to be understood , that hee intends not to kill t'other man but in defence of his owne life ; and though some hould ; the man defending himselfe may not intend the killing of that other man , but only the preservation of his owne life , yet the more common opinion is , hee can , and any other thing else that tends , to the preservation of his life . the sacred canons alsoe subscribe to this doctrin in this dialect . sine principis authoritate per aliquod particulare bellum licitum est alicui injuriam repelere . that is : it is lawfull without the authority of the prince , for any man by a particular warre to repell injuries . if you question by what authority is such a warre legitimated , answer is given out of the cannons . authoritate iuris : which warranteth all men to prosecute theire right , and defend themselves ; see the divines . by the lawes of the kingdom of ireland , if a private man kills another se defendendo , hee is quitt , because the action is judged lawfull , and yet to legitemat such an act the princes authority interuenes not , the reason is evident , because : id licitum est jure naturali , divino , & civili , & canonico : by the law of nature , devine , civill , and cannon , it is lawfull by force , to repell force . azor. it is here to be obserued that this inculpable defence hath soe large an extent , that it reacheth to the defence not only of every privat mans life , but alsoe of his goods , chastity , honour , if such things can not be otherways preserued . soe s. thomas . now if such defense is lawfull for privat men , how much more for a common wealth or nation ? bonum enim commune excellentius , universalius ac subendé divinius est . bannez . for that a common good is more exellent , more universal , and somtymes more devine then a private good . and if it be lawfull to wage warre upon such inferiour motives , as is the preservation , or recovery of temporall goods , honour and the like , how much more lawfull is it to manage warre upon that supreme motive of defending , and preseruing , the catholick faith , without which there is noe salvation . this was the iudgment the pious and valiant machabees made of the warre they undertook , and nobly persued for theire religion and laws , which they preferd before theire wives and children , and all temporall things most deare unto them . the machabees being exhorted with the words of iudas exceeding good , &c. they resolued to fight and to encounter manfully : because the holy citty , and the temple were in-danger . for there was less care for theire wives , and children , and alsoe for theire bretheren , and kindsmen : but the greatest and principall feare was for the holiness of the temple . how farre a defensive warre may extend , the schoolmen tell us , and say that by accident , it may be somtyms lawfull for the common wealth to doe , and offer all such damages and evill , as may be done and offered in a just offensive warre . aliqnando ( saith bannez ) contingere potest , ut liceat illis , inferre hostibus omnia illa mala , que possunt in bello justo aggresivo . it may happen somtymes , to bee lawfull for those ingaded in a defensive warr , to doe all evills and damages which can be offered or don in a just offensive warr . which happeneth when the agressors are publick enemys , and when there is noe recourse to the prince , and that those defending themselves can noe otherwise avoyd the violence offered by the assailants . this was truly the case of the confederate catholicks as will clearly appeare to such as will be pleasd to examin it . moreover the case then stood soe with his majesty that hee was not able to redress the injuries don us , nor did our enemys then obay his commaunds , ( i mean a little after the warr begunn ) but the parlament , that fell from the king. for the better and clearer understanding the nature of a defenfive warr , those therin ingaged hould not themselves passively , but actively , soe doe the words repell or beat back signify : if the end it be lawfull , then are the necessary means to compasse that end alsoe lawfull : if the defence of on 's selfe be lawfull , then is the killing of the invader ( without which the life of the invaded cannot be preserued ) lawfull , soe as to kill is involued in the act of defence , and the lawfullness of the one inferrs the lawfullness of the other . si vis ( saith the civill law ) fiat personae , tunc licitum est se defend●re , & defendendo percutere , imo etiam occidere , si aliter non potest quis evadere manus ejus . if violence is don to a person , it is then lawfnll for him to defend himselfe , and defending himselfe to strick , and alsoe to kill , if hee cannot otherwise escape the hands , of his enemys . thus stood the case with the irish catholicks , that they must have kill'd , or have beene killed . yea soe great is the iustice of a defensive warr , that devines teach , it is lawfull for the sonne to defend himselfe against his father , the wife against her husband , the servant against his master , the subjest against his superiour , and the vassall against his prince or king. soe azor : nempe , licitum esse filio contra patrem , uxori contra maritum , subdito contra superiorem , vassallo contra principem sive regem se desendere . if it be lawfull for the subject or vassall in a just cause to defend himselfe against the prince , it must be lawfull to defend himselfe against his fellow subject , here i meet with an objection in which our adversarys put great force . the irish catholicks ( say they ) were the first aggressors . the objection is easily answered , as thus . it is a common doctrin of the devines , that it is lawfull to prevent an evill that can not be otherways avoyded then by preventing it , e. g. i see you take your pistoll in your hand cocking it to shoote at mee , in that case it is lawfull for mee to discharge my pistoll and kill you , otherwise i should be kill'd by you : will any law punish mee for killing you soe , would the law of god or nature have mee stay my hand untill i am kill'd by you . tannerus a good devine teacheth soe . licitum est etiam praevinire injustum aggressorem , si alia via commodae defensiones non supetat , & is jam aliqualiter est in culpae , sive in proposito aggressionis injustae versetur . it is lawfull to prevent an uniust invader , if there is noe other way of defence , and that astually the invavader is in fault or in a purpose of an uniust invation . becanus doth declare ( examining this question ) an aliquando liceat invasorem praevenire & illum occidere antequam nos actu invadat ? hee answers . licere in his casibus , primo , si accedat ad invadendum , nec evadere possum , nisi illum preveniam : secuudo , si nondum accedat , tamen instructus sit ad invadendum , nec possum effugere nisi priveniam . whether somtyms it is lawfull for us to prevent the invader , and kill him , afore he actually invad's us ? hee answers that it is , in these cases : first if hee coms to invade mee , and that i cannot escape but by preventing ; secondly if hee does not as yet invade mee , but is ready and prepared for that invation , and that i cannot avoyd him but by preventing : in this case if i kill him i doe it me defendendo , and consequently ( though i struck first ) i am the defender , and hee the aggressor . sotus navar corduba covar : and many houlds this doctrin , and navar gives this example , of a married man who has a dagger under his pillow , to kill his wife withall , which shee discovering and knowing may prevent by killing her husband , if there is noe other remedy ; the reason is , though actually hee has not done the execution , however hee is in a radiness to perform it , for which end hee kept her soe boulted up , and inuironed , as shee cannot otherwise escape . this was truly the case of the confederate catholicks at the beginning of the warr , they were boulted up in an iland , as that woeman in the chamber ; there was noe doore open for them , then by preventing the presbiterians blooddy designe ; if this they had not done , there had beene an end of them all . richard bealings esquire to vrbanus 8s ; from the body of the irish catholicks , and the lord bishop of fernes , and sir nicholas pluncket sent to innocentius x. did not tell those popes they came from a body of rebells , but from a people catholick the king of england's subjects , and for such they were respected , and vissited by the greatest princes , and cardinalls in the citty : and foure of the gravest cardinaells were deputed by pope innocentius to heare the two last , as caponi , spada , carassa , and pansirolli cardinall secretari , and the afforsaid bishop and noble gentlemen , were esteemed over all the citty for good catholicks , good subjects , and able men ; and with other instructions received commaunds from theire holliness to the people of ireland , to continue constant in the catholick religion , and loyalty to theire king. thus much i thought fitt to say by way of digression for iustifying our warr that it was noe rebellion , and that this argument of orery , the king call'd the warr of the irish catholicks a rebellion , ergo it is a rebellion doth not hould ; it is true , it is a received maxim , that the king can wrong noe man. the reason is , because the king is the fountain of iustice , and must be supposed not to have a will to wrong or offend any of his people . but there is noe maxim that the king may not be informed by evill men or counsells , to the distruction of his people , which hath been often done by statesmen , and counsellors , who seek after theire owne interest more then the preservation of the people , which is and ought to be the kings principal care : in this kinde the lord iustices in ireland , persons and burlase with a malignant part of the kings counsellors in the yeare 1641. informed his majesty that the catholicks of ireland without discrimination had entred into a rebellion , when only some discontented men began a revolution in the north , and those ( as was generally spoken ) men of small estates , and broken fortunes , the lords and gentlemen of the other three provinces , and all the catholick townes , and corporations having not taken arms , untill forced thereunto for the necessary defence of theire estates , and religion , ( as aboue hath been said . ) i doe not heere accuse , or excuse the first rysing in the north , but i confidently affirme , the nobles , and catholick gentlemen in the other three provinces ( and some of those in the north to , that did not joyn with the first rysing in that province ) and all the catholick townes , and corporations , lived in soe happy a state and soe opulent and rich , that they would neuer abett a revolution for gaining other mens estates ; it is alsoe well knowne , that all those have bin still faithfull to the crowne , and theire fathers before them , as was well try'd in the warrs of desmon , tyron , and other smaller revolutions . thus it happend , that his majesty grounded his opinion upon the information of foresaid parsons bnrlays , and a mallignant part of the counsell , corrupt men , ( who after fell from the king and adhered to the kings enemys , the rebellious parlament . ) those represented the body of the irish catholick rebells ; and the king deceived , and deluded by this information , call'd us rebells , and our just warr a rebellion , and to this day wee were not heard to speak for our selves , and being unheard ▪ ought to be reputed innocent . it is to be obserued , that the first flame of the rising in the noth , had beene soon quenched , had parsons and those of the councell given a commission to the marquis of ormond now duke , to raise five thousand men , as hee demanded for that effect , with him had gon alonge , the catholick nobility and gentlemen , and soe they had made a speedy work of it : but the plott of those crooked ministers of state was to involue all the catholicks in the bussiness , and there by to finde a cullor of confiscating theire estates . orery stays not here , but puffed up with his great fortune and a gall in pupe tells the world in a supersilious manner . that the birds of the ayre ; noe , nor the flyes contributed less to his majestys restauration , then the roman catholicks in ireland . orery this is to much , this great contempt of the catholicks , coms from a great pride in you , and what you say is very false , for the harty prayres of the catholicks ( though with steel they could contribute nothing , being then unarmed , and closed up in prisons by you and your companions , ) have more contributed to the kings restauration then birds and fly's that want reason could . are wee bound to suffer this and other great contumiles from a man soe lowly discended , as to tell us , the whole nation is a beast , our country a pest-house , and our religion somthing that pinns us upon the popes sleeve ? shall wee indure all this from a man that hath bin esteemed one of crumwells spyes , ( to be a spy , is an infamous office . ) orery if you are an englishman ( as you would have your selfe to be , and likwise the duke of ormond , ) it is true the duke was born in england , and of an english lady ( som say , had hee bin born in ireland , hee had been kinder to the nation and favoured them more then hee did upon the last settlement ) but his forefathers have all of them beene borne in ireland about four hundred and sixty years , and the house had the creation of earle in king edward the third's tyme anno domini 1332. orery you cannot say soe much for your selfe in the ranck of nobility but be what you will , english or irish , i will tell you what an english gentlemen writes of you , ( i have my selfe seen the man ) disguised under the name of william allen , in a most excellent piece , stiled killing is noe murther , speaking therin of the quality's of a tyrant applying all to crumwell , of the fift quality hee speaks thus . in all places they have theire spyes , and delators , that is , they haue fleetwoods ; theire broughalls , theire s. iohns , ( besides innumerable small spyes ) to appeare discontented , and not to side with them ; that under that guise , they may gett trust , and make discoverys , orery in crumwells tyme was lord broughalls . this noble man hath used still against us , his sword and penn ; but the latter hath made the deeper wound , if men creditt his writings : cannot hee live contented with a good patrimony , his father provided for him , and agreat lump of catholicks lands the king conferr'd upon him , at once with the place of lord president of the faire and goodly province of munster ( a dignity his fathers child did little think to obtaine , and a reward his perfidy against the crowne did not meritt ) cannot all these great honours , estates , and riches satisfy the man , unless hee see 's innocent maerdochaeus hang'd on a high gibbet ? the goodness of god ( wee hope ) will not allow , what hee desires , the exterpation of a nation . noble mindes ordinarily esteem the place where they , or theire parents have gain'd agreat fortune and settlement : orery's father ( it is well knowne ) from a lowstate came to one of the greatest estates in the three kingdoms , hee was neither sword-man , nor gown-man , nor favoritt in court , and yet purchased a prodigious estate , came to the dignity of an earl , high treasurer , of the kingdom of ireland , marcht two of his daughters , one to great geraldin earl of killdare ( first earl of ireland , ) another to the lord barry viscount of barremore ; hee used for his motto in this his great prosperity . gods providence is my in heritance , a christian , and modest one , which for all that signifyed hee had nothing left him by his parents . these things i utter not by way of reproach , for wee are all the children of adam , but to minde orery a little of the low and small nest , in which his father was hatched , that hee should not soe farr forgett himselfe , as to contemne and trample under foote a whole nation , wherin are soe many antient and noble familyes : and let him give mee leave to till him , it is agreat and an unwary impertinency for guilty and contaminated men to reproach the innocent . hee that says much , or displeaseth others , must heare somthing will displease himselfe , as alsoe hee that goes armed against many , expects many armed against him . in tyme of usurpation those that commaunded were very insolent ; it was then indeed men could say of england , what was said of athens : that there only small theeves were hang'd , but the great ones were free , and condemn'd the rest ; wee hope it is not now soe in england : however orery for one man hath had the good fortune to escape in all tymes , and on all sides , and to have a good post and place in every goverment . it is commonly said , that against a mischief , badd parents doe to theire children , there is noe other cure then patience , but orery being noe parent , but an enemy to our nation , is not to be borne with , and it is more reasonable his owne confusion should be his cure , then our patience . the catholicks of ireland , look upon him as a great beast makeing a prey of all that 's weaker , and realy hee hath soe dealt with us , wherfore wee may deal with him in the same way according to our strength , and if hee is soe strong and in court soe much favoured as wee may not have him cited to make answer , the court will give us leave to expose his vertues or vices as wee finde them written by others . in what i have writt , i have but done my duty , in strycking him that stryck's my country , for as tertulean says . in hostem patriae omnis homo miles est . i will here take my leave of count orery , minding him of what p. w. in his little book stiled the irish cullours foulded , printed at london anno domini 1662. in pag. 20. therof hee speaks of orery to the duke of ormond as followeth . for indeed my lord hee appears to mee all a long his writings , of the number of those , who see heaven , and all the hopes of the other life , as mathematitians make us behold in a darke chamber , what soever passeth a broad , through a little crany , in such a manner , that all things wee see , appeare like shaddows and landsckips turned topsceturvy , verily , i take this gentleman to be abused soe by himselfe . and that after hee hath stopped up all the windows and accesses to heavenly ray's , hee hath made a little hole for the moone , and all the blessings of the other life have seemed very slender to his distrustfull spiritt : and that hee hath put on a resolution to make a fortune at what price soever , and to build on earth like caine , after hee hath allmost renounced the hopes of heaven . if orery be such a man as p. w. discribes him ; if hee hath not a trembling in the head , as old cain the murtherer had , hee cannot chuse but have a trembling and great heavenisse at the hart . after ending with orery i sinde a nother kinde of snake in the grass latet anguis in herba full of poyson , this man conceals his name , wherfore i know not ( for hee needed not feare to write any thing against the catholicks , when all things runn against them . ) likely his fancy was to throw the stone , and hide his hand . hee writt at london anno 1664. a book full of vennime with this title , horae subcesiva . in pag. 83. hee affirmeth that charles the second is not obliged in the least by any law of god or man , of warr or nations to keep any one particle of the irish articles made or granted by king charles his father in the yeare 1648. to this purpose hee setts downe formally these words in pag. 81. king charles the second , may iure belli & gentium , & lege talionis , without breatch of faith or articles ( not excepting those of 1648. soe much insisted on , and soe mightily pleaded for by p. w. by that just law ( soe often used , and prescribed by god himselfe ) take the lives , and fortunes of all bloodd-thirsty popish rebells , and theire confederats , and assotiats . m this godly man doth not cite in what code or book this law often used and prescribed by god himselfe is to be had , nor can hee , nor doth hee give any other reason or proofe for his assertion then his owne authority ; which can be of noe vallue with any pious man. i appeal to all the noble-men and the worthy protestant people of england if this is not rather the proposition of a murtherer then of a christian gentleman , this mans book ( hor● subcesivae ) p. w. did learnedly confute in an appendix hee added to his reply to orerys answer , and soe confounded him , that hee neuer writt word after in his owne defence . i remitt the reader to what hee shall finde in said appendix of this matter , and after reading all let him iudge as hee shall finde fitting and reasonable . can wee forgit to list in the number of our enemys the earle of clarendon chancellor of england , ( hee deserves to head the first ranck of them ) a man of ruine and distruction , a pest to catholicks , and ireland . was not this clarendon , this blooddy and covetous statesmaen heard oft to say with a fierce countenanc and passionat tone , the irish deserve to be exterpated , and then hee would after his usuall manner com out with a great oath , and swear they shall be extirpated . good god what a heathnish expression is this in the mouth of a christian statesman , a chancellor of engelland . ( is not a christian king well counselled in having neare him for chiefe minister of state such a blooddy man voyd of all iustice and mercy . ) but did this athist ( soe great an enemy to godliness can not be a christian ) think that god , that hath appoynted an angell for the guard of every indivtduall person , would take noe care to preserve the body of an intyre nation , but let them all be destroy'd to satisfy the minde and anger of a blooddy man. clarendon was in this bussiness like that astronomer , or philosopher , who look't upon the starrs , and fell into a well before his feet : hee had then designed in his owne minde the ruine of the catholicks of ireland , and very soon after , hee stole out of england , with a guilty conscience and baggs of gold in great feare , and left behind him his stately buildings , places of pleasure , great riches , and the veneration of many that adored this man like an idoll , ( the glory of the man is gon away like smooke and his name rotten , and hated in england ) and flying into france , walked over some provinces of that kingdome in trembling , like another cain before any settlement of himselfe . iustum o domine est iudicium tuum . and wee are poore soules as yet living as wee can , and hopeing for gods mercy . i am here to advertise my reader of an abominable ingagment agree'd upon in the tyme of usurpation against the royall family ; the contents will teach you how good frinds they were to the king that conceived this ingagement . p. w. hath this oath page 74. of his reply to orery's answer , and aptly tearms it one of the oathes taken by the saints themselves the fautors of crumwells tyranny , and the wellwishers of his kings-ship . which ruuneth thus . i. a. b. doe hereby declare that i renounce the pretended title of charles stuart , and the whole line of late king iames , and of every other person pretending to the goverment of the nations of england , scotland , and ireland , and the dominions , and territorys therunto belonging , and that iwill by the grace and assistance of the allmighty , be true and faithfull to this common wealth against any king , single person , and house of peers , and every of them , and here unto i subscribe my name . can any oath be more horrid , or can any written wickedness ascend higher ? and consequently can any mercy be greater then the pardon his majesty hath granted to the men that hartily took this oath ? this ingagment was forced upon the irish catholicks in soe high a nature , that those who would not take it , were debarred not only from the benefitt of law , but alsoe expos'd to an inevitable danger of death , the soldiers of crumwells army , being commanded by publick proclamation , to kill any man they met on the high-way , who carryed not a certificate about him of having taken that ingagment : commaunds which were cruelly executed on silly pesants , who out of ignorance , or want of care , having left theire ticketts at home , were barbarously murthered by the mercyless souldiers . make now a serious reflextion upon said ingagment out of the same author . it is very remarkable , ( saith hee ) that they who devised this ingagment , who hartily subscribed , and forced others to take it , shall not be questioned , or held criminall , and that those , who neuer saw it , before it was administrated to them , who abbor'd it in theire harts , and were forc't to signe it to avoyd a blooddy , and violent death , shall be declared nocents and an irecoverable sentence of loosing theire estates given against them , and theire estates soe forfeted , to be confirm'd on those very persons , who compell'd the proprietors to that forfeitur . obstupescite caeli super hoc & portae ejus desolamini vehementer . i defy all the annalls , and the histories , of tartars , turcks , scithians , or of what people soever to produce soe horrible an injustice as this , or a more wicked , and barbarous pranck of knavery , then those our enemys have contrived . king charles our soveraigne your royall authority in england maintains the peer in his splendor and dignity , the commoner in his birth right and liberty , you protect the weak from the oppression of the mighty , secure the nobility from the insolence of the people , and by this equall , and impartiall iustice is indifferrently distributed to all the inhabitants of that great and flourishing realme : and at the same tyme use is made of the same royall authority in your kingdom of ireland , to condemne innocents , before they are heard ; to destroy soe many hundred widdow's and orphans ; to confirme soe many unlawfull usurped possessions ; to violate the publick faith , to punish vertue , to countenance vice , to hold loyalty a crime , and treason worthy of reward . these are verities not to be doubted of in our days , wee feel them by sore tryall : but after-ages will hardly admitt them , and it must be avery difficult matter to perswade those now , that have not been eye-wittnesses , that the fact ever happened . now things being carryed in this nature , let your majesty seriously consider , of whome shall god take account of our distruction ; of those wicked states-men who abused your authority ; or of your royall person , for not bringing those men ( after our humble and publick prayres and petitions to your majesty for redress ) to the test and tryall of iustice for having opprest us . consider great king the prayer of king david to god. o god give the iudgment to the king : and the iustice to the sonne of the king. why soe king david ? to iudge ( saith david ) thy people in iustice , and thy poore in iudgment . the royall prophet here gives the reason , wherfore the power of iudging , and sword of justice is given to a king : to witt , that hee judge the people in justice , and the poor in iudgment . which was not done ; soe complains , the widdow's and orphans in ireland perishing in poverty and famin , and the world abroad is in amazement , that this was not done , wonders ( they say ) were done after his majestys restauration , rebells made honest men , and honest men made rebells by the kings royall pleasure , and all this brought about , by the cunning and wickedness of certaine statsmen , wherby the king was cheated , and betrayd , the innocent people ruin'd and impious statsmen enricht and magnify'd . soe that thee . poore catholcck people have nothing left them , but to cry to thee o lord. tibi deretictus est pauper orphano tu eris adjutor . contere brachium peccatoris & maligni . to thee is the poor left , to the orphan thou wilt bee a helper . break the arme of the sinner and malignant . our eyes and harts o god are turn'd upon thee , seing men have abandon'd us ; o lord when will the day come of our happiness ? when shall wee with thankfullness say to all the world . our lord hath heard the desire of the poore , and iudged for the people , and the humble . kings are more oblig'd to commiserat the calamity's of the afflicted rhen privat men , because they are the fathers of the people : iob a holy prince in the land of hus ( some hold hee was an absolute king ) did this . heare him speak king charls . i was an eye to the blinde , and a foot to the lame . i was the father of the poore ; i brake the iawes of the wicked man , and out of his teeth i took away the prey . this is it the poore catholicks most need to have done for them , that the royall hand will break the jawes of wicked men , and take the prey out of theire teeth . iob says further . the eare hearing counted mee blessed , for that i had delivered the poore man crying out , and the people that had noe helpe . the blessing sf him that was ready to perrish came upon mee , and i comforted the hart of the widdow . there are thousands of these wedows and people crying out , comfort theire harts for they are perrishing , and let it be done ( as god would have it to be done ) by your majesty , that the blessings of the poore may fale upon you as they did upon iob , and all the blessings of heaven . but why great king ( give mee pardon for speaking to you ) why have wee , your catholick subjects of ireland been neglected , even to ruine and distruction ? what did your majesty see in us , that could render us in capable of the pardon granted to the rebells in generall ? if our rising in arms ( which was against our fellow-subjects , for our owne defence , and not against the crowne ) hath bin iudged a rebellion by your royall father and your selfe , i hope you hould us farre smaller rebbels then those that made open warre against the crowne and your majest'ys , and in fine murther'd your father ; why then are they pardon'd , and wee not ? but incase our revolution hath bin iudg'd a rebellion ( and in case it had bine truly soe ) upon the place made and concluded anno 1648. ( the marquis of ormond hauing bin your royall fathers commissioner to that effest . ) wee had an act of oblivion from your father of blessed memory for all that had passed , and after confirmed by your majesty : this act of oblivion hath wyp't away the rebellion , ergo it can not rise , againe in iudgment against us , nor can wee be punished for a crime already forgiven : this being soe , why are wee cast of ? why left under a staine of rebellion , the true rebells being forgiven ? why being innocent doe wee suffer this contumely ? why are wee strucken downe as dead men by your royall hand , lands , houses , estates , and all wee had , being conferr'd on men , which have noe right to them , our enemy's , and one tyme your owne : they pretend noe claime to our estates and livings , noe pack't , stipulation or convieance : by your majesty's pleasure only ( that 's theire sole tytle ) they hold all , and wee have lost all . by what law are wee thus treated , and destroy'd , by that of god , or nature , or nations ? all done against us , is against all those lawes , and against the law of englaend , to , a good law , by which noe man is to be deprived of his lands and goods , but by a due course of law , the benefitt of this law was denied us . wither then shall wee turne , what are wee able to doe for our selves : the father is not able to helpe the child , nor the child the father , mothers are weeping over theire little ones languishing in want and hunger . if wee are innocent , ( the act of oblivion hath made us soe , though wee had bin guilty before ) why are wee cast out of our houses , despoyl'd of our lands , and estates , that our forefathers have possessed soe many ages ? if wee have committed any crime or treason against the crowne , your royall father , or your selfe , ( that was not remitted ) it were a greater mercy , to hasten us into the other world , by a short and violent death , then to condemne us to a lingering one , to be consumed , in coldness , hungar , and nakedness , and a shamefull slavery at home and in all the regions of europ . your majesty hath been pleased to tell publickly the peers , and people of england . that wee abroad have followed your majesty from kingdom , to kingdome , and that with all cheerfullness and obedience ; that wee received and submitted to your royall orders , and betook our selves to what fervice your majesty directed , at that tyme most convenient , and behooffull to your majesty , though attended with inconveniences enough to our felves , and your majesty iudged this our demeaniour very worthy of protection , iustice , and favour . your kingly language the 27. iuly 1660. to the house of peers touching the act of indemnity , was this . i hope i need say nothing of irelande and that they alone shall not want the benefitt of my mercy : they have shew'd much affection to mee a broad , and you will have a care of my honour , and what i have promised to them . these veritys uttered by your majesty are owned by our greatest enemys ; for such , and that wee sacrifised our selves and all wee had faithfully , and hartily in your majestys service . let mee demaund here , where then have been braghall , coot , cloathworthy , and others of that band , those grandees your majesty hath been pleased to honour with great titles ; the two first were made earls of orery , and montrath and the last ( cloathworthy , that knowne plunderer of the queens chappell , and summersett house an infamous man ) created viscount massaren ? where i say againe , have these men been in the dark day of your callamitys , and adversitys ? what were they then doeing ? they were then stiffly struggling against your crowne and person , and laying about them with maine indeavours , that the royall family of the stuarts should neuer returne to theire owne dominions ; ( to which purpose they contrived the forementioned horrid ingagement . ) in those days they stiled your majesty only charles stuart , to call you king was a treason among them . and what is don in the end ? after all theire villanys , contempt of royall family , open rebellion and warr against the crowne , and after putting the good king to death : after our fidelity , obedience , and harty affection to your majesty , and after your owne kingly testimonys , and expressions of the same : the matter hath been strangly carryed . how ? the knowne rebells had your majestys pardon , they were magnify'd , had places of trust and profitt in the cammon wealth , and to boot they carryed away our houses , lands , and estates , by your majestys graunt under the great seal . o tempora ! o mores ! o laceratam iustitiam ! and what is our lott , and share of this tragicall play , after your royall promisees of all favour and protection ? wee are left naked and desolate , crying to god as those of jerusalem did distroyed by theire enemys . remember o lord what is fallne unto us , behold and regard our reproath : our inheritance is turned to aliens , and our houses to strangers . wee are pupills without fathers , the joy of our hart hath failed , our quire is turned to mourning . this is our deplorable state : what your majesty will doe with us , or for us , is only knowne to god aud your selfe , and wee are to pray that god will be pleased to incline your hart to such a resolution , as may bring us some comfort , which wee much need ; cor regis in manu domini , quocunque voluerit , inclinubit illud . give freedom great king to a poore priest , to speak truth to your majesty , it is noe new thing that good priests speak to kings , and god himselfe saith , hee will curse the blessings of those priestes , that will not speak truth , and give glory to his holy name ; and the prophet malachias tells your majesty , that regard is to be had of what the priest says . for the lipps of the priest ( saith that prophet ) shall keep knowledg , and the law they shall require out of his mouth : because hee is the angell of the lord of hostes . the truth i presume to speak to you my king with all submission and sincerity is this . that your majesty hath great cause to feare the heavy iudgments god for soe many thousands of wedow's and orphans perrishing for want in the view of the world , by that fatall sentence called the bill of settlement . iob tells us god hath , and doth somtyme punnish kings . balteum regum dissoluit , & cinget fune renes eorum . hee looseth the belt of kings , and girdeth theire reynes with a cord . hee loosed the belt from your fathers side , and girded his reynes with a cord of sore affliction : and yet hee was esteemed a sober , just , chast king. god , is a god of iustice holding an iron rod in his hand stretched over the heads of all kings , emperours , and popes , and tells them . potentes , potenter tormenta patientur ▪ ezechias , the holy king , when the prophet told him hee should dy , turning his face to the temple said . quis est qui sic humiliat sublimes reges terrae ? examen my soveraigne , and ponderwell the words of that good king , and how hee was frighted , hearing from the prophet that hee should dy . dy you must great king , when that shall be god alone knowes , et post mortem sequiter iuditium . those men that abused your authority on earth will make noe answer for you ; your selfe must before that tribunall , receive ( as the meanest of your subjects ) according to what you have done in this life . many men use to speak to kings . omnia placentia . but those will be found in the end flatterers , and false prophets ; i speake to your majesty as a priest of god should speak , ) naked truth , & sic liberavi animam meam . your majesty will doe well to sitt downe , and deeply meditate upon this weighty poynt , and theme , of eternall damnation , or salvation . having exposed to my soveraigne our calamity's , ruine and miserys , and offered humble prayers , for ease and mercy . i now turne my speech to you my most deare and honourable countrimen , for your sake i have spoken noe way minding redress , for what i my selve have lost , which was somthing . if iustice shall be don you , and cause of joy come from the kings good pleasure and determination , prays god and the king for that happiness , and pray to god for his long and prosperous raigne . but if this shall not be done ( god permitting things to goe on as they doe , either for punnishing ours , and our fathers sinns , or for trying our patience in this world . ) let his holy name be ever blessed : beare patiently your poverty , and you shall finde poverty a great blessing , s. iohn chrisostome compares it with martyrdome . egestas ( saith the saint ) bene tollerata facit martirium . i doe not think there can hardly be any found in the world , that have come to a greater distress , and poverty , then that you endure , suffer all willingly for god's sake and you are sure of a crowne : minde often that excellent sentence of s. augustin . saeculi homines , infaeliciter faelices sunt , martyres autem faeliciter infaelices erat . the men of this world , are unhappily happy , but the martyrs have been happily unhappy . this is your case , or very like it , soe as in your nakedness , your are happier , then those that have all that was yours , living in pleasurs , and plenty , let this alsoe be some comfort to you , that you have but lost , those things you could not long hould , nor shall the present possessors long enjoy them . though they think theire fortuns in that land surely settled , they are but pilgrims in the way as you are , and must part as you shall ( and with more greef , and feare , for having more then you have ) and then they shall know and feel gods iudgment for what they have done to you . in all your afflictions , i shall pray and conjure you , to demean your selves like good christians , paying faithfully to god his due , and to the king his ; to the king fidelity and obedience in civilibus , and that for conscience sake ; to god veneration and highest worship , which can not be performed without professing a true rcligion , the same you are of : wherfore let noe wordly preferments , or comodity's , that men can conferr on you ; nor punishments they can inflict , shake your religion , but hould the same constantly in all tempests and stormes , for of it depends eternall salvation . and to speak at the present tyme of your great afflictions , imitate i pray you , the three isralites cast into the furnase of babilon , and you shall finde , as they did , an angell to comfort you . they in the fyre blessed the name of god , when azarias standing in the flame said . blessed art thou o lord , the god of our fathers , and laudable and glorious is thy name for ever , because thou art just in all things which thou hast don to us , and all thy works are true and thy ways righteous , and thy iudgments true , for wee have sinned , and done unjustly , revolting from thee , and and now wee follow in all our harts ; and feare thee , and seek thy face , confound us not , but doe with us according thy meekness , and according to the multitude of thy mercy deliver us in thy mervells , and give glory to thy name o lord. none of you have suffered soe much as innocent iob , set him before your eyes , invironed with the messingers of all his disasters . one of them said to him . the sabean● tooke away the oxes and asses , and kill'd thy servants . a nother said , a fyre from heaven struck thy sheep , and thy servants , and consum'd them all . the third ; the chaldeans made three troups and invaded the cammels . the last told him . a vehement winde came from the country of the desert , and shook the foure corners of the house , wherin thy children were feasting , and falling oppressed them , and they are all dead . iob hearing all this sad newes , blamed not the sabeans , chaldeans , fire from heaven , or winde coming from the country of the desert , nor did soe much as mention them . but hee rose up , and faling on the ground adored , and said . naked i came out of my mothers wombe , and naked shall i returne thither , our lord gave , our lord hath taken away , as it pleased our lord , soe it is done , the name of our lord he blessed . bless you likewise the the name of our lord for all that hath befalen you , offering all up purely to his holy will. one thing my honoured deare country-men i seriously commend to your pious considerations , the ensuing weighty golden sentence of s. cyprian . deus unus est , ( saith hee ) christus unus est , & una ecclesia , & cathedra una , supra petrum domini voce fundata : aliud altare constitui , aut sacerdotium novum fieri prater unum altare , & unum sacerdotium , non potest . qnisquis alibi collegerit , spargit . adulterum est , impium est , sacrilegum est , quodcunque humano fur●ro institutitur , ut dispositio divina violetur . let the words of this most holy bishop and martyre goe to the hart of every one of you . this one god hath created you . this one christ hath redeemed you . this one church hath baptized you , and imbued you with the elements of faith , and christian rules of living well : this one and holy chaire ( of peter ) hath governed you , and all the christian world in verity , and sanctity all a long from the apostles tyme. there is but one altar , and one priesthood ( and this only in the roman catholick church : ) hee that gathereth out of this congregation , disperseth . this church only hath the keyes of heaven , and true commission to save soules ; any power on earth , that seeks to pull downe this altar , to abolish this priesthood , to distroy this church , is impious , adulterous , prophane , and sacrilegious . the holy doctour gives another devine counsell to his people . nemo vos fratres errare a domini viis faciat ; nemo filios ecciesiae de ecclesia tollat ; pereant sibi soli qui perire voluerint . that is to say , let noe man bring you into error from the pathes of our lord ; let none take out of the church , children of the church ; those that have a minde to perrish and be lost , let them be lost alone . let egan ( a lost dissolaite fryer that latly fell ) and this sall , and all such prophane men , that will not remaine in gods house , let them perrish alone , seeing they will haue it soe : doe not you follow theire evill example , impiety and maddness , but wisely stay within the ribbs of the ark , the holy roman catholick church ( ad quam ( teste cypriano ) perfidia non habet accessum , and out of which great augustin assures us there is noe hopes of salvation : ) and be constantly , and religiously obedient to the apostolick sea , and to the man , that stands upon the rock clement the x. conspicuous for his zeal and piety , on earth the prime lord of the house of god , with full power to guide and governe all soules in the way of salvation . praying god of his infinit goodness to graunt you in your great afflictions fortitude ; patience , and comfort ; to his holy protection i commend hartely you and my selfe , this 23th . december , 1674. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a40452-e1940 isa . cap. 38 , 1. cor. cap. 10. apoc. cap. 12. dictum s. ambrosy . isa . cap. 8. psal . 140. act. apl. cap. 5. levit. cap. 19. isa . cap. ● . ierem. cap. 6. ad rom cap. 13. ad hebr. cap. 11. in merc. britanicus . * bos in lingua . iudae epist . plato legum 2. lib. prov. cap. 10. eccles . cap. 21. exod. cap. 22. s. to. 2a . 2ae . q. 6. a. 7. de grafys ex cap. significasti , desce : 36. m. 35 , in 2a . 2ae . q. 40. & q. 64. and the interpriters of holy writt in rom. 13. 3a . part . lib. 2. cap , 1. in 2a . 2ae . q. 64. a 7. in 2a . 2ae . q. 40. a 1. dub : 2. con . 1. mac. l. 2. cap. 15. 2a . 2ae . q. 40. a. 1. d. 10 , con . 1. §§ . ad l aquill : l scientiam §§ . qui cum aliter . instit : moral : p. 3. l. 3. q. 6. q. 6. n. 7. de iustitia & iure . out of the narrative of the earl of clarindons settlement and sale of ireland out of clarendons settleement and sale of ireland pag. 8. psal . 71. psal . non●●… . iob. cap. 29. ierem. thren● cap. 5. malac. cap. 2. iob. cap. 12. dan. cap. 3. iob. cap. 1. s. cyprianus epist . 40. a true and full narrative of those two never to be forgotten deliverances one from the spanish invasion in 88, the other from the hellish powder plot, november 5, 1605 : whereunto is added the like narrative of that signal judgment of god upon the papists, by the fall of the house in black-friers, london, upon their fifth of november, 1623 / collected for the information and benefit of each family, by sam. clark ... england's remembrancer clarke, samuel, 1599-1682. 1671 approx. 139 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 66 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33346 wing c4559 estc r15231 12950712 ocm 12950712 95887 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a33346) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95887) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 733:52) a true and full narrative of those two never to be forgotten deliverances one from the spanish invasion in 88, the other from the hellish powder plot, november 5, 1605 : whereunto is added the like narrative of that signal judgment of god upon the papists, by the fall of the house in black-friers, london, upon their fifth of november, 1623 / collected for the information and benefit of each family, by sam. clark ... england's remembrancer clarke, samuel, 1599-1682. clarke, samuel, 1599-1682. gun-powder treason. [8], 68, [8], 23, 14 p., 1 folded leaf of plates. printed for j. hancock ..., london : 1671. added t.p. and separate paging ([8], 23 p.): the gun-powder treason. added t.p. and separate paging (14 p.): a narrative of the visible hand of god upon the papists. originally published in 1657 as england's remembrancer. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng armada, 1588. gunpowder plot, 1605. catholics -england. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-05 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a true and full narrative of those two never to be forgotten deliverances : one from the spanish invasion in 88. the other from the hellish powder plot : november 5. 1605. whereunto is added the like narrative of that signal judgment of god upon the papists , by the fall of the house in black-friers london , upon their fifth of november , 1623. collected for the information and benefit of each family , by sam , clark , formerly pastor in bennet fink . behold the wicked travelleth with iniquity , and hath conceived mischief , and brought forth falshood . he made a pit , and digged it , and is fallen into the ditch which he made . his mischief shall return upon his own head , and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate . psal. 7.14 , 15 , 16. london , printed for j. hancock , and are to be sold at the three bibles , being the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . 1671 to the honourable and his much honoured friends edward rvssel , esq son to the right honourable francis earl of bedford . and to the lady penelope , his prudent and pious consort . sir , madam , i take the boldness to present you with these narratives , not for that they are new , or supposing your selves to be strangers to them : but as a testimony of my gratitude for these favours i have received from you : the high heavens may be seen in the lowest valleys : so may a large heart in the least gift . but truly though the gift be worthless , yet so is not the matter contained in it , which sets forth such eminent and signal deliverances as no church or people in these latter ages of the world have received ; and there must be a recognition of gods mercies , or else there will neither follow estimation , nor retribution : hence micah 6.5 . o my people ( saith god many hundreds of years after ) remember now what balack king of moah consulted , and what balaam the son of beor answered him from shittim unto gilgal , that ye may know the righteousness of the lord. if there be not such a recognition of former deliverances , we that should be as temples of his praise , shall be as graves of his benefits . our souls indeed are too like filthy ponds , wherein fish die soon , and frogs live long : rotten stuff is remembred , memorable mercies are forgotten ; whereas the soul should be as an holy ark ; the memory as the pot of manna , preserving holy truths and special mercies ; as aarons rod , fresh and flourishing . oh! let us imitate that man after gods own heart ! if the lord will be davids shepherd , he will dwel in gods house to all perpetuity , psalm . 23.1 , 6. if god deal bountifully with him , he will sit down and bethink himself what to render for all his benefits , psalm 116.7 , 12. a christian counts all that he can do for god by way of retribution , but a little of that much he could beteem him ; and thinks nothing more unbeseeming him than to bury the mercies of god in oblivion . his two mites of thankfulness and obedience he dayly presents , and then cryes out as that poor grecian did to the emperour , if i had a better present thou shouldest be sure of it . what then may we judge of those persons in our daies , who labour to extenuate , yea annihilate these deliverances ? that would have no publick commemorations of them , that study how to invalidate them , and to blot out the remembrance of them ? to render good for evil is divine : good for good is humane : evil for evil is brutish : but evil for good is devillish . yet alas ! how ordinary an evil is this among us , to abuse our deliverances to gods ' dishonour ? but do ye thus requite the lord , o foolish people , and unwise ? is not he thy father ? he hath bought thee , &c. deut. 32.6 . should we not remember that good turns aggravate unkindnesses , and our offences are not a little encreased by our obligations ? ingrateful persons are like the snake in the fable , who said to the country-man when he had shewed it kindness : summum praemium pro summo beneficio est ingratitudo . ingratitude is the greatest reward of the greatest benefit . how many such snakes have we amongst us , that return evil for good , and unkindness for kindness ? is not this to fight against god , with his own weapons ? as david did against goliah : as jehu did against jehoram : and as benhadad did against ahab , with that life that he had lately given him ? for the preventing whereof ( if it may be ) are these things published , being almost worn out of remembrance more than the very names of them . besides , though they may be found in larger volumes , yet are they not so fit for every family : and as i have presumed ( honourable and beloved ) to publish them udder your protection , so i doubt not but they will find the better entertainment for the same . my earnest desire and prayer for you is that the god of peace will fill you with all joy and peace by believing , multiplying his blessings upon you and yours : and that you would afford me a room in your albe among those that sir , madam , love , honour and serve you . sam. clark. from my study in thridneedle street , octob. 22. 1657. the spanish invasion a commemoration of that wonderful , and almost miraculous deliverance afforded by god to this nation from the spanish invation , anno christi , 1588. the year one thousand five hundred eighty eight , was foretold by an astronomer of k●n●ngsberg , above one hundred years before , that it should prove a wonderful year : and the german chronologers presiged , that it would be the climacterical year of the world , which was in some measure accomplished in that glorious and never to be forgotten deliverance vouchsafed by god to us in england , and in that fatal overthrow of the spanish navy ; a true narrative whereof followes . but that we may the better see what induced the spaniard to make this hostile invasion , we must be informed : both who were the inciters , and by what arguments , and artifices , they stirred him up thereunto . the inciters were the pope , and some traiterous english fugitives who were entertained in spain , and at rome . the design was , the conquest of england ; which had been hindred for the space of ten years by reason of the spanish wars in portugal . the arguments were , that seeing god had blessed the king of spain with admirable blessings and successes ; had given him in portugal , the east indies , and very many rich islands belonging to the same ; that he should therefore perform somewhat that might be acceptable to god ( the giver of so great and good things ) and most worthy the power , and majesty of the catholick king : that the church of god could not be more gloriously , nor meritoriously propagated , than by the conquest of england , extirpating heresie , and planting the catholick roman religion there . this war ( they said ) would be most just and necessary ; considering that the queen of england was excommunicated , and persisted contumacious against the church of rome . that she supported the king of spains rebels in the netherlands , annoyed the spaniards with continual depredations ; surprised , and sacked his towns in spain , and america , and had very lately put the queen of scots to death , therein violating the majesty of all kings . again , that this war would be no less profitable than just ; for hereby he might add to his empire other flourishing kingdoms , extinguish the rebellion in the low-countries , hitherto fomented and supported from england ; secure his voyages from both the indies , and abate his vast expences in convoying his indian fleets both forward and backward : for proof whereof ( they suggested ) that the english navy was neither for number , nor greatness , nor strength comparable to that of spain ; especially having the portugal fleet now annexed unto it . that england was not fortified , and it wanted commanders : souldiers , a cavalry , and ammunition ; was bare of wealth , and friends . that there were many in all parts of it addicted to the romish religion , and would upon the first opportunity joyn their forces with his . in brief , that so great was the strength of the spaniard , and so unmatchable was their valour , that no man durst oppose against them , and therefore they might confidently assure themselves of victory . moreover , that now an opportunity was afforded by god himself to the king of spain to effectuate this great design , having no cause to fear any other enemies , by reason of a truce lately concluded by him-with the great turk , and the french ( his old enemies ) being now embroiled in civil wars at home . they perswaded him likewise that england was an easier conquest than the netherlands : for that he had a shorter cut to it by sea , and that an open sea : neither was it so fortified with cities , castles , &c. as the netherlands were : and that england being once conquered , the netherlands would soon follow of course , having lost their best supporter . these , and such like arguments prevailing with the king of spain , in the next place they held a serious consultation about the manner of invading england . don avares bassano , marquiss of sancta cruce ; who was to command the armado , advised that some port-town in holland , or zealand should suddenly be surprized by the prince of parma's land forces ( who was then governor of the netherlands under the king of spain ) and by some spanish ships sent to assist him by sea , that so the great fleet might have an harbour from whence to begin their invasion : with whom agreed in opinion the prince of parma himself , who was very forward to promote this expedition . but others opposed this by reason of the difficulty , danger , expence of time , and vast charge that it would require . they held that with the same charge england might easier be won , and that the conquest thereof would be assured , if a well-appointed army out of spain , and the low-counties might be landed at the thames mouth , and london ( the metropolis of england ) surprised by a sudden assault . and this opinion , as the more probable , prevailed . and then again it was advised by some , that war should first be denounced by an herald , both to remove suspicion and jealousie from neighbour princes , and to drive our queen to call in forraign forces to assist her : hoping that according to the insolent manner of mercenaries , they would raise mutinies , and spoil the country , which would make the queens subjects evil affected towards her , so that all things would grow into confusion in england . but this motion was not hearkened to by men grown fierce , insolent , and confident of their own strength , only they desired the blessing of the pope upon their armado , and the prayers of the catholicks to god and the saints for good success . and to strike the greater terror into the hearts of the english , they set forth books with printed maps , wherein was expressed the greatness of their preparations in each particular , which indeed was so great in spain , portugal , italy , and sicily , that the spaniards themselves were amazed at it , and procured the pope to christen it by the name of the invincible armado . now that the wonderful power and mercy of god to us in this poor nation , in protecting us against the same , may the more gloriously appear , i shall in the next place set down what their preparations were for ships , mariners , land-souldiers , ammunition , and other provisions for the carrying on of so great an undertaking . the spanish navy , being the best appointed for men , munition , and all manner of provision , that ever the ocean saw , had been five years in preparing , consisted of one hundred and thirty ships , whereof these were the principal . the admiral gallion of saint martins , of a thousand tun burden , had in her one thousand seventy and seven mariners , three hundred souldiers , fifty canon , &c. the gallion of saint johns , of one thousand and seventy tun , had in her one hundred and sixty mariners , two hundred and thirty one souldiers , fifty canon , &c. the gallion of saint mark of seven hundred and ninety two tun , had in it one hundred and seventeen mariners , two hundred and ninety two souldiers , &c. the gallion of saint phillip , of eight hundred tun , had in it one hundred and seventeen mariners , four hundred and fifteen souldiers , forty guns , &c. the gallion of saint lewis , of eight hundred and thirty tun , had in it one hundred and sixteen mariners , three hundred and seventy six souldiers , forty guns , &c. the gallion of saint matthew , of seven hundred and fifty tun , had in it fifty mariners , one hundred and seventy seven souldiers , forty guns , &c. the gallion of saint james , of five hundred and twenty tun , had in it one hundred mariners , three hundred souldiers , fifty two guns , &c. the gallion of florence , of nine hundred and sixty one tun , had in it one hundred mariners , three hundred souldiers , fifty two guns , &c. the gallion of saint christopher , of three hundred fifty and two tun , had in it ninety mariners , three hundred souldiers , thirty guns , &c. the gallion of saint bernard , of three hundred and fifty two tun , had in it one hundred mariners , two hundred and eighty souldiers , thirty guns , &c. a ship of saint angelo , of seven hundred sixty and eight tun , had in it one hundred and fourteen mariners , three hundred and twenty three souldiers , thirty canons , &c. the gangrine , of one thousand one hundred and sixty tun ; had in it one hundred and ten mariners , three hundred souldiers , thirty six canons , &c. the ship saint james , of six hundred and sixty tun , had in her one hundred and two mariners , two hundred and fifty souldiers , thirty guns , &c. the manuel , of five hundred and twenty tun , had in her fifty four mariners , one hundred and thirty souldiers , sixteen guns , &c. the saint mary , of seven hundred and 7 tun , had in her fifty mariners , two hundred and twenty souldiers , thirty guns , &c. but i need not reckon up the rest . they had in all one hundred and thirty ships , containing ffty seven thousand , eight hundred and eight tun ; wherein were eight hundred and forty five mariners , nineteen thousand two hundred and ninety five souldiers , and two thousand and eighty eight gally-slaves . and so confident were the spaniards that england should pay the shot , that they spared no cost for furnishing it forth with all things necessary . for which end they provided of bullets for great shot two hundred and twenty thousand . of powder four thousand and two hundred kintals , every kintal containing a hundred pound weight : of lead for bullets a thousand kintals : of match a thousand and two hundred kintals : musquets seven thousand : of partisans and halberts ten thousand : with store of murthering pieces , double canon , and field pieces for the camp : they had also store of furniture for carriages , mules and horses ; so that they were sufficiently provided both for sea and land. bread and bisket ready baked , and wine laid aboard for six months provision . they had moreover six thousand and five hundred kintals of bacon ; three thousand of cheese , besides other flesh , rise beans , pease , oil , and venegar , with twelve thousand pipes of fresh water . they had also store of torches , lamps , and lanthorns , canvas , hides , and lead to stop leaks : whips and butcherly knives to murder and torment the poor english. in a word , the army was thirty two thousand strong , and cost the king of spain thirty two thousand ducats every day . in this army were five regiments of old spanish souldiers of the tertio's of naples , sicily , and the tercera's , commanded by five masters del-campo : the first was don diego de piementel , a knight of the order of saint john , and brother to the marquess of taveras : the second colonel was don francisco de toledo , brother to the earl of orgas : the third don alonzo de luzon : the fourth don nicholas de illa : the fifth was augustin mexia ; each colonel having in his regiment thirty two companies , besides the castilian , and portugal bands , each of them having their peculiar commanders and weapons . the general of this mighty army ( the marquess of sancta cruce being now dead ) was don lodovicus peres , the duke of medina sidonia of the order of the golden fleece . the admiral was don john martinez de richald : the marshal don francisco bovadille : others were chief counsellors for the war , and don martin alarcon was vicar general for the holy unholy inquisition , in whose train were a hundred monks and jesuites : and cardinal allen was appointed the superintendent of ecclesiastical matters throughout england , who fearing to be unprovided , translated pope sex●us his bull into english , that it might be the sooner published upon the arrival of the spanish fleet in this our nation . of voluntary adventurers , there were a hundred and twenty four noble men , and gentlemen of all the greatest houses in spain , hoping to be well paid with the lands and riches of england . the prince of parma also in the netherlands , by the king of spains command ; built ships , and very many flat bottomed boats , each of them big enough to carry thirty horse , with bridges fitted to them to ship and unship the horses : he hired mariners from east-germany , set many thousands on work to dig and deepen river ; from antwerp to gaunt , and to bruges : lading three hundred small boats with munition and victuals . two hundred more flat-bottom'd boats were made , though not so big as the former , which lay ready in the haven of newport , besides thirty seven ships of war at dunkirk : he prepared piles sharpened at the nether ends , headed with iron , and hooked on the sides to pile up the mouths of rivers : at graveling he provided twenty thousand empty casks with cords , and other furniture to make floating bridges to stop up the havens ▪ beside an infinite number of fagots : he shipped likewise a great abundance of saddles , bridles , with other furniture for horse , and horses also for carriages , with ordnance and other provisions for war. neer unto newport he had lying under the command of camillo thirty companies of italians , two of walloons , and eight of burguignons every company containing a hundred men : at dyxmew he mustered eighty companies of netherlanders , sixty of spaniards , sixty of high dutch , among which were seven hundred fugitive english under the command of sir william stanley , who of all others were held in greatest contempt : neither was stanley , nor the earl of westmoorland , not others which offered their service and counsel once heard , but for their treachery to their country barred from all access , and as most unfortuate conductors , worthily with detestation rejected . at conick also he quartered other four thousand , and at watene nine hundred horse , commanded by the marquess of guast . and to this land-service came the duke of pastrana , supposed to be the king of spains base son : the marquess of buorgon , one of the duke ferdinands sons : don vespasian gonsaga of the house of mantua , a great souldier , who had been viceroy of spain : don john de medices , bastard of florence : don amadeus , bastard of savoy , with many others of the like quality . neither was sixtus quintus , pope of rome , any ways backward to shew his diligence , and devotion to this intended invasion ; but sent abroad his crusado ( as he used to do against the turks and infidels ▪ ) wherein out of the treasure of the church he gave plenary indulgences , and pardon of all their sins to every one that contributed his assistance hereunto : and for the furtherance of this enterprise , himself undertook to contribute a million of gold , the one half presently down , the other half when any notable haven in our land should be won : yet with this proviso , that the crown of england should be held as feudatory to the see of rome ; in earnest whereof he bestowed upon the king of spain his apostolical benediction , and the title of defender of the faith : he sent also cardinal allen into the low-countries , and renewed the bulls of pius the fifth and gregory the thirteenth , whereby queen elizabeth was excommunicated , deposed from her throne , and her subjects absolved from all allegiance to her . thus we see what preparations were made both at sea and land ; at rome , in spain , and the netherlands , for the subduing of england , extirpating the gospel , and subjugating us under the yoke of spain : now let us see what provision and preparations our queen made to dispel this black cloud that hung over our head : and truly the first thing that she did was most christian ; for as when jehosophat was threatned with the like danger . 2 chro. 20.3 . he sought the lord and proclaimed a fast ; so did she , requiring all her subjects to humble themselves by fasting and prayer , knowing that these are the best weapons of the church , that they by them might seek unto the lord , and say in the words of jehosophat , o lord god , art not thou god in heaven ? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the earth ? and in thine hand is there not power and might , so that none is able to withstand thee ? o our god , wilt thou not judge them ? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us , neither know we what to do , but our eyes are upon thee . but in the second place , knowing that prayers without endeavours and means are like rachel , beautiful but barren , that she might not be taken unprovided , she prepared with all diligence as strong a fleet as she could , and all things necessary for war ; and she that in discerning mens parts and abilities was of a most sharp judgment , and ever most happy , having the free choice in her self , and not by the commendations of others , assigned to every office by name the best and fittest men . the charge of her navy she committed to charles howard of effingham , lord admiral of england , of whose skill she had had former experience , and whom she knew both by his moderation and nobility , to be wary in providence , valiant industrious , and of great authority among the seamen , and well beloved of them : her vice-admiral she made the famous sir francis drake , and these she sent to the west parts of england ; and for the guard of the narrow seas , she appointed henry lord seimore second son to the duke of somerset , whom she commanded also to lie upon the coasts of the low-countries , with forty ships , to watch that the prince of parma might not come forth with his forces : by land she commanded the general forces of the realm to be mustered , trained , and put in readiness in their special shires , for the defence of the whole , which accordingly was done , and whereof the lord robert dudley earl of leicester was appointed leeutenant ; twenty thousand whereof were disposed along our south coast for the guard thereof : besides which , she had two armies ; one of which consisting of a thousand horse , and twenty two thousand foot , was encamped at tilbury neer the thames mouth , whither the enemy fully intended to come : the other which was led by the lord hunsdon , consisted of thirty four thousand foot , and two thousand horse , which were to be the guard of the queens person : her self in courage far surmounting her sex , as another zenobia or rather deborah , led forth the lords host against this great sisera , and her souldiers valiant and skilful , both for courage and quick dispatch , might well be compared to those gadites that came to aid david , whose faces were like the faces of lions , and were compared to the roes in the mountains for swiftness . arthur lord grey , sir francis knolles , sir john knorris , sir richard bingham , and sir roger williams , all gallant men , and brave souldiers , were appointed to consult about managing the land service : these advised that all the commodious landing places for the enemy , as well from spain , as from the low-countries should be manned and fortified , as milford haven , falmouth , plimmouth , portland , the isle of wight , portsmouth , the open coast of kent , commonly called the downs , the thames mouth , harwich , yarmouth , hull , &c. and that the trained bands throughout the coast shires , should meet upon a signal given to defend the said places , and do their best to prohibit the enemies landing . but in case he should land , that then they should leave all the country round about wast , that so they might find nothing for food , but what from their ships they should carry upon their shoulders , and that they should hold the enemies busied both night and day with continual alarms , but not to hazard a battel till more commanders with their companies were come together . some suggested also to the queen , that the spaniards abroad were not so much to be feared as the papists at home ; for that the spaniards would not attempt the invasion of england , but upon confidence of aid from them : she thereupon committed some of them to prison at wisbeach in the fenns ; by her letters also she directed sir william fitz-williams , lord deputy of ireland what he should do . the king of scots she put in mind to beware of the papists and spanish factions : by her frequent letters she wrote to the states of the vnited provinces not to be deficient in assisting her what they could . but amongst these preparations for war on both sides , philip king of spain , to cast a mist over her majesties eyes , and to rock her into a sleep of security , importuned by all means the realms unto peace , imploying the prince of parma to be his instrument therein , who dealt earnestly by letters with the help of sir james crofts , a privy counsellor , and a man much addicted to peace , as also by andrew van loey , a netherlander , that a treaty of peace might be entred upon , affirming that he had warrant thereunto from the king of spain . our queen measuring other princes by her own guileless heart , gave ear to this deceitful lullaby , little suspecting that a deadly snake could be hid in so fair a garden ; yet resolved to treat of peace with her sword in her hand , neither was the prince of parma against her so doing . in the month therefore of feb. commissioners were sent into flandeas , henry earl of darby , william brook , lord cobham , sir jamis crofts , valentine dale , and john rogers doctors of the law , who arriving there , were received in the prince of parma's name with all courtesy ; who thereupon sent away dale presently to him to know where the place of meeting should be , and to see his commission from the king of spain : the place he appointed to be neer ostend , the town it self being then in the english hands ; and as for his commission , he promised it should be produced at their meeting : only he wished them to hasten the matter , lest any thing should happen in the interim to interrupt the treaty : and one richardot , which stood by him , said more openly , that he knew not what in the mean time might be done against england . which being reported to the queen , she sent rogers to the prince to know whether there was any design for the invading of england , as he , and richardot by their words seemed to imply : the prince answered that he had never any thought for the invading england , when he wished the treaty to be hastened , and was angry with richardot , who denied that any such words had fallen from him . commissioners for the king of spain were maximilian earl of aremberg , governor of antwerp , richardot president of artois , with some other civilians . these stayed at bruges , and for all their pretended haste , much time was cunningly spun out about the place of their meeting , which should have the precedency , and what hostages should be given for security of the commissioners : yet at length the spaniards yielded to the english precedency , both in going and sitting : and the place wars in tents near unto ostend . the demands for the queen were , that there might be a surcease of arms , with a present and undelayed truce , she mistrusting the spanish preparations at sea : the sending away of forraign souldiers out of the low-countries for englands security : a restitution of such sums of mony as the queen had lent to the states , and which the king had promised to restore : that the netherlanders might enjoy their ancient liberties , and priviledges , nor be governed by a stranger , but by a native prince : that they might have liberty to serve god with freedom of conscience : and lastly , that the articles of the pacification of gaunt , and other like treaties might be observed ; which things if they were granted , she would condescend upon reasonable conditions to deliver up the towns in the netherlands , which she then had in possession , that it might appear that she had not for her own advantage , but for the necessary defence of the netherlands , and her self taken up arms . to these the spaniards replyed , that touching their preparations at sea , they did assure them that it nothing concerned england . that to send away the souldiers , the king could not resolve till the netherlanders had submitted themselves to him . concerning their priviledges , that it appertained nothing to the queen , neither should she prescribe to the king a law. and so far was he from tolerating religion , that he would not so much as hear thereof , otherwise then he had allowed to other towns that had submitted to his obedience . and as for those towns which had been taken from the king , and the mony expended about them , they said that the spaniard might demand as many myriades of ducats to be repayed to him by the queen , as he had expended upon the low-country war , from the time that she supported the revolting netherlanders , and took them into her protection . about this time went dale by the queens command to the prince of parma , and mildly expostulated with him about a book lately published by cardinal allen , that english renegado , wherein he exhorted the nobility and people of england and ireland to joyn with the spanish forces , under the conduct of the prince of parma , to execute the popes sentence already published by his bull against queen elizabeth ; wherein she was declared an heretick , illegitimate , cruel , for putting to death the queen of scots , &c. and her subjects absolved from their oath of allegiance , and commanded to aid the prince of purma against her. ( and indeed there was a great number of these bulls and books printed at antwerp , from thence to be dispersed all over england . ) the prince denied that he had ever seen any such book , or bull , neither would he undertake any thing in the popes name ; howbeit that he must obey his prince . but for the queen of england , he protested that he did so honour her for her vertues , that next to the king his master , he esteemed her above all others , and would be ready to do her service . for the manifestation whereof he said that he had perswaded the king to condescend to this treaty of peace , which would be more advantagious for the english than for the spaniards : for ( said he ) if the spaniards be overcome they will soon recover their loss ; but if you be overcome , your kingdom , and all is lost : to which dale made this reply : our queen is provided with strength sufficient to defend her kingdom , and you your self in your wisdom may foresee that a kingdom cannot be lost with the fortune of one battel ; seeing the king of spain after so long wars , is not able to recover his ancient inheritance in the netherlands . be it so ( said the prince ) these things are in the hands of the almighty . after this the commissioners contended with mutual debates , and replies , still twisting and untwisting the same thread . for when the english pressed that a toleration of religion might be granted for the vnited provinces , at least for two years ; it was answered , that as the spaniard demanded not this for the english catholicks ; so they hoped the queen in her wisdom would require nothing of him which might be against the honour , oath , and conscience of the spaniard . when they demanded the mony due from the states of brabant to our queen ; they answered , that it was lent without the kings knowledge or warrant ; and that the accounts being cast up , how much the said mony was , and how much the king had disbursed about the war , it would soon be known to whom the most ought to be repayed . with such answers as these they dallied with the english commissioners , till the spanish fleet was come within the view of england , and the thundring of the ordnance was heard from the sea , which put the english commissioners into some suspicion and fear , having no hostages for their safe return . but they received a safe conduct from the prince of parma ( who had in the mean time drawn down all his forces to the sea coast ) and so were conducted to the borders near calice . thus came this treaty to nothing , undertaken by our queen ( as was conceived ) to divert the coming of the spanish fleet : and continued by the spaniard to surprize england unprovided , and at unawares so both sides put the foxes skin upon the lions head . and now we are come to speak of this invincible armado , which was the preparation of five whole years at least . it bare it self also upon divine assistance , having received a special blessing from the pope , and was assigned as an apostolical mission for the reducement of this kingdom to the obedience of the see of rome : and in further token of this holy warfare , there were amongst the rest of the ships , twelve , called by the names of the twelve apostles . the gallions and galliasses were of such a vast size , that they were like floating towers and castles , so that the swelling waves of the sea could hardly be seen ; and the flags , streamers , and ensigns so spread in the wind , that they seemed even to darken the sun , and to threaten destruction which way soever they turned . on the nine and twentieth day of may this fleet set sail out of the river ●ayo , bending its course towards the groin in galizia , the place appointed for the general rendezvous , as being the nearest haven unto england : but whilest they hoysed and spread abroad their proud sailes to the wind ; god , who is an enemy to such nimrod-like undertakings , and hating such hostile actions , suddenly manifested his displeasure , and poured out revenge by a sudden and hideous tempest , which drave the duke of medina , the general , back again into the groin ; eight other of the ships being dispersed on the seas , had their masts broken , and blown over board ; besides three other portugal gallies which were driven upon the coasts of bayon in france , where , by the valour of one david gwin , an english slave , and the help of other slaves , french , and turks , they were delivered into the hands of the french , and they freed themselves by the slaughter of the spaniards , amongst whom don diego de mondrana was one . about the same time the english admiral , and vice-admiral , who had in all about one hundred ships , whereof fifteen were victuallers , and nine voluntaries of devonshire gentlemen , hearing for certainty that the spanish fleet was ready to hoise up their sails , resolved to put forth from plymouth , and to meet , and fight them by the way ; but were so met with by the same wind , that they could not get past the syllies , and thence also were forced by the tempest to return into their former harbour , to refresh their ships , and companies ; only some of their scouts at sea descried some of the spanish ships , which likewise had been dispersed with the storm : but before the english could come near them , the wind vereing about , carryed them back to the groine , where there rest of their fleet lay in harbour . intelligence being brought that the saaniards were in want , their great ships dispersed , and the rest sorely shaken with the storm , and their men dying by multitudes of the pestilence ; the lord admiral howard intended with the first northerly wind to take advantage , which coming about upon the eighth of july , he lanched forth , and bore his sails almost within the sight of spain , purposing to surprise their weather-beaten ships , and to fight them upon their own coast. but then the wind suddenly changing into the south , and he wisely foreseeing that the enemy might pass by without his discovery , that the seas might be stormy , or his fleet wind-bound , and that whilst he thus lay abroad , his service might be more necessary at home , and that his work was to defend the coasts of england , he therefore presently returned and anchored his fleet in the haven at plimouth , suffering his men to refresh themselves upon the land. at the same time there came more confident advertisement ( though false ) not only to the lord admiral , but to the court , that the spanish fleet could not possibly come forth again that year , upon which reports ( a dangerous matter in state affairs ) so confident was our queen , that she sent for four of her biggest royal ships to be brought back to chattam : but the lord admiral suspecting the worst , by a mild and moderate answer retarded it , desiring that nothing might be lightly believed in so weighty a matter , and that he might retain them though at his own charge . wherein indeed a special providence of god did appear , for just at that time news was brought to the lord admiral by one captain thomas flemming , that the spanish fleet was entred into the british seas , commonly called the channel , and was seen near unto the lizard point , which came thus to pass . the spanish ships being new rigged , and their wants supplyed , their king still hot on his former resolutions , instantly urged and hastened his commanders to put forth again to sea , which accordingly they did upon the eleventh of july with the same south wind which ( as was said before ) brought back our navy into plimouth ; and so having a more favourable gale , with brave shews , and full sails , they entred our channel , where casting anchor , they dispatched certain smal pinnaces to the prince of parma , to signifie their arrival and readiness , and to command him in the name of their king to forward his charge for that service . july the twentieth about noon , this terrible fleet was descried by the english , coming forward amain with a south-west wind . it was a kind of surprise : for that ( as was said ) many of our men were gone to land , and our ships ready to depart : nevertheless our undaunted admiral towed forth such ships as he could get in readiness into the deep sea , not without great difficulty , certainly with singular diligence , and admirable alacrity of our mariners , cheered up with the admirals own presence and assistance among them at their halserwork , the wind blowing strongly into the haven . when they were forth they saw the spanish ships with lofty towers like castles , in front like an half-moon , the horns whereof stretched forth in breadth about seven miles , sayling ( as it were ) with labour to the winds , the ocean groaning under them ; so that though with full sails , yet they came but slowly forward . they seemed as it were to make for plymouth ; but whether their commission was otherwise , or because contrary to their expectation , they saw the english ships out of the harbour , they steered by towards calice , hoping to meet with the prince of parma : the english willingly suffered them to pass by , that they might the more commodiously chase them in the reer with a fore-right wind . iuly the twenty first , the lord admiral of england sent before him a pinnace called the defiance , to denounce war by discharging her ordnance , himself following in the ark-royal , set upon the admiral ( as he thought ) of the spaniards but it proved to be alonzo de leva's ship , where fire , smoke , and loud thundring cannons began the parley ; and rending bullets most freely enterchanged betwixt them , were fiery messengers of each others minds . soon after came up drake , hawkins and forbusher , playing with their ordnance upon the hindmost squadron of the enemies , which was commanded by rechalde , who laboured all he could to stay his men from flying for shelter to the fleet , till his own ship being much battered with shot , and now grown unserviceable , was with much difficulty drawn into the main fleet. at which time the duke of medina gathered together his whole fleet , scattered here and there by the english , and hoising more sail , kept on his intended course toward callice ; neither indeed could he do otherwise , the wind favouring the english , and himself finding the inconvenience of their great and high built ships , powerful to defend , but not to offend ; to stand , but not to move ; whereas on the contrary their enemies were nimble , and ready on all sides to annoy them , and as apt to escape harms themselves , being low built and so easily shot over . hereupon he caused them to gather themselves up close in the form of an half-moon , and to slacken their sails that their whole fleet might keep together . but our english admiral having maintained an hot fight for the space of two hours , thought nor good to continue it any longer , thirty of his ships scarce coming to the work , the rest being as yet scarce gotten out of the harbour . in this first days fight the saint katherine , a spanish ship , having been sorely battered and much torn , was taken into the middest of their fleet to be repaired : and an huge ship of biscaie of don oquendoes , in which was a great part of the kings treasure , began to be all in a flame by force of gunpowder , which was fired on purpose by a flemish gunner , for being misused by them : but the fire was soon quenched by the assistance of some other ships sent in to her help . all this while the spaniards for want of courage ( which they called commission ) did what they could to decline the fight , casting themselves continually into roundels ( their strongest ships walling in the rest ) in which posture they made a flying march towards callis : yet in the former medly a great gallion , wherein was don pedro de valdez , vasques de silva , alenzo de saias , with other noble men , being sore battered with the english shot , in avoyding whereof she fell foul upon another ship , and ere she could be cleared had her fore-mast broken off , which so hundred her sailing , that she was unable to keep way with the rest of the fleet , nor were their friends of courage to succour these distressed lords , but left both ship and them in this sudden and unexpected danger . but the night coming on , our lord admiral supposing that they had left neither men nor mariners aboard within her , and fearing to lose sight of the spaniards , past by her , and followed the lanthorn which he supposed to be carried by sir francis drake , as it was appointed , but that brave knight was eagerly pursuing five great hulks which he took to be of the spaniards , but when he came up , and haled them , they proved easterlings and friends , and so were dismissed : yet by this mistake of his , the greatest part of our fleet , wanting the direction of his light , was forced to lye still : so that he and the rest of the fleet till towards night , the next day , could not recover sight of the lord admiral , who all the night before with two other ships , the bear and the mary-rose followed the spanish lanthorn . july the twenty second ; sir francis drake espied the aforementioned lagging gallion , whereupon he sent forth a pinnace to command them to yield , otherwise his bullets without any delay should force them to it : valdes , to seem valorous , answered , that they were four hundred and fifty strong ; that himself was don pedro , and stood on his honour , and thereupon propounded certain conditions : but the knight returned this reply , that he had no leisure to parley , if he would immediately yield , so ; otherwise be should soon prove that drake was no dastard . pedro hearing that it was the fiery drake ( whose name was very terrible to the spaniards ) that had him in chase , presently yielded , and with forty of his companions , came on board sir francis his ship , where first giving him the conge , he protested that he and all his were resolved to have dyed fighting , had they not fallen into his hands , whose valour and felicity was so great , that mars and neptune seemed to wait on him in all his attempts , and whose noble and generous mind towards the vanquished , had often been experienced even of his greatest foes . sir francis to requite his spanish complements with english courtesie , placed him at his own table , and lodged him in his own cabin : the residue of that company he sent to plimouth , where they remained prisoners for the space of eighteen months , till by payment of their ransoms they obtained their liberty : but drakes souldiers had well paid themselves by the plunder of the ship , wherein they found 55000 ducats of ●old , which they merrily shared amongst them . the same day michael de oquendo , admiral of the squadron guypusco , and vice-admiral of the whole fleet , suffered no less a disaster ; whose ship being one of the greatest gallions , fell on fire , and all the upper part of the ship being burnt , most also of the persons therein were consumed : howbeit the gunpowder in the hold not taking fire , the ship fell into the hands of the english , which , together with the scorched spaniards therein , was brought into plimouth , a joyful spectacle to the beholders . all this day , the duke of medina laboured securely to set his fleet in order ; to alphonso de leva he gave in charge to joyne the first and last squadron together ; to every ship he assigned his quarter to ride in according to the form prescribed in spain , commanding them upon pain of death not to desert their stations . glitch , an ensign-bearer , he sent to the prince of parma to acquaint him with his condition . july the twenty third , early in the morning the spaniards taking the benefit of a northerly wind , when they approached right against portland , turned about against the english ; but the english , nimble , and foreseeing all advantages , soon turned aside to the vvestward , each striving to get the wind of the other , which at last the english got , and so they prepared themselves on each side to fight ; and the english continued all day from morning till night to batter those wooden castles with great and small shot : the fight was very confused and variable , whilst on the one side the english bravely rescued the london ships that were hemmed in by the spaniards , and on the other side the spaniards as stoutly delivered rechalde being in danger ▪ never was there heard greater thundring of ordnance on both sides , the chiefest fight being performed on this day ; yet notwithstanding the shot from the spanish ships for the most part flew over the english without hurting them , only cock an englishman dyed with honour in the midst of his enemies in a little ship of his . the english ships being far the lesser , charged that sea-gyant with marvellous agility , and having given them their broad sides flew off again presently , and then coming up , levelled their shot directly without missing those heavy an unweildy ships of the spaniards . but the lord admiral would not hazzard a fight by grappling with them , as some unadvised persons would have perswaded him : for he considered that the enemy had a strong army in the fleet , whereas he had none ; that their ships were more in number , of bigger burden , stronger , and huger built , so that they could not be boarded but with extreme disadvantage : he foresaw also that the overthrow would turn to a greater dammage than the victory would avail him : for being vanquished he should have brought england into extreme hazzard , and being conqueror he should only have gained a little glory to himself for overthrowing the fleet , and beating the enemy . on this day the sorest fight was performed , wherein , besides other remarkable harms which the enemy sustained , a great venetian ship with some other smaller were surprized , and taken by the english , and the spaniards were forced for their further safety to gather themselves close into a roundel , their best and greatest ships standing without , that they might secure those that were battered and less . july the twenty fourth , the fight was only between the four great galliasses , and some of the english ships , the spaniards having great advantage , theirs being rowed with oars , and ours ( by reason of the calm ) having no use of their sails , notwithstanding which they sorely galled the enemy with their great and chain shot ; wherewith they cut in sunder their tacklings , cables , and cordage to their no little prejudice . but wanting powder which they had spent so freely , and other provision to maintain the fight , the lord admiral sent some of his smaller ships to the next ports of england to fetch supply ; which stirred up jealousies in the heads of many , that we should thus want upon our own coasts . in which interim a council was called , wherein it was resolved that the english fleet should be divided into four squadrons , and those committed to four brave captains , and skilful seamen , whereof the lord admiral in the ark-royal was chief : sir francis drake in the revenge led the second : captain hawkins the third : and captain forbusher the fourth . other most valiant captains there were in others of her majesties ships , as the lord thomas howard in the lion , the lord sheffield in the bear , sir robert southwel in the elizabeth , captain baker in the victory , and captain george fenner in the gallion-leicester : it was also further appoined that out of every squadron certain small vessels should give you a charge from diverse parts in the dead time of the night , but the calm continuing , this designe could not be effected . july the twenty fifth , being saint james day , the spaniards were arrived against the isle of wight , where was a most terrible encounter , each shooting off their whole broad sides , and not above sixscore yards the one from the other : there the saint anne , a gallion of portugal , which could not hold course with the rest , was set upon by certain small english vessels , to whose rescue came leva and don diego telles enriques with three galliasses : which the lord admiral himself and the lord thomas howard in the golden lion , rowing their ships with their boats ( so great was the calm ) charged in such sort with their roaring canons , that they had much ado , and that not without loss , to save the gallion , from which time forward none of the galliasses would undertake the fight . the spaniards reported that the english the same day beat the spanish admiral in the utter squadron , rending her sore with their great ordnance , and having slain many of her men , shot down her main mast , and would have much endanger'd her , but that mexi● and rechalde came in good time to her rescue . that the spanish admiral , assisted by rechalde and others , set upon the english admiral , which happily escaped by the sudden turning of the wind . that thereupon the spaniards gave over the pursuit , and holding on their course , dispatched again a messenger to the prince of parma , to joyn his fleet with all speed to the kings armado , and withal to send them a supply of great shot . but these things were unknown to the english , who wrote that from one of the spanish ships they had shot down their lanthorn , and from another the beak-head , and that they had done much hurt to the third ; that the non-parrella and the mary rose , had fought a while with the spaniards ; and that other ships had rescued the tryumph , which was in danger : the truth is , they had so sorely battered those huge wooden castles , that once more they forced them for their further safety to gather themselves into a roundel . july the twenty sixth , the lord admiral , to encourage and reward the noble attempts of his gallant captains , bestowed the order of knighthood upon the lords howard and sheffield , roger townsend , john hawkings , martin forbusher , and others : and yet the vain glorious and boasting spaniards caused a report to be spread in france , that england was wholly conquered by them . it was resolved by our men that from thenceforth they should assail the enemy no more till they came to the british frith , or strait of callis , where the lord henry seimore and sir william winter , with the ships which they had for the guard of the narrow seas , waited their coming ; and so with a fair gale from the south west and by south , the spanish fleet sailed forward , the english fleet following it close at the heels . and so far was it from terrifying our english coasts with the name of invincible , or with its huge and terrible spectacle , that our brave english youth with an incredible alacrity , leaving parents , wives , children , kinsfolk , and friends out of their entire love to their native country , hired ships from all parts at their own proper charges , and joyned with the fleet in great numbers , amongst whom were the earls of oxford , northumberland and cumberland : thomas and robert cecil : henry brook : charles blunt : walter raleigh : william hatton : robert carey : ambrose willoughby : thomas gerard : arthur gorges , and many others of great note . july the twenty seventh , the spanish fleet making forward , towards evening , came over against dover , and anchored before callis , intending for dunkerk there to joyn with the prince of parma's forces , well perceiving that without their assistance they could do nothing : they were also warned by the pilots , that if they proceeded any farther it was to be feared lest they should be driven by the force of the tide into the northern ocean . the english fleet following up hard upon them , cast anchor so neer that they lay within culvering shot ; at which time the lord henry seimore , and winter joyned their ships to them , so that now the english fleet consisted of one hundred and forty sail , all able ships to fight , sail , and turn about which way soever they pleased . yet were they not above fifteen that sustained the greatest burden of the fight . from hence once more the duke of medina sent to the prince of parma to hasten forth his long expected , and much desired forces : with which messengers many of the spanish noble men went to land , having had enough of the sea ; amongst whom was the prince of ascoli , the kings base son , who returned to his ship no more ; and indeed well it was for him , for that his gallion was afterwards cast away upon the irish coast , and never returned to salute spain . these messengers earnestly prayed the prince of parma to put forth to sea with his army , which the spanish fleet should protect , as it were under her wings , till it was landed in england . and indeed the prince of parma , hearing the best , and not the worst of this voyage , made all things ready that lay in his charge , whose hopes were so fixed upon englands conquest , and the glittering diadem upon queen elizabeths head did so dazel his ambitious eyes , being assured by cardinal allen that he was the man designed to be crowned therewith , that neglecting the coronet of the low-country government , he transferred the charge thereof upon count mansfield the elder , and having made his vows to the lady of hall in heinault , he was already in conceit no less than a king. but the date of his reign was soon expired , and his swelling tide fallen into a low shallow ebb : for the day following in his march to dunkirk , he heard the thundring ordnance ringing the passing peal of his hopes and title , and the same evening had news of the hard success of the spaniards , the hoped advancers of his dreamed felicity ; and indeed do what he could , he could not be ready at the spaniards call : his flat-bottomed boats for the shallow channels leaked ; his provision of victuals proved unready , and his mariners ( having hitherto been detained against their wills ) had withdarwn themselves : there lay also watching before the havens of dunkirk and newport , whence he was to put forth to sea , the men of war of the hollanders and zelanders , so well provided with great ordnance and musketiers , that he could not put from the shore unless he would wilfully cast himself and his men upon eminent perils and dangers of destruction : and yet he being a skilful and experienced commander , omitted no means , being inflamed with a desire to conquer england . but queen elizabeths foresight prevented both his diligence and the credulous hope of the spaniards . for by her command the next day after the spaniards had cast anchor , the lord admiral made ready eight of his worst ships , filled with wild-fire , pitch , rosin , brimstone , and other combustible matter : their ordnance were charged with bullets , stones , chains , and such like things , fit instruments of death ; and all the men being taken out , upon the sabbath day , july the twenty eighth , at two of the clock after midnight , were they let drive with wind and tide , under the guidance of young and prowse , amongst the spanish fleet. and so the pilots returning , and their trains taking fire , such a sudden thunderclap was given by them , that the affrighted spaniards , it being the dead time of the night , were amazed , and stricken with an horrible fear , lest all their ships should have been fired by them . and to avoid this present mischief , being in great perplexity , they had no other remedy to avoid these deadly engines , and murthering inventions , then by cutting their cables in sunder , the time being too short to weigh up their anchors , and so hoising up their sails to drive at random into the seas : in which hast and confusion the greatest of their galliastes fell foul upon another ship , and lost her rudder : and so floted up and down , and the next day fearfully making towards callis , ran aground upon the sands , where she was set upon by the english . this galliass was of naples : her general was hough de moncado , who fought the more valiantly , because he expected present help from the prince of parma : but sir amias preston gave such a fierce assault upon her , that moncado was shot dead with a bullet , and the galliass boarded , wherein many of the spaniards were slain , and a great many others leaping into the sea were drowned , only don antonio de matiques , a principal officer , had the good hap to escape , and was the first man that carried the unwelcome news into spain , that their invincible navy proved vincible . this huge bottom manned with four hundred souldiers , and three hundred slaves , that had in her fifty thousand ducats of the spanish kings treasure , fell into the english mens hands ; a reward well befitting their valour , who sharing it merrily amongst them , and freeing the miserable slaves from their fetters , would have fired the empty vessel : but monsieur gourden , governour of callis , fearing that the fire might endanger the town , would not permit them to do it , bending his ordnance against those which attempted it . had not this politick stratagem of the fire-ships been found out , it would have been very difficult for the english to have dislodged them ; for those huge ships had their bulks so strengthened with thick planks , and massie beams , that our bullets might strike , and stick , and yet never pass through them : so that the greatest hurt which our english canon did , was only by rending their masts and tacklings . the spaniards report that the duke of medina , when these burning ships approached , commanded the whole fleet to weigh anchor to avoid them yet so , as having shunned the danger , presently every ship to return to her former station , which accordingly he did himself , giving a signal to the rest to do the like , by discharging one of his great guns ; but in this general consternation the warning was heard but of a few , the rest being scattered all about which for fear were driven some into the' wide ocean , and other upon the shallows of flanders . july the twenty ninth , after this miserable disaster , the spaniards ranging themselves into the best order they could , approaching over against graveling , where once again the english getting the wind of them , deprived them of the conveniency of callis road , and kept them from supply out of dunkirk , from whence rested their full hope of support . in the mean while drake aad fenner played incessantly with their great ordnance upon the spanish fleet , and with them presently joyned fenton , southwel , be●●●on , cross , riman , and lastly the lord admiral himself , with the lords , thomas howard , and sheffield : on the other hand , the duke of medina , leva , oquenda , richalde , and others of them , with much ado got clear off the shallows , and sustained the charge as well as they could , yet were most of their ships pitifully torn and shot through , the fight continuing from morning till night , which indeed proved very dismal to the spaniards ; for therein a great gallion of biscay perished , the captains whereof to avoid ignominy ; or to be reputed valorous , desparately slew each other . ●n which distress also two other great ships presently sunk . the gallion saint matthew under the command of don diego piementelli , coming to rescue don francisco de toledo who was in the saint philip , was , together with the other , miserably torn with shot , their tacklings spent , and their bulks rent , so that the water entred in on all sides , which sight was maintained against them by seimore and winter ; in which distress they were driven near ostend , where again they were shot through and through by the zelanders : their desparate condition being known , the duke of medina sent his own skiff for don diego piementelli , camp-master , and colonel over thirty two bands : but he in a spanish bravado refused to leave his ship , and like a souldier assayed every way to free himself : but being unable to do it , he forthwith made towards the coast of flanders , where being again set upon by five dutchmen of war , was required to yield , which finally he did unto captain peter banderdness , who carried him into zeland : and for a trophy of his victory hung up his banner in the church of leiden , whose length reached from the very roof to the ground : another also of the spanish ships coasting for flanders , was cast away upon the sands . francisco de toledo also , being likewise a colonel over thirty two bands in the other gallion , taking his course for the coast of flanders , his ship proved so leak , that himself with some others of the chief betook themselves to their skiff , and arrived at ostend , the ship with the residue being taken by the flushingers . the spaniards now finding their welcome into england far worse than they expected , were content to couch their fleet as close together as they could , not seeking to offend their enemies , but only to defend themselves , and the wind coming to the south-west , in the same order they passed by dunkirk , the english still following them at the heels . but left the prince of parma should take this advantage to put forth to sea , the lord admiral dispatched the lord henry seimore with his squaron of small ships to the coast of flanders , to joyn with those hollanders , which there kept watch under justin of nassau , their admiral : this holland fleet consisted of thirty five ships , furnished with most skilful mariners , and twelve hundred muskiteers , old experienced souldiers , whom the states had culled out of several garisons : their charge was to stop up the flemish havens , and to prevent entercourse with dunkirk , whither the prince of parma was come , and would fain have adventured forth , though his men were unwilling , hearing how their friends had been entertained at sea : only the english fugitives , being about seven hundred in number , under that treacherous knight , sir william stanley , were very forward to be the first that should assault england . july the 31 betimes in the morning the north-west-wind blew hard , and the spanish fleet laboured by that advantage to return to the narrow strait , but were driven towards zeland : whereupon the english gave off the chase , because they saw them carried almost to their utter ruine ; for they could not but run a ground upon the sands and shallows neer zeland : but the wind turning presently into the south-west and by west , they sailed before the wind , by which means they were cleared of the shallowes , and so that evening they called a council what to do , and by consent it was resolved to return into spain by the northern ocean : for that they wanted many necessaries , especially great shot ; their ships also were pitifully torn , and there remained no hope that the prince of parma would or could bring forth his fleet. the armado having now gotten more sea-room for their huge bodied bulks , spread their main sails , and made away as fast as wind and water would give them leave : more fearing the small fleet and forces of the english ( though far inferiour to them ) then standing upon terms of honour either for the credit of their commanders , or their invincible navy : but surely if they had known the want of powder ours sustain●d ( a fault inexcusable upon our own coasts ) they no doubt would have stood better to their tacklings : but god in this , as in all the rest , infatuated them , and would have us to acknowledge that our deliverance was by his own gracious providence and power , and not by any strength or policy of our own . the spanish fleet beeing now carried forth into the deep , they directed their course northward , and our english admiral followed them , lest they should attempt to put into scotland , against whom they now and then turned head , but stood not to it : yet most men thought they would return , whereupon our queen with a manly courage took a view of her army and camp at tilbury , and walking through the ranks of armed men placed on both sides , with a leaders truncheon in her hand , sometimes in a martial pace , and other sometimes like a woman , incredible it is how much she strengthened and encouraged the hearts both of her captains and souldiers with her speech and presence . but contrary to expectation , the enemies with their sails spread , betook themselves to an absolute flight , and leaving scotland on the west , they bended their course towards norway , being ill advised therein , ( but their necessity urged , and god had infatuated their counsels ) thus to adventure to put their shaken and battered bottoms into those black and dangerous seas : neither was the climate heathful for the crazed bodies of the spaniards , over-beaten , and tired with wants , they being now entred the fifty seventh degree of northerly latitude ; from whence our lord admiral returned , leaving only some scouts to discover their success . when the prince of parma came to dunkirk , the spaniards entertained him with opprobrious speeches , as if in favour of queen elizabeth , he had neglected his opportunity , and willingly overthrown so hopeful a design . the prince to give them some satisfaction punished his purveyors of victuals , yet withal laughing in his sleeve at the insolency of the spaniards , having heard them formerly to make their boasts that whithersoever they went they carried assured victory along with them , and that the english durst nor once abide to look them in the face . the spaniards ( as was said even now ) being freed from the english that had haunted them like their ghosts , consulted most seriously what was next to be done : they were very tender of the popes credit , who had prophesied , that this attempt would be fortunate and successful : the wrath of king philip of spain was to be feared , his vast expences being thus lost , and his hopes frustrated : other adventurers would be undone : the glory of the spaniards would be laid in the dust : the invincible navy become a scorn , and england would still be england , not lorded over by the spaniards , if without further attempt they should return into spain . but on the other hand they considered that 5 thousand of the souldiers were slain : a multitude of their survivors lay sick or maimed upon their hands : twelve of their greatest ships were sunk , lost , or taken : their cables , masts , and sails were cut ; rent and broken with the english shot : their anchors left in the road of callis : their victuals failed : their fresh water was spent : and their enemies no less fierce , undaunted , and successful than at the first : the prince of parma though long in preparing , yet still unready , and kept in by the dutch , queen elizabeths firm allies : which circumstances wisely ballanced , the vote went currant for their hastning to spain . but withal knowing that the king of scots ( fast knit in affection and blood to our queen ) would yield them no supplies ; and having as little hope that norway would afford them any , they cast all their , horses , and mules overboard , for the sparing of their fresh water : and so framing their course to sail about cathenes , and the coasts of ireland , they steered between the orcades and the isles of farr unto the sixty first degree of latitude : from whence the duke of medina , with his best stored ships , took westward over the main ocean towards biscay , and at last arrived safely in spain : where for his welcome , he was deposed from all his authority , forbidden to come at court , and commanded to live private , neither could he give satisfaction by his bad excuses , albeit he imputed it to the treachery of his mariners ; to their ignorance ; and small experience of those northern seas . the want of succours from the prince of parma ; the tempests , shipwracks and ill fortune : but not a word of the judgement of god , upon that giant-like undertaking to enslave all england to the spanish yoke . the residue of the ships , being about forty in number , fell nearer with the coast of ireland , intending to touch at cape clare , well hoping there to refresh themselves , and supply their wants : but the winds proving contrary and tempestuous upon those dangerous seas , many of their ships perished upon the irish shores , and amongst others a great galliass , wherein michael de oquendo was commander , and two other venetian ships of great burden , besides thirty eight more , with most of the spaniards contained in them such as got clear off the danger , put forth to sea : some of which by a strong west wind were driven into the english channel , where some of them were again set upon and taken by the english , others by men of rochel in france ; and some arrived at new haven in normandy : so that of one hundred thirty four ships that set fail out of lisboa , only fifty three returned into spain : of the four galliasses of naples but one : of the four oallions of portugal , but one : of the ninety one callions , and great hulks from divers provinces , only thirty three returned , fifty eight being lost . in brief , they lost in this voyage eighty one vessels , thirteen thousand , five hundred and odd souldiers . prisoners taken in england , ireland , and the low-countries were above two thousand : amongst those in england , don pedro de valdez , don vasques de silva , and don alonzo de saies , and others were kept for their ransome . in ireland don alonzo de luzon , roderigo de lasse , and others of great account : in zeland was don diego piementelli : to be brief , there was no famous , or noble family in all spain , which in this expedition lost not a son , brother , or kinsman . and thus this armado which had been so many years in preparing , and rigging with such vast expence , was in one month many times assaulted , and at length wholly defeated with the slaughter of so many of her men , not one hundred of the english being lacking , nor one small ship of theirs taken , or lost , save only that of cocks : and having traversed round about all britain , by scotland , the orcades and ireland , most grievously tossed , and very much distressed , and wasted by stormes , wracks , and all kinds of misery , at length came lamely home , with perpetual dishonour : whereupon medals were stamped in memory thereof : a fleet flying with full sailes ; with this inscription , venit , vidit , fugit , it came , it saw , it fled : others in honour of our queen , with flaming ships , and a fleet in a great confusion , and this motto , dux faemina facti , a woman was conductor of the fact . in the aforementioned wracks above seven hundred souldiers and sailors were cast on land in scotland , who ( upon the intercession of the prince of parma to the king of scots , and by the permission of queen elizabeth ) were after a years time sent over into the low-countries : but more unmercifully were those miserable wretches dealt withal , whose hap was to be driven by tempest into ireland : some of them being slain by the wild irish ( their old friends ) and others of them being put to death by the command of the lord deputy : for he fearing lest they might joyn with the irish to disturb the peace of the nation , commanded bingham , governour of connaught to destroy them : but he , refusing to deal so rigorously with those that had yielded themselves , he sent fowle , deputy-marshall , who drew them out of their lurking holes , and cut off the heads of above two hundred of them ; which fact the queen from her heart condemned , and abhorred as a fact of too great cruelty . the remainder of them being terrified herewith , sick and starven as they were , committed themselves to sea in their shattered vessels , and were many of them swallowed up by the waves . the spaniards charged the whole fault of their overthrow upon the prince of parma , as if in favour to our queen he had wilfully and artificially delayed his coming to them : but this was but an invention , and pretention given out by them , partly upon a spanish envy against that prince , he being an italian , and his son a competitor to the kingdom of portugal : but chiefly to save the scorn and monstous disreputation which they and their nation received by the success of that enterprise : therefore their colours , and excuses ( forsooth ) were , that their general by sea had a limited commission , not to fight till the land forces were come in to them , and that the prince of parma had particular reaches and ends of his own to cross the designe . but it was both a strange commission , and a strange obedience to a commission , for men in the midst of their own blood , and being so furiously assailed , to hold their hands , contrary to the laws of nature and necessity . and as for the prince of parma , he was reasonably well tempted to be true to that enterprise , by no less promise than to be made a feudatory or beneficiary king of england under the seignory ( in chief ) of the pope , and the protection of the king of spain . besides , it appeared that the prince of parma held his place long after of the govenment of the netherlands , in the favour and trust of the king of spain , and by the great imployments and services that he performed in france . it is also manifest that this prince did his best to come down , and put to sea : the truth was , that the spanish navy , upon those proofs of fight which they had with the english , finding how much hurt they received , and how little , hurt they did , by reason of the activity and low building of our ships , and skill of sea-men ; and being also commanded by a general of small courage and experience , and having lost at first two of their bravest commanders at sea , pedro de valdez , and michael de oquenda , durst not put it to a battel at sea , but set up their rest wholly upon the land enterprise . on the other side , the transportation of the land forces failed in the very foundation ; for , whereas the council of spain made full account that their navy should be master of the sea , and therefore able to guard and protect the vessels of transportation : when it fell out to the contrary , that the great navy was distressed , and had enough to do to save it self , and that their land forces were impounded by the hollanders . things ( i say ) being in this state , it came to pass that the prince of parma must have flown , if he would have come into england , for he could get neither bark , nor mariner to put to sea. yet certain it is that the prince looked for the comming back of the armado even at that time when they were wandring , and making their perambulation upon the northern seas . thus we see the curse of god and his threatning in scripture accomplished : they came out against us one way , and they fled seven wayes before us : making good ( even to the astonishment of all posterity ) the wonderful judgments of god poured out commonly upon such vast and proud aspirings . after this glorious deliverance of our land by the power of the omnipotent , and the wild boar repelled that sought to lay waste englands fair and fruitful vineyard , our gracious and godly queen ( who ever held ingratitude a capital sin , especially towards her almighty protector ) as she had begun with prayer , so she ended with praise , commanding solemn thanksgiving to be celebrated to the lord of hosts at the cathedral church of saint paul in her chief city of london , which accordingly was done upon sabbath day the eighth of september : at which time eleven of the spanish ensignes ( the once badges of their bravery , but now of their vanity and ignominy ) were hung upon the lower battlements of that church , as palmes of praise for englands deliverance : a shew no doubt more pleasing to god than when their spread colours did set out the pride of the spaniards , threatning the blood of so many innocent and faithful christians . queen elizabeth her self , to be an example unto others upon sabbath the twenty fourth of september , came from her palace of white-hall in westminster , through the streets of london ( which were hung with blew cloth , the companies of the city standing in their liveries on both sides with their banners in goodly order ) being carried in a chariot drawn with two horses to st. pauls church , where dismounting from her . chariot at the west door , she humbled her self upon her knees and with great devotion , in an audible voice she praised god as her only defender , who had delivered her self and people from the bloody designes of so cruel an enemy . the sermon then preached tended wholly wholly to give all the glory to god , as the author of this wonderful deliverance : and when that was ended , her majesty herself , with most princely and christian speeches exhorted all the people to a due performance of those religious services of thankfulness which the lord expected and required of them . about the same time the fair being kept in southwark , the spanish flags were hung up at london bridge to the great joy of the beholders , and eternal infamy of the spaniards proud attempts , as irreligious as unsuccessful . but the solemn day appointed for thanksgiving throughout the land was the nineteenth of november being tuesday , which accordingly was observed with great joy and praising of god ; and well it were if it had so continued still , being no less a deliverance than was that of purim amongst the jews , which they instituted to be kept holy throughout their generations . the zelanders also to leave a memorial of their thnakfulness to god , and their faithfulness to our queen , caused medals of silver to be stamped , having engraven on the one side the armes of their countrey ; with this inscription , glory to god alone , and on the reverse , the pourtracture of great ships , under written , the spanish fleet , and in the circumference , it came , it went , it was , anno 1588. in other medals also were stamped ships floating , and sinking , and in the reverse , supplicants upon their knees , with this motto , man proposeth , god disposeth , 1588. the hollanders also stamped some medals with spanish ships and this motto , impius fugit nemine sequente : the wicked fly when none pursues . our queen , to shew her gratitude as well to the instruments as to the author of this great deliverance , assigned certain yearly rents to the lord admiral for his gallant service , and many times commended him , and the other captains of her ships , as men born for the preservation of their country . the rest she graciously saluted by name as oft as she saw them , as men of notable deserts , wherewith they held themselves well apaid , and those which were wounded , maimed , or poor , she rewarded with competent pensions . the lord of hosts having thus dispelled this storm , the queen dissolved her camp at tilbury , and not long after the earl of leicester ended his dayes , having been a peer of great estate and honour , but liable to the common destiny of great ones , whom all men magnifie in their life time , but few speak well of after their death . this admirable deliverance was congratulated by almost all other nations , especially by all the reformed churches , and many learned men celebrated the same in verse , amongst which i shall onely mention two : the first was that poem made by reverend mr. beza ; translated into all the chief languages in christendom , to be perpetuated to all ensuing posterity . it was this . straverat innumeris hispanus classibus aequor , regnis juncturus sceptra britana suis tanti hujus rogitas quae motus causa ? superbos impulit ambitio , vexat avaritia . quam bene te ambitio mersit vanissima ventus ; et tumidae tumidos vos superastis aquae ! quam bene raptores orbis totius iberos mersit inexhausti justa vorago maris ! at tu , cui venti , cui totum militat aequor , regina , o mundi totius una decus : sic regnare deo perge , ambitione remota , prodiga sic opibus perge juvare pios ; vt te angli longum , longùm anglis ipsa fruaris , quam dilecta bonis , tam metuenda malis . spaines king with navies great the seas bestrew'd , t' augment with english crown his spanish sway : ask ye what caus'd this proud attempt ? 't was lewd ambition drove , and avarice led the way . it 's well ; ambitions windy pufflies drown'd by winds , and swelling hearts by swelling waves : it 's well ; those spaniards who the worlds vast round devour'd , devouring sea most justly craves . but thou o queen , for whom winds , seas do war , o thou the glory of this worlds wide mass , so reign to god still , from ambition far , so still with bounteous aids the good imbrace : that thou maist england long , long england thee enjoy thou terror of all bad , thou good mens joy . the other is that , made by mr : samuel ward of ipswich . octogesimus octavus , mirabilis annus clade papistarum , faustus ubique piis . in eighty eight spain arm'd with potent might against our peaceful land came on to fight : the winds , and waves , and fire in one conspire to help the english , frustrate spains desire . finis . the gun-powder treason : being a remembrance to england , of that ancient deliverance from that horrid plot , hatched by the bloody papists , 1605. tending to revive the memory of the fifth of november to every family in this nation : that all sorts may be stirred up to real thankfulness , and transmit the same to their posterities ; that their children may know the reason why the fifth of november is celebrated ; that god may have glory , and the papists perpetual infamy . the lord is known by the judgement that he executeh , but the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands . higgaion selah . psal. 9.16 . by sam. clark , pastor of bennet fink , london . london , printed for j. hancock , and are to be sold at the three bibles , being the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . 1671. to the reader . christian reader , least the remembrance of so signal a mercy , and deliverance vouchsafed by god both to our church and state should be buried in oblivion , i have ( at the request of the book-seller ) presented thee here with a true and faithful narrative of that grand work of darkness forged in hell , and by satan suggested to some popish instruments , who envying the peace and prosperity of our church , and progress of the gospel , had designed at one blow to overthrow both : and that nothing might be wanting to compleat that horrid wickedness , their purpose was to have charged it upon the puritans , thereby hoping to free themselves , and their religion from the imputation of so hainous a crime . now that the memorial of a mercy of such publick and general concernment should not be forgotten , we have the word of the eternal god to be our guide therein , when the lord had by his angel destroyed the first born of egypt , and spared israel , he instituted the feast of the passover to continue the memorial thereof through their generations , exod. 12.11 , 12 , 14 , 26 , 27. saith moses to them , when your children shall say unto you , what mean you by this service ? ye shall say , it is the sacrifice of the lords passover , who passed over the houses the children of israel , when he smote the egyptians , and delivered our houses . and how careful good mordecai was to continue the remembrance of that great deliverance of the people of god from destruction plotted , and contrived by that wicked haman , appears esther 9.20 . &c. where they did not only celebrate those present dayes of their deliverance with feasting and gladness : but he , together with the rest of the jewes ordained , and took upon them , and their seed , and upon all such as joyned themselves unto them , so as it should not fail , that they would keep those days in their appointed time every year , and that those days should be remembred , and kept through their generations , every family , every province , and every city , and that those days of purim should not fail from amongst the jews , nor the memorial of them perish from their seed , &c. and truly the remembrance of this great mercy hath the more need to be revived at this time , when some noted persons amongst us begin to lessen , and decry it , and wholly to lay aside the observation of that day , though enjoyned by act of parliament , and made conscience of by most of the godly people of the nation . i have also been induced the rather to make this brief collection of the story , because , though it be published by others ; yet it is in larger volumes , which are not every ones mony ; whereas for a small matter every family may get and keep this by them for the benefit , and satisfaction both of themselves and children , that so the lord may not lose of his glory , nor they ( for want of information ) fail of their duty . i shall conclude with that of the psalmist , psal. 107.8 . o that men would praise the lord for his goodness : and for his wonderful works to the children of men : which is the hearty desire of thine for thy spiritual good , sam. clarke . octob. 1657. the deliverance of our chvrch and state from the hellish powder-plot . 1605. the plot was to undermine the parliament house , and with powder to blow up the king , prince , clergy , nobles , knights , and burgesses , the very confluence of all the flower of glory , piety , learning , prudence and authority in the land : fathers , sons , brothers , allies , friends , foes , papists and protestants , 〈…〉 blast . their intent , when that irreligious atchievement had been performed , was , to surprize the remainder of the kings issue , to alter religion and government , and to bring in a forreign power , sir edmond baynam , an attainted person ( who stiled himself prince of the damned crew ) was sent unto the pope as he was a temporal prince to acquaint him with the gunpowder plot : and now to the plot it self . the sessions of parliament being dissolved , july the 7th . anno christi , 1605. and prorogued to the seventh of february following ▪ catesby being at lambeth , sent for th●mas winter ; who before had been imployed into spain , and acquainted him with the design of blowing up the parliament house , who readily apprehending it , said , this indeed strikes at the root , only these helps were wanting ; a house for residence , and a skilful man to carry on the mine : but the first , catesby assured him was easie to be got ; and for the man , he commended guy fawkes , a sufficient souldier , and a forward catholick : thus robert catesby , john wright , thomas winter , and guy fawkes had many meetings , and conferences about this business , till at last thomas percy came puffing in to catesby's lodging at lambeth , saying , what gentlemen , shall we alwaies be talking , and never do any thing ? you cannot be ignorant how things proceed ? to whom catesby answered , that something was resolved on , but first an oath for secresie was to be administred : for which purpose they appointed to meet some three days after , behind saint clements church beyond temple-bar ; where being met , percy professed that for the catholick cause himself would be the man to advance it , were it with the slaughter of the king , which he was there ready to undertake and and do . no tom ( said catesby ) thou shalt not adventure thy self to so small purpose ; if thou wilt be a traytor , there is a plot to greater advantage , and such an one as can never be discovered : hereupon all of them took the oath of secresie , heard a mass , and received the sacrament , after which catesby told them his devillish devise by mine and gunpowder to blow up the parliament house , and so by one stroke with the destruction of many to effect that at once which had been many years attempting : and for case of conscience to kill the innocent with the nocent , he told them that it was warrantable by the authority of garnet himself , the superiour of the english jesuites , and of garrard and tresmond ( jesuitical priests likewise ) who by their apostolical power did commend the fact , and absolve the actors . the oath was given them by the said garrard in these words ; you shall swear by the blessed trinity , and by the sacrament you now purpose to receive , never to disclose , directly nor indirectly , by word , or circumstance , the matter that shall be proposed to you to keep secret , nor desist from the execution thereof until the rest shall give you leave . the project being thus far carried on , in the next place the first thing they sought after was an house wherein they might begin their work , for which purpose no place was held fitter than a certain edifice adjoyning to the wall of the parliament house , which served for a withdrawing room to the assembled lords , and out of parliament time was at the dispose of the keeper of the place , and wardrobe thereto belonging : these did percy hire for his lodgings , entertaining guy fawkes as his man , who changing his name into johnson had the keyes , and keeping of the rooms . besides this , they hired another house to lay in provision of powder , and to frame , and fit wood in for the carrying on the mine , which catesby provided at lambeth , and sware robert ke●es into their conspiracy , whom he made the keeper of those provisions , who by night conveyed the same unto fawkes . the appointed day for the parliament being the seventh day of february , it was thought fit to begin their work in october before : but fawkes returning out of the country , found percys rooms appointed for the scottish lords to meet in , who were to treat about the union of the two kingdomes , whereupon they forbore to begin their work : but that assembly being dissolved upon the eleventh of december , late in the night they entred upon the work of darkness beginning their mine , having tools afore-hand prepared , and baked meats provided , the better to avoid suspition in case they should send abroad for them . they which first began the mine were robert catesby espuire , the arch-contriver and traytor , and ruine of his name , thomas percy esquire , akin to the earl of northumberland , thomas winter , john wright , and guy fawks gentlemen , and thomas bates , catesby's man , all of them well grounded in the romish school , and earnest labourers in this vault of villany , so that by christmas-eve they had brought the mine under an entry adjoyning to the wall of the parliament house , underpropping the earth as they went with their framed timber , nor till that day were they seen abroad of any man. during this undermining , much consultation was had how to order the rest of the business when the deed should be accomplished : the first was how to surprise the next heir to the crown : for though they doubted not but that prince henry would accompany his father , and perish with him , yet they suspected that duke charles , as too young to attend the parliament , would escape the train , and perchance be so carefully guarded , and attended at court that he would be gotten into their hands hardly , but percy offered to be the remover of this rub , resolving with some other gentlemen to enter the dukes chamber , which by reason of his acqaintance he might well do , and others of his like acquaintance should be placed at several doors of the court , so that when the blow was given , and all men in a maze , then would he carry away the duke , which he presumed would be easily done , the most of the court being then absent , and for such as were present , they would be altogether unprovided for resistance . for the surprize of the lady elizabeth , it was held a matter of far less difficulty , she remaining at comb abby in warwickshire with the lord harrington , and ashbey , catesby's house being not far from the same , whither under a pretence of hunting upon dunsmore heath , many catholicks should be assembled , who knowing for what purpose they were met had the full liberty in that distracted time to provide money , horses , armour and other necessaries for war , under pretence of strengthening , and guarding the heir apparent to the crown . then it was debated what lords they should save from the parliament , and it was agreed that they should keep as many as they could that were catholicks or favourers of them : but that all others should feel the smart , and that the treason should be charged upon the puritans to make them more odious to the world. next it was controverted what forreign princes they should make privy to this plot , seeing they could not enjoyn them to secresie , nor oblige them by oath , and this much troubled them . for though spain was held fittest to second their plot , yet he was slow in his preparations , and france was too near and too dangerous to be dealt with , and how the hollanders stood affected to england they knew very well . but while they were thus busying themselves , and tormenting their brains , the parliament was adjourned to the fifth day of october ensuing , whereupon they brake off both discourse and work till candlemass , and then they laid in powder , and other provisions , beginning their work again , and having in the mean time taken into their company christopher wright , and robert winter ; being first sworn , and receiving the sacrament for secresie ; the foundation wall of the parliament house being very hard , and nine foot thick , with great difficulty they wrought half through ; fawkes being their centinel to give warning when any came near , that the noise in digging might not be heard . the labourers thus working into the wall , were surprized with a great fear , and casting away their digging tools , betook themselves to their weapons , having sufficient shot , and powder in the house , and fully resolving rather to dye in the place than to yield or be taken . the cause of this their fear was a noise that they heard in a room under the parliament house , under which they meant to have mined , which was directly under the chair of state ; but now all on a sudden they were at a stand , and their countenances cast each upon other , as doubtful what would be the issue of this their enterprize . fawkes scouted out to see what he could discover abroad , and finding all safe and free from suspition , he returned and told them that the noise was only occasioned by the removal of coals that were now upon sale , and that the cellar was to be let , which would be more commodious for their purpose , and also would save their labour for the mine . hereupon thomas porcy under pretence of stowage for his winter provision and coals , went and hired the cellar , which done they began a new conference , wherein catesby found the weight of the whole work too heavy for himself alone to support : for besides the maintenance of so many persons , and the several houses for the several uses hired and paid for by him , the gunpowder and other provisions would rise to a very great sum , and indeed too much for one mans purse . he desired therefore that himself , percy , and one more might call in such persons as they thought fit to help to maintain the charge , alledging that they knew men of worth and wealth that would willingly assist , but were not willing that their names should be known to the rest . this request , as necessary , was approved , and therefore ceasing to dig any further in the vault , knowing that the cellar would be fitter for their purpose , they removed into it twenty barrels of gunpowder , which they covered with a thousand billets , and five hundred faggots , so that now their lodging rooms were cleared of all suspicious provision , and might be freely entered into without danger of discovery . but the parliament being again prorogued to the fifth of november following , these persons thought fit that for a while they should again disperse themselves ( all things being already in so good a forwardness , and that guy fawkes should go over to acquaint sir william stanley , and master hugh owen with these their proceedings , ) yet so , as the oath of secresie should be first taken by them . for their design was to have sir william stanleys presence so soon as the fatal blow should be given , to be a leader to their intended stratagems , whereof ( as they thought ) they should have great need , and that owen should remain where he was , to hold correspondency with forreign princes , to allay the odiousness of the fact , and to impute the treason to the discontented puritans . fawkes coming into flanders found owen , unto whom , after the oath , he declared the plot , which he very well approved of ; but sir william stanley being now in spain , owen said that he would hardly be drawn into the business , having suits at this time in the english court : yet he promised to engage him all that he could , and to send into england with the first , so soon as their plot had taken effect : upon this , fawkes to avoid further suspicion , kept still in flanders till the beginning of september , and then returning , received the keys of the cellar , and laid in more powder , billets and faggots , which done he retired into the countrey , and there kept till the end of october . in the mean time catesby and percy , meeting at the bath , it was there concluded that because th●ir number was but few , catesby himself should have power to call in whom he would to assist their design , by which authority he took in sir everard digby of rutlandshire , and francis tresham esquire of northamptonshire , both of them of sufficient state and wealth : for sir everard offered fifteen hundred pounds to forward the action , and tresham two thousand . but percy disdaining that any should out-run him in evil , promised four thousand pounds out of the earl of northumberlands rents , and ten swift horses to be used when the blow was past . against which time to provide ammunition , catesby also took in ambrose rookwood , and john grant , two recusant gentlemen , and without doubt others were acquainted also with it , had these two grand electors been aprehended alive , whose own tongues only could have given an account of it . the business being thus forwarded abroad by their complices , they at home were no less active : for percy , winter , and fawkes had stored the cellar with thirty six barrels of gunpowder , and instead of shot , had laid upon them barrs of iron , logs of timber , massie stones , iron crowes , pick-axes , and all their working tools : and to cover all , great store of billets and faggots , so that nothing was wanting against that great and terrible day . neither were the priests and jesuits slack on their parts , who usually concluded their masses with prayers for the good success of their expected hopes , about which garnet made these verses , gentem aufert perfidam credentium de finibus : vt christo laudes debitas persolvamus alacriter . and others thus . prosper lord their pains that labour in thy cause day and night : let heresie vanish away like smoke : let their memory perish with a crack like the ruine and fall of a broken house . upon thursday in the evening , ten days before the parliament was to begin , a letter directed to the lord monteagle , was delivered by an unknown person to his footman in the street , with a strait charge to give it into his lords own hands , wh●ch accordingly he did : the letter had neither date , nor subscription , and was somewhat unlegible , so that the nobleman called for one of his servants to assist him in reading it ; the strange contents whereof much perplexed him , he not knowing whether it was writ as a pasquil to scare him from attendance at the parliament , or as a matter of consequence , and advice from some friend : howsoever , though it were now supper-time , and the night very dark , yet to shew his loyalty to his soveraign , he immediately repaired to white-hall , and imparted the letter to the earl of salisbury , then principal secretary , and they both presently acquainted the lord ●hamberlain therewith , who deemed the matter not a little to concern himself ; his office requiring him to oversee all the places to which his majesty was to repair : hereupon these two counsellors shewed the letter to the earls of worcester and northampton , and all concluded ( how slight soever the contents seemed to appear ) to acquaint the king himself with the same , which accordingly was done : and the letwas as followeth : my lord , ovt of the love i bear to some of your friends , i have a care of your preservation : therefore i would advise you as you tender your life , to devise some excuse to shift off your attendance at this parliament : for god and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time . and think not slightly of this advertisement , but retire your self into your country , where you may expect the event in safety . for though there be no appearance of any stir , yet i say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament , and yet they shall not see who hurts them . this counsel is not to be contemned , because it may do you good , and can do you no harm : for the danger is past so soon as you have burnt the letter ; and i hope god will give you the grace to make a good use of it , to whose holy protection i commend you . his majesty after reading this letter , pausing a while , and then reading it again , delivered his judgment , that the stile of it was too quick and pithy to be a libel , proceeding from the superfluities of an idle brain , and by these words , that they should receive a terrible blow at this parliament , and yet not see who hurt them ; he presently apprehended , that a sudden danger by a blast of gunpowder was intended by some base villain in a corner , though no insurrection , rebellion , or desperate attempt appeared : and therefore wished that the rooms under the parliament house should be throughly searched , before himself or peers should sit therein : hereupon it was concluded that the lord chamberlain ( according to his office ) should view all the rooms above and below : but yet to prevent idle rumours , and to let things ripen further , it was resolved that this search should be deferred till munday , the day immediately before the parliament , and that then it should be done with a seeming slight eye to avoid suspect . according to this conclusion , the earl of suffolk , lord chamberlain , upon munday in the afternoon , accompanied with the lord monteagle , repaired into those under romes , and finding the cellar so fully stored with wood and coals , demanded of fawkes , the counterfeit johnson , who stood there attending as a servant of small repute , who owed the place ? he answered that the lodgings belonged to master thomas percy , and the cellar also to lay in his winter provision , himself being the keeper of it , and master : percy 's servant : whereunto the earl , as void of any suspicion , told him that his master was well provided against winter blasts : but when they were come forth , the lord monteagle told him that he did much suspect percy to be the inditer of the letter , knowing his affection in religion , and the friendship betwixt them professed , so that his heart gave him ( as he said ) when he heard percy named , that his hand was in the act. the lord chamberlain returning , related to the king and council what he had seen , and the suspition that the lord monteagle had of percy , and himself of johnson his man , all which increased his majesties jealousie , so that he insisted ( contrary to the opinion of some ) that a narrower search should be made , and the billets and coals turned up to the bottom : and accordingly the search was concluded to be made , but under colour of searching for certain hangings belonging to the house , which were missing and conveyed away . sir thomas knevet ) a gentleman of his majesties privy chamber ) was employed herein , who about midnight before the parliament was to begin , went to the place with a small , but trusty number of persons : and at the door of the entrance to the cellar , finding one ( who was guy fawkes ) at so unseasonable an hour cloked , and booted , he apprehended him , and ransacking the billet , he found the serpents nest stored with thirty six barrels of powder , and then searching the villain , he found about him a dark lanthorn three matches , and other instruments for blowing up the powder : and being no whit daunted , he instantly confessed his guiltiness , and was so far from repentance , as he vowed , that had he been within the house ( as indeed he was but immediately come forth from his work ) he would certainly have blown up the house with himself and them all : and being brought before the council ; he lamented nothing so much as because the deed was not done , saying , that the devil , and not god was the discoverer of it . as desperate were catesby , percy , and the rest , who seeing the treason discover'd , posted all into warwickshire , where grant , and his associates had broken open the stables belonging to warwick castle , and taken some gaeat horses out of the same , to forward their hoped for great day . at dun-church sir everard digby had made a match for a great hunting , that under pretence thereof they might seize upon the lady elizabeth then at comb abby , but when by those which posted from london they were informed that they were discovered , and pursued , being struck with a great fear ; not knowing whither to sly , they desperately began an open rebellion , pretending that they did it for the cause of religion , all the catholicks throats being intended to be cut , and so trooping together they wandred through warwickshire , being pursued by sir richard verney , the then high sheriff , and from thence they went through worcestershire into staffordshire , their servants , and followers being about eighty men , who also stole away many of them from them . thus ranging about , and finding no resistance , they rifled the lord windsors house of all the armour , shot , powder , and all other warlike provisions : but the weather being rainy , and the waters somewhat high , the powder in carriage took wet , and so became unserviceable . for their last refuge they betook themselves to holbach house in staffordshire , belonging to steven littleton , whither they were pursued by the high sheriff of worcestershire , who not knowing of the treason , and thinking it to be only some fray , or riot , sent his trumpeter unto them , commanding them to render themselves to him his majesties minister : but their consciences witnessing what the sheriff knew not , answered , that he had need of greater assistance than of those few that were with him , before he could be able to command or controul them : and so they prepared for resistance , and having laid two pounds of the said powder into a platter to dry in the chimney , one coming to mend the fire , threw in a billet , whereby a spark flew into the powder , whose sudden blast was so violent , that though so small a quantity , it blew up the roof of the house , scorching the bodies and faces of catesby , rookwood , and grant , and some others , whose consciences now told tdem that god had puished them justly with powder , who with powder would have destroyed so many . being dispirited with this accident , yet like desperate men , they resolved to die together , set open the gates , and suffered the sheriffs men to rush in upon them , and presently both the wrights were shot down dead : rookwood and thomas winter were very sorely wounded , catesby and percy desperately fighting back to back , were both shot thorow , and slain with one musket bullet : the rest being taken , were carried prisoners to london , being all the way gazed at , reviled , and detested by the common people for their horrid , and horrible treason : and so at last they received the just guerdon of their wickedness . thus you have seen this work of darkness by the watchfulnes of gods providence detected , and defeated , and the contrivers of mischief fallen into the pit that they digged for others : now let us see also how cunningly they contrived the transferring the odium of it upon the puritans . there was one mr. pickering of tichmarsh-grove in northamptonshire that was in great esteem with king james . this mr. pickering had a horse of special note for swiftness on which he used to hunt with the king. a little before the blow was given , mr. keies , on of the conspirators , and brother in law to mr. pickering , borrowed this horse of him , and conveyed him to london upon a bloody design , which was thus contrived . fawkes upon the day of the fatal blow was appointed to retire himself into st. georges fields , where this horse was to attend him to further his escape ( as they made him believe ) so soon as the parliament house should be blown up . it was likewise contrived , that mr. pickering who was noted for a puritan , should that morning be murthered in his bed , and secretly conveyed away : as also that fawkes so soon as he came into st. georges fields to escape , should be there murthered , and so mangled that he could not be known : whereupon it was to be bruited abroad that the puritans had blown up the parliament house , and the better to make the world believe it , there was mr. pickering with his choice horse ready to make an escape , but that stirred up some , who seeing the heinousness of the fact , and him ready to escape , in detestation of so horrible a deed , fell upon him , and hewed him in pieces , and to make it more clear , there was his horse , known to be of special speed , and swiftness , ready to carry him away , and upon this rumour a massacre should havy gone through the whole land upon the puritans . when the contrivance of this plot was thus discovered by some of the conspirators , and fawkes , who was now a prisoner in the tower made acquainted with it , whereas before he was made to believe by his companions that he should be bountifully rewarded for that his good service to the catholick cause , now perceiving that on the contrary his death had been contrived by them , he thereupon freely confessed all that he knew concerning that horrid conspiracy , which before all the tortures of the rack could not force him unto . the truth of all this was attested by mr. william perkins , an eminent christian and citizen of london to dr. gouge , which mr. perkins had it from the mouth of mr. clement cotton that made our english concordance , who also had it from the relation of mr. pickering himself . finis . a narrative of the visible hand of god upon the papists by the downfall in black-friers london . anno christi , 1623. on the lords day , october the twenty sixth according to the english ▪ account : but november the fifth according to the popish account ▪ a common report went far and near , that one drurie , a romish priest ( a man of parts , and eminent gifts ) would preach that day in the afternoon in a fair house in black-friers london , whither all that would might freely come to hear him . upon this report very many , protestants as well as papists , scholars as well as others , assembled thither about three a clock in the afternoon ; that mansion house was now inhabited by the french ambassador : and the sermon was to be in a garret , into which there were two passages : one out of the ambassadorus with-drawing room which was private , the other more common without the great gate of the said mansion house . under this garret was another large chamber which one redyate , another romish priest , had hired for himself : unto whom papists frequently repaired to hear mass , and make confessions . under this room was the aforesaid withdrawing chamber of the ambassador : supported with strong arches of stone being immediately over the entrance into the great house : and at the south end of the garret and on the west side thereof , there were bed-chambers and closets which other priests had hired for themselves : the bed-chamber at the south end was severed from the garret only by a partition of wanscote which was taken down for the sermon time : the length of the garret from north to south was almost sorry foot , the breadth about sixteen foot : the two aforesaid passages met on one pair of stairs leading to the garret which had only that one door leading into it . more came to this place then possibly it could hold , so that many for want of room returned back again ; others went into the aforesaid redyates chamber , and tarried with him . the whole garret , rooms adjoyning , door , and top of the stairs were as full as they could hold . in the garret were set chairs and stools for the better sort : most of the women sate on the floor , but most of the men stood thronged together : in all , about two hundred were there assembled . in the midst was a table and a chair for the preacher . all things thus prepared , and the multitude assembled , about three of the clock the expected preacher , having on a surplice , girt about his middle with a linnen girdle , and a tippet of scarlet on both his shoulders , came in , being attended by a man that brought after him his book and hour-glass . as soon as he came to the table , he kneeled down with shew of private devotion for a little while ; then rising up , and turning himself to the people , he crossed himself , took the book ( which was said to be a rhemish testament ) out of his mans hands , and the hour-glass being set on the table , he opened the book , read the gospel appointed by the remish calendar for that day , being the twenty first sunday after pentecost : the gospel was in matthew 18 , 23 , &c. the text being read , he sate down , put on a red cap over a white linnen one turned up about the brims : he made no audible prayer , but having read his text , which was the parable of forgiving debts , he spake something of the occasion of it , and then propounded these three special points to be handled 1. the debt we owe to god. 2. the mercy of god in forgiving it . 3. mans unmercifulness to his brother . having insisted some while of the misery of man by reason of the debt wherein he stands bound to god , he passed on to declare the rich mercy of god , and the means which god hath afforded to his church , for partaking thereof : amongst which he reckoned up the sacaments , and especially pressed the sacrament of penance , as they call it . when he had discoursed on these points about half an hour , on a sudden the floor whereon the preacher and the greatest part of his auditory were , fell down with such violence , as therewith the floor of the chamber under it , where redyate and his company were , was broken down with it , so that both the floors , with the beams , girders , joyces , boords and feelings , with all the people on them , fell down together upon the third floor , which was the floor of the french ambassadors withdrawing chamber , supported with strong arches as aforesad . there being a partition on the south side of the middle chamber which reached up to the floor of the garret and supported it , that part of the garret which was beyond the partition southward , fell not , so as all the people thereon were safe , only they had no way to get forth : for there was but one entrance into the garret , which was at the north-west corner . hereupon some through amazement , would have leaped out at a window almost forty foot from the ground : but the people without , telling them of the certain danger if they leaped down , kept them from that desperate attempt : at length by breaking a wall on the west-side they discerned chambers adjoyning thereto , and so by creeping through that hole into the chambers , they were saved : so were all they that stood on the stair-head at the door leading into the garret : for the stairs were without the room , and nothing fell but the floors , neither walls nor roof . also amongst those that fell , many escaped ; for some of the timber rested with one end on the walls , and with the other on the third floor that yielded not , and so both such as abode on those pieces , and such as were directly under them , were thereby preserved . amongst the multidude that fell , there was a minister who ( through gods providence ) fell so between two pieces of timber , as that the timber kept his upper parts from crushing , and holped him by his clasping about the timber to pull out his feet from amongst the dead corpses . amongst others , the present preservation and future destruction of one parker was very remarkable . this pa●ker was a factor for the english seminaries , and nunnes beyond sea , especially at cambre ; and he had so dealt with two of his brothers here , that he had got from one of them a son , and from the other a daughter to send them to religious houses ( as they call them ) beyond sea. this parker at this time took his nephew , a youth of about sixteen years old to the aforementioned fatal conventicle , where drury preached : and both parker and his nephew fell with the rest : the youth there lost his life , but parker himself escaped with a bruised body , being a corpulent man : yet so far was he from making a good use of his deliverance , that with much discontent he wished that he had dyed for his nephew , saying , that god saw him not fit to dye amongst such martyrs : such are romes martyrs . but the preservation of the wicked , is but a reservation to future judgment : for about ten days after , as this parker was shooting london-bridge , with his aforesaid neece , whom he was conveying beyond sea , they were both cast away and drowned in the thames . judge by this ( o parents ! ) whether god is well pleased with disposing your children to popish education . others there were that were pulled out alive , but so bruised , or so spent for want of breath , that some lived not many hours , others dyed not many days after . the floor of the chamber immediately over this where the corps lay , being fallen , there was no entrance into it but through the ambassadours bed-chamber , the door whereof was closed up with the timber of the floors that fell down , and the walls of this room were of stone , only there was one window in it with extraordinary strong cross barrs of iron , so that though smiths , and other workmen were immediately sent for , yet it was more than an hour before succour could be afforded to them that were faln down . passage at length being made , i had access into the room ( saith doctor gouge the relater of this story ) and viewing the bodies , observed some ( yet but few ) to be mortally wounded , or crushed by the timber : others to be apparently stifled , partly with their thick lying one upon another , and partly with the dust that came from the cieling which fell down . on the lords day at night when they fell they were numbered ninety one dead bodies ; but many of them were secretly conveyed away in the night , there being a pair of water-stairs , leading from the garden appertaining to the house , into the thames . on the morrow the coroner and his inquest coming to view the bodies , found remaining but sixty three . of those that were carried away , some were buried in a burying place within the spanish ambassadours house in holborn , amongst whom the lady web was one , the lady blackstones daughter another , and one mistress udal a third : master stoker , and master bartholomew bavin were buried in st. brides parish . robert sutton , john loccham , and abigail holford in st. andrews holborn . captain summers wife in the vault under black friers church , and her woman in the church-yard . for the corps remaining , two great pits were digged , one in the fore court of the said french ambassadors house , eighteen foot long , and twelve foot broad ; the other in the garden behind his house , twelve foot long , and eight foot broad . in the former pit were laid forty four corps , whereof the bodies of the aforesaid drury and redyate were two : these two wound up in sheets , were first laid into the pit , with a partition of loose earth to fever them from the rest . then were others brought , some in somewhat a decent manner wound up in sheets , but the most in a most lamentable plight , the shirts onely of the men tyed under the twists , and some linnen tyed about the middle of the women , the rest of their bodies naked , and one poor man or woman taking a corps by the head , another by the feet tumbled them in , and so piled them up almost to the top of the pit . the rest were put into the other pit in the garden . their manner of burial seemed almost as dismal , as the heap of them , when they lay upon the floor where they last fell . no obsequies of funeral rites were used at their burial . only the day after , a black cross of wood was set upon each grave , but was soon by authority commanded to be taken down . when they were thus interred , thorough search was made about the cause of the falling of the timber : the timber of each floor was laid together , and the measure of the summers that brake was taken . the main summer which crossed the garret was ten inches square : two girders were by tenents , and mortaises let into the middest of it , one just against another : the summer was knotty where the mortaises were made , whereupon being over-burdened , it knapped suddenly asunder in the middest . the main summer of the other floor that fell was much stronger , being thirteen inches square , strong and found every where , neither did the girders meet so just one against another ; yet that also failed , not in the middest as the uppermost , but within five foot of one end , and that more shiveringly , and with a longer rent in the timber then the other . for this chamber was almost full with such persons as coming too late , went into redyates chamber : besides , it did not only bear the weight which lay on the upper floor , but received it with a sudden knock , and so the massie timber shivered in two , and the people were irrecoverably before they could tear any such thing , beaten down into the third floor which was above twenty foot from the first . it 's true , we must not be rash in censuring , yet when we see judgements executed on sinners in the act of their sin , when they are impudent , and presumptuous therein , not to acknowledge such to be judged by the lord , is to wink against clear light , psal. 9. 16. god is known by the judgements which he executeth . shall nebuchadnezzar , while he is vaunting of his great babylon , be berest of his wits ? shall herod , whilest he is priding himself in the flattering applanse of the people , be eaten of worms ? shall haman , whilest he practising to destroy all the people of god , be hanged on a gallows fifty foot high , which he had prepared for mordecai ? shall the house where the philistins met together to sport with sampson , fall upon their heads ? shall these and such like judgments overtake men in the very act of their sin , and yet be accounted no judgements , no evidences of gods revenging justice , or signes of his indignation ? truly then we may deny all providence , and attribute all to chance : but add hereto , that this fell out upon their fifth of november , and it will be as clear as if written with a sun-beam , that the pit which they digged for others , they themselves fell into it . doctor gouge , who relates this story in his extent of gods providence , thus writeth . i do the more confidently publish this history , because i was an eye-witness of many of the things therein related , and heard from the mouths of such as were present at the sermon , the rest . for upon the first hearing of the destruction of so many persons as by that dowosal lost their lives , our constables presently caused the gates of our precinct ( it being surrounded with walls and gates ) to be shut , and raised a strong guard from amongst the inhabitants to keep the house where this accident fell out , and to prevent tumult about it . thus through the favour of the constables , and watch , who were all my neighbours , i had the more free and quiet access to view the dead bodies , and to inform my self of all the material circumstances about that accident : which i did the rather , because the bishop of london that then was , sent to me to inform my self throughly of all the business , and to send him a narration thereof under my hand ; whereupon i did not only view matters my self , but caused carpenters to search the timber , to take the measures both of the timber and the rooms . i was also present with the coroner and his inquest at their examining of all circumstances about the business . and the arch-bishop of camerbury sending to me to come to him , and to bring with me the best evidence i could , i got the foreman and others of the jury , and four persons that were present at the sermon , and fell down with the rest , but by gods providence escaped death , and one that stood without the door , within hearing , but fell not , all these i got to go along with me to lambeth , where i heard the witness which they gave to the arch-bishop about this matter . one that fell with the rest , and escaped death , was master gee a preacher in lancashire : two others were a son and servant to a citizen in pater noster row : the rest were men of good understanding ; able to apprehend what they saw and heard , and to relate what they conceived . finis . the answer of a person of quality to a scandalous letter lately printed and subscribed by p.w. intituled, a letter desiring a just and merciful regard of the roman catholicks of ireland orrery, roger boyle, earl of, 1621-1679. 1662 approx. 157 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 48 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53453 wing o472 estc r21915 12362302 ocm 12362302 60274 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53453) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60274) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 218:5) the answer of a person of quality to a scandalous letter lately printed and subscribed by p.w. intituled, a letter desiring a just and merciful regard of the roman catholicks of ireland orrery, roger boyle, earl of, 1621-1679. [2], 93 p. printed by j.c., dublin : 1662. written by roger boyle, earl of orrery. cf. bm; dnb. reproduction of original in yale university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng walsh, peter, 1618?-1688. -letter desiring a just and merciful regard of the roman catholicks of ireland. catholics -ireland. 2002-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-02 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2003-02 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the answer of a person of quality , to a scandalous letter lately printed and subscribed by p. w. intituled , [ a letter desiring a just and merciful regard of the roman catholicks of ireland , given about the end of october , 1660. to the then marquess , now duke of ormond , and the second time l. lievtenant of that kingdom . ] dvblin . printed by i. c. anno dom. 1662. the answer , &c. having lately seen a printed paper , the title whereof is , [ a letter desiring a just and merciful regard of the roman catholicks of ireland , given about the end of october , 1660. to the then marquess , now duke of ormond , and the second time l. lievtenant of that kingdom : ] subscribed by p. w. and finding it in effect , whatever the words of it are , extremely undutiful to his sacred majesty , very disrespectful to the duke of ormond l. lievtenant of ireland , and most scandalous not onely to the protestants of ireland , but also to those of the same religion in his sacred majesties other kingdoms : i have esteemed my self obliged , as a faithful subject to the king , as an humble servant to the l. lievtenant , and as a son of the protestant church , whose members are as highly as falsly asperst by it , to expose in print an answer to that letter , which before i enter upon , i will onely say , p. w. professing not a little to be his graces servant , if he meant not this letter as a respect to his grace , why was it written ? if he did , why was it printed ? but p. w. despairing to receive from his grace the effects of his unjust desires for his countrey-men , chose this way to acquaint them , 't was not for want of his sollicitation . he would let them see , since he could not make them beholding to my l. lievtenant , that they were so to him . since i shall often have occasion to name irish papists , i have thought fit here , once for all , to declare , that i mean not thereby in all , or any part of my answer , any of those worthy persons of that nation and religion who have still faithfully served the king , whose merit i highly respect , and the more , because it has been preserved from infection even in a very pest-house ; nor any of those , who having been truly sorrowful for it , and in the constancy of their subsequent services to his majesty , have washt themselves clean : for i take a perfect delight in any change from bad to good ; and i heartily wish , that every one of them had not so much indangered their being polluted again , as interceding and pleading for their guilty countrey-men does amount unto . having thus made this necessary digression , i shall now proceed . the parts separate of this letter are three . first , a preface . secondly , a petition . thirdly , a conclusion or concluding wish . p. w. prefaceth ; first , the fears and iealousies of those whom he calls the catholicks of ireland . secondly , his own affection to , and confidence in his grace the duke of ormond . fears and iealousies are no less than must in reason be expected in the generality of the irish papists ; for though the goodness and indulgence of the best of kings may make their condition safe : yet the conscience of their own guilt will never suffer them to be secure . pretended fears and iealousies were the forerunners , if not causers of troubles past ; i hope p. w. intends them not as such , for troubles to come . fear is founded on , at least attended with hatred ; and if one of the best of his majesties servants , one of the chiefest of his ministers , be thus 1. vniversally , 2. intensly fear'd , and therefore 3. hated , 4. as p. w. says , by his own countrey-men : ( but let all that p. w. prints , stand or fall , as this last particular is true or false ; for his grace is neither his countrey-man by birth , religion , or any other relation to which that name is appliable ; ) yea 5. by his own fiduciares ( as is expressed in the printed letter . ) if , i say , all this be not true , why does p. w. say it ? if it be true , what can others expect ? for if the flame be so in the green tree ▪ what will it be in the dry ? the irish papists in their former and later apologies for the horridest of rebellions , have not to this very day ( within any of his majesties dominions ) even pretended publickly any other cause for their rapines , murthers , massacres and treasons , but what resolves it self into fears and ielousies . and if their passions be the same , it is to be fear'd their wills are not alter'd . and if their wills be the same , nothing under god , can prevent the effects , but want of strength . especially considering that 1. in 1641. no such antecedent animosities or hatreds had prepared matters for fears and ielousies , as by the worst of rebellions is now become even nationally violent , ( but by the way , it seems to me somewhat hard , that those which give the rise for the cause , should first cry out in the effects . ) 2. in 1641. these fears and ielousies ( if really in any ) were but in a few ; but now p. w. confesseth , that they have seized upon almost all the nobility , gentry and others , yea the generality of the catholicks of ireland , even the constant believers of , passionate sticklers for , and fastest friends to his grace the duke of ormond ; and this so intensly , that it produceth the loss both of faith and hope . here it may well be observed what temper they are of , whom p. w. pleads for ; ielousies , fears and want of faith are so inseparable from them , that those in 1641 were onely said to be derived from his majesties enemies , but now ( all such by the mercy of god being blown away ) they are derived from his majesties chief minister of state of this kingdom ; and who is made such , as p. w. saith , and as i most heartily acknowledg , by his own great deserts . what is it can suppress the fears and ielousies of p. w's . countrey-men , when his majesties free election of a chief governor , and such a one as the duke of ormond is , cannot do it ? this acknowledgment of p. w's . fully proves , that the irish papists fears and ielousies of the chief governors of this kingdom in 1641 , were onely taken up by those , and not cause given for them by these . the plain english is this , though his majesty should from time to time nominate for lord lieutenant of this kingdom , the wisest and the faithfullest of his subjects ; yet because the king commissionates them , or because they are such , or both , many ( i wish i could not say most ) of the irish papists will be jealous and fearful of them . concerning p. w's . affection to , and confidence in his grace the duke of ormond , exprest by several instances of free and frequent access to him , of his and others reliance on his word , of his daily care and trouble to support his esteem , and of blaming distrusters as guilty of ignorance of state affairs , and the intrigues obstructing , as yet ; or of inconsideration of those wiser ways , though slower , than folly or rashness could chalk out , or of prejudice and evil passion . i will onely say , that though p. w. would make us believe , as if some word in secret had post by his grace to the irish papists , which they dare thus mention to himself , and publish to the world ; at least that he who is a profest enemy to the english interest , and protestant religion , is his graces intimate and familiar confident ; and by such as visible , as false arts , endeavour to infect the protestants with the disease of him , and his country-men ; ielousies and fears of the l. lieutenant . yet i dare as truly , as confidently aver , though p. w's . oratory were as great as his malice , his insinuations could not shake , much less overthrow that irremoveable confidence his majesties protestant subjects of ireland , ●ave built with great reason and experience upon his grace , even on the double accompts , of his principles and practises . to attempt to betray with a kiss , is neither a new art nor a new sin . but he that would destroy by undermining , would do it by open force , if his power proportion'd his will. concerning p. w's . affection to his grace , he says no more for that in particular , than he says in general for his countrey-mens having a right to the peace made in 1648. therefore i believe his grace will take his measure of the former , by his knowledg of the later . after this preface , p. w. petitions , that his grace would no longer delay , than shall be necessary , yea that he would in this present conjuncture , effectually demonstrate that justice and favor he intended to the catholicks of ireland , in the articles of peace made in 1648. though p. w. in the first clause , petitions onely that his grace would no longer delay than shall be necessary ; yet as if struck with the fears and jealousies of his countrey-men , and not daring to submit the determination of that period of necessity to his graces judgment , he petitions limitedly , if not positively , in the later clause , for the present conjuncture . if the subject matter of that justice and favor petition'd for , may be measur'd ( as is exprest ) by his graces intendment , i am confident the protestants of ireland , should his majesty think fit ) will freely submit their all , to that decision ; without either articling with him first ; or breaking articles after the guilt of making them . p. w. inforceth his petition by arguments pretending to justice distributive in the common case consider'd absolutely . comparatively justice commutative in some special cases of the transplantation . corporation . in respect of the common case considered absolutely , p. w. argues , that the irish papists in 1648. freely put themselves and their power into his graces hands . but freely in this instance , if it signifies ought meritoriously , it signifies the same as gratis ; when as it was made , 1. upon articles ; 2. even upon such articles , as forced from his majesty all the regalia , both ecclesiastical and temporal ; 3. when as at such a season , and in such a tempest every good subject should freely have cast his goods over-board , to prevent the common wrack , even then the irish papists would not contribute to prevent one leak , but at a rate unproportionate , and as the tempest or leaks increased , so increased their rates . but to show how freely the irish put themselves and their power into his majesties hands , i need but rehearse his sacred majesties own words , in the preamble of his majesties gracious declaration of the 30. of november 1660. page 3. viz. we well remember the cessation of the peace , which our royal father of blessed memory had been forced , during the late troubles , to make with his irish subjects of that our kingdom , and by which he was compelled to give them a full pardon for what they had before done amiss , upon their return to their duty , and their promise of giving his majesty a vigorous assistance . in the same page of the same declaration , soon after follow these words , viz. we could not forget the peace which our selves was afterwards necessitated to make with our said subjects , in the time when they who wickedly usurped the authority , had erected that odious court for the taking away the life of our dear father , &c. that which his majesty calls forced , compelled and necessitated , p. w. calls freely putting themselves into his graces hands ; so that that untrue suggestion of his needs no other refutation as to the time past , and as to the time to come , i wish i had not cause to doubt , if ever they put themselves into his graces hands , that which they will call freely , will be an effect of compulsion , force and necessity . whatever the submission was in 1648. and how free soever pretended ; yet the express letter of those articles , ( article 18. ) precludes all offences which shall be committed or done after their date ; and after that , the irish papists instead of freely putting themselves and their powers in the l. lievtenants hands , signally declared their contempt of him , disobedience to him , and opposition against him . for proofs whereof , among many , i shall set down one undeniable instance of each . 1. for their contempt : in april 1650. by a message they desired the l. lieutenant to leave the kingdom , and commit the government to one of their own election , in whom they could confide . that which now p. w. varnisheth with a modester phrase of fears and iealousies , was then contempt and diffidence . at the same time that they own'd the l. lievtenants authority , they desire him to resign it , without his majesties consent , nay so much as his knowledg ; yet this is but consonant to the whole series of their practises , never to acknowledg the kings right , but to affront it , or to get their ends by it . 2. for their disobedience when the l. lieutenant refused upon weighty reasons of piety , duty and state , to conform to this message , and leave the kingdom ; in august following they by their publick declaration professed their disobedience in these very words : we do hereby manifest to the people , that they are no longer oblig'd to obey the orders or commands of the marquess of ormond . words which so clearly evidence their rebellion , and the vastness of it , that they need no comment , nor ought but the text it self to prove both those truths . nor is there need of any other proof to evince their intire breach of those articles , which they now so fiercely plead for the benefit of . they are so far from giving proofs of their duty to the king , and of their gratitude for his mercy extended in those articles ; that least any should suspect them guilty of those , they declare their power paramount to his majesties authority . 3. they proceed from bad to worse , from worse to worst ; from contempt to disobedience , from disobedience to down-right opposition . and accordingly the very next month they cause their clergie to excommunicate not onely the l. lievtenant , but all that should feed , or adhere to him . that which christ commands us to do to our enemies ; ( if thy enemy hunger , feed him ; ) and that which even common charity makes us do to the very beggers at our gates , they not onely refuse to do to him they so recently acknowledged to have his majesties authority , nay who had the honor to represent his person : but also they prohibit all others to do it , and upon no less penalty than excommunication ; and that nothing may be wanting to sublimate their wickedness to the highest , religion is made the instrument of their iniquity . the notoriety whereof , and of many other acts diametrically opposite to that free submission immediately pretended , is so undeniable , that p. w's . own conscience squeezeth out this confession , i am not ignorant that some have after transgressed in a high nature . but first , the aforementioned declaration runs in the name of the catholicks of ireland ; now some , was then all . secondly , all the premised instances of contempt , disobedience and opposition were not the acts of private , but of publick persons , even of those publick persons into whose hands the irish papists may truly be said to have gratis put themselves and their power . thirdly , the general silence and submission of the body of the irish papists to the premised instances , conclusively argues , a general consent thereunto , at least subsequent , if not antecedent ; for either they were generally consenting , or dissenting ; if dissenting , why did not that generality punish the transgressors , or even oppose and deny the transgression ? if generally consenting , that extenuating particle some , declares more affection in p. w. to those consenters , than either to his majesty or his viceroy . the next argument respecting the general case , is propounded by way of comparison , and that as frequent as untrue , charging , ( 1 ) protestants , ( 2 ) many protestants , ( 3 ) many thousand protestants , ( 4 ) in the three kingdoms ; 1. to have been more hainously criminal ; 2. to have contributed , or intended as little for the bringing home of his majesty , as the most wickedly principled of the roman catholicks of ireland . if ever any , this comparison is odious , between many thousands protestants in the three kingdoms , and not barely the irish papists , but the most wickedly principled of them : so that if p. w. may hold the scale , the crimes of those protestants shall weigh more , and their services for his majestie , at least their intendments , less . but let p. w. prove any one of those many thousands thus wickedly principled to be a protestant , and and he will with the same labour disprove his charge . let him prove his charge in any one particular , and he will with the same labour disprove his instance to be a protestant . i believe most in the three kingdoms have been first or last hainously criminal , so that every mouth must be stopped . but certainly their guilt gradually differs , and the most wickedly principled of the roman catholicks of ireland deserve not the lowest degrees in it . yet possibly some others in the three kingdoms may run parallel with them ; but i assume , such are more closely allied both in principle and practise , to the irish papist , than english protestant . suppose all be involved in one common guilt , is the eye of p. w. evil , because his majesties is good ? or , is there any necessity to extend the same grace to all ; or to render a reason , where onely grace makes the difference ? i presume p. w. expects a greater degree of favor than many others of his countrey-men , and therefore his fears and iealousies are less ; his affection and confidence more ; and may not his majesties grace make a general as well as personal difference ? lastly , as god who is glorious in all perfections , doth magnifie his mercy above all his works : so his majesty who abounds in all royal virtues , doth above all abound in grace and goodness , and from that grace and goodness , without the least pretension of merit ( the popish tenent ) or articling , ( the irish practise ) the english protestants confess to derive their all. yet they humbly conceive , there are rational inducements for his majesty in the degrees of his grace , to discriminate between the irish papists and the english protestants . 1. in all societies the publick acts of free representatives , virtually and interpretatively include all , who declaratively oppose not . but the english representative , though under a force , would never consent to cast off his majesties authority , and as soon as freed from force , brought home his majesty ; the irish when at most freedom , and after a submission pretended , distrusted , disobeyed , opposed his majesties authority ; yea banish'd and excommunicated ( him in effigie in ) his viceroy ; and his , namely , all that should feed him or adhere to him ; nor did they ever as a publick representative , either witness their repentance , or contribute to his majesties restoration . 2. the english protestants , as became subjects , submitted to his majesty freely and absolutely ; but the irish papists as became enemies , not onely articled with his majesty , but compelled him in the day of their height and his necessity , to such articles , as they knew nothing but necessity could compell him to . the english protestants may therefore claim his majesties grace , which is as great as their guilt ; the irish papists can onely claim what is due by articles , the foundation whereof being dissolv'd on their parts , they can justly claim nothing by them , though his majesties mercy has given them much . 3. the forfeited estates of the english protestants were fully at his majesties dispose , and might be freely remitted ; but the forfeited estates of the irish papists were sold by his late majesty of blessed memory , and that sale , for the satisfaction of the adventurers , countenanced and declared in parliament , and therefore the forfeited estate of the irish papists could not be remitted without satisfaction to the innocent purchasers . 4. his majesty may rationally expect more future obedience and loyalty from english protestants , than irish papists ; for ( 1 ) the english protestants are the conquerors , the irish papists the conquered ; and antient as well as modern experience has made it appear , the conquered never did ( some think morally never will ) love the conqueror ; and though his majesty should give the irish papists not the half onely , but the whole of this kingdom : yet they will never probably forgive the english protestants for conquering them , nor consequently heartily love that royal authority which first commissionated the protestants to do it . 5. untill these last unhappy and unnatural troubles , the english protestants in ireland were never charg'd as guilty of any rebellion ; but the irish papists in all opportunities never other than rebellious . queen elizabeth was the mirror of her age , yet during all her reign the rebellions of the irish papists in ireland were very frequent . king iames was another solomon , a prince of peace , yet was his peace interrupted by the rebellion of irish papists , and by that onely . king charls the first was a greater than that solomon , and the wisest of men thought the irish papists fasten'd in 1641. to his majesty by the best of governments ; and to the english protestants , by the strictest ties of interess , friendship , marriage and ( which is more in their esteem ) gossiping , & fostering ; to the publick peace , by their as flourishing , so free condition ; and to all , by those royal graces which his sacred majesty at that time indulg'd their commissioners , such as themselves could desire ; 't was then but ask and have : yet all this honey turn'd into gall ; for at that very time in which the king was exercising such high acts of grace to them , the irish papists plotted , and soon after perpetrated the worst of rebellions ; the worst extensivè , exulcerating generally ; and intensivè , breaking forth with more perfidy , barbarism and cruelty than can be parallel'd in any history . 6. principles of religion ingage english protestants to submit to the king as supreme ; but principles of religion ingage irish papists to advance as supreme a forreign prince , and limits all their obedience , with a saving to the pretended apostolick see. certainly his majesty may expect more future obedience from protestants , whose consciences ingage them to loyalty ; than from irish papists , whose consciences are ingaged to the pope . can his majesty trust them , if they be not faithful to their conscience-ingagement ? and if they be , can he trust them when their consciences ingage them to his enemy ? the next sort of arguments respect some special cases , as ( 1 ) of the transplantation , ( 2 ) of the corporation . concerning the transplantation , p. w. peremptorily concludes , that it cannot be continued on account of their crimes since 1648. nor stand with the articles , or with the equity of the laws , much less with the iustice of the prince . 1. this conclusion without any proof , with the same facility as it is said , may be gainsaid . 2. the foundation of those articles , and consequently the articles themselves are thrown down by the irish papists ; wherefore it matters not as to his majesty , what can or cannot stand with them . 3. many other countreys and ages have formerly on less grounds used transplantation , and been justified therein as just and equal , by lawyers and casuists . 4. observe his sacred majesties royal and fatherly indulgence even to those irish papists , who being innocent , sued out decrees , and obtained possession of lands in the province of connaught and county of clare . first , positively ; for though they had bound themselves up therein by their own act , in which though his majesty saith in the 14 page of his gracious declaration of the 30 of november 1660. we might without any injustice deny to relieve them ; yet his clemencie is so great , that in the same 14 page of his said declaration , he breaks those fetters which they had bound themselves in , and orders them to be restored unto their former estates . secondly , comparatively ; his majesty uses those innocent irish papists with more tenderness than even those which he honors with the high title of his friends in england and ireland , as appears in the 18 and 19 pages of the said declaration : for though such are not to expect that his majesty should pay back to them the moneys they were compelled in the evil times to disburse for their compositions , the payment whereof they would have avoiden had it been in their power , as much as the irish papists would have avoided their transplantation : yet his majesties friends are not relieved from their own act , when the innocent irish papists are relieved from theirs . 5. observe the insolency of p. w. for though his sacred majesty in council , by his said declaration published to the world in print , declared that some other transplanted irish are to stand bound by their own act , and not to be relieved against it ; yet p. w. is so far from acknowledging and magnifying his majesties mercy in using the innocent irish papists with more favor , than even those happy persons whom his majesty honors with the high title of being his friends , that p. w. peremptorily says , viz. the transplantation cannot be continued on account of their crimes since 1648. nor can it stand with the articles , or with the equity of the laws , much less with the iustice of the prince . 6. that the justice of his sacred majesty in council may appear to be such , in not breaking so much of the transplantation , as is confirmed by the said declaration , i desire these following particulars may be throughly considered : ( 1 ) if such transplanted irish papists into connaught and clare should plead that the force of the late horrid usurpers constrained them to go thither in person ; i answer , yet no force lay upon them to sue out decrees , and obtain possessions of lands there in liew of their former forfeited estates in the other provinces . and it is onely in point of land that the said transplantation is continued : so that their doing of what they could not avoid , is not made conclusive to them , but onely their doing of that which they could avoid , and yet sollicited and brought to effect , is made binding to some of them . to which i shall add , that those to whom it is made obliging , are onely such as having no title to innocency , ( for all innocents are freed from transplantation ) have no title to any of their former estates . and therefore this confirming of them in the compensation of that , to which they had no right , should invite them to acknowledg his majesties mercy , which yet p. w. in their behalf exclaims against as injustice . ( 2 ) though all these guilty transplanted irish have forfeited their right to the articles extorted from his majesty in 1648. and though by those articles ( had they been as punctually observed by them , as they have been generally and often violated by themselves yet ) his majesty was not obliged to hinder them from making an unequal bargain or exchange for those their forfeited lands , which by his mercy they were restored unto , nor to confirm to them those lands which they sued for in satisfaction of their former estates ; yet his sacred majesty confirms to them , in confirming their transplantation , those lands which they themselves had obtained from the usurpers , as a compensation for the lands they left , and to which they had not the least shadow of a title , because they had broken , yea often , if not always , the said articles of peace vouchsaved to , and extorted by them , in the year 1648. ( 3 ) the persons themselves who are transplanted , have by their publick agents made the continuance and settlement of the transplantation the subject matter of several petitions and addresses to the rvmp : therefore as for them to decry it now , argues in them a fuller readiness to obey force , than right : so the continuance of it being in effect but a granting of their own desires and petitions , they can justly blame none but themselves . to prove the truth of this , i shall set down the titles and chief heads of two petitons presented to the rvmp . the one is in print , and thus addressed : to the supreme authority the parliament of the commonwealth of england , &c. the humble petition of sir robert talbot baronet and garrot moor esq on the behalf of themselves and the distressed irish , submittees upon articles of war , and others who are to have a certain proportion of their estates by the act for the settling of ireland , held forth in the year 1652. wherein , to use their own words , they humbly show , that the petitioners upon confidence of enjoying the benefit of several declarations and articles of war held forth unto them by authority of this parliament , &c. did readily subject and put their consciences , lives and fortunes as in a secure sanctuary under the protection of this commonwealth , having ever since walked peaceably and in due conformity to the government , without the least defection therein ; that since the interruption given to the sitting of this parliament in the year 1653. no christian nation can parallel the sufferings of the petitioners , &c. which render the petitioners as fit objects of your honors piety , justice and compassion , as any who may challenge your protection . notwithstanding the petitioners withered hopes , and former confidence , being afresh revived by your honors return to the management of the present government , and their propensions so great to peace and quietness , that rather than ravel into the settlement , they do willingly acquiesce in the transplantation , albeit it was not executed by any legal power , as not being derived from your honors . soon after in the same petition follow these words : they do apprehend that contrary to your honors pious intentions manifested in the said act for settling of ireland , they may be postponed or neglected , unless provided for in the act of settlement now to be established : and therefore the petitioners humbly pray , &c. this petition was delivered by the said two agents for the irish papists at the door of the house of commons in england , and entered by the clerk of the rump . the other petition was in writing , and subscribed robert talbot , garret moor : the title of it is , to the supreme authority , the parliament of the commonwealth of england , &c. supplications humbly tendered by sir robert talbot bar. and garret moor esq for and on the behalf of themselves and the distressed roman catholicks of ireland , in order to be therein relieved by the act of settlement now to be passed . their second supplication in this petition is set down in these words , viz. that the estates assigned unto the petitioners in the province of connaught and county of clare be confirm'd unto them . the third supplication in the said petition is in these words , viz. that the decrees obtained by any of the petitioners pursuant to the articles and qualifications be put in a way of satisfaction and for the time past put in equal condition with others who have had the benefit of their decrees . the fourth supplication of this petition is expressed in these words , viz. that there having been no time limited by this parliament for the petitioners to enter and prosecute the claims according to their respective qualifications , and the interruption given to the sitting thereof soon after the act of settlement , having hinderd many from doing the same ; and that others through absence , poverty , and the short sitting of the court for the adjudication of claims , appointed since the said interruption , could not do it , that a farther time be allowed unto such to enter and prosecute ( as aforesaid ) their claims . the fifth supplication is expressed in these words , viz. that several of the petitioners are able to make appear their constant good affection and adherence to the common-wealth , for whom a competent time to be allowed to make out the same , is humbly supplicated , and that these and such of the petitioners as have already done the same , may have the benefit held forth unto them by the act for settling of ireland . these expressions being verbatim in the said two petitions , i shall onely observe from thence what follows , 1. the persons who presented these requests to the rvmp , did it not onely for themselves , but for the papists of ireland , in whose behalf they own themselves to be sollicitors . 2. those two gentlemen ( their publick agents ) were persons of too much knowledg and discretion to have done any thing , especially of so high a nature as this , for so great a body of people , without sufficient power from themselves so to do 3. that these their agents addresses to the rvmp were by allowance and command from themselves , needs not better to be proved , than by the irish papists ever since continuing those their two agents in publick employment for them , even to this day . 4. to that very rvmp by whose immediate commission the horridest of murthers was acted , they scruple not to make their application , and even by the stile of the supreme authority the parliament of the commonwealth of england , &c. and that twice . if p. w. should say they were necessitated to petition , and that their petition would not be received without it were so directed , i answer , no consequence of their suffering could be so great , as the guilt of owning the rvmp by the twice before mentioned titles . the single advocate of the irish papists , viz. p. w. lays it as a guilt upon all the protestants of ireland , that some of them fought under one of the regicides to recover their own estates , and punish the guilt of the first rebellion , and their often violation of their articles ; and yet their publick agents in behalf of all the papists of ireland , own all those regicides to be that supreme authority . 5. but if the consciences of the irish papists were hardened enough to run into a certain sin , but in the expectancy of an uncertain advantage , why yet in their printed petition did they use these guilty expressions , viz. they did readily subject and put their consciences , lives and fortunes as in a secure sanctuary under the protection of that commonwealth . though if they would petition , they may say there was a necessity to stile the rump , the supreme authority ; yet sure they cannot say there was a necessity in the body of the petition to insert such criminal words : therefore since the body of the petition is more than consonant to the title of it , it is but reasonable to believe , the title they gave the rvmp , was as voluntary as the expressions with which they treat them . if they would but make his sacred majesty , what in print they acknowledged the rvmp was to them , viz. a secure sanctuary to put their consciences , lives and fortunes in ; if what is past could not be remedied , yet the mischiefs to come might perhaps be prevented . 6. but as if the immediate before mentioned respects to the rvmp had not been sufficient , they pay them others , professing in these words , viz. their withered hopes and former confidences are a fresh revived by the rvmps return to the management of the government , under which their propensions to peace and quietness are so great , that they willingly acqviesce in the transplantation . would they be but as joyful for his sacred majesties restauration , as they say they were for the rvmps , and had they been as willing to express their propensity to the peace and quietness of this kingdom , under his majesties undoubted authority , as under the rvmps usurped power , p. w. had been exempt from the guilts of writing and printing his letter , and i from the trouble of answering it . the irish papists are not onely content to declare , they willingly acquiesce in the transplantation ; but to heighten the merit of that performance , they add these words , viz. albeit it was not executed by any legal power : yet had they stop'd there , those their last words had been true , and sure the rvmp would have had arrogancy enough to have assumed to themselves , without an explanation from the petitioners , that thereby was meant , what their agents positively say in the immediate next following words , viz. as not derived from your honors . though the irish papists in their ingagements , nay oaths to others , are not without their equivocations and mental reservations , &c. yet to the rvmp , when they might have left themselves , ( as to the last expression , ) to a fair explanation , they voluntarily cast it behind them , in these clear words , as not derived from your honors . those which now pretend to such loyalty to his majesty , voluntarily confess , no execution was legal that was not derived from the rvmp ; is not this implicitely , if not explicitely , an owning in the irish papists the legality of the rumps power , even in the bloudy murther of his sacred majesty , that being derived from those the irish papists call their honors . but it is no wonder , that those to whom the irish papists did rerdily subject themselves , and put their consciences , lives and fortunes as into a secure sanctuary , should have so much plainness , kindness and obedience for them . may we not too from thence inferr , till they consider his sacred majesty , as they profess'd they considered the rump , his majesty may not well expect from them , that ready subjection and propensity to peace , which in their said addresses they promised to those usurpers . 7. observe , all this is said and done since the peace of 1648. yea part of it , and that the most criminal too , but some few months before his majesties blessed restauration ; with what face could the irish papists by the same agents plead for the articles of peace before his majesty , as inviolable observers of them ; who but a few weeks before owned the rump for the supreme authority : owned that they readily did subject and put their consciences , lives and fortunes , as in a secure sanctuary , under their protection : owned their withered hopes and former confidence was afresh reviv'd by the rumps return to the management of the government : owned , their propensions to peace and quietness under the rump to be so great , that as one evidence thereof , they willingly did acquiesce in the transplantation ; with these superlative expressions , albeit it was not executed by any legal power , as not being derived from their honors . the very murtherers of his late majesty of glorious memory are the elected sanctuary of the irish papists , not onely for their lives and fortunes , but even for their consciences also . that bloudy power which made the royal line of england , and all good subjects of england , scotland and ireland so long wither , is by their return to government , that onely which makes the hopes of the irish papists to revive and spring . that power is by the irish papists owned to be the onely legal one , by which all our laws and liberties were cut up even by the very roots . were there nothing but this to make them forfeit the articles they so plead for , it were but too much ; if this be their observance of their recognition of his majesty , though the pope may absolve them , god will not . sure p. w. cannot prove any one of the protestants whose whole number he so calumniates , to be so criminal , as i have proved even the generality of the irish papists to be , in this one particular ; i bate him many others . and doubtless 't was a less sin in the seduced protestants to submit for a while to him , who cast down those english murtherers , and helped them against these irish murtherers , than readily to subject their consciences , lives and fortunes to those parricides , yea to own them as their secure sanctuary for all , and so pathetically to exult in their second usurpation . 8. in the many forementioned passages , both of the written and the printed petition , they press for the confirmation of the transplantation , and the benefit of the rules for adjudging of qualifications , and make the granting thereof to be effects of the rumps piety , iustice and compassion . the irish papists are pleased to beg that grant , as an act of piety , justice and compassion in the rump , which his sacred majesty confirming , ( and much more to the advantage of the irish ) p. w. calls an injustice . and in the 6. and 7. paragraphs of the said written petition , they set forth that several of the petitioners are able to make appear their constant good affection and adherence to the commonwealth , that some have already actually done it : and in effect , that the number of those so adhering and of constant good affection to the commonwealth was so great , that they sue even for a longer time than had been allowed , for the proving thereof ; they being so many , that they were streightned in time to make out that truth . there are other clear observations and inferences which i could make out of those two petitions , which i decline ; enough having been said to evince what i promised to prove upon this head : and i have much behind to answer , to which i hasten . the guilt of the corporations in part instanced . the 2. special case concerns the irish corporations which p. w. with his usual confidence determines , cannot be excluded on any account that may stand with his majesties gracious concessions ; nor can there be any reasons of state which may accord with a good conscience to exclude them ; yet he confesseth with a paradventure , that two or three of them deserved punishment , and limerick a severe one . the corporations of ireland that p. w. mentions were so notoriously guilty in overthrowing the foundation of that peace wrested from his majesty , that it seems strange how any one can be found to plead for them , especially to his grace the duke of ormond , who knows their actings . their education rendered them most able of any know their duty ; their incorporation most capable of any to deliberate concerning their duty ; their fortifications and men most secure to discharge their duty ; yet these above all other persons and places , put forth with greatest arguments of choice and freedom , the highest acts of treachery and rebellion . the evidences whereof amount to much more than p. w's . paradventure , and the subject reacheth much farther than p. w's . two or three corporations , it being the general practice of all such , into which his majesties l. lieutenant desired admiss●ion . p. w. confesseth , that limerick deserved a severe punishment , and certainly the demerit must be great , which extorts this confession even from their advocate ; nor was their crime less than laesae majestatis , for they insolently opposed the admission of his majesties viceroy : though 1. their mayor had invited him , 2. iretons storm threatned their wrack , 3. the l. lieutenant offered to steer that vessel , and to adventure his person and fortune in the same bottom with them . but surely if limerick deserves many stripes , gallway and waterford proportionally to their crimes deserve more . gallway after the articles of 1648. ( so much and groundlesly pleaded ) 1. searched ( to use his graces own words ) with force and arms for the l. lieutenant , as if they judged him a traitor . 2. they treated with the duke of lorrain to be protector of ireland , as if they judged themselves lords of all . 3. they refused to admit any garrison commissionated by his majesty's authority , and surrendred that town ( as if they esteem'd themselves a free state ) without consulting the marquess of clanrickard then l. deputy , though resident within few miles thereof , and though he were of p. w's . own nation and religion . but i will not say that even those double ties were less powerful to beget a respect for him , than his representing the kings person , and his own worth , were incitements to p. w's . countreymen so highly to affront him . waterford likewise after those articles of 1648. deny'd a passage to the l. lieutenant and his army , though at that time his lordship was strengthned with the conjunction of the vlster forces , in pursuit of the enemy , who were weakned by a long winter-march , multiplicity of garrisons , want of necessaries , and sickness of the souldiers ; nay offered himself to become an hostage , and to commit the army to anothers conduct ; yea so horrid was their perfidie , that when afterwards the l. lieutenant and seven more were occasionally received into that city , the citizens combin'd either to take away his life , or deliver him up prisoner to the vsurpers ; for the prevention whereof , he was forc'd suddenly and secretly to withdraw thence . what falsehood will p. w. be affraid to suggest to strangers , and what wickedness will he be affraid to patronize at home , when he shall dare thus to assert to the l. lieutenant himself , and publish it in print to the world , that no reasons of state can accord with the dictates of a good conscience , to exclude these corporations from the future capacity of repeating such signal acts of rebellion . but p. w. as farther motives of favor to the said corporations , adds and says , 1. the hand of god hath punished them ; 2. some were faithful amomg them ; 3. the english protestants are more criminal . first , the hand of god hath punished them : but that the magistrate should spare , because god punishes , is a non sequitur . though the lord sent hornets before israel to drive out the hivite and the canaanite , and the hittites ; yet he commands israel to destroy those nations , and their name from under heaven . 2. p.w. says , there have been many faithful subjects in those towns , even in the most criminal of them ; and god was so far from involving the just in the destruction of the wicked sodomites , that if he could find there but ten just men , he would for their sake pardon all the rest . 1. the sin of apostacy seems worse in some respect than other sins ; and therefore on this sin , lots wife , whom god had rescued from the destruction of sodom , though but for looking back to it , is immediately turned into a pillar of salt. i heartily wish the irish apostates would remember lots wife . 2. though god would not involve the righteous in the punishment of the wicked but delivered just lot ; yet he transplanted him into zoar , and condemned sodom and gomorra with an overthrow , making them an example to those that after should live ungodly . even so his majesty hath taken care for the innocent , in his gracious declaration , without justifying the wicked , and for the innocent has provided a zoar , whether their souls may escape and live . 3. since p. w. professeth his thoughts to be far from desiring to obstruct the securing the peace of the countrey ; let him consider how adviseable it is to put a sword into a madmans hand , or to capacitate such rebellious spirits to hurt themselves and others . since limerick , nothwithstanding the hand of god , and mixture of good , deserved a severe punishment ; and since gallway and waterford are not less deserving ; ought not those corporations and their advocate rather to acknowledg his majesties gracious indulgence and mercy , in remitting the severity of the laws : than to exclaim thus insolently against his royal proceedings as unjust , unequal , and such as cannot accord with a good conscience . the guilt of english protestants and irish papists compared . thirdly , p. w. returns to his former comparison between the irish papists and the english protestants ; and in prosecution thereof , urgeth , 1. that the worst of the irish papists were never regicides ; 2. that they fought against such men , when england , scotland and the protestants of ireland deserted the royal cause . as to the first , that the irish papists are not regicides ; let it be considered , that the doctrine of regicide is common in the romish schools , and the practise in their courts . 2. that to touch the annointing , is virtually to touch the annointed . take away the regalia , and in effect you tak away the king. the irish papists were so guilty hereof , that they not onely usurped all the royal peculiars , but also set up a government distinct from , and opposite to his majesty 's in a general assembly ; yea therein they enacted , viz. that no temporal government or iurisdiction should be assumed , kept or executed in ireland , or in any province or county thereof , other than what should be approved or instituted by their general assembly . had the devil had leave to touch iob's person , he would not have spared him , when he touched all that was his . 3. did not the irish papists , distrust , disobey , oppose and excommunicate the l. lievtenant , and absolutely disclaim his majesties authority in him ; did they not conspire to murther him , or which is worse ( if worse can be ) to deliver him to the worst sort of murtherers ? surely those who dealt thus with such a servant , if the son had been sent to them , would not have scrupled his murther , that the inheritance might wholly be theirs . as to the 2. that when england , scotland and the the protestants of ireland wholly deserted the royal cause , the irish papists fought against the regicides in defense of his majesties right . 1. it is no less calumnious than false , to charge england , scotland and the protestants of ireland to have wholly deserted the royal cause : and it is amazing to consider how any irish papist ( i am loath to say rebel ) dare thus by a letter even to the duke of ormond , and printed paper to the whole world , impeach the nations of england and scotland , and all the protestants of ireland to have wholly deserted the royal cause : what may not forreigners credit against us abroad , if p. w. dare thus to charge us at home ? but a narrative of the matter of fact is the clearest expedient to refute this slander : wherein let england and scotland answer for themselves ; ( if any answer seem necessary to so palpable a falsehood ) and let the protestants of of ireland excuse my zeal , if i urge some clear instances ( though i pretermit many ) for their vindication . those which p. w. slanders with having deserted the royal cause , when the irish papists fought against the regicides in defence of his majesties rights , were even the very first in ireland which proclaimed his majesty , my l. lieutenant also at the head of them ; and that duty was performd by the protestant army in the province of munster , the same year in which by giving the irish papists some considerable defeats , the said papists were reduced to a real necessity of submitting to his majesty , which yet they but seemingly did . but possibly p. w. was at that time so busie in preparing those articles of peace which were to fetter his majesty , that he had not leisure to hear how his protestant subjects freely proclaim'd him . it is also undeniably true , that a considerable body of the protestants of ireland under the l. lieutenant , though mingled with the irish papists , fought constantly against the regicides , nay after the said irish papists would have been kegicides themselves , at least so far such as conspiring to murther his majesty in effigie at waterford &c. did amount unto , and never declin'd that quarrel , till by the infidelity of their accusers , they were not onely disabled to prosecute it , but as several of themselves have confest , were reduc'd at last , even for the preservation of their lives , to keep as strict guards against the irish papists as against cromwell . all which his grace having found was but too true , he withdrew himself at last out of the kingdom and permitted those protestants to withdraw them selves from the irish : therefore let any unbyassed person judg whether the irish papists or all the prtestants were wholly the deserters of the koyal cause ; or which of them fought longest against the kegicides : if the insolence and disloyalty of the irish papists were such , even when cromwell was at their gates , what would it not have been without that curb . but i see though p. w. remembers what he should not , yet he can forget what he should remember . in the years 1641 and 1642 , the protestants in ireland not onely fought as his majesties subjects , but by his command and with his commission against the irish rebels ; in the year 1643 , a cessation was concluded by his majesties authority , and the irish engaged by articles ; both english and irish by duty , to transport their armies to england for his majesties service . the english did it , the irish onely made a show ( till the english were gone ) of doing of it , and then plotted and attempted the destruction of the few english remaining in munster , whereby the lord of inchiquin , who then commanded in that province by the kings commission ; and the english with him were necessitated to stand on their own defence , yet this is the first pretence which the irish papists make , that the english protestants deserted the royal cause . can even malice it self judg , the protestants designed the deserting of the kings service , when they sent their army to the king , by which onely they were capable of disserving him : nay sent it in that very juncture of time , wherein they had as much cause to fear the ruine of themselves and families , from the often violations of the cessation by the irish papists , after that cessation was made , as from their inhumanities before . but yet , when his majesties service required it , though the answering thereof , by transporting their armies into england , threatned more than a probable ruine to them at home from the irish papists , who then delayed , and indeed never after would send an army to the king into england ; yet the protestants did not so much as hesitate , but cheerfully exposed themselves to the danger , to pay the duty , and receive the honor of their obedience . the same infidelity and treachery which munster , and the parts more remote first experienced , the l. lieutenant and the protestants with him at dublin at last tasted : and his grace was thereby compelled in the year 1647. ( with his majesties permission , if not order ) to resign dublin and all the adjoyning garrisons into the hands of the parliament , which is the second pretension for this slander . on these occasions the english protestants of ireland ( not by choice but necessity , ( and a necessity onely created by the irish papists themselves ) not by the protestants own private acts , but the necessitated acts of those that were set over them by his majesties authority ) came into the stream , with the violence whereof they confess themselves afterwards hurried into such miscarriages as made their hearts ake ; yet ( they hope ) less criminal than those in the irish rebellion , or to any degree of apostacy , which deserves the scandal that p. w. lays on them , of wholly deserting the royal cause . for 1. notwithstanding the violent endeavors of both papists and anabaptists , not many of the protestants of ireland have declined the church of england , in her greatest tryals , whose principles are not onely most consonant to truth , but also most useful and dutiful to the royal cause : and for that reason were opposed most by the two extremes . so that old protestants in the anabaptist dialect , was the same with royalist , and by them the protestants of ireland were dealt with accordingly . and 2. as the principles , so the practises of the protestants vindicate their loyalty . 1. they submitted this kingdom to his majesty ; not as england and scotland , by the concurrence of the general and general officers , but without them , nay against them , 2. though they saw the difficulty of that attempt , and foresaw the hazard from anabaptists ( who then in chief commanded the army in ireland ) if they succeeded not ; and from irish papist pretenders ( whose necessities had driven them to serve themselves by his majesty in flanders ) if they succeeded ; yet were they early ( if not the first ) and free without articling in the duty of their submissions . and least p. w. who says many things that are not true , should deny this , which is so signally true , i will cite the undeniable testimony of his sacred majesty himself , which follows in these words in the 2. page of his majesties gracious declaration for the settlement of ireland : we acknowledg that our good subjects of the kingdom of ireland have born a very good part in procuring this happiness , that they were early in their dutiful addresses to us , and made the same professions of a resolution to return to their duty and obedience to us , during the time of our being beyond the seas , which they have since so eminently made good and put in practise . here is not onely a profession of duty , but a making of it good , and putting it in practise . here is not onely an early owning of his majesties authority , but an owning it when he was devested from the actual exercize of it , and that too ( as to ireland ) by the irish papists . and this is also the first fruits of the protestants having recovered the power of ireland , and that with no less hazard than loyalty . 3. to make the discrimination yet clearer : the irish papists at first murther'd and fought against his majesties good subjects , to take from him his crown . the protestants of ireland fought aganst his enemies to restore him to it . the papists of ireland were seemingly good subjects , but to become more dangerous rebels . but the protestants of ireland if seemingly rebels , were such , but to become more useful subjects . the last action of the irish papists , when they had the power , was to expell his majesties authority , with circumstances as wicked as the very sin : but the first action of the english protestants , when they were in power , was to restore his majesties authority , with circumstances almost as dutiful as the action it self . lastly , not to hold a candle longer to the sun , i will but instance one other experiment , and against an experiment there is no arguing ; and the instance of this experiment is even in the very case now controverted , and in which also my l. duke of ormond himself was the iudg. in the year 1650. when it came in question , which were the worst , the irish papists , or the seduced protestants . he permitted all those worthy protestants which till then he served under him , to come off to the rest of the protestants , though then headed by iret●n himself ; esteeming them safer with that real regicide so accompanied , than with those pretended antiregicides , so principled . certainly he esteems those less ill to whom he sends his friends , than from whom he sends them . if so wise and so faithful a servant to his majesty , as the l. lieutenant is , had had any hope that the irish papists would ever have return'd to their loyalty , doubtless he would never have sent away from them , so many powerful helpers of it , and friends unto it : and if his grace had not had more than hopes that the english protestants would have return'd to their obedience as soon as they had got the power of doing it , he would never have sent his friends unto them . the wisdom of his grace's foresight has been happily justified in the result . for all the protestants which then came off , were eminently instrumental and concurring in the duty of accomplishing that blessed event . i dare as truly as confidently say , the most of the protestants of ireland onely served under the usurpers , but to bring the irish papists to those terms which without the force of english swords they would never have been brought unto . the antient and modern often breaches of faith which the irish papists were guilty of , made it too evident to many of the protestants , that nothing could bind them but steel and iron . the truth of both these positions is clearly read in that issue which the providence of god has effected . however the once seduced protestants of ireland are willing to take shame to themselves , and give glory to god , in confessing their guilt such , ( though not by causing , yet by complying with the late vsurpation , though to a good end ) that they readily acknowledg they ow their lives and estates wholly to his majesties grace and indulgence ; and will be more joyful to employ both in the honor and duty of his service , than now they are in having received both from his mercy and goodness . for 't is fitter to discharge obligations , than to contract them . the lively sense the once seduced protestants of ireland have of their failings , and of his majesties clemencie , so justly humbles them , that they can take no pleasure to recriminate others , farther than by shewing the injustice of p.w's. comparisons ; which they are more troubled he gave them a rise to do , than after the rise was given they were troubled to find out what fully has done it . but in regard the irish papists in all their discourses , as well as their papers , pretend to the defense of his majesties right ; it seems even necessary , by way of answer to the other branch of this proposition , to rub up their memories . 1. that in 1641 the irish papists unprovok'd ( 1 ) rebelled , ( 2 ) robbed the protestants of more personal estate , than the fee-simple of all the forfeited lands in ireland is worth ; ( 3 ) in a few months murthered about two hundred thousand innocents ; ( 4 ) with a sin next to blasphemie , as now they pretend his majesties defense , so then they pretended his authority . the pretending whereof having been so horrid a sin , ( for it was no less than to have intitled his then sacred majesty to all their unparallel'd crimes , nay to have made him the author of them ) i think it a duty to the memory of that glorious martyr , to present the reader in this place with what will clearly evince their malice therein to be as great , as his then majesties innocence ; and nothing can better illustrate the vastness of this , but by proving 't is a parallel to that . i could instance many signal and clear evidences of this truth , besides that memorable one which follows : but since i have in most of my answer made use of their own writings , and prints , to make out their guilt : in this very particular i will pursue that method , and onely cite the preamble of their own remonstrance , deliver'd by the l. viscount gormanston , sir lucas dillon , and sir robert talbot baronet , to his majesties commissioners at rhe town of trim in the county of meath , on the 17 of march 1642. in which remonstrance of grievances ( for so they call it ) after they have taken notice that his majesty had authorized commissioners to hear what they should say , or propound , these very words follow , viz. which your majesties gracious and princely favor we find to be accompanied with these words , viz. albeit we do extremely detest the odious rebellion which the recusants of ireland have , without ground or colour , raised against vs , our crown and dignity . words which deserve to be written with a beam of the sun , as eternal monuments of his majesties iustice , and their guilt ; nor were they spoken in a corner , but spoken under the great seal , and even in that commission which those false-accusers were to see and hear read ; and by those expressions they were sufficiently provoked to have pleaded that authority they so falsely pretended , had they had the least shadow for that black calumny . in these royal expressions also ( if at least the irish papists have the modesty ( i bate them the justice ) to acknowledg the king was a fitter judge of their crimes , than they themselves were ) the actings of the chief governors of ireland , when that horrid rebellion brake out , are fully vindicated : for the said irish were so far from being provoked unto it by those , that no less a testimony than the word of that great , just and wise prince proves , they had no ground , nay not so much as a colour for it . 2. in the year 1646 , and after a peace concluded with them , they attempted , by a treachery not to be parallel'd by any but themselves , to cut off the lord lieutenant and army with him , who marched out of dublin on security and confidence of that peace . 3. the same year , the council and congregation of the confederate catholicks of ireland , obliged their general preston by a solemn oath , in these very words , viz. to exercize all acts of hostility against the l. marquess of ormond by name , and his party ; and to help , advise with counsel , and assist in that service the l. general of vlster employed in the same expedition . this oath is a fruitful theme to declame upon , but i will limit my observations upon it , onely to these following particulars . 1. least any should doubt they are his majesties subjects ; least any of themselves should repent the sin of not having been such , they swear ( that they may raise their crimes above pardon ) to exercize all acts of hostility against his majesty , in the person of that noble lord who had then , as now , the high honor to represent him ; if killing be an act of hostility , they in this oath swear to kill him ; if this be not actual regicide , i am sure 't is not their fault that it is not . this horrid oath takes off all disguises , and makes their sin as visible as great . and if such a crime be capable of accession , it did contract it by the same persons engaging privately , about the same time , ( as i have been assur'd by an undeniable testimony ) that he would serve the king , which he afterwards endeavour'd to excuse onely by saying , his army was not nuntio-proof . by which it appears indisputably whether the irish papists are subjects to the king , or to the pope . ( 2 ) instead of repenting and making amends for the late violated peace in the year 1646 , they swear to destroy him , with whom they had made it . ( 3 ) this oath reduc'd the taker of it to a sad dilemma , either to rebellion or perjury . ( 4 ) this oath evidences that nothing is so powerful with the irish papists , as to destroy his majesties government ; since the uniting of the old irish papists and the old english papists , which the pope himself could not effect : the dethroning of his sacred majesty has accomplish'd . they that could never agree in any thing else , agree in this , and 't is made the very bond of their iniquity . i will say no more on this subject , but that herod and pilate could be friends , when it was to crucifie christ. 4. in the year 1647 , from kilkenny ian. 18. the popish lords spiritual and temporal and commons of the confederate catholicks of ireland employ commissioners to rome , france and spain , to invite a forreign power into ireland , particularly to rome their titular bishop of ferns and nicolas plunket esq ( who was knighted by the pope for his good service therein , and is now one of the confident advocates for the irish papists as defenders of his majesties rights , and against the protestants of ireland as deserters of the royal cause ) these , i say , were authorized to declare , viz. that they raised arms for the freedom of the catholick religion , which are their own very words in the third article of those their instructions . in their remonstrance in the begining of the rebellion , whatever they said necessitated some few discontents to take up arms , then they took off the vail , and positively said , that they raised arms for the freedom of the catholick religion . certainly if ever they may be believed to speak true , it is when they speak to the pope ; and if ever any thing may be believed to be the voice of all the irish papists , it is when the popish lords spiritual and temporal and commons of the confederate catholicks speak in one assembly . what is meant by the freedom of the catholick religion has been practically expounded by the professors of it in ireland ; not onely affirmatively , that those which are of it , should enjoy the publick and undisturbed exercize thereof themselves ; but negatively , to be an exclusion of the publick , if not private , exercize of the true religion . many instances i could present the reader of this , but i shall onely set down two : the 1. is dean york a reverend minister of gods word , during his residence at gallway , was not allowed to pay the last duties of christian burial to those protestants which died in that town ; but was forced to bury them , nay his own children privately in his garden . the 2. is , that my l. duke of ormond , though owned by the irish papists to be the kings l. lieutenant , and consequently representing his sacred majesties person , was still denied the use of so much as one church or chappel , wherever the said papists had the power ; nay one of the generals of the irish papists , now living , told my l. lieutenant at kilkenny , that if the king in person came into ireland , he should not be allowed by them one church to celebrate his devotions in : to whom his grace made a return , proportionate to the disloyalty of that declaration , and part of that return being prophetical , and since fulfilled , i shall here insert the words , viz. i hope to live to soe all of that mind to be without one church in ireland to say mass in . by these two instances it is evident , that the direct meaning of those words , the freedom of the catholick religion , is no other than the total banishing out of this kingdom the exercize of the religion established in it , by truth it self , and by the good and wholsom laws of the land. 5. in another part of the third article of the said instructions , these very words are inserted , viz. the cofederate catholicks do intend that you let his holiness know , their resolution to insist upon such concessions and agreements in matters of religion , and for the security thereof , as his holiness shall approve of , and be satisfied with . this palpably evinceth , that the papists of ireland being subjects , or rebels , depends wholly upon the popes pleasure : for let his majesty grant them what he will , yet his pretended holiness's approbation must be the rule by which onely they will be bound . and this is made most evident by the words of the nineth article in the said instructions , which follow in these words , viz. in case his holiness will not be pleased to descend to such conditions , as might be granted in matters of religion , then you are to sollicit for considerable aids , whereby to maintain a war , and to ascertain and secure the same &c. and soon after in the same nineth article , these words follow , viz. you are to make application to his holiness for his being protector of this kingdom ; and by special instance to endeavor his acceptance thereof , &c. still the pope is their king ; and that he may be so almost in name as well as in power , they sollicit him by special instance to accept that title , under which he might act that power : so that it is not the confederate catholicks fault , if a protector were not in ireland , before the sectaries had set up one in england . nay their commissioners then sent to france and spain , were required in case of the popes refusal of being their protector , to offer it to either of those kings , nay to any popish prince , from whom ( to use their own words ) they might have most considerable aids . in effect , they are willing any one should govern them , but he who onely had the right to do it . but yet as becomes obedient sons of the church of rome , the pope has the advantage of the preemption . it appears the irish papists hang , as their faith in god , so their loyalty to their prince , on the popes sleeve ; and certainly it is not probable that those should defend his majesties right , over whom ( 1 ) a forreign prince , ( 2 ) such a forreign prince as considers his majesty as an heretick , and consequently an enemy , hath full power ; and ( 3 ) that power on the strongest account , even that of conscience and religion . in the year 1648 another peace was concluded with the irish papists , but after that , they disowned , disobeyed , opposed , conspired to murther , excommunicated , and banished his majesties viceroy , as appears by the former instances . in sum , when the power of ireland was in the hands of the irish papists , they design'd and endeavour'd to betray it to forreigners : but when in the hands of the protestants of ireland , they absolutely , and without antecedent conditions , submitted it and themselves to his sacred majesty . as to their fighting against the regicides , i answer , 1. vitious extremes are not onely opposite to virtue , but also one to the other ; papists and sectaries oppose each other , and both the protestants . 2. the spaniard and the dutch fought against the regicides , yet neither of them in the day of tryal , proved themselves friends to his majesties rights . 3. 't is the cause , not the suffering onely , which makes the martyr ; 't is not the fighting , but the ground and end of the fighting , which proves which is the good subject , and of that , let even p. w. judg by the former instances . the last argument pretends to commutative justice , and is usher'd in by a comparison and preoccupation . the former thrice pressed way of comparison , is yet propounded here again , but with less injustice here , than before ; the comparison before was between papists and protestants , here between papists and presbyterians , anabaptists , quakers , fifth monarchy men , independents . to which i shall onely say , whatever tenents opposit to regal power may be found among any sectaries , are , if not learn'd from , i am sure taught by the romish schools . papists and sectaries like sampsons foxes , are tyed by their tails , though their heads be divided ; their way may seem contrary , but they all tend to the same end , the ruine of the corn-field . as p. w. ushers in his arguments on one side with a comparison : so on the other with a preoccupation , relating to the power of those which he calls adversaries , and declareth it to be no greater than his majesty is pleased to make it . to the truth of this declaration the protestants of ireland freely consent ; professing to the world , that though their army is such , as sufficed to subdue the irish rebels when universally confederated throughout the kingdom , and supplied by forreigners with money , arms and ammunition , and strengthen'd with no less than the popes blessing and nuntio : yet their power consists not in arms or armies , fortifications or men ; but in loyalty and obedience to his sacred majesties commission and authority ; and is consequently , as p. w. says , no greater than his majesty is pleased to make it . and since this is the true state of the protestant , both principle and interest , as in truth it is , even their adversary being their judg , 't is likely therefore that p. w. declares they are his adversaries , ( for i believe his friends are other guess men ) but doubtless those are fittest to be trusted with power , who are no stronger by it , even by their enemies acknowledgments , than he which gives it , is willing to make it ; than those who never had power , but what they forc'd from his majesty , and who never employ'd that power ( the whole stream of their own actions being their judges ) but against that sacred majesty from whom they wrested it . the arguments following plead iustice , and that iustice grounded on the articles of 1648. and judged by the sad consequences threatned on the breach thereof , whether we regard men or god. though concerning the articles of 1648 , enough hath been instanced already , yet to leave p. w. without occasion of cavil , it will not be unfit to add somewhat more here . 1. the contents of those articles are in themselves unwarrantable , except in case of necessity which hath no law. 2. the condition of those articles whereon they were principally , if not onely founded , hath been often and intirely violated by the irish papists . the contents of those articles are unwarrantable unless in case of necessity , because they are contrary to an higher obligation , according to the rule both of publick and private justice . 1. his majesty at his coronation , binds himself to god , to govern these kingdoms according to their respective laws ; and let p. w. himself consider , how agreable it is to law or publick justice , that the militia , treasury , an army of fifteen thousand foot , two thousand five hundred horse , of irish papists , and even in effect the legislative power it self , should be in the hands of twelve men to be chosen by irish papists ; or that there should be no alteration in england of what they in ireland should think fit to transmit to his majesty for the settlement of that kingdom ; or even that the irish rebels should be pardoned without the consent of parliament , when his majesty in parliament the seventeenth year of his reign , adjudged such pardon before conviction to be null and void ; hereby even when they treated with his majesty concerning the affairs of this kingdom , assuming the legislative authority of it , by repealing the statute made the 10. of henry the vii . ( commonly called poynings law ) and the explanatory law thereof , in 3. and 4. of philip and mary . and though hitherto they chiefly pleaded before his sacred majesty in council , but for so much benefit of the articles of peace in 1648 , as would restore them to their forfeited estates : yet if they had prevailed therein , upon the score of that plea , it must in consequence have adjudged for them the benefit of all the other articles , as a right . for if any of those articles are due to them by an obligation of iustice , all are then due to them by the same obligation ; and since , as appears by his majesties gracious declaration in council , of the 30 of november 1660. that they have no right to any of their forfeited estates , nor any title but what his majesties mercy and bounty hath vouchsafed safed to diverse of them ; it thence follows , that his majesty in council has adjudg'd , they have no right to those articles . for as an adjudication of his sacred majesty of their title to any one of the said articles , had entitled them to all : so an adjudication of his majesty in council , that they had not a right to that one they pleaded for , has adjudg'd them to have no right to any . 2. was not his late majesty of glorious memory before those articles , ( 1 ) preingaged to the adventurers for many of the forfeited lands in ireland ; ( 2 ) in the strictest form of ingagement , even by an ingagement in parliament ; ( 3 ) on the account of strictest justice , even by way of sale ; ( 4 ) on the best account of sale , the end thereof being to reduce the irish rebels : therefore might not these arguments which p. w. urgeth in this instance against the breach of publick faith , be at least more appliable to this engagement of his late majesty , to his now majesties declaration at breda , and his gracious declaration of the 30. of november 1660 ; which were all acts of choice , premeditation and freedom : than to those articles of 1648 , which was an act of necessity and rebellious force . the casuists and school-men will easily resolve p. w. that the later and lesser obligation , ought to give place to the elder and greater . but if p. w. object , that if his majesty were under an obligation preceding and opposite to theirs , why did he enter into an obligation unto them ? to that i answer , 1. that then it was not res integra ; for his majesties rebellious subjects , even some of the adventurers themselves had superinduc'd a necessity upon his majesty , which as he could not foresee when he made his first contract : so by all the ties of natural preservation , he was bound to take away , when they were brought upon him ; and it could not be a breach of faith in the king to them , who made it ( as things then stood ) impossible to perform it . 2. though necessity be an unhappy plea , yet when 't is a true , it is an allowable one . ( 3 ) . that very necessity which constrain'd his majesty to those articles , had they been observed by those with whom they were made , would have invited all honest englishmen to have cheerfully waited , till by the expected fruits and effects of that peace , his majesty might have been enabled to have satisfied them ; nay they would rather have lost their money , than his majesty should have broken his faith with them , that had kept it with him , and would have been so serviceable to him ; besides his majesty might have been so soon reseated in his throne , that the debts of the crown would have been so small , & his subjects ability and affections so great ; that he might and would easily have satisfied the adventurers desires , without forfeited land in ireland , even by their own consent . but the breach on the irish papists side , has occasion'd so long and chargeable a war , that their forfeitures , together with the vast sums sent out of england into ireland , and raised in ireland it self , are scarse able to defray that expence , which their own violation of faith has engag'd the crown in : so that it is but just , that the bear-skin ( as far as it will go ) should contribute to pay for the healing of those wounds , which the bear it self had given . his sacred majesty in the 3. page of his declaration , speaking upon these articles , uses these very words : viz. when they who wickedly usurped the authority in this kingdom , had erected that odious court , for the taking away the life of our dear father ; no body can wonder that we were desirous , though upon difficvlt conditions , to get such an united power of our own subjects , as might have been able , with gods blessing , to have prevented that infamous and horrible parricide . in these clear and royal expressions the world may see what was the onely incentive to his majesty , for his granting of that peace , even no less than the preventing of the murther of his blessed father , and the bloudy consequences of it : and therefore if that were the hopeful effect of those concessions , had they been observed on the irish side ; may not we ( without too much straining ) inferr , that the breach on their side , contributed to , if not acted that unparallel'd crime . to commit the sin , and not to prevent the sin , when men have the preventative power of it , are very near ally'd , if not the same crimes . i shall also here again observe , that what p. w. calls freely putting themselves and their power into my l. lievtenants hands ; his sacred majesty justly marks with these observable expressions , [ upon difficult conditions ; ] may i not therefore from thence also well infer , that p. w's . clients , do nothing so freely as when they put difficult conditions on his majesty . though i have said and prov'd by undeniable evidences , that the irish papists have violated and broken the articles they extorted in 1648 ; yet because p. w's . tenents obliges him to believe works of supererrogation , i will gratifie him in practicing in this particular , one of his own principles , by adding farther what follows , to evince the irish papists have egregiously broken the said peace ; the foundation of which , is the recognition made by them of his majesties soveraignty , and their obligation to obey and uphold it , with their lives and fortunes , which is therefore not onely inserted after the title , as a part of the agreement , but premised to all the rest , as the ground and principle of the following graces and securities , which without it , are like a castle in the air , that has no foundation , and therefore cannot stand . besides the 18th article of the said peace expresly excludes from the benefit thereof , such as should after offend . the doubt then that remains , turns on these two hinges , 1. whether this condition or recognition were broken . 2. by whom it was broken . the first appears affirmatively , beyond contradiction , in the many former instances ; for after the conclusion of those articles , the irish papists despised , disowned , rejected , expelled , banished and excommunicated the l. lieutenant , and all adhering to him , and in him , his majesties authority . secondly , it clearly appears , that even those who made these articles with the lord lieutenant , were guilty of their breach : for if they were not able to keep this condition inviolable , they transgressed that duty express'd in the recognition , and were abusers both of his majesties authority and service . and if they were able to keep this condition inviolable , they are guilty for not accordingly keeping it . thirdly , these articles were not made with any individuals singly consider'd , but with the then ruling power of the roman catholicks of ireland , for accordingly the phrase in the title is , viz. [ articles of peace , made and concluded with the general assembly . ] and in the conclusion , [ signed by sir richard blake knight , in the chair of the general assembly , by order , command and unanimous consent of the said catholicks in full assembly . ] seeing then their ruling power made the said recognition , and that their ruling power published the breach thereof to the world , as is evident by their declaration of the twelfth of august 1650. so by many other insolent violations , though his majesties grace and mercy hath indulg'd to the particular actings of many individuals , yet in relation to those articles , or an account of any obligation in iustice due to them , they are not to be regarded . yet his sacred majesties justice to , and tenderness of the said irish papists has abundantly appeared , not only in his having in person still heard them upon the said articles of peace , but also in giving them near 2 years time to prove all they pleaded , and so long left the kingdom unsettled , that they might be fully heard in all their allegations ; nay , even by his giving them a liberty which never yet was given to any , even a free sight of the bill of settlement , which was humbly presented to him by the lords justices and council , pursuant to poynings law , and a full liberty to make all the objections they could against it ; which yet they have been so far from acknowledging as an effect of his royal care and indulgence , that in all their answers ( which i have diligently perused ) i do not find so much as a bare taking notice of that unpresidented favour . but possibly since by that indulgence their guilt has been but the more evidenced , they untruly consider the consequences of that mercy to be , what only was intended in the extending of it , and therefore were loth to pay his majesty thanks for what has but more discover'd their crimes . but yet this is but proportionate to the rest of their proceedings : for since they call his sacred majesties mercy an injustice , they may at the same rate decline paying acknowledgments for his condescentions to them . having thus proved that the peace was broken by the irish papists after it was made , i shall now say something to prove that it was designedly broken before it was made . if by a previous ingagement and oath the irish papists confirmed their first confederacie not to be dissolved by the peace which then they seemingly pursued . if they combin'd to make themselves ivdges of his majesties actions , and to appeal to themselves upon every occurrence that they should be inclinable to misinterpret ; notwithstanding their protestations of obedience to his majesties authority , then i conceive the whole peace thereby is on their part made void and null . but that they did so , is clearly evident , and that by an oath solemnly taken ( not by private men , or a factious party , but ) by all the prelates , noblemen , and gentlemen that were the grand committee , upon concluding the said peace , that in case of non-performing of the articles thereof , ( that is to say , if all the particulars therein were not carried on according to their liking ) they were to continue the association and vnion of confederate catholicks , and to do all acts preservative thereunto . in this place it seems to me requisite to let the reader know what that vnion and association of the confederate catholicks was , which they swear to continue ; which i shall instane in somce particulars , out of their own originals now remaining on record . in the first roll they swear in these very words , viz. i a. b. do promise , protest and swear before god and his saints and his angels , that i will during my life bear true faith and allegiance to my soveraign lord charles by the grace of god , king of great britain , france and ireland , and to his heirs and lawful successors , and that i will to my power , during my life , defend , uphold and maintain all his and their ivst prerogatives , estate and rights , the power and priviledges of parliament of this realm , the fundamental laws of ireland , and the free exercise of the roman catholick faith and religion throughout this land , and the lives , just liberties , possessions , estate and right of all those that have taken , or shall take this oath , and perform the contents thereof ; and that i will obey and ratifie all the orders and the decrees made and to be made by the supreme council of the confederate catholicks of this kingdom concerning the said publick cause . and that i will not seek or receive directly or indirectly any pardon or protection for any act done or to be done touching the general cause , without the consent of the major part of the said council ; and that i will not directly or indirectly do any act or acts that shall prejudice the said cause ; but will to the hazard of my life and estate , assist , prosecute , and maintain the same . moreover i do further swear , that i will not accept of , or submit unto any peace made or to be made with the said confederate catholicks , without consent and approbation of the general assembly of the said confederate catholicks , and for the preservation and strengthning of the association and vnion of the kingdom , that upon any peace or accommodation to be made or concluded with the said confederate catholicks as aforesaid , i will to the uttermost of my power insist upon , and maintain the ensuing propositions , until a peace as aforesaid be made , and the matters to be agreed upon in the articles of peace be established and secured by parliament . so help me god and his holy gospel . in this their first confederacie oath , they swear flat and known contradictions : for they swear to bear true faith and allegiance to the king , and with the same breath they swear they will obey and ratifie all the orders and decrees made and to be made by their supreme council , who had then actually cast off the kings authority , and set up a government in opposition to his majesties . it had sure been at least enough to swear to obey and ratifie all orders and decrees they had made , without increasing that guilt by the high accession of swearing to obey and ratifie all to be made by the supreme council . herein they show , what the pope is to them in spirituals , their supreme council is in temporals , whom they obey with a blinde and implicite faith. they swear also to maintain the fundamental laws of this kingdom , and in the same breath they swear to maintain the free exercise of the roman catholick religion , which is expresly against law ; as it is , that any should govern the kingdom , but by his majesties authority ; which they assumed and usurped in all the essentials of it : nay not onely the matter of the oath is against those laws they swear to maintain ; but even the taking or imposing of any oath which by law is not warranted , is a violation of the laws : but they are so far from owning these their crimes , that they swear they will not seek or receive directly or indirectly any pardon or protection for any thing done or to be done , touch-this general cause , &c. they can be content to seek and receive a pardon from the pope for sins to come , but they swear they neither will seek or receive directly or indirectly a pardon for , nay not so much as a protection from his majesty , for sins past , without the consent of their supreme council . this is a fine bearing faith and allegiance to the king , this is a good upholding and maintaining the fundamental laws of the kingdom . they swear too , that these acts of highest rebellion , they will to the hazard of their lives , and estates assist , prosecute , and maintain . but they proceed further , for they swear not to accept of , or submit to any peace made or to be made without the consent and approbation of the general assembly of the said catholicks : any peace , that is , let the conditions be never so good , let the person that grants them be the king himself , they will not accept of it , they will not submit unto it , without , &c. if the king would so far forget those signal crimes which made them need his pardon and protection , and would not so much as name them , but make a peace with them , as if they had never done any offence , yet they swear , that not one of them shall accept of , or submit to such a peace , but as is before expressed ; nay , to show how perfect a romish confederacie it is , if any individual should be struck with the horrour of his crimes , he cannot fly to the kings mercy for pardon or protection , without perjury : and to inveagle such as had not then been polluted with those sins , they swear to protect all such as shall enter into their guilt ; and thereby in consequence threaten to ruine such as shall not : this is admirable bearing true faith and allegiance to the king , and maintaining the laws of the kingdom ! but this is not all , for they further swear in these words , viz. for the preservation and strengthening of the vnion of the kingdom upon any peace to be made or concluded with the said confederate catholicks as aforesaid , they will to the uttermost of their power , insist upon and maintain the ensuing propositions , until a peace as aforesaid be made , and the matters to be agreed upon in the articles of peace be established and secured by parliament . the first proposition to which this oath relates , and to which it is annexed , is expressed in these words , viz. that the roman catholicks both clergy and laity in their several capacities have the free and publick exercise of the roman catholick religion and function throughout the kingdom , in as full lustre and splendor as it was in the reign of king henry the seventh , or other catholick king his predecessours , kings of england and lords of ireland , or in england . that is to say , that none should be admitted to live in ireland but papists : for none or very few but such ; were in the reign of those kings in ireland . the second proposition mentioned , follows in these words , viz. that the secular clergy of ireland , viz. primates , archbishops , ordinaries , deans , deans and chapters , archdeacons , prebendaries , and all other dignitaries , parsons , vicars , and all persons of the secular clergy , and their respective successours , shall have and enjoy all , and all manner of iurisdictions , priviledges and immunities in as full and ample manner as the roman catholicks secular clergy had or enjoyed the same within this realm , at any time during the reign of the late king henry the seventh , sometime king of england , and lord of ireland , any law , declaration of law , statute , power , or authority whatever , to the contrary notwithstanding . that is to say , their wills must be the law ; and since they think fit to set up popery in ireland , and to banish the true religion out of it , it is but requisite they should take the maintenance from the legal , and give it to the titular clergy . and least we should doubt this to be the true meaning of the second proposal , they clearly explain it in the fourth , which follows in these words , viz. that the primates , archbishops , bishops , ordinaries , deans , deans and chapters , archdeacons , chancelours , treasurers , chaunters , provosts , wardens of collegiate churches , prebendaries and other dignitaries , parsons , vicars , and other pastors of the roman catholick secular clergy , and their respective successors , shall have , hold enjoy all the churches and church-livings , in as large and ample manner , as the late protestant clergy respectively enjoyed the same , on the first day of october in the year of our lord 1641. together with all the profits , emoluments , perquisites , liberties , and the rights of their respective sees , and churches belonging ; as well in places now in possession of the confederate catholicks , as also in all other places that shall be recovered by the said confederate catholicks from the adverse party , within the kingdom , saving to the said roman catholick laity their rights , according to the laws of the land. that is to say , our clergy shall have all , therefore yours can have nothing ; this is a perfect fifth-monarchy principle , for here dominion is onely founded in pretended grace , none being to have the benefit of the laws of the land , but the papists . nay , his sacred majesty , because a protestant , is as such , denied any one of those rights , which the meanest of the irish rebels , because a papist , is to enjoy , as such ; and lest their words for it should not be taken , they confirm it with an oath . the legal and orthodox clergy of ireland may see in this , what goodly provision had been made for them , and their respective successours , if this pious roman catholick confederacy had succeeded . but least this their first oath of confederacie might be thought a thing they were surprized into , in the first heat and fury of the rebellion ; and least the takers of it should forget what the imposers of it would have them believe they were bound unto by it ; some time after , premeditately , and in cool blood , they caus'd it a second time to be taken in terminis , and subscribed with a preamble to it , the close whereof , runs in these words , viz. and for that it is requisite that there should be an unanimous consent and real union between all the catholicks of this realm , to maintain the premises and strengthen them against their adversaries , it is thought fit by them , that they , and whosoever shall adhere unto their party , as a confederate , should for their better assurance of their adhering fidelity and constancy to the publick cause , take the ensuing oath ▪ viz. i a. b. &c. in the begining of the said preamble , they give the priority and precedency of place to the defence of their own estates and liberties , to that of the defence of his majesties regal power , prerogatives , honour , state , and rights ; that is to say , they will mind themselves before the king , which they fully explain in the third oath of their union and confederacie , which after their rejection of the peace concluded with them by his majesties authority , they entered into , took and subscribed , and which follows in these words , viz. i do swear and protest that i will adhere to the present vnion of the confederate roman catholicks that rejected the peace lately agreed and proclaimed at dublin ; and do nothing by word or deed , writing , advice , or otherwise , to the prejudice of that vnion , and will to the uttermost of my power , advance and further the good and preservation of it , and of his majesties rights , and the priviledges of free born subjects to the natives of this kingdom . the two former oaths seem to them to be onely the theory of rebellion , and they were loth to stop there , therefore they proceed in this third oath , to the practise of it . in the first and second oath , they swear they will obey and ratifie all the orders and decrees made , and to be made by the supreme council of the confederate catholicks ; and in this third oath , they very abundantly observe what they swore in the two precedent ones ; but although in both those they swore as positively , i am sure much more justly ( though not justifiably ) du rig their lives to bear true faith and allegiance to the king , and though that just part of the oath hath the priority of place , in both oaths , yet the priority of obedience , when it came in competition which should be most binding , viz. either those parts which related to their obedience to his majesty , or those which related to their obedience to their general assembly , they practically interpret it for , and adjudge it to the latter . in their two first oaths , they swear they will not accept of , or submit unto any peace made or to be made with the said confederate catholicks , without the consent and approbation of their general assembly . but either this peace which they swear to reject , was made with the consent and approbation of their general assembly , or without their consent or approbation : if the latter , how can the generality of the irish papists plead for the benefit of what their governing power was against ; if the former , then against their two preceding oaths , they reject that peace which by their general assembly's consent and approbation had been concluded , and which ( at least by a strong implication ) they were sworn to observe . i know of no oath of theirs which bound them to more then not to accept of peace from his majesty without the consent and approbation of their general assembly , till this third was taken and subscribed . when they are not guilty enough by old oaths , they will make themselves guilty enough by entering into new oaths . doubtless the guilt of two solemn oaths , not to make peace with their king , without the approbation and consent of their own fellow subjects , even of their own setting up , and that too , as one of the products of a bloody rebellion , was guilt enough ; but in their third oath , they proceed farther , and reject that peace which even themselves had sollicited , and which was highly advantagious for them , onely because the heads of the catholick confederacie had then hopes of getting more from the king ( whose condition then began to decline ) by rebellion , then by peace . nay , that which their two former oaths did not oblige them unto , viz. to reject a peace made with his majesty when consented to , and approved by their general assembly , they swear to observe ; and that which their two former oaths obliged them unto , viz. during their lives to bear true faith and allegiance to the king , they will not observe , though the rate of that crime amounts to no less then to a double , if not a treble perjury . i must here acquaint the reader , that this third oath of vnion and confederacie , whereby they rejected the peace , is , as the two former oaths , without a date in its original now on record ; possibly it was their intention thereby to insinuate to the people , that the ingagement they entered into , was a duty incumbent on them from the first , and was to have no end . but if p. w. should say that this oath had onely reference to the rejected peace in anno 1646. i will onely answer , the same inferences are of the same force in reference to the rejected peace in anno 1648. and therefore if they be not rightly applied as to the time , yet they be as to the thing . certainly no written wickedness can ascend higher then in that same oath , in which they swear to reject , and actually do reject his majesties authority , when cloathed with peace , even a peace of their own seeking , and highly advantagious to them , they also swear to preserve his majesties rights . i can finde no consistencie in the said oath , unless they mean it to be his majesties right , to be governed and used according to the pleasure of the roman catholick vnion and confederacy ; nor can i tell what they mean by preserving the priviledges of free-born subjects to the natives of this kingdom , unless thereby they mean , that those priviledges are parramount to his majesties authority , and they the onely judges and preservers of them . but because the irish papists endeavour to extenuate the sins of entring into their first and second confederacie-oath , by pleading that their ingagements in them were but temporary , and were not to be conclusive , but as they should be established and secured by parliament ; i think it necessary least by that specious pretence the reader might be deluded , to set down here how they designed that parliament should be constituted : which i shall do out of the original of their instructions remaining in my hands . the title of those instructions is , viz. instructions for the lord viscount mountgarret , lord president of our council , &c. and the rest of the commissioners imployed by the general assembly of his majesties most faithful and dutiful subjects , the confederate catholicks of his highness kingdom of ireland , &c. unto the lord marquess of ormond , lord lieutenant of ireland , &c. the words of the 22. article of these instructions , are these , viz. you are to be suitors to his majesty to have a parliament helden before the lord marquess of ormond , or a catholick , or a native well-affected . i doubt if these commissioners had not been immediately imployed to the then lord marquess of ormond ( now duke of ormond ) they would scarcely have named him to be the person before whom the desired parliament should have been holden ; for since even while they made a direct address to his lordship , they had the presumption to add , viz. or a catholick , or a native well-affected , if his grace were not to have seen what they desired , they would not have mentioned him. and the truth of this appears clearly in the paper intituled , the sence of the congregation of the clergy upon the instructions presented to them , to be given the agents to be now employed to france . dated the 21 of december 1647. wherein to use their own words , they say , viz. we offer the ensuing articles , which we desire may be drawn up into instructions with the rest , to be given to the said agents , with order to insist on them , and in no sort to recede from them . the first of those instructions are in these words , viz. first , that an instruction be given the said agents for getting the lord deputy , or other chief governour or governours of this kingdom to be a roman catholick . in this the reader may evidently find , though when the irish papists make addresses to the lord of ormond they are so discreet as to name him for the person before whom the parliament shall be holden , yet when they may write what he is not to see , they absolutely leave him out , and desire that the parliament may be holden before a chief governour that is a roman catholick , with this addition , viz. and in no sort to recede from this instruction . the second particular which the said congregation of the clergy desire may be added to the instructions to be given to their agents , then designed to be sent to the queen and prince , then in france , and which they are to insist upon , and in no sort to recede from , is express'd in these very words , viz. 2 d. instruction . that the particular articles or concessions to be obtained for religion , may be published together with the temporal articles ; and that until both be published together , the peace may not oblige nor be accepted by the confederate roman catholicks : and that the queen nor prince come not to this kingdom till the peace be published as aforesaid , and accepted by the nation . by this it undoubtedly appears that no peace would be accepted of by the irish papists , but such a one as even by the royal assent , was to give them the whole kingdom in fact and power , if not in name : nor was the queen and prince , his now majesty , so much as to come into ireland , till ireland was in effect given away to the crown . although this paper intituled the sense of the congregation of the clergy , have many particulars as full of disloyalty and rebellion , as those i have already mentioned , yet i shall set down no more but the seventh paragraph , which they desire may be past into an instruction ; which follows in these words , viz. that if a protector must be chosen for the nation , it may be his holiness . and that the nation may not by choosing spain or france for protector , be necessitated to make the other of them not chosen their enemy abroad , and thereby rend the kingdom at home into division . this in my opinion evinceth , that as bad as the papist clergy in ireland were , yet the original design of choosing a protector was the act of the lay papists , but indeed when a forraign protector was resolved upon , the popish clergy as became true sons of the romish church , were singly for the popes having the protectorship , and fortifie that their desire with a very material and politick consideration , if not threatning , viz. that unless it were so , it might rend the kingdom into divisions . but i desire the reader woul observe that rending of the kingdom would not have proceeded from the casting off of his majesties authority , but from the papal , french and spanish factions , who would have contended for the soveraignty of this kingdom : but not so much as the least word mentioned that the kingdom would have been rent by the resistance of any party in his majesties behalf : though three forraign powers would have found friends to have countenanced their respective designes , yet his majesties lawful right could not find any numerous assertors of it . having thus done with the paper intituled the sense of the congregation , i shall now proceed to acquaint the reader with the residue of those instructions , which will let him plainly see how they projected that parliament should be constituted which was to establish and secure the articles of peace insisted on . one of which i have already particularized , and now shall proceed to the rest . the 24th instruction is set down in these words , viz. you are to be suitors to his majesty , that all indictments , out-lawries , attainders , and other acts , made , published , or done , in the courts of dublin , or elsewhere in this kingdom , or the kingdom of england , in prejudice of the said catholicks , or any of them , since the seventh day of august 1641. shall be before he sitting of the parliament here , taken off the file , and vacated ; and so declared by his majesties publick proclamation . this is a good preparation for composing a fit parliament for the ends of the confederate catholicks . before they did any thing for the king , they press the king would by a proclamation vacat the legal proceedings of the court of justice . they desire to be put in a capacity to act new crimes , by a forgiveness of the old . the 11th instruction runs in these words , viz. you are to be humble suitors to his majesty , that such as are already employed or appoynted , or that shall now be appoynted to execute the office of sheriff by our party , in the several counties of the kingdom shall stand : and the said offices to be conferred upon them by letters patents . though the sheriffs of ireland are pricked by the chief governour or governours of this kingdom , yet they will themselves name those sheriffs , that thereby they might be in a condition to be sure the respective knights of the shires for their intended parliament should be roman catholick confederacie-men . the close of the 26 instruction is in these words , you are to procure that no new corporations shall send burgesses to parliament , without the allowance of parliament first had . the 13th instruction runs in these words , viz. you are desire that such corporations as anciently sent burgesses to the parliament , be now admitted , notwithstanding that by the power of some late governours , they were of later days debar'd of this priviledge . by these three instructions the reader may see how well they would have constituted the house of commons for the catholick confederacie ; first , sheriffs who are to be judges of the elections of the knights of the shires they would nominate , and have his majesty commissionate by letters patents . secondly , some old burroughs who had scarce an inhabitant in them , and who therefore for several preceding parliaments had no writs sent unto them to make elections , they desire now may send burgesses to their intended parliament : and burroughs who are by the kings charter to send burgesses to parliament , and who are numerously planted with protestants , were to send none to serve for them in parliament . thus far the confederates had well provided for themselves in the constitution of the house of commons , now i shall let the reader see that their care was no less in the constitution of the house of lords : for the 23 instruction is in these words , viz. that no lord not estated in this kingdom , or estated in this kingdom , and not resident here , shall have vote in the said parliament of this realm , by proxy or otherwise . the king is the fountain of honour ; but here the confederate catholicks will stop the stream of it ; as they think sit ; voting by proxy , which is the undoubted right of the peers , they will not admit ; and those peers who by the rebellion of the confederates were expelled out of ireland , must be denied their rights , even when a peace is concluded ; nay possibly those peers might not be considered as estated lords , whose estates the said confederates had possest themselves of ; so that by the acts of the rebellion they were to lose their lands , and by the desires of the rebels to lose their votes : and perhaps if protestant peers which the rebellion had forc'd into england would have returned into ireland to vote in this intended parliament , they might ( had this instruction took place ) been denied to vote in person , as well as by proxy , on account that they were not estated persons by reason their lands were then in the possession of the rebels , who had taken good care that the peace should not oblige , nor be accepted by the confederate catholicks , till all the articles of it were established & secured by parliament . the confederates rest not here , but to make all things surer , the 44th instruction is set down in these words , viz. that such as shall be recommended by the supreme council of the confederate catholicks , shall be by his majesty called by writ to sit in the vpper house . in the 23d instruction before mentioned , they attempt to hinder the constitution of the house of peers to be as by law and custom it ought to be ; and in this 44th instruction they attempt to constitute it as it ought not to be . in the foregoing instruction they endeavor to stop the true fountain of honour , and in this instruction they would make themselves to be the fountain of honour . nor does this instruction run with the introductive words of the former , viz. you are to be suitors , or humble suitors to his majesty , but positively set down , as if what they demanded were rather a right , then a favour ; neither do they limit their recommendation of such as are to be called to sit in the upper house , to such onely as were his majesties subjects , or his rebels , but indefinitely , viz. all that shall be recommended by the supreme council of the confederate catholicks ; so that the forming of the house of peers , the great and inseparable right and prerogative of the crown , they not onely desire to wrest from the king , but also they desire to vest it in themselves : nor do they stop there , but by this instruction ( had it been granted ) they would have had the power to have constituted the house of lords of forraigners , and doubtless amongst those , his holiness's nuntio , then amongst them , would scarcely have been forgotten . thus far the catholick confederacie had well provided for the composition of the house of commons and the house of peers , as far as concern'd the temporal lords ; now i shall let the reader see that their care was no less in providing that the house of peers should be as well constituted for the spiritual lords , which they manifest in their 25th instruction , which follows in these very words , viz. you are to be suitors to his majesty , that the writs of summons be issued to the archbishops and bishops within ovr qvarters , and they to have place and vote in parliament . this is a request indeed , here is not onely a taking away of the right of the protestant archbishops and bishops , but a giving of it to the papists : nay , would not this have been ( if granted ) an owning that the pope by his consecration had the right to send peers into the house of lords , if not to create them . but since they were sworn by their confederacy to have the free and publick exercise of the roman catholick religion and function throughout this kingdom in its full lustre and splendor , as it was in the reign of king henry the seventh , or any other catholick king his predecessor , kings of england and lords of ireland , 't is no wonder they take the surest ways to reach that end. but yet the wisdom of the kings of england , and their experience of the irish papists has been such , that had all these instructions been granted to them , yet they could not have reach'd their design , which the said papists well knew , and therefore to throw down all impediments , in their 21th instruction , which follows in these very words , they further desire , viz. you are to be suitors to his majesty , that upon the first sitting of the next parliament , that an act may be transmitted for the suspension of poynings his act , intituled , an act that no parliament shall be holden in this land , until the acts be certified into england , and all other acts inlarging or explaining the same . and that it be afterwards left to the consideration of the parliament , whether the same shall be all together repealed or continued . in these instructions the confederates show a catholick care of the roman catholick cause : they were not contented to attempt by force and open rebellion to wrest this kingdom from the crown of england , but having failed thereof in that way , they endeavour to effect it in this : first they will have a papist chief governour , and that ( to use their own words ) the commissioners must not onely insist upon , but must in no sort recede from ; then they must have a parliament , and that not onely to be constituted against the kings undoubted prerogative , the known and ancient laws of the land , and priviledges and rights of both houses , but also must be compos'd according to the desires and inventions of the irish papists : and because by poynings's act no bill or bills could be transmitted into england till first they had past the chief governour or governours and privy council of this kingdom , and then were certified to his majesty and privy council in england , by the said chief governor or governors , and privy council to be good and expedient for this kingdom , and then were not to pass in parliament here , but as approved of by his majesty and council in england , and remitted hither under the great seal of england ; whereby the crown of england was wisely secured that nothing should be enacted here to the prejudice of it : the said irish papists desire that in their said next parliament poynings's act might be suspended , and all other acts enlarging and explaining the same ; and then that it may be left to the consideration of the parliament , so constituted , whether the same shall be altogether repealed , or continued ; that is to say , that the lamb be put into the claws of the wolf , and then leave it to the consideration of the wolf whether or no he would devour him . if it should be said , that the fore-mentioned instructions were onely the confederates desires to his majesty ; i onely desire to know whether they made those desires with an intention to have them denyed or granted : if the first it was ridiculous , if the last it was rebellious . but by all this it undeniably appears , if the providence of god , and his sacred majesties wisdom and care had not disappointed the boundless designes of the said irish papists , not onely the protestant religion and the professors of it in ireland had been lost , but also this kingdom had been lost to the crown of england , for the said irish papists were to have held what they then rebelliously possest till their articles of peace had been establish'd and secured by parliament , and if they could have had a parliament such as they designed , all the kingdom would in effect have been theirs by authority of parliament ; so that either way they had secured themselves as much as their confederated wisdoms could project . but since the most essential parts of the articles of peace were to be finally obliging but as they were to be confirm'd by act of parliament in the next parliament which should be assembled after the perfecting the said articles ; let p. w. remember this present parliament is the first that has been call'd together in ireland since the conclusion of the peace , and let him see in the great bill of settlement how far the parliament thinks fit to put their sanction to those articles . if p. w. should say , this is not such a parliament as his countrymen intended at and before the making of those articles ; i shall joyn with him in his saying thereof , and shall onely add , that god and his sacred majesty be praised , it is not such a parliament . i must desire the readers excuse for these digression● which i thought necessary , that he might the better know , even out of the originals of the papers of the irish papists , what kinde of parliament that was , by which they had designed to establish and secure the articles of their peace , as also what that association and vnion of the confederate roman catholicks is , which their grand committee swore to continue , and to return unto upon the concluding of the peace in 1648. in case they themselves judged the articles thereof at any time unobserved unto them . i wish the said irish papists think not themselves to this day bound by it ; nay ; i wish they do not think it indissolveable . this horrid oath of the grand committee before-mentioned , is now so undeniable , ( though it was then manag'd in the dark , and carried on with all possible secreeie ) that it was by all their titular bishops in their published excommunications against the lord lieutenant , interpreted and insisted on , as a most conscientiovs engagement to invite all their nation to a disobedience of his majesties authority ; whereby they have not onely argued themselves guilty of the greatest unworthiness and treachery , men could possibly be faulty in ; they have not onely forfeited all that grace and favour which could be intended them by that peace , and invalidated all the articles of it ; but they have likewise continu'd to themselves the guilt of their rebellion and confederacie to this present day , and lie obnoxious to the utmost penalty of the law for the same , unless his majesties mercy be greater then their crimes ; and consequently p. w's causeless curses and threatnings are not to be feared . those threatnings respect men the irish papists . the judicious protestants . those threatnings respect god. first p. w. tells us that the hearts of the irish papists would by such proceedings be estranged from his majesty : the sense whereof is , that the irish will follow the king for nought but the loaves ; nay , it had been happy for ireland if the very loaves themselves would have prevented their hearts from being estranged ; but 't is morally impossible while such a national and religional distinction continues : the experience of the last rebellion , if no other proof thereof had been , evinceth the estrangedness of the irish papists to be such , that the interest in them of the greatest nobleman in ireland when for the crown , is not so considerable , as a popish priests against it . wherefore the estrangedness p. w. mentions must still be expected , but with this difference , that the beast if pamper'd , will kick , if kept low , obey . secondly , p. w. fore-tells that the iudicious protestants will on such proceedings be perpeturlly jealous , notwithstanding any declaration from breda , or acts from westminster . though p. w. may be a true seer of the estranged hearts of the irish papists , yet i dare charge him to be a false prophet concerning judicious protestants ; for though they duly value his majesties declarations and acts of grace , as signal expresses of his goodness ; yet their confidence rests on the inward principle in his majesties brest , whereto without such expresses , or articling , or capitulating for such ( as the irish papists did ) they freely submitted , and are more confirm'd by their late experience to continue in that duty . but if in p. w's judgement the ungrounded apprehension of any violation or breach of promise may estrange the hearts of the irish papists from his majesty , whom they are bound in conscience to love , honour and obey , notwithstanding miscarriages in government ; and if the like apprehensions may cause jealousies in judicious protestants notwithstanding declarations and acts of parliament , let it not seem strange or hard ( at least to p. w. and his countrymen ) if a continued series of covenant-breaches , rapines , murthers , massacres , crueltys , perfidies , treasons and rebellions exercised by the irish papists against the crown and protestant religion , raise jealousies in the hearts of all judicious protestants . or if his majesty be pleas'd on these accompts in his great iustice , wisdom and goodnsss to restrain them from further ruining others first , and then themselves . the crown hath often lost by credulity what it hath got by valour ; it hath lost by pretence of peace what it had gain'd in open war : the kings interest in france was thus lost , the god of peace prevent the like in ireland . the consequence threatned in respect of god , are dreadful judgements , such as p. w. confesseth to have bin wonderfully inflicted on the irish nation for their breach of the peace in 1646. and such as were inflicted on sauls house for his breach with the gibeonites . i see the best wits have not always the best memories , else p. w. would have remembred the breach made by his nation in 1641. and since 1648. as well as in 1646. for those doubtless were as criminal as this : but possibly he thinks it was more sin for his country-men to violate what they oblig'd themselves to as a free state , then what they were oblig'd to do as subjects ; and therefore thinks their sins in 1646. were greater then in 1641. but if all were pardoned by the peace made in 1648. why does he remember the judgements for the breaches in 1646 ? if he thinks all were not , why does he not remember the breaches made in 1641. and at least attribute some of those judgements to that breach ? but i had almost forgot what perhaps p. w. may plead in answer to my objection , and that is no less then the pope's bull of indulgence and pardon published in latin in ireland , and thus carefully ( for so much of it as follows ) translated into english. urbanus octavus . ad futuram rei memoriam . having taken into our serious consideration the great zeal of the irish towards the propagating of the catholick faith , and the piety of the catholick warriors in the several armies of that kingdom ( which was for that singular fervency in the true worship of god , and notable care had formerly in the like case by the inhabitants thereof , for the maintenance and preservation of the same orthodox faith , called of old , the land of saints , ) and having got certain notice how in imitation of their godly and worthy ancestors , they endeavour by force of arms to deliver their thralled nation from the oppressions and grievous injuries of the hereticks , wherewith this long time it hath been afflicted , and heavily burthened , and gallantly do what in them lyeth to extirpate and totally root out those workers of iniquity , who in the kingdom of ireland had infected , and always striven to infect the mass of catholick purity , with the pestiferous leaven of their heretical contagion ; we therefore being willing to cherish them with the gift of those spiritual graces whereof by god we are ordained the onely disposers on earth , by the mercy of the same almighty god , trusting in the authority of the blessed apostles peter and paul , and by vertue of that power of binding and losing of souls , which god was pleased ( without our deserving ) to confer ' upon us : to all and every one of the faithful christians in the aforesaid kingdom of ireland , now and for the time militating against the hereticks and other enemies of the catholick faith ; they being truly and sincerely penitent , after confession , and the spiritual refreshing of themselves with the sacred communion of the body and blood of christ , do grant a full and plenary indulgence and absolute remission for all their sins , and such as in the holy time of iubilee is usual to be granted to those that devoutly visit a certain number of priviledged churches within and without the walls of our city of rome ; by the tenour of which present letters for once only and no more , we freely bestow the favour of this absolution upon all and every one of them , and withal desiring heartily all the faithful in christ now in arms as aforesaid would be partakers of this most previous treasure . to all and every one of the aforesaid faithful christians we grant licence and give power to chuse unto themselves for this effect any fit confessor , whether a secular priest , or a regular of some order ; as likewise any other selected person approved of by the ordinary of the place , who after a diligent hearing of their confessions shall have power to liberate and absolve them from excommunication , suspension , and all other ecclesiastical sentences and censures , by whomsoever , or for what cause soever pronounced or inflicted upon them , as also from all sins , trespasses , transgressions , crimes and delinquencies how hainous and atrocious soever they be , &c. dated at rome in the vatican or st. peters palace , the 25th day of may , 1643. and in the 20th year of our pontificate . m. a. maraldus . this bull of indulgence and pardon of the pope either is an answer to my question , or it is not ; if p. w. should say it is not an answer to my question , then it remains still in force : if p. w. should say that it is an answer to my question , then i desire the unbyass'd reader to consider whose subjects the irish papists are : for his late majesty of glorious memory under his great seal declares in these very words , viz. we do extremely detest the odiovs rebellion which the recusants of ireland have without ground or colour raised against vs , our crown and dignity : but the pope by his bull calls that rebellion of the irish papists , an imitation of their godly and worthy ancestors , with this farther addition , that the said irish papist gallantly do what in them lieth to extirpate and totally root out the protestants , who he is pleas'd to call workers of iniquity . nay , his holiness proceeds farther , for being willing to cherish them in their rebellion , he dispenses to them the gift of spiritual graces , of which he says he is under god the onely disposer on earth , and therefore grants them a full & plenary indulgence and absolute remission for all their sins , trespasses , transgressions , crimes and delinquences , how hainous and atrocious soever they be . if the pope's power over the irish papists be so great , i shall not wonder their obedience to the king is so little : neither shall i admire that rebellions have been so frequent in ireland for the time past , nor doubt they will be as frequent for the time to come , if the strength of the irish papists proportions their inclinations , & if the said papists consider fighting against the kings authority is merit , and dying in that quarrel is martyrdom . their propensity to the sin of rebellion needed not those two double incentives to it , viz. if they succeed , heaven and ireland is theirs ; if they succeed not , heaven is theirs : his sacred majesty will have but little hold of men who are acted by such principles , and by such beliefs . i desire also it may observ'd , this bvll was sent them in may 1643. at which time the irish papists were in the height of their rebellion ; for they then had neither cessation or peace to plead , which might intitle them so much as to the name of subjects . it may be also this pope's made them the more cheerfully swear neither to seek or receive directly or indirectly a pardon from a king. i hope the reader will also observe that the designe of the irish papists by their rebellion , what ever they pretended for it , was no less then to extirpate and totally root out the protestants , and this attested by the pope himself , which he calls a gallant act , and an imitation of their godly ancestors , which proves that general if not vniversal massacrings has not been onely the attempted sin of the irish papists of this age , but had descended to them by inherritance , and some wish it may not be convey'd to their posterities . 