die martis 3 augusti, 1642. it is this day ordered by the commons house of parliament, that the ministers about the citie of london, be desired to exhort the people to bestow old garments and apparell upon the distressed protestants in ireland, ... england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a83733 of text r211020 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.5[78]). 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. 1 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 a83733 wing e2604c thomason 669.f.5[78] estc r211020 99869759 99869759 160791 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. a83733) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 160791) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 245:669f5[78]) die martis 3 augusti, 1642. it is this day ordered by the commons house of parliament, that the ministers about the citie of london, be desired to exhort the people to bestow old garments and apparell upon the distressed protestants in ireland, ... england and wales. parliament. 1 sheet ([1] p.) s.n., [london : 1642] place and date of publication from wing. order to print signed: hen. elsynge, cler. parl. d. com. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. ireland -economic conditions -early works to 1800. a83733 r211020 (thomason 669.f.5[78]). civilwar no die martis 3 augusti, 1642. it is this day ordered by the commons house of parliament, that the ministers about the citie of london, be desi england and wales. parliament. 1642 176 1 0 0 0 0 0 57 d the rate of 57 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 2007-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-10 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-10 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die martis 3 augusti , 1642. it is this day ordered by the commons house of parliament , that the ministers about the citie of london , be desired to exhort the people to bestow old garments and apparell upon the distressed protestants in ireland , this house concieving it will be a very charitable act . hen. elsynge , cler. parl. d. com. septemb. 19. 1642. york-shire hall in blackwell-hall , is by the honorable the lord maior of london , and the court of aldermen , appointed for the laying in of such clothes of all sorts ▪ for men , women and children , with shooes , hats and linnen , such as may be spared for clothing the poor naked protestants in ireland . it is desired that before the 30 of october next , there may be brought in to the place aforesaid , what in that kinde shall be bestowed by well-disposed people , that the same may be ready for shipping then prepared for ireland . by the king and queen, a declaration for the encouraging of french protestants to transport themselves into this kingdom england and wales. sovereign (1689-1694 : william and mary) 1689 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) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66237 wing w2505 estc r37244 16281072 ocm 16281072 105241 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. a66237) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 105241) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1602:36) by the king and queen, a declaration for the encouraging of french protestants to transport themselves into this kingdom england and wales. sovereign (1689-1694 : william and mary) mary ii, queen of england, 1662-1694. william iii, king of england, 1650-1702. 1 broadside. printed by charles bill and thomas newcomb ..., london : 1689. "given at our court at whitehall this twenty fifth day of april, 1689, in the first year of our reign." reproduction of 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 protestants -france. great britain -history -william and mary, 1689-1702. 2008-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-07 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-07 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the king and queen , a declaration for the encouraging of french protestants to transport themselves into this kingdom . william r. whereas it hath pleased almighty god to deliver our realm of england , and the subjects thereof , from the persecution lately threatning them for their religion , and from the oppression and destruction which the subversion of their laws , and the arbitrary . exercise of power and dominion over them , had very near introduced ; we finding in our subjects a true and just sense hereof , and of the miseries and oppressions the french protestants lye under : for their relief , and to encourage them that shall be willing to transport themselves , their families , and estates into this our kingdom , we do hereby declare , that all french protestants that shall seek their refuge in , and transport themselves into this our kingdom , shall not only have our royal protection for themselves , families and estates within this our realm ; but we will also do our endeavour in all reasonable ways and means , so to support , aid , and assist them in their several and respective trades and ways of livelyhood , as that their living and being in this realm may be comfortable and easie to them . given at our court at whitehall this twenty fifth day of april , 1689. in the first year of our reign . god save the king and queen . london . printed by charles bill and thomas newcomb , printers to the king and queen's most excellent majesties 1689. at the court at hampton-court the 28th day of july 1681 ... england and wales. privy council. 1681 approx. 5 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a70019 wing e805a estc r6673 12143579 ocm 12143579 54882 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. a70019) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54882) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 761:18 or 1184:50) at the court at hampton-court the 28th day of july 1681 ... england and wales. privy council. england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 4 p. printed by the assigns of john bill, thomas newcomb, and henry hills ..., london : 1681 caption title. imprint from colophon. prescribing measures for the relief of distressed protestants abroad. this work found as wing e2887 at reel 761:18, and as wing c2919 at reel 1184:50. both numbers cancelled in wing (2nd ed.). 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 protestants -europe. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. 2008-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-06 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-06 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion diev et mon droit royal blazon or coat of arms at the court at hampton-court the 28 th day of july 1681. present the kings most excellent majesty , lord archbishop of canterbury lord president lord privy seal earl of clarendon earl of bathe earl of craven earl of halifax earl of conway lord viscount fauconberg lord viscount hyde lord bishop of london mr. secretary jenkins mr. chancellor of the exchequer mr. seymour mr. godolphin . his majesty by his order in council of the one and twentieth of july instant , having been graciously pleased to refer a memorial presented to his majesty in behalf of the distressed protestants abroad , to the consideration of the right honourable the lords committees of this board for trade and plantations , with directions to report their opinion thereupon ; and their lordships having this day made their report to his majesty in council , his majesty upon due consideration thereof had , was pleased to declare , that he holds himself obliged in honour and conscience to comfort and support all such afflicted protestants who by reason of the rigours and severities which are us'd towards them upon the account of their religion , shall be forced to quit their native countrey , and shall desire to shelter themselves under his majesties royal protection , for the preservation and free exercise of their religion ; and in order hereunto his majesty was pleas'd further to declare , that he will grant unto every such distressed protestant who shall come hither for refuge , and reside here , his letters of denization under the great seal without any charge whatsoever , and likewise such further priviledges and immunities as are consistent with the laws , for the liberty and free exercise of their trades and handicrafts ; and that his majesty will likewise recommend it to his parliament at their next meeting to pass an act for the general naturalization of all such protestants as shall come over as aforesaid , and for the further enlarging their liberties and franchises granted to them by his majesty , as reasonably may be necessary for them . and for their encouragement , his majesty is likewise pleased to grant unto them , that they shall pay no greater duties in any case then his majesties own natural born subjects , and that they shall have all the priviledges and immunities that generally his majesties native subjects have , for the introduction of their children into schools and colledges . and his majesty was likewise pleased to order , and it is hereby ordered accordingly , that all his majesties officers both civil and military do give a kind reception to all such protestants as shall arrive within any of his majesties ports in this kingdom , and to furnish them with free pass-ports , and give them all assistance and furtherance in their journeys to the places to which they shall desire to go . and the right honourable the lords commissioners of his majesties treasury are to give orders to the commissioners of his majesties customs , to suffer the said protestants to pass free with their goods and housholdstuff , whether of a greater or a smaller value , together with their tools and instruments belonging to their crafts , or trades , and generally all what belongs to them that may be imported according to the laws now in force , without exacting any thing from them . and for the further relief and encouragement of the said necessitous protestants , his majesty hath been pleased to give order for a general brief through his kingdom of england , dominion of wales , and town of berwick , for collecting the charity of all well disposed persons , for the relief of the said protestants , who may stand in need thereof . and to the end that when any such come over , being strangers , they may know where to address themselves to fitting persons to lay their requests and complaints before his majesty : his majesty was graciously pleased to appoint the most reverend father in god , his grace the lord archbishop of canterbury , and the right reverend father in god , the lord bishop of london , or either of them , to receive all the said requests and petitions , and to present the same to his majesty , to the end such order may be given therein as shall be necessary . phi. lloyd . london , printed by the assigns of john bill , thomas newcomb , and henry hills , printers to the kings most excellent majesty . 1681. a declaration of the czaars [sic] of muscovy against the french king, in favour of the poor protestants distress in this present persecution obtained for them by the intercession of his electoral highness the marquess of brandenburg. russia. sovereign (1682-1696 : ivan v) 1689 approx. 5 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). a82139 wing d662a estc r210321 99895577 99895577 153169 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. a82139) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 153169) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2352:8) a declaration of the czaars [sic] of muscovy against the french king, in favour of the poor protestants distress in this present persecution obtained for them by the intercession of his electoral highness the marquess of brandenburg. russia. sovereign (1682-1696 : ivan v) russia. sovereign (1682-1725 : peter i) 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for e. maret, and c. lucas, london : 1689. the czars of muscovy = ivan v and peter i, co-czars in 1689. reproduction of original in the henry e. 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 protestants -france -early works to 1800. france -history -louis xiv, 1643-1715 -early works to 1800. broadsides -england 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 a declaration of the czaars of muscovy against the french king , in favour of the poor protestants distress in this present persecution ; obtained for them by the intercession of his electoral highness the marquess of brandenburg . we john alexeiwitz and peter alexeiwitz , by the grace of god , most serene and mighty princes and czaars , sovereign masters of both russias , of moskow , kiow , wlodimir , and newgarden ; czaars of casan , astracan , and siberia ; lords of pleskow ; great dukes of smolenkow , t wer , jugoria , perm , wiathka , bulgaria , and other principalities : great dukes and lords of the low ▪ countries of newgarden , tzernigow , resan , rosthow , jeroslaw , berlowsery , vdory , obdory , and condiny ; and sovereign princes of the northern-countries : lords of the countries of twer ; czaars of the countries of carthaline and grussene ; and princes of the countries of cabardine , cirkasse , and gorne , with many other countries lying eastward , westward , or northwards , which belong to us as heirs and successors of our fathers and grand-fathers , who were lords and princes thereof . by order of our majesties the czaars , let it be known by these presents , to all whom it may concern , that our majesties the czaars will and pleasure is , to make several persons of several qualities partakers of our favours , according to the tenor of these letters patents . in the beginning of this present year 7197. the most serene prince and lord frideric iii. marquess of brandenburg , and other principalities , having deputed to our majesties the czaars , john reyer chapliez , privy secretary and counsellor of his electoral highness , and his envoy extraordinary in our court ; who being in conference with our majesties the czaars : privy boiars and their collegues , has declared and proposed unto them by writing from his electoral highness , that his majesty the french king , has begun in his kingdom to force all that professed the protestant religion to abjure it , and has by several torments driven them out of his kingdom , or forced to turn roman catholicks , putting several of them to death and parting husbands from their wives , and children from their parents , by keeping them in prison : but that those amongst them who were not thus detained , have made their escape out of the said kingdom and sought for shelter in the neighbouring-countries ; and that great numbers of them are come into the estates of his electoral highness , so that it is to be hoped many more will follow their example in making their escape . and as many amongst them , who would endeavour to find some means of getting their subsistance , are ( by reason of their great numbers , and to fly from persecution ) desirous to be entertained as our subjects , and to settle amongst us , in our great kingdom of russia : and that his electoral highness has very earnestly desired us in their behalf , to receive them under our sovereign protection in the nature of subjects , and to grant them free access into our great kingdom of russia . we therefore upon the advice and request of his electoral highness made unto us by his envoy extraordinary , and according to the report made by the privy boiars of our majesties the czaars ; we great lords the czaars have willingly entertained , and do give our consent to the request of his electoral highness : that the said protestants banished by reason of their religion , who desire to come and live under the protection , and in the estates of our majesties the czaars , may be assured of the favour and protection of our majesties the czaars , come in and settle in the great russia of our majesties the czaars with full assurance ; in order whereunto our will and pleasure is , that all our frontiers should lay open and free for them to come in . moreover they shall be favourably entertained in the service of our majesties the czaars , and shall every one of them obtain a reasonable sallery , according to their extraction , condition , and dignity . and in case any of the said protestants should desire to return into their country after they have served our majesties the czaars , they that desire to do so , shall no ways be hindered , but shall have free liberty to go . therefore we have caused by the favour of our majesties the czaars , those letters patents to be issued out by the chancery of the envoys of our majesties the czaars . given at the court of our kingdom , in our great town of moskow in the year 7197. from the creation of the world , 21st . january , and of our reign the seventh . licenced april 13. 1689. james fraser . london , printed for e. maret . and c. lucas . 1680. great news from dublin, giving a true account of the seizing of a ship coming from ireland, with fifty commissions from the late king james, to several gentlemen in lancashire, in order (as suppos'd) to a rebellion in england. together, with the relation of the papists seizing the protestants estates in ireland, and imprisoning the vice-provost of the colledge of dublin, and other worthy divines, on pretence of a plot, &c. with allowance. j. m. 1689 approx. 5 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). a23607 wing m36b estc r214005 99826246 99826246 30643 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. a23607) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30643) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1762:9) great news from dublin, giving a true account of the seizing of a ship coming from ireland, with fifty commissions from the late king james, to several gentlemen in lancashire, in order (as suppos'd) to a rebellion in england. together, with the relation of the papists seizing the protestants estates in ireland, and imprisoning the vice-provost of the colledge of dublin, and other worthy divines, on pretence of a plot, &c. with allowance. j. m. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for w. downing, london : 1689. caption title. dated at head of text: chester the 12th of june, 1689. signed at end: from your humble servant, j.m. reproduction of the original in the bodleian 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 protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. dublin (ireland) -history -early works to 1800. 2008-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 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 great news from dublin , ●iving a true account of the seizing of a ship coming from ireland , with fifty commissions from the late king james , to several gentlemen in lancashire , in order ( as suppos'd ) to a rebellion in england . together , with the relation of the papists seizing the protestants estates in ireland , and imprisoning the vice-provost of the colledge of dublin , and other worthy divines , on pretence of a plot , &c. with allowance . chester the 12 th of june , 1689. sir , on the eleventh of this instant , arrived here a vessel , with some fugitive protestants aboad , which give an account , that the pretended parliament of dublin , after the general concurrence of both houses , for rescinding and abolishing the late act of settlement , proceeded to pass a bill for the forfeiture of all estates of protestants absent ; which , with all severity , even ●●e soldiers and rabble-papists put in execution : that upon the report of supplies ●eing landed at london-derry , they immediately issued out an order for securing all protestants of any note ; and particularly , they have clapt up the reverend doctor action , vice●rovost of the col●edg , and doctor king the minister of st. warbourgh's parish , and seve●l others , upon a blind pretence , that they were plotting against the government , ( as ●●ey stile it ) though all that could be said for harmless and innocent persons , was urg'd 〈◊〉 their behalf to the late king ; but such is the insolence and jealousie of the french minister , and his party , that it is now thought no longer in his power to deny or main●in any thing against them . yesterday came in a vessel from dublin to this port , in com●●ny of another small vessel , and king william's officers of his customs going on board her , ●emember'd the master had about five weeks before stole out of the harbour , without ●●king her entry at the custom-house , and the master besides being suspected for an ill man they gave notice to the mayor , and other the kings officers , who immediately re●●●t and seize on the kings vessels ; and , after strict search , find packt up fifty commis●●●● , directed to several persons in lancashire ; which commissions were forthwith sent to 〈◊〉 majesty , and 't is hoped , will give an ample discovery of all or most of the disaffected ●●●sons in that county : colonel kirk , with the ships and soldiers under his command , ●●●●'d from the isle of man the fifth instant , the wind at east south-east , a pretty strong ●●le , so that we doubt not , by this time , of his safe arrival : from dublin we hear , that the ●●●…ist army is extreamly discouraged with the vigorous resistance of the protestants in london-derry , that they begin to look nearer into matters , and do already shake their ●●ads , and wish they could handsomely unravel their past actions . doctor walker , and ●●eutenant baker , do labour indefatigably for the support of the town , which stands ●●●m yet , and in good condition ; though by continual watchings , and hard service , they ●o hourly wish and sigh for their long expected succours . the lord tyrconnel continues ●et indisposed with the black jaundice , which had like to have prov'd dangerous to him ; ●e seems to be sensibly afflicted for the loss of his reputed son the lord galmoy , ( who was ●ill'd before london-derry in the last great sally ) and is not well satisfied with the french ●anagement of affairs : many of the irish army desert daily , and take the boggs for ●●eir refuge , being either terrified with the haughty insolence of their french comman●rs , or tired with the continual drudgery of marching , counter-marching , and other ●…teigues of martial exercise and dangers : we have it confirm'd , that great numbers of boats and other small vessels , design'd ( as is thought ) for transportation of sol●●ers from any part of the north of ireland to scotland , have been seized and burnt by ●he ships from scotland . the protestants of dublin begin now to be very apprehensive 〈◊〉 their safety , especially since the confinement of those clergy men and encroachments 〈◊〉 the colledge : the late king hath put a stop to all passes ; and such is the strictness and severity of the searchers , that we are likely to have little or no intelligence from dublin . this is all that occurs at present from your humble servant , j. m. london . printed for w. downing 168● a faithfvll and seasonable advice, or, the necessity of a correspondencie for the advancement of the protestant cause humbly suggested to the great councell of england assembled in parliament. hartlib, samuel, d. 1662. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45752 of text r17995 in the english short title catalog (wing h986). 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. 9 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 a45752 wing h986 estc r17995 12110012 ocm 12110012 54187 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. a45752) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54187) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 242:e87, no 14) a faithfvll and seasonable advice, or, the necessity of a correspondencie for the advancement of the protestant cause humbly suggested to the great councell of england assembled in parliament. hartlib, samuel, d. 1662. [7] p. printed by iohn hammond, [london?] : 1643. attributed to samuel hartlib. cf. blc. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng protestants -england. a45752 r17995 (wing h986). civilwar no a faithfull and seasonable advice, or, the necessity of a correspondencie for the advancement of the protestant cause. humbly suggested to t hartlib, samuel 1643 1555 7 0 0 0 0 0 45 d the rate of 45 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2006-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a faithfvll and seasonable advice , or , the necessity of a correspondencie for the advancement of the protestant cause . humbly suggested to the great councell of england assembled in parliament . printed by iohn hammond 1643. the necessity of a correspondencie for the advancement of the protestant cause . the troubles of europe proceed originally from two causes : the one is the affectation of a spirituall , the other of a temporall monarchy . that is the papall , this is , or hath been , the spanish , and may be from henceforth , the french ambition . the pope doth labour to uphold his tottering hierarchy , and to regaine the power which hee had over the consciences of all men , before it was cried downe as antichristian by protestancie . the house of spaine did labour to erect a new state in europe , under the pretence of upholding and propagating the catholicke religion against protestants , till the french and bavarians have pulled down his old one . these two , and their pretensions have divided the affections of all men , either in respect of conscience , or of civill interests . each hath his owne way ; but that of the pope is most considerable , because it is without resistance , and hath assistance of both the others , whereas each of the other pretenders to the monarchy of state , doth oppose his fellow . the popes way to preserve himselfe , and to regaine the power which he had lost , is to work the overthrow of the protestant religion , and to trouble the states wherein that religion is planted . to do this , hee maketh use of two advantages which hee hath above protestants ; the one is civill , the other ecclesiasticall . the civill is , that he is able to set all the popists 〈…〉 ces , and their chiefe counsellors aworke , to intend joyntly the same thing against protestants , as well in generall to oppose them , as in particular to weaken them in their esteeme and power . as for example , he hath moved them all to contribute to a league against them , to divest them every where of all dignities ; and particularly to weaken their voyces in the electorall colledge . and to effect these and such like things , he can infuse into their counsels all the maximes of state , which are opposite to the faith and fundamentall grounds of the liberties of protestants in the publicke profession of their religion , and to perswade the use of these maximes , hee findeth out meanes to make every one apprehend hopes of advantage for himselfe by the ruine of protestants . for he knoweth , that it is not so much zeale for religion , as interests , which moveth states . the ecclesiasticall advantage is the power which he hath to breed and send forth emissaries towards the common sort of protestants , and to set treaties on foot towards the more learned , such as are most for his owne advantage . the emissaries are bred in his colledges , of severall nations , but espcioally in his colledge de propaganda fide , which is founded to undermine the states of protestants , by sowing or fomenting the seeds of division amongst them . and to this effect also , the more learned of his clergie are imployed to treat with the learned protestants for an agreement , which may bee patched up with some , or with all protestants , by meere authority of superiours , upon generall termes , and in outward superficiall rites , salvo iure primatus pontificii , that is , with an acknowledgement of his primacie for orders sake amongst the ●●●●gie● which i● protestants upon any terms will but grant , he for a time will leave them to their liberties , but afterward by degrees bring them in subjection to his usurped power in all things both of faith and pra ctise . now his great advantage to work out all his plots irresistably is this , that amongst the severall bodies of protestants , there is none that taketh the matter of their common interest and preservation to heart , to labour to disa●point his plots by meanes opposite to his designes , therefore it is certaine , that so long as protestants have no such aime to maintaine joyntly the common interest of religion and liberties , but are divided in their counsels , that in humane appearance their states must be weakned & in the end overthrowne ; but if a joynt purpose could be wrought amongst them for their common safety , and a good correspondencie setled in their churches and states , to prosecute the meanes thereof , towards all those whom it doth concerne , there is no doubt but hee would lose his labour , and the consent of protestants to maintaine the light of the truth , and the liberty of the gospel , would fully accomplish his overthrow . now to set this correspondencie in a joynt intention a foot amongst protestants , none have so great cause as the state of great britaine , and the present parliaement of england , against which all the popish power of europe is bent to hinder by all possible meanes , the reformation now begun in that island , therefore it will be altogether necessary , for the said parliament to move all other protestants to joyne with them for the maintenance of the protestant cause against popery . this cannot be done otherwise , but by the meanes of a good correspondencie , which may be first begun with the state and church of scotland , and then joyntly with them prosecuted towards forraigne protestants : and to this effect fit instruments should bee chosen , and made use of these should bee joyned in a committee or standing counsell at home to attend the work of a publick correspondency with forrainners , and to unite them in the prosecuting of their true interests and common quarrell against papists . and to this end they should ta●e the palatine cause in hand , to make that house ( whose interest and right is greatest among forraigne protestants ) considerable ; and to assist it in recovering the right thereof , which it hath lost in defence of the protestant liberties in germany . now the way to make that house considerable and by it to uphold amongst forrainners the protestant cause , is to assist the prince elector first with counsell and then with strength . to assist him with counsell , they should joyne to him some of their owne counsellors , to help him to manage the worke of a publick correspondencie with protestants in their name ; and they should furnish him with meanes of support requisite to maintaine other councellors and agents fit to negotiate in his owne name , his owne cause ▪ and to keep afoot the publicke interest with the protestants of germany , and neighbouring states . to assist him with strength , by 〈…〉 secuting of this correspondencie with forraigne states , they should make a league for him , and when their troubles should be set led , joyne with others their forces to re-establish him in his lands and dignities , to uphold in the same the common cause . if this ground-work of counsell whereof in respect of forrainers chiefly in germany , the prince elector could bee made the head , be not first laid , it is sure that no army nor treaty with austria will ever prevaile to settle matters . but if such a negotiation be ( as it easily can bee , even in the midst of these troubles in england ) set afoot , and thereby all those that have a reall interest in the welfare of protestants , made to concurre counsels with great britaine , and the palatiue house in germany then it is not to be doubted but that with the supply of small forces from england and scotland , the cause and rights of all protestants in the inerest of that house , may be gained ; and the whole papall and spanish power as well in the empire , as elswhere , irresisistably overthrowne . perhaps the austrian power in germany may be moved to bend their counsels for the true ? palatine eleitor against the bavarian and french designe , to keep up a protestant party , that in ballancing the one by the other , it may stand . but as for the french , it is certain , that they in all things , and chifly in zeale for the papall interests , doth emulate the spanish power , and is no lesse active ; and as now matters are brought about , more powerfull to advance the same , then spain is : and therefore in the aime of a common correspondencie amongst protestants , must be as much looked into , or more , then any other state . finis . a true copy of a project for the reunion of both religions in france lettre de quelques protestants practiques au sujet de la réunion des religions. english dubourdieu, jean, 1652-1720. 1685 approx. 9 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a36722 wing d2410 estc r15094 13344341 ocm 13344341 99159 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. a36722) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99159) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 351:6) a true copy of a project for the reunion of both religions in france lettre de quelques protestants practiques au sujet de la réunion des religions. english dubourdieu, jean, 1652-1720. 4 p. printed for randal taylor, london : 1685. translation of: lettre de quelques protestants practiques au sujet de la réunion des religions. caption title. "signed by dubourdieu, la coste, and above sixty more"--p. 4. imprint from colophon. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. imperfect: filmed copy dark and partially illegible. 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 -france. catholic church -relations -protestant churches. protestants -france. protestant churches -relations -catholic church. 2006-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-11 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2006-11 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a true copy of a project for the reunion of both religions in france . we whose names are here underwritten ministers of the reform'd religion ; being desirous to carry our obedience to his majesties commands as far as the great interest of our consciences will give us leave ; and hoping , from the great goodness of his majesty , that in consideration of this our compliance , and the steps we make towards the religion he professes , he will be pleas'd to command the persecution that we are under to cease ; do promise to contribute , what lies in our power , to the religious design which he has of uniting all his subjects under one ministery , and do resolve to reunite our selves to the gallican church , which in its pastoral letter does likewise say that they will yield some of their right in favour of the publick peace , and will rectifie those things that want redress , provided the wound of schism be once heal'd . we do likewise on our side engage our selves , that if the following articles are bona fide granted to us , we will with all our hearts give his majesty that satisfaction which he desires . i. that there shall be no obligation upon any body to believe purgatory , that all disputes on this article shall cease ; every one speaking with great moderation of the state of souls after this life . ii. that the pictures of the holy trinity shall be taken out of the churches ; and those which shall be left shall be only as ornaments , &c. that the pastours shall carefully instruct the people to avoid upon this point the abuses which are but too common among the ignorant . iii. that such relicks of saints as shall be undoubtedly own'd to be true , shall be preserv'd with respect , but shall not make any essential part of the cult of religion , and that none shall be bound to worship them . iv. that it shall be taught that god alone is the true object of our adoration , and that the people shall be warn'd not to attribute to any creature , though never so eminent , that which is peculiar and proper to god : but nevertheless since the saints in heaven do concern themselves in our miseries , we may pray to god to grant that to the prayers of the church triumphant , which the indifference and coldness of ours cannot obtain from him . v. that amongst the sacraments of the christian religion baptism and the eucharist shall be reputed the chiefest , and that the others shall have the name of sacraments in a more large sense only vi. that touching the necessity of baptism the canon of the council of trent shall be the rule , and it shall not be intended to any other than the natural sence of these words . siquis dixerit baptismum liberorum ad salutem non esse necessarium anathema sit . and therefore there shall be no modification to the tenth canon of the precedeing chapter ; which declares , that it is not lawful for all persons to administer the sacraments , that power belonging only to the ministers of the gospel who have receiv'd it from jesus christ . vii . that jesus christ is really present in the sacrament of the eucharist , though the manner of his presence be incomprehensible to the wit of man , and therefore none shall be oblig'd to define the manner of his presence , neither shall there be any dispute about it , since it passes our understanding , and that god has not reveal'd it to us . viii . that in receiving the sacrament one shall be in a posture of adoration , the communicants at that time paying to christ those supreme honours which are only due to god ; but no more shall be exacted from any body for the species of the bread and wine , than that respect we pay to sacred things . ix . that none shall be oblig'd to kneel before the host , except at the communion . x. that the people shall have the liberty of reading the scripture , which shall be read publickly in the churches , and that the service shall be perform'd in the vulgar tongue : that the cup shall be given to the people , and that no other sacrifice shall be own'd , but that upon the cross , that it shall be taught that christians have but one victim which was sacrificed once for all , and that the eucharist is only a sacrifice of commemoration or the representation , which the true christian makes to god of the sacrifice of the cross . xi . that before we be oblig'd to receive auricular confession , all abuses proceeding from it shall be redressed , and those necessary modifications added , which may contribute to the quiet of our consciences . xii . that all fastings and other mortifications shall be look'd upon only as helps to piety , and to preserve us in a state of grace : that all the orders of religious men or women shall be reform'd , particularly the mendicants : and those only shall be preserv'd that are most antient , such as the benedictines , together with the jesuits and fathers of the oratory , all which shall be subject to the inspection and authority of the bishops alone . xiii . that the ministers shall be preserv'd in the state ecclesiastick , and shall have in the church a particular rank ; except only those who have been twice married , who shall be consider'd some other way . xiv . that jesus christ having bestowed on his ministers the power of administring the sacraments gratis , that they shall likewise dispense them gratis , and without selling them as is now practic'd . xv. that the people shall be dispens'd from that great number of holy dayes , which now do burthen them , and shall be oblig'd to celebrate only the mysteries of the nativity and resurrection ; with those of the apostles and saints of the first century . xvi . that the limits which the last assembly of the clergy of france have set to the popes authority shall be inviolable , and that as to the rank he is to have amongst the bishops , he be look'd upon only , as primus inter pares . xvii . that those observations and ceremonies , which are beneath the majesty of the christian religion , and of which there is no foot-steps in antiquity , shall be abolish'd ; such as torches at burials , canonisations , processions , pilgrimages , and the postures of the priests at the altar . xviii . that upon all questions of the merit of good works , and the power of grace , the opinion of st. austin shall be followed , and the exposition of the bishop of meaux . xix . that the gaining of pardons and indulgences shall be reform'd , and that the people shall be instructed as much as possible , that they are to hope for the remission of their sins by the blood of jesus christ . may the lord send down his spirit upon men , that they be all one heart , and one soul , and that we may in our days see this blessed reunion . it is the vows and prayers of all good people of both communions , and to which all ought to contribute according to their talent both by word and writing . amen fiat . signed by dv bovrdiev la coste . and above sixty more . london , printed for randal taylor , 1685. a new letter from london-derry giving a farther account of the late good success, obtain'd by the protestants in ireland, against the french and irish papists: with the speech of that reverend divine, and protestant champion, mr. vvalker, to the soldiers of that garrison, before they made that last great sally upon the enemy. 1689 approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a52931 wing n652 estc r224182 99834533 99834533 39034 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. a52931) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 39034) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1817:14) a new letter from london-derry giving a farther account of the late good success, obtain'd by the protestants in ireland, against the french and irish papists: with the speech of that reverend divine, and protestant champion, mr. vvalker, to the soldiers of that garrison, before they made that last great sally upon the enemy. walker, george, of londonderry. 1 sheet ([2] p) printed by w. downing, london : 1689. printed in two columns. reproduction of the original in the bodleian 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 protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. ireland -history -war of 1689-1691 -early works to 1800. londonderry (northern ireland) -history -early works to 1800. 2004-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion ●ew letter from london-derry : giving a farther account of the late good success , obtain'd by the protestants in ireland , against the french and irish papists : with the speech of that 〈◊〉 divine , and protestant champion , mr. walker , 〈◊〉 soldiers of that garrison , before they made that last great sally upon the enemy . licensed , and enter'd according to order . 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 our last fortunate and truly ●ictorious sally upon the enemy , 〈◊〉 action that must ever resound 〈◊〉 of our valiant and no less pi●●●mander , that truly christian 〈◊〉 , mr. walker our governour , 〈◊〉 little of present moment more to 〈◊〉 , by reason that the 〈◊〉 of the french and irish from 〈◊〉 walls , with the intire ruining 〈◊〉 works , and indeed the whole 〈◊〉 ( which god be praised ) we have 〈◊〉 them , has so disabled them , that 〈◊〉 at present in great quiet and rest , 〈◊〉 all our business now is only our 〈◊〉 preparation for the welcome 〈◊〉 of major general kirk , with his gallant english succours , whose approach is here the subject of vniversal joy within our walls of london-derry , and possibly of as much terrour without them . however , sir , as the glory of that heroick action , and indeed the whole conduct , courage , and gallantry of this small , but formidable town , will remain a lasting and recorded monument to the fame of our valiant leader ; so his generous and noble speech to the soldiers , that not a little contributed to our conquest , by animating that resolution that gain'd it , will be no disacceptable present to you , which i have here sent you , being as faithfully taken , as the hurry at the delivery of it would permit . the speech . gentlemen , and fellow-soldiers , as so extraordinary an occasion has at this time invited me to summon you together , i shall not consult the ordinary methods of ancient or modern gene●●ls , so much to instruct you in all the criticisms 〈◊〉 marshal discipline , as to inflame your hearts to a chearful resolution , and to incourage humility , vigilance , and constancy in your undertakings ; and being by several late proofs , convinc'd of your steady inclinations to live and die for that cause , which by god's signal providence , and our endeavours , we have with advantage hitherto maintain'd , i thought it a double duty incumbent on me , both as your pastor and captain , to lay before you those motives ●hat might at once enlighten your understanding , and excite your perseverance . how far we are obliged by the common principles of nature , and self-preservation , to defend our selves against all manifest and intended injuries against our persons and just interest , i need not here repeat : ( the meanest beast either by flight or resistance demonstrating their fixt aversion to all manner of hurt , and injurious dealing ; ) but when persons that are circumscrib'd , and ought to be protected by the just institution of laws , and the solemnity of oaths , promises , and conditions , are enchroach'd upon , and mark'd out as sacrifices to an arbitrary and unlimited power ; then i say , the laws of nature and of god , do warrant our resistance , and not only our country , but our consciences exact our utmost resolutions . what ? are we christians , protestants , and english-men , and shall we doubt to defend our religion , our country , and our liberties ? see how our numerous foes insult , and laugh , and please themselves with our destruction : hark! how they divide our lands , and cast lots for our proper habitations : mark but their faith to our distressed country-men , and see what usage we are like to trust to ; england was scarce secure , tho' ten to one against them ; can we then trust their power , being now not one to an hundred ; they broke through the sacred tyes that could be m●de by man to them ; and can we hope for faith in their performance ? what , has their new french piety , mixt with their irish punick faith and clemency , encouraged us to wear their well-known easie yoak ? are we so destitute of honest morals , as that we need to be dragoon'd into civility ? no , dear country-men , we know their ways , and are not now to be cajol'd into destruction ; scarce forty years are yet expir'd since we had pregnant proofs of their humanity : some mothers even in this town are living yet that now afresh lament the loss of fathers , husbands , brothers , children , not kill'd in heat of battel or assault , but in cold blood , and upon quarter given . possession of an horse , a cow , a coat , a piece of money , was crime enoug● exact the poor offenders life ; nay , when 〈◊〉 avarice could ask no more , tortures and 〈◊〉 have been apply'd for sport , and infants 〈◊〉 from their lamenting mothers breasts , have 〈◊〉 seen dangling on their cowards swords 〈◊〉 make the brutes diversion : cowards , 〈◊〉 country-men , we well may tearm them , 〈◊〉 they stood an equal combate , ( or 〈◊〉 now our great encouragement ) maintain'd a 〈◊〉 and rightful cause : 't is truth , they boast 〈◊〉 numbers and their strength , but we have 〈◊〉 and justice on our sides : god , that with 〈◊〉 small handful of men , hath baffled all their co●●sels and their force . let us therefore with courage and constan● dear brethren , go on and make answerable 〈◊〉 turns to that peculiar providence that hath hith●●to protected us : let us now raise the glory this little town , and prove it the worthy 〈◊〉 of our great patroness : england will ●●●tainly , and with speed assist us , nor will 〈◊〉 gracious sovereigns forget us , their goodnes● 〈◊〉 well as interest are engaged for us , and they 〈◊〉 soon make us rejoyce in our deliverance ; 〈◊〉 wants as yet are no way desperate , and we 〈◊〉 hitherto rather seen than felt the miseries 〈◊〉 hard seige ; when we think , fit we beat th●● from our walls , and often in our sallysclear 〈◊〉 trenches ; we have look'd their bugbear ge●●ral in the face , and broke their boasted 〈◊〉 into peices ; we have laugh'd at their 〈◊〉 granadoes ; their pretended almighty bombs 〈◊〉 not affright us ; our consciences are clear in 〈◊〉 we do , and the almighty god will to the 〈◊〉 defend us ; keep up your valiant hearts 〈◊〉 dear fellow-soldiers , if you have any 〈◊〉 for your wives , your children , your 〈◊〉 your liberties : but above all , if you have 〈◊〉 hope to enjoy that holy reform'd religion you 〈◊〉 , take courage : 't is for that chiefly we 〈◊〉 hunted and persecuted ; and 't is for that 〈◊〉 we shall , to the last , glory to suffer , and 〈◊〉 in the mean time , to the last drop of blood , ma●●tain and defend . so help us god. at which , all the garrison , wit● loud acclamations , cry'd amen london , printed by w. downing , 1689. 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 . the present state of the vaudois, drawn out of the three letters i. one from mr. cox, their majesties envoy in suitzerland : ii. the second from monsieur de loches, their colonel : iii. the last from monsieur arnaud minister of the vaudois. 1691 approx. 12 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a55724 wing p3276 estc r18511 12349831 ocm 12349831 59948 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. a55724) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 59948) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 875:6) the present state of the vaudois, drawn out of the three letters i. one from mr. cox, their majesties envoy in suitzerland : ii. the second from monsieur de loches, their colonel : iii. the last from monsieur arnaud minister of the vaudois. arnaud, henri, 1641-1721. coxe, thomas. loches, monsieur de. 1 sheet ([2] p.) printed for joseph watts ..., london : 1691. reproduction of original in huntington library. probably issued before william iii obtained a toleration for the waldenses in the spring of 1691. 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 protestants -france. broadsides -england -london -17th century 2006-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-04 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2006-04 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the present state of the vaudois , drawn out of three letters . i. one from mr. cox , their majesties envoy in suitzerland . ii. the second from monsieur de loches , their colonel . iii. the last from monsieur arnaud minister of the vaudois . i. part of a letter of the honourable thomas coxe esquire , his majesty's extraordinary envoy into suitzerland concerning the vaudois , dated at berne the 25th of october , old style , 1690. as for our little army of vaudois , piemontois , and french refugiez , consisting of about 3000 fighting men under colonel des loches , and his two lieutenant colonels , julien & mallet ; notwithstanding that , they have been hitherto divided into three small bodies , at suze , lucerne and brigueras , they have behaved themselves well upon all occasions offered , and particularly at lucerne , where they killed 7 or 800 french , with the loss of 25 or 30 only on their side , and but four or five piemontois of their small number , and took two colours from them which i sent to the king by the messenger that carry'd the treaty , as the first-fruits of their courage in those parts . their encouragement and subsistence is of vast importance to the good cause and the protestant religion , both there and in all these parts of the world ; besides the inexpressible consequence it is of , as a back door , and indeed the only safe and certain inlet into france . oh what glorious things might be done in all europe , and particularly in this , for its freedom and deliverance , and for the honour of the protestant religion , if the parliament would without delay in this extraordinary conjuncture of affairs , assist the king so vigorously and plentifully , as to enable him to finish honourably and successfully those noble and important concerns that lye before him , both at home and abroad , and to the compleating of which , god has call'd him in so wonderful a manner ! we are in great straits what to do about the distressed vaudois families , ( i mean the women , old men , and children among them , for the men that can bear arms are in the vallies ) that are come into these parts before their time , in impatient hopes of returning into their old habitations . they came without order , there being nothing r●●●y for them ; yet in the vallies where all 〈◊〉 houses are burnt and destroyed , and no possibility of sowing corn this year , great numbers of them are like to starve and perish for want of bread , all the collections of all sorts for them in these parts , being totally at an end . it would be a most generous , christian , and seasonable assistance , if we could get another very speedy , though small collection , from england and holland , without which , i see no way to avoid their perishing . monsieur arnaud is come to see his family at neu chastel , and returns speedily into the vallies . he spent two or three days with me here . the whole history of the subsistence , deliverance and victories of these protestants in the vallies , is a continued miracle , and would make a good protestant of a profess'd atheist , if he were not arriv'd to the last and fatal degree of obduration . i have perswaded and finally determined him , as he assures me , to begin speedily , and to finish a second history of the vaudois , and of all the miracles that have attended their whole late state and concerns ; which i desire him may be much more circumstantiated and particular , than that of monsieur leger , his nephew , who is setled a professor at geneva , and was imployed there in the late collection of england and holland for the vaudois . i desir'd monsieur arnaud to consult for some papers , &c. and i hear he is now at geneva for that purpose . ii. part of a letter of monsieur de loches , colonel of the vaudois . a fortnight ago i had notice given me , that the enemy , whose army which was encamp'd near carmagnole , had caused their first line to march , with six pieces of cannon , and that the rest follow'd them close on purpose to exterminate those of the religion , and totally to ruin them in these vallies , and that monsieur catinat and other generals of the french army had publickly made known this their design . i do not in the least doubt of this intelligence , for our troops daily intercepting their convoys , and being a continual plague to the garrison of pignerol , it was likely they would do their utmost to be rid of them . i writ to his royal highness about it , and to some others at turin , who knew very well how few men i had with me , without mony , or provision ; most of them without cloaths , shoos or stockings , and several of them sick : his royal highness did me the honour to answer me by three couriers one after another , that it was true he had been inform'd the enemy had such a design , but that the condition his army was in would not permit him to oppose it ; and therefore i should do well to leave the vallies , and so gain the hills towards cony , 15 or 20 leagues from hence . i must confess that in this occasion i visibly found that god by his providence did watch for our preservation . for notwithstanding the evident dangers i was exposed to , instead of flying , as i was advised , he so strengthned me , that i resolved to stand the enemy . accordingly i did send a detachment of a 130 to the town of barges , three leagues from this place ; where on the third instant , being attackt , they fought so well retreating , that they kill'd many of the enemy , and following the orders which i had given them , they retired to a village called bibiane , that is half a league from hence . there they were joyned by another detachment of 90 men , which i had posted in that place . the next day at 11 in the morning they were attackt by 8 squadrons of horse and dragoons , and as many batalions of foot , the best troops of all the french army , commanded by the marquess de feuquieres lieutenant general . our men made their discharge at them , but when they were very near , got out of the village , and disputed the ground with so much courage , that they stopt the enemy in every post that did any wise favour their retreat , killing several officers and soldiers ; which when i heard , i detached a captain with 50 men to back them , and being inform'd that they gave ground , i sent two several times lieutenants with 20 men to faciliate their retreat : but their obstinacy hindred them from executing my orders , and being got within cannon shot of this town , they gained the hills of roura . then the whole body of the enemy fell upon lucerne , all the inhabitants whereof are papists , and which being dismantell'd , lies open on all sides . by the help of god i stopt the enemy for 3 hours , hindred them from passing over a stone bridg , and forced them to wade through the river , where they lost several officers and soldiers ; but being overpowered by their number , i retired to a hill that commanded this town ; from thence i sent orders to the vaudois , who keep the post of the vallies of st. germain , st. bartholomew , and st. john , to joyn with all speed . the enemy detached their vanguard , which entred the town a quarter of an hour before night , burnt some houses , kill'd 8 or 10 women , some old sick men , and little children who could not get away , having made no greater stay than was necessary for their troops to march off . monsieure de feuquieres made a show as if he would have encamp'd near the town , by making a great number of fires there ; but soon after he caused his men to march towards pignerol without drum or trumpet , and without committing any other act of hostility upon the lands of the protestants , being favoured by a thick fog , and making use but of two lights ; but when they had got half a league off , they lighted above a thousand , and begun to beat their drums . this hasty march broke all the measures i had taken to fall upon his rear the next day , and to pursue the sieur de feuquieres in the same manner as we had done when we came into the vallies . i have lost in all these attacks , a serjeant and three soldiers , and some wounded ; and the sieur de feuquieres , to hide his loss , ordered his dead to be buried in the way , so that we met with graves at every step . i am come back into lucerne , and thank god with all my heart that he has permitted us , with a handful of men , to baffle the most cruel design that ever was formed against these vallies . iii. part of a letter written to a gentleman of note by monsieur arnaud , minister of the vaudois , who in autumn last year , brought the first of them back into the vallies of piemont , from whence they had been totally expell'd , and who was there with them in continual service against an army of 13000 french ; the vaudois having no other captain to command them in all their engagements , till midsummer last . may i beg of you , sir , to continue your charitable offices in the behalf of these poor and distressed vaudois , whereof the greatest part is already in piemont , and the remainder of them in geneva and suitzerland , among the grizons , and at wirtemberg . as for my own particular , i cannot but praise god for the health , which by his blessing i have injoy'd , having not had the least indisposition , notwithstanding the inconceivable fatigues i have suffer'd , with my 367 brave soldiers and good christians : i praise him also for his divine assistance , which has enabled us to resist the devil and 13000 men , both from france and piemont , without any commander , mony , supplies , intelligence , habitations , and without bread : but god who confounds the strongest things by the weakest instruments he makes use of , hath brought our affairs to the pass wherein they are now . pray sir give our friends to understand that our vallies may open to them the surest way to mortifie the common enemy . i am inform'd by letters , that he hath taken suze by composition . there is a mystery in it . our men have surpriz'd and taken chateau daufin . i suppose they will stop there , the season of the year being too far spent . we are about publishing the history of the miracles , which god has wrought in behalf of his children , that all the world may know there is a god in heaven , to raise up his to witness when the time markt out by his providence is come . i implore his heavenly blessing for the preservation of our king , &c. from lucerne the 5th of novemb. 1690. the history of the wars in ireland to this time , in 2 parts , by the honourable ri●●ard cox , esq published by command . london , printed for joseph watts , at the angel in st. paul's church-yard , 1691. the lord inchiquins queries to the protestant clergy of the province of munster, with theyr answer to the said queeres as also sir richard blagues speech, chaireman to the assembly of the confederate catholicks at killkenny, made to his excellence the lord marquis of ormond upon signing of the articles of peace : and his exellencies answer to sr. richard blagues speech. queries to the protestant clergy of the province of munster inchiquin, murrough o'brien, earl of, 1614-1674. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45851 of text r4978 in the english short title catalog (wing i135). 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. 20 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 6 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45851 wing i135 estc r4978 13202352 ocm 13202352 98461 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. a45851) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 98461) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 422:10) the lord inchiquins queries to the protestant clergy of the province of munster, with theyr answer to the said queeres as also sir richard blagues speech, chaireman to the assembly of the confederate catholicks at killkenny, made to his excellence the lord marquis of ormond upon signing of the articles of peace : and his exellencies answer to sr. richard blagues speech. queries to the protestant clergy of the province of munster inchiquin, murrough o'brien, earl of, 1614-1674. blake, richard, sir, d. 1663. ormonde, james butler, duke of, 1610-1688. [3], 11 p. printed by samuell broun ..., hage : 1649. "published by his majesties special command" reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng catholic church -ireland. protestants -ireland. a45851 r4978 (wing i135). civilwar no the lord inchiquins queries to the protestant clergy of the province of munster, with theyr answer to the said queeres. as also sir richard inchiquin, murrough o'brien, earl of 1649 3364 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. 2006-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-09 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-09 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the lord inchiqvins queries to the protestant clergy of the province of munster , with theyr answer to the said queeres . as also sir richard blagues speech chaireman to the assembly of the confederate catholicks at killkenny , made to his excellence the lord marqvis of ormond upon signing of the articles of peace . and his exellencies answer to sr. richard blagues speech . published by his majesties special command . hage : printed by samuell broun english bookeseller , dwelling in the achter-om at the signe of the english printing house . anno m.dc.xlix . the lord inchiqvins queries to the protestant clergie of the province of munster . mr. dean boyle i desire you to propose these severall queries to the clergy , and returne me their cleer and conscientious answer to them . i. whether the clergie , living under the protection of his majesty in this province , do conceive themselves obliged by conscience to give obedience to his commands , and the authority placed under him , for the preservation of the english protestant party here , and the armie under their command ? and whether there be not the same engagement upon them to use their utmost endeavours possible to confirme , and settle all fluctuating persons to the like obedience ? and whether all contrary practises be not blameable ? ii. whether their endeavours thereunto ought not to be shewed by them in their publique ministery ; videlicet their prayers and sermons , which they shall exercize themselves in , at their publique meetings , and assemblyes of the people , and in their other devotions , and discourses also ? iii. whether prayers uttered in these assemblyes , though with pretenses to performe that duty before mentioned , may include in them suppositions scandalous against either the person , right goverment , or pious affections of the king , or his ministers ? and whether any that doe so , may not be rather said to accuse them before god , and men , then any way to assist them in the preservation of the people , or army under their commands , in amity and obedience ? iv. can it be lawfull , or approved in conscience , that the ministers should present to the people the mysteries of state ( if they came to their knowledge ) or to manifest unto them their owne apprehensions ( if not sufficiently understood ? ) and if so by what authority ? to what intent ? or end ? if not , ought they not to keepe themselves within their owne line , preaching faith , and good manners , with obedience to the civill magistrate ? inchiquin . the protestant clergy of munsters answer to the lord inchiquins queres . in obedience to your honors commands wee have taken the queres into our consideration , and unanimously returne this answer . to the first quere . first . wee acknowledge , that wee , who live under the protection of his majesty in this province , are bound , by our duty towards god , and our othes of allegeance , and supremacy , to give obedience to him , as to our leige lord , and supreme governour in all causes , and over all persons , as well ecclesiasticall , as civill . secondly . wee acknowledge , that by the same tye of conscience towards god , & duty towards our soveraigne , wee are bound to obey all lawfull authority placed under him , and over us , and in particular , that which is now established in the hands of the most honorable the lord marques of ormond , lord lieutenant generall of this kingdome : together with that in your lordships management , as lord president of this province , and generall of the protestant forces in these parts , and wee freely professe our selves , not onely bound to obey your honor but likewise to glorifie god on your behalfe , as the happie instrument of the preservation of the remnant of protestants that remaine in these parts , and more especially of our selves , as ( under god , and our soveraigne ) the principle patron , and protector of us in this church ; for which , as wee promise our free & cheerfull obedience , so wee desire to paye our willing devotions to god for you that he would allwaies remember you for good concerning this , and wipe not out the good deeds you have done for the house of god , and for the officers thereof . thirdly . wee confesse it our duty , and shall endeavour the performance of it , to the utmost of our power , to labour , by all meanes possible , to fixe , and confirme all wavering persons in theire due obedience to this authority establisht , as the most probable meanes to preserve the protestant partie , and the army under your honors command . fourthly . wee cannot but acknowledge , that all contrary practises are justly blameable before god & man , and wee utterly disclayme , and disavowe all dictates , and discourses whether by word , or writing , which in any wayes tend to raise up the peoples jealousie of the piety , and good inclination of our governours towards us . to the second quere wee acknowledge it a part of our ministeriall duty , in our publique exercises , to endeavour , from the word of god , to instill the doctrine of obedience to civill magistrates into the breasts of the people , and having planted that doctrine , to water it with our prayers , and weede up contrary opinions by our discourses publique , and private , and this wee conceive the meanes to prevent intestine broyles amongst us , and to stop the effusion of blood , and settle us in a quiet & peaceable life , in all godly conversation and honesty . to the third quere . wee acknowledge wee owe the magistrate the duty of our hearts , and knees ; supplications , and prayers , and intercessions , and giving of thanks is to be made for all men , especially for kings , and all that are in authority ; but as for any scandalous suppositions against theire persons or goverment , wee esteeme them contrary to the method of christian prayers , which teacheth us to lift up holy hands without wrath , and therefore to be avoyded as libells , and rayling accusations , rather then humble supplications and such as are faulty here in ( if any such be amongst us ) wee desire them to rectify theire devotions in this particular . to the fourth quere . wee acknowledge that the cheife and principall subject of ministers in their sermons should be in instructing of the people in the right faith of the gospell , good life and manners , and that theire discourses should noe way intrench upon the civill goverment , or transactions of state businesses , to detract from them , by possessing the people with any scandalous suppositions , which may alienate their affections , and obedience to them , and that they should not communicate any mysteryes of state ( which may be thought fit to be imparted unto them ) without the speciall comand of those which have immediate authority reposed in them . kobert nayler . hilke hussey . bern. packington . edward singe . david bovild . andrew chaplin . rob. shawe . rich. germine . phil. fitz symons . hen. copley . iohn goddard . iohn hall . tho. blackwell . iohn godfrey . sirach gilsland . tho. bennet . rich. burgh . mich. boyles . iohn snary . iames dyer . morgan mundyn . iohn stawell richard boile . iames cox. edward fenner . tho. roberts . rue wight . charles coldwell . beniam hearne lewis frix . edward iohn . anthony procter . tho. hacket . nept . blood . israel taylor . henr. rugge . tho. frith . rob. browne . phil. holmes . florence corty . rob. baily . edward eyres . edmund grayne . sir richard blagves speech chaireman to the assembly of the confederate catholicks at killkenny , made to his excellence the lord lieutenant , upon signing of the articles of peace . may it please your excellence . i am commanded by the prelacie , nobility , and gentrie of the roman catholiques of ireland , now assembled in this citty of kilkenny , to present unto your excellencie theire ardent zeale ( naturally engrafted in theire hearts ) to theire sacred soveraigne king charles his service , unto whom they ever have bin , are , and will be , most faythfull , & loyall subjects ; and in the next place , theire great affection to your excellencie , and the never dying memory they entertaine , and will retayne of your most noble and succesfull endeavours in the joynting , & setting together of the much disordered frame of this kingdome . former cessations , accommodations , and capitulations did but skin over the deepe , & wide wounds that were , and are in the body of it . they received no life or perfection , they abortively perished in the embryo , and vanished into the ayre : but the peace ( that by the great mercy of god , by the influence of his majestye's graces , and by the ministery , and cooperation of your excellencie , is now to be established ) will prove , ( as with joy & confidence wee expect ) a firme , stable , and lasting peace , a peace that will cure these bleeding wounds , search to the very roote , and plucke out all the splinters that remaine of them : a peace that will ( as wee hope , and is the height of our desires , as it shall be of our endeavours ) reinvest his majestie in his just , due , and royall rights , and prerogatives , and will restore this nation to its former luster , plenty , and tranquillity : such a peace as allready ends all our doubts , feares , and jealousies in a mutuall confidence & rejoycing , and will make all the members of this generall assembly ( an assembly , unto which the present and future ages will justly give the glorious name of the peace-making assembly ) after their many distractions , and long continued sufferings , to returne unto theire severall respective countryes , and dwellings , with olive branches ( the emblems of peace ) in theire hands , and the words in theire mouthes that were said of our saviour , when upon his entrance into the citty of naim , he mett with the funeralls of a dead young man , the onely sonne of his following weeping mother , whom ( gratiously compassionating her teares ) he restored from death to life , the words were , and not unaptly to be applyed to our present condition , ecce propheta magnus surrexit in nobis , & quiae deus visitavit plebem suam . most excellent lord , ( whom god allmighty hath preserved , and lead , as it were , by the hand , through a sea of troubles & dangers , to be the happie , & essentiall instrument , to mediate , actuate , and now consummate this great worke , and to make ireland ( like the heavenly ierusalem ) to be a citty at unity with in it selfe , i cannot sufficiently expresse the sence , and joyous exultancie of these most venerable prelats , most honorable lords , most juditious , and gallant gentry , the representative body of the roman catholiques of this kingdome , nor with what fervor and ardor they expect to reape the blessed fruites ( which they have so long sighed for , and did sowe in theire blood & teares ) of this peace , and of your excellencie's goverment of this kingdome , unto which , being derived from his majestie ( who is the spring from which these graces and favours flowe upon them ) they will humbly and heartely pay all due obedience . your excellencie's fast , and tryed fidelity to his majestie , your owne great interest in the kingdome , and the many great parts and talents that god and nature have plentifully endowed you with , giving them assurance , that your goverment will produce effects sutable to theire expectation , and that will answer theire desires . it much transcends my weake abilityes to represent them , theire affections , apprehensions , and hopes , in theire right and lively colours , and therefore i humbly begg , that your excellencie will vouchsafe to give a benigne and favourable interpretation to what , by theire commands , i have endeavoured humbly to offer unto your grave judgement , and consideration , and that your excellencie will be pleased to signe this instrument , the everlasting record , and monument of this blessed peace , as by their commands ( it having bin solemnly and unanimously by them so voted ) i have had the honour , ( a greater honour then my lowe , & humble thoughts ever aspired to ) in their chaire to signe this counterpart thereof , and , in all their names , most humbly to present it to your excellencie . his exellencies answer to s r. richard blagues speech . my lords and gentlemen . i shall not speake to those expressions of duty and loyalty , so eloquently digested into a discourse , by the gentleman appointed by you to deliver your sense , you will presently have in your hands greater and more solid arguments of his majestyes gratious acceptance of them , then i can enumerate , or then perhaps , you your selves discerne , for , besides the provision made against your remotest feares of the severity of certaine lawes , and besides many other freedomes , and bountyes conveighed to you , and your posterity , by these articles . there is a doore , and that a large one , not left , but sett open to give you entrance , by your future meritts , to whatsoever of honour , or other advantage , you can resonably wish , so that you have in present fruition what may abundantly satisfye , and yet there are no bounds set to your hopes , but you are rather invited , or , ( according to a new phrase , but to an old & better purpose ) you seeme to have a call from heaven , to excercise your armes and uttermost fortitude , in the noblest , and justest cause the world hath knowen ; for let all the circumstances , incident to a great & good cause of warr , be examined , and they will be found comprehended in that which you are now called warrantably to defende , religion ; not in the narrow circumscribed definition of it , by this , or that late found out meanes , but christian religion , is our quarrell , which certainly is as much , as fatally struck at ( i may say more ) by the blasphemous lycence of this age , then ever it was by the rudest incursions of the most barbarous and most avowed enemyes to christianity . the venerable lawes , and fundamentall constitutions are trodden under impious , and , for the most , mechanique feete . the sacred person of the king ( the life of those lawes ) under an ignominious imprisonment , and his life threatned to be taken away by the sacrilegious hands of the basest of the people that owe him obedience ; and , to endeare the quarrell to you , the fountaine of all the benefitts you have but now acknowledged , and of what you may further hope for by this peace , & your owne meritts , is now in danger to be obstructed by the execrable murther of the worthjest prince that ever ruld these islands . in short , hell can adde nothing to the desperate mischeife now openly projected . and now judge , if a greater , a more glorious feild was ever sett open to action ; and then prepare yourselves to enter into it , and receive these few advices from one throughly embarqued with you in the adventure . first . lett me recommend unto you , that to this , as to all other holy actions , you would prepare yourselves with perfect charity , a charity that may obliterate whatsoever of rancours a long continued civill warr may have contracted in you agamist any that shall now cooperate with you in so blessed a worke , and lett his engagement with you , ( who ever he is ) be , as it ought to be , a bond of unity , of love , of concord , stronger then the nearest tye of nature . in the next place , marke , and beware of those that shall goe about to renew , or create jealousies in you , under what pretense soever , and accompt such as infernall ministers , imployed to promote the black designe on foote , to subvert monarchy , and to make us all slaves to those that are so to theire owne avaritious lusts . a way assoone , and as much as possibly may be , with those distinctions of nations , and of partyes , which are the feilds where in the seeds of those ranker weeds are sowen by the great enemy of our peace in the last place , lett us all divest ourselves of that preposterous , that ridicilous ambition , and selfe interest , which rather leads to our threatned generall ruine , then to the enjoyment of advantages unseasonably desired . and if at any time you shall thinke yourselves pincht too neare the bone by those taxes , and leavyes that may be imposed for your defense , consider then , how vaine , how foolish a thing it will be , to starve a righteous cause for want of necessary support ; to preserve yourselves fatt and guilded sacrifices to the rapine of a mercilesse enemy . and if wee come thus well prepared to a contention , so just , on our part , god will blesse our endeavours with successe and victory , and will crowne our sufferings with honour , and patience ; for what honour will it not be , ( if god have so determined of us ) to perish with a long glorious monarchy ? and who can wante patience to suffer with opprest princes ? but as our endeavours , so lett our prayer be , vigorous , that they may be delivered from a more unnaturall rebellion then is mentioned by any now raised to the highest pitch of successe against them . i should now say some thing to you for my selfe , in returne to the advantagious mention made of me , & my endeavours to bring this settlement to passe : but i confesse my thoughts were wholy taken up with those much greater concernements ; let it suffice , that as i wish to be continued in your good esteeme and affection , so i shall freely adventure upon any hazard , and esteeme no trouble a difficulty too great to encounter , if i may manifest my zeale to this cause , and discharge some part of the obligations that are upon me to serve this kingdome . finis . a french prophecy, or, an admonition to the english concerning their near approaching danger and the means to escape it : being a prediction of a gentleman of quality in languedoc concerning the downfall of the french king ... to which is added a fuller account of archbishop usher's prophecy ... / translated from the french copy. avis pour les fidelles d'angleterre. english. 1691 approx. 18 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 7 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a40466 wing f2196 estc r34442 14438669 ocm 14438669 102337 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. a40466) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 102337) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1058:14) a french prophecy, or, an admonition to the english concerning their near approaching danger and the means to escape it : being a prediction of a gentleman of quality in languedoc concerning the downfall of the french king ... to which is added a fuller account of archbishop usher's prophecy ... / translated from the french copy. avis pour les fidelles d'angleterre. english. ussher, james, 1581-1656. prediction concerning a coming persecution of protestants. 4 p. printed for j. harris ..., london : 1691. contains a translation of: avis pour les fidelles d'angleterre. french and english in parallel columns. caption title. imprint from colophon. imperfect: pages stained and torn with loss of print. reproduction of original in the bodleian 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 protestants -england -early works to 1800. protestants -france -early works to 1800. great britain -church history -17th century. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-04 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a french prophecy : or , an admonition to the english , concerning their near approaching danger , and the means to escape it . being a prediction of a gentleman of quality in languedoc , concerning the downfall of the french king , and several other things relating to england . to which is added , a fuller account of archbishop vsher's prophecy than has ever yet been printed , ( agreeing with this , ) and attested by the lord chief justice hale , and another person of honour . translated from the french copy . licens'd feb. 25. 1690. the original french of following admonition i received lately in holland of the author , whose name is thereunto subscribed ; a gentleman of an ancient family in languedoc , whose seat is an ancient castle of the same name with himself , about three english miles from montpeilier , with a considerable revenue thereunto belonging . but he was forced to leave it , and all that he had , after two years imprisonment , for his religion . and this is his condition at present . the author of the admonition , which he mentions , was his younger brother , who died near three years since , of about forty eight years of age , a person , as he saith , of great piety and credit , and of extraordinary knowledge of things absent and future . and of him our author received both admonition before-hand of the things here said to have happened to him , and an explication afterward of the mysteries of them , and the signification thereof . he is not without witnesses of the truth of what he relates ; but they are dispersed into several parts , and some of them now in england . it was the author's desire to have it committed to the english as soon as might be , and my good-will to my country , and desire to serve them , inclined me to lend him my assistance therein without much difficulty , both because it doth agree so much with the known prediction of bishop usher , and because the state and course of affairs seem to agree but too much with both , in a manifest tendency to the accomplishment of them . and that the reader may not be so much disturbed , as admonished by it , for his better direction and instruction how to use it , i thought fit to subjoyn the principal part of the bishop's predictions : which i can assure the reader to be no imposture , but true and genuine , from the testimony of two witnesses beyond all exception : the one , the late lord chief justice hale , who , when i shewed it him in writing before ever ▪ it was printed , and desired his judgment of it , told me he had heard him say the substance of it , the substance of it ( repeating those words ) twenty times with a great deal of confidence : the other , a person whom i ought not to name without license , but of great honour by degree , and much greater by real worth and vertue , to whom the words were spoken by the bishop , and who committed them to writing , and was pleased to favour me with the perusal of the original . avis pour les fidelles d'angleterre . il faut être dans un grand aveuglement pour ne s'être pas apperceu , que la colere de dieu paroit alummée depuis long temps presque sur toutes les parties de l'europe , de sorte qu'il semble que dieu vueille comme par un nouveau deluge exterminer toute chair ; puisqu'il n'est que trop uray qu'elle s'est portée á toute sorte d'excess . l'indignation du tout-puissant a commencé á le respandre en particulier presque sur tous ceux , qui portent le nom des protestans . ces raisons devoient nous porter a nous amender & nous corriger de nos vices ; mais le ciel & la terre sont temoins que nous n'avons sçeu qu c'estoit d'affliger nos ames & amender le train de nôtre vie ; c'est aussi pour cela que les jugemens de dieu ( dont nous n'avons tenu conte , lorsque leur decret a tant & tant de fois si epouvantablement enfanté ) se sont tous jours r'enforcées . l'experience nous la fait voir en france , n'ayant pas profité des avis qui nous avoyent ête donnes . il y a plus de vingt ans que je receus une lettre , qui m'apprennoit nos malheurs & me marquoit le moien de les prevenir , qui êtoit d'assembler les intendants pasteurs & anciens de l'eglise & leur dire de faire faire , une jeune de trois jours á la premiere eglise qui feroit attaquée & qu'on en verroit les effets . je negligai cet avis , non sçachant d'ou il venoit . mais environ dix ans apres l'ayant sçeu , & vu arriver bien de choses qui m'avoyent êté marquées , j'en parlay á ces messieurs , qui n'en profitoyent pas : ce qui nous a fait voir de façheuses suittes . il y a en angleterre plusieurs ministres qui estoient presens lorsque je leur vis voir la lettre , qui m'avoit êté envoyée . madam de turene , monsieur de rouvigny , & monsieur gaches ministre de l'eglise de charonton curent les mêmes avis que moy , le synode en eut en suite & l'auteur voyant qu'on n'en profitoit pas m'ecrivoit en ces termes . un vaisseau ogitè d'une rude tempete en piteux êtat . lorsqu'un enfant , n'avant su eveiller les matelots pout sortir les eaux qu'il y voioit entrer , est en-fin obligé de crier ; sauve qui peut . malheur á qui n'aime le seigneur jesus & ne porte tous les jours ce divin crucifié dans son ceur . il y a environ huiet a neuf ans que je receus un coup de foudre de jour ; j'avois été averti de de ce coup trois ans avant qu'il tomba sur moy & par trois diverses fois : ce coup fut suivi environ six semaines apres d'un coup de tonnerre , qui tomba de nuit ( dont même etoit averti . ) je fus obligé de faire eveiller tous ceux , qui estoyent chez moy an lict : nous fusmes au lieu ou je faisois precher ; je faisois lire la parole de dieu , lorsque le tonnere tomba sous mes pieds : le lieu ou nous estions estoit pavé & les rochers au dessous : ou entendoit gronder le tonner sous moy , qui estois ' eloigné d'eux neanmoins , dans le même endroit , aussi fort qui'l a accoutumé de faire ; il y fut assez de tems ; nous ne discontinuasmes pas pourtant la lecture de l'e●●iture sainte . ces fui ent des coups terribles & mystnrieux presages & avantcourreurs des maux pres á fondre sur la france & sur l'angleterre : il y a en angleterre plusieurs personnes qui estoyent ches moy lorsque ces choses se passereat : ils en ignoroyent le mystere , mais je puis bien prouver ce que j'avance . etant en etat de quitter la province ou je faisois mon sejour , il y a environ cinq á six ans , l'auteur des avis , qui a rêcu d'une vie si chretienne qu'on ne luy sçauroit rien imputer & á qui dieu a fait de graces si extraordinaires que je ne pense pas que depuis plusiers siecles on ait oui parler de semblables , me donna un depôt cachete , & me dit le tems que je devois l'ouuir ; il avoit au commencent de cet êcrit . o roy un plus grand roy que toy te commande : songe aut conte que tu dois rendre plutôt que tu ne penses : et a fin , o angleterre si tu te rends complice du crime tu auras part á la peine . l'orage est furieux rempli d'horreur & de carnage , tachez á le prevenir á fin que votre contree soit une contre de paix , une isle fortunée , & un jardpin d eden : c'est le souhait de votre tres obeissant serviteur , saint jean . guettes israel c'est ici le tems de veiller & de prier , c'est le tems de cries á plein gosier & de ne se point epargner , sonnez du cornet en sion , reveillez les peuples endormis , insistez en tems & hors tems , & ditez hardiment á jerusalem , qu'elle fe repente á fin qu'il y ait paix pour elle & non une souddain destruction : car le tonnere a grondé . an admonition to the christians of england . he must be very blind , who perceives not that the wrath of god hath long since been kindled against all parts almost of europe ; so that he seems resolved to destroy all flesh again as it were with a new deluge , since it is but too true , that they have abandon'd themselves to all kind of wickedness . but the indignation of the almighty hath begun to manifest it self more especially against those who are called protestants . and by those means ought we to have been induced to repentance and the reformation of our manners . but heaven and earth are witness , that we have not so much as known , or well considered , what it is to afflict our souls and amend our lives . hence it is that the judgments of god , which we so little regarded , though the decree hath again and again brought forth so terribly , have been daily more and more increasing . this we in france have been made to see by experience , since we neglected the admonitions which were given to us . it is now twenty years and upwards , since i received a letter , which admonished me of our approaching miseries [ in france , ] and the means to prevent them : which were , to call together the governours of our church , and acquaint them that they should appoint a three days fast in that church , which soever should first be attach'd , [ by process by our enemies ; ] and they should see the effects thereof . but i neglected that advice , not knowing whence it came . but abut ten years after , when i understood that , and saw the event of much of that which was foretold , i acquainted those gentlemen with it : but they regarded not what i said . which made the consequence so sad . there are now in england divers ministers , who were present when i shewed the letter which was sent me . the same advice which was given to me , was sent also to madam turone , and to the sieur rouvigny , and to mr. gache minister of charenton , and to the synod of languedock : and when the author , who sent these admonitions , understood that nothing was done thrreupon , be wrote thus to me : very unhappy is that ship , which being shaken in a grievous storm , the mariners will not be roused even by a child to pump out the water , which he sees running in , till he be forced to cry out , every one shift for himself . wo to him who loves not our lord jesus , and doth not carry the divine crucified one daily in his heart . about eight or nine years since a sudden stroke as of thunder struck me down in the day-time ( about eight in the morning ) according to three several warnings thereof given to me three years before . this was followed about six weeks after by a thunder in the night : whereof i had also been admonished . whereupon i called up all who were in bed in my house ; and we went into the room where we used to have prayers , and there read the scriptures . while that was doing it thundered under my feet , though the plate was paved and upon a rock . we all heard the noise of thunder ( directly ) under me ( who was at a distance from them , though all in the same room ) as loud as it used to be in the air , and for some time . yet we left not off our reading the scriptures . those were terrible claps , and mysterious ▪ presages and forerunners of the calamities , which are ready to break out upon the kingdoms of france and england . there are in england several persons who were at my house when these things happened : they understood not the mystery of them : but i am able to prove what i here declare . about five or six years since , when i was to leave the countrey where i dwelt , the author o● these admonitions , ( who lived so christian a lif● as none could blame , and whom god had favoured with such extraordinary graces , as few , i believe in several ages have heard the like , ) deposited with me a sealed paper ; and told me the time when i should open it . in the begitning were these words : o king , ( meaning the french king , ) a greate king than thee commands [ or rules ] thee : consider of the reckoning thou art to make , soone● than thou thinkest . and in the end. o england , if thou make thy self partaker i● the crime , thou shalt take part in the punishment ▪ the storm is violent , full of horror and destruction : endeavour to prevent it , that your countrey may be a countrey of peace , a fortunate island and a garden of eden : which is the hearty desire of your most obedient servant , saint jean postscript . ] you , who are watchmen of israe● this is the time to watch and to pray , this is t●● time to cry aloud and spare not : sound the trump●● in sion ; awaken the sleeping people : be instant season , and out of seasor , and speak boldly to jerusalem , that she repent , that so peace may be unto he● and not sudden destruction ; for the thunder has a●ready begun . archbishop usher's predictions . the year before he died , being asked , wbether he did believe that great persecution of the church of god in england , scotland and ireland , ( of which he had spoken with great confidence many years before in time of great peace ) to be passed , or yet to come ? he said , that it was yet to come , and that he did as confidently expect it , as ever he had done ; adding , that this said persecution would fall upon all the protestant churches of europe . and when it was answered , it might be hoped that it might have been past in these nations , by reason of the devastation and bloodshed which had been in the late civil war : he replied with a very serious and stern look , fool not your self with such hopes ; for i tell you , all you have yet seen , hath been but the beginning of sorrows , to what is yet to come upon the protestant churches of christ : who will e're long fall under a sharper persecution than ever yet has been upon them . and therefore look you be not found in the outward court , but a worshipper in the temple before the altar . for christ will measure all those who profess his name , and call themselves his people ; and the outward worshippers he will leave out to be trodden down by the gentiles . the outward court is the formal christian , whose religion lies in performing the out-side duties of christianity , without having an inward life , and power of faith and love uniting them to christ. and those god will leave to be trodden down and swept away by the gentiles . but the worshippers within the temple and before the altar , are those who do indeed worship god in spirit and in truth , whose souls are made his temple , and he is honoured and adored in the most inward thoughts of their hearts ; and they sacrifice their lusts and vise affections , yea , and their own wills to him . and these god will hide in the hollow of his hand , and under the shadow of his wings . and this shall be one great difference between this last and all the other preceding persecutions : for in the former , the most eminent and spiritual ministers and christians did generally suffer most , and were most violently fallen upon ; but in this last persecution , these shall be preserved by god as a seed to partake of that glory , which shall immediately follow and come upon the church , as soon as this storm shall be over : for as it shall be the sharpest , so it shall be the shortest persecution of them all ; and shall only take away the gross hypocrites and formal profissors ; but the true spiritual believers shall be preserved till the calamity be overpassed . to this i think very pertinent that excellent passage of his to the same person , concerning sanctification , in these words : i must tell you , we do not well understand what sanctification and the new creature are . it is no less than for a man to be brought to an intire resignation of his will to be will of god ; and to live in the offering up of his soul continually in the flames of love , as a whole burnt . offering to christ. and how little are many of those , who profess christianity , experimentally acquainted with this work on their souls ! some circumstances of the persecution aforesaid are mentioned in the printed paper of his predictions , to which i refer the reader . but one there is not mentioned there , or ever by him expresly , that i have heard of , viz. the time. of which yet it may be observed , that he seems in divers discourses to have intimated it so , as it must be now very near , by telling some persons , viz. such as were ancient , that they should not live to see it , and others that they might , that is by course of years , and among others judge hale , who , had he been now living , had been upwards of eighty one . besides , if the same was signified by the thunder under-ground mentioned by mr. st. jean , that seems to agree well with the manner mentioned by the archbishop , of a sudden unexpected massacre . london , printed for j. harris in the poultrey , 1691. a sermon being an incouragement for protestants or a happy prospect of glorious success: with exhortations to be valiant against our enemies, in opposing the bloody principle of papists, and errors of popery, &c. occasionally on the protestants victory over the french and irish papists before london-derry, in raising that desperate siege, a glorious prospect of the protestants happiness, &c. by mr. walker minister, and governor of the city. walker, george, of londonderry. 1689 approx. 22 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 7 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66968 wing w345 estc r219334 99830813 99830813 35267 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. a66968) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35267) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1878:21) a sermon being an incouragement for protestants or a happy prospect of glorious success: with exhortations to be valiant against our enemies, in opposing the bloody principle of papists, and errors of popery, &c. occasionally on the protestants victory over the french and irish papists before london-derry, in raising that desperate siege, a glorious prospect of the protestants happiness, &c. by mr. walker minister, and governor of the city. walker, george, of londonderry. 11, [1] p. printed at london, and re-printed at edinburgh, [[edinburgh] : 1689] caption title. imprint from colophon. copy faded. 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 sermons, english -17th century. protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-05 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-05 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon being an incouragement for protestants , or a happy prospect of glorious success : with exhortations to be valiant against our enemies , in opposing the bloody principles of papists , and errors of popery , &c. occasionally on the protestants victory over the french and irish papists before london-derry , in raising that desperate siege , a glorious prospect of the protestants happiness , &c. by mr. walker minister , and governor of the city . judges vii . xx. the sword of the lord , and of gideon . we may through all the course of holy scripture , plainly behold that when the almighty designed to work 〈◊〉 a deliverance to his people , he made them sensible that it was not so much the arms of flesh , as his immediat power that sav●● them . the israelites at the time that god raised up gideon the son of joash , to be an instrument in his hand of saving them , were oppressed by the midianites and amalekites , a cruel and wastful people that spared no means that force or fraud could invent to vex them , and lay their countrey desolate , to draw them away to idolatry , and the worship o● strange gods , which their fathers had not known ; and least they should seem to attribute the victory to multitudes , and not give the sole glory to the god of battles ; this great captain had an express command , to try first their courage and resolution , and after that proving too many , they were selected at the water-brook , where three hundred only were chosen , and with that small number , the mighty army was overthown , destroyed , broken , and con●ounded at first onset by the breaking of pitchers , and sounding of trumpets , and crying , the sword of the lord , and of gideon , judges 7. 20. let but the lord arise , ( sayes holy david ) and his enemies shall be scattered : ( and again ) god is our refuge and strength , a very present help in trouble : therefore will we not fear though the earth be moved , and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea ; though the waters thereof roar , and be troubled , psas . 46. 1 , 2 , 3. we find that when samaria was besieged , and even famine raged in the city to a degree , that a woman was forced to eat the fru●ts o● her womb , when all visible means failed , and an insulting enemy every day expected to enter the city , and bring it to a final desolation ; that only a no●se being heard in the hills and mountains , raised the siege , and gave abundance of plenty to the besieged , according as the prophet had foretold . and senacheribs host trusting in the arm of flesh , and the multitude of horses and chariots , found themselves insensibly defeated by the revenging sword of the destroying angel , falling dead , by the mighty stroak of an invisible power , whose force they felt , but knew no way to resist , or fly from , till 80000 of them were scatter'd in the cha●ns of death . and upon consideration of these , and the like deliverances , holy david says , to comfort himself , and his people , viz. the lord of hosts is with us , the god of jacob is our refuge ; come , behold the work of the lord , what desolation he hath made in the earth , he maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth , he breaketh the bow , and cutteth the spear in sunder , and burneth the chariot with fire : be still , and know that i am god , i will be exalted amongst the heathen , i will be exalted in the earth . the lord of hosts is with us , the god of jacob is our refuge , psal . 46. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. for although god makes man for the most part the instrument in his hand , the more v●sibly to bring about his purposes ; yet without the operation of almighty power and wisdom , mens devices are brought to nought , for here we find , that when gideon came to behold the camp of the enemy , the midianites , and amalekites , and all the children of the h●st lay along in the valley like grashoppers for multitude , and their camels were without number , as the sand of the sea , judges 7. 12. yet this great army that had so long been the wast●ul terrour of the countrey , was put into such a fear at the cry of the sword of the lord , and gideon , that they were utterly confounded , and knew not what they did ; for as we find it in vers . 21 , 22. of the ●oregoing chapter , viz. and they stood every man in his place round about the camp , and all the host ran , and cryed , and fled , and the three hundred blew the trumpets , and the lord set every mans sword against his fellow , even throughout all the host , and the host fled , &c. by this we may see , it was more through fear and distraction they were broken , than through any slaughter the three hundred israelites were capable of making amongst so great a company of men , david incouraged by god , pursued the amalekites that burnt ziklag , and with four hundred men fell upon those that had taken the spoil , and with four hundred men defeated their great army , recovering what ever had been taken away . barach and deborah defeated jabin's great host , destroying it together with sisera its captain , who fell in jael's tent. sampson with his single arm , routed at sundry times , the powers of the philistines ; so that we see that god confounds strength with weakness , fo● when men presume too much on the arm of flesh , they ●●●quently deceive themselves ▪ and in the m●●st of their security are overthrown : therefore let a good christian consider that his strength is in the lord , and 〈◊〉 god be on his side , he need not be afraid , th●ugh danger beset him round about ; but be comforted , an● ma●e v●liant by the words of the kingly prophet , viz. the lord is my light , and my salvation , whom s●all i fear ▪ the lord is the ●●trength of my life , of whom shall i be afraid ▪ when the wicked , even mine enemies , and my foes came up●n me to eat up my flesh , they s●umbled and fell : thou●h an hos● sh●uld en●amp against me , m● heart shall not fear , though war shall arise again●● me , in this will i be confident , psal . 27. 1 , 2 , 3. this ought to be the confidence , and couragious resolution of every christan , especi●l●y soldiers ▪ who carry their lives in their hands , and are said to live on the brink o● the grave . above all ●n a good cause , and the defence of the sacred truth , when their religion is in danger , and the enemy seeks not to gain a dominion over their bodies , but over their souls , to obscure the light of the gospel , and cloud a k●ngdom in darknesse and ignorance : let them take example by the valiant maccabees , who when they beheld their holy things prophaned and trampled unde● foot by an idolatrous people , their alter po●luted , and their sanctuaries in danger to be defiled ; they took up the sword of gi●eon , and stood more for their religion than for their lives , no● was the sword of the lo●d wanting to give them success over the●r enemies , and to redeem their blee●●ng count●ey from the distraction and desolation it groaned under ; no● may we spare to come nea●er home , and find innumerable insta●ces of god's ra●sing up gideons to save these k 〈…〉 ●●t only from b●●b●●o●● n●t●o●● who 〈◊〉 ●arly 〈◊〉 invaded them ▪ but from a papal tyranny , from plots and conspiracies , that have laboured to make their glory set in ●lood and ruine . henry the eight was raised up to scatter the midianites , and amalekites of rome , whose idol●tries and superstitions had inf●cted our israel , and whose pride and luxury had laid waste their pleasant places , and destroyed the good things of the land : this , i say , is the sword of the lord , and of gideon , for god made this prince an instrument in his hand : this was the lord's doings , and it is marvelous in our eyes ; and in the next place , he raised up a good josia in the person of edward the sixth , and under him , gave us the purity and light of the gospel , in its primitive lustre , brighter than the morning star , and though after the death of this good prince , he witheld his sword , and suffered us to be crushed under the merciless hands of our enemies ; yet the bloody reign of of q. mary once over , wherein our adversaries displayed themselves in their true colours , feasting flames with martyrs precious blood , at such a riotous profuseness , as no barbarous nation had equalled , he heard the groans of his suffering people , and sent us a deliverance , the sword of the l●rd , and ●f gideon , was again on our side , as appeard in the reign of queen elizabeth , who was valiant for the truth , and in spite of all the conspiracies , to raise a rebellion , or bring her to an untimely end , by poyson , daggers , and many pernicious devices ; she stood the gideon , or deborah of our land , and though spain fill'd the seas with floating castles to destroy this flourishing kingdom , yet the almighty by a small number manifestly bared his arm to save us , and ruine those that were too confident in the arm of flesh , not only destroying that huge arm●d● , but routing such forces , as the spaniards sent into ireland , to assist the bloody irish papists , in rebellion against their lawful soveraign , comitting such cruelties as are too tedious here to mention ; and although in the frustration of their plo●s and devices , they might well have perceived the immediat hand of heaven , protecting this great and prosperous queen ; yet so far were they infatuated , or transported with inseperable malice and revenge , that though their attempts cost many of them their lives , yet no sooner was the wise protestant prince king james the first advanced to the throne , but they went to exalt him in a blast to the skies , had not their powder-plot been discovered by the divine hand of providence , who blasted it ; all which well considered , may make us confess with the royal prophet , viz. we have thought of thy loving kindness , o god , in the midst of thy temple , according to thy name , o god , so ●s thy praise unto the ends of the earth ; thy right hand is full of righteousness : let mount sion rejoyce , let the daughter of juda be glad , because of thy judgment , psal . 49. verse 9. 10. 11. and now not without tears of compassion , we cannot but reflect on the popish cruelty in the poor kingdom of ireland ; in the reign of king charles the first , anno 1641. when without any provocation , armed with hellish ●age , and the natural cruelty of a papist , they by inhumane torments , massacred no less than 200000 english protestants , of all ages and sex ; insomuch that the dead bodies not being suffered by the priests to be buried ; created a contagion , and in some measure took revenge on the murtherers ; and what can we think ? but at this day a papist is a papist still , where even the principle of religion instills a kind of fiercenes● and b●rbarity into their nature : nay , if we reflect , what in a few moneths they have done , what better can be expected , if we consider the spoil , plunder , ravagements , and desolations the french and irish in arms have made , regarding neither oaths promises , nor nearness of relation ; with a desire utterly to root the english out of the kingdom , with a further desig● of carrying on their mischievous enterprizes against the pr●testant religion ; in general , it is time for protestants to becom● valiant for the truth , and bold as lyons , not only for the●● religion , but temporal interest ; the preservation of thei● wives and children , from murthers , rapes , and deflowrings , and all manner of violence and wickedness : to stand as bulwarks against the rapid innundation of antichristian tyranny . let us consider that the fowls of the air , and the beasts of the forrest , stand in the defence of their own lives , and the lives of their young ones , with such weapons as nature has afforded them : and shall not men in such a case pluck up their spirits , and redouble their courage , since the almighty has of late been so favourable in giving us , even by miracle , a protestant king and queen to sit upon the throne , and so great a prospect of a through deliverance ; we are here members of the church militant : let us not be ashamed , or afraid of our profession , when maintaining our christian warefare in a good conscience , and a just cause , we make our way to the church which is triumphant , where god shall wipe away all tears from our eyes , and there shall be no more death , neither sorrow nor crying , neither shall there be any more pain , for the former things pass away , revel . 21 , 4. though never so many storms and tempests threaten ; yet a good christian ought not to be dismayed , though in a time , even when danger does beset them : yet it is required , they should humble themselves before their maker , and rely on him , who is able to save to the utmost , all that trust in him : for indeed , sin is that which provokes him to with-hold his mercy , and bring calamities on nations , & kingdoms , it was always well with the seed of jacob , when they clave fast to the rock of their salvation ; but when they grew regardless , he gave them up to the oppressing nations , who grieved his chosen heritage ; for as 't is said psal . 18. ver . 25 , 26 , 27. viz. with the merciful , thou wilt shew thy self merciful ; and with an upright man thou wilt shew thy self upright ; with the pure , thou wilt shew thy self pure ; with the froward , thou wilt shew thy self froward : for thou wilt save the afflicted people , but wilt bring down high looks . niniveh humbling her selt in sackcloath and ashes before the lord , was saved from impendent wrath , when stubborn sodom , and impenitent gom●rah sunk in sulpherous fire ; let us turn then to the lord with our whole hearts , and sing praise unto our deliverer , that our enemies , and all those that seek to hurt us , may fall before us : 't is a good conscience , and an assurance in gods mercy's that makes men valiant ; abraham on this score pursued the kings , ●nd rescued his brother lot , &c. out of their hands : david in this assurance undauntedly marched against the mighty champion of the philistines ; and with inconsiderable weapons , as knowing god saves neither by spear nor shield , no more than by weak means , when he resolves to manifest his power , or intends to save , he overcame the man that had so long defied the armies of israel : for when the great jehovah was d●signed to show his last judgment upon pharach , and his pursuing host in the red sea , and israel cryed cut for fear , they were only commanded to stand still , and see the salvation of the lord , and they even without contributing any help of their own , found themselves not only secured from the danger they feared , and a little before had threatned them , but saw their desire upon their enemies ; the element heard the voice of its creator , and returned with violence to let the stubborn monarch know , that the highest rules in the kingdoms of men , in whose hands are all the kingdoms of the earth , and all the breath of life . there is a sword of the lord , and a sword of man ; against the first there is no prevailing , but the latter is weak , i● the first be wanting : god if he pleases can arm all the elements to fight for his servants , as he did the hail in the time of joshua by which there fell more than by the swords of the israelites ; or inclose his people with fiery camps of armed angels , as he did elisha , when his life was sought for by the assyrians . trust in the lord , and he will be to his servants a wa●l of defence , and a strong tower , a buckler , a shield , and a mighty deliverer ; who has power to do what he please● , in heaven and earth , whose will is fate , and whose decrees are irresistable and irreversable : let us but call upon him sincerely , with a true heart , and unseigned lips , and he will hear us , and deliver us out of all our trouble : let us not then be afraid of their terrour that seek to harm us , but assuredly rest secure in his protection , whose mercies are over all the works of his creation , and he will keep us from the arrows that fly by night , and the shafts , though go abroad by day , the adversary shall have no advantage over us : therefore let us acquit our selves like men , and not faint , or grow weary : let fear fly our breasts , and let us arm our selves with courage in a good cause ; and consider that the god of battels , the lord of hosts is the disposer of all things , and if the lord be with us , who shall be against us , and prosper ? for there is a sword of the lord and a sword of gideon . thus by extraordinary means does the almighty save , when he bares his arm to make his power known to the sons of men ; then happy are all they that trust in him , for they shall never be confounded , their enemies shall come out one way , and flee seven ; the lord shall draw a sword after them , and they shall be scattered , even from heaven shall they be discomfited , and scattered o're the face of the earth , as in judges 3. 2. they fought from heaven , the stars in their courses fought against sisera . if heaven be on our side , in vain is the combination of man , for who is able to stand before that mighty god , whose very looks drieth up the deep , and whose wrath maketh the mountains to melt , before whose majesty job confesseth himself to fail and tremble , like one in a stormy tempest , and that his fear was so great , that he was not able to bear it ; nor ( can his hand be shortened , that he will not save those that stand for his truth ; suce as are valiant for the promotion of god's honour , are said to fight the lords battel ; that is , he owns them to be his souldiers , and he puts power and strength into their hands , as he did into his servant joshua's , when he made the heavenly bodies , contrary to the course of nature , obey a mortal voice , the sun and moon stood still till his people had accomplished their desire upon their enemies , as we find it in joshua 10. 13. and when moses held but up his hand , the israelites prevailed , for there is nothing too hard for the lord , when he designs to bring about his purposes : i called on the lord in my distress ( says holy david ) the lord answered me , and set me in a large place ; the lord is on my side , i will not fear what man can do unto me : the lord taketh my part with them that help me , therefore shall i see my desire upon them that hate me ; it is better to trust in the lord , than to put confidence in princes ; all nations compassed me about , but in the name of the lord will i destroy them , psal . 118 ▪ v. 5 , 6 , 7 8 ▪ 9 , 10. thus we may behold , how a good cause puts life into the soul , and makes the spirit rise to the extreamest height of valour , banishing the image of fear , by a confident assurance of success , makes men bold as lyons , and unwary in their undertakings . this made nehemiah couragious for the house of god , and for his sanctuary , when he caused the very work-men to arm at their labour , having their swords in their hands , even whilst they were building , and repairing the city of jerusalem , to prevent and repel their treacherous enemies , who sought always to surprize and bring them to destruction ; let us take courage then , and faint not , but acquit your selves like men . a protestant prayer for our deliverance from popish enemies , and for future success . o lord god , holy and glorious , in whose hands are all the ends of the earth , thou god of battles , on whom all success and victory depends ; look down upon us thy poor afflicted servants , pardon our sins , and pass by the multitude of our transgressions ; save us , save us , o lord , from the malice and hatred of our implacable enemies , defeat their plots , and confound their devices , and let them know , neither policy , nor the arm of flesh can do any thing against those thou art pleased to take into thy especial care and protection ; give us courage to be valiant for thy revealed truth in the gospel of thy dear son , our ever blessed lord and saviour , and ever defend us from the clouds and mists of popery and error ; give us hearts to fear , and reverence thy holy name , that all our actions and undertakings may redound to thy honour and glory , through jesus christ : to whom with thee , and thy holy spirit , be all power , praise , and dominion , world without end . amen . printed at london , and re-printed at edinburgh , 1689. some considerations about union among protestants, and the preservation of the interest of the protestant religion in this nation owen, john, 1616-1683. 1680 approx. 24 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53728 wing o807a estc r20887 12610788 ocm 12610788 64364 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. a53728) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 64364) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 771:1) some considerations about union among protestants, and the preservation of the interest of the protestant religion in this nation owen, john, 1616-1683. [2], 13 p. printed by t.s., london : 1680. 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 protestants -england. church and state -england. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-07 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion some considerations about union among protestants , and the preservation of the interest of the protestant religion in this nation . london , printed by t.s. an. dom. 1680. some considerations about union among protestants , &c. 1. the prostestant religion , introduced into this nation , by the apostolical way and means of the holiness and laborious preaching of its professors , confirmed with the martyrdom of multitudes of all sorts , being now throughly fixed in the minds of the body of the people , and confirmed unto them by laws and oaths , is become the principal interest of the nation , which cannot be shaken or overthrown , without the ruine of the government , and destruction of the people . nothing therefore less being included in the attempts of the papists , with all their interest in europe , for the reintroducing of their religion amongst us , the nation hath been constantly filled for an hundred years with fears , jealousies , and apprehensions of dangers , to the great disturbance of the government , and disquietment of the subjects ; nor can it be otherwise whil'st they know that there is a pregnant design for their total subversion , together with the ruine of the protestant religion in other places , which would have ensued thereon . but , 2. this religion so received and approved by the people , as the only true way to salvation , ( accompanied with an abhorrency of the superstition , idolatry and heresies of the church of rome , partly on the general account of their own nature , and partly on particular reasons and provocations from the attempts of those that belong unto that church , for the ruine of them and their religion ) and joyntly professed in the same confession of faith , hath been preserved by the means of a faithful laborious ministry , under the care , protection and outward government of the supreme power , as the greatest bullwark of the protestant religion in europe . 3. the only weakness in it , as the interest of the nation , ( before it was infested with novel opinions ) was the differences that have been amongst many of the professors of it , from the very first beginning of the reformation , and which are continued unto this day . 4. these differences though consisting now in many particulars of less moment , arose originally , solely from the constitution of an authoritative national church state. for some would have it to be of one sort namely , episcopal , some of another , namely , presbyterian ; some would have it of a divine original , others of an humane , which must be the judgment of the king and parliament , who know it to be what they have made it , and nothing else ; and some judge it a meer usurpation on the power of the civil government , and the liberties of the people . 5. it is therefore acknowledged that the body of christian people in this nation professing the protestant religion , with a detestation of popery ; having the gospel preached unto them , and the sacraments duely administred , under the rule of the king , are the church of england . but as unto an authoritative national church , consisting solely in the power and interest of the clergy , wherein the people , either as christians , protestants or subjects of the kingdom are not concerned ; such as is at present established , farther enquiry may be made about it . 6. there is a threefold form of such a church , at present contended for . the first is papal , the second episcopal , and the third presbyterian . 7. the first form of an authoritative national church-state amongst us , as in other places , was papal : and the sole use of it here in england , was to embroyl , our kings in their government , to oppress the people in their souls , bodies , and estates , and to fell us all , as branded slaves , unto rome . these things have been sufficiently manifested . but in other places especially in germany , whil'st otherwise they were all of one religion , in doctrine and worship , all conform to the church of rome ; yet in bloody contests meerly about this authoritative church state , many emperours were ruined , and an hundred set battels fought in the field . 8. at the reformation this church state , was accommodated , ( as was supposed ) unto the interest of the nation , to obviate the evils suffered from it , under the other form , and render it of use unto the religion established . yet experience manifests that , partly from its constitution , partly from the inclinations of them by whom it is managed , other evils have accompanied or followed it , which until they are removed , the weakness of the protestant interest through mutual divisions , will remain among us . and among others , they are these . 1. an encroachment on the civil rights and government of the nation , in the courts and jurisdictions pretended to belong or to be annexed unto this church state over the persons , goods , and liberties of the subiects , ( yea in some cases their lives . ) it is the undoubted right and liberty of the people of this nation , that no actual jurisdiction should be exercised over their persons , estates , or liberties , in a way collateral unto , and independent on the publicks administration of justice unto all , derived from the sovereign power , and executed by known officers , rules and orders , according unto the laws of the realm . if this be taken from them , all other pretences of securing the liberty and property of the subjects , are of no advantage unto them . for whil'st they have justice in legal publick courts , duely administred unto them , they may be oppressed and ruined ( as many are so every day ) by this pretended collateral irregular power and jurisdiction over their persons , good and liberties ; from which it seems to be the duty of the parliament to deliver them . and it is the right of the kings of this nation , that no external power over the subjects be exercised but in their name , by vertue of their commission , to be granted and executed according unto the laws of the land. this right of kings , and this liberty of subjects also , are so sacred , as that they ought not to be entrenched on by any pretence of church or religion . for what is of god's own appointment will touch neither of them . but the administration of this jurisdiction as it is exercised with a side wind power , distinct , different from and in some things contrary unto the publick justice of the nation , ( wherein all the subjects have an equal interest ) and by the rules of a law forraign unto that of the kingdom , is a great cause of the continuation of divisions among protestants , unto the weakning of the interest of religion itself . 2 it is accompanied with the prosecution and troubling of peaceable subjects , in their liberties and estates ; not for any error in the christian faith , not for any declension from the protestant religion or compliance with popery , not for any immoralities , but meerly and solely for their non-compliance with , and submission unto those things which are supposed necessary for the preservation of their church state , which is of itself altogether unnecessary . for the whole complex of the imposed conformity in canonical obedience , ceremonies , rites and modes of worship , hath no other end but the sustentation and preservation thereof ; being things otherwise , that belong not to christian religion . this began , this will perpetuate our divisions , which will not be healed whil'st it is continued . and whil'st the two parties of papists and protestants , are at this day contending as it were for life , soul , and being , ( the long continued design of the former , under various pretences , and by great variety of attempts , being come unto its fatal tryal , as unto its issue : ) it will not be thought meet by wise men , whose entire interest in religion and the liberties of the nation are concerned , in this contest to continue the body of protestants in divisions , with mutual animosities , and the distrust of multitudes , on such unnecessary occasions . 3. whereas by vertue of this state and constitution , sundry persons are interested in honours , dignities , power and wealth , in all which they have an immediate , ( and not meerly legal ) dependance on the king , since their separation from the pope ; they have constantly made it their business to promote absolute monarchical power , without respect unto the true constitution of the government of this nation , which in sundry instances hath been disadvantageous to kings themselves , as well as an incumbrance to the people in parliament . for although their constitution doth really entrench upon the kings legal power , in the administration of their jurisdiction , yet to secure their own interests , and to make a seeming compensation for that encroachment , many of them have contended for that absolute power in the king , which he never owned , nor assumed unto himself . 9. the evils and inconveniencies of this constitution , of an authoritative national church state , have been greatly encreased and propagated in this nation , as unto the heightening of divisions among protestants , by the endeavours that have been to confirm and continue this state in an extraordinary way ; such were the oath called , &c. and the late oath at oxford , whereon many ●ober peaceable protestant ministers have been troubled , and some utterly ruined ; which hath much provoked the indignation of the people , against those who occasioned that law , and for whose sake it was enacted ; and encreased the suspition that those who manage these things , would have men believe , that their state and rule , is as sacred as the crown , or religion itself , unto the great disparagement of them both ; which things are effectual engines to expell all peace and union among protestants . 10 ▪ those who are for the presbyterian form of an authoritative national church state , do indeed cut off , and cast away most of those things which are the matter of contest between the present dissenting parties , and so make a nearer approach towards a firm union among all protestants than the other do ; yet such an authoritative church state in that form , is neither proper for , nor possible unto this nation , nor consistent with that preheminence of the crown , that liberty of the subjects , and freedom of the consciences of christians , which are their due . but this being not much among us pretended unto , it need not further be spoken of . 11. it is evident therefore that whil'st the evils enumerated , are not separated from the present authoritative national church constitution , but the powers of it are put in execution , and the ends of it pursued , it is altogether vain to expect peace and union among protestants in england ; it neither hath been so , nor ever will be so , fire and faggot will not be able to effect it . who shall reconcile the endless differences that are , and have been about the power , courts , and jurisdictions of this church state , whether they be agreeable unto the laws of the land , and liberty of the subjects . the fixed judgement of many that they have no legal authority at present , nor any power given them by the law of the land , whereon they dare not submit unto them , is no less chargeable , dangerous and pernicious unto them , than are their uncouth vexations and illegal proceedings unto them who are unwillingly forced to submit unto them . and whatever may be expected , the people of this nation will never be contented that their persons , goods , or liberties , shall be made subject unto any law , but the publick royal law of the kingdom administred in legal courts of justice . who shall undertake that all christians or protestants in this nation shall ever submit their consciences and practices , to a multitude of impositions no way warranted in the scriptures ? or how any of the other evils that are the causes of all our divisions shall be removed , cannot easily be declared . 12. if it shall be said that if this authoritative national church state should be removed , and no other of another form , set up in the room of it ; or be divested of the powers claimed at present by it , it will be impossible to preserve the protestant religion amongst us , to keep uniformity in the profession of it , and agreement amongst its professors ; it is answered , ( 1 ) nothing ought to be removed but what is a real cause , or unnecessary occasion at least , of all the difformity and disorder that is amongst us , and is likely so to continue ▪ ( 2 ) that whil'st we have a protestant king , and a protestant parliament , protestant magistrates and protestant ministers , with the due care of the nation that they may so continue , and a protestant confession of faith duely adhered unto , i shall not , under the blessing of the holy providence , fear the preservation of the protestant religion and interest in england , without any recourse unto such a church power , as fills all with divisions . this i say is that church of england which is the principal bullwark of the protestant religion and interest in europe ; namely , a protestant king , a protestant parliament , protestant magistrates , protestant ministers , a protestant confession of faith established by law , with the cordial agreement of the body of the people in all these things ; esteeming the protestant religion and its profession their chief interest in this world . to suppose that a few men , having obtained honours , dignities , and revenues unto themselves , exercising a power and authority ( highly questionable whether legal or no ) unto their own advantage , oppressive unto the people , and by all means perpetuating differences among protestants , are that church of england , which is justly esteemed the bullwark of the protestant religion , is an high and palpable mistake . the church of england as unto its national interest in the preservation of the protestant religion , is not only separable from it , but weakned by it . yea , if there be such a national constitution , as in its own nature , and by the secular advantages which it supplies men withal , enclines them to prefer their own interest above that of the protestant religion in general , it will always endanger that religion in any nation . for hereon they will judge when they are pressed , on any occasion or circumstance of affairs , that it is better to preserve their own interest , by vertue of some dispensations securing unto them their power and secular advantages , than to venture all by a rigid contest for the protestant religion . nor is it morally possible that ever popery should return into this , or any other nation , but under the conduct of such a church constitution ; without this it hath no prevalent engine , but meer force , war and oppression . but if the interest of popery can possess this church-state , either by the inclinations of them or the greater number of them , who have the management of it , or by their dependance , as unto their interest , on the supream authority , if that happen in any age to give countenance thereunto , the whole nation will quickly be insensibly influenced , and betrayed into popery as it were , they know not how . hence have been such national conversions to and fro in england , as have been in no other places or countries in the world. for the care of the publicks preservation of religion , being , as it is supposed , entrusted in this church-state and the managers of it , if by any means it be possessed by popery , or influenced by a popish prince , the religion of the whole nation will be lost immediately . for as unto all other ministers who have the immediate guidance of the people they will suppose that they can do nothing of themselves in this mattter . but are only obliged unto the conduct of the church-state itself . and having their station therein alone , and depending thereon , they may easily be either seduced by their interest , or excluded from their duty by the power of that church state whereunto they are subject . by this means the whole interest of the protestant religion in this nation as unto its preservation ▪ depends on such a state as being the concernment of a few , and those such as have an especial interest of their own , distinct from that of the protestant religion in general , may be easily possessed by popery , and probably would be so , if they should have a popish prince to influence them . but whereas the people are now possessed and fully persuaded of the truth of protestant religion , if there be no publick machine or engines insensibly to turn about the whole body of them , but they must be dealt withal individually or parochially , it will , as was said , be morally impossible , that ever popery should become the religion of this nation , any other way , but by the destruction or killing of the present inhabitants . allow that the church-state supposed , may in those who have the trust , and power of it , be seduced , corrupted , or any way induced or disposed unto the interest of popery , as it may be ; it is possible some individual persons may be found , that for the sake of truth , will expose their lives to the stake or otherwise . so did many in the days of queen mary , though now esteemed by not a few , foolish zealots for their pains . but the body of the people through their various legal relations unto this church-state , deserting the care of their own preservation , by their trust in the conduct thereof , whereunto they are unavoidably compelled , will quickly be inveagled so as not to be able to extricate themselves . but set them at liberty , so as that every parliament , every magistrate , every minister , every good christian , may judge that that the preservation of their religion is their own duty in all their capacities , and popery with all its arts will know neither how to begin , nor how to proceed with them . if then there were no such church state as being in the management of a few , is seduceable , and not difficult to be possessed by the interest of popery , whereby the whole nation would be at once betrayed ; the protestant religion is now so firmly seated in the minds of the people , so countenanced by law , so esteemed by all to be the principal interest of the nation , that the wit of all the jesuits of the world , knows not how to attaque it , much less endanger it ; which if there be need , shall be further demonstrated . 13. nor is it a matter of art or difficulty to declare a way for the security of the protestant religion , with the rights of the government , and liberties of the subjects , with the due freedom of conscience , without any such church-state ; but it is what the principles of religion , common prudence , and the honest interest of the nation do direct unto ; as to instance in the things that are most material unto that end . 1. let a solemn renunciation of popery , suited unto the general principles of the protestant religion , be established by law , to be made publickly by every person , that is to partake of the rights and priviledges already confirmed unto that religion , or which afterwards shall be so ; to be renewed as occasion shall require . 2. let there be one solemn stated confession of the christian protestant faith , such as is the doctrine of the articles of the church of england , especially as explained in the publick authorized writings of the church in the days of queen elizabeth and king james , before the inroad of novel opinions among us ; to be subscribed by all enjoying a publick ministry 3. let the magistrate assume unto himself the exercise of his just power , in the preservation of the publick peace in all instances ; in the encouragement and protection of the professors of the protestant religion ; in securing unto all men their legal rights , already granted unto them , in their several places and stations , in the punishment of all crimes cognoscible by humane judgement ; in deposing of men from their enjoyments or priviledges , which they hold on any condition , as suppose their orthodox profession of the protestant religion , if they fail in , or fall from the performance of it ; leaving only things purely spiritual and evangelical to the care and power of the churches , and all litigious causes of what sort soever , with the infliction of all outward penalties , unto the determination of the laws , of the land , and a great progress will be made towards order and peace amongst us . 4. yea these few things in general are only needful thereunto ; ( 1 ) let the king and parliament secure the protestant religion as it is the publick interest of the nation against all attempts of the papacy for its destruction , with proper laws , and their due execution . ( 2 ) let the wisdom and power of the nation in the supream and subordinate magistrates be exerted , in the rule of all persons and causes , civil and criminal , by one and the same law of the land , in a complyance wherewith the allegiance of the subject unto the king doth consist ; without which , government will never be well fixed on its proper and immoveable basis. ( 3 ) that provision be made for the sedulous preaching of the gospel in all parts and places of the land , or all parochial churches , the care whereof is incumbent on the magistrates . ( 4 ) let the church be protected in the exercise of its spiritual power , by spiritual means only , as preaching of the word , administration of the sacraments , and the like ; whatever is farther pretended , as necessary unto any of the ends of true religion or its preservation in the nation , is but a cover for the negligence , idleness , and insufficiency of some of the clergy , who would have a● outward apearance of effecting that by external force , which themselves by diligent prayer , sedulous preaching of the word , and an exemplary conversation , ought to labour for in the hearts of men. 5. it is evident that hereon all causes of jealousies , animosities and strifes among the protestants would be taken away ; all complaints of oppression by courts and jurisdictions , not owned by the people , be prevented ; all encroachments on the consciences of men , ( which are and will be an endless and irreconcileable cause of difference among us ) be obviated ; all ability to controul or disturb the power and priviledge of kings in their persons or rule ; and all temptations to exalt their power in absoluteness above the law , will be removed ; so as that by the blessing of god , peace and love may be preserved among all true protestants . and if there do ensue hereon some variety in outward rites and observations , as there was in all the primitive churches , who pleaded that the unity of faith was commended and not at all impeached by such varieties ; yet whil'st the same doctrine of truth is preached in all places , the same sacraments only administred , wherein every protestant subject of the nation , will be at liberty to joyn in protestant christian worship , and to partake of all church ordinances , in the outward way and according unto the outward rites of his own choosing , without the authoritative examination or prohibition of any pretended church power , but what in his own judgement he doth embrace , no inconvenience will follow hereon , unless it be judged such , that the protestant roligion , the liberty of the subjects , and the due freedom of the consciences of men sober and peaceable , will be all preserved . finis . the way to peace amongst all protestants: being a letter of reconciliation sent by bp. ridley to bp. hooper, with some observations upon it. licensed, july the 14. 1688. johnson, samuel, 1649-1703. 1688 approx. 30 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 6 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a67882 wing j847a estc r3678 99834882 99834882 39499 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. a67882) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 39499) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 508:28, 1761:9) the way to peace amongst all protestants: being a letter of reconciliation sent by bp. ridley to bp. hooper, with some observations upon it. licensed, july the 14. 1688. johnson, samuel, 1649-1703. ridley, nicholas, 1500?-1555. hooper, john, d. 1555. [4], 8p. printed for richard baldwin, london : 1688. the bulk of the text is by samuel johnson. sometimes also attributed to nicholas ridley. with a final advertisement leaf. identified as wing r1453 on umi microfilm (early english books, 1641-1700) reel 508. reproductions 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 protestants -early works to 1800. peace -early works to 1800. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the way to peace amongst all protestants : being a letter of reconciliation sent by bp. ridley to bp. hooper . with some observations upon it . licensed , july the 14 1688. london : printed for richard baldwin , 1688. books lately printed for rich. baldwin . pvrgatory prov'd by miracles : collected out of roman-catholick authors . with some remarkable histories relating to british , english , and irish saints . with a preface concerning the miracles . 6 d. the tryal of philip stansfield , son to sir iames stansfield of new-milns , for the murther of his father , and other crimes libell'd against him , feb. 7. 1688. 1 s. the revolter ; a tragi-comedy : acted between the hind and panther , and religio laici , &c. 6 d. an historical relation of several great and learned romanists who did embrace the protestant religion , with the reasons of ●heir change , delivered in their own words , collected chiefly from the most eminent historians of the roman persuasion : to which is added , a catalogue of several great persons of the roman catholick religion who hath all along oppos'ed the tenents of the church of rome . 6 d. a seasonable discourse , shewing the unreasonableness and mischiefs of impositions in matters of religion , recommended to serious consideration . by andrew marvell esq late member of parliament . 6 d. reflections upon the new test , and the reply thereto with a letter of sir francis walsingham's , concerning the penal laws made in the reign of queen elizabeth . 3 d. a letter of advice to a young lady , being motives and directions to establish her in the protestant religion : written by a person of honour , and made publick for the use of that sex. 3 d. a seasonable collection of plain texts of scripture ( in words at length , against several points in the romish religion ) for the use of english protestants : 2 d. they may be able to do good to many . farewell in the lord my most dear brother , and if there be any more in prison with you for christ's cause , i beseech you , as you may , salute them in my name . to whose prayers i do most humbly and heartily commend my self and my fellow prisoners and captives in the lord , and yet once again and for ever in christ my most dear brother farewell . n. ridley . some observations upon the foregoing letter . there cannot be a more blessed work than to reconcile protestants with protestants . and a man would think it should be one of the easiest , because we are able to say to them as moses did to the two contending israelites , sirs , ye are brethren , why do ye wrong one to another ? the meekest man in all the earth took another course with the egyptian ; but as for brethren , he endeavoured all he could to set them at one again . this is the only design of this paper in laying before you the example of two protestant bishops , who wisely found out the way to put an happy period to their unhappy differences : which are the very same as have been since taken up by protestants again , af●er those two good men had laid them down . in the struglings of ridley and hooper there were two nations strugling in the womb , the two great parties of the conformists and nonconformists : for those two persons differed about the self-same matters as we do now ; the establish'd ceremonies , the dress of religion , certain by-matters and circumstances of religion , which hooper the nonconformist could not comply with , and ridley the conformist , because they were according to law , insisted upon and would not abate . so that in their old differences , we find exactly our present distemper : and therefore in their cure , why should we not also find our own remedy ? it is an approved remedy ; it cured men who thought one another superstitious and imposing on one side , and stubborn and intolerably willful on the other side , and yet they came afterwards to believe one another to be , as they really were , upright men on both sides . we have the receipt in these few , but very weighty words . but now my dear brother , forasmuch as i understand by your works , which i have but superficially seen , that we throughly agree and wholly consent together in those things which are the grounds and substantial points of our religion , against the which the world so furiously rageth in these our days , howsoever in time past in certain by-matters and circumstances of religion , your wisdom and my simplicity , i grant , hath a little jarred , each of us following the abundance of his own sense and iudgment : now i say , b● you assured , that even with my whole heart ( god is my witness ) in the bowels of christ , i love you in the truth , and for the truths-sake , which abideth in us , and as i am perswaded , shall by the grace of god , abide in us evermore . 1. the first consideration which arises from these words , is this , that the agreement there is amongst protestants in the main matters of religion , should drown and extinguish all lesser differences . the substance of religion which we all hold ought in reason to have more power to unite us , than all the by-matters and circumstances in the world to divide us . we have all but one rule of faith and life , one standard of religious worship and practice , which is one and the same english bible ; and why should we not then all be of one heart and one soul ? we all believe that there is one god , in opposition to polytheism . we believe that this god is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth , in contradiction to idolatry ; without absurdly changing the glory of the incorruptible god into the similitude of a corruptible man , or worshipping our maker in form of bread. we all believe in the father , son , and holy ghost , in whose names we are baptized . we are all taught of god to hope for everlasting happiness through the merits of our only redeemer , mediatour , and advocate iesus christ the righteous , who is the author of eternal salvation to all those that obey him . we are all assured by many infallible proofs , that he is gone to heaven , to prepare a place for all his true disciples and followers ; and that the heavens must contain him till the r●stitution of all things : and that therefore he is not in any tabernacles or boxes here below . we all know assuredly , that in every nation he that feareth god and worketh righteousness , is accepted of him ; and that the church of god is not now limited or confined to the iewish , or to any other nation , but is truly catholick and universal . we all believe the two future states of heaven and hell , for the just and for the unjust ; and neither our books nor we know of any other , nor indeed of any other sorts of men ; nor do any of us believe one word concerning the profitableness of singing for a soul. in a word , since we are so unanimous in these and many other the most important truths , shall we fall out about ceremonies , about postures and gestures , about the hatt and the knee , about dignifiing and distinguishing titles , about garbs or garments , about modes and fashions , and things which are very far from the heart , and many removes from the essence of religion ; nay things which are shadows and meer nothings when compared with the substantial matters , wherein we are agreed ? nay further , i am bold to say we are all agreed in these inferiour matters of difference , and do not know it : for instance , we are all agreed , that kneeling at the sacrament is no part of our saviour's institution ; that kneeling at the most solemn prayer that can be , is a fitting posture ; that kneeling to the sacrament in imitation of or compliance with the popish worship of the host , is absolutely unlawful : and yet we squabble , and will not hear one another out , nor understand one anothers meanings ; but scuffle in the dark , when we are all friends , and all of a side . in short , all the distance that is betwixt english protestants , is occasioned by little mistakes and misapprehensions about very little matters , and still they are so much of one mind even as to the matters in difference , that if the conformists thought the ceremonies popish , they would immediately turn nonconformists ; and if the nonconformists did not app●ehend them to be popish , they would never have scrupled them . so that they both of them plainly mean the same thing . hooper scrupled the ceremonies under the notion of popish ceremonies , and under the same notion ridley would have hated and rejected them . ridley and the other bishops said in defence of these ceremonies , that they were small matters , and that the fault was in the abuse of the things and not in the things themselves , and that hooper ought not to be so stubborn in so light a matter , and that his willfulness therein was not to be suffered . and would not hooper himself have passed the same censure upon his own refusal , if he had had just the same thoughts and opinion of the ceremonies ? but he thought , that a thing in it self indiffe●ent , but having been abused to superstitious purposes , could never after be lookt upon as indiff●rent and innocent ; but it must of necessity pass under that notion which common and corrupt usage had put upon it , and that it was spoyled and had utterly lost its former indifferency . for which reason these rites and ceremonies were offensive to his conscience , as the king 's grant of dispensation to him , by the advice of the privy council , expresses it ; but cranmer and ridley and the other bishops were so far determined by the laws , that the king's dispensation , granted to hooper upon that occasion , did not take place . nor indeed was it in their power to admit of it . for being these ceremonies were enacted by law , and fastened to the freehold , and made part of the establishment by the universal consent of the nation , nothing but the same consent could take them away again . now therefore the nicety of the difference betwixt them lay in this , whether ceremonies which were once indifferent and had been abused , might be so purged and freed from those abuses , as to become indifferent and fit to be used again . and this is a matter so hard to be decided , that it must be weighed in gold scales , where the very least moment , or even a man's breath on the one side or the other , is sufficient to incline the ballance . for it is with indifferent ceremonies and usages , as it is with words that are indifferent . the word ballad was once an innocent and inoffensive word , and signified as the word song now does ; but the word has been abused and applied to the meanest and most rascally sort of poetry , and has for a long time been taken in the worser sense . suppose therefore that some men desirous to speak as their fore-fathers did , who called the book of canticles the ballad of ballads , as reverently as we now call it the song of songs , should say , that if authority require that this word be used in its first and best sense , why then we may very lawfully and reverently use it in that sense again : because though the word has been abused and ill applied , yet the fault is in the abuse of the word , and not in the word it self . and further , that no man ought to refuse to read that book upon this trifling account , because he dislikes the title of it : especially when a publick law has declared , that the self-same is meant by this title , as if the dissenter had had the wording of it himself to his own mind , and had called it the hymn of hymns . this is the substance of what cranmer and ridley said . on the other hand , hooper's opinion in this supposed case was , that though our fore-fathers had used that word very religiously and reverently , yet it had since been so corrupted and abused , and had contracted so profane a signification , as no authority could wholly deface , nor could so inoffensively resto●e the word to be used in religious matters any more , but that sober men would always hav● a prejudice against it . this was hooper's very sense . he looked upon the reformed ceremonies as still retaining a popish tang. but tho a law could not cure his prejudices , yet that , and the higher considerations of doing service in the church of god , did quite over-rule them : and he wisely complied with those ceremonies , which if he had been left to his choice he would rather have forborn . obj. but now it may here be objected and said , that when the clergy of the church of england saw that good men and great men , and the glorious martyrs of jesus christ , such as hooper was , were offended with these ceremonies , they should have used their utmost endeavours to have gotten them discharged by law as they were imposed by law , and not have left them to remain as a standing offence , and a perpetual stumbling-block , to all others of hooper's mind . answ. this i confess would be an objection very much to the prejudice of the church of england , could it not be truly said , that the clergy did heartily endeavour to procure this ease to scrupulous consciences , though without success . for all the eminent bishops of england in queen elizabeth's time , sandys , iewel , horn , grindall , &c. nay dr. cox himself bishop of ely , who was the unhappy occasion of all the troubles at franckfort , did all of them labour in this point , and could not prevail with the queen to consent to it : as appears by a heap of their letters , written to bullinger at zurick , which is still extant . which being the remains of those great men , and so noble a monument of the church of england's moderation , is very well worth the going thither to see it . but to conclude , make your best and your worst of ceremonies , they are in ridle●'s words , but circumstances and by-matters ; they are of as little concern to religion as those meats which occasioned differences in the apostles times ; and they will not bear the charges of falling out about them , either on the one side or on the other . 2. especially in the second place , when protestants have somewhat else to do : or as ridley's words are , when the world so furiously rageth against the grounds and substantial points of our religion , in these our days . is it a time for us to trouble our heads with trivial matters , when the sum and substance of our religion is in danger , and lies at stake ? for have we not lately seen the papists laying the axe to the root of the tree , and the weekly representer in particular for several weeks successively ridiculing and making sport with our bible , which is the whole religion of protestants ? does he not say that we have as many bibles as heads , that is to say , that the bible it self , without their infallible blind guides to interpret it , is wholly useless to us , and every man may as well frame a several religion of his own head , without any bible at all ? truly if it be so useless and so mischievous a book as that author has represented it , it is not enough to put a stop to the printing of it , but it ought also to be prohibited . do they not daily make scandalous attempts and efforts against the trinity of divine persons , father , son , and holy ghost , in whose names we are baptized ; only because we will not also believe in a breaden god almighty ? in a word , do they not endeavour to wrest all scripture out of our hands , because we will not receive their false and forged traditions with the same reverenc● ? our present business therefore is to lay a dead hold upon our bibles , and to maintain the grounds and substantial points of our religion , and to suffer circumstances and by-matters to take their chance . nay , we ought to be in a readiness to compound for our bibles , and rather to throw all ceremonies over-board with our own hands , than to endanger the protestant religion which is infinitely more valuable . and though i know not of any one ceremony injoyned in the church of england , which is not both lawful and primitive , and of an elder date than popery ; yet because the slovenly papists have spit in them , and by corrupting and abusing them have endeavoured to make them their own , i hope the wisedom of the nation may hereafter suffer them to be so ; especially since all wise protestants know very well , that we can live without them . and we ought the rather to be of this mind , because 3. in the third place , we see to what terms of abatement and accommodation that blessed martyr ridley has descended in these following words . howsoever in time past in certain by-matters and circumstances of religion your wisdom and my simplicity i grant hath a little jarred , each of us following the abundance of his own sense and iudgement . ridley had sincerely followed his own great judgement in this dispute ; but because that judgement had jarred with the sense of as hearty a protestant as himself , therefore you see how he undervalues and disparages it . we take it for granted that hooper was in the wrong and ridley was in the right , especially because a law had interposed in that behalf ; and yet here it seems , that the two contending parties were hooper's wisdom and ridley's simplicity . a little of these good mens inward humility , self-denial , and mutual condescension would heal our breaches and compose our differences much better , than the most strict outward uniformity could . for as the levelling project , to make all mens estates equal , was only a project for a day , for on the morrow all their estates would have been unequal again ; whereas contentment is that standing leveller , which makes every man always as rich as another : in like manner a perfect uniformity in these circumstances and by-matters , if it were possible to be attained , would not last long ; because , as our church in the preface to the common-prayer has wisely observed , rites and ceremonies are in their own nature alterable and changeable according to the variety of times and occasions , whereby they are expedient at one time and inexpedient at another , for which reason even the same persons , and those the most constant & the farthest from newfangledness , cannot be always alike satisfied with them , much more they will be sure to be liked and disliked by several persons according to their several apprehensions , who must needs differ about them ; but on the other hand , a mutual forbearance , allowance , and condescension in these by-matters , would supply the place of a perfect uniformity to the worlds end . i must confess , that ridley says these diminishing things of himself in the absence of the law , and after those statutes which enacted these ceremonies were repealed , and swallowed up by popery : for which cause it cannot be expected , that the church of england-clergy should make such condescensions at this time as ridley did , and acknowledge their simplicity in adhering to the laws . for laws while they are in being have as much reverence due to them , as is owing to the wisdom of the whole community by which they were made , and nothing else but our preingagements to god himself can excuse us from the observance of them : and therefore it cannot be required by the dissenters , in order to that good understanding , which i here endeavour and humbly beg there may be amongst protestants , that we should arraign five and twenty statute laws at once under the infamous name of draconica ; especially when by one of the draconica , the whole church of england , and under the covert of the church of england all the dissenters in england , hold their bibles● no ; every wise and considerate protestant , though he be not a nonconformist , would rather lie under all the penalties of non-conformity , than go about to weaken or undermine the authority of the laws which secure to all protestants their lives , and a much greater thing than their lives , i mean the bible , which i say again is the whole religion of all protestants . as for by-matters , they may very well be left where the law for ages immemorial has lodged all the concerns of the english church , which is in a lawful english parliament ; whose necessary power in that behalf appears by the very writ , both of their summons , and of their due election : and in the mean time , notwithstanding our different apprehensions about them , let us love one another . and , which brings me to the next point , 4ly . let us mutually express our selves in the following words of the blessed martyr . now i say be you assured , that even with my whole heart , god is my witness , in the bowels of iesus christ i love you in the truth , and for the truth's-sake which abideth in us , and as i am perswaded shall by the grace of god abide in us for evermore . men that love the truth for god's sake will love other men for the truth 's sake which they all profess . and i am satisfied that this was the reason which moved hooper to seek first to ridley , and to prevent him with two kind letters , before his present answer was written . for when hooper saw ridley stand up as a champion for the protestant religion , ( whom perhaps formerly in their unhappy differences he mistook to be popishly affected , or not far enough removed from popery , and too zealous for the raggs of rome ) then he writes , then he sends to him , then he consults him as an oracle . and i have often thought , that it must needs produce the same effect in all the sincere and hearty protestants amongst the dissenters at this time , when they see the clergy of the church of england , of whom they have had jealous thoughts lest they were too much popishly inclined , now approving themselves the defenders and champions of the protestant cause : which they have maintained with that clearness and strength , that i doubt not but the downfall of rome will hereafter be dated from the time of their writing . blessed be god , ( must the dissenters needs say , ) that we are so happily disappointed , and that the clergy are not the men we took them to be , but as hearty protestants as our selves ; and from this day forward we will own , and love them as such . the priests and jesuits and their assistants have not indeed been wanting to revive and heighten the dissenters old jealousies in this kind , by several late pamphlets , pretending a wonderful agreement betwixt the church of england and the church of rome , and that new popery , as they are pleased to call it , is as bad as the old , or the daughter as bad as the mother ; but this is transubstantiation-work and goes on but heavily , for men will not be outfaced out of their senses . and therefore they have almost dropt the cry of popery , to set up a louder one of persecution , and to lay all the miseries which the nonconformists have suffered to our charge . but if any body take my right hand and therewith bruise and batter my left , is my right hand therefore become a persecutor ? is it not really persecuted as well as the other ? and has it not a fellow feeling and a share of the misery ? and suppose my left hand were so over-ruled and managed against the right , would it not be the same thing ? and would not the design be the same ; to mischief , and maim , and disable both hands ? and after all , would it not be the addition of a scorn to this misery , to accuse or blame either of my hands in this case for hurting its fellow ? to conclude , there is a charm in the very naming of hooper and ridley to reconcile nonconformists and conformists together ; for their differences were alike , their misunderstandings of one ●nother were alike , and the papists in queen maries time loved those two protestants and used them just alike . for they were both of them so long and miserably tormented in the flames , that they were forced to mingle with their prayers to god these doleful outcries to the people . for god's love ( good people ) let me have more fire , says hooper . for christ's sake let the fire come unto me , says ridley our enemies made no difference betwixt those that are for ceremonies and those that are not ; and why should we ? let us rather bless god for the concurring testimony which these good men , though of different perswasions in by-matters , have both given to the protestant religion ; and let us exceedingly value and prize the free use of our bibles , which was the purchase of theirs and of the other martyrs blood : according to what latimer said when he and ridley were both of them at the stake ; be of good comfort master ridley , and play the man : we shall this day light such a candle by god's grace in england , as ( i trust ) shall never be put out . and we ought to unite and hold close together , that we may shield and cover this light from the open mouths and impetuous blasts of those , who seek to extinguish it , and to leave us and our posterity in the old egyptian darkness . 5. for this is the end and the very use and advantage we are to make of our reconciliation , and of our mutual love and agreement , as we see by the following words of this blessed martyr . and because the world ( as i perceive brother ) ceaseth not to play his pageant , and busily conspireth against christ our saviour with all possible force and power , exalting high things against the knowledge of god : let us joyn hands together in christ , and if we cannot overthrow , yet to our power as much as in us lyeth let us shake those high altitudes , not with carnal but with spiritual weapons . the world conspires , as bishop ridley's word is , against christ our saviour ; regulars and seculars , jesuits and dominicans , pope's-men , council-men and blackloists , and the rest of that colluvies and gallimawfrey of sects of which the church of rome is made up , do lay aside all the differences of their several factions , and are confederate against god's true religion : and though none of them are agreed in other things , yet they are all for extirpating the pestilent northern heresie , and they all march steadily to the same end . and shall not we all then unite in our utmost endeavours to support that true faith , which they call heresie ? shall we not be as ready to give one another the right hand of fellowship , and to joyn hands together in christ and for him , when we see how unanimou● they are in banding together against him ? this is the common concern of us all . for every man has a soul to be saved , one as well as another ; every man has an equal share in the bible ; every mans stake is the same , and they have all a like interest in their religion ; and therefore all the protestants of england ought to be as one man in the maintenance and support of their religion : and every single man in his several capacity , and according to his power , ought to be as zealous for it , as if he alone were to support it ; and he should say to our saviour , and hold to that saying , though all men forsake thee , yet will no● i. by this means under god we shall preserve our religion , and transmit it to our posterity at a far cheaper rate , than ridley and hooper and the rest of the blessed martyrs conveyed it down to us . by this means we shall disengage our selves from all needless disputes about meats and drinks and such like things , in which the kingdom of god does not consist , and from those skirmishings which have deteined us too much upon the frontiers of religion , without cultivating and reaping the fruits of th● holy land , in that measure as we ought ●● have done . by this means our private a●●● mosities and groundless quarrels will cea●● when we all engage in the lord 's quar●●● as bishop ridley calls in it this letter . i● word , by this means we shall be freed fro● divisions , and those unhappy diversio●● which have been purposely given us , to hi●●der us from exercising the power of god●●●ness ; both in reforming our own liv●● and in putting a stop to that deluge of i●●piety , which has been let into the natio● in order to make way for popery : and t● shall have an opportunity to imploy o● united endeavours in promoting the g●●spel , to the high honour of god , and t● the edifying of his church , and to the sa●●vation of our souls . as for the contents of the latter part 〈◊〉 this letter , they are of so nice and difficu●● application , that a man may be soon thoug●● to say either too much or too little of the● for which reason i shall wholly forbear , a●● leave them to the reader as they are , th●● he may make his own observations . finis . a looking-glass for all those called protestants in these three nations wherein they may see, who are true protestants, and who are degenerated and gone from the testimony and doctrine of the antient protestants. and hereby it is made to appear, that the people, called in derision quakers, are true (yea the truest) protestants, because their testimony agreeth with the testimony of the antient protestants in the most weighty things wherein the lord called them forth in that day. particularly, with the testimony and doctrine of william tindal, who is called a worthy martyr, and principal teacher of the church of england;faithfully collected out of his works. by george keith. keith, george, 1639?-1716. 1674 approx. 33 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47158 wing k180 estc r218561 99830143 99830143 34593 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. a47158) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 34593) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2032:15) a looking-glass for all those called protestants in these three nations wherein they may see, who are true protestants, and who are degenerated and gone from the testimony and doctrine of the antient protestants. and hereby it is made to appear, that the people, called in derision quakers, are true (yea the truest) protestants, because their testimony agreeth with the testimony of the antient protestants in the most weighty things wherein the lord called them forth in that day. particularly, with the testimony and doctrine of william tindal, who is called a worthy martyr, and principal teacher of the church of england;faithfully collected out of his works. by george keith. keith, george, 1639?-1716. tyndale, william, d. 1536. [8], 32 p. [s.n.], london : printed in the year, 1674. caption title on p. 1 reads: some clear testimonies unto the truth, (as it is owned by the people called in derision quakers collected out of the works and books of william tindall martyr. running title reads: a looking-glass for protestants. reproduction of the original in the friends house 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 tyndale, william, d. 1536 -early works to 1800. society of friends -early works to 1800. protestants -early works to 1800. quakers -early works to 1800. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-04 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2003-04 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a looking-glass for all those called protestants in these three nations . wherein they may see , who are true protestants , and who are degenerated and gone from the testimony and doctrine of the antient protestants . and hereby it is made to appear , that the people , called in derision quakers , are true ( yea the truest ) protestants , bccause their testimony agreeth with the testimony of the antient protestants in the most weighty things wherein the lord called them forth in that day . particularly , with the testimony and doctrine of william tindal , who is called a worthy martyr , and principal teacher of the church of england ; faithfully collected out of his works . by george keith . london , printed in the year , 1674. the epistle to the impartial readers unto whosoever hands this may come . come all you called protestants in these three nations of england , scotland and ireland , whether you be of the faith and principles of those called episcopalians , or whether you be presbyterians so called , or anabaptists , or baptists , or independents , or of any other name or denomination , behold a looking-glass for you all , whereinto , if you will look , you may see , whether ye be true protestants , or not . you do all indeed lay claim to the title of protestants ; but as they were of old , who called themselves jews , but were not ; so in this day , there are many who call themselves protestants , but are not , for they agree not with the antient testimonie and spirit of the protestants , but are exceedingly degenerated from them , both in life and doctrine , who if they had been true to the protetant cause , for which god raised up the first protestants , above one hundred years ago , had not only retained the life and doctrine of the antient protestants , but had advanced further , and gone beyond them both in largness of discoveries , and purity of life , for at that time , it was but as the twy-light , or dawning of the day , so that they had not attained unto so clear and perfect discoveries of truth , as were afterwards to come : but oh , how have the most of them all , who in this day are called protestants , not only been deficient in advancing and carrying on that testimony and cause for which the lord raised up the primitive protestants , but are fallen exceeding short of them , yea degenerated and back sliden from them in those weightiest and most material things , which they bore testimony unto in their day , as they were called forth of th lord , and furnished by him , not only to appear for his truth in words , but with a most noble and invincible courage to seal it with their blood , among whom william tindal was one of the most eminent , whose works and labours , by the blessing and grace of god , were of great use to propagate knowledge unto the people of these nations in that day , wherein ignorance and darkness so much abounded . this william tindal , was a man not only of a pious and good life , but well learned , as appeareth in that he translated the bible , both the old and new testament , so called , out of the tongues in which they were originally writ , into the english ; whose translation is the first english translation that is extant , and a good work it was in that day , and of great service among the peolpe , which made the romish clergy so angry ( who would have still hoodwinck'd the people in ignorance ) that they ceased not until they got him burnt , who suffered martyrdom for the truth , in west flanders , in the days of queen mary ; but above all , he was a man endowed with a good measure of the spirit of god , and taught of god , as both his own works , and the history of his life recorded by fox in his martyrology , doth sufficiently make manifest unto any who have a spiritual discerning : and if there be any things found in his works , which answer not perfectly to the truth , it is to be imputed to the darkness and ignorance of that time , which god wincked at ; nor should these things , which were given him , as testimonies from the lord , to bear in his day , be the less esteemed and received , because of any weakness or imperfections , as touching some things , wherein he might be swayed by the darkness of that time in which he lived ; but rather we should be thankful unto god for his mercy , in that he lighted such a candle , and set it on a candlestick to shine as a light in a dark place , while darkness was so thick throughout all the land. i could cite the testimonies of many other witnesses , who sealed their testimony with their blood unto the truth , both in england and scotland , and also in other places . but this being done partly by others formerly , and as it may please the lord so to order it , it may yet be done more largly , only at this time i found my self moved in the zeal of the lord , to give forth this small treatise , being a faithful collection of the words of the aforesaid william tindal , extracted by me , out of his printed works with my own hand , without adding unto , or diminishing from them , so much as one word , only the titles i have added before each purpose , by way of index . my design is to make it known , that we , the people in derision called quakers ▪ are truest protestants ; for all , who have any knowledg of our principle , whether by reading our books , or hearing our declarations , cannot but see , that those testimonies of william tindal are more agreeable unto our principles , than unto those of any other people in these three nations . some clear testimonies unto the truth , ( as it is owned by the people called in derision quakers collected out of the works and books of william tindall martyr . chap. i. concerning christs dying for all men. in his prologue upon the prophet jonas . we be all equally created , and formed os one god our father , and indifferently bought and redeemed , with one blood of our saviour jesus christ. chap. ii. concerning both the law and gospel , being in mans heart . in the same prologue upon jonas . as the law which fretteth thy conscience is in thy heart , and is no outward thing ; even so seek within thy heart the plaister of mercy , the promises of forgiveness in our saviour jesus christ : according unto all the ensamples of mercy that are gone before . and with jonas let them that wait on vanities , and seek god here and there , and in every temple , save in their hearts : go and seek thou the testament of god in thy heatt ; sor in thy heart is the word of the law , and in thine heart is the word of faith in the promises of mercy in jesus christ ; so that if thou confess with a repenting heart , and knowledge ; and surely believe that jesus is lord over all sin , thou art safe . chap. iii. concerning the outward and inward part of the scripture . in the same prologue . the scripture hath a body without , and within a soul , spirit , and life ; it hath without , a bark , a shell , and as it were , an hard bone , for the fleshly minded to gnaw upon ; and within it hath pith , kernel , marrow , and all sweetness for gods elect , which he hath chosen to give them his spirit and to write his law , and the faith of his son , in their hearts . chap. iv. concerning the heathen , that they had the spirit of god , and that pharoh had the spirit of grace , before his heart was hardned . in his prologue upon matthew . and paul writeth rom. 1. that the heathen because when they knew god , they had no list to honour him with godly living ; therefore god powered his wrath upon them , and took his spirit from them , and gave them up to their hearts lusts to serve sin , from iniquity , to iniquity ; till they were throughly hardned , and past repentance . and pharoh , because when the word of god was in his country , and gods people scattered , throughout all his land ; and yet he never loved them , nor it ; therefore god gave him up : and in taking his spirit of grace from him , so hardned his heart with covetousness , that afterward no myracle could convert him , hereunto pertaineth the parable of the talents . chap. v. concerning good works through working of the spirit of god , how that they help to continue us in the favour and grace of god. in the same prologue . let us arm our selves with this remembrance , that as christs works justifie from sin , and set us in the favour of god ; so our own deeds through working of the spirit of god , help us to continue in the favour and the grace , into which christ hath brought us ; and that we can no longer continue in favour and grace , than our hearts are to keep the law. chap. vi. concerning a believer , and spiritual man that is renewed , how he needeth no outward law. in his treatise on the parable of the wicked mammon . as thouneedest not to bid a tree to bring forth fruit , so is there no law put into him that believeth , and is justified through faith ( as saith paul in the first epistle to timothy chap. i. ) neither is it needful : for the law of god is written and graved in his heart , and his pleasure is therein . and in another treatise of his , called the obedience of a christian man. he now that is renewed in christ keepeth the law , without any law written , or compulsion of any ruler , or officer , save by the leading of the spirit only . chap. obed. of subjects . chap. vii . concerning faith , how that the true faith , is a feeling faith. in his answer to sir tho. mores dialogue , 1530. there are two manner of faiths , an historical faith , and a feeling faith. the historical faith hangeth on the truth and honesty of the teller , or on the common fame and consent of many : as if one told me , that the turk had wone a city , and i believed it , moved with the honesty of the man : now if there comes another that seemeth more honest , or that hath better perswasions that it is not so , i think immediately that he lyed , and lose my faith again . and a feeling faith is , as if a man were there present when it was won , and there were wounded , and had there lost all that he had , and were taken prisoner there also . that man should so believe that all the world could not turn him from his faith : even likewise if my mother had blown on her finger , and told me that the fire would burn me , i should have believed her with an hystorical faith , as we believe the stories of the world , because i thought she would not have mocked me : and so i should have done , if she had told me that the fire had been cold , and would not have burned : but assoon as i had put my finger in the fire , i should have believed , not by reason of her , but with a feeling faith , so that she could not have perswaded me afterward the contrary . so now with an historical faith , i may believe that the scripture is gods , by the teaching of them , and so i should have done , though they had told me that robinhood had been the scripture of god , which faith is but an opinion , and therefore abideth ever fruitless , and falleth away , if a more glorious reason be made unto me , or if the preacher live contrary . but of a feeling faith , it is written , john 6. they shall be all taught of god , that is , god shall writ it in their hearts with his holy spirit , and also teftifieth rom. 8. the spirit beareth record unto our spirit , that we be the sons of god ; and this faith is none opinion , but a sure feeling , and therefore ever fruitful , never hangeth it of the honesty of the preacher , but of the power of god , and of the spirit : and therefore if all the preachers of the world would go about to perswade the contrary , it would not prevail no more than though they would make me believe the fire were cold , after that i had put my finger therein . of this ye have an ensample , job . 4. of the samaritanish wife , which left her pitcher and went into the city , and said , come and see a man , &c. but when they had heard christ , the spirit wrought , and made them feel , whereupon they came unto the woman and said , we believe not now , because of thy saying , but because we have heard our selves , and know , that he is christ , the saviour of the world : for christ's preaching was with power and spirit , that maketh a man feell and know , and work too , and not as the scribes and pharisees preached , and as ours , make a man ready to cast his gorge to hear them , rave and rage as mad men . chap. viii . concerning the inward preaching , teaching , and speaking of the spirit of god , unto the soul , and inward reading and hearing , and that true believers believe the principles of their faith , not because they are written in books , but because they are inwardly taught by the spirit of god. in the same treatise of his answer to sir t. moors dialogue . when thou art askt why thou believest that thou shalt be saved by christ , and of such like principles of our faith , answer thou wottest and feelest that it is true , and when he asketh how thou knowest that it is true , answer , because it is written in thine heart ; and if he ask , who wrote it , answer the spirit of god ; and if he ask , how thou came first by it , tell him , whether by reading in books , or hearing it preached , as by any outward instrument , but that inwardly thou wast taught by the spirit of god ; and if he ask whether thou believest it not , because it is written in books , or because the priests so preach , answer no , not now , but only because it is written in thine heart , and because the spirit of god so preacheth , and so testifieth unto thy soul ; and say , though at the beginning , thou wast moved by reading or preaching , as the samaritans were by the words of the woman , yet now thou believest it not therefore any longer , but only because thou hast heard it of the spirit of god , and read it written in thine heart . chap. ix . concerning the feeling of the working of the spirit , and that none ought to think that his faith is right , who hath not this feeling . in his parable of the wicked mammon . how dare a man presume to think that his faith is right , and that gods favour is on him , and that gods spirit is in him , when he feeleth not the working of the spirit , neither himfelf disposed to any godly thing . and again , where the spirit is there is feeling : sor the spirit maketh us feel all things ; where the spirit is not there is no feeling . chap. x. concerning justification . how to be justified , is to be made inwardly righteous , good and holy ; and when he pleadeth , that we are not justified by works , he meaneth by warks , the outward works ; but doth not exclude inward righteousness , regeneration , and sanctification , from having any place or respect in our justification ; but doth indeed include it . in the parable of the wicked mammon . so now by this abide sure and fast , that a man inwardly in the heart , and before god , is righteous and good , through faith only , before all works : notwitstanding , yet outwardly and openly before the people , yea , and before himself is he righteous through the work : that is , he knoweth , and is sure , through the outward work , that he is a true believer , and in the favour of god , and righteous and good , through the mercy of god ; that thou mayest call the one , an open and outward righteousness ; and the other , an inward righteousness of the heart ( so yet ) that thou understand by the outward righteousness , no other thing , save the fruit that followeth , and and a declaring of the inward justifying and righteousness of the heart ; and not that it maketh a man righteous before god , but that he must be first righteous before him in the heart ; even as thou mayeft call the fruit of the tree the outward goodness of the tree , which followeth and uttereth the inward natural goodness of the tree . again in his answer to t. mores fourth book . that thing which maketh a man love the law of god , doth make a man righteous , and justifieth him effectually , and actually ; and maketh him alive , as a workman , and cause efficient . chap. xi . concerning the sabbath . in his answer to t. more his first book . and as for the sabbath a great matter ! we be lords over the sabbath , and may yet change it into the monday , or any other day , as we see need : or may make every tenth day holy-day , only if we see a cause why , we may make two every week , if it were expedient , and one not enough to teach the people . neither was there any cause to change it from the saturday , than to put difference between us and the jews ; and lest we should become servants unto the day , after their superstition . neither needed we any holy-day at all , if the people might be taught without it . chap. xii . that magistrates may preach , and that every man that is well taught may preach , or teach , in case of necessity ; as when the ordinary preachers are ignorant , and preach false doctrine , and that women may teach . in his exposition on mat. 5. all kings and all rulers are bound to be salt and light , not only in example of living , but also in teaching of doctrine unto their subjects , as well as they be bound to punish evil doers . doth not the scripture testifie that king david was chosen to be a shepherd , and to feed his people with gods word ? it is an evil school-master , that cannot but beat only ; but it is a good schoolmaster , that so teacheth , that few need to be beaten . again , moreover every man ought to preach in word and deed unto his houshold , and to them that are under his governance . and though no man may preach openly , save he that hath the office committed unto him ; yet ought every man to endeavour himself , to be as well learned as the preacher , as nigh as it is possible . and every man may privately inform his neighbour ; yea , and the preacher and bishop too , if need be : for if the preacher preach wrong , you may , any man , whatsoever he be , rebuke him , first privately ; and then ( if that help not ) to complain further ; and when all is proved , according to the order of charity , and yet no amendment had : then ought every man that can to resist him , aud to stand by christs doctrine , and to jeopard life and all for it ; look on the old ensamples , and they shall teach thee — when we have proved all that charity bindeth us , and yet in vain ; then we must come forth openly , and rebuke their wickedness in the face of the world , and jeopard life and all thereon . and in answer to t. m. 1. book . if baptism be so necessary , as they make it , then love thy neighbour as thy self , doth teach women to baptize , yea and to teach , and to rule their husbands too , if they be beside themselves . again , in his answer to mores 4 th book . if a woman learned in christ , were driven into an isle , where christ was never preached , might she not then preach and teach to minister the sacraments , and make officers ? the case is possible , shew you what should let , that she might not , love thy ncighbour as thy self , doth compell . chap. xiii . concerning philosophy , how it is not needful to understand the scripture . in his parable of the wicked mammon . many are not ashamed to rail and blaspheme , saying how should he understand the scripture , seeing he is no philosopher , never hath seen his metophysick . moreover , they blas pheme , saying , how can he be a devine , and wo tteth not what is subjectum in theologia . nevertheless as a man without the spirit of ariristotle or philosophie , may by the spirit of god understand scripture , even so by the spirit of god understandeth he , that god is to be sought in all the scripture , and in all things , and yet wotteth not , what meaneth subjectum in theologia , because it is a term of their own making . chap. xiv . concerning hereticks , that they should not be corporally punished . whereas t. more alledged that s. paul gave two hereticks to the devil , which tormented their flesh , which was no small punishment , and haply he slew them : w. tindall answereth , " o expounder of the scripture ! like hugo charensis , which expoundeth hereticum hominem de vita , take the heretick out of his life : we read of no pain that he had whom the christians excommunicated and gave to sathan to slay his flesh , save that he was ashamed of himself and repented , &c. a testimony of john frith , another english martyr , against outward and bodily compelling and punishing of them that believe not aright . in his answer to the lord rochester bishop . to say that christ would have his disciples to compel men , with prisonment , fetters , scourging , sword and fire is very false , and far from the mildness of a chaste spirit , although my lord approve it never so much ; for christ did forbid his disciples such tyranny , yea rebukes them , because they would have desired , that fire should descend from heaven and consume the samaritans , which would receive not christ : but with violence will god have no man compelled unto his law. paul also testifieth , 2 cor. 1. that he had not rule over the corinthians , as touching their faith. and again , as no man can search the heart , but god only , so can no man judge or order our faith but god only through his holy spirit . collected faithfully by me g. k. out of the works of w. tindall and john frith , who are called worthy martyrs , and principal teachers of the church of england , in the title page of the book printed at london by john day , anno 1573. come hither all you called episcopalians , presbyterians , independents , baptists , and any others , and let us try your faith , whether it be the same , with that of the antient protestants , as also we are willing , that our faith be put to the tryal , that it may appear , whose faith is most agreeable to the faith of antient protestants and martyrs ; one of the most eminent whereof was this william tindal : who above one hundred years ago , was a principal teacher of the church of england , and died a martyr . 1. first , his faith was , that as we are all created of one god , so we are all indifferently bought with one blood of our saviour jesus christ , so tbat christ his shedding of his blood , is as universal for men , as the work of their creation : and this is our faith who are called quakers , to wit , that christ hath tasted death for every man , and that he hath dyed for all according to the scriptures . but whether is this your faith yea or nay ? 2. secondly , his faith was , that both the law and the gospel , are in the hearts of men , and is none outward thing , and that we should seek within our hearts the plaister of mercy , yea that we should seek the testament of god in our hearts , and the word of the law , and of faith , and that we should let them go who seek god here and there , and in every temple save in their hearts : and this is our faith , who witness unto the words in the heart , and bid people seek god within them , and christ within , and not without them , in temples made with hands , or outward observations . but whether is this your faith , yea or nay ? 3. thirdly , his faith was , that the scripture had a body without , a bark and shell , and as it were a hard bone , but within it had a soul , spirit and life , &c. and this is our faith , who say , the letter killeth , and the letter of the scripture is not the word , but the life is the word that is within , and is no outward thing : but whether is this your faith yea or nay , who say the letter is the word , and deny the word originally to be in the heart ? fourthly , his faith was , that the heathen once bad the spirit of god , and that pharoah , before his heart was bardened , had the spirit of grace , and this is our faith who say , the true light which is spirit , doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world , sufficiently unto salvation , and that a manifestation of the spirit is given unto every man to profit withal . but whether is this your faith yea or nay ? who deny the saving light of christ to be universal . fifthly , his faith was , that good-works through working of the spirit of god , are absolutely needful to continue us in the favour of god , and in a justified state , and this is our faith , but whether this is your faith yea or nay , seeing many of you say , david continued in the favour of god , and justified , while he committed murder and adultery . sixthly , his faith was , that a believer needed no outward law nor rule , for he keepeth the law , by the leading of the spirit only , and this is our faith , but whether is this your faith , yea or nay , who say the scripture , ( which is outwardly ) is the only rule , and will not acknowledg the spirit within to be the rule . seventhly , his faith was , that the scriptures are to be believed that they are of god , because of the inward testimony and teaching of the spirit of god , and that the true faith is a feeling faith , & a sure feeling , & who have this faith , are taught of god himself , as immediately as when a man is taught that the fire is hct , by putting his finger in it , here the fire teacheth him immediately , that it is hot , and he needeth no man to tell him , and this is our faith in all these parculars , who witness unto the immediate teachings of god by his spirit in our hearts . but whether is this your faith yea or nay , who deny spiritual feeling and sense to be essential to true faith , telling people they must not seek to live by spiritual sense and feeling , but by faith ; as also telling them , that faith may be without assurance . this is contrary to , will. tindall his faith , and contrary to the scriptures testimony , which calleth faith and guidence , a seeing , a handling , all which imply both spiritual sence and assureance . eighthly , his faith was , that men were to believe the principles of their religion , not because they are written in books but because they are inwardly taught by the spirit of god , and this is our faith , but whether is this your faith , yea or nay , who say , the scriptures are the formal object of faith , and the first rule or moving cause by way of object , to make us believe , and who say , immediate revelation is ceased , and is not the general priviledge of all true believers . ninthly , his faith was , that the working of the spirit was to be felt , and was to be known by feeling , and that none should think his faith right , who hath not the feeling of the spirit , and this is our faith , but whether is this your faith , yea or nay , who deny tbe feeling of the spirit , properly so called , and mock and deride us when we speak of feeling , and when ye ask us , how know ye that you are moved & led by thespirit to such things , we answer , by our feeling , which bath certainty , and evidence in it that is sufficient . this answer ye reject , as fanatical , heretical , and what not ? tenthly , his faith was , that men are justified by an inward righteousness wrought by the spirit of god in the bea rt : and this is our faith , but whether is this your faith , yea or nay , who deny that any are justified by an inward rigbteousness in their hearts , although wrought in them by the spirit of god. eleventhly , his faith was , that the first day of the week , was not commanded by god to be kept boly , but the church keepeth that day , because of convenience for instructing the people , and worshiping god : and this is our faith , but whether is this your faith , yea or nay , who say , that day is of gods commanding to be kept as a sabbath . twelfthly , his faith was , that magistrates may preach , and every man may preach or teach , who is taught of god , in case of necessity , and that women may teach : and this is our faith , but whether is this your faith , yea or nay , vvho would monopolise it unto the clergy , or a certain order of literate men. thirteenthly , his faith vvas , that philosophy and school . learning was not needful to understand the scripture , nor to be a preacher or divine : and this is our faith , but vvhether is this your faith , yea or nay , who lay so great stress upon philosophy and school-learning , that ye permit none to be preachers , or doctors of divinity who have not them . fourteenthly , his faith vvas , as also the faith of john frith , another principal teacher in england , and martyr , that hereticks were not to be punished with prisonment , fetters , scourging , sword and fire : and this vvas the faith of many others in that day , and this is our faith ; but vvhether is this your faith , yea or nay , whose chiefest arguments against us , the people in derision called quakers , have been prisons , banishings , scourgings , spoiling of goods , and such like carnal and violent ways . writ by me george keith , one of these people , in derision called quakers , who am a true and cordial protestant . the end. popish treachery, or, a short and new account of the horrid cruelties exercised on the protestants in france being a true prospect of what is to be expected from the most solemn promises of roman catholick princes / in a letter from a gentleman of that nation, to one in england, and by him made english. gentleman of that nation. 1689 approx. 33 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a55466 wing p2958 estc r1443 11875958 ocm 11875958 50245 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. a55466) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50245) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 819:34) popish treachery, or, a short and new account of the horrid cruelties exercised on the protestants in france being a true prospect of what is to be expected from the most solemn promises of roman catholick princes / in a letter from a gentleman of that nation, to one in england, and by him made english. gentleman of that nation. [10], 28 p. printed are to be sold by richard baldwin ..., london : 1689. 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 persecution -france. protestants -france. 2007-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-08 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion licensed and entred according to order . popish treachery : or , a short and new account of the horrid cruelties exercised on the protestants in france . being a true prospect of what is to be expected from the most solemn promises of roman catholick princes . in a letter from a gentleman of that nation , to one in england , and by him made english . london : printed and are to be sold by richard baldwin , in the old-baily . mdclxxxix . popish treachery : or , a short and new account of the horrid cruelties exercised in france , &c. the preface . it is not long since this letter was writ to me by a french gentleman , at my request , and for my particular satisfaction ; who as he is a person of much worth and integrity , and has been an eye-witness of most of the things whereof he speaks , so the readier faith and greater credit ought to be given to them . but his testimony alone need not to be rely'd on for the matters of fact he here relates , there are thousands of other french protestants , now in england , that confirm the truth of all ; and who having felt the smart of a severe persecution in france , are fled from thence to avoid the extream fury and insupportable violence thereof . now the unquestionable evidence i have for the certainty of what is advanced in the following account , and the desire of many to see it published in english , has made me consent so to expose it , hoping it may give some seasonable information , and satisfaction , to our people . for though most of them may have heard much talk of a persecution in france , and have generously and bountifully contributed their charity towards the relief of those miserable persecuted french protestants , who are come hither for refuge and succour , yet i have reason to believe that very few of them know any thing of the cruel manner wherewith the barbarous and inhuman papists have pursued that persecution ; this is what they will find set down in short , in the little relation here presented to them ; and they may there see a notorious example of the base treachery of popery , and of the cruelties which it holds , as a point of religion , to make protestants suffer ; over whom it pretends to have a soveraign and absolute dominion . so this little history not being perplex'd and embarressed with numerous and tedious circumstances , all sorts of people may thereby easily inform themselves of this persecution , as much as we ordinarily desire to know of such events . and besides that charity of our poor persecuted brethren and fellow protestants makes us concern'd therein , as being equally objects of the hatred and oppression of popery , so it may serve to prompt us to some reflections for our own interest : nam tua res agitur parces cum proximus ardet . when our neighbours house is on fire , it behooves us to take care of our own , and to use all lawful and convenient means to preserve it from the rage and fury of a merciless enemy . such has popery ever been to protestants , and from it , good lord still deliver england . ppoish treachery : or , a short and new account of the horrid crvelties exercised on the protestants in france , &c. sir , i cannot but wonder , as well as you , that no history of the persecution of the french protestants , has yet appeared in your language : 't is to be wished it were well known to all people of the reformed religion , that they might there see popery in its true colours , and be taught by that great example , to understand , that the promises it makes , are but lyes and snares , to deceive the honest faith and good nature of other men. they would there see , likewise , how by little and little it advanceth its affairs , still swearing that it has no design to proceed any further ; and how it , at length , adds inhumanity to perfidiousness , when it has once got to be uppermost : but we had enough to convince us of the treacherous and bloody spirit of popery , without the history of this late persecution . the massacre of the waldenses so often reiterated : the general massacre of the protestants all over europe , in the beginning of the reformation : the persecution and massacre of the low-countries , under philip the second : the massacre of st. bartholomew in france : the gun-powder treason in england : the massacre of ireland : the last persecution of hungary ; and the late one of the valleys of piedmont , shew sufficiently , how that communion thirsts after the blood of men , and is ingenious in satiating it self therewith , from time to time . however , sir , since you desire it , i will here draw you a short scheme of that great persecution , which ought to be an eternal advertisement to all protestants in the world , that popery spares neither oaths nor promises to delude them , and sticks at no frauds nor violences to obliterate them totally , if it were possible , from off the face the earth . and this relation i am now going to make you , will be so much the more faithful , as that i shall say nothing therein , but what my own eyes have seen , or what i other ways know for certain truth . the protestants of france , liv'd under the faith of many edicts , which promised them liberty of conscience , and equal priviledges with the rest of the french ; the most considerable of their edicts was that of nantes . henry the fourth , grandfather of his present majesty , having by their assistance and fidelity , put an end to the league which the papists had made , to hinder him from getting into the throne , was desirous to recompence the blood and lives which the hugonots had expended for his service ; and he did it by that famous edict which gave them the same priviledges as his other subjects enjoy'd , and he granted it to them , and to their posterity , for ever , under the title of perpetval and irrevocable ; so it was , as a law of the state , which was confirm'd by the kings , at their coming to the crown , and has been expressly so , by many edicts of lewis the 13th , and of lewis the 14th , now reigning . when this king came to the crown , he was very young ; the prince of conde stirr'd up civil wars to ravish it from him , and the greatest part of the papists sided with him , but the protestants were all of a constant and uncorrupted fidelity to their soveraign , so that they made all the prince's designs prove abortive , and preserv'd the scepter to him that yet bears it . after which , he gave them a publick declaration of his acknowledgment , and assur'd them of his favour and protection , during his whole reign ; but at the same time that he gave this publick declaration , and a thousand other private ones to particulalar persons , he even then began to form a design of ruining those who had saved him : he made reflection , that since , by their means , he had been settled in his throne , they might , in an other occasion , shake him out of it ; and upon this reflection it was that he resolved to ruine them , as he has in effect done . at first , he began with retrenching , by degrees , all the hugonots from his house , who had any imployment therein , and the which he had given them as a recompence of their faithful service to him ; insomuch , that in a short time , there was not a souldier in his whole guards , but what was of his own religion : merit was no longer consider'd in their persons ; he no more advanc'd any of them to the places of trust in the kingdom ; he put out those he had formerly preferred thereto ; and he set forth divers declarations , prohibiting them all kind of offices , arts and trades , so that none but papists could exercise , or profess any ; by which means , vast numbers of protestants were reduc'd to inevitable misery . he took their colledges and schools away from them , so that they had no master of their religion , to teach their children either to read or write . when he had done that , he then sent troops of missionaries into all the towns , to gain , as many as they could , by cunning tricks , or price of money ; and 't was a strange thing to see the shameful commerce this people made , of buying those whom extream poverty oblig'd to sell themselves . the misery was so great in some places , that they were forc'd to turn papists ; sometimes for ten crowns , sometimes for five , sometimes for two , sometimes for a great deal less . these missionaries walk'd about , every where , with baggs of money in their hands , and for the space of two years together , one saw hardly any other traders stirring up and down the kingdom , but these dealers for the souls of men , who bought them according to their profession , and the number of their families . at the same time , pensions , or imployments were given to those , of any consideration , who would turn papists . the king , by a declaration , gave liberty to children , at seven years of age , to choose a religion ; and the fathers of such children as became papists , were forced to give them yearly pensions , and always more than what they were well able ; by which means they seduced abundance of the younger sort , bringing mourning and desolation into many families , which for the most part of the time they utterly ruin'd . after this , they forbad their minister to speak any thing of controversie , or of what pass'd against them ; upon which prohibition , and divers others of the like nature , they daily made them say things that had never entred into their thoughts : they hired false witnesses to depose against them , who were often reduc'd to avow their lying testimonies ; and 't was frequently prov'd too , the priests , and others , had suborn'd them . but as their ruine was absolutely sworn , so nothing satisfy'd them ; their estates were confiscated , their persons cast into prison , banish'd , or condemn'd to some other shameful disgrace . there was no safety for any , they found ways to bring the most moderate into trouble , and especially , to destroy those who were capable of giving some good example to others . these are the degrees of the desolations of this people , and of the tears they have been made to shed for about twenty five years last past ; during which time , no body possess'd in peace what they had , and every one were in perpetual inquietudes for themselves , and for their children . but these were only the beginnings of their misery , and the essays of popish fury and perfidiousness : whilst on one hand they persecuted some , they assured others that the king had no design against their liberty . in almost all the edicts which his majesty set forth , he inserted some article to lull them asleep : he said , that not one tittle of the edict of nantes should be violated : and he insinuated , that his intention was only to interdict the religion , and to stop there . the elector of brandenburgh having had the bounty to intercede for them , the king of france gave him an answer , that is to be seen in many of the protestants writings ; by which he assur'd his highness , that so long as he liv'd , no wrong should be done to his subjects of the reform'd religion ; that he acknowledged them for good ones , and would maintain them in all their priviledges . in the mean time , he had taken from them many of these priviledges ; and what is remarkable at the same time that he wrote this letter to his highness of brandenburgh , he in the very self same instant caused many of their temples to be demolish'd , and others to be shut up ; put the ministers into prison ; oppressed private persons with heavy injustices ; and made those to mourn bitterly whom he said he would protect . he began a thing too , which had never been heard of in any age , not even in the savagest nations , or the most remote from christianity ; that is , he made children to be taken from their fathers and mothers , and to be put into convents , with a strict charge not to let their parents see them , not excepting even persons of the highest birth , and of families to which he had obligations that ought never to have been forgotten by him . he took away seven from the duke de la force , an ancient duke and peer of the kingdom , the eldest not being then twelve years old . he did the like by all those of the count de roy , whom he had some time before permitted to go and serve the king of denmark , in quality of general of his armies . in a word , at the same time that he promised to protect the hugonots , he even then did all he could to ruine them , and there was nothing but sighs and tears amongst them : one saw every where souls afflicted to the very grave ; some bewailing the loss of their pastors and temples ; others the dispersion and ruine of their families ; others the carrying away of their children ; and others trembled for fear of the same , or of greater misfortunes . in fine , do but mark now how far their fraud and cruelty went ; that edict of nantes was revoked which they had so often promis'd , and so often sworn should be inviolably observ'd ; and this fence being quite broke down , all that great people was abandon'd to the rage and fury of the souldiers . but , what is yet more notorious , to push on the cheat as far as the fraudulent wit of man could carry it , in the very act for cessation of the forementioned edict , this king declared , that he was desirous that all people should live quietly in their families ; and that the exercise of the protestant religion being interdicted , every one might live , in his own house , as he pleas'd . but at the same time that his majesty solemnly swore this promise , he sent his armies to surprize the protestants in their towns and houses , with orders , to plunder , burn , demolish , beat , and in short , to make them suffer all manner of evils could be devis'd , death only excepted ; which in this circumstance would have been look'd on as a great happiness . the king usurp'd the throne of god , and took upon him the empire over the conscience ; and in his name whole towns were summon'd , by puissant armies , to turn papists , and upon refusal , they were abandon'd to pillage and ruine , and to the same fury as enemy towns are wont to be when taken by storm . they seiz'd on all the avenues , and brought back those to the persecutors , who had escaped out of their hands : they beat , ransack'd , violated , and made this people suffer a thousand evils , without distinction either of age , sex , or quality , from the oldest to the youngest , male and female , noble , or ignoble , all were equally at the discretion of the souldiers : blasphemies , impieties and blows , were the arguments of this infernal mission ; and one may say , without exaggeration , that hell seem'd to be let loose , and that the devils were come to preach up popery on the earth . alas ! who can reckon the tears were shed in this sad occasion ? god alone knows their number , who doubtless has counted and gather'd them all into his bosom . the air ecchoed every where with grievous lamentations ; and i think , nothing more pittiful could be heard , than the crys and groans of this people , whilst they were in the hands of their tormentors . they dragg'd many of these poor creatures into the popish churches by the feet , by the hair of the head , or by ropes tied about their necks ; they hang'd them up at the tops of rooms , or out of the windows , by their heels , or by their hands ▪ they plung'd them into deep wells , and stinking mires , with toads and serpents , where they left them according to the time of their constancy ; they lighted great fires , and roasted some till they had changed their religion ; if their patience was longer than the cruelty of their persecutors , then they basted their naked legs with scalding grease , or boyling oyl . others they made to hold red hot coals in their hands ; burnt the soals of their feet ; tore the hair from their beards , and the nails from their fingers , and toes by the very roots ; larded their flesh all over with pins , and thrash'd them with sticks till they left them for dead . if they were sick , they beat drums , and sounded trumpets , night and day , in their ears , for 't was a general rule to hinder them from sleeping , and to set them in different postures ; sometimes standing upon one leg , holding up a hand in the air ; sometimes down on their knees , doing the like , &c. if they changed postures , through weariness , then they pinch'd and cudgell'd them till they were black and blue . sometimes they tied all the people of a family in a room together , and in sight of one another , they beat and bruis'd the men , and made the women suffer a thousand indignities . they would often carry them separately into chambers , to torment them , but so as they might hear each others crys ; and every one in suffering , suffer'd for themselves , and for the rest of their family , which they either saw in torments , or heard the crys thereof . in short , let any man but fancy to himself , what vast numbers of soulders , brutal , and let loose , are capable to invent and act in all manner of mischief and cruelty , and he will have an idea of the method whereby the protestants of france have been taught to become papists . o tempora ! o mores ! this great fury made those that could save themselves , fly into the woods , mountains and caves ; they wandred in the fields , exposed to all the injuries of the air , not having wherewith to live , or to cover themselves ; and not daring to stir but in the night , for fear of falling into the hands of their enemies , old and young , men and women , all wandred in the desarts ; and all these were but some members of sad families , fathers without children , and children without fathers ; wives without their husbands , and husbands without their wives ; a doleful spectacle , no doubt , to the eyes of men. but this is not all , the fury was so excessive that the sea-ports were every where shut for to hinder their flight , and above 100000 souldiers imployed to stop their passage on the frontiers , besides all the peasants whom they had made , and the priests enjoyn'd , to take up arms against them ; so that it was by great good providence , if any could save themselves amidst so many obstacles : and i don't believe there was one in forty but what was taken , after having gone , sometimes two or three hundred leagues , with all sort of misery and difficulty . the prisons were all full of these poor fugitives , and if any of them had ever changed their religion before , they were sent to the galleys ; a punishment in france , more ignominious and cruel than any death . one saw every where , in the provinces , the chains of these confessors , which they dragg'd along from one end of the kingdom to the other : tantaene animis coelestibus irae . the women were shav'd , and carry'd away to convents ; nor were they put in there many times , till they had first been at the mercy of certain people ▪ worse than the very dragoons , and who made them suffer things that modesty and civility permit me not to name : i shall only say that they shut several of them up for many months together , with murderers and highway men , and such like cattle . some were cast into deep dungeons where they never saw day-light , and they cloath'd them with filthy raggs , taken from the noisom carkases of dead persons , which they stripp'd before their faces . but the height of all evils , and that which had never entred into the heart of the wickedest of all the men history tells us of , was the sending whole vessels full of them to the new world , to be sold to the savages there ; men and women , young and old , noble or others , all were treated equally alike . in some places they made assemblies to pray to god , and there the dragoons massacred all they could light on , burnt the houses to which the fugitives retir'd , and those poor creatures with them . some they hang'd up on trees , and others they precipitated from the tops of high rocks , and they broke those on the wheel , limb after limb , whom they called the heads of these assemblies . but it would be endless to particularize all the various tortures , and unheard of cruelties , which the papists practic'd upon the protestants in france , for to force them to abjure their religion : i will only say , that they carry'd them to all the excess of fury and inhumanity that the devils themselves were capable to inspire . so that considering this persecution in all its circumstances , it may well be reckon'd the greatest and blackest that ever was amongst christians in any age. after they had in this manner dispersed so many families , ruined so many houses , made so many tears to be shed , and caus'd a general desolation , they at length made a publick spectacle and divertisement thereof . the kings players acted for many months together in paris , a comedy , call'd , merlin dragoon ; in which the persecutors and the persecuted were the persons represented , and the court and people went in crowds to laugh and divert themselves , at the oppressions and torments which the protestants had suffer'd ; and by this , as well as the rest , you may judge what share piety had in that vvork . now , though all these frauds , violencies and cruelties , and infinite numbers more have been acted towards the protestants of france , in the face of the sun , before millions of eye-witnesses , and are known to the greatest part of europe ; yet some are so unreasonably incredulous , that they will not be perswaded there has been any persecution in that kingdom ; and others have been so disingeniously confident , as to maintain in their oral and printed discourses , that there has been none . amongst these latter , is the bishop of meaux , monsieur varillas , father thomasin , monsieur brueis , &c. persons of great parts and learning , though of very little candour and integrity . nor indeed , is it any wonder to find such sons and champions of popery , deficient in those laudable and christian virtues ▪ since 't is very difficult , nay , almost impossible , for a man to be of the roman church , and not have his principles vitiated , and his morals depraved by her ; so different are the maxims and doctrines she imposes , from those which our saviour teacheth us in his holy gospel . but that which the ingenious author of the apolog. hist . urges , to prove the truth of the late persecution against the assertions of monsieur brueis , and the rest , seems sufficient to convince the unprejudic'd world of the reality thereof , and to invalidate those gentlemens arguments , and all other whatsoever to the contrary . above two hundred thousand persons , says he , of both sexes , of all ages , and of all conditions , the greatest part of which lived very well , at their ease , in their own houses , and many of them possess'd rich inheritances , considerable imploys , fair revenues , some to the value of three and four thousand pounds per annum . these , says he , have left all , and are most of them gone out of france , in a manner , quite naked . they have not only quitted their houses and estates , abandon'd their country , their friends , their parents , relations of all kinds , those that were nearest and dearest to them ; they have broke all the ties of nature and consanguinity , and of the most tender affection ; they have separated , if i may so say , from a part of themselves , from their own bowels . in this cruel separation , they have gone away from all they had most near and dear to them in the world , at the price of their liberties and their lives . they have done it to go and wander in unknown countries , in climates extreamly different from those where they had receiv'd their births , without having any thing certain , without hoping for any other subsistance there , than what they could gather from the charity of strangers . if this be not the effect of a violent persecution , what is then that madness which has got into the minds of all , and made them take so unparellell'd a resolution ? how has this fury communicated it self to so many people of all sorts , who lived very far asunder , and who had never known , or seen one another ? how has it gain'd , in so short a time , all the provinces of so great a kingdom as france is , and in those provinces , almost all who were , or had been of the reform'd religion , men and women , young and old , rich and poor , noble and ignoble ? let monsieur brueis now explain to us a little this unheard of prodigy , if he will perswade us that there has been no persecution in france . but whatsoever men are pleased to say , and think of it , i may with truth affirm , that above two hundred thousand of the kings most faithful subjects have voluntarily banished themselves from his kingdom to fly the persecution ; not to speak of many thousand others , persons , some of which have been condemned to the last punishments by the judges ; others have been massacred by the souldiers ; others have died in the galleys , others have been shut up in convents ; and others been embark'd and sent for america . new declarations more severe than the former are daily publish'd ; fresh orders are given for the guard of the frontiers ; the new converts are forc'd , with greater rigour than ever , to go to mass , to confess , and to receive the communion . they continue to fill the convents , prisons and galleys with confessors ; and they empty them from time to time by new embarkments for america . there where the assemblies continue , there they continue to massacre them . the dragoons perform their mission with the same zeal still ; and the judges cease not giving the same sights to the people of bodies drawn about on sledges , and cast dead upon the common highways ; and of martyrs conducted to punishment , and ending their lives by the hands of executioners . such is now the face of france : such is the concord and the union that reigns at present in this kingdom : such is the calm which the church enjoys , and that happy peace which the king has given it ; according to the style of monsieur brueis . what concord , o god! what union ! what calm ! what peace ! truly no patience is proof against the base dishonesty of this declaimer . who can suffer such like impudence ? but above all , who can without indignation read what he says in another place in the same spirit ? we see now , says he , that the wise conduct of this great prince has brought again into the church , the fairest days of christianity , &c. yes , these are , we know it but too well ; these are the fairest days , not of christianity , god forbid ! but of popery , of the roman church ; that cruel babylon , which is never so satisfied , as when she can make her self drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of jesus ; looks on such days , as her days of festival , as her days of triumph . so it was that she heretofore look'd on that sad and dreadful night of st. bartholomew , wherein many thousand protestants were massacred by the papists in times of peace , and in cold blood : one of her orators made the encomium thereof , with a thousand transports of admiration and joy , in a speech which he pronounced before pope gregory the xiii . o! memorable night , said he , and worthy to be ingrav'd in large characters in history , &c. that same night , i think the stars appear'd more bright and glorious than ordinary ; and the river sene had swelld its waters , that it might hurry away with a greater rapidness , the dead bodies of those impure persons , viz. of the reform'd , and discharge it self the sooner of them into the sea. o! thrice happy women , katharine , mother of the king ! &c. o! happy brothers of the king ! &c. o! day , in fine , full of joy and pleasantness , wherein you , holy father , having receiv'd this news , you assisted on foot at the processions you had order'd , for the rendring thanks for it to god , and to st. lewis , &c. what more agreeable news could have been told you ? and we , what happier beginning could we have wish'd for of your popedom ? let any one judge by these words , of the spirit of popery , and of that of her soveraign high priest ; and whether it be not the spirit of the impure and cruel babylon , rather than that of the church of jesus christ . i will now conclude , because i propos'd to my self to give you but a little abridgment , and an idea , only of this great persecution ; i doubt not but he , to whom vengeance belongs , will sooner or later revenge so many evils . lento quidem gradu divina procedit ira , sed tarditatem supplicii gravitate compensat . vengeance doth surely , tho' but slowly tread , and strikes with iron , tho' it walks with lead . you see , in this relation , the impostures and treacheries of popery , as to its oaths and promises ; to which no credit ought ever to be given , because it certainly never swears and promises , but to be perjur'd , and to break its word upon the first occasion . you likewise see here the degrees of its cruelties , and how by little and little it advances them , till it at length comes to the effusion of blood , and to open violence farewel . i am sir , your very humble and obedient servant . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a55466-e470 apologetick hist . p 388 p. 399. tome 2d . apologetick hist . tome 2d . p. 388. 389. apolog. hist . p 394. & 395 , &c. murat . orat. 22. pro caro. the french king's declaration, that the children of those of the pretended reformed religion may change their religion at the age of seven years with a prohibition that those of the said religion may not send their children to be bred in forreign countries : registred in parliament the 8th day of july new stile, 1681. and printed at paris. declaration du roy, portant que les enfant de la religion pretendue reformée pourront se convetir à l'âge de sept ans. english france. sovereign (1643-1715 : louis xiv) 1681 approx. 9 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49219 wing l3116 estc r10009 13546474 ocm 13546474 100143 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. a49219) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100143) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 464:21) the french king's declaration, that the children of those of the pretended reformed religion may change their religion at the age of seven years with a prohibition that those of the said religion may not send their children to be bred in forreign countries : registred in parliament the 8th day of july new stile, 1681. and printed at paris. declaration du roy, portant que les enfant de la religion pretendue reformée pourront se convetir à l'âge de sept ans. english france. sovereign (1643-1715 : louis xiv) 1 sheet ([1] p.) for andrew forrester ..., printed at london : 1681. caption title. 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 counter-reformation -france. protestants -france -history -17th century -sources. broadsides -england -london -17th century 2006-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-01 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-01 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the french king's declaration , that the children of those of the pretended reformed religion may change their religion at the age of seven years : with a prohibition that those of the said religion may not send their children to be bred in forreign countries . registred in parliament the 8th of july new stile , 1681. and printed at paris . lewis by the grace of god king of france and of navarre : to all those that shall see these present letters , greeting . the great successes which it hath pleased god to give to the spiritual excitations , and the other reasonable means which we have hitherto used for the conversion of our subjects of the pretended reformed religion , do oblige us to second the motions which god has given to many of our said subjects to acknowledge the errour wherein they were born ; we therefore have resolved to repeal some things in our declaration of the first of february , 1669. by which the children of that religion were in some sort hindred to convert themselves to the catholick apostolick and roman religion after the age of seven years ( in which they are capable of reason and choice , in a matter so important to them as is that of their salvation ) till the males were of the age of fourteen years , and females of the age of twelve ; though in the edict of nantes , and in the other edicts made in favour of the pretended reformed religion , there is no such provision made . and this being a thing of which it is necessary for us to take care , for these reasons , and for other considerations moving us thereunto , we have said and declared , and do say and declare by these presents signed with our hand , and it is our will and pleasure , that our said subjects of the pretended reformed religion , both males and females , having attained to the age of seven years , may lawfully embrace the catholick apostolick and ronan religion . and to that effect they shall be admitted to make abjuration of the pretended reformed religion , so as that their fathers or mothers may not give any hindrance to it upon any pretence whatsoever . and to that effect , we repeal so much as concerns this point in our said declaration of the first of february , 1669. besides , we will that the said children that shall be converted after the age of seven years compleat , shall enjoy the effect of our declaration of the fourteenth of october , 1665. and that according to it , it shall be left to their choice , after their conversion , either to return to live and be bred up in the same house with their fathers and mothers , or to go elsewhere ; and to demand of them a pension for their subsistence proportionably to their condition and abilities ; which pension their said fathers and mothers shall be bound to pay to their children quarterly : and in case they shall refuse to do it , our will is , that they shall be compelled to it by all due and reasonable ways . and we being informed that many of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , have sent their children to be bred in forrein countries , by which they may receive maximes contrary to the state , and the fidelity which they owe us by their birth , we do require them most expresly to recal them without delay under the following pains , that those who have estates in lands shall forfeit their whole revenue during the first year , and a moity of their said revenue during all that time that they shall keep their children in forrein countries . and for those who have no estates in lands , they shall be obliged to recal their said children under the pain of a fine , which shall be determined proportionably to their goods and abilities . and they shall be obliged to make payments of their said revenues and fines every year , till they have recalled their children . we prohibit our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion to send for the future their children into forrein countries , to be educated in them , before they are sixteen years old , without our express leave , under the pains above-mentioned . we do also give in charge to our beloved and faithful counsellors that constitute our court of parliament of paris , that they make these presents to be read , published , registred , and executed according to their form and tenour , without suffering them to be contravened in any sort or manner whatsoever : for such is our pleasure . in witness whereof , we have put our seal to these presents . given at versailles the 17th of june , in the year of lord 1681. and the 39th year of our reign . signed lewis . in the counterpart , by the king colbert . and sealed with the great seal in yellow wax . read , published , and registred at the instance of the king's attorney-general , that they might be executed according to their form and tenour , according to the judgement made the said day at paris in the parliament the 8th of july 1681. signed james . an order of the council of state. the king being informed in council of the progress made in the catholick religion in many places of the lower poictou , and that several of the inhabitants that were seduced by errour do reunite themselves to the church . and his majesty likewise considering that the chief motive of the edict of grace , granted by the late king of glorious memory , in the year 1629. to his subjects of the pretended reformed religion , was to deface the memory of what was past , in hopes that his said subjects , devesting themselves of all passions , might be more capable to receive the light of the gospel , and to re-enter into the true faith in which this kingdom had continued above 1200. years . and whereas the ministers of the pretended reformed religion , do endeavour by all sorts of artifices to obstruct so good a work , which is contrary to his majesties intentions ; he having thereupon considered the edict of 1629. together with the whole affair , his majesty in council does most expresly forbid all ministers , elders , or others of his subjects , professing the said pretended reformed religion , to use any menaces , intimidations , artifices , or any fact whatsoever to hinder the conversion of those of the pretended reformed religion . and forbids all ministers and elders to enter their houses either by day or by night , except it be to visit the sick , and do other functions of their ministry , under the pain of corporal punishment . and his majesty ordains that he be informed of the violations of the said edicts , and of this present order , by the diligent care of his attorneys ; and that process be made against the guilty who shall violate the same , by the judges to whom the cognizance of it ought to belong . given at st. clou the 19th of april , 1681. signed le tellier . some particulars extracted out of a letter of the 29th of june . while our enemies are every where pulling down our churches , they procure an edict , that our ministers may not visit us in our houses ; and so they intend to take from us the exercise of our religion both in private and publick . i need not acquaint you with the slight pretences that serve to procure a condemnation of our churches ; how weak soever it is in law , and how weakly soever it is proved , yet every thing alleadged against us is sufficient . every complaint made of our ministers is believed . we have no more any humane confidence to depend upon : we are imprisoned , and kept there without any thing objected to us . our enemies will not be so kind as to make us feel all their rage at once , and make us die a single death , but intend to famish us , and make us die of hunger ; and that not onely of the word of the lord , by depriving us of our churches and pastors , but even of our daily bread . in all these our sufferings , we cannot be accused of one act of rage against our enemies , or of disloyalty to our king. and now our miseries encrease upon us , for an edict is coming out , that our children at seven years old may change their religion . we know what will follow upon us ; and that our busie enemies will be every where tempting our little ones ; so that we dare no more reprove or chastize them for their faults , lest we thereby drive them to renounce our holy faith at an age in which they cannot distinguish truth from falshood , nor good from evil . we have nothing left us but to fly to god by fasting , mourning , and prayer ; and who knows if he will turn these evils from us ? in which we humbly beg the assistance of all our brethrens prayers . printed at london for andrew forrester in kings street westminster . 1681. a letter of several french ministers fled into germany upon the account of the persecution in france to such of their brethren in england as approved the kings declaration touching liberty of conscience : translated from the original in french. jurieu, pierre, 1637-1713. 1688 approx. 29 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48123 wing l1575 estc r9560 12924962 ocm 12924962 95505 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. a48123) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95505) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 986:34) a letter of several french ministers fled into germany upon the account of the persecution in france to such of their brethren in england as approved the kings declaration touching liberty of conscience : translated from the original in french. jurieu, pierre, 1637-1713. wake, william, 1657-1737. 7 p. s.n., [london : 1688] reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. attributed to pierre jurieu. cf. nuc pre-1956. translation of work by william wake. cf. nuc pre-1956. caption title. 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 -france. protestants -france. freedom of religion -france -early works to 1800. 2004-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-01 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter of several french ministers fled into germany upon the account of the persecution in france , to such of their brethren in england as approved the kings declaration touching liberty of conscience . translated from the original in french. altho in our present dispersion , most dear and honoured brethren , it has pleased the providence of god to conduct us into places very distant from one another . yet that union which ought always to continue betwixt us , obliges us to declare our sense to one another with a christian and brotherly freedom upon all occasions , that may present themselves to us so to do . 't is this makes us hope that you will not take it amiss of us , if at this time we deliver our opinion to you touching the affairs of england in matters of religion , and with reference to that conduct which you have observed therein . we ought not to conceal it from you , that the greatest part of the protestants of europe have been extremely scandalized to understand , that certain among you , after the example of many of the dissenters , have addressed to the king of england , upon the account of his declaration , by which he has granted liberty of conscience to the non-conformists : and that some others who had already ranked themselves under the episcopal communion , nevertheless published the said declaration in their churches ; and this at a time when almost all the bishops themselves with so much firmness and courage refused to do it . if we may be permitted to tell you freely what our opinion is concerning the conduct of the bishops and of the dissenters in this conjuncture , we shall make no difficulty to pronounce in favour of the former . we look upon it that they have exceedingly well answered the duty of their charge , whilst despising their own private interest , they have so worthily supported that of the protestant religion : whereas the others , for want of considering these things as they ought to have done , have given up the interest of their religion to their own particular advantages . it is not out of any complement to the bishops , much less out of any enmity to the dissenters , that we make such different judgments concerning them . we know well enough how to commend or blame , what seems to us to deserve our praise or our censure both in the one and in the other . we do not at all approve the conduct of the bishops towards the dissenters under the last reign . and altho we do not any more approve that of the dissenters in separating from their communion , yet we do confess they had some reason in the bottom for it ; and that the ceremonies which they have refused to submit to are the remains of popery , which we could rather wish might have been entirely abolished . in this unhappy schism which has so long time rent the church of england ; we look upon it , that both parties have been equally defective in their charity . on the one side , the dissenters ought by no means to have separated themselves for the form of ecclesiastical government , nor for ceremonies which do not at all concern the fundamentals of religion . on the other side , the bishops should have had a greater condescension to the weakness of their brethren : and without doubt they would have acted in a manner more agreeable to the spirit of the gospel , if instead of treating them with so much rigor as they did , they had left them the liberty of serving god according to their conscience , till it should have pleased him to re-unite all under the same discipline . however the conformity of opinion between the dissenters and us , ought to have prejudiced us in their favour , had we been capable of partiality on this occasion . there is also another thing which might have disposed us to judge less favourably of the bishops than of them , and that is the yoke which they have imposed upon the french ministers , by obliging them to receive a second ordination before they could be permitted to exercise their ministry in the church of england , as if the ordination they had received in france had not been sufficient . but we must do justice to all the world , and bear witness to the truth . we have already said , and we must again repeat it , it seems to us that on this last occasion the bishops have discharged their duty , and are most worthy of praise , whereas the dissenters on the contrary are extreamly to be ●●●●ned . and we will presently offer our reasons wherefore we judge so of the one , and of the other . in the mean time , most dear brethren , give us leave freely to tell you , that if our brethren the dissenters of england , who have addressed to the king , are to be blamed , ( as we verily believe they are ) you certainly are much more to be condemned . the hardships under which they had lived for many years without churches , without pastors , without assemblies , made them think the liberty of conscience which was offered to them , a great ease . their spirits , soured and prejudiced by the ill treatments they had received from the church of england , had not freedom enough to let them see that the present which was made them was empoison'd . and therefore upon the sudden they received it with joy , and thought themselves obliged to testifie their acknowledgment of it . but for you who never had any part in the divisions of the church of england , and who by consequence were in a state to judge more soundly of things , how is it that you should not have perceived the poison that was hid under the liberty of conscience offered to them ? or if you did not perceive it of your selves , how is it that the generous refusal of the bishops , tho' at the peril of their liberty and estates , to publish the declaration in their diocesses , should not at least have open'd your eyes ? how have those venerable prelates now highly justified themselves from the reproach that was laid upon them of being popishly affected , and of persecuting the dissenters only , but of a secret hatred to the reformation ? how well have they made it appear that these were only calumnies invented by their enemies to render them odious to the protestants , and that their hearts were truly fix'd to the reformed religion , and animated with a zeal worthy primitive bishops ? could you see those faithful servants of god , disobey the order of their soveraign , expose themselves thereby to his disgrace , suffer imprisonment , and prepare themselves to suffer any thing , rather then betray their consciences and their religion , without admiring their constancy , and being touched with their examples ? but above all , could you resolve by your conduct to condemn that of those generous confessors ? is this the acknowledgment which you ought to have made to them for that charity , with which they had received and comforted you in your exile ? is this to answer the glorious quality of confessors , of which you so much vaunt your selves ? is this the act of faithful ministers of christ ? give us leave to tell you , most dear brethren , your proceedings in this affair appear so very strange to us , that we cannot imagine how you were capable of so doing . it seems to us to have even effaced all the glory you had attained by your sufferings , to reproach your ministry and to be unworthy of true and reformed christians . this is no rash judgment which we pass ; and to convince you that it is not , we beseech you only to examine these things with us without prejudice and interest . the declaration of which we speak is designed for two purposes : the one , the re-establishment of popery . the other , the extinction of the reformed religion in england . the former of these designs appears openly in it . the second is more concealed ; 't is a mystery of iniquity , covered over with a specious appearance ; and of which the trace must be concealed till the time of manifestation comes . we will say nothing of a third design , which is , of the oppression of the liberties of england for the establishment of an absolute authority , but shall leave it to the polititians to make their reflexions upon it . as for us , if we sometimes touch upon it , it shall be only with reference to religion : we will apply our selves chiefly to the two other designs which they proposed to themselves who made that declaration . it cannot be deny'd but that by this declaration , there is liberty of conscience granted indifferently to the papists and to the dissenters . it comprehends both the one and the other under the name of nonconformists . and we may with confidence affirm , that they were the papists especially whom the king had in his eye when he gave this declaration . and howsoever he may pretend to have been touched with the oppressions which the dissenters had suffered ; yet that his principal design was to re-establish popery . behold here already a very great evil , and such as all true protestants are obliged with their utmost power to oppose . what , shall we see popery , that abominable religion , that prodigious heap of filthiness and impurity , re-establish it self , with all its honours , in kingdoms from which the reformation had happily banished it ? and shall there be found in those kingdoms protestants who not only stand still without making any opposition to it , but e'en favour its re-establishment , and openly give it their approbation ? who could have thought that the dissenters of england , men who have always testified so great an aversion to the roman religion ; and who have no other pretence to separate from the bishops , than that they have in part retained in their government and ceremonies the exteriors of that religion , should now themselves joyn to bring it intirely in ? but above all , who could have believed that the french ministers , who after having experimented all the fury of popery in france , were at last banished , rather than that they would subscribe to its errors and abuses : and for this very cause fled into england , that they might there more freely profess the protestant religion , should now contribute to re-establish popery in their new country , where they had been received by their brethren with so singular a charity ? would you indeed , gentlemen , see england once more submitted to the tyranny of the pope , whose yoke it so happily threw off in the last age ? would you there see all those monstrous doctrins , all those superstitions , and that horrible idolatry which reigned there before the reformation , domineer once more in it ? would you that the people should again hear the pulpits and the churches sounding out the doctrins of purgatory , of indulgences , of the sacrifice of the mass , &c. and see the images and reliques of the saints carried solemnly in procession , with a god formed by the hand of men ? and that in fine , they should again publickly adore those vain idols ? we are confident there is not a good protestant in the world that would not startle but at the thought of it . but this is not yet all . the declaration of which we speak does not only re-establish popery with all its abominations , but does moreover tend to the ruine of the reformation in england . a man need not to have any great sagacity to be convinced of this . and that as much as it seems to establish for ever the protestant religion in that kingdom , it does on the contrary destroy the very foundations of it . the ground upon which the reformation is founded in england , are the laws which have been made at several times for the settlement of it , and to abolish either the tyranny of the pope , or the popish religion altogether . and as these laws have been made by the king and parliament together , so that the king has not the power to repeal them without a parliament , they secure the protestant religion against the enterprises of such kings as should ever think to destroy it . but now if this declaration be executed , we are no more to make any account of those solemn laws which have been passed in favour of the reformation , they become of no value , and the protestant religion is intirely left to the king's pleasure . this is what will clearly appear from what we are about to say . the king not having been able to obtain of the last parliament to consent to a repeal of the laws which had been made against the nonconformists , dissolved the parliament it self . not long after , without attending a new one , he did that alone by his declaration which the parliament would not do conjunctly with him . he granted a full liberty of conscience to the nonconformists ; he freed them from the penalties which had been appointed against them , and dispensed with the oaths to which the laws obliged all those who were admitted to any charges , whether in the soldiery , or in administration of justice , or of the government . in pursuance of these declarations he threw the protestants out of all places of any great importance to clap in papists in their room , and goes on without ceasing to the intire establishment of popery . who does not see , that if the protestants approve these declarations , and themselves authorise such enterprises , the king will not stop here , but that this will be only one step to carry him much further ? what can be said when he shall do the same thing with reference to those laws which exclude the papists out of the parliament , that he has done to those which shut them out of all charges and imploys , and forbad them the exercise of their religion ? does not the approbation of such declarations , as it overthrows these last , carry with it before hand the approbation of those which shall one day overthrow the former ? and if the king shall once give himself the authority to bring papists into the parliament , who shall hinder him from using solicitations , promises , threatnings , and a thousand other the like means to make up a popish parliament ? and who shall hinder him with the concurrence of that parliament to repeal all the antient laws that had been passed against popery , and make new ones against the protestants ? these are without doubt the natural consequences of what the king at this time aims at . these are the fruits which one ought to expect from it , if instead of approving as some have done his enterprises against the laws , they do not on the contrary with all imaginable vigor oppose them . reflect a little on what we have here said , and you will consess that we have reason to commend the conduct of the bishops who refused to publish the declaration ; and to condemn those dissenters who have made their addresses of thanks for it . it is true that the dissenters are to be pitied , and that they have been treated hardly enough , and we do not think it at all strange , that they so earnestly sigh after liberty of conscience . it is natural for men under oppression to seek for relief : and liberty of conscience considered only in it self , is it may be the thing of all the world the most precious and most desirable . would to god we were able to procure it for them by any lawful means , and without such ill consequences , tho' it were at the peril of our lives ! but we conjure them to consider how pernicious that liberty of conscience is which is offer'd to them , as we have just now shewn . on the one side , it is inseparably linked with the establishment of popery ; and on the other , it cannot be accepted without approving a terrible breach which his majesty thereby makes upon the laws , and which would be the ruine of the reformation in his kingdoms , were not some remedy brought to it . and where is the protestant who would buy liberty of conscience at so dear a rate , and not rather choose to continue deprived of it all his life ? should the private interest of our brethren the dissenters blind them in such a manner , that they have no regard to the general interest of the church ? should they for enjoying a liberty of conscience so ill assured , shut their eyes to all other considerations ? how much better would it be for them to re-unite themselves to the bishops , with whom they differ only in some points of discipline ; but especially at this time , when their conduct ought to have entirely defaced those unjust suspicions which they had conceived against them ? but if they could not so readily dispose themselves to such a re-union , would it not be better for them to resolve still to continue without liberty of conscience , and expect some more favourable time when they may by lawful means attain it , than to open themselves a gate to popery , and to concur with it to the ruine of the protestant religion ? you will , it may be , tell us , that it looks ill in us , who so much complain , that we have been deprived of liberty of conscience in france , to find fault with the king of england for granting it to his subjects : and that it is the least that can be allowed to a sovereign , to allow him the right to permit the exercise of his own religion in his own kingdoms , and to make use of the service of such of his subjects as himself shall think fit , by putting them into charges and employs . you will add , that his majesty does not go about neither to abrogate the antient laws , nor to make new ones . all he does being only to dispense with the observation of certain laws in such of his subjects as he thinks fit , and for as long time as he pleases ; and that the right of dispensing with , and suspending of laws , is a right inseparably ty'd to his person : that for the rest , the protestant religion does not run the least risque . there are laws to shut the papists out of parliament , and these laws can neither be dispensed with , nor suspended : so that the parliament partaking with the king in the legislative power , and continuing still protestant , there is no cause to fear , that any thing should be done contrary to the protestant religion . besides , what probability is there , that a king , who appears so great an enemy to oppression in matters of conscience and religion , should ever have a thought , tho he had the power himself , to oppress in this very matter the greatest part of his subjects , and take from them that liberty of conscience which he now grants to them , and which he promises so inviolably to observe for the time to come ? these are all the objections that can with any appearance of reason be made against what we have before said . they may all be reduced to five , which we shall examine in their order . and we doubt not but we shall easily make it appear , that they are all but meer illusions . 1. we do justly complain , that they have taken from us our liberty of conscience in france , because it was done contrary to the laws . and one may as justly complain , that the k of england does labour to re-establish popery in his country , because he cannot do it but contrary to the laws . our liberties in france were founded upon solemn laws , upon perpetual , irrevocable , and sacred edicts ; and which could not be recalled , without violating at once the public faith , the royal word , and the sacredness of an oath . and popery has been banished out of england by laws made by king and parliament , and which cannot be repealed but by the authority of king and parliament together ; so that therefore there is just cause to complain , that the king should go about to overthrow them himself alone by his declaration . 2. it is not true that a sovereign has always the right to permit the exercise of his own religion in his dominions , and to make use of the service of such of his subjects as he himself shall think fit , that is to say , by putting of them into charges and employs : and in particular , he has not this right , when the laws of his country are contrary thereunto , as they are in the case before us . every king is obliged to observe the fundamental laws of his kingdom . and the king of england , as well as his subjects , ought to observe the laws which have been established by king and parliament together . 3. for the third , the distinction between the abrogation of a law , and the dispensing with and suspending of it cannot here be of any use ; whether the king abrogates the laws which have been made against popery , or whether without saying expresly that he does abrogate them ; he overthrows them by his declarations , under pretence of dispensing with , or suspending of them ; it is still in effect the same thing . and to what purpose is it that the laws are not abrogated , if in the mean time all sorts of charges are given to papists , and popery it self be re-established contrary to the tenor of the laws ? the truth is , if the king has such a power as this , if this be a right necessarily tied to his person , 't is in vain that the parliament does partake with him in the legislature . this authority of the parliament is but a meer name , a shadow , a phantome , a chimera , and no more . the king is still the absolute master , because he can alone , and without his parliament , render useless by his declarations the laws which the parliament shall have the most solemnly established together with him . we confess the king has right of dispensing in certain cases , as if the concern be what belongs to his private interest , he may without doubt whenever he pleases depart from his own rights ; 't is a liberty which no body will pretend to contest with him . but he has not the power to dispense to the prejudice of the rights of the people , nor by consequence put the property , the liberty , and the lives of his protestant subjects into the hands of papists . 4. what we have now said in answer to the third objection , will be more clear from the answer we are to give to the fourth . they would perswade the protestants that their religion is in safety , because on the one side the king cannot make laws without the parliament ; and that on the other , there being laws which exclude papists out of the two houses , it must necessarily follow , that the parliament shall continue to be protestant . but if the king has the power to break throught the laws , under the pretence of dispensing with and suspending of them , what security shall the protestants have that he will not dispense with the papists , the observation of those laws which do exclude them out of the parliament , as well as he has dispensed with those that should have kept them out of charges and imployments ? what security shall they have that he will not at any time hereafter suspend the execution of the former , as he has already suspended the execution of the latter ? which being so , what should hinder us from seeing in a little time a popish parliament , who together with the king shall pass laws contrary to the protestant religion ? what difference can be shewn between the one and the other of these laws , that the one should be liable to be dispensed with and suspended , and the other not ? were they not both established by the king and parliament ? were not both the one and the other made for the security of the protestant religion , and of those who profess it ? are not the rights of the people concerned in the one , as well as in the other ? and whosoever suffers and approves the king in the violation of these rights in some things , does he not thereby authorise him to violate them in all ? if the king has power to put the liberty and property and lives of his protestant subjects at the mercy of the papists , by placing them in charges contrary to the law , why should he not have the power to raise the same papists to the authority of legislators by declaring them capable of sitting in parliament , seeing that is but contrary to law ? do not deceive your selves , the laws are the barrier which bound the authority of the king , and if his barrier be once broken , he will extend his authority as far as he pleases . and it will be impossible for you after that to set any bounds to it . 5. in fine , he must be very little acquainted with the spirit of popery , who imagines that it will be content to re-establish it self in england , without aiming to destroy the protestant religion . give it but time and opportunity to fortifie it self , and you may then expect to see what it is . in all places where it has got the power in its hands , it will not only rule , but rule alone , and not suffer any other religion besides it self ; and imploys the sword and fire to extirpate that which it calls heresie . were not this a truth confirmed by infinite examples both ancient and modern , which every one knows who has read any thing of history , it would be too much evidenced by the cruelties which it has so lately exercised against the churches of hungary , of france , and of the valleys of piemont . and men ought not to be lulled asleep by the pretence of an inclination which the king of england would be thought to have for liberty of conscience ; nor by the promises which he makes to preserve it to all his subjects without distinction . every one knows that perfidiousness and breach of faith are characters of popery no less essential to it than cruelty . can you doubt of this , gentlemen ? you who so lately came from making a sad experiment of it ? how often did our king promise us to preserve us in our priviledges ? how many declarations , how many edicts did he set out to that purpose ? how many oaths were taken to confirm those edicts ? did not this very king lewis xiv . himself solemnly promise by several edicts and declarations to maintain us in all the liberties which were granted to us by the edict of nantes ? and yet after all , what scruple was there made to violate so many laws , so many promises , and so many oaths ? the protestants of england have themselves also sometimes likewise experimented the same infidelity : and not to alledge here any other example , let us desire them to remember only the reign of queen mary , what promises she made at her coming to the crown , not to make any change of religion ; and yet what bloody laws she afterwards passed to extinguish the reformation as soon as she saw her self fast in the throne ? and with what inhumanity she spilt the blood of her most faithful subjects to accomplish that design ? after such an instance as this , a man must be very credulous indeed , and willing to deceive himself , that will put too much confidence in the promises of the king that now reigns . do we not know , that there are neither promises nor oaths which the pope does not pretend to have power to dispense with in those whom he employs for the extirpation of heresie ? and do we not also know , that it is one of the great maxims of popery , a maxim authorized both by the doctrin and practice of the council of constance , that they are not obliged to keep any faith with hereticks . we ought not to believe that king james ii. a prince who has so much zeal for popery , should be govern'd by any other maxims than those of his religion . and whosoever will take the pains to examine his conduct both before and since his coming to the crown , will find that he has more than once put 'em in practice . and this , gentlemen , we suppose may be sufficient to convince all reasonable persons , that there is nothing more pernicious than that declaration which you have approved ; whether by publishing it , as some of you have done , or by addressing to the king to thank him for it . when you shall have reflected upon these things , you will without doubt your selves confess , that you have suffered your selves to be amused with some imaginary advantages which you hope to make by this declaration . in the mean time , most dear brethren , you will pardon us , if we have chanced to have let any thing slip that is not agreeable to you . we had no design to give the least offence either to you , or to our brethren the dissenters of england . if we have spoken our thoughts freely of your conduct and of theirs , we have at least spoken with no less liberty of that of the bishops . and god is our witness , that we have said nothing of the one or the other , but in the sincerity of our heart , and out of a desire to contribute somewhat to his glory , and the good of his church . we are , most honoured brethren , your most humble , most obedient , and most affectionate brethren in jesus christ , n.n. the substance of a sermon, being an incouragement for protestants or a happy prospect of glorious success: with exhortations to be valiant against our enemies, in opposing the bloody principle of papists, and errors of popery, &c. occasionally on the protestants victory over the french and irish papists before london-derry, in raising that desperate siege. by mr. walker minister, and governor of the city. walker, george, of londonderry. 1689 approx. 22 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 7 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66990 wing w348 estc r219337 99830816 99830816 35270 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. a66990) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35270) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1878:23) the substance of a sermon, being an incouragement for protestants or a happy prospect of glorious success: with exhortations to be valiant against our enemies, in opposing the bloody principle of papists, and errors of popery, &c. occasionally on the protestants victory over the french and irish papists before london-derry, in raising that desperate siege. by mr. walker minister, and governor of the city. walker, george, of londonderry. [2], 10 p. printed by a. milbourn in green-arbour-court in the little-old-baily, london : 1689. with a license to print on verso of title page dated june the 5th. 1689. with title-page woodcut. caption title on p. 1: a glorious prospect of the protestants happiness, &c. a reissue of walker, george. the substance of a discourse being an incouragement for protestants, .. , with a new title page. 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 protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. 2004-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the substance of a sermon , being an incouragement for protestants , or a happy prospect of glorious success : with exhortations to be valiant against our enemies , in opposing the bloody principles of papists , and errors of popery , &c. occasionally on the protestants victory over the french and irish papists before london-derry , in raising that desperate siege . by mr. walker minister , and governor of the city . london , printed by a. milbourn in green-arbour-court in the little-old-baily . 1689. licensed , june the 5th . 1689. entred according to order ▪ a glorious prospect of the protestants happiness , &c. judges vii . 20. the sword of the lord , and of gideon . we may through all the course of holy scripture , plainly behold that when the almighty designed to work out a deliverance to his people , he made them sensible that it was not so much the arms of flesh , as his immediate power that saved them . the israelites at the time that god raised up gideon the son of joash to be an instrument in his hand of saving them , were oppressed by the midianites & amalakites , a cruel and wastful people that spared no means that force or fraud could invent to vex them , and lay their country desolate , to draw them away to idolatry , and the worship of strange gods , which their fathers had not known ; and least they should seem to attribute the victory to multitudes , and not give the sole glory to the god of battles ; this great captain had an express command , to try first their courage and resolution , and after that proving too many , they were selected at the water-brook , where three hundred only were chosen , and with that small number , the mighty army was overthrown , destroyed , broken , and confounded at first onset by the breaking of pitchers , & sounding of trumpets , and crying , the sword of the lord , and of gideon , judges 7. 20. let but the lord arise , ( says holy david ) and his enemies shall be scattered : ( and again ) god is our refuge and strength , a very present help in trouble : therefore will we not fear though the earth be moved , and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea ; though the waters thereof roar , and be troubled , psal. 46. 1 , 2 , 3. we find that when samaria was besieged , and even famine raged in the city to a degree , that a woman was forced to eat the fruits of her womb , when all visible means failed , and an insulting enemy every day expected to enter the city , and bring it to final desolation ; that only a noise being heard in the hills and mountains , raised the siege , and gave abundance of plenty to the besieged , according as the prophet had foretold . and senacharibs hoast trusting in the arm of the flesh , and the multitude of horses and chariots , found themselves insensibly defeated by the revenging sword of the destroying angel , falling dead , by the mighty stroak of an invisible power , whose force they felt , but knew no way to resist , or fly from , till 80000 of them were fetter'd in the chains of death . and upon consideration of these , and the like deliverances , holy david says to comfort himself , and his people , viz. the lord of hosts is with us , the god of jacob is our refuge ; come , behold the work of the lord , what desolation he hath made in the earth , he maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth , he breaketh the bow , and cutteth the spear in sunder , and burneth the chariot with fire : be still , and know that i am god , i will be exalted amongst the heathen , i will be exalted in the earth . the lord of hosts is with us , the god of jacob is our refuge , psal. 46. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. for although god makes man for the most part the instrument in his hand , the more visibly to bring about his purposes ; yet without the operation of almighty power and wisdom , mens devices are brought to nought , for here we find , that when gideon came to behold the camp of the enemy , the midianites , and amalakites , and all the children of the host ●ay along in the valley like grashoppers for multitude , and their camels were without number , as the sand of the sea , judges 7. 12. yet this great army that had so long been the wastful terrour of the country , was put into such a fear at the cry of the sword of the lord , and gideon , that they were utterly confounded , and knew not what they did ; for as we find it in ver . 21 , 22. of the foregoing chapter , viz. and they stood every man in his place round about the camp , and all the hoast ran , and cryed , and fled , and the three hundred blew the trumpets , and the lord set every mans sword against his fellow even throughout all the hoast , and the host fled , &c. by this we may see , it was more through fear and distraction they were broken , than through any slaughter the three hundred israelites were capable of making amongst so great a company of men . david incouraged by god , pursued the amalakites that burnt ziklag , and with four hundred men fell upon those that had taken the spoil , and with four hundred men defeated their great army , recovering what ever had been taken away . barach and deborah defeated jab●n's great hoast , destroying it together with cisse●a its captain , who fell in jael's tent. sampson with h●s single arm , routed at sundry times , the powers of the philist●●s ; so that we see that god confounds strength with weakness , for when men presume too much on the arm of flesh , they frequently deceive themselves ; and in the midst of their security are overthrown : therefore let a good christian consider that his strength is in the lord , and if god be on his side , he need not be afraid , though danger bes●t him round about ; but be comforted , and made valiant by the words of the kingly prophet , viz. the lord is my light and my salvation , whom shall i fear ; the lord is the strength of my life , of whom shall i be afraid : when the wicked , even mine enemies , and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh , they stumbled and fell : though an hoast should encamp against me , my heart shall not fear , though war shall arise against me , in this will i be confident , psal. 27. 1 , 2 , 3. this ought to be the confidence , and courageous resolution of every christian , especially soldiers , who carry their lives in their hands , and are said to live on the brink of the grave . above all in a good cause , and the defence of the sacred truth , when their religion is in danger , and the enemy seeks not to gain a dominion over their bodys , but over their souls to obscure the light of the gospel , and cloud a kingdom in darkness and ignorance : let them take example by the valiant maccabees , who when they beheld their holy things prophaned an i trampled under foot by an idolatrous people , their altar polluted , and their sanctuarys in danger to be defiled ; they took up the sword of gideon , and stood more for their religion than for their lives ▪ nor was the sword of the lord wanting to give them success over their enem●es , and to redeem their bleeding country from the distraction and desolation it , groaned under ; nor may we spare to come nearer home , and find innumerable instances of god's raising up gideons to save these kingdoms , not only from barbarous nations , who in early times have invaded them but from a papal tyranny from plots , and conspiracys that have laboured to make their glory set in blood and ruine . henry the eight was raised up to scatter the midian●tes , and amalakites of rome , whose idolatries and superstitions had infected our israel , and whose pride and luxury had laid waste her pleasant places , and destroyed the good things of the land : this , i say , was the sword of the lord , and of gideon , for god made this pr●nce an instrument in his hand : this was the lord's doings and it is marvelous in our eyes , and in the next place he raised up a good josia in the person of edward the sixth , and under him gave us the purity and light of the go●pel in i●s primitive lustre , brighter than the morning-sta● ▪ and though a●ter the death of this good prince , he 〈◊〉 his sword , and suffered us to be crushed under the 〈◊〉 hands of our enemies ; yet the bloody reign of o mary once over , wherein our adversaries displayed themselves in their true colours , feasting flames with martyrs precious blood , at such a riotous profuseness , as no barb●rous nation had equalled , he heard the groans of his suffering people , and sent us a deliverance , the sword of the lord , and of gideon , was again on our side , as appeared in the reign of queen elizabeth , who was valliant for the truth , and in spite of all the conspiracies to raise a rebellion , or bring her to an untimely end , by poison , daggers , and many pernicious devices ; she stood the gideon , or deborah of our land , and though spain fill'd the seas with fleating castles to destroy this flourishing kingdom , yet the almighty by a small number manifestly bared his arm to save us , and raine those that were too confident in the arm of flesh , not only destroying that huge armado , but routing such forces , as the spaniards sent into ireland , to assist the bloody irish papists , in rebellion against their lawful soveraign , committing such cruelties as are too tedious here to mention , and although in the frustration of their plots and devices they might well have perceived the immediate hand of heaven , protecting this great and prosperous queen ; yet so far were they infatuated , or transported with inseperable malice and revenge , that though their attempts cost many of them their lives , yet no sooner was the wise protest●nt prince king james the first advanced to the throne , but they went to exalt him in a blast to the skies , had not their powder plot been discovered by the div●ne hand of providence , who blasted it ; all which well considered , may make us confess with the royal prophe● , viz. we have thought of thy loving kindness , o god , in the midst of thy temple , according to thy name , o god , so is thy praise vnto the ends of the earth ; thy right hand is full of righteousness : let mount sion rejoyce , let the daughter of jud● be glad , because of thy judgment , psal. 49. verse 9 , 10 , 11. and now without tears of compassion , we cannot reflect on the popish cruelty in the poor kingdom of ireland ; in the reign of king charles the first , anno 1641. when without any provocation , armed with hellish rage , and the natu●●l cruelty of a papist , they by inhumane torments , massacred no less than 200000 english protestants , of all ages and sex ; insomuch that the dead bodies not being suffered by the priests to be buried ; created a contageon , and in some measure took revenge on the murtherers ; and what can we think ? but at this day a papist is a papist still , where even the principle of religion instills a kind of fierceness and barbarity into their nature : nay , if we reflect what in a few months they have done , what better can be expected , if we consider the spoil , plunder , ravagements , and desolations the french and irish in arms have made , regarding neither oaths , promises , nor nearness of relation ; with a desire utterly to root the the english out of the kingdom , with a further design of carrying on their mischevious enterprizes against the protestant religion ; in general , it is time for protestants to become valiant for the truth , and bold as lyons , not only for their religion , but temporal intrest ; the preservation of their wives and children , from murthers , rapes , and deflowrings , and all manner of violence and wickedness : to stand as bulwarks against the rapid inundation of antichristan tyrany . let us consider that the fowls of the air , and the beasts of the forrest , stand in the defence of their own lives , and the lives of their young ones , with such weapons as nature has afforded them : and shall not men in such a case pluck up their spirits , and redouble their courage , since the almighty has of late been so favourable in giving us , even by miracle , a protestant king and queen to sit upon the throne , and so great a prospect of a through deliverance ; we are here members of the church mil●itant : let us not be ashamed or afraid of our profession , when maintaining our christian w●●f●re in a good conscience , and a just cause , we make our way to the church , which is triumphant , where god shall wipe away all tears from our eyes , and there shall be no more death , neither sorrow nor crying , neither shall there be any more p●in , for the former things pass away . rev. 21 , 4. though never so many storms and tempests threaten ; yet a good christian ought not to be dismayed , though in a time , even when danger does beset them : yet it is required , they should humble themselve ; before their maker , and rely on him , who is able to save to the utmost , all that trust in him : for indeed , sin is that which provokes him to with-hold his mercy , and bring calamities on nations , and kingdoms ; it was always well with the seed of jacob , when they cleave fast to the rock of their salvation ; but when they grew regardless , he gave them up to the oppressing nations , who grieved his chosen heritage , for as 't is said psal. 18. ver . 25 , 26. 27. viz. with the merciful , thou wilt shew thy self merciful ; and with an upright man , thou wilt shew thy self upright ; with the pure , thou wilt shew thy self pure ; with the froward , thou wilt shew thy self froward : for thou wilt save the afflicted people , but will bring down high looks . niniveh humbling her self in sackcloath and ashes before the lord , was saved from impendent wrath , when stubborn sodom , and impenitent gomorrah sunk in sulpherous fire ; let us turn then to the lord with our whole hearts , and sing praise unto our deliverer , that our enemies , and all those that seek to hurt us , may fall before us : 't is a good consceience , and an assurance in gods mercy's that makes men valiant ; abraham on this score persued the kings , and rescued his brother lot , &c. out of their hands : david in this assurance undauntedly marched against the mighty champion of the philistims ; and with inconsiderable weapons , as knowing god saves neither by spear nor shield , no more than by weak means , when he resolves to manifest his power ; or intends to save , he overcame the man that had so long desied the armies of israel : for when the great jehovah was designed to show his last judgment upon pharoh ; and his pursuing host in the red sea , and israel cryed out for fear , they were only commanded to stand still , and see the salvation of the lord , and they even without contributing any help of their own , found themselves not only secured from the danger they feared , and a little before had threatned them , but saw their desire upon their enemies ; the element heard the voice of its creator ▪ and returned with violence to let the stubborn monarch know , that the highest rules in the kingdoms of men , in whose hands are all the kingdoms of the earth , and all the breath of life . there is a sword of the lord , and a sword of man ; against the first there is no prevailing , but the latter is weak , if the first be wanting : god if he pleases can arm all the elements to sight for his servants , as he did the hail in the time of joshua , by which there fell more than by the swords of the israelites ; or inclose his people with fiery camps of armed angels , as he did elisha , when his life was sought for by the assyrians . trust in the lord , and he will be to his servants a wall of defence , and a strong tower , a buckler , a shield , and a mighty deliverer ; who has power to do what he pleases : in heaven , and earth , whose will is fate , and whose decrees are irresistable , and irreversable : let us but call upon him sincerely , with a true heart and unfeigned lips , and he will hear us , and deliver us out of all our trouble : let us not then be afraid of their terrour that seek to harm us , but assuredly rest secure in his protection , whose mercys are over all the works of his creation , and he will keep us from the arrows that fly by night , and the shafts , though go abroad by day the adversary shall have no advantage over us : therefore let us acquit our selves like men , and not faint , or grow weary : let fear fly our breasts , and let us arm our selves with courage in a good cause ; and consider that the god of battles , the lord of hosts is the disposer of all things , and if the lord be with us , who shall be against us , and prosper , for there is a sword of the lord , and a sword of gideon . thus by extraordinary means does the almighty save , when he bares his arm to make his power known to the sons of men ; then happy are all they that trust in him , for they shall never be confounded , their enemies shall come out one way , but flee seven ; the lord shall draw a sword after them , and they shall be scattered , even from heaven shall they be discomfited , and scattered o'er the face of the earth , as in judges 3. 2. they fought from heaven , the stars in their courses fought against sisera . if heaven be on our side , in vain is the combination of man , for who is able to stand before that mighty god , whose very looks drieth up the deep , and whose wrath maketh the mountains to melt , before whose majesty job confesseth himself to fail and tremble , like one in a stormy tempest , and that his fear was so great that he was not able to bear it ; nor can his hand be shortened , that he will not save those that stand for his truth , such as are valiant for the promotion of god's honour , are said to fight the lord's battle ; that is , he owns them to be his soldiers , and he puts power and strength into their hands , as he did into his servant joshuah's when he made the heavenly bodies contrary to the course of nature , obey a mortal voice , the sun and moon stood still till his people had accomplished their desire upon their enemies , as we find it in joshua , 10. 13. and when moses held but up his hand the israelites prevailed , for there is nothing too hard for the lord , when he designs to bring about his purposes : i called on the lord in my distress ( says holy david ) the lord answered me , and set me in a large place ; the lord is on my side , i will not fear what man can do unto me : the lord taketh my part with them that help me , therefore shall i see my desire upon them that hate me ; it is better to trust in the lord , than to put confidence in princes , all nations compassed me about , but in the name of the lord will i destroy them , psal. 118. v. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. thus we may behold , how a good cause puts life into the soul , and makes the spirit rise to the extreamest height of valour , banishing the image of fear by a confident assurance of success ▪ makes men bold as lyons , and unwary in their undertakings . this made nehemiah courageous for the house of god , and for his sanctuary , when he caused the very work-men to arm at their labour , having their swords in their hands , even whilst they were building , and repairing the city of jerusalem , to prevent and repel their treacherous enemies who sought always to surprize and bring them to destruction : let us take courage then , and faint not but acquit your selves like men . a protestant prayer for our deliverance from popish enemies , and for future success . o lord god , holy and glorious , in whose hands are all the ends of the earth , thou god of battles on whom all success and victory depends ; look down upon us thy poor afflicted servants , pardon our sins , and pass by the multitude of our transgressions ; save us , save us , o lord , from the malice and hatred of our implacable enemys , defeat their plots and confound their devices , and let them know , neither policy , nor the arm of flesh can do any thing against those thou art pleased to take into thy especial care and protection ; give us courage to be valiant for thy revealed truth in the gospel of thy dear son our ever blessed lord and saviour , and ever defend us from the clouds and mists of popery and errour ; give us hearts to fear , and reverence thy holy name , that all our astions and vndertakings may redound to thy honour and glory through jesus christ : to whom with thee and thy holy spirit , be all power , praise , and dominion , world without end . amen . finis . an exhortation to mutual charity and union among protestants in sermon preach'd before the king and queen at hampton-court, may 21. 1689 / by william wake ... publish'd by his majesties special command. wake, william, 1657-1737. 1689 approx. 52 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66185 wing w242 estc r4543 12376252 ocm 12376252 60618 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. a66185) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60618) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 903:26) an exhortation to mutual charity and union among protestants in sermon preach'd before the king and queen at hampton-court, may 21. 1689 / by william wake ... publish'd by his majesties special command. wake, william, 1657-1737. [2], 34, [1] p. printed for ric. chiswell ... and w. rogers ..., london : 1689. 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 protestants. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-01 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an exhortation to mutual charity and union among protestants . in a sermon preach'd before the king and queen at hampton-covrt , may 21. 1689. by william wake , chaplain in ordinary to their majesties , and preacher to the honourable society of grays-inn . publish'd by his majesties special command . london : printed for ric. chiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard : and w. rogers , at the sun over-against st. dunstan's church in fleetstreet . 1689. rom . xv. 5 , 6 , 7. now the god of patience and consolation , grant you to be like-minded one towards another , according to christ jesus : that ye may with one mind , and one mouth , glorifie god , even the father of our lord jesus christ. wherefore receive ye one another , as christ also received us , to the glory of god. the words are part of that affectionate application , which the apostle here makes of his excellent discourse concerning the exercise of christian charity , in that great instance of condescention to the infirmities of our weaker brethren , in the foregoing chapter . the occasion of it was this : there were in those first times , many among the jews , who tho they were converted to the christian faith , yet still continued zealous for the law ; and not only carefully observed themselves all the rites and ceremonies of it , but would also by any means impose upon all others also , the observance of them . and how earnest they were upon this account , and how much they hated the gentile converts , upon whom the apostles did not think fit to lay any such burden , many passages both in the acts , and in st. paul's epistles , do sufficiently declare . but as in all other differences it seldom happens that the whole heat of the controversie rests only on one side ; so here , tho the jewish converts were both the first beginners of this dispute , and the more zealous pursuers of it , yet neither were the gentile christians utterly without fault in it ; but so far stood fast in that liberty , wherewith christ had made them free , as not only to despise the weakness and ignorance of the others , but to be ready almost , even to cut them off from their communion . i need not say how dangerous such a controversie as this might have proved , nor what a stop it might have put to the progress of christianity , in those first beginnings of the gospel . great were the difficulties which the apostles underwent on this occasion , whilst they endeavoured so to menage themselves between these two parties , as not only not to offend either , but , if it were possible , to bring them both to such a temper with one another , that neither the gentile convert might despise the weakness of his judaizing brother ; nor the jewish votary judge too severely of the liberty of the gentile christian. and this was the design of st. paul in the chapter before my text. where addressing himself , as indeed he seems to have done this whole epistle , to the gentile christians ; and whom , as having the truer notion of their christian liberty as to this matter , he therefore calls the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the strong in the faith : v. 1. he exhorts them in a most admirable discourse on this subject throughout that whole chapter , to bear the infirmities of the weak ; i. e. not to grieve nor despise them for their mistaken zeal , but by complying a little , and condescending to their infirmities , to endeavour , if it should please god , to draw them out of their error . let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification . and then concludes all in the words of the text , wherein we have , first , a hearty prayer to god almighty , that he would inspire them so effectually with a spirit of unity and charity , that notwithstanding all their differences , they might join unanimously , both jews and gentiles , not only in the same common worship of god , but with the same hearty affection to one another : now the god of patience and consolation , grant you to be like-minded one towards another , according to christ jesus ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie god , even the father of our lord jesus christ. and secondly , an exhortation , as the final result of his whole discourse , that they should with all charitable condescention and kindness receive , and love , and assist one another , and not despise , and censure , and deprive one another , either of their charity , or their communion ; wherefore receive ye one another , as christ also received us , to the glory of god. in which words , as they thus lie before us in the occasion and design of them , there are two things that will offer themselves to our consideration . first , an exhortation to these dissenting christians , and in them to all of us , not to break either charity or communion with one another , upon the account of such things wherein we may securely differ ; but mutually to bear with one another in our differences . secondly , an enforcement of this exhortation , from two of the greatest considerations that can possibly engage any christian to an observance of it ; viz. first , from the example of christ towards us . secondly , from the greater glory that will hereby redound to god. wherefore receive ye one another , as christ also received us , to the glory of god. i shall make it my endeavour with all the plainess that i can , to pursue both the exhortation and the enforcement in the three following propositions . i. that there may be differences in matters of lesser moment , between very good and zealous christians , without any just reflection either upon the men , or upon their religion . ii. that these differences ought not to hinder such persons from agreeing together , not only in a common charity , but , if it be possible , in a common worship of god too . iii. that to this end it is the duty of all christians , but especially of those who are the strong in faith , not only to pray for such a union , but , as they have opportunity , heartily to labour themselves , and earnestly to stir up all others , to endeavour after it . and first ; that there may be differences in matters of lesser moment between very good and zealous christians , without any just reflection upon the men , or upon their religion . for proof of which , i think i need go no farther than the very history of my text. i have already said how great a division there was between the jewish and the gentile converts , about the ritual observances of the law of moses , and with what a zeal the dissenting parties managed the dispute , till they had almost lost their charity , and made a deplorable schism in the church of christ. and yet i am confident no man will say that this was at all derogatory either to the truth of their common christianity , or to the infallible authority with which the apostles had deliver'd it unto them . and for the parties themselves that thus differ'd with one another , that they had a true zeal on both sides for the glory of god , and thought it matter of conscience , the one to observe these ceremonial institutions as what god still required of them ; the other to refuse any such imposition , as not only a needless burden , but even repugnant to the grace of christ declared to them in his gospel ; st. paul , in the prosecution of this very argument , does clearly bear witness to them , ch. xiv . 6. where he makes use of this very thing as one reason why they should mutually tolerate one another in their dissentions ; viz. that however they differ'd in their notions as to these particulars , yet they were both perfectly agreed in the same common zeal for the glory of god , and the discharge of their duty . he that regardeth the day , regardeth it unto the lord ; and he that regardeth not the day , to the lord he doth not regard it . he that eateth , eateth to the lord , for he giveth god thanks ; and he that eateth not , to the lord he eateth not , and giveth god thanks . and indeed , either we must say , that all , even the least points , relating to our religion , are so clearly and plainly revealed , that no honest man can possibly be mistaken if he will but impartially enquire into them ; which from the diffe●●nces of whole parties concerning these things , 't is plain they are not : or else mens different capacities , and opportunities , and tempers , and education consider'd , 't is in vain to expect that all good men should agree in all their notions of religion , any more than we see they do in any other concerns whatsoever . and who am i that i should dare to pronounce a sentence of reprobation against any one , in whom there appear all the other characters of an humble , upright , sincere christian , only because he has not perhaps met with the same instruction , or read the same books , or do's not argue the same way ; in a word , because he is not so wise , or it may be , is wiser than i am , and sees farther than i do , and therefore is not exactly of my opinion in every thing ? now if this be so , as both the principles of reason conclude it very well may be , and the common experience of mankind , not only in the particular concern of religion , but in most other things assures us that it is : that mens understandings are different , and they will argue different ways , and entertain different opinions from one another , about the same things , and yet may nevertheless deserve on all sides , to be esteemed very good and wise men for all that : how vain then must that argument be , which a late author of the church of rome , has with so much pomp revived against us , from our differences in a few lesser points of our religion , to conclude us to be erroneous in the greater ; and that because we are not exactly of the same opinion in every thing , that therefore we ought to be credited in nothing ; that is to say , that because protestants when they differ , are mistaken on one side , therefore when they agree , they are mistaken on both ? 1 st . it is certain that amidst all our other divisions , we are yet on all sides agreed in whatsoever is fundamental in the faith , or necessary to be believed and professed by us in order to our salvation . there is no good protestant , but what does firmly believe all the articles of the apostles creed ; and embraces the holy scriptures as the word of god , and rule of his faith , and readily acknowledges whatsoever is plainly revealed therein , and is at all times disposed to submit to any thing that can by any necessary and certain consequence be proved to him thereby . in short , our differences , whatsoever they are , i will be bold to say they do no more , nor even so much concern the foundations of christianity , as those of the judaizing christians here did . if their differing therefore with one another , was no prejudice to the truth of their common christianity then , i would fain know for what reason our differences , which are lesser , shall become so much a greater argument against our common christianity now . but , 2 dly , if our differing from one another in some points , be an argument that we are not certain in any ; how shall we be sure that those of the church of rome are not altogether as uncertain as we are ; seeing we are sure that they do no less differ among themselves , and that in points too , much more considerable than we do ? for to take only one instance instead of many , and that so considerable , that card. bellarmin once thought the sum of christianity , he meant the sum of popery , to consist in it , viz. the prerogatives of the bishop of rome , both in and over the church of christ. some there are who hold the pope to be head of the church , by divine right : others the contrary . * some , that he is infallible : others , that he is not . * some , that the pope alone , without a council , may determine all controversies : others , that he cannot . now if in these , and many other points of no less importance , they themselves are as far from agreeing with one another , as they can possibly pretend us to be ; what shall hinder us , but that we return their own inference upon them , that seeing they differ among themselves in such things as these , they are so far from that absolute infallibility they set up for , that in truth they have not so much as any certainty among them , even in those points wherein they do agree . is it that in their church , tho there be indeed as many differences as in ours , yet this makes not against them , seeing they have a certain rule , whenever they please , for the composing of them , viz. the definition of the pope , and of the church ? this , indeed , i find is commonly said by them : but then certainly , if they have such a ready means , as they say , of agreement among them , 't is the more shame for them , that they do not agree ; he being much more inexcusably guilty in the omission of any duty , who having a ready means to fulfil it , neglects so to do , than he who has none , or ( which is the same thing ) does not know that he has any . but indeed they have no means of ending their differences , any more than we have ; the holy scriptures we both of us acknowledg to be the word of god , and an infallible rule of faith ; but for any other direction , they are not yet agreed where to seek it : and sure that can be no very good means of ending all their other differences , which is its self one of their chiefest controversies . or is it , that they agree in matters of faith , and differ only in those things that do not belong to it ? because if they differ about any point , they for that very reason , conclude it to be no matter of faith. but besides the impertinence of this answer , which amounts to no more than this , that they do agree in what they do agree , and differ only in those things in which they differ : this is what we say for our selves concerning our differences ; we agree in all those things that are necessary to a sound and saving faith ; and if we differ in matters of lesser moment , 't is no more than what all other christians have ever done , and what those of the church of rome its self at this day do . so that still it must remain , either that those differences which were among the christians of old , and which are among us now , are no prejudice at all to the common truth which we profess ; or if they be , the consequence will fall upon those of the church of rome no less , that i do not say , and more severely , than upon us , and be of the same force against their religion , that it can be against ours . but i must carry this reflection a great deal farther ; for , 3 dly . if once this principle be allowed , that because men differ in some things , they ought not to be credited in any , what then will become , not only of the protestant religion , as it now stands in opposition to popery , but even of christianity its self ? for might not a turk or a jew , if he were minded to give himself so much trouble to so little purpose as this late author has done , draw out a large history of the variations of christians among themselves , from the controversie of the text , unto this day ; and then by the very same principle conclude against us all , that we have none of us any certain grounds for our religion , because the differences that are among us , plainly shew , that some of us must be deceived ? and to go yet one step farther ; might not a sceptick by the same rule , argue against all religion , and even against all reason too ; that the disagreement of mankind in these and many other points of the greatest importance , plainly shews there is no certainty in any thing ; and therefore that we ought not to rely either upon the one , or upon the other ? it remains therefore , that unless we will overthrow all the measures of christian charity towards our neighbour , and the common truth , i do not say both of their faith and of our own , but even of christianity its self , nay and of all religion and reason in general ; we must conclude , that good christians may differ from one another in matters of lesser moment , without any just reflection either upon themselves or their religion . but here therefore i must desire not to be misunderstood . for when i say , that christians may , without any danger to themselves , or disparagement to the truth of their religion , differ with one another ; i mean only ( as the terms of my proposition expresly shew ) in lesser matters ; such as do not concern the fundamentals of faith , nor destroy the worship of god ; nor are otherwise so clearly revealed , but that wise and good men , after all their enquiries , may still continue to differ in their opinions concerning them . for otherwise , if interest and prejudice blind mens eyes , and they err because they resolve they will not be convinced ; and so by their own fault continue in mistakes contrary to the foundation of faith , and destructive of piety : if , for instance , men will profess to believe but in one god , and yet worship thousands ; if they will read ov●r the second commandment , and nevertheless both make and bow down before graven images in despite of it ; if , whilst ▪ they acknowledge christ to have instituted the blessed eucharist in both kinds , they command it to be administred but in one ; and pray in an unknown tongue , tho st paul has spent almost a whole chapter to shew the folly and unreasonableness of it : these are errors in which i am not concerned ; and tho i should be unwilling , even here , at all adventures to pronounce any sentence against the men ; yet i must needs say , that religion cannot be very sound , which stands corrupted with so many , and such fundamental abuses . and this makes the difference between those errors for which we separate from the church of rome , and those controversies which sometimes arise among protestants themselves . the former are in matters of the greatest consequence , such as tend directly to destroy the integrity of faith , and the purity of our worship ; and therefore such as are in their own nature destructive of the very essentials of christianity . whereas our differences do not at all concern the foundations either of faith or worship ; and are therefore such in which good men , if they be otherwise diligent and sincere in their enquiry , may differ , without any prejudice to themselves , or any just reflection upon the truth of their common profession . which being thus clear'd , in answer to the little endeavours of one of the latest of our adversaries against us upon this account ; i go on , secondly , to shew , ii. that such differences as these , ought not to hinder such persons from agreeing together , not only in a common charity , but , if it be possible , in a common worship of god too . this is what st. paul here expresly exhorts these dissenting christians to , and earnestly prays to god that he might see accomplished in them . that when they came together to the publick offices of the church , to offer up their common prayers and thanksgivings to him , they might do it , not only in the same form of words , but with the same affection of mind too , both towards god , and towards one another : now the god of patience and consolation , grant you to be like-minded one towards another , according to christ jesus ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie god , even the father of our lord jesus christ. such was their duty to one another then ; and we ought certainly no less to esteem the same to be our duty towards one another now : and first , as to the business of charity ; god forbid that any differences in religion whatsoever , much less such little ones as those we are now speaking of , should ever make us deny that to our fellow christians . 't is true indeed , our saviour christ once foretold to his disciples , that there should rise up men from among their brethren , who should upon this account not only put them out of their synagogues , but even think that it was a matter of religion to kill them . but they were jews , not christians , who were to do this ; and he expresly adds , that 't was their ignorance of him and his religion that should carry them on to so furious and intemperate a zeal ; for these things , says he , shall they do unto you , because they have not known the father nor me. and we must confess it , to the scandal of our holy religion , that there are a sort of men who call themselves christians now , that still continue to fulfil this prophecy in the very letter of it ; who not only cast us out of their synagogues , that we should not much complain of ; and , as far as in them lies , cut us off from all the hopes of salvation too ; but , to compleat the parallel , openly arm the whole world against us , and teach men to believe , that 't is a work of piety to root us out of it ; and therefore , that whosoever killeth us , does do god service . but in this , as well as in the rest of their errors , they give us but the more effectually to understand how little they have in them of the true spirit of christianity ; for sure such things as these they could never do , but only that , as our saviour in that other case before said , they have not known the father nor him. and i hope i shall need no argument to perswade you not to be misled by that which we all of us so justly lament , as one of the most deplorable corruptions even of popery it self . christianity commands us to love our enemies ; and sure then we cannot but think it very highly reasonable not to hate our brethren ; but especially on such an account , as , if it be once admitted , will in this divided state of the church , utterly drive the very name of brotherly love and charity out of it : seeing by whatever arguments we shall go about to justifie our uncharitableness to any others , they will all equally warrant them to with hold in like manner their charity from us . there is no honest , sincere christian , how erroneous soever he may be , but what at least is perswaded that he is in the right ; and looks upon us to be as far from the truth by differing from him , as we esteem him for not agreeing with us . now if upon the sole account of such differences it be lawful for us to hate another ; we must for the very same reason allow it to be as lawful for him also to hate us. thus shall we at once invert the characteristick of our religion ; by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples , if ye have love one to another ; and turn it into the quite contrary note ; whilst we make our hatred to our brother the great mark of our zeal for our religion ; and conclude him to love christ the most , who the least loves his fellow christian. how much rather ought we to consider , with our apostle , the love of our dear master to us , even whilst we were yet his enemies , and love those whom we ought to hope , notwithstanding all their errors , are yet still his friends ; and not think those unworthy of our charity , whom we piously presume god will not think unworthy of his favour ? we suppose them to be mistaken in those things wherein they differ from us , and perhaps they are so ; but yet we must consider , that we our selves also are but men , and therefore may err ; and they as verily think us in the wrong , as we do them : and , for ought i know , we must leave it to the day of judgment to decide the controversie , which of us is in the right . in the mean time , if they are mistaken , i am sure our uncharitableness is not the way to convince them of their error : but may rather indispose them to consider the weight of our arguments as they ought , whilst they see so little regard in our affections towards them . in short , if we are indeed , what we esteem our selves to be , the strong in the faith , let us then remember , that tho charity be their duty too as well as ours , yet 't is to such as we are , especially , that st. paul addresses the exhortation of the text , to bear the infirmities of the weak ; and to receive one another , as christ also hath received us , to the glory of god. but , 2. such differences as these , ought not only not to lessen our charity , but , if it be possible , not to hinder us from joining together in the same common worship of god with one another . this was what these dissenting christians , notwithstanding all their heats and contentions , nevertheless still continued to do . they did with one mouth glorifie god , even when their differences would not suffer them to do it with one heart . they united together in a common worship of god , tho they could not unite either in opinion or affection with one another . indeed where mens errors are such as utterly do subvert the very essentials of our religious worship , it is then in vain to hope for any communion in the publick service of god with them . we must not destroy the principles of christianity , out of a zeal to enlarge the communion of christians . he would be a very condescending votary indeed , who for the sake of praying to god with the papist , would pray to the blessed virgin and saints too with him : who rather than be excluded their churches , would bow down before their images ; and not only worship their host , but even give up his right to the cup in the eucharist , only that he might receive that holy sacrament in their company . it is , no doubt , a very desirable thing to lessen the differences of christians , and enlarge their communion , as far as ever we can : and it has never gone well with the church of christ , since men have been so narrow spirited as to mix the controversies of faith , with their publick forms of worship ; and have made their liturgies , instead of being offices of devotion to god , become tests and censures of the opinions of their brethren . but yet when all is done , the truths of christianity must not be sacrificed to the peace of christians ; nor the honour of god be given up , to keep up a unity and communion with one another . but where mens differences are in points that do not at all affect their religious service ; or not so much , but that god may be very well worshipp'd , and yet communion with our fellow christians preserved too ; in such cases as this , our dissentions ought not only not to lessen our charity , but not to break our unity neither : we may continue to differ , as the christians in my text did ; and yet with one mind , and one mouth , glorifie god , as st. paul exhorted them to do . and this brings me to the third and last point . iii. that to this end , it is the duty of all of us , but especially of the stronger christians , not only to pray for such a union , but also , as they have opportunity , heartily to labour themselves , and earnestly to stir up all others to endeavour after it . i do not believe there is any good christian so little affected with those unhappy divisions under which the church at this day labours , as not both heartily to deplore them , and to think that nothing could be too much , that might innocently be done on all hands , for the redressing of them . but then i am sure the natural consequence of this must be , what both my text , and this discourse are designed to exhort you to ; viz. that we ought every one of us , not only heartily to pray for such a union , but also , as we have opportunity , earnestly to labour for the attainment of it . indeed for what concerns the whole body of the catholick church on earth , so many are the disputes that have arisen among the several parties and communions of it , and some of them in points so near to the foundations of christianity , that whilst men resolve to keep fast to their conclusions , and will not suffer the plainest arguments to convince them of their errors , 't is in vain to hope ever to see things brought to such a temper , as we could wish in that . but especially whilst that part which is the most corrupt , is so far from being willing to concur to any such union , that on the contrary , she has cut off all possibility of attaining it . and by arrogating an unwarrantable infallibility to her self , and authority over all others , will neither reform her own abuses , nor admit any into her communion , that will not profess the same errors , in which she her self stands involved . so that here , all we can even wish for , is , that men would at last be so wise , as tho they differ in opinion , yet to love as brethren , and agree together in a common charity , till we shall be so happy as to unite in a common faith and worship of god. but for us whom it has pleased god , by delivering us from the errors and superstitions of the church of rome , to unite together in the common name of protestant , reformed christians , would we but as heartily labour after peace , as we are all of us very highly exhorted to it ; i cannot see why we who are so happily join'd together in a common profession of the same faith , at least , i am sure in all the necessary points of it ; and i hope amidst all our lesser differences , in a common love and charity to one another , should not also be united in the same common worship of god too . i will not now enter into any dispute , to shew how little reason there is for any one to separate from the offices of the church of england , upon the account of those few exceptions that have sometimes been offer'd to justifie the doing of it . this is a work both too large for such a discourse ; and besides the design of my present undertaking . and that one concession of many of our brethren themselves , who tho they continue ordinarily to separate from us , yet nevertheless freely allow of what they call occasional communion with us , i think sufficiently shews how little real ground there is for those scruples , that have so long detain'd them in an unjust aversion to our worship . blessed be god , who has abundantly justified both the purity of our doctrine , and the innocency of our worship , not only by the general approbation of the reform'd churches abroad , who both freely communicate with us in our religious offices , and have often given testimony in favour of them ; but in the happy conviction of many at home , who were once enemies to our constitution , but who now go with us into the same house of god as friends . and indeed the things for which some forsake us now , are no other than what they were in the beginning of the reformation ; when yet there was no such thing as separation from our communion : but on the contrary , the old non-conformists themselves , tho they disliked some things in our worship , yet freely declared they thought it a crime to divide the church upon the account of them . and they who at this day separate from us , for the sake of those few constitutions that have been made for the order and decency of our publick worship , must for the same reason have separated from all the churches of the christian world , for above 1500 years ; in none of which they might not have found as great , that i do not say , and much greater , occasion of offence , than they can in ours . but yet , since mens scruples are unaccountable , and after all that can be said , they will still differ even about indifferent things , and be afraid many times , where no fear is ; and a too long experience has already shewn us , that if ever we mean to accomplish that union so much recommended to us by our apostle , so advantageous to the church at all times , but especially at this time so necessary to our peace and our establishment , that it seems to be the only way that yet remains to settle and to secure us ; and upon all these accounts so much to be desired by all good men , we must seek it by that rule which st. paul here proposed to the dissenting christians of my text , we then that are strong in the faith , ought to bear the infirmities of the weak , and not to please our selves . i cannot but think it a reflection becoming every good christian among us , but in a more especial manner , worthy the consideration of such an auditory as this , whether somewhat may not yet be done for the sake of peace , and to bring things to such a * temper , that both order and decency may still be preserved , and yet our unity no longer broken . and for exhortations to so good and christian a work , shall i set before you the example of our blessed saviour recommended to us in the text , with what a mighty condescention he has treated us ; how he came down from heaven , and took upon him the form of a servant , and being made in the likeness of a sinful man , humbled himself even to the death upon the cross for us ; how he still bears not only with our infirmities , but with our sins too ; and by all these wonderful instances of his love to us , teaches us , says st. john , how we ought also to love one another ? or rather , shall i shew you , how far such a blessed union as this , would conduce to the glory of god , to the security of our religion , and to the promotion of peace , and charity , and piety among us ? i need not say what a dishonour our divisions have already brought to the reformation , nor what a stop they have put to the progress of it . great , to be sure , is the advantage which our enemies either have , or at least hoped to have made , by those contests which they have taken so much pains both to bring in , and to keep up among us : and methinks there should need no other argument to stir up every true friend to the name of protestant , to endeavour all he can to compose our differences , than this one thing , that we are sufficiently convinced who they are that we please , and whose interests we serve , by the continuance of them . let us add to this , what great obligations our holy religion lays upon us , to follow after those things that make for peace , and whereby we may edifie one another : how our saviour has set it down as the very badge of our discipleship ; by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples , if ye have love one to another : what exhortations his apostles have given us ; if it be possible , as much as in us lies , to live peaceably with all men . but especially with reference to the differences about religion , to mark them which cause divisions and offences , contrary to the doctrine which we have learnt , and avoid them . with what a scrupulous care did st. paul manage himself between the dissenting parties in my text ? what admirable rules did he lay down for them to walk by ? and with what an affectionate earnestness did he enforce them ? if there be any consolation in christ , if any comfort of love , if any fellowship of the spirit , if any bowels and mercies , fulfil ye my joy , that ye be like-minded , having the same love , being of one accord , of one mind . and may i not beg leave , tho not with the authority , yet with the charity of st. paul , to apply all this to those unhappy divisions that at this day rend in pieces the church of christ among us ; and beseech you , by all these endearing considerations , to pursue those things which may make for our peace ; and for the closing of those breaches , which the malice of our enemies too successfully begun , and our own weaknesse has too fatally kept up among us . never , certainly , was there a time , since our divisions first began , in which we had greater reason to consider of such a union , or , i hope , a fairer opportunity to promise our selves an accomplishment of it . only let us all be as careful to improve it , as i am perswaded we have all of us not only seem'd to desire , but have indeed earnestly long'd for it . let us shew the sense we have of that wonderful deliverance god has given us out of the hand of our enemies , by uniting our selves in the strictest league of friendship with one another . hitherto we have defended our church by our arguments ; let us now by our charity settle and establish it , against the like dangers for the time to come . this will indeed render both our selves and our religion glorious to the world ; and may be a happy augury that the blessed time so long wrapped up in sacred prophecy , is indeed now ready to be revealed : when the church of christ being purged from those corruptions that have so long defaced its beauty , shall again appear in its primitive purity . when all heresie and schism being every where abolished , and the mystery of iniquity laid fully open , and the man of sin destroy'd ; true religion and sincere piety shall again reign throughout the world ; god himself shall pitch his tabernacle among us , and dwell with us , and we shall be his people , and he shall be our god. o blessed state of the church militant here on earth ! the glorious antipast of that peace and piety which god has prepared for his church triumphant in heaven ! who would not wish to see those days , when a general reformation , and a true zeal , and a perfect charity , passing through the world , we should all be united in the same faith , the same worship , the same communion and fellowship one with another ? when all pride and prejudice , all interests and designs being submitted to the honour of god , and the discharge of our duty , the holy scriptures shall again triumph over the vain traditions of men ; and religion no longer take its denomination from little sects and factions , but we shall all be content with the same common primitive names of christians and brethren , and live together as becomes our character , in brotherly love and christian charity with one another ? and who can tell but such a change as this , and which we have otherwise some reason to believe is nigh at hand , may even now break forth from the midst of us , would we but all seriously labour to perfect the great work which the providence of god has so gloriously begun amongst us , and establish that love and unity among our selves , which may afterwards diffuse it self from us into all the other parts of the christian world besides ? but however , whether we shall ever see , i do not say , such a blessed effect as this , but even any good effect at all of our endeavours here on earth , or no ; yet this we are sure , we shall not lose our reward in heaven . when to have contributed , tho in the least degree , to the healing of those divisions we so unhappily labour under , shall be esteemed a greater honour , than to have silenced all the cavils of our enemies ; and even to have pray'd , and wish'd for it , and , where we could not any otherwise have contributed our selves , but to have exhorted others to it , shall be rewarded with blessings , more than all the stars in the firmament ; for number . now the god of patience and consolation , grant you to be like-minded one towards another , according to christ jesus : that ye may with one mind , and one mouth , glorifie god , even the father of our lord jesus christ. to him be honour and praise for ever and ever . amen . finis . books published by the reverend mr. wa●● . printed for richard chiswell . an exposition of the doctrine of the church of england , in the several articles proposed by the late bishop of condom , [ in his exposition of the doctrine of the catholick church . ] 4 o. a defence of the exposition of the doctrine of the church of england , against the exceptions of mons. de meaux , late b of condom , and his vindicator . a second defence of the exposition of the doctrine of the church of england , against the new exceptions of monsieur de meaux , late bishop of condom , and his vindicator . the first part : in which the account that has been given of the bishop of meaux's exposition , is fully vindicated , the distinction of old and new popery , historically asserted , and the doctrine of the church of rome , in point of image worship , more particularly considered . second defence of the exposition of the doctrine of the church of england , against monsieur de meaux and his vindicator , the second part . a discourse of the holy eucharist , in the two great points of the real presence , and the adoration of the host : in answer to the two discourses lately printed at oxford , on this subject . to which is prefixed a large historical p●eface , relating to the same argument . two discourses of purgatory and prayers for the dead . 4 o. a continuation of the controversie between the church of england and the church of rome , being a full account of the books that have been of late written on both sides . an historical treatise of transubstantiation written by an author of the communion of the church of rome ; rendred into english. with a preface preparation for death ; being a letter sent to a young gentlewoman in france , in a distemper of which she died . printed for william rogers . a discourse concerning the nature of idolatry ; in which a late author ( viz the bp. of oxford's ) true and only notion of idolatry , is considered and confuted . 4 o. the sum of a conference between dr. clagett and f. p. gooden , ab●ut transubstantiation . publish'd by this author . and to be added to dr. clagett's sermons now in the press , which will be publish'd this term. printed for richard chiswell , and william r●gers . an exhortation to mutual charity and union among protestants . in a sermon preach'd before the king and queen at hampton court , may 26 1689. in the press , a sermon preach'd before the honou●ab●e house of commons , at st. margaret's westminster , june 5. 1689. being the fa●t day appointed by the king and queens proclamation , to implore the blessing of almighty god upon their m●jesties forces by sea and land , and success in the war now declared against the french king. other tracts by the same avthor . a sermon preached at paris , on the 30 th of january , s. v. 1684 / 5. the present state of the controversie . sure and honest means for conversion of all hereticks ; and wholsom advice and expedients for the reformation of the church . translated , and published with a preface . a letter from several french ministers fled into germany , upon the account of the persecution in france , to such of their brethren in england , as approved the king's declaration touching liberty of conscience . translated from the original french. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a66185-e190 see ch . xiv . 1. acts xv . 1. — xxi . 20. acts xv . 19 , — 28. gal. v. 1. &c. gal. v. 1. rom. xi . 18 , &c. rom. xv . 1. ibid. verse 2. see theoderet , chrysost. theophylact , &c. in loc . prop. 1. acts xv . 28. gal. v. 2. rom. xiv . 6. h●st●ire des variations des eglises protestantes : par mr. l' evesque de meaux . the design of which , may be seen in the summary of his preface — les variations dans la foy preuve certaine de fausset é. — charactere des heresies d'estre variables . — ce charactere reconnu dans tous les ages de l' eglise . — charactere d'immutabilitè dans lay foy de l' eglise catholique . — que les variations de l' un des partis ( de protestans ) est une preuve contre l' autre , &c. praef. ad lib. de summ. p. t. 1. p. 592. ingoldstad . a. 1586. bellarm to . 1. p. 1377. de not. eccl. a. see mr. chillingworth , p. 99 , 100. bellarm. ib. p. 1378. b. prop. 2. john c. xvi . 2. — verse 3. joh. 13.35 . verse 1. — 7. prop. 3. rom. xv . 1. * see the petition of the archbishop and bishops to king james , for which they were committed to the tower. phil. ii . 6 , 7. 1 joh. iv . 11. rom. xiv . 19. joh. xiii . 35. rom. xii . 18. rom. xvi . 17. phil. ii . — 1. — 2. rev. xxi . 3. an ansvver to pope vrban his inurbanity, expressed in a breue sent to lowis the french king, exasperating him against the protestants in france. / vvritten in latine by the right reverend father in god, ioseph lord bishop of exeter. ; translated into english by b.s. inurbanitati pontificiae responsio jos. exoniensis. hall, joseph, 1574-1656. 1629 approx. 45 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 23 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a68128 stc 12641 estc s103615 99839364 99839364 3773 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. a68128) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3773) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1025:09, 1012:10) an ansvver to pope vrban his inurbanity, expressed in a breue sent to lowis the french king, exasperating him against the protestants in france. / vvritten in latine by the right reverend father in god, ioseph lord bishop of exeter. ; translated into english by b.s. inurbanitati pontificiae responsio jos. exoniensis. hall, joseph, 1574-1656. urban viii, pope, 1568-1644. [6], 12, [2], 4, [3], 9, [1], 3, 6, [2] p. by william iones for nicolas bourne, at the south entrance of the royall exchange, printed at london : 1629. the first leaf is blank except for large catchword "an"; the last leaf is blank. "a breeue of our holy father the pope to the king. vpon the taking of rochell" and "bref de n.s. pere le pape au roy· sur la prise de la rochelle" each have separate dated title page with imprint "printed at paris .. by edmond martin .." and "a paris, chez edme martin .." respectively; "inurbanitati pontificiae responsio ios. exoniensis" has separate divisional title; "reuerendo in christo patri, viro incomparabili, iosepho hal episcopo exoniensi, gilbertus primirosius s.p.d." has caption title; each has separate pagination; register is continuous throughout. e3-f3 identified as stc 24522 on reel 1012. reproductions of the originals in the henry e. huntington library (reel 1025:9) and art gallery and the folger shakespeare library (reel 1012:10 e3-f3 only). 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 urban -viii, -pope, 1568-1644. -bref de n.s. pere le pape au roy· sur la prise de la rochelle. protestants -france -early works to 1800. la rochelle (france) -history -siege, 1627-1628 -early works to 1800. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-04 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an answer to pope vrban his invrbanity , expressed in a breve sent to lowis the french king , exasperating him against the protestants in france . vvritten in latine by the right reverend father in god , ioseph lord bishop of exeter . translated into english by b. s. pardon the faults this english stile affords , a child interpreted the fathers words . printed at london by william jones for nicolas bourne , at the south entrance of the royall exchange . 1629. to my mvch respected friend mr. dr. primrose , pastor of the french chvrch in london , and chaplaine to his most excellent majestie . mr. tourvall a french man shewed me but a while since an epistle of pope vrban , delivered of late to lewis the french king , written in a swelling and bloody stile after their manner . in which when the good bishop had cleerely carroled a song of triumph for the victory over rochell , and had more then sufficiently gratulated both the king and nation : he then most barbarously proceedeth to that harsh and cruell language , ( smite and cast downe ) and eagerly vrgeth , yea inforceth the destruction of all the hereticks stabling in france . which when i had read , i could not forbeare , but presently taking pen and paper , i did not vtter vpon premeditation , but poured out on the sodaine this answere . such as it is , receiue , ( reverend brother ) and peruse it , and either send it abroad into the light of the world , or set on a light fire . farewell . from your friend , ios . exon . to pope vrbane the eight , bishop of rome , joseph , bishop of exeter , wisheth sober witts , and christian charity . why may not the least prelate make bolde to reprooue the high priest ? i ask no leaue , nor is there any need ; i take the ancient liberty . there was not in olde time so much difference betweene eugubium and rome , nor betweene exeters ishe and tyber . hearken therefore now pope vrbane to that which ere long thou shalt heare of with heartlesse feare and trembling , at the dreadfull tribunall of christ. those blotts of blood are nothing well suiting a pastor of the christian flocke . what , maist thou like a dreadfull king of heralds proclaime warre ? what meanest thou that so eagerly thou provokest christian princes , too too full of blood , to the extirpating and horrid massacring their owne subjects ? was it for this , that the keyes were delivered to thy trust , that thou mightest open the barrd vp from gates of warre , and the yvory dores of infernall pluto ? alas the shadow of peter tooke these protestants of france for malchus , whose eares while he went about to cut off , he committed but a light errour , and hit them on the throates : or perchance it hath beene said to him from heaven of late , concerning these animals stabling in france , kill and eate ? what ? art thou pilot of the churches peace , and talkest of shining helmets , speares and swords ? what other houling could the she wolfe , the damme of thy romulus haue yelled out , if this fierce roaring become the folde of peter ? disgorge thy selfe as much as thou wilt , and stale vpon the ashes of vnhappy rochell , and scatter with thy blustering breath the most despised dust of that most miserable city ; yet withall call to minde a little , how not many ages past the predecessor of this lowis , though thine owne lowis now , broke open the gates of rome , mouldred the walls , dispersed the citizens , and condemned thy predecessour to a dark dungeon , lading him with bitter scoffes and curses . neither shall many years passe againe , ( vnlesse my divining spirit be much mistaken ) before babylon fall , and the angell shout , and the world congratulate with amazement : rochells case shall be thine owne case ere long , thou most forlorne of all cities . happy he who shall render thee like for like ; who also shall dash out the braines of thy children against the stones . in the meane time fraight thy selfe with our miseries , laugh at our teares , make merry at our last gaspes , sing to our sighes , and applaud our vexations . there is a iust avenger who lookes downe from heaven , whose rod we kisse , and gaspe after his revenge on thee at once . pleade thou our cause , nay thy cause ô god , j say thine alone . why may not confident innocency appeal to thee her judge ? if in the whole structure and fabrick of our most holy religion by vs hitherto professed , there be any one thing which hath proceeded from the most impure fountain of mans invention , let it even perish , yea let it vtterly perish and bee banished to their purgatory . but if wee haue not dared to profter any thing to the christian world , except what thou hast inspired to thy prophets and apostles , and by these thy pen-men , which could not deceiue , wouldest haue delivered most faithfully to thy people : surely then either most happily wee erre with thee , ô god of trueth ; or thou wilt defend with vs this eternall and onely evangelicall religion . but thou wilt say that wee poore wretches are deceived , that it is piety ( no doubt ) which we accuse of cruelty ; that it is the zeale of the house of god , whereby good bishop thou art so set on fire , that thou hast so importunely wished and counselled the rooting out all at once of the heretickes abiding in france . o brazen brow , ô adamantine heart : we call god , the angels , and saints as witnesses of this so hainous reproach . for those whom thou falsely brandest with the markes of heresie , thou shalt heare at length , when the church shall acknowledge them for her sonnes , and christ for his members . for what ( i call god to record ) doe wee teach , which the holy scriptures , the councils , the fathers , the churches , the christian chayres haue not with one consent alwayes held ? for all those points which wee professe , the most approoved authors among you doe maintaine them all . there are indeede certaine late superstructions and patches of opinions which you would haue superadded to the ancient faith. those we most religiously reject , and do constantly ever refuse them : they are humane , they are yours . lastly , they are either doubtfull , or impious . and must we therefore being christian soules , needes bee cast out of the lap of the church ? must we forthwith be delivered vp to bee devoured by fire and sword ? must we being throwne downe to hell by the thunderbolt of a curse , there burne for ever ? is this all the matter why the stall and shambles , are all the provision your holinesse makes for such animals as vs ? god! see the papall iustice and mercy . this is the meer iniury of time . that was not heresie of olde , which is so now ; if we had beene borne in the ancient times of the church , before that romane primacy , image-worship , transubstantiation , the sacrifice of the masse , purgatory , the private or halfe communion , the selling of pardons , and other like brood of this hatch was knowne to the christian world , heaven lay open truly to vs , no lesse then to other godly soules of that more simple age , who happily tooke flight from hence in the true falth of christ. but now that wee haue beene reserved vnto the doting age of the world , in which a certaine new off-spring of articles haue begun to spring ; it is capitall to vs , and to bee corrected with no lesse punishment then the continuall torments of hell . consider this all ye christians that liue in any place of the earth , how farre is it from all justice and piety , that a new faith can be created in after time by humane judgement vnheard of in antient ages , which may adjudge posterity to hell , for not beleeving that which the first , christians never heard of , and yet went to heaven ? these greene fresh witts of a politicke religion , are in truth the men which most outragiously perplex the world , wherever the name of christ is heard of . these are they who set at variance among themselues the kings of the earth , who otherwise it is like would bee peaceable . these rent kingdomes , distract people , dissolue societies , nourish seditions , lay waste the most flourishing countries , and lastly doe bring the richest cities to ashes and confusion . but ought these things thus to be done ? doe wee thinke that this will bee found a just cause of deadly warre , or of a massacre at the tribunall of the great iudge ? awake oh ye christian princes , and thou especially king lowis , into whose eares those mischiefs are so vncivilly & cruelly whispered : awake at length and see how cursed fiercenesse deviseth to put it selfe vpon your maiestie after the most mischievous manner vnder a pretence of piety . they are your natiue subiects whom these forreiners require for the slaughter , yea they are christs , and what ? would you bath your hand , or sword , in the blood of those for whom christ shed his , who lavished most freely for you and your great parent their owne ? heare sir , i beseech you , whose stile is among your subjects , levvis the ivst . if we did worship any other god , any other christ then yours , if we aspired to any other heaven , if we held any other creed , or baptisme , if in a word wee did make profession of a new church , leaning vpon other foundations : there would be cause verily why you shold destinate such hereticks remaining in france to revengefull flames . if your people haue violated any thing established by the god of vs all , or lawfully appointed by your selfe , we verily craue no pardon ; let them smart who haue deserved stripes , it is just ; but make not havocke of the servants of your owne god , and of your owne subiects , whom religion it selfe makes faithfull vnto you . suffer not for a few yesterdayes and superfluous patches of humane invention , and will-worship , added to the christian religion , that they perish who haue beene willing to redeeme your and your fathers safety and renowne , vvith the greatest hazard of their owne liues ; suffer them to liue by you , by whom you now raigne . but if they were not yours , yet remember that they are christians , ( vvith vvhich title your subiects are vvont superlatiuely to honour you as most christian ) and that you are washed in the same font , bought with the same blood , and renued by the same spirit ; and in a vvord ( vvhatsoever vaine furie thundereth out to the contrarie ) they are the sonnes of the spouse , and the brothers of the heavenly bridgegroome . but these doe erre from the faith . from vvhich faith i pray ? not from the christian , but the romish . novv vvhat a prodigious thing is this ? christ condemnes not these , yet the pope doth . if your great chancellor of paris vvere novv aliue , hee vvould freely teach his sorbôna , ( vvhich of olde he did ) hovv that the pope hath not power ( that i may vse his ovvne vvord ) to hereticate any proposition . yea , but an vniversall councel hath condemned thē ? which councell vvas that ? the trent . i am deceived if that councell as yet hath beene received and approved in your dominions . consult vvith your antient authors of best credit , they vvill tell you hovv vniust a councell it vvas , yea hovv it vvas no councell at all ; that vvhatsoever vvas done or established by that company being enthralled to seven-headed rome , vvas but the act of one bishop . lastly , consider i beseech your maiestie , hovv the reformed are not in some kinde to the papists , as the papists are to the reformed . heresie is alike sharplie vpbraided on both sides . but doe vve deale so roughlie vvith the professours of the romish religion ? did vve ever rage vvith fire and sword against the papall faith ? see , vvas ever the crime of a conscience miserablie misled accounted capitall ? it may be you may finde , ( yet verie seldome ) perchance some impudent masse-priest , a despiser of publick lawes , a sower of sedition , to haue received his condigne punishment . but no papist , ( i speake confidentlie ) vvas ever put to death meerelie for the cause of religion , or losse either of head or limbe . why doest not thou then : oh sonne of most milde and clement henry , carrie thy selfe alike tovvard thy faithfull subiects vvho innocentlie professe the reformed religion ? why doth not your maiesty , take order that it may be a trap for no man to haue worshipped god according to the scriptures , and the practise of the antient church , and that it may be lawfull for your subjects to be trulie pious . and thou pope vrba● , at last come to thy selfe , and consider how well this cruell sentence becomes thy purple robes . it becomes not him to carrie a sheepe-crooke , but a sword , that will furrow vp that field . nor is this net belonging to fishing , but rather to the fencing schooles of the ancient romish gladiators . beautifull are the fee●e of them that preach peace , saith the prophet , we may say now of thee farr otherwise , hatefull are the hands of them that preach warre . if thou hadst anie portion in the gospell of christ , thou mightest easilie judge that all things there sound peace , gentlenesse , meekenesse , concord . this revenging spirit was not sent but from hell . not the least sound of an hammer is heard in gods temple ; but you good man will haue the holie church of god filled with the clangor of trumpetts , and the clashing of semiters , and the groanes of men ready to dye . therefore open thy eare at length ô thou who proudlie scornest the judgements of all mortall men . that which heretofore our holie and learned robert bishop of lincolne is reported to haue done to thy predecessour , that doe i now to thee . let it be lawfull for me now to summon thee to the fearefull tribunall of almightie god , to which thy trembling and fearefull ghost shall shortlie be brought to render accompt of that thy bloody advice . in the meane while , if thou hast anie care or thought to flie from the vvrath to come , and escape eternall vengeance , repent . a breeve of ovr holy father the pope to the king . vpon the taking of rochell . printed at paris in st. james street by edmond martin , lying at the golden sunne . 1629. with allowance from authority . pope vrban the eight . ovr most deare sonne in christ vve send you greeting and apostolicall benediction ; the voice of reioycing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous , let the vvicked see this and fret , and let the synagogue of satan consume avvay . the most christian king fighteth for religion , the lord of hosts fighteth for the king. we verilie in this mother cittie of the vvorld triumph vvith holie ioy , vve congratulate this your maiesties victorie , the trophies vvhereof are erected in heauen , the glorie vvhereof the generation that is to come shall neuer cease to speak of . novv at the length this age hath seene the tovvre of rochell no losse impregnable by the obstinacie of treacherie then strength of nature surrendered to the king and st. peter . neither is any so foolish as to ascribe this glorious victorie rather to happinesse then to vertue . by your long siege of many months you haue taught vs that europe oweth your french legions no lesse commendation for their constancy , then for their expedition ; your armie going cleere away with the victorie over your enemies , by slighting all dangers , & induring all hardnesse devoteth their life vnto you , & promise you an absolute triumph of conquered heresy . the waters of the ocean made a noise and were troubled , fighting for the besieged rebels , they made choise of death rather then a surrender , vndermining treacherie approached even to your maiesties tents , hell all opened her mouth vomiting out troupes of mischiefes and dangers , to the end so rich a fort might not be taken away from their impietie . the lord stood on thy right hand , thou hast not onelie ouercome the forces of thine enemies , but thou wart able also to put a bridle vpon the ocean aiding them . let vs all giue thanks to almightie god who hath deliuered thee from the contradictions of the vnbeleeving people . how beie sith you are not ignorant with vvhat care the fruits of victories ought to be preserued left they perish , there is none can doubt but that in a short time all the remainder of the hereticks that haue got stable roome in the french vineyard shall by you be vtterlie discomfited . the church desireth that this diademe of perfect renowne be put vpon that helmet of salvation wherewith the lord mightie in battell seemeth to cover the head of your majestie : for we belieue shortly that all tumults being appeased in france the glistering ensigne of lewis the conquerour shall shine to the captiue daughter of sion , rehearsing the french trophies , and beholding the brightnesse of your lightning lance : god who performeth the desire of them that feare him prosper our desires and the prayers of the catholick church . our nuntio vvho was an eye-witnesse of your princelie glorie in your tents , will be a faithfull interpreter of our pontificall gratulation to your majestie , on whom we most lovingly bestow our apostolicall benediction . given at rome at s. mary the greater vnder the seale of the fisher , the eight and twentieth day of november , in the yeare of our lord 1628. and the sixt year of our pontificate . invrbanitati pontificiae responsio ios . exoniensis . amico mihi plvrimvm colendo do. gilberto primerosio , s. theo l. professori ; ecclesiae gallicae londinensis pa stori : regiae mati . a sacris . monstrabat mihi modò tourvalus noster , gente gallus , epistolam , latino idiomate typis editam , vrbani papa , pro more , tumidam , & sanguinolentam , ludovico galliarum regi , pridem datam ; in quâ , vbi bonus pontifex jo paean canorè cecmisset rupellensi victoriae , regi simul ac genti abundè gratulatus , descendit illicò , fatis inclementer , ad saevum illud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , et , haereticorum in gallia stabulantium prostigationem acriter vrg●t , & impellit ; continere manum non potui , quin me subitò in chartas darem ; arripio calamum : responsionem non meditor , sed effundo ; quicquid est , habe , vir venerande , et lege , & vel igni trade , vel luci . vale. a tuo ios . exon . vrbano viii . pontifici romano , josephvs exoniensis sanam mentem , et charitatem . qvid ni vero pontificem maximum compellare ausit minimus episcorum ? non peto veniam , nec opus est ; priscâ vtor licentiâ : non ita nimium distabat olim ab eugubio roma , aut isca meus à tiberi . audi modò pontifex vrbane , quod brevi pro tremendo christi lribunali pallidus exaudies ; pastorem christiani gregis parum decent hae sanguineae liturae : tune vt ad arma , tristis praeco , conclames ? tune vt christianos principes , nimio-quàm plenos cruoris , ad profligationem suorum , clademq , horrendam acriter instiges ? ideone tibi creditae claves , vt ferratas belli portas , eburneasque ditis inferni aperires ? euge , petri vmbra , numquid hi tibi malchi videntur , quibus dum aures praecidere voluisti , levi errore in guttura incidisti ? aut nunquid de quadrupedibus hisce in gallia stabulantibus dictum tibi pridem caelitus , occide et manduca ? tune pacifice rector ecclesiae , vt coruscantes galeas , hastas , gladios loquaris ? qualem verò sonum edere potuisset lupa tui romuli , si ista petri caulam non dedeceat truculenta vox ? conspue , quantum lubet , et comminge cineres infaelicis rupellae , et diffla superbo spiritu , conculcatissimum miserrimae vrbis pulverem : recognosce interim paululùum , quàm non multa transierunt saecula , ex quo haereditarium ludovici , íam tui , sceptrum , romae portas confregerit , comminueritmaenia , cives dissiparit , praecessoremque tuum sannis , dirisque onustum , caeco carcere mulctârit . sed neque tot deinceps excurrent anni ( nisi me praesaga futurimens nimiùm fefellerit ) antequam cecidisse babylonem , et clamabit angelus , et gratulabundus orbis obstupescet : tuae erunt aliquando hae vices , vrbium perditissima : faelicem sanè illum , qui paria tibi quaeque retulerit , quique parvulorum tuorum cap ta saxis identidem illiserit . fruere tu intereà miseriis bisce nostris , arride lachrymis , exhilararè suspiriis , eiulatibus accine , applaude cruelatibus , est qui de caelo suo profpicit iustus vltor , cuius nos , vnà et exosculamur virgam , et inbismus vindictae : causam tu nostrant age , ô deus , imo tuam , tuam solius : quid ni te provocet arbitrum audax innocentia ? si quid vspiam est in toto hoc sacrosanctae , quam profitemur hactenus , religionis negotio , quod ex humani cerebri impurissimo fonte prodierit , pereat sane nobiscum , pereat penitissimè , et ad inferos suos meritò relegetur . quòd si nos nihil vnquam christiano orbi propinare ausi , nisi quod tu prophetis tuis , apostolisque inspiraveris , perque illos ( fallere nescios ) amanuenses populo tuo fidelissimé traditum volueris , scilicet , quin aut nos tecum fielicissimé erramus , ô deus veritatis , aut tu nobiscum aeternam hanc et vnicè evangelicam religionem tueris ? fallimur verò miselli , pietas est , ilicet , quam nos crudelitatis insimulamus : zelus est dómus dei , quo , bonus pontifex , ita totus accenderis , vt haereticorum ad vnum omnium in gallia stabulantium extirpationem et optaveris , et suaseris importuniùs . o frontem ! o viscera ! deum , angelos , sanctos , testes appellamus huius tam atrocis contumeliae : nempe , quos tu hereseos stigmate selsò inuris , audies demùm vbi ecclesia filios , christus membra salutaverit : ecquid enim ( per deum immortalem ) docemus nos , quod non scriptura , non concilia , non patres , non ecclesia , cathedraeque christianae vnanimiter semper temuerunt ? nimirum , quae nos profitemur , vestri ipsorum probatissimi authores tenent vniversa : quid ergo rei est ? sunt revera quaedam nupera opiniorum assumenta , quae vos avitae fidei superadiecta voluistis , ista nos piissimè reiicimus , et constanter vsque recusamus : humana sunt , vestra sunt : denique aut dubia sunt , aut iniqua : ideone vero vt christianae animae ex ecclesiae gremio eiiceremur ? vt ferro flammisque absumendi traderemur illico ? vt in baratbrum diabols , fulmine anathematis devoluti , arderemus aeteruùm ? ideone belluis et stabulum paratur et laniera ? justiciam , deus bone , et misericordiam pontificiam ! mera haec temporis iniuriae est : non fuit ea olin haeresis , quae nunc est : si priscis eaclesiae temporibus nasci nobis contigisset , ante quam primatus iste romanus , iconolatria , transubstantiatio , sacrificium missaticum , purgatorium , communio sive singularis , sive dividiata , indulgentiarum nundinatio , et huius farinae reliqua orbi christiano innotuissent , patuisset profecto nobis caelum , non minùs quam caeteris , piis simplicioris illius aevi animabus , quae in vera christi fide faeliciter evolârunt : jam verò in eam nos servatos fuisse mundi senectam , in quâ , nova quaedam suboriretur articulorum soboles , laetale nobis erit , neque minore paenâ quam perpetuis gehennae cruciatibus luendum . cogitate hoc , quotquot vspiam terrarum agitis , christiani , quàm sit ab omni iustitiâ et charitate alienum , vt nova subinde humano arbitrio creeter fides , priscis seculis inaudita , quae morti aeternae devoveat incredulos nepotes , quos antiqua veritas caelo adscivisset . recentes hi , scilicet , politicae religionis apices , illi sunt , qui orbem vniversum ( qua qua patet christi nomen ) immane quantum conturbârunt : hi sunt qui committunt inter se pacatissimos ( absque hoc foret ) terrae dominos , scindunt regna , populos distrahunt , dirimunt societates , seditiones fovent , florentissimas regiones vastant , vrbes denique opulentissimas in cineres rediguunt . siccine verò fieri oportuit ? putamusne hanc iustam funestissimi belli , internecionisque causam , pro summi judicis tribunali aliquando probatum iri ? evigilate christiani principes , tuque inprimis , ludovice rex , cui ista tam inurbanè , crudeliterque insufurrata sunt , evigila demùm , et vide quàm tibi sub pretextu pietatis , dira feritas pessimis modis imponere studuerit . tui sunt isti quos ad caedem deposcunt alienigenae ; christi sunt ? tune vero vt manum gladium ve imbueres illorum sauguine , pro quibus christus profudit suum ? qui suum pro te , ac magno parente tuo lubentissimè prodegerunt ? audi tu , quaeso , qui justus audire soles apud tuos , monarcha : si nos , alium a tuo deum , christum alium coleremus , si aliud ambiremus caelum , si symbolum aliud , aliud baptisma ; si novam denique aliis mixam fundamentis , ecclesiā profiteremurtesset profectò , cur haereticos in gallia stabulante , flammis vltricibus destinares : si quid populus tuus vel a cōmuni deo sancitum , vela te legitimè institutum violarit , non deprecamur herelè vindictam ; vapulent qui merucrunt , aequum est . noli interim saevire in dei tui servos , in cives tuos , quos ipsa religio praestat fideles : noli sinere vt propter hesterna quaedam , planèque superflua , humani ingenit adiectamenta , meramque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , pereant ij , qui tuam patrisque tui salutem ac gloriam , sunimo vitae suae discrimine redimere voluerunt ; sine per te vivant illi , per quos tu modo regnas : quòd si tui non essent , memento tamen ( quo te titulo maximè insignire solent tui ) christianos esse , eodem et fonte lotos , et emptos sanguine , et spiritu renatos : caelestis denique ( quicquid vanus intonet furor ) sponsae filios , sponsi fratres . at , errant hi scilicet a fide . quâ tandem ? non christianâ certè sed pontificiâ . quid vero hoc monstriest ? non damnat hos christus , damnat pontifex . si superesset modò magnus ille tuus cancellarius parisiensis doceret is liberè sorbonam ( quod olim fecit ) suam , quàm non sit penes pontificem , propositionem aliquam ( verbo vtar suo ) haereticare . atqui , concilium fecit hoc insuper oecumenicum quodnam vero ? tridentinum . fallor , si hoc in galltis obtinere potuerit hactenus , merueritve : consul● tuos integer rimaepridē fidei authores , dicent illi tibi quā iniquū , quàm nullum fuerit : vnius erat pontificis quicquid a caetu illo ( multicipiti romae mancipto ) factum sancitumve . cogita denique obsecro , quàm non alio in loco sint reformati pontificijs , quàm pontificij reformatis : atque acriter exprobari solet haeresis vtrinque . siccine verò agitur apud nos romanae religionis asseclis ? vnquamue gladio , aut incendio saevitum istîc in fidem pontificiam ? eccui vnquam capitale fuit hoc miseré hallucinantis conscientiae crimen ? est vbi comperies ( rarò tamen admodum ) audacem forte aliquem sacrificum , legum publicarum contemptorem , seditionis flabellum , paenam luisse meritissimam , sed merae religionis causam ( fidenter dico ) nemo vnquam pontificiorum aut capite luit , aut membro . quintu , clementissimi henrici fili , pariter te geris erga tuos , qui reformatam religionem innocentissimè profitentur : quin faxis , nemini vt fraudi siet secundum scripturam sacram , veterisque ecclesiae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , deum coluisse , liccat tuis esse veré pios . tu verò redi ad te demùm , vrbane pontifex , et recole quàm haec purpuram tuam probé deceat atrox sententia : non pedum profectò , sed ensem gestârit oportet , qui istud exaraverit ; neque piscatorium est hoc rete sed theatricum , et myrmillonicum . spetiosi pedes evangelizantium pacem , inquit propheta ; nos hîc de te paulò aliter : odiosae manus praeconizantium b●lla : si qua tibi sors in evangelio jesu christi obtigisset , facilé sentires pacem istîc sonare omnia , leuitatem , mansuetudinem , concordiam : non nisi ex inferno missa est dira erinnys . ne levissimus quidem mallei sonus exauditur in templo dei. tu vero , ô bone , ecclesiam dei sanctam impleri vis clangore tubarum , ictibus caedentium , morientium eiulatibus . audi , ergo , demùm , tu , qui mortalium omnium iudicia superbe refugis , quod , olim , robertus noster sanctus pariter et doctus lincolniensis episcopus praecessorituo fecisse dicitur , id ego tibi nunc facio : fas mihi sit indicere tibi verendum omnipotentis dei tribunal , pro quo tremens horrensque tibi anima brevi sistetur , sanguinolenti istius consilii rationem redditura . interim , si valere mavelis , resipisce . bref de n. s. pere le pape av roy sur la prise de la rochelle . avec la traduction en francois . a paris , chez edme martin , ruë s. jaques , au soleil d'or . m. dc . xxix . avec permission . vrbanvs pp . viii : charissime in christo fili noster salutem & apostolicam benedictionem . vox exultationis & salutis in tabernaculis iustorum , videat peccator & irascatur , & synagoga satanae contabescat . militat rex christianissimus pro religione , militat deus exercituum pro rege . nos certé in hac orbis patria sacro gaudio triumphamus , gratulamur maiestati tuae victoriam , cuius trophaea constituuntur in caelo , cuius gloriam generatiō ventura nunquam conticescet . rupellam arcem non minus obstinatione pevfidiae , quàm naturae munimentis inexpugnabilem , vidit tandem haec aetas regi & b petro subditam . neque sanè quisquam adeò desipit , vt tàm gloriosam palmam acceptam referat selicitats potiùs quam virtuti . diuturnâ tot mensium obsidione docuisti europam gallicis legionibus te regnante debere non minorem constantiae laudem quàm celeritatis . tibi autem periculorum contemptu & incommoderum patientia clarè victor exercitus vitam devovet , & perfectum prostligatae haeresis triumphum auguratur . sonuerunt & turbitae sunt aquae oceani militantis obsessis perduellibus , mors deditione potior videbatur , ad ipsa maiestatis tuae castra cuniculos egit perfidia . omnino dilatavit os suum infernus e vomens scelerum & periculorum turmas , ne tam opulentum propugnaculum impietati eriperetur . stetit dominus à dextri tuis , non modò devicisti hostium copias , sed ipsi etiam etiam auxiliari oceano potuisti fraenum iniicere . gratias agamus omnes omnipotenti , qui eripuit te de contra dictionibus populi non credentis . ceterùm cùm scias qua cura custodiendi sint victoriarum fructus ne marcescant , nemo est qui ambigat à te reliquias omnes haereticorum in gallica vinea stabulantiū propediem prostligatum iri diadema hoc perfecti decoris imponi cupit ecclesia illi galeae salutis , qua armatum maiestatis tuae caput ipse protegere videtur dominus potens in praelio . speramus enim fore vt gallia omni pacata illucescant coruscationes lvdovici triumphatoris captivae filiae sion francica trophaea commemoranti & intuenti splendorem fulgurantis hastae tuae . vota nostra atque catholicae ecclesiae secundet deus , qui voluntatem timentium se faciet . interea nuntius noster qui regalis gloriae spectator incastris adfuit , luculentus erit pontificiae gratulationis interpres maiestati tuae , cui apostolicam benedictionem amantissimè impertimur . datum romae apud s. mariam maiorem , sub annulo piscatoris , die vigesimo octauo novembris , anno 1628. pontificatus sexto . reverendo in christo patri , viro jncomparabilj , iosepho hal episcopo exoniensi , gilbertvs primirosivs s.p.d. hev quantum potuit terrae pelagique parari hoc quim ciuitea fuderunt sangutue dextra gallorum ? sed paci intercedit inurbanae frontis homo vrbanvs iix . pontifex romanus , qui exhalaus foedos soedo de pectore ructus , bullante diro cruore bvila , forocibus minacijs venosa , &c saeva adulatione tumente , optimo regi , sed praepopero ac servido in martem ingenio , in fidissimos cives , qui nisi fuissent non esset ipse , funesta inflat classica ; brevique grandiloquo & cruento sub annulo piscatoris asperrimam studijs belli gentem iterum in brevia & syrtes civilis , hoc est creperi & periculosissimi belli cerebrosus & imperitus nauclerus impingit : nulla regis , nulla regionum omnium facile reginâ . quas solexoriens curru fugiente vaporat . nulla religionis maiore curâ : sed magis vt regi & regno anxias & inexplicabiles sollicitudines conficiat ; vt humanissimos cives , non in piscatoriâ petri naviculâ lentos incurvans gurgiter mos evangelici hami felici piscatu ex vndosa turbarū civiliū salo piscator hominum humaniter ducat ad salutem , sed in antichristi praetoria navi gubernacula tenens , bvilarvm & brevivm enormi harpagone pyrata nefarius christianos inhumaniter praedetur ad caedem . vt solenni pontificum romanorum more , quod in vrbium densis vicis à grassatoribus nocturnis neri amat , belli facem accensam in vicina regna conijciat , vt bonis civibus ad eum restinguendum undique discurrentibus , ille impune trahar , rapiat , populetur , foedet , conculcet omnia ; et ardente christi ecclesiâ , immaníssimí neronis decessoris sui instar , laetificum cum spintrijs suis trojae percuntis excidium canat : sic sua quemque in , cribit facies . verum — vt multos mensesque diesquè , non tamen aetatem tempestate hac scelerosi laetabuntur . nam ecce quàm opportunè , tv praesvl amplissime , coelestis & infracti pectoris fervente robore romanum illum miserandae sortis on igrum in arce tarpeiâ stabulantem , & sono intempestivo rudentem , stili tui acumine , veluti clavis & fustibus , compescis : tu bestiae bipedis è limo & è fimo erepentis lunata cornua elegantis libelli malleo retundis : tv rufo draconi aere ciere vitos , martemque accendere campo , nimis quam bono , incestum & clamosum os suggillas : tv papam superbientem , & sublime caput coelo audaci nisu inferentem , cuius ad nutum intereunt , labuntur , enni rursum omnia versum , modestissimo scripto humilitatem & modestiam doces : tv marculum qui dura robora ferri in orthodoxorum perniciem multorum magnis tuditantium igniba ' tundit , cyclopum polyphemo extorques , & pausam tuditandi facere jubes : tv trepidantia jampridem babylonis moenia à coenosis magni illius exitialium mendaciorum architecti congesta coementarijs . qui nihil amplim vnquam quam commune lutum è paleis , coenumque aceratum rugosi passique senes eadem omnia quaerunt , variorum librorum multis vigiliis feliciter elucubratorum , velut oscillo penduli impetus hactenus arietasti , vexasti , dissipasti : tandem optimae notae libello , non ad ostentationem , sed ad vtilitarem composito , & mitissima responsione , sulphureas omnium calamitatum fornaces , quas nebvchadnetsar romanus adversus christi confessores immitissimo edicto accendi jubet , pro virili tuâ parte à christi ecclesiâ prohibes & depellis . tv quos indomitae illius belluae consiliarij atque administri in danieles nostros leonum famelicorum dentes exacuunt , verbi divini forfice comprehendis , concutis , & confringis : quos ille indocilis pacisque bonique , omnium malorum fecalis & pater patratus , principes rerum potentes in arma feralia exequiali & tragico carmine movet et protrudit , tv pacis aeternae praeco ab armis discordibus revocas , et ad piam christi pacem , christianaeque charitatis tranquillum portum fortiter occupandum suasissimae scriptionis dulci et docto celeusmate fidus celeustes provocas . frvstra omnia , illum si spectes qui nequam & magnus homo , laniorum immane ' canes vt distento & fulmineo rictu christianorum sanguini inhiat , cuique cibus cadavera , potus cruor est : quibus dum se ingurgitat , toto orbe christiano tristibus vlulante plangoribus , ille laetis vlulat triumphis , io paean , io trivmphe nobis obganniens , velut gallinaceu ' cum victor se gallus honestè sustulit in digitos , primoresque erigit vngues , coquelico canorâ voce in fimeto occinit . vt illa meretrix purpurata , martyrum sanguine ebria , quae reges quos philtris suis intoxicavit , bvllarvm aculeatarum majoribus stimulis in cruda adversum christum praelia suscitat ; vt ille desperatae salutis homo , peccati & perditionis filius tuum illud resipiscu discat , spes nulla superest . nam si tv hos fluctus vndasque è gurgite salso tollere decrerit , ventum prius haematicum tv ventum , inquam , t●ll●● . illi enim neque est cor quo paveat , neque seeur quo amet , neque fel quo sibi irascatur , neque frons quâ erubescat : illi gamiae , illis ingluviosis quibus cingitur raso capite ministris solis vovere fui est occ●piti ●ae●● , & edictis vetare ne quisquam hic faxit ●l●tu 〈…〉 , & sacra capita reprehendat . nam vos romulida vobis ignoscitis , & quae turpia cerdeni , papam sacrosque decibune presbyteros . at tv , antistes dignissime , eos liberâ ad vrbanvm responsione liberas doces audire voces , & ingratijs discere , in anglia & mutire fas esse , & fine scrobe alta voce exclamare , auriculas asini papam & cardinales habere . qvantvm autem ego fideli erga me amicitiae tuae debeam , reverende pater , quod mihi homini privato tantus eruditione , pietate , dignitate praesvl , responsionem illam inscribere voluisti , nec rudi calamo exprimere , nec linguâ inexplanata expromere , nec impari mente consequi possim : scilicer , vt episcopum decet , tui semper similis es , id est optimus : honores novos adeptus veterem amicitiam non deponis , & magnus licet sis , omniumque bonorum votis minor , ad minima te demittis . qvod vero electissimum scriptum meó arbitrio stare aut cadere , prodire aut latere , malignâ ignis flammâ extingui , aut praeclarâ doctorum luce frui , publici iuris , aut in mei solius bonis esse iubes , id vero modestiae est tuae quae inter maltas & claras virtutes quae in te maximae sunt & clarissimae , in scriptis in voce , in vultu , in óculis , in composito mentis habitu , in totâ viâ tuâ fulgentibus gentibus micat radijs , velut inter ignes lunae minoret : macte ista morum suavitate , quâ aperto vivens ostio , & facta tua omnia ad pietatis & rectae rationis obrussam exigens , quod vir bonus solet , qui iudex ipse sui iotum se explorat ad vnguem , quid proceres , vanique ferat quid opinio vulgi securut : teque ipsum semper verens , omnium quotquot te novere , quique tuos in scriptis & nitida oratione pellucentés moras vidêre , amorem tibi conciliasti . ma●te iterum atque iterum praeclarae eruditionis gloriâ , ultissimâ rerum divinarum & humanarum scientiâ , literatissimis variarum disciplinarum monumentis quibus tibi jure merito iucundi & nervosi oratoris , christiani senecae , clarissimi & doctissimi theologi nomen comparasti , quod vivet seclis innumer abilibus . sed age eat qui donomeus est bonus libellus , qui aaro est nobilier novus libellus . eat pedibus celer , per alpium aeternis horrentium nivibus juvias rupes , per appennini ardua & praerupta iuga viam sibi faciat arcem sanctangeli velox conscendat conscendat , angelo satanae vrbi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 securè procul extra teli ja●tum incubanti in faciem narret , esse in anglia episcopos haud paucos qui inhumanae & infestae pccori lupae , sub ovina pelle regibus & populo christiano rumae horrende lac ferinum immulgenti , personam alienam detrahere , bestiam ovium sanguinis sitientem à christo caulis arcere , ecclesiae laeta & pura pascua à turpi spumantium oprorum dente & foedo lutu●entarum suum rostro pura & intemerata conservare : aesopicam corniculam petri & pavli plumis insolescentem furtivis coloribus nudare , cvcvli romani , qui christianos omnes pro gvrrvcis habet ; ova in ipso dei templo pos●●● apertur●dere ; meretricem babylonicam christiani nominis cerussa & minio fucatam traducere : & possint quia doctissimi , & velint quia integerrimi . atque vt odor illa morte in mortem sit , quia resipiscere dedidicit , denuntiet vt tota mente atque omnibus artubus contremiscat , appetente jam die illo decretorio , quo ardebit babylon , meretricis magnae negotiatores & adulteri omnes lugebunt , diabolus mundi seductor , bestia & pseudopropheta in stagnum ignis & sulphuris praecipites abibunt , aeternas justè irato numini paenas daturi ; filiumque perditionis . dignus principio exitus , exodiumque sequetur . interea temporis veni domine iesu , veni ; antichristum se truci efferentem rabie in vnctos tuos comprime : hostibus tuis , qui asperum paternae castigationis tuae viuum nobis plenis cyathis educendum dedere , acinosas & pannosas indignationis tuae faeces plenis dolijs exhauriendas invitis & reluctantibus porrige . captivam sionis filiam ferreo aegyptiacae servitutis jugo oppressam liberali causâ manu assere : lvdovici regis fulgentes hastas , coruscantes enses , arma mortali fulgore crispantia , tormentorum bellicorum horrisona fulmina in ipsum pseudoprophetam , & lutosos babylonis muros converte , vt fatidicum vatem veri nescium sua sibi mala laeva mente verè profatum esse pudeat & poeniteat : ecclefijs transmarinis solidam pacem subdolis ereptam artibus , restitue : damna nos voti , & hanc qua major britannia tuo solius benificio fruitur pacem & tranquillitatem nobis fidam , posteris vero nostris perpetuam praesta . huic autem aureo libello da vt vivat vigeatque , antichristo principum invidiam conflaturus , ecclesiae tuae almam pacem coagmentaturus : eiusque autori largere benificus , vt vitâ honestissimè & sanctissimè in terris acta , coelo potiatur , vbi tecum immortali ave summâ cum pace fruatur . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a68128-e340 obiection . answere . obiection . answere . an answer to a paper entituled the case of the protestant dissenters of ireland in reference to a bill of indulgence, represented and argued. pullen, tobias, 1648-1713. 1695 approx. 23 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a56270 wing p4193 estc r222510 99833673 99833673 38151 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. a56270) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 38151) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2176:14) an answer to a paper entituled the case of the protestant dissenters of ireland in reference to a bill of indulgence, represented and argued. pullen, tobias, 1648-1713. boyse, j. (joseph), 1660-1728, attributed name. 6 p. printed by joseph ray at the 3 nags-heads in essex-street, [dublin : 1695] by tobias pullen; sometimes also attributed to joseph boyse (cf. halkett & laing). caption title. imprint from wing. some print show-through. reproduction of the original in the bodleian 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 case of the dissenting protestants of ireland -controversial literature -early works to 1800. protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. 2006-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2006-07 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an answer to a paper entituled the case of the protestant dissenters of ireland , in reference to a bill of indulgence , represented and argued . there being a paper lately publish't , intitul'd , the case of the protestant dissenters of ireland , in reference to a bill of indulgence , represented , and argued . i shall endeavour to shew , that tho , the author has truly represented the desires of the dissenting protestants among us , yet he has weakly argued for the granting of them . the desires of the dissenting protestants , he comprises in these two propositions ; first , that by a bill of indulgence a full security for the free exercise of religion according to their consciences may be given them . secondly , that there be no such clauses annex't to it , as may disable 'em from serving their king , and their country . as to the first of these desires , i believe there are few or none but will agree to secure to 'em by law , the free exercise of their religion , tho 't is plain , the authors arguments do not evince the necessity of it , as may appear by a distinct consideration of ' em . the first of which is this , that since our security consists in the number and union of protestants , this bill will promote both , by drawing protestant dissenters from abroad , and by uniting those at home , and by securing their affections to the government , that grants 'em this indulgence . now to this , i answer : first , that this indulgence will tend rather to the multiplicity of sects , than to the increase of the number of protestants , and will most successfully promote those very designs , which our author vainly imagins it the best expedient to obstruct ; for a general indulgence has always prov'd instrumental to the advancing the popish interest among us , and has therefore been vigorously promoted by popish emissaries in england , and that by express orders from their superiors abroad , who have experimentally found it to be the most effectual method of introducing popery into a country , and have expended very considerable sums of money , for the purchase of tolerations to dissenters . before i reply to what is said , concerning drawing over protestant dissenters from abroad , by this bill of indulgence ; i shall propose this question , whether the granting liberty of conscience , with the sacramental test , will not be as effectual to the peopling of this kingdom with english conformists , as a general toleration , without restrictive clauses to the planting of it with scotch dissenters ? but to return , i presume by what the author says , concerning drawing over protestant dissenters from abroad ; he cannot mean foreigners , because he acknowledges them to be provided for , by an act past the last parliament in their favour . he must therefore wholly , or more especially design the dissenting protestants of scotland : now in reference to these , i leave it to the serious consideration of every judicious , and impartial reader , first , whether that sect among 'em , whose violent principles have unqualified 'em for indulgence there should be tolerated here ? can we reasonably expect , that those who are so turbulent in their own countrey , shou'd be quiet in ours ? or that by their being transplanted into another soil , and by a kind and indulgent cultivation of them , we may gather figs off this sharpest sort of thistles ? secondly , whether the free and publick exercise of religion should be indulg'd to others of them , who have publickly declar'd our church government to be antichristian , and have solemnly sworn to extirpate prelacy ? thirdly , whether those that are the most moderate among 'em , can with reason expect , but that with the same measure they have meted to their brethren , the episcopal clergy in their own countrey , it should be measur'd to them again , when they come to settle in this kingdom ? so that if any indulgence be granted , 't is purely the result of our own charitable inclinations , and a plain evidence to the world , that our just resentments of their severity to others , has not alienated our affections from them . neither will this indulgence probably tend to the uniting of protestants at home , as is too fully prov'd by experience in england ; where the present toleration has not had that good effect ; neither can we in reason expect it should be more successful here ; for if it equally extend to all parties and denominations of protestant dissenters , their mutual jealousies of one another , and their respective endeavours to propagate their opinions , and to promote their temporal interests , will naturally create great heats and animosities ; but if the benefit of the indulgence be unequally distributed , it will be so far from being a means of supporting , that it will considerably weaken the government by disobliging all , but those that are particularly encourag'd , and caress'd by it . but secondly , as this indulgence is not necessary for the common protestant interest in this kingdom ; so neither is it so highly reasonable , as the author pretends , as may appear , by a particular consideration of the arguments he makes use of to prove it . for first , as the early zeal of the dissenters , in behalf of this government , may intitle 'em to its protection , so it can't be deny'd but that they have enjoy'd it ever since the revolution , and have receiv'd more than ordinary marks of royal favour , partly by the free liberty that is granted 'em throughout the kingdom , for the publick exercise of their religion , and for the building of meeting houses , even in corporate towns ; as also by his majesties bounty , in allowing yearly hitherto a considerable sum for the maintenance of their ministers . secondly , there seems to be more than ordinary reason to make an act in behalf of foreign protestants , because they are found by experience to have more favourable thoughts of ; and more forward inclinations to our church-government and worship , than others have . and besides , 't is observable , that the free exercise of religion , which was granted 'em by the late act , was to continue but for seven years , in which time it was suppos'd they might learn our language , and be instructed in the principles and worship of the establish't church , and 't was with good reason hop't that after the expiration of that term. ●●ey would declare themselves members of our communion . and i 'me credibly inform'd , that of eleven congregations of foreign protestants in london , there are nine conformists . thirdly , the papists are not in equal circumstances of publick favour with our dissenting brethren ; for as the liberty they have in the exercise of their religion , was extorted from the government , by the pressing necessity of publick affairs , so it is not confirm'd to them by any act of parliament , as this indulgence is expected , and i suppose , design'd to be to the dissenters . and fourthly , the experience that our dissenting brethren have had of our tenderness towards them heretofore , is a sufficient argument and security to 'em of our future kindness ; for we consider our mutual agreement in the same articles of faith , and are glad this author is pleas'd to declare , that the suppressing of protestant dissenters , by the strict execution of penal laws , is a practice that has a just odium left upon it ; but are sorry , that the just odium left upon it among us , should be wholly confin'd to us , and that this practice should have no censure , nor reflection cast upon it among our neighbours : and 't is strange , that the author should say , that there is so apparent a contrariety in it , to the mild and merciful genius of our holy religion , seeing he can't but know the time when it was an avow'd doctrine , and a general practice among the presbyterians and independants , to bar the members of the church of england from the free exercise of divine worship according to their consciences : and 't is as strange , that this practice should be so apparently contrary to our holy religion , and have so mischievous effects upon the publick peace here in this kingdom , and yet be thought so great an evidence of a truly christian zeal , and so effectual an instrument of publick good in scotland ; and how possibly can our author hope , that all protestants are in this point come to a better temper , than to gratifie their enemies by ruining their brethren , when there is so plain a demonstration of the contrary ; unless he be of opinion , that what is accounted a warm and sanguine temper of religion there , is to be esteem'd the raging heat of a malignant feavor here . fourthly , as concerning the establishing toleration by a law ; the reason why some may be against it , is not ( as our author do's invidiously insinuate ) that they wait for a more favourable opportunity of reviving the former severities , but that they may still have it in their power to shew their tenderness to their dissenting brethren , and may prevent , or repress the misdemeanors that some nonconformists may possibly be guilty of , if they had a legal toleration ; as also , that they may secure the established religion they profess , against the dangerous consequences they fear from a general indulgence . and lastly , as to what he says concerning his majesties declaration , i desire this author to consider more seriously , whether there be not some others in the three kingdoms besides the protestant dissenters of ireland , to whom one great end of his majesties declaration is yet unaccomplish'd ) and whether there be a law made to cover the protestant episcopal clergy in scotland , from persecution on the account of religion . by all which it may plainly be perceiv'd , that 't is not by force of the authors arguments for the necessity , or reasonableness of toleration , but purely in compliance to the importunate desires of our dissenting brethren , that the members of the establish'd church are inclin'd to grant 'em a general and legal indulgence , as parents do often humour their children , in giving 'em those things they eagerly desire , which tho' pleasant to their pallates , are yet many times prejudicial to their health , and now , i proceed to the second desire of the protestant dissenters , which is , that there may be no such clauses annext to this bill , as would disable 'em from serving their king and their country ; which in plain terms is no more than this ; that whereas the ease to tender consciences was the only thing they formerly desir'd ; they now claim it as their due , to be admitted also into all honourable and profitable employments , and without these , whatever ease may be given to their consciences , 't is to be fear'd they will have no quiet in their minds . but let us hear our authors auguments for granting this bill of indulgence , without a sacramental test annext . first he tells us , that the sacrament test in england was chiefly design'd against papists , but 't is also plain , it was intended against protestant dissenters too ; for tho' none but the former be mention'd in the title , yet the latter are included in the body of the act ; and if the zeal of the english dissenters against popery in the late times has not exempted them from a sacramental test ; our dissenting brethren in this kingdom , cannot with modesty expect , that their late services should intitle them to any such immunities . secondly , he tells us such a test for disabling protestant dissenters for any publick service , is against the common protestant interest of ireland . our circumstances indeed vastly differ , as he says , from those of england , for here the established church is more in danger than there , by the protestant dissenters , as well as by the common enemy : in england one unmixt people does compose the main body of the nation , which continues still the same ; but here we are made up of several nations , and there is a daily accession of great numbers from a neighbouring country , of whom the meaner sort , are generally of a different communion from the establish'd church . tho' the nobility and gentry , ( to their great praise be it spoken ) are generaly conformists . 't is possible inded , as he observes that the irish may be more numerous , if there should be a general peace , and i may add , that 't is highly probable , that the papists will grow much more numerous , if there should be a general indulgence ; and therefore , notwithstanding our authors opinion , we cannot think it reasonable to give the protestant interest a wider bassis here , than it has in holland ( which is a place of greatest liberty in matters of religion ) where all protestants are not equally capable of employments without religious tests . as to what he says , concerning the danger of a future rebellion , we hope , that by the late acts of parliament made against the papists , and the diligence of the magistrates in putting them in execution , the irish may be disabled for any new insurrections ; or if we should fall into the same unhappy circumstances that we have been lately in , we have reason to believe , notwithstanding the authors disadvantagious representation of the temper of the dissenters ( wherein he intimates , that the excluding them from publick offices , would incline 'em in future dangers to desert the publick service ( the foreboding of which seems equivalent to an advice to them , and a menace to us ) notwithstanding this , i say , we have reason to believe , that the consideration of the common safety , and their gratitude for their indulgence , which they now expect , would engage 'em to shew an equal zeal to what they did before , tho' they should not be wholly on equal terms with us , since they could not reasonably hope for so kind a treatment from the papists , as they have had from us , thirdly , to what the author says , to prove , that it does not seem agreeable to the judgment of the parliament of england , that any such test should be impos'd here ; i answer , that as the substituting the new oaths , and the declaration or test against popery instead of the oath of supremacy did not repeal the statute that enjoyns the sacrament test in england ; so neither can it with the least shadow of reason be alledged , that the english act for the abrogating the oath of supremacy in ireland , &c. ought to be construed as intended , to prevent the imposing of it here , in case a general indulgence should be granted to the protestant dissenters in this kingdom . fourthly , to the first argument produc'd by the author , to prove a sacrament test to be as unreasonable as 't is dangerous ; viz. that it will put the protestant dissenters into worse circumstances , than they are in at present ; i may with great justice and reason , reply , that whatever hardships the dissenters may pretend , they should be under by those restrictions ; i am sure the members of the establish'd church would be in far worse circumstances than they now are in , if an indulgence should be granted without those clauses . first , 't is too notorious to be denied , that the conformists at sligo , and crum , at inniskillen and derry , did appear at least as early , and act as zealously for this government as the dissenters ; and consequently the conformists will have reason to think themselves severely dealt with , if no other way can be found of rewarding the services of the former , without the apparent hazarding the most valuable rights of the latter , by granting the dissenters such an indulgence , and by admitting them into such offices as may give 'em power and opportunity to alter the whole frame of the present church government . secondly , as to what is said concerning the sacraments not being a fit test of admission into offices ; i observe , first , that the arguments he makes use of in this matter , are much the same with those that were urg'd in the late reign , for the taking off the penal laws and test . secondly , i answer more distinctly . that by this sacramental test , we do not prostitute that holy institution to mean and worldly purposes , as our author insinuates ; but religion being the great band of humane society , 't is highly reasonable , that those persons should be rewarded , as well as intrusted with employments in the state that give the greatest evidences of their piety to almighty god ; and if this argument of our authors be valid , 't will not only conclude against this but all other religious tests ; and then the most scandalous neglects of holy duties , must not be accounted a sufficient bar to an admission into the most considerable offices , for fear of prostituting the ordinances of divine worship , and of driving unworthy persons to a participation of those sacred mysteries ; and if , as our author says , the interest of religion is very little concerned in the posture of receiving the holy sacrament ; why should any person seperate from the communion of the establish'd church , on account of that which our author is pleas'd to call a trivial matter , and a trifle : but if any man refuse to give the state so trivial and inconsiderable a mark of his complyance to its orders and injunctions : there is no reason why such an one should be intrusted with the management of the civil and military offices , or that they should be esteemed such vseful persons , that it should be thought the interest of the government to comprehend ' em . the case that our author puts of a man endued with eminent wisdom ; integrity , &c. is scarcely to be be suppos'd ; for no man surely , that deserves that character , will unqualifie himself to serve his king , his countrey , and his temporal interest too , by refusing to receive the holy sacrament in such a posture , which our author acknowledges , is more expressive of our reverence to our saviour , than that which is in use among the dissenters . however , as a reward to those that have been more than ordinarily remarkable for their services to his majesty , and are now in any civil , or military employment , it may perhaps be thought convenient , that persons so qualified , may be excepted as nominees , and hold their offices , notwithstanding their refusal of the sacramental test . lastly , whereas our author says , that the establish't church will be no way indanger'd by the indulgence he is pleading for , i answer that tho' the honours and revenues of the clergy are now secur'd to 'em , yet we cannot foresee the difficulties the conforming clergy may possibly contest with , in asserting the rites of the church , if nonconformists were qualified for civil offices ; and besides , we are far less concern'd for the security of our temporal interest , than for the establishment of our antient , holy and peaceable religion . i am far from detracting from the good services which the dissenters did the king and the nation , in being joynt instruments with the conformists in the preservation of derry and inniskillin ; nor would i exclude 'em from a capacity of concurring to preserve their country again . but as in the late troubles common safety , and the publick interest of the nation did oblige 'em to take up arms , so if a like juncture should happen , ( which god forbid ) they may be in the same circumstances to serve their king and country as before , tho' they be not legally qualified for offices , by a general and unlimited indulgence . as to the authors commendations of the peaceable temper of the dissenters of this kingdom , it is to be observed , that they have not had the same opportunities of discovering their unpeaceable turbulency towards their neighbours , as their brethren in scotland at present have , or of expressing their dissatisfaction to the government , as both they and the dissenters in england have formerly had ; but if ever they should be in the like circumstances here , we have no great reason to expect much more favourable usage , nor the government a more dutiful obedience from them . good nature and common prudence will indeed direct us to provide for our own security , by condescending to all the reasonable requests of our dissenting friends ; but no motives ought to prevail on us , to make such large concessions to them , as will in all probability shake the very foundations of the establish'd church . dublin , printed by joseph ray at the 3 nags-heads in essex-street , 1695. questions propounded for resolution of unlearned protestants in matter of religion, to the doctours of the prelaticall pretended reformed church of england. spencer, john, 1601-1671. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a93670 of text r230353 in the english short title catalog (wing s4957). 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. 53 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 29 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a93670 wing s4957 estc r230353 99895991 99895991 153615 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. a93670) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 153615) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2372:7) questions propounded for resolution of unlearned protestants in matter of religion, to the doctours of the prelaticall pretended reformed church of england. spencer, john, 1601-1671. [2], 11-63, [1] p. [s.n.], printed at paris, : 1657. the page numbering begins with number "11". by john spencer. reproduction of original in the newberry library, chicago, illinois. eng protestants -france -early works to 1800. protestantism -early works to 1800. a93670 r230353 (wing s4957). civilwar no questions propounded for resolution of unlearned protestants, in matter of religion, to the doctours of the prelaticall pretended reformed c spencer, john 1657 9047 4 10 0 0 0 0 15 c the rate of 15 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 2007-06 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2007-06 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion questions propounded for resolution of unlearned protestants , in matter of religion , to the doctours of the prelaticall pretended reformed church of england . printed at paris , 1657. questions propounded for resolution of unlearned protestants , in matter of religion , to the doctours of the prelaticall pretended , reformed church of england . 1. quest . whither every christian is not obliged , to chuse the safest way , all things considered , to salvation ? 2. quest . whither that way , wherein both parties acknowledge , that unlearned men may have possibility of salvation , 1 though one of them say it be with difficulty and danger , if they look not well to the foundation , be not prudently to be judged more safe for the unlearned , then that which is esteemed safe by one only party , and that incomparably less in number , but by the other incomparably greater party , which equalizes the less in all respects requisite to gain credit and authority , is constantly held to be utterly void of all possibility of salvation , even for unlearned persons ? 3. quest . whither this be not the present case betwixt protestants and those of the roman church , according to the acknowledgement of the latest and learnedst of protestant authours ; they acknowledging the 2 said possibility of salvation for unlearned persons in the romane , and the romane doctours denying all possibility to unlearned protestants , so long as they remain willfully in the protestant religion ? 4. quest . whither all unlearned protestants , who are sufficiently informed of what is here said , are not quilty of a damnable neglect of their salvation , so long as they remain protestants , and refuse to be of the roman church ? 5. quest . whither a person , who is in quiet possession of any goods , titles , rights , or dignities , &c. retain not the right to all such goods , and is wrongfully deprived of them , so long as he neither confesses that he hath no right to them , nor is condemned by the clear sentence of any lawfull and competent judge , of sufficient authority to define against him , but still maintaine● his cause against his adversary , and gives at least probable answers to all that he alledges against him , and pleads to be restored to his ancient possession taken from him by force and violence ? and whither he , who thus violently took the possession from him , be not obliged in conscience to restore it to him again ? and whither he proceeds not unjustly , so long as he retains it from him ? 6. quest . whither this hath not been , within the last hundred and fifty years , and still is , the proceeding of protestants against the romane church , violently excluding her bishops , pastours , and people , from the quiet possession , of many hundred years continuance , of their doctrine , dignities , titles , governments , benefices , churches , possessions , and still retayning them , and refusing to restore them ; those of the romane church still claiming their right , and never having been condemned by any competent and lawfull judge , nor acknowledging themselves convinced to have obtained that possession wrongfully . 7. quest . whither the quiet possession of many ages , both of the eastern and western churches , in their unanimous consent of doctrine and practise , in most points of controversie betwixt them and protestants , be not a sufficient proof to justifie the said doctrine and practise ; till it be convinced clearly , evidently and undeniably , ( by reason or authority ) or lawfully condemned of errour ? so that it belongs to protestants , who are the aggressours , to convince their adversaries of errour , and not to those of the roman , or grecian churches , to prove their tenents by any other argument , then that of their quiet , ancient , and universall possession , though catholicks be upon the affirmative , and protestants upon the negative ; as he who quietly possesses the name , title , armes and lands of such , or such a familie , hath sufficiently proved , that he has right to them , and that they are truly his , till he either confesse , that the contrary is sufficiently proved , or that it be lawfully determined against him . 8. quest . whither it is not a most insolent madness ( as st. augustin . terms it ) or an insufferable height of pride , for any christian whatsoever to call in question , much more to censure and condemne as erroneous , that which all the visible churches in the world taught and practised ; and a manifest foolery , to follow any teachers , and give eare and belief to them , who contradict the universall practise and doctrine of the whole christian world ? 9. quest . whither the first was not done by the first authors of protestant religion ; and the second done , and still continued by their followers ? or if the first authours of protestant religion received those points of their doctrine from any visible church in the whole world which existed immediately before their relinquishing the roman doctrine , let that church be produced , and named . 10. quest . seeing protestants affirme , that the roman church is infected with errours in faith , which they pretend to have purged in their reformation , i demand that it be evidenced , when any of these pretended errours begun to be publickly taught & practised out of some approved authours of any age , who affirm , that the publick profession of the said errours begun in or about their time . for seeing they were publickly practised through all christendom , if that publick practise had ever begun in any age since the apostles , it must have been taken notice of : whereby their instances of consumption in the lungs , of a beard growing white , &c. are shewed to be nothing to the purpose ; because they are either wholly secret , or insensible , and no way publick and notorious , as these were . and seeing faith by s. paul . ephes. 4. v. 1. 2. is said to be one , and reckoned up with the unity of god and christ , and so must be perfectly , one , how protestants , and those of the roman church can properly be said to have one faith , when the the one believes , what the other disbelieves ? and as opinions contradicting one another cannot be said to be one opinion , how can faiths contradicting one another be said to be one faith ? neither is it enough to say , that they are one in that wherein they agree , for so they will be one only in part , or partially , and not absolutely and entirely : and as the least difference destroyes the perfect unitie of god & christ , so will it do that of faith ; and though my opinion agree with that of another in many things , but disagrees in many others from his , we can never be said absolutely ( as it must be in faith ) to be of the same , or one opinion . quest . 11. whither it be not a great argument , to induce any rationall indifferent man , to judge that the protestant authours are put to great straits , and to desperate acknowledgements , when being ashamed of the first refuge of their beginners , in flying for the defence of their succession to an invisible church ; and no less of the second , in alleadging for their predecessours and continuance of the visibilitie of their church , berengarius , the waldenses , albigenses , wicleffests , hussites , and other publickly condemned hereticks , they confess , that they have now no other means to save their visible succession , but by acknowledging , that they succeed to the church of rome , and other churches joyning with her against them in all the points of difference betwixt them , and her ; and so are enforced to acknowledge her , and all those who are united to her , to be true churches of christ , and consequently to hold no fundamentall errour at all ; & consequent to this , to acknowledge , that their first authours & churches , both in england and other countries , wronged the church of rome and those others insufferably , first , in condemning them of superstition , idolatrie , antichristianisme , &c. which are fundamentall errours in religion , and destructive of salvation . secondly upon this pretext in destroying , burning , and alienating to secular uses so many thousands of their churches , monasteries , towns , citties , castles , villages . thirdly in massacring and putting to cruell torments and death , so many priests and professours of the roman religion . fourthly in depriving their bishops and clergie-men of their respective church-governments , dignities , seas , benefices and churches , and setting up others , they yet living , in their places . fifthly in making it no less then high treason , ( which is yet in force ) either to be priests , or to communicate with them in many spirituall church offices and sacraments . sixthly in continuing to this day , in a violent detaining of their churches , benefices , dignities , and spirituall functions , from all those of the roman profession , and holding them in their own hands ; and all this , because they maintain certain pretended errours , which they now confess not to be fundamentall , nor destructive of salvation ; & consequently that those of the roman church have suffered , and still suffer all these intollerable injuries , for that which even these modern authors acknowledge to be no more then a veniall or small sin : for if it were mortall , it would destroy salvation , so long as one willfully continues in it ; which they affirm , it does not . further by this acknowledgement , these modern protestant authours must confess , that their former writers , who were of a contrarie mind , in charging the church of rome and the rest with her , of superstition , and idolatrie , &c. and all those , who then joyned with them , and all their modern churches and protesters , both without and within england , who at this day hold it as a point of their faith , to accuse the church of rome in the same manner , erre damnably against christian truth , and consequently are no true churches of christ . for it cannot be lesse then a damnable errour to make it a point of their faith , and religion , to condemne any one , much more all the visible churches of the west , nay and of the east too , and so of whole christendom , for nine hundred years together , of grievous superstition , when upon better examination , the doctours of the same protestant church are compelled by force of truth to confess , that those churches neither are , nor ever were guilty of any of those horrid errours , and at the most erre only venially and lightly ; which hinder them not , either to be 1 a true church of christ , or to obtain salvation , even while they most constantly and immoveably maintain them ; and accurse all who willfully contradict them , or condemne them as erroneous . and hence also it follows , that seing those modern protestant authours and their partie , communicate in prayer and sacraments , with the presbyterians and calvinists , who accuse the church of rome of idolatrie , &c. ( and so put it in fundamentall errour , ) and acknowledge themselves to make one church with them , must be guilty of deadly schisme by that communion and acknowledgement ; and consequently so long as they continue in that communion , are uncapable of salvation . quest . 12. whether it be not a great argument of securitie to those who either are of the roman church , or convert themselves to it , that her very adversaries after so many condemnations of her to hold most grievous , and damnable errours , dare not now accuse her to hold any errour destructive of salvation ; so that the belief of her doctrine in every point , their obedience to all her commands , the exercise of all her practises , their praying to saints , reverencing of holy images , adoring of christ as really and naturally present in the sacrament , &c. consist with salvation . and though some say , though they destroy not salvation , yet they are dangerous points , and practises , weakning the foundation , and endangering the destruction of it in continuance of time ; yet who sees not , that it is more secure to hold a religion , which makes the foundation only weak , by their adversaries confession , then to hold theirs , which the contrarie party most constantly affirms to destroy quite , & raise the foundation of religion , and to make salvation , not only hard & in danger , but utterly impossible , till it be deserted . quest . 13. whither it be a likely thing , that the chiefest of the pretended errours in the roman religion , contain any danger of loosing salvation , in maintaining them , seeing for this thousand years , by the common confession of protestants themselves , they have been universally believed and practised , as matters belonging to christian faith and dutie , both by the latin and greek church ; and so the belief and practise of them was the common way , wherein christians were saved ; which if it were dangerous , what other safe way was there , wherein christians might be saved ; & yet certainlie there was alwayes a safe way to heaven : and what likelyhood is there , that the safe way should be wholly unknown and unpractised for so many hundred years together , and the common known way , according to the full belief & setled perswasion of all the visible churches of christendom , should be dangerous and unsafe ? or what reason can be given , that the professours of the doctrine of the roman church , should be in an unsafe , or dangerous way , before protestants begun seeing they had none in those times , to shew them , that they were in danger . quest . 14 whither it have any shew of probabilitie , that the said pretended errours , though they raise not the foundation of christian faith ( as the late protestants confess ) yet they may in time endanger the raising and destruction of it , as they argue , seeing that after the universall belief of them , for a thousand years together , the foundation remains yet undestroyed and entire ? for if a thousand years continuance of them hath stood with the integritie of the foundation , what appearance is there , that they will ever cause , or induce the destruction of it ? quest . 15. further concerning this protestant distinction of errours in faith , fundamentall and not fundamentall , i demand first , what they understand by fundamentall errours ? for if they mean any nicetie in speculation , or theologicall discourse , it belongs not to the knowledge of the unlearned : either therefore they must understand by a fundamentall errour , such an errour in faith , as destroyes salvation howsoever that comes to pass , or they say nothing to the present purpose . this therefore supposed to be their meaning , i demand secondly a catalogue , & precise number of the fundamentall errours in faith , that is , how many , & which are those errours in faith , which destroy salvation ? for what helps it a christian to know , that there are such destructive and damnable errours , unless he know whether he hold any such errour himself , or no ? and how can he ever be certain of that , so long as he is ignorant , which are fundamentall errours , which not ? if this catalogue be refused , i demand at least some evident means , or marks , to distinguish errours in faith , destructive of salvation or damnable , from others consistent with salvation , or veniall : which is neither to deny any of the articles contained in the three creeds ( as some protestants have thought ; ) for one of them puts the procession of the holy ghost from the father and the son , the deniall of which they neither do , nor can hold to be a fundamentall errour , unless they affirm the grecian church to erre fundamentally , & so denie it to be a true church of christ ; which were quite against the said protestants , seeing they maintain the contrarie . nor is the creed of the apostles alone a sufficient rule to determine fully , which are fundamentall points , which not ; both because there are some things in it , which ( by reason of the lightness of the matter they contain , ) come not by far so near the radicall and primarie misteries of christian faith , as do many points controverted betwixt protestants and those of the roman church , and therefore cannot with any shew of truth be termed fundamentall by protestants , such as are the circumstances of time & persons , as that our saviour suffered under pontius pilate , and no other judge , that hee rose the third , and no other day , &c. and because some points , necessarie to the subsistence of christian faith according to protestants , are not expresly defined in that creed ; as that the holy scriptures are the divine word of god , which is the precise number of the books of canonicall scripture ; whither , there is any written word of god , or no ; or any sacraments , &c. so that a christian finds not all fundamentall points of faith set down expresly in the apostles creed . neither is the scripture a sufficient rule to know which are , which are not fundamentall points . for there are a thousand , nay a million of truths expressed in scriptures , which touch not immediately the foundation of faith , as protestants term it ; and no small number of points , according to them , fundamentall , which are not expressed in scripture , as the number of canonicall books , the entire incorrupt puritie of the originall , in any copie , or copies , which is come to the hands of protestants , &c. which in their principles are such points of faith , that true faith , and consequently salvation , cannot be obtained without them . for if sole scripture , ( as they affirme ) be the rule of faith , and all that is in scripture is to be believed , and nothing to be believed , but what is in scripture , or evidently deduced from it , seeing faith is necessarie to salvation , the determinate belief of all that is true scripture , from which only ( they say ) the true points of faith are drawn , must be necessarie to salvation , and so a fundamentall point of faith . thirdly , i demand , how any christian can affirm , that the denyall of any point of faith whatsoever , being sufficiently propounded as such , is consistent with salvation , seeing all such denyalls , or disbeliefs , include this damnable malice , of attributing falsity to that which is revealed by god himself , as all points of faith are , how small so ever the matter be , which is revealed in them ; which appears evidently in this example . i suppose that this sentence of scripture , tertiâ die resurget , he shall rise again the third day , is sufficiently propounded to any one , as a point and article of christian faith , as well according to the substance resurget , that our saviour should rise again , ( which protestants grant to be a fundamentall point ) as the circumstance of time , tertia die , the third day . now suppose that some christian , to whom this whole sentence of scripture is sufficiently propounded , should firmely believe the substance , or mysterie of the resurrection , because he esteems it to be a fundamentall point , but should disbelieve the precise circumstance of time , that it was only upon the third , and no other day , i demand seeing both the one and the other is propounded equally , as expresly contained in that sentence of holy scripture , whither he that disbelieves that the resurrection happened upon the third day , and dyes in that belief , can be saved ? quest . 16. i demand farther , that seeing s. paul , hebr. 11. v. 1. says , that faith is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the substance , or ground ( as the protestant english bible of anno 1648. hath it ) of things hoped for , and is reckoned up by the same apostle hebr. 6. v. 1. 2. amongst those things , which are called by him basis , the foundation , one of them being faith to god . and the apostle ephes. 2. v. 20. sayes we are built {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets , which now , according to protestants , can be nothing else save the writings of the prophets and apostles in holy scripture , i demand , whither to say that some points of faith are not fundamentall , or belonging to the foundation , be not as contrarie to common sense , as to say , that some stone in the foundation of a building belongs not to the foundation , or is not fundamentall ? quest . 33. further i demand , that seeing s. paul affirms in the fore cited place , hebrews the 6. vers. 2. that laying on of hands amongst many other points , is the foundation ; how protestants can deny , that ( seeing the laying on of hands is disbelieved and rejected by them in the sacrament of confirmation , and by some in the administration of holy orders , as a popish superstition ) that such protestants differre fundamentally , or in the foundation from those of the roman church ? or , if the laying on of hands belong to the foundation , as s. paul here affirmed , why anointing with oyle , mentioned by s. iames , should not also be a fundamentall point ? or why , laying on of hands ( being only , as protestants esteem it , a ceremonie not sacramentall ) should be here termed the foundatìon and the substance of the eucharist , which all hold to be sacramentall , and more then a meere ceremonie , should not be fundamentall ? or lastly , what reason there is to say , that laying on of hands hath a nearer connexion to the radicall and prime mysteries of our faith , then many other points controverted betwixt protestants and those of the roman church ? it is yet further demanded , seeing protestants affirme , that the whole visible catholick church may erre in the definition of points of faith not fundamentall ; and seeing they affirm , that the points in difference betwixt us , are not fundamentall , and so not necessarie to salvation ; & lastly . seeing they affirm also , that the scriptures may be obscure in points not necessarie to salvation , by what means can they ever think to convince the roman church of errour in these points of difference betwixt them and her ? quest . 19. seeing also , that every point of faith is a divine truth proceeding from the revelation of god , and to be believed ( as i suppose for the present with the common consent of protestants ) with an infallible assent of faith , if the universall visible church may erre , and the scriptures may be obscure as is generally affirmed by our adversaries in points of faith not fundamentall , how shall such points as are in controversie betwixt us , and are accounted by protestants not fundamentall , or not necessarie to salvation , be discerned to be points of faith ? or how agreed this modern protestant doctrine of no difference betwixt us in points necessary to salvation , with that of their beginners , and more ancient predecessours , who taught that the scriptures were clear only in all points necessary to salvation , and upon that pretext , both affirmed that our doctrin's against them , were clearly convinced of falshood by the authority of sole scripture , and allowed all lay people promiscuously to read them , as being clear to them in all the points controversed betwixt us ? for this manifestly supses , that they were held by those beginners to be points of faith necessary to salvation , or fundamentalls : or what means is there to believe them as points of faith ; seeing they can never be believed infallibly upon the churches authoritie by reason of her pretended fallibilitie in them ; nor expresly for the authoritie of scripture by reason of its obscurity in the delivery of them , according to the principles of protestants ? quest . 20. i demand further , if the whole visible church may erre , in the definition of any point of faith whatsoever , that errour must either proceed from ignorance & want of light , or from malice and want of vertue or goodness : not the second , for then the whole visible church of christ should not be sancta , holy , as it is believed to be in our creed , and described in the scriptures , but should become a harlot & abominable willfull deceiver of the world , and a seducer of nations in teaching , contrarie to the known truth : not the first , for if she could erre out of ignorance , to what purpose do protestants appeal to her determination in a lawfull generall councell , in any of the points in difference betwixt them and those of the roman church , seeing she may through ignorance erre in the determination of them , as being not fundamentall , according to them . neither can it be said , that , notwithstanding the whole visible churches fallibility in points not fundamentall , nay though it should actually erre , and that errour should be evidently discovered , yet even those who had thus evidently discovered the said errours , were to conform themselves to those erroneous definitions of a generall councell . for if this conformity be understood of an internall conformity in judgement , it is wholly impossible , seeing that were to judge the same thing to be true , and not true , at the same time , and to judge against an evident knowledge : and if it be understood of an externall conformity and profession only , it were manifestly impious and high hipocrisie , in resisting the known truth , and professing to believe that as a divine truth revealed by almighty god , which they evidently know to be a most false errour in faith . secondly , if one were to subscribe & externally to conform himself to the definitions of lawfull generall councells , which one perswades himself , he evidently knows to be erroneous , till another councell be assembled to correct them , why did not protestants afford this externall conformity to the definitions of the generall councell of florence , of lateran , and to the second councell of nice , ( to omit others ) till some other lawfull generall councell came to correct their pretended errours , they having no other reason to reject the authority of the said councells , then that they define many things against the protestant doctrine . thirdly , seeing it was never yet seen , nor can be ever made manifest , that any lawfull generall councell revoked any definition in matter of faith , of any former lawfull generall councell , what hope is there , that they shall now begin to do , what was never done before them ? fourthly , if it were supposed , that any such revocatorie definition should issue from them , that party , whose doctrine should be condemned by such revocations , would accuse that councell of errour , as much as the contrary party accused the former councell of errour in defining against them ; and so the controversie would remain as indetermined as it was before : neither would it be possible ever to determine it fully by a generall councell : for the party condemned would still expect another councell to revoke that definition ; which seems to him evidently erroneous ; and so there would be no end of new determinations and revocations in infinitum . yet further , seeing lawfull generall councells do not only oblige , even under pain of anathema , or being accursed and excommunicated , all christians to believe and profess the doctrine which they teach them , not only to be true and free from errour , but to be divine truth , revealed by god himself ; if they should erre in any such definition , they must make god the authour of errour and untruth , which quite destroyes the veracity of god , and consequently overthrows the main and primary foundation of christian faith , and therefore must necessarily be held to include a fundamentall errour : so impossible and implicatorie a thing it is , for them to erre in matter of faith , and not to erre fundamentally . for either that erring councell must define some positive errour , or that which god never revealed , to be revealed from god , or that some true revelation of god is an errour ; both which contain no less malice then this , to make god a lyar . quest . 21. seeing s. paul , ephes. 4. v. 14. affirms , that our saviour had appointed pastours and teachers , till the day of judgement , as a means to preserve christian people from being carried about with every wind of doctrine , these words every wind of doctrine cannot be understood disjunctively ; for then if those pastours preserved them from being seduced in one only point of christian doctrine , it would not be true , that they preserved them from being carried about with every wind of doctrine ; but they must be understood conjunctively , that is , that they preserve them from being carried away with any wind of doctrine whatsoever , which should chance to be buzzed into their ears by false teachers . now seeing such winds of erroneous doctrine are raised as well in points , which protestants account not fundamentall as in fundamentalls , the meaning of the apostle must be , that by means of those pastours christians be preserved from following any errour in faith , whither it be fundamentall or not fundamentall ; and consequently that they can ass●redly direct them , to eschew all errours in faith , which they could not do , if they themselves were subject to teach them any errour , or seduce them by any w●nd of doctrine whatsoever . seeing also that s. paul , in the same place , ephesians the 4. v. 10. tells us , that the said pastours are to consummate the saints , and to build up the mysticall body of christ , i demand , whither the apostle by these words make not those pastours , able to secure christian people from errour , not only in the foundation ( as protestants term it ) but in superstructures also ; for otherwise they would have been instituted by our saviour only to found his mysticall body the church , but not to build it up , and to ground , or initiate the saints , but not to consummate them . quest . 22. if it should be answered , that these and such like promises , or institutions of christ , are only conditionall , that is truly intended on his part , but yet may be frustrated by the malice of such as corrrespond not to his intention ; and therefore , though he intended , that these pastours should performe the said offices in the church , yet that it involved this condition , if they were not wanting on their parts , but by their failing the institution of christ is made frustrate and of no effect . i answer to this prophane and unchristian objection , first , that if christs promises and institutions be thus inefficacious and conditionall , that notwithstanding all the promises , that christ hath made for the preservation of his church , yet by the malice of christians , or others , the whole christian church may utterly faile and come to nothing ; secondly that it may erre even in fundamentall points ( contrarie to the doctrine of protestants ) and so become a synagogue of satan . thirdly , that the ancient promises , of the coming of the messias , of the redemption of mankind , of the saving of some at the last judgement , &c. have no absolute certainty in them , and so by the malice of men might have been , or may be frustrated . fourthly , that by this there is no certain credit to be given to any promise , or institution of god or christ , in the whole old or new testament . for a thousand different conditions may be invented , which not being performed , or put , the prediction fails : thus one may say , ( upon the like grounds ) that as the promises of benefits , or blessings , might be hindred by the malice and demerits of wicked persons , so the threats and thundrings of punishments upon sinners , may be hindred by the vertues and good works of saints : and because we have no rule to know , what proportion of goodness or malice is sufficient to frustrate such predictions , we remain wholly uncertain , whither they shall be absolutely verified , or no , unless therefore this principle be setled , that all divine institutions and predictions , are to be held absolute , and never to be frustrated , whensoever it is not evidently apparent , that they are conditionall , and may be hindred , there can be no certainty , that any institution , or prediction in the whole scripture shall be absolutely fullfilled . seeing therefore it is not evident , that this institution ephesians the 4. &c. and others of the same nature concerning the church , are conditionall , they are to be supposed to be absolute , and not to be frustrated by any malice of men whatsoever . fifthly , no protestant , who holds the whole visible church cannot perish , nor all her pastours prove willfull seducers , can apply this answer to the text now cited , viz. ephesians 4. &c. for if it be hindred by the malice of the said pastours , they must with joint consent maliciously and wittingly teach false doctrine to be the doctrine of christ , which were to teach fundamentall errours , and to fall of from christ . if this solution may pass for current , who can be certainly assured , that there is any true church of christ , visible or invisible , existent now in the world : for all the promises , concerning the continuance of it to the worlds end , may be as well said to be as well conditionall & frustrable by the malice of men , as this ephesians the 4. &c. and who knows , that the said malice is not already grown to that height , that it hath deserved , that god should take his true church quite out of the world ; and so that there is now no true church at all existent in the whole world . quest . 23. whither it be not evident , that unlearned protestants , who cannot determine differences in religion , either by force of argument , or places of scripture , but must wholly depend , in the choice of their faith , upon the authority and credit of christian teachers , are not obliged in conscience to preferre that authority and credibility of doctours , before all others , which all circumstances confidered , is absolutely and unquestionably the greater authority . quest . 24. whither that authority of doctours , where those of one side are equall at least , if not exceeding them of the contrarie party , in learning , wisedome , zeal , sincerity , vertue , sanctitie , and all other qualities and perfections , which conferre to the accomplishment of compleat authority in a christian teacher , and with this equality incomparably exceed the doctours of the other party in number , is not in all prudence to be judged absolutely & unquestionably the greater authority ? quest . 25. whither this equality at least , in all the said perfections , is not to be found in the roman doctours , compared with those of protestants ? quest 26. whither with this forementioned equalizing the protestant doctours , those of the roman church , the many years of their continuance , and universall extent of their religion considered , exceed not incomparably in number those of the protestant profession ? quest . 27. whither , this equality in perfections & incomparable excess in number considered , all unlearned protestants are not obliged , both in prudence and conscience , to preferre the authority of the roman doctours before that of protestants , and consequently to follow the roman , and desert the protestant doctrine ? quest . 28. whither upon the foresaid considerations , the authority of the protestant doctours , in all things wherein they contradict the roman , is not contemptibile , and unable to sway the judgement of any prudent christian , to frame any morall esteem of it : for though in matters , wherein they are either seconded , or not contradicted , by an authority incomparably greater then their own , they may deservedly be esteemed , for their naturall abilities and morall qualities worthy of credit , yet in all things where in they stand in opposition , and contradiction against an authority incomparably exceeding theirs , they deserve nothing but to be slighted & contemned by all those , who are to be led by the sole force of authority . thus when protestant doctours affirm , that either scriptures or fathers are for them , and against the roman church , what they say in this is not to be regarded , seeing the authoritie of the roman doctours , absolutely greater then theirs , unanimously affirms the quite contrary . thus when they affirm that the roman church is full of errours , and superstitions crept in they know neither when nor how , their accusation is to be slighted , being clearly and constantly contradicted by a far greater authority . thus they say , that protestants may be saved , living and dying willfully in their religion , they deserve no credit at all , for the quite contrary is most constantly defended by the incomparably stronger authoritie of the roman doctours : and the like is to be affirmed in all the points of difference betwixt the two religions . so that a protestant is not to consider the abilities & authority of his doctours absolutely , or in matters out of controversie , but as contradicting an authority ●comparably exceeding theirs ; in which contradiction they deserve neither credit nor esteem . quest . 29. i demand further , that if the authoritie of all the doctours of the whole body of protestants , be so inconsiderable , in comparison with that of the roman doctours , how much less will be the authoritie of any one sect , or party of them ; and then how minute and scarce perceptible will be the authoritie of a lawd , an hammond , a chillingworth , a fern , a bramhall , a taylor , &c. which now obtain so powerfull an ascendant , upon the hearts of our modern lay protestants ; seeing they are in a manner nothing in respect of the authoritie of the roman doctours . quest . 