't is likewise worthy the readers observation , though his sacred majesty might warrantably have done unto those irish papists what they would have done to the protestants , and though persons of such bloody principles and designes as the pope owns the said irish papists to be , and incourages them to persevere in , with assurance of pardon here , and heaven hereafter , are not very likely to be obedient subjects to the king , or good neighbours to their fellow subjects ; yet not one of them suffers meerly for his religion , and many of them , though guilty , are pardon'd and restor'd . this practically and clearly shows the difference between the true mother and the false mother , as also how much more consonant to christ's doctrine and practise the head of the protestant church does act , then the head of the popish church does act ; and man can in nothing be so well like unto god , as in being merciful as god is merciful . but for all p. w's fencing , i am confident were his country-men as fully pardoned for their breaches of the articles made in 1648. as by that peace p.w. says ( whatever he thinks ) they are pardon'd for their breaches in the year 1646. he would as well attribute his countrymens sufferings to the breaches of 1648. as to any preceding . but i see it is easier for his majesty to forgive two rebellions , then for p. w. acknowledge one , which he is so far from doing , that upon a supposititious covenant-breach on the kings side , he thereby insinuates a charge against the most faithfully indulgent of princes . but the protestants of ireland dare appeal cheerfully even to the tribunal of god himself , that the iudgement may fall where the breach is . and since p. w. acknowledges that all the wonderful judgements fallen upon the irish nation is for the breach of the articles of 1646. and that i have fully proved in many signal instances , the articles ni 1648. were no less broken by them , let all men consider how visible the breach was which he confesseth , when the breach in 1648. is so visible , which he denyeth : and since all the past judgements on his countrymen , he owneth , were onely inflicted for the breach in 1646. let him and them , if they please , ascribe the punishments to come in the bill of settlement , to their breaches in 1641. and to their breach of the articles in 1648. for doubtless these deserve some judgements as well as that . i fully own faith should be observed where-ever it is given , as long as the conditions for which it is given are observed : and i as heartily confess that a violation of faith calls down the severest of gods punishments ; for all promises made before the righteous judge of heaven and earth , when broken , are not broken singly to those to whom , but even also to him before whom they are made ; and god will not be mocked : i wish those which now think such judgements on such breaches just and inevitable , had in 1641. in 1646. in 1648. and many times since , so well remembred the truth of that position , as not to have run into those sins , which must , as an inevitable consequence of them , draw down such punishments . but since what is past cannot be recall'd , i will pray they may avoid in the future , what for the time past they might have prevented . but because p.w. has instanc'd the case of saul's children and the gibeonites , i will endeavour to show how far it is parallel to that case to which he unjustly applies it , and how far it is not . first how far it is parallel . 1. ioshua knew not the persons of those with whom he made that league ; neither did the king know the hearts of those with whom he made that peace . 2. those were neighbours , nay liv'd amongst the israelites to whom ioshua promised peace , though they said they were of a far country ; the irish were neighbours , at least locally ; nay they liv'd long amongst us , though at last they would not let us live among them ; but indeed they were from a very far country , even from rome it self . 3. those deluded ioshua into that league , and said they were his servants , when they were his enemies ; the irish papists did also delude the king into that peace , and said they were subjects , when indeed they were rebels . thus far the parallel holds . now i will show in what , and how much it differs . 1. the gibeonites deluded ioshua into a peace ; but the irish papists ( to use his sacred majesties own words ) forced , compelled , necessitated him into cessations and peaces . 2. the gibeonites were strangers , but the irish papists were ( at least ought to have been ) subjects . 3. the gibeonites never broke those conditions granted to them , though by those conditions they were made in effect slaves ; but the irish papists broke , yea often , if not always theirs , though after an unparallell'd rebellion they were in effect made lords of all ireland , even the bloody stage upon which they had acted their guilt . 4. saul's children were not executed for their father his having made the gibeonites hewers of wood , and drawers of water , ( the utmost that the protestants desire even to the worst principled of the irish papists ) but for killing the gibeonites after they were peaceable slaves : so that those judgements p. w. seems to threathen his majesty with , if they have not the articles of 1648. made good , he and his countrymen have only reason to fear ; for his majesty kept them , and they have broken them . since the breach of faith is so foul a sin , and deserves such heavy punishments , even by p. w's own confession , and since it is fully proved those for whom he pleads , have not onely once , but often , yea always broken their agreements ; let them with patience bear what they have drawn upon themselves ; and let him henceforth imploy his pen and his press in inviting his countrymen rather to acknowledge his majesties mercy , that no more are punish'd , then that some are , and that so little too , comparatively to their crimes . i will from p. w's parallel take a rise for the inserting of two particulars : the first is , if any of the children of p. w's clients lose their lands , though actually they were not guilty of their fathers rebellions , let him remember , even in the case which he instances , that the seven sons of saul were hanged up unto the lord in gibeah of saul , though they had not actually slain those gibeonites for which they themselves were punished . let him also remember that till iustice was done , the famine lasted ; and after it was done , the famine ceased . those lost theirs lives for their fathers sin ; but these ( if any ) lose but their fathers forfeited lands for their fathers crimes . the second is , though even the spirit of god it self witnesseth , that saul sought to slay the gibeonites in his zeal to the children of israel and iuda ; yet that it self could not silence or suspend the justice of god. and therefore let p. w. know , that though in the third article of their instructions to the titular bishop of fernes , and sir nicolas plunket , ( their commissioners to rome ) they own to the pope that in their zeal they rais'd arms for the freedom of the catholick religion , yet no zeal in religion can apologize for , or will hinder the effects of gods justice on his countrymen for their unparallell'd murthers , and their often breaches against nature , and against stipulation : to do evil that good may come of it , may be the doctrine of rome , but is not the doctrine of christ ; and by the fruit the tree is best known . the conclusion . the conclusion , or concluding wish , [ that his grace the duke of ormond may be as another ioseph to his brethren ] the hearts of the protestants of ireland close with ; desiring that he may be a ioseph not onely to the israel of god , [ the religious protestants ] but also a ioseph even to the egyptians themselves , feeding and preserving them , yet so as becomes pharaoh's steward , reserving kings's free dispose , and removing , that is , transplanting the people from one end of the borders of egypt , to the other end thereof . may herein the practise of ioseph be his pattern , and the blessings of ioseph be his portion ! the blessings of heaven above , the blessings of the deep that lieth under , the blessings of the brests and the womb ; these blessings be on the head of this ioseph , and on the crown of the head of him that was seperate from ( those which call themselves ) his brethren . finis . a defence of the right of kings wherein the power of the papacie ouer princes, is refuted; and the oath of allegeance iustified. written for the vse of all english romanists; more especially, for the information of those priests, or iesuits, which are by proclamation commanded to conforme themselues, or depart the kingdome. by edvvard forset, esquire. forset, edward, 1553?-1630. 1624 approx. 171 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 53 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01076 stc 11189 estc s119405 99854612 99854612 20039 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01076) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 20039) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 956:08) a defence of the right of kings wherein the power of the papacie ouer princes, is refuted; and the oath of allegeance iustified. written for the vse of all english romanists; more especially, for the information of those priests, or iesuits, which are by proclamation commanded to conforme themselues, or depart the kingdome. by edvvard forset, esquire. forset, edward, 1553?-1630. [12], 93, [1] p. printed by b. a[lsop] for nathaniel butter, and are to be sold at his shop, at the pyed bull, neere saint austens gate, london : 1624. identification of printer from stc. a belated answer to two items by robert parsons, stc 19408 and stc 19417. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the 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anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng parsons, robert, 1546-1610. -judgment of a catholicke english-man living in banishment for his religion. parsons, robert, 1546-1610. -treatise tending to mitigation towardes catholicke-subjectes in england. catholics -england -early works to 1800. oath of allegiance, 1606 -early works to 1800. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2001-10 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2001-10 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2001-11 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a defence of the right of kings . wherein the power of the papacie ouer princes , is refuted ; and the oath of allegeance iustified . written for the vse of all english romanists ; more especially , for the information of those priests , or iesuits , which are by proclamation commanded to conforme themselues , or depart the kingdome . by edward forsit , esquire . london , printed by b. a. for nathaniel butter , and are to be sold at his shop , at the pyed bull , neere saint austens gate . 1624. to the most high and potent monarch , iames , of great britaine , france , and ireland , king , defender of the faith , &c. to the right reverend father in god , george , by the diuine prouidence lord bishop of london , my singular good lord. the whole church , and kingdome of england , ( right reuerend prelate ) hath a long time together taken notice of that continuall neerenesse , into which it hath pleased his maiestie ( who does all things vpon iudgement ) to admit your wisedome and faithfulnesse , in matters of aduice especially , which be most proper to your sacred function . which grace of your lordships with so wise and learned a prince , hath perswaded me , that as you were the fittest , so you would be the willingest to doe our great master this seruice ; for so i hope this office will proue , if your lordship wil be pleased , that this boke may by your hands haue accesse vnto his maiestie . it treats of a royall argument , and therefore ( euen of dutie ) to be dedicated to a king , as a thing due vnto caesar : and due vnto our king especially , whom god hath raysed vp in brittaine , as the fort royall of princes , to amate that tower of babel , that prowd castle of s. angelo . and therefore as his maiestie himselfe hath first of all , and best of all , written in this kind , and giuen the ablest directions vnto others to prosecute the argument ; so it might seeme presumption , if any thing of this subiect should come abroad without his royall assent . his maiesties example ( together with this gentleman 's owne zeale to the cause ) did at first , no doubt , encourage this learned author to vndertake this present worke , who as he still is by his place a iustice of peace , so hath he here done iustice vpon that sawcie medler with the rights of princes , parsons the iesuit , and those two seditious bookes of his , one comming our vnder the name of p. r. the other of a catholike gentleman , both which he hath here made to keepe the kings peace . the title will ( i hope ) find gracious acceptance , and the booke honourable approbation with his sacred maiestie . which hope of mine hath emboldened me to offer it vnto your good lordship , as a testimonie of my most hearty and humble thankfulnesse , for those fauors which i haue receiued from your goodnesse : the remembrance of which shall euer bind me to be at your lordships seruice most faithfully . nathaniell butter . to the reader . octavivs the emperour did rather chuse to violate the will of virgil , then to consume those laborious aeneids of his in the flames of obliuion . why then should not this example of his , excuse me from blame of the author of this following worke , for attempting to commit to the presse , and commending that to others in publike , which he but lent to me in priuate ? since good things are best knowne , by their vse ; and well considering , how acceptable it may prooue to our hopefull times . the end of his 〈◊〉 , when hee first began this treatise ( i am well assured ) was onely to satisfie his owne priuate iudgement , esteeming it ( through his too much modestie ) so farre vnfit for the publike view , as for the space of tenne or twelue yeeres since the finishing of it , hee suffered it to rest obscure , amongst his other priuate labours ; wherein his industrie and abilitie may appeare to be made yet more transparent , in his owne vnder-valuing of what hee hath so exactly performed : which comming thus accidentally to my hands , and viewing the matter it treated of , and the malicious slanders it retreated , i could not chuse but euen blame the vnkind author , that would haue made the very wombe of this his seasonable off-spring , the tombe , and giuen it at one and the same time both life and dissolution together . i haue therefore aduentured my endeuors ( without his knowledge , beyond his expectation , and i am afraid , against his desire ) for the publishing of that which i knew might prooue so vsefull : which remaining obscure , and in silence , neither should the cause nor the parsons be vindicated ; nor yet the soueraigntie of this antidote against that dispersed poyson , haue beene discernable , or serued for publike benefit . and though the man opposed be ( as i conceiue ) vncapable of defence , yet there remaine many of his labors , that like the vipers brood haue suckt a stronger poyson from his death . nor want there many of his iesuited disciples , who may yet doe him right , if they thinke him iniuried ; though it be true , vni caesari multi insunt marii . all i desire , is pardon from the author , vpon whose worth so well knowne , and loue so often tryed by me , i haue thus farre presumed ; not doubting , but the publike good that may ensue his owne labour , will ouer-sway his resolued retyrednesse . as for thy acceptance , i doubt it not , because the benefit is thine owne ; and accounting it reward enough to my selfe , that i am but the instrument of communicating this to others . farewell . f. b. particvlar matters discussed in this treatise . the occasion of this question concerning the popes power . the mitigations of p. r. touching the powder-treason . his mangling and omitting of my lords words . whether the pope cannot erre : with the manifold distinctions of the papists therein . how the true estate of the question concerning the popes power , is hidden by a cunning forme of words . whether this point be generally agreed vpon amongst catholikes , and how dangerous the same is to the state. how he minceth and mitigateth the matter in question . the true question , and how largely it extendeth . the reasons made for the position , and the same answered : and that there neither is , nor euer was , any standing authoritie to depriue kings . no reason for the popes power in nature . whether the vniuersall pastorship be instituted by christ , and what points must be prooued , before that come to be made good . the iesuites busie entermedling in state-affaires . the proofe from the word pasce oues examined , and baronius his expositions and inferences in this matter . other strange arguments for the popes temporall power . the pope no rightfull successor of s. peter , but wrongfully pretendeth his authoritie , or primacie . the pope no successor or imitator of christ. their distinction of authoritie , direct and vndirect , examined . what necessitie there is of this pastorall power , and how it is qualified . politike reaches in poperie , to aduance the authoritie aforesaid . the pope may reduce all causes to his cognizance , and how farre he may extend the power of seculare brachium , the sccular arme. the doctrine of the iesuits concerning the deposing of princes , holding that euen priuate men may destroy kings . p. r. yeeldeth vnto the point of the kings supremacie , in that sence as we doe accept the same . p. r. driuen to fall from that which he had yeelded . the pope and bellarmine will dislike as much of p. r. for yeelding to the kings supremacie of preseruation , as they do of m. blackwell , for taking the oath of allegeance . p. r. thought to be the author of the letter which replyeth to the apologie of the oath . he cannot yeeld supremacie in all causes , in his owne sense , and yet main aine the popes power of deposing . the maintaining of the popes temporall power , and the denying of the oath of allegeance , is all one . he ought to haue shewed particular matter to be disliked in the seuerall parts of the oath : the true cause why he doth not . his foure reasons , whereby he would proue matter of religion in the oath , be examined , and refuted . all limitting of the popes power , is not matter of faith. the allowing to the pope a power to depose the king , cannot stand with allegeance . a short answer ( consisting of two parts ) to the whole booke , written against sir edw. coke , concerning the popes authoritie in this kingdome . difference in the case of subiects vnder catholike kings & the subiects of this kingdome , & between the now subiects & those of former times vnder 〈◊〉 kings of england . the distinction of the popes authoritie , direct and indirect , 〈◊〉 . reasons to induce the catholike subiects not to refuse the oath that sundry papists haue taken the oath willingly : and that the gent. wrongeth them in making a doubt thereof . vpon any allegation of constraint by feare . that the law containeth not any compelling or vnlawfull meanes , to make any to sweare vnwillingly . that they haue also sworne faithfully : and that the equiuocating sence which the gent. deuiseth , was not vsed by them , nor ought to be vsed by any , being sencelesse , and against the oath directly . the gent. rage and threats , for enforcing of the oath . his theologie controlled , concerning the ministring of an oath vnto such , as hee that ministreth the same , suspecteth will forsweare himselfe . that amongst the papists , there be greater enforcements to make men abiure opinions , yea , vnder paine of death , as is confessed : and that the answer to maintaine the same by the title of ius acquisitum , is idle and friuolous . a wish for eternizing the memorie of the gunpowder treason , in answer of their anger for our so often iterating or vpbraiding to them that most abhorred conspiracie . finis . an examination of a position published by p. r. in the preface of his treatise , tending to mitigation , concerning the lawfullnesse of the popes power ouer princes : with a defence of the oath of allegiance . it pleased the right honorable the earle of salisbury , in his exactly written , and necessary published answer , to certaine scandalous papists prouoking him by occasion , and in fashion vnsufferable , to protest against the insolency and malignity of the romish church , out of the bosome whereof so many treacheries , conspirases and immanities of the foulest kind , haue bin vented into the world , tending to ouerule or ruinate whatsoeuer authority , not submitting the necke to the yoake of that vsurping power ; in the very first passage of that his appologetticall declaration ( which enuie it selfe could not passe ouer without attribution of highest praise ) hee was carried ( by the contemplation of so many dangerous designes , and complotting practises , dayly pretended and contriued against the safetie and dignitie of temporall potentates ) to a more vehement expressing of himselfe in the zeale of words following . i haue been a long time sorry , that those which imploy so many seditious spirits dayly to instruct the vnlearned catholikes , in these mysteries of deposing princes , haue not by some publike & definitiue sentence orthodoxall ( in which it is supposed , the pope cannot erre ) made some cleere explication of their assumed power ouer soueraigne princes , as not onely those which acknowledge his superioritie might bee secured from feares and iealousies of continuall treasons , and bloody assassinates against their persons , but those kings which doe not approoue the same , and yet would faine reserue a charitable opinion of her subiects , might know how far to repose themselues in their fidelitie , in ciuill obedience , howsoeuer they seem to be deuided from them in point of conscience . to which his lordsh. so honourable desire , this good father offereth and endeauoureth to giue satisfaction . aman ( if we mistake not his sheepemarke ) of some fame , and note of that side , placed in a degree of preheminence , graced with more then ordinary gifts , confidently conceited of himselfe , and daring to vndertake matters of highest nature ; not withstanding , obseruation is made of him that his boldnes much ouerbalanceth any other his best worth . his said preface of the importune exasperations vsed by diuers to increase our diuision and disagreement about matters of religion is very presumptuous , and altogether censorious , wholly spent in taxing and traducing not onely the particular speeches , or writings of some especiall men of excellent desert in this state , as if whatsoeuer they haue vttered out of the abundance of iust griefe in detestation of the late execrable treason , did wholly proceede from exasperation , exulceration , aggrauation , exaggeration and calumniation , ( for in those high sounding tearmes he beareth his stile aloft ) but also the administration of iustice , the vprightnes of our regiment , the newly enacted penall lawes , as making the state of english catholikes vnder protestant gouernement more miserable and intolerable , than that of the iewes vnder any sort of christian princes , that of the grecians , or christians vnder the turke or persian , or that of bond subiects , vnder the polonians , suetians , and muscouites , onely he confesseth that in two mens writings he findeth more moderation . the one is his maiestie in his speeches , both in parliament , & in proclamations ( whereunto yet he giueth some dash or wipe of exception ) the other is my lord of salisbury in his said answer , to that fond menacing letter , or rather franticke commination which yet ( hee saith ) wanteth not his sting , piercing euen to the quicke . after hee hath thus throughout his many licentious leaues , braued it with exorbitant and exulting phrases , at the last , he falleth in hand with this piece of doctrine occasionally drawne thereunto by the consideration of his lordships said desire , and ( forsooth ) he is the man that must instruct and settle my lords iudgment by his profound resolues , seeming to be moued with pitty , that his honour ( in a matter not appertaining properly to his facultie or profession ) hath beene misled or misinformed by his diuine . before he lancheth into the maine of the matter , he disposeth himselfe malepertly , to make a crosse , or quaere , of the truth of such threatnings and scandalls expressed in the said leters . for ● he pauseth vpon the matter , with his parenthesis ( if any such were ) and after infinuateth his suspition that the same came from the forge of some such as ( altogether with a blowe , to be thereby giuen to all catholikes ) had a desire to draw foorth from his lordship , &c. it seemeth that these laques of the romish faction are very frequently acquainted with such fictions , what destinie can be more disasterous then that the credence , so publikly deliuered by so honorable a person of his place , and eminency in the state ; and of such vnspotted integritie , in the carriage of all causes , and otherwise to bee sufficiently testified also , by the concurrence of sundry mens particular knowledge , must vndergoe the girds and glances of his misdoubts and questioning curiositie ? but leauing the cauilling fellow to his maleuolent surmises ; i will now come to his other presumption , whereby hee vndertaketh to assure and satisfie my lord of the doctrinall position , of deposing soueraignes , wherein ( albeit i well know , that his honour is most able with his sharpe enquirie , and iuditious discerning , to looke into all the secretest corners and hiding places which he can contriue , or reserue in this cause , nequae forte lateat intus garrula cornix , yet not knowing whether his lordship out of his many other most waightie affaires can affoord vnto this vain discourser so much losse of time , as but to read his so idle , & frothy stuffe . i humbly aske leaue of his lordship , 〈◊〉 my meanenes , and weaknes may make aduenture to take him in hand , to charge him , and combate him , in this so high and most important controuersie . but before we come to the core of the question , let it be obserued what good cause he hath to pleade for mittigation , and how well he acteth the part of a mittigator . in the mention which hee maketh of the late powder plot for the suddaine , and vnrecouerable subuersion of our gratious king , and the whole state at once , ( the very cogitation whereof , is as full of horror , as the perpetration thereof , would haue beene of treachery , and atrocitie ) what fit or equiualent tearme hath his mild , and mittigating spirit , deuised to expresse or paint forth the hainousnes thereof ? he doth twice ( for fayling ) iterate vnto vs that it was the temeritie of a few . he could not haue chosen a more easier , or more abating word , if he had beene , to reprooue them for some small misdemeanour against a petty constable : can it be otherwise thought , but that this artist , and tradesman of words , did out of his inclination , and tendernesseof heart , sort out of the gentlest tearme he could find , lest he should seeme too sharpe and sore against them . doth he imagine by such his initigation to persuade the king and realme to tolleration ? the kings councell , learned at the law , in the dinotation and amplification of that vnspeakeable conspiracy , finding it to conteyne so many treasons in one , declared the same to be , as sine exemplo , & sine mode , so also sine nomine . now this rhetoricall father could haue taught them all to haue framed the inditement vpon his so proper name , the treason of temeritie . i can hardly endure his other word ( few ) sauouring of the like mittigation also , yet i know that i shall euen madde him , in telling him the very troth of my thought . hee sayth , that to extend and draw out the hatred and participation of that fault to others of that religion , yea vnto the whole multitude , is a matter of exorbitant iniustice and vntemperate malice . i confesse that he hath herein some aduantage , both by the admirable goodnes and clemency of so louing a soueraigne that suffereth not iealousie to out trunne proofes , and by the deffect of discouerie of the degrees and depths of that designe . yet ( if it bee but to crosse him in the conceit ) hee carrieth , fronting the same in the stile and inscription of his booke . that it is not vnpossible for catholikes and protestants to liue together in dutifull obedience and subiection vnder the gouernment of his maiestie . ( i will let him know ) that for my part , i did long since make it euen an article of my beleefe , that the like plot was rightly to be resembled to the trayne of powder ; wherby it was to haue had his execution , for as one corne thereof would haue fired another , carrying the flash along , till the whole should ioyne together in full force . so vndoubtedly , the maine corps of papacy within this land would haue beene stirred vp being laid in order and prepared by those wicked traynors , and leaders , according as they had contriued , the fire of their treason and rebellion to catch hold , & flame forth . and it may sooner be feared , then it can be known , that ( besides the few powder cornes ditected and disappointed ) there was a longer and stronger traine , yea great and mighty barrells , that would haue beene combined to haue wrought the generall combustion , and dissipation of the whole state . i will rest this point with prayer , that ( howsoeuer there may be vse or necessitie to trust vnto their faithfulnes ) yet that there may neuer be opportunitie , or meanes giuen them for the triall of her infidelitie , and disloyaltie . an other tricke of his running in mittigation , is shewed in the mangling and mincing of the sense and feruency of his lordships speech , hee wholly pretermitteth that part of the recited sentence , which by charging them to haue imployed so many seditious spirits to instruct the vnlearned catholikes in the mysteries of deposing princes , doth the more vrgently presse them by a iust account to make good the causes of such their mischieuons and detestable proceedings . shall i coniecture at his conceite in concealing or withdrawing of these words ? be felt the same to strike into his sides the spurre of guiltines , by the remembrances of his owne notorious offences : who for many yeares hath beene thought a busie instrument of enkindling the simple and deuoted catholikes with the spirit of sedition , and hath beene a detected confederate in the trayterous agences , wherein his subordinate iesuites hath beene so disloyally imployed . wherefore ( though he had no great liking to heare againe the sound of such words , as must conuey an accusing sting into his conscience , yet he thought to lay it heauy vpon him ( as a charge that hee might not well auoyde ) to set forth ( by declaring of the papall right ) some seeming shew in iustification of his owne and his complices , vndue & disloyall dealings . in the rehearsall of the same sentence , he maketh one other omission of these words , inclosed in a parenthesis ( in which it is supposed the pope cannot erre . ) this prero gatiue point of the popes new erring iudgement , hee hath slyly passed by , as not willing to rush vpon that rock , vpon the firmenes and stabilitie whereof , their whole church is bailt , this opinion ( as his lordship truely deliuered ) hath for some ages passed beene receiued , and stifly maintayned by the fawning hindes of the pope , that hath beene accustomed , tribunat romanum lambere , but this good mitigator , finding no coulerable defence against many and wayty arguments , whereby such the transcending exaltation bestowed one his holinesse , is vtterly deiected and ouerthrowne , hath no great liking to passe his affirmation , and assent to that doctrine , which the powers of his wit and learning , is not able to vphold . nay hee hath in this controuersie taken an head , and singled himselfe from the common catholikes , closing hands in conclusion with the protestants . for in this very treatise , he hath affoarded vs this fauour , that popes may erre , yea euen in the articles of faith , yea and become heretickes , and apostataes , and that as popes , that for the same , they may be deposed , and depriued of their papall preheminence , doth he not speake like an honest plaine dealer , as if he would no more adore that i doll of rome ? and as if hee cared not any whit for the triuiall obiections made out of the words of christ vnto saint peter , i haue prayed that thy faith shall not faile : and againe , vpon this rocke ( meaning saint peter ) i will build my church ? nothing more permanent and vnmooueable than a rock , nothing more certaine of effect than what christ prayeth for , and whatsoeuer endowments of gifts or graces was bestowed vpon saint peter , did become the fee-simple and inheritance of the sea of rome . hee that regardeth not these inferences , and allegations so generally allowed and insisted vpon in the church of rome , and which hath hitherunto been vsed as the shoulders of atlas to vphold the earthly heauen of the pope , their earthly god , doth he not giue good hope , that hee will reuolt from papacy it selfe ? but ( notwithstanding these faire shewes ) by the helpe of some of his fellowes , hee hath found out a shifting distinction to winde himselfe out of all the straights , and entrapments , wherewith he seemed to be fettered so vnuoydably , aud this it is . that albeit the popes , as popes may erre , become apostataes and heretikes , yet that god ( as popes ) will neuer permit them , to decree any hereticall 〈◊〉 , to be held by the church , or for the whole church ; what can we say to the subtletie of this distinction ? it is like to the buckler of achilles that had many plates ensolded , one within the other , to giue the more assurance against all blowes or thrusts . it is a fertile and pregnant distinction , it hath these seueral issues of his body begotten . first , that popes as men may erre , and be heretikes , yea and decree hereticall doctrine , but not as popes , for that god will not permit ; it is pretty , but what sure marke or token doth he giue , whereby it may be knowne , what hee doth as pope , or what hee doth as man ? they say that god permitteth not , and we say , that onely god knoweth the difference between his actions , or enactings as pope , and his decisions as man , and so the church resteth vncertaine how farre to be bound . secondly , god may permit popes ( as popes ) to hold hereticall doctrine , but not to decree it , where shall wee finde consistendi locum ? if in their consistory , they shall declare , pronounce , and resolue vpon heretical doctrine , may that amount vnto a decree , we haue had many such decrees reuersed and repeated . thirdly , though god permit popes ( as popes ) to decree an erronious and false doctrine , yet if at any time after ( as if that wild beast euen the bore of the forrest , had reuertendi animum ) he recall or reiect the same , or doth not wittingly ( as against the known catholike truth ) oppose himselfe with peruersitie , that doctrine is not to bee adiudged hereticall , and thereby commeth vnder the couert of the first distinction . fourthly , though god permit popes ( as popes ) to decree any hereticall doctrine , yet doth this distinction affoard one hiding corner more , that the same is not decreed to be held by the church . then let them , at the least , allow vs this footing against the pope , that the church is not bound to maintaine all his decrees . fiftly , though god permit popes ( as popes ) to decree any hereticall doctrine to be held by the church , yet the former distinction is further enriched with this clause , ( taken out of canus ) that god permitteth not that decree for the whole church : as if by the permission of god , the church ( like to the moone ) may bee for the greater part thereof , darkned and seduced by such hereticall decrees of the pope ; yet that the whole church , and euery member of the same , as ( for instance ) the protestant part , which is deuided and departed from the abhominations of rome , is not carried headlong into heresie by any sentence or decree papall sixtly , there is yet included and reserued in this distinction one question more , as conceiued in the wombe , but not expressed in plaine tearmes , which ( at times of exigent when they be pressed ) they forget not to cleaue vnto ; which is , that the church here mentioned , is , and must be the catholike romish church , as if that particular of rome , were the generall of the world , and that the romish alone , had this eminent exception , aboue all other churches , that the members thereof were not to be concluded or enthralled by euery decrees of their head. i cannot yet haue done with this seauen-headed subtle serp̄et , this deceitfull distinction . allow it in his perfectest shape , and close it together in all his ioynts , god permitteth not the pope ( as pope ) to decree hereticall doctrine to bee held by the church , and for the whole church ; what hath all this more then an equiualence to this saying ? god permitteth not the diuell to haue power to destroy the elect and faithfull ? and as when the angell raphaell bound the euill spirit from hurting of tobias , it could not be construed to bee a fauour or a signe of loue vnto that euill spirit : so the not permitting of the pope to decree hereticall doctrine , is no aduancing or aduantage of the papall authoritie from being restrained , or not suffered to doe so grieuous hurts . this may suffice for his distinction , and subdistinctions , like the foxe and the cubbs , vnto which i haue the more respectiuely cast mine eye , because i find this matter of the vnfallibilitie of the popes decrees so closly couched euen to the centure of our question , of his power ouer princes . if i haue beene too long in examining his malam 〈◊〉 in the mittigations and omissions before mentioned , i must ( for excuse ) confesse , that i was well content to take him tardy in that very fault which hee so clamerously vpbraideth to his antigonist master morton , carping and catching at him throughtout his whole book with a triumph of phrases for the very same corruption , ( as he tearmeth it ) though i nothing doubt but hee will sufficiently acquit himselfe of all those friuolous and vniust cauells . the matters that we haue hitherto met with , haue been but introductory , and vpon the bye . now it is meete we look into the maine and substantiall point of doctrine , which ( as if hee were closset-keeper to the pope ) hee confidently deliuereth to be catholike and orthodoxall , inducing his lordship to set vp his rest vpon that vnreprooueable resolution . i protest , that when i first considered how to redvce the question to a true discussable state , i found that i could not draw downe the right proposition , which is to bee controuerted betweene vs in that kind of language which hee speaketh , i found that hee vsed so much glosing , and dilating so many gay shewes and pretences , such cloathing and decking of the cause with well chosen words for the faire carriage of the matter , as that the naked and plaine sence thereof was not easily to be discouered . but after scanning more aduisedly , and breaking the ranke of his words , to looke into his innermost meaning , and matching the same , with that hee must stay if hee will performe his vndertakings , i discerned at the last a sowre pill to bee wrapped vp in a leafe of gold , the doctrine of conspiracy and rebellion against the state and life of princes , cunningly couered ouer with a thicke crust of sweet candie , to relesh the better with the simple , and so to deceiue them with a fore-inducing sweetnes . the proposition must be this , the pope may depose the king , and such his power is approoued of all catholikes . and that appeareth thus , his lordship speaking of the seditious spirits , that instruct the vnlearned in the mysteries of deposing princes , desireth therein some publike and definitiue sentence orthodoxall for cleare explication of such . the popes assumed power , ouer soueraigne princes , therefore if this smooth mittigator will without winding away by circumlocutions , and without his so finely framed tendernesse of phrase , speake ad idem , plainely , and home to the purpose , hee must auouch this to bee a publike definitiue sentence , that the pope hath lawfull power to depose princes , but how doth hee expresse and pronounce this point ? hee is so nice and warie , that hee thinketh not good to name the pope at all , doubting belike that that name is distastfull , but in stead thereof , hee bestoweth on his holinesse the stately stile of supreame gouernour and pastor of the church and common-wealth , repeating the same words sundry times , and purposedly auoiding the other , doth hee not imploy and inferre by this mounting of the pope to the title of supreame gouernour of the common-wealth , that hee is the king of kings , and that princes hold their scepters , as viceroyes , and lieutenants vnder him ? i vnderstand not else how he can close the common wealth within the popes clawes : then again in the like sort , he shunneth the hatefull tearm of deposing , and vseth in the stead therof , restraining , repressing , censuring , or iudging . and lastly he doth very mildly mittigate the rigor of deprauing the name , or depriuing the person of the prince , by applying this power , to the restraining or censuring any exorbitant & pernicious excesse of great men , states or princes , would not any man iudge , that ( being so mannerly , so 〈◊〉 , and cautulous , he were affraid or shamed to fall so fowle vpon princes , as to maintaine the vsurpation of papacy , in deposing of them ? hee setteth not one step in this question , wherein hee doth not doubt , that hee treadeth vpon thornes , yet trusting vpon his two great gifts , facilitie of speech , and boldnesse of face . hee spareth not to tell his lordship that his diuine might easily haue enformed him , that amongst catholike people the matter is cleere , and sufficiently defined , and declared in all points wherein there may bee any doubt concerning this affaire . surely , his lordships deuine , may perhaps concurre in opinion with master morton , and most euidently discerne the consent and adherensie of catholikes in the execrable practise of this proposition , but ( that they haue not agreed in the iudgements and approbation of the point in question ) the direct renouncing and disclayming thereof by some of the best learned of that side , at the time of their suffering of death for treason , doth cleerely and fully make knowne vnto him and all the world . i will not take vpon me to search out and lay together heapes of rapsodies and collections , culled our of their writers to demonstrate their differences in this argument , thereby to disprooue their so pretended agreement in this definitiue sentence ; but i trust to shew the same to be so false , so weake , so washie , and of so little waight , as vpon the ripping and examining thereof , it will euery whit of it fall quite asunder , fayling altogether of all ground , whereupon to stand , and hauing no good props to sustaine or support the same . in the meane while hee may perhaps doe vs a little more good than hee wisheth by his intimation vnto vs , that among catholike people the matter is so cleere , for we are thereby to take notice and warning , how little wee are to trust catholikes , seeing they acknowledge this l. peramount , aboue the kings , & must yeeld their omni-modā obedientiā to that supreame pastor , combining themselues at his beck in al dangerous designes when any pretence is made , that the gouernment of spiritual affaires appertaining to the cath. church , is letted or impugned by our temporall gouernour , for in such case ( saith this learned father ) the said supream pastor hath authority to proceed against the said temporall gouernor , for defence & preseruation of his spiritual charge , had we not need to looke about vs euen with argus eyes , when wee haue so many hands of this briarius to fasten vpon vs at euery turne : euery let of spirituall affaires is punishable by the supreame pastor , and such lets may as easily be imputed or imposed for a crime vpon the temporall gouernour ; here is a good gap opened , and a way made wide enough for the firebrands of sedition , and the contentious discontented , to reuell and route it in a common wealth , to suggest , inform , obiect , and oppose against all magistracy . here againe i must put him in mind of his mittigations and extenuations , in sorting and vsing the gentler , and more pleasing words . what shall we think he meaneth by proceeding against the temporall gouernor ? might he not as well haue said , cite him , censure him , excommunicate him , depose him , and beare him out of his chaire of estate with the horns of a dreadful bull ? if paulus the 3 , or pius the 5 , had had this our mealie mouthed mittigator to haue bin the penman of their bulls , he would rather haue the milder words of proyning or repressing , then the other of extreame and violent ( borrowed from the prophet ieremie ) of destroying and pulling vp by the rootes , yet his kindnesse doth not hold constant , for in after reasonings , when he ioyneth vp issue vpon the true state of the question ; whether the words of the prophet be well applyed by allusion to make good the authoritie of christs successors vpon earth , and whether the forenamed popes by such their arrogant and impudent glosing vpon the text , doth not ( in this forcing and streyning of the scriptures ) peruert the sacred oracles of god , he is content to ioyne with his companions of that feather , in iustification of the right ayplying of the text , for the confirmation of the papall power , of pulling vp and destroying soueraigne gouernours , though indeed ( to doe him right all the reason he vseth , or yeeldeth in defence therof , is onely and barely this . is this so great an impietie thinke you ? then let him giue what allay he listeth to the tartnesse of this doctrine , by his well seasoning thereof with his soft and supple words ; yet as in the practike , the degrees of proceeding against princes doth grow in order ( or rather in disorder ) of consequence by the actuall attempt of their subuersion and destruction , so in the disputatiue to allow him his mittigating tearmes , of redressing or repressing , will by direct inference and necessarie extention , reach to the crowne and life of imperiall maiestie . therefore laying aside all masking and mincing of the matter , by his artificiall vtterance , the cause in controuersie , and to be argued is all one in the words as we put it , whether the pope may depose the prince , and in the words , as this shye and slye discourser will needes haue it , whether the supreame pastor may reftraine the exorbitant and pernicious excesse of great men , &c. now that we haue the right questioned proposition , set downe plainely , and stripped of that rhetoricall array which dazled our eyes from discerning the true vnderstanding and intention thereof , wee may proceede to the considering and sifting of the reasons , deuised and alleadged for the maintenance of this assertion : neuerthelesse it is not my purpose , nor standing with my profession ( being no diuine , and scant a scholler ) to looke into all the sinewes and veines of this question , to the vttermost spread and extent thereof , it toucheth vpon some principles of naturall reason , it also runneth through the course of histories of all ages and countries , it is triable by many rules and examples , both in the old and new testament , it wanteth not the censure of the old doctors , and fathers of the church . it is handled cunningly , and mystically , by the popes minions , the canonists . it must abide a canuasse amongst the sophisticating schoolemen : finally , it hath beene by the moderne handlers of controuersie , argued with much skill and strength of wit. i haue no intent to leade along this question , through all the parts of learning . i will willingly leaue the loade , and tugge off such multiplicity , or rather vniuersalitie to his good hand , and dexterity of handling , who is already interessed and engaged thereunto , and no doubt well prouided , and most accomplished , i meane , mr morton , against whom this popish volume is addressed , in refutation of his former learned and religious treatise . my endeauours in this cause , be confined onely to that part of the preface , in the which ( concerning this question ) that dissembling authour , hath set forth the catholike opinion , accompanyed , and garded with some reasons , to confirme and strengthen the same , pretending thereby to let his lordship know , that the point whereof hee resteth doubtful , is amongst them reduced to a generall resolued certainety ; the opinion it selfe what it is indeed , or what it ought to be , in the direct opposition , or ( as he presumeth ) satisfaction to his lordship hath beene already sufficiently debated , and laid downe . his reasons to cogere assensum be two ; one , that this assertion is founded in the very law of nature , and nations , the other is also maintainable by the authoritie , prouidence , and ordinance of our sauiour christ : for declaration of his first reason , hee setteth forth , that in the common-wealths that are not christians , all philosophers , law-makers , senators , councellors , historiographers , and all other sorts of soundest wisedome , prudence , and experience , either iew , or gentile , haue from the beginning of the world concurred in this , that god and nature , hath left sufficient authoritie in euery common wealth , for the lawfull and orderly full repressing of these euills , euen in the highest persons ; so what a cloude of witnesses hee hath brought out with one breath , and yet no more for the proofe of his purpose , than the casuall confluence or concourse of democritus his motes , did serue to make solide bodies or concreate substances . in this obiection he and i are as sarre a 〈◊〉 , as is from rome to london , nay , as farre as the 〈◊〉 is from the west , where he saith , all common wealths philosophers , law-makets , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hers , and all sorts of 〈◊〉 dest wisedome , iew or gentile , &c. i on the other side , will be centent to make the like pompious and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : of all common-wealths , lawn published or professed , that by any ordinary authority , such redresse as herein is meant by deposition of princes , or highest persons , was , or might be , lawfully , reasonably , or iustly , had , vsed , or exercised . i am not ignorant , that hauing in this challenge put my felfe vpon the negatiue , and so giuen to him so large a scope of aduantage , as to disprooue my generality , with any one affirmatiue instance , it behooueth me to hold my selfe close to that very point which i require to be fully prooued ; therfore once againe ( so he will take in for a fauor that i doe ease him of the great taske which hee hath vndertaké to shew , that all common wealths , philosophers , &c. wherin his friends may pitty him for presumption , in proposing impossibilities ) i redouble it vnto him thus , that he cannot produce from al the infinity of learning , any one president , prophane or sacred , whereby it may appeare , that by any publikely authorised orders , there was euer any standing and ordinary direction , and power , for the deposing of lawfull princes against their wills from their inheritable rights of soueraignty ; i say lawfull princes to meet with the obiections he is like to cloy vs with , of some princes , who by reason of their naturall impotencies , were accounted vncapable or vnlawfull , & of other some , who acquiring kingdomes by the sword inuasion , may be deemed vnlawfull , and so with like force & violence , to be repressed and expelled . likewise i haue added ( inheritable rights ) as well because that fitteth our state , ( in whose bowels this debate hath so dangerously striuen ) as also to cut off from him the feeding supplies of his error , which are the electiue governments , wherein perhaps now & then vpon breaches of contracted condition there hath ensued deprauation from the possessed dignitie , ( yet those deprauations for the most part ) haue beene in tumult , violence , and disorder , factiously , and mutinously performed , without any reguler or iuridical course , agreeable to the tenure of the lawes of that place . 〈◊〉 added ( against their wills ) both because this enforcement from the pope is of that nature , and vpon purpose to disfurnish him of some examples , wherein i foresee how triumphantly he would haue gloried . for we doe not deny but there hath beene many resignations vpon due consideration had by those suppressed princes , of the many acknowledged , and vnanswerable defects , or offences in their regiment , and of the vndigestable dislike conceiued by the subiects of such their misgouerning and abusing superiority . besides , i must 〈◊〉 him with an other caueat , that neither the romane , turkish , nor any such emperours will serue the turne , for instances in this case , because ( to say nothing of their forceable acquirings for the most part of such their imperiall feares ) their deposing hath bin executed by strong hand , & rather by the fury of armed soldiers , than by any ordinary censure , or proceeding of law or iustice ; much lesse is hee to alleadge or propound any 〈◊〉 , wherein priuate or phanaticall spirits , out of humor & 〈◊〉 reuenge , reward , or glory , haue attempted or 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of hostile , & bloudy assault , vpon the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of soueraignes . hee must ( for very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the mention of such , left the may by naming vnto vs either the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that 〈◊〉 k. henry of france , was by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 and acclamations , or the english 〈◊〉 , who of a deuotion to the pop 〈◊〉 faction , poysoned king iohn of england : yea , he might so bring in diuers popes & cardinals , that haue in such good zeale destroyed and made away princes and emperors . i am yet to 〈◊〉 him a little shorter , i must take from him , his discoursing vaine of mitigating , and blanching the matter , in a disguise of some selected phrases , whereby hee intendeth to aduantage himselfe . for example , when we are at this issue , whether there hath euer beene in any common-wealth , any sufficient authoritie left by god , and nature , for the lawfull and orderly deposing of princes , hee inserteth the repressing of euils , euen in the highest persons , so that when hee shall bee put to it , and the weight of his vndertakings is likely to breake his backe , or his braine ; then will hee take the benefite of this shift , of repressing of euills euen in the higeest , and rather then faile of matter , tell vs a stale tale of the ephori , or tribuni , and such like politike constitutions tendering the liberties , or safety of the people , against the cruell oppressions , or encrochments of the mightie placed in authoritie : neither is it yet my mind at this time , against the vniuersall affirmatiue of all countries , all philosophers , &c. or the decrees of law-makers , or the sage sayings of senatoricall states-men , or the reports and obseruations of historiographers , poets , and orators , 〈◊〉 and proouing the trueth of our contradiction . all the worthy sentences and examples in 〈◊〉 of best acccount , either expressing the excelencie , and maiestie of soueraigntie , or the 〈◊〉 and submissiue demeanour of subiects , are aplyable to this theame , and would easily bee wrought , and as it were , embroydered into the contexture of a treatise vpon this subiect . to that which resteth in this assertion , auouching that god and nature hath left sufficient authoritie in euery common-wealth , &c. i pleade ignorance of his meaning , not vnderstanding ( except hee meaneth the creation , in which sense hee should haue said , god in nature , or by nature ) how god should leaue or institute any such authoritie , but by his reuealed word . i trust hee will not obtrude vnto vs , any long concealed or closited tradition , or any iuggling tricke of reuelation , and vnwritten veritie , wherewith the christian world hath beene so notoriously 〈◊〉 ; and i am sure , that in the written law of god , there is not any sillable sounding so harshly ( or rather horribly ) as to giue any order or rule , to dispoyle princes of their diadems , or to depose the anoynted of god. now for nature , if shee haue any part in the frame and workemanship of the publique body of the state , as shee hath in the particular and naturall bodies of men , certainely shee hath allowed the like right to the head of the common-wealth , as shee hath done to the head of this fleshly fabrifacture . doeth not the inferiour members , patiently , and without repugnance , beare all the offences and surcharges , descending vpon them from the head ? is there in nature any so much as desire ( much lesse meanes ) of remoouing or repressing of the head ? i acknowledge that medicines are often applyed for the curing of the griefes and diseases of the head but what more ready course is either deuised in 〈◊〉 , or assented vnto by nature , for the cure of the infirmities and faults of the head , then to vnload the annoyances thereof vpon the subiected parts of the body ? will you examine another degree of the opperation of nature ? next vnto the body it selfe , is the issue and off-spring of the bodie , what bounds of dutie hath nature made of the children towards the father ? hath shee left any such law or libertie , that in any respects the childe may renounce or disclaime his parents ? yea , though the father should ( as oft as out of iudgement hee doth ) cast off or disinherite his sonne ? let vs now but applyingly remember , that the prince is pater patriae , the father of the countrey ; then will our cogitations aptly accommodate this similitude in nature , vnto the dutious dependancy of the subiect vpon the person of the soueraigne , with a true naturall relation and recognition of all loue and obedience , hauing from nature ( out of the resemblance of these two paternes ) no other law , then parendi & patiendi . where shall we find more representatiue obedience of natures intentions and operations , then in these originals and fountaines of loue ? then from what stepdames milke hath hee sucked this impuritie of opinion , that nature hath left some sufficient authoritie in euery common-wealth for the repressing &c. i will not deny but that there be some axioms of reason , ingrauen in our nature , which perhaps ( being not rightly vnderstood ) hath occasioned this imputation and slander against nature , omnis natura est conseruatrix sui quisque sibi melius vult quam alteri , f●●●e nequimus eum qui infert iniuriam , and the like ; which as they argue a sense and sting in nature , to vpholde our owne welfare , to feede our owne humour , to further our owne desires , to hate our enemies and wrong doers ; so they must admit the brideling limitation and exposition of reason , which also nature hath giuen to rule the rest , that all the foresayd priuate , and indiuiduall respeets , must haue no place in the question of our naturall obligation to superiours , as fathers , and of our naturall vnion in the communitie of humane societie ; for the preseruation whereof , nature hath ordeined gouernment , and the soueraigntie thereof to bee sacred and inuiolable . the want of vpright consideration heercof , hath oftentimes been cause of precipitation in vntempered and ill gouerned natures , when seeking to serue their owne purposes in matters of affection or faction , they will easily make pretences of wrong to become auengers thereof against whatsoeuer lawfull authoritie . there bee too many such combinations in all countreys , wherein euery sect or side ( with intention to aduaunce that part whereunto it is 〈◊〉 ) doth dreame of these redresses and repressings of their opposites , extending their strength , and endeauour euen to the highest persons . such , actions or pretences haue no more ground in 〈◊〉 , then if any adulterer should maintaine his 〈◊〉 by the 〈◊〉 pronenesse of appetite ; the thiefe by the naturall instinct of prouiding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the murtherer , by the naturall 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of reuenge : but we stand assured , that whatsoeuer nature by her vncorrupted rules , doth induce or perswade vs vnto , touching our duties in morall actions , the same , as it was written by the finger of god , in the heart of man , at the creation , so was it also reduced , and comprised by the wisedome of god , into the tables of the morall law , in the which for as much , as we haue an expresse commandement , of honor and obedience to gouernors that must remaine fixed in our hearts , to hold vs firme in the bond of allegiance : then let p. r. and all his conjoyned catholikes , ( as hee vaunteth ) make it plaine vnto vs , that eyther nature hath implanted , or the commandements of god haue enioyned , therepressing or deposing of such princes , vppon any exceptions , surmizes , or accusations whatsoeuer : as for the law of nations , because that is but secundary and derivatiue , from the other , what hath beene averred of the one , holdeth the same respect and certainty , as doth the roote it selfe , from whence it issueth , yet before wee depart from this argument of natures working , i haue to note that this cunning and curious composer of bookes , and contriuer of cases , doth in this his chiefe proposition , worke himselfe quite out of the question , and putteth the pope cleane out of the doores , for the question being of the power of the pope , that is of the power , authority , and iurisdiction of a forraine commander , and iudge , he telleth vs , that god and nature , hath left some sufficient authority in euery common-wealth , &c. which directly maketh the popes preheminency with vs altogether needelesse , and a very nullity , sith ( by his owne sayings ) and that more agreeable to reason , there is sufficient authority within the land , ( not requiring any his 〈◊〉 or vsurpations ) to the gouerning of that body , which is of it selfe compleate and liueth by the vigor , spirit , and powerfull opperation of his owne soule , his lawfull soueraigne : thus is the pope ( as touching the first reason , drawne from the law or right of nature , or nations ) either left out by him , or cast out by me , from repressing of princes , or 〈◊〉 himselfe within these our countries or territories . the second reason bringeth a better commission , that will make way through all repugnances , it is inforced in the name and authority of christ himselfe , and it is thus chayned together for impregnable strength , christ was to found is common-wealth of christians the farre more perfection , then other states had before been establishe , subjecting temporall things to spirituall , and appointing a supreame vniuersall gouernour in the same , with a generall charge to looke to all his sheepe ; without exception of great or small , people , or potentates : therefore hee inferreth that the supreame care , iudgement , direction , and censure , of the matter in question , was left by christ vnto the sayd supreame 〈◊〉 or pastor of his church , and common-wealth : but it was doubted whether this power was committed to the supreame pastor directly , and immediatly , or indirectly , and by consequence : the canonists out of the commission vnto st. peter , pose ones meas , do hold the direct and immediate authority , charge , and ouersight , in temporallities . the catholike diuines ( vpon whom the brunt and pressure by 〈◊〉 , must bee sayed ) haue thought it safer , to chuse the indirect and consequentiall , which they expresse in this manner : when the gouernment of spirituall affaires , is impugned by any temporall gouernors ; so as the sayd spirituall commission , cannot be executed without redresse or remedy , 〈◊〉 and in such cases , the said supreame pastor , is to haue authority to proceede against the temporall gouernors ; also , for the defence and preseruation of his spirituall charge , but both parts fully are agreed , that there is such authority left by christ in his church , for remedy of vrgent causes , otherwise he should not haue sufficiently prouided for the necessity thereof . here is goodly building of castles in the ayre , castles did i say ? nay , of the tower of babell , in the steede of the city of god , christ ( sayth hee ) was to found his common-wealth of christians , in farre more perfection then other states , &c. why christs intentions , erections and perfections were all to saue sinners , and to bring them vnto heauen , what proofe is this that hee was to found the popish hyerarchy , or the antichristian monarchy ? and what is this farre more perfection , &c. is it an outward pompe or power , to chayne and fetter princes , vnder a temporall obedience of a spirituall vsurper ? what is this same subjecting of temporall things to spirituall , is it to make a minister or bishop of heauenly matters , tyrannous and rampant , ouer the temperall states , setting their imperiall feete vppon the neckes of lyons and dragons ? what is the nature , end , and eminency , of the spirituall kingdome of christ , is it any other then the preaching of the gospell , the way of salvation , and the possessing of euerlasting life ? then what straightnesse , what extractions , doth the limbeckes of their braines ( bewitched with temporall vanities ) make of a worldly rule , and dominion ? he was to appoint one supreame and 〈◊〉 gouernor , &c. we on the other side constantly denying this their principle , doe easily bring them to the end of their wits ; yet wee will pocket vp one confession in this place , which hee is likely to forsake , and not acknowledge another time : in more perfection ( sayth hee ) then other states had before beene established , acknowledging thereby , that vnder the law , and in the old testament , the temporall was not subject to the spirituall . hath hee not well collected and conected his propositions to bring out this grand conclusion of superiority ouer princes ? doth he not neede a distinction of proofe , to make these parts that cleaue like sand to hold together , against the breach which wee are to make vppon him ? his distinction of direct , or indirect , shal be directly anoyded and his great mace , which hee beareth vp in his march of state , of ordine ad deum must bee directed and ordered to a better sence ; and his commission of pasce , shall bee examined how farre it can authorize him to assume the pretented power : if hee will but thanke me for it , i will befriend him a little with my directions : i will chalke him out his way , with a straight line , by the which hee must be brought and passe along , if he desireth to come right vppon the conclusion . i will distribute his journey into seuerall baytings , or reposes , otherwise called common places : i doubt it will prooue a long labour , and very troub esome to carry his commission along with him , hee is like to venture himselfe in many straights , and hazardable passages , and will be often stayed by the kings watch , but more often foundred by the rubs , and roughnesse of the way , which hee is to walke through : he must begin and set forth at this poynt . 1 that christ purposing to found his common-wealth of christians in farre more perfection &c. hath appoynted the same to be an absolute monarchy , vnder one supreame and vniversall governour , visible , eminent , and knowne as the head on earth , in all causes of christs kingdome . 2 next who that individuall person is , whom christ appointed to be such a monarche , and by what commission is he assigned thereunto , and by what words thereof can he challenge the obedience of all the subiects or christians in that common-wealth ? 3 whether if st. peter be affirmed to be the said monarche , what can be alledged for his superiority , that is not equally communicable to the rest of the apostles , ioyntly or severally , by the like authorizement ? 4 whether st. peter was more especially appointed the chiefe apostle for both iewes and gentiles ; if for the iewes , how came it , that st. paul reproved him for misleading the iewes ? if for the gentiles , why was st. paul by a publike consent and counsell nominated to be the apostle of the gentiles , who at rome planted the church , and from whom the succession is most proper . 5 whether st. peter ever came at rome ? sith there is evident demonstration by computing the times and places of his abode , during his life after christs ascension , that he could not be there at all by any coniecture , as by the epistles of st. paul is evicted . 6 allowing that st. peter was at rome , was he not there as an apostle and so no more appropriate to that place then to the whole world ? 7 being an apostle , how came he to be chiefe , yea the vniuersall pastor over both iewes and gentiles ? except such his pastorship were rather apostolicall then episcopall ? if his 〈◊〉 were apostolicall , then all the apostles had interest thereunto as well as he : if episcopall , did he renounce or relinquish his apostleship to erect a new state or seate of an 〈◊〉 bishop , neuer mentioned in the scripture , and of a larger extent and dominion then the apostleship , and by what warrant and authoritye did he so ? 8 if he did found any such episcopall eminencie vniversall over all the churches of the world , and that invested in his owne person , why may it not be thought , that such his episcopall function was setled vpon him rather at antioch , where his chiefest abode was ( after his departure from ierusalem ) then at rome ? 9 whether in case he preferred rome before antioch , ierusalem and other places , ( whereof there is no apparant proofe or certainty , ) is that successive seare established at rome , of the like and the same power , vertue , and veritie , as was conferred on his owne person ? 10 whether such supposed succession were afixed to the place , or aplied to the persons ? 11 whether if the succession were applied to the place , was it not cut off and discontinued when there was no vniuersall bishop refiant at rome ? which for some hundreths of yeares after christ , and since the vsurpation papall for a long time together hath come to passe ? 12 if the succession were in the persons , did not the abominable wickednes of life , or the open profession of atheisme , arianisme , coniuration , and contracting with the deuill , damnable doctrines of all sorts , and hereticall positions , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by such persons ; yeain their cathedra , dissolve the said succession ? and what 〈◊〉 they make for pope ioane , whose stay standeth vnrefuted ? 13 moveover he 〈◊〉 me what became of this 〈◊〉 ; and where that common-wealth of christians ( as they will needs calbit , that they may make themselues common wealths men ) could finde there one 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 governor , when there were two , three , or 〈◊〉 such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at once ? 14 yet we haue not done questioning with him , this great 〈◊〉 of doubts must resolve vs how it commeth to 〈◊〉 that the 〈◊〉 persian , 〈◊〉 russian , 〈◊〉 , and other 〈◊〉 churches , haue not beene made 〈◊〉 with this 〈◊〉 mentall part of doctrine , that christ hath ordayned the bishop of rome the supreame and vniuersall pastor of the whole common-wealth of christians , which he hath 〈◊〉 and founded ? 15 he is also to 〈◊〉 himself of an answere to another question , whether the succesors of s. peter ( were it once agreed vppon ) who they were , clement , linus , cletus , or 〈◊〉 , did over hold or exercise any ditivation of authority from st. peter over 〈◊〉 and other apostles that survived st. peter in the church or did they or any of them striue for superioritye with them , yea rather did they not yeeld vnto them ? 16 besides , this 〈◊〉 diving determinor in divinity doubts , must take into his consideration what warrantize of any lawful vocation , election , and ordinatiō , the succeeding bishops of rome can avow or maintain , sith no man may take on him any 〈◊〉 ministery or 〈◊〉 but in that regular and 〈◊〉 manner . and whether such their calling to their ministeriall offices , and pastorall charge , were ordinary , or extraordinary , the difference in the admissions and choyce of such bishops which sometimes was by substitution of the proceeding bishop , sometimes by election of the people , and in later times by the suffrages of cardinals , and sometimes by meere intrusion , giveth cause to move this question . 17 what reasons can be pretended or alledged , why if both christ and st. peter intended the succession of bishops onely in that sea of rome , 〈◊〉 there hath new titles beene taken vp , of patriarke 〈◊〉 , and then of supreame head of the church , and then of papa or pope , which seemeth to inferre an alteration , or else an augmentation of the power or charge , first conferred by christ or st. peter vppon that sea ? and so consequently a question , whether the latter diuised titles be likewise authorized from christ ? 18 doth it not behoue that this so pregnant a patron of papacy , doe cleare all causes touching the interruption and discontinuance of the supposed succession of popes ; whereof ( some hauing before beene propounded ) it shall not be amisse to cast him one bone more , to whet his teeth or witt vppon , i would know whether ( after cannons , and constitutions made by his holinesse , and ratyfied by councells , touching the lawfull election , and admittance of the bishop of rome ) if a pope enter vnduly , and contrary to such orders and cannons , by simony , bribery , faction , yea with strong hand , or any other corrupt courses , may notwithstanding be held and reputed a lawfull pope ? and the acts by him done , the carnalls by him made , and the decrees or trans-actions of his time , shall bee adiudged as to stand in the right of christs vicar on earth ? are not in such cases , the linckes of the chaine tying together the succession broken , or let loose sith in the particulers ( in whom the same should be continued ) such elections and ordinations , are adiudged intrusions and vsurpations , yea vtterly voyde and very nullities ? 19 yet i must make him a little more worke with other questions , what is the cause that for so long a space of 600. yeares after christs assention , this position of the romish supremacy , and vniuersall head-ship , ( if it were so evident and demonstratiue from christs owne appointment , as this bold bragger would haue vs to beleeue ) was neither by the fathers of the primitiue church , nor by any generall councels , approoued or ratified . 20 i am disposed to offer him another objection like a blocke to stumble at , which neuer any papist yet well passed ouer , but he brake his shin against it ; and that is the opinion and censure of gregory the great , bishop or rather patriarke of rome , how did hee inuey against that tytle of vniuersall bishop , as an arrogant stile , calling iohn patriarke of constantinople , the fore-runner of antichrist for assuming of such a title or authority : may it not stagger this stout champion of popery to heare from the mouth of a successor of st. peter , such a detestation of that stile , as antichristian , which is auouched to haue beene the ordinance of christ , yet did bonifacius that succeeded him , ambitiously affect nd accept the very same appellation giuen to him from phocas the emperour 600 yeares after christ , as is sayd before . 21 here , if i should let in vpon him a sea of proofes , that the pope is clearely convicted to be not a fore-runner ( as gregory speakes ) but the very same antichrist described by so many particularities in daniel the appocalips , in st. paul and other places of the holy scripture , he would neuer be able to scape drowning , but would be so over-whelmed in those depthes , that hee could neuer more get forth , yea , or stirre either hand or foote , for his swimming to any shore ; and the great disputant could then hold his breath no longer in this question euen sinking downe to the bottome after all his strength spent in vaine , by striuing to hold vp his head . 22 now , to draw to the issue in hand , wee must trouble him to make manifest vnto vs , what is the true extent of this so high power and vniuersall charge in st. peter , or any other his successors , and whether the same do include any temporall iurisdiction , and entermedling in civill causes , to the deciding , iudging , or ordering thereof ? 23 lastly , to bring him home to his rest , and to the ground whereupon hee must reare his foundation , hee must euict by proofe , that the supreame , vniuersall , romane , bishop , by force or tenor of any commission giuen by christ , and transferred vnto st. peter , and so diriuatiuely and successiuely conueyed ouer to him , may censure , iudge , or depose princes , taking vppon him the decision of regall rights , assayling of subiects from obedience , animating at home rebellion are from abroad invasion , and that vnder protext of aduancing of the ecclesiasticall regiment of soules , and the good of catholike religion . this is the highest ladder of the popes eminency , to the which exaltation , hee cannot otherwise assend then by these stayres and steps , before rehearsed , which must lead him vp to his lofty consistoriall chayre : if any of these stayres bee loose and faile him , hee falleth vnrecouerably , and shall neuer bee able to assume the power , which hee pretendeth himselfe to bee lawfully possessed of . but when of all these exceptions and interruptions cast in his way , hee can cleare or assure not any one , his presumption in taking so much vppon him , will but argue his all daring boldnesse ; and his striking close to the conclnsion , when the premises runne another way will make euen children to scoffe at the want of judgement in his so great vndertakings . by these few indissoluable questions ( amongst infinite others ) for all the world knoweth what a world of doubts , and what a sea of controuersies , is encompassed in this cause . this p. r. or rather r. p. ( if hee would be better knowne ) that would seeme to bee so iudicious in his resolues , and so modest and moderate in his assertions , might haue beene put in minde to stay his confidence in concluding so magistraliter , that case , with his peremptory est amen , which hath so many stopps , windings , and euen breake necke passages , as hath hetherto perplexed , and plunged the whole alphabet of their owne authors . by that time , that he hath runne through the explication and proofe of the particuler difficulties before propounded , hee will somewhat slacke , the heate of his audacious affirmations , and to let him know that this poynt , ( as wee now propound it and debate it ) is not amongst the catholike wrighters themselues , so clearely and generally agreed vppon as hee avoucheth ( for hee sayth ) that in this there is no difference of opinion , or beleefe in any sort of catholikes whatsoeuer , ( so they bee catholikes ) i must remember him ( if hee forget not his owne name , yea and his nick-names too , ) that in the bitter contentions , and fiery conflicts , betweene the priests and the iesuites , a principall matter of their variance was this , that the priests vtterly condemned this turbulent , and sedicious opinion of the iesuites . that the pope might and ought to intermeddle in the temporall rights and preheminencies of princes , and that he had a powre to depose and deiect them at his pleasure . doth not william watson the priest in his booke of quidlibets bestow a whole chapter with much earnestnes of spirit , and variety of arguments , vpon this very subiect , making in the same this r. p. the obiect of his scornings and revilings ? doth he not in many places of that worke impute all the causes of the many troubles and extremities which they vndergoe in england to the violent spirits , and treacherous practizings of the iesuites , who neglecting or despising the ministeriall function , are become meere statists , and negotiating factors of the sea of rome , disturbing the quiet of all countryes where they be entertained , and working wicked stratagems and damnable devices against soveraigne princes ? hath hee so soone forgotten , or can hee so bold'y dissemble , in what sort the said priests vncased and discovered him for his many notorious and scandalous intermedlings in 〈◊〉 ? perhaps he will say that they be no catholikes , for so he enterposeth ( if they be catholikes ) he dareth not to lop away at once so many chiefe lims , so many strong armes , yea such stocks and plants of the popish religion , though the said priests doe not feare or spare to affirme , that the iesuites are not any certaine order or vocation in the church , being rather to be reckoned ( as their vse and imployment is ) to be lay-men , states-men , busie-bodies , pragmaticall agents beyond all limits of any spirituall calling ) yet it is necessary , ( if he will constare sibi ) to stand to it , that ( seeing they vary from him , in this part of doctrine ) they be no catholikes , because in this refusing and refuting of his majesties distinction of the difference of papists , he expresly affirmeth , that he that holdeth not all and every article assented vnto and established in the church , he is not to be accounted catholike , acording to st. augustine . catholicum is constered to be secundum totam , and not secundum partem , i will leaue the priests to defend that they be better catholikes then he , notwithstanding this discrepance and my selfe will revert to the parting place where occasion was taken to make this digression . there is offered for plea the words of the institution , and the very authenticall enstallment made by christ himselfe , pasce oues me as which words include ( say they ) acording to catholike exposition , not only authority to feede , but to governe also , direct , restraine , cure , represse , and correct when neede is . allow that these words doe appoint and institute a pastorall charge ( which is a geminall vnderstanding thereof ) yet such charge is not thereby more appropriate to peter , then to other apostles , but if they so far tender out the same , to make them beget vnto vs a pastor , of pastors , a bishop , of bishops , a supreame and soveraigne governor of the whole church , i may not yeeld their logick such libertie , as to conclude so vnconsequently . againe allow that in this commission and charge every pastor were required not only to instruct the sheepe of his fold with wholesome doctrine of faith , but also to have an eye to their life and conversation to reprove them , admonish them , and censure them with ecclesiasticall discipline , what is that to the governing in secular affaires , or to the claime of such an vnlimmited power by the popes intrusion ? i may not yeelde to their rhetoricke , such a preuayling or perswading power , as that where they cannot shape so much as a shadow , there they shall erect and create the true substance , of a more then monarchiall principallity : it is heere auouched , that catholike exposition includeth within this worde , pasce the commission of gouerning also . therefore many catholikes that will rather hazard the exclusion of his ( if they bee catholikes ) then they will condiscend to this interpretation . a graue and profound catholike , one of the pillers of papacy , cardinall baronius being to animate and confirme his holinesse proceedings , against the venetians for their great sinne , of executing iustice , against men of clericall habit , in causes criminall , and ciuilly punishable , passed ouer this text of pasce , as not sufficiently seruing the turne , to prooue the popes right of jurisdiction in such t̄eporall affaires ; and thereuppon interpreting and applying the same restrictiuely , to the teaching function , made choyce of a fitter peece of scripture , to accommodate vnto that case , and to put into the popes hand , for the justification of that excesse of his authority : hee maketh the office of st. peter to be two-fold , the first of feeding and teaching , comprised in the word , pasce , the other of correcting , and chastifing contayned in the words of christ , vsed in the vision of the beasts presented to peter , occide et manduca , kill and eate : you see that hee was content to leaue that leane and pining application of pasce , and to finde out a more stinging text , that might pierce to the very quicke of the cause , doth not this same ( occide et manduca ) giue authority to draw blood , putting the sword into his holinesse hand , to execute at his will and pleasure , such as hee shall recon , beasts without exception of great and small , people or potentates , is it not made evident thereby that all sorts of people whatsoever , cleane or vncleane , high or low , friend or foe , are as it were tyed and bundled vp together , and so subiected and abiected at his feete , to feed vpon , and satiate his devouring appetites ? it maketh no matter for the proper sense of the text , ( figuring and signifying iew , or gentile ) the wrest and streine thereof serveth best to his purpose , cutting even to the core of this question . old father barronius in his dreame , espied more then young s. peter could apprehend by vision : he hath found and inferred out of that place , that which st. peter if hee lived to this day ( except his successors did teach him ) could never have gessed at , the excommunication , and further degradation of states and soueraignes . in the same his encoraging advice to his holinesse ( which i rather recount , because it so evenly matcheth with their moderne divinity ) hee stirreth vp the fainting spirit of the pope with a memento te positum esse in petram , remember that thou art placed for rocke , whosever rusheth against thee shall be crushed all to peeces . therefore where his holinesse layeth a heavie hand to his fulminating censures , there no resistance , rescue , or reliefe , can availe to defend from destruction . for this prophesie is as fitly appliable to the viear of christ , as it was directly and properly referred to christ himselfe . thus this learned cardinall bestowed vpon his holinesse as he were the very image and character of christ vpon earth the self-same attribute , and exaggeration vsed in scripture , to set forth the might and dignity of our redeemer . nay further , hee will needs comfort the pope with the application of that to his person in perticuler , which christ assured to his whole church in generall , that the gates of hell shall not prevaile against him , and will earthly princes then persume to shut his holinesse out of dores ? hee that hath a power over hell it selfe , shall not he commaund and over-rule the earth ? these beeing the proude and prophane conceits which they have of that idoll of rome ( their imagined lieutenant of christ ) they draw not only from the spouse of christ the rich ornaments of her glory to deck that bewitching harlot with , but also hold it no robberie , to enrobe the man of sinne with the gracefull and blessed titles of the sonne of god , for which so luciferian and blasphemous arrogatings , i doubt it will not be made good and verified , that the gates of hell shall not be shut against him . i must confesse , that i like better of the simplicitie of our mitigator , in misliking vpon the poore probability of reason picked out of the word ( pasce ) and that rather by a consequence , then by any direct induction , then i doe of the affected and vnserchable subtilty of this cardinall , and some others , who studying for vnwonted straynes , and forcings , doe cast beyond the moone to magnifie or dignifie his holinesse aboue the sunne , i will be bold to set downe some more of these deepe digged and far-fetched argum̄ets , not with any purpose to vouchsafe them any time , or paines for answere , but euen to admire , if not exclaime at the impious and presump tuous absurdity , of such their so frivolous and most strange inferences ; pope bonifacius the eight ( that layd the first stone of this babilonian building ) out of the words of christ vnto his disciples , in the twenty two of st. luke ( they sayd vnto him , behold here are two swords , christ answered it is sufficient . ) by these two swords ( sayth boniface ) christ meaneth the spirituall and temporall , both the which are left by our sauiour , for the defence and preseruation of his church ; and because there would be no order , but mutiny , tumult , and confusion , if these swords should not well agree , therefore there must needes be employed , and intended by christ , a subjection , and subalteration of the one sword vnto the other , and both depending vpon one supreame command . from this supposed authority of christs leauing and recommending both swords vnto his church , boniface tooke vppon him the power of both swords , and caused to be passed as an article of faith that the pope is supreame , ouer both estates , spirituall and temporall , and shortly after in a iubile , publikly shewed himselfe , with a key in one hand , and a sword in the other . and that hee may the better maintaine , the taking of the sword , hee further argueth , that one of the swords , was his prodecessors st. peters sword , ( it being well knowne that peter had a sword ; because christ sayd vnto him put vp thy sword ( shall i neede to make any refutation of this collection , or assertion ? being declared not as positiue out of the word , but expository , by a sence which the pope assumeth ? let me yet gather vp this note by the way , that it was good fortune , that christ did command st. peter to put vp his sword , else perhaps the sharpenesse and weight thereof , had long since light vppon the heads , and neckes of princes , as well as it cut off the eare of malchas : for the same pretence which occasioned him to draw vppon malchas in rescue and maintainance of his maister christ might incite the high courages of his supposed successors to bee as actiue with their blades and forces , for the support and furtherance ( as they alledge ) of the christian faith and religion , impugned , or impeached by temporall potentates . i would now know of maister p. r. whether hee accounteth the exposition and decree of bonifacius the pope , to bee catholike and orthodoxall , if hee doe not , wee also will take ( by his example ) the like liberty of acceptance or dislike in any the articles of faith , concluded and adiudged by his holinesse : if hee doe , then what neede hee bee so slye and mistrustfull in affirming the same doctrine , absolueth also , without any distinctions and cooling quallifications , as if hee were either ashamed of confession or afraid of conviction ? when hee hath such an argument ab authoritate to a rest him to stand vnto it ? why should hee ( i say ) runne about the bush , with a commission direct and indirect , when hee cannot but know that bonifacius was resolute in opinion , that his power ouer princes , and in temporallities was absolute without any oblique consequence , or respectiue dependency , jumping therein plainly , and fully with the canonists , papa est dominus totius orbis directe in temporalibus . how would this so well tempered and timorous mitigator bee brought to iustifie the hautinesse of pope clament the fifth , successor to bonifacius , who not satisfied with the rule and command ouer temporall and earthly states , did brauely adventure , by his papall bull , expressely to enioyne , and command angels to execute his will : me thinketh i should aske him also whether hee will hold consonancy of iudgement with his owne country-man , and good friend the renowned cardinall allen , who in his appology for the english catholikes , out of the miraculous working of st. peter mentioned in the fifth of the acts , of sentencing to suddaine death ananias and saphira , doth no lesse miraculously wring out this great ministery of excommunicating , censuring , and other proceedings against princes . there is no parcell of scripture wherein any mention is made of st. peter , but if it can be racked to affoord them any patterne or patronship for either their deedes or decrees , it is miserably torne , and tormented to vndergoe that seruice : not so much as the power of keyes ; but it must needes bee made a picke locke , to possesse prisons , castles , and towers : the key of knowledge for the sauing of soules , is turned to a key of powre to deprive princes , the binding and loosing of sinnes , is but a very legerdemaine of fast and loose at the popes pleasure , the fishing for men to bring them to eternall life , is made a pretence for spreading his nets , to catch and conquer whole states and dominions : the pastorall sheep-hooke , subdueth kingly scepters , saint peters aurum & argentum non habeo , doth now glitter in all the pompious and copious varietye of riches , and the promise of christ , dabo tibi claues regni caelorum , is not so much esteemed , as the offer of the devill , dabo tibi &c. all these things will i giue thee , if thou wilt fall downe and worship mee . if the pope will needs enioy a right of succession of all that christ sayd vnto saint peter , let him not refuse also ( get thee behinde mee sathan , ) and , o thou of little faith . nay , the denying of christ , so expressely imitated in the declining , degenerating , and sliding away from the sinceritye of the gospell , is apparently branded vpon this antichristian iniquity , where saint peters either example , or precept , fitteth not their turnes , there they will not vse , or rather cannot relieve it , and could be well pleased that it were put over to their ezponctorius his charge and admonition , that they subiect themselves vnto all manner of ordinance of man for the lords sake , whether it be vnto the king , as vnto the superior , or vnto governours , as sent of him for the punishment of evill doers , and for the prayse of them that doe well . and likewise his beseeching of the elders , as his fellow pastors , that they feede the flocke not as lords over gods heritage , will not fashion to , or cohere with their owne proude doctrines of exemption from temporall authoritye , of opugning and repressing princes , of their lordlinesse over their fellow-ministers , of their desisting from teaching and preaching , and of saint peters primacy to reare vp the romane papacy . and therefore must be censured , interpreted , distinguished , abridged , and limited , by such curtelings , and consterings , as the glosser or goulfe of the sea of rome shall devise for the best advantage . in the like manner doe they all so deale with christ himselfe , whom whence they fetch and found the originall of theyr lineally derived popedome . christ professed himselfe , and so instructed his disciples , to bee humble and meeke , but how doth the pope tread that path ? not so much in the exercise of his owne lowlinesse , or in the abstinence from high state and loftye cariage , as in the depressing of the mightynesse and power of lawfull soveraignes , reducing or enforcing them to be meeke indeede , in a degree of base and contemptible humiliation . christ refused to be made a iudge in a civill or temporall cause , the pope maketh himselfe iudge of any debates , that by any pretext can be conceived to be fit for his cognizance : christ bad , giue vnto caesar that which was caesars : the pope robbeth cesar , of his treasure , of his honor , of his power , of his rights , and of his subiects . christ declareth his kingdome not to be of this world , the pope ( besides his owne temporall soveraignity , will haue an oare , and commaund in all the states of christendome . in which part , of the temporall kingdome of christ in this life , p. r. is much cumbered , and put to his shift , to finde out an even cutting distinction , to saue the repugnancye of christs sayings . the canonists , and some other catholikes , out of these words , all power is given vnto mee in heaven and in earth , doe conclude , that besides his spirituall government of our soules , he hath a kingly dominion also vppon our bodies and goods , and vppon all the kingdomes of the earth , and might iustly haue exercised all actions , of temporall iurisdictions , as casting into prison , appoynting new offices , kings , and great monarckes . marke how they compell our sauiour iesus christ to sallogize against himselfe ? all power is giuen to mee in heauen and in earth , but my kingdome to bee of this world is such a power , ergo , my kingdome is of this same world. now obserue also his witty and substantiall reconcilement , hee had a kingly temporall power in this life , but hee renounced the vse and priuiledge of the same : or thus , hee had no direct dominion vppon temporall things , yet indirectly , for preseruation of his spirituall dominion hee had and might haue vsed the same , and in that sence left it to his successour : is not this most shamelesse , and direct abusing of christ , and his most sacred word ? when hee sayd at another time , that the foxes had holes , and the birds of the ayre had nests , but the sonne of man , had no place to hide his head : if these expositors had then beene knowne to his apostles , they would haue replyed ; sir , you haue places of refuge , but you renounce the vse and priviledge thereof , or albeit you haue not any place directly , yet indirectly for the necessity of your function , you haue all palces at your command , or if you haue not in your owne indiuiduall person , yet in your successors , you must needes haue , else how should they maintayne the hauing and inhabiting of such royall and magnificent edifices , wherein they keepe such stately and more then imperiall courts ? what is this else ; then to tell christ hee wotteth not what hee sayth , and to enter him like a novice in their new schooles of equiuocation , to learne their falatious mentall preseruations ? but admit it to be incident into their offices , to interpret christ as themselues listeth , how doth it happen , that the rightfull successors of christ doth not also succeede him in his modestye , humilitye , povertye , and meekenesse ( especially beeing commaunded to learne of him ) and so ( in like sort as christ did ) renounce the vse and priviledge of temporall power , or whence haue these successors their so plenarye and direct preheminence , when from christ they could convey it but indirectlye , and by consequence : or can they make any demonstration or playne proofe of the stint and circuite of time , at the periode or expiration whereof , that temporall dominion which in christ was indirect and potenticall , should become vnto the pope , direct , and ordinarye ? or was there not as vrgent cause that christ , ( in respect of the many letts , impeachments , and impediments which he met withall ) should for the preservation of his spirituall dominion , directly , or indirectly , in some sort or other , betake himselfe to his temporall authoritye ? except they will say , that hee was in his owne person militant and suffering , but in these his successors triumphant and glorious . let mee then bee answered , whether such a succession hath any image or representation of that first type or patterne which sayde ( learne of mee . ) to manifest yet more discerningly , the idlenesse , the fraude , and vnfit applying of this distinction , let them know , that is not to be trusted vnto , because it will serue their adversaries as well as themselues , for where the question may be propounded and disputed , whether temporall princes may suppresse or remooue popes , ( if the authorities alleadged out of gods word , and the histories of the church shall not suffice to giue in evidence for any such direct and vndoubted preheminence in princes ) then we may make bold of this their make-shift distinction , that princes haue euer had such a power annexed , and proper to their governing charge , though they haue forborne the vse and preuiledge thereof , or that indirectly and by consequence ( for the vpholding of their states , and keeping of their people in obedience , which by so many popish practises is dayly perverted ) they may and ought to exercise and execute the same . moreouer , let it be examined , how and from what originall this distinction draweth his pedigree , what bosome or heate did first hatch it , and what causes of weight doth still nourish and continue the same , mr. p. r. hath fully acquainted vs with the certainty thereof . for if christ ( sayth he ) should not haue left such an authority in his church for remedy of vrgent causes , hee should not haue sufficiently provided for the necessity thereof . it is maruaile that this our moderator , and mollifying mittigator did not vse the word of conveniency , in the stead of necessity , to haue avoyded the disadvantage of the stricktnesse of that word , can there ( concerning the subsistance , and stability of the church ) any more vrgent causes to be imagined for the vpholding thereof , then there was in the first times of the primitiue purity ? or is the vsurping power of the supreame pastor , his ouer awing or over peering of princes , his correcting and repressing of them , by alienating subiects , and egging enemies against them any constitutiue causes or essentiall necessities of the church ? i will not deny but that the height and eminency , wherevnto the bishops of rome , haue aspired , by encroching vpon the rights and vndermining the states of temporall gouernors , as indeede to be provided for , and maintayned by this presupposed necessity : but the purity , the poverty , the simplicity , the feruency , of the first fathers , and propagators of the faith and church of christ needed none of these humaine and worldly additaments , none of these temporall encountrings , or conflicting with potentates , no such foreseeing perpecations , to affront all occurting causes , nor any such politiciall circumventings , and fortifications for defence and offence against princes : they conquered powers and principalities , but with the spirituall armor of god , they beate vppon them with the hammer of the word , they cut deeply into the secrets of their soules , with the sword of the spirit they prayed for their peace , and prosperity , they embrased the very persecutions with obedience , and for the countenancing fauours , ( by giuing them respit from affliction , and the sunne shine of liberty ) they honoured them as the nursing fathers of the church , ( when i contemplate the composute and frame of the popish monatchy , and the linking together of so many cunningly contrived positions , tending ( all of them ) to the encrease of gaine and advance of honor to the sea of rome , i wish that some excellent scholler extraordinarily endued would out of his many obseruations collected , exhibite vnto the world ( in imitation of matchauell , who made the shames and vices of the house of florence , the patterne of a perfite prince ) this antichrist of rome as a true president of tyranny and vsurpation by publishing with an apt resemblance , as well the vilde and vnchristian practises , as also the false and pernicious articles , whereby he hath atchived so strange matters , and attained vnto so vnmeasurable greatnesse , which my desire is the more increased , the more i consider , how the webs of that worke , hath ensuared , if not enthralled christian people , euen in the carriage of this controversie . i haue traced the foot-steps of many politicke reaches , and now in the closing vp of the matter , a faire traine is layd , to catch and lay hold vpon an easie follower , which we must not so suddenly passe by , as not to discerne the sleight thereof , he speaketh plainely in honest and oyly words : that that authority temporal is to be moderated by many perticularities to be considered , there must be iust cause , graue and vrgent motives , formall proceedings , great deliberation , lawfull meanes , and other circumstances , to concurre , requiering great discretion ; what a goodly displaying he maketh , in tearmes of the best shew , when yet ( howsoeuer occasins shall alter their intentions ) there is no more conteyned or propounded thereby , then what is vsually requisite in all benches of iustice , erected for tryall of common rights , but our question is , whether the pope be a competent iudge , vpon or against temporall gouernours , let the matter be caried neuer so presizely and circumspectly , that maketh him no title for enterposing his vsurped authority . therefore hee might well haue spared his paines , in making this the third question which neither in this , nor any other iudiciall power is any question at all . but he conceived , that this orderly course and discrect cariage which hee would haue vs to presuppose in the pope , would carry vs along in all conformity , to condiscend to any his presumptious and vsurping iurisdiction . let him tell whether the publicke denunciation , or rather execration made euery maundee thursday against the hereticks whatsoeuer , doth not also enwrap the princes of our religion ( especially if they haue made and executed feuere lawes against the popish ) within the danger and rigor of that sentence , which if it do , then these flourishing and superfluous words , of the cognition of the cause , of due proceedings , of vrgent motiues , of aduised consultations , of lawfull meanes of preambles and circumstances are but snares to beguile the simple , seeing that his holinesse ( for the most part ) acteth his solemnities , and ceremonies of excommunication , both generally and personally , without the obseruing of the particularities . beyond all this the pondering of such seuerall considerations , to whose brest , or trust are they recommended ? are they not euery one wholly and absolutely in the popes discretion ? let vs but remember the course of proceedings by these perticularities , against our late queene , his holinesse tooke knowledge , as well by publicke fame , as by complayning relacions , of the afflicted and distressed catholikes , and of queene elizabeths hard vsage of them in this kingdome , there is the vrgent motive and importing cause , what were the consultations , what the meanes , and what the proceedings , a bull of excommunication publickly deprived her , of her royall dignity , setteth free her subiects from their allegiance , enioyneth all catholikes to endeavor her deposing , and so exposeth her to continuall treasons , and bloody assassinates ; this is the short epitome of this all presuming papacy , then let any other prince take to himselfe the like scantling , by the measure offered to queene elizabeth , ( bethinking himselfe whether the enumeration of so many good poynts , of aduisednes , and the cautilous respects set forth by glosing words , may sufficiently secure him from feares and iealousies . one other doubt ( of great consequence and preiudice ) may much perplex princes , which is the vndistinguished and vnlimited nature of the causes , triable by the popes authority , for what cause can be supposed so meerely ciuill , as hath not some mixture of cases in conscience , and so to be referred in order to a spirituall end , becomming ( as in that regard ) of a spirituall cognizance . and then his holinesse ( holding himselfe onely in his owne element ) beeing the supreame iudge in spirituall doubts , how extendable is the amplitude of his power to any manner of debates or variences , which ( by complaint or appeale ) vnder a colour of devotion or religion shall be presented to his holy decision ? but the deadliest poyson that lyeth in the dragons tayle , is the disposition and ordination of the meanes , of giuing to such popes iudgements , the full blow of execution . for where the spirituall blast of his indignation , is not much regarded , there ( as the inferior rout of the clergy , doth ) his holinesse will not sticke to implore the ayde of the secular arme , be it forraine , be it domesticall , be it directly for the same cause , or indirectly ( i am in loue 〈◊〉 that distinction ) vpon the fore-plotted quarrells , be it by the sedicious tumult of insurrection , or by any 〈◊〉 audaciousnesse of 〈◊〉 . surely , when i consider the desperate 〈◊〉 . of some particular men , who abandoning all care or respect of themselues , and instigated onely with a seeming zeale of religion , do with violent hands of blood , enterprise the distruction of prince . i am induced to beleeue , that they haue some direct commission , or some indirect incitation so to compell and precipitate their ill gouerned mindes , into the horror of so vild an action : neverthelesse , i may not dissemble , that concerning any priuate exployts , in this kinde , they disclayme the approbation thereof ; though i am well assured , that experience to the contrary doth make it manifest , that they dissemble . this authority ( sayth this our satisfying mittigator ) doth not onely not allow the wicked and vnlawfull attempts of priuate men , but also doth expressely and publickely condemne the same , as in the councell of constance , the wicked article of lawfull killing of princes , by private men ( holding them tyrants ) is rejected and condemned . euery man seeth how resolued a case he maketh it , both by the catholicke divines , and by the cannon of the councell of constance , that no priuate attempts though of neuer so magnanimous a spirit against the life of a prince , though neuer so much tainted with tyranny , insuffieiency , infidellity , or heresie can be in any sort iustifiable . but that it may the better be knowne , that these be but fallacious and gay-coated words , ad faciendum populum , i will ( for bearing any mine owne refutations , encounter and contradict this smoothing p. r. with one of his owne fellow iesuites , that goeth more roundly , and plainly to this poynt : such a one as whether he bestowed his skill and faculty , with any mischiefeuous intention to animate wicked enterprises , ( for his booke was printed about the very time of our last so memorable plots of treason ) my charity will suspend my iudgement , he casteth no colours , nor feareth to deliuer boldly his resolutions , and encouragements to all catholikes . it is iohannes mariana , a spaniard and iesuite , and a diuinity reader , his booke is intituled , de rege et regis institutione , published in the the yeare 1605. dedicated to the king of spaine , and printed per missu superiorum , yea and regia authoritate . now if mr. p. r. will allow this great scholler , comming foorth in lucem et oculos hominum , accompanied with such estate of attending approbations , to be a catholike , hee shall heare him speake , and then set him blame his temerity , for telling tales out of the iesuiticall schoole . the sixe chapter of his first booke , is wholy bestowed vpon this question , of the lawfulnesse of deposing or slaying tyrants . the particularity of killing the french king is argued , the reasons on both sides produced , pondered and enforced : his determination decideth , and adjudgeth the fact to haue beene just , prayse worthy , and agreeable to the catholicke grounds . he further setteth foorth , the receiued opinion of the church , to be that it is lawfull for subiects , when the king resuseth to be reformed , and after sentence against him , to renounce their obedience , to consult for the leuying of a necessary warre , to taxe the people , with the charge thereof , and with armed force and weapons , ( in such case of necessitie ) to set vpon him , to kill him , and destroy him , and then descendeth to this conclusion eademque facultas esto , cuicunque priuato , qui spe impunitatis abiecta , neglecta propria salute , in conatum iuvandi rempublicam , ingredi voluerit ; let any private man , which ( casting aside all hope of impunity , and carelesse of his owne safety ) will adventure to enterprise his endevors to relieue the common-wealth , take vnto him the same liberty , hath he not soundly and definitively declared the doctrine of the church of rome , and the very secresies and misteries of the iesuites profession ; to the apparant conviction of this mittigators fained attestations ? and to the foresaid councell of constance , ( which is produced to impugne this position of the practises , or attempts of private men against lawfull soveraignes ) hee also maketh answere in this manner , first , that no decree of any councell standeth good and holy , without the consent of his holinesse thereunto , then , that this decree was neuer approved by pope martin the 5th , neither would eugenius or his successors euer ratifie the same , and after declareth also , that the fathers of that assembly did chiefly intend that their session and consultation against the hussits who maintained that princes , for crimes by them committed , did forfeit their estate , and that thereupon they might lawfully be by any man deprived of that power which they vniustly held , or obteined . againe , that in perticuler and properly , they then purposed to opugne the proposition of iohannes parvus , a divine of paris , who vnder colour of this defence , that it was lawfull by private authority to kill a tirant , endeavored to justifie the fact of the duke of burgundie in slaying of the duke of orleance , in which case there were these diversities from that rule . here was betweene these persons equallitie , and no inferioritie , there was a solemne oath violated and broken , and here was no attending for the sentence , or direction of the superior . here we see two iesuites in two different opinions in a matter of greatest moment , both of them founding vpon the faith of the church , both approved permissu superiorum by the allowance of the superiors . thus hauing buckled together two principall iesuites to lugg and tugg each other by the eares , i will only thus far giue my verdit of their variance , that the spanierd mariana dealeth plainly and constantly to the practize of popery , and the ratificacions and afirmacions of the popes themselues , who will not endure any abridging of their prerogatiue power of proceeding against princes in what sort soeuer , and our english p. k. hideth the sting , would conceale deepe dissembled treacheries by protesting termes to secure vs from suspicions , till the venome of malice hath pierced all the veines of the state , and seazed our very hart and life-blood , by surprizes vnthought of , hauing brought vs into a carelesse and deceitfull securitie ; p. r. hath beene very curious and copious in trying , and examining his aduersaries allegacions , interpretacions , falsificacions , translacions , and applicacions , seeming so watchfull and diligent in that kind of animaduersion , as if he accounted it a shame , and foile , to omit any line or sillable vnanswered , for indeede , the whole bulke of his booke in this businesse , is fraught with no other stuffe then with such wrangling matter , of misavouching , and misconsterings of quoted allegacions . but that it may appeare how his deadly hooke resting in the beliefe of his heart , is covered over with an honied bait beguiling vs with fairer speach , i shall be bold to trouble him with one question . what is the cause that mr. mortons publication , of the solemne oration made by the pope xixtus the 5. in the consistory of the cardinalls , in the commendation of the notable , rare , and memorable act of the braue monke that killed the french king , and the inferrence by him made and vrged against the pope , for his maintenance of conspiracy , and treason , is both by the modrate answer first , and after , by this mitigating replier layed aside in silence , and not once handied , or glanced at by any seeming answer . the truth is , they were enwrapped with a dilemna to allow the fact was against their pretence in their position , and to disallow the pope , was against their faith in their religion they must defend by argument , what for outward carriage is giuen them in charge , sith it tendeth to their aduantagious purpose : and they may not ( without dispensation ) either presume to censure , or vndertake to oppugne , what his holinesse approveth , lest they betray and shake the foundacion of their supremacy . by this time , i trust his well cloaked dubble iniquity is discovered to his very nakednesse ; were it not now very strange that hee and i ( whom our former contencions haue so farr devided afunder ) should part reconciled , and well accorded ? in his sixt chapter ( of corruptions and falsificacions ) hee taketh hold of mr. morions exposition , that the imperiall and kingly authority in spirituall causes , reacheth no farther then as to outward preservation , and not to personall administration : hereupon he assureth vs , that if this be really ment , all the catholikes of england will presently take the oath of supremacy , requiring with an earnest challēge that as this is publikely printed , and that by authority , so it may have publike allowance & performāce to make it good , whereby as touching that poynt there may be an attonemēt . i feare that the man in the heate of his sudden apprehension , and without the wary consideracion which his pen hath been accustomed vnto , doth overshoote and forget himselfe . shall i thinke that he hath never read , or vtterly forgotten the oath of supremacy ? he hath so scanned and canvased the statutes of henry the eight , edward the sixth , and queene elizabeth picking at every mote thereof , and making a beame of the same ( though with a left eye , and a left hand ) that i cannot so much as surmize but that he hath had every threed of this question betweene his fingers . therefore ( if his former subtillity hath not suddenly betrayed him , and exposed him to derision ) as i must admire that he is so easily reformed in iudgement , so , i shall be content to embrace the occasion of a well gained agreement . and will p. r. the iesuite , and the rest of the english catholikes of the romish faction abide by this word in good earnest ? that if the kings maiestie doe not claime or assume vnto him personall administration in cause ecclesiasticall , the oath of supremacy shall no further be stood vpon , or refused . then let him bethinke himselfe of this part or clause of the oath , that no forraigne prince , person , prelate , state , or potentate , hath or ought to haue any iurisdiction , power , superiority , preeminence , or authority ecclesiasticall , or spirituall within this realme , if he digest this , then see how one thing draweth on another : all our former differences are at once , and in this one compounded : also , for if the pope ( being a forraigne prelate or potentate ) be excluded , from hauing any ecclesiasticall power or spirituall authority within this realme . then our question of his preheminency or jurisdiction in repressing the exorbitant and pernicious excesse of great men , as an ecclesiasticall iudge , or supreame pastor , direct , or indirect , is at an end clearely determined : i doubt not but his excellent majesty of his princely care to bring home so many lost sheepe , and to bosome them againe in his dearest loue , will affoord them that fauorable interpretation which this there aduocate and orator , requireth in their behalfe . in the meane space ( not to loose what we haue got ) i returne vnto p. r. the like charge of making good of his word , touching the oath of supremacy , in the sence and distinction afore mentioned , and therewithall might thinke it not reasonable , any further to stricke a yeelding aduersary , that by so voluntary an offer cleareth the cause from any further controuersie . but remembring the nature and quallity of our adversary and the many winding and intricaking trickes he is vsed vnto in the canvassing of this or the like controversies , i feare that this our reconciliation is rather seeming then substanciall , and will suddainly vpon a small touch , fall a sunder againe to as great a discrepance ; for howsoeuer he doth so franckly yeeld vnto his majesty , a supremacy , of the church in ecclesiasticall causes , as touching outward preseruation onely , let him be but sifted a little in his meanings , it will breake from him that he neuer purposed to strengthen the state and authority of our soueraigne , with any such power of absolute defence and protection , which shall presently appeare by ministring vnto him some few questions : i pray you sir , what church , and what ecclesiasticall causes , doe you consent to be within the kings royall preseruation ? is it incident and appropriate to his princely scepter , to mayntaine the religion now established in his dominions ? by making lawes for enforcing subjects , to an vniforme allowance , and profession thereof , by punishing recusants according to iustice , and by employing all his powers to suppresse the oppugners , or conspirators against the same ? dareth he to abide by this ? will he henceforth justifie this preseruation , and that by his religious oath , which hitherto the impoy-soned pens of these iesuited spirits haue not spared odiously to tearme a cruell persecution ? wee haue shaked him already from his attonement , with vs in this poynt , he will tell vs plainely , that the church and ecclesiasticall cause which he authorized the prince to protect and preserue , is onely the catholike church , and religion , and then ( as if orbs , and vrbs , were all one ) that the catholike is the romish , so that vnlesse the king will turne leigeman , with a kinde of vazilage to the sea of rome , his right of supremacy in the outward preseruation of the church , ( which this man dareth assure vs that all catholikes in england will easily accord vnto ) must be denied him , as not due and proper to the title of his regality , papacy is the pole-starre of all their contemplations , it is the centure whereunto are carried and cleaueth fast all their drifts and disputations . and no further shall any prince hold power ( especially , in ecclesiasticall causes which are all bosomed vp in the breast of his holinesse ) then the same shall serue in a sub-ordination to the advancing and exaltation of that most imperious romish hyerarcy . nay their temporall authority , also must be kitbed , stinted , and subjugated by that vntollerable yoake of popish vsurpation , except it should be made plyant , ranged , and accommodated , in ordine ad dominum papam , then ( not regarding p. r. his assurance of the voluntary submissions , and subscriptions of all catholikes of england , to the kings supremacy , according to the limitation or interpretation aforesayd ) we may well assure our selues that no english papists , ( finding this supremacy of defence and preseruation to tend to the subversion and extirpation of their idolatrous religion ) will euer yeelde oath to keepe fayth thereunto : yet ( hauing closed with him in a full consent vnto this position , that euery prince hath iure divino , the supremacy of outward preseruation of the church , and ecclesiasticall causes within his territories and dominions ) let it be remembred that he neuer hereafter scandalize the proceedings and execution of iustice in england against the refractaries and treacherous oppugners of the religion established in this realme , sith the same is the lawfull and necessary act of a well warranted and acknowledged supremacy ; from which our publicke profession of fayth is to receiue protection and preseruation ; i cannot but conceiue that this clearke p. r. wil be shent , and receiue some checke for his doctrine : for out of question if his holinesse , and cardinall bellarmine , haue enkindled their displeasures against mr. blackwell , the arch-priest for allowing the oath of alleagiance ( which contayneth onely an acknowledgment of the hereditary rights of temporall soueraignity , whereunto naturall duty , ( in respect of relation ) doth bind each subject : how much more heynously will it be taken , that this arch-iesuite ( as if both their arches , had slipped from them at once ) should so confidently condiscend to this artickle of spirituall supremacy , in the sence , qualification , or moderation , before expressed ? he cannot escape the blame , of forgetting or forsaking of his principles , neyther can he euer salue his offence , by any wily interpretation or beguiling distinction . his direct , and indirect , his absolute and conditionall , his mediate and immediate , his simpliciter and secundum quid or quatenus , and the like ( which in all his discoursiue argumenting doth make his way for him through many obstacles , whilst he treadeth out vnto vs his maze of circuler shifts , and manifold euasions ) can touching this his confession or protestation haue no place or serue him to any stead , because knowing aforehand how the case standeth in euery circumstanciall or considerable perticularity , he hath to the king of england within his seuerall dominions adjudged the supreame gouernment of causes ecclesiasticall , as in the office and care of preseruing the church , with the fayth and doctrine thereof , from all wronges or corruptions forraigne or domesticall . i encroach not vppon him by inferences and constructions , i onely take that which he so fully and clearely gyueth ; and do challenge him that what he hath deliuered vnto vs for his judgement and resolution , ( and that in high termes and vanting and flaunting of his aduantages therein . ) he will ( notwithstanding any reprehension or retreite from the pope or bellarmine ) still with the like brauery and constancy mayntaine vnto the end ; but shall i disclose a secret or rather a wonder vnto the world ? what if the very same author who so boldly assumeth and assureth at this time for all catholikes the title of spirituall supremacy , to appertayne to the crowne imperiall of this land , doth after in another set treatise , published purposedly , or rather maliciously , to traduce and discredit our gouernment , and to vphold the popes and cardinall bellarmines censures concerning the oath of allegiance , like a very changling , fall quite away from this his former so earnestly pro ferred and promised conformity , declareth himselfe , to be so farre from affoording his majesty by oath his supremacy of preseruation in causes ecclefiasticall , as that he holdeth it vnlawfull for a catholike conscience to take the oath of temporall allegiance , as repugnant to the religion of the church of rome , will not euery man of vnderstanding admire , how the same person can refuse to sweare allegiance temporall , that hath so readily and hotly , granted a supremacy spirituail ? to induce me to beleeue that it is all one person that hath so vndertaken to act vnto vs two so repugnant parts , i haue ( besides fame and report ) and a kind of idempnity in the phrase and stile , some very approveable probabilities , his mencioning of the powder-treason in these weake and tender tearmes , of that headlong action of a few catholike gentlemen , and such other lamenting speeches , for the euill cariage , or miscarying of the enterprise without any one apt or right expressing word to denotate or condemne the foulenesse thereof , is certainely moulded with the soft hand of this our countersetting kind-hearted mitigator , his shaping and propounding of the generall question concerning the popes authority over princes , is conceaved even in the same words which this p. r. hath vsed in delivering and expressing the same , and then acquainteth vs with his supposall , that it was never the meaning of such catholikes as tooke the oath of allegiance to deny simply and absolutely , that the pope as supreme pastor of the catholike church hath any authority left him by christ , either directly or indirectly , with cause or without cause , in neuer so great a necessitie , or for neuer so great and publike vtilitie of christian religion , to proceede against any prince whatsoever , temporally , for his restraint or amendment . is not this the very same water of the same cesterne ? he yet goeth further for better proofe and confirmacion of his said supposall by the selfe-same reasons set forth verbatim : for that they should thereby contradict the generall consent of all catholike divines , and confesse that gods providence for the conservacion and preservacion of his church and kingdome vpon earth , hath beene defectuous , for that hee should haue left no lawfull remedy for so great and excessive an evill as that way might fall out . i had set the print of my fingers vpon all and every of these words before , so that by that brand they were presently knowne vnto mee , and their author or owner apparantly discovered , howsoever as a iesuite he stileth himselfe gent. who bound to no order may assume any shape . then presupposing vpon these likelyhoods , that in the pursute of this my slippery adversary ( iesuite or gent. ) i haue met with him againe as at a new turning , i must not let him escape vntill hee make mee a good answere , how he can affirme for the king a supremacy ecclesiasticall for preserving of the church , and yet alledge against the oath of allegiance a more supreame power in the pope , to suppresse and annihilate that supremacy , and that in a course of temporall supereminency ? i ever tooke supremacy to be such a superlative , as admitteth no superior : i never heard of any subalternate supremacy , it hath too harsh and absurd a sound ; but that any temporall prince absolute of himselfe , vndependent vppon any higher on earth , immediate to god almighty should be over-awed or over-topped by the pretended primacy of a luciferian prelate , and that by the brandishing of a temporall sword , and imploying forces , coercians temporall , what can be more vnsensible to be conceaved , more vnreasonable to be maintayned , or more impious to be practized ? yet the only cause and couler why the pope commandeth , and the cardinall adviseth , the catholikes of england , to forbeare and refuse to take the oath of allegiance , is this , that in the said oath is couched and included the derogation , and renunciation of the sufficiency and absolutenesse of the popes authority over or against his majestie , claymed by vertue of his high office of supreame pastor , whereby he is enabled to proceed against any prince whatsoever temporally for his restraint and amendement , or to permit other princes to do the same : so that the question of the lawfulnesse of this oath , and the question argued in these few leaves of my labor concerning the popes arrogant vsurpation , hath not any threed of difference sorting both alike to one and the same purpose . therefore if vnto my former refutation of the mittigators , immoderate attribution of power vnto the pope , i shall ioyne some few animadvercions vpon the epistoling gentlemen : also ( an alter idem of p. r. ) for the better observing and discovering of his deceitfull and disloyall cariage , in the reproving of that oath , it will be a continuance of the same skirmish , and the like battering of the same bulwarke which the pride of rome hath erected and endeavoreth to fortifie against the dignity of kings and the truth of god. first i observe that howsoever he vndertaketh in generall tearmes to make good the popes desision touching the refusall of that oath on the part of his maiesties catholikes subiects , yet in his perticuler arguing thereupon , ( as if he were also another pope , whom as a iudge , it becommeth not to dispute ) he discusseth not the severall parts to be disliked in the oath , or setteth forth plainly and contradictorily the words which hee will hold or maintaine to be vnlawfull or cumbersome to the squemish conscience of their pretended catholikes , whereby a true state or issue of the matter in question might be taken in consideration , but in stead of such expresse and positiue mentioning of the disliked parts of that oath , glideth away in his glosing fashion wiht bare affirmation of dangerous doctrinall clauses , conteining matter of faith craftely conioyned together , with the exacting of civill duty , preiudiciall to the integritie and purity of catholike religion . this kind of handling a controuersie , is rather resoluing then reasoning , and more pope like in determining as a iudge , then scholler like in demonstrating as a disputer : why doth hee not to euery branch , of the sayd oath affixe and oppose his negatiue , without any such faynt plea , or fumbling and broken speeches , cut of with &c. will the distinction of direct , and indirect , as he maketh it to serue the pope for actions and authorities , so serue his turne also in speaking and argumenting ? standeth it with any logicall rules , to induce or inforce conclusions , indirectly by conception and application , which ought to be produced directly , in a full opposition to the questioned proposition . then where the oath hath these plaine words , that the pope hath not any power or authority to depose the king , or to dispose any his maiesties kingdomes , or dominions , or to authorize any forraigne prince to invade or annoy him in his countries , or to discharge any of his subjects from their allegiance and obedience to his maiesty , or to giue licence or leaue to any of them to beare armes , rayse tumults , or to offer any violence , or hurt to his majesties royall person , state , or government , why doth not he in justification of the vnlawfulnesse of this oath , by as playne , full , and broade termes , tell vs that the pope , by the capacity of his omnipotency , is indued with so plenary a power , as that he may depose the king , dispose his kingdomes , authorize forraigne invasions , discharge his subjects from allegiance , licence them to offer violence to his royall person , state , or gouernment ? and that for that regard the conscience of the catholikes may not be obliged by any such prophane oath , impyous against the pope , and the amplitude of his pastorall primacy ? but doth hee in any-one line of his whole volume , let slippe any word expressely declaring , naming , or mentioning any power of this nature , and that lawfully may produce these effects , to be invested or bestowed vpon his holinesse ? i am perswaded that the igniculi of naturall duty , the morsus of an acknowledging conscience , and the pudor of his face ( which perhaps yet retayneth some remnants of modesty ) would not suffer him so far to degenerate from naturall notions , so farre to be alienated from his dutious recognicion , or so farre to passe all the bonds of shame , as directly , and roundly to deliuer vnto the world any sentence so monstruous , and so full of horror and heynousnesse . neuerthelesse hee hath taken such a taste of the sower grape of rome , and is dipped so deepe into the venome and malice of that imperious and persecuting church , as that yet indirectly , and by a subtile conueyance of his meaning , hee giueth vs to vnderstand , that his inward soule , hath pronounced this doome and judgement against his annoynted soueraigne , and therefore that soule , must not be entangled , stayed , or bound , by any brideling or restrayning oath to the contrary . but how doth his outward man manage these difficulties ? iust in the same manner to an hayres breadth , as mr. mittigator ( whom hee may call his ille ego ) doth that is closly , dissemblingly , timorously , and treacherously : in the place of the pope , hee vseth the entitleings of supreame pastor , the deposing and killing of princes , hee compriseth , and couereth vnder the words of proceeding against , and restrayning of them , what is done by inuasion , insurrection , or force of armes , is included in the word temporalty , the stirring vp and appoynting of other potentates , to partake , in the quarrell , is brought in very gently in this good shew of permitting other princes , &c. now fie vppon this blaunching and disguising oratory , if hee could passe away cleanly with these easie and fauouring phrases , hee would steale out against vs , ( as not suspecting his harmefull intentions ) his deadly writ of execution : this one word of restrayning would ( like to a ball of wild-fire ) disclose it selfe , and breake a sunder , into censuring , depriuing , deposing , destroying , and murthering of soueraignes , and would haue no meane , or end of oppression or tyranny . next , admitting him to this liberty , as not to single out any speciall , or particular clauses of the oath , let vs examine how hee prooueth that there bee enwrapped within the sayd oath , poynts of religion as well as of 〈◊〉 obedience ; he maketh reckoning to haue shewed it by foure seuerall distinct wayes : i will beare him witnesse that the wayes be seuerall ; for onely one of them hath shewe of leading vs to the scope and conclusion fore-intended , the rest are all straggling pathes , quite from the purpose , for are not these i pray you good arguments ? the pope telleth the catholikes that hee hath heard , that they are compelled to go to the churches and assemblies of heretickes , and to be at their sermons , ergo , the oath of allegiance contayneth matter of religion , as well of ciuill obedience . againe , bellarmine compareth the oath to the crafty composion and commixture of the images of the emperor iulian , and the pomim gods , all coupled and combined together in this imperiall banner : ergo , by an argument ab authoritate , there be in that oath poynts spirituall and temporall conjoyned together . lastly , the good gentleman doth kindly make this reall offer for satisfaction of his majesty , that hee will sweare vnto him , as much loyalty as euer any catholike subject of england did , vnto the lawfull kings in former times before the change of king h. 8. ergo , there lurketh articles of sayth in the sayd oath , vnder the pretence of ciuill duties . the first of the foure , seemeth to shute faire , and and at the least to sticke in the butt , though farre enough from the marke ; and thus it speaketh , from the plaine expresse words , sence , and drift of the oath it selfe , that besides the acknowledgment of our soueraigne to be true king and rightfull lord ouer all his dominions ; and that i will be a true loyall subject vnto him and such other clauses , whereat no man sticketh or maketh any difficulty , the sayd oath contayneth further , that i must sweare in like manner some poynts , concerning the limitation of the popes authority , to wit , what hee cannot doe towards his majesty , or his successour in any case whatsoeuer ? which question brought vnto the thesis of all kings toucheth ( sayth he ) a poynt of doctrine and catholike beliefe , concerning the sufficiency of of pastorall authority , left by our saviour in his church vnto st. peter , and his successours , for redressing of all inconueniences that may fall out ; and this to forsweare hath perill of euerlasting damnation . there must be a monstrous strayne , nay , hee must breake through and steale , before his holinesse with his predominate power , can get into the creede . 〈◊〉 haue before set in his way crosse barres , and obstacles ●● nough , which hee will neuer be able to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impeach his assention into any such height , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our consciences , the article of catholica ecclesia , 〈◊〉 be no cloake or conductor for him , nor shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 canopy over his high estate of ● , 〈◊〉 callity . the argument wherewith this gent. doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pope to so eminent a place of power , and reputation that his prerogative is past questioning , and that vpon paine of 〈◊〉 , is this , every oath that conteyneth poynts concerning the limitation of the popes authority , is an oath belonging to religion ; but this oath expressing what the pope cannot doe towards his majestie , or his successor in any case whatsoever , is an oath concerning the limitation of the popes authority , therefore this oath is belonging to religion : if the maior propofition be vntrue or vncertaine , all the rest tottereth and falleth , as without foundation : i will examine the same by the pondering of the particuler words thereof . first , ( belonging to religion , in a generall sence may comprehend all the actions and resolues of men : yea ciuill duties , also are within the spaciousnes thereof , because a true christian is governe his whole life and carriage by the rules of his religion : but this disputor must narrow the signification thereof more precisely , tying and applying the same onely to the articles of payth . secondly , the popes authority must vndergoe the like distinction as themselues haue propounded vnto vs , ( that is to say ) what he may doe as pope , and what he hath accustomed to doe by other acquiered titles , or by meere vsurping intrusion . now then to say , that euery limiting of the popes authority whatsoeuer the same be , or howsoeuer obtayned or exercised belongeth to the articles of beleefe , i for my part will neuer beleeue it , and i do not thinke , that any of their owne secritaries will be so much besotted , i will explayne my meaning by instances and cases of the like condition ; suppose that the pope would pretend and pleade that the king doth hold of him the crowne of this land , and therefore as superior lord , will require homage or trybute , and in default of rendering the same , will invade his dominions with sword and force : if in this case the king shall for more security of his imperiall state , aske ( vppon allegiance ) the oathes of all , or any his subjects in detestation of that claime , may the catholikes make scruple of conscience concerning such an oath , because the same seemeth to limmit and abridge , the popes pretended right and authority ? making in the meane time no religion of the limitting , lessening , and detracting from the soveraignes title and pre-eminence ? perhaps they will say that this is a question of civill right , and that the subject is cleerely bound to maintaine the prince . but how if the pope pretend withall his pastorall care , and preservation of matters spirituall , then i trust ( in ordine ad spiritualia ) his temporall attempts must bee supported , by his spirituall children , against the king and country . againe , let it be conceiued that the pope much mooued with indignation , at the execution of iustice ministred in this kingdome , against the treacherous conspirators of the popish faction , should vpon that gnawing grudge towards the iudges of this land , take vpon him by solemne censure , to depriue and displace them from their iuridiciall offices , wherein ( though he can assume no ordinary or rightfull power ) yet in ordine ad spiritualia and for the generall releefe , and necessity of the catholike cause hee adventureth as from his pastorall charge , to pronounce them from henceforth to be incompetent iudges , commanding all catholikes also to reckon of them , and the iudgements by them giuen : now the question is , whither to make a constant asseueration that the pope hath no such authority , be vnto a catholike conscience a poynt of faith or religion , because of such limiting bounds , disabling the pope in his supposed sufficiency of his generall function for the good of the church ? if the denying or abating of the popes authority over these inferior minifters of iustice be not accounted cumbersome to the c̄osciences of catholikes ( wherein i thinke they will make no doubt ) why should the abjuring of this papall power ouer our supreame magistrate touching the 〈◊〉 and destroying of him , be thought so dangerous , and damnable , or repugnant to their owne religion ? will religion allow him more liberty against the highest , then against the meaner substitutes ? or if hee haue such a rule ouer princes themselues , why not also ouer the subordinate officers of the kingdome ? to command , direct , authorize , or suppresse them , to the best auayle and aduancement , of the catholike side , that so hee may become more then monarchiall , by an absolute and vnlimited dominion ? this gent. saith that touching the acknowledgement of our soveraigne to be true king and rightfull lord over all his dominions , no man sticketh at that : but , i aske , whether if the pope haue already enwrapped his majestie within any of his generall sentences , or shall declare by any especiall means , that he is not to be acknowledged king , will not then the catholikes sticke at that ? must not they refuse to sweare vnto that clause of recognition also ? for feare that his holinesse be questioned and limited in his owne powre and preeminence ? i will not feare to affirme , that the true allegiance , and obedience of a naturall subject , cannot dwell together in the corrupted heart of a devoted & dissembling papist , and therefore no marvell that the heart preposessed with papacy , doth cast such doubts , of offending his dearest love , especially having plighted faith , and vowed his service , by all constant endeavors thereunto . this contrariety of masters , must needs breed iealousies on both sides , for as the pope forbiddeth papists , to sweare their allegiance and fidellity to the king , ( fearing lest himselfe should thereby be excluded and renounced ) so the king can never thinke himselfe secure and assured of those subiects , who ( from their acknowledgement of the popes superiorship over the king , and that in such a degree as may indure no limiting ) dare not be affianced by oath to the safety of the king against the decrees and designes of their dominus dominancium . then what will they say , or do , to free his majestie from feares and ielousies ? doth this supple gent. thinke to make or bring confidence , which i hope in gods goodnesse that the pope will never attempt any thing in preiudice of his majestie . surely sir , your hope is too weake a stay for our state to rest or trust vnto : for what if the same great important and vrgent cases , concerning christian religion doe fall out wherein yee averr the popes authority over princes : then in that case i perceive the best answere wee shall expect from you will be the fooles proverbe , non putarem . for here againe you feede and foppe vs one with another of your hopes ( which wee hope will never be betweene our soveraigne and the sea apostolike . ) is it not more then strange that this so provident coniecturer of future events , should hope that that matter will neuer be ; which long hath beene , continually is , and i trust perpetually will be , seeing , that these same great , important , and vrgent cases concerning christian religion haue done , and doe dayly fall out , betweene our soveraigne and the sea of rome , called by him apostolike , therefore it appeareth that the man hath lost his wits , whilest he would obtrude his hopes . the true conclusion is , that for as much as these great and important cases are in continuall conflict and question betweene the pope and his majestie , and that consequently the authority of the pope lyeth prest in dayly readinesse to represse and suppresse his majestie vpon all occasions , as it concerneth his royall person , for the preservation of his life , state , and dignity , to assure himselfe of the vnviolable faithfulnesse of his subiects , so that must needs be accounted a disloyall and vnnaturall part for any subiect to be so seduced , by hipocriticall pretences , as to adhere to a forraine and fained clericall primacy , against his alleagiance , love and duty , towards his true soveraigne lord and king. the gent. vseth many glorious and plausible speeehes of the humble acknowledgment of all temporall dueties to his majestie , and iumpeth with the mittigator in opinion , that it is not vnpossible for the catholikes to conforme in subiection to the civill goverment , and yet to reserve their consciences to the religion of rome , if this were affirmed of such countries only where the prince is of the romish faith , or of this nation whilest the pope had some hold , and prevalency in the same , then perhaps we might come neere to an agreement in this poynt , but where the prince and pope are of religion so repugnant and opposite , where the pope is quite secluded and expelled frō any power eccleslasticall or civill , and where the prince as in the right of the crowne , is the defender and preserver of the faith within his kingdome , there we are taught by experience , and directed by reason , that the entertayning and professing of papacy , is the renouncing and repressing of regallity . i weigh not the allegation that is made , of the long continuance for well-neere a thousand yeares , of the admission and permission of the popes superioritie in this realme , and how the same for all that space stood vn-offensive vnto this state , for whilest there was either subiugaiton , or coniugation of the two powerfull commands , their contrarietyes and repugnances could not be so apparently discovered , as they be now manifested , by the distinguishment and finall dissevering of them into their proper natures , rights , and limitations . i haue read diligently that great volume , avouched by this gent. written with much labour to this poore purpose , of declaring the papal pre-eminēce within this cuntry , ever since the first conversion thereof to christianity , vntill the reigne of king henry the eight . the authors sedulity and devotion may amongst the birds of the same feather , receiue his reward , ( at the least ) of commendation , but i will vndertake with one short answere , ( consisting but of two parts ) to runne my pen through every line of that huge bulke , blotting and putting out whatsoeuer he hath painted , foorth for the best shewe . first , ( forbearing to refute their fables , and taking their owne accompt of time , which they make of the entry of the romish religion into this land , ) it is euident that the mystery of iniquity , and the antichristian arrogancy of the romish prelacy , was then reuealed and exalted into worldly pompe : so as they then sending of factors into these parts , was but to conquer the simple people , of that vninstructed age to the bondage and yoake of rome . ' and therefore no maruaile , if they were still held in the same , or the like subjection in the succeeding times , wherevnto they were at the first surprized by politicall handling , and with much simulation of piety trayned one for intromitting , and acceptation thereof ; and i cannot invent a fitter resemblance whereby to represent the cunning carriage of that plot in those dayes , then that which cardinall bellarmine hath vsed and applyed in this question . which is the crafty composition and commixture of images set by iulian the emperour of himselfe and the panim gods coupled and combined together , in his imperiall banner , for as that emperour vnder the shew of reuerence due to be performed to himselfe , though to haue seduced those good christians to the honoring of idols , so in those darke and vndiscerning times of our fore-fathers , by the tempering and ioyning of the christian religion , and the antichristian vsurpation , their simplicity was abused , and they by subtile practises , wrought vnto such a credulity , as that together with the sweete comforts of christ , they sucked in at once the poyson of romish idolatry , and the oppression of papacy : the second part of my answere is , that notwithstanding such encroachment of the popedome vnto this kingdome , wherein by stealing steppes and sundry hypocriticall passages that had gotten good footing , keeping in the meane while both prince and people in an ignorant devotion , and a dread of damnation : yet did the kings of england , from time to time , feele themselues and their soueraigne state to be enthralled and wronged by the ouer-awing , and busie intermedling of that vniversall pastorship , and therefore omitted not , vppon all occasions , to make knowne their dislikes and reluctations , to vphold the course , and force of the ancient common law , to defend and put in practise the imperiall prerogatiues of their crowne , and to restrayne the exorbitant ambition of the sea of rome , by prouiding statutes , vnder grieuous penalties against the subjects of this land , that in derogation of the iustice , gouernment , and regall rights , of the king , did make recourse vnto rome , by way of appeale , impetration , or other pretences contrary to the naturall obligation of their faith and allegiance . but it will be sayd , how came it to passe then , that the subjects held on their former orders , and no whit refrayned from rome , yeelding still to the pope the same their dependency , and acknowledgments : that shall i also tell you , the pope and councell of rome ( knowing right well , how fully they had possessed all sorts of people , with a blind zeale , carried after idle ceremonies , and well pleasing superstitions , and remembring that they had so seazed and fastned vpon their conscience , as that euery one held the saluation , or damnation of his soule , to consist in his obedience , or disobedience to the church of rome , ) did crosse and avoyde the execution of such states by decreeing and sending foorth their ecclesiasticall execution , of suspending , and excommunicating , of all ministers of iustice , or other ministeriall persecutors whatsoeuer , that should attempt to enforce , or execute any such 〈◊〉 ; by this meanes of denouncing such terrors to the soule , the mightinesse and authority of the pope , grew dreadfull and powerfull , vntill it pleased the almighty god , by the revelation of his truth , and discouery of popish falshoods , to inspire with courage and magnanimity the heart of that right noble king h. 8. who finally without any feare of his thunderbots , accomplished that worke of freeing this realme from the grieuous butthen , and heauy yoake of the popish supremacy , which diuers of his prodecessors kings of england , had often , and much endeauoured , and desired to do , if their illightnings with grace , and enablings with meanes , had serued them thereunto ; thus it is made cleare , that the popes authority , neither at the first landing thereof vppon the coast of this kingdome ( which was not in the purer times , but 600 yeares after , christ as themselues confesse , when the church of rome was falne from sincerity ) neyther in the continuance and exercise of the same was lawfull , allowable , or beneficiall , but rather intruded , offensiue , and prejudiciall vnto this state ; and for his motion of sampling our proceedings to the practise vsed in other countries ouer catholike subjects , in this poynt of excluding the pope for intermedling temporally against princes , shewing that they will be ready to answere as much duty and allegiance to his majesty , as any such catholike subjects in any other kingdome doth , or is bound to doe : he must know that he must then make and take his patterne , from the protestant princes , who haue resumed their ancient and originall rights , and not from them whom he calleth catholikes , that honoreth the best , and dishonoreth themselues ; wherefore the gent. may hold his hand from the booke , his kind offer of swearing vnto his majesty as much loyalty as euer any catholike subject of england did vnto the lawfull king in former times and ages , before the change of king h. 8. will not be accepted as a suffring seruice or duty ; then was both king and people made drunke with the popish cup , of spirituall fornications , the kings then were but halfe kings , and the subiects but halfe subjects ; his holinesse had pared away so much from the one , and gayned so much vppon the other , the one could not be absolute in commanding , for feare that his superior should enterpose , the other could not be absolute in obeying , because there might come a stronger countermaund ; then what hath this offer more then thus ? we haue beene filthy and will be filthy still . and why should not his maiesty require of his subiects such obedience , as by the rules of the true reformed religion , which hee professeth he lawfully may doe ? or is there any reason that he should still be held to the former wrongs , and disaduantages , which ignorance , hypocrisie , pride , and other manifold corruptions did beget and produce against his crowne , and soveraignity : is it to be reckoned a poynt of fayth and saluation to lay forth a limitation of that power which hath beene heretofore so infinitly extended , and so vniustly claymed ? and what is this limitation ? forsooth that the pope cannot make kings no kings , or subiects no subiects , that his spirituall sheephooke may not subdue the princely scepter , nor order and dispose of temporall rights ; why may not the pope be limited with some clauses ? of what he may do , and what he may not doe ? the gent. dogeth me , with p. r. his distinction of directly , and indirectly , which importeth thus much , that in plaine , true , and in direct course , to his pastorall office , there be fixed bounds , which he cannot passe , but in an vndue vnproper , and indirect course , he may goe where he listeth , neyther hedge nor ditch can hold him , neyther can there any matter of cause be conceiued , wherevnto this indirect and outstretched power may not be carried , we reckon in the common acceptation of speech , vndirect dealing to bee fraudulent and vniust dealing , and why shold it not likewise be vnderstood , that this indirect authority is a wrong vsurping , and mis-begotten authority ? the temporall is subordinate to the spiritual therefore ( in ordine ad spiritualia ) he that hath all spirituallity , may in that regard , as occasions be ministred , rule , and order any temporall thing , or businesse whatsoever ; this is the reach & strayne of their ( indirectly ) which can be no lesse then a direct and shamelesse illuding shift , for maintayning whereof , and iustifying of that infinity of doing and determining , so many english subiects , must forsake and abandon their obedyence , breaking a sunder all the chaynes of loue and allegiance , which nature , lawes , diuine , and humane , and necessity it selfe doeth tye them with , alas , that vppon so slender proofe , not contayning so much as a shadow of any probability , our deare country-men enjoying the benefits of the same soyle , and pertaking the protection of so gracious a prince : whereby their liues and estates are preserued in peace and good repose , should bee bewitched to their owne woe , and seduced to the stirring of sedition : yet it is not vnknowne that diuers of them moued more with the true zeale of rendring to his maiesty , their dutious respects , then carried with that head-strong , and blind zeale , of attending the pleasure and commands of their great dragon , haue willingly ( and as wee are to judge ) faithfully taken the oath aforesayd , to the exceeding comfort and ( as he entertayneth the same with an acceptable construction ) to the assuring of his maiesty , of their vnfeined fidellity . but this cauilling gent. taketh exception vnto , and maketh considerations vppon the words , ( willingly and faithfully . ) first , for shew and proofe that they haue not done it willingly or freely : hee alledgeth that the statute imposing such a paine vppon the refusors , doth make a kinde of restraynt through feare ; and so depriueth them both of liberty and freedome ; i appeale to the parties themselues , that haue taken the oath , who speaketh more truely and honestly of , then he , or i , when i finde it a branch of their oath , that they doe sweare willingly , i doe beleeue them , not taking them to be so reprobate , as in any such 〈◊〉 rate manner forsweare themselues : neither doe i 〈◊〉 , so 〈◊〉 of them , as that the passion of feare could so farre transport them as to make them sweare 〈…〉 : he ( belike knowing them better then i ) 〈◊〉 against them , that they haue not taken the oath willingly , and therefore they be directly 〈◊〉 , yet he thinketh he hath pleased them againe , and falued the matter by laying the fault vpon the enforcement of feare , wrought in their hearts , by the rigiour of the law : in the meane time hee maketh them in their religion to be very faint , and of little faith , if worldly respects and dread of calamities . can so farre stagger them , or preuaile ouer their infirmities , as to make them feare man more then god ; and so in an vnbeleefe and prophannesse , hazard saluation by forswearing ; but because he so carpeth at the carriage , and composure of that oath , and the enterlacing of those words , i would aske his opinion whither it be not lawfull and reasonable that any magistrate may , yea ought , to charge the conscience of him that sweareth , that he shall doe the same willingly , and faithfully ? or doth he know any oath , wherein the same are equall thereunto , to expresse the trueth and sincerity of the heart , be not eyther directly vsed , or necessarily imployed ? his supposall of feares , troubles , or losses , is as applyable to the taking of any other oath , and by any other persons aswell as to this , by them taken , seeing that there is no oath prescribed to be required or exacted of any subiect , but the refusall thereof doth occasionally , and consequently , draw dangers and losses to the partie so refusing . and doth hee thinke it fit to infert thereof that all the oathes that are propounded with such condition , or likely to breed such inconvenience to the refuser , are not taken freely and heartily ? i wish his wits more freedome , and his heart more loyalty then so to judge . if the oath had stayed at the recognition of his majesties right vnto the crowne , and had not mentioned the popes authority , or any restrictions concerning the same , the heauinesse and extreamitye of the penaltye appoynted against the refusors , and so much aggrivated by this gent. had not beene charged as a compulsarie cause , or any privation , or impediment to the freedome of the catholikes consciences , whereby it is made evident , that not the manner , but the matter of the said oath , it is , that stingeth and offendeth them so much , for otherwise they will not deny , but his majestie may lawfully , either by oath ( which putteth vpon their soules an awe and obligation spirituall ) or by propounding correspondent punishment temporall ( which often worketh a suppression of outward attempts ) secure himselfe so farre as he may of good affection , or at the least of no aversion in his subiects . as touching the other word ( faithfully ) howsoever he comments vpon the same either by way of interpretation of the sense and meaning , which his catholikes reteyned to themselves , when they tooke the said oath , or by way of direction vnto such as shall hereafter be pressed thereunto , what cautelous reservation they may make by a mentall conceit , ( for surely by giuing his judgement what the former haue done , he intendeth to instruct the rest what to do ) yet for my part , i will still hold my selfe in my rule of charity which before i haue obserued , that for as much as they haue sworne , that the words by them spoken were sincerely acknowledged , according to the plaine and common sense and vnderstanding of the same , without any equivocation or mentall evasion , or secret reservation whatsoever . i doe not beleeue , that any of them haue vsed any such damnable deceit , or haue so apparently and grossely foresworne themselues . can this gent. be so hard-hearted towards his beloued , as when he seeth and rehearseth the very words of their religious asseverations , and protestations , and that with this concluding clause ( by the faith of a christian ) yet to iudge that they tooke the said oath in the same lawfull sense and interpretation which might stand with the true catholike doctrine , making them thereby equivocators , and mentall iugglers , yea , expresse periured , if they haue secretly reteyned any others meanings then as the common and plaine sense of the words affordeth . but how doth he convey and conster that part of the oath as concerning the popes authority , in dealing with temporall princes ? what moderate meaning hath he found for the safegard of the catholike consciences that haue taken that oath ? truly this devise and exposition is so sleight and simple , as that i am verily perswaded he propoundeth and publisheth the same , meerely for the instruction and practise of the simple and vulgar catholikes : the learned amongst them would be ashamed of so meane and vnschollerlike a shift , to wit , that in swearing , that the pope hath no authority to proceed against princes , they should subunderstand ( without good cause ) for this inperpretation ( saith he ) is agreeable to the integritie and sinceritie of the catholike doctrine , quia illud possumus quod iure possumus , and i pray the gentlemans worship , to tell me whether non possumus etiam quod iure non possumus , is not power for the most part extendeable beyond right and iustice ? but in this case the question it selfe being de jure , whether the pope rightfully and lawfully ( as incident into his pastorall place ) may exercise power and authority over princes temporally , how frivolously , and ridiculously , is this evasion devised , that hee may not doe it without good cause , which is as much to say , hee may not doe it lawfully , except hee doe it lawfully . why ? the question is not what hee may doe vnlawfully , for then wee might give to some one pope an exemption , and dispensation for more sinnes , then there were vertues among them all . but when it is asked what this supreame pastor may doe , or what he may not doe , in the right of his ministeriall office , this same ( jure ) hath reference to the authority generall , and not to the exercise thereof in any vnlawfull particularitie . yet i may not so haue done with this his so foolish conceit , lest if i let him passe therewith , hee may gather vpon me another absurdity , that ( with good cause ) the pope may take vpon him the power , which we absolutely deny him , who knoweth not , that the cause and offence may be such as may moue and provoke the dislike of all men ? yet the correction , reformation and restraint belongeth not to all men , but only to a competent and authorized iudge , which the pope over princes can never be , especially in temporall affaires , neither directly , that is truly and by commission , nor vndirectly , that is coulerably by any devised or fained pretence , wherfore if he can invent no better an hiding corner for dissembling swearers , i hope there is no catholike will make vse of his so fond a reservation and favorable interpretation , which indeed is all one , as if he asked leave to speak senselesly , to meane deceitfully , and to practize treacherously ; presently after this out of his charity he had conceaved this escape by construction , for the consciences of catholikes , forgetting ( as it seemeth ) that the said oath had by speciall words provided against such reserved meanings , he remembreth himselfe better acknowledging that as this case standeth , they may not well induce themselues to equivocate , or sweare in any other sense then frō his maiestie is proposed , and concludeth it to be lesse hurt plainly to deny to sweare , then by such swearing to giue no satisfaction neither to god , the king , himselfe , nor his neighbors , thereupon falleth into a deepe grave invective against this great pressure laid vpon mens consciences , shewing that howsoever we recken it a godly devise & intent , and that god did accordingly blesse the same , yet that no violēce or oppression whatsoever is like to this , and that the devising of this new oath was no blessing , but an vnspeakable afflictiō and augaraciō of mind ( his angry passion forging vnto vs that new word ) and in this fuming fashion he preceedeth , not forbearing to tell vs that by such extreame vexing of men , we shall gaine nothing , and giueth vs further to vnderstand , that such forcing of men against their consciences may make vs more doubtfull of their good will after they haue sworne , then we were be-before ; and that iniury receiued , must needes stirre them to more auersion of heart , working contrary effects to that which is pretended ; nay , he dareth also to adde hereunto some threates and terrors , setting foorth that amongst all other passions , none is more strong then that of reuenge for oppressions receiued , and therefore would haue vs conceiue , and apply it , that such as do not sticke to sweare against their consciences , for feare or other passions , will as easily breake that oath vppon like motiues if occasion serue : in this boyling manner doth the fervency of his spirit inkindle the inclinable hearts of the male-contended , catholikes , by the memory of their wrongs , and with vehemency of words , making incitations , to sedition , and insurrection ; his theologicall resolving that wee commit a grieuous sinne , when wee force and presse men to sweare against their consciences , making the same the highest degree of scandall actiue , tendeth to no other end , then to scandalize the iustice of our state , and to animate their mutining and factious complices , to some desperate vndertakings . and because hee sayth , that such their catholike doctrine , will not be denyed of the learned protestants themselues : he forceth for answere a declaration of the truth , positiuely mayntained amongst vs in that behalfe ; wherein ( first absolutely denying that de facto we inforce any so to sweare ) or that the tenor of the statute , or any rigor contayned in the penalty thereof , doth presse them to any repugnancy , against their consciences , we confesse that amongst priuate men in particuler neccssities , for discouering of some truth , which otherwise cannot be made knowne this course of giving and taking satisfaction by a voluntary oath is held in vse , and that needfully and lawfully ; and that in such debates of priuate nature , it belongeth to the discretion , honesty , and conscience of any well aduised man , not to require or accept of the oath of any such as hee by vehement presumption mis-doubteth will forsweare himselfe . but when for the publike good , and by publike authority of the law , the publike officer or magistrate is enioyned to vrge an oath , or to be satisfied by the same , he therein ( for performing and executing of the direction and command of the law ) is not to be blamed , neyther committeth any sinne , though in his priuate opinion hee shall suspect that the party so brought to his oath , will falsly or corruptly forsweare . for heerein hee is but a minister of the law , and must leaue the searching into the secrets of the heart , to the almighty all seeing , and all iudging god , his duty and office both worketh and endeth in the act of the law , saving that piety and charity may mooue him zealously to admonish him that so sweareth , to haue god and his christian faith in remembrance , and to beware of all precipitation into the danger of hell fire . this godly and charitable aduisednesse , ( i am well assured ) is duely obserued by the magistrates of this realme , not suffering any to passe so carelesly , as not with louing tendernesse to admonish them , of the important poynts , of that oath , and to adhort him to plainnesse , and willingnesse in taking of the same , that their consciences may not after be combred , and confounded with scruples , conflicts , or reluctations . he affirmeth a likely obiection to be made on our side , for defence of the enforcing of catholikes to this oath , which is by way of justification , of our doings therein , to be agreeable to the practise of the romish church , or in a course of recrimination that the popish authority is more or equally culpable of the same offence , because in the tribunalls of inquifitors , men are forced to abiure their opinions , and that vnder paine of death , or other most grieuous punishments . now what is his answere , and what is the difference which he findeth out , to convince our constraynings to be dissauowable , and theirs ( much more violent and tyrannous ) to be approueable ? marry , because the catholike church hath ius acquisitum ouer heretickes , as her due subiects , though now gone out of her , and departed from her ; doth this answere beseeme a gent. that professeth learning , who well knoweth that wee will presently deny the popish to be the catholike church ? that we haue not departed from the church ? but from the abhominations of rome , that we be neither heretickes , not subiects to that antichristian supremacy , and that their ius acquisitum is not obtayned by any derivation or substitution from christ , but it is intruded and vsurped , and so rightly termed acquisitum , beeing neither datum nor legitimum , but gotten by fradulent contriuings , and strong illusions ; in which cases it is not vnlawfull to shake of the yoake of bondage , and tyranny , so vniustly brought vppon vs , so soone as any meanes and opportunity shall be offered . and the rather because we haue ( to front this ius acquisitum with ) an old and strong opposition in our law , that nullum tempus occurrit regi , whose royall pre-eminence and supreame power , god hath in due time redeemed , from that great captiuity of the romish babell ; and was it not high time , and most requisite that the dignity , and maiesty of this kingdome should be exempted from the seruitude of that ius acquisitum ? doe you not note that all such as be or haue beene brought vnder the same , are by this gent. called the subiects of the catholike church ? such is the haughtinesse of that high built tower of pride . the pope is here made a soveraigne , st. peters nets catcheth more kingdomes , then fortune cast into the nets of the athenian captaine . the monarchies of europe must be come the acquisites or perquisites of the court of rome . hath not then the pope some reason thus to contend for the retayning of his subiects in his obedience , by barring of them from swearing themselues subiects to his majestie , and by performing of the duties of allegiance requierable of subiects ? i shall be driven to avouch in earnest , that which cardinall bellarminegathereth against vs as a great absurditie , that is , that no man can professe vnfeinedly his civill obedience , and detest treason and conspiracy , but hee must bee forced also to renounce the primacy of the sea of rome . the headship of the supreame bishop which beareth away in his streame the service and devotion of so many reputed catholikes , is the headspring of treacherie and sedition , which by claiming amongst vs so many subiects , draweth from vs their affection and obedience . the distinction of spirituall subjection and civil obedience , is become idle and of no vse , because the pope doth not keepe his quarter , but will needs breake forth of the rayles and limits of that distinction , taking vpon him to be authorized also temporally , and that , for the suppression and subversion of the civill soveraignity , and so vpon that occasion ( hauing his sheepe as by his pastorall charge to attend his call and heare his voyce ) maketh at the lest a scruple , and distraction , if not a full declination in the wills and dutyes of the people of this kingdome , whence must necessarily arise either privie complottings , or open attempts , in favour of their opinions , and in furtherance of their defires , which how farre it will extend , and into how deepe degrees it vseth to grow , many sorowfull and fearefull examples hath in this realme demonstratively declared vnto vs , to every whereof papacy hath beene the stirrer and instigator . i scant dare to mention that late most memorable example ( beyond all examples ) of the powder-treason , this gentleman is so tender-eared , as that he cannot indure to heare of that , he findeth fault with the appolloger for the odeous and often repetition thereof . i cannot blame them if the repetition of that purpose bee thought odeous , which maketh them odeous to all true christian hearts , and putteth all the world at gaze , in admiring at a designe so diuellish and detestable . and because he asketh whether there be no end of reprobation , i will end with a wish , that there were in that hollow vault some shrill and screeching eccho , that might never cease , by continuall resounding out-cryes , to beate and fill the aire , with the memorie of that hellish enterprise , that a treason so extraordinarie , hatched vp with the heate of papacy , should even from forth of the stones themselves receave for ever in all succeeding ages , a most iust reproofe and exprobation . my position wherewith i will conclude is this , that albeit i doe not hold all popish opinions , or papists seduced with such errors , to be culpable of treason , knowing that many simple and vninstructed people , may in some perticulers be misled , and neverthelesse , remaine allowable subiects , and perhaps not forsaken christians : yet such and so many of them , as directly , and compleatly , maintaine papacy , that is , the supremacy of the popes power and authority in the sense , and to the purpose , as this gentleman and p. r. hath expressed and advanced the same , and in vpholding thereof , deny their faith , allegiance , assistance , subjection , and adherence vnto their soveraigne , doe carry treasonable hearts , and are thereby apted for the like actions , as opportunity shall allure or enable them thereunto . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01076-e280 inter 〈◊〉 fragmenta . suat . li. 1. c. 1. notes for div a01076-e1010 cae. 6. par . 2 cae. 5. par 2 ● pet. ●● 1. pet. 5. a letter of a catholike gentleman touching the oath of allegiance , fol. 67. fol. ●● answere to sir edward cooke . friendly and seasonable advice to the roman catholicks of england by a charitable hand. comber, thomas, 1645-1699. 1677 approx. 217 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 90 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a34067 wing c5468 estc r1768 12410128 ocm 12410128 61513 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a34067) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61513) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 661:4) friendly and seasonable advice to the roman catholicks of england by a charitable hand. comber, thomas, 1645-1699. the third edition enlarg'd with an addition of the most convincing instances and authorities, and the testimony of their own authors for the same. [23], 152, [4] p. printed for henry brome ..., london : 1677. includes bibliographical references. advertisement: p. [1]-[4] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england. 2006-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-06 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , g. jane r. p. d. hen. episc . lond. à sac. dom. march 20. 1676 / 7. friendly and seasonable advice to the roman catholicks of england . the third edition enlarg'd : with an addition of the most convincing instances and authorities ; and the testimony of their own authors for the same . by a charitable hand . london , printed for henry brome at the gun at the west-end of st. pauls , 1677. to his honoured and worthy friend m r. s. b. concerning the former edition . sir , i cannot answer your inquiry , till i have not only commended but encouraged your charity to your country men of the roman communion ; it being an excellent piety to endeavour to reduce them into the right way , who are so confident in the wrong . the zeal of most men expresseth it self by fury and clamour against dissenters , whilst you shew your esteem for the rational principles of the church of england by your diligence to propagate them , and your desires to reconcile its misinformed adversaries to them . it is one of the great properties of goodness to be communicative , and a copy of s. paul's most obliging charity , act. 26. 29. to wish that all whom you converse with , were as happy in the choice of their faith , as you know your self to be : wherefore that i may as well quicken your generous design , as invite some others to imitate so good an example , i will propound these few considerations . 1. the relation in which the english romanists stand to us should excite our care ; for they are all natives of the same country , subjects of the same government , and are called by the same general name of christians : many of them our kind neighbours , familiar acquaintance , or near kindred , and some of them ( where their prejudice doth not blind them ) persons of great reason , and of so good inclinations , that they are not made vicious by the evil liberties which their principles do allow : and shall we for want of affection or courage suffer them to be kept in ignorance and imposed on at present , and to be led blindfold in such a way as will extreamly hazard the salvation of their precious souls hereafter ? if all the relations they bear to us do possess us with any real affection for them , we cannot but do our utmost to undeceive them . the frauds indeed of the guides of that church are daily more and more laid open , but for want of such a charity as yours is , they who are chiefly concerned , seldom come to the knowledge of them : i am sure those excellent pens which discover'd them , did not design we should make their delusions the subject of our mirth , but the means to convert the souls of those who are linked to us in so many bonds , that it is a shame we should suffer them to be so deceived . 2. but we usually excuse our remisness , under the pretence that it is impossible to convert them : had our ancestors so esteemed it , the world had wanted the blessing of the reformation : i grant 't is difficult , because of their rooted prejudice , and the policy of their leaders , yet not impossible because many have undertaken it , and prevailed . so that as seneca saith in another case , it is not because of the difficulty that we do not attempt it , but because we do not attempt it , therefore it seems difficult , ep. 104. the philosopher tells us where there is no difficulty , there is no opportunity to exercise either art or vertue : and if we were once willing to take some pains for so noble an end , it would much allay the trouble thereof , to consider the advantages which it may bring not only to the party which is the object of our charity , but to the church , yea and to our own souls also : for he that converteth a sinner from the errour of his way , shall save a soul from death , and shall hide a multitude of sins , jam. 5. 20. and they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever , dan. 12. 3. nay moreover if such pious endeavours should want success on earth , they shall not fail of a reward in heaven . 3. and finally , if we consider the unwearied industry of our adversaries in seducing , methinks it should awaken our diligence , in strengthning the weak , and reducing such as are out of the way . it had been very strange if the apostles should have been unwilling to travel for the propagation of the right faith , and the winning souls of heaven , when the pharisees compassed sea and land to reconcile a proselyte to their particular sect ; and yet alas 't is too often seen , that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light , s. luk. 16. 18. the hermit pambo accidentally beholding a theatrick woman dance exquisitely before a loose assembly at alexandria , is said to have wept abundantly , to consider how much more pains she took to serve evil ends , than he himself did to serve god. had we as much tenderness as that holy man , doubtless we have as great occasion for our shame and sorrow , when we see others more active to advance the mystery of iniquity , than we are to promote the glory of god , and the salvation of your brethrens immortal souls . these considerations , worthy sir , i know have excited your charitable resolutions , and i hope will prevail with many others to endeavour the reformation of their deceived friends : wherefore that i may answer your desires , and contribute my poor assistance to so pious and generous a design ▪ i have sent you the following papers , wherein the delusions of that party are discovered as plainly , yet as modestly as may be , that they may see in a little room how much it is their interest and advantage to embrace the true catholick religion of the english church . i know all these particulars have been more fully handled by better pens , but most of these writings have been by way of dispute , and intended rather to convince than perswade . so that they may be very proper to give fuller satisfaction in any particulars doubted of , when their great prejudices are first a little removed : besides there are many through unavoidable business , company , or other divertisements , who either have no leisure or no inclination to read a larger volume , being of callimachus's mind , that a great book is a great evil a , who yet may be prevailed with to spare one hour for so small an abstract as this . the jewish talmud tells us of a noble heathen , who came to rabbi hillet , and offered to become a proselyte , if he could teach him the whole law at one lesson , tract . sab. fol. 31. and if you meet with any of his mind , they may perhaps be gratified with this little abridgment , wherein the mistakes of the roman perswasion are put into as narrow a compass as they can well be reduced to ; so that even those who are yet resolved to be of that church may perhaps not be unwilling to peruse it , that they may at one view see , what their religion is charged with . and if it do not gain such persons , yet it will teach them to censure mildly , and to dissent from us with more moderation : and as the volume is small , and so may invite those to its perusal who are delighted with brevity , so the style is as mild as the matter would allow , and can give no just offence to any : the particulars are so plain , and so fully proved more at large by others , that the author resolves not to dispute , but in pure charity to advise the romanists not to resist apparent truth and reason , having no worse intentions towards them than to set them into the best way to heaven ; and if any be angry at him or you for this , they are the greatest enemies to themselves , and more concerned for their present opinions , than for their everlasting salvation ; but it is to be hoped the sincerity of your intention to do good may oblige some kindly to accept this manual , at least as a testimony of your love ; to whom , if you have the liberty of discourse , you shall do well to clear those exceptions which prejudice may suggest , and at least to obtain from them a resolution , impartially to enquire into the truth of that which they so confidently do believe : and sure , it is infinite pity that persons of excellent reason should be so much enslaved , as not to dare to ask the right way to bliss of any , but those who have an absolute dominion over them , nor once to go about to judge for themselves in a case of so great concernment . i would be loath to think so hardly of their superiours , as to suppose they interdicted their adherents from all converse with us ; for this were the exact parallel of the muscovian policy , where it is death for any to travel out of their own kingdom without especial license , for fear they should never endure their former bondage , when once they have seen the freedom of other nations : and if once you can prevail so far , that they will impartially compare their own opinions with ours , it is probable they may become our friends . i shall add no more but to wish this token may be as kindly accepted as it will be charitably offered by you , and to assure you , you shall never want his prayers for your success , who is , sir , yours to serve you , to his esteemed friend m r. w. r. concerning this present edition . sir , yovr account of the speedy dispersing of this little tract , encourageth me to hope , it hath not only been acceptable to the world , but also blessed by god to the reducing some from the roman opinions , and the establishing others in the protestant faith ; and that it may more effectually serve to these desirable ends , i have been content to obey your request , in reviewing it in order to another impression , which ( you tell me ) is now desired . in which review , i have rectified the method of the whole , and illustrated and strengthened every part , with the addition of so many of the most convincing instances and authorities as could be put in without too much swelling the bulk . i confess i did suppose the things to be so evident , and so plainly proved in larger discourses , that i was not curious before , always to bring proofs for my assertions : but now your letter acquaints me both that some romanists ( who resolve boldly to deny , what they cannot otherwise evade ) have questioned the truth of some parts of this charge ; and also that those protestants whose charity hath invited them to seek their friends conversion , have desired i should add my authors to confirm these allegations : therefore for the full satisfaction of both parties i have proved all the particulars by the testimony of such authors whose evidence is unquestionable , chusing usually the plain confessions of popes and cardinals , or other approved writers of the roman church , that so those of that party may believe these matters from the mouth of those whom they esteem their best friends , which they would suspect , if we related upon our own credit , whom they unjustly account their enemies ; and though their present romish priests should deny those things , which the most eminent writers of their own church have formerly acknowledged , they are not to be doubted of upon that account , since the confession of former writers against their own party is better evidence , than the denial of the later can be for it ; for no man will lye ( saith tertullian ) to his own disgrace , but rather for his credit : and it is more fit to believe such as confess against themselves , than such as deny for themselves a . so that none can justly doubt of these truths thus attested : and he that once believes them , and yet retains the religion of rome , must be of a humor differing from the rest of mankind , who cannot chuse a known delusion , nor delight in sitting under apparent abuses . i must expect the admirers of that once famous church will entertain these just and necessary accusations thereof with some little heats of passion ; but i hope it will calm those hasty motions when they deliberately consider , that since i say no more than truth i do no injury to rome , and the charity which i have for them obliges me to say so much . and why ( saith the philosopher ) art thou displeased at me , who have done no more than a looking-glass doth to the deformed , having only shewed thee to thy self as thou art ? shall the physician be said to reproach him whose disease he discovers to him b ? they will remember i hope that i have undertaken the office of a friendly counsellor , whose duty ( according to the graecian sage ) is , not to advise that which is most pleasing , but that which is most profitable c . and if in compliance with this rule i shall somewhat displease them to their advantage , i shall not only obtain a pardon , but merit their thanks also in the end : however , i ask no more , than that laying aside their prejudices , they will put on so much affection to their own real interest as to weigh the reasons and arguments upon which my advice is grounded , and if they be convincing and perswasive , i desire them not to resist their own freedom , nor despise him that sincerely seeks their good ; but if they absolutely resolve the most rational and just motives shall not perswade them to alter their old opinions , i shall pity and pray for them , but can use no other methods in this case ; for it is counsel and not command which i give , since men should be reasoned and not forced into a right faith , and would god the roman church had never obtruded her opinions upon the world by any other means , but these gentle and rational perswasions , her neighbours then would not have had so just cause to complain of her . and now , sir , since i write , and you and other zealous protestants act by these fair methods , if our endeavours for our countrymens conversion be not maliciously misconstrued , they cannot be censured to tend to the harm of any , but must be confessed to aim at the present and future happiness of all that we shall address our selves to in this matter : and i shall rejoyce if my pains herein may attain these blessed ends , and let you particularly understand how gladly i would encourage your love to the church of england , and comply with all your pious desires , since i am , sir , your affectionate and faithful friend . friendly and seasonable advice to the roman catholicks of england . the introduction . my friends and country-men , it is observed by others , and complained of by your selves , that you lie under many inconveniences , by reason of your stiff adherence to those opinions which rome calls religion : the charges you are at to maintain a forreign jurisdiction , and your want of the communion of those christians among whom you live , the uneasie rites imposed on you here , and the great hazard of your salvation hereafter , are reckoned by others to be evils appendant to your professing the faith of that church . but if you your selves do not feel or not fear these things , and so account them no grievance , yet you are sensible of other pressures , and frequently complain , that your estates are obnoxious to the penalties of the law , and your persons exposed to the general hatred of the people . you tell us , you want many priviledges of other subjects , and lie under many burthens from which others are free : you perceive , that your actions are observed , your designs suspected , and your party accused to be the cause of all publick evils . how far some of your own perswasion have contributed hereunto i shall not take upon me to judge ; esteeming it a more charitable employment to offer some expedient to free you from those sad effects , which you complain of , than either to enquire after the cause of the nations general antipathy to your religion , or dispute about the occasion thereof ▪ wherefore , whilst some accuse your practices , and others deride your worship , i have so much affection for your persons ( as my countrymen ) and so much charity for your souls ( since you bear the name of christian ) as to present you with some useful advice . 't is true , the common apprehension concerning you might almost discourage such an attempt , it being generally believed , that a roman catholicks prejudice is like theirs in st. augustine , who ( being descended of misbelieving ancestors ) preferred their extraction before the truth : and like the resolution of cotta in cicero , who says , that no discourse of either learned or unlearned men , should ever remove him from the opinion received from his fore-fathers , concerning the worship of the immortal gods a . but i know many of you are masters of more reason than to ground your faith upon so uncertain a foundation : it is not the part of wise men ( saith a learned father ) to be enslaved to a received opinion , nor rashly to give up themselves to their fathers customes ; but to endeavour to find out the truth b . and it is the advice of the great apostle , to prove all things , and hold fast that which is good , 1 thess . 5. 21. because it is a zeal without knowledge , and a foolish obstinacy to be confident of that which we never did examine . i can easily believe your spiritual guides will esteem no sin more mortal , than to enquire into those principles which you receive from them , and they will scarce allow you the liberty to peruse a few lines presented by so charitable a hand : but their prohibitions ( methinks ) should make you more suspicious and inquisitive , and cause you to resolve to try that coyn which shuns the touchstone , knowing that truth seeks no corners , and that which is real fears no test . the church of england puts no such restraints upon her adherents , nor is she unwilling to have her doctrines tried by scripture and the best antiquity ; because she finds those are her best sons that have enquired most narrowly . evil needs a mask and a disguise ( said the brave agesilaus ) but light makes true goodness to be more illustrious and more lovely . and a greater than he saith , every one that doth evil hateth the light , neither cometh to the light , lest his deeds should be reproved : but he that doth turth cometh to the light . s. john iii. 20. 21. if therefore you have but so much consideration as to suspect , and so much courage as to examine , i should not be without hope , that my advice might take place , since ( as plato notes ) every soul is unwillingly deprived of truth , which men cannot resist when once it appears unto them : i shall ask no more of you than to search impartially , whether the doctrines wherein you differ from the church of england , deserve so firm an assent as you give them ; and he that dares not do this , is not a disciple , but a slave . it may be those counsellours may please the heady bigots of your perswasion better , who advise them to ease their mind by reproaching the laws and the government , or to attempt the shaking off their grievances by more desperate courses : but i do not believe the wiser and more sober romanists can approve such cursed motions , there are many of them too noble to admit such thoughts . it is the stoicks character in galen , that they would rather betray their country , than renounce their maxims : but i take those of your party to be generally of a better temper , and therefore i hope you will account it to be far more friendly and seasonable advice , to try these your principles strictly , before you expose your country or your selves to suffer all the ill-consequences of your rigid maintaining of them , and if you once rightly understand them , i hope you will discern they do not deserve to be retained at so dear a rate : so that it is possible you may resolve to quit your mistaken opinions and your real sufferings together . however , though your enquiry shall not have this effect , yet this trial of your principles ought not to be wholly declined ; for i would advise you to examine the roman doctrines , if it were but only to declare , that your religion is not a blind and accidental choice , and to vindicate your selves from the charge of the old samaritans , who worshipped they knew not what . section 1. whether the roman opinions , which differ from the church of england , be the old religion ? i doubt not , but these who have been educated in the romish religion , as well as those who have inconsiderately turned to it , do please themselves in fancying they are of the old religion ; and hence they assume and appropriate to themselves the name of catholicks , upon this presumption , that they do intirely , and in all things , agree with the ancient and universal church : but ( my friends ) if you have the patience to enquire , you will find there is no good ground for this perswasion ; it being evident the roman is not the old religion , in any other articles , but only in those which are found in the apostles creed , or founded upon the plain words of holy scripture ; for that is the old religion which god revealed at first , and which christ and his apostles taught . that is truest which was the first ( saith tertullian ) and that was first , which was from the beginning c . so s. cyprian ; we ought not to regard so much , what some others before us have thought fit , as what christ himself , who was before all , hath done d . now , if that be the old religion , which is taught in the holy scripture and the creed , herein the religion of rome cannot pretend to be older than the religion of this church , because we hold all these articles as well as they ; yea , if the case be rightly stated , the church of englands faith is the old religion , and not that of rome ; for she professeth , to believe nothing as an article of faith , but what is read in holy scripture , or may be proved thereby : artic . vi . but the roman church declares , they receive traditions with the same veneration that they do the scriptures . concil . trident. sess . 4. so that we hold all the principles of the old religion , and no other ; but they ( under the pretence of traditions ) have invented and added many points to the old religion , which are not mentioned in the bible , and decreed other articles contrary to the old religion recorded in scripture , and all these are a new religion ; and yet these are the doctrines in which we differ . in all the principles which are truly the old religion we and they generally do agree ; but if you take the religion of the roman church for the doctrines in which they differ from us , it may be justly said , they are of the new religion , and we of the old , since our religion was recorded in scripture sixteen hundred years ago ▪ ( as our adversaries seem to confess , when they call us , scriptuarii , scripture-men : prateol . ) whereas all that which is properly their religion , is of much later date . and that i may not be thought to invent this charge , or to accuse the roman ▪ church wrongfully , i will instance in the most principal of the doctrines wherein we differ , and bring in your own doctors as witnesses of this truth . 1. that prayers to the saints are not mentioned by christ nor his apostles , is confessed by salmeron , lindan , and bannes e . etherianus saith as much of prayers for the dead f . indulgences are not to be found in scripture , nor in the ancient doctors , say durandus , major , cajetan , and antoninus g . transubstantiation it self cannot be proved by scripture , if you will take three cardinals words for it h . and if our designed brevity would allow it , the like might be proved of all the rest . but we must proceed to shew , there are some new things in the romish religion , directly contrary to the scripture . the taking the cup from the laity is contrary to our saviours institution , as that very council of constance confesseth which first enjoyned it ; for they say , the sacrament shall be given in one kind only to the people , non obstante , &c. notwithstanding our lord did appoint it in both : concil . constant . sess . 13. and your own authentick vulgar translation ( as if this innovation had been foreseen ) where the greek only hath , we are all partakers of one bread , adds [ & de uno calice ] and of one cup : 1 cor. 10. 17. the veneration which you give to images , seems to all impartial eyes directly contrary to the second commandement ; and though your priests will not directly confess it , yet their general leaving out the second commandement in your catechisms , and cutting the tenth in two , to keep up the number , and conceal the omission from the vulgar , is a fair evidence , they themselves suspected that this commandement made against them , and feared others would apprehend it so . to these you may add , praying in an unknown tongue which s. paul condemns in one whole chapter , 1 corinth . xiv . as some of your own commentators on the place confess : as also the making saints and angels your mediators to god , when the same apostle positively saith , there is but one mediator , viz. christ jesus : 1 tim. ii . 5. all these therefore cannot rightly be accounted any part of the old religion , properly so called : but if we shall descend lower , these , and many other points of your religion are so far from being the old religion , that the writers of the roman church do acknowledge , they were not known to the primitive fathers ; yea , they record the very time when most of them were imposed . the doctrine of purgatory was first built upon the credit of those fabulous dialogues attributed to gregory the first ; or if they were his ( which many doubt ) this was six hundred years after christ , and it was not generally believed in the church five hundred years after , as we learn from an old historian , otto frising . chronic. an. 1146. and as for the prayers made to deliver souls from thence ( that gainful article of your church ) we are told by your own authors , that the first who caused them to be appointed by your church , was odilo abbot of clugny , an. 1000. * . the worshipping of god by images , was not allowed by the ancient fathers , say your own authors , clemangis , polyd. virgil , and peresius aiala i . and all men know , this kind of use of images can be derived no higher ( as to its being decreed ) than that despicable council k in the eighth century ; but both the doctrine and the council also was rejected for many years after by the french , english , and german churches l . indulgences are not ancient , as bishop fisher confesses m : nor is there any good proof in your own authors for them before the time of pope alexander 3. a. 1160 , or the council of clermont however , an. 1096 n . and the first who made mony of them was boniface 9 th . an. 1390. as platina and polydore virgil tell us o . and the first jubilee ( the great market for them ) was not an hundred years before p . the forcing all priests to vow single life , and renounce their wives , was first obtruded upon the church by pope hildebrand q : without any precedent ( saith an old historian ) and ( as many thought ) of an indiscreet zeal , contrary to the holy fathers opinion r . and yet he was not obeyed here in england in this for above a hundred years after ; for our ancient records say , all these decrees availed nothing , for the priests by the kings consent still had their wives , as formerly s . auricular confession to a priest was never imposed as necessary until the lateran council t : it being little above fifty years before , that we are informed by the famous master of the sentences , and by gratian your great compiler of the decrees , that it was in our choice whether we would confess to god only , or to the priest also u ; and t. aquinas confesseth this was the opinion then w . transubstantiation ( the discriminating doctrine of your present church ) was not held by the fathers , as your own doctors acknowledge x ; and one of the infallible heads of your church affirms , that the elements cease not to be of the substance and nature of bread and wine y . the schoolmen confess transubstantiation is not ancient z : and two of the most famous of them plainly deny it a . the administring the sacrament in one kind , is no older than the council of constance ( as was noted before ) b ; the practice of the whole church , and of rome it self being otherwise till then c : finally , many things were never decreed and imposed as necessary to be believed till the late council of trent ; such as the equalling apocryphal books and traditions to the undoubted canon of scripture , justification by the merit of good works , &c. which council of trent was never fully owned by the catholicks of france d : nor was it ever received as a lawful council by this english nation . it would be too tedious to run over all the rest of those points wherein the roman differs from the english church , or else it might be shewed , that the appeals to rome , and the pope's vniversal claim , veneration of relicks , invocation of the blessed virgin , pilgrimages , &c. were wholly unknown to the three first centuries , as the ingenuous romanists will confess , and our writers have largely proved . by all which it appears , that the old religion of rome for the first three hundred years , had no formal invocation of saints nor angels ; no purgatory , nor prayers to be delivered thence ; no images , no transubstantiation , no half communion , no jubilees , no indulgences ' no constrained coelibate , no prayers in an unknown tongue , no customary auricular confession , no apocrypha in her canon of scripture , nor the rest : now if you strip your church of these doctrines , she retains scarce any thing , but the protestant articles of the church of england ; but if you take rome with these additions , her religion is not so old by far as the religion of this church . perhaps it will be pretended , though these decrees were made in later ages , yet the determinations were made by vertue of apostolical traditions preserved in the roman church from the very beginning ; and upon this pretence your late writers of controversie have generally laid aside all arguments from scripture and ancient fathers , and resolve all into oral tradition and the infallibility of the roman church : but what is this but to confess , that the scriptures , the ancient fathers , and all written records ( which are impartial witnesses ) do make against them ? only these unknown traditions , which are only in their own keeping ( and may be of their own devising ) these , they say , bear witness for them , which is to make themselves judges in their own cause ; and may justly occasion your enquiry , whether the former popes knew of these traditions or no ? if not , how then came the later popes to the knowledge of them ? if they knew of them of old , why did they let them sleep so long , and suffer the church to erre for so many years for want of them ? did they discharge their vniversal headship well in this concealment ? but in very truth it is evident , the first popes knew of no such traditions , and the later popes have invented them to support their new designs ; which appears by the ancient popes declaring directly contrary to these pretended apostolical traditions , of which take a few examples . pope gaius writes , that the righteousness of the saints avails nothing to our pardon or justification e . pope gelasius denies transubstantiation , as was noted just now f . the famous gregory the great saith , he himself was the emperors servant , and owed him obedience g ; and declares , that god had given the emperor power over priests as well as others h . the same pope disowns the title of vniversal bishop , as unfit for him or any other i . he also determines , that it is lawful for priests who cannot contain to marry k : and he allows images for history and memory only l . a later than he also in the canon law decrees , that in such diocess where there be people of divers languages , the bishop shall provide fit men to celebrate divine offices , and minister the sacraments of the church according to the diversity of rites and variety of their languages : decretal . greg. l. 1. tit. 31. cap. 14. the aforesaid pope gregory the first affirms , that the book of maccabees is not canonical m . and as well the ordinary gloss , as the old editions of the bibles which were allowed by the roman bishops , and used in that church before the council of trent , do all distinguish between the canonical books , and those which the protestant church now call apocrypha n yet the contrary to all these hath been afterwards decreed upon pretence of being apostolical traditions : by which account you may see ( if your prejudices hinder not ) that the present roman church ( as it differs from the church of england ) retains neither the old religion of the scriptures , nor that of the primitive church in general , nay , nor that of the ancient church of rome ; for they have omitted some points , added others , and altered so many , that though rome keep the old name , it doth not keep the old faith. we may now seek rome in the midst of rome ( as juvencus vitalis said ) : nor can it be denied ( saith another ) but the roman church is not a little different from its ancient beauty and splendor o . there is not the faith , the manners , nor the worship of the primitive roman church ; and therefore according to s. ambrose , they that have not peter ' s faith cannot succeed to peter ' s inheritance p ; and as s. hierome observes , they are not the sons of the saints who possess their places , but they which follow their works : and , that only ( saith lactantius ) is the catholick church which retains the true worship of god q . you might have seen and heard in rome of old , a bishop without a triple crown or the title of vniversal , churches without images , priests under no vows of single life , litanies without any names of saints or ora pro nobis , the mass celebrated in a known tongue , bibles calling divers books apocrypha , which are now reckoned canonical scripture ; people not enslaved by auricular confession , not debarred of the cup , not frighted with purgatory , nor impoverished with purchasing prayers and indulgences to save them from thence , &c. to conclude therefore , why may you not justly desert them , who have in so many things departed from the old religion , taught by christ and his apostles , believed by the ancient fathers , and received by the first and best bishops of that same church ? if you desire to be really of the old religion , nay , if you would hold the faith of the primitive roman church , you may come much nearer to it , by embracing the religion of your own country , than by retaining the opinions of the modern church of rome , which are most of them meer innovations : and though you have reverenced them while you supposed them ancient and apostolical , yet we hope you will now renounce them when they are evidently discovered to be gibeonites disguised on purpose to deceive , and ( notwithstanding their mouldy pretences , as if they had come from far , and were descended from ancient times ) their true original is much later and nearer to this present age. and now , secondly , it will be easie to determine , that as the roman is not the old religion , so neither ought the professors of it to appropriate to themselves the name of catholick . for whether we take it in the primary and grammatical sense for [ vniversal ] , or in its common acceptation for [ true believers , ] the romanist hath no peculiar right to this venerable title : first , because their faith in those points wherein it differs from the church of england is not universal ; for as the judicious mr. brerewood computes , the christians holding the faith of rome , are not above a fourth part of those who believe in christ r : and the excellent author of europae speculum s thus makes out the account : the greek church ( saith he ) in number exceeds any other — , and the protestants in number and circuit of territory are very near equal to the papal part , these are two fourth parts : to which if we add the oriental christians , which are not of the roman communion , and those under prester john or the abassine christians , we have another fourth part of the christian people ; and then the romanists , are but one fourth part of christians only . and it is very odd to say , that the fourth part is the whole : and surely ( my friends ) you cannot seriously think the roman church to be the vniversal ( or catholick ) church in this sense , when you remember that the pope's authority is not acknowledged by the generality of those christians living in england , scotland and ireland , with the plantations thereunto belonging , nor by those of denmark and sweden , nor by those of transylvania , walachia and moldavia , nor by the large church of russia , nor by the populous states and provinces of the dutch , with their many plantations abroad , nor by at least five parts of six of the vast country of upper germany , nor by two parts of three of the switzers , nor by those of geneva and piedmont , nor by very many in france , hungary , poland , &c. how many millions of christians are there in the eastern world who have no dependance on the roman church ? the christians of the greek church ( properly so called ) under the three patriarchs of constantinople , alexandria and antioch , those of armenia ( who are professed enemies of rome , and yearly excommunicate the pope ) . the georgian christians , with many other lesser names in asia , the abassine christians in africa ; all these are not of the communion of the roman church , and therefore , how can that church pretend to the title of vniversal , or catholick in this sense ? but secondly , if you say you are catholicks , that is , true believers in all points ; i desire you to consider , that none say so but your selves , and 't is suspicious their witness is not true , who bear witness to themselves , s. john v. 31. and where so many articles of faith are new , it is probable some are false ; since the oldest things in religion are the truest and the best : so that upon the whole enquiry , the church of england may more justly claim the title of catholick , because the principles thereof are few and clearly deduced from scripture , believed in the primitive church , and universally received by all sorts of christians , who differ in some ceremonies ; but for the points , which this church accounts necessary to salvation , the whole christian world generally agrees in them . and since the religion of the church of england is the most ancient and most vniversal , you will be more truly of the old religion , and more properly styled catholicks by embracing the faith professed in your own country , and disowning those who damn all christians but them of their own party , although it be evident there are in the world , christians far more in number than they , and among those many equal in learning and superior in piety to the best of the roman church , who are reprobated and sentenced to eternal flames by their uncharitable anathema's . section ii. whether the said opinions were not introduced for evil ends ? although all this be matter of fact , and acknowledged by your own writers , yet i must expect , the venerable esteem you have so long had for the roman church , will make you slow to believe this deserved charge of innovation ; and perhaps you will wonder how so pure , so celebrated , and so orthodox a church , as rome primitive was , should vary so much from her first faith , yet since the change is so evident , and so well attested , i hope at least your curiosity will tempt you to enquire : first , for what ends she should bring in these new doctrines . secondly , by what means they became so generally believed . thirdly , of what nature the things themselves are . fourthly , whether there be authority sufficient in the roman church to impose them on the whole christian world. fifthly , whether the catholicks of england ought to be swayed by that authority to embrace them : and if in examining these particulars any thing shall be spoken which sounds harshly to your ears , ( accustomed to hear nothing but encomiums of rome ) i shall desire you to consider , that truth is seldom grateful to offenders ; and i must say with one of the writers of the popes lives , we relate these things because they were done , and if the popes would not have base or evil things reported of them , they must do no such things , or if they do them , not fancy they can be so concealed , as that they shall not be known nor related to posterity : papyrius masson . de vit. pont. for my own part , i profess , i take no delight in accusations ; nor shall i say any thing out of malice to that church , but out of pity to the souls of those who without reason dote upon it : if you enquire , what ends the roman church could have to bring in these new doctrines ? i reply , the first decay of that church began in her manners . for after there were christian magistrates ( saith s. hierome ) the church became fuller of riches and emptier of vertue t . and for the roman bishops , they began very early to affect a dominion beyond the bounds of priesthood , as socrates notes u ; which made s. basil say thirteen hundred years ago , i hate the pride of that church w , and caused a heathen historian of that age to say , the roman bishops were richly clad , carried in litters , and profuse in their feastings x ; but the faults of that age were small in respect of after-times , for as their wealth and power increased , their manners grew still worse and worse , as we find by the complaints of salvian , and many others , till at length about the ninth age your own baronius saith , the face of the roman church was become most filthy , when lewd and potent curtezans swayed all there : at whose pleasure sees were changed , bishops placed , and which is horrid to pious ears , their paramors were thrust into s. peter ' s chair , false popes which only serve to fill up so great a space of time in the catalogue of roman bishops y . and a writer who lived in those times tells us . the world was amazed at the manners of the romans z . it is strange ( saith another historian ) how far in that age they were degenerated from the piety of the old popes a . this age ( as another speaks ) was especially unhappy in this , that for about an hundred and fifty years , there were fifty popes wholly fallen from the vertue of their predecessors , being disorderly and apostatical rather than apostolical b . and if our brevity would permit it , we could shew out of platina , onuphrius , and others of your own writers , that there was no reformation in all the ages , while these new doctrines were in coyning : now it is the great philosopher's observation , that wickedness is destructive of good principles c . so that it is no wonder , if in such decays of piety , and such a flood of iniquity , the roman church did bring in many new articles suitable to her manners ; and i think when pride , luxury and covetousness possess the chair , we can hardly expect any other laws , but such as shall gratifie these affections : and the practices as well as the decrees of rome for divers of the latter centuries have so apparently tended this way , that it hath been taken notice of by all those of her own communion , whose affection hath not rob'd them of their discerning powers ; yea , even in catholick countries it hath abated much of the reverence formerly paid to that see , by reason the designs thereof are so apparently secular , tending not to the salvation of souls , but the support of their own grandeur : which makes me admire our english romanists should hug their chains , and adore those who abuse their well-meaning devotion with articles of faith serving rather to carry on the designs of the imposers , than the salvation of their over credulous believers : methinks an easie apprehension might discover , that the roman guides govern you by principles that have more of machiavel in them , than of conscience or gospel-simplicity , and a little consideration will inform you , that those things which they teach you to call religion , are arts to enslave and impoverish you , and engines to advance themselves to the highest pitch of honour and abundance : s. bernard ( though a great friend to the roman church ) saw this , when he said , at rome all regard is given to honour , but to holiness none at all d . were this the fault of particular mens evil management ( from which no society is free ) it were more excusable , but there are doctrines added to the old catholick faith ( even most of the tenets wherein they differ from the church of england ) which are plain artifices to increase the power and wealth of rome . doctrines for which they dispute with us upon demetrius's principle , because thereby they have their gain , act. xix . 25. and many think the guides of your church contend for some of these principles , not because they believe them , but because it is their interest the people should be perswaded of them ; which makes them secretly laugh at their credulity who will be imposed on by them , as that great cardinal did , when he gave the people ( who flocked about him ) his benediction in these words , qui vult decipi decipiatur : and it is a vile suspicion of this which we may gather from that observation of hospinian , that in italy the name [ christian ] is used for an ideot or fool e . but to be more particular , let us look over some instances of such new doctrines as are taught in the roman church for secular ends . we begin with the doctrine of implicit faith or believing as the church believes , a doctrine unknown in s. cyrils time , who speaking to his young christians , bids them not meerly believe the things he spoke because he affirmed them , unless he did demonstrate them to be so out of the divine scripture f . and truly this novel doctrine may agree with pythagoras's ipse dixit , and is a good shelter for paganism , the best argument for which , balbus saith , is this , that he had received it from his fore-fathers g . the jewish rabbins told their disciples , they must believe whatever they taught them , though they should say that their right hand was their left : and it was becoming enough in apel●es the heretick to charge his seduced scholars , not to examine his principles by reason h : but it is below the honour of true religion to desire to be taken upon trust ; so that this doctrine is a policy of your priests to secure their evil principles from being enquired into , and a device to make you depend on them as infallible oracles , who can by this means lead you blind-fold whither they will , and impose any thing on you which serves their interest , under the pretence of true religion . 2. auricular confession to a priest was voluntary of old , and only used in case of a troubled conscience , or a strong temptation : but it is now made necessary at stated times , in all probability to make the priest master of every mans secrets , to discover the least inclination of their proselytes to leave them , to keep the laity in awe , and make them venerate and depend upon their spiritual guide , who hereby hath them at his mercy : and their doctors do affirm , that in some cases it is lawful to discover what is revealed to them in confession , especially if it concern the roman church i . and thus they have an intelligencer in the breast of every great man of their communion . the exempting the regular clergy from their lawful bishops jurisdiction ( which s. bernard complains of as an unjust thing k : and the freeing ecclesiasticks from their natural princes authority is , that the pope may have subjects numerous and potent to give intelligence and abet his interest in the bowels of all kingdoms . the popes supremacy , appeals to rome , the collation of benefices and other preferments , the creating their maker in the mass , with many others , do all aim at the honour of the church of rome , and the making its most inferior priests revered : but because the honour of the church of rome cannot be maintained without vast riches , it is obvious to all , that many of their new doctrines and practices have been introduced with design to fill the churches treasuries : or if ignorance and superstition were the mother of these gainful devices , it is certain covetousness hath been an officious nurse unto them . as in the case of purgatory , and prayers to deliver souls from thence , a novel fancy , feared and suspected at first by some , but countenanced and decreed by that church , thereby to oblige the people to give liberally for themselves or their deceased friends , to those who sell their prayers so commonly that they occasioned that proverb , no penny no pater noster . it is impossible to reckon the vast sums that this opinion brings in , for so many masses , dirige's , requiems , for those trentals , obits , and anniversaries , which the deluded romanists purchase , with oblations of houses and lands , plate , vestments , jewels , images and ready mony . and it is very remarkable , that the fear of losing this income was one main impediment to restrain the pope from yielding to a reformation . to these may be added the doctrines of images and invocation of saints , with the reports of miracles done at certain places , and the device of canonization by the pope ( an honour that none of the saints for the first five or six centuries ever had ) but certain it is , that people being perswaded of miracles wrought on earth and intercession made in heaven by these saints , do undertake pilgrimages to these places and make oblations there , or else send their offerings if they cannot go : and this in so excessive degrees , that there have been , and are some shrines which cu●vy the treasuries of the greatest princes of europe ; we may instance in tho. beckets at canterbury l , and the still famous lady of loretto m . the relicks also of all other saints , yea , such as are said to belong to jesus himself , have been formerly carried about to collect mony , yea , sold for great sums , and are accounted marketable ware , and very gainful commodities in the roman church . the year of jubilee and distribution of indulgences are used as devices to get mony , as your own writers complain n . the pope's pretences to a power of dispensing with vows and oaths , leagues and contracts , marriages in prohibited degrees , &c. fill his coffers with silver and his court with suitors . the taking mony for penances and granting absolution upon it for notorious sins , is so known an infamy , that we have the very book in our hands , copyed out of the original in the apostolick chamber , setting down the rates and sums to be paid for absolution from the most horrid wickednesses : and to convince us that mony is the only thing sought by the church in these absolutions , the said book tells us , that these acts of grace cannot be granted to the poor who have nothing , and therefore cannot be comforted o . and though the priests and fryers have these and many more ways to draw mony from the people , yet the pope uses them but as spunges , to suck in wealth from others , that he may squeez it into his own coffers afterwards : for it is scarce within the reach of arithmetick what sums the roman church receives from the inferior clergy and bishops for institutions , confirmations , investitures , palls , first-fruits , tenths , &c. the very tenths and first-fruits formerly enjoyed by the pope , amounting in this nation , as we now compute them , to above 20000 l. per an. and in the time of the roman jurisdiction here , the clergy paid him a fifth part of their livings , sometimes for two or three years beside ; and for the english bishops , their subjection to rome cost them dear , walter le grey archbish . of york paying ten thousand pound sterling for his pall p . and it was complained in the 23 d of henry 8 th that the papacy had received out of england in about forty years past , for investitures of bishops only threescore thousand pounds q . and the doctrine of sorcing all priests to renounce marriage , is maintained by the policy of the roman court , that they may not only profit by them living , but be their heirs when they die , there being no other good reason to be given for this rigid imposition ; for sure they will not say it is simply unlawful for priests to marry , since two popes , s. gregory the great and pius the second , affirm they may be allowed to marry r ; and their great canonist saith , there is as great reason to allow priests marriage now , as ever there was to restrain it s . what then ! do they forbid it that priests may be more pure ? that cannot be the reason , because s. paul saith , marriage defiles not , heb. xiii . 4. and fornication which certainly doth defile , is tolerated , if not allowed t , and called a venial sin u : however reputed by their casuists a lesser sin in the priest , than marriage x . and how pure this doctrine makes your clergy let experience and your own writers teach you . there are many ( saith s. bernard ) who cannot be hid for their multitude , nor do they seek to be concealed through their impudence , who being kept from nuptial remedies run into all filthiness a . there are few free ( saith another ) in these days from the crime of fornication b . the pope thinking it almost a miracle some ages since to hear a candidate for a bishoprick attested to be a pure virgin c . the true reason therefore of this doctrine , which occasions so much wickedness , we may learn from the canon . law : which allows not regular bishops to dispose of their estates by will , nor others of the clergy to be too free of their alms in their sickness d , ( how earnestly soever they exhort the laity thereunto : ) and thus the church becomes their heir , and these spoyls of the clergy ( as they very significantly term them ) which fall to the church at their deaths amount to a good round sum , as a judicious author observes e . i cannot express one half of those arts which the roman church hath to drein both clergy and laity : but certain it is , they do draw a mass of treasure annually from the countries under their yoke , insomuch that it was complained of to the council of spain , that pope pius 5th had got fourteen millions out of that kingdom in a short space f . and in the time of henry 3 d of england it was computed , that the popes revenue out of this nation exceeded the kings g . and another time complaint was made by the english , that there went threescore thousand marks yearly out of this land to rome h . i shall not mention the frauds and cruelties used in collecting this mony , only noting that johan . sarisburiensis , a great bigot of the popes ( and a hot stickler in beckets cause ) assures us , that the legates of the apostolical seat , did tyrannize over the provinces , as if the devil ( saith he ) were gone out from the presence of the lord to scourge the church i ; yet to oppose these officers of the pope , is reckoned at rome the most mortal sin : no wonder then can it be , that pope sixtus 5 th , in five years time got together five millions of crowns ( as ciracella informs us ) four millions of which his successor gregory 14 th wasted in pomp and riot in less than ten months time : europ . spec. p. 263. and indeed they spend these sacred treasures as badly as they get them ; the very popes themselves of late designing only to swallow all the little neighbouring principalities , and to make themselves temporal princes , to raise their nephews and neeces ( if not sons and daughters ) and advance their families to the highest dignities and fortunes . so that there is little of holiness left in them but in an empty title , it being a little above a hundred years since one said , no man at this day looks for holiness in the popes , they are accounted excellent , if they be tolerably good , or less wicked than other men are : papyr . masson . in vit. julii 31 an. 1550 : and the rest of his clergy and people are suitable ; for , it cannot be dissembled ( saith a late exact observer ) that the whole country is strangely overflowd with wickedness , with filthiness of speech , with beastliness of actions ; both governors and subjects , both priests and fryers , each striving as it were with other in an impudentness therein : europ . spec. p. 27. but i will not pursue this most ungrateful subject , which i profess i do not relate out of any envy , or delight in telling such sad stories : but i am forced to say these unpleasing truths to rescue your souls from those who serve the ends of their ambition and covetousness out of your devotion ; from those who perswade you to call that religion which maintains them in the highest plenty and luxury : from those who decree , that good works merit salvation ; not because they believe this doctrine ( for if they did , they would do more goodworks themselves ) but because this perswasion among the people fills the churches treasures , and hath made the old pious and poor priests and deacons of rome , illustrious cardinals , who in magnificence , and pomp dare vye with the greatest estates of christendom ; and their great master scorns to have kings and emperors thought his equals : wherefore , when you have duly weighed all this , and considered the pride and insatiable avarice of the roman church , and withal observed , how all the doctrines in which they differ from us , tend meerly to advance these ends , you cannot think it unlikely , that such men with such designs should alter and add to their old faith , especially when you hear s. paul say , the love of mony is the root of all evil , which while some coveted after , they have erred from the faith : 1 tim. vi . 10. it is nothing that is truly ancient or really good , that we perswade you to renounce ; but novel policies and devices which minister to secular designs , and you ought to account him your friend who would rescue you from this abuse , and perswade you into that church , whose principles are primitive , plain and honest , whose clergy are content with the revenues which the laws of the land allow them , having none of these vnchristian artifices of extraordinary gains , nor no design to teach you any doctrines , but such as will make you good , and direct you in the way to heaven . section iii. whether the said opinions were not established by evil means ? the next enquiry is , by what means these new doctrines became so generally believed ? and here first we may note , your church hath good reason to use this proverb , ignorance is the mother of devotion ; because the wretched blindness of those ages wherein these opinions were propagated , did hugely contribute to their reception : for it is not to be denied , that from the time of the decay of the western empire , and the irruptions of the goths and vandals into europe , there began to be a great decay of learning , and barbarism crept in by degrees , which is evident by the different style and way of writing which the later fathers use , in comparison of those who lived in the first four or five centuries , and at length this ignorance became so universal , that the study of the liberal arts was generally laid aside ; as an old historian complains k : and that age which bred many of these errors is commonly by your own writers called , the obscure age l , being wholly without any persons eminent for wit or learning m , the very inferior priests being not able to translate an epistle into latin o ; which aegyptian darkness continued in all the western world till a few years before the reformation , as your own espencaeus confesseth o . now this gross stupidity must needs make the world apt and easie to be abused with the most absurd and monstrous doctrines ; for ignorance is the mother of all errors ( as an old council affirms p , and not of true devotion ( as you now pretend . ) this made way for the politick guides of rome to impose such opinions on the church as might best serve their own ends ; these tares were sowed while men slept , matth. xiii . 25. and there were many circumstances concurring in those unlucky ages which contributed to the furthering the roman designs , the withdrawing of the emperors into the east , and first the decay of the western empire ; then the destruction of the eastern , and the desolation of all the famous oriental churches by the spreading inundation of turks and saracens ; so that the pope had neither emperor nor patriarch ( for a long time ) that could oppose him , the miseries of all christendom giving him opportunity to make himself the sole governor of these parts of the world , and none were able to contend with him , though many complain'd of his vsurpation ; johan . sarisburiensis telling adrian 4 th ( who asked him what men thought of the roman church ) that they esteemed it a stepmother , not a mother — , and the pope of rome himself was grievous to all , and almost intolerable q . i shall not now be so tedious to you as to relate , how this church by force , and by taking all advantages did attempt to suppress all that did oppose her impositions and grandeur ; what wars the popes raised against the german emperors , what occasions they took to enslave the greek church , when they petitioned for relief against the conquering and cruel turks ; what persecutions they raised against the albigenses , bohemians and wicklevists , and how they destroyed all that resisted their innovations with fire and sword ; only desiring you to remark , that the roman church was the first author of putting men to death for that which they call heresy : a practice wholly differing from the rules of christianity r , from the opinion and practice of the ancient church s : it being a new and unheard of way of preaching ( saith your s. gregory ) to force men by stripes to believe t ; yet by fire and fagot the modern church of rome affrights the world into the embracing these articles , or by inquisitions and racks , awes them into silence , not daring to question them : her greatness , riches , interest and severity to opposers , hath been one means to obtrude the belief of her gainful articles upon men ; and her policies and frauds have been another , for you cannot think it unlikely that they ( who have so little piety , as to turn religion into policy ) should have so little honesty as to equivocate for the defence of their politick religion ; and verily , the ignorance and credulity of those blind ages were such , that your church never sought for solid arguments to confirm their new decrees , but built them usually upon fictions , and proved them by notorious forgeries , and accounted this way of proceeding not only lawful but pious , so that whosoever reads those discourses of your jesuites in defence of these deceits , called by them piae fraudes , will conclude the high-priests of rome-christian as well as rome-heathen to have been of opinion , that it was expedient the people should be deceived in their religion , as scaevola the pagan , pontifex m. in s. augustine saith u ; and no doubt your church agrees with the heathen varro in the same author w , where he saith , there are many truths in religion which it is not expedient for the people to know , and though divers things therein be false , yet the people ought to think them true : the instances of some particulars will make this more evident ; 1. miracles were the foundation , and most authentick proofs for invocation of saints , veneration of images and relicks , pilgrimages , purgatory , monastical vows , and most of the gainful articles of the roman church ; and yet s. chrysostome saith , that there were no footsteps of the power of miracles left in the church in his time x . and your s. gregory thinks them unnecessary among believers y , and so do many others z : yet in the dark ages nothing was more frequently pretended than miracles wrought by saints living and dead , as appears by the stories of their lives , and the legends of your church , which relations are so senseless and so ridiculous , so impossible and unlikely , so little agreeing with chronology , history , or geography , that the modern writers of the roman party are ashamed of them . hence your own canus complains , that these authors of saints lives with false and counterfeit fables have blemished the lives of saints a . and the same writer saith there b , that the author of your so famed golden legend was a man of an iron forehead and a leaden soul : harding also affirmeth c , that there be many vain fables in it : simeon metaphrastes , is another of these miracle-writers , and is so eminent that he is read in the modern roman breviaries d , and yet cardinal bellarmine blames him for incredible stories , and relations not agreeing to ancient writers , he adds ( saith he ) many things out of his own wit , not as they were really done , but as they might have been done e . and is not this notorious forgery ? yea , the popes themselves in the latest sort of breviaries have left many of these fabulous miracles out , since they have done the work now for which they were invented ; the doctrines supported by these lies are now generally embraced , and when the arch is compleated , the props on which it was raised , may be laid aside ; yet still you ought to ask , if these stories were false , how came the infallible church to put them into her offices ? if they were true , why doth she now reject them ? and it is observable , that the roman church at present pretends but to very few miracles , and the doctors thereof ( in this knowing age ) are very shy of believing any at all , as one of your own priests proves at large f . the reason of which must needs be , because they fear this inquisitive and learned generation should discover the fraud of them . for since miracles are especially necessary to convince unbelievers , there is far more need of them since the reformation ( when so many disbelieve the religion of your church ) than was before ( when all the nations of the west were at the devotion thereof . ) yet then many miracles are recorded and now few or none , an argument sufficient to make a wary man believe , there were few real miracles at any time since the settlement of christianity ; only the superstitious and ignorant credulity of the former ages was fit to be abused with such pretences : and now , why are you so stiff in maintaining those opinions which were believed at first upon so slight and false inducements , as these legends and miracles are confessed to be ? but this argument is of late so fully handled by two excellent pens g , that i may dismiss it , with my hearty wish you would read those tracts without prejudice , being not written to abuse real religion ( as some tell you ) but to undeceive you , and unmask that hypocrisie which hath long walked in the venerable mantle of truth : nor ought you to be angry at the relators , but at the inventors of such falshoods , who have got many fair houses and lands , vast sums of mony and innumerable costly oblations by these fictions , to the scandal of christianity it self . my second instance shall be of the artifice of forging records for to attest their novel doctrines ( especially that of the pope's supremacy ) they put out divers spurious tracts under illustrious names , which served to wheadle an illiterate age into a reverence for the roman church and her opinions ; whereas now the cheat is so palpable , that your modern doctors ( though they keep the conclusions ) disown those feigned books that were the premises from whence they were inferred : of this nature are the decretal epistles of all the popes from clemens down to pope syricius an. 385. formerly cited as good authorities , and transcribed some parts of them into your canon law , but now the most learned romanists confess a great part of them to be meer forgeries h : baronius styles divers of them apocryphal i : and cardinal cusanus saith ; that being applied to the times of those holy men they do betray themselves k and indeed these epistles were never cited by any good old author , and were first brought into france by one riculfus arch. b. of ments five hundred years after those popes were dead , as hincmarus arch. b. of rhemes a writer of that age affirms l , and baronius also confesseth m . nor did the roman see blush some centuries ago to alledge for its supremacy the most fabulous donation of constantine the great , wherein he is pretended to make the pope head over the whole church , and superiour to all the four patriarchs of the east ( naming constantinople for one , which city was not yet built ) giving him in fee the city of rome , and all italy , with all the provinces of the western empire ( though he gave all these to one of his sons afterwards ) . this senseless edict was pleaded by several of the popes in former times to countenance their ambitious pretences n , and of old was received without suspicion by the gravest and learnedst doctors , saith binius o , who yet confesseth there , it was a meer forgery devised ( he thinks ) by the greeks , and now adaies all romanists generally disown it , and indeed it is as ridiculous a forgery as ever the world saw . my brevity will not allow me to enlarge upon this subject , otherwise i could add innumerable examples of like dealing . the absurd council of sinuessa , the monstrous recognitions of clement , the threescore new canons father'd by turrian and others , upon the famous general council of nice , the pontifical ascribed to pope damasus ; with innumerable other tracts of the same metal , being all apparent forgeries , and yet were long countenanced by rome to support her unjust supremacy and other innovations . my third instance shall be of suppressing or corrupting true records , of which take a few examples : the legates of rome , within less than a hundred years after the general council of nice did produce two canons ( to prove the popes right to receive appeals ) in a famous council of carthage , an. 419. which canons they pretended were made in the aforesaid nicene council ; but these canons wholly differed from all the best manuscripts of that council then extant , particularly from two eminent ones , which the african fathers sent for from constantinople and alexandria ; nor do they agree with those genuine editions of the nicene council now extant ; and indeed the council of carthage received not these pretended canons of nice , but esteemed them to have been corrupted , as we do at this day : not long after ( to abet the roman supremacy ) pope leo writing to theodosius the emperor , cites a canon of a particular and dubious council at sardi●a of later date and less authority , affirming it to be a canon of the general council at nice p : the edition of the councils put out by dionysius exiguus about an. 520. being for a long time the sole approved copy extant in these parts of the world , doth in favour of the popes supremacy , leave out divers canons even of general councils which seem to make against it q , though the said canons are recorded in zonaras and balsamon , and in this age confessed to have been made in those councils by the romanists themselves ; but in the time when the supremacy was in hatching , it was not thought expedient those canons should be known : it were endless to reckon up all the additions , diminutions , and alterations , which all the roman editions of the councils since , are guilty of ; and because an ingenious essay hath been made that way by a late author , i shall refer my reader thither r , and out of infinite examples conclude with one evident piece of falsification : the xxxv . canon of the council of laodicea , forbids the faithful to call on the name of angels , which being a condemnation of the doctrine and practice of rome in praying to angels , the later editions of this council have impudently put in , angulos [ angles or corners ] instead of angelos [ angels s ] ; though all the greek copies t and fathers read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 u , and all the old latin exemplars have , angelos w . yea , pope adrian himself ( before this worship of angels came up ) read it [ angelos ] in that epitome of canons which he sent to charles the great , an. 773. thus they corrupt the councils to suit them to their own opinions , nor have single fathers and ancient authors fared better : s. cyprian put out by pamelius is altered in many places contrary to the ancient copies ; for example where the father saith , the church is founded super petram x , pamelius changes it into super petrum , upon peter , instead of upon a rock y . and ludovicus vives ( a romanist ) assures us that there are ten or twelve lines positively asserting purgatory , put into the printed copies of s. aug. de civitate dei lib. 21. cap. 24. contrary to the ancient manuscripts z . fulbertus carnotensis quotes s. august . saying of the sacramental bread , this then is a figure ( the roman editions put in ) as a heretick will say ; when indeed s. augustine says so , and speaks his own sense a . aimonius speaking of the eighth council saith , they determined about images otherwise than the orthodox fathers had decreed : and so baronius reads b : but the modern printed copies quite contrary put in , — according as the orthodox fathers had decreed c . but why do i stand upon particular instances , this wickedness which all other men account the same villany with suborning false witnesses , stopping the mouths of the true , and counterfeiting hands and seals , is owned by the present church of rome : and sixtus senensis doth highly extol pope pius 5 th . for his most holy decree , to burn all books which were ( accounted ) heretical , to purge and cleanse all catholick authors , and especially the writings of the fathers d . now in what manner they effect this most holy work , the bel●ick inquisitors ( appointed by the roman see ▪ ) shall tell you , we strike out ( say ) they ) many errors , in other of the ancients , we extenuate and excuse them , or by feigning a commentitious gloss , either deny , or fix a commodious sense to their words e . thus they served s. ambrose his works , cancelling and altering whole pages together , contrary to all the old manuscripts , as appeared by the original papers which savarius the stationer shewed to francis junius , according to which the inquisitors had ordered him to print that edition : lugdun . an. 1559. f . thus they left the story of pope joan out of the copies of anastasius biblioth . though the manuscripts had the said story in them as marquar . freherus testified , who lent them the said manuscripts g . and i might fill a volume with instances of like unjust dealings ; but i will only add the memorable account which boxhornius one of your divinity professors at lovain gives of himself , viz. that he having been employed by the inquisitors to strike out at least six hundred places of the ancients , which seemed to make against the roman doctrines , was so troubled in mind upon it , that it was an occasion of his turning protestant , and made him resolve to quit that religion which could not defend it self without such manifest impostures h . and i wish the consideration thereof might have the same effect upon you ; for the matter of fact is so evident , that the index expurgatorius , the book which directs these falsifications , is now come into protestant hands to the eternal infamy of the roman church ; whose people cannot rationally trust to any author which comes through their priests dishonest hands ; and since false books are invented , true and genuine writers altered and corrupted , or else wholly prohibited , if they seem to make against them ( for which cause clement 8 th . puts the bible into his index of prohibited books ) and all editions but their own condemned and burnt by the roman church ; the people must needs be deluded into a perswasion , that all these new doctrines are primitive truths , when indeed this abominable forging evidently shews , that the pope and his conclave think that both scripture and antiquity do make against these innovations , and would discover the imposture , if they were suffered to speak out ; to whom i may justly apply the words of arnobius , to intercept what is written , and to design to smother published records , is not to defend the gods , but to fear the testimony of the truth i : and because good men ( as s. augustine saith ) will not deceive ; but neither good nor evil men would willingly be deceived k , i may suppose that the most devoted romanists cannot but discern how unsafe he is in believing , as those men teach him , who make no conscience to invent , impose , and pretend things never so false , provided they may thereby advance their churches interest , or their own private ends : they who dare write lies , will not be afraid to speak them , and they who corrupt the remains of the holy saints deceased , are not to be trusted with the souls of the living ; and whoever gives himself up to such guides , unnaturally chuses his own delusion , and desperately hazards his own salvation : s. ambrose adviseth us if we choose a guide , to be careful he be endued with two properties , honesty and prudence : for his honesty will be a security that he will not deceive us , and his prudence will prevent our suspicion of his being deceived himself l ; which wise counsel if you follow , you must no longer adhere to these unfaithful leaders : nor ought you to fear to forsake them , either because your forefathers fathers relied on them , or because the doctrines that they teach were once so generally received here ; since your forefathers lived in an age wherein there was little means to detect these forgeries , whereas you are by providence fallen into those times ▪ wherein all the dishonest arts of that church are discovered so plainly , that if your forefathers had seen as much as you may see , they would have forsaken rome long since , and not have left you this objection to make : nor are the doctrines ever the better for being generally received , when as they were imposed on the world by such evil means as force and fraud ; which being thus made evident , you can no longer wonder how these innovations came to be so generally beleived , being propagated by as wicked means as they were invented for evil ends : so that now what the roman church thought would secure her opinions ( if it could have been kept close ) must needs make them odious ( being once laid open ) and the impostures ▪ which they designed should tye men to their church , will ( as some of their own doctors have prophesied ) be an occasion to make all discerning men turn from it ; for religion is to be defended ( saith lactantius ) not with wickedness but fidelity , for if you attempt to defend religion by evil arts , you do not defend , but pollute and violate it m . section iv. whether the said opinions tend to advance the ends of true religion ? now though it be altogether unlikely those principles should be either true or good , which stand in need of such arts to propagate and defend them , yet because you have been so long accustomed to call these things religion , and it is not easie to lay aside our rooted prepossessions , we will pass to the third enquiry , viz. whether the things themselves be good in their own nature , and parts of true religion ? now we may try this by considering what are the ends of true religion , and whether these principles serve to advance those ends ? true religion therefore hath three principal ends : 1. to advance the honour of god. 2. to assist us in the devout worshipping of him . 3. to teach us to imitate him by a holy life and conversation . let us here therefore examine , whether the peculiar articles of the roman church do not hinder rather than promote these ends : for if it appear these principles are dishonourable to god , impediments to devotion , and hindrances to a holy life ; then those doctrines are also evil in their own nature , and they can be no real parts of a good or true religion : nor must you retain them because you have once judged them good , if upon tryal they prove to be otherwise . we must be firm to our principles ( saith epictetus ) yet not to all of them , but only to those which are right ; we must begin at the right end , and first lay the foundation by considering whether our principles be good or evil , and after build upon that by constancy and firmness of resolution n . wherefore let me desire you patiently and impartially to enquire . first , if there be not some of your principles and practices which tend not to the honour of god ; if it be a dishonour to the divine majesty for a mortal man to contradict his laws by contrary constitutions , i fear your church will hardly be found innocent : for do they not command things which god hath forbidden in as plain words as can be spoken , as in the case of images , exod. xx . 4 ? and prayer in an unknown tongue , 1 con. xiv . 28. do they not forbid things which god hath allowed , as in the case of priests marriage ? heb. xiii . 4. 1 cor. vii . 2 chap. ix . 5. 1 tim. iii. 2. 12 ? and taking the cup from the people ? which they have decreed with a non obstante , that is , notwithstanding our lord jesus appointed the contrary . do they not presume to dispense with the very laws of god , in many cases of matrimony and divorce , of vows , oaths , leagues and contracts ? so that laying aside the commandment of god , ye hold the tradition of men , as our saviour speaks , mark vii . 8. your holy father who doth all this may think himself the greatest upon earth , but if our lord jesus tell us the truth , he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven , matth. v. 19. secondly , is it not a great derogation to an infinite and invisible being , to be represented by an image , and worshipped under such representations ? agreeable to the worship which heathens gave to their false gods o , and some hereticks to our saviour p , but contrary to the decrees and practice of the primitive christians q , and to the great scandal of modern jews , who call your churches houses of idols , upon this account r . thirdly , doth not the doctrine of merits cast a palpable dishonour upon the glorious redemption wrought by jesus christ ? sure i am , divers of the ancients , as well as of your later writers , think so s . nor can we think it to be less than blasphemy , which bellarmine affirmeth , viz. that a man may be said to be his own redeemer without any injury to christ t . doubtless those who fancy they can redeem themselves , and satisfie for their own sins , cannot but have a mean esteem of christ's merits and satisfaction . fourthly , your praying to angels and saints , especially the blessed virgin , making them your mediators and patrons , and asking the greatest things of them , hath made prayers to god by jesus christ to be generally neglected by the vulgar people , who say ten times as many ave mary's as pater noster's , and wickedly fancy the blessed virgin and holy saints are more compassionate than our lord jesus . this doctrine ( saith a very wise man ) hath wrought that general effect in all countreys subject to the papacy ; that men have more affiance , and assume to themselves a greater conceit of comfort in the patronage of the creatures and servants of god , than of god himself , the prince and the creator u . a fault which st. paul lays to the heathens charge , rom. i. 25. how dishonourable must it needs be , to leave jesus that one mediator : 1 tim. ii . 5. ( who always doth certainly hear us , and is most apt to pity us , and best able to help us ) to pray to god by those , concerning whom your own doctors doubt whether they know any thing done here w ? and the scripture plainly saith they do not x . reason shews it is impossible they should hear many prayers in divers places at once . to have the worship paid to the master and the servants , the same in all outward expressions , only differing in a nice school-distinction , must needs be an affront to the king of saints . if you have any tenderness or zeal for the honour of jesus , it cannot but be offensive to you , to observe how your legends tell of greater miracles wrought by some of their fabulous saints , than ever jesus wrought . to hear one of your church say , that christ did nothing which s. francis did not do , yea , that he did more than christ himself y . what is more injurious to the honour of the divine majesty , than your s. bonaventure's putting in the name of the virgin mary into davids psalms instead of the name of god ? to have her adored by the heathenish title of the queen of heaven z , and invocated by the impious name of mother of the whole trinity a ! these things are rather blasphemy than devotion , and as dishonourable to god as they are dissonant from antiquity . let none ( saith epiphanius ) adore mary ; but why do i mention a woman ? nay , not any man : this reverence is due only to god , nor are the angels capable of such glorification b fifthly , the supposing a necessity of superadding the saints merits and the daily sacrifice of the mass , to the merit of that one offering for sin which jesus made on the cross : heb. ix . 28. is an evident lessening the value and sufficiency of the death of christ , sixthly , the calling of the holy scripture a nose of wax , a leaden rule , and an inky gospel c . the putting in the apocryphal books , wherein are some things wicked d , and others notoriously false e , into an equal rank with the word of god indited by the spirit ; own traditions to be equal in value to it f , are palpable dishonours to god who writ the holy scripture . these things ( my friends ) can hardly be reckoned matters tending to the honour of god , unless you can suppose the cancelling his laws , disparaging his nature , undervaluing the merits , the mercies and the miracles of jesus by cheap and odious comparisons , the diminution of his worship , and making him sharer with his servants therein , and the vilifying of his divine word , be no dishonour to him you pretend to serve . secondly , let us examine whether these doctrines do assist you in the devout worshipping of god ? it is very suspicious that church doth not teach a right way of serving god , which deceives you in the first principle of religion , viz. that god alone is to be worshipped : a sentence so odious to the roman doctors , that the index expurgatorius blots it out of the indices of s. athanasius and s. augustines works g , and if they could do it ▪ undiscovered , they would blot it out of the bible also , matth. iv . 10. but there it shall stand for ever to reprove those , who divide religious worship between god and his creatures , thereby diminishing that devotion which intirely belongs to the divine majesty , since affections are most vigorous when placed upon one object , and if they be dispersed among many , grow weak and trifling ; whence we may conclude , the protestant who worships none but god , is the greater lover of him , and worships with a more united and servent devotion . as for your publick worship , it is attended with so many ceremonies as must needs disturb the devotion as well of the priests as the people , there is such frequent bowing , crossing , prostration , sprinkling with holy water , beating the breast , smoaking with incense , &c. that the mind is taken off from a steady intention upon the inward and main part of the duty , while it is entertained with such variety of outward rites . for our mind ( saith quintilian ) cannot sincerely intend its whole self upon many things at once , whatever new object it looks upon , it gives over the thoughts of that which it first propounded to it self : and this is most evident where the objects are so different as sensible and intellectual things are . for where the senses and their perceptions are vigorously employed , there the intellectual powers cease to act ( as a great philosopher observes h ) . so that it is your passions and your fancies that are wrought upon , not your mind nor the higher faculties of your soul , by these numerous ceremonies ; and therefore that which you think devotion , i doubt is but a fantastical and false fire , not kindled by the love of god , nor warming your nobler powers at all , and those steady , rational and spiritual desires , which flow from an undisturbed contemplation of the divine goodness and are the very life of prayer , i fear you are strangers to , being so often taken off and diverted by variety of sensible representations . again , the making all your publick prayers in an vnknown tongue , destroys all true devotion in the people ; s. clemens of alex. tells us of some heathens who thought those prayers most effectual which were uttered in a barbarous language i . but christians know , that prayer is the desiring something of god , and if the mind be not exercised in this desire , it avails nothing ; but where the words are not understood , the mind cannot desire the things mentioned , so that none can properly pray in an vnknown tongue , nor so much as rationally say amen , 1 cor. xiv . 16. by this absurd practice therefore you ( who are unlearned ) spend the time of the publick offices in admiring and gazing , not in joyning with the priest or praying . and because the people have no employment while the mass lasteth , they spend the whole time usually in talking and laughing privately , as those who travel in catholick countries do inform us k . and it may occasion your wonder , why the roman church should so obstinately refuse to reform so irrational a custom , which s. paul hath written a whole chapter to condemn , 1 cor. xiv . the force of whose arguments and authority , hath made your wisest doctors declare against it . by s. paul ' s doctrine ( saith card. cajetan ) it is better for the edifying of the church , that publick prayers were made in the vulgar tongue than in latin l . to the same purpose lyra m . and your rhemish annotators say , when a man prayeth in a strange tongue which himself understandeth not , it is not so fruitful for instruction to him , as if he knew particularly what he prayed n . gabriel biel also gives several reasons why prayers should be in a known tongue , saying , it is better 1. for stirring up devotion , 2. for enlightning the mind , 3. for retaining the things in memory , 4. for keeping the thoughts from wandring o . yet your admired church will oppose reason and scripture , and deprive all the common people that are of her communion , of the exercise of their devotion in her offices , rather than so far seem to confess a fault , as to amend it ; chusing rather to let you lose the benefit of worshipping god , than to reform the most unjust customes which she hath once espoused ; but ( if you be wise ) if that church will not pray in such a language as you can joyn in , you will go over to the church of england , where you may pray with the spirit and with understanding also . in the next place your private prayers are not so good a way of worshipping god as other christians have ; the images and pictures , which the heathens first taught your doctors to call , the books of the unlearned p , and which are placed before you in time of prayer , are no help , but an hindrance to all true devotion ; for while your lips are repeating your oraisons , your mind is taken up with the beauty , colour , lineaments and workmanship of the image : so that your own conscience will tell you , by these diversions you often draw near to god with your lips , when your hearts are far from him , which is a vain worship : matth. xv . 8. and the casuists of your church , foreseeing that images would take off the attention , have determined most impiously , that it is not necessary to prayer that the person praying should think of what he speaks q . a doctrine suitable enough to that slight and formal worship which your church appoints ; and the ordinary people among you , think they have prayed sufficiently , when they have pattered over so many little oraisons as agree to the number of their beads ; a new invention , which came not into the church till all serious devotion was ceased r , it being a sign he minds his prayers but little , that needs a string of beads to reckon them by ; yet these beads ( saith one of your own authors ) are now the chief instruments of the hypocrites counterfeit devotion s . i shall not ravel into the body of your prayers , since the author of the reflections on the romish devotions hath sufficiently done this ; but i cannot but remark , that the repeating ave maria , and the name of jesus so many times over , as in those fifteen little prayers in the psalter of jesus , where the name of jesus is thrice mentioned in each prayer , and each prayer is ordered to be said ten times over ; and those numerous names of saints repeated in your litanies with no petition annexed but ora pro nobis : this way of praying is so far from agreeing with the primitive worship of god among the christians , that it is evidently derived from that heathenish superstition of praying by repeating a hundred names of their deities together , interposing nothing but o hear us t ; and in this manner baals priests are supposed to pray , 1 kings xviii . 26. but to christians jesus saith , when ye pray use not vain repetitions as the heathens do , for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking : matth. vi . 7. wherefore though you have admired this trifling way of worship , when you knew no better , yet if you would acquaint your selves with the solid and rational way of praying prescribed in the church of england ( wherein great things , in an exact method , in plain and proper phrases , and in a known language , are asked of god alone in the name of jesus christ ) you would easily leave off those formal , vain and superficial devotions , which can neither be acceptable to god , nor profitable unto your selves . thirdly , let us pass to the last of these particulars and enquire , if the doctrines of rome , differing from those of england , do tend to promote our imitating god by a holy life and conversation ; without which all our worship is in vain ; for it is a folly and miserable errour ( saith s. augustine ) to humble your self before him in adoration , to whom you chuse to be unlike in conversation , and to give him religious worship , whose example you will not follow ; since the sum of all religion is to imitate him you worship u . now there are several principles of the roman church which seem to hinder an holy life , as first , the custome of confessing to a priest weekly or monthly , together with the absolution following of course upon this confession , this is ( i fear ) a great hindrance to amendment of life , at which it pretends to aim , for while men relie on this remedy , they go on without fear in those sins for which they have so easie a cure at hand , like those who venture without scruple on dangerous meats , because they have their physicians beside them : 't is true there is a penance enjoyned sometimes , but it is such a one as the rich may buy off and the poor may undergo , and yet both retain the sin , because the penance is not its proper cure ; the going in pilgrimages , giving mony , saying or reading over such proportions of legends or little chiming prayers , with others far more impertinent , tend not to rectifie a vicious habit , and a plaister on the toe may as soon cure the head-ach , as these penances effect a reformation , or obtain a pardon at gods hands . and yet all men see , when the day of confession is over , and the penance past , that you are generally confident of a pardon , and fancy you begin upon a new score . it is not easie to enumerate all the devices which your church hath invented to convey pardon of sins , holy water , relicks of saints , visiting some certain churches , saying some certain prayers , making oblations of mony to such and such uses , indulgences , and other such things , so that he that hath mony need never want pardon from rome ; but alas , these things can never really take away the guilt of one sin , and yet they embolden men to commit many ; for the multitude of sinners increaseth , when hope is given that sin may be bought off , and men easily fall into those sins for which mony will purchase their pardon : as arnobius said to the heathens , who relied on such like fantastical means of remission w : and we may say of the guides of your church , as seneca in a like case , they sin more in such absolutions , than the offender doth in the crime x . for by perswading men they can have remission on so easie terms , they make them secure before they are safe , because almighty god , who only finally can remit , never promised pardon on these terms , and it is only those who forsake as well as confess their sins to whom he will shew mercy , prov. xxviii . 