30. all this is demanded , supposing that the roman doctours were only equall to those of protestants in all the forenamed qualities , conducing to the perfect authoritie of a master in christianity : but now i demand , whether those , who have authoritie of teaching in the roman church , generally speaking , in so much as can be prudently deduced by experience from them , are not much excelling the protestant ministrie in all the said qualities ? what councells have they worth the mentioning in comparison with the generall councells consenting with the present roman church , ( even according to their own confession ) as the second of nice , the great councell of lateran , the councell of constance , florence & trent , wherein such multitudes of learned men , & holy patriarchs , metropolitanes , archbishops , bishops , doctours , prelates , both of the eastern and western churches , unanimously confirmed the romane , and condemned the protestant doctrine ? what proofs of learning have the protestant ministry , comparable to those of the roman doctours , whereof many have written one , no small number two , others three and four , others six , eight , ten , twelve , and some twenty & four and twenty great tomes in folio , and those replenished in the generall repute of christendom , even amongst protestants also , with profound and high learning ? who amongst their ministrie have they , who have obtained the universall esteem of sanctitie , as hath our gregorie , beda , thomas , bonaventure , antonine , dominicke , and diverse others . where find they amongst theirs that zeal , to pass into the heart of so many barbarous and heathen nations to plant the gospell , even with the undergoing of unheard-of torments , and suffering most cruell martyrdoms , as many of the roman clergie have done within these late years ? let them name but one sole minister , who hath suffered martyrdom for preaching christian faith to the pagans . what means have the protestant ministry , with their wives , goods and families , to apply themselves to study and devotion , comparable to our single clergie , and retired religious . where is that unanimous consent in all points of faith ( seeing they are perpetually jarring , not onely one with another , but the same ministers dissenting notoriously now , from what they taught twenty years ago ) amongst them , compared to the constancy and agreement of our doctours ? what miracles have any of their ministry ever done , in confirmation , either of their doctrine against the roman church , or of the christian faith against heathens , as ( unless all humane faith be infringed ) many of ours have done , both against them and heathens ? i could instance in many more particulars , but these may suffice for these short demands . whence appears evidently , that whosoever professes to be led by the sole authority of christian doctours , and pastours , must either deserve the esteem , i say not only of an unchristian , but even of an imprudent man , if he adhere to so undeserving and contemptible an authority , as is that of the protestant ministry in comparison of the roman doctours , who so incomparably outstrip them , not only in multitude , but in all the motives and perfections , which give credit to the authority of a christian teacher . quest . 31. whether hence be not evidently discovered , not only the insufferable pride of luther , and the other originall beginners of any sect in protestancy , in preferring their sole authority before that of the prelates and doctours of all the visible churches in christendom , existent when they begun first to preach their doctrine , but the extream madnesse of all the ignorant laity , who followed them , upon their sole authority , and preferred one single person upon his bare word , ( without any extraordinary signes or manifest proofs from heaven attesting his authority ) before all the doctours , prelates , councells , churches within the precincts of christendom , both of that present time and for nine hundred years before ? and if those were infested with so deep a frenesie , how can any man be judged deservedly discreet and prudent , who approves of their proceedings in this particular , and sides with them , ( at least in some article or other ) in the opposition of the whole christian world , as all protestants do , even to this day . quest . 32. hence i farther demand , that seeing on one side the true christian religion , having the divine wisdome for its authour , cannot admit of any thing imprudent , as properly belonging to it , in the choice of it : and on the other , that the protestant religion , or any sect whatsoever sprung from it , or existent in it , cannot be prudently chosen , by any unlearned person , who is sufficiently informed of the nullity of that authority which propounds it , compared with the authority propounding the roman religion ; whether i say , those particulars considered , the protestant religion , in any sect of it whatsoever , can be esteemed the true christian religion ? quest . 33. hence , i presse farther , whether the proving that protestant religion cannot be prudently chosen , or retayned , by any unlearned persons , who are sufficiently informed , of the eminent authority propounding the roman religion , is not a sufficient argument to them , that no sect amongst them in any point wherein it differs from the roman , hath either any solid ground in the holy scriptures , or true relation to gods holy spirit , or coherence with true reason ; seeing a religion , which cannot by them be chosen prudently , cannot possibly proceed from any of these three ; whatsoever fair show protestants , each respectively to his severall sect , make vainly of them . quest . 34. and upon this , i demand yet farther , whether the roman doctours have any obligation to urge any other argument then this , either from scripture , fathers , or reason against protestants , till they have cleared their religion from the impeachment of imprudence , committed by their followers in the election of it , or persisting in it , as is afore declared . quest . 35. on the contrary side ; i demand whether the roman doctours have any obligation in rigour of dispute , to use any other argument , for perswading unlearned persons , to desert the protestant , and imbrace the roman religion , then this of imprudence in adhering to the protestant , and of prudence in uniting themselves to the roman church , so long as the said unlearned protestants , perswade themselves , that they proceed prudently in preferring their own before the roman . seeing this erroneous perswasion is the first step which must be redressed relinquishing the one ; and the contrary perswasion , the first step which must be fixed , in approaching to the other . now when unlearned protestants once confess that they are convinced in this , and thereupon recede from protestancy , but object that the prudentiall motives to preferre the roman religion before the protestant , as they convince that the protestant is wholly improbable , and so to be deserted , so they convince no more then that the roman is probable , and so is in great likelyhood to be the true religion , but convince not , that it is so much as morally certain ? to protestants brought thus far , there is an obligation put upon roman doctours , to prove at least the morall certainty of it ; to such as acknowledge that it is morally certain that the roman religion , is the sole true saving religion , but deny , notwithstanding , that it thereby follows that it is fallibly certain ; rises an obligation to prove , that it is also infallibly certain , and when one is once convinced of this also , but yet doubts whether this infallibility be divine , and so the highest of all infallibilities , there will be also an obligation to shew to such as are brought on so far , the most high divine infallibility of the roman religion . hence therefore i demand , whether our late protestants , and socinians , proceed not preposterously , and unreasonably , in pressing roman doctours , to demonstrate the divine infallibility of the truth of the roman religion , before they themselves grant , that it is either infallible in any degree , or morally certain , or probable , or prudentiall . for though it be necessary , to prove all these particulars in their due circumstances , yet there is no necessity , to prove them all at once to every adversary , but by degrees the one in order after the other , with correspondence , to what of them is denied , or called in question , by those with whom we treat , for thus we proceed orderly , and logically à notioribus , ad ignotiora , and hold a correspondence with nature , by proceeding , ab imperfectionibus , ad perfectiora , still observing the stop , or progresse of our adversary , and still stopping , and going forward along with him . and if this methode had been strictly held by our late controvertists , the adversaries mouths had been stopped long before this . quest . 36. seeing these demands are proposed to such as believe that without true christian faith no man can be saved , and that this saving faith is one only ; and that this only faith is infallible , & divine : and moreover seeing it is already shewed that every difference , in any point of faith whatsoever , makes a different faith and religion ; and that amongst all the different religions , & beliefs , now on foot in these parts of christendom , there is none that can be prudently imbraced , ( by such as are in the number of the unlearned , and yet are sufficiently informed about the force of the authority of those who teach them ) save the roman , and that no religion can be true , which cannot be prudently imbraced by such unlearned persons , seeing in a manner the whole multitude of christians consists of those who are unlearned , and must according to prudence , follow the authority or their teachers . those things , i say considered , it is finally demanded , whether by proving , that the roman faith only can be prudently imbraced ( which is already done ) it is not made inevitably clear , that the roman only , is that divine , infallible , one , true faith , wherein christians may be saved . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a93670e-80 1 bishop of canterbury , in his relation of the conference , &c. §. 35. pag. 280. 2 b. of cant. in fore cited place . 1 bish. cant. p. 129. num . 3. b. of cant. above cited 181. b. of cant. p. 283. luthers predecessours: or an ansvvere to the question of the papists: where was your church before luther? bedford, thomas, d. 1653. 1624 approx. 52 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a07486 stc 1787 estc s114052 99849280 99849280 14420 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. a07486) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 14420) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 778:02) luthers predecessours: or an ansvvere to the question of the papists: where was your church before luther? bedford, thomas, d. 1653. 28 p. imprinted by felix kingston for george winder, and are to be sold at his shop in saint dunstons church yard in fleetstreet, london : 1624. reproduction of the original in the emmanuel college (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 reformation -england -early works to 1800. protestants -england -early works to 1800. 2004-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-04 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion luthers predecessours : or an answere to the qvestion of the papists : where was your church before luther ? london , imprinted by felix kingston for george winder , and are to be sold at his shop in saint dunstons church-yard in fleet-street . 1624. luthers predecessours : or , an answere to the qvestion of the papists : where was your church before luther ? amongst all those creatures that yeeld an vnpleasant sound , none are so clamorous and obstreperous , as frogs , and locusts ; these by land , the other by water , saluting each passenger with an vnwelcome note : the iust picture and resemblance of popish priests , and iesuites , which certainly are the frogs which s. iohn saw to come forth of the mouth of the beast , and the false prophet ; whose croaking and vnwelcome noise doth nor a little trouble each christian passenger : amongst other harsh notes of theirs , this question hath his place : for what musicke can there be in it ? where was your church before luther ? to what end is this question mooued , except it bee to trouble men ? for , what if wee could not prooue , that our english church was before luther ? must it needs follow , that the doctrine we hold is vntrue ? or shall the doctrine of the church of rome be euer the truer , because of onely antiquity ? what if arrius or nestorius could haue deduced the patrons of their opinions from adam , should they for that haue beene orthodoxall ? no certainly : and why not ? because the church must be prooued and allowed by the doctrine , and not the doctrine authorized by the church , which the papists ( a people wise in their generation ) well knowing , haue ouerturned the course of nature , & will haue the scripture and all doctrine to hang vpon the determination of the church : and vpon this ground it is , that they proceede to such questions as these , hoping that if they haue once amazed any one with the name of the church , and shall haue driuen him from title and interest to the church before luthers time , they shall easily make him call in question the whole frame of doctrine of the reformed churches . vnto this question answers haue beene made , arguments alledged to prooue that the doctrine of the protestant religion hath had his being in the world long before the dayes of luther : that argument of the worthy doctor featly cannot by any iesuite be answered , who concludeth , that the doctrine of the reformed churches must needs haue professours in all ages , because it is eternall : for eternity must needes haue a perpetuall duration without interruption . the argument of induction ▪ is that which better pleaseth the iesuite , but by no meanes will hee suffer our enumeration to begin with christ and his apostles ; for then what shifts , what cauils and tergiuisations they haue , may easily appeare by the proceedings of the late conference betwixt d. white , and d. featly , against fisher , and sweet : wherefore , to answer a foole , according to his folly , i haue indeuoured to draw the argument of induction à posteriore , beginning with the ages next before luther ; the which is not so hard a taske as commonly is imagined : but first , we must agree vpon the termes of this question , where was your church , & c ? where wee must first know what is meant by your , and what by church . for , if by your , they meane the church of our nation , that is , where was your english reformed church ? then are we to answer out of our own chronicles , and so shall we be able to name the fewer in all ages , and in some ages perhaps none ; not that there were none , but that the euidences are lost : but i suppose they doe not by the termes , your church , vnderstand a nationall or prouinciall church , because then must they prooue , that the church of the new testament is tyed to a place : so that where it once hath beene planted , there it should continue , which is contrary to all experience : besides , had they meant so , they would haue rather named tyndall , or some other englishman , then luther a german . by your church , they meane then those men in what country soeuer , which confessed and maintained the same doctrine . then , for the meaning of the word church , wee demand whether they mean a visible constituted church , which might haue beene knowne by the distinction and succession of bishops , elders , deacons , &c. or whether they meane generally any company of men , holding and professing those truths and doctrines which we maintaine ? for , if they will tye vs to the former , i say still , the taske is vnequall , because the records are wanting , but especially , because they cannot prooue that the church must alwayes bee in such manner visible : for in elias time there were 7000. vnknowne to him , much more to ahab . in the time of christs passion some of the papists say , that the church rested onely in marie ; and all doe vsually compare the church to the moone , which is alwayes lasting , but not alwaies in the full. but , if they meant the latter , namely , a company of men professing the same faith which wee doe ; then wee further propound to them two questions . the first is , whether the persecuting of any defacto , doe hinder the iustifying of them deiure , which they must needs denie , except they will beg the question : and then , though we finde such , and such , in former ages to haue beene condemned , yet if deiure , they ought not , and that we can iustifie their tenents , we shall proceed more easily in challenging them for ours . but if they would haue vs to name men vncondemned , liuing in peace , free from persecution , they must then prooue , that persecution doth take away the priuiledge of the church ; that those men shall not be of the church , because persecuted : which if they goe about , they must wipe out the whole infancy of the church for the first 300. yeeres ; but they shall neuer be able to prooue it : for the woman in reuel . 12. was constrained to flie into the wildernesse for feare of the dragon . the second is , what those doctrines are , which we must prooue , those whom wee seeke for to haue held : for , if they meane the fundamentall poynts of religion , contained in the creed for matters of faith , in the decalogue for matter of practice , and in the lords praier for matter of praier , they themselues shall be our spokesmen , for they and wee hold these in common ; but if they meane those points of doctrine wherein we dissent from the present church of rome ( which they must do if they vnderstand themselues in the question ) then we further desire to know whether they will not allow vs to challenge those for ours , who held the most , and mainest , for which they suffered as well as wee ; although ( perhaps ) in some other points they dissented from vs in our generall tenents : for , if they will allow vs onely such , who both in doctrine and discipline did in all points agree , they are too narrow for any dispute ; besides , they must prooue that there hath beene alwaies such an vnity of words and doctrine , that in no point the professours haue or may dissent , and yet remaine members of the church : a taske that will neuer fadge well , especially with them in their mutinous multitude and rabble of religious orders ; yea , let them then call to minde how weakely harding hath defended his answere of bishop iewels challenge ; or , let them answere perkins problem , and prooue where their church was before the trent councell ; for it will asmuch trouble them to name a company of men in all points professing the trent faith , as vs , to finde a company of men professing in all points the doctrine of the reformed religion : but if they giue vs liberty to make challenge to them , who in the most and greatest points haue agreed with vs ( which is but reasonable ) then in the next place we desire to grow to a point , and agree vpon the maine points of difference betwixt vs and them : all which in generall do concerne either the offices of christ , or the fruites of his office , the which by their doctrine are ouerthrowne . for first , the kingly office of christ is ouerthrowne by the supremacy of the pope , which draweth with it the pride of the clergy , and exaltation of them aboue the temporall power . secondly , the propheticall office is ouerthrowne by their silencing the scripture , and by giuing such liberty to the church , yea , and to the pope , to frame articles of faith . thirdly , the priestly office is ouerthrowne in the worke of satisfaction , by merits , indulgences , purgatory , &c. in the worke of application , by their abuses thrust into the sacraments , especially transubstantiation , reall presence , exorcismes , &c. & by their false sacraments , which were neuer appointed by christ , as meanes of application . in the worke of intercession , by angels , saints , images , whom they haue made their mediators of intercession . lastly , the fruites of christs office , redounding to vs by the mediation of christ , is our iustification before god , which doctrine they haue laboured to ouerthrow . now to the point , this our taske wee are to shew forth the names of such men , who haue consented with vs in the opposition of the supremacy , exemption of the clergy from ciuill iurisdiction , in the authority of the scriptures , and in the communicating of them to the people , in condemning merits , indulgences , purgatory , transubstantiation , reall presence , intercession of saints , and angels , image worship , pilgrimage ; in the doctrine of our free iustification by faith , and such other points , which are controuerted betwixt vs , and the church of rome . and this wee will doe first in the instance of our owne ▪ countrimen , and then proceed to others . know all men therefore by these presents , that about the yeere of grace 1370. in the time of edward the third , king of england , at what time all the world was in most desperate and vile estate , and that lamentable ignorance and darkenesse of gods truth , had ouer-shaddowed the church most ; iohn wickliffe , who almost 200. yeeres before luther , by the especiall prouidence of god , was raised vp here in england , to detect more fully and amply , the poison of the popes doctrine , and to purge religion from those dregs and filthinesse , with which it was defiled ; a professor of diuinitie was he in oxford , a man of note in his time , and of famous memory in the ages following : for after hee had begunne to publish some conclusions touching the doctrine of the sacrament , and other abuses of the church , ( which boyle and sore could not be touched , without the great paine and griefe of the world ) hee was much infested with the monkes and friers , who like hornets , did assaile the good man on euery side : after them , the priests tooke the matter in hand , and symon sudbery , archbishop , depriued him of his benefice in oxford ; yet by the friendly and fauourable assistance of iohn of gaunt , duke of lancaster , and henry percy , earle marshal , ( being also befriēded of the king , who had heretofore made vse of him in an ambassage ) he bore out the malice of the friers , and of the archbishop , all the dayes of edward the third , and of pope vrban ; who being busied in suppressing his aduersary , clement the seuenth , could not spare any time to deale with wickliffe : and so it came to passe , by gods prouidence , that the truth began to take some place and roote in mens hearts . afterward in the beginning of richard the 2. and of gregory the eleuenth , his aduersaries espied their time , and incensed the pope against him , who sendeth foorth his bull to the vniuersity of oxford , and an epistle to the king , with diuers letters to the bishops , dated all 11. kal. of iune , in the seuenth yeere of his pontificality 1378. by which it appeareth , that wicklife was a man of note , and that these things were not done in a corner , but that his preaching had taken effect : so that the bishops had neede of the popes owne helpe to suppresse him and his abettors ; the which although they attempted , yet could they not bring to passe : his commendation testified by the vniuersitie is this : that hee behaued himselfe as a stout champion of the faith , neither was hee conuict of any heresie : and god forbid ( saith the testimoniall ) that our prelates should haue condemned a man of such honesty , of heresie . his bookes were many , and spred abroade , not only throughout england , but also by occasion of queene anne , wife to richard the second , sister to wenceslaus king of bohemia , carried into bohemia , whence iohn husse learned the beginnings of his knowledge . thus was this man a most worthy instrument in the church of god , like a bright starre shining farre and neere . now for his conclusions which are recorded for his ; they are many , & gathered by his aduersaries , and therefore if in all points they sound not so well as we could desire , yet certainely wee may beleeue that they were not so bad as some of them are deliuered . wee finde that in a conuention at london 1382. may 17. they proceeded to the condemnation of his articles , some as hereticall , some as erroneous : the which also were afterward presented to the councell of constance , with diuers others to the number of 45. in all , and by the same councell condemned ; the which for breuitie sake i haue collected vnto their seuerall heads . 1. touching the supremacy , hee held that it is not necessary to saluation , to beleeue that the church of rome is supreme head of all churches : that the church of rome is the synagogue of satan ; neither is the pope immediately the vicar of christ , nor his apostles , and that the excommunication of the pope and his prelates is not to bee feared , because it is the censure of antichrist . 2. concerning religious orders ( which are the tayle of antichrist ) he taught , that those holy men , as francis , dominick , benedict , &c ▪ which haue instituted priuate religions whatsoeuer they be , in so doing , haue grieuously offended ; and such who do found monasteries , doe offend and sin ; so all such who enter into such religions , are thereby vnable to keepe the commandements of god , as also to attaine to the kingdome of heauen , except they returne from the same : yea , that religious men being in their priuate religion , are not of the christian religion , but are members of the diuell . 3. concerning the authoritie of the church , his doctrine was , that whatsoeuer the pope and his cardinals can deduce cleerely out of the scriptures , that only is to bee beleeued , or to bee done at their admonition ; and that whatsoeuer else they command , is to bee condemned as hereticall ; as for the decretals of the pope , they are apocrypha , and seduce men from the faith of christ ; and the clergy that studie them , are fooles . 4. as touching preaching and hearing the word , which is the execution of christs propheticall office , hee taught ; that it is lawfull for any man either priest or deacon , to preach the word of god , without the authoritie of the apostolike sea , or any other of his catholikes ; and that all such , who doe leaue preaching or hearing the word , for feare of their excommunication , they are already excommunicated , and in the day of iudgement , shal be counted traitors against god. 5. hee opposed also the selling of prayers , pardons , indulgences , and such popish trash , by which the satisfaction of christ is weakened ; affirming , that it was but a folly to beleeue the popes pardons . item , that all such , as bee hired for temporall liuing to pray for other , doe offend and sinne in simony . 6. in the doctrine of the sacraments , which are the instruments of christ , to apply to vs the work of his satisfaction , he laboureth much to reforme the abuses . 1. in baptisme , hee found fault with their doctrine of necessity ; teaching , that they which doe affirme , that the infants of the faithfull departing without the sacrament of baptisme , are not saued , are presumptuous and fooles in so affirming . 2. in the supper of the lord , hee opposed the reall presence , and transubstantiation , teaching , that christ is not really in the sacrament of the altar , in his proper and corporall person , but only figuratiuely ; that without all doubt it is a figuratiue speech to say , this is my body . item , that the substance of materiall bread and wine , euen bread in his owne substance , doth remaine in the sacrament of the altar , and ceaseth not to be bread still . that the accidents do not remain without the subiect in the same sacrament , after the consecration . so also hee taught ; that it is not found , or established by the gospell , that christ did ordaine masse . 3. as for the other fiue , which we count bastard-sacraments , some he did doubt of , as , extreame vnction : for this is one article , if corporall vnction , or anneyling , were a sacrament as it is faigned to be , christ and his apostles would not haue left the ordinance thereof vntouched . so also for shrift : if a man be duely and truely contrite and penitent , all outward confession is superfluous and vnprofitable . other sacraments he complained of , as being abused ; hallowing of churches , ( saith hee ) confirmation of children , and the sacrament of orders , be reserued to the pope and bishops onely , for the respect of temporall lucre . so also concerning matrimony , he held , that the causes of diuorcement , of consanguinity , or affinity , be not founded in the scripture , but are onely the ordinances of men , and humane inuentions . 7. lastly , concerning the power of the keyes , and the churches censures , his positions are ; that no prelate ought to excommunicate any man , except he know him first to be excommunicate of god : and that he that doth excommunicate any other man , is thereby himselfe either an hereticke , or excommunicate . item , that a prelate excommunicating any man of the clergy , which hath appealed to the king , or to the councell , is thereby himselfe a traitour to the king and realme . this in effect is the summe of his doctrine , wherein howsoeuer there may be , some few small slips , or harsh phrases , yet no pernicious errours , much lesse , damnable heresie ; but for the substance , it is sound and good , and agreeable to the canon of the world. wherefore , howsoeuer the synod of london , and the councell of constance , haue agreed to condemne these articles and his books , yea , & his bones also to the fire ( 41. yeeres after his death ) yet since de iure they ought not so to haue done , and that we are able to iustifie his doctrine , we are bold to challēge him as a fit instance to answer the question proposed ; and doe conclude , that our church had a being , and the doctrine of the reformed churches had professors , long before the dayes of luther . but goe to , let vs goe on , and see what other can be named ; one swallow maketh no summer , nor one professor a church . true : and therefore except we can draw downe the profession of this doctrine successiuely from wickcliffe , to the dayes of luther , let vs lose all this labour : wherefore we are to know , that both together with wickcliffe , and after him , arose a multitude in the church of england , maintaining the same doctrine , and spreading it abroad among the people , labouring with might and maine to defend it . such were lau. redman , master of arts , dau. sawtree , diuine , iohn aschwarby , vicar of s. maries church in oxford , william iones , an excellent young-man well learned , th. brightwell , will. haulam a ciuilian , ralph grenhurst , io. scut , ph. norrice , who being excommunicate by pope eugenius the fourth , appealed to a generall councell ; peter paine , lord cobham , with diuers others , whose names are mentioned in the kings writ , sent to the sheriffe of northampton , giuen at the mannor of langly , march 8. in the 12. of richard the second : so also , for confirmation of their multitudes , the words of the statute made anno 5. of richard 2. about this time w. courtny archbishop , being in his visitation at leicester , conuented diuers before him , as dexter , tailor , wagstaffe , scriuener , smith , henry , parchmeanar , goldsmith ; these , with other moe , were accused to the archbishop , for holding the opinion of the sacrament of the altar , auricular confession , and other sacraments , contrary to that which the church of rome did teach : the which persons , because being cited they came not in , were solemnely accursed as hereticks with bell , booke , and candle ; yea , and by the same archbishop was the whole towne of leicester interdicted , so long as any of these excommunicate persons should remaine in it . there was also one matilda an anchoresse accused of the same opinions : all this happened in 1387. in the 10. yeere of richard 2. about the same time peter pateshall an austen frier , hauing obtained leaue of the pope to change his coate and religion , hearing the doctrine of wickliffe , and others of the same sort , began to preach openly , and to detect the vices of his couent , preaching in london , & by the londoners graciously entertained and vpheld against the turbulent friers , who sought to molest him . thus by the preaching of wickliffe , and others , the gospell began to fructifie and spread abroad in london , and other places of the realme , and more would haue done , had not the prelates set themselues so forcibly with might and maine to gaine-stand the course thereof . 1389. william swinderby a worthy defender of the faith , with wickliffe , was accused to the bishop of lincolne , of certaine articles , both vntruely collected and cruelly exhibited against him by the friers , & by their vehemency was vrged to reuoke : afterward he remoouing into the diocesse of hereford , was there also molested and troubled vnder iohn tresnant bishop of hereford , vpon the same articles ; the which articles as they were giuen in by the friers , and how answered by swinderby in his protestation , hangeth vpon record , and out of the registers in the same old english in which it was written , is by m. fox transcribed into his history of the church : by the reading of which protestation , wee may note a notable piece of knauery in his accusers , viz. not to deliuer his assertions faithfully , as he did deliuer them , but as they supposed to make him most odious in the defence of them ; and by that we may well guesse , that these points in wickliffe , which seeme rough and harsh , met with such vnhandsome workmen . the processe against this swinderby , his declaration vpon certaine conclusions touching the sacrament of the altar , confession , indulgences , and touching antichrist , his appeale to the king , his letter to the parliament , doe sufficiently confirme his worth and sufficiency in the cause . 1391. walter brute a man of sufficient learning , though no priest , was conuented before the bishop of worcester , and accused of the same articles with swinderbies : admirable it is to reade his storie , especially in it , his learned declarations concerning antichrist , the popes vsurped power , the power of the keyes , free iustification by faith onely , auricular confession , absolution , the matter of the sacrament , transubstantiation , idolatry , exorcising , priestly blessing , buying and selling of prayers , and other romish dregs , the lawfull vse of an oath ; in which hee also prooueth that the city of rome is babylon . what could hee haue done more in our cause , had he liued since luther ? out of his declarations may be taken a sufficient commentary and exposition of those articles , which as they are ascribed vnto wickliffe , seeme something harsh . furthermore , the bull of pope boniface the 9. dated the 15. kal. oct. in the 6. yeere of his popedome , directed to king richard the 2. and to the bishop of hereford , doth confesse , that these christians whom the common people called lollards , did daily grow and increase , and preuaile against their diocesans , for which cause the pope stirreth vp the king against them , who therupon directed forth a commission to the bishops , to proceed with greater authority against william swinderby , stephen bell , walter brute , and others of the same opinions : by which meanes the growth of the gospell was nipped , and a little kept in , but afterward it brake forth with more effectualnesse , as may appeare by the booke of conclusions exhibited to the parliament holden at london , in the 18. of richard the 2. 1395. touching the abuses of the church , popish priest-hood , single life of priests , the fained miracle of transubstantiation , exorcismes , and priestly blessings , masses for the dead , pilgrimages , and oblations to reliques and images , confession , nunnes and widdowes vowing single life , in all which , a reformation was desired in the said bill , the copy whereof is to bee seene in archiuis regijs : so also the kings dealing with certaine of his lords , as namely , richard sturie , lewis clifford , tho. latimer , io. mountacute , &c. whom he did sharpely rebuke and threaten terribly , for that he heard them to be fauourers of that side . adde to this the complaints of the bishops against the londoners , occasioned by another brawle ; but certainely the maine matter was , because the londoners were fauourers of wickliffes doctrine , as in the story of s. albons is to be seene , vpon which occasion the king remoued the courts and termes to be kept at yorke , to the great decay of the city , which happened an. 1393. all these things laid together , doe plainely and demonstratiuely tell vs , that there was more then one or two knowne to be infected , else what need such adoo with letters , epistles , bulls , mandates , commissions to roote out the proceeding of a few . no doubt therefore but there were many worthy witnesses and confessors of the truth of the gospell . 1400. after the deposing of richard 2. when henrie 4. had gotten the crowne , the next yeere hee called a parliament , in which one w. sawtree , a good man , and faithfull priest , inflamed with the zeale of true religion , required he might be heard for the commodity of the whole realme . but the matter being smelt out by the bishops , they obtained that it might be referred to the conuocation ; before whom being conuented & examined of diuers ▪ articles of religion , agreeable to wickliffes doctrine , for that hee stood constantly in the defence of the truth , was by them condemned , degraded , and lastly burned . and this was the first martyr that suffered for religion , since the renuing of it by wickliffe : for howsoeuer the bishops had obtained the statute de comburendo , in the daies of rich. 2. yet in all his time none suffered death for that cause . but when henry 4. came to the crowne , hee willing to keepe in with the clergy , which in those daies was a strong faction , put the statute in execution , first vpon this sawtree , and after him followed many moe , some whereof are recorded , but certainely the names of many are lost and forgotten . see the words of the statute made in the second yeere of henry the fourth , mentioning a good company of such preachers , whom that age called hereticall . 1407. the storie of william thorpe is famous , written by his owne hand , contayning his accusation and examination before archbishop arundell ; his answere , his commendation of vvickliffe , and defence of his doctrine , he taught against the sacrament of the altar , masse , images , pilgrimages , pride of priest , confession , &c. a constant professour hee was of the truth , and questionlesse continued to the end , howsoeuer his end is vnknowne : in all likely-hoode he dyed in prison . the like end befell to iohn ashton , another of wickliffes followers , who for the same doctrine of the sacrament , was condemned by the bishops , and because he would not recant , was committed to perpetuall prison , wherein the good man continued vntill his death . somewhat before thorps trouble , happened the trouble of iohn puruey , who , as waldensis writeth , was the library of the lollards , and a glosse vpon wickliffe . this puruey , together with harford , a doct. of diuinity , were grieuously tormented and punished in the castle of saltwood , at length recanted at pauls crosse , afterward , againe hee was imprisoned vnder archbishop chichely , in the yeere 1421. his articles which he taught , were touching transubstantiation , confession , power of the keyes , vowes of chastity , the charge of priests ; he said that innocent the third , and the 600. bishops , and all the rest of the clergy which in the councell of lateran determined the doctrine of transubstantiation and confession , were fooles and blockheads , seducers of the people , heretickes , and blasphemers : he wrote diuers bookes , as touching the sacrament of the lords supper , of penance , orders , the power of the keyes , the preaching of the gospell , of marriages , vowes , possessions , correction of the clergy , of the lawes and decrees of the church , of the state and condition of the pope and clergy . 1409. iohn badly first , molested and condemned by the bishop of worcester , was afterwards accused before archbishop arundel , and other his assistants , for being vnsound in the doctrine of the sacrament , as denying the reall presence , and transubstantiation : and being demanded whether he would renounce and forsake his opinions , and adhere to the doctrine of the catholike church , hee confessed , that he had both said and maintained the same , and would adhere and stand to these his opinions , and while he liued , would neuer retract the same ; for which hee was condemned , and in smithfield burned . after this , the prelates not contenting themselues with this , that now they had the power of the secular arme to assist them in the punishment of heretikes , and hauing a king to their mind , ready to serue their turne in al points , at the parliamēt thē held , procured the statute ex officio , the sequell whereof cost many a man his life : at the same time also came foorth diuers constitutions of archbishop arundell , forbidding to preach or teach any thing contrary to the determination of the church in the points of the sacrament of the altar , matrimony confession , or other sacraments , or other articles of faith . item , that no schoolemasters should , in teaching the sciences , intermingle any thing concerning the sacraments , contrary to the determination of the church . that none of wickliffes bookes should bee read , those onely excepted which the vniuersitie of oxford had allowed . item , that none should translate any text of scripture into english. item , that diligent inquisition should bee made by euery prouost , principall , and master of euery colledge in oxford , among the schollers , for persons defamed of heresie . now let all men iudge , whether these constitutions giuen at oxford in this manner , do not plainely declare , that there was a great company of these men who professed and taught such points , which these constitutions did condemne . againe , is it any wonder , that after such strength and force , such policy and practices vsed to supplant the doctine of wickliffe , and his followers , it should bee almost extinguished ? the bishops and clergy hauing the king on their side , armed with lawes , statutes , punishments , imprisonments , fire , faggot , sword , and the like , what wonder is it , if they beare all before them ? is it equall to challenge vs to shew foorth our church , to require a visibility of it , when these who are our aduersaries , hauing the sword in their hand , did labour so abundantly to suppresse the memoriall of them ? and yet by the goodnesse of god it came to passe , as may appeare by the registers , that those persons whom they condemned and detested as heretikes , calling them lollards , did increase daily in diuers countries , especially at london , in lincolne-shire , norfolke , hereford , shrewsbury , and in calice , and other quarters , in the prouince of canterbury , with whom archbishop arundel had much adoe , as by his registers doth appeare . 1413. henry the fourth beeing dead , succeeded henry the fifth , crowned on passion sunday , presently after began a parliament to be called and holden after easter , at westminster ; at which time also was holden a synod at london vnder archbishop arundel : the chiefe cause of assembling thereof , was , to represse the growing of the gospell ; and especially to withstand the noble and worthy lord cobham , who was then noted to be a principall fauourer , receiuer , and maintainer of them , whom the clergy called lollards , especially in the diocesse of london , hereford , and rochester , setting them vp to preach , whom the bishops had not licensed : hee was also accused to bee farre otherwise in the beliefe of the sacraments of the altar , of penance , of pilgrimage , image-worship , and of ecclesiasticall power , then the holy church of rome had taught for many yeeres before ; his examination , confession , and declaration of his christian beliefe , his godly answers , and reasons , his constancy in the truth is worth the reading . finally , he was also condemned , and committed to the tower , out of which hee made an escape , peraduenture not without the helpe of sir roger acton , who himselfe , whatsoeuer hee was otherwise , certaine it is that hee was alwaies of a contrary minde and opinion to the romish bishops and clergy , for which he was greatly hated of thē : his friendly helpe to the lord cobham , is thought to haue bin the cause why hee was apprehended , and brought into trouble ; and in the end came to his death , some three yeres before the lord cohbam ; and with him i. browne , and i. bouerly a preacher , suffered the same kind of death in s. giles fields , with other moe , to the number of 36. as the stories doe report : all which are said to haue bin hanged and burned in the moneth of ianuary 1413. the which death also the lord cobham suffred some foure yeeres after his escape , being betrayed and brought in by the lord powes , either for the hatred of the religion , and true doctrine of iesus christ , or else for greedinesse of the reward promised by the king to them that could bring in the lord cobham aliue or dead : for being thus taken , he was adiudged to be hanged vpon the new gallows in s. giles field , and burned hanging : for you must know that the prelates ( the better to suppresse this doctrine ) had gotten an act passed , which condemned the lollards and followers of wickliffe , decreeing , that they should be accounted as traitors to the king and realme , and so should suffer double punishment , viz. to be burnt as heretikes , and hanged as traitors to the king ; testified by polydore virgil , and by waldensis . 1415. after th. arundel , succeeded archbishop chichely , before whom was conuented iohn claydon , who for the space of 20. yeeres before had beene suspected of lollardy ; he was accused to haue diuers bookes in english , out of which his aduersaries collected 15. articles , which they condemned as hereticall and erronious ; for which cause he was condemned , and shortly after , together with rich. turning , burned in smithfield . shortly after , the archbishop , with the rest of the clergy , made other constitutions against the lollards : after the setting forth of which constitutions , great inquisition followed in england , and many good men , whose hearts began to fauour the gospell , were brought to much vexation and trouble , and caused outwardly to abiure . thus while christ had the inward hearts of men , antichrist would needs possesse the outward body , and make them sing his song : in the number of whom were i. taylor , w. iames , i. dwerfe , iohn iourdly , m. roberts , parson of hegly , w. henry , i. gall , bart. cornmonger , n. hooper , th. granter ; so also ralph mongin priest , was condemned to perpetuall prison . after this followed the recantation of ric. monke , and of edmund frith , besides many more recorded in the same register , who likewise for their faith and religion were much vexed and troubled . the names of 16. are set downe in the processe of the archbishop , directed forth against the same persons , whereof some whole housholds , both men and women , were driuen to forsake their houses & townes for danger of persecution : yea , so cruelly was the romish clergy bent against them , and so grieued to see the poore flocke of christ to multiply , that henry chichely stirred vp the pope against them ; alledging that there were so many infected with the doctrine of wickliffe and husse here in england , that without force of an army they could not be suppressed . 1422. henry 5. being dead , his sonne henry 6. a child of nine moneths old succeeded ; in the first yeere of whose raigne was w. taylor accused , conuicted , condemned , & afterward in smithfield with christian constancy , after long imprisonment did consummate his martyrdome . others there were that professed the same truth , but for feare durst not be so bold ; so that it appeareth by the registers of norwich in that diocesse within the space of 3. yeeres , viz. from 1428. to 1431. about the number of 120. men and women were examined , and much vexed for the profession of the christian faith ; of whom three suffered death , viz. father abraham of colchester , w. white , and i. waddon , priests ; the rest sustained such cruell penance as pleased the bishop & his chancellor to lay vpon them , which howsoeuer , through the hard dealing of the times , they were constrained to recant , and many of them to abiure their opinions , yet their good will to the truth is manifest : and it is fit to preserue the memory of their names , if it be but to stop the mouth of such malignant aduersaries , who following blind affection rather then true knowledge of times and antiquities , through ignorance blame they know not what , accusing the true doctrine of the gospell to be nouelty , and the preachers thereof to bee nouelists , whereas this doctrine lacking none antiquity , hath from time to time burst forth , and preuailed in many places , though in the most through tyranny it hath beene suppressed , as by these good men of norfolk & suffolk may appeare , who if they had had the liberty which we haue , and authority to back them , it would haue well appeared how old this doctrine is , so that all men would haue acknowledged , that this our church was long before luther . 1430. shortly after the solemne coronation of hen. 6. which was in the 8. yeere of his raigne , was richard houedon , a londoner , crowned with martyrdome . the next yeere th. bagly a priest , and paul craw a bohemian , both valiant defenders of wickliffes doctrine , were condemned and burned . not long after , about the yeere 1439. which was the 18. of henry 6. was ri. wiche burned for heresie , as then they counted it . so much the more famous was his martyrdome , because the fame was , that before his death he spake as prophesying , that the posterne of the tower should sinke , which came to passe ; vpon which hee was counted an holy man. many came to the place where he was burnt , and there made their oblations , till by the commandement of the king they were forbid , and some punished . after chichely , in the see of canterbury succeeded stafford , kempe , and then burscher , in whose time fell out the trouble of reynold peacock , bishop of chichester , who after the death of humfrey duke of gloucester , his patron , was molested by the archbishop in the yeere 1457. because he taught against the reall presence , the infallibility of the councels , the locall dissention into hell : that the church may erre in matter of faith : that the literall sence of the scripture is onely to be held : he was at length inforced to giue way ; for , what with blustering threats to terrifie him , as also with faire promises to allure him , they left no stone vnrolled , till they brought him to recantation at pauls crosse , where also his bookes were burnt , yet for all this , himselfe ( belike he was suspected ) was kept in his own house during his naturall life . 1473. king henry 6. being deposed , edward 4. got the crowne ; in the time of whose raigne , a godly and constant seruant of christ , named iohn goose , alias husse , was vniustly condemned and burnt at the tower hill . 1485. henry 7. comming to the crowne , mention is made in the registers of couentry and lichfield , of 9. persons persecuted in that diocesse , whose names are set downe to be i. blomston , rich. hegham , robert crowther , i. smith , rob. browne , th. butler , i. falkes . r. hilman . the heresies , of which they were accused , were , for opposing pilgrimages , images , merits , purgatory , shrift , transubstantiation , and the like . after these , in the ninth yeere of henry 7. was burned an old woman of 80. yeeres , loane boughton by name , who held eight of wickliffes opinions so stiffely , that all the doctours in london could not turne her : she was burned in smithfield shortly after in anno 1497. some for feare recanted at pauls crosse , and in the next yeere , an old man and a priest , and one babram were burned . 1506. william tilsworth was burned for his religion in amersham , at which time , ioane clarke the said tilsworths daughter , was constrained to put fire to her father , at whose burning , about 60. other were enioyned to beare fagots , of whom diuers were commanded to beare and weare fagots at lincolne the space of 7. yeeres after , some at one time , some at another . a little after was father roberts a miller of missenden burned at buckingham , and 20. other bare fagots , and did penance . about 2. or 3. yeres after , at amersham was burned th. barnard , & la. mordon in one fire , and father rogers , and father reeue was burned in the cheeke . so also was w. littlepage , and 30. more were burned in the right cheeke , and bare fagots at the same time . the manner of their burning in the cheeke was this : their neckes being tyed fast to a poste with towels , and their hands holden that they might not stirre , they were marked with a hot iron ; the cause of those mens trouble was , because they talked against superstition , and idolatry , and were desirous to heare and reade the holy scriptures . thomas chase condemned by the bishop of lincolne , william smith , and cast into prison , was there murthered , and after slandered to haue made away himselfe . thomas norrice for the profession of christs gospel was burned at norwich 1507. elizabeth samson accused to speake against pilgrimages , adoration of images , and against the sacrament of the altar , was compelled to abiure before william horsey , chancellor at london 1508. laurence ghest , two yeeres in prison at salisbury , was afterward put to death for his religion : so also was there martyred another poore woman , whose death so greedily sought by the chancellor whittington , was presently reuenged by the enraged bul , which running through the prease of people , came to the chancellor , and gored him thorow with his hornes , carrying his guts along the streets , to the great admiration and wonder of all them that saw it . 1509. h. 7. hauing finished his course , after him followed h. 8. in whose dayes hapned much stir and contention about religion , as in the history of the church doth appeare : in the regist. of fitz-iames , b. of london , are cōtained the names of diuers , to the number of 40. persecuted in the diocesse of london , betweene the yeere 1509. and 1527. of whom , some , after they had shewed their weaknes in recanting , did afterwards returne to their former profession , and cleauing fast to it , were for it martyred , as w. sweeting , & i. bruster burned in smithfield 1511. & i. browne burned in ashford , about the 4. yere of h. 8. about which time also fell out the trouble of rich. hunne , whom after his death they condemned of heresie . but now the numbers of confessors and martyrs arise to such multitudes , that a long discourse , and a large treatise would hardly suffice to set them downe ; wherefore i passe ouer the story of i. stilman , tho. man , rob. cosin , chri. shomaker , martyrs ; as also diuers confessors , to the number of 35. abiured about the yeere 1520. for speaking against worshipping of saints , pilgrimage , inuocation of the virgin , the sacrament of the lords body , and for hauing bookes in english , as the 4. euangelists , the epistles of paul , peter , and iames , the book of the reuelation , a booke of antichrist , of the 10. commandements , and wickliffes wicket , bookes no doubt wonderfully stuft with heresies , & doctrine vnmeet for christians to know , and vnderstand . oh the subtilty of those romish foxes ! how many men and women were persecuted in the diocesse of lincolne , vnder bishop longland , anno 1521. for opposing , or not consenting to the romish doctrine of pilgrimage , image-worship , transubstantiation , reall presence . their arguments they collected out of the scripture , the shepheards calender , wickliffes wicket , and such other bookes as they had amongst them , and notwithstanding they had not with them any learned man to ground them in the doctrine , yet they conferring together , did conuert one another , the lords hand working among them maruelously . after the great abiuration which was vnder bishop smith , they were termed amongst themselues knowne men , or iust fast men ; not much vnlike to the present name of protestants : amongst whom , to see their trauels , their earnest seeking , burning zeale , their readings , watchings , sweete assemblies , loue , and concord , godly liuing , faithfull meaning , may make vs , now in these our dayes of free profession , to be ashamed . from all which duely considered , we may easily gather , what would haue bin the number of professors , had the world looked friendly vpon them ; for if when the temporall magistrate tooke hand with the ecclesiasticall to suppresse them , and roote them out ; if when all men of note and learning , either for hope of preferment , or feare of trouble , turned their studies otherwaies ; if when the scripture , and english bookes were forbidden ; if when bookes were so rare , and deare , and so hard to come by ( as before the science of printing was inuented they were ) if notwithstanding all these hinderances , the truth of god did so multiply amongst them , what would it haue done , had they had multitude of bookes , or those cheape , the scripture in english , had they had learned men to guide them , had they liued in a peaceable time , had they had the magistrate either for them , or at least not against them : for why was the increase of the gospell in bohemia by the preaching of i. husse , more remarkable and further spred , then here in england , but that the magistrate with his sword was not so seuere against them ? whence was it that luther preuailed more then wickliffe , but that hee had a supporter ( the duke of saxony ) which wickliffe wanted ? amongst vs at this day , doe we not all know , that arminianisme would haue more preuailed , and infected further then yet it doth , if the kings maiesty were either for it , or not against it ? wherefore all men may easily see , that they are much deceiued , who cōdemne this our doctrine of nouelty , and insultingly demand , where was your church before luther ? to whom wee answere out of this demonstration hitherto made , that euer since the dayes of wickliffe , almost 200. yeeres before luther , the doctrine of the reformed churches , that is , those points wherein they differ from the church of rome , and in which the reformation doth consist , these points ( i say ) were held and professed : for whence came those persecutions ? or vvho vvere they that thus were persecuted ? if of the same profession with them , then is their cruelty vnreasonable , to persecute their ovvn fraternity : if they were othervvise ; how then is the doctrine of the reformed churches so new , or the professours thereof so lately start vp , as our aduersaries pretend they be ? but this is the fruit of ignorance and carelesnesse to read the histories of the church , and the records of antiquity heretofore : for then might men easily see , that the church of england hath not wanted multitudes of well-disposed hearts ; howsoeuer the publike authority then lacked , to maintaine the open preaching of the gospell . now whilst our aduersaries bethinke themselues what to say to this part of the induction , concerning the estate of the church in our owne country of england , in the ages next before luther , i wil passe ouer into germany , and see what successe the gospell had there , especially in bohemia , by the preaching of iohn husse and others , who liued in the same age with wickliffe : afterwards will i proceede to prosecute the argument of the induction , by the demonstration of history in the ages before wickliffe , and husse , if it shall be thought conuenient . finis . a full and true account of the inhumane and bloudy cruelties of the papists to the poor protestants in ireland in the year, 1641 published now to encourage all protestants to be liberal in their contribution for their relief and speedy delivering them now out of the hands of those bloudy-minded people. 1689 approx. 53 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a40565 wing f2304a estc r9576 13745062 ocm 13745062 101698 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. a40565) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101698) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 454:20) a full and true account of the inhumane and bloudy cruelties of the papists to the poor protestants in ireland in the year, 1641 published now to encourage all protestants to be liberal in their contribution for their relief and speedy delivering them now out of the hands of those bloudy-minded people. digby, lettice, lady, 1588?-1658. dempsy, henry. [4], 36 p. printed for peter richman ..., london : 1689. "the rebells letter to the lady offalia ...," p. 29-30, signed: henry dempsy ... [et al.] "the lady offalia her answer to the rebells": p. 31. 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 protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. ireland -history -rebellion of 1641. 2006-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-11 celeste ng sampled and proofread 2006-11 celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion licensed according to order . may 24th , 1689. a full and true account of the inhumane and bloudy cruelties of the papists to the poor protestants , in ireland , in the year . 1641. published now to encourage all protestants to be liberal in their contribution for their relief , and speedy delivering them now out of the hands of those bloudy-minded people . london , printed for peter richman in duck-lane , 1689. here followeth a true description or relation of sundry sad and lamentable collections , taken from the mouths of very credible persons , and out of letters sent from ireland to this city of london , of the perfidious outrages and barbarous cruelties , which the irish papists have committed upon the persons of the protestants , both men , women and children , in that kingdom . annoque domini . 1641. the irish nation is well known to be a people both proud and envious . for the commonalty ( they are for the most part ) ignorant and illeterate , poor and lazy ; and will rather beg or starve than work : and therefore fit subjects for the priests and jesuits to spur on upon such bloudy actions and murtherous designs . ignorance is their mother , which is devoid of mercy : god deliver all good christians from the cruelty of such a mother and children . it is too well known , ( the more is the pity and to be lamented ) that the irish have murthered of the protestant party in the provinces of vlster , lempster , connaght and munster , of men , women and children , the number of fifty thousand , as it is credibly reported by englishmen , who have been over all parts of the kingdom , and do protest upon their oaths that there are above five thousand families destroyed . the kingdom of ireland hath four provinces , wherein there are contained two and thirty counties , besides cities and county towns , in all which places the english are planted up and down in all parts , where the irish have most murtherously and traiterously surprized them upon great advantages , and without respect of persons either of age , youth , or infancy , of young men or maids , or of old men or babes , stript all to their skins , naked as ever they were born into the world , so they have gone out of the world , many hundreds having been found starved to death in ditches for want of food and rayment , where the rebellious irish have shewed them no more mercy or compassion , no not so much as they would do to their dogs . thus much for the general , now i come to particulars . at one mr. atkins's house , seven papists brake in and beat out his brains , then ripped up his wife with child , after they had ravished her , and nero like , view'd natures bed of conception , they then took the child , and sacrificed it in the fire . they have flead the skin from the bones of others like butchers : the principles of whose religion is bloud . witness our books of martyrs ; those chronicles of bloud . witness those thousands of butcher'd protestants in france and germany . they burned others , firing their houses , towns , villages , those sons of the coal , as if their habitation were in hell. they vowed to root out all the english nation out of this kingdom . they turned all the protestants out of kilkeny . at belturbalt , in the county of cavan , the popish rebels demanded the town on promise , that if they would surrender , they should pass free with bag and baggage , they back'd their promise with oaths and execrations , cursing themselves , if they did not let them go withall . on serious considerations of the inhabitants and the governour , they were persuaded to yield it up , which when they had done , and drawing away their goods and moneys , they like treacherous villians sent about twenty or thirty to-guard them , when they had guarded them seven miles from the town , they with more of that desperate forsworn rabble seized on them , robbed all the protestants , being between five hundred and a thousand persons , men , women and children ; who submitting themselves to their mercy , found no quarter but cruelty : they stript them all naked , and turn'd them out of their houses into the open fields in bitter could weather , in a most vile and shamefull manner , not affording them one of their lowzy rags to hide those parts which should be covered . take notice of the faith of a papist , who for his own advantage , casts off all bounds of fidelity and common honesty . they are remarkable for persidiousness and treachery , as you may behold in that master of mis-rule , the arch-rebell sir philem o-neal , basely pretending to be a suiter to the old lady cawfield , being a widow , and made fair promises of his respects to her , and when he had his advantage of possession of her house and goods , turned them out of all , and bound them prisoners , and made her whom he intended his nearest companion to be his lowest vassal . in the town of lurgon , in the county of armagh , the mac-kans skirmishing with the englishmen , slew divers of our men , whereupon they entred parly demanding the town : sir willian brunlow being governour of the castle , on some considerations thought good to yield , thereupon they promised and backt it with oaths and great protestations , that they should have fair quarter , and pass without prejudice to their lives : yet behold the perfidiousness of these brutish creatures , as men not fearing god , or devil whose practice they imitate , who was a lier from the beginning . notwithstanding all these fair pretences they knew no mercy , killed men , spoiled women , nay , in their boundless rage , slew and massacared , and stript helpless ministers , whose calling might have pleaded pity . but what speak we of pity to men , that have no bowels ? in london-derry , at the town of belly-hagh belonging to the londoners . sir philem o-neal , promised under hand and seal to let the poor protestants to pass with bag and baggage , onely to part with their town , which was a fair goodly place : yet this perfidious rebel ? as if it was not enough to make these poor souls harborless , to lay them open to wind and weather , but to add to all their misery , stript man , woman and child , took their cloaths for a prey , and sent them out naked , without a shirt or smock to their backs , left them not worth a groat , this was one of their works of mercy , if they scaped with their lives : but how many lives might be lost by this immodest and inhumane act , judge . the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel . will you behold another mercifull act , and record it . captain rory macquire , at the beginning of the robellion for the first fortnight commands his soldiers to give quarter to women and children , but to massacare all the men , to spare none . wo to him that makes the wife a widow , and the children fatherless , but after they began to resist , and to gather into companies : then hear the charge of this bloudy man , gi●e no quarter , no not to women , though tears and prayers interpose , yet know no pity : no not to harmless babes , though it was death enough to kill their parents , nor spare neither man , woman , or child . it is reported by an ominent gentleman that had long dwelt among the rebels , but it s thought fit to forbear the names of those that gave intelligence of the barbarous cruelties of these savage beasts ▪ because they threaten to be the death of them that shall unmask them . it is reported by this gentleman that the handlowans came to town-regis , divers of them assaulted the castle , of which captain saint john was commander , he with his son got away with some difficulty , leaping over the wall , they fearing they might setch supplies to recover their lost castle , most inhumanly took the captain 's wife , ( poor gentlewoman ) and set her on the wall having stript her to her smock , who was big with child ( and within an hour of her delivery ) that in case the captain and his son should have assaulted the town , his wife should have been the white at which he must have levelled : oh extreme and unheard of cruelty ! as for the protestant ministers whom they surprize , their cruelty is such towards them , at it would make the hardest heart to melt into tears . their manner is first to strip them , and after bind them to a tree or some post where they please , and then to ravish their wives and daughters before their faces ( in sight of all their merciless rabble ) with the basest villains they can pick out , after they hang up their husbands and parents before their faces , and then cut them down before they be half dead , then quarter them , after dismember them , and stop their mouths therewith . they basely abused one mr. trafford a minister in the north of ireland , who was assaulted by these bloudy wolves of rome's brood , that know not god , nor any bowels of mercy . this poor distressed minister desired but so much time to bethink himself before he took his farewell of the world to call upon god : but these merciless wretches would admit no time , but instantly fell on him , hackt and hewed him to pieces . dr. tate minister of belly-hayes , they stript starke naked , and then wounded him dangerously in the head , and then let him go towards dublin , where he lay long sick . sir patrick dunston's wife ravished before him , slew his servants spurned his children till they died , bound him with rouls of match to a board , that his eyes burst out , cut off his ears and nose , teared off both his cheecks , and cut off his armes and legs , cut out his tongue , after run a red hot iron into him . many gentlewomen they ravished before their husbands faces , stripping them first naked to the view of their wicked companions , taunting and mockings . them ( after they have spoiled them ) with bitter and reproachsull words , sending them away in such a shamefull , or rather shameless manner , that most of them have died with pain and grief , or else have starved with want and cold . base cruelty unheard of , exceeding the brute beasts , and so much the worse because they are reasonable , which makes them skilfull to destroy . one mr. luttrell , dwelling within three miles of the burrough of cavan , a gentleman worth by report , two or three hundred pounds a year , with a very great stock of cattel , was basely betrayed by an irish boy that he had bred up in his house . see the baseness of the popish brood , who when he was at dinner ( being upon the thirtieth day of october last ) was surprized by threescore of those irish unmercifull villains , with a company of dirty whores and bastards that followed them , which this boy let in at a back door , where pulling him and his vertuous wife from the table , and four small children , the eldest of them being not six years of age , and one sucking at her breast , without pity or humanity , stript them naked , notwithstanding their prayers and tears to have let them kept their cloaths , and then thrusting them in a cruel and violent manner out of doors , threatned to kill them if they went not speedily away . take notice how uncertain all our outward comforts are . so they departed , ( for fear ) away , being ashamed to be seen of their servants , some of them running one way , and some another to shift for themselves , but the distressed gentleman with his wife and children , and a little youth , directed their course towards dublin , hoping to find some of their friends in the way to relieve them , but the farther they came the more miserable they were , meeting their loving friends robbed ( by others ) in the same manner , which struck in them such amazement and fear , that their hearts failed them , so that being naked and hungry , helpless and hopeless , the poor infants crying in their ears , which must needs kill their hearts , they went not far but sate down under a hedge or ditch , and there died : being not at that time above six miles from his own house , for this little youth that he had bred up ( being an english boy ) forsook not his master when the rest ran from him , but continued with him till death : the same day , some horsemen or troopers riding that way to coast the countrey , met this youth , unto whom he told this sad story , and being not far from the place led them to this lemantable sight , where they beheld the true love of man and wife , embracing each other in their death , the three eldest children dead , but the suckling child was preserved through heat , being between them both , and grabling and gaping for the dead mothers breast . so the troopers took up the child , carrying it to a nurse , for they knew the parents well , and bestowed some cloaths upon the english youth , who came to dublin within few days after , and related the story in my hearing . in the county of roscommon , near the town of roscommon , there fled into the parish church , eleven-score of the english , men , women , and children , where they remained three days and nights without any sustenance , till they were almost starved , so that at last ( what with the cries of their children and their own wants ) they were forced to commit themselves to the cruelty of the irish , who according to their usual manner first stript them naked , after drove them through the town like so many harmless sheep and lambs over a bridge at the towns end , having before broke down one of the middle arches where a strong water runneth , so that either they must leap in or come back , their intent being there to murther them , as they did ; for the poor wretches being sickly , weak and faint , for want of food and sleep ( yet unwilling to hasten their own ends ) some returned back whome they killed without mercy , others they thrust into the water who were drowned , some that could , did swim towards the shoar , and there inhumame villians , bruitish furies , ran and met them before they got to land , and knock'd them in the head in the water , some few escaped that did swim to the other side of the river , where the irish could not come at them , having before broken down the bridge themselves , and so escaped to dublin , to be sad witnesses of this lamentable tragedy . mr. blandry a minister they hanged , after pulled his flesh from his bones in his wifes sight . many ladys and gentlewomen ( which they have surprized in the province of vlster ) being great with child , they have turned them out of their houses naked into the fields , where they have been delivered without the help of any women , and so have ended their misery , others that have escaped death in child-bearing , they have mercilesly carred away upon carts ( lying in lowsie and stinking straw naked , ) to places where they and their poor infants have been destroyed . there was one gentlewoman which was wife to mr. king , a dean , ( brother to the bishop of glogue ) and parson of dundalke , in the county of lowth , who having three thousand inhabitants in his parish , had but thirty communicants of the protestant party , the rest being all irish and papist , and although this gentleman did for many days together ( by his own relation to me ) sollicite his wife to go to dublin , and to remove his goods thither living at a place about two miles from dundalke , she being great with child , yet would not be persuaded , although she knew the rebels were at the newry within eight miles of dundalke , whereupon he left her and his family , and going to a friend's house within two miles of his own ( for fear of the multitude of the irish , that lived about his own house ) he remained there but two days when tidings was brought him , that the irish had seized upon his wife and all that he had , so that he was forced to fly away for his life with his friends , who was pursued by the rebels about twelve miles , but through god's mercy he escaped with his precious life ( which they hunted after ) with the loss of his whole estate , and wife whom they turned out of ( doors having first abused her ) where she was delivered in straw , without the heip of any woman , and so perished . she was a charitable gentlewoman , and in her life time had relieved many hundreds of the poor irish , and this mercy they afforded her for her charity . the lord blany escaped their cruelty , being forced to ride fourteen miles upon a poor carrion jade , without either bridle or saddle to save his life , his vertuous lady being surprized by these villains the same day , and his children , who use her most ignobly and cruelly , neither regarding her nobleness of birth , nor her lord , but forced her to lodge in straw with a poor allowance of two pence a day to relieve her and her children : and to add affliction to the good ladys misery , slew a kinsman of hers , and caused him to be hanged up before her face two days and two nights in the room where she lay to terrifie her , telling her withall , she must expect that end . in the county of tir-oen ( even in that rebellious part ) whith is above all other inhabited by those romish locusts and wolves , which in nature differ not from the dog-wolves that breed amongst them , was the cruellest murther ( of all the rest ) committed by some of the soldiers belonging to sir philem oneal , that tyronish off-spring , and rory mack-guire , the lord mack-guire's brother , who are known to be the most eminent rebells in this treason , upon the bodies of one mr. charles davenant , his wife , and two young children . the villain which first entred the house and most forwardest in cruelty was known by his name , to one of the servants in the house , to be sometime a servant to this mr. davenant , and lived at the time of this tragedy not far from dunxannon in the county of tir-oen . the servant of the house that knew him was born in ireland , in the city of clogher in the said county , but of english parents , his name is thomas maddin , but he could speak good irish , and so escaped , being an eye-witness of these passages ensuing . this swillyvane and his rout broke in forcibly into the house where they found three or four servants that made no resistence , in the kitchin , but going farther into the house they found mr. davenant , sitting by a fire with his wife and children , two young daughters , they immediately seized upon him and his wife , and bound them both fast to their chairs , making a very huge and great fire , after they stripped the two children , the eldest being not seven years old , slew them in the sight of their parents , and after roasted them upon spits before their faces , such barbarous cruelty was never known . with great patience they were compelled ( poor souls ) to behold that cruelty which they could not help , after they stript his wife , forcing her most uncivilly and unmercifully before his face , and afterward cut her throat , the distressed gentleman being overpressed with the lamentable sight of the death of his wife and children , strived and strugled in his chair where he was bound , and held , hoping they would have killed him , chusing rather to dye the death , than to live any longer . so when they had made an end of his wife and children in this barbarous manner , they untied him and stript him , and afterwards murthered him , when he had confest to them where his money was . there was a letter written about the middle of november last , from stabound in the said county of tir-oen , by one mr. birrom , unto one mr. cusack dwelling in high-street in dublin , which letter i read and took a copy of : and before i came out of ireland the abovesaid thomas maddin , came from the city of clogher , in the county of fermanagh unto dublin , and testified the contents of this letter , being an eye-witness of the certain passages thereof , and did give god great thanks that he had escaped their hands in my hearing , for he said his soul could not endure to be any longer amongst them , they did daily commit such cruelty , murther and outrages , upon the english protestants in those parts . at the burrough of kello , or , as some letters report , at the burrough of trim , being both in the county of meath , in the province of vlster , the rebells surprized the house of one arthur robinson , he himself being at that time in dublin , which was upon the six●h day of november last , about some suits he had in law , being in the last michaelmas term , he not knowing that the rebells were risen in those parts there , he intending to have gone home to his wife and family , five or six days after , hoping by that time to have ended his business , and indeed when he came from his house to dublin , which was on the twentieth day of october , the rebellion was not begun in any part of ireland , but before his appointed time to return home , a messenger prevented him with heavy tidings , even his onely daughter whom he quickly knew , though she were much disguized , for the rebels had slain most of his family , robbed and pillaged the house , after they had stripped his wife and ravished her , they sought out for this young virgin ( being about fourteen years of age ) who had hid her self in a barn , where the villains quickly found her : but she made what resistence she could to preserve her chastity , and with a knife she had ( unseen to them ) wounded one of them , which the rest perceiving seized upon her violently , stripped her , and then bound her with her armes abroad , in such manner as she could not help her self any way , and so like hell-hounds defloured her one after another , till they had spoiled her ; and to shew their unheard-of malice , were not herewith content , but pulled the hair from her head , and cut out her tongue , because she should not report the truth and their cruelty , but the maid could write , though she could not speak , and so discovered their inhumane usage to her and her mother . the maid was sent with a letter from her father in dublin , to mynhead in somersetshire , to her uncle william dyer , her mothers brother , living within three miles of mynhead , which letter i have seen here in town , containing the contents above written , being dated at dublin , the twentieth of november last . about the eighth of januanry last , a distressed minister came to dublin , that had left some goods with a supposed friend , sent for them , the goods could not be delivered , unless he or his wife came for them , he would not go , but she went , and when she came where her goods were ( as if that were too little to lose her estate , but her life must go also ) they hanged her up . was there ever such barbarism among the heathens ? in the county of fermannagh , in the province of vlster , they murthered one mr. champion , a justice of peace , and a burgess of the parliament for the borrough of iniskillin in the said county , who was betrayed by an irish villain his tenant , whom he had saved himself twice before from the gallows . the rogue 's name was patrick mack-dermot , who finding one of his companions , brings him to mr. champion's house , and tells mr. champion that he found this thief stealing the cattel , the gentleman knowing this mack-dermot , said unto him before one mr. iremonger an attorney , i am glad thou art turned from thief to catch a thief , whereupon he returned him this peremptory answer , that he was no more thief than himself . no sooner had he uttered these words in the court before his house , but there rushs in upon them a great number of these rebels , who without respect of mercy stabbed mr. champion , instantly before he could get into his house : so that he fell down immediately , but their fury went further than death , for they wounded him with their skeins in thirty places after he was dead , and then cut off his head to make sure work , whlie the rest ran into the house after mr. iremonger , whom they followed so close that he had not time to lay hold on his sword to help himself , but falling down upon his knees , and calling upon god for mercy , they fell upon him , and ran him through and through , and so he died . one of mr. champion's servants escaped to dublin , and reported this in my hearing in december last . a third was likewise slain , then the rebells entred the house and killed more : his wives sister and her brother-in-law , with two others in the house they kept prisoners , taking possession of all they had within the house and without , his wife was down upon her knees to beg a sheet to put her husband 's dead body in . and another gentleman with other friends that came to visit him over night , lost their lives next morning . in the county of monaghan , within two miles of the town of monaghan , they murthered one mr. george foord in his garden , a great company having gotten into a room or lost over a stable ( being between him and the house ) surprized him , this was upon the one and twentieth of november last , being the lord's day , for when he with his wife and family were gone to church , in that place they hid themselves till their coming back from church , and so watching their time and opportunity , first set upon him without any words , and then entred the house , for the house was strong and not easily to be broken , unless they were let in at the doors , so they bound all the servants being some english , and some irish , till they had found mrs. foord , whom they stript naked and bound , taking from her , her keys , having also with them her husband's keys , who lay murthered in the garden , and risled , and opened every trunk and box in the house to find their money , where they found but little to what they looked for , for they knew that mr. foord was rich and well monyed , wherefore they began with threats to kill her if she did not speedily tell them , but alas ! she could not , then they fell to torturing of her , heating a pair of tongs in the fire , and clapping them to the soals of her feet , and to the palms of her hands , so that with the pain thereof she dyed . after she was dead , they ript her body to see if she had not swallowed any gold into her guts , and so when they had pillaged the house , and carried away with the gentlewomans own horses and carts , all that was worth the carriage , they unbound the irish servants which they before had bound , and murthered such of the english as they pleased , and then departed . i heard affidavit made of the truth and certainty of this massacare , in this manner before recited , before divers of the privy council in dublin in ireland . they set up gallows five miles distant in divers places , on purpose to hang up the protestant spies , which they did accordingly ; they likewise cruelly set women and men on red hot grid irons to make them confess where such coyn , and money , and goods as they had , or whether they had hid or sold any . and all these cruelties were not done without the advice and animation of the fryars , priests and jesuits , and their religious men , or rather firebrands of hell ; who at their masses , and their incendiary sermons , stirred up the people to the committing of these massacares , promising them pardon for the same , and assuring them the more merit , by how much the more they exceeded in their villainous cruelties : they themselves being still in the first of these executions . for no stratagem of war , nor other horrid action or dessign whatsoever , was there undertaken , without them . they going on with their soldiers in the head and front of every battel , and by their mischievous advices and counsels did make them mad , tyger-like , with fierceness and cruelty , assuring them that to imbrue their hands in the bloud of the protestants ( which they term hereticks ) shall add to their merits and canonization of saints , and gain them higher places and reward in heaven . mr. jerome minister , they basely abused who lived near dublin sometimes ; but when he was thus murthered , he lived near the burrough of athie , in the county of kildare , they hanged him , then mangled his body , cut off his members , stopt his mouth with them , then quartered him . this is reported a by citizen of dublin , now in london , to bear witness of this truth . a proclamation was made that neither english nor irish should either sell or keep in their houses , any powder upon the loss of goods and life : except with license , and at two shillings the pound . ministers they hate , and breath out cruelty , massacaring their bodys , burning their books , and tearing them in pieces , and it is likely where they can light on them they use them accordingly . they robbed all english protestants , stripping them starke naked , and so turned them into the open fields and mountains in frost and snow , where hundreds perished . they destroyed the english breed of cattel , out of malice to the protestants , that the poor dumb creatures fared the worse and were spoiled , though one of ours is worth four of theirs . they cut off mens privy members and stopt their mouths with them , ( like cruel savage beasts ) that they might commit such horrid villanies without noise , and lest their pittiless bowels might be moved with the cries of those so cruelly massacared protestants . at. waterford , some poor protestants ready to be starved , came to the town for relief , and their charity threw them some bread over the wall : it is likely the dogs should have had the same entertainment . these bloudy papists forced the protestants to pull off their cloaths , and then killed them on purpose , that they might have their cloaths without holes . after they had knocked a man down dead , they fearing he might counterfeit they doe run their swords twenty times into his body lest he might revive again they stripped ladys and gentlewomen , virgins both old and young stark naked , turning them into the open fields . many hundreds were sound dead in ditches with cold and want of food and rayment , esteeming them no better than dogs . they laboured what they could to make death appear more dreadfull then it was in it self : they hanged up husband , kindred , children , before the faces of their living wives , and tender mothers ready to dye for grief , a death worse than death it self , and this they do on purpose to increase their dolorous pain and anguish . they forced ( as is reported ) some to turn to their cursed bloudy religion , and then persuaded them that they were fittest to dye , and then treacherously murthered them , and so did what in them lay to damn their souls . debtours basely murthering their creditours . tenants sheathing their swords in their landlord's bowels , servants unnaturally slaying their masters , others possessing themselves of their lands , goods , plates , money , jewels , houshould-stuff , corn and cattel , and thrust them out of door naked . oh inhumane cruelty ! many great men's servants , being irish , ran away from their masters with their best horses to the rebels . many of the protestants usually took into their houses , irish boys , as servants , and those did basely betray their masters , like judas , into the hands of these bloudy wolves . a good caveat to look to our servants before we take them , and to instruct them in the fear of god when we have them . others they wounded to death , and then left them languishing , their bellys being ripped up and guts issuing out , they poor wretches lying on dunghills , ( see the charity of cruell papists ) all this lest they should be out of their misery too soon . it seems it was their delight to linger out their cruelties ( like men that wanted bowels ) for whereas the primitive persecutions were exquisitely cruell , yet they made a quick dispatch of them : but these sons of belial found new ways of persecution by extreme cold and hunger to starve ( which aggravates their cruelty ) tender women with child , poor helpless insants and sucklings . an irish rebell ( as a credible friend reports ) snatched an innocent babe out of the armes of the mother , and cast it into the fire before her face , but god met with this bloudy wretch : for before he went from that place , he broke his neck . the rebells burned all the plantation towns in the county of london-derry . one hundred and twenty they threw into the water by force , drowning some that could not swim , others that could they knocked on the head . many rich and great men fled into england , and carrying their estates with them , they left no relief for the poor distressed people that came hither . thousands thus fled into dublin , many hundreds starved to death with hunger and cold , the poor citizens relieved them beyond their abilities the charge lying on the poorer sort . many of their wives they ravished in their sights , before the multitude like brute beasts , stripping them naked to the view of their wicked companions , taunting them , scoffing them , and then sending them away shamefully , that they died with grief , or starved with cold. one mr. wells minister , losing his notes , went back to look them , and as he returned , he met the rebells crying , kill all , kill all , the head rebells command . thereupon he fled over a mountain , was up to the breast in cold snow-water and so scaped to dublin very hardly with his life . three thousand six hundred poor souls fled naked into dublin , and starved with hunger , came to eat something and died with eating , twenty in a daylay dead in the open streets , as men smitten with the plague . sir james crag being in his castle , having many with him was besieged with the rebels , and almost famished the knight was constrained to put forty out of the castle which else must have been famished with the the rest : behold the cruelty of these bloud-sucking papists , when they were turned out , and lest to their mercy , they made quick dispatch set on them , and slew every man. another came into an english gentleman's house , and found him a bed , and there began to cruciate and torture his naked body , that he might extort of him a consession where his treasure lay , which when this poor distracted gentleman acknowledged in hopes to be eased , they cruelly killed him , and then stripped his wife naked , and turned her out of doors , as if they would make all savage like themselves : and lastly , mac-quire took his daughter being a proper gentlewoman , and satisfied his beastly lust on her , deflouring her , as if that was too little to kill her father , turn her mother out of doors , and abuse her himself , but like an inhumane villain cut off her garments by the middle , and then turned her to the mercy of the common soldiers , to be abused at their pleasure . take notice of the bloudy practices , and cruelties of the romish party , especially of the jesuits and priests , those fire brands of hell , who at this very day to incourage their disciples to murther , as is afore-written , do anoint them with the sacrament of the unction , assuring them that for their meritorious service ( if they chance to be killed ) they shall immediately enter into heaven , and escape purgatory , and what they get from the protestant party , by murthering , robbing and stealing , the one half shall be their own , and what man would not be willing to venture upon such conditions , to get wealth upon earth , and purchase heaven for murther . oh damnable doctrine and doctours . they usually mangled their dead carcasses , laying wagers who should cut deepest into their flesh with their skeins . at carvagh , near colerane , the rebells came to begirt the town , mr. rowly , brother to the worthy knight sir john clotworthy , came forth with a small company , about three hundred men to prevent them , they came upon them with a very great company , and slew all but eight of the protestants , base cowardise where they want courage , they make it up with heaps and multitudes of frighted hares , and the more fearfull and cowardly , ever the more cruel upon any advantage . all their cruelties were usually on disarmed men , in small villages , where was no strength to resist them , there they have tyrannized over the weaker sex , women , and they basely triumphed over little children , their rage hath been exercised . oh base cowardise if they ventured sometimes on our men , it hath been when they were naked , as they have been flying from those furies which their party have newly stripped naked : by and by they met with more of those white-livered villains in companies . they would likewise abuse those poor naked protestants like dogs , adding to their misery , beating them and bruising their naked bodys with cudgels , breaking the heads of some and wounding others , that if they had not died , they have been dangerously sick with the inhumane usage of those merciless wretches : nay , rather than they will be ( no body ) they will shew their manhood in abusing dead bodys , as this story declares by very credible testimony from their own country-men . here i shall acquaint you with a remarkable story , which i received from a citizen of dublin's testimony , of good repute there and here : wherein you may behold the promise made good to the protestant side , which the lord himself made to his people israel , that five should chase a hundred . it pleased god by one man and few with him , to out-dare about thirty thousand of those cowardly rebells , whose cause is base , whose religion is but a mere pretence for their bloudy designs , and thus it was as that citizen related . a very great army of about thirty thousand rebels besieged drohedah , wherein was that valliant and religious commander sir henry tichbourn , with a few of the protestant party with him in comparison of those multitudes of rebells , trusting to their great army , boldly demanded the town , if they would yield , no question , but they should have fair quarter : but sir henry knowing them ( its likely ) very well how perfidious they were , and the less to be believed , the more they swore and execrated themselves , resolutely replied , and sent the rebells this answer . be it known to you i am a soldier bred , and will never yield but upon three conditions . 1. before i surrender i will kill all the papists in the town . 2. i will destroy all the nunneries . 3. i will fire the town , and march in the light of it , by the help of god , to dublin . nay , rather than i will give up , i will feed on a piece of a dead horse , and if that fail , i will eat the soulders of an old popish alderman . this bone he threw among those hungry dogs , and you may imagine how they relished it . and that remarkable instance which was published by order of the right honourable the house of lords , concerning this noble and religious knight , sir henry tichbourn , how it pleased god to honour him with a successfull victory against the rebells , they being driven in drohedah , to eat horse-flesh for want of other provision . the rebells having chained up the river in hope to keep out provision by sea , that no relief might come from dublin , it pleased god to raise such a storm that broke the chain , and scattered the enemies boats , and opened a free passage from dublin , whereby they were relieved , blessed be god. thus the lord fought for them by winds and seas . pulling them about the streets by the hair of the head , dashing the childrens brains against the posts , saying , these are the pigs of the english sows . and also by land an army lying before the city , assaulted them in hopes to famish them : whereupon this noble captain , sir henry tichbourn , sallied out of the town , but with forty musquetiers , and as many horse , beat off four hundred of the enemies , killed above threescore of them , recovered fourscore cows and oxen , and two hundred sheep , burned four towns and brought home two of their colours . here take notice of their cowardise again attempted on a noble lady , by a letter sent from seven of the grand rebells , with her resolute and undunted answer to them as follows . the rebells letter to the lady offalia in her castle at geshel . to the right honourable and thrice vertuous lady , the lady digby , these give . honourable , we his majesty's loyal subjects being at the present employed in his highness service for the taking of this your castle , you are therefore to deliver unto us free possession of your said castle , promising faithfully , that your ladyship , together with the rest in the said castle restant shall have a reasonable composition ; otherwise upon yielding of the castle , we do assure you that we will burn the whole town , kill all the protestants , and spare neither man , woman nor child , upon taking the castle : consider ( madam ) of this our offer , and impute not the blame of your own folly unto us , think not that here we brag : your ladyship upon submission , shall have a safe convoy to secure you from the hands of your enemies , and to lead you where you please . a speedy reply is desired with all expedition , and thus we surcease : henry dempsy . charles dempsy . andrew fitz-patrick . conn dempsy . phelim dempsy . john vicars . james mac-donel . the lady off alia her answer to the rebells . for my cosin henry dempsy , and the rest . i received your letter , wherein you threaten to sack this my castle , by his majestys authority ; i am and ever have been a loyal subject , and a good neighbour amongst you , and therefore cannot but wonder at such an assault ; i thank you for your offer of a convoy , wherein i hold little safety , and therefore my resolution is , that being free from offending his majesty , or doing wrong to any of you , i will live and dye innocently , and will doe my best to defend my own , leaving the issue to god ; and though i have been , and still am , desirous to avoid the shedding of christian bloud , yet being provoked , your threats shall no whit dismay me . lettice offalia . these stories i relate that all true-hearted protestants may take heart , and likewise take notice that god is vindicating his own glory against these desperate atheists that began to insult , and to ask ( as we are credibly informed ) what is become of the god of the protestants , and likewise what spirit and courage god is able to put into the hearts of those that fight for him , and for his cause against his bloud-thirsty enemies . and therefore be not dismaid you protestants , 't is a great honour to fight under the banner of christ , they fight under the banner of anti-christ , the lord is with you while ye are with him . see the blasphemies and cruelties of these bloudy men : it is that their names ( as amalek ) may be blotted out from under heaven , for surely the day of recompence is comming , that god will make his arrows drunk in their bloud , they love bloud , and therefore god will give them bloud in great measure . as for instance , i shall relate you a bloudy story of one of those cruell beasts . the protestant troopers , about the beginning of febr. 1641. marched out of dublin , as they used to do , to view the coasts , they espied a cruell rebel hewing and mangling a woman in so horrid a manner that it was impossible to know her , having acted his devilish part he triumphed over her dead corpse , and washed his hands in her bloud , whereupon the troopers apprehended this barbarous villain in the very act of cruelty , and brought him to dublin with his hands all bloudy , and was adjudged to be hanged immediately , he ascended the ladder , and would not stay till the executioner turned him off , but desperately leaped off and hanged himself . this was in the beginning of february , and was credibly reported by a citizen of dublin , who saw him thus hanged with his hands all bloudy . it is remarkable to take notice of the rise of this bloudy act , it was thus . a fryar and this villain was drinking together in a village , the fryar hearing a poor english woman there , he commanded this rebel to murther her , which he did , as you have read , attested by a gentleman of ireland , of good credit . thus these poor deluded wretches gull'd with their jesuits damnable doctrine , who assure them on their words , that the more cruel , the more meritorious . an article no where to be found , but in the devil's creed . would any man believe that these villains should take children and toss them with pitch-forks like dung into rivers ? one was an eye-witness ( who lost a great estate there , but since received relief from the parliament ) who saw a cruel wretch , throw a woman crying with tears one way , and her child with a pitch-fork another way . they cruelly murthered women great with child , and then left them in ditches , to the fury of their dogs , who learned to be cruel from their bloudy masters , for they eat the children out of the bowels of the mother . at lesgoole castle , in the county of fourmanagh , they burned fifty scots , men , women and children . sixteen scots more they barbarously hanged at cloynes in the county of monaghan . thirty scots they burned in tolagh . it is remarkable that they dealt thus cruelly with those noble scots , who have been renowned through the christian world , for their zeal against that antichristian rabble , that these rebells would wish they had but one neck , that they might cut them off at one blow , but the protestant cause shall stand in england and scotland , when they and their babel shall be cast into the bottomless pit. rory mack-quire at new-town , in the county of fourmanagh , above four hundred poor protestants fled into the church to shrowd themselves under its roof , for safety from the rage of those men of bloud , where they might have been famished , but the mercy of this merciless beast affords them quarter to go away with their cloaths to dublin , and vows he will not hurt them : before they got out of the town , the soldiers stript some and killed others like base perfidious wretches . the irish lieutenant pretending they came from the king , perfidiously come under favour , pretends to borrow the arms of the inhabitants , as they said , to quell the rebells , then break into their houses , and turn their weapons against themselves , made havock , taking their feather-beds , and throwing out their feathers , and in the ticks , put up what pretious things they could find in the house , and carried all away , and so turned them out of doors , the next company taking away their cloaths , and cloathing them with their rags . the next company thinking they may have money in those rags , take them also , search their mouths , and those parts which modesty will not admit of an expression : if they can find none , they set their skeins at their breasts , to try if they can extort any thing when the poor protestants are naked . blush , o sun ! to behold the inhumane cruelties and beastly usages of these unheard of cannibals . they enslaved the poor protestants under them , making them work like horses all day , digging and delving for them , and then shut them up all night , not knowing what wages , whether life or death should be allotted , and so every night lay trembling and praying that they might be delivered from their cruelties . some ministers they whipped , others they set in the stocks , and made others to go to mass against their wills , then told them , now that they had saved their souls , they would hang they bodies . a minister seeing his wife abused , and his children roasted , and desiring them to put him out of his extremity of anguish , which he suffered by seeing such cruelty committed on those so near him , they most inhumanely cut his tongue out of his head. and for a conclusion of this dreadfull tragedy , it is related from one of the last letters from ireland , that seventeen of those barbarous monsters came to a minister's house , where they violently fell on him and his wife , stript them naked , bound them back to back , then cut off the ministers privy members , afterward ravished his wife on his back , and then inhumanely cut their throats : transcendent cruelty , exceeding pagans and atheists . for the oppression of the poor , and for the sighing of needy : now will i arise , saith the lord , and set him at liberty from him that oppresseth him . psal . 12. 5. finis . the character of the protestants of ireland impartially set forth in a letter, in answer to seven queries ... : with remarks upon the great charge england is like to be at with those people, and the destruction of that kingdom by famine, if not prevented. halifax, george savile, marquis of, 1633-1695. 1689 approx. 55 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44660 wing h301 estc r23371 12068179 ocm 12068179 53417 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. a44660) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53417) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 72:9) the character of the protestants of ireland impartially set forth in a letter, in answer to seven queries ... : with remarks upon the great charge england is like to be at with those people, and the destruction of that kingdom by famine, if not prevented. halifax, george savile, marquis of, 1633-1695. [2], 30 p. printed for dorman newman ..., london : 1689. attributed to george halifax. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). 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 protestants -ireland. ireland -economic conditions. 2003-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2003-12 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the character of the protestants of ireland , impartially set forth in a letter , in answer to seven queries ; their original , humour , interest , losses , present condition , apprehensions , and resolutions . with remarks upon the great charge england is like to be at with those people , and the destruction of that kingdom by famine , if not prevented . london , printed for dorman newman , at the king's arms in the poultrey , mdclxxxix . the character of the protestants in ireland , impartially set forth in a letter , &c. sir , that i have not sooner performed my promise , and your commands , has been the difficulty of your injunctions ; which were , that i should give a full account of these seven particulars : first , the original . secondly , the humour . thirdly , the interest . fourthly , the losses . fifthly , the present condition . sixthly , the apprehensions . and lastly , the resolutions for the future settlement of the gentlemen of ireland . since i undertook the work , i thought my self obliged to be as perfect in it , as some few weeks would admit ; but when i had spent some , and almost as many as i designed for the whole , i found my weeks must be turned into months , and my enquiry in london reach to bristol , and other parts of the kingdom ; for that i found such different accounts even in matter of fact , that i could not well depend upon any thing : and to say the truth , at my first onset i was much discouraged by the diversity of characters i received from them , both of things and themselves ; which after some time , i found might easily be reconciled , as you will find in the sequel of this discourse . but to detain you no longer , in setting forth my conduct in this irish travel , i shall come to your particulars : first , as to the original of those , we most improperly call british protestants , who are of all nations , and might be rather , with st. iames , the twelve tribes scattered through the earth . i have discoursed with dutch , french , germans , scotch , welsh , and with as many born in our foreign plantations , new-england , virginia , barbadoes , &c. and to complete this diversity among them , those of our own nation being of different counties , are so in their humours , as we know by experience among our selves . now these gentlemen of ireland being composed , or rather compact of such variety , i do not wonder , as most do , that they are so dis-joint in their affections and representations of each other . a common calamity is more equally considered by indifferent persons , than by them who lie under it ; for though it be common in the affliction , yet it is particular in the several attempts of each to get out of it ; and the frailty of our nature is apt to lead us beyond our charity to our neighbour , when we want it our selves ; a fault no ways to be extenuated , yet too common , and i fear too much the practice of some among these gentlemen : but i have digressed . these several nations and people i before mentioned , are such as they call new interest-men , and came into ireland by and since cromwel's conquest , after the rebellion of forty one. these men , though of such differing interests among themselves , yet are a joint body and separate from the other interest of the protestant party of that kingdom , which they call the old interest ; and they are the off-spring of the several soldiers and adventurers , since strongbow's going into that kingdom . these men , it seems , thought their interest infallible ; no questioning of their title , because it was the forfeitures of several rebellions in the time of popery , and of that in queen elizabeth's reign , when the irish call'd in the spaniards : but the rebellion of forty one they palliate with several concessions and articles made , though they were , when the irish saint ( the then duke of york ) stood their champion , found frivolous . but these gentlemen of the old interest , i i find like our welsh here , value themselves above the other they call cromwelists ; and on the other hand , the cromwelists look on them as mungreliz'd by the irish ; among whom , many of them have match'd , and therefore in cromwel's time not much trusted ; though now , i think , the new and old interest unite against the common enemy : i mean without the least respect of consanguinity or affinity , the irish papist being odious to them both . thus in short ( for i presume you expect not the genealogy of the protestants of ireland ) i have given you the present interest and place from whence they derive themselves . secondly , for the humour and disposition of the people , i find them in their religion much like us of england , of different persuasions , yet not in any proportion with us for dissenters : the north of ireland being generally scotch , have most presbyterians , but in other parts of the kingdom dissenters are thin ; insomuch that in some is counties not one dissenting meeting : and however they use one another in their characters , they shame us in one thing , that is , in giving respect to their clergy . they are of a generous temper , and even now in their wants , may be seen to have been a people of great hospitality , lived in great plenty , and therefore the more unfit to undergo want ; and if my observation be right , are apter to starve than complain , and too haughty to undertake that they call a mean way of earning their living . i have discoursed with some that were but farmers of ten or twenty pounds sterling a year , whom i questioned how it chanced they were not gone in the army for ireland ; their answer was , they could get no command , and they knew not how to live upon six-pence a day ; but if they could have of their own country to command them , ( for none else they think will fight , ) they would go over voluntiers . this spanish humour i find in them ; but that which nourished it , is that which the spaniard wants , plenty of provisions both for back and belly . such a tenant , as i mentioned before , of ten pounds a year , lives better than a free-holder in england of an hundred pounds a year estate ; keeps a couple of good geldings in his stable , good drink always in his celler , and better clad than our yeomen of kent . this may serve to shew the humour and disposition of the people , and the cause of it ; only this i must add , that i believe them a very stout and warlike people , which is occasioned by their being like the hungarians , in continual action ; the irish being upon the least occasion up in arms , and running out tories , which the english are in continual hazard of , and as furiously pursue . having heard much talk of these tories , i made particular enquiry into the nature and practice of that sett of men , which i shall give you a short account of , as they have stood since cromwel's conquest ; for no farther i shall look back in all my relation of ireland . these men , after the reducing of ireland , and the lord musgrave ( since earl of clancarty ) laying down arms , had no commission , and therefore called tories . they came not in upon musgrave's articles , because there were no terms for any guilty of murther , of which most of them that staid out tories were in cromwel's government , they were so hunted , and the irish that were under protection so punished for any robbery they committed in the parish where it was done , that they were soon destroyed : but upon every alteration in england , some ran out , as if they were immediately to recover the kingdom : and so they did upon king charles the second's restauration , expecting , as they then gave out , to be restored the sooner for being found in their defence against the english , who they then hoped would be judged the greater rebels ; so after , upon the dutch war , several got up , insomuch that the farmers of the excise had abatements for the ravage these made in the country hindering affairs . there was one redmond hanly , that kept out several years , though great attempts of the army continually made to take him ; and another in munster , called colonel poore , with many others , in all parts of the kingdom , who kept the english in continual action , and to me seems a reason for making them bold and good soldiers , and most serviceable against the irish , as having been their former masters , and conquerors : and trogus pompeius relates a story of a country , which being over-run with slaves , was not reduced , till laying aside other arms than those of chastisement , their masters reminded them of their servile fears , and so at last regained their empire over them , as their ancient masters , not competitors of the field . and i find many of oliver's soldiers alive , and free enough to go against the irish , if they had but english commanders of their own countrey ; they complaining much of some that are sent over , yet modestly expressed ; for i find them of a quiet and obedient disposition . thirdly , for their interest , i find them unanimous for their present majesties : and i have wondred in so great a number , as i have personally , and by proxy conversed with , that i should never find but four men , so much as scrupling our present happiness , and of them three clergy-men . the character , i first gave you of their original , is argument enough for their affection to our present government , since they are stripp'd of all by the late king , of whom they relate such things , as are not fit to come among humane , much less christian ears . if the english , or protestants of ireland are considered in their personal or real estates , their interest that way , i find to be thus : few of them had any thing in england , the temptation of buying land cheap , and rents better payed than in england , made them lay out all there , and consequently few monied men among them . those that did not purchase , laid out in improvements . plate i do not find they so much affected , as we in england ; yet few families without some ; jewels were less in use among them . those of personal estates had generally great stocks of cattel ; and land being cheap , the country for these late years was over-burthened with them . but that which is scarce to be credited in so plentiful a country , situate beyond any place in the christian world for trade , there should be no merchants : in all my enquiry , i cannot find one that may bear the character of a compleat merchant . they tell me , there were two or three in dublin of universal trade ; but growing rich , took honours , and purchased lands ; since them there appears nothing but factors , and home-bred-men , like our planters in the west-indies : and this is to me the reason , why ireland is so contemptible in its trade , that might otherwise be the most flourishing empire in europe , there being so few dealers resident in that kingdom . the interest of those fled from thence , is comprehended under those already named in stock and real estate ; and that brings me to your fourth head , the losses of the protestants of ireland . and here i find both you and i have been not only mistaken , but prejudicate . the evil characters of some , and too light behaviour of others , gives , i confess , too great occasion of censuring that people : but if ten righteous men would have prevented sodom's condemnation , many tens of ill men should not condemn a kingdom , where there is more hundreds deserving . fourthly , their losses , and deplorable condition , seems exceeding any modern account ; and the more unhappy , since 't is scarce perceived . we pitied the french fugitives more than these , that are our bone and our flesh ; and the reason seems to be , that every one of them was distinguished by garb and speech , but these from ireland are by neither , and so in the croud not discerned ; nor shall we hear them complain , for the reasons i have before mentioned : but to come to their losses . i need not tell you what the list given into the house of commons mentions , to which some have made exceptions , that the returns are favourable ; but that will not be believed by those , that discourse the gentlemen concerned in them ; a more derogating temper , i confess , i never saw among a people , not in the least inclinable to favour one another . i am loth to say , it is giving most of them the lye , to have honourable thoughts of their best men : but i would not make so general a reflexion , for i have met with some worthy and intelligent men among them ; and such as complain of some busie men , whose employments of agency and solliciting , gave them the opportunity and practice of characterizing men , in which they were too free , as well as faulty in possessing great men with : but to return . the losses of the nobility and gentry , were most in their real estates ; few of them had money , and not considerable in plate or iewels ; they that had any of the three , did in time send it over for england . that which i take to be as considerable , or more than the real estates , is the loss of personal estates in stock ; and that is vastly beyond our common estimation , and will , perhaps , be so in acceptation : but what i shall relate , i have such good authority for , that i question not the truth . it is usual in that kingdom for a tenant that pays but twenty pounds a year , to have from an hundred to two hundred head of black cattel on it ; and for others that pay not two hundred pounds a year rent , to make more than three hundred a year of their wool. i should exceed the bounds of a letter , to enumerate all on this head : but upon the whole , at a moderate computation , it is believed they have lost in stock , and other personal estates , to the value of more than eight millions sterling , allowing but an hundred pounds sterling for a family : now these men are more to be pitied than they who are out of their lands , for that will be found again , ( though they believe of little value ; ) but those that have lost their stocks , are utterly ruin'd without hopes of reparation ; and under this qualification , they compute more than eighty thousand families , one half of which are still in ireland , more to be lamented than those that are here . i mention nothing of the clergy's livings , nor men of civil employments , because they come under the head of free-holders being for life ; however it is worse with them than gentlemen of estates , in regard they can make no disposition to purchase bread , as those of lands may . fifthly , but now to your fifth query , what their present condition , and that , after what has before been related , must be bad , and i doubt worse than we imagine ; for they tell you , most of them came over when they could bring little with them , but the cloths on their backs ; they have been here some ten months , and most six months ; they acknowledge the charity of london great , but say little of the other parts of the kingdom ; the whole is said not to exceed thirty thousand pounds : and a greater gift than that , they say , was offered by them in ireland , viz. thirty thousand biefs to be given to the distressed of london , when burnt ; of this a reverend prelate of theirs hath some testimonial by him , his grace the arch-bishop of tuam , who is among them of universal esteem , and in which he is singular . now this publick charity is not , as we thought , dispersed among all gentry , as well as others , but only to the poor , such as had scarce stocks in the kingdom , but were poor mechanichs , husband-men , and labourers . some of the clergy have also support out of it ; and although they that are intrusted with the disposing this money , lengthen it out as much as possible , giving to most not above ten shillings a month ; yet they say about nineteen thousand pounds of the money is already gone , and yet all complain , as if there were not an equal distribution ; but i find little ground for it , only one or two men are a scandal to the rest ; and had they been left out , i believe the noise you heard in the country would not have reached so far . now all this while , the men of greatest quality , and , perhaps , of greatest want , are put to their shifts ; but they most of all , whose estates lay in stock , for that they can have no credit , there being no expectation for their recovery : when i think of these men , i must confess my heart aches , they are the most miserable men that have been among us , this age having lived plentifully , worth thousands , bred to nothing but rural matters , know not how to get bread by any other imployment , and so turned naked into the world , when they were going , by their age , out of it ; ( i wish many of them go not silently away for want of bread ; ) and yet under the charge this kingdom lies , maintaining the arms of three kingdom 's forces in holland , and a great navy at sea , it is not easie to find out an expedient to help them . i have been in discourse with some of them ; and putting the case to one , whether they could reasonably expect we should raise money for them by a tax , since by collection it comes to so little , and is indeed the worst way of raising money ; for that only the good man , not the rich , pays it any farther than he is charitable ; whereas a tax imposeth according to a man's ability . to this i was answered , that they did believe it reasonable : and more , that it was profitable for us to do it . i was surprized with the assertion , and desired to hear his reasons for it , which were as follows : first he affirms there were forty thousand families fled from ireland into england ; that they had one with another spent at least , twenty pound a family , which amounts to eight hundred thousand pounds sterling : this was so much added to the stock of england , and therefore deserved some return , since it was there all ; and had so much money been spent in holland , they would have considered a distressed people that had done it . he illustrated the discourse with mercantine observations , of which he was master , and i foreign too , and therefore can no more relate than understand . his notions seem'd reasonable , and all terminated in this , that england has had in specie , mony , and plate , more from them than ever was brought in clear , and resting in the kingdom in one year ; for that he accounted all theirs was lodg'd here , and took nothing out of the kingdom : and when i objected , that our lead , tin , woollen-manufacturies , and even the east-india commodities , brought us in five times the summ he insisted on : he answered , that as it slow ▪ d in , so like the tide it had its ebb out , otherwise england would not hold its treasure ; it would come to an immensity , if but half a million a year was added to england . we then come to that part of his assertion , that it is profitable for england to raise money for them ; and that he would prove thus : first , that england had been for many years a gainer by their trade , contrary to the common opinion : and this point , i confess , he handled beyond my expectation ; and it must be better heads ▪ than mine that can answer him . first , he laid down , that ireland took more of our manufactories , and native commodities , than virginia , our darling plantation ; and that if we pleased , we might raise as great a revenue by ireland , as we do out of our tobacco . then that we made above two millions sterling a year of their wool ; that by the act of navigation we had barr'd them from the use of all foreign shipping , and that in effect we had prohibited them from trade to our foreign plantations ; by which , whatever the gain of their trade was , we had it by our shipping and plantation-commodities : that they were prohibited by our acts of parliament from bringing any of their commodities but what we stood in need of ; a thing ( as they set it out ) so severe , as never used but to an enemy . the native commodities never prohibited a country in amity ; the most is to lay heavy duties on them : but ireland in its chiefest commodities made a nusance . and to close all , he affirmed that ireland added to the trade of england ▪ three millions a year ▪ all this he thought worth their securing . that the gaining the kingdom would not do it , if the inhabitants that were used to the country , were not preserv'd and sent thither again : that many had already sought dwellings in foreign parts , and more were on the wing . this is as much as i can remember of our discourse , and i wanted one to oppose him ; for from me he carried his hypothesis . sixthly , as to your sixth query , what the general apprehensions of them are ? i cannot give you a single solution to that , since i find them differing so much among themselves : one party , and those that were the latest planters in that kingdom , i find generally resolv'd to return no more , but rather bend their thoughts for carolina , virginia , and new-england . these believe that ireland will not soon be reduced , and that it will never be at quiet ; for that the french lying so near it , and taking upon him the guardianship of the pretended prince of wales , will ever be infesting that kingdom ; and that the irish will be always ready to receive them : so that the quiet of ireland will depend upon the success of the french. a successful campaign with him , will raise a tory-camp in ireland ; for that , they say , they have experience by three several instances , in less than two years . first , upon the death of king charles the second , they got up in all parts of the kingdom , not having patience to see what their guardian-angel , the late king , would doe for them . that was scarce quieted with the assurance of his being a catholick majesty ; but upon monmouth's appearing ; they got up again ; that was soon after pretty well laid by the arrival of that good man the earl of clarendon , so they term him ; and then up they got again , upon the arrival of tyrconnel ; so they say the tories ever do upon the least change of government . these are the apprehensions of those they call new purchasers , that came for ireland since the act of settlement , which was made upon the restauration of charles the second . another set of them i find more resolute , and they are those they call cromwelians : these are such as were soldiers in that conquest , or the sons of them ; a rough sturdy people , and full of indignation against the irish , rendring them a bloody , but cowardly people , easily conquer'd , if fallen suriously upon . but the way now taken ( they say ) will put courage in the irish , who never saw themselves fear'd or treated like a formidable enemy before , the english being more troubled to find than overcome them ; and never considered odds , but thought them brave if they would engage them , being five to one : they instance the same in the few english that got together . now those they call iniskilling-men , which were not of that place , but most of connaught , the remains and off-spring of oliverians , that were under the former lord kingstone , and headed by the young lord his son , who , they say , inherits his father's courage ; and had he not been betrayed by lundy , would have done great things in ireland , as his men have done since , where less than twelve hundred half naked men , routed five thousand of the flower of the irish army , posted in a most inaccessible place . this ( they say ) was three to one greater odds than our army stands upon ; and believe if they had been sent over under their own old commanders , there would have been a good account of ireland by this time . this is the opinion they have of themselves , and yet fansie the king will use them at last , and believe his majesty would at first , but that they had enemies , who gave a false account of them . for the new interest-men , they are sure not a man but would venture his life for their majesties in any part of the world. but to come to that which hath more authority with it , and that is , they say , that when cromwel landed in ireland , the english and british had the chief of the kingdom , dublin , cork , toughall , kingsale , and all the north , where there was stock of cattel , and pretty store of pillage near the garisons . that cromwel made quick work , took drogheda , and several places of moment in few weeks after his landing ; so that before the spring , ( he landing in august , ) the whole kingdom was in a manner in protestants hands ; the irish pent up in garisons . and yet after all these advantages and opportunities of sowing corn , when the war was over in fifty one , the famine , and its usual attendent , the plague , swept away more than the sword had done in all the war of the irish , and many thousands of the english. in the city of dublin there died in one year two and twenty thousand . there is a worse prospect now of the same fate , for that the protestants have not an ear of corn in the kingdom ; nor have the irish much , scarce any winter-corn , for that at the season for sowing , they have been imbroil'd in arms. nor can there be any spring-corn considerable , for the same reason . from all which they infer , there must inevitably be a famine next year ; which will in the first place fall upon those protestants that escape this winter , many are perished already ; for that the irish keep the men prisoners , after having robb'd them of all they have , and leave the poor women and children starving in their houses . upon the whole , they conclude , that the kingdom will be in a manner dispeopled , let what will now happen ; and that those few , both of english and irish , who escape the destroying angel in war , famine , and plague , and live to see peace , will yet perish for want of bread ; the mony of the kingdom being already sent to france by the late king , and brass farthings left as half-crowns in the room of the silver ; so that they will have nothing to purchase food . they farther add , that after the last rebellion , the kingdom was suller of money than ever it was since ; that corn was much cheaper in england , than it is like to be now . that then they had great quantities of corn from france , now there can be none ; and after all these helps , ( which now they will want , ) yet great part of those left in fifty one perished by famine ; and wanting of people to bury the dead , infected the air , and brought the plague , the irish scarce covering their dead with earth . some objections i made to these desponding conjectures , which were chiefly two : first , that it was not to be imagined but the irish would keep some silver-money ; and that in robbing the english they must get some . to this i was answered , that the irish are seldom masters of money , their treasure being cattel ; that the course the late king took , was invincible to draw out every penny of silver they had ; for at the same time he proclaimed his brass coin to pay his army , and to pass betwixt man and man , it was provided , that all his revenue , as quit-rent , hearth-money , excise , customs , &c. should be paid in silver , so that as long as there was a penny among them , it came into the treasury . for their having money of the english's , or plate , i find they are so ingenious , most of them , as to confess , they believe the english left little money or plate behind them . my second objection was , that though there were no trade , yet in such a fertile countrey it was easie for the irish to get roots , hearbs , milk , flesh , and their great food , potatoes , which we see here in england , after once setting , are never to be got out of the ground , so that of them they can never want . to all which i was answered , that the irish ( for by the way it is granted , that the english will not be admitted , nor are able to doe any of these ) are great strangers to garden-stuff ; nor is there garden-seeds in the kingdom , the english always fetching them from england . milk , it is true , is one part of their summer's provision , but they presume they will have as great want of cattel , as corn , especially cows ; for which they give me a reason , that carries probability with it , though it be novel : they tell me , in ireland the very english give little or no fodder in winter to their black cattel , by which means their cows , which they call gowneys , that is , such as had not calves the last summer , being with calf the winter following , are best in flesh all the winter ; and being so , the hungry irish , in regard there is no command of them , being soldiers , and rambling where they please , fall upon these cows , and by that means they are without cattel to give them milk next summer ; and for demonstration they say , that after the last war a milch cow in ireland would yield eight pounds , when an ox as big again , might be bought for three . for their potatoes , they say , it is a mistake to think that after being once set they need no more labour ; they must be every year new dug , and dunged : and besides , these potatoes come not in till next winter , and these gentlemen here agree , as is already past , that they will be all starved next summer , and that such as do escape , will not be the english , for that they will first perish . the quantity of corn and beer that was brought into ireland in one year after the last war , is incredible , as they relate it . a person of good quality and fortune told me , he was then a merchant , and lived in england , but traded for ireland , that he sent great quantities of wheat and malt himself ; above ten thousand of our quarters in one year went to waterford ; that to all parts there went not less than one hundred thousand quarters in one year ; and if so much was wanting when there had been so much of the kingdom in pretestant hands , what will there be after an universal ravage and destruction , for so they conclude the condition of that kingdom ? i cannot omit the foot of a discourse i had with the most intelligent man i met among them ; it was this : ireland , as it stood at the death of charles ii. he believed had about two millions of souls ; a minute computation to that gentleman's , who in a pamphlet makes the british protestants half that number , who were never accounted a fifth part of the whole , the irish being thought near eight for one , but this gentleman , who made his computation two millions , supposes a dolefull account , that two thirds will , by flight , the sword , famine , and sickness , be taken off before ireland can be reduced , hoping it be done next summer , there will then not remain seven hundred thousand souls in the kingdom ; allow them but two bushels a mouth for a year , which is but about three farthings worth of bread a day , which allowance will starve more than feed ; yet at this rate , there must be one hundred and seventy five thousand quarters of bread-corn , to keep their distressed remains alive , besides the army , that must be better provided for . i was startled at this computation ; and when i went to make some objection , i was stopped with this , that if the deliverance of these poor creatures happen to be greater than what he expected , then the provision of corn must be greater ; and that for help in the kingdom , there was no expectation considerable : it was more than could be expected , if they could find of any sustenance to make up a living . i find their apprehensions very remote , as to the re-planting that kingdom , grounded upon their experience in oliver's time ; which is this , that the reducing of that kingdom happened to be just after the winding up of that fatal catastrophy of the civil wars of england and scotland , which obliged many thousands of the loyal party to shift their habitations , and that brought them for ireland : there were also numbers that came from new-england , and other foreign plantations , having friends and relations promoted in ireland . there was also such an absolute conquest , and power over the irish , that they were rather numbred among the beasts of the field , than thought on as a people in a possibility of disturbing the government . not five men in the kingdom restored to their estates , the most of them transplanted into a country they call connaught , surrounded with the sea , and a great river ; so that it was not possible to have greater security , and more incouragement than was at that time ; and yet after all this , for near five years after the conquest , wales , scotland , and england , for some provisions , were their markets ; and land was set , some years after the laying down of arms , for forty shillings a year , that in ten years after , was set for two hundreds pounds a year : so then , if with all the advantages that then attended ireland , it was yet so many years in rising to a bare living , how will it be now improved , when none of those advantages attend it , but just the contrary . they name particulars , which i shall not trouble you with , being easily understood . i have given you the sentiments of two sets of these people , i now come to a third ; for i find them of three distinct interests and affections one to the other : these last are of the old interest , and seem to be more affected to ireland , than either of the former , and think it the paradise of the earth ; would willingly engage their lives in that war , but desire to be excused from the bravery of the gentlemen before-mentioned . they have better hopes of ireland ; have , with their own , the remarks of their ancestors ; how frequent the rebellions of ireland have been , and yet the country soon made habitable again . they confess it looks worse now than ever ; and that the irish were never a formidable enemy before ; and therefore they fear the country will be waste before it be reduced . they have the same apprehensions with the former , of the french infesting the western and southern parts of the kingdom , and fear , above all , the pardoning the men of estates , which they say was ever the ruine of that kingdom : the irish grandees , first by bribes , and , in process of time , by marriage into english families , got such friends in the court of england , that whatever rebellion happened , they always had some of their great men to head it , and , in the whole , or part , pardon'd , when they had done the like they fear now : and if any one of the great clanns doth get his estate , he will be , upon any opportunity a head to new rebellions : but if they be quite extirpate , i mean the men of estates , then they fear nothing , but , in the end , to be the better for this war , which , they hope , will make a lasting settlement for that kingdom . i had almost forgot a remarkable difference in opinion i find between these gentlemen , and those of the new interest : they of the new believe nothing will contribute more to the enriching that kingdom , than the bringing in foreigners , dutch , french , and of any nation , that are of the reformed religion ; but those of the old interest , that are the off-spring of the first english that went for ireland , have differing sentiments , and say , they had rather have the slavish irish , than the rhedomontado french , or stubborn dutch , that they cannot govern ; and i find the old english of ireland have always been jealous of new comers , which makes a division among the people . seventhly , i now come to the seventh query , what the resolution of them in general is , and of that i can give no certain account , since they seem not fixed themselves ; some despairing , others in hopes , and the rest resolute , to take their fortunes there : but by the nearest computation i can make , the greatest numbers are in condition neither to go , nor stay , having nothing here , and have lost all there . these are men , whose estates lay all in stock . it would hardly be credited , how much these farmers exceed ours in their stock ; it being common for men there of not a penny free-hold , to have five hundred head of black cattel , and a thousand sheep . many of two and three thousand pounds worth of stock , all which being lost , and they being bred to no other imployment , are in a helpless condition , their misfortune such as i never read any thing like it in story , exceeding the cruelty of the most unchristian government . they were no ways engaged against the late king ; no not so much as pretenders to any of the irish estates , but many of them tenants to the irish , pretended ( as some of them tell me ) to be zealous for the late king , in hopes , by that means , to keep their stock , but all would not do : every thing they had swept away ; and even those that were protected , and stay'd there , in obedience to his proclamation , were all alike used . now what government under the copes of heaven did ever exert such authority , that obedience under it should be no security . i had like to have wish'd those gentlemen who , under pretence of conscience , advocate his cause that doth all this , were under his government : but god forbid there should be more martyrs , or sacrifices to moloch ; for they cannot be called martyrs , that suffer without refusing any so much as pretended law. those gentlemen that had real estates , and are here in england , i find most of them in want of money , as much as those that had all in personal estates , having spent all they brought with them , which could not be much , by their own computation , of having spent eight hundred thousand pounds in this kingdom , which is twenty pounds a family , for forty thousand families ( they say ) are in england ; but i take their computation of expence to be modest , and much short of what such numbers must have spent in six and nine months , as most of them have been here . i have no more to add , having given you as impartial an account to all your queries as possible , both of the people , their humors , and present condition ; i beg your pardoning my vanity , if i say , that i believe , you have it in this , with more indifferency , than it can be had from any of themselves : out of them all i have gathered this relation , which i presume none of them will arraign . i know you will expect my opinion , and remarks upon the whole of my observations , which are more than i could commit to writing ; and this is a greater difficulty than all the rest , which is no more than matter of fact : but this of making critical observations , is a work of judgment , to which i have but a slender pretence ; however my thoughts , such as they are , you have as follows . for the people , you have their character in the first paragraph of their original : they are , by all the account that ever i meet with , from those that have been among them in ireland , the most hospitable people in the world , and that humour carries them above their condition in their expence ; they generally complain of the strait hands of england , especially in the country . what will become of them , is past my understanding , they seem too many for england to maintain ; yet at the same time , i see no other way to preserve them from starving . it is true , we have been yet at no charge with those of best quality , and , for ought i see , in greatest want : i wish the pride of some of them , and the narrowness of our hearts , have not already sent some into another world , that rather pine away than beg ; i have heard of one , a man of five hundred a year , that did so . i am loth to censure men in affliction ; yet why those of the north , whose estates are all free and quiet , don't return , is unaccountable : i think them enemies to their country-men , that have yet no estates to go unto ; for that it is natural for us to believe , they are not in want , who will not go to their own estates ; and some may have the same thoughts of such as cannot . it would be well for these poor gentlemen that are in want , if these men were distinguished ; for while they are in england , the other will be the less considered . i confess , it was at first a surprize to me , that men who talk of hundreds , and thousands a year , in the north of ireland , should think themselves entituled to the charity of the parliament ; but enquiring into the matter , i found these gentlemen were some of them livers here before this deprivation , and that for their pleasures . others ( i may say most of them ) are making interest for employments , and to be privy counsellors ; how agreeable this is , for men to neglect their common interest ; leave their brethren there in misery ; and now they might help , and encourage them by their return , stay here to enjoy their pleasure , and make themselves great men , you may judge . they put a hard task on the king , and people of england , to conquer their country for them , if they will not at least sit down in it , as fast as it is recovered ; so that the king's army may pursue their victories , and not stay to keep the country , as they get it ; they to whom the land belongs may sure do that , or else the king must raise another army . there is no comparison to be made with cromwel's conquest , and this ; he found three protestant armies in the kingdom , all the north in their hands , and most of the chief cities and ports in the kingdom : the enemy a shabby miserable people , with very few arms , and less ammunition , never appeared in the field , but like tories ; so as the gentlement of ireland say themselves , their trouble was to find them : but now it is not so ; they have a numerous army , their pretended king in the head of them , and all the kingdom in their hands , but the north , that his majesty's forces have recovered back ; so that i doubt they go too fast , that think we might have regained ireland last summer . i most lament the poor protestants that are in the irish hands , by what i can understand , they must inevitably perish this winter , for that they have nothing of their own : and what can be expected from such barbarous enemies as the irish , who in the last rebellion , murdered two hundred thousand persons , using all manner of exquisite tortures , and now have the more accomplished way of the french , their masters , to starve the hereticks . there seems no prospect for the return of any of the people of ireland untill next summer , except those of the north go to their estates ; if they do , we shall still have three fourths left on our hands ; and if they at a moderate computation could not live these six months past for six hundred thousand pounds , how will they for the future ? if they live but with the allowance of prisoners , fifty thousand pounds per month will not defray the charge : and this is not all ; suppose we keep them alive untill next summer , and then they are restored to ireland , there they must have bread , and considering the want of our usual granary , france , and our great expence for naval provisions , and that corn is already rising , i cannot see how england can spare any , scotland can give but a small help ; so then our expectation must be from the east-sea , and considering that all europe is in arms , the expence of corn will be greater than in the memory of man , which will raise the price so , that one year's provision of grain , allowing but one third of the people of ireland to be alive the next year , may reasonably be supposed to cost a million sterling ; all which must come out of the treasury of england , or those people will perish by famine . this you may think ( as i doubt not most do ) a remote prediction , and may as well not be , as come to pass , i could wish it were so ; but methinks , it is a poor confutation , only to say , it will not be , and yet give not so much as probability for the contrary , when for my assertion there is plain demonstration , and former experience . but you will then say , what will be the end of all this , and where the remedy ? if it were in my province , i could answer in point the several ways that are open for it , which they at the helm no doubt have before them . to comply with your desire , and since all i have said is but matter of discourse , not enquiries into government , much less dictates to it , i shall give you my thoughts in two particulars . first , that this course taken by our army in ireland , in that we call delay , is the best expedient to preserve that kingdom from being depopulated , i mean of the common irish ; for it seems of consequence to preserve them , and they will ( if former experience has any weight ) soon become demeanable to the english government if their heads are removed from them . now had our army , as soon as they landed , attacked these people , there would have been in probability great destruction of them ; and those that were left , thereby made desperate , and told by their leaders , nothing but destruction would attend them , if they did not fight it out ; and nothing makes a coward stout like necessity : if death attend on all parts , his only hope is the death of his enemy , and that makes him fight : now this hazard is prevented , by giving them time to consider their danger , and offering them terms of peace , and enjoyment of all their properties : i still mean the common people ; for the landed men , i find by all hands , are never to be restored to their estates : but the commonalty are of absolute use in the kingdom ; and they are , as the mantle thrown off tells us , followers of their lands ; whoever commands the one , hath the other . and i have heard the gentlemen of ireland say , that their irish tenants would in their common discourse say , that if the english had an army to protect them , swearing the common oath , by their souls , they would keep their cabins , and not fight to get land for other men : they must be slaves , let who will have it , and worse used by the irish than english landlords . and however it is generally said , that these poor people go voluntarily into their army ; the most judicious of the irish gentlemen i meet with , say , it is a force upon the greatest part of them ; and that it is so , i believe may be the reason of duke schomberg's taking the methods , which vulgar heads condemn ; but in the end , may be found of great advantage to that kingdom : for that it is more than probable , great part of the late king's army , will from their winter-quarters run home to their cabins from a summers , this year's service having given them enough of the discipline of war. for by the way , i find the irish marry very young , so that of their infantry , there is not one of ten a single man , from whence i make this remark , that the reason which is usually given for the irish , not fighting so well in their own country , as in foreign parts , is not all concluded in knowing where to run upon a rout , but it seems as much reason , that they run to their wives . upon the whole , it then seems to me of weight , that the irish have this winter given them to run away in : and though i am no prophet , yet do predict we shall have a slender account next spring of the irish army ; and it seems undeniable , that this way of bringing in the irish , will preserve that kingdom , both in its provisions and people ; for that the irish will by this means preserve all they can , since they will have hopes to enjoy them under their old masters , the english. secondly , that which will make the settlement of that kingdom easie , and speedy , may be the present return of those that fled from it ; they talk of many thousands in england , and , no doubt , are men of courage , and fit for action ; and although i cannot see any need of enlarging his majesties troups there , yet these gentlemen would be of great use in that kingdom , both to plant , and secure the countrey , as it falls into his majesty's hands ; they tell me near half the kingdom is so already , as to the acres , though the chief towns are not : all ulster , and a great part of connaught may be quietly possessed by his majesties loyal subjects . now if they were there , all the foregoing fears were at an end , and that of the great charge those gentlemen would be to england , if they live upon the charity of the kingdom . i have heard several of them that expect the benevolence of the parliament say , that if they had but a quarter of what they have spent since they came into england , to carry them back , they would not tarry a day longer . the house of commons ( they say ) are now upon addressing their majesties in their behalf for sixty thousand pounds for a year ; if that were made an hundred thousand pounds , and paid them in one entire summ , by what i can perceive , they would give us no farther trouble : if they have spent eight times the summ here , we may afford it ; and as remote as some think that kingdom looks , i have the faith to believe we shall see that work done in time , to visit monsieur next summer with greatest part of that army . i am , sir , yours , &c. the loyal protestants vindication, fairly offered to all those sober minds who have the art of using reason, and the power of suppressing passion by a queen elizabeth protestant. queen elizabeth protestant. 1680 approx. 19 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49360 wing l3360 estc r5421 12986386 ocm 12986386 96197 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. a49360) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 96197) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 719:23) the loyal protestants vindication, fairly offered to all those sober minds who have the art of using reason, and the power of suppressing passion by a queen elizabeth protestant. queen elizabeth protestant. defoe, daniel, 1661?-1731. [2], 6 p. printed for walter kettilby ..., london : 1680. attributed to defoe in the wrenn catalogue. 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 -england. protestants -england. 2002-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-10 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2002-10 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the loyal protestants vindication , fairly offered to all those sober minds who have the art of using reason , and the power of suppressing passion . by a queen elizabeth protestant . london , printed for walter kettilby , at the sign of the bishops-head , in s. paul's church-yard , 1680. the loyal protestants vindication . fellow natives and brother protestants . for by birth and charity we are bound so to call you . and we hope , that ( upon the ebbs of your heat and humour ) you will out of humility think it fit at last to call us so too . it cannot de denied , but that ( ever since the blessed reformation ) protestanism is the common cause and interest of england . and that he only is to be reputed our enemy , who shall and doth by plots and designs endeavour , either to subvert or alter our government , as it now stands by law established both in church and state. now for the blasting and defeating of all wicked conspiracies against our established government , both at present and for the future , i can assure you , that you have our heads , our hands and our hearts . nor can you be more zealous for the overthrow of the late discovered damnable and hellish popish plot , and the suppressing the growth of popery , than the true honest-minded church of england men are . pardon them only in this ; that they love a zeal regulated with prudence , and softned with moderation . you all very well know , that it hath been of late the great artifice of the jesuited party to intrude ( if possible ) their damnable plot upon that classis of protestants call'd presbyterians . who i am perswaded have learn'd from their former miscarriages , that it is both theirs and all protestants interest , not to disturb our national government , or disoblige their prince . and i could heartily wish that the papists might never have had any colourable pretence for fathering their brat of rebellion upon any sort of protestants amongst us. and this they would never have had , if the years between 1640. and 60. could be raz'd out of the book of time , and the memory of this age. but whatever things the papists may revive to serve their cause , we are willing to forget them , so it may heal our breaches , and cement us together in a brotherly assistance of each other , for the saving both of you and us , and our protestant religion . and for the effectual promoting of so considerable and publick a concern , i think all judicious and thoughtful men will allow that there is nothing so essential and necessary as our union . and though it 's not reasonable to expect , that all the sorts of protestants in england should in a moment concentre in one mind , in one judgment and opinion : yet what should hinder , but that they may have a reciprocal kindness and love one for another , and one and the same loyalty to their prince ? unless the protestant parties in england are like the princes in germany , wherein every one is so much wedded to his own interest , that he had rather see the emperor dethron'd , and the whole empire lost , than lose one little regalia of his own to save it . never were the papists so full of plots , and so big with hopes as now . and never was the wicked one so busie in sowing the seeds of discord and contention as within this moneth or two last past . for to an observing eye the print of the cloven foot hath been easily seen in all the roads , cities , towns and corporations of england within that time . and whatever sentiments some over-zealous and misguided men may have of linking and listing themselves and names , under the form of a petition ; yet certainly none but the jesuite , ( who alone hath the art of out doing the devil in malice and mischief ) could have invented a more proper and effectual way of setting protestants in england at a greater variance and distance than ever they were before . the old weather-beaten course which the jesuits used to make us protestants hateful to , and hating one of another , was to cast upon some the name and character of calvinists , upon some arminians , upon some socinians , upon some pelagians , upon some cavaliers and malignants , upon some covenanters and round-heads after the old style ; but now church-men and fanaticks , or court and countrey party , after the style of the newest fashions . but now since the jesuit perceives that we protestants begin to smell the device of these nick-names , and that we are growing so skilful as to discern that these are only bones thrown in amongst us , merely to make us snarl , and bite , and devour one another ; therefore the jesuits ( to perpetuate and continue the protestant fray and scuffle , which is the only advantage to their cause ) have now at this time ( if not invented ) yet at least set on foot a form and mode of petitioning , which must inevitably run us into fearful broyles , if not timely prevented . for pray observe , with what heat and earnestness did some press the subscription of it upon others their fellow subjects ? with what reluctancy and stubbornness did others deny and refuse it ? how passionately and bitterly did many in coffee-houses and other places debate and argue the lawfulness and unlawfulness of it ? and it 's to be wisht , that in some towns , parishes , and neighbourhoods it be not the standing cause of irreconcileable feuds and quarrels among the people . for such hath been the imprudence of some hot-headed men that carried this petition about for subscriptions , that they told the un-thinking vulgar , it was the shibboleth to discern between the protestants and papists in england . and hence many of them ( poor souls ! ) out of fear and ignorance set their hands , but more their marks to it : when as they , and those that prest it upon them , can give no just positive account , whether this petition , and the solemn league and covenant , were invented and fram'd either by a papist or a protestant . and now is not this a pretty piece of sport to our common enemy the papist , to see a leaf of paper set all england in a flame , and create most desperate animosities amongst its protestant natives ? could there be any project or device ( next to the killing of our gracious soveraign whom god long preserve ) so essential and proper for the ruine of us , and our protestant religion as this ? what need have the papists of collections from their friends ? or moneys from the holy chamber ? or of armyes from foreign popish princes ? when as our divisions , which they have set up amongst us , will with good looking after most certainly and inevitably do this work to their hands , without any such cost or trouble . serious and frequent have been our addresses to you for a brotherly correspondence and reconciliation , and your joyning with us in the defence and preservation of the protestant religion . nay we have made it our humble requests to you , that you would do us that right and justice , as to own and allow us to be protestants as well as your selves . and yet such hath been the hard fate and misfortune of our gentleness and meekness towards you , that like the grace of god to proud and wanton sinners , they have been scorn'd and rejected . for instead of any civilities to us for this our humble demeanour , you have imperiously ascended the seat of judgment , and the chair of the scorner : loading us with scoffs and reproaches , and condemning us for hereticks and papists . nay , so mightily sowr'd are you in your opinions and judgments of an english church-man , that you nauseate him , as you pretend to do a papist , and shun his converse and sight as much as a man of curdled bloud doth cheese . but whatever treatments you are pleased to give us , or whatever liveries you think fit to clothe us withal ; yet ( begging your leave ) we shall desire this freedom as to cleanse our garments from those foul aspersions thrown upon them from pulpits in conventicles , libels from the press , and those scurrilous reproaches vented by republican tools and tantivy's . and therefore let him that hath eyes and learning to read , consider the loyal protestants vindication , in these following particulars , first , we do own and love all protestants of whatever sort , title and name , that do really abominate the superstitious fooleries and heretical doctrines of the church of rome . secondly , we do approve and delight in all persons , which assert and vindicate the king's supremacy over all persons and in all causes both in church and state. thirdly , we countenance and commend all such , who mind their own business and study to be quiet , and who out of duty as well as modesty have so good and just opinion of their present soveraign's art and judgment in governing , that they will not presume to prescribe him rules and methods of managing the people which god hath committed to his care and charge . for such hath been his education , and so much experience hath he learnt in foreign courts and countreys , during his exile , that we can positively say , he is the wisest king in christendom , and the best statesman in all his whole kingdom . fourthly , we are for giving all men their just dues according to their dignities , places , and qualities , and do abominate all those harsh and rough methods , which irritate our superiors anger and displeasure . for certainly of all persons , governours chiefly are to be oblig'd and not forc't . fifthly , we do verily believe , that according to the contents of our new testament , no man ought to affront and vilifie his princes person and authority either in words or deeds . and that if he cannot conform to the government of his prince , yet he is bound in conscience , not to be openly , publickly , and actually disobedient , especially where the prince is christian and protestant too . and where the ground of subjects obedience and disobedience is purely about things indifferent , which is a thing that wholly excludes all doubts and scruples of conscience . sixthly , we do abominate , and as seasonably and prudentially as we can , rebuke and suppress all sorts of vices and immoralities without respect had to persons . and should be heartily glad to see whoredom , adultery , drunkenness , swearing and pride , to grow out of fashion in the kingdom ; as we wish , malice , spight , backbiting , censuring , slandering , railing and bitterness of spirit may decay amongst you . seventhly , we heartily love , and highly applaud all plain-hearted and publick-spirited men , who aim and endeavour at things for the kings honour and greatness , and the real good of the whole kingdom . but we do detest and abhor all self-ended and self-seeking men , especially those who engage a whole kingdom for a particular disgust ; and study revenge for a private defeat they have received , or who design to make themselves popular , great and rich under the pretence of serving the publick . eighthly , we heartily pray , and use all the interest we have , that this late damnable hellish popish plot , ( which god in mercy to us all hath brought to light ) may be daily more and more detected and brought to a final period . and we joyn with you in our souls , that the parliament may sit for the tryal of those great conspirators , who cannot be otherwise tryed but by parliament . but as for the time , when this parliament should sit about this weighty affair , we humbly leave it to his majesties prudence , who , of all men hath the sole right , and is best able to chuse the seasonableness of doing it . ninthly , we do firmly believe , that the present actings and designs of our enemies the papists are so wicked and evil , and our cause so good and just , that we dare ( with the use of lawful and justifiable means ) in an humble confidence refer the whole matter into the hands of providence , not doubting but that god will so rule the heart of our king , and direct his councils , that we and our religion will at last have as memorable a deliverance , as any of those which have been in the days of our ancestors . tenthly , we do affirm , and can justifie it : that the men of the church of england are the true , right , and only protestants . and for this we dare appeal to the known laws of the land , to the hugonots of france , and all the calvinistical and lutheran churches abroad ; for whenever they write or speak of the church of england , they mean that which is established by law in our nation . and because the memory of queen elizabeth is always so fresh and fragrant in your minds , that you keep her anniversary coronation-day above all other protestant kings of england , with the solemnities of bonefires and ringing of bells . we therefore take the opportunity to declare to you ; that it 's not you , but we are the men , who are not only the legal , but the true queen elizabeth protestants . and i would advise you , the next time you observe that day , ( which i shall observe with you ) that you would enquire into your selves , whether you are the protestants of that mould and stamp , which she loved , and her laws protected in her reign . eleventhly , though you take a pride or pleasure , or both , to represent us to the vulgar under those filthy characters of mungrel protestants , half protestants , protestants in masquerade , and church papists . yet under our patient bearing of your reproaches : we beg your pardon to make this declaration : that we do abhor and detest those black and odious titles . and had you but a spark of modesty , or a grain of reason , or the least insight into our laws , you would have long since forborn to persecute us with this slanderous accusation . what was queen elizabeth a good protestant , and now must the queen elizabeth protestants be counted no protestants , or call'd half protestants , and protestants in masquerade ? what doth the jesuit and papists hate us , and plot to destroy us , because he finds us the best and truest protestants ? and must you to revile us and seek to root us out : because we are not protestants according to your standard ? certainly had you but any wit or reason about you , you might plainly see ; that whatever you think of us , the papists take us only to be the truest protestants , and their greatest enemies . for it 's against us that all these malicious plots are levell'd . and they have only set you up as tools and instruments to compleat their design . for alas , there is hardly one amongst all your parties hath writ so judiciously and rationally against the church of rome , as to deserve either a learned papists reading or answer . and now must our bishops , doctors and divines be the only champions for the protestant religion against the romanists . and yet must their hearers and followers be branded with the ignominious names of half protestants , church papists , and protestants in masquerade ? for shame forbear these unchristian slanders ; or else all foreign protestants will say , that you want both manners and modesty , or which is worse , brains and reason . go on , if you please , with your trade of calumniating : but thus plain we will be with you , to acquaint you , that our eyes are so open , as to see you use one way , and the papists use another way , to destroy and ruine the church of england , with its protestant professors . and we declare , that from our knowledge of you both , we expect no quarter or mercy from either of you . for the church of england men have already endured two persecutions , the one of fire in the reign of queen mary , the other of the sword in our late unnatural wars , when men of your own kidney plundered , sequestred , imprisoned , hanged and beheaded many thousands , for no other crime , but that they were loyal subjects , and queen elizabeth protestants . and now we are expecting to fall under a third persecution : but whether it will come from the papists , or you , we cannot as yet so easily discern . lastly , because you so arrogantly call your selves the protestants , and the true protestants ; and so scoffingly call us the half protestants , and church papists , and protestants in masquerade : we therefore send you this challenge . go if you dare with us into westminster-hall , to the assizes and quarter-sessions before the judges and justices of the peace ; and there ( if you dare ) take with us the oaths of allegiance and supremacy . renounce with us the doctrine of transubstantiation , and the solemn league and covenant . subscribe with us the declaration of the unlawfulness of taking up arms against the king. and bring with us your certificates of receiving the sacrament according to the church of england . this , this is the test and shiboleth to distinguish protestants from papists , and not your form of petition which lately went in procession ; and should your boasted multitudes of subscribers be brought to this touchstone , we know that three parts of five would run a great danger of being convicted for recusants by law ; for many of you who proudly call your selves the true protestants , will as stifly deny the doing of these things as the rankest papist in england . in love therefore i desire you to refrain from the villifying us with the filthy characters of protestants in masquerade , and church papists , since that we have been so kind to you for many years , as not to put you upon this tryal , which we know would be as ungrateful and prejudicial to you as any papists . and if you cannot out of modesty and charity , yet out of interest learn to be more sober and moderate to your fellow natives and protestant brethren ; and do not calumniate the honest church-men of england who pray for you , and love you better than you do your selves , and would be glad to have you to joyn with them in all lawful and justifiable ways , for the overthrow of all popish plots , and the preservation of that protestant religion which is established by law. and now let all the world judge , whether we or you , are half-protestants , and protestants in masquerade ; since that we will abide by those legal tryals and touch-stones , which are the national discriminations between protestants and papists : and you , or the major-part of you , refuse these tests as well as the papists ; and as long as you stand in the refusal of them , you are but papists in a protestant disguise . finis . lex talionis, or, an enquiry into the most proper ways to prevent the persecution of the protestants in france defoe, daniel, 1661?-1731. 1698 approx. 43 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48302 wing l1863 estc r33482 13403091 ocm 13403091 99391 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. a48302) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99391) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1552:5) lex talionis, or, an enquiry into the most proper ways to prevent the persecution of the protestants in france defoe, daniel, 1661?-1731. [4], 27 p. [s.n.], london printed : m dc xcviii [1698] half-title page reads: lex talionis. attributed by wing and nuc pre-1956 imprints to defoe. reproduction of 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 huguenots -france. protestants -france. 2002-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2002-08 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion lex talionis . lex talionis : or , an enquiry into the most proper ways to prevent the persecution of the protestants in france . matth. vii . 2. with what judgment ye judge , ye shall be judged : and with what measure ye mete , it shall be measured to you again . london , printed in the year m dc xcviii . lex talionis . evrope has now for nine years past been afflicted with a bloody , a cruel and a destructive war , carried on with a vast effusion of blood and treasure ; and in all parts of it manag'd with more eagerness and fury , than any war among the europoean princes ever was in the memory of man. the french , who are masters of address , used all the skill and cunning with the roman catholick princes , especially those of italy , to have made it pass for a war of religion , thinking by that fineness , to have drawn them off from the confederacy . but innocent xi . who , 't was likely , knew as much of religion , and the interest of the church , as the statesmen of france , saw through that artifice , and readily agreed with the emperor , and the king of spain , that the growing greatness of france , and the measures laid for the subjecting europe to her government , were really more dangerous things , and of more immediate consequence to the publick liberty , than the matter of religion could be : and therefore , though the court of rome made some seeming difficulties at first ; yet the french having thrown off the mask , and fallen upon his catholick confederate the duke of savoy , the most bigotted romanist , made no scruple to entertain heretick soldiers , to recall the banish'd vaudois , to fight under the command of protestant generals , to accept of the subsidial supplies of protestant money , and the protection of protestant armies ; thereby evidently declaring to all the world , that this was a war of state , not of religion ; and that the real interest of princes , is to preserve themselves , and their subjects , against a too powerful invader , by leagues and assistances , let their religious interests be what they will. nor have the protestant princes , though their forces in this confederacy have been much superiour , been backward to push on the common interest with their utmost vigour , but have with extraordinary chearfulness assisted the roman catholick confederates , with their armies , fleets , and moneys ; witness the subsidies paid to the duke of savoy , by the english and dutch ; the army maintain'd , under the command of duke schombergh in english pay in piedmont ; the forces ship'd from england to catalonia , to aid the spaniard , which sav'd the city of barcelona a whole year ; witness also the english fleet wintering at cadiz , under admiral russel ; the squadron sent to the west-indies , to relieve cartagena : and indeed the whole series of the war has been one continual instance of the safety and protection the roman catholick countries have enjoy'd , by the sword and power of the protestant interest . so that it has been apparent , beyond the power of contradiction , that this has been a war of state , not a war of religion : nor can i imagine , generally speaking that it can ever be the interest of the powers of europe , take them together , to commence a war of religion : for though 't is true , that the pope always exalted both his power and credit , in the blind ages of bigotted devotion , by his crusadoes and holy expeditions ; yet since , the world has more years over its head , and the cheat has been discovered , int'rest has prevail'd too much upon devotion to be deceiv'd any more at that rate : and the reformed kingdoms of europe , are too potent to be us'd so any more . 't is true , the protestant religion has lost ground in france ; and that kingdom where once the protestants were strong enough to contend with their governours for their liberty , is now wholly roman , at least seems to be so . but notwithstanding that , i believe the protestant interest in europe , very well able to stand a shock with the popish , when ever the pope thinks fit to publish another bloody jubilee , and display the standard of st. peter against st. paul. and not to descend to particulars , i shall only draw up the several kingdoms , on each side , who would form this great division in case of such a war. on the roman catholick side , there would be the emperor , the pope , the king of france , the king of spain , the king of portugal , the king of poland , the princes of italy , five electoral princes of germany , and the catholick cantons of swisserland . on the protestant side , the king of england , king of denmark , king of sweden , the czar of moscovy , states of holland , three electoral princes of germany , but those by far the strongest ; the protestant cantons of swisserland , the grisons , hungarians , transilvanians , and moldavians . in the first place , i think it wou'd easily be granted , that the english , dutch , dane , and swede , united ; wou'd be able to maintain so absolute a dominion of the seas , as would entirely ruine the negotia-tion of the catholick party , beggar their merchants , starve their islands , and destroy all their trade ; they should never be able to build a ship , without leave ; their ports should be bombarded and destroy'd , their open country be ruin'd by descents , and all their coasts continually harrass'd and alarm'd by fleets , and volant parties . what the armies at land could do , i referr to the history of the present war , and of gustavus adolphus king of sweden ; who , barely on a war of religion , and with only his own single force , and the protestant princes of germany , who were then much weaker than they are now , in two years and a half pass'd the rhine and the danube , and shook the imperial crown on the head of ferdinand the second . it would take up too much room in this short treatise , to consider the proportion of the force of these nations in general ; 't is true that the weight of the force of the catholick party , lies in the power of the french ; who must , in such a case , be the bulwark and support of their cause . as to the spaniard , he wou'd as he has in all cases , have work enough to secure his own ; the empire separated from the protestant party , with the swede , dane , brandenburghers , saxons , and all the princes of the augustane confession on its front , with the protestants of upper hungary and transylvania in the rear , with the switz and grisons in flank , wou'd be very hard bestead , having no power but the bavarian , and the small electorates of ments , triers and cologne , which are of no consideration to uphold it . some support might be drawn from italy indeed ; but the french must give a powerful assistance , or the emperor would be devoured in two campagns ; the english , dutch , and eastern germans , as the lunenburghers , of hanouer and brunswick , would be the opposites to the french on this side , and there the contention would be strongest . i believe no wise man wishes for so universal a distraction as such a war would make in europe , but 't is needful to suppose such a thing , in order to examine whether we ought to apprehend any danger from it , in case such an attempt shou'd ever be made in europe ; for 't is apparent , some princes of the roman catholick party , have will enough to such an enterprize , and the pope would be forward enough to set it on foot , if he were but sure of the success . the glorious peace of reswick , in which all the world must acknowledge the french have been very much reduc'd , has but one clause that any way eclipses the honour of its conclusion on the protestant side , and that is , that it left the poor protestant subjects of the king of france , without any shelter from the violences of their persecutors ; as if the protestant princes had so much excluded the int'rests of religion from the articles , that they had not one compassionate thought for their distressed persecuted brethren . 't is true , the war was wholly a war of state , as is before noted , and the invasion of property was the occasion of it ; and therefore the surrender of luxemburgh to the spaniard , who is a roman catholick , nay , a few villages in the chattelany of aeth , made more bustle in the treaty , than the restoration of three hundred thousand banish'd christians to their country and estates . some have presum'd to say , that had the restoration of the edict of nants been insisted on with the same vigour as the dutchy of lorrain , it wou'd as easily have been obtain'd ; and these people , among whom some of the french refugees are of that mind , think the protestant int'rest was not so much considered in that treaty as it ought to have been . i cou'd easily answer such objectors , by telling them , that the ground of this war being only matter of right , to reduce the power of france to a balance , and to oblige her to restore what she had by force and injustice taken from her neighbours ; this being obtain'd , the end was answer'd , and the confederate princes had no further pretence for a war : as to the protestant refugees , they were the subjects of the king of france , and strictly speaking with respect of princes , no body had any thing to do with it , let him use them how he would . besides , to have made it an article of the peace , it could not be expected that the catholick branches of the confederacy would have insisted on it , or , indeed , have desired it , and the treaty being manag'd in one body , by the resolutions and measures of several princes and states in congress , the catholick princes would have immediately protested against it , and the union must have been dissolved . so that there was no room to espouse the interests of the protestant subjects of france in the general treaty , any other way than by intercession with their king to use them mercifully : and this has been done by all parties , though hitherto without success . it remains now to examine what methods are further to be used , in order to oblige the king of france to use his protestant subjects with more humanity , and if possible , either to preserve them that peace and enjoyment of their properties and estates , which is their natural right ; or to procure them some other equivalent which may give them some kind of satisfaction and repose . to commence a war against the king of france , for the prosecution of his protestant subjects , seems to be very unjust ; because speaking of right and wrong , we are not interested in the quarrel . i make no question but the protestants of france themselves have , by the laws of nature and reason , a right to defend their own possessions and inheritances , and to maintain themselves in them by force , if they had a power ; and by the same rule might by strength of hand recover and take possession of their own estates if they were able : but it does not seem so clear that a neighbour nation or state can justifie the making war on the king of france , to oblige him to do justice to his protestant subjects . nor will i attempt to determine how far it would be lawful to assist such a people in such a forcible return , or in maintaining themselves in the possession and enjoyment of their own rights , be they never so just. only thus far 't is plain , that by the particular article of the peace of riswick , respecting the kings of england and france ; england is fore-closed from such an attempt both sides having expresly stipulated not to assist the subjects of either against their sovereign . the fourth article of the said treaty , providing as follows , ( viz. ) and since the most christian king was never more desirous of any thing , than that the peace be firm and inviolable , the said king promises and agrees for himself and his successors , that he will on no account whatsoever disturb the said king of great britain in the free possession of the kingdoms , countries , lands or dominions which he now enjoys , and therefore engages his honour , upon the faith , and word of a king , that he will not give or afford any assistance , directly or indirectly , to any enemy or enemies of the said king of great britain ; and that he will in no manner whatsoever favour the conspiracies or plots which any rebels , or ill-disposed persons , may in any place excite or contrive against the said king ; and for that end promises and engages , that he will not assist with arms , ammunition , provisions , ships or money , or in any other way , by sea or land , any person or persons , who shall hereafter , under any pretence whatsoever , disturb or molest the said king of great britain in the free and full possession of his kingdoms , countries , lands and dominions . the king of great britain likewise promises and engages for himself and successors , kings of great britain , that he will inviolably do and perform the same towards the said most christian king , his kingdoms , countries , lands and dominions . there seems to be but one way left , either to make any amends to these poor desolate people , or to bring to pass their re-admission ; i do not say , that the princes of europe will find it their int'rest to put it in practice any more than i believe it is really the int'rest of the king of france , to ruine so many thousand families of his peaceable subjects ; i mean , the old standard law of retaliation . but if it might be a means to re-establish those poor people in peace and liberty , the sacrificing ten thousand families of other persons , as innocent as them , seems to be a justice their present case calls for . lex talionis seems to me to be the foundation-law of right and wrong ; the scripture is full of instances of this nature : adoni-bezek , agag , and a multitude of other relations therein , declare it to be agreeable to the divine method of executive justice ; the reason of rewards and punishments , seems to be wholly measured by it : and if exactly administred , it carries so convictive a force , that no person who ever fell under the severest part of it , could object against the execution of it . adoni-bezek , above-mention'd , made a confession of the justice of his punishment , when his thumbs and great toes were cut off , as a retaliation of his barbarities . and samuel's return upon agag , that as his sword had made women childless , so should his mother be childless among women ; declares both the reason and the justice of god's decree against him , 1 sam. xv. 33. 't is true , this retaliation is strictly personal ; and all retaliation ought to be so , if possible : but in some cases it differs ; and where a personal retaliation is not practicable , then people are considered in collective bodies , nations , families , and states . thus , in a war , the subjects of either party account it very justifiable , to make themselves satisfaction for injuries received , on any of the subjects of the contrary party , though the wrong particularly suffered , is not chargeable on those particular persons who suffer for it . by the same rule , it seems justifiable , if we cast the whole body of europe into two sorts , popish and protestant , that while the one part commit hostilities and depredations on the other , the injur'd party should have a right of retaliation on any member of the same body , of what nation or government soever they shall be , where the power is properly put into their hands : for power , in such a case , may pass for a sufficient right of directing the said punishment , since nothing but want of power interrupts its being personal . the french king has given a challenge to all the protestant princes of europe , in his present usage of the reformed churches of france : he has carry'd on , though not with much success , a war for above eight years , against the whole united power of europe ; at last he has made a peace , not at all to his advantage , nor much for his honour : and now the war of state is at an end , he seems to be beginning a war of religion ; and that he may lay the foundation of it safely , he has began it upon his own subjects . i cannot imagine why all the protestant princes of europe should not think themselves concern'd in this invasion of their religion , since nothing is more certain than that they are all strook at , though more remotely : and by all the rules of humane policy , prevention ought to extend as far as the evil is design'd . if the weakening the protestant interest in general , were only the design ; the strengthening that interest ought to be the care of the other : besides , the papists are the aggressors , as they always have been , and the injustice of their cause so great , that they have hardly ever attempted to make any other pretences for all their barbarities , than the absolute will and pleasure of their omnipotent monarch , who will have but one religion within his dominions . i confess , to me it seems very proper , for the ease of all parties , that religion should really divide the whole body of europe , and that all the roman catholicks , and all the protestants , if they could but agree it among themselves , should live by themselves ; that if the french king will have no protestants in his dominion , the protestants should suffer no roman catholicks in theirs ; and when all parties are withdrawn to their own sort , and the division compleated , let the roman catholicks begin a war of religion as soon as they please . it is , in my opinion , the unjustest thing in the world , that since the spaniards and italians suffer no protestants to live amongst them , but the bloody inquisition destroys them ; and the french have dragoon'd three hundred thousand of their protestant subjects to mass , and hurry'd three hundred thousand more out of their country , to seek comfort from the charity of neighbour states . the duke of savoy has exiled all his protestant vaudois : and hardly any popish country admit the protestants among them , some few parts of germany excepted ; yet the protestant governments , at the same time , suffer three millions of papists to live among them , and enjoy their liberties and estates unmolested . nor is this all , the protestants of france , savoy , and hungary , have been persecuted , under the assurances of the most solemn treaties , the most sacred edicts , and the firmest peace that could be made ; they have never , their enemies themselves being judges , been guilty of the breach of their faith or loyalty . henry iii. of france , acknowledged it , when he had recourse to them for protection against his own mutinous catholick subjects . the duke of savoy acknowledged it , in his speech to those vaudois whom he had releas'd out of the citadel of turin . we never read of any war begun by the protestants , they were always defendants ; we have not one instance of a massacre committed , or of a king assassinated , or of nobles undermined , in order to to be blown up by them ; they have always been men of peace , till self-defence has oblig'd them to be men of war. on the contrary , the roman-catholicks have been always uneasie to the governments they have lived under . our histories are full of their treasons . ireland has twice been deluged in blood by their rebellions and cruelties . two kings of france have been murthered by their assassinations ; and innumerable protestants massacred and butcher'd in cold blood , under the pretences of friendship , and assurance of a treaty . the reigns of all our kings and queens in england , since henry viii . have been strangely disturb'd by the plots , the treasons and rebellions of the papists ; they have often forfeited their estates and liberties to the publick justice of the nation , had they been dealt with by the rules of strict retaliation . england , scotland and ireland have such reasons for entire removing them out of their dominions , as no nation in the world can have greater ; and yet here they live in peace , under the protection of those very princes they refuse to swear allegiance to , and under the shelter of those laws they refuse to be bound by . 't is no plea in bar of any right , that the plaintiff is a papist ; our courts of justice are as open to them , as to any of the kings most faithful subjects : of which more hereafter . on the contrary , the protestants of france , tho' charg'd with no disloyalty , nor guilty of no crimes , are dispossess'd of their estates , banish'd their native country , dragoon'd , shipt to the gallies , and many of them hang'd , their children torn from them by violence , and buried alive in monasteries and nunneries , and all the cruelties an unbridled soldiery can inflict , acted upon them , without any manner of crime alledg'd but their religion , and this when that very religion was secur'd to them by the solemnest leagues and treaties in the world , declared in the famous edict of nantes , entred , receiv'd and registred in all the parliaments of the kingdom . the king of france , in persecuting his protestant subjects , acts not only the part of a tyrant over them , as they are his subjects , but is guilty of the breach of the faith and honour of a king , oppressing those people who had their religion tolerated and allow'd to them by his ancestors , in the most sacred manner possible ; and he is guilty also of the greatest unkindness to those very people who were the instruments and agents of the glory of his family , and of his person . to make good which reflection , that i may not seem to be guilty of disrespect to the majesty of the king of france , 't is needful to examine a little the ground on which the protestant interest in france stood for the last century of years , and the history of the present royal family of france , and how they came to the crown . in the year 1571. on the 24th . day of august , charles ix . being king of france , the third war with the hugonots having been lately ended , and a peace made with the protestants , the cities of rochell , montauban , coignac , and la charitie , being put into their hands for security , and the chief of the protestants wholly resting on the faith and honour of the king , in full satisfaction of his sincere intentions , being come to court , was acted the massacre of paris ; at which , in the space of five days , above thirty thousand protestants were barbarously surprized and butcher'd in cold blood. upon which follow'd the fourth and fifth civil war ; during which , king charles ix . died ; and the crown fell to henry iii. the last of the house of valois , and then newly elected king of poland . the beginning of his reign being entangled with civil broils , the protestant interest grew very strong ; and though the league forced the king to make three several wars with them , yet they still maintain'd their liberty and religion . at length the faction of the guises , known by the name of the catholick league , declar'd themselves so absolutely against the king , and grew so powerful , especially after the death of the duke and cardinal of guise , whom the king had caused to be kill'd , that they had almost driven him out of the kingdom . in this exigence , the protestants , against whom he had carry'd on four persecutions and wars , and therein destroyed many thousands of their brethren , undertook his defence , and joining all their forces , in order to restore him , marched with him to the very gates of paris ; where , while he was preparing for a general attack of the city , he was barbarously assassinated by jacques clement , a jacobin monk , sent out of the city on purpose , being stabb'd in the belly with a poynard , of which he died the day after . henry iv. the present king's grand-father , was then king of navarre , and a protestant ; and being lawful heir to the crown , as also recommended to the nobility by the deceased king , at his death , took upon him the stile and title of king of france . the league , back'd by the power of the king of spain , oppos'd him with all the vigour imaginable ; and many of the catholick nobility deserted him , on the account of his being an heretick . the protestants serv'd him with all the glory and loyalty that ever was shown , perhaps , in any war in the world ; and , as is computed , during the years war he maintain'd against the league , and the spanish power , above an hundred and sixty thousand protestant soldiers lost their lives in his service . at length , to put an end to the war , and assure himself of the kingdom , he deserted his religion , and turn'd roman-catholick ; by which means he obtain'd a full possession of the crown , ruin'd the league , the chief heads of it making their peace with him , one by one ; and at last concluded the war with the spaniard , at the peace of vervin . the protestants , however , never withdrew their loyalty nor their services from him : the famous mareschal de biron , the dukes de bouillon , du plessis , and de la tremouille , continuing to do him the most faithful and important services against the spaniards to the last . having setled himself in the kingdom , and made peace with all the world , the protestants , who had serv'd him so faithfully , and who expected no other reward than the security of their religion and estates , obtain'd from him the famous edict of nantes ; in which is particularly stated and stipulated , the terms of their liberty , in what places they should erect their temples , how they should hold their synods and assemblies : money was allotted out of the publick revenues , to maintain their ministers ; cities were allotted to them , for their security , the garrisons whereof were to be paid by the king : and the edict was made perpetual and irrevocable , by being entred and registred in the parliaments , and courts of justice all over the kingdom . but all the services of the protestants to this great king , by which he was brought to the crown of france , nor the solemn engagement of this edict , could not preserve them , but that in the ministry of cardinal richlieu , under the very next reign , they were again attack'd , and driven to the necessity of taking arms in their own defence : which cardinal , after three times making peace , and breaking it again at his pleasure , compleated the conquest of them , in the taking of rochelle ; the protestants being miserably deserted by the english , and thirteen thousand people starv'd to death in the town . since this , in the infancy of the present king , while the contests between the prince of conde and the queen-mother were so hot as to break out into a war , the protestants , as subjects only , were not a little instrumental to the maintaining him in that very power , which now he makes use of to their destruction . i think this history fully makes good the assertion that the present usage of the protestants is both perfidious and ungrateful . perfidious , as being acted while under the protection of a sacred league and solemn treaty , and ungrateful as it is exercised on those very people , who with their lives and estates , raised the present fortune of the house of bourbon , to the greatness it now enjoys . i have been the more particular in this account , because from hence it will appear that the protestants of france stand on a different foot from other subjects of that monarchy , and that his right of dealing with them , differs from his power over the rest of his subjects , for they are his subjects by express stipulations and agreements , whose obedience to him has been always allow'd to be conditional ; they have made peace and war with their kings , not as rebels , but as persons having a lawful right to plead and to defend , their kings have given them cautionary towns for the performance of the treaties made with them ; a thing which in its own nature implies that they might hold those towns against him , if he did not perform the postulata of those treaties , without the scandal of rebellion . so that their right to the liberty of their religion , had an authority sufficient to justifie them in taking arms ; nor does any of the french histories , that ever i saw , though wrote with the greatest partiality , ever call it a rebellion , but a war with the hugonots , and the conclusions were always call'd , a peace with the hugonots , as is evident through d' avila's whole history of the civil wars of france . the history of the protestants of the upper hungary and of bohemia , might in many respects bear a parallel with this , the persecutions and ill usage of them , having been after the solemnest agreement and treaties with them that could be made ; insomuch as that poor unhappy people being so absolutely separated from any relief of their brethren of germany , have been forced to fly for protection to the enemies of christianity , the turk , with whom however they have this satisfaction , that whatever bargain they make for their religion , they are sure they will keep it . and i remember very well a banished hungarian minister told me , discoursing of this very case , he was sorry to say it , that the turks , though they made them pay dear for it , were juster and truer to their leagues and treaties than the imperialists , who call'd themselves christians . it may possibly be objected here , that while we exclaim against the french and germans for their violence to their subjects , if we should do the same thing to the papists , it would be practising what we condemn , and doing evil that good may come . the answer to this is included in what goes before , ( viz. ) taking the whole roman catholick and protestant party in europe asunder , and considering them as two collective bodies divided in interest and religion , it seems to me to be just that a retaliation of the injuries done upon the members of one party in one place , may be made upon the members of the same party in another place , by the same rule that depredations of subjects of one prince in war , may be paid by reprizal upon any of the subjects of the same prince . but this may be more fully answer'd thus , that if the popish subjects of some protestant governments have so behaved themselves to their governors , as to make their extirpation just , that justice however suspended in mercy to them hitherto , will absolutely justifie removing them from those governments , and by that means lex talionis be executed by the hands of publick justice , and one banishment be at the same time both a punishment of their several crimes , and a retaliation of the oppressions of their party . this is a method god almighty often takes himself , while he suffers a punishment for a publick crime of less guilt to be the executor of his vengeance for some crime of a higher nature not known . to go no farther than ireland for an instance of this , the present inhabitants , i mean the popish irish by a bloody massacre of 200. thousand protestants in 1641. by little less intended , and as much as they were able executed , this late war , have deserved no doubt to have been used at the discretion of the english ; and oliver cromwell was more than once consulting to transplant the whole nation from that island . if he had done it , or if it had now been done , i am of the opinion , no nation in the world wou'd have tax'd us with injustice , and i do verily think oliver acted with more generosity than discretion in omitting it ; for this is certain , that if he had done it , this last war and the expence of so much treasure as it cost this nation , and the ruine of so many thousand protestant families , who were driven from thence by king james , all the destruction at london-derry , the sickness at dundalk , and the blood of 150000 people , who at least one way or other , on both sides , perish'd in it , had been prevented . it may be enquired whether oliver design'd to transplant them , i could answer directly to that also ; but 't is sufficient to my purpose to say , had he clear'd the island of them , it had been no matter at all to us whither they had gone , and the king of france has set a rule for such as banish their subjects to let them go where they please , and then they certainly separate ; whereas had he sent the protestants to any particular place , they wou'd have been so many and so united , they might possibly have come back again with swords in their hands , and ha' bidden fair for another hugonot war. i have also seen among the letters of state written by mr. milton , who was his secretary for the foreign dispatches , a letter written to the states of holland , wherein by way of argument to prevail , for some ease to the protestants of piedmont , he proposes a confederacy with the dutch , and all their reform'd friends , to reduce the duke of savoy to a necessity of giving better conditions to the vaudois ; and seems to threaten to expel all the roman catholicks in england , scotland and ireland , out of his dominions . i remember upon discoursing of this passage in some company , one asked , what if he had ? and another by way of repartee , made answer , then there wou'd have been none left . i repeat it not for any great wit in the answer ; but to introduce the question , what if he had ? 1. if he had , possibly we had not been troubled with any popish plot in 1678. nor none of the bloody consequences of it ; we had had no sham-plot upon that , no russel , sidney , nor armstrong murthered ; no blood lost in an invasion by the duke of monmouth , nor cruel executions in the west ; we had had no popish successor , no standing army , no bishops sent to the tower , no invasion of charters nor privilege of universities ; no ecclesiastical commission , &c. 2. we had had no nuncio from rome , to take his progress over the kingdom , no fire-works for a sham-prince of wales , nor no mass sung in windsor chapel , no seminaries of priests , nor nunneries of whores , at chelsea , lincolns-inn fields , or hammersmith . 3. in short , we had had no war of nine years to restore a popish king , the nation had not spent 60 millions sterling , nor lost 200000 of the stoutest of her inhabitants to maintain her liberty ; king william had been king in right of his wife , and a peaceable admission had been given him . in all probability this had been the consequence , if oliver cromwell had sent them all out of the kingdom . i beshrew his heart he did not . i do not pretend to lead my reader to any political reasons why this shou'd be done now ; our governours are best judges of the publick interest . but thus far , i think , may be assumed without danger of reflection . if the nation shou'd think fit in compassion to the miseries of our poor distressed brethren of france to retaliate their usage upon the roman catholicks of england and ireland , the following consequences would in all probability ensue , which whether it wou'd be just in the whole , or beneficial to england and ireland in particular , i leave to the judgment of impartial readers to consider , 1. it might be a means , by the intercession of parties , to procure some reasonable conditions for the poor protestants of france , as the stopping the mareschal boufflers at the surrender of namur procur'd justice to the imprisoned garrisons of deinse , and dixmuide . this is a practice too well known in the war to need any contention , where the putting a prisoner of war to death , or any other breach of articles has been requited by putting some other prisoner of war to death on the contrary side ; and though the latter be an innocent person , lex talionis is the word , the justice of it is not disputed . 2. it wou'd put these kingdoms in a condition to entertain and relieve that great multitude of distressed christians , with the very substance of their adversaries , and the king of france might , if he pleas'd , make the roman catholicks amends , by giving them the estates of the hugonots , or what other way he thought fit . this is most certain , that the roman catholicks of england , wou'd not have half the reason to complain of hard usage that the protestants of france have , they have no leagues or capitulations to show for their permission the laws of the kingdom are expresly against them , and they have in all the reigns for 150 years past , been the disturbers of the peace of it ; they resuse now to swear allegiance to the government , and if they do not disturb it , it is owing to their want of power , not their want of will. but if they had all those defences to make , which have been hinted , on behalf of the protestants of france , they wou'd have no body to thank for such usage , but their own friends . and the pope , if he ow'd them so much care , might use his interest with the king of france , to let the protestants enjoy their liberty , in order to save them from the same fate . some , indeed , object against the receiving such vast numbers of foreigners among us , as prejudicial to the interest of trade , and to our own manufacturers and inhabitants , by eating the bread out of our mouths , and starving our own poor . this is an argument would require a little volume to answer ; but in general , i presume to affirm , that no number of foreigners can be prejudicial to england , let it be never so great . number of inhabitants , is the wealth and strength of a kingdom ; and if we had a million of people in england , more than we have , let them be of what nation they would , it would be far from being a damage to us . 't is true , if these million of people were all artisans , manufacturers , it would be some detriment to our poor who are employ'd in those particular manufactures : but allow one third to be artisans , one third labourers , husbandmen or sailors , and one third merchants , shop-keepers or gentlemen ; and if the greatest number that can be supposed came to settle in england , it could be no injury , but a vast advantage to the kingdom in general : and it will appear by this one particular , well examin'd . an addition of a million of people , suppose that were the number , would devour a proportion'd quantity of corn and flesh for food and drink , and a proportioned quantity of manufactures for cloth and housholdstuff ; the one employs more land , and the other more people . now 't is apparent , we have in england more land lies unimprov'd , common , and waste , than would feed a vast many people more than we have ; and we have a staple of wooll , never to be exhausted . in manufactures , the more lands we improve , the greater the rents will be , and the greater the general stock of the nation will be ; and the more manufactures are made , the better the poor are employ'd , and the richer the manufacturer is made . many other arguments might be used , to prove , that the coming over of foreigners can be no general prejudice to the nation , as to trade . but that is not the main thing here . if the roman-catholick princes pursue their protestant subjects with such cruelty , and drive them into banishment and exile , to seek relief in foreign countries , the case seems to speak for it self , the protestants can have no readier way , either to prevent the miseries of those poor persecuted people , or to relieve them in their exile , than by dealing with the papists in their dominions in the same manner , and inviting the said persecuted french to come and live in the estates and in the places of their adversaries . this is lex talionis : and this is a way that would soon tire the papists out . for i think i may be allowed to suppose there are much the greater number of papists among the protestants , than there are of protestants among the papists ; and the exile of the parties would also differ , as to places . for , generally speaking , the protestant countries are the best for strangers to live in , the protestant people are the trading people of the world : therefore the exile of the protestants of france and hungary would be less to their disadvantage , than the papists of england , ireland and holland , who must apply themselves to countries where there are few manufactures , small trade , and but very indifferent means for a stranger to live . so that the popish exiles would be in much the worse circumstances : and there is no question , but whenever the protestant princes of europe shall find it needful to use this remedy , the roman-catholick powers will find it for their interest to make some cartel , or condition , upon which all their subjects , though they are protestants , may enjoy some sort of liberty in their own native countries ; and so persecution , as well as war , might end in an universal happy peace to europe , both in matters of religion , as well as civil affairs , which has so often been attempted by other methods , to so little purpose . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48302-e120 judg. i. 7. nevves from poland wherein is declared the cruell practice of the popish clergie against the protestants, and in particular against the ministers of the city of vilna, in the great dukedome of lithuania, under the governement of the most illustrious prince, duke radziwell / faithfully set downe by eleazar gilbert ... gilbert, eleazar. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a42725 of text r9201 in the english short title catalog (wing g705). 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. 68 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a42725 wing g705 estc r9201 13110481 ocm 13110481 97625 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. a42725) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97625) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 418:13) nevves from poland wherein is declared the cruell practice of the popish clergie against the protestants, and in particular against the ministers of the city of vilna, in the great dukedome of lithuania, under the governement of the most illustrious prince, duke radziwell / faithfully set downe by eleazar gilbert ... gilbert, eleazar. [5], 32 p. by e.p. for nathanael butter, and are to be sold at his shop ..., london : 1641. reproduction of original in british library. eng catholic church -poland. protestants -poland. vilna (poland) -church history -17th century. a42725 r9201 (wing g705). civilwar no nevves from poland. wherein is declared the cruell practice of the popish clergie against the protestants, and in particular against the min gilbert, eleazar 1641 11776 25 5 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. 