13. and if either the pope or any of his substitutes , pretend to have power to forgive sins on any other terms , they abuse those who are so weak to believe them , and make them forfeit their souls ( i doubt ) for the sad price of this credulity : s. basil saith truly , the power of absolving was not absolutely given , but upon condition of the penitents reformation y . and we tell our people more sincerely , that if a priest absolve them a thousand times over , and if they give ever so much mony , without amendment of life they can have no pardon , according as scripture it self teaches z , and the holy fathers also ; if thou givest all that thou hast , and dost not forsake thy sins , thou art twice deceived , both in losing thy mony and thy pardon also a . again , as if the roman church designed to make men think their own actual holiness were never necessary , they have other devices to perswade you into a belief of coming off well at the end of your life , howsoever ill you have spent it : the hereticks in tertullians time said , it was a meritorious thing to be of their party b . and you are told it is a ready way of salvation to die in the communion of the roman church , and if you can but receive the sacraments of that church , and be absolved by one of their priests , you scarce doubt of obtaining heaven at last ; and if you have no good works of your own , they perswade you the church can sell you the merits of the saints ; or if you should drop into purgatory by the way , the pains of that ( they say ) are not endless , and if you give liberally on your death-beds , or if any others afterwards give for you , to purchase so many masses and other prayers for your soul , you will ere long be delivered from thence . all which notorious delusions do miserably deceive poor men , and most mischievously encourage them to put off their repentance , and to resolve not to be troubled with holiness in the way , since they fancy they shall come off so easily in the end ; and alas they are as false as they are mischievous ▪ for the ancient fathers unanimously affirm no mans estate can be altered after this life , but as the last day of a mans life finds him , so the last day of the world finds him c . nor will any thing help thee ( saith s. augustine ) but what is done while thou art here d . out of innumerable such testimonies , that of s. salvian may serve : although a man should have so pious a son who for alleviating his fathers punishment , would desire to give all the goods he left behind him , it would do him no good , for the piety of the son can do nothing to procure that rest to a man after death , which his own impiety and infidelity hath denied him e . finally , these and the like principles make so many infamous men and women , so many thieves and murtherers , debauched and prophane persons to take sanctuary in the roman church , because the tenets thereof seem not to oblige them to forsake their evil ways , but reconcile wickedness and salvation together : so that this religion tends not to perswade men to holiness of life , and therefore is no good religion : i grant there are some persons in that church who live better than these opinions engage them to do , and do not draw those conclusions into their practice which naturally follow from these principles ; but that is only an evidence of the excellent vertue of such persons , but no proof of the goodness of these doctrines ; and if these men be holy in a religion which gives such encouragement to evil , doubtless they would be more holy by far , if they were taught better things : i shall only add , that as the roman church is too loose in matters pertaining to gods laws , so she is too strict in matters pertaining to her own constitutions , like the old pharisees who tithed mint and annise , and neglected the weightier matters of the law : matth. xxiii . which is a great obstruction to real holiness , when men place religion in ceremonies and slight things , for while they are curious in these matters , they neglect greater , and think by observing the rules of the church , they compensate for passing by the laws of god , your own ordinary gloss saith , that is superstition , when religion is placed in observing the ordinances of men f . and if so , then your wonderful strictness in crossing , bowing , using holy water , abstinence on certain days , wearing crosses , &c. in which you have placed so much religion , are no better than superstition . it cannot be denied , that most roman catholicks are more afraid to eat flesh on a fasting-day than to curse or swear ; they will be drunk on a holy-day which god forbids , but not work on it because the church forbids it ; many of them dare fornicate and debauch , who dare not neglect confession , nor read a book written by a supposed heretick : and generally , they are punctual in crossing , sprinkling , bowing and observing all orders of the church , even such as live in the open breach of gods commandements , and yet fancy themselves more sure of heaven than the most pious and holy protestant : thus this religion is too strict where god gives us more liberty , and too remiss where his holy law hath bound us with eternal and indispensable bonds ; and it is designed to promote obedience to the roman church , rather than inward holiness towards god : the effect of all which considerations is this , that whosoever sincerely desires to glorifie god and worship him with a rational devotion , and whoever would imitate him by a holy life , ought not to chuse or retain such a religion whose principles tend so evidently to the dishonour of gods name , the hindrance of true devotion , and to the rendring a holy life unnecessary : and as it was proved before , that the appropriated articles of the roman faith were not ancient , nor induced for pious ends , nor propagated by honest means : so now it is evidenced , the articles are not good in their own nature , and therefore there is no reason why you should not renounce them , unless you retain them in meer reverence to the authority of the pope who doth impose them , which matter is the subject of our last enquiries . section v. whether the roman bishop have sufficient authority to impose the said opinions upon all christian churches ? the last , and almost the only shelter that your doctors flie to at this day for the defence of your principles is , that the bishop of rome is the sole vicar of christ , the infallible and only judge of controversies , and the supream head of the vniversal church ; and hereby their adherents are awed into the retaining all his decrees of what nature soever they be : but let me beg leave to advise you not to lay so much stress upon these titles and authority , till you have seriously examined by what right the pope laies claim to them ; for his power had need be very great and his proofs very good , upon the credit whereof you receive so many new and suspicious articles of religion , some of which we ought not to receive though preached by an angel : gal. 1. 8 , 9. and first , though we stand not much upon titles , you may note that the name of vicar of christ is never given to the pope in the first ages , and when this title came into use , it was not appropriated to the bishop of rome , but other bishops and priests are styled vicars of christ also , even by a pope of rome g , as also by the old french emperours h , and by our own saxon law i : so that there is no reason for the roman bishop to challenge any propriety in this title , or any special priviledge by virtue thereof . secondly , as to his being an infallible judge and the supream head of the catholick church throughout the world , you may remember we have proved , there are more christians in the world who deny this supremacy of rome , than there are who do acknowledge it : and if the belief of this infallible headship be the reason why you receive other articles of faith , this then is the most fundamental article of all others , and ought to be the best attested : and if our lord jesus had designed to make s. peter and his successors at rome ( not at antioch ) such supream infallible judges , we may expect he would have set down this article plainly in holy scripture , and not have left his sole visible vice-gerent to the suspicion of bearing witness to himself . as for that place matth. xvi . thou art peter , and upon this rock will i build my church : it is indeed by the popes in their forged decretals expounded as a confirmation of their pretences to supremacy ; but the fathers take this rock , not for s. peter's person , but for his faith which he confessed , and for christ himself the object thereof : so s. augustine k , nazianzen l , s. cyril m , s. chrysostome n , s. ambrose o , and hilary p , expound the place ; and if so , this belongs no more to s. peter , than to the rest of the apostles who confessed the same faith , and belongs no otherwise to the pope , than as he varies not from s. peter's faith , and so far it belongs to all orthodox bishops with respect to their several churches : and for the keys of the kingdom of heaven , ver . 19. they were given as much to the other apostles as to s. peter , matth. xviii . 18. ( as also the aforesaid fathers do observe ) being all equally sharers in the power of the keys , and all foundations as well as s. peter q , so that s. cyprian plainly tells us , the rest of the apostles were as great as peter , endowed with an equal share of honour and power r ; nor do we find that ever s. peter pretended to any power over the other apostles . peter , james and john , though preferred by christ ( saith eusebius ) before the rest , challenged not to themselves the glory of primacy , but chose james the just , bishop of the apostles s : and if any were greatest it was s. james , who was president in that first council at jerusalem , and did determine the question there , though s. peter was present t . yea , clemens bishop of rome in the first decretal epistle ( a good evidence against the inventors thereof ) styles this very s. james , bishop of bishops , governing the holy church of the hebrews at jerusalem , and also all the churches , which were every where founded by the providence of god u . and an ancient council calls jerusalem the mother of all churches w ; but as for the primacy of rome , there is no genuine author for the first three centuries takes any notice of it , and aeneas sylvius * afterwards pope confesseth , there was little respect paid to rome before the nicene council : if polycrates and the asian bishops had known of this infallibility and supremacy , they would not have opposed pope victor's opinion , nor despised his excommunication so boldly as they did ; neither would irenaeus ( who calls the bishops of rome no more but presbyters ) have presumed to reprove the same victor for his arrogance and indiscretion , as we find he did x . s. cyprian ▪ surely never heard of this power of the roman bishop , who calls cornelius bishop of that see , no more but brother and colleague , and gives to pope stephen his successor at rome , the titles of false apostle , schismatick , friend to hereticks , and enemy to christians : utterly despising his judgment , and not regarding his determinations y . besides , if this supremacy had been believed in the first ages of the church , the roman bishops sense would have been enquired of concerning all controverted places of scripture , his decrees cited to silence hereticks , and all appeals must have been made finally to him : he also should have called and presided in all eminent councils , whereas cardinal cusanus affirms , that the emperours or their deputies were presidents in eight general councils z nor did the fourth general council at chalcedon suppose that the roman bishop had any supremacy given him from christ , when that council saith , rome hath justly had the priviledges given unto it by the fathers , because it was the seat of the empire ; and for the same reason ▪ they grant equal priviledges to the bishop of constantinople a . yea , s. gregory bishop of rome saith , the fathers of the council of chalcedon were they who offered his predecessors the title of universal bishop , which yet they accepted not b : and to convince us that this vniversal supremacy is a late device , it is evident , that it was not only unknown to others in the first age , but to the very popes themselves , as these few instances will shew : liberius bishop of rome an. 350. sending the confession of his faith to athanasius desireth his approbation thereof , that i may know ( saith he ) whether i am of the same judgment with you in matters of faith , and that i may be more certain , and readily obey your commands c . and when the bishop of constantinople began to call himself vniversal bishop , pope gregory in his epistle to mauritius the emperour saith , he admires at the arrogance of assuming this new title , which none of the bishops of rome had ever accepted of , a title blasphemous to christian ears ; and with many other words he inveighs against this title , as unfit for any christian bishop , as may be seen at large in his epistles d . and in his epistle to eulogius patriarch of alexandria he is displeased that eulogius writes to him by the proud title of universal bishop , desiring him wholly to forbear that language , for ( saith he ) that is a diminution to you , which is afforded to another beyond what reason doth require : and he there tells eulegius , that the council of chalcedon had offered this title to the old bishops of rome , but they would not accept it e : of which he gives this reason in another epistle , — because if one patriarch be called universal , the name of patriarch is taken from the rest f . and so little did pope boniface think of deriving his supremacy from christ , that with intreaty he obtained of the intruding emperour phocas to decree , that the roman church should be head of all churches g , as the ancient historians witness h . but this imperial constitution will scarce justifie the supremacy and jurisdiction which the pope now claimeth over all the world , and it utterly destroys the pretences of a divine right to it . it would be too tedious to relate at large all the steps by which the bishops of rome attained to their present grandeur ; i shall therefore only note , that the first ages began early to complain of his encroachments and ambition i ; and all succeeding times frequently opposed the pope's pretences herein ; the sixth council of carthage allowed not his claim of appeals k . the bishops of france complain of his sending a legate to dedicate a church there , as an undue act , contrary to the ancient canons and all primitive constitutions , for though ( saith the historian ) the bishop of rome for the dignity of his apostolical seat , be more venerable than other bishops , yet it is not lawful for him in any thing to transgress the tenor of canonical rules ; and as every bishop of the orthodox church is the spouse of his own see , and represents the person of our saviour , so it cannot agree to any bishop , boldly to act any thing in the diocess of another l ; the like checks the popes frequently received for medling in france , from the princes of that nation m . about that time also the bishops of italy complained of the roman vsurpation to the patriarch of constantinople , as appears by photius's letter , in answer to that complaint , extant in cardin. baronius n . and there are many like examples in the historians of those ages , wherein this bold jurisdiction began first to be exercisedin this western part of europe o . and to this very day the churches of france do little value the pope's supremacy , though in other opinions they agree with the roman church , as may be seen in the french writers p . and it is not long since the king of france was about to take away his nations dependence from rome , by erecting the archbishoprick of burges into a patriarchate . and now , why should you be awed into the belief of evil and inconvenient doctrines by a pretended supremacy , not given by christ , not challenged by the best popes , not acknowledged by the first christians , not much regarded by some catholick countries ? why should you be enslaved by an authority gained by fraud and policy , confirmed by force and cruelty , enlarged by dividing christian princes , by the undermining the empire and oppressing many ecclesiastical and temporal persons in their just rights ? why should you fear to renounce an usurped jurisdiction , since what is unjustly seized on at first , can never be legally enjoyed , nor is it confirmed by the longest prescription of time q , as the civil law speaks ? i must confess i cannot see that any christians without the pale of his own diocess , are obliged to own him further than by the respect due to a bishop of an ancient patriarchal see , nor so far neither if he be not content with his own , and keep not close to the primitive faith. section vi. whether the pope hath any right to exercise a jurisdiction over england . but since my discourse is directed particularly to the catholicks of england , it will be most considerable to enquire , whether the roman bishop can justly claim any authority over them ? and ( if prejudices were laid aside ) i doubt not but to make it evident , that the pope neither hath nor ought to have any authority over this nation . for first , let it be considered that britain was the first of the provinces which did publickly profess the faith of christ , saith sabellicus r , which is also attested by other more ancient writers s . so that it is agreed on all hands , here was a true and perfect church of christ near five hundred years before they had any communication with the bishop of rome , or knew one syllable of this foundation-article of the modern faith of that church , viz. of the pope ' s vniversal supremacy : it is also certain the church of britain was not subject to rome at the time of the first general council at nice ; and in the sixth canon of that council it is decreed concerning the three patriarchs jurisdictions , that the ancient custom should be established , that aegypt , lybia and pentapolis should be subject to the bishop of alexandria , because the bishop of rome had the like custome , and likewise so it was at antioch , and in other provinces the priviledges should be preserved to their churches , &c. t . now the ancient custom and priviledge of this church of britain then was to govern it self without subjection to any forreign patriarch , and the pope could not usurp any dominion here afterwards without transgressing this canon of the most famous general council ; especially if we consider how this canon was expounded in ruffinus's daies , viz. that rome should have the government of the suburbicarian churches u . and the ancient survey of the imperial provinces will tell you what the suburbicarian region was , viz. three islands , sicily , sardinia and corsica , and part of italy , from the east end to the border of tuscany westward : and this was all the ancient extent of the roman bishops jurisdiction , the rest of italy being under the metropolis of millain , which church of old paid no subjection to rome ; much less could any be due to him from britain . again , in the third general council of ephesus an. 431. it was decreed , that in all dioceses and provinces it should hereafter be observed , that no bishop should henceforward lay hold of another province , which had not formerly and from the beginning been under the power of their predecessors w , which canon the pope must break also , before he can assume a power over the church of britain , which , with the island of cyprus and some other places , was its own head ( as those times phrased it ) and subject to no patriarch : so that when augustine the monk ( coming over to convert the pagan saxons ) required the british bishops to profess subjection to the see of rome ; they did by virtue of these canons refuse it , telling him , they had a patriarch of their own , to whom alone they were subject in spiritual things under god , and dionothus abbot of bangor by divers arguments shewed , they owed no subjection to the roman bishop : as an old historian informs us x . and accordingly the british bishops retained their old rites different from rome , and kept their old priviledges , being consecrated by the archbishop of s. davids , and he by his own suffragans , making no profession of subjection to any other church ( saith their historian y , which continued till the day of king henry the first . the saxons indeed shewed more respect to rome , because it had assisted in their conversion , hence they sometimes asked advice of the pope , as of an eminent neighbour patriarch , but their bishops never professed subjection to rome , nor did they own his supremacy , or look on him as an infallible judge , as appears by their not obeying the pope's decree made in a roman council , about restoring wilfrid to his archbishoprick of york an. 680. and though the pope had confirmed and recommended the canons of the second nicene council about images , the english church rejected and despised them , writing a book to condemn image-worship , in the name of all the princes and bishops of england , and sending it to charles the great of france , by the learned alcuinus , as our histories do attest z and moreover it is evident that all ecclesiastical laws were then made by the saxon kings and bishops , . in their provincial councils , by their own authority , without ever so much as acquainting the pope therewith , or desiring his consent thereto , or confirmation thereof : the popes indeed about the latter end of the saxon times began to degenerate in manners , and aim at high things in all the western world ; but his pride was checked here , even as ( as we shewed before ) it was in other places : for when that insolent pope hildebrand ( who first presumed to depose an emperour a ) took the boldness to require fealty of king william the conqueror , he answered him in this manner , fealty i neither have acknowledged , nor will i do it , because neither did i promise it , nor do i find that my predecessors ever did it to your predecessors , as appears by the conqueror's letter still extant b . and when by policy and evil arts he had made some encroachments here , yet still his power was esteemed no other than a temporal power , permitted by the favour of our kings , not due by any original right : hence the historian saith , that king henry the first having subdued all his enemies , feared none but the pope , and that not for his spiritual , but his temporal power c . and an old record affirms that king henry the second smartly asked the bishop of chichester , how he durst argue for the pope ' s authority which was granted by men , against his royal power derived from god d ? the turbulent and seditious attempts of t. becket and his faction about that time , to subject the english clergy to the pope's vniversal supremacy , are sufficiently known ; but if our ancestors ( whom you call roman catholicks ) had been of your opinion in this great article of faith , they would not have made so stout an opposition against the pope's supremacy as they did : it being apparent that the whole body of the nation then looked on it as an encroachment and an vsurpation ; for in the famous statutes of clarendon they condemn it , decreeing ▪ among other things , that all the clergy should bonâ fide , swear to the king ; and none should appeal , but unto the archbishop , or from him finally to the king , without particular license e . and to restrain his medling here , the kings of england declared , they had a right to forbid the pope's legates from entring into this land , and often did prohibite them ( even qu. mary her self exercising this power ) yea , it was adjudged in a parliament 25 ed. 3. to be treason to bring in the pope's bulls here without the kings consent , stat. de provisor . though the sending these be an act of spiritual jurisdiction ; but it is plain they would not allow the pope in those days to exercise spiritual jurisdiction here without the king's leave , for his very excommunicating certain english bishops in a parliament 16 of rich. 2. is declared to tend to the open disherison of the crown , and the destruction of the king , his law , and all his realms , and a little after it is affirmed there , that the popes attempts be clearly against the kings crown and regality , used and approved in the time of all his progenitors f , finally therefore they all promise to stand with the king against all such encroachments with their very lives : and if you be well versed ( as becometh english-men ) in the histories and statutes of your own country ; you must needs know that the authority which the pope once exercised here , was gotten by taking advantages of the necessities of our kings , and the divisions among the people . and in those times which are accounted most popish , it was checked by laws , complained of in parliament , and thought an oppression by the wisest and greatest subjects , so that the most noble hen. de lacy earl of lincoln , in his dying speech ( to his son in law thomas earl of lancaster ) said among other things , that the church of england heretofore honourable and free , was now enslaved by romish oppressions : charging him , to stand up like a man for the honour of god and the church , and the redemption of his country g . and the same author tells us , that it was debated in a council at london an. 1408. whether all payments and obedience to the pope should not be taken away h ? which shews , they thought it in the power of this nation to take away his authority here when they pleased : and they retained it , not as being necessarily or originally due to him , but only in respect of his being a bishop of an ancient apostolical seat , as is evident from those instructions which king henry the fifth gave to his embassadors , sent to pope martin the fifth , bidding them ( if they perceived any delay in their affair ) to tell the pope , that their master the king , if he yielded not to his demands , would use his own power in these particulars , for he did not apply himself to rome out of necessity , but for respect sake i . and therefore when this permissive authority grew uneasie to those who had endured it for some time , it was rejected much more legally than ever it was introduced , viz. by the regal power with the advice and consent of the lords and commons in parliament * . and this is to be noted , the clergy and laity of this parliament did hold most of the opinions of the roman church in other things , and yet consented to the abolishing the pope's vsurped power over england , as believing it to be an unjust encroachment : and stephen gardiner bishop of winchester ( a great persecutor of the protestants ) did then make a learned oration de verâ obedientiâ , shewing that the king was by right and by god's law the supream head of this church of england . and now , that i may not only confute a false opinion ▪ but establish the true , let me intreat you impartially to consider , that as it appears the pope is not dejure supream head of this church of england , so it is as evident , that the king of england is the supream head of the churches in his own dominions : for indeed all christian princes are , or ought to be so in their own dominions ; whence it was that constantine the great did retain the title of pontifex maximus without any blot to his christianity , saith baronius k . and the highest appeals in all controversies ecclesiastical , even in matters of faith , were made to him , though he used the assistance and counsel of his bishops , for determining them . and it is evident that he and his successors ( as cusanus before confesseth ) did call and preside in all general councils , and ratified their decrees , which were no laws till they were stamped with the imperial authority : yea , the imperial code sufficiently witnesses , that the emperour 's made laws concerning religion , the whole third book of justinian's basilicks being nothing else but imperial constitutions , de episcopis , clericis & sacris : they also erected patriarchates , and gave them supream ecclesiastical jurisdiction over such provinces as they pleased , as at justinianopolis in daeia l , and at ravenna in italy it self m , which had no dependence on rome till the time of constantinus pogon : and all ecclesiastical affairs depended on the emperors , saith socrates n , so that pope anastasius calls the emperor anastasius , the vicar of god by the divine command presiding over the earth o . an authority like this also was exercised by the western emperors of the french line , being stayled , the rulers of the true religion , a title given to charles the great and to ludovicus by two several councils which they had called p ; and the present french kings do claim the supremacy over the french churches , as may be seen in ●●ohellus and p. pith●us cited before , sect. 5. one of the french writers telling us it is the opinion of his nation , that le royiassisté de son conseil d'estate est ●●●es di●● chief terrie● de l'eglise de son royanme & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pape q . and it may be proved concerning other christian princes , that they allow not the pope to impose his decrees on their kingdoms , nor to exercise any jurisdiction among them but by their special license and consent , and prohibite his exercising any power over their subjects when they please : and why may not the king of england , being a free and absolute monarch , be allowed as great a priviledge in his own dominions ? do you not tell us ; that pope eleutherius called king lucius by the title of vicar of christ r ; and doth not king edgar call himself christs vicar s , and none taxed this title then ? did not the saxon kings preside in all national councils , and make laws for religion by the advice of their own bishops , by their own authority ? did they not erect new sees for bishops , and change them as they saw fit ? did they not invest all bishops by delivering the ring and pastoral staff t ? and the same power was still exercised by k. william the conqueror , for all things both divine and humane depended on his order , saith an old historian u . and when the pope began to encroach upon the king's supremacy here in england , he was generally opposed as we noted before . and in the aforesaid parliament of richard the second , the nation declared , that they would not endure that the crown of england should be submitted to the pope , and the laws and statutes of this realm by him defeated and avoided at his pleasure w : for bracton our most famous lawyer affirms , that the kings of england have no supream on earth but god : and accordingly the kings and parliaments of this nation made laws in reference to religion as they saw expedient , and among the rest they enacted many laws in a direct opposition to the pope's spiritual as well as temporal jurisdiction , declaring thereby , that they esteemed him no head of this church , but an ambitious and dangerous encroacher upon the rights of the crown , as you will find by perusal of those several statutes cited in the margin x . by which laws long since enacted , it is declared to be treason to receive or harbour any agents or emissaries from rome against the king's proclamations , and without his special license : upon all which considerations the judges have declared , that the act of parliament for restoring the supremacy over the church unto the crown , was not the introducing a new law , but a declaration of the old y : for it was many hundred years before , that king henry the second did declare , that be would account it high treason in any man , that should affirm the pope's authority was above his z . and before that , anselm was told , that it was impossible for him to keep the faith which he owed to the king ; and to pay obedience to the pope contrary to his royal pleasure b . which ( methinks ) may fitly admonish you who do own the pope's supremacy over england , and yet glory much in your loyalty to the king ; to enquire how these two can stand together ? our saviour saith , no mancan serve two masters , matth. vi . 24. however not two supream lords , neither can there be two highest powers in one kingdom , nor can any subjects obey both , since they will sometimes command contrary things : 't is true , if the roman bishop would profess to our king , as his predecessor leo the fourth did to lotharius of france , concerning your capitulars or imperial precepts , we through the assistance of christ promise as much as we are able , to keep and conserve the same for ever c . if he would acknowledge himself subject to our king in his dominions , as his predecessors were to the emperours of old ; if he behaved himself toward his majesty , as s. gregory did to mauritius , who calls that emperour , his lord , and himself , his servant ; declaring , that he was subject to the emperours commands , and accordingly had done his duty in publishing a law ( which the emperour ordered him to promulge ) though for his own part he thought it not agreeable to the laws of god d . if the present popes claimed no more than a primacy of order and precedency among other bishops , then the case might easily be determined : but you know of later times the pretences of rome are much higher , for she challenges a supremacy over all christian princes , a power to depose them , an authority to abrogate or dispense with their laws , and absolve their subjects from their allegiance , a priviledge to be appealed unto as to the last and highest tribunal on earth ▪ so that clement the fifth is recorded in the acts of the council of vienna to have said , that all the right of kings depended on him alone e ; and boniface the eighth owned himself not only lord of france , but of all the world f , for so great was the impudence of this boniface ( saith the french chronologer ) that he presumed to affirm the kingdom of france was a fee of the papal majesty g . and as to this kingdom , pope innocent the fourth saith , that the king of england was his vassal and his slave h , and they esteem england also a fee of the papacy , and so is ireland too it seems . whereupon the pope hath dared to nominate a king of ireland , and hath given away the kingdom of england to those who attempted to conquer it ; he hath condemned our laws , and ▪ absolved the subjects of england from their allegiance , upon which many of your party have entred into conspiracies and rebellion : so that now it appears , the pope claims an absolute supremacy over our king and his realms , and how he can be a good subject of the king of england , who professes obedience to this forreign princely prelate , is very hard to be understood : if you believe this claim , and own the pope to be above the king , you must then obey him , even when his orders contradict those of your lawful sovereign , and so you are the pope's subjects , not the king 's ; nor can his majesty have any security of your allegiance , any longer than he pleases the roman bishop , so that he reigns over you at the pope's mercy . i know many of you english catholicks have so loyal an affection for the king , that your church-men are forced to invent many plausible pretences to perswade you , that the supremacy claimed by the pope doth not entrench upon the king's supremacy , telling you , that you need not obey the pope if he commanded you to fight against your king ; wherein they put a fallacy upon you , for they know the pope can excommunicate and depose him ( even for a very small matter , say your canonists i ) , and then he is no longer your king : they pretend further this supremacy over kings in temporals is not the doctrine of your church , but only of some jesuites , upon whom they lay all those foul . doctrines of deposing and murthering kings , so wickedly maintained by divers eminent writers of your church k . but this is a delusion also , for when or where did the pope , or the heads of the roman church , condemn these opinions , or suppress these seditious books , nay , on the contrary , the books are approved and the authors preferred at rome , even when france condemns them l : and those honest and loyal secular english priests that have ventured to write against this usurped power of the popes over kings in temporals ( though they held his supremacy here in spirituals ) have been persecuted almost to death by the roman bishop ; they have been suspended , and their books condemned , and their persons so odiously represented that no english catholicks durst harbour them ; witness the learned f. preston under the name of roger widrington in king james's days , with his fellow-priests , and peter walsh author of the letter to the catholicks , who is at this day a great sufferer by the pope's means , meerly for writing , that you of the roman church ought to be loyal to the king in all matters of temporal cognizance ; a clear evidence , that ( whatever your church may pretend ) they will not endure that any of you catholicks shall hold the king's power to be above the pope's in any thing ; and consequently they will not allow you to be good subjects . now to sum up all these particulars , how grievous an abuse is it ▪ for a forreign prelate , whose predecessors had no authority here at all , to usurp such a power over you as to impose new and inexpedient articles upon you ? why should you enslave your selves to him that cannot have so much as a spiritual jurisdiction here without breaking the canons of the most famous general councils ? why may ▪ you not take the same liberty to oppose his decrees , that your ancestors in all ages have done ? they whom you account good catholicks rejected his doctrines sometimes , despised his bulls and excommunications frequently , and always opposed his pretended claim of a supremacy over this nation ; why should you call that an article of faith , and account it the principal point of religion , viz. that england ought to be subject to rome ; which even in those you call catholick times was declared to be no less than treason , and no other than an opinion that did destroy the prerogative of the king , the priviledges and liberties of this church , the freedom and quiet of all english subjects ? they were romanists in other points who condemned appeals to rome , and maintained , that the crown of england was in no earthly subjection , and that the king had no supream but god only ; who counted all the power which the pope ever had here , meerly permissive , tolerated by this nation so long as they pleased , and such as might be curbed , lessened , hindred or taken away by the supream authority of this nation when ever they saw expedient : it was a king and parliament of your religion in most points , that restored the king to his just supremacy , and took away the precarious or usurped and much abused power of the roman bishop here ; they thought a supremacy in spirituals , as to this kingdom , was more than he had any right to , but he and his agents expect to be allowed to over-rule the temporal laws also ; methinks , if you have the nobleness and gallantry of true english spirits , your affections for the roman church should not rob you of your love to your native country , nor suffer you to endure those pretences which dishonour the king , and despoil him of his ancient rights , and enslave this free church and nation to one that only seeks his own ends in claiming this subjection ; for though the holding the pope's supremacy doth contribute to the support of his own grandeur , yet it doth not further any mans salvation , and it is so far from doing any good in those nations where it is allowed him , that it might be made appear , the setting up and abetting this supremacy hath occasioned the murther of many princes , stirred up the complaints of all sorts of people , and filled christendom for many ages , with massacres , treasons , war and bloodshed l ; which was so notorious in the german empire , that it came to be a proverb saith guiccardine , it is the property of the church to hate the caesars : and the mischief it hath done in england ( by rifling the nations wealth before the reformation , and disturbing its quiet since ) is so well remembred and so deeply resented , by the generality of the people , that they will never endure that heavy yoak any more , nor can they be perswaded scarce ever to esteem them loyal subjects or true to their countries interest , who do not renounce this unjust and odious jurisdiction . why therefore ( o my friends ) will you be so imprudent , to oppose the rights and prerogative of your lawful sovereign , the priviledges of that church wherein you were born , the freedom and interest of your beloved country , the desire of your fellow-subjects and best friends , yea , and your own liberty also ? why will you oppose ( i say ) all these , meerly to support an unjust and groundless power , which no ecclesiastick ought to have any where , much less in so remote and so free a monarchy ? to support a power which is inconsistent with the security of the crown , the peace of the kingdom , and the welfare of private persons ? s. peter never bid any to honour his successor the pope thus , but his opinion was , that you must submit to the king as supream , 1 pet. ii . 13. and his counsel follows thereupon , viz. that you should fear god and honour the king , ver . 17. s. paul commands every soul to be subject to the higher powers , rom. xiii . 1. neither bishops nor apostles themselves are excepted , saith s. chrysostome . and s. bernard tells pope eugenius , that the apostles were forbid to exercise dominion , luke xxii . 25 , 26. and therefore he adds , if you would have apostolical and royal power together you lose both m . finally therefore , it is unreasonable for the roman bishop to challenge such authority here , and the laws of god and man forbid it , so that i may expect you shall be so far from receiving any articles for the sake of this authority , that you shall not scruple to renounce the authority it self , which was so ill-gotten at first , so wretchedly abused while it did obtain , and so legally taken away at last ; and in so doing you will demonstrate your selves to be loyal to your king , faithful to your country , friends to your own liberty , and men of an un-inslaved understanding . section vii . advice to the english catholicks to forsake the opinions of rome and embrace the religion of the church of england . to conclude , as my pity to see you so miserably imposed on , hath moved me to endeavour by these plain and cogent arguments to rescue you from that yoke , which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear ; so my desire of your perfect freedom , and my unfeigned wishes for your temporal , spiritual and eternal welfare , do prompt me to advise you to comply with the religion of the church of england , and this advice is not only grounded upon the foregoing considerations , but may be further pressed upon these motives : 1. if you consider the excellent method of our reformation which was so necessary at that time , that for some ages before , the wisest and best men of the roman church had not only confessed there was great need of it , but had complained for want thereof , and pressed the pope earnestly thereunto , witness the judicious epistle of rob. grosthead that pious bish . of lincoln , to pope innocent the fourth , yet to be seen in our historians n ; the publick complaint of the english church in the council of lyons o ; the private writings of john gerson , nich. clemangis , aeneas sylvius ( afterwards pope ) and many others : and at least one hundred years before luthers time a reformation was urged for , in the pisane council p and that so strongly , that before the election of a pope , the cardinals solemnly promised , who ever of them should be chosen pope , that he would before the dissolution of that council reform the catholick church as well in the head as the members q . and when alexander the fifth was chosen , he promised to take care of a general reformation , and that pious and learned men should be chosen in every nation to treat with the cardinals about it r : but after all , neither he nor his successors would ever reform either their doctrines or practices , being more intent upon their private advantage , than the general good , and more moved with cardinal scombergs counsel , than by all the former complaints , who told the pope , that by the reformation it would be confessed that the things provided against , were deservedly reproved by the lutherans , which would be a great abetting to their whole doctrine , hist . counc . trent . l. 1. p. 83. which is to resolve to err always , rather than to be thought to have once erred ; and herein the roman church is of the same humour with those gentiles to whom arnobius speaks , what you have once done without reason , ye defend lest you should seem formerly to have been ignorant , and you account it better not to be overcome , than to yield to plain and confessed truth s . wherefore since rome resolved not to reform , england ( having first restored her king to his ancient and just supremacy ) resolved to reform it self , without the popes leave or consent , knowing full well they had authority sufficient among themselves to order the affairs of religion , which had been regulated many hundred years in this land by the king and his own bishops , without any dependence on the pope at all : thus the kings of judah reformed their kingdoms of old , thus the king of spain with leander bishop of sevil reformed that kingdom from arianism without the pope t and thus king edgar intended to proceed in the reformation of the english church of old when he told his own clergy , i have constantines sword in my hands , and you have peters in yours u that is , we need no further authority or power to reform , than what we have within our selves : the kings of this nation , with the advice and consent of their bishops , barons and commons had been always wont to order ecclesiastical affairs as they thought meet , not heeding whether the pope were pleased or displeased thereat ; and accordingly this happy reformation was made by the supreme power of this kingdom , upon mature deliberation , in a regular , orderly , and legal way ; and it was managed with so much moderation and prudence , that the romanists of england said little against it , but communicated with this church ( after the reformation ) till the pope for his own ends forbid them so to do ; but i hope his prohibition without any just reason , shall not outweigh the supreme authority of your own nation , with you , who profess your selves to be loyal subjects , and for the interest of england ; and since there was such need of reformation , such obstinacy in rome , such authority here , and so orderly proceedings in this reformation , i think all good christians and sober men , being natives of this land , ought to submit unto it . ii. you will be further perswaded hereunto , by considering the doctrine of this church , which agrees with primitive christianity , in that it obliges you to believe nothing as of necessity to salvation , but what may be plainly proved our of holy scripture , and for this reason you must still hold the three creeds of the apostles , of nice , and of saint athanasius , all which the church of england intirely believes . and he only is a heretick which follows not this holy rule ( say the constitutions of theodosius and gratian ) but they are catholicks that embrace it : in this church we give as much honour to , and obey more canons of , the first four general councils , than they of rome do ; we approve of that exposition of scripture which hath the consent of the fathers of the first three or four centuries , yea we hold all that the church of rome it self held as necessary to salvation for five or six hundred years together , and it is very remarkable that a romanist may turn protestant without adding any one article to his faith , but a protestant cannot turn to rome unless he embrace many new articles ▪ for our doctrines are generally confessed by both sides to be true , but those of the roman church are rejected by our reformers , as novel additions , and such as have no good foundation in scripture , nor genuine antiquity ▪ and therefore the protestant doctrines are the surer and safer , as in which both sides agree ; for example , we and they both hold there are two states after this life , heaven and hell , but they add a third which is purgatory , and this we deny : we and they both say , that sins are to be remitted by the merits of christs death , but they add the merits of the saints , and their own satisfactions with the merit of their own good works , which we deny to be expiatory , or such as can merit remission for us : we hold there be two sacraments baptism and the eucharist , these they confess are the chief , but add five more , to which we affirm the name of sacraments doth not properly belong : we say that god alone is to be worshipped , they confess he is chiefly to be worshipped ; but then they say the blessed virgin mary , angels , and saints are to be worshipped also , which additions we deny : we say christ is our only mediator and advocate , they confess he is principally so , but add , that saints and angels are so in an inferiour manner , which we utterly deny : we say christ is really present in the sacrament of the altar , this they confess , but add , he is corporally there by the transsubstantiation of the bread , &c. and this we deny : we say the scriptures are the rule of faith , and they will not absolutely deny it , but add their own traditions , which we reject : we say there are xxii . books of the old testament canonical , and they confess these all to be so , but they add divers , and call them canonical , which we affirm to be apocryphal ; i could give more instances , but these may suffice to shew that the protestant doctrines look most like the ancientest , as being received by both parties , but the roman opinions are novel enlargements of old catholick truths , so that a protestant becoming a romanist must take up many articles barely upon the credit of that church , and begin to believe many things anew , questioned by the bigger part of christendom ; but a romanist turning protestant retains all the old essentials of his former faith ; and doth only become a primitive roman catholick . iii. the discipline and government of the church of england are more agreeable to primitive patterns than those of the present roman church are : our king hath the same power that the religious kings of judah had , the same which the great constantine , and the succeeding emperors for many years enjoyed , the same power which the ancient kings of this nation exercised , viz. a power to convene his clergy and advise with them about affairs of the church : a power to ratifie that which the bishops and clergy agree upon , and give it the force of a law : a power to chuse fit persons to govern the church , a power to correct all offenders against faith or manners , be they clergy , or lay-men : and finally , a power to determine all causes and controversies ecclesiastical and civil , among his own subjects ( by the advice of fit counsellors ) so as there lies no appeal from his determination ; and this is that we mean when we call him supreme governour of this church , which our king must needs be , or else he cannot keep his kingdoms in peace ; besides for spiritual jurisdiction , and sacred administrations , we have a patriarch of our own , the arch-bishop of canterbury primate of all england , whom vrban the second call'd the pope of the other world w and his see was usually styled , the chair of the english patriarch x and is reckoned among the patriarchates by a forreign writer y . and now his priviledges and liberties are restored by law , and his title and authority confirmed ; so that there lies no appeal from him but to the king ; we have also right reverend bishops , together with other inferiour priests and deacons ( the only primitive and proper orders of the clergy ) who can prove their ordination to be as goodas any of the romish priests can do z , and are now . consecrated and ordained by a more excellent form , and more agreeing to the eldest times , than rome it self can shew ; and if you will judge impartially , it must be confessed that the clergy of england are altogether as learned , and generally more painful and pious than in any catholick country whatsoever : our canons for ecclesiastical government are all founded on the canons of ancient councils ( as i could shew by particular induction , if time would permit ) and for the exercise of our discipline it is managed with more moderation , and ease to the people than that of the roman church is : iiii. you may consider our divine service and sacred administrations , which ( as far as ever god made necessary to salvation ) may be had in this church : we have the holy scriptures plainly translated , learnedly interpreted , and practically preached ; we have daily prayers , by a form so grave and so agreable to the undoubted parts of ancient liturgies , that it may challenge all christendom to produce any thing so consonant to the purest primitive devotions ; a form which hath all those parts of the roman offices which were known and used in the first three centuries , but wants all the innovations and corruptions of the present mass ; and is used in english for the benefit of the meanest christian in our assemblies : we have also those two sacraments which christ ordained ( and many of the elder and later doctors own no more a ) . as for the other five rites falsly called sacraments , viz. confirmation , matrimony , holy orders , visiting of the sick , repentance and satisfaction for wrongs done , we retain these , but not by the name of sacraments , keeping the primitive and main part of them , only attended with fewer ceremonies : we press and practice also charity and good works , as much as the roman church doth , and it may be demonstrated that more and greater gifts have been given in england to pious uses , by private persons since the reformation , than in two centuries before : and though we dare not say we shall merit eternal life by them ( because that is the gift of god ) yet we believe none can come to heaven without good works : in a word , the church of england worships god as he hath prescribed in holy scripture , she commands all that he enjoyns , and forbids all that he prohibits , and therefore wanteth nothing that is necessary to salvation . v. you may look upon our ceremonies which are few and easie , ancient and significant , and though we do not place so much religion in externals as the church of rome doth , yet here is prescribed all that is needful for decency and order , viz. that the clergy always wear grave and distinct habits , and have peculiar garments in divine administrations , that churches be adorned and neat , that the people be reverent in gods house , that the memory of our saviours chief acts , and the festivals of the holy apostles be religiously observed ; that lent , with the vigils of great feasts , the ember weeks , and all the fridays in the year , be kept as days of fasting or abstinence , and if some protestants do not observe them , yet others do , and are commended for it , and you may follow the best , not the most : you will have more liberty ( by turning to the english church ) as to circumstantials , and greater helps as to the essentials of religion : so that it is upon all accounts your wisest and safest course to embrace this so true , so primitive , so pious , and so rational a religion . let me therefore shut up my charitable and friendly advice by requesting you to consider all these things without prejudice or passion , and then i hope you will perceive how much the religion of this church excells that of rome , in antiquity , integrity , and usefulness , and no longer suffer your selves to be so sadly imposed on , and so miserably made to serve the ends of avarice and ambition : and if you have taken such prudent and pious resolutions , you shall not only be freed from the inconveniences you complain of here , but also have better assurances of your salvation hereafter , than the roman church can give you ; for there you have only the words of their priests for it , whose interest and whose practice it hath been to deceive you ; but here you shall have all the assurances which the word of god can give you , provided you become reformed in your lives as well as in your religion , and will leave off your old vices , as well as your old opinions ; for unless we can perswade you to become proselytes of righteousness , we shall not much value the gaining you over to our profession ; because we know it is neither the being papist nor protestant will save those that live in their sins ; but this religion is the better chiefly in this , that it is most likely to bring you to unfeigned repentance , and the practice of real holiness . and if you desire further information in these particulars , let me advise you to consult the late eminent protestant writers , together with some of the most able and ingenuous of the english clergy , whom you will find very willing and ready to give you more full satisfaction , and to be men that have no designs upon you , but to direct you in the best way to heaven : and doubtless , if you would but try the difference a while , a little experience would teach you how happy and advantagious a change he makes , who forsakes the religion of rome , and embraces the communion of the church of england . finis . a catalogue of some books printed for , and sold by h. brome , since the dreadful fire of london , 1666. to 1677. divinity . dr . hammond on the new testament , fol. — his practical tracts , fol. mr. farindons 130 sermons , fol. newman's concordance , fol. bishop sanderson's sermons , fol. dr. heylin on the creed , fol. bishop taylor 's cases of conscience , fol. — his polemical discourses , fol. mr. cumber's companion to the temple , being a paraphrase on the common prayer . bishop wilkins principles and duties of natural religion . bishop cosen's devotions . bishop taylor 's holy living and dying . mr. fowler 's design of christianity . dr. patrick's witnesses to christianity . — his advice to a friend in two vol. — his christian sacrifice . — his devout christian . holy anthems of the church . the saints legacies . the reformed monastery , or the love of jesus . bona's guide to eternity . sermons . dean lloyd's two sermons at court. dr. sprat's sermon at court. bishop lany's sermon at court. mr. sayer's assize sermon . mr. naylor's con. sermon for col. cavendish . mr. standish's sermon at court. dr. dupor●'s three sermons on may 29th . novemb . 5th . jan. 30th . dr. du monlin's two sermons on novemb. 5 th . — his sermon at the funeral of dr. turner . histories . the life of the great duke of espernon being the history of the civil wars of france , beginning 1598. where d'avila leaves off , and ending in 1642. by charles cotton esq ; the commentary of m. elaiz de mon●●uc the great favourite of france , in which are contained all the sieges , battails , skirmishes , in three king's reigns by charles cotton esq ; mr. rycants history of turky . the history of the three last grand seigniors , their sultana's and chief favourites , englisht by john evelin esq ; the history of don quixot , fol. bishop wilkin's real character fol. bishop cosens against transubstantiation . dr. guidots history of bathe , and of the hot waters there . the fair one of tunis , or a new piece of gallantry , by charles cotton esq ; domus carthusiana , ●or the history of the most noble foundation of the coarter house in london , with the life and death of thomas su ton esq ; the history of the sevarites , a nation inhabiting part of the third continent . physick . dr. glissonde ventriculo & intestinis . de vita naturae . dr. barber's practice , with dr. decker's notes . sir ken. digby's excellent receipts in physick , chirurgery and cockery . the anatomy of the elder tree , with its approved vertue . miscellanies . dr. skinner's lexicon . history of the irish remonstrance . lord bacon's advancement of learning . the planters manual . treatise of human reason . the compleat gamester . toleration discuss'd by r. l' estrange esq ; england ' s improvement by r. coke esq ; leyburn's arith. recreations . geographical cards describing all parts of the world. school books . s●revelius lexicon in quarto . centum fabulae , in octavo . nolens volens , or you shall make latine . radyns rudimenta artis oratoriae . pools parnassus . the schollars guide from the accedence to the university . erasmus coll. english . lipsius of constancy , english . controversies . considerations touching the true way to suppress popery , to which is added an historical account of the reformation here in england . lex talionis , being an answer to naked truth . the papists apology answered . a seasonable discourse against popery . — the defence of it . the difference between the church and court of rome . take heed of both extreams , popery and presbytery , by mr. bolein . dr. du moulin against the lord castlemain . — against papal tyranny . fourteen controversial letters against popery . papists no catholicks . popery no christianity . mr. gataker against the papists . — a calm answer to a violent discourse of m. n. for the invocation of saints . origo protestanti●m : or an answer to a popish manuscript ( of n. n's . ) by john shaw rector of whalton . law books . lord cokes reports in four vol. sir james dyer's reports . the clerks guide . the exact constable , with large additions . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a34067-e200 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ apud athenaeum . notes for div a34067-e560 a tertul. apol. cap. 32. b arrian . in epict. l. 2. c. 14. c diog. laert . in vit. solon . notes for div a34067-e890 a cicer. de natur . deor. lib. 2. b theodoret. de curand . graec. affect . serm. 1. c tertul. in marcio● . lib. 4. d cyprian . ad caecilian . ep. 63. e salmeron in 1 tim. cap. 2. lindan . panop . l. 3. c. 5. bannes 2. 2 ae qu. 1. art. 10. conclus . 2. f hugo etherian . de regressu animae . g durand . 4. sent. dist . 20. qu. 3. major . 4. d. 2. qu. 2. cajetan . opusc . 15. cap. 1. antonin . part . 1. sum . tit . 10. cap. 3. h fisher de captiv . babyl . c. 10. de alliaco in 4. sent. qu. 6. art . 1. cajetan . ap . suarez . tom. 3. disp . 46. * ranul . higden polychron , l. 6. c. 15. petrus damian . vit. odilon . i clemangis de nov . celebr . ii. polydor. virgil de invent. rer . l. 6. aiala de tradit . p. 2. c. de imag. k concil . secundum nicaen . an. 787. l hoveden annal . par. 1 ▪ p. 405. matth. westmon . anno. 793. m fish . in 18. artic. luther . n scioppius de indulg . cap. 12. o platin. in vit. polyd. virgil. de invent. l. 8. cap. 1. p temp. bonifac . 8. an. 1300. polyd. virg. ut supra , l. 8. c. 1. q an. 1074. matth. westmon . eod . an. vincent . spec. hist . l. 24. c. 45. antonin . lib. 16. cap. 1. §. 21. r sigebert . chron. ad a. 1074. s histor. petroburg . anno 1127. ap . spelm. t. 2. p. 36. t concil . later . can. 21. an. 1215. u peter lomb. l. 4. sentent . dist . 77. gratian. de poenit. dist . 1. c. 89. circ . an. 1150 w tho. aqu. in 4. sent. dist . 17. x gregor . de valent. de transub . lib. 2. cap. 7. cardin. cusan . exercit . l. 6. y gelasius pap. de secundis naturis contra eutych . z ap. suarez . tom. 1. in euch. disp . 7. a scotus in 4. sent. cap. ii. qu. 3. durand . in 4. sent. dist . 10. qu. 1. n. 13. b an. 1415. c t. aquin. in johan . 6. alphons . à castro adv . haeres . lib. 6. d bochell . de decr. eccles . gallic . l. 5. tit . 20. e gaii epist . decret . ad felicem , ap . binium t. 1. p. 173. f gelas . de secundis nat. contr . eutych . g grego . mag. epist . ad maurit . lib. 2. ep. 62. h idem ad theod . lib. 2. ep. 65. i idem . ad eulog . lib. 7. epist . 30. k respons . ad interrog . secundam aug. cantuariens . l ad seren. lib. 7. epist . 109. m greg. mag. expos . in job . l. 19. c. 17. n gloss . ordin . an. 1200. in praefat . de libris canon . & non canon . biblia complu tens . in praef à card. ximenio approb . à leone x. an. 1502. biblia vulg. edit . basil . cum gloss . ord. an. 1506. biblia s. pagnini & birkmanni , & vatabli per rob. stephan . a. 1541. o cassander de officio boni viri . p ambros . de poenitent . lib. 1. cap. 6. q lactant. instit . lib. 4. cap. ult . r brerewoods enquir . of langu . and rel. s sir edwyn sands europ . spec. p. 268 , 269 , &c. t hieronym . vitâ malach. u socrat. hist . lib. 7. c. 11. w basil . epist ▪ 10. & baronius tom. 4. an. 327. §. 32. x ammian . marcellin . hist . lib. 27. y baron . annal. tom. 10. an. 912. §. 8. z gerbert . epist . 40. ad stephanum rom. eccl. diacon . a sabellicus , enne ad . 9. l. 2. b genebrard . chronolog . lib. 4. 10. secul . init . c aristot . ethic . lib. 6. d bernard . de consid . l. 4. c. 2. e hosp . de orig . monach. l. 6. c. 66. f cyril . cateches . 4. p. 84. g cicero de natur. deorum . l. 3. h euseb . hist . lib. 5. c. 13. i al. hal. par. 4. q 28. mem . 2. art . 2. panorm . c. omnis de poen . & rem . n. 24. d soto de rat . deteg . secr. mem . 3. q 4 ▪ k bernard . de consid . lib. 3. c. 4. l antiq. canterb . fol. 247. m lassel's vovage to italy . n polydor. virgil . de invent. l. 8. c. 1. o vide , taxam camerae apostol . impress . parisiis . p matth. paris . pag. 274. q l. herbert . hist . hen. 8th . p. 230. r gregor , magn. respons . ad . interrog . august cant. 2. pius 2. in g●stis concil . basil . s panormitan . de clericis conjug . can. cum olim. t deoret . p. alex . l. 3. tit . 2. c. 3. u gloss . ad gratian . dist . 82. c. 5. x ibid dist . 34. can. 7. costerus enchirid . de coelibat . cap. 17. a bern. de convers . ad cleric . cap. 29. b gloss . ad gratian . dist . 82 c. 5. c matth. paris . hist . an. 1234. d decretal . gregor . lib. 3. de testam . tit . 26. cap. 7 , 9. e europ . specul . pag. 197. f europ . specul . pag. 198. g antiquitat . brittan p. 178. h matth. paris . pag. 667. & epist . anglor . ad innocent . i sarish . polycraticon . lib. 5. qap. 16. k sabellic . enne . 9. lib. 1. ● ▪ l baron . annal. tom. x. an. 900. §. 1. m genebrard . chron. lib. 4. ( n ) praefatio r. aluredi ad pastoral . gregorii . o claud. espen . com. ad 2 tim. 3. o claud. espen . com. ad 2 tim. 3. p concil . toletan . 4. c. 24. a. 633. q sarisbur . polycraticon . lib. 6. cap. 24. r 2 tim. ii . 24 , 25. s tertul. ad scap. c. 2. concil . toletan . 4. cap. 56. t gregorius m. epist . ad episc . constantinop . u august . de civit. dei. l. 4. c. 27. w idem , ibid. cap. 31. x chrysost . de sacerdotio , l. 4. y gregor . mag. hom . 4. z augustin . de ver . relig. cap. 24. ferus commentar . in lib. judic . a canus , loc. commun . lib. ii cap. 6. b idem ibid. c harding against jewels apol. d breviar . rom. fest . nicol. 6. dec. fest . s. blasii , feb. 13. fest . s. alexii , julii 17. e bellarmin . de scriptor . eccles . f rog. wid●ingt . de jaram . fidelitatis , c. x. p. 402. g dr. stillingfleet of miracles . author of the reflections on the romish devotions . h jo. de turrecrem ▪ de eccl. l. 2. c. 101. i baron . annal. t. 2. an. 102. §. 6 , 7. jo. driedo de dogm . & scrip. ecc. l. 1. c. 2. k cusanus de concord . cathol . l. 2. c. 34. cl. espencaeus de contin . l. 1. c. 2. bellarm. de rom. pontif. l. 2. c. 14. l hincm . rhem. lib. contr. hincm . laudunens . m baron . annal. t. 9. an. 865. §. 5 , 6 , 7. n adrian . ep. ad constant . & iren. act. concil . nicen. 2. an. 794. leo. 9. epist . ad michael . const . an. 1054. o not. in edict . constant . concil . tom. 1. p. 154. p leo. pap. epist . ad theodof . concil . tom. 2. q exempli gr . tres canon . concil . 1. constantinop . omnes ▪ can. concil . ephes . oecum . 3. canon . 28. concil . chalcedon . oecum . 4. r roman forgeries print . lond. 1673. s angulos , legunt . merlin . tom. 1. concil . edit . an. 1530 colon. crabbe p. 226. ed. a. 1538. colon. carranza sum . concil . pag. 82. lugd. 1568. t ap . zonar . balsam . & harmenopulum . u theodor. in colos . 3. photius . nomo-canon . tit. 12. c. 9. w dionys . exig . cod. can. n. 138. crescon . breviar . can. §. 90. fulgent . ferrand . bre● . can. §. 184. x cyprian . ep. 40. edit . gryphii . p. 52. morellii 124. y editio pamel . ep. 40. p. 7. z ludov. vives comment . in aug. de civ . dei , l. 21. c. 24. a fulbertus carnot . edit . an. 1608. pag. 168. b baron . annal . tom. x. an . 869. c aimonius de gestis franc. l. 5. c. 8. d epistol . nuncup . ante bibliothecam sixti senens . e censores belg. de libro bertrami . f junii prae● . ad indicem expurg . cens . belg. g blondel epist . ante librum de joan. papis c. 3. h henr. boxhorn . de eucharistiâ l. 3. initio . i barno . advers . gent. lib. 1. k aug. de verb. apost . ser. 32. l ambros . de offic. l. 2. c. 8. m lactant. instit . lib. 6. c. 19. n arrianus in epictet . lib. 2. cap. 15. o lactant. instit . lib , 2. cap. 2. p irenaeus adv . haeres . l. 1. c. 24. q concil . eliber . can . 36. origen in cels . lib. 7. tertul. apol. c. 30. r cornel. agrip. de vanit . scien . cap. 57. bern. de annun . serm . 1. p. 123. durand . in sent. lib. 2. dist . 8. qu. 1. s august . de verb. apos , ser. 15. 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praepar . evang . lib. 3. q suarez . de orat. lib. 3. cap. 14. & salmeron . r an. dom. 1090. s polyd. virgil. de invent . rer . l. 5. c. 9. t selden de diis syris , pag. 52. saubertus de sacrific . cap. 13. pag. 296. u aug. de civ . dei , lib. 8. c. 17. w arnob. adv . gentes , lib. 7. pag. 216. x senec. ep. 97. y basil . reg . brev . qu. 15. z mich. vi . 7. a augustin . homil . 2. ex 50. hom . b tertul. de praescrip . adv . haret . c. 41. c augustin . epist . 80. d idem de verb. apost . ser. 21. e salvian . ad eccles . cath. lib. 3. f gloss . ordin . ad colos . 2. g euseb . pap. decret . ep. 3. h capitol . carol . & lud. l. 5. c. 163. i legibus hydens . ap . spelm. tom. 1. pag. 440. k aug. de verb. dom. serm. 13. l nazianz. test . de vet. testam . m cyril . de trin. lib. 4. n chrysost . hom . 55. in matth. o ambros . com. in ephes . 2. p hilar. de trin. lib. 2. cap. 6. ambros . in esal . 38. q aug ▪ in johan . tract . 118. origen . in matt. tract . 1. hilarius de trinit . l. 6. hieron 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42. o constit . imper. à godalsto tom. 1. pag. 24 , 25. luitprand . ticin . histor . lib. 6. cap. 9 , & 10. p bochellus l. 5. de decret . eccles . gallic . tit . 20. pithaeus de lib. eccles . gallican , c. 3. § , 3. n. 13. q ll. basilic . l. 10. tit . 1. & balsamon not . in concil . ancyran . p. 378. r sabellic . enn. 7. lib. 5. s tertul. adv . jud. c. 7. theodoret. de cur. graec. aff . ser. 9. t can. 6. concil . nicaen . juxt . dionys . exig . u histor . ecclese . lib. 1. c. 6. w concil . ephes . can. 8. x ge●●● monm . de aug. vers . fin . y gyrald . camb. it in . l. 2. c. 1. z hoved. annal part . 1. p. 405. matth. westm . an. 793. a onuphri●s in vit. greg. 7. b baron . annal . an. 1076. §. 25. c matth. paris . an. 1107. d record . an. tertio hen. 2. e matth. paris . an. 1164. f stat. 16. ric. 2 di statute book pag. 238. g tho. of walsing . an. 1312. pag. 74. num . 20. h tho. walsing . an. 1408. p. 420. i vitâ henr. chicely , p. 56 , & 57. * an. 26. hen. 8. k annal. tom. 3. an. 312. l imperial . const . novel ▪ ii. & nov. 131. c. 3. m rescript . valent . 31 an. 432. n socrat. hist . prooem . ad lib. 5. o anastas . pap. epist ad anastas . imp. ap . binium t. 2. par . 1. p. 507. p concil . 1. mogun . an. 813. & concil . ii. mogun . an. 847. ap . bin. t. 3. p. 1. sect. 2. q claud. fau●●et en les libertes de l'eglis . gallican . p. 234. r epist . eleuth . ad r. lucium ap . spelm● ▪ s leg. hydens . cap. 8. spelm● tom. ● . p. 438. t ingulph . hist. p. 902. u eadmer . histor . p. 6. w stat. 16 ric. 2. c. 5. x stat. 25 ed. 3. de provisor . stat. 27 , 28 ed. 3. cap. 1 , 2. stat. 28 ed. 3. cap. 3. stat. 2 hen. 4. cap. 3. stat. 6 henr. 4. cap. 1. stat. 7 henr. 4. cap. 6. stat. 3 henr. 5. cap 4. y coke 5. rep. cawdry's case , fol. 8. z spelm. concil . t. 2. p. 58. b rex ad anselm . ap eadmerum pag. 62. c leon. epist . ad lothar . & lud. aug. ap . grat. dist . 10. c. 9. d gregor . epist . lib. 2. ad maurit . ep. 62. e concil . vienn . sub clem. 5. f papyr . masson . vit. bonis . 8. g tilius episs . meld . chronic. de reg. fran. an. 1302. h matth. paris . ad an. 1253. i gloss . in decret . dist . 40. cap. 6. st ▪ papa . suarez . defens . fidei , & lib. contr . regem magn. brittan . k mariana , lib. de rege . l answer to philanax anglicus , 125. l see the answer to philanax angl. chap. 4. p. 72. m bern. ad eugen . pap. de consid . l. 2. n matth. paris . an. 1253. o ap . binium concil . tom. 3. p 2. sol . 729. &c. p concil . pisanum an. 1411. q concil . pisan . sess . 16. r et sess . 20. ap . binium tom. 3. p. 2. p. 836. s arnob. adv . gentes , l. 6. p. 197. t concil . tolet. 3. an. 589. u edgar ap. ailred . col. 361. w malmsbury de pontif. l. 1. de anselmo . x eadmer . cant. pag. 113. y duaren . de benef . lib. 1. c. 9. z mason de ministerio anglicano . a ambros . lib. de sacram. aug. doctrin . christ . l. 3. c. 9. paschusius de caen. dom. bessarion . de sacram . euchar. november the 5. 1605. the quintessence of cruelty, or, master-peice of treachery, the popish pouder-plot, invented by hellish-malice, prevented by heavenly-mercy. / truly related, and from the latine of the learned, religious, and reverend dr. herring, translated and very much dilated. by john vicars. pietas pontificia. english. herring, francis, d. 1628. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a86261 of text r203901 in the english short title catalog (thomason e1100_1). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 247 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 70 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a86261 wing h1602 thomason e1100_1 estc r203901 99863685 99863685 115896 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a86261) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 115896) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 163:e1100[1]) november the 5. 1605. the quintessence of cruelty, or, master-peice of treachery, the popish pouder-plot, invented by hellish-malice, prevented by heavenly-mercy. / truly related, and from the latine of the learned, religious, and reverend dr. herring, translated and very much dilated. by john vicars. pietas pontificia. english. herring, francis, d. 1628. vicars, john, 1579 or 80-1652. [26], 46, [2] 47-103, [9] p. : ill. (woodcuts) printed by g.m. for r. harford at the signe of the guilt bible in queens-head-ally in pater-noster-row, london : 1641. a translation of: pietas pontificia. in verse. the leaf after e2 is an insert bearing a woodcut and text. reproduction of the original in the british library. an epigram to iesuites, the principall disturbers of peace and unity -an enigmatical riddle to romes iesuiticall black-crows, who pretend themselves to be religions white swans -a paraphrasticall psalm of thanksgiving for englands most happy deliverance from the most horrible intended gun-pouder treason. eng catholics -england -controversial literature -early works to 1800. gunpowder plot, 1605 -poetry -early works to 1800. a86261 r203901 (thomason e1100_1). civilwar no november the 5. 1605. the quintessence of cruelty,: or, master-peice of treachery, the popish pouder-plot, invented by hellish-malice, prev herring, francis 1641 35855 43 5 0 0 0 0 13 c the rate of 13 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-05 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-05 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion november the 5 1605. the qvintessence of crvelty , or , master-peice of treachery , the popish pouder-plot , invented by hellish-malice , prevented by heavenly-mercy . truly related , and from the latine of the learned , religious , and reverend dr. herring , translated and very much dilated . by john vicars . sonne of man , write the name of the day , even of this same day , wherin the king of babylon set himselfe against jerusalem ; this same day . ezek. 24. 2. london , printed by g. m for r. harford at the signe of the guilt bible in queens-head-ally in pater-noster-row . 1641. see , here , the popish pouder-plots fair thriving ; fauks and his father-satan fit contriving the fatall-instruments , to puffe and blow hell out of earth , a state to over-throw , at once , for all : but , here , behold likewise , heavens all-seeing-eye , which deepest-pits espies : this desperate worke of darknesse sees most clear , and , timely , makes the mischiefe all appeare : to israels blessed shepheards endlesse glory , as is full-shown in this succeeding story . to all loyall-hearted english protestants which sincerely relish the power and purity of christs gospell , and zealously detest the damnable doctrines of antichrist ; j. v. wisheth the blessings of gods right hand , and of his left ▪ the blessings of this life and of the life to come . the richest rarest mercies , daily sent ( right christian brethren ) to us of this land , from gods ore-flowing grace , al-filling hand may be compar'd to th'sun in firmament . whose glorious rayes all creatures hearts revive , whose light enlightens all the world throughout , whose heat doth cherish plants that spring and sprout , whose shine to want doth us of ioy deprive . yet since , so daily , man doth it enjoy , who is 't ( almost ) that valews it aright ? who yeelds due praise to heaven for heavens sweet light ? o few or none . abundance does us cloy . from whence , we ( therefore ) iustly may conclude , that gods rich mercies , which we oft possesse , wherwith he daily , hourly doth us blesse , we all receive with great ingratitude . i need not stand t' exemplifie the same , it is a fault too frequent , too rank grown , and yet to god , more odious , ther 's not one , and which to christians brings more smart and shame . of spirituall-blessings , our thrice blest salvation wrought by our saviour , bought with 's precious-blood , was most divine , gave man his chiefest good , was more admir'd than was the worlds creation . but , of all temp'rall-blessings we enioy'd since god did form the earth and heavenly frame to our deliverance , never greater came , when rome by pouder , would have us destroy'd . how thankfull for the first , to god we are i 'll tax nones conscience , but examine mine : but for the second , how we doe decline from giving thanks to god , i may not spare , to tell you all ( my christian brethren deare ) that , which if i should silence , sencelesse stones , ( t is to be fe●r'd ) would sound with mournfull groans ; englands ingratitude is too-too cleare . for why ? not only popish jebusites , already do begin ( as plain appeares ) to buze , with brazen browes , into the ears and mindes of their seduced proselytes . yea and perswade too-many protestants that there was never any pouder-plot , but , that ( we falsly ) stain them with that spot the cath'likes to disgrace with c●uslesse taunts . for this cause , therfore ▪ i have ta'ne in hand , again to sing ( to gods due praise and glory in this revived and most faithfull story ) how powerfully god to our church did stand . which , now , at last ( though , with much strugling ) i , ( by gods aid , in our pious parliament ) have brought to publike view , thus to prevent our times dough * bakers base malignity : who , heated had their oven , extremely ▪ hot , to burn-up in oblivions smoakey-flame , the memory ( to our eternall shame ) of this nefarious popish pouder-plot . and 'gainst which , though some temporizing-minde may scoffe and scorn , in this my good intention , though from romes favorites , nought but reprehension and taunting termes i shall ( uniustly ) finde , though rome doth curse me with bell , book and candle and like a gal'd-backt-iade doth kick and winch ; yet i their sores have laboured so to pinch , as in their nature , iustly , them to handle . but , if to you ( my brethren deare ) i may for my poore labour kindly be respected , and from calumniators fangs protected i shall acknowledge this a rich repay . if i ( hereby ) may move and stimulate , your christian hearts to zealous detestation of romes most impious foule abhomination , and heavens rich mercies oft to ruminate , chiefly , the great miraculous defence from this nefarious pouder-plot of rome , wherin our king and kingdomes they did doome to dire destruction , fatall violence . then , happy i ( maugre romes worst despight ) that god , hereby , may have due thanks and praise , that this occasion may mens hearts incite this fact , with fame to memorize alwayes ; read then ( kinde reader ) what 's amisse amend , and kindly take the good-will of thy friend , john vicars . to his very good cousin m. john vicars , on his decasyllables a decastich . three mercies great proper to this our state my tongue , with praise to god shall still relate ; a salvation from romes tyranny and band , b safeguard from spaniards proud insulting hand , c saf'ty from popish-pouder-plots and trains : o! this deserves ( if any ) heavenly strains . such strains are thine , thus streaming from thy quill , which fain applaud i would , but want the skill . but what i want in skill to praise thy parts shall be suppli'd by all true english hearts . thomas vicars , olim reginensis oxon. the same hand ( upon second thoughts ) writeth his symphony , with the pious author of this perpetuall monument of gods mercy in our manifold and miraculous deliverances from popish machinations . to the readers . vvhat mischiefs to this church & state the pope and popelings wrought , in former times and later dayes , our men to light have brought , how god defeated all their plots and counsels vain detected , here in this lasting-monument of praise to god erected you have to th'life , in briefe , set-down , the just and true relation , and then to lay it to our hearts , some morall observation . what feares within , what foes without , what death , what danger fell did ever vexus , but it came by rome and spain from hell ? rome , thou art drunke with blood , in vaine , thou serpent-like dost rage against the holy-seed , which stand most firme in every age . thy water-forces , in the fleet , thy pouder-plot in fire , wherby thou ment'st , in pride , on us to teem-out all thine ire : the lord from heaven scatter'd to smoake and did thy deeds deride , and made the actours mocking stocks , throughout the world so wide . thus we through fire and water went , for god was with us still , he fought our battles , sav'd our lives , and did our hopes fullfill . the lord of hoasts of israel , for ever more doth raign ; from time to time , from tide to tide , his praise shall aye remain . sic concinit t. v. s. t. b. a friend at a stand at his friends worke . vvho reads this work , aread my wonder ; tell what skill to verse a fact so ill , so well . aliàs . the placet of his friends essay . others , thy zeale and vowes , i praise thy skill ; so well to lay the plot , rome laid so ill : another . arts pyramides , from treasons pouder-fire . vvhat al fire hath , hath thine , black smoke , bright flame , the flame , thy verse ; the smoke , the traitors name . who can , decide ; in which most time to spend ; or damn their smoke , or thy bright flame commend . himself not yet determined . t. s. s. t. b. to my good friend m. john vicars . thy love to truth i love , thy hate of errours , thine honesty , thine industry , thy zeale for god , the king , the church and common-weal , against the rage of romes intended terrours . i like thy loathing of those treason-stirrers , that for apollyon , in these plots do deale with ghastly , ghostly fathers that conceale , or rather counsail , so inhumane horrours . i praise thine authours and thine owne desire to have recorded unto all posterity , th' ignatian-furies ignominious fire flaming from hell against christs heavenly verity . in fauks , grants , garnets , winters , catesbies , percies , let others praise thy vowes , i praise thy verses . josuah sylvester . in viri , mihi fratris vice , johannis vicarsi dignissimos labores , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . mittor apollineos ego parvulus inter alumnos vt tibi pro libro laurea serta feram . ne metuas romae * larvas , lemuresve sequaces , nec criticos , criticâ qui gravitate valent . est liber ille tuus scelerato nomine liber , perge igitur , libro praela subire tuo . idem ad eundem . thou carping momus , poyson of good wits , i call not thee to give the authour praise ; silence , i tell thee , better thee befits , because , detraction is thy common-phrase : thou canst not come and mend , yet must commend this worke so neatly , by the authour pen'd . thomas brackley , m. a. to his most affectionate kinde friend m. john vicars . thy muse romes hellish traitors so displaies , that they deserve the halter , she the bayes . view her , all english hearts , with care ; and than , love romes faith ( blacke high-treason ) if you can . william prinne . gent. to my loving friend mr. john vicars , in praise of his praise-worthy worke ; encouraging him to discourage our enemies . i saw thy worke , should not i land the same , with traitor thou maist iustly brand my name . i saw thy worke , and from my soule i vow , i thinke none honest will it disallow . i saw 't , or who els sees't , without commend , he is a traitor or a traitors friend . i saw and praise thy worke , in spight of rome , hell and the pope ; i say t is sweetly done . i saw thy worke , though thee i do not know , but , figs ( i knew ) on thistles could not grow . courage ( brave spirit ) thou hast done so well , thou needst not feare romes candle , booke or bell . thou hast a master , in all our hopes , that will protect thee 'gainst a thousand popes . shew it thy master , then his censure past , let others blow , regard not thou their blast ▪ but , tell them , yea , and tell them to their face , that they are traitors , which do treason grace . your friend unknowne nathaniel chamber of grayes-inne gent. in authorem . let rome with bell , booke , candle , curse thy name , thy hand , thy pen , the broachers of her shame ; passe not if good accept , though bad refuse , religious hearts bid welcome to thy muse . it may be , some condemn thee ; what 's the reason ? they hate thy worke , because they lov'd the treason . w. c. m. a. the names of the chiefe traitours that plotted and endeavoured this pouder-treason . jesuite priests . henry garnet john gerrard osw . tesmond edward hall . hammon wm. baldwin . s evera . digby rob. winter . tho. winter . guido fauks . john grant . amb. rookwood . robert keyes . thomas bates . henry morgan . tho. abington . s. edm. bainham . s. wm. stanley . hugh owen . catesby , thom ▪ percy , john wright and christo . wright were slain in rebellious fight ; the former two with a gun , the other two with halberts . francis tresham murthered himself in prison . to momus or the carping-catholike . let zoylus bark and momus carp , let masse-priests mumble and mutter , let romish-jesuites raile and rage and all their venome utter : yea , though they should with envy swell , and toad-like burst in sunder , yet truth will shine and errour pine , to babels wo and wonder . j. v. an advertisement to the reader . courteous reader , let me intreate thee to take notice , that wheras in this history thou shalt meete with a most materiall passage , which intimates the papists most hellish purpose to have translated this plot from themselves on those whom the world impiously and injuriously termes puritans ; it hath pleased the lord to give me this notable testimony of the truth therof from two of my most loving christian friends , who , on my certaine knowledge , were both so truely pious , as that they feared ( as it is , revel. 22. ) to tell a lye , much more , to make a lye ; the one being departed this life , the other yet surviving , both of them eminent christians and citizens of london . and this it is . to the right honovrable richard gurney , lord major of london , the right worshipfull s. christopher clethrow knight , president of christs hospitall , sr. william acton knight and baronet , sr. paul pindar knight , alderman goare , alderman atkins , alderman pennington , alderman wollaston , alderman adams , alderman warner , and the right worshipfull alderman garret one of the shrieves of london ; all of them most worthy governours of christs-hospitall ▪ as also the worshipfull mr. john babington treasurer of the said hospitall , mr. roger drake . sub-treasu●er , m. richard aldworth ; and to the rest of the most worthy governours therof : iohn vicars wisheth the kingdome of grace here , and the kingdome of glory hereafter . right honourable and right worshipfull , your constant favours which i alwayes find , do me in all my best endeavours bind , upon all fair occasions , to expresse my due and deeply bounden thankfullnesse , aswell for past as present sweet-supplies , which from your blessed-house of charities poore orphant-cheering-brests , my-self have found , with thousands-more , whom ( else ) distresse had drown'd in over flowing floods of poverty , our parents poor being forc't from us to fly , and leave us hopelesse imps , in helplesse age to all earths woes , fully , on us to rage . these , these ( i say ) indissoluble tyes of ancient and of modern courtesies , which to heavens glory , here , memorate , doe me ( blest patrons ) stirre and stimulate , to dedicate and consecrate to you what ere i am or can , as tribute , due to your full-sea , from my small-rivolet , thus to repay some part of my great debt : and since i owe more then i know to pay , my humble-all rests to my dying-day your honours and worships sincerely to be commanded , john vicars . a table of the heads of the most materiall passages in this historie . a absolution given to the traitors in rebellion by haman a jesuite , pag. 63. achabs sicknesse for naboths vineyard alluded to , 77. allusion to the plot intended now in our daies , which hath beene discovered by this parliament , 1641. 80. aggravations of this plot , 42 , 43 , 44. an angell to lord morley , 37. apprehension of faux at the cellar , 41. armado in 88. 87. the attempt of grant a traitor , 63. b barons warres , 87. bloody-builders of a bloudy church , 11. c catesby and others sit to plot a treason , 10. catesby the inventer of this pouder plot , 12. catesbies project approved by all , 14. catesby adviseth with garnet , 16. catesby and percy bring news to the other traitors of the plots discovery , 58. catesby , percy and winter fight all 3 together , 72. catesbies and percies heads set on the parliament house 74. a cellar hyred . 23. city of coventry , 65. consultation about the kings children , 24. a country-man suspects the traitours in their hunting , 55. coventry comforts the young lady elizabeth , 66. court-traitors most dangerous , 81. d dees five , 98. description of the plots effects had it taken , 26 discovery of the pouder , 41. the divels speech to the traitors in hell , 80. description of the hunt , 54. divers treasons projected , 12. dun-church-heath , 53. e encouragements to papists to the treason , 11. sr. everard digbies bounty towards the work of this treason , 23. sr. everard digby a chief hunter , 57. empedocles described and alluded to , 77. england the land-mark of gods mercies , 86. england like canaan , 88. equivocation , 100. exhortation to give all praise to god alone , 92. f famine , 88. faux the chief actor of this treason , 5. faux sent to the pope , 21. faux returns home , 22. faux is imprisoned , 46. faux sent to the tower , 47. faux frighted with the rack , 47. a fore-running judgement , 69. a fight pell-mell , 71. sr. fulk grevill , 64. g garnet and gerard two priests , 14. garnets answer to catesby , 18. garnets simile , 19. garnets doctrine compared with christs , 20. garnets opinion confirmes the plot , 21. garnets opinion of themselves , 60. god speaks to his angell , 31. greenwell the priests resolution , 60. gun-pouder , 13. h hall a jesuite startled , 60. halls divellish change and judgement on the fact . 62. lord harrington , 65. a holy hunt , 54. i iesuites impudency , 61. impossibility to escape the blow , 45. impudency of faux , 42. impudency of faux at the court being examined , 46. ingratitude of england , 90. introduction to the plots discovery , 31. justice , 89. k king james succeeds qu. elizabeth in peace , 9. king james interprets the letters oenigma , 38 , 39 sr. thomas knevet sent to search , 39. the kings-evill , 101. l londons misery , 30. the letter , 34. littletons house the traitors refuge , 67. a lie , 61. m martyres of rome , 63. manna , 89. motives foure to plot a treason , 10. lord mounteagle , 33. mounteagle goes to court with the letter , 37. mounteagles serving-man , 34. n neroes wish , 29. nocents and innocents , 17. november the 5t . 25. o oath for secrecy and constancy in the plot , 15. oration of percy to his fellow traitors , 59. observation remarkable , 78. p parliament-house , 13. parliament-house undermined , 22. parliament-house , 33. percy and catesby staied about westminster to heare the event of things , 53. percy and catesby slain , 72. perillus the engineer , 71. pestilence , 1628. 88. pope and divell treasons parents , 5. provision of pouder and fatall instruments , 25. prayer for the king and state , 84. puritans falsly to be accused as the traitors , 50 , 51 , 52 q qveene elizabeths death , 8. r rebellion attempted by the traitors , 60. recapitulation of romes abhominations , 85. report of the treason is spread abroad , 46. return of thanks to god our sole deliverer , 82. remorse seeming in the traitors , 70. rookwood and winter are shot , 71. s sacrament taken by the conspirators , 15. search made , 39. simile , 28. simile , 72. simile , 83. spanish king plotted withall in this treason , 9. spanish king refuseth to ayd the traitors , 9. a stone-wall hinders the traitors worke , 22. supposition of the deed done , 30. suspition of the hunters by a friend , 56. a smith smites winter the traitor , 64. the steed being stoln shut the stable-doore , 63. t treason was the popes first-born son , 2. tressams perjury , 49. the traitors hunt religion , 57. the traitors amazed to heare the plot was discovered , 58. a tray of pouder fired among the traitors , 69. the traitors grow desperate , 71 the traitors apprehended , 73. the traitors convayed to london , 73. the traitors arraigned , 73. treason against queene elizabeth , 87. v sr. rich: verney high-shrieve , 64. w sir ▪ rich : walsh besiegeth the traitors , 68. winter sent into spain to plot treason against qu. elizabeth , 7. winter and faux talk in the tower , 48. winters dream , 69 wrights both are slain , 71. winter wounded in the belly , 73. finis . to my worthy friend mr. iohn vicars . sir , i have here sent you a true relation most faithfully delivered as i received it from our deare deceased friend m. clement cotton , the authour and composer of the concordance of the bible , which is this . lewis pickering esquier of tits-marsh-grove in the county of north-hampton , a gentleman of an ancient and most noble family , as being alied to queene elizabeth by her mothers side , and was the secondman , that brought newes to king james into scotland of queene elizabeths death , and was afterward sworne his servant . this gentleman had a sister that was married to keyes one of the popish conspiratours , whereby there could not choose , but be much familiarity betweene them ; by which keyes most divellish contrivement , that hellish plot ( had it taken effect ) should have beene translated from the papists to the puritans ( as i had the relation from the mouth of m. clement cotton , who also received it from the said m. pickering himselfe in his life time ) after this manner . this worthy religious gentleman m. pickering , being in great esteeme with king james , with whom he oft times rod a hunting , and as they rode , had frequent private conference , and informed the king above sixe months before that treason brake out , that the papists had some notable villany in hand , but what it was he could by no meanes learne . now this said m. pickering had a horse of speciall note , and well known among the courtiers , on which he used to hunt with the king , a little before the blow was to be given , which his brother m. keyes desired to borrow of him for some present speciall use , which he said he had for him , and it was somewhat probable to be for their pretended hunting on dunsmow-heath , where many of the conspiratours contrived a hunting match for divers dayes together a little before the blow was to be given , that so they might be neare to come where the lady elizabeth lay : but what ever keyes pretence was , the horse so borrowed was conveyed to london , and there kept for another purpose , which thus was plotted . faux on the day of the fatall blow was appointed to retire himselfe into st. georges feild , where this said horse was to attend him , to make his escape so soone as the parliament house was blowne up : it was likewise contrived that the said m. pickering was that very morning to be murthered in his bed , and secretly conveyed away ; as also that faux himselfe should have bin murthered in st. georges field , and there so mangled and cut in peeces as that it might not be discovered who he was ; wherupon it was to be bruited abroad , that the puritans had blowne up the parliament-house , and the better to make the world beleeve so , there was m. pickering with his horse ready to make an escape , but that god stirred up some , seeing the hainousnesse of the fact , and he ready to escape by flight , in detestation of so horrible a deed fell upon him and killed him , and so had hackt him in peeces . and yet to make it more apparent to be so indeed , there was his horse found also , which was of speciall speed and swiftnesse to convay him away ; and upon this rumour , a massacre should have gone through the whole kingdome upon the puritans . but when this plot thus contrived was confest by some of the conspiratours ; and fauxs in the tower was made acquainted with it , who had beene born in hand to be bountifully rewarded for that his service in the catholick cause , when hee saw how his ruine was contrived , he also therupon confest freely all that he knew touching that horrid and hideous conspiracy , which ( before ) all the torture of the racke could not force him to , &c. thus i kindely rest , your loving friend w. perkins . the cloud of ignorance and errour . curses and excomunications the armado in 88. daggors doggs poison kill all . blasphemies and lies . envy and malice . recusancy and rebellion . opposing the thruth . falsification of scriptures frvstra . enclos'd with clouds of ignorance and errour , rome , hell and spain do threaten englands terrour ; the card'nall legate , jesuite , impious fryers , home-bred recusant , brittanes bane desires : each puffs and snuffs with envy ( all in vain ) at christs pure gospell , which shall still remain . the qvintessence of crvelty . and master-peece of treachery . the popish pouder-plot . proud pluto , king of darknes , prince of th' ayre , became enamoured of romes strumpet faire ; his lustfull pleasure on her to effect , from hell to rome , he forthwith doth direct a speedy post , to bring her out of hand , or'e styxes flood , where his black-court did stand ; and charon , hels fierce ferry-man●●d charge to row her o're avernus in his bar●e . to hell shee ( thus ) had quick and kinde accesse , where mutuall-love their liking did expresse . strait , they enjoy'd infernall copulation , whose foule effects had present procreation . a base-borne brat , romes whore , soon bred brought out ▪ an impious imp , most monstrous , proud and stout , a more than centaure strange , strong , fierce & fell , a most mis-shapen cursed feind of hell , a brazen-fac't , a marble-hearted frame , a divellish genius , treason cal'd by name . to lerna's poole this purple-strumpets doom , was to return ; where with the milke of rome , infectious milk , i say , of doctrines base , it fearfully was nurs'd , grew strong a pace . there , there , i say , did this fierce hydra live , there , to this monster , she did vigour give . no sooner was this off-spring of the divell fraught with thessalian-spels , pride , mischief , evil , with serpentine-deceit prompt to beguile , yea , every-way an impious viper vile ; but that his damned * dam observes it well , what a sweet son she had begot from hell , how full of wit and acherontine-art , of unheard impudence to act the part of any most transcendent treachery ▪ of any most nefarious villany ; him , therfore strait , she does most kindly greet , with oft and soft imbraces , kisses sweet , and hony-words , calling him by his name , her mischief-thirsting thoughts she doth proclaim ; wrath boyls within , revenge and furies fire , and , thus to him unfolds her foule desire . fair first-born-son , whom art and heart have made the basis , bulwark , whence our hopes are staid , are firmliest founded and erected high , without whose skill and will , we faint and die ; long have we in our sacred cath'like chair , even we thy holy-mother , full of care , sat mourning and bewailing ( but in vain ) the matchlesse losse wch rome doth ( still ) sustain , and long , yea , too-too-long hath felt and found , and therwith ta'ne a desperate , deadly wound : i mean by englands foule apostacy , from peters chair to luthers heresie ; for , since that time , no land in europe fair , hath labour'd , more , our welfare to impaire , hath born more open and intestine hate to our apostolike , imperiall-state , than those damn'd hereticks of britans nation , endeavouring daily our dire extirpation . alas ( dear son ) t is wofull to declare , yea , the meer thought does me even kil with care , to think how many mischiefs , by their fall , like corrasives , our heart do grinde and gal ; yea , how they daily strive to work our wo , hoping t' effect our finall over-throw . their scripture-goads our sides so deeply gore , their textuall-tortures wound our heart so sore , that if we , timely , do them not prevent , romes last , least-drop of hearts-blood wil be spent ▪ ay me , i grieve to think on our great losse , what sums we did into our coffers tosse . whiles they were ours , what rents we did possesse , what zeal they did to peters chair expresse , what gain , by them , we found , strange to be spoke , how bounteously they made our chimnies smoke ! what swarms of friers and nuns , even numberlesse by them were fost'red , love to us t' expresse , what stately monastries with turrets high , what temples fair , whose steepls toucht the sky ! did they then spare most sumptuously to build , with reliques richly garnished and fil'd , for holy votaries and virgins chast , whom we with saints and angels blest have plac'd . whose deepe devotion was ( sweet son ) so great , as it had bin our second-sons , spains seat . by them our holy-masse , great pluto's lore , was gorgeously bedeckt , him to adore . in every city each fair wealthy seat , hath bin possessed by our champions great ; in every country , each most fertile soyle , on them conferred without cost or coyl . i tell thee ( son ) this only albions-isle through daily discord , variance , fraud and guile , which , twixt them rais'd , for bribes , we quickly ceast , hath romes revenues mightily increast . not specious france , nor spacious germany came neer to this , for our utility . and thinkst thou , than , i can with patience brook , so rich a prey to be , thus , from me took ? and only by damn'd luthers haeresie , that turn-coat caiti●s matchles villany ? shall i put-up these heavy losses so , and ope a gate to greater over-throw ? no , no , irrevocable is my doom , i 'll be reveng'd , not cease , til they consume , but , least too-long , with tedious ambages , i tire thine ears , thy thoughts too-long disease , it now behooves us forth-with to be wise , and how to crosse and curb them to devise . yea , now , i see that our declining hope bids us not linger , nor give longer scope : bids us advised be and counsell take , intricate snares , with unheard craft to make , on pluto's anvil strange wiles , now to frame , and subtil stratagems , to work their shame , all practises to prove , no shifts to shun , wherby our glorious welfare may be wonne . wherfore ( sweet nursling ) ease us of this moane , for all our hopes consist in thee alone . in thee alone ( i say ) our great intent expects to finde a fortunate event . so expert art thou treason to contrive , so apt whole kingdoms vitals to deprive , so exactly practis'd in thy * fathers skill , so well acquainted with thy * mothers will . nimble thou art without or stop or study to plot a mischief be it ere so bloody , horrid or hatefull ; yea a king or nation to ruinate with matchlesse devastation ; to swear , forswear , couzen and equivocate , by mine instructions rarely literate . then , hast with speed ( alecto be thy guide ) to britane , big with insolence and pride ; be it just or unjust , leave no means unwrought , that to our ancient yoak they may be brought . then romes officious , most pernicious son , replies but this ; deare mother count it done . then , like swift tyber , without least delay , with vultures appetite he takes his way , to england , where to fit his enterprise , a priest-like habit shapes his best disguise , a gown all garded with religious lace , the cath'like-cause is vizard for his face . and marvell not , for , thus the divell doth use , like angel-bright gods children to abuse . and thus , within * guy fauks his faithlesse brest , he harbour finds , and is a welcome guest ; a man to mischief prompt , incarnate divell , swift to shed blood , active to any evill . with envy stuft and puft , sly , malecontent , dissembling sinon , double-diligent : whose name he ever changed with his place of residence , like proteus various face , foster , sometimes , johnson and brown , he 'll be , to passe unknown , suspicion ( thus ) to flee ; his name , not nature ; habit , not his heart ; he takes , forsakes , as best befits his part . here ( now ) romes base-born brat makes no delay , but , farther flings , works others to his bay ; whose hearts already hankered very sore , ( like muttering israel ) after babels whore , for egypts flesh-pots , and with factious thirst , to quaffe romes poyson , till their bellies burst . these doth he stir with spur of innovation , and charms them ( thus ) with hellish incantation , with high-built hopes ( thus ) labours to perswade thē , and with these sly delusions doth invade thē . the day so long desir'd , your foes to foyle , to plunge them deep in matchlesse , helples toyl , is , now , comn-on , wherin base calvins rout , and luthers vassals you may clean root-out romes wals to rear and ruins to repair , to make her splendour shine , her beauty fair , her enemies triumphantly to bane , romes rare religion strongly to maintain . straight , they , to sinons sugred words do vow , theirs and themselvs unto his becke and bow . this good successe adds fuell to the fire , to court he ( therfore ) comes with foul desire , his doctours hellish documents to broach , and into favour , hopes , there to encroach . there this bilingued-sinon ramps about , most sedulous and serious to finde-out the man he long'd to see ; whom straight he found , a wisht companion , traitour most profound . percy , infected , yea of treason confected , and even by nature therunto addicted . a gracelesse guardian to his gracious king , a fiery forge to frame each traiterous thing ; a most bold bond-slave to his holy pope , a strong supporter of romes hellish hope . to whom fauks openeth each materiall thing , assures good-luck , the work to passe to bring : who , man and message , presently , imbraceth , and , in his love , much confidence , soon placeth . then , each to other , they themselvs fast ty , what , neither had , faith and fidelity , they mutually do promise to fullfill , like pilate and proud herod , christ to kill . then , as their pledges , each gave hand to others , and here , were made treasons chief sworn-brothers . perfidious percy , and false fauks made one , fauks must ( forsooth ) be percies servant known , his name being chang●d ; thus , mr , and the man their projects , throughly , do discusse and scan . and thus , disguis'd , in this sly unknown hew , securely they their rancorous poyson spew , and now with fauks and percy , catesby met , an ancient traitour soon on mischief set ; whose heads , hearts , hands and all , plod and contrive some horrid treason how to make to thrive ; some strange , domestick-deluge to ordain , since ( now ) their hopes were frustrated in spain . for why , long since , in sweet eliza's daies , that paragon of time ; times peerlesse praise ; they had sent * winter to the king of spain , to crave his aid their mischiefs to maintain , our kingdome to invade and to possesse , romes power ( here ) to re-plant , their wrongs redresse ; assuring him that in his puissant ayd the english-cath'liks would be parties made ; the king ( that time ) promis'd with them to joyn and that he 'd furnish them with store of coyn , an hundred thousand crowns he would bestow , and being victor , them all favour show . and , this desir'd ; that if the queen did dye , he might have knowledge of it instantly , for , therupon , he would his power advance , and speedily prevent sinister chance . this was on both-sides promis'd and concluded , but , heaven , in mercy , all their hopes deluded . then , then ( i say ) did spain intend our doom , together with the proud high-priest of rome , when as , that miserable-woman dy'd , for , thus , the pope had term'd her in his pride ; but , o nefarious lyer , how could she unhappy or so miserable be ? whom , neither th'arrow , which by day did fly , nor pestilence , by night , to wit , romes sly and secret practis'd treasons , ere , could quail , nor yet th'armado , mighty spanish-sayl . who in her self and subjects was most blest , whose kingdom , while she liv'd , enjoy'd sweet rest , full peace and plenty , princely-royalty with peoples love and cordial-loyalty . thus rome and spain lay gaping , but in vain , to see fair englands lustre in the wain . but , now , behold , a wonder you shall hear , that glorious * sun did set in this our sphere , and yet although our sun did so go-down , no night ensu'd , no cloud did on us frown , no losse appear'd , only a change we had , which many ( then ) neer-dying-hearts made glad . for why , in our horizon did arise another * jubar-bright to cheer our eyes , king james succeeded as a glorious-sun , in whom his subjects joy , a fresh begun ; their happy dayes , again , did sprout and flourish , and , with the milk of peace their hearts did nourish . but , malecontent , malignant catesbies heart , together with his mates hereat did smart , with galling-grief , to see their hopes so thwarted . these accidents they ( therfore ) soon imparted unto the king of spain , as was agreed , requesting ( now ) his promis'd ayd with speed , protesting that their hearts were all on fire firmly t' effect both his and their desire , to serve him in this great negotiation , if he would second them with supportation . for why , they said , they ( now ) began to doubt that things were like aversly to break-out , and that the english-cath'liks cause was worse , because king james held-on the late queens course . but , spain , grown ( now ) more politick than so , and well perceiving how the cards would go , ( a cunning-gamester ) bent himself for peace , with england , wishing them their suit to cease . whose unexpected answer did them trouble , yet did their malice and their rancour double , with most infernall rage their hearts did burn , what course to take , which way themselvs to turn . and when they saw al forrain hopes forsook them unto this powder-treason they betook them . and now that furious fierce triplicity , those impious brethren in iniquity , catesby and percy , fauks , together met , their hellish hearts for mischief ( now ) to whet . then catesby , speciall authour of this ill , their thoughts with traiterous poison ( thus ) did fill ▪ right trusty friends , since now we private are , my minde to you i freely will declare . my swelling-tympany of hate is such , my discontent and grief of heart so much , to see our holy father so neglected , and how small hope to have him ere respected , within this kingdom ( for i plainly see the late queens courses will maintained be . i see ( i say ) and to our grief we finde king james is like to prove to us unkind . ) that therfore t is high time to take advice , ( and herein we must not be fondly nice , nor with faint-hearted fear must we proceed ) to pluck-up and supplant this growing weed , for when a wound is grown much putrifi'd , the sharper med'cines must therto be pli'd . four strong inducements hereunto have we , in whose firm truth we all instructed be . first , that the king , and all his subjects , are vile heretikes , fit ( therfore ) for the snare . next , hence , we know our great high-priest of rome them excommunicate , accurs'd doth doom . a third motive , which does our fact maintain , is , that no heretick ought , king to raign . and lastly , that it is a work most glorious , yea , a most holy act and meritorious , to extirpate , destroy and quite root-out this king and his hereticall base rout . o then , dear friends , why stand we to demur ? let this , to us , be a sharp goad and spur , why fear we ? faint we ? doubt we to go-on ? let this incite our resolution , namely , that we in romes rare rubricks shall our name eternize and our fame enstall ; that rome ( i say ) will ever us account , the wings , wheron , her glory did re-mount ; re-edifiers of saint peters rites , this hope , this hap , our valiant hearts incites ; to be such fosterers and such fautours strong , thus to redeem our selvs , our saints from wrong . see , here ( good reader ) see what course they take , the pope , their romish-idoll , great to make ; to set-up irreligious adoration , to work truths shipwrack and dire extirpation . o must our bloud be spilt , our king be slain ? and many death-door-knocking souls complain ? o divellish-doctrin , whence such fruits do flow ! o miserable souls seduced so ! david a good man to gods own heart made , to god to build a temple was gain-said , and all because his hands were full of blood , yea , though his battles were both just and good : and yet must romes base bond-slaves under-take with blood , yea must they their oblations make with blood of gods annoynted saints elect , not gods , but belials temple to erect ? romes faithlesse synagogue to re-advance , full stuft with pride , errour and ignorance ? then cursed cain might also think it good , to please the lord with abels guiltlesse blood . and jeroboam might have hope to please , and with his idols gods wrath to appease . but far be this from each true christians thought , for wo be to the work which blood hath wrought . wo unto those which sions ground-work lay with crying blood ; thus doth king david say . but yet , these romish — absaloms , past grace , would seem than god more wise , like atheists base , or els , with davids foole , do say in heart , there is no god to pay them their desert . for , instantly , at catesbies curs'd oration , they vow revenge with ardent protestation . and therupon , being fild with hellish craft , they counsell take , each shoots his deadly shaft . some , this way would their will effect ; some , that , but dire destruction each-one aimed at . ones vile opinion was , with sword or knife , the guiltlesse king to rob of his sweet life . another would perfidiously him slay with powerfull poyson . then a third did say when he by hunting , tyr'd , to sleep did lay-him , pretending friendly-harbour , he would slay-him . medusas * son sate silent , all this while , his heart being hatching a transcendent wile ; hears their opinions , counts them all but shallow . he had a gulf found out a realm to swallow . i mean that caitiff catesby , who at last , from 's poisonous stomack ( thus ) this vomit cast . true zealous cath'liks , romes approved friends , my heart your fervour worthily commends , your love you show , but yet , believe me this , me thinks , you all do point the way amisse . for that which you advise doth doubtlesse bend and more to our than their destruction tend . so small attempts bring danger , we 'l contrive to leave nor boughes , nor branch , nor root alive . for , what though we the king-alone destroy , leaves he not after him , a prince t' enjoy his crown ▪ and scepter ? a most hopefell heir , to take revenge , as we may justly fear ; a prince , i say , of pregnant , sprouting hope : then , let us not give vengeance so great scope , great flames have grown & burnt-down cities fair , even by small sparks , left kindling without care . this young prince henry to my minde doth call revolting henry th' eighth , that chief of all did work our holy-fathers downfall first , a deed most heynous , hatefull and accurst . whose odious name may ere be execrable , and t'all good catholiks abhominable . wherfore , this is my mind and constant doom , to extirpate and utterly consume this seed hereticall , which bears such hate to royall romes imperiall fair estate . now , that this stratagem may prosperous be , with patience tend and lend your ears to me . an ancient house there is near situate to percies house , whither in princely state , to parle about the kingdoms great affairs , englands chief peers and counsell grave repairs , the nobles , bishops , knights and burgesses , in parliament to give their suffrages ; thither also ( as custome doth maintain ) the king , queen , prince & all their princely train , the first day of the parliament do go , most sumptuously , making a glorious show , in scarlet robes , glistering with pearl ▪ and gold , great multitudes assemble it to behold . under this house we closely may prepare an undermined vault , and fill that snare with plenteous store of gun-pouder most fierce , which , like a mighty whirl-wind , quick may pierce and pull in peeces and blow-up to th'skies the cursed corps of those our enemies , of king and counsellours of prince and peer ; your liking and consent ( now ) let me heare . with joynt consent and great content they all , laud and applaud this diabolicall , this horrid , hatefull , hideous , foule invention ; yea traiterous fauks with nimble apprehension , finding the drift therof . o thus ( sayes he ) the house which rome hath spoild , shall spoiled be ▪ thus we ( says he ) for our dear cath'like truth , shall fill our foes with horrour , wo and ruth . thus we shall canonized be and much renown'd ▪ whiles we our foes supplant and quite confound ; thus , those ( i say ) which 'gainst us made sharp laws , shall griped be within fierce vengeance paws ; thus , those which quondam us'd to prosecute and romes pure-priests and saints did persecute ▪ these , these ( i say ) made proud by our rich spoyls ▪ shall tumble head-long in our nets and toyls . now heerupon , more copesmates they invite , amongst the rest gerrard a jesuite ; chiefly to garnet they this plot impart , an expert doctour in the jesuites art . gray-headed , but green-hearted traitour right , superiour of the priests , whose very sight , was a strong warrant to confirm and prove this enterprize : so did they prize his love ! whom , as a demi-god , they all respected , without whose counsell , nothing was effected ; and , whose advice confirmed all they did , did what he would ; left , what he should forbid . o most satanicall , nefarious doctours ! anti-christs chaplains , lucifers arch-proctours ! can ye for shame , assume the sacred name of jesus christ , and yet his grace disclaim ? can ye with titles , seem so holy , pure , and yet your lives so stain and so inure your selvs and followers how to kill and slay all such as do your jesabell gain-say ? can they ( said i ? ) yes that they can . nay , more , they 'll brag and boast therin , yea aid implore of god above from whom none ill proceeds , to prop and patronage accursed deeds . these , even these holy fathers of that sect , confirm the plot , advise , instruct , direct . from sacrilegious gerrards hand they took , for secrecy , this-oath , upon a book . the oath . you shall sweare by the blessed-trinity , and by the sacrament you now purpose to receive ; never to disclose directly or indirectly , by word or circumstance , the matter , which shall be proposed to you to keep secret , nor desist from the execution therof , untill the rest shall give you leave . this oath did catesby , percie , thomas wright , and kit wright take , at once , to th'jesuite . bates , catesbies-man , and all the rest beside , from greenwell , priest , took it , another-tyde . then , for a yet more firm ratification , ( right judas-like ) they took their own domnation . for , every-one , to knit the faster band , receiv'd the sacrament from those priests hand . o heavens ! ô earth ! ô impious age and times ! were ever known like blasphemous foule crimes ? o gracelesse , godlesse , more than divellish fact ! so damnably t' abuse that sacred act ! of mans terrestriall comfort , confirmation of faith , of grace , and of mans blest salvation ! nay , will you ( yet ) heare more impiety , equall ( almost ) to deepest villany ? inhumane catesby , each-way to prevent ( as fondly he suppos'd ) all discontent , which might in his or any's heart arise , about full-warrant of this enterprize ; to give the action , yet , more strong protection , casts in his thoughts to answer each objection . for why , he now considered in his mind , that he could not a way contrive or find , but that in this great slaughter they should make , their friends must equally with foes partake . the lawfullnesse heerof since some might doubt , and so perchance stagger or els stand-out : therfore he hasts to his achitophel , that out-side angell , in-side divell of hell , grand-jesuite garnet , his advice to have , to whom in all doubts , they most credit gave ; whose answer , if it to his mind did hit , he knew all was cock-sure and firmly fit . then , in this sort , to garnet he began , o holy sir , whose discreet counsell can resolve all doubts , dissolve heart-daunting fears by wisdom , learning , gravity and years , in whom romes sanctimonious oracles are powerfull in effecting miracles . vice-vicar to our deified father , high-priest of england , thither sent , to gather , to re-unite and to romes fould reduce the wandring flock with-held ( thence ) by abuse of cursed calvins , beza's , luthers sect , whose damned doctrines do their souls infect ; o thou , i say , vice-gerent to our pope , whose holy-counsell in an anxious hope , i much desire , gladly would impetrate , in a great action , which to perpetrate , many of vs devoted catholicks have joyn'd and sworn our selvs 'gainst hereticks . romes sacred zeal hath so enflam'd our hearts , to vulnerate with penetrating darts , the souls of those who heretofore have long done unto rome intolerable wrong . which we considering , seriously in mind , and that t is like , we worse and worse shall find , we vow to work our freedom from this wo , to give our foes one fatall , finall blow ; wherwith their souls and bodies shall be sent , by sulphure fierce , to pluto's regiment . but heerin , holy-sir , the doubt remains , that time and place this action , so constrains , that all at once must perish in one fire : heerin ( therfore ) your counsell we desire , to clear this doubt , which heerin doth arise , whither our friends may dye with enemies ? whither : with nocents , innocents may die , ( for , in that place are both promiscuously ) we cannot possibly cast or contrive the one from th'other how to save alive ; yet on this facts effecting doth depend , of romes great wrongs , the happy , hopefull end . this pseud-apostle full of romes affection , travelling with iniquities conception , brought forth the imp of mischief ; thus doth heal base catesbies sore , with diabolike zeal . heare , ô ye heavens , hearken both god and man , how holily this baals-priest began . first , with accurst-salutes , they oft imbrace , and then with poysonous heart and brazen-face , ( hyena with the crafty crocodile ) he utters words most impious , false and vile ; with green-device , not gracious grave advice , thus spake this hell-hound , romish cockatrice . o thou dear darling to the church of rome , which so high honour dost to thee assume , as by a fact , so meritorious , rare , to be protectour of saint peters-chair ! thou atlas of our ( now ) succeeding joyes , herculean-chaser of our sharp annoyes ! matchlesse mecaenas of romes doctrines rare , perillus , the engineer cannot compare with cunning catesby , arts-master of treason , for stratagems past humane reach and reason . i cannot chuse but like and love thee dearly , and yet much marvell thou couldst not see clearly of so rare enterprize , so blest intents , ( o apt proficient in romes documents ) the strong inducements to perseverance , not to desist for some ill-petty-chance . i see thou art not ( yet ) so inly seen into the jesuites doctrines : raw and green thy knowledge is ; not regulated right , that mak'st a monster of a little mite . that in smooth-bulrushes dost seek a knot , like questionists who ask they know not what . the case is most apparent , clear and plain , that , since occasion , time and place constrain , such expedition to so high-desire , and such advantage rome shall ( thence ) acquire , you may most justly by the rules of rome , some innocents with nocents vile consume . and , heerin thee more strongly to instruct , that , none 'gainst this assertion may reluct , and to repell all objects in this kinde , that in thy creed it may more credit finde ; mark this comparison which thou shalt heare , wherby this truth will clear as sun appeare . as in a town , beseiged by fierce foes which doth some friends ( inhabitants ) inclose , to whom , the generall , in love was bound ; yet , how to help them no means could be found , delayes would danger breed inevitable , and so the town might prove unconquerable . should he not ( then ) from due discretion swerve ? whiles in fond pitty , few friends to preserve , he a whole towne ( to him most turbulent ) should , thus , let-go , some few friends to content . would not his foes within , him , dastard deem ? yea , all , them sots , not souldiers stout esteem ? if ( then ) heerby , our church much good may gain , some friends with foes may fearlesly be slain . and as for me , the best that i can do , which is my prayers and orisons for you , and your so high designe ; i most devout , will duly , truly , to the heavens poure-out , and all our saints and meritorious martyres implore , to ayd you and your zealous partners . o most pernicious priest ! o scythian sect ! do you with blood your followers , thus infect ? is this the charity you all professe ? your false conceived wrongs ( thus ) to redresse ? now how this jesuites judgement doth agree with jesus doctrine , you shall briefly see . when god with sinfull-man vouchsaf'd to talk , told he not abraham , that if ten just folk in sodom could be found ; his wrath he 'd stay , and would not all , in his just vengeance , slay : but , for those righteous sakes would mercy show . but ghostly garnet was more wise than so . did not the heavenly husband-man declare his sacred minde , touching the wheat and tare ? since , both grew-up , to let them both alone : but of this husbandry , garnet will none . doth not st. paul , doth not all scripture show , no evill ought be done that good may grow ? was it not mercies majesty and joy , that none of his he brought unto annoy ? not one was lost : saying he came to save , not to destroy , whom god unto him gave . but yet , loiola's priests more wise do grow , they hold it lawfull to kill friend or foe . though peter may not strike in christs defence , yet popish-priests may use all violence . catesby was heerwith ( now ) full satisfi'd ; and glad that all things to his thoughts compli'd , for , now he judgd himself most strongly able to settle his man bates his minde unstable . for catesby noted , how he , jealously observ'd each-passage , with anxiety ; and saw how rookwood was amaz'd in minde , and toucht in conscience that he had combinde to ta●e away and let-out so much blood ; and that they-both , much wavering , theron stood ; he therfore told them that most certainly , he was resolv'd by good authority , no lesse than garnets , their chief jesuite , that with good-conscience , voyd of least affright , they might destroy nocents and innocents , rather than leave-off their so high intents . with which assurance they were satisfi'de , and so resolv'd all hazards to abide . now , then to rome is fauks sent , privily , vnto the pope , their plot to signifie , to make-known to his holinesse with speed , from first to last , how all things did proceed . his holinesse his traiterous son commended , perswades to persevere till all were ended ; assures successe and fortunate conclusion ; and so dismist this master of confusion , with benediction and a bounteous gift . then , rapid tibris-like , he flyes full swift , visits his ancient friends and old acquaintance , i' th' duke of austria's court , with welcome entrance : wheras he meets with many fugitives , questioning how each thing in england thrives . and banisht shavelings of our english nation , greedy to heare of change and alteration ; with sanguinary nero , who desire their countries grace extinct with sword & fire . monsters of men , like those who love to angle in troubled-waters , discord , strife and wrangle . these , these ( i say ) prickt forward him that ran , and contribute to help what he began , furnishing him with counsell as with coyn ; brothers in mischief , heads and hearts do joyn : his head they fill with cunning , craft and guile , his heart , to hatch , his tongue to ly , they file ; they teach him , how , with demonologie , to hide the plat-form of this ●reachery . like furious hagg , he home returns most bold , and to his master percy doth unfold his good successe , and prayes they might proceed with expedition to this hellish deed ; for he was stuft with all the arts and arms that rome could yeeld , or acherontine charms . they , having ( now ) with blasphemous intent , ( as is fore-shown ) receiv'd the sacrament , and , bound themselves by oath , to act their parts , to heare plutonick-masse , their murtherous hearts they , them prepare ; which done , they all desire , now , to proceed to build this furious fire . and hereupon , some choice-men they select , whose charge should be , with diligent respect , the parliament to dig and undermine , who furnisht were with bakd-meats , beer & wine , that so they might not ( oft ) go in or out , fauks , at the door stood sentinell or scout , who still discover'd all that passed by , and markt occurrents with a watchfull-eye ; and warning gave , as he occasions spide , sometimes to work , sometimes to lay aside . thus , to the work , themselvs they closely gave , and by their sides , their peeces charg'd they have : resolving there to dye , if so it hapt , that by discovery they should be intrapt . these pioners through percies chamber brought th' exhausted earth , to digg a hollow-vault , conveying-out great baskets full of clay , and of the house , the ground-worke took away . but lo , at last , an obstacle they found , a thick stone-wall they met-with in the ground , full 3 yards thick , which with much industry though with great doubt and deep anxiety , they having half-wrought-through , they eas'ly heard a rushing noyse of charcoal , which them feard , that they discovered were ; strait fauks was sent to see what all that noise and rushing ment , who finding that the coals were selling-out and that the cellar might ( past fear and doubt ) be hired by them , as a place most fit for their design : he percy told of it , who , seeing its most pat-conveniency , and under th'upper-house , immediately he hir'd the cellar for a yearly rent , and with a traiterous heart and foule intent feined to fil 't with charcoal , wood and beer , from all suspect themselves to cloake and cleer . here now they did consider catesby charge , upon whom ( hitherto ) with love too-large , the cost of all this coyle had chiefly ly'n , wherfore , to forward this their deep design , sr. everard digbies bounty did abound , who to it , promis'd fifteen hundred pound . then traiterous tressam his great zeale t' expresse , two-thousand pounds would have in readinesse , to be employd in each necessity , to prop this work of popish-piety . percy to pierce the eye of church and state , did also promise he 'd associate and beare a part in this so rare collection ; four thousand pounds at least , with pure affection , he from northumberlands great rents would get , and all things orderly dispose and set . others , both horse and armour would provide , others procure an army gainst the tide ; wherwith they might destroy and quite deprive , with fury great , the rest that did survive , of life and liberty and their best treasure , even christs pure-gospell , their souls precious pleasure . such was the hatred of this holy-brood , such the effects of their nefarious mood ! among them ( then ) was this objection made that since the prince ( as could not be gain-said ) would be in parliament : how best might be , the next-heire to surprize ? but , percy , he soon freed them of this care , and under-took with his bold mates to ceaze upon the duke . for , this they had resolv'd , with firm decree , that the kings issue-male destroy'd should be . next how to get into their custody , ( o hellish guardians of such royalty ! ) the precious princesse , fair elizabeth , then , with lord harrington by dunchurch-heath ; together with the princesse mary fair , and having got this royall female-pair , elizabeth they would their queen proclaime , and on her person sequell projects frame . at dunchurch ( therfore ) they 'd a hunt pretend , and friends ( there ) meeting , might that businesse end . lastly , they all consult and take advice , what forrein prince , they heerto might intice ? what english lords and noble-men to save , who of this kingdome , should possession have ? of these , and all these circumstances , they firmly resolv'd against the pointed-day . each thing , thus , hapning to them , passing-well ; to fauks ( whom , we , not man , but hagg of hell may justly term , a title best befitted ) the finall , fatall-blow was ( then ) committed , this gastly , ghostlike-monster , night by night , to th' cellar went , all things to order right . which cellar ( now ) they filled had , complete , with firkins , barrels and with hoggs-heads great . thirty and six with gun-pouder all stuft , which should earths intrals to the skies have puft . lord , what a puffe , what a combustious flame , what motion , what commotion by the same , had from the earth , into the ayre bin rais'd , hels stoutest furies to have made amaz'd ? and yet to make the blow more strangely fierce , more desp'rately the corps to pash and pierce ; upon the barrels they had laid also , great crowes of iron to increase the blow , and massie-stones and logs had plac't theron , right underneath the kings and princes throne . and to prevent the danger of suspect , that none those stygian engines might detect , these traiterous hell-hounds with medaea's guile , great store of billets therupon did pile , and fagots ; so the gun-pouder to hide , that it could not without great search be spide . thus having fram'd this chaos of confusion , this seven-fold heated fornace : for conclusion of englands fatall-doome , they ( now expect the long-wisht day , their purpose to effect ; the happy , hoped-day , novembers-fift , to drive all head-long with a horrid drift . thus fauks that ravening-wolf with hungry-jaws greedily gap'd to gripe us in his pawes . thus , thus , he stood prepar'd to perpetrate with more than barbarous , most inhumane hate ) a treason passing catelines compact , against old rome with hot cethegus backt . ambitious hamans arrogant proud thought , against the jewes could no such ruth have wrought . inferiour farre to this transcendent treason was paris massacre with most just reason . and that sicilian wofull even-song came farre behinde this proiect . and among the best chronographers thou canst not finde a fact so foule , so cruell and unkinde , not barbarous scythia , nor tartaria wild did ever heare or see a plot so vilde , much lesse ere dreame the like to enterprize ; than which , a worse , pluto could not devise , nor such a palpable aegyptian-fogg have rais'd to rear romes faithlesse synagogue . wherin they hopt a kingdome to devoure , at once , with one blow , in lesse than one houre , like unresistible , remorslesse waves , to make the open-ayre the tombes and graves of our dread king , the queen , the prince our joy , of englands peerlesse peers , with dire annoy , of all our choice and chief nobility , of levies-sons , props of the prelacy , lycurgus-sons , our justices and judges , to whom their romish foes bare secret grudges , the flower of gentry , creame of common-weale , her skilfull surgeons , countries sores to heale . her most accomplisht knights , the bravest part and prudent burgesses had felt that smart ; most of the soundest lawyers of the land had altogether perisht out of hand . all these ( i say ) thus marked-out to die , ( had not heavens fore-sight given their wrath the lie smother'd in smoake and dust , to th'ayr blown-up , had drunke full-drafts of deaths most direfull cup . their bodies batterd , shatterd , torne and rent , arms , heads and legs , flying i th' firmament , dismembred bodies all besmeard with gore ; a sight , which very scythians might deplore , yea roare to see , and seeing , curse the hearts of all such barbarous actors of such parts . thus , thus , i say , those pious patriots had been all ingulft in death and dolour sad , by this most woefull , fearfull stygean act , likest it-selfe , paralel'd by no fact . o mischief , murther , massacre most strange ! new snare , base ware brought forth from hels exchange . o popish cruell-crue , inhumane quite ! monsters in gods , monsters in all mens sight . o wretched work , to which all woes are due , great wrack , more great than may beheld for true , who , present , saw all , noted all he saw , to trust all seen , his own-eyes scarce could draw . with such fierce flames of quick sulphurious scath , doth rome promove , approve her cath'lick faith ▪ nay , not these reasonable-souls , alone , had in that roaring-thunder up bin blown . without distinction or least difference , of mean or mighty , people or of prince , of majesty or honour , sex or age , ( such was the horrour of romes wrath & rage ) but many senslesse-creatures they had ment , to make partakers of that hideous rent . both those most ancient famous houses fair of parliament , the springs of laws most rare , westminster-hall , fair englands judgement-seat , yea doubtlesse , white-hall had to dust bin beat ; the church , wherin kings had their coronation , all turn'd to ashes , by that conflagration . that church , i say , wherin the tombes most rare of former famous kings and princes are , with precious , curious cost and care erected , from age to age most gorgeously protected , as endlesse trophies of triumphant raign , all these had faln , dasht into dust again . yea all the marks of britanes royall-grace , the crown of england , scepter , sword and mace , records and charters , which appropriate to all , their portion , honour , right and state . o wofull , ruthfull ! these had bin romes prey in this sulphurious-furious dark doomes-day . so horrid and exorbitant a plot , so foul a stain , so black an ugly-spot , doubtlesse mans tongue ( before ) did never tell , his eyes behold , or in his heart could dwell . nay , all the furies of th'infernall-pit could never ( surely ) such foule poyson spit . so rare a king , so rare a queen to kill , so rare a prince , so rare a race to ill , so rare a state to stab with cruelty , so rare a realm to bring to misery ! whom , all the world admir'd , belov'd of all , whom , none but pope and papists wisht to fall . if , a mean-man to slay be detestable , then , how much more had this bin execrable ? if , to shed-bloud , be cal'd a crying-sin , how much more monstrous had this murther bin ? this mo●● than crying , yea , this roaring-crime , unparalell'd , unpattern'd , by all time . for , these destroy'd , what were a realm , but dead ? a most dismembred corps without a head . and as a silly hare ( feare laid aside ) securely thinks within his form to 'bide , whom , when the country-man asleep doth finde , with his plow-staffe , he kils with eager minde : even so romes cruell bloody-dragon had obliterated englands fame , and clad her glorious beauty , glist'ring name and nation in sable mourning , wo and lamentation . so huge a throat had this wilde wolf of rome , christs stocke ( at once ) to swollow and consume . who , thus , at one , indeed deep cath'like blow , ( had not , heaven-only , therunto said no ) had nero's most inhumane wish effected , namely , all englands heads to be erected , and plac't upon one-body , with one-stroke , to smite them off ; not needing to invoke a yeers , months , weeks or days-space , but one-hour , to strike-off all those heads , with romish powre . yea , as it were , with one loud thunder-clap , as with a pettard , instantly , to snap and break our peacefull janus-gate wide-ope , of all our halcyon-dayes to quench the hope . with more than canibals blood-thirsty mood , deeming , than mans-flesh , nothing sweeter food . o , who is able to articulate , or , who can liv●ly paint and personate the severall sorrows of that dismall-day , those vile nerorians , vaunting in their prey ? triumphing in the trophies , pitteous spoyl , of their destroyed kingdome , native-soyle ? no , though i had an hundreth tongues and hearts , both hearts & toungs would fail to do their parts , t' indite and write th'extent of their intention ; in sense and science of so strange invention . yea , learned homer , doubtlesse would refuse a task so great , so grievous for to choose . yet , that i may but give a short survey , a glimmering-view of that intended-day , we 'll here suppose ( and blest be heavens great name , that we can therof but conjecture frame ) we 'll ( here ) suppose ( i say ) the fact effected , the traitours bloody-banners ( now ) erected ; by hercules his foote , the lyons paw , the wise may see the widenesse of romes maw . for heer ( me thinks ) had ( then ) a fresh bin shown london , great-britanes fairest princely throne , like conquered troy in furious flames a burning , spoyl'd & abus'd , replete with moan & mourning ; the happiest city europe ere enjoy'd , with aetnaean-fire and smoke , confum'd , destroy'd . her wals with canon-ruptures rent and torn , her stately turrets batter'd-down , forlorn . rubbish-heaps made of her pyramides , her streets with souldiers fild ; none them t' appease . then mars usurping milde astraea's room , their swords , not words , must give the fatall-doom . in streets , great streams of blood like rivers run , loud screeks and cryes , help , help , we are undone ; but none to help , except to help them die , or add more griefe to groaning misery , in houses and in sanctified places women with blubbering tears bedrensh their faces , wringing their hands and running up and down , fearfully frighted with foes rage and frown ; children in parents arms trembling and quaking , mothers into their lapps their infants taking with gushing tears , kissing their tender-cheeks , chambers even ring with damsels wofull fcreeks : aged-men murthered , young-men butchered , wives widows made , chaste virgins ravished . this corollary let me also adde , which would have made the mischief farre more bad , it was confest to be their hellish drift ( the king & state confounded ) they would shift the blame & shame on those whom most they hate , their own foul guilt ( therby ) to paliate ; a villain , falsly , should proclaim as truth , that puritans were authours of this ruth . so that in every country , town , and city all that were godly-given , without all pitty , ( o most unsampled , ô most wicked wile , ) had beene destroy'd , as malefactours vile . but how this hellish plot contriv'd should be , in its more proper place , you , plain shall see . now then return we whence we have digrest ; hels romish-agents , thus , most ready prest , as was fore-shown , each thing in readinesse , to bring their country into deep distresse . our great jehovah , god omnipotent , who sits in heaven , above the firmament , his israels carefull keeper , shepheard great , who mans affairs views from his mercy-seat , and knows the closest and most secret deed , whose sight doth fained lynxes farr exceed , he , he , i say , in mercy did behold the miseries and mischiefs manifold , wherwith those romish-bears , their king did threat , wherby they gapt to make saints-flesh their meat . thus to his glorious angell with sweet voyce , his will unfolds , which they to do rejoyce . you , saith jehovah , now shall understand , how satan that sly-hunter takes in hand with cholcos spels and spight by agents proud , great britanes soyle to spoyle : yea and hath vow'd to root-out of the earth the english-nation , who to our name perform pure adoration . which if they should accordingly atchieve , * babell would her dead hopes again revive ; the monstrous * beast would salve her deadly sore and re-erect a stews for her great whore . then rome , the mistresse of enormity would bask her selfe in sins deformity ; then also would the prophesies of old , seem ( and that justly ) all in vain fore-told ; all those praedictions clean annihilated , which said the beast should ( sure ) be captivated , that babylon should fall and ruin'd be , and that the kings on earth her fall should see . all these ( i say ) might ( hereby ) frustrate seem . and thus my people , me forgetfull deem . wherfore i purpose with all expedition , to interrupt and thwart this their ambition , this hasty , hatefull enterprize to stop , of this rank-rising-weed the flowers to crop . and , although englands sins my wrath deserve , yet , for my names-sake , i will them preserve , although ( i say ) englands ingratitude justly deserves judgements amaritude , because it doth my mercies much abuse , yet will i not permit this beast to use mysword of power , nor give those * imps my right , but , speedily in wrath their sins i 'll smite . this god of mercy , just-mans consolation , with most ineffable commiseration , to shew to us his love and bounty large , a heavenly angell forthwith gives in charge to albions kingdome with swift course to fly , and in his sleep the king to certifie , how many dangers he was wrapt into , which him and 's peacefull kingdom would undo ; how many stinging-snakes in court did lurke , for him and his , strange snares and gins to work . wish him be circumspect , the * place refrain where julius caesar treacherously was slain : their impious plotted protasis doth frown , like sampsons-house , intending to pull-down his kingdome all at once about his ears , and their epitasis portends great fears ; but both of these , he joyfully shall see transacted to a blest catastrophe . then , to the lord mounteagle hast with speed , to whom the traitors closely have decreed to send a letter , this harme to prevent , that from the senate he himself absent . for why ? say they , both god and man decree , by a fierce blast romes foes down-cast to see , and that he should into the country fly , and there in saf'ty and security a wofull sodain spectacle expect ; and that this caution might breed no suspect , they wisht him ( having read ) the letter burn , that so no danger might upon him turn . him thou shalt warn his duty to perform , and of this perill , his dread prince t' enform , the kingdoms and his countries weal to further , and so prevent this direfull dreadfull murther , which that same letter mystically ment , without a name , but not a blest event . then from great jove doth wing'd minerva fly , and ere bright titan from the spangled-sky had banisht cynthia , dancing on spains flood , this blessed messenger with message good ariv'd upon the coasts of britane fair , his charge to discharge duly doth prepare . who noble morley's heart doth first inspire with honest care and diligent desire of his deare king and countries happy state ; and then the kings brest doth illuminate with iudgement most profound the knot t' unty ( like oedipus ) of that oenigma high . for , thus , the lord , in his all-guiding grace , ordain'd , that one of that most traiterous race did meet the lord mounteagles serving-man , ten dayes before the parliament began ; who , about seven a clock at night was sent upon some errand : and as thus he went , crossing the street , a fellow to him came , a man to him unknown , by face or name , of personage tall , making a sodain stand , strait put the letter in the servants hand , earnestly pray'd him , with all speciall heed , to give it into his lords hands with speed . the foot-man home unto his lord did hie , and gave the letter to him , instantly , and told him how it was unto him brought ; which , soon , he opened , found the hand but naught no name therto subscrib'd , without a date ; to read it , therfore he did properate , but , hardly could , wherfore , a gentleman he cald to help him read , which ( thus ) began . the letter . my lord , out of the love i beare to some of your friends , i have care of your preservation . therefore i would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift-off your attendance at this parliament . for , god and man have concurred to punish the wickednesse of this time ; and thinke not sleightly of this advertisement , but retire your self into your country , where you may expect the event in safety . for , though there be no appearance of any stir , yet , i say , they shall receive a terrible blow , this parliament , and yet they shall not see who hurts them . this counsell is not to be contemned , because it may doe you good , and can doe you no harme ; for the danger is past , so soon as you have burnt the letter . and i hope god will give you the grace to make use of it ; to whose holy protection i leave you . these strange contents his mind did discontent , in 's heart a thousand thoughts both came and went ; what fact , what friend , what this oenigma told , what mystick-danger these words might infold ? or whither 't were some addle , idle-brain , that this had writ to cause him thence refrain ? if it should prove a fond fantastick-thing , to stir therin , disgrace to him would bring : but if it should include some dire event , unto his person or the parliament ; to keep it close , might make him prove disloyall : he 's loath and yet desires to ma●e a tryall , wherfore , at last , as was fore-specifi'de , gods sacred angell to him swiftly hi'de , and in his anxious thoughts infus'd sweet grace , willing him this occasion to imbrace ; and kindled in his heart a zealous flame , not to conceale , but to reveale the same . the gallant eagle soaring-up on high , beares in his beake treasons discovery : mount noble eagle , with thy happy prey , and thy rich prize unto thy prince convey . thrice noble morley ( saies this angell bright ) who art so honour'd in thy makers sight , that thou must be the man shall first disclose the kings and countries bitter threatned woes , by that usurping whorish beast of rome , who albions i stand hopes ( now ) to consume ; o stand not doubting , pond'ring in thy thought , whither this be a truth or thing of nought ; a truth , a happy-truth it does import , of woe and wrack to country and to court . if thou it hide a world of woes ensue , if thou reveale it honour be thy due . and though this letter seemeth most obscure like a darke-riddle , yet will i procure a josephs or a daniels ingeny , t' untwine the twist of its obscurity . since in thy hands ( then ) lies both weale and wo , haste , haste with speed , in court thy letter show . this happy motion makes all doubt depart from this right noble lord mounteagles heart , who ( now ) resolves the businesse to display , to search the truth , to court to haste away ; and , though it were both dirty , dark and late , yet , he the time will not procrastinate . but , like a noble-eagle with a prey , a princely prey ( indeed ) he sears away , he is not quiet with this prize ( thus ) catcht , untill he have his high-affairs dispatcht . heavens ayd imploring for a blissefull end , to this most anxious act he did intend : and , thus , with loyall-heart away he goes to court , this waighty busines to disclose , resolv'd therto , what ever should betide , and , to the earle of salisbury's lodging hi'de , to this vlisses , he the letter shows , he th'other counsell ; hence thick doubting grows among them all , they in most doubtfull wise possesse the king therwith , and so advise : each-one propounds his judgement severally as in a case of great anxiety , one thinks it was some idle vain conceit , others do judge it did some danger threat ; another is quite of another-mind , none could the right-way of this lab'rinth finde . not one of them could dive into its ground , none could this mystick-riddle right expound . at last our prudent-king , apollo's sonne , fair englands joseph , thus to them begun ; ( weighing each circumstance with deep discretion ) well , sirs , our iudgements must take more impression , this is no triviall work or fantasie . but must be sifted with great scrutiny , i well remember , and you all do know , that little-smoke being ( at first ) kept low , doth mighty flames ( though hid ) most fiercely work : and in this grasse some serpent foule doth lurk , or else i am deceiv'd ; for to my mind now comes that * old-rule touching romists blind , whose genius guided by erynnis vile , never pull-down the flag of wrath and guile , but , what with threats , poisons , deceit , contentions , they practise still t' effect their foule inventions , plodding and plotting as a most just thing , by jesuites-principles to kill their king . no doubt but heer 's some danger fabricated , some second troian-horse is machinated , some bloody jesuite , with some traiterous train , who would his hands in our dear heart-blood stain , some monstrous machination ( credit me ) is in this letter couched privily . t is not the froth of any brittle-brain , but , doubtlesse , does some treachery contain ; in that his friend he counsels to forbear from comming thither , so to voyd the feare : yea , farther , he great danger menaceth , a sodain , terrible , fierce stroake of death . which with great wonder like a thunder-clap , should , on their foes , precipitately hap ; unlesse by gun-pouder this thing must be , nought els , so likely therto , i can see . and it may be that they 'll abuse that-art , to our great ruine and ensuing-smart . therfore most loyall sirs , i much desire that speedy course be taken to enquire what neighbours and what houses neer do stand to our great capitoll , what cellars , and what arched-vaults there are under the ground ; let secret search be made , the truth out-found . then strait , lord chamberlain , with others moe , made carefull inquisition for to know what houses who them held , and of each thing , in all particulars informe the king ; percy ( saith he ) dwels there and hath a vault , with wood and charcoale plentifully fraught . hence , instantly , greater suspect did rise , and therupon s. thomas knevet wise was ordered to search-out what he might ; who on the 4th-day of novembers-night , perlustrated each doubted part and place , and did each thing uncover and uncase . and least suspition might their search betray , they feign'd to seek the queens-roabs stoln away . infernall fauks with daemoniack heart , being ready , now , to act his hellish part ; booted and spur'd with lanthorne in his hand , and match in 's pocket at the doore doth stand : but wise lord knevet by divine direction , him apprehends and findes the plots detection . and first , s. thomas , guido fauks did find , ( divel of that den ) ord'ring things to his mind , booted and spur'd , then standing at the doore , having dispatch his taske , but late before . having ( then ) set ( i say ) in order fit , his all-disordering fuming aetna's-pit , which should have made his country quite forlorn , and all her stately towres have rent and torn . he apprehends him , grasps and clasps his hands with hempen-cords ; and then no longer stands , but quickly enters that infernall-cell , where , entred , he observes and views all well . and trustily puls-down the piles of wood , and as his servants tumbling all things , stood , a sodain fright this knight and them amaz'd , which , 'mong them all an exclamation rais'd ; see , see ( say they ) this wood doth pouder hide , for , we two barrels full have heer espi'de , let us search farther , we shall more descry hid ( doubtlesse ) mongst these billets privily . o treason , treason , heer we more do finde , o treason , past the reach of mortall mind ! then more and more , they instantly found-out , and therby , clear'd the truth of former doubt . full thirty barrels more with pouder fraught , two hogs-heads great they foūd as thus they sought . all which did fauks his heart with rancor woūd , whō straight they searcht & soon about him found a crucifix , which from his neck they snatch , a shirt of hair he wore his skin to scratch . from forth his pocket ( then ) that match they took ( maugre his traiterous rage and hellish-look ) wch should have brought vulcan from hels black station to work in aetna dolefull desolation . wherwith he vow'd to burn-up and destroy albions illustrious lustre fame and joy , the peace and plenty , strength and valour stout of england , famous all the world throughout . this glorious realm in twinckling of an eye he would have rob'd of all her royalty . yea , with such unheard cruelty and guile they woven had this webb most foule and vile , and every thred so slily did contrive , that but poor twelve-hours england should survive heaven having ( thus ) hels foule intentions stopt , the project crost , their flower of hope ( thus ) cropt ; the traitor straight the fact confest , but said he grieved most to see his purpose staid , and that , but this , nought should have held his hand from turning all into a smoky-brand . the standers-by in wonder , thus , burst out , heare ô ye heavens , tremble all earth through-out was ever heard or seen so bold a foe , a heart so hard , prodigious ? nay , we know that scarce the heart of turky , barbary , like plotted-mischiefe ever did descry . to which the bloody-butchery in france is unequivalent , gives but a glance , ( respecting this ) of romes rebellious stock , in these vile edomites , on us christs flock . whose memory much dims each former slaughter , disgrace of this , and of all ages after . the unheard horrour wherof may appeare in these six circumstances following here . first , if they had adjudged us , by hand of reasonable-creatures , to deaths band , if men by men should have bin deaths fierce fuell , the fact had bin more humane , farre lesse cruell ; for then , there had bin hope by force or fence ; by tears or treats to swage their violence . as to heavens glory our blest king did find in gowries treason , cruell and unkind . or if by other brutish-animals , inexorable at our wofull cals , and being , than most-men , more pittilesse , would us confound , with beast-like greedinesse ; this kind of death ( indeed ) had bin more fierce , yet heer were hope deaths sentence to reverse : for why ? by force or pleasurable-cause , some men have scaped lyons fangs and claws , daniel i' th den , the roman in the cave , david , king richard , o're them , conquest have . again , which is most cruell of the three , by things-insensible destroy'd to be , to which , all groanes , all moanes must needs bee vain being senslesse of themselves , most of our pain ; by these , i say , to perish and decay , no hope , no help , nought can their fury stay . besides , observe , of any senseles-thing , these elements , water and fire do bring most dammage , most devouring fierce confusion , by restlesse , by redreslesse strong intrusion ; whose inundations , all-confounding flames orewhelms whol realms , makes dust of rarest frames . add , yet , this fifth materiall observation , which , to this purpose brings great aggravation ; of these two all-devouring elements , by fire we have most grievous detriments . for , though the waters hugely over-flow , drown man and beast , bring all to deadly woe , yet , when into their bounds they have recourse , all things remain , in substance , little worse : but when or whersoever fires fierce rage , burns shepheards-cottage or rich-heritage , takes hold on houses , pallaces or places , of gold or treasure , all it quite out-races , cattle and corn are altogether thrust , are all consum'd , nought left but drosse and dust . therfore that we should be consum'd with fire , and of all fires , that of most furious ire , by puffing gun-pouder , the most out-ragious , a death most desperate , cruell and contagious ; o speak ( alas ) what hope was of relief , from this so mortall , mischievous great grief ? no strength , no power was able to assail , no tears , no treats could , here , a jot prevaile . for why ? o woe , no time for tears was given , with such strange violence had all bin driven ! no mortall-might might stay this mortall-blow , no power protect us from that deadly woe . no means ( i say ) lesse than a miracle , such as is mention'd in the oracle of sacred scriptures , when heaven did command ( even as it were by his immediate hand ) that babylonian fiery-fornace powre , that it could not once touch , much lesse devoure that rare pair-royall of true piety , true worshippers of heavens great deity , sweet shadrack , mesheck and abednego , in whom the lord did such a wonder show . and , certainly such was to us gods grace , and we well-nigh , in as like dangerous case . but , blessed , ô thrice-blessed trine-one lord , thine endlesse-praise , we ( ever ) shall record , our powerfull and most pittifull protectour , o our most holy , glorious , just directour ! the gratious smiles of thy preventing pitty made blest ho sanna be our joyfull ditty , here we may not omit this observation , th' impossibility of preservation , or hope , this treason ( ever ) to discry , by all the reach of humane policy ; and therfore , that god-only did us save , and heerunto five reasons more we have . first to keep secret and performe the fact , they bound themselvs by oath and firm compact . then heerupon , receiv'd the sacrament , to tye themselvs with stronger ligament . thirdly , were tutour'd by their jesuits to use all couzening-tricks , deluding sleights , namely , to answer by equivocation , to any magistrates examination ; their senses thus to circumvent and flout , that none the truth might from them ( ere ) get-out . moreover , though , that letter we confesse , was the first-instrument the plot t' expresse ; yet , certainly , for all that mystick-letter , our case had still bin very little-better , if god had not another-way wrought peace , necessitating them that worke to cease of undermining that great capitoll , by reason of the thick and stony-wall , which so did crosse what they did first desi●● as that they must the pouder-cellar hire , wherinto they their hellish-stuff did lay , our king and state by flames to make away ; which , had it bin of those things voyd and free , where might it have bin thought , that stuff to be ? how could the vault in time , have bin detected , which all the while was never ( once ) suspected ? nor , till the traitours-selves confest , was sought , for , no man , therof ever dream'd or thought . the last , not least note , in this horrid act , is , that god mov'd the king still to protract and to rejourn the time of parliament , which , fitted ( still ) the traitors ill-intent , but , chiefly , unto us it fell-out best , as by those notes before hath bin exprest . the treason ( thus ) most happily display'd , the traitour fauks to prison was convay'd . then , through both court and country speedily , through all the kingdome did the rumour fly , through town and city , street and every place , of this deliverance , gods preventing-grace ; annoy is turn'd to joy and sweet content , mens hands and hearts and knees to praises bent : making great bonfires , feasting , ringing bels , each-one h●s neighbour this gods goodnesse tells . and , now , return we , where we new-now left incarcerate fauks , whose heart was clean bereft of piety and grace , incarnate divell , most strangely hard'ned with infernall evill . for , being brought before the councell grave , he did himselfe so sturdily behave , and put-on such a romish resolution , a vouching his intended-execution , wit●●uch a setled and immarbled face , as that a mutius scaevola most base , he lively represented to them all , full of remorslesse rancour , rage and gall . for why ? he durst most shamelesly proclame this hatefull fact , a deed of holy fame , and that the zeal of romish faith indeed , enflam'd his heart so boldly to proceed ; and , that he griev'd for nothing more then this , that , of the works-conclusion he did misse . adding , more-over , with a heart of stone , that , if he had but of their comming known , and if he had bin in the cellar ta'ne , he would have set on fire the pouder-train , and , both himself and those that had him catcht would ( there ) have blown-up and of life dispatcht . yea , when before the king and councell grave , that night , he question'd was , he did behave himself with right-ravilack scorn and pride , and oftentimes would seem even to deride what was demanded ; so small grace he had , so hard a heart , his conscience was so bad . and the next day being in safe custody , and by some lords question'd , most seriously , touching his complices in this designe , he stubbornly , would such demands decline , and all that while , nought could be from him got , which he conceived might disclose the plot ; but on himself-alone laid all the blame , protesting that he undertook the same meerly for conscience and religions sake , avouching , that the king he did not take to be his lawfull soveraign , gods annoynted , but , as an haeretick , from rome disjoynted ▪ but , the next morn , being to the tower sent , and , there , some two or three dayes being spent , in strict examination , twice or thrice , and , he rejecting all their grave advice ; the councell ( theron ) profering him the rack , the sight therof did all his courage crack ; and all his former romish valour stout , unmask , and made his guilt of heart break-out . so that he ( then ) began for to confesse the truth of all th'intended-wickednesse . then there they left him in his divellish heart , to bide the sentence of his just desert ; to taste the bitter cup to traitors due , which yet did nothing cause his soule to rue , but desperately his heart more hard than stone , with divellish impudence was overgrown . for in the time of his imprisonment , some other traitors to the towre being sent , there were , that did avouch that they did heare vile robert winter , winter voyd of fear ; in whom ( also ) was graces autumn shown , and fruitlesse-winter of all goodnesse known , who being in the towre , a time did finde to speak to fauks , and ( thus ) to break his minde . thou knowst ( friend ) fauks , my old & trusty mate ) that boyes may , once , grow-up to mans estate , and catesby and my selfe have children left , then are we not of comfort , quite , bereft . for why ? i hope they will revenge romes wrong , and , for our sakes , her foes ( once ) lay along . yea , though we had no children of our own , yet god is able from the sterile-stone to abraham of rome , children to raise ; and i much marvell , no man in our praise for this our cath'lick constant zeal doth write , and panegyricks unto us indite . how-ever , yet , let us vow and protest to maintain our just-cause and manifest , our ardent zeal for romes supremacy , when we before the people are to die . content ( quoth fauks ) for , surely , i suppose the divell not god , did this our sact disclose , o monstrous men , ô hard hearts , brazen faces ! to offer god and man these foule disgraces , past grace , past goodnesse , voyd of fear or shame , our good heavens god , thus falsly to defame , farre worse than julian , that apostata , or ecebolius , worse than these , i say , for julian did ( at last ) confesse and cry , thou galilaean hast the victory . and th'other with remorse confest his fault , crying-out , o tread on me unsavoury-salt . but this remorslesse , gracelesse , godlesse brood , of ramish-romists , with most impious mood , are not asham'd ( like most unsavoury-salt ) not only , not to grieve for this great fault , but most impenitent , avouch and joy , their hellish-plot , their country to destroy . to this unpattern'd impudence , i may the traitor tressams perjury display ; as most apparent marks to testifie this beast of babell and her blasphemy . and let no romish-rabsheca be mov'd , and say t is false ; for both were justly prov'd . this tressam to the councell had confest , that he and garnet had their minds exprest , and often-times had serious conference about this treason and intelligence of that invasion by the king of spain , which greedily they gapd-for , but in vain . this also , being prov'd to garnets face , yet tressam , ere he dy'd ( quite voyd of grace ) did on his souls-salvation take his oath , vilely recant , falsly forswear them-both ; and said , that sixteen yeers , at least were past , since he did see or talk-with garnet last . o what a wretched-state live these men in , who hold it but a triviall , veniall-sin , to wrest and jest with oaths and sacraments , and have indulgence for such damn'd attempts ! but , desperate judas-like tressam did dye , murthering himselfe in prison wickedly . o who , so stoick-like , so senslesse stock cannot be mov'd to see these wretches mock , and gull their souls with romish incantation ! nay , who are so bewitch ( past admiration ) with the bedawb'd face of that rotten-whore i' th' revelations spoken of long before . but , to omit digression and proceed , and briefly to relate each scelerous deed which did and should succeed that fatall-houre , let 's here leave fauks fast lockt in londons towr , ( a lodging fit for such a traiterous guest ) where now he might take time , without molest , his corrupt-conscience seriously to sift , to cry for grace , to christ his thoughts to lift . untill the day , of execution due to him , and those of his accursed crue , was brought about in its appointed time to pay the wages of his cursed crime . in which discourse each godly-wise shall see by truth and reason all confirm'd to be . first , here behold there more than marble faces t' invert the odium , and the foule disgraces of this black-deed , had it so ta'ne effect , on innocents , who did it least suspect . there liv'd at that time in northampton-shier , a worthy gentleman , allyed neare to robert keyes , whose sister keyes did wed , wherby acquaintance was between them bred , this pious gentleman well known at court , and in his country of most rare report , for grace and goodnesse and true piety , had a swift running-nag , and keyes must be the man must borrow it for some choice use , a staulking-horse , indeed , to this abuse . this horse thus borrowed ( as the plot was laid ) must unto london forthwith be convay'd , and there to stay till fauks had given the blow , which should have wrought his coūtries bleeding wo . which given , the horse was ordered to attend fauks in st. georges-field away to wend , and make escape by speedy flight from thence . they likewise had , with hellish impudence , contriv'd about that time t'have murthered this pious gentleman at night in his bed , and 's murthered corps to have convey'd away to london , whereabout his horse did stay . and in this interim , even fauks himself that furious fire-brand , alecto's elf , should also have by villains murthered been , and be so hackt that it should not be seen or known what one he was ; thus , t was dec●reed , to pay him home with his deserved meed . he hopd for honour they would pay 't with horror , his dignity should be his death and dolour , he gap't for gold , they would it turn to gall , now when he hop't to rise he down should fall . thus fauks so mangled , as not to be known , a rumour sodainly must forth be blown , that puritans were authours of the fact , and more to cleare their project and compact , and make the world beleeve 't was so indeed there mr. pickering lay in fauks his stead , who was the kindler of that furious flame , and as prime authour must beare all the blame . ( the traitor fauks his corps being sodainly convayd away that none could him descry . ) there also m. pickerings horse did stay , ready with speed to hasten him away ; but heavens all-seeing-eye , revengefull hand , his hop'd escape did timely countermand , and stir'd up some in odious detestation of that so foule sulphureous perpetration , to fall upon him , and with wrath most due him in that manner there to hack and hew , to cleare all which , hard by him smeard in blood , his wel-known horse bridled and sadled stood . on which suspition , strengthened in that sort straight must break forth ( i say ) that false report that puritans were authours of this ill , and therupon a massacre must fill the kingdome with the blood of righteous men , all that were pious known , and godly , then , by romish rash and wrongfull accusations must have bin forc't to bloody devastations . hence , hence , i say , had rufully bin rais'd clamours of men , out-cryes of hearts amaz'd , death threatning tortures in all parts to reare , on all that godly , gracious christians were . and was not this a craft rak'd out of hell by divellish furies ? falsly to repell from guilty on the guiltlesse , all their blame , and then like divels incarnate voyd of shame , with perjur'd stony-hearts and brazen faces upon gods saints to dash their own disgraces . he that the nimble drops can number all , which from the pleiades and moyst orion fall , or bees of thousand swarms wch suck may-flowers , might ( then ) have told poor britans brinish shewers , might , thē , have nūbred englāds heart-fetcht-groās might , then , have counted all her matchles moans . o english protestants , why stand you still , as if affraid to curbe romes cursed will ? why seem ye ( yet ) to hault twixt two opinions , pretending truth , fostring these romish minions ? o cast out these accursed canaanites , these subtill foxes , bloody jesuites , which lye but lurking for a watched prey , whom nought can satiate but your dire decay ! impunity does nought but cause them ' bide sharp thorns t' our eyes and goads unto our side . but now to passe to that which doth remain , farther to view this traiterous hatefull train , here , then what satans pseud-apostles did , shall be declar'd after all was unhid . and , heer you must observe and notice take that percy , catesby , all things sure to make , 'bout westminster and lambeth staied still , the issue to observe or good or ill , sure news therof unto their mates to carry , who , for their coming did 'bout dunchurch tarry . this impious dog-couple of traitours base ; these bold co-partners in shames deep disgrace , perceiving that by heavens most blest decree , their treason was made known , make haste to flee , their prey ( now ) lost , they both like bears , in chace finding themselvs ( now ) in a desp'rate case , their hearts began to ake and quake with fear , like dogs , indeed , they grin , rage , sweat and swear to horse they haste and swiftly poste away to dunchurch , where ( i say ) their mates did stay . which place they had their rendevous assign'd , their after-game to play ( there ) to their mind . there , falsly , did sr. everard digby fain his holy-hunt , a fat-buck to be slain . a hunt , indeed , like that of nimrod proud , their farther mischiefs cunningly to shroud , a holy-hunt for hell-hounds only fit , to hunt christs lambs into romes wolvish-pit . and , as in word , so to avoid suspition , of all things , for a hunt , they made provision . their toils and nets they place , with joyfull cheer , their hounds with yelping noise to chace the deer , the sturdy stag , the tripping , skipping hare , their horns they blow , which pierce the ecchoing ayr , making their choice of a large champion-ground , a fitter for their turne could not be found , with shrubs and bushes set commodiously , and here and there , oaks planted , broad and high , convenient places horse-carriers to see , and nothing wanting that desir'd could be ; yea , 't was a plain so spacious , that they might , an army place in battle-ray to fight . in this great heath proud digby and his train with traiterous tressam rod about a main , and after them a mighty thrust and throng of catholikes and others past along , inhabiting the villages about , admiring much the cause of that huge rout . then forthwith , all the gallants and best choice of gentlemen and youth , with hollowing-voice , do ride and run , and to this sport allure all that were fit that pleasing sport t' endure ; and most of all the villages , therby , do thither flock , together hastily . the woods about with snares and hayes they fill , some blow their bugle-horns both loud and shrill , some , with their swords cut boughs , some , nets do lay , yea , all prepare them to their sport and play , and from their hounds the collers do unty , who to their game do run most eagerly . at whose loud opening and huge yelping-noise , the deer , now , sodainly , to all their joyes , out of the thickets , mongst them nimbly rushes , which , fearfully , lay hid among the bushes , and from them all doth swiftly run and scud , whom men and dogs pursue , as they were wood . but in the midst of this their hasty pace , at heels of one of that most traiterous race , an honest-country-man , by chance did keep , and , as he leaped ore a ditch most deep , a clattring armour perfectly did heare , which under 's cloaths that traitor , then , did wear ; and that which in him more suspition bred , the winde , as then , blew much and blustered , and , up and down his coate ( oft ) hovered , so , that , he an harnesse , clear , might see and know . the sight wherof amaz'd him , wondrously , and , thus , he whisp'red to one standing by . good neighbour tell me what you thinke of this , i know not , but me thinks t is much amisse , that in these parts , so great a company , are thus assembled and yet unknown , why . god grant that all be well . this hunt , i feare , is not 'gainst foxes ( only ) hares and deer ; no , no , i fear , they gape for greater things , these subtill serpents ( doubtlesse ) hide their stings . themselvs being fiercest wolvs , though sheep-like clad , this hunt , i fear , is not for bruit-beasts had , worse mischief ( surely ) in their bosome lyes , not beasts to kill , but mens lives to surprize . lord keep the king and royall progeny from being caught and trapt in treachery by these audacious subtill-hunters snare , who , to these ends , no cost nor labour spare . my mind presageth some great villany , but , heaven , i pray , my fear may falsifie . yet , otherwise , why should they armour weare ? under their cloathes ? besides all of them are vassals to th' pope of rome , who ( oft ) did spit with rancour sore , fetcht from th'infernall-pit ) his envious poyson 'gainst elizabeth , whose fame , as in her life , lives after death . they are ( i say ) the friends and fautours all of the great beast , that strumpets champions tall , who sends her bellowing-bulswith bāning stings , realms to dispose , to depose lawfull kings , which , she composeth of false couched treason , beyond the bounds of piety and reason . doubtlesse , this most seditious generation , disloyall brood , thirsting for innovation . both ever was , and so continue still , the cunning craft-masters of fraud and ill , the foes to our felicity and peace ; but heer 's more need of swords than words . i 'll cease , i 'll for my self provide the best i may ; and from this dangerous crue will haste away ; and with these words his staff on 's neck he threw , and without answer , thence , himself with-drew . by chance , also , as they , thus hunting were , a friend of traiterous winter , this did feare , and therfore he thus unto winter said , i prethee tell me ( winter ) what hath made this great assembly ? what may be the reason of all this-concourse , at this unfit season ? what winde hath blown our catholiks together , i prethee tell me wherfore come they hither ? to whom , thus , winter , in his eare repli'de , deer sr. the truth from you i will not hide , this hunt of beasts is but a thing pretended , we have a holy-hunt forthwith intended . we hope to hunt the wolves hereticall from our too-long enjoy'd possessions all . and in these few hours this will be effected , then let not these my speeches be rejected , but take advice , remember what say , hold on our side , it is the wisest way . but , now the night draws-on , our sport must end , and with those words he parted from his friend . the hunts-men , then , their horns aloud did blow , both hounds and hunters to their homes do go , making their retrograde , home they repair , and by the way their passed sports declare . when , being hous'd , their hoste had set on board , such viands as the time would best affoord . great fires were made themselvs to warm & heat , their tables spread with linnen cloths most neat , a parlour fair , to sup in ready drest , and gold and silver goblets of the best . then digby , who was chiefest of them all , puts-off his arms , and for his gown doth call , wherin he walks and staulks with princely gate , amidst his cursed-consorts , in great state , prescribes them statutes , asks , replies again , his brest no triviall-trifles doth contain . his heart and head negotiate great affairs , he unto each his place of honour shares . so insolent and confident is he , that all things shall , to them , most prosperous be , that he even loades his mates with dignity , this done , to supper they go instantly , where was no want of mirth and dainty cheer , as in their quaft-carouses did appeare , in drinking healths and wishing good successe , to their companions whom with eagernesse from london they expected , where they staid , thinking each houre was ten , till they were made partakers of their tydings . but , mean-while , with mirth and musick , they , the time beguile . but , as they sate , as 't were ore-whelm'd in pleasure , glutting themselvs with dainties in deep measure , in jesting-scoffs and flouts taking delight , gainst those whom they terme pure in scorne and spight , on whom they breaking jests in high disdain , would hoote and hollow , laughing-out amain . as , thus , i say , they jeering , jesting , sat , drown'd in delight , glutted with merry-chat , news was brought in that percy and catesby were at the door ; to whom most earnestly , they , starting-up , made haste to meet , salute , hoping the message to their minde did sute . whom digby , first , with speedy pace did meet , and 'bout their middle does them kindely greet , often demanding , what good news , they brought , who with dejected face , abjected thought , as briefe , as full of griefe , did thus reply , all is stark-nought . which dampt them instantly . strange alteration , like to ghosts they stand , as if not able to stir foot or hand , such numbnesse , dumbnesse seem'd in them to be , a chilling-cold all-ore them you might see , their bodies quake , their bones began to tremble , their face could not their foule disgrace dissemble , their countenance cast-down , they stare and gaze , their fainting-hearts half-dead at that amaze . and thus , ô thus , the lord converts the joy of unjust men , into most sharp annoy , their pleasure into pain and penury ; all ( thus ) quite dasht , in twinckling of an eye : a while they flourish like a pleasant-bay , but sodainly , they fade , like withered-hay . percy , at length , all feare doth from him cast , and seeing how his friends stood all agast , thus , dissolutely , resolute , began to utter words befitting such a man . take courage ( friends ) do not all hope neglect , the first-attempts do seldome take effect , had it bin ( thus ) with caesar in the field , pompey had victour bin , made caesar yeeld , ( when they at thessalie the battle fought ) and caesar had bin slain , past feare or doubt , and with his life , his empire he had lost , each enterprize ( at first ) great pains doth cost . yea , commonly great obstacles with-stand the noblest actions that we take in hand . life is resembled to a chance at dice , where ( oft ) more 's wone at once , than lost at thrice . though for the time , the gamester suffers losse ; at last much coyn , into his purse he 'll tosse . beleeve me ( noble sirs ) vertue best shines in troublesome and intricate designes ; the time requires bold-spirits ; plaisters strong must cure the sore which cowardize did wrong . fortune 's a friend to the couragious wight , dastardly feare declares a pesant right . what ? are we not all of us catholicks ? does not our high-priest curse those hereticks , and pray for us ? is not our cause most right , religious , just ? valiantly , then , let 's fight . this pluto's orator scarce made an end , when all to arms themselvs do fiercely bend ; then forthwith , catesby and his traiterous mates consult together . catesby sendeth bates to garnet with a letter , which should show what ill-successe did on their projects flow . garnet at coughton was in warwick-shire , and all recusants rendevous was there ; and in that letter catesby him desir'd ( for so their ominous-estate requir'd ) with all convenient expedition , to stir-up wales into rebellion , and els-where , as he could all papists stout to stimulate and move to fight it out . now garnet ( who with greenwell was that time ) seeing , they jesuites were deep in the crime , and fully certifi'd that all was known , began their ill-successe much to bemoan , and seem'd to prophesie their sects decay ; o that we ( once ) could see that happy day ! but hot-spur'd greenwell , being more resolute , more firy-spirited and dissolute , boldly resolved ( thence ) away to poste , to raise rebellion all about that coast ; and instigates recusants unto arms , with all his utmost jesuitick-charms . then at the house of abbington , he meets with hall a jesuite , and him kindly greets . and after greetings , doth him then advise to work as many as he could to rise . but hall ( as in a dump ) a while did stay , much doubting what therin to do or say . to whom so doubting greenwell , thus , began , why how now ( brother hall ) what frights thee man ? the difference , twixt a flegmatick faint heart , i plainly understand ( such as thou art ) and me , who am more cholerick and hot , why ▪ man it moves not ; fears not me a jot . and wilt thou ( now ) a milk-sop dastard be ? and hide thy head , when ther 's most need of thee ? fie , fie for shame , take heart , be not affraid , and help me stir-up friends our foes t' invade , with martiall-might these hereticks to slay , nor must we now , to pause , the time delay . and , thus , away he flies , like northern-winde , and , as he past , he publisht with false minde , a monstrous-lye through every town and city , that catholicks that night without all pitty , by protestants should all have murthered bin , hoping hereby rebellion to begin ; wishing them all take heed not to prolong to save themselvs , but make resistance strong , if they desir'd in saf'ty to abide , and for their wives and children to provide , and if they would their lives and lands possesse , and free themselvs from imminent distresse . then hall the jesuite , meeting ( after this ) with littleton , who finding all amisse , did urge the priest therwith exceeding much , told him it did his conscience neerly touch , and that he thought the lord was much offended with such a course as so much blood intended . but hall , as whiteliver'd , as late , he seem'd , as harmlesse holy-lambes as th' are esteeem'd , as simple doves as jesuites would appeare , now , doffs the mask which he ( before ) did weare . the violent and virulent hearts-gall , he , now , declares even of the jesuites all . for why ? instead of meek acknowledgement of true contrition , heart right-penitent , of late dissembled grief for this foule fault , when greenwell him to stir-up rebels wrought . he divellishly began to justifie their most atrocious , vicious villany . and thus to littletons great doubt repli'de , good sir , you shoot your censure very wide . and much transgresse 'gainst charities right laws , if by the ill-successe you judge a cause . for why ? th'eleven tribes , which two battles bent 'gainst benjamin , at gods commandement , in both the conflicts those tribes had the worst , shall we ( therfore ) account their cause accurst ? so , when as lewis , king of france did fight against the turks , was by them put to flight , and , he himself ( then ) of the plague did dye . the christians , eke , defending valiantly their town of rhods , 'gainst pagans , lost the same ; must we the cause ( then ) by th' event ( here ) blame ? no , good sir , no ; our cause was just and right , how ere the event hath prov'd amisse in sight . what better , greater cause to spend our bloods , than for religion to spend life and goods ? thus , thus , this bloody jehuite did perswade that papist , who was heerwith well apaid . doubtlesse , great lucifer could never find , more expert instruments to please his mind , among his hellish-hags , more flinty-hearts , to act his most infernall tragick-parts ; than these inhumane jesuites , satans sect , these most pernicious props , which rome protect . to robert winters house the rebels came , where , that rank jesuite of no little fame , old faithlesse father haman did reside , whose heart with romish zeal being fir'd & fry'd , when he , together did the traitours see , he gave them all his absolution free ; even , then , when they were in rebellion hot , and after the discovery of the plot . this holy father of that hell-spawn'd sect , told them their high-priest highly did respect their zeal & would them saints & martyrs make , therfore he bad them all bold courage take . these pious words ignatians-imp did utter , and , shewd them the popes * pardon seald with butter . hell being , thus , broke-loose , though but a while , sēds-forth more hell-hoūds , blood-hoūds fierce & vile . grant , whose foule hopes , heaven also foolifi'd , to whom , none ( yet ) had these things certifi'd , ( for why ? he kept his house and stir'd not out , till he suppos'd all ( now ) past fear or doubt , but thinking now the plot was fully ended , and that good-hap their hopes had well befriended ) now like a tygre-fierce abroad doth fling , armed all-over with foul-mischiefs sting . but , he which makes his reckoning and his prize , without his hoste , must make his reckoning twice . and as the 40. jews with divellish will , swore , in an ambush , they st. paul would kill : so grant what he had sworn-to , long before , now , hopes to execute , with rancour sore . and with his rabble of recusants stout , perfidious papists , now , he issueth-out . and thus , by night , to warwick-castle came , where divers nobles of great note and name , in time of peace , warrs danger to prevent fed and bred-up great horses for content . those grant did steale and to his camp convay , their owners to confront ; assault and slay . this most audacious fact , this strange ambition , this robbery-bold , quickly , bred much suspition , in sr. fulk grevill , th'elder , who was then , lieutenant of that shire : and bands of men caused him like a faithfull worthy knight to muster-up in readinesse for fight ; and with all speed , to fortifie those parts , and unto his assistance , wins the hearts of all the chiefest gentlemen there dwelling , fearing ( as 't was indeed ) some strange-rebelling ; and wise directions he sent up and down , into each village , place and neighbouring-town . so that as up and down the traitors went , a smith to winter such a sound-blow lent , as had not he bin rescu'd , by the rout , he then had bin laid-hold-on , past all doubt . but , at that time , the townsmen sixteen took , the rest , in haste their captiv'd mates forsook . now , as they fled ( i mean , grant and his mates ) at length , he there himself associates with catesby , percy , and with all the rest , to whom then catesby their estate exprest , told grant their enterprise was all descri'd , and that they must all hazards now abide . thus as they altogether troop'd in haste , sr. richard verney from his confines chac'd these roaming-rebels , who to worster-shire , betook themselvs , as full of guilt as feare ; yet hoping ( still ) their numbers to augment , but , our good god their hopes did still prevent . mean-while that they thus roam'd tumultuously , the honoured lord harrington therby , who to his fame and praise , in princely state , with loyalty and love did educate the eldest daughter of our soveraign king , the lady elizabeth that princely thing . whose feare and fright him greatly pittied , hearing how things were much disordered . he ( therfore ) carefull of his royall-gemm , this princely-branch , sprung from a regall-stemm , whom he more neerly , dearly tendered , than his own-life ; to him assembled and call'd about him all his faithfull friends , whom all his gates to lock he forthwith sends , and with a double-watch he strongly pent ( all traiterous intentions to prevent ) and fortifi'd his house 'gainst ingruent feare : and yet his heart doubted her safety there , for in his private-house he thought not good her long to keep , and thus in doubt he stood . but taking counsell , he most prudently , resolved with all true fidelity to coventry , the princesse to convay , which from his house was distant no great way . whose dutious citizens good government had made that city famous , eminent , being also fenc't with wals and bulwarks strong , thither this peere the princesse led along . whose citizens with joy assembled are with joynt consent themselvs all to prepare , this princely-lady , there to entertain , in glist'ring armes her safety to maintain . the city major and all his brethren grave , decking themselvs in gowns and garments brave , with kindest salutations did her meet , and with most cordiall wellcomes did her greet , and finding feare opprest her tender mind , all grief they banisht , with these words most kind ; be comforted ( sweet princesse ) we you pray , let all sad thoughts and fears be cast away . for we with all our citizens are prest , in your defence to shew and manifest our love and loyalty , to do you good , to spend our strength , our state , yea dearest blood , our gold , our goods , our love and labours all , yea , whatsoere is ours , you yours may call ; we nought wil spare ( sweet princesse ) you to pleasure , even to the utmost of our lives and treasure . these words the tender ladies heart rejoyce , whom , to the city they , with cheerfull voyce , conduct unto a fair house well prepar'd , befitting her estate and high regard , most sumptuously set-out and richly dight , where a strong guard was kept both day & night , and watch and ward the city round about , and carefull search who-ere went in or out . now , all this while that band of bandogs rage , sweating , intreating ayd and equipage , for their affairs , but nothing did take place , as they did rove and rave , like bears in chace ; all was in vain , for none how bad soever , would with them joyn , but from them part and sever , nay , scarce , in one of all their own profession , could all their plaints procure the least impression . such was the hatred of their hellish deed , such love of quietnesse sweet peace did breed ! and when they had got all they could perswade , some fourescore-persons their most number made . yea , when they had don all they could ; threat , pray , even their own-servants gladly shrunk away , fearfull of ill-successe and conscience-prick , knowing 'gainst thorns it was in vain to kick . but these out-ragious romists did conceit and fondly dreame , in this their furious heat , that they were of small snow-bals nature , right , which rowled to and fro , grow to great hight , and hugely are increast ; these traitors , so , thought rebels would like rivers to them flow ; and sure suppos'd that what they had begun , in this one-part of england would be done by all the catholickes in other parts , and spur them on , with like rebellious hearts , to symbolize with them and arms to take , to joyn their might & power , strong head to make , which , also , though their lying-jesuites sought , yet , heaven , their helish hopes did bring to nought . wherfore , like vagrants , stragling to and fro , through all those parts they hopelesly did go , of comfort , ayd or counsell , quite bereft , and , as they past , the people never left to prosecute with bitter execrations , the divellish agents of such conjurations . these miserable miscreants ( then ) did enter into a mighty wood ; and thence did venture to holbeach , where , with desperate mood they came into the house of littleton by name . a spacious-house and able to contain these romish rebels and their traiterous train . here , then they pitcht their most nefarious tent , drown'd in despair , drencht in disparagement . wch whiles they were here lodg'd , as in their cāp , strook to their hearts much madnes , wrath & damp . like angry bears who when their whelps are slain , run up and down , ramp , rage and roar amain . the gates and doors , some lock-up and fast barre , some whet their swords and fit themselvs for warr . some do their peeces charge with pouder & shot , others their armour scoure from stain or spot , their vain and hair-braind-labour was but lost , and must them all their dearest heart-blood cost . for now sr. richard walsh the high-shrive came , besieg'd the house with souldiers , did proclaime favour to those that yeilded , stood not out , but utmost wrath to th'obstinate and stout , fairly intreats them , then , not to resist , but peaceably from farther harm desist , to yeild unto the mercy of their prince , or els he must their stubborn hearts evince . the sumner in his masters name , thus , said . but they like madd-men , him this answer made , go tell thy master we do scorne his threats , and hold as empty-ayre his wea● intreats . if he by dint of sword will force us yeeld , he must bring greater forces to the field . wish him ( therfore ) break-off his female-fight , with silly-syllables our hearts to fright , that he must not contend with us in words ; we 'll fight it out and trust unto our swords . thus when this valiant gentleman did see him and his counsell scorn'd , to arms flies he . whiles things , thus , past , a most strange accident , a sore fore-runner of due punishment , a tang and touch to meet their treason right happ'ned within ; which did the traitors fright . namely , that by a fire of wood did lye a bagg of gun-pouder to be made dry , not farre from which , nearer the fire of wood a tray of pouder ( there ) uncovered stood : into which tray a crackling sparke did glide , and , instantly , the tray and bagg beside it fired , insomuch that furiously , it with fierce flames and smoake flew up on high , and with resistlesse rage ( to amaze and wonder ) the houses roofe it reft and cleft asunder , and on the face of traiterous catesby came , to his and all those traitors stinging shame . grants face it scorcht , and rookwoods face also , did not in this great judgement untoucht go , but like the foule stigmatick-slaves most base of dionysius branded in their face , they marked were , their hearts and sense seem'd dead , their souls seem'd in their bodies buried , all stood astonisht , pale-fac'd , faint , affright , their hair did stare with horrour , bolt up right . yea , robert winter , but the day before , this fearfull chance ( to make his horrour more ) dreamt , that he churches saw , and as it were , steeples to stand awry , and with much fear , that in those churches he strange faces saw ; this sad event , these to his thoughts did draw , and caus'd him , that , his dreame to mind to call , and therof , thus , made him resolve withall , that sure those faces which did there appeare , were right like these that now before him were ; and did unto him rightly shew the frame , and shapes of these whom thus the pouder-flame had scorcht and burnt . this him amazed much , and did his traiterous heart most deeply touch . and , then , with guilty-consciences they eye , their epidemick purpos'd treachery , confessing christ to be th'avenger just , who turns the glory of the proud to dust . then , they , their countries causlesse wo do minde , the fires they should have kindled most unkinde . yea , then they seem to see the blood-shed great , which to their harmlesse brethren they did threat . which on the ground like rivers should have run , and on their bended-knees , they ( now ) begun , to wring their hāds with tears their faults cōfessing beating their brests , their groans , their griefs expressing , and now , too-late they do lament their folly , acknowledging the lord to be most holy , and this great judgement on them to be just , cursing the time they did such counsell trust . read , ô ye atheists , read and mark this well , who are perswaded ther 's no heaven nor hell ; yea , read , ô ye blind romish jebusites , who think the lord sees not your jugling-slights , who think god marks not nor regards your deeds , or els , who count hels horrour , crackling reeds . saying , with davids-fool , god sees us not , th'almighty slumbers or hath us forgot . o , if ye have not browes more hard than brasse , or if one spark of grace may from you passe , then , thinke , nay be assur'd the lord doth fight for his afflicted flock , their wrongs to right . yea , know that gods invincible strong arm , the righteous and religious saves from harm . and that he ( sure ) can catch at unawares , malicious proud men in their nets and snares . and pouder-plotters burn in such like flame , as they for others impiously did frame . and like perillus , that rare engin-maker , of others perill they are prime-partaker . o let this ( therfore ) tell all traitors hearts , that heaven will ( surely ) pay them their deserts . but , to proceed . the hooded hypocrite , a while may couzen & cog and cheat mens sight , but long it shall not last , heaven will detrude their impious vizards , wherwith they delude the eyes of mortall men , and this abuse the lord will to their sorrow ( soon ) reduce . for presently , their temporizing tears were dryed up , no shame in them appears . all former seeming sorrows quite forsaken , and their new virtue proves old-vice mistaken . a sodain madnesse did all grace push-out , op'ning the gates they armed all rush-out , and like mad-dogs or gaderens divellish hogs , despairing with their conscience heavy-clogs , they head-long run among their enemies , smiting on all-sides in most desperate wise . vowing and swearing , since , such was their fate , to sell their hatefull blood at a dear rate . the valiant high-shrieve , seeing 't was in vain , ( as was declar'd ) by love them to constrain , to due submission ; with true martiall heat , resolves them therunto with blowes to beat . stoutly they fight on both sides ; these for fame , the others fight with desperate fear and shame , then thomas winter vaunting in the court , and traiterous rookwood one of this consort , th' one shot in 's shoulder , lost the use of 's arm , tother with shot had also no small harm . then , both the wrights with halberts ( there ) were slain , which , much discourag'd their perfidious train . with cursed catesby , percy pestilent doth joyn himself , and to them winter went . and , thus , this knot of knaves fought back to back , and winter at their sides doth hold them tack , placing themselves in manner like a wedge , and , thus , they boldly fought with eager edge . the traitors smite about with furious blows , these to defend , those to offend their foes . and like the fight of buls ( as stories say ) by sturdy dogs assaulted on the way , and sorely set upon ; they , tail to tail , with their strong horns the furious dogs assail : but , as alcides , though most stout and strong , or theseus brave could not continue long 'gainst many foes , maugre their courage bold , no more could these their enemies long hold . for at them , presently , a peece was shot , whose bullet both those traitours deadly smot . through percies & through catesbies cursed heart the bullet pierced to their deadly smart ; when with a deep life-yeelding hollow groan , unable to subsist , they both fell prone upon the earth , strugling with pangs of death , and quickly gasp'd their last accursed breath . and like two mighty oaks whose branches high did seem ( just now ) to touch the lofty-sky , but by a rapid whirl-wind in the ayr are blown and over-thrown ; whose branches are laid low upon the ground , the boughs made meat for cattell in the field to brouse and eat . thus , to those gracelesse champions of the pope ( who had already ) swallowed up in hope , englands fair realm and seat-imperiall , it did directly happen , justly fall . who thus , i say , in hellish fond conceit had clim'd the top of high promotions seat , but see ( i say ) their huge pyramides of hatefull pride ( for so it heaven did please ) with shame was shattered into peeces smal , their flesh made food for birds & worms that crawl . but , rookwood , winter , grant , alive were taken , and all the rest of comfort ( soon ) forsaken . here robert winter having stoutly fought , but , now , unable , longer to hold-out , his cateline and hot cethegus slain , by his fierce foes , alive , was quickly ta'ne . but with a pike in 's belly ( first ) receiv'd a dangerous wound , yet , not of life bereav'd . now , all the rest being taken and disarm'd , ( by prick of conscience , than deaths fear more harmd ) were thus subjected unto justice stroke , their fainting hearts confounded , wounded , broke . and as the custome is , with hempen bands they were fast bound , behinde their backes their hands . and so to london , fast on hors-back tyde , they were convayd : whom people as they ' spide , did all the way they went , still flock to meet , and them with execrable curses greet . and so to london being brought , at last , in pris'n with fetters they were locked fast . and not long after was the 'pointed day for their arraignment . when in grave array , nobles and judges , as the cause requir'd , unto their judgement came ; where with admir'd and learned eloquence , deliberately , the kings atturney ( then ) did signifie and recapitulate from first to last each most materiall action which had past . and found them guilty of that damn'd intention , crost ( thus ) in th' act , by heavens , alone , prevention . the judges ( then pronounc'd their sentence due ; and , on the traitors all in open view , was execution done in divers places , to the most just confusion of their faces . on th'upper-house of parliament , most high , ( a just reward of horrid treachery ) catesbies and percies heads were fixed fast , ( to use the prophets words ) like a ship-mast , that passers-by might to each other tell , the just deserved issue that befell unto those roving , robbing pirates vile , who hop'd to rife by treason , theft and guile ; who by ambitious and pernicious wayes , the golden-fleece did hope to them to raise , not by stout jasons valour and brave grace , but by medaea's sorceries most base , they gap'd ( i say ) a golden-fleece to gain , a glorious-realm to swallow ; but in vain . wasps ( thus ) we see , make combs as well as bees , but , for sweet hony , work-out pouder-lees . their hearts contain'd nought but sulphurious wind , and foul effects of a most treacherous mind . perfidious fauks , whose hopes were lately high by treason to be rais'd to dignity ; by justice , findes treason retaliated , his head upon a pole high elevated : that all may see gods vengeance prosecuting , the proudest traitors , treason executing . the wanderfull deliuerance — 1605 our great jehovah having brought to light this deep-designe full fraught with romish-spight ; the fame therof through all the realm being blaz'd , the peoples hands and hearts to heaven are rais'd : they pray'rs and praises send to israels king , they bounteous-bonfires make , their bels they ring : tryumphing in their streets with fire-works rare , rockets , fire-wheeles , fire-drakes flying in the ayre , fierce-mounting fire-bals blazing in the skies , quick cracking squibs to please beholders eyes : and , all heart-cheering signes of joy expresse , being , thus , redeem'd from death and dire distresse . then see you pole-shorn papists what 's the end which al your traiterous projects doth attend . see you achitophels , you jesuites all , what prize doth to your absolons befall . bad counsell , still , to authours fals-out worst , an impious-project gains an end-accurst . for , these , who , like great consuls would have raign'd , as false conspirators were , now , arraign'd . and like as fond empedocles did cast himself int' aetna's fire , hoping t' have past unspide of any in the furious flame , and so beheld a god with endlesse fame : but , when the flame his slippers did retort , his hair-braind-folly was the peoples sport : so , these , which hop'd , which fondly hop'd t' have got saints names ( at least ) by this their aetnean plot , god ( who in mercy did their mischiefe see , and such strange folly in their hearts to be ) the slippers of discovery did cause to foolifie their deifide applause . and by this blest catastrophe , to call ( instead of that usurped name they all hop'd-for , to wit , romes meritorious-martyrs ) and justly term them , most notorious traitors . and curs'd be they which call such evill good , accurs'd romes doctrins grounded ( thus ) on blood . most deadly-sicke was catesby and his train , of achabs sicknesse , none could ease his pain , his stomach was with naboths ground so cloy'd ; till bloody jesabell her skill imploy'd to give him physick with poor naboths blood . but these , vile achabs case far worser stood , for ; why ? although their greedy appetite old achabs did exceed , with gaping spight , and that this upstart jesabell of rome did us to death with greater mischief doom ; yet , since they could not kill nor yet possesse , they were in farre more desp'rate wretchednesse , in silence , here , i cannot pretermit , how that these traitours past all grace or wit , in conscience touch't did at their death professe , that , what they did , was for romes holinesse ; that , for advancement of the cath'lick-cause , they , thus , had plung'd themselvs into hels jaws . and that they had for their more firm direction , the precepts of romes faith and full protection , the zeale wherof did strongly them incite to execute what-ere , with all their might : which precepts are , by force , fraud or deceit , to cog , collogue , to threat , intreat and cheat , by just or unjust means , by buls or bans hugonets , calvinists and lutherans , to prosecute , to cut-off , and to kill all that oppose their holy popes great will . for all 's most true , they teach , which rome doth say ? or charge her children ; for she cannot stray . hence we may note that romes rebellious feed , all other malefactours farre exceed ; for , though it cannot be gain-said , withstood , but some in all professions are not good ; but do offend by treason , murther , theft , for which , they justly are of life bereft , yet when they are to dye , they nere accuse the doctrine or religion which they use , to be the cause that they did so transgresse , or stain themselvs with such soul-guiltines . but that their naturall bad inclination , and want of grace brought them to desolation ; but these besotted eat-gods , voyd of shame , do not their nature , but religion blame ; these foule-birds , thus , their own nests do beray , and , if in ought , heerin , the truth they say . but , ô , ô misery , beyond compare , that with such basenesse they contented are ! o , if the understandings-eye be blind , how hard it is truths perfect paths to finde ! if once the lord unto our selvs us leave , how hard , the truth from errour to perceive . o wo to those which lock-up heavens blest gates both from themselves and their seduced mates . o strong delusions , as st. paul doth call them , how can it choose but danger must befall them ! o poysonous-cup of romish fornication , to be bewitcht by such strange incantation ! o , if the blind do lead the blind , both stumble ! nay , both do headlong into mischiefe tumble . o , what true christian , protestant , is he that does not from truths-fountain clearly see that god in vengeance , and in judgement just , such doctours and such doctrins , sure , will thrust to hells deep-pit ( at last ) whence first they rose , which do christs wholsome-doctrins so oppose . for , what sayes christ , the spring of verity , to all his saints , for all posterity ? my deare disciples go and teach each nation , baptizing all men to regeneration . clean contrary , this base-childe of perdition , the pope of rome , with hellish admonition , his blinde-disciples , thus , most blindly teacheth , to his proud-proselites this doctrine preacheth . go extirpate , kill and confound each nation , which doth refuse our yoake and usurpation . o are not these foule broods of vipers vile , and pluto's locusts full of fraud and guile ? yea , are they not the very spawn of hell , the furies of avernus fierce and fell ? satan their fathers foot-steps imitating , by sword and fire fair vertue ruinating , from whose most damned counsell and consent , they , spider-like this stygian-poyson vent , which treacherous faux , that vessell full of vice , to us , to minister , they did intice . doubtlesse the divell was not a little glad , that he that popish-prey and purchase had ; for , to those romish friends might pluto say , as they , with him , in tartars flashings lay , you see brave friends th' effect of our intentions , hels secrets , hidden counsels , strange inventions , wch , though they have not wrought as we intended , yet are they not , with this plot wholly ended . indeed i must confesse we did expect a greater harvest , and more full effect of our designes : but this shall now suffice , ●ntill we can procure a * richer prize . for yet , we hope fortune , hereafter , may grant us a time more mischief to display , and to the full our counsels to contrive , to make our stratagems more fairly thrive , nor shall this fact our counsels quite deny our future hopes . hell is not , yet , drawn-dry , our coffers are not empty ( yet , indeed , this last did all our others , farre exceed ) which , after-times may taste-of to their pain , as fast as we can grace and favour gain , with our choice * friends in court romes champions bold , for , these are they wch all our hopes uphold . this said , fly satan , those his agents all , leaves to themselves in sense of endlesse thrall . the customary practise of the divell , who , when he hath suggested men to evill , first , makes them sin , and when they are to die , comfortlesse leaves them in their misery , voyd of all help , full of disconsolation , headlong to tumble into dire damnation . mark this , ô ye , whose hearts with deep devotion , are so bewitch'd with circes poysonous potion , with love of romes great whore , recall , recall , your understanding from her divellish thrall ; abjure that doctrine , cease to call them blest , in whom such maps of mischief are exprest , learn with relenting tears , repenting heart , from romes false jugling jebusites to part . those subtill syrens from you to repell , those impious amorites , magogs of hell . o take unto you christs collyrium sweet , and you shall see how they from truth do fleet , yea , you shall , then , perspicuously perceive , how , they sound faith do hate and wholly leave : how they true saving knowledge paths pervert , how they gods saints with malice do begirt , assaulting them with mischief and despight ; yet shall the just prevail and stand upright . for why ? both christ and all the heavenly hoast do fight for them wherof they well may boast . yea from the stars , according to their kind , they day & night , do sweet protection find o , why doth man , then , christs true church disturb , since heaven resists him and his wrath doth curb ? o thou great guider of the heavens high , who by thy thunder dost all terrifie , almighty ruler of the earth below , in promise just , to anger very slow ! o , how can we sufficiently recount thy condign-praise , which doth the heavens surmount , thou didst us save from slaughtring sword and fire , from those which 'gainst thy laws our lives conspire . from miserable massacre and death , thou only sions-saviour gav'st us breath . and as from teeth of greedy savage bears did'st us recover and redeem from fears . thou , only-thou , by power of thy right hand , didst for us most unworthy wretches stand , and our poor silly sinfull souls preserve , even , then , when we from thee , by sin did swerve , we though thy foes , yet did thy mercy finde , thou wast most courteous , when we were unkind . though we , alas , daily delight in sin , endangering heavens losse , our lusts to win , quenching thy spirit in us , fostring the flesh , like dogs to vomit , sinning still a fresh , contemning thy behests and holy name , using thy saints with scornfull scoffs and shame . choosing the wrong , forsaking the right way , blindly persisting , when we go astray ; lab'ring to please our selvs , though displease thee , thinking to live as saints , yet goodnesse flee , neglecting thee and thine , preferring more our profit , pleasure , thy sweet grace before . o let thy grace our gracelesse hearts revive , o let us not still live , as dead alive ; sleeping in sin , fearlesse of sins great feares ; o turn our eyes into a spring of tears , o give us grace the old-man to forsake , and with true-faith , fast-hold on christ to take . illuminate the blindnesse of our heart , and grant ( dear father ) though not for desert , that we may see the ill that we have done , with tears , it seen , we may desire to shun . and with incessant sighes and groaning grief , give grace to wail our wants and find relief . yea , feed us , lord , with heavenly manna sweet , thy sacred word , ô guide our wandring feet to tread the paths which lead to lasting pleasure , to which , all other best terrestriall treasure is but dry mosse and drosse , foule dirt and clay , vain butter-flies for fooles or childrens play . o lift our souls , our heaven-born souls more high , to seek their riches in heavens-treasury . that as christs name with tongue we do professe , so by our works we may our faith expresse . the year preceding this was fatall found , when a great-plagne infectiously did wound , full many a thousand of our brethren deare , and next this pouder-plot we scap'd most neer . for , thy strong-hand , ô lord , the slaughtering blade did back retort , and those our foes dismaid . these things , good god , do plainly testifie that we have much provok'd thy clemency . that our great sins have highly thee displeas'd , and yet how quickly is thy wrath appeas'd . thou shew'st thy rod , and mildly dost it shake , that we might see thy grace and sin forsake . and as a mother chastizing her childe , deals with it in affection sweet and milde , lothly lifts up her hand , soone lets it fall , and presently her anger doth recall : even so , ô lord , most like a parent kind , do we thy love and tender mercies find . but if nor words nor warnings will reclaim us , thy punishment , great god , will justly tame us . and , doubtlesse , though the lord to wrath be slow , yet , if , too-far provok'd , he down will throw the viols of his wrath , his ire will burn , against the wicked which will not return , from vanity ; like stubble in the field , they shall consume and to his judgements yeeld , then , let us , ô let us with speciall care , learn both to love and feare god and declare the gospels fruits in our lives reformation , and by the lords so frequent exhortation , t'abhominate proud babell , just mens foe , that seat of antichrist , where sin doth flow , the very basis of impiety , the cage of unclean-birds of villany . of which , i may affirm and justly hold that though thou hadst alcides courage bold , thou couldst not cleanse romes sin-polluted-hals more foule , by farr , than foule augea's stalls . that so , that ancient prophets true prediction , of babels bane , of roms proud whores conviction , this age ( in gods due time ) to passe may bring ; this conquest great , lord , grant unto our king , whose life , as 't is most precious in thy sight , so let thy glory shine in his great might , to propagate and farther to extend the gospels glorious sun-shine , and to bend his utmost wisedome to discern and hate the fly and secret foes of church and state , to love the good , the haughty to suppresse , to maintain vertue , beat-down wickednesse . that justice like a river with swift source may flow with streams of uncorrupted course , through all the kingdome , that in peace he may this noble realme with grace and glory sway . that all the nobles and right noble-peers , whose hearts this thy great love and mercy cheers , the most illustrious senate of this land may feare thy name and gospels foes withstand . and , for so great , so good deserts , so free , so blest deliverance , life and liberty , grant from that sacred-house , such laws divine may be establisht and perform'd , in fine , as may redoun'd to th' honour , joy and health of king & subjects , church & common-wealth , that these most cruell cursed canaanites , these sons of edom , churches ismaelites , the props and pillars of that shamelesse-whore who even as sheep to die , had mark'd us o're , may be cut-off from mongst us , which so long have wrought & sought our peace to break & wrong . which like inhumane barbarous paracides , like cursed canibals , vile homicides , would cut their parents throat , their country dear , with one-fierce blow , to make their passage clear . who plot and practise guiltlesse-blood to spill , teaching as most true doctrine , kings to kill , delighting most in rapine , theft and lyes , forbidding marriage , not adulteries ; yea incest and such other sins of shame , they sleight esteem , which christians should not name . whose pope and holy priest-hood , for their gain , their odious stews in publick do maintain , most impudently counting it no shame a yearly tribute for such cause to claim . whose practise is to couzen and dissemble , whose blasphemies do make the godly tremble . who do by grounds of their religion hold ( that which nor turks , nor jews , nor pagans bold , nor any other hereticks what-ere , nor those of calycut , which serve and feare the divell ) to kill their king ( ô most notorious ) for conscience-sake , and say t is meritorious ; who mingle with gods word , yea , do prefer their own traditions , causing men to erre ; using , abusing scripture as they lust , and do esteem the same a thing most just , teaching for truths the dreams of filthy fryers , slandring gods word like most nefarious lyers . who , both the laws of god and man abuse , ( the turks , i say , more vilenes , scarce , can use ) breaking the bands of blest humanity , of serious vows and hospitality . savage assyria , surely , never saw th' impieties which rome maintains by law . o why , then , favour we these poysonous snakes , with whom what realm or people long partakes , in which romes furious fangs are not discride , who are not curb'd and crusht by romish-pride ? o , if we will persist them ( still ) to spare , let 's blame our-selves , if we fall in their snare . thee , thee ( ô england ) i may happy call thou little-isle , whom father neptunes wall , and mighty arms embrace ; i past all doubt , may term thee happiest , all the world throughout ; if thou didst truly know thy blest estate , or heavens rich mercies would'st commemorate . if in the tables of a thankfull heart , thou wouldst imprint gods love ; to all impart by registers of never-ending dayes the endlesse , matchlesse , due deserved praise of thy ay-living , all-good-giving king , who still doth fill thy heart with each good thing . o , say , how oft and from what great assaults wch were brought on thee for thy grievous faults , hath heavens free-grace , most safely thee protected ; god in his mercy having thee respected . and when thou wast in dangers almost drown'd , thy proud prefumptuous foes he did confound . witnesse that grand-assault in eighty-eight , when faithlesse spain with impious pride and hate insulting and consulting , vaunting loud , thy fearfull , finall , fatall woe had vow'd . and his great madnes to that passe had brought , that english-seas with spanish-ships were fraught . but how did god ( maugre their might and spight ) make windes and seas and all for thee to fight . wracking their ships , chaining their princes great , swallowing the rest in seas for fishes meat ? how hath the lord other great mercies shown , calming uncivill-civill discords grown in this thy realm , in former dayes of old , which oft were raised by thy barons bold ? how did the lord in blest eliza's dayes , to his eternall glory and just praise , ( beside that eighty-eights great victory ) redeem thy crown and state from jeopardy of many private popish-treacheries , which by their agents rome did still devise , against the person of that peerlesse-queen , whose equall , hardly , all the world hath seen , how did thy god watch over her for good , and nip those traitors hopes , even in the bud ? lopping their sprigs , cropping them in the floure , that they could nere take root nor raging-power . how often hath the lord from thee with-held , his all-devouring plagues wch would have quel'd and quencht the glory of abused-peace , when god had fild thy heart with joyes encrease ? and though thy sins and grosse ingratitude did make thee taste the sharp amaritude of a late furious raging pestilence , which , with most deplorable vehemence devoured rich and poore , made desolate , thy houses , churches , streets , in wofull state , without respect of simple or of sage , of cottage or of palace , sex or age : yet , ô yet with what wondrous admiration did thy great lord , on thy humiliation , most strangely and most sodainly command his angell to with-draw his wounding-hand , and in a moment ( as it were ) to cease thy weekly thousands to a cleare decrease . how oft , i say , hath thy almighty god with-held the fangs of famines pinching-rod , by parching drought , or by immoderate rain , to break thy staff of bread in corn and grain ? instead wherof , how doth thy land , still , flow , with milk and honey ? how fair doth it show , with peace and plenties blessed harmony , with every mercies sweet variety ? like fertile canaan , no land ere did find dame natures bounty in like copious kind . thus , thou ô england justly seem'st to be a pleasant paradise , wherin's the tree of knowledge , wherwith thou art most indu'd ; another world , all things ( a fresh ) renew'd . a land ( i say ) which doth all nations passe , as farre as christall does thick-spotted-glasse . and yet to make thy glory more compleat , the lord hath given thee manna , angels meat , the glorious sun-shine of his word divine , thy blisse and blessednesse more cleare to shine ; the everlasting gospell , spring of grace , the precious pearl which wisdom doth purchase . thus is thy land the land of goshen right , both for the gospels power and purenesse bright . do but compare this thy felicity with other nations foggy misery , who stifled are , as t were , in piteous case with cloudy ignorance and errour base : living , alas , in beast-like wretchednesse , as in the shade of death most comfortlesse . without the knowledge of or christ or god , without whose knowledge , al 's a dirty-clod . worshipping for the glorious lord most high , ( vnto their souls eternall misery ) dumb-idols , rotten-timber , mettals vile , farre fitter under-foot to tread and spoyle . again , to make thee yet and yet more blest , to make thy lustre shine past all the rest , hath not the lord in thee most richly placed the light of justice , wherwith thou art graced . wherby thy peoples houses , castles are , themselvs , their states freed from offensive care , of wrong or robb'ry : thus thy beauty shines , whiles all-men sit in peace under their vines . but of all temp'rall blessings under heaven , which ever were to any nation given , the power and praise of god most to advance , all come most short of this deliverance . this monstrous , matchlesse , popish pouder-treason beyond the power of former reach or reason , this quintessence of barbarous treachery transcendeth all of past antiquity . and cannot these sweet mercies manifold thy heart with cords of gratitude with-hold from sinning 'gainst thy god , him to provoke to smite thee deeplier with some heavier stroke ? yea , canst thou ( england ) canst thou possibly be so orewhelmed in stupidity ? so sottish , senslesse , impiously ingrate , as to forget , or to obliterate out of thy thankefull-heart , the odious smell of this projected pouder-smoake of hell , so long as ever thou a kingdome art ? o do it not , least heaven doth make thee smart , by some as strange a plague ( if it may be ) when he such grosse ingratitude shall see . but rather , all thy power and parts imploy , to evidence thy hearts triumphing joy , to blesse thy god for this thy new-salvation , to keep that-day with endlesse recordation , christ freed thy soul from hell-fire ; and this fire than any other flame to hels came nigher . that-day , which they britans black-day would see , novembers 5. britans bright-day shall be . the day was tewsday , but by popish-spight papists ashwednesday , it had bin more right . for ever , then , fell popelings , howle , lament , your romish pouder-pieties intent , for all the oceans-floods will nere make clean , ( perfidious rome ) thy knavish-sincke obscene , englands transalpinated papistry hath ( often ) wrought blood-smearing cruelty , bred our transmarine-travellers light mind , then let them be ( by law ) t' our homes confin'd . for , as was said , this detestable fact was counsel'd , courag'd by the popes compact . for he that bids doe , what 's so ill-done , he must stay the worke , or els its authour be . had he not cast paternall-care from 's heart , he 'd nere have plaid such a step-fathers part . who from his bubble-bellowing buls belcht-out all 's caco-curses , hellish-broyles about . saying , thus , let one-day all great britane make one-grave , whose name in future daies shall slake , vices vice-roy , or vice it selfe is he , who peters-chaire soyls with such villany . forget not ( then , i say ) but ever hate romes pope and papists , foes to church and state : who in their calmest-case do but couch-low to watch advantage for a deadlier blow . hugg not such vipers in your bosomes then ; foster not festring snakes in shapes of men , within your houses , much lesse in your hearts by loving , liking , pleading on their parts . least , thus , you more than seem most gracelesse sots , hankering after aegypts foule flesh-pots , by temporizing tricks , backsliding wayes , till gods fierce wrath you thus against us raise . let us take heed we surfet not in store , and turning grace to wantonnesse grow poor , poor in our souls , barren in piety , and so be made the maps of misery . be not more blind than earth-devouring moles , who love to grovell under-ground in holes : or so unthankfull as the sottish swine , who eat up acorns , but ne're cast their ey'ne , up to the oake from whence they to him fell , who thus their swinish-nature plainly tell : so do not thou thy brutish-heart declare , receive not blessings , but with gratefull care to retribute unto thy god above , according to his great redundant love . shake-off , shake-off , and shun such brutishnesse , with thankfull heart acknowledge and confesse the most admired , least deserved favour of thy so gracious god , so sweet a saviour . who plenteously replenisheth and fils thy soul with blessings , nectar-drops distils of favours of his left and his right-hand on soule and body , and doth guardian stand , still to refell , repell the dangers great , wch thy worst foes could menace , work or threat . snatching the prey out of their hungry jaws , recovering it from their most bloudy claws . thrusting them headlong into their own pit , breaking their teeth , wherwith they would have bit , nay utterly have swallowed at one meale , our kingdom , king , peers , prophets , common-weal . wch thee with amiable-peace hath blest , such as our predecessours nere possest , and such ( i fear ) as our posterity are never like to see and taste and try . yea , god alone hath given us this great rest , his liberall-love these mercies hath exprest , that god ( i say ) whose majesty and might , whose greatnesse , goodnesse , justice , most upright , the heavens , the earth , deep seas & works of wōder , rain , hail , frost , snow , loud winds , lightning & thunder , do mightily shew-forth , tell and declare ; what heathen-god with thy god can compare ? he is thy saviour , sun and shield most strong to whom doth all true praise and laud belong , both for thy being and thy best-estate , whose tender mercies most compassionate , whose patience , power and pitty infinite , all people shall to future times recite . o let us ( then ) ô let us never cease on trumpets loud to make his praise increase ; in heart and voyce his mercies to record , by hymns and psalms to laud the living lord . to sound his fame unto the indian-coasts , to those whose clime continuall-sommer rosts . let phoebus first leave-off his annuall race , let phoebe want her monthly-borrowed grace ; let neptune stop the oceans billowing source , let nature want ( in all things ) wonted course ; yea , lord , then , let us cease to be , i pray , when in oblivion we this mercy lay . but doubtlesse , if this duty we neglect , the lord most justly will this sin correct , and on our heads his heavy hand will fall , and turn our hony into bitterest gall . nothing the lord can worse endure or hate , than thanklesse persons and a mind ingrate . the husbandman that sows most plenteously , the greater harvest hopes in equity . the land wch nought but thorns & thistles yeelds though well manur'd , no man regards such fields . since god hath given , he looketh to receive , o let 's take heed how we our duty leave . did god with grievous punishments afflict his holy-off-spring , when they did addict and give themselves to vanity and lust , and him that fed them , so forget , distrust . abusing his most gracious clemency , his patience , love and longanimity ; if he did his peculiar-people ' stroy , who , first , his laws and worship did enjoy , if , thus , for their ingratitude it far'd , if they were smitten and might not be spar'd , alas , what madnesse should us gentiles move , to thinke that god of us will more approve ? and since he hath cut-down his choisest-vine , because it would not to his word incline , thinkst thou the fruitlesse wilde-olive shall stand , unprofitably comb'ring his good land ? o , no ; he 'll make it wither ( soon ) and dye , like to our saviours barren fig-tree dry . and thou whom god hath , thus , with mercies blest , if thanklesse , shalt with dangers be distrest . yea multitudes of mischiefs will thee follow , and thee in treasons greedy-jawes will swollow . yea , troupes of traitors ( then ) shall daily strive , of life and liberty thee to deprive . wherfore that thou , ô england , still maist have gods friendly favour , thee from foes to save , preach and proclame with heart and hearty cheer , with thanks & praise , each hour & month & yeer . this matchlesse-mercy of thy loving lord , and it on marble-pillars , aye , record . yea , teach thy childrens children to rejoyce , to sing gods-prayses with shrill-sounding voyce . and every way his name and fame to reare for this so great deliverance . and to beare a zealous hatred , deadly detestation to romes false doctrines , base abhomination . thou , then , the god of our inheritance , thy sions saviour , strong deliverance , our part , our portion , buckler , staffe and stay , under thy wings , preserve us ( still ) we pray . make void and frustrate romes most hatefull pride . the cause is thine ( ô lord ) stand on our side . resist their rage ; for 'gainst thy church they rave , and let thy people thy protection have . revenge the blood of thy distressed saints , and when they grieve , relieve their sad complaints . o lord , we pray thee blesse and dresse thy vine , thy love , thy dove , this little-flock of thine . yea , lord at all times , in extremest straits , thy sacred arms upon our armies waits , thy help is present and thy presence sweet , to foyle our foes and cast them at our feet . thou , lord , dost cause the fell monocerate , to beare on 's brow a soveraign-antidote . wherfore , this wond'rous work of thine , ô lord , our voyce , our verse , for ever , shall record . our hearts we will incline thy praise to sing , even thy great name ; ô our celestiall king . in every house , shire , city , street and temple , and teach our children this by our ensample . throughout the kingdom , we thy fame will raise , while vitall-breath from death prolongs our days . and tell this thy great work to every nation , while sun and moon shine in their cloudy-station . our singers shall sing psalms to thee on high , o blessed , blessed , blessed-trinity . finis . an epigram to iesuites , the principall disturbers of peace and unity ; the authours and firebrands of sedition and treachery throughout the christian-world . or , the romish white-divell . qui cum iesu itis , non itis cum iesuitis . the fatall-sisters , latine-poets call parcae ; though , parcunt nulli ; they kill all . and latinists , the thick-wood , lucus , write ▪ ceu nunquàm lucens ; wherin comes no light . and by the same antiphrasis of late , the jesuites to themselvs appropriate the sacred name of jesus , though their works declare their lives to be farr worse than turks . heavens lightnes , brightnesse differs not so great from ponderous , drossie earth : nor southern heat to northern chilling , killing frosts so far differ : nor th'artick from th'antartick star is more remote ; than this rank of makes-shifts ( whose hatefull lives , crafts , couzenage , subtill drifts to all good-men apparent ) are unlike to christ or jesus doctrine , if you strike their name out ( only ) and their works behold , their best-part ( then ) will prove but drosse to gold . do thorns bear grapes ? do figs on thistles grow ? or the tall-palme , yeeld pleasant fruite ? ô no . the tree by 's fruit may manifested be ; on good-trees , good ; on ill , bad fruit we see . the jesuites-doctrine who to know doth list , it doth of 5. dees , five dees . properly , consist : in daunting subjects ; in dissimulation ; to depose , dispose , kings , realms , devastation . whither the jesuites come more near to those which beare the armes of christ or mars , with blows , it is a question ▪ but , with ease decided . as thus . christs souldiers , ever , are provided of these blest weapons ; tears , prayers , patience ; these foyl and spoyl their foes with heavenly fence ; but daggers , dags , keen-swords , poysons , deceit , close-fawning treasons , wiles to couzen and cheat ; these are the jesuites-arms , and with these arts , their pope to deifie , they play their parts , nor faith , nor piety their followers have ; for , divellishly , 'gainst truth , they rage and rave . how fit those armes loiola's-brats beseem , britane can witnesse , and the whole-world deem . i 'll passe-by other-slights , all , in this one , in this foule pouder-plot , they all are shown . blush , blush ( ô jesuites ) england knows too well , your counsell furthered , most , this worke of hell . yea , impious garnet for the traitors pray'd , prick't & pusht-forward those he might have staid , being accessary to this damn'd intent , which , with one-word this jesuite might prevent . such barbarous traitours and strange treachery to hide and silence is grosse villany : gentem auferte perfidam &c. but , ô , with orisons god to implore , to grant successe , ô speak , was ere , before , in all the world like wickednesse ere known , in any age , such monsters seen or shown ? which , with religious shows , shelter foule-crimes with vertues cloake hiding them , oft , oft-times . and , then , ô then , i tremble to declare , calling the lord of heaven with them to share in this foule-fact ; nor yet heerwith content to offer heaven this high disparagement , but that they 'll act more grosse impiety , if any can be worse t'heavens deity . these sacrilegious traitors falsly think , no surer bands themselves to tie and link , to secrecy and resolution strong , than , therunto blasphemously to wrong our saviours glorious body and blood also , to their eternall and infernall woe . and who so impious , so audacious bold ? in 's wretched hands the eucharist to hold ? who was so godlesse , who so gracelesse , trow ? so rich a pearle unto such swines to throw ? who but a priest of this society ; wouldst know his name ? t was gerrard certainly . perswade your selves , ye holy fathers all , this is a truth , which you a lye will call ; for nought is said against you , but most right ; then blush for shame & hide your selvs from sight . o heavens ! ô earth ! ô treachers times and season ! degenerous minds and hard-hearts void of reason ! truly t is doubtfull , difficult to tell , whether of these two mischiefs did excell ; at one-blow , bloodily , so , to confound a king and queen , three kingdomes , so renownd , nobles and senate , thus , to strike and stroy , by pouder them to spoyle with great annoy ; or that christs glorious , sacred body and blood , his holy , yea most holy supper shou'd by such damn'd unbidden guests be ' taminated so base a band to be conglutinated , and link't , thereby , with such vile vehemence , to perpetrate that stygian foule offence . the pristine poets us'd in verse to sing , the noble gests of every prince and king ; but , now , t is needfull , in this weedfull age , wherin impiety and vice do rage , yea and all too-too little to declare the hatefull times and crimes which most rife are ; whose monstrousnes to paint to publike sight , the true relation would passe credit , quite . for to these stains , worthy eternall shame , add this , a peece of these sweet fathers frame ; i mean equivocation , equivocation . which they use , mens understanding , neatly , to abuse . t is , doubtlesse , gyges-ring , for , hereby , they though captivated , can themselvs convay ; and with a tricke , which jesuites use to try , they can delude and few can them descry . they 'll smooth and sooth , and one thing to you say , and yet their heart goes clean another way . this ambiguity was apollo's art , vnder whose name the divell play'd his part . even tully may these priests well reprehend , by whom , such lamb-skind wolvs are oft condemnd who , if he ( now ) liv'd , ô how 's eloquence would thunder-out loiola's impudence ! satan , that subtill serpent did them teach , this lying-art ; they n'ere heard christ so preach . are not these , thē , roms white-divels ? fie for shame . nought , but bare outsides ; their best-part , their name ? beleeve me , for , christs sacred-writ most true , ( if , truth it be , as t is . ) this truth doth shew ; their practise smelleth of a fugitive , or divell ; or ( surely ) i am not alive . what was the divell ? a lyer , homicide ; what 's he ? a sly-dissembler , regicide and with just reason , the kings evill . may this jesuite-divell , most properly be called the kings-evill . if , then , affinity of manners vile , if just proportion of like fraud and guile , if deeds so consonant and disposition , to practise ' greeable , may with permission , availe to prove a truth , then , magog , know , these do a great part of thy warrfare show , and palpably declare to th' truly-wise , this off-spring did from thee , their father , rise . avaunt you locusts ; hence you spawn of hell , from whose black-smoake , you are descended wel . if still you will the name of jesus take , let all men know you do it only make a cloake to hide your knavery ; for , you are but gray-wolves , bearing in your front a star . and since you plead ●ntiquity , with flights , we 'll justly call you jugling gibeonites . instead of jesus , gibeonites . take you judas name , your hatefull-lives will best befit the same . for by your works we perfectly do find , no part , with christ , is unto you assign'd . finis . an oenigmaticall-riddle to romes iesuiticall black-crows , who pretend themselves to be religions white-swans . a bird of late , when birds could prate , said , black 's the crow . the crow repli'de , told him he ly'd , and 't was not so . mine eyes , quoth he shall witnesse be that i am fair ; the swan so white , and snow most bright , foule to me are . the bird again , laughing amain , said , strange t is not , for ones own-eye cannot espy the stain or spot , which its-own face doth much disgrace , and vilifie . this matter , straight , to arbitrate , the eagle high , their king , they move ; who ( soon ) doth prove this folly great . a mirrour fair bids them prepare both large and neat . the crow it took , therin to look , wheron he gaz'd on 's shape most true and proper-hew which he so prais'd . then with great shame he much did blame his own blear-eyes ; and all there by , did laugh full high , and 's pride despise . finis . a paraphrasticall psalm of thanksgiving for englands most happy-deliverance from the most horrible intended gun-pouder treason , practised by the synagogue of satan , the romish babylonians ; and fitted to one of the familiar tunes of davids psalmes , to be sung november the 5th . psalm 124. king david against the philistims . king james against the antichristians . if great jehovah had not stood assistant on our side , may england say , most thankfully & bin our guard & guide : if heavens almighty lord himself had not our cause maintain'd when men , yea , most blood-thirsty men our downfall had ordain'd . then had their antichristian rage and hellish policy devoured us with greedy-jaws , and swallowed sodainly : then like huge over-flowing floods , which proudly swel & roar , they all our souls orewhelmed had and spoyl'd in flames and gore . our royall king , the queen and prince , and princely progeny , our prudent counsellors of state , and prime nobility : our learned judges , prelates all , best commons of the land , in parliament by pouder fierce had perisht out of hand . romes raging streams with roaring noise and popish cruelty had all at once ingulft our souls in matchlesse misery . they dig'd a mine & delved deep , in hope to hurt their brother , but they did fall into the pit that they had made for other . for , as a bird out of a snare by furious fowlers made , doth safely scape ; even so our souls securely did evade . their net was broke , themselvs were caught , our god that nere doth sleep in heaven did sit & see & smile , & us in saf'ty keep . this was the lords most worthy work , this was the lords own fact and 't is most wonderous to behold this great and glorious act . this is the joyfull day indeed , which god for us hath wrought , let us be glad and joy therin , in word , in deed , in thought . o let us never make an end to magnifie gods name , to blesse the lord our staffe and stay , to sound abroad his fame : to tell to all posterity , what wonders god hath wrought , to save us from the woes which rome and spain against us sought . all glory ( then ) to god on high , let men and angels sing , let heaven and earth and all therin give glory to heavens king : and sing and say with heart & voice all honour , laud & praise , to god who makes us thus rejoyce . so be it , lord , alwaies . omnis gloria solius est domini . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a86261e-490 * hos. 7. 4 , 6 , 7. d. baker a late most impudent apostate , who would not license this my historie , because , as he said , we were not so angrie with the papists now a dayes ( though wee never had greater cause than in these our daies ) as they were 20. or 30. yeers agoe , and one mr. crosfield a senior fellow of queenes colledge in oxford , could not ( as he endeavoured ) get it licensed for the presse there . nor could mr. daniell ▪ cambridge printer ( who would have printed it there ) get it licensed at cambridge , dr. brumrick being then vicechan . o tempora ! o mores ! notes for div a86261e-1700 a in the time of king hen. 8th . b in the time of q. elizabeth . c in the time of k. iames . * iesuitas notes for div a86261e-8570 * the pope . the whore of rome makes her complaint to her first born son treason . * the divell . * the pope . * fauks is not heere first mentioned , as the prime authour ; but because hee was so inhumane as to be the fatall actor of this intended tragedy , for catesby ( as is afterward showne ) was the first authour of this pouder-treason . * thomas winter was sent into spaine in qu. eliz. dayes by catesby an arch-traitor . q. elizabeth . * sol occubuit , nox nulla secuta est . * k. iames they send againe to the king of spain . the king of spaine refuseth to aid them . the traitors sit in counsell to plot a treason . catesby begins . 4 motives to the plot encouragements to treason . coacta fides vix vera fides . bloudy builders of a bloudy church psa. 83. diverse treasons projected * catesby . catesby strikes the stroake . the parliament-house . gun-pouder . catesbies opinion approved by them all . fauks . garnet & gerrard , priests . they sweare secrecy and constancy in the businesse . they receive the sacrament for more full assurance . catesby to garnet . nocents and innocents . garnet to catesby . garnets simile . garnets doctrine compared with christs doctrine . garnets opinion confirms all . fauks is sent to the pope . fauks returnes home . they begin to undermine the parliament . they find a thicke stone-wal a cellar hired . s. everard digby . a consultation among the traitours touching the kings children . the provision of gun-pouder & instruments of destruction . the 5th of november a briefe description of the most lamentable effects of the plot had it taken effect . simile . nero's wish . suppose the deed done . londons misery . an introduction to the discovery of the plot . god speaks to his angel . * rome . * the pope . * traitors * the parliament house . lord mounteagle a letter . the lord mounteagles serving-man . the angell to lo. morley . the lord mounteagle goes to court with the letter . the lords k. iames . * magna licet nunquam nocuit cautela monarchi● . the letter expounded by the king . a search . sr thomas knevet sent to search . fauks is apprehended at the cellar doore . the pouder is discovered . fauks his impudency . six observations or aggravations . 1. men . 2. beasts . 3. insensible things . 4. fire and water . 5. fire . 6. gun-pouder . the three children in the fiery fornace . another observation of the impossibility to escape the blow . fauks is imprisoned . the report of the treason spread abroad . fauks his most impudent behaviour at the court . fauks sent to the tower . frighted with the rack . conference in the towr twixt winter & fauks . tressams perjury . percy and catesby staid about westminster to see the issue . dunchurch heath . venatio catholica a holy hunt. a description of their pretended hunt . a prettie note by the way of a country-mans suspition of these hunters . another suspition . venamur religionem sr. ever . digby . catesby & percy came to the traitors with the newes of the discovery of their treason . the traitors are amazed . percies oration . they put themselvs into open rebellion . garnets opinion . greenwels resolution hall a iesuite . horrible impudence in holy iesuites . a monstrous lye . hall the priest his divellish change & judgment on the fact hamon the jesuite gives the traitors absolutiō . romish martyrs . * when the steed is stolne , shut the stable doore . grants attempt . sr. fulke grevill . a smith smites winter . s richard verney . the lord harringtō . the city of coventry . the citizens comfort the lady . littletons house is their sconce . sir rich. walsh besiegeth them . a fore-running judgment . a tray of pouder set on fire . in quo peccavimus , in eodem plectimur . winters dream . seeming remorse in the traitors . perillus. the traitors grow desperate . they now fight pell mell rookwood and winter are shot , and both the wrights are slain . catesby , percy and winter fight all three together . simile . percy and catesby are slain . simile . the traitors apprehended . winter wounded in the belly . the traitors are conveyed to london . their arraignment . catesbies and percies heads are set on the parliament house . malum confilium consultori pessimum . empedocles . achabs . note this remarkable observation . note this . the divell to the traitors in hell . mark this . * this hath bin most fully confirmed by satan and his agents , our church & state projectors , in this lately discovered plot , by our blessed parliament , 1641. which would have far transcended this of the pouder-plot had it taken effect . o the desperate invētiōs of mans more than divelish heart ! * hos ô rex magne caveto . a grateful returne to the lord our sole deliverer . simile . a prayer for the king and state . a recapitulation of romes abominations . england the land-marke of all gods mercies . the armado in 88. the barons wars . treasons against q. elizabeth . the pestilence in ao . 1628. feare of famine . england like unto canaan . manna . justice . the popish pouder-plot . england too justly taxed with ingratitude deus nobis haec otia fecit . an exhortation to give al the praise to god alone the iudgment of a catholicke english-man, living in banishment for his religion vvritten to his priuate friend in england. concerninge a late booke set forth, and entituled; triplici nodo, triplex cuneus, or, an apologie for the oath of allegiance. against two breves of pope paulus v. to the catholickes of england; & a letter of cardinall bellarmine to m. george blackwell, arch-priest. vvherein, the said oath is shewed to be vnlawfull vnto a catholicke conscience; for so much, as it conteyneth sundry clauses repugnant to his religion. judgment of a catholicke english-man, living in banishment for his religion parsons, robert, 1546-1610. 1608 approx. 281 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 68 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a09102 stc 19408 estc s104538 99840273 99840273 4755 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a09102) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 4755) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 855:16) the iudgment of a catholicke english-man, living in banishment for his religion vvritten to his priuate friend in england. concerninge a late booke set forth, and entituled; triplici nodo, triplex cuneus, or, an apologie for the oath of allegiance. against two breves of pope paulus v. to the catholickes of england; & a letter of cardinall bellarmine to m. george blackwell, arch-priest. vvherein, the said oath is shewed to be vnlawfull vnto a catholicke conscience; for so much, as it conteyneth sundry clauses repugnant to his religion. judgment of a catholicke english-man, living in banishment for his religion parsons, robert, 1546-1610. [6], 128 p. english college press] permissu superiorum, [saint-omer : anno 1608. by robert parsons. place of publication and printer from stc. answers king james i's "triplici nodo, triplex cuneus". running title reads: the letter of a catholicke touching the new oath of allegiance. reproduction of the original in the cambridge university library . created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng james -i, -king of england, 1566-1625. -triplici nodo, triplex cuneus -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. oath of allegiance, 1606 -early works to 1800. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-05 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the ivdgment of a catholicke english-man , living in banishment for his religion : vvritten to his priuate friend in england . concerninge a late booke set forth , and entituled ; triplici nodo , triplex cuneus , or , an apologie for the oath of allegiance . against two breves of pope pavlvs v. to the catholickes of england ; & a letter of cardinall bellarmine to m. george blackwell arch-priest . vvherin , the said oath is shewed to be vnlawfull vnto a catholicke conscience ; for so much , as it conteyneth sundry clauses repugnant to his religion . s. hieron . comment . in cap. 4. hierem. let an oath haue these companions , truth , iudgment , and iustice ; for if these be wanting , it shall not be an oath , but periury . ¶ permissu superiorum . anno 1608. the generall contentes of this ensuing letter , diuided into three paragraphes . 1. the first paragraph handleth matters concerning the substance of the oath , which in the apologie are spoken by way , as it were , of preface , before the setting downe of the popes breues . 2. the second , considereth the said two breues , & impugnation therof by the apologer ; and how sufficiently , or insufficiently , the same is performed by him . 3. the third , discusseth the answere made to cardinall bellarmynes letter ; & diuers poyntes of moment therin conteyned , but weakly impugned by the apologer , as the authour of this letter iudgeth . to the reader . this letter comming to my hands ( gentle reader ) some dayes past , from my learned friend beyond the seas , and hauing imparted the same priuately vnto sundry of myne acquaintance , who desyred to read somewhat , concerning the argument in hād ; they were very earnest with me to yield to the printing therof , for eschewing so great labour , tyme , and expences , as would be necessary for the copying it out , to so many , as desyred the view therof : which i intreate thee to take in good part , and vse it to thy benefit . and so to christ iesvs i committ thee , with wish of all felicitie , both in this lyfe , and the next . particvler chiefe poyntes handled in this letter . in the first paragraph . 1. who is thought to be the true authour of this triplex cuneus , or apology : and vpon what reasons , & arguments . num. 2. 3. 4. &c. 2. the contentes of the oath ; and how the lawfulnes of taking it , was consulted with learned men , both at home , and abroad . num . 14. 15. &c. 3. vvhether this oath do conteyne matters of only meere ciuill , and temporall obedience , and not any of religion , as is p●●●●●ded . num . 20. 21. &c. 4. vvhat full and perfect obedience , and dutifull allegianc● , catholicke subiects do acknowledge themselues to owe , and offer vnto his ma. tie in all temporall affayres , as much as euer any english subiects from the beginning , vntill k. henry the eight his time ; and as any forrayne subiect doth to any catholicke emperour , king , or prince at this day . num . 25. 26. &c. 5. how contradictory it is in it self . that catholicks must sweare to take the oath , freely & without coaction , notwithstanding the penalty of premunire , if they refuse it . num . 29. &c. 6. concerning a petition to his ma. tie for exposition of the said oath , for auoyding of needles vexations . num . 32. 33. &c. 7. that nothing is gayned , but much lost to his ma. tie , by ouer-much vrging the said oath . num . 34. 35. &c. in the second paragraph . the summe of the two breues of paulus v. and whether1 . he had reason to complayne of catholicks sufferance , or no ? num . 1. 2. 3. &c. vvhether q. elizabeth did persecute catholicks,2 . and whether she were so happie in her life , and gouernment , as some do make her . num . 5. 6. 7. &c. that it is not height of pryde in catholicks , to desyre lyberty of3 . conscience , as the apologer sayth . num . 25. 26. 27. &c. that clemency is no cause of desperate attempts , as this apologer4 . insinuateth , but rather the contrary , to wit , cruelty . num . 32. 33. &c. in what poyntes , and why this oath is held to be vnlawfull for5 . catholicke men to take : with the examination of scriptures , fathers , and councels about the same . num . 41. 42. &c. how the apologer wittingly mistaking the state of the question,6 . goeth forward , impugning only his owne deuises . num . 61. 62. in the third paragraph . cardinall bellarmyne is wrongfully charged to mistake1 . the state of the controuersy , and to impugne the oath of supremacy , insteed of the oath of allegiance . num . 4. 5. &c. vvhy the apologer changeth the old tytle of supreme head2 . of the church , established by statute vnder k. henry the 8. and k. edward the 6. vnto supreme gouernour . num . 6. 7. &c. 3. the ancient councels of toledo , how vntruly they are alledged , for prescribing this forme of oath now exacted . num . 11. 12. 13. &c. 4. clauses of beliefe , or not beliefe proued to be in this oath , contrary to the apologers assertion . num . 26. 27. &c. 5. an eleuen contradictions obiected out of cardinall bellarmynes workes , but no one can be verified . num . 35. 36. 37. &c. 6. the authorityes of sundry fathers examined , whether they make to the purpose , for which bellarmyne doth alledge them in his epistle . num . 58. 59. 7. great variety of calum●●ious dealing against the cardinall , for disgracing him . num . 74. 75. &c. 8. how kings and princes are truly seruants of their subiects ; and how their authority is mediatly , and not immediatly from god. num . 78. 79. 83. &c. the ivdgment of a catholicke man , to his friend in england , concerning the apology , for the new oath of allegiance . paragr . i. i cannot but yeild yow harty thankes ( my louing friend ) for the new booke yow sent me ouer by gun●ar , at his last passage : for albeit , i haue determyned with my selfe in this my banishment , to spend my tyme in other studyes , more profitable , then in contention about controuersyes : yet must i needs accept kyndly of your good will , in making me partaker of your newes there . and more gladde should i haue beene , if yow had aduertised me , what your , and other mens opinion , was of the booke in your parts , then that yow request me to write our mens iudgement from hence . and yet , for so much , as yow requ●●●t so earnestly at my handes , and that the party is to returne presently , i shall say somewhat with the greatest breuity that i can : albeit i do not doubt , but that the partyes , that are principally interessed therin , will answere the same much more largely . ii. first then for the authour , for so much as he setteth not downe his name , it seemeth not so easy to gh●sse ; yet the more generall opinion in these partes is , that as , that odious discouery of roman doctryne , and practises , which of late yow haue seene answered , was cast forth against the catholickes , vnder the cyrred name of t. m. with direction ( as he said ) from superiours , the authour being in deed but an inferiour minister ; so dyuers thinke it to be probable , that this other booke also , commeth from some other t. m. of like condition , though in respect of his office , somewhat neerer to his maiesty , to whome , perhaps , he might shew the same ( ●s the other dedicated his ) and therupon might presume to set it forth authoritate regiâ , as in the first front of the booke is set downe , somwhat different from other bookes , and cause it to be printed by barker his ma. ties printer , and adorned in the second page with the kings armes , and other like deuises , wherin our english ministers , do grow now , to be very bold , & do hope to haue , in tyme , the hand , which scot●ish ministers once had . but i most certaynly do perswade my selfe , that his ma. tie neuer read aduisedly all , that in this booke is conteyned : for that i take him to be of such iudgement and honour , as he would neuer haue let passe sundry things , that heere are published , contrary to them both . iii. as for example , his highnes great iudgement would presently haue discouered , that the state of the question , is twice or thrice changed in this apologie , and that thing proued by allegations of scriptures , fathers and councels , which the aduerse part denyeth not , as after in due place i shall shew . and againe he would neuer haue let passe , so manifest an ouersight , as is the charging of card. all bellarmine with eleuen seuerall places of contradiction to himselfe in his workes , whereas , in the true nature of a contradiction or contrariety , no one of them can be proued , or mainteyned , as euery man that vnderstandeth the latyn tongue , and will but looke vpon bellarmine himselfe will presently fynd . iv. nay some of them are so palpable , as euery man of common sense , euen without latyn , or learning , will espy the same : as namely , the very first , where it is said , that card. all bellarmine writeth in his fifth booke of iustification : that , for the vncertainty of our owne proper righteousnesse , and for auoyding of vayne glory , it is most sure and safe to repose our whole confidence in the alone mercy and goodnes of god. which proposition ( sayth the apologie ) is directly contrary to the whole discourse and currant of all his fyue bookes de iustificatione . but euery m●n out of common reason , will 〈◊〉 , that the opposition betweene one place , and fiue bookes , is very gen●●● ▪ and vncertayne to the reader . he should haue c●ted some one or two , or more places , out of those fyue bookes , which in true sense , and wordes had byn contrary to the former place , to the end that iudgement might haue byn made therof : and this in credit he ought to haue done , to conuince so great a man of contradiction to himselfe . v. agayne , it is alleadged for a manifest contradiction in bellarmine , for that in one place he saith : that , the end of the world can not be knowne : and in an other , that within 25. dayes after antichrists death , the world shall haue an end . but what man is so simple , or sil●y , that will not presently demaund , how we shall know the certaynty , when antichrist is to come ? for therupon dependeth the whole controuersy . vi. in like manner wheras his ma. tie is knowne to be a prince of most honorable respects in treaty , and vsage of others , especially men of honour and dignity , it is to be thought , that he would neuer haue consented , if he had but seene the booke , with any attention , that those phrases of contempt , not only against the pope ( at least as a temporall prince ) but neyther against the cardinall , calling him by the name of m. bellarmine , should haue passed ; for so much , as both the emperour , and greatest kings of christendome , do name that dignity with honour . and it seemeth no lesse dissonant , to call a cardinall , maister , then if a man should call the chiefest dignityes of our crowne by that name , as m. chauncelour , m. treasurer , m. duke , m. earle , m. archbishop , m. bancroft , which i assure my selfe , his ma. tie would in law of honour condemne , if any externall subiect or prince , should vse to men of that state in our countrey , though he were of different religion . wherfore i rest most assured , that this proceeded , eyther out of the ministers lacke of modestie , or charity : and that if his ma. tie had had the perusall of the booke , before it came forth , he would presently haue gyuen a dash of his pen ouer it , with effectuall order to remedy such ouersightes of inciuility . vii . furthermore that generall assertiue note gyuen against card. all bellarmine , that , vvhensoeuer he is pressed with any difficult argument of his aduersary , he careth not to contradict himselfe , so he may declyne therby the present storme , i can hardly belieue that his ma. tie would haue passed ouer with approbation . for so much , as it is so generall , as i said , and would require an induction of many particuler examples , to inferre the same ; wherof no one is heere alledged , that can be stood vnto , and proued to be a true contradiction in deed . that other iniurious and stinging conclusion also , that , there is no greater difference betweene god and belial , light and darknes , heauen and hell , then there is betweene the doctrine of the scriptures , and card. all bellarmines workes , concerrning the dignity of temporall princes , i can not imagine that the equity , and grauity of his ma. tie would euer allow of it , being apparantly a passionate exaggeration , and refuted euery where by bellarmine himselfe , where he teacheth , that temporall princes haue their authority from god , are gods substitutes and vicars , in all temporall affayres of their states and kingdomes , are for such to be obeyed , not only , out of feare to auoyd punishment , but of conscience vnder paynes of damnation : so as , wherin this great and absolute opposition of scriptures to bellarmins works , about the authority and dignity of temporall princes doth consist , i see not . and if his bookes had byn so derogatory to princely authority , as heere is said , it is very like , that so many other monarches , princes , and great states , would neuer haue permitted them to haue bene printed in their dominions , as they haue done , and do dayly . wherfore , neyther this also , do i suppose , that the great wisedome of his ma. tie would haue allowed . viii . this then remayneth most firme in my persuasion , that his ma. tie had nothing to do with the booke , but only , perhaps , the allowance therof in generall termes , before it was published : and this yow will easely see by the substance therof , which consisteth ( such as it is ) of three principall poynts or partes . the first , conteynng , as it were , a preamble to the breues , concerning the nature of the oath exacted , and circumstances therof . the second , touching the contents of the said breues , & the popes manner of proceeding therin . the third , the examination of card. all bellarmines letter to m. blackwell the arch-priest : of all which , i do promise yow , but a small tast , as i said ; for i haue very little tyme , and i should offer iniury to others , to whome it belongeth to make a more full answere , if i should deteyne my selfe long therin . ix . the preamble beginneth with , the monstrous , rare , nay neuer-heard of treacherous , famous , and infamous attempt , plotted within these few yeares heere in england ( of the powder-treason ) infinite in cruelty , singular from all example , crying loudly for vengeance from heauen , &c. all which eplthetes for due detestation of so rash and heynous an attempt , catholicks , no lesse then protestants , do willingly admit ; though for singularity from all examples , if we respect speciem , & non indi●●du●m , that cannot be like to an other in all poynts , there be recounted in historyes , many attempts of the same kynd , and some also by protestants , in our dayes : as that of them , who in antwerp placed a whole barke of powder in the vaulted great street of that citty , where the prince of parma , with his nobility , was to passe : and that of him in h●ge ▪ that would haue blowne vp the who●e counsell of holland , vpon priuate reuenge : as also that of 〈◊〉 in scotland , where the like 〈◊〉 of powder was layd for the cruell murther of his ma. ties father , which not succeeding , his death was achieued by an other , no lesse bloudy , and barbarous , violence . x. but why ( i pray yow ) is this wofull attempt of those vnfortunate gentlemen , so often brought in agayne , and repeated almost in euery corner of this booke ? are they not executed , that were culpable therof ? and are not other catholicks deliuered from the guylt therof , by the long , and diligent search of iustice made thereabout ? the minister himselfe confesseth in his very next lynes , teh equity of his ma. tie to be such , as he professed in his proclamation , & parlament-speach , that be would not vse other catholicks the worse for that , wherof it followeth that he held them for guytlesse ; & that all those pressures both of cosciences & externall afflictiō which since that tyme they haue suffered , and do at this present , were designed before that , and begunne also to be put in execution ( as indeed they were ) and that the powder-treason was not a cause of these afflictions , but an effect rather : that is to say , that those gentlemen forseeing or knowing the course that was designed to be taken , and partly also put in practice , resolued vpon that miserable medium , to their owne destruction , and publike calamity . xi . but alas , is there no end of exprobration against the innocent for the nocent ? no compassion ? no commiseration ? if the clemency of his ma. tie in his gratious proclamation ( as heere is confessed ) gaue security , that , notwithstanding that headlong action of those few catholycke gentlemen , none of the profession should be the worse vsed for that cause ; how commeth it to passe , that so many aggrieuances haue byn heaped vpon them euer since , and are daylie , both by infamous libels published against them , as appeareth by the former t. m. his flaūderous discouery , and others mentioned in the answere therunto ; as also by the new oath , deuised for the vtter ouerthrow , both in soule , if they take it against their conscience , and of body , goods , and estimation , if they refuse it ? how come so many searches of their houses , spoyle of their goodes , apprehensions of their persons , afflictions of their tennants , seruants & friends , so many citations , attachments , vexations , and molestations , that dayly do flow vpon them , as if they were the only malefactours of the land ? xii . and now i pray yow let vs see , how this second t. m. ( if he be authour of the booke , as he is presumed ) doth speake of this oath , as of a thing of no pressure & preiudice at all . for hauing spoken of the former asseueration of his ma. tie , that none of that profession should be worse vsed for that cause , he adioyneth presently : only ( saith he ) at the next sitting downe againe of parliament a forme of oath was framed to be taken by all his ma. ties subiects , wherby they should make cleere profession of their resolution , faithfully to persist in his ma. ties obedience , according to their naturall allegiance : to the end , that heerby his ma. tie might make a separation of his subiects &c. by which exception of ( only ) a man may well perceaue , that this minister maketh litle accompt of taking , or not taking this oath , for so much as he supposeth catholike people to haue receaued no hard vsage therby , though they be brought into such extremityes , as either they must sweare against their owne iudgements , & conscience in diuers pointes , appertayning to their religion , or indure his ma. ties heauy displeasure , with losse of all , that in this ly●e is dearest vnto them : which no catholicke man can auoyd now in england , but he that maketh no scruple to sweate or vnsweare whatsoeuer turneth him best to his commodity , or superior authority doth impose vpon him . xiii . but against this , you will say , that two thinges heere are alledged , and auouched in his maiesties behalfe , by the authour of this pamphlet : the one , that , he intendeth no persecu●ion against catholickes for conscience cause , but only desireth to be secured of them for ciuill obedience : which if it be so , i see not , but that the matter may quickly be ended : for that i presume no catholicke in england , will deny to sweare all cyuill obedience that he oweth to his maiesty , or that any subiect hath euer in former catholicke times sworne to their leige lords or princes , or do in other countryes at this day . the other is , that very many ( sayth he ) of his maiesties subiects that were popishly affected , as well priests as laycks haue freely taken the same oath , wherby they both gaue his maiestie occasion to thinke the better of their fidelity & likewise freed them selues of that heauy slaunder . so he . and then followeth immediatly that his maiesty punisheth none for conscience cause , so they exhibite cyuill obedience . and why then are men kept in prison , after they haue taken this oath ? why are m. blackwell , and m. charnocke deteyned styll by the l. of canterbury ? why are recusants punished , & fyned for recusancy , though they take the oath of allegiance ? is not recusancie a cause of conscience ? do you see how these things do hold togeather . xiiii . to returne then to this booke , the writer saith , that the dyuell could not haue deuised a more malitious tricke , for interrupting this so calme and clement a course , then by sending hither and publishing a breue of the pope , counter-maunding all them of his profession , to take this oath , therby sowing new seedes of iealousy betweene his maiesty and his popish subiects . &c. but what was the calme & clement course before , all men know . for first men were vexed , spoyled , & imprisoned for recusancy ; then was the oath deuised to afflict their consciences : and in these afflictions what should catholicks do ? they first consulted the case which learned men at home ; then also abroad : and albeit at home , some were moued in respect of the compassion they had of the present perill , if it were refused , to thinke that in some sense the oath might be taken : yet none abroad were of that mynd : for that they allowed not of any sort of equiuocation in matters touching faith & religion . and in these , i heare say that the iesuites were among the chiefe & most forward , as heere also is confessed : who notwithstanding before were most accused , bayted and exagitated , both in bookes , pulpitts , and tribunalls , for allowing , in some points , the lawfull vse of equiuocation . xv. about this doubt , catholickes , according to their rule of subordination , and spirituall obedience in such affayres , referring the matter to the iudgment and consultation of their supreme pastour , whome by the principles of their religion they belieue , that our sauiour giueth assistance , for the direction of mens soules ; they receyued from him , after due deliberation , this answere , that the whole oath , as it lay , could not be admitted with the integritie of the catholicke faith. for that albeit diuers partes therof were lawfull , to wit , all such clauses , as appertained to the promise of ciuill and temporall obedience : yet other thinges , being interlaced and mixt therwith , which do detract from the spirituall authoritie of their said highest pastour ( at leastwise indirectly ) the whole oath , as it lieth , was made therby vnlawfull . xvi . and this i vnderstand to be the substance of the popes resolution and answere , though all these particularityes be not set downe in his breues , but onely the oath declared to be vnlawfull in conscience to catholicke men , as it lyeth , without distinction . and what malitious tricke of the diuell them , this may be thought , where sheepe do make recourse to their spirituall pastour , in so great and important occasions of their soules , as these are , i see not . do english catholickes any other thing in this , then that which all english subiects , both great and small , learned and vnlearned haue done , and practised from our first christian kinges , vntill the time of king henry the eight , vpon the point of a thousand yeares ? let the answere to sir edward cookes booke of reportes lately set forth , be examined ; whether it doth not shew , that in all those ages , recourse was euer made to the sea apostolicke , in like occasions , without preiudice of subiectes temporall dueties to their temporall princes . xvii . no one english christian king ( though they were many ) did euer absolutly deny recourse to rome in spirituall things ( notwithstanding in some other cyuill , or mixt matters , vpon different occasions , some restraintes were some tymes made ) from our first king ethelbert to king henry the eyght , as by the said discourse & answere is euidently proued : & much more throughout the noble rancke of the christian kinges of scotland , his ma. ties progenitours , vntill his most renowned progenitrix ( by whome , and from whom he hath his royall right of both crownes ) who is knowne & reputed throughout christendome , to haue died for defence of this catholicke doctrine : for so much , as if she would haue abandoned that , there had byn little doubt of making her away . and the like may be said of all other great christian and catholicke princes of our dayes , as the emperour himselfe , the potent kings , and monarches of spayne , france , polonia , and other states , common-wealthes , and potentates , do not thinke it any disgrace , diminution of honour , perill or iniury vnto them , that their subiects , for matters of conscience , do make recourse to the sea apostolicke , or that , which is consequent therof , the said sea , or generall pastour do interpose his iudgement , declaration , or decision in such affayres . xviii . this is the catholicke doctrine and practise : this hath bene in vse throughout christendome from all antiquity , & no where more then in our realmes of england and scotland , as hath byn said . in this beliefe and practice , liued and dyed all our forfathers , that were subiects , all our noble kings , that were our soueraignes , all our bishops and prelats , that were our pastours , all our great counsellours and lawyers , that by their wisdome and learning gouerned the land , all our nobility , gentry , priests and laytie : so as if now this be holden for a malitious tricke of the diuell , dishonorable and preiudiciall to his ma. tie , his soueraignty , crowne , dignity and security , as heere is insinuated , it must needs be , for that the diuell indeed hath made some change in other men , and matters , by altering of opinions and apprehensions . for the catholicks are the same that they were wont to be , and do thinke the same , belieue the same , teach the same , and practice the same , that all their predecessors haue done before them . xix . but to returne to the apologie . two mislikes are consequently set downe , after the former wordes : the first , that the pope did mittere falcem in alienam messem , by intermedling betweene his ma. tie and his subiects , especially in matters that meerely and only concerne cyuill obedience . the other , that he refuted not particulerly , what speciall wordes he quarrelled in that oath ; which if he had done ( saith the apologie ) it might haue byn , that his ma. tie for the fatherly care he hath , not to put any of his subiects to a needles extremity , might haue byn contented , in some sort , to haue reformed , or interpreted those words with his owne catholicks , and so had they byn therby fully eased in that busines ; or at leastwise , some appearance or shaddow of excuse , might haue byn left vnto them for refusing the same , vpon scrupulous tendernesse of conscience , &c. thus writeth he . which if he do bona fide , and haue besydes any inckling or insight in his ma. ties meaning indeed that way , for the ease or comfort of his afflicted catholicke people ; i doubt not , but that full satisfaction may be gyuen to his royall highnes , in these two poyntes that heere are set downe . xx. for first , about putting the popes hooke in another mans haruest , supposing , as we do , that wee treate of catholicke people only , and according to catholicke doctryne , and in matters belonging to catholicke mens soules and consciences ; it cannot be called messis aliena , an other mans haruest , that the pope dealeth in england , with such kynd of people , and in such causes , as well as in spayne , france , flanders , italie , germanie , polonia , and other states and kingdomes ; for that they are no lesse appertayning to his flocke , care , charge , and haruest , then the rest . neyther doth the materiall separation of our iland , separate vs from the vnion of one body , nor of one obedience to one & the selfe same general head and pastour , no more , then it doth from the vnion of one beliefe , and of one number and forme of sacraments , of one manner of seruice , and other like poyntes , belonging to the internall and externall vnitie of catholicke religion . xxi . but the apologie saith , that , his medling about this oath , is in matters , that meerly and only concerne cyuill obedience : and the same he repeateth in dyuers other partes and passages of this booke ; which if it be true , i will easely graunt that his ma. tie hath cause of iust mislike . but if this proue not so , and that the matters refused in the oath , are poyntes appertayning in deed to religion , then i hope , that by answering fully this poynt , we shall satisfy also the second , why it was not needfull for the pope to set downe any particuler confutation in his breues , but only to say ( as he doth ) in generall , that , the integrity of catholicke religion permitteth them not to take such an oath , in which , both cyuill and ecclesiasticall poynts are couched , and conioyned craftily togeather , with no small preiudice of the said catholicke religion . xxii . and how thē shall we cleare this importāt matter , vvhether there be any pointes in this oath belonging to religion , besydes cyuill obedience ? very easily : by foure seuerall , and distinct wayes . the first wherof shall be taken from the playne expresse wordes , sense , and drift of the oath it selfe : that besydes the acknowledgment of our soueraigne to be true king , and rightfull lord ouer all his dominions , and that , i will be a true loyall subiect vnto him , and other such like clauses , wherat no man sticketh or maketh difficulty ; the said oath conteyneth further , that , i must sweare in like manner some poyntes concerning the limitation of the popes authority , to wit , what he cannot do towards his ma. tie or his successours in any case whatsoeuer . which question being brought from the particuler hypothesis , to the generall thesis , concerning all kings ( for the like reason is also in others ) both in the one & the other ; it toucheth a poynt of doctryne and catholicke beliefe , concerning the sufficiency of pastorall authority , left by our sauiour in his church vnto s. peter and his successours , for redressing of all inconueniēces that may fall out , which i ( being a catholicke ) cannot in my conscience for●weare , without perill of euerlasting damnation . and this is one way of cleering the question . xxiii . an other is , to looke vpon the popes wordes in his breues , wherby will appeare , what his meaning was of the contents of the oath . wee haue heard ( saith he ) how yow are compelled by most grieuous punishments set before yow , to go to the churches of heretickes , to frequent their assemblyes , to be present at their sermons , &c. wherby we are moued by the zeale of our pastorall office , and by the paternall sollicitude which we haue for the saluatiō of your soules , to warne , & pray yow , in no sorte , to go to the said churches , nor to heare their sermons , nor to cōmunicate with them in any externall rytes , least yow do incurre the wrath of god therby . for that , it is not lawfull for yow to do these things without detriment of gods seruice , and of your owne saluation : as also yow may not , without most euident , and grieuous iniury of gods honour , bynd your selfe with the oath , which in like manner to our great griefe , we haue heard , to be administred vnto yow , of the tenour vnder written , &c. and then after the whole forme of the oath set downe , he writeth thus . vvhich things being so , it ought to be cleere , vnto yow , by the wordes themselues , that such an oath can not be taken without domage to the catholicke fayth , and health of your soules : for that it conte●eth many things against the said catholike saith , and health of your soules . xxiv . by these wordes of the breue , we may see playnly , that as the matter of going church , assemblyes , and sermons of those o● a contrary religion , are forbidden by him , as spirituall matters , and acts of a fa●● religion : so is the taking of the oath , not in regard of temporall & cyuil● obedience to his ma. tie ( which by a ●ormer breue his predecessour had permitted , and recommended to an catholicks soone after his highnes entrance vnto the crowne ; but for the admixture of other causes , appertayning to some poyntes of religion as before hath byn●●●d . xxv . the third proofe may be taken out of the ensuing ●etter of card. all bellarmine , who hauing diligently considered with other learned men , of the nature of this oath , doth therfore hold it to be vnlawfull , for that it is so compounded by artificiall ioyning togeather of temporall and spirituall things , cyuill obedience , and forswearing the popes authority , as ( to vse his wordes ) no man can professe his cyail● subiection , and detest treason and conspiracy ( by this oath : ) but he must be forced also to renounce the primacy of the sea apostolicke . and therfore he compareth it to the crafty composition , and commixture of images of the emperour iulian , & of the paynim gods , so coupled and combined togeather in his imperiall banner , as dutifull subiects that were christiās , & desyred to performe their temporall duety & cyuill honour to their soueraigne , could not bow downe to his picture , as the fashion was , but must seeme also to do the same to the heathen idols : which rather then they would do , they were content to suffer cruell death . so as in this case such as denyed to obey in that point , did it not for lacke of reuerence , and loyall affection to their emperour , as odiously it was obiected and amplified against them : but by reason of the mixture of things vnlawfull , with those that were lawfull : and the like plainly is heere in this case , where catholicks are wrongfully accused to deny their acknowledgment of cyuill obedience conteyned in this oath , for that they refuse to take the same : wheras their refusall is not for this , but for other clauses pertayning to their religion . xxvi . fourthly then , for a more full , and fynall cleering of this matter , i can thinke of no better , nor more forcible meane , then to make this reall offer , on the behalfe of euery english catholicke , for better satisfaction of his ma. tie in this poynt , so much vrged of their cyuill & temporall obedience . first that he will sweare , and acknowledge most willingly , all those partes , and clauses of the oath , that do any way appertaine to the ciuill , and temporall obedience due to his ma. tie , whome he acknowledgeth for his true and lawfull kyng and soueraigne ouer all his dominions , and that he will sweare vnto him , as much loyalty , as euer any catholicke subiect of england , did vnto their lawfull king in former tymes , and ages , before the change of king henry the eyght : or that any forraine subiect oweth , or ought to sweare to any catholicke prince whatsoeuer at this day . xxvii . secondly that for the pope , who , by the force of catholicke religion , is the supreme pastour of his soule , he hopeth in gods goodnes , that he will neuer attempt any thing in preiudice of his ma. tie , nor will he euer procure , of his part , that he do : but rather will seeke to stay , or let the same , as much as shall lye in his power ; praying hartily for them both . but for so much , as the question of his authority , what he might do , in certayne vrgent cases , for the preseruation of any countrey , and for the vniuersall good of gods church , is a matter belonging to doctrine & religion , he cannot with safety of his conscience sweare vnto the articles and branches of the oath touching that poynt . xxviii . heere then wee see that all ciuill obedience , and humble acknowledgment of all temporall duety is offered to his maiestie by his catholicke subiects , in most ample manner , that can be deuised , or that is offered to any christian catholicke prince lyuing . and if this be not accepted , then is it euident , that more is required , then meere and only ciuill obedience , as heere is often auouched . xxix . and now , for so much as it is said heere in like manner , that very many of his ma. ties subiects , that were popishly affected , as well priests as laycks , did freely take the same oath ( which he calleth a blessed successe frō god of this godly and wyse intent , in deuising and proposing the same : ) i shall be forced also to say somwhat of this matter , before i passe any further . and first of all , concerning the freedome , wherby it is heere said , that priests and laycks did freely take the same ; no man , i thinke , will deny , but that the taking of this oath is proposed by the statute it selfe vnder paine of the losse of all goods and lands , and perpetuall imprisonment to him , that shall refuse it : which is the very same freedome , and no other that a merchant hath in a tēpest , eyther to cast out his goodes into the sea , for lightening his ship , or to be drowned himselfe . and though aristotle in his ethicks do seeme to hold it to be simpliciter inuoluntarium , simply against the will of the doer , and catholicke deuynes , that it is inuoluntarium secundum quid , in part inuoluntary and simply voluntary , for that , all circumstances considered , he resolueth fynally to be the best to cast out his goods and saue himselfe : yet all agree in this , that freedome is taken away by this constraint of the passion of feare : for that freedome requyreth full liberty to both extreames or obiects , that are proposed ; which is not in our case . for that the displeasure of the prince , the losse of goods and liberty , the ruyne of his family , the terrour and perswasion of his friendes , are heauie poyses , and do mightily preponderate on the one side : and consequently the mention of this freedome , might haue beene pretermitted , for so much , as no constraint of humane will can be greater , then this . and yet is it said in the oath , that he must do it , both willingly and hartily , and as he belieueth in conscience . let the discreete reader consider what coherence there is in their tale . xxx . secondly , as for that multitude of priests , & laycks , which he sayeth , haue freely taken this oath ; as their freedome was that , which now i haue mentioned , and a principall motiue ( as may be presumed ) the desyre they had , to giue his ma. tie satisfaction , and deliuer themselues , and others so much as lay in them , from that inference of disloyall meaning , which vpon the denyall therof , some do vse to make : so i cannot , but in charity assure my self , that they being catholicks tooke the said oath ( for so much as concerneth the popes authority in dealing with temporall princes ) in some such lawfull sense , and interpretation , as ( being by them expressed , and accepted by the magistrate ) may stand with the integrity , and sincerity of true catholicke doctrine , and faith : to witt , that the pope hath not authority without iust cause , to proceed against them : quia illud possumus , quod iure possumus , saith the law : our authority is limited by iustice. directly also the pope may be denyed to haue such authority against princes , but indirectly only , in ordine ad spiritualia , and when certayne great , importāt , & vrgent cases , concerning christian religion fall out , which we hope will neuer be , betweene our soueraigne , and the sea apostolicke ; for so much as they haue past already , many yeares ( though in different religions ) in peace , and quietnes euen since his ma. tie began first to raigne . xxxi . but concerning the generall question , to deny simply and absolutely , that the pope is supreme pastour of the catholicke church , hath any authoritie left him by christ , eyther directly or indirectly , with cause , or without cause , in neuer so great a necessity , or for neuer so great and publicke an vtility of the christian religion , to proceed against any prince whatsoeuer temporally , for his restraint or amendment , or to permitt other princes to doe the same : this , i suppose , was neuer their meaning that tooke the oath ; for that they should therby contradict the generall consent of all catholicke deuines , and confesse , that gods prouidence , for the conseruation , and preseruation of his church , and kingdome vpon earth , had bene defectuous , for that he should haue left no lawful remedy , for so great and excessiue an euill , as that way might fail out . xxxii . wherefore , for so much as some such moderate meaning , must nedes be presumed , to haue bene in those that tooke the oath , for safeguard of their consciences ; if it might please his maiesty to like well , and allow of this moderation , and fauourable interpretation , as all ●orreyne catholicke kings and monarchs doe , without any prejudice at all of their safety , dignity , or imperiall preheminence : i doubt not but he should fynd most ready conformity in all his said english catholicke subiects , to take the said oath , who now haue great scruple & repugnance o● conscience therin : both for that the chiefest learned men of their church , doe hold the same for vtterly vnlawfull , being mixed and compounded , as it is , and the voyce o● their chiefe pastour , to whome by the rules of their religion , they thinke themselues bound to harken in like c●ses , hath vtterly condemned the same : and the very tenour of the oath it self , and last lines therof are , that euery one shall sweare without any equiuocation , or mentall reseruation at all , that is to say , hartily , willingly , & truely vpon the true faith of a christian. which being so , they see not how they may take the said oath in truth of cōsciēce : for so much , as they find no such willingnes in their harts , nor can they induce themselues in a matter so neerly concerning the confession of their faith , to equiuocate or sweare in any other sense , then from his maiesty is proposed : and therefore doe thinke it lesse hurt to deny plainly , and sincerely to sweare , then by swearing , neither to giue satisfaction to god , nor to his maiesty , nor to themselues , nor to their neighbours . and so much of this point . xxxiii . there followeth an other , which is the third , about this matter , where this apology saieth , that god did blesse this godly deuise and intent ( of making and vrging this oath ) by the admittance thereof by so many priests & la●cks : &c. which blessing ( if it be a blessing ) must concerne eyther the takers , or the exhibitours , or both . but for the takers , what inward blessing of comfort in conscience they may haue receaued thereby , i know not ; but for outward blessing , i see small , for they remaine , either in prisons , or vnder pressures still , as hath bene said . but for others of the same religion that cannot frame their consciences to take the said oath , and yet would gladly giue his royall maiesty contentment & satisfaction , so farre as they might , without offending god ; i can assure yow , that it is the greatest affliction of mynd , among other pressures , that euer fell vnto them . for that no violence , is like to that , which is laied vpon mens consciences ; for so much , as it lyeth in a mās owne will & resolutiō , to beare all other oppressions whatsoeuer , whether it be losse of goods , honours , dignityes , yea● of life it self : but the oppression of the conscience , no man may beare patiently , though he would neuer so faine . for if he yield therein , he offendeth god , and leeseth his soule : neyther doth metus cadens in constantem virum , feare that may terrify euen a constant man , excuse in this behalfe , as appeareth by the example of the auncient martyrs , who were forced , vnder paine of damnation , to stand out to death against all humaine power , vexations , torments , and highest violence , rather then to doe , say , or sweare any thing against their conscience . to all these men then , which are thowsands in our countrey , that neuer thought otherwise then to be good subiects to his maiesty , the deuising of this new oath , was no blessing , but an vnspeakeable affliction , and angariation of mynd . xxxiv . to the exhibitours also , i see not what blessing it could be , or can be , so extremely to vex other men without any profit , or emolument to themselues , or to his maiestyes seruice , which herin they would pretend to aduaunce . for if there be any cause of doubt , of loyall good will in them , that are forced to sweare against their consciences : much more cause and reason may there be of like doubt , after they haue so sworne , then before . for that the griefe of their new wound of conscience remayning full within them , and stirring them to more auersion of hart , for the iniury receaued , must needes worke contrary effects to that which is pretended . and whosoeuer will not sticke to sweare against his conscience for feare , fauour , or some other like passion , may be presumed , that he will as easily breake his oath , after he hath sworne , vpon like motiues , if occasions doe mooue him . and among all other passions , none is more strong , then that of reuenge for oppressions receaued : so as we read of the whole monarchy of spaine ouerthrowne , and giuen to the mores , for one passion of count iulian , wherby he desired to be reuenged of his king ●oderiquez . nothing then is gotten in this behalfe of loyall good will , by such extreame pressures , but much rather lost . xxxv . but besides all this , is the grieuous sinne which they commit , who force , & presse other men to sweare against their consciences , then which , almost nothing can be imagined more heinous : for it is to thrust men headlong ( especially such as are fearfull ) into the very precipitation and downfall of hell it selfe . for it is the highest degree of scandall actiue , so much condemned and detested in scriptures , and so dredfully threatned by our sauiour , to be seuerely punished in the life to come : for that scandalizing properly , is nothing else , but laying a stumbling-block for other men to fall , and breake their necks . and such a one is this formall oath , which conteyneth diuers things lawfull for a catholicke to sweare and other things vnlawfull : and he is forced by terrour to passe ouer , and swallow downe the one with the other , without distinction , with mani●est repugnance of his conscience ; which repugnance to him , is alwaies a synne , & damnable in such a publicke and weighty action , though the matter were lawfull in it self , and consequently also vnto them , that force him to the same , eyther knowing or suspecting his said repugnance of conscience . for he that should force a iew , or turke to sweare , that there were a blessed trinity , eyther knowing or suspecting that they would doe it against their conscience , should synne grieuously , by forcing them to committ that synne . this is catholicke doctrine , which i also thinke the learned protestants themselues will not deny . xxxvi . here if any man obiect , that among vs also men are vrged to take oathes , and to abiure their opinions in the tribunalls of inquisitions , and the like ; and consequently in this oath they may be forced vnder punishment to abiure the popes temporall authority in dealing with kings : i answere first , that if any hereticke , or other should be forced to abiure his opinions , with repugnance of conscience , it should be a synne to the inforcers , if they knew it , or suspected it . neyther is it practised or permitted ●n any catholicke court , that euer i knew . but yow will reply , that if he doe it not , he shall be punished by death , or otherwise , as the crime requireth , and canons appoint , and consequently the like may be vsed towards catholickes , that will not renounce their old opinions of the popes authoritye : but heere is a great difference ; for that the catholicke church hath ius acquisitum , auncient right ouer hereticks , as her due subiects , for that by their baptisme , they were made her subiects , and left her afterward , and went out of her ; and she vseth but her auncient manner of proceeding against them , as against all other of their kynd and quality from the beginning . but the protestant church of england hath nullum ius acquisitum vpon catholicks , that were in possession before them , for many hundred yeares , as is euident . neyther was there euer any such oath exacted at their hands , by any of their kings , in former catholicke tymes : neyther is there , by any catholicke forreyne monarch , now liuing vpon earth , and consequently , by no reason or right at all , can english catholicke men , be eyther forced or pressed to this oath against their conscience , or be punished , beaten , or destroyed , if for their conscience they refuse to take the same : humbly offering notwithstanding to their soueraigne , to giue him all other dutifull satisfaction , for their temporall obedience and allegiance , which of loyall catholicke subiectes may be exacted . and this shall suffice for this first point , concerning the contents and nature of the oath . now shall we passe to say somewhat of the breues , and answere made thereunto . concerning the popes tvvo breves , against the receauing of the oath . paragr . ii. the summe of the popes two breues the first of the 21. of september , anno 1606. the second of the 21. of august the next yeare following , is this : that wheras he had heard , that the catholicks of england , were very sorely pressed with a new deuised oath , against their consciēces , concerning certayne poyntes , appertayning to the authority of the sea apostolicke , in some cases ; he wrote the first breue , to admonish , comfort , and direct them ; signifying his harty sorie for their long continued afflictions , and exhorting them to patience , and constancy in defence of the integrity of catholike faith , and the purity of their owne consciences . and after this setting downe verbatim the whole oath , as it lyeth in the statute , he condemneth the taking therof , as vnlawfull vnto a catholicke man , in regard of diuers clauses therin conteyned , contrary to the said integrity of catholicke faith , and health of soules ; though in particuler , he descendeth not to dispute , or discusse the reasons , or poynts , therof , as became not a iudge : especially seeing ( as he saith ) the matters themselues be euident by the wordes of the breue . and wheras this first breue was soone after called into question by some , as not proceeding from the popes owne motion , and intention : his second breue was set forth to approue , ratify , and confirme the former ; assuring all catholicks , that both the one , and the other came from him directly , sincerely , & vpon due deliberation , and consequently ▪ that they were to be acknowledged , and obeyed by all true catholicke people . this is the summe of what the pope wrote : now lett vs see , what aduantage is taken by the apologer against the same . ii. first of all he felleth at the popes sorrow for catholicks afflictions , making them to be none at all : and wheras the late q. elizabeth is not so much as named in eyther of these breues , this man will needes bring her in perforce , and iustifie her actions against catholicke people , therby the more to animate his ma. tie to follow her example , setting downe this notorious fa●se position concerning her , and her doings , that according to his owne knowledge , her ma. tie never punished any papist for religion . which how he can iustify , or by what equiuocation mantayne , i know not . but being not content with this , he passeth further , and rageth exceedingly against those innocent priests , students , and others , that only for the profession of their religion , gaue vp their lyues vnder her , as by their inditements , and arraignements in publike record doth appeare , and concludeth finally both of her , and them , thus : this gracious princesse was as free from persecution , as these hellish instruments from the honour of martyrdome . and yet further , very profanely : hauing now sacrificed , as i may say ( quoth he ) to the manes of my defunct soueraigne , as well for the discharge of my particuler duty , as loue of verity ; i must next performe my duty also to his ma. tie present , &c. iii. wherunto a man might answere , that if he performe it with no more verity to his present soueraigne , then he hath done to his defunct soueraigne past ; he will gayne little grace ( i suppose ) with his ma. tie whom i hold to be of that noble nature , and magnanimity , as that he taketh such grosse-lying-flattery , father for iniury , then obsequie . but as for his heathen , prophane sacrificing to the manes or hob-gob-lins of his late lady ; i confesse , that it is an office fitter for a protestant-minister , that thinketh it vnlawfull to pray for her soule , to deale with her manes or infernal spirits , then with celestiall , by praying for her to saints . but would god these manes might now haue licence to appeare , and talke with him , and relate what passeth with her after all this ioylity , and ruffe in this world ; i doubt not but they would coole his excessiue veyne of flattering vanity . for if all the old platforme of saints lyues , prescribed in scriptures and practised by seruants of god , were not erroneous & vayne , as much fasting , continuall prayer , dayly mortification , frequent recollection , diligent chasticement of their bodyes , humble and feruent deuotion , labouring and working saluation in feare and trembling , aboundant almes-deedes , haire-cloth and ashes , contrition , sorrow and sobbing for synnes : if these things ( i say ) were the ancient wayes to lyfe , and to euerlasting saluation : then must the pathes of q. elizabeth , which are knowne by most men , to haue byn , eyther wholy different , or most opposite to these , lead to an other opposite end , quia vnusquisque recipiet , secundum opera sua . iv. but not to enter into these melancholicke matters of her manes , or of the other world , to make any certayne iudgement therof , before we arryue thither : i will only speake a word or two of the world present , and this with protestation , that it is wholy against my will , and against the generall inclination ( as i take it ) of all catholicke people , who would in charity be content , that the memory of her actions , & iniuryes against them , being neuer so many , & iniurious , were buried with her body ; as may well appeare by their long silence therin since her death . but the continuall egging of the aduersary is such , as forceth vs to say somwhat , for our owne defence , and for cleering the cause , and men , by her so eagerly and iniuriously pursued . v. this minister then , as in part you haue heard , maketh her , the most myld , dol●e , patient , and clement princesse in the world , euen vnto catholicks , whose bloud she shed so aboundantly , both at home , & abroad , during all the time of her raigne : nay , that her ma. tie neuer punished any papist for religion : and , that she was most free from all persecution : that she neuer medled with hard punishment of any catholicke , nor made any rigorous lawes against them before the excommunication of pope pius quintus , that was in the eleuenth yeare of her raigne : and yet is it knowne , and cannot be denyed , but that the most grieuous law , & oath of supremacie , & rigorous penall statute against saying , or hearing masse , were made long before that tyme : and that all the bishops , prelates , religious , & chiefe ecclesiasticall men were depryued , spoyled , imprisoned , or forced into banishment : and this before the pope vsed any censure against her at all : so exact , & punctuall is the truth of this ministers narration . and not content with this , he doth prosecute odious comparisons , betweene the pope , & her , laying all the origen of hurts and wickednes to him , and merit of vertue , and innocency to her , which is the very same , that is mentioned by the prophet , to call euill good , & good euill . vi. nor is he alone in this deuise , but that all ministers commonly , and ministers mates of later dayes haue taken vp this common place , to celebrate her high prayses , for disgrace of catholicks . and one among the rest , that for his place , should haue more equity and discretiō , hath declaymed vpon this matter in publicke audience more then once , especially vpon the occasion of certayn words in pope clements breue , where she is named misera foemina , a miserable woman ( in respect no doubt of the myseries of her soule , little respected by her : ) vpon which words the orator triumpheth thus , vvhat miserable ? it is said , that , miseria constat ex duobus contrariis , copia & inopia , copia tribulationis , & inopla consolationis , misery consisteth of two contraries , of aboundance , and penury , aboundance of tribulation , & penury of consola●ion . and then he sheweth in what aboundance of consolations q. elizabeth lyued in all her life , & without want of all tribulations : which if it were true ; yet is it but the argument which the worldlings vsed in the psalme , to proue their felicity , that their cellars are full , their sheepe fertile , theyr kyne fatt , they suffer no losse : and then , beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt ; happy did they call the people that had these things . but the holy ghost scorneth them , and so may all men do our orator , that vseth and vrgeth so base an argument , in so high a matter . vii . and as for his definition of miserie , by copia and inopia , store and want , it is a miserable one indeed , and neuer heard of before , i thinke , to come from any mans mouth , but his owne : it being ridiculous in philosophy , and fitt to be applyed to any thing that hath either store or want : as a wise man in this sort may be defined to be him , that hath store of witt , and want of folly ; and a foole to be him , that hath store of follie , and want of witt ; and so a rich man is he that hath store of riches and want of beggary , and a poore man is he , that hath store of beggary , and penury of riches . and are not these goodly definitions ( thinke you ) for so great and graue a man to produce ? viii . but to returne to the matter it selfe of q. elizabeth her store of consolations , and penury of desolations in this life , vvho ( saith this our orator ) was so myraculously protected by god , so strengthened and fortified , as she did beate her most potent enemy , did sett vp a king in his kingdome , de●ended nations , harboured distressed people , and the like . supposing all this were true , that she had such temporall felicity in this lyfe , and were so miraculously protected , strengthened , and fortifyed by god as heere is said : yea and that it were euident , that god had chosen her for his elected seruant ( which yet doth not appeare ) and gyuen her that tytle and power , to afflict the catholicks : yet had that byn no more , then we read in the scriptures to haue byn gyuen to dyuers pagan princes , and namely to nabuchodonosor , of whom ieremy the prophet testifyeth in sundry places of his prophesy , that god chose him , called him his seruant , and gaue him speciall power , fauour , & protection to afflict his people . ego dedi omnes terras istas in manu nabuchodonosor regis babylonis serui mei , saith god : i haue gyuen all these countryes into the hands of nabuchodonosor king of babylon my seruant , and all nations shall serue him , & yield obedience to him , and to his sonne , and sonnes some : and what soeuer nation shall not serue him , & bow his necke vnder his yoke , i will visite that nation with the sword , with famyne , and with plague , till i haue consumed them by his hand . and agayne in an other place : i will choose vnto me my seruāt nabuchodonosor king of babylon , & will bring him vpon this land , and vpon all the inhabitants therof , and vpon all nations round about &c. and yet further god said vnto ieremy : thus saith the lord of hostes , i shall take vnto me my seruant nabuchodonosor , and shall place his throne vpon these stones &c. ix . by all which is euident that syr edward cookes argument is worth nothing : that for so much as god so miraculously protected q. elizabeth , ( if it were myraculous , ) so strengthened , and fortifyed her , as she did beate her most potent enemy , & did set vp an other king in his kingdome ( 〈◊〉 any such thing were : ) yet this did not make her happie . as neyther it did nabuchodonosor , of whome god said in the same place , that when he had serued his turne of him , and wrought his will by his hand , and people , for the purging or his owne elect ; he would visit vpon him also , and his countrey , and that in a ●arre more grieuous sort : ponam i●am in solitudines sempiternas , & reddam eis secundum opera eorum , & secundum facta manuum suarum : i shall make that countrey , all euer a●●ng w●●de●nes , and shall res●ore to them ( that afflicted my peop●e ) according to their workes , and to the deeds of their owne handes against my people . this then was his ●e●icity to be a scourge to others , and fynally also to himselfe most of all . x. and the like . i doubt not , may be said of q. elizabeths ●licity agains● catholicks , it we knew all , that in the last day or iudgment will appeare , and wherof her lamētable end may gyue great presage to them that are wise . for that for a woman of so long and large a lyfe , as hors was , to passe hence to eternity with so small sense or 〈◊〉 of god , as neuer so much , as to name him , nor to suffer * others to bring in any speach therof , as they attempted to do , is so pitti●ull an end , as can lightly said to a christian soule : the story or which vpshot o●hers , i haue read written by a person of much credit that was present at all her last sicknes , combats , and death , and relateth all that passed as an eye witnesse , which i passe ouer for breuity and modestyes sake ; but it will remayne to posterity , as a dreadfull patterne of a miserable end , after a lyfe of so much ioylitie . xi . and thus much for spirituall infelicityes , reaching to the next world , and lyfe or death to come . but if we would rest our selues only vpon vayne & brickle felicityes of this world , they were not ( alas ) so great in queene elizabeth , but that they were mingled and interlaced with many , and great infelicityes in like manner , and these such , as did euen in the eyes of worldly men , ouerpoise the other , especially with them that repute honour and dishonour among humane felicityes , & infelicityes . for what more dishonorable infelicity can there be , then that which standeth in capito libri of q. elizabeths lyfe ? to witt , the publike solemne statute , and act of parliament , made within few dayes after she was borne , vpon the 28. yeare of king henryes raigne , and yet extant in print , wherin it is declared , not only by the iudgment of the king , and of a●l that parliament , but by the iudiciall sentence also of archbishop cranmer , she was pronounced , to be vnlawfully borne , and that her mother was neuer king henryes lawfull wyfe : wherupō the said statute vseth these wordes : that it was against all honour , equity , and good conscience , that the said elizabeth should succeed in the imperiall crowne of england . and could there be any greater worldly infelicity thēthis . xii . i let passe many other infelicities , which happened by her occasion to sundry , as well vnder the raigne of king edward , as the ruyne of the seymers vpon the admiralls falling in loue with her , and making away his former wife queene catherine parre to enioy her ; as also vnder queene marie , when so many rebellions of vviat , courtney , carewes , stafford , & others , were made for her . but her owne raigne had most infelicities for her , if they were well considered : and i could touch many , but modestie forbiddeth . and least i should seeme to speak out of reuenge , let this one consideration serue for all ; that after all her afflicting catholicks , and by that exercise , vpon the egging of others , more then of her owne propension , she was drawne into continuall suspitions , ●eares , and frights of her mynd and spirit , euen in the midst or all these sensuall delights , & contentments ( admired so much by her attorney ) which draue her to a point , wherunto by nature she was not thought much inclyned , and by profession and protestations , she most condemned in others , to wit , cruelty , which in effect was such , out of the fore said feares , towards catholicke religion , as neuer perhaps ( yea without perhaps ) were so many seuerall lawes , & punishments deuised by any one persecutour , nor many putt togeather , as are extant of hers in print , against the pro●essours of that religion , wherof herselfe had byn one , and in secret or priuate speaches also would not deny , to be in sundry poyntes , euen to her dying day . and was not this a great in felicity ? when strāgers do read & behold her edicts & statutes , wherin not only the whole vse of catholicke religion is condemned , and vnder greiuous punishment prohibited : but men are forced also , by rigorous penall lawes to go to the churches of a contrary religion , to communicate with them , to do acts , and sweare against their owne religion , faith and consciences : that there are seuere punishments , of losse of goods and lands , for receyuing an agnus dei , or a medall , or crucifix : greiuous punishments , for keeping of a catholicke seruant , or schoolemaister to teach and bring vp their children , or to send them ouer seas to catholicke schooles : yea , that it is the payne of death it selfe to be reconciled , by confessing his synnes to the roman church , or to the vnion of ●aith , with the head therof , or to perswade another to be a catholicke , or do the same : when they read these things ( i say ) and many others , which for breuity i pretermitt , and that all this notwithstanding , she would not haue it said , that she persecuted any for religion ( which in manner this apologer sticketh not to auouch ) nor put any priest to death for that cause in deed , wheras notwithstāding she shed the bloud of aboue one hūdred and thirty , that might haue had their lyues euen at the last cast , if in this one point of religion they would haue yielded neuer so little . all this ( i say ) being read and considered , seemeth vnto forreiners a strange infelicity both of body and soule . xiii especially when it is considered to what perpetuall iealosy at length she was brought vnto , of all sorts of people , puritans , papists , yea of her owne dearest , as the death of the earle of essex , and his followers , doth easily declare . neyther was there any weeke lightly , but that she had some new feares , of some priest or iesuite , or catholicke soldiours sent from flanders , france , or italy to kill her by violence , others from spayne , and other countryes to poyson her , or at at least , her * chaire . and vponsuch fancyes , men must be made away for greater terrour ; yea iewes must be brought in also in this kynd of pretended poysoning , as the case of doctor lopez well declareth . nay further this gryping passion of feare and iealosy did so vexe & consume her inwardly , as she was neuer well , vntill she had made away , against all law of nature and nations , the nearest vnto her in royall bloud , that lyued vpon earth , and coequall with her in dignity , if in sundry respects not superiour , i meane his ma. ties noble renowned mother , queene of france & scotland , that by force of the former statute , which declared this other for illegitimate and incapable of the crowne ( as now yow haue heard ) should haue enioyed the crowne of england presently after the death of q. marie , & consequently his ma. tie had enioyed the same 38. yeares at least , before he came vnto it after her death , who of all other lyuing creatures , is knowne most hartily to haue hated that yssue & succession . and as she went about to disinable the same in the very roote & foūtayne it selfe , by seeking the disgrace of the ofspring , by dishonour of the origen : so neuer ceased she afterward to continue practises against them both , vntill she had wracked the one , and brought the other also to great probability therof , if she might haue lyued to her will , or haue dyed with such vse of senses and iudgment , as might haue made way to her bad affections in that behalfe . xiv . well then , all this i haue beene inforced to speake vpon this occasion : first to represse somwhat therby the insultation of our foresaid orator , in calling her , the happy queene , the blessed queene , whose vnmatched wisedome , and vnconquered prowesse ( to vse his words ) crowned her the peerlesse wonder of her sexe . all which tendeth to the exprobration of catholicks , for hauing had so happy & peerles a persecutour ; and to the insultation also ouer the pope , for calling her in his breue , as he saith , miseram foeminam , a miserable woman : which how true or false it is , i leaue to the prudent reader out of the former discourse , about her byrth , youth , age and end , to censure . xv. secondly i do heerin but imitate the first ancient fathers , that wrote for defence of those holy martyrs , that dyed for christian religion in the primitiue church , as namely , iustinus martyr , irenaeus , tertullian , and others , who to comfort the afflicted , and to honour more their cause , did put them in mynd what manner of people their first persecutours were ; as namely nero and domitian , what lyfe they led , what end they made , and the like ; and that indeed they were fit instruments , to be the first , in such a worke . and the like we may say to catholicks of q. elizabeth , that she being the strangest woman that euer was borne for diuers circumstances , now partly touched , and the first absolutly of that sexe , eyther christian or created , that tooke vpon her supreme power in spirituall and ecclesiasticall matters ; it must needes be some comfort to catholicke people , that god chose such an instrument to be their first scourge , out of all woman kynd . xvi . and lastly , for that this apologer will needs take vpon him , to sacrifice to her manes : i thought my selfe obliged to offer some incense in like māner to the same , for mitigating the euill sent , which that notorious vntrue assertion must needs import , to the senses of all vnderstanding readers : that , queene elizabeth neuer punished any papist for religion , nor made any rigorous law against them , before pius quintus his excommunication , nor since that tyme , but vpon priuate plots , machinations , &c. for cleare confutation wherof , i remit those of the elder sort that lyue in england , to their owne eyes , eares , and other externall senses , and those of yonger age , to the books of statutes , of q. elizabeths tyme , iohn stowes chronicle , and other such publicke records . and so much of this poynt . xvii . next after these exaggerations of the clemency and indulgence of q. elizabeth towards catholicks , this apologer passeth on to bestow some of his adulation , and oleum peccatoris , vpon his ma. tie in like manner that now raigneth , telling vs , that his kyndnes and benefits bestowed vpon that sort of people , haue bene farre greater then those of q. elizabeth ; which may easily be , as , by that , which hath bene touched , may appeare . yet do we verily perswade our selues , that if his highnes had byn left to himselfe , and to his owne royall nature , and noble disposition in this poynt ( as * q. elizabeth was wont to say of her disposition in religion ) we had tasted , indeed , much of this his great humanity , and so we began , for some tyme : but being preuented and diuerted by the subtile workings of this , and other such ministers , as desyred to draw bloud , and to incite his maiestie against vs , we hauing no place to speake for our selues , no admittance to be heard , no effectuall intercessour to interpose his mediation for vs ; no maruaile though wee were cast of , and do indure the smart . xviii . and i do name this minister ( t. m. the yonger ) in the first place among the rest , for that it is commonly said , that his whole exercise is sycophancy and calumniation against men of our profession , be they strangers , or domesticall : and that among other deuises , he hath this ; that euery tyme his ma. tie is to take his repast , he is ready , eyther with some tale , iest , scoffe , or other bitter lance to wound vs absent , and that he hath euer lightly , some booke and page therof , ready to read to his highnes , somewhat framed by his art to incense or auert his ma. tie more , eyther in iudgement , or affection , or both ; and therby to draw from him some hard speaches , which being published afterward by himselfe , and others , do serue to no other end , but to ga●l and alienate myndes , and to afflict them , that are not suffered to giue reason for themselues . and that is the seruice he doth his ma. tie in this exercise . xix . and as for the places themselues , which he vseth to bring forth with his wet finger , as is said , we are to imagine , that they are no better , nor more fitly applyed , then such as he hath sett forth against vs in this booke , & perhaps somewhat worse , for that he might probably thinke , that this booke would be examined , comming forth with so great pretence of authority , as it doth : and therfore if heere yow fynd him to vse calumniation , & most impertinent citation of authours , and authorityes , eyther wholy making against himselfe , or nothing for his purpose , or against vs : then may yow thinke what liberty he will take to himselfe there in speach , where no man is like to contradict him , but all applause is expected from the standers by . xx. let vs heare , if yow please , one exaggeration of his , concerning his ma. ties myldnes vnto vs , and our ingratitude in abusing the same to pryde . his ma. ties gouernment ( saith he ) ouer them hath so far exceeded that of q. elizabeth , in mercy and clemency , as the papists themselues grew to that height of pryde , in confidence to his myldnes , as they did directly expect , and assuredly promise to themselues liberty of conscience , and equality with vs in all things , that are his best , and faithfull subiects &c. do you see what a height of pride this was ? and what an abuse of his maiesties mercie and clemencie , to expect libertie of conscience ? why had he not obiected in like manner , that they expected the libertie of breathing , and vsing the common ayre , as well as protestants ? for that neither breathing , nor the vse of cōmon ayre , is more due vnto them , or common to all , then ought to be libertie of conscience to christian men , wherby ech one liueth to god , and to himselfe , and without which he strugleth with the torment of a continuall lingring death . xxi . and surely , i cannot but wonder , that this minister was not ashamed to call this the height of pride , which is generally found in all protestants neuer so humble : yea the more humble , and vnderlings they are , the more earnest are they both in bookes , speaches , and preachings , to proue that liberty of conscience is most conforme to gods law , and that wresting , or forcing of consciences , is the highest tyranny , that can be exercised vpon man. and this we may see first , in all m. fox his history , especially during the time of the three king henries , 4. 5. and 6. and afterward , when those that were called lollards , and vvickcliffians , who as m. fox saith , were indeed good protestants , being pressed somewhat about their religion , did continually beate vpon this argumēt of libertie of conscience , and when they obteyned it not , they set vp publicke schedles vpon the church dores of london , and made those famous conspiracyes of killing k. henry the 5. and all his family , which are recounted by vvalsingham , stow , fox , and other english historiographers . xxii . in this our age also , the first oppositiō of protestant princes in germanie , against their emperour charles the 5. both at smalcald , austburgh , and other meetings ; as afterwards also the fierce and perillous warrs by the duke of saxony , marques of brandeburge , and other protestant princes , and their people , against the same emperour , begunne in the very same yeare that our k. henry dyed . were they not all for lyberty of conscience ? so pretended , so printed , so published , so diuulged to the world ? the first supplications , memorialls , and declarations in like manner , which the protestants of france set forth in print : as also they of holland , & zeland in tyme of the gouernments , as well of the duchesse of parma , duke of alua , commendador mayor , and other gouernours : did they not all expresly professe , that their principall griefes were , about liberty of conscience restrayned . and did not they cyte many places of scriptures , to proue the equity & necessity therof ? and do not all protestants the like at this day , in all places , where they are , both in polonia , austria , hungaria , bohemia , styria , and els where ? and how thē is iordanis conuersus retrorsum , with this minister ? how is his voyce contrary to the voyce & sense of all the rest ? how , & with what reason , may he call it the height of pryde in english catholicks , to haue but hope therof , which is so ordinary a doctrine & practice of all his brethren in forraine nations , to witt , for vs to expect liberty of conscience , at the first entrance of our new king , of so noble , and royall a mynd before that tyme , as he was neuer knowne to be giuen to cruelty , or persecutiō in his former raigne ? the sonne of such a mother , as held her selfe much beholden to english catholicks ? and himselfe in his litle golden * booke to his sonne the prince , had confessed that he had euer found the catholicke party most trusty vnto him , and therupon had done sundry fauours to diuers of them , and gyuen no small hope of greater vnto others ? xxiii . from this king ( i say ) whom they so much loued , and honoured , receyued so gladly , and with vniuersall ioy , meant to serue faithfully ; & trusted that as he had vnited the two kingdomes in one obedience by his succession : so would he by his liberality , vnite and conioyne the harts of all his subiects , in bearing a sweete and equall hand towards them all : from such a king ( i sa● ) or vs to expect liberty of consciēce , and equality with other subiects ( in this poynt at least of freedome of soule ) what height of pryde may it be called ? may it not rather seeme height of pryde in this minister , & his ●ellowes , that hauing byn● o●d enemyes , and alwayes borne a hard , & hate u●●hand , and tongue against his ma. tie both in their sermons , bookes , speaches , all the tyme of the late queenes raigne ; now vpon the suddayne sine vllis meri is praecede●●ious , will needs be so priuiledged , & assume vnto themselues such a confident presumption of his ma. ties speciall fauour , as to suffer no man to stand by them , but to hold it for height of pryde in vs , to hope ●or any freedome and liberty o● our conscience at al● ? what is height of pryde and so●l● , i● this be not ? xxiv . but his ma. tie is wise , & will , as we hope , according to his prudence , in tyme , looke into this sort o●men , and manner of proceeding . and to returne to the apologer , he reckoneth vp ( therby to exaggerate the more our ingratitude ) the particuler fauours his ma. tie did vnto vs , at his first entrance , as , that he did honour diuers catholicks with knighthood , being open recusants : that , he gaue audiece indifferently to both sydes : bestowed equally fauours and honours vpon both professions : gaue free con●inuall accesse to all rankes , and degrees of papists in his court and company : freeing recusantes from their ordinarie payments : gaue order to his iudges with his owne mouth , to spare execution of all priests , though they were conuicted : gaue libertie by his gracious proclamation to all priests not taken , to go out of the countrey by such a day , and all priestes that were taken , were sent ouer , and sett at liberty : and many other gracious fauours & benefittes : vvhich ( saith he ) tyme and paper would fayle me if i would make enumeration of them all : in recounting wherof euery scrape of my pen ( so vse his words ) would serue but for a blott of the popes ingratitude , and iniustice in meating his ma. tie with so hard a measure for the same . so as i thinke ( quoth he ) i haue sufficiently wiped of the teares from the popes eyes , for complayning vpon such persecution &c. xxv . thus writeth this man , who , in naming the popes ingratitude , must much more include ours , that are catholicks ; for that these benefitts , such as they were , appertayned nothing to the pope , but only in christian charity , as a common spirituall father and pastour , he being otherwise a stranger vnto vs in bloud , and for other worldly respects . and as for catholicks , they accept gratefully , whatsoeuer least fauour hath byn , or is done vnto them : and do not doubt , but that if his ma. tie had not bene preuented by sinister information , & persuasion of others , they had tasted of much greater , as due vnto them , in that they are naturall borne subiects of the realme , most loyall in hart & affection , & neuer meaning otherwise , but to liue in most orderly and dutifull subiection and obedience to his highnes , as to their liege lord and soueraigne . xxvi . and wheras this man , for proofe of the contrary , nameth the powder-treason of a few , therby to discredite the whole , though this calumniation haue beene answered before : yet now i ad further , as one said , distingue tempora , & scripturam concordabis , if there had bene no persecution before that treason , this might haue beene assigned for some probable cause of the subsequent tribulations : but all england knoweth , that this is not so , but that his ma. ties sweete & myld aspect towards catholicks at his first entrance , was soone , by art of their enemyes , auerted long before the conspiracy fell out . for that , not only all the most cruell statutes and penall lawes made by q. elizabeth were renewed and confirmed before this , with addition of others , tending to no lesse rigour & acerbitie : but also the exaction of the same was put in practice with great seueritie ; & namely the paymēt of the twenty poundes a moneth , or two partes of their goods and landes for recusants ( once remitted by his ma. tie as heere is confessed ) were not only recalled againe : but the arrearages therof in like manner exacted ; and for leuying wherof , throughout sundry shyres of the realme ( especially in the north ) there was such ransacking of mens houses , such dryuing away of their cattell frō their groundes , such strayning of their rents , such vexing of their tennants ( not knowne perhaps to his ma. tie ) as if the whole countrey had byn gyuen ouer to spoyle & desolation . xxvii . nor were mens goods and persons only afflicted , but the lyues also of sundry taken away for cause of their religion before this powder-treason fell out : which desperate treason , to ascribe as an effect and fruite of too much clemency in his ma. tie ( as this minister doth ) is a strange assertion , no doubt : for so much , as such effects do not proceed , but of exasperated myndes ; which clemency worketh not , eyther in men or beasts . neyther did euer any learned philosopher , that wrote of the good institution of any common wealth , or of the security of any prince in his gouernment , put such effects for fruits of clemency , but rather of the contrary manner of proceeding . and if all the disasterous ends of the most vnfortunate princes , that euer haue byn destroyed , should be layd togeather , and the causes therof exactly inquired , it would be found so : and consequently that this minister is no good counsellour to his ma. tie in this so great & weighty affayre . and we hope that almighty god , by the mercy of his dearest sonne our sauiour , and through the prayers of his ma. ties good mother , and other holy princes of his royall bloud now in heauen , will neuer suffer him , at the egging of such exasperating people , to follow so violent , troublesome , and dangerous a course , and so contrary to theirs , whiles they lyued vpon earth , and so alienate from his owne sweete nature and princely disposition . xxviii . but to proceed a litle further in the narration of some poyntes of heauy persecutiō , that insued soone after his ma. ties being in england , much before the powder-treason was attempted : who doth not know what afflictions were layd vpon catholicks , euen in the very first yeare of his ma. ties raigne , especially towards the end therof , & much more throughout all the second yeare , before the said powder-treason fell out . for then not only in the shires and prouinces abroad : but euen in london it sel●e , and in the eyes of the court , the violence , and insolency of continuall searches grew to be such , as was intollerable ; no night passing commonly , but that souldiours , & catch-poles brake into quiet mens houses , when they were asleepe , and not only carryed away their persons vnto prisons at their pleasure , except they would brybe them excessiuely , but whatsoeuer liked them best besydes in the house , eyther of bookes , cuppes , chalices , or other furniture , that might any wayes seeme , or be pretended to belong to religion , was taken for a prey , and seazed on . and among others , i remember , that one frend of myne , had a drinking cuppe of syluer taken from him , for that it had the name of iesvs engrauen vpon it , though otherwise the forme therof did well shew , that it was but a cuppe , & no chalice . and these searches were made with such violence , and insolency , as diuers gētlewomē were drawne or forced out of their beds , to see whether they had any sacred thing , or matter belonging to the vse of catholick religion , either about them , or vnder their bedds . xxix . what shall i speake of the casting into prisons , & condemnation to death of many catholicks for the same cause , in euery corner lightly of the countrey , as namely in london of m. hill the priest , and this only for his function , and for comming into england against the statutes of queene elizabeth to the contrary ? of m. sugar also an other priest in vvarwicke , that was not only condemned , but * executed withall rigour in that cittie for the same cause , and a lay man with him named robert grysold , for receyuing him into his house ? at oxford also foure priests being taken at that tyme whose names were m. greene , tichborne , smith , and brisco , all had sentence of death passed vpon them ; though after many afflictions suffered in the pryson there , which made them desyre much the speedy execution of the sentence gyuen against them , they had insteed of this one death , many deathes layd vpon them , by sending them prisoners to the castle of vvisbich , where they receyued such cruell vsage both in their diet , lodging & other treatie , as made euen dyuers protestants to take compassion of them . and why was all this , but for their religion ? xxx . i let passe the condemnation to death of a poore man in oxford named shitell , for that the priest m. greene had fledde into his house , when he was pursued by the searchers , through which condemnation , & perpetuall imprisonment therupon ensuing , were brought to extreme misery & calamity , his poore wyfe and children , most lamentable to behold , or heare recounted . and vpon like occasion was apprehended , imprisoned , condemned , & executed in yorke , about the same tyme , an other lay-man named thomas vvylborne , only for that he had vsed some words of perswasion to a certayne woman to be a catholicke , notwithstanding the prohibition of her husband , who followed so hoatly the matter against him , as he caused him to be put to death . i pretermit m. ris shelley a gentlewoman of good worshipp , cast into the common iayle at vvorcester for that the priest m. hassells , was found in her house . the apprehension in like manner , & condemning to death of m. edward tempest priest and gentlemā in london at the same tyme. i passe ouer the cruell sentence of cutting of the ears , of so ancient & venerable a gentlemam , as is m. tho. pound , that had lyued aboue thirty yeares in sundry prisons only for being a catholicke , and now last in his old age , had that honour from god , as to be sentenced to leese his eares and stand on the pillorie in dyuers markets , for complayning of hard measure , & iniust execution , vsed against catholicks , contrary ( as he presumed ) to his ma. ties intention . xxxi . and fynally i passe ouer what was practised in herefordshire , lancashire , & other places in this kynd of persecution , and particulerly concerning the new angariation and pressure , then first brought vp , that men should be boūd to pay for their wyues , that were recusāts , a thing neuer before exacted in the former queenes tyme. i pretermit also to mētion , how his m. tie before this , had reiected the cōmon , & humble supplication of catholicks , exhibited in writing for some toleratiō , & mitigation of the calamityes : the which supplication was answered with contēpt & insultatiō by a minister , and put in print . his ma. tie in like manner had gyuen publike audience both to protestants & puritanes for three dayes togeather , concerning the differences of their religion : but to catholicks he neuer yealded to gyue any at all . and how then can this apologer talke so much of equality vsed in all fauours ? how can he say , that there was no persecution before the powder-treason ? xxxii . but let vs go forward yet somewhat further : his maiestie had before this tyme vpon other mens importunity , confirmed , and ratified by his letters patents , all that heape of constitutions , and canons , ( being in number aboue an hundred & fourty ) which the bb. of london & canterbury , had deuised , & set forth against catholicks , for their greater vexation , & affliction . out of which hath flowed since a huge sea of molestations and exagitations , by searchings , spoyles citations , apprehensions , excommunications , and other violences , vpon innocent and quiet people , by the rauenous hungry purseuants of those prelats , and other their catch-poles , without respect , either of iustice , or hope of remedy , for iniuryes by them offered . there had passed also before this , the speach of the l. chancelour in the star-chamber , and the sermon of the b. of london at paules-crosse , both of them tending to take all hope from catholicks of any least fauour , that might be expected , and the former expresly charging the iudges in his ma. ties name , to vse all seuerity in seeking out and punishing them . which things being seene , and ●arre worse feared , yea designed also and threatned , as those gentlemen apprehended it , ( especially at the next parlament ) cast them into that wofull impatience , and precipitation , which the euent declared . xxxiii . all this then which the apologer heere telleth vs , of catholicks ingratitude for so many benefits receyued , during his ma. ties raigne , and , that it is a mayne vntruth ( to vse his words ) and can neuer be proued , that any persecution hath beene in his said ma. ties gouernment , or that any were , or are put to death or punished for cause of conscience , is such a kynd of speach , as if it were told in the indies , many thousand myles of , where nothing is knowne of our countryes affayres , might perhaps fynd some hearers that would belieue it : but in england to auouch such a thing in print , where all mens outward senses , eyes & eares are witnesses of the cōtrary , is a strange boldnes . for as for persecution in goods and lands , as also of mens bodyes by imprisonment , and other vexations , who can deny the same , that will not shut his said eyes , or eares , from seing and hearing that which daylie passeth within the realme . and when nothing els were : yet those two seuerall and most memorable statutes , to witt , the 4. and 5. made in the third yeare of this kings raigne , conteyning more seuerall heads of affliction , and angariation against catholicke-recusants for their meere conscience , then euer , perhaps , in the world were seene extant , against any one sorte of wicked men , or malefactors before ; do easely conuince the vntruth of this asseueration about freedome from persecution . and as for death , which is lesse greiuous to many then those other persecutions , the late example of m. robert drury , and now againe these last monethes past , of m. matthew flathers , & m. geruis priestes ( to omit others ) that dyed expresly for refusing this late deuised oath , since the powder-treason , cannot , i thinke , be answered , except he will say , that this oath hath no matter of conscience in it for a catholicke man to receaue : the contrary wherof we haue euidently shewed before , by many demonstrations . xxxiv . wherfore , that which he addeth immediatly , insinuating , and expresly threatning , that as there hath beene no persecution , or putting to death before ( which is not true as i haue shewed : ) so now forsomuch as the pope hath interposed his authority , and forbidden the oath as vnlawfull , there may chance be greater persecution , and more aboundant shedding of bloud , which ( as he saith ) must light vpon the popes head , for this his prohibition : all this ( i say ) is so spoken as ech man may see , whither it tendeth : to witt , to incyte his ma. tie by such deuises , to ingulfe himselfe into the effusion of catholickes bloud , casting on the pretence , and veile of the popes intermedling , as cause therof : which is an ancient art of deceipt , to giue non causam , pro causa : for that no iniury is euer offered vnder the name of iniury , but of iustice or merit . and our sauiour was crucified as a deceyuer of the people , & disloyall to caesar : and s. paul pursued as a disturber of the weal-publicke and peace . and no suffering is so honourable , as that which commeth with a dishonourable title : so as english catholickes must not be dismaied when they suffer for the false imputation of ciuill disloyaltie to their temporall prince , being witting to themselues , that it is indeed for their religion , and loyalty to god , their eternall prince , and supreme king. and this only shall suffice for this matter . for if catholickes further affliction be determined by their aduersaries , and permitted by god , pretences will not want how to do it . the prouerbe is already knowne , facile inuenies baculum , vt canem caedas , as also the fable of aesope , that the lambe must be slayne , for that drinking farre beneath the well , he was pretended not withstanding , to haue troubled the fountaine . catholicks must be beaten , for that the pope hath resolued a case of conscience , that men may not sweare against their owne religion . all be to the glory of god , and then fynally will they leese nothing therby , which is the only comfort in such manner of sufferings . the second part of this paragraph . one other poynt only is handled by the apologer in this paragraph , which is a large insultation against the pope , for that he sayth in his breue , as heere is alledged , that the oath cannot be taken with safety of the catholicke faith , and of their soules health ; since it conteyneth many things , that are playnly , & directly contrary to their faith and saluation . and albeit the word ( directly ) be conueyed in heere , which is not in the popes breue , & is of no small momēt , as all deuines know in this matter , and therfore ought not to haue byn thrust in , as the popes word , in a different distinct letter : yet not to stand vpon that , but vpon more grosser poyntes , and more iniurious , he presently vseth the speach , which is reported to haue byn of auerroes the mahometan philosopher against moyses law-giuer of the iewes , multa dicit , sed pauca probat , he saith much but proueth little , and presently passeth to this insultation , how the naturall allegiance of subiects to their prince , can be directly opposite ( marke how he serueth himselfe of his owne word shifted into the text ) to the faith and saluation of soules , is farre beyond my simple reading in deuinity , as i must it a strange and new assertion to proceed out of the mouth of that pretended generall pastour of christian soules . xxxvi . heere now what abuse is offered to the words and meaning of the breue , euery simple reader will see , without any explication from me : for that the pope doth not prohibite naturall obedience in things lawfull ; nor doth say , that such naturall , or cyuill obedience is opposite to faith or saluation of soules ; nor that the oath is vnlawfull , for exhibiting such naturall , or cyuill obedience : but for that , besydes this exaction of naturall obedience , which is lawfull , it conteyneth diuers other poyntes also , concerning matters of catholicke religion : which poyntes being so conioyned , and couched with the other , as the one cānot be sworne without those other , do make the whole oath vnlawfull , as it lyeth , without distinction , as before hath byn declared . so as this charge is now proued , to be but a meere cauill , and calumniation , & voluntary mistaking of the question and controuersy in hand . xxxvii . and yet doth he so insist in it , and so dilateth himselfe vpon this false surmised principle ( that cyuill obedience is denyed ) as though all his discourse and treatise depended only of this ( as indeed it doth , ) and therfore he entreth into the confutation therof with a great florish of scriptures , fathers , and councells ( wherin he and his do abound , when they say the same that we do , but otherwise are altogether barren ) as though in earnest we did deny it : which thing neuer so much as passed through our cogitations , but do hold and teach that subiects are bound to obey their temporall princes in all things lawfull , and those not only good princes , but bad also : and not only out of feare or flattery , but out of conscience , as the apostle teacheth propter conscientiam , for conscience sake , but not contra conscientiam , against conscience . which being so ; all is meerly impertinent , that is alledged heere by the apologer , out of scriptures , fathers , and councels , to proue , that which we grant without proofe , & neuer denyed : which is , that temporal princes are duely to be obeyed for conscience sake , so long as they command nothing against conscience . but let them shew but one only authority , sentence , example or testimony out of any of these three kind of witnesses , scriptures , fathers , or councells , that we must obey princes against our conscience , or religion , and i will grant he sayth somewhat to the purpose , otherwise he doth but leese tyme , and abuse his reader in making him belieue , that he saith somwhat when he saith nothing . let vs examyne therfore some of his examples if yow please . xxxviii . he alledgeth for examples out of the scriptures , that the children of israel obeyed the king of babylon , as also they exhibited temporall obedience vnto king pharao of egypt ; as in like manner to cyrus king of persia : all which examples we grant to be true , and could ad many more , both of the iewes , and christians that lyued peaceably vnder infidell princes in those dayes . but lett one example ( as i said ) be brought forth , wherin they obeyed them in poynts contrarie to their conscience or religion , and it shall be sufficient . we read in the prophesie of daniel , that those three famous iewes , sidrach , misach , and abdenago , were most trustie vnto king nabuchodonosor in temporall affayres , and so much esteemed by him , as he made them his vniuersall gouernors ouer all the workes of the region of babylon , saith the scripture : and yet when it came to the poynt , that he would haue them for his honour and pleasure , and vpon his commandement , adore the golden statua , which he had set vp ; they forsooke him flatly , and said to him in the presence o all his nobility assembled togeather , that they were not so much as to answere him in that commandement , nor would they do , as he had appoynted them . xxxix . the like in effect did the ancienter iewes do with king pharao of egypt ; for that albeit in temporall affayres they obeyed him , euen in that tyme when he oppressed , and persecuted them most : yet in that he would haue had them stay and sacrifice in egypt , and not follow moyses their spirituall superiour into the desert ( notwithstanding that the king had some cause perhaps to suspect their temporall allegiance , also by that departure , they being a potent multitude of people : ) yet would they not obey him , nor do as he would haue them , when they persuaded themselues that god would haue the contrary . xl. i lett passe how daniel and his fellowes would not eate the meates of the king of babylon , nor tobie those of the asyrians , & much lesse would he leaue of to bury the dead , though it were forbidden by proclamation vnder payne of death , the machabees in like manner obeyed king antiochus so long , as he commanded nothing against their law and conscience : but when he went about to force them to sacrifice , and to eate swynes-flesh , and other things against their law and conscience , they refused openly to performe that obedience . so as these places of scriptures alledged by the apologer , do proue nothing for him at all , but are rather flatt against him , and for vs , as yow haue seene . xli . and much more do make against him , his authorityes alledged out of the ancient fathers , for that they go about to proue the very same poynt that we heere hold , that in temporall & cyuill affayres we must obey dutifully our temporall princes , though infidels or pagans : but not in matters concerning god , our religion , or conscience . and his very first example out of s. augustine is such , as i maruaile much , that he would cyte the same , but that somwhat for shew must be alleadged : for it maketh so clearly & directly against him , as if it had beene written purposely to confute him in this our case . but let vs heare what it is . agreable to the scriptures ( saith he ) did the fathers teach . augustine speaking of iulian , saith thus : iulian was an vnbelieuing emperour , was he not an apostata ? an oppressor , and an idolatour ? christiā souldiours serued that vnbelieuing emperour : when they came to the cause of christ , they would acknowledge no lord , but him that is in heauen : when he would haue them worship idolls & sacrifice , they preferred god before him : but when he said , go forth to fight , inuade such a nation , they presently obeyed : they distinguished their eternall lord from their temporall , and yet were they subiect euen vnto their temporall lord , for his sake , that was their eternall lord and maister . thus he . xlii . and can any thing be spoken more cleerly for vs , and for our cause , then this ? for euen thus do we offer to our king & soueraigne : we will serue him : we will obey him : we will go to warre with him : we will fight for him : and we will do all other offices belonging to temporall duty : but when the cause of christ commeth in hand , who is lord of our consciences , or any matter concerning the same , or our religion ; there we do , as s. augustine heere appoynteth vs , preferre our eternall king , before our temporall . xliii . and like to these are all the other places of fathers cyted by him , who distinguish expresly betweene the temporall honour and allegiance due to the emperour , and the other of our religion , & conscience , belonging only to god. and to that playne sense are tertullians words cyted by the apologer : vve honour the emperour in such sorte as is lawfull for vs , and expedient for him ▪ as a man second after god , and as hauing receyued from god , whatsoeuer he is , and only lesse then god. and will not the catholicks of england vse this speach also vnto their king ? or will the apologer himselfe deny that tertullian heere meant nothing els , but in temporall affayres , for much as the emperour at that tyme were heathen & gentils , and consequently were not to be obeyed in any poynt against christian faith or religion ? xliv . the like playne doctrine haue the words of iustinus martyr to the emperour himselfe , cyted heere in the third place , to witt : vve only adore god , and in all other things wee cheerfully performe seruice to yow , professing yow to be emperours , and princes of men . and do not all english catholiks say the same at this day , that in all other things , that concerne not god & his obedience , by rule of catholicke religion , they offer cheerfully to serue his ma. tie , acknowledging him to be their liege lord and king , & inferiour only to god in his temporall gouernment ? and how then are these , and such other places brought in for witnesse , as though they had somwhat to say against vs ? xlv . the other two sentēces , in like manner cyted out of optatus , and s. ambrose , the first saying : that ouer the emperour there is none , but only god , that made the emperour . and the other , that teares were his weapons against the armes , & souldiours of the emperours : that he neyther ought , or could resist : neyther of them do make any thing against vs , or for the apologer , euen as they are heere nakedly cyted , without declaration of the circumstances : for that in temporall affayres the king or emperour is supreme , next vnder god. and when the emperour will vse secular ●orces against the priests of his dominion , they , being no souldiours , must fall to prayers , and teares , which are priestly weapons . but what ? did s. ambrose by this acknowledge that the emperour had higher authority , then he , in church-matters ? or that if he had offered him an oath , repugnant to his religion , or conscience , in those matters he would haue obeyed , or acknowledged his superiority ? no truly . for in three seuerall occasions that fell out , he flatly denyed the same , which this apologer craftily dissembleth , and saith not a word therof . xlvi . the first was , when he was cited by dalmatius the iribune , bringing with him a publicke notarie to testifie the same , in the name of the emperour valentinian the yonger , to come and conferre , or dispute with the hereticall bishop auxentius , in the presence of his ma. tie and other of his nobility and counsell , which poynt s. ambrose refused vtterly to do , tellyng the emperour playnly by a letter , written vnto him ; that in matters of faith and religion bishops must iudge of emperours , and not emperours of bishops . and dyuers other doctrines , by this occasion , he taught him to that effect , as is to be seene in the same epistle . xlvii . the second occasion fell out the very next yeare after in milane , when the said emperour , by suite of the arrians , and fauour of iustina the empresse on their behalfe , made a decree that a certayne church of that citty should be deliuered to the said arrians : which decree s. ambrose the bishop refused to obey . and when the emperours officers comming with armes , vrged greatly to giue possession of the church , he fled to his former weapons of weeping and praying : ego missam facere caepi &c. i began to say masse , and when the tēporall magistrate vrged still , that the emperour vsed but his owne right , in appoynting that church to be deliuered , s. ambrose answered , quae diuina sunt , imperatoriae potestati non esse subiecta : that such things as belonge to god , are not subiect to the imperiall power . and thus answered s. ambrose about the gyuing vp of a materiall church . what would he haue said in greater matters . xlviii . the third occasion was , when the emperour sent his tribunes , and other officers to require certayne vessells belonging to the church to be deliuered , which s. ambrose constantly denyed to do , saying : that in this , he could not obey : and further adding , that if the emperour did loue him selfe , he should abstayne from offering such iniury vnto christ. and in another place , handling the same more at large , he saith : that he gaue to cesar that which was cesars , and to god that which belonged to god : but that the temple of god could not be the right of cesar , which we speake ( saith he ) to the emperours honour . for what is more honourable vnto him , then that he being an emperour , be called a child of the church , for that a good emperour is within the church , but not aboue the church . so s. ambrose . what would he haue done , or said , if he had bene pressed with an oath against his conscience , or any least poynt of his religion ? il. neyther doth the last place cyted out of s. gregorie the great to the emperour mauritius make any thing more for our apologers purpose of taking oathes against conscience . for albeit the same father do greatly complayne in dyuers places of the oppression of the church by the kingly power of mauritius , whome ( though otherwise a catholicke emperour ) he compareth in that poynt to nero and dioclesian , saying : quid nero ? quid dioclesianus ? quid denique iste , quihoc tēpore ecclesiam persequitur ? nunquid non omnes portae inferi ? what was nero ? what was dioclesian ? what is he who at this tyme , doth persecute the church ? are they not all gates of hell ? yet in this place alledged by the apologer , he yealded to publish & send abroad into diuers countryes and prouinces , a certayne vniust law of the said emperours , that prohibited souldiours , and such as had byn imployed in matters of publike accōpts of the commō wealth , to make themselues monkes : which law , though s. gregorie did greatly mislike , and wrote sharply against it , to the emperour himselfe : yet to shew his due respect in temporall things vnto him , and for that indeed the law was not absolutly so euill , but that in some good sense , it might be tolerated , to witt , that soldiours sworne to the emperors warres , might not ( during the said oath & obligatiō ) be receaued into monasteryes , but with the princes licence : yet for that it tended to the abridgment of ecclesiasticall freedome , in taking that course or state of lyfe , which ech man chooset● for the good of his soule ; s. gregorie misliked the same , and dealt earnestly with the emperour to relinquish it , or to suffer it to be so moderated , as it might stand without preiudice of christian liberty : wherunto the emperour at length yealded , and so s. gregorie sent the same abroad vnto diuers primates and archbishoppes of sundry kingdomes mencioned by him , but corrected first and reduced by himself , as supreme pastour , to a reasonable lawfulnes , and temperate moderation : to witt , that those who had borne offices of charge in the common wealth , and after desyred to be admitted to religious life in monasteryes , should not be receyued , vntill they had gyuen vp their full accompts , & had obteyned publicke discharge for the same . and that soldiours which demanded the like admittance , should be exactly tryed , and not admitted vnto monassicall habite , but after they had lyued three yeares in their lay apparell , vnder probation . l. this determineth s. gregorie in his epistle , beginning , greg●ri●s 〈◊〉 thessalo●consi , vrbicio dirachitano , &c. adding further in the same epistle , as hath byn said , de qua re , seren●inus & christanissimus imperator omnimdo pl●ca●●r : about which matter our most clement and christian emperour is wholy pleased and content . so as in this s. gregorie shewed his pastorall care and power , in limiting and moderating the emperours law , according to the law of god , though in temporall respectes he shewed him the obedience , that was due vnto him . but what is this vnto our oath ? may we thinke that s. gregory , that would not passe a temporall law of the emperour , without reprehension of the vnlawfulnes therof to the emperour himselfe , and correction thero● in the publication , for that indirectly it did intringe the liberty of religious life , when men were called therunto , that he would not haue much more resisted the admission of an oath , about such affayres , if it had beene proposed ? no man , i thinke , in reason can imagine the contrary . li. the last thing thē that is cited without purpose by this apologer , are certayne councels , which are said to haue submitted thems●lues to emperours , as that of arles in france vnto charles the great their king for that in the last wordes of the said councell , the bishopps there gathered togeather presenting the same to the same charles write thus : hae sub breuitate , quae emendatione digna perspeximus , &c. these things briefly which we haue seene worthy of reformation , wee haue noted & deemed to be presented to our lord the emperour , beseeching his clemency if any thing be wanting to supply it by his wysedome ; and if any thing be otherwise done then reason requireth , it be amended by his iudgement ; and if any thing be reasonably censured , it may be perfected by his helpe , and by the clemency of almighty god. so the councell . and heerof would the apologer inferre that this councell of bishops submitted it selfe to the emperour . lii . but i would aske him wherin ? to take any oath that the emperour charles should propose vnto them ? wee see no oath offered , nor mentioned , and so nothing heere to our purpose . wherin then , or why are they said to haue submitted themselues ? for that , perhaps , it is said in the preface of the councell , that they were gathered togeather by order , and commandement of the said emperour . surely it was hard , that so many bishops , & archbishops should be assembled togeather without his liking , and order . but that the consent , direction , and chiefe commission for the same , came from the bishop of rome , may easily be gathered : for that in the first councell that he caused to be celebrated in his dominions , which was that of vvormes in the yeare of christ 770. it was left registred in these wordes : auctoritas ecclesiastica , atque canonica docet , non debere , absque sententia romani pontificis , concilia celebrari . ecclesiasticall and canonicall authority teacheth , that councels may not be held , without the allowance of the bishop of rome . liii . and wherin thē ? or why is this submission made ? for approbation of matters cōcerning faith ? no , for that yow haue heard before out of s. ambrose , that therin emperours are not iudges of bishops , but bishops of emperours . wherin then , or why is this submission , or rather remission to the emperour , and his iudgmēt ? it was , for that this councell was made onely for reformation of manners and matters , at the religious instāce of the good emperour , the effectuating wherof did depend principally of his good will and assistance , and so after the first canon , where briefly is set downe the confession of the christian faith , all the other 25. canons ( for there are only 26. in all ) are about reformation of matters amisse : as for more diligence in daylie prayer for the emperours person , and his children , to wit , that a masses and litanies be said daylie for them , by all bishops , abbots , monks , and priests . b that bishops and priests study more diligently , and teach the people , both by lessons and preachings : c that lay men may not put out priests of their benefices , without the sentence of the bishop , nor that they take money of them for collation of the said benefices : d that none be admitted to enter into the monasteryes of virgins , eyther to say mass● , or otherwise , but such as be o● approued vertue : e how peace is to be held betweene bishops , earles , and other great men , especially in execution of iustice : f that weightes and measures be iust and equall , and that none worke vpon holy dayes : g that all tythes be payd , all ancient possessions mantayned to the churches : that no secular courtes be held in churches , or church porches : that no earles , or other great men do ●raudulently buy poore mens goodes , &c. liv. these then were the pointes of reformation , decreed in that councell of arles , at the instance of charles the great , who was so zealous a prince in this behalfe , as he caused fiue seuerall councells to be celebrated in diuers partes of his dominions , within one yeare , to wit , this of arles , an other at towers , a third at chalons , a fourth at mentz , the fifth at rhemes , and another the yeare before ( which was the fixt ) ad theodonis villam , which is a towne in luxemburge . all which prouinciall synodes are extant in the third tome of coūcells , togeather , with the canons and decrees , which are such as could not be put in execution , but by the temporall fauour , authoritie , and approbation of the emperour in such matters , as concerned his temporall kingdome and iurisdiction . wherfore if for these respects , the councell did present vnto the emperour these canons to be cōsidered of by his wisedome , whether any thing were to be added , altered , or taken away , for the publicke good of the common wealth ( no controuersy of faith being treated therin ) what is this to proue , eyther , that the emperour in spirituall matters was superiour to the said bishops , or that if he had proposed vnto them any such oath , as this is , wherin by professing their temporall allegiance , they must also haue impugned some poynt of their faith , that they would haue obeyed him ? and so much of this councell . lv. and for that , all the other authorityes of other councels heere cyted , do tend only to this end of prouing temporall obedience , which we deny not , but do offer the same most willingly : we shall not stand to answere or examine any more of them , but shall ●nd this paragraph , with laying downe the insultation of this apologer against the pope , vpō his owne voluntary mistaking the question . i read ( sayth he ) in the scriptures , that christ said , his kingdome was not of this world , bidding vs to giue to cesar that which was cesars , and to god that which was gods : and i euer held it for an infallible maxime in deuinity , that temporall obedience to a temporall magistrate , did nothing repugne to matters o● faith o● saluation of soules . but that euer temporall obedience was against faith and saluation of sou●es , as in this breue is alledged , was neuer before heard or read of in the christian church ; and therfore , i would haue wished the pope , be●ore he had set downe this commandement to all papists heere , that since in him is the power , by the infallibility of his spirit , to make new articles of faith , when euer it shall please him ; that he had first set it downe for an article of faith , before he had commanded all catholicks to belieue , and obey it . so he . lvi . and i maruaile , that a man professing learning , would euer so tryfle , or rather wrangle , and wrongfully charge his aduersary : for that i fynde no such thing in the breue at all , as that temporall obedience is against faith and saluation of soules : nor doth the breue forbid it : nor doth any learned catholicke affirme , that the pope hath power to make new articles of faith : nay rather it is the full consent of all catholicke deuines , that the pope , and all the church togeather , cannot make any one new article of beliefe , that was not truth before , though they may explane what points are to be held for matters of faith , & what not , vpon any new heresies or doubts arising : which articles so declared , though they be more particulerly , and perspicuously knowne now for points of faith , and so to be belieued , after the declaration of the church then before : yet had they before the self same truth in themselues , that now they haue . nor hath the said church added any thing to them , but this declaration only . as for example , when salomon declared the true mother of the child that was in doubt , he made her not the true mother thereby , nor added any thing to the truth of her being the mother : but only the declaration . wherefore this also of ascribing power to the pope of making new articles of faith , is a meere calumniation amongst the rest . lvii . there followeth his conclusion : i will then conclude ( saith he ) my answere to this point in a dilemma : eyther it is lawfull to obey the soueraigne in temporall things or not . if it be lawfull , as i neuer heard or read it doubted of : then why is the pope so vniust and cruell towards his owne catholicks , as to commaund them to disobey their soueraignes lawfull commandement ? if it be vnlawfull , why hath he not expressed any one cause or reason therof ? but this dilemma is easily dissolued , or rather falleth of it self , both his pillers being but broken reeds , framed out of false suppositions : for that the pope neyther denyeth it , to be lawfull , to obey the soueraigne in cyuill and temporall things nor doth he command catholicks to disobey their prince his lawfull commādements : but only where they be vnlawful to be performed , as he supposeth them to be in the taking of this oath . wherof he expresseth sundry causes , and reasons , i meane , so many as the oath it self cōteyneth points cōcerning religion : to which end , he setteth downe the whole oath , as it lyeth , with intimation , that those points cannot be sworne with integrity of catholicke religion , & good conscience : which is sufficient for a iudge , who disputeth not , but determineth . so as , hereupon to make illation of the popes vniust , and cruell dealing towards catholicks , by this his decision , as though he sorbad ciuill obedience ; is to buyld vpon a voluntary false ground , supposing , or rather imposing the pope to say , that which he doth not , and then to refute him , as though he had said it indeed . and is this good dealing ? lviii . but yet he goeth forward vpon the same false ground to buyld more accusations against the pope , saying : that if the foundation of his exhorting catholicks to beare patiently their tribulations , be false ( as this apologer auoucheth it to be ) then it can worke no other effect , then to make him guylty of the bloud of so many of his sheep , whome he doth thus willfully cast away , not only to the needles losse of their liues , and ruyne of their famylies : but euen to the laying on of a perpetuall slander vpon all papists . as it no zealous papist could be a true subiect to his prince : and that religion , and the temporall obedience to the cyuill magistrate , were two things incompatible and repugnant in themselues . thus he . lix . but who doth not see that these be all iniurious inferences , inforced vpon the former false suppositions , to witt , that catholicks suffer nothing for their conscience , that there is no persecution at all in england , that there is nothing exacted by this last oath , but only and meerly cyuill obedience , and that in this , the pope exhorteth them to disobey the temporall prince in temporall dutyes , and thereby giueth iust occasion to the prince to vse his sword against them , and consequently that he is cause of the effusion of their bloud , and of the infamy of catholicke religion : as though no catholicke by his religion could be a true subiect to his temporall prince . all which suppositions being vtterly mistaken , and not true , the more often they are repeated , the more exorbitant seemeth the ouersight of the wryter . and in my opinion , the very same might haue bene obiected vnto s. cyprian and other fathers of the primitiue church , that they were guylty of so many martyrs bloud , willfully cast away , and of the ruyne of their familyes , and other inconueniences , by exhorting them not to doe against their consciences , nor to yield to their temporall princes commandements against god and their religion : no not for any torments that might be layd vpon them , nor for any losses that might fall vnto them , of goods , life , honour , same , friendes , wife , children , or the like , which were ordinary exhortations in those daies of persecution , as by their bookes yet extant doth appeare . lx. neyther is it sufficient to say , that those tymes and ours are different , for that the things then demaunded were apparantly vnlawfull , but these not : for that , to vs that are catholicks , these things are as vnlawfull now , as those other were then to them , for that they are no lesse against our consciences in matters of religion . for why should it be more damnable then , and indispensable to deliuer vp a byble , or new testament , for examples sake , when the emperour commaunded it , then now to sweare an oath against our conscience and religion , when our temporall prince exacteth it ? for that this , perhaps , is called the oath of allegiance ? who knoweth not , that the fayrest tytle is put vpon the fowlest matter , when it is to be persuaded or exacted ? and he that shall read the historyes of that tyme , and of those auncient afflictions , shall see that act also to haue beene required , as of obedience and allegiance , and not of religion , being only the deliuery vp of materiall bookes : and yet did the whole church of god condemne them for it , that deliuered the same , and held for true martyrs , all those that dyed for denying thereof , for that they would not doe an act against their consciences . lxi . well then , to draw to an end of this second paragraph about the two breues of paulus quintus , two things more writeth this apologer , whereunto i must in like manner say somewhat . the first is , that pope clemens octauus sent into england , two breues immediatly before the late queenes death , for debarring of his maiestie , our now soueraigne , of the crowne , or any other , that eyther would professe , or any way tolerate the professours of our religion , contrary ( saieth he ) to his manifold vowes , and protestations , simul & eodem tempore , and , as it were , deliuered , vno & eodem spiritu , to diuers of his maiestyes ministers abroade , professing all kyndenes , and shewing all forwardnes to aduance him to this crowne , &c. wherein still i fynde the same veyne of exaggeration , and calumniation continued by the apologer . for hauing procured some knowledge of those two breues , i fynde them not sent into england togeather , nor immediatly before the late queenes death , but the one diuers yeares before shee dyed , and the other after her death , and this to different effects . for in the first , the pope being consulted , what catholicks were bound to doe in conscience , for admitting a new prince after the queene should be dead , for so much as some of different religions , were , or might be , pretenders ; he determined that a catholicke was to be preferred , not thinking ( as may be presumed ) to preiudice therein his maiesty that now is , of whome , vpon the relations , and earnest asseuerations of those his maiestyes ministers abroad , who heere are mentioned , he had conceaued firme hope , that his highnes was not farre from being a catholicke , or at least wise not altogeather so alienate from that religion , or professours therof , as reasonable hope might not be conceaued of his conuersion : though in regard of not preiudicing his tytle in england , the said ministers auouched , that it was not thought expedient at that tyme to make declaration therof . lxii . this was auerred then , how truly or falsly i know not . but many letters and testifications are extant hereof , which were the cause of those demonstrations of clemens octauus , to fauour his m. ties tytle , which he did so hartily and effectually , as when he , after the queenes death , vnderstood that he was called for into england , he wrote presently the second breue , exhorting all catholicks to receaue and obey him willingly , hoping that at leastwise they should be permitted to liue peaceably vnder him . and this is the very truth of those two breues : nor was there in the former any one word against his maiesty then of scotland ; and much lesse that he was therin called the scottish hereticke , as syr edward cooke hath deuised since , and falsely vttered in print without shame or conscience . nor was there any such wordes , as heere are alleadged , against any that would but tolerate the professours of protestants religion : nor was there any such double dealing or dissimulation in pope clement his speaches , or doings , concerning his ma. ty as heere are set downe . but the truth is , that he loued his person most hartily , and alwaies spake honourably of him , treated kindely all those of his nation , that said they came from him , or any wayes belonged vnto him : and often tymes vsed more liberality that way , vpon diuers occasions , then is conuenient , perhaps , for me to vtter heere : caused speciall prayer to be made for his maiesty , wherof , i suppose , his highnes cannot altogeather be ignorant , and much lesse can so noble a nature be ingrate for the same , which assureth me , that those things vtterd by this apologer , so farre from the truth , could not be conferred with his maiesty , but vttered by the authour therof , vpon his owne splene , against the pope , and such as are of his religion . lxiii . the second and last point affirmed by the apologer in this paragraph , is , that the first of these two breues of paulus quintus was iudged to be farre against deuinity , policy , and naturall sense , by sundry catholicks , not of the simpler sort , but of the best account both for learning and experience among them , wherof the archpriest was one , and consequently , that it was held but for a counterfaite libell , deuised in hatred of the pope . &c. all this ( i say ) hath much calumniation in it , and litle truth . for albeit some might doubt , perhaps , whether it came immediatly from the pope , ex motu proprio , or only from the congregation of the inquisition , vpon defectuous information of the state of the question in england ( of which doubt , notwithstanding , if any were , there could be little ground : ) yet no catholicke of iudgement or piety , would euer passe so farre , as to iudge it contrary to deuinity , policy , or naturall sense , and much lesse , to be a libell deuised in hatred of the pope . these are but deuises of the minister-apologer : and he offereth much iniury to so reuerend a man as the archpriest is , to name him in so odious a matter , but that his end therin is well knowne . and if there were any such doubt , or might be before , of the lawfulnes of the first breue , now is the matter cleered by the second ; and so all men see thereby , what is the sentence of the sea apostolicke therein , which is sufficient for catholicke men , that haue learned to obey , and to submitt their iudgements to those , whome god hath appointed for the declaration , and decision of such doubts . and thus much about those two breues . now let vs see what is said to cardinall bellarmyne , for writing to m. blackwell in this affaire . abovt cardinall bellarmines letter to m. r blackvvell : and answere giuen thereunto , by the apologer . paragr . iii. the last part of this apology concerneth a letter written by cardinall bellarmine in rome , vnto george blackwell arch-priest in england : which letter , as appeareth by the argument therof , was written out of this occasion : that wheras vpon the comming forth of the forenamed new oath , intituled , of allegiance , there were found diuers poynts combined togeather , some appertayning manifestly to ciuill allegiance , wherat no man made scruple , some other seeming to include other matters , contrary to some part of the catholicke faith , at least in the common sense as they ly ; there arose a doubt whether the said oath might be taken simply and wholy , by a catholicke man , as it is there proposed without any further distinction , or explication thereof . wherupon some learned men at home being different in opinions , the case was consulted abroad , where all agreed ( as before hath byn shewed ) that it could not be taken wholy with safety of conscience , and so also the pope declared the case by two seuerall breues . ii. in the meane space it happened , that m. blackwell being taken , was committed to prison , and soone after , as he had byn of opinion before , that the said oath might be taken as it lay in a certayne sense ; so it being offred vnto him , he tooke it himselfe . which thing being noysed abroad , and the fact generally misliked by all sortes of catholicke people in other realmes , as offensiue , and scandalous in regard of his place , and person , so much respected by them : cardinall bellarmine , as hauing had some old acquaintance with him in former yeares , as it may seeme , resolued out of his particuler loue , & zeale to the common cause of religion , and speciall affection to his person , to write a letter vnto him , therby to let him know what reportes , and iudgment there was made of his fact , throughout those partes of christendome where he remayned , togeather with his owne opinion also , which consisted in two poynts , the one that the oath , as it stood , compounded of different clauses , some lawfull , & some vnlawfull , could not be taken with safety of conscience : the other , that he being in the dignity he was of prelacy , and pastorall charge , ought to stand firme and constant for example of others , & rather to suffer any kynd of danger or domage , then to yield to any vnlawfull thing , such as the cardinall held this oath to be . iii. this letter was written vpon the 28. day of september 1607. and it was subscribed thus in latyn ; admodum r. dae dom. is vae . frater & seruus in christo. robertus card. bellarminus . which our apologer translateth , your very reuerēd brother : wheras the word very reuerend in the letter , is gyuen to the arch-priest , and not to card. bellarmine , which the interpreter knew well inough , but that wanting other matter , would take occasion of cauilling by a wilfull mistaking of his owne , as often he doth throughout this answere to bellarmine , as in part will appeare by the few notes which heere i am to set downe , leauing the morefull answere to the cardinall himselfe , or some other by his appoyntment , which i doubt not , but will yield very ample satisfaction in that behalfe . for that , in truth , i fynd , that great aduantage is gyuen vnto him , for the defence of his said epistle , and that the exceptions taken there against it , be very weake and light , and as easy to be dissolued by him , and his penne , as a thin mist by the beames of the sunne . iiii. as for example , the first exception is ( which no doubt were great , if it were true in such a man as cardinall bellarmine is ) that he hath mistaken the whole state of the questiō , in his writing to m. blackwell , going about to impugne only the old oath of supremacy , in steed of this new oath , entituled , of allegiance : but this is most cleerly refuted by the very first lynes almost of the letter it self . for that telling m. blackwell , how sory he was vpon the report , that he had taken illicitum iuramentum , an vnlafull oath , he expoundeth presently , what oath he meaneth , saying : not therfore ( deare brother ) is that oath lawfull , for that it is offered somwhat tempered & modifyed , &c. which is euidently meant of the new oath of allegiance , not only tempered with diuers lawfull clauses of ciuill obedience , as hath byn shewed , but interlaced also with other members , that reach to religion : wheras the old oath of supremacie , hath no such mixture , but is playnly , and simply set downe , for absolute excluding the popes supremacie in causes ecclesiasticall , and for making the king supreme head of the church in the same causes : all which is most euident by the statutes made about the same , from the 25 yeare of king henry the 8. vnto the end of the raigne of king edward the sixt . v. only i do heere note by the way , that the apologer in setting downe the forme of the oath of supremacie saith : i a. b. do vtterly testifie , and declare in my conscience , that the kings highnes is the only supreme gouernour , as well in all causes spirituall as temporall , wheras in the statute of 26. of k. henry the 8. where the tytle of supremacy is enacted , the wordes are these : be it enacted by this present parlament , that the king our soueraigne , his heirs and successors , shal be taken , accepted , and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the church of england , called ecclesia anglicana , and shall haue , & inioy , annexed , and vnited to the imperiall crowne of this realme , as well the tytle and style therof , as all honours , digni●yes , authorityes , annuityes , profitis , and commodityes to the said dignity of supreme head of the said church , belonging &c. vi. and further , wheras two yeares after , an oath was deuised for confirmation heerof in parlament , the wordes of the oath are sett downe : that he shall sweare to renounce vtterly , and relinquish the bishop of rome , and his authority , power , and iurisdiction &c. and that from hence forth , he shall accept , repute , and take the kings m. tie to be the only supreme head in earth of the church of england &c. and that the refusers of this oath , shall be reputed traytors and suffer the paynes of death &c. and in other statutes it is decreed , that it shall be treason to deny this title of headship to the king. and by like decree of parlament , it is declared vnder king edward , what this authority of headshipp is , when they say : for so much as all authority of iurisdiction spirituall , and temporall is deryued , & deduced from the kings m. tie as supreme head of these churches , & realmes of england and ireland &c. vii . this was wont to be the doctryne of supremacy in the tymes of king henry , and king edward , and it was death to deny this tytle , or not to sweare the same : now our apologer thinketh it not good to giue it any longer to his ma. tie that now is , but calleth him only supreme gouernour , which is a new deuise taken from iohn reynolds , & other his fellowes , who aboue twenty yeares gone , being pressed by his aduersary m. hart , about calling q. elizabeth , head of the church , he denyeth flatly , that they called her so , but only supreme gouernesse , which i had thought they had done in regard of her sex , that is not permitted to speake in the church . but now i perceaue they haue passed the same also ouer to his m. tie not permitting him to inherite the tytles , eyther of king edward , or king henry ; which misliketh not vs at all , for that so farre they may passe heerin , as we may come to agree . for if they will vnderstand by supreme gouernour , the temporall princes supreme authority ouer all persons of his dominions , both ecclesiasticall , and temporall , in temporall matters , excepting only spirituall ( wherin as yow haue heard a litle before s. ambrose told the christian emperours of his tyme , that being lay-men , they could not rightly meddle : ) i see no great difficulty , which in this affayre would remayne betweene vs. viii . to returne then to the charge of ouersight , and grosse mistaking ( to vse the apologers words ) layd by him to cardinal bellarmine , for impugning the ancienter oath of supremacy , insteed of this later called , of allegiance , & of giuing the child a wrong name ( as he saith , ) i see not by what least colour , or shew of reason , it may stād against him . for besydes that which we haue said before , of the tēperament , & modification mentioned by him to be craftily couched in this later oath , which by his letter he refuteth ( i meane of lawfull , and vnlawfull clauses ) which must needes be vnderstood of the second oath ; he adioyneth presently the cōfutation of those modifications , saying : for yow know that those kind of modifications , are nothing els , but sleightes & subtilityes of sathā , that the catholicke faith , touching the primacy of the sea apostolicke , might eyther secretly , or openly be shott at . lo heere he mentioneth both the oathes , the one which shooteth secretly at the primacy of the sea apostolicke ( which is the later of allegiance ) & the other that impugneth it openly , which is the first of the supremacy . and as he nameth the secōd in the first place , so doth he principally prosecute the same , & proueth the vnlawfulnes therof , mentioning the other but only as by the way , for that it is as totū ad partē to the former , as a man can hardly speake of particuler mēbers of a body , without naming also the said body ( as whē s. iames inuegheth against the tōgue , he saith , that it inflameth the whole body : ) so card. all bellarmine could hardly reproue the particuler branches of the oath of allegiance , tending against sundry parts of the popes primacie , without mentioning the generall oath of supremacy , though it were not his purpose chiefly to impugne that , but the other . which later oath , albeit the apologer sticketh not to say , that it toucheth not any part of the popes spirituall supremacy : yet in the very next period , he contradicteth & ouerthroweth himselfe therin . for so much , as deuiding the said oath of allegiance into 14. seuerall partes or parcels , twelue of them , at least , do touch the said supremacy one way or other , as by examination yow will fynd , and we shall haue occasion after to declare more at large . ix . as for example , he writeth thus : and that the iniustice ( saith he ) as well as the error of bellarmine his grosse mistaking in this poynt , may yet be more cleerly discouered ; i haue thought good to insert heere immediatly the contrary conclusions to all the poynts and articles , wherof this other late oath doth consist , wherby it may appeare , what vnreasonable and rebellious poynts he would dryue his ma. ties subiects vnto , by refusing the whole body of that oath , as it is conceaued . for he that shall refuse to take this oath , must of necessity hold these propositions following : first that our soueraign● lord king iames is not the lawfull king of this kingdome , and of all other his ma. ties dominions . secondly that the pope by his owne authority may depose , &c. but who doth not see what a simple fallacy this is , which the logicians do call a composito ad diuisa , from denying of a compound , to inferre the denyall of all the parcels therin conteyned . as if some would say , that plato was a man borne in greece , of an excellent wit , skilfull in the greeke language , most excellent of all other philosophers , and would require this to be confirmed by an oath , some platonist , perhaps , would be cōtēt to sweare it : but if some stoicke , or peripateticke , or professour of some other sect in philosophy , should refuse the said oath , in respect of the last clause , might a man inferre against him in all the other clauses also , ergò he denyeth plato to be a man ? he denyeth him to be borne in greece , he denyeth him to be of an excellēt wit , he denyeth him to be skilfull in the greeke tongue , &c. were not this a bad kynd of arguing ? x. so in like manner , if an arrian , or pelagian prince , should exact an oath at his subiects hands , concerning diuers articles of religion , that were belieued by them both , and in the end , or middle therof , should insert some clauses , sounding to the fauour of their owne sect , for which the subiect should refuse the whole body of that oath , as it was conceyued ; could the other in iustice accuse him , for denying all the seuerall articles of his owne religion also , which therin are mencyoned ? who seeth not the iniustice of this manner of dealing ? and yet this is that which our apologer vseth heere with catholicks , affirming in good earnest , that he which refuseth the whole body of this oath , as it is conceyued ( in respect of some clauses therof that stand against his conscience , about matters of religion ) refuseth consequently euery poynt and parcell therof , and must of necessity hold ( in the first place ) that our soueraigne lord king iames is not the lawfull king of this kingdome , and of all other his ma. ties dominions . the contrary wherof all catholicks do both confesse , and professe : & consequently it is a meere calumniation that they deny this . but let vs see , how he goeth , forward in prouing this whole oath to be lawfull to a catholicke mans conscience . xi . and that the world ( saith he ) may yet further see , his ma. ties and whole states setting downe of this oath , did not proceed from any new inuention of theirs , but as it is warranted by the word of god : so doth it take the example from an oath of allegiance , decreed a thousand yeares agone , which a famons councell then , togeather with diuers other councels , were so farre from condemning ( as the pope now hath done this oath ) as i haue thought good to set downe their owne wordes heere in that purpose ; wherby it may appeare , that his ma. tie craueth nothing now of his subiects in this oath , which was not expresly , and carefully commanded them by the councels to be obeyed , without exception of persons . nay not in the very particuler poynt of equiuocation , which his ma. tie in this oath is so carefull to haue eschewed : but yow shall heere see the said councels in their decrees , as carefull to prouide for the eschewing of the same ; so as , almost euery poynt of that action , and this if ours , shall be found to haue relation , and agreeance one with the other , saue only in this ; that those old councels were carefull , and straite in commanding the taking of the same ; wheras by the contrary , he , that now vaunteth himselfe to be head of all councells , is as carefull and strait in the prohibition of all men , from the taking of this oath of allegiance . so he . xii . and i haue alledged his discourse at large , to the end yow may better see his fraudulent manner of proceeding . he saith , that the example of this oath is taken from an oath of allegiance decreed a thousand yeares agone in the councels of toledo , but especially the fourth , which prouided also for the particuler poynt of equiuocation : but let any man read those councels , which are 13. in number , and if he fynd eyther any forme of an oath prescribed , or any mention of equiuocation , but only of flat lying and perfidious dealing ; let him discredit all the rest that i do write . and if he fynd none at all , as most certainly he shall not ; then let him consider of the bad cause of this apologer , that dryueth him to such manner of dealing , as to auouch , euery point of that action to haue agreeance with the offering of this oath . xiii . true it is that those councels of toledo , vpon certayne occasions , which presently we shall declare , do recommend much to the subiects of spayne , both gothes and spaniards ; that they do obserue their oath of fidelity made vnto their kings , especially vnto sisenandus , for whose cause principally this matter was first treated in the fourth councel of toledo , but no speciall forme is prescribed by the said councell : nor is equiuocation so much as named therin , but only ( as hath bene said ) iurare mendaciter ▪ to sweare falsely , as the wordes of the councel are . which how far it is from the true nature of equiuocation hath bene lately and largly demonstrated as yow know . xiv . the cause of the treatie of this matter in the 4. councell of toledo , was , for that one sisenandus a noble man of the bloud of the gothes , and a great captaine , taking opportunitie of the euill life of his king s●intila , whome he had serued , did by some violence ( as most of the * spanish historiographers write , though confirmed afterward by the common-wealth , and proued a very good king ) and , as paulus aemilius in his french historie recordeth , by helpe of dagobert king of france , put out the said suintila : and fearing lest the same people that had made defection to him , might by the same meanes fall from him againe , he procured in the third yeare of his raigne , this fourth councell of toledo , to be celebrated of 70. prelates , as some say , and as others , of 68. hoping by their meanes , that his safety in the crowne should be confirmed . wherupon it is set downe , in the preface of the said councell , that comming into the same , accompanyed with many noble and honorable persons of his trayne ; coram sacerdotivus dei humi prostratus , cum lachrymis , & gemitibus pro se interueniedum postulauit : he prostrate on the ground before the priests of god , with teares and sobbes , besought them to make intercession vnto god for him . and after that , religiously exhorted the synod to be myndfull of the fathers decrees , for confirmation of ecclesiasticall rytes &c. wherupon after seauenty and three decrees made , about ecclesiasticall matters , which whosoeuer will read , shall fynd them wholy against the protestants , as setting downe , & describing the whole vse of the catholicke church then in spayne ( which concurred with our first primitiue church of england conforme to that which now also is seene there ) they in the last canon , which was the 74. turned themselues to treat in like manner of matters of the common wealth , appoynting the order how their kings for the tyme to come , should be established : defuncto in pace principe , primates gen. is cum sacerdotibus , successorem regni , consilio communi , constituant . the prince being dead in peace , let the nobility of the nation , togeather with the priests , by common counsell , appoynt a successour in the kingdome &c. xv. and then next to this , they do excommunicate all those , that shall attempt the destruction of the present king , or shall breake their oath of fidelity made vnto him : aut si quis praesumptione tyrannica regni ●as●i ium vsurpauerit : or if any shall , by tyrann . cal presumption , vsurpe the dignity of the crowne , aut sacramentum fidei suae , quod pro patriae , gentisque gothorum sta●u , vel conseruatione regiae salutis pollicitus est , violauerit , aut regem neci attrectauerit : if any man shall violate the oath of his fidelitie , which he hath promised for the state , or conseruation of his countrey , and gothish nation , and of the kings safety , or shall attempt the kings death &c. lett him be accursed ( say they ) in the sight of god the father , and of his angels , and cast out from the catholicke church , which by his periury he hath profaned ; and let him be separated from all society of christians , togeather with all his associates in such attēptes . and this curse they do renew and repeat diuers tymes in that canon ; vt haec tremenda , & toties iterata sententia , nullum ex nobis praesenti atque aeterno condemnet iudicio ; that this dreadfull and often iterated sentence of excommunication , do not condemne any of vs with iudgement present , and euerlasting also , if we incurre the same . xvi . this then was the great care which those ancient fathers ( wherof the holy and learned man s. isidorus , archbishop of siuill was the first that subscribed ) had of the dutifull obedience , & fidelity of subiects towards their princes , vnto whome they had once sworne the same . but as for any particuler forme of oath there prescribed , wherby this new oath now required of allegiāce may be framed , that hath so many clauses therin of scruple of cōscience to the receauer , i fynd none at all . and no doubt , but if this king sisenandus should haue exacted of any of these bishops , or other his subiects , such an oath of allegiance , as should haue beene mixed with any clauses preiudiciall to any of those points of ecclesiasticall affaires , which are handled and decreed by them , in the said 73. precedent canons of this coūcell , or others contrary to their conscience or iudgment in religion : they would haue beene so farre of from yielding therunto , as they would rather haue giuen their liues , then their consents to such an oath . xvii . but to go forward , and speake a word or two more of this councell of toledo . after those 70. fathers had taken this order for the temporall safetie of their prince , and gothish nation ( for that was a principall point that none should be admitted to the crowne , but of that race ) they turne their speach to the present king sisenandus , and to his successours , making this exhortation vnto him . te quoquè praesentem regem , ac ●uturos aetatum sequentium principes , humilitate , qua debemus , deposcimus , vt moderati & mites erga subiec●os existentes &c. we with due humility , do require at your hāds also that are our present king , and at the hands of those that shall ensue in future tymes , that yow be moderate and myld towards your subiects , and do rule your people committed vnto yow by god , in iustice and piety ; and do yield to christ , the giuer of all your power , good correspondence by raigning ouer them , in humility of harte , and indeauour of good workes &c. and we do promulgate here against all kings to come this sentence ; vt si quis ex eis , contra reuerentiam legum , superba dominatione , & fastu regio in flagitiis crudelissimam potestatem in populis exercuerit , anathematis sententia à christo domino condemnetur . &c. that if any of them shall against the reuerence of the lawes , by proud domination , and kingly haughtines , exercise wickednes , and cruell power vpon the people committed to their charge , let him be condemned of christ , by the sentence of curse ; and let him haue his separation , and iudgment from god himselfe . xviii . after this , for better establishment of the said present king sisenandus , they do confirme the deposition and expulsion , from the crowne , of the foresaid king suintila , ( which by error of the print , is called in the booke of councells , semithilana ) pronouncing both him his wife , and their brother , to be iustly expulsed for their wickednes : though the foresaid s. isidorus , then liuing , and writing the history of spayne , dedicated to this king sisenandus , doth speake much good of the * former parte of the other king his life and raigne . and fynally some fyue yeares after this agayne in the sixt councell of toledo , being gathered togeather in the same church of s. leocadia , the said bishops , togeather with the nobility , did make this law , and prescribed this forme of oath to all kings of that nation , vt quisquis succedentium , temporum regni sortitus suerit apicem , non anteà conscendat regiam sedem , quàm inter reliquas conditiones , sacramento pollicitus fuerit , hanc se catholicam non permissurum eos violare fidem . that whatsoeuer future king , shall obtayne the height of this kingdome , he shall not be permitted to ascend to the royall seate therof , vntill he haue sworne , among other conditions , that , he will neuer suffer his subiects to violate this catholicke faith , marke that he saith ( this ) which was the catholicke faith then held in spayne , and explicated in those councels of toledo ; the particulers wherof do easely shew , that they were as opposite to the protestant faith , as we are now . xix . so as , all this is against the apologer : for that in these councells no particuler forme of any oath was set downe , or exhibited at all to subiects , that we can read of , but only in generall , it is commanded , that all do keepe their oath of allegiance sworne to their princes , at their first entrance , or afterward . which thing , no pope did euer forbid , and all english catholicks at this day do offer willingly to performe the same to this ma. tie ; and consequently , all that ostentation made by the minister before , that this oath is no new inuention : that it doth take the example from an oath of allegiance decreed a thousand yeares gone , by a famous councell : that the councel prouided in particuler for the poynts of equiuocation : that almost euery poynt of that action hath agreeance with this of ours , sauing only in this , that the councell was carefull , & straite in commanding the taking of the same , and pope paulus carefull and strayt in the prohibition &c. xx. all this , i say , falleth by it selfe to the ground : for so much , as neyther that councell commanded the taking of any oath , nor prescribed any forme to subiects , nor pope paulus prohibiteth this , so farre as it concerneth temporall , and ciuill obedience , as hath byn declared . and whatsoeuer the apologer cyteth more out of these councels , the meanest reader , by looking vpon it , will easely espy , that it maketh nothing at all for him , or against vs , and consequently the entring into the narration of this mater , with so great ostentation , as , that the world may see , that it proceeded not of any new inuention , but is warranted by the word of god , authorized by so auncient a councell , and the like : all this ( i say ) was needles ; for so much , as nothing is found in this councell that agreeth with our case , but only the naming and recommending of an oath of fidelity , wherin we also fully agree and consent with our aduersary . the second part of this paragraph . now then to come to the particuler answere of our apologer to the card. lls letter , he doth for diuers leaues togeather , as it were , dally with him , picking quarrells here and there , vntill he come to the mayne charge of contradiction of himself , to himself , not only in this letter , but throughout all his workes . and albeit i doubt not , but that the card. ll or some other by his appointment , will discusse all these matters largly and sufficiently : yet for so much , as i haue promised to giue you my iudgment of all , i shall briefly in like māner lay forth what i haue obserued about these pointe● . xxii . page 57. of his apology he writeth thus : that some of such priests , and iesuits , as were the greatest traytors , and fomentors of the greatest conspiracyes , against her late maiesty , gaue vp f. robert bellarmyne , for one of their greatest authorities , and oracles . and for proofe he citeth in the margent campian and hart : see the conference in the tower. by which i discouer a greater abuse then i could haue imagined , would euer haue come from a man carefull of his credit : for i haue seene and perused the conference of m. r d. iohn reynolds with m. iohn hart in the tower , vpon the yeare 1583. two yeares after the death of f. campian , and there it appeareth indeed that the said m. hart alleadgeth diuers tymes the opinions and proofes of f. robert bellarmyne , then publick reader of controuersies in rome , but alwayes about matters of deuinity and controuersies , and neuer about treasons or conspiracyes . and as for f. campian , he is neuer read to mention him , eyther in the one or the other . consider then the deceitfull equiuocation here vsed , that for so much , as m. hart alleadged f. robert bellarmine sometymes in matters of controuersie in that conference , therefore both he & f. campian alleadged him for an author and oracle of conspiracy against the queene . and how can these things be defended with any shew or probability of truth ? xxiii . page 60. he frameth a great reprehension against the card. ll for that in his letter he saith , that this oath is not therfore lawfull , for that it is offered as tempered and modified . whereupon the apologer plyeth , and insulteth , as though the card. ll had reprehended the tēperate speech therin vsed , adding , that in luther and others of the protestant writers , we mislike their bold & free speaking , as comming from the diuells instinct . and now if we speake ( saith he ) moderately , and temperately , it must be tearmed the diuells craft , and therfore we may iustly complaine with christ , that when we mourne , they will not lament , and when we pype they will not dance . and neyther iohn baptist his seuerity , nor christ his meeknes can please them , who buyld but to their owne monarchy , vpon the ground of their owne traditions , and not to christ , &c. thus he , and much more exprobration to this effect , that we mislike the temperate style and speach vsed in this oath of allegiance . but all is quite mistaken , and the apologer hath iust cause to blush at this error , if it were error and not wilfull mistaking . for that bellarmyne doth not say , that this oath is temperate in wordes , but tempered in matter , aliquo modo temperatum & modificatum : in a certayne sort tempered and modified by the offerers , in setting downe some clauses lawfull , touching cyuill obedience , and adioyning others vnlawfull , that concerne conscience , and religion . which meaning of bellarmyne is euident by the example , which he alleadgeth , of the ensignes of the emperour iulian , out of s. gregory nazianzen , to wit ; that the images of pagan gods were mingled , and combined togeather with the emperours picture , & therby so tempered , and modified , as a man could not adore the one , without the other . which being so , let the indifferent reader consider what abuse is offered to card. all bellarmyne , in charging him to mislike temperate speach in the forme of this oath , which of likely hood he neuer thought on , and yet theron to found so great an inference , as to accuse him to buyld therby to a monarchy , and not to christ. is this a token of want of better matter , or no ? xxiv . page 62. the apologer hauing said with great vehemency of asseueration , that heauen and earth are no further asunder , then the profession of a temporall obedience , to a temporall king , is different from any thing belonging to the catholicke faith , or supremacy of s. peter ( which we graunt also , if it be meere temporall obedience without mixture of other clauses : ) he proposeth presently two questions for application of this to his purpose . first this : as for the catholicke religion ( saith he ) can there be one word found in all this oath , tending to matter of religion ? the second thus : doth he that taketh it , promise to belieue , or not to belieue any article of religion ? wherunto i answere first to the first , and then to the second . to the first , that if it be graunted , that power , and authority of the pope , and sea apostolicke left by christ , for gouerning his church in all occasions & necessityes , be any point belonging to religion among catholicks , thē is there not only some one word , but many sentences , yea ten or twelue articles , or branches therin , tending and sounding that way as before hath bene shewed . xxv . to the second question may make answere euery clause in effect of the oath it self . as for example the very first : i a. b. doe truly , and sincerely acknowledge , professe , testify , & declare in my conscience , that the pope neither of himself , nor by any authority of the sea or church of rome , hath any power & authority to &c. doth not this include eyther beliefe , or vnbeliefe ? againe : i doe further su eare , that i doe frō my hart abhorre , detest , & abiure , as imp●ous , & here icall , that damnable doctrine , & position , that princes which be excommunicated , and depriued by the pope , may be deposed &c. doth not heere the swearer promise , not to belieue that doctrine which he so much detesteth ? how thē doth the apologer so grosly forget , and contradict himself , euen then , when he goeth about to proue contradictions in his aduersary ? xxvi . it followeth consequently in the oath : and i doe belieue , and in conscience am resolued , that neyther the pope , nor any person whatsoeuer , hath power to absolue me from this oath , or any part therof . these wordes are plaine as yow see . and what will the apologer say heere ? is nothing promised in those wordes to be belieued , or not to be belieued ? xxvii . but now we come to the contradictions of cardinall bellarmyne , wherof the apologer taketh occasion to treate , for that the cardinall affirmeth in one part of his letter , that neyther his maiesty of england , nor any prince else , hath cause to feare violence from the pope ; for that it was neuer heard of , from the churches infancy , vntill this day , that any pope did commaund , that any prince , though an hereticke , though an ethnicke , though a persecutour , should be murthered , or did allow the murther , when it was done by an other . which assertion , the apologer to improue , bringeth in examples first of doctrine , that bellarmyne himself doth hold , that princes vpon iust causes may be deposed by popes : and then of facts , that diuers emperours haue bene deposed , and great warres raised against them , by popes , as bellarmyne in his workes doth confesse , and cannot deny , and consequently doth contradict himself . but surely this seemeth to me a very simple opposition or contradiction . for who doth not see , that these things may well stand togeather , are not opposite , and may be both true ; that popes vpon iust causes , haue waged warres against diuers princes , and potentates ; and yet neuer caused any to be vnlawfully made away , murthered , or allowed of their murthers committed by others . for , may not we say iustly , that warlike princes are no murtherers , though in the acts of warres thēselues , many haue bene slaine , by their authority and commandement ? or may not we deliuer our iudges of england , from the cryme of murther , though many mens deathes haue proceeded from them , by way of iustice ? no man ( i thinke ) will deny it . xxviii . and so if some popes haue had iust warres with some princes , kinges or emperours , or haue persuaded themselues , that they were iust , in respect of some supposed disorders of the said princes ( as here is mentioned the warre , and other hostile proceedings of pope gregory the seauenth against the emperour henry the fourth ) this is not contrary to the saying of cardinall bellarmyne , that no pope euer commaunded any prince to be murthered , or allowed therof , after it was done by an other . for as for that which heere is affirmed by the apologer , that the pope was inraged at the emperour henry the 5. for giuing buriall to his fathers dead corps , after the pope had stirred him vp against his father , and procured his ruyne , neyther proueth the matter , nor is altogeather true , as heere it is alleadged . not the first : for this proueth not , that the pope eyther commaunded or procured this death , which bellarmyne denyed . not the second : for that the two authours by him cyted in his margent , to wit , platina and cuspinian , doe not auerre the same . for in platina i finde no such thing at all ; and cuspinian his wordes are plaine to the contrary : that when henry the father was dead , and buried in a monastery at liege , his sonne would not make peace with the bishop of that place , called * otbert , except the dead body were pulled out of the graue againe , as it was , and so remayned for fiue yeares . xxix . and againe cuspinian writeth , that the report was , that gregory the 7. did before his death absolue the emperour ; but that his sonne henry the 5. and his followers neuer left to sollicite the succeeding popes vntill he was excōmunicated againe , & thereupon had afterward this christian buriall denyed him . and how then , is all this ascribed to the pope , which proceeded from the some against his father ? our apologer saith , that he was sett on by the pope to rebell against him , but this his witnesses affirme not . for cuspinian saith that it was , suasu marchionis theobaldi , berengarij comitis noricorum , & ottonis sibi ex materna s●irpe cognati . and in this commonly agree all other authors , as a vrspergensis , who then liued , b crantzius , c sigonius , d nauclerus , and others . and why then is this so vniustly layed vpon the pope ? what author can he bring for it , that auoucheth the same ? why is it couertly cast in , as though this matter apperteyned to gregory the seauenth , who in his life had warres with henry the fourth , but yet dyed before him ? heere then nothing is so apparent , as the desire to say much against popes , with neuer so litle occasion , and lesse proofe . but let vs go forward . xxx . in the second place he produceth the approbation of the slaughter of the late king of france by pope sixtus in his speech in the consistory : but no record of credit , eyther in rome or elswhere , can be found to testify , that any such speech euer was had by pope sixtus . and i vnderstand that diuers cardinalls are yet liuing , who were then present in the first consistory , after that newes arriued , who deny that sixtus euer vttered any such words , as of the allowance of that horrible fact , though he might , and did highly admire the strange prouidence of god , in chastising by so vnexpected a way , so foule and impious a murther , as that king had committed vpon a prince , bishop , and cardinall ( and those neerest of bloud vnto his maiesty of england ) without any forme of iudgment at all . and that a spectacle heerby of gods iustice was proposed vnto princes , to be moderate in their power , and passions : for that in the midst of his great and royall army , and corporall guardes , he was strangely slaine by a simple vnarmed man , when nothing was lesse expected , or feared . nor can any thing be more improbable or ridiculous to be imagined , then that which is heere affirmed by our apologer ( and yet , he saith , he is sure therof ) that this friar , which killed the king , should haue bene canonized for the fact , if some cardinalls , out of their wisedome , had not resisted the same . no such thing being euer so much as imagined , or consulted of , as many doe testify who were then in rome . so as nothing is more common here , then bold assertions without wittnesses . xxxi . and the like may be said to his third example of the late queene of england , against whose life ( he saith ) that so many practises , and attempts were made , and directly i●ioyned to those traytors , by their confessours , and playnly authorized by the popes allowance . so he saith . but if a man would aske him , how he can proue , that those things were so directly inioyned , and plainly authorized , what answere will he make ? yow shall heare it in his owne wordes , for he hath but one : for verification ( saith he ) there needeth no more proofe , then that neuer pope , eyther then or since , called any church-man in question , formedling in those treasonable conspiracyes . and needeth no more ( syr ) but this , to condemne both confessours and popes of conspiring the last queenes death , that no pope hath called in question , or punished any cleargy-man for such like attempts ? what i● he neuer knew of any such attempt ? what if he neuer heard of any clergy-man to be accused therof , except such as were put to death by the queene her self , either culpable or not culpable ? what if he saw some such ridiculous false deuises , made against some priests to make their whole company and cause odious , as iustly discredited with him all their other clamours and calumnious accusations in that behalfe ? as that of squier , induced ( as was sayed ) by fa. vvalpole in spaine to poyson the queenes chayre , or the earle of essex his sadd●e , which was so monstrous a fiction , and so plainly proued for such in forrayne countryes ( and so confessed by the miserable fellow at his death ) as tooke all credit from like deuises in these attemptes , of holding the queene in perpetuall frightes , to the end , she should neuer attend to the true way of remedy . xxxii . and with what little care of sincerity . or of punctuall truth , all these things are here , and elswhere , cast out at randome , to make a sound and noise in the readers eares , appeareth sufficiently in the very next sequent wordes , wherein speaking of doctor sanders he saieth : that whosoeuer will looke vpon his bookes , will fynde them filled with no other doctrine then this . and will any man thinke it probable or possible that so many bookes as doctor sanders hath written , both in latyn and english , and of so different arguments concerning religion , haue no other doctrine in them , but this of killing , and murthering of princes ? and that other assertion also , that ensueth within very few lines after , against cardinall bellarmynes whole workes , that all his large and great volumes are filled with contradictions , wherof we are to treat more presently . now only i doe note the facility , and custome of ouerlashing in this apologer . xxxiii . to conclude then about queene elizabeth . albeit pius quintus , and some other popes did excommunicate her , and cut her of from the body of the catholicke church by ecclesiasticall censures , in regard of her persecuting catholicke religion : yet did i neuer know it hitherto proued , that any pope procured or consented to any priuate violence against her person : albeit , if the forealledged statute of the 28. yeare of king henry the 8. be true , wherin it is determined both by the king himself , his counsell , and whole parlament , as by the archbishop cranmer , with his doctors , in his iudiciall seat of the arches , that lady elizabeth was not legitimate , nor that her mother was euer king henryes true wife ( which once being true , could neuer afterward by any humane power be made vntrue , or amended to the preiudice of a third , rightly by due succession interessed therin : ) & if , as the whole parlament testifyed , it should be against all honour , equity , reason , and good conscience , that the said la. elizabeth , should at any tyme possesse the said crowne , then the said popes , respecting in their said sentence ( as it is certayne they did ) the actuall right of the queene of france and scotland , and of her noble issue his ma. tie that now is , they might proceed , as they did , against the other , for her remouall ( whome they held for an vsurper ) in fauour of the true inheritours oppressed by her , not only by spirituall , but temporall armes also , as against a publicke malefactor and intruder contrary to right and conscience . and i cannot see , how this fawning apologer , can eyther without open vntruth , or manifest iniury to his maiesty , auerre the contrary . which being true , doth greatly iustify the endeauours and desires of all good catholicke people , both at home and abroad against her , their principall meaning being euer knowne to haue bene the deliuerance , & preferment of the true heire , most wrongfully kept out , & iniustly persecuted for righteousnes sake . xxxiiii . this then being so , and nothing proued at all against popes for their murthering attempts against princes , which cardinall bellarmyne denyed : yet this apologer , as if he had proued much against him , in this point of contradicting himself , he writeth thus : but who can wonder at this contradiction of himself in this point , when his owne great volumes are so filled with contradictions , which when either he , or any other shall euer be able to reconcile , i will then belieue that he may easily reconcile this impudent strong denyall of his , in his letter , of any popes medling against kings . wherin is to be noted first , that wheras card. ll bellarmine doth deny any popes murthering of princes , this man calleth it , an impudent strong deniall of any popes medling against kings , as though medling , and murthering were all one . is not this good dealing ? truely if the card. ll had denyed , that euer any pope had dealt , or medled against any king , or prince , vpon any occasion whatsoeuer , it had beene a strong denyall indeed : but for so much , as he saith no such thing , i maruaile of the apologers proceeding in this behalfe , for with the word impudent i will not meddle . but let vs heare him yet further . xxxv . and that i may not seeme ( saith he ) to imitate him , in affirming boldly that , which i no waies can proue , i will therefore send the reader , to looke for wittnesses of his contradictions in such places here mentioned in his owne booke . thus he , very confidently , as you see , and verily i cannot but maruaile , that he knowing how many men of learning would looke vpon the places themselues , ( for i vnderstand now also that the book is out in latyn ) would not be ashamed in him self , to suffer their iudgement of him and his doings in this behalfe : albeit he had not respected the cardinals answere , which must nedes be with exceeding aduantage against him , such as , in truth , i am ashamed for countrey sake , that strangers should laugh vs to scorne for such manner of writing . for if i doe vnderstand any thing , and that myne owne eyes , and iudgement doe not deceaue me , this apologer will remayne vnder , in all & euery one of these oppositions , no one of them being defensible in the nature of a true contradiction , and consequently cardinall bellarmynes great volumes of controuersies , will not only , not be proued full of contradictions by this tast here giuen , as is pretended : but will rather be infinitly iustifyed ; that in so many great volumes , this author hath not bene able to picke out any better contradictions then these . wherof againe , i must say and auouch , that no one seemeth to me any contradiction at all , if they be well examined . xxxvi . and though i meane not to discusse them all in this place , nor the greater part of them , they being eleuen in number , as hath bene said , both for breuityes sake , and not to peruent the cardinalls owne answere , and satisfaction therin ( which i doubt not but will be very sufficient , and learned : ) yet three or foure i shall touch only , for examples sake , thereby to giue the reader matter to make coniecture of the rest . this then he beginneth his list of eleuen contradictions against the said cardinall . xxxvii . first in his bookes of iustification ( saith he ) bellarmyne affirmeth , that for the vncertainty of our owne proper righteousnes , and for auoyding of vayne glory , it is most sure and safe , to repose our whole confidence in the alone mercy and goodnes of god : which proposition of his , is directly contrary to the discourse , & current of all his fiue bookes de iustificatione , wherin the same is conteyned &c. of this 〈◊〉 contradiction we haue said somewhat before , to wit , that it is strange , that fiue whole bookes should be brought in , as contradictory to one proposition . for how shall the reader try the truth of this obiection ? shall he be bound to read all bellarmynes fiue bookes , to see whether it be true or no ? had it not bene more plaine dealing to haue alleadged some one sentence , or conclusion contradictory to the other ? but now shall we shew , that there can be no such contradiction betwixt the sentence of one part of his said booke of iustification , & the whole discourse or current of the rest : for that bellarmyne doth make all the matter cleere , by soyling three seuerall questions in one chapter , which is the seauenth of the fifth booke here cyted . xxxviii . the three questions are these , about fiducia , quae in meritis collocari possit , what hope and confidence , may be placed , by a christian man , in his good workes , and merites . the first question is , whether good workes , in a christian man , doe increase hope and confidence by their own nature , and the promise of reward made vnto them ? and bellarmyne answereth that they doe : and proueth it by many places of scriptures , as that of toby the 4. where it is saied : that almes-deeds shall giue great confidence , and hope to the doers therof in the sight of god. and iob sayeth : that he which liueth iustly , shall haue great confidence , and hope , and shall sleep securely . and s. paul to timothy saith : that whosoeuer shall minister well , shall haue great confidence , &c. and i omit diuers other plaine places of scriptures , and fathers there alleadged by him , which the reader may there peruse to his comfort , shewing euidently , that the conscience of a vertuous life , and good workes , doth giue great confidence to a christian man , both while he liueth , and especially when he commeth to dye . xxxix . the second question is , whether this being so , a man may place any confidence wittingly in his owne merits , or vertuous life . and it is answered , that he may ; so it be with due circumstances of humility , for auoyding pride , and presumption . for that a man feeling the effect of gods grace in himself , wherby he hath bene directed to liue well , may also hope , that god will crowne his gifts in him , as s. augustines wordes are . and many examples of scriptures are alleadged there by card. ll bellarmyne of sundry holy saints , prophets and apostles , that vpon iust occasion mentioned their owne merits , as g●●ts from god that gaue them hope and confidence of his mercifull reward : and namely that saying of s. paul : i haue fought a good fight , i haue consummated my course , i haue kept my faith , &c. and then addeth , that in regard hereof , reposita est mihi corona iustitiae , a crowne of iustice is laid vp for me , which god the iust iudge shall restore vnto me . xl. the third question is ( supposing the sore said determinations ) what counsaile were to be giuen : whether it be good to put confidence in a mans owne merits or no ? whereunto card. ll bellarmyne answereth , in the words set downe by the apologer , that for the vncertainty of our owne proper iustice , and for auoyding the perill of vaine glory , the surest way is to repose all our confidence in the only mercy and benignity of god ; from whome and from whose grace our merits proceed . so as albeit card. ll bellarmyne doth confesse , that good life , and vertuous acts doe giue hope , and confidence of themselues , and that it is lawfull also by the example of auncient saints , for good men to comfort themselues with that hope and confidence : yet the surest way is to repose all in the benignity and mercy of almighty god , who giueth all , and is the authour , as well of the grace , as of the merits , and fruites of good workes that eusue therof . and thus hath cardinall bellarmyne fully explicated his mynd in this one chapter , about confidence in good workes , by soluing the foresaid three different questions , wherof the one is not contrary to the other , but may all three stand togeather . and how then is it likely , that the foresaid proposition , of reposing our confidence in the mercy of god , should be contradictory , as this man saith , to the whole discourse and current of all his fiue bookes of iustification ? let one only sentence be brought forth , out of all these fiue bookes that is truly contradictory , and i shall say he hath reason in all the rest of his ouerlashing . xli . his second obiected contradiction is as good as this , which he setteth downe in these wordes . a god ( saieth bellarmine ) doth not incline a man to euill , eyther naturally or morally : and presently after he affirmeth the contrary , saying : b that god doth not incline to euill naturally but morally . but this is a plaine fallacy of the apologer , for that the word morally is taken heere in two different senses , which himself could not but see . for first card. ll bellarmyne hauing set downe the former proposition , that god doth not incline a man to euill , eyther physicè vel moraliter , naturally or morally , he expoundeth what is vnderstood by ech of these termes , to witt , that naturall or phisicall concurrence is , when god concurreth to the substance of the action , as mouing or impelling a mans will : but morall concurrence is , when he doth commaund or ordayne any synne to be done . as for example , if a great man should concurre to the murther of another , he may doe it in two manners , eyther naturally or phisically , concurring to the action it self of poysoning , strangling , or the like : or morally , by counselling or commaunding the same to be done , which is properly called morall concurrence . and by none of these two wayes , god doth concurre to the committing of a synne . xlii . but there is a third way of concurring , tearmed occasionalicer , occasionally , or by giuing occasion , which improperly also may be called morall : and this is , when god seeing an euill man euill-disposed , to doe this or that synne , though he doe not concurre therunto by any of the foresaid two wayes , of assisting or commaunding the action to be done : yet doth he , by his diuine prouidence , and goodnes , make occasions so to fall our , as this synne , and not that , is committed ; and consequently it may be said , that almighty god , without any fault of his , or concurrence in any o● the forsaid two wayes , hath bene the occasionall cause of this synne . as for example , we read in genesis , that when the brethren of ioseph were obstinately bent to kill him , god , by the pulling by of certayne i smaelites , merchants of galaad , gaue occasion of his selling into egypt ; so as he was herby some occasionall , or morall cause of this lesser synne , for eschewing the greater , but not in the former sense of morall concurrence , which includeth also commandement . xliii . this occasionall concurrence then , though in some large sense , it may be called also morall : yet is it much different from the former , and consequently , the one may be affirmed , and the other denyed , without any contradiction at all . and so this second obseruation against cardinall bellarmyne , is wholy impertinent : for that contradictio must be in eodem , respectu eiusdem , which heere is not verifyed . for that when the cardinall saith in the first place , that god doth not cōcurre morally to synne , he meaneth by cōmaūding or counselling the same : & whē in the later place , he graūteth , that god doth cōcurre somtymes morally , he meaneth by giuing occasiō only for this synne to be cōmitted , rather then that , which is a plaine different thing . xliiii . and of the same quality is the third contradiction , set downe by the apologer in these wordes : all the fathers teach constantly ( saith bellarmyne ) that bishops doe succeed the apostles , and priests the seauenty disciples . and then in another part of his workes , he affirmeth the contrary : that bishops doe not properly succeed the apostles . but whosoeuer shall looke vpon the places here quoted , shall fynde this to be spoken in diuers senses , to witt , that they succeed them in power of episcopall order , and not in power of iurisdiction , and other extraordinary priuiledges : so as both those doe well stand togeather . and the like i say of the 4. contradiction obiected , which is , that iudas did not belieue : & yet in an other place , that iudas was iust , and certaynly good : which is no contradiction at all , if we respect the two seuerall tymes , wherof cardinall bellarmyne doth speake , prouing first , out of s. iohns ghospell , by the interpretation of s. hierome , that iudas at the beginning was good , and did belieue ; and then by other words of christ in the same euangelist , vttered a good while after the apostles vocation , that he was a dyuell . and belieued not . and who but our apologer , would found a cōtradictiō against so learned a man as bellarmyne is , vpon a manifest equiuocation of tymes , wherby he may no lesse argue with bellarmyne for calling s. paul an apostle and persecutour , and nicolaus an elect of the holy ghost , and yet an heretick , for that the one was a persecutour first , and then an apostle , and the other first a chosen deacon by the holy ghost , and afterward an hereticke , possessed by the diuell , as most do hould . xlv . but i should doe iniury ( as before i said ) both vnto cardinall bellarmyne and my self , if i should goe about to answere these supposed contradictions at length . to the cardinall , in preuenting him , that will doe it much better . vnto my self , in spending tyme in a needles labour , for so much as euery one of meane iudgemēt , that will but looke vpon the bookes , and places themselues heere cyted , will discouer the weaknes of these obiections , and that they haue more will , then ability to disgrace cardinall bellarmyne . xlvi . after the obiecting then of these deuised contradictions , our apologer returneth againe to exagitate yet further the foresaid saying of bellarmyne , that neither his maiesty , nor other king hath need to feare any daunger to his royall person , by acknowledging the popes spirituall authority in his kingdome , more then other christians , and monarches haue done heretofore , or doe now in other kingdomes round about him , who admitt the same authority and haue done euen from the beginning of their christianity , without any such dangers of murther incurred therby . wherupon this apologer maketh a large new excursion , numbering vp a great catalogue of contentions , that haue fallen out , betweene some popes and emperours , & the said emperours receaued hurtes , domages , and dangers therby , and consequently had cause to feare , contrary to that which bellarmyne writeth . xlvii . and in this enumeration the apologer bringeth in the example of the emperour henry the 4. brought to doe pennance at the castle of canusium , by pope gregory the seauenth ; as also of the emperour fredericke the first , forced by pope alexander the third to lie agroofe ( as his word is ) on his belly , and suffer the other to tread on his necke : of the emperour philip , that is said to haue bene slaine by otho at the popes motion ; and that in respect therof , the said otho going to rome , was made emperour , though afterward the pope deposed him also : of the emperour fredericke the second , excommunicated , and depriued by pope innocentius the fourth , who in apulia corrupted one to giue him poyson , and this not taking effect , hyred one manfredus to poyson him , wherof he dyed : that pope alexander the third wrote to the soldane to murther the emperour , & sent him his picture to that effect : that pope alexander the sixth , caused the brother of baiazetes the turkish emperour , named gemen , to be poysoned at his brothers request , and had two hundred thowsand crownes for the same : that our king henry the second , besides his going barefooted in pilgrimage , was whipped vp and downe the chapter-howse , like a schoole-boy , and glad to escape so too : that the father of the moderne king of france , was depriued by the pope of the kingdome of nauarre , and himself ( i meane this king of france ) forced to begge so submissiuely the relaxation of his excommunication , as he was content to suffer his embassadour to be whipped at rome for pennance . xlviii . all these examples are heaped togeather to make a muster of witnesses , for proofe of the dangers wherin princes persons are , or may be , by acknowledging the popes supreme authority . but first in perusing of these , i fynde such a heape indeed of exaggerations , additions , wrestings , and other vnsyncere dealings , as would require a particuler booke to refute them at large . and the very last here mētioned of the present king of france , may shew what credit is to be giuen to all the rest , to witt , that he suffered his embassadour to be whipped at rome , & the latin interpreter turneth it , vt legatum suum romae virgis caesum passus sit : as though he had bene scourged with rodds vpon the bare flesh , or whipped vp and downe rome ; wheras so many hundreds being yet aliue that saw that ceremony ( which was no more , but the laying on , or touching of the said embassadours shoulder with a long white wand vpon his apparell , in token of submitting himself to ecclesiasticall discipline ) it maketh them both to wonder , and laugh at such monstrous assertions , comming out in print : and with the same estimation of punctuall fidelity doe they measure other things here auouched . ixl. as for exāple , that our king henry the second was whipped vp and downe the chapter-house , & glad that he could escape so too , for which he cyteth houeden , and this he insinuateth to be , by order of the pope : in respect wherof ( he saith ) the king had iust cause to be afraid . but the author doth plainly shew the contrary , first setting downe the charter of the kings absolution , where no such pennāce is appointed : & secondly after that againe in relating the voluntary pennances which the king did at the sepulcher of s. thomas , for being some occasiō of his death , doth refute therby this narration , as fraudulent , and vnsyncere , that the king was whipped like a school-boy by order of the pope , as though it had not come frō his owne free choice , and deuotion . l. that other instance of the emperour , that lay agroofe on his belly ( which i suppose he meaneth of fredericke the first ) and suffered pope alexander the third to tread on his necke , is a great exaggeratiō , and refuted , as fabulous , by many reasons , and authorityes of baronius , to whome i remit me . the other in like māner of celestinus the pope , that should with his foote beate of the crown from the head of henry the sixt emperour , being only mentioned first of all others by houeden an english authour , and from him taken by ranulph of chester , no other writer of other nations , eyther present at his coronation as godesridus viterbiensis his secretary , or others afterward as a platina , b nauclerus , c sabellicus , d blondus , e sigonius , f crantzius , so much as mentioning the same , though yet they write of his coronation , maketh it improbable , and no lesse incredible then the former . li. that also of the emperour philip , affirmed to be slaine by otho his opposite emperour , at the incitation of pope innocentius the third , is a meere slaūder . for that , according to all histories , not otho the emperour , but an other otho named of vvitilispack ▪ a priuate man & one of his owne court , vpon a priuate grudge , did slay him . and albeit vrspergensis , that followed the faction of the emperours against the popes , doe write , that he had heard related by some the speech here sett downe , that innocentius should lay , that he would take the crowne from philip , or philip should take the myter from him : yet he saith expresly , quod non erat credendum , that it was not to be belieued . and yet is it cyted here , by our apologer , as an vndoubted truth , vpon the onely authority of vrspergensis in the margent . lii . the like may be said of the tale of frederick the second , attempted to haue bene poysoned , first in apulia by pope innocentius the 4. and afterward effectuated by one mansredus , as hyred by the pope : which is a very tale in deede , and a malicious tale . for that he which shall read all the authors that write of his life , or death , as 1 platina ( whome the protestants hold for free in speaking euill of diuers popes ) 2 blondus , 3 sabellicus , 4 nauclerus , 5 crantzius , 6 sigonius , & others , shall fynd , that as they write very wicked thinges committed by him in his life : so talking of his first danger in apulia by greuous sicknes , they make for the most part no mention of poyson at all , and much lesse as procured by the pope innocentius , praysed * for a very holy man , and to haue proceded iustly against fredericke . and secondly for his death , they agree all , that it was not by poyson , but by stopping his breath and stifelyng him in his bed with a pillow , by mansredus his owne bastard sonne , to whome he had giuen the princedome of tarentum , for feare least he should take it from him againe , and bestow it vpon conradus his other soone . but that the pope was priuy to this , or hyred him to doe the fact , as our apologer affirmeth ; there is no one word or sillable in these authors therof . liii . but you will say , that he cyteth one petrus de vineis in his margent , and cuspinian in the life of fredericke , both which are but one authour ; for that cuspinian professeth to take what he saith , out of petrus de vineis , which petrus was a seruant to fredericke , and a professed enemy to the pope , and wrote so partially of this contention , as pope innocentius himself wrote libros apologeticos ( as blondus recordeth ) apologeticall bookes to coniute the lyes of this petrus de vineis in his life tyme : and yet yow must note , that he auoucheth not all that our apologer doth , nor with so much stomacke , or affirmatiue assertion . for thus relateth cuspinian the matter , out of petrus de vineis : non potuit cauere , &c. the emperour could not auoyd , but when he returned into apulia he perished with poyson , the 37. yeare of his raigne , and 57. of his age , on the very same day that he was made emperour . for wheras at the towne of florenzola in apulia , hauing receaued poyson he was dangerously sicke , and at length , by diligence of phisitions , had ouercome the same , he was stifeled by mansredus his bastard sonne , begotten of a noble woman his concubine , with a pillow thrust into his mouth , whether it were , that mansredus did it , as corrupted by his enemyes , or by the pope , or for that he did aspire to the kingdome of sicilia . so he . liv. and albeit , as yow see , he saith more herin against the pope , then any of the other authours before mentioned , for that he desired to cast some suspitions vpon him : yet doth he it not with that bold asseueration , that our apologer doth , saying : that both his first sicknes was by poyson , of the popes procurement , and his murthering afterward by hyring of manfredus to poyson him againe : whereas the other ascribeth not the first poysoning to the pope ( if he were poysoned ) neyther doth so much as mention the second poyson , but onely the stifeling , and finally leaueth it doubtfull , whether the same proceeded from the emperours enemyes , or from the pope , or from his sonnes owne ambition , and emulation against his brother . lv. to the other obiection , or rather calumniation out of paulus iouius , that alexander the third did write to the soldane , that if he would liue quietly , he should procure the murther of the emperour , sending him his picture to that end : it is answered , that no such thing is found in that second booke of iouius , by him here cyted , nor elswhere in that history , so far as by some diligence vsed i can fynde : and it is not likely , it should be found in him , for so much as he beginneth his history with matters only of our tyme , some hundreds of yeares after alexander the third his death . lvi . so as the only chiefe accusation , that may seeme to haue some ground against any pope , in this catalogue , for procuring the death of any prince , is that which he alleadgeth out of cuspinian , that alexander the sixth tooke two hundred thowsand crownes of baiazetes emperour of the turkes , to cause his brother gemen to be put to death , whome he held captiue at rome , which he performed ( saith our apologer ) by poyson , and had his pay ; this i say , hath most apparence : for that some other authors also besides doe relate the same , affirming , that albeit prince gemen the turke , when he dyed , eyther at caieta , or naples , or capua , ( for in this they differ ) was not the popes prisoner , but in the hands of charles the 8. king of france , who tooke him from rome with him , when he passed that way with his army : yet that the common fame or rumour was , that pope alexander the sixth , had part therin , or , as cuspinias words are , pontifice non ignorante , the pope not vnwitting therof . the reason of which report guicciardine alleadgeth to be this , to wit , that the euill nature and condition of pope alexander , which was hatefull to all men , made any iniquity to be belieued of him . a onuphrius panuinus writeth that he dyed in capua of a bloudy flux without any mention of poyson . and b sabellicus before him againe , relateth the matter doubtfully saying ; fuerunt qui crederent , eum veneno sublatum , &c. there were some that belieued , that he was made away by poyson , and that alexander the pope was not ignorant therof ; for that he was so alienate in mynde from the french-men , that he was loath they should take any good by him : thus we see , that the matter is but doubtfully and suspiciously related only , and the french-men being angry for his death , by whome they hoped great matters , might easily brute abroad a false rumour , for their owne defence in that behalfe . lvii . but as for the two hundred thowsand crownes , though iouius doe say , that they were offered by baiazet , as also vestis inconsutilis christi , the garment of our sauiour without seame : yet doth he not say , that they were receaued , eyther the one , or the other . so as whatsoeuer euill is mentioned of any pope , our apologer maketh it certayne : and when it is but little , he will inlarge it to make it more : and when it is spoken doubtfully , he will affirme it for a certaynty : wherin he discouereth his owne humour against popes , and therby limiteth the readers faith in belieuing him ; though we do not take vpon vs to defend the liues and facts of all particuler popes , but their faith and authority ; being forewarned by our sauiour , that vpon the chayre of moyses shall fit scribes and pharisyes , whome we must obey , in that they teach , and not follow or imitate , in that they doe . and this shall serue for this point : card. ll bellarmyne , i doubt not , will be more large . if a man would go about to discredit kingly authority , by all the misdeeds of particuler kings that haue byn registred by historiographers , since the tyme that popes began , he should fynde , no doubt , aboundant matter , and such , as could not be defended by any probability . and yet doth this preiudicate nothing to princely power or dignity , and much lesse in our case , where the facts themselues obiected , are eyther exaggerated , increased , wrested , or altogeather falsifyed . the third part of this paragraph . there remayneth the last part of this impugnation of the cardinalls letter , which consisteth in the examining all the authorityes and sentences of ancient fathers , alledged by him in the same . as first of all , the comparison of the art , and deceipt vsed by iulian the emperour , surnamed apostata , and recounted by s. gregory nazianzen , in placing , and inserting the images of his false gods , into the pictures of the emperour , in his imperiall banner : so , as no man could bow downe , or reuerence the emperours picture , ( as then was the custome ) but that he must adore also the images of the false gods. which art of temperament , the cardinall doth compare vnto this mixture & combination of clauses lawfull , and vnlawfull , cyuill , and ecclesiasticall in the oath proposed ; so as a man can not sweare the one , but he must sweare also the other . which similitude , although it do expresse most fitly the matter in hand ; yet the apologer being sorely pressed therwith seeketh many euasions to euacuate the same , by searching out dissimilitudes , and saying ; that albeit a similitude may be admitted claudicare vno pede , to limp , or halt on one foote : yet this ( saith he ) is lame , both of feete & hands , and euery member of the body : and then he taketh vpon him to set downe at length the diuersityes that may be picked out . as first , that iulian was an apostata , but our soueraigne is a christian : he changed the religion which he once professed , but our king not : he became an ethnicke , or an atheist , our king is not ashamed of his profession : iulian dealt against christians , but his ma. tie dealeth only to make a distinction betweene true subiects , and false-harted traytours . and so he goeth forward to weary his reader with many more like diuersityes , which must needs be loathsome to euery man of meane iudgment , who know that a similitude requireth not parity in all poynts ( for then it should be idem , and not simile ) but only in the poynt wherin the comparison is made , as heere in the compounding and couching togeather of lawfull and vnlawfull things in the oath , as the other did in his banner . lix . for if a man would tryfle , as our apologer doth , and seeke out differences betweene things , that are compared togeather , as like in some certayne poynts , but vnlike in other ; we should ouerthrow all similitudes whatsoeuer , and consequently we should eneruate many most heauenly speaches of our sauiour in the ghospell , that stand vpon similitudes . as for example : be yow wise as serpents , and simple as doues . what enemy of christian religion might not cauill , and calumniate this ? seeking out diuersityes betwixt a serpent and a man , and betweene the malicious craft of that malignant creature , and the wisedome that ought to be in a prudent man. but it is sufficient that the similitude do hold in that particuler poynt , wherin christ made the comparison . and so agayne , when our sauiour maketh the comparison betweene the kingdome of heauen , and the litle grayne of mustard-seed ; who cannot fynd out infinite differences betweene the one and the other , making the similitude to halt and limp in many more parts , then it can go vpright . but it is sufficient , that it stand , and halt not in that one poynt , wherin the comparison is made . lx. i passe ouer many other like similitudes , as that the kingdome of heauen , is like to a man that soweth good seed in his field : as also it is like to leauen , which a woman tooke and hid in three measures of meale , vntil the whole was leauened : it is like also to a treasure hid in the ground ; and to a marchant man , that seeketh good margarites , and precious stones : and vnto a net cast into the sea , and gathering togeather of all kynd of fishes . who cannot ( i say ) fynd out differences and diuersityes , if he would study for them in all these similitudes vsed by our sauiour . for as for the last of the net , that gathereth togeather perforce , good and bad fish in the sea , seemeth hard to be applyed to the kingdome of heauen , whether we vnderstand it , eyther of gods kingdome in the next world , or of the church in this ; for that in the next world good & bad are not admitted ; and in this world , the church of christ gathereth none perforce , as the net doth . but yet in the poynt it selfe , wherin christ our sauiour made the comparison , the similitude doth hold ; and that is sufficient to shew the impertinent indeauour of this apologer heere , to seeke out diuersityes , that appertayne not to the poynt wherin the comparison is made . lxi . the next example which our apologer seeketh to auoyd or euacuate in the cardinalls letter , is that of old eleazar in the booke of machabees , who rather then he would do a thing vnlawfull , and against his owne conscience , or that might be scandalous to others , he refused not to suffer all kynd of torments ; which the cardinall applyeth to the taking of this vnlawfull oath , by such as are catholicks , but especially by the arch-priest , head of the clergie in england , whose case he presumeth to be more like to that of eleazar , for his age , estimation , and authority aboue the rest . to which example the apologer answereth thus : that if the arch-priests ground of refusing this oath were as good as eleazars was , for refusing to eate of the swynes-flesh that was proposed , and vrged vnto him , it might not vnfitly be applyed to his purpose : but the ground fayling , ( saith he ) the building cannot stand . but this is an escape much like the former , that runneth quite from the matter : for that the cardinall supposeth a catholicke conscience in him to whome he writeth , to which conscience it is as repugnant to sweare any thing , sounding against any poynt of catholicke religion or doctrine , as it was to eleazar to eate swynes-flesh , against the law of moyses . which supposition being made , and that in the cardinalls iudgment , this oath conteyneth diuers clauses preiudiciall to some poynts of the said catholice beliefe and doctrine concerning the authority of the sea apostolicke , and that the taking therof would not only be hurtfull to the taker , but offensiue also , and scandalous to many other of that religion , both at home and abroad ; the application of this example of eleazar was most fit and effectuall . let vs see what ensueth of the rest of the authorityes . lxii . the third example is of s. basill surnamed for his rare learning and holinesse , the great , who being most earnestly exhorted ( as theodoret recounteth the story ) by modestus the deputy of valens the arrian emperour , sent of purpose to that effect , that he should accōmodate himself to the said emperours will , & present tyme , and not suffer so many great churches to be abandoned ( for that all such bishops , as would not accommodate themselues were sent into banishment ) for a little needles subtility of doctrines , not so much to be esteemed : offering him also , the friendship of the emperour , and many other great benefits to ensue , both to him and others , if he would in this poynt shew himselfe conformable . but this holy and prudent man ( saith the cardinall ) answered , that it was not to be indured , that any one syllable of * dyuine doctrynes , should be corrupted , or neglected ; but rather , that for the defence therof , all kynd of torment was to be imbraced . out of which example the cardinall doth gather , how strict and wary a good man must be , in yealding to any thing neuer so litle , that is preiudicall to the integrity of catholicke doctryne : and it seemeth very fit to the purpose , and the cases somwhat like . lxiii . yet doth our apologer by all meanes possible seeke to wype of , or weaken all that can be inferred out of this example . and first of all , he beginneth with a meere calumniation thus : first i must obserue ( saith he ) that if the cardinall would leaue a common and ordinary tricke of his , in all citations , which is , to take what makes for him , and leaue out what makes against him , & would cyte the authors sense , as well as the sentence ; we should not be so much troubled with answering the ancients which he alledgeth . and to instance it in this very place , if he had continued his allegation but one lyne further ; he should haue found this place of theodoret , of more force , to haue moued blackwell to take the oath , then to haue dissuaded him from it . for in the very next words it followeth ( in s. basils speach : ) i do esteeme greatly the emperours friendship , if it be ioyned with piety , but without it , i hold it for pernicious . so he . lxiv . and do these words last adioyned make any thing at all for our apologer ? or rather agree they not fitly to the purpose of the cardinals exhortation , though for breuityes sake he left them out ? how then is their omission brought in for a profe of a common & ordinarie tricke of the cardinals , in all his citations , to take only that which is for him , & leaue out what makes against him ? how is this against him ? or how doth this shew any such ordinary tricke of falshood in the cardinal , not in one or two , but in all his citations ? doth this man care what he saith ? this then is one shift , to answere this ancient , or rather anticke , as heere he is made . let vs see an other . lxv . his second is by taking aduantage of translation out of the greeke , in which theodoret wrote his story , or rather by peruerting the same in some pointes to his purpose . for which cause he repeateth againe the substance of the history in these wordes : but that it may appeare ( saith he ) whether of vs hath greater right to this place ( of theodoret about s. basil ) i will in few wordes shew the authous drift . the emperour valens being an arrian , at the perswasion of his wife , whē he had depriued all the churches of their pastours , came to caesarea , where s. * basil was then bishop ; who , as the story reporteth , was the light of the world . before he came , he sent his deputy to worke it , that s. basil should hold fellowship with eudoxius ( which eudoxius was bishop of constantinople and the principall of the arrian faction ) or if he would not , that he should put him to banishment . now when the emperours deputy came to caesarea , he sent for basil , intreated him honorably , spake pleasingly vnto him , desired he would giue way to the tyme , neyther that he would hazard the good of so many churches tenui exquisitione dogmatis , promised him the emperours fauour , and himselfe to be mediatour for his good . but s. basil answered , these intising speaches were fit to be vsed to children , that vse to gape after such things . but for them that were throughly instructed in gods word , they could neuer suffer any syllable therof to be corrupted . nay , if need required , they would for the maintenance therof , refuse no kind of death . in deed the loue of the emperour ought to be greatly esteemed with piety ; but piety taken away , it was pernicious . lxvi . this is the truth of the storie ( saith he : ) & i haue layd downe at length his declaration , to the end that his sleightes may the better appeare in eluding the force of this answere of s. basil , as though he had said only , that no syllable of gods word was to be suffered to be corrupted , wheras his meaning was , not only of gods word , or of scriptures alone , but , ne vnam quidem syllabam diuinorum dogmatum , not any one syllable of dyuine doctrine , taught by the catholicke church , and so much import his wordes in greeke , which are guylfully heere translated : for that insteed of the forealleadged sentence , wherein consisteth the substance of the said answere , to witt : that for them that are throughly instructed in gods word , they can neuer suffer any syllable thereof to be corrupted , he should haue said : that they that haue beene brought vp & nourished in sacred learning , cannot suffer any one syllable of dyuine doctrynes ( of the church ) to be violated , which is cōforme also to s. basils purpose in hand . for that the controuersy , which he and other catholicke bishops had with the arrian doctors in those dayes , was not only , nor immediatly about the scriptures out of which the arrians alleadged more aboundantly then their aduersaries , but about certayne doctrynes determined by the church , especially by the councell of nice , as namely about the vse of the wordes and doctrines of hom●sion , or consubstantiality , hypostasis , substance , person , trinitie , and other the like ; and whether they should say gloria patriet filio , or gloria patri cum filio ; or in filio , & such other differences , which vnto the deputy modestus , seemed but small matters and subtilityes of doctrine , but to s. basil matters of great moment : for so much as they were now determined by the church , and thereby made diuina dogmata , diuyne doctrines , though they were not all expresly found in scriptures . so as this sleight in trāslating s. basils answer , that such as were throughly instructed in gods worde could neuer suffer any syllable therof to be corrupted ( as though he had meant only of scripturs ) is not sincere , neyther agreable eyther vnto the letter of the greeke text , or meaning of s. basill . lxvii . let vs see then his third shift , to put of this matter , which is the same that before we haue mentioned in the first example of iulian , to witt , by seeking out differences , & disparityes , betweene the clauses or members that are compared togeather , saying : that albeit basil and the arch-priest may haue some comparison ; yet not our orthodoxe king with an arrian emperour . basil was sollicited to become an arrian : but the arch-priest , not once touched for any article of faith . and so he goeth forward with many contrapositions . but i haue spoken sufficiently before of the weaknes of this manner of argument . and if we remoue the mentions of some persons , that may be offensiue , the matters themselues will easily discouer their conformity . for if yow had demaunded modestus the deputy then , in fauour of what religion would he haue s. basil to conforme himselfe & subscribe ; he would haue said the orthodoxe , no lesse then the iudges of england do now , that require this oath : and yet did not s. basil thinke so . and if any man should haue called that emperour an arrian , it would haue bene no lesse offensiue , then to call a protestant-prince at his day , a caluinist or lutheran ; notwithstanding that the reason of difference betweene the catholicks and arrians at that day , be the same , that is betweene catholicks and protestants at this day : to witt , the following , or impugning of the vniuersall knowne church , descending from christes tyme , vnto saint basils , and from saint basils to ours . lxviii . there remayne yet 3. or 4. other exāples mentioned by the cardinall in his epistle to the archpriest , wherof the first two are of s. peter , and marcellinus the pope , whose fortitude and diligence in rysing agayne , he desyreth him to imitate , if perhaps he followed their infirmity in falling . the other two , are of s. gregorie , and s. leo , two holy and learned popes , and for that cause both of them surnamed the great , who do set downe in dyuers places , the obligation that all catholicke christian men haue , to hold vnion and subordination with the sea apostolicke . vnto the first two examples , as there is litle said , but disparityes only sought out , betweene peter and marcellinus , and the story also of marcellinus called in question ; so i leaue the same to the cardinall himselfe to treate more at large : for so much , as in his former books , & workes , he hath handled the same sufficiently ; as also the third obiection , made against s. gregorie , about refusing the name of vniuersall bishop . and the same i must say of the 4. also , s. leo , whome the apologer confesseth to be truly alledged against him , for exalting the authority of s. peter , and firmitie of his faith , which he putteth of with this scoffe borrowed from d. iohn reynolds his booke of conference in the tower , that as tully said to hortensius the orator , when he praised immoderatly eloquence , that he would lift her vp to heauē , that himselfe might go vp with her : so would s. leo lift vp s. peter with prayses to the sky , that he being his heire , might go vp also , and be exalted with him . lxix . and after this scorne , he picketh out diuers sentences of s. leo his works , which seeme somewhat odious , & to contayne ouermuch praise , & exaltation of s. peter , & his authority ; all takē out of the said reynolds booke , as reynoldes himselfe had takē the greatest part of thē out of m. iewell , to whome the same was very sufficiently answered before by d. harding , and the most of them shewed to be meere calumniations . the first and chiefe wherof is this , that our lord did take s. peter into the fellowship of indiuisible vnity ; which s. leo his aduersaries going about to wrest to an absurd sense , to wit , that this indiuisible vnity must eyther be in person , or nature with christ , d. harding sheweth playnly by s. leo his owne words , sense , and drift , that he meant it only of the indiuisible vnity or fellowship of the high name of rocke of the church , which christ our sauiour the chiefe and fundamentall rocke imparted to none , but to s. peter , and consequently that vnity of name of rocke was indiuisible betwene them : which if eyther m. iewell , or m. reynolds , or our apologer would haue equally considered , they needed not to go about to disgrace so ancient a father with so meere a cauill : or at leastwise it being once answered , they ought not to haue so oftē repeated it againe , without some new matter , or reason for the same , or impugnation of the former answere . lxx . but i will not trouble yow with any more at this tyme , albeit there ensue in the apology diuers other poynts that might be stood vpon , not for that they conteyne any great substance of matter , but for that they seeme to proceed out of no small auersion of mynd , acerbity , and gall in the writer , against all sortes of catholicke people : which christ iesvs amend and mollify , and giue him light from heauen to see the truth , that he so bitterly impugneth . lxxi . and as he dealeth with s. leo , so doth he much more in the same kynd with d. or sanders , and cardinall bellarmine , cyting out of their workes , dyuers sentences culled and layd togeather , that seeme lesse respectiue to the authority of temporall kings and princes , and all this to incite more his ma. tie against them , and those of their religion : and fynally , against the cardinall , he concludeth in these wordes : that god is no more contrary to belial , light to darknes , and heauen to hell , then bellarmines estimation of kings is to gods. which is a very passionate conclusion , if yow consider it well , for that setting asyde the preheminēce for iudging in matters of religion , which in his controuersyes he proueth both by scripture , and testimony of all antiquity , to appertayne to bishops and not to princes ( & so was practised for 300. yeares after christ , when few , or no kings , or emperours were yet christians ; ) in all other poyntes he speaketh so reuerently of them , and defendeth their supreme authority with as great respect as any authour ( perhaps ) hath euer done before him . and to pretermit other places , let the reader but looke ouer the first 16. chapters of his booke de laicis , and he shall fynd not only the authority of princes proued to be from god , by many scriptures , fathers , councels , reasons , and other authorityes of saints , against anabaptists , atheists , and other miscreants of our tyme ; but the quality also , and excellent power of the said princely authority so exalted both for making of lawes , iudging , condemning , waging warre , and like actions of supreme power ; as will easily refute this cauillation . lxxii . and among other propositions tending to that effect , he hath this in the beginning of his eleuenth chapter , which he proueth largely , and of purpose throughout the same ; not only , that temporall princes are to be obeyed out of conscience , or for conscience sake ; but also , quod lex ciuilis non minùs obligat in conscientia , quàm lex diuina : that the cyuil law of the temporall prince doth no lesse bynd the subiect in conscience , thē the law that commeth immediatly from god himself . and how then is cardinall bellarmyne said heere to be no lesse contrary to god , concerning kings authority , then light to darknes , and heauen to hell ? but especially if yow consider further , that when cardinall bellarmyne in that booke , commeth to treat of the authority of temporall princes in matter of religion , though he set downe this conclusion , that , non pertinet ad eos iudicium de religione , the authority of iudging of religion ( which is true or false ) belongeth not vnto them , but vnto bishops : yet , pertinet ad eos defensio religionis , the defence and protection of religion appertayneth vnto them : as also the cyuill gouernmēt in cyuill matters ouer all persons , as well ecclesiasticall as temporall , which is so much as a catholicke man can giue to caesar , reseruing to god that which is gods. lxxiii . and albeit this might be sufficiēt to shew the tooth that is held against cardinall bellarmine , and the ardent appetite these ministers haue to disgrace him in somewhat : yet am i inforced to lay forth some few examples more , wherby , as in a cleere glasse , the indifferent reader will see , behold , and wonder also , at the manner of dealing vsed against him to that end . lxxiv . and now we haue already seene , what general conclusions haue bene gathered against him : that he vseth to contradict himselfe wittingly , so often as euer he is pressed with any hard argument by his aduersary : that his common tricke is to tell the sentence of his authour without his sense : that he seeketh euery-where to debase kingly authority , and the like . which generalityes , as , in truth and reason , they may not be inferred , but vpon proofe , and induction of many particularyties : so when it commeth to tryall , yow haue seene not so much , as any one particuler sufficiently proued . now shall yow heare some more examples of calumnious dealing with him . lxxv . pag. 92. the apologer speaking of s. gregorie the great , and going about to interpret those wordes of his , alleadged by the cardinall , where he calleth ▪ the sea apostolicke caput fidei , the head of faith , in regard of the direction in matters of faith , that is to be taken from thence , as from the head ; the apologer would haue it vnderstood , that for so much as in that place he speaketh to the bishop of palermo about the vse of the pall , accustomed to be gyuen by the sea apostolicke to archbishops , s. gregories meaning is , that the sea apostolicke of rome is head only in matters of cerimonyes , and then he inferreth thus : vvhich sense ( saith he ) if yow will not admit , giue me leaue to say that once of one ( gregorie ) which bellarmyne himselfe saith often of many of the fathers , minùs cautè locutus est : gregorie spake not so aduisedly : and the latin translation hath , quod ille de multis , & saepe dicit , ex omni numero patrū , that bellarmyne saith it often , & of many , and of all sortes of fathers ; to wit , that they spake inconsideratly : and yet when i went to examyne the two places of bellarmynes workes , cyted by our apologer in the margent , i found a strange abuse , to wit , no such thing at all spoken of the fathers , but only of one nicolaus de lyra , made a christian of a iew , not much aboue two hundred yeares past , who seeming by some words of his , to hold a certayne extrauagāt opiniō , that s. peter , & s. paul were not put to death at rome , but at hierusalem , against the generall consent of all antiquity , cardinal bellarmyne expoundeth first , what his true meaning was , to witt , nothing in deed differing from the fathers expositions , and namely of s. hierome , and then addeth , quanquam minùs cautè locutus est &c : albeit lyranus in his manner of speach , was not so wary , as he might haue byn , in giuing suspicion of so absurd an opinion , and so contrary to all the ancient fathers . heere then yow see , how matters are strayned . that which cardinall bellarmyne speaketh only of nicolaus lyranus vpon so iust occasion , as this was , is extended by our apologer , to often , many , and all sortes of fathers . is this good dealing ? how can the apologer defend himself in this place , from willfull exaggeration , and voluntary mistaking ? in the other place cyted by him lib. 2. de christo cap. 2. there is no such matter at all . but let vs see some other like examples . lxxvi . pag ▪ 108. he setteth downe this generall odious proposition-out of bellarmyne : that kings are rather slaues , then lordes . and may a man thinke this to be true or likely , that so rude a proposition should come from bellarmine ? looke vpon the place by him cyted lib. 3. de laicis cap. 7. & yow will maruaile extremly at this manner of proceeding . for that in this very place , yow shall fynd that the cardinall doth most exalt , and confirme by scriptures , fathers , and other arguments , the dignity and authority of the cyuill magistrate among christians . and in the next precedent chapter before this cyted , he hath this begining . the fourth reason , saith he ( to proue the lawfulnes and dignity of the cyuill magistrate against the anabaptists ) is from the efficiēt cause , to witt , god the authour therof , from whom it is certayne , that cyuill power proceedeth , as s. augustine proueth throughout his whole fourth , and fifth bookes de ciuitate dei , and it is euident by the scriptures , for that god saith : by me kings do raigne &c. lxxvii . so bellarmine : and then passing to the next chapter heere cyted , which is the seuenth , he proueth the same by another argument , which is . that in the state of innocency , if adam had not synned , wee should haue had cyuil subiection and gouernment ; and consequently it cānot be thought to be euill , or brought in by sinne , or for the punnishment of synne , as the anabaptistes affirmed , but must needs be of god , & from god. true it is ( saith he ) that seruile , or slauish subiection , was brought in after the fall of adam , and should not haue byn in the state of innocency , but cyuill subiection should . and then he sheweth the differences betweene these two sortes of gouernment , and subiections , to witt , that the one , which is the seruile , tendeth wholy to the vtility and emolument of him that gouerneth , and nothing to them that are gouerned . but the other which is cyuill and politick , tendeth principally to the profit of them that are gouerned therby . so as if there be any seruitude , saith bellarmine ( but he meaneth not slauish ) in this ciuill principality , it falleth rather vpon him , that gouerneth the people to their owne vtility , then vpon the subiectes that receaue the said vtility therby . and so are bishops called the seruantes of their flockes , and the pope himselfe , the seruant of seruants : and s. augustine vpon those wordes of our sauiour in s. matthews ghospell ( he that will be made first ( or chiefe ) among you , must be the seruant of all the rest ) doth proue at large , that , in ciuili principatu , magis s●ruus est , qui praeest , quàm qui subest : in a ciuill principality , he is more a seruant that gouerneth to other mens profit , then he that obeyeth , to his owne . lxxviii . this is all that cardinall bellarmyne hath about this matter : wherin he doth scarce name a king , as yow see , but bishops , and popes to be seruants in the gouermēts of those , whome they gouerne ; though he include good kings in like manner , putting this difference betwene a good king , & a tyrant , out of aristotle ; that a good king gouerneth to the profit of his subiects , wherin he is their seruant in effect ( though not their slaue , as this man odiously vrgeth ) and a tyrant , that turneth all to his owne vtility without respect of those , whome he gouerneth . and is this so absurd doctrine ? or doth this iustify the apologers outragious proposition , that bellarmyne affirmeth kings to be rather slaues then lordes ? who would not be ashamed of this intemperate accusation ? lxxix . and now there remayne eleuen places more of like quality , alleadged by the apologer out of cardinall bellarmynes workes , which being examined by the authors wordes , meaning , and sense , haue the same want of sincerity which the precedent had . the second is , that kings are not only subiects to popes , to bishops , to priests , but euen to deacons . this is a playne cauill : for the fault , if any be , falleth vpon s. chrysostome , and not vpon the cardinall , whose wordes are these : s. chrysostome in his eyghtie and three homilie vpon s. matthewes . ghospell , doth subiect kings and princes ( in ecclesiasticall matters ) not only to bishops , but also to deacons . for thus he speaketh to his deacon : si dux quispiam , si consul , si is qui diademate ornatur &c. if a duke , if a consul , if one that weareth a crowne , commeth to the sacramēt vnworthily , restrayne him , and forbid him , for that thou hast greater power then he . what fault hath cardinall bellarmine heere in alledging the words , and iudgement of s. chrysostome ? lxxx . the third place is , that an emperour must content himself to drinke , not only after a bishop , but after a bishops chaplin . but these wordes are not found in bellarmine , but are odiously framed by the apologer out of a fact of s. martyn bishop of tewers in france , related by auncient sulpitius in his life , that he sitting one day at dynner with the emperour maximus , and the emperours officer bringing a cup of wine to his lord , he would not drinke therof first , but gaue it to the bishop to beginne , who accepting therof , and drinking , deliuered the said cup to his priest to drinke next after him , thinking no lay-man to be preferred before a priest , saith sulpitius . but what doth this touch bellarmine , that doth but relate the story . may he , in truth , be said to ●rouch , that an emperor must be cōtēt to drinke after a bishops chaplin ? who seeth not this violēt inforcemēt ? lxxxi . his fourth place is this , that kinges haue not their authority , nor office from god , nor his law ; but from the law of nations . good god! what desyre is here descried of calumniation ? let any man read the two places here quoted , and he will blesse himselfe , i thinke , to see such dealing . for in the first place his wordes are these : principatus saecularis . &c. secular princedome is instituted by mā , & is of the law of nations ; but ecclesiasticall princedome is only from god , and by dyuine law , which he meaneth expresly of the first institution of those principalyties , or gouernmentes : for that at the beginning god did not immediatly appoynt these particuler and different formes of temporall gouernment , which now the world hath , some of kinges , some of dukes , some of common-wealthes , but appoynted only , that there should be gouernment , leauing to ech nation to take or choose what they would . but the ecclesiasticall gouernment by bishops was ordayned immediatly by christ himselfe , for which cause bellarmine saith in the second place heere alledged : that kingdomes are not immediatly instituted from god , but mediatly only by meanes of the people ; which people therfore may change their formes of gouernment , as in many countryes we see that they haue : but yet when any forme of gouernment is established , and gouernours placed therin , their authority and power is from god , and to be obeyed out of conscience , vnder payne of damnation , as before i haue shewed out of bellarmyne . and he that will read but from his third chapter de laicis vnto the 13. shall fynd store of assertions & proofes to that effect , to omitt many other places throughout his workes . so as the former proposition , that kings haue not their authority nor office from god nor his law , is very fraudulently sett downe . for if he vnderstand , that their forme of principality and office therin , is not immediatly from gods institution , but by meanes of humane lawes , of succession , election , or the like ; it is true . but if he meane , that their authority is not from god , eyther mediate , or immediate , or induceth not obligation of conscience in obeying them , as it seemeth he would haue his reader to thinke ; it is most false . and the apologer ought not to haue walked in these obscurityes , if he had meant vprightly . lxxxii . i am weary to wade any further in these obiections , and yet will i not let passe to note three more , though most briefly , and almost in three words , leauing the rest to be examined by the reader himselfe . the first is , that church-men are as farre aboue kings , as the soule is aboue the body . the other : that obedience due to the pope , is for conscience sake . the third : that obedience due to kings , is only for certayne respects of order and policy ; the first and last being meere calumniations and the other not denyed by vs. for as for the first , though the words heere mentioned be not in bellarmyne : yet the comparison it self of ecclesiasticall and temporall powers in the church , vnto the soule , and body , is the comparison of s. gregorie nazianzen related only by bellarmyne , and consequently it must needs follow , as the same father also inferreth , that so much more eminent , as the soule is aboue the body , so much more excellent is the power ecclesiasticall aboue temporall , which s. chrisostome in like manner proueth at large in his books de sacerdotio : so as this is not bellarmynes comparison , but of the said two auncient fathers , and consequently bellarmyne is not here reprehended , but they . lxxxiii . the other two places , if they be two , and not one , but made two for multiplying of odious matter against vs , haue byn so fully answered by vs before , as we shall need to say no more heere therof . for as obediēce is due out of conscience vnto the pope , & other bishops , & spirituall gouernours , in spirituall gouernments , by the apostles precept , obedi●e praepositis vestris , &c. obey your prelates , & be subiect vnto them ; for they watch , as being to render accompt for your soules : so the same apostle hath commanded also , due obedience to temporall magistrates , in temporall affayres , by the same obligation of conscience , as cardinall bellarmyne doth shew at large , in the places by me alledged . and i maruaile with what conscience the apologer heere can deny it , cyting a place for the same in his margent , which hath no such matter , as he would inferre , that not for conscience , but only for certayne respects &c. for that treating of the obligation of obedience to temporall lawes , in temporall affayres , his second proposition is ; non sunt exempti clerici ab obedientia legum ciuilium : clergie-men are not exempted from the obedience of temporall lawes . and in another place before cyted ; lex ciuilis non minùs obligat in conscientia quàm lex diuina : the temporall law byndeth no lesse in conscience , then the diuine . so as all those odious matters are but frandulently layd togeather to make catholicks , & their cause hatefull , especially vnto him , whom vnto they desyre most of all men vnder god , to yield most satisfaction for their temporall dutyes , and would hope also to effectuate it , if these make-bate ministers did not by their continuall incitations , clamours , and false suggestions disturbe the same , and renew daylie iealosyes and distrustes in his ma. ties mynd against vs. the conclusion . wherfore to draw to an end of this distastfull argument , it cannot but grieue , & afflict much the hartes of all that loue eyther prince or countrey , & looke into the naturall sequels of like proceedings , to see matters runne dayly vnto such extremityes as they do , & that by such instigators , as are both both lesse carefull to foresee the hurts both priuate & publick that may ensue , & lesse able to remedy thē when they fall out . the principall of whom ( being the first & chiefe motors ) besydes the generall hatred wherin they are with both extremes of opposite in religion , are so interessed in like māner by the spoyles , & rapines which their rauenous purseuants daylie bring home , out of their continuall searches , and ransacks of innocent mens houses , goodes and persons , as litle moderation may be expected from them . lxxxv . would god it might please his dyuine ma. tie so to inlighten and illustrate that excellent vnderstanding of our prince and soueraigne , as he may see the many & great inconueniēces , that do & must follow vpon so violēt courses as these men for their owne vtilitie do suggest , & prosecute . nothing can be more pittifull , then to see a noble house diuided in itselfe , & the one to beate , hunt , & pursue the other , & this to be their continuall exercise , especially of children , vnder the sight of their owne father , louing them all , and desyring to be beloued . ah! what sollicitude must there needs be in that fathers hart ! and were it not a great synne to increase the same , by casting in oyle to augmēt the flame ? lxxxvi . would god his ma. ties eares , and those of his wise counsell could reach into these partes beyond the seas , and to all forrayne nations of christendome besydes , to heare what is said , what is writtē , what is discoursed by men of best iudgment in this behalfe , not only in regard of iustice and piety , but in reason also of state and policie ; no man being of so simple vnderstanding , but that he must see , that so notorious differēces , of subiects for religiō , pursued with such hostility among thēselues , must weaken greatly their forces , and make them lesse esteemed both of friends and aduersaryes . so as , besydes internall dangers , which are euer consequent vpon such inward diuisions , if forrayne occasions should be offred vs agayne ( as in former tymes they haue beene ) by forrayne warres ; we should not know how to trust the one the other . lxxxvii . the cryes & cōplayntes of these afflictions running throughout christendome , do giue strange admiration vnto men , and do worke strong effectes both in iudgments and affections : admiration , for that no such thing was euer expected vnder his maiesties gouernment , for many causes : strong effectes , for that they worke great alterations both in the one , and the other : in iudgment , for that wise men fynd not any reason , eyther of religion or state , why such extremityes should be pursued , with such rigour at the instigation of partyes interessed , to the euident danger of so great and honorable kingdomes , who if in wills they were vinted , as they are in one prince and gouernour ; their forces were both admirable and dreadfull : in affections , for that the compassion which naturally doth accompany our brethrens afflictions , especially for a cause that we most esteeme and loue , to wit , our religion ; must needes worke the contrary effect of inward auersion , both in princes & people abroad , notwithstāding they hold externall amity , and friendship for the tyme. lxxxviii . i let passe the generall obloquies , and murmurations that are to be heard euery where , almost in christendome , vpon this manner of proceeding , and much more the publicke and priuate complaints , outcryes , and praiers that are made and offered daylie to heauen , throughout all catholicke kingdomes lightly , in all particuler congregations , oratoryes , chappels , & meetings of zealous men , that pray instantly to almighty god for some remedy of these oppressions , and persecutions of english catholicks , sufficiently ( as they thinke ) declared vnto thē & to the whole world by the very printed catalogues of english statutes extant in print against them , for profession of their religion : for that by the view of those statutes , they do easily conceaue , what enormous effectes , do , and must follow in the execution therof ; albeit they did not both heare & see daily so many lamētable presidēts & spectacles therin . lxxxix . as for example , there haue not passed many moneths , since there were seene some threescore priests more or lesse ( to omit others ) cast into banishmēt about one tyme , & wandring vp and downe , throughout christēdome , according as euery man had occasion , or necessity for their mayntenance , gaue a lamentable spectacle to all nations , to see mē of so good partes , amiable aspects , sweet behauiour , naturall borne subiects of the lād , the most of them of very worshipfull parētage , all of learned education , cleere and deuoyd of any suspition of crymes that could be obiected vnto them ( for otherwise they should not haue bene dismissed ) in the flower of their age , to be cast out of their natiue soyle , for professing that religion only , wherby their said countrey was first made christian , & so continued vnder all their noble princes , kings , queenes , and soueraignes , nobility , and communatly , from the beginning of their conuersion , vnto this our age . xc . this spectacle ( i say ) presented to the eyes of most nations of europe , moued men not a litle , especially hearing them protest their duetifull affections to his ma. tie and realme in all cyuill & temporall respects , without seeking of any preferments , dignityes , riches , or other emoluments by staying at home ; but only the rest & vse of their owne consciences in matters of religion , which protestāts in many other catholicke countryes are suffered to inioy , though with farre lesser reason , in regard of the ancient right & possession , which ech part pretendeth for the vse of their said religion . xci . and since this tyme agayne there hath beene seene very lately another spectacle , not much vnlike to the former ( though much more markable ) to wit , a like number of noble and gentlemen , with their followers and trayne , passing in very good sort through sundry countryes , being lately retyred out of his ma. ties kingdome of irelād , for the selfe same cause of their consciēce , and religion ; which when men do behold , and heare them otherwise to speake honourably of his ma. tie & the state , ascribing rather their afflictiōs to some vnder magistrates in ireland , and ministers that set them on ; it moueth more compassion , and maketh men thinke and muse , what may be the end of all this , and whereunto fynally it may grow ? whether the like may not be expected in tyme or doubted , out of other partes also of his ma. ties dominions , vpon like angariatiō of consciēces : which points seeme to be of no small consideration , and consequence to wise men ; though those that be the immediate causes therof , will and must make light of all : but the naturall yssue of such euentes , are not vnknowne . and if the occasioners therof were guylty of no greater fault , but only to cast his ma. tie & the state into perpetuall cares about the same ( his royall nature being inclined otherwise to sweetnes , peace , and tranquillity ) it were a great synne in them , and scarce sufferable . xcii . nor is the remedy heere attēpted by our minister-apologer ( of denying all , and saying that there is no persecution , nor hard dealing with any , for matters of religion , no not in the late queenes dayes , when so many were so rackt and rented for the same ) any remedy at all ; but rather a doubling of the iniury to the afflicted , with encrease of exasperation & auersion of myndes ; as also a leesing of all credit with others that heare it , eyther at home or abroad : for that facts contrary to wordes , do preponderate with all sober men , and preuaile against the same . xciii . and truely , i cannot but wonder , why this late apology hath beene so greedily published by the apologer , both in english and latyn to the world , for that the popes breues , being but written priuatly to the catholicks of england , for informing their consciences in a matter of necessary doctrine about the lawfulnes , or vnlawfulnes of taking the oath , and the letter of cardinall bellarmyne being directed only to a priuate friend ; both of them might haue remayned also priuate , if this attempt had not byn made of publishing the same . but now being drawne by the apologer into the vniuersall theatre of the world , besydes , that diuers will hold themselues obliged , or at leastwyse prouoked to answere the same ; it will follow also , that the vnlawfulnes of the said oath to catholicke consciences will more be seene , disputed , & condemned by all vniuersityes , schooles , bookes & treatises of particuler learned men , throughout all countryes of christendome that professe catholicke religiō . whervpon also the vniust violence , inforcing men to sweare the same oath , vnder so rigorous paynes , as are the losse both of goods & libertie , and therwithall to sweare in like manner , that they do it willingly , freely , and without coaction : will be censured ( no doubt ) for one of the greatest contradictions in it selfe , and the most iniurious manner of proceeding with christian men , that euer , perhaps was heard of in the christian world . xciii . and this now occurred to me ( deare syr ) to write to you cōcerning my iudgmēt vpō this matter . what more may be said to this apologie , when it shall come into the handes of learned men ; you will easily ghesse by these few notes , that i haue heere laid togeather , which conteyne but little in respect of that which may be written of the matters heere handled . god of his endles mercy inclyne the hart of his maiesty , to take the best way in this his course of royall gouernment : & for so much , as he hath byn pleased to ioyne so many great kingdomes vnder his only scepter , and permitted them to haue so great differences of iudgements in matters of religion , that their vnion of wills , at least , in dutifull affections , may be so combined and conserued by sweet and temperate proceeding towards all , as despayre , the mother of headlong precipitation , enter not . the prouerbe is knowne , qui nimium emungit , elicit sanguinē : & patientia laesa vertitur in furorem . i neuer heard or read , that too much violēce towards free subiects euer ended well , especially for supposed faultes that are not acknowledged for such , by the punished : & cōsequently no hope of amendment by way of compulsion . some may dissemble for feare , but they are more lost in their affections then the other . some reasonable toleration , and friendly treatie would bynd vp woundes from bleeding on all sydes : exulceration maketh them fester more greiuously , and dangerously . to gods holy prouidence the whole is to be committed , who will dispose of all to his greater glorie , siuè in vitam , siuè in mortem . and to him also i committ yow , with my hartiest commendations , &c. this 10. of iune . 1608. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a09102-e950 about the authour of the apologie . tho. morton . tho. montag●e . what his maiesties great iudgmēt would haue discouered , if he had read the apology . cap. 7. what his maiesty in honour woulde haue misliked . vide lib. de laicis , maximè ca. 10. 11. &c. three partes of the apology . pag. 1. & 2. the odious and often repetition of the powder treason . the powder treason not so much a cause , as an effect of catholiks tribulatiō . in the treatise of mitigation in the preface apologia pag. 2. lin . vlt. pag. 3. the agrieuance of this oath . pag. 4. the oath consulted , both at home and abroad . see the breue 10. kal. octo. 1606. see answer cap. 6. recourse to rome euer vsual from our first christianity . q. mary of scotland . catholiks do hould & practice what all their ancestours haue done . apol. pa. 6. ibid. pag. 7. english catholiks not messis aliena to the sea apostolike . ibid. pag. 6. that the oath conteyneth poyntes against catholicke religion . the popes wordes in his breue . cardinall bellarmines iudgement of the contents of the oath . a loyall offer of ciuill obedience , made by catholiks to his maiesty . apol. pag. 4. whether the taking of this oath by catholicks be a blessing from god. statu● . 3. 〈◊〉 . obi reg. cap. 4. 2. ethic. c. 2. d. thom. 1. 2. q. 6. art . 6. & va●etia , vasquez , &c. met●m locum . how freely the oath is taken . the sense & meaning of catholicks , that tooke the oath . an hūble petition to his maiesty for exposition of the oath . the vrging of the oath , how heauy a pressure to catholicks of tender consciēces . nothing gayned at all by enforcing the oath , but much lost . r●der . to let●m . lib. 3 〈…〉 cap. 18. 1. cor. 8. rom. 14. matth. 18. how grieuous a synne it is to force men to sweare against their consciēces . obiections answered . notes for div a09102-e4160 the summe of the two breues . ap●●g . pag. 16. see stowes chronicle in the death of m. mayne anno 1577. of m. m●●son anno 1578. of m. sh●rwood anno 1578. of m. 〈◊〉 1581. &c. apol. pag. 18. q. elizabeth her manes . apol. pag. 16. see sāders lib. 7. de ecclesiastica monarchia : who setteth down the particuler persons . isa. 5. lo. cooke in the booke of the late arraignements fol. 63. psalm . 143. cooke ib. pag. 64. hier. 27. 6. hier. 25. 9. how nabuchodonosor was the seruant of god. hier. 25. 11. * archb. of can●erb . queene elizabeth her felicityes mingled with infelicities . q. eli. her dishonourable birth an . 28. stat. cap. 7. the infelicity of cruelty . q elizab. her cruell per●ecutiōs * the fiction of sq●ier an . 1598. q. eliz. her dealing towards her cosen of scotland . lo. cooke in his charge at norwich . 4. august . 1606. what māner of persecutour q. elizabeth was . * see answer . to syr edward cooke ca. 15. his maiesties myld disposition diuerted . the exercise of the minister th. mont. apol. pag. 18. liberty of consciēce . in vita hēri●i quinti. anno 1546 liberty of conscience demaūded by all protestants . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . height of pride , and in whome it may be said to be . apol. pag. 19. exprobration of his maiestyes benefits towards catholiks . catholiks dutifull demeanour to his maiesty . anno 1. iacobi regis . apol. pag. 19. clemency no cause of desperate attempts . the cruelty of searches . * anno 1604. mense august . diuers examples of seuere persecution . the b. of londons sermon 5. august . 1605. apol. pag. 21. increace of persecution since the powden-treason . statut. 4. & 5. anno 3. iacobi reg. lond. 26. febr. 1607. york . 21. mar. 1608. lond. 11. apr. 1608. pag. 21. luc. 23. & matth. vlt. act. 24. apol. pag. 21. vixit an. 1150. pag. 22. the oath why it is vnlawfull . rom. 13. apol. pag. 22. hier. 27. 12. exod. 5. 1. esdr. 1. 3. dan. 3. 12. no obedience against god & a mans consciēce . dan. 1. tob. 1. 1. macha . 1. authorityes of aūcient fathers . apol. pag. 23. august . in psal. 124. how farre we are bound to our tēporall prince . apol. pag. 23. tertull. ad scap. iust. apol. 2. ad anto. imperat. optat. cōtra parmen . li. 3. ambros. orat. cōtra auxent . de basilicis nō trad . lib. s. epist. three occasions in which s. ambrose resisted the emperour his temporall soueraigne . libellus . ambros. epist. 32. amb. l. 1. epist. 33. amb. ibid. ambros. concion . de basililcis nō tradendis haer . to . 5. apol. pag. 24. how s. gregory agreed to the publishing of the law of the emperour mauritius . greg. lib. 2. epistol . 65. indict . 11. greg. lib. 7. epist. 11. indict . 1. con● . arel . sub carol. can. 26. vide in capitularibus pranc . li. 6. c. 285. de con●ilio vvormac . wherein the councell of arles did submit it selfe to the emperour . a can. 2. b can. 3. c can. 4. d can. 7. & 8. e can. 13. f can. 15. & 16. g can. 20. 22. 23. the zeale of charles the great to haue manners reformed by the authority of bishops . ioan. 18. 36. mat. 22. 21. apol. pag. 26. & 27. neither the pope or church can make any new articles of faith. 3. reg. 3. wilfull mistaking of the controuersy . see s. cyprian exhort . ad martyr . see euseb. lib. 8. ca. 4. & aug. de bap. lib. 7. cap. 2. & lib. 7. cōtra cresc . cap. 27. & arnob . cōtra gentes lib 4. in fine . touching the two breues of clemens octauus . anno domini 1600. & 1603. in his charge at norwich 4. august . anno 1606. to the last poynt . notes for div a09102-e10090 apolog. pag. 36. 37. &c. the state of the controuersie with card. bellarmine ca. pellar . his opinion of taking the oath . pag. 44. a cauill . pag. 46. whether bellar. mistaketh the state of the question . the tytle of supremacy . stat. 26. henr. 8. c. 1. stat. 28. h. 8. cap. 10. stat. 1. edo . 6. cap. 2. conferēce in the tower . cap. 1. diuis . 1. pa. 90. apolog. pag. 37. iac. 3. the oath deuided into 14. partes . apolog. pag. 49. bad kinde of arguing . apol. pag. 52. the oath of allegiance confirmed by the authoritie of councels . the difference betweene the ancient councels , and the popes counselling of the catholiks . conc. tole . 4. can . 74. the occasion of gathering the 4. coūcell of toledo . * see rode. tolet. lib. 2. dereb . his. c. 19. sātius par . 2. hist. hisp. c. 27. loan . vasaus in chron. his. num . 631. conc. tole . 4. in praefat . anno domini 633. the care of the councell for ciuill fidelity to be obserued to the king. can. 74. no forme of oath prescribed by the councell . what the councell demaūded at k. sisenandus his handes towards his people . the deposition of k suintila confirmed by the councell . * se chro. vasaei nu . 631. conc. tol. 6. ca. 3 : an oath prescribed by the councell to kings . contradictions obiected to the cardinall . card. bellar . wrōgfully charged with conspiracyes . a voluntary mistaking of tēperate for tempered . two questions proposed and solued . clauses of beliefe or not beliefe in the oath . pag. 12. apolog. 38. & 64. bell. lib. s. de pon. c. 8. & lib. 3. cap. 16. touching henry the 4. pag. 65. 66. platin. & cusp . in vita henrici 4. cusp . in henrico quarto . * see naucler . part . 2. gen . 37. in anno 1106. & crantz . lib. 5. saxo. cap. 24. cuspin . in henrico 4. a vrspergēsis in anno 1106. b crantz . in saxo. lib. 5. cap. 17. c sigon . de regno italiae lib. 9. in anno 1105. d nauclerus part . 2. gen . 37. in anno 1105. & alij . apolog. pag. 66. the exāple of k. henry the 3. of france his death . apolog. pag. 67. priestes put to death for fayned cōspiracies . an. 1598. facility & custome of ouerlashing . statut. an . 28. h. 8. c. 7 q. elizab. against cōsciēce held the crown from his maiestyes mother 44. yeares . vniust dealing against the cardinall . ibid. card. bellarmynes volumes much iustified by these obiected contradictiōs . the first supposed contradiction . bellar. de iustifie . lib. 5. cap. 7. apol. 68. three questions about cōfidence in merits answered by bellarmine . tob. 4. iob. 11. 1. tim. 3. 2. tim. 4. the sūme of cardinall bellarmynes discourse and answere . the secōd supposed contradictiō about moraliter . a bellar. de amiss . grat . & stat . peccat . l. 2. c. 13. b ibid. paul● post . occasionall cōcurrence to a sinne what it is . gen. 37. the third supposed contradictiō , about bishops succeeding of the apostles . bellarm. de cler. lib. 1. cap. 14. lib. 4. de pōtif . c. 25. the 4. cōtradiction about iudas . lib. 1. de pontif. c. 12. lib. 3. de iustif . cap. 14. io. in . 6. the apologer returneth to calumniate popes . examples obiected of princes molested by popes . apolog. pag. 72. 73. touching k. henry the secōd . houed . pa. 303. ibi. pa. 308. see baron . in an . 1177. subfinem . a in vita celestini b part . 2. gen . 40. in anno 1190. c tom. 2. ennead . li. 5 d in anno 1190. e lib. 15. in henrico 6. f lib. 7. saxon . cap. 3. & alij . vrspergensis pag. 310. sigonius li. 15. in fine c. 13. crantzius in sua saxonia li. 7. cap. 28. nauclerus . part . 2. gen . 41. in an. 1208. idem cuspinianus , crusius & alij . 1 in vita innoc●̄tij 4 2 li. 2. decad . lib. 7. 3 tomo 2. enne . 9. l. 6. non longè ante finem . 4 parte 2. gen . 41. an . 1247. 5 lib. 8. ca. 18. si●e saxoniae . 6 in fine lib. 18. * blond . vbi supra . petrus de vineis lib. 2. epist. 2. & cusp . in vita frederici 2. blondus ibid. inforcing of matters against the pope . apolog. pag. 73. about the death of gemen or sizimus brother to the great turke . lib. 2. hist ▪ a in vita alexand. sexti . b ennead . 10. lib. 9. apolog. pag. 78. nazian . orat . 1. in iulian. the example of iulians bāner examined . similitudes hold not in all . matth. 10. matth. 13. mar. 4. luc. 13. ibid. 2. mach. 6. about the example of eleazar . apol. pag. 81. apol. pag. 84. theodoret lib. 4. c. 19. the tentation of s. basil by the deputy modestus . * diuinorū dogmatum . pag. 84. a cauill against bellarmyne . another shift against s. basils testimony . aplo . pag. 84. & 85. * theodoret lib. 4. cap. 19. graecè . latinè cap. 17. compare this to our tymes . crafty conueiāce in translating . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the third shift . wherein the comparison of s. basil and modestus may be like in our dayes . three or 4. exāples togeather . apol. pag. 94. reynoldes cōference . ca. 1. diuis . 2. cicero in horten. the apologers impugnation of s. leo. leo serm. 3. suae assumpt . & epistola 89. ad episcopū viēnens . great iniury offered to car. bell. about kingly authority . aplo . pag. 110. lib. de laicis cap. 11. card. bellarm . exalteth much princely authority . calūnious dealing against car. bellar. greg. li. 11. epist. 42. bellar. 2. de ro. pontif. cap. 10. & li. 2. de christo cap. 2. lyr. com . in 24. matth. prouer. 8. aug. li. 19. de ciuitate dei cap. 14. matth. 20. how good kings and princes are truly seruants . arist. li. 8. moral . c. 10. apol. pag. 108. libr. 1. de pontif. c. 7. libr. 1. de pont. c. 7. sulpitius in vita d. martini . ibid. & de cleri● . c. 28. how princes authority is mediatly or imediatly from god. nazian . orat . ad ciues timor● pereulsos & imperat. irasc . hebr. 13. libr. de cleric . c. 28. libr. de laicis c. 11. megalopsychy, being a particular and exact account of the last xvii years of q. elizabeths reign, both military and civil the first written by sir william monson ..., the second written by heywood townsend, esq. ; wherein is a true and faithful relation ... of the english and spanish wars, from the year 1585, to the queens death ; with a full account of the eminent speeches and debates, &c., in the said time ; to which is added dr. parry's tryal in the year 1584 ; all written at the time of the actions, by persons eminently acting therein. monson, william, sir, 1569-1643. 1682 approx. 305 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 51 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a51173 wing m2465 estc r7517 12814661 ocm 12814661 94124 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51173) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94124) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 362:9) megalopsychy, being a particular and exact account of the last xvii years of q. elizabeths reign, both military and civil the first written by sir william monson ..., the second written by heywood townsend, esq. ; wherein is a true and faithful relation ... of the english and spanish wars, from the year 1585, to the queens death ; with a full account of the eminent speeches and debates, &c., in the said time ; to which is added dr. parry's tryal in the year 1584 ; all written at the time of the actions, by persons eminently acting therein. monson, william, sir, 1569-1643. parry, william, d. 1585. true and plain declaration of the horrible treasons. [9], 55, [4], 356, [12], 36 p. printed for w. crooke, and sold by w. davis ..., london : 1682. in 3 pts.; each pt. has separate paging, and pt. 1 has special t.p. with title: a true and exact account of the wars with spain. each part also issued and cataloged separately. imperfect: heywood townsend's, historical collections, 1680, (356 p.) is lacking on filmed copy. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) 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as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng parry, william, d. 1585. catholics -england. great britain -history, naval -tudors, 1485-1603. great britain -history -elizabeth, 1558-1603 -sources. spain -history, naval. 2006-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-03 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2006-03 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion megalopsychy being a particular and exact account of the last xvii . years of q. elizabeths reign , both military and civil . the first written by sir william monson , one of the queens admirals . the second written by heywood townsend , esq . wherein is a true and faithful relation of all the expeditions , attempts , designs , successes , and errors , both of the english and spanish wars , from the year 1585 , to the queens death . with a full account of the eminent speeches and debates , &c. in the said time . to which is added dr. parry's tryal in the year 1584. all written at the time of the actions , by persons eminently acting therein . london , printed for w. crooke , and sold by w. davis in amen corner . m.dc.lxxxii . a true and exact account of the wars with spain , in the reign of q. elizabeth , ( of famous memory . ) being the particulars of what happened between the english and spanish fleets , from the years 1585 to 1602. shewing the expeditions , attempts , fights , designs , escapes , successes , errors , &c. on both sides . with the names of her majesty's ships and commanders in every fleet. being a patern and warning to future ages . never printed before . written by sir william monson , who was a captain in most , and admiral of several of those fleets in the said wars , and dedicated to his son. london , printed for w. crooke , and sold by w. davis in amen corner . m.dc.lxxxii . to the reader by way of advertisement . you have here put into your hands a piece of english history of a time of great actions . you will hardly meet more truth in any history than you will find in this . all circumstances considered , there could not in any thing be greater opportunities of truth , they being written by persons of eminent characters , and considerable actors in the same times . these very authors wise and heroick actions make no inconsiderable part of the history it self . the first is a relation of the military transactions of the nation for nigh twenty years , beginning anno domini 1585 , ( from which time to queen elizabeths death there was yearly set out a fleet against the spaniards ) with a full account of all the expeditions , stratagems , attempts , successes , and miscarriages , that happened in that war on both sides ; wherein is shewed the valour and heroick acts of those great souldiers that were so plenty in that age ; as , cumberland suffolk essex sheffeild drake rawleigh hawkins forbisher carlee burroughs bellingham fenner southwell crosse seymour crosse winter beeston palmer barker bostock sackvile goring norris williams leicester york greenvile vavasor , &c. and sir william monson , the author of this , who was admiral in several of the said expeditions against the spaniards , and also a member in her last parliaments . the second part is the full and exact account of the four last parliaments ( both lords and commons ) of queen elizabeth , taken from the original records of their houses , by heywood townsend esquire , a member thereof ; with the particular speech and behaviour of the wife and learned statesmen , lawyers , &c. which that time was fo fruitful of , viz. egerton burleigh buckhurst cecill walsingham hatton bacon rawleigh hobby crooke coke moore fortescue pophan yelverton finch maynard spelman wentworth hobart manwood jones digby caesar anderson winch , &c. with other passages of history in those times , that is , runs contemporary with sir william monsons relation both together being the account of the military and civil state of affairs , of nigh 20 years of the last part of queen elizabeths reign , being the most eminent time of action in all her government . with sir william monsons directions and advice to his son by way of dedication , to excuse it s not coming forth sooner , may be to avoid such offences , which must necessarily be given by a faithful and exact historian , that writes of the present age , when the parties are living that were actors in it ; it may by this time be supposed that such objections ( against its now coming forth ) may be over . you have added at the end of this the tryal , condemnation , and execution of dr. parry , for a conspiracy against the said queen , written also at the time of his tryal and execution . so that what is here offered for thy use , is nothing but what was written at the time of the action , or by the persons who were actors , and of such quality , that it is quite out of all suspicion there should be the least falshood in this ; it being never at all designed for the publick in the life-time of the authors . therefore neither profit nor honour did the authors expect , although their exact and careful accounts of truth must be no small benefit to the curious reader . there is lately published a small book of 1 s. 6 d. price , called , the connexion , being choice collections of some principal matters in king james his reign , and passages betwixt this book and rushworth , nalson , and the rest that begin at king charles i. sir william monson to his son john . dear son , the custom of dedicating books hath been ancient , and they have been usually dedicated either to great persons , for protection or remuneration ; or to familiars , out of friendship and affection ; or to children , in respect of nature and for admonition . and to this end it is , that to you i commend the reading of the discourse following ; that so beholding the 18 years war by sea , which for want of years you could not then remember ; and comparing them with the 18 years of peace , in which you have lived , you may consider three things . first , that after so many pains and perils god hath lent life to your father to further your education . secondly , what proportion his recompence and rewards have had to his services . lastly , what just cause you have to abandon the thoughts of such dangerous and uncertain courses ; and that you may follow the ensuing precepts , which i commend to your often perusal . and in the first place , i will put you in mind of the small means and fortune i shall leave , that you may rate your expences accordingly ; and yet as little as it is , 't is great to me , in respect i attained to it by my own endeavours and dangers , and therefore no body can challenge interest in it but my self , though your carriage may promise the best possibility . beware you presume not so much upon it , as thereby to grow disobedient to your parents ; for what you can pretend to , is but the privilege of two years of age above your younger brother ; and in such cases fathers are like judges , that can and will distinguish of offences and deserts according to truth , and will reward and punish as they shall see cause . and because you shall know it is no rare or new thing for a man to dispose of his own , i will lay before you a precedent of your own house , that so often as you think of it , you may remember it with fear , and prevent it with care . the great grandfather of your grandfather was a knight by title , and john by name , which name we desire to retain to our eldest sons ; god blessed him with many earthly benefits , as wealth , children , and reputation ; his eldest son was called john after his father , and his second william like to your self and brother ; but upon what displeasure i know not , ( although we must judge the son gave the occasion ) his father left him the least part of his fortune , though sufficient to equal the best gentleman of his shire , and particularly the ancient house called after his name . his other son william he invested with what your uncle now enjoys . both the sons whilest they lived carried the port and estimation of their fathers children , though afterwards it fell out that the son of john , and nephew to william , became disobedient , negligent , and prodigal , and spent all his patrimony ; so that in conclusion he and his son extinguished their house , and there now remains no memory of them . as for the second line and race , of whom your uncle and i descended , we live as you see , though our estates be not great , and of the two mine much the least ; which notwithstanding is the greater to me in respect i atchieved it with the peril and danger of my life ; and you will make my contentment in the enjoyment of it the greater , if it be accompanied with that comfort i hope to receive from you . the next thing i will handle shall be arms. know that wars by land or sea are always accompanied with infinite dangers and disasters , and seldom rewarded according to merit : for one souldier that lives to enjoy that preferment which becomes his right by antiquity of service , ten thousand fall by the sword and other casualties : and if you compare that of a souldier with any other calling or profession , you will find much difference both in the reward and danger although arms have been esteemed in all ages , and the more as there was greater occasion to use them ; yet you shall find they have been always subject to jealousies and envy ; jealousies from the state , if the general or other officer grow great and popular ; subject to envy from inferiors , who through their perverse and ill dispositions malign other mens merits . the advancement of souldiers is commonly made by councellors at home , whose eyes cannot witness the services performed abroad ; but a man is advanced as he is befriended , which makes the souldiers preferment as uncertain as his life is casual . compare the estate and advancement of souldiers of our time but with the mean and mercenary lawyer , and you shall find so great a difference , that i had rather you should become apprentice to the one , than make profession of the other . a captain that will seek to get the love of his souldiers . as his greatest praise and felicity , of all other vices must detest and abandon covetousness ; he must live by spending as the miser doth by sparing ; insomuch as few of them can obtain by war wherewith to maintain themselves in peace , and where wealth wants preferment fails . souldiers that live in peaceable islands , as in england , their profession is undervalued , because we see not those dangers which make the souldiers necessary , as others do where wars are practised . and the good success in our wars hath been such as makes us attribute our victories , not so much to valour as to chance . i confess the base and ill behaviour of some souldiers , hath made themselves and their callings the less esteemed ; for the name of a captain , which was ever wont to be honourable , is now became a word of reproach and disdain . souldiers may have reputation , but little credit ; reputation enough to defend their honours , but little trust in commerce of the world ; and not without cause , for their security is the worse , by how much the danger of death is the greater . learning is as much to be preferred before war , as the trade of a merchant before that of the factor . by learning you are made sensible of the difference betwixt men and other creatures , and will be able to judge between the good and the bad , and how to walk accordingly . by learning you attain to the knowledge of heavenly mysteries , and you may frame your life accordingly , as god shall give you grace . by learning you are made capable of preferment , if it concur with virtue and discretion ; and the rather because you are a gentleman by birth , and of good alliance , which i observe next to money in this golden age is the second step to advancement . for one that is preferred by arms , there are twenty by learning ; and indeed the souldier is but a servant to the learned , for after his many fought battels , and as many dangers of his life , he must yield account of his actions , and be judged , corrected , and advanced as it shall please the other . you may wonder to hear me extoll learning so highly above my own profession , considering the poor fortune i shall leave was atchieved by arms ; it is enough therefore to persuade you what i say is not conjectural but approved : for if i did not find this difference , the natural affection of a father to a son would make me discover it to you , that you may follow that which is most probable and profitable . good son , love souldiers for your countries sake , who are the defenders of it ; for my sake , who have made profession of it ; but shun the practice of it as you will do brawls , quarrels , and suits , which bring with them perplexities , and dangers . there are many things to be shunned , as being perillous both to body and soul ; as quarrels and occasions of them , which happen through the enormities and abuses of our age. esteem valour as a special virtue , but shun quarrelling as a most detestable vice . of two evils it were better to keep company with a coward than a quarreller ; the one is commonly sociable and friendly , the other dangerous in his acquaintance , and offensive to standersby . he is never free from peril , that is conversant with a quarreller , either for offence given to himself , or to others wherein he may be engaged . a true valiant man shall have enough to do to defend his own reputation . without engaging for others : nor are all valiant that will fight , therefore discretion makes a difference betwixt valour and desperateness . nothing can happen more unfortunate to a gentleman , than to have a quarrel , and yet nothing so ordinary as to give offence ; it draweth with it many mischiefs both to body and soul : being slain he is danger of damnation , and no less if he kill the other without great repentance . he shall perpetually live in danger of revenge from the friends of the party killed , and fall into the mercy of the prince and law where he liveth ; but if for fear and baseness he avoid and shun a quarrel , he is more odious living than he would be unhappy in dying . drinking is the foundation of other vices , it is the cause of quarrels , and then follows murders . it occasions swearing , whoredom , and many other vices depend upon it . when you behold a drunkard , imagine you see a beast in the shape of a man. it is a humour that for the time pleaseth the party drunk , and so bereaves him of sence , that he thinketh all he doth delighteth the beholders ; but the day following he buys his shame with repentance , and perhaps gives that offence in his drunkenness , that makes him hazard both life and reputation in a quarrel . you have no man that will brag or boast so much of the word reputation as a drunkard , when indeed there is nothing more to a mans imputation than to be drunk . a drunkard is in the condition of an excommunicated person , whose testimony betwixt party and party is of no validity . avoid ( good son ) the company of a drunkard , and occasions of drinking , then shall you live free without fear , and enjoy your own without hazard . whoredom is an incident to drunkenness , though on the contrary all whoremasters are not drunkards . it is a sin not washed away without the vengeance of god to the third and fourth generation . besides the offence to god , it giveth a disreputation to the party and his of-spring , it occasioneth a breach betwixt man and wife , encourageth the wife oftentimes to follow the ill example of her husband , and then ensueth dislike , divorce , disinheriting of children , suits in law , and consuming of estates . the next and worst sin i would have you shun is swearing . i do not advise you like a puritan , that ties a man more to the observing of sundays , and from taking the name of god in vain , than to all the rest of the commandments : but i wish you to avoid it for the greatness of the sin it self , for the plague of god hangeth over the house of the blasphemer . swearing is odious to the hearers , it giveth little credit to the words of him that useth it , it affordeth no pleasure as other sins do , nor yieldeth any profit to the party ; custom begetteth it , and custom must make one leave it . for your exercises let them be of two kinds , the one of mind , the other of body ; that of the mind must consist of prayer , meditation , and your book ; let your prayers be twice a day , howsoever you dispose of your self the rest of the time ; prayers work a great effect in a contrite and penitent heart . by this i do not seek to persuade you from such exercises and delights of body as are lawful and allowable in a gentleman ; for such increase health and agility of body , make a man sociable in company , and draw good acquaintants ; many times they bring a man into favour with a prince , and prove an occasion of preferment in his marriage ; they are often times a safeguard to a mans life , as in vaulting suddenly upon a horse to escape an enemy . i will especially commend unto you such pleasures as bring delight and content without charge ; for others are fitter for greater men than one of your fortune to follow . hawking and hunting , if they be moderately used , are like tobacco , in some cases wholesom for the body , but in the common use both laboursom and loathsom ; they alike bring one discommodity , ( as comonly vices do ) that they are not so easily left as entertained . tobacco is hot and hurtful to young bodies and stomachs , and augments the heat of the liver , which naturally you are subject to . it is offensive to company , especially the breath of him that takes it ; it drieth the brain , and many become fools with the continual use thereof . let your apparel be handsom and decent , not curious nor costly . a wise man is more esteemed in his plain cloth than gay clothing . it is more commendable to be able to buy a rich suit than to wear one . a wise man esteems more of a mans vertues and valour than of his vesture ; but seeing this age is fantastical and changeable , you must fashion your self to it , but in so mean and moderate a manner , as to be rather praised for frugality , than derided for prodigality . he that delights in curious cloaths is an imitator of a player , who measures his apparel by the part he acts . and as players appear upon the stage to be seen of the spectators , so do the gallants proclaim their braveries in open assemblies . whilest i live and you not marry , i shall temper this expence ; but when i die remember what i say , seek advancement rather by your carriage ; the curiousness , the reputation you gain by that will be lasting , when this will appear but like a flower fading . frame your course of life to the country and not to the court ; and yet make not your self such a stranger to great persons , as in assemblies they should ask others who you are . i confess the greatest and suddenest rising is by the court ; yet the court is like a hopefull and forward spring , that is taken with a sharp and cold frost , which nips and blasts a whole orchard except 2 or 3 trees ; for after that proportion commonly courtiers are preferr'd . and he that will thrive at court must make his dependency upon some great person , in whose ship he must imbarque all his hopes ; and how unfortunate such great persons are oftentimes themselves , and how unthankful to their followers , we want not precedents . he that settles his service upon one of them shall fall into the disfavour of another ; for a court is like an army ever in war , striving by stratagems to circumvent and kick up one anothers heels , you are not ignorant of the aptness of this comparison by what you know of me , whose case will serve you for a prospective-glass , wherein to behold your danger afar off , the better to prevent it . yet reverence lords because they are noble , and one more than another , as he is more notable in virtue . be choice of your company ; for as a man makes election of them he is censured : man lives by reputation , and that failing he becomes a monster . let your company consist of your own rank , rather better than worse ; for hold it for a maxim , the better gentleman the more gentle in his behaviour . beware they be not accused of crimes , for so it may touch you in credit ; and if you lose your reputation in the bud of your youth , you shall scarce recover it in the whole course of your life . let them be civil in carriage , for commonly such men are sensible above all ; let them be learned , for learning is a fountain from whence springs another life ; let them be temperate in diet and expence , so shall you learn to live in health , and increase in wealth . beware they be not cholerick in disposition , or arrogant in opinion ; for so you shall become a slave to their humours , and base by suffering . a cholerick man of all others is the worst companion , for he cannot temper his rage , but on any slight occasion of a friend becomes an enemy . value true friendship next to marriage , which nothing but death can dissolve ; for the fickleness of friendship is oftentimes the ruine of ones fortune . beware of gaming , for it causes great vexation of mind . if you lose , it begets in you that humour , that out of hope of regaining your losses , you will endanger the loss of all . do not presume too much of your skill in play , or making wagers as if you were excellent above others , or have fortune at command ; for she is like a whore variable and inconstant , and when she disfavours you , it is with more loss at once than she recompenceth at twice . love your brother and sisters for their own sakes , as you are bound by nature , but especially for mine whose they are . remember you are all indifferent to me , but that god chose you from the rest to be a strength and stay to them ; think you cannot honor your father more being dead , than in shewing affection to them he dearly loved ; and nothing will more approve you to be mine , than love and kindness amongst your selves . you owe somewhat more to me than that i am your father , in that i seek your advancement above theirs , of which obligation i will acquit you conditionally you perform what you ought to them . for because man cannot himself live ever , he desires to live in his posterity ; and if i had an hundred sons , my greatest hope must depend upon you as you are my eldest , and seeing my care is of you above the rest , do not make my memory so unhappy , as to give the world an occasion to say , i left an unnatural son. the onely request i make is , be kind and loving to them , who i know by their disposition will give you no cause of offence . a discourtesie from you will be as sharp to them as a razor from another . be courteous and friendly to all , for men are esteemed according to ther carriage . there is an old proverb , the courtesie of the mouth is of great value , and costs little . a proud man is envied of his equals , hated by his inferious , and scorned by his superiours ; so that betwixt envy , hate , and scorn he is friendless . many times a man is condemned to death out of presumption , especially when it concurrs with an opinion of his former ill carriage : how much therefore doth it concern a man in the times of his prosperity to lay up a stock of love and reputation ? there cannot be a greater honour than to gain a mans enemy by a courtesie ; it far exceeds the kindness that is done to another , and doubly obligeth him that receiveth it . love is a thing desired by a king from his subjects , by a general from his souldiers , and by a master from his servants ; he that hath it is rich by it , it maintains peace in time of peace , and is a safe bulwork in time of war. do not buy this love with the ruine of your estate , as many do with prodigal expences , and then are requited with pity and derision . let your expence be agreeable to the wearing of your cloaths , better or worse according to company ; or the journying your horse , the less way you go to day , you may travel the further to morrow ; but if you go every day a long and wearisom journey , your horse will fail , and you be enforc'd to go on foot . and so will it be in your expences , if you do not moderate them according to days and companies , your horse and you may travel faintly together . if you are prodigal in any thing , let it be in hospitality , as most agreeable to the will of god , you shall feed the hungry , relieve the poor , and get the love of the rich . what you spend among your neighbours is not lost , but procures their loves and helps when you have need , and thereby you shall find friendship in the country as available as favour at court. if you are called to any place of magistracy , do justice with pity , revenge not your self of your enemy under colour of authority , for that shews baseness , and will procure you hatred . in money matters favour your country , if it be not against the present profit of the king , for many times his name is used for the gain of other men . study the laws , not to make a mercenary practice of them , but onely for your own use , the good of your neighbours , and the government of your country . hold the laws in reverence next to the king ; for that kingdom is well governed where the king is ruled by the laws , not the laws by the king. be not presumptuous in your command , yet seek to be obeyed as you desire to obey ; for as you are above others , others are above you . give your mind to accommodate controversies among your neighbours , and you shall gain their love , which will more avail you than the hate of the lawyers can hurt you . punish idleness and other vices , as well for that they are such , as for examples sake . gain love by doing justice , and hate doing wrong , though it were to your immediate profit . if you marry after my death , chuse a wife as near as you can suitable to your calling , years , and condition ; for such marriages are made in heaven , though celebrated on earth . if your estate were great , your choice might be the freer ; but where the preferment of your sisters must depend upon your wives portion , let not your fancy overrule your necessity . it is an old saying , he that marrieth for love hath evil days and good nights : consider if you marry for affection , how long you will be raising portions for your sisters , and the misery you shall live in all the days of your life ; for the greatest fortune that a man can expect is in his marriage . a wise man is known by his actions , but where passion and affection sway , that man is deprived of sence and understanding . it is not the poverty or meanness of her that 's married that makes her the better wife , for commonly such women grow elevated , and are no more mindful of what they have been , than a mariner is of his escape from a danger at sea when it is past . you must set your wife a good example by your own carriage , for a wise and discreet husband usually makes an obedient and dutiful wife . beware of jealousie , for it causeth great vexation of mind , and scorn and laughter from your enemies . many times it is occasioned by the behaviour of the husband towards other women : in that case do like the physician , take away the cause of the infirmity , if not you are worthy to feel the smart of it . jealousie is grounded upon conceit and imagination , proceeds from a weak , idle , and distempered brain ; and the unworthy carriage of him that is jealous , many times maketh a woman do what otherwise she would not . if god be pleased to give you children , love them with that discretion that they discern it not , lest they too much presume upon it . encourage them in things that are good , and correct them if they offend . the love of god to man cannot be better expressed , than by that of a father to his children . comforts or crosses they prove to their parents , and herein education is a great help to nature . let your children make you to disrelish and abandon all other delights and pleasures of the world , in respect of the comfort and joy you receive by them . make account then that somer is past , and the melancholy winter approacheth ; for a careful and provident father cannot take delight in the world and provide for his children . for a conclusion i will recommend two principal virtues to you , the one is secrecy , the other patience . secrecy is necessarily required in all , especially publick persons , for many times they are trusted with things , the revealing whereof may cost them their lives , and hinder the designs of their masters . it is a folly to trust any man with a secret , that can give no assistance in the business he is trusted with . councellors of state and generals , of armies , of all other ought to be most secret , for their designs being once discovered , their enterprizes fail . silence was so much esteemed among the persians , that she was adored for a goddess . the romans kept their expeditions so secret , as that alone was a principal cause of their victories . but of all others trust not women with a secret , for the weakness of their sex makes them unsecret . be patient after the example of job , and you shall become a true servant of god. patience deserveth to be painted with a sword in her hand , for she conquers and subdues all difficulties . if you will take advantage of your enemy , make him cholerick , and by patience you shall overcome him . marcus aurelius being both emperour and philosopher confessed , he attained not the empire by philosophy but by patience . what man in the world was ever so patient as our saviour himself , by following whose example his ministers have converted more by their words , then all the persecuting emperours could deterr by rigour or cruelty of laws . the impatient man contests with god himself , who giveth and taketh away at his good will and pleasure . let me ( good son ) be your patern of patience , for you can witness with me , that the disgraces i have unjustly suffered , ( my estate being through my misfortunes ruined , my health by imprisonments decayed , and my services undervalued and unrecompensed ) have not bred the least distaste or discontent in me , or altered my resolution from my infancy ; that is , i was never so base as to insinuate into any mans favour , who was favoured by the times . i was never so ambitious as to seek or crave imployment , or to undertake any that was not put upon me . my great and onely comfort is , that i served my princes both faithfully and fortunately ; but seeing my services have been no better accepted , i can as well content my self in being a spectator , as if i were an actor in the world . before i treat of the sea i will shew what laws richard the first established in his expedition by sea , which in some points are observed to this day . 1. that whosoever should kill a man , should be tied to him killed , and thrown into the sea with him . 2. if any be killed on land , the party to be buried alive with him killed . 3. whosoever shall strike another , and not draw bloud , shall be duck'd three times at the yards arm. 4. whosoever revileth or curseth another , so often as he revileth shall pay an ounce of silver . 5. whosoever draweth his knife , or draweth bloud , shall lose his hand . 6. whosoever doth steal , shall have his head shorn , and boiled pitch poured upon it , and feathers strewed upon the same , whereby he may be known ; and at the first landing place he shall be towed on shore . a yearly account of the english and spanish fleets , which were set forth from the year 1585 , when the wars with spain first began , untill the year 1602 , when king james made his happy entrance into this kingdom ; shewing the designs , escapes , and errors on both english and spanish sides , with the names of the queens ships and commanders in every expedition . a voyage of sir francis drake to the west indies , anno dom. 1585. ships . commanders . the elizabeth bonaventure sir francis drake . the ayde capt. forbisher .   capt. carlee lieutenant general by land. upon the knowledge of the imbargo made by the king of spain in anno 1585 , of the english ships , men , and goods found in his country ; her majesty having no means to help or relieve her subjects by friendly treaty , authorized such as sustained loss by the said arrest , to repair themselves upon the subjects of the king of spain ; and to that end gave them letters of reprisal , to take and arrest all ships and merchandizes that they should find at sea , or elsewhere , belonging to the vassals of the said king. her majesty at the same time to revenge the wrongs offered her , and to resist the king of spains preparations made against her equipped a fleet of 25 sail of ships , and imployed them under the command of sir francis drake , as the fittest man by reason of his experience and success in sundry actions . it is not my intent to set down all the particulars of the voyages treated of , but the services done , and the escapes and oversights past , as a warning to those that shall read them , and to prevent the like errors hereafter . this voyage of sir francis drake being the first undertaking on either side , ( for it ensued immediately after the arrest of our ships and goods in spain ) i will deliver my opinion of it , before i proceed any further . one impediment to the voyage was , that to which the ill success of divers others that after followed , is to be imputed , viz. the want of victuals and other necessaries fit for so great an expedition ; for had not the fleet by chance met with a ship laden with fish , that came from new found land , which relieved their necessities , they would have found themselves reduced to great extremity . the service that was performed in this action , was the taking and sacking sancta domingo in hispaniola , cartagena in terra firma , and the fonta aqua in florida ; three towns of great importance in the west indies . this fleet was the greatest of any nation but the spaniards , that had been ever seen in those seas since the first discovery of them ; and if it had been as well considered of before their going from home , as it was happily performed by the valour of the undertakers , it had more annoyed the king of spain , than all other actions that ensued during the time of the war. but it seems our long peace made us uncapable of advice in war ; for had we kept and defended those places being in our possession , and provided to have been relieved and succoured out of england , we had diverted the war from this part of europe : for at that time there was no comparison betwixt the strength of spain and england by sea , by means whereof we might have better defended them , and with more ease incroached upon the rest of the indies , than the king of spain could have aided or succoured them . but now we see and find by experience , that those places which were then weak and unfortified , are since so strengthened , as it is bootless to undertake any action to annoy the king of spain in his west indies . and though this voyage proved both fortunate and victorious , yet considering it was rather an awakening than a weakning of him , it had been far better to have wholly declined it , than to have undertaken it upon such slender grounds , and with so inconsiderable forces . the second voyage of sir francis drake to the road of cadiz , and towards the islands of tercera , anno 1587. ships . commanders . the elizabeth bonaventure sir francis drake , general . the lyon sir william borrough , vice admiral . the rainbow capt. bellingam . the dread-nought capt. thomas fenner . her majesty having received several advertisements , that while the king of spain was silent , not seeking revenge for the injuries the ships of reprisal did him daily upon his coasts , he was preparing an invincible army to invade her at home . she thereupon sought to frustrate his designs , by intercepting his provisions before they should come to lisbon , which was their place of rendezvouz , and sent away sir francis drake with a fleet of 30 sail great and small , 4 whereof were her own ships . the chief adventure in this voyage ( besides those 4 ships of her majesties ) was made by the merchants of london , who sought their private gain more than the advancement of the service ; neither were they deceived of their expectation . sir francis drake understanding by two ships of middleborough , that came from cadiz , of a fleet with victuals , munition , and other habiliments for war , riding there , ready to take the first opportunity of a wind , to go to lisbon and joyn with other forces of the king of spain , he directed his course for cadiz road , where he found the advertisement he received from this ships of middleborough in every point true ; and upon his arrival attempted the ships with great courage , and performed the service he went for , by destroying all such ships as he found in harbour , as well of the spaniards as other nations that were hired by them ; and by these means he utterly defeated their mighty preparations which were intended against england that year 1587. the second service performed by him was , the assaulting the castle of cape sacre , upon the utmost promontory of portugal , and three other strong holds ; all which he took some by force , and some by composition . from thence he went to the mouth of the river of lisbon , where he anchored near caske cadiz ; which the marquess of st. cruze beholding , durst not with his gallies approach so near as once to charge him . sir francis drake perceiving , that though he had done important service for the state by this fortunate attempt of his , yet the same was not very acceptable to the merchants , who adventured onely in hope of profit , and preferred their private gain before the security of the kingdom , or any other respect . therefore from caske cadiz he stood to the islands of tercera , to expect the coming home of a carreck , which he had intelligence wintered at mosambique , and consequently she was to be home in that moneth . and though his victuals grew scarce , and his company importuned his return home , yet with gentle speeches he persuaded , and so much prevailed with them , that they were willing to expect the issue some few days at the islands ; and by this time drawing near the island of s. michael , it was his good fortune to meet and take the carreck he looked for ; which added more honour to his former service , and gave great content to the merchants , to have a profitable return of their adventure , which was the thing they principally desired . this voyage proceeded prosperously and without exception , for there was both honour and wealth gained , and the enemy greatly endamaged . the first action undertaken by the spaniards was in 1588 , the duke of medina general , who were encountered by our fleet , the lord admiral being at sea himself in person . ships . commanders . the ark royal the lord admiral . the revenge sir francis drake , vice admiral . the lyon the lord thomas howard . the bear the lord sheffeild . the elizabeth jonas sir robert southwell . the triumph sir martin forbisher . the victory sir john hawkins . the hope capt. crosse . the bonaventure capt. reyman . the dread-nought capt. george beeston . the nouperil capt. thomas fenner . the rainbow the lord henry seymore . the vanntguard sir william winter . the mary rose capt. fenton . the antilope sir henry palmer . the foresight   the ayde capt. barker . the swallow   the tyger capt. fenner . the scout   the swiftsure capt. hawkins . the bull   the tremontary capt. bostock . the acatice   pinnaces , gallies , hoyes — 10 capt. ashley . notwithstanding the great spoil and hurt sir francis drake did the year past in cadiz road , by intercepting some part of the provisions intended for this great navy , the king of spain used his utmost endeavours to revenge himself this year , lest in taking longer time his designs might be prevented as before , and arrested all ships , men , and necessaries wanting for his fleet , and compell'd them per force to seave in this action . he appointed for general the duke of medina sidonia , a man imployed rather for his birth than experience ; for so many dukes , marquesses , and earls , voluntarily going , would have repined to have been commanded by a man of less quality than themselves . they departed from lisbon the 19th . day of may 1588 , with the greatest pride and glory , and least doubt of victory , that ever any nation did ; but god being angry with their insolence , disposed of them contrary to their expectation . the directions from the king of spain to his general were , to repair as wind and weather would give leave , to the road of callice in piccardy , there to abide the coming of the prince of parma and his army , and upon their meeting to have opened a letter directed to them both with further instructions . he was especially commanded to sail along the coasts of brittany and normandy , to avoid being discovered by us here ; and if he met with the english fleet , not to offer to fight , but onely seek to defend themselves . but when he came athwart the north cape , he was taken with a contrary wind and foul weather and forced into the harbour of the groyne , where part of his fleet lay attending his coming . as he was ready to depart from thence , they had intelligence by an english fisherman , whom they took prisoner , of our fleets late being at sea , and putting back again , not expecting their coming that year ; insomuch that most part of the men belonging to our ships were discharged . this intelligence made the duke alter his resolution , and to break the directions given him by the king ; yet this was not done without some difficulty , for the council was divided in their opinions , some held it best to observe the kings command , others not to lose the opportunity offered to surprize our fleet unawares , and burn and destroy them . diego flores de valdos , who had the command of the andalusian squadron , and on whom the duke most relied , because of his experience and judgment , was the main man that persuaded the attempt of our ships in harbour , and with that resolution they directed their course for england . the first land they fell with was the lizard , the southermost part of cornwall , which they took to be the rams head athwart plymouth , and the night being at hand they tacked off to sea , making account in the morning to make an attempt upon our ships in plymouth . but whilest they were thus deceived in the land , they were in the mean time discovered by capt. flemminge a pyrat , who had been at sea pilfering , and upon view of them , knowing them to be the spanish fleet , repaired with all speed to plymouth , and gave warning and notice to our fleet , who were then riding at anchor ; whereupon my lord admiral hastned with all possible expedition to get forth the ships , and before the spaniards could draw near plymouth , they were welcomed at sea by my lord and his navy , who continued fight with them untill he brought them to an anchor at callice . the particulars of the fight , and the successes thereof , being things so well known , i purposely omit . while this armado was preparing , her majesty had from time to time perfect intelligence of the spaniards designs ; and because she knew his intent was to invade her at sea with a mighty fleet from his own coast , she furnished out her royal navy under the conduct of the lord high admiral of england , and sent him to plymouth , as the likeliest place to attend their coming , as you have heard . then knowing that it was not the fleet alone that could endanger her safety , for that they were too weak for any enterprize on land , without the assistance of the prince of parma , and his army in flanders ; therefore she appointed 30 sail of holland ships to lie at an anchor before the town of dunkirk , where the prince was to imbarque in flat-bottom'd boats , made purposely for the expedition of england . thus had the prince by the queens providence been prevented , if he had attempted to put out of harbour with his boats ; but in truth neither his vessels nor his army were in readiness , which caused the king ever after to be jealous of him , and as 't is supposed to hasten his end . her majesty , notwithstanding this her vigilant care to foresee and prevent all danger that might happen at sea , would not hold her self too secure of her enemy , and therefore prepared a royal army to welcom him upon his landing ; but it was not the will of god that he should set foot on english ground , the queen becoming victorious over him at sea , with little hazard or bloudshed of her subjects . having shewed the design of the spaniards , and the course taken by her majesty to prevent them ; i will now collect the errors committed as well by the one as by the other , as i have promised in the beginning of my discourse . as nothing could appear more rational and likely to take effect , after the duke had gotten intelligence of the state of our navy , than his design to surprize them unawares in harbour , he well knowing that if he had taken away our strength by sea , he might have landed both when and where he listed , which is a great advantage to an invader ; yet admitting it had took that effect he designed , i see not how he was to be commended in breaking the instructions given him by the king , what blame then did he deserve , when so ill an event followed by his rashness and disobedience ? it was not the want of experience in the duke , or his laying the fault upon valdes , that excused him at his return ; but he had smarted bitterly for it , had it not been for his wife , who obtained the kings favour for him . before th' arrival of the ships that escaped in this voyage , it was known in spain , that diego flores de valdes was he who persuaded the duke to break the kings instructions ; whereupon the king gave commandment in all his ports , where the said diego flores de valdes might arrive , to apprehend him ; which was accordingly executed , and he carried to the castle of sancta andrea , and was never seen or heard of after . if the kings directions had been punctually followed , then had his fleet kept the coast of france , and arrived in the road of callice before they had been discovered by us , which might have endangered her majesty and the realm , our ships being so far off as plymouth , where then they lay ; and thought the prince of parma had not been presently ready , yet he had gained time sufficient by the absence of our fleet to make himself ready . and whereas the prince was kept in by the 30 sail of hollanders , so many of the dukes fleet might have been able to have put the hollanders from the road of dunkirk , and possest it themselves , and so have secured the army and fleets meeting together ; and then how easie it had been after their joyning to have transported themselves for england ? and what would have ensued upon their landing here may be well imagined . but it was the will of him that directs all men and their actions , that the fleets should meet , and the enemy be beaten as they were , put from their anchorage in callice road , the prince of parma beleaguered at sea , and their navy driven about scotland and ireland with great hazard and loss ; which sheweth how god did marvellously defend us against their dangerous designs . and here was opportunity offered us to have followed the victory upon them ; for after they were beaten from the road at callice , and all their hopes and designs frustated ; if we had once more offered them fight , the general by persuasion of his confessor was determined to yield , whose example 't is very likely would have made the rest to have done the like . but this opportunity was lost , not through the negligence or backwardness of the lord admiral , but merely through the want of providence in those that had the charge of furnishing and providing for the fleet ; for at that time of so great advantage , when they came to examine their provisions , they found a general scarcity of powder and shot , for want whereof they were forced to return home . another opportunity was lost not much inferiour to the other , by not sending part of our fleet to the west of ireland , where the spaniards of necessity were to pass after so many dangers and disasters as they had endured . if we had been so happy as to have followed this course , as it was both thought and discoursed of ; we had been absolutely victorious over this great and formidable navy , for they were brought to that necessity , that they would willingly have yielded , as divers of them confess'd that were shipwreck'd in ireland . by this we may see how weak and feeble the designs of men are , in respect of the creator of man , and how indifferently he dealt betwixt the two nations , sometimes giving one , sometimes the other , the advantage ; and yet so that he onely ordered the battel . the action of portugal , 1589. ships . commanders by sea. commanders by land. the revenge sir francis drake sir john norris the dread-nought capt. thomas fenner sir edward norris the ayde capt. william fenner sir henry norris the nonperil capt. sackvile sir roger williams the foresight capt. william winter . serjeant major the swiftsure capt. goring earl of essex voluntier the last overthrow of 1588 given to the invincible fleet , as they termed themselves , did so encourage every man to the war , as happy was he that could put himself into action against the spaniards , as it appeared by the voluntiers that went in this voyage ; which the queen ( considering the great loss the king of spain received in the year past , whereby it was to be imagined how weakly he was provided at home ) was willing to countenance , though she undertook it not wholly her self , which was the main cause of its ill success and overthrow . for whosoever he be of a subject , that thinks to undertake so great an enterprise without a prince's purse , shall be deceived ; and therefore these two generals in my opinion never overshot themselves more , than in undertaking so great a charge with so little means ; for where there are victuals and arms wanting , what hope is there of prevailing ? the project of this voyage was to restore a distressed king to his kingdom , usurped as he pretended ; and though the means for the setting forth of this voyage was not so great as was expedient ; yet in the opinion of all men , if they had directed their course whither they intended it , without landing at the groyne , they had performed the service they went for , restored don antonio to the crown of portugal , dissevered it from spain , and united it in league with england , which would have answered the present charge , and have settled a continual trade for us to the west indies , and the rest of the portugals dominions , for so we might easily have conditioned . but the landing at the groyne was an unnecessary lingering and hinderance of the other great and main design , a consuming of victuals , a weakning of the army by the immoderate drinking of the souldiers , which brought a lamentable sickness amongst them , a warning to the spaniards to strengthen portugal , and ( as great as all this ) a discouragement to proceed further being repulsed in the first attempt . but notwithstanding the ill success at the groyne , they departed from thence towards portugal , and arrived at penech , a maritine town twelve leagus from lisbon , where with a small resistance they took the castle , after the captain understood don antonio to be in the army . from thence general norris marched with his land forces to lisbon , and sir francis drake with his fleet sailed to caske cadiz , promising from thence to pass with his ships up the river to lisbon , to meet with sir john norris , which yet he did not perform , and therefore was much blamed by the general consent of all men ; the overthrow of the action being imputed to him . it will not excuse sir francis drake , for making such a promise to sir john norris , though , on the other hand , i would have accused him of great want of discretion , if he had put the fleet to so great an adventure to so little purpose : for his being in the harbor of lisbon , signified nothing to the taking of the castle , which was two miles from thence ; and had the castle been taken , the town would have been taken of course . besides , the ships could not furnish the army with more men or victuals : wherefore i understand not in what respect his going up was necessary ; and yet the fleet must have endured many hazards to this little purpose . for betwixt cask cadiz and lisbon , there are three castles , st. john , st. francis , and bellin . the first of the three , i hold one of the most impregnable forts to sea-ward in europe ; and the fleet was to pass within calliver shot of this fort ; though i confess , the passing it , was not the greatest dander : for with a reasonable gale of wind , any fort is to be passed with small hazard . but at this time there was a general want of victuals ; and being once entred the harbour , their coming out again was uncertain , the place being subject to contrary winds : in the mean while , the better part of the victuals would have been consumed , and they would have remained there in so desperate a condition , as they would have been forced to have fired one half of the fleet , for the bringing home of the rest : for being as they were , yet after the army was imbarqued for england , many died of famine homeward , and more would have done , if the wind had took them short ; or , if by the death of some of them , the rest who survived had not been the bettr relieved . and besides all these casualties and dangers , the adilantado was then in lisbon with the gallies of spain ; and how easily he might have annoyed our fleet , by towing fire-ships amongst us : we may suppose the hurt we did the spaniards the year before in cadiz road ; and greater we had done them , had we had the help of gallies . it was a wonder to observe every man's opinion of this voyage , as well those that were actions in it , as others that staid at home ; some imputing the overthrow of it , to the landing at the groyn ; others to the portugalls failing us of those helps and assistances which were promised by don antonio ; and others , to sir francis drake's not coming up the river with his fleet. though any of these three reasons may seem probable enough , and the landing at the groyn , the chiefest of the three ; yet if we weigh truly the defect , and where it was , it will appear , that the action was overthrown before their setting out from home , they being too weakly provided of all things needful for so great an expedition . for when this voyage was first treated of , the number of ships was nothing equal to the proportion of men : wherefore they were forced to make stay of divers easterlings which they met with in our channel , and compelled to serve in this action , for the transportation of our souldiers ; and though these ships were an ease to our men , who would have been otherwise much pestered for want of room ; yet their victuals were nothing augmented ; but they were put aboard the ships , like banished men , to seek their fortunes at sea , it being confessed , that divers of the ships had not four days victuals when they departed from plymouth . another impediment to the good success of this voyage , was , the want of field-pieces ; and this was the main cause why we failed of taking lisbon : for the enemies strength consisting chiefly in the castle , and we having only an army to countenance us , but no means for battery , we were the loss of the victory our selves : for it was apparent by intelligence we received , that if we had presented them with battery , they were resolved to parly , and by consequence to yield ; and this too was made use of by the portugalls , as a main reason why they joyned not with us . and there is as much to be said on the portugalls behalf , as an evidence of their good will and favor to us , that though they shewed themselves forward upon this occasion , to aid us , yet they opposed not themselves as enemies against us : whereas if they had pursued us in our retreat from lisbon to cask cadiz , our men being weak , sickly , and wanting powder , and shot , and other arms , they had in all probability put us to a great loss and disgrace . and if ever england have the like occasion to aid a competitor in portugal , we shall questionless , find , that our fair demeanor and carriage in this expedition towards the people of that countrey , have gained us great reconciliation among them , and would be of singular advantage to us : for the general strictly forbad the rifling of their houses in the country , and the suburbs of lisbon , which he possess'd , and commanded , just payment to be made by the souldiers for every thing they took , without compulsion , or rigorous usage : and this hath made those that stood but indifferently affected before , now ready upon the like occasion to assist us . a voyage undertaken by the earl of cumberland , with one ship royal of her majesties , and six of his own , and of other adventures , anno dom. 1589. ships . commanders . the victory the earl of cumberland the margaret , capt. christopher lister and five other capt. monson , now sir william monson , vice-amiral . as the fleets of sir john norris and sir francis drake , returned from the voyage of portugal , my lord of cumberland proceeded upon his , towards that coast , ; and meeting with divers of that fleet , relieved them with victuals , who otherwise had perished . this voyage was undertaken at his and his friends charge , excepting the victory , a ship royal of the queen's , which she adventured . the service performed at sea , was the taking of three french ships of the league in our channel , and his encountring upon the coast of spain , with thirteen hulks , who made some resistance . out of these he took to the value of 7000 l. in spices belonging to portugal . from thence he crossed over to the island of terceras , and coming to st. michaels , with boats he fetched out two spanish ships from under the castle , which the same night arrived out of spain . in this course , from thence to flores , he took a spanish ship , laden with sugars and sweet-meats that came from the maderas . being at flores , he received intelligencence of divers spanish ships , which were in the road of fayal , whereupon he suddainly made from that island , where captain lister and captain monson gave a desperate attempt in their boats upon the said ships ; and after along fight possessed themselves of one of them of 300 tuns burden , carrying eighteen pieces of ordidinance , and fifty men. this ship , with one other , came from the indies , two of the rest out of guiney , and another was laden with woad which that island affords in great plenty ; who putting from thence to sea , and coming to the island of graciosa , after two days fight , yielded us by composition some victuals : off that island we likewise took a french ship of the league , of 200 tuns , that came from new-found-land . afterwards , sailing to the eastward of the road of terceras , in the even-we beheld 18 tall ships of the indies , entring into the said road , one whereof we after took in her course to the coast of spain : she was laden with hides , silver and cochineal ; but coming for england , she was cast away upon the mounts bay in cornwall , being valued at 100000 l. two other prizes of sugar we took in our said course to the coast of spain , esteemed each ship at 7000 l. and one from under the castle of st. maries to the same value . there was no road about those islands , that could defend their ships from our attempts ; yet in the last assault we gave , which was upon a ship of sugars , we found ill success , being sharply resisted , and two parts of our men slain and hurt : which loss was occasioned by captain lister , who would not be persuaded from landing in the view of their forts . the service performed by land , was the taking of the island of fayall , some months after the surprizing of those ships formerly mentioned . the castle yielded us 45 pieces of ordinance , great and small : we sacked and spoiled the town , and after ransomed it , and so departed . these summer services , and ships of sugar , proved not so sweet and pleasant as the winter was afterwards sharp and painful : for in our return for england , we found the calamity of famine , the hazard of shipwrack and the death of our men so great , that the like befell not any other fleet during the time of the war. all which disasters must be imputed to captain lister's rashness , upon whom my lord of cumberland chiefly relyed , wanting experience himself . he was the man that advised the sending the ships of wine for england , otherwise we had not known the want of drink ; he was as earnest in persuading our landing in the face of the fortifications of st. maries , against all reason and sence . as he was rash , so was he valiant ; but paid dearly for his unadvised counsel : for he was one of the first hurt , and that cruelly , in the attempt of st. maries , and afterward drowned in the rich ship , cast away at mounts bay. sir john hawkins , and sir martin forbisher , their voyage undertaken , anno 1590. ships . commanders . the revenge sir martin forbisher the mary-rose sir john hawkins the lyon sir edward yorke the bonaventure capt. fenner . the rainbow capt. george beeston the hope   the crane capt. bostock the quittance   the foresight capt. burnell the swiftseur .   