2007-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-02 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 nevves from poland . wherein is declared the cruell practice of the popish clergie against the protestants , and in particular against the ministers of the city of vilna , in the great dukedome of lithuania , under the governement of the most illustrious prince , duke radzivill . faithfully set downe by eleazar gilbert , minister to the foresaid prince , and preacher to the scots congregation in keydon . read it over , and you shall find it a most unparalelld story for barbarous treacherie . noli altvm sapere printer's or publisher's device london : printed by e. p. for nathanael butter and are to be sold at his shop at st. austins gate , 1641. to the right honovrable , robert , lord bruce , baron of byfleet , and onely sonne to the right honourable thomas , earle of elgin . eleasar gilbert wisheth all possible happinesse . right honourable , i have placed you here in the frontispiece of my dedicatory , first because you have a chiefe place in my affections as one whom god hath graced with a more than ordinary portion of his image , for ( to speak without flattery ) what grace ? what vertue ? what endowment , either of body , mind , or fortune ? finally , what perfection or excellency can make men truly honourable on earth , and eternally happy in heaven , which doth not shine in your lordship , in the fullest lustre , so farre as your condition and yeares can be capable of ? insomuch that if it please the lord , to addc yeares unto your life , as hee hath gifts unto your person , a starre more radiant then your selfe , i conceive , in our age will scarcely appeare in our brittish firmament : moreover , your lordship may justly challenge the first fruit of my publike labors , because i had the first encouragement tomy ministerial studies in your honourable familie , under your right honourable , most pious , & never without much reverence to bee mentioned , grandmother , magdalen , ladie bruce , where i have beene an eye-witnesse of your vertuous education ab imis , as i may say , incunabulis , from your very infancy , and where i have often observed , the most vigilant and religious care of your right honourable parents , in your vertuous education , which to this day doth most spectably appeare , as a pattern of imitation to all the nobles in the land . goe on therefore most noble and hopefull lord , good luck have you with your honour , continue that course , in these paths of vertue , w●ich you have begun to tread , especially seeing you have already made so good a progresse , for dimidium facti , qui bene coepit , habet . and you shall find , that although the way bee thorny , yet the end shall be honourable , that paines which you now take , and have taken to please and serve god , and your right honourable parents , shall produce unto you at length , not onely the favour of god , the love of your soveraign , ●ōmendation of your equals , & praise of all good men , but also contentment to your mind , peace unto your conscience , protection to your person , a blessing unto your estate , and a sweet relish to all the honours , wealth , and pleasures which you shall afterwards enjoy . which that you may doe , i shall never be wanting in my best devotion , to implore the gracious assistance of that father of lights , the watchman of israel , to double his spirit upon you , and wheresoever you goe , for good to be present with you , to guard you by his providence , guide you by his counsell , and when he hath here satiated your lordship with honours and pleasures temporall , bring you at length unto ioyes and happinesse eternall . so prayeth he , who desireth to bee reputed as he is one of your lordships most ancient and affect onately devoted servants , eleazar gilbert . from my study in st. mary-axe , this 8. decemb. 1641. a true description of the present estate of the reformed protestant churches within the kingdome of poland , &c. the industrious policy , or rather politick industry of the roman clergie , for advancing their cause , and promoting the papisticall hierarchy , is as much ( if not more commendable ) then was that of the injust steward , luke 16. 8. did it not crosse the word , or law of god , ( which is the rule of righteousnesse ) and breake the bond of charity , which is the complement and perfection of that law . for what pains doe they not take ? how doe they stretch their wits ? what countries peopled , or worthy to be knowne or inhabited , have they not peragrated ? to accomplish their designes , and zealous ( if i may so call them ) devotions . so that if their cause were good , and their laborious indeavours to manage that cause guided by a good spirit , or squared to the rule of justice , they should certainly be no lesse then that which they call themselves and pretend to be , ( namely ) the onely true catholike church of christ , that royall priesthood , and chosen generation mentioned by the apostle peter . but true wisedome ( which is from above ) is onely justified by her children , who doe judge and estimate things , ( especially in matters of religion and divine worship ) not as men value them , but as god esteemeth them , for god seeth not as men see ; man oftentimes ( by reason of the corruption of his heart , weakenesse of judgement , perversion of will , and imperfection of knowledge , and understanding ) may both deceive & be deceived ; but so cannot god , who being all eye , estimateth and knoweth all things perfectly , and essentially , ( as they are ) as having within himselfe the expresse and true paterne and ideas of all things that ever have beene , are , or shall be . that therefore men , ( i meane onely christian men who are within the pale . of gods church ) may be the better setled and persuaded in the truth of that religion which they doe professe . it will be most necessary and profitable for them , to take speciall notice of some markes and symptomes , whereby the true and orthodoxe religion or church of christ may be distinguished and discerned from all false , antichristian , phanaticall , inventions , traditions , enthusiasmes , and in a word , from all hereticall , pragmaticall , schismaticall or diabolicall opinions , imaginations , doctrines and professions in the world : which for brevities sake , and that i may sooner come to my intended scope , i will onely at this time name , leaving the more large explication of them unto some other treatise . 1 the first is the purity , or rather ( as i may say ) the spirituality of a religion , as it is cleansed from the drosse of externall ceremonies and exorbitant superstitions , for almighty god loveth best that religion or manner of his worship , which is most like himselfe , and agreeable to his word , who being a spirit , will be worshipped in spirit and truth , the more therefore that a religion hath of outward and gaudy pompes and ceremonies ( to dazle and delude the fancies , eyes , and affections of the ingorant and simple ) it is the farther from the nature of god , the more contrary to his will , it hath more drosse , and is the more to be suspected of falshood , and to be antichristian and idolatrous . 2 secondly , the more that the grounds , doctrine , discipline & tenets of a religion , are adverse or to do crosse the corruption of nature , the impurity of mans life and manners , the fulfilling and executing of a mans own excessive lusts and desires , i say , that that religion is the more like to be orthodoxe and sound , my reason is , because god ( being of pure eyes , with whom dwelleth no iniquitie ) is a god of order , both inwardly in respect of himselfe , and outwardly , in respect of his creatures ; inwardly , in respect of himselfe , there is a prioritie of order of the father before the sonne , of the sonne before the holy-ghost ; outwardly , and in respect of the creatures , god made all things in order and measure , yea in such order and measure , that each creature keepeth its owne course and station , ( i speake not in regard of corrupted , but created nature ) for the mutuall comfort and conservation one of another : the more then that we crosse order and measure , the more i say that wee are excessive and exorbitant in our affections and actions ( especially in matters & exercises of religion and divine worship ) the greater cause have we to suspect our selves , and that religion which we professe , or which teacheth or warranteth us so to doe ; for what is sinne , but an obliquity in our affections and actions , and what is holinesse , or true religion ? but a conformity and rectitude of both these being sutable to gods revealed will , which is the rule of righteousnesse , that religion therefore , whose doctrine teacheth us most conformitie and rectitude in our affections and actions to gods word , must of necessity be a true and sound religion : this is the second . 3 a third marke of true religion is , when the doctrins , & practice thereof doe tend more to the advancement of the honour and glory of christ then our owne worldly or private profit and advantage , and when they doe affect us with a sense & feeling of our owne wants and unworthinesse , so that we are ready to say ( not with the pharisee , i am not like this man , i have done thus and thus ) nor with the papist , i have performed this worke of condignity , that of congruity , a third of supererogation , by the working or doing whereof , i have deserved eternall life , both for my selfe and others ) but rather confesse with the apostle , non sunt condignae , these our momentary sufferings are not worthy of that glory that shall be revealed , and with that good martyr , onely christ , onely christ , or with that worthy father , meritum meum miserationes domini , onely the lords mercies are my chiefest merits . 4 fourthly , that is surely a sound and warrantable religion , wherein most comfort is afforded and ministred to a distressed and perplexed conscience , through the assured confidence of gods love in our owne election , especially at the approach of death . for ( whereas some false and pretended religions , for sinistrous and bad ends , teach , that it is great and damnable presumption , to beleeve or be certainely perswaded , that god hath elected us to salvation , or that wee can have in this life any certaine feeling of gods love in the pardon of our sinnes ; true and pure religion exhorteth us with saint peter , to give diligence to make our owne calling and election sure , & no wayes to doubt , but to beleeve , ( for he th●t doubteth beleeveth not , and maketh god a lyar ) to beleeve i say , and be perswaded with saint paul , that nothing can separate us from his love , but that christ shall bee both in life and death our advantage . 5 i could also mention a fifth marke of true religion , which is this , namely when the principles and doctrines thereof doe not onely teach , but move the professors thereof ( although , in respect of persons innumerable , yet in respect of opinion and affection , to be as one man , when of many hundreds or thousands of men and women that assemble themselves , and enter into the place of gods worship , the habitation of gods house , it can be said as it was of these in the primitive church {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they all entred into the church , as one man ; but because i am to speake more largely of this point about the end of this treatise , and i am loath that my citty should , as they say , runne out at the gates , or my preface prove larger then my history ; let these few passages serve to assure the reader , that such ( as is premised ) is our religion , ours , i say , de●ended and taught in this angelike monarchy , the doctrines that wee doe maintaine , the truths that we doe beleeve , and the circumstances , which i would at this time commend to the serious observation of all my brethren and countrie-men , especially to these that are addicted to the roman sea , within the kingdome of great britaine or elsewhere , to the effect they may ( not onely apprehend and perceive ) the true and solid grounds , which our religion and church is built upon , which is not the person , or succession of one particul●r peter ; but the doctrine and faith of many thousand pauls , or parvuli christi , even of all true christians , who by humility and faith , depend upon the merits of the sonne of god , and the gracious promises revealed in his word , or inspired scriptures which were given unto men , not by men , not by any humane tradition or invention , but by divine inspiration being profitable of themselves , through the working of the holy-ghost , to instruct , reprove , correct , and make the man of god perfect , wise unto salvation , and furnished unto every good worke ; but also behold and know the sandy foundation of the romish church , and all other pretended , srothy , hereticall , fantasticall , phanaticall , schismaticall fr●ctious and factious , idolatrous and superstitious religions in the world , which is no other but quircks and tricks of fleshly , worldly and naturall wisedome , not able soundly and savingly , to perceive the things that are of the spirit of god , yet permitted by god to remaine in his church , for the correcting , disciplining , and exercising of his militant members , who without such things would freeze to death , and settle themselves upon the lees of naturall corruption , and like an oxe to the slaughter , runne on with others , and precipitate themselves in that broad way that leadeth to destruction . and likewise in the third place , with griefe of heart bemoane the intollerable pride , insatiable avarice , unlimited ambition , unquenchable malice , hatred and tyrannie , which the romanists doe exercise , and where-with their chiefe prelates , doctors and ghostly fathers doe burne against their innocent , orthodoxe , and reformed brethren , and whereby they would ingrosse unto themselves , ( wheresoever they take footing or beare sway ) all power , authority and priviledges , as well in civill as ecclesiasticall affaires , fearing and sparing no lyes , reproaches , calumnies , perjuries , murthers , which , either the devils malice , or mans wickednesse can invent , for accomplishing their politick designes , and machiavel-like machinations , against all their opposers . the truth whereof wee shall see to appeare plainely , ( as in many other parts of europe , whereof also i suppose , this kingdome cannot be insensible ) so especially in the kingdome of poland , and more particularly in the great citty of vilna or the wilde , the metropolis of lithuania , a citty for sumptuous churches , faire buildings , multitude of people , frequency of commerce , and in a word , aboundance of all good things , ( except liberty of conscience and true religion ) little inferiour to the citty of london , being scituated in the heart or center of seven or eight antient kingdomes , now annexed and allyed to the crowne of poland , and namely , lithuania , samogitia , courlandia , livonia , alba-russia , prussia , and massovia , neere unto which citty , the author hereof hath ministred these three yeares last past , to a congregation of scots and english within the towne of keydan , which belongeth unto that most famous and illustrious prince , and chiefe protector of the reformed religion , ianussius radzivil , duke of birz and dubinka , prince of the sacred roman empire , lord high chamberlaine of the great dukedome of lithuania , administrator of mohilovia , governour of kasimerski , and kameninski , &c. who in anno 1638. with the approbation and consent of a synode holden at the wilde , received him into the number of his stipendiary ministers , as appeareth more at length by his certificate . this great citty aforesaid , is the tribunall , or place of justice for the said great dukedome of lithuania , having a great university , of almost an innumerous multitude of students who resort thither for learning , and education , especially in the romish religion , from all places and corners of the kingdome , and who doe replenish as it were , or rather pester the whole citty . there be also therein many relig●ons professed and tolerated , whereunto also belong many churches and places of divine worship , as a synagogue to the jewes , whereof there be many thousands in that citty ; a ruthenian church to the russians ; a mahumetan church to the tartatians ; a church to the lutherans ; all which doe enjoy their exercises of religion without trouble or interruption ; these all being ( in respect , either of idolatry , superstition or errours , in league and consanguinity joyned with the papists ) whereof the maine body of that citty and kingdome doth consist . now amongst the rest , and a little before the decease of the illustrious prince duke christopher radzivil , of most honorable and blessed memory , who departed this life in the moneth of august 1640. at his palace in vizounez , and was most magnificently buryed at vizounka twenty miles distant from the aforesaid citty , in the great dukedome of lithuania , upon the twelfth of february last , whereof the authour was an eye-witnesse ; a little i say before his departure , there was also within the aforesaid citty , a faire , spacious , and strong church which belonged to the protestants , whom they call calvinists , and whose church by the romanists is termed in derision by the name of zbor , or congregation , whereunto also is adjoyned a dutch church , both built of freestone , and environed with a high , strong and thick stone-wall , guarded also with a garrison of musketiers and souldiers , whom the aforesaid prince continually kept in pay for the safety of the said churches and professors ▪ these two churches were scituated within the heart as it were , or middle of the citty , and were invested with many priviledges and liberties , as any papist church in poland , which were also established and confirmed by many kings and parliaments successively unto these two churches , ( the one polish , and the other dutch ) belonged three ministers , the two polish ministers were , master balthazar labenski , and master yeurski , the dutch minister master andreas , who were assisted by george hartibius , rector of the protestant colledge , a man of sound learning , and unspotted conversation , as appeareth by the testimony of his very adversaries given unto him in divers places . but because these churches and ministers , being scituated as is said , and the ministers were in great repute , and much frequented by protestant noblemen and gentlemen , who resorted unto their sermons in great assemblies , from all places of the country , they could not chuse but be a great eye-sore unto their neighbours the jesuits , priests , & fryars , whose churches , cloisters , monasteries & colledges , were contiguous , and did incompasse them on every side . behold therefore what hellish tricks and stratagems , these jesuits ▪ popish priests and schollars used for the abolishing of these churches , and utter suppressing the exercise of the protestant religion , and colledge within the aforesaid citty . upon the fifth of october 1639. a certaine polish gentleman named paul piekarski , with his servant ioseph rakouski , being at guest in the house of one naborowuski , close adjoyning to the protestant church , about three of the clocke in the afternoone ( amongst other passages and exercises of mirth and jollity ) did shoot some arrowes at a bird or fowle , which they perceived to be upon the top of the steeple of the protestant church , two of which arrowes , ( there blowing then much wind ) were driven to a popish church neere joyning , called saint michaels , and lighting at the west end thereof , stucke into the leg of the woodden image of an angell . now within the church-yard of this church , was and is a great monastery of franciscans , some whereof issuing out of their cloister , perceived these arrowes sticking in the leg of the image , which being so neere the protestant church , and they also so desirous to pick a quarrell against the protestants , did straight-way conceive and affirme , that these arrowes were shot out of the protestant church by the evangelick ministers , or by their appointment , and approbation in despight and contempt of their romish religion . the friars acquainted the jesuites and priests therewith , who burning with malice against the protestants , and daily seeking some occasion to doe them mischiefe , gave order to their schollars and students , to fall upon these hereticall churches , pull them down to the ground , and ( if they could ) apprehend , or kill these calvinist ministers , whom they would needs have to be the authors of that riot ; to the performance wherof , these devote and well disciplined schollars were not slacke , but straightwayes issued out of their schooles and colledges like a hive of bees assisted and accompanied with some thousands of priests , prentises and serving men who in great furie addressed themselves unto the aforesaid churches , with ladders , shovels , mattoks , and other instruments , beginning to undermine the wall , and uncover the roof of the protestant colledge . but there being at that instant ( through gods providence ) many protestant noble-men , and gentlemen with their servants , present at the christning of one of the ministers children , there being also a garrison of souldiers , which the aforesaid duke kept continually in pay for the safeguard of his churches , the souldiers and servants let flie a volly or two of shot amongst them , seeing they could not by any faire meanes be removed ; this confused army being hereby terrified , was presently disbanded ; and perceiving they could not accomplish their designes against the protestant churches , like theeves and robbers , more then like christians and schollars , being led by the devill their patron , they betooke themselves to the shops and houses of the scots , french , and dutch merchants there inhabiting , who for the greatest part are protestants , breaking open their doores , truncks , and cupbords , but especially the house & shop of one iacob de seans , a french merchant and elder of the protestants church , from whom they tooke above thirty thousand florens in goods and money . the day following , duke radzivil came to towne , who being for the time viovode or governour of the citty ; and being also well informed in the businesse , did first send for , and examine these two gentlemen formerly mentioned , that had shot the arrowes ; who ingenuously confessed in the tribunall before the judges , that they did shoot these arrowes , but not from the protestant church , but from the house of one naborouski where they were at guest , nor did they shoot them at the popish church , nor in despight of the romish religion , but at a bird or fowle , which was upon the top of the protestant church , although contrary to their expectation , they were driven by the wind , as is aforesaid , whereupon they were ready to depose their oath ; yet did they hereupon order these two gentlemen to be committed close prisoners , but the one of them viz. master piekarski , escaped and fled into the countrie . then did duke radzivil deale with the bishop and the jesuites , to keepe in and represse their schollars , least they should breake foorth into some further outrage against the protestants , this he obtained with much adoe , and letters patents affixed on all the gates and publick places of the citty to this purpose . the day following messengers are disp●tched away on both sides , with letters informatorie to the kings majestie , who was then at warsovia 80 polish or dutch miles distant from the aforesaid citty , duke radzivil giving his majestie to know the true information and state of the businesse , the papist bishop againe ( whose name was abrah voyna or warre ) is very sutable to his nature , exasperating his majestie by many untruths , reproachfull speeches and blasphemies , which he surmised against the protestants , but especially their ministers , ( onely to put them out of the favour of the king and fellow-subjects ) alledging , though most impudently and falsely , that a little before the fact of the premisses , viz , the shooting of the arrowes , these calvin heretikes , had most profanely and blasphemously drawne the crucifixe or picture of our blessed saviour crucified , by the feet through the streets , as also the image of the blessed virgin , spitting upon and dawbing them with dirt and mire , thinking thereby to disgrace the romish religion . but the kings majestie , suspecting herby the malice of his ghostly fathers & the iniquity of the cause , gave for the present greater credit unto the duke radzivils information , and deferred the businesse to the next parliament , which was held at warsovia . in the moneth of june following , in the meane time shewing his princely care for the preservation of publicke peace , he sendeth diverse letters to the popish bishops , but more particularly to the bishop of vilna the aforesaid citty , to the jesuites , priests , monasteries and colledges there , giving them some private checks for their unjust proceedings , and promising unto them the continuance of his royall favour , and an improvement of their immunities & priviledges , if they would but desist and leave off further prosecuting that busines against duke radziv●ls churches ▪ but that royall fraternity of romish bishops and jesuits ( being to my thinking ) indeed & de facto king of poland , were the more inflamed and exasperated hereby against the protestants , and therefore now thinke it high time to muster up all their forces , and strain the quintessence of their deepest wit for accomplishing their designes against them , & providing themselves for the ensuing parliament , to this purpose they print libels and pamphlets against the protestants , and expose them to be sold in all places of the kingdome , they send also privately letters informatory to all the popish bishops , noblemen and judges of the land , who were all addicted to the roman sea , and to be present and chiefest members of the ensuing parliament , aggravating by many odious circumstances , how much and how farre the calvin hereticks and their preachers were troublers of the peace of the kingdome , and what wicked and blasphemous insolencies had beene lately practised by them in disgrace and contempt of their catholicke church . the parliament is set , and committees on both sides appointed for hearing and concluding the businesse : upon the protestant side , were the illustrious duke radzivil aforesaid , lord grozewski , lord rey , lord cocholewski , and some others , all men of admirable learning , eloquence , judgement , and integrity , who did so truly , plainely , punctually , and in such orientall colours display the case , and discover , these insupportable , insupposable , and unheard of injuries practised by the roman clergie against them , their brethren , churches , lands , and inheritances , contrary to the kings majestie his oath , ( who at his coronation is solemnly sworne to maintaine the peace and liberty of the protestants as well as of the papists ) to the lawes of the land , acts of parliament , and practise of other nations , that many of the honest popish bishops & noblemen were moved to teares and to commiserate the distresse of the said illustrious duke his churches & brethren ; but the maine body of the parliament being all papists , and rigidly addicted to the roman sea , and consequently maliciously bent against the protestant cause , did confederate and b●nd themselves together , against the said duke and the other protestants lords , commanding him to bee silent , and not to proceed any further in defending so b●d a cause , alledging , that they had witnesses sufficient against them , and that the aforesaid illustrious duke , spoke too well for a bad businesse , and was more fit to be an atturney then a prince . duke radzivil seeing his just cause like to be overwhelmed by the malevolent censures of a partiall multitude ; went to take his leave of the king , and to informe his majestie of their false and injurious proceedings against him ; but no sooner was he entred into conference with his majestie in his bed-chamber , the doores being shut , but straightway followed three popish bishops , viz. the bishop of cracovia , the bishop of loobleen , and the bishop of thoren , who fearing that duke radzivil by his speech with his majestie should obtaine some favour to prevent their purposes ( more like temporall monarchs and emperours ) then spirituall or ecclesiasticall prelats , did boldly and rudely knocke at the doore , perswading or rather threatning his majestie to forsake the discourse and company of duke radzivil , and to goe along with them , there being at that instant some urgent businesse which required his presence in the parliament . the day following , his majestie sent for the duke to dinner , but hee being ready upon his journey refused to come , and about two or three of the clocke in the afternoone ( admiring the injustice and ingratitude of that people for whom hee had done so many great services , with much griefe and discontentment departed the citty . immediatly after his departure his majestie being overswayed by the popish prelates and clergy men , , gave out this sentence and decree against duke radzivils churches and ministers , the tenor whereof followeth . quandoquidem inquisit to legitime est peracta , ex qua evidenter , de delicto & loco delicti constat , quod nimirum ex coetu evangelicorum sagittae ad frontispicium templi sancti michaelis , fuerint emissae ; ideo sacr. regia majestas discernit moniales ad convincendum , adversa parte potiores esse : quam convictionem , ut ejusmodi monasterii antistita cum septem monialibus , ex eodem monasterio , juramentum super personas in mandato specificatas ( quas ipsa sibi elegerit vilnae , in tribunali com●ositi judicii , a data hujus decreti hodierna , post octo septimanas , juxta formulam juramenti ex cancellaria nostra magni ducatus lithuaniae extraditam expediant mandamus , depoenis infligendis , sacr. reg. majestas deliberat . in english thus , for as much as after due examination , there is found a cle●re evidence touching this fact , and the place where it was committed ; namely that arrowes were shot from the protestant congregation , at the frontispice or forepart of saint michaels church , therefore the kings sacred majestie approving the cause of the nunnes to be more just and legall , then that of the protestants , doth command and charge the prioresse of that same cloister with seven nunnes more of the same monasterie , to appeare in the citty of vilna , eight weekes after the date hereof , and there take their corporall oath before the set bench against these parties that are convicted , and specified in the mandat , or against so many of them as they shall thinke fitting , according to the oath used in this nature drawne out of our chancery office of the great dukedome of lithuania , the punishment to be determined by the kings majestie . expeditio deliberationis , ejusdem anni die facta maii , 26. the execution of his majesties censure touching the delinquent , passed in the same yeare the 26 of may , in this manner . sacra regia majestas expediendo deliberationem mandat , ut personae quas moniales convincent , subsint poeais legum , quarum executionem quilibet magistratus sub poenis de negligentibus officialibus sancitis , statim post executionem exequi debet , et quandoquidem constat situm ecclesiae evangelicae , inter templa romano-catholica occasionem tam praeteritorum quam praesentiii excessuum dedisse , & vero s. reg , m. ratione juramenti sui regii , obligatasit praescindere omnes occasi●nes , turbandae nedil violandae pacis inter dissid●ntes de religi 〈…〉 s. r●g . m. decreti hujus vigore vniversum exercitium religionis dissidentium , ( tam publicum quam privatum ) in perpetuum ex isto loco removet , ac ipsum etiam nomen zbor , coetus , consimilem in modum scholas , & xenodochia , convertendo illas structuras & areas , in aedes , & fundum mere privatum , & possessionem ejus in totum reservando illi vel illis quibus de jure competierit , sine ullo , ( vel privatissimo dissidentium exercitio ; & haec omnia expediri debent intra spatium & septimanarum post convictionem sub poena infamiae , & sub eadem , neque in alio quoquam loco ( intra regiae civitatis vilnensis maenia ) tam publicum quam privatum ejusdem religionis excercitium , sub ullo unquam praetextu resuscitabunt . similiter nec scholam , nec xenodochium praesentis decreti vigore , exceptis his qui peregre advenient , juxta sensum confoederationis . interim tamen , dissidentes in hortum sepulturis destinatum , exercitium hoc suum transferre poterunt , sub ejusdem confoederationis securitate . huic decreto ad majorem rei fidem magni ducatus lithuaniae sigillum appensum est . datum warsoviae in comitiis regni 26 maii 1640. thus englished . the kings sacred majestie , in the declaration of his decree , doth command & charge , that these persons that shall be convicted by the nuns , be liable to the punishment of the law , which every magistrate whom it doth concerne , presently after their conviction , shall execute under paine of contempt . and for as much as the scituation of the protestant church , ( being amongst the roman catholicks churches ) hath given occasion , not onely of this , but also of many former ryots , and likewise the kings majesty is by his royall oath obliged to prevent , & cut off all occasions , that may either disturbe , or breake the peace of his subject in point of religion ; his majestie therefore , by vertue of this decree , doth altogether prohibite and abolish all kind of exercise of the protestant religion , as well private as publicke , from that place for ever ; as also the names zbor , or congregation , their schooles likewise and alme-houses , changing the yards and buildings thereof into dwelling houses or private ground , reserving the possession thereof , to such to whom they doe lawfully appertaine ; and this shall be performed within six weekes after the conviction , under paine of infamy , nor shall the aforesaid protestants ( under the aforesaid penalty ) ever have or stirre up exercise or use of their religion , schoole , or hospitall within the walls of the regall citty of the wilde , strangers and travellers excepted , that are confederate with us ; howsoever they shall have toleration and licence ( in respect of the league aforesaid ) and no otherwise , to have the exercises of their religion in their buriall place , for the further ratification whereof this present decree is given under the seale of the great dukedome of lithuania , dated in the parliament at vvarso , 26 maii 1640. this decree of his majestie was seconded by an oath which seven nunnes , ( suborned by the aforesaid bishop and jesuites ) made at the wilde 21 july 1640. we a. b. c. d , &c. doe sweare by the holy trinity , that by the knowledge or approbation of the protestant ministers and guests , dwelling with them , arrowes were shot out of a bow from the protestant church , in disgrace and contempt of the roman catholicke church , but especially by one iohn yeurski , who at that time had a child christned , also by balthasar labenski , the eldest minister of that congregation , and george hartlibius rector of their colledge who all ( dwelling within the walls of the aforesaid church ) doe better know , and can tell the names of the other delinquents , but that this our oath , which we take against these men , as the principall authors of that fact is true and lawfull , so helpe us god and his holy evangell . now by the way , and before i goe any further , let me beseech the reader to observe a wonderfull expression of gods justice , for within some few houres after this oath was taken , one of these perjured nunnes was suddenly stroken with death , and fell downe dead before she could recover her owne cloister . and that this oath which these nunnes tooke , was notoriously false , doth appeare evidently by the contrary oath of the two above named gentlemen , paul piekarski , and ioseph rakowski , who not long after , in the city of novogard , swore before the whole tribunall or bench , that they and none other were the men that shot these arrowes , and that the protestant ministers were cleare of that fact ; neither knew any thing thereof , nor were they shot from their church , but from the dwelling house of one naborowski , nor did they any wayes ayme at the papist church to disgrace that religion , but in sport and merriment , they shot at a bird which was upon the top of the protestant church , although ( contrary to their expectation ) their arrowes were driven aside by the wind : yet behold , good reader , what a great fire a small sparkle kindleth , what a great mischiefe did insue upon so small occasion ; for that nothing might bee wanting to expresse the fury and malice of the romish prelate of the vvild and jesuites , against their innocent and harmelesse brethren , ( although they knew their cause to be unjust , and the oath which the nunnes had taken to be false , yet did they proceed to irritate and exasperate the judges to execute the sentence , according to the former decree , which in the moneth of aprill 1641. followed in this manner , viz. that for as much as the parties convicted , were not only guilty of the aforesaid ryot as turbule●t persons , and breakers of the peace of the kingdome , but also by their hereticall preaching , disputations and conferences , did seduce and draw away many from the catholicke faith , that therefore they esteemed them guilty of death , yea more worthy of punishment , then the most wicked malefactors . it is therefore sentenced by this honorable bench , that the delinquents shall be taken to the market place of the city of vilna , the city where the fact was committed , and there be executed publickly as traitors to his majestie , and troublers of the publicke peace ( the manner of their death to be left to his majesties pleasure ) their lands and goods to be confiscated to the use of his majestie or assignes . item , that the exercises of the protestant religion , shall altogether cease and be suppressed within the walls of the royall citty of vilna , and that the churches where these exercises were had , shall bee converted altogether into dwelling houses , or to some other civill use , and that upon no pretext or cause whatsoever , there shall be preaching in that place , or anywhere else within the said gity , under the penalties formerly mentioned . the illustrious duke radzivil , perceiving the injustice , malice , and cruelty of these romanists , and condoling the estate of his distressed servants and ministers , a little before the publication of the sentence , about midnight , sent for them to his palace , where after some houres private conference , he wrote letters commendatory to the duke of prusia , and having furnished them with money , and a guard of a hundred tartarian horsemen , they were conveyed to the town of keydan ; from whence within 2 or 3 dayes after they departed to the tilz , from thence to the first great castle & town in prusia , belonging to the duke of prusia , from whence shortly after the death of the illustrious old duke radzivil , and the duke of brandeburgh , this duke of prusia his father , who both dyed in one moneth , viz. in the moneth of august 1640 ; fearing further persecution , they were removed to the towne of memble , a great strength upon the sea side under the duke of prusia , nor long after unto konisberg , and at length unto dantsk , where they remaine unto this day , being banished from their places , countries and families , without maintenance , and separated from all hope of future reliefe , unlesse the lord worke it by the charitable care and affection of their reformed brethren , as appeareth more fully , by that most unjust decree of proscription , since published against them , the coppy whereof shall god willing be imparted to the reader . neither can i omit in this historicall relation , that barbarous cruelty of the jesuites scollars in the wilde , in the day of the aforesaid tumult , against that good man master george hartlib rector of the protestant colledge , a man for learning , innocence and integrity , famous and excellent , yea , the popish bishop of the vvilde , his great enemy , in a publicke meeting , did not onely acknowledge his worthinesse , but also with great griefe , ( although it was too late ) condole his distresse more then any of the others . moreover one of these jesuites , travelling lately through dantsk into germanie , did confesse , that hee was innocent , and the reason why he was condemned and proscribed since , was no otther , but that hee disputed in publicke against the popish religion , and seduced the nobility and gentry committed to his trust ; in which regard they esteemed him to be more worthy of punishment then any malefactor . this good man , i say , walking peaceably from the protestant colledge unto his owne house , was by these catholicke christian schollars , apprehended as a thiefe , beaten with trees , buffered , and most dangerously wounded with stones in foure or five places of the head : not contented with this , as if it had beene too gentle a punishment , they threw him over a bridge into a deep river , from whence ( having once escape ) they threw him in againe , & at last perceiving that hee had escaped the second time , and that they could not thereby take away his life , they followeth him into a bathstove or hothouse , where some pittifull-hearted men and women , ( although papists ) commiserating his condition , had sheltered him , and assaulted his life , and those that tooke his part , with most inhumane and diabolicall fury , but he being hidden by a good old woman under a washing tub , continued there untill midnight , and at last , taking upon him the habit of that woman , by gods providence he escaped their outrage . moreover ( as if these things were too little to expresse their insolencies against the evangelick protestants ) they have proceeded further , and that by the same aforesaid meanes , namely by cavils , tricks of law and perjury , to abolish and take away all the protestant or evangelick churches , that were and are within the kings regall townes and chiefest citties throughout the whole realme of poland , such as were the church of krakovia , posenania , looblene , sendomerzee , polocia , bresta , all great and regall townes and chiefest citties of the kingdome , besides that of the vvilde , formerly mentioned . so that now there remaine no more protestants churches throughout the whole kingdome of poland , except two in the citty of dantsk , & the duke of brandeburg church in his konisbergh , called the sole , & so it may well indeed , for there is no more in all the citty of konisbergh , and the lutherians will suffer no more , but the church of vitepsia , the church of minski , the church of novoguard and the church of roseyn , all which also the popish jesuites and priests are daily plodding to take away . so that unles it please the lord to use some meanes to prevent their jesuiticall enterprises , the whole number of protestant churches , and consequently the whole publicke exercise of our reformed religion , throughout the whole kingdome of poland within few yeares , is like to be extirpated and extinguished . to conclude , of late and since the death of our illustrious patron duke christophe radzivil formerly mentioned , the pride and insolency of jesuites and papists is growne to such a heigth , that they spare not to persecute and assault our ministers and professors in the open streets , affronting them with opprobrious speeches , and sometimes with blowes , yea , often wounding them with gunnes , shables , clubs or stones , as they lately did two of our dukes ministers in the wilde , about the moneth of december last ( one whereof , a learned and reverend divine ) master iacobus , they afflicted with three severall wounds , one in the arme , another in the left cheeke , and a third on the backe of the left hand , whereof i my selfe was an eye-witnesse , so that they are now forced to forsake their ministeriall habits , and goe like merchants or souldiers , with coloured clothes and weapons . the truth whereof , i my selfe have lately experienced , having beene two severall times in great danger of my life , once , namely about the latter end of february last , travelling peaceably in my sled , from keydan the place of my residence , unto rogola , which is foure polish miles distant , i was set upon in the high-way by a polish boyarne or gentleman , who asked me what bishop i served under , but because i could not answer him in his owne language so well as he expected , or perhaps , by my habit , surmised me to be one of duke radzivils ministers , stroke at me most desperatly with his sh●ble or polish sword three or foure severall times , wounded me in the head , and had i not warded two or three of his blowes , with a thick cane , which i then had in mine hand , and which he did almost cut through , he had certainely bereft me of my life . not long after , being in the towne of kowan six polish miles from keydan , walking in the streets about nine of the clocke in the morning , going to buy some necessaries , because i saluted not the crucifix , which was then carryed by me in procession , and encountred me unawares ; the jesuite schollars accompanyed with two capushine fryars fell upon me , and assaulted me so fiercely , first with words , and then with blowes and stones , that i was forced to make more then ordinary haste to my lodging . thus have i discharged my duty to my illustrious patron , discovered unto you the afflicted estate of our reformed churches under the crowne of poland , and exposed to the world , the treacherous practices , malicious tyrannie , unreconciliable hatred , unlimited and unsatiable ambition of the romish prelats and their associates within the aforesaid kingdome . and yet i would not hereby absolutely and totally condemne the romish church ( as it is a church , and a part or member , although a diseased and rotten one ) of the true catholicke church of christ , and as it beleeveth , approveth and maintaineth with christs apostles and us , many essentiall and orthodoxe points of truth , both in doctrine and discipline , agreeable to the word of god and the analogy of f●ith . nor would i discourage too much the modest and better sort of papists , who living in simple ignorance , make innocencie and charity , the touchstone of their religion . for i am very confident , that he that cannot try the truth of his religion by these two , let him be protestant or papist , or of whatsoever other religion he will , all that he beleeveth , knoweth or professeth of that religion cannot profit him to salvation but is as founding brasse , or a tinckling cymball , because the faith or knowledge which he professeth or pretendeth to have , is meerely notionall and speculative , residing onely in the braine , and shewing it selfe onely by words or outward posture , but not inwardly affecting or heating the heart , with a desire to doe good , or frame our actions according to our profession . for that religion that must save us , must be a practicall religion , that faith that must justifie us before god , must be an effectuall operative faith , which worketh by love , and that knowledge of god and of his sonne christ , that knowledge , i say , of religion , and divine worship , which is true and able to doe us good , and bring us to life eternall , must bee such a knowledge , saith pet. mart. quia ita mutamur , ut quae scimus , opere conemur exprimere , p. m. inloe . com , otherwise , the better our religion is , and the more that we know of it , or are leaned in it , it will be the worse for us , for potentes potenter torquebuntur , that swimming learning or knowledge which we have , will but aggravate our condemnation , for according to our talent of knowledge , doth god expect from us a correspondent reckoning of obedience , whereas he doth not so to such unto whom he hath not shewed himselfe so bountifull a creditor . but first , i would hereby admonish and give notice unto all the simpler and more ignorant sort of papists , who either have beene lately seduced by these romish impostures , or have not as yet taken deepe footing , and are but newly entred into that antichristian laborynth , that they would in time , and before they passe too farre , retire and withdraw themselves , least in the end , they provoke the lord to complaine of them as he did of those in the fourth psalme , o yee sonnes of men , how long will you follow after vanities and seeke after leasings ? secondly , i would hereby bewayle and condemne crassam illam , & supinam pontificiorum ignorantiam , that most grosse , or rather wilfull and obstinate ignorance of the roman prelates and church-men , who i am perswaded in my conscience , beleeve in their hearts , know with their understanding , discerne by their judgement , although they will not confesse with their mouthes , most , if not all of these , humane inventions , unnecessary traditions , idolatrous superstitions , false , cruell , treacherous and ungodly practices , doctrines , devices and machinations , wherein they differ from us , and from that truly antient , catholicke and apostolike doctrine , professed and beleeved in the purer times of the church , many hundred yeares before ever there was the least mention of the popes holinesse , and by gods grace , is continued , beleeved , and maintained by us in this angel-like monarchy , i say , it is not possible , but that they must needs know these things which they teach , write , professe , and maintaine , for the grounds of their religion , and maintaining , improving , and advancing of their hierarchy to be unjust , false , unchristian and hereticall , and blasphemous : did they not ( by reason of that regnum ignorantiae & erroris ) that is , of that kingdome of ignorance that is amongst them , shut up the gates of truth , that is , of holy scriptures , ( which is the rule and ground of truth ) from themselves and their people . haeretici sacerdotes claudunt ianuam veritatis , the hereticall priests shut the gates of truth , because they know , that if the truth were knowne , their religion should be forsaken , and they cast downe and debased from their pontificall dignity , into the meane condition of ordinary people , yea , i should rather have said , did not the prince of this world , which ruleth in the hearts of the children of disobedience shut their eyes that they should not see , stop their eares , that they cannot heare , harden their hearts , that they should not understand nor discerne the wayes of truth wherein they should walke , and therefore it is no marvell , that god hath given them over , to a reprobate sense , to be like other sectaries and heretiks , obstinate in their errors , to beleeve strong delusions , and to hold the truth in unrighteousnesse . thirdly , i would hereby incourage my brethren and country-men , whether in this kingdome or else-where , to stand firme and constant in the truth of their profession , and not to be moved and-shaken with every winde of doctrine ; nor by their sects , schismes , separations , private and confused opinions or assemblies , rend the unseamed coat of their redeemer , or thereby teare that part of his mysticall body , which hee doth graciously please to continue in this kingdome , but to agree rather in one consent to keep the unity of the spirit , in the bond of peace to follow after peace with all men , and holinesse , yea to forbeare one another in love , and to follow after the truth in love , with peaceable and loving affections , not with hot and furious distempers , as some of us seeme to doe , who thinke they cannot be religious enough , unlesse they be enemies to peace , and that there can be no better patterne of wholesome doctrine , to hold fast , keep , and frame their faith by , then that which is of their owne weaving . i tell you ( good brethren ) this patterne of doctrine , which is maintained , and i hope shall be maintained in these kingdomes , is good enough , yea so good , that i know none in the world better ( and i am sure i have read , heard , knowne and seene as much of the world , almost , as any other of my coate and calling within this iland ) yea , i say , there is none so good , none so neare that patterne which paul commended to timothie , therefore keep it fast , which you cannot doe unlesse you love the truth and peace . say not one of you , i am of paul , another i am of apollos , a third , i am of cephas , a fourth , i am of christ : let me intreat you ( for christ his sake ) not to deceive your selves , for christ neither will not can be divided , nor will he ever send his spirit into you , to illuminate or inspire you with the truth , if hee see you inclined or addicted to schisme or faction , for in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia , heavenly wisedome and truth , will not enter into soules , that through fraction ; contention , schisme , or separation , are divided and dissipated , vna est columba mea , saith christ of his spouse the church , my dove is one , and as his church is one , so is his spirit , which once descended upon him in the likenesse of a dove , to teach all posterities , that he will never send his graces , but into dove-like soules , that is , into men and women , that are of a dove-like , innocent , humble and loving heart . certainely that knowledge which they have or professe of gods worship ( that are otherwise ) cannot be true and good , it cannot i say , be true , unlesse it make them one with their brethren , as christ is one with the father , iohn 17. 20. be not therefore divided , give not the papists occasion to say , ( as i have heard some of them lately say to my selfe ) the protestants have so many sects amongst them , that they know not what to embrace , nay said one , there are in this city ( for the present ) above ninety severall religions , each one differing from another , nay each one despising , excommunicating and separating themselves from other . o let not this be heard in gath , nor published in the streets of askalon : for shame , for shame , give not this occasion to the adversary , forsake not christs spouse for her blacke spots , nor his true reformed church in this land for her imperfections : what ? would you have a church militant , to be triumphant ? or doe you dreame of , or seeke for a church in this life that hath no blemish ? such men as these had best buy wings to themselves and flee beyond the moone to the garden of hesperide● , wherein ( some say ) was paradise , and which ( if wee will beleeve poets ) is altogether free from stormes and tempests , sure i am beneath the moone , there is no man , no religion , no church free from blemishes , nor possibly can be . seeing that of the apostle is as true of all the church , as of one of the church , here we see darkely through a glasse , we know but in part , but then we shall know as we are knowne ; 1 cor. 13. 12. let us not say , in matters of religion , draw backwardly or contrariwayes like sampsons foxes , that were bound together tayle to tayle , for then can follow nothing but jars , contention , combustion and tumultuous confusion , but let us be rather like the cherubins , having our faces looking one towards another , that is , let us all with one consent and unity of mind , especially in matters of faith and religion , joyne together in love , opinion , judgement , and affection , to embrace , beleeve , and practice such a forme of doctrine , discipline and government , as hath been ever since christ , or at the least , in the purer times after christ received and followed in the christian church , and as i hope ( through gods goodnesse and providence , shall shortly be established in this kingdome , by the religious care and wisedome of our king and parliament ; which i am perswaded will be no other then such as shall be most pleasing unto god , justifiable and harmelesse to the people , sutable to the scriptures , and most approveable and comfortable to mens consciences . such , i say , as shall have for their ground and warrant , not mens inventions , humane policy and traditions , but absolutely and immediatly gods inspired scriptures , which are sufficient , in all things to instruct , reprove , correct in righteousnesse , and to make the man of god perfect , furnished throughly to every good work ; in a word , such as shall most conduce for the advancement of gods glory , and depressing the pride and ambition of mens hearts , such as are most contrary to the corruption of mans life & manners , such as are most spirituall & sutable to the nature of god , who is a spirit , and will be worshipped in spirit & truth : finally such as can afford most comfort and ease , unto troubled and perplexed consciences ; if , i say , such doctrines , discipline , and manner of government be admitted & established in our church , ( as i make no doubt they shall ) and also if all the people from dan to beersheba , both in city and country , from all places , and corners of the land , joyne together , as is aforesaid , without contention , preposterous zeale , schisme , and separation ; to approve , beleeve , receive and practice the same , then shall our church , like aarons rod , flourish to all possible perfection , even to the astonishment and admiration of all her enemies , being as mount sion which cannot be removed , but remaineth for ever : as the mountaines about ierusalem , so shall the lord be about his people from henceforth , and for ever , psa. 150. fourthly and lastly , let these and such like treacherous practices of jesuites and papists abovementioned , be a foelix quem faciunt , or warning-peale unto all the orthodoxe and reformed churches in the world , to make them ( not only hate and abhorre all popish and antichristian devices , but also abandon ( if they wish their owne welfare ) and ( as much as is possible ) exterminate and extirpate out of their lands and kingdomes , all pragmaticall and busie he●ded romanists , but especially these of the jesuited sort , which are more rigidly devoted and addicted to the roman sea . let this historie , i say , be as wormwood to the dug , to make the sons of our mother , the children of this church , forsake the paps of that antichristian whore , and not to admit upon any termes , much lesse to approve , or maintaine the least semblance of a papisticall hierarchie , least ( if they doe ) their ghostly fathers , prelates and fraternities shew them a tricke of machiavelisme , and how doggetly they can insult and domineere over their simple and reformed brethren , whersoever they take footing , as they have lately done these two yeares past in the kingdom of poland , over that famous illustrious and orthodoxe prince duke christopher radzivil , the father , and his distressed ministers , and are like to do still over his most excellent and illustrious sonne , prince ianussius , unlesse the lord provide some remedy to the contrary . but especially , let them take notice of this unto whom both god and his anointed our soveraigne , hath freely and graciously granted all sort of power , right , law , and prerogative to execute , establish and reforme matters tending to the preservation and welfare of this kingdome , for whom ( as true and naturall sonnes of this sion ) let us be carefull in our best devotion and prayers to sollicite and implore the favourable assistance , and gracious presence of the almighty , who hath the hearts of kings and great men in his hands , turning them ( like the rivers of water ) which way he listeth ; that he may be pleased so to affect and dispose the hearts of the peeres and princes , magistrates of this land , that they may speedily bethinke themselves of some opportune way and meanes , whereby all fractions , and factions , schismes , separations , sidings , and backslidings , contentions , combustions , confusions , prevarications , finally all antichristian , polypragmaticall , tyrannicall , and treacherous heresies , schismes , practices , professions , and enterprises may be quite , or at least as much as is possible , abolished and removed from the body and bounds of this monarchie , and that all his majesties subjects here and elsewhere , may from henceforth concurre and consent , in unity of mind , opinion , judgment , conscience , and affection , to embrace , professe , maintaine , retaine , beleeve and practice such a platforme and patterne of wholesome doctrine and religion , as is most consonant and agreeable to gods revealed will , loving the truth and peace , and following after the truth in love ; in a word , if it be possible , and as much as in them lyeth , following peace with all men and holinesse , that there may be amongst them all , but one body and one spirit , even as they are called in one hope of their vocation , one lord , one faith , one baptisme , one god and father of them all , in them all , and through them all , amen . ephes. 4. finis . lord william cavendise . anagr . a wise lord can live milde . acrost . let natures seeming lustre , gull or blind our dazeled eyes with earths vaine glistering rayes , rarest soule-filling pleasures you shall find deriv'd from thence , where grace and vertue swayes . were all perfections , in the earths great round inclosed and ingros'd in one free-hould , let pearles streame as the pibles , gold abound like silver , silver as the sand , yea could in one great magazing dame nature fold all that the heaven , or earth , and sea , containes , my muse hath here from truths bright fountaine told , combind in one , that yet the soule remaines a wandring , wondring , wavering pilgrim toile , voyde of her maker , barr'd from restfull blesse , ever with sinnes , feare , care , or sorrow soild , never appeased , in this vast wildernesse , did reason , season , wit , and faith comply in all these stormes with love , hopes anchor then should safely make this brittle barke of clay enter with joy into her wished haven . vestrae magnificentiae addictissimus , e. g. hammond versus heamans, or, an answer to an audacious pamphlet, published by an impudent and ridiculous fellow, named roger heamans, calling himself commander of the ship golden lion wherein he endeavours by lies and holy expressions, to colour over his murthers and treacheries committed in the province of maryland, to the utter ruine of that florishing plantation : having a great sum sold himself to proceed in those cruelties, it being altogether answered out of the abstract of credible oaths taken here in england :in which is published his highnesses absolute (though neglected) command to richard bennet esq., late governour of virginia and all others, not to disturbe the lord baltamores plantation in maryland / by john hammond ... hammond, john, d. 1707. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45477 of text r11940 in the english short title catalog (wing h619). 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. 35 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 10 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45477 wing h619 estc r11940 11998199 ocm 11998199 52149 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. a45477) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52149) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 564:18) hammond versus heamans, or, an answer to an audacious pamphlet, published by an impudent and ridiculous fellow, named roger heamans, calling himself commander of the ship golden lion wherein he endeavours by lies and holy expressions, to colour over his murthers and treacheries committed in the province of maryland, to the utter ruine of that florishing plantation : having a great sum sold himself to proceed in those cruelties, it being altogether answered out of the abstract of credible oaths taken here in england :in which is published his highnesses absolute (though neglected) command to richard bennet esq., late governour of virginia and all others, not to disturbe the lord baltamores plantation in maryland / by john hammond ... hammond, john, d. 1707. [2], 17 p. for the use of the author, and are to be sold at the royal exchange in cornhill, printed at london : [1655] written in answer to an additional brief narrative of a late bloody design against the protestants in ann arundel county, and severn, in maryland ... by roger heaman ... 1655. reproduction of original in huntington library. eng heaman, roger. -additional brief narrative of a late bloody design. bennet, richard, 17th cent. protestants -maryland. maryland -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775. annapolis (md.) -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775. a45477 r11940 (wing h619). civilwar no hammond versus heamans. or, an ansvver to an audacious pamphlet, published by an impudent and ridiculous fellow, named roger heamans, callin hammond, john 1655 5858 5 0 0 0 0 0 9 b the rate of 9 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-06 derek lee sampled and proofread 2006-06 derek lee text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion hammond versus heamans . or , an ansvver to an audacious pamphlet , published by an impudent and ridiculous fellow , named roger heamans , calling himself commander of the ship golden lion , wherein he endeavours by lies and holy expressions , to colour over his murthers and treacheries committed in the province of maryland , to the utter ruine of that florishing plantation ; having for a great sum sold himself to proceed in those cruelties ; it being altogether answered out of the abstract of credible oaths taken here in england . in which is published his highnesses absolute ( though neglected ) command to richard bennet esq late governour of virginia , and all others , not to disturbe the lord baltamores plantation in maryland . by john hammond , a sufferer in these calamities . 1 sam 20. v. 23. as touching the thing which thou and i have spoken of , behold , the lord be between thee and me . job 22. v. 5. is not thy wickednesse great , and thine iniquities innumerable ? job 12. 7. ye speak wickedly for gods defence , and talk deceitfully for his cause . printed at london for the use of the author , and are to be sold at the royall exchange in cornhill . hammond versus heamans . i was very opposite to publish my self to the world a fool in print , resolving rather to wait the determination of the supreme authority of england , by whō ( and not by railing invectives ) we must be tryed , than to have expressed so much indifferency as to have carped unseasonably at the proceeding of these inhuman , ingratefull , and blood-sucking sectaries , which mention god in their lips , but their hearts are farre from him ; but that i see daily a broaching of lyes , one confederating and in the neck of another , which begets belief amongst many , and carries a vulgar applause along with their action , the only way these people ever pitched on to effect their designs , and the rather are they credited by our silence . we desire to satisfie every man , and especially our worthy friends the noble virginians in england , ( for in virginia they are sufficiently informed ) and that by their unbyast discourses and relations they may undeceive such as the hypocricies of these fellows hath deluded . this , and the inward vexation which perplexeth me to read what they write , to hear what 's reported , awakes me , as knowing more of their deceits and proceedings than any man living . i have at this present written , lying by me an historicall relation of the transactions of virginia and maryland , under the government and tyranny of richard bennet and colonel claiborn , with many remarkable passages of such state-policies as they and their creatures used ; but will for a while forbeare to publish , as rather desiring this pen-jarring may cease ; but if any of this rout shall any more disturbe the world ( for us they cannot do ) with their seeming-sanctified lies , i will then not spare to acquaint the world what they are , and how they live , and give each of their characters to open view , which now lyes masked under the hood of holinesse and good disposition , in which i shall somewhat more largely answer leonard strongs babylons fall , the book of virginia and maryland , and other objections and allegations of theirs , being all full of impudence and ignorance . but that heamans should dare to write amazes me , knowing his imbecillity , his villany , and therefore i shall in my answer to him , briefly and in his own tone anatomize and lay him open to the world a fool , to the state a knave , to god a notorious offender , whose unfeigned repentance i cordially wish , and that his future portion of grace may over-ballance his former talents of wit and honesty , in the want of which the poor man hath been too too unhappy . but to the matter . roger heamans gives a great account in his whole relation of his extraordinary vigilancy and diligence in mannaging of his charge , and the trust imposed on him by his owners , but omits to insert what a disordered ship and company he had , how mutinous and quarrelsome they were amongst themselves , and how upon every drunken bout they had , what swords were drawn , what challenges made between the sea-men and their great commander , insomuch that the inhabitants observing their carraiges , with derision and detestation reported of the fantasticknesse of heamans and his rude ungoverned ships company . the insolencie of these were such towards the inhabitants , ( observing the licentiousnesse of those parts ) and taking occasion thereby , that they would sell commodities to whom they list , and lighting on greater prices , would of their own accords ( after delivery made ) repossesse themselves again , scoffing at any pretence of law or justice , saying , ( as it after proved too true ) that their ship was of force enough to awe the whole countrey , inflicting punishments on the planters , and robbing houses as they went , all which is sufficiently proved by depositions already taken . he relates how civilly he entreated captain stone , formerly governour stone , who refused the title of governour from him , informing him that one captain fuller was governor of the province , and intimates , that from that relation he bends to fuller , as governour ever after . how disconsonant to reason this is , let any judge that know reason , that know the passages , that know captain stones temper . at such time as bennet and claiborn came into maryland , and had compacted to take the government out of the hands of captain stone , after he had notice of the power they had gathered , he likewise impowered himself for defence , and was in possibility to have cut bennet and claiborn and all off , but those few papists that were in maryland ( for indeed they are but few ) importunatly perswaded governour stone not to fight , left the cry against the papists ( if any hurt were done ) would be so great , that many mischiefs would ensue , wholly referring themselves to the will of god , and the lord protectors determination ; & although the protestant party with indignation to be so fooled , submitted to what their governour was perswaded to do , yet could not but complaine in that particular against the cowardize of the papists . after they had dispossest governour stone of his authority , and had by promises to dis-bandon their party , perswaded him to do the like , they presented him with a draught for resignation under his hand , which when he refused , their whole party upon notice given , on a sudden returned , to the astonishment of himself , and affrightment of his wife and children , and required perenitorily to subscribe to what they had written , which he did , saying , it matters not what it is , i will , being thus enforced , write what ye will have me , it cannot be binding nor valid ; lo here the observance of bennet and claiborns promises , and after this they would have impowered him as governour from them , which with scorn he refused ; nor did governour stone ever in his own esteem , nor in the eyes of those that had been faithfull to his government , look on himself as lesse or otherwise than governour , nor ever received other title , how be it he ceased to act untill he heard further from england ; yet in heamans his hearing and aboard that ship which he calls himself commander of , governour stone , and secretary hatton both , had some words with mr. preston the new-made commander , complaining of their injurious assuming of the government , and taking away of the records , threatning , that unlesse they would return them again , they would compell them away . how then did he dis-own his government ? and for him to point to fuller as governour , had not only been base , but ridiculous ; for neither fuller himself ( untill after their murtherous assasinations ) nor the commission he had from bennet and claiborn , did own or make him so ; for after governour stone refused to derive or meddle with power from bennet and claiborn , they erected no governour at all , but gave commission to ten men , fuller being first in that commission , to be conservators of the peace , untill further order ; then how is heamans relation true ? he next after some frivolous relations prosecutes his feigned narration of what his governour fuller ( for untill heamans made him one he was never any ) had done in his absence , what messages he had received frō his governor , how obedient he was to the supreme command of fuller , how carefull to follow his merchants businesses , and yet how charitable and relenting to those poor-distressed souls that begged his assistance . — hear this o ye heavens ! at such time as captain samuel tilman , ( a man ever to be honoured ) arrived into maryland , he repaired to governour stone , acquainting him , that the lord baltemore had not lost his countrey as was bruted abroad , and brought him some instructions and certainties of his highnesses owning him the said stone for governour , and when he was reproved by one captain john smith , then high sheriff , for giving captaine stone the frequent appellation of governour , he replyed , i must and shall own him and no other for governour of these parts , for seeing my lord protector so stiles him , and by that title writes to him , i neither can nor dare call him otherwise , and his example is my warrant . upon this the said smith ( as a man affrighted ) hies him home , repaires to fuller and the rest , they treat with heamans to assist their opposition , compound with him for a great quantity of tobacco , and so prepare to oppose all power that should controle theirs . governour stone sent me , not knowing of the compact of heamans and the rest , to patuxent to fetch the records ; i went unarmed amongst these sons of thunder , onely three or four to row me , and despite of all their braves of raising the country , calling in his servants to apprehend me , threatned me with the severity of their new-made law ; my selfe alone seized and carried away the records in defiance ; at which time , what ever heamans pretends of compacts with heathens and papists to destroy them , richard preston their great but then quaking-commander , shewed me a letter from heamans , wherein he promised the ship , ammunition and men , should be at their service if occasion were , and incouraged them not to think of yeelding to governour stone , nor any power from the lord baltemore , and this was the first discovery that ever was made by governour stone , and not a man in armes , nor intended to be at that time , and yet before this , meerly upon captaine tilmans words , and their own jealousies , had heamans confederated with , and hired himself to them , and yet this fellow must not onely justifie his judas-like dealings , but as it were , challenge applause and merit . after this , my self again unarmed proclamed a proclamation amongst them , put in a new commander in the face of the whole county met , who as people over-joyed to return to their former just gouernment , as in their voluntary and humble petitions , they presenting acknowledged the lord protector as supreme was prayed for , and pardons were as freely consented to , as intreated for . but those poor-oppressed souls of severn , as heamans stiles them , being of another temper and county , & more remote , having heamans and his company their assured janiza●●● , rather choosing to lose their lives than their lordings ; sent peremtory messengers to the governour , ( not such as heamans relates & sets down , ) which we all here know to be invented , and rather kept and contrived to be published in england , than intended for their governour , who zealously affected peace , and twice before had suffered himself rather to be fooled out of his government , than to hazard the shedding of blood . but how comes it that their little agent strong , nor the impudent author of virginia and maryland , in either of their whisking treatises mention these so specious propositions inserted in heamans his works ? heamans you do it scurvily , and we shall yet further discover you . the joyning with heathens , the plundering of houses , the intent to fire your ship , the hyring of abraham hely , and the horrid treacheries you load us with , will more particularly be questioned and answered in another place than here ; we have your book for evidence of your charge , we only fear you will turn jack lilborn , and put us to prove it to be yours , which if you do , we have other reckonings to put on your score . you can in nothing deal truly , the letter you pretend you received , my self writ , i procured another , now happily arrived , to transcribe it , which the governour signed , the contents whereof were , that he had been informed upon sight of a letter pretended to come from you , that you intended some disturbance in the province , and had promised mr. preston the assistance of your ship , ammunition and men , he rather conceived it was a forgery , and you abused , than that any such things really were , and hoped you came for a peaceable trade , and to follow your imployers businesse , and not to meddle with the differences of the country , promising you all encouragement and justice that could possibly be expected , and earnestly intreating , that if you had any such resolution you would declare it , which had you done , and not treacherously coloured it over with promises to wait on the governour , he had retired , no blood had been spilt . the warrants you so croud in your book , in the name of the lord protector , you imagine peradventure will bear you out , had you not been hired the jugling had been handsome , but now 't is foolish , nor can any rebellion ever bear bulk , unlesse it passe on in the name of supreme authority . for the letter you pretend you writ , you confesse you did it by advice of your severn imployers ; yet in that you affirm a monstrous untruth in saying the government setled in captain fuller was since established by the lord protector , you shall by and by see how all such pretended powers are by his highnesses absolute commands null , but never be able nor no stickler of you all to prove any confirmation , had you had any such thing , although you talk much of it , you would have posted it and published it to the world in capitall letters . you great merchant richard owen , and his best penn'd-letter , if it be his , that ever came from him , was not a matter materiall for the presse , we knew him a year or two since a planter of little credit , and now a very sorry merchant , yet any stuff will serve such as yee are . concerning the firing of your ship ( i speak to the abused world , not to heamans ) he knows already what i writ is true , that at tryall of the governour and councell , one captain findall upon examination did acknowledge , that after heamans treachery to shoot at them having discovered himself an enemy , he undantedly told them that himself , could he have compassed it , would have fired his ship . but how prettily do they forge ? fuller he sayes informed him that captain stone intended to fire his ship , and this dispute between the hireling and the master must be taken as a truth , and come likewise to the presse , and yet heamans and they bargained before : here , if it had been truth , you again shew your self a fool , to ingage because fuller affrighted you . and why should captain stone think of firing your ship , had you not been a declared enemy ? or if he had such an intent , why did he by letter addresse himself to you to stand newter ? before this addresse fuller and yee fomented these jealousies amongst the people , which by that after addresse , was clearly manifest it was never intended , therefore being in its own reason only a fiction , wherefore did you print it ? the cause of your seaman helies running away , i know not , but have been informed the fellow was of an honest temper , and that your fantastick domineerings was the cause he rather chose to lose his voyage , than longer to continue under you . in your whole relation of commands and arguments between you and your imployers , you so impudently juggle , that you raise both laughter and anger in me ; i shall not swell this to descant on each frivolous passage . the delivery of your benefactors of ann arundel country , is indeed a demy-miracle as you deliver it , but let a true information be received , it will appear otherwise ; first , to be treacherously dispersed and hurried a shore , as our men were by heamans firing at them . next , to be pursued by an other vessell , commanding at a distance , and so seizing on our boats and ammunition ; what a great matter did ye ? it is and hath been ordinary for a hundred men to surprize and take prisoners two hundred , but ye had more , ours not so many as i mention , and the difference was , ours came with a resolution rather to treat than fight , yours resolved to have the government or nothing , and therefore would not suffer any declaration to be published , but surprized the messenger , and what was most monstrous , after free-quarter giver , to adjudge , condemn , and execute , as ye did , your self heamans sitting in consultation , and being of their counsell of war , and most active to have all executed , none reprieved , no not the governour himself ; it was the first time that ever heamans had power of condemnation , and therefore thought to grow glorious by his unsampled severity . take a little view of these oaths , and then judge of this , and these fellowes . henry coursey , nicholas guyther , and richard willan , of the province of maryland in america , gent. maked oath , that in or about the latter end of may , in the year 1654. his highnesse the lord protector of the common-wealth of england , scotland , and ireland , and the dominions thereunto belonging , was by captain william stone , the lord baltamores governour of that province , caused to be proclamed in the head of the people there , they being then summoned in by capt. stone for that purpose ; and the said governor took order with captain tilman , and mr. bosworth , two cōmanders of ships , then trading in that province , to shoot off severall peeces of ordnance from their respective ships , in honour of that solemnity . and they further depose , that in the moneth of july then next following , mr. richard bennet ( the then governour of virginia ) and colonel william claiborn , the then secretary thereof , came from virginia to patuxent river in the said province of maryland , and there entertained as souldiers the inhabitants of the said river , with those of ann arundell , otherwise by them called providence , as also the inhabitants of the isle of kent within the said province , and so forced the said captain stone to resign his government . and the said deponent henry coursey further saith , that the said bennet and claiborn , afterwards forced the said governour to set his hand to a writing , the contents whereof as this deponent doth remember was , that he should not meddle with the resuming of the government again in the lord baltamores behalf . and all the said deponents further say , that the said bennet & claiborn then seized upon the records of the said province , & put them into the possession of one captain william fuller , mr. richard preston , and william durand ; and the deponent hen. coursey saith , that in march last , the said captain stone sent up to the said inhabitants of ann arundel , one mr. luke barber , and the said deponent henry coursey , with a proclamation to require the inhabitants there to yeeld obedience to the lord baltamores officers , under his highnesse the lord protector ; and that when the said mr. barber and this deponent henry coursey came thither they found the people there all in arms , and the said fuller would not suffer this deponent to read the said proclamation , and so refusing to give any obedience thereunto , the said mr. barber and this deponent were dismissed , but suddenly after ( before conveniently they could get away ) were taken prisoners by that party , whereby the said governour captain stone was prevented of any answer , whereupon he proceeded to come up with what force he had into the river , called by some severn , where these people lived : and all these deponents say , that when the said captain stone came into the said river , there was one captain roger heamans , with a great ship called the golden lion , whereof he was commander , who presently shot at captain stones boats as they passed by him ; and the said guyther and willan do further depose , that the said captain stone ( to avoid the said shot ) went into a creek in the said river , where one mr. cuts with another ship ( whereof he was master , blocked up the mouth thereof and upon any discovery forced there ordnance at the said captain stone and his party , untill such time as the said inhabitants of ann arundel had transported themselves over the river , unto the said captain stone and his party ; where after some dispute , the governour ( finding himself over-powred ) yeelded upon quarter , whereupon he and most of his party were transported over the river to a fort at ann arundel , where they were all kept prisoners , and about three dayes after , the said captain fuller , william burgees , richard evans , leo : strong , william durand , the said roger heamans , iohn brown , iohn cuts , richard smith , one thomas , and one bestone , samson warren , thomas meares , and one crouch , sat as in a councel of war , and there condemned the said governour captain stone , colonel iohn price , mr. iob chandler , mr. william eltonhead , mr. robert clerk , the said deponent nicholas guyther , captain william evans , captain william lewis , mr. iohn legat , and iohn pedro to dye , whereof they executed mr. william eltonhead , captain william lewis , mr. iohn legat , and iohn pedro , the rest being preserved at the request of the souldiers and women belonging to the said party at ann arundel ; after which execution , the common souldiers that did belong to the said captain stone , were sent away to their severall homes , but the officers and the said messengers were detained longer , and at the discharging of the said deponents henry coursey and nicholas guyther , the pretended councel of war imposed an oath upon them , that they should not write into england to give the lord baltamore any information of their proceedings ; and not long after they sequestred all the estates of those of the lord baltamores councel and officers there ; and the said henry coursey further deposeth , that he was present when mr. william eltonhead desired to be allowed an appeale to his highnesse the lord protector in england , but it was refused him by the said pretended councel of war at ann arundel ; and the said deponents henry coursey and nicholas guyther do further depose , that a little before the sending of the proclamation before mentioned , to the people at ann arundel , they heard the said captain stone declare unto certain messengers whom these people had sent unto him , that if the said people , who he understood were in arms , would repaire unto their severall homes , and submit themselves unto the former established government under the lord baltamore , which did acknowledge his highnesse the lord protector as soveraign lord , he would not offer any violence to them , or do them any prejudice , either in their persons or estates , or words to the very same effect ; and the deponent richard willan doth also further depose , that about the time when the said luke barber and henry coursey went with the said proclamation above mentioned , he heard the said captain stone command that none of his party should rob or plunder any upon pain of death . henry coursey . nicholas guyther . richard willan . sworn all three the second day of iuly 1655. before me na. hobart , a master of the chancery in ordinary . now may the reader throughly understand their religion , their humanity , their usage of his highnesses name , and to what purpose , not to act further by it than shall conduce to their own ends ; they will , they say , be subordinate to no power but to the lord protector , and yet deny appeales to his highnesse , rejecting his highnesses commands , breath out vants , that if his highnesse will not own their actings , they will not take notice of what comes from him . they imprisoned , fined , and hardly forbore to have executed doctor luke barber , notwithstanding he brought in a letter from his highnesse , directed to captain william stone , governour for the lord baltamore of his province of maryland , intimating thus , that the bearer hereof luke gardner , having been one of his domestick servants , was intended to remove himself and family into maryland , and therefore he intreated him to show him for his sake , what lawfull favour and assistance he could , signing it . oliver p. and under his highnesses signet . this was pretended a forgery , and mr. barber put to prove it to be the lord protectors , but he must prove it in that place , no appeale could lie good , and the gentleman as i have often heard him protest , was so over-awed , that at last he durst not affirmatively maintain it came from his highnesse , but answered doubtfully and distractedly . a strange impudence when a mandate so sacred as under his highnesses hand and seal , must not only be disputed , but to require a further evidence then himself , witnessing what shall issue out from himself , this is the greatest spurning against , and overthrowing authority , that ever was heard of or suffered . his highnesse having notice of the proceedings of bennet , claiborn , and these people , notwithstanding the sweet letter 〈…〉 to bennet , requiring him to cherish peace in the plantation , now further declares himself as followeth . sir , whereas the difference betwixt the lord baltamore and the inhabitants of virginia , concerning the bounds by them respectively claimed , are depending before us and our councel , and yet undetermined , and that as we are credibly informed , you have notwithstanding gone into his plantation in maryland , and countenanced some people there , in opposing the lord baltamores officers ; therefore for preventing of disturbances or tumults , we do will and require you , and all others deriving authority from you , to forbear disturbing the lord baltamore or his officers and people in maryland , and to permit all things to remain as they were there , before any disturbance or alteration made by you or any other , upon pretence of authority from you , till the said difference above-mentioned be determined by where , and that we give you further order therein : we rest , to richard bennet esq governour of virginia , these . your loving friend , signed oliver p. white-hall , jan. ●2 . 1654. copia vera examinatur per will. malin . by this it appeares how great care hath been by his highnesse used to prevent blood-shed , yet nothing will prevaile , and although by this in appeares that bennets pretended power ceased , and any derived from him , yet will not leo ▪ strong , the munkle-agent of providence ( as he calls himself ) cease to be an agent , but will justle this high command and revocation ; he peradventure at last will pretend his deafnesse , that he never heard it , but cannot alleage blindnesse , for he had and shall again see what it is . were not their actions very justifiable when they shold keep men in prison untill they should submit to an oath imposed on them , never to write for england , or to the lord baltamore , what had been done ? and suffer none to depart for england but what got away by stealth ? my self being proscribed by proclamation , and a great reward for him that should bring in my head , yet was i never in armes , nor never was an instigator against any of them in all these hurliburlies . we have many authentick testimonies discovering all their actions and proceedings , which are too voluminous to be inserted into an answer to such an ideot as the commander of the golden lion ; we hereby endeavour to give you onely a hint that heamans hath abused the world with his pamphlet , not a sillable whereof is truth ; how he hath deluded his owners with pretence of his care ; how he hath spurned at and belied the supreme authority ; how he hath intruded himself without any lawfull call , into the seat of justice , and there acted the part of a bloody and aggravating murtherer , condemning innocents and trampling on the souls of them he hath betrayed to death , for without his combination nothing of this had happened , and our selves had without rigor , without blood-shed , compelled obedience to the supreme command of his highnesse under the lord baltamore , whom we with all solemnity proclamed , and under whose protection we rejoyced , as our soveraign lord ; issuing out generall pardons in commemoration of that great and happy solemnity . and therefore we do and shall justly charge this heamans with all the blood spilt in our province , as the immediate author , with all the ruines , the banishments , the sequestrations of estates , and the heart-breaking griefs he hath yeelded our wifes and children , to whom if ever we return again , it is through many dangers and hazzards . for the cry of hey for st. maries , hey for two wives , if any rude souldier in those of any other termes were abusive , it must not colour your matchination , it proceeded by no order of the governours , nor from the mouthes of any of quality , themselves were civill and atractive , nor was ever any party afoot without some absurd expression , or disordered language ; but these are weak flourishes , and will only bear you out in weak esteemes . your observation of captain stones dejection , and his renunciation of the lord baltamore , the dead-heartedness of the prisoners , being onely affirmed by your self , is of as little credit as any thing else you have related ; nor are you and your compacted theevish ships company , to be evidences one for another , and no better than theeves and murtherers , to justifie you you have none ; the religious rejoycing you mention , is no otherwise than such prayers and rejoycings as theeves and gamsters at or after their enterprises use , and as acceptable to god ; but seeing heamans was a judge to condemn , and now is become a writer , i shall no longer dwell on heamans papers , i shall conclude with that fearful wo denounced by the prophet isaiah , against such as you are , isa. ●0 . v. 1. wo unto them that decree wicked decrees , and write grievous things , verse 2. to keep back the poor from judgement , and to take away the judgment of the poor of my people ; that widows may be their prey , and that they may spoil the fatherlesse . finis . advice to english protestants being a sermon preached november the fifth, 1689 / by a country-conformist. country-conformist. 1689 approx. 79 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). a26452 wing a647 estc r5998 12379403 ocm 12379403 60676 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. a26452) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60676) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 267:6) advice to english protestants being a sermon preached november the fifth, 1689 / by a country-conformist. country-conformist. [2], 34 p. printed by j.d. for awnsham churchill, london : 1689. reproduction of original in huntington library. marginal notes. 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 protestants -great britain -sermons. 2006-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion advice to english protestants , being a sermon preached november the fifth , 1689. by a country-conformist . london ; printed by j. d. for awnsham churchill . 1689. a sermon preached on the fifth of november , 1689. micah 6. v. 5. o my people , remember now what balak king of moab consulted , and what balaam the son of beor answered him from shittim unto gilgal , that ye may know the righteousness of the lord. god hath very greatly signalized this day , making it the time wherein he hath twice most wonderfully display'd his glorious attributes , in saving the inhabitants of this land from the most formidable evils and dangers , the most inveterate and inplacable enemies of their religion , and all their interests could design them unto . so that he hath forcibly commended to all english protestants , the solemn observation of this day , by two of the most miraculous demonstrations he hath ever vouchsafed unto any people , of the special care he had of , and the peculiar regard he had unto their welfare and happiness . we have been wont , on this day , to commemorate the great deliverance god wrought for our ancestors , when the papists intended , by blowing up with gun-powder their king , lords , and commons , to make way for their thorow executing of all that malice , wrath , revenge , and fury , they had conceived against all the protestants , within the territories belonging to the english crown . but god hath now done very much to endear this day a great deal the more unto us . he hath added a new miracle of mercy , beginning on this day the last year , another deliverance directly and immediately relating to our selves , which in most respects doth equal the former , and on many accounts doth very much transcend it . yet this latter deliverance must not obliterate the memory of the former : but the consideration of them both together , should mightily inlarge our hearts in admiration and praise , and powerfully engage us to a serious , faithful , and diligent improving what god hath done for us to that purpose , which the text acquaints us is our duty , viz. that we may know the righteousness of the lord. in the first verses of this chapter , the prophet gives us an account , that god had a controversy with his people , because of their unbecoming and undutiful carriages , after that he had wrought great deliverances for them ; they had not considered his works aright , nor behaved themselves after their deliverances , and under their enjoying of peace , liberty , and prosperous occurrences , as it was their duty . but by returning to their old sins , and by their perverse carriages they had kindled his wrath , and provoked his displeasure afresh against themselves . so that he upbraids them with their forgetfulness and ingratitude , and appeals to themselves , whether his way of treating them was such , as did deserve so much neglect as they did manifest ; and whether the common principles of ingenuity , could justify or excuse their superstitious or contemptuous demeanour towards him , after that he had done such great things for them ? and may not we fear too justly , that besides all our unworthy behaviour formerly , we have not demeaned our selves , since our late . deliverance , with that circumspection , care , and dutifulness , god hath indispensably obliged us unto , by appearing in so miraculous a manner to effect so seasonable a deliverance for us ? have not many of us , since we were freed from our late fears , reassumed to our selves our old fretful , narrow , repining , cankered spirits ? do not too many of us murmur ? are we not dissatisfied and discontented with our freedom and deliverance ? have we not exchanged our former real fears , for suspicions and jealousies , which have no foundation at all , but in our own whymsical and unreasonable phanci●s ? if the israelites were altogether unexcusable , when they thought of returning to egypt , and hankered after the cucumbers , and the m●l●ns , and the leeks , and the onions , and the garlick they were wont to eat there ; what must we be , if we murmur now , and cherish any inclination to the state we were lately in , or the persons who so lately frighted us ? the israelites knew very well , that the armed body of their oppressors was actually drowned in the sea , they found that they were really entred into a wide , desolate , barren wilderness , where there did not grow euen any such sorry food as egypt did afford them . but the armed force we were afraid of , is not yet sunk as lead in the mighty waters , not are we led forth into desolate places , where we can expect no provision , on necessary accommodations : we are in our own country , injoying all the good things in abundance , we were afraid , a year ago , would in a little time be wrested from us ▪ you have your lives , your lands , your laws , your liberties ; and you might have them better secured unto you than ever they were , if you had but a mind to it , if you had but publick spirits , if you did but understand where your truest interest lies , if you would but renounce your miserable , yet doted-on infatuation . you have the free and undisturbed use of your bibles , of the gospel and ordinances of jesus christ ▪ o that we had all hearts to prize and be duly thankful for these mercies , and to use and improve them as good christians ought to do ! but alas ! do we not give too many intimations , that we are not pleased , because god hath not governed himself in his late gracious dispensation , by our little scanty measures ? are we not laying all the obstacles and impediments we can in the way , to hinder this deliverance from growing up into an universal blessing to the whole protestant interest throughout the world ? have not multitudes given too notorious proof of their being men of very narrow and uncommendable spirits , in that they have depreciated themselves , relinquishing their former ( at least pretended ) characters , and exceedingly diminished the usual and true value of their estates , that hereby they might reserve to their private use , some certain sums of mony which should have increas'd their soveraign's revenue , and whereby the publick interest and benefit would have been hugely advanc'd ? have we not shewn too much inclination and readiness to resign up our selves to the same courses and practices , which we loudly acknowledged some months ago , to have been egregious mistakes and errors ? do not these and the like instances testify against us ? and may not god expostulate with us , as he did with israel in the two verses before my text ? o my people , what have i done unto thee , and wherein have i wearied thee ? for i brought thee up out of the land of egypt , and redeemed thee out of the house of servants , and i sent before thee moses , aaron , and miriam . may not god expostulate with us in this same manner ? what hurt have i done you ? had you no occasion of the deliverance i have wrought for you ? did you not with earnestness desire deliverance ? did you not groan , and very audibly express your fears ? did you not make a great and loud clamour of tyranny , popery , slavery ? was there any thing you pretended to desire with so much passion , as deliverance ? what wrong have i done you now in granting you deliverance ? wherein are you impaired ? in what respects is your condition made worse by what i have done ? have i not effected your deliverance for you ? have i not done much to secure your choicest mercies and blessings to you ? have i not , as it were , sent before you , and given you a moses , aaron , and miriam , to conduct and govern you , and be pledges of my gracious presence with you ? why are you so mutinous , so impatient and discontented ? why do you not concur with so gracious a providence as this you have been treated with ? why do you not comply with the design of such rich and tender mercy ? pray be a little considerate ; look back to former times , remember what i have done for you . recollect your selves ; mind what your estate was the last year , and consider how much better it is now . weigh the great things i have done for you , how i have blasted the projects , consultations , and enterprizes which were on foot against you : and then consider , what kind of deportment will become you . o my people , remember now what balak king of moab consulted , and what balaam the son of beor answered him from shittim unto gilgal , that ye may know the righteousness of the lord. in these words we may take notice of three things . first ; the relation god doth acknowledg and own these israelites ( whom he here exhorts , and with whom he did in the former verses expostulate ) had unto himself . o my people . though they had done much to provoke his displeasure against them , he doth not entirely reject them , he doth not renounce his relation unto them , but acknowledgeth they are his people ; he speaks to them with much tenderness of affection , and intimates unto them , that he hath still a greater regard to them , and concern for their good , than he hath for other people . and therefore if they would but reflect on matters , and return to themselves , and to their duty , he would make it appear , that whatever thoughts their adversaries may have towards them , he hath thoughts of mercy towards them , and will give them an expected end. god had chosen them from amongst other people to bear his name , and they were his people by covenant and profession . he had committed to them his oracles , and they were acquainted with the religion and worship which he had authorized . it is a great mercy and priviledg for a people to be owned by the lord for his people . happy is that people whose god is the lord. whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance . this is a prevailing plea and argument in prayer . we are thine . thou never bearest rule over them : they were not called by thy name . it is a ground of hope , that god will be mindful of , and merciful unto them . fear not , o jacob my servant , and jesurun whom i have chosen ; for i will pour water upon him ▪ that is thirsty , and floods upon the dry ground ; i will pour my spirit upon thy seed , and my blessing upon thy off-spring . it is an assurance , that under the darkest providences such a people can be exercised with , god will but correct in measure , and that he will not utterly destroy . i will visit their transgression with the rod , and their iniquity with stripes ; nevertheless , my loving-kindness will i not utterly take from him , nor suffer my faithfulness to fail . god hath singled us out to be his people ; he hath brought his truth , and word , and ordinances , amongst us , with a mighty hand and stretched-out arm , and he hath often appeared for our defence , and hath manifested his owning of us to be his people many times , and on various occasions , to the extraordinary disappointment , and great confusion of our adversaries . he hath done thus of late to a very wonderful degree ; so that we have some ground to hope , that notwithstanding there are such great multitudes amongst us , who by their untractableness , and horrible abuse of mercies , may provoke god to bring very great judgments upon our land , yet he will not take his loving-kindness utterly from us , nor suffer his faithfulness to fail . in what manner he will scour our land , and what course he will take with those who are obstinately refractory , and do sturdily refuse to be reclaimed by any of those methods he hath hitherto used with us , i cannot positively affirm . but there is certainly a remnant , a generation amongst us ; who do love and fear god , who do acknowledg and own , and honour him , in his late marvellous appearances , for whom god hath a regard . so that however , the continued and reiterated wickednesses of many , may pull down dreadful and astonishing instances of god's displeasure upon the land , yet he will not proceed to make an utter end of us , as long as he doth own us for his people . when his corrections and judgments have done their full work , and accomplished their business on the inhabitants of this nation , then will our god return to us in love , and make his name more glorious in mercy amongst us , than it hath yet been . god doth still continue the tokens of his gracious presence with us , we have his word , and his ordinances amongst us . and when it shall please him to make these apparently effectual in all parts of the land , for the real conversion of multitudes of people , and the building up of people in grace and holiness , then may we expect that our joy and our happiness shall break forth as the light , and be made firm and unalterable . secondly ; what the people of god are here exhorted unto . and that is , to remember what balak king of moab consulted , and what balaam the son of beor answered him from shittim unto gilgal . they must reflect on , and call to mind ( so as to be duly affected with ) the contrivances which had been managed against them , and how wonderfully and effectually god had blasted and defeated all the consultations and enterprizes their adversaries intended should have been so fatal unto them . balak had a very secret and cursed design against israel , he consulted to ruin and destroy them absolutely . god obstructs him in his purpose , and very strangely over-rules him , who was intended to be an instrument for their hurt , to bless them ; and to declare to balak , that all contrivances and consultations against them would be useless ; for god did own them , and would most certainly make them very prosperous . if you peruse the 22d , 23d and 24th chapters of the book of numbers , you will find a full account of what balak consulted against them , and what balaam did answer from shittim unto gilgal . in short , balak consulted to have them brought under a curse , and that he might have his will on them . balaam answers him , it cannot be , for god hath blessed them , and it is not possible to reverse his blessing . they are a peculiar people to the lord , and he doth own them for his , there is no inchantment , nor divination that can take hold on them , they must and they will prosper . he tells balak , god will make the israelites masters of his country , so that they shall possess it , and pass through it , and go over jordan , and come to gilgal , and enter with great success upon the lands which pertained to the princes on the other side the water . they have god on their side , and they will prosper , and there are no consultations , no stratagems , no oppositions which can stand before and obstruct them from arriving at all the felicity god hath appointed them unto . these things they were to remember , they were to call them to mind , and consider them throughly , weighing all their circumstances , till their souls were duly affected with the dangers they were in , and how wonderfully the mercy and power of god were manifested on their behalfs . thirdly ; for what end and purpose they who profess themselves the people of god , should thus remember the deliverances he hath wrought for them : and that is , that they might know the righteousness of the lord ; that they may be truly sensible of the discoveries god hath made of his righteousness therein . what mercy and goodness he hath manifested in helping and saving them . how evidently his truth and faithfulness do appear in the accomplishing of those promises he hath made for his peoples support and security : what other of the divine attributes are evidenced in such works of god , upon a due consideration of their circumstances . and that we may get our minds perswaded that the justice of god is such , that he will punish even with utter extirpation , those who do slight , and will take no notice of , but do abuse such great deliverances . in a word , the expression doth import thus much : that when god hath wrought any extraordinary deliverance for a people professing his true faith and worship , they ought seriously and often to call that deliverance to mind , and remember it so , that they may be effectually influenced thereby to apply themselves to such courses , as have the plainest and surest tendency to secure unto them the continuance of the mercies they do enjoy , and to ripen their deliverance which is begun , that it may grow up unto perfection . these israelites had demeaned themselves unsuitably to what they were obliged unto by the deliverances god had granted them , so that god had a controversy with them ; now he calls them to consider what he had done for them , referring them to a deliverance which he had wrought for the israelites a long time before that ; so upon their considering that aright , they might learn to rectify their mistakes , and betake themselves to such courses as would contribute much to secure to them the favour , and continued protection , and blessing of heaven : for their happiness was not so established , but if they did carry themselves unworthily , they might lose what they did at present enjoy , and they might relapse into as great dangers as any of those from which they had been rescued . now from hence we may be instructed what doth concern us at present : and that is , first , to remember the deliverances god hath wrought for us . secondly , to apply our selves in good earnest to those courses , which are most proper to secure unto us the continuance of our present mercies , and to carry our present deliverance to its just perfection . in discoursing of these two points , i shall , first , very briefly acquaint you what deliverance we are now to call to mind . and , secondly , shew you what we are to do , that our present deliverance may arrive to its full growth ; both extend its benign influence to the whole protestant interest , and be a lasting blessing both to our selves and our posterity . first , i am briefly to minde you what deliverances we are now to remember . god hath been pleased to follow us with a long succession of deliverances , ever since he expelled the thick darkness of popery out of our country , and introduced the first beginnings of a reformation in religion according to scripture . for the adversaries of the true religion have , ever since they lost their main footing in this land , been very industrious and indefatigable , to make themselves masters again , of all that the goodness of god , and the wisdom of our pious and prudent ancestors did dispossess them of : but hitherto god hath strangely infatuated them in their councils , and miraculously defeated them in those enterprizes against us , which they seemed to manage with the greatest dexterity , and from which they did not doubt but they should receive the most plenary satisfaction . this day doth mind us of two very eminent deliverances god hath wrought for us . and these are the only deliverances i shall expresly take notice of at this time . the former of them was effected in the days of our predecessors . the enemies of our faith , and of all our interests , had contrived to have committed a most cursed and barbarous villany on our king , lords and commons , and afterwards on all other protestants , this very day , in the year 1606. and they were so near effecting their design , that they wanted but a piece of a night and a few hours in the morning , to accomplish the principal part of what they intended . i need not be particular in relating what our adversaries had projected , the steps they had taken , the way and manner how they were discovered , and the protestants delivered ; you have often heard these things reported . let us seriously consider with our selves , in what condition these nations would have been , both as to religion , and every thing else that is valuable , if this plot had taken effect . and in what likelihood our adversaries were of accomplishing their own purposes . their plot was laid and managed with the most contrived secrecy ; there was no knowledg of it in order to a human prevention : it was brought just to the point of execution . and was there ever any design laid , which should have been so formidable and full of dread and consternation in the execution of it , as this must have been , if it had not been prevented ? if the papists had then succeeded , what must the consequences have been ? what treatment and usage must protestants then have expected ? none more gentle than would suit with the tempers and principles of those who could deliberately devise , and with thoughtfulness perpetrate so horrid , so bloody , so cruel a project as this was . well , god disappointed the hopes of the papists at this time , and miraculously preserved those who were thus appointed to die . surely this deliverance , if rightly apprehended and weighed by english protestants , should powerfully engage them to a very observant and dutiful behaviour towards god. but this is not the only deliverance we are now to remember . this day doth mind us of another , singular and admirable in all its circumstances , and which made its entrance amongst us , this day the last year . i need not say much concerning this deliverance , you all know the main particulars of it ; your own senses can be your monitors . would god we had all hearts to make an improvement of it answerably to what we can every one inform our selves concerning it . in what estate did you apprehend your selves to be , before god was pleased to grant you this deliverance ? did you not think your religion was in danger ? did not you think your claims to your lands and liberties ( as matters then stood ) were very precarious ? what were your fears then ? what were your complaints ? what were your desires ? what were your thoughts , and your discourses then of arbitrary power ? did not those who have great estates often think with themselves , what little pittances of land would be left them , when their church and abby-lands should be appropriated to those uses the papists formerly applied them unto ? nay , were you not sometimes perplexed with fears , that the rest of your lands must be ceased to make amends for the long alienation of the other ? were you not in doubt , that if help did not speedily arrive , your estates , your goods , your lives would be claim'd as forfeited , because the owners of them were hereticks ? did you not really believe that such designs were on foot , that if french forces should come over before you had help , your dangers would be altogether remediless ; that your ruin and destruction would be irreversible ? were not these your real apprehensions and fears ? have you not often solemnly declared so much your selves ? how then should you now value and improve this deliverance ? if you had not such fears and thoughts , why did you make such clamours ? how can you be reconciled to the practices you applied your selves unto ? how could you reconcile your selves then to the courses you took ? god hath now wonderfully delivered us from what some felt , and from what we all feared . he hath accomplished our deliverance in a very miraculous manner , making the winds , the seas , and the more inconstant minds of most of all sorts of people , to concur to help on our deliverance . there is no occasion of my making a large relation of this deliverance . what i am speaking of , was not done in a corner , nor in a time your memories cannot reach unto . you can easily inform your selves about it , you can instruct one another concerning it . you may easily have recourse to particular accounts which are published . yet there is one thing which i would just hint unto you , relating to this deliverance , which if we have not a regard unto , we cannot possibly set a just estimate upon it : and it is a consideration of that nature , which as it hath a tendency to shame and humble us , so to demonstrate , that our present deliverance is remarkably distinguished from , and made more considerable than any of the other deliverances god hath been pleased to work for this land. it may be an unpleasing intimation to some people , but i dare not forbear to mention it , now i am discoursing on this subject . dawbing with untempered mortar , hath greatly indangered both church and state already . people must not be soothed up in their sins and impenitence : it is high time for us all to be humbled . we cannot praise god aright , and give him the glory due for this deliverance , till we throughly debase our selves before him . now that which i would desire you all to take notice of , with reference unto our present deliverence is this , that we our selves had a main hand in bringing our selves into that dangerous estate , out of which god hath delivered us : we advanced notions , and countenanced practices , which did exceedingly serve and please our popish adversaries ; and opened a way for them to enter confidently on many of those methods which we found to be very uneasy , and of dangerous consequence ; and of which we thought it was very fit to complain . god hath several times tendered us deliverance , but some of his offers we have lampoon'd ; with reference unto others of them , we have done worse . it is certain the papists have , since we can remember , formed a great many designs against us , but they went not on very prosperously with any of them , till we refused to be convinced by miracle ; and instead of believing their plots , and endeavouring to prevent their success , did give them our assistance , and contrived more effectually against our own interests than they could . now this is the wonder of our deliverance , that god ▪ should save us , when we had industriously pull'd ruin upon our selves , and had shut our eyes so fast , for fear we should perceive our enemies designs , and had help'd them with all our might , to forward their purpose . our predecessors were sometimes on the brink of ruin ; but that was their misfortune , not their fault : they did not hoodwinck themselves , out of a narrow peevish suspicion , that their adversaries disappointment would prove too general a good. nor is it so much to be wondered at , that providence should interpose extraordinarily to prevent the utter destruction of an harmless innocent people , who are only devoted to ruin , by the craft and malice of a sort of creatures , in whose composition the principal ingredients are falshood and cruelty . but notwithstanding our own faultiness , and our being so far accessary to our own trouble and danger , god hath saved us . he hath proceeded so far , as to fasten a very happy deliverance on us ; i pray god it may not appear , that he hath done it against many of our wills. this present deliverance should be remembred by us , and considered particularly as thus circumstanced . if we reflect on the estate we were in a twelve-month ago , and then consider in what a happy alteration we found our selves a few weeks after , we may be justly surprized : and if we are under either a truly religious , or rational influence , we must be necessitated to acknowledg , that the lord hath done great things for us . but my business is not to attempt a description of this great work of god , whereon he hath so visibly imprinted the fairest characters of his own transcendent perfections . a silent awful administration seems best to suit with the astonishing lustre and brightness of those divine excellencies which appear there . the most significative and emphatical expressions we can use , in speaking of this glorious work , will but lessen and diminish its greatness . we can no more provide words , which will exactly instruct people in the peculiarities , and distinguishing properties of this great salvation , than we can provide colours which will fully represent unto them the meridian brightness . our souls and affections will be most powerfully wrought on , and touch'd , by a due and serious contemplation , and view of this miracle of power and goodness , just as god himself hath set it before us . our great care should now be , that we make a good use and improvement of what god hath already done for us . he hath now put an opportunity into our hands : if we mistake now , and fail of obtaining what is the desire and hope of all good men , the fixing of the protestant interest , and the setling of our civil affairs on such bottoms , as may render them not subject to prophane and arbitrary violations , the fault will be wholly our own . we have abused many deliverances already : god is now trying us once more . it concerns us to take care we do not abuse this deliverance , lest our god should resolve to leave off making experiments on us for our good , and should entirely resign us up to them , who have long earnestly desired to have us under their tutorage . it is our duty now , to apply our selves to those courses , which have the plainest and most direct tendency , to preserve and promote our happiness . therefore i will proceed , secondly , to acquaint you what we should do to secure to our selves the mercies we do enjoy , and that the present deliverance may grow up to its just perfection . and , first , we should humble our selves in good earnest before the lord for our past sins , and especially for the horrible abominations which have so exceedingly prevail'd in this land. god hath been pleased to use various methods with us , but we have hitherto refused to be reclaimed : our iniquities and transgressions have equalled all his dispensations towards us , and this not only for number , but they have born a proportion in their malignity , to what hath been singular , and more eminently remarkable in all his providences . our sins were a while since multiplied and encreased to a prodigious degree ; we committed those sins with an high hand , in a daring confident manner , which our ancestors would have blush'd at the thoughts of , and which civilized persons in other countries would have been asham'd to have heard mentioned . the infection of our sins was spread over all the land , our guilt was become general , and we appeared ripe for vengeance . clouds did immediately arise , storms did threaten us , our dangers became apparent , we began generally to have black apprehensions , and we feared that a more fatal stroke would fall on us than we had ever yet suffered under . this was a time for a serious and general humiliation : but we may easily remember how defective we were in this point . it will become us therefore not to betake our selves to the true and thorow performance of this duty . and if we would every one make a strict and impartial scrutiny into our own hearts , and consciences , and lives , and finding out our own sins in particular , with their several aggravations , would acknowledg them unto god with brokenness of heart and godly sorrow , earnestly intreat for pardon , and implore divine aid for the future , there would a very happy alteration soon appear amongst us : we should then be admirably prepared for all those blessed fruits , this pregnant instance of divine mercy we at present enjoy , and do at this time commemorate , would assuredly draw after it , to a people so disposed . besides , our doing thus every one by himself , it may be of great use for those of every order amongst us , to consider what have been the most predominant sins amongst the generality of that order , and to bewail those in a special manner ; and to search out such remedies as are most proper for the healing those breaches which these have made in our church and state. all orders of people have transgressed , and in every order there have been peculiar offences ; which have contributed much to the inflaming of god's wrath , and heightning of that guilt under which our church and state have groaned . nobles , magistrates , gentry , commonalty , and those of every degree and order in the church , should labour to be acquainted with the plague of their own hearts , and to bewail the wickednesses which have more especially prevailed amongst those of their own quality and rank . all sins are hurtful , but the sins of those who are in publick offices , which are of a gross and heinous nature , and have a special relation to their offices , are extreamly dangerous . these are wounds in the church and state , of which great care must be taken , or else they will prove of very dreadful consequence . is there no balm in gilead ? is there no physician there ? why then is not the health of the daughter of thy people recovered ? we should all likewise endeavour to be duly affected with the great guilt the nation lies under in general . what a general neglect , and even contempt of the laws and ordinances of god , are we chargeable with ? have not all sorts of horrible wickednesses abounded amongst us ? have they not past abroad every where without any check and controul ? i say , have they not met in most places with very much countenance and incouragement , even from those who should have reprimanded and punish'd them , and who were inclined to reflect with severity on other practices , which the scriptures give no ill character of ? have we not all great cause to mourn , that gross injustice , unmercifulness , oppression , insatiableness , whoredom , drunkenness , and such kind of vices and immoralities , have gone bare-faced amongst us , and been gloried in ? have not the generality amongst us , given up themselves to their sports , and pleasures , and vanities , when the judgments of god have been visibly amongst us ? how many new ways have been devised of late , to sin against god ? what temptations and provocations to excess have been invented and applauded ? have not multitudes arrived to an impudent contempt of god's threatnings , and to make a sport at those who have warned them from the holy scriptures , of the righteous judgments of the lord ? and to ridicule all serious application to the great essentials of religion , and concern for the truth and spirituality of god's worship and service ? it cannot , with any regard to truth and modesty , be denied , that these things have had too much sway and influence in this land. and these and the like sins do portend very ill to a nation where they do prevail , and obtain allowance . therefore we should humble our selves deeply on these accounts , that our land may be preserved from the fearful consequences such wickednesses do ordinarily draw after them . and now the more publick , solemn , and general our humiliation shall be , the better will the remedy be proportioned to our disease , and the better will our deportment suit with that state into which god hath now brought us . for god hath not , by giving us this deliverance , discharged us from the duty of true humiliation and sound repentance : but he hath rather the more indispensably obliged us unto it ; having now removed those obstacles out of our way , which we might lately pretend did obstruct the publick performance of it . and if god hath done so much for us , before we did address our selves to it with a due solemnity ; what may we expect he will do for us , after that we have testified aright our lothing of our selves , and our detestation of all those courses whereby we had provoked his displeasure ? yea , we shall praise him the better , and more acceptably for all his works of grace and mercy towards us , by how much the deeper sense we have of our own unworthiness , and by how much the lower we fall in our abasing our selves before him because of our many and unexcusable provocations . o lord god of israel , thou are righteous , for we remain yet escaped , as it is this day ; behold ; we are before thee in our trespasset , for we cannot stand before thee ; because of this . secondly ; we should take a particular care that we do not apostatize , and return to our old sins . and more particularly those sorts of sins which have a singular malignity in them , and do tend directly , either to prejudice the common interests of protestantism , or to disorder the civil state. these things brought us lately into that deplorable state , in which we must have absolutely sunk and perish'd , if help had not been sent us in a very miraculous manner , and in a very seasonable juncture . and what can we expect , if we return to our former sins , but that god will discover his anger against us , to the rendering of our estate seven times worse , and seven times worse , than ever it hath yet been ? if we should have this present deliverance grow up to maturity , so that our enemies may never so much as hope it will be to any purpose for them , to contrive against , and attempt us again , let us forbear , and have those sins and practices which have hitherto weakned and confounded us , made god our enemy , and inspired our adversaries with counsel , resolution and courage . our enemies have no knowledg , nor discretion , nor strength , they can use to any purpose against us , but what they are beholden to our sins and wickednesses for . if we return to our former sinful courses , our adversaries will soon frame plots ( and it is to be feared with success ) against our peace and safety . may our former , and especially our late experiences , furnish us with such iustruction and wisdom , as may be as lasting as our lives , and of perpetual advantage to those who shall succeed us . seeing god hath now spoken peace unto us , let us see that we turn not again to folly. is it possible to affront god more insolently , than by apostatizing to our old sins ? what ! shall we evidence to the world , that we look on this great deliverance as good for nothing , but to render us more untractable and incorrigible ? will ye steal , murder , and commit adultery , and swear falsly , and burn incense unto baal , and walk after other gods to your hurt , whom ye know not , and come and stand before me in this house , which is called by my name , and say , we are delivered to do all these abominations ? more particularly we should take care that we do not return . first , to any of those instances whereby the power of godliness , and the most essential interest of religion have been prejudiced . let us now abhor all those methods whereby peoples instruction and edification in religion have been obstructed ; and whereby a passage hath been opened for prophaneness , to have an abundant entrance into our land , and an opportunity hath been given it to diffuse it self , and make a successful progress thorow all parts of our country . instead of using any means to hinder and discourage the frequent , constant , and sound preaching of the word of god , may those who are intrusted with this work , be every-where obliged to attend unto it with greater diligence . may care be taken in all places for the effectual suppression of all prophanation of the lord's day , and of the common and ordinary abuse of his holy and reverend name ; as also of those more bulky blasphemies , imprecations , and oaths , which have been in too frequent use amongst us . it concerns us also to take care , that we do not relapse into any of those horrible debaucheries , and infamous excesses , nor into any of those arts and contrivances to betray people into intemperance , which have past so openly , and with too much applause , through most places , especially of concourse , in this nation . these and the like instances do exceedingly prostitute the sacredness of our profession , and many ways expose the peace , the safety , the honour of our government . and we should likewise take heed that we do not any more exchange that spiritual devotion , and reasonable worship we owe unto our god , for empty formality , some pompous rites , and a few bodily gestures . secondly ; to our church-bigotry . we have at the same time advanced notions , which make the church of christ much narrower than it really is , and set up a more extensive authority in it , than ever christ established there : we have so embarrass'd the notion of the church , and what concerns its administration and government ; it would be worthy of the best and maturest thoughts of the most understanding and experienced christians to find out a way to clear matters well , and extricate us out of those labyrinths wherein we have industriously bewildred our selves . may we now come to entertain notions of a church , truly consistent with that peace , affection , brotherly-kindness and love , with which every one who is a member of the church of christ , should be indued . may no party amongst us arrogate too much , but be contented with such authority and power as christ hath given to his church . will not things indifferent remain just so , when bigots have done all they can to perswade the world of the contrary ? let us now inlarge our judgments , as far as we can , ( provided we leave not the truth behind us , nor take in error and falshood ) that we may come as near together in opinion as is possible . and as for those instances , about which we shall still have different apprehensions , let us dissent like christians , bearing with one another , and on neither hand assume infallibility ; seeing the managing of our differences hitherto , with undue heats , hath proved of ill consequence ; let us now maintain and discover , in the midst of our dissents , an affection one for another , truly pacifying and christian . thirdly ; to our court-sycophantry . this is an unhinging of the government , and an advancing of notions and practices which have a tendency to overturn and destroy our settlement ; that we may ingratiate our selves with some who do not deserve the most excellent characters . how much prejudice have two precarious ju● divinum's done this kingdom ? the one to inslave mens souls and consciences ; the other to inslave their persons , and destroy their civil rights . thirdly ; we should ascribe with thankfulness and joy , the honour of this great deliverance unto god , and faithfully pay unto that great and blessed instrument he did imploy in the effecting of it , all that real gratitude , chearful homage , and just subjection which is due unto him. it is god who was the author of this great deliverance : whatever counsels were taken , and whatever provision was made in order to our succor , our deliverance could not have been effected either in the manner , or in the time , wherein it was brought about , if god himself had not wonderfully appeared , and wrought mightily on the spirits and minds of people on every side . what a numerous multitude of stupendious occurrences do croud into our thoughts , as soon as ever we begin to observe and trace this miracle of kindness from its first publick appearance to that huge advance it made in the two or three first months ! here we should give our freest thoughts their full scope , to observe all the discoveries we meet with of the divine excellencies , and endeavour to get our souls raised to the highest degrees of sacred admiration and love , that our praises may , as near as possible , be as boundless , as god hath been in the effusions of his bounty and goodness . the hand of god is so eminently discovered in this deliverance , it should awaken and bring those to their wits and senses again , who had sunk themselves into the deepest unmindfulness of a divine being . we must be more obdurate and sottish than the magical priests of egypt were , if we do not acknowledg that here was indeed the finger of god. the power , wisdom and goodness of god do appear so conspicuous in this instance , we may even question whether he did ever display them altogether in so illustrious and glorious a manner to any people as he hath now done unto us . when did he ever confer on such a nation ( considering both our guilt and our danger ) such an unbounded goodness , introduced with such bright and shining discoveries of a wisdom and power as unlimited , as the grace and mercy for which they prepared the way ? are , we not now under the most powerful and obliging dispensations of mercy and love , enhaunced by the attendance of every thing which is proper to operate on , and influence the reasonable nature ? with what grateful resentments should our souls be now possessed ? how should our mouths be now filled with praises and acknowledgments ? this is god's doing . it is his right-hand which hath saved us . if he had refused and denied his blessing and conduct , all that was attempted for our relief would have proved vain and abortive , yea , would have made our condition more fatal , our yoke and bondage more insupportable . not unto us , not unto us , o lord , but unto thy name be all the glory . it was thy right-hand , and thy arm , and the light of thy countenance which saved us , because thou hadst a favour unto us . let us therefore resolve we will extol and bless him every day , we will praise his name for ever and ever . the offering of due gratitude and praise unto god for this deliverance , will mightily dispose us to express and pay unto our present soveraigns the exactest homage , and most dutiful obedience . when our hearts are possessed with an affectionate and tender sense of the good god hath done by them , both to the protestant interest in general , and in particular unto this nation , when we perceive in what love and mercy he hath established them over us , and by what a series of miracles he hath brought us under their protection and government , we shall readily acknowledg that we are indispensably obliged to discover and pay unto them our gratitude , submission ▪ and obedience in all those instances which do become good christians , and true english subjects . when i hear of the unwillingness that any do shew to pay their just tribute to whom it is due , and of the tricks which some do use to defraud their soveraigns of their right , i am apt to suspect that these people did never give god hearty thanks for what he hath done for our church and nation by their means . i am astonish'd ! i am fill'd with indignation and horror ! when i consider how english-men and protestants are degenerated ; when i hear that any who come under the former denominations , do grudg to pay the full sums of mony which are legally exacted . what would you have been willing to have parted with twelve months ago to have been assured of the security , peace , liberty , and other blessings you now enjoy ? were you wont to play such tricks , and to be so sparing of your mony in former times , even when so many hundreds of pounds were paid every week to maintain the grandeur of a french minion , and when designs were carrying on against all your interests ? do you think the french protestants , if they had your estates , and were under your circumstances , would think much to part with ten times more than is required of you , to secure their religion and liberty ? had you suffered as they have done , did you really know what they know , and did true grace prevail in your hearts , you would rather be troubled that under the present juncture of affairs , your taxes are no greater . we have no taxes laid upon us now to maintain exorbitances , and keep up the grandeur of lust . there is nothing required of us , but what is absolutely necessary to secure our whole estates unto us , and preserve the protestant religion , and advance the publick good. would you be willing that irish and french papists should come and make themselves masters of your estates , and turn you , and your wives , and your children , and families out of doors ; nay to do worse with you than this does amount unto ? and can you expect to be preserved from their incroachments and violences , if armies and fleets be not made use of against them , and for their suppression ? and can fleets and armies be maintained without expences , yea without greater expences than we are yet acquainted with ? repent heartily and speedily for what is past . and let it now appear that english protestants do scorn to starve a good cause , that they are indeed the most noble and publick spirited subjects in the world. do you know what ravage , havock , and devastations the french papists do make in other countries , firing and burning villages and whole towns , and leaving nothing but ashes and rubbish behind them ? how much of their estates would irish protestants have parted with , that their country werein so peaceble and good a condition as ours is ? will you answer , you are not under such circumstances ? 't is true ; but be thankful that you are not ; bless god heartily for the deliverance this day minds you of , and chearfully part with whatsoever is expedient to preserve you in the good estate you are in at present , and secure you from the outrages other protestants have trial of . learn to understand , and faithfully perform your duty to your . soveraign , and do something more than ordinary now to wipe off that foul blemish so lately contracted on english-men . let something be done speedily , that it become not an indelible reproach to our nation , that our estates were unmeasurably under-valued to defraud our prince . but that is not all , for sparing the name this practice deserves under the former consideration , our playing such pranks is an unpardonable childishness ; for we herein cheat and deceive our selves : and blessed be god , that we have such a prince , that we cannot possibly wrong him , but we must trebly damage our selves . tho you are not sensible of this at present , yet time will make the truth of it sensibly evident . lord ! what shall be done to purge away the horrible guilt contracted on this land , if the late assessors have throughout the nation performed their oaths no better than they have in some countries ? our king ventured his life and his fortunes , not in word and empty profession , but in truth and reality , for our good ; and shall we be averse to part with a little mony to settle and secure our selves in that good estate , into which , by the blessing of god , he hath brought us ? is this your gratitude , your duty , your loyalty to your soveraign ? not to say your love to your selves , and your concern for the publick ? well! but however matters have gone hitherto , let us carry our selves better for the future . let us now begin to quit our selves like men. may we of this generation retrieve yet the ancient honour of our country . let us from this time endeavour to the utmost , that we may demonstrate a courage for the truth , and a gratitude and faithfulness to our prince , which may , as near as possible , bear a proportion with the worth of the one , and the merits of the other . fourthly ; we should improve this great deliverance all we can to the advantage of the protestant religion and interest . it behoves us now to have a zeal for our religion in some measure answerable to its own excellency , and the demonstrations god hath so lately given of his concern for it . how should we , now we are freed from the dangers we were in , be touched with a penetrating sense of the miseries , desolations , and sufferings of our protestant brethren in other countries ? how willing and ready should we be to contribute all we can to their relief , help , and deliverance ? are we so obdurate , so miserly , that neither our own mercies , nor our brethrens necessities , nor the extraordinary works of god , shall prevail with us to be charitable and beneficent ? what have we our estates , lands , and possessions continued , and confirmed a-new unto us for , but that we may liberally impart the same unto those , and for the procuring of their deliverance , who have lost all for the sake of that religion , which is so much maligned and persecuted in the world ? if you were in their estate , would you not think them worse than heathens , nay worse than papists , if they did quietly inherit hundreds and thousands by the year , and should refuse to contribute liberally and freely to assist the warlike preparations which should be necessary to rescue you out of such an unjust and barbarous thraldom ? what account will you give to god of the mony and estates you are intrusted with , if through your niggardliness and stingyness , the deliverance of his persecuted church is obstructed ? dare you spend great sums of mony , yearly , monthly , weekly , on sumptuous tables , and clothes , at games , and needless , ( to say no worse ) exercises ? dare you lay out your estates on horses , hawks , dogs , &c. whilst glorious enterprizes for the bringing down and subduing of barbarous persecutors , and for the rescuing of the suffering members of christ , from under the wickedest tyranny that was ever heard of , do languish , and are in danger of miscarrying for want of incouragement and support ? shall any of us think of scraping together plentiful fortunes for our children , and contrive to add house to house , and field to field , whilst such great numbers of god's most faithful servants are in the extreamest poverty , and treated with the most savage barbarity ? do you mind great things for your selves ? mind them not , whilst such great supplies are wanting for the relief and help of your protestant brethren . seeing god hath delivered us , let us chearfully impart whatsoever is needful towards the carrying on of those enterprizes with success which are now in hand , for the settling of the whole protestant church on a good basis , and in a safe and secure estate . when we were in danger so lately , did not others venture their mony , and their persons too to save and preserve us ? and shall not we imitate them , seeing what they did was of such happy consequence to our selves ? did you ever know any who fared the worse at long-run , by being noble and generous , and venturing to the utmost in sincerity , for god's cause , his truth , and persecuted church ? do not the papists do all they can , in all parts , to promote their false religion , and to weaken and overthrow the church of god ? do they spare mony ? will they not mortgage their estates , and sell their lands , and use all manner of ways to maintain , and uphold , and help their own party ? and shall not protestants have as publick spirits as they have ? we may take more comfort than they can , if we lay out all that we have in the world , to procure deliverance for the church of god ; for they serve a very bad master . let this deliverance god hath wrought for us , have this good effect on us , to make us ready and willing to do all we can , that our suffering-brethren may have help and deliverance . you that are poor , and have no mony , who are incapable of taxes , you can pray , and importune god for them : attend to that business carefully . yea , let us all be careful constantly to represent their case with earnestness unto that god who hath delivered us . how long , o lord , holy , and true , dost thou not judg and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? more particularly , we should take care every one of us to improve this deliverance , to the rendering of us more true and serviceable to the protestant interest in this kingdom . to which end we should improve it , 1st . to make us more careful to be thorowly instructed in the grounds and principles , and the several truths and parts of the protestant religion , and to get our souls truly affected with the importance and consequence , the goodness and excellency of every one of them . the papists themselves are necessitated to acknowledg we have no positive articles of faith but what are warranted by the word of god , and that our worship and administrations are all for the substance of them authorized by the word of god. let us therefore carefully search and study the holy scriptures , and see that the word of god do dwell in us richly , that we may be able to give a reason of the hope that is in us . 2ly . to have such an abhorrence of popery setled in our souls , as may be in some measure proportioned to its falseness , immorality , and cruelty . 1. it s falseness . there is not any thing offers a more rude affront unto god , in every thing that is most dear and tender unto him , than popery doth . it proceeds to that height of blasphemy , as to make him an authorizer and approver of the most shameful and nonsensical idolatries which were ever devised . it represents him as imposing upon men the most contradictious nonsense that was ever invented ; yea , as teaching and instituting those very instances which do most obviously , and in express terms , contradict his own plainest doctrines , and most positive institutions . all this is evident , in their doctrine of worshipping the host , transubstantiation , worshipping images , withholding the cup , in the sacrament of the lord's supper from the people , denying the people the use of the scriptures , and praying in an unknown language , &c. 2. it s immorality . it finds out ways to reconcile the most horrid debaucheries , with the easy hopes of heaven . its doctrines of purgatory , absolutions , penances , indulgences , &c. do incourage those who will entertain them , to all manner of loosnesses . it provides to embolden people in every vice , beyond all the restraints of shame here , and of fear as to hereafter . 3. it s cruelty . this is its very nature and genius . it was bred and nourish'd , and has swoln it self to that mighty bulk wherein it now appears in the world , by being drench'd in blood. what massacres hath it committed ? how many throats have been cut , how many people have been forced to bleed to death , that its insatiable thirst might have such draughts as would a little qualify it ? what barbarous and inhumane devices hath it found out to torture the best christians ? how abundantly hath it exerted its rage in all the methods of cruelty and violence in this kingdom ? in what manner hath it of late , yea , doth it at present display its mischievous , cruel , merciless , and uncompassionate nature in france ? 3ly . to get your minds thorowly purged from all unjust prejudices , and perswaded of the means you have a right to make use of , to defend your religion , if any forcible and illegal methods should be used against it . i do not justify any violence , and immoderate severity towards any , on the account of differences in religion . i look on that as an inhumane and antichristian wickedness . i heartily wish , even with reference unto papists , that they may find such courteous and gentle usage , that our meekness and kindness towards them , after all provocations , may effectally convince them , that our religion is truly divine , and that theirs must needs be of a quite contrary original , which engages them to such rude and barbarous behaviours towards protestants , whenever they get an advantage over them . but let them know withal , that if they will not live peaceably , but will still be renewing their wicked attempts against us , we do understand the right we have to defend our own cause , and bring the unjust invadors of our rights and religion to condign punishment . and that we are resolved to approve our selves as valiant and couragious in maintaining the rights of the protestant religion in common , having the government on our side , as we should have been obliged to have approved our selves patient and void of all opposition , if the government had been against us . fifthly . we should all do our utmost , according to the capacities and places we are in , to promote a general reformation : that such a course of practice may every-where prevail , as doth best suit with the nature and tendency of that faith we profess , and may be most expressive of resentments which do in some measure correspond with the late demonstration god hath given of his concern for our holy religion . and if we do so , we need not doubt but god will heighten the felicity he hath now introduced amongst us to that degree , their majesties shall have all the satisfaction which can spring from a numerous body of most obedient and faithful subjects , and we shall inherit all the blessings heaven can promise , under the government and happy influence of princes so peculiarly designed to make a sinking and unworthy people , glorious . hath not god obliged us , in the most solemn manner , by delivering us out of the hands of our most formidable enemies , to observe his statutes , and keep his laws , and serve him in holiness and righteousness all our days ? and if we refuse to do thus , what can we in reason expect , but that our sun shall set before noon , and that our deliverance , like our goodness , shall pass away , as the morning cloud , and early dew ? if we be not now reformed in our lives ; what can the event of present matters be , but that we shall walk in obscurity , and our plagues become such , as will make us a terror , a scorn , and a by-word to all who shall hear what god hath done for us ? god turneth rivers into a wilderness , and water-springs into dry ground ; and a fruitful land into barrenness , for the wickedness of them that dwell therein . god doth now plainly offer us things great and good , beyond all expression : our greatest and only danger is from our selves , lest by continuing to do evil , we make all his gracious purposes abortive . at what instant i shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to build and to plant it ; if it do evil in my sight , that it obey not my voice , then i will repent of the good wherewith i said i would benefit them . if we now refuse to remember this deliverance , so as to know the righteousness of the lord , and shall , by our continuing in our evil courses , stop the current of mercy , when so abundantly flowing in upon us , what can we expect , but that god will glorify his justice , by inflicting on us to the uttermost , all the curses which are due to such aggravated ingratitude and disobedience ? hath not this been god's wonted method with people , when they have arrived to such a prodigious obstinacy in their sins , they would not be reclaimed by his most remarkable appearances for their help ? they forgat god their saviour , which had done great things in egypt : wondrous works in the land of ham , and terrible things by the red-sea . therefore he said that he would destroy them . therefore was the wrath of the lord kindled against his people , insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance . and he gave them into the hand of the heathen , and they that hated them , ruled over them . their enemies also oppressed them , and they were brought into subjection under their hand . see jer. 15. 6 , 7. deut. 28. 47 , 48. it is righteousness that exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any people . great disorders and irregularities have prevailed amongst us ; and we may easily revive the memory of what they had just brought upon us . it is to be hoped , that those disorders which related to publick offices , and great societies , will be taken into consideration , by those who can provide the most proper and effectual remedies . may we never have occasion to complain , that judgment is turned away backward , that justice standeth afar off ; that truth is fallen in the streets , and equity cannot enter : that truth faileth , and he that departeth from evil , maketh himself a prey . when our counsellors , judges , and magistrates , are able men , such as fear god ; men of truth , hating covetousness ; such as have a zeal for the purity and interest of religion , who from a real sense of duty , shall imploy all their authority to suppress ungodliness and vice , and incourage piety and vertue ; to loose the bands of wickedness ; undo the heavy burthens , let the oppressed go free , and break every yoke ; then will judgment run down as waters , and righteousness as a mighty stream . and the influence of these from their higher orb , like the bright and warm beams of the sun , will contribute much to the clearing and purging of our air , and the reducing what is out of order in the lower regions , into a comely , decent , and prosperous posture : then will the lord comfort us ; he will comfort all our waste places , he will make our wilderness like eden , and our desart like the garden of the lord ; joy and gladness shall be found every-where amongst us , thanksgiving , and the voice of melody . may those to whom it pertains to make an inspection into the state of our church , contribute what understanding and good men ought to do , that what is amiss there , may be rectified , and exuberances may be lopped off . that those in the ministry , whose abilities are not inconsiderable , may be obliged to imploy their talents diligently for the benefit of those they are more immediately related unto . and that places of good consideration may not any longer be confined to the scanty allowances of the cheapest curats . and that if any who have no tolerable sufficiency for the sacred function , have by any indirect methods crept into the office , some due care may be taken touching an affair of such consequence . my heart bleeds within me ( saith arch-bishop abbot , in one of his lectures upon jonah ) to think of the miserable condition of the precious souls of many people , who have such ministers as joh. aventinus speaks of , ( if they were not in the ministry ) would not be thought sit hog-herds to keep swine . but besides that publick reformation both in church and state , ( the providing for , and ordering of which , doth pertain to those who move in the highest orb ) there is much of reformation necessary to be attended to , by people considered in a much narrower capacity . more particularly , 1. those who are governors of families , should take care to begin and promote reformation in their own families : for if wickedness and impiety be countenanced and cherished in most single families , the whole society will be but a body which consists of corrupt and putrid members , what-ever appearance there may be of a better spirit , in some of the publick instruments of government ; and the errors of the first concoction will be very difficulty corrected afterwards . let those therefore who have families under their care , faithfully apply themselves to banish all disorders out of their houses , and take care that swearing , intemperance , neglect of god's worship , contempt of religion , and whatsoever savours of prophaneness , have no countenance there . let such be careful that those under their government be well instructed in the principles of the protestant religion , and the precepts , and rules of good living , and that they be inured to a pious and vertuous course of life . let them see that the holy scriptures be read , and the worship of god daily celebrated with their whole housholds ; and that neither their children , nor servants , be tolerated in the prophanation of the lord's day , or neglect of the ordinary worship and service of god. let governors of families follow david's example and resolution , as set down in psalm 101. 2. every particular person should now be diligent to amend and reform himself ; if every one would be careful to amend one , our land would soon be in a flourishing estate : our peace , our safety , our happiness , our strength , our glory , would increase with the lustre and honour of our profession , by the brightness , truth , and power of our graces and vertues . those particular persons who shall refuse to remember this great deliverance , so as to engage themselves to a personal reformation , may expect that however gracious it shall please the lord to be unto our land , for the sake of those who make a due and faithful improvement of it , yet god will not be unmindful of their perverse and undutiful behaviour . because all these men who have seen my glory , and my miracles which i did in egypt , and in the wilderness , and have tempted me now these ten times , and have not hearkned to my voice : surely they shall not see the land which i swear unto their fathers , neither shall any of them that provoked me , see it ; but my servant caleb , because he had another spirit with him , and hath followed me fully , him will i bring into the land , whereinto he went , and his seed shall possess it . let us now every one renounce our lusts , cease to do evil , and learn to do well . let us take care that our moral vertues be impregnated into christian graces , and that we be vigorous in doing every thing that is universally commendable and praise-worthy . let us lay aside our narrow designs , and love every grace and vertue for its own intrinsic beauty , and exercise our selves in it with the greater diligence , because it hath such a tendency to befriend the publick . let us every one addict our selves in sincerity and with earnestness to render unto god that true and spiritual worship he requires , and to fill up all our relations from the highest to the lowest , with the duties god hath assigned , and with such deportments as will most become and beautify the same . let us now approve our selves temperate , chaste and sober , humble , meek , and self-denying . let us every one now live godly , righteously , and soberly , according to all the instances our god prescribes , and our land will presently be blessed with all the blessings of peace , and with all the blessings of plenty too . our oxen will be strong to labour ; there shall be no breaking in , nor going out , there shall be no complaining in our streets ; but we shall be in as happy a case as a people can be , whose god is the lord ; psal . 144. 14 , 15. sixthly ; we should live in love and peace . love and peace are the cement , the support , the bond and ornament of all human society , next to a religious aweful sense of the divine being , and our dependance on him , which are the original springs and principal cherishers of these heavenly dispositions . these are so necessary to the being and welfare of every state , kingdom , and body politick , that as soon as these do cease , and those venemous qualities do prevail , which always abound proportionably to peoples decay in these , nothing but disorders , tumults and confusions , do succeed . when peace and love are wanting in any state , such fatal wounds and breaches do immediately follow , that the most subtile artifices of the wittiest architects in government do prove but like to improper plaisters laid upon festered sores , which make them rankle the more , and at last throw the patient into the most torturing , convulsive and mortal paroxisms ; mat. 12. 25. all that nature and reason can invite others to take notice of , as fit to alarm and engage them to nourish a pacisick and friendly temper , do more obviously , and with greater force sollicite and importune us at this time to surrender our selves up to its kindest and most beneficent influence . yea , we are under those stronger and peculiar engagements to love and follow after peace , and cherish an amicable and brotherly affection towards one another , the best religion in the world doth prompt us to take notice of . we are under as many and as powerful obligations to live in love and peace , as can be deduced from the nature and institutions of the christian religion , the doctrines and example of the son of god when visibly present in our nature , from the numerous reiterated precepts , exhortations and counsels of all his apostles after his ascent into heaven . and how many incentives to love and peace may we easily perceive , if we do but view the happy effects of the christian temper where-ever it hath prevailed ? at first , the multitude of them who believed were of one heart , and of one soul ; and might we who profess the same religion , and are under the same obligations with them , arrive at the same pitch , our happiness would be as firm and unalterable as our faith is . the sad effects our late animosities did produce should retrieve us to our senses and wits , and dispose us to such a friendliness amongst our selves , as may not be any more broke or ruffled . did we not struggle to that degree against our fellow-protestants , and fellow-subjects ▪ that if a wonderful arm had not interposed for our mutual support , our own heels must certainly and irreversibly have been tripped up ? were we not so sedulous to keep others out of trusts , we were like to have been turned out , and dispossessed of all our selves ? if we receive not instruction from such a teacher , as our own late experience , what will be concluded concerning us , but either that our perverseness renders us more than brutish , or that we are so impoverish'd in our intellectuals , that to be begg'd is the best we do deserve ? seventhly , we should frequently offer up our solemn and servent prayers unto almighty god to perfect what he hath begun for us . if god do determine now to perfect our deliverance , i do not doubt , but he will pour out upon the inhabitants of this land , the spirit of grace and of supplication , and mightily incline us to seek and cry to him with earnestness to carry on his own work unto perfection . this is his usual method : and he hath now given us a solemn invitation to betake our selves to this course . when god declared what great things he purposed to do for the israelites , it is added , thus saith the lord god , i will yet for this be inquired of by the house of israel , to do it for them . see jer. 29. 10 , to the 15th verse . may we all so remember what god hath done for us , that we may indeed know the righteousness of the lord , and so apply our selves to do what concerns us in our several capacities and places , that god may not behold iniquity , nor see perverseness in us ; and then the lord our god will be with us , and the shout of a king among us ; then will there be no inchantment , nor no divination against us ; but according to this time it shall be said of us , what hath god wrought ? the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a26452-e90 psal . 144. 15. & 33. 12. isa . 63. 19 , isa . 44. 2 , 3 psal . 89. 32 , 33. jer. 8. 22. ezra 9. 15. psal . 85. 8. jer. 7. 9. 10. psal . 115. 1. psal . 44. 3. psal . 145. 1 , 2. rev. 6. 10. ps . 107. 33 , 34. jer. 18. 9 , 10. psal . 1●6 . 21 , &c. vers . 40 , &c. prov. 14. 24. isa . 59. 14 , 15. isa . 51. 3. numb . 14. 22 , 23 , 24. ezek. 36. 37. numb . 23. 21. ver. 23. an edict of the french king prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom wherein he recalls and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry the iv, his grandfather, given at nantes, full of most gracious concessions to protestants : together with a brief and true account of the persecution carried on against those of the foresaid religion for to make them abjure and apostatize : to which is added to form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to : with a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburg, in favour of those of the reformed religion, who shall think fit to settle themselves in any of his dominions / translated out of french. edit de révocation de l'edit de nantes. english france. 1686 approx. 91 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49222 wing l3119 estc r14911 11845900 ocm 11845900 49845 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. a49222) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49845) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 540:14) an edict of the french king prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom wherein he recalls and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry the iv, his grandfather, given at nantes, full of most gracious concessions to protestants : together with a brief and true account of the persecution carried on against those of the foresaid religion for to make them abjure and apostatize : to which is added to form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to : with a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburg, in favour of those of the reformed religion, who shall think fit to settle themselves in any of his dominions / translated out of french. edit de révocation de l'edit de nantes. english france. friedrich wilhelm, elector of brandenburg, 1620-1688. louis xiv, king of france, 1638-1715. [6], 32 p. printed by g.m. ..., [london?] : 1686. place of publication from wing. reproduction of original in bodleian 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 henry -iv, -king of france, 1553-1610. france. -edit de nantes. protestants -france -early works to 1800. freedom of religion -france -early works to 1800. 2006-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-07 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-07 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an edict of the french king , prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom . wherein he recalls , and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry the iv. his grandfather , given at nantes , full of most gracious concessions to protestants . together with a brief and true account of the persecution carried on against those of the foresaid religion , for to make them abjure and apostatize . to which is added , the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to . with a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburg , in favour of those of the reformed religion , who shall think fit to settle themselves in any of his dominions . translated out of french. printed by g. m. anno dom. 1686. an edict of the king , prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom . lewes , by the grace of god , king of france and of navarre , to all present and to come , greeting . king henry the great , our grandfather of glorious memory , desiring to prevent , that the peace which he had procured for his subjects , after the great losses they had sustained , by the long continuance of civil and forreign wars , might not be disturbed by occasion of the pretended reformed religion , as it had been during the reign of the kings his predecessors , had by his edict given at nantes , in the month of april , 1598. regulated the conduct which was to be observed with respect to those of the said religion , the places where they might publickly exercise the same , appointed extraordinary judges , to administer justice to them ; and lastly , also by several distinct articles provided for every thing , which he judged needful for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in his kingdom , and to diminish the aversion which was between those of the one and other religion ; and this , to the end that he might be in a better condition for the taking some effectual course ( which he was resolved to do ) to reunite those again to the church , who upon so slight occasions had withdrawn themselves from it . and forasmuch as this intention of the king , our said grandfather , could not be effected , by reason of his suddain and precipitated death ; and that the execution of the foresaid edict was interrupted during the minority of the late king , our most honoured lord and father , of glorious memory , by reason of some new enterprises of those of the pretended reformed religion , whereby they gave occasion for their being deprived of several advantages which had been granted to them , by the foresaid edict : notwithstanding , the king , our said late lord and father , according to his wonted clemency , granted them another edict at nismes , in the month of july 1629 , by means of which the peace and quiet of the kingdom being now again re-established , the said late king , being animated with the same spirit and zeal for religion , as the king our said grandfather was , resolved to make good use of this tranquility , by endeavouring to put this pious design in execution , but wars abroad , coming on a few years after , so that from the year 1635 , to the truce which was concluded with the princes of europe , in 1684. the kingdom having been only for some short intervals altogether free from troubles , it was not possible to do any other thing for the advantage of religion , save only to diminish the number of places permitted for the exercise of the pretended reformed religion , as well by the interdiction of those which were found erected , in prejudice to the disposal made in the said edict , as by suppressing the mix'd chambers of judicature , whichwer composed of an equal number of papists and protestants , the erecting of which was only done by provision , and to serve the present exigency . whereas therefore at length it hath pleased god to grant , that our subjects enjoying a perfect peace , and we our selves being no longer taken up with the cares of protecting them against our enemies , are now in a condition to make good use of the said truce , which we have on purpose facilitated , in order to the applying our selves entirely in the searching out of means , which might successfully effect and accomplish the design of the kings , our said grand-father and father , and which also hath been our intention ever since we came to the crown ; we see at present ( not without a just acknowledgment of what we owe to god on that account ) that our endeavours have attained the end we propos'd to our selves , forasmuch as the greater and better part of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion have already embraced the catholick , and since by means thereof , the execution of the edict of nantes , and of all other ordinances in favour of the said pretended reformed religion , is made useless , we judge that we can do nothing better towards the entire effacing of the memory of those troubles , confusion and mischief , which the progress of that false religion , hath been the cause of in our kingdom , and which have given occasion to the said edict , and to so many other edicts and declarations which went before it , or were made since with reference thereto , than by a total revocation of the said edict of nantes , and the particular articles and concessions granted therein , and whatsoever else hath been enacted since in favour of the said religion . i. we make known , that we , for these and other reasons us thereto moving , and of our certain knowledge , full power and royal authority , have by the present perpetual and irrevocable edict , suppressed and annull'd , do suppress and annull the edict of the king , our said grand-father , given at nantes in april 1598. in its whole extent , together with the particular articles ratified the second of may , next following , and letters pattent granted thereupon ; as likewise the edict given at nismes , in july 1629. declaring them null and void , as if they had never been enacted , together with all the concessions granted in them , as well as other declarations , edicts and arrests , to those of the pretended reformed religion , of what nature soever they may be , which shall all continue as if they never had been . and in pursuance hereof , we will , and it is our pleasure , that all the churches of those of the pretended reformed religion , scituate in our kingdom , countries , lands , and dominions belonging to us , be forthwith demolished . ii. we forbid our subjects of the pretended reformed religion to assemble themselves , for time to come , in order to the exercise of their religion , in any place or house under what pretext soever , whether the said places have been granted by the crown , or permitted by the judges of particular places ; any arrests of our council , for authorizing and establishing of the said places for exercise , notwithstanding . iii. we likewise prohibit all lords , of what condition soever they may be , to have any publick exercise in their houses and fiefs , of what quality soever the said fiefs may be , upon penalty to all our said subjects , who shall have the said exercises performed in their houses or otherwise , of confiscation of body and goods . iv. we do strictly charge and command all ministers of the said pretended reformed religion , who are not willing to be converted , and to embrace the catholick apostolick and roman religion , to depart out of our kingdom and countries under our obedience , 15 days after the publication hereof , so as not to continue there beyond the said term , or within the same , to preach , exhort , or perform any other ministerial function , upon pain of being sent to the galleys . v. our will and pleasure is , that those ministers who shall be converted , do continue to enjoy during their lives , and their widdows after their decease , so long as the continue so , the same exemptions from payments and quartering of souldiers , which they did enjoy during the time of their exercise of the ministerial function . moreover we will cause to be paid to the said ministers , during their lives a pension , which by a third part shall exceed the appointed allowance to them as ministers ; the half of which pension shall be continued to their wives , after their decease , as long as they shall continue in the state of widdow-hood . vi. and in case any of the said ministers shall be willing to become advocates , or to take the degree of doctors in law , we will and understand that they be dispensed with , as to the three years of study , which are prescribed by our declarations , as requisite , in order to the taking of the said degree , and that after they have pass'd the ordinary examinations , they be forthwith received as doctors , paying only the moiety of those dues which are usually paid upon that account in every university . vii . we prohibit any particular schools for instructing the children of those of the pretended reformed religion , and in general all other things whatsoever , which may import a concession of what kind soever , in favour of the said religion . viii . and as to the children which shall for the future be born of those of the said pretended reformed religion , our will and pleasure is , that henceforward they be baptized by the curates of our parishes ; strictly charging their respective fathers and mothers to take care they be sent to church in order thereto , upon forfeiture of 500 livres or more , as it shall happen . furthermore , our will is , that the said children be afterwards educated and brought up in the catholick apostolick and roman religion , and give an express charge to all our justices , to take care the same be performed accordingly . ix . and for a mark of our clemency towards those of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , who have retired themselves out of our kingdom , countries , and territories , before the publication of this our present edict , our will and meaning is , that in case they return thither again , within the time of four months , from the time of the publication hereof they may , and it shall be lawful for them , to re-enter upon the possession of their goods and estates , and enjoy the same in like manner , as they might have done in case they had always contiued upon the place . and on the contrary , that the goods of all those , who within the said time of four months , shall not return into our kingdom , countries , or territories , under our obedience , which they have forsaken , remain and be confiscated in pursuance of our declaration of the 20th of august last . x. we most expresly and strictly forbid all our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , them , their wives or children , to depart out of our said kingdom , countries , or territories under our obedience , or to transport thence their goods or effects , upon penalty of the gally , for men , and of confiscation of body and goods for women . xi . our will and meaning is , that the declarations made against those who shall relapse , be executed upon them according to their form and tenor. moreover , those of the said pretended reformed religion , in the mean time , till it shall please god to enlighten them as well as others , may abide in the several respective cities and places of our kingdoms , countries , and territories under our obedience , and there continue their commerce , and enjoy their goods and estates , without being any way molested upon account of the said pretended reformed religion , upon condition nevertheless , as forementioned , that they do not use any publick religious exercise , nor assemble themselves upon the account of prayer or worship of the said religion , of what kind soever the same may be , upon forfeiture above specified of body and goods . accordingly we will and command our trusty and beloved counsellors , the people holding our courts of aids at paris , bayliffs , chief justices , provosts , and other our justices and officers to whom it appertains , and to their lieutenants , that they cause to be read , published , and registred , this our present edict in their courts and jurisdictions , even in vacation time , and the same keep punctually , without contrevening or suffering the same to be contrevened ; for such is our will and pleasure . and to the end to make it a thing firm and stable , we have caused our seal to be put to the same . given at fountainbleau in the month of october , in the year of grace 1685 , and of our reign the 43. signed lewes . this signifies the lord chancellors perusal . visa . le tellier . sealed with the great seal of green-wax , upon a red and green string of silk . registred and published , the kings procurator or attorney general , requiring it , in order to their being executed according to form and tenor , and the copies being examined and compared , sent to the several courts of justice , bailywicks , and sheriffs courts of each destrict , to be there entred and registred in like manner , and charge given to the deputies of the said attorney general , to take care to see the same executed and put in force , and to certifie the court thereof . at paris in the court of vacations the 22th of october 1685. signed de la baune . a short account of the violent proceedings , and unheard of cruelties , which have been exercised upon those of montauban , and which continue to be put in practise in other places against those of the reformed religion in france , for to make them renounce their religion . on saturday the 8 / 18 of august 1685. the intendant of the upper guienne , who resides at montauban , having summoned the principal protestants of the said city to come before him , representing unto them , that they could not be ignorant that the absolute will and pleasure of the king was , to tolerate but one religion in his kingdom , viz. the roman catholick religion , and therefore wished them readily to comply with the same , and in order thereto , advised them to assemble themselves and consider what resolution they would take . to this proposal some answered , that there was no need of their assembling themselves upon that account , forasmuch as every one of them in particular , were to try and examine themselves , and be always in a readiness to give a reason of the faith which was in them . the next day the intendant again commanded them to meet together in the town-house , which should be left free for them from noon till six of the clock in the evening , where meeting accordingly , they unanimously resolved , as they had lived , so to persist till death in their religion ; which resolution of theirs , there were some deputed by them to declare to the intendant ; who presenting themselves before him , he who was appointed spokesman , began to address himself to the intendant in these words : my lord , we are not unacquainted how we are menaced with the greatest violence . hold there , said the intendant ( interrupting him ) no violence . after this the protestant continued ; but whatever force or violence may be put upon us — here the intendant interrupting him again , said , i forbid you to use any such words : upon which second interruption , he contented himself to assure him in few words , that they were all resolved to live and dye in their religion . the day after the battallion of la fere consisting of 16 companies , entred the city , and were followed by many more . the protestants all this while dreaming of no other design they had against them , but that of ruining their estates and impoverishing them , had already taken some measures how to bear the said tryal ; they had made a common purse for the relief of such who should be most burthen'd with quartering , and were come to a resolution to possess what they had in common : but alass , how far these poor souls were mistaken in their accounts , and how different the treatment they received from the dragoons was , from what they had expected , i shall now relate to you . first therefore , in order to their executing the design and project they had formed against them , they made the souldiers take up their quarters in one certain place of the city , but withal appointed several corp de gards to cut off the communication which one part of the city might have with the other , and possess'd themselves of the gates , that none might make their escape . things being thus ordered , the troopers , souldiers and dragoons began to practise all manner of hostilities and cruelties wherewith the devil can inspire the most inhumane and reprobate minds : they marr'd and defac'd their housholdstuff , broke their looking-glasses , and other like utensils and ornaments , they let the wine run about their cellars , cast abroad and spoil'd their corn , and other alimentary provisions : and as for those things which they could not break and dash to pieces , as the furniture of beds , hangings , tapistry , linnen , wearing apparrel , plate , and things of the like nature , these they carried to the market place , where the jesuits bought them of the souldiers , and encouraged the roman catholicks to do the like . they did not stick to sell the very houses of such who were most resolute and constant in their profession it is supposed according to a moderate calculation , that in the time of four or five days , the protestants of that city were the poorer by a million of money , than they were before the entring of these missionaries . there were souldiers who demanded 400 crowns a piece of their hosts for spending money , and many protestants were forced to pay down ten pistols to each souldier upon the same account . in the mean time the outrages they committed upon their persons were most detestable and barbarous , i shall only here set down some few of which i have been particularly inform'd . a certain taylor called bearnois was bound and drag'd by the souldiers to the corp de gard , where they boxed and buffetted him all night , all which blows and indignities he suffered with the greatest constancy imaginable . the troopers who quartered with mounsieur solignac made his dining room a stable for their horses , tho the furniture of it was valued at 10000 livers , and forc'd him to turn the broach till his arm was near burnt , by their continual casting of wood upon the fire . a passenger as he went through the said city saw some souldiers beating a poor man even to death , for to force him to go to mass , whilst the constant martyr to his last breath , cryed , he would never do it , and only requested they would dispatch and make an end of him . the barons of caussade and de la motte , whose constancy and piety might have inspired courage and resolution to the rest of the citizens , were sent away to cahors . mounsieur d' alliez one of the prime gentlemen of montauban , being a venerable old man , found so ill treatment at their hands , as its thought he will scarcely escape with life . mounsieur de garrison who was one of the most considerable men of that city , and an intimate friend of the intendant , went and cast himself at his feet , imploring his protection , and conjuring him to rid him of the souldiers , that he might have no force put upon his conscience , adding , that in recompence of this favour , he beg'd of him , he would willingly give him all he had , which was to the value of about a million of livers ; but by all his entreaties and proffers he could not in the least prevail with the intendant , who gave order , that for a terror to the meaner sort , he should be worse used than the rest , by dragging him along the streets . the method they most commonly made use of , for to make them abjure their religion , and which could not be the product of any thing but hell , was this ; some of the most strong and vigorous souldiers , took their hosts or other persons of the house , and walk'd them up and down in some chamber , continually tickling them and tossing them like a ball from one to another , without giving them the least intermission , and keeping them in this condition for three days and nights together , without meat , drink or sleep ; when they were so wearied and fainting , that they could no longer stand upon their legs , they laid them on a bed , continuing as before to tickle and torment them ; after some time when they thought them somewhat recovered , they made them rise , and walked them up and down as before , sometimes tickling , and other times lashing them with rods , to keep them from sleeping . as soon as one party of these barbarous tormenters were tyred and wearied out , they were relieved by others of their companions , who coming fresh to the work , with greater vig●●… and violence reiterated the same course . by this infernal invention ( which they had formerly made use of with success , in bearn and other places ) many went distracted , and others became mopish and stupid , and remain so . those who made their escape were fain to abandon their estates , yea , their wives , children , and aged relations to the mercy of these barbarous and more then savage troops . the same cruelties were acted at negreplisse , a city near to montauban , where these bloody emissaries committed unparallel'd outrages . isaac favin , a citizen of that place was hung up by his arm-pits , and tormented a whole night by pinching and tearing of his flesh with pincers , tho by all this they were not able to shake his constancy in the least . the wife of one roussion a joyner , being violently drag'd by the souldiers along the streets , for to force her to hear mass , dyed of this cruel and inhumane treatment , as soon as she reach'd the church porch . amongst other their devilish inventions this was one , they made a great fire round about a boy of about ten years of age , who continually with hands and eyes lifted to heaven , cryed , my god help me , and when they saw the lad resolved to dye so , rather than renounce his religion , they snatch'd him from the fire , when he was at the very point of being burnt . the cities of caussade , realville , st. anthonin , and other towns and places in the upper guienne , met with the same entertainment , as well as bergerac , and many other places of perigord , and of the lower guienne , which had a like share of these cruel and inhumane usages . the forementioned troops marched at last to castres , to commit the same insolencies and barbarities there also ; and it is not to be doubted , but that they will continue and carry on the same course of cruelties , where ever they go , if god in pity and compassion to his people do not restrain them . it is to be seared ( for it seems but too probable ) that this dreadful persecution in conjunction with those artifices the papists make use of to disguise their religion , and to , perswade protestants that they shall be suffered to worship god as formerly , will make many to comply with them , or at least make their mouths give their hearts the lye , in hopes of being by this means put into a condition to make their escapes , and returning to that profession , which their weakness hath made them deny . but alas ! this is not all , for those poor wretches , whom by these devilish ways of theirs , they have made to blaspheme and abjure their religion , as if this were not enough , must now become the persecutors and tormentors of their own wives and children , for to oblige and force them to renounce also , for they are threatned , that if within three days time they do not make their whole family recant in like manner , those rough apostles ( the dragoons ) shall be fain to take further pains with them in order to perfect their conversion . and who after all this can have the least doubt but that these unhappy dragoons are the very emissaries of hell , whose very last essorts and death-struglings these seem to be ? this relation hath given a short view of some of those sufferings , the reformed have undergone , but not of all : it is certain that in divers places they have tryed to wear out their patience , and overcome their constancy by applying red-hot irons to the hands and feet of men , and to the paps of women . at nantes they hung up several women and maids by their feet , and others by their arm-pits , and that stark-naked , thus exposing them to publick view , which assuredly is the most cruel and exquisite suffering can befall that sex , because in this case their shamefacedness and modesty is most sensibly touched , which is the most tender part of their soul. they have bound mothers that gave suck unto posts , and let their little infants lye languishing in their sight without being suffered to suckle them for several days , and all this while left them crying , moaning , and gasping for life , and even dying for hunger and thirst , that by this means they might vanquish the constancy of their tender hearted mothers , swearing to them they would never permit they should give them suck till they promised to renounce their profession of the gospel . they have taken children of four or five years of age , and kept them from meat and drink for some time , and when they have been ready to faint away and give the ghost , they have brought them before their parents , and horribly asseverated , that except they would turn , they must prepare themselves to see their children languish and dye in their presence . some they have bound before a great fire , and being half roasted , have after let them go ; they beat men and women outragiously , they drag them along the streets , and torment them day and night . the ordinary way they took was to give them no rest , for the souldiers do continually relieve one another for to drag , beat , torment and toss up and down these miserable wretches without intermission . if it happen that any by their patience and constancy do stand it out , and triumph over all the rage and fury of those dragoons , they go to their commander and acquaint him they have done all they could , but yet without the desired success , who in a barbarous and surly tone , answers them ; you must return upon them , and do worse than you have done , the king commands it ; either they must turn , or i must burst and perish in the attempt . these are the pleasant flowery paths by which the papists allure protestants to return to the bosome of their church . but some it may be will object , you make a great noise about a small matter , all protestants have not been exposed to these cruelties but only some few obstinate persons : well , i will suppose so , but yet the horor of those torments inflicted on some , hath so fill'd the imagination of these miserable wretches , that the very thoughts of them hath made them comply ; it is indeed a weakness of which we are ashamed for their sakes , and from whence we hope god will raise them again , in his due time ; yet thus much we may alledge for their excuse , that never was any persecution upon pretence of religion carried on to that pitch , and with that politick malice and cruelty that this hath been , and therefore of all those which ever the church of christ groan'd under , none can be compar'd with it . true indeed it is that in former ages it hath been common to burn the faithful under the name of hereticks , but how few were there exposed to that cruel kind of death , in comparison of those who escaped the executioners hands ? but behold here a great people at once oppress'd , destroy'd , and ruin'd by a vast army of prodigious butchers , and few or none escaping . former , yea late times have given us some instances of massacres , but these were only violent tempests , and suddain hurricanes , which lasted but a night , or at the most a few days , and they who suffered in them were soon out of their pains , and the far greater number escaped the dint of them : but how much more dreadful is the present condition of the protestants in france ? and to the end we may take a true view and right measures of it , let us consider , that nothing can be conceived more terrible than a state of war , but what war to be compared with this ? they see a whole army of butcherly canibals entring their houses , battering , breaking , burning and destroying whatever comes to hand , swearing , cursing , and blaspheming like devils , beating to excess , offering all manner of indignities and violence , diverting themselves , and striving to outvie each other in inventing new methods of pain and torment , not to be appeased with money or good chear , foaming and roaring like ravenous raging lyons , and presenting death , at every moment , and that which is worse than all this , driving people to distraction , and set seless stupidity by those devilish inventions , we have given you an instance of in the relation of montauban . moreover , this persecution hath one characteristical note more , which , without any exaggeration , will give it the precedence in history for cruelty , above all those which the church of god ever suffered under nero , maximinus , or dioclesian , which is the severe prohibition of departing the kingdom upon pain of confiscation of goods , of the gally , of the lash , and perpetual imprisonment . all the sea ports are kept with that exactness , as if it were to hinder the escape of traytors and common enemies ; all the prisons of sea port towns are cram'd with these miserable fugitives , men , women , boys and girls , who there are condemn'd to the worst of punishments , for having had a desire to save themselves , from this dreadful persecution and deluging calamity ; this is the thing which is unparallel'd , and of which we find no instance . this is that superlative excess of cruelty , which we shall not find in the list of all the violent and bloody proceedings of the duke of alva , he massacred , he beheaded , he butchered , but at least he did not prohibit those that could , to make their escape . in the last hungarian persecution , nothing was required of the protestants , but only that their ministers should banish themselves , and abandon and renounce the conduct of their flocks ; and because they were unwilling to obey these orders , therefore it is they have groaned under so long , and so terrible a persecution , as they have done ; but this hungarian persecution is not to be compared with that we are speaking of , for the fury of that tempest discharged it self upon the ministers only , no armies were imploy'd to force the people to change their religion , by a thousand several ways of torment , much less did it ever enter the thoughts of the emperours council , to shut up all the protestants in hungary , in order to the destroying of all those who would not abjure their religion , which yet is the very condition of so many wretched persons in france , who beg it as the highest favour at the hands of their merciless enemies , to have leave to go and beg their bread in a forreign country , being willing to leave their goods , and all other outward conveniencies behind them , for to lead a poor miserable , languishing life in any place , where only they may be suffered to dye in their religion . and is it not from all this most apparent , that those monsters who have inspired the king with these designs , have resin'd the mystery of persecuting to the utmost , and advanc'd it to its highest pitch of perfection ? o great god! who from thy heavenly throne dost behold all the outrages done to thy people , hast thee to help us ! great god , whose compassions are infinite , suffer thy self to be touched with our extream desolution ! if men be insensible of the calamities we suffer , if they be deaf to our cries , not regarding our groans and supplications , yet let thy bowels , o lord , be moved , and affect thee in our behalf . glorious god , for whose names sake we suffer all these things , who knowest our innocence and weakness as well as the fury and rage of our adversaries , the small support and help we find in the world ; behold we perish if thy pity doth not rouze thee up for our relief . it is thou art our rock , our god , our father , our deliverer , we do not place our confidence in any but thee alone ; let us not be confounded , because we put our trust in thee . hast thee to our help , make no long tarrying , o lord , our god and our redeemer . a letter sent from bordeaux giving an account of the persecution of those of the protestant religion in france . sir , whatsoever you have heard concerning the persecution of those that are of our religion in the land of bearn , guienne , and perigort , is but too true , and i can assure you , that they who have given you that account , have been so far fromamplifying the matter , that they have only acquainted you with some few particulars ; yet am i not much surprised at the difficulty you find to perswade your self that the things of which your friends inform you are true ; in cases of this nature , so amazingly unexpected , we are apt often to distrust our own eyes ; and i profess to you , that though all places round about us eccho the report of our ruine and destruction , yet i can scarcely perswade my self it is so indeed , because i cannot comprehend it . it is no matter of surprise or amazement to see the church of christ afflicted upon earth , forasmuch as she is a stranger here , as well as her captain , lord and husband , the holy and ever-blessed jesus was , and must like him , by the same way of cross and suffering , return to her own country , which is above . it is no matter of astonishment to find her from time to time suffering the worst of usage , and most cruel persecutions ; all ages have seen her exposed to such tryals as these , which are so necessary for the testing of her faith , and so fit a matter of her future glory . neither is it any great wonder , if , amidst these sore tryals , vast numbers of those who made profession of the gospel , do now renounce and forsake it : we know that all have not faith , and it is more than probable that they who do not follow christ , but because they thrive by it , and for the loaves will cease to be of his retinue , when he is about to oblige them to bear his cross , and deny themselves . but that which seems inconceivable to me , is , that our enemies should pitch upon such strange ways and methods to destroy us , as they have done , and that in so doing , they should meet with a success so prodigious and doleful . i shall as briefly as i can endeavour to give you an account of so much as i have understood of it . all those thundring declarations , and destructive arrests , which continually were sued for , and obtain'd against us , and which were executed with the extremity of rigour , were scarce able to move any one of us . the forbidding of our publick exercises , the demolishing of our churches , and the severe injunction that not so much as two or three of us should dare to assemble in order to any thing of divine worship , had no other effect upon the far greater part of us , than to inflame our zeal , instead of abating it , obliging us to pray to god with greater fervor and devotion in our closets , and to meditate of his word with greater application and attention . and neither the great wants , to which we were reduced by being depriv'd of our offices and imploys , and all other means of living , and by those insupportable charges with which they strove to over-whelm us , as well by taxes , as the quartering of souldiers ( both which were as heavy as could be laid upon us ) nor the continual trouble we were put to by criminal or other matters of law , which at the suit of one or other were still laid to our charge , tho upon the most frivolous and unjust pretences imaginable ; i say all these were not able to wear out our patience , which was hardned against all calamities ; insomuch as the design of forcing us to abandon the truth of the gospel , would infallibly have been ship-wrack'd , if no other means had been taken in hand for this purpose . but alas ! our enemies were too ingenious to be bauk'd so , and had taken our ruine too , much to heart , not to study for means effectual and proper to bring about their desires ; they call'd to mind what prodigious success , a new kind of persecution had had of late years in poictou , aunix , and xaintonge , which the intendants of those places had bethought themselves of , and they made no difficulty to have recourse to the same , as to a means infallible , and not to be doubted of . i must tell you , sir , that we had not the least thought that ever such violent methods as these would have been pitched upon , as the means of our conversion : we were always of opinion , that none but dennuieux's and marillacs could be fit instruments for such like enterprises ; neither could we ever have imagin'd that generals of armies , who account it a shame and reproach to attack and take some paultry town or village , should ever debase themselves to besiege old men , women , and children in their own houses ; or that ever souldiers , who think themselves ennobled by their swords , should degrade themselves so far to take up the trade of butchers and hangmen , by tormenting poor innocents , and inflicting all sorts of punishments upon them . moreover , we were the less in expectation of any such thing , because at the self same time they treated us in this manner , they would needs perswade us , that the kings council had disapproved the design : and indeed it seem'd very probable to us , that all reasons , whether taken from humanity , piety , or interest , would have made them disavow and condemn a project so inhumane and barbarous : yet now by experience we find it but too true , that our enemies are so far from rejecting the said design , that they carry it on with an unparallel'd zeal and application , without giving themselves any further trouble to effectuate their desires , than that of doing these two things . the first of which was to lull us asleep , and to take away from us all matter of suspition of the mischief they were hatching against us ; which they did by permiting some of our publick exercises of religion , by giving way to our building of some churches , by setling ministers in divers places to baptize our children , and by publishing several arrests and declarations , which did intimate to us , that we had reason to hope we should yet subsist for some years : such was that declaration , by which all ministers were ordered to change their churches every three years . the other was to secure all the sea-ports of the kingdom , so as none might make their escape , which was done by renewing the antient prohibitions of departing the kingdom without leave , but with the addition of far more severe penalties . after these precautions thus taken , they thought themselves no longer oblig'd to keep any measures , but immediately lift up the hand , to give the last blow for our ruine . the intendants had order to represent to us , that the king was resolved to suffer no other religion in his kingdom besides his own , and to command us all in his name , readily to embrace the same , without allowing us any longer respite to consider what we had to do , than a few days , nay hours ; threatning us , that if we continued obstinate , they would force us to it by the extremity of rigour , and presently executing these their menaces , by filling our houses with souldiers , to whom we were to be left for a prey , and who not content with entirely ruining of us , should besides exercise upon our persons all the violence and cruelty they could possibly devise : and all this to overcome our constancy and perseverance . four months are now past and gone , since that began to make use of this strange and horrible way of converting people , worthy of , and well becoming its inventors . the country of bearn was first set upon , as being one of the most considerable out-parts of the kingdom , to the end that this mischievous enterprise gaining strength in its passage , might soon after over-whelm , and as it were deluge all the other provinces in the same sea of the uttermost calamity . monsieur foucaut the intendant , went himself in person to all the places where we were in any numbers , and commanded all the inhabitants that were of the protestant religion , under the penalty of great amercements , to assemble themselves in those places he appointed to them ; where being accordingly met together , he charged them in the kings name to change their religion , allowing them only a day or two to dispose themselves for it ; he told them , that great numbers of souldiers were at hand to compel those that should refuse to yield a ready obedience ; and this threatning of his being immediately followed by the effect , as the lightning is by thunder , he fill'd the houses of all those who abode constant in their resolution to live and dye faithful to their lord and master jesus christ , with souldiers , and commands those insolent troops ( flesh'd with blood and slaughter ) to give them the worst treatment they could possibly devise . i shall not undertake , sir , to give you a particular account of those excesses and outrages these enraged brutals committed in executing the orders they were charged with ; the relation would prove too tedious and doleful , it shall suffice me to tell you , that they did not forget any thing that was inhumane , barbarous , or cruel , without having regard to any condition , sex or age , they pull'd down and demolished their houses , they spoil'd , dash'd to pieces , and burnt their best moveables and houshold-stuff , they bruised and beat to death venerable old men , they dragg'd honourable matrons to mass , without the least pitty or respect , they bound and fetter'd innocent persons , as if they had been the most infamous and profligate villains , they hung them up by their feet , till they saw them ready to give up the ghost , they took red-hot fire-shovels and held them close to their bare heads , and actually apply'd them to other parts of their bodies , they immur'd them within four walls , where they let them perish for hunger and thirst ; and the constancy wherewith they suffer'd all these torments , having had no other effect , but that of augmenting the rage of these furies , they never ceased inventing new ways of pain and torture , till their inhumanity at length had got the victory , and triumphed over the patience and faith of these miserable wretches . insomuch that of all those many numerous assemblies we had in that province , as that of pau , d' arthes , de novarre , &c. there are scarcely left a small number who either continue constant in despite of all these cruelties , or else have made their escape into spain , holland , england , or elsewhere , leaving their goods and families for a prey to these merciless and cruel men. success having thus far answered their expectation , they resolved to loose no time , but vigorously prosecuting their work , they immediately turned their thoughts and arms towards montauban ; where the intendant having summoned the citizens to appear before him , bespeaks them much in the same language , as was used to those of bearne , whereunto they having returned about the same answer , he orders 4000 men to enter the city , and makes them take up their quarters , as at bearne , only in the houses of protestants , with express command to treat them in like manner , as they had done those of bearne : and these inhumane wretches were so diligent and active in executing these pittiless orders , that of 12 or 15000 souls of which that church did consist , not above 20 or 30 families are escaped , who in a doleful and forlorn condition wander up and down the woods , and hide themselves in thickets . the ruine of this important place drew after it the desolation of all the churches about it , which were all enveloped in the same common calamity , as those of realmont , bourniquel , negreplisse , &c. yet was not the condition of the churches in the upper guienne more sad and calamitous , than that of those of the lower guienne , and of perigort , which this horrible deluge hath likewise overwhelm'd . mounsieur bousters and the intendant having shared the country between them , mounsieur de bousters taking for his part agenois , tonnein , clerac , with the adjoyning places ; and the intendant having taken upon him to reduce fleis , monravel , genssac , cartillon , coutras , libourne , &c. the troops which they commanded , in the mean time carrying desolation to all the places they passed through , filling them with mourning and despair , and scattering terror and amazement amongst all those to whom they approached . there were at the same time 17 companies at saint foy , 15 at nerac , and as many in proportion in all other parts ; so that all places being fill'd with these troops , accustom'd to licentiousness and pillage , there is not any one of the said places , where they have not left most dreadful marks of their rage and cruelty , having at last , by means of their exquisite tortures , made all those of our religion submit themselves to the communion of rome . but forasmuch as bergerac was most signally famous for the long tryals it had most gloriously endured , and that our enemies were very sensible of what advantage it would be to the carrying on of their design , to make themselves masters there also , at any price whatsoever , they accordingly failed not to attempt the same with more resolution and obstinacy than any of the forementioned places . this little town had already for three years together , with admirable patience and constancy , endured a thousand ill treatments and exactions from souldiers , who had pick'd them to the very bones : for besides that , it was almost a continual passage for souldiers ; there were no less than 18 troops of horse had their winter quarters there , who yet in all that time had only gain'd three converts , and they such too as were maintain'd by the alms of the church . but to return , the design being form'd to reduce this city , two troops of horse are immediately ordered thither to observe the inhabitants , and soon after 32 companies of foot enter the town , monsieur bousters and the intendant of the province , with the bishops of agen and perigueux , and same other persons of quality , render themselves there at the same time , and send for 200 of the chiefest citizens to appear before them , telling them , that the kings express will and pleasure was , they should all go to mass , and that in case of disobedience , they had order to compel them to it : to which the citizens unanimously answered , that their estates were at the dispose of his majesty , but that god alone was lord of their consciences , and that they were resolved to suffer to the utmost , rather than do any thing contrary to the motions of it . whereupon they were told , that if they were so resolved , they had nought else to do but to prepare themselves to receive the punishment their obstinacy and disobedience did deserve ; and immediately 32 companies more of infantry and cavalry enter the city ( which , together with the 34 companies beforementioned , were all quartered with protestants ) with express command not to spare any thing they had , and to exercise all manner of violence upon the persons of those that entertain'd them , until they should have extorted a promise from them , to do whatsoever was commanded them . these orders then being thus executed , according to the desires of those who had given them , and these miserable victims of a barbarous military fury , being reduc'd to the most deplorable and desolate condition ; they are again sent for to the town-house , and once more pressed to change their religion , and they answering with tears in their eyes , and with all the respect , humility , and submission imaginable , that the matter required of them , was the only thing they could not do , the extreamest rigour and severity is denounc'd against them ; and they presently made good their words , by sending 34 more companies into the city , which made up the full number of a hundred , who encouraging themselves from their numbers , and flying like enraged wolves upon these innocent sheep , did rend and worry them in such a manner , as the sole relation cannot but strike with horror and amazement . whole companies were ordered to quarter with one citizen , and persons whose whole estate did not amount to 10000 livres , were taxed at the rate of 150 livres a day : when their money is gone , they sell their houshold-stuff , and sell that for two pence , which hath cost 60 livres , they bind and fetter father , mother , wife and children : four souldiers continually stand at the door to hinder any from coming in to succour or comfort them : they keep them in this condition , two , three , four , five , and six days , without either meat , drink , or sleep ; on one hand the child cries with the languishing accent of one ready to dye , ah my father ! ah my mother ! what shall i do ? i must dye , i can endure no longer : the wife on the other hand cries ; alass ! my heart fails me , i faint , i dye ; whilst their cruel tormentors are so far from being touch'd with compassion , that from thence they take occasion to press them afresh , and to renew their torments , frighting them with their hellish menaces , accompanied with most execrable oaths and curses ; crying , dog , bougre , what , wilt not thou be converted ? wilt not thou be obedient ? dog , bougre , thou must be converted , we are sent on purpose to convert thee : and the clergy who are witnesses of all these cruelties , ( with which they feast their eyes ) and of all their infamous and abominable words , ( which ought to cover them with horror and confusion ) make only a matter of sport and laughter of it . thus these miserable wretches , being neither suffered to live nor to dye , ( for when they see them sainting away , they force them to take so much as to keep body and soul together ) and seeing no other way for them to be delivered out of this hell , in which they are continually tormented , are fain at last to stoop under the unsupportable burthen of these extremities : so that excepting only a few who saved themselves by a timely flight , preferring their religion before all temporal possessions , all the rest have been constrained to go to mass . neither is the country any more exempt from these calamities , than towns and cities , nor those of the nobility and gentry , than citizens . they send whole companies of souldiers into gentlemens houses , who treat them in the most outragious and violent manner conceivable , insomuch that not a soul can hope to escape , except it may be some few , who like the believers of old , wander in desarts , and lodge in dens and caves of the earth . furthermore i can assure you , that never was any greater consternation , than that which we are in here at present , the army , we hear , is come very near us , and the intendant is just now arrived in this city ; the greater part of the most considerable merchants are either already gone , or casting about how best to make their escape , abandoning their houses and estates to their enemies ; and there are not wanting some cowardly spirits , who , to avoid the mischief they are preparing for us , have already promised to do whatsoever is required of them . in a word , nothing is seen or heard in these parts but consternation , weeping and lamentation , there being searce a person of our religion , who hath not his heart pierced with the bitterest sorrows , and whose countenance hath not the lively picture of death imprinted on it : and surely , if our enemies triumph in all this , their triumph cannot likely be of any long continuance . i confess i cannot perswade my self to entertain so good an opinion of them , as to think that ever they will be ashamed of these their doings , so diametrically opposite to the spirit of the gospel , for i know the gospel in their accounts passeth for a fable : but this i dare averr , that this method of theirs will infallibly lay waste the kingdome , which , according to all appearance , is never like to recover of it , and so in time , they themselves will be made as sensible of these miseries , as others now are . commerce is already in a manner wholly extinct , and there will need little less than a miracle to recover it to its former state. what protestant merchants will henceforward be willing to engage themselves in trade , either with persons without faith , and who have so cowardly behav'd their religion and conscience , or with the outrageous and barbarous persecuters of the religion which they profess ▪ and who by these courses declare openly and frankly , that it is their principle , not to think themselves oblig'd to keep their word with hereticks ? and who are those , of what religion soever , that will negotiate with a state exhausted by taxes and subsidies , by persecutions , by barrenness and dearth of several years continuance ; full of a despairing people , and which infallibly will ere long be full of those that are proscrib'd , and be bathing in its own blood. and these miserable wretches who have been deceived , by those who have told them , that it would never be impos'd upon them to abjure their religion , and who are stupified by the extremity of their sufferings , and the terror of their bloody and cruel enemies , are wrapt up in so deep an astonishment , as doth not permit them to be fully sensible of their fall : but as soon as they shall recover themselves , and remember that they could not embrace the communion of rome , without absolutely renouncing the holy religion they professed , and when they shall make a full reflection upon the unhappy change they have been forced to make , then their consciences being awakened , and continually reproaching their faint-heartedness , will rend them with sorrow and remorse , and inflict torments upon them , equal to those the damned endure in hell , and will make them endeavour to be delivered from this anguish , and to find rest in the constant profession of that truth , which they have so unhappily betray'd . and on the other side , their enemies will be loath to take the lye at this time of day , and therefore will endeavour through fear of punishments , to oblige them to stay in that abyss of horror , into which they have precipitated them : but because all the sufferings they can possibly threaten them with , will be no ways considerable when compared with those tortures their consciences have already inflicted upon them , and wherewith they threaten them in case of a relapse , they will be constrained to drag them to the place of execution , or else seek to rid themselves of them all at once by a general massacre , which many good souls have so long desired . i hope , sir , you will not be wanting in your most earnest prayers to beg of god that he would be pleased to take pity of these miserable wretches , and make the heart of our soveraign to relent towards us ; that he would convert those who in their blindness think they do him service by putting us to death , that he would cause his voice to be heard by them from heaven , as to st. paul ; saul , saul , why persecutest thou me ? and make the rest the examples of his exemplary justice ; finally , that he would grant , that all those who have denied him , being touched with a true repentance , may with st. peter go out , and weep bitterly . i am , sir , yours , an extract of a letter , containing some more instances of the cruel and barbarous usage of the protestants in france . but this , sir , is not the thing which troubles me most at this time , there 's another cause of my grief , which is but too just , and even pierceth my heart with sorrow , and that is , the cruel persecution which the poor protestants of france do suffer , amongst whom i have so many near and dear relations : the torments they are put to , are almost incredible , and the heavenly courage wherewith some of them are strengthned by their great captain and leader to undergo them , is no less amazing and wonderful ; i shall give for instance one or two of these champions , that by them you may judge of the rest . a young woman was brought before the council in order to oblige her to abjure the truth of the gospel , which she boldly and man fully refusing , was commanded back again to prison , where they shaved her head , and sing'd off the hair of her privities , and having stript her stark-naked , in this manner led her throngh the streets of the city , where many a blow was given her , and stones flung at her . after this , they set her up to the neck in a tub full of water , where after she had been for a while , they took her out , and put upon her a shift dipt in wine , which as it dry'd , and stuck to her sore and bruised body , they snatch'd off again , and then had another ready , dipt in wine , to clap upon her , this they repeated six several times ; and when by this inhumane usage her body was become very raw and tender , they demanded of her , whether she did not now find her self disposed to embrace the catholick faith ? for so they are pleased to term their religion : but she being strengthned by the spirit and love of him , for whose names sake she suffered all these extremities , undauntedly answered , that she had before declared her resolution to them , which she would never alter ; and that though they had her body in their power , she was resolved not to yield her soul to them , but keep it pure and undefiled for her heavenly lover , as knowing that a little while would put an end to all her sufferings , and give a beginning to her enjoyment of everlasting bliss : which words of hers , adding fuel to their rage , who now despaired of making her a convert , they took and fastned her by her feet , to something that served the turn of a gibbet , and there let her hang in that ignominious posture with her head downwards , till she expired . the other person i would instance in , and whom i pity the more , because ( for ought i know ) he may yet survive , and stil continue under the tormentors hands , in an old man , who having for a great while been kept close prisoner ( upon the same account as the former ) in a deep dungeon , where his companions were darkness and horror , and filthy creeping things , was brought before his judges with vermine and snails crewling upon his mouldred garment , who seeing him in that loathsome condition , said to him , how now old man , does not your heart begin to relent ? and are not you willing to abjure your haeresie ? to which he answered ; as for haeresie , i profess none ; but if by that word you mean my religion , you may assure your selves , that as i have thus long lived , so i hope , and am resolved by the grace of god to dye in it : with which answer they being little pleased , but furiously incensed , bespoke him in a rougher tone : dost thou not see that the worms are about to devour thee ? well , since thou art so resolved , we will send thee back again , to the loathsome place from whence thou camest , that they may make an end of thee , and consume thy obdurate heart ; to which he reply'd , with the words of the holy patient job ; novi post quam vermes confoderint ( corpus ) istud , in carne me a me visurum esse deum . i know that after worms have eaten this body , that in my flesh i shall see god ; and having so said , he was sent back to his loathsome dark abode , where if he be still , i pray god to give him patience and strength to hold out to the end , that so he may obtain the crown of life . i should be too tedious in giving you all the particulars of their cruelty , and of the sufferings of the protestants , yet i cannot well forbear acquainting you with what lately i am most credibly inform'd off , which take as follows ; some dragoons who were quartered with a person , whom they could by no means oblige to renounce his religion , upon a time when they had well fill'd themselves with wine , and broke their glasses at every health they drank , and so fill'd the floor where they were with the fragments , and by often walking over , and treading upon them , reduced them to lesser picees and fractions , and being now in a merry humour , they must needs go to dance , and told their host that he must be one of the company , but withal , that he must first pull off his stockings and shoes , that he might moove the more nimbly ; in a word , they forc'd him to dance with them bare-footed upon the sharp points of glass , which when they had continued so long as they were able to keep him on his legs , they laid him down on a bed , and a while after stript him stark-naked , and roled his body from one end of the room to the other upon the sharp glass , as before-mentioned , which having done , till his skin was stuck full of the said little fragments , they returned him again to his bed , and sent for a chirurgeon , to take out all the said pieces of glass out of his body , which you may easily conceive could not be done without frequent incisions , and horrible and most extream pain . another person being likewise troubled with the unwelcome company of these dragoons , and having suffered extreamly at their hands , without the expected success of his conversion , one of them on a time looking earnestly upon him , told him , that he disfigured himself with letting his beard grow so long ; but he answering , that they were the cause of it , who would not let him stir out of door , for to go to the barber ; the dragoon reply'd , i can do that for you as well as the barber , and with that told him , he must needs try his skill upon him , and so fell to work , but instead of shaving him , flea'd all the skin off his face : one of his companions coming in at the cry of this poor sufferer , and seeing what he had done , seemingly blam'd him for it , and said , he was a bunglar , and then to his host , come your hair wants cutting too , and you shall see i will do it much better than he hath shav'd you : and thereupon begins in a most cruel manner , to pluck the hair , skin and all , off his head , and flea'd that as the other had done his chin. thus making a sport and merriment of the extream suffering of these miserable wretches . by these inhumane , and more than barbarous means , it is that they endeavour to overcome the most resolved patience , and to drive people to despair and faint-heartedness , by their more then devilish inventions . they refuse to give them death , which they desire , and only keep them alive to torment them , so long till they have vanquish'd their perseverance , for the names of martyrs and rebels are equally odious to their enemies , who tell them , that the king will have obedient subjects , but neither martyrs nor rebels , and that they have received orders to convert them , but not to kill them . sir , i beg your pardon for having so long entertain'd you with these more then tragical passages , and that you would not be wanting to recommend the condition of these poor , destitute , afflicted , and tortured persons , to the bowels of compassion of our heavenly father , that he would be pleased not to suffer them to be tempted above what he shall give them grace to bear ; which is , the hearty prayer of , your faithful friend , t. g. the profession of the catholick , apostolick , and roman faith , which the revolting protestants in france are to subscribe and swear to . in the name of the father , son , and holy ghost , amen . i believe and confess with a firm faith , all and every thing and things contained in the creed which is used by the holy church of rome , viz. i receive and embrace most sincerely the apostolick and ecclesiastical traditions , and other observances of the said church . in like manner i receive the scriptures , but in the same sense as the said mother church hath , and doth now understand and expound the same , for whom and to whom it only doth belong to judge of the interpretation of the sacred scriptures ; and i will never take them , nor understand them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers . i profess that there be truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law , instituted by our lord jesus christ , and necessary for the salvation of mankind , altho not equally needful for every one , viz. baptism , confirmation , the eucharist , penance , extream vnction , orders and marriage ; and that they do confer grace ; and that baptism and orders may not be reiterated without sacriledge : i receive and admit also the ceremonies received and approved by the catholick church in the solemn administration of the forementioned sacraments . i receive and embrace all and every thing and things which have been determined concerning original sin and justification by the holy council of trent . i likewise profess , that in the mass there is offered up to god , a true , proper , and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and dead ; and that in the holy sacrament of the eucharist , there is truly , really , and substantially , the body and blood , together with the soul and divinity of the lord jesus christ ; and that in it there is made a change of the whole substance of the bread into his body , and of the whole substance of the wine into his blood , which change the catholick church calls transubstantiation . i confess also , that under one only of these two elements , whole christ and the true sacrament is received . i constantly believe and affirm , that there is a purgatory , and that the souls there detained , are relieved by the suffrages of the faithful . in like manner , i believe that the saints reigning in glory with jesus christ , are to be worshipped and invocated by us , and that they offer up prayers to god for us , and that their reliques ought to be honoured . moreover , i do most stedfastly avow , that the images of jesus christ , of the blessed virgin , the mother of god , and of other saints , ought to be kept and retained , and that due honour and veneration must be yielded unto them . also i do affirm , that the power of indulgence was left to the church by christ jesus , and that the use thereof is very beneficial to christians . i do acknowledge the holy catholick , apostolick , and roman church , to be the mother and mistress of all other churches ; and i profess and swear true obedience to the pope of rome , successor of the blessed st. peter , prince of the apostles , and vicar of jesus christ . in like manner iown and profess , without doubting , all other things left defined and declared by the holy canons and general councils , especially by the most holy council of trent ; and withal , i do condemn , reject , and hold for accursed , all things that are contrary thereto ; and all those heresies which have been condemned , rejected , and accursed by the church . and then swearing upon the book of the gospel , the party recanting must say : i promise , vow , and swear , and most constantly profess , by gods assistance , to keep entirely and inviolably , unto death , this self same catholick and apostolick faith , out of which no person can be saved ; and this i do most truly and willingly profess , and that i will to the utmost of my power , endeavour that it may be maintain'd and upheld as far as any ways belong to my charge ; so help me god and the holy virgin. the certificate which the party recanting is to leave with the priest , before whom he makes his abjuration . i n. n. of the parish of n. do certifie all whom it way concern , that having acknowledged the falsness of the pretended reformed , and the truth of the catholick religion , of my own free-will , without any compulsion , i have accordingly made profession of the said catholick and roman religion in the church of n. in the hands of n. n. in testimony of the truth whereof , i have signed this act in the presence of the witnesses whose names are under written , this — day of the month of the — year of the reign of our soveraign lord the king , and of our redemption — . a declaration of the elector of brandenburg , in favour of the french protestants who shall settle themselves in any of his dominions . we frederick william by the grace of god marquess of brandenburg , arch-chamberlain , and prince elector of the holy empire ; duke of prussia , magdeburg , juilliers , cleves , bergen , stettin , pomerania , of the cassubes , vandals , and silesia , of crosne and jagerndorff , burg-grave , of noremberg ; prince of halberstads , minde and camin ; earl of hohenzollern , of the mark and ravensberg ; lord of ravenstein , lawneburg , and butow , do declare and make known to all to whom these presents shall come . that whereas the persecutions and rigorous proceedings which have been carried on for some time in france , against those of the reformed religion , have forced many families to leave that kingdom , and to seek for a settlement elsewhere , in strange and forreign countries ; we have been willing , being touched with that just compassion , we are bound to have for those who suffer for the gospel , and the purity of that faith , we profess , together with them , by this present declaration , signed with our own hand , to offer to the said protestants a sure and free retreat in all the countries and provinces under our dominion , and withal to declare the several rights , immunities , and priviledges , which we are willing they shall enjoy there , in order to the relieving and easing them in some measure of the burthen of those calamities , wherewith it hath pleased the divine providence to afflict so considerable a part of his church . i. to the end that all those who shall resolve to settle themselves in any of our dominions , may with the more ease and convenience transport themselves thither , we have given order to our envoy extradinary with the states general of the united provinces , sieur diest , and to our commissary in the city of amsterdam , sieur romswinkel , at our charge , to furnish all those of the said religion ( who shall address themselves unto them ) with what vessels and provisions they shall stand in need of , for the transportation of themselves , their goods and families from holland to the city of hamburg ; where then our counsellor and resident for the circle of the lower saxony , sieur guerick , shall furnish them with all conveniencies they may stand in need of , to convey them further , to whatsoever city or province they shall think fit to pitch upon for the place of their abode . ii. those who shall come from the parts of france about sedan , as from champagne , lorain , burgundy , or from any of the southern provinces of that kingdom , and who think it not convenient to pass through holland , may betake themselves to the city frankfort upon maine , and there address themselves to sieur merain , our counsellor and agent in the said city , or in the city of cologne to sieur lely our agent , to whom we have also given command to furnish them with money , pasports , and boats , in order to the carrying them down the river rhine , to our dutchy of cleves and mark ; or in case they shall desire to go further up in our dominions , our said ministers and officers shall furnish them with address and conveniencies for to arrive at those several respective places . iii. and forasmuch as the said our provinces are stored with all sorts of conveniencies and commodities , not only for the necessity of living , but also for manufactures , commerce and trade by sea and by land , those who are willing to settle themselves in any of our said provinces , may choose such place , as they please in the country of cleve , mark , ravensberg and minde , or in those of magdeburg , halberstadt , brandenburg , pomerania , and prussia . and forasmuch as we conceive that in our electoral marquisate , the cities stendel , werbe , rathenow , brandenburg and frankfort ; and in the countrey of magdeburg , the cities of magdenburg , halle , and calbe ; and in prussia , the city of konigsberg will be most commodious , as well for the great abundance of all necessaries of life , which may be had there at cheap rates ; as for the convenience of trade and traffick , we have given charge that as soon as any of the said french protestants shall arrive in any of the said cities , they shall be kindly received , and agreed with about all those things which shall be thought needful for their settlement . and for the rest , leaving them at their full liberty to dispose of themselves in whatsoever city or province they shall judge most commodious and best suiting with their occasions . iv. all the goods , houshold-stuff , merchandise and commodities which they shall bring along with them , shall not be lyable to any custome or impost , but shall be wholly exempt from all charges and impositions of what name or nature soever they may be . v. and in case that in any of the cities , towns , or villages where the said persons of the reformed religion do intend to settle themselves , there be found any ruinous and decay'd houses , or such as stand empty , and which the proprietors are not in a condition to repair , we will cause the same to be assigned to them , the said french protestants , as their propriety , and to their heirs for ever ; and shall content the present proprietors according to the value of the said houses , and shall wholly free the same from all charges , to which the same might stand engaged , whether by mortgage , debts , or any other way whatsoever . furthermore , our will is , that they be furnished with timber , quick-lime , stones , bricks , and other materials , they may stand in need of for the repairing of whatsoever is decay'd or ruinous in any of the said houses , which shall for six years be exempt from all sorts of impositions , free-quarter , and all other charges whatsoever , neither shall the said french , during the said time of six years , be lyable to any payments whatsoever , but what are chargeable upon things of daily consumption . vi. in cities or elsewhere , where convenient places shall be found , for to build houses , those of the reformed religion , who shall make their retreat into our dominions , shall be fully authorized and impowered to take possession of the same , for themselves and their heirs after them , together with all the gardens , fields , and pasture grounds belonging to the same , without being oblig'd to pay any of the dues and charges with which the said places or their dependances may be incumbred . moreover , for the facilitating their building in any of the said place , we will cause them to be furnished with all the materials they shall stand in need of ; and will over and above allow them ten years of exemption , during which they shall not be lyable to any other charges or payments , besides the dues charged upon things of daily spending . and furthermore , forasmuch as our intent is , to make their settlement in our dominions the most easie and commodious for them that may be ; we have given command to our magistrates and other officers in the said provinces , to make enquiry in every city for houses that are to be lett , into which it shall be free for the said french to enter , and take up their lodging as soon as they shall arrive ; and do promise to pay for them and their families for four years , the rent of the said houses , provided that they engage themselves , within the said term , to build in such places as shall be assigned to them , in manner , and upon condition as aforesaid . vii . as soon as they shall have taken up their habitation in any city or town of our dominions , they shall immediately be made free of the place , as also of that particular corporation , which by their trade or profession they belong to , and shall enjoy the self same rights and priviledges , which the citizens , burgesses , and freemen of the said places or corporations do enjoy , and that without being obliged to pay any thing for the said freedome , and without being lyable to the law of escheatage , or any other of what nature soever they may be , which in other countries are in force against strangers ; but shall be look'd upon , and treated upon all accounts , in the same manner , as our own natural subjects . viii . all those who are willing to undertake and establish any manufactures , whether of cloath , stuffs , hats , or any other whatsoever , shall not only be furnished with all the priviledges ; pattents , and franchises , which they can wish for , or desire ; but moreover we will take care that they be assisted with moneys , and such other provisions and necessaries as shall be thought fit to promote and make their undertaking successful . ix . to countreymen and others who are willing to settle themselves in the countrey , we will cause a certain extent of ground to be allotted for them to till and cultivate , and give orders for their being assisted and furnished with all things necessary for their subsistence , at the beginning of their settlement , in like manner as we have done to a considerable number of swiss-families , who are come to dwell in our dominions . x. and as for any business of law , or matter of difference which may arise amongst those of the reformed religion , we do grant and allow that in those cities where any considerable number of french families shall be setled , they be authorized to choose on from amongst themselves , who shall have full power to decide the said differences in a friendly way , without any formality of law whatsoever : and in case any differences shall arise between the germans and the said french , that then the said differences shall be decided joyntly by the magistrate of the place , and by the person whom the french shall have chosen for that purpose from amongst themselves . and the same shall be done when the differences of frenchmen , amongst themselves , cannot be accomodated in the forementioned friendly way , by the person thereto by them elected . xi . in any city where any numbers of french shall settle themselves , we will maintain a minister , and appoint a convenient place for the publick exercise of religion in the french tongue , according to the custome , and with the same ceremonies which are in use amongst the reformed in france . xii . and forasmuch as such of the nobility of france who heretofore have put themselves under our protection , and entered into our service , do actually enjoy the same honours , dignities , and immunities with those of the countrey ; and that there are many sound amongst them , who have been raised to the chief places and charges of our court , and command over our forces , we are ready and willing to continue the same favour to those of the said nobility , who for time to come shall settle themselves in our dominions , by bestowing upon them the several charges , honours and dignities they shall be found fitted for . and in case they shall purchase any mannors or lordships , they shall possess them with all the rights , prerogatives , and immunities , which the nobility of our own dominions do of right enjoy . xiii . all these priviledges and advantages forementioned , shall not only be extended to those french of the reformed religion who shall arrive in our dominions ( in order to their setling there ) after the date of this declaration , but also to those , who before the date hereof , have setled themselves in our countries , provided they have been forced to leave france upon account of their religion ; they of the romish profession being wholly excluded from any part or share therein . xiv . in every one of our provinces , dutchies , and principalities , we shall appoint and establish certain commissioners , to whom the french of the reformed religion , may have recourse and address themselves upon all occasions of need , and this not only at the beginning of their settlement , but also afterwards . and all governours and magistrates of our provinces and territories , shall have order by vertue of these presents , as well as by other particular commands , we shall issue forth , to take the said persons of the reformed religion into their protection , and to maintain them in all the priviledges here before-mentioned , and not suffer the least hurt or injury to be done unto them , but rather all manner of favour , aide and assistance . given at postdam , octob. 26. 1685. signed . frederick william . kind reader , because in the edict of the french king , the perpetual and irrevocable edict of nantes is recall'd and abolished , i thought fit ( because the whole edict would be too long to be inserted here ) to give you some passages of the prefatory part of it , whereby it may appear what stress was laid on it by henry the iv. ( called the great ) grandfather to the present french king , and how much he judged the exact maintaining of it would conduce to the settlement , peace , and prosperity of his kingdom . — now it hath pleased god to give us a beginning of enjoying some rest , we think we cannot employ our selves better , than to apply to that which may tend to the service and glory of his holy name , and to provide that he may be adored and prayed to by all our subjects ; and if it hath not yet pleased him to permit it to be in one and the same form of religion , that it may at the least be with one and the same intention , and with such rules , that may prevent amongst them all troubles and tumults ; and that we and this kingdom may always conserve the glorious title of most christian , and by the same means take away the cause of mischief and trouble , which may happen from the actions of religion , which of all others are most prevalent and penetrating . for this cause , acknowledging this affair to be of the greatest importance , and worthy of the best consideration , after having considered the papers of complaints of our catholick subjects , and having also permitted to our subjects of the reformed religion , to assemble themselves by deputies for framing their complaints , and making a collection of all their remonstrances , and having thereupon conferred divers times with them , we have upon the whole judged it necessary , to give to all our said subjects one general law , clear , plain , and absolute , by which they shall be regulated in all differences , which have heretofore risen among them , on which may rise hereafter , wherewith the one and the other may be contented , having had no other regard in this deliberation , than solely the zeal we have to the service of god , praying that he would henceforward grant to all our subjects a durable and established peace : and we implore and expect from his divine bounty the same protection and favour he hath always bestowed upon this kingdom from our birth , and that he would give our said subjects the grace to understand , that in observation of this our ordinance , consisteth ( next to their duty towards god and us ) the principal foundation of their union , concord , tranquility , rest , and the re-establishment of this estate in its first splendor , opulency and strength , as on our part we promise all to be exactly observed , without suffering any contravention . and for these causes , having with the advice of the princes of our blood , other princes and officers of our crown , and other great and eminent persons of our council of state , well and diligently weighed and considered all this affair ; we have by this edict or statute , perpetual and irrevocable said , declared , and ordained , &c. — finis . an edict of the french king prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom wherein he recalls and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry the iv, his grandfather, given at nantes, full of most gracious concessions to protestants : to which is added, the french king's letter to the elector of brandenburg, containing several passages relating to the foregoing edict : as also, a brief and true account of the persecution carried on against those of the foresaid religion ... : together with the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to, and a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburg ... / translated out of french. edit de révocation de l'edit de nantes. english france. 1686 approx. 95 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49223 wing l3120 estc r2487 13659975 ocm 13659975 101095 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. a49223) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101095) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 794:5) an edict of the french king prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom wherein he recalls and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry the iv, his grandfather, given at nantes, full of most gracious concessions to protestants : to which is added, the french king's letter to the elector of brandenburg, containing several passages relating to the foregoing edict : as also, a brief and true account of the persecution carried on against those of the foresaid religion ... : together with the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to, and a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburg ... / translated out of french. edit de révocation de l'edit de nantes. english france. friedrich wilhelm, elector of brandenburg, 1620-1688. louis xiv, king of france, 1638-1715. the second edition corrected, 40 p. printed by g.m., [london] : 1686. revocation of the edict of nantes, dated october 22, 1685. place of publication from bm. 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 henry -iv, -king of france, 1553-1610. france. -edit de nantes. protestants -france -early works to 1800. freedom of religion -france -early works to 1800. 2006-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-12 apex covantage 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 an edict of the french king , prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom . wherein he recalls , and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry the iv. his grandfather , given at nantes ; full of most gracious concessions to protestants . to which is added , the french king's letter to the elector of brandenburg , containing several passages relating to the foregoing edict . as also , a brief and true account of the persecution carried on against those of the foresaid religion , for to make them abjure and apostatize . together , with the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to . and a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburg , in favour of those of the reformed religion , who shall think fit to settle themselves in any of his dominions . translated out of french. the second edition corrected , with additions . printed by g. m. anno dom. 1686. an edict of the king , prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom . lewes , by the grace of god , king of france and of navarre , to all present and to come , greeting . king henry the great , our grand-father of glorious memory , desiring to prevent , that the peace which he had procured for his subjects , after the great losses they had sustained , by the long continuance of civil and foreign wars , might not be disturbed by occasion of the pretended reformed religion , as it had been during the reign of the kings , his predecessors ; had , by his edict given at nantes , in the month of april , 1598. regulated the conduct which was to be observed , with respect to those of the said religion , the places where they might publickly exercise the same , appointed extraordinary judges , to administer justice to them : and lastly , also , by several distinct articles , provided for every thing , which he judged needful for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in his kingdom , and to diminish the aversion which was between those of the one and other religion : and this , to the end that he might be in a better condition for the taking some effectual course ( which he was resolved to do ) to re-unite those again to the church , who upon so slight occasions had with-drawn themselves from it . and forasmuch as this intention of the king , our said grand-father , could not be effected , by reason of his suddain and precipitated death ; and that the execution of the fore-said edict was interrupted during the minority of the late king , our most honoured lord and father , of glorious memory , by reason of some new enterprizes of those of the pretended reformed religion , whereby they gave occasion for their being deprived of several advantages , which had been granted to them , by the afore-said edict : notwithstanding , the king , our said late lord and father , according to his wonted clemency , granted them another edict at nismes , in the month of july , 1629. by means of which the peace and quiet of the kingdom being now again re established , the said late king , being animated with the same spirit and zeal for religion , as the king our said grand-father was , resolved to make good use of this tranquility , by endeavouring to put this pious design in execution ; but wars abroad , coming on a few years after , so that from the year 1635. to the truce which was concluded with the princes of europe , in 1684. the kingdom having been only for some short intervals , altogether free from troubles , it was not possible to do any other thing for the advantage of religion , save only to diminish the number of places permitted for the exercise of the pretended reformed religion , as well by the interdiction of those which were found erected , in prejudice to the disposal made in the said edict , as by suppressing the mixt chambers of judicature , which were composed of an equal number of papists and protestants ; the erecting of which was only done by provision , and to serve the present exigency . whereas therefore , at length , it hath pleased god to grant , that our subjects enjoying a perfect peace , and we our selves being no longer taken up with the cares of protecting them against our enemies , are now in a condition to make good use of the said truce , which we have on purpose facilitated , in order to the applying our selves enirely to the searching out of means , which might successfully effect and accomplish the design of the kings , our said grand-father and father , and which also hath been * our intention ever since we came to the crown ; we see , at present , ( not without a just acknowledgment of what we owe to god on that account ) that our endeavours have attained the end we propos'd to our selves , forasmuch as the greater and better part of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , have already embraced the catholick ; and since , by means thereof , the execution of the edict of nantes , and of all other ordinances in favour of the said pretended reformed religion , is become useless , we judge that we can do nothing better towards the entire effacing of the memory of those troubles , confusions , and mischief , which the progress of that false religion hath been the cause of in our kingdom , and which have given occasion to the said edict , and to so many other edicts and declarations which went before it , or were made since with reference thereto , than by a total revocation of the said edict of nantes , and the particular articles and concessions granted therein , and whatsoever else hath been enacted since , in favour of the said religion . i. we make known , that we , for these and other reasons us thereto moving , and of our certain knowledge , full power and authority royal , have by the present perpetual and irrevocable edict , suppressed and annulled , do suppress and annull the edict of the king , our said grand father , given at nantes , in april 1598 in its whole extent , together with the particular articles ratified the second of may , next following , and letters patent granted thereupon ; as likewise , the edict given at nismes , in july 1629. declaring them null and void , as if they had never been enacted ; together with all the concessions granted in them , as well as other declarations , edicts and arrests , to those of the pretended reformed religion , of what nature soever they may be , which shall all continue as if they never had been . and in pursuance hereof , we will , and it is our pleasure , that all the churches of those of the pretended reformed religion , scituate in our kingdom , countries , lands , and dominions belonging to us , be forthwith demolished . ii. we forbid our subjects of the pretended reformed religion , to assemble themselves , for time to come , in order to the exercise of their religion in any place or house , under what pretext soever , whether the said places have been granted by the crown , or permitted by the judges of particular places ; any arrests of our council , for authorizing and establishing of the said places for exercise , notwithstanding . iii. we likewise prohibit all lords , of what condition soever they may be , to have any publick exercise in their houses and fiefs , of what quality soever the said fiefs may be , upon penalty to all our said subjects , who shall have the said exercises performed in their houses or otherwise , of confiscation of body and goods . iv. we do strictly charge and command all ministers of the said pretended reformed religion , who are not willing to be converted , and to embrace the catholick apostolick and roman religion , to depart out of our kingdom and countries under our obedience , 15. days after the publication hereof , so as not to continue there beyond the said term , or within the same , to preach , exhort , or perform any other ministerial function , upon pain of being sent to the galleys . v. our will and pleasure is , that those ministers who shall be converted , do continue to enjoy during their lives , and their widows after their decease , as long as they continue so , the same exemptions from payments and quartering of souldiers , which they did enjoy during the time of their exercise of the ministerial function . moreover , we will cause to be paid to the said ministers , during their lives , a pension , which by a third part shall exceed the appointed allowance to them as ministers ; the half of which pension shall be continued to their wives , after their decease , as long as they shall continue in the state of widow-hood . vi. and in case any of the said ministers shall be willing to become advocates , or to take the degree of doctors in law , we will and understand that they be dispensed with , as to the three years of study , which are prescribed by our declarations , as requisite , in order to the taking of the said degree ; and that , after they have pass'd the ordinary examinations , they be forthwith received as doctors , paying only the moiety of those dues , which are usually paid upon that account in every university . vii . we prohibit any particular schools for instructing the children of those of the pretended reformed religion ; and in general , all other things whatsoever , which may import a concession , of what kind soever , in favour of the said religion . viii . and as to the children which shall for the future be born of those of the said pretended reformed religion , our will and pleasure is , that hence forward they be babtized by the curates of our parishes ; strictly charging their respective fathers and mothers to take care they be sent to church in order thereto , upon forfeiture of 500. livres or more , as it shall happen . furthermore , our will is , that the said children be afterwards educated and brought up in the catholick apostolick and roman religion , and give an express charge to all our justices , to take care the same be performed accordingly . ix . and for a mark of our clemency towards those of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , who have retired themselves out of our kingdom , countries , and territories , before the publication of this our present edict , our will and meaning is , that in case they return thither again , within the time of four months , from the time of the publication hereof , they may , and it shall be lawful for them , to re-enter upon the possession of their goods and estates , and enjoy the same in like manner , as they might have done , in case they had always continued upon the place . and on the contrary , that the goods of all those , who within the said time of four months , shall not return into our kingdom , countries , or territories under our obedience , which they have forsaken , remain and be confiscated in pursuance of our declaration of the 20th . of august last . x. we most expresly and strictly forbid all our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , them , their wives or children , to depart out of our said kingdom , countries , or territories under our obedience , or to transport thence their goods or effects , upon penalty of the gally , for men , and of confiscation of body and goods for women . xi . our will and meaning is , that the declaration made against those who shall relapse , be executed upon them according to their form and tenor. morever , those of the said pretended reformed religion , in the mean time , till it shall please god to enlighten them , as well as others , may abide in the several respective cities and places of our kingdoms , countries , and territories under our obedience , and there continue their commerce , and enjoy their goods and estates , without being any way molested upon account of the said pretended reformed religion ; upon condition nevertheless , as forementioned , that they do not use any publick religious exercise , nor assemble themselves upon the account of prayer or worship of the said religion , of what kind soever the same may be , upon forfeiture above specified of body and goods . accordingly , we will and command our trusty and beloved counsellors , the people holding our courts of aids at paris , bayliffs , chief justices , provosts , and other our justices and officers to whom it appertains , and to their lieutenants , that they cause to be read , published , and registred , this our present edict in their courts and jurisdictions , even in vacation time , and the same keep punctually , without contrevening or suffering the same to be contrevened ; for such is our will and pleasure . and to the end to make it a thing firm and stable , we have caused our seal to be put to the same . given at fountainbleau , in the month of october , in the year of grace 1685 , and of of our reign the xliii . signed lewes . visa . this signifies the lord chancellors perusal . le tellier . sealed with the great seal of green-wax , upon a red and green string of silk . registred and published , the kings attorney general requiring it ; in order to their being executed according to form and tenor ; and the copies being examined and compared , sent to the several courts of justice , bailywicks , and sheriffs courts of each district , to be there entred and registred in like manner ; and charge given to the deputies of the said attorney general , to take care to see the same executed , and put in force ; and to certifie the court thereof . at paris , in the court of vacations , t he 22th . of octob. 1685. signed de la baune . a letter of the french king to the elector of brandenburg , sept. 6. 1666. brother , i would not have discoursed the matter you write to me about , on the behalf of my subjects of the pretended reformed religion , with any other prince , besides your self : but to shew you the particular esteem i have for you , i shall begin with telling you , that some persons , disaffected to my service , have spread seditious pamphlets among strangers ; as if the acts and edicts that were pass'd in favour of my said subjects of the pretended reformed religion , by the kings my predecessors , and confirmed by my self , were not kept and executed in my dominions ; which would have been contrary to my intentions : for i take care that they be maintained in all the priviledges , which have been granted them , and be as kindly us'd as my other subjects . to this i am engaged both by my royal word , and in acknowledgment of the proofs they have given me of their loyalty , during the late troubles , in which they took up arms for my service , and did vigorously oppose , and successfully overthrow the ill designs which a rebellious party were contriving within my own dominions , against my authority royal. i pray god , &c. brother , &c. a short account of the violent proceedings , and unheard-of cruelties , which have been exercised upon those of montauban , and which continue to be put in practice in other places , against those of the reformed religion in france , for to make them renounce their religion . on saturday the 8 / 18th . of august , 1685. the intendant of the upper guienne , who resides at montauban , having summoned the principal protestants of the said city to come before him , represented unto them , that they could not be ignorant , that the absolute will and pleasure of the king was , to tolerate but one religion in his kingdom , viz. the roman catholick religion ; and therefore , wished them readily to comply with the same : and in order thereto , advised them to . assemble themselves , and consider what resolution they would take . to this proposal some answer'd , that there was no need of their assembling themselves upon that account ; forasmuch as every one of them in particular , were to try and examine themselves , and be always in a readiness to give a reason of the faith which was in them . the next day the intendant again commanded them to meet together in the town-house , which , he ordered , should be left free for them from noon , till six of the clock in the evening : where meeting accordingly , they unanimously resolved , as they had lived , so to persist till death in their religion : which resolution of theirs , there were some deputed by them to declare to the intendant ; who presenting themselves before him , he who was appointed spokesman , began to address himself to the intendant in these words : my lord , we are not unacquainied , how we are menaced with the greatest violence : — hold there , said the intendant ( interrupting him ) no violence . after this the protestant continued ; but whatever force or violence may be put upon us , — here the intendant interrupting him again , said , i forbid you to use any such words : upon which second interruption , he contented himself to assure him in few words , that they were all resolved to live and dye in their religion . the day after , the battallion of la fere , consisting of 16. companies , entred the city , and were followed by many more . the protestants all this while dreaming of no other design they had against them , but that of ruining their estates , and impoverishing them , had already taken some measures how to bear the said tryal ; they had made a common purse , for the relief of such who should be most burthen'd with quartering ; and were come to a resolution to possess what they had , in common : but , alas ! how far these poor souls were mistaken in their accounts , and how different the treatment they received from the dragoons was , from what they had expected , i shall now relate to you . first therefore , in order to their executing the design and project they had formed against them , they made the souldiers take up their quarters in one certain place of the city ; but withal , appointed several corp de guards to cut off the communication which one part of the city might have with the other , and possess'd themselves of the gates , that none might make their escape . things being thus ordered , the troopers , souldiers , and dragoons began to practise all manner of hostilities , and cruelties , where-with the devil can inspire the most inhumane and reprobate minds : they marr'd and defac'd their houshold-stuff , broke their looking-glasses , and other like utensils and ornaments ; they let the wine run about their cellars , cast abroad and spoyl'd their corn , and other alimentary provisions : and as for those things which they could not break and dash to pieces , as the furniture of beds , hangings , tapistry , linnen , wearing apparrel , plate , and things of the like nature ; these they carried to the market-place , where the jesuits bought them of the souldiers , and encouraged the roman catholicks to do the like . they did not stick to sell the very houses of such , who were most resolute and constant in their profession . it is supposed , according to a moderate calculation , that in the time of four or five days , the protestants of that city were the poorer by a million of money , than they were before the entring of these missionaries . there were souldiers , who demanded four hundred crowns apiece of their hosts for spending-money ; and many protestants were forced to pay down ten pistols to each souldier ; upon the same account . in the mean time , the outrages they committed upon their persons were most detestable and barbarous ; i shall only here set down some few , of which i have been particularly inform'd . a certain taylor called bearnois , was bound and drag'd by the souldiers to the corp de guard , where they boxed and buffetted him all night , all which blows and indignities he suffered with the greatest constancy imaginable . the troopers who quartered with monsieur solignac made his dining room a stable for their horses , tho the furniture of it was valued at 10000 livres , and forc'd him to turn the broach till his arm was near burnt , by their continual casting of wood upon the fire . a passenger as he went through the said city saw some souldiers beating a poor man even to death , for to force him to go to mass , whilst the constant martyr to his last breath , cryed , he would never do it , and only requested they would dispatch and make an end of him . the barons of caussade and de la motte , whose constancy and piety might have inspired courage and resolution to the rest of the citizens , were sent away to cahors . monsieur d'alliez , one of the prime gentlemen of montauban , being a venerable old man , sound so ill treatment at their hands , as it 's thought he will scarcely escape with life . monsieur de garrison , who was one of the most considerable men of that city , and an intimate friend of the intendant , went and cast himself at his feet , imploring his protection , and conjuring him to rid him of his souldiers , that he might have no force put upon his conscience ; adding , that in recompence of the favour he beg'd of him , he would willingly give him all he had , which was to the value of about a million of livres ; but by all his entreaties and proffers , he could not in the least prevail with the intendant ; who gave order , that for a terror to the meaner sort , he should be worse used than the rest , by dragging him along the streets . the method they most commonly made use of , for to make them abjure their religion , and which could not be the product of any thing but hell , was this ; some of the most strong and vigorous souldiers , took their hosts , or other persons of the house , and walk'd them up and down in some chamber , continually tickling them and tossing them like a ball from one to another , without giving them the least intermission , and keeping them in this condition for three days and nights together , without meat , drink , or sleep : when they were so wearied , and fainting , that they could no longer stand upon their legs , they laid them on a bed , continuing as before to tickle and torment them ; after some time , when they thought them somewhat recovered , they made them rise , and walked them up and down as before , sometimes tickling , and other times lashing them with rods , to keep them from sleeping . as soon as one party of these barbarous tormenters were tyred and wearled out , they were relieved by others of their companions , who coming fresh to the work , with greater vigour and violence reiterated the same course . by this infernal invention ( which they had formerly made use of , with success , in bearn and other places ) many went distracted , and others became mopish and stupid , and remain so . those who made their escape , were fain to abandon their estates , yea , their wives , children , and aged relations , to the mercy of these barbarous , and more than savage troops . the same cruelties were acted at negreplisse , a city near to montauban ; where these bloody emissaries committed unparallel'd outrages . isaac favin , a citizen of that place , was hung up by his arm-pits , and tormented a whole night , by pinching and tearing off his flesh with pincers ; tho by all this they were not able to shake his constancy , in the least . the wife of one rouffion , a joyner , being violently dragg'd by the souldiers along the streets , for to force her to hear mass , dyed of this cruel and inhumane treatment , as soon as she reach'd the church porch . amongst other their devilish inventions , this was one : they made a great fire round about a boy of about ten years of age ; who continually , with hands and eyes lifted up to heaven , cryed , my god , help me ; and when they saw the lad resolved to dye so , rather than renounce his religion , they snatch'd him from the fire , when he was at the very point of being burnt . the cities of caussade , realville , st. anthonin , and other towns and places in the upper , guienne , met with the same entertainment , as well as bergerac , and many other places of perigord , and of the lower guienne ; which had a like share of these cruel and inhumane usages . the forementioned troops marched at last to castres , to commit the same insolencies and barbarities there also : and it is not to be doubted , but that they will continue , and carry on the same course of cruelties , where ever they go ; if god , in pity and compassion to his people , do not restrain them . it is to be feared , ( for it seems but too probable ) that this dreadful persecution , in conjunction with those artifices the papists make use of to disguise their religion , and to perswade protestants , that they shall be suffered to worship god as formerly , will make many to comply with them , or at least make their mouths give their hearts the lye , in hopes of being by this means put into a condition to make their escapes , and returning to that profession , which their weakness hath made them deny . but , alas ! this is not all ; for those poor wretches , whom by these devilish ways of theirs , they have made to blaspheme and abjure their religion , as if this were not enough , must now become the persecutors and tormentors of their own wives and children , for to oblige and force them to renounce also ; for they are threatned , that if within three days time they do not make their whole family recant in like manner , those rough apostles ( the dragoons ) shall be fain to take further pains with them , in order to the perfecting of their conversion . and who after all this can have the least doubt , but that these unhappy dragoons are the very emissaries of hell , whose very last efforts and death struglings these seem to be ? this relation hath given a short view of some of those sufferings , the reformed have undergone , but not of all : it is certain , that in divers places they have tryed to wear out their patience , and overcome their constancy by applying red hot irons to the hands and feet of men , and to the breasts of women . at nantes they hung up several women and maids by their feet , and others by their arm-pits , and that stark-naked , thus exposing them to publick view , which assuredly is the most cruel and exquisite suffering can befall that sex ; because in this case their shamefac'dness and modesty is most sensibly touched , which is the most tender part of their soul. they have bound mothers that gave suck unto posts , and let their little infants lye languishing in their sight , without being suffered to suckle them for several days , and all this while left them crying , moaning , and gasping for life , and even dying for hunger and thirst , that by this means they might vanquish the constancy of their tender-hearted mothers , swearing to them they would never permit they should give them suck till they promised to renounce their profession of the gospel . they have taken children of four or five years of age , and kept them from meat and drink for some time , and when they have been ready to faint away and give the ghost , they have brought them before their parents , and horribly asseverated , that except they would turn , they must prepare themselves to see their children languish and dye in their presence . some they have bound before a great fire , and being half roasted , have after let them go : they beat men and women outragiously ; they drag them along the streets , and torment them day and night . the ordinary way they took , was to give them no●est ; for the souldiers do continually relieve one another for to drag , beat , torment and toss up and down these miserable wretches , without intermission . if it happen that any by their patience and constancy do stand it out , and triumph over all the rage and fury of those dragoons , they go to their commander and acquaint him , they have done all they could , but yet without the desired success ; who in a barbarous and surly tone , answers them ; you must return upon them , and do worse than you have done ; the king commands it ; either they must turn , or i must burst and perish in the attempt . these are the pleasant flowry paths , by which the papists allure protestants to return to the bosome of their church . but some it may be will object ; you make a great noise about a small matter , all protestants have not been exposed to these cruelties , but only some few obstinate persons : well , i will suppose so , but yet the horror of those torments inflicted on some , hath so fill'd the imagination of these miserable wretches , that the very thoughts of them hath made them comply ; it is indeed a weakness of which we are ashamed for their sakes , and from whence we hope god will raise them again , in his due time ; yet thus much we may alledge for their excuse , that never was any persecution , upon pretence of religion , carried on to that pitch , and with that politick malice and cruelty that this hath been ; and therefore , of all those which ever the church of christ groan'd under , none can be compar'd with it , true indeed it is , that in former ages it hath been common to burn the faithful under the name of hereticks ; but how few were there exposed to that cruel kind of death , in comparison of those who escaped the executioners hands ? but , behold here a great people at once oppress'd , destroy'd , and ruin'd by a vast army of prodigious butchers , and few or none escaping . former , yea late times have given us some instances of massacres ; but these were only violent tempests , and suddain hurricanes , which lasted but a night , or , at the most , a few days , and they who suffered in them were soon out of their pains , and the far greater number escaped the dint of them : but how much more dreadful is the present condition of the protestants in france ? and to the end we may take a true view and right measures of it , let us consider , that nothing can be conceived more terrible , than a state of war ; but what war to be compared with this ? they see a whole army of butcherly canibals entring their houses , battering , breaking , burning , and destroying whatever comes to hand ; swearing , cursing , and blaspheming like devils ; beating to excess ; offering all manner of indignities and violence ; diverting themselves , and striving to out-vie each other in inventing new methods of pain and torment ; not to be appeased with money , or good chear ; foaming and roaring like ravenous raging lyons ; and presenting death , at every moment ; and that which is worse than all this , driving people to distraction , and senseless stupidity , by those devilish inventions we have given you an instance of , in the relation of montauban . moreover , this persecution hath one characteristical note more ; which , without any exaggeration , will give it the precedence in history for cruelty , above all those which the church of god ever suffered under nero , maximinus , or dioclesian ; which is , the severe prohibition of departing the kingdom , upon pain of confiscation of goods , of the gally , of the lash , and perpetual imprisonment . all the sea-ports are kept with that exactness , as if it were to hinder the escape of traytors , and common enemies : all the prisons of sea-port-towns are cramm'd with these miserable fugitives , men , women , boys , and girls ; who there are condemned to the worst of punishments , for having had a desire to save themselves from this dreadful persecution , and deluging calamity . this is the thing which is unparallel'd , and of which we find no instance : this is thaat superlative excefs of cruelty , which we shall not find in the list of all the violent and bloody proceedings of the duke of alva : he massacred , he beheaded , he cutchered ; but at least , he did not prohibit those that could , to make their escape . in the last hungarian persecution , nothing was required of the protestants , but only that their ministers should banish themselves , and abandon and renounce the conduct of their flocks ; and because they were unwilling to obey these orders , therefore it is they have groan'd under so long , and so terrible a persecution , as they have done . but this hungarian persecution is not to be compared with that we are speaking of ; for the fury of that tempest discharged it self upon the ministers only ; no armies were imploy'd , to force the people to change their religion , by a thousand several ways of torment ; much less did it ever enter the thoughts of the emperour's councel , to shut up all the protestants in hungary ; in order to the destroying of all those who would not abjure their religion ; which yet is the very condition of so many wretched persons in france , who beg it as the highest favour at the hands of their merciless enemies , to have leave to go and beg their bread in a foreign country ; being willing to leave their goods , and all other outward conveniencies , behind them , for to lead a poor , miserable , languishing life in any place , where only they may be suffered to dye in their religion . and is it not from all this most apparent , that those monsters , who have inspired the king with these designs , have refin'd the mystery of persecuting to the utmost , and advanc'd it to its highest pitch of perfection ? o great god! who from thy heavenly throne do'st behold all the outrages done to thy people , haste thee to help us ! great god , whose compassions are infinite , suffer thy self to be touched with our extream desolation ! if men be insensible of the calamities we suffer , if they be deaf to our cries , not regarding our groans and supplications ; yet let thy bowels , o lord , be moved , and affect thee in our behalf . glorious god , for whose names sake we suffer all these things , who knowest our innocence and weakness , as well as the fury and rage of our adversaries , the small support and help we find in the world ; behold , we perish , if thy pity doth not rouze thee up for our relief . it is thou art our rock , our god , our father , our deliverer : we do not place our confidence in any , but thee alone : let us not be confounded , because we put our trust in thee . haste thee to our help ; make no long tarrying , o lord , our god , and our redeemer ! a letter sent from bourdeaux , giving an account of the persecution of those of the protestant religion in france . sir , what you have heard concerning the persecution of those that are of our religion , in the land of bearne , guienne , and perigord , is but too true : and i can assure you ; that they who have given you that account , have been so far from amplifying the matter , that they have only acquainted you with some few particulars ; yet am i not much surprized at the difficulty you find to perswade your self , that the things of which your friends inform you , are true : in cases of this nature , so amazingly unexpected , we are apt often to distrust our own eyes ; and i profess to you , that though all places round about us echo the report of our ruine and destruction , yet i can scarcely perswade my self it is so indeed , because i cannot comprehend it . it is no matter of surprize , or amazement , to see the church of christ afflicted upon earth , forasmuch as she is a stranger here , at well as her captain , lord and husband , the holy and ever-blessed jesus was ; and must , like him , by the same way of cross and suffering , return to her own country , which is above . it is no matter of astonishment , to find her from time to time suffering the worst of usage , and most cruel persecutions ; all ages have seen her exposed to such tryals as these , which are so necessary for the testing of her faith , and so fit a matter of her future glory . neither is it any great wonder , if , amidst these sore tryals , vast numbers of those who made profession of the gospel , do now renounce and forsake it : we know that all have not faith ; and it is more than probable , that they who do not follow christ , but because they thrive by it , and for the loaves , will cease to be of his retinue , when he is about to oblige them to bear his cross , and deny themselves . but that which seems inconceivable to me , is , that our enemies should pitch upon such strange ways and methods to destroy us , as they have done , and that , in so doing they should meet with a success so prodigious and doleful . i shall as briefly as i can endeavour to give you an account of so much as i have understood of it . all those thundring declarations , and destructive arrests , which continually were sued for , and obtain'd against us , and which were executed with the extremity of rigour , were scarce able to move any one of us . the forbidding of our publick exercises , the demolishing of our churches , and the severe injunction that not so much as two or three of us should dare to assemble , in order to any thing of divine worship , had no other effect upon the far greater part of us , than to inflame our zeal , instead of abating it ; obliging us to pray to god with greater fervor and devotion in our closets , and to meditate of his word with greater application and attention . and neither the great wants , to which we were reduced by being depriv'd of our offices and imploys , and all other means of living , and by those insupportable charges with which they strove to over-whelm us , as well by taxes , as the quartering of souldiers ( both which were as heavy as could be laid upon us ) nor the continual trouble we were put to by criminal or other matters of law ; which at the suit of one or other were still laid to our charge , tho upon the most frivolous and unjust pretences imaginable ; i say , all these were not able to wear out our patience , which was hardned against all calamities : insomuch as the design of forcing us to abandon the truth of the gospel , would infallibly have been ship-wrack'd , if no other means had been taken in hand for this purpose . but , alas ! our enemies were too ingenious , to be bauk'd so ; and had taken our ruine too much to heart , not to study for means effectual and proper to bring about their desires : they call'd to mind what prodigious success a new kind of persecution had had of late years in poctou , aunix , and xaintonge , which the intendants of those places had bethought themselves of ; and they made no difficulty to have recourse to the same , as to a means infallible , and not to be doubted of . i must tell you , sir , that we had not the least thought that ever such violent methods as these , would have been pitched upon , as the means of our conversion : we were always of opinion , that none but dennuieux's , and marillacs , could be fit instruments for such like enterprizes ; neither could we ever have imagin'd , that generals of armies , who account it a shame and reproach to attack and take some paultry town or village , should ever debase themselves to besiege old men , women , and children in their own houses ; or that ever souldiers , who think themselves ennobled by their swords , should degrade themselves so far , as to take up the trade of butchers and hangmen , by tormenting poor innocents , and inflicting all sorts of punishments upon them . moreover , we were the less in expectation of any such thing , because at the self-same time they treated us in this manner , they would needs perswade us , that the king's councel had disapproved the design : and indeed , it seem'd very probable to us , that all reasons , whether taken from humanity , piety , or interest , would have made them disavow and condemn a project so inhumane and barbarous : yet now , by experience , we find it but too true , that our enemies are so far from rejecting the said design , that they carry it on with an unparallel'd zeal and application , without giving themselves any further trouble to effectuate their desires , than that of doing these two things . the first of which was , to lull us asleep , and to take away from us all matter of suspition of the mischief they were hatching against us ; which they did by permitting some of our publick exercises of religion , by giving way to our building of some churches , by settling ministers in divers places to baptize our children , and by publishing several arrests and declarations , which did intimate to us , that we had reason to hope we should yet subsist for some years : such was that declaration , by which all ministers were ordered to change their churches every three years . the other was , to secure all the sea-ports of the kingdom , so as none might make their escape , which was done by renewing the antient prohibitions of departing the kingdom without leave , but with the addition of far more severe penalties . after these precautions thus taken , they thought themselves no longer oblig'd to keep any measures , but immediately lift up the hand , to give the last blow for our ruine . the intendants had order to represent to us , that the king was resolved to suffer no other religion in his kingdom besides his own , and to command us all in his name , readily to embrace the same , without allowing us any longer respite to consider what we had to do , than a few days , nay hours ; threatning us , that if we continued obstinate , they would force us to it by the extremity of rigour ; and presently executing these their menaces , by filling our houses with souldiers , to whom we were to be lest for a prey ; and who , not content with entirely ruining of us , should besides exercise upon our persons all the violence and cruelty they could possibly devise : and all this to overcome our constancy and perseverance . four months are now past and gone , since they began to make use of this strange and horrible way of converting people , worthy of , and well becoming its inventors . the country of bearne was first set upon , as being one of the most considerable out-parts of the kingdom , to the end that this mischievous enterprize gaining strength in its passage , might soon after over-whelm , and as it were deluge all the other provinces in the same sea of the uttermost calamity . monsieur foucaut the intendant , went himself in person to all the places where we were in any numbers , and commanded all the inhabitants that were of the protestant religion , under the penalty of great amercements , to assemble themselves in those places he appointed to them ; where being accordingly met together , he charged them in the kings name to change their religion , allowing them only a day or two to dispose themselves for it : he told them , that great numbers of souldiers were at hand , to compel those that should rfuse to yield a ready obedience ; and this threatning of his being immediately followed by the effect , as lightning is by thunder , he fill'd the houses of all those who abode constant in their resolution to live and dye faithful to their lord and master , jesus chrst , with souldiers ; and commands those insolent troops ( flesh'd with blood and slaughter ) to give them the worst treatment they could possibly devise . i shall not undertake , sir , to give you a particular account of those excesses , and outrages , these enraged brutals comitted in executing the orders they were charged with ; the relation would prove too tedious and doleful : it shall suffice me to tell you , that they did not forget any thing that was inhumane , barbarous , or cruel , without having regard to any condition sex or age ; they pull'd down and demolished their houses ; they spoil'd , dash'd to pieces , and burnt their best moveables and houshold stuff ; they bruised and beat to death venerable old men ; they dragg'd honourable matrons to mass , without the least pitty or respect ; they bound and fetter'd innocent persons , as if they had been the most infamous and profligate villains ; they hung them up by their feet , till they saw them ready to give up the ghost ; they took red hot fire-shovels , and held them close to their bare heads , and actually apply'd them to other parts of their bodies ; they immur'd them within four walls , where they let them perish for hunger and thirst : and the constancy wherewith they suffer'd all these torments , having had no other effect , but that of augmenting the rage of these furies , they never ceased inventing new ways of pain and torture , till their inhumanity at length had got the victory , and triumphed over the patience and faith of these miserable wretches . insomuch , that of all those many numerous assemblies , we had in that province , as that of pau , d'arthes , de novarre , &c. there are scarcely left a small number , who either continue constant in despite of all these cruelties , or else have made their escape into spain , holland , england , or elsewhere , leaving their goods and families for a prey to these merciless and cruel men. success having thus far answered their expectation , they resolved to lose no time ; but vigorously prosecuting their work , they immediately turned their thoughts and arms towards montauban ; where the intendant having summoned the citizens to appear before him , speaks them much of the same language , as was used to those of bearne ; whereunto they having returned about the same answer , he orders 4000. men to enter the city , and makes them take up their quarters , as at bearne , only in the houses of protestants ; with express command to treat them in like manner , as they had done those of bearne : and these inhumane wretches were so diligent and active in executing these pittiless orders , that of 12 , or 15000. souls , of which that church did consist , not above 20 , or 30. families are escaped ; who , in a doleful and forlorn condition , wander up and down the woods , and hide themselves in thickets . the ruine of this important place , drew after it the desolation of all the churches about it : which were all enveloped in the same common calamity , as those of realment , bourniquel , negreplisse , &c. yet was not the condition of the churches in the upper guienne more sad and calamitous , than that of those of the lower guienne , and of perigord ; which this horrible deluge hath likewise overwhelm'd . monsieur bouflers , and the intendant , having shared the country between them ; monsieur de bouflers taking for his part agenois , tonnein , clerac , with the adjoyning places ; and the intendant having taken upon him to reduce fleis , monravel , genssac , cartillon , coutras , libourne , &c. the troops which they commanded , in the mean time , carrying desolation to all the places they passed through , filling them with mourning and despair , and scattering terror and amazement amongst all those to whom they approached . there were at the same time 17. companies at saint foy , 15. at nerac , and as many in proportion in all other parts : so that , all places being fill'd with these troops , accustom'd to licentiousness and pillage , there is not any one of the said places , where they have not left most dreadful marks of their rage and cruelty ; having at last , by means of their exquisite tortures , made all those of our religion submit themselves to the communion of rome . but forasmuch as bergerac was most signally famous for the long tryals it had most gloriously endured , and that our enemies were very sensible of what advantage it would be , to the carrying on of their design , to make themselves masters there also , at any price whatsoever ; they accordingly fail'd not to attempt the same with more resolution and obstinacy , than any of the forementioned places . this little town had already , for three years together , with admirable patience and constancy , endured a thousand ill treatments , and exactions from souldiers , who had pick'd them to the very bones : for besides that , it was almost a continual passage for souldiers ; there were no less than 18. troops of horse had their winter-quarters there ; who yet in all that time had only gain'd three converts , and they such too as were maintain'd by the alms of the church . but to return : the design being form'd to reduce this city , two troops of horse are immediately ordered thither , to observe the inhabitants , and soon after 32 companies of foot enter the town : monsieur bouflers and the intendant of the province , with the bishops of agen and perigueux , and some other persons of quality , render themselves there at the same time , and send for 200. of the chiefest citizens to appear before them ; telling them , that the kings express will and pleasure was , they should all go to mass ; and that in case of disobedience , they had order to compel them to it : to which the citizens unanimously answered , that their estates were at the dispose of his majesty , but that god alone was lord of their consciences ; and that they were resolved to suffer to the utmost , rather than do any thing contrary to the motions of it . whereupon they were told , that if they were so resolved , they had nought else to do but to prepare themselves to receive the punishment their obstinacy and disobedience did deserve ; and immediately 32. companies more , of infantry and cavalry , enter the city ( which , together with the 34 companies beforementioned , were all quartered with protestants ) with express command not to spare any thing they had , and to exercise all manner of violence upon the persons of those that entertain'd them , until they should have extorted a promise from them , to do whatsoever was commanded them . these orders then being thus executed , according to the desires of those who had given them , and these miserable victims of a barbarous military fury , being reduc'd to the most deplorable and desolate condition ; they are again sent for to the town house , and once more pressed to change their religion ; and they answering with tears in their eyes , and with all the respect , humility , and submission imaginable , that the matter required of them , was the only thing they could not do , the extreamest rigour and severity is denounc'd against them ; and they presently made good their words , by sending 34. more companies into the city , which made up the full number of an hundred ; who encouraging themselves from their numbers , and flying like enraged wolves upon these innocent sheep , did rend and worry them in such a manner , as the sole relation cannot but strike with horror and amazement . whole companies were ordered to quarter with one citizen ; and persons whose whole estate did not amount to 10000. livres , were taxed at the rate of 150. livres a day : when their money is gone , they sell their houshold-stuff , and sell that for two pence , which hath cost 60 livres ; they bind and fetter father , mother , wife and children : four souldiers continually stand at the door , to hinder any from coming-in to succour or comfort them : they keep them in this condition , two , three , four , five , and six days , without either meat , drink , or sleep : on one hand the child cries , with the languishing accent of one ready to dye , ah my father ! ah my mother ! what shall i do ' i must dye , i can endure no longer : the wife on the other hand cries ; alas ! my heart fails me , i faint , i dye ! whilst their cruel tormentors are so far from being touch'd with compassion , that from thence they take occasion to press them afresh , and to renew their torments , frighting them with their hellish menaces , accompanied with most execrable oaths and curses ; crying , dog , bougre , what , wilt not thou be converted ? wilt not thou be obedient ? dog , bougre , thou must be converted , we are sent on purpose to convert thee : and the clergy , who are witnesses of all these cruelties , ( with which they feast their eyes ) and of all their infamous and abominable words , ( which ought to cover them with horror and confusion ) make only a matter of sport and laughter of it . thus these miserable wretches , being neither suffered to live or to dye , ( for when they see them fainting away , they force them to take so much as to keep body and soul together ) and seeing no other way for them to be delivered out of this hell , in which they are continually tormented , are fain at last to stoop under the unsupportable burthen of these extremities : so that , excepting only a few who saved themselves by a timely flight , preferring their religion before all temporal possessions , all the rest have been constrained to go to mass . neither is the country any more exempt from these calamities , than towns and cities ; nor those of the nobility and gentry , than citizens . they send whole companies of souldiers into gentlemens houses , who treat them in the most outragious and violent manner conceivable ; insomuch that not a soul can hope to escape , except it may be some few , who like the believers of old , wander in desarts , and lodge in dens and caves of the earth . furthermore , i can assure you , that never was any greater consternation , than that which we are in here at present ; the army , we hear is come very near us , and the intendant is just now arrived in this city ; the greater part of the most considerable merchants are either already gone , or casting about how best to make their escape , abandoning their houses and estates to their enemies ; and there are not wanting some cowardly spirits , who , to avoid the mischief they are preparing for us , have already promised to do whatsoever is required of them . in a word , nothing is seen or heard in these parts but consternation , weeping and lamentation ; there being scarce a person of our religion , who hath not his heart pierced with the bitterest sorrows , and whose countenance hath not the lively picture of death imprinted on it : and surely , if our enemies triumph in all this , their triumph cannot likely be of any long continuance . i confess , i cannot perswade my self to entertain so good an opinion of them , as to think that ever they will be ashamed of these their doings , so diametrically opposite to the spirit of the gospel ; for i know the gospel , in their accounts , passeth for a fable : but this i dare averr , that this method of theirs will infallibly lay waste the kingdome , which , according to all appearance , is never like to recover of it ; and so in time , they themselves will be made as sensible of these miseries , as others now are . commerce is already in a manner wholly extinct , and there will need little less than a miracle to recover it to its former state. what protestant merchants will henceforward be willing to engage themselves in trade , either with persons without faith ; and who have so cowardly betray'd their religion and conscience , or with the outragious and barbarous persecuters of the religion , which they profess ? and who by these courses declare openly and frankly , that it is their principle , not to think themselves oblig'd to keep their word with hereticks ? and who are those , of what religion soever , that will negotiate with a state exhausted by taxes and subsidies , by persecutions , by barrenness and dearth of several years continuance ; full of a despairing people , and which infallibly will e're long be full of those that are proscrib'd , and be bathing in its own blood. and these miserable wretches , who have been deceived by those who have told them , that it would never be impos'd upon them to abjure their religion , and who are stupified by the extremity of their sufferings , and the terror of their bloody and cruel enemies , are wrapt up in so deep an astonishment , as doth not permit them to be fully sensible of their fall : but as soon as they shall recover themselves , and remember , that they could not embrace the communion of rome , with absolutely renouncing the holy religion they professed ; and when they shall make a full reflection upon the unhappy change they have been forced to make , then their consciences being awakened , and continually reproaching their faint-heartedness , will rend them with sorrow and remorse , and inflict torments upon them , equal to those the damned endure in hell ; and will make them endeavour to be delivered from this anguish , and to find rest in the constant profession of that truth , which they have unhappily betray'd . and on the other side ; their enemies will be loath to take the lye at this time of the day ; and therefore will endeavour , through fear of punishments , to oblige them to stay in that abyss of horror , into which they have precipitated them : but because all the sufferings they can possibly threaten them with , will be no ways considerable , when compared with those tortures their consciences have already inflicted upon them , and where-with they threaten them in case of a relapse , they will be constrained to drag them to the place of execution , or else seek to rid themselves of them all at once , by a general massacre , which many good souls have so long desired . i hope , sir , you will not be wanting in your most earnest prayers to beg of god , that he would be pleased to take pity of these miserable wretches ; and make the heart of our soveraign to relent towards us ; that he would convert those , who in their blindness think they do him service , by putting us to death ; that he would cause his voice to be heard by them from heaven , as to st. paul ; saul , saul , why persecutest thou me ? and make the rest the examples of his exemplary justice : finally , that he would grant , that all those who have denied him , being touched with a true repentance , may , with st. peter , go out , and weep bitterly . i am , sir , yours , &c. an extract of a letter , containing some more instances of the cruel and barbarous vsage of the protestants in france . but this , sir , is not the thing which troubles me most , at this time ; there 's another cause of my grief , which is but too just , and even pierceth my heart with sorrow ; and that is , the cruel persecution , which the poor protestants of france do suffer , amongst whom i have so many near and dear relations : the torments they are put to , are almost incredible ; and the heavenly courage , wherewith some of them are strengthned by their great captain and leader , to undergo them , is no less amazing and wonderful : i shall give for instance one or two of these champions , that by them you may judge of the rest . a young woman was brought before the council , in order to oblige her to abjure the truth of the gospel ; which she boldly and manfully refusing , was commanded back again to prison ; where they shaved her head , and sing'd off the hair of her privities ; and having stript her stark-naked , in this manner led her through the streets of the city ; where many a blow was given her , and stones flung at her . after this , they set her up to the neck in a tub full of water ; where after she had been for a while , they took her out , and put upon her a shift dipt in wine , which as it dry'd , and stuck to her sore and bruised body , they snatch'd off again ; and then had another ready , dipt in wine , to clap upon her : this they repeated six several times ; and when by this inhumane usage , her body was become very raw and tender , they demanded of her , whether she did not now find her self disposed to embrace the catholick faith ? for so they are pleased to term their religion : but she , being strengthned by the spirit and love of him , for whose names sake she suffered all these extremities , undaunted answer'd ; that she had before declared her resolution to them , which she would never alter ; and that , though they had her body in their power , she was resolved not to yield her soul to them ; but keep it pure and undefiled for her heavenly lover ; as knowing , that a little while would put an end to all her sufferings , and give a beginning to her enjoyment of everlasting bliss : which words of hers , adding fuel of their rage , who now despaired of making her a convert , they took and fastned her by her feet , to something that served the turn of a gibbet , and there let her hang in that ignominious posture , with her head downwards , till she expired . the other person i would instance in , and whom i pity the more , because ( for ought i know ) he may yet survive , and still continue under the tormentor's hands , is an old man ; who having , for a great while , been kept close prisoner ( upon the same account as the former ) in a deep dungeon , where his companions were darkness and horror , and filthy creeping things , was brought before his judges , with vermin and snails crawling upon his mouldred garment ; who seeing him in that loathsom condition , said to him : how now old man , does not your heart begin to relent ? and are not you willing to abjure your heresie ? to which he answer'd : as for heresie , i profess none ; but if by that word you mean my religion , you may assure your selves , that as i have thus long lived , so , i hope , and am resolved by the grace of god , to dye in it : with which answer they being little pleased , but furiously incensed , bespoke him in a rougher tone : do'st thou not see , that the worms are about to devour thee ? well , fince thou art so resolved , we will send thee back again , to the loathsom place from whence thou camest , that they may make an end of thee , and consume thy obdurate heart : to which he reply'd , with the words of the holy patient job ; novi postquam vermes confoderint ( corpus ) istud , in carne mea me vissurum esse deum . i know that after worms have eaten this body , that in my flesh i shall see god. and having so said , he was sent back to his loathsom dark abode ; where if he be still , i pray god to give him patience and strength to hold out to the end , that so he may obtain the crown of life . i should be too tedious , in giving you all the particulars of their cruelty , and of the sufferings of the protestants ; yet i cannot well forbear acquainting you with what lately i am most credibly inform'd of ; which take as follows : some dragoons , who were quartered with a person , who they could by no means oblige to renounce his religion ; upon a time , when they had well fill'd themselves with wine , and broke their glasses at every health they drank ; and so fill'd the floor , where they were , with the fragments ; and by often walking over , and treading upon them , reduced them to lesser pieces and fractions : and being now in a merry humour , they must needs go to dance ; and told their host , that he must be one of the company ; but withal , that he must first pull off his stockings and shoes , that he might move the more nimbly : in a word , they forc'd him to dance with them bare-footed , upon the sharp points of glass ; which when they had continued so long as they were able to keep him on his legs , they laid him down on a bed ; and a while after stript him stark naked , and rolled his body from one end of the room to the other , upon the sharp glass , as beforementioned ; which having done , till his skin was stuck full of the said little fragments , they returned him again to his bed , and sent for a chyrurgeon , to take out all the said pieces of glass out of his body ; which , you may easily conceive , could not be done without frequent incisions , and horrible and most extream pain . another person being likewise troubled with the unwelcome company of these dragoons , and having suffered extreamly at their hands , without the expected success of his conversion ; one of them on a time looking earnestly upon him , told him , that he disfigured himself , with letting his beard grow so long : but he answering , that they were the cause of it , who would not let him stir out of door , for to go to the barber : the dragoon reply'd i can do that for you as well as the barber ; and with that told him , he must needs try his skill upon him : and so fell to work ; but instead of shaving him , flea'd all the skin off his face . one of his companions coming-in at the cry of this poor sufferer , and seeing what he had done , seemingly blam'd him for it , and said , he was a bunglar ; and then to his host , come , your hair wants cutting too ; and you shall see , i will do it much better than he hath shav'd you : and thereupon begins , in a most cruel manner , to pluck the hair , skin , and all , off his head , and flea'd that as the other had done his chin. thus making a sport and merriment of the extream suffering of these miserable wretches . by these inhumane , and more than barbarous means it is , that they endeavour to overcome the most resolved patience , and to drive people to despair and faint-heartedness , by their devilish inventions . they refuse to give them death , which they desire ; and only keep them alive to torment them , so long till they have vanquish'd their perseverance ; for the names of martyrs , and rebels , are equally odious to their enemies ; who tell them , that the king will have obedient subjects , but neither martyrs nor rebels ; and that they have received orders to convert them , but not to kill them . sir , i beg your pardon , for having so long entertain'd you with these more than tragical passages ; and that you would not be wanting to recommend the condition of these poor , destitute , afflicted , and tortured persons , to the bowels of compassion of our heavenly father , that he would be pleased not to suffer them to be tempted above what he shall give them grace to bear : which is the hearty prayer of , your faithful friend , t. g. since the first publishing of this , some further particulars ( representing the horror of this persecution ) are come to hand ; which take as follow : they have put persons into monasteries , in little narrow holes , where thy could not stretch their bodies at length ; there feeding them with bread and water , and whipping them every day , till they did recant : they plunged others into wells , and there kept them till they promised to do what was desired of them : they stript some naked , and stuck their bodies full of pins : they tyed fathers and husbands to the bed-posts , forcing their wives and daughters before their eyes : in some places the ravishing of women was openly and generally permitted : they pluck'd off the nails and toes of others : they burnt their feet , and blew up men and women with bellows , till they were ready to burst . in a word , they exercised all manner of cruelties they could invent , and in so doing , spared neither sex , age nor quality . the profession of the catholick , apostolick , and roman faith , which the revolting protestants in france are to subscribe and swear to . in the name of the father , son , and holy ghost , amen . i believe and confess with a firm faith , all and every thing and things contained in the creed , which is used by the holy church of rome , viz. i receive and embrace most sincerely the apostolick and ecclesiastical traditions , and other observances of the said church . in like manner , i receive the scriptures , but in the same sence as the said mother church hath , and doth now understand and expound the same ; for whom and to whom it only doth belong to judge of the interpretation of the sacred scriptures : and i will never take them , nor understand them otherwise , than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers . i profess , that there be truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law , instituted by our lord jesus christ , and necessary for the salvation of mankind , altho' not equally needful for every one , viz. baptism , confirmation , the eucharist , penance , extream unction , orders and marriage ; and that they do confer grace ; and that baptism and orders may not be reiterated , without sacriledge : i receive and admit also the ceremonies received and approved by the catholick church , in the solemn administration of the forementioned sacraments . i receive and embrace all and every thing , and things , which have been determined concerning original sin and justification by the holy council of trent . i likewise profess , that in the mass there is offered up to god , a true , proper , and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and dead ; and that in the holy sacrament of the eucharist , there is truly , really , and substantially , the body and blood , together with the soul and divinity of the lord jesus christ ; and that in it there is made a change of the whole substance of the bread into his body , and of whole substance of the wine into his blood , which change the catholick church calls transubstantiation . i confess also , that under one only of these two elements , whole christ , and the true sacrament is received . i constantly believe and affirm , that there is a purgatory ; and that the souls there detained , are relieved by the suffrages of the faithful . in like manner , i believe that the saints reigning in glory with jesus christ , are to be worshipped and invocated by us , and that they offer up prayers to god for us , and that their reliques ought to be honoured . moreover , i do most stedfastly avow , that the images of jesus christ , of the blessed virgin , the mother of god , and of other saints , ought to be kept and retained , and that due honour and veneration must be yielded unto them . also i do affirm , that the power of indulgence was left to the church by christ jesus , and that the use thereof is very beneficial to christians . i do acknowledge the holy catholick , apostolick , and roman church , to be the mother and mistress of all other churches ; and i profess and swear true obedience to the pope of rome , successor of the blessed st. peter , prince of the apostles , and vicar of jesus christ . in like manner , i own and profess , without doubting , all other things left defined and declared by the holy canons and general councils , especially by the most holy council of trent ; and withal , i do condemn , reject , and hold for accursed , all things that are contrary thereto ; and all those heresies which have been condemned , rejected , and accursed by the church . and then swearing upon the book of the gospel , the party recanting must say : i promise , vow , and swear , and most constantly profess , by gods assistance , to keep entirely and inviolably , unto death , this self-same catholick and apostolick faith , out of which no person can be saved ; and this i do most truly and willingly profess , and that i will to the utmost of my power endeavour that it may be maintain'd and upheld as far as any ways belong to my charge ; so help me god , and the holy virgin. the certificate which the party recanting is to leave with the priest , when he makes his abjuration . i n. n. of the parish of n. do certifie all whom it may concern , that having acknowledged the falseness of the pretended reformed , and the truth of the catholick religion , of my own free will , without any compulsion , i have accordingly made profession of the said catholick roman religion in the church of n. in the hands of n. n. in testimony of the truth whereof , i have signed this act in the presence of the witnesses whose names are under written , this — day of the month of the — year of the reign of our soveraign lord the king , and of our redemption — a declaration of the elector of brandenburg , in favour of the french protestants , who shall settle themselves in any of his dominions . we frederick william , by the grace of god , marquess of brandenburg , arch-chamberlain , and prince elector of the holy empire ; duke of prussia , magdeburg , juilliers , cleves , bergen , stettin , pomerania ; of the cassubes , vandals , and silesia ; of crosne , and jagerndorff ; burg-grave of noremberg ; prince of halberstadt , minde , and camin ; earl of hohenzollern , of the mark and ravensberg ; lord of ravenstein , lawneburg , and butow , do declare and make known to all to whom these presents shall come : that whereas the persecutions and rigorous proceedings which have been carried on for some time in france , against those of the reformed religion , have forced many families to leave that kingdom , and to seek for a settlement elsewhere , in strange and foreign countries ; we have been willing , being touched with that just compassion , we are bound to have for those who suffer for the gospel , and the purity of that faith we profess , together with them , by this present declaration , signed with our own hand , to offer , to the said protestants , a sure and free retreat in all the countries and provinces under our dominion ; and withal , to declare the several rights , immunities , and priviledges , which we are willing they shall enjoy there , in order to the relieving and easing them , in some measure , of the burthen of those calamities , wherewith it hath pleased the divine providence to afflict so considerable a part of his church . i. to the end , that all those who shall resolve to settle themselves in any of our dominions , may with the more ease and convenience transport themselves thither , we have given order to our envoy extraordinary with the states-general of the vnited provinces , sieur diest , and to our commissary in the city of amsterdam , sieur romswinkel , at our charge , to furnish all those of the said religion ( who shall address themselves unto them ) with what vessels and provisions they shall stand in need of , for the transportation of themselves , their goods and families , from holland to the city of hamburg : where then our councellor and resident for the circle of the lower saxony , sieur baerick , shall furnish them with all conveniencies they may stand in need of , to convey them further , to whatsoever city or province they shall think fit to pitch upon , for the place of their abode . ii. those who shall come from the parts of france about sedan , as from champagne , lorain , burgundy , or from any of the southern provinces of that kingdom , and who think it not convenient to pass through holland , may betake themselves to the city of frankfort upon maine ; and there address themselves to sieur merain , our councellor and agent in the said city , or in the city of cologne to sieur lely , our agent , to whom we have also given command to furnish them with money , pasports , and boats , in order to the carrying them down the river rhine , to our dutchy of cleves and mark : or in case they shall desire to go further up in our dominions , our said ministers and officers shall furnish them with address , and conveniencies , for to arrive at those several respective places . iii. and forasmuch as the said our provinces are stored with all sorts of conveniencies , and commodities , not only for the necessity of living , but also for manufactures , commerce , and trade by sea , and by land ; those who are willing to settle themselves in any of our said provinces , may choose such place , as they please , in the country of cleve , mark , ravensberg and minde , or in those of magdeburg , halberstadt , brandenburg , pomerania , and prussia . and forasmuch as we conceive , that in our electoral marquisate , the cities of stendel , werbe , ka●kenow , brandenburg , and frankfort ; and in the country of magdeburg , the cities of magdenburg , halle , and calbe ; and in prussia , the city of konigsberg will be most commodious , as well for the great abundance of all necessaries of life , which may be had there at cheap rates , as for the convenience of trade and traffick ; we have given charge , that as soon as any of the said french protestants shall arrive in any of the said cities , they shall be kindly received and agreed with about all those things , which shall be thought needful for their settlement . and for the rest , leaving them at their full liberty to dispose of themselves in whatsoever city or province they shall judge most commodious , and best suiting with their occasions . iv. all the goods , houshold-stuff , merchandize , and commodities , which they shall bring along with them , shall not be liable to any custom of impost ; but shall be wholly exempt from all charges and impositions , of what name or nature soever they may be . v. and in case that in any of the cities , towns , or villages , where the said persons of the reformed religion do intend to settle themselves , there be found any ruinous and decay'd houses , or such as stand empty , and which the proprietors are not in a condition to repair , we will cause the same to be assigned to them , the said french protestants , as their propriety , and to their heirs forever ; and shall content the present proprietors , according to the value of the said houses ; and shall wholly free the same from all charges , to which the same might stand engaged , whether by mortgage , debts , or any other way whatsoever . furthermore , our will is , that they be furnished with timber , quick lime , stones , bricks , and other materials they may stand in need of , for the repairing of whatsoever is decay'd or ruinous in any of the said houses ; which shall , for six years , be exempt from all sorts of impositions , free quarter , and all other charges whatsoever : neither shall the said french , during the said time of six years , be lyable to any payments whatsoever , but what are chargeable upon things of daily consumption . vi. in cities or elsewhere , where convenient places shall be found for to build houses , those of the reformed religion , who shall make their retreat into our dominions , shall be fully authorized and impowered to take possession of the same , for themselves and their heirs after them , together with all the gardens , fields , and pasture grounds belonging to the same , without being oblig'd to pay any of the dues and charges , with which the said places , or their dependance may be incumbred . moreover , for the facilitating their building in any of the said places , we will cause them to be furnished with all the materials they shall stand in need of ; and will over and above allow them ten years of exemption , during which they shall not be lyable to any other charges or payments , besides the dues charged upon things of daily spending . and furthermore , forasmuch as our intent is , to make their settlement in our dominions the most easie and commodious for them that may be ; we have given command to our magistrates and other officers in the said provinces , to make enquiry , in every city , for houses that are to be lett , into which it shall be free for the said french to enter , and take up their lodging as soon as they shall arrive ; and do promise to pay for them and their families for four years , the rent of the said houses , provided that they engage themselves , within the said term , to build in such places as shall be assigned to them , in manner , and upon condition as aforesaid . vii . as soon as they shall have taken up their habitation in any city or town of our dominions , they shall immediately be made free of the place , as also of that particular corporation , which by their trade or profession they belong to ; and shall enjoy the self-same rights and priviledges , which the citizens , burgesses , and freemen of the said places or corporations do enjoy , and that without being obliged to pay any thing for the said freedome , and without being lyable to the law of escheatage , or any other of what nature soever they may be , which in other countries are in force against strangers ; but shall be look'd upon , and treated upon all accounts , in the same manner , as our own natural subjects . viii . all those whose are willing to undertake and establish any manufactures , whether of cloth , stuffs , hats , or any other whatsoever , shall not only be furnished with all the priviledges , patents , and franchises , which they can wish for , or desire ; but moreover we will take care that they be assisted with moneys , and such other provisions and necessaries as shall be thought fit to promote and make their undertaking successful . ix . to country-men and others , who are willing to settle themselves in the countrey , we will cause a certain extent of ground to be allotted for them to till and cultivate , and give orders for their being assisted and furnished with all things necessary for their subsistence , at the beginning of their settlement ; in like manner as we have done to a considerable number of swiss-families , who are come to dwell in our dominions . x. and as for any business of law , or matter of difference which may arise amongst those of the reformed religion , we do grant and allow that in those cities where any considerable number of french-families shall be settled , they be authorized to choose one from amongst themselves , who shall have full power to decide the said differences in a friendly way , without any formality of law whatsoever : and incase any differences shall arise between the germans and the said french , that then the said differences shall be decided joyntly by the magistrate of the place , and by the person whom the french shall have chosen for that purpose , from amongst themselves . and the same shall be done when the differences of frenchmen , amongst themselves , cannot be accommodated in the forementioned friendly way , by the person thereto by them elected . xi . in every city , where any numbers of french shall settle themselves , we will maintain a minister , and appoint a convenient place for the publick exercise of religion in the french tongue , according to the custome , and with the same ceremonies which are in use amongst the reformed in france . xii . and forasmuch as such of the nobility of france , who , heretofore , have put themselves under our protection , and entred into our service , do actually enjoy the same honours , dignities , and immunities with those of the countrey ; and that there are many found amongst them , who have been raised to the chief places and charges of our court , and command over our forces ; we are ready and willing to continue the same favour to those of the said nobility , who for time to come shall settle themselves in our dominions , by bestowing upon them the several charges , honours and dignities , they shall be found fitted for . and in case they shall purchase any mannors or lordships , they shall possess the same with all the rights , prerogatives , and immunities , which the nobility of our own dominions do of right enjoy . xiii . all these priviledges and advantages forementioned shall not only be extended to those french of the reformed religion , who shall arrive in our dominions ( in order to their settling there ) after the date of this declaration ; but also to those , who before the date hereof , have settled themselves in our countries , provided they have been forced to leave france upon account of their religion ; they of the romish profession being wholly excluded from any part or share therein . xiv . in every one of our provinces , dutchies , and principalities , we shall appoint and establish certain commissioners , to whom the french of the reformed religion , may have recourse , and address themselves upon all occasions of need ; and this not only at the beginning of their settlement , but also afterwards . and all governours and magistrates of our provinces and territories , shall have order by vertue of these presents , as well as by other particular commands , we shall from time to time issue forth , to take the said persons of the reformed religion into their protection , and to maintain them in all the priviledges here before mentioned , and not suffer the least hurt or injury to be done unto them , but rather all manner of favour , aide and assistance . given at postdam , octob. 26. 1685. signed , frederick william . kind reader , forasmuch as in the edict of the french king , the perpetual and irrevocable edict of nantes is recall'd and abolished ; i thought fit ( because the whole edict would be too long to be inserted here ) to give you some passages of the prefatory part of it , whereby it may appear what stress was laid on it by henry the iv. ( called the great ) grandfather to the present french king , and how much he judged the exact maintaining of it would conduce to the settlement , peace , and prosperity of his kingdom . — now it hath pleased god to give us a beginning of enjoying some rest , we think , we cannot employ our selves better , than to apply to that which may tend to the service and glory of his holy name , and to provide that he may be adored and prayed to by all our subjects ; and if 〈…〉 at h not yet pleased him to permit it to be in one and the same form of religion , that it may at the least be with one and the same intention , and with such rules , that may prevent amongst them all troubles and tumults ; and that we and this kingdom may always conserve the glorious title of most christian , and by the same means take away the cause of mischief and trouble , which may happen from the actions of religion , which of all others are most prevalent and penetrating . for this cause , acknowledging this affair to be of the greatest importance , and worthy of the best consideration , after having considered the complaints of our catholick subjects , and having also permitted to our subjects of the reformed religion , to assemble themselves by deputies for framing their complaints , and making a collection of all their remonstrances , and having thereupon conferred divers times with them , we have upon the whole judged it necessary , to give to all our said subjects one general law , clear , plain , and absolute , by which they shall be regulated in all differences , which have heretofore risen among them , or which may rise hereafter , and wherewith both the one and the other may be contented ; having had no other regard in this deliberation , than solely the zeal we have to the service of god , praying that he would henceforward grant to all our subjects a durable and established peace : and we implore and expect from his divine bounty the same protection and favour he hath always bestowed upon this kingdom from our birth , & that he would give our said subjects the grace to understand , that in observation of this our ordinance , consisteth ( next to their duty toward god and us ) the principal foundation of their vnion concord , tranquility , rest , & the re-establishment of this state in its first splendor . opulency & strength ; as on our p●●● we promise that all the parts of it shall be exactly observed , without suffering any contravention . and for these causes , having with the advice of the princes of our blood , other princes and officers of our crown , and other great and eminent persons of our council of state , well and diligently weighed and considered all this affair ; we have by this edict or statute , perpetual and irrevocable , said , declared , & ordained , &c. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a49223-e240 ☞ ☜ reasons for vnitie, peace, and love with an answer (called shadows flying away) to a book of mr. gataker, one of the assembly, intituled, a mistake, &c. and the book of the namelesse author called, the plea, both writ against me : and a very short answer, in a word, to a book by another namelesse author called, an after-reckoning with master saltmarsh, and to master edward his second part called, gangrena, directed to me ... / by john saltmarsh ... saltmarsh, john, d. 1647. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a61119 of text r11619 in the english short title catalog (wing s496). 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. 104 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a61119 wing s496 estc r11619 12591201 ocm 12591201 63943 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. a61119) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63943) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 332:2) reasons for vnitie, peace, and love with an answer (called shadows flying away) to a book of mr. gataker, one of the assembly, intituled, a mistake, &c. and the book of the namelesse author called, the plea, both writ against me : and a very short answer, in a word, to a book by another namelesse author called, an after-reckoning with master saltmarsh, and to master edward his second part called, gangrena, directed to me ... / by john saltmarsh ... saltmarsh, john, d. 1647. [4], 125-149 p. printed for giles calvert ..., london : 1646. issued in: some drops of the viall. 1646. "imprimatur iohn bachiler, may 26, 1646"--t.p., verso. errata on p. 149. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. marginal notes. eng gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. -mistake. edwards, thomas, 1599-1647. -gangraena. ley, john, 1583-1662. -after-reckoning with mr. saltmarsh. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. -plea for congregationall government. christian union. protestants -england. a61119 r11619 (wing s496). civilwar no reasons for unitie, peace, and love. with an answer (called shadows flying away) to a book of mr gataker one of the assembly, intituled a mi saltmarsh, john 1646 17532 50 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. 2005-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-10 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-10 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion reasons for vnitie , peace , and love , with an answer ( called shadows flying away ) to a book of mr gataker one of the assembly , intituled , a mistake , &c. and the book of the namelesse author , called , the plea : both writ against me . and a very short answer , in a word , to a book by another namelesse author , called an after-reckoning with master saltmarsh ; and to master edward , his second part , called gangrena , directed to me . wherein many things of the spirit are discovered , of faith and repentance , &c. of the presbytery : and some things are hinted , to the undeceiving of people in their present ministers . by john saltmarsh , preacher of the gospell . acts 7. 26. sirs , ye are brethren ; why do ye wrong one to another ? london , printed for giles calvert , at the black spread-eagle at the west end of pauls . 1646. reader , in this answer to master gataker , i conceive thou hast a taste of the true notion both of the sweetnesse and glory of the gospell . imprimatur , iohn bachiler ▪ may 26. 1646. to the right honourable , the lord maior , aldermen , and the common-councell of the city of london . right honourable , many who call themselves ministers and prophets of god accuse us of heresie and schism before ye . but i hope ye will take notice they are but men as we are , and of like passions with us ; neither apostles , nor prophets of the first baptism , or gifts of the spirit . yet if the priests and elders , or any oratour , as tertullus ▪ accuse paul to festus or agrippa , he cannot but a●swer for himselfe . i have but few words to speak to ye ( noble citizens ) that ye would in that spirit which is of god , judge the doctrines of men , and single them from traditions , customes , councels , synods , interests . ye are bid to try the spirits whether they be of god ▪ or no . try whether it be according to god , for some ministers , and thse not apostles , to call others hereticks who beleeve not as they beleeve : what will become then of the strong and weak christian , of the children , fathers , and young men ? trye whether they ought to p●ea●h to ye to suppresse all but themselves ; since they are not infallible , but may erre ; and where is the remedy then , if they erre ? who shall judge the iudges ? try whether this make for unity of spirit , to allow no more fellowship nor brotherhood then in forme and practice . and what will they have ye do if formes should alter ? for states may change : england hath done so . try whether this make for the glory of christians , to persecute or banish ( as they would have ye ) all but themselves . may they not as well tell ye that god hath made england only for men of the presbytery or one opinion to live in , and worship in : and where find they that ? trye whether some by their daily invectives from presse and pulpit against independents and others , bring not in the popish designe in another forme , to divide the godly party , both presbyterian and independent , and so to ruine all . try if all such doctrine as they commonly preach and write to ye , resolve not it selfe most into their own interests , profits , place power : and what doth the scripture and histories tell ye of that ? and now i have done ; praying for ye , that ye may be still a free city , and not disputed by the miscelany of logick and divinity of some , into bondage . that ye may be still populous , and not your streets growing with grasse through any unneighbourly principle of persecution , which must needs lose ye many , and much resort from this famous city , under the name of hereticks , not letting such live beside them . that ye may be a peaceable city , and not raised up and dashed by any breath of men against the other and greater part of your selves , the parliament . england hath long enough broken it selfe against its own walls : let it now be our strength to sit still , and to stand still and see salvation . and since the lord hath let the most of the successe of the presbytery , which is so much desired , come thorow the hands of those and that army whom they have told ye over often were hereticks ; let this be but taken notice on by ye , what god hath told ye in the successe of that army ; and i trust ye will never regard the messengers by whose hands the presbytery in a kind came , by beating them out of doores . thus rests he , who would rejoyce in your peace , prosperity , and gospell-unity , john saltmarsh . reasons for vnity , peace , & love . the nations and kingdoms of the world shall bring their glory to christ , and be at peace with all his , according to the prophesies , isai. 11 6 , 7 , 8. revel. 21. 26. isai. 49. 23. and how happy is that nation or kingdom which shall be first in this truth , and have rather a peace of prophesie , than policie , a peace of god , than man . how happy shall this kingdom be to fulfill any of this prophesie , of peace to one another , and to the saints . that all kingdoms , and nations , and princes , and people , prospered according to their love to christ , and his : pharaoh for ioseph , ahasuerus for mordecai , artaxerxes for nehemiah and the people of the iews ; and those nations have been ever nations of bondage and tyranny to themselves , which became so first to the saints . that ierusalem hath been ever a burdensome stone , and a cup of trembling to all that oppressed her , and the stone cut out of the mountaine without hands , too mighty for all the mountaines of the world : and the bloud of the saints , where-ever spilled , and whereever found in literall or mysticall babylon , never left crying , till that very place had bloud given them to drink for in her was found the bloud of the prophets . that the true peace indeed , is more spirituall and comprehensive then men usually think it , and takes in severall natures , nations , people , languages , of every tongue and kindred ; so , severall spirits , consciences , judgements , opinions ; not a peace only of such or such an opinion ; not a peace only of such or such a society ; of such or such a body ; not a peace of presbytery only , nor independency only , nor anabaptisme only , but a peace of all , so far as that all , or many may be one , which is that unity of spirit in the bond of peace . that true peace is an enemy to all selfish interest , and selfish preservation , and selfish unity , or selfish peace ; because that when unity , peace , preservation , gathers up from that common interest peace and unity , to which they are appointed by the law of creation , and institution , and becomes only their own , and not anothers , their own peace , their own unity , their own preservation , they breaking that law of the spirit , and communion of their first creation , each perishes in their single , private and unwarrantable way of saving themselves ; and the eye saith unto the hand , i have no need of thee , and the head to the foot , i have no need of you . that there is no such impossibility of being one under divers opinions , as we are made beleeve , no more then there was for those that eat flesh , and those that eat herbs ; for those that regarded a day , and those that regarded it not ; for those that used milke , and those that eat stronger meat ; for those that were zealous of the law , and those that were more in the gospell , to be one , or together , or to please one another to edefication . did paul bid the eaters of flesh call the eaters of herbs , hereticks ? or them that regarded a day , the others that regarded it not , hereticks ? or them that were zealous of the law , them that were of the gospell , heretickes ? or thus ; flesheaters , and day-regarders , and legalists ? as we doe , presbyterians , independents , anabaptists . that there is so much in every one of these , wherein they appeare to stand in need of one another , that the presbyterian cannot say , i have no need of the independent ; nor the independent , i have no need of the presbyterian ; nor either of them say , we have no need of you anabaptist : for , the presbyterian may need the independent , because he is for a purer communion of saints then he ; they both the anabaptist , because he baptizeth beleevers , as the apostles alwayes did : they both the seekers , because none of them have these ordinances by the first patterne in the word , as by apostleship and baptisme of spirit : nor these the presbyterians , because there may be some gift , some power of the spirit , some principle of administration in them , which may help the body , and the common-wealth , or parliament . all these , because they are all members of the same state . that love is the more excellent way revealed , then either the way of gifts , or ordinances , and therefore no gift or ordinance is to be preferred before love : love neither envies , nor vaunts , nor behaves it self unseemly , but beareth all things , and hopeth all things : and this is that love which is of god , and extends it self as god , and comprehends and embraces men ; not as this man , or that man , meerely ; not as a man of this , or that opinion : but because it is love from the fountaine of infinite love , it flowes upon all , and hath a kind of peace with all , and loves all : god is love ; and therefore just and unjust good and bad , are taken into something of him , seeing he giveth to all things l●fe and breath , and all things : and the more this love is amongst men , the more they love as god , and the more large in love , and universall in love . that love which is only to one kind , is but low , narrow , and naturall , the meer love of creatures as creatures ▪ but that love which can love those of other kinds ; as presbyterian , anabaptist , independent , is not that love of a creature only : so as the more we love any that are not as we are , the lesse we love as men , and the more as god . that the first and most glorious and spirituall unity is that of spirit ; and therefore things that are outward , formall , and perish with using , nor any ordinance , were ever made an hinderance to that unity : let not christians think they cannot be one , nor in any communion of spirit , till they be like one another in the body first , and in the ordinance first , which it may be they never shall be , for we see god hath hid outward ordinances deepest from discovery ; so as they that find most , find but pieces and parcels , and one one part , and another another part , and another another part , all finde not all , because all should not want one another , and we find these things last , because there was lesse need : how many hundred yeares from christ , and nothing of these ? yet christ was knowne , and some of the more spirituall glory of christ : and if christians should not be one , till they be like one another , how little would the peace be ? even as little as that unity they contend for : and what peace would it be , but that of flesh and forme , the peace of ordinances , not of spirit . i desire this may be considered , that according to the first patterne , the baptisme of the spirit , or gifts and ordinances ▪ were together , never asunder , from the apostles times to the falling away : and let there be a word held out for ordinances by themselves without the like gifts , or else let us be in more unity of spirit then we are . christians are truly so alike , and so one and the same , as they are one in christ in union and spirit , one in god , as they partake of the divine nature of the image of christ , as they are branches in the same vine , members in the same body : so god loves all his , as they are of him , born of the incorruptible seed , being the glory of the second adam , quickned by that life , that eternall life : god looks not nor loves not , as men are presbyterians , or independents , or anabaptists , we commonly love so , who begin to love at the outward man before the inward : god loves us first as in christ , and loves us because in christ ; god loves according to the figure of himself in us , and so we should love one another , if we will love according to god : let papists love papists only , and prelates love prelates only , because they are so ; let us love according to that of spirit , we discerne by the same spirit in each , according to that of love , faith , meeknesse , patience , purity , faithfulnesse , glory , which are the fruits of the spirit : let us love , as we judge , and that is in spirit , as spiritually discerning according to fruits of righteousnesse and holinesse , not according to this and that forme which is carnall : for as he is not a jew , which is one outwardly , no more is he a christian , which is one outwardly , circumcision and christianity is not of the letter , but of the spirit ; so as loving thus , we should not thinke nor speake against these , and these , because they are not presbyterians as we are , because they beleeve not as we beleeve , and think not as we think . were it not madnesse to fight , because we are not like one another in the face , in feature , in complection , in disposition , in a word , because we are not alike in body ? and what were it lesse to fight with one another , because we are not alike in the spirit , in soule , in judgement , in conscience , in opinion ? if the whole body were the eye , where were the hearing ? if the whole were hearing , where were the smelling ? the lesse we endeavour this bond of peace , the more we shall take in new fuell to our old fire , the more advantage and opportunity will be opened to let in the old remainders of the war amongst us , which shall be as a train of powder to kindle us into new contentions ; and thus new divisions will spring out from the ashes of the old , and those whom we conquer one day , will be conquerors amongst us another day , and we shall not know them from some of our selves , and all our victories and conquests will be but the enemies design of recruiting our misery ; they whom we subdue , finding the veine of enmity running through presbytery and independency , will soone gird themselves to battle in those notions , and we shall never want enough of presbytery and independency , till they undo us after our own fashion : and if they cannot kill us as cavaliers and malignants ; in this new way , they may kill us as presbyters and independents . and surely they will have so much iesuitisme , as never to let us starve for heeticks and schismaticks : the iesuits run commonly over to the lutherans , and raile there against calvinists and so they never want matter for division in germany ; it is the great design of conclaves and popish councels , to practice upon states in their own religions and customes , and to turne us back into popery , by being protestants amongst us , and to raise up new troubles by changing the old , and by transfiguring their enmity ; satan himselfe can be an angell of light , when he cannot passe as a power of darknesse , and where works he thus but in the children of disobedience ? and brethren , let us not let our enemies in at back-doores , of presbytery and independency : let us not undo our selves when god would save us : let us see that these workings are but the old designe in a new forme . the last reason is : people are not wholly undeceived in their present ministers . and to that end consider , 1. that these ministers who tell them thus , and preach thus , are neither as aaron was nor as the prophets were , nor as the apostles were , nor have such an infallible gift , nor spirit of discerning , so as their words and sermons are no more to be beleeved then the words of the scripture proves ▪ and people are to trie all and to trie spirits , and so trust , and now ( friends ) not beleeve sermons too suddenly , because their sermons are not very scripture , but interpretation to their light , and light may be darkned with carnall reason and interest . 2. that these ministers who preach so for presbytery through bloud and persecution now , did but a few yeers since preach as confidently for the service-book , for bishops , or against the presbytery , & our brethren of scotland . 3. that these ministers that preach nothing but presbitery , government , and divine right , yet never tryed it in their lives , nor lived in the experience of it , but have it by report , and by idaea , or modell , or landship from other countreys , and some specious scriptures . 4. that these ministers who would presse the covenant against popery and episcopacy root and branch , yet will be content , though bishops be unlawfull , to say the bishops hands which ordained them are not ; and that bishops could make them ministers of christ , though they were antichrist themselves , and that episcopacy could make a lawfull ministery . 5. that these ministers who preached against deanes , and archdeacons , and prelates , as unlawfull , can be content very well with their maintenance ; their tythes are not popish , nor the profits nor revenues are not against covenant : ( people ) look a little into these men , that hold there is no popery in any thing that makes them rich , or maintaines them : is this the doctrine of the crosse , and selfe-deniall ? 6. that these ministers who preached against pluralities , yet now a mastership of a colledge , and a great living or two of some hundreds a yeer , with chaplainships , as they commonly have , and two or three great lectures in conjunction with a great living , is not plurality , nor must be accounted so : nay , for a presbyter to have two livings is no plurality now , but for a prelate to have them is undoubtedly so . by the same tenure the prelates formerly lived at court , and in lords houses , and held livings , as they in the assembly , now , by their attendance there . 7. that these ministers who pretend to so much light and certainty of truth ; yet after two yeers reasoning and proofe , have not been able to prove their way of government from scripture ; so as there are so many excellent quaeries propounded from the honourable parliament , which lye unanswered , unlesse the ministers intend to resolve the parliament some other way , by making the tumults more , and their answers lesse ; for their books and sermons speak no lesse . was ever reformation , but where the red dragon is in the pulpit , preached for in so much bloud ? and i pray ( friends ) are all things so true as they tell you ? our greatest and wisest counsell can see no such thing in it yet : and since you expect your government from the parliament , i pray go not before them in your judgements , but stay and examine as they do . 8. that the mystery of the popish ministery hath ever been to lead the people , and stir up the people , either by merit , or martyrdome , or ministery : and therefore the poore sou●es of england had given away all their lande once to monks and friers , and would all fight for the holy land , and the kings and princes their power to do with as they pleased : and all was , as the priest said , for religion too , all as the holy church said : and now merit , martyrdome , and ministery carry all before them yet , in some measure , though not in so much : england hath seen so much , as to take much of their lands again , and tythes again from the ministery ; and the parliaments have seen so much as a little to debate religion with the synods : and this parliament hath seen more , by how much they have reasoned , disputed , quaeried with their ministers : when did ever england see so much liberty before ? when durst parliaments talke with their ministers till now ? and ( friends ) let not the old popish things of merit , martyrdome , and ministery , carry us away as they did . i remember an excellent saying reported of generall lesley to our nobles and gentry , when they were ready to fight for bishops , to this purpose , shall we lose our bloud for so many fat swingers ? and i pray , are not these the sons of the swingers according to ordination , ordained and called by bishops ? is our bloud too good for bishops , and not for presbyters , as some think ? 9. that these ministers who seem to close with those whom they so lately called , and preached against as malignants and cavaliers , yet cannot love them , or use them otherwise then in designe to help up with the government , and then leave them , und persecute them under the same notion with us as hereticks , using them now , as the israelites did the gibeonites , as hewers of wood , and drawers of water ; and then what will become of these poore soules , who having helped up the presbyters into the roome of the bishops , to be sure they shall neither have common-prayer-book , nor surplice , nor bishops , nor sacraments ; for the directory shall keep out the common-prayer-book , and presbyters shall keepe out bishops , and elders shall keep out all communicants of such and such sins , and vniformity will keep out conformity : and if ye hope for better , by the bustle and differenc●s , and sideings ; issues and successe are in gods hand , not in ours : ye may know when ye begin , but not when ye end ; and they will be first in the presbytery , before ye in the prelacy . therefore consider things . 10. that these ministers , though some of them were old non-conformists , and have a power of god in them , ( which i desire to love under any forme ) yet according to their interests they are not so , nor to the flesh they are not so , and it is their old man i write against , not their new ; so far as they are men , and so far as they are persecuters , so far as they are lovers of gaine , not of godlinesse , so far as they are accusers of their brethren , so far as they are in the forme of godlinesse , not in the power : therefore consider , these men are not all spirit and truth , we are not to call one of them iubiter , nor the other mercurius ; they are men of like passions with us , and ye ; and the worst i wish ( saving their humour of persecution ) is that the lord would make them love us in the spirit , and we shall in all love allow them their formes . to mr. gataker . sir , i hope i shall answer all things materiall in your book ; but your margin i shall not meddle with : i observe , you commonly in all your books fill that with things , and authors , of little value to christ crucified ; as in your last leafe , where you quote sophecles the poet , comparing your selfe to an old prancing horse . i should not rebuke your yeers , but that i find you comicall and poeticall ; and for my part , i am now ashamed to own those raptures , though i am young , having tasted straines of a more glorious spirit ; how much more you that are old , and call your selfe a divine , ought not to have any fruit in those things ? i hope i shall be in no more passion with you , than with your brother of the assembly , mr ley. i write to edifie , not to conquer ; nor to teach others , but that we may be all taught of god . john saltmarsh . to the author of the plea for the congregationall , or ( as he should have said ) parishionall government . sir , a word to you the author of the plea . you have so entangled and wrapped your selfe in the congregationall and church-principles , as if you meant to engage me at once against your presbytery , and the dissenting brethren . but that spirit which makes me oppose you , makes me discerne your designe , and so i hope i shall single you from them ; though you have cloathed your selfe in their apologeticall narration , yet i must deale with you as your self , and your brethren , not as theirs ; and it is but a little i have to say to you . but why no name ? is your divine right so questionable , that you will not own it ? or are you one of them that sit too neare it to commend it with open face , and think you may better , and more modestly do it in disguise , and without a name ? had i not some reason to suspect it came from some of that sort , i had passed it by with as little noise as it came abroad : and i have but little to say to you now ; i cannot stand long wrangling in things that grow clearer and clearer every day , for the day breaks , and the shadowes flie away . shadowes flying away : or , a reply to master gataker's answer to some passages in master saltmarsh his booke of free-grace . master gataker . ( 1 ) that he was traduced by one master john saltmarsh , a man unknown to him , save by one or two pamphlets , as witnessing to the antinomian party . ( 2 ) that he must unbowell and lay open some of the unsound stuffe . ( 3 ) that some think they have found out a shorter cut to heaven . ( 4 ) that my inferences upon his words are not true , nor as he intended : as if a protestant with a papist disputing about the masse , should say the controversie is not concerning the nature of sacraments , &c. answ . to the first , ●hat you were traduced by me : let not you and i be judge of that : both our books are abroad ; and i have quoted your words to the very leafe where they are . your meaning i could not come at ▪ the deep things of the heart are out of the power of anothers quotatior . for my selfe unknown to you but by two pamphlets : i take your sleighting : i could call your treatises by a worse name then treatises ; for i knew one of them some yeers since , that of lots , wherein you defended cards and dice-playing : and it had been happy for others as well as my selfe , in my times of vanity , had you printed a retractation . i beleeve you strengthened the hands of many to sin . i know you love ancient writers well , by your margin and quotations . and i pray remember how augustine honoured truth as much by confessing errours as professing truths . what fruit should you and i have of these things whereof we are now ashamed ? for your witnessing to the antinomian party against your will : is that your fault , or mine ? nor am i to judge of your reserves , and secret senses , but of words and writings . nor is it an antinomian party i alleadge you to countenance : but a party falsly traduced and supposed so : a party called antinomian by you , and others , and then writ against : a setting up hereticks to deceive the world , and then telling the world such and such are the men . you may make more by this trick , then you find so . to the second , that you will lay open the unsound stuffe : i shall not be unwilling , i hope , to be told my failings : but i must look to the stuffe you bring in the roome of mine , and entreat others to trye the soundnesse of yours it is not my saying , that mine is sound , will make it better ; nor your saying it is unsound , can make it worse . let every ones work be proved , and then he shall have whereof to boast . to your third , of some finding out a shorter cut to heaven then some former divines : i know not what you meane by shorter cuts . the papists find a way , they say , to heaven by works , some protestants by jesus christ and works , and others by jesus christ alone , and make works the praise of that free grace in jesus christ : and is that a shorter cut then theirs , as you call it ? or rather , a clearer revelation of truth ? methinks your expressions have too much of that which solomon cals frowardnesse in old men . argue , and prove , and bring scripture as long as you please , but be not too quarrelsome . but i shall excuse you in part , because you tell us you are not yet recovered from sicknesse : so as i take this , with other of your books , as part or remainders of your disease , rather then your judgement ; and the infirmity of your body , not the strength of your spirit . but why chose you not a better time to trie truth in , when you were not so much in the body ? to the fourth , that nothing lesse was intended by you : i undertook not to discover your intents to the world . you might have don well to have revealed your selfe more at first , that i might not have taken you to be more a friend to truth then i see you are : forgive me this injury , as the apostle saies , if i accounted you better then you desire to be . love hopeth all things , and beleeveth all things . and paul it seems was better perswaded of agrippa then there was cause , and quoted some of the heathen poets better then they intended them , as it seems i have done with you ; that being the greatest thing you lay to my charge . master gataker . ( 1 ) that our antinomian free grace is not the same with that of the prophets in the old testament , and the apostles in the new . ( 2 ) that in saying the old testament was rather a draught of a legall dispensation , then an evangelicall or gospell-one , was to taxe the ministery of the prophets for no free-grace . ( 3 ) that in saying the ministers now by the qualifications they preach , do over-heat free-grace as your poore soules cannot take it , doth make the prophets , iuglers and deluders of the people . answer . to your first , that our antinomian free grace , is not the same with the prophets and apostles : why do you tell us of antinomians , of prophets and apostles free-grace ? it is not the free-grace of any of these : free-grace is of god in jesus christ ; prophets and apostles are but dispencers of it , and ambassadours of it , and ministers of it ; and yet ambassadours not in the same habit : the prophets preached grace in a rough and hairy garment , or , more legally ; the apostles in a more clear and bright habit , in the revelation of the mystery of christ : the law was given by moses , but grace and truth by iesus christ . i could as easily say , master gatakers free-grace , and the legalists free-grace , as he sayes our antinomian free-grace ; but such words and reproaches make neither you nor i speake better truth . to your second , that in saying the old-testament straine was rather legall then gospell , taxes the ministery of the prophets for no free-grace : that is according to your inference only . because the spirit sayes , the law was given by moses , therefore will you put upon the spirit , that moses taught or gave out nothing but law● because i say , the old testament was a legall ministration , therefore do i say there was no free-grace in it ? or doe i not rather say , therefore it was free-grace legally dispenced , or preached , or ministred ? would not such inferences be bad dealing with the spirit , and will it be faire dealing with me ? i wonder you who pretend to write against me , as having not dealt justly with your sense , will deale so unjustly with mine , and commit the same sin your self , in the very time of your reproving mine . you may see what this logick hath brought you to , to deceive your selfe , as well as your neighbour . can you cast out my mo●e , and behold , a beame in your own eye ? i have printed all you quoted : let the reader judge from this and compare it with the rest of my book . the whole frame of the old testament was a draught of gods anger at sin . — and god in this time of the law appeared only as it were upon tearmes and conditions of reconciliation : and all the worship then , and acts of worship then , as of prayer , fasting , repentance , &c. went all this way , according to god under that appearance . and in this straine ( saith he ) runnes all the ministery of the prophets too , in their exhortations to duty and worship , as if god were to be appeased and entreated , and reconciled , and his love to be had in way of purchase by duty , and doing , and worshipping : so as under the law , the efficacy and power was put as it were wholly upon the duty and obedience performed , as if god upon the doing of such things , was to be brought into tearmes of peace , mercy and forgivenesse ; so as their course and service then , was as it were a w●rking for life and reconciliation . do not these words and termes inserted , as it were , and , in the way , and , as if , and , is it were , cleare me from such positive and exclusive assertions of free-grace as you would make me speake ? to the third , that in saying the preachers with their qualifications over-heate free-grace , i doe by that make the prophets deluders of the people , &c. i answer : that way of preaching the prophets used , pressing , as you say ▪ repentance , reformation , humiliation , and with commination , and the law , &c. was but according to the way , and method , and straine the spirit taught them under the old testament : but if the prophets should have held forth jesus christ under the new testament , and when christ was manifested in the flesh , with such vails over him , and so much law over him , as they did before , they had sinned against the glory of that ministration , as well as some of you , who bring christ back againe under the cool shadow of the law , and make that sun of righteousnesse that he warmes not so many with the love of him as he would doe , if ye would let them behold with open face as in a glasse the glory of the lord , and if you would give his beams more liberty to shine upon them ; doth not the ministration of the spirit exceed in glory ? nor were the prophets deluders of the people then , because it was the peoples time of pupillage , and being under bondage ; they were shut up under the law till faith came ; they were under tutors and governors till the time appointed : so as that was truth , and right dispensation in them to preach so much of the law , of curse , and judgement , &c. as they did ; and of repentance and reformation in that straine they did : but in ye who pretend to preach christ come in the flesh ; ye who pretend to be preachers in the kingdome of god , and so greater then the greatest prophet , then he that was more then a prophet ; in ye , such preaching were delusion , because it were not as the truth is in christ , nor according to that glory of the gospell , to that grace revealed , to that manifestation of christ in the flesh , to that ministration of glory ; but rather to those deceitfull workers the apostle speaks on , to those that troubled them with words , subverting their souls , who preached law and gospell , circumcision and christ . master gattaker . ( 1 ) that we gird at those that bid men repent , and be humbled , and be sorry for sinnes , and pray , &c. as legall teachers . ( 2 ) that christ preached repentance , humiliation self-deniall , conversion , renouncing all in purpose : this is not the same gospell with that they preach , as in free-grace , pag. 125 , 126 , 152 , 153 , 163 , 191 , 193. answer . to your first , for our girding at those that bid men repent , and be humbled , &c. as legall teachers : if ye presse repentance and humiliation legally , why wonder ye at such words as legall teachers ? will ye doe ill , and not be told of your faults ? must we prophesie smooth things to you , and say ye are able ministers of the new testament , when we are perswaded that truth is detained in unrighteousnesse ? we blame not any that bid men repent , or be sorry for sinne , &c. be humble , &c. if they preach them as christ and the apostles did ; as graces flowing from him , and out of his fulnesse , and not as springings of their owne , and waters from their fountaines ; as if the teachers , like moses , would make men beleeve they could with such rods and exhortations , smite upon mens hearts as upon rocks , and bring waters out of them , be they never so hard and stony . we agree with you , that repentance , and sorrow for sinne , and humiliation , and self-deniall , are all to be preached , and shall contend with you , who preaches them most , and clearest : but then , because iohn said repent , and christ said repent , and peter said repent ; are we to examine the mystery no farther ? know we not that the whole scripture in its fulnesse and integrality reveales the whole truth ? and must we not looke out , and compare scripture with scripture , spirituall things with spirituall , and so finding out truth from the degrees , to the glory and fulnesse of it , preach it in the same glory and fulnesse as we find it ? we heare christ preaching before the spirit was given , repent ; and we find , when the spirit was given , christ is said to give repentance to israel , and forgivenesse of sinnes ; and shall we not now preach jesus christ , and repentance in jesus christ the fountaine of repentance , the author of repentance , and yet preach repentance , and repentance thus , and repentance in the glory of it more ? the apostle in one place saith , beleeve in the lord iesus christ , and thou shalt be saved ; and in another place , he is the author and finisher of our faith ; shall we not now preach iesus christ first ? and iesus christ the fountaine , and iesus christ the author of faith and beleeivng , and yet preach faith ; yea and thus preach faith , faith in the glory , faith in the revelation of it , faith from christ , and faith in christ ? one scripture tels us godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation , &c. and another tels us , they shall look on him whom they have peirced , and they shall mourne for him , &c. shall we not now preach sorrow for sin took from christ , christ piercing , and wounding , and melting the heart ; christ discovering sin ▪ and powring water upon drie ground ? this is sorrow for sin in the glory of the gospell . one scripture bids , he that will follow me , let him deny himselfe , and take up his crosse . another saith , it is he that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure , and i am able to do all things through christ that strenghneth me . shall we not now preach christ our strength , and christ our selfe-deniall ? and is not this selfe-denyall in the glory of the gospell ? so as the difference betwixt us is this ; ye preach christ and the gospell , and the graces of the spirit in the parts as ye find it : we dare not speak the mystery so in peices , so in halfe and quarter revealings ; we see such preaching answers not the fulnesse of the mystery , the riches of the gospell , the glory of the new testament : we find that in the fulnesse of the new testament , christ is set up as a prince , as a king , as a lord , as a crown and glory to every grace and gift : nay , he is made not only righteousnesse , but sanctification too ; and so we preach him . whereas to preach his riches without him , his graces by themselves , single , and private ; as , repent , and beleeve , and be humbled , and deny your selves , ye make the gifts lose much of their glory ; christ of his praise , and the gospell of its fulnesse . to the second , of your alleadging my book in such and such pages , as another gospell from christs : i shall print them as you quote them ; and with them , i desire these things to be considered , together with the other parts of my booke , and the scope of it , which you have detained in unrighteousnesse : all these i freely open to the judgment of all who are spirituall . master gataker . ( 1 ) that john , christs , and his apostles method were all one for matter and manner ; for they all preached faith and repentance ; and yet we are ●a●ed for these things as legalists by this author . ( 2 ) john and the rest preached life and salvation upon condition of faith , and repentance , and obedience . ( 3 ) where we find faith only preached , it is because we have but the summaries or heads of their sermons . answer . to the first , that i taxe you for preaching faith and repentance ; a● the apostles did , and john did , as legalists . nay , i tax ye only because ye preach it not as they did , according to the full revelation of it in the new testament ; but you preach it only as you find it in their summaries , and in the briefe narration of their doctrine ; and this you ought not to do , if you will preach according to that glorious analogie of the gospell : and to this , i shall only bring in your own words to convince you , and so from your own mouth condemn you . you say of the apostles , we have but summaries of them , as in acts 2. 40. and 16. 32. and you knowing this , preach only by their first methods and summaries , not looking to the revelation of the mystery , which the apostle saies is now made manifest . and for iohns manner of preaching , his preaching is to be no more an example to you then his baptism . you know the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater then he . to the second , that faith , repentance , and obedience , were conditions of life and salvation . why keep you not to the forme of wholesome words in scripture ? where doth the scripture call these conditions of salvation ? they that are christs , do beleeve , and repent , and obey ; but do they bele●ve repent , and obey that they may be christs ? hath not god chosen us in him , & predestinated us unto the adoption of children in jesus christ ? but i know you wil say , that when the apostles did beleeve , repent , and obey , it is by consequence as much as a condition , and the same with a condition . but answer : the interpreting the spirit thus in the letter , and in consequence , hath much darkned the glory of the gospell . when some of christs disciples took his words as you do , under a condition , except ye eat the flesh of the son of man ▪ &c. the words , saith he , that i speake , are spirit . consider but what 〈◊〉 you bring the gospell into : first , you make life appearing to be had in the covenant of grace , as at first in the covenant of works ▪ do this , and live ; so beleeve , repent , obey and live ; thus runs your doctrine : nar can you with all your distinctions make faith in this consideration , lesse then a worke , and so put salvation upon a condition of works againe . is this free-grace or but you say faith is a gift freely given of god ; and here is free-grace still ▪ but i pray , is this any more free-frace respectively to what we do for life , then the covenant of works had ? all the works wrought in us then , were freely of god , and of free-gift too , as arminius well observes in the point of universall grace ; and we wrought only from a gift given . either place salvation upon a free bottom , or else you make the new covenant but an old covenant in new tearmes ; in stead of do this and live ▪ beleeve this and live , repent and live , obey and live : and all this is for want of revealing the mystery more fully . to your third , that where we find faith only preached , and so salvatio● made short work ; that it is because we have but the summaries . i agree with you that we have but the doctrine of the apostles , as johns , of whom it is said , he spake many other things in his exhortation to the people : it is true , we have much of what they said , and we want much ; yet we have so much , as may shew us , that according to the work of salvation in us , faith is the worke which gives most glory to god : abraham believed , it is said , and gave glory to god ; they that beleeve , give glory ; and faith of all the works of the spirit , is the glorious gospell-worke ; christ cals it the worke indeed , this is the worke that ye beleeve : so as the only reason why we heare so much of faith in the gospell , is not only and meerely as you insinuate , because we have but their sermons in summaries , and because of another reason of yours , drawn from the qualification of some they preached to , that had other gifts , and not faith ; but because faith is of all spirituall encreasings in us , the most gloriously working towards christ , faith goes out , and faith depends , and faith lives in christ , and faith brings down christ , and faith opens the riches , and faith beleeves home all strength , comfort , glory , peace , promises . and faith hath so much put upon it , as becomes a stumbling stone , and a rock of offence , to many : justification , imputation of righteousnesse is put upon faith ; salvation upon faith as christs bloud , is put upon the wine ; the cup that we blesse , is it not the communion of the bloud of christ ; and christs body upon the bread , the bread that we breake , is it not the communion of the body of christ ? and yet neither the wine nor the bread , is his bloud or his body , no more then faith is either justification or righteousnesse ; but such a work as goes out most into him , and carries the soule into him who is righteousnesse and justification to us . the word were no mystery , if it were not thus ordered , and things so mingled , that the spirit only could discerne and distinguish ; do not the papists stumble at works ? and why ? because they see not faith for works : and do not others stumble at faith ? and why ? because they see not christ for faith ▪ do not some say that the words , world ; and all , and every man , makes some stumble at the election of some , and so conclude redemption for all . master gataker . ( 1 ) that christ and his apostles never preached free-grace , without conditions and qualifications on own parts , rom. 8. 1. mat. 5. 8. &c. ( 2 ) christs bloud or wine is not to be filled out too freely to dogs and swine , to sturdy rogues . ( 3 ) that saying , promises belongs to sinners as sinners , not as humbled , &c. and all that received him , received him in a sinfull condition , is a creeping to antinomianisme . ( 4 ) that god may be provoked to wrath by his children , and david and peter made their peace with god by repentance . ( 5 ) that god loves us for his own graces in us ; god is as man , and as a father is angry and chastiseth his for sin . ( 6 ) faith is not a perswasion more or lesse of christs love , all may have that , men may beleeve too suddenly , as simon magus . ( 7 ) christ bids us repent , as well as beleeve ; yea , first to repent , we are to try our faith , 2 cor. 13. 5. 1 john 4. 1. ( 8 ) that he clogs men with conditions of taking and receiving , as well as we of repenting and obeying . ( 9 ) the summe of this mans divinity is , men may be saved whether they repent or no , whether they beleeve or no . answer . to the first , that christ and his apostles never preached free-grace , without conditions , &c. on our parts : i answer , they preached faith , and repentance , and obedience : but how ? first ; in degrees of revelation , the gospell came not all out at once in its glory : they preached them , but how ? not in parts , as we have their doctrine , as you confesse they preached them ; but all along in the new testament there is more of their glory and fulnesse revealed concerning them ; so as the degrees of revealing , the parts or summaries of their sermons , the fuller discovery in the whole new testament , are those things you consider not , and they are the things we only consider , and so dare not preach the gospell so in halfes , in parts and quarters as you do , and yet will not beleeve you do , which is so much worse , ye say ye see , and therefore your sin remaineth . to the second , christ bloud is not to be filled out to rogues and dogs . take heed you charge not christ for being with publicans and sinners , you may upon this ground say he preached false doctrine because he said , he came not to call the righteous , but sinners . what , were all of us in our unregenerate condition sinners or righteous persons ▪ unholy or holy ? men of faith or unbeliefe ? or not rather deall in trespasses and sins , till quickned with christ ? to the third . that saying , promises belongs to sinners as sinners , and not humbled , &c. i pray , to whom doth all promises belong first , but to christ ? and from whom to us , but from christ ? and what are the elect , and the chosen in him , before they are called or beleeve , but sinners as sinners ? do you look that men should be first whole for the physitian , or righteous for pardon of sins , or justified for christ ; or rather sinners , unrighteous , ungodly ? while we were yet sinners christ dyed for us ; he dyed for the ungodly . christ is the physitian , the righteousnesse , the sanctification , and makes them beloved that were not beloved , and to obtaine mercy that had not obtained mercy , and saints who were sinners , and spirituall who were carnall . so as we looke at christ and the promises comming to men in their sins ; but those men were beloved of god in christ , who suffered for sins before ; so as they begin not now to be loved , but to be made to love ; god begins not to be reconciled to them , but they begin to be reconciled to him ; the love of god being shed abroad into their hearts by the holy ghost , which is now given unto them . so as we looking at persons as chosen in christ , and at their sins , as borne by christ on his body on the tree , we see nothing in persons to hinder them from the gospell , and offers of grace there , be they never so sinfull to us , or themselves , they are not so to him who hath chosen them , not to him in whom they are chosen : and this is the mystery , why christ is offered to sinners , or rogues , or whatsoever you call them , they are , as touching the election , beloved for the fathers sake : i speak of men to whom christ gives power to receive him , and beleeve on him , and become the sons of god ; and christ findes them out in their sins , and visits them who sit in the region and shadow of death , and them that are darknesse , he makes light in the lord . to your fourth , that god may be provoked to wrath by his children . i pray , can god be as the son of man ▪ is there any variablenesse or shadow of change in him ? can he love and not love ? doth he hate persons or sins ? is he said to chastise as fathers , otherwise then in expressions after the manner of men ; because of the infirmities of our flesh must we conceive so of god as of one another ? can he be provoked for 〈◊〉 done away and abolished ? hath christ taken away all the sin of his ? hath he borne all upon his body or no ? speakes he of anger otherwise then by way of allusion and allegory , as a father &c. and is that , he is a father after the fashion of men ? or speaks he not in the old testament according to the revelation of himselfe then , and in the new testament of himselfe now , only because our infirmity , and his own manner of appearing which is not yet so ; but we may beare him in such expressions , and yet not so in such expressions , but we may see more of him and his love , and the glory of salvation in other expressions , and not make up such a love as you commonly do of benevolence and complacence . did david and peter , as you say , make up their peace with god by rapentance : is there any that makes peace but one jesus christ , who makes peace through the bloud of his crosse ? can repentance make peace ? or obedience make peace ? is there any sacrifice for sin , but that which was once offered , even he that appeared in the end of the world , to put away sin by the sacrifice of himselfe ? and was not this called by the apostle , one sacrifice for sins for ever ? repentance obedience , &c. may make way for the peace made already for sin , that is , in such workings of the spirit , the love of god in the face of iesus christ , may shine upon the soule more freely and fully ; and the more the spirit abounds in the fruits of it , the more joy and peace flows into the soule ; and the more the soule looks christ in the face , so as peace with god is not made but more revealed by the spirit in obedience and love , &c. to your fifth , that god loves us for his own graces in us . i thought he had loved us too in himselfe , and from that love given christ for us , and yet loved us in christ too ; can any thing without god , be a cause of gods love ? doth god love as we love one another , from complexions or features without , or loves he not rather thus ? god is love , and therefore we are made , and redeemed , and sanctified ; not because we are sanctified therefore he loves us ; we love him , because he first loved us ; he loved us , because he loved us , and not because we love him ; not because of any spirituall complexion or feature in us ; because of his image upon us , that is but an earnest of his love to us , that is only given us , because he loved us ; he loves us from his will , not from without : for though we are like him , yet we are not himselfe , and he loves us as in christ and himselfe . whereas you say , god is as man , and as a father ; i hope you meane not as in himselfe , but as in his wayes of speaking and appearing to us , and if so , we are agreed : but your taking things more in the letter , then the spirit , makes your divinity lesse divine , and your conceptions more like things of men then of god : this makes the gospell so legall and carnall , when we rise little higher then the bare letter or scripture , not the inspiration by which it came all scripture being given by inspiration . to your sixth , that faith is not a pers●sion more or lesse of gods love , and that all may have that . i pray mistake not , can all beleeve from the spirit ? can all be more or lesse spiritually perswaded ? do i speake of any perswasion of christs love which is not spirituall ? deceive not your selfe , nor your reader , nor wrong not your author ; or do i speak of faith abstracted from all repentance , obedience , &c , why deale ye thus ? when you say men may beleeve too suddenly , because i presse men to beleeve , and you instance in simon magus ; was he blamed for beleeving too suddenly , or for mis-beleeving ? because he beleeved the gifts of the holy ghost were to be bought with money ? can any beleeve too soon ? if some mis-beleeve , or beleeve falsly , what is that to them that truly beleeve ? shall the unbeliefe of some make the faith of god without effect ? god forbid : can christ be too soon a saviour to us ? can the fountaine be too soon opened for sin ? can the riches of christ be too soon brought home ? paul counts it an honour to be first in christ : salute andronicus and ●unia , who were in christ before me , and the church in priscilla's house , and epenetus , who were the first fruits of achaia unto christ . to your seventh , that christ bids us repent as well as beleeve ; yea , first repent . yea , but will you take the doctrine of the gospell from a part , or summary of it , as you say , and not from the gospell in its fulnesse , and glory , and revelation : will ye gather doctrines of truth , as ruth for a while did gleanings , here one eare of corne , and there another ; and not rather go to the full sheafe , to truth in the harvest and vintage ? will you pluck up truth by pieces and parcels , in repentance , and obedience , and selfe deniall ? and not reveale these as christ may be most glorified , and the saint● most sanctified , and these gifts most spiritualized and improved ? will ye preach doctrines as they lie in the letter , or in their analogie and inference of truth ? the papists preach christs very flesh and bloud to be in the wine : and why ? but because they looke but halfe way to the demonstration of truth in the spirit , they shut up christ in one not●●● and not in another , and so loses the truth by revealing it in that forme of words which is too narrow for it , and too short of the height , and depth , and length of it . you say , we are to try our faith : so say i too , if you would not pick and choose in my book , to make me some other thing then you find me : but you mean , we must try our faith for assurance , as your other words imply ; and so far i say too , but you will not heare me speak : but you would have the best assurance from tryall ; but so far i say not as you say , is that the best spirituall assurance that is from our own spirits in part , or from gods alone ? from our own reasoning , or his speaking ? can a spouse argue better the love of her friend from his tokens and bracelets , or from his owne word , and letter , and seale ? one of the three that beare witnesse on earth is the spirit , and in whom , after ye believe , ye were sealed with that spirit of promise . can any inference or consequence drawn from faith , or love or repentance , or obedience in us so assure us , as the breathing of christ himself , sealing , assuring , perswading , convincing , satisfying ; i will hear what god the lord will say , for he will speak peace to his servants : a saint had rather hear that voice , then all its own inferences and arguments , which though they bring something to perswade , yet they perswade not so answerably till the voyce speake from that excellent glory . to your eighth , that i clog men with conditions of receiving , as well as you of repenting , &c. i answer , i preach not receiving as a condition , as you do repenting . i preach christ the power , and life , and spirit , that both stands and knocks , and yet opens the doore to himselfe . i preach not receiving as a gift , or condition given or begun for christ , but christ working all in the soul , and the soul working up to christ by a power from himselfe . and if you would preach repentance and obedience as no other preceding or previous dispositions , we should agree better in the pulpit then we do in the presse . to your ninth , that the sum of my divinity is , that men may be saved whither they repent or no , or beleeve or no . i answer , should i say to you , the sum of your divinity is this , that faith , and repentance , and obedience , are helps with christ , and conditions with christ to mans salvation ; and that salvation in not free , but conditionall ; the covenant of grace is as it were a covenant of workes ? should i do well in this to upbraib you and those of your way ? say not then that i thinke men may be saved that never repent nor believe : why do you thus set up and counterfeit opinions , and then engrave our names upon them ? could not i piece up your book so ( if i would be unfaithfull ) as make ye appeare as great an hereticke as any whom you thus fancy ; because i preach not repentance , or faith as you do ; because i make all these as gifts from gods love in christ , not as gifts to procure us god , or his love , or christ ; because i make all these the fruits of the spirit , given to such whom christ hath suffered for , to such whom god hath chosen in him ; because i preach faith , and repentance , and obedience ▪ in that full revelation in which they are left as in the new testament , and not in that scantling of doctrine , as they are meerly and barely revealed in the history of the gospel , or acts of the apostles , onely where the doctrine is not so much revealed as the practise , and the story in summaries ; because we preach thus , therefore we are all antinomians , hereticks , men not worthy to live . brethren must ye forbid us to preach , because we follow not with you , because we preach not the law as ye do , nor faith as ye do , nor repentance as ye do ? therefore do we not preach them at all . we preach them all , as we are perswaded the new testament and spirit will warrant us , and as we may make christ to be the power of all , and fulnesse of all , as we may exalt him whom god hath exalted at his own right hand . and we wish that ye and all that heare us , were both almost , and altogether as we are , except in reproaches . conclvsion . from the 29 page to the last , all your replyes amount not to any thing of , substance , but of quarrelsome and humorous exceptions ; and i shall , i hope , redeem my time better then in making a businesse of things that will neither edify the writer nor the reader : there are some things you might ( had you pleased ) raised up into some spirituall discourse , as that of works , and signs for assurance , &c. but you say of your self ( how becoming such a one as you i leave ) that you were like an old steed which neighs and prances , but is past service ; so as i must take this of your age and infirmity , as a fuller answer , or supplement to what you faile in against me . there are two or three things more observable then the rest : 1. that you tax me for saying , that the markes in johns epistles and james , are delivered rather as marks for others , then our selves to know us by ; and i affirme it againe , not as you say , excluding that other of our selves , but as i said , rather markes for others , though for both in their degrees , and kindes of manifestation . so in james 2. 24. where he saith , by workes a man is justified , not by faith ; so in vers . 18. 21. all which set forth works a signe to others rather then our selves . so in 1 john 3. 14. hereby know we , we are passed from death to life , because we love the brethren ; compared with ver. 17. 18. shewes , that it is a love working abroad in manifestation to the brethren ; and yet i exclude not any evidence which the fruits of the spirit carry in them , as in my book , which yet you alleadge to that purpose , after you have been quarrelling so long with it , pulling my treatise in pieces to make your selfe worke , and then binde it up againe after your owne fashion . for your story of your lady , and your fallacy , that she might as well conclude her selfe damned because she was a sinner , as one that christ would save because she was a sinner , and durst you thus sport with a poor wounded spirit , that perhaps could see little but sin in her selfe to conclude upon ? know you not that christ came to call sinners , to save sinners ? and durst you make use of your logick to cast such a mist upon the promises to sinners ? suppose one should aske you how you gather up your assurance , now you are an old man ? how would you account to us ? would you say , such a m●asure of faith , so much obedience , so much love to the brethren , so much zeale , prayer , repentance , and all of unquestionable evidence ? but if we should go further , and question you concerning your failings when you writ in the behalfe of cards and dice , of the common-prayer-book ; if we should aske ye of your luxuria●cy in quotations in your books and sermons ; whether all be out of pure zeale , no selfishnesse , no vain-glory ? whether all your love was without bitternesse to your brethren of a diverse judgement , whom you call antinomian , &c. whether you preached and obeyed all out of love to iesus christ , and not seeking your own things , not making a gaine of godlinesse ? whether all your fastings and repentance were from true meltings of heart , sound humiliation ; or because the state called for it , and constrained it ? whether your praying and preaching was not much of it self , of invention , of parts , of art , of learning , of seeking praise from men ? oh , should the light of the spirit come in clearnesse and glory upon your spirit ; oh! how much of self , of hypocrisie , of vanity , of flesh , of corruption , would appeare ? how would all be unprofitable ? for my part , i cannot be so uncharitable but to wish you a better assurance then what you and your brethren can find in your own works or righteousnesse : for , it is not what we approve , but what god approves is accepted . and i am perswaded , however you are now loth , it may be to lose reputation by going out of an old track of divinity , as luther once , yet when once your spirit begins to be unclothed of forms of darknesse and art , of self-righteousnesse , and that you with open face behold the glory of the lord , you will cry out , wo is me , i am undone , for i have seen the lord ; and lord depart from me , for i am a sinfull creature ; and , what went i out to see ? my owne unrighteousnesse ; or rather , a reed shaken with the winde . an answer to a book intituled a plea for congregationall government : or , a defence of the assemblies petition , &c. you write thus : ( 1 ) that the independents confesse you a true church and minstery . ( 2 ) those that are ordained by bishops , may be true ministers ; else how am i a preacher , or they true ministers ? ( 3 ) succession is not necessary to the essence of a true ministery . ( 4 ) if no true ministery , no true baptisme . ( 5 ) must not there be persons ordaining , and persons ordained ? and so the dissenting brethren held . ( 6 ) that you abuse the assembly in ●●ing their humble advice touching the divine right of a congregationall presbyteriall , and not of the other . the independents assert a divine right there , and in synods too , as they do : they hold a divine right in one as well as the other . ( 7 ) their ordination by bishops though it should be null , yet they have all you can alleadge necessary to a preacher . ( 8 ) parishes here are but as in new-england , as in jerusalem , antioch . ( 9 ) some of the dissenting brethren hold synods an holy ordinance of god , and this assembly so to be . ( 10 ) if no presbyteries must be of divine right , because not infallibly gifted , this concludes against presbyteries and ordinances . ( 11 ) if you would have them content with a mixed power partly prudentiall , because of their mixt ●●ointing , you contradict that pure one you plead for . ( 12 ) the apostles , and elders , and angels of the churches of asia were not infallible as in divers practices . ( 13 ) to say the apostles did advise in place of the written word , is little lesse then blasphemy . ( 14 ) the presbyterians in france , and scotland , and the netherlands , do 〈◊〉 so imbroyle kingdoms . the feare of excommunicating parliaments and kingdoms , is but a bugbeare . ( 15 ) they aske not of the state an ecclesiasticall power , but a liberty to exercise that power . ( 16 ) hath christ said , that in a sound church , church-officers shall excommunicate , and in an unsound , the magistrate shall do it ? ( 17 ) he may in time say as much against equity and justice living upon voyces in assemblies , as against truth . answer . to the first , that the independents confesse you a true church and ministery . you are not to prove what others confesse or hold you to be , but what you are indeed , according to truth . nor do i contend with those that hold you so , but with you that hold your selves so ; as the spirit to the laodiceans ; thou sayest thou art full &c. and , behold , thou art poore , &c. to the second , that they ordained by bishops , are true ministers as the independents , and i a preacher , for all that ordination . if you meane that the bishops ordination makes not one for ever a false or antichristian minister , i grant it , because it is no marke to them that renounce it : babylon is no more babylon to them that are gone out of it . but what is this to your ministery or ordination , who are yet under the marke and babylonish ordination ? renounce it , come out as the spirit cals ye , and then your being antichristian is no more to ye , then to the ephesians that they should be lesse light because they were once darknesse , or lesse alive because they were once dead . to the third , that succession is not necessary to a true ministery , it is both true , and false , in severall acceptions . when there was a true power , they ordained others , and others them . there was succession . but that being lost under antichrist , so far as visibly to derive it to us , there can be no such true visible succession appearing . and yet you that pretend to stand by the first power , must prove your succession , if you will prove your power . to the fourth : if no true ministery , no true baptism . for that as you please : i dare not exalt the truth of your baptism above that of your ministery , no more then you . to the fifth : the dissenting brethren hold there must be persons ordaining and ordained , as well as we . ye● , but do they hold bishops ordaining , and presbyters ordained by bishops , and presbyters of their ordaining , ordaining others as you do ? to the sixth , of my unjust citing the assemblies modell or humble advice : and that there is no more divine right asserted in the congregationall presbytery then in the classicall , &c. which is done so by the dissenting brethren . i answer : let the modell be printed to the world , to end the difference betwixt you and me . and for the divine right of the one and the other , i am of your mind ; they are able to prove both alike of divine right that is in their presbytery : the one is no more of divine right then the other , and neither of them of any . and for the dissenting brethren , it is not them , but you i deale with . why come you under their shadow in a storme , and yet will let them have no liberty under yours , but would turne us all abroad as hereticks and schismaticks . to the seventh : though the ordination by bishops be null , yet they have the other necessaries to a preacher . will ye undertake for the assembly they shall stand to this , that all their former ▪ ordination by bishops is null ? if so , we are agreed : if not , all their other necessaries are no more then ahabs peace : what peace , saith jehu , so long as the whoredoms of thy mother iezebell are alive ? so , what ministery , so long as the whoredoms of babylon yet remaine ? to the eighth , that the parishes are but as in new-england , as in ierusalem , &c. i pray forbeare this ; it is too manifest an errour . are the parishes of england and churches of ierusalm one and the same , so discipled , so constituted ? were all of ierusalem and antioch reckoned for christs congregations , as all parishes are ? to the ninth , that some of the dissenting brethren hold synods ordinances of god , and this assembly so . i know some of our brethren for the presbytery hold infant-baptism unlawfull , and antichristian , and hath better defended it then any yet whom i have read , hath answered it . and for this assembly to be an ordinance of god , i thought that had been but an ordinance of parliament , and stood by that power by which they were called by at first : yet deny not but that consultations for holy ends , about the things of god , are lawfull by the word . to the tenth , that presbyteries , because not infallibly gifted , are of no divine right , and so concludes aga●nst all presbyteries and ordinances . yea , against all your presbyteries to be of divine right as the first . but our question is rather whether the first was any such presbytery as you now affirme : and for ought i see , you can no more prove the truth of the presbytery then in the sense you take it , then your presbytery to be one with it , one only in divine right , not in divine power or gifts . and how are these things sutable ? to the eleventh , that i contradict the pure government i plead for , by pleading for yours as prudentiall . it were true indeed , if i pleaded it in mine own behalfe . i plead it occasionally for them , who will needs have what the state cannot in conscience allow them , and yet will not practice any other but what the state shall give them ; and so trouble both the state and their own consciences , and would cast a snare upon both . brethren , if ye will needs have the state to allow ye your presbytery , why are ye not content with what they can allow ye ? if ye will have a divine right which they cannot allow ye , why do ye trouble them , and sit down under a bondage of your own making ? but how justly is this yoke come upon you , who would have brought a worse upon your brethren . to the twelfth , that the first presbyters , and apostles , &c. were not infallible as in divers practices . what is this to the truth and gifts they taught and taught by ? they failed as men , but not as apostles : they erred as they were peter and paul , but not as moved by the holy ghost . take heed by opening the apostles failings to justifie your own , you speake not worse blasphemy then you name in me , and make that glorious word of scripture questionable which they preached , like the words that your selves preach from that scripture . to the thirteenth , that to say the apostles did advise in place of the written word , is blasphemy . what blasphemy is it to say , that the same word which they writ and preached ; the same spirit spake in them , and spake ▪ the same truth in them which writ in them ? and is it so with any of your ▪ presbyters ? therefore till the same spirit speak truth in them so as in the first presbyters , will they challenge the same right , the same power ? will they have a divine right acted by a spirit lesse divine then the right ? to the fourteenth , that the presbyterians in france , scotland , and the netherlands , do not embroyle kingdoms . there is good reason : in france they cannot if they would . i wish you would walke under the magistrate as they do , and as your dissenting brethren here , and not make him serve you , and in the netherlands , do you as they do there , and leave your brethren to the like liberty that is in that state , and they will not grudge ye your presbytery amongst your selves . for scotland they are brethren i wish no worse to , then truth , and peace , and power above their ministers . to that of excommunicating kingdoms being a bugbear . you do well to say so , till ye be established : but you that dare so capitulate with states , whom ye are called to advise in things onely propounded , what more may be expected upon all your principles , i leave to be judged . to the fifteenth , that they aske not of the state a power , but a liberty to exercise that power . well : and will ye trouble the state no further ? will ye not intreat them to punish such a one , and such a one , whom ye judge an hereticke and a schismaticke ? to fine and imprison , when you have done with them at excommunication ? may the state be quiet if they say to ye , go all that are so perswaded as you are , and worship and practise as your dissenting brethren and other saints , and trouble not us to provide for your tythes , and rule for you in things of your own cognizance over consciences . but you would onely have liberty from them ; your power is of christ . but you cannot so cleare things as you thinke . if your power and liberty respectively to your selves and the magistrate be so distinct , why have ye mingled them and confounded them all this while ? why make ye the truth and power ye have from christ , wait so at parliament-doores , as master case said ? if the powers on earth will not do for christ , as you would make the people beleeve , why do not ye your selves more for christ ? is it better to obey god or man ? thus the more ye would single your selves in your power and right from the magistrate , the more your practice makes an argument against ye . to the sixteenth , that i should say , in a sound church , church-officers shall excommunicate and judge of offences ; and in an unsound the magistrate , and the inference there : i answer , i spake and writ so , according to your principles , not to my owne . nor can i see how you can chalenge such a one , entire , and simple . discipline exclusively to the magistrate , upon no more true , pure , and scripture-principles then your present presbytery is . and i conceive the powers on earth , or in the world , have to do in every government that is more of the world then of christ : for if ye exclude them from a part in that government which is partly prudential , and of man , you exclude them from off part of their owne kingdome , which is theirs by inheritance , and of more divine right then i conceive yours to be . and whereas you would make us beleeve you stand onely in a pure gospel strength and power , and desire no more of the magistrate but liberty : can this be so in truth , when all is esteemed invalid and nothing , if the magistrates power doth not actuate the ministers power ? i know you may distinguish of powers scholastically , and spheres of working for those powers , and so tell the magistrate and us , he doth but act in his sphere , when he acts in yours , and indeed acts yours , making it to be stronger then it is in it selfe . but is not his civil power that which puts life , as you think , into all your presbytery ? yet he must think he doth but as a magistrate still , as if so be that the magistrate were made to be rods in the hands of the church , and swords to be drawn by them , and iron whips at their girdles . we are not now as aaron and moses : we are not a kingdom of israell , nor a church of israel ; though too many of you have preached the old testament more then the new ; for what advantage , let the magistrate judge . to the seventeenth , that he may in time say as much of justice living upon voyces in assemblies , as of truth ; and so to be a mystery of iniquity . these are but infirmations to the magistrate , and ghosts of jealousie which you raise . and to put an end to such feares ; when i make church and state , magistrate and ministery , gospell laws and civill to be both one , then challenge me for that opinion : but i have learned , that christs kingdom and the worlds have a severall policy ; and that may be a law in the one , which is not to the other . and now is it your inference , or my principle , wrongs the magistrate ? an answer in few words to master edwards his second part of the gangrena , and to the namelesse author of a book , called , an after-reckoning with master saltmarsh . master edwards , the difference betwixt ye both , is this : you set your name to more then you know , as hath been well witnessed ; and this man dare set his name to nothing : you sin without shame , and your partner is ashamed of what he doth . sin is too powerfull in you against truth , because you shew your selfe : and truth is too powerfull for him , because he hides himselfe . master edwards , i shall answer you in these few words : but first , the lord rebuke thee , even the lord . 1. if the image of christ be in any of those you so persecute ; how can you answer it to jesus christ , to cash any dirt on the glory of him ? 2. if god be in any of those you are so much an enemy to ; how will you answer it to fight against god , any thing of god ? 3. if any of those be the children of the heavenly father , or the little ones of the gospell , it were better that a milstone were hanged about your neck , and you cast into the sea : so christ tels you . 4. what is it to sin against the holy ghost , but to hate the light once known ; or to blaspheme the works of the spirit ? and you once professed to me you had almost been one of those whom you call hereticks . oh take heed of that sin ! there is no more sacrifice for that . and how if the works of those you so judge , be wrought in the spirit ? shall you ever be forgiven in this world , or in that to come ? read the words , and tremble . 5. doth not the word bid you restore those that are fallen , in meeknesse , and tell your brother his fault , first betwixt you and him ? and you never yet came to any of them that i could heare of ; but print , proclaime , tell stories to the world of all you heare , see , know . is christ in this spirit ? is the gospell in this straine ? will this be peace to your soule hereafter ? 6. solomon tels us , that a man may seem faire in his own tale , till his neighbour search out the matter . and how dare you then take all things at one hand , and not at anothers ? how dare you have one eare open for complaints , and faults , and crimes , and the other shut against all defence ? did ever justice do this ? did you ever call for their accusers face to face ? did you ever traverse testimonies on both sides ? and dare you judge thus , and condemne thus ? shall not the judge of heaven and earth make you tremble for this injustice ? shall he not make inquisition upon your soule for this bloud ? 7. it is any other ground or bottome you stand on in this your way of accusing the brethren , but paul you say named some , and the fathers named some so , and calvin , as you told me the other day when i met you ? and was there ever crime without some scripture , or shadow of the word ? did not canterbury on the scaffold ▪ preach a sermon of as much scripture and story for what he did , as you can for yours , if you should ever preach there ? he thought ye ill hereticks , as you do us ; he thought he might persecute you , as you do us ; and he had a word from john baptist for his manner of death , and a word from the red sea and israelites for his death , and enemies ; and a word from paul for his changing laws and customes : and for his crime of popery , he had a word from them that feared the romanes would come and take away their government . thus satan and selfe can paint the worst kind of sin . poore soule ▪ is your conscience no better seated then in such aiery apparitions of scripture , and failings of fathers ? do not you heare the prayers of those soules you wound , pleading with god against your sin ? are you not in the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity ? is not your spirit yet flying ; when none pursues you ? are not your dreames of the everlasting burning , and of the worme that never dies ? have you no gnawings , no flashings , no lightnings ? i am afraid of you . your face and complexion shewes a most sadly parched , burnt , and withered spirit . me thought when i called to you the other day in the street , and challenged you for your unanswerable crime against me , in the third page of the last gangrena , in setting my name against all the heresies you reckon , which your own soule and the world can witnesse to be none of mine , and your own confession to me when i challenged you : how were you troubled in spirit and language ? your sin was , as i thought , upon you , scourging you , checking you , as i spoke . i told you at parting , i hoped we should overcome you by prayer . i beleeve we shall pray you either into repentance , or shame , or judgement , ere we have done with you . but oh might it be repentance rather , till master edwards smite upon his thigh , and say , what have i done ? for your anagram upon my name , you do but fulfill the prophesie , they shall cast out your name as evill , for the son of mans sake . and for your book of jeeres and stories of your brethren ; poore man ! it will not be long musick in your eares , at this rate of sinning . for the namelesse author and his after-reckoning ; let all such men be doing , for me : let them raile , revile , blaspheme , call hereticks : it is enough to me , that they write such vanity they dare not own . and now let me tell ye both , and all such pensioners to the great accuser of the brethren , fill up the measure of your iniquity , if ye will needs perish whether we will or no . i hope i rest in the bosome of christ , with others of my brethren : raile , persecute , do your worst , i challenge all the powers of hell that set ye on work , while christ is made unto me righteousnesse , wisedome , sanctification and redemption . and i must tell ye further , that since any of the light and glory of christ dawned upon me : since first i saw that morning-star of righteousnesse , any of the brightnesse of the glory in my heart , that heart of mine which once lived in the coasts of zebulon and nephtaly , in the region and shadow of death , i can freely challenge ye , and thousands more such as ye , to say , write , do , worke , print , or any thing , and i hope i shall in the strength of christ , in whom i am able to do all things , give you blessings for cursings , and prayers for persecutions . finis . pag 144. line 37. for antichristian , read great corruption . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a61119e-360 rom. 15. 1. 1 iohn 2. 13 , 14. notes for div a61119e-1340 1cor . 12.31,31.2 mr seam●n , mr. v●●●● , mr. hill , mr segwick , &c. acts 5. 24. matth. 18. 3. 16. 2● . luk 14. 16. luk. 14. ●3 . mat. 3. 2 , 8. mat 4. 17. marke 1. 15. acts 20. 21. p. 11 , 12 , 13. see p. 13. rom. ●6 . 25 , 26. ephes. 1. pag. 14 , 15 , 16. pag. 17. pag. 20 , 21. pag. 24. rom. 5. rom. 11. 28. heb. 9. 28. & 10 12. rom. 3. rom. 16. 5 , 7. ephes. psal. 1 pet. 1. pag. 43. pag 81. 32. pag. 17. pag. 21. mr tombes . the emperour and the empire betray'd by whom and how written by a minister of state residing at that court to one of the protestant princes of the empire. empereur et l'empire trahis, et par qui & comment. english. 1682 cerdan, jean-paul, comte de. 1682 approx. 115 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 68 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a39387 wing e716 estc r27323 09811643 ocm 09811643 44145 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. a39387) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 44145) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1355:28) the emperour and the empire betray'd by whom and how written by a minister of state residing at that court to one of the protestant princes of the empire. empereur et l'empire trahis, et par qui & comment. english. 1682 cerdan, jean-paul, comte de. [2], 128 p. printed for b.m., london : 1682. "published for the satisfaction of all good protestants." attributed to jean paul cerdan--nuc pre-1956 imprints. reproduction of 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 jesuits -france. protestants -france -early works to 1800. dutch war, 1672-1678 -early works to 1800. 2006-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-07 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 the emperour and the empire betray'd : by whom and how. written by a minister of state residing at that court , to one of the protestant princes of the empire . published for the satisfaction of all good protestants . london , printed for b. m. at the duke of lorrain's head in westminster . 1682. to the reader . the extraordinary conduct of the imperial court and council for some years past , having rais'd the curiosity of a great prince of the empire , to find out at any rate the true causes and grounds of counsels and actions that had so much surprized him , he made choice of a minister whom he judged best capable to execute this design , and having given him instructions for the purpose , dispatched him privately under other pretences to the emperours court at prague the minister acquitted himself well , and gave his master an ample account of his business by letter , of the 13. of february 1680. the master ( a right german , and truly generous prince ) laid his commands on me to publish those important secrets , the value whereof will soon appear by the reading , from which i will no longer detain you . farewell . the emperour ahd the empire betrayed . and by whom , and how. in a letter . my lord , 't is the duty of a servant not to conceal any thing from his prince and master , especially when he is pleased to honour him with his confidence , as your higness hath done in sending me to this court : to clear my self from the guilt and reproach of having been wanting to this duty , i take the liberty to give your highness a faithful and candid account in writing ; what i have discovered most pertinent and essential to the business , you were pleased to employ me in . i shall do it with the less scruple and reserve , having sent this letter by an express , in whom i have entire confidence , and doubt not but he will , according to my order , deliver it into your hands . to begin with the best part of what i have to deliver , i am to inform your highness , that his imperial majesty is , in my opinion , a pious prince , good natured , and of a sweet and gentle disposition , and not at all inclined to contend with the princes his neighbours , or make war on his inferiors : that , pursuant to this natural inclination for repose and for peace , this prince hath an antipathy against any thing that disturbs or opposes his quiet disposition , and hath eased himself wholly of the management and direction of his affairs of state , and of war , by committing all to the conduct of his principal ministers . 't is hard for a prince to intrust a minister with affairs of this mighty importance , without opening to him all his mind , and imparting the greatest and deepest of his secrets : and from hence , i believe it hath unhappily followed that this prince , having by degrees accustomed himself to leave the greatest part of his affairs to the conduct of his ministers , hath reserved to himself only the title and pomp , the splendour and name of the dignities and grandeur proper to his character . in a word , had his imperial majesty never so little minded his great affairs , he would never have yielded to sign that shameful and ignominious peace with france , subscribed by the imperial embassadours at the congress ad nimiguen ; the unhappy effects whereof we have seen in seven particulars of great importance . first , his imperial majesty , by those few strokes of his pen , hath in all probability , lost for ever the esteem , the friendship and confidence of the princes his friends and allyes ; who would have generously defended and preserved him from ruine , by the force of their arms. seconldy , that his own troops have been shamefully forced to quit all the countries of the empire , while those of france have been actually there , and continue to this day insulting and domineering as they please over the princes , the cities , the countries and provinces of the empire . thirdly , that by the execution of this peace , the estates , the persons and the courts of the three ecclesiastical electors of the empire , and of the elector palatine of the rhine , stand in a manner expos'd every hour to the violences and irruptions of the arms of france ; and consequently , in case of an election of a king of the romans , we may probably find by their suffrages what may be expected from slaves to that proud and ambitious crown . fourthly , that his imperial majesty having by that peace tacitely consented to the late cession on made by spain of the county of burgundy to the crown of france : it follows , that if his imperial majesty , ( in case of failure of issue in the house of spain ) should in his own right , or in the right of the arch-dutchess his daughter , the heir to the estates of that monarchy , he hath by that article of the county of burgundy , released his right to it , and deprived his successors , and the empire of the convenience that country might upon a favourable revolution have afforded them to lead an army without opposition into the heart of france : and should lorrain be ever restored to the empire , yet this article will be an infallible means for france to maintain continually an army on the frontiers of germany , and invade it as often as it shall appear to be for the interest and grandeur of the french to attack the germans . fifthly , that though swizzerland be throughly convinced by the building the fortress of hunninges , of the ambitious designs of france , and consequently concerned and inclined to make a league with all , or part of the princes of the empire , in defence of the common liberty ; yet the unfortunate session of the county of burgundy hath furnished the pensioners of france , ( whom no counsel or caution of that republick is free from ) with a plausible argument , to perswade that republick not to stir in its own defence , till it be perhaps too late , and out of its power to help it self : for , say they , what shall we do ? the cantons of bern , fribourgh and sollurre cannot subsist without the salt of that province : besides the forces his most christian majesty keeps actually on foot there , may justly alarm us to be cautious to the utmost , what measures we take , and consider all things before we ingage in any : by such discourses as these ( though groundless if we suppose an union of the forces of the empire with the swisse , which would infallibly draw in many more ) it may fall out that this republick ( if the lowest party prevail not against those traytors to their country ) may to its own mischief , and the ruin of others , lye still and look on , as unconcerned , and consequently be a member wholly useless to the publick , for defence of the common liberty , which would be in the present conjuncture of more mischievous consequence han most are aware of . sixthly , that by this peace the duke of lorrain , who hath had the honour to marry a great queen eldest sister to his imperial majesty , hath found as little respect in this peace , as if he had married the daughter of a burgo-master of colmar ; and hath been violently robb'd , and intirely dispossest of his dukedoms of lorrain and bar , and several other lands he held in soveraignty , being his hereditary estates , and descended to him by unquestionable right of succession : which others looked on with so little concern , as if this prince ( stript of all he could call his own ) had lost no more than a ring , or a farm of a thousand crowns value . seventhly , that his imperial majesty , and the empire by signing a peace ( to give it its right name ) so unbecoming and unworthy , have raised the courage and hopes of the most christian king to that height , that he looks on both with so much indifference and scorn , that he hath openly undertaken at once three things , which ( i believe ) were ever heard of in the empire , at least when it had the advantage of a head that had the least jealousie and care for its glory . the first , that without any lawful mission , the emperor being young , and in perfect health , he solicites vigorously the two electors of the north side of the empire , for their suffrage at the next election of a king of the romans . i mention only these two electors , for as for the others , he makes no doubt by fair means or by force to dispose of them as he shall think fit . the second , that , as if he were dealing only with the farmers of his revenues , or the poysoners of paris , he hath by a declaration erected at metz ( as formerly at brisak ) a court compos'd according to the course of that kingdom , of a dozen hangm — where though the smallest duke and peer of france , is not obliged to appear ; his most christian majesty , as judge and party , cites by some catchpole of that clandestine jurisdiction , princes of the most ancient illustrious houses of the empire ( which he hath nothing to do withall ) to make their appearance , to give him account by what right they possess what their predecessors have for three or four hundred years peaceably enjoyed . this invention , with the help of the knight of the post , and a map of the country drawn out at pleasure , ( but of the old fashion , the better to colour the business ) is the ground of his pretensions , that the greatest part of lorrain , the whole dukedom of deuxpents , and the best part of alsatia , as far as lauterbourgh , are ancient dependencies of the bishopricks of metz , toul and verdun , and must consequently be re-united to the demeans of that crown with as much ease , as the lands of some wretched treasurers of france have been resumed by his majesty . the third is , that to the end his new paper-pretences , may be as effectual as the right of devolution of the low countries in 1667 and 1668. he hath upon the frontiers on this side considerable forces in readiness to execute the reunion , or rather , under that pretence , to do what he shall think fit in the empire ; when all this while , neithe his imperial majesty , nor any prince of the empire dares openly stir . as if what hath already been done to the duke of lorrain , and other princes and cities of the empire in alsatia , were not only a certain presage , but an unquestionable president , whereby all other princes and states of the empire of what quality and degree soever , may clearly see the fortune of those princes and states , who have the misfortune to hold of that crown , or be neighbours to its dominions : the consequences that naturally follow so untoward , and so unhappy a state of affairs will oblige us to conclude ; woe to his imperial majesty , if he do not wholly alter his conduct , and god grant i speak not prophetically and truly , as micajah when i say his imperial majesty will dearly rue his trusting his council with the direction and management of affairs of this nature : and wo to his imperial majesty and the empire , they ever signed that false and fatal peace , whereby both will naturally fall ( unless god by special interposition prevent it ) under the slavery of that absolute and despotical dominion . yet i would not be thought to be of opinion , that if all his imperial majesty's council were such as it ought to be , affairs would be in that ill condition we find them ; but the greater part of that council being weak or corrupted , as i dare say it is , we are not to doubt , but if it continues , things will still grow worse and worse : i have been bold to say , the greater part of the imperial council is weak or corrupt : and to make my words good , i will proceed by degrees from smaller matters to those of greatest importance , to prove what i affirm by unquestionable instances . the first instance . commissary general capellier surpriz'd the steward of his house in the very act of traiterous correspondence with the minister of france , to whom he gave an exact account of all he could discover at his master's house . the letters he sent to the french minister and those he received from him were seized at the imperial post office at frankfort : and though this happened in the heat of the war between the two nations , and the traitor upon discovery of the matter was arrested , and carried to philipsbourgh , & from thence to vienna , yet he ( a fellow worth nothing ) found at court such powerful support , that he was set at liberty , and cleared as a gallant person . the second instance . the siege of phillipsbourg , being form'd by the imperial troops and those of the circles , and the place so much straitned that they began to want powder in the town , two brothers , burgesses of franckfort , corrupted by a french minister , undertook to buy several waggon loads of powder in the empire , and to conveigh them into phillipsbourg with other ammunition . but the convoy for executing the design having been surprized by the imperialists , and one of the rogues taken and sent to vienna , he was not long there but he was set at liberty as a very honest fellow . the third instance . he that commanded in fribourgh , when taken by marshal crequi , could not deny himself notoriously guilty of cowardice , or treason ; being arrested for his crimes , and carried first to inspruck , and thence to vienna : he was look'd upon as a sacrifice necessary to be offer'd to expiate so hainous an offence against equity , policy , and the discipline of war ; but because he was related to a principal minister , or rather because a great one was afraid he might ( if put hard to it ) make some discoveries : he was fully acquitted , and cleared from all that was laid to his charge ; and in such a manner , that he retired home as confident , and unconcerned , as ever the french governour of phillipsbourgh could have done , after the generous defence he made of the post he commanded . the fourth instance . the duke of saxe eisnach having had the command of a little army on the rnine , being an active and brave prince , neglected not any thing that might conduce to the worthy discharging the duty of his place ; those of the imperial council , who took part with france , having designs contrary to those of that prince , were as active on the other side , by close and sudden wayes to bring two things to pass : the first was to raise and establish a mis-understanding between this prince , and his highness of lorrain ; commander in chief of the great army of the empire : the second was , to order the distribution of ammunition necessary for the army in such a manner , that when it was provided of one sort , it should certainly want another : when it had cannon , it wanted carriages ; and when it had both these it should have neither powder nor bullet : and to give those of the council their due , their designs took effect to admiration , for the whole story of that campaign is ( in short ) no more but a misunderstanding between these princes , and want of ammunition . but this was not enough , for the malice of these emissaries , they poceeded further to hire one under the name of dela magdelaine , who having been instructed by the major domo of the abbot s. gall ( of whom we shall have occasion to speak hereafter ) was set on to seduce and surprize this prince : in a word , he came to the duke of saxe eysenach to propose to him the surprizal of a fortress belonging to france in the higher alsatia : the proposal was guilded over with so much probability of success , that the duke animated with zeal to do something great for the glory of his imperial majesty , and the interest of his country , greedily hearkned , and quickly embraced the proposal . after some necessary precautions for the enterprise , duneewald was commanded to undertake the execution , and having in the action discovered the cheat , the duke us'd his endeavours to have the criminal arrested : but all to no purpose ; for the major domo had already secured him in a place of safety : i make no doubt but every one will grant me , this rogue deserved death , and had not any colour of pretence , to find esteem or safety in the empire : but it proved quite otherwise upon his capitulation , ( i mean that with the major domo ) for the rogue , having play'd this excellent trick , had the impudence to go to the emperours court , where he was very well received , and highly treated , and sent thence to breslaw , where count shaftkutsch , president of the imperial chamber in silesia , pays him constantly , by order from above , annually a considerable pension : this arrant cheat goes now as formerly under the name of cygale , and gives out he is a-kin to the grand signior : but it hath been made appear in france and england , that he is a native of maldavia , and was groom to a prince of that country : this is the true character of him , the rest that is said of him are but inventions of jesuits and monks , who go snips with him in the presents he receives on his lying pretences . i have been more particular in my account to your highness of this fellow , to arm you the better against a surprize , by his fictions and artifices , which he continues to practise every day in hope to get something from those he can impose upon . the fifth instance . by what i have said formerly of swizzerland , it may appear of what importance it may be to the emperor and empire to make that republick sensible of their true interest , and treat with them for a league and union of forces in defence of the common liberty ; and ( to bring this about ) to employ in the negotiation , persons not only capable and faithful , but acceptable to those they are to treat with : yet as if the emperor's council made it their business to do in this as other particulars , only what may gain them the favour , or the gold of his most christian majesty . 