from the yeear 1585. untill this present year 1590. there was the greatest possibility imaginable of enriching our nation , by actions at sea , had they been well followed ; the king of spain was grown so weak in shipping , by the overthrow he had in 1588 , that he could no longer secure the trade of his subjects . her majesty now finding how necessary it was for her to maintain a fleet upon the spanish coast , as well to hinder the preparations he might make against her , to repair the disgrace he received in 1588. as also to intercept his fleets from the indies , by which he grew great and mighty . she sent this year 1590. ten ships of her own , in two squadrons ; the one to be commanded by sir john hawkins , the other by sir martin forbisher , two gentlemen of tried experience . the king of spain understanding of this preparation of hers , sent forth 20 sail of ships , under the command of don. alonso de bassan , brother to the late famous marquess of st. cruz. his charge was to secure home the indian fleet and carrecks . but after don alonso had put off to sea , the king of spain becoming better advised , than to adventure 20 of his ships to 10 of outs , sent for don alonso back , and so frustrated the expectation of our fleet. he likewise made a dispatch to the indies , commanding the fleets to winter there , rather than to run the hazard of coming home that summer : but this proved so great a hind'rance and loss to the merchants of spain , to be so long without return of their goods , that it caused many to become bankrupts , in sevil and other places ; besides , which was so great a weakening to their ships , to winter in the indies , that many years hardly sufficed to repair the damage they received . our fleet being thus prevented , spent seven months in vain upon the coasts of spain , and the islands : but in that space , could not possess themselves of one ship of the spaniards ; and the carrecks , upon which part of their hopes depended , came home without sight of the islands , and arrived safe at lisbon . this voyage was a bare action at sea , though they attempted landing at fayal , which the earl of cumberland , the year before had taken and quitted ; but the castle being re-fortified , they prevailed not in thier enterprize : and thence forwards the king of spain endeavored to strengthen his coasts , and to encrease in shipping , as may appear by the next ensuing year . two fleets , the one by vs , under the lord thomas howard , the other by the spaniards , commanded by don alonso de bassan , anno 1591. ships . commanders . the defiance the lord thomas howard the revenge sir richard greenvile , vice-admiral the nonperil sir edward denny the bonaventure capt. crosse the lyon capt. fenner the foresight capt. vavasor the crane capt. duffeild . her majesty understanding of the indian fleets wintering in the havana , and that necessity would compell them home this year 1591. she sent a fleet to the islands under the command of the lord thomas howard . the king of spain perceiving her drift , and being sensible how much the safety of that fleet concerned him , caused them to set out thence so late in the year , that it endangered the shipwrack of them all ; chosing rather to hazard the perishing of ships , men and goods , than their falling into our hands . he had two designs in bringing home this fleet so late : one was , he thought the lord thomas would have consumed his victuals , and have been forced home . the other , that he might in the mean time furnish out the great fleet he was preparing , little inferior to that of 1588. in the first he found himself deceived : for my lord was supplied both with ships and victuals out of england ; and in the second , he was as much prevented : for my lord of cumberland , who then lay upon the coast of spain , had intelligence of the spaniards putting out to sea , and advertised the lord thomas thereof , the very night before they arrived at flores , where my lord lay . the day after this intelligence , the spanish fleet was discovered by my lord thomas , whom he knew by their number and greatness , to be the ships of which he had warning ; and by that means escaped the danger that sir richard greenvile , his vice-admiral rashly ran into . upon view of the spaniards , which were 55 sail , the lord thomas warily , and like a discreet general , weighed anchor , and made signs to the rest of his fleet to do the like , with a purpose to get the wind of them ; but sir richard greenvile , being a stubborn man , and imagining this fleet to come from the indies , and not to be the armado of which they were informed , would by no means be persuaded by his master , or company to cut his main sail , to follow his admiral ; nay , so head-strong and rash he was , that he offered violence to those that councelled him thereto . but the old saying , that a wilful man is the cause of his own woe , could not be more truly verified than in him : for when the armado approached him , and he beheld the greatness of the ships , he began to see and repent of his folly ; and when it was too late , would have freed himself of them , but in vain : for he was left a prey to the enemy , every ship striving to be the first should board him . this wilful rashness of sir richard , made the spaniards triumph as much as if they had obtained a signal victory ; it being the first ship that ever they took of her majesties , and commended to them by some english fugitives to be the very best she had ; but their joy continued not long . for they enjoyed her but five days before she was cast away with many spaniards in her , upon the islands of tercera . commonly one misfortune is accompanied with another : for the indian fleet , which my lord had waited for the whole summer , the day after this mishap , fell into the company of this spanish armado : who , if they had staid but one day longer , or the indian fleet had come home but one day sooner , we had possest both them and many millions of treasure , which the sea afterward devoured : for from the time they met with the armado , and before they could recover home , nigh an hundred of them suffered shipwrack , besides the ascention of sevil , and the double fly-boat , that were sunk by the side of the revenge . all which was occasioned by their wintering in the indies , and the late disambogueing from thence : for the worm which that country , is subject to , weakens and consumes their ships . notwithstanding this cross and perverse fortune , which happened by means of sir richard greenvile , the lord thomas would not be dismayed or discouraged ; but kept the sea so long as he had victuals ; and by such ships as himself and the rest of the fleet took , defrayed the better part of the charge of the whole action . the earl of cumberland to the coast of spain , 1591. ships . commanders . the garland of her majesties . the earl of cumberland . capt. under him seven other ships of his and his friends capt. monson , now sir william monson . the earl of cumberland keeping the coast of spain , as you have heard , while the lord thomas remained at the islands , and both to one end , viz. to annoy and damnifie the spaniards , though in two several fleets , the earl found fortune in a sort , as much to frown upon him , as it had done upon the lord thomas howard . in his course from england to the spanish coast , he encountred with divers ships of holland , which came from lisbon , wherein he found a great quantity of spices belonging to the portugalls : so greatly were we abused by that nation of holland , who , though they were the first that engaged us in the war with spain , yet still maintained their own trade into those parts , and supplied the spaniards with munition , victuals shipping and intelligence against us . upon my lord's arrival on the coast of spain , it was his hap to take three ships at several times , one with wine , which he unladed into his own ; and two with sugars , which he enjoyed not long : no more did he the spices , which he took out of the hollanders . for one of the ships of sugar , by means of a leak that sprung upon her , was forced to be cast off , and the men , with much difficulty , recovered the shore , and saved their lives . the other being sent for england , and tossed with contrary winds , was for want of victuals forced into the groyn , where they rend'red themselves to the enemies mercy . the spices were determined to be sent for england , and a ship appointed for that purpose , with other ships to guard her ; and captain monson was sent on board her to the islands of the burlings , with a charge to see her dispatched for england . but the other ships , not observing the directions which were given them , and the night falling calm ; early in the morning , this scattered ship was set upon by six gallies ; and after a long and bloody fight , the captain , and the principallest men being slain , both ship and spices were taken ; but whether it was the respect they had to the queen's ship which was admiral of that fleet , or honor to my lord that commanded it ; or hope , by good usage of our men , to receive the like again , i know not ; but true it is , that the ordinary men were treated with more courtesie than they had been from the beginning of the wars . my lord of cumberland considering the disasters that thus befell him , and knowing the spanish fleet 's readiness to put out of harbor ; but especially finding his ship but ill of sail , it being the first voyage she ever went to sea , he durst not abide the coast of spain , but thought it more discretion to return for england , having ( as you have heard ) sent a pinnace to my lord thomas with the intelligence aforesaid . a voyage undertook by sir walter rawleigh ; but himself returning , left the charge thereof to sir martin forbisher , anno 1592. ships . commanders by sea. commander by land. the garland sir walter rawleigh sir john boroughs . the foresight , with divers merchants ships . capt. cross , and others . sir walter went not , but sir martin fobisher .   sir walter rawleigh , who had tasted abundantly of the queen's love , and found it now began to decline , put himself upon a voyage at sea , and drew unto him divers friends of great quality , and others , thinking to have attempted some place in the west indies ; and with this resolution he put out of harbour ; but spending two or three days in fowl weather , her majesty was pleased to command his return , and to commit the charge of the ships to sir martin forbisher , who was sent down for that purpose ; but with an express command , not to follow the design of the west indies . this suddain alteration being known unto the rest of the captains , for the present made some confusion , as commonly it happens in all voluntary actions . their general leaving them , they thought themselves free in point of reputation , and at liberty to take what course they pleased : few of them therefore did submit themselves to the command of sir martin forbisher , but chose rather each one to take his particular fortune and adventure at sea. sir martin , with two or three other ships , repaired to the coast of spain , where he took a spaniard laden with iron , and a portugal with sugar : he remained there not without some danger , his ship being ill of sail , and the enemy having a fleet at sea. sir john boroughs , captain cross , and another , stood to the islands , where they met with as many ships of my lord of cumberland's , with whom they consorted . after some time spent thereabouts , they had sight of a carreck , which they chased ; but she recoverd the island of flores before they could approach her ; but the carreck , seeing the islands could not defend her from the strength and force of the english , chose rather , after the men were got on shore to fire her self , than we the enemy should reap benefit by her . the purser of her was taken , and by threats compell'd to tell of another of their company behind , that had order to fall with that island ; and gave us such particular advertisement , that indeed she fell to be ours . in the mean time don alonso de bassan was furnishing at lisbon 23 of those gallions , which the year before he had when he took the revenge ; he was directed with those ships to go immediately to flores , to expect the coming of the carrecks , who had order to fall with that island , there to put on shore divers ordnance for strength'ning the town and castle . don alonso breaking his directions , unadvisedly made his repair first to st. michaels , and there delivered his ordnance before he arrived at flores ; and in the mean time one of the carrecks was burnt , and the other taken , as you have heard . this he held to be such a disreputation to him , and especially for that it happened through his own error and default , that he became much perplex'd , and pursued the english 100 leagues ; but in vain , they being so far a head. the king of spain being advertised of his two carrecks mishap , and the error of don alonso , though he had much favoured him before , in respect of divers actions he had been in with his brother , the marquess of st. cruz , and for what he had lately performed , by taking the revenge : yet — the king held it for such a blemish to his honor , not to have his instructions obeyed ; and observed , that he did not only take from don alonso his command ; but he lived and died too in disgrace ; which , in my opinion , he worthily deserved . the queens adventure in this voyage , was only two ships ; one of which , and the least of them too , was at the taking of the carreck ; which title , joyned with her regal authority , she made such use of , that the rest of the adventures were fain to submit themselves to her pleasure , with whom she dealt but indifferently . the earl of cumberland to the coast of spain , anno dom. 1593. ships commanders . the lyon the earl of cumberland the bonaventure , and seven other ships . capt. under him , capt. monson sir edward yorke . the earl of cumberland finding , that many of his voyages had miscarried through the negligence , or unfaithfulness of those who were entrusted to lay in necessary provisions ; and yet , being incouraged by the good success he had the last year , obtained two of her majesty's ships ; and victualled them himself , together with seven others that did accompany them ; and arriving upon the coast of spain , he took two french ships of the league , which did more than treble the expence of his voyage . my lord , being one day severed from his fleet , it was his hap to meet with 12 hulks , at the same place where captain monson was taken the same day two years before : he required that respect from them that was due unto her majesties ship , which they peremptorily refused , presuming upon the strength of their 12 ships against one only ; but they found themselves deceived : for after two hours fight he brought them to his mercy , and made them acknowledge their error ; and not only so , but they willingly discovered , and delivered up to him a great quantity of powder and munition , which they carried for the king of spain's service . my lord of cumberland having spent some time thereabouts , and understanding that fervanteles de menega , a portugal , and the king's general of a fleet of 24 sail , was gone to the islands ; he pursued them , thinking to meet the carrecks before they should joyn together . at his coming to flores , he met , and took one of the fleet , with the death of the captain , who yet lived so long as to inform him both where the fleet was , and of their strength : the day after , he met the fleet it self ; but being far too weak for them , he was forced to leave them , and spent his time thereabouts , till he understood the carrecks were passed by , without seeing either fleet or island . sir martin forbisher , with a fleet to brest in brittany , anno 1594. ships . commanders . the vauntguard sir martin forbisher the rainbow capt. fenner the dreadnought capt. clifford the quittance . capt. savil about three years past , anno 1591. the queen sent sir john norris with 3000 souldiers , to joyn with the french king's party in those parts . the king of spain , who upheld the faction of the league , sent don john de aquila with the like forces , to joyn with the duke de merceur , who was of the contrary side . the spaniards had fortified themselves very strongly near the town of brest , expecting new succors from spain by sea ; which the french king fearing , craved assistance from the queen , which her majesty was the more willing to grant , because the spaniards had gotten the haven of brest to entertain their shipping in , and were like to prove there very dangerous neighbors : wherefore she sent sir martin forbisher thither in this year , 1594 , with four of her ships : and upon his arrival there , sir john norris , with his forces , and sir martin with his seaman , assailed the fort ; and though it was as bravely defended as men could do ; yet in the end it was taken with the loss of divers captains , sir martin forbisher being himself sore wounded , of which hurt he died at plymouth after his return . a fleet to the indies , sir francis drake , and sir john hawkins generals , wherein they adventured deeply , and died in the voyage . anno 1594. ships . commanders by sea. commander by land. the defiance sir francis drake sir tho. baskervile the garland sir john hawkins   the hope capt. gilbert yorke   the bonaventure capt. troughton   the foresight capt. winter   the adventure capt. tho. drake .   these two generals , presuming much upon their own experience and knowledge , used many persuasions to the queen , to undertake a voyage to the west indies , giving much assurance to perform great services , and promising to engage themselves very deeply therein , with the adventure of both substance and life . and as all actions of this nature promise fair , till they come to be performed , so did this the more , in the opinion of all men , in respect of the two generals experience . there were many impediments and let ts to this voyage , before they could clear themselves of the coast , which put them to greater charge than they expected ; the chiefest cause of their lingring , was a mistrust our state had of an invasion , and the danger to spare so many good ships and men out of england as they carried with them . the spaniards with their usual subtilty , let slip no opportunity to put us in amazement , thereby to dissolve the action ; and sent four gallies to bleuret in brittany , from thence to seize some part of our coast , that so we might apprehend a greater force was to follow . these gallies landed at pensants in cornwall , where , finding the town abandoned , they sack'd and burnt it ; but this design of theirs took little effect ; for the voyage proceeded notwithstanding . the intent of the voyage , was to land at nombre de dois , and from thence to march to panuma , to possess the treasure that comes from peru ; and if they saw reason for it , to inhabite and keep it . a few days before their going from plymouth , they received letters from her majesty , of an advertisement she had out of spain , that the indian fleet was arrived ; and that one of them , with loss of her mast , was put room to the island of porto ricom . she commanded them , seeing there was so good an opportunity offered , as the readiness of this her fleet , and the weakness of porto ricom , to possess themselves of that treasure ; and the rather , for that it was not much out of their way to nombre de dois . it is neither years , nor experience , that can foresee and prevent all mishaps , which is a manifest proof , that god is the guider and disposer of mens actions : for nothing could seem more probable to be effected , than this later design , especially considering the ability and wisdom of the two generals ; and yet was unhappily prevented , and failed in the execution : for there being five frigats sent out of spain , to fetch this treasure from porto ricom , in their way it was their hap to take a pinnace of the english fleet , by whom they understood the secrets of the voyage ; and to prevent the attempt of porto ricom , they hastened thither with all speed ( whilst our generals lingred at quadrupa , to set up their boats ) and at their arrival , so strengthened the town with the souldiers , brought in the prigats , that when our fleet came thither , not expecting resistance , they found themselves frustrate of their hopes , which indeed they themselves were the occasion of , in managing their design with no more secresie . this repulse bred so great a disconceit in sir john hawkins , as it is thought to have hastened his days ; and being great and unexpected , did not a little discourage sir francis drake's great mind , who yet proceeded upon his first resolved design , for nombre de dios , though with no better success : for the enemy having knowledge of their coming , fortified the passage to panuma , and forced them to return with loss . sir francis drake , who was wont to rule fortune , now finding his error , and the difference between the present strength of the indies , and what it was when he first knew it , grew melancholly upon this disappointment , and suddenly , and i hope naturally , died at nombre de dios , where he got his first reputation . the two generals dying , and all other hopes being taken away by their deaths , sir thomas baskervile succeeded them in their command , and began now to think upon his return for england ; but coming near cuba , he met and fought with a fleet of spain , though not long , by reason of the sickness and weakness of his men. this fleet was sent to take the advantage of ours in its return , thinking , as indeed it happened , that they should find them both weak , and in want ; but the swiftness of our ships , in which we had the advantage of the spaniards , preserved us . you may observe , that from the year the revenge was taken , untill this present year 1595. there was no summer , but the king of spain furnished a fleet for the guarding of his coasts , and securing of his trade ; and though there was little fear of any fleet from england to impeach him , besides this in the indies ; yet because he would shew his greatness , and satisfie the portugal of the care he had in preserving their carrecks ; he sent the count of feria , a young nobleman of portugal , who desired to gain experience , with 20 ships to the islands ; but the carrecks did , as they used to do in many other years , miss both islands and fleets , and arrived at lisbon safely . the other fleets of the king of spain in the indies , consisted of 24 ships , their general don bernardino de villa nova , an approved coward , as it appeared when he came to encounter the english fleet ; but his defects were supplied by the valor of his vice-admiral , who behaved himself much to his honor : his name was john garanay . the earl of essex , and the lord admiral of england , generals , equally , both by sea and land , anno 1596. ships . commanders . the repulse the earl of essex . capt. under him the ark-royal sir will. monson the mere-honor the lord admiral . capt. under him the warspite ames preston the lyon the lord thomas howard the rainbow sir walter rawleigh the nonperil sir robert southwell the vauntguard sir francis vere the mary rose sir robert dudley the dreadnought sir john wingfield the swiftsuer sir george carew the quittance sir alexander clifford the tremontary , with several others . sir robert crosse   sir george clifford   sir robert mansfield   capt. king. the first of june 1596. we departed from plymouth ; and our departure was the more speedy , by reason of the great pains , care and industry of the 16 captains , who in their own persons , labored the night before , to get out some of their ships , riding at catwater , which otherwise had not been easily effected . the third , we set sail from cansom bay , the wind , which when we weighed , was at west and by south , instantly cast up to the north east , and so continued untill it brought us up as high as the north cape of spain ; and this fortunate beginning put us in great hopes of a lucky success to ensue . we being now come upon our enemies coast , it behoved the generals to be vigilant in keeping them from intelligence of us , who therefore appointed the litness , the true love , and the lion's whelp ( the three chief sailors of our fleet ) to run a head , suspecting the spaniards had some carvels of advice out , which they did usually send to discover at sea , upon any rumor of a less fleet than this , was made ready in england . no ship or carvel escaped from us , which i hold a second happiness to our voyage : for you shall understand hereafter , the inconvenience that might have happened upon our discovery . the 10th . of june , the said three ships , took three fly-boats that came from cadiz 14 days before ; by them we understood the state of the town , and that they had no suspition of us , which we looked on as a third omen of our good fortune to come . the 12th . of june , the swan , a ship of london , being commanded , as the other three , to keep a good way off the fleet , to prevent discovery , she met with a fly-boat , which made resistance , and escaped from her . this fly-boat came from the streights , bound home , who discovering our fleet , and thinking to gain reputation and reward from the spaniards , shhaped her course for lisbon ; but she was luckily prevented by the john and francis , another ship of london , commanded by sir marmaduke darrel , who took her within a league of the shore ; and this we may account a fourth happiness to our voyage . the first ( as hath been said ) was for the wind to take us so suddainly , and to continue so long : for our souldiers being shipped , and in harbor , would have consumed their victuals , and have been so pester'd , that it would have endangered a sickness amongst them . the second , was the taking all ships that were seen , which kept the enemy from intelligence . the third , was the intercepting of the fly-boats from cadiz , whither we were bound , who assured us , our coming was not suspected , which made us more careful to hail from the coast than otherwise we should have been : they told us likewise of the daily expectation of the gallions to come from st. jacar to cadiz , and of the merchant-men that lay there , and were ready bound for the indies . these intelligences were of great moment , and made the generals presently to contrive their business both by sea and land , which otherwise would have taken up a longer time , after their coming thither , and whether all men would have consented to attempt their ships in harbor , if they had not known the most part of them to consist of merchants , i hold very doubtful . the fourth , and fortunatest of all , was the taking of the fly-boat by the john and francis , which the swan let go : for if she had reached lisbon , she had been able to make report of the number and greatness of our ships , and might have endangered the loss of the whole design , she seeing the course we bore , and that we had passed lisbon , which was the place the enemy most suspected , and made there his greatest preparation for defence : but had the enemy been freed of that doubt , he had then no place to fear but andulozia and cadiz above the rest , which upon the lest warning might have been strengthened , and we put to great hazard ; he might also have secured his ships , by towing them out with gallies ; and howsoever the wind had been , might have sent them into the streights , where it had been in vain to have pursued them , or over the bar of st. lucar , where it had been in vain to have attempted them . and indeed , of the good and ill of intelligence , we had had sufficient experience formerly , of the good in 1588. for how suddainly had we been taken and surprized when it we lest suspected , had it not been for captain flemming ? of the ill in the year before this , by the spaniards taking a barque of sir francis drake's fleet , which was the occasion of the overthrow of himself and the whole action ? the 20th . of june we came to cadiz , earlier in the morning than the masters made reckoning of . before our coming thither , it was determined in council , that we should land at st. sebastians , the westermost part of the land ; and thither came all the ships to an anchor , every man preparing to land as he was formerly directed ; but the wind being so great , and the sea so grown , and four gallies lying too , to intercept our boats , there was no attempting to land there , without the hazard of all . this day was spent in vain , in returning messengers from one general to another ; and in the end , they were forced to resolve upon a course which sir william monson , captain under my lord of essex , advised him to , the same morning he discovered the town ; which was to surprize the ships , and to be possessors of the harbor before they attempted landing . this being now resolved on , there arose a great question , who should have the honor of the first going in ? my lord of essex stood for himself ; but my lord admiral opposed it , knowing if he miscarried , it would hazard the overthrow of the action ; besides , he was streightly charged by her majesty , that the earl should not expose himself to danger , but upon great necessity . when my lord of essex could not prevail , the whole council withstanding him he sent sir william monson that night , on board my lord admiral , to resolve what ships should be appointed the next day to undertake the service . sir walter rawleigh had the vaward given him , which my lord thomas howard hearing , challenged in right of his place of vice-admiral , and it was granted him ; but sir walter having order over night to ply in , came first to an anchor ; but in that distance from the spaniards as he could not annoy them : and he himself returned on board the lord general essex , to excuse his coming to anchor so far off , for want of water to go higher ; which was thought strange , that the spaniards which drew much more water , and had no more advantage than he of tide , could pass where his could not : but sir francis vere , in the rainbow , who was appointed to second him , passing by sir walter rawleigh his ship , sir walter the second time , weighed and went higher . the lord general essex , who promised to keep in the midst of the fleet , was told by sir william monson , that the greatest service would depend upon three or four ships ; and sir william put him in mind of his honor ; for that many eyes beheld him . this made him forgetful of his promise , and to use all means he could to be formost in the fight . my lord howard , who could not go up in his own ship , the mere-honor , betook himself to the nonperil ; and in respect the rainbow , the repulse and warspight , had taken up the best of the channel , by their first coming to an anchor , to his grief he could not get higher : here did every ship strive to be the headmost ; but such was the narrowness of the channel , as neither the lord admiral , nor any other ship of the queens could pass on . there was commandment given , that no ship should shoot but the queens , making account , that the honor would be the greater , if the victory were obtained with so few . this fight confinued from ten , till four in the afternoon : the spaniards then set sail , thinking either to run higher up the river , or else to bring their other broad sides to us , because of the heat of their ordnance ; but howsoever it was , in their floating , they came a ground , and the men began to forsake the ships : whereupon there was commandment given , that all the hoys , and vessels that drew least water should go unto them . sir william monson was sent in the repulse boat , with like directions . we posses'd our selves of the great gallions , the matthew , and the andrew ; but the philip and thomas fired themselves , and were burnt down before they could be quenched . i must not omit to describe the manner of the spanish ships and gallies , riding in harbor at our first coming to cadiz . the four gallions singled themselves from out the fleet , as guards of their merchants . the gallies were placed to flank us with their prows before entry ; but when they saw our approach , the next morning the merchants ran up the river , and the men of war of port royal to the point of the river , brought themselves into a good order of fight , moving their ships a head and a stern , to have their broad sides upon us . the gallies then betook themselves to the guard of the town , which we put them from before we attempted the ships . the victory being obtained at sea , the l. general essex landed his men in a sandy bay , which the castle of poyntull commanded ; but they seeing the success of their ships , and mistrusting their own strength , neither offered to offend his landing , nor to defend the castle ; but quitted it , and so we became possessors of it . after my lord 's peeceable landing , he considered what was to be done ; and there being no place from whence the enemy could annoy us , but the bridge of swasoe , which leadeth over from the main land to the island ; by our making good of which bridge , there would be no way left for the gallies to escape us . he sent three regiments under the command of sir conniers clifford , sir christopher blunt , and sir thomas garret to the bridge ; who at their first coming were encountred by the enemy , but yet possess'd themselves of it , with the loss of some men ; but whether it was for want of victuals , or for what other reasons , our men quitted it , i know not , and the gallies breaking down divers arches pass'd it , and by that means escaped . my lord dispatched a messenger to my lord admiral , intreating him to give order to attempt the merchants that rode in port royal , for that it was dangerous to give them a night's respite , lest they should convey away their wealth , or take example by the philip and thomas , to burn themselves . this message was delivered by sir anthony ashley , and sir william monson , as my lord admiral was in his boat , ready with his toops of seamen to land , fearing the lord general essex should be put to distress with his small companies , which were but three regiments , hastened by all means to second him , and gave order to certain ships the next day to pursue him . seeing i have undertaken to shew the escapes committed in any of our english voyages , such as were committed here , shall without fear or flattery appear to the judicious reader . though the earl of essex his carriage and forwardness merited much , yet if it had been with more advisement , and less haste , it would have succeeded better : and if he were now living , he would confess , sir william monson advised him , rather to seek to be master of the ships , than of the town ; for it was that would afford both wealth and honor : for the riches in ships could not be concealed , or conveyed away as in towns they might . and the ships themselves being brought for england , would be always before mens eyes there , and put them in remembrance of the greatness of the exploit ; as for the town , perhaps it might be soon won , but probably not long enjoyed , and so quickly forgotten : and to speak indifferentiy , by the earl's suddain landing , without the lord admirals privity ; and his giving advice by a message to attempt the ships , which should have been resolved of upon mature deliberation , no doubt , the lord admiral found his honor a little eclipsed , which perhaps hastened his landing for his reputation sake , whenas he thought it more advisable to have possess'd himself of their fleet. before the lord admiral could draw near the town , the earl of essex had entred it ; and although the houses were built in that manner , as that every house served for a platform ; yet they were forc'd to quit them , and to retire into the castle . my lord at last , in despite of the enemy , gained the market place , where he found greatest resistance from the houses thereabouts ; and where it was that that worthy gentleman sir john wingfield was unluckily slain . the lord general essex caused it to be proclaimed by beat of drum through the town , that all that would yield , should repair to the town-house , where they should have promise of mercy , and those that would not , to expect no favor . the castle desired respite to consider untill the morning following ; and then by one general consent , they surrend'red themselves to the two lord generals mercies . the chief prisoners , men and women , were brought into the castle , where they remained a little space , and were sent away with honorable usage . the noble treating of the prisoners , hath gained an everlasting honor to our nation , and the general 's in particular . it cannot be supposed the lord generals had leisure to be idle the day following , having so great business to consider of , as the securing the town , and enjoying the merchants ships : wherefore , for the speedier dispatch , they had speech with the best men of the city , about the ransom to be given for their town and liberties , 120000 duckets was the summ concluded on ; and for security thereof , many of them became hostages . there was likewise an overture for the ransom of their ships and goods , which the duke of medina hearing of , rather than we should reap any profit by them , he caused them to be fired . we found by experience , that the destroying of this fleet ( which did amount to the value of six or seven millions ) was the general impoverishing of the whole country : for when the pledges sent to sevil , to take up money for their redemption ; they were answered , that all the town was not able to raise such a summ , their loss was so great by the loss of their fleet. and to speak truth , spain never received so great an overthrow , so great a spoil , so great an indignity at our hands as this : for our attempt was at his own home , in his port , that he thought as safe as his chamber , where we took and destroy'd his ships of war , burnt and consumed the wealth of his merchants , sack'd his city , ransomed his subjects , and entred his country without impeachment . to write all accidents of this voyage , wete too tedious , and would weary the reader ; but he that would desire to know the behavior of the spaniards , as well as of us , many confer with divers english men that were redeemed out the gallies in exchange for others , and brought into england . after we had enjoyed the town of cadiz a fortnight , and our men were grown rich by the spoil of it , the generals imbarqued their army , with an intent to perform greater services before their return ; but such was the covetousness of the better sort , who were inriched there , and the fear of hunger in others , who complained for want of victuals , as they could not willingly be drawn to any farther action , to gain more reputation . the only thing that was afterwards attempted , was pharoah , a town of algarula in portugal , a place of no resistance or wealth , only famous by the library of osorius , who was bishop of that place ; which library was brought into england by us , and many of the books bestowed upon the new erected library of oxford . some prisoners were taken ; but of small account , who told us , that the greatest strength of the country was in lawgust , the chief town of argarula , twelve miles distant from thence ; because most part of the gentlemen thereabouts were gone thither , to make it good expecting our coming . this news was acceptable to my lord of essex , who preferred honor before wealth : and having had his will , and the spoil of the town of pharoah and country thereabouts : he shipped his army , and took council of the lord admiral how to proceed . my lord admiral diverted his course for lawgust , alleadging the place was strong , of no wealth , always held in the nature of a fisher-town , belonging to the portugals , who in their hearts were our friends ; that the winning of it , after so eminent a place as cadiz , could add no honor ; though it should be carried , yet it would be the loss of his best troops and gentlemen , who would rather to die , than receive indignity of a repulse . my lord of essex , much against his will , was forc'd to yield unto these reasons , and desist from that enterprise . about this time there was a general complaint for want of victuals ; which proceeded rather out of a desire that some had to be at home , than out of any necessity : for sir william monson and mr. darrel , were appointed to examine the condition of every ship , and found seven weeks victuals ( drink excepted ) which might have been supplied from the shore in water ; and this put the generals in great hope to perform something more than they had done . the only service that was now to be thought on , was to lie in wait for the carrecks , which in all probability could not escape us , though there were many doubts to the contrary ; but easily answered by men of experience : but in truth , some mens desire homeward , were so great , that no reason could prevail with , or persuade them . coming into the height of the rock , the generals took council once again , and then the earl of essex , and the lord thomas howard , offered with great earnestness , to stay out the time our victuals lasted ; and desired to have but 12 ships furnished out of the rest to stay with them ; but this would not be granted , though the squadron of the hollanders offered voluntarily to stay . sir walter rawleigh alleadged the scarcity of victuals , and the infection of his men. my lord general essex , offered , in the greatness of his mind , and the desire he had to stay , to supply his want of men and victuals , and to exchange ships ; but all proposals were in vain : for the riches kept them that got much , from attempting more ; as if it had been otherwise pure want , though not honour would have enforced them to greater enterprises . this being the last hopes of the voyage , and being generally withstood , it was concluded to steer away for the north cape , and afterwards , to view and search the harbors of the groyn and ferrol ; and if any of the king of spain's ships chanced to be there , to give an attempt upon them . the lord admiral sent a carvel of our fleet into these two harbors , and aparrelled the men in spanish cloaths , to avoid suspicion . this carvel returned the next day , with a true relation , that there were no ships in the harbors : and now passing all places where there was any hope of doing good , our return for england was resolved upon ; and the 8th . of august , the lord admiral arrived in plymouth , with the greatest part of the army : and the lord general essex , who staid to accompany the st. andrew , which was under his charge , and reputed of his squadron , two days after us , the 10th . of august , where he found the army in that perfect health , as the like hath not been seen , for so many to go out of england , to such great enterprises , and so well to return home again , he himself rid up to the court , to advise with her majesty , about the winning of callis , which the spaniards took the easter before : here was a good opportunity , to have re-gained the ancient patrimony of england ; but the french king , thought he might with more ease re-gain it from the spaniard , who was his enemy , than recover it again from us , who were his friends . my lord admiral , with the fleet , went to the downs , where he landed , and left the charge of the navy , to sir robert dudley , and sir william monson . in going from thence to chatham , they endured more foul weather , and contrary winds , than in the whole voyage besides . a voyage to the islands , the earl of essex general , anno 1597. ships . commanders . the mere-honor the earl of essex . capt. under him after in the repulse sir robert mansell the lyon the lord thomas howard the warspite sir walter rawleigh the garland the earl of southampton the defiance the lord mountioy the mary rose sir francis vere the hope sir richard lewson the matthew sir george carew the rainbow sir will. monson the bonaventure , sir will. harvey the dreadnought sir will. brooke the swiftsuer sir gilly merick the antelope sir john gilbert , he went not . the nonperil sir tho. vavasor the st. andrew capt. throgmorton . her majesty having knowledge of the king of spain's drawing down his fleet and army to the groyn and ferrol , with an intent to enter into some action against her ; and that , notwithstanding the loss of thirty six sail of his ships that were cast away upon the north cape , in their coming thither : he prepared with all possible means , to revenge the disgraces we did him the year last past at cadiz . her majesty likewise prepared to defend her self , and fitted out the most part of her ships for the sea ; but at length , perceiving his drift was more to afright than offend her , though he gave it it out otherwise , because she should provide to resist him at home , rather than to annoy him abroad . she was unwilling the great charges she had been at , should be bestowed in vain ; and therefore turned her preparations another way , than that for which she first intended them . the project of this voyage , was to assault the king of spain's shipping in the harbor of ferrol , which the queen chiefly desired to do for her own security at home ; and afterwards to go and take the islands of tercera ; and there to expect the coming home of the indian fleet. but neither of these two designs took that effect which was expected : for in our setting forth , the same day we put to sea , we were taken with a most violent storm , and contrary winds ; and the general was seperated from the fleet , and one ship from another , so that the one half of the fleet were compelled to return home , and the rest that kept the sea , having reached the coast of spain , were commanded home , by order of the lord general . thus after their return , they were to advise upon a new voyage , finding by their ships and victuals , they were unable to perform the former : whereupon it was thought convenient all the army should be discharged , for the prolonging of the victuals , except a thousand of the prime souldiers of the low countries , which were put into her majesties ships , that they might be the better prepared , if they should chance to encounter the spanish fleet. thus the second time they departed england , though not without some danger of the ships , by reason of the winter 's near approach . the first land in spain we fell withal , was the north cape , the place whither our directions led us , if we happened to lose company ; being there descried from the shore , and not above 12 leagues from the groyn , where the spanish armado lay . we were in good hopes to have enticed them out of the harbor to fight us ; but spending some time thereabouts , and finding no such disposition in them , it was thought fit no longer to linger about that coast , lest we should lose our opportunity upon the indian fleet ; therefore every captain received his directions to stand his course into 36 degrees , there to spread our selves north and south , it being a heighth that commonly the spaniards sail in from the indies . at this time the lord general complained of a leak in his ship ; and two days after , towards midnight , he brought himself upon the lee to stop it . sir walter rawleigh , and some other ships , being a head the fleet , and it growing dark , they could not discern the lord general 's working ; but stood their course as before directed ; and through this unadvised working of my lord , they lost him and his fleet. the day following , sir walter rawleigh was informed by a pinnace he met , that the great armado , which we supposed to be in the groyn and ferrol , was gone to the islands , for the guard of the indian fleet. this pinnace , with this intelligence it gave us , sir walter rawleigh immediately sent to look out the general . my lord had no sooner received this advice , but at the very instant he directed his course to the islands , and dispatched some small vessels to sir walter rawleigh , to inform him of the suddain alteration of his course , upon the news received from him , commanding him with all expedition , to repair to flores , where he would not fail to be at our arrival . at the islands we found this intelligence utterly false : for neither the spanish ships were there , nor were expected there : we met likewise with divers english men , that came out of the indies ; but they could give us no assurance of the coming home of the fleet ; neither could we recive any advertisement from the shore , which made us half in despair of them . by that time we had watered our ships , and refreshed our selves at flores , sir walter rawleigh arrived there , who was willed by the lord general , after he was furnished of such wants as that poor island afforded , to make his repair to the island of fayal , which my lord intended to take . here grew great questions and heart-burnings against sir walter rawleigh : for he coming to fayal , and missing the lord general , and yet knowing my lord's resolution to take the island , he held it more advisable to land with those forces he had , than to expect the coming of my lord : for in that space the island might be better provided : whereupon he landed , and took it before my lord's approach . this act was held such an indignity to my lord , and urged with that vehemence , by those that hated sir walter , that if my lord , though naturally kind , and flexible , had not feared how it would have been taken in england , i think sir walter had smarted for it . from this island we went to graciosa , which did willingly relieve our wants , as far as it could ; yet with humble intreaty to forbear landing with our army , especially , because they understood there was a squadron of hollanders amongst us , who did not use to forbear cruelty wherever they came ; and here it was that we met the indian fleet , which in manner following , unluckily escaped us . the lord general having sent some men of good account into the island , to see there should be no injury offered to the portugals , he having passed his word to the contrary ; those men advertised him of four sail of ships descried from the shore , and one of them greater than the rest , seemed to be a carreck : my lord received this news with great joy , and divided his fleet into three squadrons , to be commanded by himself , the lord thomas howard , and sir walter rawleigh . the next ship to my lord , of the queen's , was the rainbow , wherein sir william monson went , who received direction from my lord to steer away south that night ; and if he should meet with any fleet , to follow them , carrying lights , or shooting off his ordnances or making any other sign that he could ; and if he met with no ships , to direct his course the next day , to the island of st. michael ; but promising that night to send 12 ships after him . sir william besought my lord , by the pinnace that brought him this direction , that above all things he should have a care to dispatch a squadron to the road of angra in the tercera's : for it was certain , if they were spaniards , thither they would resort . whilst my lord was thus contriving his business , and ordering his squadrons , a small barque of his fleet happened to come to him , who assured him , that those ships discovered from the land , were of his own fleet ; and that they came in immediately from them . this made my lord countermand his former direction ; only sir william monson , who was the next ship to him , and received the first command , could not be recalled back . within three hours of his departure from my lord , which might be about 12 of the clock , he fell in company of a fleet of 25 sail , which at the first he could not assure himself to be spaniards ; because the day before , that number of ships was missing from our fleet. here he was in a dilemma and great perplexity with himself ; for in making signs , as he was directed , if the ships proved english , it were ridiculous , and he would be exposed to scorn ; and to respite it untill morning , were as dangerous , if they were the indian fleet : for then my lord might be out of view , or of the hearing of his ordnance : therefore he resolved rather to put his person , than his ship in peril . he commanded his master to keep the weather-gage of the fleet , whatsoever should become of him ; and it blowing little wind , he betook himself to his boat , and rowed up with the fleet , demanding of whence they were : they answered , of sevil in spain ; and asked of whence he was ? he told them of england ; and that the ship in sight was a gallion of the queen 's of england , single and alone , alleadging the honor they would get by winning her ; his drift being to draw and entice them into the wake of our fleet , where they would be so entangled , as they could not escape ; they returned him some shot , and ill language ; but would not alter their course to the tercera's , whither they were bound , and where they arrived to our misfortune . sir william monson returned aboard his ship , making signs with lights , and report with his ordnance ; but all in vain : for my lord altering his course , as you have heard , stood that night to st. michaels , and passed by the north side of tercera , a farther way , than if he had gone by the way of augra , where he had met the indian fleet. when day appeared , and sir william monson was in hope to find the 12 ships promised to be sent to him , he might discern the spanish fleet two miles and a little more a head him , and a stern him a gallion , and a pinnace betwixt them ; which putting forth her flaggs , he knew to be the earl of southampton in the garland : the pinnace was a frigat of the spanish fleet , who took the garland and the rainbow to be gallions of theirs ; but seeing the flag of the garland , she found her error , and sprang a loof , thinkink to escape ; but the earl pursued her with the loss of some time , when he should have followed the fleet ; and therefore was desired to desist from that chase by sir william monson , who sent his boat to him . by a shot from my lord , this frigat was sunk ; and while his men were rifling her , sir francis vere and sir william brook came up in their two ships , who the spaniards would have made us believe were two gallions of theirs ; and so much did my lord signifie to sir william monson , wishing him to stay their coming up : for that there would be greater hope of those two ships , which there was no doubt but we were able to master , than of the fleet , for which we were too weak . but after sir william had made the two ships to be the queen's , which he ever suspected them to be , he began to pursue the spanish fleet afresh ; but by reason they were so far a head of him , and had so little way to sail , they recovered the road of tercera ; but he and the rest of the ships pursued them , and himself led the way into the harbor , where he found sharp resistance from the castle ; but yet so battered the ships , that he might see the masts of some shot by the board , and the men quit the ships ; so that there wanted nothing but a gale of wind to enable him to cut the cables of the hawsers , and to bring them off : wherefore he sent to the other 3 great ships of ours , to desire them to attempt the cutting their cables ; but sir fra. vere rather wished his coming off , that they might take a resolution what to do . this must be rather imputed to want of experience than backwardness in him : for sir william sent him word , that if he quitted the harbor , the ships would tow near the castle ; and as the night drew on , the wind would freshen , and come more off the land , which indeed proved so , and we above a league from the road in the morning . we may say , and that truly , there was never that possibility to have undone the state of spain as now : for every royal of plate we had taken in this fleet , had been two to them , by our converting it by war upon them . none of the captains could be blamed in this business : all is to be attributed to the want of experience in my lord , and his flexible nature to be over-ruled : for the first hour he anchored at flores , and called a council , sir william monson advised him upon the reasons following , after his watering , to run west , spreading his fleet north and south , so far as the eastern wind that then blew would carry them ; alleadging , that if the indian fleet came home that year , by computation of the last light moon , from which time their disimboguing in the indies , must be reckoned , they could not be above 200 leagues short of that island ; and whensoever the wind should chop up westernly , he bearing a slack sail , they would , in a few days overtake him . this advice my lord seemed to take , but was diverted by divers gentlemen , who coming principally for land service , found themselves tired by the tediousness of the sea. certain it is , if my lord had followed his advice , within less than 40 hours , he had made the queen owner of that fleet : for by the pilot's card , which was taken in the frigat , the spanish fleet was but 50 leagues in traverse with that eastern wind , when my lord was at flores , which made my lord wish , the first time sir william monson repaired to him , after the escape of the fleet , that he had lost his hand so he had been ruled by him . being met aboard sir francis vere , we consulted what to do , and resolved to acquaint my lord with what had happened , desiring his presence with us , to see if there were any possibility to attempt the shipping , or surprize the island , and so to possess the treasure . my lord received this advertisement , just as he was ready with his troops to have landed in st. michaels ; but this message diverted his landing , and made him presently cast about for the islands of the tercera's , where we lay all this while expecting his coming . in his course from st. michaels , it was his hap to to take three ships that departed the havana the day after the fleet : which three ships did more than countervail the whole voyage . at my lord's meeting with us at tercera , there was a consultation how the enemies ships might be fetched off , or destroyed as they lay ; but all men with one consent , agreed the impossibility of it . the attempting the island was propounded ; but withstood for these reasons , the difficulty in landing , the strength of the island , which was increased by fourteen or fifteen hundred souldiers in the ships , and our want of victuals to abide by the siege . seeing then we were frustrate of our hopes at the tercera , we resolved upon landing in st. michaels , and arrived the day following at punta delgada , the chief city . here my lord imbarqued his small army in boats , with offer to land ; and having thereby drawn the enemies greatest force thither to resist him , suddainly he rowed to villa franca , three or four leagues distant from thence ; which , not being defended by the enemy , he took . the ships had order to abide in the road of delgada ; for that my lord made account to march thither by land ; but being on shore at villa franca , he was informed that the march was impossible , by reason of the high and craggy mountains , which diverted his purpose . victuals now grew short with us , and my lord general began discreetly to foresee the danger in abiding towards winter upon these coasts , which could not afford him an harbor , only open roads that were subject to southern winds ; and upon every wind , he must put to sea for his safety . he considered , that if this should happen , when his troops were on shore , and he not able to reach the land in a fortnight or more , which is a thing ordinary , what a desperate case he should put himself into , especially in so great a want of victuals : and so concluding , that he had seen the end of all his hopes , by the escape of the fleet , he imbarqued himself and army , though with some difficulty , the seas were now grown so high . by this the one half of the fleet that rid in punta delgada , put room for villa franca , and those that remained behind , being thought by a ship of brazile to be the spanish fleet , she came in amongst them , and so was betrayed : after her there followed a carreck , who had been served in the like manner ; but for the hasty and indiscreet weighing of a hollander , which made her run a shore under the castle ; when the wind lessened sir william monson weighted with the rainbow , thinking to give an attempt upon her , notwithstanding the castle ; which she perceiving , as he drew near unto her , she set her self on fire , and burned down to the very keel . she , was a ship of 1400 tuns burden , that the year before was not able to double the cape of bona esperansa , in her voyage to the east indies ; but put into brazile , where she was laden with sugars , and afterwards thus destroyed . the spaniards , who presumed more upon their advantages than valors , thought themselves in too weak a condition to follow us to the islands , and put their fortunes upon a days service , but subtilly devised how to intercept us as we came home , when we had least thought or suspicion of them ; and their fleet , that was all this while in the groyn and ferrol , not daring to put forwards while they knew ours to be upon the coast , their general the adelantada came for england , with a resolution to land at falmouth , and fortifie it , and afterwards , with their ships , to keep the sea , and expect our coming home scattered . having thus cut off our sea forces , and possessing the harbor of falmouth , they thought with a second supply of 37 levantisco's ships , which the marquess arumbullo commanded , to have returned and gained a good footing in england . these designs of theirs were not foreseen by us : for we came home scattered , as they made reckoning , not 20 in number together . we may say , and that truly , that god sought for us : for the adalantada being within a few leagues of the island of silly , he commanded all his captains on board him to receive his directions ; but whilst they were in consultation , a violent storm took them at east , insomuch that the captains could hardly recover their ships , but in no case were able to save their boats , the storm continued so furious , and happy was he that could recover home , seeing their design thus overthrown by loss of their boats , whereby their means of landing was taken away . some who were willing to stay , and receive the farther commands of the general , kept the seas so long upon our coast , that in the end they were taken ; others put themselves into our harbors for refuge and succor ; and it is certainly known , that in this voyage the spaniards lost eighteen ships , the st. luke , and the st. bartholomew , being two and in the rank of his best gallions . we must ascribe this success to god only : for certainly the enemies designs were dangerous , and not to be diverted by our force ; but by his will , who would not suffer the spaniards in any of their attempts , to set footing in england , as we have done in all the quarters of spain , portugal , the islands , and both the indies . the lord thomas howard admiral to the downs , from whence he returned in one month , anno 1599. ships . commanders . the elizabeth jonas the lord thomas howard the ark royal sir walter rawleigh the triumph sir fulke grivel the mere-honor sir henry palmer the repulse sir tho. vavasor the garland sir will. harvey the defiance sir will. monson the nonperil sir robert cross the lyon sir richard lewson the rainbow sir alexander clifford the hope sir john gilbert the foresight sir tho. sherley the mary rose mr. fortescue the bonaventure , capt. troughton . the crane capt. jonas the swiftsuer capt. bradgate the tremontary capt. slingsby the advantage capt. hoer the quittance capt. reynolds i cannot write of any thing done in this year of 1599. for there was never greater expectation of war , with less performance . whether it was a mistrust the one nation had of the other , or a policy held on both sides , to make peace with sword in hand , a treaty being entertained by consent of each prince , i am not to examine ; but sure i am , the preparation was on both sides very great , as if the one expected an invasion from the other ; and yet it was generally conceived , not to be intended by either ; but that ours had only relation to my lord of essex , who was then in ireland , and had a design to try his friends in england , and to be revenged of his enemies , as he pretended , and as it proved afterwards by his fall : howsoever it was , the charge was not so great as necessary : for it was commonly known , that the adalantada had drawn both his ships and gallies to the groyne ; which was not usually done , but for some action intended upon england or ireland , though he converted them after to another use , as you shall hear . the gallies were sent into the low countreys , and pass'd the narrow seas , while our ships lay there , and with the fleet the atalantada pursued the hollanders to the islands , whither he suspected they were gone . this fleet of hollanders , which consisted of 73 sail , were the first ships that ever displayed their colors in war-like sort against the spaniards , in any action of their own : for how cruel soever the war seemed to be in holland , they maintained a peaceable trade in spain , and abused us . this first action of the hollanders at sea proved not very successful : for after the spoil of a town in the canary's , and some hurt done at the island of st. ome , they kept the sea for some seven or eight months , in which time their general and most of their men sickned and died , and the rest returned with loss and shame . another benefit which we received by this preparation , was , that our men were now taught suddainly to arme , every man knowing his command , and how to be commanded , which before they were ignorant of : and who knows not , that sudden and false alarms in an army , are sometimes necessary ? to say truth , the expedition which was then used in drawing together so great an army by land , and rigging so great and royal a navy to sea in so little a space of time , was so admirable in other coutreys , that they received a terror by it ; and many that came from beyond sea , said , the queen was never more dreaded abroad for any thing she ever did . french-men that came aboard our ships , did wonder ( as at a thing incredible ) that her majesty had rigged , victualled and furnished her royal ships to sea in 12 days time : and spain , as an enemy , had reason to fear , and grieve to see this suddain preparation ; but more , when they understood how the hearts of her majesty's subjects joyned with their hands , being all ready to spend their dearest blood for her and her service . holland might likewise see , that if they became insolent , we could be assoon provided as they ; not did they expect to find such celerity in any nation but themselves . it is probable too , that the king of spain , and the arch-duke , were hereby drawn to entertain thoughts of peace : for as soon as our fleet was at sea , a gentleman was sent from brussells , with some overtures , although for that time they succeeded not . however , whether it was , that the intended invasion from spain was diverted , or that her majesty was fully satisfied of my lord of essex , i know not ; but so it was , that she commanded the suddain return of her ships from sea , after they had layn three weeks or a month in the downs . sir richard lewson to the islands , anno dom. 1600. ships . commanders . the repulse sir richard lewson the warspight capt. troughton the vauntguard capt. sommers . the last year , as you have heard , put all men in expectation of war , which yet came to nothing . this summer gave us great hope of peace ; but with the like effect : for by consent of the queen , the king of spain , and the arch-duke , their commissioners met at bulloign in piccardie , to treat of peace ; a place chosen indifferently , the french king being in league and friendship with them all . whether this treaty were intended but in shew only , or , that they were out of hopes , to come to any conclusion ; or , what else was the true and real cause of its breaking off so suddenly , i know not ; but the pretence was but slender , for there grew a difference about precedency , betwixt the two crowns , though it was ever due to england ; and so the hopes of peace were frustrated , though had it been really intended , matters might easily have been accommodated . the queen suspecting the event hereof , before their meeting , and the rather , because the spaniards entertained with the like treaty , in 1588 when at the same instant , his navy appeared upon her coast to invade her ; therefore , least she should be guilty of too great security , in relying upon the success of this doubtful treaty , she furnished the three ships before named , under pretence to guard the western coast , which at that time was infested by the dunkirkers . and because there should be the less notice taken , part of the victuals was provided at plymouth ; and sir richard lewson , who was then admiral of the narrow seas , was appointed general , for the more secret carriage of the business ; so as it could not be conjectured , either by their victualling , or by their captain , being admiral of the narrow seas , that it was a service from home . as they were in a readiness at plymouth , expecting orders , the queen beingfully satisfied , that the treaty of bulloign would break off without effect , she commanded sir richard lawson to hasten to the islands , there to expect the carrecks , and mexico fleet. the spaniards on the other side , being as circumspect to prevent a mischief , as we were subtil to contrive it ; and believing ( as we did ) that the treaty of peace would prove a vain , hopeless shew of what was never meant , they furnished eighteen tall ships to the islands , as they had usually done , since the year 1591. the general of this fleet was don diego de borachero . our ships coming to the islands , they and the spaniards had intelligence of one another , but not the sight , for that sir richard lewson hailed sixty leagues westward , not only to avoid them , but in hopes to meet with the carrecks , and mexico fleet , before they could join them : but the carrecks being formerly warned by the taking of one of them , and burning of another , in 1591. had ever since that year , endeavored to shun the sight of that island , so that our fleet being now prevented , as they had often before been , ( nothing being more uncertain , than actions at sea , where ships are to meet one another casually ) they returned home , having consumed time and victuals , to no purpose , and seen not so much as one sail , from the time they quitted the coast of england , till their return , two ships of holland excepted , that came from the east indies ( for then began their trade thither ) which ships sir richard lewson relieved , finding them in great distress and want . sir richard lewson into ireland , anno 1601. ships . commanders . the warsight sir richard lewson the garland sir amias preston the defiance capt. goer the swiftsuer capt. sommers the crane capt. mainwaring in the year 1600. and part of the year 1601. there was a kind of cessation from arms , though not by agreement , for this year gave a hope of peace ; which failing , the former course of annoying each other was revived ; we in relieving the low countries , the spaniards in assisting the rebels in ireland . this was the summer , that the arch-duke besieged ostend , which was bravely defended , but principally , by the supplies out of england . and towards winter , when the spaniards thought we least looked for war , don diego de borachero , with 48 sail of ships , and 4000 soldiers was sent to invade ireland . in his way thither he lost the company of his vice-admiral , siriago , who returned to the groyn , which when the king heard , he was much distasted with siriago , and commanded him upon his allegiance , to hasten with all speed for ireland , as he was formerly directed ; don diego , his landing being known in england , when it was too late to prevent it ; yet , least he should be supplied with further forces , sir richard lewson valiantly entred the harbor , drew near their fortifications , and fought the enemy for the space of one whole day , his ship being an hundred times shot through , and yet but eight men slain . god so blest him , that he prevailed in his enterprize , destroyed their whole shipping , and made siriago fly by land into another harbor , where he obscurely imbarqued himself in a french vessel , for spain . all this while was the main army , which landed with their general , don juan de aquila , seated in kinsale , expecting the aid of tyroen , who promised every day to be with him . our army commanded by the lord montjoy , lord deputy of ireland , besieged the town , so that he prevented their meeting , and many skirmishes past betwixt them . the siege continued , with great miseries to both the armies , and not without cause , considering the season of the year , and the condition of the country , that afforded little relief to either : some few days before christmas , tyroen appeared with his forces , which was some little heartning to the enemy , in hopes to be freed of their imprisonment , for so may i call it , they were so strictly beleagured . the day of agreement , betwixt the spaniards and tyroen , was christmas eve , on which day , there happened an earthquake in england ; and , as many times such signs prove aut bonum , aut malum omen ; this proved fortunate to us , the victory being obtained , with so little loss , as it is almost incredible . this was the day of tryal , whether ireland should continue a parcel of our crown , or no ; for if the enemy had prevailed in the battel , and a treaty had not afterwards obtained more then force , it was to be feared , ireland would hardly have been ever recovered . the spaniards in ireland , seeing the success of tyroen , and the impossibility for him to re-inforce his army , being hopeless of supplies out of spain , and their poverty daily increasing , they made offers of a parly , which was granted , and after ensued a peace there : the conditions whereof are extant in print . they were furnished with ships , and secured of their passage into spain , where arriving in english vessels , the ships returned back for england . sir richard lewson , and sir william monson , to the coast of spain , anno 1602. ships . commanders . the repulse sir richard lewson , admiral the garland sir will. monson , vice-admiral . the defiance capt. goer the mary rose capt. slingsby the warspight capt. sommers the nonperil capt. reynolds the dreadnought capt. mainwaring the adventure capt. trevor the english carvel capt. sawkel the last attempt of the spaniards in ireland awakened the queen , who , it seemeth for two or three years together , entertained the hopes of peace , and therefore was sparing in setting forth her fleets . but now perceiving the enemy had found the way into ireland ; and that it behoved her to be more vigilant than ever ; she resolved , as the safest course to infest the spanish coasts with a continual fleet ; and in this year furnished the ships aforesaid , having promise from the states of holland , to joyn to them twelve sail of theirs ; and because this important service required great speed , she had not time enough to man them , or supply them with provisions altogether so well as they were usually wont to be ; but was content with what could be gotten in so short a warning , so desirous was she to see her ships at sea. sir richard lewson set sail with five of them the 19th . of march , and left sir william monson behind with the other four , to attend the coming of the hollanders ; though within two or three days after , sir william received command from the queen , to hasten with all speed to sir richard lewson ; for that she was advertised , that the silver ships were arrived at the tercera's . sir william monson hereupon neglected no time , nor stayed either to see himself better manned , or his ships better furnished ; but put to sea the 26th . of march. this intelligence of the queen 's was true : for the plate fleet had been at the tercera's , and departing from thence , in their course for spain , sir richard lewson , with his few ships , met them ; but to little purpose , wanting the rest of his fleet , and the help of the 12 hollanders . we may very well account this not the least error or negligence that hath been committed in our voyages : for if the hollanders had kept touch according to promise , and the queen's ships had been fitted out with care , we had made her majesty mistress of more treasure than any of her progenitors ever enjoyed . sir richard lewson's design against the indian fleet , notwithstanding his renowned valor , being thus frustrated , and by the hollanders slackness crossed , he plied towards the rock , to meet sir william monson , as the place resolved on between them ; but sir william having spent 14 days thereabouts , and hearing no tidings of him , went round to the southward cape , where he was likewise frustrated of a most promising hope : for meeting with certain french-men and scots , at the same instant , he descried three ships of ours , sent by sir richard to look him . these french and scottish ships came from st. lucas , and made report of five gallions , ready the next tide to set sail for the indies : they likewise told him of two others that departed three days before , wherein went don petro de valdes , to be governor of the havana , who had sometimes been prisoner in england . these two later ships were met one night by the warspight , whereof capt. sommers was conmander ; but whether it was by the darkness of the night , or by what other casualty ( for the sea is subject to many ) i know not , but they escaped . this news of the five gallions , and the three ships of the queen 's so happily meeting together , made sir william direct his course into the heighth wherein the spaniards were most likely to sail in ; and coming into that heighth , he had sight of five ships , which in respect of their number and course , he made reckoning to be the five gallions ; and thought that day should fully determine and try the difference between the strength and puissance of the english and spanish ships , their number and greatness being equal : but his joy was soon quailed : for coming up with them , he found them to be english ships coming out of the streights , and bound home ; but yet this did not discourage the hope he had conceived that the spaniards might be met withall ; and the next day he gave chase to one ship alone that came out of the indies , which he took , though he had been better without her : for she brought him so far to leeward , that that night the gallions passed to wind-ward , not above eight or ten leagues off us , by report of an english pinnace that met them , who came into our company the day following . these misfortunes lighting first upon sir richard , and after upon sir william , might have been sufficient reasons to discourage them ; but they knowing the accidents of the sea , and that fortune could as well laugh as weep , having good ships under foot , their men sound and in health , and plenty of victuals , they did not doubt but that some of the wealth which the indies sent forth into spain would fall to their shares . upon tuesday , the first of june , to begin our new fortune with a new month , sir richard lewson and sir william monson , who some few nights before had met accidentally in the sea , were close on board the rock , where they took two ships of the east country , bound for lisbon ; and while they were romaging these ships , they descried a carvel from cape picher bearing with them ; which by signs she made , they perceived had a desire to speak with them . sir richard immediately chased her , and left sir william with the two easterlings to abide about the rock till his return . the carvel being fetcht up , made a relation of a carreck and 11 gallies to be in cisembre road ; and that she was sent by two ships of ours , the nonperil and the dreadnought which lay thereabouts to look out the admiral . with what joy this news was apprehended may be easily imagined : sir richard made signs to sir william to stand with him ; and lest he should not be discerned , he caused the carvel to ply up with him , wishing him to repair to him ; but before they could approach the cape , it was midnight , and nothing chanced all that time , but the exchanging of some shot , that passed betwixt the admiral and the gallies . upon wednesday , the second of june , every man looked early in the morning what ships of her majesties were in sight , which were five in number , the warspight , wherein sir richard was : for the repulse he had sent for england some few days before , by reason of a leak ; the garland , the nonperil , the dreadnought , and the adventure , besides the two easterlings taken the day before . all the captains resorted on board the admiral , to councel , which took up most part of the day . at first there was an opposition by some , who alleadged the danger and impossibility of taking the carreck , being defended by the castle and 11 gallies : but sir william monson prevailed so far , as that all consented to go upon her the next day , and concluded upon this course following , that he and sir richard should anchor as near the carreck as they could , the rest to ply up and down , and not anchor . sir william was glad of this occasion , to be revenged of the gallies , hoping to requite the slavery they put him to when he was prisoner in them ; and singled himself from the fleet a league , that the gallies might see it was in defiance of them ; and so the marquess of st. cruz , and frederick spaniola , the one general of the portugal , the other of the spanish gallies , apprehended it , and came forth with an intent to fight him ; but being within shot , were diverted by one john bedford an english-man , who undertook to know the force of the ship , and sir william that commended her . before i go farther , i will a little digress , and acquaint you with the scituation of the town , and the manner of placing the gallies against us . the town of cisembre lieth in the bottom of a road , which is a good succor for ships with a northerly wind. it is built with free-stone , and near the sea is erected a strong and spacious fort , well replenished with ordnance : above the town , upon the top of a hill , is seated an ancient , strong fryery , whose scituation maketh it impregnable , and able to command the town , castle and road ; close to the shore lay the carreck , like a bullwork to the west side of the castle ; so as it defended both that , and the east part of the town : the 11 gallies had flancked and fortified themselves with the small neck of a rock on the west side of the road , with their prows right forward , to play upon us , every one carrying a cannon in their cruzia , besides other pieces in their prows ; and they were no way to be damaged by us , till our ships came so nigh the town , that all these forces might play upon us in one instant . the gallies being placed to this great advantage , they made account ( as a captain of one of them we took confess'd ) to have sunk our ships of themselves , without any farther help . we saw the tents pitched , and great troops of souldiers drawn together ; which was no less than the whole country in arms against us : the boats pass'd betwixt the shore and the carreck all the day long , which we supposed was to unlade her ; but we found afterwards it was rather to strengthen her with men and munition : here appeared many difficulties and dangers , and little hope of taking her ; but rather of sinking or burning her , as most men conjectured . the danger from the gallies was great , they being flancked with the point of a rock at our entrance , as you have heard , it being likewise calm , and they shooting low : another danger was , that of the wind : for if it had come from the sea , the road being open , and the bay deep , our attempt must have been in vain . and notwithstanding these , and many more apparently seen ; and that there was no man but imagined , that most of the carrecks lading was on shoar , and that they would hale her on ground , under the castle , where no ship of ours should be able to fleet to her ; all which objections , with many more , were alleadged , yet they little prevailed , procrastination was perilous , and therefore with all expedition , they thought convenient to charge the town , the fort , the gallies , and carreck , all at one instant . and they had determined , if the carreck had been on ground , or so nigh the shoar , that the queens ships could not fleet to her , that the two easterlings , the day before taken , should board her , and burn her . thursday the third day , early in the morning , every man commending himself to god's tuition and protection , expected when to begin , according to the agreement the day before . a gale of wind happening about ten of the clock , the admiral weighed ; shot off a warning-piece , and put forth his flag in the maintop : the vice-admiral did the like in his foretop , according to the custome of the sea ; every captain encouraged his men , which so imboldened them , as though they were grown weak and feeble before , they were now revived , and bestirred themselves , as if a new spirit had been infused into them ; the admiral was the first that gave the charge , after him followed the rest of the ships , shewing great valor , and gaining great honor ; the last of all , was the vice-admiral , at whose entrance into the fight , he still strived to get up as near the shoar as he could , where he came to an anchor , continually fighting with the town , the fort , the gallies , and carreck , all together , for he brought them betwixt him , that he might play both his broad sides upon them ; there might be seen the prowess of the gallies , swim by the sides of them , the slaves forsake them , and every thing in confusion amongst them , and thus they fought , till five of the clock in the afternoon . the vice-admiral was anchored to such an advantage , as the gallies rowed from one side to another , seeking to shun him , which sir richard lewson observing , came on board him , and openly , in the view and hearing of his whole company , imbraced him , and told him , he had won his heart for ever . the rest of the ships , as they were directed , plied up , except the admiral , who by the negligence of his master , or some other impediment , when he should have anchored , fell so far to leeward , as the wind and tide carried him out of the road , so that it was the next day , before his ship could be fetcht in again ; whereat the admiral was much inraged , and put himself into the dreadnought , and brought her to an anchor close to the vice-admiral , about two of the clock in the afternoon : there was no opportunity let pass , for where the admiral saw defect in any other ship , he presently caused it to be supplied , and the easterlings , who were appointed to board the carrek , beginning to saint , and fail of observing the directions given them , the vice-admiral perceiving it , went on board them himself , vowing , that if they seemed backward in putting in execution the design of firing the carreck , they should look for as little life from the english , as they could expect from the enemy . whilst the vice-admiral was thus ordering things , sir richard lewson came to him , and would in no case suffer him to board the carreck himself , but carried him into the dreadnought , where they consulted how to preserve the carreck , and enjoy her . the result of this reference was , to offer her parley , which they presently put in practice , and commanded all the ships to leave shooting , until the return of the messenger : the man imployed , was one captain sewell , who had escaped , and swam to us , having been four years prisoner in the gallies , and so did many turks and christians ; the effect of this parley , was to persuade them to yield , promising honorable conditions , and he was to intimate , as from himself , that the gallies , whose strength they presumed upon , were beaten , some burnt , the rest fled ; that we had the possession of the road , the castle not being able to abide our ordinance , much less the carreck , and if they refused this offer of mercy , they were to expect all the cruelty and rigor , that a conpueror could impose upon his enemy : after some conference to this effect , the captain of the carreck told him , he would send some gentlemen of quality , with commission to treat , and desired , that some of the like quality fromus , might repair to him , to the same purpose . these gentlemen came aboard the dreadnought , where the admiral and vice-admiral were , attending the return and success of captain sewell ; after the delivery of their message , they would needs hasten on board the carreck again , for that , as it seemed , there was an uproar and a division in her , some being of opinion to entertain a parley , others to save themselves , and set her on fire : which sir william monson hearing , without further delay , or conference , with sir richard , what was to be done , he leaped suddenly into his boat , and rowed unto the carreck ; when he drew near to her , he was known by diverse gentlemen on board her , he having once been a prisoner among them : they seemed to be very glad of this meeting , and their passed diverse imbracements between them , in remembrance of their old acquaintance : the captain was called don diego de lobo , a gallant young gentleman , of a noble house . he descended down upon the bend of the ship , and commanded his men to stand aside ; sir william did the like to his company , in the boat ; the captain demanded of him , if he had the portugal language ; he told him , he had sufficient to treat of that business ; acquainted him of the place he commanded in the fleet , intimated the affection and respect he bore the portugal nation , and that the treaty which was offered , proceeded out of his motion , and wished him to make his proposals , which were as followeth , the first demand he made , was , that they should be safely put on shoar with their arms. the second , that it should be done the same night : the third , that they should enjoy their ship and ordinance , as appertaining to the king , but we the wealth . the fourth , that the flag and ancient should not be taken down , but worn while the carreck was unlading , his speech being ended , sir william told him , that his demands gave suspition , that under pretence of parley , they meant treachery , or that their hopes were greater , than there was cause ; and , but that he knew it was the use of some men , to demand great things , when less will serve them , he would not lose his advantage , to entertain a parley ; he desired , that what they intended , might be quickly concluded , for night growing on , might advantage them , and for his resolution , he should understand it in few words , viz. to his first demand , he was willing to yeild , that they should be put on shoar with their arms. to the second , that he was contented , that they should be set on shoar that night , except eight or ten of the principal gentlemen ; whom he would detain three days . to the third , he held it idle and frivolous , to imagine , he would consent to separate ship and goods , and esteemed it por cosa de burla . to the fourth , he would not consent , being resolved , never to permit a spanish flag to be worn in the presence of the queens ships , unless it were disgracefully , over the poop . there was long expostulations upon these points , and sir william monson seeing the obstinacy of the captain , offered , in a great rage , to leap into his boat , resolving to break the treaty , which the rest of the gentlemen perceiving , and that he had propounded nothing but what might very well stand with their reputation , they intreated him once more to ascend into the carreck , and they would enter into new capitulations : the effect whereof , as it was agreed upon , were these that follow ; that a messenger should be sent to the admiral , to have his confirmation of the points concluded on ; and that in the mean time the flag and ancient should be taken down ; and if the admiral should not consent to the agreement , they to have leisure to put out their flag and ancient tofore the fight should begin . that the company should be presently set on shore ; but the captain , with eight other of the principal gentlemen three days after . that the ship with her goods , should be surrendered without any practice or treason . that they should use their endeavors , that the castle should forbear shooting whilst we rid in the road ; and this was the effect of the conditions agreed upon . this carreck wintered in mosambicke , in her return from the indies , a place of great infection , as appeared by the mortality among them : for of 600 and odd men , twenty of them lived not to return home . after a great deal of calamity and mortality , she arrived at this port of cisembre , as you have heard , the viceroy of portugal , having sent 11 gallies to her rescue , and 400 mocas de camera , which is a title of gentlemen that serve the king upon any honourable occasion , when they are commanded . that she was brought to this pass , and forc'd to yield on these conditions , sir robert cecil was wont to impute to the gentlemens acquaintance with sir william monson . although three days were limited for setting the captain on shore , yet it was held discretion not to detain them longer than untill the carreck was brought off safely to our ships ; and therefore sir william monson having carried the captain , and the rest of the gentlemen on board him , where they supped , had variety of musick , and spent the night in great jollity ; the morning following , accompanied them on shore himself , whither the conde de vitagera had drawn down all the force of the whole country , amounting to the number of 10000 men . i must not omit to describe the behavior of the gallies in the fight , that every man may have that honor that is due to him : those of portugal , being of the squadron of the marquess of st. cruz , betook themselves , with their general , to flight in the middle of the fight ; but frederico spinola , who was to convey his gallies out of spain into the low countreys , followed not the example of the marquess , but made good the road ; which the other seeing , with shame returned ; but to both their costs : for before they departed , they found the climate so hot , as they were forc'd to fly , their gallies being so miserably beaten , and their slaves so pitifully slain , as there wanted nothing but boats to possess them all , as well as the two we took and burnt ; which is a thing hath been seldom seen or heard of , for ships to take and destroy gallies . the number of men slain in the town , the castle , the carreck and gallies , are unknown , though they could not chuse but be many ; the wealth of the carreck could then as ill be estimated , though after found to be great ; the value of the two gallies burnt with their loading of powder , is hard to judge , though it 's known to have been a service of great importance . for our loss , it was not much , only one man killed in the fly-boat , five slain , and as many hurt in the garland , and one hurt in the adventure : sir william monson had the left wing of his doublet shot off , but received no other hurt . the day following , with a favourable wind , we stood our course for england , which brought us into 47 degrees ; and there we met a pinnace , sent with a pacquet from the lords , signifying the readiness of a second fleet to supply us , and the setting out of the hollanders , which were so long looked for ; which fleet of holland was in view of the pinnace the same night ; but pass'd by us unseen . this unlooked for accident made the admiral and vice-admiral consider what to do , and concluded , they could not both appear at home , and have a fleet of so great importance upon the enemies coast without a guide or head ; and therefore they held it fit the vice-admiral should put himself into the nonperil , as the ablest ship of the fleet , and make his return once more to the coast of spain ; but he having taken his leave , and standing his course for the coast , a most violent storm , with a contrary wind took him , which continued ten days , and discovered the weakness of his ship , who had like to have foundered in the deep . the carpenters and company seeing the apparent danger , if he bore not up before the wind , presented him with a petition , beseeching him to have a regard to their lives ; for by keeping the seas they should all perish . thus was he forc'd by mere extremity to bear room for england ; and coming for plymouth , he found the carreck safely arrived , and the fleet he went back to take charge of , not to have quitted the coast of england . though it be somewhat impertinent to this voyage , to treat of more than the success thereof ; yet i will a little digress , and relate the mishap of that worthy young gentleman don diego de lobo , captain of the carreck ; and because his worth will more appear by his answer to sir william monson's offer to him when he was his prisoner ; thus it was : sir william monson told him , he doubted , that by the loss of the carreck , he had lost his best means ; for that he supposed , what he had gained in the indies , was laden in her ; and therefore offered , that what he would challenge upon his reputation to be his own , he should have freedom to carry along with him . the gentleman acknowledged the favor to be extraordinary ; but replied , that what he had , he had gained by his sword ; and that his sword , he doubted not , would repair his fortunes again , utterly refusing to accept any courtesie in that kind : but , poor gentleman , ill fortune thus left him not : for the viceroy , don cristoball de moro , holding it for a great indignity to have the carreck taken out of the port , that was defended by a castle , and guarded with 11 gallies , and especially in his hearing of the ordnance to lisbon , and in the view of thousands of people who beheld it ; some of them feeling it too , by the loss of their goods that were in her , others grieving for the death of their friends that were slain ; but every man finding himself touched in reputation . the names of the carrecks and eleven gallies . the st. valentine , a carreck of one thousand seven hundred tuns . the christopher , the admiral of portugal , wherein the marquess de sancta cruz went. the st. lewis , wherein frederick spinola went general of the gallies of spain . the forteleza , vice-admiral to the marquess . the trividad , vice-admiral to frederick spinola , burnt . the snis , in which sir william monson was prisoner , 1591. the occasion burnt , and the captain taken prisoner . the st. john baptist . the lazear . the padillar . the philip. the st. john. and the viceroy not knowing how to clear himself so well , as the laying it upon the gentlemen he put on board her , the same night they returned to their lodging , he caused the most part of them , with their captain , to be apprehended , imputing the loss of the carreck to their cowardise and fear , if not treason and connivance with the enemy . after some time of imprisonment , by mediation of friends , all the gentlemen were released but the captain , who received secret advice , that the viceroy intended his death , and that he should seek by escape to prevent it . don diego being thus perplexed , practised with his sister , who finding means for his escape out of a window , he fled into italy , where he lived in exile , from 1602. when this happened , untill 1615. his government in the indies , for which he had a patent in reversion , was confiscate , and he left hopeless ever to return into his native country , much less to be restored to his command ; an ill welcome after so long and painful a navigation . having thus spent thirteen years in exile , at the last he advised with friends , whose councel he followed , to repair into england , there to enquire after some commanders , that had been at the taking of the carreck , by whose certificate he might be cleared of cowardise or treason in the loss of her , which would be a good motive to restore him to his government again . in the year 1515. he arrived in london , and after some enquiry found out sir william monson , to whom he complained of his hard mishap , craving the assistance of him and some others , whom sir william knew to be at the taking of the carreck , and desired him to testifie the manner of surprizing her , which he alleadged , was no more than one gentleman was bound to afford another in such a case . sir william wondered to see him , and especially upon such an occasion : for the present , he entertained him with all courtesie ; and the longer his stay was in england , the courtesies were the greater , which sir william did him . sir william procured him a true and effectual certificate from himself , sir francis howard , captain barlow , and some others who were witnesses of that service ; and to give it the more reputation , he caused it to be inrolled in the office of the admiralty . the gentleman being well satisfied with his entertainment , and having what he desired , returned to flanders , where he presented his certificate to the arch-duke and the infanta , by whose means he got assurance , not only of the king's favor , but of restitution likewise to his government . the poor gentleman having been thus tossed by the waves of calamity , from one country to another , and never finding rest ; death that masters all men , now cut him off short , in the midst of his hopes , as he was preparing his journy for spain ; and this was an end of an unfortunate gallant young gentleman , whose deserts might justly have challenged a better reward , if god had pleased to afford it him . sir william monson to the coast of spain , anno 1602. ships . commanders . the swiftsuer sir will. monson the mary rose capt. trevers the dreadnought capt. cawfield the adventure capt. norris the answer capt. brodgate the quittance capt. browne the lions whelp capt. may the paragon , a merchant . capt. jason a small carvel capt. hooper the fleet of sir richard lewson being happily returned , with the fortune of a carreck , as you have heard , and the queen having now no ships upon the spanish coast , to impeach the enemies preparations , she feared , the fleet which was ready at the groyne , would give a second assault upon ireland ; whereupon sir william monson , who by this time was arrived at plymouth , was sent for in great haste , by her majesty , to advise about , and take on him the charge of the fleet , then at plymouth . after a long conference with sir william monson , in the presence of her majesty , her lord admiral , treasurer , and secretary , it was resolved , that sir william should repair to plymouth , and with all speed get forth those ships , and others that were there making ready . his directions were , to present himself before the harbor of the groyne , being the place where the spaniards made their randevouz , and if he found any likelihood of a design upon ireland , not to quit that coast untill he saw the issue , but if he found ireland secure , and the enemies preparations to be intended only for defence of their own coasts , then his instructions led him thence , to the place where the holland fleet had order to attend , and expect him ; and afterwards , the whole carriage of the action was referred to his discretion , but with this caution , that above all respects of other profit or advantage , he attended the affair of ireland . the wind this part of the summer hung contrary , and it was six weeks before he could clear the coast , during which time , he lost his greatest hopes , by the return of the carrecks of the indian fleet , which happened a full month before his arrival : he set sail from plymouth the last of august , with a scant wind , which continued with foul weather , untill he recovered the groyne , choosing rather to keep the sea , then hazard the overthrow of the voyage by his return . he stayed at the groyne , until he understood that the fleet which was suspected to be prepared for ireland , was gone to lisbone , to join with don diego de borachero , who all that summer durst not budge forth , for fear of our fleet , that made good the coast thereabouts : sir william in his way to the rock , commanded his carvel to repair to the islands of bayon , as the likeliest place to procure intelligence of the state of those parts ; as the carvel drew near the islands , he discerned the spanish fleet , consisting of twenty four sail , whose design was , as she understood by a boat she took , to look out the english fleet , whose comming they daily expected upon the coast ; and meeting sir william with this news , he held it a good service to be thus warned of them . here he took two goodly ships of france , bound for lisbone , which harbor he put them from , and took pledges that they should directly return into france , without touching in any harbor of spain , for that he understood , the spanish fleet was ill provided of men , and many other things which these ships could supply . sir william and the dreadnought , were carried with a chase into the road of cisimbre , where the carreck was taken not long before , and after some fight with the castle , who defended the vessel chased , they came to a friendly treaty , and presents past between them . that night , while the admiral rid in the road , a carvel comming in , not mistrusting him , was taken , but dismissed in a friendly manner ; by whom he understood the affairs of lisbone , but could get no notice of the holland fleet , which was appointed to attend at the rock , whither once more he repaired . coming thither the 26th of september , a light was espied in the night , which the admiral chased , thinking it had been the fleet of st. omer , or brazil , bound for lisbone , where they were expected ; but drawing so near them , that he might hail them , he found them , by the hugeness of their vessels , and the number which answered the relation the carvel made , to be the armado of spain : whereupon he sought means how to clear himself , being ingaged amongst them , and made a spaniard which served him call to them , but they could not hear him ; the adventure only , and the whelp , were left with him , the rest losing company , four nights before in a storm ; the enemy perceiving our lights , and thinking it to be some fleet of flemmings , stood in amongst us , but the adventure being discovered to be an enemy , the alarum was soon taken , and they shot at her , and slew and hurt some of her men ; as soon as the day appeared , the spaniards beheld the three enlish ships a head them , which they chased , and three of them , which were better of sail than the rest , fetcht upon us , and drew near the whelp , who was of small force to resist them . but the admiral resolving , though it was to his own evident peril , not to see a pinnace of her majesties so lost , if so be he could rescue her with the loss of his life , though it was much against the persuasions of his master , and company , he stroak his two sails for the whelp , and commanded her to stand her course , while he staid for the three spanish ships , with hope to make them have little list to pursue us : the admiral of the spaniards perceiving how little he cared for his three ships , in that he lingered for their coming up , took in with the shoar , and shot off a peice for his three ships to follow him . it may appear by this , as by several other expeditions of ours , how much the swift sailing of ships doth avail , being the principal advantage in sea service , and indeed the main thing we could presume upon , in our war against the spaniards . sir william having thus escaped the enemy , in his traverse at sea , there happened , as there doth upon all coasts , where there is plenty of trade , divers occasions of chases ; and one day sir william following one ship , and the adventure another , they lost company for the whole voyage . sir william was advertised by a ship he took , being a frenchman , who came from st. lucas , that the st. domingo fleet was looked for daily , which intelligence made him bear up for the south cape , as well in hopes to meet with them , as to have news of his fleet. he was no sooner come to the cape , but he was informed by some english men of war , that the domingo fleet was past by two days before ; here he met with ships of several nations , some he rescued from pirats , and to others that were in league with her majesty , he gave his safe conduct , for their free passage on the sea ; he kept that coast until the 21th of october , on which morning he gave chase to a gallion of the king of spain , who recovered the castle of cape sacre , before he could fetch her up ; although he knew the strength of the castle , yet he attempted , and had carried her , had it not been for the fear and cowardize of him at the helm , who bore up , when he was ready to board her : the fight was not long , but sharp and dangerous , for there never past shot between them , till they were within a ships length one of another : the castle plaid her part , and tore his ship , so that a man might have crept through her : between the castle and gallion , they slew in the admiral ten men , and hurt many more , in the view of sireago and his quadron , to the westward , and of divers english men of war , to the eastward , who durst not put themselves upon the rescue of sir william , for fear of the castle : sir william being now left alone , and seeing what head land soever he came unto , he was to encounter a spanish squadron , stood his course that night to sea , thinking to try , if the islands of terceras would afford him any better fortune , but coming within forty or fifty leagues of the islands , he was taken short with the wind , yet still , bearing up what he could for the rock ; but at length finding his victuals grew short , his mast perished , and the dangers he was exposed to , by keeping that coast , he directed his course for england , and came to plymouth , the 24th of november , where he found the mary-rose and dreadnought , most part of their men being dead or sick . the adventure arrived within an hour after him , who in her way homewards fell , amongst the braizl fleet , and encountring with them , lost divers men , but took none : the paragon was at home long before , with a prize of sugar , and spices , which countervailed the charge of the voyage . the quittance in her return , met two ships of dunkirk , and in fight with them , her captain was slain , but she acquitted her self very well , without further harm . this fleet , as you have heard , was to keep the enemy busied at home , that he might be diverted from the thoughts of ireland ; what hazard it endured by the enemy , the fury of the sea , and foul weather , doth appear ; and no marvel ; for it was the latest fleet in winter , that ever kept upon the spanish coast , as it was likewise the last fleet her majesty imployed ; for in march after she died , and by her death all war ceased . as sir william monson was general of this last fleet , so was he a soldier , and a youth , at the beginning of the wars , and was at the taking of the first spanish prize , that ever saw the english coast , which yet was purchased with the loss of twenty five of our men , besides fifty hurt . this prize was afterwards a man of war , and served against the spaniards , and was in those days reckoned the best ship of war we had ; she was called the commander , and belonged to sir george carew , then governor of the isle of wight . sir richard lewson and sir william monson into the narrow seas , anno 1603. ships . commanders . the repulse sir richard lewson the mere-honor sir william monson the defiance capt. goer the warspight capt. seymers the rainbow capt. trevor the dreadnought capt. reynolds the quittance capt. howard the lyons whelp capt. polwheele sir william monson returning with his fleet , in november , there was a resolution to furnish another against february , which should be recruited with fresh ships , men and victuals in june . sir richard lewson was to command the former fleet , and sir william monson the later : for the queen found it a course both secure and profitable , to keep a continual force upon the spanish coast , from february to november , that being the time of greatest peril to her majesty ; and she was the rather encouraged thereto , by the safty she found the last summer , and the wealth and riches she had from time to time taken from the enemy . the complaint of the ill furnishing out of her ships in other voyages , made it more carefully to be look'd unto now , and there was better choice of victuals and men than usually had been ; but in the mean time , it pleased god to visit her majesty with sickness , which caused a ling'ring , though no absolute dissolving of the fleet ; but when her danger was perceived to increase , the ships were hastened out to sea , it being a point of good policy , to keep our seas guarded from any forreign attempt , untill his majesty should be peaceably settled in england . this fleet departed from quinborough the 22th . of march , and arrived in the downs the 25th . of the same , being the day after her majesties death : the news whereof , and commandment to proclaim king james the sixth of scotland , our lawful king , and the rightful inheritor to the crown , arrived both together ; which put us into two contrary passions , the one of grief , the other of joy : grief for the loss of the queen , joy for accepting of the king in that peaceable manner , which was a happiness beyond all expectation , either at home or abroad . as the design of this fleet was to guard and defend our own coasts from any incurison that might be made out of france or the low countreys ; so the commanders were vigilant to appear on those coasts once in two days , to dishearten them , in case they had any such thought ; but the truth is , it was beyond their abilities , whatever was in their hearts to impugn his majesty . and because the arch-duke would make the candidness of his intention apparent to the world , he called in his letters of reprizal against the english ; and published an edict for a free and unmolested traffick into flanders : so that now our merchants might again trade peaceably into those parts from which they had been debarred the space of eighteen years . the king finding , that france neither impeached his right , nor gave any jealousie by the raising of an army ; and that the arch-duke made a demonstration of his desire of peace , his majesty did the like , acknowledging the league he had with those princes , with whom the late queen had wars : for wars betwixt countreys are not hereditary ; but commonly end with the death of their kings : wherefore he commanded his ships to give over their southern employment , and to repair to chatham , giving manifest testimonies , how desirous he was that his subjects should recover that wealth and freedom by peace , which they had formerly lost by war. finis . a true and plain declaration of the horrible treasons practised by william parry against the queens majesty ; and of his conviction and execution for the same , the 2d . of march 1584. according to the account of england . this william parry being a man of very mean and base parentage , but of a most proud and insolent spirit , bearing himself always far above the measure of his fortune , after he had long led a wasteful and dissolute life , and had committed a great outrage against one hugh hare , a gentleman of the inner-temple , with an intent to have murthered him in his own chamber , for the which he was most justly convicted ; seeing himself generally condemned with all good men for the same , and other his misdemeanours , he left his natural country , and gave himself to travel into forreign parts beyond the seas . in the course of this his travel , he forsook his allegiance and dutiful obedience to her majesty , and was reconciled , and subjected himself to the pope . after which , upon conference with certain jesuites , and others of like quality , he first conceived his most detestable treason to kill the queen ( whose life god long preserve ; ) which he bound himself by promise , letters , and vows , to perform and execute : and so with this intent he returned into england in january 1583 ; and since that did practise at sundry times to have executed his most devilish purpose and determination : yet covering the same , so much as in him lay , with a vail and pretence of great loyalty to her majesty . immediately upon his return into england , he sought to have secret access to her majesty , pretending to have some matter of great importance to reveal unto her : which obtained , and the same so privately in her highness's palace at whitehal , as her majesty had but one onely counsellor with her at the time of his access , in a remote place , who was so far distant , as he could not hear his speech . and there then he discovered unto her majesty ( but shadowed with all crafty and traiterous skill he had ) some part of the conference and proceeding , as well with the said jesuites , and other ministers of the popes , as especially with one thomas morgan , a fugitive , residing at paris , who above all others did perswade him to proceed in that most devilish attempt , ( as is set down in his voluntary confession following , ) bearing her majesty notwithstanding in hand , that his onely intent of proceeding so far with the said jesuites , and the popes ministers , tended to no other end , but to discover the dangerous practices devised and attempted against her majesty by her disloyal subjects , and other malicious persons in forraign parts . albeit it hath since appeared most manifestly , as well by his said confession , as by his dealing with one edmond nevil esq ; that his onely intent of discovering the same in sort as he craftily and traiterously did , tended to no other end , but to make the way the easier to accomplish his most devilish and wicked purpose . and although any other prince but her majesty ( who is loath to put on a hard censure of those that protest to be loyal , as parry did , ) would rather have proceeded to the punishment of a subject that had waded so far , as by oath and vow to promise the taking away of her life ( as he to her majesties self did confess ; ) yet such was her goodness , as instead of punishing , she did deal so graciously with him , as she suffered him not onely to have access unto her presence , but also many times to have private conference with her ; and did offer unto him , upon opinion once conceived of his fidelity towards her ( as though his wicked pretence had been , as he protested , for her service ) a most liberal pension . besides , to the end that he might not grow hateful to the good and well-affected subjects of the realm , ( from whom he could in no sort have escaped with safety of his life , if his devilish purpose had been revealed ) her majesty did conceal the same , without communicating it to any creature , untill such time as he himself had opened the same unto certain of her council ; and that it was also discovered , that he sought to draw the said nevil to have been a party in his devilish and most wicked purpose . a very rare example ! and such as doth more set forth the singular goodness and bounty of her majesties princely nature , than commend ( if it be lawful for a subject to censure his soveraign ) her providence such as ought to be in a prince and person of her majesties wisdom and quality . and as the goodness of her majesties nature did hereby most manifestly shew it self to be rare in so extraordinary a case , and in a matter of so great peril unto her own royal person ; so did the malice of parry most evidently appear to be in the highest and extreamest degree : who notwithstanding the said extraordinary grace and favour extended towards him , did not onely perswade the said nevil to be an associate in the said wicked enterprize , but did also very vehemently ( as nevil confesseth ) importune him therein , as an action lawful , honourable , and meritorious , omitting nothing that might provoke him to assent thereunto . but such was the singular goodness of almighty god , ( who even from her majesties cradle , by many evident arguments , hath shewed himself her onely and especial protector ) that he so wrought in nevil's heart , as he was moved to reveal the same unto her majesty ; and for that purpoce made choise of a faithful gentleman , and of good quality in the court , unto whom upon munday the 8th of february last , he discovered at large all that had passed between parry and him ; who immediately made it known to her majesty : whereupon her highnesses pleasure was , that nevil should be examined by the earl of leicester , and sir christopher hatton ; who in the evening of the same day did examine him ; and he affirmed constantly all which he had before declared to the said gentleman . in the mean time , her majesty continued her singular and most princely magnanimity , neither dismaid with the rareness of the accident , nor appaled with the horrour of so villanous an enterprize , tending even to the taking away of her most gracious life ; ( a matter especially observed by the counsellor that was present at such time as parry , after his return , did first discover unto her majesty his wicked purpose ; who found no other alteration in her countenance , than if he had imparted unto her some matter of contentment ; ) which sheweth manifestly how she reposeth her confidence wholly in the defence of the almighty . and so her majesty , following the wonted course of her singular clemency , gave order that parry the same munday in the evening ( though not so known to him ) should be sent to mr. secretaries house in london , he being then there ; who according unto such direction as he received from her majesty , did let him understand , that her highness ( in respect of the good will she knew he bare unto the said parry , and of the trust that parry did outwardly profess to repose in mr. secretary ) had made especial choice of him to deal with him in a matter that concerned her highly ; and that she doubted not but that he would discharge his duty towards her , according unto that extraordinary devotion that he professed to bear unto her . and thereupon told him that her majesty had been advertised that there was somewhat intended presently against her own person , wherewith she thought he could not but be made acquainted , considering the great trust that some of her worst-affected subjects reposed in him ; and that her pleasure therefore was , that he should declare unto him his knowledge therein : and whether the said parry himself had let fall any speech unto any person ( though with an intent onely to have discovered his disposition ) that might draw him in suspition , as though he himself had any such wicked intent . but parry with great and vehement protestations denied it utterly ; whereupon mr. secretary , the rather to induce him to deal more plainly in a matter so important , declared unto him , that there was a gentleman of quality , every way as good or better than himself , and rather his friend than enemy , that would avouch it to his face : yet parry persisted stubbornly in his former denial , and justification of his own innocency ; and would not in any respect yield that he was party or privy to any such motion , enterprize , or intent . and being lodged that night at mr. secretaries house , the next morning he desired earnestly to have some further speech with mr. secretary ; which granted , parry declared to him , that he had called to remembrance that he had once some speech with one nevil a kinsman of his ( so he called him ) touching a point of doctrine contained in the answer made to the book , entituled , the execution of justice in england ; by which book it was resolved , that it was lawful to take away the life of a prince , in furtherance of the catholick religion : but he protested that they never had any speech at all of any attempt intended against her majesties person . which denial of his ( at two sundry times , after so much light given him ) doth set forth most apparently both the justice and providence of god : his justice , for that ( though he was one of a sharp conceit ) he had no power to take hold of this overture , thereby to have avoided the danger that nevil's accusation might bring him into by confessing the same , as a thing propounded onely to feel nevil's mind , whom before he had reported unto master secretary he found a person discontented , and therefore his confession might to very great purpose have served to have cleared himself touching the intent : his providence , for that of his great mercy he would not suffer so dangerous and wicked a member to escape , and to live to her majesties peril . the same day at night parry was brought to the earl of leicester's house , and there eftsoons examined before the said earl of leicester , master vice-chamberlain , and master secretary : he persisted still in his denial of all that he was charged with . whereupon nevil , being brought before him face to face , justified his accusation against him . he notwithstanding would not yet yield to confess it , but very proudly and insolently opposed his credit against the credit of nevil , affirming that his no was as good as nevil's yea ; and as by way of recrimination , objected the crime to nevil himself . on the other side , nevil did with great constancy affirm all that he had before said , and did set down many probable circumstances of the times , places , and manners of their sundry conferences , and of such other accidents as had happened between them in the course of that action . whereupon parry was then committed to the tower , and nevil commanded by their honours to set down in writing under his hand , all that which before he had delivered by words : which he did with his own hand , as followeth . edmund nevil his declaration the 10th of february , 1584. subscribed with his own hand . william parry the last summer , soon after his repulse in his suit for the mastership of st. katherines , repaired to my lodging in the white friars , where he shewed himself a person greatly discontented , and vehemently inveighed against her majesty , and willed me to assure my self , that during this time and state , i should never receive contentment . but sith , said he , i know you to be honourably descended , and a man of resolution , if you will give me assurance , either to joyn with me , or not to discover me , i will deliver unto you the only means to do your self good . which when i had promised him , he appointed me to come the next day to his house in fetterlane : and repairing thither accordingly , i found him in his bed ; whereupon he commanded his men forth , and began with me in this order . my lord , said he , ( for so he called me ) i protest before god , that three reasons principally do induce me to enter into this action , which i intend to discover unto you ; the replanting of religion , the preferring of the scotish title , and the advancement of justice , wonderfully corrupted in this commowealth : and thereupon entred into some discourses what places were fit to be taken , to give entrance to such forreign forces as should be best liked of , for the furtherance of such enterprizes as were to be undertaken . and with these discourses he passed the time , until he went to dinner : after which , the company being retired , he entred into his former discourses . and if i be not deceived , ( said he ) by taking of quinborough castle , we shall hinder the passage of the queens ships forth of the river . whereunto when he saw me use no contradiction , he shook me by the hand ; tush , said he , this is nothing : if men were resolute , there is an enterprize of much more moment , and much easier to perform ; an act honourable and meritorious to god and the world . which seeing me desirous to know , he was not ashamed to utter in plain terms , to consist in killing of her majesty : wherein , saith he , if you will go with me , i will loose my life , or deliver my countrey from her bad and tyrannous government . at which speeches finding me discontented , he asked me , if i had read doctor allen's book , out of which he alledged an authority for it . i answered , no , and that i did not believe that authority . well , said he , what will you say , if i shew further authority than this , even from rome itself a plain dispensation for the killing of her , wherein you shall finde it ( as i said before ) meritorious ? good cousin , said i , when you shall shew it me , i shall think it very strange , when i shall see one to hold that for meritorious , which another holdeth for damnable . well , said parry , do me but the favour to think upon it till to morrow : and if one man be in the town , i will not fail to shew you the thing it self : and if he be not , he will be within these five or six days ; at which time if it please you to meet me at chanon-row , we may there receive the sacrament to be true each to other , and then i will discover unto you both the party , and the thing itself . whereupon i prayed parry to think better upon it , as a matter of great charge both of soul and body . i would to god , said parry , you were as perfectly perswaded in it as i am , for then undoubtedly you should do god great service . not long after , eight or ten days , ( as i remember ) parry coming to visit me at my lodging in herns rents in holborn , as he often used , we walked forth into the fields , where he renewed again his determination to kill her majesty , whom he said he thought most unworthy to live , and that he wondred i was so scrupulous therein . she hath sought , said he , your ruine and overthrow , why should you not then seek to revenge it ? i confess , quoth i , that my case is hard , but yet am i not so desperate as to revenge it upon my self , which must needs be the event of so unhonest and unpossible an enterprise . unpossible , said parry , i wonder at you ; for in truth there is not any thing more easie : you are no courtier , and therefore know not her customs of walking with small train , and often in the garden very privately , at which time my self may easily have access unto her , and you also when you are known in court. upon the fact we must have a barge ready to carry us with speed down the river , where we will have a ship ready to transport us if it be needfull : but upon my head , we shall never be followed so far . i asked him , how will you escape forth of the garden ? for you shall not be permitted to carry any men with you , and the gates will then be locked , neither can you carry a dagge without suspition . as for a dagge , said parry , i care not : my dagger is enough . and as for my escaping , those that shall be with her , will be so busie about her , as i shall finde opportunity enough to escape , if you be there ready with the barge to receive me . but if this seem dangerous in respect of your reason before shewed , let it then rest till her coming to st. james , and let us furnish our selves in the mean time with men and horse fit for the purpose : we may each of us keep eight or ten men without suspition . and for my part , said he , i shall finde good fellows that will follow me without suspecting mine intent . it is much , said he , that so many resolute men may do upon the suddain , being well appointed with each his case of dagges : if they were an hundred waiting upon her , they were not able to save her ; you coming of the one side and i on the other , and discharging our dagges upon her , it were unhappy if we should both miss her . but if our dagges fail , i shall bestir me well with a sword ere she escape me . whereunto i said , good doctor give over this odious enterprise , and trouble me no more with the hearing of that , which in heart i loath so much . i would to god the enterprise were honest , that i might make known unto thee whether i want solution . and not long after , her majesty came to st. james's ; after which , one morning ( the day certain i remember not , ) parry revived again his former discourse of killing her majesty , with great earnestness and importunity perswading me to joyn therein : saying , he thought me the onely man of england like to perform it , in respect of my valure , as he termed it . whereupon , i made semblance as if i had been more willing to hear him than before , hoping by that means to cause him to deliver his minde to some other that might be witness thereof with me ; wherein nevertheless i failed . after all this , on saturday last , being the sixth of february , between the hours of five and six in the afternoon , parry came to my chamber , and desired to talk with me apart : whereupon we drew our selves to a window . and where i had told parry before , that a learned man whom i met by chance in the fields , unto whom i proponed the question touching her majesty , had answered me that it was an enterprise most villanous and damnable , willing me to discharge my self of it : parry then desired to know that learned mans name , and what was become of him , saying , after a scornful manner , no doubt he was a very wise man , and you wiser in believing him : and said further , i hope you told him not that i had any thing from rome . yes in truth , said i. whereunto parry said , i would you had not named me , nor spoken of any thing i had from rome . and thereupon he earnestly perswaded me estsoons to depart beyond the seas , promising to procure me safe passage into wales , and from thence into britain ; whereat we ended . but i then resolved not to do so , but to discharge my conscience , and lay open this his most traiterous and abominable intention against her majesty : which i revealed in sort as is before set down . edmund nevil . after this confession of edmund nevil , william parry the 11th . day of february last , being examined in the tower of london , by the lord hunsdon , lord governour of barwick , sir christopher hatton knight , vicechamberlain to her majesty , and sir francis walsingham knight , principal secretary to her majesty , did voluntary and without any constraint , by word of mouth make confession of his said treason ; and after , set it down in writing all with his own hand in his lodging in the tower , and sent it to the court the 13th . of the same , by the lieutenant of the tower. the parts whereof concerning his manner of doing the same , and the treasons wherewith he was justly charged are here set down , word for word , as they are written and signed with his own hand and name , the 11th . of february , 1584. the voluntary confession of william parry , in writing all with his own hand . the voluntary confession of william parry doctor of the laws , ( now prisoner in the tower ) and accused of treason by edmund nevil esquire , promised by him ( with all faith and humility ) to the queens majesty , in discharge of his conscience and duty towards god and her . before the lord hunsdon , lord governour of barwick , sir christopher hatton knight , vicechamberlain , sir francis walsingham knight , principal secretary , the 13th . of february , 1584. parry . in the year 1570. i was sworn her majesties servant , from which time until the year 1580. i served , honoured , and loved her with as great readiness , devotion , and assurance as any poor subject in england . in the end of that year , and until midsummer 1582. i had some trouble for the hurting of a gentleman of the temple . in which action i was so disgraced and oppressed by two great men ( to whom i have of late been beholden ) that i never had contented thought since . there began my misfortune , and here followeth my woful fall . in july after , i laboured for licence to travail for three years , which ( upon some consideration ) was easily obtained . and so in august , i went over with doubtful minde of return , for that being suspected in religion , and not having received the communion in twenty two years , i began to mistrust my advancement in england . in september i came to paris , where i was reconciled to the church , and advised to live without scandal , the rather , for that it was mistrusted by the english catholiques , that i had intelligence with the greatest councellour of england . i staied not long there , but removed to lions ( a place of great traffick ) where , because it was the ordinary passage of our nation to and fro , between paris and rome , i was also suspected . to put all men out of doubt of me , and for some other cause , i went to millain , from whence , as a place of some danger ( though i found favour there ) after i had cleared my conscience , and justified my self in religion before the inquisitor , i went to venice . there i came acquainted with father benedicto palmio , a grave and a learned jesuite . by conference with him of the hard state of the catholicks in england , and by reading of the book de persecutione anglicana , and other discourses of like argument , 1 i conceived a possible mean to relieve the afflicted state of our catholicks , if the same might be well warranted in religion and conscience by the pope , or some learned divines . i asked his opinion ; he made it clear , commended my devotion , comforted me in it , and after a while made me known to the nuntio campeggio , there resident for his holiness . by his means i wrote to the pope , presented the service , and sued for a pasport to go to rome , and to return safely into france . answer came from cardinal como , that i might come , and should be welcome . i misliked the warrant , sued for a better , which i was promised : but it came not before my departure to lions , where i promised to stay some time for it . and being indeed desirous to go to rome , and loth to go without countenance , i desired christofero de salazar , secretary to the catholick king in venice , who had some understanding by conference , of my devotion to the afflicted catholicks at home and abroad , to commend me to the duke di nova terra , governour of millain , and to the county of olivaris embi , then resident for the king his master in rome : which he promised to do effectually for the one , and did for the other . and so i took my journey towards lyons , whither came for me an ample passeport ( but somewhat too late , ) that i might come and go in verbo pontificis per omnes jurisdictones ecclesiasticas , absque impedimento . i acquainted some good fathers there , of my necessity to depart towards paris by promise , and prayed their advises upon divers points ; wherein i was well satisfied . and so assuring them that his holiness should hear from me shortly , it was undertaken that i should be excused for that time . in october i came to paris , where ( upon better opinion conceived of me amongst my catholick country-men ) i found my credit well setled , and such as mistrusted me before , ready to trust and imbrace me . and being one day at the chamber of thomas morgan a catholick gentleman ( greatly beloved and trusted on that side ) amongst other gentlemen , talking ( but in very good sort ) of england , i was desired by morgan to go up with him to another chamber , where he brake with me , and told me that it was hoped and looked for , that i should do some service for god and his church . i answered him , i would do it , if it were to kill the greatest subject in england ; whom i named , and in truth then hated . no , no , said he , let him live to his greater fall and ruine of his house : 2 it is the queen i mean. i had him as i wished , and told him it were soon done , if it might be lawfully done , and warranted in the opinion of some learned divines . and so the doubt once resolved ( though as you have heard i was before reasonably well satisfied ) i vowed to undertake the enterprise , for the restitution of england to the ancient obedience of the sea apostolick . divers divines were named . doctor allein i desired , parsons i refused . and by chance came master wattes a learned priest , with whom i conferred , and was over-ruled . 3 for he plainly pronounced ( the case onely altered in name ) that it was utterly unlawful : with whom many english priests did agree as i have heard , if it be not altered since the book made in answer of the execution of the english justice was published , which i must confess hath taken hard hold in me , and ( i fear me ) will do in others , if it be not prevented by more gracious handling of the quiet and obedient catholick subjects , whereof there is good and greater store in england , than this age will extinguish . well notwithstanding all these doubts , i was gone so far by letters and conference in italy , that i could not go back , but promised faithfully to perform the enterprise , if his holiness upon my offer and letters would allow it , and grant me full remission of my sins . 4 i wrote my letters the first of january 1584. by their computation ; took advice upon them in confession of father anibal a codreto a learned jesuite in paris , was lovingly embraced , commended , confessed , and communicated at the jesuites at one altar with the cardinals of vandosmi , and narbone , whereof i prayed certificate , and enclosed the same in my letter to his holiness , to lead him the rather to absolve me ; which i required by my letters , in consideration of so great an enterprise undertaken without promise or reward . 5 i went with morgan to the nuntio ragazzoni , to whom i read the letter and certificate enclosed , sealed it , and left it with him to send to rome : he promised great care of it , and to procure answer : and so lovingly imbraced me , wished me good speed , and promised that i should be remembred at the altar . 6 after this i desired morgan , that some special man might be made privy to this matter , lest he dying , and i miscarrying in the execution , and my intent never truly discovered , it might stick for an everlasting spot in my race . divers were named , but none agreed upon for fear of beraying . 7 this being done , morgan assured me , that shortly after my departure , the l. fernehurst ( then in paris ) should go into scotland , and be ready upon the first news of the queens fall to enter into england with 20 or 30000 men to defend the queen of scotland , ( whom , and the king her son , i do in my conscience acquit of any privity , liking , or consent to this , or any other bad action , for any thing that ever i did know . ) i shortly departed for england , and arrived at rie in january 1583. from whence i wrote to the court , advertised some , that i had a special service to discover to the queens majesty ; 8 which i did more to prepare access and credit , than for any care i had of her person , though i were fully resolved never to touch her ( notwithstanding any warrant ) if by any device , perswasion , or policy she might be wrought to deal more graciously with the catholicks than she doth , or by our manner of proceeding in parliament meaneth to do , or any thing yet seen . i came to the court , ( then at whitehall , ) prayed audience , had it at large , and very privately discovered to her majesty this conspiracy , much to this effect , though covered with all the skill i had : she took it doubtfully , i departed with fear . and amongst other things , i cannot forget her majesties gratious speech then uttered touching the catholicks , which of late , after a sort i avowed in parliament : she said to me , that never a catholick should be troubled for religion or supremacy , so long as they lived like good subjects . whereby i mistrusted that her majesty is born in hand , that none is troubled for the one or the other . it may be truly said , that it is better than it hath been , though it be not yet as it should be . in march last , while i was at greenwich ( as i remember ) suing for st. katherines , came letters to me from cardinal como , dated at rome , the last of january before , whereby i found the enterprise commended , and allowed , and my self absolved ( in his holiness name ) of all my sins , and willed to go forward in the name of god. that letter i shewed to some in court , who imparted it to the queen : what it wrought , or may work in her majesty , god knoweth : onely this i know , 9 that it confirmed my resolution to kill her , and made it clear in my conscience , that it was lawful and meritorious . and yet was i determined never to do it , if either policy , practice , perswasion , or motion in parliament could prevail . i feared to be tempted , and therefore always when i came near her , i left my dagger at home . 10 when i looked upon her majesty , and remembred her many excellencies , i was greatly troubled : and yet i saw no remedy , for my vows were in heaven , my letters and promises in earth , and the case of the catholick recusants , and others , little bettered . sometimes i said to my self , why should i care for her ? what hath she done for me ? have i not spent 10000 marks since i knew her service , and never had peny by her ? it may be said , she gave me my life . but i say ( as my case stood ) it had been tyranny to take it : and i fear me it is little less yet . if it please her gratiously to look into my discontentments , i would to jesus christ she had it , for i am weary of it . and now to come to an end of this tragical discourse : in july i left the court , utterly rejected , discontented , and as her majesty might perceive by my passionate letters , careless of my self . i came to london : doctor alleins book was sent me out of france : 11 it redoubled my former conceits : every word in it was a warrant to a prepared mind : it taught that kings may be excommunicated , deprived , and violently handled : it proveth that all wars civil or forraign undertaken for religion , is honorable . her majesty may do well to read it , and to be out of doubt ( if things be not amended ) that it is a warning , and a doctrine full dangerous . this is the book i shewed , in some places read , and lent it to my cousin nevil ( the accuser ) who came often to mine house , put his finger in my dish , his hand in my purse ; and the night wherein he accused me , was wrapped in my gown , six moneths at least after we had entred into this conspiracy : in which space her majesty , and ten princes in several provinces might have been killed . god bless her majesty from him : for before almighty god , i joy and am glad in my soul , that it was his hap to discover me in time ; though there were no danger near . and now to the manner of our meetings . he came to me in the beginning of august , and spake to me in this or like sort . cousin , let us do somewhat , sithens we can have nothing . i offered to joyn with him , and gladly heard him , hoping because i knew him to be a catholick , that he would hit upon that i had in my head : but it fell not out so . he thought the delivery of the queen of scotland easie , presuming upon his credit and kindred in the north : i thought it dangerous to her , and impossible to men of our fortunes : he fell from that to the taking of barwick : i spake of quinborough and the navy , rather to entertain him with discourse , than that i cared for those motions , my head being full of a greater matter : 12 i told him that i had another manner of enterprise , more honourable and profitable to us , and the catholicks common-wealth , than all these , if he would joyn in it with me , as he presently vowed to do : he pressed to know it ; i willed him to sleep upon the motion : he did so , ( and belike overtaken ) came to me the next morning to my lodging in london , offered to joyn with me , and took his oath upon a bible , to conceal and constantly to pursue the enterprise for the advancement of religion ; which i also did , and meant to perform : the killing of the queen was the matter . the manner and place , to be on horsback , with eight or ten horses , when she should ride abroad about st. james , or some other like place . it was once thought fit in a garden , and that the escape would be easiest by water into shepey , or some other part : but we resolved upon the first . this continued as agreed upon many moneths , until he heard of the death of westmoreland , whose land and dignity ( whereof he assured himself ) bred belike this conscience in him to discover a treason in february , contrived and agreed upon in august . if it cost him not an ambitious head at last , let him never trust me . he brought a tall gentleman ( whom he commended for an excellent pistolier ) to me to chanon-row , to make one in the match : but i refused to deal with him , being loth to lay my head upon so many hands . master nevil hath ( i think ) forgotten , that he did swear to to me at divers times , that all the advancement she could give , should serve but for her scourge , if ever time and occasion should serve : and that though he would not lay hand upon her in a corner , his heart served him to strike off her head in the field . now leaving him to himself , this much ( to make an end ) i must confess of my self , i did mean to try what might be done in parliament , to do my best to hinder all hard courses , to have prayed hearing of the queens majesty , to move her ( if i could ) to take compassion upon her catholick subjects ; and when all had failed , to do as i intended . if her majesty by this course would have eased them , though she had never preferred me ; i had with all comfort and patience born it : 13 but if she had preferred me without ease or care of them , the enterprise had held . parry god preserve the queen , and encline her merciful heart to forgive me this desperate purpose ; and to take my head ( with all my heart ) for her better satisfaction . after which , for the better manifesting of his treasons , on the 14th of february last , there was a letter written by him to her majesty , very voluntarily , all of his own hand , without any motion made to him : the tenor whereof , for that which concerneth these his traiterous dealings , is as followeth . a letter written by parry to her majesty . your majesty may see by my voluntary confession , the dangerous fruits of a discontented minde ; and how constantly i pursued my first conceived purpose in venice , for the relief of the afflicted catholicks ; continued it in lions , and resolved in paris to put it in adventure , for the restitution of england to the antient obedience of the see apostolick . you may see withal , how it is commended , allowed , and warranted in conscience , divinity , and policy , by the pope and some great divines : though it be true or likely , that most of our english divines ( less practised in matters of this weight ) do utterly mislike and condemn it . the enterprise is prevented , and conspiracy discovered by an honourable gentleman , my kinsman and late familiar friend , master edmund nevil , privy and by solemn oath ( taken upon the bible ) party to the matter , whereof i am hardly glad , but now sorry ( in my very soul ) that ever i conceived or intended it , how commendable or meritoritous soever i thought it . god thank him , and forgive me , who would not now ( before god ) attempt it ( if i had liberty and opportunity to do it ) to gain your kingdome . i beseech christ , that my death and example may as well satisfie you majesty and the world , as it shall glad and content me . the queen of scotland is your prisoner ; let her be honourably entreated , but yet surely guarded . the french king is french , you know it well enough , you will finde him occupied when he should do you good ; he will not loose a pilgrimage to save you a crown . i have no more to say at this time , but that with my heart and soul i do now honour and love you ; am inwardly sorry for mine offence , and ready to make you amends by my death and patience . discharge me à culpâ , but not à poenâ , good lady . and so farewel , most gracious , and the best-natured and qualified queen that ever lived in england . from the tower , the 14th of february , 1584. w. parry . after which , to wit , the 18th of february last past , parry , in further acknowledging his wicked and intended treasons , wrote a letter all of his own hand , in like voluntary manner , to the lord treasurer of england , and the earl of leicester , lord steward of her majesties house ; the tenour whereof is as followeth . william parry's letter to the lord treasurer , and the earl of leicester . my lords , now that the conspiracy is discovered , the fault confessed , my conscience cleared , and minde prepared patiently to suffer the pains due for so heinous a crime : i hope it shall not offend you , if crying miserere with the poor publican , i leave to despair with cursed cain . my case is rare and strange , and , for any thing i can remember , singular : a natural subject solemnly to vow the death of his natural queen ( so born , so known , and so taken by all men ) for the relief of the afflicted catholicks , and restitution of religion . the matter first conceived in venice , the service ( in general words ) presented to the pope , continued and undertaken in paris ; and lastly , commended and warranted by his holiness , degested and resolved in england , if it had not been prevented by accusation , or by her majesties greater lenity and more gracious usage of her catholick subjects . this is my first and last offence conceived against my prince or country , and doth ( i cannot deny ) contein all other faults whatsoever . it is now to be punished by death , or most graciously ( beyond all common expectation ) to be pardoned . death i do confess to have deserved ; life i do ( with all humility ) crave , if it may stand with the queens honour , and policy of the time. to leave so great a treason unpunished , were strange : to draw it by my death in example , were dangerous : a sworn servant to take upon him such an enterprize , upon such a ground , and by such a warrant , hath not been seen in england : to indict him , arraign him , bring him to the scaffold , and to publish his offence , can do no good : to hope that he hath more to discover than is confessed , or that at his execution he will unsay any thing he hath written , is in vain : to conclude , that it is impossible for him in time to make some part of amends , were very hard , and against former experiences . the question then is , whether it be better to kill him , or ( lest the matter be mistaken ) upon hope of his amendment to pardon him . for mine own opinion ( though partial ) i will deliver you my conscience . the case is good queen elizabeths , the offence is committed against her sacred person , and she may ( of her mercy ) pardon it without prejudice to any . then this i say , in few words , as a man more desirous to discharge his troubled conscience , than to live . pardon poor parry , and relieve him : for life without living is not fit for him . if this may not be , or be thought dangerous , or dishonourable to the queens majesty ( as by your favours , i think it full of honour and mercy ) then i beseech your lordships ( and no other ) once to hear me before i be indicted , and afterwards ( if i must dye ) humbly to intreat the queens majesty to hasten my trial and execution , which i pray god ( with all my heart ) may prove as honourable to her , as i hope it shall be happy to me ; who will , while i live , ( as i have done always ) pray to jesus christ for her majesties long and prosperous reign . from the tower , the 18th of february , 1584. w. parry . and where in this mean time sir francis walsingham , secretary to her majesty , had dealt with one william creichton , a scot for his birth , and a jesuit by his profession , now prisoner also in the tower , for that he was apprehended with divers plots for invasions of this realm , to understand of him , if the said parry had ever dealt with him in the parties beyond the seas touching that question , whether it were lawful to kill her majesty , or not : the which at that time the said creichton called not to his remembrance ; yet after upon better calling it to minde , upon the 20th day of february last past , he wrote to master secretary walsingham thereof voluntary , all of his own hand , to the effect following . william creichtons letter . february 20. right honourable sir , when your honour demanded me if mr. parry did ask me , if it was reason to kill the queen , indeed and verity , then i had no remembrance at all thereof . but since , thinking on the matter , i have called to mind the whole fashion of his dealing with me , and some of his arguments : for he dealt very craftily with me , i dare not say maliciously . for i did in no ways think of any such design of his , or of any other , and did answer him simply after my conscience and knowledge to the verity of the question . for after that i had answered him twice before , quòd omnino non liceret , he returned late at even , by reason i was to depart early in the next morning toward chamberie in savoy where i did remain , and being return'd out of the close within one of the classes of the colledge , he proponed to me of the new matter , with his reasons and arguments . first , he alledged the utility of the deed for delivering of so many catholicks out of misery , and restitution of the catholick religion . i answered , that the scripture answereth thereto , saying , non sunt facienda mala , ut veniant bona . so that for no good , how great that ever it be , may be wrought any evil , how little that ever it be . he replyed , that it was not evil to take away so great evil , and induce so great good . i answered , that all good is not to be done , but that onely , quod bene & legitime fieri potest . and therefore , dixi , deum magis amare adverbia quàm nomina . quia in actionibus magis ei placent bene & legitime , quam bonum . ita ut nullum bonum liceat facere , nisi bene & legitimè fieri possit . quod in hoc casu fieri non potest . yet said he , that several learned men were of the opinion , quod liceret . i answered , that they men perhaps were of the opinion that for the safety of many in soul and body , they would permit a particular to his danger , and to the occult judgment of god : or perhaps said so , moved rather by some compassion and commiseration of the miserable estate of the catholicks , not for any such doctrine that they did finde in their books . for it is certain , that such a thing is not licite to a particular , without special revelation divine , which exceedeth our learning and doctrine . and so he departed from me . out of the prison in the tower , the 20th of february . your honours poor servitor in christ jesu . william creichton prisoner . and where also the same parry was on the same 20th day of february examined by sir francis walsingham knight , what was become of the letter contained in his confession to be written unto him by the cardinal de como , he then answered , that it was consumed and burnt : and yet after , the next day following , being more vehemently urged upon that point in examination ( because it was known that it was not burnt ) he confessed where he had left it in the town : whereupon , by parrys direction it was sent for , where it had been lapped up together with other frivolous papers , and written upon the one side of it , the last will of william parry , the which letter was in the italian tongue , as hereafter followeth , with the same in english accordingly translated . a mon signore , mon signore guglielmo parry . mon signore , la santita di n. s. ha veduto le lettere di v. s. del primo con la fede inclusa , & non puo se non laudare la buona disposittione & risolutiene che scrive di tenere verso il servitio & beneficio publico , nel che la santita sua lessorta di perseverare , con farne riuscire li effetti che v. s. promette : et accioche tanto maggiormente v. s. sia ajutata da quel buon spirito che l'ha mosso , le concede sua beneditione , plenaria indulgenza & remissione di tutti li peccati , secondo che v. s. ha chiesto , assicurandos si che oltre il merito , che n'havera in cielo , vuole anco sua santita constituir si debitore a riconoscere li meriti di v. s. in ogni miglior modo che potra , & cio tanto piu , quanto che v. s. ùsa maggior modestia in non pretender niente . metta dunque ad effetto lìesuoi santi & honorati pensieri , & attenda astar sano . che per fine io me le offero di core , & le desidero ogni buono & felice suceesso . di roma a 30 di gennaro , mdlxxxiv . al piacer di v. s. n. cardinale di como , al sig. guglielmo parri . cardinal de como's letter to will. parry , january 30th 1584. by accompt of rome . monsignor , the holiness of our lord hath seen the letter of your signory of the first , with the assurance included , and cannot but commend the good disposition and resolution , which you write to hold towards the service and benefit publick : wherein his holiness doth exhort you to persevere , with causing to bring forth the effects which your signorie promiseth . and to the end you may be so much the more holpen , by that good spirit , which hath moved you thereunto , his blessedness doth grant to you plenary indulgence and remission of all your sins , according to your request . assuring you , that besides the merit that you shall receive therefore in heaven , his holiness will further make himself debtour , to re-acknowledge the deservings of your signorie in the best manner that he can . and that so much the more , in that your signorie useth the greater modesty , in not pretending any thing . put therefore to effect your holy and honourable thoughts , and attend your health . and to conclude , i offer my self unto you heartily , and do desire all good and happy success . from rome the 30th of january , 1584. at the pleasure of your signorie , n. card. of como . upon all which former accusation , declaration , confessions , and proofs , upon munday the 22th day of february last past , at westminster-hall , before sir christopher wray knight , chief justice of england , sir gilbert gerrard knight , master of the rolls , sir edmund anderson knight , chief justice of the common pleas , sir roger manwood knight , chief baron of the exchequer , sir thomas gawdy knight , one of the justices of the pleas before her majesty to be holden , and will. perriam , one of the justices of the common pleas , by vertue of her majesties commission to them and others in that behalf directed ; the same parry was indicted of high treason , for intending and practising the death and destruction of her majesty , whom god long prosper , and preserve from all such wicked attempts . the tenour of which indictment appeareth more particularly in the course of his arraignment following . the manner of the arraignment of will. parry the 25th of february , 1584. at westminster , in the place where the court , commonly called the kings-bench , is usually kept , by vertue of her majesties commission of oyer and terminer , before henry lord hunsdon governour of barwick , sir francis knolles knight , treasurer of the queens majesties houshold , sir james croft knight , comptroller of the same houshold , sir christopher hatton knight , vice-chamberlain to her majesty , sir christopher wray knight , chief justice of england , sir gilbert gerrard knight , master of the rolls , sir edmund anderson knight , chief-justice of the common-pleas , sir roger manwood knight , chief-baron of the exchequer , and sir thomas hennage knight , treasurer of the chamber . first , three proclamations for silence were made , according to the usual course in such cases . then the lieutenant was commanded to return his precept ; which did so , and brought the prisoner to the bar , to whom miles sandes esquire , clerk of the crown , said , william parry , hold up thy hand ; and he did so . then said the clerk of the crown , thou art here indicted by the oaths of twelve good and lawful men of the county of middlesex , before sir christopher wray knight , and others , which took the indictment by the name of william parry , late of london , gentleman , otherwise called william parry , late of london , doctor of the law ; for that thou , as a false traitor against the most noble and christian prince , queen elizabeth , thy most gracious soveraign and liege-lady , not having the fear of god before thine eyes , nor regarding thy due allegiance ; but being seduced by the instigation of the devil , and intending to withdraw and extinguish the hearty love and due obedience which true and faithful subjects should bear unto the same our soveraign lady , didst at westminster in the county of middlesex , on the first day of february , in the 26th year of her highness reign , and at divers other times and places in the same county , maliciously and traiterously conspire and compass , not only to deprive and depose the same our sovereign lady of her royal estate , title and dignity ; but also to bring her highness to death and final destruction , and sedition in the realm to make , and the government thereof to subvert , and the sincere religion of god established in her highness dominions to alter and subvert . and that , whereas thou william parry , by thy letters sent unto gregory bishop of rome , didst signifie unto the same bishop thy purposes and intentions aforesaid , and thereby didst pray and require the same bishop to give thee absolution ; that thou afterwards , that is to say , the last day of march in the 26th year aforesaid , didst traiterously receive letters from one called cardinal de como , directed unto thee william parry , whereby the same cardinal did signifie unto thee , that the bishop of rome had perused thy letters , and allowed of thine intent ; and that to that end he had absolved thee of all thy sins , and by the same letter did animate and stir thee to proceed with thine enterprize ; and that thereupon , thou , the last day of august , in the 26th year aforesaid , at saint giles in the fields , in the same county of middlesex , didst traiterously confer with one edmund nevil esquire , uttering to him all thy wicked and traiterous devises , and then and there didst move him to assist thee therein , and to joyn with thee in those wicked treasons aforesaid , against the peace of our said soveraign lady the queen , her crown and dignity . what sayest thou , william parry , art thou guilty of these treasons whereof thou standest here indicted , or not guilty ? then parry said , before i plead not guilty , or confess my self guilty , i pray you give me leave to speak a few words : and with humbling himself , began in this manner . god save queen elizabeth , and god send me grace to discharge my duty to her , and to send you home in charity . but touching the matters that i am indicted of , some were in one place , and some in another , and done so secretly , as none can see into them , except that they had eyes like unto god ; wherefore i will not lay my blood upon the jury , but do minde to confess the indictment . it containeth but the parts that have been openly read , i pray you tell me ? whereunto it was answered , that the indictment contained the parts he had heard read , and no other : whereupon the clerk of the crown said unto parry , parry , thou must answer directly to the indictment , whether thou be guilty or not . then said parry , i do confess that i am guilty of all that is therein contained : and further too , i desire not life , but desire to die . unto which the clerk of the crown said , if you confess it , you must confess it in manner and form as it is comprised in the indictment . whereunto he said , i do confess it in manner and form as the same is set down , and all the circumstances thereof . then the confession being recorded , the queens learned council being ready to pray judgment upon the same confession , master vice-chamberlain said , these matters contained in this indictment , and confessed by this man , are of great importance : they touch the person of the queens most excellent majesty in the highest degree , the very state and well-doing of the whole common-wealth , and the truth of gods word established in these her majesties dominions , and the open demonstration of that capital envy of the man of rome , that hath set himself against god and all godliness , all good princes and good government , and against good men . wherefore , i pray you , for the satisfaction of this great multitude , let the whole matter appear , that every one may see that the matter of it self is as bad as the indictment purporteth , and as he hath confessed . whereto in respect that the justice of the realm hath been of late very impudently slandered , all yielded as a thing necessary to satisfie the world in particular , of that which was but summarily comprised in the indictment , though in the law , his confession served sufficiently to have proceeded thereupon unto judgment . whereupon the lords and others the commissioners , her majesties learned councel , and parry himself agreed , that parry's confession ( taken the 11th and 13th of february 1584. before the lord of hunsdon , master vice-chamberlain , and master secretary , ) and cardinal de como his letters , and parry's letters to the lord treasurer and lord steward , should be openly read . and parry , for the better satisfying of the people and standers by , offered to read them himself : but being told that the order was , the clerk of the crown should read them , it was so resolved of all parts . and then master vice-chamberlain caused to be shewed to parry his said confession , the cardinals letter , and his own letter aforesaid ; which after he had particularly viewed every leaf thereof , he confessed , and said openly they were the same . then said master vice-chamberlain , before we proceed to shew what he hath confessed , what say you , said he to parry , is that which you have confessed here true , and did you confess it freely and willingly of your self , or was then any extort means used to draw it from you ? surely , said parry , i made that confession freely without any constraint , and that is all true , and more too : for there is no treason that hath been sithens the first year of the queen , any way touching religion , saving receipt of agnus dei , and perswading of others , wherein i have not much dealt , but i have offended in it . and i have also delivered mine opinion in writing , who ought to be successor to the crown , which he said to be treason also . then his confession of the eleventh and thirteenth of february , all of his own hand writing , and before particularly set down , was openly , and distinctly read by the clerk of the crown . and that done , the cardinal di como his letter in italian was delivered unto parry's hand by the direction of master vicechamberlain , which parry there perused , and openly affirmed to be wholly of the cardinals own hand writing , and the seal to be his own also , and to be with a cardinals hat on it : and himself did openly read it in italian , as before is set down . and the words bearing sence as it were written to a bishop , or to a man of such degree , it was demanded of him by master vice-chamberlain , whether he had not taken the degree of a bishop ? he said , no : but said at first , those terms were proper to the degree he had taken . and after said , that the cardinal did vouchsafe , as of a favour , to write so to him . then the copy of that letter in english , as before is also set down , was in like manner openly read by the clerk of the crown ; which parry then acknowledged to be truely translated . and thereupon was shewed unto parry his letter of the 18th of february , written to the lord treasurer , and the lord steward : which he confessed to be all of his own hand-writing , and was as before is set down . these matters being read openly , for manifestation of the matter , parry prayed leave to speak : whereto master vice-chamberlain said , if you will say any thing for the better opening to the world of those your foul and horrible facts , speak on : but if you mean to make any excuse of that which you have confessed , which else would have been and do stand proved against you , for my part , i will not sit to hear you . then her majesties attourney-general stood up and said , it appeareth before you , my lords , that this man hath been indicted and arraigned of several most hainous and horrible treasons , and hath confessed them , which is before you of record ; wherefore there resteth no more to be done , but for the court to give judgment accordingly , which here i require in the behalf of the queens majesty . then said parry , i pray you hear me for discharging of my conscience . i will not go about to excuse my self , nor to seek to save my life , i care not for it ; you have my confession of record , that is enough for my life . and i mean to utter more , for which i were worthy to die . and said , i pray you hear me , in that i am to speak to discharge my conscience . then said master vice-chamberlain , parry , then do thy duty according to conscience , and utter all that thou canst say concerning those thy most wicked facts . then said parry , my cause is rare , singular and unnatural , conceived at venice , presented in general words to the pope , undertaken at paris , commended and allowed of by his holiness , and was to have been executed in england , if it had not been prevented . yea , i have committed many treasons , for i have committed treason in being reconciled , and treason in taking absolution . there hath been no treason sithens the first year of the queens reign touching religion , but that i am guilty of ( except for receiving of agnus dei , and perswading as i have said : ) and yet never intended to kill queen elizabeth . i appeal to her own knowledge , and to my lord treasurers , and master secretaries . then said my l d hunsdon , hast thou acknowledged it so often , and so plainly in writing under thy hand , and here of record ; and now , when thou shouldest have thy judgment according to that which thou hast confessed thy self guilty of , doest thou go back again , and deny the effect of all ? how can we believe that thou now sayest ? then said master vice-chamberlain , this is absurd . thou hast not onely confessed generally , that thou wert guilty according to the indictment , which summarily , and yet in express words doth contain that thou hadst traiterously compassed and intended the death and destruction of her majesty ; but thou also saidst particularly that thou wert guilty of every of the treasons contained therein , whereof the same was one , in plain and express letter set down , and read unto thee . yea , thou saidst that thou wert guilty of more treasons too besides these . and didst thou not upon thy examination voluntarily confess , how thou wast moved first thereunto by mislike of thy state after thy departure out of the realm , and that thou didst mislike her majesty for that she had done nothing for thee ; how by wicked papists and popish books , thou wert perswaded that it was lawful to kill her majesty ; how thou wert by reconciliation become one of that wicked sort , that held her majesty for neither lawful queen nor christian , and that it was meritorious to kill her ? and didst thou not signifie that thy purpose to the pope by lettersand , receivedst letters from the cardinal , how he allowed of thine intent , and excited thee to perform it , and thereupon didst receive absolution ? and didst thou not conceive it , promise it , vow it , swear it , and receive the sacrament that thou wouldst do it ? and didst not thou thereupon affirm , that thy vows were in heaven , and thy letters and promises on earth to binde thee to do it ? and that whatsoever her majesty would have done for thee , could not have removed thee from that intention or purpose , unless she would have desisted from dealing as she hath done with the catholicks , as thou callest them ? all this thou hast plainly confessed : and i protest before this great assembly , thou hast confessed it more plainly and in better sort , than my memory will serve me to utter : and saist thou now , that thou never meant'st it ? ah , said parry , your honours know , how my confession upon mine examination was extorted . the both the lord hunsdon and master vice-chamberlain affirmed , that there was no torture or threatning words offered him . but parry then said , that they told him , that if he would not confess willingly , he should have torture : whereunto their honours answered , that they used not any speech or word of torture to him . you said , said parry , that you would proceed with rigour against me , if i would not confess it of my self . but their honours expresly affirmed , that they used no such words . but i will tell thee , said master vice-chamberlain , what we said . i spake these words : if you will willingly utter the truth of your self , it may do you good , and i wish you to do so : if you will not , we must then proceed in ordinary course to take your examination . whereunto you answered , that you would tell the truth of your self . was not this true ? which then he yielded unto . and hereunto , her majesties attourney-general put parry in remembrance what speeches he used to the lieutenant of the tower , the queens majesties serjeant at law , master gaudie , and the same attourney , on saturday the twentieth of february last , at the tower , upon that he was by them then examined by order from the lords : which was , that he acknowledg'd he was most mildly and favourably dealt with , in all his examinations : which he also at the bar then acknowledg'd to be true . then master vice-chamberlain said , that it was wonder to see the magnanimity of her majesty , which after that thou hadst opened those trayterous practices in sort as thou hast laid it down in thy confession , was nevertheless such , and so far from all fear , as that she would not so much as acquaint any one of her highness privy-council with it , to his knowledge , no not until after this thine enterprise discovered and made manifest . and besides that which thou hast set down under thine own hand , thou didst confess , that thou hadst prepared two scottish daggers , fit for such a purpose ; and those being disposed away by thee , thou didst say , that another would serve thy turn . and withal , parry , didst thou not also confess before us , how wonderfully thou wert appaled and perplexed upon a sudden , at the presence of her majesty at hampton-court this last summer , saying , that thou didst think , thou then sawest in her , the very likeness and image of king henry the seventh ? and that therewith , and upon some speeches used by her majesty , thou didst turn about and weep bitterly to thy self ? and yet didst call to minde that thy vows were in heaven , thy letters and promises on earth ; and that therefore thou didst say with thy self , that there was no remedy but to do it ? didst thou not confess this ? the which he acknowledged . then said the lord hunsdon , sayest thou now , that thou didst never mean to kill the queen ? didst thou not confess , that when thou didst utter this practice of treachery to her majesty , that thou didst cover it with all the skill thou hadst , and that it was done by thee , rather to get credit and access thereby , than for any regard thou hadst of her person ? but in truth thou didst it , that thereby thou mightest have better opportunity to perform thy wicked enterprise . and wouldest thou have run into such fear as thou didst confess that thou wert in , when thou didst utter it , if thou hadst never meant it ? what reason canst thou shew for thy self ? with that he cryed out in a furious manner , i never meant to kill her : i will lay my blood upon queen elizabeth and you , before god and the world : and thereupon fell into a rage and evil words with the queens majesties attourney-general . then said the lord hunsdon , this is but thy popish pride and ostentation , which thou wouldst have to be told to thy fellows of that faction , to make them believe that thou diest for popery , when thou diest for most horrible and dangerous treasons against her majesty , and thy whole country . for thy laying of thy bloud , it must lye on thine own head , as a just reward of thy wickedness . the laws of the realm most justly condemn thee to die , out of thine own mouth , for the conspiring the destruction both of her majesty , and of us all : therefore thy bloud be upon thee ; neither her majesty nor we at any time sought it , thy self hast spilt it . then he was asked , what he could say , why judgment of death ought not to be awarded against him . whereto he said , he did see that he must die , because he was not settled . what meanest thou by that , said master vice-chamberlain ? said he , look into your study , and into your new books , and you shall finde what i mean. i protest ( said his honour ) i know not what thou meanest : thou dost not well to use such dark speeches , unless thou wouldst plainly utter what thou meanest thereby . but he said , he cared not for death , and that he would lay his bloud amongst them . then spake the lord chief-justice of england , being required to give the judgment , and said , parry , you have been much heard , and what you mean by being settled , i know not ; but i see you are so settled in popery , that you cannot settle your self to be a good subject . but touching that you should say , to stay judgment from being given against you , your speeches must be of one of these kinds , either to prove the indictment ( which you have confessed to be true ) to be insufficient in law ; or else to plead somewhat touching her majesties mercy , why justice should not be done of you . all other speeches , wherein you have used great liberty , is more than by law you can ask . these be the matters you must look to , what say you to them ? whereto he said nothing . then said the lord chief-justice , parry , thou hast been before this time indicted of divers most horrible and hateful treasons , committed against thy most gracious soveraign and native country : the matter most detestable , the manner most subtle and dangerous , and the occasions and means that led thee thereunto , most ungodly and villanous . that thou didst intend it , it is most evident by thy self . the matter was the destruction of a most sacred and an anointed queen , thy sovereign and mistriss , who hath shewed thee such favour , as some thy betters have not obtained : yea , the overthrow of thy country wherein thou wert born , and of a most happy commonwealth whereof of thou art a member , and of such a queen , as hath bestowed on thee the benefit of all benefits in this world , that is , thy life , heretofore granted thee by her mercy , when thou hadst lost it by justice and desert . yet thou her servant , sworn to defend her , meant'st with thy bloudy hand to have taken away her life , that mercifully gave thee thine , when it was yielded into her hands : this is the matter wherein thou hast offended . the manner was most subtle and dangerous , beyond all that before thee have committed any wickedness against her majesty . for thou , making shew as if thou wouldest simply have uttered for her safety the evil that others had contrived , didst but seek thereby credit and access , that thou mightest take the apter opportunity for her destruction . and for the occasions and means that drew thee on , they were most ungodly and villanous , as the perswasions of the pope , of papists , and popish books . the pope pretendeth that he is a pastor , when as in truth , he is far from feeding of the flock of christ ; but rather as a wolf , seeketh but to feed on and to suck out the blood of true christians , and as it were thirsteth after the bloud of our most gracious and christian queen . and these papists and popish books , while they pretend to set forth divinity , they do indeed most ungodly teach and perswade , that which is quite contrary both to god and his word . for the word teaches obedience of subjects towards princes , and forbideth any private man to kill : but they teach subjects to disobey princes , and that a private wicked person may kill ; yea , and whom ? a most godly queen , and their own natural and most gracious soveraign . let all men therefore take heed how they receive any thing from him , hear or read any of their books , and how they confer with any papists . god grant her majesty , that she may know by thee , how ever she trust such like to come so near her person . but see the end , and why thou didst it ; and it will appear to be a most miserable , fearful , and foolish thing : for thou didst imagine , that it was to relieve those , that thou callest catholicks , who were most likely amongst all others to have felt the worst of it , if thy devilish practice had taken effect . but sith thou hast been indicted of the treasons comprised in the indictment , and thereupon arraigned , and hast confessed thy self guilty of them , the court doth award , that thou shalt be had from hence to the place whence thou didst come , and so drawn through the open city of london upon an hurdle to the place of execution , and there to be hanged and let down alive , and thy privy parts cut off , and thy entrals taken out and burnt in thy sight , then thy head to be cut off , and thy body to be divided in four parts , and to be disposed at her majesties pleasure : and god have mercy on thy soul. parry nevertheless persisted still in his rage and fond speech , and ragingly there said , he there summoned queen elizabeth to answer for his blood before god : wherewith , the lieutenant of the tower was commanded to take him from the bar , and so he did . and upon his departure , the people stricken as it were at heart with the horror of his intended enterprise , ceased not , but pursued him with out-cryes , as , away with the traitor , away with him , and such like : whereupon he was conveyed to the barge , to pass to the tower again by water , and the court was adjorned . after which , upon the second day of this instant march , william parry was by vertue of process in that behalf , awarded from the same commissioners of oyer and terminer , delivered by the lieutenant of the tower early in the morning , unto the sheriffs of london and middlesex , who received him at the tower-hill , and thereupon , according to the judgment , caused him there to be forthwith set on the hurdel . from whence he was drawn thereupon threw the midst of the city of london , unto the place for his execution in the pallace at westminster : where , having long time of stay admitted unto him before his execution , he most maliciously and impudently , after some other vain discourses eftsoons and often delivered in speech , that he was never guilty of any intention to kill queen elizabeth , and so ( without any request made by him to the people to pray to god for him , or prayer publickly used by himself for ought that appeared ; but such as he used , if he used any , was private to himself ) he was executed according to the judgment . and now for his intent , howsoever he pretended the contrary in words , yet by these his own writings , confessions , letters , and many other proofs afore here expressed , it is most manifest to all persons , how horrible his intentions and treasons were , and how justly he suffered for the same ; and thereby greatly to be doubted , that as he had lived a long time vainly and ungodly , and like an atheist and godless man , so he continued the same course till his death to the outward sight of men . here endeth the true and plain course and process of the treasons , arrest , arraignment , and execution of william parry the traitor . an addition not unnecessary for this purpose . for as much as parry in the abundance of his proud and arrogant humour , hath often both in his confession , and letters , pretended some great and grievous causes of discontentment against her majesty , and the present state : it shall not be impertinent , for better satisfaction of all persons , to set forth simply and truly , the condition and quality of the man , what he was by birth and education , and in what course of life he had lived . this vile and traiterous wretch was one of the younger sons of a poor man , called harry ap david : he dwelled in north-wales in a little village called northoppe , in the county of flint : there he kept a common ale-house , which was the best and greatest stay of his living . in that house was this traitor born , his mother was the reputed daughter of one conway a priest , parson of a poor parish called halkin , in the same county of flint : his his eldest brother dwelleth at this present in the same house , and there keepeth an ale-house as his father did before him . this traitor in his childhood , so soon as he had learned a little to write & read , was put to serve a poor man dwelling in chester , named john fisher , who professed to have some small skill and understanding in the law. with him he continued divers years , and served as a clerk , to write such things , as in that trade which his master used , he was appointed . during this time , he learned the english tongue , and at such times of leasure , as the poor man his master had no occasion otherwise to use him , he was suffered to go to the grammer-school , where he got some little understanding in the latin tongue . in this his childhood he was noted by such as best knew him , to be of a most villanous and dangerous nature and disposition . he did often run away from his master , and was often taken and brought to him again . his master , to correct his perverse and froward conditions , did many times shut him as prisoner in some close place of his house , and many times caused him to be chained , locked , and clogged , to stay his running away . yet all was in vain : for about the third year of her majesties reign , for his last farewel to his poor master , he ran away from him , and came to london to seek his adventures . he was then constrained to seek what trade he could to live by , and to get meat and drink for his belly , and cloaths for his back . his good hap in the end was to be entertained in place of service above his desert ; where he staid not long , but shifted himself divers times from service to service , and from one master to another . now he began to forget his old home , his birth , his education , his parents , his friends , his own name , and what he was . he aspired to greater matters , he challenged the name and title of a great gentleman , he vaunted himself to be of kin and allied to noble and worshipful ; he left his old name , which he did bear and was commonly called by in his childhood , and during all the time of his abode in the country , which was william ap harry ( as the manner in wales is . ) and because he would seem to be indeed the man which he pretended , he took upon him the name of parry , being the sirname of divers gentlemen of great worship and honour . and because his mother name by her father ( a priest ) was conway , he pretended kindred to the family of sir john conway , and so thereby made himself of kin to edmund nevil . being thus set forth with his new name and new title of gentleman , and commended by some of his good favourers , he matched himself in marriage with a widow in south-wales , who brought him some reasonable portion of wealth . she lived with him but a short time , and the wealth he had with her lasted not long : it was soon consumed with his dissolute and wastful manner of life . he was then driven to his wonted shifts , his creditor were many , the debt which he owed great , he had nothing wherewith to make payment , he was continually pursued by serjeants and officers to arrest him , he did often by slight and shifts escape from them . in this his needy and poor estate , he sought to repair himself again by a new match in marriage with another widow , which before was the wife of one richard heywood ; this matter was so earnestly followed by himself , and so effectually commended by his friends and favourers , that the woman yielded to take him to husband : a match in every respect very unequal and unfit ; her wealth and yearly livelihood was very great , his poor and base estate worse than nothing ; he very young , she of such age , as for years she might have been his mother . when he had thus possessed himself of his new wives wealth , he omitted nothing that might serve for a prodigal , dissolute , and most ungodly course of life . his riot and excess was unmeasurable ; he did most wickedly deflower his wives own daughter , and sundry ways pitifully abuse the old mother : he carried himself for his outward port and countenance ( so long as his old wives bags lasted ) in such sort , as might well have sufficed for a man of very good haviour and degree . but this lasted not long ; his proud heart and wastful hand had foon poured out of heywood's wealth . he then fell again to his wonted shifts , borrowed where he could finde any to lend , and engaged his credit so far as any would trust him . amongst others , he became greatly indebted to hugh hare , the gentleman before-named ; who after long forbearing of his money , sought to recover it by ordinary means of law. for this cause parry conceived great displeasure against him , which he pursued with all malice , even to the seeking of his life . in this murtherous intent , he came in the night-time to mr. hares chamber in the temple , broke open the door , assaulted him , and wounded him grievously , and so left him in great danger of life . for this offence he was apprehended , committed to newgate , indicted of burglary , arraigned , and found guilty by a very substantial jury , and condemned to be hanged , as the law in that case requireth he standing thus convicted , her majesty , of her most gracious clemency , and pitiful disposition , took compassion upon him , pardoned his offence , and gave him his life , which by the law and due course of justice he ought then to have lost . after this he carried not long , but pretending some causes of discontentment , departed the realm , and travelled beyond the seas . how he demeaned himself there from time to time , and with whom he conversed , is partly in his own confession touched before . this is the man , this is his race , which he feared should be spotted , if he miscarried in the execution of his traiterous enterprise ; this hath been the course of his life , these are the great causes of his discontentment . and whereas at his arraignment and execution he pretended great care of the disobedient popish subjects of this realm , whom he called catholicks , and in very insolent sort seemed to glory greatly in the profession of his pretensed catholick religion : the whole course and action of his life sheweth plainly , how profanely and irreligiously he did always bear himself . he vaunted , that for these two and twenty years past he had been a catholick , and during all that time never received the communion : yet before he travelled beyond the seas , at three several times within the compass of those two and twenty years , he did voluntarily take the oath of obedience to the queens majesty , set down in the statute made in the first year of her highness reign ; by which , amongst other things , he did testifie and declare in his conscience , that no forreign prince , person , prelate , state , or potentate , hath or ought to have any jurisdiction , power , preeminence , or authority , ecclesiastical or spiritual , within this realm ; and therefore did utterly renounce and forsake all forreign jurisdictions , powers , and authorities ; and did promise to bear faith and true allegeance to the queens highness , her heirs and lawful successors . with what conscience or religion he took that oath so often , if he were then a papist indeed , as sithence the discovery of his treasons he pretended , let his best friends the papists themselves judge . but perhaps it may be said , that he repented those his offences past ; that since those three oaths so taken by him , he was twice reconciled to the pope , and so his conscience cleared , and he become a new man ; and ( which is more ) that in the time to his last travel , he cast away all his former lewd manners : that he changed his degree and habit , and bought or begged the grave title of a doctor of law , for which he was well qualified with a little grammar-school latine ; that he had plenary indulgence , and remission of all his sins , in consideration of his undertaking of so holy an enterprise as to kill queen elizabeth , a sacred anointed queen , his natural and soveraign lady : that he promised to the pope , and vowed to god to perform it : that he confirmed the same by receiving the sacrament at the jesuits , at one altar with his two beaupeers , the cardinals of vendosme and narbonne : and that since his last return into england , he did take his oath upon the bible to execute it . these reasons may seem to bear some weight indeed amongst his friends the jesuits , and other papists of state , who have special skill in matters of such importance . but now lately in the beginning of this parliament in november last , he did eftsoons solemnly in publick place take the oath before mentioned , of obedience to her majesty . how that may stand with his reconciliations to the pope , and with his promises , vows , and oath to kill the queen , it is a thing can hardly be warranted , unless it be by some special priviledge of the popes omnipotency . but let him have the glory he desired , to live and die a papist . he deserved it , it is fit for him , his death was correspondent to the course of his life , which was disloyal , perjured , and traiterous towards her majesty , and false and perfidious towards the pope himself , and his catholicks , if they will believe his solemn protestations which he made at his arraignment and execution , that he never meant nor intended any hurt to her highness person . for if that be true , where are then his vows which he said were in heaven , his letter and promise upon earth ? why hath he stollen out of the popes shop so large an indulgence and plenary remission of all his sins , and meant to perform nothing that he promised ? why was his devotion and zeal so highly commended ? why was he so specially prayed for and remembred at the altar ? all these great favours were then bestowed upon him without cause or desert : for he deceived the pope , he deceived the cardinals , and jesuites , with a false semblance , and pretence to do that thing which he never meant . but the matter is clear , the conspiracy , and his traiterous intent is too plain and evident : it is the lord that revealed it in time , and prevented their malice : there lacked no will , or readiness in him to execute that horrible fact . it is the lord that hath preserved her majesty from all the wicked practices and conspiracies of that hellish rabble : it is he that hath most gratiously deliver'd her from the hands of this traiterous miscreant . the lord is her onely defence , in whom she hath always trusted . a prayer for all kings , princes , countries and people which do profess the gospel ; and especially for our soveraign lady queen elizabeth : used in her majesties chappel , and meet to be used of all persons within her majesties dominions . o lord god of hosts , most loving and merciful father , whose power no creature is able to resist , who of thy great goodness hast promised to grant the petitions of such as ask in thy sons name : we most humbly beseech thee to save and defend all princes , magistrates , kingdoms , countries and people which have received and do profess thy holy word and gospel ; and namely this realm of england , and thy servant elizabeth our queen , whom thou hast hitherto wonderfully preserved from manifold perils and sundry dangers , and of late revealed and frustrated the traiterous practices and conspiracies of divers against her : for the which , and all other thy great goodness towards us , we give thee most humble and hearty thanks , beseeching thee in the name of thy dear son iesus christ , and for his sake , still to preserve and continue her unto us , and to give her long life and many years to rule over this land. o heavenly father , the practices of our enemies , and the enemies of thy word and truth , against her and us , are manifest and known thee . turn them , o lord , if it be thy blessed will , or overthrow and confound them , for thy names sake : suffer them not to prevail : take them , o lord , in their crafty willness that they have invented , and let them fall into the pit which they have digged for others . permit them not ungodly to triumph over us : discomfort them , discomfort them , o lord , which trust in their own multitude , and please themselves in their subtile devices , and wicked conspiracies . o loving father , we have not deserved the least of these thy mercies which we crave : for we have sinned , and grievously offended thee ; we are not worthy to be called thy sons : we have not been so thankful unto thee as we should , for thy unspeakable benefits powred upon us : we have abused this long time of peace and prosperity ; we have not obeyed thy word : we have had it in mouth , but not in heart ; in outward appearance , but not in deed : we have lived carelesly : we have not known the time of our visitation : we have deserved utter destruction . but thou , o lord , art merciful , and ready to forgive ; therefore we come to thy throne of grace , confessing and acknowledging thee to be our only refuge in all times of peril and danger : and by the means of thy son , we most heartily pray thee to forgive us our vnthankfulness , disobedience hypocrisie , and all other our sins ; to turn from us thy heavy wrath and displeasure , which we have justly deserved ; and to turn our hearts truly unto thee , that daily we may increase in all goodness , and continually more and more fear thy holy name : so shall be glorifie thy name , and sing unto thee in psalms , and hymns , and spiritual songs : and thy enemies and ours shall know themselves to be but men , and not able by any means to withstand thee , nor to hurt those whom thou hast received into thy protection and defence . grant these things , o lord of power , and father of mercy , for thy christ's sake ; to whom with thee and thy holy spirit , be all honour and glory for ever and ever . amen . a prayer and thanksgiving for the queen , used of all the knights and burgesses in the high court of parliament , and very requisite to be used and continued of all her majesties loving subjects . o almighty and most merciful god , which dost pitch thy tents round about thy people , to deliver them from the hands of their enemies ; we thy humble servants , which have ever of old seen thy salvation , do fall down and prostrate our selves with praise and thanksgiving to thy glorious name , who hast in thy tender mercies from time to time saved and defended thy servant elizabeth , our most gracious quéen , not only from the hands of strange children , but also of late revealed and made frustrate his bloody and most barbarous treason , who being her natural subject , most unnaturally violating thy divine ordinance , hath secretly sought to shed her blood , to the great disquiet of thy church , and utter discomfort of our souls : his snare is hewen in pieces , but upon thy servant doth the crown flourish . the wicked and bloodthirsty men think to debour iacob , and to lay waste his dwelling place : but thou ( o god ) which rulest in iacob , and unto the ends of the world , dost daily teach us still a trust in thée for all thy great mercies , and not to forget thy merciful kindness shewed to her , that feareth thy name . o lord , we confess to thy glory and praise , that thou only hast saved us from destruction , because thou hast not given her over for a prey to the wicked : her soul is delivered , and we are escaped . hear us now we pray thée , ( o most merciful father ) and continue forth thy loving kindness towards thy servant , and evermore to thy glory and our comfort , kéep her in health , with long life , and prosperity ; whose rest and only refuge is in thée , o god of her salvation . preserve her , as thou art wont , preserve her from the snare of the enemy , from the gathering together of the froward , from the insurrection of wicked doers , and from all the traiterous conspiracies of those which privily lay wait for her life . grant this , o heavenly father , for iesus christs sake , our only mediator and advocate , amen . io. th. a prayer used in the parliament onely . o merciful god and father , forasmuch as no counsel can stand , nor any can prosper , but only such as are humbly gathered in thy name , to féel the swéet taste of thy holy spirit ; we gladly acknowledge , that by thy favour standeth the peaceable protection of our quéen and realm , and likewise this favourable liberty granted unto us at this time to make our méeting together ; which thy bountiful goodness we most thankfully acknowledging , do withal earnestly pray thy divine majesty so to encline our hearts , as our counsels may be subject in true obedience to thy holy word and will. and sithe it hath pleased thée to govern this realm by ordinary assembling the three estates of the same : our humble prayer is , that thou wilt graff in us good mindes to conceive , free liberty to speak , and on all sides a ready and quiet consent to such wholesome laws and statutes , as may declare us to be thy people , and this realm to be prosperously ruled by thy good guiding and defence : so that we and our posterity may with chearful hearts wait for thy appearance in iudgment , that art only able to present us faultless before god our heavenly father : to whom with thée our saviour christ , and the holy spirit , be all glory both now and ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a51173-e21420 the indictment . parry's answer to the indictment . parry confesseth that he is guilty of all things contained in the indictment . parry's confession of his treasons was read by his own assent . a letter of cardinal di como to parry , also read . parry's letter of the 18th of february to the lord treasurer and the earl of leicester , read . the queens atturny requires judgment . parry had for his credit aforetime said very secretly , that he had been solicited beyond the seas to commit the fact , but he would not do it ; wherewith he craftily abused both the queens majesty , and those tw● counsellers whereof he now would help himself with these false speeches , against most manifest proofs . master vice-chamberlains speeches , proving manifestly parry's traiterous intentions . parry reproved of false speeches , and so by himself also confessed . the l. of hunsdon's speeches , convincing parry manifestly of his treason . the lord chief-justices speech to parry . the form of the judgment against the traitor . 2. martii . william parry the traytor executed . parry condemned for burglary , pardoned of the queen . virtumnus romanus, or, a discovrse penned by a romish priest wherein he endevours to prove that it is lawfull for a papist in england to goe to the protestant church, to receive the communion, and to take the oathes, both of allegiance and supremacie : to which are adjoyned animadversions in the in the [sic] margin by way of antidote against those places where the rankest poyson is couched / by daniel featley ... featley, daniel, 1582-1645. 1642 approx. 330 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 93 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a41019 wing f597 estc r2100 12411416 ocm 12411416 61533 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41019) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61533) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 249:e129, no 15) virtumnus romanus, or, a discovrse penned by a romish priest wherein he endevours to prove that it is lawfull for a papist in england to goe to the protestant church, to receive the communion, and to take the oathes, both of allegiance and supremacie : to which are adjoyned animadversions in the in the [sic] margin by way of antidote against those places where the rankest poyson is couched / by daniel featley ... featley, daniel, 1582-1645. [20], 156 p. imprinted by i. l. for nicholas bourne and iohn bartlet ..., london : 1642. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of 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to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng catholics -england. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-03 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-03 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die sabbathi , 22. octob. 1642. it is this day ordered by the commons house of parliament : that none other besides mr. nicholas bourne stationer , or whom he shall appoint , shall upon any pretence whatsoever , presume to print the book called , a safeguard from shipwrack , to a prudent catholike , with animadversions upon the same by dr. featley , called virtumnus romanus , ordered to be printed and published by the said house . h. elsing cler. parl. d. com. vertumnus romanus , or , a discovrse penned by a romish priest , wherein he endevours to prove that it is lawfull for a papist in england to goe to the protestant church , to receive the communion , and to take the oathes both of allegiance and supremacie . to which are adjoyned animadversions in the in the margin by way of antidote against those places where the rankest poyson is couched . by daniel featley dr. in divinitie . 2 cor. 11 13 14. such are false apostles , deceitfull workers , transforming themselves into the apostles of christ. and no marvell , for satan himselfe is transformed into an angel of light . horat. ep. quo teneam vultus mutantem protea nodo ? tertul. in apol . nefas est ulli de sua religione mentiri ; ex eo enim quod aliud à se coli fingit quam colit , negat quod colit , etiam non colit quod negavit . london , imprinted by i. l. for nicholas bourne , and iohn bartlet : and are to be sold at the south entrance at the royall exchange , and at the gilt cup neere austins gate , in pauls church-yard . 1642. an advertisement to the reader , touching the author and the argument of the insuing discourse , and the reasons for which it is thought fit to be published to the view of the world . as the ignorance of good is evill : so the knowledge even of evill is good ; for knowledge is nothing but the light and irradiation of the understanding by the beames of truth : which herein resemble the rayes of the sun that neither defile any thing nor can themselves be defiled . set aside curiositie and all kinds of vicious affection and indirect ends , and you shall finde that the knowledge even of sinfull impuritie , is cleane , of naturall corruption , is sound ; of worldly vanities , serious ; and of all kinde of maladies of the minde and body healthfull . and as it is the depth of satans malice , è bono malum elicere , to draw evill out of good ( as the spider sucks poyson out of sweet flowers and wholesome herbs ) so it is a high point of gods goodnesse , è malo bonum elicere , to draw good out of evill , light out of darknesse , and order out of confusion it self . where it not for this , that god who is the soveraigne and omnipotent good , knoweth that it more redoundeth to the glory of his infinite wisdome and power to worke good out of evill , then quite to take it away ; there never had been , there never should be , any evill in the world , as st. augustine piously argueth the case . there could be no evill in the world if god suffered it not , and he suffereth it not against his will but with his wi●l , neither would he which is so good , nay , rather goodnesse it selfe willingly suffer any evill to be , but that by his omnipotencie he can and doth extract much good out of all sorts of evill . this worke of divine providence , gregory nyssen , fitly tearmeth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the abuse of evill : for what is a●-uti to abuse a thing , but to use it contrary to the nature and condition thereof which if it be good , such an use is an abusive use : if it be evill , such use thereof is an usefull and commendable abuse ; as wh●n a gramarian makes a rule of anomalas , a rhetoritian a figure of a solaecisme , a musitian an harmonie of discord , a logitian a true use of fallacies , and a physician a wholesome treacle of poyson . such a use ( christian reader ) thou mayst make of the unchristian treatise ensuing wherein the author thereof ( now in bold ) endeavoureth to shew all romane catholikes a way to escape not only all bonds , and imprisonment , but all other penalties of the law against popish recusants , by making their religion and conscience , a leade● and lesbian rule to comply with the religion professed by the sta●● wheresoever they live . this booke together with the authour thereof was sent to the honourable house of commmos by the care of some members of that house , employed in a committee neere portsmouth , and it hath beene thought fit to be published for sundrie reasons . first , to discover the craft of the iesuits in procuring upon uniust grounds , and by indirect meanes a ●ull from the pope , prohibiting all romane catholiques to resort to the protestant churches , in ●ngland under pain of his holinesse curse , and dreadfull thunderbolt of excommunication : whereby as this priest affirmeth they gained to themselves more disciples , more money , and more colledges : for bee thou pleased ( christian reader ) to take notice , that in the reigne of king edward the sixth of blessed memory , and during the space of the first tenne yeeres of queene elizabeth ( the phoenix of her sexe and age ) the papists in england did usually goe to church , and there was no such thing as popish recusancie heard of . but after the ●ame souldier ignatius loyola with his new regiment , began to out-run all other orders , and rancks of monks , and the iesuits name was up , and many colledges built for them beyond the seas , the english iesuits began to lay about , how their colledges and seminaries might be maintained and furnished by those of the romish partie in england , and they finde this the ready way to offer to the richer sort of them the education of their children , they paying a good round rate for it : but because the parents then repairing to the protestant church might breed up their children at a farre easier rate in our schooles of england , the secular priests ( willingly undertaking the care and tuition of them ) the iesuits were never quiet till they had obtained from the pope upon such suggestions as they thought would most take with his holinesse , the bull above mentioned which frighted all romish catholiques from our churches . see here the beginning and originall of popish recusancie in england , and the depth of the myne which hath since enriched their english colledges beyond the sea. no wonder if the name of an author , called diana ( often cited in the ensuing discourse ) be in great request . the benefit accruing to those of the societie of iesus by the recusancie of romish catholiques in england , necessitated by them , is a diana which hath brought no small gaine to these craftsmen . demetrius with his fellow artificers cry out for many houres great is diana of the ephesians , not so much honour to that heathenish deitie , but because they knockt and hammered out their living out of the silver shrines they made for her . sirs , know ye not , saith demetrius , that by this craft we have our wealth ? and in like manner the iesuits stickle mainly for recusancie not out of any zeale to the catholique cause , as this author in his preface clearely demonstrateth : but because they suckt out of this forced recusancie no small advantage . for the transporting of the children of romish recusants beyond the seas ensuing thereupon , both filled their colledges with schollars , and their coffers with money . and in this respect these iesuits may rightly be called suits ( as ieconias in the prophet is called in disgrace conias ) not only in respect of their swinish and epicurean lives in their styes beyond the seas , but because their societie herein resembles that sow in martiall which farrowed in the theater by a wound there received : so this order by the wound received from the state ( i mean the penalties inflicted upon romish catholiques for recusancie ) hath growne fruitfull and exceedingly multiplyed . but in the meane while , are not iesuits consciences seared with a hot iron , who every where in their printed pamphlets , and libels most bitterly exclaime against the state for inflicting penalties upon papists in england for recusancie , whereof they themselves have not only been the authors but chiefe actors therein to enforce it by the rescript of his holines procured by them meerely for their advantage , as this author sheweth . secondly , to detect likewise the craft of the secular priests , verè seculares true worldlings , who for their owne advantage counterplot against the iesuits and endeavour by subtill fetches and straines of conscience , to evacuate and frustrate their opposites designes : sic ars eluditur arte . the iesuits out of pretended zeale to the romane faith , and religion , mainely contend for recusancie , fearefully adiuring all english papists with whom they have any power , that by no means either themselves resort to our publique service , or send their children to any protestant churches or schooles : on the contrary the secular priests out of pretended care and love to those of their religion , perswade them to make no scruple of repairing to our churches or schooles : that so they may save both the mulct of the law , and great charges by sending their children beyond the seas there to be brought up in the colledges and schooles of the iesuits . as for instructing them in the principles of their catholique religion , that they will take care of , if the parents be pleased to commend them to their tuition . thus both make religion a stalking horse to their worldly ends : the iesuit is for recusancie , the secular priest for conformitie ; neither of them truly to gaine soules to christ , but to draw toll to their own mill . if there be no necessitie of recusancie , the iesuits may shut up their shops beyond the seas , and if their be a necessitie of recusancie , the secular priests may shut up their shops in england . and what care the iesuits though many families of romish catholiques in england sensibly decay in their estates , partly by reason of the penaltie of the law inflicted upon them for recusancie , and partly in respect of the great expence they are at in the education of their children and transportation beyond the sea , so long as the iesuits colledges by this means thrive and flourish ? and what care the secular priests though their proselytes run a hazard of their soules , by frequenting the churches and schooles of those they account quite out of the way of salvation , so long as they themselves are well paid for the education of their children , and a good amends is made by the masters temporall gaine for the danger of the schollers spirituall losse . when i read this authors preface and discourse evidently discovering the iesuits myning and the secular priests counter-myning : me thinks i see pseudolus and simias in the poet , out-vying one the other in craftie fetches , deceitfull subtilties practised by them with dissembling , lyes and periuries . thirdly to lay open to the view of the world the detestable and damnable doctrine of romish priests , and iesuits who straine and weaken the strongest sinew which holdeth the members of all ecclesiasticall and politicke bodies together : who cancell that bond which being made on earth is registred in the high court of heaven , and the three persons in the blessed trinitie are called as witnesses thereunto . the iesuits teach , that a man may without scruple of conscience or guilt of sinne affirme that upon oath in words , which he knoweth to be false , and deny upon oath that which he knoweth to be true , so he be sure to have some clause in his minde , which added thereunto in his inward intention , though not uttered , may make what he saith true in a sense : and this priest here in his last chapter teacheth it to be lawfull to forge , and fasten a meaning to the words of an oath cleane contrary to the meaning of the law-givers , who first made the oath , and the magistrate who lawfully requireth that oath of them , as i will make it evidently appeare , when i come to scan his last chapter . now what is this else then to use the name of the god of tru●h in taking publique and solemne oathes to confirme a lye , either in words or meaning ? what is it else then to mocke with religion , and play fast and loose with the most sacred bonds of pietie and loyaltie . verily if religion be derived à religando from binding the conscience , or our faith to god or man ; he should not slander these men , who sayes , they have no religion . for the surest and strongest bonds of religion can no more tye them then the greene withes could sampson which he brake at pleasure . let there be an oath advisedly penned , in tearmes most expresse and significant , with all the cautions that the wit of man can devise against all manner of evasions , and backed with never so many direfull imprecations and anathema maranathaes upon the soule of him that shall by any slight , cunning , falshood or periurie either violate or invalidate and evacuate this oath : yet these men can with a wet finger either loosen it by a forged and forced interpretation , or untie the knot by a mentall reservation , or cut it asunder by papall dispensation , ô ubi estis fontes lachrymarum ? suppose a romish priest or iesuit be brought before a magistrate to be examined : if the oath of allegiance and supremacie be tendered unto him , thereby to discover who he is , he will take them both in his own sense though neither in the sense of him who ministreth these oathes , nor in the sense of the parliament which appointed them . if hee farther demand of him upon oath , whether he be a priest or no , he will say he is not : reserving in his minde , ( of apollo ) if he question him further , whether he lately came from beyond the seas : he will forsweare it , reserving in his minde ( the red or dead sea ) if he farther require of him whether he have received holy orders from a romish bishop : he will denie it reserving in his minde ( without a miter ) if the examiner aske him further whether he had any speech with any english nun at li●borne , he will make no bones to denie it , reserving in his mind● ( chast ) . lastly , if the iudge or iustice charge him to use no equivocation or mentall reservation , he will say and sweare he useth none , reserving in his minde ( to tell you ) and so he slips all knots and it may be truly said of him what pseudolus in the poet spake of ballio non potest pietate obsisti huic ut res sunt caeterae , this man is oath proofe . all heretiques and miscreants deliver mendacia doctrinarum , lyes of doctrine : but these only doctrinam mendaciorum , a doctrine of lyes sodered by mentall reservation ▪ these only define doctrinally the lawfulnesse of a lye , so that which is untrue in words , be salved up with a mentall reservation . this is the strange monstrous brat of the iesuits like a childe halfe in halfe out of the mothers wombe for so is their mixt proposition halfe uttered , and halfe concealed or reserved to themselves . this is conceived to be the invention of a iesuit at the first , and therefore is tearmed by those who have learnedly impugned it , the iesuits new art of lying , and true it is if we peruse the catalogues of heretiques drawne by epiphanius , augustine , philastrius , together with alfonsus à castro , & ambrosius de rusconibus , you shall light upon no hereticke who doctrinally maintained such a kinde of equivocation , especially in matter of oath to be taken before a lawfull magistrate . it is true the priscillianists held it to be lawfull to lye and forsweare , and some catholiques in st. austines time to feigne themselves priscillianists , that they might the better entrap them and discover them : but this was fraudulent simulation , not mentall reservation : the arch-hereticke arius , when he was demanded whether he had subscribed or would to the orthodox faith concerning the consubstantialitie of the sonne , answered , he had or would , pointing to a paper in his bosome , in which he had written his beliefe touching that point : but this was a fraudulent gesture , and false significatiin of his minde not a mentall reservation . give therefore the devill his due , this quaint kinde of lye was his prime invention as we may see in the poet. when the devill required of the pagan king who was about to sacrifice unto him ; cut me off a head , numa instructed by his familiar appearing to him in the likenesse of the nymph oegeria answered , i will doe it , adding by aequivocation ( of an onion ) when the devill added : nay , but thou shalt take of a mans , numa saith he will , but addeth what he reserved in his minde , ( haires ) when the devill yet farther replyed , nay i will have the soule or life , you shall saith the king , adding what he reserved in his minde , ( of a fish ) and so plowing with the devill his owne heifer , resolved all diabolicall riddles . see here the prototypon of iesuiticall equivocation by addition and mentall reservation and after what copie either garnet , or valentia , or navarrus , or any other of the like sect wrot who first in our age published in writing , and after in print the doctrine of equivocation by mentall reservation . fourthly , to descrie to those that sit at the sterne in church and common wealth , the maine scope and marke , at which this romish priest and his associates ●ime , in perswading all romish catholiques within this realme , to resort to our churches , and take the oathes both of allegiance and supremacie . it is as be professeth not so much for their indempni●i● from penall statutes , as to qualifie them for other preferments , and even votes in parliament ; to the indangering of our religion , and governm●nt . for what should hinder them whose parts , estate , and friends are able to raise them , from attaining their desires herein , sith their religion is now made no barre unto them , and these oathes ( he mentions ) now serve no more for a partition wall bet●eene loyall protestants and disl●yall papists : now the ephraimites have learned to speake shiboleth as plaine as the gileadites , whereas before they could but lispe siboleth . and if these ephraimites by this slight come to be admitted to places of greatest trust in this kingdome , and as their birth and baronies entitle divers of them to the house of peeres : so they should be chosen indifferently to the house of commons ; what a loose end all things would be at ? how suddenly might we be cheated of our religion , liberties , lawes , yea and lives to ? wherefore it were to be humbly desired of those that love the truth in sinceritie , even with bended knees , that his maiestie and the high court of parliament would make some more certain distinctive signe between papists and protestants then monethly coming to church , and taking the oathes above mention●d . this authour points at such a thing while he speakes of some articles of th●ir faith , which it is not lawfull for them in any case to deny . if therefore it should seeme good to the wisedome of the state to prescribe such a confession of faith to be drawn , wherein all or the most fundamentall points of their trent faith are renounced , and by name the twelve new articles added to the apostles creede in the bull of pope pius the fourth , we should either soone see certainely who were papists , and who were not , or at least give the romish religion a smarter blow then it ever yet received . for though this authour speake of a fox craft to be used by prudent catholiques , and though the priests and iesuits and the cunningest heads among the papists would set their wits on the racke to finde out some eshapatoir or evasion whereby they might goe beyond the state : yet they must then be inforced to denie their religion to save it , and to alter the tenets which have hitherto beene held for currant , both among their schoole divines , and casuists , namely , that it is a damnable sinne to equivocate when a man is called to give an account of his faith . for this cannot be denied to be a plaine deniall of christ , and in their owne sense , whosoever so denieth him before men , shall be denied by him before his father in heaven . lastly , to shew the great strength of truth and the cleare evidence of the protestant religion , which convinceth the conscience of most obstinate papists . for this authour a man of learning and well versed in the booke cases of the romanists , though in some places he jeares at our preachers , and scoffes at our religion : yet in other where he is most serious , he lets fall those passages from him which are worthy the taking up , namely pag. 6. recusancie was first brought a●ong catholiques into england by a certaine companie of men for temporall ends , procured covertly and by indirect meanes from twelve fathers of the councel of trent , and certaine popes upon false suggestions . the false suggestions pag. 7. et deinceps were these ▪ viz. that the protestants of england were idolatrous and blasphemous heretiques , hating god and his church ; that the commerce with them , especially at church , would be an occasion of the subversion and ruine of their soules , pag. 19. in the protestant church there is neither id●latrie committed nor hurt done , pag. 22. why should we not communicate with protestants where there can be no danger of sinne ? and in pag. 23. protestants are not to be called properly formall heretiques , pag. 41. in going to the protestant church there is no morall malignitie at all , in so much that scarce the weakest man can invent how to sinne by any thing that is there done , it being of its owne nature so indifferent and to a good intention good , that à parte rei , there is no appearance of evill therein , pag. 48. i never yet could finde any idolatrie committed at protestant churches as often as i have frequented the same , pag. 52. protestants are not properly and in rigour formall heretiques . if protestants are not formall heretiques it followeth necessarily that they are no heretiques at all ; for forma dat nomen et esse . if it be a false suggestion that protestants are blasphemous heretiques hating god and his church , then the truth is , they are neither blasphemous heretiques , nor haters of god nor his church ; but lovers of both . if there be no idolatrie committed in protestant churches then god is there purely worshipped in spirit and truth . if there bee no hurt done in protestant churches no danger of sinne , nor so much as any appearance of evill , then are all papists iustly to be punished who refuse to come to our church , and they are guilty of grievous sinne in disobeying the commands of king and state , and have no pretence at all for their recusancie . thus as virgil when he read the obsolete writings of ennius said , he sought for aurum instercore : so maist thou finde here gold in a dunghill : i have washed away the filth by animadversions inserted in convenient places ; make thou use of the gold to enrich thy knowledge , and confirme thy assurance of the doctrine of the gospel purely taught , and sincerely professed in the church of england . octob. 1. 1642. a table of the speciall contents . locks that are scrued with letters are most troublesome to unlocke if we know not the particular letters by the setting whereof together the wards flye open : such is the ensuing discourse , consisting of very many heads doubling or trebling the alphabet as appeare by the marginall notes , yet , without any summaary contents premised or directorie titles serving in stead of signall letters to open the severall parts and sections thereof , it was thought therefore requisite to supply that defect in the romish authour by this table wherein the reader may readily and easily finde those remarkable points which either are professedly handled , or occasionally touched therein . first in the preface , pag. 3. secondly in the treatise , pag. 16. sect. 1. pag. 26. sect. 2. pag. 57. sect. 3. pag. 82. thirdly in the appendix , pag. 143. first in the preface . the originall of recusancie in england , pag. 6. the rescripts of seven popes in the case all erroneous . pag 7. the determination of generall councels of great authoritie , yet not infallible , pag. 12. secondly in the treatise . the state of the question touching going to church with men of a different religion , explicated . pag. 16. naamans fact bowing in the temple of rimmon●iscussed ●iscussed . pag. 17. the words of the prophet , 2 kings 5.19 . goe in peace diversly expounded . pag. 18. none may dissemble his religion , no not in feare of death . pag. 21. the res●lution ●f the sorbon doctors in the case of recusancie . pag. 24. sect . 1. the definition of scandall , pag. 26. severall divisions of scandall , pag. 27. the distinction of veniall and mortall sinne refuted , pag. 28. evangelicall councels as they call them , are not distinct from precepts , pag. 29. povertie in it selfe is not scandalous , pag. 31 whether our liturgie be any part of the missall , pag. 33. prayers ought to be made in a knowne tongue , pag. 34. what is meant by appearance of evill , 1 thess. 5.22 . pag. 35. in what case the eating meates offered unto idols is forbidden by the apostle , 1 cor. 8. pag. 39. the definition of an heretique , pag. 51. that the faith of protestants is no way defective , pag. 53. the romish clergie is grosly ignorant , pag. 54 the protestants manner of preaching in many respects to be preferred before the romish . pag. 55. sect . 2. recusancie is no distinctive signe betweene a papist and a protestant . pag. 57. the protestants sacrament is not a bare signe ; nor the holy eucharist common bread , pag. 60. the body and blood of christ is truly given in the sacrament . pag. 61. the popish carnall manner of eating christs flesh with the mouth , is repugnant to faith , reason and common sense . pag. 62. the apostle by the lords supper , 1 cor. 11.20 . meaneth not the agapae or love-feasts , pag. 64. a foule practise and high misdemeanour of davenport , alias à sancta clara , in procuring a surreptitious bull against day the franciscan , pag. 75. sect . 3. that papists attribute religious worship to images themselves , pag. 85. that a man being questioned of his faith , though before an incompetent iudge is bound to answer the truth , pag. 98. that we may not dissemble with dissemblers , nor play the fox with foxes , pag. 99. that papists trust in their owne merits , though some at their death have renounced them , pag. 104. the oath of allegiance divided into eight branches and every branch justified by papists themselves , pag. 109. the oath of supremacie divided into foure branches , pag. 114. in what sense protestants teach the king to be head of the church , pag. 115. who are meant by forreiners in the statute , pag. 120. that no papist can take the oath of supremacie , but that he must renounce a fundamentall point of his religion , pag. 138. thirdly , in the appendix . 1. a forme of recantation injoyned the lollards in the 19. yeere of king richard the second taken out of the records in the tower , pag. 143. the resolutions of the fathers in the councell of trent , pag. 145. the oathes of supremacie enacted 35. hen. 8. & 1 elizabeth , pag. 148.150 . a proviso for expounding the oath , 5. elizabeth , pag. 151. the admonition annexed to the injunctions , elizabeth . 1. pag. 152. the conclusion of the authour of the animadversions to the reader , pag. 154. errata sic corrige , p. 7. in marg . state r. flat . p. 8. lin . 11. p. 7. r. 12. p. 15. l. 9. ignorattia r. ignorantia p. 22. l. 22. the r. they p. 28. l. 15. dele the p. 42. l. 17. rejoice r. rejoyne p. 54 l. 35. proposition r. praeposition p. 64. l. 14. apollorum r. apostolorum p. 76. l. 6. adde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 85. l. 12. sede r. sedè p. 97. marg . l. 6. doth r. doe p. 99. l. 11. marg . adeo r. adde l. 12. r. wizards p. 140. marg . l. 6. d the appendix . a a safegard from shipwracke , to a b prvdent catholike . wherein is prooved that a c catholique may goe to the protestant church , and take both the oathes of allegiance and supremacie . matth. 10.16 . be ye wise as serpents , and d simple as doves . london , printed by i. l. for nicholas bourne at the south entrance to the royall exchange , 1642. a preface to the reader . gentle reader , i am to write of a point of controversie , wherein i know , that i shall undergoe the e censure of divers sorts of people ; yea , amaze some at the strangenesse of the thing . yet my intention being good , as tending to the safeguard , as well f of souls as bodies of all : and i my selfe being constrained by a kinde of naturall necessitie thereto ; as suffering much , not only by the g severitie of the laws for my religion ( which is the least : ) but likewise both spiritually and temporally , by the malice and treachery of some evill spirits , instigating others to take advantage by religion : doe hope to finde approbation therein ( at least ) of the wiser sort . although i cannot see , but why in reason ( not pretending the least prejudice to religion , but rather the good of gods church , as i shall make appeare ) the weakest sort of catholiques should not be likewise pleased therewith . for although religion , as it is taken for christian beliefe , ought of every man to be professed , according to st. thomas aquinas and other doctors , 2a. 2ae . q. 3. at two particular times , viz. when , and as often as the glory of god shall conduce therunto , or the spirituall good of our neighbour shall be either conserved , or augmented thereby , grounding themselves , upon the words of our saviour , matth. 10.32 . qui me confessus fuerit coram hominibus , confitebor & ego eum coram patre meo qui in caelis est . every one that shall confesse me before men , i also will confesse him before my father which is in heaven . yet it is not necessary to salvation , that any man at all times , and in all places doe confesse his religion without h necessitie . whence if a man should goe out , into the market place , and cry himselfe to be of such and such a religion , or should write upon the frontispice of his house ( in a countrey contrary to his religion ) here liveth a christian , a protestant or catholike , his act would be thought so farre from vertue or religion , as that it would be rather deemed presumption , or the height of indiscretion . hence it is , that although a catholike be bound under paine of damnation to professe his religion in the twice before assigned , yet he is not bound to professe a recusancy of a thing of its own nature indifferent , thereby at all times , and in all places to discover his religion : for this were as much in effect , as to cry himselfe , over the whole kingdome , or to write over his doore , that he were a catholike , or at least some sectary . for ( as i shall hereafter say : ) recusancy is common both to catholikes , brownists and other sectaries , different in opinion from protestants ) which would be an occasion to call himselfe in question for the religion he professeth ; whence i may rightly describe the recusancy of catholikes no otherwise , then to be , an indiscreet discovery of a mans religion without necessitie or obligation : whereby he makes himselfe lyable to the penall laws of england for not going to church , which was brought first amongst them into england , by a certaine company of men , for i temporall ends procured covertly , and by indirect means from twelve fathers of the councell of trent , and certaine popes upon false suggestions to the ruine of many men : that i proove what i have said , it is necessary , that i relate the manner , how it was brought in . in the beginning of queen elizabeths reign , and the alteration of religion in england , catholikes went to church to conforme themselves to the state , as they did in k. edward the sixths time ; yet privately kept to themselves the exercise of their owne religion . which some priests , perceiving not convenient , for the propagation of their owne family , then newly hatched : wrought in the councel of trent , that twelve fathers of the said councel ( not all bishops , yet favourers of the said family ) might be selected , to declare to english catholikes upon these suggestions following , viz. that the protestants of england were idolatrous and blasphemous hereticks , hating god and his church : that their commerce , especially at church , would be an occasion of the subversion and ruine of their soules ; denying and betraying of the true faith ; giving of scandall to men of tender conscience , as breaking that signe which was distinctive betweene the people of god and not his people ; that it was altogether unlawfull for them to goe any longer to the protestant church , as appeareth by the words of the said declaration , which if i had by me , i would willingly have here inserted . this declaration being thus obtained , they possessed k certain popes ( to wit : paul the fourth , pius the the fifth , the two last gregories , sixtus , clement , and paul the fifth ) so strongly with the same , and the aforesaid suggestions ; that the said popes likewise declared as it is said by certaine rescripts which i never yet could see their going to church to be likewise unlawfull . which said suggestions had they beene , or were they true , i should likewise say and grant it unlawfull ; but not being true , as i shall hereafter shew : the l common opinion of divines in this point is to be followed ; to wit : that it is a thing indifferent and therefore may be lawfull to frequent the churches of schismaticks . now to prove what i have said ; that it was first brought in , by a certaine company of men . it is evident in it selfe by the carriage of the businesse ; for it is altogether improbable , that one mans authoritie ( to wit , doctor sanders who is named to be the onely agent herein , a man alwaies ill relished in our state , and therefore in this point to be esteemed partiall ) could select so many fathers out of the said councel , in a matter of such importance , upon his owne bare suggestion ; or that the said fathers would , or ought to have declared the same ; unlesse they had been made beleeve , that the aforesaid suggestions were true , in the common opinion of most of the priests then in our kingdome . that it was wrought for temporall ends by the said company , the event shewes the same : for there is none that have got , or do get thereby , but onely the said company ; as appeares by their abundant treasure , and rich colledges : for recusancie begets persecution , and persecution almes deeds , that god may assist the afflicted in their distresses . and by this recusancie great mens children can get no learning or science within this kingdome ; but must be sent beyond the seas , each at twentie five , or thirtie pound per annum . by which , their said family was and is propagated , and their heape increased . further , the politicall invention of recusancie was so sweet and pleasing , by reason of the great gaine which it brought ; that one of the said company ( authour of the answer to the libell of justice ) all besmeared with wonted pietie , so much delighteth in tribulation , which ariseth by this recusancie ; that he would not a toleration of catholike religion in england , if he might . although in his answer to the authour of the said libell he saith ( as knowing him not able to procure of queene elizabeth and the state , a toleration for catholikes ) that upon certaine conditions of his , he would accept of the same : but when he speakes from his heart of the thing it selfe , he saith in his said book , cap. 9. pag. 216. that it is such , as to aske it of god , were to aske , we know not what ; for that persecution is better . that the said declaration and popes rescripts were got by the aforesaid suggestions , appears by the writings themselves as they are cited , and further by one r. p. of the same family , who wrote a booke printed anno 1607. contra anonymum , against a man without name : ( doctor wright ) that it was not lawfull to frequent churches of heretikes : where promiscuously he relates all the aforesaid suggestions , as the ground of his opinion ; and bringeth cardinall bellarmine and baronius with eight others , most of them of the same schoole for the approbation of his case . which case as he puts it , i thinke any man living would likewise have approved . that these men above others , were so laborious and serious , for this recusancie appeares , in that , whosoever would oppose them , were presently blasted for heretikes , or at least fallen men , insomuch that azorius who wrote that it was lawfull for a catholike to goe to the church of schismaticks was so troubled by the importunitie of these suggestions , that he was constrained through feare that that part of his family , should have suffered some great temporall detriment by his judicious writing ( as they say ) to recant his opinion , and hold it not lawfull in our case of england . see the said booke pag. 106. by all which any man may easily perceive , that the aforesaid company were the busie-bodies : and that for their owne ends ( as i have said ) upon the aforesaid grounds : otherwise why should they , more then others , have beene so importune as to perswade , yea compel azorius , who ( not perceiving ( under the species of piety their rare politicall drift ) wrote a common opinion to the whole world , to denie that common opinion to have place in england ? that the foresaid suggestions were and are false , it is certaine by experience to any , that know the state of the protestant church of england : and that to the ruine of soules as shall be proved in the question following . that it was procured covertly , and by indirect meanes ; appeares in that onely twelve fathers were chosen , and the whole corps of the councell left out , and amongst the rest , the bishop of worcester there then present ; who knowing better the state and affaires of our countrey , then all the rest , it seemes to me that he might have beene one of the twelve , whose authoritie would have given more satisfaction to this point , to our countrey : then all the other selected . but it should seeme , that it was declared without any debate , as a matter of no great importance , although it seemeth to my weakenesse a matter of as great weight , as any that was then agitated in the said councel : and therefore to leave a whole councel , in so weighty a matter , that concerned the affaires of a whole kingdome in point of religion , and where we might have had an infallibilitie m ; and to adhere to twelve men fallible by suggestion without any debate or dispute ; in my judgement cannot be without great suspition of sinister proceedings . partly therefore supposing and partly intending further to prove the foresaid suggestions to be false , and consequently the said councel , and popes to h●ve beene abused : he will indevour to examine the truth of the matter it selfe , according to the principles of divinitie within the bounds of the catholike church , who wisheth all happinesse and prosperitie , aswell to the said church , as to all the distressed members of the same , with as much brevitie , as may be , in the insuing question . a safegard from shipwracke to a prudent catholique . question . whether it be lawfull n for a catholique to go to the protestant church . i answer it to be lawfull for him , who doth it without a doubtfull conscience : or thought of sin , which i say , because if a man should do that , which in it selfe is lawfull ; doubting , or not being satisfied , whether it be lawfull or no ; he would sin in doing the same : because he would put himselfe in hazzard or danger of sin ; and as the wise man saith : eccles. 3. qui amat periculum peribit in eo : he that loves danger shall perish in the same . so he that thinks a thing , which in it selfe is indifferent , to be sinne , and doth the same , sinneth : because such a man hath a will to doe the thing , although it were sin ; and by reason of his sinfull will commits sin . otherwise as i have said before , it is lawfull . which i prove first . the thing in it selfe is not forbidden by any law : either by the law of god , or the church . not by the law of god ; for no place of holy scripture can be shewed , by which it is forbidden . nor by the law of the church : for no councell or canon of the church can be produced for the prohibition of the same . ergo , it is lawfull . it is secondly prooved by an example of holy scripture , lib. 4. reg. cap. 5. where o naaman the syrian prince is permitted to goe to the idolatrous temple rimmon , to waite upon the syrian king , there offering sacrifice . ergo , a man may be permitted to go to the protestant churches ; where neither idolatry is committed or any hurt done . againe , by the examples of ioseph of arimathea and nicodemus , joh. 19.38 , 39. who although they went to the synagogue of jews , and so not apparent disciples of our saviour , yet they were his disciples in secret . for it is there said : that after the death of our saviour , ioseph of arimathea , because he was a disciple of jesus , but secret , for feare of the jews , desired pilate , &c. nicodemus also came , he that at the first , came to iesus by night , &c. by which appeares , that the jews knew not of their religion . it is manifest likewise , that all the apostles as freely conversed in the synagogues of jews , as out of the same : when thereby they could best exercise their function and mission . for the rhemists in their annotations upon the 20 chapter of the acts vers . 16. confesse that notwithstanding the festivitie of pentecost was established among christians ; yet saint paul might hasten to the festivitie of the jews . therefore as these holy men , might goe to the synagoue , and reserve their religion to themselves : so may a catholique to the protestant churches . and indeed , it is an essentiall ingredient to the mission of all apostolicall men , to treate and converse with all men concerning salvation , in all places best for their purpose . it is prooved , thirdly by azorius , tom . 1. lib. 8. institut . moral . cap. 11. & 27 punct● , 2.4 . & 5. who saith : it is lawfull for catholiques to pr●y together with protestants , to heare their service , and goe to their sermons . and for this opinion he citeth , navarr . lib. 5. con. 10. & 12. de haeret . who as all men know was a pious divine , and a man of a tender conscience . againe , the said azorius saith , in the said cap. 27. puncto 5. that if an hereticall prince commands his subjects that are catholiques to goe to church upon paine of death or losse of goods , if he doe this only because he will have his lawes obeyed , and not to make it symbolum hereticae pravitatis , nor have a purpose to discern thereby catholiques from hereticks , they may obey it . gregory martin ( one of the translators of the bible into english ) cited by the said r. p. in his book aforesaid , pag. 101. & 109. diana 5. part . tract . de scandal . pag. 191. resol . 33. where he saith : a man may use the habit and ceremonies p of a false law , being in danger of death . see hurtado de mendoza , and others by him cited . and paulus comitolius , resp. moral . lib. 1. q. 47. when he comes to handle the question : whether a professour of the romane faith , being sent into those parts where the greeke church observes other rites , may goe to their service ; he allows it , and builds upon this reason . that by the law of god and nature , it is lawfull , and the precepts of the church ( if any there were that forbid this ) doe not binde christians , in cases of great detriment to the life , or soule , or honour , or fame , or outward things . see azor. above cited , for going to the schismaticall church of the greeks , where he saith , that a catholique hearing masse in a schismaticall church , there on a sunday , fulfilleth the precept of the church commanding the same . see further the decree of the councell of constans . and martin the 5. which beginneth . in super ad evitanda scandala , &c. for the communicating with hereticks , as well in service as otherwaies . which decree extends it selfe further then to our purpose . for by the same we may communicate with hereticks fallen in a catholike countrey , if it be not in point of heresie . yea , receive the sacraments of priests excommunicated either by law , or any sentence of man , so they be tolerated , and not by name excommunicated . see diana , pag. 175. col . 1. and the said hurtado whom he cit●th . if then we may communicate with such men , where there may be some danger of sin ; why should we not communicate with protestants where there can be no danger of sinne , as shall be hereafter prooved ? it is fourthly proved , by the practice of all catholikes in forreigne countries : for germany ; ( see for germany and france , navarr . lib. 5. consil. 12. de heret . ) and see the foresaid author of the answer , his words are these , cap. 9. pag. 216. and indeed if the german catholiques had beene so restrained , persecuted q and put to death , as the english have beene these yeers ; and had not gone by halfes with the protestants as in some places the have done : they had had perhaps farre more catholiques at this day , and them more zealous ; and their whole nation perchance , reduced ere this . thus he . where is to be noted , that his ( perhaps and perchance ) are nothing worth . for by their going to church ( as he termeth it ) by halfes with the protestants , their countrey became catholike long since ; whereas his zeale of persecution , hath not converted ours yet , neither is yet like to doe . for scotland , it is confessed by the said r. p. pag. 69. with his judgement of their miserie ins●ing thereby , ( but the truth of the miserie i shall shew hereafter ) who yet in plaine termes doth not deny my assertion , but here and there granteth that some learned discreete man , where there is no scandall , and in whom there is no danger of subversion , may goe to the church of heretiques , and heare their sermons . much more ( say i ) then to the church of protestants ; most of whom , are not to be called properly formall hereticks : for to heresie ( as it is a sinne against faith , and maketh a formall hereticke ) is required obstinacie or pertinacie against the doctrine , declaration and sence of the church . see saint thomas of aquin. 2● . ●ae . q. 11. ar . 2o. cajetan , bannes idem aragona art . 1o. suares disput . 19. de fide sect . 3. now what obstinacie can protestants be said to have in their opinions with relation to a church , they know not ? for they know none other but their owne : so that although they beleeve amisse , ( whereby they may suffer in the next world ) and speake hereticall propositions ; yet because they proceed not from an hereticall mind , or consent , they are not perfectly heretiques . adde that i my selfe in germany with other catholiques of the same countrey , have gone to a synagogue of iewes , without any scandall or having beene judged to have done amisse . ergo , i and others may go to a church of protestants without any scandall , or being judged in reason to have done amisse . and i can assure my selfe ( whatsoever others may thinke of my assurance ) that the lawfulnesse of going to church is the common opinion of all forreign divines that ever i conversed with , in any vniversitie . which in part may be proved by the fact of a certaine catholique lady , who going to church in england , sent her priest to paris , to have this case resolved by the sorbon doctors , who all subscribed , that a catholique in england might lawfully goe to the protestant church . that this is true , it may be justified by some persons of great qualitie yet alive . if any english scholler shall answer , that we went to the synagogue of iewes out of curiositie and when they did not exercise their rites and ceremonies . i reply , that to choose , we would have gone ( if we might have had private conveniencie unknowne to them ) to have seene their rites and ceremonies ; neither doe we set downe our intention of going : for if it may be done with any intention lawfully , especially where the whole matter of all their rites and ceremonies is alwaies conserved : ( to wit , a burning lampe with oyle for the soules departed , now as they conceive , in limbo patrum : a place where the oblation of oyle to that purpose is alwaies kept : the tenne commandements placed in veneration : a number of linnen rolles or bands wrote with hebrew letters , wherwith they binde the tenne commandements according to their distinction of feasts : the knife of circumcision and the like ) . which may be stumbling blocks to some weake christians , although the men to performe these rites should not be present , why should wee not goe to the protestant church with some intention lawfully ? where there are onely men within bare wals saying some catholique service by them pieced up together without any catholique forme , not to the possible hurt of any but themselves : and whether i went to the said synagogue out of curiositie , or out of the love of science , to reason with them about their tenets ( as then and there i did ) the more to abhorre them , yet i will assure you , that with neither of these intentions doe i goe to the church of protestants , and yet lawfully . it is lastly proved by reason : to goe to protestant churches is not of its owne nature evill ( according to the opinion of the above cited authors , or so much as per accidens evill , as our case now standeth which will be hereafter proved ) but a thing indifferent ; so that by a good intention it may be made good , as by an evill intention made evill . for the intention and object makes the act good or bad . but a man may with a good intention doe a thing indifferent . ergo , a man may with a good intention goe to church . againe , if it be unlawfull to go to the aforesaid church ; it is either because of scandall , or because it is a distinctive signe betweene catholiques and hereticks ; or because there is danger of subversion or blasphemie committed . but neither of these things there occurre . ergo , it is not unlawfull to goe . the minor i will prove in the three following paragraphs . § 1o. that scandall makes it not unlawfull to goe to the protestant church . scandall is defined by st. thomas 2a. 2ae . q. 43. ar . 48. and other divines ( out of st. hierom. in cap. 15. and 18. matth. to be a word or deed lesse right ( or lesse good ) giving occasion to another of spirituall ruine or falling into sinne . neither doe they take the adverb ( lesse ) comparatively , but negatively for that , which is not good ; that is : with hic & nunc in regard of some particular circumstance of time , place , or persons , wanteth some morall rectitude or goodnesse . this scandall may be divided into active & passive . active is in him that gives it ; passive in him that takes it ; both expressed in the holy scritures by the verbes active and passive : to scandalize , and to be scandalized , matth. 15.17.18 . active may be subdivided into per se & per accideus . active per se is , when a man with an expresse and certaine intention gives his neighbour occasion of sinning by some word or deed , either intrinsecally or extrinsecally evil . active per accidens is , when besides the intention of the doer , and nature of the act done , being extrinsecally evill , or at leastwise , having some species or shew of evill ; by which occasion is taken , to the spirituall ruine of another . passive scandall is also subdivided , into passive scandall given , and passive scandall taken . the first proceeds from active scandall either per se or per accidens , given and received by an other . such was the scandall forbidden by our saviour , mat. 18. ver . 6. he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that beleve in me , it is expedient for him that a millstone bee hanged about his necke , and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea . and this is called scandall of the weake or little ones to whom it belongeth ( as saint bernard saith ) to be ignorant and moved through weaknesse , and so be scandalized . for the perfect ( as saint hierome saith in the place before cited ) are not scandalized . passive scandall taken is , when a man out of envie and malice taketh occasion of sinne by anothers words or deeds ill interpreted and misunderstood without any lawfull or probable cause . and this is called the scandall of pharisees , which is a sinne onely to themselves , and not to be regarded of the speaker or doer ; as appeares by the answer of our saviour , matt. 15. ver . 14. sinite illos , caeci sunt et duces caecorum . let them alone , blinde they are , and guides of the blinde . hence divines with st. thomas doe inferre first , that sometime passive scandall may be without active , as it was in the scandall of the pharisees . sometimes active scandall may be without passive : as when one by his bad word or deed , or ill example , doth scandalize and giveth occasion to others of falling into sinne ; and yet none are scandalized , or take the occasion given , to sinne thereby . and sometimes they may be both together , as when one by his bad example giveth , and another taketh thereby occasion to sinne . secondly , they inferre , that no good works which are necessary , as is the observing of precepts , can give occasion of sinning to any man ; and therefore not to be omitted , to avoyd the the passive scandall , even of the weake ones , as well observeth alfonsus tostatus : because that were to sinne r mortally . ( see bellar. de script ecclesiast , & possevin . in verbo . alfonsus tostatus . which for no cause any man ought to doe ; but if they be s counsels which are not of necessitie to be done , or things indifferent of themselves , yet necessary to be done , for the safeguard of a mans life , or goods . then the scandall that ariseth to some by this , that others doe them : either proceedeth from malice ; and then that is a scandall of pharisees , and to be contemned ; and no spiritual or temporal good is to be omitted for the same . or it proceedeth from infirmitie or ignorance , and it is the aforesaid scandall of weaknesse . and for this scandall we must refraine for a time ( according to the example of our saviour , matth. 17. who to avoyd t the scandall of the iewes concerning his poverty , bid saint peter goe to the sea , &c. ) even from the workes of evangelicall counsels and things otherwise indifferent , although necessary to be done . or we must doe them secretly , lest the ignorant , whose minde is weake be troubled . this must be done , untill having yeilded a reason of our actions , and shewed them to be good , or of themselves indifferent , and necessary to be done for safeguard of life or fortunes : and so the scandall cease , which proceeded from ignorance . but if after a reason be yeilded , the scandall shall not cease , it is not to be esteemed a scandall proceeding from ignorance , but from malice , and to be contemned . neither ought we then to refraine from any the aforesaid actions to avoyd this scandall . thus abulensis in cap. 18. matth. q. 51. salmeron , tom . 7. tract . 29. estius in cap. 8. ad cor. 1. v. 13. diana 5. parte tract . 7o. de scand . p. 186. who expresly teacheth : that a man is not bound to loose his goods and temporall fortunes to avoyd the scandall of weake ones after an admonition and reason ( for the lawfull doing of the act ) be yeilded . lorca in 22. q. 43. ar . 8. n. 11. and divers others cited by the said diana . but if the great ones ( such as are priests and teachers ) take this scandall , and the doctrine , or action be profitable ; they are not to be regarded , for they are incurable , because they are blinde ; that is : they will not see and understand what both god and reason dictates to them . and he that is weake ( saith estius ) may be sufficiently instructed and taught , that his brother doth well , and that he ought not to be offended by his fact . after which sufficient and full instructions , if he persevere in scandall ; it will be the scandall of pharisees as is aforesaid . now to proove the assertion , which is the first branch of the minor. scandall , is a word or deed lesse right , apt to give occasion to another of spirituall ruine . ●ut to goe to church is no deed lesse right ( but prudently and chiefely right ) all circumstances considered . ) ergo , to goe to church is no scandall , and consequenter , to goe to church can yeeld no occasion to my neighbour of spirituall ruine ; but rather an occasion of both his temporall and spirituall conservation and edification . this minor i prove . to goe to heare a piece of a masse in english , is no deed lesse right . but to goe to church , is to goe to heare a u piece of a masse in english. ergo , to goe to church is no deed lesse right . the major i prove thus : to goe to heare a whole masse in english ( the nature of the thing considered , and abstracting from the constitution of the church ) is not evill . for the diversitie of the language takes nothing from the goodnesse of the thing . as is manifest in the greeke church , where masse is alwayes said in greeke . so that if it be not evill in it selfe , to goe to heare a whole masse in english , it is not evill , to goe to heare a piece of a masse in english. and consequently not to goe to church . adde that in the whole latine church ; where it is not lawfull to say masse in any other language then in latine ( bec●use of the long * custome of the church , kept alwayes on foot for this reason : that as the catholique religion w is universall , so should it be exercised in an universall language ) yet it is lawfull , and in use to say a piece of the masse ( as collects , prayers , psalmes , epistles , and gospels ) in any language of any countrey whatsoever within the said church . it may be here objected first , that although to go to church , be of its own nature a thing indifferent , yet hic & nunc , it is evill . for considering the circumstances of time and place , it hath a shew & appearance of evill , apt to occasion sin in another . from which we are commanded to abstain by st. paul , 1 thess. 5.22 . saying , from all shew of evill refraine your selves . to which i answer , first : that all the appearance of evill , which , going to church hath , is , that in england above other countreys , priests have not been freely left to the principles of divinitie or lay-men to their christian libertie ; but it hath been procured to have bin declared unlawfull upon false suggestions , and continued thus thought unlawfull by some erroneous judgements . which my neighbour likewise phantasing erroneously apprehends it a species cast from going to church , which indeed is not so ; nor otherwise , then if a man with a blood-shotten eye should behold glasse , & say it were red ; when a parte rei , it were white . it were very hard , if i eating fish in the lent , and one purblind seeing me eate , & apprehending it flesh , because he goes away scandalized , as thinking me to have eaten flesh , by reason of his false eyes ; that i should be said to have given him scandall . so it would seeme likewise as hard , if a broken phansie , or an erring minde should conceive evill species from mine actions , which a parte rei are no species at all of them , but quite contrary to th●ir species ; that i should thereby be judged to give scandall to little ones . no : i hope as the erroneous eyes shall beare their owne imperfections ; so the erroneous judgement shall beare its owne mistake ; and neither shall accuse me before god of the scandall of little ones . hence i answer , secondly , to the place of the apostle before objected , tha● the appearance or shew of evill , is to be understood ; first that it proceeds really from the act done , and that it be not only a conjecturall appearance , but morally certaine . that no man play tom-foole in striking him that stands next him without a cause . secondly , that the appearance proceeds not from a deed to be done of necessitie , either by the law of god , or nature . otherwise we might inferre the apostle to command contradictories , to refraine and not to refraine from such a deed , whence proceeds the appearance . for if the thing be commanded by the law of god , it must necessarily be done , or otherwise sinne . and if it were to be done by the law of nature ; the blessed apostle was not so unreasonable , as to bid us refraine from a thing in its owne nature lawfull , and of necessitie to be done ; without admittance of some way to avoyd scandall . although by reason of some circumstance , place or person , it might have a shew of evill , and so for some time be suspended , as some things of naturall necessitie ; yea , the evangelicall counsels may have . but in such cases we are to instruct and admonish the weake ( as i by these presents doe ) that although it should seeme to them to be evill , or to have some shew of evill , yet in very deed it is not evill , but good . and i am constrained under paine of death to do the same . after which instruction and admonition , if they still persist in their scandall ; it is not a scandall of little ones , but of pharisees and great ones . neither doth it proceed from infirmitie or ignorance , but from malice : and is not to be regarded . so that it seemes a thing unreasonable , and in the strength of judgement against nature , that a man shall more regard the trouble of his neighbours conscience at a thing lawfull , then the hazard of his own life , and ruine of his own family and fortunes in the execution of the same . see diana for this doctrine and all the authors by him above cited . if any shall here reply to my first answer of the objection , that the shew of evill is really in the act of going to church , and not as falsely imagined : and that this shew of evill appeares not only to weake and ignorant people , but to men of understanding of all sorts ; and not only to catholiques , but likewise to schismaticks of all sorts : who in going to church to save their goods , confesse that they doe it against their conscience , as conceiving it to be unlawfull by reason of the aforesaid declaration of the twelve fathers in the councell of trent , and the foresaid popes ; which whether it were gotten by false suggestions or no , they discerne not , neither doe they dispute , but simply obey . to make up the rime in reason , the more simple they . for reason may teach great ones , and men seeming of understanding that are schismaticks or lay-catholiques the contrary ; ( because nothing is done at church which is either evill or hurtfull : ) and both reason and learning priests . and therefore i rejoyce with aristotle : propter illorum cogitare , nihil mutatur in re , and say , that the shew of evill proceeds not from the act of going to church . for in all king edwards time , and the beginning of queene elizabeths time , untill the thirteenth yeere of her raigne , when all catholiques did or might goe to church , going to church by catholiques then being in fashion ; none took scandall thereby : because there was then , no shew of evill . and why should there be now more shew of evill in the act , then at that time ? if ye answer by reason of the aforesaid declaration . i reply that then the species of evill , ought to be in the said declaration , as gotten upon false grounds , and not in the act of going to church ; which any man might easily perceive , considering the nature of the act it selfe . and the experience of our distressed countrey teacheth us , that those indirect proceedings are more apt to generate scandal , then the act of going to church , which of its own nature is lawfull , and hath been lawfully practised and approved by the common opinion of all divines of any indifferency in other countreyes , and so might have been in ours , had it not been for turbulent people , who for their owne ends have more troubled the church in procuring of breves and rescripts then all other nations besides of our condition . to schismaticks , i say they sin not , in simply going to church , but in going to church with an ill conscience , as thinking that to be sin , and doing the same ; which indeed is not so : and the ground of their errour , they have had from the misunderstanding of catholiques . to weake ones i answer , desiring them to be satisfied , because i have and shall prove the thing in it selfe to be lawfull , and that i am ( as i have said ) in danger and hazard of my life , in not doing the same . so that by a naturall necessitie i am bound to it . which necessitie if it were not ; i might peradventure rest in the common maxime of philosophers . frustra fit per plura , quod potest fieri per pauciora . it is in vain done by more , that may be done by lesse . it may be objected secondly , that it is as much scandall to goe to church , as it was to eate of those meats offered to idols . of which saint paul speaks , 1 cor. 8. the eating of which in it selfe considered , although the apostle thought no sin in wise men , or great ones ; because they did eate the same without any relation at all to the idoll , as he seemeth to intimate , verse , 4. yet because some ignorant christians ( seeing the said wise men eate ) did likewise eate the same meats with conscience and devotion , as if the said meats had received some vertue or sanctification from the idol . saint paul exhorted the wise men , to abstaine from eating the said flesh ; for that out of mistake and misunderstanding of their eating : the aforesaid christians , then newly converted did take offence and sin . whereupon in great zeale he said , vers . 13. if meate scandalize my brother , i will never eate flesh , lest i scandalize my brother . so that one would thinke , that the blessed apostle would rather have chosen to die ( as the aforesaid words may import ) then by eating the said meats or any flesh to have scandalized his brother . and st. augustine in expresse termes , lib. de bon . conjugali cap. 16. saith : it was farre better to have dyed , then to have eaten of those meats so offered to idols , conformable to himselfe elsewhere : who likewise saith . that a man may not commit ( or occasion ) so much as a x veniall sinne , to gaine the whole world . which he that giveth scandall , must needs at the least commit . therefore what the said apostle and st. augustine said and thought of the eating of the said meats ; the same ought every catholique to take as said of the act of going to church . i answer , denying the consequence : and say that there is a great disparitie betweene the said meats offered to idols , and eaten in the temple with infidels : and the act of going to church . first , because in the meats so offered , there was not only a shew and appearance of evill , but a morall malignitie therein , as well to great , as to little ones . which although the wise did take away , that the said malignitie touched not them ; yet the weake neither did , or had understanding so to doe . whence the apostle said , vers . the 7. that there was not knowledge in all . for the morall malignitie ; that was in those meats to all , was a prophanation and impuritie in them , as being things dedicated to the idol or the devill . so that as a man receiveth good by holy ? bread or things sanctified ; so he receiveth evill by a thing : prophaned or maligned . which morall malignitie the wise taking away ( as i have said ) by blessing the said meats to the use of their bodies , and conceiving both them , and the idoll as they were in themselves , meere creatures , both created for the use of man , did eate what was usefull to eate without sinne . whereas the weake , not so much as considering the prophanenesse of the meats , but ( seeing the wiser eate ) with error of judgement conceived vertue and sanctification in the same : as being eaten in the temple and offered to the idol by infidels , and so with conscience and devotion they received the same : and were ( as the apostle saith , in the said seventh vers . ) polluted thereby . now in going to church , their is no morall malignitie at all ; in so much , that scarce the weakest man can invent how to sin by any thing that is there done . it being of its owne nature so indifferent , and to a good intention , good , that a parte rei their is no appearance of evill therein . if any one say that there is appearance of evill , and scandall by reason of disobedience , in that , the act is done contrary to the declaration of the said twelve fathers , and certain popes . i answer , that the declaration is , as if it were not ; because gotten upon most false suggestions , as i have and shall say ; and consequently the minds of the said fathers and wils of the said popes is to us in this matter as yet unknowne : and the species or shew of evill from thence proceeding , rather to be lamented then regarded . if the reply be made as before , that the suggestions are not examined , but the will of the aforesaid superiors hath alwaies beene held , as declaring that which hath been best for the soule , and dehorting from going to church , and that so by reason and vertue hereof , there results a certaine shew of evill , in doing the same , which maketh it appeare to most men unlawfull , and consequently scandalous . i rejoyce as before , that the instruction and admonition of the indifferencie and necessitie of the act , ought to take away all scandall howsoever apprehended : and that such as apprehend it unlawfull , and will not be satisfied , cannot doe it . and lastly such as will not be satisfied , but scandalized , are not to be regarded , as i have said before . adde out of navar man. c. 23. n. 38. that it is not a sinne in a man , not to obey his superiour , when he hath probable reasons to thinke , that his superiour was deceived in so commanding , or that he would not have given such a command , if he had knowne the truth . and if any shew of evill result , or scandall arise in that he is not obeyed , the necessitie of doing the contrarie act , being in danger of death , must excuse and take away all scandall , for in such a case no humane lawes binde as i shall hereafter say . i answer to this objection secondly , that there is a disparitie betweene the said meates , and going to church , in that the said meates were not to be eaten of necessitie : that is , there was neither hazard of life or goods in abstaining ; or more gaine then prejudice of soules in eating . and therefore it was more requisite , that the wise should abstaine in a matter of so little moment or necessitie where there was scandall , then that the weake should have been instructed and admonished , that it might have beene done without sinne , which is not so , in going to church . for in abstaining from thence , there is both hazard of life and fortunes , and as i shall hereafter say , losse of soules : and therefore of necessitie , the weake are to be admonished and instructed , that there is no sinne in the act : neither is going to church prejudiciall , but advantageous to soules , as experience teacheth . adde that if there were any humane law or ecclesiasticall law forbidding going to church , it were not to be fulfilled with hazard of life or goods ( as all casuists hold ) see azorius & navarr . consil . de haeret . above cited : if otherwise it doth not appeare forbidden by the law of god. for all humane lawes tend to the preservation and conservation of the whole man , even in the greatest state of perfection : and where by reason of keeping a law ; disjuncture either of soule or body may probably follow ; there that law is for the time to be suspended : as appeares in the law forbidding to eate flesh in the lent , saying the divine office , with danger of being apprehended and the like : where the weake ones are rather to be instructed of the necessitie of suspending the law , then the body to perish by keeping the same : the same say in our case . and i doe with reason perswade my selfe , considering the apostles whole discourse in the aforesaid 8. chapter to the corinthians , that notwithstanding his words , verse the 13. if there had beene no other food to have beene gotten for him , to have preserved him from famine , then the said flesh so offered to idols , that he would rather have perswaded the weake ones , that there had beene no sinne in it , if with due circumstances they had eaten , and how , and in what manner they might safely have eaten , and so have prevented his sinning against the brethren , verse 12. and striking their weake consciences , then by abstaining from that ( and as is supposed wanting all other food ) have perished through hunger . it may be objected thirdly , that those famous doctors of rhemes , william allen ( afterwards cardinall ) richard bristoe , william reynolds , and the aforesaid gregory martin ; who translated the whole bible into english with annotations upon the same , in many places , as well of the old testament , as of the new , held it unlawfull for any catholike to goe to the protestant church . ergo , it is unlawfull and scandalous to goe to the same . to the antecedent i answer , that the said doctors were reverend and learned men , and their worke renowned : but because they would have the same goe forth with more l●stre , as pleasing the pope ; and to avoid all opposition of the aforesaid suggestors , they forsooke the common opinion of divines in two points then agitated : the one , that the pope could not depose kings of their temporall dominions . and the other , that catholiques might frequent the churches of schismaticks . which they might well doe for their ends , being doct●rs , and giving some seeming probable reas●ns for the same ; the contrary opinions not being condemned by the church , but left under dispute . yet hence the consequence doth not appeare true . for if the aforesaid doctors had spoken from their hearts , grounding themselves upon the church or reason ; their interpretation of scriptures with notes , would with me in these poynts have had great authoritie ; and the conclusion have stood good . whereas now one of the said foure , to wit : gregory martin having delivered his opinion that it was lawfull for a catholike to goe to church , as appeares by the said booke of r. p. pag. 109. and 110. it seemeth they did not speake in that point their mindes freely : peradventure because it was not expedient for all sorts of people : which i confesse to be the best reason . yet for gods sake let us speake the truth in these troublesome times to men ( at leastwise ) of reason and understanding . againe the very reasons they give in their annotations upon the fifth chapter and 19. verse of the 4. booke of kings doe shew , that they did intend but seeming reason , and not wholly convincing ; for whereas for our opinion is , and alwaies hath beene usually brought the example of y naaman the syrian , permitted ( as i have said before ) by the prophet elizeus , to goe to the idolatrous temple rimmon ; which is most proper to our case ; the aforesaid good doctors reject the said example as nothing like to the same . 1. the first reason is , because of the time , for since the preaching of christs gospel ( say they ) we are more strictly commanded to professe our faith , then in naamans time . which reason i conceive under favour to be impertinent as well to naamans case as to ours : for the doing of an act indifferent , may neither be a profession or a deniall of faith , but a meane betweene both , viz. a not discovery of the same . neither was it more lawfull in naamans time to deny god , then now . 2. the second reason is , because of the place : for that the noblemans religion was not practised in the countrey where he went to the temple : and so there could no scandall arise thereby . this reason is in my judgement besides the purpose : for no more is catholike religion practised in this countrey where we goe to church . again , it proves not naamans case hereby more lawfull , then the going to church ; for there may be scandall , where a thing of its owne nature may be lawfully done : as there might have beene scandall in our saviours povertie , matth. 17. if he had not prevented it . and there may be no scandall , and yet the act unlawfull . therefore if it were lawfull abstracting from scandall , that being in our case easily avoyded , or taken away , the thing may still remaine lawfull . for if he that goeth to church be a knowne catholike , the weake are to be admonished of the indifferencie of the thing , and the urgent necessitie he hath , to doe it ; and so scandall is avoyded . if he be not knowne ; how can he give more scandall , then naaman did ? or to whom ? 3. the third reason is , because of the difference of persons , in that naaman had an office to serve the king in the temple , and therefore he might goe , lest otherwise the king should have thought himselfe disdained . this reason seemes to me very strange : that a man may goe to church to serve his king , and may not goe to church to serve himselfe ( when as charitie alwayes beginneth at home : and if a man be naught in or to himselfe , to whom can he be good ? ) or that feare of displeasure through apprehended disdaine , can excuse a man from doing that which were otherwise unlawfull ; as though a man were not bound , rather to suffer the displeasure of his king , with losse of his life , then suffer wrack of his owne conscience : and if feare of displeasure did excuse naaman , why should not the danger of death , losse of fortunes , ruine of posteritie , and the like , excuse catholiques ? 4. the fourth reason , and most especiall difference is ( say they ) that naaman made a promise before the prophet and his own train , that he would from thence forth serve onely the true god : and to that purpose carried earth with him to make an altar for sacrifice . whereas those that goe to the protestant church , doe not renounce all heresies , nor professe to frequent masse , &c. but ( pray give me leave to say ) they doe ; and that herein , there is no difference at all . for catholikes that goe to church are knowne to their confessaries , and their minde and intention is likewise to him knowne , as naamans was to the prophet . and if they be knowne catholiques , their beliefe is likewise knowne , at leastwise to their traine , if not to others , by their communion with the see of rome ; so that herein there is no disparitie at all . and if they be not knowne ; it is prudence to keepe themselves so , more then to their confessaries ; which is a sufficient protestation in these troublesome times . for i wonder by what law a m●n is bound to make any other protestation of his beliefe for the doing of a thing indifferent ? so that ( as i have said ) for the said foure reasons , and likewise because there is idolatrie committed at protestant churches , ( which i never yet could finde , as often as i have frequented the same , and doe hope to prove the contrarie ) the aforesaid doctors make it unlawfull and scandalous to goe to church ; and our case different from naamans . hence they liken it to that of eleazarus and the other maccabees , 2 mac. 6.7 . who were commanded by eating swines flesh to depart from the law of god , and their fathers . which ( say they ) by no meanes was lawfull to doe , or to make shew of doing the same : and a man may sweare it true . for swines flesh being forbidden by the law , they were bound under sinne , to abstaine from the same . and if they should have made their brethren beleeve in words , that they had eaten , they would have told an untruth , with dissimulation in a matter forbidden by the law , both which were z mortall sinnes : which is as farre different from our case , as light from darknesse . for we contend that to goe to a protestant church , is by no law forbidden , but a thing indifferent , and by a good intention may be made really good without any dissembling . and they bring us an example of a thing , which in doing , many sinnes are committed : so that for the reasons which i have given , i conceive that the authoritie of the said rewoned doctors concludeth nothing against our assertion ; unlesse the protestants were an assembly of fallen heretiques , where there were danger of sinne by subversion or the like , which can never be proved . it may be fourthly objected , that it is the common opinion of men , that to go to church is scandalous , because it is a signe of hereticall falshood , and a man so doing is reputed as fallen , both of catholiques and protestants . i answer , that it is false ; and experience teacheth us the contrary . for who made it such a signe ? and schismaticks that goe to church with an ill conscience , only to save their goods , notwithstanding in this , they are accounted to hurt onely themselves , yet of all catholiques they are trusted and esteemed as honest men , and of protestants they are esteemed no other . and they sinne not ( as i have said ) in going to church , but in going with an ill conscience , and being barred of simple priests from other meanes of salvation , and in doing so , give scandall . but you will say : they deny their faith in this act . i deny that . they deny onely recusancie with an ill conscience , and not religion . yet i grant that such schismaticks professe no faith at all . and if there be any other opinion of men concerning them , it is malicious and pharisaical , generated by the craft and deceit of others , under the species of pretended piety , making people beleeve , that there is sinne and scandall in the act , when there is none ; and if any protestant thinketh otherwise of this ; they have it from the erroneous customary opinion of some catholiques revealing the same . it may be objected fifthly . to communicate with heretiques is sinne , and scandall : but to goe to church , is to communicate with heretiques . ergo. it is sinne and scandall . to which i answer , first distinguishing the major : to communicate with hereticks publikely , and particularly denounced to be such , or in their heresie . i grant the major , but deny the minor in the same sence ; but to communicate with heretiques not denounced such , not in point of heresie , to be sinne : that is most false : for then we should neither eate , drinke , buy or sell , with protestants which is most absurd . which absurditie to take away , and all scruple rising from thence by communicating with heretiques as well in service as otherwaies , was the before mentioned constitution of martin the fifth , prudently made . adde that if we may not communicate with protestants in going to church , we must communicate with brownists in refraining the church , and so be thought the same with them , or else every one must be bound to get himselfe convicted for a popish recusant , that so protestants may know him to be a catholique and no brownist ; and so to avoyd water he must runne into the fire . if you answer , that so he goeth not to church it maketh no matter what protestants thinke of him , for catholiques know what he is . i reply then by the same reason , that if he goe to church , it maketh no matter what protestants thinke of him , for catholiques may likewise know what he is . i answer secondly , that the major supposeth what is not granted . viz. that protestants with whom i goe to church are formall heretiques : which i desire to be first proved . for an heretique is he that obstinately denieth any article a of faith proposed by the catholique church to be beleeved . how can a protestant be said obstinately ( which includes a knowne infallibility rejected ) to deny an article proposed by the catholique church ( as i have said before ) when he beleeves b none other church , but his owne ? for although protestants hold divers tenets contrary to the catholike c church ; which have been justly condemned in their authours as heretiques . yet whether obstinately held in them ( the contrary not being sufficiently proposed at leastwise to most of them ) i much doubt . for as diana saith , 5a. parte pag. 240. col . 