't is fit to know the person the emperor's council employs in all those important negotiations they have with that republick . it is no other than the abbot s. gall's major domo , above mentioned , called monsieur fidelle , ( mr. faithful , ) but by the same figure of speech our divines call the prince of darkness an angel of light : for this fellow is notoriously known and confest to be the falsest of men. yet being a person of a very ready wit , a lively fancy , and naturally active in what he undertakes , sometimes he openly acts on the part of france , and publickly solicits suffrages in this republick in favour of that crown ; sometimes he turns his coat , and is on the sudden all for the house of austria : this man from a petty pedler of italy , is become excessive rich , which i mention as a circumstance whereby it may be the better known what a man he is , how fit to negotiate the interests of his imperial majesty , and to be the confident and councellor of the ministers of state ; his council sends into these parts : and to make appear their wisdom or collution in this particular , i must acquaint your highness with a matter generally known throughout the swisse cantons . that this man is owner of a moity of two swisse companies , now actually in the service of the french , under the command of his son in law : ( an ordinary traffick among the swisses ) that his most christian majesty hath within these three years bestowed on him a rich canonry , in the higher alsatia , or brisgow , which one of his sons is invested in : that 't is this faithful minister of the imperial court , hath since the beginning of the last war , bought all the horses his christian majesty had need of for his armies , and caused them to be transported from the port of wasserbourgh in germany ( where his master hath a bayliff , and no small power ) to the port of rochas , in swizzerland , which is a place whereof his master is soveraign prince : that this man being the principal incendiary and fomenter of all the troubles and broils hapned in swisserland , these last twenty years ; is so generally hated by all good people of that nation , that to procure the miscarriages of any affair of the dyets of baden , there is no surer means than to make the assembly suspect this man hath a hand , or is any way concerned in it . this appeared clearly in the affair of the county of burgundy , for count cazatti , the spanish embassadour , having very unadvisedly resolved to make use of this mans counsel and conduct in a matter of that importance , that mighty affair was utterly ruin'd by that very means : notwithstanding all , this man is the confident and privy councellour of all the ministers his imperial majesty sends to that nation ; and their first business , when arrived there , is to visit him , to consult him and communicate to him all their instructions : this about three years since , occasion'd a pleasant passage at the dyet of baden : an envoy of his imperial majesty , ( whom i purposely forbear to name ) according to the custom of his predecessors in that employ , and the orders establisht , went presently after his arrival to consult this oracle ; going afterward to baden , the envoy was strangely surprized to find that gravelle the french embassadour had already communicated to the assembly all the private instructions the envoy had received from the council at vienna : thus that envoy's nogotiations came to nothing , and so will all others his imperial majesty shall permit to be managed by the false and corrupt conduct of a man so base , and altogether unworthy the honour of that employment . the sixth instance . 't is an infallible maxim , that every prince dispossest of his estate , may hold for certain , there will be nothing omitted on the part of the usurper , or a conquerour in possession to ruin him , if possible , and all his generation . therefore 't is not strange , that the ministers of france ( though perhaps in this particular against the intention and without the order of his most christian majesty ) leave no stone unturned for the destruction of his highness of lorrain : but it may surprize any man to find that the imperial governour of phillipsbourgh , should ( so openly and notoriously , as he did ) have attempted the destruction of that prince , by the trap he caused cunningly to be made in the bridge of that place , for that purpose , through which the good prince fell headlong to the bottom of the ditch : may we not justly infer , this governor had capitulated and agreed with some minister of the enemy to commit so vile a treason ? may we not conclude so black an attempt against a soveraign prince , brother in law to the emperor , and at that time representing the person of his imperial majesty , under the character of generalissimo of his armies , unquestionably merited exemplary punishment ? no honest man but expected the criminal should have been made a sacrifice to justice and vengeance , when he was taken and carried under a strong guard to vienna . but all that was meer shew , for the favourers of france had that influence over the council at vienna , that this villain , as the former , past altogether unpunished . the seventh instance . it appears publickly his most christian majesty since the peace arms by sea and land more powerfully than before ; and france being not sufficient for the levies he makes , he is come by his ambassadour to the center of the empire , to frankford and to prague to compleat them . he causes fortresses and places of strength to be every day built on saar , the rhine , and all the frontiers of germany , i think there needs no better evidence of his having a design to reduce almayn into a condition of disability of help it self , when he thinks fit to attacque it ; if we consider farther , that he causes his commissaries to buy up all the corn in swabe and franconia , which is daily carried away into his magazins in lorrain , alsatia , and the county of burgundy . let us examine on the other side the conduct of the head and natural defender of the empire , or rather of his unhappy council : this prince hath since the peace reformed all his troops ; and in particular the garrison of rhinefeld , which is of principal consequence : let us weigh the matter without prejudice : he hath disbanded most of his old regiments , and kept on foot only part of the new . a man must be blind , and void of common sense , who comprehends not that the imperial council hath in this particular acted by inteligence with the council of france , and by their direction , to deprive the emperor of the only officers and soldiers capable to defend him , and to make them immediately go over into the service of france : the matter hath fallen out according to their design , and i leave it to any man versed in matters of state or of war , to judge what a conduct so extraordinary as this doth naturally signifie . i should be too tedious to give you all the instances i know whereby to prove the emperour is certainly betray'd by the greater part of his council . but to be short , let it be observed , that the same council that cleared the steward of commissary capelliers , the traytors of frankfort who would have furnished philipsbourgh with powder in the siege , and the governour of fribourgh : the same council that hath protected at brestaw the villain who abused the duke of saxe eisnach , and procur'd a pension to be setled on him ; the same council that hath setled the major domo of the abbot s. gall. to be the imperial minister in switzerland , and prevented the exemplary punishment of the governour of phillipsbourgh ; the same council that advised his imperial majesty to reforme the greatest part of his troops , and in the manner i have told you ; this is the very council hath clearly acquitted and approved of all the conduct and publick robberies and insolencies of commissary capelliers , and others : and by causing his imperial majesty , to sign the late shameful peace , have reduced the too good prince into such a condition , that ( without a special providence of god to the : contrary ) no prince will henceforth without much difficulty and caution relye on his word or his signet : so that considering the activity , the power and interest of his enemy , with the credit and influence he hath in the emperor's council , his imperial majesty , as to his elective imperial crown ( and i know not what to say of his hereditary dominions and estates ) seems reduced to the condition of a chilperic , or a charles in france ; for he hath more than one pepin , or one hugh capet to deal with . nor do i see he hath any greater authority than had those two unfortunate kings , who were violently thrust out of their thrones ; which neither they , nor any of their posterity ever regained . the better to convince the world how foully his imperial majesty is betrayed by his council , and in him all the princes and states of the empire , and that there hath been of a long time a horrid and villainous plot carried on against them with great cunning and caution , give me leave to observe that it proceeds from the secret engines of this plot , that his imperial majesty's two sisters were married to princes , both robbed of their dominions and estates : as to the duke of lorrain , husband of the elder , he continues to this day stript of all his estates , and if the late peace hold , i see little hopes of his re-establishment . and it cannot be deny'd but that the duke of newbourgh , though restored by the peace to the dukedoms of juliers and berg , was out of possession of both at the time of the marriage of his son to the emperor's younger sister . the reasons of these marriages were , that the princesses being married ( as they are ) to princes uncapable to afford his imperial majesty any succour at need , neither his majesty nor his allies might have any benfit by the marriages . and that when ever france should be desirous of peace , there might be those in the imperial councils and court , whose interest would oblige them to desire and procure it , in order to their restoration and re-establishment in their estates , and to free themselves from the necessity of begging their bread elsewhere . it hath happened accordingly as to the duke of newburgh at least , for having not wherewith to bear the charge of the marriage of his son with the emperor's sister , without being restored to the dutchies of juliers and berg , which could not ( at least so speedily ) be effected without a peace , what wonder is it , that this prince hath for the time past ( being forced by his necessities ) joyned with that part of the emperor's council that was for peace , and assisted them in perswading his imperial majesty to sign it on any condition : nor can it appear strange , if this prince for the suture joyn with the same council , and use all his credit and interest with his imperial majesty , never to enter into a war with france , though he have never so great reason for it . for when wants and necessities enter in at the door , honour and friendship flyeth out at the windows . his highness of lorrain ( to give him his due ) hath done bravely on his occasion , having generously chosen to run the risque of losing all , rather than sign so shameful and unjust a peace , as that proposed to him by france : and i shall be very much deceived , if he or his recover not their estates rather by this than any other conduct : for revolutions are common to all , and i have particular reasons to believe it may one day happen so in the affairs of his highness . this i think is more than sufficient to evince that his imperial majesty hath been basely betrayed by his council . my next business is to shew by what sort of people he hath been chiefly betrayed , and with what covers they have guilded those pills , which they have made this good and august prince swallow from time to time . to find the bottom of this business , we must look a great way back , as far as the beginning of the war , which france by concert with england , the elector of cologne , the duke of newburgh , and the bishop of munster , made against the united provinces in 1672. after several alliances with the deceased elector of bavaria , and duke of hanover , and others , which were but too visible during that war. several pretences have been made use of to colour that rupture , but the truth is , it was fomented only by the court of rome and the jesuits : to give your highness full and clear satisfaction in this particular , be pleased to permit me to put you in mind , that a little before the breaking out of that war , his royal highness of savoy deceased , having taken his measures with the court and council of france , made open war against the republick of genoa . the court of rome wisely judging the duke of savoy would not have engaged in that enterprize without assurance before hand of succour and protection from france , if needful ; and that those petty sparks might raise a general conflagration in italy , which in time might draw over thither all the french forces , and consequently expose that country to inevitable ruin ; that subtil and cunning court , to save themselves from the storm , applied themselves seriously , in the first place , to put an end upon any terms to the war between the duke and the republick , which monsieur gaumont soon after effected . in the next place , being sensible what formidable forces his most christian majesty had then on foot , and that that monarch could not forbear breaking out into a new war ; the court of rome resolved to use all their endeavours to divert from themselves and their neighbours , the effects of the french arms , and cause them to fall on some other country of europe , the most remote that might be from italy , and where it might be most convenient for the interest of the pope : the jesuits having given directions to this purpose , the affair was manag'd with that subtilty , the storm fell altogether on the united provinces , the court of rome assuring it self , that if that republique were once destroy'd , the whole protestant party would naturally come to ruin , and the papal authority in a short time recover it's primitive grandeur and glory . great obstacles were quickly discovered against the carrying on this mighty project : the most christian king who clearly saw what the court of rome aim'd at , was , or pretended to be , unwilling to engage in open war against the united provinces , but on two conditions . first , that the court of rome should secretly consent and give way that he might , if he could , joyn the provinces of the spanish netherlands and lorrain , with what he could conquer from the states of the united provinces , to form or restore the ancient kingdom of austrasia . secondly , that the court of rome should assure him , to their power , to procure his majesty and the dauphin , ( who was designed the new king of austrasia , ) the imperial crown . as to the point of the spanish netherlands , it must be observ'd , that to bring about the design , it was absolutely necessary to manage his majesty of great brittain , ( whose interests there were very considerable ) and there could be no hopes to give him satisfaction without sacrificing to him something very considerable of what belong'd to the spaniard . it would have been almost impossible for any but the jesuits interests , so different , to reconcile and overcome so great and numerous difficulties . the two branches of the most august house of austria , had heap'd most considerable favours , and showed their bounties , on the society of jesuits : but when they are concerned for the grandeur of the pope , and the interests of the miter ( which ( by the way ) the society looks on with the same ardour a young prince in love would eye the advantages , the glory and interests of a beautiful and rich queen , whom he made no doubt but he should one day enjoy ) all thoughts and memory of the favours received from the august family , are wholly laid aside on that occasion ; the jesuits fell immdiately to find out expedients for two reasons , full of justice and equity , according to the politick maxims of that blessed society . the first was that whereas the house of austria in the present conjuncture was notoriously unable to raise the roman bishops to their former estate of grandeur and glory , and that there was not any but his most christian majesty , who by his forces and interests could work this kind of miracle it was absolutely necessary to remove all difficulties and obstacles that might hinder the effecting an enterprise so profitable and glorious . the second , that in case the design should take effect , the society was assured of having in recompence of their pains , two great abbies , heads of their orders , the one in the ancient kingdom of france , the other in the new conquests : which abbys were to be added to the vast patrimony of this society , besides the assurances they had by the protection of france , to obtain a settlement in amsterdam , and elsewhere . upon these grounds they procur'd the treaties to be privately sign'd between france and rome , and between france and england , by vertue whereof the war was quickly begun against the united provinces . i pass over in silence the satisfaction his majesty of great brittain was to have , as impertinent to my present business : it may be observed , that as under the reign of philip the second france was to have been made ( as far as it lay in the power of rome ) a sacrifice to the interests of the papal miter , and the monarch of spain , 't is now become the turn of the most august house of austria , ( according to this project ) to be sacrificed to the interests of the papacy , the jesuits and his most christian majesty . and that as the principal design of the jesuits , and of france , was the absolute destruction of the protestant party , it was from hence it proceeded , that a league was form'd and sign'd by most of the catholick princes of germany , and incorporated into the treaties above mention'd , wherein every of the confederates had , or at least thought to have had his design , and compass'd his ends , as afterwards appear'd : hence also it proceeded that france , having anciently had very strict alliances with the protestant princes of germany , conceal'd very carefully the present design from all its ancient allyes of that communion . the court of rome , and the society as carefully conceal'd it from both branches of the house of austria ; and all this for reasons , than which nothing is more easily apprehended : for the same reason it was , that in the beginning of this war , nothing was omitted by the popes nuncio , the jesuits , and their emissaries , to lull asleep the councils of vienna and madrid ; and that afterwards they did with all possible diligence reveal to the ministers of france , all they could discover of the deliberations of the imperial council , or the spanish . for the same reason it was , that his imperial majesty by the clear remonstrances of the elector of brandenbourgh being made sensible of the trap cunningly laid for him by the french , and having commanded an army to joyn with that elector on the rhine , those emissaries of rome laid all their heads together , and for their master-piece to carry on the design , effected two things . the first was the rebellion of the male contents in hungary , not yet suppressed , whereby they endeavour'd , if possible , to give the emperour so strong a diversion , that it might not be in his power to assist his allies . the second , i have from an anonimous author of an essay of the interest of the protestant princes and states , printed in the year , 1676. and treating of several things , in this respect very considerable : the author in my opinion deserves the more credit , in that he hath lash'd the society to some purpose in his discourse , yet not one of it's patrons or partisans hath undertook to refute him : the account he gives of the first campaign , i will repeat word for word from the original , as very sutable to my purpose . in the year 1672. when the arms of france were so prosperous , that all europe looked on the states of the united provinces as very near destruction , his electoral highness of brandenbourgh wisely foreseeing the consequences to be expected from the ambitious enterprizes of france , if not stopped in time , gained himself the reputation , not only of having been the first prince of christendom who drew his sword in protection of that broken state , but by vigorous remonstrances to the court of vienna , was the cause that his imperial majesty , awaking out of the lethargy some corrupt counsellors had cast him into , resolved to arm vigorously , and joyn with his electoral highness in defence of that republique : his electoral highness in pursuance of this resolution being advanc'd towards the rhine , with a considerable army , and count montecuculi being on his way thither in the head of an imperial army , with design to act jointly , and to do something considerable in favour of the republique . france , allarm'd by the march of the two german armies , had detach'd marshal turenne , with a body of an army to observe the motions of the other two : but by the several marches and counter-marches these two armies had made , especially that of brandenbourgh , sometimes making as if they would pass the rhine in several places , sometimes in being ready to fall upon the allies of france beyond the rhine , turennes army was so tyr'd out and harassed , that about the end of the campaign it was almost quite dissipated , and found it self in so miserable a condition , that 't is certain all turenne was able to do , was to be on the defensive against one of those armies , and that if both armies had join'd , turenne had been inevitably lost , as was publickly confest . his electoral highness of brandenburgh knowing how easie it was to destroy turenne , and the consequence of his defeat , caused a vigorous remonstrance of all to be made to the council of vienna ; it was so effectual , that positive orders were sent montecuculi to join his electoral highness and fight turenne , without further loss of time ; which would have broken all the open and hidden measures of france , and by one blow freed the empire and holland from oppression . but other matters were in hand for the interest of rome . his majesty of great brittain had permitted himself to be perswaded to publish about that time , a declaration ( whereof he made report to his parliament , ) whereby a tolleration and indulgence was granted in favour of the nonconformists of his kingdom . though it may be thought it was not so much for favouring the particular conventicles of the sectaries of the protestant party , as , under the name of non-conformists , to introduce popery again into that estate , though contrary to the designs and intentions of his majesty , who granted it only in favour of the tender consciences of his protestant subjects : this step towards popery being the first fruits the court of rome had promised it self from the ruin of the states of the united provinces , 't is no wonder that court set all hands at work to effect that ruin. the then principal obstacles of the design , was the resolution of his electoral highness against turenne , the destruction of his army being capable to re-establish the states of the united provinces , and that re-establishment would have destroyed all the projects of the jesuits in england . here it was the jesuits plaid their part to prevent the blow from fallin on turenne , and they acted it too well for the general good of europe : for montecuculi instead of receiving express order to joyn brandenbourgh's army , and fight turenne , received orders quite contrary ; whereby he was absolutely forbidden to do the one or the other . to drive this nail to the head ; the venerable society ( whose impudence nothing can parallel ) made it their business several ways to infuse into his electoral highness a jealousie of the emperour , as insincere in his intentions : this was effected with the greater facility , for that his e. h. of brandenbourgh , having received from the court of vienna , a formal letter , which gave him an exact account of the true order his imperial majesty had sent montecuculi to join him and fight the french , and his e. h. having summoned montecuculi to execute that order , montecuculi , who knew he had orders quite contrary , but knew nothing of the former , of which the elector had account , could do no less than refuse the one and the other , nor could his electoral highness choose upon the refusal , but suspect the sincerity of the emperor's intentions . this was not enough for those masters of mischief , for at the same time those emissaries omitted nothing that might instill into montecuculi , a suspicion of the sincerity of the elector's intentions . these jealousies being but too deeply established , especially on this last side , 't is no wonder his electoral highness was at last perswaded ( as these emissaries had by a third hand infinuated to him ) that the house of austria treated under-hand a separate peace with france : which appeared the more probable , by the daily advice he had of the miserable estate of turenne's army , growing every hour worse and worse , and the obstinacy of montecuculi , neither to joyn him , nor fight . the emissaries foreseeing this misunderstanding would vanish intime time , when the truth should appear , made use of that conjuncture to set on the duke of newbourgh to manage a particular peace between his electoral highness and france ; which the electoral , jealous of the imperialists , and vext at their proceedings , was at last perswaded to accept , and with so much the more reason , that as to holland he pretended they had not satisfied their engagements to him , and as to the interests of the empire he reserved himself intire liberty to arm in its defence , if france should attacque it . the elector was concerned in reputation to make the emperour sensible of his just resentments of montecuculi's proceeding : montecuculi was strangely surprized , when at his return to vienna his master called him to a strict account of his conduct , and the reasons why he had neither joined brandenbourgh's army , nor fought turenne , when express orders had been sent him for both . but if montecuculi was surprized at the question , his imperial majesty was no less at the answer , when his sage general produced for his discharge an order of his imperial majesty , in very good form , expresly forbidding him either to joyn with brandenbourgh or fight turenne : and 't is certain , this general found all the justice of his cause , and the assurance his master had of his fidelity , little enough to clear him of this unhappy affair . i know this business is one of those riddles never to be decypher'd , unless the author will voluntarily give us the key . i know 't is from hence it proceeds , that one of the principal wretches of this court hath been formerly charged with this forgery : but to speak the truth , the whole guilt of this affair lies at the doors of the emissaries of rome in this court , who by secret contrivances with those of france , found the means to intercept the true original order , and in the same dispatch to transmit a false one , but very well counterfeit both the hand and seal : and that by people who are not now to learn that trade . it being certain we should not have seen so many troubles in hungary , as daily are there , had these emissaries less credit in the emperours court. his imperial majesty , the elector of brandenbourgh , and count montecuculi know the truth of all that concerns them in this affair : but i am well assur'd not one of the three knows the secret engines set at work in the business . what i know thereof comes not from them , but from a place where every particular of this negotiation was known , and by whom it was animated . certain it is , if the point of the catholicon in england had not been found ; the ministers of france could not have so easily compassed this forgery ; but by that every thing became feasible , the directors of the society having voluntarily undertaken to master all difficulties . by the ingenious deduction of this relation , where the author speaks plainly , as a man well instructed and acquainted with the fineness , and superfineness of the management , and by what i have said before , on the same subject , and every one may of himself apprehend it appears that it proceeds from a principle of a papal , or jesuitical ambition , the council of vienna , from the beginning of the war , hath been so well penetrated , directed , or altered , that all the expeditions of the imperial army ( except with convenient distinctions , the considerable important taking of bonne , the long and langushing siege of phillipsbourgh , and the taking it at last , and the death of turenne , which was meerly accidental ) i say all the expeditions , these three points excepted , have been from the beginnings of the campaigns to the end of them , but so many processions and pilgrimages of shame and of misery , of disorder and confusion , as the subjects of the empire know too well , who have been flay'd to the bone , and had their marrow suckedout by winter quarters , without consideration , or mercy , but especially the protestant states and people , and other princes , lords , magistrates , countries and towns , who have felt the smart of that fiery tryal . from the same principle it is , that when by the expulsion of the swedes out of the patrimony of the empire , his electoral highness of brandenbourgh , and his highness of zell and osnabourgh were in a condition ( notwithstanding the particular peace of the united provinces and spain ) to transport the chief of their forces upon the frontiers of france , and by so glorious an action , to oblige france infallibly to make a peace with the empire in general and particular , according to justice and equity , then were the emissaries of rome , so powerful in the council at vienna , that they obliged his imperial majesty , to the prejudice of all his treaties , to seal privately such a peace with france , as we have mentioned before ; which hath been manag'd with so much dexterity , that that good ( but for that time too credulous ) prince did believe , and perhaps is still of the same mind , that he acted according to the most judicious maxims of religion and prudence : and because it may concern your highness to be inform'd what artifices were used by the jesuits and ministers of france , who went hand in hand , acting by concert in all this affair , to engage his imperial majesty to sign that fatal peace , there were sent from france under other pretences the dutchess of meclenbourgh to the court of zell , and the count of d' epause to that of brandenbourgh , and at the same time the jesuits labour'd so effectually , that his imperial majesty was made believe ( though certainly without just ground ) that the houses of brandenbourgh and lunenbourgh had already agreed , or were just upon agreeing , to a separate peace with france ; whereby his imperial majesty would be left alone a prey to the french ambition . true it is , if those princes were in that conjuncture ( as is very probable ) very willing to keep what they had conquer'd from the swede : i think they had done well to have dismist those envoys from their courts , which had they done , it would at least have taken away from the emperours corrupt council , all pretence of rendring them suspitious to his imperial majesty , and hastening him in pursuance of that suspition to sign the peace under consideration . to sum up all , we may from what hath been said , reasonably infer these three particulars . first , that his imperial majesty hath been basely betrayed by the greater part of his council ; for i am not so malicious and unjust to confound the innocent with the guilty , and not to make an exception ( out of the general clause ) in favour of those of his council , who are men of integrity and honour , who in truth i think are very few , and not much in credit . secondly , that his imperial majesty being so villanously betray'd by his council , the empire in general and particular , through the indissoluble union of the head and members cannot but miserably participate the misfortune and sufferings of its soveraign , as is very well known by a fatal , and too long experience . thirdly , that 't is easie for his imperial majesty , and the empire , to know whom they have equallly cause to complain of , and from what principle not only this treason is derived , but all the mischiefs that have afflicted christendom , for above an age , but especially the empire since the beginning of the late war : i say for above an age , as to the general ; because that which his most christian majesty , instigated by the jesuits , undertakes in our days , is but the same , which , by instigation of their predecessors , charles the first , the emperour fardinand the second , and philip the second of spain , did in their days . as to the empire in particular i say , since the beginning of the last war ; because 't is certain his imperial majesty hath been since that time by the means i have mentioned , so closely beset , and so strictly observed , that 't is not in his power to speak , to advise , to wish , or do any thing , but the society knows , and absolutely destroys it , if not suitable to their particular interests and designs : there is not a person in the emperor's court , but knows , that no man without certain ruin dare oppose in that court that cabal in any matter though never so little : to conclude this point , his imperial majesty , as a slave to the society , as things stand at present , serves only to authorize his own ruin , the ruin of his august family , and of the empire in general and particular : for the very moment i write , france publickly solicits in the empire , ( as i said before ) the nomination of a king of the romans in favour of the dauphin , which in all probability will be managed with so much dexterity and subtilty , that his imperial majesty , if he follow the advice of his council , spiritual or temporal , will think himself obliged in conscience voluntarily to give way to it . this , my lord , is the true state of his imperial majesty , and his council since the last peace . three things remain to be considered . first , the particular advantages the court of rome , and the jesuits procured themselves by the late war. secondly , what advantages they design'd themselves by the late peace , and its consequences . thirdly , what the empire in general and particular may expect from the present state of affairs . the advantages the court of rome and the jesuits procured themselves , by the late war , have not been so great as they promised themselves , for god having preserved the united provinces , whose utter destruction they had projected ; 't is certain , most of their projects in england , and elsewhere , were defeated : yet the advantages of the papacy over the protestant party , in the late war , are very considerable ; and consist in five particulars . 1. that by the fire of war , kindled by the artifices of rome , and the jesuits , between england and the united provinces ; those two protestant powers have unhappily consumed very considerable forces in men , money , ships , ammunition , and loss of trade , the soul and substance of the riches of both countries . 2. that the united provinces have in defence of themselves against france and its allies in germany , been forced to spend their men and their money , besides loss of trade during the war. 3. that swede , denmark , brandenbourgh , and zell , have consumed their forces during all this war , kindled by the artifices of the same party , between swede , and the three princes of denmark , brandenbourgh , and lunenbourgh , both by sea and land. 4. that under pretence of this war , the protestant states of the empire , as well during the campaignes as by winter-quarters , have been miserably harrassed and exhausted with exactions , burnings , contributions to that degree , that most of the protestant imperial towns are almost ruined ; and several of them as well as the palatinate , and other countries , out of hopes of recovery in an age ; while the hereditary countries , and bavaria , and many other places of the roman communion in the empire , have been preserved as the apple of an eye , or so little opprest they scarce feel it . 5. that france by this war , having conquered the county of burgundy , and kept it by the peace free from condition of exchange , it is to be observ'd , that whereas this province , belonging heretofore to spain , was , by reason of its distance from the heart of that kingdom , not in a condition to hurt the protestant cantons of the swisses ; now that it belongs to france , we art not to flatter our selves , but it belongs to a power which may every hour make a sudden irruption into the canton of bern , and under the specious pretence of religion put the protestant and roman cantons in disorder , and by degrees work their inevitable ruine ; unless that republick have the courage and judgment to enter into confederacy with those that ought to preserve it from destruction , which the building the fortress of hunningen , may sufficiently instruct them , is certainly intended them . i reckon all these to be real advantages the court of rome and the jesuits have by the last war procur'd themselves against the protestant party : for where resolution is taken to ruine an enemy under several heads , the best way to effect it , is to divide the powers , and engage them as much as may be in war , one against another , to the consumption of their forces ; and to fortifie your self on their frontiers , that you may make sudden inroads into their countries when you please : the court of rome , and the jesuits , by the access they have had to the council of france , and the house of austria , and by the help of the counsellors there , and in the protestant courts , have with great dexterity put these maxims in practice during the late war : for his majesty of swedland , managed by france , his majesty of denmark , his electoral highness of brandenbourgh , and his highness of zell , managed by the imperial court , will take the pains to search to the bottom , by what motives and artifices they have been all four engaged in a war , which hath ruined their estates for more than ten years . i doubt not ( with the respect and submission that is due to them ) but they will find that the modern romans have with great insolence and perfidiousness practised upon them what the ancient romans did for divertisement to their gladiators : for when these men had by bloody , and oftentimes mortal combats , sufficiently diverted the spectators , and the magistrate made them a sign to give out , they were bound to do it , and in what condition soever they were to go every one home , as these four princes were in the end forced to do . this may serve for an excellent and important instruction for england , holland , swede and denmark , and all the protestant states and princes of germany , to avoid effectually the snares the court of rome every day lays for them the ways i have observed , with a setled design to destroy not only their religion but their temporal estates . the second point . the advantages the court of of rome and the jesuits proposed to themselves by the conclusion of the peace between his imperial majesty and france , may be reduced to three principal heads . 1. by the maxims observed in the first part of my letter , to fix ( without danger of any probable variation ) the designs of france , and the efforts of their arms , against the empire and northern countries , as most remote from italy , and most convenient by the progress of those arms to ruine the prorestant party and consequently to advance the re-establishment of the papal grandeur and authority , the fall of the one producing naturally the exaltation of the other . and for attaining this end , to procure this peace to be so made , that his most christian majesty might be fully perswaded the court of rome and the jesuits ( in prejudice to all other powers of christendom ) studied nothing more than his exaltation , and an effectual setling and establishing in time an absolute monarchick authority over europe : and that this project might be made appear so facil and easie to this prince that he might be the better tempted to undertake it : in order to these ends , the court of rome and the jesuits could not have done any thing whereby more effectually to demonstrate their zeal and close adherence to the grandeur and exaltation of the most christian king , than by making ( as they have done with so much craft and perfidiousness ) a sacrifice of the emperour and empire ( with all that concerned the glory and interest of both ) the better to carry on the designs of the french : their project in this particular hath proved so effectual , and discover'd so many divisions , so much ignorance , weakness , and baseness , in the empire , that his most christian majesty may by these appearances rationally judge he may probably succeed in whatever he shall attempt against the empire ( though i am not of opinion he will find it so easie a matter as he hath been made believe ' t is . ) but we are to believe this prince is perswaded , that to attain all his ends , the empire being the natural obstacle against an universal monarchy , it must be his business to attempt the empire in the first place . nor can it be doubted , but the court of rome and the jesuits , making full account the most christian king will be very well able by his forces to master the empire , have hastened with all diligence possible the signing the peace between his imperial majesty and france , upon design that his most christian majesty being by this expedient of the peace free from war , in case the perpetual plots of the court of rome , and the jesuits in england , or elsewhere , should be so prosperous , as , with the help of forreign aid , to effect the re-establishment of the popes authority there , they might make use of the french forces to invade that kingdom , or other countries , for the ends i have mentioned : and if by gods providence the perfidious and damnable conspiracy of the jesuits against the king the religion and state of england had not been discovered the last year , i believe england had e're this felt the effects of what i observe . be pleased to allow me leave on this occcasion to say , that unless his majesty of great brittain be willing to fall , with all his people , under the slavery of the pope , the jesuits , and france , he hath great cause to take heed left the warlike preparations of all sorts made by the french in all their ports , and on the coasts of the ocean , be not made upon some such design ; for by the scheme of the plot ireland is looked upon as a country which may unquestionably procure france the absolute dominion of the sea , and of trade , and the conquests of the west indies , according to their ancient and primitive project . 3. the court of rome and the jesuits having that influence over the imperial council , that it was in their power to do what they pleased there , there is no doubt but the signing of the peace was prest on this farther design , that his imperial majesty ( the peace concluded ) finding himself in a condition to dispose of the greatest part of his forces , they might easily perswade him to employ them to root out the protestant party in hungary , and perfect the pretended reformation in silesia : and it was well for that people that god provided for their safety by very extraordinary means , i mean the plague ; for had not that broken out , it is not credible but dunewald the apostate , now a formal creature of the jesuits , had been sent thither with an army to do something . happy would it be for his imperial majesty , if by just and solid reflections on the disasters successively fallen upon his august family , for having too much espoused the violent and cruel passions of the court of rome and the jesuits , and by considering this scourge of god which hath forced him to quit his capital city , and in a manner follows him visibly wherever he goes , he would be sensible the hand of god is not stretched out against him , as heretofore against david , for his sin , but because he hath stretched out his hand to oppress the only congregations of christians in his dominions , whose worship is not infected with idolatry , and who according to the precepts of the gospel adore the soveraign and supreme creator in spirit and in truth . but far happier should his imperial majesty be , if by such reflections god would give him the grace , as he did to the emperor charles the fifth before de died , to acknowledge and own the truth he persecutes ; and ( setting aside policy ) embrace generously the profession of it . god almighty would then certainly bless him , and 't is credible he would not deny him the power to humble the proud , and those who by their enormous . ambition , put all europe into combustion . i beg your highnesses pardon for this digression ; which the matter i treat of , and my zeal for the faith and salvation of others naturally led me to . the third point . to make some solid prognostick , in a matter so dilicate , i say , as to what the empire in general and particular is no expect from the present state of affairs ; we are to believe his most christian majesty ( unless notably changed in his dispositions ) would boldly and couragiously carry on his business , i mean his pretension to make his son , the dauphin , king of the romans : his marriage with the princess of bavaria , the envoys and magnificent presents he sends to the electoral courts of saxony and brandenbourgh , and his arming so furiously , signifie sufficiently two things . first , his contempt of the alliances and oppositions his imperial majesty may make against him . secondly , that he will certainly pursue his pretension . 't is of extream importance for the empire in general and particular to know , whether it be for the interest of the empire to favour this pretension , or to oppose it . this with your highnesses leave , i intend briefly to examine ; and to observe some order : it is to be considered , 1. whether it be better for the empire in general , and every member of it in particular , to live according to the ancient customs , rights and priviledges , under which they have lived for many ages ; or that the empire , without striking a blow , submit voluntarily to the yoke of a government which acknowledges no law , but that of a power purely despotical and absolute ? 2. as a dependent on the former point , whether it be better , as to the revolutions since the wars for religion , that the empire live occording to the concordats and agreements in the peace of munster , or osnabrug , and the last capitulations with his imperial majesty since his election : or without regard to the one , or the other , that the empire engage anew in a civil war , which by a final victory may decide the quarrel in favour of one of the parties , concerning the concordats , and those two treaties of peace , or the late capitulations , as if never agreed or capitulated ? i think it the more necessary to examine before hand these points , for that we may hold it for certain . as to the first point . in case the dauphin be ever elected king of the romans , that from the days of that election , whatever capitulations shall be signed to the contrary , the german empire will be annexed to , and made an hereditary province of the crown of france . to justifie this , you need only read several french authors , who have treated of the rights and pretensions of france , upon the empire , particularly that of the advocate awbrey ; for though he hath with good reason been laughed at for his writings , yet if that election take effect , we shall find his discourse solid and well grounded . besides , you may soberly weigh what france hath already practised upon that part of the empire which hath fallen to its share , and the neighbouring parts , both in temporals and spirituals : as to the temporal concerns , france seizes all boldly and openly in the face of the sun , without pretence of other law , or right , but that of convenience , with as much freedom and confidence , as it would take possession of any ancient patrimony of that crown : the dukes of lorrain and deuxponts , mentbeleuard , and the ten free towns of alsatia , sufficiently prove this ; as to spiritual matters you need only read the publick ordinance of the bishop of metz against the lutherans of those countries . for the clergy in general , all the free chapters of the empire , whether arch-bishops , bishops , abbots , deans , or priors , may assure themselves , if this election take place , they must go to france e're they come to those dignities ; for to imagine the free suffrages of the chapters shall be continued , is sortishness and folly . the bishopricks of metz , toul and verdun , and ( i doubt not for the future ) cambray , which were heretofore principalities of the empire , may teach us that under a french government the only way to those dignities is by a writ of presentation by the kings , and consequently all that seek or depend on those bishopricks must be courtiers and slaves . not but that i believe if the dauphin be chosen king of the romans , his council is too cunning not to make him promise expresly to maintain the privileges and ecclesiastical benefices of the empire : and that till he be fully setled they may be content to write letters to the chapters to chuse the person the court shall recommend , but in such a manner there will be no fear of refusal : yet this course is not to be expected to hold ten years to an end : which i believe the rather for that france pretends ( as hath been declared at large by several politick treatises ) that most of the great benefices in germany have been founded by emperors , kings of france , and that consequently the court of france is the true patron of them . the princes of the empire , ecclesiastical and temporal , of what rank or degree soever , may from the day of that election , provide for three things which will certainly follow . first they shall be reduced to the natural rents and revenues of their ancient patrimonies , which cannot with probability be denied to depend upon the ancient kingdom of austrasia , ( which the ministers of france suppose to be part of the french monarchy ) and consequently all natural rights there being subject to the law salique , admit neither of alienation nor prescription . for as to the taxes and contributions now paid these lords by their vassals and subjects , there is no doubt but they will be obliged to disclaim them , and consent with a very good will , that the head of the empire shall in this case order what taxes and exactions he please to be levied , and all for his use : to pretend capitulations or reasons to the contrary , will be to insist on trifles , or commence suits to be decided only by military execution . secondly , they will be disarmed , it being against the honour of the policy of france , to permit any prince , or lord , under their dominion , to have the power to defend himself by force , be his right to do so never so ancient and authentick . thirdly , to gain the favour of the head of the empire , the head of every house of the secular princes must actually wait on his imperial majesty at an excessive expence , or send in his stead his brothers or sons to make his court , or to receive orders and caresses , and sometimes repulses and checks : and the empire being full of divisions and jealousies , there is cause enough to fear the princes will strive who shall be most officious , as the princes and other great men of france have done , to their utter ruin , and total consumption of their estates . as for the counts , and barons , and all gentlemen of the empire , who are vassals to electors and particular princes , my heart bleeds to think how certainly and strangely their condition will be chang'd , if ever a french king be made emperour . is it probable the ministers of france will have more pity of the german nobility and gentry , than the dukes , marquesses , counts , barons and particular nobility of their own country have found at their hands ? there is no doubt but the day they change their master , they must bid an eternal adieu to all their rights of soveraign justice and free-hold : the great men and private gentry of france , several of whom have the honour to be descended in a right line from soveraign princes , had no less courage , nor were heretofore less priviledged , nor less jealous of their rights , than many of the body of the empire are at this present . yet have they been forc'd one after another to submit to the yoke , and lose all their ancient priviledges : nor must they think any more ( though they have right ) to lay any imposition on their subjects . for ( as i said before in the article of the princes ; ) this is a sweet bit , which the absolute and despotical dominion of france always reserves for it's own tooth . they must never think more by offices and imployments under particular princes , or the head of the empire , to render themselves considerable , make their fortunes , or recover their spent estates , as they could have done heretofore : at least but few of them shall be ever able to do it . for as to particular princes , they will in case of a french emperour be absolutely ruin'd , and forc'd to retrench themselves and their families to a very low condition ; and as to the head of the empire , whoever will have office or imployment in his house or courts of justice , must think of buying it with ready money , there being not an office or imployment in the french kings house , from the steward of his house to the scullion in his kitchen , nor in his courts of justice , from that of chief president to the meanest serjeant , but is sold for ready money . so that there remains not for the nobility and gentry of the empire , any office or employ , but what must be bought , save only the military : but the nobility and gentry of the empire are too judicious , ( at least , unless ( as the french proverb is ) they are willing to be taken for fools , ) not to know they have no reason to promise themselves in this particular of military employment , any greater priviledge than is allow'd the ancient nobility of france , and consequently , that to procure the favour of the prince or his principal ministers , they must serve in the wars at their own charge , as the french nobility have done . the necessary expences of every office exceeding yearly , by three fourths , the pay of the prince : that is , they most resolve to consume the bulk of their estates to be known at court , and frequently spend a real patrimony in pursuit of vain and chimerical hopes , which will infallibly ruin their families ; and bring most of those who take these courses to end their lives in languishing griefs and cruel repentings : for thus it is , all the nobility of france serve in the wars , and such is the end most of them make . if we have heard of a schomberg or a ransan that became considerable in france by the wars . let the nobility of the empire be assur'd it was but a lure which the ministers of france ( who have long since plotted the conquest of the empire ) thought fit to hold out to delude and cheat the german nobility : they are like the fires in the night that lead them into precipices , who are indiscreet enough to follow them : all this i know to be true , grounded on very authentick memoirs , and certain knowledge of the matters i mention . as for the imperial towns and free cities of the empire , colmar , schlestat , and haguenau , and the rest of that rank , situate in alsatia , may teach their magistrates and councils , what value the ministers of france put upon their ancient rights and priviledges , for those are the things the ministers there , or their envoys under the name of commissaries or intendants , call in derision stories to make one sleep , illusions , and old wives tales , that is , things nothing worth . if ever france come to the empire , all the cities of that order are with metz , toul , and verdun , and ( last of all ) bezanson to denounce and disclaim all rights of justice , magazines , garrisons and impositions , and to prepare themselves ( at least all those that cannot , will be kept under otherwise ) to see built in the highest place in the town a strong citadel at their charge , and a garrison put into it , which they must maintain , and consequently by degrees undergo , as well as all the subjects of princes , earls , barons , and particular lords ; and all counts , barons , and private lords for their estates in land and all necessaries for life , with very little exception , all the impositions following . first upon estates in land , money , and trade . ayde , octroy , preciput , equivalent , crue , taille , estaste , subsistence de quartier d'hyver , garinzons , mortpayes , appointments des governeurs , debtes & affaires du roy , gratifications extraordinaries , den gratuit , frais de recoua usemens & contabilite . more upon drinks . aydes sur le vin , bieres , & cidres , plus le huitieme denier , le souquet , le patae , imposts & billets . [ instead of censuring the translation imperfect , in giving the names of these impositions ( as in the original ) in french , let the reader congratulate his happiness , that very few of these most christian impositions have been christened in england , and therefor they want names in our language . ] more upon things eatable . the gabelle on corn and meal , which is taken in markets or at the mill , in several places , under the name of mesure coupee , or octroy . the toll called pied forchu , taken for all sorts of beasts sold in fairs and markets . the toll taken by weight for every pound of meat sold in the shambles . the gabelle on salt , which will raise the price of salt so high , that what is now sold for a florin , will then cost fourteen crowns . more upon all necessaries for life . the mark of paper , the mark of silver , the mark of tin , the mark of hats , the mark on all silk stockins and woollen , the mark of shoes , the gabella on perukes , the gabelle on tobacco , the mark on all stuffs of wooll or silk , the mark on linnen , the gabelle on ice , the control of exploits . more upon noble estates , from five years , to five years . the tax of free fifes , the tax of new purchases , the fifths and refifths , amortissements . more upon the offices of judicature and the treasury . the price of valuation , the mark of gold , the two sols in the pound , the seal duty , the duty of control , the registers duty , the duty for oaths ; the prest for being admited to the annual , the annual or paulette . besides many other taxes to be paid from time to time , and many retrenchments of wages to be yearly undergone ; for the soveraign courts have but three quarters wages , the subordinate but two , and the base or lowest courts frequently but one . add to all these the reunion to the king's demesnes , newly executed throughout france on all commonalties or corporations of the empire , that is , all that belongs in common to any commonalty , as fewel and pasture in woods and forests , rivers , ponds , and all other common rights of what nature soever . more on all sorts of merchandises imported or exported . the custom , the custom for the value , the foreign . besides the custom of lions , burdeaux and roan , which take their names from the places , and are levied with all rigour imaginable , not only upon importation into the realm , or exportation out of it into foreign countries , but in most of the frontiers of the provinces , upon passing out of one into another , within the kingdom . and we may expect the like exactions to be established in the several provinces of the empire , on several pretences . all these subsidies , and many others , ( which , to avoid prolixity , i pass over in silence ) are one way or other punctually paid , where-ever any subjects of the french monarchy live , with no other distinction , but that the lords and gentlemen have right to hold free from imposition so many acres of land , for their maintenance , as may be husbanded with two yoke of oxen , ( provided the owner hold that estate in demean ) for as to what is let out to farmers , as they pay the king taxes for the profit of the farms , they pay so much the less rent to the landlord ; so that in effect the nobleman in france pays taxes as well as the boor : which the princes , the nobles , the magistrates , and subjects of the empire , of what degree soever , have reason seriously to consider . for , 't is folly to fancy they can make their capitulations so advantageous as to exempt them from paying these intollerable subsidies . the provinces of guienne , languedoc , provence , dauphine , bourgundy , and britain , and most of the other provinces of france , had herefore their particular princes , as most of the provinces of the empire now have ; and the principal cities and towns in these provinces of france , had then as great priviledges and immunities as any free towns of the empire : but the kings of france having invaded all these principalities , and seized the liberties of the cities , have , since the taking of rochel , reduced them into so absolute slavery , that the citizens and inhabitants have quite lost the resolution and generosity to endeavour a recovery of their liberties , and are so bridled with strong garrisons and citadels ( and we may expect the like in all countries of the empire , if ever under a french government ) that they are not in a condition to stir , at least to any considerable purpose . this may suffice for the first point : i pass to the second . the second point . this deserves the more exact consideration , for that if ever the dauphin be chosen king of the romans , since the court of rome and the jesuits , by the important services these have done the crown of france of late , and promise to do for the future , and the cardinalships they flatter the nephews and relations of the principal ministers of france with the hopes of , do what they please in the council of france ; and what is published to the contrary , on the account of regalities , now in controversie , is but cheat and illusion ; the cruel persecution raised and carried on some years last past against the protestants of that kingdom , the disgrace of pompone , being not of their cabal , and of theatin the princess of brvaria's confessor , intimating sufficiently the extraordinary credit that society hath in the court of france : i say , if ever the dauphin be elected king of the romans , the empire is to expect two things . first , to see him at the head of the best forces of france , ( upon the specious pretence of religion , and restoring the estates belonging to the church ) undertaking in the empire aganst the protestant party what charles the fifth , and ferdinand the second attempted to execute . secondly , that this affair will be so obstinately fomented & protected by the court of rome , that the empire will be in danger to be involved in a war more cruel , more bloody , and dangerous , than any the former wars raised for that cause . and there is reason enough to believe , that the late war , as well as the peace since made , were hatched and carried on by the court of rome , in hopes of being able , by the power of the french forces , to work the entire ruin of the protestant party of europe , which we see every day decay by degrees : and i am much mistaken if the money sent by the pope into poland was not design'd for a project of this nature . prince william of furstenberg might , if he pleased , furnish us with clear evidence of authentick memoirs to this purpose ; but we are not to expect it from him , lest by such a discovery he lose the recompence the court of rome designs him for the pains he hath taken , and continues , to bring to effect this popish project in the empire , and consequently in all europe . by what hath been said , your highness may see the fortune of the empire , if ever it fall ( by any means whatever ) under the intolerable yoke of the despotical government of france : and i think i need say no more to convince every member of the empire , and all the states of it in general , ( without any great depth of policy , or knowledge of war ) what their duty to religion , their glory and interest oblige them to do , for preserving themselves from falling under a yoke of that nature . but to preserve themselves effectually from this yoke , i conceive it extremely considerable to enquire first , whence all this mischief proceeds ? which known , will give us light what must further be done : and particularly , from what part the first attack may be expected , and what defence is to be made . the mischiefs i have mentioned unquestionably have their rise from the designs and fomentations of the court of rome and the jesuits , who ( at present at least ) direct and dispose of the french projects and forces , and without any mercy or respect , pretend , with the assistance of those forces , and their own secret managements of affairs , to sacrifice all to the re-establishment of the papal grandeur . i conceive in right and justice two things are to be done ; but i doubt much whether the one will be . the first is , that since the publick good and safety of the empire consists in living ( without innovation ) according to the ancient rights , immunities , and privelidges , and the concordats established by law , ( which every member of the empire is obliged to observe ) and that the pretensions of the court of rome and the jesuits , are as inconsistent as those of france , with the publick good and safety of the empire : every member of the empire , without flattering themselves any longer with hopes of favour from rome or from france , and without distinction of religion , applying themselves seriously to procure and promote the preservation and publick good of the empire , should without delay take such measures , that neither the court of rome , the jesuits , nor france , may attain their ends. and in order to this , that every member of the empire should put it self into a posture and condition , by uniting their forces , to oppose force to force : and if the princes of the roman communion will bona fide engage in this union , it will be necessary , first , that his imperial majesty find means to gain the amity and assistance of the three northern princes whom i have formerly mentioned , engag'd in war by his means , and afterwards cruelly abandon'd to the mercy of france and of swede : which ( by the small intelligence i have of affairs ) will be difficult enough to effect , especially with the elector of brandenbourgh , without giving him satisfaction in two points , on which he doth with much equity insist . secondly , that his imperial majesty gain over to the interests of the empire the forces of the crown of swede ; which will be no easie task . thirdly , that the emperour , and all the princes of the roman communion in the empire , banish and root out of their councils not only all jesuits and monks , ( who by themselves or their superiors have all resort to their general at rome ) but every one that any way depends on , or hath society with these hypocrites , or rather free spies of the empire ; a capuchin in this particular being as bad as a jesuit . though this be absolutely necessary , as matters now stand , yet ( to speak freely ) i very much doubt whether the princes of the roman communion will have the generosity and courage to do it . the second , and that i take to be the only solid means , is , that the protestant party being now clearly convinc'd that they are the sole persons aim'd at , and that all that hath been done since the beginning of the last war was really in order onely to work their destruction ; all kings , princes , and magistrates of that persuasion are every one in his sphere to apply themselves with all industry and vigour , first , to arm with all their power , that they may be able to oppose force to force : secondly , to enter into mutual leagues and alliances , that by joynt strength they may resist forces so considerable as those of france , and others the court of rome and the jesuits may by their artifices bring over to that party . to begin so great and necessary a work , we will for a while leave the territories of the empire ; and looking abroad , i am of opinion that england and the united provinces ought without further delay to use all means possible to enter into a league offensive and defensive , which may ( if possible ) be indissoluble ; that denmark and swede are to follow that example ; and , that all the protestant princes and states of the empire , with the protestant cantons of the swisses and the grisons , ought to do the like : for , 't is not a concern of particular quarrels and jealousies , but the faith , the religion and temporal estates of all the protestant party are now at stake . this i conceive will be more easily effected in this conjuncture , for that by a special providence of god there is no war at present between england and holland , nor between swede and denmark , nor between the princes of the protestant communion in germany . if these three things be effected , and the particular leagues incorporated into a general , and consequently , an intire union of the protestants of europe , we need not fear the designs or attempts of the court of rome , or the jesuits , or the council and forces of the french : for ( these things effected ) we shall have power enough not only to deliver the empire from all just apprehensions of the designs of the court of rome , the jesuits , and of france , against its liberties , but to reduce his most christian majesty ( by way of justice & right ) to keep himself modestly within the frontiers of his kingdom , and ( in case of refusal ) to do something more ; which would infallibly produce a sure and general peace . i am the more induced to be of this opinion , while england and holland on the one hand , and swede and denmark on the other , are labouring to put an end to all former quarrels ; and the protestant princes and magistrates of the empire endeavour ( as i suppose ) a league with the protestant cantons and the grisons , that ( to say the truth ) i see no other solid and effectual means to defend the empire from the oppression of france , and the protestant party in particular from the oppression of the court of rome , the jesuits , and france , all at once : for , ( to rid our hands of all false maxims at once ) what else can the empire and protestant party reasonably ground their safety upon ? will they ground it on his imperial majesty , as they ought , and without doubt might have done , had his council been guided with right and sound maxims ? i cannot think , after all that his council have caused him to do publickly , and what he still continues to put in execution against the protestant party , that any rational person of that party can expect the least favour on that side , at least as long as the jesuits and court of rome have that credit , that countenance and support they have now in his court. and that we have little reason to hope this prince will rid himself of them , who have dangerously corrupted his understanding and reason , by their education of him , and the prejudices instilled into him . and should the protestants on this occasion expect help from the court of bavaria , as their interest in the empire obliges them , we may very well imagin the expectation will be vain , if we consider the late strict alliance of that court with france , or the ridiculous monastick bigotry reigning in that court. if then you will rely on the ecclesiastical princes , who knows not their disability , and that the greater part of them will do nothing but what the jesuits shall insinuate into them ? so that for the future ( as well as the time past , at least , for the last age , and more ) the natural defence of the empire hath ( under god ) no solid ground , but the forces and industry of the protestant party . it was that party saved it from the intended oppression of the house of austria in former times : and in the late war , when france attempted to master it by its arms and intrigues , it was the same party not only preserved the empire , but the emperor , from the yoke of the french. and it will be the same party which ( by the grace of god ) shall easily preserve it for the future ; at least , if the potentates of that party , or the greater part of them , apply themselves to do what i conceive they are obliged to . but to speak plainly , and make appear the necessity of such a protestant league and confederacy , we are to consider ; his imperial majesty will either effectually perform what he ought in defence of the empire , by saving himself from falling under the dominion of france ; or that he will do nothing but in shew and appearance . if his imperial majesty perform as he ought , against the enterprises of france , such a league can never be more seasonably made to second the imperial forces ; nor can his imperial majesty in that case rely on any forces ( the nature of the quarrel considered ) that will be more true to him than those of the protestants . but if his imperial majesty intend meerly to look on , as unconcerned , and not to engage really and effectually against the french designs , which he is so highly concerned to oppose , there can be no doubt , but the court of rome and the jesuits have secretly carried on a close intelligence and private league between their imperial and most christian majesties , for the ruin and destruction of the protestant party ; and , that by some private and mysterious stipulation , some protestant estate in the empire , or on the frontiers , in the low countries , or swisserland , is , according to their project , designed a recompence to the duke of lorrain , for the dukedoms of lorrain and barre , which france hath taken from him , and hath no mind to restore . and by a captious contrivance of this nature , the protestant party in the empire shall find it self at once assaulted by the united forces of their imperial and most christian majesties ( who are both of a communion . ) i leave to your highness to judge , how much it concerns the protestant party , by the industry and union i have mentioned , to prevent so great and dangerous an inconvenience . my suspicion of his imperial majesty is the greater , for that it is notorious there are in the society of jesuits men of several sorts ; some of whom are dispenced with not onely to lay aside the habit of their order , but to marry , and bear all sorts of offices and dignities : and that if his imperial majesty was in his younger days , out of too great a zeal for his religion , unhappily engag'd in this order , under the dispensations i suppose , there is no cause left for wonder at his proceedings against the protestants : for , though he had been but of the lower order , which is that wherein marriage is permitted , and a capacity allowed of bearing offices and dignities ; yet as to all other things , and particularly in matters of religion , he must have been under the obedience of the general of the jesuits , and consequently obliged to make peace and war , as the general of the society should judge most convenient for the interest of the pope and the society . the continual war this prince makes against the protestants of vpper hungary , contrary to all the maxims and rules of sound policy , and contrary to the priviledges ( one of his ministers told me , and i am otherwise well assured ) he hath sworn to that nation ; the vast gifts he hath bestowed on the society in bohemia , silesia , hungary , moravia , and generally in all his hereditary countries ; with his shameful signing the late peace , in prejudice , and contrary to all his treaties with the protestant princes , smells rankly of an obedience which acknowledges no obligation , nor owns any rule of justice or piety , other than the absolute command of his superior . and i see nothing in this prince , as to his manner of living , and constant attendance at jesuitical comedies , musick , and pilgrimages , sometimes to one relique , sometimes to another , with all that may make out his natural or acquir'd inclinations , that may any way convince this opinion of mistake . so that if it be so , ( as to speak the truth ) i very much suspect it is ; and i am not alone in this suspicion : i leave it to the judgment of the empire in general , and the protestants in particular , what ground they have to relie on , or expectany succour or assistance from the head of the empire : for , in case this prove true , should his imperial majesty promise and design effectually to assist the protestants , in defence of the common liberty ; yet if on the morrow the general of the society should order him , for some greater good , ( which , according to their maxims consists frequently in a massacre , a poysoning , or assassination ) to joyn at a precise day and place his arms to those of france , for the entire extirpation of the protestant party in the empire , there is no doubt but this prince would be obliged to do it , either on the account of obedience due to his general , or for fear the society , in case of his disobedience , should dispatch him , as they did by themselves , or their emissaries , henry the third and fourth in france , don carlos in spain , duke bernard of weymar in germany , and lately the illustrious princess of inspruck , second wife of that prince , the last duke of brieg in silesia : or as they have newly attempted to do against his majesty of great britain . for incendiaries , assassins , and murderers are the faithful servants and inseparable instruments of that blessed society . your highness will not be surpriz'd at the vehement suspicion i have exprest of his imperial majesty , when you have considered , there have been two kings of poland of that order , and that philip the second of spain did ( out of policy ) cause himself to be enrolled amongst them . but the order of the jesuits is compos'd ( as others ) of two sorts of people , whom politicians distinguish by the names of directors and directed : and we are to observe , the two kings of poland were in this latter class . the former , by promoting too zealously the passions of the society , having lost the kingdom of swede , to which he was heir ; and the second having by the same means incurred the irreconcileable hatred and aversion of the nobility of poland , to so extream a degree , that to avoid the threatning effects of it , he was forced at last to quit his crown , from a sovereign to become a subject , and go end his days in a strange country , with no better a character than that of abbot of st. german in france . but as for philip the second ( setting matter of conscience aside ) considering him only in quality of a politician ▪ i boldly assign him a place in the class of directors ; for he directed his affairs so well , he mist but little of subduing france , and effectually seised the crown of portugal , and the east-indies as an appurtenant . i am oblig'd , by the respect i bear his imperial majesty , to leave it to your highness to think which of the two classes he is to be rank'd in . but whether his imperial majesty be a member of this society , or not , i have said enough to make appear to your highness the absolute necessity of a league and consederacy between the protestant powers of europe , to enable them to defend themselves against the pernicious designs of their enemies . i will conclude with minding your highness , that this is the occasion that calls upon you , to shew to all the world your zeal for your religion , and the good of the publick ; and that since my longer stay in this court will be useless , your highness will do me the favour to permit me to leave it as soon as may be , that i may have the honour to wait on your most serene person , and continue the performance of my most humble services . to that happy time i respite acquainting you with many particulars i dare not trust to paper , ( though altogether confirming what i have most confidently affirmed , as to the most essential points of my letter . ) and in hopes to receive speedily the honour of your commands to that purpose , which i humbly beg , i remain with all due respects , my lord , your serene highnesses most humble servant , &c. prague , 13 febr. 1680. finis . the case of protestants in england under a popish prince if any shall happen to wear the imperial crown. clarkson, david, 1622-1686. 1681 approx. 81 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33356 wing c4569 estc r1246 11781146 ocm 11781146 49064 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. a33356) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49064) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 811:16) the case of protestants in england under a popish prince if any shall happen to wear the imperial crown. clarkson, david, 1622-1686. 34 p. printed for richard janeway ..., london : 1681. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. attributed to david clarkson by wing. 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. church of england. church and state -great britain. protestants -england. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. 2006-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-03 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-03 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the case of protestants in england under a popish prince , if any shall happen to wear the imperial crown . london : printed for richard janeway in queens-head-alleyin pater-noster-row , 1681. the case of protestants in england , &c. a prince putting himself and his dominions under the popes authority , and admitting ( as he must unavoidably ) the laws and decrees of the romish church ; all his protestant subjects , being by the judgment and sentence of that church hereticks , do forthwith lye under the penalties which those laws and constitutions will have inflicted upon hereticks . and these are the severest penalties , being proportioned to the crime which that church judgeth most hainous ; for heresie is treason with them , and the highest degree of high treason , for it is ( say they ) crimen laesae majestatis divinae , treason against the divine majesty , and so , much worse than treason against any prince on earth ; and upon this ground they commonly justifie all severities decreed against hereticks . not to mention particular doctors , innocent a the third thus argues in a special instance , this punishment is justly inflicted upon hereticks , because it is so in case of civil treason , which is a smaller fault than treason against the divine majesty . and there is an edict of b frederick confirmed and made a church-constitution by several popes , particularly by innocent 4th , wherein what is enacted against traytors , is declared to fall upon hereticks multo fortiùs justinsque , with much more force and justice . so that the papal authority being introduced among protestants , they are forthwith traytors by law , and stand in no better terms , than the worst of traytors , and are exposed to the penalties which the highest treason is judged worthy of . let me instance in two or three particulars briefly ; for i must but point at the miseries of protestants in such a state , not give a full prospect of them . infamy is one of them ( that i may begin with the least ) . hereticks are infamous by law c it is certain ( saith d suarez ) that hereticks both by common and civil law are infamous , for which he alledged several texts of the popes law , and extends it to the favourers of hereticks , if they repent not within a year ; and to their children for some generations , if their parents dyed pertinacious . it is many penalties in one , including several things grievous and intolerable to all sorts e ; for upon this account , those whom they count hereticks , are deprived of all nobility , jurisdiction , and dignity ; and debarr'd from all offices , benefices , and publick councils ; they are uncapable of chusing , or of being chosen to them , ( so that it reacheth all sorts ) , clergy , laity , noble and ignoble , ( as the same author tells us ) . and they fall under all this immediately , ipso facto , as soon as they are hereticks , before any sentence declaratory of their crime ; so in a manner all the f doctors conclude , in quo authores ferè conveniunt , proving it from the very words of the law aforementioned . let me mention some of the particulars comprized in this legal insamy : protestants are hereby excluded from all publick councils , and so from parliaments ; being uncapable of either chusing , or being chosen thereto . this is the decree of a general g council , besides several constitutions for it in the canon-law . so that all the lords and commons in england would be by law ( while they are protestants ) debarred from having any place in parliament ; and all the freeholders from chusing any ; and that by a law paramount to any civil law , or national constitution : and this alone would be enough to ruine and enslave this , or any people whose liberty depends upon parliaments . they are excluded from all dignities , this is essential to the penalty ; for it is a h rule in their law , infamibus portae non pateant dignitati ; particularly noblemen are degraded from their nobility , and deprived of all honours i , this by the same law : and it is extended to their children by many of their k authors , who say expresly , that the issue of traytors , civil or spiritual , lose their nobility , both that which they had by priviledge , and that which comes by descent from their ancestors . they are deprived not only of all ecclesiastical benefices , but of all secular offices , which is expressed in the law forequoted ; particularly it is decreed l that hereticks be not admitted into any publick office , or benefice ; but if they be , it is null and void . nor can they exercise any jurisdiction , either spiritual or civil , as their m authors commonly determine : and upon this account they conclude all our judges , justices and magistrates , that are protestants , to be incompetent , such as have no more jurisdiction than the bench they sit on , and think not themselves at all obliged to answer them ; or if they condescend to give them an answer , yet not to speak the truth before them , although they be sworn to it . in short , all that owe any duty to hereticks are discharged from the obligation , and exempted from paying any . in their canon law it is decreed n that all who are bound to hereticks by any obligation , whether of oath , or fealty , or service , or any other agreement , or promise , are freed there from . subjects owe no allegiance to their prince , nay they may lawfully kill them , as their authors commonly conclude . servants owe masters no faithfulness , no service ; though they be slaves , and purchased with their money , yet they are discharged ; and if they discover their master's heresie , and so seek to take away his life , though they be not christians , it 's reason ( they hold ) that they have absolute freedom when none but christian slaves may have it , save upon such a treacherous o account . parents lose authority over their children , so their law p will have it : and children owe no duty to such parents , only they are bound under mortal sin to denounce them , that is , to discover their heresie ; which is the way to deprive their parents of their lives . and they give this reason for it , because it is lawful for a child to kill his father , if he be an enemy to the common-wealth ; and therefore he may much more lawfully in this case deal thus with his father , that is , betray him to death . this is an act worthy of honour and praise , as is proved by the constitutions of several popes , and so many other q writers , that it may pass for their common doctrine ; nor can they be secured from suffering for their parents heresie , without detecting them , as * innocent 4th decrees . we see a little to what condition the admission of the papal authority would reduce us ; it would expel nature and humanity , and make the dearest relatives unnatural and barbarous to one another ; it would leave no protestant either dignity or authority , either safety or liberty ; by these law ( which must then be ours ) our nobles are sentenced to be peasants , and peasants must be no better than slaves . secondly , another penalty to which hereticks are condemned by their laws , is confiscation of all their estates or goods . and this they incur , ipso jure , & ipso facto , that is immediately , as soon as they shew themselves hereticks , before the sentence of any judg. there is an express decree r for this in the canon law , bona haereticorum ipso jure decernimus confiscata , we decree that the goods of hereticks are confiscated by sentence of law. in this the gloss , and all the doctors who write of s hereticks do agree ; and upon this reason among others , because humane laws punish treason against men , and sometimes lesser crimes , with confiscation of goods ; therefore much more must treason against the divine majesty , which is committed by heresie , be thus punished . and this reason is assigned not only in the text of the canon law now mentioned , but also in other texts , particularly innocent t the third thereby proves , that hereticks goods are confiscated , because this is decreed against civil treason , which is much less than that against the divine majesty . by vertue of this confiscation , hereticks , as soon as ever they discover it , are deprived of all propriety and title to their estates , before any sentence passed against them . suarez u saith , this is the common doctrine . sanchez x musters up multitudes of doctors for it : and * corduba tells us , that all their doctors in a manner , both canonists and divines maintain it . but though they generally agree that protestants by law have lost all propriety , and have no title at all to any estate ; yet there is some difference among them about the possession of what is thus confiscated . for many of them hold , that hereticks before any sentence , are bound in conscience to quit the possession of all they have , and sin damnably if they do not ; especially if their heresie be publick and notorious , as it is in all professed protestants : and their reasons are good enough , if the principles upon which they proceed were so . for the sentence which some count pre-requisite , is not pretended to be damnatory , to condemn to the punishment , for that is already done by law ; but only ( as all agree ) declarative of the crime , that the crime may be evident , and who are guilty of it ; which is needless when it is evident and notorious before . others of them teach that hereticks may keep possession , and are ●ot to be deprived of it , before the sentence declarative of the crime . but though this latter seem more favourable , yet it is of little or no advantage to protestants , since those that have a mind to their forfeited estates , may soon procure such a sentence ; for an ordinary bishop , or other ecclesiastical person may pass it , as the law it y self declares . for example : corker the benedictine , lately arraigned , was ordered by the pope to be bishop of london ; if their plot had so far succeeded , that the popes orders had taken place , he might in his spiritual court have declared all the known protestants in london , and his whole diocess to be hereticks ; which done , all the nobles , citizens and others in his diocess , might have been turned immediately out of possession , and stript of all they had ; and this by law. the effects of this confiscation , wherein they all agree , make the severity of the law apparent ; and the forbearance of seizure before sentence of little consideration , if they thought themselves obliged not to seize such estates before . first , all the profits made of the estate from the first day of their guilt are to be refunded , if they be extant and found among their z goods , formally , or but so much as equivalently ; nay , some a will have them responsible for the mean profits , though they be consumed or spent , if so be they knew themselves to be obnoxious , when they spent them : or being spent , if the estate be any thing better on that account , they are still looked on as being extant , and the estate still lyable : and it is counted better , if the party be b richer , if he therewith bought any thing else , or made use thereof to pay his debts , or bought but necessaries to live on , and thereby spared his other revenues . secondly , all alienations by gift , sale , or otherwise , before sentence , are null and void ; and all contracts for that purpose rescinded ; in this , suarez saith , all their writers agree c unanimously ; and the exchequer of the pope or popish prince will recover all that hath been so disposed of by the hereticks to others where ever they be , or in whole possession soever they be found , or through how many hands soever they have passed ; this is the doctrine vniversally embraced by all their doctors of law , and all their divines , so understanding the text of their law , as d sanchez tells us . nay it is a sin e for him to fell any part of his goods or estate , without discovering to the purchaser his hazard , in buying what is by law confiscated . and in this case the purchase will be forced from him without restoring the price he paid for it , unless it be found among the hereticks goods , for which the same jesuit alledgeth above thirty f doctors . nor are those to whom the estate is escheated any way obliged , to pay any of the hereticks debts g , which were contracted since his heresie , and so his creditors ( not excepting roman catholicks ) may be lawfully ruined , as well as himself . thirdly , the children and heirs of hereticks are deprived of their portions . and though this seem hard in their own apprehensions , that they should be ruined and reduced to poverty for their parents fault ; yet what they suffer is not to be considered , because the child is not here punished by or in himself , but by accident , and in another . and this is all the satisfaction the best of them give in this pitiful case , suarez ibid. nor will their law admit that any commiseration of the innocent should be any impediment to the severity of the execution ; but provides against it in these words , neither shall this severe censure , for the disinheriting of orthodox children be any way hindred , by the pretence of compassion ; since in many cases by divine judgment , the children are temporally punished for their fathers ; and according to canonical sanctions , vengeance may be sometimes taken , not only upon the authors of wickedness , but their posterity , cap. vergentis , tit. de haereticis . but what if the children to whom the estate is left , be roman catholicks , are they to be thrust from an estate left them by their heretical parents ? this seems impolitick , since hereby no hopes are left to any for securing their estates by turning papists ; and not only so , but they confess it seems to be against piety , and in the 4 th synod of toledo there is a limitation for the security of such innocents ; but by the canon law in after-times that limitation was exploded , and the catholick descendents of hereticks excluded from having any advantage h by their confiscated estates . this is expressed in the text of their law , and more fully in an original epistle of pope innocent the third . suarez . ibid. pag. 775. but suppose the posterity of a protestant or his children , being still papists , have continued in the possession of the estates so left them for many years together ( forty or an hundred years ) , will not this create them a title ? since prescription may do it where there is no other right , and is allowed so to do both by civil and canon law ; and an hundred years is confessed to be sufficient for prescription i against the roman church in other cases ? no , an hundred years will not suffice in this case , if the possessors , or their fathers knew that he who left them the estate was an heretick , and if he was at any time suspected to be so while he lived ; or if he was reputed a catholick all his days ; yet if any time within 40 years after his decease , it appears he was an heretick , there is no place left for prescription : but then they will have the estate seised , in whose hands soever it be sound , and the k possessors thrust out , though they be roman catholicks . hereby it appears , that as soon as the papacy is admitted , all title and property is lost and extinct among us by the law which will then be in force , unless in those few families who never had a protestant proprietor ; nor are they secure as to any part of their estate , which ever belonged to hereticks : and therefore we must not think his holiness acted extravagantly , when he declared all his majesties territories to be his own as forfeited to the holy see for the heresie of prince and people : for herein he proceeded regularly , and according to that which they esteem the best law in the world. not only abbey lands are in danger , who ever possess them , but all estates are forfeited to his exchequer , and legally confiscated : all is his own which protestants in these three nations have , or ever had , if he can but meet with a prince so wise , as to help him to catch it . thus we see the process of their law against protestants must not end with their lives , but follow them many years beyond death and the grave ; and ruine their children , and childrens children , when they are gone : and when they have left a heretick nothing of his own to subsist on , it is provided also that he shall have no relief from others : for this is part of his penalty l that none shall receive him into their houses , nor afford him any help , nor shew him any favour , nor give him any counsel . we in england are zealous for property , and all the reason in the world we should be ; but we must bid adieu to this when we once come under the popes authority ; for as soon as this is admitted , all the protestants in these nations are beggars by law , by the laws of that church ( which will then be ours ) , divesting us of all propriety and title to what ever we count our own . thirdly , the last penalty i shall insist on , which their law will have inflicted on hereticks , is death . this is the sentence of the canon law. hereticks m are to be delivered to the secular power to undergo due punishment , and that is death , as appear by many papal bulls approving and receiving the civil laws , which have adjudged hereticks to death : for though those laws were originally intended , against such only which were hereticks indeed : yet since the roman church will have all protestants to be hereticks , they must suffer death by vertue thereof , how far soever they be from heresie . and the canon law further determines , that secular judges cannot remit the penalty , as appears by the text , cap. ut officium , and is more fully explained in the bull of vrban the 4th , and in another of innocent 4th . hereupon n zanardus takes it for granted , that all laws will have every heretick put to death ; and their angelical doctor o is positive , that hereticks , though they do not pervert others , may be justly killed by secular judges , and bereaved of all they have , rather than such as are guilty of high-treason . if there were need to cite particular doctors , suarez assures us , that it is the judgment of all their doctors , ita docent omnes doctores . but there is a constitution of paul p 4th , which may serve instead of all ; where to shew how impartial their decrees are in this case , having declared that with the unanimous consent of the cardinals , all poenal acts , canons , constitutions against hereticks , made by any popes , councils , or others , are by apostolical authority renewed and inforced ; he specifies persons of greatest eminency in church and state , viz. earls , barons , marquesses , dukes , kings , emperors , &c. and will have all these punishment inflicted on them , if they are , or shall hereafter be hereticks . particularly it is decreed , that they are therefore deprived wholly and perpetually of their baronies , marquesats , dukedoms , kingdoms , empires , and rendered uncapable hereof , so as they shall never be restored . and to make sure work , all of them , kings and emperours among the rest , shall be put to death q only if they recant , the holy see may shew them this clemency , as to thrust them into some monastery , there to do penance all their days with bread and water . this punishment they extend very far r for death is to be insticted , not only on the teachers of what they call heresie ; but on all who belive any doctrines opposite to what the romanists receive as matters of faith , though they draw none else thereto ; yea on all that believe any one point of such doctrine , though they reuounce all the rest ; for they agree , that one errour makes a heretick , though all besides that one be abjured . and on those also who abjure them all , if they do not likewise discover their complices ; and so betray all the protestants they know , to death . for such , though they do profess themselves to be papists , and conform to them in all things ; yet if they discover not others , and expose them to death , they are judged to be but s counterfeit catholicks , and not worthy to live . the death they will have us suffer , is burning alive ; no death more tolerable , or of less exquisite torture will satisfie the mercy of that church . for though they find no rule for this in the body of the civil law , yet they alledge some latter constitutions for it , and particularly that of frederick ( which the popes have made their own law ) in these words t decernimus ut vivi in conspectu hominum comburantur , we decree that they shall be burned alive in the sight of the world. the holy canons it is presumed are for it : the first statute of henry 4th in england , for the buring of hereticks , was enacted according to the holy canons . and if they had no other law for it , yet the use and custom of their church hath the sorce of a law ; and makes it as lawful and necessary for them to burn i rotestants , as it is to burn faggots when they are cold ; and that it is the custom of the church , they have the testimony of all nations round about us . we need go no further than our native countrey , where in the days of the last popish successor it is proved by near 300 witnesses , that their laws will have all sorts of us burnt alive , without regard of age , sex , or quality . and if we will not be satisfied that they may lawfully burn us , man , woman and child , unless we have scripture for it , they have it ready , john 15. 6. if any one abide not in me , men gather them , and cast them into the fire , and they are burned . alledged by divers of their prime u authors for this purpose ; which proves as plainly and infallibly that protestants must be burned , as — feed my sheep proves that the pope hath power to kill both king and people . the process against hereticks in the inquisition is remarkably merciful , for there a protestant shall not have the favour to be burnt at first x , and dye once ; but must suffer many deaths before , by enduring divers tortures more grievous than death , before he be brought to the fire . one that hath the spirit of a christian , and reads the account of the tortures there in use , would scarce think that any but the devils could be either the inventors or executioners of them . but pope paul the 4th would better inform him , who ascribes the setling of the inquisition in spain , to the inspiration of the holy ghost ; and there is no doubt but his successors would attribute it to the same inspiration , if they could get it setled in england . and they are highly concerned to endeavour it , if they believe the words of a dying pope . for y paul the 4th in a speech before his death ( and so before his infallibility expired ) declared to the cardinals , that the authority of the roman church depends only upon the office of the inquisition . and indeed it is very fit , that such an authority should have such a foundation . nor can any question that it is necessary and pious to exercise all the cruelties of the inquisition upon us , without shaking the whole foundation of the roman church , and all the authority of it . hereupon how are we concerned to look about us ? we ought to remember ( for they are not like to forget it ) , that as soon as ever the papal authority is admitted among us , all the protestants in these nations are dead men in law ; being under a law that hath sentenced us already to be burned alive , and under a power that hath declared it necessary that no one of us escape with life . but they are not yet quite ready for burning us , though they are impatient till they be so ; and shew what design they have upon our persons , by turning our houses and goods into flames . for this course they think not fit to take , how just and pious soever they est●em it , meerly because they cannot , or dare not till they have the law in their hands , and power to murder us by a judicial process . where protestants are numerous and potent , the way they then take for discharging the obligation that is upon them to destroy us , is by treacherous massacres , or open wars or assassinations . they hold it lawful to make war upon hereticks for their heresie . so z bonacina , diana , castro , molanus , and others : but cardinal allen a our countreyman may suffice , who asserts it to be not only lawful , but necessary to take arms against his prince and people , being hereticks . it is clear ( saith he ) that what people and persons soever , be declared to be opposite to gods church , with what obligation soever , either of kindred , friendship , loyalty , or subjection , i be bound unto them ; i may or rather must take arms against them . and then must we take them for far hereticks , when our lawful popes adjudge them so to be . not only soveraign princes and the pope , but a bishop may raise war for the faith , against those that are excommunicate , if they submit not : so hostiensis , and others b after him . they count it a more necessary and holy war which is levied for the destroying of hereticks , than the war against the turks . hence cardinal c pool in his address to charles the fifth , importunes him to turn his arms against the protestants , being more concerned to ruin them than the turks . they think the destroying of protestants by massacres , sometimes more advisable , for avoiding the hazards of a war ; and these how bloody and treacherous soever , will be both lawful and meritorious , being for the rooting out of a pestilent heresie , and the promoting of the roman interest . the barbarous irish never thought their hands and weapons better imployed than in butchering the protestants : and this not more from the savageness of their nature , than from the laws and doctrine wherein they have so much encouragement for such bloodiness . the least they could expect for it , was full pardon of all sin , such as is promised to those who make war against the turks , and for the recovery of the holy land. for several popes had thus rewarded the irish , for less bloody feats than these ; and thereby testified how meritorious it is , to shed the blood of english protestants d . charles the ninth , with the french papists , never acted any thing with more satisfaction to his holiness , than that tragedy in paris , and other cities , where so many thousand hugonots were most treacherously and inhumanely slaughtered . the pope would not have so great delight as he took therein to be transient , but that it might afford him a continued entertainment , would have it painted in his palace . and for this , triumphs were made by the papists almost every where , as a most glorious action . and that there might be a concurrence of the greatest impiety , with the greatest inhumanity , publick thanks must be returned to god , in france and italy , for the stabbing drowning , pistolling , and cutting the throats of so many thousands ; inticed thither by the solemnity of a marriage , with all the security that the promise and oath of a king could give them : but nothing is unlawful that will ruine the protestant religion . only in one thing these fell short ; for though near three hundred thousand were thus murdered in both nations , yet they kill'd not all ; whereas if they had not suffered one protestant in france or ireland to escape with life , the catholick design had been there perfectly accomplished , and the bloody actors had more highly merited ; for that merits most , which most promotes the catholick interest , which is most promoted when heresie and hereticks are quite extirpated ; and so to kill all hereticks , is most meritorious . this was it that our conspirators aimed at , they intended to leave no protestants alive ; those that escaped the massacre , should have been cut off by their army e and coleman saith , their design prospered so well , that he doubted not but in a little time , their business would be managed to the utter ruin of the protestant party , in his letter f to the internuncio . the effecting of this , with the consequence of it , was a thing so desirable , so meritorious , that if he had a sea g of blood , and a hundred lives , he would lose them all to carry on the design ; and if to effect this , it were necessary to destroy an hunderd heretical kings , he would do it . we must not imagine that it was a sin , with this man , to destroy an hundred kings , and an hundred kingdoms too , in such a cause ; a cause , no doubt , most glorious , and of transcendent merit in their account ; when one man might without profuseness , be at the expence of an hundred lives , and a sea of blood , to promone it . it is true by his expressions , he seems to be in some transport , and no wonder when he had so fair a prospect of the utter ruin of protestants by their present bloody design ; and speaks of their ruine as a thing certain , and not to be doubted of . sure this was a sight so fair , so transporting , as must needs ravish a good roman catholick out of his senses . but then how sensless must they be , who will not believe our utter ruine was designed , when such as best knew it , make no doubt , but it would in a little time , be certainly effected ? however we cannot think that they who make so little of killing an hundred kings , when they stand in the way of their catholick design , will stick at assassinating any particular subjects . when we hear papists say ( as divers such sayings have been of late observed ) that they would make no more to kill a protestant man , or child , than to kill a dog h we look upon them as wild expressions , which proceed rather from the wickedness of the persons than of their principles ; whereas indeed they have ground enough from the writings of their chief authors . one of their greatest divines proving that they may justly kill us , being hereticks , makes use of this argument among others , christ calls hereticks thieves and robbers ; but sure thieves and robbers are worthy of death ; also he calls them ravenous wolves , matth. 7. luke . 20 but wolves are not only to be driven from the flock , but also to be kill'd , if it be possible . so suarez i argues , and his argument seems less toletarable , than the other villanous expression , for it seems more meritorious to kill a wolf than a dog. cardinal * baronius tells the pope ( though his holiness might know so evident a truth before ) that peter had a double ministry , to feed , and to kill ; according to that text , feed my sheep : and according to that too , kill and eat : for , saith he , when the pope hath to do with refractory opposers , then peter is commanded to kill , and slay , and devour . much according to this cardinals doctrine is the saying of singlcton k the priest , that he would make no more to stah forty parliament men , than to eat his dinner . and who can discern b●t the priest ; expression is as agreeable to the cardinals comment , as that is to his text ? girald and kelly , the two priest ; that were chief in the murder of sir edmondbury godfrey , that they might draw mr. prance into that barbarous action , told him , l that it was no murder , no sin ( and girald said , nothing was to be made of killing twenty hereticks in such a case , ) that it was an act of charity , and a meritorious work . we may easily conceive , how they will have it to be an act of justice ; for they are taught , that the killing of hereticks justa est quia vindicativa ; and so withal , how it may be meritorious ; every act of vertue being so , by their doctrine : but how it can be an act of charity , is not so easie to discern . we shall hardly be perswaded , that to kill us , is an act of charity ; but if they will have it so , so it must be . and then who can deny but that papists are the most charitable persons under the cope of heaven , since they will not stick to murder millions of protestants ( all in these nations ) out of meer catholick charity ? vvhat need they more to stop the mouths of any , that will dare hereafter to accuse their church as uncharitable ? they may have two hundred thousand arguments from one topick , the massacre in ireland , to prove that none ever out of hell , were more emiuent for this vertue , no not the assassins themselves . the gunpowder-traytors were as much for the meritoriousness of murdering hereticks . john grant one of the principal conspirators , the day he was executed , being advised by a grave and learned person , to repent of that wicked enterprize ; he answered , that he was so far from counting it a sin ; that on the contrary he was confident , that noble design had so much of merit in it , as would be abundantly enough to make satisfaction for all the sins of his whole life , as m casaubon assures from good evidence . o the dreadful power of the spirit of delusion , which can perswade a man even when he is dying , that the most horrid and barbarous design that ever the devils helped any of their instrumants to contrive , is so transcendently both meritorious and satisfactory ! yet this is not a private spirit , but that by which the roman church seems generally inspired . this was but a more compendious way , of executing the laws of their church against protestants . and roman catholicks are left to devise what expedient they can , for the execution of them ; when they are not in a capacity of proceeding the ordinary way , by burning us . and that invention will have most of merit , which is most quick and extensive , and makes an end of most at once . the society is particularly under the conduct of that spirit ; for the provincial garnet , tesmond , gerard , and other jesuits did teach the conspirators this catholick doctrine n that the king , nobility , clergy and whole commonalty of the realm of england ( papists excepted ) were hereticks , and that all hereticks were accursed and excommunicate , and that no heretick could be a king ; but that it was lawful and meritorious to kill the king , and all other hereticks within this realm of england ; for the advancing and enlargement of the authority and jurisdiction of the bishop of rome , and for the restoring of the romish religion . what ? is it meritorious to kill all in the realm ? yes , the more the better , the greater the sacrifice , the greater will the value and merit of it be : they will prove it unanswerably by an argument from the less to the greater . if it be meritorious to kill one heretick , it will be as much more meritorious to kill all in a kingdom ; as all in a whole kingdom are more than one single person . thus the greater any wickedness is , the more powerful motive their church hath for its encouragement ; the more prodigiously bloody and inhumane it is , the more will the catholick merit of it advance . and the ground of this is observable , they will have it meritorious to murder this whole nation , king and people , because they were hereticks , and all hereticks are accursed and excommunicated . now king james and the people of these kingdoms were not at this time excommunicate expresly , nor so denounced , nor any such sentence against them published , as the jesuits acknowledged ; only they were included in the general excommunication , which is denounced by the pope against all hereticks every year the week before easter . so that all who are in their account hereticks , but one year , or but one day before m●undy thursday , are sufficiently accursed and excommunicated , to make them liable to be justly killed ; and to render any papist capable of meriting , by doing execution upon them . all the protestants in these nations may be meritoriously slaughtered , as soon as ever the papists have opportunity to do it , without expecting a warrant from any other sentence , or excommunication , than what we are continually under . this was the doctrine of our english jesuits , of garnet their superiour particularly , whom the papists here honoured as a pope , and paid him the veneration due to his holiness , by kissing his feet , and reverenced his judgment as an oracle ; and since his death he hath the honours of a martyr . and if he and his associates be counted martyrs , for but designing to destroy the protestants of these realms , though they miscarried ; what would their successors be thought worthy of , if they could attempt it successfully , and do effectual execution ? garnet further declared it to be his judgment , that it was so necessary to have protestants destroyed ; that it would be meritorious to attempt it , even in such a way , as would ruine many catholicks with them . catesby ( with respect to the powder-plot , whereby many roman catholicks , and some of considerable quality , were like to be blown up together with the protestants ) inquires of their oracle , * whether it was lawful to ruine the guilty and the innocent together ? garnet first answers in a private house , that it is lawful , if so much advantage can be gained by it , as will countervail the destruction of the innocent . afterwards he tells them in the fields , that they may lawfully extinguish the good and bad together , and that it would be an act of great merit , if it would much promote the catholick interest . upon this account we see how it might be meritorious to burn london , though the houses and goods of many papists were consumed in the flames ; yea , and how the most desperate villains amongst them might merit heaven , and expiate all the crimes of a most flagitious life , if he could but fire the whole kingdom : provided so many protestants were thereby ruined , as would countervail the loss of such catholicks , who could not escape the common flames . whereby we see their principles and actings , both of them are grounded upon their church-laws , sentencing hereticks to death and ruine . the executing of these laws is the exercise of a principal vertue , an act of justice , and is upon this and other accounts esteemed meritorious . execution must be done one way or other in order to it ; they must and will do , what our present circumstances leave feasible . they cannot now in a bishops court try and condemn us , and then deliver us to the secular power to be burnt at a stake ; but they can stab , or pistol , or poyson us , or blow us up ; and these are acts of justice upon malefactors , which their laws condemn to death , no less vertuous and meritorious than the other ; perhaps heroical in their account , as being of more then an ordinary strain . it is true , they want some formalities of law , yet are never the worse for the want of that , which they cannot possibly have . but men once they have secured the throne , we may expect they will proceed against us with more observance of a judicial process , and burn us and our children with all punctilio's of law , as they did under the last popish successor . but it is not probable that under such a successor these laws may not be executed . if there were any probability , that for a while they might not be throughly executed , yet our condition in the interim would scarce be tolerable to an english-man ; to be devested of all security by law , for liberty , estate and life ; and to hold these without , nay against law , only at the will and known mercy of papists ; even when they must count it a cruelty to themselves to spare us , seeing both their salvation and ( which seems generally more minded ) their interest is concerned in the execution of these laws . it seems highly probable to me that all endeavours will be used to have them fully executed ; for the design of these laws is to destroy protestants . and those romanists that understand their concerns , do make account , that their main interest lyes in this ; for neither can they recover their former flourish and greatness , nor can they indeed think themselves safe , till this be done , accordingly we may observe , that in all countreys round about us , who have been under popish princes , all attempts have been made , and their utmost endeavours used utterly to root out protestants . and it is meer folly to expect that we should fare better in like circumstances . even in france the only instance alledged , to give any hopes that protestants may subsist under such a power , the design of these laws was vigorously pursued , in all methods of pretended justice , and plain violence , in the reigns of five kings successively ; by confiscations and plunderings , by fire and sword , by assassinations , treacherous massacres , and open war. so that some hundred thousands of them were destroyed , and in all reason none of them had escaped , nor any more hugonots had been left in france , than there are in spain and italy ; if they had not stood upon their defence , which yet proved a lamentable expedient ; for if we will believe father parsons o two millions on both sides were slain within the compass of ten years in the reign of one of those five kings . those who would have us reduced to such a condition , wherein we cannot otherwise be secured than the french protestants were , would either have us prostitute our religion , and all that is dear to us to the will of the papists , or else expose the nation to desolation and ruine . our conspirators have declared that they had the very same design which those gracious laws engage them in , viz. the utter extirpation of protestants and their religion , and were resolved and prepared to pursue it with fire and sword. of the former they have given us a real demonstration by the flames we have already seen ; and of the latter by their army to be commanded by officers of the popes appointment . they were to begin with assassinations , and our soveraign was to fall with the first . in this all that have given any evidence , exactly agree , and all see , but those that will be blind , and would have his majesty for company perish with his eyes shut . when they had dispatched the king , a massacre was to follow , as is positively sworn again and again by unexceptionable p witness , and this signified to be the method advised , by the conspirators both in france , flanders , and england ; then to make clear work , those protestants that escaped the massacre , were to be destroyed by their army . coleman at his tryal would have us believe , that nothing was intended but the advance of popery , by the innocent way of toleration ; that is no wonder , for he was then concerned , if ever , to disguise their design . but when he hath to do with those who were conscious to the plot , and with pleasure could see the bottom of it ; then the mask is off , then it is in plain terms the subduing of a pestilent heresie ( for so is the true christian religion in the roman stile now-a-days ) and the utter ruine of the protestant party . to accomplish such a glorious design , there must be no sticking ( as was observed before ) to kill an hundred heretical kings , ( alas ! one single king was nothing to the dagger of such a hero ) or to shed a sea of blood ( their own he means . ) how many seas of protestant blood do we think might have satisfied such harmless catholicks ? not an hundred we may be sure , if all the protestants in the world could have bled more . but this they were bound in conscience to execute the popes laws , they were at all points ready to do it , they wanted nothing but only a catholick prince in the throne . o but the temper , or at least the interest of such a prince would oblige him to forbid or restrain such violent executions in england . i , but what if his tempter be such as to comply with such violent proceedings ; or his temper being better , what if it be over-ruled ? what if he be perswaded as other catholicks are , that he must in conscience proceed thus ? what if he cannot do otherwise , without apparent hazard of his crown or life ? the contrivement is such , that execution shall be done before he hath got the reins of government into his hand ; and when he hath them , he is not to hold them alone , he will not be allowed to be much more than the popes postillion , and must look to be dismounted if he drive not according to order . let these things be weighed , that we may see before it be too late into what circumstances we are running . if the prince be zealous and resolute , a bigot in their way ; if his heat in embracing religion at first , or promoting it afterward , transport him beyond the sense of his interest ; if it make him contemn such reason , or decline that consideration that should have withheld him from it , or might moderate him in it ; if he make it his design , and count it his glory , to subdue this religion as a pestilent heresie ; if he give up himself to the counsels and conduct of such , whose words and practices make it evident , that they intend extremities ; then there is a violent presumption , that he will not study any abatement of the rigour of these ruining laws , after once he thinks himself firmly setled . but if ( as i had rather suppose ) his inclination should lead him to some indulgence and forbearance , yet that must be controuled by conscience , and conscience must dictate what they suggest , who have the conduct of it ; and it will be readily suggested , that it is a deadly crime to favour hereticks to the prejudice of the catholick interest , which can never be more effectually advanced than by their ruine . besides , the law q it self assures us , that it is not in the power of any civil magistrate to remit the penalty , or abate the rigour thereof ; and this also is declared by the bulls r of several popes . nay if the prince should solemnly engage his faith , and give as much security as papists can give by oath , that he would not suffer sanguinary laws to be executed upon his dissenting subjects , this would signify nothing : for they would soon let him understand , that contracts made against the canon i aware invalid , though confirmed by oath , as p. a st. l joseph . and that he is not bound to stand to his promise , for the liberty of religion , though he hath sworn to it , as bonacina ; ſ and that faith is no more to be kept with hereticks , than the general council of constance would have it . so that protestants are to be burnt , as john hus and jerom of prague were by that council ; though a prince hath given his faith and oath for their safety . the best that is pleaded in defence of that general council so openly canonizing perfidiousness , leaves protestants as much exposed , after all the security the prince can give , as if none at all were given them the emperours engagement , say they , secured them against secular process , but not against the process of the church . so that the church may burn us , when the prince hath engaged all his faith for our safety . and to this purpose it is observable what becanus u an eminent jesuit delivers when he is endeavouring to vindicate their council . the council of constance , saith he , decreed these two things : first , that the secular power can no way hinder the ecclesiastical power from its legal exercise , and therefore if any secular prince do give safe conduct to any heretick , this ought not to hinder the ecclesiastical judg from exercising his office , that is from trying an heretick , and proceeding against him according to evidence . the reason is , because when there are two princes who have distinct judicatures and tribunals , one of which is greater and superiour to the other ; the inferiour may not hinder the superiour , from executing his jurisdictions . and therefore the security which he promiseth to any , extends not to the tribunal of the superiour prince , because the superiour is not bound by the laws and agreement of the inferiour , ( caput , cum inferior extra . ) but now the secular and ecclesiastical prince have distinct tribunals ( as is well known , ) and the ecclesiastical is superiour ( cap. solita : ) therefore the secular , when he gives safe conduct to any , he cannot extend it to the ecclesiastical tribunal ; nor by the security given , can hinder the jurisidiction of the ecclesiastical judg , &c. molgnus x also , who undertakes to excuse this council , saith , it is a general rule with the romanists , that faith is either never to be given , or never to be kept with hereticks , for the exercise of their religion . simanca y by the authority of the council , maintains this worthy principle , that faith engaged to hereticks , though confirmed by oath , is in no wise to be performed . he would prove it by reason : for ( saith he ) if faith be not to be kept with tyrants , and pirates and other robbers , who kill the body ; much less is it to be kept with hereticks , who kill souls ; he confirms it with the testimonies of salomonius , and menochius , placa , &c. and of their z angelical doctor , the oracle of their schools , who saith , an unteachable heretick is to be betrayed to justice , notwithstanding faith and oath . becanus a to vindicate the doctrine of simanca , tells us , that they all say as much as he hath said . simanca teaches the same that we teach , viz. that faith is to be kept with hereticks in what is lawful and honest : but in no case otherwise , and so never in case of heresie . so that the faith of any prince however engaged , is so far from giving an heretick any security ; as heresie is far from being a thing lawful and honest . upon these principles ( by which it appears that rome hath changed faith with carthage , that being now worse than fides punica ; and is when she would be counted christian , far more faithless than when pagan ) their doctors , jesuits , and others , have instigated kings to endeavour seriously the rooting out of hereticks ; asserting , that an oath in favour of hereticks , is but vinculum iniquitatis . in fine , this is the sense of their best authors , and we must believe it to be so , unless we will be deluded . by their laws and principles they are always under an obligation utterly to exterminate protestants ; yet sometimes they are concerned in point of interest , to forbear and dissemble ; pretending to engage their faith when they do it not in the sense of those who relye on it , as the council of constance deluded jerome of prague , that they might ( as they did ) burn him : or engaging their faith when they intend not to keep it , as our queen mary , charles the 9th of france , and other popish princes , abused the protestants to make them secure , that they might have the better advantage to ruine them ; and then that they may seem real , they may promise or swear that they will not proceed against us ; yet notwithstanding when they have an opportunity to destroy us , though they were bound by ten thousand oaths not to attempt it ; yet they sin damnably if they endeavour it not to the utmost . but if there were neither law nor conscience to hinder , yet in point of interest , he must not shew favour to hereticks , nor grant any indulgence for their religion , he cannot do it without apparent hazard both of crown and life . for by shewing such favour , he in their account deposeth himself , and immediately loseth title to his kingdoms . an emperour or a king , saith parsons b , if he shew favour to an heretick , for that he loseth his kingdom . the jesuits have sufficient grounds for this doctrine , how extravagant soever it seems . for the council of lateran , which bellarmine calls their greatest and most famous council , decreeth c , that if a prince upon a years warning , doth not exterminate hereticks ; his subjects are discharged from allegiance , and his dominions are to be seized on by other catholicks : he thereby draws upon himself the curse and excommunication of the church , he is excommunicate by law , that council hath passed sentence already , and he is de facto anathematized yearly by the bull of the supper ; the former is excommunicatio juris , by the law : and this is excommunicatio hominis , by the judg , as several of their d doctors will have it . so that it takes effect presently , ipso facto , and is of no less force than if the person concerned were excommunicated particularly , and by name , though the terms be general . the pope every year doth solemnly excommunicate and curse , not only all hereticks , but every favourer and defender of them , and from this sentence , none can absolve any but the pope himself , for it is a reserved case ; and they generally declare him to be a favourer of hereticks , who hinders the execution of the laws made against them . conformably hereto their doctors teach , that kings and princes when they are negligent , in rooting out hereticks ; they are to be excommunicated , and deposed by the pope . so becamus e . another as i find him f cited , sets it out more elegantly in a metaphor , making princes to be the popes , their shepherds dogs ( as they are wont to do out of great reverence ) and expresseth himself significantly to this purpose . if a prince be a dull cur , and fly not upon hereticks , he is to be beaten out , and a keener dog must be got in his stead . others g tell us , he incurrs more grievous penalties than excommunication , as appears by the breves of several popes ; though to be deprived of kingdom and life , to which this sentence makes a prince lyable , one would think sufficiently grievous . but there is no need to cite particular doctors , seeing by the decrees h of that church the fautors of hereticks , are lyable to the penalties which are to be inflicted on hereticks themselves : and their church-law i determines again and again , that they are to be taken for fautors of hereticks , wh● omit what they ought to do , for the punishing of hereticks , that they may cease from their errour : and in this they all agree , ita docent omnes , saith suarez k . sure he must have more love for protestants , than any true papist can have , who will run such hazards , to shew them favour . he must expect also to be burdened with the hatred of zealous chatholicks , and the effects thereof . they detest such a prince , and damn that political prudence , which forbears the severe execution of the laws against hereticks ; as being the way not only to ruine the church , but subvert a kingdom l they count none worthy the crown , who will not go through stitch with their design , for extirpating hereticks , and promoting the roman interest with fire and sword . nay they count such , though they be papists , as bad as hereticks , worse than turks , and unworthy to live ; they will have a price set on their heads , and assassinates hired to rid the world of them . so doctor stapleton , m counted one of their greatest and most sober divines . and these are not only points for speculation , they have been reduced to practice among those who have the repute of the most moderate papists in europe . henry 3d. and 4th two kings of france were assassinated on this account . a suspicion that they favoured protestants , was the great inducement to zealous catholicks to get them stab'd . the two kings since indeed have escaped better ; no wonder , for they never provoked the catholick assassinating spirit : they have given sufficient demonstration that they hate the protestants ; for though they kill them not out-right , yet have they reduced them to such circumstances , that their mortal enemies may to their satisfaction , see them dye a lingering death . and which more concernsus , the conspirators in all places having declared expresly , that if ro. h. do not answer their expectation , for rooting out of the protestant religion , and extirpating those that profess it : their design n is to destroy him after they have killed his brother . so that whatsoever respect they have for him on the account of his religion , yet after they have served their turn on him a while ; he must expect nothing but death , unless he will give assurance that he will ruine the protestants of these nations . hereby we may judge , what favour we may in reason promise our selves , from the temper or interest of a popish successor . but may not parliaments secure us by laws and provisions restraining the powers which endanger us ? there is nothing of this tendency can in reason be expected from parliaments , without securing the throne . for if the conspirators once gain that , it may be they will have no parliaments ; a government more arbitrary and violent is more agreeable to their principles and designs . it is apparent that popery , as it hath been by many occasions sublimated since the reformation , hath in a manner quite stifled the english spirit in english papists . they are for another government , in which the pope must be supreme , and to which our kings must be subjected or kill'd . and in civils , they are for an vniversal monarchy , by which this and others must be swallowed up ; and so they are still ready to devote themselves to that prince who bids fairest for it . so they did to the spaniard in queen elizabeths time , and now upon that account are wheeled off to the french : they have been forward upon all occasions , to sacrifice the honour of the king , and the liberty of the subject to the roman moloch ; they are much more his subjects than the kings ; and they are no more to be trusted as to the true english interest , than the italians or spaniards . they pass for natives indeed , being born among us ; but are plainly foreigners as to government , principle , interest , affection and design . we may well believe on these accounts they are no friends to parliaments , if they did not otherwise openly declare it . but if the necessity of their affairs should require a parliament , there is no great question but they may get such a one as will serve their turn : for so hath every of our former princes in all the changes of religion that have been amongst us . so did henry the 8th , both when he was for popery ; and when he was against it , and when he was partly both for it , and against it . so did edward the 6th . when he was wholly protestant . so did queen mary , when she was for burning them alive . so did queen elizabeth , when she run counter to her sister . there are english-papists enough already to furnish both houses ; and there will be more , if popery were once enthron'd . the strongest arguments which divers have for their religion , are drawn from the throne . the indifferency which is visible in too many , signifies that they will be determined by their interest , and their estates are like to out-weigh their religion . the warping of divers upon advancement , and acting counter to themselves when lower ; shews , there is something higher in their hearts , then that which should be supreme . the little concern they shew for religion , who in regard of their station in the church , should have the greatest zeal for it , disappointing and astonishing those who esteemed them protestants , and great supports of that profession . the little sense of any danger ( when our religion was never in such extreme hazard , since we and our fathers were born , ) the obstructing in one or both houses , of all that is offered to secure us , or hath the most probable tendency to it , by those from whom it was least expected . those greater heats against true protestants ( differing from us in some small things , ) than against papists ; when represented by this horrid plot in their own colours ; shews , that popery is no such formidable thing to many , now under another profession ; as it is , and will be to hearty protestants , and such as have effectually received the love of the truth . however by the laws which will be in force , when the throne is papal ; all protestants must be excluded from both houses . for all these must then pass under the notion of hereticks , and as such , not only by the constitutions of several popes , but by the decree o of a general council , received as obliging in popish countreys ; they are made uncapable of being admitted to any publick counsels , or of chusing any to sit there . this is but a branch , of one of the last penalties we must then lye under ; and thus all hopes of any relief by parliaments , under such a successor , are quite blasted . as for laws such as are , or may be made before-hand for restraining popery , and securing our religion under a popish soveraignty ; they will then be judged nullities , for they are no laws which are against the common good ; but these will be counted mischievous acts , of a pernicious nature and tendency ; being for the support of heresie , against their catholick interest . they will be null and void also , without any formal repeal , upon another account , viz. because enacted by an incompetent authority : for our parliaments are now , and have been long constituted of such as they count hereticks ; and these by the decrees and principles of their church have no p jurisdiction at all , much less that which is soveraign and legislative . they have no right to proceed in judgment upon laws duly made , so far are they from all just power to make any . and whereas no laws can be made in these realms without the concurrence of every of the three states in parliaments , they will not own any of them to be in a capacity to concur therein . the king being an heretick , is with them no king , he is devested of all prerogatives and royalties ; hath no power to call parliaments , or pass any bills there tendred ; he is no better with them then a private person , nay in a worse capacity than a good subject ; for by their principles he may lawfully be killed by a private hand . the nobles being hereticks , their blood is tainted by the highest treason , the attainder good in law , ( that law which will then be of most soveraign obligation ; ) they have lost all priviledge of peers , they have no titles to baronies , no rights to be summoned by writ , if there were any that had right to summon them . they have forfeited what they had by descent , though from popish ancestors ; and what they had by patent , is null and void . since our princes were protestants , they are no more lords , in the sense of the romish laws , nor have more right to sit as peers in making laws , than laws of jack straws creating . this is manifest by the first penaltie forementioned , and awarded against hereticks by the laws of the roman church ; which takes effect from the first day of their supposed heresie , before sentence of any judge . the commons being hereticks are no proprietors , and so have no power , no priviledge doe to the commons of england , they are born to no estates , if they be the issue of protestants ; the estates of their fathers being confiscated before they were born , and so is all they have acquired since by purchase , or otherwise . so that they have no right to be chosen , nor have protestants any right to chuse them , being no freeholders , nor having title to any goods or lands , by any tenure whatsoever . in short , by the judgment and sentence of their church , all ranks among us are in a state of vsurpation , we have no right to estate or life ( as we are like to find when they have power ; ) much less any authority to make laws : what our parliaments have enacted , or may do , for the securing of our religion , or restraint of catholicks ; is no more valid , no more obliging with them , than the acts or ordinances of meer usurpers , nor do they owe , nor will they pay them more observance ( when time serves ) than to the constitutions of so many thieves and robbers . but suppose our laws were valid , and enacted by a competent authority , yet being against the laws of the church , the soveraign authority of these will supersede the other : for so they determine , that when the canon and the civil laws clash , one requiring what the other allows not ; the church-law must have observance , and that of the state be neglected . their law q provides for its preeminence , in these words , constitutions against the canons and decreet of the roman bishops are of no moment . their best authors r are positive in it , and our own countrey affords us instances of it . the statutes of provisoes , and others of like nature , made in the reigns of edward the first , edward the third , richard the second , and henry the fourth , for the relief of the nation against papal incroachments : they were defeated by the popes authority , and in effect repealed , there being no effectual execution of them till henry the eighth's time . and if the pope ( the throne being once at his devotion ) should appear against any statutes or provisions made for our security , as pope martin s the fifth did against the statutes of edward the third , and edward the second , that would be enough to null them as to the consciences of roman catholicks ; or to lay them asleep , and render them ineffectual to the purposes they are designed for . we may see hereby what laws made now , for our security will signifie , when such a successor is in possession . upon the whole , our danger as to all our concerns , civil and religious , is very apparent , and looks upon us with such a terrible aspect , as scarce any true protestant can fully view it without horrour and trembling . our estates , lives , and souls are in extreme hazard , and what have we more ? that which will not secure us is discernable by the premises ; what expedient may be effectual to rescue us and our postery , who with us and all that is dear to both , are now in the very jaws of destruction , is humbly lest to the wisdom of the nation in parliament . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a33356-e90 a caput , vergentis , de hareticu . by the law of their church , sic omnes apostolicae sedis sanctiones accipiendae sunt tanquam ipsius divini petri voce sirmatae sint , distinct . 19. cap. 2. all the constitutions of the roman see must be received , as if they were made firm by st. peters own mouth . and it is enacted by a general doeree ( generali decreto constitutmus ) , that whatsoever king , bishop , or noble-man , shall believe that the decrees of the roman bishops may be , or shall suffer them to be violated in any thing , be accursed , ( execrandum anathema fit ) and shall for ever remain guilty before god , as a betrayer of the catholick faith. gans , 25. q. 1. cap. 11. b 7 decretal . lib. 5. tit. 3. de hareticis . c caput infames 6. q. 1. cap. alieni . 2. q. 7. cap. excommunicamus 1. sect. credentes . de haereticis . cap. statum de baret . in 6. d de fide. disp . 21. sect. 5. n. 3. e suarez ibid. diana . sum. v. baeret . n. 9. pet. st. joseph in 1. deca●● p. 39. tho. sanchez . op . moral . lib. 2. n. 12. f suarez . ibid. num. 〈◊〉 g con. lateran . sub innocent . 3. in crab . tom. 2. concil . p. 948. h regul . juris 87. in 6. i de haereticis cap. ut commiss . in 6. k faber teraquillus , cantera , otalora in sanchez . ibid. l. 2. c. 29. n. 1. l cap. 2. sect. haeretic . de baereticis in 6. m aquinas , soto , castor , azor , simanca , & suarez , ibid. disp 21. sect . 5. num . 12. by the constitution of gregory 9 , an heretick is deprived of all jurisdiction , whether natural , civil , or politick . simanca instit . tit . 46. sect . 74. juxta constitutiones gregorii 9 , &c. n cap. final . de haretecis . o azon . instit . moral . tom. 1. l. 8. c. 12. q 7. penna , molina & sanchez . ibid c 24. m , 10. 11. p cap. 2. sed . final . de haereticis in 6. q bonacina de obligatione denunciandi , disp , 4. p. 2. n. 3. it a farinacius , azorius & alii ferè communiter . idex aliis sum. pontisicum constitutionibus probat penna . ibid. * 7 decret . de heretic . c. 3. r cap. cum secundum leges , de har●ticis in 6. s suarez . ibid. disp . 22. sed. 1. n. 2. t cap. vergentes , vers . cum enim . de haercticis . cum longè sit gravius , aeternum quàm temporalem laedere majestatem . u ibid. sect . 3. n. 1. x ibid. cap. 22. n. 2. * quast . theol. lib. 1. q. 36. p. 290. y de haereticis . cap. cum secundum legis . in 6. z suarez , de fide. disp . 22. sect . 4 n. 11. sanchez ubi supra , c. 21. n. ult . a simancha , vasquez in suarez , ibid. n 11 , 12. b idem ibid. sect . 4. n. 9. c ibid. sect . 1. num . 5. in hoc offectu concors est sententia omnium scribentium . d ibid. lib. 22. num. 33. e idem . ibid. n. 61. f ibid. n. 68. g ibid. n. 76. h cap. vergentis . de haereticis . i menochius & alii in diana . sum. v. praescrip . n. 2. k sanchez . l. 2. c. 22. n. 41. l zanardus , director . pars 2. p. pag. 126. m cap. ad abolendum . de haereticis . vide suarez ubi supra . disp . 23. sect . 2. n. 1. & 3. n direct . pars 2da . pag. 754. o 2. 2dae . q. 10. art. 8 corp. p 7 decretal . l. 5. tit . 3. cap. 9. q saecularis relinquantur arbitrio potesatis , animadversione debita puniendi . which expression they thus explain , debita nimirum secundum jura civilia quae est paena mortis . so suarez ibid. disp . 23. sect. 2. n. 3. r idem ibid. sect. 2. n. 5. 6. s quia est occulator hareticorum — & ideo meritò judicatur fistè co●●ersus . ibid. sect , 6. t de hereticis . 7 decretal . sect. inconsutilem . u jac. de grass . decis . l. 2. cap. 9. n. 2. suarez ubi supra . n. 4. x zanardus , director . 2 da pars . pag. 755. y onufrius , vita pauli 4. z de restitut . disp . 2. q. ult . sect . 2. n. 7. sum. v. bellum . n. 5. theol. pract. tr. 2. c. 13. n. 3. a admonition to nobility and people , p. 41. b vid. silvest . v. bellum . c lib. de unione ecclesiastica ad sinem . and this was he who made it his business in so many courts to form a league against england ( having renounced the popes supremacy ) ; perswading the popish princes , that it was more necessary and meritorious than a war against the turks . d see the brieves of greg. 13. anno 1580. and clement 8. 1600 , e dugdales deposition at the tryal of the five jesuits , p. 25. f in colemans tryal , p. 78. g ibid. pag. 43 77. h bradshaw in prances narrative , page 23. giffard in hist . plot. pag. 213. i de fide. disp . 23. se●l . 1. n. 3. zanard . ibid. cap. 7. pag. 119. * epil . contra venetas . k prances narrative , pag. 4. l ibid page 10. m epist . fron. duc . page 189. n gunpowder . treason . pag. 74. * ●●●●●bon ibid. p. 184. o mitigati●● , page 130. p 〈…〉 of the five jesuits , page 25. q cap. ut officium . r 〈…〉 l de primo praecepto . p. 94. ſ 〈…〉 praecept . di● . 3. q. 2. pu●●l 8. prop. 3. n. 159. u manual . l. cap. 15. n. 15 , 16. x de fide . l. 3. c. 27. y cathol . instit . tit. 46. n. 52. z sum. 2 da 2 dae , q. 70. art. 1. a manual . l. 5. c. 15. n. 25. b philopat . p. 109. c cap. excommunicamus , de haereticis sect. moneantur . d graff . decis . l. 4. c. 11. n. 6. becanus de fide. c. 15. q. 8. n. 6. soto 4. distinct . 25. q. 1. art. 1. citing two texts of their law for it . cap. sicut de haereticis , & cap. siquis forte . 24. q. 1. e controvers . anglican . p. 131 , 132. f in foulis . pag. 60. g zanard . direct . pars. 2. pag. 61. h cap. excommunicamus , de haereticis . i cap. error 83. distinct . & . cap. qui alius , de haereticis . k de fide. disp , 24. sect. 1. n. 6. l ribadeneira de principe , l. 1. cap 15. m orat. contra politicos , p. 15. & 24. in hospin . histor . jesuit . l. 4. c. 11 sect . 2. n dr. oats narrative , pag. 4. n. 5. p. 3. n. 4. p. 8. n. 13 p. 10. n. 16. p. 15. n. 13. p. 10. n. 29. p. 39. p. 64. n. 6. o cap. excommunicamus sect. credentes . tit. de haereti●i● . p jurta constitutiones greg. 9. haereticus privatur omni dominio naturali , civili , politico . simanca instit . cathol . tit. 46. n. 74. q 〈…〉 r victoria relect . pag. navar. manual . c. 7. n. 1. fumus v. lex . n. 7. b●nacina . tom. 2. disp . 1. q. 1. punet . 4. n. 17. diana . sum. v. in puisitor . n. 10. after barbosa and others . s barnet hist . reformation , page 110. the french king's decree against protestants, prohibiting them the exercise of their religion, &c. to which is added a brief and true account of the cruel persecution and inhumane oppressions of those of the reformed religion to make them abjure and apostatize : together with the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to, and a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburgh ... : also a letter from father la chese ... to father petre ... / newly translated from the french. edit de révocation de l'edit de nantes. english france. 1689 approx. 105 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49221 wing l3117 estc r2440 13659918 ocm 13659918 101092 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. a49221) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101092) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 794:4) the french king's decree against protestants, prohibiting them the exercise of their religion, &c. to which is added a brief and true account of the cruel persecution and inhumane oppressions of those of the reformed religion to make them abjure and apostatize : together with the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to, and a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburgh ... : also a letter from father la chese ... to father petre ... / newly translated from the french. edit de révocation de l'edit de nantes. english france. friedrich wilhelm, elector of brandenburg, 1620-1688. la chaise, françois d'aix de, 1624-1709. louis xiv, king of france, 1638-1715. 40 p. printed for the author and sold by the booksellers of london and westminster, london : 1689. revocation of the edict of nantes, dated october 22, 1685. 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 henry -iv, -king of france, 1553-1610. france. -edit de nantes. protestants -france -early works to 1800. freedom of religion -france -early works to 1800. 2006-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 apex covantage 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 the french king's decree against protestants , prohibiting them the exercise of their religion , &c. to which is added a brief and true account of the cruel persecvtion and inhumane oppressions of those of the reformed religion , to make them abjure and apostatize . together with the form of abjuration the revolting protestants are to subscribe and swear to . and a declaration of his electoral highness of brandenburgh in favour of those of the reformed religion , who shall think fit to settle themselves in any of his dominions . also a letter from father la chese , confessor to the french king , to father petre , jesuit and great almoner to the king of england , upon the method or rule he must observe with his majesty , for the conversion of his protestant subjects in england , &c. newly translated from the french. licensed , january 18. 1688 / 9. london , printed for the author , and sold by the booksellers of london and westminster , 1689. a decree of the king , prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom , wherein he recalls and totally annuls the perpetual and irrevocable edict of king henry iv , his grandfather , given at nantes , full of most gracious concessions to protestants . lewes , by the grace of god , king of france and of navarre , to all present and to come , greeting . king henry the great , our grand-father of glorious memory , desiring to prevent , that the peace which he had procured for his subjects , after the great losses they had sustained , by the long continuance of civil and foreign wars , might not be disturbed by occasion of the pretended reformed religion , as it had been during the reign of the kings , his predecessors ; had , by his edict given at nantes , in the month of april , 1598. regulated the conduct which was to be observed , with respect to those of the said religion , the places where they might publickly exercise the same , appointed extraordinary judges to administer justice to them : and lastly , also by several distinct articles , provided for every thing , which he judged needful for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in his kingdom , and to diminish the aversion which was between those of the one and other religion : and this , to the end that he might be in a better condition for the taking some effectual course ( which he was resolved to do ) to re-unite those again to the church , who upon so slight occasions had withdrawn themselves from it . and forasmuch as this intention of the king , our said grand-father , could not be effected , by reason of his sudden and precipitated death ; and that the execution of the foresaid edict was interrupted during the minority of the late king , our most honored lord and father , of glorious memory , by reason of some new enterprizes of those of the pretended reformed religion , whereby they gave occasion for their being deprived of several advantages , which had been granted to them , by the aforesaid edict : notwithstanding , the king , our said late lord and father , according to his wonted clemency , granted them another edict at nismes , in the month of july , 1629 by means of which the peace and quiet of the kingdom being now again re established , the said late king , being animated with the same spirit and zeal for religion , as the king our said grand-father was , resolved to make good use of this tranquility , by endeavouring to put this pious design in execution : but wars abroad , coming on a few years after , so that from the year 1635. to the truce which was concluded with the princes of europe , in 1684. the kingdom having been only for some short intervals altogether free from troubles , it was not possible to do any other thing for the advantage of religion , save only to diminish the number of places permitted for the exercise of the pretended reformed religion , as well by the interdiction of those which were found erected , in prejudice to the disposal made in the said edict , as by suppressing the mixt chambers of judicature , which were composed of an equal number of papists and protestants ; the erecting of which was only done by provision , and to serve the present exigency . whereas therefore , at length , it hath pleased god to grant , that our subjects enjoying a perfect peace , and we our selves being no longer taken up with the cares of protecting them against our enemies , are now in a condition to make good use of the said truce , which we have on purpose facilitated , in order to the applying our selves entirely to the searching out of means , which might successfully effect and accomplish the design of the kings , our said grand-father and father , and which also hath been * our intention ever since we came to the crown ; we see at present , ( not without a just acknowledgment of what we owe to god on that account ) that our endeavours have attained the end we propos'd to our selves for as much as the greater and better part of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , have already embraced the catholick ; and since by means thereof the execution of the edict of nantes , and of all other ordinances in favour of the said pretended reformed religion , is become useless , we judge that we can do nothing better towards the entire effacing of the memory of those troubles confusions , and mischief , which the progress of that false religion have been the cause of in our kingdom , and which have given occasion to the said edict , and to so many other edicts and declarations which went before it , or were made since with reference thereto , than by a total revocation of the said edict of nantes , and the particular articles and concessions granted therein , and whatsoever else hath been enacted since , in favour of the said religion . i. we make known , that we , for these and other reasons usthereto moving , and of our certain knowledge , full power and authority royal , have by the present perpetual and irrevocable edict , suppressed and annulled , do suppress and annul the edict of the king , our said grand-father , given at nantes , in april 1598. in its whole extent , together with the particular articles ratified may 2. next following , and letters patent granted thereupon ; as likewise the edict given at nismes , in july 1629. declaring them null and void , as if they had never been enacted ; together with all the concessions granted in them , as well as other declarations , edicts and arrests , to those of the pretended reformed religion , of what nature soever they may be , which shall all continue as if they never had been . and in pursuance hereof , we will , and it is our pleasure , that all the churches of those of the pretended reformed religion , scituate in our kingdom , countries , lands , and dominions belonging to us , be forth with demolish'd . ii. we forbid our subjects of the pretended reformed religion , to assemble themselves , for time to come , in order to the exercise of their religion in any place or house , under what pretext soever , whether the said places have been granted by the crown , or permitted by the judges of particular places ; any arrests of our council , for authorizing and establishing of the said places for exercise , notwithstanding . iii. we likewise prohibit all lords , of what condition soever they may be , to have any publick exercise in their houses and fiess , of what quality soever the said fiess may be , upon penalty to all our said subjects , who shall have the said exercises performed in their houses or otherwise , of confiscation of body and goods . iv. we do strictly charge and command all ministers of the said pretended reformed religion , who are not willing to be converted , and to embrace the catholick , apostolick and roman religion , to depart out of our kingdom and countries under our obedience , 15 days after the publication hereof , so as not to continue there beyond the said term , or within the same , to preach , exhort , or perform any other ministerial function , upon pain of being sent to the galleys . v. our will and pleasure is , that those ministers who shall be converted , do continue to enjoy during their lives , and their widows after their decease , as long as they continue so , the same exemptions from payments and quartering of souldiers , which they did enjoy during the time of their exercise of the ministerial function . moreover , we will cause to be paid to the said ministers , during their lives , a pension , which by a third part shall exceed the appointed allowance to them as ministers ; the half of which pension shall be continued to their wives , after their decease , as long as they shall continue in the state of widow-hood . vi. and in case any of the said ministers shall be willing to become advocates , or to take the degree of doctors in law , we will and understand that they be dispensed with , as to the three years of study , which are prescribed by our declarations , as requisite , in order to the taking of the said degree ; and that , after they have pass'd the ordinary examinations , they be forthwith received as doctors , paying only the moiety of those dues , which are usually paid upon that account in every university . vii . we prohibit any particular schools for instructing the children of those of the pretended reformed religion ; and in general , all other things whatsoever , which may import a concession , of what kind soever , in favour of the said religion . viii . and as to the children which shall for the future be born of those of the said pretended reformed religion , our will and pleasure is , that henceforward they be baptized by the curates of our parishes ; strictly charging their respective fathers and mothers to take care they be sent to church in order thereto , upon forfeiture of 500 livres , or more , as it shall happen futhermore , our will is , that the said children be afterwards educated and brought up in the catholick apostolick and roman religion , and give an express charge to all our justices , to take care the same be performed accordingly . ix . and for a mark of our clemency towards those of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , who have retired themselves out of our kingdom , countries and territories , before the publication of this our present edict , our will and meaning is , that in case they return thither again , within the time of four months , from the time of the publication hereof , they may , and it shall be lawful for them , to re-enter upon the possession of their goods and estates , and enjoy the same in like manner , as they might have done , in case they had always continued upon the place . and on the contrary , that the goods of all those , who within the said time of four months , shall not return into our kingdom , countries , or territories under our obedience , which they have forsaken , remain and be confiscated in pursuance of our declaration of the 20th . of august last . x. we most expresly and strictly forbid all our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , them , their wives or children , to depart out of our said kingdom , countries , territories under our obedience , or to transport thence their goods or effects , upon penalty of the gally , for men , and confiscation of body and goods for women . xi . our will and meaning is , that the declaration made against those who shall relapse , be executed upon them according to their form and tenor. ☞ moreover , those of the said pretended reformed religion , in the mean time , till it shall please god to enlighten them , as well as others , may abide in the several respective cities and places of our kingdoms , countries , and territories under our obedience , and there continue their commerce , and enjoy their goods and estates , without being any way molested upon account of the said pretended reformed religion ; upon condition nevertheless , as aforementioned , that they do not use any publick religious exercise , nor assemble themselves upon the account of prayer or worship of the said religion , of what kind soever the same may be , upon forfeiture above specified of body and goods . accordingly , we will and command our trusty and beloved counsellors , the people holding our courts of aids at paris , bayliffs , chief justices , provosts , and other our justices and officers to whom it appertains , and to their lieutenants , that they cause to be read , published , and registred , this our present edict in their courts and jurisdictions , even in vacation time , and the same keep punctually without contrevening or suffering the same to be contrevened ; for such is our will and pleasure . and to the end to make it a thing firm and stable , we have caused our seal to be put to the same . given at fountainbleau , in the month of october , in the year of grace 1685 , and of our reign the xliii . signed lewes . le tellier . visa . this signifies the lord chancellors perusal . sealed with the great seal of green-wax , upon a red and green string of silk . registred and published , the king's attorney general requiring it , in order to their being executed according to form and tenor ; and the copies being examined and compared , sent to the several courts of justice , bailywicks , and sheriffs courts of each district , to be there entred and registred in like manner ; and charge given to the deputies of the said attorney general , to take care to see the same executed , and put in force ; and to certifie the court thereof . at paris , in the court of vacations , the 22th , of october 1685. signed de la baune . a letter of the french king to the elector of brandenburgh , sept. 6. 1666. brother , i would not have discoursed the matter you write to me about , on the behalf of my subjects of the pretended reformed religion , with any other prince , besides your self : but to shew you the particular esteem i have for you , i shall begin with telling you , that some persons , disaffected to my service , have spread seditious pamphlets among strangers ; as if the acts and edicts that were pass'd ▪ in favour of my said subjects of the pretended reformed religion , by the kings my predecessors , and confirm'd by my self , were not kept and executed in my dominions ; which would have been contrary to my intentions : for i take care that they be maintained in all the priviledges , which have been granted them , and be as kindly us'd as my other subjects . to this i am engaged both by my royal word , and in acknowledgment of the proofs they have given me of their loyalty , during the late troubles , in which they took up arms for my service , and did vigorously oppose , and successfully overthrow the ill designs which a rebellious party were contriving within my own dominions , against my authority royal. i pray god , &c. brother , &c. a short account of the violent proceedings , and unheard of cruelties , which have been exercised upon those of montauban , and which continue to be put in practice in other places , against those of the reformed religion in france , for to make them renounce their religion . on saturday the 18 / ●th of august , 1685. the intendant of the upper guienne , who resides at montauban , having summoned the principal protestants of the said city to come before him , represented unto them , that they could not be ignorant , that the absolute will and pleasure of the king was , to tolerate but one religion in his kingdom , viz. the roman catholick religion ; and therefore wished them readily to comply with the same : and in order thereto , advised them to assemble themselves , and consider what resolution they would take . to this resolution some answer'd , that there was no need of their assembling themselves upon that account ; for a smuch as every one of them in particular , were to try and examine themselves , and be alwaies in a readiness to give a reason of the faith which was in them . the next day the intendant again commanded them to meet together in the town house , which , he ordered , should be left free for them from noon till six of the clock in the evening : where meeting accordingly , they unanimously resolved as they had lived , so to persist till death in their religion : which resolution of theirs there were some deputed by them to declare to the intendant ; who presenting themselves before him , he who was appointed spokesman , began to address himself to the intendant in these words : my lord , we are not unacquainted , how we are menaced with the greatest violence . — hold there , said the intendant ( interrupting him ) no violence . after this the protestant continued ; but whatever force or violence may be put upon us , — here the intendant interrupting him again , said , i forbid you to use any such words : upon which second interruption , he contented himself to assure him in few words , that they were all resolved to live and die in their religion . the day after , the battalion of la ferre , consisting of 16 companies entred the city , and were followed by many more . the testants all this while dreaming of no other design they had against them , but that of ruining their estates , and impoverishing them , had already taken some measures how to bear the said tryal ; they had made a common purse , for the relief of such who should be most burthen'd with quartering ; and were come to a resolution to possess what they had in common : but , alas ! how far these poor souls were mistaken in their accounts , and how different the treatment they received from the dragoons was , from what they had expected , i shall now relate to you . first therefore , in order to their executing the design and project they had formed against them , they made the souldiers take up their quarters in one certain place of the city ; but withal , appointed several corp de guards to cut off the communication which one part of the city might have with the other , and possess'd themselves of the gates , that none might make their escape . things being thus ordered , the troopers souldiers and dragoons began to practise all manner of hostilities , and cruelties , wherewith the devil can inspire the most in human and reprobate minds : they mar●'d and defac'd their houshold ▪ stuff , broke their looking-glasses , and other like utensils and ornaments ; they let their wine run about their cellars , cast abroad and spoil'd their corn , and other alimentary provisions : and as for those things which they could not break and dash to pieces , as the furniture of beds , hangings , tapistry , linnen , wearing apparel , plate , and things of the like nature ; these they carried to the market-place , where the jesuits bought them of the souldiers , and encouraged roman catholicks to do the like . they did not stick to sell the very houses of such , who were most resolute and constant in their profession . it is supposed , according to a moderate calculation , that in the time of four or five daies , the protestants of that city were the poorer by a million of money , than they were before the entring of these missionaries . there were souldiers , who demanded four hundred crowns apiece of their hosts for spending-money ; and many protestants were forced to pay down ten pistols to each souldier , upon the some account . in the mean time , the outrages they committed upon their persons were most detestable and barbarous ; i shall only here set down some few , of which i have been particularly inform'd . a certain taylor called bearnois , was bound and drag'd by the souldiers to the corp de guard , where they boxed and buffetted him all night , all which blows and indignities he suffered with the greatest constancy imaginable . the troopers who quartered with monsieur solignac made his dining room a stable for their horses , tho the furniture of it was valued at 10000 livres , and forc'd him to turn the broach till his arm was near burnt , by their continual casting of wood upon the fire . a passenger as he went through the said city saw some souldiers beating a poor man even to death , for to force him to go to mass , whilst the constant martyr to his last breath , cryed , he would never do it , and only requested they would dispatch and make an end of him . the barons of caussade and de la motte , whose constancy and piety might have inspired courage and resolution to the rest of the citizens , were sent away to cahors . monsieur d' alliez , one of the prime gentlemen of montanban , being a venerable old man , found so ill ▪ treatment at their hands , as it 's thought he will scarcely escape with life . monsieur ▪ de garrison , who was one of the most considerable men of that city , and an intimate friend of the intendant , went and cast himself at his feet , imploring his protection , and conjuring him to rid him of his souldiers , that he might have no force put upon his conscience ; adding , that in recompence of the favour he beg'd of him , he would willingly give him all he had , which was to the value of about a million of livres ; but by all his entreaties and proffers , he could not in the least prevail with the intendant ; who gave order , that for a terror to the meaner sort , he should be worse used than the rest , by dragging him along the streets . the method they most commonly made use of , for to make them abjure their religion , and which could not be the product of any thing but hell , was this ; some of the most strong and vigorous souldiers , took their hosts , or other persons of the house , and walk'd them up and down in some chamber , continually tickling them and tossing them like a ball from one to another , without giving them the least intermission , and keeping them in this condition for three daies and nights together , without meat , drink , or sleep : when they were so wearied and fainting , that they could no longer stand upon their legs , they laid them on a bed , continuing as before to tickle and torment them ; after some time , when they thought them somewhat recovered , they made them rise , and walked them up and down as before , sometimes tickling , and other times lashing them with rods , to keep them from sleeping . as soon as one party of these barbarous tormenters were tyred and wearied out , they were relieved by others of their companions , who coming fresh to the work , with greater vigour and violence reiterated the same course . by this infernal invention ( which they had formerly made use of , with success ; in bearn and other places many went dictracted , and others became mopish and stupid , and remain so . those who made their escape , were fain to abandon their estates , yea , their wives , children , and aged relations , to the mercy of these barbarous , and more than savage troops . the same cruelties were acted at negreplisse , a city near to montauban ; where these bloody emissaries committed unparallel'd outrages . isaac favin , a citizen of that place , was hung up by his arm-pits , and tormented a whole night , by pinching and tearing off his flesh with pincers ; though by all this they were not able to shake his constancy in the least . the wife of one rouffion , a joyner , being violently dragg'd by the souldiers along the streets , for to force her to hear mass , dyed of this cruel and inhumane treatment , as soon as she reach'd the church porch . amongst other their devilish inventions , this was one : they made a great fire round about a boy of about ten years of age ; who continually , with hands and eyes lifted up to heaven , cryed , my god , help me ; and when they saw the lad resolved to dye so , rather than renounce his religion , they snatch'd him from the fire , when he was at the very point of being burnt . the cities of caussade , realville , st. anthonin , and other towns and places in the upper guinne , met with the same entertainment , as well as bergerac , and many other places of perigord , and of the lower guinne ; which had a like share of these cruel and inhumane usages . the forementioned troops marched at last to castres , to commit the same insolencies and barbarities there also : and it is not to be doubted , but that they will continue , and carry on the same course of cruelties , where ever they go ; if god , in pity and compassion to his people , do not restrain them . it is to be feared , ( for it seems but too probable ) that this dreadful persecution in conjunction with those artifices the papists make use of to disguise their religion , and to perswade protestants , that they shall be suffered to worship god as formerly , will make many to comply with them , or at least make their mouths give their hearts the lye , in hopes of being by this means put into a condition to make their escapes , and returning to that profession , which their weakness hath made them deny . but , alas ! this is not all ; for those poor wretches , whom by these devilish ways of theirs , they have made to blaspheme and abjure their religion , as if this were not enough , must now become the persecutors and tormentors of their own wives and children , for to oblige and force them to renounce also ; for they are threatned , that if within three days time they do not make their whole family recant in like manner , those rough apostles ( the dragoons ) shall be fain to take further pains with them , in order to the perfecting of their conversion . and who after all this can have the least doubt , but that these unhappy dragoons are the very emissaries of hell , whose very last efforts and death struglings these seem to be ? this relation hath given a short view of some of those sufferings , the reformed have undergone , but not of all : it is certain , that in divers places they have tryed to wear out their patience , and overcome their constancy by applying red-hot irons to the hands and feet of men , and to the breasts of women . at nantes they hung up several women and maids by their feet , and others by their arm-pits , and that stark naked , thus exposing them to publick view , which assuredly is the most cruel and exquisite suffering can befall that sex ; because in this case their shamefac'dness and modesty is most sensibly touched , which is the most tender part of their soul. they have bound mothers that gave suck unto posts , and let their little infants lye languishing in their sight , without being suffered to suckle them for several days , and all this while left them crying , moaning , and gasping for life , and even dying for hunger & thirst , that by this means they might vanquish the constancy of their tender-hearted mothers , swearing to them they would never permit they should give them suck till they promised to renounce their profession of the gospel . they have taken children of four or five years of age , and kept them from meat and drink for some time , and when they have heen ready to faint away and give up the ghost , they have brought them before their parents , and horribly asseverated , that except they would turn , they must prepare themselves to see their children languish and dye in their presence . some they have bound before a great fire , and being half roasted , have after let them go : they beat men and women outragiously ; they drag them along the streets , and torment them day and night . the ordinary way they took , was to give them no rest ; for the souldiers do continually relieve one another for to drag , beat , torment and toss up and down these miserable wretches , without intermission . if it happen that any by their patience and constancy do stand it out , and triumph over all the rage and fury of those dragoons , they go to their commander and acquaint him , they have done all they could , but yet without the desired success ; who in a barbarous and surly tone , answers them ; you must return upon them , and do worse than you have done ; the king commands it ; either they must turn , or i must burst and perish in the attempt . these are the pleasant flowry paths , by which the papists allure protestants to return to the bosome of their church . but some it may be will object ; you make a great noise about a small matter , all protestants have not been exposed to these cruelties , but only some few obstinate persons : well , i will suppose so , but yet the horror of those torments inflicted on some , hath so fill'd the imagination of these miserable wretches , that the very thoughts of them hath made them comply ; it is indeed a weakness of which we are ashamed for their sakes , and from whence we hope god will raise them again , in his due time ; yet thus much we may alledge for their excuse , that never was any persecution , upon pretence of religion , carried on to that pitch , and with that politick malice and cruelty that this hath been ; and therefore , of all those which ever the church of christ groan'd under , none can can be compar'd with it . true indeed it is , that in former ages it hath been common to burn the faithful under the name of hereticks ; but how few were there exposed to that cruel kind of death , in comparison of those who escaped the executioners hands ? but , behold here a great people at once oppress'd , destroy'd , and ruin'd by a vast army of prodigious butchers , and few or none escaping . former , yea late times have given us some instances of massacres ; but these were only violent tempests , and sudden hurricanes , which lasted but a night , or , at the most , a few daies , and they who suffered in them were soon out of their pains , and the far greater number escaped the dint of them : but how much more dreadful is the present condition of the protestants in france ? and to the end we may take a true view and right measures of it , let us consider , that nothing can be conceived more terrible , than a state of war ; but what war to be compared with this ? they see a whole army of butcherly cannibals entring their houses , bateering , breaking , burning , and destroying whatever comes to hand ; swearing , cursing and blaspheming like devils ; beating to excess , offering all manner of indignities and violence ; diverting themselves , and striving to out-vy each other in inventing new methods of pain and torment ; not to be appeased with money , or good chear ; foaming and roaring like ravenous raging lyons ; and presenting death , at every moment ; and that which is worse than all this , driving people to distraction , and senseless stupidity , by those devilish inventions we have given you an instance of in the relation of mentauban . moreover , this persecution hath one characteristical note more ; which , without any exaggeration , will give it the precedence in history for cruelty , above all those which the church of god ever suffered under nero , maximinus , or dieclesian ; which is , the severe prohibition of departing the kingdom , upon pain of confiscation of goods , of the gally , of the lash , and perpetual imprisonment . all the sea-ports are kept with that exactness , as if it were to hinder the escape of traytors , and common enemies : all the prisons of sea-port-towns are cramm'd with these miserable fugitives , men women , boys , and girls ; who there are condemned to the worst of punishments , for having had a desire to save themselves from this dreadful persecution , and deluging calamity . this is the thing which is unparallel'd ; and of which we find no instance : this is that superlative excess of cruelty , which we shall not find in the list of all the violent and bloody proceedings of the duke of alva : he massacred , he beheaded , he butchered ; but at least , he did not prohibit those that could , to make their escape . in the last hungarian persecution , nothing was required of the protestants , but only that their ministers should banish themselves , and abandon and renounce the conduct of their flocks ; and because they were unwilling to obey these orders , therefore it is they have groan'd under so long , and so terrible a persecution , as they have done , but this hungarian persecution is not to be compared with that we are speaking of ; for the fury of that tempest discharged it self upon the ministers only ; no armies were imploy'd , to force the people to change their religion , by a thousand several waies of torment ; much less did it ever enter the thoughts of the emperors councel , to shut up all the protestants in hungary , in order to the destroying of all those who would not abjure their religion ; which yet is the very condition of so many wretched persons in france , who beg it as the highest favour at the hands of their merciless enemies , to have leave to go and beg their bread in a foreign country ; being willing to leave their goods , and all other outward conveniencies , behind them , for to lead a poor , miserable , languishing life in any place , where only they may be suffered to dye in their religion . and is it not from all this most ●●parent , that those monsters who have inspired the king with th●●● designs , have refin'd the mystery of persecuting to the utmost , and advanc'd it to its highest pitch of perfection ? o great god! who from thy heavenly throne doest behold all the outrages done to thy people , haste thee to help us ! great god , whose compassions are infinite , suffer thy self to be touched with our extream desolation ! if men be insensible of the calamities we suffer , if they be deaf to our cries , not regarding our grones and supplications ; yet let thy bowels , o lord , be moved , and affect thee in our behalf . glorious god , for whose names sake we suffer all these things , who knowest our innocence and weakness , as well as the fury and rage of our adversaries , the small support and help we find in the world : behold , we perish , if thy pity doth not rouze thee up for our relief . it is thou art our rock , our god , our father , our deliverer : we do not place our confidence in any , but thee alone : let us not be confounded , because we put our trust in thee . haste thee to our help ; make no long tarrying , o lord , our god , and our redeemer ! a letter sent from bourdeaux , giving an account of the persecution of those of the protestant religion in france . sir , what you have heard concerning the persecution of those that are of our religion , in the land of bearne , guinne , and berigord , is but too true ; and i can assure you , that they who have given you that account , have been so far from amplifying the matter , that they have only acquainted you with some few particulars ; yet am i not so much surprized at the difficulty you find to perswade your self , that the things of which your friends inform you , are true : in cases of this nature , so amazingly unexpected , we are apt often to distrust our own eyes ; and i profess to you , that though all places round about us echo the report of our ruine and destruction , yet i can scarcely perswade my self it is so indeed , because i cannot comprehend it . it is no matter of surprize , or amazement , to see the church of christ afflicted upon earth , forasmuch as she is a stranger here , as well as her captain , lord and husband , the holy and everlasting blessed jesus was ; and must , like him , by the same way of cross and suffering , return to her own country , which is above . it is no matter of astonishment , to find her from time to time suffering the worst of usage , and most cruel persecutions ; all ages have seen her exposed to such tryals as these , which are so necessary for the testing of her faith , and so fit a matter of her future glory . neither is it any great wonder , if , amidst these sore tryals , vast numbers of those who made profession of the gospel , do now renounce and forsake it : we know that all have not faith ; and it is more than probable , that they who do not follow christ , but because they thrive by it , and for the loaves , will cease to be of his retinue , when he is about to oblige them to bear his cross , and deny themselves . but that which seems inconceivable to me , is , that our enemies should pitch upon such strange ways and methods to destroy us , as they have done , and that , in so doing , they should meet with a success so prodigious and doleful . i shall as briefly as i can endeavour to give you an account of so much as i have understood of it . all those thundring declarations , and destructive arrests , which continually were sued for , and obtain'd against us , and which were executed with the extremity of rigour , were scarce able to move any one of us . the forbidding of our publick exercises , the demolishing of our churches , and the severe injunction that not so much as two or three of us should dare to assemble , in order to any thing of divine worship , had no other effect upon the far greater part of us , than to inflame our zeal , instead of abating it ; obliging us to pray to god with greater fervor and devotion in our closets , and to meditate of his word with greater application and attention . and neither the great wants , to which we were reduced by being depriv'd of our offices and imploys , and all other means of living , and by those insupportable charges with which they strove to over-whelm us , as well by taxes , as the quartering of souldiers ( both which were as heavy as could be laid upon us ) nor the continual trouble we were put to by criminal or other matters of law , which at the suit of one or other were still laid to our charge , tho upon the most frivolous and unjust pretences imaginable ; i say , all these were not able to wear out our patience , which was hardned against all calam●ties : insomuch as the design of forcing us to abandon the truth of the gospel , would infallibly have been ship-wrack'd , if no other means had been taken in hand for this purpose . but , alas ! our enemies were too ingenious , to be bank'd so ; and had taken out ruine too much to heart , not to study for means effectual and proper to bring-about their desires : they call'd to mind what prodigious success a new kind of persecution had had of late years in pocton , aunix , and xaintonge , which the intendants of those places had bethought themselves of ; and they made no difficulty to have recourse to the same , as to a means infallible , and not to be doubted of . i must tell you , sir , that we had not the least thought that ever such violent methods as these , would have been pitched upon , as the means of our conversion : we were always of opinion , that none but dennuieux's , and marillacs , could be fit instruments for such like enterprizes ; neither could we ever have imagin'd , that generals of armies , who account it a shame and reproach to attack and take some paultry town or village , should ever debase themselves to besiege old men , women , and children in their own houses ; or that ever souldiers , who think themselves ennobled by their swords , should degrade themselves so far , as to take up the trade of butchers and hangmen , by tormenting poor innocents , and inflicting all sorts of punishments upon them . moreover , we were the less in expectation of any such thing , because at the self-same time they treated us in this manner . they would needs perswade us , that the king's councel had disapproved the design : and indeed , it seem'd very probably to us , that all reasons , whether taken from humanity , piety , or interest , would have made them disavow and condemn a project so inhumane and barbarous : yet now , by experience , we find it but too true , that our enemies are so far from rejecting the said design , that they carry it on with an unparell'd zeal and application , without giving themselves any further trouble to effectuate their desires , than that of doing these two things . the first of which was , to lull us asleep , and to take away from us all matter of suspition of the mischief they were hatching against us ; which they did by permitting some of our publick exercises of religion , by giving way to our building of some churches , by settling ministers in divers places to baptize our children , and by publishing several arrests and declarations , which did intimate to us , that we had reason to hope we should yet subsist for some years : such was that declaration , by which all ministers were ordered to change their churches every three years . the other was , to secure all the sea-ports of the kingdom , so as none might make their escape , which was done by renewing the antient prohibitions of departing the kingdom without leave , but with the addition of far more severe penalties . after these precautions thus taken , they thought themselves no longer oblig'd to keep any measures , but immediately lift up the hand , to give the last blow for our ruine . the intendents had order to represent to us , that the king was resolved to suffer no other religion in his kingdom besides his own , and to command us all in his name , readily to embrace the same , without allowing us any longer respite to consider what we had to do , than a few days , nay , hours ; threatning us , that if we continued obstinate , they would force us to it by the extremity of rigour ; and presently executing these their menaces , by filling our houses with souldiers , to whom we were to be left for a prey ; and who , not content with entirely ruining of us , should besides exercise upon our persons all the violence and cruelty they could possibly devise : and all this to overcome our constancy and perseverance . four months are now past and gone , since they began to make use of this strange and horrible way of converting people , worthy of , and well becoming its inventors . the country of bearne was first set upon , as being one of the most considerable out-parts of the kingdom , to the end that this mischievous enterprize gaining strength in its passage , might soon after over-whelm , and as it were deluge all the other provinces in the same sea of the uttermost calamity . monsieur foucaut the intendant , went himself in person to all the places where we were in any numbers , and commanded all the inhabitants that were of the protestant religion , under the penalty of great amercements , to assemble themselves in those places he appointed to them ; where being accordingly met together , he charged them in the kings name to change their religion , allowing them only a day or two to dispose themselves for it : he told them , the great numbers of souldiers were at hand , to compel those that should refuse to yield a ready obedience ; and this threatning of his being immediately followed by the effect , as lightning is by thunder , he fill'd the houses of all those who abode constant in their resolution to live and die faithful to their lord and master , jesus christ , with souldiers ; and commands those insolent troops ( flesh'd with blood and slaughter ) to give them the worst treatment they could possibly devise . i shall not undertake , sir , to give you a particular account of those excesses and out-rages , these enraged brutals committed in executing the orders they were charged with ; the relation would prove too tedious and doleful : it shall suffice me to tell you , that they did not forget any thing that was inhuman , barbarous , or cruel , without having regard to any condition , sex or age ; they pull'd down and , demolished their houses ; they spoil'd , dash'd to pieces , and burnt their best moveables and houshold-stuff ; they bruised and beat to death venerable old men ; they dragg'd honourable matrons to mass , without the least pity or respect ; they bound and fetter'd innocent persons , as if they had been the most infamous and profligate villains ; they hung them up by their feet , till they saw them ready to give up the ghost ; they took red-hot fire-shovels , and held them close to their bare heads , and actually applied them to other parts of their bodies ; they immur'd them within four walls , where they let them perish for hunger and thirst : and the constancy wherewith they suffer'd all these torments , having had no other effect , but that of augmenting the rage of these furies , they never ceased inventing new waies of pain and torture , till their inhumanity at length had got the victory , and triumphed over the patience and faith of these miserable wretches . insomuch , that of all those many numerous assemblies , we had in that province , as that of pan , d'arthes , d'novarre , &c. there are scarcely left a small number , who either continue constant in despite of all these cruelties , or else have made their escape into spain , holland , england , or elsewhere , leaving their goods and families for the prey to these merciless and cruel men. success having thus far answered their expectation , they resolved to lose no time ; but vigorously prosecuting their work , they immediately turned their thoughts and arms towards montaubam ▪ where the intendant having summoned the citizens to appear before him , bespeaks them much of the same language , as was used to those of bearne ; whereunto they having returned about the same answer , he orders 4000. men to enter the city , and makes them take up their quarters , as at bearne , only in the houses of protestants ; with express command to treat them in like manner , as they had done those of bearne : and these inhuman wretches were so diligent and active in executing these pitiless orders , that of 12 or 15000. soul , of which that church did consist , not above 20 or 30 families are escaped ; who , in a doleful and forlorn condition , wander up and down the woods , and hide themselves in thickets . the ruin of this important place , drew after it the desolation of all the churches about it ; which were all enveloped in the same common calamity , as those of realmont , bourniquel , negreplisse , &c. yet was not the condition of the churches in the upper guienne more sad and calamitous , than that of those of the lower guienne , and of perigord ; which this horrible deluge hath likewise over-whelm'd . monsieur bouslers , and the intendant , having shared the country between them ; monsieur de bousters taking for his part agenois , tonnein , clerac , with the adjoyning places ; and the intendant having taken upon him to reduce fleis , monravel , genssac , cartillon , coutras , libourne , &c. the troops which they commanded , in the mean time , carrying desolation to all the places they passed through , filling them with mourning and despair , and scattering terror and amazement amongst all those to whom they approached . there were at the same time 17 companies at st. foy , 15 at nerac , and as many in proportion in all other parts : so that all places being fill'd i th these troops , accustom'd to licentiousness and pillage , there is not any one of the said places , where they have not left most dreadful marks of their rage and cruelty ; having at last , by means of their exquisite tortures , made all those of our religion submit themselves to the communion of rome . but forasmuch as bergerat was most signally famous for the long trials it had most gloriously endured , and that our enemies were very sensible of what advantage it would be , to the carrying on of their design , to make themselves masters there also , at any price whatsoever ; they accordingly fail'd not to attempt the same with more resolution and obstinacy , than any of the forementioned places . this little town had already , for three years together , with admirable patience and constancy , endured a thousand ill treatments , and exactions from souldiers , who had pick'd them to the very bones : for besides that , it was almost a continual passage for souldiers ; there were no less than eighteen troops of horse had their winter quarters there ; who yet in all that time had only gain'd three converts , and they such too as were maintain'd by the alms of the church . but to return : the design being form'd to reduce this city , two troops of horse are immediately ordered thither , to observe the inhabitants , and soon after 32 companies of foot enter the town : monsieur bouflers and the intendant of the province , with the bishops of agen and perigueux , and some other persons of quality , tender themselves there at the same time , and send for 200 of the chiefest citizens to appear before them ; telling them , that the kings express will and pleasure was , they should all go to mass ; and that in case of disobedience , they had order to compel them to it : to which the citizens unanimosly answered , that their estates were at the dispose of his majesty , but that god alone was lord of their consciences ; and that they were resolved to suffer to the utmost , rather than do any thing contrary to the motions of it . whereupon they were told , that if they were so resolved , they had nought else to do but to prepare themselves to receive the punishment their obstinacy and disobedience did deserve ; and immediately 32 companies more of infantry and cavalry enter the city ( which , together with the 34 companies before-mentioned , were all quartered with protestants ) with express command not to spare any thing they had , and to exercise all manner of violence upon the persons of those that entertain'd them , until they should have extorted a promise from them , to do whatsoever was commanded them . these orders then being thus executed , according to the desires of those who had given them , and these miserable victims of a barbarous military fury , being reduc'd to the most deplorable and desolate condition ; they are again sent for to the town-house , and once more pressed to change their religion ; and they answering with tears in their eyes , and with all the respect , humility , and submission imginable , that the matter required of them , was the only thing they could not do , the extreamest rigor and severity is denounc'd against them ; and they presently made good their words , by sending 34 more companies into the city , which made up the full number of an hundred ; who encouraging themselves from their numbers , and flying like enraged wolves upon these innocent sheep , did rend and worry them in such a manner , as the sole relation cannot but strike with horror and amazement . whole companies were ordered to quarter with one citizen ; and persons whose whole estate did not amount to 10000. livres , were taxed at the rate of 150. livres a day : when their money is gone , they sell their houshold-stuff , and sell that for two pence , which hath cost 60. livres ; they bind and fetter father , mother , wife and children : four souldiers continually stand at the door , to hinder any from coming in to succour or comfort them : they keep them in this condition , two , three , four , five , and six days , without either meat , drink , or sleep : on one hand the child cries , with the languishing accent of one ready to dye , ah my father ! ah my mother ! what shall i do ? i must dye , i can endure no longer : the wife on the other hand cries ; alas ! my heart fails me , i faint , i dye ! whilst their cruel tormentors are so far from being touch'd with compassion , that from thence they take occasion to press them afresh , and to renew their torments , frighting them with their hellish menaces , accompanied with most execrable oaths and curses ; crying , dog , bougre , what , will not thou be converted ? wilt not thou be obedient ? dog , bougre , thou must be converted , we are sent on purpose to convert thee : and the clergy , who are witnesses of all these cruelties , ( with which they feast their eyes ) and of all their infamous and abominable words , ( which ought to cover them with horror and confusion ) make only a matter of sport and laughter of it . thus these miserable wretches , being neither suffered to live nor to dye , ( for when they see them fainting away , they force them to take so much as to keep body and soul together ) and seeing no other way for them to be delivered out of this hell , in which they are continually tormented , are fain at last to stoop under the unsupportable burthen of these extremities : so that excepting only a few who saved themselves by a timely flight , preferring their religion before all temporal possessions , all the rest have been constrained to go to mass . neither is the country any more exempt from these calamities , than towns and cities ; nor those of the nobility and gentry , than citizens . they send whole companies of souldiers into gentlemens houses , who treat them in the most outragious and violent manner conceivable ; insomuch that not a soul can hope to escape , except it may be some few , who like the believers of old , wander in desarts , and lodge in dens , and caves of the earth . futhermore , i can assure you , that never was any greater consternation , than that which we are in here at present ; the army , we hear , is come very near us , and the intendant is just now arrived in this city ; the greater part of the most considerable merchants are either already gone , or casting about how best to make their escape , abandoning their houses and estates to their enemies ; and there are not wanting some cowardly spirits , who , to avoid the mischief they are preparing for us , have already promised to do whatsoever is required of them . in a word , nothing is seen or heard in these parts but consternation , weeping and lamentation ; there being scarce a person of our religion , who hath not his heart pierced with the bitterest sorrows , and whose countenance hath not the lively picture of death imprinted on it : and surely , if our enemies triumph in all this , their triumph cannot likely be of any long continuance . i confess , i cannot perswade my self to entertain so good an opinion of them , as to think that ever they will be ashamed of these their doings , so diametrically opposite to the spirit of the gospel ; for i know the gospel , in their accounts , passeth for a fable : but this i dare averr , that this method of theirs will infallibly lay waste the kingdom , which according to all appearance , is never like to recover of it ; and so in time , they themselves will be made as sensible of these miseries , as others now are . commerce is already in a manner wholly extinct , and there will need little less than a miracle to recover it to its former state. what protestant merchants will henceforward be willing to engage themselves in trade , either with persons without faith ; and who have so cowardly betray'd their religion and conscience , or with the outragious and barbarous persecuters of the religion , which they profess ? and who by these courses declare openly and frankly , that it is their principle , not to think themselves oblig'd to keep their word with hereticks . and who are those , of what religion soever , that will negotiate with a state exhausted by taxes and subsidies , by persecutions , by barrenness and dearth of several years continuance ; full of a despairing people , and which infallibly will e're long be full of those that are proscrib'd , and be bathing in its own blood. and these miserable wretches , who have been deceived by those who have told them , that it would never be impos'd upon them to abjure their religion , and who are stupified by the extremity of their sufferings , and the terror of their bloody and cruel enemies , are wrapt up in so deep an astonishment , as doth not permit them to be fully sensible of their fall : but as soon as they shall recover themselves , and remember , that they could not embrace the communion of rome , without absolutely renouncing the holy religion they professed ; and when they shall make a full reflection upon the unhappy change they have been forced to make ; then their consciences being awakened , and continually reproaching their faint-heartedness , will rend them with sorrow and remorse , and inflict torments upon them , equal to those the damned endure in hell ; and will make them endavour to be delivered from this anguish , and to find rest in the constant profession of that truth , which they have unhappily betray'd . and on the other-side ; their enemies will be loath to take the lye at this time of the day ; and therefore will endeavor , through fear of punishments , to oblige them to stay in that abyss of horror , into which they have precipitated them : but because all the sufferings they can possibly threaten them with , will be no ways considerable , when compared with those tortures their consciences have already inflicted upon them , and where with they threaten them in case of a relapse , they will be constrained to drag them to the place of execution , or else seek to rid themselves of them all at once , by a general massacre , which many good souls have so so long desired . i hope , sir , you will not be wanting in your most earnest prayers to beg of god , that he would be pleased to take pity of these miserable wretches ; and make the heart of our sovereign to relent towards us ; that he would convert those , who in their blindness think they do him service , by putting us to death ; that he would cause his voice to be heard by them from heaven , as to st. paul ; saul , saul , why persecutest thou me ? and make the rest the examples of his exemplary justice : finally , that he would grant , that all those who have denied him , being touched with a true repentance , may , with st. peter , go out , and weep bitterly . i am , sir , yours , &c. an extract of a letter , containing some more instances of the cruel and barbarous vsage of the protestants in france . but this , sir , is not the thing which troubles me most , at this time ; there 's another cause of my grief , which is but too just , and even pierceth my heart with sorrow ; and that is , the cruel persecution , which the poor protestants of france do suffer , amongst whom i have so many near and dear relations : the torments they are put to , are almost incredible ; and the heavenly courage , wherewith some of them are strengthned by their great captain and leader , to undergo them , is no less amazing and wonderful : i shall give for instance one or two of these champions , that by them you may judge of the rest . a young woman was brought before the council , in order to oblige her to abjure the truth of the gospel ; which she boldly and manfully refusing , was commanded back again to prison ; where they shaved her head , and sing'd off the hair of her privities ; and having stript her stark-naked , in this manner led her through the streets of the city ; where many a blow was given her , and stones flung at her . after this , they set her up to the neck in a tub full of water ; where after she had been for a while , they took her out , and put upon her a shift dipt in wine , which as it dry'd , and fluck to her sore and bruised body , they snatch'd off again ; and then had another ready , dipt in wine to clap upon her : this they repeated six several times ; and when by this inhumane usage , her body was become very raw and tender , they demanded of her , whether she did not now find her self disposed to embrace the catholick faith ? for so they are pleased to term their religion : but she , being strengthned by the spirit and love of him , for whose names sake she suffered all these extremities , undauntedly answer'd ; that she had before declared her resolution to them , which she would never alter ; and that , though they had her body in their power , she was resolved not to yield her soul to them ; but keep it pure and undefiled for her heavenly lover ; as knowing , that a little while would put an end to all her sufferings , and give a beginning to her enjoyment of everlasting bliss : which words of hers , adding fuel of their rage , who now despaired of making her a convert , they took and fastned her by her feet , to something that served the turn of a gibbet , and there let her hang in that ignominious posture , with her head downwards till she expired . the other person i would instance in , and whom i pity the more , because ( for ought i know ) he may yet survive , and still continue under the tormentor's hands , is an old man ; who having , for a great while , been kept close prisoner ( upon the same account as the former ) in a deep dungeon , where his companions were darkness and horror , and filthy creeping things , was brought before his judges , with vermin and snails crawling upon his mouldred garment ; who seeing him in that loathsom condition , said to him : how now old man , does not your heart begin to relent ? and are not you willing to abjure your heresie ? to which he answer'd : as for heresie , i profess none ; but if by that word you mean my religion , you may assure your selves , that as i have thus long lived , so , i hope , and am resolved by the grace of god , to die in it : with which answer they being little pleased , but furiously incensed , bespoke him in a rougher tone : dost thou not see , that the worms are about to devour thee ? well , since thou art so resolved , we will send thee back again , to the loathsom place from whence thou camest , that they may make an end of thee , and consume thy obdurate heart : to which he reply'd , with the words of the holy patient job ; novi postquam vermes confoderint ( corpus ) istud , in carne mea me vissurum esse deum . i know that after worms have eaten this body , that in my flesh i shall see god. and having so said , he was sent back to his loathsom dark abode ; where if he be still , i pray god to give him patience and strength to hold out to the end , that so he may obtain the crown of life . i should be too tedious , in giving you all the particulars of their cruelty , and of the sufferings of the protestants ; yet i cannot well forbear acquainting you with what lately i am most credibly inform'd of ; which take as follows : some dragoons , who were quartered with a person , who they could by no means oblige to renounce his religion ; upon a time , when they had well fill'd themselves with wine , and broke their glasses at every health they drank ; and so fill'd the floor , where they were , with the fragments ; and by often walking over , and treading upon them , reduced them to lesser pieces and fractions : and being now in a merry humour , they must needs go to dance ; and told their host , that he must be one of the company ; but withal , that he must first pull off his stockins and shooes , that the might move the more nimbly : in a word , they forc'd him to dance with them bare-footed , upon the sharp points of glass ; which when they had continued so long as they were able to keep him on his legs , they laid him down on a bed ; and a while after stript him stark naked , and rolled his body from one end of the room to the other , upon the sharp glass , as beforementioned ; which having done , till his skin was stuck full of the said little fragments , they returned him again to his bed , and sent for a chyturgeon , to take out all the said pieces of glass out of his body ; which you may easily conceive , could not be done without frequent incisions , and horrible and most extream pain . another person being likewise troubled with the unwelcom company of these dragoons , and having suffered extreamly at their hands , without the expected success of his conversion ; one of them on a time looking earnestly upon him , told him , that he disfigured himself , with letting his beard grow so long : but he answering , that they were the cause of it , who would not let him stir out of door , for to go to the barber : the dragoon reply'd , i can do that for you as well as the barber ; and with that told him , he must needs try his skill upon him : and so fell to work ; but instead of shaving him , flea'd all the skin off his face . one of his companions coming in at the cry of this poor sufferer , and seeing what he had done , seemingly blam'd him for it , and said , he was a bungler ; and then to his host , come , your hair wants cutting too , and you shall see , i will do it much better than he hath shav'd you : and thereupon begins , in a most cruel manner , to pluck the hair , skin , and all , off his head , and flea'd that as the other had done his chin. thus making a sport and merriment of the extream suffering of these miserable wretches . by these inhuman , and more than barbarous means it is , that they endeavour to overcome the most resolved patience , and to drive people to despair and faint-heartedness , by their devilish inventions . they refuse to give them death , which they desire ; and only keep them alive to torment them , so long till they have vanquish'd their perseverance ; for the names of martyrs , and rebels , are equally odious to their enemies , who tell them , the king will have obedient subjects , but neither martyrs nor rebels ; and that they have received orders to convert them , but not to kill them . sir , i beg your pardon , for having so long entertain'd you with these more than tragical passages ; and that you would not be wanting to recommend the condition of these poor , destitute , afflicted , and tortured persons , to the bowels of compassion of our heavenly father , that he would be pleased not to suffer them to be tempted above what he shall give them grace to bear : which is the hearty prayer of , your faithful friend , t. g. since the first publishing of this , some further particulars ( representing the horror of this persecution ) are come to hand ; which take as follow : they have put persons into monasteries , in little narrow holes , where they could not stretch their bodies at length ; there feeding them with bread and water , and whipping them every day , till they did recant : they plunged others into wells , and there kept them till they promised to do what was desired of them : they stript some naked , and stuck their bodies full of pins : they tyed fathers and husbands to the bed-posts , forcing their wives and daughters before their eyes : in some places , the ravishing of women was openly and generally permitted : they pluck'd off the nails and toes of others : they burnt their feet , and blew up men and women with bellows , till they were ready to burst . in a word , they exercised all manner of cruelties they could invent ; and in so doing ; spared neither sex , age nor quality . the profession of the catholick , apostolick , and roman faith , which the revolting protestants in france are to subscribe and swear to . in the name of the father , son , and holy ghost , amen . i believe and confess with a firm faith , all and every thing and things contained in the creed , which is used by the holy church of rome , viz. i receive and embrace most sincerely the apostolick and ecclesiastical traditions , and other observances of the said church . in like manner , i receive the scriptures , but in the same sense as the said mother church hath , and doth now understand and expound the same ; for whom and to whom it only doth belong to judge of the interpretation of the sacred scriptures : and i will never take them , nor understand them otherwise , than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers . i profess , that there be truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law , instituted by our lord jesus christ , and necessary for the salvation of mankind , altho' not equally needful for every one , viz. baptism , confirmation , the eucharist , penance , extream unction , orders and marriage ; and that they do confer grace ; and that baptism and orders may not be reiterated , without sacriledge : i receive and admit also the ceremonies received & approved by the catholick church , in the solemn administration of the forementioned sacraments . i receive and embrace all and every thing , and things , which have been determined concerning original sin and justification by the holy council of trent . i likewise profess , that in the mass there is offered up to god , a true , proper , and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and dead ; and that in the holy sacrament of the eucharist , there is truly , really , and substantially , the body and blood , together with the soul and divinity of the lord jesus christ ; and that in it there is made a change of the whole substance of the bread into his body , and of the whole substance of the wine into his blood ; which change the catholick church calls transubstantiation . i confess also , that under one only of these two elements , whole christ , and the true sacrament is received . i constantly believe and affirm , that there is a purgatory ; and that the souls there detained , are relieved by the suffrages of the faithful . in like manner , i believe that the saints reigning in glory with jesus christ , are to be worshipped and invocated by us , and that they offer up prayers to god for us , and that their reliques ought to be honoured . moreover , i do most stedfastly avow , that the images of jesus christ , of the blessed virgin , the mother of god , and of other saints , ought to be kept and retained , and that due honour and veneration must be yielded unto them . also i do affirm , that the power of indulgences was left to the church by christ jesus , and that the use thereof is very beneficial to christians . i do acknowledge the holy catholick , apostolick , and roman church , to be the mother and mistress of all other churches ; and i profess and swear true obedience to the pope of rome , successor of the blessed st. peter , prince of the apostles , and vicar of jesus christ . in like manner , i own and profess , without doubting , all other things left defined and declared by the holy canons and general councils , especially by the most holy council of trent ; and withal , i do condemn , reject , and hold for accursed , all things that are contrary thereto ; and all those heresies which have been condemned , rejected , and accursed by the church . and then swearing upon the book of the gospel , the party recanting , must say : i promise , vow , and swear , and most constantly prosess , by gods assistance , to keep intirely and inviolably , unto death , this self-same catholick and apostolick faith , out of which no person can be saved ; and this i do most truly and willingly profess , and that i will to the utmost of my power endeavour that it may be maintain'd and upheld as far as any ways belong to my charge ; so help me god , and the holy virgin. the certificate which the party recanting , is to leave with the priest , when he makes his abjuration . in. n. of the parish of n. do certifie all whom it may concern , that having acknowledged the falseness of the pretended reformed , and the truth of the catholick religion , of my own free will , without any compulsion , i have accordingly made profession of the said catholick roman religion in the church of n. in the hands of n. n. in testimony of the truth whereof , i have signed this act in the presence of the witnesses whose names are under written , this — day of the month of the — year of the reign of our soveraign lord the king , and of our redemption . — a declaration of the elector of brandenburg , in favour of the french protestants , who shall settle themselves in any of his dominions . we frederick william , by the grace of god. marquess of brandenburg , arch-chamberlain , and prince elector of the holy empire ; duke of prussia , magdeburg , juilliers , cleves , bergen , stettin , pomerania ; of the cassubes , vandals , and silesia ; of crosne , and jagerndorff ; burg-grave of noremberg ; prince of halberstadt , minde , and camin ; earl of hohenzollern , of the mark and ravensberg ; lord of ravenstein , lawneburg , and butow , do declare and make known to all to whom these presents shall come . that whereas the persecutions and rigorous proceedings which have been carried on for some time in france , against those of the reformed religion , have forced many families to leave that kingdom , and to seek for a settlement elsewhere , in strange and foreign countries ; we have been willing , being touched with that just compassion , we are bound to have for those who suffer for the gospel , and the purity of that faith we profess , together with them , by this present declaration , signed with our own hand , to offer , to the said protestants , a sure and free retreat in all the countries and provinces under our dominion ; and withal , to declare the several rights , immunities , and priviledges , which we are willing they shall enjoy there , in order to the relieving and easing them , in some measure , of the burthen of those calamities , wherewith it hath pleased the divine providence to afflict so considerable a part of his church . i. to the end , that all those who shall resolve to settle themselves in any of our dominions , may with the more ease and convenience transport themselves thither , we have given order to our envoy extraordinary with the states-general of the vnited provinces , sieur diest , and to our commissary in the city of amsterdam , sieur romswinkel , at our charge , to furnish all those of the said religion ( who shall address themselves unto them ) with what vessels and provisions they shall stand in need of , for the transportation of themselves , their goods and families , from holland to the city of hamburg : where then our councellor and resident for the circle of the lower saxony , sieur guerick , shall furnish them with all conveniences they may stand in need of , to convey them further , to whatsoever city or province they shall think fit to pitch upon , for the place of their abode . ii. those who shall come from the parts of france about sedan , as from champagne , lorain , burgundy , or from any of the southern provinces of that kingdom , and who think it not convenient to pass through holland , may betake themselves to the city of frankfort upon maine ; and there address themselves to sieur merain , our councellor and agent in the said city , or in the city of cologne to sieur lely , our agent , to whom we have also given command to furnish them with money , pasports , and boats , in order to the carrying them down the river rhine , to our dutchy of cleves and mark : or in case they shall desire to go further up in our dominions , our said ministers and officers shall furnish them with address , and conveniences , for to arrive at those several respective places . iii. and forasmuch as the said our provinces are stored with all sorts of conveniences , and commodities , not only for the necessity of living , but also for manufactures , commerce , and trade by sea , and by land , those who are willing to settle themselves in any of our said provinces , may choose such place , as they please , in the country of cleve , mark , ravensberg and minde , or in those of magdeburg , halberstadt , brandenburg , pomerania , and prussia . and forasmuch as we conceive , that in our electoral marquisate , the cities of stendel , werbe , rathenow , brandenburg , and frankfort ; and in the country of magdeburg , the cities of magdeburg , halle , and calbe ; and in prussia , the city of koningsberg will be most commodious , as well for the great abundance of all necessaries of life , which may be had there at cheap rates , as for the convenience of trade and traffick ; we have given charge , that as soon as any of the said french protestants shall arrive in any of the said cities , they shall be kindly received and agreed with about all those things , which shall be thought needful for their settlement . and for the rest , leaving them at their full liberty to dispose of themselves in whatsoever city or province they shall judge most commodious , and best suiting with their occasions . iv. all the goods , houshold-stuff , merchandize , and commodities , which they shall bring along with them , shall not be liable to any custom or impost ; but shall be wholly exempt from all charges and impositions , of what name or nature soever they may be . v. and in case that in any of the cities , towns , or villages where the said persons of the reformed religion do intend to settle themselves , there be found any ruinous and decay'd houses , or such as stand empty , and which the proprietors are not in a condition to repair , we will cause the same to be assigned to them , the said french protestants , as their propriety , and to their heits for ever ; and shall content the present proprietors , according to the value of the said houses ; and shall wholly free the same from all charges , to which the same might stand ingaged , whether by mortgage , debts , or any other way whatsoever . furthermore , our will is , that they be furnished with timber , quick lime , stones , bricks , and other materials they may stand in need of , for the repairing of whatsoever is decay'd or ruinous in any of the said houses ; which shall , for six years , be exempt from all sorts of impositions , free-quarter , and all other charges whatsoever : neither shall the said french , during the time of six years , be lyable to any payments whatsoever , but what are chatgeable upon things of daily consumption . vi. in cities or elsewhere , where convenient places shall be found for to build houses , those of the reformed religion , who shall make their retreat into our dominions , shall be fully authorized and impowered to take possession of the same , for themselves and their heirs after them , together with all the gardens , fields , and pasture-grounds belonging to the same , without being oblig'd to pay any of the dues and charges , with which the said places , or their dependances may be incumbred . moreover , for the facilitating their building in any of the said places , we will cause them to be furnished with all the materials they shall stand in need of ; and will over and above allow them ten years of exemption , during which they shall not be lyable to any other charges or payments , besides the dues charged upon things of daily spending . and furthermore , forasmuch as our intent is , to make their settlement in our dominions the most easie and commodious for them that may be ; we have given command to our magistrates and other officers in the said provinces , to make enquiry , in every city , for houses that are to be lett , into which it shall be free for the said french to enter , and take up their lodging as soon as they shall arrive ; and do promise to pay for them and their families for four years , the rent of the said houses , provided that they engage themselves , within the said term , to build in such places as shall be assigned for them , in manner , and upon condition as aforesaid . vii . as soon as they shall have taken up their habitation in any city or town of our dominions , they shall immediately be made free of the place , as also of that particular corporation , which by their trade of profession they belong to ; and shall enjoy the self-same rights and priviledges , which the citizens , burgesses , and freemen of the said places or corporations do enjoy , and that without being obliged to pay any thing for the said freedom , and without being lyable to the law of escheatage , or any other of what nature soever they may be , which in other countries are in force against strangers ; but shall be look'd upon , and treated upon all accounts , in the same manner , as our own natural subjects . viii . all those who are willing to undertake and establish any manufactures , whether of cloth , stuffs , hats , or any other whatsoever , shall not only be furnished with all the priviledges , patents , and franchises , which they can wish for , or desire ; but moreover we will take care that they be assisted with moneys , and such other provisions and necessaries as shall be thought fit to promote and make their undertaking successful . ix . to country-men and others , who are willing to settle themselves in the country , we will cause a certain extent of ground to be allotted for them to till and cultivate , and give orders for their being assisted and furnished with all things necessary for their subsistance , at the beginning of their settlement ; in like manner as we have done to a considerable number of swiss families , who are come to dwell in our dominions . x. and as for any business of law , or matter of difference which may arise amongst those of the reformed religion . we do grant and allow that in those cities where any considerable number of french families shall be settled , they be authorized to choose one from amongst themselves , who shall have full power to decide the said differences in a friendly way , without any formality of law whatsoever : and in case any differences shall arise between the germans and the said french , that then the said differences shall be decided joyntly by the magistrate of the place , and by the person whom the french shall have chosen for that purpose , from amongst themselves . and the same shall be done when the differences of frenchmen , amongst themselves , cannot be accommodated in the forementioned friendly way , by the person thereto by them elected . xi . in every city , where any numbers of french shall settle themselves , we will maintain a minister , and appoint a convenient place for the publick exercise of religion in the french tongue , according to the custom , and with the same ceremonies which are in use amongst the reformed in france . xii . and forasmuch as such of the nobility of france , who , heretofore , have put themselves under our protection , and entred into our service , do actually enjoy the same honours , dignities , and immunities with those of the country ; and that there are many found amongst them , who have been raised to the chief places and charges of our court , and command over our forces ; we are ready and willing to continue the same favour to those of the said nobility , who for time to come shall settle themselves in our dominions , by bestowing upon them the several charges honours and dignities , they shall be found fitted for . and in case they shall purchase any mannors or lordships , they shall possess the same with all the rights , prerogatives and immunities , which the nobility of our own dominions do of right enjoy . xiii . all these priviledges and advantages forementioned shall not only be extended to those french of the reformed religion , who shall arrive in our dominions ( in order to their settling there ) after the same date of this declaration ; but also to those , who before the date hereof , have settled themselves in our countries , provided they have been forced to leave france upon account of their religion ; they of the romish profession being wholly excluded from any part or share therein . xiv . in every one of our provinces , dutchies , and principalities , we shall appoint and establish certain commissioners , to whom the french of the reformed religion , may have recourse and address themselves upon all occasions of need ; and this not only at the beginning of their settlement , but also afterwards . and all governours and magistrates of our provinces and territories , shall have order by vertue of these presents , as well as by other particular commands , we shall from time to time issue forth , to take the said persons of the reformed religion into their protection , and to maintain them in all the priviledges here before mentioned , and not suffer the least hurt or injury to be done unto them , but rather all manner of favour , aid and assistance . given at postdam , octob. 