1a. a man speaking heresie , that is , a proposition condemned by the church , without an hereticall consent , is no heretique : neither in curreth excommunication denounced against heretiques ; so that although they be incredulous d , and beleeve not the truth ; yet they are not properly , and in rigor formall heritiques . adde that there is no more sin , to goe to the protestant church , then to goe to them to dinner , or to goe with them to a play , or other sports . and i for my part had rather give twelue e pence to heare a sermon , then take five shillings to see a play . for there is no such sport as to heare a weake fellow speake fustian with gravitie , or tell a fable of the whore of babylon , or f babylonians ( for so now they terme catholiques ) with erected eyes in earnest . or why should it be more lawfull to see a play where most commonly intercedes scurrilitie and obscene gestures , and the end of which , is nothing , but vanitie : then to heare a sermon , where perhaps in some places or by some simple men , their may be some untruth told of the pope to please their auditory ; although most commonly nothing but moralitie , which is the end and intention of the same ? i pray resolve me ! § 2. it is not unlawfull to goe to church , because recusancie is a distinctive signe . which is the second branch of the minor. that recusancy is a distinctive sign of a catholique from a protestant is most false . which is thus proved . if recusancie be a distinctive signe , it is a signe naturall or by institution ; but neither can be said . ergo , it is no signe . the minor is proved . not naturall , for as hurtado above cited well observeth . actions and things are not of their own nature significant : but have naturall and politicall uses independent of any signification . for a bush hung out at a taverne doore doth naturally signifie no more wine to be sold , then any other creature whatsoever . nor doth the habit of a bishop naturally signifie a bishop more then a judge : and so of other things . no more doe naturally the actions of men . but admit that recusancy were improperly said a naturall signe , yet it would naturally signifie no more a catholique then a brownist ( for he refuseth likewise to goe to church ) or any other sectary . although a posteriori it might be thought by discourse to signifie some one displeased with the protestant church , but why , or wherefore , it would never signifie . not by institution : for if so , who instituted the same ? god , or man ? not man ; for it is out of his power , to signe the people of god , from not his people . it is only the owner of the flocke , that must signe the sheepe , and none other ; unlesse , it be by speciall order from him . hence when god would signe his people in the old testament , from the people of other nations ; he himselfe instituted circumcision , gen 17. as a distinctive signe betweene them and others : that whosoever had that signe , should be of his people ; and who so had it not , was to be rejected . neither was it sufficient that any man had accidentally , and by the institution of abraham , any other signe , by which he might be knowne from others : because he was not thought sufficiently marked , nor accounted any one of gods people , by any other sign then circumcision . which was the sole marke of god , saying : all the male kinde of you shall be circumcised . and this is consonant to reason . for one man may get a distinctive signe of another mans institution ; shall god therefore own him ? brownists ( as i have said ) have recusancie , doth it therefore follow , that they are likewise catholiques ? if a sheepe in my neighbours flocke should teare an eare in a bramble , or bush , or accidentally breake an horne ; this sheepe is hereby distinct from the rest ; yet the owner , doth not own it by that marke : but by a marke of his own institution and ruddle . so it is in the present . that god did not institute the same , it is so evident , that it needs no proofe . for where may we finde his institution ? vnlesse we should run to the all-knowing spirit of hereticks . hence it follows that recusancie is no distinctive signe . if you aske me , what is then the signe to know a catholique from any other sectary ? i answer . his beleefe of the creed of the catholique church , and his l●fe at all times in communion with the see apostolique . so stratford , lib. 2. de eccles. cap. 6. pag. 188. it may be here objected , first the common opinion of divines ( as the said r. p. saith ) 2a. 2ae . q. 3. to use a distinctive signe of a false religion , that properly is such , is a deniall of faith , and evill in it selfe . but the service said in a protestant church is such . ergo. i grant the major . for if the signe be proper of a people rejected of god as ( since the promulgation of the gospel ) circumcision is to a jew , the major must needs be true . but if the signe be garments or the like , used to the worship and ceremonies of a false law , which some fondly call a proper signe , then the major , meaning the use of such a signe to be a denyall of faith is false according to diana resol . 34. pag. 191. above cited , azorius , sanches , and many others there . because such signes being naturall things , may be lawfully used ( as i have said before ) independent of any such signification ; and so not properly signes ( whatsoever r. p. saith to the contrary upon his own bare word ) . the minor proposition i deny . for who instituted that service to be such a signe ? not god , as all catholiques will confesse ; but rather the contrary , it being catholique . not themselves ; for it would savor too much weakenesse , to thinke that they would institute to themselves , a signe of a false religion . and if it be taken for a signe naturally ( although improperly ) signifying : then i say of its own nature , it signifies no more a false religion in a protestant , then a pious ceremony in a catholique . for catholiques say the g same service . catholiques preach moralitie , and each h may if hee please , receive bread and wine once in a day , in a weeke , or a moneth , in remembrance that christ dyed for him ; and this shall be better done , then to eate bread and wine , without such remembrance : for receiving bread and wine : see that deduced out of azorius , tom . 1. lib. 8. instit . moral . c. 11. & navar. consil . 15. de haeret . num . 2. which were , but to renew ( in an urgent point of necessitie ) the old custome in the apostles time , as appears by the corinthian christians in saint paul , 1 cor. 11. who did eate and drinke in the church , besides what they received of christs institution as his true and reall body and blood . for after the sacrifice and eucharist was ended , there were kept church feasts for the reliefe of the poore , upon the common charges and charitie of the rich . by which the charitie and unitie of all sorts were much preserved : for which cause the said feasts were called charities of the ancient fathers ; and of saint paul , vers . 20. they were called coenae i dominicae , our lords suppers : because they were made in the churches , which then were called dominicae , that is , our lords houses : in which feasts , because there hapned , some foule abuses ( which the apostle rebuking , vers . 22. why have ye not houses to eate and drinke in ? or contemne ye the house of our lord , &c. ) they were taken away . see con. gang. 11. con. 3. laod. can . 27.28 . apollorum , can . 39. clemens alex. s● . iust. s● . august contra faustum , lib. 20. cap. 20. st. chrysost. hom . 27. in 1 st. ambrose upon this same place : by which it appeares no new thing for catholiques to take some thing with a good intention , besides , what was instituted by christ. here some may aske , whether it belongs to me out of my authoritie to institute or renew this pious ceremony in taking bread and wine in remembrance of the death of christ , generally for the prudent catholiques of england ? i answer no. god forbid that i should presume to institute or renew any ceremonie in the catholique church : but i doe onely in compassion of their miseries , present to their necessitie ( if any be in danger of death , losse of fortunes , or ruine of posteritie , and cannot expect leave from the supreame pastor of our soules ) the doctrine of claudius carinnus de vi & pot . leg . human . c. 10 : that even in lawes , every particular man hath power to interpret the same to his advantage , and to dispense with himselfe therein , if there occurre a sudden case of necessitie , and there be no open way and recourse to the superiour , much more then , said i , in a pious ceremonie against which there is no law forbidding the same . and if you reply that this is taken in a strange church . i answer , that in case of necessitie , the pl●ce is impertinent to the thing . for saint bonaventure , that great and pious doctor using much jaculatory prayers , and being upon the place of naturall necessitie , and there uttering some of the said prayers , the devill asked him , whether that were a place to pray in ? to whom he answered , in opusc . hic et ubique meum licet orare deum . that it was lawfull to praise god in all places : and to receive bread and wine in a protestant church from a minister , or to receive the same in a taverne from a vintners boy : the godly onely know the difference . if you reply againe , that so we may offer incense to an idol in a temple ( because we may burne perfume , and the idol we know to be nothing ) i deny that : and the disparity is in this , that in offering incense , the act and shew there tends to the honour and worship of the devill . for the place being dedicated to him , whatsoever is therein done as an usuall ceremonie is taken ( whatsoever the intention be ) as done to his honour . which act as it is unlawfull in it selfe to be done , because pretended idolatrie , wherein gods worship is given to the devill , at least in outward shew : so it is unlawfull to faine in words the act to be done , becau●e it is dissembling ( the object it selfe being likewise forbidden by the law of god ) both which are great sinnes , and apt to cause great scandall : which i shall make appeare , not to be in our case , where i co●tend , there is no sinne in the act , nor yet dissembling , nor the object forbidden . if you reply thirdly , that there is dissembling in going to church ( as going two waies in religion contrary to the scripture ) for thereby i seeme to be otherwise then i am : the reply is false , for i professe but one religion which is catholique , and at church i doe but observe the picture of true religion ill formed , which is but a humane act not hurtfull , but by a pious intention may be made good , by which all hypocrisie and dissimulation may be avoyded . and if i seeme to protestants to be a protestant ; what am i the worse for that ? i never yet could finde any law , to ground an action against the censures of men . if they censure me to be a protestant , i am not under their scourge for religion , unlesse they will on purpose make an act of parliament to cut off my head , which shall be no president for any other iudges or iustices : and then i must set up my rest with a noble man , saying , contra potentiam non est resistentia . there is no resistance against power . but continuing alwaies loyall both to my king and countrey , and obedient to god and his church , and in so doing , giving both god and caesar their due , and that without either sinne or dissembling . i had rather they censure mee unjustly ( yet according to the lawes established , for i alwaies stand pro rege & lege ) and so misse their aime by an ignoramus , then i loose my life by a pure might . but hence it doth not follow , for all their censure , that i am a protestant : for to be so , i must beleeve the 39. articles of the church of england , which is the definition of a protestant . which articles or any other tenents of theirs i meddle not with : for if i must doe all things contrary to protestants , lest i should be thought so ▪ when they eate , i must fast ; and when they sleep , i must wake ; which is ridiculous . as for their thinking me a protestant , it proceeds from want of knowledge : for they or most of them neither k knowing what a protestant , or catholique indeed is ( if catholiques went to church , they would not know how to distinguish , or persecute them ; it being lawfull among them , for every one to beleeve l what he pleaseth ) may easily thinke amisse of me . and for me to take benefit of their ignorance , and to hide my selfe in persecution , untill either the glory of god , or good of my neighbour shall urge me to discover my selfe : i cannot yet finde my selfe by any law forbidden . it may be objected secondly , that there were divers statutes made upon the alteration of religion , in the 2.5 . and 6. yeers of edward the sixth ; and 1. and 23. of q●eene elizabeth in hatred of god and his church , as that the masse should be abrogated , and all the kings subjects should come to church to heare such service as was then o●dained , to distinguish betweene catholiques and protestants ; and that whosoever should say , or heare masse afterwards , should incurre certaine penalties , as by the said statutes appeares . but no man could obey these commands without sinne . ergo. i answer , that i know not much to what purpose this objection can serve r. p. that made it . for all divines as well catholiques as protestants know : that all humane lawes binde in conscience no ●urther , then they are consonant and conformable to the divine law . and as farre as they command lawfull unitie and uniformitie to the good of the common wealth ( which is the chiefe thing that states men aime at , mens consciences being left to themselves ) they may be obeyed , as i h●ve said out of azorius tom . 1o. lib. 8. instit . moral . cap. 27. puncto . 5o. and for as much as concerned the abrogation of masse ( which by the law of god was unlawfull ) they did consequenter to the state government then ; for having rejected the authoritie ●f the pope , they likewise rejected the masse ; as knowing that there could be no masse without priests , nor priests without the pope . and therefore taking as much of the masse , as would serve for their service , and to be independent of the pope , they left the rest . but that they did it in hatred of god and his church : or for any distinction sake , it is altogether improbable . for what would a man get , by hating of god ? or the church , of which himselfe must be a member , to be saved ? or how could they make a distinction of that they knew not ; for the protestant church was not then knowne , or scarce established . and therefore without wholly granting the major , or distinguishing the minor. i answer , that every one ought under paine of damnation to obey his temporall prince in matters lawfull . yet to suffer for his religion , and ( abstracting from all obedience either to statute or resc●ipt ) not for recusancie . it may be objected thirdly , that of s. paul to the romans 10.10 . with the heart we beleeve unto justice : but w●th the mouth confession is made to salvation . ergo , no man can goe to church . i deny the sequele , and to the antecedent i answer , that according to divines ; a man is bound to confesse his religion semper , sed non ad semper : alwaies , but not at all waies : that is , not at all times , and in all places : but as i have said before out of saint thomas of aquin in the said two cases , viz. as often as the honour and glory of god requires the same , or the spirituall profit of our neighbour shall exact it , as likely to be impaired by silence : which to be requisite i have before granted . yet hence it doth not follow , that i am bound to goe into the market place and cry out ; i am a catholike , who will punish me ? or before i am called to publish my religion , to make my selfe be called ; or to live and converse to the same time , as having a setled being , and not going to church . i read that saint faelix going to martyrdome , s. adauc●us , came to the officers that led him thither , and said to them , that he lived in the same law with saint faelix , and therefore that they should likewise put him to death . yet i conceive that he had a speciall revelation for the same ; and that it is no warrant for our indiscretion . if it be replyed , that so a man shall professe no religion . i answer the inference to be naught ▪ for suppose a mans recusancie were never discovered , this man professeth some religion ; for he doth not live a heathen . why then recusancie being rejected , should he not professe the same ? if it be said , that it is written , that no man can serve two masters rightly . yet a man may serve one master , and have a servant to serve him , or he may serve one master , and keepe or use that masters picture , howsoever ill it be drawne . it may be objected fourthly , that the rescript of pope paul the fifth , in which he writes to the catholiques of england , declareth , that they ought not to goe to the churches of heretiques , or heare their sermons without detriment of the divine worship , and their owne salvation . to which i answer , that the said pope wrote both piously , fatherly , and apostolically , according to the aforesaid suggestions by him received : and if he had had the truth of the state of england , i beleeve he would have written as piously the contrary . for put the case , that those zealous suggestors had presented to the consideration of the councel of trent , or the pope himselfe the truth and lawfulnesse of catholiques going to church , with these seven reasons following : supposing an absolute necessitie . 1. first that there is no evill or harme done or said in the protestant churches to the prejudice of any catholike soule , that may not either be hindred , or prevented very well , by the instruction of priests ; for they preach not against any notable point of doctrine held in the catholique church ( although m some simple minister for want of matter may glance at some of our tenets by halfes understood : or in these daies to please his auditorie may raile against the pope , which he doth so irrationally , that few protestants of any judgement do beleeve him ) for if he should seriously preach controversies as insisting seriously upon the true doctrine of both sides , his auditors ( or at lest some of them ) would be apt to doubt , and so to search and dive further into the truth : for as saint augustine saith , doubt begets science , which might be an occasion of somes falling from him , which fearing , he is silent in doctrine , and onely teacheth moralitie : which why a man may not heare in urgent extremity from any man , i cannot conceive . 2. secondly , that their going to church , would be a conservation and a preservation of their lands and goods , with a prevention of ruine to the family and posterity . 3. that it would be a means to obtaine and purchase the love of their neighbours ; and a meanes of their conversion by an affable conversation ; by which likewise they might beare the greatest offices in the common wealth : and become n parliament men as well as others : of whom and whose power and force in matters of religion , these dayes can somewhat declare . 4. fourthly , that it would be a meanes , that whereas priests leave their colledges , and now live in private mens houses , to the benefit of one or two , and to the great danger of themselves and their patrons ; they might by this meanes more freely converse with all sorts of people after an apostolicall manner , and convert many to the honour of god , the increase of his church , and good of their owne soules . whereas now they doe little good out of that private house , unlesse maintaine some decayed gentlewomen in good clothes to gossip up and downe ; and like bels to ring their praises , that they may fish one in a yeere to the disparagement of their function , and great prejudice of their mission . 5. fifthly , that divers schismaticks that now goe to church with an ill conscience , and thinke themselves in state of damnation , doe suffer spirituall detriment , and oftentimes being prevented with sudden death everlastingly perish . 6. sixthly , many thousands that are very morall and well affected protestants , were it not for the stop of recusancie would become catholiques . which , rather then they will undoe themselves and family , now will not heare of it . 7. seventhly , that no poore catholique that is not able to give twenty pound per annum with their children to some colledge beyond the seas , can bring them up , either in science or any other art or trade by reason of recusancie : and this , to the ruine of all poore people : many having a very great charge , and small revenues ; and part of that likewise taken away for recusancie . againe , if the aforesaid suggestions had presented to their consideration , the meanes and wayes of conversions of kingdomes in generall , as that they ought to be done either by miracles , warre , or policie . and have reasoned , that for miracles , they were not to be expected ; for that those , god ordinari●y granted but to infidels , and where by secondary causes , they were not probably fezible : that by warre they could not be done , without a great deale of blood-shed , which ought to be avoyded ; and most commonly with a great deale of rebellion and treachery , which were utterly unlawfull . and that they were fezible in policie , by civilly conversing , intermingling and insinuating themselves by degrees into the conversation of all sorts of people . so that in time a good effect might have been wrought : would not this discourse have been more consonant to truth and charitie , and lesse displeasing or odious to our state of england , then to suggest that they are idolatrous hereticks , blasphemers of god and his church , professours ( as indeed they are not because they know the true and sincere professe it ) of a false religion , subverters of souls ( but poore ones god wote ) , abominable scandalous people , &c. and that it was a scandal for good people to converse with them in things indifferent , and therfore desire that it might be declared unlawfull , & cōmanded that no catholike might converse w th them , as in christian libertie otherwise he might lawfully do ? thereby to introduce for their own ends , our now goodly distinctive sign of recusancie ? i appeale to any wise mans judgement . and whether the aforesaid rescript and other briefs were not gotten by meere suggestion ( the case being truly set down by me as it is ) i appeale likewise to the pope himselfe : who , to mine owne knowledge hath been likewise lately notably abused in the like manner . ann. 1639. one francis damport , alias a sancta clara. o being at london , and having written a booke ( called deus , natura , gratia ) which being disliked by one day a franciscan , and through the same dislike at rome , being there called into the inquisition , was so much displeased both with his holinesse and the said day ; that he publiquely ●eered the pope : saying ▪ that whereas before he thought him infallible ( which he never thought to my knowledge ) now he saw that he was fallible as other men were . and indeavouring revenge against the said day , substituted a most ignorant and lewd man one george perrott ( his ordinary broker in seditious matters ) to goe with the s●id a sancta clara his instructions to signior gregory pauzana then the popes agent in london ; accusing the said day with much zealous hypocrisie , that he had put forth certaine pictures to the hurt of gods church , and infinite scandall of protestants . after went a sancta clara cum tanta gravitate , seconding with an abominable deale of zeale and authoritie ( having then got himself to be provinciall ) the complaint of the said perrot . hereupon the said signior with the said a sancta clara's sollicitor , luke wadding an irishman in rome complaines to the pope : and obtaines upon the former mens suggestions , a terrible bull against the said day being never cited to answer , admonished , or knowing any thing thereof . the bull being come to the said a sancta clara his lodging in fleetstreet and safe in his deske , he did me the honour to shew me the same . which i read , and asking the said a sacta clara why he procured it , he told me , for the said day his putting forth of the said pictures , who likewise said , that the said day knew nothing of the same : and therefore desired me to be silent . at which , i was much astonished , and knowing very certainly the ground of the whole businesse to be false ; and therefore that both the said day , the popes agent , and the pope himselfe were most horribly abused ; i thought that if the said a sancta clara were permitted in this manner to abuse men ; the best men living might be censured , excommunicated , degraded ; and what not without ever being heard ? which is no practise among heathens . as for the setting forth of the said pictures , the matter in them contained , as being from my purpose , i omit , yet thus much will i speake that it was a thing approved of , through the whole catholique church : the said pictures themselves liked , yea desired of the said day his superiours : who to this day doe acknowledge their approbation of the same , countenanced by the said a sancta clara , perrott , and all others ever after they were put forth , for the space of above ten yeers before , to mine own knowledge . a booke at the same time ( of a sancta clara his complaint ) printed at doway in defence of the same , never proved by oath that any of the said pictures ever came to the hands of any one protestant . neither doe i thinke that any one protestant ( unlesse it might be such , as a sancta clara had suborned for his own revenge to speake against the same ) ever saw any of them : and therefore there could be no indiscretion or scandall by them proved . nay , the said pictures being made for some particular friends devotion , not so much as one catholique to an hundred had or knew of them : but contrariwise some that had them from the said perrott , were scandalized through weaknesse by the said a sancta clara his questioning of them in this manner , as though that should be set forth for their devotion , that in it selfe was false . yet notwithstanding all this , the malicious suggestions of the said a sancta clara against this mans doings , did so farre prevaile , that dayes innocency was thought worthy to be condemned by the said bull for doing a pious and a religious act . this indeed i must say , that the said a sancta clara when he had him at his mercy , through the remorse and sting of his own conscience , durst not promulgate the said bull , but kept it dead in his deske , for feare that those who otherwise honour the popes bulls honestly and lawfully gotten , would have called him to the kings bench barre for bringing in of this . and had he not taken the benefit of the proclamation of banishment ( notwithstanding his ambitious and seditious wit ) he would have been not only questioned for this bull , but likewise for other matters of a farre fouler nature , which made it high time for him to run . let any man now judge , whether the popes holinesse doth not suffer much by hypocriticall suggestions : whether he that so notoriously abused him in words , did not likewise doe it in deeds . for about the same time , when the said bull came over , his said booke likewise came out of the inquisition : at which newes the said a sancta clara again grudging that his said book should be so questioned , and yet passe ( although by her majesties servants means , if a sancta clara himselfe may be beleeved ) unblemished ; told divers persons seriously speaking , that there was never an able man in rome . to which some replying , yes : the pope , and court of cardinals : in faith ( quoth he ) no ; ( making a signe of contempt with his hand ) they are slight and weake fellows . here is a fellow to get buls ! here is one that got himselfe made the popes protonotary , and bound himselfe by oath , to reveale whatsoever he heard or saw done evilly against the pope ! yet he is as ready as any to abuse him . i wonder what account he can give to the pope of this his office : but it should seeme , that he did except himselfe in his oath , that he might evilly intreat him at his pleasure . that this is true , it will be deposed upon oath by divers witnesses , whensoever his holinesse will be pleased to exact the same . and further the said a sancta clara added , that he was writing a booke ( conceiving as it should seeme , the whole church to be weake , and to want his helpe ) wherein he would shew , what rules generall councels ought to observe in declaring matters of faith ; which rules ( as he said ) not observed , the councell should not be held lawfull . oh abominable presumption and ambition ! let any man judge , whether this man be not descending to lucifer , who will presume to be copartner with the holy ghost , in directing and ●eaching his church ? if this man live , we may perchance in time have broached a quaternitie in divinis ; but i hope that god will prevent his hereticall humour . and thus leaving the said a sancta clara to him that will have him : my intent here is , only to shew upon what unjust grounds by suggestion a bull may be gotten from rome . and whether the aforesaid suggestors for recusancy , who lived at the popes doores , and continually at his , or their favorites sides , might not also get their rescripts , buls and declarations by the like fraud , for their own ends , although questionlesse with the like pretended zeale and pietie i leave to every mans conscience to judge . for as in catholique countreys where buls and breves are directed to bishops of diocesses there can be no thought of any sinister proceedings : so out of such countreys where particular men or corporations busie themselves in procuring such buls , &c. there is never want of suspition and most commonly of abusive dealing . and it stands with reason : because particular men would never sue for generall briefs concerning a whole state , or trouble themselves more then others , if it were not for their own ends , and did not concerne themselves above the rest . and therefore the ancient pietie and apostolicall clemencie of popes in such cases hath been , patiently to heare wherein they have been misinformed and abused ; for it is not their intention at any time to grant any thing either upon a veyled truth , or unjust ( though speciously suggested ) grounds . hence alexander the third , writing to an archbishop of canterbury , gives a rule of large extent ; extra de rescript . ex parte . that in these kinde of letters ( that is , such as proceed upon information , as our case is ) this condition ( if the request bee upon true grounds ) is ever understood , though it be not expressed . and writing to the archbishop of ravenna , ibidem he saith , siquando , if at any time we write such things to you , as exasperate your minde , you must not be troubled ; but diligently considering the qualitie of the businesse , whereof we write , either reverently fulfill our command , or pretend by your letters a reasonable cause why you cannot : for we will endure patiently , if you forbeare to performe that , which was suggested to us , by evill information : by which appeares the worthy integritie of the see apostolique , howsoever it be by the unworthinesse of flattering hypocrites oftentimes abused . §. 3. that it is not unlawfull to goe to church for feare of danger of subversion or blasphemy , which is the third and last branch of the minor to be proved . which i prove thus . not danger of subversion : for to what purpose should they preach subversive doctrine ? when that supposeth a knowledge in the minister of some people there present to be subverted . which supposition is false , and must needs savour of a broken fancie . for the minister intends no more , then to exhort his auditors to a good life , and to instruct them in moralitie . for as i have said , if he should preach controversies , he must know some catholiques to be there ; or otherwise he would but ingender doubts among protestants , and doubts science : and by that meanes would more trouble and disturbe the mindes of the people , then profit them ; which out of prudencie , he forbeares : and so contents himselfe now and then , with an untruth , and away . and in catholique countries i my selfe have heard priests rebuked for preaching of controversies to a catholique auditorie , as being a meanes rather to disturbe them , then profit them , as troubling themselves with doubts of things either above their reach and capacitie ; or whereof otherwise they are infallibly certaine : so that generally controversies are never preached , unlesse it be to bring people from their doubts , to a better and greater certaintie then they were in before ; which hath onely place among people newly converted , or staggering in their religion . secondly . a man is said to be in danger , when that which is feared commonly & oftner hapneth then the contrary : so a man is in danger of subversion by going to a place , where few come , but are subverted : but so it hapneth not in the protestant church : as is apparent by schismaticks of all sorts ; who many yeeres frequent the protestant church , and yet retaine their opinion of the catholique religion without subversion , and become catholiques at last . adde that going to church will rather confirme catholiques in their religion , then subvert them from the same : for then they will have upon their owne knowledge , what now they take upon trust : for if what is done in protestants churches , be opposite to what is done in catholique churches ( as the contrarie opinion useth to say , comparing them to light and darkenesse , which are privative opposites according to dialecticks ; although the comparison be false ) i say , opposita per se posita magis elucescunt : opposites being set together doe more clearely shew each other ; then that which is best , sends the best species to the power from the object , and consequently to be embraced . now if a man hath the best already , it will then more clearely appeare ; and he is not so mad , as to leave the best , and take the wor●● ; but will be more sure and certain , that he hath the best : as seeing the opposite , and confirme himselfe the●ein . this appeares true to every meane capacitie : what danger then can there be in going to church ? shall we be afraid to let a greyhound goe into the p field , for feare he should be taken by an hare ? thirdly , those that goe to church , either they were borne catholiques , or converted protestants ; if the latter : then that which moved them to become catholiques , cannot move them to be protestants againe . if the first , it were a wonderfull thing , that hearing a little moralitie , should make them fall from the doctrine they were brought up in all their life : or hearing a small piece of controversie mentioned ( if it should so happen ) by a minister , they should be presently carried away from the doctrine they have so long knowne , and never once tell it to the priests , they daily converse with : especially when they goe not out of any dislike of their religion , but with a cleare conscience for some other ends . i conceive it would rather confirme them , in hearing that spoken , which in their owne conscience they know to be untrue , that it will be so farre from troubling or striking their consciences , that they will come home rejoycing at the truth , which they heard that day impugned : as that they heard the minister speake of such , or such a point : as that catholiques adored q p●ctures , or the like ; which they knew in their owne con●sciences to be false , and thereby stirre up an earnestnesse in them in religion , as zealing their owne being opposed by falshood : and this may ingender such passion or distraction in the hearer , that it may be thought zeale of religion or heate of devotion . which heate , if after this fight of contrarieties or opposition , should not be allayed ( the parties being as it were swallowed up , with zeale of the house of our lord ) and the dislike of the sermon as fraught with untruths , seeme too troublesome : they may depart the church , for there be many cases of necessitie , to make a man go out of the church , and as many likewise to make him come short of the same : as to service ( if it stand : if not , there is the lesse to be done , and it shall never trouble me ) sermon , or both : for as there are many waies to the wood , so there are many waies to the protestant church . and i have alwaies observed , that most commonly catholiques converted from protestancie , have been more firme and solid in religion , as knowing both , then those that never knew but one . and if schismaticks ( of whom i have before spoken ) from the wisest to the meanest of capacity , that notwithstanding they goe to church , and are voyd of grace , are never so much as shaken from their intention of being catholiques , or their opinion of catholique religion ; why should those that abound so much with gods grace and professed catholiques , be said to be in danger , or feared to swerve from a religion they so well know ? as for blasphemie there is likewise none . if you reply ( as the contrary opinion useth to doe out of saint thomas 2a. 2ae . q. 13. art . 1. and 2. ) that protestants out of a set intent and purpose ascribe their heresies to gods revelation , and denie his revelations to orthodox articles of faith , in which consists blasphemy , and without this blasphemy they cannot preach : and therefore no catholique can goe to church . i answer the antecedent to be false ; and this blasphemie to be much like the rhemists idolatry , as preferring and embracing their owne opinions before god : and so honouring a creature and rejecting their creator : but in truth and charitie , we ought not to make them worse then they are : for blasphemie and idolatrie being sinnes , there must be some formall intention in the sinner to deny god his due in what he doth . and so likewise there must be an intention of committing idolatry ; that is , of preferring and embracing that which is a morally knowne creature before the creator ; and so to give the creature what is due to the creator : or otherwise there can be neither blasphemie nor idolatry . as no man will say , that i eating flesh on a fasting day unknowne or forgotten , commit idolatry in preferring my belly before the law of gods church , and consequently god , because i had no intention thereto : so no man can say that in the protestant church there is formall idolatry or blasphemy , because they mistake . for diana saith , 5a. parte tract . de par . mamae . resol . pag. 138. that blasphemy is a sinne , in that contumelious words are spoken against god with a minde or intention to dishonour god , either directly , or indirectly , virtually , or interpretative . now in the protestant churches what contumelious words are spoken against god with a minde , & c ? if you say as before , that they ascribe their heresies to gods revelation , and deny his revelation to orthodoxe articles . i answer , th●t their minds and intentions are not so much as interpretativè to dishonour god thereby ; or indeed so to ascribe their heresies . for if they knew their opinions to be heresies , and the tenents they reject to be orthodoxe articles , as we do by the light of faith ; it would evidently follow , that they spake sometimes contumeliously against god , which they doe not know , but simply interpret scripture according to their owne fancies , and therein they erre and mistake . and because they doe not endeavour the meanes to search and know the truth , by the definitions of councels , and doctrine of catholique fathers , they sinne : yet doe not commit idolatrie : for it is not their intention , to make an idol of their opinion , unlesse you take idolatry so largely , as every sinner may be said to be an idolater : because in every sinne there is an aversion from god , and a conversion to the creature : and consequently in this sense , all sinners are idolaters . and if it be unlawfull to converse with these idolaters , or the like blasphemers ; that is , such as sinne by word or deed ; we must converse onely in spatio imaginario , or as saint paul saith , 1 cor. 5. vers . 10. we must goe out of this world . there were divers very learned and holy fathers , as saint cyprian in the question of baptisme administred by hereticks , st. anselme and others , who did mistake and erre , before they knew the sense and definition of the church : whom therefore to call blasphemers or idolaters were blasphemie indeed . so likewise there are divers points this day controverted among catholique divines , as the immaculate conception of our blessed lady and the like ; the authours of which to count blasphemers , before they knew the sense of the church , were more then peevish . neither are they to be so accounted , after the sense of the church is knowne , for the time they held their opinions before . so it is with protestants , for although the orthodoxe articles are knowne to us by the church ; yet to them they are unknowne ; and to most of them so unknowne , as if they had not been revealed at all ; because they know none other church but their owne . and therefore what they beleeve , they have by errour and mistake , and not as blasphemy . whence in my opinion it were more proper and apostolicall for such men , as call them blasphemers and idolaters , to use some prudent and faire way , to propose to the aforesaid protestants , the true church , and the authoritie of the same , without all suspition of partialitie , and then they should see , whether having this meane of beliefe in a balanced judgement , they would attribute their heresies to gods revelation , and deny his revelation to orthodoxe articles , or no. to the authoritie of st. thomas . i answer , that he meaneth such as attribute heresies quatenus tales to gods revelation : and deny his revelation to orthodox articles quâ tales : as arch-hereticks did in this reduplicative sense to be blasphemers . but not such as take scripture for the revealed word of god , and misunderstand the same in a specificative sense , through their own ignorance or infirmitie , to be blasphemers ; neither did st. thomas or any other temperate and solid divine ever inte●d to say . it may be here first objected , that catholiques in the beginning of queene elizabeths raigne went to church , and so did likewise the catholiques in scotland : and they were all , in a short time subverted . ergo : there is danger of subversion in going to church . i deny the later part of the antecedent : and say , that while the plot of recusancie was working , there was a command got , upon the former suggestions , that no catholiques should goe to the protestant church . so by barring them of their christian libertie by degrees to bring in recusancie , as a pretended signe , betweene a good christian and a bad . which some few catholiques then beleeving themselves bound to obey ( as indeed they were not , but might as well withall reverence and obedience have beseeched the pope to have recalled his command ) refused the church . others ( and those the most part of the kingdome , as appeares by the afore author of the answer to the libell of justice , cap. 8. pag. 172. & 182. ) fearing the penalties of the said statutes , did not refuse : but continued to goe to church : who being neglected by priests ( being but a few then in england , and those of most power , being for the said recusancy ) as having no spirituall comfort , or instructions in what sense , they might truely and lawfully doe what they did , to avoyd the said penalties of the law , and likewise thinking that those priests thought them to doe ill ▪ in what themselves found no hurt , they dyed as they lived . but whether in protestant tenents or catholique : or whether they would not have dyed catholiques if they had had helpe , especially such as lived before in queene maries time , i present to any wise and pious mans judgement truly considering the state of those times . and afterwards their children being still neglected upon this point of recusancy , and living in ignorance , ingendred the protestant re●igion now on foot . so that the cause of their falling was not their subversion , as may be proved by witnesses yet alive ; but over indiscreet zeale in priests the chiefest heads of whom ( ayming as is evident at a temporall end ) neglecting and rejecting such as would not obey their unreasonable command : and in the same manner it hapneth with catholiques that now goe to church in these dangerous times . who going to church only to save themselves from ruine , and being rejected as judged to be fallen from the true faith by ignorant priests , and therefore not looked after , with any christian instructions or admonitions faine themselves protestants , rather then they will bee thought to live against their conscience . whence i may truely say ( and prove by the authour last before cited , who confesseth that in the thirteenth yeere of queen elizabeths reigne the third part of this kingdome at least was catholique ) that since the fall of religion in england , by this onely cheate of recusancie , tenne soules have beene lost , for one gained , which is both lamentable and damnable to those that were the first authors of the same . as for the scots : their fall was neither subversion or recusancie which was never generally admitted ( because not covertly procured ) by the clergie of that kingdome : but want of priests to administer the sacraments , and give them other spirituall comfort ; who seeing the soyle not so fertile as ours , and the lawes more severe ; those few that were , rather chose to converse on the northern borders of england , then in their owne countrey . and catholiques there , seeing themselves destitute of all spirituall comfort , went to church to save their inferiour portion from ruine ; who if they had had but plenty , or sufficiencie of priests to have instructed them , i doubt not , but they would have still remained catholiques . and it had been farre more easie , so to have conserved them , then fallen now to convert them . and thus came the bane of s catholique religion into both kingdomes ; which are like so to continue remedilesse , unlesse they be assisted by gods infinite and miraculous power . it may be objected secondly ; that divers popes , as paul the fourth , pius the fifth , both the last gregories , sixtus , clement , and paul the fifth , granted to priests their faculties with an intention , that they should administer the sacraments to onely such , as abstained from protestant churches . i answer that it is so said by r. p. but whether it be so in truth or no , i know not : peradventure such faculties might be granted to such as received them from the aforesaid suggestors hands , and to none others . neither did i ever see any faculties as yet so limited , nor i hope ever shall . for although the aforesaid popes might be inclined to the said suggestors tribe , & so admit of their suggestions , thinking them to proceed from zeale , and not from hypocrisie : who likewise thought their pretenses holy : and what a christian like thing it was , to suffer persecution for gods sake ; and what a number of martyrs were made in england , & sanguinem martyrum esse semen ecclesiae : that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church . further , what an abominable people protestants were : idolaters , blasphemous heretiques , subversive of soules , and many other the like exaggerating speeches ; upon which any pope living ( unlesse he had foreknowne their drift ) would have done the like . whereas certainly had they but made known , the true state of england in those dayes , and sought the good of souls ( and not themselves ) in truth they ought to have done ; the said popes would never have done , as they did to us , more then to the scots , hollanders , germans and other nations : by subjecting us and all posteritie by this device of recusancie to all misery and slavery . neither hath his holinesse that now is , ever declared any such thing , for i perceive that he ( better knowing by experience the said suggestors tribe , and their plots , with their moth-like dealings in most kingdomes ) will be advised hence forward , how he granteth any more rescripts , or limiteth any faculties upon their importune suggestions . as for our martyrs of england . i hope them truely martyrs , because they died not so much for recusancie , t as for religion and a good conscience ( although that might be a meanes to bring them to their death , sooner then otherwise ) . yet i dare not call all of them saints , untill the holy church doth bid me , as having approved of their miracles : but most of them i think truely to be blessed men , and of great charitie . for as our saviour saith , ioh. 15. v. 13. majorem charitatem nemo habet , quam ut animam suam ponat quis pro amico suo . no man hath greater love , then who layeth downe his life for his friend . yet i hope likewise others some , who yet live , to be as blessed , and their charitie or love as great ; although not so apparent for the present , because as yet not exercised in fight , but when god shall be pleased to call them to suffer for their religion , they may make it as manifest . for although a man of a thinne skin , and a veine transparent with lesse art strooke , doth presently bleed in abundance : yet no man may hence inferre , that a man of a thicker skinne , and a more obscure veine not lightly strook , hath no blood in his body to shed ; so it is in the present , betweene him that suffers for religion being discovered by recusancie , and him that suffers not , being undetected by rejecting the same . and in this they differ ; that as the one suffers for a good conscience sake ; so the other suffers not , with a good conscience . as for the said exaggerating speeches , they doe so much strengthen and confirme me , knowing them to be false , that i am morally certaine : that the said u twelve fathers in the councel of trent , selected by the said suggestors for recusancie were abused ; aswell as the aforesaid popes . and therefore as they are said to have granted to some limited faculties , meerely upon the said false suggestions ( which how farre they did binde , the suggestors at their pleasure , to great persons according to their custome , could very well tell ) they might as well have granted the same , without any such limitation , if it had pleased them : and i am perswaded more to the glo●y of god and increase of his church as daily experience teacheth . for it is improbable with me , and against the nature of an apostolicall mission , that men should be sent out of colledges into protestant countries to private mens houses , to play bo-peepe : as fearing to be seene conversing with protestants , and protestants not caring to come to them , for any matter of religion . i wonder by this kinde of conversation , what kinde of conversion could ensue ? whereas saint paul said to them that were about him , act. 20. vers . 20. you know how i have withdrawne nothing that was profitable , but that i preached it to you , and taught you openly , and from house to house . neither doe i beleeve that any man can prove any notable increase of catholike religion in england , either in great families or in small , from the time of this recusancie brought in , unto this present : onely this i see , a great impoverishment of the catholiques here , and halfe a dozen faire high colledges built beyond the seas , besides what common purse i know not : and this i conceive to be all the effect of recusancie ; for persecution ( as i have said ) begets prayers to god , and almesdeeds to his supposed servants , which produce great colledges for refuge to themselves . but some may here againe reply ; that if recusancie had beene rejected , and conformitie admitted , yet protestants would have had some other invention to punish catholiques for their religion . i answer it might be so , if some evill spirits had told them the proceedings of catholiques before hand ( as i never yet knew in my life catholiques private to themselves ) otherwise why should they have invented more to punish catholiques , then they have hitherto done to punish schismaticks or separatists ? the said suggestors had best invent for them some way more then they have already , to continue a persecution , which were but conformable as it seemes , to the said authour of the answer , &c. cap. 9. pag. 216. as is before said : who delighteth more to have a persecution ( although not to fall upon himselfe or his tribe ) then a toleration in religion . yet in the meane time , we had done the uttermost of humane prudence , and then wee might have left the rest more safely to god ; who ordinarily , what second causes cannot doe in working to his will , himselfe mercifully supplyeth ▪ and then at leastwise , it would have beene more apparent to the whole world , that we had suffered meerly for religion , and not for a toy , to wit : w recusancie . adde that whatsoever had beene invented either by oath or abjuration , or what else , it must have been done in justice , and i hope by a x competent judge ▪ or otherwise i should have taught out of the common opinion of catholique divines , as well schoolemen as casuists , that putting off their hats , they might have passed by , in justice : for as titelman saith , contra vulpem y vulpizare licet . it is lawfull for a man to play the fox against a fox . it may be objected thirdly , that it was decreed in the 63 canon of the apostles . that if any clarke , or lay-man did enter into the synagogue of jews or hereticks to pray , he should be deposed , and excommunicated . i answer , that it might be a necessary decree : because then there were but young christians , and they newly instructed , in very high mysteries , as the mystery of the incarnation , which was so hard to them , as that god should be borne man , poore , live poorely , and at last be put to so shamefull a death , by the hands of men , his own creatures , that the forcible arguments of the jews might have z easily perverted them . againe , the jews were formall blasphemers of god ; our saviour telling them himself ; that he had done those signes among them , that no other man could doe . whereby he gave them to know , that he was god : all which the jews rejected as naught , and said , that he did them in beelzebub prince of the devils . and when he told them , ioh. 10. vers . 36. that he was the sonne of god , they answered that he blasphemed , to whom he replyed , vers . 37. if i doe not the works of my father beleeve me not . and therefore it was requisite , that those christians should abstaine from their synagogue , least they should have fallen to have been as they were . the company of hereticks , the apostles might likewise forbid : because they were such as fell from and amongst themselves , and very likely particularly denounced excommunicate ; so that danger of subversion was there imminent : because their intention was formally to subv●rt , and infected with one or two points of heresie were not so easily to be discerned , as those that professe themselves so wholly different from the catholique church , that if they did but know a papist to be in their churches , they would goe neere to pull them downe to the ground ; and so borne and bred , as they know no other religion , but their own , and there doe so rest : teaching their own but to live morally which is both common to catholique and protestant . which motive or reason hath no place in our case , where ( i contend ) there is no danger at all . hence it may be generally observed that what scriptures , councels , fathers , or canons soever , forbid communication with hereticks : they are to be understood of notorious hereticks in point of their heresie , or particularly denounced excommunicated for heresie and fallen in catholique countreyes or from amongst catholiques . and not of such as are not formall and subversive hereticks , but borne incredulous in a countrey to be converted , and not knowing the catholique church . after all this , some may yet say , that it hath been a long custome with them to abstain from the protestant church above these threescore yeers : and they have suffered and lost much by refusing the same ; and can i have so little judgement , as to thinke upon mine own bare word or opinion to make them leave this their custome ? i answer ( how small soever my judgement be ) that it is not only my opinion , but the common opinion of divines in the catholique church : and i never spake with any priest in england about this point in my life , that was able to give me satisfaction to the contrary . some indeed have answered me , that it were lawfull , if it were not for scandall . others , if it were not a distinctive signe : and when i have urged , that scandall may be avoyded ( as i have before said ) and for a distinctive signe , i knew none , for who should institute that signe ? then they have answered , that a long custome had brought it in : i have blessed my self to thinke , that men should so unjustly deale with poore catholiques , as to bring upon them a yoake or fetters ; which they can keepe upon them by no other law , then that they themselves cunningly got them on , or chained them about threescore yeeres since , and now to kicke of these chaines , or their devises would prove ( forsooth ) scandall : because they would seeme refractary and disobedient to their suggestive humours : but to give me a reason why going to church was unlawfull before the refusall thereof became this supposed distinctive signe , or before the same could be cause of scandall i could never yet heare any man give : but only the aforesaid r. p. hath given in writing the aforesaid suggested untruths ( with a great deale of passion that this my opinion was thought rationall ●or almost fortie yeers agoe and since recusancy was brought in , ( as appears by his said booke ) of many most prudent men in this kingdome , ) which is to me no reason at all . for let us propose to any divine in christendome these three following questions : relating the true state of the protestant church in exterior actions ( for we meddle not ( as i have said ) with their opinions in matters of faith ) and withall adding that we are constrained to them under a paine of death , and losse of all temporall fortunes . 1. whether it be lawfull for a catholique to heare the prayers , epistles , gospels and psalmes of the catholique church among protestants in their church ? 2. whether it be lawfull to heare a protestant preach in the same place , some moralitie , although it should by chance happen that some ignorant minister should speake of some point of mistaken doctrine : as that catholiques trust in their b own merits or the like falshood ? 3. whether it be lawfull for a catholique to receive bare bread and wine in remembrance that christ dyed for him , as a pious ceremony ? and whether not better , so taken , then without such remembrance ? i dare say that there is no impartiall divine , but will answer . yes . and for these opinions i make no question , but if i had been as well backed in rome , as the said r. p. was , i would have got as great approbation to the same ; as he had to the same questions after his subdol●us manner proposed as followeth . 1. whether it be lawfull to frequent the churches of hereticks , where there is both imminent danger of subversion and scandall ? 2. whether it be lawfull to heare the blasphemous and id●latrous sermons of hereticks , in which both god and his church is notoriously and highly abused ? 3. whether it be lawfull to receive calvines c communion of bread and wine , which they hold a sacrament , and is a signe of hereticall perfidiousnesse , whereby a man betrayeth and denyeth his faith ? to which every catho●ique whatsoever would and must answer . no , but this in truth is not our case . for the beliefe of catholiques is not questioned , nor subversion , or blasphemie , or denyall of faith , either apprehended or feared . neither can they scarce possibly happen in the protestant church , as i have before said , but the question only is , what catholiques may exteriorly doe , for the safeguard of life with a good intention , and how , and in what manner , they may best converse , and preserve themselves from ruine with most securitie . therefore i pray forgive the said r. p. who proposed the said questions in rome out of his aboundant d zeale ( of money , and youth to propagate his family ) not once considering that it is an impossible thing for them to be hereticks , who never were catholiques . as for their custome of recusancie . i say , first that it is no custome , for a custome is a continuance of a thing time out of minde without any interruption . now recusancy hath been interrupted oftentimes , first by doctor wright who wrote against the same , ann. 1607. and since him master broughton , and now my selfe . neither hath it been time out of minde , for there are some yet alive borne in queene maries dayes , who have knowne when our recusancie was not in england , and thereupon in these troublesome times doe now goe to church . i say , secondly , that an inconvenient custome with imprudencie , is better broken , then kept : and the prescrip●ion of threescore yeeres not good . yet if they will needs claime a right in and to their actions by the same . i doe hereby promise , not to take it from them , by any suit in law . for i doe write , more to avoyd the scandall of the weake : then that i do thinke thereby to satisfie the weake , or rob them of their said custome . as for their sufferings and losses i am sorry for them , and doe assure my selfe , that they will receive a great reward for the same : because they suffered not so much , for the love of recusancie , as for the love of god : for whosoever doth the meanest worke ( no indiscretion therein being apprehended by the doer ) either for gods sake or for vertue sake , although of some ( considering the act it selfe , and not knowing the doers intention ) it may be judged indiscreet : yet the worke may have a reward from god , and yet another that doth not the same , no punishment . thus the three branches of the said minor proposition being proved : the conclusion standeth good for the lawfulnesse of going to the protestant church . me thinks here i heare some storme , that if this my opinion should be admitted as lawfull : it would follow , that they must likewise take all the oathes that are made against catholiques , which will tend to perjurie . to which i answer , that i would have them to do things consequenter , and any thing for safeguard of life , wherein their is no sinne . and to chuse : both the oathes of allegiance and supremacie ; which , if with patience they will but heare , when i have said what they are , i will presently prove , that they may be most lawfully taken . the oath of allegiance divided into eight branches . 1. i a. b. doe truely and sincerely acknowledge , professe , testifie and declare in my conscience before god and the world , that our soveraigne lord king charles is lawfull and rightfull king of this realme , and all other his majesties dominions and countryes . 2. and that the pope neither of himselfe , nor by any authoritie of the church , or see of rome , or by any other means with any other , hath any power , or authoritie to depose the king , or to dispose any of his majesties kingdomes , or dominions , or to authorize any forreign prince to invade or annoy him or his countreys , or to discharge any of his subjects of their allegiance , or obedience to his majestie , or to give licence , or leave to any of them to beare armes , raise tumults , or to offer any violence , or hurt to his majesties royall person , state , or government , or to any of his majesties subjects within his majesties dominions . 3. and i doe sweare from my heart , that notwithstanding any declaration , or sentence of excommunication , or deprivation , made or granted by the pope or his successors , or by any authority derived , or to be derived from him or his see against the said king , his heires or successors , or any absolution of the said subjects from their obedience . i will beare faith and true allegeance to his majestie , his heires and successors , and him and them will defend to the uttermost of my power , against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their persons , their crown and dignitie , by reason or colour of any such sentence or declaration , or otherwise : and will doe my best indeavour to disclose , and make knowne unto his majestie , his heires and successors , all treasons , and trayterous conspiracies which i shall know , or heare of , to be against him or any of them . 4. and i doe further sweare , that i doe from my heart abhorre , detest and abjure as impious and hereticall , this damnable doctrine and position , that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the pope , may be deposed or murthered by their subjects or any other whatsoever . 5. and i doe beleeve , and in my conscience am resolved , that neither the pope , or any person whatsoever , hath power to absolve me of this oath , or any part thereof . 6. which i acknowledge by good and full authoritie to be lawfully ministred unto me , and doe renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary . 7. and all these things i doe plainly and sincerely acknowledge and sweare , according to the expresse words by me spoken , & according to the plaine and common sense and understanding of the same words without any equivocation , or mentall evasion or secret reservation whatsoever . 8. and i doe make this recognition and acknowledgement heartily , willingly and truly , upon the true faith of a christian. so helpe me god. this oath according to every part and parcell of the same may be lawfully taken by any catholike ; as have averred both m. widdrington , sir william howard , and others ; who have so substantially wrote of the same with explanations of each branch ; that i thinke no wise man dares hazard his credit in going about to refute the same . yet the weaknesse of some catholiques hath beene so great , that they have not onely taken scandall , ( being of the pharisees not much to be regarded ) but gone about to defame such as stood for this oath to their great prejudice ; notwithstanding the said mr. widdrington in his newyeeres-gift , hath sufficiently proved , that besides the authoritie of many famous divines , it was the opinion of the chiefest secular priests in england ; but these uncharitable proceedings were hatched by a sort of arrogant and covetous people , who laboured to make every thing scandalous among catholiques that was not done by their approbation ; and to this purpose , the first principles were to leade people into scruples , and being there , to put a ring upon them , abusively tearmed , the yoake of our blessed lady ; by which they might more easily leade them to their opinions and censures , as men doe bears to their purposes . oh wise venetians ! how sacred are your lawes ? would a man thinke that such blindnesse , or rather envious peevishnesse could be in catholiques , as , what they understand not , to censure at their pleasure without any respect of persons ? and presently judge them as fallen men whom they dislike ? although indeed firmer then themselves , and very well able to teach most of their guides . but to the purpose , the truth is , that the aforesaid authours have so fully proved the lawfulnesse of taking the said oath , that no man needs speake more in proofe thereof , as not being able to speak better to the purpose . and therefore i referre every man to the said writers to informe themselves lest they demeritoriously suffer for refusing the ●ame . this onely give me leave to insert , as a caution to some , that considering it is contrarie to the popes ( forced ) opinion as appeareth by his declarative breve ; he that shall sweare or abjure the doctrine and position ( that princes which be , &c. ) in the fourth branch , as impious , hereticall , and damnable ( i conceive ) indirectly abjureth the popes opinion , as impious , hereticall , and damnable : and what a fault that may be made in rome ( especially by some suggestors , who although to mine owne knowledge doe teach , this oath lawfull in private , to men of qualitie : yet in publique , and to his holynesse out of a seeming zeale they will lament the fact ) i leave to the judgement of wise men . when as they shall sweare his doctrine erroneous in such bitter terms , whom they acknowledge to be the supreame pastour of their souls : questionlesse in such , it will be interpreted at the least arrogacie and presumption . and i for mine owne part should thinke it very hard to be forced to take the oath of supremacie in rome under any termes directly or indirectly misbeseeming my dutie to my naturall prince : howsoever he might erre in mistake . and therefore i doe humbly present the consideration of our case in this oath of allegiance to his majesties most gracious clemencie . this caution or consideration i present to such , as having taken the said oath , intend afterwards to converse at rome . but if death or ruine urge , then ( spectata conscientia ) i say as before , follow the opinion of sir william howard , and master widdrington as secure . for in such extremitie it is to be hoped , that his holinesse will be rather a pious and pittifull father , then too severe a judge . if any be urged to this oath out of any temporall preferment : let him follow the example of that huge divine a sancta clara ( an acquaintance of mine ) and take it in private before a master of the chancery , and get a certificate thereof from him , and it will be sufficient . here is to be noted the intolerable abuse which some suggestors did put upon the popes holinesse , concerning this oath of allegiance ; who procured him to send forth a declarative briefe , forbidding english catholiques to take the same ; as conteining many things plainly repugnant to faith and salvation : and by this meanes compelled him against his will , to make the doctrine adverse to the oath , his owne opinion . when as the procurers themselves , and their abettors did ( as i have said ) counsell in private , some men of qualitie ( who were friends to them ) to take the same as lawfull , as may be easily proved . and which is more strange , that they should procure it to be declared so repugnant : when as the doctrine to be abjured in the said oath wrote by santarellus was declared by all the sorbon doctors and sixteene of the chiefest jesuits in france to be wicked : so that what is held lawfull by most divines in the church ( it being the most common opinion , except some few that would seeme to flatter the pope ) should be held wicked only for us to take : but i conceive , as i have said before , that the intent and end of the procuration of such briefs is , that nothing should be thought good or lawfull in england to be done , without the speciall approbation of the suggestors tribe : so that if any man should doe what they have not approved , by vertue of the popes briefe , he shall be presently blasted for an heretick : and if he doe what they approve , he shall be saved harmelesse by them both at home and abroad , let him be never so bad . sed meliora spero . let any judicious man consider all the buls , breves and censures that have beene procured touching the affaires of english catholiques from the first bull of excommunication against queen elizabeth by pius quintus to the last before spoken of in anno 1639. against one who knowes nothing of the same , and he shall finde , by farre , more hurt done to catholiques , then ever good . it were a blessed turne if some order might be taken by our most gracious queene for the prevention of such mischiefes : which serve for nothing more , then to make schismes and rents in the church of god , and the pope , and his authoritie to be lesse regarded . it were more fitting in my poore judgement , that catholiques were succoured in tribulation , then by barring them of their christian liberty , in what they may lawfully doe , to adde affliction to affliction . i must say no more ; for i perceive that some beginne to swell , but the matter is not great : for i will write nothing by gods grace contrary to the catholique church . yet i feare they will breake before i have done with : the oath of supremacy , which is as followeth , divided into foure branches . 1. i a. b. doe utterly testifie and declare in my conscience , that the kings highnesse is the only supreme governor of this realme , and of all other his highnesse dominions and countries , as well in all spirituall or ecclesiasticall things or causes , as temporall . 2. and that no forreigne prince , person , prelate , state or potentate , hath or ought to have any jurisdiction , power , superioritie , preheminence or authoritie ecclesiasticall or spirituall , within this realme . 3. and therefore i doe utterly renounce and forsake all forren jurisdictions , powers , superiorities , and authorities . 4. and doe promise that from henceforth i shall bear faith and true allegiance to the kings highnesse , his heires and lawfull successors ; and to my power shall assist , and defend all jurisdictions , priviledges , preheminences and authorities , granted or belonging to the kings highnesse , his heires and successours , or united and annexed to the imperiall crowne of this realme . so helpe me god , and by the contents of this booke . where is to be f noted first , that in the first yeere and parliament of queene elizabeths reigne ; when they abolished the popes authoritie , and would have yeelded the g same authoritie with the title of supreme head to the queen , as it was given before , to her father and brother : divers especially moved by minister h calvines writing ( who h●d condemned in the same princes , that calling ) liked not the terme ; and therefore procured that some other equivalent terme , but lesse offensive ( although in truth , it is all one with the other ) might be used . vpon which formalitie , it was enacted , that she was the chiefe governour aswell in causes ecclesiasticall or spirituall ; as civil & temporal ▪ because otherwise there could have beene no colour , to make new lawes for the change of religion . so the abovesaid author to the answer , &c. cap. 1. pag. 7. and 8. and this was the onely and sole intention , of making the aforesaid oath : which was div●rs from the i ●ntention of king henrie the eighth , and consequently the oath not the same . for his intention in assuming to himselfe the supremacie was not ( as i shall say beneath in the third note ) to alter any principle of religion ( the supremacie onely excepted ) or so much as any ceremonie of the catholique church : but to give himselfe a more k licentious libertie in point of marriage and divorce , and to make the same libertie justifiable to his subjects ; and because he could not have the same granted to him by the pope , was angry and displeased with him , and tooke it of his owne accord : and for his sake , disturbed the church and clergy of england , and took away their lands , and gave them to his nobilitie . it is to be noted secondly , that we are to sweare , that the king is chiefe governour as well in all spirituall things , &c. where by ( all ) is to be understood ; in all things ordered or to be ordered by him , unlesse some exception bee made in reason touching the establishment or regiment of the protestant church of england : that the spirituall things were meant touching the church , appears by the very words themselves : spirituall or ecclesiasticall : and that they were meant touching a church to be established , distinct from the then catholique church in england : appeares by the intention of the oath which was ( as i have said ) to inable the queene to change and alter religion ; and to forme an l other church diverse , from that which then was ; which is the protestant church : and that there are some spirituall things justly excepted m from the king ; appeares by the declaration of queene elizabeth , in her next visitation of the clergie , after the said oath was made ; wherein she her selfe made an exception , and declared in print ( the same being published by her commandement ) that in truth she had not power ( we will not examine then , from whence her ministers power came she having none her selfe ) by the words of the oath and act , to minister the sacraments . neither had she any such intent , and that no such thing was implyed in her title , or claime of spirituall regiment ; nor no other thing , nor more then was before granted to her father , by the terme of supreame head : requiring all her loving subjects to receive the oath at least in that sence ( which was , she meant , that she might dispose of church matters , as her father had : and have power to forme o what church she pleased ) and so that should suffice her highnesse . it is to be noted thirdly that the aforesaid oath when it was made , was unlawfull to be taken by any catholique ; as the oath before made in the dayes of king henry the 8th . although when it was made , it was not altogether so unlawfull , as that of king henry : because in his dayes there was no p other church extant , or like to be extant in england , but the catholique church : of which q contrary to the law of god , and his own conscience , he made himself head ( as appears by a booke set forth by the said king himself , in the later end of his raigne , and many yeers after he had framed his oath of supremacie ; intituled : a necessary doctrine and erudition for any christian man , set forth by the kings majestie of england , &c. in which he sets forth the christian faith , then to be professed in england . which was as absolutely catholique , and the self-same in every point , as now it is in rome . and if any man should have sworne him the supreame head , as he intended of that church : he would have sworne false : as making the church a monster in having two heads : or depriving the pope of his authoritie granted him by god : which had been to have denyed an article of faith : but when the said oath was repealed in queene maries dayes . and another oath r of supremacie made in the aforesaid first yeere of queene elizabeth . it was as i have said to inable her ( not so much to be head of the church then extant , and to be utterly abolished , as ) to be governour of a new church distinct from the catholique church then out of hand to be propagated and established : of which to sweare her head , before it was : or to sweare her head of the church then extant , which she conceived superstitious : of which indeed she was not head , was in a true and proper sence unlawfull . and so continued unlawfull untill after the abrogation of masse , and perfect establishment of the new protestant church within this realme , and other his majesties dominions . which being established as now it is : the said oath of supremacie ceased from being unlawfull : because then there was an apparant face of a church ( distinct from the members of the catholique church , which then began scarce to appeare , in respect of the greater multitude ) of which only s she was supreame governour and chief head , and no other person whatsoever had or ought to have any jurisdiction or preheminence in the same , and all that were or are not of the same faith and church were and are in a true and proper sense forreiners to the same . it is to be noted fourthly : that a man may be said to be a forreiner t in a twofold sence . first , in respect of a temporall dominion . secondly , in respect of faith , whence ariseth a spirituall jurisdiction . in the first sence , all that are not natives of his majesties dominions ( although some lawyers say ) all that doe no homage to his majestie ) are forreiners . in the second sence , all that are of the protestant faith with the king , are domesticks of the same faith , and within his dominions only subject to his spirituall jurisdiction by the laws of the realme . and all that are not of the protestant faith , are forreiners to the same , conformable to st. paul , who accounted all those of whatsoever nation , or under whatsoever temporall dominion or iurisdiction in the world ) who were of the same faith with himselfe which he taught , were domesticks of that faith . and those of whatsoever nation or temporall dominion , that were not of the same faith , he accounted forreiners . whence he saith , gal. 6.10 . let us doe good to all : but especially to the domesticks ( or those of the house ) of faith . and 1 thess. 4. vers . 12. rogamus ut honeste ambuletis ad eos qui foris sunt , & nullius aliquid desideretis . we desire you brethren , that you walke honestly towards them that are without , ( that is , forreiners to our faith ) and need nothing of any mans . it is to be noted fifthly and chiefly , what conditions are required in every lawful oath : which according to the prophet ieremy , are three . viz ▪ truth , iudgement , and iustice : for he saith in his fourth chapter . thou shalt sweare our lord liveth , in truth and in judgement and in justice : upon which place the holy doctor , s. hierome noteth , that the foresaid conditions are requisite to every oath : of whom all divines have le●rned the same ; requiring in every lawfull oath , every of the said three conditions . the reason hereof is : because an oath being an invocation of god , as witnesse that what we speake is true ; it is requisite that we should use judgement or discretion , to see that we doe nothing rashly , or without due reverence , devotion and faith , towards so great a majestie , but we must especially regard , that we make not him , who is the chiefe and soveraigne veritie and inflexible justice , either ignorant o● what we say : or patron of a lye , as witnesse of that , which either is false in assertion , or unjust in promise . hence an oath wanting iudgement or discretion and wisdome : is a rash and foolish oath , that which wanteth iustice : is called an unjust oath . and finally , where there is not truth : it is adjudged a false or lying oath , and is more properly then all the rest , called perjurie . these notes premised , i shall now prove , the said oath of supremacie to be lawfull for any catholique to take . every oath that is accompanyed with the three said conditions or companions , viz. veritie , justice , and judgement ( in the opinion of all divines , canon and civil lawyers ) is a lawfull oath : but such is the oath of supremacie above recited in every part and particle of the same . ergo. the minor is proved , discoursing of every branch in particular , and first , of the first branch : wherein i sweare that the king is only supreame governour of this realme , as well in all spirituall or ecclesiasticall things or causes , touching the church of the said realm : as temporall touching the state , or of any other his dominions . which i doe sweare discreetly as a thing true and just . for there is no other supreme governour of temporall things to be assigned , but the king : as all will confesse : nor of ecclesiasticall things , or the church of england ; as by a sufficient enumeration may be proved . for the parliam●nt , is not supreame governour of the churches within this realme ; when as according to the naturall light of reason , the king is governour of that : and therefore not supreame . the primate cannot be assigned supreame governour , when as he hath all his authoritie of government from the king , and so he hath a superior . a lay-eldership cannot be supreame governour , for although it be unknowne , what it is , or from whence it receiveth its authoritie ; yet i thinke no lay-eldership so barbarous : as not to admit the king chiefe governour of the same . neither can the pope be any way supreame governour of the aforesaid church : because he professeth himself only supreame head and governour of the catholique church and of no other according to saint paul , 1 cor. 5.12 . what is it to him to judge of them that are without , of which catholique church his u majestie d●th not claime to be head . neither will he be governour w of any spirituall or ecclesiasticall thing therein , as conceiving the same both superstitious and idolatrous . ergo. the king must be supreame governour of the protestant church . that the king is ( only ) governour is proved : because none other can be assigned his equall in preheminencie of government in the aforesaid protestant church . for the second or third branch it is likewise proved . for i sweare them likewise discreetly , truly and justly . viz. that no forrein prince , person , prelate , &c. hath or ought to have any jurisdiction , &c. within this realme ( in the x said protestant church ) which i adde as before , because according to the intention of the law and law-maker ( as i have before said ) it was so meant . for neither doth his majestie or did queene elizabeth claime to be chiefe governour of the catholique religion , or romane church , or any jurisdiction therein . it being by them both ( as i have often said ) abhorred as superstitious , and abolished for the same reason by the said queene and state of england : therefore it is against reason , and a kinde of pettie treason to sweare either of them governour of a religion which they apprehend so evill ▪ but in respect of the protestant church established , the pope is a forrein person and prelate : and his jurisdiction forrein . neither hath he , or any other forrein person any jurisdiction in the aforesaid y church , or ought to have : for as i have said in the fourth note , out of saint paul : as all those that are of the catholique faith , are domesticks of that faith : and all that are not of the same faith , are forreiners to it : so all that are of the protestant faith ( of which his majestie is governour ) are domesticks of the same : and all that are not of the same , are forreiners to that religion . hence appeares the truth of the said branches : wherein is said ( in the second ) that no forrein prince , &c. and ( in the third ) i doe utterly renounce and forsake all forrein jurisdictions , &c. which i doe justly and lawfully renounce as well in respect of the protestant church , as of the catholique : for as i have said the pope is truly a forreiner to the protestant church : in respect of which , i must by the law renounce his jurisdiction . and he is no forreiner in respect of the catholique church , in which i am bound to respect him and his jurisdiction : for if all catholiques be domesticks one to ●he other ( as i have proved out of saint paul ) how can the pope who is chief of that faith be said to be a z forreiner ? his jurisdiction being as internall and intrinsecall , as innate and naturall to every catholique in the world ; as it is to him , that stands next him in his chamber at rome . and therefore there being no forrein jurisdiction in the catholique church , in every sence i may lawfully renounce all forrein jurisdictions . the fourth and last branch can have no difficultie at all , with any catholique . so that the words of this oath seeme to me so cleere and lawfull , since the establishment of the protestant church ; that it may be taken of any catholique without any the least danger of perjurie , or any other sinne ( scandall being avoyded ) or without mentall reservation or secret equivocation : that i admire that any man hath so long scrupulized to the losse of himselfe and fortunes : when as being necessitated to take the same , and scandall being easily to be avoyded ( as i have said out of diana and others ) he might have prevented his owne ruine with a safe conscience : as i conceive sir iohn winter and other men of estates did , who are reported to have lately taken the same . it may be objected first , that this oath thus explicated , hath no coherencie , the first branch with the second and third ; and therefore that it be coherent , and taken conformably to the intention of the law-maker , as we sweare the king to be onely supreame governour of the church of england in the first branch ; so ought we in the second and third branch to renounce all jurisdiction forreign to the same . to which i answer first , that coherencie is no condition requisite to an oath , but impertinent to the truth or falshood of the same : for there be many things of a different nature inserted in an oath . secondly , that there is a most perfect coherencie in the aforesaid explication : for as in the first branch , i sweare the king head of the church of england , so in the second and third : i abjure all forreigne jurisdictions whatsoever . which are the very direct words of the oath : for there are no words in any branch signifying a renunciation of all jurisdiction forreigne to the protestant church of england . whence there is a great difference between renouncing all jurisdiction forreigne to the particular church of england , and renouncing all forren jurisdiction . for a forren jurisdiction renounced is rightly described a power or right denied to be extent to the swearer by any law , and is more generall , then a jurisdiction forreign to the protestant church : which is onely a power not extent to a protestant quâ talis : which although it be forren to the said church ; yet it may be properly extent and appertaining to the swearer . so that it is intended by the said oath ; that as in the first branch , we sweare the king onely supreame governor of the protestant church within this realme and his dominions : so in the second and third ; we are to renounce all forren jurisdictions whatsoever ; which either the pope , or any other forren person hath , or ought to have in the same : which every catholique may lawfully do , notwithstanding that generall saying ; that the pope hath iurisdiction over all christians : for that is meant , a generall jurisdiction in the catholique church , either actuall or potentiall , extent to all ; which is forren to none : and which , by taking this oath is not denyed . i answer thirdly , that all penall lawes ( as is this law for taking the oath ) in doubtfull words , are ever to be a taken in the more favourable sense , and which makes the law to containe no falshood , or injustice . and therefore in this law to sweare , as the words lye , may be done without any inj●stice or falshood ; which is and ought to be presumed to be the minde of the lawmaker ; for no law or lawmaker intends perjurie . and therefore it is a frivolous thing to invent scrupulous crotchets , which the words doe not import . it may be objected secondly , that the oath must be interpreted according to the intention of the law and lawmaker : for as suares saith , lib. 6● . de leg . cap. 1. upon the will and intention of the lawmaker ( which is the soule of the law the substance and force of the law doth chi●fly depend : therefore it by any meanes , the will of the lawmaker may be knowne , according to it especially we must understand the words of the law . but the will of the lawmaker is sufficiently knowne concerning this oath , to make it apparently unlawfull for any catholique to take as appeareth by the words of king iames of blessed memory , saying , ( in his premonition pag. 9. and in his apology for the oath , pag. 2. and 9. ) that by the oath of allegiance , he intended to demand of his subjects nothing else , but a profession of that temporall allegiance and civill obedience , which all subjects , by the law of god and nature , doe owe to their lawfull prince , &c. for as the oath of supremacie , ( saith he ) was devised for putting a difference betweene papists and them of our profession . so was the oath of allegiance ordained for making a difference between the civilly obedient papists and the perverse disciples of the powder treason ; by which words it appeareth that king iames held , both the law and the law maker intended by the oath of supremacie , to put a difference betweene papists and protestants : and that no papist would take that oath , wherein the jurisdiction of the pope , was intended to be abjured , ergo , the said oath of supremacie is to be interpreted accordingly , all doubtfulnesse of words set aside ; and consequenter unlawfull for any catholique to take . to the major of which objection ; i answer first , granting the same . secondly with a distinction ; that the intentions of the law and law maker are to bee sought , when they interpret the law in a truer sense , then the plaine words doe , as they lie ; otherwise not , lest it want veritie . to suarez i answer , that himselfe saith in the place before cited , that if at any time the propertie of the words of an oath should induce any injustice , or like absurditie , concerning the minde , or meaning of the lawmaker : they must be drawne to a sense , although improper ; wherein the law may be just and reasonable : for this is presumed to be the minde of the law maker , as it hath beene declared by many lawes in f. tit . de lege . thus suarez . so that although there were in the words of this oath divers significations impropper and unusuall ; yet in the opinion of suarez , it might be taken ; and the words interpreted in the truest sense , abstracting from the reall intention of the law maker : how much more then ( say i ) the words being not improper , or unusuall , but according to the intention of the b law and law maker , may they be taken in the more favourable sence , which may make the law to be just and reasonable ? see for this doctrine can. cum tu de testibus cap. 16. can. ad nostram de iurejurando , cap. 21. et de regulis ●●ris in 6. reg . 49. in paenis leg . benignius f. de leg . leg. in ambigua ibidem . hence it followeth first out of the doctrine of the said suarez , that although the words and sentences contained in this oath , being considered barely by themselves , and without due circumstances ( to wit , the intention of the law and lawmaker , and to what end and purpose the s●id oath was framed ) may seeme to some doubtfull and ambiguous ( although to me they seeme not so ) that is , not cleare and morally certaine ; and so for one to sweare them in that doubtfull sence , were to expose himselfe to danger of perjurie : yet considering ( as i have said ) that such doubtfull words , are to be taken in the more favourable sense , and which maketh the c law to be just and reasonable , and to contain no falshood or injustice . if any one sweare ▪ those words , which of themselves are doubtfull , in no doubtfull sense , but in a true and determinate sense , and wherein they are not doubtfull , but cleere and morally certaine , there is no danger of perjurie at all . it may seeme to follow secondly out of the aforesaid doctrine , that such as tooke the oath of supremacie in king henry the eighth dayes ( which rather then those famous and glorious men , sir thomas moore and bishop fisher would take , they worthily chose to die ) were not to be condemned of perjurie ; because it might be supposed , that they being learned bishops and noblemen , knowing what belonged to an oath , did draw the same to some improper sense , which ought to have beene the intention of the aforesaid king to make the law just ; as if they should have sworne the then king , head or chiefe of the church of his countrey ; for that he was sovereigne lord and ruler of both persons spirituall and temporall : all sorts being bound to obey his lawfull civill lawes and commandements . and so in this sense ( although it be a kinde of improper speech ) every king is head of the clergy and all others of his owne countrey . or peradventure they might sweare him supreame head of the church of england ; that is , chiefe of the congregation of beleevers within his dominions : for so in our language , we commonly say him , to be the head of a colledge , court or citie , that is the chiefe ; and him to be chiefe who is supreame therein . the church being then taken by all divines for a congregation of men ; why might not king henrie be improperly sworne ( in the opinion of suarez ) head of the then congregation in england ? so that what sir thomas moore lawfully and piously refused with relation to the intention of the aforesaid king , others might without perjurie take with relation to the law of god ( abstracting from all unlawfull intentions ) to wit , that every oath be just and reasonable as being to be taken in veritie , iustice and iudgement : and so what was unlawfull in a proper sence , might at lest be free from perjurie in an improper . thus understanding the first branch ; and the second and third in the same sence before delivered , they might peradventure be excused ( as i have said ) from perjurie ; but never from sinne . for considering the state of england in those dayes , and the absolute intention of the king which ( well knowne to the whole world ) was ; to be sworne supreame head d of the catholique church , catholique religion still here remaining as i have said : his oath was as much different from this e now oath of supremacie , as darknesse from light : for by this , the queene claimed not the supremacie granted by christ to saint peter , as did her father : but onely to be supreame governour of a church , out of which , she would not onely discard the pope , but likewise roote out all catholique religion , contrary to her fathers minde as i have shewed : so that the question in the said kings dayes , was about an article of faith , viz. whether the supremacie were granted by god to the king , or to the pope . which article they were bound with losse of their lives to have professed being called thereunto : for then did occurre the times of obligation before expressed ( by saint thomas and other divines ) for the profession of a mans faith . as when the honour and glory of god , and the spirituall benefit of his neighbour should exact the same . now when or what greater honour could a man have done to god , then to have stood for the truth of the gospel , and defence of the catholike faith being so opposed ? and in whom could there have beene more edification and greater example given , for simple and unlearned men to follow , then in bishops and great men of authoritie . neither was it to purpose for them to alleadge , that they were in danger of their lives and fortunes ; for they were bound to loose both , rather then to denie any one article of faith . for although i have said , that a man is not bound , with danger of life , or fortunes , to abstaine from a thing lawfull , or of its owne nature indifferent ( as the going to a protestant church in a protestant countrey , taking the oath of alleagiance , or the now oath of supremacy ; every of which is farre enough from an article of faith , or point of religion ; onely more cryed downe , because out of fashion , then out of any grounded reason or judgement ) to avoid the scandall of we●ke ones , after instruction or admonition given of the nature of the thing , and the danger in abstaining yet i never said , that a man was not bound to professe his religion in time convenient ; or that hee might deny his faith , or any part or point of the same for feare of death ; but absolutely the contrary : hence i say , that the supremacie in those daies , being a point of religion , and an article of faith , although they might be excused from perjurie , yet never from sinne and scandall . and therefore i conceive that suares onely intendeth that then lawes and oathes invented contrary to the law of god , may be drawne to an improper sence , when scandall may be avoyded with integritie of faith . and so those that tooke the aforesaid kings oath , i leave to the judgement of god : for as saint paul saith , 1 cor. 4. it is our lord that judgeth ; who best knoweth the rectitude of all mens actions , and the secret intentions of each mans heart . the minor of the said objection is denyed . and to the words of k. iames saying : that as the oath of supremacie was devised for putting a difference between papists and them of our profession . so was , &c. i answer that the said king did not by those words , undertake to give an absolute and totall reason , why the said oath was devised , ( himselfe not being the deviser or maker thereof ) but spake according to the effect , which hee saw the oath of supremacie tooke in his daies : who conceiving that catholiques held it , not an oath lawfull for them to take ( and therefore some in king henries daies refused the same out of conscience ; others since the abrogation of masse and establishment of the protestant church , out of scruples , not considering either the change of times , or alteration of the church ) conceived likewise a difference to result thereby betweene them and protestants ; so that the said f renowned king did not intend by the aforesaid words , to make known the intention of the law or lawmaker , but onely spake what an effect the said devised oath had in catholiques wrought . that neither of the said oathes of supremacie were framed to put a difference betweene papists and protestants is evident by what i have said ; for in king henrie his dayes , there were no protestants g knowne in england to differ withall : and that oath was made onely and solely for his pleasure . and in the said queens daies , the oath was onely made to give and acknowledge her power and authoritie in spirituall or ecclesiasticall things ; thereby ( as i have sufficiently said ) to propagate and establish the protestant church : and to no other end or purpose . the major and minor being thus answered , the consequence appeares naught ; and the assertion for the lawfulnesse of the oath in force . if any simple man ( pardon the bluntnesse of my speech , for i know that no discreete or judicious man of either learning o● piety will justly censure me ) shall whisper in a corner that this doctrine is scandalous and unheard of : and that divers have suffered and shed their blood , rather then they would admit the same : and which , if it had beene lawfull , others of his tribe would have found out , before this time : ( hee should have added to men of great qualitie ) and therefore it being no matter of faith , none ought to beleeve it . i forgive the poore man ; for he speakes out of hypocrisie or ignorance , or both ; for he cannot tell you with learning and sinceritie why , or how it is scandalous . and if any did suffer for the same , i pray let him likewise whisper when , or in what yeere , or kings reign ? and then compare his speech to what i have said . yet whensoever they did it , because they would not sinne against their consciences ; which rather then to offend , they ( not understanding the ●ruth of the said doctrine , and their phansie being the contrary way strong ) were bound to doe . yet good brother simple doe not perswade me against my conscience ; unlesse you can confute me in reason : for i conceive , that i say nothing ( although not written of before ) but what is evident with grace in reason ; although it be not certaine by divine f●ith . and therein i shew my selfe a true friend to my distressed countrey ; for certus amicus in re incerta cernitur . a sure friend is tried in a doubtfull matter . yet i should be loath , that any man should charge me with the least thing said , as contrary to faith , or the doctrine of the catholique church . ( to which and whose censure , i doe in all humility submit my selfe , for all my doings , sayings and writings ; as well for the satisfaction of mine owne conscience , as that ignorant braines may take no offence ) . and i● this doctrine were never heard of before ; what then ? is it therefore false or scandalous ? and if your tribe did not finde it out before ; is it a wonder ? none at all with me : for i should wonder indeed , to heare you the inventers of any thing beneficiall to gods church ; ( howsoever you may and doe write over , and translate other mens workes ; and so seeme to ignorant men , to finde out something for the good of the church , that was never lost , or before wanting therein ) because as yet i have never heard or knowne so much . those therfore that shall hearken to such whisperings , i will wish them no other punishment then that the vicar of fooles may be their ghostly father . in the meane time ( maugre all censures ) i will thanke god , that he hath enabled me to helpe my distressed friend at a dead lift , by counselling and instructing to a lawfull ( i had almost said meritorious , but that i feared more anger ) and discreet act . thus then seriously to conclude ; if any man shall yet remaine unsatisfied : i knowing , that an angel of light cannot infuse either wisdome into a foole , or prudence into a simple man : and nothing harder for the best divine , then to yeeld the continuance of a serene conscience to a scrupulous person : doe only desire and intreat , th●t what he himselfe either cannot , or will not receive satisfaction in ; he would not judge amisse in others ; and so be scandalized , ( which will prove to himselfe rather the scandall of pharisees then weake ones ) according to the exhortation of the apostle : qui non manducat , manducantem non spernat : he that eateth not , let him not despise him that eateth . as for mine own part what i preach with gods grace i will practise . and if any man can give a better reason , for the contrary to what i doe , then i can give for what i say : i doe hereby promise to subscribe : otherwise let every one looke and dive into his owne actions , and not into other mens ; for he shall render an account , onely for his owne , and not for theirs . and because all in these times ( perchance ) are not bound under sinne to imbrace these opinions ( the h question not being , which is absolutely the safest or perfectest way , and all dispositions of each soule , not being alike ; but only whether the said opinions are forbidden or not forbidden by the law of god , or the church , so that absolutely in case of necessitie they may not bee done ; and what may best in prudence bee done ; ( yet safe enough , with a good conscience , and without sinne ) the condition of times and persons considered ) those that shall not imbrace the same ; but suffer for their conscience sake ; i shall beseech almightie god to lay no more upon them , then they are able to beare ; that they doe nothing against their conscience ; for that were to carry a continuall hell about them : which of all earthly miseries were the greatest : from which god of his infinite mercy preserve us all : amen . finis . appendix . here followeth the forme of recantation enjoyned the lollards , anno regis richardi secundi decimo nono . together with the resolution of the fathers in the councel of trent , 1564. and the oathes of supremacie enacted 35. henry 8. and 1. elizabeth ; as also a proviso for expounding the oath the fift of elizabeth . and the admonition annexed to the injunctions elizabeth 1. whereof there is often mention made in the animadversions . ex rotulo clausarum de anno decimo nono richardi secundi — m. 18. dorso . memorand . quod primo di● septembris anno regni regis richardi secundi ▪ post conquestū decimo nono willielmus dinet , nich-taylour , nich-poucher , et willielmus steynour de nottingham in cancellar . ipsius regis personaliter , constituti sacramenta divisim praestiterunt sub eo qui sequitur tenore . i william dynet byfor yhow worschipefull fader and lorde archbishop of yho●ke and yhour clergie with my free will and full avysede swere to god and to all his seynts upon this holy gospels , yat fro this day forthwarde i shall worship ymages with preying , and offering unto hem in the worschep of the seintes , that they be made after . and also i shall nevermore despyse pygremage ne states of holy chyrche in noe degree . and also i shall be buxum to the lawes of holy chyrche and to yhow as myne archbishop and to mine other ordinaries and curates , and keepe tho lawes up my power , and meyntein hem . and alsoe i shall never more meyntein ne techen , ne defenden errours , conclusions , ne techinges of the lollardes , ne swych conclusions and techynges that men clepyth lollards doctrine , ne i shall her bokes ne swych bokes ne hem or any suspect or diffamede of lollardery receive or company withall wittingly or defend in tho ma●ters , and if i know any swych , i shall with all the haste that i may doe yhow or els your ner officers to wytten and of her bokes . and also i sha●l excite and stirre all tho to good doctrine that i have hyndred with myne doctrine up my power . and also i shall stond to yhour declaration which es heresy or errour and do thereafter . and also what penance yhe woll for that i have done for meyteyning of this fals doctryn injuyne me and i shall fulfill . and i submit me thereto up my power . and also i shall make no other glosse of this myne oath , bot as the words stonde . and if it be soe that i com agayn or do agayn this oth or any party thereof , i yhelde me here cowpable as an heretyk and to be punyshed by the law of an heretyke , and to forfet all my godes to the kings will withouten any other processe of law ; and thereto i require the notarie to make of all this the which is my will an instrument agayns me . et ex habundanti idem willielmus dyn●t eodem die voluit et recognovit quod omnia bona et catalla sua mobilia nobis sint forisfacta in casu quo ipse juramentum praedictum seu aliqua in eodem juramento contenta de cetero contravenerit ullo modo . declaratio patrum concilli tridentini , circa frequentationem ecclesiarum , eo tempore , quo hereticiritus exercentur , aut praedicatur haeresis . pax christi quae exuperat omnem sensum , custodiat corda vestra & intelligentias vestras , amen . viri dignitate conspicui , religione , & multis nominibus illustres aequam & honestam postulationem vestram ad nos detulerunt n. & c. quam à vobis ad se praelatam asserebant cujus hoc est exemplum . religione in anglia mutatâ , & poenâ propositâ , si quis diebus dominicis & festis à templis abstineat , interim dum psalmi , & ex utroque testamento lectiones , lingua vulgari recitantur : laici multi catholici , nobiles , & deum timentes ; partim in carcere agentes , partim mox eò conjiciendi , amicorum & consanguineorum precibus ac monitionibus & imminentium periculorum metu invitantur , ut saltem ea tenus , de sententia denuo , se permittant , ut in templis protestantium tantisper interesse velint diebus dominicis & aliis festis , dum psalmi ex more linguâ vulgari , decant arisoliti & lectiones ex bibliis linguâ item vulgari depromptae ; nec non conciones quae ad eorum dogmata approbanda apud pop . frequentiùs habentur ; commemoratae sunt . iam qui huc usque nullo modo deduci potuerint , ut publicis predictis precibus , & concionibus interessent , magnopere 〈◊〉 postulant , quid his faciendum censeant viri pii & 〈◊〉 nam si nullo animae periculo , aut nulla dei offensione , ●ubli●o regni sui decreto parere & obedire liceat : liben●●r ●d fecerint . contra vero si quid in hac re periculum sit sa●utis aeternae , aut l●sae divinae majestatis : quae vis perpeti de●reverunt potiùs qùam quicquam agere aut committere unde deum off●nsum iri , aut irritatum intelligant . haec quest●● cum multas pias & religiosas conscientias exerceat , & co●tu●bet , r●ga●di estis omnes per v●scera misericordiae , & charitatem quam christus à suis omnibus exigit , ut eam palu● & dilucide quam primùm expediatis , qua multi in ho● regno implicat● torquentur . quod haec charta complectitur , nullius nomine singulariter praefertur quia non ad unum aliquem pertinet , quod hic petitur , sed ad omnes fere nobiles quos anglia habet catholicos , quibus jam multis modis pericula intentantur . iis universis in tua illustrissima dominatione magna spes auxilii effulget , si eadem vel dei , vel nobilitatis respectu , agere dignabitur cum amicis quos in concilio habet tridentino ut huic questioni , quae totius nobilitatis nomine his adjuncta est , responsum maturum & deliberatum accommodetur , & huc commoda tuae d. opera perferatur . in quo haud dubie acquiessent perturbatae nunc conscientiae , si ex tetam sancto & nobili patre certiores fieri possint , quid patres hac de re iudicent . quanquam fortasse tutum non fuerit , hanc questionem publice in concilio proponi , ne res divulgata nostrorum protestantium animos exacerbet , & aliquibus periculum acceleret , ( nisi tuae prudentiae aliter videatur ) ideo tua prudentia consultius fecerit , si ita cum selectis quibusdam hanc causam egerit , ut quod ipsi in hac causa piissimi & doctissimi theologi consulti significaverint , id proinde valeat , ac si universi patres sententias dixissent : caeterum hoc totum tuae do judicio , & arbitrio relinquendi satius sit , ut ipsa quod magis in rem esse prospiciat , ●d libere agat . qui in anglia ●unc sunt theologi partim metuunt , partim varie respondent ▪ ideo plane omnibus satisfaciet , quod te procurante ex triden●●no huc respondebitur . pro quo vestro tam firme christiano & vere religioso animo non possumu● non deo opt . max. agere gratias , & nobis magnopere gratulari . etsi enim calamitatum vestrarum sensus , cunctos vehementer tangat & cruciet , ut christiana charitas hortatur , quae tam arcto necessitudinis vinculo omnes devinctos & constrictos tenet , ut mutuo afficiat membra , atque fratrum commoda & incommoda non aliena sed propria ducat ; in illo tamen non est minima consolatio , quod calamitosis hisce temporibus & in eo potissimum regno , in quo fides religiosorum miserè jacet , cernimus nullo iniuriarum concursu , aut metus vi charitatis vestrae ardorem extingu● , aut fidem convelli , aut constantiam labefactari : quinimò vos esse , qui in tanta rerum omnium confusione , ac molestiarum turbulentissimá tempestate nunquam curvaveritis genua ante baal , non sine magna divini nominis christianaeque disciplinae gloria . ne igitur vestris constans animus , qui nullis cōmodis ad impietatem torqueri flective unquam potuit , fallacibus rationibus ad vestram perniciem comparatis aut divinae legis ignoratione pietatisve simulatione deciperetur & minueretur : quod sustinemus dignum & christiani hominis officio debitum existimavimus vestris piissimis optatis morem gerere ; causamque vestram examinandam accuratè , diligenter , maturèque commissimus gravissimis quibusdam patribus ac reverendissimis dominis archiepiscopo bracharensi , archiepiscopo lanci●nensi , episcopo dombriscensi , episcopo lerenensi , reverendo patri iacobo laine● generali societatis iesu : simulque spectatissimis quibusdam doctoribus alphonso salmeroni fratri petro de soto quem arbitramur vobis & facie & nomine notissimum ; d. georgio de fr. francisco fercensi . doct. melchiori cornelio : iacobo paiva de andrada item doctori , quorum omnium religio , pietas & eruditio certissimis testimoniis explorata est . quorum sententias nostro etiam judicio comprobatas non dubitamus quin sententiae totius concilii instar sitis merito habituri . h●i igitur patres ac theologi quibus haec provincia data est , cum s●pe convenissent , atque diligenter & circumspectè divina oracula , & sanctorum patrum sententias & instituta deliberando evolvissent , communibus suffragiis concluserunt minime vobis sine magno scelere , divinaque indignatione licere hujusmodi hereticorum precibus , illorumve concion●bus in●eresse ; ac longe multum praestare , quaevis atrocissima perpeti quam in profligatissimis sceleratissimisque rit●bus , quovis signo illis consentire . &c. the oath of supremacie enacted 35. henrici octavi . i a. b. having now the vaile of darknesse of the usurped power , authoritie and jurisdiction of the see and bishops of rome , clearely taken away from mine eyes , doe utterly testifie , and declare in my conscience , that neither the see , nor the bishop of rome , nor any forrein potentate , hath , nor ought to have any jurisdiction , power , or authoritie , within this realme , nether by gods , law nor by any other just law , or means . and though by sufferance and abuse in times passed , they aforesaid have usurped , and vendicated a fained and unlawfull power and jurisdiction within this realme , which hath been supported till few yeeres passed , therefore because it might be deemed , and thought thereby , that i tooke or take it for just and good , i therefore now doe clearely and franckly renounce , refuse , relinquish , and forsake that pretended authoritie , power and jurisdiction , both of the see and bishop of rome , and of all other forrein powers . and that i shall never consent and agree , that the foresaid see , or bishop of rome or any of their successours , shall practise , exercise , or have any manner of authoritie , jurisdiction or power within this realme , or any other the kings realmes or dominions , nor any forrein potentate , of what estate , degree , or condition soever he be , but that i shall resist the same at all times , to the uttermost of my power : and that i shall beare faith , truth , and true allegiance to the kings majestie , and to his heires and successours , declared or hereafter to be declared by the authoritie of the act made in the session of the parliament holden at westminster the fourteenth day of ianuary , in the five and thirtieth yeere , and in the said act made in the eight and twentieth yeere of the kings majesties reigne . and that i shall accept , repute and take the kings majestie , his heires and successours ( when they or any of them shall enjoy his place to be the only supreame head in earth , under god of the church of england and ireland , and of all other his highnesses dominions . and that with my body , cunning , wit , and uttermost of my power , without guile , fraud , or other undue means , i shall observe , keepe , maintaine , and defend all the kings majesties styles , titles , and rights , with the whole effects and contents of the acts provided for the same , and all other acts and statutes made , or to be made within this realme , in and for that purpose , and the derogation , extirpation and extinguishment , of the usurped and pretended authoritie , power and jurisdiction of the see and bishop of rome , and all other forrein potentates , as afore . and also aswell the said statute made in the said eight and twentieth yeer , as the statute made in the said session of the parliament holden the 35. yeere of the kings majesties reigne , for establishment and declaration of his highnesse succession , and all acts and statutes made , and to be made in confirmation and corroboration of the kings majesties power , and supremacie in earth , of the church of england and ireland , and of other the kings dominions . i shall also defend and maintaine with , by body and goods , and with all my wit and power , and this i shall doe against all manner of persons , of what estate , dignitie , degree , or condition they be , and in no wise doe nor attempt , nor to my power ●uffer , or know to be done , or attempted , directly or indirectly , any thing or things privily or apertly to the let , hinderance , damage or derogation of any of the said statutes , or of any part of them , by any manner of means , or for or by any manner of pretence . and in case any oath hath been made by me to any person or persons in maintenance , defence , or favour of the see and bishop of rome , or his authoritie , jurisdiction or power , or against any statutes aforesaid , i repute the same as vaine and annihilate , and shall wholly and truly observe and keepe this oath , so helpe me god , all saints , and the holy evangelists . the oath of supremacie enacted 1 ● . elizabeth , cap. 1o. i , a. b. doe utterly testifie and declare in my conscience , that the queenes highnesse is the onely supreame governour of this realme , and of all other her highnesse dominions , and countries , as well in all spirituall or ecclesiasticall things , or causes , as temporall , and that no forreigne prince , person , prelate , state , or potentate , hath or ought to have any jurisdiction , power , superioritie , preheminence , or authoritie , ecclesiasticall , or spirituall , within this realme : and therefore i doe utterly renounce and forsake all forraigne jurisdictio●s , powers , superiorities , and authorities , and doe ●●omise that from henceforth i shall beare faith an●●rue allegiance to the queenes highnesse , her 〈◊〉 and lawfull successour and to my power , shall ass●st and defend all jurisdictions , priviledges , preheminences , and authorities , granted or belonging to the queenes highnesse , her heires , and successours , or united and annexed to the imperiall crowne of this realme . so helpe me god , and by the contents of this booke . a proviso in an act 5 o. elizabeth , c. 1o. for expounding this oath . provided also , that the oath expressed in the said act made in the said first yeere shall be taken and expounded in such forme as is set forth in an admonition annexed to the queenes majesties injunctions , published in the first yeere of her majesties reigne , that is to say , to confesse and acknowledge in her majestie , her heires and successours , none other authoritie , then that was challenged and lately used by the noble king henrie the eighth , and king edward the sixth , as in the said admonition more plainly may appeare . the admonition annexed to the injunctions elizabeth 1o. followes with this title . an admonition to simple men deceived by malicious . the queenes majestie being enformed , that in certaine places of this realme , sundry of her native subjects , being called to ecclesiasticall ministrie in the church , be by sinister perswasion , and perverse construction , induced to finde some scruple in the forme of an oath , which by an act of the last parliament is prescribed to be required of divers persons for the recognition of their allegiance to her majestie , which certainly neither was ever meant , ne by any equitie of words , or good sense can be thereof gathered ; would that all her loving subjects should understand , that nothing was , is , or shall be meant , or intended by the same oath , to have any other dutie , allegiance or bond required by the same oath , then was acknowledged to be due to the most noble kings of famous memorie , king henry the eight her majesties father , or king edward the sixt her majesties brother . and further her majestie forbiddeth all manner her subjects to give eare or credit to such perverse and malicious persons , which most sinisterly and maliciously labour , to notifie to her loving subjects , how by the words of the said oath it may be collected that the kings or queenes of this realme possessours of the crowne , may challenge authoritie and power of ministrie of divine offices in the church , wherein her said subjects be much abused by such evill disposed persons . for certainly her majestie neither doth , ne ever will challenge any other authoritie , then that was challenged and lately used by the said noble kings of famous memory , king henrie the eight , and king edward the sixth , which is and was of ancient time due to the imperiall crowne of this realme , that is , under god to have the sovereigntie and rule over all manner of persons borne within these her realmes , dominions and countries , of what estate either ecclesiasticall or temporall soever they be , so as no other forreigne power , shall or ought to have any superioritie over them . and if any person that hath conceived any other sense of the forme of the said oath shall accept the same oath , with this interpretation , sense , or meaning , her majestie is well pleased to accept every such in that beh●lfe , as her good and obedient subjects , and shall acquit them of all manner penalties contained in the said act , against such as shall peremptorily or obstinately refuse to take the same oath . the conclusion of the authour of the animadversions to the reader . this treatise , christian reader , penned by a learned and intelligent romanist , resembles ortwhinus his booke intituled fasciculus rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum , or the two baskets of figg●s , ier. 24.1.2 . set before the temple , one basket had very good figges , and the other very naughtie . among the very good are these assertions . that in the protestant church there is no idolatrie committed . that the liturgie of the church of england hath not any malignitie in it , that may ●ustifie popish recusancie . that the oathes of all●giance and supremacie are iustifiable by the law of god. but among the very naughtie , are these that when we are questioned about our religion before a magistrate , we may vulpizure cum vulpibus , goe beyond the foxe if wee can in fox-craft : that in taking an oath we may frame a meaning to our selves which is proved contrary to the meaning of him that made , or ministreth the oath that we may by our outward gestures and actions make shew of that religion , of which indeed we are not : that a prudent catholique may both frequent the protestant church in publique ( as this priest s●ith he hath done often ) and goe to masse , ●r say masse in private . this is no better then to weare a garment not on our bodies , ●ut on our soules made of 〈◊〉 , and to plough in christs ●ield with an oxe and an as●e , and to 〈◊〉 betweene two opinions reproved by the holy prophet eliah ; t●is is to be of the luke-warme temper , which is so 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 of god , that he threateneth to spew such out of his mouth . of which beware , christian reader , as thou tendere●t the everlasting health of thy soule . if the lord be god follow him , but if baal be he , goe after him . for assure thy selfe whatsoever the romish baal may doe , god will retaine no halting followers . it is not 〈◊〉 to worship god in thy heart , but thou must worship him also with thy body ; for he who hath created both , and redeemed both , will be worshipped in both , and served by both . say thou never didst worship baal in thy heart , yet if thy knee bowed unto him , or thy mouth kissed him , god will account thee for none of his servants , 1 king. 19.18 . it is not sufficient to beleeve in christ , thou must also confesse his * name ; for a with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse , and with the mouth co●f●ssi●n is made unto salvation . it is not sufficient that the religion we professe be true , if we be not true to it : neither will our faith save us , if we save not it and keepe it uncorrupt . what the oratour speaketh of piety towards our parents , may be more truely affirmed of piety towards god : religion is wounded with a gesture , a n●d , nay a looke . it was said of old , saith our saviour , thou shalt not commit adulterie , but i say unto you ( matth. 5 27.28 . ) that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adulterie with her in his heart . if we goe with a friend to masse out of a lust or meere curiositie to see the whore of babylon in her richest dresse upon a high festival day , we have alreadie committed spirituall adultery with her in our heart . and therefore constantius the emperour , as ambrose testifieth ; thought himselfe polluted if he had but seene an altar : and the noble martyrs in the first and best ages of the church would rather suffer the last drop of bloud in their heart to be spil● , then cast but one graine of franckincense to the fire in honour of the idols . and when iulian by a slight , as sozomen writeth , had drawne some christian souldiers to doe some kinde of reverence in this kinde to his heathenish idols , he cunningly sitting by the altar , where there was an image of his pagan deitie , and calling them to bestow some gold upon them ; as soone as ever they perceived how they were circumvented , they run backe againe into the place where incense was burning to the idol , and cast downe all the gold they had received before the emperours face . and valentinian carrying the mace before iulian the apostata , when the heathenish sexton cast some holy water upon him , he ●eld him downe at a blow , wiped off the water , saying , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theod. hist. l. 3. c. 15. in like manner when licinius bad * auxentius cut off a branch of a vine laden with cluste●s of grapes , and he suspecting nothing had ●one it : licinius bad him put that branch at the feete of the image of bacchus : but auxentius answered , god forbid o emperour that i should doe it , for i am a christian : and the emperour replying , either doe it , or get thee out of my presence , he presently looseneth his belt and quits his service . to whom i will adde one * more mentioned by theodoret , who chose rather to be most cruelly tortured then he would be brought to contribute a halfe-penny towards the repairing of an idol temple . let us warme our zeale at the embers of these holy martyrs and confessours , and be ever mindfull of the holy apostles exhortation ; have no fellowship at all with the workes of darkenesse , ephes. 5.11 . but reprove them rather : be not unequally yoaked with unbeleevers , 2 cor. 6.14 . for what fellowship hath righteousnesse with unrighteousnesse , or what communion hath light with darkenesse : and what concord hath christ with belial : and what agreement hath the temple of god with idols : marke the apostles gradation , first , what fellowship hath righteousnesse with unrighteousnesse : next , what communion hath light with darknesse : and la● , what concord hath christ with belial : no more agreement may we have who are the temples of the living god with idols . th●re is great opposition betweene righteousnesse and unrighteousnesse , greater betweene light and darkness ; greatest of all between christ and belial : righteousnesse and unrighteousnesse ( the one being a vertue and the other a vice ) are opposed contrarily , but light and darkenesse privatively , which is a greater opposition ; but christ and belial contradictorily which is the greatest of all : righteousnesse and unrighteousnesse are so opposite that they cannot subsist in the same soule , and light and darknesse so opposite , that they cannot subsist in the same roome ; but christ and belial so opposite that they cannot subsist together in the same heaven . righteousnesse fighteth with unrighteousnesse wheresoever it meeteth with it ; but light doth more , it presently banisheth darknesse ; but christ yet more , he utterly confoundeth belial : so true religion not onely fighteth with all heresie , and superstition wheresoever it meeteth with it ; but banisheth it , and in the end confoundeth it : wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the lord , and touch not the uncleane thing and i will receive you , 2 cor. 6.17 . finis : deo laus sine fine . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a41019-e360 encarid ad lauren : miro & ineffabili modo non fit praeter dei v●luntatem , quod etiam contra ejus voluntatem fit : ●uia nec fier●t nisi sineret , nec u●ique nolens sed vole●s , nec ●inere● bon●● f●●r● malè nisi omnip●t●ns etiam de malo f●c●re pos●●t b●n● . see page 64. acts 25. ●5 . ierom. ● . epig. l. 1. ●cta gravi ferro ●●nfossaque vulne●● mater , s●● pariter vitam perdidit 〈◊〉 dedi● . pluri●us illa mor● 〈◊〉 sa●cia tel●● , omnibus ut natis ●●iste pateret iter . plautus in pseud. aug. de haerasib . c. 70. habent ebar verba juxta poeta , imur● perjura secretum pr●der● noli & lib. 1. retract . cap. 60. priscillianista ●aresin suam non s●lum negando a●que mentiendo verum ettam pejerando existimabant ●eculendam , & ibid. visum est quibus●ā cath●lic●s priscillianistas se debere simulare , ut ●orum latebra● penetrarint . ovid fast . lib. 3. coede caput dixit , cui rex , parebimus inquit , cadenda est h●rtis ●ruta ( cepa ) mei● : addidit hi● hominis sumes , ait ●lle ( cap. 〈◊〉 ) pestulat hic animam cui . num● ( ●isc●● ) ait risit & his inquit facit● me● t●la procures , ● vi● coll●qui● non ●big●nd● deum . ●ee pag. ●3 ●eog . 1 〈◊〉 6. vulpiza●● cum vulp●bus . notes for div a41019-e3860 a nay rather a babylonish marchant putting away a good conscience concerning faith making shipwrack● , 1 tim. 1.19 . for this book with the title thereof resembleth the apothecaries boxes , quorum tituli remediae habe●t , pyxides 〈◊〉 . lactant. divin . institut . l. 3. c. 14. b according to that prudence which saint iames brandeth with those three marks ▪ earthly , sensuall , and devillish iam. 3.15 . c by catholike , he meaneth a papist , begging after their manner , that which is indeed the maine question between us , namely , whether papists are catholikes : for if he take catholikes in that sense in which the word is used by the ancient fathers , for a right beleever or orthodox christian in opposition to all heretikes and schismatikes ; neither are romanists such catholikes : and such catholikes living within his majesties dominions , not only may but ought to come to our protestant churches ▪ and take the oathes both of allegiance and supremacie , when they are legally tendered unto them . d if the author had not here rubd his forehead , hee would never have set this text in the frontispice of his book , for whether we translate the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 innocent or simple , in neither sense it befitteth either the person of the author and his associates , or the argument of his book . how innocent papists are , it is sufficiently known to all the world by the massacre at paris , powder plot in england , and the present rebellion in ireland . as for their simplicitie , let the iesuits manifold apologies of equivocation speak , and this priests treatise in hand , wherein he endeavoureth through the whole to proove it to be lawfull to double in point of gods worship , and juggle in matter of most sacred and solemne oathes . notes for div a41019-e4150 e rubet auditor eui frigida mens est ; criminibus tacitâ sūdant praecordia culpâ . it seemes the authors heart smote him , and his cōscience misgave him , and his inke turned red , when he set his pen to paper to apologize for hollow hearted newtralitie , and halting betweene two religions . if we divide his pamphlet into two parts , we shall finde the first part spent in proofe and justification of simulation , the second of dissimulation : in the former part he perswades the papists of england to make shew of what they are not , by frequently resorting to our church and communion table , in the second to deny what they are , by taking the two oathes : wherein both the temporall and the spirituall power and jurisdiction of the pope , within these kingdomes are renounced . f how the ensuing treatise tendeth to the safeguard of the bodies and estates of papists , by declining the penalties of the laws , every intelligent reader may perceive , but how this way of dissimulation tends to the safeguard of souls , i cannot understand , sith the saviour of our souls , who is the way , the truth , truth , and the life , teacheth us in expresse words , marke 8.35 . whosoever will save his life shall loose it , but whosoever shall loose his life for my sake and the gospel shall finde it . vers . 38. whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinfull generation , of him also shall the sonne of man be ashamed , when he cometh in the glory of his father , with his holy angels , and matth. 10.32 , 33. whosoever shall confesse me before men , him will i confesse also before my father which is in heaven : but whosoever shall deny me before men , him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven . but i subsume , to make profession of communion with misbeleevers or schismaticks , is not to confesse christ , and to deny any part of our christian faith , with what art of words , or pretence of good intention soever , is upon the matter , to deny christ , and to be ashamed of him and his doctrine . g you may thanke pope pius his seditious bull against q. elizabeth , wherein he not only excommunicateth her but exposeth her life and kingdome for a prey , and the treasonable practises of iesuits and iesuited papists for the severitie of our laws , not indeed against your religion , but rather irreligion and disloyaltie , medicum severum intemperans aeger fa●it . h hoc verū est priusquam theognis nasceretur ; this is an extreame veritie as the french speake , that it is not necessary to confesse a mans religion without necessitie , as if he should say , it is not profitable for a man to drive a a trade without profit , or not pleasant to recreate himselfe without pleasure , or not wholsome to take physicke , which conduceth not to his health . but if this were in him l●psus linguae or calami . i am sure his inference hereupon , is deliquium mentis , and argues a defect in his rationall facultie : for at this issue he drives , because it is not necessary at all times and in all places to confesse religion , ( no more then to goe out into the market place and cry i am a romane catholike , or to write upon the frontispice of his house here lyeth a papist , ) that therefore a man may sometimes make an outward profession of a contrary religion , by joyning with them publikely in their service and sacraments . if he had staid longer at schoole he would have perfectly learned ( which he fumbleth at ) this lesson from the schoole divines , ( which looseneth the sinews of this his argument ) that affirmative preceptes , obligant semper , sed non ad semper , but negative , semper & ad semper . a man is not bound alwayes to exhibit cultum latriae , to god by adoration , or prayer , but he is bound never to exhibite divine worship to a creature : he is not bound alwayes to offer unto god , or to give to the church ; but he is bound never sacrilegiously to take away from god or his church : in like manner , he is not bound at all times , and in all places to professe his faith , but he is alwayes bound , not to denie his faith and religion , either by word or deed . a man is not bound alwayes to speake a truth , but he is bound never to lie , feigne , or play the hypocrite . i see the advertisement to the reader . the apostle saith , godlinesse is great gain ; if a man be contented with what he hath : but by the confession of this priest , gaine is the iesuits godlinesse ; the zeale of gods house eats not them up , but their zeale devoureth the houses of the welthiest recusants in england . what care they though recusants sinke in england , so long as they swim in abundance beyond the sea ? what thought take they for the parents mulcts and taxes by the state , so long as their pupils scores are paid in their colleges ? k if seven popes one after another swallowed the same state gudgeons , and after the swallowing of them sub annulo piscatoris , sent rescripts into england forbidding all catholikes under paine of mortall sinne , to repaire to protestant churches , which this authour acknowledgeth to be an errour in those popes , what becomes of the infallible assistance of the holy spirit annexed to peters chaire ? if so many popes might be deceived by false suggestions , why not by false arguments , and objections ? if they may be deceived in matter of fact , why not in matter of faith , which often dependeth upon matter of fact ? and there being more need of inerrabilitie in a visible head for matter of fact , then matter of faith , the later so far as it is necessary to salvation being plainely set downe in scripture . if they may be deceived as men , why not as popes ? surely if the pope doe any thing as pope ▪ it is sending forth his buls and rescripts , whereby he governeth and instructeth the pseudo-catholike church , and decides cases of conscience ; and if in such he be subject to errour and mistaking , even in a matter of as great weight as any was agitated in the councell of trent , as this priest affirmeth , pag. 7. upon what a sandie foundation is the romish babell built ? and how loose and weake is the maine ground of a papists faith ? l it cannot be the common opinion of divines that it is lawfull for a man to goe to church and communicate with those who are of a different religion . for seven popes alleadged by him , two cardinals , bellarmine and baronius , twelve fathers of the councell of trent , r. p. and other iesuits for the roman partie , and of the protestant beliefe , george abbot archbishop of canterburie , in his lectures at oxford , calvine in his tract adversus pseudo-nicodemitas , and the doctors of the reformed churches generally in their expositions upon the second commandement , and in their commentaries upon the second of the corinthians 6. chapter , 15 , 16 , 17. ver . determine the contrary . m no infallibilitie in any generall councel since the dayes of the apostles , much lesse in the councel of trent , which was neither a generall councel , nor lawfully called , nor free , nor at all an assembly of catholike bishops , but of images , moved like the statues of dedalus by the sinewes of others . see the historie of the councel of trent written in italian by petro soave polano , and the epistle dudith quinque eccles. ad maximilianum , 2. caes. but were the councel of trent a generall councel lawfully called , consisting of eminent doctors and pastours as it were starres of the first magnitude , yet they could not without horrible presumption arrogate to that their synod infallibilitie : for that not onely provinciall but even oecumenicall councels may erre , and be fouly mistaken , and that in matter of faith may thus be demonstrated . first , every assemby which consisteth of members subject to errour may be seduced , and deceived , but generall councels are assemblies consisting of members subject to errour ; for all men are so , rom. 3.4 . therefore generall councels may be seduced and deceived . this reason is strongly backed by the authoritie of the most judicious of all the fathers , saint augustine and that in many places , namely , ep. 112. c. 1. si divinarum scripturarum , earum scilicet quae canonicae in ecclesia nominantur , perspicua firmatur autoritate , sine ulla dub. tation● credendum est : ali●s vero testibus vel testimonies quibus aliquid credendum esse suadetur tibi credere vel non credere liceat ; quantum ea momenti ad faciendam fidem vel habere vel non habere perpenderis : if any thing be confirmed by cleare and evident authoritie of canonicall scripture that must be beleeeved without all doubting : but for other witnesses and testimonies whereby ye are perswaded to beleeve any thing you may give credit unto them , or not , as you see cause : & de natura et grat . cont . pelag. c. 61. solis canonicis debeo sine ulla recusatione consensum . in the writing of any such men i hold my selfe at libertie ( namely to give my assent unto them or not ) for i owe consent without any stay or staggering to the canonicall scriptures alone : therefore not to the popes rescripts , or decrees of generall councels . and in his second booke , de bapt ▪ cont . donat. c. 3. quis nesciat scripturam canonicam omnibus posterioribus episcoporum literis ita praeponi ; ut de illa omnino dubitari et disceptari non possit utrum vel verum rectum sit quicquid in eâ scriptum esse constiterit . episcoporum autem literas quae post confirmatum canonem vel scriptae sunt , vel scribuntur , et per sermonem fortè sapientiorem cuiuslibet in ea re peritioris et per aliorum episcoporum graviorem authoritatem , doctioremque prudentiam et per concilia licere reprehendi , si quid in eis fortè a veritate deviatum est . et ipsa concilia quae per singulas regiones vel provincias fiunt , plenariorum conciliorum authoritati , quae fiunt ex universo orbe christiano , sine ullis ambagibus cedere : ipsaque plenaria saepe priora posterioribus emendari , cum aliquo experimento rerum aperitur quod clausum erat , et cognoscitur quod latebat . who knowes not that the canonicall scriptures are so farre to be preferred above the latterr letters of bishops , that whatsoever is found written in it may neither be doubted nor disputed of whether it be true or right : but the letters of bishops may not only be disputed of , but censured by bishops that are more wise and learned then they , if any thing in their writings swerve from the truth : or by provinciall synods , and these also must give place to plenarie and generall councels , and even plenarie and generall councels may be amended , the former by the latter , and it is to be noted that he speaketh of errour in matter of faith . for these words are part of his answer to an objection of the donatists out of the letters of saint cyprian , concerning the point of rebaptizing . secondly , if the determinations of generall councels were infallible , all christians were necessarily bound to stand unto them , and to submit to their authoritie : but this saint augustine peremptorily denies , l. 3. cont. maxim. c. 14. nec ego nicenum nec tu debes ariminense , tanquam preiudicaturus , proferre concilium ; nec ego huius authoritate nec tu illius detineris . neither ought i to alleadge the councel of nice , nor thou the councel of ariminum in prejudice to either part . for neither am i bound to the authoritie of the one , nor thou to the authoritie of the other ; and it is worth the observation that saint augustine speaketh of the first most famous councel of nice , whose authoritie was greater and held more sacred and venerable then any councel since , and if that councel concluded not saint augustine , shall the authoritie of a late conveticle at trent conclude all christians ? thirdly , if generall councels may contradict one the other , they may certainly erre . for it is impossible that both parts of a contradiction should be true . but generall councels contradict one the other . ergo. for the councel held at ariminum contradicteth the first generall councel held at nice in the point of consubstantialitie of the sonne with the father . the generall councel held at chalcedon , contradicteth the generall councel held at ephesus in the point of eutychianisme . the generall councel at frankeford , contradicteth your second generall councel held at nice in the point of image worship . your generall councel held at lateran under leo the tenth , contradicteth your councel of constance in the point of the councels superioritie above the pope . fourthly , cuivis contingere potest quod cuiquam potest , that which hath befallen some generall councels , may befall any other , unlesse they can alleadge some speciall priviledge to the contrary ; but divers generall councels have erred . a generall councel of prophets , 1 kings 22.12 . erred , saying , the lord shall deliver ramoth gilead into the kings hand ; a generall councel of priests , matthew 26.65 . erred damnably in condemning christ for a blasphemer guiltie of death . the generall councel held at arminum erred , denying the sonnes equalitie with the father , at ephesus , confounding the two natures in christ : at nice under irene , decreeing that angels are to be painted , because they are of a corporeall nature : at constance , denying the laitie to be bound to receive the communion in both kindes against the expresse precept of christ , matth. 26.28 . and iohn 6.53 . and of the apostle , 1 cor. 11.28 . at florence , and after at trent , defining that the effect of the sacrament depends upon the intention of the priest or bishop , who administreth it . which if it were true , no man in the roman church could ever be assured either of his baptisme , or of his confirmation , or of his absolution , or of his ordination , or of the validitie of his matrimonie , or of his safe adoration of the host , or of the vertue of his extreme unction . for how can he certainly know the intention of the bishop or priest who administred unto him these rites , all which they account sacraments ? neither can they evade by saying that these councels might erre because they were not confirmed by the pope ; for the popes were present at all these later , either in person or by their legates , and it is for certain that their second councel at nice , was confirmed by pope adrian ; at constance by pope martine , at florence by pope eugenius , at trent by divers popes . lastly , if councels had an immunitie from error , the prayer which they made at their councels registred by gregory the great , l. 7. epist. were a meere mockerie . the prayer was conceived in this forme : quia conscientià remordente tabescimus ne aut ignorattia nos traxerit in errorem aut praeceps forsitan voluntas impulerit a iustitia declinare , ob hoc te poscimus , te rogamus ut si quid offensionis in hac concilii celebritate attraximus , condonare et remissibile facere digneris . because we pine away through remorse of conscience , fearing lest either ignorance have drawn us into error , or a headie will driven us to swerve from justice , for this we pray thee , we beseech thee that if we have done any thing amisse in this great and famous assembly , thou wouldest vouchsafe to pardon it . i conclude therefore with the words of leo in his epistle to anatolius , who lightly phillips off the authoritie of the generall councel held at ephesus , in which there were above 600. fathers . in one word , tanquam refutari nequeat , quod illicitè voluerit multitudo . as if that could not be refuted which a multitude hath unlawfully determined ; giving withall most wholesome conusell to all councels , nulla sibi de multiplicitate congregationis concilia blandiantur . let no councels flatter themselves with the great multitude of persons assembled in them , as if that might priviledge them from errour . notes for div a41019-e6110 n here least the reader should before he be aware ; be bitten by a snake lying under the grasse , i hold it necessary to distinguish between two questions , which may seem to be a like , but indeed are very different . the first , whether papists may goe to protestant churches . the second , whether a protestant may goe to a popish church . he that shall give the same solution to both these questions , shall give a greater wound to the protestant cause , in the latter , then his plaister will salve in the former . the protestants and papists in this stand not upon even tearmes : for there is nothing in the protestant liturgie or service , which the romanists doe , or by their own rules can except at ; the confession , forme of absolution , prayers , hymnes , collects , lessons , epistles and gospels , are either such as the papists themselves use , or at least such as they dislike not ; whereas it is farre otherwise in the romane missall . for there is sprinkling , exorcised water , censing books , and pictures , worshipping images , invocation of saints , prayers for the dead , intercession by the prayers and merits of souls departed , and which is the height of all idolatry adoration of their host or breaden god , and all this service performed in an unknowne tongue contrary to the expresse order of the apostle , 1 cor. 14. all which the reformed churches condemne and abhorre , and whereas this author alleadgeth , there can be no text of scripture brought , forbidding papists to come to our church : i beleeve him , but on the other side there are many expresse texts of holy scripture from whence it may be strongly inferred , that no protestant whose conscience is convinced of the manifold idolatries and superstitions , wherewith the romish liturgie is polluted , can with a safe conscience goe to masse , as namely , psal. 26.4 . i have not sate with vaine persons , neither will i goe in with dissemblers , i have hated the congregation of evill doers , and will not sit with the wicked , 1 cor. 10.7 . neither be ye idolaters as were some of them , vers . 14. wherefore my dearely beloved flee from idolatrie , 1 ioh. 5.21 . keepe your selves from idols , 2. cor. 6.14 . what fellowship hath righteousnesse with unrighteousnesse , or what communion hath light with darknesse , vers . 16 what agreement hath the temple of god with idols ? vers . 17. wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate , saith the lord , and touch not the uncleane thing , and i will receive you . o although i have no meaning to drive away papists from our churches , nor purpose to enervate the kindly , and right arguments which this priest bringeth to perswade them thereunto : yet i cannot let passe this , wherwith true professours may be very much scandalized . for what religious heart doth not tremble to thinke of going in , and bowing in the temple of an ●doll , in which as the ( apostle teacheth ) the service that is done , and the sacrifice that is offered , is to devils , 1 cor. 10.20 . and no better was this rimmon the syrian idoll . i answer therefore ( 1 ) that the case of conscience naaman put , was not whether he might goe with his master into the house of rimm●n , and offer sacrifice with him unto the idoll : but whether he might not waite upon his master thither , and performe a civill ( for the bowing spoken of was as c●i●tan well noteth , genuflexio obsequii , non imitativa , a bowing to the king not to the idoll ) o●●ice to him or make an obeysance , whilest the king leaned on his hand : and yet his heart smote him for this , and his conscience misgave him , that the lord would be displeased with him for it : for so much his prayer importeth . the lord pardon thy servant in this thing . secondly , the words of the prophet elisha ; goe in peace , doe not necessarily import an approbation , or permission of that which naaman pro●ounded : but either a meere forme of valediction , as if he had said in our language adiew , or farewell . 3. or the meaning of them may be , that which trem●lius and iunius , by comparing this text . 2 kings 5.19 . with the 1 samuel 1.17 . collect , quieto anim● esto & ne sis sollicitus de istis rebus quae nihil ad pacem conscientiae tuae faciunt , sed potius ill●m turbaturae sint , & deum in te provocaturae , be at peace , and take no thought of these things , which will nothing conduct to the peace of thy conscience , but rather trouble it and provoke the wrath of god against thee : 〈◊〉 fourthly , the words may carry this sense , now thou ha●t that thou ●●●nest for , thou art cleansed of thy l●prosie , goe home in peace , god send thee a prosperous journey for the thing thou w●ttest of , shall never 〈◊〉 thee , for thy master shall never requi●e any such service of thee as to wait on him to his chappell to worship rimmon . and fifthly , what if there be an ●nallage temporis very usuall , in the hebrew . a●l mists of obscuritie be taken away , if we translate the words thus , the lord be mercifull to thy servant , for that when my master went into the house of rimmon and leaned on my hand , i bowe● my selfe in the house of rimmon . howsoever the prophets valediction , goe ●n peace , no more prooveth any approbation of naamans bowing in the house of rimmon , then of his other demand , vers . 17. namely , of two mules load of the earth of the land of israel , and whatsoever naamans conceit was in i● , whether he imagined there were any holinesse or vertue in that earth , as the inhabitants of colubraria ( as pomponius mela writeth ) beleeved , that the earth of the neighbour island ebusitana , was a sovereigne remedie against those serpents wherewith they were infested , or whether he meant to make an altar of that earth , it is not likely the prophet would incourage him by his approbation , to load his mules with that earth , the former reason being superstitious , the latter unwarrantable , for they were to sacrifice only in the place which the lord god should appoint , and if the prophets words carry no approbation , but have some other meaning , the edge of the priests argument for assistance at idol worship is quite dulled . p so indeed hurtado de mendoza and others by him cited . but as the scriptures saith of nabal , a foole is his name , and folly is in him ; so we may truely say here , that mendoza is mendosus , and mendax too , both faultie , and false ; for christ who is the truth himselfe teacheth us , that our life is better lost to save it , then saved to losse : matth. 16.25 . he saveth it to losse , who saveth it by denying his saviour , and he looseth it to his advantage , who looseth it for the testimonie of the gospell , for he shall exchange the losse of a miserable temporall life , with blessed immortalitie or immortall blisse . if men when they are in danger of death may dissemble their religion , what shall become of the glory of confessours , and crowne of martyrs . at such a time to use the habit and ceremonies of a false law ( saie of mahomets , or the persians , or the brachmans , or the west indians ; who do all their devotions professedly to the devill himselfe , whom they take to be god ) is it not to deny christ in our habit , and in our actions , though not in our words and professions ? q surely the roman catholiques in england must needs be thought to suffer grievous persecution , when as the authour of the answer to the libell of justice cited by this priest , pag. 9. and 10. so much delighteth in it that he would not have a toleration of catholikes in england if he might , and to aske it of god ( saith he ) were to aske we know not what , for that persecution is better . o medicina gravis ! the truth is , the little finger of queene mary was heavier against protestants then queene elizabeth her whole loynes against popish recusants . neither in her reigne , no● in the reigne of king iames , nor of our present sovereigne , was any papist put to death meerely for his conscience : but either for some treasonable p●actise , or violation of some statute law , the penaltie whereof is death . see pag. 4. g. r the distinction of veniall and mortall sinnes tostatus ( learned in peter lumbards schoole , not in christs ) may teach , but not truely . for although some sinnes may be tearmed veniall comparatè , in respect of others that are of a deeper die , and so lesse in their owne nature pardonable and excuseable : or not at all ( as the sinne against the holy ghost : and though all sinnes of the ●le●t are veniall through grace , or quo ad eventum : yet there are no sinnes which in their owne nature are not mortall . for all sinnes are transgressions of the eternall law , and in them the infinite majestie of god is some waies slig●ted : and therefore saint hieromes generall conclusion is true , ep . ad celantiam , omne quod agimus , omne quod loquimur , aut de angustâ viâ est , quae tendit ad vitam , aut de latâ quâ imus ad mortem : what soever we do , whatsoever we speake , either appertaines to the narrow way wh●reby we enter into life , or to the broad way which is the roade to death : and in his second booke against the pelagians , si ira et sermonis iniuria atque interdum iocus iudicio concilioque et gehennae ignibus delegatur , quid merebitur turpium rerum appetitio ? if unadvised anger and a contumelious word bring us in danger of a iudgement , and a councel , and hell fire : what shall the desire of filthy things deserve ? and who can say his heart is cleane from all these ? to make light of sinne aggravateth our conscience , even those naevuli & leves aspergines , & pulviseuli , & prolapsiunculae , & peccadili●es , ( as the romanis●s stile veniall sinnes ) either are transgressions of the law of god or not : if they are not transgressions of the law , they are no sinnes at all : for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , all sinne is the transgression of the law , 1 iohn 3.4 . or as the schooles ●ut of saint augustine define , peccatum est dictum , factum vel concupitum contra legem aeternam , every sinne is a desire , word or deed against the eternall law : and if veniall sinnes be transgressions of this law , their punishment is death . for the soule that sinneth shall die , ezech. 18.4 . and the sting of death is sinne , 1 cor. 15.56 . and the wages of sinne is death , rom. 6.23 . these cleare and evident texts of holy sc●ipture so dazled the eyes of three of their sharpe sighted schoolemen , that they not onely left the common tract of other popish divines ( as bellarmine minceth the matter , l. 1. de amiss . grat . et stat . pec . c. 4. ( non nihil a communi theologorum sententiâ deflexerunt ) but went in the direct way of the reformed doctours : these schoole men are gerson 3. part . theolog. tract . de vit . spirit . sect . 1ª iacobus almaine opusc. tract . 3. c. 20. & iohannes episcopus roffensis in refut . 32. artic . luth. gersons words are ( with whom almaine accords ) peccatū mortale et veniale in esse tali non distinguuntur intrinsecè et essentialiter sed solum per respectum ad divinam gratiam quae peccatum istud imputat : mortall and veniall sinnes are not distinguished in their intrinsicall essence , but onely with a relation to the divine grace which imputes the sinne , &c. roffenfis speaketh to the same purpose , peccatum veniale solum ex dei misericordia veniale est : veniall sinne is onely veniall by the meere mercy of god : not therefore in its owne nature . s he meaneth by counsels , according to the doctrine of his romish church , such supposed good workes as are not commanded of god , by the performance whereof yet they beleeve that they cannot onely merit at gods hands , but supererogate . an assertion , as farre from theologicall truth , as christian modestie . for first , the law of god is perfect , psal. 19.7 . and consequently commandeth all good , and forbiddeth all evill : else were it not a perfect but a scantive and defective rule of good . secondly , though there may be many good workes which the law of god commandeth not , to all persons , at all times , and in all places , in every manner and measure ; yet neither is there any good worke nor can be , which is not comprised within that great and large commandement of loving the lord with all our heart , and all our soule , and all our might : deut. 6.5 . matth. 22.37 . luk. 10.27 . for it implyes a contradiction , to say that we can love god more then with all our might , and strength , and we see that all is required by this commandement . thirdly , the aspiring to perfection it selfe , so farre as it is attainable by us in this life , falleth under the expresse commandement of our saviour , matth. 5.48 . be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly father is perfect . how can there be any counsels of perfection over and above the law , when the law of christ requireth perfection it selfe ? what good worke is there or can there be tending to christian perfection , which saint pauls whatsoever carrieth not , phil. 4.8 . finally brethren , whatsoever things are true , whatsoever things are honest , whatsosoever things are iust , whatsoever things are pure , whatsoever things are lovely , whatsoever things are of good report : if there be any vertue , if there be any praise , thinke on these things . fourthly , dato et non concesso , admitting for arguments sake , that in some one particular or other , that a man might do more then god commands : yet in other things the best man that is , comes short of the law . for in many things we offend all , iames 4.2 . and even such a righteous man as iob was cannot answer one of a thousand , iob 9.3 . what then becomes of works of supererogation , when a mans stock or treasure of good workes cannot hold out to pay his own debts ? fifthly , though we strive to the uttermost to walke exactly before god , and abstaine from all knowne sinnes , so farre as humane frailtie permits in this life , and fulfill all righteousnesse in doing all the commandements of god with all our might : may we then superarrogate any thing to our selves , or supererogate to others ? no our saviour teacheth us a contrarie lesson , when you shall have done all these things which are commanded you , say we are unprofitable servants , for we have done that which was our dutie to doe , luk. 17.10 . we are unprofitable servants , therefore not deserving of our master , and we doe but that which is our dutie to doe , and therefore not more then we are bound to doe . t he fouly mistaketh the matter , it was no scandall to christ to bee poore that hee might make us rich , no more then to be abased , to exalt us ; to bee stript , to cloth us ; to take the forme of a servant , to make us free ; to be condemned , to acquit us ; to be in an agonie , to comfort us ; and to die , to restore us to life . the viler he became for our sakes , the more highly ought we to esteeme of him . neither did christ goe any way about to conceale his povertie , nay he openly proclaimed it : the foxes have holes , and fowles of heaven neasts , but the sonne of man hath not where to lay his head , matth. 8.20 . but the cause why at that time being destitute of money , he wrought a miracle , was ( as the text saith ) matth. 17.27 . that he might not offend them , who questioned him about tribute , by not paying it . for though he was free , yet the iewes not taking notice of that freedome , in probabilitie would have inferred from his not paying , that he had denyed that tribute ought to be paid to caesar , and consequently had denyed caesars authority & soverainty . see luk. 20.20 . but if povertie be scandalous , why do the fryars by a vow of perfection , as they terme it , undertake this scandalous povertie ? u i answer that the masse being rightly understood our liturgy ought not to bee called a piece of the masse . for though there are some passages alike in both : yet they tend not to the same end , nor are retained upon the same ground . every part of any thing hath a reference to the whole , and consequently every part of the romish service to their masse , as a preparatory or an appertenance , or immediate part thereof ; whereas no part of our service tendeth at all to that end , nay we are so farre from intending the sacrifice of the masse in our service , that we disclaime and abominate it and hold it no better then a masse of superstitions and contradictions ; superstitions in the manner , and contradictions in the matter thereof . for they teach it to be a sacrifice properly so called , yet nothing therein is properly sacrificed : not the bread and wine : for they are transubstantiated before the sacrifice ; not christs body , for no living thing can properly be sacrificed , unlesse it be slaine , but christ as the apostle teacheth us , being once dead dieth no more . secondly , they teach it , to be an externall and sensible sacrifice , and yet christ there appeareth to no sense ; but is as they teach , couched and concealed under the accidents of bread and wine . thirdly , they teach that it is an unbloody sacrifice , and yet christs blood is there truely and really shed and drunke by the communicants with the mouth . fourthly , that it is a perfect and all-sufficient sacrifice , and yet they repeat it and reiterate it daily . fifthly , christs body is there with his humane dimensions , and yet is whole in the whole and whole in every smallest part and point of the host. secondly , i say , that christ indeed forbids us to cast pearle before swine , but no where to take a pearle though out of a swines snout , if we finde any such there . thirdly , i answer , that it cannot be prooved that any part or parcell of our service booke , was originally taken out of the mas●e . for though there are some of the same co●lects and prayers in it , yet they ought not to be said to be taken out of missals as their originall fountaine , sith the most of them if not all might be gathered out of more ancient liturgies . for which . see biblioth patru to 1. and if it be so , then it may be said ; that the mud of popery fell into them , but they sprang not from popery , but from purer fountains . * it hath been i confesse , a long custome in the latine church , ever since pope vitalian to celebrate the church service in the latine tongue , but it was never the custome of the catholique or vniversall so to doe . the greeke and syrian , and african , and other churches had from the beginning , and have at this day their service in their own languages . neither is the reason the priest alleadgeth here of any force , namely , that w as the catholike religion is universall , so it should be exercised in an universall language which he will have to be the latine . for first there is no necessitie that the catholike religion which is universall should be exercised in an universall language , but rather in all languages . secondly , since the division of tongues at the tower of babell , there was no language universall in all the world , the greeke was for a time the furthest spread , and after the romane : but neither of them , nor any other , was spoken or understood by all christians , and at this day if we may beleeve travellers , no language is so generally knowne and spoken as the slavonian . thirdly , the unity of language maketh nothing to the unitie of religion or the church , neither doth the apostle require that the divine service be performed in any one tongue , but that it be done in a knowne tongue , to the edification of the church , 1 cor. 14.4.12.14.16 . and to that end , among others , was the gift of tongues given . x see page 28. letterr. y see the lettero. pag. 17. z see the letter r pag. 28. a this definition of an heretique is both defective & redundant : defective , for every obstinate deniall of an article of faith makes not an heretique , unlesse his conscience be clearely convinced of his errour out of the word of god , it is redundant also , for a man may be an heretique by denying any article of faith , though that article be not proposed to him by the catholike church to be beleeved ; though but his pastour , or any other , religious christian out of gods word clearely propound it to him and prove , it or it be read by himselfe in the scripture : if he obstinately persist in the denyall thereof after his conscience is convinced , he becomes an heretique . b the protestants of england know other churches besides their own , and some have learnedly discoursed of all the churches in the christian world , as purchas , brierwood , mocket , mr. paget , and others : 〈◊〉 true it is , they acknowledge no infallibilitie in the roman or any particular church , nor receive any church for true and orthodoxe , which consenteth not with them in all points of faith either expresly set downe , or by cleare and necessarie consequence deduced from holy scriptures . c the protestants hold nothing contrary to the catholique church , though they hold many things contrary to the present romane church , which is neither the catholike church , nor a sound member thereof , as is proved invincibly by iohn reynolds praefat . thesium , sect. 12. & thes. ss . 27. & apol. 5.23 . and bilsons answer to cardinall allen , part . 4. and abbot against bishop , in a treatise intituled the true ancient romane catholike , to which none answer hath yet beene given , nor sufficient can be . d with what face can he say that the protestants are incredulous and beleeve not the truth ? who entirely beleeve the whole doctrine of the scriptures , together with the three creeds ; that which beares the name of the apostles , the nicene , and that of athanasius , together with the foure first generall councels ; in which time the church most flourished : as also the joynt doctrine and unanimous consent of all the fathers both of the greeke and latine church for five hundred yeeres after christ our lord came into the flesh . let this traducer of the reformed churches answer punctually , whether he beleeveth that the learned doctors , confessours , and martyrs who lived and died within the first 500. yeeres , held the entire catholique faith necessary to salvation or no ? if they held it not , how were they saved , upon what good ground or warrant are so many of them canonized for saints even by the roman church ? but on the other side , if they beleeved all things necessary to salvation , how can we be esteemed incredulous , or defective in our faith , who beleeveth all that can be proved to have beene joyntly beleeved , and unanimously professed by them . e is this the holy romane religion , to make a may-game of religion ? and to goe to sermons as to a play to make themselves merry , and dispell a melancholly dumpe ? besides their owne third commandement enjoynes them to keepe holy-dayes , and their owne casuists allow the lords day to be a day that is holy . and is this a piece of holynesse to goe on such dayes to a play ? yet neither doe i beleeve that he can readily name the man , much lesse many men that spake fustian with gravity in our pulpits , but i am sure he who patched up this safeguard out of rags of religion and falshood speaks linsewoolsey through his whole discourse , and contrary to the law ploweth with an oxe and an asse . the later of which here brayeth irrationally and unjustly against the generalitie of protestant preachers and sermons . forsooth , we are silly weake and ignorant men , but they are all profound gamaliels , nay angelicall and seraphicall doctors . whereunto i answer , as saint paul did to the calumnies of the false apostles , 2 cor. 10.12 . we dare not make our selves of the number to compare our selves with them that commend themselves , but they measuring themselves by themselves , and comparing themselves amongst themselves understand not . the catholiques he saith , are hounds ( ●lood hounds i grant ) and our ministers timorous hares , they dare not encounter the weakest romane catholique , they neither understand the controversies of religion , nor dare meddle with any in their sermons . if this were true which all our hearers know to be most false : yet me thinks iuv●nal speaks very good reason , loripedem rectus derideat , aethiopem albus . and what great clarks ( i pray ) were those of whom boniface bishop of 〈◊〉 ●p●ke in his time ; heretofore we had woodden chalices and golden priests , ●ut now we have golden chalices and woodden priests ; what great gamaliels were they of whom bonaventure complaines ; quidam sacerdotum , ●lavem habent ( he speaketh of the key of knowledge ) quidam claviculam quidam nullam ; what was he upon whom sir thomas moore thus playes in his ●pigr●m , tu bene cavisti ne te ulla occidere possit litera , nam nulla est l●tera nota tibi : be not frighted at the words of the apostle the letter killeth , thou hast taken good order that it shall not kill thee , for thou knowest not a lett●● . what was he of whom poggius writeth , that after he had said masse , bidding the feast of epiphanie , he spake to the honest rusticks on this wise ; my good neighbours , to morrow you are to keepe good cheere and celebrate a high feast , the feast of saint epiphanie , a most holy wight , but whether epiphanie were male or female , a he saint or a she saint , i finde it not in my books . what was he that christened a childe with this forme of words : ego baptizo te in nomine patria , filia , & spiritua sancta what was he , who reading in the gospel of saint iohn , invenimus messiam , lept out of his skin for joy , saying , now to the confusion of all hugonots , i have found the masse in the new testament . what was he , who reading in the epistle , melchisedec rex salem panem & vinum protulit , translated it thus ; king melchisedec brought forth salt , bread and wine . what was he , who in a dispute about putting hereticks to death , most clarke like prooved his conclusion , that hereticks ought to suffer death , because the apostle saith ; hereticum post unam aut alteram admoni●ionem devita . 1 titus 3.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , shun or avoyd but this silly animal mistooke the ver●e devita , for a proposition and a nowne , as if the apostle had said ; de vitá , out of life with him . neither doth pope siricius better argue against p●iests marriage . men in holy orders must not contract matrimonie , because the apostle saith , they that are in the flesh cannot please god ; neither innocentius against lay-mens reading scripture : the beast that touched the mount , was to be thrust thorow with a dart . ergo. the people must not meddle with the scripture . as for their manner of preaching ▪ who so much scorne and deride ours , let all travellers speake , whether it be not thus . a parish priest , or some monk or frier , gets up into a spacious pulpit , and there runs himselfe out of breath , from one side to the other ; before his houre glasse be halfe run , of whom a man might well demand , as some one did in tully of a declaimer . quot millia pass●um declamasti ? when this shaveling betweene whose head and heaven , there is not a haire first appeares to the people , he crosses himselfe ( as their manner is , when they are affraid of evill spirits ) then reads the gospel of the day in latine , whereof the people understand not a word : and after he hath spent some time in translating it , and scored out his way , he conveighes a prayer into a parenthesis , concluding it with an ave maria. after this , resuming the words of his text , in the handling of them , he robs and deplumes the late written pos●ils upon that ●ospell , and like the crow in the poet cloathes his discourse with the choicest of their feathers , in the end sticks two or three gaudy feathers out of the peacock● taile : i meane the golden legend , telling them how st. domin●ck spying the devill sitting in the church like a sparrow , called him to him , pluckt off all his feathers , and put him to a great reproach : or how st. dunstane tooke the devill by the nose with a paire of tongs fire hot : or how st. bernard●lest ●lest good ale , and giving the same to certaine lewd persons , caused divine grace to enter into them . and here if the author and his consorts please to be merry at sermons , spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici : but if any more ingenuous papists like lodovicus vives , condemne the author of your golden legend , for a man of a brazen face , and leaden heart , and bring better stuffe ; yet even these come farre short of the preachers of the reformed churches , in many remarkable particulars . first , all the popish preachers take their text out of the gospel or ●pistle of the day : but the protestants confine themselves not to those parcels of scripture , but make choice as god shall direct them , for the most profit of their flocke ; of any part of the canonicall scripture to expound it . againe , the protestant preachers in their translation follow the originals , the greeke and hebrew : the papists as they are bound under paine of a curse , follow the corrupt vulgar latine , which they may not upon any pretence reject . the protestants deliver no doctrine of faith , for which they bring not gods word . the papists ground many of their doctrines upon unwritten traditions or decrees of popes , or councels . the protestants build upon the true foundation , gold , silver , and precious stones , that is ▪ heavenly , solid and precious doctrine , conformable to holy scriptures . the papists hay and stubble , as namely , the putting thrones and dominations , with archangels , angels , cherubins and seraphins , in ranke and file ; a geographical● description of foure regions under the earth , hell , purgatory , limbus patrum , and limbus infantum ; an imaginary treasury of super-abundant satisfactions to be dispenced by the pope , hallowing of water , salt , creame , &c. christening bels , singing dirges , and trentals , pilgrimages , whippings , masses , without communicants , dry communions , censing pictures , invocation of saints , worshipping of images , with reliques , and such like trash . f de te fabula narratur , unlesse you can substantially refute vigniers his theater of popes , or plessis his historia papatus , or abbot , & down . and powell , and infinite others accurate and elaborate treatises , de antichristo , you must aske blessing of the whore of babylon as your mother . g will you call it the same wine which was powred out into two cups , whereof one hath store of rats-bane in it ? see pag. 16. letter ● . and pag. 33. letter u h there was never such a prophane gamster heard of as this masse-priest , who playeth not only with the word of god , and prayers , but with sacraments here , and most solemne oathes hereafter ? what horrible prophannesse , what detestable hypocrisie is it ? i will not say for a lay papist , but a romish priest , not only to be at our service , but to stay at the communion , to heare the ministers exhortation out of the apostle , to all persons that come to the holy table , diligently to try and examine themselves , before they presume to eate of that bread , and drinke of that cup : for as the benefit is great , if with a true penitent heart and lively faith , we receive that holy sacrament ( for then we spiritually eate the flesh of christ , and drinke his blood ; then we dwell in christ , and christ in us ; we be one with christ and christ with us ) so is the danger great , if we receive the same unworthily ; for then we be guiltie of the body and blood of christ our saviour , we eat and drinke our own damnation , not considering the lords body , we kindle gods wrath against us , when we provoke him to plague us with divers diseases , and sundry kinds of death . nay more , if he joyne with the whole congregation in the rehearsall of the words of the institution , and the consecratory prayer , will he present himselfe on his knees ( for he excepts no ceremonies ) and receive the consecrated elements , delivered to him with these words ; the body of our lord iesus christ , which was given for thee preserve thy body and soule unto eternall life ; and yet all this while , never thinke of receiving the sacrament ; but only of eating a piece of bread , and drinking a draught of wine , which shall be better done with the remembrance of christ then without it . he will say , that our sacrament is nothing but common bread and wine , and that nought else is to be received a● our communion table . the lord rebuke thee , thou false tongue ! what ▪ because we beleeve not that the bread and wine is transubstantiated into christs body and blood ; must it therefore be nothing but common bread and bare wine . by the same reason he might say , that because the water in baptisme is not transubstantiated into christs blood , that therefore it is nothing but faire water ; and he may in a jesting manner wash a childe in remembrance of christs washing us with his blood . it is true , we teach with theodoret , dial. 2. that the sacred symbols after consecration , depart not out of their own nature , but still remaine , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in their former substance shape and figure : but withall we teach , that they remaine not the same in use , signification and supernaturall efficacie ; by vertue of christs promise to all that worthily partake of the same . neither could this prophane scoffer be ignorant hereof , for he saith , he hath often been at our service , where we professe , that all , who with a lively faith receive the holy sacrament spiritually , eate the flesh of christ and drinke his blood . he also maketh mention in this pamphlet of the 39. articles , which he will have to be the definition of a protestant , and in those articles , he could not but reade , art. 28. christs body is given , received and eaten in the supper , but only after a heavenly and spirituall manner ; and in the apologie of the church of england , part . 2. cap. 14. the supper of the lord , is not only a signe of the love that christians ought to beare amongst themselves , one to the other , but rather it is a sacrament of our redemption by christs death , in so much , that to such as rightly , worthily , and with faith receive the same , the bread which we breake , is the partaking of the body of christ , and likewise the cup of blessing , is a partaking of the blood of christ. with which confession of ours , fully accordeth the helvetian , the french , the belgicke , the augustane , and the swevick : as he that hath an eare may heare in the harmony of confessions , printed , 1581. cap. 21. de sacrâ coenâ domini . what should i need for further proofe hereof , either to alleadge the testimonie of calvin . epist. 31. non modo figuratur in coenae communio quam habemus cum christo , sed etiam exhibetur : neque verba illic nobis dantur à domino , sed veritas ac res constat cum verbis . haec porro communio non imaginaria est , sed qua in unum corpus unamque substantiam cum capite nostro coalescimus : there is not only figured in the supper , that communion which we have with christ , but it is also exhibited ; neither doth our lord deceive us , but the truth of the thing is correspondent to his words ; neither is the communion we speake of , an imaginarie , but such a reall one , whereby we grow into one body , and one substance with chr●st , our head ; or the testimonie of bucer . epist. ad italos addit , hoc est corpus meum , hic sanguis meus , id credamus nec dubitemus haec dari nobis his ipsis symbolis , & dari in cibum & potum vitae aeternae ut magis magisque vivamus in christo , & habeamus illum manentem in nobis : he addeth this is my body , this is my blood ; let us beleeve it and no way doubt , but that these things are given unto us by or with these very symbols , and that they are given unto us for the food and drinke of eternall life , that we may more and more live in christ , and have him living in us . it never came into the thought of any professour of the gospel , to celebrate the supper of the lord , without the lord , as bucer speaketh in this epistle , or exclude him from his owne table . we teach he is there truly present , and is truly received by all worthy communicants but spiritually by faith , not carnally with the mouth according to the grosse capernaitical conceipt of romanists . for first our saviour in the sixth of iohn , where he commandeth all , to eate his flesh , and drinke his blood , vers . 53. affirming that his flesh is meat indeed , and his blood is drinke indeed ; perceiving that some were offended thereat , saying , vers . 60. this is a hard saying , who can beare it ; thus he declareth his own meaning , vers . 63. the words which i speake unto you , they are spirit and they are life , that is , spiritually to be understood , not carnally and grossely . secondly , the orthodox fathers disclaime this carnall eating with the mouth : st. cyril in his anathems denyeth the sacrament to be hominis comestionem , an anthropophagie or man eating , st. chrysostome saith , it is mensa aquilarum , not graculorum : and st. austine , that it is cibus mentis , not ventris or dentis ; the food of the soule , not of the tooth or belly : tract 20. in iohan. vt quid paras dentes & ventrem crede & manducasti : why dost thou prepare thy teeth and thy belly , beleeve and thou hast eaten : and st. cyprian , de coena dom. haec quoties agimus non , dentes ad manducondum acuimus , sed fide sincera panem sanctum frangimus : as oft as we doe these things , we doe not wh●t our teeth to eate , but with sincere faith we breake that holy bread . thirdly , christ never instituted any sacramentall action , but it was profitable to the soule ; but the eating of christs flesh with the mouth , and swallowing it down in the stomack , doth no way at all profit the soule . fourthly , christ never wrought any miracle outwardly upon the creature ; but the truth therof appeared , even to sense , when he turned the water into wine , ioh. 2. the change was discovered by the taste , vers . 9 , 10. when the ruler of the feast had tasted it , he said to the bridegroome thou hast kept the good wine till now : in like manner when christ multiplyed the five barley loaves and the two fishes , both the taste and the stomacke , and the eyes of all that were present gave testimonie to the truth of this miracle . for they did all eate and were satisfied , and saw twelve bask●ts remaining full of the fragments or broken meat which remained to them that had eaten . neither can it be shewed , that ever christ the author of truth deluded the sense . if therefore the bread had been truly and really turned into the substance of flesh either the sight , or the taste , or the touch would have discerned this change , which yet as themselves confesse , discover nothing but the whitenesse , the roundnesse , the taste , and other accidents of bread . fifthly , if the flesh of christ may be eaten with the mouth without faith , not only infidels and reprobates , but even rats and mice might sometimes through the negligence of priests gnaw upon the consecrated host , and eate the flesh of the son of god , which were horrid to imagine and blasphemous to utter . sixthly , if the romish priests undoubtedly beleeve this doctrine of transubstantiation , as they doe other articles of their faith : why did garnet and other popish priests when they were required to say these or the like words ; if after i have consecrated and pronounced the words , this is my body , there be not in stead of the bread the very flesh of christ let me have no part in heaven , they refused so to doe this profession being demanded of them , but a day or two before their deaths , when if ever , men will clearely discharge their conscience and utter whatsoever is in their very heart , it being the last time they are like ever to confesse with the mouth unto salvation . seventhly , if the bread be transubstantiated into christs body , and his body truly really , and properly taken from the hand of the priest put into the mouth , chawed with the teeth , and swallowed down into the stomacke of all communicants : either christ of necessitie must have two bodies , one visible , another invisible , one with the full dimensions of a man , the other of a wafer , one passible , the other impassible , one residing in one place , the other filling a million of places : or at least the selfe same body of christ must at the same time be visible at the right hand of his father , and invisible in the host : with the dimensions of a man in heaven , and of a wafer on earth : with distinction of organs in heaven , and inorganicall upon earth : resting in heaven , and moved on earth from the hand to the mouth , and from the mouth to the stomack of millions of communicants . lastly , i demand of this priest and his pew-fellows , what becomes of christs body after it is conveighed into the stomack , doth it remaine there after the forme and accidents of bread are changed or doth it some wayes , remove out of the stomack , or is it there converted into any other substance : they dare not pitch upon any of these three , nothing therefore remaineth but an annihilation or corruption in the stomack and so the holy one of god whom god would never suffer to see corruption , no not in the grave ; shall now after his glorification suffer corruption in the stomack of all romish capernaits . i the apostle in that place speaketh not of suppers in the plurall number , but the lords supper in the singular , and vers . 23. delivereth the right manner of administring it according to christs institution , and so st. cyprian in his tract . de caena domini , and the most approved interpreters both ancient and moderne understand the word , and not of love feasts . as for the reason this authour alleadgeth for this his exposition , it is very frivolous . for if the love feasts must therfore be tearm●d coena dominicae our lords suppers , because they were made in the churches which were then called dominicae , by the same reason the homilies and catechisings , and songs should be called dominicae , because they were made said or sung in the churches which were then called dominicae . k he meaneth a romane catholique or papist , which indeed can hardly be knowne to be a true catholique . see pag. 1. letterc. but doth he think that we know not what a papist is ? let them remember what polycarp did answer when marcion accoasting him said , nosti me ? doest thou know me ? yes saith polycarp . novi primogenitum diaboli . i know the first begotten of the devill . we know you qua tales , to be the naturall issue of the man of sinne , and whore of babylon : and in this double and dissembling way it is hard to say of what religion you are , or whether of any at all ? l a lewd slander , it is not lawfull among us for every one to beleeve what hee pleaseth , but this priest thinketh it lawfull for him to speake what he pleaseth ; though against common sense and his owne conscience . for within tenne lines of these words he maketh mention of the 39 articles of the church of england , to which we all are bound to give our assent and consent ; and in case any parson or vi●ar doe not reade these articles and publikely testifie his approbation of them within a moneth after his induction into his benefice ▪ he lapseth his living . besides it is the knowne doctrine of all protestants that the scripture is the sole and perfect rule of faith , and that as we may not beleeve any thing contrary unto it ; so neither any doctrine as necessarie to salvation which cannot be evidently proved out of it . of what brasse then was the brow of this slanderer made , who affirmeth it to be lawfull among protestants , for every man to beleeve what he pleaseth . m see page 53. letter e. n see the advertisement to the reader . o we are as much beholding to the sti●c●er up of this safeguard for the relation herein closed as the church of rome hath little cause to con him thanke for it . for hence we learne first , what credit is to be given to the popes briefes which may be so easily procured by false suggestions , to the wrong and prejudice of those that deserve well of the roman cause . a cleare evidence hereof we have in day the franciscan who never so much as appearing before his holinesse to answer for himselfe , is censured by the popes bull , and that for doing a pious and religious act . secondly , what a silly consistory the papall is at this day , the pope himselfe as fallible a man as any other , and the cardinals slight and weake fellows never a skilfull pilot , sitting at the sterne of peters ship . thirdly , what charitie there is betweene romish priests and iesuits , and how they heape coales of hell fire one upon anothers head . davenport otherwise franciscus a sancta clara procures a bull like to phalaris his brazen bull with fire in the belly of it , to torment day the franciscan without his fault , or knowledge : and this priest here condemns sancta clara to black darknesse for ever : pallentes umbras erebi noct●mque profundam , this man saith he is descending to lucifer who will presume to be copartn●r with the holy ghost , and thus leaving him ( the said a sancta clara ) to him that will , have him , &c. tantaene animis caelestibus irae ? are they friers secular priests , or devils that thus spit fire one at another ? let davenport have the day of day at rome , what hath sancta clara done that in the charita●le censure of this priest lucifer must have him ? he tooke upon him to draw some rules out of scriptures and the writings of the ancient fathers ; for the direction of generall councels in declaring matters of faith : a capitall crime no doubt : but what else hath this priest against him ? this sancta clara hath paraphrased upon the articles of religion established in the church of england , and sheweth in what sense and how a good romane catholique may with a sa●e conscience subscribe to them all , though eighteene at least of them shoot point blancke at their trent faith and pierce it through and through . aggravate th●s fact of his to the height , doth this priest himselfe doe lesse ? who paraphraseth upon the oath of allegiance and supremacie , and sheweth in what sense a romane catholique may take both , though the former directly renounce the popes temporall , and the latter his spirituall power and jurisdiction . now i see what the matter is — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . there is and alwayes will be emulation betweene artificers that worke at the same trade , this priest and sancta clara are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same craft or trade they both deale in like commodities , equivocations and mentall reservations and wittie devices to elude oathes , subscriptions to articles of religion , and religious obligations . not to dissemble with either of them , they both teach , with the helcesaites , euseb. hist. lib. 6. cap. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , dissimulation in point of religion , and cunning fetches to deceive chri●tian magistrates when they are convented before them and unlesse they both repent their doome is set down , apoc. 22.25 . without are dogs and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lye . i know well they pretend by this doctrine to keepe men from perjury and lying : but they doe just as lycurgus the law-giver of the lacedemonians did who to prevent adulterie enacted communitie of wives . for equivocation is no better then an artificiall and made lye as the bishop of duresme , and mr. henry mason prove in their treatises of this argument . p yet some of these greyhounds have beene taken by the hares he speakes of , as albertus piggius by calvin● , paulus virgerius by bre●tius , and divers others , but of this see pag. 53. letter e. q it is true that the romanists teach the simpler sort of the vulgar , that they are not to adore images , but onely to use them for memorie sake : and cardinall bellarmine himselfe in his second booke de imaginibus sanctorum , c. 22. hath these expresse words , quantum ad modum loquendi , praesertim in concione ad populum , non est dic●dum imagines ullas adorari debere latriâ ; sede contrariò non debere sic adorari : for the manner of speech especially in sermons to the people , we must not say that any images ought to be adored cultu latriae , but on the contrarie , that they ought not to be so adored : yet the truth is , that the romane church maintaineth the religious worship of images . for in the second councell of nice confirmed by pope adrian they are thunder smitten who adore them not , clamat synodus , saith bellarmine in the chapter above cited , imagines adorandas and venerabiles imagines amplexamur ; qui secus faxit anathemate percellimus : and in the nineteenth yeere of king richard the second , the lollards have a forme of recantation prescribed them in these words . from this day forward i shall worship images with praying and offering unto them , in the worship of the aints , that they be made after ex rotulo clausarum de anno decimo nono r. sec. in 18. dorso . see the appendix to the animadversions . and to come neerer ; the councell of trent , sess. 25 , decreeth in these words , imagines christi , et deiparae virginis et sanctorum in templis perpetuò habendae et retinendae sunt , iisque debitus honor et veneratio impertienda . the images of christ , and of the virgine the mother of god , and of saints are perpetually to be had and kept in churches , and due honour and veneration to be given unto them : and lest any should thinke that this worship and veneration is not to be exhibited , to the images themselves , but only to glance through them to the saints . cardinall bellarmine in his second booke de imaginibus sanctorum , c. 21. most plainely and expresly resolves the point : imagines christi et sanctorum venerandae sunt , non solum per accidens vel improprie ; sed etiam per se et proprie ; ita ut ipsae terminent venerationem , ut in se considerantur ; et non solum ut vi●em gerunt exemplaris : the images of christ and saints are to be worshipped not onely by accident and improperly , but also by themselves an● properly ; so that the worship is terminated in them as they are considered in themselves , and not onely in regard of that they represent . and cap. 20. he acknowledgeth it to be the opinion of alexander of hales , tho : aquinas , caietane , bonaventure , marsilius , almaine , carthusian , capreolus , and others , that the same honour is due to the image and the patterne ; and theref●re the image of christ is to be worshipped with latria or divine worship . and vasquez de adorat . l. 1. disp . 6. c. 3. rex nebucadonosor admirans sapientiam et spiritum danielis , in signum honoris et reverentiae , iussit ei offeri munera odorum et suffituum , id quod nos etiam secundum fidem nostram immaginibus facere consuevimus . nebucadonosor admiring the wisedome and spirit of daniel , in signe of honour and reverence unto him , commanded that sweete odours and incense should be offered unto him , as we according to our faith use to doe to our images : and now let the intelligent reader judge whether protestant ministers are slanderers , or papists idolaters and image-worshippers by their owne profession see page 52. letter ● . s the bane of poperie not of catholique religion . see pag. 1. letter c and pag. 52. letter c. t nay not so much for religion , noe nor at all for it , but for treason and disloyaltie . see pag. 22. letter q. u the fathers heo speakes of were the flower of the councel of trent , neither were they abused by any false suggestion , for the case was put truely unto them , and they resolved it according to their conscience after long disputation and mature deliberation . see an extract of their decree in the appendix to the animad versions . w if recusancie be so small a matter , the more to blame all papists who for such a toy as recusancie , doth disobey the lawes . the easier the performance of a cōmandement is , the greater contumacie in disobeying it . x here he hath found la●●bram periurio , this conceit , of not being bound to answer the truth but before a competent iudge ( and they will have none a competent ●udge but one of their owne religion ) is the ●yges ring by which the late papists , especially those that are iesuited goe invisible in and from all our cour●s of iustice. but i demand of them first , why our iudges in england are not as competent , as those beyond the ●eas : if the king be , as it is treason for them or any other to denie , our leige lord and lawfull sovereigne , those that are put in authoritie under him ( being men of learning and integritie ) cannot be denied to be competent iudges . the apostles rule is without exception , there is no power but of god , the powers that be are ordained of god , rom. 13.1 . and by higher powers to whom we must be subject , he understandeth not onely kings , but all those that are in authoritie under them , 1 tim. 2.2 . first the king as supreame , and after governours , as them that are sent by him , 1 pet. 2.13 , 14. secondly , i demand of them , whether that command of saint peter , 1 pet. 3.15 . may be limited by their distinction of a iudge competent and incompetent ? surely though in other causes a man is not bound to appeare or answer coram iudice non competente : yet in matter of faith when we are required to give an account o● it there is no excepting against our iudge . for we must be ready alwaies to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us with meekenesse and feare . thirdly , i demand of them whether they account pilate a competent iudge in christs cause , or nero in peters and pauls cause , or any of the roman deputies and proconsuls before whom the glorious army of martyrs ( who signed the christian faith with their bloud ) were brought , were competent iudges ? they were no roman catholiques nor christians ; yet christ iesus before pontius pilate , 1 tim. 6 13. and peter and paul before nero ; and the rest of christs noble souldiers before heathen iudges , witnessed a good profession . fourthly , i demand when that confession of faith which the apostle implyeth to be necessary to salvation is to be made , rom. 10.10 . with the mouth confession is made to salvation , is it not when we are brought before kings and rulers for christs name sake , luke 21.12 . for a testimony against them ? if we are bound to confesse our faith onely to those of our owne religion , because they are onely supposed to be competent judges , no man ever need to suffer for his religion , and all the noble confessors and martyrs of former ages by this iesuiticall doctrine deserved rathers fooles caps then martyrs crownes : for they did not shed their blouds for christs cause , but they spilt it causelesly . for they needed not to confesse what they were , before incompetent iudges . here i will make bold to use the words of david concerning abner , 2 sam. 3.33 . did abner die a foole ? did all those worthies whose soules cryed under the altar , apoc. 6.10 . how long lord , holy and true , dost thou not iudge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth , and to whom white robes were given , vers . 11. die as fooles ? it seemed they died so in the judgement of this priests prudent catholique , who though by this slight he now avoid all confession of his faith ( that he is not examined before a competent iudge ) yet he shall one day , when he shall come before the iudge of all the earth condemne his own folly , and justifie and magnifie also christs noble confessors and martyrs , taking up the lamentation of the reprobate set down in the booke of wisedome , we fooles accounted their life madnesse , and their end to be without honour , but now how are they numbred among the children of god , and their lot is among the saints , therefore have we erred from the way of truth , and the sunne of righteousnesse hath not shined upon us , wisdome 5.6 . y i have read , logicam si vis discere lege titlemannum , ille sophistarū crimi●a pandere vult , but i never read , theologiam si vis discere , lege titlemannum , he is in a very ill case who rules his conscience by this casuist whose divinitie is no better here then his latine . i confesse in machiavels schoole it is a lesson read to those of the upper forme , leoninae assuere vulpinam , to piece out the lions skinne with a foxes , but in christs schoole zuickius teacheth us another lesson , non decet in hac causa cum vulpibus vulpinari et cum astutissimis huius mundi sapientibus , astutia certare , certandum est nobis solâ perseverantiâ pietate simplicitate adeo et patientiâ crucis : we ought not to play the fox with foxes , nor contend with the subtile vizards of this world in craft and subtiltie , but we must fight against them , with sole perseverance and piety , and simplicitie , and bearing of the crosse. in the whole scripture we never reade of fox or fox craft commended . the spouse in the canticles commanded to take the foxes , the little foxes that spoile the grapes , cant. 2.15 . and it is davids curse upon gods enemies , let them be a portion for foxes : and our saviour to brand herod with perpetuall infamie , calleth him a fox , luk. 13.32 . saying , goe ye and tell ●hat fox , neither can it be proved to bee more lawfull for us to play the fox with foxes , then play the wolfe with wolves , or play the sophister with sophisters , or play the hypocrite with hypocrites , or play the devill with devils . though craftie companions may deserve to be served with their owne sawce , yet it is not fit for us to dresse it for them . the very poet could say ac tu indignus qui faceres . that may be very just and fit for one to suffer which is not yet fit for another to inflict or put upon him . however this priest is not his crafts master . for it is against fox craft to professe it : he will hardly or never deceive a m●n , who brags before hand he will doe it , and though it may be this priest and his complices are annosae vulp●s , old foxes , and the proverbe is , annosa vulpis haud capitur laqueo : an old fox is seldome or never caug●t in a snare : yet if those who are commanded to catch these foxes should be pleased to make snares with this fox his owne cords here stretched out by him , namely to put them to an expresse abiuration of the maine and fundamentall points of their trent faith , or set them such a forme of recantation of their tenents , and with such conditions as they enjoyned the lollards in the dayes of king richard the second , ( see the appendix to the animadversions infra ) it may verily be hoped through gods blessing upon the wisedome and care of zealous magistrates , that this kingdome of england may in time be as free of these foxes as it is now of wolves , with which in former ages it much abounded . z there was no feare of the iews perverting the primitive christians , especially in the apostles dayes in which we reade in the acts , how mightily the apostles and their converts confounded the iewes , christ making good his promise to them that he would give them a mouth and wisdome which their enemies should not be able to resist , luk. 21.15 . but the true reason why they made such a canon ( if yet they made such canons which is very much doubted ) was to prevent the scandall which the church might receive by the christians frequenting the iews synagogues in which the now abrogated rites of moses were to the injury of the gospell retained , and christ himselfe blasphemed which no christian eare ought to endure . a see page 22. letter q ▪ b if papists trusted not in their owne merits , it would goe better with them then i feare it will with many , who the more they arrogate to themselves , the more they derogate from our saviour , and the further they go from salvation . i confesse many of them upon their death-beds have renounced their own merits , and wholly stucke to our saviours : yet certaine it is that the generall doctrine of the church of rome is for trust in their own merits . for they teach that faith alone doth not justifie us before god , that good works are not only satisfactory for sin , but also meritorious of eternall life , and supererogatory also for others ▪ ( consil. trid. in sess . 16. bellar. l. 5. de iustif . c. 16. ) and they who beleeve that they can so farre stead them do commonly confide in them . let them returne to the more ancient and true tenent with bernard , saying , meritum meum est miseratio domini ; gods mercy is my merit , and if their be any worke of our own meritorious it is the renouncing our owne merits and flying meerely to christ ; sufficit ad meritum scire quod non sufficiant merita . let them confesse with holy iob , iob. 9.3 . that they cannot answer one of a thousand , and professe with esay , esa. 64.6 . all our righteousnesse is as filthy clowts ; and pray with david , psal. 143.2 . lord enter not into iudgement with thy servants , for in thy sight shall no man living be iustified ; and close up their last will and breath also , as bellar. is said to have done : ( for papists often dye in another faith then they lived , ) with that holy ejaculation ; lord vouchsafe to receive me into the number of thy saints , non meriti estimator , sed veniae largitor , not weighing my merits , but pardoning my offences , and we will not only cleare them of pharisaicall pride , and trusting in themselves , but also conceive a better hope of their salvation . c see a spunge to wipe out this false aspersiō upon that worthy servant of christ and great instrument of gods glory , pag. 59. letter h. d see the advertisement to the reader . f the head of controversies , betweene the romish and reformed churches is the controversie about the head of the church , which the papists will have the pope to be , but reformed churches christ alone : i say head of the vniversall or catholique church , but of particular churches , sovereigne princes within their severall realmes may be termed heads , that is , chiefe governours which this priest here acknowledgeth . for the acknowledgement of this supreame authoritie and power of the king in his dominions of england and ireland , the oath of supremacie was appointed by act of parliament in the 35. of henry the eighth , to be taken by all his majesties subjects ; this act was continued in the reigne of edward the sixth , but repealed in the first and second of philip and mary , and revived the first of queene elizabeth : now the question here is , whether the oath of supremacie thus confirmed by divers acts of parliament , exclude not that spirituall jurisdiction , which all papists beleeve to be in the pope iure divino : or , which comes all to one , whether a papist ut si● , that is , remaining a papist and holding his popish religion , may salv● conscientiâ , take this oath of supremacie : this priest affirmeth he may ; but we shall demonstrate the contrary hereafter by impregnable arguments drawne from the intention of the law-makers , the letter of the acts of parliament , and the queenes injunctions , the judgement of the church of rome , and the confession of the adversarie himselfe . g not the same authoritie which the pope had in all things , but so farre as it is expounded and limited in the queenes injunctions in the first yeere of her reigne ; the queene ( as her brother and father before ) onely resumed that power , which the pope had unjusty taken from the crowne , and usurped it himselfe ; a power which is and was of ancient time due to the imperiall crowne of this realme , that is , under god to have the sovereigntie and rule over all manner of persons , borne within these realmes and dominions , and countries , of what estate either ecclesiasticall or temporal soever they be . see admonition to the injunctions in the appendix . h calvine conceived that king henry the eighth by the title of head of the church , challenged a farre greater power then what the act of parliament acknowledged in him , or he ever exercised : but after the title of head of the church was publikely declared and expounded by q. elizabeth , bo●h he and all the reformed churches rested satisfied in the lawfulnesse of that title which imported not supreame teacher or directer unto trtuh : but supreame commander for the truth , in all causes , and over all persons . i the intention of henry the eighth , and queene elizabeth , was the selfe same as is expressed in the act of parliament 35. henry the eighth ; and the admonition annexed to the injunctions of the 1 elizabeth : namely the extirpation and extinguishment of the usurped and pretended authoritie , power and iurisdiction of the see and bishop of rome : and the recovery of their owne right by adorning the crowne with a flowre before wrongfully taken from it : and here i cannot sufficiently admire the impudence of this priest who so confidently affirmes that the intention of queene elizabeth was divers from her father in prescribing and requiring this oath , whereas she her selfe in the above named admonition declareth to all her loving subjects , that nothing was , is , or shall be meant or in●ended by the same oath , to have any other dutie , allegiance or bond required by the same , then was acknowledged to be due to the most nobl● king of famous memory , k. h. 8. her maiesties father , or k. ed. 6. her maiesties bro●●er . k the liberty he speakes of was given by the approbation of the chief vniversities beyond the sea of the romish religion . l not to forme another church , but to reforme that church which was before , and restore religion to her puritie by the example of ezekiah , iosiah , and other religious kings . m no power at all excepted but the former power explained onely how farre it extended ( viz ) not to the authoritie and power of ministrie of divine office in the church , which none of the kings or queenes of this realme possessours of the crowne ever challenged . nor i in this place by what authoritie your bishops anoynt your thumbes and ordaine your priests to offer the unbloody sacrifice of the mas●e for the living & the dead . there is nec vola nec vestigium of any such calling in the scripture or purer antiquitie , as for our ministry it is ●o clearely justified together with the succession thereof , out of your own best records and tenents by francis mason de succes . episc. & ministerio angl. that ever since the printing therof all your romish cavillers & carpers at it , have been as mute as fishes . o see p. 117. letter ● . p a shameles untruth in his sense : for he taketh catholike ( as usually in this pamphlet ) for the romish and popish church & in that sense it is most false . for there were many congregations in england before this 35 of hen. 8. of protestants , and divers crowned with martyrdome as th. man in the yeere 1518. io. browne in the yeere 1517. and divers others set down in the acts and monuments of the church , some before and some after luther began the reformation in germanie . q a notorious untruth as appeares by the very act , ann. 35. in which the oath of supremacy was first required to be taken , king henry never challenged to himselfe the style of head of the universall church , but only to bee supreame h●ad under god of the church of england , and ireland , and all other his majesties dominions . r no other oath at all in sense , but the former only abridged in words as will appeare evidently by comparing them both which are copied out in the appendix . s a ridiculous evasion and contrary to the intention and letter of the law , as shall be proved hereafter . the intention of the law was to abrogate the popes usurped jurisdiction not over the protestant churches which he never had : but over the romish catholiques or papists which he before that time enjoyed , and exercised . besides , the letter of the law carryeth supreame governour of the realme and all other her highnesse dominions and countreys , not only of the protestant church within her realmes . this is made more evident in the admonition to the injunctions , 1. eliz. where her supremacie is described to be over all manner of persons borne within her realmes , dominions and countreys : therefore over papists as well as protestants , unlesse they be no manner of persons . t i acknowledge the word forreiner is sometimes taken for an opposite to domesticus fidei , a stranger from the covenant of grace : but in the act of parliament and oath of supremacie , as it is expounded in the admonition ( which is also enacted ) the word forreiner can signifie no other but those who are not natives . u neither can the pope . here we thanke him for freeing us from all subjection to the pope and see of rome . though he challengeth not to be the head of the catholike , that is , the universall church of christ scattered farre and wide over the whole face of the earth : yet he challengeth to be and is supreame governour of all his subjects within his dominions , whether they are members of the romish or reformed church . w the superstition and idolatry of papists practised in england doth not any way abridge his majesties supreame power , for he exerciseth his power not in regulating those idolatrous and superstitious rites , but in suppressing them , and punishing those who so defile gods worship in his kingdome . x see this evasion refuted , pag. 120. letter s. y the words of the oath are not that no forreiner , prince , or prelate , hath or ought to have any iurisdiction or spirituall authoritie within the protestant church but within the realmes , therefore no jurisdiction within his majesties dominions , over any members either of the protestant or of the romish church . z see the answer to this sophisme , pag. 120. letter t. a it is true if the words will beare it and it be agreeable to the intention of the law & lawmaker , but maledicta glossa quae corrumpit contextum ; cursed be the glosse which corrupts the text , & quite perverts the meaning of the law as this doth . see the injunctions . b of the intention of the law and lawmaker in prescribing this oath to that which i have spoken before i shall adde something in the close of this chapter to which ●referre the reader for further answer c the law is just and reasonable without your forced , and forged glosse : for why should not all that enjoy the benefit of his majesties lawes as well as protestants , submit themselves to his majesties scepter , and supreame power over themselves as well as protestants , especially seeing the power is the same , which the most religious kings of iuda , and most christian emperours of rome , and divers of his majesties predecessors within this realme have exercised upon all their subjects . d see pag. 119. letter q. e see pag. 119. letter r. f and yet his words as you cite them out of his praemonitorie preface , pag. 9. are these : the oath of supremacie was devised for putting a difference betweene papists and them of our profession , devised by whom but by the lawmakers ; and if devised by the the lawmakers for this end , to put a difference betweene papists & protestants , it cannot be denied but that it was their intention , to make this oath as a didinctive signe whereby to know papists in the kingdome from protestants . g see pag. 118. letter p. h the question whether a papist may with a safe conscience take the ●ath of supremacie , may be understood either in sensu diviso , or in sensu composito , in sensu diviso it is true , that a papist may and ought to take the oath of supremacie : for he that is now a papist may become a protestant , and then he not onely may , but ought to take this oath being lawfully tendered unto him : but in sensu composito it is false that a papist continuing in his faith and profession of popery may with a safe conscience take this oath : for this oath implyeth the renouncing a maine article of his faith from whence he hath the denomination of a papist ( see the notes of the rhemists upon act. 11.26 . which fasten and assume this word or name papist to the children of their papall church ) namely the popes supremacie : and this as before was promised shall now be demonstrated . 1. ●irst from the intention of the law and lawmakers , who prescribed this oath of supremacie as appeares both by the preface to the oath : whereas ther● was a statute made and ordained against such as would extoll and stand to the iurisdiction , power and authoritie of the see and bishop of rome : in which statute there is comprised another oath in such wise as in the same statute among other thin●● is mentioned : for as much as in both the said oathes there lacketh full an● sufficient words , whereby some doubts might rise : be it enacted by the authoritie of this parliament , that this oath hereafter mentioned in this act shall s●and in force and place of the same two oathes . and by these words in the bodie of the oath , i shall keepe all the contents of the act , and all other acts and statutes made in and for that purpose : viz. the derogation , the extirpation , and extinguishment of the usurped and pretended authoritie , power and iurisdiction of the see and bishop of rome . as likewise by the preface to the act of parliament in 1. elizabeth , viz. to the intent that all usurped and forreigne power , and authoritie spirituall and temporall , may for ever be cleerely extinguished , and never to be used or obeyed within this realme , or any other your maiesties dominions and countries : may it please your highnesse that it may be enacted as followeth , &c. hence i thus argue : no papist with a good conscience can take an oath prescribed by an act of parliament made purposely , and with an expresse intention for the extirpation of the popes jurisdiction and supremacie over the whole church , which he claimeth by vertue of christs promise made to peter , tibi dabo claves . but such is the oath of supremacie as appeares by the statutes above cited . ergo , no papist with a good conscience may take it . 2. secondly , from the letter of the law and formal● and expresse words of the oath , which are these : that neither the see , nor bishop of rome , nor any forreigne potentate hath or ought to have , any iurisdiction , power , or authoritie , within this realme ; neither by gods law , nor by any other iust law or meanes , henry 8.35 . yeere , hereunto adde the admonition to the queenes injunctions . hence i thus argue . no papist may take an oath which containeth in it the renouncing a prime article of his faith , necessary to salvation in his religion and the iudgement of his church . but every papist taking the oath of supremacie renounceth a prime article of his faith necessarie to salvation . for so we reade in the extravagans , cap. unam sanctam de maior . et obed . subesse romano pontifici , omni humanae creaturae declaramus dicimus , definimus , et pronunciamus , omnino esse de necessitate salutis . we ( saith boniface the eighth ) declare , say , define , and pronounce that it is altogether or absolutely necessary to salvation for every humane creature to be subiect to the bishop of rome . ergo , no papist may take the oath of supremacie . 3. thirdly , from the judgement of the church of rome , which accounteth fisher bishop of rochester , and sir thomas moore sometimes lord chan●ellour of england , blessed and glorious martyrs , because both these lost 〈◊〉 heads ●ather then they would acknowledge the king supreame head 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 the popes headship . to omit the testimonies 〈…〉 ●ovius bishop in italie , iohn cochleus of germanie , william paradine a learned historian of france , cardinall poole , living in the court at rome and writing to the king in the defence of ecclesiasticall unitie , saith thus by the figure of apostroph● : thy father o england , thy ornament , thy de●●nce was brought to his death being innocent in thy sight ; and a little after , he lef● his life for thy sake , left he should overthrow and b●tray thy salvation : and cardinall b●llarmine in his booke de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis ab anno 1400. ad 1500. thus writeth of fisher bishop of rochester . iohannes fischerus natione anglus , episcopus roffensis , posteà , s. r. e. cardinalis , et quod longe gloriofius est , martyr christi occisus est henrici octavi regis anglorum iussu , anno , 1535. iohn fisher an english man bishop of rochester , and afterwards car●inall , and which makes him farre more glorious , a martyr of christ was slaine by the coommandement of king henrie the eighth , in the yeere of our lord one thousand five hundred thirty five : whence i thus argue . to his evasion that it was not the same oath . see the answer , p. 119. letter r. and the appendix p. 141. either fisher and moore were no martyrs , who died for refusing to take this oath , or they are no good papists who take it . but fisher and moore were famous and glorious martyrs in the opinion of the romane church as hath beene prooved . ergo , they who take the oath of supremacie are no good papists . 4. fourthly , from the confession of this priest , pag. 118. the oath of supremacie when it was made in the dayes of king henry 8. was unlawfull to be taken by any catholique : and pag. 119. if any had sworne the king to be supreame head of that church , he would have sworne false , as making the church a monster having two heads , or depriving the pope of his authoritie granted him by god. whence i thus argue . the oath of supremacie prescribed by that act of parliament , in the 35. of henry 8. was unlawfull to be taken by any roman catholique , as this priest confesseth . but the oath of supremacie prescribed by act of parliament in the first of elizabeth in force at this day , is the same with the oath prescribed by act of parliament in the 35. of henrie the eighth , as appeareth by comparing both the oathes together , with a proviso in an act the fifth of elizabeth for expounding this oath , where it is said : that we confesse and acknowledge in her maiestie , her heires and successours , no other authoritie , then that which was challenged , and lately used by the noble king henrie the eighth , and king edward the sixth : as in the admonition to the qeenes injunctions more plainly appeares . the queenes maiestie would that all her loving subiects should understand that nothing was , is , or shall be meant , or intended by the same oath , to have any other dutie , allegiance , or bond required by the same oath , then was acknowledged to be due to the most noble king of famous memorie , king henrie the eighth her maiesties father , or king edward the sixt , her maiesties brother . ergo , the oath of supremacie prescribed by act of parliament the first of elizabeth , is unlawfull to be taken by any romane catholique . i conclude therefore , super tota materia that the taking of the oath of supremacie , is an abrenunciation of the romish faith , and consequently , that we wrong no papist that takes the oath , if we beleeve him a forswearer who forsweares his beliefe . notes for div a41019-e21360 de memorando irrotulat● . notes for div a41019-e22100 * the hel●esaus w●re cond●mned for heretikes , for hol●ing a man might deny his faith with his mouth so hee keepe it in his heart . euseb. h●st l. 6. c. 31. a rom. 10.10 . cic. pro 〈◊〉 am●r . vultu saepe lad●tur 〈◊〉 . ep. ●● . contami●ari se 〈…〉 a●am illam vid●●i● ▪ 〈◊〉 ibid. fe●end●m ne est ut , gentilis sacrif●c●t , christianus inter sit ? s●zo . hist. eccles . l. 5. c. 16. prejecto ad pedes au●o , &c. * suidas in auxent . * marcus bishop of arrethusa . theod. hist. l. 3 c. 6. a reply to the ansvver of the catholiqve apology, or, a cleere vindication of the catholiques of england from all matter of fact charg'd against them by their enemyes castlemaine, roger palmer, earl of, 1634-1705. 1668 approx. 377 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 145 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31234 wing c1246 estc r38734 17960171 ocm 17960171 106777 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31234) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 106777) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1121:2) a reply to the ansvver of the catholiqve apology, or, a cleere vindication of the catholiques of england from all matter of fact charg'd against them by their enemyes castlemaine, roger palmer, earl of, 1634-1705. pugh, robert, 1609-1679. 288 p. s.n.], [london? : m. dc. lxviii [1668] attributed to roger palmer, earl of castlemaine by wing and nuc pre-1956 imprints; also attributed to robert pugh. "...the humble apology of the english catholicks ...": p. 24-41. "a catologve [sic] of those catholicks that died and svffered for theire loyalty": p. 175 [i.e. 275]-288. reproduction of the original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lloyd, william, 1627-1717. -late apology in behalf of the papists. catholic church -apologetic works. catholics -england. 2006-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-06 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a reply to the ansvver of the catholiqve apology . or a cleere vindication of the catholiques of england from all matter of fact charg'd against them by their enemyes . m. dc . lxviii . preface to all the royallists that suffered for his majesty : and to all the rest of the good people of england . my lords and gentlemen : if formerly the english catholiques by their apology did in treat your intercession to our gratious monarch , in suspending the execution of those severities then proclaimed : i ( a member of that faithful body ) must now beseech your iustice against the malice of a parson , who not only strives to oppress the loyal , but also ( by the inferences of his discourse ) would stifle hereafter zeal , and mitigate , if he could , the fire , that resides in the breasts of all generous subjects . can any thing touch men of honour more , then after the loss of so many lives and estates , insultingly to have it said , it was but your duty ? nay , to go yet farther , even in a barbarous falsity , that necessity only forc'd us to what we did , and that at all times you would rather far have had our room then company . what preacher preacht this in the days of old ? or who told us when cromwel lived , be gone , you are no friends to caesar ? it was our duty , i confess , and a duty which no good man can refuse his soveraign , neither shall we ever be shockt in the fervour of it , by the doctrine of such a rabby . the reason why i now take up the gantlet of this goliah , is to shew the candour of our actions , being yet purer then his words are black : which though many could do far better then i , yet here i appear challenged into the list , as author of the late apology . author i can call my self , if plain words may create that title ; but the duty and submission is the sence of the whole catholique party ; and for the matter of fact , books are the preservers of it , which will for ever record our innocence , in despite of such detraction and calumny . a jesuit , the minister is pleas'd to call me , though i had not the happiness to be bred in their learned schools : but the trick of this poor man plainly appears , that thus he hopes to make truth it self suspected , because by the preaching of such pastors , the ignorant ( as children consider sarazens ) have most fond ideas of the society and of all priests in general . my lords and gentlemen , before i go any farther , i think it most necessary to tell you what moved me to write that pamphlet ; which wken you have well weighed , you will find in the intention , perchance that piety , which is usually lodged in an english heart : and that you may assure your selves of the sincerity of my thoughts , know , that if my arm was too weak to weild a sword in the late just war , i had then a passion to wish my years greater . but though i thus lost the honour of laying my life at the feet of the injured father , i had yet the satisfaction to hazard it for the son , even before and since his happy restauration . for my neer relations , they all suffered in the common cause , which as it brought death to some , so to others the sale of their cōsiderable estates , and the best fortune that any could expect , was to be crowded into the dreadful list for cōposition . i am sure my zeal to the royal family has been as forward ( to my power ) as the best , more then which no body certainly can do ; nor have i ever been farther satyrical against those that stand at helm , then by innocently saying , we catholiques are always most unfortunate . this is the profession i have lived in , and in the same loyal faith will i end my days . doubtless then i could have no sinister design in publishing the apology ; the good end i had , let the world consider . my first motive was the law of nature , which gives the needy leave to call for mercy : nor was there at any time a nation so cruel , that ever yet denied this favour . could there be a more frightful sight , then to see the whole english world on a sudden , point and cry , fie on them , fie on them ? what scoffing blasphemies did the seditious utter ? how did tenants begin to confront their landlords ? nay , ( omitting several insolencies of the rabble ) i knew some justices , by reason of private spleen to their neighbours , seize on a servant , threatning his commitment , unless he made oath what his master daily did . thus then in a trice we became an eye-sore to our friends , and a by-word among the common ennemies . but now my minister will nimbly demand , is not this accusing the king , and blaming the whole parliament for their advice and counsel ? to which i answer , first , with the great embassador of heaven , god forbid : nor is it possible for a man , who would hazard whatever is dear to him on earth for the glory of his country , to harbour such thoughts against lawful and just authority . pray , master parson , let me ask you , whether laws in all places are executed by inferiour officers , according to the intent of the legislator ? remember , sir , the infinitely wise bill of purging corporations , and you will find how private revenge converted it into quite another thing . this is a flayl , against which perchance no wisdom can make defence ; but nevertheless , 't is vineger , and may force a shriek from the opprest , without offence to government . my lords and gentlemen , i do with all submission acknowledge that counsellors ( especially the supream ) may advise their soveraign to put laws in force , without giving a reason to the publick ; and moreover , i do farther say , that it was mercy that they were till then suspended : yet it is no crime , even when they are revived , humbly to beg for favour . and to illustrate this , consider , i beseech you , an example . imagine that his majesty being returned , an honest cavalier was restored to his house , which with two parts of his lands lay round about a city , the prime jewel in the royal-diadem . here the good man sitting now under his own vine , daily blesses god for the happiness of the nation ; and here each moment he conceives fresh joys , by considering how superlative his late sufferings were . if now on a sudden both houses ( upon mature deliberation ) should beseech his majesty to make use of old laws , to new fortifie this his most considerable place ( which consequently would destroy this subjects estate ) no body , i think , could wonder to see him amazed and troubled . suppose then , to diuert this ruine , the poor mā should beseech his friends to intercede , should shew his sufferings , should urge reasons that his house would be a strength to the town , and that the kings enemies have certainly some bad design by his calamity . for all this the prince is no way necessitated to grant his request , because reasons which seem strong to a party concerned , may yet in themselves be frivolous , when they are weighed by judgments who know far better the state of things , then private men can be conceived to do . but yet , it were severe to indite this man for a libeller , or say ( because he begs ) that he mutinies against obedience and rule . niniveh might call for mercy without affronting heaven , even after sentence was given ; nor has ever the king of kings , when he punishes , forbad his children to cry , remember abraham , remember isaac , remember jacob ; o lord remember the promises that thou hast made of old . my second reason , was as a subject to keep the peace , and to the utmost of my power to prevent all strife and division . this is an obligation which no son of adam can plead exemption from : for seeing all men are under somme government or other , and quiet the sole end of that , everybody must use the best means he can ( so it contradict not laws ) to preserve the thing for which magistracy it self was established . no creature , i am sure , can be ignorant of the distraction then in england : for he that was in the city , fled to his farm , frightned with the noise of a new fire ; and he that got into the country , poasted again to town , to escape the massacre , which designed whispers dayly threatned . if this disorder was amongst protestants , what dreadful confusion must you imagine amongst catholiques , who are but a handful comparatively to the whole , and yet the famed authors of these two conspiracies ! was it unbeseeming then an english christian to wish a better understanding among his countrymen , and to desire the royal-party should not be disjoyned , especially when an invasion was menaced by our confederate neighbours ; and a rebellion newly broke out within the circuit of our own island ? if remedies were needful , what medicament could be better applied then the gentle balm of true perswasion ? by this men saw the tares which the enemy sowed whilst they slept ; and thus they began to reknow their often tried friends , descended ( according to nature and grace ) from those ancestors , who like so many atlas's upheld the grandeur of our kings , whilst the whole world from east to west admired their victories . consider then , i beseech you , ( great patriots ) in whom the prince of darkness reigns ; whether in me that am termed a jesuit , and would banish all discord from among my brethren ; or in this strange minister , who to sow sedition , plows with perverted storie , and then harrows with downright falsities and untruths . how does this poor man rip up old tales of popes , and by discovering his passion and fancy , infer , that it is a check to the glory of kings , and utter loss of soveraignty , to be under the spiritual jurisdiction of this universal bishop ? why do not the kings of france , spain , portugal and poland see this ? how comes it to pass also , that the emperor ( who is absolute monarch of hungary and boheme ) and the other great princes of germany , are ignorant of a thing of so much concernment ? this i much wonder at indeed , especially since their countries have so swarmed with these reformed evangelists : but it may be they are carelesse of their interest , and so is the simple florentine , who with the duke of savoy , and the rest of the italian regulets , want as much wit as they do authority and power . these princes , even these very last , live , as i may say , just under his holiness his nose ; and yet ( when they please ) dispute about temporals , not only with sword in hand , but are so absolute and arbitrary in their dominiōs , that england would groan to bear once in many ages , what their subjects daily suffer . reflecting thus on the premises , might not i well wonder in our apology , how so wild a calumny could be laid to our charge , as that our principles are destructive to soveraignty ? truly , i did wonder , and that not a little , especially since our fore-fathers were so eminent in religion , and yet our kings rather monarchs of europe , then of half an isle , giving laws wheresoever they pleased . if some popes have been exorbitant , 't is no more our faith to believe their actions iust , then that humane transgressions are the true precepts of christianity . as some wicked mē dealt ill with gods anointed ; so on the other side , who defended these princes against pretended illegal impositions of rome ? were they not papists ? yes , and so fervent for that truth , that the next day they would take the croisado next against any forreign hereticks . 't is no breach in our religion to say , that popes in their private determinations may erre , much less , that they sin like men . a pope and council in matters of faith i confess infallible ; and therefore i look upon the decrees of trent , as divine as those of nice : nor were there , i am sure , more tricks against protestants pretended in this , then in the former against the strong and numerous arrians . no man abominates prelatick insolencies more then i : bring out then the glorious roll , and upon examination you will find , that our bravest catholique princes have been the best sons of the church : nor is yet a king by our tenets the worse child for defending his rights and priviledges . caesar must have what is caesars , and to god we must ●●nder what is gods. shall notions then convince experience , when as demonstration it self often gives way to practice ? let us now summon for witnesses to this great truth , the present kings of our profession ; and though their thoughts towre far higher then eagles , they will not only deride the contrary , but unanimously proclaim , that their people are not rebellious by reason of ecclesiastical dependence abroad , nor do they think themselves less absolute then that very prince , who cries , there ought to be no other pope then me. what shall i say then to such a man , who will yet affirm our principles inconsistent with obedience ? to advise him to anticyra is vain , for no ellebore can purge that madness , which first taking root by ignorance , has afterward been quite transformed , through interest , into an obstinate , and selfdeceiving wilfulness . my lords and gentlemen , as malice has forced the answerer thus ill to apply his reading , so also it hath stained his face with so deep a dye , that now he blushes at nothing , nor regards any more whatever he says . well might i have pardoned him his rude upbraiding , that our sufferings were but duties , because it is a real truth : yet no subject takes pleasure in the sound , when in rancour and despite it is used against him . i say , well might i with silence have swallowed this , seeing afterwards i was to hear him with impudēce proclaim , that papists were forc'd to their bravery , and like a hard-hunted-deer , we threw our selves into the herd , glad to be sheltered under the royal covert . glad , we cōfess , as loyal men grasp the occasion of expressing zeal ; but that we could not sit quietly at home , i flatly here deny : nay , day is not clearer then this , that had not our loyalty forbad , we might with triumph have been received even into the very embraces of the enemy . had this minister perused books any farther then their indices against catholiques , he would have seen , that let rebels declare what they will , they 'll soon find excuses , and publickly make use of those very things ( when t is for their advantage ) against which in the beginning they openly profest . was not godliness , godliness , the cry of all the saints ? yet because dexterity was needful , they admitted into their league h. martin and others , who were then as notorious for their vices , as afterwards eminent in all the abominations of the land. again , if the papists were pursued , against bishops there was as fierce a chase ; and ever after , popery and prelacy were continually plac'd in the same parenthesis . for my part , i believe the english episcopacie stuck more in their stomacks then we ; because hereticks hate most that religion which is but one remove above them , and from which they are ever iustly taxt rebelliously to have gone out . besides , the catholikes ( being of a faith for which the people had a prejudice ) could no ways obstruct the reformation , which they so earnestly intended . 't is plain then , against prelats they had as great , if not a greater pique : yet when it conduced to the reducing of north wales , and subduing of sir john owen , they made commander of their forces not onely a bishop , but an arch bishop also , i mean ( that real chimaera ) his graceless grace of york . but why do i trouble you with these probable arguments to prove the possibility of our reception , when as the matter of fact is certain , not done in a corner , but in the palace of a king , and in the sight of all his nobles ? sir arthur aston , a catholick of quality and experience , offered our late souveraign his service , and the service of many more , upon the first preparations of war. the good prince sincerely gave him thanks ; but told him , that by reason of their religion , he durst not admit them into the army : for the rebels ( who never omitted a pretence ) , would make use of this , to discredit him among the people . this knight being refused thus , rode in all haste to london , and made the like tender to essex . the earl upon the proposal consults the cabal , who presently advised him to accept the offer ; and so a formal commission was given sir arthur . he immediately posted back to the court , and there shewed the commission to his majestie ; which when he saw , and together with it the intrigue of these juglers , he not onely gave sir arthur a command , but from that time declared all catholicks welcome , who thereupon from every quarter hastned to his help and succour . the designes which the rebels had herein , were many : for by this they not onely hoped to get to themselves a party well versed in war , great in bloud , and of estates answerable to that bloud ; but also were sure at the same instant to weaken as much the king , as they brought strength to themselves : and besides , they farther considered , that this might adde a gloss to their proceedings abroad , because all neighbouring princes ( being catholiques ) would then probably look on their actions with a more partial eye . scripture also , which is the stalking-horse of all sects , could not be wanting to them , who had already , with a curse ye meroz , invited all to rebellion . that very example might have been a warrant , that the godly & profane may joyn in a confederation . at least 't was evident , that the children of israel , who went to fight the battels of the lord , used a rahabs assistance , a harlot of jericho ; for which service they shew'd favour to all her fathers house : and why then might not the elect ( when the cause required it ▪ ) receive aid from us , though children of the whore of babylon ? doubtless , in conscience this advantage could not have been omitted by the saints , since it might have been a means towards our conversion , as cromwel afterwards urged , when he so passionately stickled to bring in the jews . my lords and gentlemen , thus stood our case , and thus are we now reviled by a minister , after such true and faithful services : yes , so loyal have we been , that i defie all mankinde to shew one that was false , unless perchance those that renouncing their god , and shaking hands with religion , were owned as converts by the people . nay , let any man read but the account of the a pyrenaean treaty , printed by the dutch and others , and there he shall see , that cromwel esteemed us the greatest of his enemies : for so he told the duke of crequi , when he desired him ( as a request of his mistress the queen mother of france ) to cease his notorious persecutions against us . certainly , nothing can more fully proue the sincere and disinterested meaning of the catholiques , then the kings miraculous escape from worcester : for he fell not there into the hands of men of qualitie onely , but among papists of all ranks and conditions . there were priests , there were trades-men , there were labourers , there were old women , there were young , fully acquainted with his misery : and though at the same time death was proclaimed to the concealer , and to the discoverer a reward ( able to make a poor man emperour in his own thoughts ) yet no danger , no gain could make them betray him , whom by their faith they were commanded to conceal . men of education and parts may sometimes have by designes , even in the best of their doings ; but they of low degree ( being unacquainted with the artifices of the world ) declare the full reality of their hearts , having nothing lodged there , but the religious principles , which from their youth they received from their ghostly father . my lords and gentlemen , i must here conjure you not to put any forc'd interpretation upon my words : for i do not now apologize for any extravagancies done by our predecessours in the beginning of the reformation ; onely let me beseech you to look on their case at that time with the gentlest aspect that may be . height of temptation may perchance move pitie in magistrates , though not pervert their justice : and let me desire him that will judge , to lay his hand on his owne brest , and truly examine there , what he himself would do in this condition . suppose he were of a religion which he thought the visible church from age to age delivered , which he knew his ancestors to have happily lived under , and which he saw profest by all the kingdoms about him : suppose then on a sudden , by the preaching of two or three men ( base in their rank , and taxt in moralities obyne another ) a flame should break out through all europe , and turn topsie-turvie this venerable building , to make way for divers unlike fabricks , every on of which , each architect affirmed , was according to gods own word and model . i ask him then in such a devastation , ( which , to use a camden's own phrase , the world stood amaz'd , and england groan'd at ) what would flesh and bloud move him to ? 't is an article of my faith , that neither heresie nor turcism ( because ill must not be done that good may come of it ) can be opposed by rebellion ; though many of the reformed divines are ( b as i shal shew you ) of another sentiment . yet even those that do agree with me , will nevertheless confess , that ( by reason of carnal passions ) grace must be predominant to resist so strong a torrent . was it not strange in the beginning , to behold c abbies destroyed , bishopricks gelded , chanteries , hospitals and colledges turned to profane uses ? nay , ( after a change of liturgies and rites ) to see people renounce their pious vows , and out of godliness grow more licentious and loose . a these and the like unexpected alterations ( it being a pitiful thing ( as b stow says ) to hear the lamentations in the country for religious houses ) spurred men forward to resist : for people saw the conflagration , and none knew in what it would determine or end . but now , noble country-men , the scene is quite altered : for now we know the full scope of your designe , now we are inured to the gentle . yoak of protestant kings , and now we are so incorporated by our long acquaintance and joynt sufferings that all humane proneness to contend ( which our enemies called principles of faith ) is wholly eradicated and taken away . having thus shew'd you that our principles are not dangerous to kings , that our actions have been zealous for kings , and moreover that it is impossible we should again fall into those misdemeanours , into which natural frailtie and misusage drove the foregoing age : i will now , with your permission , examine the answer of our minister to each particular paragraph , and by it shall still farther let you see , as well his pernicious ill nature , as his detestable positions and designes . but , my lords and gentlemen , i shall beseech you , first throughly to peruse the apologie it self , it being the ground of the whole dispute : and because it hath been mangled by him into many imperfect sections , i have thought fit to print it here entire , to the end you might run it over with the more ease ; and that by the whole connexion and dependance ( which mutilation spoils ) you may the better consider the real integritie i had , in putting out that true and submissive vindication . to all the royallists that suffered for his majesty : and to all the rest of the good people of england . the humble apologie of the english catholicks my lords and gentlemen : the arms which christians can use against lawful powers in their severity , are only prayers & tears . now since nothing can equal the infinity of those we have shed , but the cause , viz. to see our dearest friends forsake us ; we hope it will not offend you , if ( after we have a little wip'd our eyes ) we sigh out our complaints to you . we had spoken much sooner , had we not been silent through consternation to see you so enflam'd ( whom with reverence we honour ) and also to shew our submissive patience , which used no slights or tricks to divert the debates of parliament . for no body can imagine , where so many of the great nobility and gentry are concern'd , but something might have been done ; whenas in all ages we see things of publick advantage by the managers dexterity nipt in the bud , even in the very houses themselves . far be it from catholicks to perplex parliaments , who have been the founders of their priviledges , and all ancient lawes . nay , mâgna charta it self had its rise from us ; which we do the less boast of , since it was not at first obtained in so submiss and humble manner . we sung our nunc dimittis , when we saw our master in his throne , and you in your deserved authority and rule : nor could any thing have ever grieved us more , then to have our loyalty called into question by you , even at the instigation of our greatest adversaries . if we must suffer , let it be by you alone : for that 's a double death to men of honour , to have their enemies not onely accusers , but their insulting judges also . these are they , that by beginning with us , murthered their prince , and wounded you : and shall the same method continue by your approbation ? we are sure you mean well , though their designe be wicked . but let it never be recorded in story , that you forgot your often vows to us , in joyning with them that have been the cause of so great calamity to the nation . of all calumnies against catholicks , we have admired at none so much , as that their principles are said to be inconsistent with government , and they themselves thought ever prone to rebellion . my lords and gentlemen , had this been a new sect not known before , something perchance might have been doubted : but to lay this at their doors , that have governed the civilized world , is the miracle of miracles to us . did richard the first , or edward longshanks , suspect his catholicks that served in palestine , and made our countries fame big in the chronicle of all ages ? or did they mistrust ( in their dangerous absence ) their subjects at home , because they were of this profession ? could edward the third imagine those to be trayterous in their doctrine , that had that care and duty for their prince , as to make them ( by statute ) guilty of death in the highest degree , that had the least thought of ill against the king ? be pleased that henry the fifth be remembred also , who did those wonders of which the whole world does still resound ; and certainly all history will agree in this , that 't was old castle he feared , and not those that believed the bishop of rome to be head of the church . we will no longer trouble you with putting you in minde of any more of our mighty kings , who have been feared abroad , and as safe at home as any since the reformation of religion . we shall onely adde this , that if popery be the enslaving of princes , france still believes it self as absolute as denmark or sweden : nor will ever the house of austria abjure the pope , to secure themselves of the fidelity of their subiects . we shall always acknowledge to the whole world , that there have been as many brave english in this last century , as in any other place whatsoever . yet since the exclusion of the catholick faith , there has been that committed by those , who would be fain called protestants , that the wickedest papist never dreamt of 't was never heard of before , that an absolute queen was condemned by subjects , and those stiled her peers ; or that a king was publickly tried and executed by his own people and servants . my lords and gentlemen , we know who were the authors of this last abomination , and how generously you strove against the raging torrent ; nor have we any other ends to remember you of it , but to shew that all religions may have a corrupted spawn , and that god hath been pleased to permit such a rebellion which our progenitors never saw , to convince you perchance ( whom for ever may he prosper ) that popery is not the only source of treason . little did we think ( when your prayers and ours were offered up to beg a blessing on the kings affairs ) ever to see that day , in which carlos , gifford , whitgrave , and the pendrels should be punished by your desires for that religion , which obliged them to save their forlorn prince ; and a stigmatized man ( for his offences against king and church ) a chief promoter of it . nay , less did we imagine , that by your votes hudlestone might be hanged , who again secured our soveraign ; and others free in their fat possessions , that sat as judges , and sealed the execution of that great prince of happy memory . we confess , we are unfortunate , & you just judges , whom with our lives we will ever maintain to be so ; nor are we ignorant the necessity of affairs made the king and you do things , which formerly you could not so much as fancy : yet give us leave to say we are still loyal ; nay , to desire you to believe so , and to remember how synonymous ( under the late rebellion ) was the word papist and cavalier ; for there was no papist that was not deemed a caualier , nor no caualier that was not call'd a papist , or at least thought to be popishly affected . we know , though we differ something in religion , ( the truth of which let the last day judge ) yet none can agree with your inclinations , or are fitter for your converse then we ; for as we have as much birth among us as england can boast of , so our breeding leans your way both in court and camp. and therefore had not our late sufferings united us in that firm tie , yet our like humors must needs have joyned our hearts . if we erre , pity our condition , and remember what your great ancestors were ; and make some difference between us that have twice converted england from paganism , and those other sects that can challenge nothing but intrusion for their imposed authority . but 't is generally said , that papists cannot live without persecuting all other religions within their reach . we confess , where the name of protestant is unknown , the catholick magistrates ( believing it erronious ) do use all endeavours to keep it out : yet in those countreys where liberty is given , they have far more priviledges then we under any reformed government whatsoever . to be short , we will only instance france for all , where they have publick churches , where they can make what proselytes they please , and where 't is not against law to be in any charge or imployment . now holland , which permits every thing gives us 't is true our lives and estates , but takes away alle trust and rule , and leaves us also in danger of the scout , whensoever he pleases to molest our meetings . because we have named france , the massacre will perchance be urged against us . but the world must know that was a cabinet-plot , condemned as wicked by catholick writers there , and of other countries also . besides , it cannot be thought they were murthered for being protestants , since 't was their powerful rebellion ( let their faith have been what it would ) that drew them into that ill-machinated destruction . may it not as well be said in the next catholick kings reign , that the duke of guise , ande cardinal ( heads of the league ) were killed for their religion also ? now no body is ignorant , that 't was their factious authority , which made that jealous prince design their deaths , though by unwarrantable means . if it were for doctrine that the hugonots suffered in france , this haughty monaroh would soon destroy them now , having neither force nor towns to resist his might and puissance . they yet live free enough , being even members of parliament ; and may convert the kings brother too , if he thinks fit to be so . thus you may see how well protestants live in a popish country under a popish king : nor was charlemaign more catholick then this ; for though he contends sometimes with the pope , 't is not of faith , but about gallicane priviledges , which perchance he may very lawfully do . judge then , worthy patriots , who are the best used , and consider our hardship here in england , where 't is not only a fine for hearing mass , but death to the master for having a priest in his house ; and so far we are from preferment , that by law we cannot come within ten miles of london ; all which we know your great mercy will never permit you to exact . it has been often urged , that our misdemeanours in queen elizabeths and king james's time , were the cause of our punishment . we earnestly wish that the party had had more patience under that princess : but pray consider ( though we excuse not their faults ) whether it was not a question harder then that of york and lancaster ( the cause of a war of such length , and death of so many princes ) who had most right , queen elizabeth or mary stuart . for since the whole kingdom had crowned and sworn allegeance to queen mary , they owned her as the legitimate daughter to henry the eighth ; and therefore 't was thought necessarily to follow by many , that if mary was the true child , elizabeth was the natural , which must needs give way to the thrice noble queen of scots . 't was for the royal house of scotland that they suffered in those days , and 't is for the same illustrious family we are ready to hazard all on any occasion . nor can the consequence of the former procedure be but ill , if a henry the eighth ( whom sir w. rawleigh and my lord cherbury , two famous protestants , have so homely characterized ) should after twenty years co-habitation , turn away his wife , and this out of scruple of conscience ( as he said ) when as history declares , that he never spared woman in his lust , nor man his fury . now for the fifth of novēber , with hāds lifted up to heaven , we abominate and detest , and from the bottō of our hearts , say , may they fall into irrecoverable perdition , who propagate that faith by the blood of kings , which is to be planted in truth and meekness only . but let it not displease ( men , brethren , and fathers ) if we ask whether ulysses be no better known ? or who has forgot the plots of cromwel , framed in his closet , not only to destroy many faithful cavaliers ; but also to put a lustre upon his intelligence , as if nothing could be done without his knowledge ? even so did the then great minister , who drew some few ambitious , men into this conjuration , and then discovered it by a miracle . this will easily appear , viz. how little the catholique party understood the design , seeing there were not a score of guilty found , though all imaginable industry was used by the commons , lords , and privy councel too . but suppose ( my lords and gentlemen , which never can be granted ) that all the papists of that age were consenting , will you be so severe then to still punish the children for their fathers faults ? nay , such children that so unanimously joyned with you in that glorious quarrel , wherein you and we underwent such sufferings , that needs we must have all sunk , had not our mutual love assisted . what have we done , that we should now deserve your anger ? has the indiscretion of some few incenst you ? 't is true , that is the thing objected . do not you know an enemy may easily mistake a mass-bell , for that which calls to dinner ; or a sequestrator glad to be affronted being constable ? when 't was the hatred to his person , and not present office , which perchance egg'd a rash man to folly . we dare with submission say , let a publick invitation be put up against any party whatsoever ; nay , against the reverend bishops themselves , and some malicious informer or other will alledge that which may be far better to conceal . yet all mankind by a manifesto on the house-door are encouraged to accuse us ; nor are they upon oath , though your enemies and ours take all for granted and true . it cannot be imagined , where there are so many men of heat and youth ( overjoy'd with the happy restauration of their prince , and remembring the insolencies of the former grandees ) that they should all , at all times prudently carry themselves ; for this would be more then men : and truly we esteem it as a particular blessing , that god has not suffer'd many , through vanitie or frailty to fall into greater faults , ther are yet as we understand laid to our charge . can we chuse but be dismay'd ( when all things fail ) that extravagant crimes are fathered on us ? it is we that must be the authors , some say , of firing the citie , even we that have lost so vastly by it . yet truly in this our ingenuity is great , since we think it no plot , though our enemie , an hugonot protestant acknowledged the fact , and was iustly executed for his vain confession . again , if a merchant of the church of england buy knives for the business of his trade , this also presently is a popish contriuance to destroy the well-affected . we must a little complain , finding it by experience , that by reason you discontenance us , the people rage : and again , because they rage , we are the more forsaken by you . assured we are that our conversation is affable , and our houses so many hospitable receipts to our neighbours . our acquaintance therefore we fear at no time , but it is the stranger we dread ( that taking all on hear say ) zealously wounds , and then examines the business when 't is too late , or is perchance confirmed by another , that knows no more of us then he himself . 't is to you we must make our applications , beseeching you ( as subjects tender of our king ) to intercede for us in the execution , and weigh the dilemma , which doubtless he is in , either to deny so good a parliament their request , or else run counter to his royal inclinations , when he punishes the weak and harmless . why may not we , noble country-men , hope for favour from you , as well as the french protestants find from theirs ? a greater duty then ours none could express , we are sure . or why should the united provinces , and other magistrates ( that are harsh both in mind and manners ) refrain from violence against our religion , and your , tender breasts seem not to harbour the least compassion or pity ? these neighboring people sequestrer none for their faith , but for transgression against the state ; nor is the whole party involved in the crime of a few , but every man suffers for his own and proper fault . do you then the like , and he that offends let him die without mercy , and think always ( we beseech you ) of cromwels injustice , who for the actions of some against his pretended laws , drew thousands into decimation ( even ignorant of the thing ) after they had vastlie paid for their securitie and quiet . we have no studie but the glory of our soveraign , and just libertie of the subjects ; nor was it a mean argument of our dutie , when every catholique lord gave his voice for the restoration of bishops ; by which we could pretend no other advantage , but that 26. votes ( subsisting wholly by the crown ) were added to the defence of kingship , and consequently a check to all anarchy and confusion . 't is morally impossible , but that we , who approve of monarhy in the church , must ever be fond of it in the state also . yet this is a misfortune we now plainly feel , that the longer the late transgressors live , the more forgotten are their crimes , whilst distance in time calls the faults of our fathers to remembrance , and buries our own allegeance in eternal oblivion and forgetfulness . my lords and gentlemen , consider we beseech you , the sad condition of the irish souldiers now in england , the worst of which nation could be but intentionallie so wicked , as the acted villanie of many english , whom your admired clemencie pardoned . remember how they left the spanish service when they heard their king was in france ; and how they forsook the emploiment of that unnatural prince , after he had committed that never to be forgotten act of banishing his distressed kinsman out of his dominions . these poor men left all again to bring their monarch to his home , and shall they then he forgotten by you ? or , shall my lord douglas and his brave scots be left to their shifts ; who scorn'd to receive wages of those that have declared war against england ? how commonly is it said , that the oath of renouncing their religion is intended for these ? which will needs bring this loss to the king and you , that either you will force all of our faith to lay down their arms ( though by experience , of great integrity and worth ) or else , if some few you retain , they are such whom necessity has made to swear against conscience , and who therefore will certainly betray you , when a greater advantage shall be offered . by this test then , you can have none but whom with caution you ought to shun , and thus must you drive away those that truly would serve you ; for had they the least thought of being false , they would gladly take the advantage of gain and pay , to deceive you . we know your wisdom and generosity , and therefore cannot imagine such a thing . nor do we doubt when you shew favour to these , but you will use mercy to us , who are both fellow-subjects , and your owen flesh and blood also . if you forsake us , we must say , the world decays , and its final transmutation must needs quickly follow . little do you think the insolencies we shall suffer by committee-men , &c. whom chance and lot has put in to petty power . nor will it chuse but grieve you , to see them abused ( whom formerly you loved . ) even by the common enemy of us both . when they punish , how will they triumph and say . take this ( poor romanists ) for your love to king ship ; and again , this for your long doating on the royal party ; all which you shall receive from us , commissioned by your dearest friends , and under this cloak we will gladly vent our private spleen and malice . we know , my lords and gentlemen , that from your hearts you do deplore our condition ; yet permit us to tell you , your bravery must extend thus far , as not to sit still with pity only , but each is to labour for the distressed , as far as in reality his ablity will reach : some must beseech our gracious soveraign for us , others must again undeceive the good , though deluded multitude . therefore all are to remember who are the prime raisers of the storm , and how through our sides they would wound both the king and you ; for though their hatred to our selves is great , yet the enmity out of all measure encreases , because we have been yours ( and so shall continue ) even in the fiery day of trial . protect us we entreat you then upon all your former promises , or if that be not sufficient , for the sakes of those that lost their estates with you ; many of which are now fallen a sleep . but if this be still too weak , we must conjure you by the sight of this bloody catalogue , which contains the names of your murthered friends and relations , who in the heat of battail , perchance saved many of your lives , even with the joyful loss of their own . the catalogue of names is at the end of the book . a material advertisement to the reader both concerning the answerer of the apology , and the method of this reply . reader , about the middle of novem. 1666. when the known enemies of the kingdom had enflamed the minds of several honest and well-meaning people , i put out this sincere apology . the reasons therein ( having nothing but truth and reallity in them ) satisfied many : for every body of themselves saw there was no ground , and most confest they were disordered because they saw others so . 't was after christmas before i left london ; and truly , i suppos'd that if any body could be so malitiously impertinent , as by an answer to cavil at so innocent a thing , he would have done it in two moneths , it being but a sheet of paper against which he was to write ; and then ( being neer at hand ) i should have been as quick in my reply . though the worthy answerer took much more time for his solid piece , yet in the interval mine was egregiously confuted : nor was ever gonvil's plain testament so tore and repiec'd as this pamphlet , by the wise and numerous assailants . one said , that the whole thing was harmless and reasonable ; but that magna charta seemed to be struck at . his fellow answered , that magna charta was magna farta , and of it self popish ; and that all was well , had not queen elizabeth been abused . to this a third answered , that q. elizabeth was now no more to them then william rufus , and all that was said was out of protestant history ; but the only thing he blamed was , that the fifth of nov. ( which was still a festival ) was defamed , and consequently they themselves jeer'd at in their annual observation . at him another presently laugh'd , and askt , whether any people ever reverenc'd a solemnity against themselves : for his own part , he cared not whether the papists were guilty or not , let them look to that ; therefore he was sufficiently satisfied with the apology , had the catalogue been omitted of those that died in the war : for by it , it seemed , as if the whole royal army were papists , because so many popish officers , and men of great condition , were killed in that service . to this a neighbour said , that he knew many more of the party , then were mentioned , that thus fell for their allegiance ; and that it was hard , that so cheap recompence should be denied men for their lives : but the sole thing which he stumbled at , was the timing & publication of it . against whom the whole company concluded , that if ever the time was fit , 't was then when the flame appeared , and that 't would have been ridiculous to apologize , when there was no stir or clamour . thus have i been vindicated by my reprehenders , and thus have i both read and seen in matters of religion , where the several antagonists have solved the popish difficulties themselves . after christmas , reader ( as i said before ) i not only went out of town , but have ever since been many score of miles distant from it , which is the cause i saw not this answer so soon as otherwise i should have done : at last it was sent me by a protestant gentleman who had seen the apology before it was printed . when i had read it , i began to admire , not only at the malice of the thing , but also at the weakness of the man , that thus needlesly took up the cudgels . who the author is , to this day i know not ; nor can any man desire his acquaintance , unless it be to say , they have seen the eighth wise man ▪ i do not say , that he may not be a man of wit ; but nevertheless , i am sure , he is neither of judgment nor principles . for had he been a royallist , he would have had more gratitude and good nature , then to have forgotten faithful friends in a storm , and added ( as he hoped ) fuel to the flame , when we were underhand bespattred by enemies to us both . nor was there any drift in the apology , but to settle a distemper , raised without either cause or reason . a presbyterian i can never think him , because they being men of depth and prudence , know that the effects of their crying against papists in 1640. are too fresh in memory ; nor can it be an advantage for them to harass mens consciences , while their own are within reach of law. i can also as little fancy that an independant , or any real member of that many-headed and uncompacted body , could soberly by writing wish a persecution for religion , being them selves obnoxious upon all accounts ; and if severity should universally fall , they cannot imagine but that men of birth , men of breeding , men of loyalty , must needs at all times find more friends then they . who he is , god knows , a man of principles ( as i said ) i am sure he is not , nor do i doubt but his officiousness will at last find its reward : and since he has called me turk , and worse , as you shall see by and by , i suppose he will not take it amiss , if i speak my thoughts , viz. that though he carps in a ministers dialect , yet doubtless he is a jew of the dukes place . reader , when i received this answer , both by my letters and friends neer me , i was perswaded not to reply , because it had no force in it self , nor had any applause at london . i could not upon this information but assent ; but now lately i have been awak'd by a new occasion . i had some days ago sent me a pamphlet , called ▪ a discourse of the religion of england ; a simpler thing was never yet writ , i am sure ; and take this for a proof , for he says among many hundred of his silly things , that holland , scotland and geneva brought in the reformed religion without rebellion . he has been well whipt by a protestant , but deserves much more . for scroop was excepted out of the act of oblivion , and hanged , for excusing to sir richard brown after mercy , instead of being contrite for his crime : yet this man that owns himself a presbyterian ( which i believe as much as that my minister was a cavalier ) says , the a non-conformists were only eager assertors of legal liberties . seven chapters of his treatise are against papists , and all taken out of the answerer of the apology : therefore since i find it hath weight in the opinion of one , lest more weak brethren should fall , i thought fit to take some pains thus to remove the cause . i was forced to go the insipid way of section by section , well knowing that some people not finding the solution to follow the objection , would sooner haesitate and doubt insipid ; i call this method , because there is no art or contrivance in it ; nor is it possible but the best reply in the world must be then frigidly stiff , when the adversary in the paragraph has no spirit in him . i have not printed the answer verbatim , for that would be too tedious , but have so contracted it ▪ that i challenge the author himself to find any thing left out , that might have added force to the argument . the books i use in citations are all protestant , except davilah , impartial , as the reformed confess : for though he is acknowledged to be a creature and adorer of katherine de medices , yet concerning her he speaks home , even in many private intrigues , which might have been well omitted . him only i quote about the hugonots rebellion ; but their actions are so villanously notorious , that any author shall be-sufficient for that purpose . i must needs say , i have had no little trouble in this composition , fearing the bulk would be voluminous ; for by nature i hate superfluities and always strive to crowd my matter into the narrowest room imaginable . in this work i had still the disgustful vexation , how to omit , and yet be still intelligible : for i dare affirm , had i writ all i could upon this subject ▪ and followed to the utmost the disingenious digressions of the answerer , i should have swell'd to the bigness of any folio extant . i have nevertheless past by nothing material ; and hope this thin octavo will be both useful and satisfactory to you , since it contains the whole accusation in practice , charged upon the english catholicks ; i have urged nothing ( as i said before ) but what i prove out of the record of a violent protestant , or a natural deduction from it : and that you may upon occasion find each particular matter , here follow the contents themselves in order . 1. whether papists were necessitated farther then in duty to fight for their soveraign . pref. 2. concerning stirs by papists in the beginning of the reformation . pref. 3. concerning the irish rebellion rep. 1. 4. mr. du molins canonical french integrity in his allegations agains papist's , rep. 3. he is endanger'd by his owne baite . rep. 35. 5. whether papists die in england for their conscience or for treason ? rep. 4. 6. about the oath of allegeance and dispensing with vows . rep. 5. 7. whether their general councils , decretals and divines teach papists rebellion and deposing kings ? and in the theory and practise , whether papists or protestants have been most in fault . rep. 6. 8. whither papist's govern'd the civiliz'd world ? and of theire ignorance . rep. 7. 9. whether protestant princes are more absolute then the popish ? pref. and rep. 9. 10. 10. about q. maries persecution , and whether she or the reformed government , spilt most blood for religion ? rep. 11. 11. whither papist's caus'd the war in the three kingdomes ? rep. 13. 12. whether papists were connivers in the late troubles . rep. 15. 13. whether papists twice converted england from paganism ? rep. 16. 14. whether popish or protestant governments are kinder to their dissenting subjects ? rep. 17. postscript . 15. concerning the french massacre . rep. 18. 19. 20. 16. the popish misdemeanors in q. elizabeths reign , and their then plea. rep. 22. 17. how protestants have used their popish princes here in england . rep. 22. 18. about the powder-treason . rep. 28. 19. about hubert the frenchman , who was hang'd for burning london . rep. 35. 20. concerning the catalogue of the papists that died for their king , and of the protestants also that died in that bed of honour . rep. 48. 21. of the papist's that leave their religion , & why ? rep. 48. sect. 5. many other things of note are here handled in several places . the printer to the reader . i had directions to add figures to the apology ( here before printed intire ) which might correspond to each answer , to the end you might know what the answerer strives to confute . but because this would be no little trouble to you , to turn and return in the reading of the book , i have therefore reprinted the apology , dividing it into several sections corresponding both with the answer and reply . this will be , i am sure , of no little conveniency to you : and so farewel . the title which the minister has prefixt to his book , is the late apology in behalf of the papists reprinted , and answered in behalf of the royallists . now , i beseech you , reader ( having read the apology through ) what injury has any good man done him by it ? but besides , how extravagant is that beginning ? for to write against papists in vindication of the royallists , is like the defending of king charles , by the opposing of charles stuart . did not the protestants and catholicks make up one body , viz. the royal party ? i am sure , they that distinguish them at present , hated both formerly , and would willingly divide them now , in hopes to weaken the king , and put the whole kingdom in new confusions . he therefore that thus impertinently begins with wicked intentions , can never without doubt end either well or wisely . sect . i. apology . the arms which christians can use against lawful powers in their severity , are onely prayers and tears . now since nothing can equal the infinity of those we have shed , but the cause , viz. to see our dearest friends forsake us ; we hope it will not offend you , if ( after we have a little wip'd our eyes ) we sigh out our complaints to you . i. answer . the minister directs his answer to the author of the apology , and says thus to the foregoing words : that in the conspiracy of babington against q. elizabeth , such a declaration was made about prayers and tears that the expression infinity of tears is in it self improper , and the sence more applicable to q. maries days , the irish rebellion , or our own faboulous purgatory . but we iesuites , whether ranting , or whining , cannot speak like other men . reply i. is not this great malice , to make a parity between them who considered q. elizabeth as an usurper , and us that ( in words and sufferings ) acknowledge no prince had ever a more unquestionable title then ours ? to this i need not say more , having in the latter end of the preface shewed , that time and accidents have quite altered the scene , and doubtless our obedience to the government is now apparently so great , that t is as probable the heptarchy may be revived , or the welsh rebel ( which were high folly to imagine ) as that disorders or tumults can be again occasioned by the catholiques . concerning the irish rebellion , i never so much as once mentioned it in the apology , believing there could not be found a man so inhumane , that would charge a thing upon us , which for 26 years together we were all acknowledged to be clear of , though the late enemies of the kingdom had made strict inquisition about it ; and every body knows they wanted not will ( had there been probability ) to make us partizans in all detestable and odious contrivances . 't was evident the english catholicks abhorred it , that several fought against the rebels , that we all decried their proceedings ; nor did i ever hear any of our party in the least excuse the fact , though to my knowledge protestants have often done it . my lord macquire ( who being a prime actor , knew the whole conspiracy ) at his execution at tyborn was conjured as a dying man to declare if the english papists had any knowledge or hand in the design : a he took it on his death , that not a man in england knew of it but one , and he was an irishman , and a protestant also . but who is ignorant ( unless wilfully opinionated ) that , that which produced this wickedness , was both a national animosity , and a particular hatred of the conquered to the conqueror ? nor would less have been done ; had any english catholique king been their governour . religion is no tie between nations when great hatreds arise , or great advantages for freedom ( as they term it ) offer themselves , as we experimentally find by the sicilian vespers abroad , and at home by the total massacre in one night of the , a danes by the english. the protestant irishman you see also was so willing to have the english out of ireland , that he never discovered the plot , though he knew what was intended against his own religion . for his criticism about the word infinitie , 't is as ridiculous as his poor quibble about purgatory ; and for queen maries days , i shal by and by speak of them at large in a more b proper place . sect . 2. apology . we had spoken much sooner , had we not been silent through consternation to see you so inflam'd ( whom with reverence we honour ) and also to shew our submissive patience , which used no slights or tricks to divert the debates of parliament . for no body can imagine , where so many of the great nobility and gentry are concern'd , but some thing might have been done ; when as in all ages we see things of publick advantage by the managers dexterity nipt in the bud , even in the very houses themselves . far be it from catholicks to perplex parliaments , who have been the founders of their priviledges , and all antient laws . nay , magna charta it self had its rise from us ; which we do the less boast of , since it was not at first obtained in so submiss and humble a manner . answer ii. that men of the popish religion were the founders of our good laws and priviledges of parliament , the minister cannot allow : for those of our ancestors that stood for the nation were , he says , of his religion , as much as ours ; but those particularly ours , that sided with the pope . reply . ii. judge whether this man be not madde then fox ; for fox never thought any fit for kalendar-saints and martyrs , but those that denied popery ; as a roger only , ali● bullingbroke , whom fox hath canonized though condemned ( as stow says ) to di● for b necromancy . sir c roger acton also hanged for d rebellion ; and many score of the like gang. now the minister by his argument will have protestant all the parliaments that made magna charta and ou● other priviledges , all people that acknowledged them , and all officers that from time to time have executed these ancient laws : yet these transactions were in the darkest times of popery ; nor did the waldenses , albigenses , wi●kliffians , lollards , &c. look on the government then as protestant , as you may seè in mr. fox hi● voluminous story . and since i have named this famous author , who is call'd a sound new writer in the much celebrated practice of piety , in the eight reason for the morality of the sabbath ; mr. heylin also rank's him as the prime modern ecclesiasticall writer . i say since i have nam'd this once famous mr fox . i cannot but condole his misfortune , that instead of having his book in churches as formerly it was wont , 't is now thought fit onely to cramp sleepers , according to mrs. abigails practice . and truly a like fate attends all the first champions of reformation ; for in tract of time their principles being found by theyr followers impossible to be maintained , new ones ( sometimes opposite to the former ) are therefore invented , which hereafter will also fail as the others did before them . sect . iii. apology . we sung our nunc. dimittis , when we saw our master in his throne , and you in your deserved authority and rule . answer iii. if we sang our dimittis at the present kings return , he says some of us rejoyc'd , and sang an exultemus at the beheading of the former . reply . iii. who would now think that a man could be so abominable as to lay such a thing to our charge without any proof at all ? reader , this godly minister has done it , and that he might show his utmost malice , he cites only in the margent the answerer of philanax , as if we were undoubtedly found guilty of the fact . but because my minister durst not for shame set dowd du moulins words , i will here present you with his accusation verbatim ; nor will christ himself be innocent , if such evidence as this be sufficient . a when the business of the late bad times are once ripe for an history , and time the bringer forth of truth hath discovered the mysteries of iniquity , and the depths of satan which have wrought so much crime and mischief , it will be found that the late rebellion was raised and fostered by the arts of the court of rome . that jesuits profest themselves independents , as not depending on the church of england ; and fifth-monarchy-men , that they might pull down the english monarchy ; and that in the committees , for the king and church , they had their spies and their agents . the roman priest and confessour is known , who when he saw the fatal stroke given to our holy king and martyr , flourished with his sword and said , now the greatest enemy ▪ we have in the world is gone . now , reader , let me ask you when will the business of our times be ripe for history ? or what discoveries can there be made against us , if in six and twenty years after the beginning of the war , if in twenty years after the end of it , and perpetration of that most accursed murther , we have not only been owned as loyal subjects , but still embrac'd by the protestant cavaliers as true partizans with them in all their glorious sufferings ? i am sure the press was free both in the rumps and olivers tyranny ; and if it were possible to suppose those times had been unseasonable , why have not the grave historians since the kings restauration made our late perfidiousness appear ? i am sure protestants a both lay and clergy , for their treason in his majesties absence have been convicted since his return , when as no papist could ever yet be suspected for the least defection from our soveraing . can this man think himself canon of canterbury ) and dare say , that the priest is known who flourisht his sword at the fatal stroke , when as no body knows him , no not he himsef ? doubtless he means some hugonot minister : for what cavalier was ever in france , and knows not how those saints adored cromwel ? hating from the beginning to the end both our king and his party . let the world judge of this story concerning this nameless priest , by him whom he names , viz. mr. white whose book of obedience and government he lays as a a blot on all of our religion ; when as this mr. white has not only been sharply used by the catholicks of england , but he and this very book were openly condemned by the pope himself ; nor durst he since shew his head in any catholique countrey . thus may be seen the conscience of this monsieur who would charge us with a crime , which at the writing he knew was false ; & from this son of darkness has my minister and others owned to have received their light ; and what kind of light it is , pray be pleased farther to observe . he tells us , b that a year before the kings death a select company of english jesuits were sent from their whole party to consult with the faculty of sorbon ( who you must know reader , are the greatest catholick enemies the society has in france ) whether they might lawfully make away the king. the doctors answered affirmavely to the question , being then stated in writing ; but afterwards when the pope saw that the kings murther was decried by every body , he commanded tha jesuits to burn all the papers about the question ; but one of them was shewed by a papist to a protestant . yet for all this secrecy commanded by the pope , du moulin tells us ( p. 58. ) that at roan many jesuited persons told a protestant openly on the news of the kings death , that they having often admonished the king from time to time to remember his promise at marriage of becoming a papist , were forc'd to take these courses for his destruction . after this history , he says ( p. 61. ) that the friers at dunkirk ) and by the way , there was never in that town a house of english , scotch , or irish friers ) told a protestant gentleman , that had a mind to pump them , that the jesuits would fain engross the honour of the kings death to themselves ; but the truth was , they had laboured as effectually as the jesuits to compass it . then he tells , ( pag. 60. ) that thirty jesuits neer diep met a stranger ( a protestant gentleman ) on the road and told him that they were going into england to be agitators in the independent army . good protestant reader , i am quite tired with this senceless stuff ; and if you think it false , consider what a jewel you have got from france ; but if you can deem it true , let me entreat you hereafter never to fear jesuite or priest ; for i am sure such prating fools can never do you harm . besides , i wonder how it came to pass that all the great cavaliers caress't the jesuits , and always employ'd them in much business during the kings exile ; neither were they then , or the rest of the popish priests , less welcome to the royallists of england , but pardon me , i beseech you reader , if i use so many words about a matter that deserves so little ; yet i cannot but confess ▪ i am engaged to the frenche divine for being so notoriously malitious and foolish : nor did i ever think that sir walters discovery of the plot in 1641. of blowing up the thames to drown the city , could ever be parallell'd ; but here i now find it outdone . have we not seen , good reader , that such ridiculous stories as these have lately ruined the kingdom ? and can any man believe if they once come in fashion again , they will end with papists ? no doubtless , for both church and court will soon find the smart ; as by experience we begin to feel . for my own part , i should never have taken notice of sieur du moulin or his book ; had not my minister owned him , as i said , for his informer ; and now i see he has imitated him also in his method ; for my worthy answerer calls me a jesuite , and so the dr. does philanax , though i am confident he knows him to be a lay-man , and a married man also . but now , reader , it will not be amiss to tell you why this mr. du moulin is so angry with the jesuites . you must know , that petra sancta ( a famous writer in the society ) a taxes the drs father for jugling , viz. for being in france a presbyterian , and in england episcopal , and so complying for gain with those ceremonies which his calvinistical brethren abominated as superstitious . this old du moulin ( his reverend father ; as the dr. calls him ) writ a a letter forsooth , as his son says , to the rebels at rochel , to exhort them to obey the king in breaking up their assembly , which was then hatching the rebellion that presently after broke out ; and yet ( though it has been lickt and amended , i doubt not , by the doctor ) you may find , that a b ground of his perswasion was , because they were not strong enough to resist the king. and besides , the reverend divine in that perswasion to loyalty , concludes , c notwithstanding all he had said , they ought to look after their safety ; fort'was unreasonable for them to separate their assembly with the peril of their persons . of the same loyal judgment also i find the dr. himself ; for after all his rayling against jesuites for sedition , he confesses the term was expired of the grant of the strong places to the hugonots ; nevertheless , he says , they seem to d be justified for keeping those towns , by the reason of the first grant , which was to preserve them from their bitter enemies . this was the doctrine , you see , of this worthy divine , who also vindicated the actions of the reformed in geneva , holland , germany , &c. and therefore i wonder not at his aspersing us for our service to our king and country . 