26. 1685. frederick william . a letter from father la chese , confessor to the french king , to father pe●re , jesuit , and great almoner to the king of england , upon the method or rule he must observe with his majesty , for the conversion of his protestant subjects . most reverend father , when i compare the method of the french court ( which declares against all heresies ) with the policy of other princes , who had the same design in former ages ; i find so great a difference that all that passes now adaies in the king's council is an impenetrable mistery : and the eyes of all europe are opened , to see what happens ; but cannot discover the cause . when francis i. and henry ii. his son undertook to ruin the reformation , they had to struggle with a party which was but beginning and weak , and destitute of help ; and consequently easier to be overcome . in the time of francis ii. and charles ix . a family was seen advanc'd to the throne by the ruin of the protestants , who were for the house of bourbon . in this last reign many massacres hapned , and several millions of hereticks have been sacrificed , but it answer'd otherwaies : and his majesty has show'd ( by the peace and mild waies he uses ) that he abhors shedding of blood ; from which you must perswade his britannie majesty , who naturally is inclin'd to roughness , and a kind of boldness , which will make him hazard all , if he does not politickly manage it ; as i hinted in my last , when i mentioned my lord chancellor . most reverend father , to satisfie the desire i have to shew you by my letters the choice you ought to make of such persons fit to stir up , i will in few words ( since you desire it ) inform you of the genius of the people of our court , of their inclinations , and which of them we make use of ; that by a parallel which you will make , between them and your english lords , you may learn to know them . therefore i shall begin with the chief : i mean our great monarch . it is certain that he is naturally good , and loves not to do evil , unless desir'd to do it . this being so , i may say , he never would have undertaken the conversion of his subjects , without the clergy of france , and without our societies correspondence abroad . he is a prince enlightned ; who very well observes , that what we put him upon , is contrary to his interest , and that nothing is more opposite to his great designs , and his glory ; he aiming to be the terror of all europe . the vast number of malecontents he has caused in his kingdom , forces him in time of peace to keep three times more forces , than his ancestors did in the greatest domestick and foreign wars : which cannot be done , without a prodigious expence . the peoples fears also begin to lessen , as to his aspiring to an universal monarchy : and they may assure themselves he has left those thoughts ! nothing being more opposite to his designs , than the method we enjoyn him . his candor , bounty , and toleration , to the hereticks , would undoubtedly have open'd the doors of the low countries , palatinate , and all other states on the rhine , and even of switzerland : whereas things are at present so alter'd , that we see the hollanders free from any fear of danger ; the switzers and city of geneva , resolv'd to lose the last drop of their blood in their defence ; besides some diversion we may expect from the empire , in case we cannot hinder a peace with the turks ; which ought to hasten his britannick majesty , while he can be assured of succors from the most christian king. sir , his majesties brother is alwaies the same , i mean , takes no notice of what passes at court. it has sometimes happen'd , the king's brothers have acted so , as to be noted in the state ; but this we may be assur'd will never do any thing to stain the glory of his submission and obedience : and is willing to lend a helping hand for the destruction of the hereticks ; which appears by the instances he makes to his majesty , who now has promised him to cause his troops to enter into the palatinate the next month. the dauphin is passionately given up to hunting , and little regards the conversion of souls ; and it does not seem easie to make him penetrate into business of moment ; and therefore we do not care to consult him which way , and how , the hereticks ought to be treated . he openly laughs at us , and slights all the designs , of which the king his father makes great account . the dauphiness is extreamly witty ; and is without doubt uneasie to shew it in other matters besides complements of conversation . she has given me a letter for the queen of england ; wherein after her expression of the part she bears on the news of her majesties being with child , she gives her several advices about the conversion of her subjects . most reverend father , she is undoubtedly born a great enemy to the protestants ; and has promoted all she could with his majesty , in all that has been done , to hasten their ruin ; especially having been bred in a court of our society , and of a house whose hatred against the protestant religion is heraditary ; because she has been raised up by the ruine of the german protestant princes , especially that of the palatinate . but the king having caused her to come to make heirs to the crown , she answers expectation to the utmost . monsieur louvois is a man who very much observes his duty , which he performs to admiration ; and to whom we must acknowledge france owes part of the glory it has hitherto gained , both in regard of its conquests , as also the conversion of hereticks ; to which latter i may say , he has contributed as much as the king : he has already shewed himself fierce , wrathful , and hardhearted , in his actions towards them ; though he is not naturally inclin'd to cruelty , nor to harrass the people . his brother the archbishop of rheins , has ways which do not much differ from those of his soul ; and all the difference i find between is , that the archbishop loves his own glory , as much os monsieur de louvois loves that of his majesty . he is his own idol ; and give him but incense , and you may obtain any thing . honour is welcome to him , let it come which way it will. the least thing provokes this prelate ; and he will not yield any thing deregetary to his paternity . he will seem learned ; he will seem a great theologian , and will seem to be a good bishop , and to have a great care of his diocess ; and would heretofore seem a great preacher . i have hinted in my last ; the reasons why i cannot altogether like him ; which are needless to repeat . the archbishop of paris is always the same ; i mean , a gallant man ; whose present conversation is charming , and loves his pleasures ; but cannot bear any thing that grieves or gives trouble ; though he is always a great enemy of the jansenists , which he lately intimated to cardinal camus . he is always with me in the council of conscience , and agrees very well with our society ; laying mostly to heart the conversion of the protestants of the three kingdoms . he also makes very good observations , and designs to give some advice to your reverence , which i shall convey to you . i do sometimes impart to him , what you write to me , my lord kingston has embrac'd our good party : i was present when he abjur'd in the church of st. denys ; i will give you the circumstances some other time . you promised to send me the names of all heretick officers who are in his majesties troops ; that much imports me ; and you shall not want good catholick officers to fill up their places . i have drawn a list of them who are to pass into england ; and his most christian majesty approves thereof : pray observe what i hinted to you in my last , on the subject of the visits , which our fathers must give to the chief lords , members of the next parliament ; those reverend fathers , who are to perform that duty , must be middle-aged , with a lively countenance , and fit to perswade . i also advised you in some of my other letters , how the bishop of oxford ought to behave himself , by writing incessantly , and to insinuate into the people the putting down the test ; and at the same time cal● the storm , which the letter of pensionary fagel has raised . and his majesty must continue to make vigorous prohibitions to all booksellers in london , not to print any answers : as well to put a stop to the insolency of heretick authors ; as also to hinder the people from reading them . in short , you intimate to me , that his majesty will follow our advice : it 's the quickest way , and i cannot find a better , or fitter , to dispossess his subjects from such impressions as they have received . his majesty must also , by the same declaration , profess in conscience , that ( if complyed with ) he will not only keep his word , to maintain and protect the church of england ; but will also confirm his promises by such laws , as the protestants shall be contented with . this is the true politick way ; for by his granting all , they cannot but consent to something . his most christian majesty has with great success experienced this maxim : and though he had not to struggle with penal laws and tests , yet he found it convenient to make large promises , by many declarations ; for , since we must dissemble , you must endeavour all you can to perswade the king , it is the only method to effect his designs . i did also in my last , give you a hint of its importance , as well as the ways you must take to insinuate your selves dextrously with the king , to gain his good will. i know not whether you have observed what passed in england some years since , i will recite it , because examples instruct much . one of our assisting fathers of that kingdom ( which was father parsons ) having written a book against the succession of the king of scots , to the realm of england : father creighton , who was also of our society , and upheld by many of our party , defended the cause of that king , in a book intituled , the reasons of the king of scots , against the book of father parsons : and though they seem'd divided , yet they understood one another very well ; this being prcticed by order of our general , to the end , that if the house of scotland were excluded , they might shew him who had the government , the book of father parsons ; and on the other hand , if the king hapned to be restored to the throne , they might obtain the good will , by shewing him the works of father creighton : so that which way soever the medal turn'd , it still prov'd to the advantage of our society . not to digress from our subject , i must desire you to read the english book of father parsons , intituled , the reform of england ; where , after his blaming of cardinal pole , and ●ade some observations of faults in the council of trent , he finally concludes , that suppose england should return ( as we hope ) to the catholick faith in this reign , he would reduce it to the state of the primitive church : and to that end all the ecclesiastical revenue ought to be used in common , and the management thereof committed to the care of seven wise men , drawn out of our society , to be disposed of by them as they should think fit . moreover , he would have all the religious orders forbidden on religious penalties , not to return into the three kingdoms , without leave of those seven wise men : to the end , it might be granted only to such as live on alms. these reflections seem to me very judicious , and very suitable to the present state of england . the same father parsons adds , that when england is reduced to the true faith , the pope must not expect , at least for five years , to reap any benefit of the ecclesiastical revenue ; but must leave the whole in the hands of those seven wise men ; who will manage the same to the benefit and advancement of the church . the court goes this day for marli , to take the divertisements which are there prepared : i hope to accompany the king , and will entertain him about all business ; and accordingly as he likes what you hint to me in your letter , i shall give you notice . i have acquainted him with his britannic majesties design , of building a citadel near white-hall ; monsieur vauban , our engineer was present : after some discourse on the importance of the subject , his majesty told monsieur vauban , that he thought it convenient he should make a model of the design , and that he should on purpose go over into england , to see the ground . i have done all i could to suspend the designs of our great monarch , who is alwaies angry against the holy father : both parties are stubborn : the kings natural inclination is , to have all yield to him ; and the popes resolution is unalterable . all our fathers most humbly salute your reverence . father reine ville acts wonderfully about nismes amongst the new converts ; who still meet , notwithstanding the danger they expose themselves to . i daily expect news from the frontiers of the empire , which i shall impart to your reverence , and am with the greatest respect , paris , march , 7. 1688. yours , &c. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a49221-e210 ☞ an account of the persecutions and oppressions of the protestants in france plaintes des protestants cruellement opprimez dans le royaume de france. english claude, jean, 1619-1687. 1686 approx. 147 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 30 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33374 wing c4589 estc r18292 12395584 ocm 12395584 61156 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. a33374) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61156) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 958:10) an account of the persecutions and oppressions of the protestants in france plaintes des protestants cruellement opprimez dans le royaume de france. english claude, jean, 1619-1687. 56 p. printed for j. norris, london : 1686. attributed to jean claude. cf. nuc pre-1956. 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 protestants -france -early works to 1800. huguenots -early works to 1800. dissenters, religious -france. 2006-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-07 taryn hakala sampled and proofread 2007-07 taryn hakala text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an account of the persecutions and oppressions of the protestants in france . london , printed for j. norris . 1686. an exact account of the cruel oppressions and persaecutions of the french protestants . the cruelties exercis'd of late on the protestants in france , do appear so detestable to all , who have not divested themselves of humanity , that no wonder the authors of them use their utmost endeavours to lessen what they cannot conceal . were not this worse than barbarous usage , a project of a long contrivance , a man might for charity 's sake , suppose this their palliating it , to be an acknowledgment of their own displeasure at it . however , their boldness is inexcusable , who shall endeavour to impose on the world in matters known ; not by gazetts , and news-letters , but by an infinite number of fugitives of all conditions , who have nothing left but tears and miseries to bring along with them into foreign nations . 't is certainly too barbarous to oppress innocent people in their own countrey ; and afterwards to stifle their complaints in other places where they are driven ; and by this means deprive them of a compassion which the bare instincts of nature never refuse to the miserable . yet this is the course our persecutors of france have held ; their cruelty must be attended with impostures , that the mischiefs which they have acted may pass undiscovered . i think we should be much to blame , if we suffer them to go on in this second design , as they have done in the first ; and therefore we shall choose some principal instances , whereon we shall make such reflections , as thereby to judge with greater evidence and exactness on the whole proceeding . and as we shall offer nothing but what shall be perfectly true ; so we shall advance nothing in our reflections , but what all the world of reasonable people will allow . to begin with matters of fact : there 's no body but knows , that a while after his present majesty of france came to the crown , there arose in the kingdom a civil war ; which proved so sharp and desperate , as brought the state within an hairs breadth of utter ruine . 't is also known , that in the midst of all these troubles , those of the reformed religion kept their loyalty in so inviolable a manner , and attended it with such a zeal and extraordinary fervour , that the king found himself obliged to give publick marks of it , by a declaration made at st. germains , in the year 1652. then as well at court , as in the field , each strove to proclaim loudest the deserts of the reformists ; and the queen mother her self readily acknowledged , that they had preserved the state : this is known by all , but 't will hardly be believed , though it be too true , what our enemies themselves an hundred times told us ; and which the sequel has but too shrewdly confirmed , that this was precisely the principal and most essential cause of our ruine ; and of all the mischiefs which we have since suffered . endeavours were used to envenom all these important services in the kings and his ministers minds , by perswading them , that if in this occasion , this party could conserve the state ; this shewed , they could likewise overthrow it , should they have ranked themselves on the other side ; and might still do it , when such alike occasion should offer it self . that therefore this party must be suppressed , and the good they have done no longer regarded ; but as an indication of the mischief , which they may one day be capable of doing . this diabolical reasoning , which hinders subjects from serving their prince , to avoid drawing on themselves chastisements , instead of recompences , was relish'd as a piece of most refined policy . for as soon as the kingdom was settled in peace , the design was advanced of destroying the reformists ; and the better to make them comprehend that their zeal had ruined them , the cities which had shewed most of it , were first begun with . immediately then , on slight pretences , they fell on rochel , montaubon , and milan ; three towns , where those of the reformed religion had most signalized themselves for the interests of the court ; rochel underwent an infinite number of prescriptions , montaubon and milan were sackt by the soldiers . but these being but particular stroaks and meer preludes , which decided nothing , they tarried not long before they made appear the great and general machius , they were to use in the carrying on of their intended design to the last extremity . 't will be a difficult matter to give an exact account of these several methods : for never humane malice produced such multiplicity of them ; every day brought forth new ones for twenty years together . to take only notice of the chief of them ; which were , first , law suits in courts of justice . secondly , deprivations from all kinds of offices and employs ; and in general , of all ways of subsistance . thirdly , the infraction of edicts , under the notion of explications of them . fourthly , new laws and orders . fifthly , juggles and amusing tricks . sixthly , the animating of people , and inspiring them with hatred against us . these are the most considerable means , which the persecuters have employed to attain their ends , during several years ; i say , during several years ; for what they designed , being no easie matter , they needed therefore time , to order their engins ; not to take notice of their traverses and interruptions by forrain wars ; yet whose success have not a little contributed to encrease their courage , and confirm them in the design which they had against us . the first of these means has had an infinite extent . we should begin with the recital of all the condemnations of churches , or suppressions of exercises of religion , and all the other vexations which have hapned by the establishing of commissaries ; this was a snare dexterously laid immediately after the treaty of the picenees , the king under pretence of repairing the edict of nants , sent them in the provinces . the roman catholic commissary was every where his majesties intendant ; who was besure a fit man for the purpose , armed with the royal authority , and who was well instructed in the secret aim . the other , was either some hungry officer , a slave to the court , or some poor gentleman , who had usually neither intelligence requisite in these sort of affairs , nor the liberty of speaking his sentiments . the clergy had set them up ; he was their ambulatory spirit . the syndicks were received before them as formal parties in all our affairs ; the assignations were given in their name , the prosecutions also ; and as well the discords of the commissaries , as the appeals from their ordinances , must be finally decided in the kings council . thus in general , all the rights of the churches , for the exercises of religion , the burying places , and all such dependancies , were called into a review , and consequently exposed to the fresh pursuits of the clergy , and the ill intention of the judges . in which there was not the least dram of equity ; for the edict having bin once executed , according to the intention of him that made it , there needed no second touches ; it being moreover , wholly unlikely those of the reformed religion , who had bin ever in the kingdom the suffering party , could usurp any thing therein ; and extend its limits beyond what belong'd to them . but there were other designs in hand than the providing against the contraventions , and therefore by this order , the greatest part of the churches cited for the justifying of their rights , saw themselves soon condemned one after another , by decrees of council , how good and sufficient soever their titles and defences were . scarcely passed a week , wherein these kind of decrees were not made ; and if it hapned , that the modesty of the judges saved any of them , by the great evidence of their right , as this sometimes hapned ; besides that , the number was small , in comparison of those condemned , the judges often received order to condemn them , when they shewed they could not in conscience do it . but the oppressions of this kind , did not terminate in the bare condemnation of churches ; for particular persons had their part . in ordinary and civil affairs , where the matter concerned a piece of land , perhaps , a house , a debt between a roman catholick and a person of our religion ; religion was to be sure always one of the chief heads of the accusation ; the monks , the emissaries , the confessors , and all the whole tribe of that crew , interessed themselves in the affair . in courts of justice , all the cry was , i plead against an heretick , i have to do with a man of a religion odious to the state ; and which the king would have extirpated . by this means , there was no longer any justice to be expected , few judges were proof against this false zeal , for fear of drawing the fury of the whole cabal against him , or passing for a favourer of hereticks . 't is not to be imagined how many unjust sentences these sort of prejudices have given , in all the courts of the kingdom ; and how many mens families have bin ruined by them : when any one complained , the answer was ready , you have the remedy in your own hands ; why do you not turn catholick . yet all this had bin nothing , had the persecution kept here , and not proceeded to fasten on the reputation , the liberty , and even the very lives of persons , by a general inundation ( as a man may term it ) of criminal processes . writings were printed at paris , and sent from thence to all cities and parishes of the kingdom , which impowred the curates , churchwardens and others , to make an exact enquiry into whatsoever the pretended reformists might have done , or said for twenty years past , as well on the subject of religion as otherwise , to make information of this before the justices of the place ; and punish them without remission . so have we seen for several years , in execution of these orders , the prisons every where fill'd with these kind of criminals ; neither were false witnesses lacking ; and that which was most horrible , was , that though the judges were convinced they were knights of the post , yet they maintained them , and carry'd them throw such points , as they knew to be untrue . they condemned innocent and vertuous persons to be whipt , to the gallies , to banishment and publick penances . and if a spark of honor or conscience , at any time hindred them , yet there was always at least an impunity for the false witness . this kind of persecution fell chiefly on the ministers ; for of a long time they might not preach , without having for auditors , or to speak better , observators , a troop of priests , monks and missionaries , and such kind of people , who made no scruple to charge them with things , which they not so much as thought of ; and turn others into a contrary meaning . they also went so far as to devine the thoughts , to make crimes ; for as soon as ever any minister spake of egypt , pharaoh , the israelites , of good or bad people , ( as 't is difficult not to speak of these matters , when they explained the scripture ) these spies never failed to report , that by egypt , and the wicked , they meant the catholicks , and by the israelites , the pretended reformists . the judges concerned themselves in this , and what is most strange , the ministers of state themselves respected these interpretations of thoughts , as evident proofs . on these grounds , the magistrates filled the prisons whith these kind of poor people , keeping them therein for whole years together , and often inflicted on them several corporal penalties . 't is already seen by this first kind of persecution , what were the usages shewed in france to the reformists before they came to the utmost violence . but we shall see them appear more , in what we have to add , touching the privation of offices and employs , and in general , of the means of gaining a livelihood ; which is the second way we mentioned , that has been used to effect our ruine . 't is not hard to comprehend , that in a great kingdom , as france is , where the protestants were dispersed over all parts , there were an infinite number , who could not subsist nor maintain their families , but by the liberty of serving the publick , either in offices , arts , trades , or faculties , each according to his calling . henry the great , was so well convinced of the necessity and justice of this , that he made it an express article , the most distinct perhaps and formal , of all contained in his edict : and therefore 't was here the persecutors thought themselves obliged to use their utmost endeavours . in this regard , they began with the arts and trades ; which under several pretences , they rendered almost inaccessible to the protestants , by the difficulties of arriving to the mastership of them , and by the excessive expences , they must be at to be received therein , there being no candidate , but was forced for this purpose to maintain law suits , under the weight of which , they for the most part fell , not being able to hold them out . but this not being sufficient , by a declaration made in 1669. they were reduced to one third , in the towns where the protestants were more in number than the other inhabitants ; and they were forbidden to receive any therein till this diminution was made , which at one stroke excluded all the pretenders . some time after they absolutely drove all the reformists from the consulships , and all other municipal officers of the cities , which was in effect the depriving them of the knowledg of their proper affairs , and interests , to invest wholly the catholics with them . in 1680. the king issued out an order , which deprived them in general of all kind of offices and employs , from the greatest to the smallest : they were made incapable so much as to exercise any employ in the custom-houses , guard , treasury , or post-offices ; to be messengers , coach-men , or waggoners , or any thing of this nature . in the year 1681. by a decree of council , all notaries , attorneys , solicitors , and sergeants , making profession of the reformed religion , were rendered uncapable throughout all the kingdom . a year after , all lords and gentlemen of the reformed religion were ordered to discharge their officers and servants of the said religion , and not make use of them in any case , without other reason than that of their religion . in 1683. all officers belonging to the kings houshold , and those of the princes of the blood , were also rendred uncapable of holding their places . the councellors and other officers of ayds , and chambers of accounts , and those of seneschalship , baily wicks , and royalties , admiralry , provostships , and marshal's courts , treasury excise , and others , who belonged to the toll-offices , and such like businesses , were ordered to leave their places in favour of the catholicks . in 1684. all secretaries belonging to the king and great officers of france , as well titulary , as honorary ones , and their widows , were deprived by a revocation of all their priviledges of what nature soever they were . they also deprived all those that had purchased any priviledges for the exercising of any professions , as merchants , surgeons , apothecaries , and vintners , nd all others , without exception . nay , they proceeded to this excess , that they would not suffer any midwives of the reformed religion to do their office , and expresly ordained for the future , our wives should receive no assistance in that condition , but from roman catholicks . 't is not to be exprest how many particular persons and families they reduced every where , by these strange and unheard of methods , to ruine and misery . but because there were yet many which could sustain themselves ; other methods of oppression must be invented : to this end they issued out an edict from the council , by which the new converts , as they call them , were discharged from any payments of their debts for three years . this , for the most part , fell on the reformists , who , having had a more particular tye of interest and affair with these pretended converts , because of their communion of religion , were reckoned amongst their chief creditors : by this order they had found the secret to recompense those that changed , at the charge of those who continued firm : and this they did likewise by another way ; for they discharged the converts of all the debts , which those of the religion had contracted in common , which by consequence fell on the rest . add to this , the prohibition to fell or alienate their estates , on any pretence whatever , the king annulling and breaking all contracts , and other acts relating to that matter : if it did not appear , that after these acts , they had stayed in the kingdom a whole year : so that the last remedy of helping themselves with their estates in extream necessity , was taken from them . they deprived them likewise of another , which seemed the only one remaining , which was , to seek their bread elsewhere , by retiring into other countries , there to get their living by labour , since this was not permitted them in france . by repeated edicts the king forbad them to leave his kingdom , on severe penalties , which drove them to the last despair ; since they saw themselves reduced to the horrible necessity of dying with hunger in their own countrey , without daring to go to live elsewhere . but the cruelty of their enemies stopt not here , for there yet remained some gleanings in the provinces , though very few , and as thin as those in pharaoh's dream . the intendants in their districts had order to load the reformed with taxes , which they did , either by laying upon them the tax of the new catholicks , who were discharged thereof on favour of their conversion , or by laying exorbitant taxes , which they called duties , that is to say , he who in the ordinary roll was assessed at forty or fifty livers , was charged by this impostion at seven or eight hundred . thus had they nothing more left , for all was a prey to the rigour of the intendants . they raised their taxes by the effectual quartering of dragoons , or imprisonment , from whence they were not freed till they had paid the utmost farthing . these were the two first engins or machins which the clergy made use of against us : to which they added a third , which we have termed the infractions of the edict of nantes , under pretence of explication . those who would know their number and quality , need only read the books written and published on this subject ; as well by the jesuite menier , an author famous for his illusions ▪ as by one beanard , an officer in the presidial court of besier in languedoc . there you will find all the turns , which the meanest and most unworthy sophistry could invent , to elude the clearest texts of the edict , and to corrupt the sincerity thereof . but because we do here give you only a brief account of our , troubles , we will content our selves with observing some of the principal , issuing from this fountain : what was there , for example , more clear and unquestionable in the edict than this ; viz. that 't was given with an intention to maintain those of the religion , in all the rights that nature and civil society give to men. yet in 1681. there came out an edict , that children might at the age of seven years , abjure the reformed religion , and embrace the catholick , under pretence , that the edict did not precisely mark , that at this age they should continue at their parents disposal . who sees not that this was a meer trick , seing that on one hand , the edict forbad to take the children from their parents by force , or fair means : and on the other hand , the edict supposed and confirmed all the natural rights , of which , without controversie , this is one of the most inviolable . was there ever a more manifest infraction of the edict , than that , which forbad those of the protestant religion , who had passed over to the roman , to return to that they had left , under pretence , that the edict did not formally give them in express terms this liberty . for when the edict permits generally all the kings subjects liberty of conscience , and forbids the perplexing and troubling them , and offering any thing contrary to this liberty . who sees not that this exception , touching the pretended relapsers , is so far from being an explication of the edict , that 't is a notable violation of it . whereunto we may add the charge given to the roman catholicks not to change their religion , and embrace the reformed . for when the edict gives liberty of conscience , it does it in proper terms , for all those , who are , and shall be of the said religion . yet if we believe the clergy , this was not henry the great 's meaning , intending only to grant it to those , who made profession of it , at the time of the making his edict . that of nantes gave also to the reformed , the priviledges of keeping small schools in all places , where they had the exercise of their religion , and by this term of small or little schools , according to the common explication , those were always understood , where one might teach latin and humanity . this is the sence , which has been ever given in all the kingdom , to this expression , which is still given when it concerns the roman catholicks . yet by a new interpreation , this permission was restrained to the bare liberty of teaching to read , and write , as if the reformed were unworthy to learn any more ; and this on purpose , to tire out the parents , and drive them to this extremity , either not to know what to do with their children , or be forced to send them to the roman catholicks for education . the edict gave them the liberty in all places where they had churches , to instruct publickly their children , and others , in what concerns religion , which visibly establisht the right of teaching them theology , seeing their theology is nothing else but this religion . and as to colleges , wherein they might be instructed in liberal sciences , the edict promised letters pattents in good form . yet 't was supposed the edict gave no right to the reformed to instruct them in theology , nor to have colleges , and on this supposition , three academies were condemned , all that remained . that of sedan , although grounded on a particular edict , was supprest as the rest , and even before them . but we must go further , and seeing we have undertaken , to shew in this abridgment , the principal things they have done to exercise our patience , before they came to the utmost fury . we are not to pass over the new orders , or new laws , which were to us as so many new inventions to torment us . the first of these orders , which appeared , was touching the manner of buryals , and entering the dead . the number of attendants were reduced to thirty persons in those places where the exercise of our religion was actually established , and to ten where it was not . orders were also issued out to hinder the communication of provinces with one another , by circulary letters , or otherwise ; though about matters of alms and disposal of charity . prohibitions were likewise made of holding colloquies in the interval of synods , excepting in two cases , the providing for churches destitute by the deaths of their ministers ; and the correction of some scandals . they likewise took away from those places , allowed by the edict , which they call'd exercises de fief , all the marks of the temples , as the bell , the pulpit , and other things of this nature . they were likewise forbidden to receive their ministers in synods to have any deciding voice there , or to note them in the catalogue of those that belong'd to churches . others forbad the singing of psalms in private houses , as also some that commanded them to cease singing even in their temples when the sacrament passed by , or at the time of any procession . others were made to hinder marriages , such times as were forbidden by the romish church . others forbad ministers to preach any where , except in the place of their usual residence . others forbad their setling in places , unless sent by the synods , though the consistories had call'd them thither according to their usual forms . others were made to hinder the synods from sending to any churches more ministers than were there in the preceding synod . others , to hinder those that design'd for the ministry , to be educated in foreign universities . others banish'd all foreign ministers , though they had been ordained in the kingdom , and spent there the greatest part of their lives . others forbad ministers , or cardinals for the ministry to reside in places where preaching was forbidden , or nearer than six miles of them . others forbad the people to assemble in the temples , under pretence of praying , reading , or singing of psalms , except in the presence of a minister , placed there by the synod . one ridiculous one was made to take away all the backs of the seats in the churches , and reduce them all to an exact uniformity . another , to hinder the churches that were a little more rich , to assist the weaker , for the maintenance of their ministers , and other necessities . another to oblige parents to give their children , who changed their religion , great pensions . another to forbid marriages betwixt parties of different religions , even in the case of scandalous cohabitation . another to prohibit those of the religion , from that time , to entertain in their houses any domesticks or servants that were roman catholicks . another which made them uncapable of being tutors or guardians ; and consequently put all the minors , whose fathers dyed in the profession of the protestant religion , under the power and education of roman catholicks . another forbidding ministers and elders to hinder any of their flock , either directly or indirectly , to embrace the roman religion , or to dissuade them form it . another forbidding jews and mahometans to embrace the reformed religion ; and the ministers either to instruct or receive them into it . another subjecting synods to receive such roman catholick commissaries as should be sent them from the king , with an express order to do nothing , but in their presence . another for bidding the consistories to assemble oftner than once in fifteen days , and in presence of a catholick commissary . another forbidding consistories to assist , on pretence of charity to the poor sick persons of their religion ; and ordaining that the sick should be carried into their hospitals , strictly forbidding any man to entertain them in their houses . another confiscating , in favour of hospitals , all the lands , rents , and other profits of what nature soever , which might have appertained to a condemned church . another forbidding ministers to come nearer than three leagues to the place where the priviledges of preaching was in question or debate . another confiscated to the hospitals all the revenues and rents set apart for the maintenance of the poor , even in such churches as were yet standing . another subjecting sick and dying persons to the necessity of receiving visits , sometimes from judges , commissionaries , or church-wardens ; sometimes of curates , monks , missionaries , or other ecclesiasticks , to induce them to change their religion , or require of them express declarations concerning it . another forbidding parents to send their children before sixteen years of age to travel in forreign countries , on any pretence whatsoever . another prohibiting lords or gentlemen to continue the exercise of religion in their houses , unless they had first produced their titles before the commissaries , and obtained from them a license to have preaching . another which restrained the right of entertaining a minister to those only , who were in possession of their lands ever since the edict of nantes , in a direct or collateral line . another which forbad churches called baillage , to receive into their temples any of another bailywick . another which enjoined physitians , apothecaries , and chirurgeons , to advertise the curates or magistrates of the condition of sick protestants , that the magistrates or curates might visit them . but amongst all these new laws , those which have most served the design and intention of the clergy , have been on one hand , the prohibition of receiving into their temples any of those who had changed their religion , nor their children , nor any roman catholick of what age , sex , or condition soe●er , under pain of forfeiting their churches , and the ministers doing publick pennance , with banishment and confiscation of their estates ; and on the other fide , the setting up in all the temples a particular bench for the catholicks to sit on ; for by this means , as soon as any one resolved to change his religion , they needed only to make him do it in private , and to find him the next morning in the temple , to be observed there by the catholicks , who were in their seat. immediately informations were made , and afterwards condemnations , in all the rigour of the law. the roman catholicks needed only to enter into the temple , under pretence , that they had a place there , and then they slipt in amongst the croud , and immediately this was a contravention to the declaration , and an unavoidable condemnation . 't is by this means they have destroyed an infinite number of temples and churches , and put into irons a great number of innocent ministers ; for villains and false witnesses were not wanting in this occasion . all these proceedings were so violent , that they must needs make a strong impression in the reformists minds , whereunto these things tended . and in effect , there were many of them , that bethought themselves of their safety , by leaving the kingdom , some transported themselves into one kingdom , and some into another , according as their inclinations led them . but this was what the court never intended , for more than one reason ; and therefore to hinder them , they renewed from time to time this decree , which we have mentioned , which strictly prohibited , under the most severe penalties , any to depart the kingdom without leave ; and to this end they strictly guarded all passages on the frontiers . but these precautions did not answer their expectations , and 't was better to blind the people , by hopes of abating this rigorous usage at home ; and to this end in 1669. the king revoked several violent decrees , which produced the effect expected . for though the judicious saw well enough , that this moderation sprang not from a good principle , and that , in the sequel , the same decrees would be put in execution , yet the most part imagined they would still confine themselves within some bounds in our regard , and that they would not pass to a total destruction . we have often drawn the same conclusions from the several verbal declarations , which came many times from the kings own mouth , that he pretended not to indulge us , but he would do us perfect justice , and let us enjoy the benefits of the edicts in their whole extent , that he would be very glad to see all his subjects re-united to the catholick religion , and would for the effecting this , contribute all his power , but there should be no bloud shed , during his reign , on this account , nor any violence exercised . these precise and re-iterated declarations , gave us hopes the king would not forget them ; and especially in essential matters , he would let us enjoy the effects of his bounty and equity . 't was the more expected by a letter , he wrote to the elector of brandenburgh , the copies of which the ministers of state took care to disperse through the whole kingdom . his majesty assured him , that he was well satisfyed with the behaviour of his protestant subjects , from whence he drew this natural conclusion , that he intended not then to destroy us . to which we may add the managements used sometimes in the council , where churches were conserved , at the same time when others were crdered to be demolish'd ; to make the world believe , they observed measures of justice , and that those which they condemned , were not grounded on good titles . sometimes they softned several too rigorous decrees ; other times they seemed not to approve of the violences offered by the intendants and magistrates ; even to the giving of orders to moderate them . in this manner did they hinder the execution of a decree made in the parliament of rouen , which enjoyned those of the reformed religion to fall on their knees , when they met the sacrament . thus did they stop the prosecutions of a puny judge of charenton , who ordered us to strike out of our liturgy a prayer which was composed for the faithful , that groaned under the tyranny of antichrist . 't is thus also , that they did not extreamly favour another persecution which began to come general in the kingdom against the ministers , under pretence of obliging them to take an oath of allegiance , wherein other clauses were inserted , contrary to what ministers owe to their charges and religion . 't was thus also they suspended the execution of some edicts , which themselves had procured , as well to tax the ministers , as to oblige them to reside precisely in the place where they exercised their ministry . with the same design the syndic's of the clergy , had the art to let the principal churches of the kingdom to be at rest , for many years without disturbance in their assemblies ; whilst they in the mean time , desolated all those in the country . they suspended also the condemnation of the universities , and reserved them for the last . it was also in this view , that at court , the first seemed unable to belive , and at last not to approve of the excesses , which one marillac an intendant of poitu , committed in his province : a man poor and cruel , more fit to prey on the high-ways , than to be intendant of a province ; though indeed they had a clause expresly to make these expeditions . but amongst all these illusions , there 's none more remarkable , than five or six , which will not be improper here to take notice of : the first was , that at the very time , when at the court they issued out all the decrees , declarations , and edicts , which we have spoken of here before , and which they caused to be put in execution with the greatest rigour , at the same time , that they interdicted their churches , demolished their temples , deprived particular persons of their offices and employments , reduced people to poverty and hunger , imprisoned them , loaded them with fines , banish'd them , and in a word , ravag'd almost all ; the intendants , governours , magistrates , and other officers in paris , and over all the kingdom , coolly and gravely gave out , the king had not the least intention to touch the edict of nantes , but would most religiously observe it . the second was , that in the same edict , which the king publish'd to forbid roman catholicks to embrace the reformed religion , which was in the year 1682. that is to say , at a time when they had already greatly advanced the work of our destruction ; they caused a formal clause to be inserted in these terms , that he confirmed the edict of nantes , as much as it was or should be needful . the third , that in the circular letters which the king wrote to the bishops and intendants , to oblige them to signifie the pastoral advertisement of the clergy to our consistories , he tells them in express terms , that his intention was not that they should do any thing that might attempt upon what had been granted to those of the reformed religion , by the edicts and declarations made in their favour . the fourth , that by an express declaration publish'd about the latter end of the year 1684. the king ordained , that ministers should not remain in the same church , above the space of three years , nor return to the first , within the space of twelve ; and that they should be thus translated from church to church , at least twenty leagues distant from the other ; supposing by a manifest consequence , that his design was yet to permit the exercise of religion to the ministers in the kingdom for twelve years at least . though indeed they at that moment design'd the revocation of the edict , and had resolved it in the council . the fifth consists in a request presented to the king , by the assembly of the clergy at the same time , that they were drawing an edict to revoke that of nantes , and put into the hands of the procurer general to frame it ; and in the decree which was granted on this request , the clergy complain'd of the misrepresentations which the ministers are wont to make of the roman church , to which they attribute doctrines which they do not hold , and beseech his majesty to provide against it . and also expresly declared , that they did not yet desire the revocation of the edict , upon which the king by his decree expresly forbad the ministers to speak either good or hurt , directly or indirectly of the church of rome in their sermons ; supposing , as every one may see , that 't was his intention still to let them preach ; were ever such illusions known ! but was there ever any greater than this which they put in the very edict we speak of ? the king after having cancelled and annul'd the edict of nantes , and all that depended thereon , after having interdicted for ever all publick religious exercises , he also for ever banish'd all the ministers from his kingdom , and expresly declares , that his will is , that his other subjects , who are not willing to change their religion , may remain where they are in all liberty , enjoy their estates , and live with the same freedom as heretofore , without any molestation on pretence of their religion , till it shall please god to enlighten and convert them . these were amusements and snares to entrap them , as it has since appeared , and it still appears every day by the horrible usages they suffer , and of which we shall speak in what follows . but we shall , first , mention a preparatory machin , which the persecutors have not fail'd to employ to effect their design , and which we have reckoned to be the sixth in order . it consists in disposing insensibly the people by degrees to desire our destruction ; to approve of it when done , and to diminish in their mind the horror which naturally they must have at the cruelties and injustices of our persecutors contrivances . for this parpose several means have been used , and the commonest have been the sermons of the missionaries and other controversial preachers , with which the kingdom has been for some years stockt , under the title of royal missions . there were fitting youths , chosen for this purpose , who had such an education given them , which was so far from making them moderate , as rather enflamed them ; so that 't is easy to comprehend what actors these are , when they not only found themselves upheld , but saw themselves moreover set on , and had express orders to inspire their hearers with choler . and so well did they acquit themselves herein , that 't was not their fault if popular emotions have not followed thereon in great cities , yea in paris it self , had not the prudence of the magistrates hindred them . to the preachers we must join the confessors and directors of mens consciences , the monks , the curates , and in general , all the ecclesiasticks from the highest to the lowest ; for they being not ignorant of the courts intention in this matter , every one strove to shew most zeal , and aversion to the reformed religion , because every one found his interest lay therein , this being the only way to raise and establish his fortune . in this design of animating the people , there past few days wherein the streets did not ring , as well with the publication of decrees , edicts , and declarations against the protestants , as also with satyrical and seditious libels , of which the people in the towns of france are very greedy . but these things served only for the meaner sort of people , and the persecutors had this mortification to see this design disapproved by all those who were a degree above the mobile . wherefore they employed the pens of some of their authors , who had acquired any reputation in the world ; and amongst others , that of the author of the history of theodosius the great , and that of mr. maimburg , heretofore a jesuite . he publish'd his history of calvinism , of which he has since had the leasure to repent , by the smart and pertinent answers which have been given him : their example has been followed by several others ; and monsieur arnaud , who will always make one in these matters , would not deny himself the satisfaction of venting his choler ; and at the same time endeavour to recover the favour he has lost at court. but although his apology for the catholicks was a work as full of fire and passion as the bigots themselves could wish , yet 't was not agreeable , because his person was not ; he was so ill gratified for it , that he complained thereof to the arch-bishop of rheims , in a letter , the copies whereof were dispersed over all paris . amongst other things , he exaggerated his misfortune , and compared himself with another , who for much less services , received twenty thousand livers , as a reward from the king. this more and more shewed the character of the person . however they needed not him , not wanting violent writers , amongst whom we must not forget one mr. soulier , formerly ( as they say ) a taylor , and at present author of the history of the edicts ●f pacification ; nor mr. nicole , once a great jansenist , and now a proselyte of the archbishops of paris ; author of the book entituled , protestants convinced of schism : nor the author of the journal des scavants , who , in his ordinary gazets highly affirms . that the catholick faith must be planted by fire and sword , alledging for the proof thereof a king of norway , who converted the nobles of his country , by threatning them , to stay their children before their eyes , if they would not consent to have them baptized , and to be baptized themselves . for a long time we have seen in paris , and elsewhere , nothing but such sort of writings to such a height was passion come . whilst all these things , which we have here observed , were done in france , they by great steps advanced to their end . 't is not to be imagined the reformed neglected their common interests or did not all that respected a just and lawful defence . they frequently sent , from the furthest provinces , their deputies to the court ; they maintained their rights before the council ; thither they brought their complaints from all parts . they employed their deputy general to solicit their interests , as well with the judges and ministers of state , as with the king himself . sometimes also they presented general addresses , in which they exposed their grievances , with all the humility and deference that subjects owe their soveraigns . but they were so far from being heard , that their troubles were still encreased , and their second condition became worse than the first . the last petition , presented to the king himself , by the deputy general , in march , 1684. was exprest in terms most submissive , and most capable of moving pity , as every one may judge , having been since printed ; and yet it produced no other fruit , but the hastning of what they had long resolved , namely , to use open force to accomplish our ruine . this was effectually done some months after , and executed in a manner so terrible and violent , that , as we said in the beginning , there are few in europe , how distant soever from the notice of the common accidents of the world , who have not heard the report of it ; but 't is certain , the circumstances are not known to all , and therefore we shall give an account of them in few words ; if it be but to stop the mouth of their impudence , who publisht abroad , that no violences have been offered in france , and the conversions there made , were with free consent . at first they took this measure , to quarter soldiers in all their provinces , almost at the same time , and chiefly dragoons , which are the most resolute troops of the kingdom . terror and dread marched before them , and as it were , by consent , all france was filled with this news , that the king would not longer suffer any hugonots in his kingdom ; and that they must resolve to change their religion , nothing being able to keep them from it . they began with bearn , where the dragoons did their first executions ; these were followed soon after in high and low guienne , xantoigne , aunix , poitu , high languedoc , vivarets , and dauphine ; after which they came to lionois , gevennes , low languedoc , provence , valeës , and the country of geix , afterwards they fell on the rest of the kingdom , normandy , bourgoigne , nivernoix , and berry ; the countries of orleans , tourain , anjou , britany , champagne , picardy , and the isle of france , not excluding paris it self , which underwent the same fate ; the first thing , the intendants were ordered to do , was to summon the cities and commonalties . they assembled the inhabitants thereof , who profest the reformed religion , and there told them , 't was the king's pleasure they should without delay become catholics ; and if they would not do it freely , they would make them do it by force , the poor people , surprised with such a proposal , answered , they were ready to sacrifice their estates and lives to the king , but their consciences , being gods , they could not in that manner dispose of them . there needed no more to make them immediately bring the dragoons , which were not far off . the troops immediately seized on the gates and avenues of the cities ; they placed guards in all the passages , and often came with their swords in their hands , crying , kill , kill , or else be catholics , they were quartered on the reformists at discretion , with a strict charge , that none should depart out of their houses , nor conceal any of their goods or effects , on great penalties , even on the catholics , that should receive or assist them in any manner . the first days were spent in consuming all provisions the house afforded , and taking from them whatever they could see , money , rings , jewels , and in general , whatsoever was of value . after this , the pillaged the family , and invited , not only the catholics of the place , but also , those of the neighbouring cities and towns , to come and buy the goods , and other things which would yield money . afterwards they fell on their persons , and there 's no wickedness or horror which they did not put in practise , to force them to change their religion . amidst a thousand hideous cries , and a thousand blasphemies , they hung men and women by the hair or feet , on the roofs of the chamber , or chimney hooks , and smoakt them with whisps of wet hay , till they were no longer able to bear it , and when they had taken them down , if they would not sing , they hung them up immediately again . they threw them into great fires kindled on purpose ; and pulled them not out till they were half roasted . they tyed ropes under their arms , and plunged them to and again into wells , from whence they would not take them , till they had promised to change their religion . they tyed them as they do criminals , put to the question ; and in this posture , with a funnel fill'd with wine , poured it down their throats , till the fumes of it depriving them of their reason , they made them say they would consent to be catholics . they stript them naked , and after having offered them a 1000 infamous indignities , they stuck them with pins from the top to the bottom . they cut them with penknifes , and sometimes with red hot pincers took them by the nose , and dragged them about their rooms , till they promised to become catholics , or that the cries of these poor wretches , that in this condition call'd on god for their assistance , constrained them to let them go . they beat them with staves , and dragged them , all bruised , to the churches , where their bare forced presance was accounted for an abjuration . they held them from sleeping seven or eight days , relieving one another to watch them night and day , and keept them waking . they threw buckets of water on their faces , and tormented them a 1000 ways , holding over their heads kettles turned downwards , whereon they made a continual noise , till these poor creatures had even lost their sences . if they found any sick , either men or women , that kept their beds , distempered with fevers , or other diseases , they had the cruelty to bring twelve drums sounding an alarm about their beds , for whole weeks together without intermission , till they had promised they would change . it hapned in some places , that they tyed fathers and husbands to the bed-posts , and before their eyes forced their wives and daughters . in another place rapes were publickly and generally permitted for many hours together . they pluckt off the nails from the hands and toes of others , which could not be endured without intollerable pain . they burnt the feet of others . they blew up men and women with bellows , even till they were ready to burst . if after these horrid usages , there were yet any that refused to turn , they imprisoned them ; and for this chose dungeons dark and noysom , in which they exercised on them all sorts of inhumanity . in the mean time they demolished their houses , desolated their hereditary lands , cut down their woods , and seized their wives and children , to imprison them in monasteries . when the souldiers had devoured and consumed all in a house , the farmers of their lands furnisht them with subsistance ; and to re-imburse them , they sold by authority of justice the fonds of their hosts , and put them in possession thereof . if some , to secure their consciences , and to escape the tyranny of these furious men , endeavoured to save themselves by flight , they were pursued , and hunted in the fields and woods , and were shot at like wild beasts . the provosts rode about the high-ways , and the magistrates of places had orders to stop them without exception . they brought them back to the places from whence they fled , using them like prisoners of war. but we must not fancy , that this storm fell only on the common sort , noblemen and gentlemen of the best quality were not exempted from it . they had soldiers quartered upon them in the same manner , and with the same fury as citizens and peasants had . they plundred their houses , wasted their goods , rased their castles , cut down their woods , and their very persons were exposed to the insolence and barbarity of the dragoons , no less than those of others . they spared neither sex , age , nor quality ; wherever they found any unwillingness to obey the command of changing their religion , they practised the same violences . there were still remaining some officers of parliament which underwent the same fate , after having been first deprived of their offices , and even the military officers , who were actually in service , were ordered to quit their post and quarters , and repair immediately to their houses , there to suffer the like storm ; if to avoid it , they would not become catholics . many gentlemen and other persons of quality , and many ladies of great age and antient families , seeing all these outrages , hoped to find some retreat in paris , or at the court , not imagining the dragoons would come to seek them so near the kings presence ; but this hope was no less vain , than all the rest ; for immediately there was a decree of council , which commanded them to leave paris in fifteen days , and return without delay to their own houses ; with a prohibition to all persons to entertain or lodge them in their houses . some having attempted to present adresses to the king , containing complaints of these cruel usages , humbly beseeching his majesty to stop the course thereof , received no other answer , than that of sending them to the bastile . before we proceed any further , 't will not be a miss to make some remarks ; the first shall be , that almost every where , at the head of these infernal legions , besides the commanders and military officers , the intendants also , and the bishops marched every one in his diocess , with a troop of missionaries monks , and other ecclesiasticks . the intendants gave such order as they thought most fitting to carry on conversions , and restrain natural pity and compassion ; if at any time it found a place in the hearts of dragoons , or their commanders , which did not often happen . and as for the bishops , they were there to keep open house , to receive abjurations , and to have a general and severe inspection that every thing might pass there according to the inten 〈…〉 on s of the clergy . the second thing observable is , that when the dragoons had made some to yield , by all the horrors which they practised , they immediately changed their quarters , and sent them to those who still persevered . this order was observed in this manner even to the end , insomuch that the last , that is to say , those who had shewed the greatest constancy , had , in fine , quartered on them alone all the dragoons , which at the beginning were equally dispers'd amonst the inhabitants of the place , which was a load impossible to be sustained . a third remark , which we shall make , is , that in almost all the considerable cities , they took care before they sent troops thither , to gain by mean of the intendants , or some other private way , a certain number of people , not only to change their religion themselves , when it should be seasonable , but also to assist them in perverting others . so that when the dragoons had sufficiently done their part , the intendant , with the bishop , and the commander of the forces , again assembled these miserable . inhabitant , already ruined , to exhort them to obey the king , and become catholics ; adding thereto most terrible threats , that they might over-awe them , and then the new converts failed not to execute what they had promised , which they did with the more success , because the people did yet put some kind of confidence in them . a fourth observation is , that when the master of the house , thinking to get rid of the dragoons , had obeyed and signed what they would , he was not freed from them for all this ; if his wife , children , and the meanest of his domesticks did not do the same thing ; and when his wife , or any of his children or family fled , they ceased not to torment them , till he had made them return : which oftentimes being impossible , the change of their religion did not at all avail them . the fifth is , that when these poor wretches fancied their consciences would be at rest by signing some form of an equivocal abjuration offered them ; a little while after these cruel men came to them again , and made them sign another , which plunged them into such depths , as cast them into the utmost despair . nay farther , they had the boldness to make them acknowledge , that they embraced the roman religion of their own accord ; without having bin induced thereunto by any violent means . if after this they scrupled to go to mass , if they did not communicate , if they did not tell their beads ; if by a sigh escaped from them , they signified any unwillingness , they had immediately a fine laid upon them , and they were forced to receive again their old guests . in fine , for a sixth remark ; as fast as the troops ravaged in this manner the provinces , spreading terror and desolation in all parts ; orders were sent to all the frontier countries and sea-port towns , to guard well the passages , and stop all such who pretended to escape from france : so that there was no hope of these poor wretches saving themselves by flight . none were permitted to pass , if he brought not along with him a certificate from his bishop or curate , that he was a catholick : others were put in prison , and used like traytors against their country . all strange vessels lying in the ports were searched ; the coasts , bridges , passages to rivers , and the high-ways , were strictly guarded , both night and day . the neighbouring states were also required not to harbour any more fugitives , and to send back again such as they had already received . attempts were also mad to seise on , and carry away some , who had escaped into foreign countries . whilst all this was acting in the kingdom , the court were consulting to give the last stroak , which consisted in repealing the edict of nantes ; much time was spent in drawing up the matter and form of this new edict . some would have the king detain all the ministers , and force them as they did the laity , to change their religion , or condemn them to perpetual imprisonment . they alledged for their reason , that if they did not do it , they would be as so many dangerous enemies against them in foreign nations . others on the contrary affirmed , that as long as the ministers continued in france , this their presence would encourage the people to abide in their religion , whatsoever care might be taken to hinder them ; and that supposing they should change , they would be but as so many secret adversaries nourished in the bosom of the church of rome ; and the more dangerous on the account of their knowledge and experience in controversial matters . this last reasoning prevailed ; 't was then resolved on to banish the ministers , and to give them no more than fifteen days time to depart the kingdom . as to what remained , the edict was given to the procurer-general of the parliament of paris , to draw it up in such a form as he should judge most fitting . but before the publishing of it , two things were thought necessary to be done ; the first to oblige the assembly of the clergy , separately to present to the king a request concerning the matter above mentioned , in which also they told his majesty , that they desired not at present the repealing the edict of nantes ; and the other to suppress in general , all kind of books made by them of the reformed religion , and to issue out an order for that purpose . by the first of these things , the clergy thought to shelter themselves from the reproaches , which might be cast on them as the authors of so many miseries , injustices an oppressions which this repeal would still occasion : and by the other , they pretended to make the conversions much more easie ( as they styled them ) and confirm those which had bin already made , by taking from the people all books , which might instruct , fortifie , and bring them back again . in fine , this revocative edict of nantes , was signed and published on thursday , being the 8th of october , in the year 1685. 't is said the chancellor of france , shewed an extream joy in sealing it ; but it lasted not long , this being the last thing he did . for as soon as he came home from fountainbleau , he fell sick , and dyed within a few days . 't is certain , that this mans policy , rather than his natural inclination , induced him in his latter years to become one of our persecutors . the edict was registred in the parliament of paris , and immediately after in the others . it contains a preface , and twelve articles . in the preface , the king shews that henry the great 's grandfather did not give the edict , and lewis his father did not confirm it , by his other edict of nismes , but in the design of endeavouring more effectually the re-union of their subjects of the pretended reformed religion , to the catholick church ; and that this was also the design which he had himself at his first coming to the crown . that 't is true , he had bin hindred by the wars , which he was forced to carry on against the enemies of his state ; but that at present being at peace with all the princes of europe , he wholly gave himself to the making of this re-union . that god having given him the grace of accomplishing it , and seeing the greatest and best part of his subjects of the said religion had embraced the catholick one , these edicts of nantes and nismes consequently became void and useless . by the first article , he suppresses and repeals them , in all their extent ; and ordains that all their temples ; which are found yet standing in his kingdom , shall be immediately demolished . by the second , he forbids all sorts of religious assemblies of what kind soever . the third , prohibits the exercises of religion to all lords and gentlemen of any quality , under corporal penalties and confiscation of their esates . the fourth , banishes from his kingdom all the ministers , and enjoins them to depart thence , within fifteen days after the publication of this edict , under the penalty of being sent to the gallies . in the fifth and sixth , he promises recompences and advantages to the ministers and their widows , who should change their religion . in the seventh and eighth , he forbids the instructing of children in the pretended reformed religion , and ordains that those who shall be born henceforward shall be baptised , and brought up in the catholick religion , enjoyning parents to send them to the churches , under the penalty of being fined 500 livers . the ninth gives four months time to such persons as have departed already out of the kingdom to return , otherwise their goods and estates to be confiscated . the tenth , with repeated prohibitions , forbids all his subjects of the said religion to depart out of his realm , they , their wives and children , or to convey away their effects , under pain of the gallies for the men , and of confiscation of body and goods for the women . the eleventh , confirms the declarations heretofore made against those that relapse . the twelfth declares , that as to the rest of his subjects of the said religion , they may , till god enlightens them , remain in the cities of his kingdom , countries and lands of his obedience , there continue their commerce , and enjoy their estates , without trouble or molestation upon pretence of the said religion , on condition , that they have no assemblies under pretext of praying , or exercising any religious worship whatever . in order to put this edict in execution , the very same day that it was registred and published at paris , they began to demolish the church of charenton . the eldest minster thereof was commanded to leave paris within twenty four hours , and immediately to depart the kingdom . for this end they put him into the hands of one of the kings footmen , with orders not to leave him till he was out of his dominions . his collegues were little better treated , they gave them forty eight hours to quit paris , and then left them upon their parole . the rest of the ministers were allowed fifteen days , but it can hardly be believed to what vexations and cruelties they were all exposed . first of all , they neither permitted them to dispose of their estates , nor to carry away any of their moveables or effects , nay they disputed them their books and private papers , one pretence , that they must justify , their books and papers did not belong to the cosistories wherein they serv'd , which was a thing impossible , since there were no consistories , that then remained . beside , they would not give them leave to take along with them either father or mother , or brother or sister , or any of their kindred , though there were many of them infirm , decay'd and poor , which could not subsist but by their means ; they went so far , as even to deny them their own children , if they were above seven years old ; nay , some they took from them that were under that age , and even such as yet hang'd upon their mothers breasts . they refused them nurses for their new born infants , which the mothers could not give suck . in some frontier places they stopped and imprisoned them , upon divers ridiculous pretences ; they must immediately prove that they were really the same persons , which their certificates mentioned ; they were to know immediately whether there were no criminal process or informations against them ; they must presently justify , that they carryed away nothing that belonged to their flocks ; sometime after they had thus detained and amused them , they were told that the fifteen days of the edict were expired , and that they should not have liberty to retire , but must go to the gallies . there is no kind of deceit and injustice which they did not think of to involve them in troubles . as to the rest , whom the force of persecution and hard usage constrained to leave their houses and estates , and to fly the kingdom , it is not to be imagined what dangers they exposed them to . never were orders more severe or more strict , than those that were given against them . they doubled the guards in posts , cities , high-ways , and foards , they covered the country with solders , they armed even the pesants to stop those that passed , or to kill them : they forbad all the officers of the customs to suffer any goods , moveables , marchandize , or other effects , to pass . in a word , they forgot nothing that could hinder the flight of the persecuted , even to the interrupting almost all commerce with neighbouring nations : by this means they quickly filled all the prisons in the kingdom ; for the fear of the dragoons , the horror of seeing their consciences forced , and their children taken away , and of living for the future in a land where there was neither justice nor humanity for them , obliged every one to think of an escape , and to abandon all to save their persons . all these poor prisoners have been since treated with unheard of rigours , shut up in dungeons , loaded with heavy chains , almost starved with hunger , and deprived of all converse , but that of their persecutors . they put many into monasteries , where they experience none of the least cruelties ; some there are so happy as to dye in the midst of their torments , others have at last sunk under the weight of the temptation , and some by the extraordinary assistance of gods grace , do still sustain it with an heroick courage . these have been the consequences of this new edict in this respect ; but who would not have believed that the twelfth article would have shelter'd the rest of the reformed ; that had a mind still to stay in the kingdom , since this article exprefly assures them , that they may live there , continue their trade , and enjoy their estates , without being troubled or molested upon pretence of their religion . yet see what they have since done , and yet do to these poor wretches . they have not recall'd the dragoons and other soldiers which they dispatcht into the provinces before the edict : on the contrary , they to this day commit with greater fury the same inhumanities , which we have before represented : besides this , they have marched them into provinces , where there were none before , as normandy , picardy , le berry , champaigne , nivernois , orleans , belessois , and the lsle of france . they do the same violence there , exert the same fury they do in other provinces . paris it self , where methinks this article of the edict should have been best observed , because so near the kings presence , and more immediately under the government of the court , paris , i say , was no more spared than the rest of the kingdom . the very day that the edict was published , without more delay , the procurer-general , and some other magistrates , began to send for heads of families to come to their houses . there they declared to them that 't was absolutely the kings will that they should change their religion , that they were no better than the rest of his subjects , and that if they would not do it willingly , the king would make use of means , which he had ready , to compel them . at the same time they banish'd by letters under the privy seal , all the elders of the consistory , together with some others , in whom they found more of constancy and resolution ; and to disperse them , chose such places as were most remote from commerce , where they have since used them with a great deal of cruelty , some complyed , others are yet under sufferings . the diligence of the procurer-general and magistrates , not succeeding so fully as they wish'd , though threats and menaces were not wanting , monsieur seignelay , secretary of state , would also try what influence he could have within his division at paris . for this end , he got together about five or six score merchants , and others into his house , and after having shut the doors , forthwith presented them with the form of an abjuration , and commanded them in the kings name to sign it ; declaring , that they should not stir out of doors till they had obeyed . the contents of this form were , not only that they did renounce the heresie of calvin , and enter into the catholick church , but also that they did this voluntarily , and without being forced or compelled to it . this was done in an imperious manner , and with an air of authority , yet there were some that dared to speak , but they were sharply answer'd , that they were not to dispute it , but to obey ; so that they all sign'd before they went out . to these methods they added others more terrible , as prisons , actually seizing of their effects , and papers ; the taking away of their children , the separation of husbands and wives ; and in fine , the great method , that is to say , dragoons and guards . those that most firmly stood out , they sent to the bastile , and to the fort l'eveque ; they confin'd them to their own or other houses , where they lay concealed for fear of discovery ; they plunder'd those of many others , not sparing their persons , just as they had done in other places . thus the 12th article of the edict , which promised some relaxation , and a shadow of liberty , was nothing but an egregious deceit to amuse the credulous , and keep them from thinking to make their escape , a snare to catch them with the more ease . the fury still kept its usual course , and was heated to such a degree , that not content with the desolations in the kingdom , it entred even into orange , a soveraign principality , where the king of right has no power , and taking ministers away from thence by force , remov'd them into prisons . thither the dragoons were sent , who committed all kind of mischief ; and by force constrained the inhabitants thereof , both men , women and children , and the very officers of the prince to change their religion . and this is the state of things in the year 1685. and this is the accomplishment of the dealing which the clergy has shewed us three years since , towards the end of their pastoral letter ; you must expect mischiess more dreadful and intolerable , then all those , which hitherto your revolts and schisms have drawn down upon you . and truly they have not been worse than their words . there are some in the kingdom who still continue firm , and their persecutions are still continu'd to them . there are invented every day new torments , against those whom force has made to change their religion , because they are still observed to sigh , and groan under their hard servitude ; their hearts detesting what their months have profest , and their hands signed . as to such that have escaped into foreign countreys , who are at least 150000 persons , their estates are confiscated ; this being all the hurt which can be done to them at present . i say at present ; for 't is not to be questioned , but our persecutors are contriving to extend their cruelties farther . but we must hope in the compassions of god , that whatsoever intentions they may have in destroying the protestant religion in all places , he will not permit them to effect their designs . the world will surely open its eyes ; and this which they now come from doing with a high hand , and a worse then barbarous fury , will shew not only the protestants ; but the wise and circumspect catholicks , what they are to expect , both one and the other , from such a sort of people . in effect , he that shall give himself the leisure to reflect on the matters of fact which we come now from relating , which are things certain , and acted in the face of the sun , he shall see not only the protestants supprest , but the king's honour sullied , his countreys damnified ; all the princes of europe interessed , and even the pope himself , with his church and clergy , shamefully discredited . for to begin with the king himself : what could be more contrary to his dignity , then to put him upon breaking his word , and perswading him that he might with a safe conscience violate , revoke , and annul so solemn an edict as that of nantes . to palliate in some sort the violence of this proceeding , they make him say in this new edict , that the best and greatest part of the reform'd religion has imbraced the catholick ; and therefore the execution of the edict of nantes , and whatsoever else has been done in favour of the same religion , remains void . but is not this an elusion unworthy of his majesty , seeing that if this best and greatest part of his subjects of the reformed religion have embraced the catholick ; they have done it by force of arms , and by the cruel and furious oppression which his own troops have laid upon them . perhaps one might thus speak , had his subjects changed their religion of their own free will , although that in this case too , the priviledges of the edict continue for those that remain . but after having forced them to change by the horrible inhumanities of his dragoons ; after having deprived them of the liberty which the edict gave them ; to say coldly , that he only revokes the edict , because it is now useless , is a raillery unbefitting so great a prince . for it is as much as if he said , that he was indeed obliged to continue to his protestant subjects all the priviledges due to them ; but having himself overthrown them by a major force , he finds himself at present lawfully and fairly disengaged from this obligation : which is just as if a father , who himself had cut his childrens throats , should glory in the being henceforward freed from the care of nourishing and protecting them . are other kings wont thus to express themselves in their edicts ? what they make him moreover say , to wit , that henry the great , his grandfather , gave only the edict of nantes to the protestants , that he might the better effect their re-union to the roman church ; that lewis the 13th also , his father , had the same design , when he gave the edict of nismes ; and that he himself had entred therein at his coming to the crown , is but a pitiful salvo . but suppose ( seeing they are willing we should do so ) the truth of this discourse , and take we it simply , and according to the letter , in the sense wherein they gave it us , what can we conclude thence , but these following propositions : that henry the great , and lewis the 13th , gave only the edicts to our fathers to deceive them , and with an intent to ruine them afterwards with the greater ease , under the mask of this fraud . that not being able to do this , being hindred by other affairs , they have committed this important secret to his present majesty , to the end he should execute it when he met with an opportunity . that his present majesty entring into the thought of this at his first coming to the crown , he only confirm'd the edicts and declarations of 1643. and 1652. with other advantagious decrees to the reformed religion , but to impose on them the more finely , ( lay snares in their way ) or if you please , crown them , as they crown'd of old the sacrifices ; that all that has been done against them , since the peace of the pirenees , till this time , according to the abridgment which we have made of it , has been only the execution of a project , but of a project far more ancient than we imagine , seeing we must date it from the edict of nantes , and ascend up to henry the great : in fine , that what has been till now , has been a great mystery , but is not one at present ; seeing the king by this new edict discovers it to all the world , that he may be applauded for it . will it not be acknowledged that the enemies of france , who are willing to discredit the conduct of its kings , and render them odious to the world , have now an happy opportunity . henry the great gives his edict to the protestants with the greatest solemnity imaginable , he gives it them as a recompence of their services ; he promises solemnly to observe it ; and as if this was not enough , he binds himself thereunto with an oath ; he executes it to the utmost of his power , and they peaceably enjoy'd it to the end of his reign : yet all this is but a meer snare , for they are to be dragoon'd at a proper time : but being himself surprized by death , he could not do it , but leaves it in charge to lewis the 13th his son. lewis the thirteenth ascends the throne , issues out his declaration immediately , that he acknowledges the edict of nantes as perpetual and irrevocable , it needing not a new confirmation , and that he would religiously observe every article of it , and therefore sends commissioners to see it actually executed . when he begins a war , he protests he designs not at religion , and in effect he permits the full liberty of it , in those very towns he takes by assault : he gives his edict of nismes , as the edict of a triumphant prince , yet declares therein he understands , that of nantes should be inviolably kept , and shows himself to the last as good as his word . but this is only intended to lull the protestants asleep , in expectation of a favourable occasion to destroy them . lewis the fourteenth , at his coming to the crown confirms the edict , and declares , that he will maintain the reformed in all their priviledges ; he afterwards affirms in another declaration , how highly he is satisfied in their services ; and mentions his design of making them to enjoy their rights . but this is but a meer amusement , and an artifice to intrap them , the better to colour over the project of ruining them at a convenient time . what a character now of the kings of france will this afford , to its enemies , and foreign nations ; and what confidence do they think , will be henceforward put in their promises and treaties ; for if they deal thus with their own subjects , if they caress them only to ruine them , what may strangers expect from ' em . consider we a while what they make the king say , that at his first coming to the crown , he was in the design which he now comes from executing . they would say without doubt , from the time he actually took in hand the reins of government ; for he was too young before , to enter personally on any design of this nature : he enter'd thereon then precisely at the time , when the civil wars were ended . but what does this mean , but that he undertook this design , at the very time when the protestants came from rendring him the most important service subjects were ever capable of . they came from rendring him the highest testimonies of loyalty , when the greatest part of his other subjects had taken up arms against him . they had vigorously opposed his enemies progress ; rejected the most advantagious offers , kept towns for him , yea whole provinces ; receiv'd his servants and officers into their bosoms , when they could not find safety elsewhere ; sacrificed their estates to him , their lives , their fortunes ; and in a word , done all with such a zeal , as becomes faithful subjects in so dangerous a conjuncture . and this is the time when the king enters on the design of destroying and extirpating them . this so confirms the truth of what we said in the beginning , that it puts it out of all question , that the project of their destruction was grounded on the services they had rendred the king. do christian ethics allow these most unchristian policies ? is it not a strange thing , that we must be taught this important secret , and all europe besides ; for although the protestants have done nothing in this occasion but their duty , it could never be imagined their duty should be made their crime , and their ruine should spring from whence should come the safety . god has brought light out of darkness , but the unchristian politicks of france , on the contrary , has brought darkness out of light. however they cannot deny but that in this new edict , the king is made to say , he has entred on the design to distroy the protestant party , in the very time wherein they have signaliz'd and distinguisht themselves with great success for the interest of the crown , which will furnish perhaps matter enough to thinking men for reflexion , as well within as without the kingdom ; and will shew them what use is made of services , and what recompence is to be expected for them . but we shall say no more of the expressions of the new edict , but rather consider the matter of it . was ever a worse and harder usage than that which we have suffered for the space of twenty years , which have been employed informing the late tempest which has fallen upon us . it has been a continual storm of decrees , edicts , declarations , orders , condemnation of churches , desolation of temples , civil and criminal processes , imprisonments , banishments , pennances , pecuniary mults , privation of offces and employs , depriving parents of their children , and all those other persecutions which we have already briefly sum'd up . we are told on one hand , that the king would continue to us the edict of nants , and he delivered himself on several occasions to that effect ; and on the other hand we were made to suffer in our estates , our reputations , our persons , our families , in our religion , and our consciences , and all by unjust and indirect ways ; by unheard of inventions , by oppressions , and publick vexation , and sometime under-hand dealings ; and all this under the vail of the kings authority , and because this was his good pleasure . we know very well the authority of kings , and the respect and submission with which we should receive their orders . and therefore have we , during all these unsupportable usages , a patience , and an obedience so remarkable , that it has been an admiration of the catholicks themselves , our countrymen . but it must be acknowledged that those who put his majesty on dealing thus with us , or have used his name and authority for this , could not do him otherwise a greater dishonor than they have done . for after all , those kings who would have themselves esteemed for their justice and equity , govern not their subjects after this manner . they are not for putting all to an uncertainty , filling all places with lamentation and terror . they seek not their satisfaction in the tears , and groans of their innocent people , nor are they pleased with keeping their subjects in a perpetual agitation . they love not to have their names mention'd with terror , nor meditate continual designs of extirpating those , who give constant and unquestionable proofs of their loyalty ; much less to invent cruel projects , which like mines , in their time shall destroy their own natural subjects ; for what else have been these slie and equivocal declarations , counter-orders , and revocative edicts . there are three things , very remarkable , in this whole affair , the first is , that as long as they have been only in the way , the true authors of the persecution have not concealed themselves , but the king , as much as they could : 't is true , the decrees , edicts , and declarations , and other things , went under the name of his majesty ; but at the request of the agents , and factors for the clergy : and whilst they were busied in these matters , the king declared openly his intention of maintaining the edicts , and that 't was abuses which he design'd to correct . the second is , that when they came to the last extremities , and to open force , then they have concealed themselves as much as they could , set forth the king at his full length . there was nothing beard but these kind of discourses , the king will have it so , the king has taken it in hand , the king proceeds further than the clergy desires ; by these two means they have had the address to be only charg'd with the lesser parts of the cruelties , and to lay the most violent , and odious part at the kings door . the third thing which we should remark is , that the better to obtain their ends , they have made it their business to perswade the king , that this work would crown him with glory , which is a horrid abuse of his credulity , an abuse so much the greater , by how much they would not have themselves thought the authors of this council ; and when any particular person of them are ask'd this day , what they think of it , there are few of them but condemn it . in effect , what more false an idea could they give to his majesty of glory , than to make it consist in surprising a poor people , disperst over all his kingdom , and living securely under his wings and the remains of the edict of nants ; and who could not imagine there were any intentions of depriving them of the liberty of their consciences , of surprizing and overwhelming them in an instant , with a numerous army , to whose discretion they are delivered ; and who tell them that they must either by fair means or foul , become roman catholicks , this being the kings will and pleasure . what a falser notion of glory could they offer him , than the putting him in the place of god , making the faith and religion of men to depend upon his authority , and that hence forward it must be said in his kingdom , i don't believe because i am perswaded of it , but i believe , because the king would have me do it ; which to speak properly , is , that i believe nothing , and that i 'le be a turk , or a jew , or whatever the king pleases . what falser idea of glory , then to force from mens mouths by violence , and a long series of torments ; a profession , which the heart abhors , and for which one sighs night and day , crying continually to god for mercy . what glory is there in inventing new ways of persecutions , unknown to former ages ; which indeed do not bring death along with them , but keep men alive to suffer , that they may overcome their patience and constancy by cruelties , which are above humane strength to undergo ? what glory is there in not contenting themselves to force those who remain in his kingdom , but to forbid them to leave it , and keep them under a double servitude , viz. both of soul and body ? what glory is there in keeping his prisons full of innocent persons . who are charged with no other fault , than serving god according to the best of their knowledge , and for this to be expos'd to the rage of the dragoons , or condemned to the gallies , and executions on body and goods ? will these cruelties render his majesties name lovely in his history , to the catholick or protestant world ? but we should be very loath to exaggerate any thing , which may violate the respect due to so great a prince ; but we do not think it a failure in our duty , fairly to represent how far these refined politicians have really interess'd his honour , in the sad misfortunes wherein they have plunged us , and how criminal they have thereby made themselves towards him . they have committed no less misdemeanours against their country , of which they are members , and for which a man would think they should have some consideration . not to speak here of the great number of persons of all ages , sexes and qualities , which they have out off from it by their fierce tempers ; although perhaps this loss be greater , than they were willing to imagine . it s certain , that france is a very populous country , but when these feavourish fits shall be over , and they shall in cold blood consider what they have done , they will find these diminutions to be no matter of triumph ; for 't is not possible , that so many substantial people , so many intire families , who distinguish themselves in the arts , in the sciences , civil and military , can leave a kingdom without one day being missed : at present , whilst they rejoyce in their spoils , possess themselves of the houses and estates , this loss is not felt ; 't is recompensed by booty , but it will not be always so : neither shall we insist here on that almost general interruption of traffick , which these most vnchristian persecutors have caused in the principal towns of the state ; although this be no small mischief : the protestants made up a good part of the trade , as well within the kingdom as without , and were therein so mixt with the catholicks , that their affairs were in a manner inseparable . they dealt as it were in common , when these oppressions came upon them ; and what confusions have they not produced ? how many industrious measures have they broken ? how many honest designs have they not disappointed ? how many manufactures ruined ? how many bankrupts made ? and how many families reduced to beggary ? but this is what the oppressors little trouble themselves about ; they have their bread gained to their mouths , they live in wantonness and ease ; and whilst others dye with hunger , their revenues are ascertain'd to them . but this hinders not the body of the estate to suffer , both in its honour and profit ; and we may truly say , that four civil wars could not have produced so much mischief , as time will shew to sprink from this persecution . but we will leave the consequence of this affair to time , and only say , that the edict of nantes , being a fundamental law of the kingdom ; and an agreement between two parties , by a reciprocal acceptation under the peaceable reign of henry the great ; by the publick faith , and by mutual oaths , as we have already seen ; this must certainly be of ill example to the interest of the state : that after having made a thousand infractions of it , it must be at length revok'd , cancel'd , and annul'd , at the motion of a cabal , who abuse their interest ; and hereby make themselves fit for enterprising , and executing any thing . after this violation , what can henceforward be thought firm and inviolable in france . i speak not of particular mens affairs , but of general establishments , royal companies courts of justice , and all other ranks of men interested in society , even they very rights of the crown , and form of government . there are in the kingdom a great many thinking men , i mean not your poets , and such like kind of flatterers , who make verses , orations , panegyricks , and sermons too for preferments and benefices ; but i speak of solid and judicious persons ; who see into the consequences of things ; and know well how to judge of them ; shall we think that these men , see not what is too visible , that the state is pierc'd through and through , by the same ●low given the protestants ; and that such a open revocation of the edict , leaves nothing firm or sacred . it 's to no purpose to alledge distinctions in the matter , and say that the pretended reform'd religion , was odious to the state , and therefore was thus undertaken . for not to mention the dangerousness of the example ; as to the general aversion to our religion in the minds of the catholicks , it is certain , that excepting the faction of the bigots , and what they call the propagators of the faith ; neither the commons , nor great people , have any animosity against us ; but on the contrary , do bemoan our misfortunes . not to touch further on this , who knows not what an easie matter it is to run down any cause , or render it odious or indifferent in the minds of the people . there are never wanting reasons and pretences , in matters of this nature ; one party is set up against another ; and that is called the state , right or wrong , which is the prevailing one : like as in religion , not the best and honestest , but the powerfullest , and boldest part , are termed the church . we must not judge of these things then from their matter , but their from . now if ever there was since the world stood , a matter authentick and irrevocable , it was the edict of nantes ; to revoke and cancel it , is to set up ones self above our obligations to god , as well as to men ; 't is to declare openly , that there are no longer any ties or promises in the world . and this is no more then the wise will easily comprehend , and i doubt not but they have done it already . some perhaps may make an objection on this occasion , which 't will be good to answer ; which is , that as the edict , consider it how we will , is become only a law of state by henry the great 's authority so it may likewise be revok'd and annul'd by lewis the 14th his grandson and successor . for things may be ended by the same means they have bin begun . if henry the great , has had the power to change the form of governing the state , by introducing a new law ; why has not lewis the 14th the same power to alter this form , and annul whatsoever his predecessor has done ? but this objection will soon be answer'd , by considering it's built upon a false principal , and offers a falser consequence . it is not the single authority of henry the great which has establish'd the edict . the edict is a decree of his justice , and an accord or transaction that past between the catholicks and the reformists . authoriz'd by the publick faith of the whole estate , and seal'd with the seal of an oath , and ratified by the execution of it ; now this renders the edict inviolable , and sets it above the reach of henry's successors ; and therefore they can be only the depositaries and executors of it , and not the masters to make it depend on their wills . henry the great never employ'd the force of arms to make the catholicks consent to it ; and though since his death , under the minority of lewis the 13th . there have bin assemblies of the states general , the edict has remain'd in full force ; 't was then , as we have already said , a fundamental law of the kingdom , which the king could not touch . but supposing this were not a work grounded on the bare authority of henry , which is false , it does not therefore follow , that his present majesty can revoke it . the edict is a royal promise , which henry the great made to the reformists of his kingdom , as well for himself as his successors for ever ; as we have already seen ; and consequently this is a condition or hereditary debt , charged on himself and posterity . moreover , it is not true , that henry the great , has changed any thing in the government of the state , when he gave liberty of conscience to his subjects ; for this liberty is matter of right , and more inviolable than all edicts , seeing that it is a right of nature . he has permitted a publick exercise of the reformed religion ; but this exercise was established in the kingdom before his edict , and if he has enlarged the priviledges of the reformed , as without doubt he has , he did not do it without the consent and approbation of the state ; and has herein violated nothing of his lawful engagements . but 't is not the same with lewis the 14th . who of his own pure authority , makes a real and fundamental change , against the concurrence of one part of his estate , and without the consulting the other ; hereby violating his own engagements , those of his kingdom , and even the laws of nature too . in fine , if we consider what means have been used to arrive at the revocation in question , how shall a man not ackowledge the state is sensibly interested therein . they are not contented to suppress the religious assemblies , and to null the protestants priviledges by unjust decrees ; but they also send them soldiers to dispute points of religion with them ; they are sack't like people taken by assault , forced in their consciences ; and for this purpose , hell it self is let loose upon them ; and this is the effects of a military , and arbitrary government , regulated neither by justice , reason , nor humanity . can it be thought , that , france will be at ease in this manner , or that wise people will think this an equitable way of governing ? there needs only another design , another passion to satisfie , another vengeance to execute ; and then , wo be to them who shall oppose it ; for the dragoons will not forget their office. to these two reflections , which respect the french king and his states , we may add a third , which will have regard to the interests of kings , princes , and other powers of europe , as well of one as of the other religion . we shall not be much mistaken , if we say , that they have a common and general concern herein ; inasmuch as these skilful artists in misery , do as much as they can to trouble the good understanding that is betwixt them and their people . we are perswaded , that their wise and just government will , in this respect , put them beyond all fear : but this hinders not examples of this nature , from being always mischievous , and naturally tending to beget in the minds of the vulgar , ( who commonly judge only of things in general ) suspitions and distrusts of their soveraigns , as if they dream'd of nothing but devouring their subjects , and delivering them up to the discretion , or rather , the fury of their soldiers . the greater moderation and justice that princes have , the less they are obliged to those who furnish people with matter for such dangerous thoughts , which may produce very ill effects . beside , is it not certain , that the princes and states of europe , cannot without a great deal of pleasure see france , which makes so great a figure in the affairs of the world , and gives them so powerful an influence , now put her self in such a condition , as that no just measures can be taken from her ? for after so scandalous and publick a violation of the word of three kings , and of the publick faith , what credit can be given for the future , to her promises or treaties ? it will not be sufficient to say , that they will have no force but what interest inspires ; but that they will hereafter depend on the interest or capriciousness of a sort of heady people , that will give nothing either to the laws of prudence or equity , but manage all by force . if they have had the power , to do within the kingdom what they have lately put in execution , what will they not do as to affairs without ? if they have not spared their own country-men , with whom they had daily commerce , who were serviceable to them , will they spare the unknown ? will they have more respect to truces or conventions of four days transaction , than to an edict of an hundred years continuance , and that the most august and solemn that ever was which yet they made no other use of then to amuse a people , and to involve them more surely in an utter desolation ? methinks they have resolv'd to bring things to this pass , that there being no more faith to be had in france , all her neighbours should be continually upon their guard against her , and the more so when she promises , then when she threatens ; more in peace then in war ; so that there is no more hopes of being at quiet , but what the surety of hostages , or the diminution of her forces can give . this being so in respect of all princes and states in general , what may the protestant princes and states in particular think , but that it is the design of france to ruine them all , and to make no stop till she has devoured them . every body knows , that the protestant princes understand their interests well enough , to be able to discern them through the clouds , wherewith they would cover them ; and 't is not doubted but they see , that this is a beginning or essay , which france expects shortly to give the last stroak to . the court there has suffer'd it self to be possess'd with gross bigotry , and a false zeal of catholicism . 't is the genius a ▪ la mode ; each there is become a persecutor , even to fire and sword ; and there are some perswaded , that this shall weigh down the ballance . vain glory is no small ingredient in this design , policy has her prospects , and mysteries in it too ; and as these prospects have no bounds , so her mysteries want not invisible springs , and surprising ways , which she will joyn when she pleases to the power of arms. she thinks the season is ripe , and she needs only to dare . the easiness she has found in making conquests and conversions swells her courage , and already some talk of nothing but a further progress in so fair a way . 't is to be hoped that protestant princes and states will from thence draw their just conclusions . as to catholick princes and states , they have too sagacious judgments , not to see how much they share in this affair . it will be made use of to break the good understanding which is betwixt them and the protestants , by amusing those with the fair pretext of the catholick religion , and cunningly inspiring these with jealousies of a general design to destroy them . if the catholick princes and states remove not these suspitions , if they suffer france still to aggrandize her self by her pretended zeal for catholicism , which at the bottom is but a mask , they may already be assured , that they are lost . it will signifie little to say , we are good catholicks as well as you , this will not secure them from dragoons , all that will not take the yoke shall be hereticks ; nay , worse than an heretick ; for now the greatest heresie is not to submit ; spain , germany and italy already know this in some measure . but it will not be thought a paradox , if , to all that we have said , we add , that the pope himself , and the whole body of the roman church , find themselves sensibly interess'd in the persecution of us . and yet we will say nothing herein , but what is evident truth , and which the wisest of the roman catholicks must agree to . for is it not the worst character that can be given of the roman clergy , to represent them as an order of men , who not only cannot endure any thing that is not subject to them in a religious , but also in civil society ; as men that are not content to anathematize all that displease them , but design nothing so much as to exterminate them , not only to exterminate them , but also to force their consciences , and inspire their opinions ; and propagate their way of worship by the knocking arguments of swords and staves ; as an order of men , who neither faith nor justice , who promise only to deceive , who for a while curb their fury only , that afterwards they may the more insult , that in peace as well as war , contrive only to overturn and destroy , that make allyances only to surprize , and finding themselves more powerful , deny those they have surprized the liberty to escape . these are the exact features and colours by which the roman clergy may be easily known , if we judge of them by the persecution in france , the like whereof was never seen to this day : the aegyptians and assyrians once persecuted the israelites , but forced them not to embrace the worship of their idols ; they contented themselves with making them slaves , without doing violence to their consciences . the heathens and the jews persecuted the primitive christians , forced their consciences indeed , but they had never granted them an edict , nor by persecuting them did violate the publick faith , nor hindred them to make their escape by flight . the arrians cruelly persecuted the orthodox , but besides that , they went not so far , as to make the common sort of people sign formal abjurations ; there was no edict or concordat between the two communions . innocent the 3d. by his croysades , persecuted the waldenses , and albigenses , but these people also had no edict . emanuel , king of portugal , furiously persecuted the jews , but he gave them leave to depart out of his kingdom , and they had no edict . it was the same with those remains of the moors , who had setled themselves in some cantons of the kingdom of granada , they were defeated in a war , and commanded to retire into the country from whence their ancestors came . in the last age the duke of alva exercised dreadful cruelties upon the protestants of the seventeen provinces , but he did not hinder them from flying , nor violated any edict ; and at the worst , death was their release . the inquisition is to this day in spain and italy , but they are countries , in which no religion , besides the roman , was ever permitted by edicts , and if the inquisitors may be accused of violence and cruelty , yet they cannot be convicted of perfidiousness . but in this last persecution of france , there are five things that strike the mind with horror ; they make the consciences and religion of men to depend soveraignly upon the will of a king , they violate a faith authentickly sworn to , they force men to be hypocrites , and wicked , by seeming to embrace a religion which they abhor ; they prohibit all flights or retiring out of the kingdom ; they do not put to death , but preserve life to oppress it with longer torments . if after this the court of rome and its clergy , dispersed over the rest of europe , disclaim not so odious and so criminal a conduct ; if they condemn it not , it will be an indelibel stain to the honour of their religion . not only protestants , who are of a different communion , but also in an infinite number of their own catholicks , will be mightily scandaliz'd thereat : nay , even the turks and jews and pagans will rise up in judgment against them . they may already know what they have bin condemned of , in what passed in the council of constance , concerning john huss , and jerom of prague , whom they put to death , notwithstanding the safe conduct of the emperor sigismund ; but there is something greater here : there only two men were concerned , here more than 1500000. those they put to death , and if they had done the same to these , they would have embraced their death with joy and comfort . the council thought its authority greater than sigismund's , but there cannot be produced one above that which has establish'd our edict . we are not ignorant of the different methods which the persecutors take to shelter themselves from publick condemnation . some take a speedy course to deny the fact ; and to perswade the world ; that force and violence have had no share in the conversions , but that they were soft , and calm , and voluntary ; and that if there were any dragoons concerned therein , 't was because the reformed themselves desired them , that they might have a handsom pretence to change their religion . was there ever seen so much impudence ? what will they not deny , who can deny what 's done in the face of the sun , and what a whole kingdom from one end of it to the other hath seen , and to this day sees ? for in the beginning of the year 1686. whilst i am composing this sad rehearsal , they continue to exercise in france the same rage , that ended the preceding year , the same dragoons both in cities and countries execute the same fury against some lamentable remains of protestants , who will not fall down and worship . they are used like rebels in their persons , in their estates , in their wives , and in their children ; and if there be any difference , 't is in this that their sufferings are still increasing . yet if we will believe the clergy , haranguing the king , and the bishop of valence their speaker , he tells his majesty how miraculous his reign is , seeing such infinite number of conversions are made to the roman church , without violences and arms ; much less , saith he , by the force of your edicts , as by the example of your exemplary piety . if we will believe the greatest part of the abjurations which these poor opprest people , are forc'd to make , they speak indeed the same sence , viz. that they have done this without being constrain'd thereto . thus is the credulity of the publick impos'd on : they have seeds of imposture sown at their feet , which are to grow with the time . posterity who shall see these records , will belive they contain the truth ; here , say they , is what has bin told the king , who must not have falshoods offer'd him : here is the proper acts and deeds of those that were converted . why will not then posterity believe it , seeing that at present , there are indeed people impudent enough , or to speak better , paid well enough to publish it in strange countries ; and there are found credible persons enough to believe it . but i pray what likelihood is there , that 150000 persons already gone out of france , without any thing constraining them to it , should leave their houses , their lands of inheritance , their effects , and several their wives and children , for to wander about the world , and lead a miserable life for a humour . is there any likelihood , that persons of quality of both sexes , who enjoyed 10 , 15 , 20 , 30 thousand livers per annum , would abandon these their estates , not only for themselves , but for their successors ; expose themselves to the periss , and incommodiousness of long journies , and reduce themselves in a manner to beggary ; which is a condition the most insupportable in the world , to persons of quality ; and all this without any reason , without any occasion ? what likelihood that this 150 thousand persons who have already escap'd , some of 'em into switzerland , others into germany , some into denmark , others into holland , some into suedeland , and others into england , and some into america , without seeing or knowing one another , yet have agreed to tell the same lie , and to say with one voice , that the protestants are cruelly persecuted in france ; and that by unheard of severities they are forc'd to change their religion ; altho' there is no such matter ? is it likely that the embassadors and envoys of foreign princes , should lye all of them in consórt , in telling them this news , wherein there is no truth ? but i pray , if in france the protestants thus voluntarily , and without constraint change their religion , & that the dragoons are cal'd in only as their good friends , whence happens this so strict & general guard on the frontiers , to hinder peoples departure ? how is it that the prisons of the kingdom are cram'd , with fugitives stopt by the way ? whence is it , that those who have chang'd , are watch'd with such great care to hinder their flight ; to the obliging them to deposit sums of money to secure them from the suspition of it ? this must be an epidemical distemper that has seiz'd on his majesties subjects , that shall make them fly thus without reason ? but is not this a fine cover , to say that the protestants have themselves call'd in the dragoons , to have the better pretence to change their religion ? it is about 10 or more years since there was a bankset up to traffick for souls . mr. pelison , has for a long time bin the great dealer of paris , in this infamous trade of purchasing converts . these conversions have of late , bin the only way of gaining applause , and recompences at court , and in a word , a means of raising ones fortune ; and yet we must be told , that instead of being converted by these easie ways , we had rather choose the help of dragoons , that is , of being pillag'd . at least let any one tell us , why since these pretended voluntary conversions , the people not willing to go to mass , they have bin obliged to send them troops , and use them with the same severity as before . this is so gross and palpable an untruth , that others have undertaken to defend these violences , as being naturally of the genuine spirit of the catholick church ; and for this purpose , they have continually in their mouths that passage of the gospel , compelle intrare , compel them to come in , and the persecution which the orthodox of africk offer'd the donatists , &c. were this a place to dispute against these furious divines , we could easily show 'em the vanity of these allegations ; but we shall rather ask 'em , whether the jews and pagans had agreed upon an edict with the apostles , when our saviour says to them , compel them to come in . has st. augustin ever written , for he is cited in this matter , that we ought to be perfidious towards those whom we esteem as hereticks , when we promis'd to live with 'em like brethren and fellow citizens . the donatists , had they any edicts which would shelter 'em from the insults of the orthodox ? if we yield to this detestable divinity , what will become of all us christians ? for in short , the papist is as much an heretick to the protestants , as the protestants are to the papist ; yet they live together in peace , on the faith of alliances , treaties and promises . but these publick pests as much as in them lies have brought all things into confusion , and a state of war. they arm the catholicks against the protestants , teaching the catholicks by this example , that their religion obliges him to betray and surprise the protestants , when they can do it unpunish'd ; and knock ●ut their brains if they will not change their religion . they arm the protestant against the catholick ; for after all , what peace , and society can we have with people , who not only make no conscience to break their faith ; but on the contrary , make it a case of conscience to break it , when they shall find occasion . thus have they by their dragoons desolated a kingdom , and plunder'd above a 100 thousand families . do we think this method , is pleasing to him , whom we both own to be the author of our faith ; he has said , that he will not suffer hell gates to ruine his church ; but he has not said , he will open hell gates for the propagating his church . now if there were any thing that looks like the gates of hell , it is the persecutions of france . whatsoever antipathy there may be between the see of rome and us , we will not believe that the present pope has had any part , or that the storm has fallen on us from him . we know he is a mild prince , and his temper leads to more moderate councils than those of his predecessors . moreover we know , the clergy of france do not always consult him in what they undertake ; and we have had often offered to us , what has bin done against rome , to induce us to submit our selves to the king's will in these other matters ; and how small a deference is paid to its authority . so that we hope the pope himself , considering us still as men and christians , will condole us , and blame the methods used against us , had he no other reason than the interest of religion . perhaps one day , it will be our turn to blame that which will be taken against him . however , 't is certain the protestants of france are the most fit objects of publick compassion , the world ever knew . some sigh and lament under a hard slavery , which they would willingly change for irons in algiers or turke . for there they would not be forced to turn mahometans , and might still entertain some hopes of liberty by the way of rans●m ▪ others are wandering about strange countries , stript of their estates , separated in all probability , for ever from their parents , their relations and friends , whom they have left in the most doleful condition imaginable husbands have left their wives , and wives their husbands ; fathers their children , and children their fathers . we have seen our estates vanish in a moment , our honest ways of living , our hopes , our inheritances . we have scarcely any thing left us but our miserable lives , and they are supported by the charity of our christian brethren . yet amongst all these afflictions we are not destitute of comfort ; we , if ever any did , do truly suffer for conscience sake ; the malice of our persecutors not being able to charge us with the least misdemeanour . we have served our king and the state with zeal and faithfulness . we have submitted to the laws and to magistrates ; and for our fellow-citizens , they have no reason to complain of us . we have for twenty years together suffered with an unexemplary patience all those furious and dreadful storms aforementioned . and when in vivaretz and cevennes , some have thought themselves bound in conscience to preach on the ruines of their temples illegally demolisht , their small number , which were but a handful of men , women and children , has only served to stir up more the resignation and obedience of our whole body . in these latter storms we have been like sheep , innocent and without defence . we then comfort our selves in the justice of our cause , and our peaceable deportment under it . but we comfort our selves likewise in the christian compassion shewed us by forrein princes , and more especially of his majesty of england , who has received us into his countries , succoured and relieved us , and recommended our distressed condition to all his subjects ; and we have found in them not only new masters , or the affections of new friends , but of real parents and brethren . and as these bowels of commiseration have been as balm to our wounds , so we shall never lose the remembrance of it , and hope we nor our children shall ever do any thing , by gods grace , unworthy any of these their protections . all our affliction then is , to see our religion oppressed in the kingdom of france ; so many churches wherein god was daily served according to the simplicity of the gospel , demolished , so many flocks dispers'd , so many poor consciences sighing and groaning under their bondage ; so many children deprived of the lawful education of their parent ; but we hope that at length the same god who heard heretofore the sighs of his people in the servitude of egypt , will also hear at this time the cries of his faithful servants . we call not for fire from heaven , we are for no resistance , we only pray that god would touch the hearts of our persecuters , that they may repent , and be saved together with us . we entreat such a deliverance , as he in his wisdom shall think fitting . however 't will be no offence to god nor good men to leave this writing to the world , as a protestation made before him , and them against these violences ; more especially against the edict of 1685. containing the revocation of that of nants , it being in its own nature inviolable , irrevocable , and unalterable . we may , i say , complain amongst other things against the worse than inhumane cruelties exercised on dead bodies , when they are drag'd along the streets at the horse tayls , and dig'd out , and denyed sepulchers . we cannot but complain of the cruel orders to part with our children , and suffer them to be baptized , and brought up by our enemies . but above all , against the impious and detestable practise , now in vogue , of making religion to depend on the kings pleasure , on the will of a mortal prince , and of treating perseverance in the faith with the odious name of rebellion : this is to make a god of man , and to run back into the heathenish pride and flattery amongst the romans ; or an authorising of atheism or gross idolatry . in fine , we commit our complaints , and all our interests into the hands of that providence , which brings good out of evil , and which is above the understanding of mortals , whose houses are in the dust . an edict of the french king , prohibiting all publick exercise of the pretended reformed religion in his kingdom . lewes , by the grace of god , king of france and of navarre , to all present and to come , greeting . king henry the great , our grandfather of glorious memory , desiring to prevent , that the peace which he had procured for his subjects , after the great losses they had sustained , by the long continuance of civil and forreign wars , might not be disturbed by occasion of the pretended reformed religion , as it had been during the reigns of the kings his predecessors , had by his edict given at nantes , in the month of april , 1598. regulated the conduct which was to be observed with respect to those of the said religion , the places where they might publickly exercise the same , appointed extraordinary judges , to administer justice to them ; and lastly , also by several distinct articles provided for every thing , which he judged needful for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in his kingdom , and to diminish the aversion which was between those of the one and other religion ; and this , to the end that he might be in a better condition for the taking some effectual course ( which he was resolved to do ) to reunite those again to the church , who upon so slight occasions had withdrawn themselves from it . and forasmuch as this intention of the king , our said grandfather , could not be effected , by reason of his suddain and precipitated death ; and that the execution of the foresaid edict was interrupted during the minority of the late king , our most honoured lord and father , of glorious memory , by reason of some new enter-prises of those of the pretended reformed religion , whereby they gave occasion for their being deprived of several advantages which had been granted to them , by the foresaid edict : notwithstanding , the king , our said late lord and father , according to his wonted clemency , granted them another edict at nismes , in the month of july 1629 , by means of which the peace and quiet of the kingdom being now again re-established , the said late king , being animated with the same spirit and zeal for religion , as the king our said grandfather was , resolved to make good use of this tranquility , by endeavouring to put this pious design in execution , but wars abroad , coming on a few years after , so that from the year 1635 , to the truce which was concluded with the princes of europe , in 1684. the kingdom having been only for some short intervals altogether free from troubles , it was not possible to do any other thing for the advantage of religion , save only to diminish the number of places permitted for the exercise of the pretended reformed religion , as well by the interdiction of those which were found erected in prejudice to the disposal made in the said edict , as by suppressing the mix'd chambers of judicature , which were composed of an equal number of papists and protestants , the erecting of which was only done by provision , and to serve the present exigency . whereas therefore at length it hath pleased god to grant , that our subjects enjoying a perfect peace , and we our selves being no longer taken up with the cares of protecting them against our enemies , are now in a condition to make good use of the said truce , which we have on purpose facilitated , in order to the applying our selves entirely in the searching out of means , which might successfully effect and accomplish the design of the kings , our said grandfather and father , and which also have been our intention ever since we came to the crown ; we see at present ( not without a just acknowledgment of what we owe to god on that account ) that our endeavours have attain'd the end we proposed to our selves , forasmuch as the greater and better part of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion have already embraced the catholick , and sice by means thereof , the execution of the edict of nantes , and of all other ordinances in favour of the said pretended reformed religion is made useless , we judge that we can do nothing better towards the entire effacing of the memory of those troubles , confusion and mischief , which the progress of that false religion , hath been the cause of in our kingdom , and which have given occasion to the said edict , and to so many other edicts and declarations which went before it , or were made since with reference thereto , than by a total revocation of the said edict of nantes , and the perticular articles and concessions granted therein , and whatsoever else hath been enacted since in favour of the said religion . i. we m●k● known , that we , for these and other reasons us thereto moving , and of u●certain knowledg , full power and royal authority , have by the present perpetual and irrevocable edict , suppressd and annull'd , do suppress and annul the edict of the king , our said grand father , given at nantes in april , 1598 in its whole extent , together with the particular arcicles ratified the second of may , next following , and letters patent granted thereupon ; as likewise the edict given at nismes , in july 1629. declaring them null and void , as if they had never been enacted , together with all the concessions granted in them , as well as other declarations , edicts , and arrests , to those of the pretended reformed religion , of what nature soever they may be , which shall all continue as if they never had been . and in pursuance hereof , we will , and it is our pleasure , that all the churches of those of the pretended reformed religion , scituate in our kingdom countries , lands , and dominions belonging to us , be forthwith demolished . ii. we forbid our subjects of the pretended reformed religion to assemble themselves , for time to come , in order to the exercise of their religion , in any place or house under what pretext soever , whether the said places have been granted by the crown , or permitted by the judges of particular places ; any arrests of our council , for authorizing and establishing of the said places for exercise , notwithstanding . iii. we likewise prohibit all lords , of what condition soever they may be , to have any publick exercise in their houses and fiefs , of what quality soever the said fiefs may be , upon penalty to all our said subjects , who shall have the said exercises performed in their houses or otherwise , of confiscation of body and goods . iv. we do strictly charge and command all ministers of the said pretended reformed religion , who are not willing to be converted , and to embrace the catholick apostolick and roman religion , to depart out of our kingdom and countries under our obedience , fifteen days after the publication hereof , so as not to continue there beyond the said term , or within the same , to preach , exhort , or perform any other ministerial function , upon pain of being sent to the galleys . v. our will and pleasure is , that those ministers who shall be converted , do continue to enjoy , during their lives , and their widows after their decease , so long as they continue so , the same exemptions from payments and quartering of souldiers , which they did enjoy during the time of their exercise of the ministerial function . moreover we will cause to be paid to the said ministers , during their lives a pension , which by a third part shall exceed the appointed allowance to them as ministers ; the half of which pension shall be continued to their wives , after their decease , as long as they shall continue in the state of widdow hood . vi. and in case any of the said ministers shall be willing to become advocates , or to take the degree of doctors in law , we will and vnderstand that they be dispensedwith , as to the three years of study , which are prescribed by our declarations , as requisite , in order to the taking of the said degree , and that after they have pass'd the ordinary examinations , they be forthwith received as doctors , paying only the moy●ty of those dues which are usually paid upon that account in every vniversity . vii . we prohibit any particular schools for instructing the children of those of the pretended reformed religion , and in general all other things whatsoever , which may imp●rt a concession of what kind soever , in favour of the said religion . viii . and as to the children which shall for the future be born of those of the said pretended reformed religion , our will and pleasure is , that henceforward they be baptized by the curates of our parishes ; strictly charging their respective fathers and mothers to take care they be sent to church in order thereto , upon forfeiture of 500 livres or more , as it shall happen . furthermore , our will is , that the said children be afterwards educated and brought up in the catholick , apostolick and roman religion , and give an express charge to all our justices , to take care the same be performed accordingly . ix . and for a mark of our clemenctowards those of our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , who have retired themselves out of our kingdom , countries and territories , before the publication of this our present edict , our will and meaning is , that in case they return thither again , within the time of four months , from the time of the publication hereof they may , and it shall be lawful for them , to re-enter upon the possession of their goods and estates , and enjoy the same in like manner , as they might have done in case they had always continued upon the place . and on the contrary , that the goods of all those , who within the said time of four months , shall not return into our kingdom , countries or territories , under our obedience , which they have forsaken , remain and be confiscated in pursuance of our declaration of the 20th . of august last . x. we most expresly and strictly forbid all our subjects of the said pretended reformed religion , them , their wives or children , to depart out of our said kingdom , countries , or territories under our obedience , or to transport thence their goods or effects , upon penalty of the gally , for men , and of confiscation of body and goods for women . xi . our will and meaning is , that the declarations made against those who shall relapse , be executed upon them according t● their form and tenor. moreover , those of the said pretended reformed religion , in the meantime , till it shall please god to enlighten them as well as others , may abide in the several respective cities and places of our kingdoms , countries and territories under our obedience , and there continue their commerce , and enjoy their goods and estates , without being any way molested upon account of the said pretended reformed religion , upon condition nevertheless , as aforementioned , that they do not use any publick religious exercise , nor assemble themselves upon the account of prayer or worship of the said religion , of what kind soever the same may be , upon forfeiture above specified of body and goods . accordingly , we will and command our trusty and beloved counsellors , the people holding our courts of aids at paris , bayliffs , chief justices , provosts , and other our justices and officers to whom it appertains , and to their lieutenants , that they cause to be read , published and registred , this our present edict in their courts and jurisdictions , even in vacation time , and the same keep punctually , without contravening or suffering the same to be contravened ; for such is our will and pleasure . and to the end to make it a thing firm and stable , we have caused our seal to be put to the same . given at fountainbleau in the month of october , in the year of grace 1685 , and of our reign the 43. sealed with the great seal of green-wax , upon a red and green string of silk . signed lewes . this signifies the lord chancellors perusal . visa . le tellier . registred and published , the kings procurator or attorney general , requiring it , in order to their being executed according to form and tenor , and the copies being examined and compared , sent to the several courts of justice , bailywicks , and sheriffs courts of each destrict , to be there entred and registred in like manner , and charge given to the deputies of the said attorney general , to take care to see the same executed and put in force , and to certifie the court thereof . at paris in the court of vacations the 22d . of october , 1685. signed de la baune . the profession of the catholick , apostolick , and roman faith , which the revolting protestants in france are to subscribe and swear to . in the name of the father , son , and holy ghost , amen . i believe and confess with a firm faith , all and every thing and things contained in the creed which is used by the holy church of rome , viz i receive and embrace most sincerely the apostolick and ecclesiastical traditions , and other observances of the said church . in like manner i receive the scriptures , but in the same sense as the said mother church hath , and doth now understand and expound the same , for whom and to whom it only doth belong to judge of the interpretation of the sacred scriptures ; and i will never take them , nor understand them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers . i profess that there be truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law , instituted by our lord jesus christ , and necessary for the salvation of mankind , altho not equally needful for every one , viz. baptism , confirmation , the eucharist , penance , extream unction , orders and marriage ; and that they do confer grace ; and that baptism and orders may not be reiterated without sacriledge : i receive and admit also the ceremonies received and approved by the catholic church in the solemn administration of the forementioned sacraments . i receive and embrace all and every thing and things which have been determined concerning original sin and justification by the holy council of trent . i likewise profess , that in the mass there is offered up to god , a true , proper , and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and dead ; and that in the holy sacrament of the encharist , there is truly , really and substantially , the body and blood , together with the soul and divinity of our lord jesus christ ; and that in it there is made a change of the whole substance of the bread into his body , and of the whole substance of the wine into his blood , which change the catholick church calls transubstantiation . i confess also , that under one only of these two elements , whole christ and the true sacrament is received . i constantly believe and affirm , that there is a purgatory , and that the souls there detained , are relieved by the suffrages of the faithful . in like manner , i believe that the saints reigning in glory with jesus christ , are to be worshipped and invocated by us , and that they offer up prayers to god for us , and that their reliques ought to be honoured . moreover , i do most stedfastly avow , that the images of jesus christ , of the blessed virgin the mother of god , and of other saints , ought to be kept and retained , and that due honour and veneration must be yielded unto them . also i do affirm , that the power of indulgence was left to the church by christ jesus , and that the use there of is very beneficial to christians . i do acknowledg the holy catholick , apostolick and roman church , to be the mother and mistress of all other churches ; and i profess and swear true obedience to the pope of rome , successor of the blessed st. peter , prince of the apostles , and vicar of jesus christ . in like manner i own and profess , without doubting , all other things left defined and declared by the holy canons and general councils , especially by the most holy council of trent ; and withal , i do condemn , reject , and hold for accursed , all things that are contrary thereto ; and all those heresies which have been condemned , rejected , and accursed by the church . and then swearing upon the book of the gospel , the party recanting must say : i promise , vow and swear , and most constantly profess , by god's assistance , to keep intirely and inviolably , unto death , this self same catholick and apostolick faith , out of which no person can be saved ; and this i do most truly and willingly profess , and that i will to the utmost of my power , endeavour that it may be maintained and upheld as far as any ways belong to my charge ; so help me god and the holy virgin. the certificate which the party recanting is to leave with the priest , before whom he makes his abjuration . in. n. of the parish of n. do certifie all whom it may concern , that having acknowledged the falseness of the pretended reformed , and the truth of the catholick religion , of my own free-will , without any compulsion , i have accordingly made profession of the said catholick and roman religion in the church of n. in the hands of n. n. in testimony of the truth whereof , i have signed this act in the presence of the witnesses , whose names are under written , this — day of the month of the — year of the reign of our soveraign lord the king , and of our redemption — finis . the protestant's crums of comfort containing i. prayers and meditations, with ejaculations for every day in the week, and other occasions. ii. thanksgivings for deliverances from popery, tyranny, and arbitrary power. iii. the rebellion in ireland, and massacre of paris. iv. the learned bishop usher's prophecy, concerning ireland, and the downfall of rome. v. advice to the late besieged in london-derry, under that reverend divine and valiant commander, coll. george walker. illustrated with pictures suitable to each particular occasion. walker, george, of londonderry. 1690 approx. 138 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 99 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66950 wing w342 estc r219333 99830812 99830812 35266 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. a66950) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35266) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1878:20) the protestant's crums of comfort containing i. prayers and meditations, with ejaculations for every day in the week, and other occasions. ii. thanksgivings for deliverances from popery, tyranny, and arbitrary power. iii. the rebellion in ireland, and massacre of paris. iv. the learned bishop usher's prophecy, concerning ireland, and the downfall of rome. v. advice to the late besieged in london-derry, under that reverend divine and valiant commander, coll. george walker. illustrated with pictures suitable to each particular occasion. walker, george, of londonderry. [4], 153, [9] p., [4] leaves of plates : port. printed by w.w. for nicholas bodington at the golden ball in duck-lane, london : 1690. with a licence to print on verso of title page dated december 16th. 1689. dedication signed: g.w.; attributed by wing to george walker. each part of the text headed by a caption title; on p. 1: "the protestants manual of prayers and meditations"; on p. 61: "ejaculations upon several occasions out of the holy scriptures"; on p. 93: "a short account of the massacre in ireland & paris"; on p. 103: "strange and remarkable predictions of that holy, learned, and excellent bishop, james usher, late lord primate of ireland"; on p. 121: "thanksgivings for god's wonderful deliverances"; on p. 131: "christian courage in affliction". frontis. = plate; consists of medallion portraits of queen elizabeth, king james i, king william iii and queen mary; the three folded plates include woodcuts of the coronation of william and mary, the reverend bishop usher, the irish rebellion, and french massacre, the downfall of rome, the spanish invasion, the gun powder plot, and the arrival of the prince of orange. 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 walker, george, 1645?-1690 -early works to 1800. ussher, james, 1581-1656 -early works to 1800. prayers -early works to 1800. protestants -ireland -early works to 1800. protestants -france -early works to 1800. prophecies -early works to 1800. londonderry (northern ireland) -history -early works to 1800. 2004-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the protestant's crums of comfort : containing i. prayers and meditations , with ejaculations for every day in the week , and other occasions . ii. thanksgivings for deliverances from popery , tyranny , and arbitrary power . iii. the rebellion in ireland , and massacre of paris . iv. the learned bishop usher's prophecy , concerning ireland and the downfall of rome . v. advice to the late besieged in london-derry , under that reverend divine and valiant commander coll. george walker . ilustrated with pictures sutable to each particular occasion . london ; printed by w. w. for nicholas bodington at the golden ball in duck-lane 1690. defenders of y e protestant religio● q. elizabeth . k. william . k. james q. mary ii. of sam. xxiii v. 3. he that ruleth ore men must be just ruling in y e fear of god. licensed , december 16th . 1689. to the honourable the lady p. t. madam , where true piety inhabites , charity always ●ims a priviledge in ●owning religious actions ▪ ●d , like the good samaritan , ●ords the oil of relief to the ●ounds of the distressed . such tender compassion al●●ys attends the great and ●st , of whom , madam , you ● a perfect pattern ; your ●…nty has been unlimited to 〈…〉 distressed and afflicted , to 〈…〉 fatherless and the widow , ●…t even commiseration it self has been your daily delight and practice . divine souls , like yours can never be free from humbl● addressers , which creates ● pr●sumption in me to lay th●… tract at your la●●ships door where i humbly conceive yo● will honour it so far , as 〈◊〉 take it into your closet . that heaven may prosp●… you with length of days here and reward you with a cro●… of glory hereafter , is t●… hearty prayer of , madam , your most obedient servan● g. w. the protestant's manual , of prayers and meditations ▪ when we first awake . o god , thou art my god , early will i seek thee . i will sing of thy power , ●…d will praise thy mercy becomes in the morning ; for ●…ou hast been , and wilt be 〈…〉 defence and refuge in the ●…y of my trouble . a prayer for the morning o eternal god , whose providence has protected m● the night past , & brought me t● the beginning of this day ; defend me , o lord , in the same by thy almighty power , an● grant that this day i fall into n● sin , neither run into any kin● of danger , but that all m● doings may be ordered by th● governance , to do alway● that which is righteous in th● sight , through jesus christ. ii. i praise thy name , th●● thou hast still continued to 〈◊〉 the opportunity of servin● thee , and advancing my hop● of a blessed eternity ; preser●●●● me this day from all violence and snares of my enemies , visible and invisible ; keep me from all pride , self-love , and vain-glory ; all obstinacy and disobedience ; all fraudulency and dissimulation , and let the graces of thy holy spirit take an absolute possession of my soul , and all its faculties , that i may finally tread down satan under my feet ; all this i beg for thy son jesus christ his sake , amen . a prayer for the evening . almighty god , i praise and magnifie thy holy name , for thy preservation of me this day , and all the days of my life ; for unless thy mercy had withheld me , i had committed ▪ more and more grievous sins , and had been overwhelmed by thy just wrath , and severest judgments : pardon , o lord , i beseech thee , the sins and offences of my youth , and the irregularity of all my actions , either in thought , word , or deed . ii. let thy heavenly grace be present with me , that though my body sleep , yet let my soul be vigilant , lest i sleep in sin , and be forgetfull of my duty towards thee ; let thy goodness and loving kindness never slip out of my remembrance , but so unite my heart unto thee with fervent charity , that whatever i do , may redound to thy glory . iii. grant that whether i sleep or wake , live or dye , i may never lose the light of thy countenance , but evermore live in thy favour ; that escaping from the darkness of this world , i may at last arrive at the land of everlasting peace and happiness , to behold thy power and glory , amen . meditations for sunday morning . let god arise , and let his enemies be scattered ; let them also that hate him , flee before him . like as the smoak vanisheth , so shalt thou drive them away ; and like as wax melteth at the fire , so let the ungodly perish at the presence of god. but let the righteous be glad and rejoyce before god ; let them also be merry and joyfull . ii. o sing unto god , and sing praises unto his name ; magnifie him that rideth upon the heavens as it were upon an horse ; praise him in his name , yea , and rejoyce before him . he is a father of the fatherless , and defendeth the cause of the widows ; even god in his holy habitation . he is the god that maketh men to be of one mind in an house , and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity , but letteth the runnagates continue in scarceness . iii. o god , when thou wentest forth before the people , when thou wentest through the wilderness : the earth shook , and the heavens dropped at the presence of god , even as sina● also was moved at the presence of god , which is the god of israel . thou , o god , sentest a gracious rain upon thine in heritance , and refreshed'st i● when it was weary . thy congregation shall dwell therein ; for thou , o god , hast of thy goodness prepared for the poor . iv. the lord gave the word : great was the company of the preachers . kings with their armies did flee , and were discomfited , and they of the household divided the spoil . though ye have li●n among the pots , yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove , that is covered with silver wings , and her feathers like gold. v. when the almighty scattered kings for their sake , then were they as white as snow in salmon . as the hill of basan , so is god's hill ; even an high hill , as the hill of basan . why hop ye so , ye high hills ? this is god's hill , in which it pleaseth him to dwell ; yea , the lord will abide in it for ever . vi. the chariots of god are twenty thousand , even thousands of angels , and the lord is among them , as in the holy place of sin●i . thou art gone up on high , ●hou hast led captivity captive , and received gifts for men ; yea , even for thine enemies , that the lord god might dwell among them . vii . praised be the lord daily , even the god which helpeth us , and poureth his benefits upon us . he is our god , even the god of whom cometh ●alvation : god is the lord by whom we escape death . god shall wound the head of his enemies , and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on s●ill in his wickedness . viii . the lord hath said , i will bring my people again , as i did from basan : mine own will i bring again , as i did sometime from the deep of the sea. that thy foot may be dipped in the bloud of thine enemies ; and that the tongue of thy dogs may be red through the same . ix . it is well seen , o god , how thou goest ; how thou , my god , and my king , goest in the sanctuary . the singers go before , the minstrels follow after ; in the midst are the damsels playing with the timbrels . give thanks , o israel , unto god the lord in the congregations , from the ground of the heart . there is little benjamin their ruler , and the princes of juda● , their counsel ; the princes of zabul●n , and the princes of napthali . x. thy god hath sent forth strength for thee : stablish the thing , o god , that thou hast wrought in us . for thy temples sake at jerusalem ; so shall kings bring presents unto thee . when the company of the spear-men and multitude of the mighty are scattered abroad among the beasts of the people , ( so that they humbly bring pieces of silver , ) and when he hath scattered the people that delight in war. then shall the princes come out of egypt ; the morians land shall soon stretch out her hands unto god. the prayer . most gracious god , who art ● father of the fatherless , and pleadest the cause of the wido● , have mercy upon thy holy catholick church , and since her lord is ●scended up on high , even to his heavenly mansions , leave us not alone comfortless , but send thy holy spirit into our hearts , that by his assistance we may escape spiritual , and the bitterness of the temporal . ii. send a gracious showre , even the dew of thy divine favours , to refresh our weariness in this calamity ; make thy people as doves , innocent and chast , and adorn them with the beauty of inward sanctity : let all kings , princes , and rulers of the earth , confess thy name , and thy honour ; that thy gospel extending forth into all lands , peace , and all thy blessings may follow it , and thy praise be encreased from generation to generation , through christ our lord and saviour , amen . sunday noons meditations . sing unto god , o ye kingdoms of the earth : o sing praises unto the lord , who sitteth in the heavens over all from the beginning : lo , he doth send forth his voice , yea , and that a mighty voice . ascribe ye the power to god over israel ; his worship and strength is in the clouds . o god , wonderfull art thou in thy holy places ! even the god of israel ; he will give strength unto his people , blessed be god. ii. o clap your hands together , all ye people ; o sing unto god with the voice of melody . for the lord is high , and to be feared ; he is the great king upon all the earth . he shall subdue the people under us , and the nations under our feet . he shall chuse out an heritage for us ; even the worship of jacob whom he loved . iii. god is gone up with a merry noise , and the lord with the sound of the trump . o sing praises , sing praises unto our god : o sing praises , sing praises unto our king. for god is the king of all the earth : sing ye praises with understanding . the prayer . o lord god , celestial king , who reign●st potentate in all the world , thou art exalted above all creatures , and art to be feared in all the dominions of the earth ; let the seed of thy glorious gospel be planted in all parts of the habitable world , that thy saving health may be known unto all nations . ii. let thy grace pull down all the strong holds of sin and satan , that any ways oppose thy holy name and word ; subdue all thy people unto thee , and the nations under thy feet , so that we that are thy people , and sheep of thy hands , may become one sheepfold under one shepherd , jesus christ , our blessed lord and saviour . meditations for sunday night . i will magnifie thee , o god , my king ; and i will praise thy name for ever and ever . every day will i give thanks unto thee , and praise thy name for ever and ever . great is the lord , and marvellous worthy to be praised ; there is no end of his greatness . ii. one generation shall praise thy works unto another , and declare thy power . as for me i will be talking of thy worship , thy glory , thy praise , and wondrous works . so that men shall speak of the might of thy marvellous acts ; and i will also tell of thy greatness . the memorial of thine abundant kindness shall be shewed , and men shall sing of thy righteousness . iii. the lord is gracious and mercifull , long-suffering , and of great goodness . the lord is loving unto every one , and his mercy is over all his works . all thy works praise thee , o lord , and thy saints give thanks unto thee . they shew the glory of thy kingdom , and talk of thy power . that thy power , thy glory , and mightiness of thy kingdom might be known unto men. thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom ; and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages . the prayer . most mighty god , marvellous worthy art thou to be praised , and of thy greatness there is no end ; give us sanctified hearts , and lips , that we may express thy righteousness , and magnifie thy glory , worship , and wondrous works . ii. all the earth praises thee , o lord , and thy saints give thanks unto thee : make us religious and sincere before thee , and to lay aside all hypocrisie . protect us , o lord , by thy hand of providence , that we fall not , and raise us up when we are down . iii. give us spiritual and temporal meat in thy o●n due time for our souls and bodies ; that we being filled abundantly with thy mercies here , we may have our hearts desire fulfilled , and satisfied hereafter , among such as fear thee , and praise thy holy name for evermore . amen . monday mornings meditations . the lord upholdeth all such as fall , and lifteth up all those that be down . for he shall deliver the poor when he cryeth ; the needy also , and him that hath no helper . he shall be favourable to the simple and needy , and shall preserve the souls of the poor . he shall deliver their souls from wrong , and falshood , and dear shall their bloud be in his sight . ii. there shall be a heap of corn in the earth , high upon the hills : his fruit shall shake like li●anus , and he shall be green in the city , like grass upon the earth . his name shall endure for ever ; his name shall remain under the sun among the posterities , which shall be blessed through him , and all the heathen shall praise him . iii. blessed be the lord god of israel , who only doth wondrous things . and blessed be the name of his majesty for ever , and all the earth shall be filled with his majesty , amen . the prayer . o eternal god , thou that defendest the children and poor , but pu●ishest the wrong doer , have mercy upon thy people under affliction ; extend thy mercy and compassion from ●ne sea to another , even unto the worlds end . ii. make thy people , who love thy name , flourish ; and subdue their enemies under them , that neither ●alshood nor wrong may any ways ●p●ress them . bless them with peace ●nd tranquillity , and satisfie them with thy righteousness and salvation , through thy mercy , o blessed ●esu , amen . mōnday noon's meditations . not unto us , o lord , not unto us , but unto thy name give the praise , for thy loving mercy , and for thy truths sake . wherefore shall the heathen say , where is now their god ? as for our god , he is in heaven ; he hath done whatsoever pleaseth him . ii. their idols are silver and gold , even the work of mens hands . they have mouths and speak not ; eyes have they , and see not . they have ears and hear not ; noses have they and smell not . they have hands , and handle not : feet have they , and walk not ; neither speak they through their throat . they that make them are like unto them ; and so are all such as put their trust in them . iii. but thou house of israel , trust thou in the lord : he is ●●eir succour and defender . ye house of aaron , put your trust in the lord : he is ●heir helper and defender . the lord hath been mind●ull of us , and he shall bless ●…s : even he shall bless the ●ouse of israel , he shall bless ●●e house of aaron . he shall bless them that ●…ar the lord , both small and ●…reat . the prayer . almighty god , whose dwelling is in the highest heavens , and ●st whatsoever pleaseth thee both in heaven and on earth ; give grace , 〈…〉 beavenly father , that in all our ●…ubles and calamities , we may put 〈…〉 who le trust in thee , who art our ●…y succour , defender , and deliver . ii. let us evermore praise thy holy name , and never ascribe to our selves any honour , and glory , or thank● of any good action , or prosper o● success ; but to thee alone who a●● the author and giver of all good things . keep us from idolatry from worshipping vain imagination● and any thing which is contrary to t●● gospel . bless us in all our way● that when we go from hence , we 〈…〉 inherit thy kingdom . amen . meditations for monday night . i will lift up mine eyes un● the hills , from when cometh my help . my help cometh even from the lord , which hath ma● heaven and earth . ii. he will not suffer thy fo● to be moved : and he th● keepeth thee will not sleep . behold he that keepeth israel shall neither slumber nor ●●eep . iii. the lord himself is thy keeper : the lord is thy defence upon the right hand . so that the sun shall not ●urn thee by day , nor the moon by night . iv. the lord shall preserve thee ●●om evil : yea , it is even he ●hat shall keep thy soul. the lord shall preserve thy ●oing out , and thy coming in , ●●om this time forth for evermore . the prayer . o god , from whence cometh all our help and succour , pre●…ve us by thy power and providence , ●…at nothing either by day or night ●…ay molest our peace , or disturh our ●afety ; suffer not the vanities of ●…e one to allure us , nor the terrours 〈…〉 the other to amaze and affright us . ii. let our feet be immoveable , an● fixed upon the rock and foundation christ jesus ; and so dispose of o● going out , and coming in , that ● may not swerve from thy commandments : but walk according to t● holy rule in all things , who art o● lord and saviour . meditations for tuesday morning . they that put their tr●… in the lord shall be ev●… as the mount sion , which m●… not be removed , but stande●… fast for ever . the hills stand about jerusalem : even so standeth t●… lord round about his peop●… from this time forth for ev●… more . ii. for the rod of the ungo●… cometh not into the lot of t●… righteous ; lest the righteous out their hands unto wickedness . do well , o lord , unto ●hose that be good and true of heart . as for such as turn back un●o their own wickedness , the ●ord shall lead them forth with the evil-doers : but ●eace shall be upon israel . the prayer . merciful god , our ▪ only trust and confidence , and whosoever ●usteth in thee shall not be removed , ●●t stand fast for ever ; let thy pow●● and glory stand round about us , ●nd all thy holy people , like hills ●…r our protection and safety , that ●…e may be sheltered from our enemies . ii. permit us not to put our hands to wickedness , neither let us partake 〈◊〉 the lot of the ungodly , whom thou or dainest for destruction : b●… let us receive that blessing which o●… lord and saviour hath left 〈…〉 church , even the peace of god t●… father , son , and holy ghost : 〈…〉 whom be all honour and glory , wor●… without end . amen . meditations for tuesday noon . when the lord turned again the captivity 〈…〉 sion , then were we like unt●… them that dream . then was our mouth fil●…ed with laughter , and o●… tongue with joy. ii. then said they among th● heathen , the lord hath do●… great things for them . yea , the lord hath do●… great things for us already whereof we rejoyce . iii. turn thou our captivity , o lord , as the rivers in the south . they that sow in tears shall ●eap in joy. he that now goeth on his way weeping , and beareth ●orth good seed , shall doubt●ess come again with joy , and ●ring his sheaves with him . the prayer . gracious god , who hast promised life and salvation to thy cho●en servants , and hast wrought ●ighty things for them already , ●hereof they rejoyce . deliver us we ●eseech thee , from the slavery and ●etters of sin and misery ; dissipate ●nd scatter all our enemies which ●ay close siege to us , seeking to destroy us . ii. fill our hearts with con̄t●ition , ●or having trespassed against thee ; teach us that divine art of self denial , to mo●tifie our affection 〈◊〉 our lust , and extinguish a●●●●shly temptations ; that when th● great harvest shall come , ●e may 〈◊〉 admitted as fellow labourers 〈◊〉 work in thy spiritual kingdom through jesus christ. amen . meditations for tuesday night . out of the deep have called unto thee , o lord lord hear my voice . oh let thine ears conside● well the voice of my complaint . ii. if thou , lord , wilt be extream to mark what is done a● miss , o lord , who may a● bide it ? for there is mercy with thee : therefore snalt thou b● feared . i look for the lord , my soul doth wait for him ; in his word is my trust. iii. my soul flieth unto the lord before the morning watch : i say before the morning watch. o israel trust in the lord : for with the lord there is mercy , and with him is plenteous redemption . and he shall redeem israel from all his sins . the prayer . o blessed lord , who with thy most precious blood , didst pay ●ur ransom , to purchase for us freedom , and salvation . with thee , ●here is mercy and plenteous redemption ; o let the height of that mercy ●ake us out of the bottomless pit of ●in and misery . ii. be not extream , o lord , in marking out what we have done amiss in our life time , but rather blot out th● hand-writing which is against us ▪ and as thy boundless mercy pardon● what is past , so let the sweetness of i● create thy fear in our hearts , that we may never more dare to offend s● gracious and merciful a saviour a● thou art to us . grant this , o lord , i beseech thee , for thy alone sake . amen . meditations for wednesday morning . deliver me , o lord , from the evil man , and preserve me from the wicked man. which imagine mischief i● their hearts , and stir up stris● all the day long . they have sharpened their tongues like a serpent : adders poyson is under their lips. ii. keep me , o lord , from the hands of the ungodly , preserve me from the wicked men , which are purposed to overthrow my going . the proud have laid a s●are for me , and spread a net abroad with cords ; yea , and set traps in my way . iii. i said unto the lord , thou art my god : hear the voice of my prayers , o lord. o lord god , thou strength of my health , thou hast covered my head in the day of battle . iv. let not the ungodly have his desire , o lord : let not his mischievous imagination prosper , lest they be too proud. let the mischief of their own lips fall upon the head of them that compass me about . a man full of words shall not prosper upon the earth : evil shall hunt the wicked person to overthrow him . the prayer . o lord god , the strength of all those that depend upon thee ; deliver us from evil and wicked men : that neither their examples may corrupt us , nor their counsels misguide us , or their mischief disturb our safety . ii. but do thou , o lord , cover our heads in the day of battle and strife against all our bodily and ghostly enemies ; that though they pursue us to overthrow us , yet we may be safe on earth under thy favour and almighty protection , and at the last being removed from all fears and dangers , we may appear in thy sight amongst the righteous for evermore . meditations for wednesday noon . hear my prayer , o lord , and consider my desire : hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness sake . and enter not into judgment with thy servant : for in thy sight shall no one living be justified . ii. for the enemy hath persecuted my soul , he hath smitten my life down to the ground , he hath laid me in the darkness , as the men that have been long dead . therefore is my spirit vexed within me , and my heart within me is desolate . iii. yet do i remember the time past , i muse upon all thy works : yea , i exercise my self in the works of thy hands . i stretch forth my hands unto thee : my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land. the prayer . most righteous judge and dear redeemer , hear us for thy truth and mercies sake ; free us from the hainous guilt of all our sins , and renounce those punishments due to us for the same . ii. enter not at any time into judgment with us , for in thy sight no flesh can be justified by its own worthiness . fortifie our souls with the holiness of a lively faith , which worketh by charity , that at last we enter into thy holy of holies , even life everlasting . amen . meditations for wednesday night . hear me , o lord , and that soon , for my spirit waxeth faint : hide not thy face from me , lest i be like unto them that go down into the pit. o let me hear thy loving kindness betimes in the morning , for in thee is my trust : shew thou me the way that i should walk in , for i lift up my soul unto thee . ii. deliver me , o lord , from mine enemies : for i flie unto thee to hide me . teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee , for thou art my god : let thy loving spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness . iii. quicken me , o lord , for thy names sake : and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble . and of thy goodness slay mine enemies , and destroy all them that vex my soul ; for i am thy servant . the prayer . bow down thine ear , o lord , and hear my complaint , support my weak spirit with thy heavenly grace , which is sufficient for me . hide not the light of thy countenance from me , but replenish me with the beams of thy mercy and goodness . ii. direct me in the way that i should walk in ; instruct me to do whatsoever pleaseth thee , quicken my soul in thy paths which lead to life eternal ; and so continue the conduct of thy blessed spirit to me , that it may never depart from me , till i am brought out of this temporal world , and am safely arrived at thy spiritual kingdom . amen . meditations for thursday morning . praise the lord , o my soul ; while i live will i praise the lord ; yea , as long as i have any being , will i sing praises unto my god. o put not your trust in princes , nor in any child of man : ●or there is no help in them . for when the breath of man goeth out , he shall turn again to his earth : and then all his thoughts perish . ii. blessed is he that hath the god of jacob for his help , and whose hope is in the lord his god. which made heaven and earth , the sea and all that therein is ; which keepeth his promise for ever . which helpeth them to right that suffer wrong ; which feedeth the hungry . iii. the lord looseth men out of prison : the lord giveth sight to the blind . the lord helpeth them that are fallen : the lord careth for the righteous . the lord careth for the strangers ; he defendeth the fatherless and widow : as for the way of the ungodly , he turneth it upside down . the lord thy god , o sion , shall be king for evermore , and throughout all generations . the prayer . great god , who art king for everlasting , world without end , vouchsafe us thy grace , and assist us with thy ready help , that we may fix all our hopes in thee ; for thou alone art able to grant deliverance . ii. lord , feed our souls , and satisfie us with thy salvation , when we hunger and thirst after thee ; revenge our cause , when we suffer wrong ; and heal our back-slidings . enlighten our darkness , that we walk not in the shadow of death , and let thy hand of providence take care of us in all our necessities , that when our life is expired , and we return to that earth from whence we were taken , we may reign with thee for evermore . meditations for thursday noon . i cryed unto the lord with my voice , yea , even unto the lord did i make my supplication . i poured out my complaints before him , and shewed him of my trouble . when my spirit was in heaviness , thou knewest my path : in the way wherein i walked have they privily laid a snare for me . ii. i looked also upon my right hand , and saw there was no man that would know me . i had no place to flie unto : and no man cared for my soul. i cried unto thee , o lord , and said , thou art my hope , and my portion in the land of the living . iii. consider my complaint : for i am brought very low . o deliver me from my persecutors , for they are too strong for me . bring my soul out of prison , that i may give thanks unto thy name ; which thing if thou wilt grant me , then shall the righteous resort unto my company . the prayer . thou art our place , o lord to flee unto , and the only sanctuary wherein is safety : o hide us under the shadow of thy wings , keep us from all those dangers which increase upon us when our spirits are in heaviness , and our bodies bowed down with infirmities . ii. stand thou evermore at our right hand , and aid us so with the power of thy grace , that our temptations and enemies may at no time molest and disturb us : grant that our souls in thy good time may depart out of the prison of the body with joy and not with grief , and enter into thine eternal joy to reign with thee for evermore , amen . meditations for thursday night . o lord , thou hast searched me out , and known me ; thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising ; thou understandest my thoughts long before . thou art about my bed , and about my path , and spiest out all my ways . for lo , there is not a word in my tongue , but thou , o lord , knowest it altogether . thou hast fashioned me behind and before , and laid thine hand upon me . ii. such knowledge is too wonderfull and excellent for me , i cannot attain unto it . whither shall i go then from thy spirit ? or whither shall i go then from thy presence ? if i climb up into heaven , thou art there : if i go down to hell , thou art there also . if i take the wings of the morning , and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea. iii. even there also shall thy hand lead me , and thy right hand shall hold me . if i say , peradventure the darkness shall cover me ; then shall my night be turned into day . yea , the darkness is no darkness with thee , but the night is as clear as the day ; the darkness and light to thee are both alike . for my reins are thine ; thou hast covered me in my mothers womb. the prayer . infinite art thou , o lord , in wisedom , and omnipresent in all places ; thou fillest heaven and earth with majesty , and the effects of thy glory : hell feels thy mighty power , but thou communicatest to us thy poor creatures thy boundless mercy . ii. and , o lord , as thou art present with us , so we humbly beseech thee be president amongst us ; teach us thy holy laws , and so guide us by thy golden rule , and divine precepts , that we wander not in the darkness of our own errors , but in thy light whom no clouds can overcast , nor darkness eclipse : preserve us , o lord , from falling into utter darkness , where there is weeping , and wailing and gnashing of teeth . meditations for friday morning . i will give thanks unto thee , o lord , for i am fearfully and wonderfully made ; marvellous are thy works , and that my soul knoweth right well . my bones are not hid from thee , though i am made secretly , and fashioned beneath in the earth . thine eyes did see my substance , yet being unperfect , and in thy book were all my members written . which day by day were fashioned , when as yet there was none of them . ii. how dear are thy counsels unto me , o god! o how great is the summe of them ! if i tell them , they are more ●n number than the sand : when i awake up , i am pre●ent with thee . wilt thou not slay the wick●d , o god ? depart from me ●e bloud-thirsty men. for they speak unrighte●usly against thee , and thine enemies take thy name in ●ain . iii. do not i hate them , o lord that hate thee ? and am not grieved with those that ri●● up against thee ? yea , i hate them right sor● even as though they we●● mine enemies . try me , o god , and se●● the ground of my heart prove me , and examine m● thoughts . look well if there be a● way of wickedness in m● and lead me in the way ev●● lasting . the prayer . o lord , thy works are marvell● for thou hast done great thi● for my soul ; it is thou that hast 〈◊〉 med me in the womb , and thy 〈◊〉 der care hath preserved me to 〈◊〉 moment : teach me to hate and hor all iniquity , und to love counsells as my dearest treasure , we may be as fearfull of committing sins in secret , with that circumspection , as in the eye of the world. ii. lead me in thy truth , and guide me in the paths of a holy life , that i may examine my self strictly of what sins i stand guilty off , and earnestly repent of those offences : make me to shun all wicked ways , and conduct me into the way everlasting , through christ our lord , amen . friday noon's meditations . o god , my heart is ready , my heart is ready , i will sing , and give praise with the best member i have . awake thou lute and harp , i my self will awake right early . i will give thanks unto thee , o lord , among the people : i will sing praises unto thee among the nations . ii. for thy mercy is greater than the heavens , and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds . set up thy self , o god , above the heavens ; and thy glory above all the earth . that thy beloved may be delivered , let thy right hand save them , and hear thou me . iii. god hath spoken in his holiness , i will rejoyce therefore and divide sic●em , and meet out the valley of succoth . gilead is mine , and mana●se● is mine ; ephraim also is the strength of mine head . juda is my law-giver ; moab is my wash-pot ; over edom will i ●ast out my shoe ; upon the philistines will i triumph . iii. who will lead me into the strong city ? and who will bring me into edom ? hast not thou forsaken us , o god ? and wilt not thou , o god , go forth with our hosts ? o help us against the enemy ; for vain is the help of man. through god we shall do great acts ; and it is he that shall tread down our enemies . the prayer . early , o my god , to thee will i make my prayer and supplication ! for thy mercy in extent is greater than the heavens , and thy glory above all the earth ; for ever be thou exalted in thine own strength , and magnifie thy power , and thy never-failing mercy in defending us and all thy holy church against all our enemies temporal and spiritual . ii. leave us not , nor forsake us , o god , who art our strong tower and defence , for in vain is man's help , unless thou strengthen us ; fortifie us , and go forth with our hosts to battel , that we being defended and armed by thee , may perform acts great and good , fighting thy battels , and place our confidence in thy righteousness only , and thy salvation , amen . meditations for friday evening . in jury is god known ; his name is great in israel ; at salem is his tabernacle , and his dwelling in sion . there he brake the arrows of the bow , the shield , the sword , and the battel . thou art of more honour and might than the hills of the robbers . ii. the proud are robbed , they have slept their sleep ; and all the men , whose hands were mighty , have found nothing . at thy rebuke , o god of jacob , both the chariot and horse are fallen . thou even thou , art to be ●cared , and who may stand ●n thy sight when thou art angry ? thou didst cause thy judgments to be heard from heaven : the earth trembled and was still . iii. when god arose to judgment , and to help all the meek upon earth . the fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise , and the fierceness of them shalt thou refrain . promise unto the lord your god , and keep it , all ye that be round about him : bring presents unto him that ought to be feared . he shall refrain the spirit of princes ; and is wonderful among the kings of the earth . the prayer . great is thy name , o lord , and thy dwelling in the highest heavens ; give a deep impression of a dread and reverence of thee and thy power in our hearts : let thy threatnings and judgments which descend from heaven , and are executed upon stubborn and disobedient people ; make us loath sin , or the thoughts of it , and shun all the occasions and alluring baits of it . ii. o let thy continued mercies , and loving kindnesses be ever in our remembrance ; and make our hearts still , full of smoothness and tranquillity , that we may not fear the rigour of man , or the cruel wrath of those whose spirits thou canst refrain , lest we be hindred in our duty towards thee ; but let us so fear to offend thee , that we may press forwards from fear to love , from apprehensions of thy wrath , to the sense and comfort of thy mercies . meditations for saturday morning . unto thee , o god , do we give thanks ; yea , unto thee do we give thanks . thy name also is so nigh ; and that do thy wondrous works declare . when i receive the congregation , i shall judge according unto right . the earth is weak , and all the inhabitants thereof : i bear up the pillars of it . ii. i said unto the fools , deal not so madly : and to the ungodly , set not up your horn. set not up your horn on high , and speak not with a stiff neck . for promotion cometh neither from the east , nor from the west , nor yet from the south . and why ? god is the judge : he putteth down one , and setteth up another . iii. for in the hand of the lord there is a cup , and the wine is red : it is full mixt , and he poureth out of the same . as for the dregs thereof , all the ungodly of the earth shall drink them , and suck them out . but i will talk of the god of jacob , and praise him for ever . all the horns of the ungodly also will i break : and the horns of the righteous shall be exalted . the prayer . great judge of the whole universe , from whom proceeds all promotion and punishment , extend thy mercy now upon us , at the hour of death , and in the day of judgment , when thou shalt judge all the society of men and angels according to right . ii. o give us thy powerful grace , that we may expect thy coming in humility and perfect charity , and not be puft up and exalted in our fancies and imaginations , but may submit to thy will with meekness and holy obedience ; that when thou shalt pour forth thy wrath upon the ungodly , we may not be numbered amongst them , but partake of those mercies thou hast provided for those that love and fear thee . amen . meditations for saturday noon . hast thee , o god , to deliver me : make hast to help me , o lord. let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul : let them be turned back-ward , and put to confusion that wish me evil. let them , for their reward , be soon brought to shame that cry over me , there , there . ii. but let all those that seek thee , be joyful and glad in thee : and let all such as delight in thy salvation , say always , the lord be praised . as for me , i am poor and in misery : hast thee unto me , o god. thou art my helper and my redeemer : o lord , make no long tarrying . the prayer . thou , o god , art our deliverer , helper , and redeemer , have mercy upon us , and all those which serve thee , in sincerity and truth ; help us , o god , against those that seek to destroy our souls : let our delight be , to wait for thy salvation , and to trust in thy never-failing mercies , that our feet being guided by thy direction , we may remain safe under thy providence . ii. suffer us not , o thou , who art a god of power and great glory , to be a prey to our enemies ; but dissipate and scatter them , as offensive clouds to the light of thy gospel . strengthen our weakness by thy power , pardon our sins by thy mercies , and justifie our souls by thy free grace , that we may now , and evermore with the humble addresses of devotion , give thee praise , not only with our lips , but in our lives , through jesus christ our lord. amen . meditations for saturday night . god be merciful unto us , and bless us , and shew us the light of his countenance , and be merciful unto us . that thy way may be known upon earth , thy saving health among all nations . let the people praise thee , o god ; yea , let all the people praise thee . ii. o let the nations rejoyce and be glad ; for thou shalt judge the folk righteously , and govern the nations upon earth . let the people praise thee , o god ; let all the people praise thee . then shall the earth bring forth her encrease , and god , even our own god , shall give us his blessing . god shall bless us , and all the ends of the world shall fear him . the prayer . o god , thou great governour of all mankind , and judge of the whole earth , have mercy upon us , and bless us . thou makest the resplendent beams of thy unwearied sun to shine , and cast his lustre upon all corners of the habitable world , bestowing his light both on the good and bad. ii. let the blessed light of thy bright countenance , spread it self to all nations , and to all people : lighten all our darknesses with the radiant beams of thy divine favour , teach thy ways to all people , and give thy saving health to all nations ; that all may joyn with one consent to fear thee , and praise thy name for evermore . amen . ejaculations upon several occasions out of the holy scriptures ▪ in the morning my voice shalt thou hear betimes , o lord : early in the morning will i direct my prayer unto thee , and will look up , psal. 5. 3. my days are like the days of an hireling . untill the day break , and the shadows flie away , job 7. 1. cant. 4. 6. at going forth . the lord preserve my going out , and my coming in : from this time forth , and for evermore , psal. 121. 8. o hold thou up my goings in thy paths ; that my footsteps slip not , psal. 17. 5. beginning a good work. in the volume of the book it is written of me : i delight to do thy will , o my god ; yea , thy law is within my heart , psal. 40. 7 , 8. in good inspirations . the lord god hath opened my ear , and i was not rebellious against him , isa. 50. 5. at church . o how amiable are thy tabernacles , o lord of hosts , psal. 84. 1. before reading . speak , lord , for thy servant heareth , 1 sam. 3. 9. speaking . my heart is inditing a good matter ; i speak of the things which i have made touching the king , psalm . 45. 1. when you go about worldly affairs . o let not my heart be inclined to any evil thing : let me not be occupied in ungodly works , with the men that work wickedness , lest i eat of such things as please them . psalm 141. 4. deliver me , o lord , from every evil work : and establish me in every good word and work . 2. tim. 4. 18. god shall bring every work into judgment , with every secret thing ; whether it be good , or whether it be evil . before eating . thou openest thine hand , and satisfiest the desire of every living thing . psalm . 145. ●6 . after eating . the lord is to be praised , who satisfieth thy mouth with good things ; making thee young and lusty as an eagle ▪ psal. 103. 4. in prosperity . if i do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth , if i prefer not thee above my chie● joy. psal. 137. 6. adversity . the lord killeth and maketh alive , 1. sam. 2. 6. shall we receive good at the hand of god ? and shall we no● receive evil ? job 2. 10. ought not christ to have suffered these things , and to enter into his glory ? luk● 24. 26. troubles . surely man walketh in ● vain shew ; surely they are disquieted in vain . psalm . 39. 6. calumnies . if i pleased men , i should not be the servant of christ , gal. 1. 10. praises . not unto us , o lord , not unto us , but unto thy name give glory , psal. 115. 1. against vain hope . as a dream when one awaketh ; so , o lord , when thou awakest , thou shalt de●pise their image , psal. 73. ●0 . pride . whosoever exalteth himself , shall be abased , luke 14. 11. covetousness . it is more blessed to give than to receive , acts 20. 35. luxury . know ye not that your bodies are the members of christ , 1 cor. 6. 15. envy . he that loveth not his brother , abideth in sin , 1 john ● 14. gluttony . the kingdom of god is n● meat and drink , rom. 14. 1● anger . learn of me , for i am me● and lowly in heart , mat. 1● 29. sloth . cursed be he that doth t● work of the lord negligentl● jer. 48. 10. rules of faith. remove not the anci● bounds which thy fath● have set , prov. 22. 28. acts of faith. lord , i believe , help th● my unbelief , mark 9. 24. i know that my redeem● liveth , &c. job 19. 25. hope . though i walk through t● valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil ; for thou art with me , psal. 24. 4. i will be with him in trouble ; i will deliver him , and honour him , psal. 90. 15. charity . whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that i desire in comparison of thee . my flesh and my heart faileth ; but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever , psal. 73. 25 , 26. against worshipping of idols . to whom will you liken god ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him ? isa. 40. 18. woe unto him that saith to the wood , awake ; to the dumb stone , arise , it shall teach ; behold it is laid over with gold and silver , and there is no breath at all in the midst of it , hab. 2. 19. if ye do return unto the lord with all your hearts ; then put away the strange gods , and ashtaroth from among you , and prepare your hearts unto the lord , and serve him only . then the children of israel did put away baalim and ashtaroth , and served the lord only ▪ 1 sam. 7. 3 , 4. against popish tradition . for as much as this people draw near me with their mouth , and with their lip● do honour me , but have removed their heart far from me , isa. 29. 13. in vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines th● commandments of men , ma● ▪ 7. 7. take heed and beware o● the leaven of the pharisees an● of the sadduces . against praying to saints . whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord , shall be saved . rom. 10. 13. when you pray , say , our father which art in heaven , &c. luke 11. 2. against antichrist . little children , it is the last time , and as you have heard that antichrist shall come ; even now are there many antichrists , whereby we know it is the last time , i john 2. 18. let no man deceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come , except there come ● falling away first , and that man of sin be revealed , the son of perdition : who opposeth and exal●eth himself above all that is called god , or that is worshipped ; so that he , as god , ●itteth in the temple of god , ●he wing himself that he is god. and for this cause god shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie , that they all might be damned who believed not the truth , but had pleasure in unrighteousness . 2. thes. 2 , 3 , 4 , 11 , 12. divine breathings of the soul , towards the evening . as the hart panteth after the vvater-brooks , so longeth my soul after thee , o god. my soul is athirst for god , even for the living god ▪ when shall i ▪ come to appear before the presence of god ▪ ●salm . 42. 1. 2. thy loving kindness is better than life it self ; therefore my lips shall praise thee . psal 63. 4. a prayer for a family , that may serve for morning or evening . o eternal , lord god , we thy poor and unworthy servants , prostrate our selves before thee , in all humility ; to ask pardon for all our sins and offences : thou art a god of purer eyes , than to behold iniquity , yet so infinitely gracious , that none ever trusted in thee , and was confounded : thou hadst an eye upon us , in the womb , and notwithstanding our unworthiness , thou still relievest us , giving us our daily food , and hourly breath . ii. what can we render unto thee , o lord , for all thy mercies which thou continually bestowest upon us : o let the ocean of this thy mercy be a partition betwixt us and our sins , and betwixt thee and thy judgments ; remove from us whatsoever displeaseth thee ; and we beseech thee be not extream in marking our imperfections ; thou hast gone along with us , and hast kept us and preserved us this night past , from fire , water , robbery , sudden death , and desolation : day past from wilful snining , frights , and fears , maiming , drowning , and fire , from bad company , and false witnesses , which might lay to our charge , things that we know not , and from all other sad accidents which might have be●aln us . iii. bless our gracious deliverers , and sovereign lord and lady , k william and q. mary , defend their persons , uphold their crown , and maintain their state , give them continual peace , length of days , and much happiness : bless catherine the queen dowager , her royal highness , the princess anne of denmark , and the rest of the royal family : let thy blessing be upon this family , guide us in our ways , and lead us in thy truth : bless all our relations and friends , guide and govern us by thy good spirit of grace ; and whatsoever thou knowest to be needful and convenient for us , we beseech thee grant it . iv. lastly , we come unto thee for a blessing , for all that are distressed either in body , mind , or estate , especially those who suffer persecution , for enjoying the light of thy gospel , and fly into this land for succour : hear us , o lord , for them , and thy whole church , and hear christ for us all , in whose name , and word , we further call upon thee , saying , our father , &c. a prayer before the communion . o merciful jesu , who diedst an ignominious death upon the cross for my sins , and didst bequeath in thy last will and testament , this holy sacrament for my souls nourishment : my sins , o lord , are great , but i lament my uncleanness , and renounce my unworthiness . ii. i come not to thy holy table , because worthy , but necessitous ; i come to be made clean and purged from my dross and filthiness ; thy body and bloud can make me clean , thy merits can make me a worthy receiver ; and here is a conveyance of thy blessed body and bloud in this holy sacrament : give my sins thy pardon , my soul thy heavenly grace , and what thou dost convey , seal unto me , for thy alone sake , my only saviour and redeemer . amen . at receiving the bread. blessed jesu , as thou hast given thy flesh to be the bread of life and salvation ; so vouchsafe to work in me by a lively faith , that i receiving the same , may evermore continue in thee , and thou in me , amen . at receiving the cup. lord , grant , that as thy bloud was shed to wash me a poor sinner ; so grant , that it may through a lively faith take effect in me , that i may become a fit member of thee , and live , and die in thee for ever . a prayer after the communion . glory , honour , and praise be given unto thee , o lord , most holy , for all thy mercies bestowed upon me : i have now been partaker of bread and wine : lord make me partaker of thy body and bloud : the one turns to the nourishment of my body ; but the other , with thy grace , is the nourishment of my soul. ii. o let not thy precious bloud be shed in vain for my sins , but let my hearty repentance , with thy grace , fully purge me from all uncleanness : i have this day been put in mind of the benefit by christ's death ; let me every day learn to die unto sin , and live the life of the righteous ; that at last i may become a new creature : unto thee , o father , my creator and preserver ; unto thee , o christ , my redeemer and justifier ; unto thee , o holy ghost , my sanctifier and instructer , be ascribed , all honour , power , and glory , now and for evermore . amen . for the church . we beseech thee , o lord , graciously to accept the prayers of thy church ; that she being delivered from all adversity and errour , may serve thee in safety and freedom , through jesus christ our lord. amen . for the king and queen . o lord , we beseech thee ▪ bless our sovereign lord and lady , king william ▪ and queen mary , by thy gracious appointment our supream governours ; enrich them with all increase of vertues , whereby they may be able to eschew evil , and to follow thee , the way , the truth , and the life , through jesus christ our lord. amen . for the royal family . we beseech thee , o lord , to bless catherine the queen dowager , her royal highness the princess anne of denmark , and the rest of the royal family : grant that they may walk in the ways of thy holy commandments , all the days of their lives , through christ our lord. amen . for the high court of parliament . o lord , bless the great council of the nation , direct the joyfull coronation of king william and queen mary at westminster abby , april the 11th 1689. april ●he 11th . 1689. their majesties went from 〈…〉 c-hall to westminster , 〈…〉 heralds being ready , 〈…〉 peers in the lords house , and the p●eresses in the painted chamber , so that 〈…〉 even in the morning the● majesties , and the wh●… proceeding were conducted to westminster-hall , where a throne being erected , 〈…〉 majesties took their sea● and after the ceremon● was ended , the proceeding began from westminster-hall to the abby , where bein●…d in order , the lord ●ishop of london began ●…th the recognition , which ended with an universal acclam●tion of joy ; then the 〈…〉 of st. asaph and ban●r sung the l●●t●ny ▪ 〈…〉 ended , the communion service began , the epistle taken out of the 1. pet. 2. 〈…〉 . 17. read by the bishop o● carlisle ; the gospel , 〈…〉 . 22. 16. 22. read by the bishop of st. asaph ; then followed the sermon by the 〈…〉 of salisbury , whose tex● was 2. sam. 23. 3. 4. 