't is not my business to run over all his book in order , having one of his disciples already to deal with ; but this i must tell him and the rest of his tribe , that since they steal one from the other , none of their fopperies shall go unanswered : and this they may find in some part or other of the present treatise . sect . v. apology . nor could any thing have ever grieved us more , then to have our loyalty called into question by you , even at the instigation of our greatest adversaries . if we must suffer , let it be by you alone ; for that 's a double death to men of honour , to have their enemies not only accusers , but for their insulting iudges also . answer iv. his objection here is , men of honour have no cause to fear either single or double deaths ; and that catholicks were never put to death in england for religion , but for treason . reply iv. is not this pretty , that no body died in england for religion , but for treason ? and yet many hundred of priests have been executed for no other crime , but being priests . nay , lay-men have been hanged for being converted , and others for letting a priest say mass in their houses ; when as to hear mass on festivals every catholique is in conscience obliged , if he can . besides , have not many catholiques also suffered for believing the pope to be head of the church ? by this argument then , if the parliament should make it treason ( as who knows but they may ? ) to hold episcopal ordination only valid , or that the king cannot give orders ; it might then be as well said , that they ( that are executed in pursuance of that law ) died for treason , and not for their religion . but lest the minister ( that has the boldness in almost every paragraph to deny apparently known things ) might to deceive his acquaintance still say , i have not proved what i assert : not to trouble my reader with many citations , take this one example out of a john stow , that downright & plain historian . he tells us , that fourteen papists were at a clap executed ; six only for being made priests beyond sea , and remaining here ; four lay-men only for being reconciled ; and four more , only for abetting or relieving the others . now if that be sufficient for the justice of the procedure , to say there are laws to this purpose enacted , then most certain it is , that the primitive christians were all traytors , being banisht by the lawful magistrate from several places where they taught , and knowing also many particular injunctions against their preaching and seducing the emperors subjects , as the ethnicks were pleased to call it . nay , the great st. alban our famous proto-martyr was executed ( as may be seen in the martyrology ) for being ( contrary to dioclesians laws ) converted to the faith , and abetting or entertaining in his house the priest amphibalus , which priest was his spiritual instructor , according to mr. cambden in his famous treatise b of brittain . sect . iv. apology . these are they that by beginning with us , murthered their prince , and wounded you : and shall the same method continue by your approbation ? we are sure you mean well , though their design be wicked . but let it never be recorded in story , that you forgot your often vows to us ▪ in joyning with them that have been the cause of so great calamity to the nation . answer v. he urges , that by saying the kings murtherers began with us catholicks , we take liberty of bestowing characters on whom we please ; so that no body must act against us , lest they be thought to continue the method of the kings murtherers . for vows , he says , we catholicks are more sure of those of protestants to us , then they of ours to them , because they want a pope to dispence with them . reply v. pray , reader , upon mature consideration tell me now , whether they were not the kings murtherers that pursued papists in the beginning of the war ? their design afterward , i am sure plainly appeared ; and pray god those were not of the same tribe , who first promoted our late troubles . let me ask also , whether you find not us at home and abroad as strict to our promises as any other you converse with . but since this minister upbraids us with our dispensing with vows , be pleased to consider who has been most busy , the romish or protestant pope herein . the papists have from the beninning refused the oath of allegeance as 't is now worded , but the reformed took it in all the degrees of preferment , viz. when graduated in the universities , when admitted into orders , when justices of peace , when parlimament-men ; and in short , when any dignity either in church or state is conferred . yet for all the often repetition of it , half the kingdom were in rebellion against the king , even directly contrary to what they had sworn . now on the other side , there was no papist that declared not for the king , though all the party ( as i said ) refused the oath , and for this refusal severely suffered both in their estates and persons . besides , if it were a doctrine amongst us ( as the protestants state it ) that the pope can when he pleases absolve us from our oaths , why should we then ( do you think ) refuse the taking of this ? doubtless a dispensation ( if it could be granted ) might be procured at less charge then two thirds of our estates , omitting all corporal punishments . oaths by our tenets are not in themselves unlawful , nor can it be out of want of zeal for our prince that we refuse them ; since 't is plain , that we all , like one man , stood by him in his great affliction and misery . you must know , reader , this oath was framed by one perkins an apostate jesuite , who knowing what we could take , and what not , purposely mingled certain truths with uncertain speculative points , to make us fall within the law of refusal ▪ t would be tedious to shew all the real exceptions we have to it , nor do any of them truly relate to our obedience to the king ; for as to the allegeance , i would be bound to word an oath , which no papist shall scruple at , and yet it shall be more strong then this . but , reader , to give you my opinion of oaths ( though nevertheless i am not for taking away that laudable custome of swearing subjects ) i think them really useless , where without them ( as in allegeance ) we are naturally bound : for honest men will be punctual in duty , though they never swore ; when as the wicked can at no time be obliged , let the bond be never so sacred . sect . 6. apology . of all calumnies against catholicks , we have admired at none so much , as that their principles are said to be inconsistent with government , and they themselves thought ever prone to rebellion . answer vi. on this short paragraph he makes a wonderful long discourse , saying , that 't is a calumny of ours to call that a calumny , which is true : for first , our councels ; secondly , our decretals ; thirdly , our divines teach , that the pope has power to depose kings , and to discharge subjects of their allegeance , which doctrines are inconsistent with government . but every papist is bound to beleive their councels , decretals , and divines : ergo , we may well be thought prone to rebellion . reply . 6. to answer to these things perspicuously , i shall treat of them singly . object . 1. that our general councels decree this , he proves by the lateran councel under innocent the iii. which expresly ordains , he says , that in case any prince be a favourer of hereticks , after admonition given , the pope shall discharge his subjects from their allegeance , and shall give away the kingdome to some catholique , that may root out these heretiques . i grant that the sense of the words is in the councel , and that in determinations of faith councels are infallible . but as for other matters , we say not , that councels are infallible in every point , even in matter of fact. besides , councel's ordinations are to be taken according to the prudent meaning of the legislators , and oftentimes beare another sense then the bare words taken as they lie , and weighed out of due circumstances seeme to signifie . nor will this seem strange to an english university man , since they grant , that in some matters god is not pleas'd that the scripture it self should in it's obvious sense be taken as infallible , for no body will there say , that all the philosophy in the bible is unquestionable , or that the mathematicks of it is to a tittle just . the molten sea is described to be a ten cubits ( in diameter ) from brim to brim , and that it was round , and that a line of thirty cubits did compass it . now who is it ( having read less then the first six books of euclid ) but can demonstrate that this is not altogether exact ? the blood is not now thought by their learn'd physitians to be the b life of a creature but the vehicle . nor do their astronomers believe that the stars are less then the sun or moon , though in genesis they are called the two c great lights . the solution to these objections is easie , and in every sophisters mouth , viz. that the holy pen-men writ of such matters , either briefly ( as that measure of a circle is to this day ordinarily express'd ) or else according to the hypothesis or opinion then assented to by the world. but where this sacred word speaks to us doctrinally , 't is to be believed on pain of damnation : so a councel when it determines of faith , we are to reverence those determinations as coming from the holy ghost . neverthelesse it 's other constitutions , being but humain lawes , are changeable , and oftentimes admit several exceptions ; nor doe they alwais bring with them such an inevitable obligation , that there is not possible way to avoid it's bond . for promulgation &c must precede . this plainely appeares by the councel of trent , to the doctrine whereof all catholiques whatsoever submit though the rest of it's decrees bind not in france , no in any place els , where they are yet unreceived . but the case now in controversie needs not all this : for i suppose the minister will not deny , but that the emperors of the east and west , the kings of england , frāce , hungary , jerusalem , cyprus , arragon , &c. may agree together ( if they please ) to purge their kingdoms of heresie , and upon failure , that the church shall give their dominions to another that will perform the compact . these princes , reader , that i have named were a present ( by their embassadors ) at this councel and what was there done , was by their consent , the albigensian heresie beginning then to be somewhat numerous . nor did those monarchs thinke themselves in a worse condition for this ordination . moreover we never heard that any catholique king since ever did protest , or exclaim against the councel ; which doubtless they would have done , had they been in any dangerby it . on the cōtrary we know , that mariana ( as the minister confesses ) was condemned , for barely inclining to the opinion of thus deposing kings ; which judgmēt could not have pass'd against him , had this been by any councel adjudged an article of faith. 't were a mortal sin in me , and i should presently incur all ecclesiastical censure , if i did deny transubstantiation , by reason it is an article of faith , and so declared by this very lateran councel : but as for the absolute powre of deposing kings , it is held by severall as a meere opiniō , and opposed by many as fals , nor wil divines say , they are the worse catholicks for it . certāly it were not unlawful , if the princes and states ( that own themselves christians ) should now in an assembly agree ( by reason they saw judaism or turcism encreasing ) that every one of them must do what he could to hinder this growth , and in case any was found favouring it , his dominions should be given to another . this , i say , without doubt is lawful ; and though it were not made to bind our posterity , yet it might be hoped that the zeal of so sacred an assembly would make governours hereafter diligent to weed out all infidelity . what therefore was here ordered , was to oblige the kings , who by compact acknowledg'd the procedure ; and 't was also imagined , that succeeding catholique princes would be more careful to keep their people from error , when they should call to mind that this was agreed to in a councel where the east and west met , ( a for the patriarch's of constantinople and hierusalem were present , antioch and alexandria sent deputies ) and which consisted of 77. primates , 412. bishops , and above 800. abbots and priors ; besides the embassadors of so many monarchs ; all which put together , makes this to be the greatest councel that ever was . much more could i say concerning this councel , and many other considerations ( for brevities sake ) i am forced to pass by . but pray , reader , before i end , let me mind you of this , that the popes never give away ( as men call it ) a kingdom from a prince simply heretical , but from one that is an apostate , and so revolted from the church . for we see that hen. 8. was condemned , yet nothing was done to his son edw. 6. and again , though queen elizabeth , ( who went to mass in queen maries time , and also had actually owned the pope , by keeping her embassadour in the beginning at rome ) was deprived of soveraignty by the bull of pius quintus ; yet no censure past against king james , k. charles the first , or this present monarch : and the reason is , because they always professed themselves protestants , and never acknowledged his holiness as their bishop and pastor . therefore protestāt magistrates have no reasō to fear either pope or papists . the answerer having urged this councel , to vilisie it the more , tells us , 't was innocent the iii. who there presided , that deposed our k. john , and otho iv. : and then runs extravaganly to a forraign thing , in hopes to make it more disgustful , viz. that this councel which made rebellion a duty , made transubstantiation an article of faith. concerning king john , i have told you before , that popes as private doctors may err , nay it is not certaine , that without a councel they are infallible even in their interpretations of faith ; much more therfore they are liable to err in their actions . neither doe i canonize or approve whatsoever popes have done in deposing kings . and if some popes have transgress'd , it follows not that all have , no more then because some princes have been tyrants , their predecessors and successors must be so too . differences between kings and popes , i consider as between man and wife ▪ for in all quarrels the right can be but on one side ; yet it happens through humane imbecility , and revenge , that the most injured often commits some absurdity or other , by which the peccant party may gain a very seeming advātage . no brave english king needed to have more feared popes , then they needed to have feared their other gaping neighbours . this prince , protestant historians conclude to be the least deserving of all our governours ; for ( passing by his a youthful rebellion , the b murthering of his nephew , his c atheism , &c. which they record ) 't is he that lost our whole interest ( either by conquest or matches ) in d france , and discontenting all his people , never obliged any body that i heard of , unless the mayor and corporation of e lynne . this yet is no excuse to the pope , but shews only the unhappiness of the nation , that it had not a more generous prince ( for sr. rob : cotton f call's him a licentious soueraigne ) to defend our rights and priviledges . now for transubstantiation , it is true that in this councel the word was first made authoritatively use of , as in the councel of nice , the word trinity ; but the sence and meaning of both trinity and transubstantiation was in the scripture , and held from age to age : nay , the word transubstantiation it self was used by g grave authors in writings before . object . 2. concerning the decrees and bulls of popes , he says , that from gregory vii , they made such a trade of deposing kings , that no weak king could wear his crown , but at the popes curtesie ; and that boniface viii . declares in these words ▪ we say , and define , and pronounce , that it is absolutely necessary to salvation for every creature to be subject to the bishop of rome . to this i answer , that in the next century ( or a little more ) after k. john , there were more weak kings in england then eiher before or since , viz. hen. 3. edw. 2. ric. and yet the popes did not offer to take away their crowns , or ever stirred to perplex them , though their wicked subjects gave the pope opportunity enough . nay , though hen. 3. denied any acknowledgment upon the gift of king john , yet the pope assisted him against the rebellious barons . and for the composition of edward the seconds troubles , his holiness sent him two a cardinals , but the rebels would not accept of their mediation , as knowing them too much of the kings party . besides , i told you again and again , that the popes decrees and bulls are not alwayes held infallible : and may be opposed , as they often have been by stiff and religious papists ; nor will good catholiques scruple to do it , especially about temporal affairs . and if popes should speak in such a dialect ( as the minister urges ) they mean subjection in spiritual matters . 3. object . among the divines that agree to the deposing of kings , he mentions some jesuites , as bellarmine , suarez , valentia , parsons or creswel ; mariana also he names , though he confesses him cōdemned . out of these he cites several places to this purpose viz. as jehojada deposed athaliah , so may popes deal with kings . to this i say , let the jesuites answer for their own doctrine , for i am sure they are of age , and able also ; neither did they ever tell me otherwise , but that i might reject such and the like opinions , they being only the private fancies of some of their order . it has never been my study to pore upon schoolmen , nor is it worth my pains now to search libraries , whether they have said so or no ; which truly i do very much doubt of . for my part , i cannot think jesuites such king-haters , because kings would then hate them ; when as on the contrary we see all princes caress them , and make them their confessors . at this time the jesuites are in this office to the emperor , the queen of england , the king of france , the queen regent of spain , the king of poland , and as i take it , to the now king of portugal ; for they belonged thus to the late old king and queen of that kingdom : the dukes of bavary , newburgh , and many other great princes of germany are also their penitents ; all which considered , i must look upon jesuites in general to be faithfuller subjects then protestants imagine ; for kings though papists are not always fools . but , suppose jesuites were villains ; what is that to the catholick faith ? must cambridge be babylon , and the english religion false , because the mēbers of one colledge ( suppose emanuel ) were thought knaves and hypocrites ? the other divines and canonists whom the minister urges , are baronius , bertrand ; lancelotus , peron , rossaeus , who say ( according to his citations ) things to the same purpose about deposing of kings . all this put together , reader , is the force of his argument . the objection about councels and bulls , you see is nothing ; about divines i have already given you a touch , but now i will handle it a little fuller . you must know ( the soul of man being so sublime and towring ) there is no profession in the world , but that the wits of it aim to resolve all difficulties that can be proposed in the science . this makes philosophers metaphysicians , and schoolmen run into those seeming odd subtleties , with which their writings are cram'd . in the like manner casuists ( thinking it a disgrace not to be able to answer something to whatever can be proposed ) treat in their books about all cases which their nimble fancies can start . among many impertinent niceties and curious questions , this of deposing apostatizing princes comes to be handled ; some perchance are for it others in may be against it . now ▪ because some have adjudged , that upon a notorious falling away , the church may give to the sound the dominions of the infected sheep , lest the whole slock might be tainted : immediately the minister and other protestants declare , that the dethroning of kings is the catholique doctrine . i am sure this was not so absolutely agreed to by the english protestāts themselves ( at least in discourse ) that there could be none found among them , who have favoured the opinion which we are said to hold : how many well-meaning men fought against charles the i , only because they falsely thought him a papist ? and i my self have heard those of condition say , when the king was abroad , that should the pope and his crew peruert him , they would oppose his return . there was no danger of this , because his majesty ( like his father and grādfather ) has so great a veneration for protestantism ; but yet this that i urge was frequently spoke of and no body that reads this , but has heard such discourses often ▪ what has been done about religion in this our country , i shall tell you a hereafter ; and at present i shall shew you that we papists are not the only rebel-teachers , but that there are reformists that profess this divinity also . b luther says , you complain that by our gospel the world is become tumultous . i answer , god be thanked ; these things i would have be , and wo me miserable , if they were not . a zwinglius . if the roman empire , or what other soveraignty soever , should oppress the sincere religion , and we negligently suffer the same , we shall be charged with contempt no less then the oppressors themselves ; whereof we have an example in 15. jer. where the destruction of the people is prophesied , because they suffered their k. manasses , being ungodly , to be unpunisht . b calvin . earthly princes do hereave themselves of authority when they erect themselves against god : yea , they are unworthy to be accounted in the number of men , therefore we must rather spit in their faces then obey them , passing by what c beza did in france ( davila often mentions . ) he writ a book of the power of magistrates , which mr. sutcliffe confesses , armed subjects against their prince . d sundry englishmen writ wholly of this argument : that the councellors , and rather then fail , the very people were bound to reform religion whether the queen would or no , though it were by putting her to death . i shall trouble you , reader , with no more citations ( of which our books are full ) for i content my self with naming these of the greatest eminency : and certainly the opinions of these doctors may be more justly charged upon protestants in general , then the opinions of private catholicks upon us ; because luther , zwinglius , calvin and beza were the first reformers : and if the spirit of god taught them so much truth ; as they are said to preach , why should this be more questionable then the rest ? therefore the pope being pharaoh , and popery egypt ( as ministers daily affirm in their pulpits ) we may well say , these are thy gods , o israel , which brought thee out of the land of egypt . these apostles rested not in the theory , but fell to the practice also : for whereas the popes since the first rise of the reformation , never gave away ( evenby word ) but two crowns , viz. england and france ; the reformed have actually deposed the absolute princes of scotland , denmark , swedeland and geneva ; have ravisht also from their lawful governours , the low-countreys , transylvania , and many towns , which are now called free. and for rebellion and tumults , they have been eminent in poland , boheme , hungary , france , germany ? and in short , in all places where this gospel has been preacht . this every historian can tell you ; nay , blind mr. heylin plainly saw it , therefore did all he could ( when these countries in his geography were to be handled ) to purge the reformed from the rebellion truly laid to their charge : but finding that washing a blackmore was labour in vain , he was forced ( with his brother sleidan ) to fly for shelter to this abominable and prodigious argument , a viz. that christ foretold , that fathers should be against their sons , and brothers against brothers for his sake ; and that we find not in any story , the true religion was induc'd , or corrupt about to be amended without war and bloodshed . it is true , the lawful protestant church of england teaches no such doctrine ; but this i do not much wonder at , for why should men ( the king being so absolute in spirituals ) run the risk to be undone for venting such notions , when as their monarchs have been so strict professors of their religion ? the test of this would be , if the prince and people were different , or like to be so in faith and worship . 〈◊〉 what the english have done herein wh●● this has happened , i will shew you , 〈◊〉 said , a by and by . for my part , i look upon the english to be the most well-meaning and most religious people in the world ; and it is that ▪ which makes them all so violent in what their conscience tells them is true . this made papists so earnest for their religion , which had governed england so long in glory . this made protestants fierce to root out what they thought idolatry . this made presbyterians desire to have prelatick superstition reformed ; and this made independents and their brood cry down every thing , standing stiffly ( as they imagined ) for the kingdom of iesus christ . i say , this great sincerity and zeal , makes all our countrymen so violent : which good intention , wicked people taking advantage of , have caused so many disturbances among us ; nor can sectaries ever be quiet , till they are convinc'd that some church or other is infallible . thus , reader , have i answered to this strange calumny against us , that our principles are inconsistent with govenment ; by shewing that deposing of kings is no part of the catholick faith ( which catholique princes do very well know ) and also , that in doctrine and practice , the reformed have been ( wheresoever they came ) far more faulty then we . sect . vii . apology . my lords and gentlemen , had this been a new sect not known before , something perchance might have been doubted ; but to lay this at their doors that have governed the civilized world , is the miracle of miracles to us . answer vii . here he says , that they that have read most , and have had the most experience , can best cure ●s of the wonder ; and that k. iames ( who had reason to know us ) said in the parliament , that there were some that might be honest of the party , being ignorātly seduced ; but they that truly knew our doctrines , could never be good subjects . then he asks when it was that we governed the civilized world ? for he says , the eastern , and southern churches never were under our government , nor the western neither , but when ignorant and barbarous . reply vii . now i plainly see the design of this minister is ( to the end his flock may believe every thing answered ) to say something to each paragragh , let it be never so frivolous . who is it , reader , that having read history is ignorant of the great power the bishop of rome had over the east , as the greek fathers tell us ? for wee read in eusebius that pope victor ( about anno 200. ) excomunicated the eastern church for not keeping easter the roman way . and this grimston also has in his account of popes . or who knows not of the appeals from africk , when matters of moment arose , even in the most acknowledged primitive times ? but i ask your pardon for asserting this , because in the primitive times , they say , the popes themselves were protestants . yet though this were so , i wonder the minister should be so forgetful of the great antichrist boniface the iii , who is baited by every shoolboy . this arrant pope lived above a 1000. years aago , and not only called himself universal bishop , but was owned so too by phocas the universal emperor as all protestants declare . might not then a man modestly say , that popery governed the civilized world , when it governed the whole world ? but i ▪ d of willingly forgive a man this , that has the confidence to say that we did not govern the western world , till it grew ignorant and barbarous . it may be he means that those parts have been so ever since christs time , otherwise ( till this late reformation ) there was never any government on this side greece , that denied the popes jurisdiction ; and greece it self owned it in the councel of lateran , and in hen. 3. time also , as protestant b sir richard baker testifies . ever since rome made het self mistress of all arts and sciences , the west took the name of the only civilized place : therefore had he understood civility , he would not have made so simple a cavil ; and i dare say , he is the first protestāt writer ( though they have been as bold as hectors in their denials ) that has affirmed the church of rome never governed the civilized world. but since this minister mentions here popish ignorance , i must desire the reader , if he knows any of our profession in the country , to tell me , whether generally speaking , they are not esteemed more learned then their neighbours of the same rank and degree . i am sure they that live at london , are thought by their protestant acquaintance as well bred , and as greate scholars as any of their condition with whom they usually converse . concerning our priests , consult their books , and tell me then , whether they have been out done or no : and if any english man would know how they are abroad , let them go but to his next neighbours the french , and there in every diocess , he shall find a clergy not only learned to admiration , but so far outgoing the hugonot-ministers , that one would think they lived not in the same clime or region . nay , what is yet more , there is neither private nor publick library in this very island , but seven of ten of the choice books in all sciences were writ by catholicks . is not this , good reader , strange ignorance , for protestants to be thus deceived , and implicitly led on by their pastors contrary to what they hear and see ? this , i must say , is incredible blindness , and exceeds that of the silliest papists , who if they are cozened , it must be in things beyond their capacity , or by distance far remote from them . but now in england nothing is more common , then to have wise protestants run into this and the like fond fancies ; and at last when they can say no more , they are fain to shift it off with this phanatical evasion , that it is true , papists are carnally , but not spiritually learned . sect . v. apology . did richard the first , or edward longshanks suspect his catholicks that served in palestine , and made our countries fame big in the chronicles of all ages ? or did they mistrust ( in their dangerous absence ) their subjects at home because they were of this profession ? could edward the third imagine those to be trayterous in their doctrine , that had that care and duty for their prince , as to make them ( by statute ) guilty of death in the highest degree , that had the least thought of ill against the king ? be pleased that henry the fifth be remembred also , who did those wonders of which the whole world does still resound ; and certainly all history will agree in this , that 't was old-castle he feared , and not those that believed the bishop of rome to be head of the church . answer viii . to this he says , the reigns of these kings were in the dark times of corruption ; yet that richard i. bequeathed his pride and lechery to the clergy and monks . that edward i. outlawed the clergy , for obeying the pope in not paying taxes . that edward iii , and hen. v. made good laws against the popes usurpation : and becket vext hen. ii more ▪ then hen. v feared oldcastle . moreover , that all these kings did not differ so much from protestants , as the papists now do : and to conclude , he asks , did not the pope force k. iohn to do homage for england , wrestle with edward the first for scotland , and often lay claim to ireland ? reply . 8. certainly , reader , the minister is besides himself , since he can say the english differed not so much from the protestants then ▪ as we do now . has the man railed all this while against the tyranny of popes , and urged those times as the height of their authority ; and then comes to this evasion ? i would fain know , if the clergy and religious were since ever more in power then in those days ? was there ever more of pilgrimages and all sorts of devotion , which protestants call superstitious ? were not schoolmen then most in their splendor ? and lastly , could any publican lollard , wickliffian , or new sect stir , but the whole kingdom presently detested them ? who then will ever believe a word more he says , when he is so strangely impudent to no purpose ? but these are the worthy tricks used to keep the poor people in ignorance ; and just with as ▪ much truth are the fathers called defenders of the protestant religion : for the fathers stiled them always hereticks that ran out of the visible church . for the laws that have been made by any of our kings if they made any against ecclesiastical usurpations , god reward them ; and to this all catholicks will say , amen . concerning k. john we have already spoke enough . and for the popes claim to scotland , judge , reader , whether any man can be fuller of falsity and malice then this minister , my adversary . for here he would have the world think ( by his placing this accusation after king johns business , and by calling it the popes wrestling with edward i. for the soveraignty of scotland ) there was some notorious injustice done by the sea of rome . in short , the business was only this , as you may find in hollingshead , the most violent english historian against papists that ever yet writ . the scots having always an animosity against the english , and not knowing how to resist the victorious arms of edward , who was again coming with a great army against them , surrendred the kingdom , ( or so pretended ) to boniface . 8. he thereupon sent to the king to desist , because the crown belonged to the church . edward immediately returned an answer , and so did all the barons of england , to manifest the kings right , and the invalidity of the new pretence . the pope ( says a hollingshead ) when he deliberately pondered the kings answer , with the letter from the english barons , waxt cold in the matter , and followed it no farther . thus , reader , you see how the case stood , and how catholiques are wronged by ill men ; nor is there any difference between a false aggravation , and a downright lye . in the same manner are we used in this accusation of ireland ; for the pope never medled with ireland but since the reformation , and so invaded it in the time of queen elizabeth , of which you shall see farther in the a section of popish misdemeanors in her reign . the parity between s. th. becket and oldcastle is doubtless very odd ; the last being a rebel ( with complices in arms ) against b henry the fifth : the other disputing only about priviledges , which he said were grāted to priests . just as if our peers should stād upon the freedome of their persons , were there a design to have them imprisoned as other subjects , or tried by a common jury . besides , all princes of christendome then , owned becket for a saint ; when as no body ( unless such a man as fox ) thought oldcastle deserved any thing but the gallows . sect . ix . apology . we will no longer trouble you with putting you in mind of any more of our mighty kings , who have been feared abroad , and as safe at home as any since the reformation of religion . we shall only add this , that if popery be the enslaving of princes , france still believes it self as absolute as denmarck or sweden . answer ix . he says , the king of france will believe what he pleases . for his majesty well knows the pope gave away france formerly , fomented war against hen. 4. and would do the same against him , were it not for his power and religion . reply ix . i shewed you before in the sixth reply , that though the reformed have actually taken away from their lawful governours so many dominions , yet the pope never gave away but england and france which nevertheless are still under their proper soveraigns . consider then , whether ( since the light of the gospel appeared ) the protestant or popish manner of dealing has been most destructive to princes : and judge if this be an answer to my demand , which was , whether france acknowledging the pope , be not as absolute as sweden or denmark that are protestants ? if so , it follows then , that popery does not enslave a king. we are beholden to the minister , for confessing the king of france is of the same religion with the pope : for i have heard some in england say , he was a protestant . thanks be to god , there is no danger of a breach between rome and france in matters of faith ; for ( as the very gazets told us an. 1664 ) when the french army was in italy , the king ( having owned the condemnation of jansenius ) even then sent to the pope to prosecute the jansenists in france . henry the eighth will be a warning to his neighbours for revolting hereafter from the church ; for instead of a little ecclesiastical dependence on the sea of rome , he has embroiled england in perpetual confusion about religion ; millions of sects daily dividing and subdividing , each of which pretend they are in the right , and each quote scripture for their opinions . and by the way , reader , be pleased to remember , that had not this king of ours destroyed religious houses , all the truly devout sectaries at present would have voluntarily been cloister'd there , who now distract both the kingdom & themselves ; for having no quiet place to vent that zeal which boyls within , they become a prey to a few wicked men , that blow up their well-meaning piety into disorders and sedition . nay , many of the discontented factious ▪ themselves , who now lie open to the sway and hurry of their own passions , would have been glad of such a retreat , honorable to all , even from the monarch to the pesant . therefore i see now why a speed a protestant ( when he made an end of his catalogue of the destroyed abbies ) spoke in this manner : we have laid to your view a great part of king henry's ill , the waste of so much of gods revenue , however abused , but cambden is yet more tart , for he b says that many religious places , monuments of our forefathers piety and devotion , to the honour of god , and propagation of christian faith , &c. were in a moment prophaned , c and the riches disperst ▪ which had been consecrated to god since the english nation first profest christianity . sect . x. apology . nor will ever the house of austria abjure the pope , to secure themselves of the fidelity of their subjects . answer x. to this he says , the austrian family being so linckt to the pope ( by possessing naples , sicily , and navar by his gift ) and theire subjects also being papists , it were a mad way to secure themselves by changing religion . but what is that , says he , to england , where since the extrusion of that trash ( we call the catholick faith ) the king and people are no more papists ; and having been often troubled by us , have reason by experience to fear our designs ? reply . v 10. to this i reply , that the spaniard being now in actual possession , can as well defend these places ( were he a protestant ) as millan , flanders , &c. which are not the popes gift ; or as well as other reformed princes have done their countries . and for the subjects being papists , that is nothing , for all subjects before luthers time were papists also . the minister therefore grants me here all that from the first i desired . for if our former kings were considerable abroad , and as safe at home , as since the change of religion : if the king of france be as absolute as denmarck or sweden ; and if the house of austria cannot better secure the fidelity of their subjects by becoming protestants , then by continuing papists : i say , it must necessarily follow , that kings and kingdoms by being papists are not less absolute then if reformed : and by the same consequence , their subjects not one whit faithfuller to their lords by being protestants , then if they were papists . tell me then , where is the temporal advantage of reformation ? and whether our answerer has not bauld long in vain ; since he now by this grants me , that kings may be absolute , and subjects faithful under popery : and yet lately he affirmed , that popery is inconsistent with government , by reason of princes dependence on the pope in ecclesiastical matters ; and that all papists are prone to rebellion , by the determination of our councels , bulls and divines . but the minister says , what is all this to england , where prince and people are protestants ? i answer , 't is thus much to england , that now it is plain , 't is an errour that popery is inconsistent with government ; and it also shews that princes get no power ( in the long-run ) by reforming , but on the contrary , perpetual disorders follow . how dangerous we have been to our protestant princes , shall be discust in the reflexion on the popish a misdemeanours in the reigns of queen elizabeth and king james : but how faithful and serviceable we were to king charles the first and second , all europe has sufficiently declared in our behalves . sect . xi . apology . we shall always acknowledge to the whole world , that there have been as many brave english in this last century , as in any other place whatsoever . yet since the exclusion of the catholick faith , there has been that committed by those , who would be fain called protestants , that the wickedest papist at no time dreamt of . answer xi . here he asks what may that be ? for four or five of our kings of our own religion have been murthered by papists : that lately hen. 4. of france was killed by ravillac ; and. hen. 3. by frier clement . and besides this , we have killed by whole townships in england , ireland , france , and piedmont . reply 11. what a volume might there be here writ , if every matter mentioned were to be fully discust ? but these are the artifices of the brethren , that when they know not what to say , run to another thing , in hopes to puzzle an ordinary reader , who cannot imagine ( hearing so great a buzze ) but that there must be something at least of real . my assertion in the apology was , that our former english papists never did such villanies as have been committed since the reformation . to this he answers nothing , but impertinently runs to the private murthers of some of our kings . is this proportionable , good reader ? who knows not that the murtherers of ed. 2. ric. 2. and hen. 6. were so conscious of their wickedness , that all was done in the dark ; nor would they ever own otherwise then that they dyed without violence . for t was given out that the death of the first of these princes came by extreame a griefe . that the other b starved himselfe , and that the last died of a naturall c sicknesse but the execution of the queen of scots was bare-fac'd in the sight of the world , and which was more , under the cloak of law. my lord of leicester was sensible of the dishonour that would accrew to the nation , and therefore sent walsinhham d a godly divine to satisfie his conscience , that it was lawful to poyson her ; but the minister could no more convince his penitent , then the saints could harrison about the clandestine murther of the grandchild . and doubtless the whole intrigue against . q. mary gave precedent and boldness to our execrable parricides , openly to do their detestable villany in a formal method and manner . this procedure against the queen , contrary , as 't was imagined , to the law of nations ( she being both a guest and an absolute princess ) drew an universal odium upon the kingdom , a for the reproach was entailed on the whole nation by the apparition of a mimicall and counterfeit justice , as osborne call's it : nor did any englishman , either papist or protestant ever misse to be upbraided with it abroad ; till the greatness of the abomination against king charles made them leave off a little speaking of the first , to remember us more piquantly of the last . is it to excuse the two unheard of 〈◊〉 that he tell ; me of four or five kings since the conquest made away by papists ? it may be it is that i should again retort , that ( since hen. 8. reign ) there were but b four protestestant monarchs , and three of them were said to come to violent deaths . but what is ravillac's murther of hen. 4. to us in england , more then to saxony , the poysoning of edw. 6. by the lord robert dudly , for so a sir richard baker conceives he hid . i know clement the frier destroyed hen 3. so did judas his master ; and yet neither the disciples , nor christian religion were ever thought the worse for it . for the murther of the protestants in irelād i shew'd you in the b beginning , how we detested it . cōcerning the blood spilt in frāce , i shall speak at large in the paragraph about that c massacre . but i wonder the piemōthusiness should be unged by royallist ; for i remēber when crōwel made a collectiō for thē in pretence , but for himself in reality , the cavaliers ever stiled them rebels , and said , the duke of savoy was necessitated for his quiet to subdue them thus by arms. yet for all their hard usage , i wish we had as much freedome as they . now for queen maries reign , which this man so often calls the bloody days , i will here speak a little , eternally to stop his mouth hereafter . first , d reformed historians agree , that the queen her self was a marveillous good woman , therefore it was not she , but her bishops that were cruel . again , every englishman knows , that no man can be put to death amongst us without law ; therefore they were not the bishops , but the laws that were cruel : which laws still continue , and have been made use of since the reformation by q. elez. & k. ●ames to burne hereticks . yet for all these laws there died of protestants in the whole , but a 277. as baker and b other protestant writers record . besides , were these 277. now alive , 200. at least , in stead of pity , would be thrown into prison , and there rot for non-conformists : but all things were called saints in the dawning of the light even so much as collins and his dog for fox in his act 's , and monuments say's that collins beeing mad , and seeing a priest hold up the host to the people , tooke a dog and held it up , as the priest did the host , for wch he and the dog were c burnt . yet though this collins be own'd by fox to be mad , never the less he places him as a martyr on the 10. of octob. as may be seen in his calendar . in the next place , let me know whether a man may be executed for this tenets in religion , or no ? if it be lawful , why might not papists put to death men ( who they thought deserved it ) as well as protestants ? if no man ought to suffer for his conscience , why did a edward 6. and q. eliz. condemn so many hereticks in their time ? all which were executed , but some few that recanted ▪ and so saved their lives . or why did k. james put to death b legat and wightman , but because he religiously thought it was unfit they should longer live to blaspheme ? over and above these ( that died for a religion of their own making ) i saw a roll at doway , wherein to the year 1632. there suffered out of that one house 105. priests ; since which there died many out of the same colledge . add to these many out of the portugal , spanish , and roman seminaries , many of other orders , and many laymen also , who have been executed for owning the pope in spirituals , or for having a priest say mass in their houses according to the obligation of their consciences . if these were then all numbred , i am sure , there suffered many more catholicks ( omitting the innumerable confiscations ) by the protestant government , then ever there did protestants by the catholick . nay , if together with catholicks i should reckon all sorts of people that died for their conscience though enemyes to popery ( which may be found in fox , stow and others in the reignes of hen. 8. ed. 6. and queen elizabeth ) it is evident , there has been more blood spilt on a religious account under our princes that disowned the pope , then by the papists from st. augustins conversion to luthers time . iudge then , if catholicks be so bloody as they are reported and thought . sect . xii . apology . 't was never heard of before , that an absolute queen was condemned by subjects , and those stiled her peers ; or that a king was publiquely tried and executed by his own people and servants . answer xii . here he says , that the q. of scots was beheaded under elizabeth by the same colour of right that wallis suffered under edw. 1. ( whom i call , he says , a brave prince ) namely that of soveraignty , which our princes challenged over scotland : but that king james and king charles never imputed this to q. elizabeths religion . concerning king charles's murther , he says , that i would take it ill , a turk should charge the ministers faults and his parties upon me ; but i do worse then a turk , in charging these mens faults upon the protestants : for the murtherers were neither then , nor since of the ministers communion . he sayes , king charles declared , he died for the protestant religion and laws of the land : that also in his letter to the prince , he says , none of the rebels were professors or practicers of the church of england , which gives no such rules . reply xii . nay , now i have quite geven over my minister ; for though he had no regard of himself me thinks he might have had more respect for our king , then to parallel his grand-mother with wallis . you must know reader that edward the first by his valour conquered scotland , and made all the nobles swear fealty to him . about ann. 1300. ( when all things were thus at quiet ) up starts wallis a a poore private gentlemen , who though he had distressed the english a while , yet never so much as once pretended to the crown , either by sword , or birth . afterwards he was taken by our king , and b executed for his insurrections . is this man then a fit parallel with mary stuart , owned not only as queen of scots abroad , but by queen elizabeth her self also , who often sent and received embassadors from her , with the same state , as was used to the king of france , or any other potentate ? what king iames and king charles thought of the action , i know not ; but i wish it had never been done . concerning the other part of his answer : first , i did never charge the kings murther on any body , but those that were the authors of it ; he knows best whether he was one of them or no : this i am sure of , he can falsifie , and ( to use harrisons words ) blacken as well as the best of them , as you may see all a long , and especially in the next section . secondly , i do verily believe that king charles died a sincere protestant . and lastly , i am so far from laying any crime upon the cavalier protestants , that i think them as brave and as worthy gentlemen , as any nation bears . but this i must say , that the english church ( though of an honest intention ) is built upon such principles , that as long as it lasts , it will hatch a dissenting brood : and these graceless children , upon every advantage will be ready to rebel . this is then the benefit entailed by hen. 8. reformation ; which has ( as a baker confesses ) so shaken the church that it has stood indistraction ever since . sect . xiii . apology . my lords and gentlemen , we know who were the authors of this last abomination , and how generously you strove against the raging torrent ; nor have we any other ends to remember you of it , but to show that all religions may have a corrupted spawn ; and that god hath been pleased to permit such a rebellion , which our progenitors never saw , to convince you perchance ( whom for ever may he prosper ) that popery is not the only source of treason . answer xiii . here he says , since we do know who were the authors of the abomination ; he desires us to be plain , for he thinks i have spoke more truth then every man is aware . cardinal richelieu , he says , began the rebellion in scotland : then it broke out in ireland , blest with his holiness letters and nuntio . lastly , england we unsettled , by giving occasion of jealousies , which the phanaticks made use of for their purposes . besides all this , he says , the murther of the king also was agreed on in the councels of our clergy and therefore in vain could the royallists resist the raging torrent . reply xiii . lord , what blasphemies are here ! and what a heap of unsorted falsities are put together , without any probability or proof ! because richelieu a great minister of state ( who intrigued in every nation ▪ ) is supposed to have dealt with the presbyterians of scotland , the papists of england were the cause of the rebellion . this is rare logick , especially every body knowing that fire and water agreed better then those saints and we . i wonder the papists were not guilty of the dangerous commotion anno 1666 in that kingdom . but this is so ridiculous , that i should be more abominable then he , if i made more words of it ; nor does that great anti-papist h. l. in his a reigne of ch. 1. scruple to write , that the liturgy ( or common prayer ) was the originall of the scotch troubles . in the next place if the flame break out in ireland , ( which heath a protestant historian b sayes can be noe where more imputable then to the parliament's unwarantable proceedure against my lord strafford ) we in england are again the cause of it ; so that if forraign catholicks , or forraign protestants rebel , still we must be the authors , that never had any correspondence with either of these nations , nor have to this day , as all the world sees . well then may this man falsely charge the pope who is remote , when he dares say thus of us who can so easily contradict his calumnies . lastly , for england , he urges we were the occasion of jealousies , and they made the war. o ridiculous impudence ! if the majority of both houses conspire against the king , suggest in open debates fears of their own hatching , and at the same time with all violence persecute papists , yet we are to be blamed , and causers of the commotions . certainly , this is like him that cursed the lord chancellour , because his horse stumbled . i am sure many grave men of your coat ( mr. parson ) ingenuously confest , that it was the translation of the bible , or the too frequent reading of it by the ignorant ( which is a consequent of the translation ) that caused our disorders . consider now , reader , this strange man : for if his malice had not exceeded all bounds , he would have told you , that the non-conformists took root assoon as the reformation : that queen elizabeths prudence kept them a little down : that in king james his reign they grew much stronger ; and that great statesmen have often blamed that wise prince , because ( to keep things quiet in his reign ) he occasioned the tide to rush in with such irresistable force in our late unhappy times . thus was this storm by knowing pilots foreseen long ago . but would not a man now think this minister had abused us sufficiently ? no , he must yet go farther , even the kings death was agreed to in the councels of our clergy . doubtelss he cannot mean our priests by the word , for what did their agreeing signifie more , then if the mayor of quinborough and his brethren agreed , that the janizaries should strangle the grand seignior ? had our priests any power in england ? were they not forced to skulk always in holes , and hanged as often as taken ? i am sure iesuites , seculars , and friers were executed , no order escaping , al being fish that came to net . but now i remember my self , mr. parson pretends to be skilled in rhetorick , and perchance he uses a trope of his own making ; that is , that because two negatives make an affirmative , or a thing contrary to themselves ; therefore his four falsities in this one section , shall dubb an irrefragable truth opposite to each single assertion . the ministers meaning then it seems is this , that in stead of our being false to the state , we have been most intirely faithful to our king and country . good reader , i must ask you pardon , for saying any thing against these vain and groundless cavils ; seeing the whole world knows , that never were men more earnestly loyal then we . beware therefore of this man , for it was he , or some of the like principles , that ( out of malice against the late king ) wickedly ▪ divulged , that his majesty had underhand caused the irish rebellion : that he had a mind to bring in popery , and to enslave the nation , had sent for an outlandish guard. thus cried the english rebels against their glorious prince ; and thus now invents this minister stories , to mischief , if he can , his innocent fellow-subjects and country-men . and who can be guiltless , if assertions without any shadow of proof shall be received against him ? sect . xiv . apology . little did we think ( when your prayers and ours were offered up to beg a blessing on the kings affairs ( ever to see that day , in which carlos , gifford , whitgrave , and the pendrels should be punished by your desires for that religion , which obliged them to save their forlorn prince ; and a stigmatized man for his offences against king and church , chief promoter of it . nay , less did we imagine , that by your votes hudlestone might be hanged , who again secured our soveraign ; and others free in their fat possessions , that sat as juddes , and sealed the execution of that great prince of happy memory . answer xiv . he says , that many of my church were not of my party ; and that if some of them did the king eminent service in the critical day of danger , so did the protestants too : therefore it is not to be ascribed to our religion . nor is it reasonable to requite particular men , by having those laws abandoned , which secure us against as great a danger . 't is barbarity for any christian ( but those of our sect ) to question his life that exposed it for his prince , or to do this in any age , except queen maries ; for then sir nich. throgmorton was so dealt with : but the minister detests such times and such examples ; and he knows the king will reward deserving persons without trespassing on his laws . lastly , he desires me to be favourable to the stigmatized man ( whom i do not hate , he knows , for his offences ) because the king whom he formerly displeased bears with him : for he contributed much against the phanaticks to his majesties restauration , and would not willingly live to see the pope turn him out again . reply xiv . what is the meaning of this distinction , that many of my church were not of my party ? have we not been all of the same party , or can there he named a papist that was not for the king , even in te worst of times ? but , good mr. parson , have you all this while cut our throats , and do you now come with your insignificant flatteries , that there were some eminent among us for loyalty ? i fear not the worst you can say , and for the best i scorn it . did i ever say otherwise , then that the protestants were to be honoured for their wonderful service to the king ? was not the apology directed to them ? and have i not always declared , that his majesty ows as much to them , as ever prince can owe to subjects ? certainly , 't is no lessning of their worth , because we did our endeavours , and have been fellow-sufferers with them in that glorious quarrel . i never prest in the apology to have any particular body exempted : we only say there , little did we once think that the necessity of affairs would occasion the royal party to advise the punishment of us all , and in the crowd those worthy preservers of the king at worcester . yet , sir ( with your permission ) it were not so unreasonable neither , as you would have it , for the service of some few to suspend the laws against a party . you have read , i know , the scripture , and therefore may remember mordecay's case , who by saving the kings life , not only preserved himself and his nation from ruine , but obtained also honour and freedom for them all . but what do you drive at by throgmortons usage ? will you never leave perverting history , or at best betraying your own ignorance ? first , you must know , reader , that throgmorton by none of our historians is mētioned to have done any service for queen mary ; yet a hollins head has his trial at large ( which john lilburn afterwards copied out to the life ) where no evasion is omitted ; and certainly it had been then a fit time to urge merits , had he had any . but suppose he was as eminent and faithful as bedin field , jerningham , &c. must that excuse a man from being fairly tried for treason ? this sir nicholas throgmorton ( you must know ) with others , was accused as a a conspirator with wyat , for which he had a tryal and was acquitted by his jury . why , distempered sir , 't is so far from our business , that we do earnestly desire in the apology ( upon the least offence against the state ) the transgressour may die without mercy ; and this i 'le be bound col. carlos and the rest of those brave men shall willingly subscribe . but will you , worthy country-man ( that know his majesties thoughts so well ) engage that none of the factious shall murmure at him for rewarding those that have done well ? now for the stigmatized , i find , mr. parson , you pretend to be very well acquainted with their actions : if they have done any thing ( which god knows is little , and not to the hundreth part of their transgression ) let them thank god for the grace he has given them to do the king at length service : but i am sure if they really meant well , they would never promote the harassing of a faithful party , till they found them machinating against their prince . i have no particular spleen to any man , yet cannot look on those men , as either of wit or honesty , who needlesly disoblige , and who strive with violence to have christians persecuted for religion ; when as they themselves are the first that rail against all mankind , if their own consciences be toucht , though it be by the establisht laws of the nation . sect . xv. apology . we confess , we are unfortunate , and you just judges , whom with our lives we will ever maintain to be so ; nor are we ignorant the necessity of affairs made the king and you do things , which formerly you could not so much as fancy : yet give us leave to say we are still loyal ; nay , to desire you to believe so , and to remember how synonymous ( under the late rebellion ) was the word papist and cavalier ; for there was no papist that was not deemed a cavalier , nor no cavalier that was not counted a papist , or at least thought to popishly affected . answer xv. he will pass over our fawning on the parliament , and commending our selves , and believes us , as we did the sectaries that called the cavaliers papists . he wonders why these royallists should be termed popishly affected ▪ but if the papists were judged cavaliers , they afterwards were ashamed of it . in ireland whole armies were up against the king. in england some came in voluntarily to serve him , but more were hunted into garrisons ; it being well known we should bring his majesty more hatred then service . the greatest part of us that fought for him when his fortunes stood , fell off when he declined . then he asks us , where we were from that time forward , in all those weak efforts of a gasping loyalty ? we were flattering , he says , and giving sugered words to the rebels , as now we do to the royallists : for we addrest our petitions , to the supream authority of the nation , the commonwealth of england : that we had generally taken , and punctually kept the engagement : we promist if we might enjoy our religion , we would be most faithful and useful subjects of england . we proved it in these words : b the papists of england would be bound by their interest to live peacefully and thankfully in the exercise of their conscience ; and becoming gainers by such compassions , they could not so easily be distrusted , as the prelatick party that were loosers . moreover ( the minister on his own word , says ) we farther proved all this by real testimonies , which not to shame us toe much , he will pass by in silence . now if after all this we were deemed cavaliers , we were much wronged . reply 15. good , mr. parson , speak truth , and you will shame no body but your self : have you bespattered us all this while with falsities ; and will you now do it farther by your pedantick rhetorick ? pray , reader , to speak moderately , is not this man the archest wrangler that ever was ? for if he dares disown a thing which all men know , how will he then cavil , do you think , at what is known but only to the wise ? was ever any thing so evident , as that the rebels deemed all papists cavaliers , and all cavaliers papists ? i do not infer that therefore all cavaliers were papists , only , i say , they were generally so called ; nor is any body ignorant , that the reason was , to make them more hated by the people , as this minister by his false glosses would at this instant serve us . concerning our frankness to serve the king , it is so fully treated in the preface , that no truth was ever more plainly made manifest . but what made this mad man ask where we were in all those weak efforts of gaspink loyalty ? were not we where the rest of the royal party were ? some of us were in london , some with the king , some about dispatches , some in the tower , some sold to the islands ; and in fine , was there any plot but the catholicks were as numerous in it proportionably as any other subjects ? was ever man so impudent as to deny this ? yes , the minister does it , and farther says , we were flattering the rebels wich addresses , and owning them the supream power of the nation . reader , lest this should be a stumbling-block to the weak , i wille give you some account of the matter . after the rebels had trampled down monarchy , and enslaved the whole nation by force ; it happened that a lay-gentleman ( with whom i have no manner of acquaintance , but have heard him ever esteemed of much wit and integrity ) seeing the then ruling grandees pretend by their principles to be against all persecution for conscience ; thought it would not disoblige the catholiques or any body else , if he stickled a little for a private toleration . the protestant cavaliers had many daily congregations at london , which , the constancy and courage of dr. wild , dr. gunning , dr. thriscross , &c. ( with some sweet words also ) forc'd the rebels to a kind of connivence at ; but the papists could not follow the same method : for whereas the protestant ministers ( if the governement had on a sudden fell to severity ) knew they should be but carried to the white hart , or at most imprisoned for a day or two ; a popish priest was sure to be hanged , and all his auditory fineable also by the known laws of the land. this gentleman therefore , to try the pulse of the rebels , that juggled in all their professions , writ two books , called the first and second moderators : the thing in it self could not be discommended ; but for the wording , he ( i mean the author ) is to answer for it . the books i have not by me , but you may be sure the minister has quoted the worst things in them ; and i question not a little whether all be true he mentions , having already found him false , as you see in many particulars . i need not vindicate the gentleman , for he can do it himself to the purpose : my business at present only is to admire the folly of my adversary , who hand over head lays as a crime , the indiscretion ( which is the most that can be said of it ) of a private man to all his party . would not this logick then make the whole church of england guilty of phanatick principles , because dr. taylor writ for liberty of prophesie ? and if our gentleman may be thought to have shewed his papers to some catholiques before they were published , 't is every jot as probable , the dr. made protestants acquainted with his book before it was sent to the press . it is very severe doubtless , if the inconsiderateness of one , should not only be fathered on us all , but urged against us , equal to the treason of the late transgressors . no people on earth can be safe at this rate : nay , all the protestant cavaliers themselves ( those great patterns of loyalty ) would be involved , if such consequences were allowed . every body knows , that some great men got out of decimation by favour , and that many gentlemen ( it may be out of prudence , knowing the end of plots ) refused to receive letters , much less commissions from the king. how many souldiers also were there that served cromwel at jamaica and other places : neither failed there a compliance in poets too , as in cowly and cleveland themselves : and for lawyers there was no want of them in westminster-hall , wsensoever a cavalier had need . the ministry also of the nation had some among them that were not able to resist temptation ; for there were not a few that took the covenant ; and dr. martin in his printed letters taxes a great one for complying with the presbyterians abroad . but why does my minister lay the taking of the engagement as a crime against us , seeing it was generally taken through the whole kingdom , no body being capable of law that had not done it ? nor did any body fail of calling the parliament the supream authority of the nation , if they had law-suits petitions or any thing else of that nature . is this a blemish to the cavaliers in general ? no , 't is so far from it , that even the most of these i mention , when occasion served , were ever forward in the kings concerns . but all things perchance are lawful to all men , so they be not catholicks . sect . xvi . apology . we know , though we differ something in religion , the truth of which , let the last day judge , yet none can agree with your inclination , or are fitter for your converse then we ; for as we have as much birth among us as england can boast of , so our breeding leans your way both in court and camp. and therefore had not our late sufferings united us in that firm tie , yet our like humors must needs have joyned our hearts . if we erre , pity our condition , and remember what your great ancestors were ; and make some difference between us that have twice converted england from paganism , and those other sects that can challenge nothing but intrusion for their imposed authority . answer xvi . he says , he aggrees with me in all that is truly catholick , and differs only in what we have innovated : he respects our breeding , but suspects whatever leans to forreign jurisdiction . 't is a flam that we have twice converted england ; and that sure we mean it has been twice converted by persons sent from rome ; which we will never perswade any one to believe , that has tasted church-history , without our fathers chewing it for him . but supposing this true , he asks whether we wouldt infer , that because they received good from the primitive christians of that place , they must lay themselves open to receive any ill , that my happen to them from their dangerous successours . reply xvi . concerning his saying , that he agrees with me in all that is truly catholick , i kiss his hands , for so said jacob behmen , and so i dare say will mr. woodcock , this being the old song of all hereticks . i have proved before , that forreign jurisdiction in spirituals may well agree in all governments ; and no kingdoms have been more happy at home , or glorious abroad , then when the pope was their spiritual pastor . but methinks my gentleman might have acknowledged tha the last conversion at least was popish , it being performed ann. 596. in the time of pope gregory , whom a fox calls the basest of all his predecessours ; and it was done also by austin a b monck , which very name is enough to tell a protestant , the missioner was popishly perswaded . moreover , this austin survived his master gregory , and consequently was according to fox ( who dreames that he lived in england 16. yeares ) not only obedient to boniface the 3. ( the great antichrist ) but made his companion lawrence his a successour , who had the like veneration for popes , though they then stiled themselves universal bishops as all protestants affirme ; nor did ever canterbury deny the roman sea , till cranmer in the time of hen. 8. if any man yet shall not think austin papist enough , let him read st. bedes history , or rather some protestants about it , among which let j. bale an apostate b frier be one , who will tell you , that austin was sent to convert the saxons to a popish faith , and that he taught false doctrine , and minded more the getting oblations for masses , then the preaching of the gospel . yet c fox , though he call st. austin pharisaical , says , nevertheless , that those missioners did miracles before king ethelbert . for the conversion under king lucius , all reformed historians confess that pope eleutherius sent damianus and fugatius ( two ministers forsooth as d heylin calls them ) who preacht christ to the britains . no man can doubt then , if these were sent from rome , but that they taught the faith of rome . now when austin ( whom you see the protestants already confess popish ) came to convert the saxons , he had conference with dinoth the abbot , and several of the monks at bangor , who still preserved christian religion among the british . in all their dispute we finde no debate but about the customes of the church ; nor did austin demand of them any more , then the a alteration in keeping of easter , and some ceremonies in baptism : but had there been any difference in faith , and doctrine ( as speed b sayes positwely there was none ) historians would not have failed to remember that , seeing they take notice of things of l●ss moment : and besides , every body knows how scrupulous the church was in doctrine , having condemned the arrians , eutychians , nestorians and the like , for some things which to ordinary and humane capacities seemed but meer niceties . this then proves plainly that austin the popish monck ( who also according to b hollingshead infected us with the poyson of romish errours . ) preacht no other doctrine then what the british had received afore : but the the british , according to fox and others of our protestant authors , were the uncorrupt preservers of gods word , having received from their king lucius , who lived about 180. years after christ . let any man therefore judge , who are most primative , & whether he that has the face to deny that papists twice converted england , would not also deny our saviour , were it as much for his advantage as we see this to be . sect . xvii . apology . but it is generally said , that papists cannot live without persecuting all other religions within their reach . we confess , where the name of protestant is unknown , the catholick magistrates ( believing it erronious ) do use all endeavours to keep ▪ it out . yet in those countreys where liberty is given , they have far more priviledges then we under any reformed government whatsoever . to be short , we will only instance france for all , where they have publick churches , where they can make what proselytes they please , and where it is not against law to be in any charge or imployment . now holland , which permits every thing , gives us 't is true our lives and estates , but takes away all trust and rule , and leaves us also in danger of the scout , whensoever he pleases to molest our meetings . answer xvii . he says , that what is generally said of popish persecutions , is also generally believed ; and that i answer deceitfully , in mentioning those countreys only where the name of protestant is unknown , and no liberty given them ; but omit those where it is known , and no liberty given ; as in flanders now , and in england when it was catholick . i instance , he says , in france , because i could find no other place ; but i should have considered how the edicts of the protestants liberty were obtained , and how they are observed . but if the edicts were observed , he says it is no argument , that because a liberty not against the law is allowed them , it should be granted us against the law. the papists in holland , he says , lent the chief help to fling of the spanish yoak , and therefore deserve more then we , who would have brought it on our country again . reply xvii . i could not imagine the minister would have discover'd so great a truth : for now , reader , you see that he confesses that whatsoever is said of papists is generally believed . how are papists traduced ! what stories are told of popes ! how many things of the whole body of papists ! and all taken for gospel , as the adversary himself acknowledges . thus people are possest with a horrour of qu. mary's days , as if all were really true ; and yet , as i have treated before , there has been more bloud judicially spilt about religion by those that have excluded the pope , then has been by papists from the conversion of the nation to its fall . what does the minister mean by protestants known , and no liberty given ? italy and spain know protestants ; nay , the turk himself knows them , and is obliged to the disturbances made by luther and his fellows in germany . for were the government of that country united , an not so rent into factions with diversities of religions ( as a sir edwin sandys observes ) breeding endless jealousies , heart-burnings and hatred , it needed no other help to affront the great turk , and to repulse all his forces , to the security of christendom . this therefore was one of the advantages which the reformation brought . certainly i spoke plain enough , and that without deceit , viz. where the name of protestant is unknown , ( that is , where it has not been yet planted ) the catholike magistrates take care to keep it out : but where their number or rebellion has moued their natural prince to grant them terms , in those places i say they live with more liberty then catholikes under any protestant government . flanders , was never compelled to let the reformed have extraordinary priviledges ; neverthelesse there are many protestants in that province , and particularly in the wallon countries : nor have they their ministers hanged , though these places are under the obedience of the most catholike king. what reason has the minister to say i could ▪ name no other country but france , where protestants have open churches ? has he forgot poland , even crakaw it self , where theire orthodox socinian cathechism was made ? let him also think on hungary , both which are popish kingdoms , under popish kings . nay , in piedmont it self they have open churches ; yet a man may legally be hanged in england , if he have but a private chappel . besides this , reader , there is much difference between papists and protestants , because all countries were possest by us , and the reformed had no pretence to government , ( except in england , and in a small province or two in germany ) but what they got by rebellion . therefore , as a man that is turned out of his house by a stranger , may expect more then the stranger being dispossest can do from the right o●ner : so papists may justly expect more liberty from protestants , then they can upon any pretence from papists ; yet protestants live to this day freer in catholique kingdoms , then we do under them : for protestants may have employment in poppish countreys , but papists are debarred from offices in all countries , i except none , that are of the reformed faith. i know not what the minister would be at , that the low-country papists were the chief cause why the spanish yoak was thrown off . 't is true , there were many factious catholikes there at that time stirr'd up by the insinuation of the reformed , as saints enflame honest men now adays . yet for all this not only the first insurrections & tumults were ( according to a strada ) acted by the calvinists at tournay , lisle , and valencien ; but also in the year 1581 ( as the b protestant author of europae modernae speculum will tell you ) by a publick instrument they declared their king philip to have rightfully fallen from the dominion of those provinces , then united under the profession of the reformed religion : neither would they ever afterwards suffer the papists to have any share in the government , for fear they should bring all things back again to their true lord an master . but now suppose , reader , i had not proved the dutch villany by the testimony of a writer of the protestant religion , i hope 't is no excuse to their rebellion , though some papists did by accident facilitate their work : for if so , then the murther of charles the first by the independents , and their erecting a government without king or lords , were not rebellion , because the whole body of the presbyterians began the play ; which afterwards ( but 't was too late ) they seemed to detest , and openly to exclaim against . how the edicts of france were obtained , you shall hear in this next section . sect . xviii . apology . because we have named france , the massacre will perchance be urged against us . but the world must know that was a cabinet-plot , condemned as wicked by catholick writhers there , and of other countries also . besides , it cannot be thought they were murthered for being protestants , since 't was their powerful rebellion ( let their faith have been what it would ) that drew them in to that ill-machinated destruction . answer xviii . here he says the french massacre was so horrid a cruelty , that thuanus tells us , that considering men , and having turned over the annals of nations , he could find no example for it in antiquity ; that it was cloakt with shews of amity , and a marriage between the houses of valois and burbon ; to which the chief protestants being invited , were after their jollity of mirth , in the dead of night butchered in their houses , without distinction of sex or age , till the channels ran with blood , none escaping but the bridegroom : and the prince of conde , who were afterwards the one poysoned , the other stab'd by men of our religion . he proceeds , that this which i say was condemned by catholick writers , was also extolled as glorious by others of them ; and that one may guess at my meaning , and that i am of their sentiment , since first i call it a cabinet-plot ( a fine soft word for the butchery of 30000. persons . ) secondly , in answer to them that call it murther , i seem to blame it as done by halves , in terming it an ill-machinated destruction . lastly , in saying , that it was their rebellion drew it on them , let their faith have been what it would ; when indeed it was their faith , let their obedience have been what id would : for the king never had better subjects then those that were massacred , no● worse rebels then the massacrers . then he tells us , that the brave coligni was the first killed , and his head was sent to rome , and his body dragged about paris ; and besides , he says , that the duke of guises factious authority ( as i sweetly stile it ) was a black rebellion ; and to decide whether they were massacred for protestant religion or rebellion , because both himself and i may be partial , he desires to take judges between us . to make it appear it was not for rebellion they were massacred , he cites k. james , who says , i could never learn by any good and true intelligence , that in france those of the religion took arms against their king. in the first civil war they stood only upon their guard , &c. to prove that they were massacred for their religion ( since i will admit no judge but the pope ) he undertakes to shew us that it was his judgment , from thuanus , a catholick writer , who tells us , the pope having an account of the massacre , read the letter in the consistory , there decreed to go directly to st. marks , and solemnly give thanks for so great a blessing conferred on the roman sea , and the christian world : that soon after a jubilee should be publisht throughout the whole christian world ; and these causes were exprest for at , viz. to give thanks to god for destroying in france the enemies of the truth and of the church : that in the evening the guns were fired at st. angelo , bonfires made , and all things performed usual in the greatest victories of the church : that some days after , there was a solemn procession to st. louis , and an inscription set over the church-door by the cardinal of lorrain , to congratulate his holiness and the colledge in the kings name , for the stupendious effects and incredible events of their counsels given him , and of their assistance sent , and of their twelve years wishes and prayers . soon after , he says , the pope sent cardinal ursini to congratulate the king , to commend and bless them that had to do in the massacre , and to perswade the reception of the councel of trent , by this argument ; that the memory of the late glorious action ( to be magnified in all ages , as conducing to the glory of god and dignity of the holy roman church ) might be sealed by the approbation of the holy synod ; for so it would be manifest , that the king consented to the destruction of so many , not of hatred or revenge , but ardent desire to propagate the glory of god ( which could not be expected while the protestants stood ) through all the provinces of france . the answerer then concludes this paragrah with commending the head of the church for his judgment in cutting throats , & not mincing the matter like me ( whom he is pleased to call an english limb of him ) who durst not say what i desired , for fear of provoking the protestants ; nor what the thing deserved , for contradicting the pope . reply xviii . can thuanus , or any man else , look upon that action with more horrour then i ? certainly no : yet , reader , i must tell you , thuanus is esteemed as malitiously partial a writer as ever undertook the writing of a history . nay , heylin ( that other hanibal , that sworn enemy of rome ) says , that a thuanus savours more of the party , then of the historian . now for his professing to be a catholick , it adds nothing to his authority , because in every religion there are those that write out of spleen and faction . to a stranger abroad , milton would go for a protestant , because he calls himself so ; yet in his books the true matter of fact is so perverted by his malice , that it becomes at last as false , as the rest of those damnable lies , with which his papers are stufft . but though thuanus be thus reputed , yet this minister will pervert the divel himself to do us a mischief . he has told us that the pope ordered a jubilee through christendom , to give god thanks for destroying in france the enemies of the church ; by which he would have the reader believe , that the massacre was the cause of this jubilee ; when as a thuanus tells us , that the jubilee was to thank god for the victory at lepanto against the turk , for the success of spain against the rebels in belgium , and to beseech god for the election of a catholick king in poland ; as well as for the business in france . but truly , i need not complain , for such preachers of gods word may say any thing ( so it discredit the papists ) let it be never so improbable in it self . for my part i can believe not , that the pope and consistory ( who are by protestants reputed dexterous and subtle ) would make publike procession and triumph for murther in cold blood , which could bring them no farther good ( for the advantages were already obtained ) but might occasion much scandal , which , by reason it was the cause of luthers revolt , was the more carefully to be avoided for the future . it may be they were not sorry in their hearts : for what men are so at the death of their enemies ? yet we see often , that those which have a titillation the thing being done , would nevertheless loose rather their own lives , then give the least consent to the fact . davila tells us in one place of his fifth book , that the king and queen-mother contrived the destruction of the rebels ; and communicated their design only to the duke of anjou , the guises , and the count of rhetz , and this resolution to massacre , we see there was , a pretty while before pius v. died . in another place of this book , i find this pope died some three months before the execution . in another place of this book i find that this pope would never consent to the marriage of margaret to the king of navar , by reason of his religion ; and yet in the time of this marriage ch. 9. had determined this butchery : therefore putting all this together , it was plain the pope had no hand in the wicked contrivance . gregory 13. who succeeded , and before whose election this massacre was designed , was at last brought to dispence with the match , it being made appear to him how dangerous it might be in those schismatical times , if the king should in anger solemnize the marriage without leave ; for so this a king had threatned the aforesaid pius v. and daily gave more symptoms of his resolution in the wedding , and anger for being contradicted in it at rome . reader , we have no other way to discover the errors of historians , but by conjectures , after we have compared times and circumstances . the reasons that i have therefore last mentioned , assure me that the pope had no hand in the design : yet suppose he had been of the plot with the king , as 't is plain he was not , i am sure that can be no excuse to the hugonots for their former rebellion , and unspeakable abominations , as you shall presently see . but let the pope have what design he would , 't is still evident ( according to the apology ) that the king and queen-mother ( who could only perform this murther ) were moved to this massacre for interest of state , and not religion . for the king was not such a bigot or pious man , upon a spiritual account to draw such a hazard , or at least a scandal on his own person : and for the queen-mother ( that great intriguer ) she valued religion little ; for sometimes she favoured protestants , sometimes again persecuted them : nay , when it was for her advantage , she gave great and suspitious signs that she would be of the reformed religion also , as may be seen in davila in the second book . my minister will not perchance be yet satisfied that i call it a cabinet-plot , but says they died for their religion , and that the king had not better subjects then those that were massacred . brave coligni being the first that fell . now , reader , that you may see what kind of subject our minister is ( and such a one i always doubted him ) i will briefly shew you how these hugonots behaved themselves , among whom coligni was a principal , and who is honoured with the title of brave , by this most loyal parson . in the time of francis the first calvin appeared , and dedicated his institutions to him . the preaching , of this man pleased the changeable humor of many french ; but the sect was kept under by the king , and especially by his son hen. 2. who like wise governours were unwilling to let an unheard-of religion get root in their country , well knowing that rebellion would follow , as afterwards it happened to the purpose . francis the 2. succeeded hen. who was althogether governed by the house of guise , by reason of the great power they had in the late kings reign , and more especially now , because the queen-consort was the glorious mary of scotland , daughter to the sister of this ambitious duke . the house of burbon ( being the first princes of the blood ) were greatly troubled they had no interest in affairs , and tried all manner of ways to get into play . the prince of conde ( a hot-headed man ) seeing he could not ruine the guises by ordinary means , calls all his partizās together ( `among whom coligni was the chief ) to la ferte an apennage of his , and there he told them , they must take arms to free themselves from the slavery they were in by the ruling party . the fiery youth were all of the princes opinion , to begin the war without delay : but , brave coligni ( as the minister calls him ) replied , that this were to ruine them all , seeing that though their pretences were fair , yet few of the nation would follow them ; and on the other side , all forreign princes were in amity with france by the late agreement of the kings father . if they had a mind , he said , to do their business home , the sole way were to pretend religion , which in it self had an honourable appearance ; and besides , the calvinists in france were many , hating the guises , and wanting only a head ; nor would the princes of germany or q. elizabeth fail to assist them on this score , which otherwise could not be done on any account . thus the brave man not only consented to rebellion , but put them in a holy method effectually to perform it . all the assembly applauded the counsel of this achitophel , and there-upon andelot his brother ( a most turbulent man ) and the vicedame of chartres ( rich and debauch ) were apponted to execute their determinations . the manner of the plot was this : to get a great company of unarmed hugonots to go to court , and there clamour for liberty of conscience , and free temples : these poor men ( they imagined ) should presently be ill treated by the duke of guise ; whereupon the protestant souldiers ( which for that purpose they were to provide ) would immediately come to their assistance ; and under pretence that the hugonots were abused , they might fall on the court , and wholly destroy their enemies . besides this , 't was reported , that in the disorder the king and his three brethren were to be made away , and god knows whether this last part were not as true as the first , seeing after the death of these children , the house of bourbon ( heads of the design ) should succeed in the throne . but now see how far the conspiracy succeeded : the provinces were divided to several of the most considerable in each division , who were to make ready their levies against the 15. of march 1560. at blois , a town unfortified , where then the court resided . godfry de la barre ( a gentleman of perigort , who had left his country by reason of forgery in a law-suit and turned calvinist ) was made commander in chief ; and according to their success , the prince , admiral , and the rest would order affairs . the kings councel , having at last notice of this , carries the king without noise to amboise , the better to secure him on a sudden , with the present little force they had in readiness . on the day appointed the conspirators come , and finding the king gone , follow him to amboise , and assault the castle ; which being too strong to be presently their's , they were by the mareschal of st. andrew , and others wholly defeated and taken . upon this trayterous attempt , the king summons an assembly of the nobles at fountain-bleau , where the brave coligni grave the king a paper , and said , that the protestants ( hearing by his majesties edict , that every subject might make known his grievance in this assembly ) did present that petition to him ; & though it were not signed , yet when his majesty pleased , it should be by 150000. hands . the assembly , for all this arrogance , advised against a toleration ; but the hugonots encouraged by these proceedings , rose in arms in ▪ several places , and filled the court with complaints of their many insolencies ; and on the other side , the prince with his complices set upon lyons . after this the three estates met at orleans , where the prince was condemned to be executed and in this disorder the king died . charles the 9 was about eleven years old when he began his reign ; so that in his minority ( the faction of the protestants being so great ) the prince was acquitted , and liberty granted for publike preaching . then the hugonots became so insolent , that they massacred many people in paris , burnt the church of st. medard , rifled monasteries , and committed many such exorbitances . the prince would have ▪ seised on the kings person at fountain-bleau , but the duke of guise got the king of navar ( first prince of the blood , and prime commander of state ) to bring him and the queen-regent to paris ; which when the prince of conde understood , and saw himself defeated of his design , he told brave coligni , that he had plunged himself so deep , that now he must drink or drown ; and thereupon attackt orleans and took it , using all the inhumane barbarities that can be thought of . after this ( as rebels are accustomed ) a manifesto is set out , that he took up arms to free the kings person from the slavery in which the catholick lords held him . this was directed to the parliament ; who again answered , that they wondered how it could be said , the king was prisoner , being in his own capital city , of which charles of bourbon the princes own brother was governour ; where was present the king of navar chief administrator of the kingdom , where the parliament sat ; and in fine ; where all the great officers of the crown resided . but why do i go to the particulars of this notorious rebellion ? to be short , coligni's own words ( a little before his death ) will sufficiently declare how great a traytor he was ; for just before the marriage ( like another nebuchadnezzar in his pride ) he said to some of his confidents , that neither alexander nor caesar could be compared to him , because fortune was their friend , but that he dad lost four battles , yet by his wit , he stil became more formidable to his enemies . if then this brave man , that began the rebellion , as you have heard , that lost four battels against his prince , that seised on so many towns , that disswaded peace so often when desired , and that did so many infamous actions all along , shall pass and not be thought a rebel , then i will aver there was never rebel since the creation of the world. the things , reader , which i have here laid down , you many find disperst in the first five books of davila's history , who is an author thought by protestants so authentick and so impartial ( sparing no body of what rank or faction soever ) that among historians none hath a clearer fame . having given you a short occount how these potent hugonots plagued these two kings , be pleased now to tell me , whether it was not their powerful rebellion ( let their religion have been what it would ) that drew them into this ill-machinated destruction . and by the way , see how simple the cavil of this minister is , who says , i call it ill-machinated , because it was done by halves . the action was wicked , and a cabinet-plot , or else there is no such thing in nature : neither did it want condemning by several famous catholiques themselves ; who would doubtless have been silent , had the pope so publickly rejoyced at the news , as the minister would fain have us believe . the king in vindication of the cruelty laid to his charge , gives these reasons to the world : that though every body saw how horribly the rebels had used him , yet it was not his design to massacre so many hugonots , but only to cut off some heads of the party , who so highly fomented the sedition : this made him cause coligni to be shot , the chief rebel of thē all ; but the bullet only breaking his arm , his partizans grew to such a rage , that they threatned a present war , and destruction to him and his ; therefore he was necessitated to what he did , viz. immediately to destroy those that had vowed his ruine . now to demonstrate that is was not his intention , the kings friends farther said , that had he intended a general massacre from the beginning , it had been folly to a shoot the admiral so many days before the total execution , because this would have alarmed the party , and given occasion to many to get away as in truth not a few did , the day before the bloody night . reader , i know not whether this declaration of the king be true or not ; but this i am sure , the action was unchristian , though there were never greater rebels then these hugonots : for they not only fought many battles with their prince , and fortified many of his towns against him ; but besides all this , brought forreign forces into france , as ruyters from germany , and english from us ▪ and because all things are lawful to the saints , they delivered up havre de grace to queen elizabeth , by which we had a new footing in france , even we , the profest enemies of the nation . nay , they began first to a massacre catholiques in paris ; and also coligni and beza got poltrot to murther the duke of b guise , father to him that was killed at blois . this the assassine openly confest at his death , being after executed for the fact . by force then , and such tricks , tyring out their kings , they got several priviledges and edicts : but god send me and my relations to live for ever in servitude , rather then to obtain liberty by such strange and dissalowable courses . and truly , i doubt not ( since this minister can justifie these agreements ) but he would , if the four bills had passed at the isle of wight , vindicate the proceedinghs , and cite those acts with as much confidence , as if they had been obtained without force in time of peace and quiet . had king james lived in our days , and seen how the same pretences with those of the hugonots , viz. conscience , and the liberty of the subject , had like to have ruined his family , i do believe they would have found small comfort from any vindication of his . i do therefore openly affirm , that if any englishman ( who has considered the villany of our times ) does still justifie brave coligni and his hugonots , he has either been an apparent rebel , or is so in his heart , and will shew his teeth upon the first advantage that shall be offered . sect . 19. apology . may it not as well be said in the next catholick kings reign , that the duke of guise and the cardinal ( heads of the league ) were killed for their religion also ? now no body is ignorant , that 't was their factious authority , which made the jealous prince design their deaths , though by unwarrantable means . answer xix . he says the guises were not killed for their religion , for they were killed by one of their own religion , as much bent against protestants as they . that papists hated hen. 3. only for sparing the blood of protestants , and not declaring his protestant heir uncapable of succession . that for these causes the guises by the popes consent ( who calls them the macchabees of the church ) entred into the holy league , and called in the spaniards and savoyards to maintain war against him , and deprive him of his kingdom and life . whereupon the jealous prince , as i favourably call him , dealt with them , as they had done with the protestants . but their case , he says , was so different from the protestants , that he wonders i should mention it . then he tells us , the pope excommunicated the king for this action , and gave nine years indulgence to his subiects to fight against him , foretelling , as a pope might do without astrology , that ere long he should come to a fearful end ; and this he says hapned : for the subjects earned the indulgence , and a frier fulfilled the prophesie . this action the pope in a speech called the work of god , and ( for its wonderfulness ) compared it with the incarnation or resurrection ; preferring his courage before eleazars or iudiths , and declaring the king ( who profest he died in the faith of the roman catholick church ) to have died in the sin against the holy ghost . lastly , he asks , whether it may not be said , papists cannot live without persecuting protestāts , whē a popish king is stab'd and damned for not persecuting them enough . reply 19. here is a great deal of cry , and little wool ; for i have often said , the pope may have his frailties , as well as other men ; and does not the minister know he is a temporal prince also , and in that capacity may have intrigues with his neighbours ? what is this to our religion , more then if the king of spain should make use ▪ of the politicks too far ? again , if the pope as our archbishop ( all countries being in his province ) should commit humane indiscretions , why were we to be more blamed for it , then durham , chester and carlisle ought to be for their religion , because their metropolitan williams joyned with the rebels against king charles of happy memory ? i never approved the procedure of the guises in their league , and have always said they were most insolent ministers of state to hen. 3. but when the duke and cardinal were murthered at blois by the king , their successors learnt of the hugonots to run into a formal and open war. and truly , my inference , i conceive , was pertinent concerning the massacre of the one , and murther of the other , though the parson thinks it something strange . for in this example the outers and the outees ( the hugonots and guises ) were killed by their kings . now since both parties were prodigious in power , able to cope with the prince ; 't would be as ridiculous to say , that ( because the hugonots were destroyed ) they suffered for their faith , as that the heads of the league were killed for their religion . davila tells us , that the pope only refused to absolve henry the third , saying , that he could not be contrite for killing a cardinal , since he kept another still in prison . nor does this famous author say any thing of giving nine years indulgence to his subjects that should fight against him ; and yet if the pope had done so , he must answer for his own actions to god almighty , and not all the members of the catholique church . but why does this poor minister continually harp upon james clement , whom the divel had seduced for this work ? the minister would have called me worse then a turk ( as he has already done ) if i should lay at his door the actions of hugh peters , who was as i think ordained , at least as bad as he were . concerning the popes speech , you must know , reader , that it was a thing forged ( as tortus says ) and never heard of but at paris , some grandees having hopes thereby to animate their party , and others a design to defame the sea of rome : and if you consider it , you will find the pope had no reason to rejoyce at , but much to lament the death of this prince . for henry the third was always a most firm son of the church , and easily brought again to whatever could be desired . but when he was gone , an apparent hugonot was to succeed , whom though for the present they might think they were able to deal with , yet necessarily at best there would be a perpetual distraction among them ; and besides , wise men know , that accidents are common in such cases ; and to be sure , the least success on henry the fourth's side , would have ruined the popes interest . to his conclusion i have answered before sufficiently , viz. that protestants live better under papist governments , then papists do under theirs : therefore , i say again , who the persecutors are , let the world judge . sect . 20. apology . if it were for doctrine that the hugonots suffered in france , this haughty monarch would soon destroy them now , having neither force nor towns to resist his might and puissance . they yet live free enough , being even members of parliament , and may convert the kings brother too , if he thinks fit to be so . thus you may see how well protestants live in a popish country under a popish king : nor was charlemaign more catholick then this ; for though he contends sometimes with the pope , 't is not of faith , but about gallicane priviledges , which perchance he may very lawfully do . iudge then , worthy patriots , who are the best used , and consider our hardship here in england , where 't is not only a fine for hearing mass , but death to the master for having a priest in his house ; and so far we are from preferment , that by law we cannot come within ten miles of london ; all which we know your great mercy will never permit you to exact . answer xx. here he denies the consequence , that if the hugonots then suffered for doctrine , this haughty monarch would soon destroy them now : for he says , he may persecute and not destroy them , or destroy them , but not so soon . nor is this monarch , he says , as catholick as charlemaign ; for if he were , he would be patron of all bishopricks in his empire , make the pope know the difference between a prelat and an emperor , and not chop logick about gallicane priviledges : he would also call a councel ( as charlemaign ded against image-worship ) to separate errours from the faith. this he says were a good way to destroy the hugonots , by taking away the causes of strife ; but any other way he cannot , without violation of his laws . then he says , we complain of hardships we feel not , and insult over the hugonots , who would mend their condition with changing with us . popish peers , he says , sit in english parliaments , as well as protestants in french. that we have as free access to our kings brother , as they to theirs : and , that he knows not what we would have , unless we would catechise his highness , as the abbot did the duke of glocester . he concludes , that we complain of those laws we never knew executed , and which , i say , i know never will be . but the laws , he says , were made to guard the lives of our princes against our trayterous practices . reply xx. i must here again , reader , desire your judgment , whether this consequence in the apology , be not as natural as can be : viz. if the protestants suffered for doctrine ( when by reason of their strength it was dangerous to disturb them ) then doubtless , this haughty monarch ( being as much a papist in faith as any of his ancestors ) would soon destroy them now , having neither force nor town to resist his might and puissance . certainly , this is as impertinent a cavil , as his insisting upon charlemagn , who was emperour as well as king of france ; and therefore had more authority , then if he had been but a single monarch . besides , i wonder he should urge him as quarreller with the pope , being as great a friend as ever that sea had . for he grave to it the exarchate of ravenna , the marca anconitana , and the dukedome of spoleto , which are the greatest part of the church-lands in italy . all the power the ancient caesars had , i know not ; if it were great , i wish they had never parted with it ; but what they have granted , i think now as truly helongs to the pope , as any priuiledges that towns or royallty's can call theirs , by the gracious concessions of our famous princes . how shameless is this man , that can say , the hugonots would mend their condition by changing with us ! and yet he cannot deny they have all the advantages before mentioned . how prettily also ( after his usual manner ) doth he pervert my meaning , in saying , we have free access to his highness ; for my argument runs thus : that the hugonots may convert the kings brother without any prejudice to them by law ; when as it is death to a catholique to pervert ( as they call it ) the meanest of his majesties subjects . but god send the king may never find more unfaithful servants then such ; nor the duke those that shall wish him worse then the worthy abbot , whom he is pleased to mention . he has a fling also at me , because the catholique peers sit in the house , which is quite besides the thing i urged . for i said , the hugonots must needs think they live happily , enjoying not only their religion in publike , but also being capable of any manner of employment , even to be chosen members of the three estates ; nor is there any parliament of france , but has many of their religion in it . on the contrary , catholikes are born with an incapacity of employment , like the villains as it were in ancient times , who had no propriety in the kingdom . if some few lords sit in their house , 't is not any favour the nobility bear to popery , but because they have gravely considered , that it would be wonderful injustice to turn out a party for difference in religion , and permit other dissenters to continue . now ( seeing there are so many opinions in the world ) to turn out all , god knows upon whose children the lot may fall next : for the church of england is no manna , to relish in every palate ; and some wise men also think , that a man may do very well , though he has little disputes with this his holy mother . why does this gentleman say , we never knew the laws executed ? i am sure , there have died by these laws at least 300 priests , besides laymen : and how often we have been rackt in prison , and how infinitely our estates have suffered for our consciences , no body , i think , is ignorant . but , i hope , the brave people of england will intercede for us to his majesty , that since he ( the messiah & only expectation of the nation ) is come , we may not feel in his days , what we suffered under cromwel , even by virtue of those acts which have been formerly made . nor could osborn a protestant ( in his memoires ) chuse but confess a that against the poor catholiques nothing in relation to the generality remains upon due proof sufficient to justifie the severity of the laws daily enacted & put in execution against them . sect . xxi . apology . it has been often urged , that our misdemeanours in queen elizabeths and king james's time , were the cause of our punishment . answer xxi . your misdemeanors ? we cry you mercy , if they were no more ; but that comes next to be argued , whether they were misdemeanors or treasons . reply . xxi . reader , this is the subtlest sophister that i ever met with ; for ( before this distinction ) i never knew but that treasons were misdemeanors , and therefore i think the word misdemeanour is not improper . sect . xxii . apology . we earnestly wish that the party had had more patience under that princess : but pray consider ( though we excuse not their faults ) whether it was not a harder question then that of yorck and lancaster ( the cause of a war of such length and death of so many princes ) who had most right , queen elizabeth or mary stuart . for since the whole kingdom had crowned and sworn allegeance to queen mary , they owned her as the legitimate daughter to henry , the eighth ; and therefore it was thought necessarily to follow by many , that if mary was the true child , elizabeth was the natural , which must needs give way to the thrice-noble queen of scots . answer xxii . he says , that i wish the catholicks had had more patience under q. elizabeth ; but he thinks they needed none : for in the first ten years of her reign ( though what the papists had done in queen maries time was fresh in memory ) none of them fuffered death till the northern rebellion , raised against her meerly upon the account of her religion : 't was she then that was persecuted , and had occasion for patience , and therefore i should have wisht them more loyalty . but it appears i account rebellion no fault , in saying , 't was a hard question , whether the right lay in queen elizabeth , or the queen of scots , because many thought queen elizabeth illegitimate . here he asks , who thought so ? or , when the question arose ? for , says he , first , archbishop heath a papist , said in his speech , no body could doubt the justness of her title . secondly , the kings of france , spain , and the emperour offered marriage to her , and thereby hoped to get the crown . thirdly , the queen of scots and king james acknowledged her , and claimed nothing but to be her heirs and successours . then he tells , that paul the fourth was the first that questioned her title , because the kingdom being a fee of the papacy , she had audaciously assumed it without his leave ; and secondly , because she was illegitimate . but his successour pius the fourth would have owned her , if she would have owned him ; which because she would not , the next pope pius v. issued out his bulls and deposed her , not for bastardy , but for being a protestant , upon which the northern-men and others of her subjects rebelled , and were every foot plotting against her . 't is true , he says , the queen of scots title was pretended ; but he demands what would we have done if that queen had not been catholick , or queen elizabeth ; not thought illegitimate ? he proceeds , that gregory the thirteenth had occasion to consider this , having a bastard of his own , and another of the emperours to provide for : to the first of which he gave ireland , and sent stukely to win it for him ; and to the other england , with leave to win it for himself . but what was this to the q. of scots ? who ( he says ) might perhaps have been preferred to marry one of them , upon condition her son iames might have nothing to do with the succession . for when she was dead , and her right in king iames , sixtus v. not only took no notice of him , but curst queen elizabeth again , and gave her kingdom to philip the second of spain . pope clement the eighth seeing he could do no good upon queen elizabeth ( to take care another heretick should not succeed her ) sent his breves both to clergy and layity , forbidding them to admit any but a catholique to the succession , though never so neer in blood ; which was in plain words to exclude king james ; so that the popes never stuck at the hard question . and now he asks , what our country men did or suffered for it ? and answers himself , that they acted for the papal interest , making use of the house of scotland only for a cloak , while the title was in queen mary ; but when it was in king james , none of them stirred or suffered for it : yet they were not idle , but as busie as bees in contriving to hasten queen elizabeths death , and to put him by the succession . to prove this , he urges the spanish invasion presently after his mothers death , negotiated and defended by papists : that the jesuites procured huntly to rebel in scotland : that they persuaded the earl of darby to set up a title to the crown of england ; which he revealing , was poysoned soon after , as hesket had threatned him : that when their single shot failed , f. parsons gave a broad-side to the royal house of scotland , in a book published under the name of doleman , setting up divers competitors ; and to provide a sure enemy , he found a title for the earl of essex ( to whom he dedicated the book ) being the most ambitious and popular man in the nation . but the the book , he says , prefers the title of the infanta before all others . then he concludes from this his discourse , in which , he says , nothing material can be denied , that it appears , that this hard question was not between the parties themselves , in one of whom , we confess , the right was . for the pope easily resolved it , who denied both sides of the question , assuming the right to himself , and as concerning the english catholiques , he says , they sided with the pope against queen elizabeth and queen of scots also : and lastly , that their misdemeanours were inexcusable treasons , if any treasons befriended by such an apologist can be inexcusable . reply 22. 't is strange to me , that i must be denied the liberty , which all people else have . no man is forbid to declare their pretensions , when he speaks of the commotions of a party : yet here i am accused , to think rebellion no crime , and to excuse their faults , because i tell you what papists in those days said for themselves . the minister can call himself a loyal subject , and yet defend the hugonots , who were the most notorious and insolent rebels that any history can shew ; nor had they any other pretence for the a massacres and continual ravages committed by them , but mr. calvin and mr. beza's telling them , god said thus and thus : and therefore , unless their respective kings would suffer them to destroy a religion in quiet possession since the reign of clouis , they would bring armies into the field , and fortifie towns against their liege-lords , as every body knows they did , till subdued in the time of lewis the xiii . i think , good mr. parson , i am as well known in england as your self ; and am sure can find more protestants of quality that shall engage for my loyalty , thē you can people of any sort . 't is not this minister , reader , only , but others have called my narration of the matter of fact , a questioning of queen elizabeths title : judge you by my words in the apology , whether it be so or no ; nor could i omit in honour the plea of the foregoing age , their misdemeanours being every day thrown in my dish . but suppose i had questioned her title , there is no treasonable intention in it i am sure , because the title of our king has no dependance upon that princesse : nor was she the first of our monarchs against whose right posterity has argued . no body is blamed for saying king stephen was an usurper , or that edward the fourths title was better then that of the three preceding henry's . what is 't then , i beseech you ( were the fact proved against me ) i have committed , that protestant authors have not done and worse ? sr. walter rawley in his preface of the history of the world has not only something to say against almost all the kings of englād , but buck in his ric. 3 has bastardized hen. 7 and all his offspring , and thereby invalidates theire title to the crowne either as a yorkists or b lancastrians ; nor does c speed refraine from questioning the right of most of our princes from the conquest till henry the fowrth's reigne . yet none of these have been branded with the character of ill subjects . 't is he that is to be accounted wicked , who sedititiously descants on titles , to breed commotions and disorders . the minister says , i defend the calumny of those catholicks , in saying , 't was a very hard question , whether the right to the crown lay in queen elizabeth , or in the queen of scots . reader , that which i said was , that this was a harder question , then the dispute of york and lancaster , which cost so much blood and treasure : and because i would know your opinion , i will state these two questions to you . york had the interest of a third brother by marriage ; lancaster that of a fourth brother ; and these two dispute about the crown of england which women are capable of . the second question is this : henry the eighth married his brothers wife , who was said to be a virgin ; for prince arthur was but fifteene and a little more wen he died . by this princess k. hen. had our q. mary , and after he had lived with her 20 years , he fell in love with a handsome young lady , whereupon he had in short time a scruple of conscience that it was unlawful to live longer with his old wife , because she had been-married to his brother . his conscience being still tender , he caused the scriptures to be searched , and found not only there the marriage to be void , but that the pope himself had no power in england ; and besides , that rich abbies were also contrary to the word of god. being thus truly informed , he threw away wife , pope and monks , and married the other , by whom he had queen elizabeth , while his first wife lived . 't was thought by many curious wits , that there could be but one of the daughters legitimate , because both mothers were contemporaries , and that to christians the scripture permits but one wife at a time . after the death of this king and his son , 't was put to the kingdom to decide , which of these children were lawfully begotten : both lords and commons acknowledged mary for their queen , which was as much to say she was born in true wedlock . nor did luther himself fail to disapprove of queen elizabeths a birth . i doubt not , but the people were informed of the cause of the kings scrupule , as also that this brother arthur had never known his wife . nay , before k. henry married queen katherine , she protested she was a virgin and offered to be tryed by b matrons . the bishop of ely also c deposed , that the queen ( whom all , even the king himself esteemed for a saint ) had often in confession told him , she never carnally knew the prince . nor in the whole examination was there any colourable pretence produc'd , but the common vanity of all boys to be thought men before their time : for 't was affirmed , arthur should say the next morning after marriage , that he had been in spain that night . besides this there were those , i believe , that told the people , that though st. john forbad herod to take his brother philips wife , because his said brother was then alive , ( for josephus d sayes , herodias parted from her husband philip in his life time , and in contempt of the lawes married herod ) yet he never prohibited by those words a christian to marry his sister in-law if her husband were dead . the case being thus fancied by the papists ( in the time of queen elizabeth ) they argued , that if mary was the true child , then the other was the natural : but mary was owned legitimate : and my lord bacon a say's the ligitimation of queen mary and elizabeth were incompatible . ergo the kingdom not being elective , mary stuart ( the next legal heir ) must necessarily succeed her . yet suppose these papists were wrong in their conclusion , i am sure nevertheless , i am still in the right , viz. that it is a harder question to resolve , whether the marriage be null , if a woman marries two brothers , then whether a third or fourth brother has the better title to the crown ; for that was the contest betwixt york and lancaster . but the minister urges , if the papists thought queen elizabeth an usurper , why did not they stir sooner ? for there was no rebellion , he says , in ten years : and when after ten it broke out in the north , there was not the least mention made of the q. of scots , or her title . i wish the catholicks had not only sat still ten years , but forty five years also ; yet to shew you that this minister will be wrōg in every thing , i shall give you a most succinct account of this business . queen mary of england in , the latter part of her reign was in a open war with france , and the qu. of scots was then b wife to the dauphin . this hostility , and the private designs of spain , hindred all intrigues of the queen of scots friends to secure the succession . things being in this condition , our queen dies ; nor did the dauphin make any present claim ; which together with the natural coolness of englishmen to all strangers , especially the french , moved archbishop heath to what he did . about some six months after this , the dauphin takes upon him the title and armes of c england ; and immediately also by the death of his father , the crown of france fell to him , which gave him the name of francis the second . but by that time q. elizabeth was too well setled to be deposed without blows ; and before things could be ordered for such an enterprize , the hugonots lay so heavy on his shoulders , that he was necessitated to the d treaty at edenburgh , by which he was to relinquish his former pretences in relation to england : yet before these articles were sealed , the king himself died , and so all things stood as they were before . the q. of scots being now a widow , returns with much ado to scotland , which was all in a flame , by the seditious preaching of the new reformists . assoon as she arrived there , ( q. elizabeth having often sent to her to ratifie the treaty with her husband ) she a after consideration returned answer , that she was content to do so , upon condition she were by parliament declared her heir . this proposition seemed not strange to her english well-willers , because our histories could tell them , that maud the empress was necessitated to the like by king stephen . but queen elizabeth would not harken to those terms ; whereupon presently margaret niece to henry the eighth , the earl of lenox her husband , arthur pool and his brother , grandchildren to george duke of clarence , fortescue and others , were apprehended , for intending to b set up the queen of scots interest . the fact they confest ; but ( as all malefactors find something to extenuate their crimet ) hey pitcht upon the weakest excuse that ever was heard of ; viz that they intended not to depose queen elizabeth , but to be beforehand in arms , because conjurers had told them she would dy that year . after this , the vigilancy of q. elizab. was such , and the disasters of scotland so great , that the catholiques were forc'd to sit quiet for a while . instead of peace with the rebels , the queen of scots was necessitated to seek for shelter in a england , where ( had she been used as the honour of the nation required ) she would have concluded an inviolable agreement between the queen , and those catholiques that stood for her title . but when this royal guest had once trusted her self among her enemies , she was both denied access to the court , and also refused the liberty of retiring into another kingdom . this inhumanity was quickly noised about the world ; whereupon pius v. sent b ridulph a florentine to consult with the catholiques about the interest of their queen . all arguments were used which could possibly be thought of , to persuade her enemies to let her go : and when no fair means would do , c the rising in the north happened . 't is true , the declaration of those great lords that were up , mentioned no other motive but religion ; because this could not shock either the queen or people so much , as the name of the queen of scots would have done ; for that implied ipso facto the altering both of religion and government also . who is ignorant that that great man our general ( whose memory all ages shall for ever honor ) concealed at first what he had long determined ? well knowing , that the once naming of the king would ruine that design , which his wit so well laid , and his conduct so happily executed . besides this , reader , you must know , before this rebellion broke out , leonard dacres , second son to the lord dacres of gylsland , undertook the delivery of the queen , being then in darbyshire in my lord shrewsburie's custody . of this design my a lord northumberland was complotter ; therefore 't was plain , he being chief in the northern insurrection , intended her title , though there was nothing of it in his delaration . consider therefore how notoriously false this minister is , there having been claims , plots , and endeavours by the greatest of the land before the rising in the north ; and when it happened , that also was on the queen of scots account . 't were tedious , reader , to tell you how many attempts followed this insurrection ; for there scarce passed a day , till the death of the queen of scots , but something was contrived to prevent the machinations of her unkind kinswoman . by all this you may see , that while queen elizabeth used her distressed guest with any kindness , the piety of that princess ( which moved her rather to be contented with the succession , then put england in a perpetual broyl ) caused her to command the english catholiques to lie still ; whom ( according to the ministers own confession ) the prohibition of their religion forten years had not exasperated to commotions . but assoon as their queen was imprisoned without hopes of liberty , and they left to the dictates of their own loyal inclinations , they never ceased either at home or abroad to sollicite the destruction of their enemies . consider also , i beseech you , the carriage of the popes , who used all fatherly and gentle means imaginable , because they saw the queen of scots , whose right they deemed it was , of her self inclining ( like another maud ) to expect , till the death of her cozen should put an end to all pretences . these popes were sufficiently urged by the duke of guise and others ; yet upon the former considerations ( being desirous of peace ) they never had practices against queen elizabeth , till mary stuart was in prison ; nor ever publisht the excomcommunication , till the queen absolutely refused her liberty , even after the intercession of a the french and spanish embassadours . but the minister says , the popes owned queen elizabeths title , and therefore papists ought not to have disputed it . 't is true he says so , and yet confesses , that paul the iv. ( who governed the church when she came first to the crown ) would not acknowledge her legitimate . but how comes the gentleman to say , that the other cause of his holiness's not acknowledging her , was , because she audaciously assumed the crown without his leave ? does he find any such record in our histories ? did queen mary ask his consent ? did any pope send in this manner to edward the sixth ? or lastly , which of all our kings used to entreat his favour to be crowned ? reader , this is a pretty capricchio of the parson , as it had been unusuall if the pope had made such a claim . pius the fourth succeeding the said paul ( for the reasons aforesaid ) shewed as much prudence and good nature as ever man did , in hope to compose things without effusion of blood : and certainly after his death as much had been spilt , as ever was in any reign , had not queen elizabeth been the wisest woman that ever swayed scepter . pius v. followed the method of his predecessors , and would have continued it , had not the barbarous usage of the queen of scots provok'd him to an excommunication , and all hostile endeavours . his bull , i know , speaks not of bastardy in plain terms ; yet with our ministers good leave , the pope in that very bull calls our late queen mary a legitimate ; which saying was as much against q. elizabeth , as if he had spoken in a bolder phrase . for as i urged before , my lord bacon b says , that the legitimations of q. mary and queen elizabeth were incompatible . in this manner the popes acknowledged her : and for the marriages which were offered her ( & to very much purpose forsooth urged by the minister ) from forreign monarchs , it proves no more right , then that mrs. cleypole had been truly our queen , if france , spain , or the emperor had made love to her ; and i believe no body doubts , but suiters would have flockt , had she been unmarried , and sole heir to her father . though gregory xiii . sent to invade ireland , and sixtus v. gave england to the spaniards , yet i do not see , that this can touch us catholicks in the least , though the minister thinks it a mighty argument . for if the french king may invade st. christophers , or any part of our dominions , without drawing the name of villain on him or his people : why may not the pope ( being a temporal prince ) send forces to subdue what country he pleases ? the bishop of munster , for his smart endeavours against the hollanders , was never blamed , but on the contrary commended by us ; and certainly the pope is as absolute , and as good a man as he . kings , you see , may fall upon their neigbours themselves , and without breach of morality , incite others to do the like ; and while popes are free princes , they cannot be reproach'd for using that liberty , without great partiality and malice . this minister foolishly handles all things , and you may see his intent is only to make a noise : for 't is no advantage ( in our present dispute ) to him to shew , what kingdoms popes over-run , or give away . that which he ought to prove was , that it is article of faith amongst us , to assist the pope in every such invasion , or gift . that this is not so you may plainly see ; for one fifth of the turks army are of his christian subjects , and yet none of them are ever blamed as heritiques for defending the grād seigniors territories . in the next place , whē was it heard that any english catholick was fain to do pennance like an accurst persō for assisting the queen against the spanish invasion ? for there was no● papist then in england for the a spaniard . or who in ireland in her reign , thought himself given to the divel , for fighting against san joseph , who came for the kingdom upon his holiness account ? for the b bishop of armath confesses , the english papists in ireland were faithfull in all the invasions by spaine or pope . now whether pope or spaniard intended after conquest to restore the kingdom to the queen of scots or her heirs , i know not ; but this i am sure of , that 't was as probable , as that the hollanders ( who were assisted by the arms of some caualiers , and the good wishes of us all ) would have given king charles the second possession of england , had they got it from the rump . if clement the eighth earnestly strove that queen elizabeths successours should be catholiques , i suppose no body can blame him for it ; but i would fain have it shewed me , that king james's admission to the crown ( a protestant from his childhood ) was opposed by the catholiks of this kingdom . if they stickled not after his mothers death for him as they did for her , this answer is sufficient , that he was not used like her , nor did he ( for fear of prejudicing his future admittance ) ever desire any body to stir in his behalf . i suppose , reader , you wonder why i should challenge any man to shew me how the english catholicks opposed king james his succession , when as this minister tells us out of cambden , that the papists negotiated the spanish invasion ; that afterwards they perswaded the earl of darby to pretend to the crown ; that doleman alias parsons writ in the behalf of the infanta's title ; and to conclude his accusation , de declares , that the catholicks of scotland ( huntly and others ) raised a powerful rebellion against this prince . first , concerning the invasion , the minister says more then the author himself whom he quotes ; a for cambden only says , that some english fugitives did promote it ; and who knows not that fugitives in all ages , and in all religions , machinate against those whom they call their oppressors ? and on the other side , who is ignorant , that many papists , more considerable far then a few fugitive priests ( for most of the chiefest were so ) assisted the kingdom in that war , and in all its other contests abroad ? secondly , if some of these fugitives did perswade my lord of darby , it was , i say again , done like fugitives , nor had they ever the consent of the catholiques for it . it was certainly a very rediculous plot in them to make a protestant nobleman ( that had so poor a title ) their soveraign ; and if it were really designed , it must , i am sure , have been performed by the protestants themselves ; for the papists had no power , not being able so much as to set up the qu. of scots , who had so plausible a right , though they wanted not the assistance of the pope , spaniard and all the guisard faction . and by the way this earle was not poison'd ( as the minister would have it ) for stow has a diary and the particulars of his sicknesse and say's a the causes of all his deseases were thought by phisitians , partly a surfet , and partly distempering himselfe with vehement excercise 4. days togeather in easter weeke . thirdly , for dolemans book , who writ it , god knows , parsons denied it at his death ; and i believe he was not the authour , because in some of his works he speaks so much to the advantage of a k. james . moreover , he was a man of far more wit then to write so foolish a thing : for was not that man strangely simple , that would dedicate his book to my l. of essex ( as the minister would have it , to prick forward an ambitious man ) and yet the whole matter of the treatise is to prefer the infanta's title before all persons whatsoever . but reader , if this kind of arguing be lawful , that the errours of some unknown men , must be laid to a whole party , how miserable would the protestants themselves be , when we come to try them by the same touchstone ! i will not stoop to so mean and insignificant a topick , but tell you what protestants still alive can testifie , viz that in the latter end of the queens reing , my lord of hertfords title was often cried up to tumult in the streets : nor had that a slight impression ( he being esteemed next to the stuarts in blood ) on many a wellmeaning man , because the english have a reluctancy at first to the thoughts of a stranger . nay some b members of parliament ( after his admission said openly in the house , th●t no people endued with natural desire of preservation would admit a prince of a beggerly nation to reign over them , how just soever his claim were , for fear of loosing their propriety , as dear as life it self , and as vigorously to be defended . by this therefore , reader , may be seen the rancour of the reformed against the kings coming in , since they durst say such things even after his reception : and had not the last earl of pembrook wisely pocketted up ramsey's switching at newmarket ( when the people cried , let us break-fast with the scots here , and dine with the rest at london ) 't was feared that day would have been as fatal to the king as the fifth of november might have proved . papists therefore it seems were not his only enemies . concerning huntly's rebellion , i am sure the man is doubly mad in mentioning it , for first ( according to a cambden whom he cites ) the rising was to help the spaniards against queen elizabeth , who had put to death their queen : nor was there ever a formed insurrectiō so gently punisht by a king ; which argues they had no malice against him . nay , his majesty is pleased to say in his b basilicon doron , that the puritans had put out many libellous invectives against all christian princes , and that no body answered them , but the papists ; by which he said the scandal was doubled ; for they were the reformed who calumniated , and the catholiques were the only vindicators . secondly , if the rebellion ( suppose it as bad as may be ) of these lords of another country , of another age , must touch us the present catholicks of england , what a blow would this be to the reformed religion , should i repeat the scots unparallel'd actions against their queen ; the protecting of bothwel ( who would have destroy'd king james ) by the a english : and lastly , ( omitting the continual slavery he was in ) the downright conspiracie of the b gowries against his life ! having thus gone through the paragraph , i must come to the nicest question of all ; and nice , i may call it , because it is conjectural only . the proposal by the minister is this : whether if the queen of scots had been a protestant , we should have stickled for her ? and if queen elizabeth had not been thought illegitimate , whether nevertheless we had not rebelled against her ? to the first , i say , viz. we had sided with the q. of scots , had she been protestant . to the second , no , that the papists would not have opposed queen elizabeth , had they thought her legitimate : and of the ministers own assertions , i will make this plainly appear . for if according to him , the papists would have set up two protestants ( the lords darby and essex ) who in reality had no right , then i say , 't is certain they would willingly have embraced the title of the stuarts , that carried so fair a shew . to the second , i answer , that they would never have opposed queen elizabeth had she been thought legitimate : for if ( as the minister urged in the beginning ) they obeyed her whom they thought an usurper for ten years , though she had utterly destroyed their religion , 't is then more then probable , had her title been good in their opinion , they had submitted , let her faith have been what it would . these doubts being thus resolved by the very gentleman that proposed them ( who cares not , if he can wound us for the present , into what contradictions at last he runs himself ) i may , i hope [ since he hath shewed me the example ) propose a query also ; and i shall thank him , if out of my reply he gives the solution . i will not urge my question so far as to suppose the queen of scots had been a protestant , but my demand shall be singly this , whether the reformed in those days would have quietly obeyed queen elizabeth , had she stood up for the catholick religion ? reader , because the parson is not ready to give his determination , i will tell you my opinion , which is , that i think they would not , and doubtless this cōjecture is not rash , when we consider what has been done here , and recorded by our protestant historians themselves . have we not seen that ( for the safety of religion ) edward the sixth gave away by the advice of his councel the kingdom to jane gray ? and what bees could be so busie as cranmer and ridley , with many thousands more , to set up ( against their lawful queen mary ) that poor lady , who had not right enough by blood , and much less if she depended wholly upon the will , for that was void from the beginning , according to the known laws of the land ? how many treasonable books were written against this queen after she came to the crown , by mr. goodman and others , asserting , that she ought to be put to death as a tyrant , monster and cruel beast ? will thomas also conspired to murther her ; and when he was to be hanged for his treason , he said , he died for his a countrey . by all which may be gathered ( the duke of suffolke also with many more protestants being ready , and wiat actually in an open and dangerous rebellion , ) how dangerous it was then in england for a prince to be a papist ; though to that day there had never sat but one through protestant upon the throne , and he a child about sixteen when he died . but now i must descend to a far more tragical example , even to the death of the so often mentioned qu. of scots , who lost her life barely upon the account of her religion . 't is true queen elizabeth considered her own safety , but the fury of the nobility and people , ( without whose incitement she durst not have been beheaded ) was purely for fear she might have survived queen elizabeth , and being then the undoubted successour , might have changed religion as the former queen mary had done before . if i should urge this barely upon my own word , i might be mistrusted ; therefore what i say shall be out of cambden , who was not only a protestant , but the acknowledged true annalist of those times . he will tell you , that after babingtons conspiracy , in the consultation what should be done with the royal prisoner , some were for holding her in safe custody , but others ( out of care of a religion ) would have her tried and exexecuted . in pursuance then of this advice , she was condemned , and the next parliament the house petitioned for the execution of her sentence . the first reason in their supplicate was , for the preservation of the true b religion of christ ; and after they had told queen elizabeth also of her own danger , they harpt again upō the former string , desiring her to remēber gods fearful judgments upon saul and ahab , for their sparing benhadad and agag , two wicked and profane idolaters . in fine , when the fatal day came , though they were so very severe as to deny her ( being a guest , and a free princess ) what all embassadours have , viz. a preist to assist her at her death , she was again recomforted , when she knew by the earl of kent , that she died for her faith : for he told her , that her life would be the destruction of their c religion . reader , i must now here end , and cannot but ask this question , if the reformed have for defence of their religion effected the death of their queen , or at least undoubted heir ; and if they have set up jane gray , that had no title , because their lawful prince was catholick ; who have been i would fain know in england more faulty in this case , they or we ? pray what advantage has this minister got by loading us with crimes , of which we are innocent ? and if , as he urges in the beginning , we obey'd q. elizabeth ten years without stir , it then shows that papists can be obedient to a prince of another religion , though they doubt their right ; whenas the former protestants would do any thing rather then permit a catholick to govern , let the title be never so just . judge now , reader whether it be not superlative injustice to incense the world against us , as if our religion taught nothing but blood , and theirs all gentleness imaginable . i must invoke both angels and men to consider our wrong , who are termed trayterous in our principles , even to this day . we in our own persons have shewed all the duty that men can fancy , and for our ancestors you have seen what their plea is ; if it be bad , they have justly suffred ; if other wise , let them then feel your anger , who would deceive you thus with lies ; and remember that 't is not possible a religion which governed england with glory so many years , can teach a doctrine destructive to princes , or infuse maxims that will breed commotions among the people . sect . xxiii . apology . 't was for the royal house of scotland that they suffered in those days , and 't is for the same illustrious family we are ready to hazard all on any occasion . answer xxii . sir , we have found you notoriously false in that which you affirm : pray god you prove true in that which you promise . sect . xxiv . apology . nor can the consequence of the former procedure be but ill , if a henry the eighth ( whom sir walter rawleigh and my lord cherbury , two famous protestants , have so homely characterized ) should after twenty years co-habitation , turn away his wife , and this out of scruple of conscience ( as he said ) when as history declares , that he never spared woman in his lust , nor man in his fury . answer xxiv . this character , he says , agrees better with some heads of the church , then with king henry the eighth , of whom better historians ( naming thuanus ) say better things : but if he were such a monster , 't was for want of a better religion , for he was of ours , except in the point of supremacy ; and therefore i have no reason to flurt at him , except having undertaken to colour treasons , i think 't is something towards it to bespatter kings . i use , he says , the same art in the next paragraph to excuse the powder-treason , calling it a misdemeanour , the fifth of november , a conjuration , all soft words , but deal hardly with the great minister of state , whom i make the author of it , as if the state had conspired against the traytors , not the traytors against the state. then he tells the old story of the gunpowder-plot , and how discovered by my lord mounte●gles letter , and also how the jesuites baldwin , hammond . tesmond and gerrard were named by the conspirators as privy with them . the narration is in any book that treats of king james , and well known by every body : therefore for brevities sake , i have omitted it here . rep. to answ . xxiv . reader , if the character do agree better with many heads of our church , then , i say , in gods name let it be given them . but i much admire how thuanus comes to be esteemed a better historian in english affairs then sir walter raleigh , or my lord cherbury , whom we poor english-men think very excellent . but why do i trouble you wi●● the extravagancies of this strange man , w●● when he finds ( as he fancies ) a present expedient , cares not though he be forc'd to deny it again in the next page . what i have said of henry the eighth , these two famous men have said it , and a a thousand times worse , though they were protestants , and the first of them the great admirer of his mrs. the daughter of this very prince . nay ( omitting the unexpressable foul language of the reformed at home and abroad , especially of luther himself ) the bishop of b hereford ( a member of the church of england ) calls him , unsatiable glutted with one , and out of variety seeking to enjoy another . i shall speak no more to this , nor any thing separately to the next four paragraphs , for they all concern the powder-treason . you shall see what he says to each of them , and then my answer shall follow in one intire discourse . sect . xxv . apology . now for the fifth of november , with hands lifted up to heaven , we abominate and detest . answer xxv . here he asks , whether it be the festival , 〈◊〉 the treason we abominate and detest . if the 〈◊〉 , he says , he will believe us without lifting 〈◊〉 our hands . if the treason , he asks why we do not call it so ; which while we cannot afford to do , lifting up our hands will never perswad 〈◊〉 we abominate and detest it . sect . xxvi . apology . and from the bottom of our hearts , say , that may they fall into irrecoverable perdition , who propagate that faith by the blood of kings , which is to be planted in truth and meekness only . answer xxvi . he says , i should be cautious of throwing such curses , for fear of hitting our father the pope ; as the philosopher told the son of a common-woman , that threw stones among a multitude . sect . xxvii . apology . but let it not displease you ( men brethren , and fathers ) if we ask whether ulisses be no better known ? or who has forgot the plots of cromwel , framed in his closet , not only to destroy many faithful cavaliers , but also to ●ut a lustre upon his intelligence , as if nothing could be done without his knowledge ? even so did the then great minister , who drew some few ambitious men into this conjuration , and then discovered it by a miracle . answer xxvii . here he calls me apostle and poet , full of gravity , and fiction . then he says , i would make the world believe they were drawn into this plot by cecil ; yet am so wise as not to offer to prove it , but would steal it in by the example of cromwel . again , he says ( admitting this for true ) they were traytors nevertheless in doing what they did , had there been no cecil in the world : and therefore the excuse only implies , they had not wit to invent it , though they wanted not malice to execute it ; for according to my illustration , as the cavaliers whom cromwel drew in , had their loyalty abused , and were nevertheless faithful still ; so the powder-traytors ( whom cecil drew in ) had their disloyalty out witted , and were nevertheless traytors still : for 't is clear , by being drawn in , both parties were sufficiently disposed for it . what i lay upon cecil , he says is a groundless and an impudent fiction , which i am properly the author of for no body ever spoke it before but in railery . he asks by what tradition or revelation i received it sixty years after the fact , when as neither k. james , nor bellarmine , nor the apologists of that age knew any thing of it . he desires to know who were cecils setters , that would be hanged , that his art might not be suspected , for none were saued ; and garnet said , he would give all the world to clear his name and conscience of the treason . these are strong presumptions for the negative of cecils having no hand in the plot : but he says , there is only my bare word for the affirmative ; which if it be enough , ●ere is a never-failing topick to write apologies for any villany , viz. that the then great ministers of state drew them in . in queen elizabeths days we had a higher game to fly at , to wit , her title to the crown ; but durst not make so bold with king james , otherwise we had not stoopt to a minister of state. he says farther , that i strive to diminish the plot , by calling the plotters desperadoes , who could not be called so by reason of poverty , because their estates were great ; nor by reason of discontents ; for there was not a man , as king james said , that could pretend a cause of grief . if the cause was , because they had not all they desired , it is so far from excusing them , that it gives occasion to suspect me . i ought , he says , to call the discovery a miracle , because king iames named it so , and especially since bellarmine acknowledged it so : but 't is no wonder , that i , who will not call the plot , treason , will not allow the discovery to be a miracle . sect . xxviii . apology . this will easily appear , viz. how little the catholique party understood the design , seeing there were not a score of guitlty found , though all imaginable industry was used by the commons , lords , and privy-councel too . answer xxviii . he says , few understood the very design , for 't was not safe to tell it many ; but papists generally knew there was a design , and pray'd for the success of it . though but a score were in the plot , yet fourscore appeared in rebellion ; nor is it probable so small a number could think to do much by surprizing princess elizabeth , unless they expected other assistance . but treason , he says , is hated by all , when unsuccessful . reply to answ . xxviii . 't was never in my heart ( and so will all that know me testifie ) to think that the conspirators in this treason were not traytors in the highest degree , or that any punishment could equal the blackness of their offence . in the apology i am sure there are no words that can be rackt to this ; for my intent there was only to shew in short that the catholick body was innocent , knowing nothing of the entreprize : that the plot ( for which these were executed ) was made , or at least fomented by the policy of a great statesman . and lastly , though the design had been suggested by papists alone , and unanimously approved by all , yet we that live now are guilty of no sin , and therefore 't were severe to be punisht for it . that the catholick body had no hand in the treason , most plainly appears by the quality of the actors , and by the number of them . i know there were four or five gentlemen of ancient blood engaged ; but i look upon that as no wonder : for out of the first twenty catholicks accidentally met i 'll lay a considerable wager to find as great families as any were there , unless that of the percies : yet this percy was a man of no fortune , nor am i certain ( though i well know my lord northumberlands relations ) whether really he was a kinsman , or only for names sake called his cozen. a plot is lookt upon as general , when a good number of the chief of a party are intrigued in the design . the catholick noblemen were then not only as considerable as any , but also the considerablest of the nation : for at that time there being no duke , but the late king , the first marquess , the first earl , the first viscount , and the first baron were of our profession ; and i believe 't will be granted , that the lords winchester , arundel , mentacute , and abergavenny , ( and so proportionably the rest of the papal nobility ) had estates able to be partizans , if they thought fit , in any conjuration . now none of these noblemen , nay , not one of all the peers , nor any more of the gentry then the traytors , whom i will by and by mention , had a hand in the design : therefore to call this , as the minister and others do , an universal popish plot , is in it self a contradiction , or at least a riddle beyond my capacity to unfold . for the number of these gunpowder traytors , they were but thirteen laymen in all : whereof four , viz. catesby , percy , and the two wrights were killed in the apprehending . a tresham died in the tower. and eight suffered , as faun , keys , ba●e● , graunt , rookwood , the two winters , and digby ; and 't is evident there were no more of the cōspiracy , seeing that in all their examinations no gentleman was discovered ; which could not happ● out of design to save their friends , because several secret particulars they a revealed ; and baldwin , hammond , tesmond , and gerard , being jesuites , were ( as the minister says ) found actors in the plot. if then the malefactors did accuse their confessors , ( as our adversarys calls them ) certainly they would never have spared others , had there been any more guilty . besides this of their accusing no-body , the commons , lords , and privy councel were so vigilant , that they left no stone unturn'd to find the depth of the plot : and to shew how nice they were in all manner of suspitions , the lords b sturton and mordant , two catholicks , were fined , only because absent from the house that day ; by which 't is plain they were so far from finding positive proof , that there was not the least glimpse of any thing , otherwise they would never have descended to so slight a possibility ; for there is not a day wherein the parliament sits , but there may be found more catholicks out of the house , then were then . nay , the circumspection was so great , that my a lord northumberland a protestant was imprisoned for many years , as thought perchance to know somewhat , because being captain , he had admitted percy into the band of pensioners . thus , reader , you see how impossible it is , that the catholick party were involved here in ; and for the fourscore that appeared with them in rebellion , they were only servants and horse-boys , who ( as b sanderson says ) were watcht hourly , for fear of quitting their masters : and this also c speed confirms , affirming , that these were ever ready to steal from the conspirators ; and that more care was in keeping them , then trust reposed either in their faith or defence . nor can any thing make this truth more evident , then that none but the thirteen aforefaid suffered either for the plot or rising . concerning the plot it self , reader , those that set it a working were the discoveres of it : for you must know it was a piece of wit in queen elizabeths days , to draw men into such devices ; nor were any more excellent in the art then burleigh and walsingham , to the first of whom , this cecil mentioned by the minister , was son , and successor to the other in the very secretariship . making and ●omenting plots was then , i say , in fashion ; for when gifford discovered to walsingham that babington had a desing in the behalf of the q. of scots , the secretary writ to sir a. pawlet her keeper , to let some of his servants be d corrupted ; and thereupon the brewer was considered as the fittest man ; by which means the queen receiving and sending letters , walsingham had the perusal of them : and thus when many were drawn in ( as most loose people may , if statesmen lay gins ) they were all at last taken and hanged . the same trap caught the queen also ; for they first kept her in prison to make her earnest for liberty ; then opened her , as you see , a way for correspondency at home & abroad to procure her freedom ; and because of this she was condemned to die , there being a law a year before on purpose prepared against her , on hopes of such and the like b conspirations . but this statute had been too weak , as lawyers well know , to put a free princess to death , had she not been a papist , and not otherwise to be hindred from the crown after the decease of queen elizabeth . such a trick as this for our destruction was again invented by the statesman , who bore as every body kn●w a particular hatred to all of our profession ; and this increased to see the new king not only to receive into his councel henry earl of a northampton , a● eminent catholick , but also to hear his majesty speak to the two houses a little against persecution of b papists , when as there had been nothing within those walls but invectives against them for above forty years together . what could now destroy our hopes with this gratious prince , but a seming plot against his life and line ? nor was it any hard thing for a secretary to know turbulēt and ambitious spirits , who perchance had had designs in the reign of queen elizabeth . 't is not possible to discover the whole trāsaction of a great minister that died in prosperity : but 't is argument enough to assert this , that if a person ( a famed professor in c tricks , hating and envying us , as i said before ) contrived a most material part , he cōtrived also the rest : and certainly ( with some few considerations upon it ) this miraculous letter which discovered the gunpowder-plot , will discover our statesman to be the author of it . the d letter is thus . my lords . out of the love i bear some of your friends , i have a care of your preservation , therefore i could wish you ( as you tender your life ) to forbear the attendance at this parliament , for god and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time . think not slightly of this advertisement ; for though there be no appearance of any stir , yet i say , they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament , and yet they shall not see who hurt them . this counsel 〈◊〉 not to be contemned , because it may do you good , and can do you no harm : for the danger is past as soon as you have burnt the letter , and i hope you will make good use of it . reader , i doubt not , but you have often heard in the pulpit , as wel as from the ministers relation , how the papists plac'd 36. barrels of powder under the parliament-house , and that faux with his dark-lanthorn was to set them on fire , and so at one clap blow up king , lords and all . this you know was discovered by the letter aforesaid , sent to my lord monteagle , and by it t●e whole design was found out the night a before the parliament sat ; for great adventures do always come to light just as they are to be executed . now , reader , let me entreat you seriously to consider , and tell me whether it could be a popish plotter that writ this letter . for is it possible that any mans hould be so distracted ( after they had brought their plot to that perfection , had so solemnly sworn , even a by the trinity and sacrament , never to disclose it directly or indirectly , by word or circumstance , and resolved also to blow up all the catholique lords and the rest of their friends in both houses ) i say all this considered , is it possible that a man should be soe distracted as to write a letter , that had more in it of disclosing some plot , then the bare saving of a friend . 't was reported that percy writ it ; but no body ever found there were such superlative endearments between those two , or between any other of the conspirators and monteagle , as that they could stumble at this noblemans destructiō , and yet dispence with killing so many of their own religion , and relations ; for b speed says , father , brother , friend , ally , papist , &c. were to have been blown up by these traytors . but suppose that little intimacies between my lord and percy ( c as wilson says these were ) had produced so mighty a concern for his life , whereas my lord northumberland ( percies patron and only support ) was to be sacrificed without pity ; i say , suppose this , what need was there to write , that god and man would punish the parliament , and this by a blow , and that they should not know who hurt them , and a hundred suspitious things to no purpose ? if it were out of a desire ( being an extraordinary friend ) to keep this nobleman from the house that day , the epistle-sender should have written in his own name and character . that out of love to his preservation , he desired him to forbear the parliament that day , because some were resolved to kill him : that as yet being under oath , he could not tell him the particulars , but that shortly his promise would be void , and then he should know all things from him by word of mouth . such a letter as this would have certainly kept my lord at home , when as the other must confound him and every body else , coming from an unknown person : nor could any thing in the world ( in the opinion of any fool ) more naturally have endangered a discovery then such needless circumstances , and notice also given so long before the execution . for , reader , you must know , that the letter was sent to mounteagle a ten days before the fifth of november ; which no real plotter would have done , since my lord might have beē better keep 't at home , by advising him the night before . nay , this long warning was so far from an appearance of advantage , that on the contrary it was quite opposite to all ▪ the designs of a conspirator ; for 't was certain , either it would make my lord carelesly contemn the admonition , since it came from an idle fellow in the street ; or else if he were apprehensive , he would necessarily shew it to friends , by which ( as i said ) there might be no little hazard to have all found out . now on the other side , this interval was benecifial to a machivilian , because he knew 't would not only be more grateful to the privy-councel to have time to consider on difficulties , but also foresaw , if the king and lords ( through surprize or otherwise ) should not hit on the plot , he must be forc'd to start hints ( the execution being so neer at hand ) which might easily have made him suspected for contriver ; and how ungrateful sulch a wickedness would have been to an upright prince , he him self could not but well imagine . thus , reader , you see the intention of the letter was to have the thing discover'd , and thus could he ruine his enemies , and make his own vigilance appear ; for without such and the like remembrances , the wit of great ministers is soon forgotten both by their prince and people . nor did cecil miss of another reward also , for ( as a sanderson says ) he was made earl for his service in this business . that which i assert here , does not lessen the quickness of the kings judgment ; for his insight as much appears , whether the letter were writ by a statesman or a conspirator . neither does this strike at the festival enacted , because the parliamēt finding by the prisoners taken there was such a plot , could not but thank god , that theyr trayterous intention was discovered . and truly , if a score of wicked christians had conspired against nero himself , i would not gain say the remembrance of the delivery , in what countrey soever it were observed . all that i here shew is , that the catholique party had no hand in the treason , there being but thirteen laymen in all , as you see plainly proved ; and these very thirteen were doubtless drawn in by their mortal enemy ; for the letter came by his contrivance , beeing ( as osborn b confesses ) a neate devise of the treasurer's , nor was he ignorant from time to time of all their actions . he that lived in our times has seen the reign-of queen elizabeth reacted . for in those twelve years , from 1646. to 1658. you may remembrer the establisht religion of the nation altered ; an absolute soveraign executed with formalities and pretences of law , the french fond of our amity ; the spaniard beaten ; and lastly , the zealous youth drawn into plots with all ease imaginable . his majesty had those about him that had learnt this art in their old mistress's service ; and this the all-knowing king at last found out ; for 't was impossible that ever he would have been favourable to the catholikes again , had he not in length of time , been assured thad they were innocent of all machinations against him . reader , he was a constant protestant , and yet so a kind to us the last half of his reign ( of which wilson complains ) that neither the spanish match , nor any other worldly hopes could have obtained this , had he not been convinc'd we never had a design of destroying him and his. nay , the king in his own declaration about it , says , that the generality of his catholique subjects did abhor such a detestable conspiracy , no less then him self . having thus replied to his answer in the four last paragraphs , there rests now a little to be said to some short jerks of his , which he loocks upon as witty and home . first , he is troubled that i call the powder-treason , misdemeanor , fifth of november , conjuration , all of them being soft words . to this i say , i am very sorry i have offended him , and in my next apology ( if that will content him ) i 'll speak in the longest sentence of the cōmon prayer about the matter : but my past errour grew from this , because significant brevity is aimed at by most ; and therefore when we speak of , or to the king , we say sir , or your majesty , and not at every word , charles the second by the grace of god , king of england , scotland , france & ireland , defender of the faith , &c. so in handling this affair i use those short words that express the whole matter to the full ; for i think treason is a misdemeanor ; when more then one are in it , 't is a conjuration ; and the fifth of november , is the common phrase of the kingdom . 2. ly he says , that k iames's male-line were to have been all destroyed . now a baker says , that the late king then d. of york was only to have been suprized by percy . but the matter is not material ; and i cite these protestant authors , only to shew that the malice of the minister will make him erre in every thing . thirdly , he thinks that my comparing of cromwels drawing in the cavaliers with this of cecils , is very odd , and unequal : for the cavaliers , he sayes , were cheated into a lawful action , but the powder-traytors were out-witted into treason . to this , i say , that my comparison was never intended ( as you may see if you look into the apology ) to make an equality of justice or honour in their sufferings ; but to remember you how easie it is for trapanners to draw people into plots , and from thence to the gallows . fourthly , concerning his desire to know who was cecils setter to decoy in the rest ; i answer , i cannot tell : nor should we ever have known who was cromwels instrument , had not sir s. morland most loyally discovered him . there were three or four the minister names discovered by the conspirators , who knew of the plot , and afterwards died obscurely abroad . even so died gifford the priest ( walsingham's — setter ) never visibly rewarded , who corrupted the brewer , and so drew the queen of scots into the trap that ruined her , as has been already mentioned . fifthly , because he is angry with the word desperadoes , i have altered it in this edition , and put in lieu ambitious men . i am sure the word in it self is proper enough , for most were poor ; and king james in his proclamation against percy a call's them men for the most part of desperate estates . but had they been never so rich , or in esteem , it would well have fitted with them also ; for my lord of essex and marshal byron were really desperadoes , and yet wanted nothing , had they known their own happiness . lastly , he says , few knew the manner , but most knew there was a design on foot , and prayed for the success of it . suppose , reader , this were true , that a design was recommended to the prayers of the catholicks , what were they guilty of by it ? for at that time the chief of them were solliciting at court to get some little ease after their long misery ; and therefore the rest might well think their prayers were fit to be desired . but all this is a fiction . thus , reader , i have now left nothing unanswered that he has urged : and thus you see the reasons i have to believe the plot it self a trick ; and besides , 't is plain the body of the catholicks had no hand , or inclination to the thing , which the wi●e k. james at last ( as i said ) well knew , & therefore was gratiously pleased to let the beams of his mercy shine again upon them . sect . xxix . apology . but suppose ( my lords and gentlemen , which never can be granted ) that all the papists of that age were consenting ; will you be so severe then to still punish the children for their fathers faults ? nay , such children that so unanimously joyned with you in that glorious quarrel , wherein you and we underwēt such sufferings , that needs we must have all sunk , had not our mutual love assisted . answer xxix . he says , suppose falsly , to avoid truth ; for who says all papists then were consenting , or who can deny there be some in this age of the same principles with those traytors ? and though we be not punisht for our predecessors actions , yet we ought to be restrained , that we may not do like them . though i would , he says , shuffle men of these principles ( by the word unanimously ) among those that served the king , yet those good servants are not so many , but the others may be easily distinguisht . concerning those that only suffered with the royallists , the minister thanks them for their love , but not for their assistance ; for the protestant cavaliers could not sink lower , but some of us floated like cork , and others swam upon the bladders of dispensation ; and therefore as they received no help from our swimming , so they apprehend no assurance of us by our sufferings . rep. to answ . xxix . pray , reader , what is in this answer that confutes the apology ? for what man of our party did not faithfully serve the king to his power ? and who of us in his majesties absence had not estimation among the rest of the cavaliers , according to his ranck and quality ? was there any party in england more deprest then we ? were not priests of all orders hanged ? were not others imprisoned during life ? had not we three times more estates sold then any people else ? and were not the laws put in force , so that to those that had something , two parts of it were also swept away ? cromwel by is maxims kept us poor , because we should not be service able to the king ; and now our gratious monarch being returned , this godly minister thinks fit to advise our restraint , as he calls it ( which in plain english is to desire we should beused as that tyrant used us ) for fear we should do like our predecessors , i. e. assist his majesty ; for i am sure all of them did so , and many confirmed that duty with their blood. can therefore be on earth greater wickedness then this , not only to be forgetful in prosperity , but thus with calumny to asperse those , who were faithful fellow-sufferers with the royall party in the height of all theire misfortunes ? reader , the hopes of this pitiless man is , that rigour and despair may stagger us in our loyalty : but herin i defie him : for nothing can move them to contend , whom cōscience and love have obliged to be obedient . sect . xxx . apology . what have we done , that we should now deserve your anger ? has the indiscretion of some few incenst you ? 't is true , that is the thing objected . answer xxx . sir , our anger is only a necessary care , that what you call your indiscretions , may not grow up to be such , as you lately called your misdemeanours . sect . xxxi . apology . do not you know an enemy may easily mistake a mass-bell , for that which calls to dinner ? answer xxxi . we know he may upon a fast-day , for then you use to ring your vesper-bell before dinner . and how can a simple heretick tell , whether it call you to pray , or to eat fish ? but we do not know , that ever any of you was brought into trouble about that question . sect . xxxii . apology . or a sequestrator be glad to be affronted being constable ? when 't was the hatred to his person , and not present office , which perchance egg'd a rash man to folly . answer xxxii . possibly he may be glad of it . for 't was the jesuitical distinction between person and office , that first helpt him to be a sequestrator ; and now he sees the distinction come in play , he may hope to have his place again . reply to ans . xxxii . reader , you see he will divide a paragraph , and answer to each division ( as he hath done in these three last ) though it be gibbrish , and nothing to purpose . the ringing of a mass-bell in lancashire , the affronting a constable , and some other such things , were accusations brought to london against us . but how impudent is the minister , to say , we were never in trouble , as he knows , for this ? when as every body knows what a do there has been ever since these complaints were alleadged by the known enemies of the kingdom . sect . xxxiii . apology . we dare with submission say , let a publick invitation be put up against any party what soever ; nay , against the reverend bishops them selves , and some malicious informer or other will alledge that , which may be far better to conceal . yet all mankind by a manifesto on the house-door are encouraged to accuse us . nor are they upon oath , though your enemies and ours take all for granted and true . answer xxxiii . he says , here 's an ambush for bishops to have them esteemed popish , because i reverence them ; and obnoxious in such matters , as i say , it may be better far to conceal . but he knows my kindness , and defies my malice . they are olympia's bishops need concealment ; but the bishops of england are of another make and hold not their credit at any ones courtesie . he farther says , what could the parliament do less , then invite the people to bring in their grievances to the place of redress ? and 't was great hardship , he says , that the house of commons did not give oaths to the accusers , which no house of commons ever did upon any occasion . reply . xxiii . if my respects to the prelats of england have offended this minister , i am sorry for it . we and the whole world know how zealous they are for monarchy , and therefore i wish they had no greater enemies then papists : but if there be an ambush laid for them , judge , reader , whether we or the cobler of glocester have done it . 't is an usual phrase among catholicks when they shew the wickedness of lyars , to say they are so abominable that they will not stick to calumniate the church it self ; therefore i think kind expressions ought to have had a better requital . for donna olympia's bishops , i suppose those of our kingdom take them selves to be of the same make ; for hers received their orders from rome , and from the same fountain , as i have read , the church of england pretends to derive all ordination whatsoever . the minister needed not to have told me , that the commons cannot administer oaths , for i know the orders of that house better then his worship . i was not troubled that no oath was given ; but seeing that no oath could be given , 't was hard me thought , that the whole town should take all things as unquestionable truths , though the accusers were ( as i said ) profest enemies to us , and lately to the very kingdom also . but now , i thank god , men understand themselves much better : for lies can never long endure . sect . xxxiv . apology . it cannot be imagined , where there 's so many men of heat and youth ( overjoy'd with the happy restauration of their prince , and remembring the insolencies of the former grandees ) that they should all , at all times prudently carry themselves ; for this would be to be more then men : and truly wee esteem it as a particular blessing , that god has not suffer'd many , through vanitie or frailty to fall into greater faults , then are yet as we understand laid to our charge . answer xxiv . he says , if a jesuite keep the reckoning ▪ the king will ever be in our debt : for our old treasons were upon the account of his family , and our late insolencies upon the score of his restauration . then he asks , whether i would seriously perswade men , that at six years distance we were still transported with that blessing . there were , he says , fresher causes of jollity suspected by many who saw our joy , while the fire raged in london , and two potent enemies hovered on our coasts . reply to answ . xxxiv . many accusations , reader , were of two or three yaers standing and more , and no one thing amounted to a real publick nuissance : let a man then cōsider this soberly , and he will find it no little wonder , that so many catholiques of all ranks , sexes , ages , and humours should for above six years together never so far indulge to their passions , as to commit a fault fit to trouble parliament with , though from all countries the violentest of their enemies came to offer up their complaints against them . for my part i do greatly admire at it , and must acknowledge a particular providēce assisting ; nor can i but thank the publisher of the accusations , who malitiously intending us harm , has done us all the right imaginable . sect . xxv . apology . can we chuse but be dismay'd ( when all things fail ) that extravagant crimes are fathered on us ? it is we that must be the authors , some say , of firing the citie , even we that have lost so vastly by it . yet truly in this our ingenuity is great , since we think it no plot , though our enemie , an hugonot protestant acknowledged the fact , and was justly executed for his vain confession . again , if a merchant of the church of england buy knives for the business of his trade , this also presently is a popish contrivance to destroy the well-affected . answer xxxv . he says , though we lost vastly by he fire of london , yet we may still be suspected by any body that considers garnets determinations ▪ viz. that the innocent & guilty may be destroyed , so it be to a farther good . the loss it seems ( he says ) goes not to my heart , when i can be so pleasant to call hubert my enemy , and a hugonot protestant , 't is true after that hubert had been at confession with father harvey , he said he was a protestant ; but ( it being beyond his instructions ) he denied he was a hugonot , which he might well do , because he said ▪ he thought confession to a priest necessary to salvation , and also repeated an ave mary which he said , was his usual prayer . 't is evident therefore that he was no hugonot , nor protestant ▪ nor enemy to papists upon the account of religion . reply to answ . xxxv . concerning this hubert a frenchman that pretended to burn the city , you must know , he was son to a protestant , a protestant himself in france , had been of the french church in england ; to the committee , and to the judge at the bar , he profest then he was a protestant , and died so at the gallows . certainly it was no argument he was no protestant , because he ( as the minister says ) esteemed of confession ; for i know many protestants that have used it , some divines have writ in behalf of it , and i remember dr. will was mightily for it , whem he governed his flock in fleerstreet . an ave mary is scripture , and whosoever reads the salatation of the angel and st. elizab. does at that time actually say one , besides , if no body is a protestant that holds peculiar opinions , then i must conclude there are very few protestants in the world : for protestants in religion agree only in negatives , that is , they generally deny thé pope , purgatory , &c. but when they come to positives , they jar , and then divide , and subdivide ( as we by experience see ) into a million of sects and factions . reader , before i go farther , i must tell you who this harvey is : by nation he is a low-countryman , but admitted among the english jesuites , as many aliens are . he is an antient ; quiet , and pious man ; 't is lately i knew him , but found him to be of a very angelical conversation . many priests being frō time to time imprisoned , brought him acquainted with newgate , where sometimes he assisted those that went to die . this i call high charity in any man of any sect , to take pains to make another of that religion , which his conscience tells him is most agreeable to god. nor is there any humane interest or policy in thus assisting malefactours , for they are poor of themselves , and sure to die the next execution-day . by this occasion mr. harvey met with the french hugonot [ the pretended firer of london ) with whom he had discourse about religion ; and after he had instructed him in the catholique doctrine , he went to administer the communion to the company ; and then demanding of them , whether they received according to the roman catholick faith , hubert said , he had nothing to do with roman , and therefore the sacrament was refused him ; nor did mr. harvey ever se him after . this is the truth of the story . but , pray , what is the frenchman to us , had he been papist ? though ( as it happened ) he lived and died otherwise . for my part , i believe there are few frenchmen now in london , but would be glad to see it afire again , either for an opportunity to steal , or for the advantage of their prince , were he at war with us ; the like would the english wish at paris , i dare say . consider therefore , reader ▪ i beseech you , my answerer ; and though 't is at no time my humour to give foul language , yet i must say , i challenge all englād to find out one that shall excel him in ill . he has accused us for the murther of king charles ; the cause of the english , irish , and scotish war ; the triumphing at ourmis fortunes at sea ; the rejoycing for the enemies being upon our coast ; and then lastly the burning of londō it self : yet all this urged without any manner of proof , no not so much as the least probability . is one detraction against one onely man a sin , and punishable at the judgment-seat of god hereafter ; and shall so various aspersions against so many of the best account in england pass for a toy ? i am sure , it is my belief , to think they shall die eternally ( if they repent not ) who defamed and did wrong even to those that crucified christ . if then a woe be pronounc'd against such , what will become of them that asperse his members ? and therefore if this minister be a christian be must know that without satis-factiō there is no forgiveness . nay , the effects of his crimes have risen to this , to encourage other men to do the like ; for not long after , there was publisht ( as i just now mentioned ) a libell call'd the committee of parliaments enquiry about the firing the city ; and at last the wickedness of the author laid it at the doors of the king , duke , general , l. craven , chief justice , and others of the chiefest account in the nation . all that he said against papists , was in truth to justifie them ; for no better accusation could be found , then that several frēchmen were busie about the fire : that a supposed jesuite with a bishop-sattin suit ( over which was a frock ) came and firied a house ( the fire it self being , as the libeller confesses , within six doors of it ) and when he was apprehended , he spake latine without any necessity . then he tells , that one carpenter ( who is an apostate priest ) spoke for the pope ; & that one or tws poor women were sollicited to be papists , and told , now was the time , for if they neglected this opportunity they should not be regarded hereafter . nay , when nothing could be found against papists , the author cites verses ( only found as he confesses in westminster-hal ) to threaten protestants into popery . and another paper ( writ by a papist , as he says , newly turned protestant , and found in a pew by a templer ) in which he desired all protestants to pursue papists , for they had a design to cut their throats . this is the effect of the pamphlet , which i would have every body read , for nothing can be a greater vindication to us , then such inconsiderable and senceless lies . and truly , when i consider these with the stories against papists in the answer to philanax , and how both are exactly made in the same mode and figure , i should not doubt but that sieur du moulin was the author , were not the libel so severe against his countrymen the french. and pray reader , consider here the justice of god , who is a god of retaliation always : for as the dr. strove to incite the people by his malitious falsities , which have not the least probability of truth , and which would involve all the loyal catholiques of england with one or two guilty men , if there had been any such ; so now there are spread such a number of lies about our danger from the french , that people are ready to stone all they meet ; and should the rabble run into a sudden fury ( as god knows but they may ) mr. du moulin and his family may perchance also go sharers with his countrymen ; for his being a free denizon would be thought a weak argument by the outragious and overheated multitude . concerning the fire it self , reader , i could never , as i said , think it a design , notwithstanding a protestant hugonot confest the fact ; and my reason was , because no body in his senses would be so foolish with deliberation to venture his life , when 't was not only odds he should be found out , but the fire would be stopt before it came to the third house . how often have we seen it in the narrow places of london ? how often in the ill-building of kings-street ? how often in the paper-houses of charing cross , the strand ? &c. and yet for all this ( whether it happened by night or by day ) it was quencht without any remarkable spoil . besides , 't is impossible , if either protestants , papists , presbyterians , or phanatiques had effected so great a work but we should have seen some prosecution of their design , as either to be in arms , or inviting in our forreing enemies , or at leastwise raising tumults in the hurry . but on the contrary , there has not been since any preparation for a rising in england ; nay , which is more , for all that thirteen thousand families were to seek new habitations , and all the rest of the town disordered , yet there was not the least riot , though the accident it self might have occasioned a sedition , without being animated by conspirators . in short , after a strict enquiry by the parliament of england ( that supream court ) of the occasion of this dismal fire , 't was concluded to be the hand of god alone : and therefore i shall never think otherwise of it , though hubert the hugonot acknowledged himself the author , and a trig a protestant brag 's that he foretold it in his almanack printed almost a whole year before . now because the minister hath mentioned garnet , i shall desire you , reader , to peruse his b last words and confession , as you shall find them in how , who continued stows history . he acknowledged his foul offence in concealing the treason ; was sorry for it , asking god forgiveness for the same , beseeching a blessing for the king and his issue ; and then exhorted all catholiques never to attempt rebellion , treason or violent practises against his majesty , for all such courses were utterly against the catholick faith. if then , reader , a jesuite known to be learned , and therefore not ignorant of the doctrine of our religion ; if also a jesuite on the point of death , and so necessitated to speak truth , hath publiquely owned ( as a protestant records ) that rebellion is incompatible with catholique doctrine ; to affirm this still to be our principle , is certainly a very high injustice : and if the practice of some few shall yet be urged against me as a proof , then i must affirm , that the church of england teaches theft , because so many of their members are monthly hanged for it at tyborn . reader , from hence to the end i shall still continue my first method of setting down the ministers answer to every section of the apology ; but i shall seldome reply , because the poorness of the matter carries a cōfutation in it self , and therefore it would be a needless trouble both to you and me , if i should say something to each paragraph . sect . xxxvi . apology . we must a little complain , finding it by experience , that by reason you discountenance us , the people rage : and again , because they rage , we are the more forsaken by you . assured we are , that our conversation is affable , and our houses so many hospitable receipts to our neighbours . our acquaintance therefore we fear at no time , but it is the stranger we dread ( that taking all on hear-say ) zealously ▪ wounds , and then examines the business when 't is too late , or is perchance confirmed by another , that knows no more of us then he himself . 't is to you we must make our applications , beseeching you ( as subjects tender of our king ) to intercede for us in the execution , and weight the dilemma , which doubtless he is in , either to deny so good a parliament their request , or else run counter to his royal inclinations , when he punishes the weak and harmless . answer xxxvi . he says , he desires only to be safe ; and against our dangerous principles , neither our affability nor hospitality can defend them : for the irish never treated protestants better then the year a fore they cut their throats . the best means of security is the execution of the laws , by which those ( that renounce their disloyal principles ) will be distinguisht , and the disloyal and seditious only kept weak . reply xxxvi . i have sufficiently treated the irish rebellion in the first reply ; neither have i bin wanting to shew you , that a protestāt author , viz. a heath , lays the cause of it on the english long-parliament , which occasioned so many mischeifes , & by their wicked beginings against that good prince encouraged the designes of the rest of his seditious subjects : nor had the scots themselves bin then wanting ( by their actuall levying warr against their king , & corresponding with his forrain enemies ) to prick forward ( seeing they were successefull ) all those who studied commotions & disorders . judge then whither they were the papists of england , or the reformed in both kingdomes of great brittain that farthered the irish rebellion . but now that the irish never treated protestants better then the yeare before they curt theire throats , is a foolish invention of this shamelesse minister , & nonsense in it selfe ; nor was it practicable , unlesse the english had ( like the israelites in egypt ) bin sojournours at will , & had nothing to doe with the government . for would it not be a mad expression to say that the hugonots of france better treated this yeare the papists there , then they had done before ; or that the round-heads treated the cavaliers more kindly then they had done since the kings restauration . but this is un coup d'esprit , a peice of witt of the worthy minister , & truely so great a one that i admire it , & should doe it much more , were it not soe common . sect . xxxvii . apology . why may not we , noble country-men , hope for favour from you , as well as the french protestants find from theirs ? a greater duty then ours none could express , we are sure . or why should the united provinces , and other magistrates ( that are harsh both in mind and manners ) refrain from violence against our religion , and your tender breasts seem not to harbour the least compassion or pity ? these neighboring people sequester none for their faith , but for transgression against the state ; nor is the whole party involved in the crime of a few , but every man suffers for his own and proper fault . do you then the like , and he that offends let him die without mercy . and think always ( we beseech you ) of cromwels injustice , who for the actions of some against his pretended laws , drew thousands into decimation ( even ignorant of the thing ) after they had vastlie paid for their securitie and quiet . answer xxxvii . he says , he has answered our instances of french protestants , and dutch papists . when we governed the civilized world , he says , we hanged and burnt men for no cause but faith ; which proves protestant barbarity , better then popish civility : yet these were little for their credit , unless they could say , that none of us suffered but by the known and necessary laws of the kingdom . 't is necessary to maintain the kings authority , and peace of the nation ; and if we call religion any thing contrary to these , whether ought they to alter their laws , or we our religion ? he says , as inquisitors bedress one with pictures of devils , that is to be burnt for an heretick , so i put cromwel on any thing i would render odious , but they are weak , that see not the difference betwen cromwels edicts , that ruined men for loyalty , and laws that restrained them from treason and rebellion . reply . xxxvii . how childishly rediculous is this ministers allegation , that none of us suffered but by known laws ? what does he mean ? did we ever ( when we governed england ) put any to death but by the known laws established many hundred years before the malefactors were born , and which are still on foot , and used to this day by protestants against hereticks ? but fully to reply to this answer , i cannot better do it , then by beseeching you to read over this short section of the apology again , and then tell me , whether any request can be more reasonable and christian ; or whether this way of involving the whole in the crimes of a few , be not exactly the procedure of cromwel . sect . xxxviii . apology . we have no studie but the glory of our soveraingn , and just libertie of the subjects . answer xxxviii . sir , if we may judge by your works , there is nothing less studied in your colledge . sect . xxxviiii . apology . nor was it a mean argument of our dutie , when every catholique lord gave his voice for the restauration of bishops ; by which we could pretend no other advantage , but that 26. votes ( subsisting wholly by the crown ) were added to the defence of kingship , and consequently a check to anarchy and confusion . answer xxxviiii . this is no argument of your duty , for sure you are it no lord. nor is it likely , that these lords followed your direction in the doing of this duty . reply to ans . xxxix . good mr. parson , 't is more then you know but that i am a lord ; yet whether i am or no , the catholick lords and i are of the same loyal principles , and what they did , any other catholick would have done had he been member of their house . sect . xl. apology . 't is morally impossible but that we who approve of monarchy in the church , must ever be fond of it in the state also . answer xl. if you mean this of papists in general , that which you mean morally impossible , is experimentally true . for in venice , genoa , lucca , and other popish cantons of switzerland , they very well approve of monarchy in the church , yet they are not fond of it in state also . but if you mean this of the jesuitical party , then it may be true , in this sence , that you would have the pope to be sole monarch , both in spirituals and temporals . rep. to answ . xl. i think i have been as lately at lucca , genoa , and venice , and know the places as well as the minister . 't was not therefore my meaning , that there were no popish states , but that generally popery tends to monarchy ; and on the contraty , calvinism ( from which the church of england differs only in bishops ) leans altogether to a democratical government . heretofore ( in the civil wars of our country ) there was never the least mention of a commonwealth ; but still the rebels would have a king , and rather then fail , one of another kingdom . i beseech god , that the present principles have no other tendency but to monarchy ; for , reader , you must know that principles may blindly lead men to a thing , which not only their judgments , but their inclinations loath : as for example , the reformed both in judgment and inclination desire unitie ; but their principles in spite of all endeavours will draw them ( as we see by a hundred years experience ) into perpetual confusion and discord . sect . xxxxi . apology . yet this is a mis fortune we now plainly feel , that the longer the late transgressors live , the more forgotten are their crimes whilst distance in time calls the faults of our fathers to remembrance , and buries our own allegeance in eternal oblivion and forgetfulness . answer xxxxi . we can now allow you to complain , and commend your selves without measure ; having proved already , that you do it without cause . sect . xxxxii. apology . my lords and gentlemen , consider we beseech you , the sad condition of the irish souldiers now in england , the worst of which nation could be but intentionallie so wicked , as the acted villanie of many english , whom your admired clemencie pardoned . remember how they left the spanish service when they heard their king was in france ; and kow they forsook the emploiment of that unnatural prince , after he had committed that never to be forgotten act of banishing his distressed kinsman out of his dominions . these poor men left all again to bring their monarch to his home , and shall they then be forgotten by you ? or shall my lord douglas and his brave scots be left to their shifts , who scorn'd to receive wages of those that have declared war against england ? answer xxxxii. he says , that to swell our bill of merits , i take in the irish and scotish souldiers , as if they were a part of english catholicks , and as if i were the first that thought of them . god forbid , he says , they should not be considered ; and he is neither good christian , no , nor good subject , that would not contribute his proportion to it . but , he says , i have a drift in mentioning the irish , for i mingle them with the worst of that nation , namely , with those infamous butchers , that cut the throats of at least an hundred thousand protestants . it was so black an action , that i knew not how to mention it , in its proper place , viz. after the french massacre , because i had not wherewith to colour it ; but being still conscious it was a blot on our cause , i thought fit to place it here , that these brave men might mend the hue of the action . he says further , i deal as ill with the english royallists , by affirming they pardoned many english , whose acted villanies were so wicked , that the worst of the irish could be but intentionally so wicked . reply to answ . xxxxii. pray , reader , consider the wicked folly of this man , for here he denies us a part in the good actions of the irish ; and yet all along he has laid their ill actions at our door ; nay , in this very paragraph he twits us with it , when he says , i was conscious it was a blot on our cause : but i will pass by this as usual , and go on . truly , reader , the case of the irish in arms , toucht me as neer as my own concerns ; and pray see the strange hypocrisie also of this minister , that says god forbid these poor souldiers should not be considered , and that he is neither good christian , nor subject , that would not contribute to it ; and yet in the same exhortation , endeavours all he can to have the laws executed , which must needs force these forlorn men either to beg or steal . by this we may find what his contribution is , and therefore god deliver all honest men from such a merciless creature : and was ever man so abominable ( knowing many of the kings judges were pardoned ) to reproach my assertion , that the worst of this nation be but intentionally so wicked as the acted villany of many english , whom the clemencie of the parliament pardoned ? is not this in plain terms , to say , that the business of ireland was greater then the rebellion of england , and horrid murther of our gratious king , which has drawn an eternal disgrace upon the whole nation in general ? if this man , who uses the word us at every turn , ( ranking himself thereby among the royallists ) be a royallist , then i 'll hereafter say , that bradshaw was one also . sect . xxxxiii . apology . how commonly is it said , that the oath of renouncing their religion is intended for these ? which will needs bring this loss to the king , and you , that either you will force all of our faith to lay down their arms ( though by experience , of great integrity and worth ) or else , if some few you retain , they are such whom necessity has made to swear against conscience , and therefore will certainly betray you , when a greater advantage shall be offered . by this test then , you can have none but whom with caution you ought to shun , and thus must you drive away those that truly would serve you ; for had they the least thought of being false , they would gladly take the advantage of gain and pay , to deceive you . answer xliii . he asks me , who are said to intend this oath , if it be those that have no authority , 't is frivolous ; if such as have authority , 't is false ; and he farther says , that he verily believes , 't was never said , thought , nor wisht by any one that loved either the king or peace of the nation . rep. to ans . xliii . the minister is here just as he uses to be ; for many were upon this account disbanded before he put out his answer ; and since , all the rest of the catholiques have been cashiered , as 't was expected by every body when he writ . sect . xliv . apology . we know your wisdom and generosity , and therefore cannot imagine such a thing . nor do we doubt when you shew favour to these , but you will use mercy to us , who are both fellow-subjects , and your own flesh and blood also . if you forsake us , we must say , the world decays , and its final transmutation must needs quickly follow . answer xliv . here you imagine for the souldiers and imagine for your self : and as if you really thought your self in danger , you begg for mercy of the royallists , in such words as your predecessor the first moderator used to the rebels . only for the last strain , we do not know that any one hit upon it before ; nor do believe , that any one will ever use it again . sect . xlv . apology . little do you think the insolencies we shall suffer by committee-men , &c. whom chance and lot has put into petty power . nor will it chuse but grieve you , to see them abused ( whom formerly you loved ) even by the common enemy of us both . answer xlv . it seems committee-men are intrusted with his majesties authority ; or none must use it against papists , for fear of being accounted committee-men . it is time to have done , when we are come to the dregs of your rhetorick . sect . xlvi . apology . when they punish , how will they triumph and say , take this ( poor romanists ) for your love to kingship ; and again this , for your long doating on the royal party ; all which you shall receive from us , commissioned by your dearest friends , and under this cloak we will glady vent our private spleen and malice . answer xxxxvi . sir , though you set your self to speak tragically , this does rather seem a piece of drollery . but you have your design either way ; for no man can read it , but he must either laugh , or shake his head. sect . xxxxvii . apology . we know , my lords and gentlemen , that from your hearts you do deplore our condition ; yet permit us to tell you , your bravery must extend thus far , as not to sit still with pity only , but each is to labour for the distressed , as far as in reality his ability will reach : some must beseech our gracious soveraign for us , others must again undeceive the good , though deluded multitude . therefore all are to remember who are the prime raisers of the storm , and how through our sides they would wound both the king and you ; for though their hatred to our selves is great , yet the enmity out of all measure encreases , because we have been yours ( and so shall continue ) even in the fiery day of trial . protect us we entreat you then upon all your former promises ; or if that be not sufficient , for the sakes of those that lost their estates with you ; many of which are now fallen asleep . but if this be still to weak , we must conjure you by the sight of this bloody catalogue , which contains the names of your murthered friends and relations , who in the heat of battail , perchance saved many of your lives , even with the joyful loss of their own . answer xlvii . in answer to this last , he has nothing to say , but that the rebels harrassed the papists , to make the king odious , and enrich themselves . that we were necessitated to what we did either for subsistance or protection , but the protestants had no such necessity . concerning the estates we lost ; the sum of his answer is , that after the rebels had devoured ours , they fell upon the protestants with more colour , and nevertheless appetite . reply to answ . xlvii . for our necessity ( other then our duty ) to engage for his maiestie , i have answered it at large in the preface . for the loss of our estates , i say here is an excelent encouragement for subjects , according to this mans doctrine . but i see by the whole manner of his writing , that he is some inconsiderable man , whose name would be as little known if prefixt , as it is now being concealed ; and therefore there is no wonder if what he writ be inconsiderable also . concerning the catalogue of those brave catholicks that laid their lives down for their king , the minister saith thus . answer xlviii . that he can reckon a far greater number of protestants then i can pretend to do papists . secondly , that i have omitted many in my list , which he could name ; but this he thinks was out of design , that i might more excusably reckon some names , which i ought to have omitted , viz. my lord of carnarvan , who he says in his extremities refused a priest , and ordered the chaplain of his regiment to pray with him . reply to answ . xlviii . for my lord carnarvan , reader , you must know , he was a ward taken by my lord pembroke from his catholique mother , and then married to his daughter . in the army my lord never marched without a priest ; whē he was wounded to death , he sent for his brother in law the lord herbert , late m. of worster , and desired him to go tell the king , that he could do no more then die in his quarrel ; and if he would grant him but this request , he would think his majesty sufficiently recompenced him for his life . his petition was , that his mother might have the breeding up of his son ; and the end of this he said was , that the child might be educated in the catholick religion . after this he received all the rites of the roman church , and died in the arms of a priest now alive , that belonged to many of my lords relations . concerning my catalogue in general , you must know , reader , i have been often chid at london for omitting so many considerable catholicks ; but this i could not help , for the catalogue was collected by mr. blunt ( as i take it ) who is to be much commended for his pains . when i printed the apology , i was in such hast that i had not time to examine it nicely among my friends : i am now , reader , also a great way from london , and therefore am forc'd to print it again without amendmēts ; all that i can do at present is , to desire a leaf or two of white paper be added , in which we may write down ( as we shall from time to time be informed ) the names of those heroick men , that died in defence of their king and country . i wonder very much that this minister is not ashamed to urge such a foolish thing , viz. that more protestants dyed in this war then of our religion . this no body doubts of , and may well be , seeing we are not the hundredth part of the nation , and yet by my imperfect list it appears , that there were killed 190. catholiques of quality ; when as ( by the list called the royal-martyr , and printed by thomas newcomb 1660. ) there died in the war but 212. protestants , the rest there named being papists , as you may see , if you compare their names with my catologue . let the word then judge , whether we ought not to have some compassion shewed us , and not to be thus calumniated by every impertinent scribler . reader , those that follow are the ministers exhortations , which are so like the pedantry of his pulpit , that they alone without the rest would have assured me of the authors calling . that you may see what they are , i have divided them into eight several advices or desires , for so he is pleased to call them . first sect. he desires us to be content with our condition , and not under value the liberty we now enjoy , if it exceed what was granted our fathers . to this i say , reader , that we are contented with any favour ; yet 't would be no arrogance if we require more them our fathers had , because it seems the minister counts them all traytors , when as we ( as all the world knows ) have shewn the utmost duty that subjects can do . second sect. not to proclaim about the world for the paring of our nayls that we are persecuted . to this i will give a larger answer in the postscript ; and will only say here , that i defie any man , to shew me in christendome a party that bears their misfortunes with more submission then we . third sect. to abhor them that wish disturbances or invasions to settle popery . to this i say , i think that nothing can make it more manifest that we do abhor such men , then to see that all catholicks detested the french , evē then when we were forsakē by our friends , and they ( as most thought ) upō the point of landing . fourth sect. to keep our religiō to our selves , and not expect such harvests as we had in the late confusions . i say , truly we are like to keep it to our selves , for 't is too severe to be embraced by worldlings : and if care be not taken , the same times will come again ; for i am sure , crying against papists was then the former prologue ; and though the aim of wicked people be still the same , i hope the epilogue will be far different . fifth sect. not to abuse the weakness of dying persons , nor convert the condemned prisoners with drink , or by hopes of an easier way of salvation . to this i answer , the minister ought not to call the condition of dying persons weak , because he and his brethren have always found them strong ; for i think no man ever heard that a catholick was converted by them at his death ; and all have been able to resist that in their agony , to which worldly ends made some in their healths yeild . but now , if catholicks have reconciled dying persons , it must be wholly attributed to the truth of their doctrine , for then all hopes of life being taken away , men will hearken to that reason , which during health ( through temporal advantages ) they earnestly opposed : nay , few of these , if they recover , start back , but on the contrary persevere . i say , these conversions must needs proceed from the conviction of the truth , and not from hopes of any easier way of salvation , because the protestant way is far easier , and naturally more sutable to the inclinatiōs of dying men ; for an ordinary trust in the merits of christ , and an ordinary contrition ( usual to all people that are said not to die ill ) will , according to the reformed hypothesis , carry a man presently to heaven : when as this , in the opinion of any catholicks , and of the agonising party himself , will bring him at farthest but to purgatory . the entrance into heaven is not so easie a passage with us ; for it must be obtained with long mortifications , conflicts , and labours , far greater then those of hercules ; or else in men of ill lives , by some unexpressible energy at the last gasp , like that of the thief on the cross . vain therefore is the imagination of protestants , for we have no other means to convert men , but , as i said , the force of truth on their consciences , which truth in that state they can discern ( as men fallen into miserie , do oftentimes the vanities of the world ) when as in strength of body ( through humane designs ) like the adder , they stop their ears , let the charmer charm never so sweetly . many advantages more ( were it not time ho have done with the minister ) could i shew , that the protestants have naturally over catholicks , in converting of dying people , but they never converted one ( as i heard of ) yet he confesses many have been by us . besides this , i beseech you , reader , to look upon the lives of those that leave the protestant religion to come to us , and then shew me any one of them , that lives worse then he did before . some perchance there b● ( and those almost as rare as black swans themselves ) that mend not the depravity of their first manners , though none , as i said , fall to worse : but for the rest , they apparently cast off the old man , and shew the wonderful fruits of grace by their holy life and conversation . on the other side , good protestant reader , name me that man amongst you , who left the catholique church , and fell not immediately into all licentiousness and vice ; call but to mind gage , cary , rookwood , carpenter , macedo the late converted portugeze , or any other whom you please , and see , if they had one unclean spirit in them when they were papists , whether seven divels , each worse then the former , afterward entered not into them . truly , this is no wonder , because they , forsook their religion for liberty , and followed the pattern of luther their first master and teacher . for , he while he was a monk punisht his body with watching and fasting , as a s. voyon a protestant cōfesses . but afterwards he lived otherwise , as another b protestant affirms : for he says , that when protestants would indulge their appetite , they would not be ashamed to use these words ; let us live luther like to day . sixth sect. not to hinder the course of justice on criminals because they are papists . to this i say , i understand not what he means ; but if any papist has sollicited for another of his religion which was to die , i think 't is not unlawful : no man of any religion being denied to use their endeavours to save their friends and relations , that fall by chance into these misfortunes . but herein we shall obey his advice , for ( unless it be by some unphappy duells ) the catholicks come seldome within the the reach of criminal laws . seventh sect. that priests disguize not themselves like hectors , and poyson clubs and coffee houses with phanatick discourses . to this i answer , that if phanaticism be the discourse of a priest , i doubt this minister is one also ; for never did jacob behmen , stifler , or any of the fraternity write more malitious , self contradicting things then he ; or that have in them more inferences of confusion and disorder . in the next place , if priests disguize themselves , i think 't is not their faults ; and if the minister will get them liberty to wear their habit , i will be bound they shall never go more in mascarade . besides , being thus known by every body , we then shall plainly see , who they be that at taverns and meeting-places corrupt the youth . and truly , reader , i am very morally certain , that this answerer is a haunter of them , for the old proverb tells us who calls whore first . eighth sect. that priests and iesuites fill not the world with pamphlets , philanaxes , exhortations , apologies , &c. which ser●● ( ●e says ) only to fermēt mens passiōs , and not to convince their reasons . if we come into the fair field of controversie , we shal not be declined ; and the minister thinks his party not indebted to us upon that account . good mr. parson , you very well know that the philanaxes , exhortations , apologies , &c. were writ by lay-m●n , and therefore you might have spared this last advice , since 't was as needless as the rest of your false and malitious writing . and by the way remember how you have perverted and falsely commented on a loyal mans learned work , this very exhortation which you mention . his words , reader , are these : as for the roman pastors indirect power over kings in ordine ad spiritualia , by which the sea apostolical in some rare cases hath ( at the request of all christians ) proceeded to censure , and deprive kings ( a thing so much talkt of , and so little understood by the reformed divines ) i leave that question to be decided by the two supream powers when occasion shall be for it ' which may not happen to the end of the world : it being a very rare case , in which it were not better that such matters were wholly left till the day of judgment . now the sum of this is , as the minister says , that if the pope should deprive our king , this catholick would not meddle between them . when as his true meaning was , that this case between popes and kings will happē seldome , if ever ; and should it happen , he will not as to the right ( or , via juris ) determine the nice pretensions of each party ; yet this does not argue , but that he would side , as to action ( or , via facti ) with his prince against any person whatsoever . and thus we daily see the french do , who swear they cannot tell whether the law called salique be forged ; or whether in justice the now male-line , or the english ( because descended from the heirs general ) ought to have the kingdom ; but still they declare , they will fight for their present monarch against all mankind . this , i say , is the sense of the author of the exhortation , and this i dare ingage he shall subscribe to . now concerning philanax , how poorly it is answered , i believe the minister would be ashamed to confess : and yet ( how poorly soever ) he has made use of it ; nay of the most contemptible and groundless follies in the whole book . i am sure , the man needed not to have challenged us into the fair field of controversie , having there-in been more then combatants , ever since the breaking out of luther . nor can there be any argument of more generous bravery then this , that though our priests in england have been hunted from hole to hole , their papers often seized , some in the midst of their works hanged , no library , no press , and if to day well settled , perchance forc'd on the morrow to flie ; yet for all these disavantages ( which no protestant feels ) they never omitted to write things of use , or to answer all sorts of books , that durst appear against our religion or manners . fear not therefore , good minister , that either clergy or laity will be behindhand with you in this affair ; and i think dr. pierce will tell you he found it to some purpose from both nor shall you , sir , whilst i live ( be ready again , as soon as you please ) want an humble servant to shew you your many willful errors and mistakes . the postscript . my lords and gentlemen : you have now had a short view of the malice of the answerer , and of our condition ; nor have i troubled you with points of divinity , it being out of my road , and more particulary belonging to them , who are called to be guides , and make it their profession to studie controversie . the search into history and annals of nations is the fit employement of men of quality ; for by it ( having a view of all that is past ) we presently find what profits your country , and how good men ( by false representations ) may pass for abominable , even in the thoughts of sober people . in this sort who have ever suffered more then we ? for often the best of our fellow-subjects ( having drawn in with their first milk , an ill opinion of our manners ) have continued in the same sentiment , till by long experience they plainly found the contrary . how opposite is popery noised to the grandeur of kings ! and yet we see , that a kings were never greater than then . what exclamations are there to this day against us for our stirs in the beginning of reformation ! though it is evident it proceeded not from precepts of faith , but from a natural b impulse to oppose novelties . nay , the efforts of our ancestors for the royal c house of scotland are laid to our charge as high-treason ; but the putting up of d iane gray for the protestāt interest was justice , even by the preaching of dr. ridley . and moreover , though but thirteen papists were drawn into the e powder treason , by the dexterity of our enemies , yet we all ( even the children of many of the great catholiques that were to have been destroyed by the traytors ) are still held guilty of this original sin . after our proneness to rebellion ( in which how little we are faulty , and how f much others have been , let the world judge ) there 's no principle possesses the imagination of englishmen so fully , as that we delight in blood , and that persecuting of men is a part of our doctrine . what cries therefore have been against they days of queen mary , as if her cruelty were unparallell'd ! when as i have made it appear , that more catholiques have died by a protestants , then of them by us ; and that since the exclusion of the pope , there has been a greater quantity of blood iudicially spilt amongst us , then from the conversion of england to the reign of henry the eighth . the massacre of france is prov'd ( you see ) to have beē no b effect of religiō , but an indirect endeavour to suppress rebelliō . nor are we in england ( abominating the fact ) more guilty of the irish cruelties , then is the protestant faith for what was done at amboyna . for my own part , i not only detest blood , but find all catholicks do ; for if in many countries ( where the prince and people , as i shewed you before , are catholicks ) the protestants have not only open churches , but also publick employments , and in no place this is granted by the reformed to papists ; then must it needs follow , that we are much kinder to you , then you to us , even in the matters of religion . besides this , catholicks are so tender , that the inquisition it self is permitted in no kingdom where heresie is numerous : nor ought we to be blamed , if ( in a country wholly obedient to the church ) we strive to keep out all other sects and opinions . this cannot be jniustice , because to all mankind we grant the same liberty . who is it , that morally blames the moors of affrick ( being of one profession ) for keeping out even the gospel it self ? or who is it , that says the swedes ar inhumane , because none except l●therans shall live among them ? god alone is to judge hereafter of mens neglecting means . in england therefore , where all fell not from popery , there is not the same just motive for punishment ; and certainly it is severity in the highest degree , to prosecute us with fire and sword , as if we were an upstart people , that brought in a strange religion , not finding it here before . ethelbert the first english king that profest christianity ( and converted also by a monk ) never persecuted his pagan subjects , because their religion was in possession : and yet no consideration is thought fit for papists , though our most fundamental laws have establisht this faith ; and the maintenance of it sworn unto ( since the conquest ) by at least twenty of our monarchs . catholicks consider sectaries , as magistrates do rebels : for where they are but very few , they may perchāce all suffer according to the establishtt laws of a natiō , but if they grow numerous , pity causes us now to punish nobody with death , but thē prayers , thē preaching , then books &c. are the fittest arms to destroy thē . this makes us severe in spain and italy , and this merciful in frāce , germany , &c. yet here in our country , there are sanguinarie laws against lay-men , and our priests have been handled with more seuerity then iames naylor , or any of his disciples . what advātage will persecutiō bring , but to make us glory that we suffer for christ ? nor has it ever yet lessned our nomber . no good therefore , i am sure , can come to protestants by it much harm perchance may ; since it will stir up catholique governours to use the like severity to dissenting subjects , who otherwise might live in greater tranquillity and ease . 't is not we that proclaim our persecution ( as this minister taxes us ) in forreign parts , but the agents of princes , who comment as they please on things , and fill europe with noise , that the english of all people are most ungrateful , being earnest to have that done against their tried friends , which cromwel was almost ashamed to do , though we were his profes't and sworn enemies . i shall never omit to render my thanks to almighty god , that i know not one who staggers the least in duty for all this our reproach and suffering : who is it that now loves the dutch one whit the more ? or who is it that contemns not a frenchman whilst he is an enemy to england ? nor did ever any party in this isle ( that deemed it self opprest by laws ) before fail of favouring those , that were in hostility with the kingdom . the presbyterians in scotland were up actually in a arms when two the powerfullest nations of europe , assisted also with denmark made the last war upon us . and for the independants , all who were in pay in holland , openly abjured their countrey , and many of them headed by doleman , did us the mischief at chattam : for forreign nations must never hope to foil the english , without the additional courage of english. just contrary to this has been the procedure of catholicks ; for not only the scotish papists with their commander my lord douglas left france upon the breach , but valiantly also fought with the loss of many of their lives , when those traytors ( as i said at chattham ) assisted the dutch last summer . i need not repeat how zealous the popish guards were in all these three years wars , every body being an eye-witness of it ; and for the papists abroad , i am sure they have been so earnest for the honor of the nation , that at paris , flandres , rome , liege , &c. they were still detecting the dutch forgeries , and proclaiming our victories to all people . nay the hollāders were ever so sensible of the fervour of the english catholicks in behalf of their country , that when de wit was solliciting for a guard , he caused it to be published in the gazzets of amsterdam , that he was in danger of his life , for that two of our jesuits had undertaken to kill him . consider therefore ( loyal sirs ) our services : and though in themselves they are but duties , yet duties may sometimes merit a reward , at least for the inciting of others . nothing assuredly can ever settle more our country in peace , then the free liberty of religion : and if the tenderness of the kings heart ( as all the world knows him merciful ) should move him to hear the cry of his late enemies , and grant them the enjoyment of their consciences ; certainly no body could think it strāge , if he gave the same freedom to us his friends , who never yet deserted him or his father in their greatest misfortunes and sufferings . nay , moreover , if there be still pity left amongst mankind , upon that score also ( had papists no other plea ) we might more justly pretend to indulgence then any nonconformist whatsoever for none of the sects can in reality alledge more , then that the protestant manner of worship is nauseous , and of no edification to them : my reason is , because we see ●t least the rich in all countries go often to church , and yet are owned still members by the party . now such a conformity is diametrically opposite to the conscience of a catholick , and any such communion is a deadly sin . we are not here to dispute , whether papists are not too scrupulous : for this argument may be used against any one of a contrary judgmēt . but supposing such and such things are the points of a religion , and favour desired in the suspension of laws ; i say , mercy is fitter for them , that according to the profession of their faith , cannot comply without sinning , then for those that do it without such offence : and truly , i am not so disingenious as to believe , that were this conformity in their own opinion a sin , that so many persons of all orders amongst the presbiterians and independents would have gone to church , or that their respective congregations would have still received them as theirs . this favour i crave , i wish for all people as well as for my self : for i cannot be so partial as to think my conscience ought not to be forced , and yet that my neighbour may dispence with the scruples he finds in his . punishment never lessens the resolutiōs of christiās , but always heightens zeal , and draws sometimes wellmeaning men into those leagued factions , which ease and favour would assuredly have prevented . what thoughts can men have when they find not themselves opprest , but the publick interest of their country ? it follows not also , that toleration prejudices the establisht religion of a nation ; for experimentally we see , the calvinists of france never had fewer proselytes then when they were securest from massacres , and the like . whilst the house of valois was in being , which used the great rigour they speake of , their history declares how numerous they grew ; but since those of burbon were kings , who toucht neither life nor estate ( only took away garisons , the nests of rebellion ) i never found they much vaunted in theire conversions and increase . my lords and gentlemen , religion is god almightie's own cause , and ( for manifestation of the elect ) heresies are permitted . 't is he only ( and that at the last day also ) that shall satisfactorily convince us all , who is in the right : persecution therefore may easily disioint a kingdom , but can never destroy this hydra when she is fully rouz'd . but now afore i end , i must here declare , if any other ill men ( such as this minister and his momentous friend who writ the discourse of the religion of england ) hope by persecution of papists , to make us the less passionate for the government when their plots are ripe , they cozen themselves , and reckon without their host : for the travellers-cloak ( which is our tried allegeance to lawful power ) can never be blown up by a wind. and if papists were so fleeting , as for affliction to renounce a duty , which they hold be the command of god ; why should they , do you think , suffer for conscience , since by going to church , or taking oaths , they may , when they please , enjoy the ample priviledges of their birthright ? take this therefore for a certain maxime , that be who is faithful to god , can never be unfaithful to his country : and i am sure in all kinds of disorders about religiō here at home , the reformed in each of their respective sects have been far more faulty then we ; if we consider ( as i said ) what was done against queē mary , the usage of the queē of scots , or the late unparallel'd rebelliō : neither for these many years have the papists been struck at , but that the bishops and church of englād felt also the blow : and how much episcopacy is advātageous to monarchy , none can be now ignorant . who therefore , my lords and gentlemen , will be so little pitied as you , if you should be twice deceived after the same method and māner ? but to conclude , no kingdom ( i dare say ) looses-so much as ours by their cry against catholicks : for 't is very certainly true , were not this a bar ( and he who doubts it , will soon be convinc'd , let him step but beyond sea ) that the spanish provinces in the netherlāds ( and for a small matter with their kings consent , as his case lately stood ) would joyfully put themselves under the gentle yoak of our easie government : nor are they in normandy shie to say , that had not papists been so harrassed with us , they would not have slipt so many late oportunities of returning to their lawful duke and soveraign . finis . reader , i hope this impressiō will be better thē the last , which was very falsely printed ; for the printer not only italicated where he should not , and omitted it where he should , but also left out some words , and changed others , as if there had been a private correspondency , betweene my adversary and him ; for soe , i le assure yow , i am informed . the only alteration , i make , is putting the citations out of the margent into the body of the treatise , for i found that it distracted , or at least much interupted the reader in often running from one place to another , especially if what i quoted were long . i have also added to the list more catholiques of quality , that lost their lives for the king. the names i receiv'd from some ladyes of their relations , who are now become religious at paris . i have plac't them by themselves after all , to put the readers in mind , that they forgett not to insert also those whom hereafter they shall have notice of ; and had i time to send to friends , i doubt not but the increase would be considerable . a catologue of those catholicks that died and svffered for theire loyalty . the earl of carnarvan , slain at newbury first battle . lord viscount dunbar at scarborough , and two of his sons much wounded . knights . sir john smith , banneret ( who rescued the kings standard from the rebels at edg●il ) slain at alresford in hampshire . sir john cansfield , wounded at neubury , of which he died a lingring death . sir hen. gage ( governour of oxford ) slain at collumbridge , 11. jan. 1644. sir j. digby wounded at taunton , and died at bridgewater . sir p. brown wounded at naseby , died at nortbampton . sir nich. fortescue , knight of malta , slain in lancashire . sir troylus turbervil , captain-lieut . of the kings life-guard , slain upon his majesties marching from newark to oxford . sir j. preston , wounded at furnace , of which he died a lingring death . sir arthur aston ( gouvernour of red●ling ) slain at tredaugh in cold blood . sir thomas tildesly , slain at wiggan . sir hēry slingsby beheaded on towerhill . colonels . col. th. howard ( son of the lord william howard ) slain at peirsbridge . col. tho. howard ( son of sir francis ) at atherton-moor : the gaining which battle was principally ascrib'd to his valour . col. tho. morgan of weston in warwicksh . slain at newb. first battle : he raised a regiment of horse for the king at his own charge , and his estate was given to mr. pyms son . col. cuthbert conniers , at malpass . col. tho. dalton of thurnham , mortally wounded at newbury second battle , and died at marlborough . col. francis hungate , slain at chester . col. poor ( governour of berkley-castle ) neer lidney . col. will. ewre ( son to the late lord ewre ) at marston-moor . col. ra. pudsey , at marston-moor . col. cuthert clifton , slain at manchester . col. cassey bental , at stow in the wolds . col. trollop , slain at wiggan . col. william bains at malpass . col. william walton , at tredagh . col. rich. manning , at alresford . lieut. colonels . lieut. col. thomas markham of allerton , slain neer gainsborough . l. col. lancelot holtby , at branceford . l. col. haggerston at preston . l. col. pavier , at linc. l. col. jordan metham , at pontefract . l. col john godfrey . at tewksbury . l. col. george preston , at bradford . l. col. will. houghton , at newbury . lieut. col. phil. howard , slain at chester . l. col. middleton , at hopton-heath . l. col. michael constable , there also . l. col. sayr , at nasby . l. col. scot , at alresford ▪ l. col. thomas salvin , at alresford l. col. richard brown , at alresford l. col. goodridge wounded at alresford and died at oxford . l. col. congrave , slain at dean in gloucest . serjeant-majors . major cusand , slain at the taking of basing in cold blood . major rich. harborn wounded at malpass , dy'd at kendal . major t. vavasor , slain at marston-moor . maior panton , wounded at cover , dy'd at highmeadow . major hudleston , slain at york . maj. thomas ewre , at newbury 1. major lawrence clifton , at shelfordhouse . maior thomas heskith , at malpass . maj. william leak , at newbury 1. maj. rively , wounded at naseby , dy'd prisoner at london . maj. richard sherburn , at london . maj. holmby , at henly . major rich. norwood , slain before taunton . captains . captain marmaduke constable , standardb●●rer to l. gen. lindsey , slain at edgehill . capt. wil. laborn , and cap. mat. anderton , at sheriff-hutton in yorkshire . capt. joseph constable , at newbury . captain wiburn , slain at basing in oold blood . capt. burgh , slain at cover . capt. thurston anderton , wounded at newbury , died at oxford . cap. haggarston ( eldest son of sir thomas ) in lancashire . cap. anthony rigby , at bazing-house . capt. richard bradford , at bazing-house . capt. kenelm digby ( eldest son of sir kenelm digby ) raised a troop of horse at his own charge , and was slain at st. neotes . capt. ratcliff houghton , at preston . capt. rob. molineux of the wood in lancashire , slain at newbury 1. capt. charl. thimelby , at worcester . capt. robert townsend , at edge-hill . captain matthew ratcliff , neer henly . capt. richard wolsole , at newbury . capt. anthony awd . capt. thomas cole , at newark . capt. partison , at wiggan . capt. maximil . nelson , at marston-moor . capt. fran. godfrey , slain at sherburn . capt. tho. meynel , at pontefract . capt. john clifton , at shelford-house . capt abraham lance. capt. robert lance , at rowton in chesh. capt. anth. hamerton , neer manchester . capt. will. symcots , capt. lieut. to the lord piercy , slain at newberry 1. capt. tho singleton , at newberry 1. captain francis errington of denton in northumberland , at rotheran . captain george singleton , at rotheran . capt. mich. fitzakerly at liverpool . capt. daniel thorold , at nasby . capt. franc. clifton , at newberry 1. capt. john lance , at islip . capt. george cassey , at hereford . capt. langdale , at greekhovel in wales . capt. carver , in monmouthshire . capt. john lingen , ledbury . capt. samways , at newberry 2. captain john plumton , slain at york . capt. pet. forcer , at york . capt. thomas whittinghā , at newberry . capt. winkley , at leverpool . capt. thomas anderton , at leverpool . capt. rich. walmsly , at ormschurch . capt. john swinglehurst , and capt. john butler , at marston-moor . capt. george holden , at usk. capt. richard latham , at litchfield . capt. tho. charnock , at litchfield . capt. rob. dent , at newcastle . capt. thomas heskith , and capt. john knipe , at bindle . capt. thomas eccleston ▪ at bindle . capt. john hothersal , capt. nic. anderton , at gre●noo-cattle . capt. anthony girlington , lancaster . capt. francis rou● , in dean-forrest . capt. randolph wallinger , at cover . capt. christoph . wray , slain at bradford . capt. wil. rookwood , at alresford . capt. rob. rookwood , at oxford . capt. hoskins , slain at lidney in cold blood . capt. phil. darey , at lidney capt. wil. jones , at ragland . capt. henry wells , wounded at newberry 2. died in prison at london . capt. richardson , slain before taunton . captain tho. madden , slain in woodstreet by the fanaticks , jan. 1660. inferiour officers . lieut. will. butler , slain at newberry . lieut. rich. osbalston , at leeds . lieut. george hothersal , at leverpool . lieutenant william girlington , at leverpool . lieutenant john kulcheth , at worral . lieut. william singleton , at marston . lieut. peter boardman , at bradford . lieutenant short , slain neer glocester . lieut. rich. bradford , at blechington . lieutenant james bradford , at blechington . lieut. tho. kinsman at lincoln . lieutenant john birch , at ●irmicham . lieutenant staley , at rushall-hall . cornet william culchereth , at newberry . cor. deinton , at cardiff . cor. robert lance , in cheshire . cor. edward walker , at burton . cor. miles lochard , at gooderidge . gentlemen-volontairs . mr. edward talbot ( brother to the now earl of shrewsbury ) slain at marston-moor . mr. char. townly , and mr. charles sherburn , there also . mr. nicolas timelby , at bristow . mr. pool of worral , at bristow . mr. john tipper , at ne●●am . mr. christopher blount , at edg●alston . mr. theodore mouse , at langpo●● . mr. gerard salvin , at langpo●● . mr. francis darcy , at langpo●● . mr. wiburn . at basing . mr. robert bowles . at basing . mr. wil. stoner . at basing . mr. price of washingly in northamptonsh . slain at lincoln in cold blood . mr. cuthbert ratcliff , slain at newcastle . mr. thomas latham , at newarck . mr. andrew giffard , at hampton . mr. ●ew is blount , at manchaster . mr. cary , ād m gēnings , at shelfordhouse . mr. james anderton , in wales . mr. thomas roper , at gootheridge . mr. stephen pudsey , in hold●rness . mr. francis pavier , at marston . mr. james banton , at cover . tho. pendrel , at stow. mr. boniface kemp , and mr. ●●lde●ons hesket , slain neer york in cold blood . mr. mich. wharton , at scarborough . mr. errington , at chester . tho. west by doctor of physick , at prestō . mr. peter davis , at d●nbigh . mr. edward davis , at chester . mr. bret , at chester . mr. roger wood , at chester . mr. henry lawson , at melton . mr. tho. craithorn the elder , at uphaven . mr. henry johnson , at uphaven . three so●● of mr. kitby of rancliff . john witham . at preston wil. s●lby . at preston john 15. 13. greater love then this no. man hath , then that one lay down his life for his friend . major general will. web. so wounded at newberry by case-shot , that he lives a dying life . the names of such catholicks , whose estates ( both real and personal ) were sold , in persuance of an act made by the rump , iuly 16. 1651. for their pretended delinquency : that is , for adhering to their king. ioh. lord marquess of winchester , who so valiantly defended basing-house . henry lord marquess of worcester , who has been at least 300000. l. looser by the war. francis lord cottington . lord john sommerset . marmaduke l. langdale , and his son . sir john winter , who so stoutly defended lidney-house sir thomas tildesly himself slain , and his estate sold . sir hen. slingsby , beheaded at tower-hill , and his estate sold . sir piercy herbert , now lord powys . sir francis howard . sir henry bedingfield . sir arthur aston , governour of reading ▪ sir tho. haggerston . rog. bodenham , esq ; . charles townly , esq ; . row land eyre , esq ; . peter pudsey , esq ; . john giffard , esq ; . other catholicks , whose estates were sold by an additional rump-act , made aug. 4. 1652. henry lord viscount dunbar and his sō ▪ sir wil. vavasor . sir edw. ratcliff . thomas clifton , esq ; . peter gifford of ●hillington , esq ; . walter fowler of st. thomas esq ; . thomas brook of madely , esq ; . francis biddulph of biddulph , esq ; . william middleton of stocton , esq ; . nicholas errington , esq ; . lance errington esq ; . henry errington , esq ; . john jones of dingestow , esq ; . john weston , esq ; . phil. hungate , esq ; . rob. dolman , gent. rich. masley , gent. geo. smith , gent. ralph pudsey , gent. more catholicks , whose estates were sold by another rump-act , made novemb. 18. 1652. henry lord arundel of wardor , who raised a regiment of horse for the king , and whose castle of wardor was so gallātly defēded against edward hungerford . henry lord marley and monteagle . william lord ewre . william lord powis , who kept long his castle of powis against the enemy , and afterwards taken in it ; and thereupon was kept a great while prisoner at stafford , and died in durance at london . lord charles somerset . sir walter blount , long a prisoner in the tower. sir edw. widdrington , who raised a regiment of horse . sir richard tichburn . sir charles blount ( slain also by one of his own captains ▪ ) sir j. clavering dy'd a prisoner at lond. sir iohn cansfield . sir iohn timelby of ernam . sir philip constable . sir edward plumpton . sir nicholas thornton , who raised a troop of horse at his own charge . hugh anderton of exton , esq ; . thomas langtree of langtree , esq ; . will. hoghton , esq ; . william hesketh , esq ; . william latham , esq ; . tho. singleton , esq ; . iohn westby , esq ; . sir edward charlton . william sheldon of beely , esq ; . william gage of bently , esq ; . tho. clavering , esq ; . iohn plumpton , esq ; . marm. holby , esq ; . hen. englefield , esq ; . robert wigmore , esq ; . rob. cramblington , esq ; . will. sherburn , esq ; . iohn constable , esq ; . richard latham , esq ; . william bawd , esq ; . iames anderton of birchley , esq ; . thomas singleton , esq ; . iohn talbot esq ; . nich. fitzakerly , esq ; . iohn piercy , esq ; . thomas acton of burton , esq ; tho. gillibrand , esq ; . tho. grimshaw , esq ; . ralph rishton , and wil. floyer . gentl. richard chorley of chorley . iames anderton of cleyton , esq ; . will ▪ anderton of anderton , esq ; with many others . mr. edmund church of essex , was one of the first whose personal estate was plundred , and his real sequestred , which so continued ( without any allowāce to his wife and children ) from 1642. till 1649. when he died prisoner . mr. iohn barlow of pembrookshire , his whole estate ( being at least 1500. l. per an . ) was given to col horton , and cap. nicolas , without any allowance of any fifths , or other sustenance for his wife and many children . here follow the new added names of those , that were slaine in his maiestie's service . sr. timothy tetherston killed at chester . cap. thomas paston slaine at yorke . cap. henry butler slaine at brinle . mr. richard seborne slaine at ragland . mr. william alsley slaine at wiggan . finis . printed with permission an . 1668. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31234-e60 a iosh. 6. 22. a pyr. tr. p. 4. a cam. brit. p. 163. b. b vid. rep. 6. c 645. monasteries . 110. hospitals , 90. colledges , 2374. chaunteries and free chappels . l. herb. h. 8. p. 443. a vid . rep. 48. sect . 5. b st h. ● . pag. 964. reg. 26. notes for div a31234-e2730 a c. 20. p. 40. notes for div a31234-e3970 a vid . his last speech etc. and printed by authority 1644. a cib. b●it . p. 143. b ●ep . ●● a fox feb. 12. b stovv hen. 6. p. 627. 628. c fox ian. 7. d stovv h. 5. p. 561. ● hey● . geog. ● . 20. a du moulins v●ords in ansv . to phil. p. 58. a bates ▪ elenc . mo● . p. a ansv . phil. p. 61. b ansv . phil. p. 59. a calvinian us verber ● p. 4● . a ansv . to philanax , pag. 38. b ib. p. 41. c ib. p. 44. d ib. p. 37. a q. e● . p. 1259. b p. 413. a 1. k. 7. 23. b levit. 17. 14. c gen. 1. 16. a mat. paris p. 262. if there had been any protistants in those days , i vvould not have cited this author . a matt. paris p. 262. a martin hen. 2. p. 3● ric. 1. p. b heyl. p. 89. dan. 110 c baker . d heyl. pag. 97. e he gave them a svvord & cup vvhich they keep still . f vid. his hen. 3. pag. 1. g hovēden . p. 576. blesensis chaplain to hen. 2. ep. 140. a dan. ed. ● . p. 175. a vid. ●ep . 12. b loc. com. ● 57. a epist . l 4. p. 866. b in daniel . c. 6. v. 22. c vid also ●rimst . hist ▪ of ▪ france . d bancr ▪ dangerous positions ▪ p. 34. a heyl. p. 314. a vid. ● . 〈◊〉 . 22. a euseb lib. 5. ch. ●4 . a ann● 604. b p. 130. a hol. p. 311. a vid . rep. 22 b stovv . p. 561. a sp. pag. 28. b cam. brit p. ●63 . a. c cam. brit. ●63 . d. a rep. 2● . & rep. 28 a dan. ed. 3. p. 183. b buck ric. 3. p 150. c buck. p 81. d an. 1585. cam. p. 41● . a hist . mem. 2 eliz. p. 21. ed. 6. eliz. & iam. & char. ● . a p. 444 vid. also buck. r 3. p. 123. b rep. 1 c rep. 18 d bish. goodvvin , baker , speed , &c. a baker q. m. p. 467. b speed , q. m. p. 8●2 . c anno 15●8 . a stovv in the several regin● of these tvvo princes b baker ● . 1. p. 611. a dan. ed. 1. p. 166. b dan. p. 168. a bak p 390. a p. ●●6 b heath pag. 36. a reign q. m. p. 1104. a speed , q. m. p. 847. stovv . q. m. 1055. a 1647. 1656. 1659. b first moderator . a act mon. p. 107. b speed , p. 347. a stovv . p. 67. b dese . brit. fol 35. c act. mon. p. 105. d heyl. p. 469. a stovv . p. 66. b sp. p. 348. b pag. 195. k. iohn . a sir ed. s. p. 170 a stap. trans . l. 3. p. 61. b eur. mod. spec. p. 85. a heyl. p. 71. a th. p. 1065. a dav. l. 5. a the admiral vvas shot four days before the massacre dav. lib. 5. a dav. lib. 2. b dav. lib. 3. a hist . mem. q. e. p. 17. a dav. lib. 2. a buck. p. 12 b buck. p. 44. c sp ii. 4. p. 6●3 . a hist mem. q. eliz. p. 5. b l. herb p. 7. c l. herb p. 244. d ios . ● 472. a h. 7. p. 206. a godvv q. m. p. 336. b godvv q. m. p. 336. c camb. 1559. p. 43. printed 1615. d cam. 1560. p. 53. a c●●d . 1561. p. 67. b cam. begining 1562. p. 72. a cam. 1568. p. 135. b cam. 1568. p. 146. c cam. 1569. p. 164. a cam. 1●69 . p. 160 a cib. ●●●0 . p. 177. a vi●● bull. camb. 1570. p. 180. b h. 7. p. 206. a hist . mem. q. eliz. p. 28. b sanders . k. c. p. 68. a cābd . 1588. p. 476. a st. 2. eliz. p. 1275. a epist . to his convers . of england . b hist . mem. p. 105. a ann. 1●89 . b epist to the read a camb. 1581. & 1592. b sāders k i am . 1599. p. 225. and 342. a stovv . q. m. p. 1056. a cam. 1586. p. 413. b cam. 1586. p. 432 , c cam. 1587. p. 455. a vide pref. to the hist of the world. b h. ● . p. 142. a back . p. 593. a vid . their printed confessions . b baker . p. 595. a baker . p 565. b k i am p. 37● . c king. i. p. 920 d cam. 1586. p. 408. b camb 1586. p. 419. so the queen 〈◊〉 . a wil. king ● . pag. 3. b wil. king ● . p. 19. c mem. k. i. p. 37. and ●8 . d baker k. i. p. ●93 . a the search vvas made the night before the session ▪ ●●● . 879. a speed p. 917 , b speed p. 916. c wil. k. i. p. 31 a sand. king i. p. 323. a k. i. p. 32● . ● mem. k. l. p. 36. a wil. k. i. in several places . p. 196. &c. a k. i. p. 59● . speed says the same p. 918. a vid . procl . non. 7. a vid ▪ trigg's almanack fo 1666. and repeated in that of 1668. b hovv . p. 882. a vid. rep. 13. a catal. doct ▪ p. 180. b ● . mot de eccl. p. 221. a vid. pref. b pref. c rep. 〈◊〉 . d rep. 22. e rep. 2● . f rep. 6. a rep. 12. b rep ▪ 1● . ● rep. 1. a 1666. a preamble vnto an incounter with p.r. the author of the deceitfull treatise of mitigation concerning the romish doctrine both in question of rebellion and aequiuocation: by thomas morton. published by authoritie. preamble unto an incounter with p.r. the author of the deceitfull treatise of mitigation. morton, thomas, 1564-1659. 1608 approx. 359 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 72 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a07817 stc 18191 estc s104505 99840242 99840242 4721 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a07817) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 4721) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 854:08) a preamble vnto an incounter with p.r. the author of the deceitfull treatise of mitigation concerning the romish doctrine both in question of rebellion and aequiuocation: by thomas morton. published by authoritie. preamble unto an incounter with p.r. the author of the deceitfull treatise of mitigation. morton, thomas, 1564-1659. parsons, robert, 1546-1610. [14], 128 p. printed by melch. bradwood for iohn bill and edmond weauer, london : 1608. p.r. = robert parsons. running title reads: a preamble vnto the incounter against the mitigation of p.r. reproduction of the original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title 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processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng parsons, robert, 1546-1610. -treatise tending to mitigation towards catholicke subjectes in england -early works to 1800. catholic church -controversial literature -early works to 1800. catholics -england -early works to 1800. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-02 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a preamble vnto an incovnter with p. r. the avthor of the deceitfull treatise of mitigation : concerning the romish doctrine both in question of rebellion and of aequiuocation : by thomas morton . am i your enemy because i tell you the truth ? galat. 4. 16. published by authoritie . london , printed by melch. bradwood for iohn bill and edmond weauer . 1608. to the right honovrable , and his singular good lord , robert earle of salisbvry , principall secretarie to his maiestie , &c. and the most woorthy chancellar of the vniuersity of cambridge , grace and peace . there are not many weeks past ( right honourable ) since a person , disguised by these dumbe characters of p. r. had couertly sent forth a booke , inscribed , a treatise of mitigation , which he aduentured to addresse vnto both the vniuersities , especially that , wherein , by the blessing of god , i haue had my education , and whereof this is the happinesse , that it hath your lordship chancellar and protector . i therefore esteemed it my dutie in presence of your honor , by this preamble , to sponge out such vile imputations , wherewith he indeuoured through me ( alas ) one of the least of the prophets to distaine both my mother and her sister the famous vniuersities ; and those honorable persons vnto whose care and prouidence they are committed . at the first reading thereof , although ( i confesse ) i receiued some such impressions as that i was not able to imagine that any , professing diuinity , could be so vtterly destitute of humanity , as when he clamorously inueigheth against ( as he pretendeth ) multiplicitie of falsifications , he himselfe should most vsually and egregiously falsifie : yet then , euen in my greatest iealousie of mine own miscariage , i conceiued a double matter of comfort : first , from my selfe , that knowing i durst present my supplications vnto the iudge of the secret thoughts of all hearts , and iust reuenger of all lying wickednesse ; i did not doubt but that being able with true confidence to appeare before god , i should not greatly feare the censure of man. secondly , from my auersarie , presuming that he that would write in defense of their mentall aequiuocation , would be found to aequiuocate in writing . but much more was this my diuination fortified at the reuiew of his treatise ; for euen as the greeke commander , who being in apparance mortally wounded , demanded of his souldiers , numquid tuta est ciuitas ? numquid clypeus meus integer ? is the citie safe ? is my shield sound ? and being satisfied in both recouered his health , and afterwards became victorious : so i likewise , vnder so many ghastly wounds of a virulent pen , hauing generally inquired and vprightly answered my selfe , that my cause was safe , and my conscience sound , and free from any notorious and wilfull falsitie ; i then began more resolutely to confront my aduersarie in this prelude and first assault : and promise ( if god shall be pleased ) a more forcible incounter , after that i haue discharged my part in another taske of more importance , namely , in the answer vnto the misconceiued catholike apologie : which by this calumnious treatise of p. r. his mitigation , as by an aduerse tempest , hath receiued some interruption . this preamble ( right honourable ) as a suruey of some particulars , which being vnfolded , may , if not satisfie the expectation , yet at the least stay the preiudice and precipitation of some , i do humbly present vnto your lordship , as vnto a most zealous patron of the truth , a vigilant discouerer of malignant practises , a prouident directer of one of those vniuersities , whereunto my aduersarie presumeth to appeale ; submitting my selfe vnto the equanimitie of your honourable iudgement ; to which , if by this briefe it be not manifest , that p. r. hath in this treatise preuaricated in his whole cause both in the question of rebellion and of aequiuocation , betraied his countreys state , disgraced the romish schooles , strangled his owne conscience , i refuse not , that to the crimes obiected against me by him , this may be added , that i durst affirme thus much before your lordship . for whose continuance of health , increase of honour , accomplishment of all spirituall graces i shall not cease to pray . our lord iesus preserue vs to the glorie of his sauing grace . your honours in all christian dutie thomas morton . a preambvlatory epistle vnto p. r. the mitigator . there be but two romish maladies ( master p. r. ) which in my books of discouery and full satisfaction might stand need of your mitigation : the one is the vsurped and transcendent iurisdiction of the pope aduanced aboue all christian kingdomes , to the troubling or subuerting of all princes and people of contrary religion ; the other is your professed art of mentall equiuocation . the first of these i haue proued to be ( in the protestant states ) the damme , and the second the baud to rebellion : therefore haue i been by you censured for a false and slandrous libeller . but if , as the woman in pleading of her cause appealed from the iudge sleeping vnto the same iudge better informed , you will giue me leaue to appeale from p. r. as he is a passionate railer , vnto p. r. as he is a placable reasoner ; then i am sure no man shall proue either me a false slanderer , or you a true mitigator : because you in your treatise haue established such a papall authority , which ( after denunciation of sentence ) may depriue protestant kings ( in your opinion heretikes ) of their kingdomes ; making all such protestant princes and all their adherents also alliable vnto all those penalties , which the popish canons , by you defended , haue awarded against heretikes , which are , losse of lands , of honours , and of their liues ; so farre , as to allow that euery man may in such a case sheath his sword in his brothers throat : not disproouing your fellowes , who conclude that all this must be done , when there is sufficient meanes of performance . and shall not protestants ( except they will acknowledge themselues to haue deserued a new massacre ) call this your doctrine execrable and rebellious ? we reade of petilian a donatist , who to the end he might moderate and mitigate the sharpe reproach of the crueltie of his sect intended against the orthodoxall professors , did make a great boast of courtesie and humanitie : against whom s. augustine writeth thus : isto modo & miluus , cùm columbos rapere non potuerit , columbum se nominat ; vbi enim potuistis , & non fecistis ? that is , by this meanes ( saith s. augustine ) a kite , when he can not seize vpon a doue , will be a doue : for , i pray you , when did you spare vs , being able to hurt vs ? the like boast of other heretikes , called rogationists , receiued the like answer : to wit : nulla bestia , si neminem vulneret , proptereà mansueta dicitur , si dentes & vngues non habet : saeuire vos nolle dicitis , ego non posse arbitror ; si autem possetis , quanta faceretis , quandò nihil potestis , & non cessatis ? that is , there is no beast , which may be called tame , because it doth no hurt when it hath neither teeth nor talant : you ( rogationists ) say you will not mischieue vs ; but i rather thinke you can not : for how will not you do what possibly you can , seeing you cease not to be doing , when you can do nothing at all ? are not these rogationists and you romanists equally bent to like mischiefe ? is not your defence ( p. r. ) miluus & columbus , a kitish doue ? for by the title pretending mitigation and obedience , it may seem to be a doue , but by the treatise it selfe professing a plaine rebellion , it proueth a kite . whereby we may suspect that in the capitall characters of your name p. may betoken a petilian , and r. a rogationist . otherwise , answer your aduersaries sincerely vnto this their interrogatorie ; did you euer spare vs , being sufficiently able to hurt vs ? for the time past you can not satisfie ; for the time to come you will not ingage your selfe further than your preface hath promised , viz. it is not impossible for vs to liue in subiection . but will you know the best way to prooue your aduersarie t. m. slanderous ? then must you teach your disciples to cease to be murderous . your second , and ( as you call it ) the speciall part , which is the defence of mentall equiuocation , is no whit better fortified : for the maine reason to free it from a lie , is , because the outward speech , [ as i am no priest ] is mixed with a clause reserued in the minde , [ as , to tell it vnto you . ] wherein againe i appeale from your position to your confession , granting , that there is a mentall equiuocation , which no clause of reseruation can saue from a lie . which one confession is sufficient to conuince all your mentall equiuocators to be apparently liers . hauing thus obteined my cause in both questions , although you rage and raue , disgorging your stomacke , and casting vpon me all the cankred and galfull termes it could vtter : yet can i not be offended with you , except only ( as tully spoke in the like case ) quiame nocere vol●isti : because you meant to doe me iniurie . after you had laboured , by disabling my iudgement concerning the cause , to wound me in the head , you proceed further , to preiudice my conscience , by pretending multiplicitie of frauds and falsifications , seeking thereby ( for so i may call it ) to stab me at the heart . but know ( p. r. ) that your false and calumnious obiections of falsifications are in this preamble so farre discouered , that i may truly thinke the scripture verified vpon you , where it is thus written : therefore art thou inexcusable , ô man , whosoeuer thou be , that iudgest ; for doing the same things , by iudging another thou condemnest thy selfe . therfore i wish you in the feare of god , so to vse your iudgement in this life , as still remembring , that after death you must be called to iudgement . our lord iesus preserue vs to the glorie of his sauing grace . farewell . yours to warne , and to be warned , tho. morton . a table of the particular contents , and paragraphes of the insuing preamble . first part is concerning the sufficiency of p. r. to vndertake any challenge . § . 1. pag. 1 an argument that p. r. his wit was in a slumber in answering to the point of the sleeping souldiers . § . 2. pag. 2 an argument of his memory bewraying his free will to lying in the point of the clause of reseruation . § . 3. pag. 5 p. r. his skill in logicke , prouoking all vniuersities to laugh at him , both in the point of syllogizing , § . 4. pag. 7. and also in diuiding pag. 12 p. r. obiecting greeke and hebrew texts , and thereby gaining to himselfe the opinion of rare ignorance . § . 5. pag. 12 p. r. glorying in a triumphant falshood in his obiection of falsitie concerning the testimonie of carerius . § . 6. pag. 15 p. r. his presumptuous falshood in charging t. m. with falsitie in allegation of the testimonie of dolman . § . 7. pag. 18 p. r. his foure malitious tricks of falshood in obiecting a falsitie concerning the testimony of frisingensis . § . 8. pag. 25 the second part , proouing that p. r. is no sufficient aduocate for our english case , deciphering the disposition of both my aduersaries , viz. the moderate answerer and this mitigator , by way of a dialogue bringing them vpon the stage . § . 9. pag. 30 the third part sheweth that p. r. hath not performed his challenge in respect either of his cause or conscience . § . 10. pag. 34 that the very title of the booke of mitigation is ominous and vnluckie vnto them whom p. r. laboureth thereby to defend . § . 10. pag. 34 that p. r. betraieth his whole cause in question of rebellion , by many impossibilities of subiection . § . 11. pag. 36. shewing his sportfull or rather execrable impostureship therein . pag. 39 that p. r. hath by necessarie consequence ouerthrowne his whole defence of mentall aequiuocation . § . 12. pag. 43 a generall answer to the accusation which p. r. vrgeth concerning malicious falshoods . § . 13. pag. 49 the hypocriticall , prodigall , and prodigious ostentation which p. r. maketh in auouching the integritie of his romish writers . § . 14. pag. 50 popes falsificatours . pag. 51. num . 57 a notable spectacle of manifold contradictions of romish doctors in peruerting three testimonies of antiquitie in one controuersie about images . pag. 53. as namely the councell of eliberis , pag. 53. the councell of francford , pag. 55. the epistle of epiphanius . pag. 59 an instance in a notable romish falsificatour , to wit , cardinall bellarmine . § . 15. both in slandering his aduersaries , pag. 62 and also in the corrupt allegation of testimonies of fathers , § . 16. pag. 66. by many examples euen in one controuersie of purgatorie . pag. 68 another notable romish falsificator , euen p. r. himselfe . § . 17 pag. 71 one falshood of his , about the clause of reseruation . pag. 72 a second , in turning one doctor into many doctors . pag. 72 a third and fourth in changing condemnation into iustification . pa. 73. num . 82. 83 a fift , in changing campian into bellarmine . pag. 74. num . 84 a sixt , in changing a deniall into a confession . pag. 75. num . 85 a seuenth , in changing an interrogation [ haue you any thing to say to their practise ? ] into an asseueration , & a manifest noting an obiection into an hypocriticall dissimulation . pag. 76. nu . 86 an eight falsitie changing holinshed into fox . pag. 79. num . 88 a ninth , noting falsly a corruption of the english text . pag. 81. num . 90 a tenth , eleuenth and twelfth . pag. 82 a thirteenth falsitie in his claime of vniuersall consent for the doctrine of equiuocation . pag. 82. num . 93. wherin he is conuinced of notorious falshoods by the knowne testimonies of three iesuits , as azorius , pa. 84. num . 96. by emmanuel sà and others , pag. 86. num . 98. by maldonate . pag. 99 answers to the particular accusations of falshood which p. r. hath falsly obiected to t. m. and wherein he hath gloried and insulted most . pag. 88. § . 18 first his insultation in the testimonie of polydor , concerning the change of popes names . pag. 89. num . 101 a second insultation in the testimony of nauclerus , concerning the pope choaked with a flie . pag. 91. num . 104 a third insultation in the testimonie of bouchier , de iusta abdicatione , concerning killing of tyrants . pag. 95. num . 108 a fourth , in the testimonie of m. reinolds . pag. 99. num . 115 a fift out of gratian. pag. 103. num . 120 a sixt also out of gratian. pag. 106. num . 124 a seuenth concerning the text of esay 29. pag. 109. num . 129 an eighth concerning the testimonie alleged of the extrauagants . pag. 109. num . 130 a ninth in the testimonie of bellarm. about putting in illos , and putting out hoc . pag. 112. num . 134 a tenth in the testimonie of carerius about vero and verè , &c. pag. 115. num . 138 an eleuenth in the testimonie of dolman . pag. 116. num . 139 a twelfth about the succession of protestant princes . pag. 116 num . 140 a thirteenth in the testimonie of frisingensis . pag. 117. num . 141 a fourteenth and most rigorous accusation in the testimonie of lambertus scaffnaburg . pag. 117. num . 142. &c. the falshood , foolishnesse , vnfortunatenesse , and impietie of that accusation . pag. 120. 121. 123. 124 a challenge against p. r. § . 19. pag. 126. num . 150. &c. a preamble vnto the incovnter with p. r. in confutation of his deceitfull treatise of mitigation . §. 1. 1 every man reprehending his aduersarie , thereby bindeth himselfe to good behauior : otherwise to reproch another in his owne guilt , is to throw dust against the wind , which will reflect and returne with greater violence vpon his own face . my aduersarie p. r. to make me odious to his reader hath plashed me , as it were , with these aspersions , of asse , silly fellow , vnlearned , not vnderstanding logike , shamelesse , false , malicious ; which a man would thinke he could not haue spoken without presuming of his owne wit , learning , truth , modesty , charity , together with all their complements in himselfe . in ostentation whereof he offereth himselfe to the triall of all diuines , schooles , vniuersities , and euery reader of his treatise . but i ( alas ) what shall i say ? who shall plead my cause ? who ? though all diuines should condemne , nobilitie disdaine , and vniuersities hisse me out of schooles , yet is there one , vnto whom i dare appeale , euen p. r. himselfe in his booke of mitigation : where i finde , that this my most rigorous aduersarie will proue my rightfull aduocate ; his wit freeing me from sillinesse , his learning from ignorance , his modestie from shamelesnesse , his charitie from malice , his truth from lying . and though he vilifie me with termes of indignitie and tread vpon me with his dirtie footings , as men do vpon brasse , i shall not be greatly offended , being assured that the more he rubbeth , the brighter i shall appeare both in my cause and conscience vnto euerie christian and conscionably affected reader . 2 to this purpose i diuide this preamble into three inquiries : the first is , what sufficiencie and excellencie there is in p. r. to make so great an insultation as he doth : the second , whether he may be thought a sufficient proctor in this case or no : the third , whether he hath sufficiently performed his taske either for the defense of his cause or iustification of his conscience : together with a challenge against him in them both . the first inqvirie . the true symptomes and arguments concerning the sufficiencie and excellencie of the wit , memorie , learning , charitie , modestie , and truth , of p. r. by a taste in ech one , euen in such instances , wherein he glorieth and boasteth most . an argument of p. r. his kinde of wit , which may seeme to haue beene a slumber when he made his replie . § 2. 3 loquere vt te videam , that is , speake friend , that i may see thee , sayd the philosopher vnto a yong man ; because ( oratio , being or is ratio ) the reason of man can not be outwardly discerned better than by the mouth , which is the messenger of the heart . therfore let vs see p. r. speaking thus : a the chiefe proofe of thomas morton ( to shew our priests to be bad doctors ) consisteth in a certaine comparing of them with those iewish priests of the olde law , in christs time , who taught the souldiers which watched at the sepulcher of our sauiour to say , that whilest they were sleeping , his disciples came and stole him away . [ common sense ( sayth thomas morton ) might haue replied , how could you tell what was done when you were asleepe ? but mindes inthralled in the opinion of a neuer-erring priesthood ( which confirmed that answer ) could not possibly but erre with their priests . such ( alas ) is the case of all them &c. ] doe you see how substantially he hath prooued this matter ? let vs examine the particulars : first the storie , then the inference . about the storie s. matthew recounteth in the 28. chapter of his gospell , how christ our sauiour being raised miraculously from death to life with a great and dreadfull earth-quake and descent of an angell , so as the souldiers which kept the sepulcher were astonished , and almost dead for feare ; some of them ranne and tolde the chiefe priests thereof , who making a consultation with the elders , deuised this shift , to giue them store of money , and to bidde them say , that in the night when they were asleepe his disciples came and stole him away : and so they did . and s. matthew addeth , that this false bruit ran currant among the iewes , euen vntill that time wherein he wrote his gospell . this is the narration . what hath tho. morton now to say to this against vs ? for thereunto is all his drift . first , he sayth , as you haue heard , that this deuice was improbable , and against common sense it selfe . common sense ( sayth hee ) might haue replied ( to the souldiers ) what could you tell what was done when you were asleepe ? see heere the sharpnesse of tho. mortons wit aboue that of the priests , scribes , and pharisees . but what if one of the souldiers had replied to him thus ? we saw it not when we were asleepe , but afterward when wee were awakened wee perceiued hee was stollen away . what reioynder would our minister make ? as for example , if tho. morton were walking with a communion-booke vnder his arme thorow a field , and wearied should lie downe to sleepe with his booke by his side , and at his awaking should see his booke gone , were it against common sense for him to say , that his booke was stollen from him while he was asleepe ? or is not this an assertion fit for one of those doctours , whereof s. paul talketh , that vnderstand not what they say , nor whereof they affirme ? but this will better yet appeare by the second point , which is his inference . 4 the minister hath only this to reioyne , that his aduersarie p. r. hath shewed himselfe , by this his inference , both shamelesse and witlesse . shamelesse , to impute that for an absurditie vnto me , which he might haue knowen to be the wise and learned inference of ancient fathers , amongst whom s. augustine sayth to this answer of these souldiers thus : b o mal● , ô pessimi , aut vigilabatis , aut dormiebatis ; & quid sit factum nescitis : impletum est enim quod à spiritu sancto multùm antè per * psalmistam praedictum erat , cogitauerunt consilium , quod non potuerunt stabilire . that is to say , o euill and most wicked men , either you were awake or asleepe , and knew not what was done , &c. intimating this dilemma ; either were you awake or asleepe : if awake , then confesse what was done , christ is risen out of the graue : if asleepe , then you knew not what was done . for say , i pray you , p. r. when christ by the power of his godhead raised himselfe out of the graue , had it beene a good answer of the souldiers ( supposing they had slept ) to say , we know that christ was stollen out of the graue , when we were asleepe , because we found him not when we were awake ? this inference p. r. doth holde for good : whereby my reader may ghesse how acceptable a seruant he would haue been vnto those iewish priests , if he had liued in that synagogue , in setting on foot that bruit of infidelitie , by perswading the people , that the souldiers reason was good ; the conclusion whereof is , christ did not rise , but was stollen out of the graue : though , i hope , p. r. his faith is not so farre asleepe , as so to preiudice the chiefe article of christian faith , the resurrection of christ from the dead : without which , as the apostle s. paul teacheth , * our preaching is vaine , and faith vaine . 5 howsoeuer , i am sure he hath shewen himselfe heerin very witlesse , who knowing that i set downe the maine question in these words in great letters , for distinction sake , his disciples came and stole him away : specifying the persons , his disciples , the principall subiect of that question : and could sleeping souldiers tell what was done of christs disciples ? as for example , if i falling asleepe in the field , and hauing twentie shillings in my purse , one should come and picke my pocket , and cut my purse ; after , i awaking , and conuenting p. r. before a magistrate vpon suspition of felonie , should yeeld no other reason , but that when i was asleepe , sure i am , p. r. came and cut my purse . then the iustice of peace replieth , how know you that p. r. did it , you being then asleepe ? what reioynder would p. r. teach tho. morton to make ? i could haue vexed p. r. with a more familiar example , if i had beene bent to scurrilitie . it is sufficient to vnderstand , that as it pleased god so to infatuate that lying priesthood , when they thought themselues most wise , for the greater glory of christian faith , as to build their incredulitie vpon no better foundation than a fained senselesse report of men asleepe : euen so it falleth out with my aduersary p. r. who hath bewraied his singular sottishnesse in the inference , wherein he meant to giue vs a speciall argument of his wit. an argument of the rare memorie of p. r. bewraying his free-will to lying . § 3. 6 to make me seeme ridiculously cautelous , as intending whensoeuer their equiuocating forgerie was to be spoken of , to keepe the clause of mentall reseruation vnder a latine locke , and not englished , lest weake ones might learne to practise that magicall art , p. r. opposeth heereunto , c he ( meaning tho. morton ) hath not to my remembrance set downe the clause of reseruation in latine but once thorowout all his booke , and that in foure words in the second page , the sayd reseruation being mentioned in english more perhaps than 〈◊〉 times . 7 if my reader will be willing for my sake to lose so much time as to peruse but the places which i haue noted , he shall finde the clause of reseruation set downe by d me in english not aboue e three of foure times thorow my whole booke , and in the treatise professedly written of that subiect of equiuocation it is ( the thing it selfe challenging so much ) but once : but it is couched in latine phrase aboue twentie times . see the full satisfact . part. 3. f first , 1 vt quis teneatur illud detegere . second , 2 vt tibidicam . 3 vt tibi reuelem : in one chapter . 4 vt tibi significem . 5 vt tibi reuelem . 6 vt tibi narrem . 7 vt narrem tibi . 8 vt narrem tibi : fiue times in one chapter . againe , 9 vt tibi significem . 10 vt tibi significem . 11 quatenùs vir longissimè abesse potuit . 12 vt in commune bonum conferamus . 13 vt alijs largiamur . 14 vt vobis significemus : and 15 vt narrem tibi . 16 viuit in purgatorio . 17 vt tibi reuelem . 18 vt tibi reuelem ; foure times in one chap. and 19 vt dicam vobis . 20 vt dicam vobis ; vt vobis significem . 21 vt vobis significem , 22 abomni spe obtinendi rom. imperium . 23 admodùm exiguam . thus often it is expresly set downe euen in those places whereunto p. r. himselfe hath shaped such answers as his want of grace did permit : so that he could not pretend ignorance heerein . wherefore what this his so open lying might portend , i know not , except he felt his wit wax somewhat blunt , and therefore meant to deserue the whetstone . 8 the excellencie of his memorie appeareth in this , that he could remember foureteene english clauses of the reseruation , where there was ( i thinke ) not aboue foure : but of twenty latine clauses he would remember but one . now seeing that one instance doth confute a generall assertion , as he that shall say , there is not any stew allowed in rome , is easily confuted if but one may be prooued to be there : he therefore wilfully denying that there is any such latine clause , excepting only one , must , vpon the euidence of three and twentie more , be thought to haue made two and twentie lies at once . and shall we expect , that when he is brought into exigents and straits of greater importance , that he will speake truth , who doth lie so lauishly in a matter so needlesse ? no , for an horse is like to stumble in the rough way , who falleth flat of all foure in the plaine . next followeth an argument of p. r. his kinde of learning in logike , wherein he hath prouoked all vniuersities in the world to laugh at him . § 4. 9 for proofe of his dexteritie in logike , he taketh vpon him to discusse an absurd syllogisme ( as he calleth it ) of tho. mortons , in this maner . g his syllogisme ( sayth he ) is in these words : [ the competencie of god , by whom we sweare , maketh eury one competent iudges and hearers , to whom we sweare . but by swearing by god , whom we can not deceiue , we religiously protest , that in swearing we intend not to deceiue . ergo your deceitfull equiuocation is a prophanation of the religious worship of god. ] this syllogisme i leaue to be discussed by cambridge logicians , where i heare say the man learned his logike ( if he haue any ) for heere he sheweth very little or none at all , no boy being among vs of foure moneths standing in logike or sophistrie , which will not hisse at this argument , both for forme and matter . — because it hath six terminos , — and there should be but three . for it is no more a syllogisme than this : viz. h euery man is a liuing creature : euery ox is a foure-footed beast : ergo euery asse hoth two long eares . where you see there be six termini , as in tho. mortons syllogisme , without connexion or dependance one of the other . and as much concludeth this as that . — and now compare this his skill ( i pray you ) with that brag of his in the beginning of his treatise against equiuocation , when he sayd to his aduersary , dare you appeale to logike ? this is the art of arts , and the high tribunall of reason and trueth it selfe , which no man in any matter , whether it be case of humanity or diuinity , can iustly refuse . who would not thinke but that the man were very skilfull in that art , wherein he presumeth to giue such a censure ? 10 i would gladly doe my aduersary the credit , as to thinke that not he himselfe , but rather some of his boyish sophisters hath thus canuased that silly argument , but that thorowout his whole booke i finde him so prodigall of his wit , time , and paper , euery where pleasing himselfe in such superfluous vanities . here therefore he calleth that a syllogisme , which i named only in a more generall terme a reason , and not a syllogisme . now there be many formes of reasonings besides syllogismes ; neither did i , indeed , intend to make an exact and formall syllogisme , but only such an argument , which by due inference and deduction might prooue my conclusion good : and p. r. confesseth of that my argument , that by a double inference the reasoning is made good . i can not see therefore what cause he had to be more offended at me for deliuering that in grosse , which being diuided into his parts was good reasoning ; no more than a man may mislike to-pence because it is not a couple of single pence . as for his example of a syllogisme , it can not admit any such inference to make any good reasoning : for by what deduction can he make his creature man and his other creature asse with long eares meet ? but how will p. r. now vse mee vpon this aduantage ? i i do shew him ( sayth he ) to be a silly disputer , as that he knoweth not how to make a syllogisme , and therefore am forced to send him againe to cambridge to reforme his logike , and to learne more . o good sir , deale not so extremly with me , to put me to that trouble , charge , and shame , but rather vouchsafe ( i pray you ) to teach me your selfe , you shall finde me docible i warrant you . p. r. k now then let vs helpe him out to make his foresayd syllogisme in forme . it should haue beene thus , if he would haue sayd any thing in true forme ; the competency of god , by whom we sweare , maketh euery one competent iudges , to whom we sweare : but in euery oath we sweare by god either expresly or implicatiuely : ergo in euery oath they are competent iudges , to whom we sweare . and then by another inference againe , he might haue argued , that vnto euery competent and lawfull iudge we haue confessed before that a man is bound to answer directly , and to sweare to his intention , and not only to his owne . ergo in no oath to whomsoeuer , may a man equiuocate , which is his principall proposition . and thus had his forme of reasoning beene good , according to the rules of logike . 11 if there had beene either sinew or sappe of logike in this priest , it stood him vpon heere to expresse his best art , where he meaneth to play his prize , especially now when so scornfully he insulteth vpon his aduersarie , and so confidently appealeth vnto vniuersities , as though he would heerupon raise his io poean and triumph . had we not now reason to expect as absolute a syllogisme as all his wit , art , and industrie could inuent ? i am not woorthy ( i confesse ) to enter in comparison with men of great learning , because i thinke my selfe inferiour vnto thousands in our owne kingdome , yet some logike i haue learned , and sometime publikely taught ; vpon which little i dare presume to make a generall appeale to cambridge , oxford , rhemes , rome , and vnto all vniuersities , whether of protestants or romanists , whether christian or pagan , yea , euen to his owne hissing boyes and sophisters , who p. r. sayth are able to make syllogismes in one moneth , and challenge p. r. for this his false syllogisme , willing ( if he dare ) that heerupon wee venture our degrees , which wee haue taken in the schooles . to come to the point : this syllogisme can finde no place either in mood or figure , by reason of foure capitall faults . first , there be in it fiue termini , as namely , 1 competencie : 2 god by whom we sweare : 3 euery one competent iudges to whom we sweare : 4 in euery oath : 5 either expresly or implicatiuely : whereas , according to his owne censure , there should be but three . secondly , these words , the competencie , being part of the medium , should haue beene repeated in the minor proposition , thus : but in euery oath there is a competencie of god by whom we sweare . otherwise it is no better than if p. r. should dispute thus : euery mitigation of doctrine concerning rebellious positions , which are imputed vnto vs , will procure vs fauour of the state : but this is the doctrine of rebellious positions imputed vnto vs : ergo this doctrine of rebellious positions imputed vnto vs will procure vs fauour of the state. the fault in this syllogisme is because this word , mitigation , which is part of the medium , is not repeated in the minor. thirdly , there should be but one minus extremum : with this , we sweare by god , he hath ioyned another in these words , either expresly or implicatiuely : which words being a part of the minus extremum , should not haue beene omitted in the conclusion . like as if a man should reason thus : euery penitent confessarie must receiue absolution : but euery drunkard is a penitent confessarie , repenting either of drinking too much , or of drinking too little : ergo , euery drunkard must receiue absolution . the fault of this is the addition to the minus extremum [ either for drinking too much , or too little . ] the fourth , the verbe and copula [ maketh ] euery one competent , is altered in the conclusion into [ are ] competent iudges : than the which there can not be a greater absurditie in syllogismes . as may appeare by this like example . euery man in framing his last will and testament , maketh his owne executor : but t. b. frameth his last will and testament : ergo t. b. is his owne executor . the fault is the changing of the copula or verbe [ maketh ] into [ is . ] what will now p. r. doe , after that this his montanous boast of a true syllogisme hath brought foorth this ridiculous mouse ? it is to be feared , that his hissing sophisters will turne him into a prouerbe , for thus disgracing their college , calling him p. r. the syllogizer , when they will note any man so egregiously absurd , as in his greatest vaunt of skill to bewray his greatest want . but i may not be so vnthankefull as not to reforme him , who was so willing to helpe me ; thereby to redeeme him from scorne : and therefore wish him to frame his syllogisme thus : euery speech , wherein we sweare by god , either expresly or implicatiuely , doth by the competencie of god , by whom wee sweare , make the iudges competent , vnto whom we sweare : but euery oath is a speech wherein we sweare by god , either expresly or implicatiuely : ergo , euery oath doth by the competencie of god , by whom we sweare , make the iudges competent , to whom we sweare . 12 but i feare lest i may seeme too much to detract from his skill in logike , who hath giuen vs so many tokens of his rare facultie therein , especially in exact diuiding and subdiuiding ; a principall property of that art. as for example : l wherfore all our speech , saith he , in this place shal be about the second kind of equiuocation , which is false and lying , and thereby also euer vnlawful ; which thogh not properly , yet in a general maner , may be called equiuocation , as i haue said , for that the hearer is alwayes wrongfully deceiued or intended to be deceiued by some falsitie , which is knowen to be such by the speaker , and consequently is plaine lying . and for that lying also hath beene shewed before to be diuided into two sorts ; the one a materiall lie , when the thing spoken is false in it selfe , but not so vnderstood by the speaker ; the other a formall lie , when the speaker doth know it , or thinketh it to be false , and yet speaketh it . this kinde of aequiuocation , which really is a lie , must haue also the same subdiuision , so as the one sort thereof may be called a materiall lying equiuocation , and the other aformall : and so much woorse , as a formall lie is in it selfe ( which alwayes is sinne ) than a materiall ( which often times may be without sinne of the speaker ) by so much is a formall lying equiuocation worse than a materiall . there is no boy ( i thinke ) in his college , but hee can analyse the members of this diuision thus : a lying equiuocation is that which is knowen to be such vnto the speaker . and this is to be subdiuided , for it is either a materiall lie , which is when the thing spoken is a lie in it selfe , but not so vnderstood of the speaker . or , a formall lie , when the speaker doth know it , and thinke it to be false . where he maketh a materiall lie , which is not knowen of the speaker , to be a species or member of that lying aequiuocation , which is knowen to the speaker . as if hee should say , some lier knoweth what he speaketh , when he knoweth not what he speaketh . and could any say thus but a lier ? heere indeed is logike whereat the boies of our vniuersities may hisse , and the boies of his college may blush ▪ yea , any rurall boy ( if of any meane capacitie ) may laugh , by sight of the like : for his diuision is all one as if he had sayd thus : euery one of our priests is shauen in the crowne , whereof some are sent into england , and they haue no shauen crownes . others remaine beyond the seas , and they are shauen in the crownes . which diuision if it were true , then might a man conclude by good logike , that a man with a shauen crowne hath no shauen crowne . and yet p. r. our great logicioner can tell vs , that m according to aristotles obseruation , prudentis est distinguere : it appertaineth to a wise and discreet man to distinguish , whereas the ignorant ▪ and the vnlearned doth commonly confound all without distinction . but my friend p. r. ( i must needs say ) is not one of those ignorants , who confound things without distinction ; but woorse : for he hath taken paines to confound things by distinguishing . i can not be delighted with these kinde of taxations , and except it were against such a scornfull aduersarie , i would not haue insisted vpon them . my purpose is only to teach him heereafter to be more serious , who still multiplieth his vanities , as next appeareth in an argument of his kinde of skill in greeke and hebrew , whereby he hath gained the opinion of rare ignorance . § 5. 13 yet againe , to expose me to the scoffe of his reader , the conceited gentleman sayth thus : n and yet truly i can not well pretermit , for ending this chapter , one little note more , of rare singularitie in this man aboue others , which i scarse ouer haue obserued in any of his fellowes , and this is , that the very first words of scripture alleged by him in the first page of his booke , for the poesie of his pamphlet , are falsly alleged , corrupted and mangled , though they conteine but one only verse of isay the prophet ; and then may you imagine , what libertie he will take to himselfe afterward thorowout his whole discourse . his sentence or poesie is this . isay. 29. vers . 9. but stay your selues and woonder , they are blinde and make you blinde : which hee would haue to be vnderstood of vs catholikes . but let any man reade the place of isay it selfe , & he shall finde no such matter either inwords or sense , but only the word , wonder , to wit ; obstupescite & admiramini , fluctuate & vacillate , inebriamini & non à vino , monemini & non ab ebrietate . and according to this are the greeke and hebrew texts also . so as what should mooue t. m. to set downe so corruptly the very sentence of his booke , and cite the chapter and verse wherein his fraud may be discried , i know not , except he obserued not the last clause of the prophets precept , mouemini & non ab ebrietate . and so much for this . 14 which is much more than any man of a temperate sense would haue obiected : for let any man reade the english translation , and he shall finde the same words expresly set downe . seeing therefore that p. r. doth intimate to his reader , that i haue forged a new text , and that the words are by me falsly alleged , can there be a more false , yea and ( if wilfull rashnesse doe not take the vpper hand of impudent boldnesse ) a more shamelesse cauill than this ? 15 thus much of the words , ye are blinde , &c. his next quarrell is against the sense , he repeating the latine , yet but manglingly , and doth not english it , lest ( i thinke ) his common reader might apprehend the sense : or els he left it for me to translate . thus then : * be ye astonished & wonder , wauer ye and reele , ye are drunke , but not with wine , ye are moued , but not with drunkennesse : because the lord hath mingled for you the spirit of slumber , he will shut your eyes , he will couer your prophets and chiefe ones , which see visions , &c. the sense of all is deliuered by s. hierome in his comment vpon the same place : scitote ergo , &c. know therefore ye scribes and pharisees , who are the chiefe among the iewes , for you hearing the lord ▪ and sauiour would not vnderstand , and haue shut your eyes , that you should not see : therefore will god shut your eyes ( who are the prophets ) by whom you receiued the knowledge of god. a little after : or according to the septuagints , he will shut the eyes of them , who boasted they saw secrets , &c. in all these we heare of the spirit of slumber , of couering and shutting of eyes , of not seeing : and can these signifie any thing but a spirituall blindnesse ? againe , pagninus translateth the text according to our english : excaecati &c. they are blinde , and make you blinde . and not this only , but their owne late authorized doct. pintus , in his comment vpon the same place , sayth : in hebraeo est in hunc modum , &c. thus it is in the hebrew text ( sayth he ) your priests shall be blinde , and make others blinde . 16 let vs conferre circumstances together . first , i am noted by p. r. to haue forged a text , but am acquitted by the english translation , they are blinde , &c. this then is his first falshood . and next , for his sense he obiecteth the latine and greeke , but by the exposition of s. hierome both the greeke septuagints and latine vulgar haue the same sense , to wit , shutting vp of eyes , which is to be blinde : which may argue his second falshood . in the last place he opposeth the hebrew text , as different from the english , which by the iudgement of pagninus , and pintus , is almost the same both in words & sense , wherein is discouered his third falshood . so as i can not ghesse what mooued p. r. to deale so slanderously with me , in noting me of fraud and corruption , except it be that he meant we should recken himselfe in the number of these priests thus mentioned in the text , you are blinde , and make men blinde : or in the words following , you are drunke but not with wine : with what then ? i pray god i may not say with malice . in this , both p. r. and i may learne a caution , to take heed wee doe not peremptorily meddle with hebrew texts : for if they say true who know him , as i can say of my selfe , we are but alephbetharians in this language . an argument of p. r. his kinde of charitie , attended with a triumphant falshood . § 6. 17. i doe not meane to bring in , as tokens heereof , his disgracefull and reuiling termes , calling mee asse , silly grashopper , lewd lad : which kinde of rhetorike the learned call caninam eloquentiam , that is , doggish eloquence , wherein this fellow hath ( i must confesse ) a singular gift , which i shall rather pitie than enuie , till i see it better imployed . in the interim it can not offend mee to be called asse in that cause , wherein i carrie my sauiour in his hozanna ; nor to be termed grashopper in that cause , wherein i may be a plague vnto aegypt , i pray god rather for conuersion than destruction : nor to be named lad , whilest i carrie a stone in a sling , in nomine domini , wherewith a noble and gracious lad did hit an enemie of the true worship of god , a vaunting goliah , in the forehead . but i haue a better argument of his charitable deuotion towards me than this . for thus p. r. o i let passe as trifles in this very place ( but yet such as shew a guilty minde and meaning ) that he citing the booke of alexander carerius , a doctor of the canon law in padua , which he wrote of late de potestate romani pontificis , putteth in of his owne , contra huius temporis haereticos , against the heretikes of this time , which are not in the title of that booke . and then whereas the sayd author , naming or citing many other writers to be of his opinion , doth say , nuperrime verò celsus mancinus in tract . de iurib. princip . &c. and last of all celsus mancinus doth holde the same in a certaine treatise of the rights and principalities : this man to frame vnto himselfe some matter of insultation , turneth verò into verè , and then playeth ridiculously vpon his owne fiction in these words : carerius citeth another called celsus , by interpretation high or lofty , and therefore instiles him with verè celsus , as truly so named , and so truly he may be , if we iudge him by the loftinesse of his stile and conclusion . so he . and doe you see this follie ? or will you thinke it rather follie than falshood , that could not discerne betweene verò and verè ? or not be able to iudge by the contexture of carerius his speech it selfe , that it could not be apt construction be verè if he had lighted vpon a corrupt copie , as he could not ; for that there is but one , and that hath very plainly verò , and consequently all this commentarie of tho. morton is out of his owne inuention . and where now is the assurance of his vpright conscience protested to his maiestie in his epistle dedicatorie ? where is his simplicitie in christ iesus ? where is his naked innocencie ? can this be ignorance ? can this be done but of purpose , and consequently by a guiltie conscience ? what may the hearer beleeue of all he sayth , when euery where he is found intangled with such foolish treachery ? but let vs proceed . thus farre p. r. 18. it is but a point of oratory in this man to say he letteth passe , which notwithstanding he insisteth and dwelleth vpon as violently and virulently as vpon any one taxation in the whole booke , and yet the matter , we see , is but only about trifles , as himselfe sayth , and therefore such , as not only christian equitie , but euen common humanitie might haue either spared : or if i deserued correction , yet with moderate schoolmasters to know when to vse a ferula , and when a rod. the fault obiected is a wrong intituling of a booke , which notwithstanding the title which p. r. allegeth ( being de pontifice romano ) might haue born out , because it is the very scope of that booke : so that my errour therein could haue beene no more than if in signes which hang in the street , i had taken an iuie bush for an hollie , both which doe equally betoken a tauerne . the next excuse might haue beene from a possible weaknesse of sight in taking verè for verò . but this mans charitie is so hote , that whatsoeuer slip his aduersarie maketh , it must rather be falshood than follie . must it be euen so then p. r ? and shall the minister finde no more fauourable construction at the hands of a priest , than to be pronounced guiltie of forgerie for such an easie escape , not of a sentence , or word , or syllable , but for this little element ò ? ôthen giue me leaue to plead for my selfe , and know p. r. that the booke it selfe will witnesse against you , which many haue seene in my hands , and any may see that will. carerius , then in the boke aboue mentioned , printed at colen , anno domini 1601. in 8o. ( and ioyned with another booke of zecchius de indulgentijs & iubilaeo , which hath the first place in the volume ) hath in the front and beginning of the whole booke this title followieg : viz. de potestate romani pontificis , aduersus impios politicos , & nostri temporis haereticos , authore alexandro carerio patauino . that is : a treatise concerning the authoritie of the pope of rome , against the wicked politicians and heretikes of our times , by alexander carerius , &c. which title is againe repeated alone in the beginning of carerius his tract , after f. 4. de potestate romani pontificis aduersus politicos & huius temporis haereticos , &c. a treatise concerning the authoritie of the pope against the politicians and heretikes of these times . i haue therefore committed no fraud in the title . 19 the second is of the particle verè , which is also as plaine in the place by me alleged out of carerius lib. 2. cap. 9. pag. 133. about the middest of the page , before the end of that chapter , nuperrimè verè celsus mancinus in tractat. de iuribus principatuum , &c. of late truly celsus mancinus , &c. which the contexture may seeme also to import , because after that he had recounted sixteene authours for maintenance of his conclusion , and comming last vnto celsus mancinus , may well be thought by that particle verè , to haue honoured celsus with the note of truly loftie , that by the excellencie of the authour he might haue gained grace and dignitie to his cause . where then is the sinceritie of this mans conscience ? shall excuse him by diuersitie of editions ? hee will not be thus excused : for ( sayth he ) there is but one edition . what menippus ( whom the poets fain to be the man in the moon , beholding all the infinite corners of the world ) could haue made so peremptorie a negatiue as this ? there is but one , that is , there is no other edition in the world ? seeing that it is free for all vniuersities in france , spaine , germanie , italie to print and reprint all such priuileged books , and yet p. r. dare auouch that there is but one . take heed p. r. nay it is past take heed , for you are alreadie fallen into a whirlpoole : because if there be but one , then hath p. r. wickedly falsified the author , by turning verè into verò ( which all men may finde in the colen edition , anno 1601. where it is verè ) if there may be another , then hath he wilfully bolted out this exception , saying , that there is but one edition . the guilt of the first must bee needs malice ; of the other , madnesse : wherby ( i hope ) my reader may iudge , that the sinceritie of my conscience heerein hath beene where it ought , euen in the heart of a minister of truth : and that it is no maruell , if the conscience of my aduersarie hath beene ( according to his profession ) in the heart of an aequiuocator , who sayth furthermore , i let that passe , which notwithstanding euen vpon a wrong sense he prosecuteth in titles and triflels so curiously , or rather ( if desert may speake ) so currishly , and with such spightfull insultations , viz. where is his naked innocencie ? where is his vpright conscience ? where is his simplicitie in christ iesus ? and is not this a passing treacherie , trow wee ? yet this also is excusable in respect of many others , whereof ( so much as the nature of a preamble may require ) i shall giue my reader that taste , which may prepare him for a sufficient presumption of the rest . but some will say , in so manifestly impudence how can any argument of modestie appeare ? beholde an argument of p. r. his kinde of modestie , accompanied with a presumptuous falshood . § 3. to this my obiection , p all popish priests 〈…〉 abolish the title of succession in all protestant princes , by a pretended prerogatiue either of pope or people : producing for proofe of this popish doctrine the testimonies of their owne doctours , to wit , reinolds , stapleton , symancha . heereunto . p. r. taketh two exceptions . the first thus : q but let vs see and consider how falsly and calumniously this makebate doth heerupon argue in his third reason , inferring for his assumption or minor proposition thus : but all popish priests vpon this pretended supremacie and prerogatiue of pope and people doe vtterly abolish the title of succession in all protestant princes . ergo. wherein to shew him a notable liar , it shall be sufficient to name all the protestant princes that haue had title of succession in our country ( for thereof he speaketh principally ) since the name of protestant hath beene heard of in the world , being three in number , to wit , king edward the sixt , queene elizabeth , and king iames that now reigneth , all which were admitted peaceably to their crownes aswell by priests as catholike people , who notwithstanding in some of their admissions wanted not meanes to haue wrought disturbances , as the world knoweth : so as if one instance only doth truly ouerthrow any generall proposition , how much more doth this triple instance , not able to be denied , ouerthrow and cast to ground this vniuersall false assertion of t. m. which auerreth , that all popish priests doe vtterly abolish the succession of all protestant princes ? will he not be ashamed to see himselfe conuinced of so great and shamelesse ouerlashing ? 21 what haue i sayd , which i haue not prooued ? from the priest reinolds r i reported this testimony , the right of kings christian must depend rather vpon their religion than order of succession , and therefore all christians must cut off all hope , lest any such ( speaking of protestants ) may aspire vnto the throne . secondly , from m. stapleton , this : if they doe not withstand such a succession ( speaking of protestant kings ) what doe the people els but euen preferre man before god ? thirdly , from symancha , this : that if the heire apparent ( speaking of protestants ) be hereticall , then the catholike common-wealth may chuse another , and if the common-wealth be hereticall ( noting protestants ) then the choice belongeth to the pope , and so the kingdome ( which was to make way for the spanish inuasion against england , in 88. ) may be taken by catholikes . from which three testimonies ( besides that of dolman , which followeth ) i made bolde to conclude a generall , that all romish priests are of the same opinion : and am therefore censured for a notable liar : his reason , because three protestant princes haue beene peaceably admitted vnto the crowne , when yet there wanted no meanes of disturbance . it can not be but that this p. r. when he calleth any man liar , doth presently licke his owne lips , as we may perceiue by his strong breath : for first , i reported not mine owne coniectures , but the expresse positions of their owne principall doctors , finding no one of that side , writing of our english cause , to holde the contrary . 22 which is heerein more apparently the generall doctrine of all their priests , in as much as this priest p. r. euen now , when the case challenged him to answer concerning that doctrine , yet neither could oppose , of the infinite number of all his crew , any one priest who euer set pen to paper to confute that doctrine , neither durst he in this answer condemne it himselfe . and therefore where my question is deiure , that is , of the doctrine , whether their priests thinke it lawfull for subiects to admit a protestant prince , and heire apparent , to succession , he answereth de facto , that is , of the euents of things that happened , to wit , that three protestant princes haue been quietly permitted to succeed , giuing his reader an almes of a piece of chalke for a morsell of cheese . as for example : it is a law amongst theeues ( no one of them holding the contrary ) not alwayes to robbe , when they may make disturbance , but then only , when they are in most probable hope to enioy their prey : so that it falleth out many times , that when they meet with passengers , they entertaine kinde and courteous talke with them , and yet dogge them on their way , with purpose to rob them in some presumed place of aduantage : but then by the sight of more company of true men they , being frustrate of their hope , let them passe without any maner of disturbance . if , notwithstanding such escape , any shall affirme , that all theeues professe robbery and spoile , whensoeuer their opportunitie may serue : shall he therefore be termed a slanderer of theeues , and a notable liar ? i know p. r. is wittie , and can applie this similitude vnto himselfe , whom it most concerneth : for he who in this place bringeth in a triple instance of protestant princes , who were admitted peaceably to their crownes , insinuating that therefore they were willingly admitted on the romish part , may be easily confuted by another triple instance taken from himselfe . 1. of the now k. of france , s who being k. of nauarre , was resisted , that he should not succeed in the kingdome of france , lest being in that disposition ( meaning a protestant ) he might haue altred religion in france . 2. of q. elizabeth he hath also sayd , that she was excommunicate by the pope , ( by whose bull she was also pronounced to be no queene ) because she had changed religion . will they not for the same reason hinder succession , for the which they haue endeuoured to disturbe a possession ▪ 3. the third instance is in our dread souereigne k. iames , p. r. in his dolman hath held against his succession to the crowne foure arguments of exclusion . obserue now three singular notes of this mans modestie : 1. he accuseth me to be a slanderer for auouching a report , prooued true by incontroleable consequence , and whereunto no instance of any priest was or could be obiected . 2. he offereth to satisfie a question of right and iustice with an instance of fact and euent , as if he would teach vs to reason thus : romish priests do not say masse publikely in england : ergo they think it vtterly vnlawful that masse should be sayd publikly in england . 3. he hath so assoiled the question by a triple instance , that by another triple instance of his own he is more strictly and dangerously intangled . let me mention , for further discouerie of this his delusion , the breue of pope clemens the 8. commanding that at the death of q. elizabeth none should be suffered to succeed , who was not a professed romish catholike . this m. garnet confessed at the barre , which his confession remaineth in publike record . if any shall require a reason why they resisted not his maiesties entrance , they can not possibly yeeld any , but only want of meanes of disturbance . so that i might confesse my selfe very shamelesse indeed , if i should not blush and sorrow in his behalfe , to see any man by so presumptuous falshoods to murder his owne soule . 23 which is yet more visible by the second part of this accusation which p. r. inferreth thus : t what or how far this fellow may be trusted in these his assertiōs may be gathered by the last sentence of all his discourse in this matter , where he hath these words : [ f. parsons ( in his dolman ) doth pronounce sentence , that whosoeuer shall cōsent to the succession of a protestant prince , is a most grieuous and damnable sinner . ] and is it so sir thomas ? and will you stand to it & lose your credit , if this be falsly and calumniously alleged ? then if you please , let vs heare the authors owne words , viz. and now ( saith doleman part . 1. pag. 216. ) to apply all this to our purpose for england , and for the matter wee haue in hand , i affirme and hold that for any man to giue his helpe , consent or assistance towards the making of a king , whom he iudgeth or beleeueth to be faulty in religion , and consequently would aduance either no religion , or the wrong , if he were in authority , is a most grieuous and damnable sinne to him that doth it , of what side soeuer the truth be , that is preferred . so he . and his reason is , for that he should sin against his own conscience in furthering such a king. and is there heere any word peculiar of a protestant prince , or of his successour ? nay doth not the text speake plainely of making a king , where none is ? doth it not speake also indifferently of all sorts of religion , of what side soeuer the truth be ? how then can this malitious cauilling minister expect to bee trusted heereafter , or how may any man thinke that hee speaketh or writeth out of his conscience , seing him to vse such grosse shifts and falshoods in so manifest and important a matter ? it is no maruell if he set not his name at large to his booke , as not desirous to haue the due praise of such desert . 24 venture my credit , sir ? yes that i will , though i value nothing to be more pretious among men , and therefore willingly put it into this affirmatiue ballance concerning the sentence of doleman , proouing it true in that sense it hath beene alleged , if you will put yours in the other , which is the negatiue , our reader shall hold the scales , and the euidence of dolemans booke shall cast it . the subiect of our question is , whether doleman , one of the three romish priests , doth account it a damnable sinne in his catholikes to suffer a protestant prince to succeed in the crown : after i had proued this to be the romish doctrine by the testimony of three priests , i added this fourth , which was doleman . wherefore wee must examine whether this bee the iudgement of doleman or no. it belongeth to mee to prooue the affirmatiue , to wit , that this was the iudgement of doleman . 25 the title of that booke is , a conference about the next succession to the crowne of england ( namely , next after the death of q. elizabeth ) and about all such as may pretend a right , whether within england or without . one of the contents of the first chapter is , that neerenesse of blood may upon iust causes be altered . and of the sixt chapter : that , an heire apparent to the crowne before he be crowned may be iustly put backe . after this he proceedeth to expresse his iust causes , the principall hee deliuereth in the ninth chapter , the very place now alleged : the contentis this , that one principall cause of excluding any prince is diuersitie of religion . whereof he resolueth thus : u nothing can more iustly exclude an heire apparent from his succession , as want of religion , nor any cause whatsoeuer iustifie the common-wealth , or conscience of particular men , that in this cause should resist his entrance , than if he find him faulty in this point , which is the head of all the rest . where we see , that the person spokē of is an heire apparent . by which word cannot be meant a successor by election , but a successour by naturall descent and right of inheritance . of this heire apparent he x saith further ; that as when a woman is espoused vnto an husband which is an infidel , this contract ( by the doctrine of the apostle ) may be dissolued : so is the case of an infidel pretender vnto the crowne . and lest any may doubt who in this case may be held an infidel , he addeth that y seeing there can bee but onely one faith auaileable vnto saluation , certaine it is that vnto my conscience whosoeuer beleeueth otherwise than i doe , and standeth wilfully in the same , is an infidel , for that he beleeueth not that which in my faith and conscience is the sole sauing faith . this ground thus laid , he commeth at last vnto the application before specified , saying : and now to apply , &c. affirming that , whosoeuer giueth any helpe to the making a king , whom he iudgeth to be faulty in religion , is a most greeuous and damnable sinner . 26 one syllogisme will assoile the whole doubt . euery man is a damnable sinner , who admitteth any prince to succeed in the crowne , whom hee thinketh faultie in religion . but euery romish catholike thinketh all protestant princes faulty in religion . ergo , euery romish catholike , who admitteth of a protestant prince to succeed in the crowne , is a damnable sinner . what is there in all this syllogisme which doleman alias parsons , can denie to be his assertion ? the maior hee hath said , he that admitteth of any to the crowne , whom he thinketh to be of faulty religion , is a damnable sinner . is it the minor ? why , he hath said that , there is but one true religion . and parsons being a romish priest must intend that all protestants in the iudgement of all catholikes are of a faulty religion . will hee then denie the ergo or conclusion ? this were against the law of logicke , and then his sophisters would deride him . how then can my assertion be thought slanderous , which necessary consequence of reason prooueth to bee too true ? as for example , suppose that this p. r. hath promised his creditour to pay him foure nobles , at a certaine time appointed , at what time his creditour challengeth him saying , sir you are to pay mee twenty six shillings eight pence , according to the words of your owne promise ; by and by p. r. ( purging his choler ) answereth , this is falsly and calumniously vrged , was there any such word of twenty six shillings eight pence in all my promise ? nay did i not expresly say , that i would pay thee foure nobles ? what a malitious cauilling creditor art thou , or how shall any thinke thou seekest thy debts with good conscience , seeing thou vsest these shifts and falshoods in a summe of this importance ? would not by-standers either laugh at him , as at a lunatike , or else suspect him for a cosening cheater ? because he that promiseth foure nobles , promiseth twenty six shillings eight pence , though not in the same literall words , yet in the reall sense . or else more pertinently thus : let vs suppose this to be a generall doctrine amongst his catholikes , that no person borne without england can be accounted lawfull heire to that kingdome : which y doleman insinuateth by his particular obseruation of the same maxime against the succession of our dread soueraigne , then the only king of scotland , and that some thus libelling were taken , and by some protestant accused of treason , for affirming that k. iames had no right to the crown of england : the libeller should answer saying : this accusation is false and slanderous , i named not k. iames , but only said in generall ( though particularly i intended k. iames ) that none borne without england was a iust successor to the crown : the iudge should say , well then thine owne mouth hath condemned thee , inasmuch as if thou shouldest now say that there is no king in england , ( although none be named ) because the right one , who is k. iames , is disabled , when euery one is excluded . it is true , ( saith the libeller ) by iust consequence , but yet i named none . would p. r. if he heard this , pronounce this fellow vnguiltie ? then is he no mitigator : would he iustifie his accuser ? then am i no liar . for the case is alike , especially knowing that the scope of that whole booke , called doleman , and penned by parsons a priest , is only this , to disable the titles of all protestants ( yea euen k. iames by name ) and to debarre them all hope of succession in great britaine : and to preferre the infanta of spaine before all other pretenders . this then hath beene but his cauilling malice thus iniuriously to accuse me of malitious cauilling . there remaineth only an argument of p. r. his kind of truth , full of triumphant treachery . § 8. 27 though all the former arguments of p. r. his wit , memory , learning , and modesty containe in them the liuely characters and demonstrations of a liar , yet haue i reserued to this last place of truth , such an accusation , from whence one would thinke he had gained a triumph saying : z in the very next page ( saith p. r. ) after , he talking of the great and famous contention that passed betweene pope gregory the seuenth , called hildebrand , and henry the fourth emperor of that name , about the yeere 1070. he citeth the historiographer otto frisingensis , with this ordinary title of our otto , for that hee writeth that hee found not any emperour actually excommunicated or depriued of his kingdome by any pope before that time , except ( saith he ) that may be esteemed for an excommunication which was done to philip the emperour by the bishop of rome , almost 1400. yeeres agone , when for a short time hee was inter poenitentes collocatus , placed by the said pope amongst those that did penance ; as that also of the emperour theodosius , who was sequestred from entring into the church by s. ambrose , for that hee had commanded a certaine cruell slaughter to be committed in the city of thessalonica : both which exceptions this minister of simple truth leaueth out of purpose , which is no simplicity , as you see , but yet no great matter with him , in respect of the other that ensueth , which is , that he allegeth this * frisingensis quite contrary to his own meaning , as though hee had condemned pope gregory the seuenth for it , whereas he condemneth that cause of the emperour , and commēdeth highly the pope for his constancy in punishing the notorious faults of the said henry . hildebrandus ( saith he ) semper in ecclesiastico rigore constantissimus fuit : hildebrand was euer the most constant in defending the rigour of ecclesiasticall discipline . and againe in this very chapter alleged by t. m. inter omnes sacerdotes & romanos pontifices praecipui zeli & authoritatis fuit : hee was among all the priests and popes that had beene of the roman sea of most principall zeale and authority . how different is this iudgement of frisingensis from the censure of t. m. who now after 500. yeeres past compareth the cause of pope gregory to that of pyrates , theeues and murtherers , and so citeth our otto frisingensis , as though hee had fauoured him in this impious assertion ? can any thing bee more fraudulently alleged ? is this the assurance of his vpright conscience whereof hee braggeth to his maiesty ? 28 in the full satisfaction part. 3. cha. 11. pa. 28. that which was intended to be proued was this : that not till a thousand yeeres after christ did euer any prelate or pope attempt the deposing of emperors and depriuing them of their crownes . for proofe heereof i brought in the testimony of otto frisingensis from the witnesse of tolossanus lib. 26. de repub. cap. 5. in these words , i reade and reade againe , and finde , that pope hildebrand , in the yeere 1060. was the first pope , who euer depriued an emperor of his regiment . wherein now haue i wronged my conscience ? is it because otto frisingensis is cited contrarie to his meaning ? if this should be supposed to be true , yet could it not preiudice my conscience , because i cited not the author himselfe , but only tolossanus a romish doctor , who reported that sentence of frisingensis . and is not this a fine treacherie of my accuser to conceale the authour , and so eagerly and bitterly to inueigh against me , who am only the relater , and might answer him , that if i be deceiued your owne doctor hath deceiued me ? this answer i vse heere to demonstrate the malice of my accuser , and not ( although it might suffice ) to satisfie the point in question , in behalfe whereof i auouch my allegation to be true . and why not ? otto frisingensis ( sayth p. r. ) mentioneth ancient examples of two emperors , who were excommunicate , both which the minister of simple truth leaueth out of purpose . i left them out of purpose ( i confesse ) otherwise i should haue beene like to your selfe in this and other such cauilles , who desire to say much , though nothing to the purpose . for to what purpose , i pray you , had this beene , seeing our question was not to shew what emperors had beene excommunicated , but who , being excommunicate , had been deposed from their royalties ? then my case is no otherwise , than supposing that p. r. or any other had beene degraded in any vniuersitie , and demand being made concerning the time , when this was done : i should answer ( and that truly ) that it was in the dayes of elizabeth queene of england : presently p. r. after his ordinary maner of saluation should call me liar , because i ought to haue told that he was admonished and excommuned before he was degraded . so dull and friuolous is his present taxation in a question of antiquity , concerning the time when first any pope did take vpon him to depose emperours . frisingensis sayth plainly , that hildebrand was the first : he saith moreouer ( commending him ) that hildebrand was constant in punishing faults . say then ( good p. r. ) seeing both these two are true , can one of them be a lie ? as if when two noble men h. and b. contend whether of them are of more ancient descent , i should heare f. an herald say , that the house of b. is not so ancient by much : yet is b. ( saith the herald ) in his owne person both in regard of valure and bountie farre more honorable than h. then i , purposing to answer to the question , report the heralds speech : to wit : the house of b. is not , by much , so ancient as is the house of h. would p. r. hearing this , presently crie out , ô notorious and intolerable liar ! sayd the herald so ? did he not commend b. for valour and bountie ? could any by-stander containe laughter , to heare such a senslesse exception as this ? because that although i omitted the commendation of bountie , yet did i truly relate the obseruation of ancientrie , which was the principall matter in question . i leaue the application vnto p. r. let h. be henrie the emperor , b. the bishop of rome , f , the herald , frisingensis , &c. but p. r. is iealous of his fathers honor , and therfore will haue it knowen that he is commended by frisingensis , and yet could not be ignorant , that the next witnesse , whom i a produced , claudius espencaeus , their owne romish bishop , doth plainly auerre , that hildebrand was the first pope , who without any example of antiquitie made a schisme betweene emperours and popes , and by his example prouoked the popes following him , to take armes against kings excommunicate . this authour disabling not only the antiquitie of that rebellious practise of the pope , but also condemning the fact it selfe . therefore hath p. r. by wily silence made as it were a pocketting of this author , as of a medlar . and was not this a piece of fine fraud ? 29 but p. r. is not contented to haue noted me in the former ( as he calleth it ) notorious fault , but repeateth it againe , making himselfe therein in a maner triumphant , saying , that b otto frisingensis commendeth hildebrand , and yet is brought in to condemne him . after this againe he insulteth vpon it in this sort : truly , if any man can shew me out of all the catholike writers that be extant , english or other , that euer any one of them vsed this shamefull fraud in writing , where no excuse can free them from malicious and witting falshood , then will i grant that this is not proper to the protestant spirit alone . hitherto , i must confesse , that i neuer found it in any , and if i should , though it were but once , i should holde it for a sufficient argument not to beleeue him euer after . and this shall suffice for a taste only of m. mortons maner of proceeding . for that to prosecute all particulars would require a whole volume , and by these few you may ghesse at the mans veine and spirit in writing . so p. r. 30 aristotle telleth vs of one antiphon , who was of that weake sight , that whensoeuer he walked he saw his owne image reflecting vpon him in the aire . what shall we imagine of this exclamation against shamefull and malicious fraud in writing , except it had beene spoken in respect of the reflection of his owne image , who hath playd me foure malicious tricks in one page ? one is , to lay an imputation of falshood vpon me , as though i had cunningly pretermitted the examples of emperors excommunicate , whereas the question was only concerning emperors depriued of their state and dignities . the second cauill is , not acknowledging the commendation of hildebrand in otto frisingensis , when as i intended not to proue out of this author the equitie , but only the antiquitie of that practise . thirdly , in making me so perniciously enuious , as to condemne hildebrand without a witnesse , when as i produced their owne bishop espencaeus to condemne him . lastly , in charging me with a wilfull peruerting of the meaning of the authour otto frisingensis , when as ( if it had been so abused ) yet not i but their owne doctor tolossanus was the author of that report . 31 the view of all these and other formerly mentioned wilfull and transparent falsities of p. r. together with some other the like desperate calumniations to be pointed at in this preamble , causeth me iustly to present him with his owne image , professing vnfainedly , that i neuer found any writer of any profession whatsoeuer , who hath vsed such shamefull fraud in answering . and this , i doubt not , but the christian reader will confesse , when he shall see this transfigured parson appeare in his owne likenesse . the second inqvirie . whether p. r. may be iudged a competent aduocate for this cause which he hath assumed : and whether he hath not beene excepted against by his owne fellow . § 9. 32 this p. r. hath bestowed six or seuen sections in censuring me and my aduersary the moderate answerer , concerning whom he writeth thus : c i must needs say that the answerer hath endeuoured to effectuate so much as he promised in the title of his book , which was , of a iust and moderat answer , & in performance thereof hath not only borne on matters temperatly , as before hath beene shewed , but spared also his aduersary in many points , and namely in passing ouer his allegations without note , or checke . — in the rest the answerer quitteth himselfe learnedly , and sheweth much reading in particular , as by the multiplicity of authors by him alleged doth well appeare . 33 say you so p. r. ? did your fellow answer learnedly ? why who are you , and where is your abode , tell me ? d the booke of tho. morton was sent me out of england . then belike this mitigator is out of england , who , by the constant and generall voice , hath his residence at rome . may it now please him to heare what this moderate answerer ( whom he so greatly commended ) hath iudged of such extrauagant persons as hee is , if peraduenture any such write bookes concerning our english state ? that answerer being pressed with the testimonies of many forren iesuites and others , who defended the first ground of all rebellious positions and practises , was driuen for a moderation , to vse this euasion ; e i suppose , ( saith he ) that no learned catholike within this kingdome ( yet such can best iudge of this country cause ) doth defend this opinion . heereby censuring all priests without the kingdome lesse fit or sufficient to meddle in this cause . we see that this mitigator hath commended the moderator for a learned answerer , and that moderator by this his generall censure , hath taken exception vnto this mitigator , concluding him to be an answerer ( in his opinion ) insufficient . 34 if both these should meet vpon one stage to act their dispositions , they could not but make good sport for the beholders . as for example ( for i will faine nothing in their names , which shal not be consonant & agreeable to their conditions . ) first then the moderate answerer might haue said , p. r. you haue beene altogether presumptuous to take vpon you this answer called the mitigation , knowing that you shall but bewray your ignorance , because residing out of england , you cannot be rightly experienced in this our countrey cause . to whom the mitigator might reioine , saying ; nay i haue not beene arrogant , but thou hast beene rash and precipitant , for if thou by thy former answer mightest haue been thought sufficient for a replie , what needed such posting to mee beyond the seas for a supplie of a more exact and learned reioinder ? then the mod. answerer ; haue patience , i pray you , for when i perceiued so many of our authors obiected , al of them by due consequent giuing protestants cause of hatred against vs , as against those that had by our doctrine decreed a depriuing them of their debts , goods , crownes and liues , whensoeuer opportunity might serue , i was enforced to vse this answer for a refuge , taking exceptions to all authors out of england , who writ of this english case : and to appeale rather to other catholikes , who being in this kingdome , haue written nothing heereof . this is the ground of my moderation , which not the truth of our cause , but the necessity of the time did exact at my hands . whereunto the mitigator thus : thou hast done well , and such hath beene the cause of my commendation of thy answer , as thou maist perceiue , for i haue said that f i must need● say that the answerer hath acquitted himself learnedly . not that i could thinke so , but because ( thou knowest ) we must commend and iustifie one another , especially in these times , wherein our malice and madnesse both in doctrine and practise hath been so fully discouered . and therfore i thought it necessary also to intitle my booke a mitigation , concealing in my mind this reseruation [ to delude my reader . ] thus it must be , when we raise a flame of rebellion , which shall not succeed , then it is policy to cast about vs some holy-water sprinkle of plausible termes moderation and mitigation , as though we intended to quench that with our water , which we had rather do with oile . the moder . i perceiue you are subtile and therfore willingly yeeld you place to answer my aduersary , the rather because i thinke you are troubled with the disease of some of our catholike lawyers , of whom you haue sayd , g they itch to be doing , and answering m. atturney . this was also my disease , but i after found a scratch , and so may you . then mitig. tush , wee need not care , namelesse are blamelesse , for thou settest no name vnto thy moderation , and i only set downe mute and dumbe characters , which are as good as nothing , to my mitigation . againe , we haue many great and principall oddes of protestants , besides railing , viz. when our aduersary prooueth any thing by many testimonies out of our owne authours , and we are not able to satisfie the common opinion obiected against vs , then to single out any allegation of any one of his witnesses , which hee hath produced , and if thou perceiue him to faile in the manner of alleging , squeeze euery such answer to make him , at the least , seeme to be fraudulent : and if thou canst finde him faulty in one , it is no matter though all the rest of our authors cited against vs be neuer so true , we shall wound the cause in his person , as he doth our persons in the cause . furthermore bee alwaies echoing out against him some opprobrious termes , as mountbanck , grashopper , malitious , shamelesse , false , and what not ? the moderat . i remember i haue often charged him with slanders when as not hee but my selfe did falsifie ; which he hath discouered , and in a manner silenced me . the mitig. we need not feare any such euent , because of our manifold aduantages : for protestants are licenced to reade any bookes , and some in curiositie , as eue , some in doubtfulnesse , as the capernaitans ; many in presumption , as balaam , most for the delight which they finde in an eloquent and inuectory style of writing ( ô mine is excellent ! ) as athenians ; so that it cannot be but where so many mice be still nibbling at the baite , some will daily be catched . but our professors be kept secure vnder the locke and key of the vowe of obedience , or els haue their hearts so stupified with that opium of implicit faith and blinde deuotion : that though my aduersarie in his answer shall prooue me neuer so monstrously calumnious and slanderous , yet of our catholikes few can , and none dare examine or beleeue any thing against a priest : this is our sufficiency . the moder . you haue forgot an other policy we vse , which is , though our aduersary write neuer so methodically and orderly , yet not to follow him exactly in his course , and commonly to pretermit those authorities which he bringeth , and wherein is the chiefe strength of his cause . mitigat . and is not this good policie ? he that will cunningly put away a counterfeit piece of coine in stead of currant , must do it apart from the other money , for if true and counterfeit be compared together , the good will discouer the bad , and his booke thou knowest is a discouerie . againe , thou maiest perceaue that when i vse no method my selfe , i challenge him for h want of method . but why doe we spend time in talke , let vs about our businesse . i will be writing a mitigation for securitie of our catholikes in england , whilest our fellowes are practizing rebellion in i ireland for the subuersion of protestants . thus , thus it must be . farewell . in all this there is no more represented then is too certainly acted by the romanists , as in our incounter vnto p. r. will more plentifully appeare . it is time we come vnto the third inqvirie : to examine how sufficiently p. r. hath performed his challenge as well for the equitie of his cause , as for the integritie of his conscience : his cause , both as it is premised in the title of his booke , and as it is discussed in the treatise . of these summarily and in order . first : that the title of the booke of p. r. called a mitigation , is very ominous and vnluckie to them , whom especially he laboureth to defend . § 10. 35 the subiect of his whole mitigation is by p. r. thus propounded in the title of his booke , viz. that it is not impossible for subiects of different religion ( especially catholikes and protestants ) to liue together in dutifull obedience and subiection vnder the gouernment of his maiestie of great britaine . it is not impossible , good : for why ? it is not impossible for k fire to descend from heauen , and the l people of god to passe safely thorow the red sea : it is not impossible for 〈◊〉 m asse to speake reason , and the n diuell to tell truth : it is not impossible for the o dead to be raised to life , and for the disciples of our sauiour by p faith to remoue mountaines . nothing is impossible with god : who as hee prescribeth the raging sea his bounds , which it can not passe , though naturally it affect an ouerflow and deluge of the whole world ; so doth hee by his gracious prouidence often represse the furie of rebellious spirits in what profession soeuer ; and , notwithstanding they trauell with mischiefe , yet he keepeth them in an awfull subiection . and shall now this mitigation of feares , conceiued by protestants against the bloody designments of their romish aduersaries , consist of no better termes then the possibilitie of things , which are in the ordinarie course of nature impossible ? though a man taken vpon suspicion of felonie be charged by his accuser to be most certainly the man , who assaulted him by the way , might not be thought to satisfie the iustice , saying , sir hee chargeth mee that it was impossible but that i must haue done this mischiefe ; neuerthelesse i shall prooue the contrarie , to wit , that it was not impossible , but an other might haue done it , and not i. although this answer might confute his accuser , who said , it is impossible but that it was you : yet could it not satisfie the iustice , because still the answer implieth as well a possibilitie that he did it , as an impossibilitie that he did it not . hath not therefore p. r. their learned aduocate merited of his clients , a catholike , that is , an vniuersall fee , who now intending a mitigation of their punishment , hath giuen the state so great cause of suspecting their disloyaltie , as that he dare promise no better assurance in their behalfe , then only , it is not impossible for them to liue in obedience ? s. pauls charge concerning temporall obedience is , q let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers ; and againe , r we must be subiect not because of wrath onely , but also for conscience sake . wherein he hath prescribed vs not a may but a must ; and thereby inioyned not a possibilitie , but a necessitie of loyall subiection . but this [ it is not impossible to liue in obedience ] is no more by logicall conuersion then this ; it is possible to liue in obedience . which so suspicious and imposturous a title of his whole booke can minister no more hope to protestants of his pretended mitigation and composition , then an adulterous woman can satisfie her husband , and mitigate his iealousie by this maner of submission : be contented , good husband , though i haue committed folly as often as i had presumption of secrecie and opportunitie to satisfie my lust ; yet now may you bee better perswaded of me , for i protest vnto you , it is not impossible that i shal liue honestly heerafter . this case is nothing different from the former . what shall we then thinke of p. r. but as of the man , who had purposed with himselfe either to scorne protestants , or else to betray his catholikes ? neuerthelesse as worldly feasters vsually offer their guests s the best wine first , and then that which is worse : so he hath prefixed in the forehead of his booke this title of mitigation , although prodigious and intolerable ( as we haue heard ) yet more plausible than the whole tract of the booke it selfe , which teacheth indeed an impossibilitie of all voluntarie subiection vnto protestant princes ; insomuch that after but a summarie view hereof , it will appeare that the title of his booke and his treatise are no more proportionable and agreeable , than the head of an ape ioyned with the bodie of a beare . from the title we proceed vnto the treatise , and manifest that the mitigator in his treatise hath betrayed his whole cause both in the question of rebellion , and aequiuocation . § 11. 36 when the apostle s. iude in his catholike epistle , speaking of men opposite vnto the soundnesse of faith , exhorteth christians to t haue a compassion on some in putting a difference , and others to saue with feare , pulling them out of the fire : he teacheth vs likewise a lesson of great discretion , which is , to distinguish betweene men who are aduerse vnto vs in religion . so now i write against our aduersaries , but not without note of difference and distinction , being verily perswaded that diuers euen of the zealous amongst them , partly by the power of the ingraffed law of reason , partly from a glimpse of the truth of the gospel , do abhor such doctrines and practises , as haue beene discouered in the cases of rebellion & aequiuocation . so that my only aime hath alwayes been at those , who are so inspired with the perswasion of their priests , as to beleeue their doctrine in both these specified articles . concerning whose pretended voluntarie obedience , i shall proue to bee in a maner , a confessed impossibility of dutifull subiection vnto protestant princes ; and consequently as sensible an opposition as was betweene iewes and iebusites in one kingdome , isaac and ismael in one house , iacob and esau in one wombe : as by this treatise of p. r. will directly appeare . the first confessed impossibility . 37 we first demand what soueraigntie our mitigator will allow his maiesty of great britaine : and whether there may be any forren potentate , whom he would aduance aboue him in respect of his temporall charge ? p. r. resolueth thus : u whether with this commission in spirituall affaires our sauior gaue also immediately and directly , the charge and ouersight of temporalities in like manner , or rather indirectly and by a certaine consequence , that is to say , that when the gouernment of spirituall affaires , to wit , of soules to their eternall blisse and saluation is so letted and impugned by any temporall gouernours , as the said spirituall commission cannot be executed without redresse or remedy , in such cases , and not otherwise , the said supreame pastor to haue authority to proceed also against the said temporall gouernors , for defence and preseruation of his spirituall charge . of which question the canonists do commonly defend the first part , but catholike diuines for the most part the second : but both parts full agree , that there is such an authority left by christ in his church , for remedy of vrgent cases . thus farre p. r. see then that by this arguing hee seeketh to establish a papall power and ouer-sight euen in temporall affaires , whether directly or indirectly it skilleth not , seeing ( that in his opinion ) both do agree : but the oath of allegeance with protestants is otherwise : namely , that no forren personor potentate hath any such supremacy in great britaine . therefore the mitigation of p. r. standeth of no more possibility , than pope and no pope , kings supremacy and not supremacy . which opposites can neuer be reconciled together . the second confessed impossibility . 38 secondly , because hee hath told vs , that there is a power ordained against kings in temporall affaires , it may concerne vs to vnderstand the first extent thereof , whether against the goods , or persons , or liues of such princes as shall resist the spirituall iurisdiction of popes ? hee doth deliuer his meaning in two examples : x two protestant princes were excommunicated , censured , molested by the sea apostolike , q. elizabeth of england , and k. henry then of nauar , now of france : the first of these two for the violent change of religion which she made in the realm with depriuations and imprisonments of catholike bishops , prelates , and clergie , &c. the other for feare hee comming to the crowne of france in that disposition , wherein hee then was presumed to be , should attempt the like change in that great kingdome , &c. these examples are both plaine and pregnant , a protestant queene must be depriued for resisting the spirituall iurisdiction of the pope , and a protestant king also must be deposed , lest peraduenture he may make any resistance . now wee see that the same papall authority is by the lawes of great britaine as expresly excluded , their religion suppressed , their clergy exiled , and protestants religion ( according to former proceedings ) continued . all which doth argue as great an impossibility of dutifull subiection , as it is for hinderance and sufferance , change and continuance of the same religion to be matched and married together . and could our mitigator shew himselfe a more egregious preuaricator than thus ? the third confessed impossibility . 39 because p. r. hath told vs that protestant princes haue beene molested by the pope , it will be materiall to inquire what this word molestation may meane : for a man would thinke it some qualifying terme , and to import no greater iniuries than either reuiling the names of kings , or disgracing their embassadours , or damnifying their merchants , or such like wrongs . tush no , for all such like contempts are contemptible , and may easily be deuoured , but this molestation ( according to the discouered positions and practises of rebellion , whereunto this mitigator neither hath or could take any exception ) is , y because the queene of england hath forbid her clergie and people to acknowledge the romane church , or obey her decrees , &c. and because we vnderstand her to bee so obstinate , as not to suffer our legates to come into england , &c. we therefore pronounce her hereticall , anathematizing her and all her adherents , and furthermore depriue her of her crowne and dignity , absoluing all her subiects from the oath of allegeance . so likewise of the k. of france , z pronouncing him to be depriued of his regall dignity : a because he is a caluinist . vpon this followed the spanish inuasion , the rebellions in ireland , the troubles in france , none without an effected or intended horrible and tragicall blood-shed . all these with p. r. are but molestations . so the powder-treason , an immanity barbarous and matchlesse , which he calleth but b a particular temerarious fact of halfe a score yong gentlemen , put in despaire by apprehension of publike persecution , without demerit of the persecuted , though this also be inexcusable . by which his so tender touch of so cankred and desperate euils , wee may well thinke that nabal by his foolerie neuer deserued better to be so called , than this booke hath merited in this only respect , the name of mitigation : being indeed nothing but an hatching of a cockatrices egge , and a close professing of subuerting all protestant princes , whensoeuer they shall seeke the like publike maintenance of religion . this mitigation therfore as yet affoordeth vs no more possibility of their voluntary obedience , than to hope that reuerence and violence , subiection and rebellion , pole arctique and antarctique , may be drawne into vnion . and because this is so plaine , that blindnesse it selfe may seeme to behold it , therefore doth p. r. cast his reader into a sleepe with a dos of his opium . let vs see the fourth impossibility , wherein may bee obserued , a sportfull or rather execrable impostureship of p. r. 40 lest protestants might , from experien●e of former dangers arme themselues against future designements , p. r. thought good by ●reoccupation to possesse his reader with better hopes , saying : c that wee do ascribe power to the bishop of rome in certaine cases to censure ▪ excommunicate , and depriue princes , wherof is inferred that such & such dangers do ensu : which finally is nothing else but a [ may : ] so as the question being de futuris contingentibus , of things contingent to come ( whereof the philosopher saith there is no science ) all remaineth in vncertainty , but only the suspition and hatred , which he would raise against vs. i cannot laugh for wonder and horror to see any englishman conceit so basely of the wits and woorth of his countrey-men , as to imagine they could bee deluded with so senselesse , so shamelesse , so pernicious , so impious a mitigation as this is . for , to bee perswaded therefore not to labour for preuenting insuing dangers , because they be contingent , that is , such as may happen , what can be more senselesse ? for science properly taken is a certaine knowledge of conclusions , arising from infallible demonstrations , as this conclusion , the number of 3. is a lesse number than 9. from this demonstration , euery part is lesse than the whole . and so is the opinion of p. r. good , there is no science of things contingent , because science standeth vpon demonstrable principles . but science in a more common and large sense is exercised vpon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , euery thing which is subiect to mans will : whereupon it is that physitians prescribe diets to preuent future diseases ; passengers prouide weapons to defend them from future violence ; kingdomes prouide lawes and officers to auoid future mischiefes : nay what is there almost in mankind , considered in it selfe , but case of contingency ? so that all are actions of prouidence directed for the preuenting of future euils and dangers which may happen . and is not this then a stupifying receipt , which p. r. hath propounded , casting the state into a slumber , of not regarding insuing dangers , because they may be heereafter ? doth not nature in beast , reason in man , precept of god teach vs the contrary law of prouidence , euen therefore to seeke to preuent insuing dangers , because they are contingent , and may bee heereafter ? 41 it is also most shamelesse , for d henry k. of france ( saith p. r. ) was excommunicated , censured and ●●lested , lest he should attempt the change of religion in his kingdom● and againe ( speaking of the necessity of papall iurisdiction ouer kings ) hee saith that e if christ had not left such a remedy to his church , he should not haue prouided for the necessity thereof . concluding that therefore popes may impugne temporall gouernours . heere we see hee challengeth a necessary prouidence in the popes against kings , who happily may ( de futuris contingentibus ) abuse their authority . and shall kings therefore neglect their states , because popes by antichristian vsurpation ( de futuris contingentibus ) may seeke to subuert and ruinate their kingdomes , and so make themselues to their enemies no better than a matter of a may-game ? 42 i haue also called this mitigation pernicious . for our aduersaries haue taught that f kings must not be suffered to raigne , when they draw their subiects vnto heresie . but , g must bee rooted out . h which must bee done by all meanes possible . whether it be as i iehu did iezabel ; or as k dauid did goliah ; or as l iudith did holofernes ; or as m a shepheard doth a wolfe , &c. n and not kings only , but all the fauourers of heretikes , by what name so euer they be called , must be destroied . all these their cursed resolutions p. r. passeth in silence . in all which we heare prescribed a must for necessary destruction of kings , and yet this mitigator will allow but only a may for their preseruation . this is fine may-butter which hee hath mixed in this receipt , or rather deceipt of mitigation : made thus pleasant and palitable only that the too credulous patient may bee more sweetly poisoned , especially knowing that all his fellows haue professed all violence , o as soone as they shall haue force to resist . therefore this mitigation is but as if p. r. would haue thus counselled our english state in the last danger , saying ; trouble not your thoughts ( ô king ) with diuination vpon that letter , for peraduenture that terrible blow doth signifie nothing else than that there may bee a blowing vp of the parliament with fire . and you officers of his maiesty what need you to vse such diligent search vnder the vault , where you see nothing but billets , vnder which it may be there is hidden many barrels of powder . yea and now againe , though the like ( if yet the forge of he● can deuise the like ) may be prepared hereafter , yet what necessity is there of preuenting insuing dangers ? what is this else than to seeke to catch our state , as a man would do an horse , offering bread in the one hand , and holding an halter in the other behind him ? dutifull subiection in the preface , and lurking treason in the treatise . in a word the impossibility of this mitigation is no lesse than to thinke that murderers and murdered can hoast well together . 43 lastly i call it impious , because this profession of their forbearance of rebellion , vntill they may resist , hath beene prooued by incontrolable testimonies of p tertul. cypr. athan. nazian . leo , basil , august . greg. ( besides the confession of our aduersaries , tolossan . espencae . barclay ) to be contrary to the discipline of the ancient catholike church for a 1000. yeeres continuance . by all which testimonies the now romish faction is so notably condemned , that euen p. r. thought it the best security of his cause to passe almost euery testimony ( except one ) without any particular examination . as yet therefore we heare them onely pretending that they may performe obedience , which they professe they must not , whensoeuer they shall bee able to make a possible resistance . so hopelesse is this his pretended possibility of subiection . the last impossibility in the practise of aequiuocation . 44 the vse of aequiuocating euen in an oath is taught by p. r. to be most lawfull , whensoeuer a party is examined before an vnlawfull iudge , yea or before a lawfull iudge examining vnlawfully . now what opinion they haue of the magistrates and officers of england their priests haue told vs ( amongst whom is parsons himselfe ) viz. that q it is lawfull in england for priests to equiuocate euen in their oaths before protestant magistrates and officers , &c. to let passe the daily experience of the professed damnable practise heereof by m. garnet and his fellowes . wherefore this mitigation standeth still of as great an impossibility , as it is for cosenage and simplicity , a lie and truth to harbour in one heart . hitherto wee haue spoken of the question of subiection , onely mentioning aequiuocation , as it is in the vs● , a bawd to rebellion . wee are therefore to speake of the nature thereof , and to consider whether mentall reseruation bee a lie : and briefly shew ▪ that p. r. hath flatly ouerthrowen his whole defence of mentall aequiuocation . which is made so euident , as that no wit of man can possibly excuse him . § 12. 45 say ( p. r. ) what is your mentall equiuocation ? r we restraine our speech to equiuocation onely , which is mentall reseruation . to wit , [ i am no priest ] so , as i am bound to tell it vnto you . the first part thereof [ i am no priest ] vttered with my mouth , the latter [ viz. to tell it vnto you ] is reserued in my mind . which thomas morton saith is not an hidden truth , but a grosse lie . s but i say it is a truth , because the speech agreeth with the mind of the speaker , &c. how now would my reader heare this noble equiuocator confuted ? by fathers ? or by his owne doctors ? or by sensible reasons ? this will bee no hard matter to performe , as i hope ( god willing ) to auouch in due time . but heere is offered vnto mee a briefer course , more fit for a preamble , and for the triumph of truth more glorious ; which is to see ( as politicke achitophel hanged in his owne halter ) so this doctor of the art of lying confounded by his owne assertion . i desire euery childe of truth to lend mee attention , and see the whole treatise of p. r. in defense of aequiuocation subuerted by his owne consequence . 46 the sentence of p. r. is to be found in these words : t let vs come ( saith he ) to the application of this example against aequiuocation , which he hath chosen to vse principally about the womans speech . the woman is asked ( saith t. m. ) sold you the land for so much ? her answer is , yea for so much , meaning but one half , & concealing the other , in which dissimulation it is impossible but that your reserued clause must haue come into her head to think , but for so much to giue in common : or to signifie vnto you . so t. m. teacheth that poore woman to aequiuocate after this maner of aequiuocation , that is to say , lie : for that now , i suppose , he hath learned by that which hath beene set downe in our precedent chap. that to speak an vntruth , or conceale a truth , or vse any aequiuocation , when we are iustly demanded by our lawfull superior , and when no iniury or violence is vsed vnto vs , is a grieuous mortall sin in our catholike doctrine ; and consequently shee being lawfully demanded by s. peter in a lawfull cause , touching her owne vow and promise , no clause of reseruation could saue her speech from lying , as our minister doth foolishly imagine . so p. r. ¶ know first ( gentle reader ) that the last words , viz. [ as our minister doth foolishly imagine , ] doe not betoken that the consequent going before , viz. [ therefore no clause , &c. ] is my collection , but the quite contrary : for i said that a clause of reseruation might aswell haue saued the womans speech from lying , as the clause which priests vse can free a priest : he holdeth the contrary , because ( saith he ) shee being lawfully demanded , &c. no such clause could saue her speech from lying . this kind of phrase is vsuall in our english tongue . as for example : a man bringeth a peece of some kind of mettall vnto a gold-smith , which the bringer thinketh to be good gold : the gold-smith after touch answereth him saying , friend , this is not good gold , as you suppose : which words doe not signifie that the owner did not suppose it to bee good gold : and the words , it is not gold , were the words of the gold-smith , and not of the owner . so heere : which i therefore explane , to make it appeare that in these words , ( and consequently no clause of reseruation could saue her speech from lying ) p. r. hath set down his owne conclusion . and now we proceed to the maine matter in hand . 47 the supposed aequiuocation of the woman was this , i haue sold it but for so much , reseruing in her mind ( for ought that you shall know : ) which is agreeable to their owne example of equiuocation ( i am no priest ) meaning ( to tell it vnto you ) this latter p. r. hath defended thorow his whole book , and now of the other hee is inforced by the word of truth to say that it is a lie : yea , and that , no clause of reseruation could saue it from a lie : from whence it shall inuincibly follow , that priestly aequiuocation is a satanicall lie . these two speeches being so semblable in themselues , if he shall say they differ , then must the difference be either in respect of the speakers , or in respect of the hearers . but first the difference of these two kinde of aequiuocations , viz. of that woman , and these priests ( the one whereof is confessed to be a lie ) can not be in respect of the speakers . 48 she indeed was a woman , and a priest is a man , but p. r , knoweth that it is as possible for a priest , a a man , to lie , as for a woman to tell a truth . neither may he obiect , that her lie was in respect of her vow ; for the question in this place is not about her vow vnto god , whether she had promised to sell all their possession , and to giue vp the whole price to the apostles for the common good of the church , or no : but it is concerning her speech vnto man about the summe and proportion of the sale of their goods , whether solde you your possessions for so much ? and she answering , but for so much ; is ( notwithstanding all supposed clause of reseruation ) condemned by s. peter for a liar . and this is the very case of p. r. for ( if he be a priest ) he hath vowed himselfe to the order of priesthood ; and yet being demanded whether he be a priest or no , professeth it lawfull for himselfe , by mentall aequiuocation , sometime to answer , i am no priest. in the next place we are to shew ▪ that ( concerning the nature of a lie ) there can be no difference betweene that aequiuocation of the woman , and this other of these priests , in respect of the hearers . 49 the only cloud of words which may hinder the perfect view of truth for this confession that all aequiuocation is a lie , may seeme to be because she is sayd heerby to haue intended to deceiue s. peter , being then a competent iudge , whereas the priests admit no aequiuocation except only in examinations and iudgements incompetent . but p. r. can not obiect this without grosse and stupid contradiction to himselfe thorowout his whole treatise . for our question is not of deceiuing , or not deceiuing , which is only the effect of lying ( as p. r. also euery where acknowledgeth ) but it is about the speech it selfe , and the very nature of a lie . now that there can be no difference heereof in regard of hearers , whether they be competent iudges or incompetent , our mitigator himselfe will demonstrate vnto vs. first from his one exposition of mentall equiuocation , b i say ( sayth he ) that in mentall reseruation the speech agreeth with the minde of the speaker , for that i truly and really meane that i am no priest in that sense i speake it , which may be what pleaseth me , or that which i list to frame to my selfe : so as i meane i am no priest , such as i should be , or such like . marke , the truth of aequiuocation is not suspended vpon the vnderstanding of the hearer , who may conceiue or misconceiue the speech , and so might peruert the speakers truth into a lie , that seeming false to the hearer , i am no priest , which in the sense of the speaker ( as p. r. resolueth ) is by vertue of reseruation ( as to tell it vnto you ) a perfect truth . well then the supposed aequiuocation of the woman was such a like fancie , i haue solde it but for so much , to giue it in common , or , tell it vnto you . and yet heereof hath p. r. concluded , that c no clause of reseruation could saue her speech from a lie . consequently condemning himselfe and all other mentall aequiuocators for phantasticall liars . 50 secondly , as we heere finde a woman making a lie vnto s. peter , a competent iudge , so do we read that s. peter made a lie vnto a d woman , an examiner incompetent . so that the difference of hearers doth not alter the nature of the speech . the reason is that which hath beene already specified , to wit , because ( as is confessed ) e the essence and formalitie of a lie requireth that the speech disagree from the minde and vnderstanding of the speaker . and yet againe , f a false speech is only a lie as it hath the essentiall point before mentioned of dissenting from the minde of the speaker . and lastly , g my speech is truth as it is truly spoken in my sense , not in the sense of the hearer . by all which is signified , that it is not the person of the hearer , but the vnderstanding of the speaker , which maketh a lie formally a lie : and consequently , as a slander is a slander , so a lie is a lie , and truth is truth , whether it be vttered vnto man or woman ; whether to prince or people ; to simon peter , or to simon magus ; yea , whether to archangell or to sathan ; iudge competent or incompetent , it can not free a lying speech from the nature of a lie . so that seeing ( notwithstanding the womans supposed clause of reseruation ) there was formally a lie in her aequiuocation ; it consequently followeth , that the priests aequiuocation must be as formally a lie . 51 thirdly , in mentall equiuocation ( sayth p. r. ) the clause of reseruation mixed with the outward speech maketh but one proposition , which is as true in the minde of the speaker , as if it were wholly deliuered in the outward speech . as for example : i am no priest , mixed with this clause conceiued in minde , to tell it vnto you , is as true ( in the iudgement of p. r. ) as if it had beene without reseruation fully expressed with the mouth , saying , i am no priest , to tell it vnto you . now then , say p. r. ( for i meane to fetter you with your owne shackles ) the woman , when she sayd to s. peter , i haue solde it but for so much , if she had reserued in her minde this clause , to giue it vnto you : either had it beene by the vertue of reseruation a truth , or els ( notwithstanding that reseruation ) it had beene a lie . if the clause of reseruation might haue made it a truth , then hath not p. r. sayd true in concluding , that no clause of reseruation could saue it from a lie : if contrariwise the tricke of reseruation could not saue it from a lie , then doth not the reserued clause , to tell it vnto you , being mixed with the outward speech , i am no priest , make vp one true proposition . and consequently , it must be concluded of the priestly equiuocation , as is heere by p. r. confessed of the womans , viz. no clause of reseruation can saue their speech from a lie . for if she had sayd vnto s. peter in plaine words [ i haue solde it but for so much to giue it in common ] or such like , this euery one knoweth had beene a true speech : yet saying , i solde it but for so much , with mentall reseruation , reseruing in her minde [ to giue in common , or , to tell it vnto you ] was notwithstanding this reseruation ( euen by the iudgement of p. r. ) a flat lie . 52 let vs , for conclusion , parallel both these examples which are very neere a kinne : for if we doe compare speaker with speaker , that is , the woman and a priest , both will be thought to be votaries : if outward speech with outward speech , that is , h i haue solde it but for so much , and , i am no priest , both are negatiues : if reseruation with reseruation , as [ to tell it vnto you ] or [ to giue vnto you ] both are mentall : if the forme with forme , both equally answerable to the mind of the speaker : if , finally , end with end , both are to deceiue the hearer . wherefore p. r. granting , that no clause of reseruation could saue her speech from a lie , must by irrepugnable consequence be forced to confesse , that his [ i am no priest ] vttered by a priest , to whomsoeuer it be spoken ( notwithstanding any mentall reseruation of [ to tell it vnto you &c. ) is a satanicall and damnable lie . 53 and where is now p. r. his boast of scriptures , fathers , reasons ? where is his challenge of canonists and schoole-diuines ? where is his appeale vnto both our vniuersities ? nay , where is this man p. r. himselfe , the new select aduocate for this cause ? may he not say heereafter , i was ashamed , and therefore i hid my selfe ? so naked doth his deformitie appeare . he hath sayd , that his aduersarie t. m. is like one , who , when the game is desperate , will notwithstanding play it out , and see the last man borne . heere hee himselfe hath made such a blot as can not but be the vnfallible losse of his whole game , who being pressed with this example out of i scripture , is driuen to such a vertigo and giddinesse , that euen when he would defend his art of equiuocating from a lie , is by consequence from gods word forced to confesse an outward speech , which no clause of reseruation could saue from a lie . whereby his owne magi ( i doubt not ) will be brought to acknowledge , that digitus dei hic est , this is the power of gods truth . thus being contented , for this present , to haue my whole cause in both questions , aequiuocation and rebellion so iustifiable , that my aduersarie his owne confessions may free me from his imputation of slander ; i doe with better alacritie proceed vnto his next challenge , yeelding a generall answer to his accusation of malicious falshoods . § 13. the summe of all is this : p. r : k i haue taken thomas morton in so many falsifications of things alleged by him , as before you haue seene . and the law sayth , whosoeuer is once euill , is presumed to be so still , vntill he proue the contrarie . l but he hath bewrayed euery-where malicious falshoods . 54 from the imputation of malice against the persons of men , if i should need the testimonie of man , my aduersaries may acquit me , who haue acknowledged in me better measures by their owne experience , as m. d. wri . m. const. m. ga. i haue halfe iniuried them with halfe naming them : but i hope they will pardon me this wrong , knowing that it is not spoken in exprobration to them , but for iustification of my selfe , forasmuch as selfe-commendation , if forced , is ( in the iudgement of the apostle ) a wise follie . howsoeuer , i can not vnderstand , how any man beholding others with christian eyes , should be malicious : for either he perceiueth them wandring from grace and saluation , which mooueth pitie ; or els discerneth them to be companions with him in the way of life , which worketh loue . but neither can malice be pitifull , nor loue malicious . if my aduersaries shall further persist in this despightfull obiection of malice , they must giue me leaue rather to feare gods denunciation of woe , than their wrath. m woe vnto them ( sayth god ) that put light for darknesse , and darknesse for light , that put bitter for sweet , and sweet for sowre . and if i prooue not their doctrine concerning rebellion and aequiuocation to be as bitter as the water of meribah , then let them note me for a man aboue the nature of mankinde malicious . otherwise , i must expostulate with them according to the apostles example : * am i your enemie , because i tell you the truth ? which truth in my incounter to the mitigator ( god willing ) i shall shortly auouch . thus from malice the gangrene of a wicked conscience , we come vnto falshood , the n cut-throat therof . concernign which two things must be discussed : first the protestation p. r. maketh , in iustifying the sinceritie of all romish writers , presuming them to be free from all falshood : secondly , his accusation against my selfe , whom he hath notoriously traduced . now of both these orderly . p. r. his hypocriticall , prodigall , and indeed prodigious ostentation , in the auouching of the integritie of romish writers , and freeing them from all note of wilfull falsifications . § 14. 55 o in this then , if you please to insist a while , and let thomas morton bring forth any catholike authors whatsoeuer , that wrote against protestants since these heresies began , that hath beene taken in this impietie , i meane , that hath set downe in print any such falsitie , as can not be excused either by ignorance , ouersight , negligence , error of print , translation , diuersitie of editions , or the like , but that it must needs be presumed , that he knew the vntruth , and yet would set it forth : of this kinde ( i say ) let him shew me but one example among all catholike writers of our time , and i will in my conscience greatly mistrust , and discredit the author , whether it be another or my selfe : but if he shew me two or three in any writer of this kinde , i shall neuer be able to beleeue him more . and whereas the number and varietie of catholike writers is so great , as the world seeth , it were no great labour to shew it in some , if that spirit did reigne among them . 56 what if one of his late authours haue beene found presumptuously false in any one report , or els any one but in three points , though this be euen his owne selfe ? doth the man ( who maketh mention of his * interruption by sicknesse ) know what he hath now sayd ? whether he spoke this being in his feauer-fit , or in temper ? whether in a dreame , or awake ? whether in his right minde , or in distraction ? for sure i am , that this ostentation will proue in the issue as infortunate vnto p. r. as euer was boast either by thraso on the stage , or by goliah in the campe , or by gorgias in schooles : by the which he must be driuen vnto so miserable and shamefull a palinodie , as euer heereafter vtterly to discredit his owne friends , and worke a perpetuall discontent within himselfe , as presently will fully appeare . 57 but before i can come to manifest this , i may not denie euen this my aduersarie his due commendation of modestie , who being ashamed ( we may thinke ) of the romish frauds and falsifications of former times , will insist only vpon such mens examples as haue professedly written of late against protestants . it were to be wished , that his fellow iesuit costerus had kept himselfe within the same precincts ; but he maketh a more generall challenge , thus : p nemo hactenùs vel princeps , vel praesul , vel scriptor fuit , qui mendacij , vel malae fidei romanos arguerit : that is : neuer yet ( sayth he ) did any prince , or prelate , or writer accuse the romanists of falshood . when he could not be ignorant of that which their owne volume of councels hath made obseruable for perpetuall remembrance , how three popes , sozimus , boniface , and celestine , at the councell of carthage in afrike , did claime a right of appeales vnto rome by vertue of a canon of the councell of nice , as they pretended . and when all the ancient copies of that councell had been diligently sought , it appeared by the testimony of three patriarks , viz. of constantinople , alexandria , and antioch , q that that canon concerning appeales to the bishop of rome ( as their lindan speaketh ) could not be found in those copies : or , as the councell it selfe speaketh : r istius concilij africani seu carthaginensis ducenti tres tribus papis restiterunt , & canonem concilij in defensionem primatus sui falsum esse deprehenderunt . a little after : concludunt tandem nemini licere ad romanum pontificem prouocare : that is : two hundred and three fathers of the councell of carthageresisted the three popes , and found , that they suggested a false canon for defence of their primacie . therefore in the end they concluded , that it should not be lawfull for any of afrike to appeale vnto the bishop of rome . will p. r. beleeue any claimes which popes make for papall iurisdiction , seeing that three patriarks , and two hundred and three bishops , haue conuinced three popes of so apparent a falshood as this ? or what can be sayd for the defence of gratian their publike compiler of the decrees of popes , s who ( as cardin. bellar. witnesseth ) citing a canon of a councell of mileuet , wherein it was decreed that none should appeale beyond the sea , did ad of himselfe this exception , except it be vnto the apostolike sea of rome : when as that councell in forbidding appeales beyond the sea , did especially intend to forbid appeales to rome ? 58 many such like falshoods might be alleged , wherin popes and popish ones haue intangled themselues , and deluded the world , not in schoole cases of sic videtur , & non , or in strifes de stillicidijs , and such trifles : but about the right of appeales , yea spirituall and also temporall iurisdictions . but the nature of a preamble will not suffer me to pursue old forgeries : and i must yeeld somthing vnto p. r. his modesty , who to passe ouer the blemishes of ancient authors , doth challenge onely an instance in new writers , whether it bee of his fellowes , or of himselfe . and i will endeuor to giue him satisfaction in both . and first tender a satisfaction vnto p. r. his first motion concerning his fellowes , who haue intangled themselues in open falsifications . 59 though it be iust in god , who is iustice it selfe , to impose this law vpon man , he that offendeth in one is guilty in all : yet man with man may bee more partiall , than for the guilt of one testimony to renounce him in all . and p. r. is more mercifull , therefore he requireth three sensible instances , as it were three witnesses against any one . and yet this also is horribly vnmercifull on their part . i wish hee had but named any one , whose credit he valueth most , that i might haue answered his challenge in that one . howsoeuer it wil be no more easie a task for me to find one falshood in many , then many in one : wherof i exhibit some examples , and first a notable spectacle of their own manifold contradictions in peruerting three testimonies of antiquity in one controuersie . the first testimony . 60 in the controuersie about images the protestants appeale vnto antiquity both of councels and fathers : the first councell is that of eliberis about the yeere of grace 305. which 1 protestants vrge as forbidding that there should be any images in the church . now let vs trie the spirits of their answerers ▪ 2 payua answereth that , they meant only to forbid such an image as was made to represent the nature of god. not so , saith bellarmine , 3 for such images were not then in vse . the second , they forbad images , ( saith sanders ) vpon a particular occasion peculiar to that time : to wit , 4 for feare lest the heathen seeing images in the churches of christians might thinke that christians worshipped them idolatrously , as did the heathen . so hee ▪ 5 this is a good answer , ( saith bellarmine : ) although in the same place he confesse that that same reason of the canon 6 agreeth not much with this exposition . which is a very charitable defence , and all one , by interpretation , as if he had said , the answer is good , but that it is naught . we expect a better . the third , they were forbid ( faith alanus copus and others ) not because christians seemed to commit idolatrie with those images , 7 but because they did so indeed . but , 8 this exposition ( saith bellarmine ) is not agreeable to the canon . therefore sanders , allen , turrian , and bellarmine , all foure , resolue vpon a fourth answer , telling vs that those images 9 were forbid to be painted vpon wals , lest that in that time of persecution they might haue beene made a scorne and contempt vnto infidels . but 10 i cannot allow of this exposition ( saith the iesuit vasques ) because it agreeth not with the intention of the canon . wherefore hee deuiseth another which wee may call the fift , and which hee calleth the best , saying : 11 they were forbid to be painted on wals , lest by the decay of the wals they might lose their lustre : but yet were not forbid to be painted in tables . which best how good it may seeme to be , may appeare by their sixt and last answer . 12 diuers late diuines ( saith the iesuit ) oppressed with this obiection , taken from the councell of eliberis , haue thought it their best refuge to denie the authority of the councell , because it was but prouinciall , and neuer confirmed by the pope . which refuge ( saith he ) might serue vs in good stead , if a better could not bee found . and though bellarmine and baronius made the 13 same answer , yet this latter together with binius confesse and prooue that , it was a lawfull councell , and free from all errour . so that whatsoeuer the occasion of forbidding might haue been , this is a confessed conclusion of senensis , that 14 the councell of eliberis did absolutely forbid the worship of images . which one testimony being so tortured by so distracted and contradictory answers , as though they had professed to prooue each other a liar : it cannot be ( especially seeing some of them are confessed to haue beene oppressed with the force of this obiection ) but diuers of them must incurre ( for ought that man can see ) the guilt of wilfull falsification . the like is as manifest in the second testimony , from the councell of francford . 61 protestants obiect the councell of francford , which condemned ( they say ) the second councell of nice for approouing the worship of images : heerupon their aduersary surius ▪ doth bitterly inueigh against them , calling protestants 1 men of such incredible impudency , and so dissolute lust of lying , that it is a maruell they dare appeare in the presence of any honest man. a fearefull crimination . shall we know the cause ? 2 because they would craftily perswade men to beleeue that the second councell of nice was condemned in the councell of francford for the point of the worship of images , when as they corrupted those councels , albeit by the maruellous prouidence of god their fraud is made notorious , for they forgot to race out the name of constantinople , and put in stead thereof the councell of nice . was it then the synod of constantinople , that was condemned in the councell of francford , and not the second synode of nice ? 3 no , ( say nine of our aduersaries together ) the second synode of nice was not condemned , but rather confirmed in the councell of francford , by three hundred bishops there . now it is like that by these mens verdict protestants shall be adiudged vnto the pillory , for surius is the chiefe of that inquest , who hath said , that protestants sought by forgerie to corrupt a councell . can there be a more grieuous accusation than this ? but behold one vasques a iesuite , as it were another daniel , ready to acquit the innocent , saying and proouing that 4 the sentence of surius cannot stand , being contrary vnto all historians , who affirme that the second synod of nice , and not the synode of constantinople , is mentioned in the councell . and of francford bellarmine more plainely acknowledgeth that that synode of nice was condemned in the councell of francford in this point of the worship of images . and therefore can do no lesse but 5 wish that it were otherwise . lastly 6 baronius also doth agree with bellarmine . what will p. r. iudge of those three iesuites , sanders , suarez , coster , with their complices , who maintaine that the second synode of nice was confirmed in the councell of francford , wherin ( in the opinion of bellar. ) it was condemned ? or how will he censure surius , who chargeth protestants with impudency and forgerie in such degree , as though they were vnwoorthy the company of men ; and when the matter is examined , by three iesuites , their opposite aduersaries , vasques , bellarmine and baronius , the defense of protestants is warranted for true ? will now our p. r. call surius , furius , ( who hath published the bodie of councels ) and annihilate all his credit heereafter ? 62 but i proceed to their second answer , 7 though the councell of francford ( say their two cardinals ) did condemne the councell of nice in this point , yet did it erre heerein in a question not of faith but of fact , for being deceiued by reports of the author of those bookes , which are entituled in the name of charles the emperour , they did erroneously thinke that the councell did allow , that images should be worshipped with an honour proper vnto god. this answer also is so preiudicious to their owne cause , that their owne doctors vasques , suares , and binius doe openly confute it , proouing first that the councell of francford 8 could not bee deceiued by that information . secondly , that the 9 legates of the pope did subscribe vnto it . thirdly , that the contrary answer 10 standeth not vpon any sound ground . and if i shall obiect the answer of bellarmine , i thinke p. r. will returne mee no satisfaction : hee to allow the councell of francford thus farre , as to thinke i● did not erre in a question of right or faith , but only failed in an errour of fact . tell me in good earnest p. r. if the fathers of the councell of francford iudging that the second councell of nice , confirmed by the pope , did erre in defending idolatrie , did they erre in faith or no ? if they did , then where was the faith of bellarmine and baronius , who say it did not erre in question of faith ? if those fathers iudging the councell of nice to erre in faith , did not erre themselues then it is not preiudiciall to faith to think that the pope and his councell may erre in defending idolatrie , and consequently heresie , and what not ? therefore yet they haue not satisfied the protestants obiection . 63 their last refuge is to contemne it as being only a 11 prouinciall councell : and amongst others their binius teacheth his fellowes how to wind themselues out of this whirle-poole . 12 we must necessarily confesse ( saith he ) that either our historians haue erred , or else the acts of the councell haue beene corrupted , or else that it condemned some other false councell : or else freely denie that it maketh neither for vs , nor against vs ▪ he might haue added , or else let vs grant ( as we ought ) the obiection of protestants to be true . to all the other not the equity of the case , but desperate necessity hath inforced them , as may appeare by their intestine warre among themselues , one of them proouing anothers answer to be flatly repugnant vnto the tenor of the councel which could not haue been without grosse falsitie on some part . wherefore we conclude with the saying of the iesuite suares : 13 it is a dangerous rashnesse to reiect the acts of that councell of francford as false : and proceed vnto the third example . 64 protestants obiect the testimony of the auncient father 1 epiphanius , who by his owne report entred into a church at anablatha to pray , and perceiuing a curtaine , wherein was a picture as if it had beene the image of christ , or some saint , hee tooke the curtaine and rent it , as being an abuse contrary to the authority of holy scriptures . our aduersaries are changeable to answer thereunto . therefore first waldensis is bold , and saith that 2 epiphanius did this vpon a good zeale , but not according to knowledge , all for feare of giuing aduantage vnto the anthropomorphitae . but cardinall bellarmine cuts him short , telling him , that 3 his answer is confuted by the text . the next is vasques the iesuite , noting protestants for dullards , who could not perceiue that the image , which epiphanius rent , 4 was not the image of a saint , but of some prophane man. but cardinall bellarmine will tell him that , 5 there is a better and more common answer than this . sure , for this is naught , forasmuch as their senensis hath taught them that epiphanius in other his epistles 6 doth forbid images to be brought into the church . we require therfore a better answer than this . alphonsus de castro , to rid his hands of epiphanius , numbreth him among those whom hee calleth 7 iconomachos haereticos , hereticall image-breakers . this will not be currant with vasques , who supposing that it was the image of some prophane man , saith that 8 epiphanius did well to take it away . as yet nothing is said which may giue satisfaction . where is that which was called the common answer ? 9 allen , sanders , coster , bellarmine haue all resolued to cut the knot , which they cannot vntie , and therefore say , the epistle in that part is forged or corrupted by heretikes . it is no maruell they be so briefe , for vasques hath told vs , that those which answered thus 10 were oppressed with the difficulty . wherefore he concludeth directly , 11 that without all doubt the epistle is not counterfet . it may bee bellarmine will not speake any thing without reason : 12 hierome ( saith he ) in his epistle vnto pammachius against iohn bishop of hierusalem , doth translate almost this whole epistle into latine , and yet maketh no mention of this part of the epistle concerning this image . therfore is this part counterfet . who would thinke that this great rabbi could haue beene ignorant of that which any man may see , and his owne learned doctors haue acknowledged , that 13 the epistle which is translated and approoued by s. hierome , hath this part in it concerning the image [ when i was at anablatha ] which is euident to them who will read the epistle of s. hierome to iohn bishop of ierusalem : yet doth senensis instance in the authority of 14 damascene to proue this epistle a forged deuice : but damascene is falsly alleged , saith vasques : adding that 15 this our common refuge , in excepting against the epistle as counterfet is no way allowable . hitherto they haue deliuered no answer sufficient . wee maruell why their great iesuite valentia hath beene so long silent : therefore he , 16 if it shall appeare that it was the proper epistle of epiphanius , yet wee answer that the church is of greater authority with vs than epiphanius . whereunto we oppose that which epiphanius preferred before any pretence of the church , when hee said that the abuse of that image was 17 contrary to scriptures . 65 in all that hath beene spoken we see many falshoods , and that in a part of but one controuersie . if p. r. shall desire 500. of this kinde , i binde my selfe vnto him by a faithfull protestation in a moneths warning to satisfie him , whensoeuer hee or any for him shall exact it . neither shall i need to borrow oile for this lampe to make it manifest vnto the world , that in all their passages in all controuersies of greatest moment when they are to be discussed by scriptures , fathers , and reasons , there are such crossings , thwartings and contradictions among them , as though ( as the poet faineth ) the teeth of the dragon were fallen out of his mouth and metamorphosed into armed men , presently bent to kill one another . but i will come one step neerer to p. r. his demand , offering him a satisfaction to his first demand in a particular instance of a noble falsificator on his side . § 15. 66 p. r. requireth an example of any one , who hath been found so grosly false , that in the eie of man hee may not be acquitted either by ignorance of translation , &c. which demand if it proceed from vnfeinednesse , it seemeth vnto mee so intolerably reasonable , that now i am driuen to a twofold trouble in yeelding satisfaction ; the one is that i know not with what one to begin first , the falsificators be so many : the second is , when i shal begin with any choice one , how to make an end , so manifold are their falsifications . therfore in respect of the falsifiers i would require of p. r. to propound vnto mee any one of his doctours , in whom hee hath best assurance of integritie , whether greg. de valentia , stapleton , bellarmine , coccius , suarez , turrian , campian , gretzer , fuerdentius , the remish translat . in their annotations : or any , i say , of those which haue beene publikely authorised of their chruch , and i will not doubt but to giue him thrice three examples of their fraud . in the meane time i thinke it requisite to single out of all such an one as is commended of all : to wit , cardinall bellarmine , that p. r. may not repine , saying : hee hath chosen a dauid the least in his fathers house : but confesse that i haue preferred a saul , one higher by the head and shoulders than any of the rest : not a dead man , who cannot interpret his own meaning , whether he had falsified vpon ignorance , negligence , &c. but one , which now liuing is able to answer for himselfe , whose credit p. r. doth tender , and with whom he may consult to know whether i do him iniury or no. now to the point . first , examples of such kinde of falsities in wilfull slanders , whereof cardinall bellarmine hath beene guilty , as will appeare euen by the euidence of his owne confession . 67 let p. r. for a while take cardinall bellarmine into secret confession , and first aske him with what conscience hee hath charged caluin with the heresie of the 1 pelagians , who denied that there was any originall sinne in infants , especially in the children of faithfull christians ? for as hee could not bee ignorant 2 that this doctrine of denying originall sinne was ( as their owne l. iesuite confesseth ) the proper heresie of the pelagians . and not so only , but saith furthermore that 3 caluin and all other protestants are so far from denying originall sinne , that they doe monstrously extend the nature thereof euen vnto persons regenerat . i let passe a dozen such criminations cast by him vpon protestants , which by the testimonies of his owne doctors may be prooued to haue beene lewd and intolerable slanders . i insist now only vpon such his confessions , whereby it may appeare he hath been , in his iniuries against his aduersaries , the greatest aduersary to his owne conscience . 68 first he maketh protestants guilty of the heresie of 4 the nouatians , in taking from the church all power of reconciling men vnto god. when as his own authors note that , 5 the heresie of the nouatians was this , viz. to deny any man , who should sin after baptisme , all hope of remission of sins , although he should repent . yea and also bellarmine himself in behalfe of protestants confesseth else-where that 6 they require repentance and faith in christians , that they may be iustified and obtaine remission of sinnes . nor this only , but 7 there is no difference betweene vs ( saith he ) and protestants about repentance as it is a conuersion vnto god with detestation of sin , or as it consisteth in outward signes of sorrow , weeping , confession , and outward chastisements , yea and almost all of them allow an outward rite of absolution . but the only controuersie betweene vs is , whether penance bee properly a sacrament . the contradiction is this , to impute vnto protestants an heresie which taketh away all maner of repentance and hope of remission for sin past , and yet to acknowledge in them a contrary orthodoxall truth , which is , to professe a necessity of repentance , and reconciliation and remission of sinnes . 69 againe , he attributeth vnto caluin the heresie of the manicheis , 8 who ( saith he ) did condemne the nature of men , depriuing them of freewill , and ascribing the originall and beginning of sin vnto the nature of man , and not vnto his freewill . seeing hee hath himselfe obserued that , 9 caluine teacheth that man in his first creation had freewill , whereby in his integrity he might , if hee would , haue attained vnto eternall life . this contradiction in this point is no more than this , to charge caluin with that which he did not beleeue . is not this singular falshood ? and yet behold a more notable than this . 70 he accuseth m. bullinger of 10 arianisme , because of this sentence [ tres sunt , non statu sed gradu , &c. ] notwithstanding hee knew this was the very sentence of 11 tertullian . and is therefore else-where expounded as orthodoxall and iustifiable by 12 himselfe . 71 though p r. require but three examples of falshood , yet may i not enuie him a further choice , because i know not the curiositie of his palate . therefore let him againe consult with cardinall bellar. in another taxation of protestants , saying in one place that , 13 they teach that the soules of faithfull men departing this life doe not goe directly vnto heauen . in another place he himselfe together with his fellow iesuite haue publikely recorded that it is a common 14 obiection of protestants proouing from scriptures against the doctrine of purgatory , that the soules of the faithfull presently after death goe directly vnto heauen . 72 he resteth not heere , but once againe challengeth 15 caluine for ( as he calleth it ) an ancient heresie alleged by theodoret , affirming , that there is only a figure of christs body in the eucharist . and yet in another place affirming both 16 that that opinion is not ancient , nor yet now to be found in theodoret , and also that , 17 the foresaid doctrine of caluine doth teach that in the eucharist there is to be exhibited vnto the faithfull not only a signe of christs body , but also the body and blood it selfe by which mens soules are nourished vnto eternall life . or as another iesuit testifieth for caluine , 18 that our soules communicate with the body of christ substantially . heere is no more oddes in this accusation , than ancient and not ancient , heresie and not heresie . all these contradictions do certainly euince that he hath by publike imputations slandered those , whom in his conscience hee did acquit . and shall we thinke that his conscience could bee sincere in alleging other mens testimonies and witnesses , who is found thus perfidiously vniust in exhibiting his owne ? i spare to produce multitudes of this kind which i haue in store , and will be a debter to p. r. for many of this sort , ready to pay my debt as soone as this my promise shall be exacted . some examples of cardinall bellarmine his falsifications in the allegation of testimonies . § 16. saint cyprian saith , 1 whence is this tradition ? is it deriued from the lords authority , or from the precept of the apostles ? for god willeth that we should do those things which are written . from whence protestants conclude , that the scriptures are of sufficiencie for our direction in all questions of faith . bellarmine answereth , that 2 cyprian spoke this when he thought to defend an error , and therefore it is no maruell if hee erred in so reasoning , for the which cause s. augustine ( saith hee ) did worthily refute him . the question is not what errour cyprian held , but whether his maner of reasoning frō the sufficiency of scripture were erroneous , or no. bellar. pretendeth that s. augustine did worthily reprooue him . but whosoeuer shall consult with s. augustine in the chap. specified , shall find that this point by him is excellently commended , 3 that cyprian warneth vs ( saith s. august . ) to run vnto the fountaine , that is , vnto the tradition of the apostles ; from thence to deriue a conduit to our times , it is chiefly good and doubtlesse to be performed . 74 secondly , bellarmine to establish the authority of the pope , doth giue this prerogatiue to s. peter , to wit : 4 that s. peter was the only bishop , and that other apostles tooke their orders from him : which he laboureth to euince from the testimonies of anacletus , clemens alexand. eusebius , and cyprian ; wherein he is refelled by his own doctours . one saying , that 5 indeed those fathers meane no such thing : another , that 6 the epistles of anacletus are counterfet , which many vrge more than is meet to the end they may aduance the authority of the sea of rome . 75 againe , where bellarmine citeth the testimony of 7 platina for the commendation of pope hildebrand : and in another place finding platina obiected in the question of confession , answereth for the disabling of the author , saying , 8 that platina had no publike authority to pen the liues of the popes from publike records . which is notably false , platina himselfe in his epistle dedicatory vnto the then pope writing thus : 9 thou ( o prince of diuines , and chiefe of bishops ) hast commanded mee to write the liues of the popes : whose history is therfore greatly commended by balbus , as being 10 true , and taken out of publike monuments . i could furnish p. r. with infinite such like delusions , and will also whensoeuer my aduersary shall renew his demand : for such a multitude of examples i could bring , that i finde it a greater difficulty for me to subtract , than to multiplie . 76 therefore i will now confine my selfe within the precincts of but one onely controuersie concerning purgatory : where bellarmine distinguishing of the diuers acception of the word fire in the writings of ancient fathers , concludeth that , 11 when the fathers speake of the fire of the day of doome , when all the world shall be of a flame , they meane not purgatory fire , which soules suffer immediately after death . after this hee allegeth . 12 most plaine places , ( as hee calleth them ) out of the fathers for proofe of purgatory . amongst others ( in his first booke de purgatorio ) s. 13 ambrose serm . 20. in psal. 118. for proofe of purgatory fire : which hee himselfe confesseth in his next booke 14 not to be meant of purgatory . so he dealeth also with s. 15 hilary , vrging his sentence vpon the psalm . 118. as an euident place for purgatory , which by his owne iudgement 16 seemeth not to signifie purgatory . and yet againe , among his 17 manifest places of the fathers for purgatory , he allegeth the testimonies of 18 origen , 19 basil , 20 lanctantius , 21 hierom , 22 ambrose : all which are acknowledged expresly by 23 sixtus senensis , from the euidence of the contexts to haue spoken only of the fire of the day of iudgement , and consequently as 24 bellarmine hath taught vs ; not of the fire of purgatory . lastly he professeth to confirme the doctrine of purgatory out of most of the 25 greeke and latine fathers . and another iesuite saith more largely 26 of all the greeke fathers : which is an assertion as false , as peremptory , euen by the confession of their owne bishop saying : 27 that there is very rare mention of purgatory in the greeke fathers ; and that the latine fathers did not all at first apprehend the doctrine thereof . 77 if any shall but obserue in this one controuersie the number of witnesses brought in for the confirmation of this their new article in the name of ancient fathers , which are by confession of our aduersaries meerely counterfet . as clemens his constitutions , clemens epistles , athanas. in quaest . eusebius emissenus , iosephus ben gorion , hieron . in prouerb . august . ad fratres in eremo , the liturgies of iames and others : all which as they are vrged for proofe of purgatory , so are they reiected by their own men ( i desire to be challenged for proofe heerof ) as forged , or corrupted , or apocrypha ; and indeed no better witnesses for truth , than the knights of the post bee fit men for a iury. if further he shall mark how true fathers and scriptures are instanced in for proofe of the same article , whereof ( when i speake of fathers ) most of them ( when i speake of canonicall scriptures ) all of them are found by the iudgement of their owne doctors to be tortured , wrested , and forced , as it were , to say that which they neuer meant . if he , lastly , consider how almost euery one of them indeuouring the defence of the same doctrine is in his owne assertions contradicted by himselfe , which may be in this one controuersie concerning purgatory , a late article of their faith , most plainly discerned . 78 these obseruations may giue our reader such a scantling of their dealing , that we may iustly pronounce p. r. his censure vpon themselues , not to be beleeued heereafter . so desperate hath his demand beene , when he required any one ouertaken in a triple falsitie , as though he would venture all the credit of all the annotations vpon the remish testament , all the volumes of baronius his annales , all the monuments of councels in their binius and surius , all the disputes of bellarmine , of greg. de valentia , of coccius , and all other their late doctors , vpon ( as i may so call it ) only tray trippe , a triple falsitie , and then neuer to be credited againe . i am perswaded that no protestant , who hath beene conuersant in reading and examining their authors , but he will stand astonished to heare this grant our mitigator maketh , as being ( as i haue said ) intolerably disaduantagious vnto the romish part : but he will easily cease to maruell when he perceiueth by whom it is made , to wit , p. r. the authour of the booke of mitigation , who himselfe is guilty of thrice three palpable falsities , so that none shall heerafter need to wonder why hee hath beene so lauish in hazzarding other mens credits , seeing he is so desperately prodigall of his owne . let vs draw neere vnto him to shew this , for hee calleth vs vnto him . a satisfaction vnto p. r. his second demaund concerning himselfe , in the discouerie of his owne not orious falshoods , inforcing him by vertue of his owne promise neuer heereafter to credit himselfe . § 17. 79 p. r. amongst others is bold to insert himselfe : a if any ( saith he ) hath set down in print any such falsity , so that it must needes bee presumed that hee knew the vntruth , and yet would set it foorth : i will in my conscience greatly discredit that author , whether it be another or my selfe , if two or three such falsities may be shewen . so he . our mitigator would seeme to haue a conscience , and so i doubt not but he hath ; but so miserable , as ( if it be lawfull to iudge by probabilities ) it were a kind of happinesse for him to haue no conscience at all . let our reader witnesse betweene mee and him according to the euidence of testimonies which shall bee brought against him ; most of them shall bee so apparent , that any one vnderstanding english may presently discerne them . i will not vrge him with his own contradiction , who in his preface to his reader saith , b i returne to the treatise of t. m. for more of his name we cannot yet find out . and yet had in his epistle dedicatorie vnto both the vniuersities , which is set before the preface , mentioned t. m. in his expresse name c thomas morton , fiue seuerall times . but this fault were very pardonable , were it not in him who will thinke no fault pardonable in his aduersary : neuerthelesse i hold it excusable by the vertue of this common prouerbe : cart before the horse , as we say . i therefore note not this for a falsity , because a lie is onely then , when the tongue or pen goeth against the mind and wit of the speaker or writer . but in this contradiction i thinke rather that p. r. his pen runne before his wit , and so will hee excuse himselfe , except hee had rather bee accounted lyingly witty , than witlesly rash . other such like stumblings i ouerpasse . i come to note such his falles , as may seeme to bee recouerable by no excuse . one falshood of p. r. 80 let that be first which i d haue already mentioned , where peremptorily he affirmed that the clause of reseruation was not by me set downe in latine throughout my whole treatise against aequiuocation aboue once : whereto the reader may answer for me that it is set downe in latine aboue twenty times . what excuse can he pretend ? ignorance , ouersight , negligence ? why , the booke was present before his eies , euen in those places which he particularly discussed . could that errour be by errour of print , diuersitie of translation , or difference of editions ? ( for these are all the pretences which he will allow ) not one of all these ( he knoweth ) can redeeme him from guilt : and therfore i may pronounce against him in his own words : he must needs be presumed to haue known the vntruth of his assertion , and yet would set it foorth . and therefore by this one example may learne heereafter to mistrust himselfe . a second falshood . 81 where i writ of my aduersary the moderate answerer thus : e he ( say i ) wilfully seating himselfe in the chaire of those doctours , whom the apostle describeth , saying [ they will be doctors , and yet vnderstand not what they say , nor whereof they affirme . ] by which particle , [ he , ] euen the vulgar reader may vnderstand that i described but one , which was , my aduersarie the moderate answerer , who vsed to satisfie obiected testimonies , saying : if this be these mens opinions , and neuer inquired what their opinions were . therfore i iudged him to be a doctor of that chaire signified by the apostle : where the doctour faith , he knoweth not what . this my application vnto only that one , our p. r. setteth on his owne tenters , and stretcheth it vnto all , saying , f but whether this description of fond presumptuous doctors doth agree vnto our catholike priests or to protestants , will appeare , &c. and againe , now let vs see how he goeth about to prooue our priests such bad doctours , &c. which he did to make me seeme so presumptuous , as to think all romish doctors vnlearned , which had been ( i confesse ) an odious presumption . let them be as greatly learned as they are , or else as they would seeme to bee , yet must there be a con , i meane an heart zealous of the truth , to be ioined with science to make vp a perfect conscience , which is the true doctour indeed : otherwise wee know , that g the serpent by being the most subtile of all the beasts in the field , will deserue no better commendation , than to be accounted the skilfullest seducer . of which kind p. r. will prooue himselfe to be ; for what excuse may he now vse to free himselfe from falshood ? editions ? translations ? prints ? heere is only one edition , and that only in english. will he say , that it was an error of ignorance , ouersight , negligence ? so might some peraduenture iudge of it , who doe not obserue that hee is euery-where ouer-diligent to draw vpon me an imputation of arrogancy and malice . a third falshood . 82 where the moderate answerer , to proue the doctrine of protestants rebellious , obiected vnto mee the positions of goodman , i made this answer , h if i should iustifie goodman , although your examples might excuse him , my heart should condemn my selfe . signifying , that although goodman were gracelesse in his conclusions , yet compared with the heinous practises of romish priests , might ( but as tyre and sydon in respect of capernaum and bethsaida , that is , as the lesse sinner in respect of the greater ) be thought excusable . and i added also heerunto these words , let vs leaue goodman as a man who by his false and wicked positions hath falsified his name . yet p. r. aduentureth to say thus ; i hee ( meaning tho. morton ) doth particularly iustifie goodman . what falsitie shall we call this , where an accusation is laid against mee for iustifying that man , whose positions i call false and wicked ; whose person i hold vnworthy of the name of a good man ; whom , i say , i cannot iustifie without condemnation of mine owne soule ? what excuse now shall p. r. make ? shall it be edition , print , translation ? there is no difference in these kindes . was it negligence or ignorance ? the words are plaine and all in english. wherfore if my speech concerning goodman bee a iustification , then may not p. r. be offended to be iustified by me in like terms , thus : if i should iustifie p. r. his accusations , or thinke that he writ with a good conscience ( although the example of some libelling spirit might excuse him in this kind ) my heart should condemne my selfe : and therefore i passe him ouer as one who is not worthy of any name , except p. r. which may signifie perfidiae reus , that is , a man guilty of perfidiousnesse , his positions are so rebellious , and his accusations so false and calumnious . whereof he will giue vs many examples . a fourth falshood . 83 the moderate answerer obiected also the examples of knox and buchanan as doctors and actors of the rebellion in scotland . my answer was , that k their seditious doctrine was condemned in scotland , noting them to haue beene worthy of all condemnation . neuerthelesse p. r. doth obiect , that l he ( meaning tho. morton ) taketh vpon him a iustification of all protestants for rebelling against their princes in any countrey whatsoeuer , but more particularly some in england , and others as knox and buchanan , and the like ministers in scotland , turning vpside downe the states against their soueraignes . this is no more , than if an italian obiecting vnto mee that wee haue theeues in england , and i should answer , it is true we haue so : but yet so farre is theft from being tolerable in our state , that when theeues are catched , they are foorthwith condemned and hanged : and then the italian should challenge mee that in thus answering i iustified theeues . the crimination of p. r. is altogether alike , and consequently he must needs bee presumed to haue knowen the vntruth , and to haue obiected this for the preiudice of my conscience , to the strangling of his owne . a fift falshood . 84 in my book of m satisfaction i had this passage , concerning an obiection against some protestants , answering , deny christs to be god ? god forbid ! but to be god of god onely in a particular sense , this indeed they doe . but can you finde no more protestants of this opinion , ( to wit , besides m. willet , and d. fulke ? ) your iesuit reckoneth vp caluin and beza , and i thinke he saith truely . i would either he or you did as truly vnderstand them . but yet we wish to heare what your doctors thinke of this protestants opinion : your campian calleth it monstrous , &c. a little after i added ; this doctrine , doth ( in the iudgement of your famous bellarmine ) seeme catholicall : because they deny not the sonne to be from the father ; but they deny the essence of the godhead to haue any generation . hence p. r. inferreth and inforceth thus : n thomas morton saith that bellarmine reckoneth vp caluine and beza to be of that opinion . and who would not thinke vpon this assertion of t. m. but that cardinall bellarmine were contrary to himselfe , accusing caluine , and yet iustifying his doctrine ? you see how many sleights are vsed heere in deceiuing the reader . as though i had endeuored to make bellarmine contrary to himselfe , when as against the iesuit campian accusing caluin and beza , i opposed bellarmine the greatest champion among the iesuites as to be contrary vnto the other for defense of caluins doctrine : manifesting this difference of campian and bellarmine , in these distinct letters r , s , z. yet this falsificator to make me seeme to haue vsed sleights as falsly heerein to make bellarmine seeme contrary to himselfe , hath with his owne nimble sleight confounded the different testimonies of campian and bellarmine , who were produced as contrary one to another . what excuse may be admitted in this place ? ignorance , negligence ? &c. why p. r. looketh vpon the place , and vnderstandeth english : and yet falsly obiecteth a sleight of deceiuing my hearer , himselfe by a fine sleight abusing both me and the hearer . the only excuse ( i feare ) must be that hee beheld the place with a squint-eid malice , which can neuer rightly discerne the truth . a sixt falsitie of p. r. 85 heere p. r. rangeth at large , saying , that o thomas morton framed a second part of his book for iustification of protest●… yet in effect he confesseth all that his aduersary opposeth . let p. r. learne what this meaneth , litera occidit , and then let him come to be tried by my booke , and almost a childe may discerne that in this one obiection hee hath giuen his conscience many a mortall wound . in effect confessed all that was opposed ? what is there almost of all that was opposed by the mod. answ. ( excepting the examples of knox , buchanan , goodman , munster , which all i iustly condemned ) which was not directlie confuted ? for in the part . 2. of the full satisfact . cap. 1. it was prooued out of bellarmine to bee the generall doctrine of protestants , that , spirituall men haue no authority to depriue princes of their kingdomes . in the cap. 5. is set downe the expresse doctrine of caluine and beza , condemning all rebellious doctrine . in the chapter 6. are produced two romish historians acquitting the protestants in france from suspition of rebellion . in the cap. 10. the moderate answerer is prooued to be impudently false for alleging only dumbe authors to make luther guilty of the losse of rhodes and hungarie , which then fell into the paw of the turke : where i , from their owne historians , did euince that adrian the pope was chargeable for that great losse in christendome , which was without any witnesse or coniecture obiected against luther by that moderate answerer . in the cap. 11. my aduersary would needs accuse luther to bee of the same opinion with munster , who raised horrible rebellions in germany , which is so notorious a slander , that their owne doctors ( as i haue shewed ) haue acquitted luther , confessing that luther writ against those turbulent spirits , and taught all christians to arme themselues against that rebellious crew , and to put them to death . these and many such confutations i vsed against the moderate answerer , conuincing him of notorious ignorance and falshood . and can now p. r. call a confutation a confession without a grosse abuse of the confidence of his reader , and his own conscience ? a seuenth falsitie . 86 in the full satisfact . part . 2. chap. 5. the moderate answerer did obiect thus ; p caluine and beza and the rest of that holy synod say , that the kings and queenes , their children , posterity , and all magistrates must be put to death . and so euery protestant must be more than a pope . this hee deliuered without iust witnesse , and this i confuted from the direct and expresse doctrines of caluine and beza . and after a long iustification of them concerning their doctrine , at the length in the chap. 7. pag. 119. i concluded thus ; wee haue heard of their opinions , haue you any thing to except against their practise ? which question was not made in way of deniall , as though my aduersary would not charge caluine and beza with any practise of rebellion ; but after the maner of art and common speech , by way of transition , to shew more orderly and emphatically what was by the moderate answerer obiected against their practise , which is set downe immediately after . and yet p. r. maketh this one of his instances , and proofes of my fraudulent dealings . heere i would charge my christian reader in the obligation of truth it selfe to giue him audience , for his clamor is vehement , and his accusation may seeme to bee important . thus then p. r. q and hauing said thus , hee ( tho. morton ) passeth yet further , adding a second prouocation about practise , in these words : we haue heard of their opinion ( to wit , of caluine and beza ) haue you any thing to except against their practise ? and this demand he made , when he knew and had seene his aduersaries many and most grieuous accusations against them in that kind , not only for mouing that people of geneua to open rebellion against their lord and prince the bishop , but also the people of france , against their king and soueraigne , citing good authorities for the same , saying : caluine and beza armed the subiects against their prince of geneua , and ( as caluiue himselfe , doctor suttcliffe , and the bishop of canterbury be witnesses ) deposed their soueraigne from his temporall right , and euer after continued in that state of rebellion . they celebrated also a councell , wherein was concluded that k. francis the second , then king of france , his wife the queene , his children , queene mother , &c. should be destroied . and his quotations for these things are : beza lib. de iure migistrat . suttcliff . answ . to suppl . and suruey . caluin in epist. pet. far. orat . cont . sect. defens . reg . & relig . &c. all which being seene by our minister , he demandeth notwithstanding , as you haue heard , with this hypocrisie , haue you any thing to except against their practise ? as though there were nothing at all not only not to be accused or reprehended in them , but not so much as to be excepted against . and is not this notable dissimulation in a matter so cleere and euident ? who can beleeue this minister heereafter ? 87 nay is there any but will rather beleeue mee heereafter when he shall see me abused by so intolerable impudency as i am perswaded he neuer heard of heeretofore ? for i am accused to haue vsed that interrogation [ haue you any thing to say vnto their practise ? ] in dissimulation , as though i would haue concealed my aduersaries obiection against caluin and beza , in pretence that nothing at all were not onely not to bee accused or reprehended , but not so much as to be excepted against . wherunto i haue only this to answer , that there is nothing in all this obiection which hath not beene both literally expressed by me , and also particularly confuted . let vs compare the obiection as it is repeated by p. r. and see if there bee any thing which i haue pretermitted . first these words , caluin and beza armed subiects against their prince of geneua : these r i haue verbatim expressed , except only that for at geneua , i haue of geneua . can there be any falshood in the particle of ? in the next words , and as caluin himselfe , doctor suttcliffe and the bishop of canterbury bee witnesses , deposed their soueraigne from his temporall right , and euer after continued in that state of rebellion . and this s hath beene by me repeated also verbatim , excepting that for continued , i said continue . and can p. r. suspect any hypocrisie in the letter d ? the next , they celebrated a councell , wherein was concluded that k. francis the second , the king of france , his wife the queene , his children , queene-mother should be destroied . this obiection also hath beene set downe in these words : t caluin and beza and the rest of the holy synod say that the kings and queenes of france , their children , posterity and all magistrates must be put to death , and so euery protestant must be more than a pope . heere is more propounded than this my rigid aduersary hath noted , namely , euery protestant shall so be a pope . shall hee feare any ambush in this clause ? lastly the testimonies which are heere repeated , u were by me particularly both noted , and answered : and most of these p. r. himselfe ( that wee may know he was not ignorant heereof ) hath particularly discussed . vnder what visard then could he call a perfect manifestation of this obiection a dissimulation ? or a full answer vnto euery obiected exception a concealement , as though nothing had beene reprehended ? or a particular repetition and satisfaction to all , an hypocriticall dealing , as though there had beene nothing obiected at all ? sure i am , it had beene more for the credit of p. r. if hee had plaid the hypocrite in this taxation , to vse some colourable slander , and not to haue laid himselfe so nakedly shamefull in this kind , that very boyes , by comparing these places , may see his deformitie . but o the impotency of malice ! it is not vnlike vnto the blindnesse of the sodomites , who after that they had seen lots house , yet groped for the doore . so p. r. a litle after x discusseth some of my answers , to this obiection of practise , and yet now will not acknowledge the beginning . an eight falsitie of p. r. 88 to the y moderate answerer obiecting the commotion of wiat in norfolke , in the dayes of q. mary , which my friend p. r. hath obserued , & therby ( to make me one of his incorporation ) would conclude me a double liar . let vs heare him . z to that then of sir thomas wiat , the duke of suffolke , and others , he answereth diuersly . first , the history relateth ( saith he ) the pretence of sir th●mas wiat thus : a proclamation against the queenes mariage , desiring all english-men to ioyn for defence of the realme , &c. then that in queene maries oration against wiat there is not to be found ( sayth he ) any scruple concerning the cause of religion . thirdly , that no minister of the gospell was brought in question as a commotioner in that cause . lastly , if intent might answer for protestants accused in that name , then is it plaine , that it was not religion ; if for wiat and his fellowes , it is plaine , that it was not against the queene or state , but for both . so he . in all which different clauses of answer , consider if any one be in it selfe true : for as for the first and second , though wiat pretendeth in his proclamation the sayd mariage with spaine to be the chiefe cause , yet not alone , but that the queen and counsell ( saith fox ) would also by this mariage , as he affirmed , bring vpon the realme miserable seruitude , and establish popish religion . ¶ and the same fox relateth queene maries words in her oration thus : that the matter of the marriage is but a spanish cloake ( saith she ) to couer their pretenced purpose against our religion . so as in these two points the minister lieth openly , but more in the last , that wiats attempt was not against queene mary or the state , but for both : for that q. marie in the same oration , as both fox and hollinshed doe ioyntly relate , affirmed wiats answer to haue beene to sir edward hastings and sir tho. cornwallis , sent from her vnto them , which he also at his arraignment confessed , that he and his would haue the gouernance of her person , the keeping of the tower , and the placing of her counsellers . 89 the first lie he noteth , is in relating of the oration of q. marie , wherein i sayd there was no scruple concerning religion : and i cited for witnesse hollinshed . this authour ( as we may perceiue ) p. r. hath examined , and could finde nothing in him against me for this first point touching q. maries oration : therefore he seeketh other euidence , and bringeth against me the testimonie of m. fox , wherein there is mention of religion . what therefore ? therfore i am by him condemned for a liar . nay , but rather by this opposing m. fox p. r. hath wilily imitated the fraud of a fox , which creature , men say , doth vsually prey furthest from home . so likewise p. r. if he would haue proued me a liar , should haue done it out of hollinsheds relation of q. maries oration , which was the witnesse whom i produced : but he wanting cause of reproofe heerein , doth therefore range further to conuince me of lying by the testimony which i mentioned not . but whereas this mitigator hath sayd , that a aduertisement was giuen him , that this minister t. m. was chaplaine vnto my l. of canturbury ( and vpon this aduertisement doth note me for his graces chaplaine ) when he shall be more certainly informed that the minister was neuer chaplaine to his grace , i would but know whether he will giue his reader leaue to call him a liar , or no. for , if , because he was deceiued in his aduertisement , he will be iudged a liar , then can not he ( a liar ) be a fit man to charge another of vntruth : if he will auouch his owne truth and sinceritie , because he reported nothing not whereof by his aduertiser he had been informed , then am i no liar , who haue sayd no more than whereunto my authour hollinshed did direct me . so that my aduersarie is now chargeable by an argument à paribus , either to acquit me , or els to condemne himselfe . we may suffer professors of the feats of legerdemaine to delude the beholders , to conuey one mans ring into another mans pocket , & then call him a cosener ; but for vs diuines to play such tricks , as he hath done , changing hollinshed into m. fox , and then to tax me for falshood , is a deuice inexcusable . his second exception is of no better moment , because euen that purpose of wiat , to keepe the tower , wanted not the supposed intention , which was , the preseruation of the queene and state : yet so farre was it from me to iustifie any such rebellious action , that i ( according to the maner of schooles , vsing argumento ad hominem ) obiected this to our romish aduersaries , only , that they , by accusing of wiat , ( who professed a good intent ) might learne to condemne themselues , whose only ground of rebellion is pretence of a catholike intent ; the rather , because a good intent destitute of precept and commandement of god , is but ( as the apostle teacheth ) b a damnable good . wherefore the two lies which p. r. would haue bestowed vpon me , he by vertue of his place and patent may keepe to himselfe . a ninth falshood of p. r. 90 a ninth falshood may be accounted , his peremptorie reprehension of our english translation vpon that of esa. 29. they are blinde &c. as dissenting from the latine , greeke , and hebrew , both in words and sense . in which censure he c hath beene conuinced of a grosse falshood in both , by the iudgement of his owne doctors . a tenth falsitie of p. r. 91 for a tenth take his wilfull d falshood in pressing one only edition of carerius , thereby accusing me of falshood in corrupting that authour : whereas the collen edition hath iustified me , and discouered this disposition of p. r. to haue been willing that i should rather be condemned rashly than iustly acquitted . an eleuenth and twelfth fraud of p. r. 92 for an eleuenth may be remembred his vniust e crimination , in noting me as a notable liar for affirming that , which his owne triple instance doth euidently euince . we may f adde for a twelfth his obiection of the authour frisingensis ; wherein , that he might prooue me a falsificator , he doth himselfe play foure excellent feats of falshood . a thirteenth new and noble falshood . 93 i may not deale niggardly with p. r. especially in recounting vnto him his owne , and therefore to his former dozzen adde one other for aduantage , yet such an one as whereat most of the former , although otherwise very impudent , may seeme to blush . p. r. pleadeth for their mentall aequiuocation , ( which i haue truly called the baud or broker of their rebellon ) after this maner : g the minister himselfe ( sayth he ) doth in effect confesse heere in his second treatise , that for the space of the last 400 yeeres the doctrine of equiuocation hath beene receiued for true in our schooles , and consequently practised thorowout all christendome &c. and againe : h how can a doctrine so vgly and abominable ( as t. m. calleth it ) be receiued so generally thorowout the christian world , that is to say , the doctrine of all schooles , chaires , vniuersities , casuists , lawyers both canon and ciuill , diuines both scholasticall and positiue approouing the same ? and a little after : was there none at the first admittance of it to stand for the truth , and reason to the contrary in any prouince or state , in any place or time , within the compasse of 400 yeeres ? and yet againe : i seeing it hath beene admitted so long time in christendome , as our aduersaries doe confesse , and that it hath beene receiued so vniuersally and generally both by prelates and people ; and if it haue beene so publikely taught by all learned men , and contradicted by none , it ought to be a great argument to discreet men , that it hath some ground of truth . it seemeth to me , that p. r. after that by custome of falsifying he had cast himselfe into such a slumber , that he had little sense of lying ; now at length he may be thought to be fallen into a dead sleepe , and to haue cast away all conscience of truth : as may appeare by these so large and lauish assertions . the summary points are two : 94 the first is in peruerting my confession . the minister himselfe ( sayth p. r. ) doth in effect confesse heere in his second treatise , that for the space of the last 400 yeeres the doctrine of aequiuocation hath beene receiued for true in schooles , and consequently practised thorowout all christendome , and generally receiued of all chaires , vniuersities , schooles , diuines , casuists , &c. is it euen so p. r ? can you extract such a generall consequent out of the confession of the minister ? did he euer acknowledge your mentall aequiuocation so vniuersall , as you make it , of all vniuersities , schooles , diuines , casuists ? nay did not he k confute this your assertion of generalitie by the expresse sentence of your owne doctour genesius sepulueda ? his words are these : l this maner of aequiuocating is against the authoritie of most ancient and chiefe theologers or diuines ( meaning the schoole-diuines ) and none before gabriel ( a schooleman ) taught it . is this to confesse a generallitie ? or , could it be called then vniuersall , when but one man set it first abroch ? other testimonies of genesius against equiuocating p. r. did seriously examine , and nimbly ouerskip this . 95 againe , i neuer sayd that all romish priests were guiltie of this part of perfidious doctrine of mentall aequiuocation : but proued , that not aboue 400 yeeres since mentall equiuocation was heard of euen in romish schooles , and that the first that is read of to haue defended it was gabriel biel a leud sophister , after it was entertained by syluester and angelus , and some other few such glozers , but was not then general among them . we see therefore that p. r. his consequent is from a confession of a few particulars to inferre a generall conclusion ▪ all diuines , all casuists , &c. the lamenesse of this consequent i shall make appeare by a like example , thus : let me affirme with some historians , that not aboue an hundred yeres agoe ( or thereabout ) the neapolitane disease , commonly called the french pocks , tooke possession in christendome , since which time some parties haue beene miserably afflicted therewith . vpon this assertion , by the consequent of our mitigator , it must follow , that since these hundred yeeres haue all cities , townes , villages , schooles , people , priests in christendome , yea euen our mitigatour himselfe , become such a kinde of neapolitanes . and why may not this example fit ? sure i am , that mentall equiuocating , whomsoeuer it infecteth , is nothing els than a pocke and pestilence in the soule . we leaue this falshood taken from consequent , and seeke out a more sensible proofe of his palpable falsitie than this . p. r. his aequiuocation proued a lie , and himselfe a falsifier , by the confessions of three iesuits . 96 the second falsitie is in his plaine asseueration , that mentall aequiuocation ( for heereupon only we dispute ) hath beene vniuersally receiued of all prelates and people in christendome , and not contradicted by any . let vs first vnderstand what kinde of aequiuocation p. r. doth defend . m mentall aequiuocation is when any speech hath or may haue a double sense , not by any double signification or composition of words themselues , but only by some reseruation in the speaker , whereby his meaning is made different from that sense , which the words that are vttered do beare without that reseruation . this kinde of aequiuocation p. r. imbraceth , and therunto he saith , there hath beene no one which hath made contradiction . the first witnesse conuincing this mitigation of falshood is azorius a learned iesuit . 97 this azorius a great casuist , in his booke of morall institution , printed at rome anno 1600 by licence of his superiours ( as the title signifieth ) doth discusse this point of aequiuocation , and his resolution is , that n there is nothing so false ( saith he ) which may not be freed from a lie if we may keepe something secret in our mindes , for by this meanes when any thing is asked of vs , we may deny that we haue it ( although indeed we haue it ) vnderstanding in our minds [ that we may giue it . ] whatsoeuer we haue done , seene , thought , or decreed , being demanded thereof , we may by this meanes answer without a lie that we haue not done , nor seene , nor thought , nor decreed , namely , in that sense [ that we may tell it vnto you . ] but i am of another opinion , which i will manifest by certeine rules . his fift rule doth hit the naile on the head , which is this . * the fift rule : if the words we vse are not according to their common signification among men , ambiguous or doubtfull , and haue only one sense , we ought to vse them in that sense which they haue in themselues : neither is it lawful for vs , although we be examined against right and iustice , to detort or turne our speech by our inward conceit of minde , because it is not lawfull for vs to lie : but he doth lie who vnderstandeth his speeches otherwise than they do signifie in themselues . the difference between our mitigator and this iesuit is no more than this : first , p. r. defendeth an aequiuocation which is when the speech hath no double sense in the outward words themselues , but only in some secret reseruation in the minde of the speaker . but azorius saith , that we ought not to vse any sense of speech which is not in the words themselues , but only in the inward thought of him that speaketh . secondly , p. r. mainteineth , that his mentall reseruation is a truth : but azorius concludeth , that it is a lie . and can there be a greater contradiction than this ? how then could our mitigator affirme , that mentall aequiuocation is defended of casuists and doctors , and contradicted by none ? hath he any shadow of excuse by ignorance of the authour and place ? no , for he hath o alleged this author , vpon this question of aequiuocation , foure times ; and the place was particularly obiected in my confutation therof : or els be helped by difference of translation or edition ? he wil not pretend this ; therefore can no euasion serue him , except hee will answer , that he thought good in citing authors for defense of aequiuocation to aequiuocate . whence any may discerne what credit such wretched aequiuocators may deserue . a second witnesse conuincing p. r. of falshood . 98 when i had p obiected against the romanists that popish priests ( yet not saying that all of them held this opinion ) are guilty of this perfidiousnesse of violating an oath by mentall equiuocation : my first aduersary , called the moderate answerer , that he might a little qualifie the hatefulnesse of that equiuocating sect : did tell vs that q a iesuit famous amongst the casuists , emanuel sà in his aphorismes writeth of this matter in these words : quidam dicunt , &c. some there bee who say that he who is not bound to answer vnto the intention of the examiner , may answer by reseruation of some thing in his owne minde , to wit , [ that it is not so , viz. that i must tell it vnto you ] although others do not admit this maner of answering , and peraduenture vpon better reason than the former . whereby it is manifest ( saith that moderate answerer ) that all catholikes do not allow of aequiuocation . thus farre hee : confessing heereby that diuers catholike authours haue contradicted this equiuocating forgerie , which p. r. hath auouched no catholike writer did euer contradict . is it possible that my aduersary can free himselfe from a falsitie corroding the conscience ? the edition is but one , the translation is the same , the place was well knowen , being obiected by the moderate answerer , whom hee hath commended as a learned performer and is furthermore repeated in my booke of r satisfaction , which hee hath laboured to confute . say then sir mitigatour , will you thinke this moderate answer to be true or no ; take heed what you say , you haue a woolfe by the eares ( according to the prouerbe ) if you hold him , hee will bite your hands , if you let him goe hee will flie in your face . say therfore : was that answer of your fellow true , wherin it is said , that diuers catholikes do not allow of this doctrine of aequiuocation ? then are you a false proctor , for this your wilfull assertion , to wit , not one catholike doctour doth contradict it . or will you say that answer was vntrue ? then must you be iudged a false sycophant , for approouing that for a iust and moderate answer , wherein the author hath acquitted himselfe learnedly , and yet do thinke it to be vntrue . the third witnesse conuincing p. r. of falshood . 99 maldonat a principall iesuit and casuist resolueth thus ; s whosoeuer doth endeuor by faining to deceiue another , although he intend to signifie something else , yet , doubtlesse , he lieth . this testimony t i vsed for confutation of this vile art . which p. r. could not be ignorant of , because u hee endeuoured to satisfie other testimonies , as of genesius and sotus . but this authour maldonat specified in the same place , p. r. ( as a weaker aduersary will doe his ouermatch ) did willingly pretermit . but what now will follow of all this ? what will p. r. obiect ? let vs but heare what hath been said , and then he shall know what may be said . he claimed an vniuersall approbation of mentall equiuocation from the consent of all vniuersities , diuines and casuists , &c. no one contradicting that doctrine . he hath also said , that x a generall proposition is such , that if any one instance may be giuen to the contrary , the whole is ouerthrowen . now haue i instanced vnto his generall of all vniuersities , all prelates , all casuists , all people , in three famous iesuists and casuists , azorius , sà , maldonate , and in the confession of his fellow the moderate answerer , acknowledging that diuers catholikes do not approoue their mentall reseruation : all from direct testimonies of these authors certainely knowen vnto this mitigator . and therefore must conclude , that seeing any one knowen instance may ouerthrow a whole generall , our mitigator by these foure seuerall knowen instances is to be accounted a foure-fold falsificator . i haue exceeded the proportion of our mitigators demand , who hath required but two or three instances in any , though in himself , of vnsatisfiable falshoods , i haue offerd him thirteene , as many as i could well bundle vp in this briefe preamble , reseruing the rest for the exact incounter , when i doubt not , but vpon the discouery of his vnconscionable deprauations he will wish that his braines had beene a-sleepe , when hee framed this mitigation , rather than his fraudulent and malicious disposition should be discouered . wherof there will be yet more proofe in his calumniations following : wherunto i now addressemy satisfaction in an answer to the accusations of falshood , which the mitigator hath obiected to his aduersary th. morton , singling out of many , not such which might seeme vnto me most easilie answered : but those which p. r. hath most vehemently pressed and vrged , as by his insolent insultations will appeare . § 18. 100. although the discouered calumnious spirit of p. r. might so preiudice the credit of his other taxations , that , in the opinion of any religious reader , i might seeme to be absolued euen before i be accused ; yet considering that in slander , as in a bodily hurt etsi vulnus sanetur , cicatrix manet tamen though the wound be cured , yet the scarre doth remaine : and that it was no sufficient iustification for the one thiefe vpon the crosse to tell his fellow , saying : * thou also art in the same condemnation : therefore doe i willingly addresse my apologie and defence against his calumniations , especially such wherein he insisteth and insulteth most ; wherunto i shall giue ( i hope ) such satisfaction , as that not only the wound of slander may be cured , but euen also the suspicious scarre of imputation may be wiped away . the first obiected falsification , whereupon he maketh this insultation : it is a malicious lie of the minister , hauing neither simplicitie nor truth , but of a lost conscience by manifest and malicious calumniations . 101 p. r. beginneth thus : a he ( tho. morton ) laieth before his maiesty a certaine obseruation about popes names , as full fraught with malice and deceitfulnesse , as the former with vanity : and he layeth the obseruation vpon polydore virgil , though citing no place for it . polydore obserueth ( saith hee ) that the popes a long time in their election had their names changed by antiphrasis , viz. the elected if he were by naturall disposition fearefull , was named leo , if cruell , clement , if vnciuill vrbanus , if wicked pius , if couetous bonifacius , if in all behauior intolerable , innocentius . and with this hee thinketh to haue laid downe an obseruation of importance . but why had he not adioined also , that if he were carelesse of his flocke , then gregory must bee his name , which importeth a vigilant pastor ? but now let the iudicious reader obserue the malice and falshood of this obseruation , and thereby iudge whether the authour thereof bee a minister of simple truth , or no. polydore saith onely that sometimes popes as other princes in like maner haue had names that haue beene different , or rather contrary to their nature and maners , which is an ordinary case , if we examine the signification of men and womens names ; but that popes names were changed of purpose by antiphrasis , or contrary speech to couer their defects , as heere is set downe , this is a malicious lie of the minister , and hath neither simplicity nor truth in it : for that all these names heere mentioned of leo , clemens , vrbanus , pius , bonifacius , innocentius and gregory were chosen by the popes that tooke them for the great reuerence and estimation they had of certaine excellent men of that name , that went before them , as also for the good abodement of their future gouernment , and to be stirred vp the more by the memory of those names to the vertues signified by them : but especially for the honour and imitation of the first popes that bare those names . the answer . 102 the first note of falshood he intimateth to be , because i laid my obseruation vpon polydore , citing no place for it . would not his preiudicate reader now thinke that i had fraudulently suggested a testimonie in the name of polydore , which cannot be found ; and in the guiltinesse heereof to haue cited no place ? but heere i make a nouerint vniuersi , to giue euery reader to vnderstand , that the sentence which i reported vpon my memory is certainly extant in the ancient editions of polydore , lib. 4. inuent . ca. 10. in these words , primus honos , &c. which sentence because it doth not a little offend the superstitious romanists , therfore an. dom. 1572. by the authority of pope pius quin. it is commanded in these words [ b vsque ad , aliud sibi nomen aptaret , deleatur ] that is , faire and cleane to bee blotted out . can then this be ought but a transcendent impudency to blame me for not citing that testimony , which his pope , lest it should be cited hath vtterly razed out ? hee seeth his pope pulling out a mans tongue , and then would compell mee to looke whether i can find it in his mouth : but although they haue made polydore by their index expurgatorius , almost in euery page dumbe , not suffering him to beare witnesse against the pride of popes , the licentiousnesse of monkes , the superstitions of their church , the nouelties of their manifold traditions and inuentions ; yet our ancient polydore now dwelling amongst protestants ( printed an. 1570. basileae ) hath a tongue which will tell tales , saying plainely that , c this is the first honour which is giuen vnto the pope of rome , that if peraduenture his name ( before election ) be somewhat vnseemely , he may change it as soone as he is created . as for example , ( which may not bee spoken without a iest ) if peraduenture hee had beene before ( his creation ) a wicked man , that then he should be called bonifacius , that is , a good doer : if fearefull , then leo , that is , a lion : if rusticall , then vrbanus , that is , ciuill : if vngodly , then innocentius , that is , innocent : if furious , then clemens , that is , gentle : if infamous , then benedictus , that is , a man of a good report , should be his name . the first author of this change of names ( which was anno 1052. ) was pope sergius secundus , whose proper name was hogs-face : who , that he might auoid the ignominy of his own name , was permitted to chuse another . 103 obserue now what i haue reported from polydore , viz. that popes names were changed by antiphrase , or contrary speech , to couer their defects . and this is no whit different from the testimony of polydore , who saith , that if the pope were before his creation wicked , he did take the name of godly vpon him : if rigorous , then gentle , &c. which kind of alteration of names is not vnlike a gregorian , ( as some call it ) or artificiall couer for a baldhead . let therefore the iudicious reader iudge from what spirit , whether of ignorance or malice , haue proceeded these slanderous inuectiues , calling my true relation malice and falshood : and againe , a malicious lie of the minister , which hath neither simplicity nor truth in it . it is no rare thing for women of suspected conuersation , lest they should bee called by their proper names , to miscall honest matrons first . peraduenture p. r. vseth the same art in naming me a liar . but i had rather interpret his meaning in the best part , to imagine that hee might meane by his owne open and false detraction to proue me his aduersary , to be a minister of simple truth . a second obiection of falshood , whereupon hee insulteth thus : this false lad setteth downe his owne fiction : and is not this perfidious dealing ? can any excuse him from falshood and malice in so open treachery ? 104 p. r. groweth yet hotter , and casteth coales about him , thus ; d he ( viz. tho. morton ) hath these words : pope adrian being guiltie of like seditious practise against the emperour henry the second , was choaked with a ●lie . and in his quotation citeth nauclerus for it , generatione 139. which should bee 39. for that nauclerus hath nothing neere so many generations in that part ; and in stead of henry the second , hee should haue said fredericke the first of that name , for that henry the second was before the time of our conquest , and almost two hundred yeers before adrian the fourth our english pope , of whom we now speak , who liued in the time of king stephen and king henry the second of england , and was an holy man , and accounted the apostle of noruegia for conuerting the same vnto our christian faith , before he was pope , and all authours do write honourably of him ▪ and so doth nauclerus affirme : and therefore though hee make mention of such a fable related by vrspergensis that was a schismaticall writer in those daies ( who also doth not absolutely auouch it , but with this temperament , vt fertur , as the report goeth ) yet doth the same nauclerus reiect the same as false , and confuteth it by the testimonies of all other writers , especially of italy that liued with him , and thereby knew best both his life and death . and yet all this notwithstanding will this false lad t. m. needs set downe this history as true , affirming it for such , and neuer so much as giuing his reader to vnderstand , that any other denied the same , or that the only authour himselfe of this fiction doubted therof . and is not this perfidious dealing ? or can any man excuse him from falshood and malice in this open treacherie ? the answer . 105 not so sir , both because ( as i truly protest ) i did not write this out of the author himselfe , which i had neuer seene , but from collection out of some other booke : yet in the relation it selfe there appeareth no shadow of malicious falshood . first , there could not be malice in misquotation of the generation , as an 139. for 39. which neither added nor detracted anything from the matter it selfe , no more than to say peter is 10. or an 100. yeeres of age doth conuince a man of fraud who intendeth only to prooue that peter is a man. and whosoeuer shall obiect error of quotation , he may be quoted for one that is ignorant either what it is to write , or transcribe , or to print ; for all these are subiect vnto misquotations . now if there bee a fault in a peece of cloth , must we necessarily iudge that the spinner was to blame ? secondly , what skilleth it whether it was henry an emperour , or fredericke an emperour , that was excommunicated by the pope , when as the intended conclusion was onely this , that adrian the pope did excommunicate an emperour , and conspired against him ? no more than if , when one should bee examined of murder , the accuser should say that the mortall wound was giuen with the right hand ; and the party accused should gainesay it , proouing it was done with the left hand ; could this difference be of any moment , when the maine question is , whether this man committed the murder , or no ? in all this there is error ( i confesse ) but yet no falshood . thirdly , if where one only witnesse is required , i should say vnto n. you told me ( i think ) that a. did conspire against f. and died miserably . no ( quoth n. ) i did not : but heere is my brother v. that said something to this purpose . in all this we discerne only an errour in misciting the authour ( n ) but no falshood for want of a witnesse . so heere , where v. that is , the abbat of vrspurg was ready to say that which n. that is , nauclerus was vnwilling to affirme , concerning the conspiracie of a. that is , the pope adrian against f. that is fredericke the emperour . o but abbas vrspurgensis did say onely , fertur , that is , it is so reported : and this a man may say of a fable . but i pray you sir , what is there in historiographers of after times but only case of report ? so that whosoeuer shall cite any historian who was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , an eie-witnesse himselfe of that which he writeth ; doth in citing him confesse that he speaketh but vpon report : yet euen this word [ fertur ] that is , [ it is so said , or , it is reported , or , the same is , &c. ] doth not necessarily betoken doubtfulnesse in him that vttereth it : which your owne iesuit e del rio would haue his reader to obserue in a certaine sentence of s. gregory . 106 the only colour of iust exception hee can bring , is this : because ( saith he ) nauclerus reiecteth it to be false , and confuteth it by all writers , especially of italy . and what then ? notwithstanding will this false lad t. m. needs set it downe as true . if age make diseases desperate , it is better be a lad then ( that i may so say ) a dad in falshood ; for by how much more any is a father in lying , the more neere hee is in degree of kindred vnto the father of lies , in which line of descent i feare p. r. will appeare to be . for nauclerus endeth his censure thus : verùm cùm multi itali nullam de hoc mentionem faciunt , &c. hec & alia ambiguum me reddunt quid potiùs eligendum quidque credendū sit . scribimus enim res gestas affectu nonnunquam plus quàm veritatis amore ducti . he saith not that italians denied this maner of death , but that they make no mention of it : neither can nauclerus be said to haue confuted that which he left as doubtfull , saying , i know not whether part to beleeue . as for the truth of the story ( for this is it which we should contend for ) wee oppose the abbat vrspergensis vnto nauclerus . but it is obiected , vrspergensis was an enemie to the pope . well ; and it may be answered , that the monke nauclerus was a friend to the pope . and therefore we may know that as the bodily sight may bee hindered aswell by hot rheume as by colde , so falleth it out in passions of the mind , that loue may beget as blind commendation as hatred may a blind detraction . 107 but why should it be thought a matter incredible that such a dismall , and as it were disastrous end should befall a pope ? for , i feare , this is the only thing which so greatly offendeth the cholericke old man. wherfore i entreat his patience ( if yet there can be patience in so extreame malignity ) to vnderstand what his owne doctours haue written concerning the death of diuers popes . f benè legitur anastasium diuino nutu percussum interijsse : that anastasius was strooke with the hand of god and perished . their last chronologer binius , highly priuiledged , telleth vs , that g ioannes decimus , quem infamis foemina infami opere in solium petri intrusit , per impudicam theodorae filiam ceruiciali suffocatus obijt : that is , pope iohn the tenth , whom an infamous woman by a l●wd practise , did thrust into peters chaire , afterward by the vnchaste daughter of theodora hee was choaked or strangled with a pillow . again , of iohn the twelfth , he citeth one whom he calleth an aduersary to this pope , reporting h ioannem duodecimum quadam nocte , dum se cum alterius vxore oblectaret , in temporibus à diabolo percussum & inter paucos dies mortuum esse : huius historiae veritatem non controuerto : how this pope one night in the midst of his dalliance with another mans wife was stroke in the head by the diuell and shortly after died . a little after ; i doe not contend about the truth of this question . what is now awanting but that an example of one pope be produced , vpon whom the vengeance of god seazed because of his rebellious opposition against temporall lords ? this i vrbanus tertius ( inquit abbas vrspergeniss ) quem multi turbanum appellabant , eò quòd in odium imperatoris turbaret ecclesiam , nutu dei percussus interijt : pope vrbane the third , ( saith abbas vrspergensis ) commonly called turbane , because in hatred of the emperour he troubled the church , was strooke by god and perished . so little cause could i haue to wound my aduersaries with forged inuentions , being thus sufficiently furnished and prepared to confound them with true and plain confessed testimonies . a third obiection of falshood , whereupon he thus insulteth : with such wee are forced to deale , that haue no conscience at all in cosenage . 108 p. r. doth further charge me thus ; k and another like tricke he plaieth some few pages before this , again citing out of doctour bouchiers booke de iusta abdicatione , these words : tyrannum occidere honestum est , quod cuiuis impunè facere permittitur ; quod excommuni consensu dico : and then he englisheth the same thus : any man may lawfully murder a tyrant ; which i defend , saith he , by common consent . but hee that shall read the place in the authour himselfe shall find that hee holdeth the very contrary , to wit , that a priuate man may not kill a tyrant that is not first iudged and declared to bee a publike enemy by the common-wealth : and he prooueth the same at large : first out of scriptures , and by the decree of the generall councel of constance : his words be these : neque verò eo iure quod ad regnum habet nisi per publicum iudicium spoliari potest , &c. neither can a tyrant be depriued of that right which he hath to a kingdome but onely by publike iudgement : yea further also , so long as that right of kingdome remaineth , his person must be held for sacred ; wherof ensueth , that no right remaineth to any priuate man against his life : and albeit any priuate man should bring foorth neuer so many priuate iniuries done by the said tyrant against him ; as that hee had whipped him with iron rods , oppressed him , afflicted him , yet in this case must hee haue patience , according to the admonition of s. peter 1. 2. that we must be obedient not only vnto good & modest lords , but also vnto those that be disorderly , & that this is grace when a man for gods cause doth sustain & beare with patience iniuries vniustly done vnto him , &c. and a little after p. r. thus l let the reader consider the malicious falshood of this minister t. m. who in alleging that little sentence before mentioned , about killing of a tyrant , stroke out the words of most importance : quem hostem respub . iudicauerit ; whom the common-wealth shall iudge for a publike enemie : and adding that other clause , which i say by common consent , which is not there to be found . and with such people we are forced to deale , that haue no conscience at all in cosenage , &c. so. p. r. the answer . 110 the accusation is grieuous , viz. malicious cosenage ; the matter is hainous , viz. killing of kings ; my aduersarie is serious and vrgent , saying , consider &c. and the issue important : which will be either a branding me for a notorious slanderer , or else my aduersarie for a toxicall and pestilent mitigator . in thy examination and censure hereof ( christian reader ) i require only iustice . m bouchier in the place controuerted , doth make a double consideration of a tyrant ; one is , as he doth iniurie vnto any priuate man [ qui iusta potestate ad priuatorum iniurias abutitur . ] in this case he resolueth , that à priuato occidi proptereà non licet : that is , it is not lawfull for any priuate man to kill him . the second consideration of a tyrant is , as he doth commit any publike iniurie , whether the case concerne religion or the ciuill state , whereof he doth determine thus : qui inreligionem ac patriam tyrannidem exerceat , hunc occidere respub . possit &c. that is , the common-wealth may kill him , who shall tyrannize and iniurie the religion , and the countrey : it is so manifest that none can doubt of it , but such as are destitute of common sense : for if the people may arme themselues against any noisome beast , which may indanger the common safetie ; then much more against such a tyrant , who is woorse than any beast . but who may attempt the execution heereof ? it followeth in the place by me formerly alleged : priuato cuiuis tyrannum , quem hostem resp. iudicauerit , occidere licitum est . that is , it is lawfull for euery priuate man to kill him , whom the common-wealth shall iudge to be a tyrant . we see now that bouchier hath defended , both that no priuate man may kill a tyrant for iniurie against priuate men , and also , that any priuate man may kill a tyrant for common iniuries . 111 i haue alleged the latter , p. r. hath opposed the former ; both of vs haue affirmed a truth : where then is the falshood ? this must be imputed to him who reporteth a truth , but not truly , that is , to a false purpose : wherof our reader may easily iudge : for i haue obiected the testimonie of bouchier , affirming , that in the case of common iniuries , whether in matter of religion or state , euery priuate man is licensed to kill a tyrant : and bouchiers words auouch no lesse . p. r. opposeth the other negatiue testimonie of bouchier , denying , that in priuate iniuries any priuate man may murder a tyrant : and doth he therby conuince me of falshood ? nay rather doth he not seeke to iniurie me with falshood ? for my whole treatise of discouerie intendeth only the publike , and neuer medleth with priuate occasions . 112 this will be plaine by example . the common rule of humanitie teacheth , that the father , being but an esquire , may in priuate conuents and meetings haue place aboue his sonne , though a knight ; but in places of publike resort , the knight , though a sonne , is preferred before his father . heere be two considerations of the sonne and the father ; the one is in respect of priuate , the other in regard of publike occasions . this assertion of ciuility standing thus : suppose my first aduersarie the moderate answerer should auerre that t. m. saith that any sonne , being a knight , may take place of his father , being but an esquire : then my second aduersarie p. r. hearing this , should oppose and say , it is false which thou allegest , for t. m. sayth the contrary , viz. that any father , being an esquire , may priuately take place of his sonne , though he be a knight . can this his taxation of falshood be thought true ? it is not altogether impertinent ? for the assertions of t. m. were two : the first , that any such sonne must be preferred in publike : the second , that any such father must be preferred in priuate . and are these contrary ? are they not both true ? and can one truth shoulder out another ? the falshood therefore resteth in the pleader , who sayd , that the allegation was false . wee reade in the gospell this command of our sauiour : n the scribes and pharisees sit in moses chaire : whatsoeuer they bid you obserue , that obserue and doe : but after their works doe not , &c. here we heare vs charged to do , and not to do as the pharisees . and are these contrary ? no : for the [ doe ] is a commanding to follow their godly doctrine ; the [ doe not ] is a forbidding to imitate their vngodly life . 113 a second crime is in adding ( as he sayth ) of this clause [ which i say by common consent . ] looke in the cha. 15. where the ground of this position is layed , that it is lawfull to kill a tyrant , he affirmeth it , saying , mirum est quàm magnum affirmando consen●um habeat . that is , it is maruellous what a great consent this hath . then come to the 16. chap. vpon the point now in question , he hath sayd , he that denieth this , is distitute of common sense . if therefore maruellous consent according to common sense may be thought more than equiualent vnto a common consent , then is my aduersarie vnconscionably contentious to accuse me , as saying too much , where i had warrant to haue sayd more . 114 it may be , that the striking out of the words of importance whom the common-wealth shall iudge to be a publike enemie ] may somewhat preiudice my conscience . none can imagine this , but he that is not acquainted with the authour , o who spendeth a whole chapter in prouing this position ; praeuenire iudicum vrgente negotio posse . that is , that the case may be so vrgent , that the publike iudgement ( against such a publike tyrant ) need not be expected , because where the crime is notorious , it is sufficiently condemned without further iudgement : for if theeues and beasts ( sayth he ) when they suddenly assault vs , may be resisted without iudiciall proceeding ; then much more a tyrant , who is woorse than any beast . and this doctrine he assumeth to proue necessarie both in case temporall , when the king doth iniurie the countrey , and in ecclesiasticall transgression , when he offendeth publikely against religion : particularly instancing in henry 3. king of france , who was murdered by iacob clemens a frier , before any publike iudgement of the kingdome , which hee ascribeth to a parliament , or els of the church , which he attributeth to the popes consistorie . and yet he magnifieth the murderer ( a priuate man ) and extolleth him aboue those who are recorded in holy writ , not vpon their priuate spirit , but by diuine inspiration to haue accomplished noble attempts . heere , heere is matter indeed , whereby to decypher my aduersarie to be no better than a painted sepulcher , who is outwardly gaily adorned with the titles of moderation and mitigation : but inwardly ( by holding boucheirs doctrine ) full of dead mens bones , i meane the dead bodies of protestants : but how dead ? euen ( as s. hierome speaketh in the like case ) voto occidunt , cùm gladio nequ●ant . that is , they wish them to be killed , whom they can not kill as they wish . but this i reserue vnto my incounter . i proceed to the next . a fourth obiection of falshood , wherin hee insulteth thus : this testimonie is egregiously abused , &c. 115 p his fourth and last place is out of m. william reinolds in his booke de iusta reip. auctoritate , &c. whom he abuseth ●gregiously , both in ascribing to him that which is not his , and in deliuering the same corruptedly : and by a little you may learn much , ex vngue leonem his words he citeth thus : rex humana creatura est , quia ab hominibus constituta : and englisheth in this maner : a king is but a creature of mans creation . where you see first , that in the translation hee addeth [ but ] and [ mans creation ] of himselfe : for that the latine hath no such but , nor creation , but constitution . secondly , these words are not the words of m. reinolds , but only cited by him out of s. peter . and thirdly , they are alleged heere by t. m. to a quite contrary sense from the whole discourse and meaning of the author , which was to exalt and magnifie the authoritie of princes , as descending from god ; and not to debase the same , as he is calumniated . for proofe heereof whosoeuer will looke vpon the booke and place it selfe , before mentioned , shall finde that m. reinolds purpose therein is to prooue , that albeit earthly principalitie , power and authoritie , be called by the apostle , humana creatura : yet that it is originally from god , and by his commandement to be obeyed . his words are these : hinc enim est , &c. hence it is , that albeit the apostle doe call all earthly principalitie a humane creature , for that it is placed in certaine men ( from the beginning ) by suffrages of the people , yet election of princes doth flow from the law of nature , which god created ; and from the vse of reason , which god powred into man , and which is a little beame of diuine light drawen from that infinite brightnesse of almighty god : therefore doth the apostle s. paul pronounce , that there is no power but from god , and that he which resisteth this power , resisteth god himselfe . so m. reinolds . the answer . 116 this allegation is , of all which yet i haue found , most obnoxious and alliable vnto taxation ; which ( god knoweth that i lie not ) i receiued from suggestion , as the author thereof r. c. can witnesse . for at that time i had not that rosaeus , aliâs reinolds , neither by that present importunitie of occasions could seeke after him : which , i confesse , is greatly exorbitant : for i receiued it as a testimony debasing the authoritie of kings : vpon which presumption ( if true ) it could be no falshood in me to insert the particle but , especially being acquainted with the doctrine of card. bellarmine , who , that he may disable the authoritie of a king in comparison of the dignitie of a pope , doth defend , that kings , being chosen by men , are not immediatly created by god : and yet , the pope , elected by cardinals , hath his authoritie immediatly from god. what is this els , but in a certeine degree to distinguish the creation of a king and creation of a pope , the one as mans immediate creature , the other as gods ? and may it not be lawfull for any thus to repeate this comparison of bellarmine , saying thus : kings ( after the doctrine of bellarmine ) haue their authoritie immediatly but from man , and that the pope hath his immediatly from god ? is the interiection but in this repetition like a theefe by the way to seduce and robbe , and is not rather as a true man to direct thee ? 117 let p. r. imagine , that a boy in any of their colleges should be so refractary , as knowing himselfe to descend from gentry , he should denie obedience to his superior , because he thinketh him but of base parentage : the boy is brought before p. r. his accuser allegeth , that hee had gloried in his owne gentilitie , and sayd that his superiour was but basely borne . will he thinke the accusation is false , because of the addition of but ? no verily , but is by it made more plain & true , which is generall in all speeches of abasement : the but is ( as i may so say ) a butte which hath infixed in it the marke and scope of the whole speech . thus much for my addition but. 118 furthermore , this i dare aduenture to say in behalfe of my suggestor , that though that place alleged doe not agree vnto the collection , yet the scope of that chapter and the next following doth imply as much , proouing that a king may be deposed by the people . which doctrine hee there applieth vnto our english state , and by name to our late souereigne q. elizabeth : which indeed is to account a king nought els but an humane creature . 119 i know that p. r. may possibly insist , that he cited the text of s. peter , 1. pet. 2. who calleth a king or gouernour constituted by man , humanam creaturam , an humane creature . and then how could these words be reprehensible in m. r. which are warrantable by s. peter ? wee must vnderstand , that the same speech may differ from it selfe by the diuers intention of the speakers . the faithfull disciples of our sauiour did often salute christ with haile master : we reade also of the malicious iewes saying likewise haile master : but the disciples in reuerence , the iewes to scorne him . looke to the words , heere is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , nothing can be more the same ; looke to the sense and intention it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , nothing can be more repugnant . simon peter maketh this confession of christ : q thou art christ the sonne of the liuing god. the diuell likewise maketh this confession of christ , r thou art the sonne of the most high. the same confession in the sense of words , but not in the intention of the speakers : for peter confessed , that he might confirm others in the faith ; and the diuel did it , that he being priuileged to preach , might seduce mē from the truth . and so it might haue been presumed , that m. reinolds vsed s. peters words , but not in s. peters sense ; which was to dignifie such an humane creature , as to teach the orde●er man in all temporall condition [ subditi estote ] to be subiect : but in his owne sense which followeth in the next chapter , to abase that humane ordinance , teaching subiects to depose their princes . what is the difference ? the generall scope of s. peter is subiection , the aime of m. reinolds is rebellion . this is heereby most plaine , because s. peter writ his sentence in the dayes of nero a most cruell and sauage tyrant , and notwithstanding doth not incite christian people or others to betake themselues vnto armes to depose nero. but m. reinolds holdeth it to be s naturam generosiorem , . i. a more generous & noble disposition , to kill tyrants . amongst whom he recounteth for england , k. t henry the eight . by al which it may appeare , that though not the place alleged , yet the scope of his whole booke doth conuince him of rebellious doctrine : as will more largely appeare in the incounter . in the interim , let euery christian learne , that that gouernour whom s. peter calleth a creature of man , s. paul calleth u the ordinance of god : and both of them , after that kings be once established by consent of the common-wealth , doe require in all temporall causes an vnuiolable subiection vnto them without violent resistance , teaching that they are more than mans creatures , because he that resisteth them resisteth the ordinance of god. the fift obiection of falshood , whereupon hee insulteth thus : consider , i pray you , how may frauds and falshoods there be in one little quotation . 120 p. r. preferreth another indictment against mee , thus ; a but will you heare a case or two more out of the canon law , how dexterous sir tho ▪ is in corrupting that which he loueth not , nor seemeth well to vnderstand . you may read in the 4. page of this his pamphlet ( the discouery ) an ancient decree ( for so he calleth it ) alleged by him out of gratian in the glosse , determining that though a man haue sworne to pay money to one that is excommunicated , yet is he not bound to pay the same , and he allegeth the latine text thus : si iuraui me soluturum alicui pecuniam , qui excommunicatur , non teneor ei soluere : if i haue sworne to pay money to any man that is excommunicated , i am not bound to pay it , adding this reason : quia qualiter cunque possumus , debemus vexare malos , vt cessent a malo : we ought to vex euill mē by what means so euer we may , to the end they may cease from doing euill . in the allegation of which little text , a man would hardly beleeue how many false trickes there be , to make catholike doctrine to seeme odious and absurd . for first , these words not being found in any text of law or decision of any pope or councell , but only in the glosse or commentary , they make not any ancient or modern decree , as the minister falsly auoucheth , but rather shew the opinion of him who writeth the commentary : if his words were , as heere they are alleged . the causes . first , the words of the glosse containe onely an obiection in these words : what if i haue sworne to pay money to any person , or haue promised the same vnder some forfeiture , and in the meane space he , to whom i made the promise , be excommunicated , am i bound to pay the same , or not ? this is his question , and then he argueth it on both sides : but his resolution is in these words , i doe beleeue the truer opinion to be , that albeit he that is so excōmunicated , do leese the right to demand his money , yet is the other bound to pay it him . and for this he citeth diuers lawes and reasons . so heere our minister not of ignorance , but of falshood taketh the obiection for the resolution . the second deceit is wilfull leauing out of the first words of the authour , sed quid dices si iuraui ? which plainly shew an obiection . thirdly he allegeth , quia qualitercunque &c. for a reason of the resolution , which is made against that reason . fourthly the true resolution of the commentator is vtterly concealed , and the contrary determination put downe for an ancient decree . consider , i pray you , how many frauds and falshoods there be in one little quotation . the answer . 121 my aduersary p. r. may satisfie himselfe for me , who a little after concerning this same allegation of this author hath said that b , it may seeme to import that hee ( t. m. ) scarce read the bookes themselues , but cited the same out of some other mans notes . heere , we see , in his vehement crimination of malicious falshood , he hath inserted a charitable and true diuination of my integrity . i am glad to see in the mingling of a pound of worme-wood , and ten ounces of gall , hee had the grace to let fall this dram of sugar , and that so seasonably : for the truth is that i tooke vp these allegations of gratian vpon credit , and therefore returne these peeces vnto him , of whom i receiued them : who is to prooue them currant , and to satisfie for himselfe . 122 thus then he : c this allegation , with some others , i ric. st. brought vnto the author of the discouery , which p. r. challengeth to be maliciously cited , partly for that the words of the glosse were only set downe , when the decree is mentioned : wherein i conceiue p. r. complaineth no otherwise , than one , who being smitten with the scabbard , should complaine that he was not struck with the sword : so he , because t. m. talked of the decree , and vrged only the glosse . for the decree is far more plaine against them than the glosse , nos sanctorum praedestinatorum statuta tenentes , eos , qui excommunicatis fidelitate aut sacramento constricti sunt , apostolica authoritate à iuramento absoluimus : & nè sibi fidelitatem obseruent , omnibus modis prohibemus , quousque ipsi ad satisfactionem veniant . this is the decree , which in the generall carrieth as much or more , as is set downe by him , and so cleereth him from any malice in this point . besides , in the very glosse it selfe , ( though it was not so fullie brought to his hand ) is set downe not by way of obiection , but of a resolute conclusion . for after the obiection and answer the conclusion is : probabiliter dici potest , quòd excommunicato non sit soluendum , cum nemo debeat participare cum eo . yea and further , that in this he was not led by malice , is prooued thus : because he left out another more waighty allegation which was deliuered him with this , namely , out of greg. decret . lib. 5. tit. c. 16. absolutos se nouerint à debito fidelitatis , dominij , & totius obsequij , quicunque lapsus manifeste in haeresin aliquo pacto quacunque firmitate vallato tenebantur astricti . now the glosse particularly and expresly for the present purpose hath it thus : ergo si sub poena aliquis tenetur soluere certa die , & non soluat , non incidit in poenam : & eodem modo si per iuramentum , quod & verum est argumentum quòd papa potest absoluere laicum à iuramento fidelitatis , quoniam ad ipsum spectat interpretatio iuramenti : in illa autem obligatione & iuramento tacitè subintelligitur , si talis permanserit , cui communicare liceat . which decree and glosse doth a great deale more strongly smell of that impietie , teaching that a man is not bound in such a case to pay his debt : and yeelding to the pope a power of absoluing men from such like obligations . thus farre r. s. 123 by which answer of r. s. wee may perceiue that the tenor of the popes canon in the outward letter doth denie the paiment of debts : and the glosse it selfe concludeth a probability of non paiment , which being applied by romish priests vnto protestants in the name of excommunicats , it is but an hazzard whether protestants ( except it bee by the vigour of law ) shall recouer their debts . which i prooued in the next testimonie out of their cardinall tollet , expounding the forme canon . i prooued that their ordinary tenet is in that case , d not to pay any debt , which consisteth only in promise . wherein my reader may discerne an argument of my sincerity , because i would not allege the canons in their generality of not paying any debt , though it might haue made my aduersaies more odious ; but chose rather the comment . of tollet , in the restraint and limitation for not paying debt of onely promise . this my intire , and in a maner partiall dealing in behalfe of my aduersaries , p. r. could not be ignorant of , and yet spared not to spot me with his cōmon note of maliciousnes . there followeth ▪ a sixt obiection of falshood , with this insultation : let the iudicious reader consider how many false trickes and corruptions this crafty minister hath vsed . 124. p. r. hath another article against me , thus ; e in the sixt page of his discouery he hath this grieuous accusatione out of the c●●on law against vs. haeretici●●ly 〈…〉 dicuntur , sed in 〈◊〉 legem , 〈…〉 super eos , vt ●und●● fanguinem ipsorum . and then he quoteth thus : apud grat. gloss . in decret . li●● . 〈◊〉 ex de●re● . gregor . 9. caus . 22. q. & cap. legi . which distructed kind of quotation ; s●parating the first and last words , that should haue 〈◊〉 together , 〈◊〉 to import that hee 〈…〉 the book as themselues , but 〈◊〉 the same out of so●e other 〈…〉 ; but that fault were easily pardoned , if he vsed no greater fraud in the thing it selfe . for first he englisheth the words in th●●● maner : heretikes may not bee termed either 〈◊〉 , or kindred , but according to the old law , thy hand must bee against them to spill their bloud . and then in the margi● h●● setteth downe this speciall printed note . the professed bloody massacre against the protestants , without distinction of ●ixe or kindred . and what can be more 〈◊〉 vrged than this ? now then let vs see how many false trickes and shifts fit for a protestant minister , do lie lurking in this short citation . first this glosse or commentary of the canon law , is vpon a canon beginning . si quis , which canon is taken out of the third councell of carthage , &c. secondly , he hath left out the beginning of the glosse . thirdly , hee addeth these words , vt fundas sanguinem , which the glosse hath not . and now let the iudicious reader consider how many corruptions this crafty minister hath vsed to bring foorth to his purpose this one little distracted text for proofe of professed bloudy massacres intended by vs against protestants . wherein lastly he peruerteth the very words of god himselfe in the law , by translating , vs fundas fanguinem ipsorum , spill their blood , instead of , slied their blood : as though god were a blood-spill●● , or 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 to be vniustly done by others . by this one ( of 〈◊〉 but one ) you 〈…〉 &c. thus farre p. r. the answer . 125 to the allegation of this place of gratiam , r. s. doth owe you an answer , which hee hath performed in these wordes : f this second place also i brought ( saith hee ) vnto t. m. the whole being no otherwise distractedly quoted , then the glosse , whence i had it , warranted by me : so that of p. r. reprooue me , he must chocke his glossary : for when the glosse had set down the first part , he quoted for the latter , causa 23. q. 8. cap. legi , meaning in the decrees where it is , sit manus tua super eos , vt fundas sanguinem ipsorum . 126 so hath he satisfied for his allegation . it remaineth that i likewise iustifie both my collection and translation . for the first , i would demand of p. r. if , romish ones applying this canon of murdering their kindred , &c. against protestants , when the pope shall iudicially denounce them heretikes , whether it may bee called a massacre , or no ? i haue now my mitigator vpon a logicke ●acke , either he must say that it is no bloudy massacre , but catholike iustice : and then what shall his reader thinke vpon his mitigation otherwise than a iudas his lips in be traying his master ? if he shall hold it an execrable mischiefe , then how shall he iustifie the application of this canon , when the pope shall extend it against protestants ? he cannot answer directly , but hee must manifest himselfe either a traitor to his country , or a preuaricator to his cause . 127 his other censure is vpon my interpretation , vt fundas sanguinem , to spill their blood , in stead ( saith he ) of shed their blood . why so ? because otherwise , ( the man may seeme to haue some pious and religious deuotion in him ) god should be said to be a blood-spiller . and must it therefore be rather translated , shed ? why , so god should bee said to bee a blood-shedder . i maruell what new dictionary ( for he is altogether verbal ) p. r. doth follow . i hope that so profound a clerke will not want a reason of his subtilty : let vs heare him . to spill blood ( saith hee ) doth signifie an vniust deed . is this it ? as though shedding of blood might not likewise signify an vniust deed . let him consult with their own remish translation , rom. 3. 15. their feet ( viz. of the wicked ) are swift to shed blood . and act. 22. 20. when the blood of the martyr stephen was shed . and apoc. 16. 6. they haue shed the blood of the saints , therefore hast thou giuen them blood to drinke . and luc. 11. 50. that the bloud of the prophets shed from the beginning of the world may bee required of this generation . will p. r. haue the face to say , that the blood of the martyr stephen , and of the prophets by the iewes , or of the blood of saints by the heathen was shed iustly ? againe , the rhemists mark. 2. 22. no man putteth new wine into old bottles , otherwise ; the wine breaketh the bottles , and the wine will be shed . this is spoken of the wine , which being shed perisheth . so is it vulgarly vsed , [ drinke is spilt , and drinke is shed . ] now then what a notable critick haue i met withall , whom euery goodwife is able to conuince of idle dottage ? but this is a man priuiledged to send me to the vniuersitie to make a syllogisme , whom i may more iustly send vnto an ale-house to learne english. 128 the last point , which is obseruable in our mitigator , is , that he affirmeth this canon to haue beene decreed in the 3. councell of carthage , g where no such thing can be found . therefore must his owne termes of falshood , fraud , treacherie , reuerberate vpon himselfe . and yet againe we may consider how zealous p. r. is in authorizing that canon , and in vrging the text of scripture , saying , if thy brother ; or friend , or wife will goe about to destroy the truth , let thy hand be vpon him . to what end must all this be , but that protestants , being in their opinion heretikes , may haue all the penalties which are awarded against heretikes executed vpon them ( as bouchier and others defend ) before , or at least ( as p. r. holdeth ) after denunciation of sentence ? and consequently protestants may be , by these romishones , without exception of sex , or kindred , or friendship , as it was by execution in the cruell massacre in h france , and by intention in the powder-treason , vtterly consumed at once . which being performed , the * conspiracie shal be called an holy league the actour a zealous ahod , the act a sacrifice . all which proceedeth from a false and perfidious application both of the scripture , and of the canon . for the law of deuteronomy mentioneth such transgressions , who shall intice thee , saying , let vs go and serue other gods , which thou hast not knowen , nor thy fathers before thee . and the canon was directed only against such heretikes , who did ruinate the foundation of christian faith . but protestants are so farre from idolatrie , that for feare thereof , they haue ( in the dayes of q. marie ) yeelded their bodies to the fire ; so farre from heresie , that they are ready to seale euery fundamental article of faith with their blood . a seuenth obiection of falshood , wherein he insulteth , saying : seeing hee hath corrupted a text of scripture , you may thinke what libertie hee will take afterward thorowout his whole booke . 129 i i haue already answered vnto this calumniation , shewing , that both the english text , the latine commentaries , the hebrew originall , and the confession of their owne doctour doe free me from all suspition of corruption : wherein our reader may imagine , whether p. r. by obiecting the hebrew text , hath not deserued the title of an êbrition . an eighth obiection of falshood , wherin he insulteth in this maner : thus much for his varietie of corruptions in this little sentence . 130 p. r. pretermitting ( as his maner is ) such points wherein he saw the romish arguments most forcibly confuted , insisteth only vpon such , wherein hee thinketh his abilitie will serue to make some sensible resistance . therefore hee sayth : k to the end you may see his talent ( in deducing proofs out of romish writers ) wee shall examine only the third reason in this place , which he declareth in these words : except , sayth the romish pretence , there were a way of deposing apostata princes , god had not prouided sufficiently for his church . and for this he citeth the constitution extrauagant of pope bonifacius , and sayth , this obiection is in your extrauagants , and so it may be called , because it rangeth extra , that is , without the bonds of gods ordinance , &c. but as in all his other citations generally hee is neuer lightly true and sincere in all points , no not thrice ( i thinke verily ) thorowout all this lying booke of his , so neither heere : and it would require a great volume alone to examine only some part of his leaues about this point of his shifts and corruptions , they are so many and thick , and craftily huddled vp together . as for example heere : first , this sentence is not in the popes extrauagant at all , but only in a certeine addition to the ordinarie glosse or commentarie of io. picard , which addition was made by petrus bertrandus a late writer . secondly , this comment sayth nothing of deposing of apostata princes , but only affirming the foresayd opinion of canonists to be true , that christ was lord absolutely in this life ouer all , not only in spirituall authority , but in temporall also : he inferreth thereby , that christ should not haue sufficiently prouided for the gouernment of his church and kingdome vpon earth , nisi vnicum post setalem vicarium reliquisset , qui haec omnia posset : except he had left some such one substitute or vicar after him , as should be able to performe all these things , to wit , as belong both to spirituall and temporall power , according as necessitie shall require . which latter clause you see that t. m. hath cut off , as he added the other of apostata princes . and thus much for his variety of corruptions in this little sentence . now to the thing it selfe . so farre p. r. the answer . 131 if i had not purposed to set downe little sentences , i am sure my aduersarie his sentences and censures could not haue beene so great : where breuity ( which i thought would be most gratefull to any iudicious reader ) is inuerted vpon me by a calumnious aduersary as most preiudiciall to my cause . first , for citing the extrauagants of the pope , whereby an ingenuous reader would haue vnderstood a figure synecdoche , where the part is put for the whole ; as when wee say , this man shall not come vnder my roofe ; meaning by roofe , which is but a part of the house , the whole house it selfe : so heere by extrauagant might haue been meant the whole body of these constitutions , which conteine both extrauagants and glosses : which is heerein , found to be most consonant , because pope l gregory 13. hath ratified the foresayd glosse and annotations with priuilege and authority equiualent and answerable to the authoritie of the decretat● and extrauagants themselues . if , hearing one of p. r. his scholars make a syllogisme , like that which p. r. himselfe framed , which hath neither mood not figure , & this likewise had been approued by him , some should presently say to the boy , sirra , this is p. r. his syllogisme ; i do not thinke that p. r. would call him a lier . 132 to the second p. r. might haue answered for me , that the words , apostata princes , were not my addition , but the obiections of my aduersary the moderate answerer , as may appeare by p. r. his owne relation . and when i sayd , that the same obiection was in the extrauagants , i could not think that any aduersary euer could haue beene either by reason of ignorance so sottish , or by malice so peruerse , as to exact , that the obiection be found in the place 〈…〉 for so there should be no end of cauilling , but be contented to finde it in the true sense : which sense euen this my accuser doth plainly acknowledge , laying ( as we haue heard ) this same extrauagant as the ground of gods prouidence in the pope ( his supposed vicar of christ ) by whose power spirituall and temporall , any prince , extirpating christian religion , may be remooued : which is no more than i sayd was contained in the extrauagants . but such is the malignity of this mitigator , that he will not allow in his aduersarie , which he practiseth m himselfe : and not he only , but euen the known canons of his popes are guilty ( if it be a guilt ) of the same , citing the text of deut. ●3 . 6. 〈◊〉 : if thy brother , or friend , or wife go about to depra●● 〈…〉 thy hand be vpon him ▪ wheras the text is , if they intice thee saying , let vs goe serue strange gods , &c. but these words , depraue the truth , &c. are not to be found ; yet because they containe the true sense i should thinke it impiety either in another or in my selfe , to note ( as he doth me ) his canons , and consequently his popes of lying shifts and corruptions . 133 the last shift he findeth fault with , is for cutting off the clause , nisi vnicum . what needed any addition of that which was sufficiently expressed in my aduersaries obiection , and by me acknowledged to bee contained in the extrauagants , as we haue heard ? if there bee any shift in my citation , i must confesse it thus : viz. the not adding these words of that glosse , iesus de iure naturali in imperatorem , & quascunque alios depositionis sententiam ferre potuisset , & damnationis , & quascunque alias , &c. & eadem ratione vicarius eius potest . that is , as iesus by his naturall right might enter into iudgement , and pronounce sentence of deposing an emperour , or any other person : so may ( meaning the pope ) christs vicar also . this is the popish glosse , and the ground of those romish & rebellious positions , which i did discouer , and which prooueth our mitigatour an excellent shifter , who saith that heere was nothing said of deposing apostata princes , to the end his reader might conceiue my answer to haue beene altogether impertinent . but i pray you p. r. can apostata princes be excepted , where all princes and emperonrs are included ? but i will not vrge against my selfe the former omission of the foresaid sentence of the glosse . i know p. r. will too easily pardon me this fault . a ninth obiection of falshood , therein insulting thus : a witting and a manifest lie , and cosenage . his latine words were perfidiously alleged . 134 p. r. obiecteth thus : n he ( thomas morton ) allegeth the words of bellarmine thus : dum rem ipsam excutio , non facilè audeo pronunciare illos in errore fuisse , while i do examine well the thing it selfe , i dare not presume to pronounce them to haue beene in error , to wit , caluin and beza ; whereas bellarmines words are , dum rem ipsam excutio , & caluini sententias diligenter considero , non facilè audeo pronuntiare illum in hoc errore fuisse . while i examine the matter it selfe , and diligently consider caluins opinions , i do not easily presume to pronounce him to haue beene in this error : to wit , in the particular error or heresie of the autotheans , set downe and confuted by ●●enebrard , and in his sense condemned expresly by the ancient catholike church , for denying christ to bee and to haue his essence from the father : but yet though in some sense it seemeth to bellarmine , that caluin may be excused in this priuate and particular meaning of his , yet not absolutely , as t. m. would haue his reader to thinke , by striking out cunningly the particle hoc ( this error ) and leauing the word errour in common , as though bellarmine had excused him from all kind of error , which is most false , for that presently after he both impugneth of purpose , and confuteth by many arguments his maner of speech as hereticall in this behalfe . and againe . so is his cosenage heerein in striking out hoc out of bellarmines words : so , for the same purpose he turneth illum into illos : which he could not do but wittingly and of purpose , and yet the man forsooth will not equiuocate for the world , and yet will he lie for much lesse , as you see . thus p. r. the answer . 135 he would not wittingly lie for all the world , who would not for all the world equiuocate , lest hee might he , as i feare he doth , who calleth this lapse of words [ errore and illos ] a perfidious cosenage . for if i had been of so diuellish a disposition as to seek to cosen my reader , then sure ( according to the malice of the diuell , who seeketh whom he may deuour , that is , to deuoure all ) i should not haue left that latine sentence vntranslated , but would haue englished it , that by the latin and english as by a double net my cosenage might haue beene , for the number of the seduced , farre more succesfull : which considerations , i hope , may free me from wilfull falshood . 136 that there is also no falshood at all , the matter it selfe will shew . for our dispute was onely concerning this one suspected error of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which many iesuites and others , condemned as a paradox , a blasphemy , an atheisme : against whom i opposed bellarmine to acquit caluin ab errore , that is , from error , ( which is all one as if i had said this error ) which is the proper and only matter in question . let p. r. procure a suspected fellow to bee arraigned at the barre , whom the iudge knoweth to be a drunkard , a prophane swearer , and a person adulterous : but the inditement preferred against him is only cōcerning felony : the witnesses are brought forth all circumstances are examined : in the end the iudge perceiuing the presumptions to be friuolous , shall giue this iudgement , saying , now that i haue heard the matter examined , i finde no fault in the man. by and by p. r. shall stand vp , saying , o iudge thou knowest him to be a drunkard , a blasphemer and a lewd liuer , and canst thou find no fault with him ? thou shouldest haue said , i find not this fault of felony in him ; and therefore thou hast deliuered a perfidious and a cosening sentence . againe , when our sauiour christ said to his disciples , o pray , &c. for the spirit is willing , but the flesh is weake ; would the diuinity of p. r. correct the speech , and say , though it bee spoken of mankind , yet it is too generally deliuered , because there is a flesh of beasts , and a spirit of diuels : and therefore should be more expresly set downe , this kind of flesh , and this kinde of spirit ? p. r. sitteth at his table , and when he seeth two sorts of bread , fine manchet , and courser ; and expressing that hee desireth rather the meaner kinde , should say to one of his seruitors a sophister , sirra , giue me the courses bread : would hee ( for want of mentioning this bread no the table ) allow his sophister to runne into the stable , and bring him an horse loafe ? would he not rather whip him , for his insolency , if he would not ; or for his follie , if he could not perceiue that when a man speaketh of this kinde of bread , which is before his face , it is all one as if he had said , of this bread ? such is my case , concerning which ( as i professe ) i could not be so absurdly subtle , as willingly to conceale hoc , so am i perswaded , that no aduersarie ( i only except p. r. ) could be so peruersly grosse , as to exact a particle hoc , i. this , knowing that the matter in question was particularly de hoc e●none , of this only error . 137 although this last taxation be very idle , yet this second is ( if i may so say ) more friuolous , illos for illum , that is , them in steed of him . if bellarmine iustifie caluin for this opinion of autotheos , doth he not likewise therein iustifie all other protestants , which are of the same opinion ? for if i condemne p. r. for a gracelesse sophister , because of his defense of mentall equiuocation , do i not therein condemne all others , who are professed aequiuocators ? this is true , will p. r. say , yet the authors word illum , should not haue beene changed into illos . this aduersary , we see , is rigorous , i will appeale therefore vnto another aduersary , whom i find more ingenuous , euen bellarmine himselfe ; who in the place alleged , after that he had said of caluin , i dare not say that he was in this error doth in the same chapter iustifie beza also , and more expresly simlerus , another protestant , saying , non video cur haec sententia catholica dicenda non sit , that is , i see no cause why this sentence should not be thought catholicall : iustifying not only illum , that is , caluin , but also beza and simlerus , which will make illos , euen in that opinion , which campian , the rhemists , their genebrard , and others haue calumniously and wickedly called a paradox , an heresie , a blasphemy , an atheisme . such is the blindnesse of their malice , which ( god willing ) i shall shew more fully in the incounter . a tenth obiection of falshood , with this insultation : is not this rather falshood than folly ? where is his naked innocency ? where is his vpright conscience ? where is his simplicity in christ iesus ? 138 the matter is only for changing a title of the booke of carerius , and altering the word verò into verè : but trifles ( saith p. r. ) yet such as bewray a guilty minde and meaning . but i haue p shewed euidently , that i neither altered the title , nor the text , so that p. r. standeth chargeable to his reader to satisfie for his owne mind and meaning , which must haue beene either giddily rash , or gracelesly false . an eleuenth obiection of falshood , with this insultation : how can this malicious cauilling minister expect to bee trusted heereafter ? or how may any thinke , that he writeth from his conscience , seeing him vse such grosse shifts and falshoods in so important a matter ? 139 i q haue discussed this obiection already : the point is concerning the testimony of doleman , because it was not cited in the very literall words , although ( as i haue manifestly euinced ) it was deliuered according to the reall and demonstratiue sense . and if such accusations might preuaile , then might p. r. ( but i hope he will not be so blasphemous ) accuse the diuine oracles of god , the holy scriptures , where the apostles citing the testimonies of the old testament , doe not commonly allege the words , but the sense : as ephes. 5. 14. wherefore he saith , awake thou that sleepest , and arise from the dead , and christ shall giue thee light . the words [ he saith ] signifie god speaking in scripture , yet not by manifestation of words , but by collection and comprehension of sense . there be many such like places , as heb. 1. 1. heb. 3. 5. act. 10. 43. nay himselfe and their owne popish canon ( as r hath beene shewen ) haue alleged the text of deuteronomie , but not according to expresse words , although not disagreeable from the true sense . and may popes thus presume in alleging of gods truth , and may not man make as bold with mans testimonie , so that still there be no deprauation of the true sense ? a twelfth obiection of falshood , wherupon he thus insulteth : consider how falsly and calumniously this make-bate doth reason : will hee not bee ashamed to see himselfe condemned of so great ouerlashing ? 140 the question is about the hinderance of the due succession of a protestant prince vnto his crowne : this p. r. indeuoured to condemne by a triple instance , and s hath himselfe beene confuted both by his owne doctours , and also by a triple instance taken from himselfe . a thirteenth obiection of falshood , with this spightfull insultation : hee allegeth frisingensis quite contrary to his owne meaning . is this the assurance of his vpright conscience , whereof he braggeth so much ? 141 in this cauill about the testimonie of frisingensis p. r. hath played foure treacherous parts , that he might ( though falsly ) conuince me of one : as hath beene already t prooued . yet in this , together with that which followeth , he triumpheth more than of any taxation he hath in the whole booke . a foureteenth and most rigorous obiection of falshood , with this insultation : it is a fraud and impudencie , or rather impudent impietie , a slandrous obiection , shamelesse dealing . will euer any man credit t. m. heereafter ? 142 i am ready to heare this grand crimination of p. r. who beginneth thus : u but the next fraud or impudencie , or rather impudent impietie , is that which insueth within foure lines after , in these words : pope gregorie the seuenth ( sayth your chronologer ) was excommunicate of the bishops of italie , for that he had defamed the apostolike see by symonie , and other capitall crimes . and then citeth for proofe heereof , lambertus scaffnaburg . anno 1077. as if this our chronographer had related this as a thing of truth , or that it were approoued by him , and not rather a slanderous obiection cast out by his aduersaries that followed the part of henrie the emper●r . let any man reade the place and yeere heere cited , and if hee be a modest man he will blush at such shamelesse dealing . for that no author of that time doth more earnestly defend the cause and vertuous life of pope hildebrand , then this man , whose words are : sed apud omnes sanum aliquid sapientes luce clarius constabat falsa esse quae dicebantur : nam & papa tàm eximiè támque apostolicè vitam instituebat , &c. but with all men of sound wisedome it was more cleere then the sunne , that the things which were spoken against pope hildebrand were false , for that th pope did lead an excellent and apostolike life , as the sublimitie of his conuersation did admit no least spot of wicked rumour against him , he li●ing in that great citie and open concourse of men , it could not haue beene hidden , if he had committed any vnlawfull thing in his life : and moreouer the signes and miracles , which by his prayers were often-times done , and his most feruent zeale for god in defence of ecclesiasticall lawes did sufficiently defend him against the poisoned tongues of his detractors . and againe : hildebrandi constantia & inuictus aduersus auaritiam animus omnia excludebat argumenta humanae fallaciae : the constancie of pope hildebrand and his inuincible minde against the corruption of auarice , did exclude all arguments of humane fallacie and deceit . so lambertus . and now let the reader consider with what conscience and fidelitie t. m. hath cited him for condemnation of pope hildebrand . hee relateth indeed what certaine noblemen , captaines , and others , that came with the emperour to the castle of canusium , and would not haue had him made peace with the pope in that place , saide in their rage afterwards , for that against their counsell he had submitted himselfe vnto the said pope : and when a certaine bishop named eppo was sent to their campe by the pope and emperour to enforme them of the agreement and submission made ; fremere omnes ( saith this story ) & insanire , verbis & manibus coeperunt , apostolicae legationi irrisorijs exclamationibus obstrepere , conuicia & maledicta turpissima quaecunque furor suggessisset , irrogare . all of them began to fret and wax fierce both in words and casting their hands , and with scornefull outcries to contradict this holy apostolical legation sent vnto them , and to cast vpon the pope all the most foule reproches and maledictions that furie could suggest vnto them . thus saith lambertus , and setteth downe the particular slanderous reproches heere cited by t. m. which he approoueth not , but condemneth , as you haue heard , and highly commendeth not onely the vertue but also the sanctitie of the pope . and will euer any man credit t. m. any more in any thing that he alledgeth , when this consciencelesse falsification is once discouered in him ? yea though it were but once thorowout his whole booke , it were sufficient to prooue that he dealeth not out of any faith or conscience at all . if an enemie would discredit both christ , and christian religion , and say , your own euangelists doe recount foule things against him ( as heere this minister saith our historiographer doth of pope gregorie ) and namely that he was accused by the scribes and pharisees for casting out diuels by the power of beelzebub , for deceiuing the people , for denying tribute to be paid to caesar , for moouing sedition , and other like crimes , which our euangelists doe recount indeed , but do condemne them as false and calumnious ; were not this as good and as faithfull a maner of reasoning , as this other of thomas morton out of lambertus and frisingensis against pope hildebrand , who is by them both most highly commended as you heard , and his aduersaries condemned ? truly if any man can shew me out of all the catholike writers that be extant , english or other , that euer any of them vsed this shamefull fraud in writing , where no excuse can free them from malicious and witting falshood , then will i grant that this is not proper to the protestant spirit alone . hitherto i must confesse that i neuer found it in any , and if i should , though it were but once , i should hold it for a sufficient argument not to beleeue him euer after . and this shall suffice for a taste onely of m. mortons maner of proceeding , for that to prosecute all particulars would require a whole volume , and by this few you may guesse at the mans veine and spirit in writing . hitherto p. r. the answer . 143 thou seest ( christian reader ) i haue had patience to heare my indictment deliuered vnto the full , and suffered my aduersarie without any interruption to say so much in this accusation , as that by this time he may seeme to haue run himselfe out of breath . for what could either the dexteritie of art , or the violence of passion force more , then to note his aduersarie of so shamelesse falshood , as to be without comparison maliciously fraudulent , and vtterly vnwoorthy to be credited euer any more in any thing that he alleadgeth ? now therefore i turne my selfe vnto thee ( good reader ) as to my iudge , who may seeme by this time to exact of mee an answer ; and of whom i must desire and expect a iust censure . vouchsafe therefore ( i pray thee ) an intentiue examination , and i dare presume thou wilt acknowledge this accusation to be both so false and foolish , and vnfortunate to his cause , and indeed blasphemous , as though he had studied to be either faithlesse , or fond , or vnlucky , or impious . i. the falsitie of this crimination . 144 in the beginning i am charged with impudent impietie for citing lambert scaffnaburg to affirme that the bishops of italy did excommunicate pope gregorie for capitall crimes . but why is this impudency ? as if ( saith p. r. ) this our chronographer had related this as a thing of trueth , or that it were approoued of him , and not rather as a slanderous obiection cast out by his aduersaries that followed the part of henrie the emperor , &c. the point now in question is , whether this author lambertus scaffnaburg did thinke that those bishops of italy had condemned this pope gregory ( for whether they did it iustly or vniustly is the second question ) for such crimes or no ; i haue affirmed that lambertus scaffnaburg was of this opinion : but p. r. denieth it , calling my assertion an impudent impietie . let vs be iudged by the euidence of the author himselfe : who in the place alledged hath these words : postquamper italiam fama percrebuisset , &c. after that the fame was spred abroad thorowout italy , that k. henry had set his foote in their coasts ; [ certatim omnes italiae episcopi , &c ] all the bishops of italy did flocke by troupes vnto him , receiuing him with all honour woorthie the magnificence of such a person , and within a few daies after an armie of an infinite multitude was gathered vnto him : for from the first time that he was king , they longed for his comming into italy , because at this time italy was pestered with theeuery . and what els ? it followeth a little after . besides , they ( viz. the bishops and people ) did congratulate his comming , because it was reported that he came with a resolute courage to depose ( gregory ) the pope . heere we see it granted by lambert that all the bishops of italy were desirous to haue this pope gregory deposed . but after all this the emperour goeth to rome , seeketh absolution of the pope , returneth backe againe , and the bishop eppo is sent after to signifie to the italians this submission to the pope . what now ? now followeth the testimony which was alledged : qui cùm causam italis exposuisset , &c. when eppo had told his message to the italians , all of them began to rage and fret , &c. casting vpon the pope all opprobrious reproches , whom all the bishops of italy had before iustly excommunicated , because by simonie he had defiled the sea apostolike . could this chronologer but acknowledge that the pope had beene excommunicated by the bishops of italy , who ( as he confessed in the beginning ) did reioice at the comming of the emperour , because he came with a resolution to depose the pope ? which is a thing so notoriously knowne , that neuer author did denie it : insomuch that bimus their last and best authorized compiler of the councels , an author wholly deuoted to that sea of rome , confesseth that x anno 1076. ( viz. the yeere before this happened , which hath beene related out of lambert ) in the councell of papia , a city in italy , the bishops gathered themselues together , and excommunicated the pope . although he call that councell , conciliabulum , and the bishops schismaticos , schismatikes , as peraduenture lambert also did esteeme them ; yet this trueth is acknowledged of all , that the bishops of italy did excommunicate this pope . which is all that either hath , or needed to haue been said . and could this deserue so rigorous a censure of impudent impietie , and whatsoeuer bitternesse the gall of this man could vent out ? i proceed to the second point , which is ii. the foolishnesse of his accusation . 145 that being granted , which neuer any historian did denie , that the bishops of italie did excommunicate gregorie , aliâs hildebrand , and sought by the power of the emperor henrie to haue him deposed : the sottishnesse of the second obiection will bewray it selfe at the first hearing , to wit , the authour lambertus condemneth such proceedings against the pope , and highly commendeth not only the vertue , but also the sanctitie of the pope : and therefore will any man credit t. m. any more ? yes , i hope , any who shall rightly discerne the reason of my allegation . for my proofe , taken from the testimonie of this lambertus , consisteth not in his censure of commending , or of discommending the proceedings of the italian bishops against the pope , but in the iudgement of those italian bishops , who all ( as lambertus confesseth ) wished that that pope might be deposed . a collection vsed of all men in the citing of all chronologers , knowing that the proper office of an historian is to be a witnesse of things done , and not a iudge . for if any fauourite of my mitigator should report , saying thus , that p. r. ( i doe but suppose this ) was expelled out of a college of oxford by the fellowes , who did censure him for some misdemeanour ; but yet i thinke ( saith his fauourite ) that the fellowes did him wrong : for i haue heard him to haue beene accounted by others of very commendable conuersation . then presently some by-stander should make bold to giue out that the felowes of a college in oxford did so censure p. r. and name his author ; could any say that he had abused that testimonie , because he gaue more credit to the wisdome of those fellowes who expelled him , than to the contrarie coniecture of the reporter ? shall that by-stander be therefore thought euer after vnworthie of all credit ? 146 whosoeuer of his faction shall read the late catholike apologie ( as it is intituled ) out of protestant writers , hee will wish p. r. had beene a newly professed pythagorean , to whom a fiue yeeres silence had beene inioined : for protestant authours are there cited , as confessing ( but how truly we are not heere to dispute ) that some fathers 400. yeeres after christ haue held some romish positions : notwithstanding the same protestant authours doe condemne those positions as vtterly superstitious . in which allegations the apologists are contented to receiue from protestants a confession of so much antiquitie of some romish doctrine ; and yet oftentimes doe not acknowledge or regard the iudgement of the cited authors in condemning such opinions . will now p. r. permit vs to answer these apologists after his example , saying , ô impudent impietie , and malicious falshood ! will you cite protestants for confessing such doctrines as ancient , which they condemne to haue beene superstitious ? i would wish p. r. to call his fiue wits into one senate , and after due deliberation to shape me an answer ▪ i feare he will be driuen to a non plus : for either must he teach vs to confute their apologists , and to note them to haue beene fraudulent disputers ; or else confesse himselfe to haue plaid the part of an idle , impudent , and an intolerable accuser . iii. the vnfortunatenesse of this his declamatorie calumniation . 147 p. r. will not haue his reader to count otherwise of this pope gregorie , aliàs hildebrand , than of a man commendable , not only for vertue , but also for sanctitie : as if he had said , not only for a good man , but also for a godly : wherein it may be that p. r. hath beene not only not acute , but also absurd : for as easily may godlinesse be separated from goodnesse , as sanctitie from any perfect vertue . but to the matter . as it is written , oportet haereses esse , there must be heresies , so is it implied that there must be contradictions , but to this end , that the truth may be victorious ; which i hope will be verified in this present example of pope gregorie , who may be vnto vs ( if wee beleeue the romish historians ) a mirrour of all impietie . first , cardinall benno liuing in his time , set foorth his life , and writeth that y he entred into the popedome by force : that he suborned a man to murther the emperour , when he was at diuine seruice : that hee cast the eucharist into the fire : that hee was a necromancer ; and a contemner of religion . secondly , the abbat vrspergensis writeth , z that he was an vsurper of the sea of rome , not appointed by god , but intruded by fraud and money ; a disturber of the empire ; a subuerter of the church . thirdly , sigebertus gimblacensis , a monke , writeth that a hildebrand troubled the states of christendome ; raised vp the saxons against their liege prince ; discharged subiects from their oth of fidelitie ; and caused rodulph the duke of burgundie to proclaime himselfe emperour . after reporting from a writing found after his death in exile thus ; we giue you to wit who haue the care of soules , that pope hildebrand , aliàs gregorie , being at the point of death , called vnto him one of the cardinals , whom he did specially affect , confessing to him that he had greatly offended god and his church in the abuse of his pastorall charge , and by the perswasion of the diuell raised hatred and wrath against mankinde . if three witnesses be not sufficient against a pope , of whom one is a monke , an other an abbat , the third a cardinall , let vs further vnderstand that fourthly , seuerinus binius in his new editions of the councels , b confesseth that the bishops in a councell at woormes , anno 1076. declared that gregorie was to bee deposed : and that the councell at papia anno 1076. did excommunicate him : and that the councell of bishops at brixia did depose him : the acts of which councell , as they are recited by vrspergensis , shew these causes ; c because he was an vsurper of the sea , &c. and the councell at mentz anno 1085. declared him to bee iustly deposed . thus we see that p. r. by denying one councell of bishops of italie in papia to haue opposed themselues against this gregorie , hath , contrarie to his desire , gained with that one of papia three other councels , one of brixia , another of woormes , the last of mentz . so vnluckie hath hee beene ( to vse his owne simile ) in a lost game to see the last man borne . i must yeeld him therefore the priuilege of a loser , which is to fret , and rage , and raile , and to call mee malicious . the matter were lesse hainous in him to haue beene onely slanderous against man , if he were not also , in a sort , blasphemous against the gospell of christ. iiii. his blasphemie . 148 if any man ( saith he ) would discredit both christ and christian religion , and say our euangelists did recount foule things against him ( as heere this minister saith our historiographer doth of pope gregorie ) and namely that he was accused of the scribes and phariseis for casting out diuels by the power of belzebub , for deceiuing the people , for moouing sedition , &c. and the like crimes , which our euangelists doe recount indeed , but doe condemne them also as false and calumnious : were not this as good a maner of reasoning as this of tho. mortons out of lambertus against pope hildebrand , who is by them so highly commended , as you haue heard , and his aduersaries condemned ? thus p. r. thomas morton will tell you that your maner of reasoning is not so good . for suppose that t. m. in his reasoning had beene guiltie of some errour , yet this your comparison cannot be free from blasphemie ; the consequence whereof is this : it is like impietie in t. m. in citing the witnesse of lambert , concerning the opposition of the bishops of italie , which lambert condemned ; and to giue more credit vnto them condemning the pope , than vnto lambert condemning those bishops : as it is for a man reading the gospell , where it is recorded that the scribes and phariseis opposed themselues against christ , to beleeue rather those scribes and phariseis , condemning christ , than to giue credit vnto the euangelists , condemning the phariseis . whosoeuer shall exactly examine the analogie of this comparison , must needs acknowledge it to be in a maner blasphemous . for either must christ the sonne of god be compared with pope gregorie , a sinfull man , and ( as some iudge ) the man of sinne , as though it were a like impudencie to say that gregorie , a sinner , might no more iustly be condemned of the italian bishops , than christ , who was righteousnesse it selfe , of the scribes and phariseis , which in the schoole of christianitie must necessarily be iudged a blasphemie . or else the likenesse consisteth in the comparison of the reporters , matching the holy euangelists and their monks frisingensis and lambertus together , to thinke it no lesse impietie not to beleeue rather these two monks condemning the italian bishops ( who they say were aduersaries to the pope ) than those bishops , though condemned by the monks ; then it is not to beleeue rather the euangelists condemning the scribes and phariseis ( who were enemies vnto christ ) than the same scribes and phariseis , though condemned by the euangelists . but to compare in like beleefe the holy euangelists who were calami spiritus sancti ( as s. hierome calleth them ) that is , the pens of the holy ghost , and could not erre , and the reports of superstitious monks , who , almost , could not but erre , is an inference altogether impious . 146 but if p. r. ( as i hope hee will ) wish his consequent to be rather prooued ridiculous than so sacrilegious , then let him vnderstand the dissimilitude and vnlikenesse of his comparison . for first the iudgement of those historiographers , frisingensis and lambertus , two monks , in condemning those italian bishops is different from the iudgment of sigebert a monke , of vrspergensis an abbat , of benno a cardinall : but the euangelicall historiographers doe all of them fully consent together ; therefore hee not acknowledging the euangelists condemnation of the scribes and pharisies , and that lambertus his condemnation of the italian bishops , are nothing alike . secondly the pharisies were of different profession vnto the euangelists , the italian bishops were of the same religion with the obiected historians : therefore to credit the pharisies against the euangelists , and to credit bishops against monks , cannot bee proportionable , but why doe i trouble my selfe with these my aduersaries madling conceits ? i hasten , for conclusion to a challenge against p. r. the mitigator . § 19. 150 the challenge which p. r. hath made is peremptory ; vz. d the replie of t. m. is full of words , without substance : of flourish , without truth : of fraud without reall dealing . but what if this vaunt be but the wind of a swolne bladder , the fancy of an idle braine , the rhetoricke of a voluble and lauish tongue , whereby t. m. is calumniously traduced ? what amends will p. r. make ? e if i prooue not ( saith p. r. ) that t. m. hath dealt fraudulently against his conscience , by multiplicity of examples , let me be thought to haue done him iniury . this is an excellent and priestly discharge , he will exact of his iniurious aduersaries , i doubt not , a satisfaction reall ; or if not that , yet a verball confession : or at least the contritiō of the hart . but you see what amends i may expect from his fatherhood , viz. when he hath iniuried me , he will be content to be thought to haue done me an iniury ; heereby affoording me only the comfort to thinke , that being iniuried , i may bee thought to be iniuried . this man when he hath offended , is like to prooue a deuout penitent , who is lame of his hands , not yeelding any reall satisfaction ; dumbe in speech , not making any confession ; yea and euen , in a manner , dead also without all sense of sinne by contrition , not so much as thinking vpon the fault himselfe , will only be content by others to bee thought to haue done an iniurie . by this profession p. r. may defraud a whole college by false accounts , and discharge himselfe , saying ; my masters , be it known vnto you , i may be lawfully thought to haue deceiued you . is this a catholike mitigation ? 151 as for the integrity of my conscience , i doe auow , that if i haue not in the ielousie of mine infirmity done that , which no one ( to my knowledge ) hath done this many ages , to wit , reuiewed some of mine owne books , and examined them , not as an author , but as a censurer , discouering such my escapes , as i could at any time find , and publishing them in print with open animaduersions , to the end that mine owne correction might be my readers direction : if i haue not earnestly desired , and , by the law of loue , challenged of my friends strict iustice , in nothing such deprauations , as might any where occur , and ( lest they should suspect their reprehensions to become lesse acceptable vnto mee ) if i haue not professed it to bee my greatest offence , not to bee in that maner offended : if i haue beene euer so peruersly obstinate , as not willing to be reformed by any aduersary : againe , although i cannot but chuse to be strucke rather of a friend who woundeth , that he may heale , than of an enemy who intendeth only to hurt ; a friendly animaduersion being as an antidote , which is a reprehending of me , lest that i might be reprehensible : & the taxation of an enemy being as a toxicum calūniously poisoning whatsoeuer deserued good : yet , if i haue euer beene so wickedly peruerse , as not , ( whensoeuer iustly ) to be willingly reprooued by any aduersary , turning , as venome into treacle , his deformation into reformation : if in my ordinary course of life any can charge mee with a bent to this vice of falsifying , although it were for hope of whatsoeuer aduantage : then ( not to adde , if it be not almost impossible for any man citing foure or fiue hundred testimonies , as factors in their accounts , by chance to erre in some particulars , without note of fraud or cosenage ) then , i say , i will confesse my selfe worthy of all the criminations of frauds , trickes , deceits , cosenages , and whatsoeuer opprobrious imputations p. r. either hath or can fasten vpon me . 152 concerning the disposition of my aduersary . if hee bee not manifested to haue so behaued himselfe in termes so despightfully malignant , as if the capitall letters of his name p. r. did iustly betoken princeps rabularum : if not so dotingly vaine in ostentation of his owne wit and learning , as if p. r. did truely signifie phormio romanista : if not in defense of his cause , in both the questions of rebellion and aequiuocation , so dissolute , as if p. r. might bee worthily interpreted praeuaricator rasus : if not in his criminations & obiections of falsifications so vnconscionably and impudently vniust , as if p. r. might certainly deserue the interpretation of perfidiae reus ; as partly in this preamble , and more in the incounter may be obserued : then will i assume all his odious attributes , as proper vnto my selfe : 153 lastly , for the cause . if i doe not auouch the discouery of romish positions and practises of rebellion to bee iust : if i proue not the treatise of mitig. to be like an apothecaries box of poison , with the outward inscription of antidote : if i manifest not his specious and glozing reasons for defense of their mentall aequiuocation , to bee no better than the apples of sodome , which vanish into ashes at the first touch : if , lastly , i shew not that the chiefest aduantage of romish aduersaries , doth consist in falsifications ; all which this preamble hath but touched , and the incounter ( god willing ) must handle : then let my treatises be purged with fire , and my selfe challenged to a recantation . but these things being , by gods grace , directly performed , the fruit therof wil be ( christian reader ) to establish thee both in truth of speech , and dutifull allegeance , and to put my aduersary p. r. ( i hope ) vnto silence , i pray god , to repentance . gloria deo. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a07817-e470 aug. lib. 2. adu . petil. cap. 83. august . ep. 48. ad vincent . rom. 2. 1. notes for div a07817-e2220 a the treatise of mitigat . epist. ded to the vniuersit . num . 24. b aug. tom . 10. homil . 36. ad finem . * psal. 20. p. r. grosly ignorant in diuinitie . * 1. cor. 15. p. r. confuted by the text. c treatis . mitigat . ep. ded to the vniuersit . num . 21. d as for those set downe in the moderate answer , i am not to answer . e see satisfac . part . 1. c. 17. lit . ( a ) & lit . ( e. ) and part. 3. c. 3. lit . ( b ) f 1. 2. see satisfact . part. 3. c. 1. lit . ( c ) the 3. in chap. 2. the 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. in the chap. 3. the 9. 10. in the chap. 4. the 11. in cha . 5. the 12. 13. 14. in the cha . 7. the 15. 16. 17. 18. in cha . 8. the 19. 20. 21. in the chap. 11. the 22. 23. in the chap. 13. g treatis . mitig. cap. 11. pag. 473. & 474. num . 50. 51. 52. 53. h q. sup . pag. 475. num . 51 p. r. his thrasonicall insultation . i mitig. epist. dedic . to the vniuersities , num . 17. p. r. amplifieth his owne vanitie . k mitig. sup . lit . g. pa. 475. num . 53. p. r. frameth a syllogisme . i spare the examination of this second inferēce , leau●ng this labour to his sophisters , which will make thē sport . the manifold absurdities of his syllogisme . l mitigat . chap. 12. num . 4. pag. 485. initio . a fond diuision of p. r. m mitigat . epist. ded. vnto the vniuersit . num . 3. n mitigat . cha 2. pag. 88. num . 58. * isa. 29. hierom. com. in isa. 29. p. r. his arrogancie in vrging the greeke and hebrew text . pagninus . pintus . o treatis . of mitigat . cha . 6. num . 60. pag. 234. a forced and strained calumniation . a peremptorie falshood of p. r. p see full satisfact . part . 1. cha . 13. pag. 39. q treatise of mitigat . cap. 2. pag. 71. nū . 71. r full satisfact . part . 1. chap. 13. pag. 39. a calumnious falshood . p. r. his calumniation manifested by a simile . s see heereafter §. 12. num . 38. and §. 13. num . 39. a falshood full of dangerous delusion . t treatis . of mitigat . chap. 2. num . 35. pag. 72. the obiected falshood out of the testimonie of doleman answered and confuted . u doleman . part 1. cap. 9. pag. 212. x doleman pag. 213. y ib. pag. 214. maior . minor. the idle and ridiculous calumniation of p. r discouered by two similies . y doleman part . 2. cap. 5. pag. 116. see a further answer hereafter in this preamble . z treatise of mitigat . cap. 6. num . 36. pag. 215. * frisin . l. 6. hist. c. 32. a trecherous falshood . a dull taxation , as the simile sheweth . a simile . a full satisf . part . 3. chap. 11. pag. 28. a falshood in concealment . b treatise of mitigat . chap 6. nū . 39. pa. 217. mark how hainous he maketh his accusation . foure excellent tricks of falshood in one . notes for div a07817-e8640 c treatise of mitig. chap. 3. pag. 101. d treatise of mitig. chap. 3. pag. 92. num . 3. e the moder . ans. chap. 2. §. wherefore to purge , &c. craft in titles of books . f mitig. supra . g treatis . mitig. preface to the reader num . 10. p. r. his disease in so oft writing . railing . the aduantages the romish faction hath . h mitig. pag. 113. cap. 4. §. 2. num . 15. i see the late proclamation . notes for div a07817-e9490 k 2. reg. 1. 10 l exod. 14. 22. m num. 22. ver . 28. 29. 30. n matth. 8 29. & alibi . o ioh. 11. matt. 9. &c. p matt. 21. 21. marc. 11. 23. &c. p. r. a miserable aduocate for his catholikes . q rom. 13. 1. r vers . 5. simile . s ioh. 2. 10. t vers. 22. a difference of romish professours concerning the case of rebellion . u p. r. treatis ▪ in the preface pag. 24. num . 22. which he applieth to the pope , pag. 70. romish doctrine against the oath of due allegeance vnto protestant princes . x p. r. trea. cap. 2. pag. 77. num . 42. romish doctrine derogatory to the crowne and dignity of protestant princes . y the bull of pope pius quintus . see the satisfact . part . 1. pag. 51. z lib. de iusta abdicat . hen. pag. 370. a reinolds his rossaeus , pag. 466. see satisfact . part . 1. pag. 58. & 40. romish doctrine bloodily treasonable in the protestant gouernment . b p. r. treatis . cap. 1. pag. 50. num . 27. c p. r. treatis . of mitig. cap. 3. pag. 95. num . 8. d p. r. treatis . cap. 2. pag. 77. num . 42. p. r. contradicteth himself . e preface to the reader pag. 25. num . 22. f bellar. see satisfact . part . 1. pag. 56. g sanders , creswell , in the same place . h sanders ib. pag. 67. i bowchier . k parsons . l reinolds . m bellar. see all these satisfact . part . 1. pag. 56. & 57. n the bull of pope vrbane against protestants in germanie . see satisfact . pag. 9. and sander . pag. 67. o bannes , creswel , lib. de iust. abdicat . bellar. see satisf . part . 1. cap. 24. p. r. would flout and delude the state of england . p see satisf . part . 1. pag. 185. allen , parsons , martin , &c. q see satisf . part . 1. cap. 27. r p. r. trea. mitig. pag. 321. cap. 8. what iesuiticall aequiuocation is . s treat . of mitig. in the same chap. t treatise mitig. pag. 459. num . 29. example of aequiuocating in an accursed person . a that he do not obiect vnto me the woman pope ioan. b treatise mitig. cha . 8. num . 55. pag. 344. c supra . d mat. 26. 70. e in the same place , num . 46. pag. 338. f in the same place , num . 47. g in the same place , num . 55. pag. 344. an euident conuiction of p. r. a plaine demonstration . the lying woman and the lying priests paralleled . h for , but for so much hath the nature of a negatiue , & is as much as , not for any more . i act. 5. k treatise mitig. c. 11. num . 3. pa. 441. l in y● preface , and elswhere . why we may not malice anie mans person . m esa. 5. 20. * gal. 4. 16. n he that lieth slayeth his owne soule . sap. 1. 11. o treatise of mitigat . pag. 489. chap. 12. num . 11. * mitig. cap. 3. pag. 89. p. r. his vnluckie ostentation . p costerus ies. enchirid. cap. de summo pontif . §. constat . three popes falsificators . q in quibus non erat canon ille de appellando ad rom. pontificem deprehensus . lindanus panopl . lib. 4. cap. 89. r liber conc. de actu conc. carthag . 6. gratian a falsificator . s concil . mileuetanū statuit nè quis ad transmatina loca putauerit appellandū : respondent aliqui cum gratiano , qui addidit ad hunc canonem exceptionem , nisi fortè ad apostolicam sedem appelletur . sed haec exceptio non videtur quadrare , nam praecipuè propter rom. ecclesiam africani statuerant , vt non liceret appellare vltra mare . bellar. lib. 2. de rom. pont. cap. 24. § ▪ tertiò . 1 opponit caluinus canonem 36. conc. elibertini , in quo sic dicitur , placuit picturas in ecclesia esse non debere , nè quod colitur aut adoratur in in parietibus depingatur . ] huic variè respondent catholici vasques ies. de adorat . l. 2. disp . 5. c. 2. num .. 120. 2 payua respondet , solùm prohiberi imaginem dei , quae pingitur ad effigiem dei repraesentandam . to whom 3 bellar. sed non videtur satisfacere , tùm quia loquitur conc. de picturis in genere , tùm quia huiusmodi imagines non erant in vsu eo tempore . bellar. l. 2. imag. cap. 9. 4 nicolaus sanderus l. 2. de cultu imag. c. 4. respondet , concilium illud prohibuisse imagines in templis , quia tempus & locus id require bat : tunc enim periculum erat , nè gentiles existimarent nostros adorare ligna & lapides . 5 haec solutio bona est . bellar. l. 2. de imag. c. 9. §. nicolaus . immediately after speaking of the same answer : 6 fateor t●lrationem illam canonis ( nè id quod adoratur & colitur in par●●tibus depingatur ) non multùm quadrare huic expositioni ▪ idem ibidem . 7 alanus copus in dialog . l. 5. c. 16. dicit hîc prohiberi imagines , quia ab illis christianis adorari coeperant , tāquam dij , & hunc esse sensum ; placuit in ecclesia non esse picturas , nè aliquid in parietibus existens adoretur & colatur vt deus . in quem sensum accipit istum canonem b. iuo in suis decretis , par . 3. c. 40. bellarm. quo iam supra . hanc interpretationem amplectuntur martinus de ayala , & sixtus senensis bibl. l. 5. annot. ●47 . vasques de adorat . l. 2. disp . 5. c. 2. num . 126. 8 sed huic etiam expositioni ratio canonis non omninò quadrat , nam debuisset dici potiùs , nè id quod pingitur adoretur , quàm , nè id quod adoratur pingatur . bellar. quo sup . §. alanus . and another , mihi non probatur : si enim à patribus illius concilij zelo religionis ita factum esset , vt omnes imagines etiam in tabulis depictae , aut in materia aliqua sculptae è templis eijcerentur , gregorium magnum posteà non latuisset , &c. vasques quo sup . num . 127. 9 altera interpretatio alani accomodatior esse videtur , quam sequuntur etiam sanderus l. 2. ador. c. 4. & noster franciscus turrianus l. 3. de dogmat . charact . dicunt ergo pro tempore & loco summopere fuisse conueniens , imagines è templis auferre ; imminente enim gentilium persecutione , quae sanè in ecclesia dei adhuc perseuerabat ( vt ex multis canonib . illius concilij colligitur ) oportebat christianos secum imagines deferre , & occultare , nè in templis ludibrio gentilium expositae manerent . id autem fieri non poterat , si in parietibus templi , benè tamen si in tabulis depingerentur , aut in materia aliqua sculperentur , &c. vasques ibid. num . 128. another : huic expositioni aptissim● conuenit ratio canonis . bellarm. de imag. lib. 2. cap. 9. §. alij ergo dicunt . 10 caeterùm secunda illâ interpretatio canonis 36. mihi non probatur , quòd cum ratione , quam in ipso canone concilium expressit , minimè conueniat . ideò enim dicit , placult imagines in ecclesia esse non debere , nè scilicet quod adoratur in parietibus depingatur . si tamen praedicta interpretatio vera esset , dicere potiùs deberet in hunc modum , placuit in parietibus ecclesiae imagines non depingi , nè persecutoribus fidei nostrae ludibrio esse possunt . vasques ib. nu . 131. 11 interpretatio , quae mihi caeteris omnibus praeferenda videtur , haec est , non prohiberi imagines in tabulis depictas aut in alia materia sculptas , sed solùm in ipsis templi parietibus depingi : iudicat enim concilium indecens esse , vt id quod colitur parietibus sit affixum , sed debere potius in tabula aut alia materia reuerentèr collocari , nèsplendorem amittat . vasques lib. 2. de adorat . disp . 5. cap. 2. num . 132. 12 recentiores aliqui pondere illius concilij quasi oppressi , tāquam optimū effugium elegerunt , authoritatem concilij ne . gare , quòd prouinciale fuerit 19. episcoporum tantùm , nec ab vllo summo pontifice cōfirmatum . existimant verò nullius debere esse authoritatis , quia etiam in multis alijs canonibus manifestè errauerit , denegans viz. poenitentiae sacramentum in extrema necessitate propter aliqua angentia crimina : aut , vt alijs placet , communionem eucharistiae , id quod errorem etiam intolerabilem esse autumant . atque hac forsan de causa canus l. 5. de locis . c. 4. post sextam conclusionem de conc. elibertino , inquit , eâ parte , quâ errauit , semper à catholicis explosum fuisse . et sanè si aliâ viâ concilio satisfieri commodè non possit , hoc nobis effugium sufficiat : nec caluinus contra vniuersalem ecclesiae definitionem prouinciale concilium obijcere deberet . vasques ib. q. sup . num . 121. 13 etiam canus loc . theol. bellar. l. 2. imag. c. 36. hanc synodum aiunt erroneam esse , & à nullo romano pontifice confirmatam . baronius tom. 1. anno 57. num . 119 ▪ ob eandem causam quasi propè fines nouatiani dogmatis conc. hoc attigisset , paulò liberiùs & acriùs de eo scripsit . sed ea deinceps tom. 2. anno 305. num . 42. valdè mitigat , ita enim de eodem canone [ lapsos nè quidem in articulo mortis absoluendos ] cùm quae ab illis de ea re statuta sunt ab innocentio pontifice excusentur , nemo sit qui accusare praesumat . existimat igitur hanc synodum legitimam fuisse , atque ab omni errore liberam . binius de conc. comment ▪ in hunc canonem , pag. 245. 14 populus christianus recèns à superst●tione ad christianismum addu●tus , ad idololatriam nimis pronus erat , idcir●ò omninò vetuit synodus elibertina imaginū cultum . sixtus senens . biblio ▪ lib. 5. annot. 247. 1 haereticorum nostrorum , qui se euangelicos dici volunt , incredibilis impudentia in hoc apparet , quòd docere velint in concilio francofordensi damnari conc. nicaenum secundum : adferunt pro se decretum francofordiensis synodi , quo illorum deplorata mentiendi & quidlibet fingendi libido ita coarguitur , vt mirum sit illos vnquam in cuiusquam boni viri ausos esse prodite conspectum . and a little after . 2 vbi homines versuti vellent persuadere lectori nicaenam secundam de adorandis imaginibus damnatam esse , decretum francofordiense corruperunt quidem , sed mirabili dei iudicio , vt illorum impostura omnibus proderetur , obliti sunt constantinopolin eradere , atque eius loco nicaeam substituere . &c. a little after . sed valeant isti cùm malis suis artibus . surius praef. in synod . francofordi . 3 concilium francofordiense prouinciale fuit , in quo episcopi 300 , &c. acta concilij nicaeni secundi in causa imaginum confirmârunt . paulò post . ita docuit alanus copus , sanderus , surius , suarez . hactenùs binius com. in hanc . synod . pag 429. scriptores illi cùm dicunt synodum 7. in francofor . conc. damnatam , non intelligunt nicaenam secundam , quae verè septima fuit , sed damnabant ephesinam secundam . coster . ies. enchir. ca. 13. multi recentiores historici dicunt in francfordiensi non damnari synodum de adorandis imaginibus , sed de tollendis , platina , blandius , sabellicus . bellar. l. 2. de conc. cap. 8. 4 huic ( sententiae surij ) duo manifestè obstant , vnum est , quòd si francofor . synodus de constantinop . concilio loqueretur , non diceret [ quam pro adorandis imaginibus fecerunt ] ea enim contra imaginum venerationem celebrata est . loquitur ergò , sicut historici omnes , de vera septima synodo nicaena secunda , quae reue● à pro adorandis imaginibus habita ●uit : alterum est , quod praefatio asserit , vt referunt authores , synodum illam , quam abrogauit concilium francoford celebratam fuisse in bithynia , in qua quidem prouincia est nicaea , non autem constantinopolis . vasques l. 2. imag. c. 4. num . 225. 5 sententiam alani optarem esse verā , sed suspicor esse falsam , quia &c. bellar . l. 2. conc. c. 8 §. propter hanc . et paulò post , videtur igitur mihi in francoford . concilio verè reprobatam fuisse nicaenam secundam . 6 reuerendis . cardin. baronius hanc sententiam veriorem esse iudicat . binius comm. in conc. francof . pag. 391. col . 1. 7 damnauit illa quidem nicaenam secundam , sed per errorem & materialitèr , eo prorsus modo , quo synodus ariminensis damnabat homousion . nam author librorum carolinorum synodo imposuit per duo mendacia ; vnum erat , illam synodum cultum latriae imaginibus oblatam approbâsse . bellarm. l. 2. de conc. c. 8. §. videtur . et paulò post . concilium francof . quod frequentissimum fuit , errare potuit , & errauit non in iuris sed in facti quaestione : nec mirum est quòd errare potuit , quia non consenserunt legati romani , vt magdeburgenses dicunt : papa autem non modò non consensit , verùm etiam reprobauit illud concilium , vt patet ex libro adriani , &c. bellar. ib. §. si dicas . idem sensit illustriss . cardinalis baronius , patres francof . concilij mendacijs & imposturis autorum libri carolini fuisse deceptos , vt nicaenam secundam , quasi ipsa imagines cultulatriae , soli deo debito , colendas sanxisset . teste binio , com. in conc. francof . pa. 397. but , 8 definitio septimae synodi non minus nota esse potuit conc. francofordiensi , quàm autorib . libri carolini , siquidem eodem tempore liber ille conscriptus fuit . vasques alorat . l. 2. disp . 7. cap. 5. num . 230. 9 rursus concilium francof . habuit legatos adriam pont. vt tradunt omnes in quaestione praecedenti citati , & ex subscriptionibus cōstat , atque haeretici centuriatores fatentur . ibid. num . 232. 10 ego cum viro doctissimo francisco suarez sentio , istam responsionem infirmis niti fundamentis . binius q. supra . 11 si conc. francofordiense aliquid contra synodum septimam ( which was nicaena secunda ) statuisset , tamen nullius esset momenti , tum quia prouinciale non valet contra generale , tum quia non erat à pontifice romano approbatum . bellar. l. 2. de imag. c. 14. 12 necessario igitur fatendum est , vel historicos errâsse , vel aliqua ex parte deprauatos esse , vel certè non de vera , sed de pseudosynodo loquutos esse . denique possit quis liberè negare quicquam actum esse in francof . synodo siuè pro imaginibus , si●è contra illas . binius tom. 3. conc. comment . in conc. francof . 13 periculosum & temerariū est , acta illius concilij veluti supposititia & apocrypha reijcere , quia nihil in eis actis , vt nunc extant , reperitur , quod non ad veram religionem stabiliendam valeat . suares jes. disp . 49. sect . 3. teste binio , in loco suprà citato . 1 obijciunt protestantes nobis epiphanium , qui in epistola ad iohannem hierosolymitanū sic scribit . cùm venissem , inquit , ad villam anablatha , & in ecclesiam intrâssem , vt orarem , inueni ibi velum pendens in foribus eiusdem ecclsiae , habens imaginem quasi christi aut sancti ●●●usda● : cumque vidissem in ecclesia christi , contra authoritatem scripturarum , hominis pendere imaginem , s●idi illud velum , &c. vasques jes. lib. 2. de adorat . disp . 5. cap. 3. num . 136. bellar. lib. 2. de triumph . eccl. cap. 9. §. ● . 2 hoc fecit epiphanius propter periculum erroris anthopomorphitarum , qui deum corporeum , & membris compactum esse asserebant . waldens . tom. 3. tit . 19. cap. 157. sic quidem waldensis , qui reprehendit in epiphanio zelum nimium , & non secundum scientiam . 3 verùm waldensem textus ipse resutat , non enim erat dei imago , sed hominis cuiusdam . ergo non potuit epiphanius hac occasione motus velum abscindere . vasq ▪ q. sup . disp . 5. c. 3. num . 137. 4 hinc intelligi potest , quanto ●udioris ingenij fuit caluinus , & alij , qui hoc nobis testimonium obijciunt . si enim attentè legatur epiphanius nè verbum quidem de sanctorum imaginibus habet . vasques q. sup . c. 3. num . 144. sed loquitur de imagine hominis prophani , quae in sanctarum imaginum catalogo ferenda non est . ibid. cap. 4. num . 148. 5 alij dicunt loqui de imagine hominis profani , sed communior & verior solutio est , verba , &c. bellar. lib. 2. de triumph . eccl. cap. 9. 6 epiphanius in alia epistola , quae in actis primae synodi citatur , estote , inquit , memores , dilecti filij , nè in ecclesias imagines inferatis , nec in coemiterijs statuatis . sixtus senens . bibl. l. 5. annot. 247. 7 epiphanius inter iconomachos haereticos fuit . alphons . de castro haeres . tit. image . 8 velum habens quasi christi aut sancti cuiusdam : illa vox [ quasi ] significat hominis profani imaginē ibi pependisse , tanquam esset imago aut christi aut sancti alicuius : ideoque merito fuisse abscissam . vasques quo supra . cap. 4. num . 149. 9 alanus & sanderus difficultate oppressi responderunt , verba suposititia esse . vasques ibid. num . 140. corrupta est haec epistola a veteribus iconoclastris . costerus jesuita e●●hi●id . cap. 13. §. corrupta . esse quidem supposititia probatur , primò , secundò , tertiò , &c. nonò . bellar. quo supra . 10 see in the next number before . 11 verba , quae alij suppositia esse putant ad eandem epistolam sine dubio pertinent , nam postquam epiphanius se excusabat ad iohannem hierosol . de erroribus , quos iohannes in eo notâsset , meritò aliam causam , cur alij de se murmurarent , subiun●it , dicens , cum venissem anablatha , &c. vasques jes. lib. 2. de adorat . disp . 5. cap. 3. 12 hieronymus in epistola ad pammachium contra iohannem hierosol . episcopum , totam ferè hanc epistolam epiphanij à se latinè factam recitat , & tamen non meminit huius veli . ergo illa verba supposititia esse videntur . bellar. l. 2. de triumph . eccle. cap. 9. 13 est epistola epiphani● ab hieronymo translata & approbata in haec verba [ cum venissem anablatha . senens . l. 5. bibl. annot. 247. haec epistola epiphanij de velo ponitur inter epistolas hieronymi , ordine 60 : imò idem hieronymus in epistolam ad pammachium huius epistolae mentionem facit . vasq. quo supra . it is found in the epistle of s. hierom. ad ioh. hierosol . 14 cum verò damascenus dicit ( id quod bellar. obijcit supra ) epistolā epiphanij esse con●ictā : 15 non de hac epistola ad iohannem hierosol . ( vt falsò senensis autumat ) sed de epist. ad theodosium intelligit . ergò hoc commune & frequens nostrorum effugium mihi non placet , & hieronymo necesse non fuit in epistola sua ad pammachium huius veli meminisse , quia hieronymi institutum erat tantùm de iohannis hierosol . erroribus agere . vasques ibid. 16 aut si maximè exploratum sit eam epistolam esse genuinam , respondemus , apud nos ecclesiae authoritas plus ponderis habet . greg. valent. ies. l. 2. de idol . c. 7. pag. 719. vna hirundo non facit ver . anglo-rhemens . transl . in non . test. vide indicem de imaginibus . 17 cùm vidissem ( inquit epiphanius ) contra authoritatem scripturarum hominis pendere imaginem , &c. epiphan . vt est ab ist●citatus . 1 pelagiani docebant non esse in hominibus peccatum originale , & praecipuè in filijs fidelium . idem docent caluinus & bucerus , &c. bellar. lib. 4. de eccl. milit . c. 9. §. pelagiani . 2 hic proprius erat pelagianorum error , negare peccatum originale esse haereditariam naturae nostrae corruptionē . greg val. jes. lib. de orig . pet . c. 2. in initio . 3 caluinus & lutherus , caeterique protestantes adeò non negârunt originale peccatum , vt illud prodigiosis loquendi modis exagitant , etiam in renatis manere dicunt , &c. idem ib. cap. 8. & in tom. 2. disp . 6. q. 11. punct . 1. §. quam quaestionem . 4 nouatianorum error praecipuus erat , non esse in ecclesia potestatem reconciliandi homines , nisi per baptismum : posteà etiam addiderunt , non debere baptizatos inungi chrismate ab episcopis . caluinus negat vllum esse sacramentum poenitentiae praeter baptisma , lutherus poenitentiam reijcit . bellar. l. 4. de not . eccle. cap. 9. §. nouatianorum . 5 nouatianorum haeresis peccantibus omnem poenitentiae virtutem tollit , dicens eos , qui semel post baptismum lapsi sunt , nunquam posteà consequi remissionem peccatorum , etiamsi eos poeniteat . alphon. de castro . lib. 12. haeres . 3. tit . poenitentia . omne peccatum lethale post baptismum commissum irremissibile censuerunt . vega. l. 13. de justif. c. 2. pag. 486. in ioh. 5. 4. dixit christus , noliampliùs peccare , nè deterius aliquid tibi contingat . ex quo loco probat pacianus contra nouatianos , non negandam esse poenitentibus veniam , nec enim dixisse christum iam noli peccare , quia non sanaberis iterùm , sed , nè deterius aliquid tibi contingat . maldonat . jes. comm. in ●um locum joh. 6 dicunt protestantes in christianis post baptismum requiri fidem & poenitentiam , vt iustificentur & remissionem consequantur . bellar. lib. 3. de justif. cap. 6 , & saepè aliâs . 7 non de quauis poenitentia inter nos & protestantes controuersia habetur , potest enim vera poenitentia vel in sola mentis conuersione , atque interna peccati detestatione consistere , vel in externis signis , vt moerore , lachrymis , confessione , corporis afflictatione se prodere , neque de hac re vlla est controuersia . ipsi aduersarij caluinus & chēnitius opera externa laboriosa , vt signa verae poenitentiae internae non reijciunt . deindè absolutionis ritum aliquem fere omnes agnoscunt . sed hic est status controuersiae , vtrùm poenitentia signis externis manifestata , accedente ad eam verbo absolutionis , sit sacramentum propriè dictum . bellar. lib. 1. de poenit. cap. 8. §. vt igitur . 8 manichaeorum est ( inquit hieronym . ) hominum damnare naturam , & hominum auferre arbitrium , & peccatorum originem non tribuunt manichaei libero arbitrio , inquit augustinus . idem calunius . bellar. l. 4. de not. eccles . cap. 9. §. 8. manichaeorum . 9 iohannes calunius docet quòd in initio homo habuerit liberum arbitrium , nunc non habet . in hac integritate ( inquit ) libero pollebat homo arbitrio , quo , si vellet , adipisci posset vitam aeternam . bellar. l. 1. degrat . primi hominis . §. in eodem principio . 10 henricum bullingerum non puduit scribere tres esse in diuinitate personas non statu sed gradu , non substantiâ sed formâ , non potestate sed specie differentes . certè personas gradu , formâ , specie differentes , vix ariani ipsi dicere ausi essent . bellar. praef . in contro . de christo. §. henricum . 11 sic scribit tertullianus in libro aduersus praxeam , tres sunt non statu sed gradu , non substantiâ sed formâ , non potestate sed specie . greg. val. jes. lib. de vinit . & trinit . c. 9. 12 tertullianus in libro aduersus praxeam cùm dixit filium distingui à patre non statu sed gradu , per gradum intelligit ordinem personarum . bellar. l. 1. de christo , c. 10. §. respondeo secundum . 13 secundùm errorem caluinistarum ( speaking of a christian soule departing this life ) non ad deum ibat , sed ad inferos , aut alium locum extra coelū , vbi non magis deus est , quàm hic nobiscum . bellar. l. 1. de beat sanct. cap. 4. paulo post initium . 14 octaua obiectio ( answering to the obiection of protestants ) sumitur ex 2. cor. 5. [ si domus terrena nostrae habitationis dissoluitur , habemus domum non manu factam in coelis ] rectâ igitur post mortem sinè purgatorio pij homines transferuntur in coelum . respondeo &c. bellar. l. 1. de imag. c. 8. §. octaua obiectio . and obijciunt nobis protestantes loca scripturarum & patrum , in quibus duplex status eorum , qui moriuntur , significatur , impiorum in supplicium aeternum , & iustorum in vitam aeternam . deinde huiusmodi loca scripturarum vrgent , quibus determinatè significari videtur , eos qui ex hac vita discedunt in statu gratiae statim recipi ad beatitudinem . vt apoc. 14. beati qui moriuntur in domino , requiescunt à laboribus : si ( inquiunt ) omnes beati , tùm nulli in purgatorij cruciatibus continentur . greg. valent. de purg. c. 8. and the rhemish annot in apoc. 14. 13. 15 quidam antiqui haeretici fuerunt , qui negabant eucharist●am esse veram carnem christi , & tantùm esse volebant signum & imaginem corporis christi . hanc haeresin refert theodoretus , eandem docent hoc tempore zuinglius , caluines . bellar. l. 4. de not . eccl. c. 9. ad finem . 16 quae sententia citatur à theodoreto in dialogo , vbi tamen nunc non habetur . sed nè glorientur caluinistae sententiam suam valdè antiquam esse , illud est obseruandum , antiquissimos illos haereticos non tàm sacramentum eucharistiae , quàm mysterium incarnationis oppugnâsse . bellar. l. 1. de euchar. c. 1. in initio . 17 docet caluinus symbola & corpus christi , licèt inter se loco plurimùm distent , tamen coniuncta esse non solùm ratione signi , quia vnum est signum alterius , sed etiam quia vnà cùm signo deus exhibet verum christi corpus & sanguinem , quo animae nostrae alantur ad vitam aeternam . bellar. ib. §. secundò docet . 18 docet caluinus corpus christi ab animis nostris in eucharistia substantialiter communicari . greg. valent. jes. tom . 4. disp . 6. q. 3. punct . 1. §. item . 1 cyprianus epist. 10. ad pomp. vnde est haec traditio ? an ex dominica autoritate descendens , an de apostolorum mandatis & epistolis ? ea enim facienda esse quae scripta sunt testatur deus . he●reunto bellarmine . 2 respondeo , cyprianum haec scripsisse cum errorem suum tueri vellet , & ideo non mirum si more errantium tunc ratiocinaretur . quare augustinus contra donatistas cap. 23. & ●equentibus hanc epistolam meritò refellit . bellar. lib. 4. de verb. dei , cap. 11. §. profert cyprian . &c. 3 quod cyprianus monet vt ad fontem recurramus , id est , apostolorum traditionem , & indè in nostra tempora canalem dirigamus , optimum est , & sine dubitatione faciendū ▪ traditum est igitur ab apostolis quòd sit vnus deus , vnum baptisma , vna fides , ephes. 4. august . lib. 5. de baptismo . cap. 26. 4 vigesima secunda praerogatiua petri est , quod solus petrus episcopus ordinatus fuerit : caeteri autem à petro. probatur ex anacleto epist. 1. in nouo testamento &c. à clemente alexandrino , à cypriano lib. 4. epist. à leone sermone 3. de assumptione sua ad pontificatum &c. bellarm. lib. 1. de pontif. rom. cap. 23. 5 nonnulli contendunt caeteros apostolos eam potestatem iurisdictionis accepisse , idque probare conantur ex authoritate anacleti , cypriani , augustini , leonis , clementis alexandrini . sed reuera non faciunt id quod istius sententiae autores volunt . franciscus de victoria relect . 2. conclus . 1. §. quod . 6 de epistola pontificum clementis & anacleti , multa sunt quae manifeste ostendunt illas esse supposititias , quibus nituntur ij , qui plus quàm expedit sedis romanae authoritatem amplificant . cardinal . cusanus de concord . cathol . lib. 3. cap. 2. 7 extat apud platinam forma electionis hildebrandi in haec verba : nos sanctae romanae ecclesiae &c. bellarm. lib. 4. de roman . pontif. cap. 13. §. extat , &c. 8 being vrged with his testimonie in the case of romish confession , by the decree of innocentius , he answereth : sed neque platina publica authoritate & ex publicis archiuis vitas illas pontificum scripsit . bellarm. lib. 3. de poenit. cap. 13. §. sed neque . 9 tu theologorum princeps ( maxime pontifex ) non frustrà mandâsti vt res gestas pontificum scriberem . platina in praefat. operis . 10 quae platina de vitis pontificum scripsit vera sunt existimanda , quippe cum ea ex publicis tabulis scripsit , aliisque legitimis documentis deprompsit : in quibus res gestae pontificum historica fide continentur . hieron balbus de coronatione . §. post mortem constantini , &c. 11 vocatur purgatorium locus quid à , in quo , tanquam in carcere , post hanc vitam purgantur animae , quae in hac plenè purgatae non fuerant . de hac est tota controuersia . bellar. lib. 1. de purgat . cap. 1. § vocatur . patres aliqui per ignem non intelligunt ignem purgatorij , sed ignem diuini iudicij , quomodo loquitur paulus in 1. cor. 3. cùm ait , vniuscuiusque opus quale sit ignis probabit . bellar. lib. 2. de purgat . cap. 1. §. adde . apostolus 1. cor. 3. lgnis probabit ] loquitur de igne seueri & iusti iudicij dei , qui non est ignis purgans & affligens , sed probans & examinans . bellar. li. 1. de purg . cap. 4. §. superest . 12 sunt apertissima loca ex patribus , vbi asteritur purgatorium , quorum pauca quaedam afferam . bellar. lib. 1. de purgat . cap. 6. §. denide &c. 13 vide ambrosium serm. 20. in psal. 118. ibidem , §. ambrosius &c. is in psal. 118. serm. 20. omnes , inquit , oportet transire per flammas , siue ioannes sit siue petrus &c. bellar. lib. 2. de purgat . cap. 1. §. ambrosius . et paulò post 14 ambrosius hoc posteriore loco ( speaking of the psal. 118 ) videtur per ignem non intelligere purgatorium . bellar. ibid. §. adde &c. he vrgeth hilary 15 inter apertissima loca . hilarius in psal. 118. illud [ concupiuit anima mea desiderare iudicia tua ] nobis ( inquit ) est ille ignis obeundus in quo subeunda sunt grauia illa expiandae à peccatis animae supplicia . bellar. li. 1. de purga . ca. 7. §. hilarius . rursus 16 hilarius in psal. 118. in illa verba : concupiuit anima &c. vbi insinuat b. mariam transire debuisse per illum ignem . bellar. lib. 2. de purgat . cap. 1. §. idem videtur : rursus . aliqui ( amongst whom he citeth hilarie ) videntur non intelligere ignem purgatorium vt ( answering to the place aboue mentioned ) hilarius . ibid. §. adde . 17 sunt apertissima loca in patribus . bella. lib. 1. de purgat . cap. 6. §. deinde sunt , paulo post . 18 vt origenes homil . 6. in exod. saltus fit si quid forte plumbi habent admixtum . 19 et basilius in isa. 9. quod depascatur & deuoret ignis purgatorius . 20 et lactantius lib. 7. cap. 21. perstringentur igne atque comburentur . 21 et hieronymus in fine comment . in isaiam : quorum opera in igne probanda . 22 ambrosius in psalm . 36. non exuremur , tamen vremur , &c. haec omnia bellar. lib. 1. de purga . cap. 6. 23 origenes dixit : omnes homines excepto christo , aliquo modo vrendos esse igne conflagrationis diuini iudicij . et hilarius vnà cum ambrosio origenem sequu●us est . eodem pertinere videntur quae basilius annotauit : ad eandem opinionem aparet allusisse hieronymum , & longe antè hieronymum quoque lactantium . sixtus senensis bibliothe . lib. 5. annot . 171. lactantius lib. 7. cap. 21. perstringentur inquit &c. loquitur de ijs qui in resurrectione sunt igni tradendi . suarez iesuita in part . 3. thom. qu 59. art . 6. disp . 57. sect . 1. §. ambrosius in comment . in psal. 36. consentire videtur cum origene qui dicit omnes homines , christo excepto , probandos esse & aliquo modo vrendos igne conflagrationis diuini iudicij . sixtus senens . bibliothe . lib. 5. annot . 171. 24 see afore numb . 12. 25 purgatorium ex patribus graecis & latinis probamus . bellar. lib. 1. de purgat . cap 6. 26 omnes veteres graeci patres agnouerunt purgatorium & scriptis suis luculentissimè prodiderunt . salmeron jesuit . comm. in 1. cor. 15. disp . 25. in fine . 27 legat qui velit graecorum veterum commentarios , & nullum , quantum opinor , aut rarissimum de purgatorio sermonem inueniet : sed neque latini simul omnes huius rei veritatem conceperunt . roffens . art . 18. aduers. lutherum . a pref. to the reader pa. 28. num . 25. b pref. to the reader num . 25. pag. 28. c epist. ded. num . 5. & nū . 25. and again , num . 25. and num . 28. d see aboue §. 3. num . 6. 7. 8. &c. e full satisfaction epist. to the seduced brethren . f treatis . mitigat . epist. dedic . num . 23. g gen. 3. 1. h see full satisfact . part. 2. chap. 3. pag. 103. i treatise of mitig. cap 3. num . 14. pag. 100. k see full satisfact . part. 2. cap. 4. pag. 107. l treatise of mitig. cap. 3. num . 14. pag. 100. m see full satisfact . part. 1. chap. 7. pag. 20. n treatise mitig. ca. 6. num . 53. & num . 54. pa. 230. o 〈◊〉 ●um . 〈◊〉 pag. 113. many falsehoods in one . p full satisf . part . 2. cap. 5. pag. 107. q treatis . mitig. c. 4. num . 42. pag. 131. mod. answ. c. 9. r the full satisfaction part . 2. cap. 7. pag. 119 s satisf . part . 2. cap. 7. pag. 119. t satisf . part . 2. cap. 4. pag. 107 u satisf . pag. 119. beza de iure magist . suttcliff . arch. can. caluin , and pag. 111. p. frarer . x tract . mitigat . c. 4. n. 42. pag. 132. y satisfaction part . 2. cap. 3. pag. 102. z treatise mitig. cap. 4. num . 36. & 37. pag. 128. fox anno 1554. pag. 1289. a treatise mitig. pag. 92. p. r. confuted by himselfe . b rom. 3. 8. c see aboue §. 5. num . 15. & 16. d see aboue §. 6. num . 17. & 18. e see aboue § ▪ 7. num . 21. f see aboue §. 8. num . 28. g treatise mitig. cap. 7. num . 8. pag. 279. h ib. num . 12. pag. 281. i ib. num . 15. pag. 284. ● k satisf . part. 3. cap. 12. l genesius in theoph. cap. 6. p. r. confuted by a simile . m treatise mitig. cap. 12. num . 3. pag. 484. n meo tamen iudicio illi regulam ad plura extendunt , & trahunt , quàm par sit , & quàm nauarrus , syluester , & angelus voluerint . nihil n. tàm falsum esse potest , quod non queat ab omni mendacio liberari , si aliquid arbitratu nostro mente tacitū retineamus . possemus enim quicquid à nobis petitur , quamuis id apud nos habeamus , diffiteri nos habere , intelligentes , vt demus : quicquid fecerimus , quicquid viderimus , quicquid cogitauerimus , decreuerimus , de eo rogati , possemus absque mendacio dicere , non fecimus , non vidimus , non cogitauimus , non decreuimus , eo nimirùm sensu , vt tibi dicamus , vel , quod tibi dicere debeamus . quarè mihi aliud videtur , quod quibusdam regulis subiectis breuitèr perstringam . az●r . jes. insti . moral . part . 1. lib. 11. cap. 4. § meo tamen . pag. 1335. romae cùm priuilegio . anno 1600. superiorum permissu . * quinta regula : si reuerà verba , quibus vtimur , significatione suâ & communi hominum vsu ambigua non sunt , nec habent nisi vnum tantummodò sensum , ea vsurpare debemus eo sensu , quem reddūt , nec licet nobis , etiam si contra ius fasque omne interrogemur , aliquid mentis cogitatione concipiendo in aliud detorquere ; nunquam enim fas est mentiri : at is mentitur , qui verba alitér accipit , atque ipsa significant . azor. jes. quo supra , in fine cap. o treatise mitigat . pag. 355. & 420. & 429. & 450. p satisf . part . 1. ca. 26. in the beginning . q mod. answ. cap. 10. r part. 1. c. 27. pag. 89. a dilemma . s maldonat . cō . in luc. vlt. vers . 28. t satisf . part . 3 cap. 4. pa. 59. u treat . mitig . ca. 14. nū . 4. pa. 409. 510. x treat . mitig . ca. 1. num . 38. pag. 74. * luc. 23. a treatise mitig. epist. dedic . num . 18. & 19. b ind. expurg . belg. pag. 195. c primus honos romano pontifici habetur , vt si minùs pulchro honestetur no mine , e●statim creato liceat illud mutare verbi gratia , non extra iocum dictū sit , si homo maleficus anteà fortè fuerit , vt bonifacius appelletur : si timidus , leo : si rusticus , vrbanus : si improbus , innocentus : si ferox , clemens : si malè audiuerit , benedictus : vt saltem nomine pontifex ornamēto sit dignitati . eius autem rei auctor fuisse dicitur sergius secundus , cui cum os porci diceretur , ad obscoen● nominis vocem tollendā , datum est , vt aliud sibi nomē aptaret . polyd. lib. 4. de inu . rerū , c. 10. d treatise mitig. ca. 2. n. 46. pa. 79. his cauill compared . e posterior caietani coniectura , quia gregor . magnus in homilia de amissa drachma non fuit aufus hos libros b. dionysij asserere , & tantum ambiguè loquitur vtēs voce [ fertur : ] respōdeo sic loqui non quia ipse dubitauerat qui in graecia eius libros legerat , &c. del rio vi●d . areopa . cap. 6. §. posterior . pag. 29. f ioan. de turre 〈◊〉 . lib. de sum . eccles. de anastati● . idē habet platina : supplementum cronicho . & liber pontificalis in decret . anastasi secundi . g binius in tom . 3. conc . pag. 1054. anno dom. 912. binius quo supra pag. 160. h the dismall ends of diuers popes . i binius cir● . ann. domin . 1198. pa. 1441. k treatise mitig. ca. 2. n. 47. p. 80. l mitig. ib. n. 48. pa. 81. m bouchier lib. 3. de abdicat . hen. 3. cap. 16. pag. 267. p. r. con●uted by a simile . n matth 23 2. o in publicis notorij●que criminibus tanto alitèr id fieri debet , quāto damnata ea per se publico praeconio , ac naturae sensu esse solent , vt august . de cain & abel , euidentia criminis non eget clamore accusationis . si latrones , si bestiae , cùm irruu●t , omni iure expugnantur , cur non tyrānus quouis latrone & bestiâ deterior ? duplex poenae genus , positiuae vnū , priuatiuae alterum : quaepositiua est , formulam expectare debet ; in priuatiua certè alitèr se res habet , quod pertecto scelere , vele tra nonum iudicium vim habere inter theologos confessam sit . then cap. 3. praeueniri iudic um ecclesiae posse specialis probatio , vt deut. 13. statim interficies , ac sit primùm manus tua supra eum , vt phinees scortum , num. 25. ari epto pugione consodit . sic mattathias se gessit aduersus israëlitam idololatram , 1. machab. 2. tales alij israëlitis liberatores othoniel , aiod , barach . and a little after would prooue this out of the councell of lateran , out of the decree of pop. gelasius . and in the former chap. ecclesiae iudicium non est , nisi celebri illo apostolicae fedis theatro , nec reipnisi in plenis & liberis comitijs esse potest . in the end of the chapter after chap. 5. expectandi iudicij causas omnes in henrico praeclusas esse . after in chap. 23. frater iacobus clemens , non ita pridem sacerdos factus — post celebratū missae sacrificium henricum cultello , vt aeglonem moabitem alter aiod im● etiam fortitèr in abdomine traijcit . nihil iam vt fit quod iudithae holophernē , aut dauidis goliathum obtruncantis , aut samsonis maxiliâ asini mille viros inter ficientis historias admiremur , quia maiora his vidimus , & clamore meritò debeamus , dextra domini fecit virtutem , &c. thus much bouchier . p treatise mitig. cap. 2. num . 26. pag. 68. p. r. reprooued by a simile . q matth. 16. r marc. 5. 7. s reinolds in his rosaeo . cap. 2. pag. 62. speaking of such tyrants not as are inuaders of a coūtrey , but those who haue beene iustly possessed of their kingdomes . t pag 135. traiterous doctrine . u rom. 13. apostolicall doctrine of subiection . a treatise mitig. cap. 2. num 49. pag. 82. b mitig. pa. 84. num . 52. c m. stock , a learned preacher in london answereth for himselfe . d non tenentur reddere rē verbis contractam . card. tollet lib 1. instruct. sacerd. ca. 13. § sextus in his last edition . an vndoubted argument of the autors sincerity . e mitig. cap. ● . num . 52 ▪ 53. 54. 55 ▪ 56. 57. pag. 84. f m. stock . a dile●ma . p. r. his babish foolery . g reade surius vpon that councel . tom . 1. conc. h see thuanus hist. lib. 52. * this i shall proue in the incounter out of bouchier . i see aboue §. 5. pag. 12. k treatise mitig. cha . 5. num . 43. pag. 174. extr●● . com . de mai . & obed . § vnā sanctam . addit . ad com. extra . de ma● . in c. 1. ad finē . l gregor . 13. ad futurā rei memoriam . reliquum est vt eiusdē decreti vnà cum annotationibus praedictis tàm absque glossis , quàm ipsum totum cùm glossis , sextumque & clementinas simul & extrauagantes à dilecto filies s. f. recognoscenda omnia & approbanda &c. imprimi & impressa diuulgari iusse●imus , ac ad maiorem christi fidelium vbique commo●antium commoditatem , hoc 〈◊〉 canonici corpus fideliter & incorrup●● 〈◊〉 exemplar rom●● 〈◊〉 , imprimi possit . nos opportunè prouidere volentes , vt hoc ius canonicum sic expurgatum ad omnes vbique christi fideles sartum tectum perueniat , ac ne cuiquam liceat e●dem operi quicquam addere , vel immutare , aut inuertere , nullauè interpretamenta adiungere , &c. m treatise mitig. ca. 2. n. 55. pag. 86. p. r. his accusation redounding vpon his popes . a fond cauill . n treatise mitig. cap. 6. num . 55. pag. 231. a stupid cauill . o matt. 26. 42. another friuolous cauill . p see aboue §. 6. pag. 1● . q see aboue §. 7. pag. 22. nū . 23. 24. 25. &c. an impious cauill . r see a little before in this §. num . 132. s see aboue §. 7. pag. 19. nū . 21 , &c. t see aboue §. 8. u treat . mitig. ca 6. num 37. pag. 215. la. s●aff . hist germ. ann . 1077. sub fin . lamb. vbi●sup . x binius tom . 3. conc. pag. 1281. y benno hist. de vita greg. z vrsperg . an . 1080. a sigeb an. 1074. & anno 1085. b binius conc . tom . 3. pag. 1281. and pag. 1191. although he call them not concilia but conciliabula . c see a little before out of the testimony of vrsper . lit . z. d treat . of mitig. 1. cap. 3. num . 4. pag. 92. e treat . mitiga . cap. 3. num . 3. pag. 92.