〈…〉 god of israel said , the roc● of israel spake , &c. s●●mon being ended , t●… majesties took the oath , a●d were solnmnly anoi●…nd 〈…〉 crowns placed on their heads by the lord bishop of london , assisted by 〈…〉 lord bishop of rochest● upon which the dr●…t , the trumpets sounded , the great guns were fired , yet were drowned , in a man●…y the loud shouts and ●…lamations of the peopl●… many other royal ceremonies ●as used , too tedious to insert in this narrow 〈…〉 about eight in the eve●ing their majesties r●…d to white-hall . and prosper all their consultations , grant that what they do , may be to the advancement of thy glory , the good of thy church , the safety , honour , and welfare of our sovereign lord and lady , and their kingdoms ; that all things may be so well ordered , and firmly settled by their good endeavours upon the best and surest foundations , that peace and happiness , truth and justice , religion and piety may be established among us , for all generations . these and all other necessaries for them , for us , and thy whole church , we humbly beg for thy son's sake , our saviour . amen . for the clergy . almighty and everlasting god , who by thy spirit dost sanctifie and govern the whole body of thy church , graciously hear our prayers , for all those whom thou hast ordained , and called to the publick service of thy sanctuary ; that by the help of thy grace , they may faithfully serve thee in their several degrees , through jesus christ our lord. for friends . i beseech thee , o lord , for all those to whom i am indebted , for my birth , education , instruction , promotion ; their necessities are known unto thee ; thou art rich in all things ; reward them for these benefits , with blessings both temporal and eternal . for a family . almighty and everlasting god , send down thy holy angel from heaven , to visit , protect , and defend all that dwell in this house , through christ our lord. for a friend . almighty and everlasting lord god , have mercy upon thy . servant n. and direct him by thy goodness into the way of eternal salvation ; that through thy grace , he may desire those things which please thee , and with his whole endeavour perform the same , through jesus christ our lord. for peace . o god , from whom all holy desires , all good counsels , and all just works do proceed , give unto us thy servants that peace which the world cannot give , that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments , and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies , may pass our time , in rest and quietness , through the merits of jesus christ our saviour . in the time of plague . let thy anger cease , o lord , and be appeased for the inquity of thy people , as thou hast sworn by thy self . o holy god , holy and strong , holy and immortal , have mercy upon us . for a city . compass this city , o lord , with thy protection , and let thy holy angels guard the walls thereof : o lord , mercifully hear thy people . for grace . lord from whom all good things do come , grant unto us thy humble servants , that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be good , and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same , through our lord jesus christ. for enemies . o god the lover and preserver of peace and charity , give unto all our enemies thy true peace and love , and remission of sins ; and mightily deliver us from their snares , through jesus christ our lord. for the afflicted . o almighty god , the afflicted soul , the troubled spirit crieth unto thee : hear , o lord , and have mercy , for thou art a merciful god. for travellers . assist us mercifully , o lord , in our supplications and prayers ; and dispose the way of thy servants towards the attainment of everlasting salvation , that among all the changes and chances of this mortal life , they may ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready help , through christ our lord. for the fruits of the earth . o god , in whom we live , move , and have our being , open thy treasure , in the due season , and give a blessing to the works of thy hands , through jesus christ our lord. against temptation . almighty god , which doth see that we have no power of our selves , to help our selves , keep us both outwardly in our bodies , and inwardly in our souls , that we may be defended from all adversities , which may happen to the body , and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul , through jesus christ. for misbelievers and sinners . almighty and everlasting god who desirest not the death of a sinner , mercifully look upon all that are deceived by the subtilty of satan , that all evil prejudice laid aside , they may return to the unity of thy truth and love. for temporal necessities . replenish those , o lord , we beseech thee with temporal nourishment , whom thou hast refreshed with thy blessed ▪ sacraments . against tempests . drive spiritual wickedness from thy house , o lord , and preserve it from the malignity of tempestuous weather . for women in travel . o lord , of thy abundant goodness , and mercy , help thy servants who are in great pains and perils of child-birth ; that being delivered out of their present danger , they may glorifie thy holy name , who art blessed for evermore . for the sick. o god , the only refuge of our infirmities , by thy mighty power relieve thy sick servants , that they , with thy gracious assistance , may be able to give thanks unto thee , in thy holy church , through jesus christ. for prisoners . o god , who deliveredst thy apostle peter from his chains , and restoredst him to liberty , have pity upon thy servants in captivity , release their bonds , and grant them freedom and safety : accept of the hearty repentance of those that are appointed to dye , and save their souls for his merits who liveth and reigneth with thee , and the holy ghost , ever one god , vvorld without end . for the dying . father of all flesh , and god of all spirits , receive the souls which thou hast redeemed with thy bloud , returning to thee . a prayer before study . o unspeakable creatour , who , out of the treasure of thy vvisdom , hast ordained hierarchies of angels , and hast placed them above the highest heaven in a wonderfull order , and disposed them sweetly for all parts of the vvorld ; thou , the true fountain and incomprehensible principle of light and vvisdom , vouchsafe to illuminate the darkness of my understanding with a beam of thy light ; remove the darkness wherein i was born ▪ , sin and ignorance ; thou , who makest the tongues of infants eloquent , loosen my tongue , and pour forth the grace of thy spirit upon my lips , give me acuteness to apprehend , capacity to retain , subtilty to interpret , aptness to learn , readiness to speak ; direct my beginning , farther my progression , and perfect my conclusion . when the bell tolls for a dying person . o gracious god , be with this person in the holy operations of thy grace , and in the yearnings of thy tenderest mercies ; in the dreadfull moment when the soul shall depart from the body , and conduct this thy dying creature through the valley of the shadow of death unto the land of everlasting life , through jesus christ our lord , amen . a concluding prayer . almighty god , who hast promised to hear the petitions of them that ask in thy son's name ; we beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ears to us , who have now made our supplications and prayers unto thee ; and grant that those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy vvill , may be effectually obtained to the relief of our necessities , and to the setting forth of thy glory , through jesus christ our lord. the peace of god which passeth all understanding , keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god , and of his son jesus christ , our lord ; and the blessing of god almighty , the father , son , and holy ghost , be with us now , at the hour of death , and at the day of judgment . king edward the sixth's prayer against popery . lord god , deliver me out of this miserable and wretched life , and take me among thy chosen : howbeit not my will , but thy will be done : lord i commit my spirit to thee : o lord , thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee ; yet for thy chosen's sake ; send me life and health , that i may truly serve thee . ii. o my lord god , bless thy people , and save thine inheritance : o lord god , save thy chosen people of england : o my lord god defend this realm from papistry ; and maintain thy true religion , that i and my people may praise thy holy name , amen . for god's mercies upon their majesties forces , under the command and conduct of his grace the duke of schomberg . o most powerfull and great god , mighty in battel , fearfull in praises , doing wonders ; thou hast done mighty things already for us , whereof we rejoice : o be pleased still to continue thy undeserved mercies towards us , and accomplish what thou hast already begun for us : go forth we humbly beseech thee , with our armies against those who would make a prey of thy people . ii. protect and guide our great governour and commander , whose commission is to fight thy battel ; guide him , and counsel him in all his undertakings , and cover his head in the day of battel ; cause those that hate thy name and people , to flee before him , and scatter them as the dust before the wind ; crown him with victory and great success , that at the last he may return home in peace and safety , to thy glory , their majesties comfort , his own satisfaction , and all the nation 's happiness ; this we beg for the merits of jesus christ , amen . for mercy to the whole nation . o lord god , who art full of mercy and compassion to all thy people , bless us , we beseech thee , from all domestick and foreign enemies , that would endeavour to ruine our souls , and betray our lives : let thy goodness and loving kindness evermore watch over us to defend , protect , and keep us from all assaults and temptations of the enemy , and grant that we may live sober , godly , quiet lives , to the glory of thy holy name , amen . a short account of the massacre in ireland & paris . the popish party in ireland pretending the english unjustly detained their lands from 'em , which were justly forfeited to the laws , by their continual rebellions and treasons ; they did at last resolve to stir up all the cursed romish faction , to shew their utmost zeal , for the protestant's destruction . when their business was well laid , in their publick prayers , they recommended the good success of a great design , to advance their catholick cause ; and to stir up the people to act this villany , with the greater cruelty , they publickly discoursed , that the english protestants were hereticks , and not to be suffered to live any longer amongst them ; that it was no more sin to kill one of them , than to kill a dog : and a mortal sin to protect , or relieve any one of them . when their plot was ripe for execution , they proceeded against the english in divers methods ; some of the papists only stripping the protestants , and turn'd them out of doors naked ; others murdering men , women , and children , without mercy ; they all agreed ●o root out all the protestants the most reverend bishop usher . the irish rebellion , and french massacre . the downfall of rome . the massacre in ireland happened in the year 1641 , which by the learned bishop usher was predicted in 1601. at which time the irish and english papists , by all manner of cursed cruelties , murdered near three hundred thousand innocent english protestants , without the least cause or provocation given them ▪ whose bloud yet cries for vengeance from heaven against them , and which we doubt not but the god of vengeance will judge in his due time . the massacre of paris was in the time of bloudy king charles the ninth , the papists used divers means to draw the chief of the protestants to paris , under pretence of a marriage between the king of navarre , a protestant , and the lady margaret , sister to the french king. admral coligni , a protestant gentleman , 〈◊〉 invited to the wedding , and in the evening the duke of guise sent for the captain of the switzers , and shewed him the king's commission , for murdering the admiral , and at midnight the provosts , sheriffs , and captains of every ward had the same commission shewed them ; the watch-word for the general massacre was , the tolling of the bel in the king's pallace a break of day , and that the executioners should be known by white handkerchiefs tied on their arms , and a white cross in their hats ; no s●oner was the watch wo●●● given , but they felt to their barbarity , and murdered the admiral , and in two days there was slain in paris above ten thousand men , women , and children . popery , slavery , and arbitrary power being vanquished , rome's idolatry must expect its downfall ; the multitude being got together begun to root out their damnable religion here in england , by falling down , burning , and demolishing most of their chappels and houses ; but the utter ruine of rome will be when she thinks her self most secure , as the learned bishop usher mentions in his prophesie . in that kingdom ; and so great was their violence , that they would not permit the english language to be spoke , but punished all that used it ; they likewise changed the names of all english places , killing , or maiming all sorts of cattle , which belonged to the english protestants . the popish priests gave their sacrament to several irish , on condition they should spare none of the protestants , but wash their hands in their bloud . they also excommunicated those that afforded any relief , so that many were ●●●●ved and perished ; their friars and monks exhorted them with tears not to spare any of the english , and boasted when they had destroyed them 〈◊〉 ireland , they would go into england , & do the like ; for they ●●ld it as lawsull to kill an english man , as to kill a sheep or a dog ; and that it was no more conscience to deprive them of their lives and ●s●ates , than to take a bone from ● dog 's mouth . the day before this bloudy massacre ; the priests gave them admission after mass , telling them , they had now fre● liberty to go and take possession of their lands , and 〈◊〉 strip , rob , and despoil all the english , of whatever they had that killing them was a mentorious act , and would preserve them from the pains 〈…〉 purgatory ; which cause some of these murtherous v●…lains , after they had ●lain multitude of the english , pu●… lickly to boast , that if the should die immediately , th●● were sure of heaven , and escape purgatory . they then proceeded commit all manner of cru●…ties and villanies imaginabl● stripping naked man , woman , and child , driving eight hundred and odd into a river , where they were drowned , and put one hundred and fifty into a castle , and burned them altogether . an abstract of their popish tortures , and cruelties against the protestants in ireland and paris . a protestant woman being delivered in the fields , they gave the new born infant to the dogs to be devoured . the irish women followed the camp , and stirred up the men to cruelty , crying , kill them all ; spare neither man , woman , or child ; yea , such was their detestable malice , that they taught their children to kill english children . an irish woman was very angry with a soldier , that he did not bring the grease of a ●at english gentlewoman , who was murdered , to make candles with ; which they barbarously did in many places . by all manner of cursed cruelties , the irish and english papists , in a short time , murdered near three hundred thousand protestants , without the least cause or provocation , whose bloud yet crys loud for vengeance from heaven against them , and doubt not but god will avenge it in his due time . children have been cast to dogs and swine to be devoured by them . women great with child have been hanged up , and their bellies ripped open , that the infant has dropped out , and been thrown into a ditch . youths have had their brains dashedout against trees , and some have been trampled to death . some infants have been found sucking the breasts of their dead mother . a great commander took delight to ●lea off the skins of men , and to head his drums with them . some have been driven to a river where the bridge has been broken down , and there drowned ; if any of them could swim , they either shot at them with musquets , or knocked them on the head , as they came near the land. some were put into dungeons full of mire and dirt , and having bolts put on their legs there perish'd with hunger . some had their eyes plucked out , and their hands cut off , and so let go , to pine away in misery . many have been stoned to death , and some have been stripped stark naked , and driven into the woods and mountains in the extremity of frost and snow , and there starved . some have been compelled to carry their own parents to execution , others to give fire to the wood that burnt them . mothers have been forced to throw their own children into the water ; wives to hang their own husbands ; children to hang up their own parents ; and when they have done all this , in hope , and upon promise of life , they themselves were barbarously murthered . some have been boiled alive in cauldrons ; some have been put into a hole in the ground , all but the head , and there forc'd to continue till they died . some have been driven through the streets naked ; and if , through weakness , they kept not their pace , they were pricked forward with spears and swords . some have been so rack'd and tormented , that worms have bred in their putrified sores ; infants have been closed again in their mothers bellies , which the villains had ript up , and there strangled , some have been wounded deadly , and then hung upon tenter-hooks , and others have been hung by the arms , that the souldiers might try their valour , and the strength of their swords upon them . some have been ript up , and their guts let out to trail about their heels , others have been dragged with wythes and ropes about their necks , through the vvaters , bogs , woods , and streets , to force them to confess their treasure , which when they had gotten , they were basely murdered . one hundred and four sheltred themselves in caves , and by smoak , made with wet straw , at the mouth thereof , have been smothered . the same cruelties we must have expected again to have ●aln upon all protestants , if god in his great mercy had not prevented them . strange and remarkable predictions of that holy , learned , and excellent bishop , james usher , late lord primate of ireland . the author of the life of this worthy archbishop relates , that amongst other extraordinary gifts and graces , the almighty had bestowed upon him , he was wonderfully endued with a prophetick spirit , whereby he predicted several things sometime long before they came to pass , whereof some we have seen fulfilled , and others remain yet to be accomplished : and though he was one that abhorr'd enthusiastick noti●●s , being too learned , rational , and knowing , to admit such idle freaks and whimsies : yet he profest , that several times in his life he had many things imprest upon his mind , concerning future events , with so much warmness and importunity , that he was not able to keep them secret , but lay under an un●voidable necessity to make them known . from which spirit he foretold the irish rebellion forty years before it came , with the time when it should break forth , in a sermon at dublin , in 1601 ; where from ezek. 4. 6. discoursing concerning the prophets bearing the iniquity of judah forty days , the lord therein appointed a day for a year : he made this direct application in relation to the connivance of popery at that time . from this year , says he , will i ●eckon the sin of ireland , that those whom you now embrace , shall be your ruine , and you shall bear this iniquity . which prediction proved exactly true ; for from that time 1601 , to the year 1641 , was forty years , in which it is notoriously known , that the rebellion and destruction of ireland happened , which was acted by those popish emissaries , which were then connived at . and of this sermon the bishop reserved the notes , and made a remark of it in the margent of his bible ; and for 20 years before , he lived in the expectation of the fulfilling of it , and the nearer the time was , the more he was confident it was near accomplishment ; though as yet , there was no visible appearance . the year before the rebellion brokeforth , ( says dr. bernard ) the bishop taking his leave of me , being going from ireland to england , he advised me to a serious preparation ; for i should see heavy sorrows and miseries before i saw him again ; which he delivered with as great confidence , as if he had seen it ▪ which seems to verifie that of the prophet , amos 3. 7. surely the lord will do nothing , but he will reveal it to his servants , the prophets . from this prophetick spirit he foresaw the changes and miseries of england in church and state ; for having in one of his books , ( de prim. eccl. brit. ) given a large account of the destruction of the britains , by the saxons , about 550 years after christ , he gives this among other reasons , why he insisted so largely upon it ; that he foresaw that a like judgment was yet behind , if timely repentance and reformation did not prevent it ; and he would often mourn upon the foresight of this , long before it came . from this spirit he gave mournfull intimations of the death of king charles the i ▪ of whom he would be often speaking with fear and trembling , even when the king had the greatest success ; and would therefore constantly pray , and gave all advice possible , to prevent any such thing . from this spirit he foresaw his own poverty in worldly things ; and this he would often speak of , with admiration to the hearers , when he was in his greatest prosperity , which the event did most certainly verifie . from this spirit he predicted the divisions and confusions in england , about religion , and the sad consequences of it ; some of which we have seen fulfilled , and i pray god the rest , which he feared , may not also be accomplished . lastly , from this spirit he foretold , that the greatest stroke upon the reformed churches was yet to come ; and the time of the utter ruine of rome should be when she thought her self most secure ; and to this last , i shall add a brief account from the person 's own hand who was concern'd . the year before the primate's death , i went to him , and earnestly desired him to grant me in writing his apprehensions of justification , and sanctification by christ , because i had formerly heard him preach upon those points , wherein he seemed to make those great mysteries more intelligible to my mean capacity , than any discourse i had heard from others ; but by reason i had an imperfect memory of the particulars , i took the boldness to importune him , that he would please to give me a brief account of them in writing , whereby i might the better imprint them in my memory ; o● which he would willingly have excused himself , by declaring , his intentions of not writing any more ; adding , that if he did write any thing , it should not exceed a sheet or two : but upon my continued importunity , i at last obtained his promise . he coming to town some time after , was pleased to give me a visit ; where i failed not to challenge the benefit of his promise made to me ; to which he replyed , that he had not writ , and yet could not charge himself with any breach of promise ; for ( said he ) i did begin to write , but when i came to write of sanctification , that is , of the new creature , which god formeth by his spirit in every soul , which he doth truly regenerate , i found so little of it wrought in my self , that i could speak of it only as parrots by rote , and without the knowledge and understanding of what i might have exprest ; and therefore i durst not presume to proceed any farther upon it . when i seemed to stand amaz'd to hear such an humble confession , from so great and experienced a christian. he added : i must tell you , we do not well understand what sanctification , and the new creature are ; it is no less , than for a man to be brought to an entire resignation of his will to the will of god , and to live in the offering up of his soul , continually in the flames of love , as a whole burnt-offering to christ , and how little ( says he ) are many of those who profess christianity experimentally acquainted with this work on their souls . by this discourse , i conceived he had very excellently and clearly discovered to me that part of sanctification , which he was unwilling to write . i then presumed to enquire of him , what his present apprehensions were , concerning a great persecution which should fall upon the church of god in these nations of england , scotland , and ireland , of which this reverend primate had spoken many years before , when we were in peace and settlement . i ask'd him whether he did believe those sad times were past , or to come , he told me , they were to come , and that he did as fully expect it , as ever he had done : adding , that this sad persecution would fall upon all the protestant churches in europe . i replyed , i hoped it might be past , as to these nations of ours , since i thought , that though we have been punished much less than our sins have deserved , and that our late wars have made far less devastations , than war commonly brings where it pleaseth god in judgment to suffer it ; yet we must needs acknowledge , that many great houses have been burnt , ruined , and left without inhabitants ; many great families impoverithed and undone , and many thousand lives also had been lost in that bloudy war , and that ireland , and scotland , as well as england , had drunk very deep of the cup of god's anger , even to the overthrow of the government , and the utter desolation almost of a very great part of those countries . but this holy man turning to me , and fixing his eyes upon me with that serious and irefull look which he usually had , when he spoke god's word , and not his own ; and when the power of god seemed to be upon him , and to constrain him to speak , which i could easily discern much to differ from the countenance wherewith he usually spake to me . he said thus : fool not your self with such hopes ; for i tell you , all you have yet seen , hath been but the beginning of sorrows , to what is yet to come upon the protestant churches of christ , who will e'er long fall under a sharper persecution than ever yet has upon them ; and therefore ( said he to me ) look you be not found in the outward court , but a worshipper in the temple before the altar , for christ will measure all those that profess his name , and call themselves his people ; and the outward worshippers he will leave out , to be trodden down by the gentiles . the outward court ( says he ) is the formal christian , whose religion lies in performing the out-side duties of christianity , without having an inward life and power of faith , and love , uniting them to christ , and these god will leave to be trodden down and swept away by the gentiles ; but the worshippers within the temple , and before the altar , are those who do indeed worship god in spirit and in truth , whose souls are made his temples , and he is honoured and adored in the most inward thoughts of their hearts , and they sacrifice their lusts and vile affections , yea , and their own wills to him ; and these god will hide in the hollow of his hand , and under the shadow of his wings . and this shall be one great difference between this last , and all the other preceeding persecutions ; for in the former , the most eminent and spiritual ministers , and christians did generally suffer most , and were most violently fallen upon ; but in this last persecution , these shall be preserved by god , as ● seed to partake of that glory , which shall immediately follow , and come upon the church , as soon as ever this storm shall be over ; for as it shall be the sharpest , so it shall be the shortest persecution of them all , and shall only take away the gross hypocrites , and formal professors , but the true spiritual believers shall be preserved till the calamity be over-past . i then asked him by what means or instruments this great tryal should be brough● on . he answered , by th● papists . i replyed , th●● it seemed to me very improbable they should be able t● do it , since they were no●● little countenanced , and b●● few in these nations , and that ●he hearts of the people were ●ore set against them , than e●er since the reformation . he answered again , that it would be , by the hands of papists , and in the way of a sudden massacre ; and that the then pope should be the chief instrument of it . all this he spake with so great assurance , and with the same serious and concerned countenance , which i have before observed him to have , when i have heard him foretel some things which in all humane appearance were very unlikely to come to pass , which yet i my self have lived to see happen according to his prediction : and this made me give the more earnest attention to what he then uttered . he then added , that the papists were in his opinion the gentiles spoken of in the eleventh of the revelations ; to whom the outward court should be left , that they might tread it under foot ; they having received the gentiles worship , in their adoring images , and saints departed , and in taking to themselves many mediators : and this ( said he ) the papists are now designing among themselves , and therefore be sure you be ready . this was the substance , and i think ( for the greatest part ) the very same words which this holy man spake to me , not long before his death , and which i writ down , that so great and notable a prediction might not be lost by my self or others . this gracious man repeated the same things in substance to his only daughter the lady tyrrel , and that with many tears , and much about the same time that he had exprest the aforesaid to me , and which ●…e lady tyrrel assured me of ●…ith her own mouth to this ●…rpose : that opening the door of ●…s chamber , she found him ●…ith his eyes lift up to heaven , ●…d the tears running apace ●…own his cheeks , and that ●…e seemed to be in an ecstasie , ●…herein he continued for a●…out half an hour , not taking ●…e least notice of her , though ●…e came into the room ; but 〈…〉 last turning to her , he told ●…er , that his thoughts had ●…en taken up about the mi●…ries and persecutions that ●…ere coming upon the chur●…es of christ , which would ●…e so sharp and bitter , that ●…e contemplation of them ●…d fetched those tears from ●…s eyes , and that he hoped ●…e should not live to see it , ●…ut possibly she might , for it ●…as even at the door ; therefore take heed ( says he ) that y●… be not found sleeping . the same things he also r●…peated to the lady bysse 〈…〉 wife to the lord chief . b●…ron of ireland ; but addin●… this circumstance , that 〈…〉 they brought back the king , 〈…〉 might be delayed a little longer , but ( said he ) it will s●r●… come ; therefore be sure to look th●… you be not found unprepared for it . to conclude in the wor●… of dr. bernard , speaking 〈…〉 this excellent person : no●… howsoever i am far fro●… heeding of prophecies , ye●… with me it is not improbabl●… that so great a prophet , s●… sanctified from his youth 〈…〉 so knowing , and emine●… throughout the univers●… church , might have , at som●… special times , more than o●…dinary motions and impu●…ses in doing the watch-man 〈…〉 part , of giving warning o●… judgments approaching . the spanish inv●ion , 1558. gun powder treason , nov 5. 1605. the arrival of the prince of orange nov. 5. 1688. the thanksgiving for the deliverance from the spanish ar●ada , was august 7. 1558. their fleet was 150 ships , and 65 galleons , which were to join the duke of parma , who had 32 ships of war , 70 flat-bottoms , and 2●0 boats which lay in newport haven , with 2000 empty cas●s to cho●k havens , and make bridges : to this design the pope contribute● a million of gold. november the 5 1605. was our great deliverance from the hellish powder-plot , and ●e miraculous finding of it out , was by a letter sent to the lord mounteagle , to advise him to take care of himself , for the parliame●● should receive such a blow , and not see who hurt them : the con●ir●●ors were everard digby knight , robert catesby esq ambrose rockwood esq francis tresham esq robert vvinter esq tho. piercy gent. tho. vvinter gent. john vvright gent. christ. wright gent. john grant gent. robert keys gent. g●y fa●x , and bates , catesby's man : provisions for this horrid design was 36 barrels of powder , 500 faggots , and 1900 billets . november the 5. 1688 , was our happy deliverance from popery , slavery , and arbitrary power , by the arrival of the prince of orange , who landed with a considerable army at brixam key in devonshire , where the whole country congratulated him , and brought plenty of provisions and necessaries for the s●diers . thanksgivings for god's wonderful deliverances . from the spanish invasion . we laud and magnifie thy holy name for this wonderfull deliverance wrought for our ancestors , which were surrounded with fear of roman slavery , and popish usurpation , which would have destroyed both queen and kingdom , when their gallies and ships came to assault us , with murthering pieces , and instruments of cruelty , which none but satan and themselves could invent ; as whips to scourge us , seals to mark us , and fetters to manacle us . ii. they were full of pride calling themselves invincible and had hemm'd us in on every side , trusting in their own arm of flesh , and pursuing our ruine and destruction ; then , o lord , thou didst awake as one out of sleep , and , as a giant , refreshed with wine , and smotest our enemies in the hinder parts , putting them all to confusion : blessed be thy name for this , and all other mercies bestowed upon us , and grant that we may never want thankfull ▪ hearts to praise thee . from the gun-powder treason , november 5th . 1605. blessed lord , whose eye of providence watched over us , and didst discover to us those hellish contrivances which were laid in the dark , but not hid from thine all-seeing eye ; rome's factors were then busie in contriving to blow up the bodies of our king and nobles with a most barbarous and unnatural invention . ii. what had they done to them to be adjudged to so strange a death ? and what had they done for thee , to be so graciously preserved ? as we consider their inhumanity in laying their cruel project , so we must acknowledge thy goodness in revealing the same , to whom be glory , now , and for ever , amen . for our deliverance from popery , tyranny , and arbitrary power . o eternal god , who hast wrought so great a deliverance to all thy people , by raising up happy instruments for thy glory , and our peace and safety , even thy servants , our dear and dread soveraign lord and lady k. william and q. mary , who , like moses , stood in the gap , between us and pharaoh's cruelties . ii. thou hast delivered us , o lord , thou god of mercy , when we were even ready for destruction , tyranny , and what else their roman malice could invent , or slavish yoke have imposed upon us ; but blessed be thy holy name , that thou hast snatched us as a brand out of the burning , and hast restored those good laws and liberties , which our forefathers l●ave enjoyed ; teach us to prize & value this great mercy , that all nations may say , happy are the people , that are in such a case , yea happy is the people whose god is their lord. for the relief of london-derry . in ireland . o lord of heaven and earth , who didst in thy great mercy remember thy poor servants when they were in trouble , and besieged round about , being in great necessity s ●race the duke of sc●●mberg . the valiant governour walker . the siege of london-derry , 1688. the irish and french forces being leaded by the late king james , laid close siege to london-derry , at which time collonel lundy , and others , 〈◊〉 driven away by fear , they were destitute of a governour , the town then consisting of about nine thousand fighting men , they 〈◊〉 chose col. vvalker their governour , and preserved the place couragiously , enduring great extremity ; but at last they were supplie● with provisions by way of the river , and the besiegers , after great loss sustained , drew off and left them , august the 13th . his grace 〈◊〉 duke of schombergh l●nded his forces in ireland , near carrickfergus , and reduced divers places to obedience , causing the french and irish army to retrea● . not long after , governour walker safely arrived in england , and waited upon their majesties at hampton-court , with an humble address from the governours , officers , clergy , and gentlemen in the city and garison of london-derry , at which time his majesty was pleased , as a mark of his royal ●ounty , to order him five thousand pounds , with this assurance , that it should not at all lessen his kindness to him and his family . for want of food , and other necessaries , thou didst in thy due time send them relief and succour , else they had perished in their affliction . ii. and what can we render , o lord , sufficient for these things ; our best thanks we can pay , o god , are less than the least of all thy mercies ; yet in the mean time we desire to acknowledge thine abundant goodness , and loving kindness to us , and to praise thy name for evermore . for the gifts of god. i yield thee all humble and hearty thanks , o mercifull god , that by the death of thine only son hast redeemed us from death to life , and hast continually a care of us , preserving us as the apple of thine eye from the dangerous assaults of satan , and providest for us all things necessary , that more thanks and praise is due unto thee , than the tongue of men or angels can declare . ii. accept these my praises and thanksgivings , o lord , ibeseech thee , and encrease in me a daily desire to praise thy goodness , acknowledging every good and perfect gift to come from thee ; to whom with the son and the holy ghost , be all honour and glory , now and for evermore , amen . to god for all his benefits . most merciful god , we yield thee humble thanks for thy continual favour and kindness towards us thy poor and unworthy creatures , for whose salvation , when we were lost , thou wert pleased , even of thy mere love , to send thine only beloved son , christ jesus , into the world , taking humane nature upon him , and suffering most bitter pangs of death upon the cross , to redeem us again to thy favour . ii. such , o lord , was thine unspeakable love , for which we are never able to pay the least recompence ; but give us , o lord , thankfull and obedient hearts , that we may yield thee praises not only with our lips , but in our lives ; not only in giving thy son for us , but in leaving unto us a continual remembrance of the same thine unspeakable love , thy holy gospel , wherein consists the rule whereby we are directed ; and though heaven and earth pass away , yet not one tittle of that shall decay or diminish ; for without which we should have been in our accustomed ignorance : accept us , we beseech thee , in thy son , our blessed lord and saviour . amen . christian courage in affliction . a prayer before the following advice to the besieged souldiers in london-derry , under the command of that worthy divine and most loyal and valiant commander col. walker . o most eternal lord god , whose providence never fails those who trust in thy name and word , mercifully we beseech thee to cast down thy eyes of pity and compassion upon us miserable sinners which are here met together ; we do in all humility prostrate our selves before thy divine majesty , beseeching thee to pardon all our sins , and help our infirmities ; o lord , we are not able of our selves to do any thing , but offend thee , committing daily and hourly sins without number : but , o lord , hear thy son christ jesus for us , and nail them to his cross , that they may never rise up in judgment against us , either to shame us in this world , or condemn us in the world to come ; bury them in the bottomless sea of thy mercy and forgetfulness , that they may never appear before thee , to hinder thy favours unto us ; seal the remission of them to our souls and consciences , that they may not disturb or distract us in our devotions and duty ; pour thy grace and holy spirit into us , that may enable us to walk before thee in holiness , righteousness , and in sobriety , all the days of our lives . bless we beseech thee , our dear and dread soveraign lord and lady , king william and queen mary , katherine the queen dowager , the princess anne of denmark , and the rest of the royal family : bless the archbishops , and bishops , with the rest of the dispencers of thy holy sacraments , and grant that the light of thy gospel may never depart from us . and lastly , we come unto thee for a blessing upon our governours , commanders , and fellow souldiers ; guide and conduct them in this calamity , fortifie them with courage and strength against our romish adversaries , that thy name may be glorified , our lives preserved , and our souls eternally saved , in the great day of the lord jesus , when all flesh shall appear . grant that our meeting at this time may be for the better , and not for the worse ; to praise and glorifie thy holy name , in whose holy name and word we put up these our imperfect prayers , in that most absolute and perfect form of prayer which christ himself bath taught us . our father , &c. christian courage in affliction . a discourse by way of advice to the besieged in london-derry . 2 chron. 20. chap. verse 9. latter part of it . be not afraid nor dismay'd by ▪ reason of this great multitude ; for the battel is not yours , but god's . the context runs thus , and he said , hearken ye , all judah , and ye inhabitants of jerusalem , and thou king jehoshaphat : thus saith the lord unto you , be not afraid , nor dismaied by reason of this great multitude ; for the battel is not yours , but god's . these are the words of god , which he commanded jahaziel the prophet to deliver to jehoshaphat king of judah . when the moabites and ammonites came to make war against him , to dispossess him of his kingdom , verse the 8th of this chapter , and may be a seasonable text for this auditory . our sins indeed are many , which have justly provoked god's heavy wrath against us : and our enemies are very numerous which surround us , therefore now let us cry mightily unto god , earnestly beseeching him , that he would pardon all our sins , blot out all our iniquities , and receive us graciously ; let us sincerely repent and be heartily sorry for our manifold transgressions committed against him , so shall we by his divine assistance be in a readiness to encounter with roman malice , these moabites and ammonites , who are enemies to our lives , religion , laws , and liberties ; and be animated with courage to go out cheerfully against rome's force and cruelties , fighting manfully the lord's battel , every one of us , laying his hand upon his heart , with this comfortable expression in our mouths , be not afraid , nor dismaied by reason of this great multitude , for the battel is not ours , but god's . servile fear is the harbinger of the guilty , and a slavish timorousness belongs not to the strong and couragious , but a god like fear attends upon the vertuous , and produces success in their undertakings . holy job that great proficient in god's school , and great example of christian patience tells you , job 28. 28. the fear of the lord , that is wisdom ; and to depart from evil is understanding . this is the only supream good and fear , which secures us from committing , shameful acts , and creates a circumspection in our lives ; for as the shadow of the body is followed by the sun , so doth glory attend vertue in our progress to christ. let us then put our whole trust in god , in this time of danger , and take the royal prophets resolution , psal. 118. 6. not to fear what man can do unto us ; but rather fear the lord , who pitieth those that fear him , psal. 103. 13. it is the duty of every one of us to be circumspect in our lives , but more especially at this season and time of affliction , when the hand of god is stretched out against us ; when the enemy waits even at our doors ready to devour us , when they stand gaping ready to swallow us up quick , and none of us can prognosticate how soon his life may be lost , or be in danger ; therefore it behoves us to lay hold on that advice which st. paul gave the ephesians , ephes. 6. 10 , 11. be ye strong in the lord , and in the power of his might . put on the whole armour of god , that ye may be able to stand . so shall we be fortified with that courage which is mentioned here in my text , of being not afraid , or dismaied by reason of this great multitude , for the battel is not ours , but god's . be not afraid , or dismaied by reason of this great multitude , is the command of god , and therefore in obedience to his command let us humbly obey his divine order , and valiantly fight under his protection . a multitude there is , and very great ; what then , the battel is god's , and david tells us , 1 chron. 16. 5. great is the lord , and greatly to be praised ; he is also to be feared above all gods. the multitude here in my text were moabites , and ammonites ; but the multitude which layeth close siege to us , are jesuits and bloudy papists , whose damnable principles , and hellish doctrines are to quench the light of the gospel , to root and destroy all christianity , who blasphemously think to gain heaven by massacring god ' people , and triumph in the effussion of shedding innocent bloud : it is their glory to lay kingdoms wast , and countries desolate , reduce cities to ashes , and ruine families those which will not fall down to worship their idols , false gods of wood and stone , are fit objects of their fury ; their cruelty is beyond what malice can invent , or hell imagine , and solomon gives a true character of them , prov. 27. 4. wrath is cruel , and anger is outragious ; but who is able to stand before envy ? but god will pour out his wrath upon them , and shoot at them with his arrows , that they shall be wounded , his vengeance will speedily overtake , and drown them , like harden'd pharaob in the red sea of perdition ; let him who hath provoked god to anger , lay his hand on his heart , and now say with nehemiah , shall such an one as i flie ? shall i whom god hath honoured so much , dishonour him by oaths so greatly ? who am placed in an higher sphere than others , be either a dim or a wandering star ? shall i who am most obliged to god by the bonds of wealth and power , exceed the bounds of truth and justice ? whom he hath made a ruler of the people , not rule my self and my own kingdoms according to his golden rule ? god forbid . god will not permit their romish policy to overthrow our christian piety , he will not suffer them to break the bruised reed of the distressed , nor quench the smoaking flax of their necessities , he will be a lamp unto our feet , and a light unto our path in this extremity ; therefore be not afraid , or dismaied by reason of this great multitude , &c. we must every one of us look upon this great affliction as sent from god , for he knows what is better for us , than we do for our selves ; and that which seems most evil at present , may turn at last to our greatest benefit . none of us ought to despair of god's mercy , for when our weak apprehensions of god are such as drive us from him , we overthrow the main end of religion , which is to bring god , and our selves nearer together . none ought to exclude themselves from god's mercy , whom he excludes not from it ; and god excludes none , whom he invites to repent , with a promise of forgiveness , if they do it : and the goodness and long suffering , and forbearance of us sinners , is on purpose design'd to lead us to repentance ; so that after all this , to despair , and fail in our courage , is only to reject the mercy which god offers , but to question his truth and sincerity , to slight his patience , to disparage his goodness , and to look upon him as a most revengeful and implacable being , is to admit and entertain most dishonourable and unworthy thoughts of the best , the wisest , the most merciful and compassionate being in the world , who hath proclaim'd himself , exod. 34. 6 , 7. to be a god merciful and gracious , long-suffering , and abundant in goodness and truth , keeping mercy for thousands , for giving iniquity , transgresson , and sin ; that is , to all that truly repent : so that when we consider , we have no reason to despair of his mercy to us , but readily and willingly to obey his command , and not shrink from those principles which prompt us to his honour and glory , in whose service is perfect freedom ; but to rouse up our selves like men , stand upon our guard , fortifie our selves and be vigilant , not being afraid , or dismaied by reason of this great multitude ; for it is god's cause which we fight for , and our lives cannot be better imployed than in his service , from whom we received all we have , or can pretend to ; therefore let us press forwards in obedience to his command , for the battel is not yours , but god's . when the lord's battel is to be fought , we must endeavour to follow his holy order and discipline , and not our own sinfull lusts and appetires , like brute beasts , which have no understanding : let us seriously consider , i beseech you , what it is we fight for ? it is to defend our religion , and oppose idolatry ? to maintain truth , and beat down falshood ? to exalt glory , and decry shame ? and to enjoy our freedom , and not espouse slavery ? let happy england now be our pattern for loyalty magnanimity & courage ; then shall we arrive at that serene state , which holy david expresses , psal. 85. 10. where mercy and truth are met together , righteousness and peace have kissed each other ; if on the contrary we revolt , nothing can be expected but parisian slavery to ●●thrall us , and romish idolatry to attend us : have we not felt the smarting rod of popery for many years ? yea , within a few years , when legality was changed into arbitrary government ; orthodox religion grosly invaded and innovated ; popish doctrines publickly preached ; crucifixes erected ; adoration to saints and altars practised , and ten ave maria's said for one pater nesler ? the same may be said of ireland , as once a reverend divine wittily said of england : though it was but a little place , yet there was a great deal of rome in it . and shall not i visit for these things ? saith the lord , shall not my soul be a●enged on such a nation as this ? jer. 5. 9. yes surely , god will avenge himself , and defeat all their policies ; he will laugh a● their galamity , and meek when the ●●●● cometh , when their fear come as desolation , and destruction as whirlwind . prov. 1. 25 , 26 , 27. he is able , and will deliver us , if we trust in him ; he has promised us , who will not break his word : psal. 50. 15. call upon me in the time of trouble : i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . therefore let us be all of one mind , and not halt between two opinions , but stand fast , fear not , nor be dismayed , for the battel is not ours , but god's . is it god's battel we are to fight ? let not sloth then seize upon us , or a supine carelessness take hold of us ; but let us quit our selves like men , and fight , 1 sam. 4. 9. securing to our selves that religion , the light of that glorious gospel god hath given us , not forgetting to take the prophet jeremiah's counsel , in the 6. w●ap . of his prophecy , ver . 16. pe●nd ye in the way , and see and ask 〈◊〉 the good old paths , where is the good way , and walk therein , and you shall find rest unto your souls . the well compacted hedge of our laws was trodden down : let us therefore be diligent , and repair those breaches our sins have made , by our earnest supplications to the throne of grace ; so true is that maxime , inter arma , silent leges , the voice of law cannot be heard for the noise of drums , and the threatning cannon . o let policy now amongst us ever give place to piety ; and now let me exhort the chiefest amongst us , beseeching you to let your private affections be swallowed up in the common cause , as small rivers lose their name in the ocean . that practice of pompey deserveth well your observation and imitation , who when his soldiers would needs leave the camp , threw himself down at the narrow passage , and bid them goe , but they should tread first upon their general . so let your pious resolutions , and valiant examples stir up the courage of our weak brethren ; expose your selves to the worst of dangers , and endure the bru●●t , that they may not desert you ; may it be your glory in after ages , to be loudly proclaimed , that you were the champions of the lord to fight his battel ; that you stood in defence of your religion against gross idolatry ; that you promoted peace against bloudy persecution ; and rather choose to endure affliction with the people of god , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season . in our duty in matters of religion , we are no farther to walk after ruler's commands , than they walk after god's ; fatherly power is the rise of all authority ; and yet our saviour tells us , he that loves father or mother more than him , is not worthy of him , mat. 10. 37. parents must be honoured , but god preferred ; it is as true in regard of regal as paternal authority ; the instances of the hebrew midwives , exod. 1. 17. the three worthies , and daniel , are obvious to all , dan. 3. 18. 6. 10. that epithete that was given to b●c●n of doctor resolutus , in this case well becomes every christian. it was a just resolve of luther in divine matters , cedo nulli ; and a remarkable speech of the apostles . acts 4. 19. 5. 29. that we ought to obey god rather than men ; it is true , when the supream authority enjoins what god inhibits , we must patiently undergo the punishment inflicted , but not willingly walk after the commandment prescribed . it was a pious speech of king henry the eighth to sir thomas more , when he made him chancellour , look first at god , then at me . st. augustine's rule is excellent , the supream power hath a superiour in heaven ; for fear of one , we must contemn the other ; the one may threaten the prison , but the other has ordained hell. in a word , neither must princes leave the people to their own will , nor the people conform themselves to the prince's will , but both to god's will in matters of religion , lest otherways both prince and people be consumed . but , o lord , we have sinned against thee , and as the prophet david says psal. 76. 7. who can stand in thy sight , when thou art angry ? no bounds could keep us from sinning , and therefore god's wrath knows no bounds in punishin●… our transgression was above measure , so god's judgment is without measure . it is st. chrysostom's note , concerning that fiery shower which god rained upon sodom , that as the sodomites inverted the course of nature , to seek woman in man ; so god changed the order , by showring down fire instead of water . thus doth the almighty's justice ever proportion the smart to the fault ; so that here we may at once behold the greatness of our sin in the punishment , and the fitness of the punishment to the sin ; invasion , and being besieged by romish adversaries , for our neglecting god's commands , which ought to be our rule , and despising of his goodness , which should lead us sinners to repentance . but as the water that is poured on the earth , can never be gathered up again ; so let us pour out all our sins , and god will not pour out all his wrath : let us speedily cast away the filth of our transgressions , and he will soon stop the current of his indignation ; let us cheerfully reform , and he will willingly assist us , let us repent of our provocations , and he will bring us out of this calamity ; may this our great work , be wisely and speedily accomplished , and by the divine assistance , and our weak endeavours faithfully performed , that the power of religion may be advanced , the name of god honoured , the fury of our enemies suppressed , the hearts of gospel-friends comforted , and which is above all , and beyond all , christ over antichrist , in the purity of his gospel among us and our posterity for ever . which god of his infinite mercy grant us , to whom be ascribed , as most due , all honour , power , and glory , adoration and subjection , now , and for evermore . the prayer afterwards . blessed , lord , who a●t our strength , hope , and fortress , our castle , and deliverer , our defender in whom we trust ; how the heavens , o lord , come down and save us , send down thine hand from above , deliver us , and take us from the great waters , from those miseries and afflictions which come upon us , by reason of our sins , and from the condition of mortality , and from the hand of strange children , whose right hand is a right hand of wickedness . give us , o lord , victory and peace , and all the blessings belonging to it , with which thou usest to adorn and bea●tifie the dwellings of the righteous , that we may be happy in the continual descent of thy favours ; but above all , that our happiness may consist in being thy people , and thou being our god , that we may be blessed for ever in so happy a union , through jesus christ our lord , and saviour . amen . a prayer for the preservation of our most gracious soveraign lord king william , in his royal undertaking to subdue ireland , and for his safe return to england , o most mighty god , the great creatour of the world , and the preserver of all mankind ; preserve , we beseech thee , our most gracious soveraign lord , king william , whom thou hast made the happy instrument of our mighty deliverance : let thy blessing accompany him in his journey , and voyage ; protect him from all dangers ; visit him as thou didst moses in the bush , joshua in the battel , gid●on in the field , and samuel in the temple : let the dew of thy never failing mercies fall upon his head , and give him the blessing of david and solomon . ii. be unto him an helmet of salvation , and cover him with thy grace , as with a buckler against the face of his enemies ; dissipate , and scatter all those which shall oppose him , as the dust before the wind , and as the clay in the streets , direct him in all his counsels , to the end , that being blessed with success in this great design , he may employ all that great power which thy omnipotence shall ●ntrust him with , to the honour of thy holy name , the establishment and advancement of the true religion , and to the peace , and happiness of thine , and his people , and the perfect deliverance of our poor distressed brethren in ireland , that they may rejoice together with us , and triumph in thy praise . iii. grant him in this enterprize a good event , that he may return home with joy and victory : let his reign be prosperous , and his days many ; let peace , and love , and holiness , let justice , and truth , and all christian vertues , flourish in his time : let his people serve him with honour and obedience ; and let him so duly serve thee here on earth , that he may hereafter everlastingly reign with thee in heaven , through jesus christ , our lord , amen . the contents . when we first awake pag. 1. a prayer for the morning , 2. a prayer for the evening 3 sunday mornings meditations 5 the prayer 10 sunday noons meditations 12 the prayer 13 sunday nights meditations 14 the prayer 16 monday mornings meditations 17 the prayer 19 monday noons meditations ibid. the prayer 21 monday nights meditations 22 the prayer 23 tuesday mornings meditations 24 the prayer 25 tuesday noons meditations 26 the prayer 27 tuesday nights meditations 28 the prayer 29 wednesday mornings meditations 30 the prayer . 32 wednesday noons meditations 33 the prayer 34 wednesday nights meditations 35 the prayer 36 thursday mornings meditations 37 the prayer 38 thursday noons meditations 39 the prayer 41 thursday nights meditations 42 the prayer 43 friday mornings meditations 44 the prayer 46 friday noons meditations 47 the prayer 49 friday nights meditations 50 the prayer 52 saturday mornings meditations 53 the prayer 55 saturday noons meditations 56 the prayer . 57 saturday nights meditations 58 the prayer 59 ejaculations upon several occasions out of the holy scriptures ▪ in the morning 61 at going forth 62 beginning a good work ibid. in good inspirations ibid. at church ibid. before reading ibid. speaking 63 when you go about worldly affairs ibid. before eating ibid. after eating 64 in prosperity ibid. adversity ibid. troubles ibid. galumnies 65 praises ibid. against vain hope ibid. pride ibid. covetousness ibid. luxury ibid. envy 66 gluttony ibid. anger ibid. sloth ibid. rules of faith ibid. acts of faith ibid. hope ibid. charity 67 against worshipping of idols ibid. popish tradition 68 praying to saints 69 antichrist ibid. divine breathings of the soul towards the evening . 70 a prayer for a family , that may serve for morning or evening 71 a prayer before the communion 74 at receiving the bread 75 at receiving the cup ibid. a prayer after the communion 76 for the church 77 for the king and queen 78 for the royal family ibid. for the high court of parliament ibid. for the clergy 79 for friends 80 for a family ibid. for a friend 81 for peace ibid. in time of the plague 82 for a city ibid. for grace ibid. for enemies ibid. for the afflicted 8● for travellers ibid. for the fruits of the earth ibid. a prayer against temptations 84 for misbelievers and sinners ibid. for temporal necessities ibid. against tempests 85 for women in travel ibid. for the sick ibid. for prisoners 86 for the dying ibid. a prayer before study ibid. when the bell tolls for a dying person 87 a concluding prayer . 88 king edward the sixth's prayer against popery . 89 a prayer for god's mercies upon their majesties forces under the command and conduct of his grace the duke of schomberg 90 a prayer for mercy to the whole nation 92 a short account of the massacre in ireland 93 an abstract of their popish tortures and cruelties 97 bishop usher's prophecy concerning rome's downfal 103 thanksgivings for god's wonderful deliverances . a thanksgiving for our deliverances from the spanish invasion 121 from the powder treason ▪ november the 5th 1605. 122 for our deliverance from popery , slavery , and arbitrary power 123 for the relief of london-derry in ireland 124 for the gifts of god 125 to god for all his benefits 126 a prayer before the following discourse . 128 christian courage in affliction , a discourse by way of advice to the besieged in london-derry , under the command of that worthy divine , and valiant commander , col. walker 131 the prayer afterwards 150 a prayer for the preservation of our most gracious saveraign lord king william , in his royal vndertaking to subdue ireland , and for his safe return to england . 151 finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a66950-e6570 in the morning . in the evening . newes from italy of a second moses or, the life of galeacius caracciolus the noble marquesse of vico containing the story of his admirable conuersion from popery, and his forsaking of a rich marquessedome for the gospels sake. written first in italian, thence translated into latin by reuerend beza, and for the benefit of our people put into english: and now published by w. crashavv ... historia della vita di galeazzo caracciolo. english balbani, niccolo, d. 1587. 1608 approx. 195 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 45 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a02187 stc 1233 estc s100534 99836371 99836371 637 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. a02187) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 637) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 621:1) newes from italy of a second moses or, the life of galeacius caracciolus the noble marquesse of vico containing the story of his admirable conuersion from popery, and his forsaking of a rich marquessedome for the gospels sake. written first in italian, thence translated into latin by reuerend beza, and for the benefit of our people put into english: and now published by w. crashavv ... historia della vita di galeazzo caracciolo. english balbani, niccolo, d. 1587. crashaw, william, 1572-1626. [8], 56, 59-82 p. printed by h[enry] b[allard] for richard moore, and are to be sold at his shop in saint dunstans church-yard in fleetestreete, [london] : 1608. a translation of: balbani, niccolo. historia della vita di galeazzo caracciolo. printer's name from stc. running title reads: the life of galeacius caracciolus, marq. of vico. 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 vico, galeazzo caracciolo, -marchese di, 1517-1586. protestants -italy -biography -early works to 1800. 2006-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-05 derek lee sampled and proofread 2006-05 derek lee text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion newes from italy of a second moses or , the life of galeacivs caracciolvs the noble mar quesse of vico. containing the story of his admirable con uersion from popery , and his forsaking of a rich marquesse dome for the gospels sake . written first in italian , thence translated into latin by reuerend beza , and for the benefit of our people put into english : and now published by w. crashavv batcheler in diuinitie , and preacher at the temple . in memoria sempiterna erit iusius . psalme . 112. the iust shalf be had in an euerlasting remembrance . printed by h. b. for richard moore , and are to be sold at his shop in saint dunstans church-yard in fleetestreete . 1608. to the right honorable and my very good lord , edmund lord sheffeild , lord lieutenant in the north , and lord president of his highnes counsell there , of the noble order of the garter : and to the right honourable and religious ladies , the lady dowglasse his mother , and lady vrsula his wife , and to all the vertuous of-spring of that noble race , grace and peace , &c. give me leaue ( right honourable ) to put you all in one epistle , whom god and nature haue linked so well together : nature in the neerest bond , and god in the holiest religion . for a simple new-yeares gift , i present you with as strange a story , as ( out of the holy stories ) was euer heard . will your honours haue the whole in briefe , afore it be laid downe at large ? thus it is . galeacius caracciolus sonne and heire apparent to calantonius , marquesse of vicum in naples , bred , borne , and brought vp in popery , a courtier to the emperour charles the fift , nephew to the pope paul the fourth , being married to the duke of nucernes daughter , and hauing by her six goodly children ; at a sermon of peter martyrs was first touched , after by reading scripture and other good meanes , was fully conuerted : laboured with his lady , but could not perswade her . therefore that he might enioy christ , and serue him with a quiet conscience , he left the lands , liuings , and honoures of a marquesdome , the comsorts of his lady and children , the pleasures of italy , his credit with the emperour , his kinred with the pope , and forsaking all for the loue of iesus christ , came to geneua , and there liued a poore and meane , but yet an honourable and an holy life for fortie yeares . and though his father , his lady , his kinsemen ; yea the emperour and the pope did all they could to reclaime him , yet continued he constant to the end , and liued and died the blessed seruant of god , about fifteene yeares agoe , leauing behind him a rare example to all ages . this ( right houourable ) is a briefe of the whole , and it is a story admirable and imitable if any other in this later age of the world . some vse to craue of great personages , not to respect the gift but the giuer : but in this case i contrariwise intreat your honours , not to respect the giuer but the gift : of the giuer i say enough if i say nothing ; but of the gift , i meane of noble galeacius , i say too little , when i haue said all i can . but this i must needs say : so religions , so noble , so vertuous was the man , so resolute , so holy , so heroicall was the fact , so strange the beginning , so admirable and extraordinary the perseuerance , as if the story were not debased by the rudenes of my translation ; i durst say , none so great but might reade it , nor so good but might follow it . i may say much rather then iacob , few and euill haue my da●●s beene : yet in these few daies of mine something haue i seene ; more haue i read , more haue i heard ; yet neuer saw i , heard i , or read i any example ( al things laid together ) more neerely seconding the example of moses then this , of this most renowned marquesse galeacius . moses was the adopted sonne of a kings daughter : galeacius the naturall sonne , and heire apparent to a marquesse : moses a courtier in the court of pharaoh : galeacius in the court of the emperour charles the fift : moses by adoption a kinne to a queene : galeacius by marriage a kinne to a duke : by blood , sonne to a marquesse , nephew to a pope : moses in possibility of a kingdome : he in possession of a marquesdome : moses in his youth brought vp in the heathenisme of egypt : galeacius noo●eled in the superstition of popery : moses at last saw the truth and embraced it , so did galeacius : moses openly fell from the heathenisme of egypt ▪ so did galeac us from the superstition of popery . but all this is nothing to that which they both suffred for their conscience . what moses suffred saint paul tels vs : moses when he was come to yeares refused to be called the sonne of pharaohs daughter : and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of god , then to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season ; steeming the rebuke of christ greater riches then the treasures of egypt : nay moses had rather be a base bricke-maker amongst the oppressed israelites , being true christians ; then to be the sonne of a kings daughter in the court of pharaoh amongst idolaters . in like case noble galeacius , when he was come to yeares and knowledge of christ , refused to be called sonne and heire to a marquesse , cup ▪ hearer to an emperour , nephew to a pope ; and chose rather to suffer affliction , persecution , banishment , losse of lands , liuings , wife , children ; honours , and preferments , then to enioy the sinfull pleasures of italy for a season ; esteeming the rebuke of christ greater riches then the honours of a marquesdome without christ : and therefore seeing hee must either want christ or want them , hee dispoyled himselfe of all these to gaine christ . if ( right honourable ) the wife fooles of this world might haue the censuring of these two men and their actions , they would presently iudge them a couple of impassionate and stoicall fellowes , or else melancholike and brame-sicke men , to refuse marquesdomes and kingdomes for scruple of co nscience : but no matter as long as the men are saints in heauen , and their actions honoured of god and his angels ; admired of good men , and neglected of none , but those who as they will not follow them on earth , so are they sure neuer to follow them to heauen . so excellent was the fact of moses , and so heroicall , that the holy ghost vouchsafes it remembrance both in the olde and new testament , that so the church in all ages might know it and admire it : and doth chronicle it in the epistle to the h brewes , almost two thousand yeares after it was done . if god himselfe did so to moses , shall not gods church be carefull to commend to posterity this second moses ? whose loue to christ iesus was so zealous , and so inflamed by the heauenly fire of gods spirit , that no earthly temptations could either quench or abate it ; but to winne christ , and to enioy him in the liberty of his word and sacraments , he delicately contemned the honors and pleasures of the marquesdome of vicum . vicum one of the paradises of naples : naples the paradise of italy : italy of europe : europe o ▪ the earth : yet all these paradises were nothing to him , in comparison of attaining the celestiall paradise , there to liue with iesus christ . if any papists ( musing as they vse , and measuring vs by themselues ) do suspect the story to be some fained thing , deuised to allure and intise the peoples minds ; and to set a flourish vpon our religion , as they by a thousand false and fained stories and mirables vse to doe . i answere , first in the generall ; farre be it from vs and our religion to vse such meanes , either for our selues , or against our aduersaries : no , we are content the church of rome haue the glory of that garland : popery being a sandie and a shaken , a rotten and a tottering building needs such proppes to vnderset it : but truth dare shew her selfe , and feares no colours . but for the particular , i answere : cunning liers ( as many monkes were ) framed their tales of men that liued long agoe , and places a farre off and vnknowen ; that so their reports may not too easily be brought to triall . but in this case it is far otherwise ; the circumstances are notorious ; the persons and places famously knowen : vicum , naples , italy , geneua , are places wel knowen : calantonius his father , charles the fist , his lord and master , pope paul the fourth his vncle , were persons well knowen : examine either places or persons , and spare none ; truth seekes no corners ; disproue the story who can , we craue no sparing : neither is the time too farre past , but may soone be examined . he was borne within these hundred years , and died at geneua within these twenty yeares : and his sonnes sonne at this day is marquesse of vicum . let any papist doe what he can , he shall haue more comfort in following the example , then credit in seeking to disproue the storie . in the course of my poore reading ( right honourable ) i haue often found mention of this noble marquesse , and of his strange conuersion ; but the storie it selfe , i first found it in the exquisit library of the good gentleman master gee ; one that honours learning in others , and cherisheth it in himselfe ; and hauing not once red it , but often perused it , i thought it great losse to our church to want so rare a iewel ; and therfore could not but take the benefit of some stolne houres to put the same into our tongue , for the benefit of my brethren in this realme , who want knowledge in italian and latine tongues . and now being translated , i humbly offer and consecrate it to my holy mother the church of fngland ; who may reioyce to see her religion spredding it selfe priuily in the heart of italy ; and to see the popes nephew become her sonne . and next of all vnto you ( right honourable ) to whom i am bound in so many bonds of duety , and to whom this story doth so fitly appertaine . you ( my honourable good lord ) may here see a noble gentleman of your own rank in descent , birth , education , aduancements like your selfe ; to be like you also in the loue and liking of the same holy religion . and you good madam , may here conceiue & iudge by your selfe , how much more happy this noble marquesse had bin , if his lady madam victoria had bin like your selfe . i meane , if she had followed and accompanied her lord in that his most holy and happy conuersion . and you all ( right honourable ) in this noble marquesse as in a crystal glasse , may behold your selues : of whom i hope you wil giue me leaue to speake ( that which to the great glory of god you spare not to speake of your selues ) that you were once darknes , but now are light in the lord : blessed be that god the father of light , whose glorious light hath shined into your hearts : behold ( right honorable ) you are not alone ; behold an italian ; behold a noble marquesse hath broken the ice , and troden the path before you : in him you may see that gods religion is as well in italy as in england : i meane that though the face of italy be the seat of autichrist , yet in the heart thereof there is a remnant of the lord of hosts . you may see this noble marquesse in this story now after his death , whom in his life time so many noble princes desired to see . his body hath lien in the bowels of the earth these seuenteene yeares , but his soule liues in heauen in the bosome of iesus christ , and his religion in your hearts , and his name shall liue for euer in this story . accept it therfore ( right honourable ) and if for my sake you will vouchsafe to read it once ouer , i dare say that afterwards for your owne sake you will read it ouer and ouer againe : which if you do , you shall find it wil stir vp your pure minds , & inflame your hearts with a yet more earnest zeale to the truth : and wil be an effectuall meanes to increase your faith , your feare of god , your humility , patience , cōstancy , and al other holy vertues of regeneration . and for my part , i freely & truely professe i haue bin often rauisht with admiration of this noble example ; to see an italian , so excellent a christian , one so neere the pope , so neere to iesus christ ; and such blessed fruit to blossome in the popes own garden ; and to see a noble man of italy forsake that for christ , for which , i feare , many amongst vs would forsake christ himselfe . and surely ( i confesse truth ) the serious consideration of this so late , so true , so strange an example , hath bin a spur to my slownes , & whetted my dul spirits , and made me to esteeme more highly of religion then i did before . i know it is an accusation of my selfe , & a disclosing of my own shame to confesse thus much ; but it is a glory to god , an honour to religion , a credit to the truth , and a praise to this noble marquesse , and therefore i will not hide it . and why should i shame to confesse it ? when that famous & renowned man of god , holy caluine freely confesseth ( as in the sequell of this story you shall heare ) that this noble mans example did greatly confirme him in his religion , and did reuiue and strengthen his faith , and cheere vp all the holy graces of god in him . and surely ( most worthy lord , and honorable ladies ) this cannot but confirme and comfort you in your holy courses , and as it were put a new life vnto the graces of god in you , when you see , what ; not the common people , but euen such as were like your selues haue suffred for religion ; and when you see that not only the poore and baser sort of men , but euen the mighty and honourable ( as your selues are ) doe thinke themselues honored by embracing religion . pardon my plainenes and too much boldnes with your honors , & vouchsafe to accept it as proceeding from one who much tendreth your saluations , and reioyceth with many thousands more , to behold the mighty & gracious work of god in you . goe forward right noble lord , in the name of the lord of hosts , still to honour that honorable place you hold , stil to defeat the vaine expectation of gods enemies ; and to satisfie the godly hopes and desires of holy men : still to discountenance popery and all prophanenes : stil by your personall diligence in frequenting holy exercises , to bring on that backward citie : by your godly discipline in your familie , to reforme or to condemne the dissolutnes and disorder of the most great families in this country : stil to minister iustice without delay ; to cut vp contentions , & saue the lawyers labour : still to relieue the fatherlesse and the widow , and helpe the poore against their oppressors : and which is all in all , still to supplant superstition , popery , ignorance , and wilfull blindnes ; and to plant and disperse true religion in that citie , and these northern countries . by al these meanes still shewing your selfe an holy and zealous phinehes ( vnder the great phinehes our most worthy soueraigne ) to execute gods iudgement , and to take vengeance on the zimri and cozbi of our nation : namely , on popery and prophanenes ; the two great sinnes which haue pulled downe gods plagues on our land , and the due and zealous punishment whereof , will be the meanes againe to remoue them . but i wrong your honours to trouble you with these my too many and too ragged lines : and i wrong this noble gentleman to cloth his golden story with this my rude and home-spun english stile : and i wrong you all to keepe you so long from being acquainted with this noble marquesse , so like your selues ; at whose meeting and acquaintance i am sure there will be so much reioycing , and mutuall congratulating at the mighty and gratious worke of god in you all . the same god and mercifull father i humbly beseech , and euer will , to accomplish his good worke in you , as he did in that noble marquesse : and as he hath already made you so many waies blessed ; blessed in your selues , blessed one in another , blessed in your conuersions , blessed aboue many , in your many and religious children : so at last he may make you most of all blessed in your ends ; that so after this life , you may attaine the eternall glory of a better world , whither this noble marquesse is gone before you . from my studie , ian. 12. 1603. your honours in all christian duety , w. crashavv . to the cristian and courteous reader . good reader , conceiue i pray thee , that this translation being made diuers yeares agoe , and communicated to my priuate friends ; i thought to haue suppressed it from spreading further : but being pressed by importunitie , and vrged with vnauoidable reasons , i haue now yeelded to let it passe in publike : the rather considering , that though at this day almost euery houre yeeldes a new booke , yet many ages affoord scarce one example like to this . i haue diuided it into chapters for thy better ease in reading and remembring : and seeing i find in other authors often mention of this noble marquesse , and his heroicallfact : i haue therefore not tied my selfe precisely to the words of the latine story , but keeping the sense and scope , haue sometime inlarged my selfe as the circumstance seemed to require , or as i had warrant and direction from other stories . reade it with an holy and an humble heart , and prayer to god , and account me thy debter , if thou thinke not thy labour well bestowed . and when thou findest a blessing , and reapest spiritual comfort hereby , then vouchsase to remember me in thy prayers . temple , septem . 30. 1608. thy brother in christ , w. crashavv . chap. 1. of the linage , birth , and infancy of galeacius caracciolus the noble marquesse of vico. my purpose is to commit to writing the life of galeacius caracciolus : as being a rare example of a most strange and seldome seene constancy in the defence of godlinesse and true christian religion . he was borne at naples , a renowned citie in italie , in the moneth of ianuary , in the yeare of christ 1517. a his fathers name was calantonius , who was descended of the ancient and noble house of the caracciolies in the country of capua . this calantonius euen in his youth , was not onely well respected , but highly esteemed , and a familiar friend of that noble prince of orarge , who after the taking and sacking of rome , was placed in the roome of the duke of borben : yea his faithfulnesse and industry was so well approued to the prince ( as often times afore , so especially ) at the siege of naples , what time it was assaulted by lotrechius , as that afterward , when the emperour charles the fist of that name , ( who then was at rome to receiue the imperiall crowne and other ornaments of the empire ) did appoint the said prince with certaine forces , to go and besiege the citie of florence ; he thought it needfull to take the said calantonius with him , for his wisedome and graue counsell . from whence when that seruice was ended , he being sent to casar himselfe , he did so wisely demeane himselfe in all his affaires , and did so sufficiently satisfie the emperour in all things , that he made good in euery point , that worthy testimony which the prince had giuen of him ; whereupon he being at that time most honourably entertained of the emperour himselfe , was by him not only aduanced to the state and title of a marquesse , but also equally ioyned in commission with the viceroy of naples ( for his wisedome and experience in all kind of affaires ) to be assistant vnto him , and fellow with him in swaying the scepter of that kingdome . in which office and function hee so caried himselfe , as he wonne the good will of both small and great , as wel of the nobles , as of the commonalty : yea insomuch as he was deepely inuested in the fauour of the emperour charles and king philip his sonne . and so he continued in this dignitie till the last day of his life , which was in the moneth of february , in the yeare 1562. he being himselfe more then three score and ten yeares of age . such a father , and no worse had this galeacius . as for his mother , she was descended of the noble familie of the caraffi : and her owne brother was afterward * pope of rome . which i affirm notto that end , as though this in it self was any true praise or honour to galeacius , but that his loue to true religion , and his constancy in defence thereof , ( euen against such mighty ones ) may appeare the more admirable to all that heare it , as it hereby did to all that knew him . ofwhich his loue to true religion , we shall speake more anon . galeacius being twenty yeares olde , and the onely sonne of his mother , who was now deceased ; his father calantonius being desirous to continue his name , to preserue his house and posteritie , and to maintaine his estate and patrimonie , whose lands amounted to the summe of fiue thousand poundes a yeare and vpward ; did therefore prouide him a wife , a virgin of noble birth , called victoria , daughter to the duke of nuceria , one of the principal peeres of italy , with whom he had in name of portion or dowrie sixe thousand fiue hundred pounds . he liued with his wife victoria vnto the yeare 1551. at which time he forsooke house , familie , and country for religions sake : and in that time he had by his wife six children , ( foure sonnes and two daughters . ) his eldest sonne died at panorma , in the yeare 1577. leauing behind him one sonne and one daughter : the sonne obtayning by inheritance the marquesdome of vicum ▪ ( amongst diuers other things ) married a wife of noble birth afore his grandfather galeacius died . by whom , as i heare , he hath two children , to whom this galeacius is great grandfather . now all these particulars doe i thus set downe to this end , that the perseuerance of so great a man may appeare the better by all these circumstances , which is no lesse then a most glorious victory ouer so many temptations . chap. ii. of his preferment at court , and the first occasion of his conuersion . the marquesse calantonius seeing so good hope of the continuance of his house and posterity , desiring not to preserue onely , but to increase and augment the dignity of his house , purposed therefore that his sonne galeacius should seeke further honour and follow the court. wherefore making offer of him to the emperour charles , he was most kindly entertained into the emperours house and seruice , and soone after was made the emperours gentleman-sewer . in which place and office within short time , he both wonne the fauour of the nobility , and the rest of the court , and grewe to be of speciall account euen with the emperour himselfe : for all mens opinion and iudgement of him was , that there was not one of many to be compared with him , for innocency of life , elegancy of manners , sound iudgement and knowledge of many things . thus galeacius was in all mens opinions , in the high way to all honour and estimation : for the prince whom he serued was most mighty , and the monarch of the biggest part of the christian world . but all this was little : for god , the king of kings , of his singular mercy and grace did purpose to call him to farre greater dignity , and to more certaine and durable riches . and this so great and rare a work did the lord bring to passe , by strange and speciall meanes . so it was that in those daies a certaine spaniard , a noble man , did soiourne at naplcs , who had to name iohannes waldesius : this gentleman being come to some knowledge of the truth of the gospell , and especially of the doctrine of iustification ; vsed often to conferre with , and to instruct diuers other noble men his companions and familiars , in points of religion , confuting the false opinions of our owne inherent iustification , and of the merits of good workes , and so consequently detecting the vanity of many popish points , and the fondnesse of their superstitions : by which meanes he so preuailed , or rather the lord by him , that diuers of these noble gentlemen began to creepe out of popish darkenesse , and to perceiue some light of the truth : amongst these , was there one iohannes franciscus caesarta , a noble gentleman and kinseman to this our galeacius . of this gentleman first of all did galeacius heare diuers things in conference , which seemed to him much contrary to the course of the vaine world ; yea much to crosse euen his age and estate , and course of life ; as namely of the true meanes of our iustification , of the excellency and power of gods word , of the vanity of the most of popish superstitions , &c. for galeacius esteemed and vsed this gentleman as his familiar friend , both being neere of his blood , and especially for that hee was ▪ a gentleman of very good parts . now although the speeches of this gentleman did not at the first so farre preuaile with him , as to make him forsake the vanities of this life ; notwithstanding it was not altogether in vaine : for that god which had ordeined him to be a speciall instrument of his glory , would not suffer so good seed to perish , though it seemed for a time to be cast euen amongst thornes : neither will it be beside the purpose to set downe particularly the meanes , which it pleased god to vse for the working of this strange conuersion : amongst which this was one . chap. iii. of the meanes of his further sanctification . at that time peter martyr vermilius a florentine , was a publik preacher and reader at naples . this man was a canon regular ( as they call them ) a man since then of great name , for his singular knowledge in christian religion , his godly manners and behauiours , and for his sweet and copious teaching ; for he afterward casting away his monkes coule , and renouncing the superstitions of poperie , he shone so brightly in gods church , that he dispersed and strangely droue away the darkenesse and mists of popery . galeacius was once content at caeserta his motion to be drawen to heare peter martyrs sermon ; yet not so much for any desire he had to learne , as moued and tickled with a curious humour , to heare so famous a man as then martyr was accounted . at that time peter martyr was in hand with pauls first epistle to the corinthians , and as he was shewing the weakenesse and deceitfulnes of the iudgement of mans reason in spirituall things , as likewise the power and efficacy of the word of god , in those men in whom the lord worketh by his spirit ; amongst other things he vsed this similie or comparison : if a man walking in a large place , see a farre off men and women dancing together , and heare no sound of instrument , he wil iudge them mad , or at least foolish ; but if he come neerer them , and perceiue their order and heare their musicke , and marke their measures and their courses , he will then be of another minde , and not onely take delight in seeing them , but feele a desire in himself to beare them company and dance with them . euen the same ( said martyr ) betides many men , who whē they behold in others a suddain and great change of their looks , apparell , behauiour , and whole course of life , at the first sight they impute it to melancholy or some other foolish humour ; but if they looke more narrowly into the matter , and begin to heare and perceiue the harmony and sweete concent of gods spirit , and his word in them , ( by the ioint power of which two , this change was made and wrought , which afore they counted folly , ) then they change their opinion of them , and first of all begin to like them , and that change in them , and afterward feele in themselues a motion and desire to imitate them , and to be of the number of such men , who forsaking the world and his vanities , doe thinke that they ought to reforme their liues by the rule of the gospell , that so they may come to true and sound holinesse . this comparison by the grace of gods spirit wrought so wonderfully with galeacius , ( as himselfe hath often tolde his friends ) that from that houre he resolued with himselfe , more carefully to restraine his affections from following the world , and his pleasures , as before they did , and to set his mind about seeking out the truth of religion , and the way to true happinesse . to this purpose he began to reade the scriptures euery day , being perswaded , that truth of religion and soundnesse of wisedome was to be drawen out of that fountaine , and that the high way to heauen was thence to be sought . and further , all his acquaintance and familiarity did he turne into such company , as out of whose life and conferences , he was perswaded he might reape the fruit of godlinesse and pure religion . and thus farre in this short time had the lord wrought with him by that sermon : as first , to considerwith himself seriously whether he was right or no : secondly , to take vp an exercise continuall of reading scripture : thirdly , to change his former company , and make choice of better . and this was done in the yeare one thousand fiue hundred fortie and one , and in the foure and twentieth yeare of his age . chap. iiii. of the strange censures the world gaue of his conuersion , and how the better sort reioyced at it . bvt when this sudden alteration of this noble and yong galeacius was seene and perceiued in naples , it can be scarce set downe how greatly it amazed his old companions , which as yet cleaued to the world ▪ and to the affections of the flesh : many of them able to render no cause of it , could not tell what to say of it ; some iudged it but a melancholicke passion ; others thought it plaine follie , and feared he would become simple and doting and that his wit began by some meanes to be empaired thus euery one gaue his verdict and censure of him , but all wondred , and doubted what it would turne to . but the better sort of men and such as feared god , and had their mind enlightned with some knowledge of religion , as they wondred no lesse to see so great a change in so great a man , so likewise they were surprized with exceeding ioy to see it : for they were perswaded that god had some great and extraordinary work in it ; that a yong gallant , a noble man of such wealth , and honor as he was , liuing in such delight and pleasures , in so general a corruption of life , both in court and countrey , but especially this age , nobility , wealth and honour being ioyned with the wanton deliciousnes of the courtly life : i say , that such a man should bee indued with the spirit of holinesse , and so farre affected with repentance , as that he should contemne all those in respect of heauen ; they esteemed of it ( as it was indeed ) a rare matter and seldome seene in the world : and therefore they greatly reioyced at it , and praised the lord on his behalfe . amongst those men that thus reioyced at his conuersion , was one marcus antonius flaminius a scholar of great name , and an excellent poet , as his paraphrase on the psalmes , and other very good poems do sufficiently testifie . galeacius about this time receiued a letter from this flaminius , wherein ▪ he did congratulate and reioyce with him , for the grace and gift of god , which was besto wed on him in his conuersion . this letter i thought good to insert into the bodie of this story , ( as being worthy of no lesse ) to the end that it might be a witnes in times to come , of the good opinion which such men had conceiued of him , who knew the foundatiō of true iustification , thogh they were yet possessed with other errours , as about the sacraments , and of the masse , &c. which alas as yet they were not able to discerne of , as after by the greater grace of god this galeacius did . the copy of the letter is this . chap. v. marcus antonius flaminius a great scholar in italie , writeth to galeacius , and congratulateth with him , for his holy and happy change . to the right honourable galeacius caracciolus . right noble lord , when i consider seriously these words of paul. * brethren you see your calling , that not many noble , not many wise , according to the flesh , not many mightie are called : but god hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise , and weake things to confound the mightie , and base things in the world , and things not accounted of , and things that are not , to bring to nought things that are . when i say , i consider of these words so often , i admire at that rare blessing of god , which he hath vouchsafed to you a noble and mighty man : namely , that he should grace you with that true and incomparable nobility , which is attained by true faith in christ iesus , and a holy life . as much greater as this blessing is , so much the more holy and sincere ought your life to be , and so much the more vprightly are you to walke with your god ; lest that your thornes ( that is , riches , pleasures , and honours , ) should choke the seede of the gospell which is sowne in you . for this i am sure of , that god hath begun some great worke in you , which he will finish to the glory of his owne name , and will bring to passe ; that as heretofore you had care so to liue a noble man , amongst noble men , that you might obserue the decorum and maintine the dignity of nobilitie : so hereafter that you may employ your whole selfe in this , that you may defend and vphold the honor & dignity of the children of god ; whose duety it is to aime at the perfection of their father with al endeuors ; and in their life vpon the earth to resemble that holy & heauenly life , which they shal lead in the world to come . call to mind continually ( my good lord ) in all your words and deedes , that we are graced with this honour to be made the sonnes of god by iesus christ : for that mediation will by the helpe of the holy ghost , worke this care in vs , that we neuer commit any thing vnworthy of that holy name of christ , by which we are called . and yet alas , such is our estate , as that if we do endeuour to please christ , we are sure to displease men , and must bee content to contemne the vaine glory of the world , that we may enioy heauenly and eternall glory with god ; for it is impossible ( as christ saith ) for him to beleeue in god , which seekes the honour and praise of men . i meane of the men of this world , which as the kingly prophet saith , are lighter and vainer then vanity it selfe . and therefore their iudgement is little worth , and lesse to be esteemed ; but rather the iudgement of god , who seeth not all our actions onely , but euen our most hidden thoughts and purposes . which being so , were it not folly and madnesse to displease such a god , to please so fond a world ? it were a shamefull thing if a wife should endeuour to please other men , rather then her husband . how much more then vnworthy is it if our soules should rather ayme to please the vaine world , then their most holy spouse christ iesus ? if the onely sonne of god was content , not only to be reuiled , yea and scourged ; but euen to die vpon the crosse as a cursed malefactor , and all for vs : why should not we much more beare patiently the taunts and mockes , yea euen the slanders of gods enemies ? let vs therfore arme our selues as it were with a holy pride , and ( in a sort ) scorne and laugh at their mockes : and putting vpon vs mercy and pity as the feeling members of christ , let vs bewaile so great blindnesse in them , and let vs intreat the lord for them , to pull them out of that palpable darknesse into his true and marueilous light , lest satan binde them to himselfe in his euerlasting prentishippe ; and so being his bondslanes , and hired sworne seruants of his blacke guard , doe send them out to persecute iesus christ in his members . which when they haue done all they can , and all that the diuell their master can teach them , though the diuell himselfe should burst with malice , and they for anger grinde their teeth ; yet shall it all tend to the magnifying of gods glory , which they labour to obscure , and to the furtherance of their saluation whom they so disdained : yea to the increase of their glory in a better world , whom in this world they thought worthy of nothing , but of all disgrace . and surely ( my most honourable lord ) he that is possessed with the certaintie of this faith , will without doubt make open warre with the corrupt affections of his owne nature , and with all the world : yea euen with the diuell himselfe , and will not doubt but in time euen to ouercome them al. therfore let vs humble our selues to our god and father euerlasting , that he would increase that saith in vs , & bring forth in vs those most blessed & sweet fruits of faith in our harts & liues , which he vseth to work in them whom he hath elected : that so our faith being fruitful of good works , may appeare to be not a fained but a true faith : not a dead but a liuing faith : not a humane but a diuine worke in vs : that so it may be to vs an infallible pledge of our saluation to come . let vs labour to shew our selues the legitimate and vndoubted children of god , in seeking aboue all things , that his most holy name may be sanctified in our selues and others ; and in imitating his admirable loue and gentlenesse , which makes his sunne to shine on good and badde . let vs worship his heauenly maiestie in spirit and truth : and let vs yeeld vp the temple of our heartsto christ iesus as an acceptable sacrifice vnto him : yea letvs shew our selues members of the heauenly high priest christ iesus , in sacificing to god our owne bodies , and in crucifying the flesh with the affections and the lusts thereof ; that sinne being dead in vs , the spirit of god may create in vs a spirituall life , whereby christ iesus may liue in vs. let vs die to sinne , and die to our selues , and to the world , that we may liue blessedly to god and christ iesus : yea let vs acknowledge and shew by our liues , that we were once ●●ad ; but now are raised to the life of grace , by the power of christ iesus . let our conuersation be heauenly , though we liue on the earth : let vs begin that life here which we hope to lead in heauen : let the image of god shine bright in vs : let vs disgrace and weare out the olde image of sinne and satan , and labour to renue the image of christ iesus , that all that see vs may acknowledge gods image in vs. which holy image of grace , as it is beautifull and glorious in all gods saints ; so in you ( my good lord ) it shall be so much more glorious , in as much as you go before others in birth , nobility , honour , and high place . o what a pleasant sight is it to all true christian men ; yea to the angels ; yea how acceptable to the lord himselfe , to behold a man of your place and estate , so farre to forget the world and denie himselfe : so deepely to consider the frailty of his own nature , and the vanity of all temporal things as to say with christ , i am a worms and no man : and to crie out with dauid , turne thy face to me and haue mercy vpon me , for i am desolate and poore ? o happy and true rich man , which hath attained to this spirituall and heauenly pouerty , and can giue a farewell to himselfe , and the world , and all things that he hath for christs sake , and can freely renounce and forsake carnall reason , humane learning , company and counsell of friends , wealth , honours , lord shippes , pleasures of all sorts , delight of the court , high places and preferments , dignity and offices ; yea fauour of princes ; yea his owneselfe ! how welcome shall he be to christ , which can denie all those for christs sake ? such a one may go for a foole in the world ; but he shal be of the almighties counsell : such a man knoweth that felicity consists not in any thing that this world can afford , and therefore in the midst of all his wealth and abundance , he crieth out to god as though he had nothing , euen out of the feeling of his heart ; giue vs this day our daily bread . such a man preferreth the rebuke of christ before the honour of the world , and the afflictions of christs religion , before the pleasures of the world : and because hee despiseth all things in respect of christ , and his righteousnes , and is possessed and grounded with gods spirit ; therefore hee sings with true ioy of heart , with the kingly prophet ; the lord is my shepheard , therefore i can want nothing : neither will i feare hunger or any outward thing ▪ he feeds me in greene pastures , and leads me forth besides the water of comfort . this man distrusts himselfe and all the creatures in the world , that he may trust and cleaue onely to god : neither aimes he at any pleasure , any wisedome , any honour , any riches , any credit or estimation ; but such as comes from god himselfe : and therfore he professeth with the same prophet , i haue none in heauen but thee alone , and none in the earth doe i desire but thee : my slesh consumeth with longing after thee , and thou lord art my heritage and portion for euer . he that spake thus was a wealthy and mighty king , yet suffered he not the eyes ofhis mind to be blinded or dazled with the glittering glory of riches , pleasures , or honour , or ought else that a kingdome could giue : for he knew wel that they al came of god , and were held vnder god , and must all be vsed to his glory , and that he that gaue them hath farre better things to giue his children . and therefore that king and prophet makes his heauenly proclamation before al his people ; blessed art thou o lord god our father for euer and euer : thine o lord is greatnes , and power , and glory , and victory : all that is in heauen and earth is thine , thine is the kingdome lord , and thou excellest as head ouer all : riches and honour come of thee , and thou art lord of all : in thy hand is power , and strength , honour , and dignitis , and kingdomes are in thy disposition : therefore wee giue thee thankes o god , and we extoll thy great and glorious name . but who am i , and what is my people , that we should promise such things to thee ? for we are strangers before thee , and soiourners as all our fathers were ; our daies are like a shadow vpon the earth , and here is no abiding . see how dauid cannot content himselfe in abasing himselfe , and extolling the lord : and in how many words his affections vtter themselues . this was dauids meditation , and let this be your looking-glasse ; and into the looking-glasse of this meditation looke once a day , and pray daily that god would still open your eyes to behold your owne vilenesse ; and his incomprehensible power and loue to yee , that with king dauid you may humble your selfe vnder the mighty hand of his maiesty , and acknowledge all power and glory to belong to god alone , that so you may be made partaker of those heauenly graces , which god bestoweth not on the proud and lofty , but on the humble and meeke . remember that ordinance of the eternall god , that saith : let not the wise man glory in his wisedome , nor the strong man in his strength , nor the rich man in his riches , but let him that glorieth , glorie in this , in that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me , that i am the lord which doe mercy and iustice on earth : for these things please me , saith the lord. ( therefore my good lord ) if you list to boast , boast not as the world doth , that you are rich , or that you are of noble birth , or that you are in fauour with the emperour and other princes , or that you are heire apparant of a rich marquesdome , or that you haue married so noble a waman : leaue this kind of boasting to them , who haue their minds glued to the world , and therefore haue no better things to boast on : whose portion being here in this life , they can looke for nothing in heauen . but rather reioyce you in that you are entred into the kingdome of grace ; glory in this that the king of kings hath had mercy on you , and hath drawen you out of the misty darkenesse of errors , hath giuen you to feele his endlesse loue and mercy in christ , hath made you of the childe of wrath ▪ his owne sonne ; of a seruant to finne and the diuell , an heire of heauen ; and of a bondslaue to hell , a free denision of the heauenly ierusalem ; and glory in this , that euen christ iesus himselfe is giuen you , and made your owne , and with him all things else . so that as paul saith , all are yours , whether the world , or life , or death , things present or things to come , all are yours in and by christ , who is the onely felicity of our soules ; and therefore whosoeuer haue him , haue with him all thing else . this is the true glory and the sound boasting of christianity : for hereby is gods mercy extolled , and mans pride troden vnder foote , by which a man trusting too much to himselfe , rebelleth against god. this glorious boasting makes vs humble euen in our highest honours : modest and meeke in prosperity : patient and quiet in aduersity : in troubles strong and couragious : gentle towards all men : ioyfull in hope : feruent in praier : full of the loue of god , but empty of all loue of our selues or ought in the world : yea it makes vs christs true beadsmen , and his sworn seruants , and maks vs yeelde vp our selues wholly to imitate and follow christ , and to esteeme all things else as fraile and vaine ; yea dung and drosse that we may winne him . right honourable and my good lord , you see that i am so willingly employed in this seruice of writing to your honour , and in conferring with you of heauenly matters , that i haue forgot my selfe , or rather your honour , in being so tedious , which in the beginning i purposed not . i am priuie to my selfe and of my owneignorance ; and guilty of mine owne insufficiency , as being fitter to be a scholar then a teacher ; and to heare and learne my selfe , rather then to teach others : and therefore i craue pardon of your honour . farewell . the most reuerend embassadour desireth in his heart he had occasion to testifie indeede , that true good will which in his soule he beares you : in the meane time he salutes you , & so doth the illustrious princesse of piscarta her highnesse ; and all other the honourable personages which are with me ▪ all which reioyce for this good worke of god in you , and in all kindnes do kisse your hands ; and they do all earnestly intreat the lord for you , that he that hath begun so great a worke in you , would accomplish the same to the end : and the richer you are in temporall goods , in lands , and lord shippes , that he would make you so much the more poore in spirit ; that so your spirituall pouerty , may doe that which your worldly riches and honour cannot : namely , bring you at last to the eternall and neuer fading riches of the world to come : amen . farewell . from viterbium . your honours most humbly addicted , and most louing brother in christ , m. antonius flaminius . chap. vi. of the many temptations the diuell vsed to pull him backe , as by his father , his wife , and by noble men of his acquaintance . by this and other holy meanes galeacius was confirmed in the doctrine of the truth , and went forward constantly in the course of gods calling , and the way of godlines . but the more couragiously he went on , the more fiercely the diuell raged against him by his temptations ; endeuouring thereby to hinder him in that happy course : yea and if it were possible to driue him backe againe , which course lie commonly takes against those , who haue propounded to themselues to tame the rebellion of the slesh , and to relinquish the vanities of the world . and first of all , this zealous course of his in religion procured him an infinit number of mockes , and made him subiect to most vile slanders ; yea made him incurre the hatred of a great number , but especially did he herein displease & vex his father , as one that was not only of a contrary religion , but one who onely intended the honour of his house , and the aduancing of his posterity , which in respect of religion galeacius cared not for at all : and therefore he did often sharpely chide him , and charged him with his fatherly authoritie , to put away those melancholy conceits ( as hee termed them . ) no doubt but this was most grieuous to him , who alwaies was most submisse and obedient to his father . but another griefe did more inwardly afflict him , which was in respect of his wife victoria . who though she was alwaies a most kind and dutifull wife , as also very wise , yet shee would by no meanes yeelde to this motion and change of religion ; because she thought and feared it would breed infamy and reproch , to her self and her house ; and therfore was continually working on him by all meanes and deuices she could : labouring to mooue him by teares and complaints , and by all kinds of intreaty that a wife could vse to her husband : and withall sometimes vrging him with such vaine and fond reasons as commonly women of that religion are furnished withall . what a vexation this was , and what an impediment to his conuersion , such may iudge easily , who are cumbred with husbands or wiues of a contrary religion . and no little griefe and temptation was it to him , besides all these , that the most part of the noble men in and about naples ( being either of his blood , or kinred , or his familiar friends ) vsed continually to resort vnto him , to follow their old and ordinary sports and pleasures . alas how hard a thing was it to shake off all these on a sudden , and to take vpon him a direct contrary course of life to that he had ledde with them afore ; which he must needs doe if he would goe on as he had begun ? and further , it was no little vexation to his soule to liue in the court , when his office and place called him thereunto : for there hee might heare of any thing rather then of religion : and not a word by any meanes of gods word , but talke enough of common and worldly preferments and pleasures , and deuising of meanes for the most cruell handling and dispatching out of the way all such as should depart from the romish faith . any christian heart may easily conceiue how deepely those temptations and hinderances vexed his righteous soule in this his course towards god : insomuch as a thousand to one , they had turned him backe againe ; and doubtlesse they had done so indeed , had not god assisted him with speciall grace . chap. vii . how he escaped the snares of the arrian anabaptists , and ▪ after of the waldesians : and of his resolution to leaue his countrey , hono urs , and liuings , to enioy the liberty of gods religion . bvt aboue all these , satan had one assault strongest of all , whereby he attempted to seduce him from the true and sincere religion of god. about that time the realme of naples was sore pestred with arrians and anabaptists : who daily broched their heresies amongst the common people , colouring them ouer with glorious shewes . these fellowes perceiuing galeacius not fully setled as yet in religion , nor yet sufficiently groūded in the scripture , tried al meanes they could to intangle him in their errours and blasphemous fancies : wherein the mightie worke of god was admirable towards him : for he being a youth , a gentleman , but a meane scholar ▪ and little studied , and but lately entred into the schoole of christian religion ; who would haue thought that euer he could haue resisted and escaped the snares of those heretikes ; many of them being great and grounded scholars , and throughly studied in the scripture ? notwithstanding , by the sincere simplicity and plainnesse of gods truth , and the inspiration of the holy ghost , hee not onely descried the fondnesse of their heresies , but euen vntied the knots , and brake their nets , and deliuered himselfe , and mightily confuted them : yea such was the working of god , as being sometime in their meetings , hee was strongly confirmed in the doctrine of the truth by seeing and hearing them . thus by gods mercie he escaped and was conquerour in this sight . but the diuell had not so done with him , for another and more dangerous battell presently followed . the waldesians , of whom wee spake before , were at that time in naples in good number . with them did galeacius daily conuerse , their courses of life and study being not farre vnlike . these disciples of waldesius knew as yet no more in religion but the point of iustification : and misliked and eschewed some abuses in popery ; and neuerthelesse still frequented popish churches ; heard masses , and were present ordinarily at vile idolatries . galeacius for a time conuersed with these men , and followed their way : which course doubtlesse would haue spoiled him , as it did a great sort of them ; who afterwards being taken and committed for the truth , were easily brought to recant their religion , because they wanted the chiefe and the most excellent points , nor were sufficiently setled : and yet afterwards againe , not daring to forsake their hold in iustification ; and therefore comming to it againe , were taken as relapsers and backsliders , and put to extreame torments and cruell death . in the like danger had galeacius beene , but that the good prouidence of god otherwise disposed , and better prouided for him : for his office and place that he bare in the emperours court , called him into germany , and so withdrew him from his companions the waldesians : for the lord had a greater worke to worke in him then the waldesians were able to teach him : for there in germany hee learned ( that he neuer knew afore ) that the knowledge of the truth of iustification was not sufficient for saluation ; whilst in the meane time a man wittingly defiled himselfe with idolatry , which the scripture cals spirituall whordome : and of no man did he reape more sound and comfortable instruction then of peter martyr , of whom we spake afore , whom god had lately called out of italy , and confirmed him in the truth . this martyr instructed galeacius soundly , in the way of the truth , and made it plaine vnto him , by priuate conferences as well as publicke reading : for he was at that time publick professor of diuinity at stransbrough in germany . galeacius furnished with those holy instructions , returned to naples , and presently resorting to his companions , the waldesians , amongst other points , conferred with them about the eschewing of idolatry , and deliuered his iudgement therein . but they not induring scarce to heare it , presently forsooke him , for they would by no meanes entertaine that doctrine , which they knew was sure to bring vpon them afflictions , persecutions , losse of goods and honours , or else would cause them to forsake country , house , and land , wife , and childe , and so euery way threatened a miserable estate to the professors thereof . now this their forsaking of him , and telling him of the danger of this profession , was another strong temptation to keepe him wrapped in their idolatry , and to make him content himselfe with their imperfect and peeced religion . but god which had in his eternall election predestinate him , that he should be a singular example of constancy to the edification of many , and the confusion and condemnation of luke-warme professors ; gaue him that excellent resolution , and that heauenly courage , as he escaped at last conquerour ouer all those temptations and assaults of satan ; and nothing could suffice or content him but the pure religion , and also the profession of it : and therefore seeing no hope of reformation in naples , nor any hope to haue the waldesians ioyne with him , and seeing plainely that he could not serue god in that countrey ; he resolued vndoubtedly that hee would forsake the countrey , and seeke for christ and his religion wheresoeuer hee might find them ; and that hee would rather forsake father , wife , children , goods and lands , offices and preferments to winne christ , then to enioy them all and want christ iesus . chap. viii . of the grieuous combats betwixt the flesh and the spirit , when he resolued of his departure . now heree by the way it may not be omitted , what kind of cogitations he hath often said came into his mind , as he was deliberating about this great matter . for first of all , as often as he looked on his father , which he did almost euery houre , who decrely loued him , and whom againe he respected in all duety and reuerence : so often doubtlesse he was striken at the heart with vnspeakeable griefe to thinke of his departure ; his mind no doubt often thinking thus : what , and must i needes forsake my deere and louing fathr , and cannot i else haue god my father ? o miserable and vnhappy father of my body , which must stand in comparison with the father of my soule ! and must i needes faile in duety to him , if i performe my duety to god ? o miserable old man ! for what deeper wound can pierce him , then thus to be depriued of the onely staffe and comfort of his old age ! alas shall i thus leaue him in such a sea of troubles ; and shall i bee the onely meanes to strike into his heart the deepest wound of griese that yet euer pierced him in all his life ? this my departure is sure to make my selfe the obloquy of the world : yea to breede reproch and shame to the marquesse my father , and to my whole stocke and kinred . how is it possible that the good old man can ouercome or indure so great a griefe , but rather he must needs be swallowed vp of it , & so with woe and misery end his life ? shall i then be the cause of death to my father , who would if neede had beene redeemed my life with his owne death ? alas what a misery is this like to be either to me , or him , or vs both ? yet must i care lesse for bringing his gray head with sorrow vnto the graue , then for casting my owne poore soule with horror into hell . and no lesse inwardly was he grieued in respect ofhis noble wife victoria : for hauing no hope that she would renounce popery , and go with him , therefore he durst not make known vnto her the purpose of his departure ; but rather resolued for christs sake to leaue her and all , and to follow christ . shee was now as he was himselfe in the prime of youth , a lady of great birth , faire , wise and modest ; but her loue and loyalty to her husband surpassed all . how was it possible patiently to leaue such a wise , so that his perplexed mind discoursed on this fashion when he lookt on her : and shall i so , yea so suddenly , and so vnkindly leaue and forsake my wife , my most deere and louing wife , the onely ioy of my heart in this world , my companion and partner in all my griefe and labour ; the augmenter of my ioy , the lessener of my woe ? and shal i leaue her , not for a time , ( as hertofore idid when the emperors seruice called me from her ) but for euer , neuer againe to enioy her : yea it may be neuer to see her ? and shall i depriue my selfe of her , & thereby depriue my selfe ofal others also , & of al the comfort of the coniug all life & married estate ? and shal i so leaue her desolate & alone in that estate & age whereof she is ? alas poore lady , what shal she doe , what shal become of her , and of her litle ones when i am gone ? how many dolefull dayes without comfort , many waking nights without sleep , shal she passe ouer ? what wil she do but weep & waile , & pine away with grief ? and as he cast these things in his mind , he thought he euen saw his wife , how she tooke on with her self , sighing & sobbing and weeping ; yea howling & crying , & running after him with these pitifull out-cries : ah my deere lord , and sweete husband ; whither will you goe ? and will you ieaue me miserable woman , comfortlesse and succourlesse ? what shal become of me when you are gone : what can honors , pompes , riches , gold , siluer , iewels , friends , company , all delights and pleasures in the earth ; what can they all do to my comfort when i want you ? and what ioy can i haue in my children without you , but rather my griefe to be doubled to looke on them ? and how can i or the world be perswaded that you care for them , and for my selfe ? is this the loue that thou hast so often boasted of ? ah , miserable loue which hath this issue ! either neuer didst thou loue me , else neuer had true loue so strange an end as this of yours hath , and yet which is worse then all this , you neuer shewed me cause of this your strange departue ; had i knowen cause , it would neuer haue grieued mee halfe so much : but now that the cause is not knowen , what will the world iudge , but that the fault is in me ? at least , if they cannot condemne me for it ; yet how reprochfull will it be to me , when euen euery base companion dare lay it in my dish , and point at me with their fingers when i go by , and say , this is that fond woman who married him with whom she could not liue , and whom her husband disdained to liue withall ? this is that simple foole , who is desolate hauing a husband ; and a widow , her husband yet beeing aliue . either shall i be counted wicked , which haue caused thee to leaue me ; or foolish , miserable , and vnhappy , who chose so fondly , as to take him , whom i could not be sure of when i had him . in a word , i shall be depriued of thee : yea of all possibility of hauing any other , and so hauing a husband , i shal liue in al misery altogether without a husband . these two cogitations of his father and his wife greatly tormented him , and the more because hee laboured to keepe close this fire , which burned and boiled in hisheart : namely , to conceale his departure , lest by being knowne it might haue beene hindred , which he would not for a world . yet there was a third and speciall care that pinched him , and that was for his children , which were sixe in all ; goodly and towardly children , and worthy of so noble parents : the more griefe was it , in that they were so yong , as that they could not yet conceiue what it was to wanta father ; the eldest was scarce fifteene , and the yongest scarce foure yeares old : hee loued them with most tender and fatherly affection , and was againe loued and honoured of them . it is wonderfull to thinke , how when his wife the lady did giue into his armes his yongest childe to play withall ( as oftentimes wiues vse to doe ) how it were possible for him , and what a do he had with himselfe to containe from floods of teares ; especially because his eyes seeing them , and his hands holding them , and his heart taking delight and pleasure in them , his minde could not but discourse on this manner : and shall i within these few daies vtterly forsake these sweete babes , and leaue them to the wide and wicked world , as though they had neuer beene my children nor i their father ? yea happy had i bin if i had either neuer had them , or hauing them might enioy them . to be a father is a comfort , but a father of no children , and yet to haue children , that is a misery . and you poore orphans , what shal become of you whē i am gone ? your hap is hard euen to be fatherlesse , your father yet liuing : and what can your great birth now helpe you ? for by my departure you shall lose all your honour , all your liuing and wealth , and all dignity whatsoeuer ; which otherwise you had bin sure of : nay my departure shall not onely depriue you of al this , but lay you open to all infamy , reproch , and slander , and bring vpon you all kind of misery : and thus miserable man that i am , shall the time be cursed that euer they had me to their father . and what can your wofull mother doe when she looketh on you , but weepe and wring her hands , her griefe still increasing as she lookes vpon you ? yet thus must i leaue you al confounded together in heaps of griefe , weeping and wailing one with another , and i in the meane time weeping and wailing for you all . many other griefes , temptations , and hinderances assaulted him , though they were not so weighty as these formerly named , yet which might haue beene able to haue hindred any mans departure , being in his case ; as to leaue the company of so many gallant noblemen and gentlemen , his kinred and acquaintaince ; to lose so honourable an office and place as he bare in the emperours court ; to leaue for euer his natiue soile the delicate italy ; to depriue himselfe and his posterity of the noble tittle and rich liuing of a marquesdome ; to vndertake a most long and tedious iourney ; to cast himselfe into exile , pouerty , shame , and many other miseries without hope of recouery for euer : to change his former pleasant life into all hardnesse , and to giue a farewel to al the delicacies of italy , wherein he was brought vppe ; to leaue that goodly garden of his father the marquesses , which once should be his owne ; the goodliest garden almost in all italy or all cristendome ; which was furnished with plants of all sorts ; and these not onely of all such as grow in italy , but euen such as were to be got out of all other countries : this garden and orchard was so exquisite both this way , and in diuers other sorts of elegancies , that a great number of men of all qualities resorted daily out of all countries to see it . but this and all other the pleasures and delicacies of this present life could doe nothing with him to remooue him from his purpose ; but he renounced them all , and resolued to leaue them all to follow christ : so strong and admirable was the constancy of this noble gentleman . chap. ix . how after all the temptations which flesh and blood laid in his way to hinder his departure , he consulted with the lord , and from him receiued grace to ouercome them all . bvt it may be asked , whereupon was grounded so great vnmoueablenesse of this purpose , or whence came it ? if we aske the world and common iudgement , they will answere , that doubtlesse melancholike humours preuailing in him , spoiled the man of his iudgement and naturall affections , and empaired common sense and reason ; and thence proceeded this obstinate and desperate purpose , as the world iudgeth of it . but if a man lift vp his eyes higher and behold the matter more seriously , he might haue manifestly seene that it came to passe by the mercifull blessing and strong hand of god , who from al eternity had predestinate him , that hee should stand so vnmoueable against all temptations , and continue in one tenour steady and stedfast , vntill he had made voyde all the attempts of satan , and remoued all the stumbling blockes which his flesh and blood and carnall reason could cast in the way ; for the which purpose the spirit of god enabled him to reason with himselfe on this sort : thou lord art hee who drew and deliueredst me out of the thick and misty darknes of ignorance , and hast enlightned my mind with the light of thy holy spirit , and with the heauenly knowledge of thy truth : thou hast made knowen to me the way of saluation , and hast ransomed me to thy selfe by the blood of thy sonne . now therefore good lord and holy father , i am wholly thine , and consecrated to thy glory ; and as i am thine , i will follow thee , and obey thee , and walke in the way of thy will whithersoeuer thou shalt call me . not my father , nor my wife , nor my children , nor my honours , nor my lands , nor my riches , nor all my delicacies and pleasures shall hold or hinder me one houre from following thee . i denie my selfe o lord , and i deny this whole world for thee and thy sake : o lord thou knowest me , and the readinesse of my mind to wait vpon thee ; and how that my heart is inflamed with the fire of thy loue : yet thou seest againe how many enemies compasse mee , how many hinderances lie in me way , and how many temptations and impediments lie vpon me , so that i am scarce able to moue or lift vp my head vnto thee : o lord i am now in the depthes of those troubles , out of which the holy prophet dauid once cried to thee as i doe now ; o lord haue mercy on me and deliuer my soule . and although satan and my owne flesh doe affright me in this my purpose , whilst they set before my eyes , the crosse , and the infamy , and the pouerty , and so many miseries , which i am like in this my new profession to vndergoe : notwithstanding o lord , i lift vp my selfe in the contemplation and beholding of thy infinite maiesty ; and therein i see and confesse that that crosse and affliction is blessed and glorious , which makes me like and conformable to christ my head ; and that infamy to be honorable which sets me in the way to true honour ; and that pouerty to be desired , which depriuing a man of some temporall goods , wil reward him with an heauenly inheritance , then which , there is nothing more pretious : i meane o lord with thy owne selfe , and thy glory o euerlasting god , and that by thy onely son iesus christ ; that so i enioying thy glorious presence , may liue for euer with thee in that heanenly society : o blessed and happy these miseries which pull me out of the worlds vanities , and sinke of sinne ; that i may be made heire of an euerlasting glory . welcome therfore the crosse of christ , i wil take it vp o lord , and wil follow thee : with these & such like holy meditations & other holy meanes , he ouercame at last all the attempts of satan , al his owne natural and carnal affections : yea and the world it selfe , and verified that in himselfe which paul affirmeth of gods true elect , that they that are christs haue crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts : that is , haue crucified their soules for christ , who crucified himselfe for them . o satan , gods enemy and his childrens , how vaine were all thy attempts , and how light al thy assaults ? in vaine dost thou set vpon those for whom christ vouchsafed to die , and suffer on the crosse : vpon which crosse he so brake thy head and thy power , and so trampled ouer thee , that now thou shalt not be able to touch the least haire of the head of any of those for whom he died . and as for galeacius , hee had builded his house on the rocke , and founded it so sure , that no wind , no raine , nay no floods of griefes , nor tempests of troubles , nor whirlewind of temptations could once remoue him : and so he continued resolute as a christian souldier & conqueror ; fully minded to leaue his country at the next opportunity he could take : his mind i cannot tell whether more rauished with ioy one way , or more perplexed with griefe another way ; but betwixt ioy and griefe he still continued his purpose , vntill at last his spiritual ioy ouercomming his naturall and carnal griefe , he fully concluded that in despight of the diuell and all impediments in the world , hee would surely goe . chap. x. how he performed his heroicall resolution , leauing all for christ , and going to geneua . whereupon making knowen his mind but to a few , & those his most familiar friends , and of whom he hoped wel for religion ; he wrought vpon them so far , as that they promised and vowed that they would accompany him in this voluntary & christian banishment , that so they migh enioy the true liberty and peace of conscience in the true church of god. but how deepe and vnsearchable the iudgements of god are , the euent afterward shewed : for diuers of them ( though not all ) who for a time seemed to be indued and led with a most earnest zeale of gods glorie in this action ; when they came to the borders of italy , & considered what they forsooke , and to what they now tooke themselues : first began to looke backe againe to italy ; afterwards went backe againe indeed , and so turned againe to the vomit of their pleasures . but this ingratitude to the lord for so great a fauour offred them , the lord pursued with a iust reuenge : for purposing to serue god in their pleasures , and in the midst of popery , they were after taken by the spanish inquisition ; and so publikely recanting and abiuring christian religion , they were afterward subiect to all misery & infamy ; neither trusted nor loued of the one side nor the other . this fearful desertiō & backsliding of theirs , doubtlesse was most grieuous to galeacius ; & verily the diuel hoped hereby yet once again to haue diuerted him from his intended course , in making him be forsaken of those by whose company and society he hoped to haue been greatly comforted in this discomfortable voyage . but notwithstanding al this , galeacius continued resolute in his purpose , and at last finding opportunity , attempted his departure , and made fit for it ; yet made no shew of any such matter ; but rather coloured and concealed his intent , lest the authoritie of his father might any wayes hinder his so godly a purpose : and so gathering together some thousand markes of his mothers goods which she had left him : on the one and twentieth of march , 1551. in the yere ofhis age the foure and thirtieth , he departed from naples in manner as he was wont to doe afore , making it knowne that he purposed to go into germany to the emperour ; who at that time held his court at auspurge : and thither indeed he went accordingly , and stayed seruing in his place and office till the sixe and twentieth of may in the same yeare : vpon which day ▪ leauing the court and the emperours seruice , & his honorable office which there he beare ; & taking his last and euerlasting farewel at the court , and all worldly delights , ( and yet departing in ordinary sort as afore , and in purpose to goe into the low countries , as some thought ) he tooke his iourney straight towad geneua , and thither came by gods good hand the eight of iune , and there rested his weary body , and reposed his much more wearied conscience , with a full ioyfull heart : yea with the greatestioy that euer came to him in all his life , but onely at the time of his conuersion . chap. xi . of his arriuall at geneua , and his entertainment there : and especially his acquaintance and friendship with caluine . in the city of ceneua ( though there was a church of italians who likewise were come thither for the gospell ) yet hee found not one whom he knew , saue one lactantius rangonius , a noble man of siena in italy : this gentleman had beene one of his familiar acquaintance when they were at home , and now was preacher of gods word to the church and congregations of the italians , who were then at geneua , now when he saw that the mercy of god had granted him to ariue at this quiet and happy hauen , where he might with liberty of conscience serue god , free from the corruptions of the world , and the abominable superstitions & idolatry of antichrist ; presently he ioyned himselfe in friendship , and yeelded himselfe to the instruction of master iohn caluine , the chiefe minister and preacher of that church . caluine being a man of deep insight and exquisite iudgement , perceiuing him to be a man of good knowledge and experience , of a moderate and quiet spirit , of an innocent and vpright life , and indued with true and sincere godlinesle ; did therefore most kindly and louingly intertaine him into his fellowshippe : for the good man of god in his wisdome foresaw that such a man as this , would doubtlesse become a speciall instrument of gods glory , and a meanes of the confirmation of many ( but especially of italians ) in the knowledge and loue of religion : this holy loue and christian friendshippe thus begunne , was so strongly grounded betwixt this noble marquesse and renowned caluine , that it continued till the yeare 1564. which was the last yeare of caluines pilgrimage in the earth , and the entrance into his heauenly rest . the church and people of geneua can testifie of their true and constant friendshippe ; but it needes not : for there is extant at this day a speciall testimony thereof , euen from caluine himselfe in a preface of his ; wherein he dedicates to galeacius , his commentary vpon the first epistle to the corinths ; which i thought good here to set downe word by word , that thereby it may appeare how greatly caluine esteemed ofhim . chap. xii . caluines epistle to galeacius , congratulating his holy and happy conuersion . to the noble gentleman , and as well honourable for his excellent vertues , as for his high descent and linage , galeacius caracciolus , the onely sonne and heire apparent to the marquesse of vicum : iohn caluine sendeth greeting in our lord. i wish that when i first put out this commentary , i had either not knowen at all , or atleast more throughly knowen that man , whose name i am now constrained to blot out of this my epistle : yet i feare not at al , lest he should either vpbraid me with inconstancy ▪ or complaine of iniurie offred him , in taking thatfrom him which afore i bestowed on him ; because it was his owne seeking , both to estrange himselfe from mee , and from all society with our church : wherefore he may thanke himselfe and take the blame on his owne necke : for , for my owne part i am vnwillingly drawne thus farre to change my accustomed maner , as to race out any mans name out of my writing . and i bewaile that the man hath throwne himselfe downe from that seat of fame wherein i had placed him : namely , in the forefront of my booke , where my desire was he should haue stood , thereby to haue beene made famous to the world . but the fault is not in me , for as then i held him worthy , so since then hee hath made himselfe vnworthy ; and therefore let him be as he is , and he for mee buried in obliuion : and so for the good will i once bare to him , i spare to speake any more of him . and as for you ( right honourable sir , ) i might seeke excuse why i put you now in his roome , but that i am so sufficiently perswaded of your great good will and true loue to me ; the truth whereof can be testified by so many witnesses in our church . and that i may make one wish more , i wish from my heart that i had knowen you as well ten years agoe , for then i should haue had no cause to haue altred the dedicatiō of my booke , as now i do . and as for the publicke estate of the church , it is well that it shall not onely lose nothing by forgetting that man , whose name i now blotte out , but by your comming into his stead , shal receiue a far greater gain , and a sufficient recompence . for though i know you desire not the pub licke applause of the world , but rest contented in the testimony of gods spirit in your conscience : ( neither is it my purpose to publish your praises to the world ) notwithstanding , i thinke it my duety to make knowne to the readers some things concerning you , and whereof my selfe and this church and city are daily eye witnesses : and yet not so much for your praise , as for the benefit & instruction of the readers . and this is it that i would all men should know & make vse of ; that a gentleman , a lord , so wel and highly borne , flourishing in wealth & honor , blessed with a noble & vertuous & louing wife , and many goodly children , liuing in al peace & quietnes at home & abroad , wanting nothing that nature could desire , & euery way blessed of god for all things of this life , should willingly & of his owne accord leaue al those , & forsake his country , a rich & fruitfull & pleasant soile ; so goodly a patrimony & inheritance , so stately a house , seated so commodiously & so pleasantly , to cast off al domestical delight and ioy which hee might haue had in so good a father , wife , children , kinred , affinity , and acquaintauce , and all that for this onely , that he might come & serue christ iesus in the hard & vnpleasant warfare of christianity ; and should depriue himselfe of so many alluring delights of nature , & to content himself with that slēder measure of al things which the distressed estateof our church is able to affoord , & frō al the superfluities of a courly & lordly life , here amongst vs to betake himself to an easie rate and frugal kind of life , euen as though he were no better then one of vs : and yet i so recite al this to others , as i let it not passe without vse to my selfe . for if i do set out your vertues in this my epistle , as on the toppe of a towre for all men to see them ; that so they may conforme themselues to the imitation of them ; it should be shame for my selfe not to be much more neerely and inwardly touched with a loue of them , who am continually an eye witnesse of them , and daily behold them , not in an epistle , but in the cleare glasse of your owne life : and therefore because that i find in experience how much your example preuailes in me , for the strengthning of my faith , and the increase of godlines in me ( yea and all other holy men who dwel in the city , doe acknowledge as well as i , that this your example hath beene greatly to their edification in al grace ) i thought it therefore a necessary duety to impart this rare example of yours to the world ; that so the profit and benefit of vs might inlarge it selfe , and spread out of this citie into all the churches of god ; for otherwise it were a needlesse labour to make knowne to the furthest parts of christendome , the vertues of such a man , whose nature and disposition is so out of loue with pride , and so farre remoued from all ostentation . now if it shall please god that many others ( who dwelling farre off , haue not hitherto heard of you ; ) shall by the strangenesse of this your example addresse themselues to the imitation of it , and leaue their pleasant nests , whereto the world hath setled them so fast ; i shall thinke my selfe bountifully rewarded for these my paines : for out of question it should be common and vsuall amongst christians , not onely to leaue liuings and lord ships , and castles and townes , and offices and promotions , when the case so stands that a man may not enioy both christ and them : but euen willingly and cheerefully to despise and shake off whatsoeuer vnder the sunne ( though it be neuer so deere and pretious , so pleasant and comfortable ) in respect and comparison of christ . but such is the slownesse and sluggishnesse of the most of vs , that we doe but coldly and formally professe the gospell : but not one of a hundred , if he haue but some little land , or peece of a lordship , that will forsake and despise it for the gospel , sake : yea not one of many , but very hardly is drawn to renounce euen the least gaine or pleasure , to follow christ without it : so farre are they from denying themselues and laying downe their liues for the defence of it . i wish these men would looke at you , and obserue what it is you haue forsaken for loue of christ ; and especially i wish that all men who haue taken vpon them already the profession of religion , would labor to resemble you in the denial of themselues , ( which indeed is the chiefe of all heauenly vertues : ) for you can very sufficiently testifie with me , as i can with you , how little ioy we take in these mens companies ; whose liues make it manifest , that though they haue left their countries , yet they haue brought hither with them the same affections and dispositions which they had at home : which if they had also renounced , as wel as they did their countries ; then had they beene indeed true deniers of themselues , and beene partaker with you of that true praise ; wherein alas , you haue but few compartners . but because i had rather the reader should gather the truth and strangenes of this your example , then i should goe about in words to expresse it ; i will therefore spare further speech , and turne my selfe to god in praier , desiring of his mercy , that as he hath indued you hitherto with an heroicall courage , and spiritual boldnesse ; so he would furnish you with an inuincible constancy to endure to the end : for i am not ignorant how strangely the lord hath exercised you heretofore , and what dangerous pikes you haue passed ere you came to this : by which former experience your spiritual wisdome is able to conclude , that a hard and toilsome warfare doeth still remaine and wait for you ; and what neede there is to haue the hand of god from heauen raught out to assist vs , you haue so sufficiently lea rned in your former conflicts , as i am sure you will ioyne with me in prayer , for the gift of perseuerance to vs both : and for my part i will not cease to beseech iesus christ our king and god ( to whom all power was giuen of his father , and in whom are kept all the treasures of spiritual blessings ) that he would stil preserue you safe in soule and body , and arme you against all temptations to come , and that still he would proceed to triumph in you ouer the diuell and all his vile and wicked faction , to the magnifying of his owne glory , and the inlarging of his kingdome in your selfe , and others of his children . 9. call. feb. 1556. at geneua . your honours most assured in the lord , iohn calvine . chap. xiii . newes of his departure to geneua came to naples , and the emperours court : and how the old marquesse his father and other his friends were affected with the newes . and thus ( to returne againe to our story ) galencius setled himselfe downe at geneua as at a ioyfull resting place . but when the newes of so sudden and strange a departure , and so wilfull an exile came to naples , and were made knowen in the emperours court : it would scarce be beleeued or thought , how strangely it affected & moued al that heard it . all men wondred at it , and the most could not be perswaded it was so ; but when it was certainely knowen and out of doubt , it was strange to see , how euery man gaue his verdit of the matter : some one way , some an other , as the course of men in such cases is . but aboue all , it so abashed and astonished his owne friends and familie , that nothing was heard or seene amongst them , but cries and lamentations , most bitter teares and pitiful complaints . and surely to haue beholden the state of that family , how miserably it seemed at that time to bee distressed : a man would haue thought it euen a liuely paterne and picture of all woe and misery . but none was more inwardly pinched then the marquesse his father , whose age and experience being great , seemed to assure him of nothing to follow hereupon but infamy and reproch , yea the vtter vndoing and subuersion of his whole estate and family ; notwithstanding , passing ouer that fit of sorrow as soone and as easily as he could , the wretched and carefull olde man began to bethinke himselfe by what meanes he might preuent so miserable a ruine and fall , which seemed to hang ouer him and his . one thing amongst other came into his mind , which also had once caused many grieuous temptations to galeacius , and had much troubled his mind afore his departure . it was this . chap. xiiii . the first meanes vsed by his father the old marquesse to recall him home againe : he sent a kinsman of his , whom he knew his sonne deerely loued , to perswade him to returne , but he could not preuaile . galeacius had a cosen-german , whom alwaies hee esteemed and loued as his brother : this gentleman so tenderly loued of galeacius did the marquesse send to geneua to his sonne ▪ with commission and letters full of authority , full of protestations , full of pitifull complaints , full of cryings and intreatings that he would come home againe ; and thereby cheere vp his old father , and make happy againe his vnhappy wife ; be a comfort to his distressed children , a reioycing to his kinsfolkes , and to the whole citie of naples , and saue his whole house and posteritie from that extreame ruine , which otherwise it would be sure to fall into . thus this gentleman was dispatched away and hasted to geneua , with great hope for their ancient and faithful loue to haue preuailed with galeacius . where by the way wee are to remember that galeacius did alwaies so loue him , that the gentleman was not so sorrowful for his departure : but galeacius was much more sorowfull that he could not winne him to haue gone with him , in this holy pilgrimage for religions sake ; but he so much feared to haue bin hindred himselfe , that he durst not deale with this gentleman his dearest cofin , no nor with his wife , to perswade them to haue gone with him . the gentleman comming to geneua inquired after galeacius . at that time galeacius dwelt in an ordinary & meane house which he had taken to his owne vse , hauing no more attendance , but onely two seruants : the gentleman at last found him out , and presented himselfe into his sight : it had bin a pitiful spectacle to haue seene the meeting of those two gentlemen : their first meeting and imbracings were nothing at all , but sighes and sobs , and teares , and vnutterable signes of griefe : such vnspeakeable sorow did their naturall affections breed in them , that for diuers houres they could not speake a word one to other : but at last the gentleman , burning in desire to inioy againe his dearest galeacius , brast forth into speeches , & mixing teares and sobs with euery worde , deliuered his letters , till hee could come to more liberty of speech : and at last hauing obtained of his affections leaue to speake , he added to his letters , exhortations , strong perswasions , earnest entreaties , and withall plentie of teares , that he would haue respect to the ouerthrow of his house , the griefe of his olde father , the desperate estate of his wife and children , the continual complaints made by all his friends and kinsfolks : all which notwithstanding were not so past cure , but that yet they might be remedied by his returne again . this was the substance of his message . galeacius taking not long time to aduise himselfe , in this which the world would thinke so waighty a case , addressed him immediatly this answere in briefe : that he perceiued very wel ▪ al to be true that he said ; but as for his departure it was not done rashly , nor vpon any fond conceit , but vpon mature deliberation ; that the lord was the author of the action , that gods grace was the cause mouing him , and the meanes whereby he brought it to passe : which grace of god , he said , had opened his eyes , and enlightned his mind with the knowledge of the truth ; and made him see and discerne the cosenages , and superstitions and idolatry of popery , which by an impious and sacrilegious distribution diuideth the glory of god ( which is incōmunicable ) & imparteth the same with fained & filthy idols : he likewise told him that he wel foresaw all the infamies & miseries which would ensue vpon this his conuersion : and al the danger & damage which therby his house and children were likely to incur . but he said , that seeing one of those must needes be chosen , either to stay at home with a conscience burdened with a heauy heape of errors and superstitions piled together by the sleight of satans art , & euery momēt to sin against the maiesty of god so many thousand waies ; or else to leaue his house , his goods his family , his country , yea the world and all the glory of it , and thereby purchase liberty of conscience to serue the lord according to his word : that therefore he resolued of the two euils to chuse the lesse , and of the two good to chuse the greater , and rather to shut his eies at all these , then the sight of them should hinder him from yeelding to the cal and voice of his sauiour christ : who saith , that a man is not worthy to be his disciple , who leaueth not father & mother , & children , & brethren , and sisters ; yea and his owne life , in comparison of him . and this he said was the cause , why he did forsake parents , and wife , and children , and all his friends , and had renounced all his wealth and dignities : because hee could not enioy both christ and them . and as for them all , hee was sorie that either they would not come to him , or that hee might not more safely liue with them , thereby to comfort them . but as for himselfe , hee said , hee had riches , and honour , and ioy enough : yea all sufficient happinesse , as long as ( with these two seruants and his little cotage ) he might liue in the true church of god , and might priuily serue him , and might enioy gods word and sacraments , not being mixed and defiled with the superstitious deuises of mans braine ; and as long as he might liue in the company of godly men ; and haue time and liberty to meditate by himselfe , and to conferre with them of the great blessings which in his conuersion his good god had vouch ▪ safed to him : that so he might with true contentation and perfect peace of conscience , aime & aspire at that immortal glory which christ iesus hath prepared for al his children : yea he concluded , that his want was abundance , his pouerty pleasant , and his meane estate honourable in his eyes , as long as he indured them for these conditions . this his answere was as hardly entertained of his kinsman , as it was vnlooked for afore it came : but seeing he could not reply with any reason , nor answere him with any shew of argument ; and perceiued it hard , or rather impossible to remoue the man one iot from his resolution ; for that he had grounded it , not on any reason or will of man , but vpon the holy word of god , and his powerfull and vnresistable calling ; therefore with a sorrowfull heart hee held his tongue , bitterly complaining within himself of his so hard hap , and vncomfortable successe : and so resolued to returne home againe ; heartily wishing he had neuer taken that iourney in hand : and so at last he went indeed and tooke his leaue of his beloued galeacius , but not without plenty of teares on both sides , with many a wofull crie and pitifull farewell . and no maruell : for besides neerenes in blood , their likenesse in manners and daily conuersation together , had linked them in a sure bond of friendshippe : but there wanted in one of them the surest linke in that chaine , that is , religion , and so it could not hold : and therefore the world pulling one of them from christ , and christ pulling the other of them from the world : so these two friends left each other , being in feare neuer to see one the other againe . chap. xv. of his cosens returue to naples without successe , and how galeacius was proclaimed traytor for his departure . and thus at last he came home to naples with heauie cheare . whose approch being hard of , there was running on all sides to heare good newes : but when he had deliuered his message ; alas how all their sorrow was redoubled vpon them ; and how his father , wife , children , and al his friends were ouerwhelmed with griefe : and the rather , because as at the same time an edict was published , wherein galeacius was proclaimed guilty of high treason : and therefore al his goods comming to him by his mother , were confiscate , and himselfe , and all his posterity vtterly cut off and excluded from all right of succession in his fathers marquesdome ; which thing ( aboue all other ) grieuously affected the old marquesse , and grieued the good old man at the very heart ; the aduancing and honouring of his posterity being the onely thing hee had aimed at all his life . whereupon hee bethought himselfe as old as he was to make a iourney to caesar the emperour , and thereby if it were possible to preuent this mischiefe ; purposing to make but this sute to his maiesty , that his sonnes departure from the roman church , might not preiudice nor hinder the succession and honour of his children and posterity , but that he himselfe might onely beare the punishment of his owne fault . chap. xvi . of the second meanes vsed to recall him : his father sent for him to come and meete him at verona ; but all he could doe by himselfe or others whom he set on , preuailed nothing at all . and whilst he was resoluing of this purpose , hee bethought him of another remedy and meanes , whereby he hoped to remoue his sons mind from his purpose , and withdraw him from the company of these heretikes of geneua , as hee and the world accounted of them . therefore in hast he dispatched away a messenger with letters to his sonne , commanding him by the authority of a father to meete him at a certaine day appointed at the citie of verona in the dominion of the venetians ; at which towne he promised to stay for him , as he went to wards germany to the emperour : and for his sonnes more securitie , he procured a safe conduct from the duke and signory of venice ; that his sonne might goe and come without danger of life or liberty . galeacius receiuing the letters , and being resolued by his owne conscience , and them to whom he imparted the matter , that hee might not any way with good conscience disobey so reasonable a request and lawfull a commandement of his father , answered that he would goe ; although he feared that by this meeting , and talke of his father and him , his fathers minde would but be more vehemently exasperate against him : for he firmely resolued afore he went , that all the threatnings , intreaties , counsels , and temptations that his father could deuise , should not stirre him one inch from that course of religion , whereby he had begun to serue the lord. with this purpose he departed geneua , aprilis 19. 1553. furnished with heauenly fortitude , assisted 〈…〉 aiers of the church , and armed with constancy , and with the sword of gods word ; whereby he hoped to sustaine and beat backe all the darts of temptations whereby hee knew hee should be assaulted . comming to verona , there he found the marquesse his fafather , who receiued and vsed him kindly , though he could not but manifest in his countenance the inward anger and griefe ofhis heart . after a few salutations , the father began with all his cunning to deale with him about his returne home againe , laying open to the ful that perpetuall in famy , which was sure to fall on his house and posterity , vnlesse that galeacius did preuent so great a mischiefe : which ( saith he ) thou easily maiest doe , and of right oughtest to doe : and i know thou wilt doe , if there be in thee but one sparke of naturall affection to father , wife , or children . galeacius the sonne with such reuerence as was due to his father , answered with all sub●●●sion that his bodie and estate is his fathers , but his conscience is the lords : and tels him he can by no meanes returne home , but he should make shipwrack of a good conscience : he proues it to him by good reasons , and such as his father could not resist ; and therefore humblie intreats his father , that seeing his desire is onely to obey the lord , and saue his soule ; that therefore he would not vrge him to respect more the good estate of his children , then the glory of god , and his owne soules health . the marquesse perceiued he laboured in vaine to remoue his sonne from his resolution , which he iudged to be nothing but a peruerse stubbornnesse against the catholike religion , as he thought : and therefore with griefe ofminde ceased that sute ; and imparted to him the cause ofhis iourney to the emperour ; strictly enioyning him that he should not returne to geneua , but abide in italy till he had obtained his sute at the emperours hand , and was returned out of germany ; which thing galeacius promised and performed : for he a bode in italy vntill august : at what time he had notice that his father had preuailed in his sute bfore the emperour . during which time , one hieronymus fracastorius , a notable philosopher , physition , and poet ( being procured and set on by the marquesse ) dealt with galeacius with all his might and eloquence , to perswade him to yeelde to his father ; adding withall , that that new sect ( as he termed ) was false and deceitfull , and not worthy to be beleeued . galeacius heard all he could say , and answered him point by point : and finally , by the pure simplicity of the word of god , he so satisfied him ( though he was both wise and learned ) that he willingly held his tongue ; and at last friendly intreated him , that he would not be angrie for that his importunitie and boldnesse with him . chap. xvii . of his returne to geneua , where he founded and setled a forme of discipline in the italian church . thus galeacius hearing of his fathers successe , returned with a ioyfull heart towards geneua ; for that he saw his father deliuered from the feare of that infamy , which the confiscation of his goods , and forfeiture of his lands , might haue brought vpon his family : and therefore he hoped he would be the lesse moued against him . whereuppon setling himselfe downe againe at geneua , and deuising how to spend his time in doing good ; he began to consider seriously of setling the discipline in the church of the italians , which was then at geneua ( for thither had a great number of italians transported themselues and their families for religions sake , flying the tyranny of the vnholy inquisition . ) and about that time it fell out fitly that calume going embassadour from geneua to basill in causes of religion and other matters ; intreated galeacius to beare him company : whereunto he willingly condescended . at basill he found an italian called celsas , whose right name was maximilian , and was descended of the noble house of the earles of martinongo in italy : this man had got a great name in italy amongst the papists for his eloquency & speech , and lately by the mercy of god was escaped out of the mite of popish superstitions . galeacius right glad of him , perswaded him to breake off the purpose that he had for england , and goe to geneua with him , where he might liue in the fellowship of a great number of his country men italians , and inioy the benefit of the company , conference and familiarity of many worthy men , but especially the most sweete acquaintance of that great caluin , and al those , with the liberty of a good conscience . the good gentleman yeelded , and so they comming to geneua by their industry and good meanes ( together with the helpe and direction of caluin in all things ) that forme of discipline was established in the italian church , which at this day standeth & florisheth in the same church , & remaineth recorded in a book for that purpose : & maximilian the earle , of whom we spake afore , was the first pastor elect of that church , & vndertooke the charge , purely to expound the word of god , and to administer the sacraments that christ left behinde him , and to watch ouer that flocke and people : certaine elders were ioyned as assistants to him , to whom was committed the care of the church , to looke to the puritie of doctrine and life in all estates ; the principall of the elders was galeacius himselfe , vnto whom the honour is due of bringing to passe so worthy an enterprise , and the rather for that by his authority , diligence and watchful care , he preserued the same in good and sure estate all his life time ; and after him it hath continued , being deriued to others , to the great good and profit of many soules . and thus he passed this yere 1554. withioy and comfort . chap. xviii . the third temptation to drawe him away : liberty of conscience offered him by his vncle , pope paul the fourth : which after many temptations of flesh and blood to the contrary , at last by the assistance of gods grace he refused . next succeeded in order the yere 1555. wherein satan assauted him with new stratagems and deuices : for that yere his vncle which was paulus quartus , his mothers brother , attained the feate of the papacy of rome , whereby the marquesse his father conceiued good hope , by this meanes either to draw his sonne home againe , or at least to procure him liberty of conscience , and leaue to liue in some citie of italy , where he might inioy the society of his wife and children , and they of him . whereupon hauing occasion of businesse to trauel that way , hee sent letters to his sonne to geneua , commaunding him to meete him at mantua in italy , and for his easier dispatch hee sent him prouision of money for the iourney . galeacius obeying againe his fathers will , tooke his iourney from geneua , and came to mantua the fifteenth of iune , where hee was entertayned by his father with more then ordinarie kindnesse , and in more louing maner then heretofore was accustomed . and at last hee opened his minde vnto him , the substance and effect whereof was : that hee had obtained of his vncle , who now was pope ▪ a dispensation for him ; whereby liberty was granted him , to liue in any city within the iuristiction of the venetians , wheresoeuer he would without any molestation to be offred him , about his religion or conscience . his father tels him that if he doe this , this will bee a greater solace to his olde age , then his departure and absence hath beene griefe vnto him : besides all this , the good old man most earnestly intreated him ( though hee was the father and spake to the sonne ) that hee would gratifie him in this his request : and added many beseechings , who in any lawfull thing might by his authoritie haue commanded him : and euery word that he spake was so seasoned , as comming from the affection of a father ; and at last with many strong reasons perswaded him , not to reiect this so extraordinary a fauor offered him by the pope in so speciall and rare clemency , whereby he might without hurt of his conscience liue more commodiously then euer afore , and be restored to his former honour , and place , and estate : and recouer the former loue and estimation of all his friends : yea and of many strangers , who hearing of this his obedience to his father , would loue him for it , vnto which obedience to me ( saith the father to his sonne ) thou art bound both by the bond of nature , and by the law and word of god , which thou so much talkest of and vrgest to me : therefore , saith he , if there be in thee either sparke of naturall affection , or any religion and conscience of thy duety , thou wilt yeelde vnto me in this , especially seeing thou maist doe it without hurt or endangering of thy conscience and religion . this talke and request of the marquesse diuersly affected galeacius : for the thing he requested , and the reasons he vrged seemed to be such , as he could with no good reason contradict them ; and yet he durst not presently entertaine the motion : besides that , the presence , authority , and reuerent regard of his father , the vehemency and affection of his mind , and especially the naturall bond and obligation , wherein the son stands tied to the father in things law full and indifferent ( especially when by that obedience no violence is offred to good conscience ) all these did greatly moue him . also naturall and carnall reason for their parts , assaulted him no lesse violently with such kind of arguments , as for the most part preuaile with all men . for his father offred him yearly reuenues , competent and fit for his estate , the solace of his children , and society of his wife : which two things he desired aboue all other in the world . so that to this motion and request of his father the marquesse , galeacius knew not well what to answere on the sudden , but stood for a time musing and doubtfull what to say ; and the rather , for that he then wanted his speciall friend , faithfull caluine , with whom he might consult in so waighty a cause . it seemed to him impious and vngodly , not to yeeld to his father in so lawfull and reasonable a request , and he saw no way how he might denie it , but he must needes incurre and vndergoe his fathers extreame displeasure : and yet how hee might yeelde to it with safety of conscience he much doubted ; for he feared that more danger to his profession and religion , and consequently more hurt to his soule might hereupon insue , then he could presently perceiue : so that he stood altogether vnresolued in his owne reason what to doe ; therefore in this extremity he denied himselfe and renounced his owne wit , and in humble and feruent prayer betooke himselfe in this difficulty to the blessing and direction of his god and sauiour , the author and true fountain of wisedome and constancy : humbly crauing of the lord to assist him with his holy spirit , that in this extreamity hee might aduise and resolue of the best and safest course , for gods glory and his owne sound comfort . ( o how truely sung that sweete singer of israel king dauid , when he said , how happy and blessed are they that feare god , for god will teach them the way they should walke ! ) galeacius found it most true in his owne experience ; for vpon this his submission and prayer , the lord from heauen resolued him in this sort : that seeing the pope did ( antichrist-like ) directly oppose himselfe to christ ▪ and his religion and church ; that therefore he might by no meanes sue for , or accept any fauour at his hands , nor be by any meanes beholden to him at all . because what shew of seruice soeuer was done to him by the enemy of christ , seemed to bee taken from christ himselfe . further , gods spirit perswaded him it caried too great a shew of apostasie , or backsliding ; to forsake the company of godly professors , and the fellowship of christs church ; and to liue amongst idolaters in the midst of all abominations . the same spirit of god set before his eyes that scandall and offence , which this fact of his would breed in the minds of the faithfull ▪ which would thinke that he had taken his farewel at religion , and would now shake hands again , & renue his acquaintance with his old friend the world : that he had lightly esteemed the spirituall blessings & heauenly iewels of graces , which god distributeth daily in his church ; and would now betake himself again to the olde affections of his flesh . the same spirit resolued him , that thus to forsake the ordinary meanes , and depriue himselfe of the true vse of the word and sacraments , and to liue in a place where was nothing but idolatrie , was to tempt god in the highest degree . god likewise opened his eyes , that he perceiued the sleight of satan by this his fathers d●●t : namely , to entangle him againe in the net of worldly cares , to wrappe his mind in the snards of italian pleasures ; and so to dazle his eies with the honours , and pleasures , and sensuall delights ▪ which once he had bin brought vp in , that his religion might decay by little and little and that all godlinesse might by the heat of these new pleasures , fall and melt away like as waxe before the fire : and lastly , the lord vpon his prayer granted him the wisedome of his holy spirit , to answere al his fathers obiections , and confute all his arguments . and amongst many other , he earnestly intreated his father that he would not do that vnto him , which afterward hee would repent that euer hee had done : namely ▪ that he would not be a meanes to make him a prey to the papists ; which had confirmed for a law , and ratified it by many examples , that promise , faith , nor oath is to be kept with any man whom they call heretikes . whereupon , said he , it is better for me , and more ioy to you , to liue as i doe with this poore estate , then with hope of better to endanger my life , and so our whole posterity . by these , and such like perswasions it pleased god so to worke vpon the marquesse , that hee was ouercome in this sute , wherein he supposed to haue preuailed ; and therefore he yeelded against his will : and so with a sorrowfull heart he returned to naples . and as he went , he certified the pope the obstinacy of his sonne , and so the father and the vncle bewailed together their ill successe . chap. xix . of his acquaintance with franciscus portus , and the religious dutches of ferrara in his returne home to geneua . bvt in the meane time galeacius after he had accompanied his sorrowfull father somewhat on the way , returned with a full glad heart ; and came to the city of ferrara ▪ where he was ioyfully receiued of franciscus portus , a noble and renowned man for learning , and who afterwards taught publikely at geneua many yeares , and read the greeke lecture with great profit to the audience , and praise to himselfe . this portus bought galeacius into acquaintance with the noble dutches of ferrara , who entertained him honourably : and after much conferrence had with him of the alteration of his religion , of the successe of his long voyages , and tedious iourneies ; of the church of geneua , of caluine , and of many chiefe points of christian religion ; she dismissed him , and left him to his iourney ; but not without all courtesies that she could affoord him : and namely for one , to relieue the length and tediousnes of the way , she lent him her owne chariot : and thus galeacius was conueyed in the chariot of so great a princesse as far as to the towne of francolium : from whence hauing a pleasant tide down the riuer of po , or padus , he came by water into venice : where taking shippe and crossing the sea , he went thorow switzerland to geneua , and thither came the foureteenth of october in the same yeare , the whole congregation , and especially his chiefe friends , reioycing with ioy vnspeakeable , for the safety of his returne . and thus this cruell tempests thus being ouer-blowen and now quieted , and satan seeing he preuailed not by any of those forcible assaults ; yet thought to trie him with one more , and therefore came vpon him a fresh , like as a second fitte of an ague stronger then the first : and by this satan feared not but to giue him the ouerthrow ▪ and to bring him home againe into italy : and thus it was . chap. xx. the fourth assault that satan vsed to bring him backe againe , was by his wife , who by her letters won him to come and meete her in italy : which he yeelded vnto , and gaue her meeting . his wife victoria burned in long loue and hearty affection toward her husband galeacius , so that it cannot be vttered how vehemently she desired his company : wherupon shee neuer ceased writing to him , and intreating him to returne againe to her and his children . but when shee saw her womanly arguments and vaine scribling did no good , at last shee in all earnest manner desired him to meete her in some city within the territorie of the venetians , not farre from the kingdome of naples . to this motion galeacius yeelded : and thus the husband and wife promised to meet ; but the ends that they aymed at were diuers : she hoped by her slattery and faire speeches , her teares and lamentations , to winne her husband home againe : on the other side he was much more busie in deuising how he might perswade her to deliuer her selfe out of the filth of popery , and come and dwell with him . with these resolutions they both going forward , shee came to vico , to her father in law the marquesse . he came from geneua to laesina , a citie in dalmatia . this laesina is distant from vicum an hundred italian miles by water ; and standeth iust ouer against vicum ; and the sea called the venetian gulfe lieth betwixt them . galeacius here abode and expected his wife : but at that time she came not as she had promised , and he expected . yet he could neuer learn the cause of her staying at that time , nor what it was that moued her so to disappoint him ; yet though she came not her selfe she sent two of her eldest sons to their father ; whose sight was most welcome , & their company most cōfortable to galeacius : but one way it grieued him the more ; because the sight and company of them more affected him with the absence of his wife ; for whose sake and company especially he had taken so long a iourney : therefore sending them soone after home againe , he went away sorowfull to geneua . where he had rested but a few daies , but another packet of letters came posting from his wife , beseeching him not to thinke much at her former negligence , and to vouchsafe once againe to come to the same place ; where , without all faile , she would most gladly attend him , and solemnly vowed with largeprotestations she would not disappoint him . the request was very vnreasonable , & it was a hard case for galeacius thus to spend his time , and wearie his mind and body in so long and dangerous iournies , and to so little purpose as hitherto he had . notwithstanding , one thing mooued him to yeelde euen to this motion also : namely , a perswasion that he had , that when he first forsoke his country , he did not fully discharge his duety , in labouring to winne his wife to haue gone with him ; by explaining to her the chiefe heads of christian doctrine , whereby she might possibly haue receiued some tast , and so haue taken some liking of true religion : desiring therefore now if it were possible to make amends for his former negligence , he yeelded to goe . and so obtayning for his better security in going and returning , a pasport or safe-conduct from the high court of rhoetia ; he departed from geneua the seuenth of march , in the yeare 1558. and came to laesina in dolmatia , ouer against vicum : where he had intelligence that the marquesse his father , his wife , his children , and his vncles sonne ( he of whom we heard before ) were already come to vicum , with purpose to haue beene by that time at laesina with galeacius ; but they could not , by reason that a mariner of venice had broken promise with them , and disappointed them : by reason whereof , and of other dangers of the sea , they could not as yet take shipping , nor durst venture ouer the water . whereupon galeacius not induring patiently so long delayes , resolued to goe himselfe ouer to vicum . such was his faith in the lord , and his loue to his friends , that hee respected not the imminent danger : but constantly relied on the lords protection ; knowing that no fleshly affections droue him to his iourney , but a sincere zeale to gods honour , and the soules health of his kinred , and the discharging of his owne duety vnto them ; whereunto he was perswaded that he had a speciall calling . chap. xxi . of his arriuall at vico , his fathers chiefe house , and his entertainment there : and what meanes were vsed to seduce him : and how his wife refused not onely to goe with him , but euen to lie with him , because he was an heretike : being thereto , as she said , commanded by her confessor . and so arriuing by gods mercy on the coast of italy , not farre from vicum , he gaue intelligence of his approch to his father the marquesse ; who presently sent his children to meete their father : and all his retinue to attend him into the castle ; at whose entrance , it cannot be expressed how great ioy was in all that house and noble familie ; and how all the nobles and gentlemen of his kinred and acquaintance reioyced at his returne ; and beganne to cheere vp their hearts with a new hope which hitherto had beene cast downe and oppressed with griefe and despaire . but aboue all other his wife ( madam victoria ) surpassed in ioy and new conceiued delight ; hoping she had now recouered her most deere lord and beloued husband , the only comfort and the sweete solace of her life . all ( but galeacius ) exceedingly reioyced at this meeting here ; though indeed it greatly ioyed his naturall affection , to enioy the company of his friends , so many , so neere , and so deere vnto him : yet his ioy was tempered and allayed with a certaine doubting feare which ranne in his minde night and day . for the wise gentleman well foresaw , that the fruition of that pleasure was but to last a while , and soone would haue an end ▪ for the end of his comming was not that which they imagined : and euery day new matters ranne in his heads the consideration whereof did not a little trouble him . hee hath often since discoursed vn to his friends , that all those dayes he liued in continuall feare , to be suddenly apprehended , and cast into some filthy prison ; where he should spend his daies in languishing and lamentations , without any solace of his friends : yea and be vtterly debarred of the comfortable reading of gods holy word . but returne to the matter . at his first arriuall hee was entertained with much ioy on all sides , and many cherefull countenances and kind welcomes . but alas , within a few daies all this mirth and ioy was turned into teares and lamentation , and vnmeasurable griefe : for when once he had opened to his father the marquesse his constant purpose to perseuere in the truth of that religion hee had begunne to professe ; and that hee would rather die in the defence of it , then be drawen from it ; then alas , what fighing , what crying , yea what dolefull lamentation did it moue in them all ! but then let the christian reader iudge what a troubled spirit and wofull heart that good man had in this so fearefull a combatte betwixt the grace of god and his naturall affections ; and what a torment it was vnto him , to see them all so neere and deere vnto him , labour to withdraw him from god ; and to see his constancy in religion so to grieue them , which was the ioy of his owne heart . yet taking vp with himselfe as well as nature could , and comforting himselfe in his god , he afterward dealt with his wife in all louing and yet earnest manner that she would follow him her husband , and delay no longer time , but come and liue with him according as the law of god and nature required : which if she would doe , he promised her liberty of her conscience and religion , to liue as she would ▪ but for his owne part , he told her aforehand , as she should after find ; namely , that he was firmlie esolued to liue and die in that religion , which ( by the hand of god leading him ) hee had vndertaken ; and for the which he had forsaken countrey , kinred , and all those excellent and comfortable blessings of thus life , which god had giuen him . here i leaue it to the reader , but especially to the harts of such women , as being wiues , do truely loue their husbands , to iudge with what sobs and heart-breaking the silly gentlewoman heard these words of her husband , whom she now saw past all hope to be perswaded to stay with her ; which she desired aboue all worldly things . yet it appears it was but in meere carnal and worldly respects , as the consequent shewed : for though she loued him and desired his company neuer so much ; yet beeing a wise , worldly , wilfull , and indeed a right papist , she answered him plainely ( though with many teares ) that she would neuer go with him to geneua , nor to any other place , where was any other religion , but that of rome ; & that she would not liue with him as long as he was intangled with those heresies ( as she called them ) wherby it appeares that she was a carnall politike papist . she loued him , but where ? in italy ; and there would line with him , but not at geneua : and why ? for in italy he might aduance her to the state of a marchionesse ; in geneua he could not : there she might liue with him a life ful of al delights ; but in geneua a hard , base , & obscure life , and subiect to many outward dangers and miseries . in which respects it was that she was so instant vpō him to stay with her . but the conclusion was , her desire was to enioy him & italy both : but rather then she would leaue italy and the delicacies therof , she chose plainely to forsake him ; & to withdraw the duty of a wife from him . for it may in no case be omitted ( which afterward hee imparted to some his intierest and most inward friends ) that shee euen then and there denied him that duetie which a wife is bound to yeeld to her husband by the law of god and nature : that is , she would by no meanes giue him due beneuolence , nor consent to lie with him as man and wife : and gaue this reason ; that shee was expresly forbidden of her confessor , vnder paine of excommunication , because hee was an heretike . where behold popish religion what it is , that can separate man and wife for disparity in religion ; and can discharge men and women from those dueties of marriage with which god hath charged them . how this monstrous vnkindnes and vnwomanly answer pierced his heart , let any christian man iudge , whom god hath honored to be an husband . yet he ouercame and euen deuoured all these tormenting griefes , and beare them with an inuincible constancy and quietnes of mind . yet he purposed not to beare so great an iniury for cuer , but to redresse and helpe it if it were possible : and therefore he further proceeded with her , and openly and plainely denounced to her , that vnlesse she would yeeld him that matrimoniall duety , which by gods law she ought : namely , to eate , and lie , and liue with him ; it would be a cause to make him sue out a diuorce against her , and so procure a finall separation ; which if she were the cause of , she might thanke or rather blame her selfe , who withdrew her necke from that yoke of duety towards him which marriage required , and which he for his part said , he would neuer haue done to her , though her religion was so farre differing from his . yet notwithstanding ▪ he said , that she first refusing him , hee had then iust cause to refuse her , who had first by refusall of that duety refused her selfe as it were , and denied her selfe to bee his wife . and so he concluded with her , that vnlesse she would be his wife , he would no longer be her husband . this protestation no doubt , amazed and troubled her not a little , and vexed the silly womans mind ; especially for that he was and had alwaies beene such a husband to her , so good and kind , and euery way so well deseruing , that she loued him as her owne eyes ( therefore more was she to blame , that she esteemed him not as the light of her eyes : ) but though this troubled her sore , yet it moued her not to her duety ; so good a scholar was she in this popish learning , that she would rather incur her husbands , yea gods displeasure then her confessors ; and rather breake their commandements so holy and iust , then his , which was so vngodlie , and so vnreasonable : and it also lesse preuayled with her because she imagined he would not so doe ( though he spake so ) but onely did it to feare her , and so in feare hereof to make her yeeld vnto him . chap. xxii . seeing he could not reclaime his ladie , he resolued to returne to geneua : and of the greeuous temptations he endured : where he tooke his last farewell of his father , wife , children , and friends : and of his heauenly courage , in bearing and passing thorow them all . when therefore the good gentleman saw all things so farre amisse , that euen his wife was against him of all other , and gaue him a deeper wound then all other his friends ; denying him that societie and fellowship which the bond of marriage yeeldeth , & seeing that the time passed without any good doing , but rather to the increasing of griefe on all sides ; hee theerfore resolued to depart , and so calling his wife victoria againe , he iterated vnto her his former protestation ; and so bad her take it as his last warning . the dolefull day of his departing being come , hee held on his purpose , and so entred into the chamber of his father the marquesse to do his duetie vnto him , and to take his leaue : who seeing his son thus past al hope of recouery , quenching his fatherly affection in fury and raging madnesse , like a frantike or desperate man , reuiled him in most dispitefull termes , and at last giues him his farewel with many a heauy and bitter curse . this so strange and extraordinary persecution , did this good gentleman suffer for christs sake ; and it is marueile that it did not cause him to looke backe againe , and turne his course . but it was gods doing that his father should vse these extreme and violent curses , rather then to goe about to winne him by allurements and gentle perswasions : for hee hath often vsed to tell his friends , that this monstrous inhumanity and vnnaturalnes of his father did rather confirme and settle his minde ; his nature being rather to be ledde then drawen , and rather to be wonne by friendlinesse and faire meanes , then to be vrged by extremities . but god would haue his seruant to be tried by both meanes : namely , the allurements of his wife and the minacings of his father . thus god would purge him in the fire of all kind of temptations . and thus by the power of gods grace hauing passed thorow this fire , behold a hotter is to be ventured on . departing his fathers chamber , with that burden of curses ( which the lord turned into blessings ) he came into the great chamber , and so into the hall ; where he found his wife , his children , his vncles sonne ( afore spoken of ) diuers noble gentlemen his kinsfolks , and some his ancient familiars and domestick friends : all fraught with griefe , and making heauy cheere ; nothing was heard but sighes , and sobbes , and cries ; nothing was seene but teares and wringing of hands : his wife embracing him , and taking him about the necke , beseeched him in most louing and most pitifull maner , that be would haue care of himselfe , of her , and of all his children , and whole house ; and not so wilfully to cast them all away . his yong children all vpon their knees , with armes stretched ou t , and hands holden vp , and faces swolne with teares , cried vnto him to haue pitie on them his owne bowels ; and not to make them fatherlesse before the time . his cosen and other kinsmen with heauie countenances and watrie eyes looked rufully on him ; and though for griefe they were not able to speake one word to him ; yet euery looke , and euery countenance , and euery gesture was a loud crie , and a strong intreatie , that he would stay , and not leaue so ancient and noble a house in such wosull and desolate case . no words can suffice to expresse the griefe of that doleful company , nor that lamentable departure that there was to be seene . vnutterable was the griefe on their side , and vnspeakeable was the torment & temptation which the noble gentleman felt in this agonv , when he must either leaue christ iesus or leaue all these for him . but amongst & aboue al , there was one most lamētable sight , which would euen haue wrung tears frō a hart of flint . amongst al his children he had one daughter , a towardly & goodly yong gentlewoman of xij . yeres old , who crying out amain & wallowing in teares , fell downe , & catching fast hold about his thighes and knees , held him so hard as he could by no means shake her off : & the affectiō of a father wroght so with him , as he could not offer with violence to hurt her ; he labored to be loose , but she held faster ; he went away , but she trailed after , crying to him not to be so cruell to her his childe ; who came into the world by him . this so wonderfully wrought with his nature , he being a man of a most louing & kind affection ; that he hath often reported he thought that all his bowels rowled about within him & that his hart would haue burst presently , & there instantly haue died , his child so hauing him fast about the legs . but notwithstāding al this , he being armed with a supernatural & heauēly fortitude , he brake thorow al these tēptations , & treading vnder foot whatsoeuer might hinder him frō christ , he escaped out ofthis perillous battell a glorious cōquerer ; & so leauing that sorrowful house & dolorus cōpany , he came with speed to the shore : where presētly taking shipping , he caused them to hoist vp sailes towards laesina with a turmoiled & distressed mind , one way surcharged with sorow to remēber the maner of his departure ; another way surprized with ioy to remēber that he had escaped . and euen as a ship in a tēpestuoussea , the boisterous waues tossing it vp & down , is thrown about , somtime touching the clouds ▪ somtime plunged into the depth : so no doubt the noble mind of this yong marquesse was no lesse distracted with cotrary cogitations ; being as it were in a labyrinth of distempered affections : sometimes he could not but remēber that lamētable estate wherin he left his father , wife , & children : he often imagined he was stil amongst thē ; he thought he hard them cry & cal vpon him ; thought he still felt his litle deere daughter clasping him about the legs & trailing after him ; neither could he contain but breake out into tears ; neither could he for his life but often looke backe at that princely house , with al those goodly orchards , gardēs , granges , fields & teritories : to al which he was the only heire apparēt ; yet al which he saw he must leaue for christ sake . but one thing pierced his heart to see his wife , and children , and other his alliance standing on the shore ; who when they could not speake to him , looked at him ; and when they could not see him ceased not to looke after the shippe as long as it was in sight ; neither could hee refraine but with a wofull countenance looke at them againe as long as hee could discerne them : and withall he called to minde the bitter words and heauy farewell which the marquesse his father gaue him at his departure ; all which cogitations running in his head , did doubtlesse wring from his sorrowfull heart many a deepe sigh and heauy grone , and many a bitter teare from his watrie eyes : and yet notwithstanding all these , the spirituall strength and courage of his minde was constant and inuincible . and euen as a good pilot in a raging sea , when clouds and darkenesse , thunder and lightnings , storme and tempest runne together , and tosse the shippe from waue to waue , as lightly as a ball from hand to hand ; yet for all that he sits still at the helme , with vndanted courage , and markes his compasse ; and by his courage and skill together keepes on a right and stedfast course thorow all the rage of sea and weather : euen so this our thrice noble galeacius taking hold of the holy and heauenly anchor ; namely , a liuely faith in christ , and a stedfast hope in god , he surmounts the clouds , and fixeth those anchor-holdes in heauen , and looking stedfastly with a spirituall eye , at the true load starre : namely , christ iesus and the hope of eternall happinesse ; he directs his course towards the same with an heroicall spirit , and heauenly resolution thorow the tempestuous waues of those fearefull temptations : and the shippe that caried his body , did not so fast transport him from delicate italy towards dalmatia , as the shippe of heauenly constancy and loue of god withdrew his minde and meditation from all naturall respects and worldly delights , and made it mount alost in holy contemplation . and thus the presence and grace of gods spirit , hauing ouercome the power of naturall affections ; he began to cheere vp himselfe after this tempest : and first of all , bending the knees of his heart to the eternall father in heauen ; hee yeelded his maiesty most hearty thankes , for that he had furnished his soule with such a portion of his grace , as to withstand and conquere satan in such a perillous battell : and for that hee had deliuered him from the danger of popish thraldome , from the inquisition , and from that perpetuall imprisonment both of conscience and body which the popish church would haue brought him vnto , had he not thus escaped their hands . hee likewise praised god vnfainedly , that he vouchsafed to giue him time , opportunity , and grace to discharge that duety to his wife the yong marchionesse , which at his first departure he had omitted , and which oftentimes he had with great griefe bewailed , and that he had enabled him to omit nothing which might haue perswaded her to haue left sodome , and to haue vndertaken with him this blessed pilgrimage towards the heauenly ierusalem . the remembrance of these things much refreshed his troubled minde . it also much contented and satisfied his conscience , that vpon that monstrous and vndutifull behauiour of his wife towards him ( spoken of before ) hee had made that protestation which hee did : namely , that he would vse the lawfull meanes to be diuorced from her , who had first of al diuorced & cut off her selfe from him , by denying that duety of loue , which the wife may not denie to the husband , nor the husband to the wife : he perswaded himselfe that this protestation would worke well with her , and make her more confirmeable to her duetie , when she had aduisedly thought of it . chap. xxiii . of his iourney home againe by venice , and thorow rhoetia , switzerland : and his safe arriuall at geneua : and of the great ioy he brought to the church by his safe returne . reuiuing his troubled spirits with these cogitations , he arriued at lasina in dalmatia , which is the countrey ouer against italy ; from whence he passed in a very quiet passage , and calme sea to venice : where hee found many faithfull seruants of god , and good christians ; who hauing heard afore that he was gone to vicum , were exceedingly afraid for that imminent and ineuitable danger they saw he was in , either to haue his conscience a slaue to popish vanity , or his person a prisoner to popish cruelty ; therefore they ceased not to pray for him night and day : and yet for all that they feared greatly what would become of him . but when now at last they saw him returne , both sound in conscience , and safe in person ; & such a glorious conquerer ouer satan , and ouer so many strong temptations with which the world and naturall affections had assailed him : their feare was turned into comfort , their sorrow into ioy , and they all glorified the lord for him . and so after mutuall comfort giuen and receiued , he departed from venice , and trauelled thorow rhoetia and switzerland ; where he visited the churches of the protestants , and comforted them greatly with his presence , and by telling them what great things the lord had done for him : and so by the good hand of his god vpon him , he came in safety to geneua the fourth of october in the yeare 1558. his safe arriuall brought exceeding ioy to the whole church there ; but especially to the italian congregation : for his long absence had brought them into some suspence and doubt , not of any alteration of his religion , but of some cruell and false measures to haue beene offred him by the deceitfull papists . but when they saw him so safely returned , vntoucht in conscience , and vnhurt in his person ; and that he had passed so many pikes of temptations which they knew had beene pitcht against him ; they gaue great thankes to the lord for him . but when he had discourst vnto them particularly the whole course of the proceedings : first , what a strong battry of temptations and assaults the diuell and the world had planted against him , then how manfully he fought and withstood , and at last ouercame them all ; they fell into admiration of so rare constancy , and thought him worthy of all honour , to whom it is giuen ( as the apostle saith ) to suffer so much for christ and for religions sake : and in all earnest manner they magnified the singular grace and mercy of god towards him , and towards the whole church in him ; which had not suffred his seruant ( this noble galeacius ) to be seduced out of the way of that holy calling whereto the lord had called him : and who had deliuered him from so subtile a traine , laid by the policy of the enemy satan , to haue intrapt his soule and conscience , by ouerturning him in the race of his religion : and they all acknowledged that this noble and godly gentleman found it verified in himselfe , which the kingly prophet saith in the psalme : because he hath trusted in me , therefore i will set him free : i will be with him in his troubles , i will deliuer him , and crowne him with honour : and in another place , he that trusteth in the lord shall neuer be confounded . and thus the church receiued a double benefit by him : for first , his practise was an example vnto them all of a most extraordinary and heauenly constancy in the loue and profession of true religion : secondly , the mercifull dealing of the lord with him , was a notable confirmation of their faith , and an encouragement to them to perseuere and stand to the truth , with assurance that the lord himselfe would stand by them . chap. xxiiii . certaine yeares after his returne to geueua , he begins to feele in himselfe a necessity of marriage : he deliuers his case to caluin , who refused to consent : the matter is referred to the churches of switzerland , and by them he is resolued that he is free from his first wife , and may marry againe . and thus with vnspeakeable contentment in his owne conscience , and with publike ioy and thankesgiuing of the whole church , he setled himselfe at geneua in his former priuate and quiet life . where after a few yeares he began to find in himselfe some reasons which perswaded him to thinke it needefull for him to liue in the estate of marriage : and therefore hauing thus long waited and expected a more wise and duetiful answer from his wife ; and perceiuing by her not answering , that she still persisted in that monstrous and vnnatural wilfulnes , which her blinded popish mind had formerly vndertaken by the perswasion of her blind and popish guides ; he therefore purposed to take such course for his remedie , as by the law of god and his church should in that case seeme allowable : namely , to be diuorced from her ; who for her part had broken the bond and vntied the knot of matrimonie . and first of all he imparted his mind and purpose to m. caluine , and craued his godly and wholsome counsel in a case of so great importance . his counsell was first of all , that it was more conuenient and lesse scandalous to the enemies of religion , if he could abstaine . but the gentleman replied , that the case was so with him , as he could not abstaine , and gaue him many weighty reasons which drew him to marriage ; and withall participated vnto him some secret reasons : for the which he affirmed it was altogether necessary for him to marry . holy caluine as he was a man indued from god with sharpenesse of iudgement , and a wise and discerning spirit : so he foresaw plainely that many would speake euill of the fact , others would take offence at it , some would plainely condemne it , and speake euill of religion for it ; and the rather because ( as he truely said ) very few did rightly conceiue the full truth in the doctrine of diuorcement : but fewest of all would or could know the whole circumstance of this particular fact . he likewise wisely considered that the like president was seldome seene , especially in the italian church , whereof this gentleman was a principall member , and of speciall account , both for his nobility , birth , and descent , and for his zealous loue to religion . all which considerations , with diuers other , made reuerend caluine not too easily to subscribe to this purpose and motion of galeacius . notwithstanding , when the gentleman vrged him out of the word of god and good conscience , with arguments which he saw and confessed he could not sufficiently answere ; therefore lest he should burden and trouble the conscience of so good a man , which alledged for himselfe , that he was driuen by necessity to that course ; he yeelded thus farre to him : that if he would repaire vnto the learned and reuerend diuine peter martyr , and aske his opinion , and the opinions of all the learned and chiefe diuines of rhoetia , and switzerland ; and desire them seriously to consider of it ( as in a matter of such moment , and of so great consequence , it was requisite ) and then set downe their iudgements in the matter , and the reasons mouing them thereunto ; he promised that he would also subscribe vnto them , and most willingly yeelde vnto him , what liberty soeuer they did allow him : alwaies prouided , that he also should submit himselfe vnto their censure , and stand to the triall of their iudgements in this case . galeacius most willingly yeelded hereunto , as who desired nothing , but that which the lord by his word , and by the voyce of his church , should allow vnto him ; and so taking the course that caluine had aduised him , he caused letters to be drawen and sent to zurich , berue , and other the churches of switzerland ; opening the whole circumstance of the matter , and expounding the case truely and fully ; and humbly craued the iudgement of the church in a case of conscience so great and doubtfull . the chiefe preachers and most learned diuines yeelded to his honest and godly request , and assembled about it : the matter was much and long debated , and argued at large on both sides : and after mature deliberation , and sufficient consultation had ; it was concluded and agreed on by them all with one consent̄ , that he might with safe conscience , depart from that wife , which had first of all on her owne part broken the bond , and dissolued the marriage knot : and for the proofe of this their opinion , many causes and reasons were alledged and laid downe out of the scriptures , fathers , councels , and out of the ciuil law , which is the law almost ofal countries in christendome . all which ( both their conclusions & their reasons ) were put in writing , and are registred and safely recorded ; and are kept to this day ready to be shewed to whomsoeuer and whensoeuer neede shall so require : for it was thought good by the church so to doe ; both for that the case was extraordinary , and would be sinisterly spoken of , and censured by many ; who knew not sufficiently how it stood : and especially for the preuenting of any slander or cauill , which the enemies might obiect against our religion . chap. xxv . by publike sentence of the church and iudgement of the law , he is diuorced from his former wife : and after a time he marrieth a french gentlewoman , a widow of about fortie yeares of age , himselfe then being about three and fortie . galeacius hauing thus laid his foundation ▪ proceeded further ; but still with the consent of the church , and obseruing the due forme of law , and the ordinary course of iustice in such cases , he craued publikely of the magistrate that he might be diuorced , that is , that he might bee pronounced to be free and discharged from that wife , who had already cut off her felfe from him . the magistrate considering the trueth and circumstance of the case , together with the iudgement of the diuines , wherunto also was agreable the iudgement of the law , graunted vnto him , as by his aduocates it was required ; & so in publik court , and by sentence definite , and irreuocable he was diuorced , and was pronounced to be free , and discharged of his former wife victoria ; and that it was lawful for him and in his choice to liue vnmaried , or to marrie as hee himselfe would . after which liberty obtained , hee imparted the matter to his friends , and applying himselfe to thinke of another wife , he asked their aduices in this point also . and herein hee tooke that course , which generally men in the world take , not ; for in his choice he respected not so much wealth , birth nor beauty , but onely to find a fit companion of his life , and such a one , as with whom he might lead that which remained of his life , in a comfortable contentment , in tranquillity of minde and peace of conscience ; that so hee might the more cheerefully serue the lord , and waite for the comming of iesus christ . which course of his is more to be noted , especially in so great a man , and so honorably discended ; and the rather to crosse and controle the carnall and worldly courses , which men for the most part and women also obserue in their mariages ; respecting those things first , which should be last , and that last or not at al which should be first and aboue all . galeacius continuing this his purpose , and looking about for his choice , the prouidence of god ( which doth neuerfaile his children , especially in so great matters ) did offer vnto him a fit opportunity . for so it was that at the same time , a certaine gentlewoman of france , a wido we came from roan to geneua , for true religions sake , which she loued and professed , and for the loue of it left her country , & came thither for liberty of her conscience . she was a matronelie , and a graue woman , and well reported of for her modesty , honesty , feare of god , and for manifold good qualities : her name was anna fremeria , and was about fortie yeares of age . all which circumstances galeacius well obseruing , thought her a fit and conuenient wife for him : and so with the consent and liking of other his good friends , he tooke her to wife , and married her the sixteenth day of ianuary , in the yeare 1560. and in the three and fortieth yeare of his age ; and they liued together many yeares after with much comfort one of another , & in an excellent agreement , being both of the same religion , and of one mind ; alwaies drawing in one yoke , and bearing one burden ; diuiding it betwixt them ; whether it was ioy or sorrow : so that the vnquietnes of his life past , was now recompenced with a life full ofall contentment ; and so louing her , and being truely loued ofher , they spent their daies in all mutuall comfort , solacing themselues in their quiet and priuate life , and ioying in the mutuall faithfulnes and loyalty which one performed to another . loe thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the lord. chap. xxvi . of his course of life after his marriage : his frugality . now being married , he laboured to deliuer and disburden himselfe of worldly cares ; and therefore he prescribed to himselfe a sparing and frugall course of life ; resoluing to keepe himselfe within the compasse of his reuenue ▪ which although it was as much againe as it was afore , by his wiues dowrie : yet by many other hinderances was farre lesse then heretofore it had beene . and first for his houshold , his care was to haue it little as might be , and therefore for his seruice and attendance , he onely kept two maid-seruants : and for himselfe , he ledde his life in great sobrietie , and in very meane estate , yet alwaies free from sordid basenes , and alwaies keeping a seemely decorum ; neuer wanting any thing that was necessary , nor hauing much that was superfluous . his attire was plaine and homely , but alwaies comely , cleane and handsome : and he that in his owne countrey might haue beene lord of so many tenants , and commander of so many seruants , did now walke the streets of geneua alone , often not hauing the attendance of one man : yea he would not disdain to come himselfe into the market , nor think scorn to prouide himself of necessaries : and sometime would buy and cary home fruits , herbs , roots , and such other things . and this course of life , together with liberty oftrue religion , he esteemed greater happines then the marquesdome of vicum . and although by this course of life he could scarce be discerned from an ordinary man , and from the common sort of people : notwithstanding in his countenance appeared that grauity in his gestures , behauiours , and in his whole body shone that comely maiesty ; as any wise man to haue seene him , and well considered him , would haue presently iudged that he came of noble race ; and that he had beene fit for the greatest imployments of the world : which also was so much the greater , because that with his excellency of birth and person , & perfection of all gentlemanly behauiours was ioyned true godlines , & the feare of god ; which of it selfe is of such force as it is able euen to honour him , who wanteth these worldly ornaments and outward perfections . how much therefore did it magnifie him , who had it in so great measure , and accompanied with so many true complements of gentry and honor ? by alwhich it came to passe that so many parts of the chiefest excellencies meeting in that one man , made him to shine aboue other the members of the church , euen as the moone amongst the stars . so that the italian church , though but little of it selfe ; yet by the vertues and worthinesse of this one noble gentleman , seemed worthy to be compared with the whole church of geneua . and as he was a credit and honour vnto that church , so was he againe most honorablie esteemed of that church : yea not onely of that church , but of the whole church and state of geneua : for not one senator nor magistrate of the city , not one of the preachers & ministers of the church was to be found , which had not alwaies in their mouthes , the commendation of noble galeacius : yea he was honored and highly esteemed of bythem all , and it was hard to say whether hee was more loued , or admired amongst them . in a word , he was loued of all men , lookt at of all men , spoken of by all men , magnified and extolled , yea wondred at of all men ; and though he knew not many himselfe , yet all men laboured to knowe him . no publike meeting was appointed , no solemne feast was made , wherto this our galeacius was not most solemnly called : yea euery man was desirous of him , and happy was he that might haue his company : yea they thought their meetings graced , and their houses honoured with his presence ; and in all assemblies the chiefest and highest roome was offred him : yeawas thrust vpon him , though he nothing at all respected it . and although he refused the name and title of marquesse ; because , he said , the emperour had cut off his succession , and depriued him of that honour because of his religion : notwithstanding , do what he could , he was called byno other name al his life long , and that not by some few his friends and fauorites , but by all sorts of men , euen strangers themselues , and such as were not of his religion . for all men thinking that he had iniury to be depriued of his lawfull succession ; therfore though they could not giue him the liuing and estate , yet they gaue him all they could ▪ that is , the name and title . such were his noble and gentlemanly qualities ( besides his christian vertues ) that they wonne the loue and liking of all men ; and caused them to honour him far aboue that he desired or cared for : yea euery one laboured to shew any seruice or to performe any duety of loue and kindnes towards him : nay strangers themselues were desirous to see him , and were drawen into an admiration ofhim : insomuch as whensoeuer any of the nobility or princes of christendome , especially of italy , did trauell to see forraine nations ; and for the most part taking geneua in their way ( which place generally all trauellers haue a great desire to see ) they would by no meanes omit to see and visit galeacius . thus did francis and alphonsus the yong dukes of ferrara , octauius the prince of selerum : and thus did fernesius the duke of parma , and diuers other : who in their trauell comming by geneua entertained him in all the complements of courtesie and of honour , no lesse then if he had beene at naples in his former glorie ; or if he had still beene a courtier in the emperours court , as heretofore he had beene . in a word , no noble man , no embassador , no great scholar , no man of note , of any forraine nation came that way , but presently they vsed meanes to haue a sight of this noble marquesse ; and for the most part desired to haue some company and conference with him : so that he was resorted vnto continually by men of all sorts ; as though he had not beene a priuate man , keeping a meane estate and dwelling in a little house ; but rather as though he had beene a great prince in the court , or one neere in place to the emperour himselfe . but though all men desired his acquaintance and company , and he againe was not curious in that point , but courteous to all as occasion was offred : yet for the most part , his most familiar conuersation was with the men of his owne nation : namely , with his countrimen the italians , of whom there was a flourishing church at geneua at the same time ; and which also flourished the better by his meanes , as heretofore hath beene declared . amongst whom though he behaued himselfe , it is doubtfull whether more ciuilly , or more humbly ; yet for all that he was honoured of them all , and vsed more like a lord then a priuate man : which although he in euery respect deserued , yet by no meanes desired . and so besides all his worthy and excellent parts , his humble minde and friendly conuersation made him more honourable . and to speake but truth of him , out of all question hee was not onely a good christian , but ( which is not alwaies seene ) a perfect and an absolute man : yea a man can hardly name any of those good parts and amiable qualities ; which for the most part doe winne a man loue in the world ; which were not to be found in this noble gentleman . for besides his noble birth and princely education , his religion and true feare of god ; he was also humble minded , affable , curteous and friendly to all men : he was wise , discreete , of good conceit , and of an excellent speech and discourse . it would haue delighted a man to haue heard him speake ; for as his memory was exceeding good , so his naturall eloquence , his smooth stile , his easie , quiet and seemely deliuerie , made his speech to be greatly commended of all that heard him . a man would haue wondred to haue seene how many , euen of the best sort , would haue laboured to haue bin in his company , and as it were haue catcht vp & eaten his words from his mouth , when it pleased him to discourse of some of those exploits and aduentures , which had fallen within the compasse of his own knowledg : as of the emperor charles the fift his voiage into prouence , and of his warres which he waged in gelderland , against the duke of cleeue , and of many other great affaires and special imployments . neither was hee onely a fit companion for gentlemen and men of estate , but such was the mildnes of his nature and disposition , that he was also kind and courteous to men of lower place , and most ofall to the poore , amongst whom , if they were godly and honest he would conuerse as familiarly , as with his equals , or with men of greater place . he was also of a free and liberall hart , no poore or distressed man did euer require his assistance , or craue his helpe , but presently hee would reach vuto them his helping hand , and relieue them by all meanes he could , yea the want of his former wealth and losse of his marquesdome , did neuer grieue him , but when he had not wherewithall to exercise his charitie , towards the poore soules of god : it was his ioy and delight to be lending and giuing to those that wanted , and in that respect onely he often wished himselfe as great a man in geneua as he was in italy : but to his power and ability his good workes did farre exceed the proude and pharisaical papists , who glorie in their workes , and will bee saued by them . prisoners & men in danger did often feele his bountie ; hee omitted not to visite his sicke brethren , and that most diligently : such as were poore hee relieued ; yea the richest and learnedst of all , did thinke themselues in their sicknesses happy to haue him with them ; his presence and company , but especially his talke and christian exhortations were so comfortable vnto them . his ordinary exercises were these ; euery day hee repaired to the church and heard diuine seruice , and missed not to be present at prayers with the congregation , especially he neuer omitted to heare the sermons and the word preached ; which he did alwaies with wonderful deuotion & reuerence to the word of god ; for he iudged and esteemed that the true happines of a man , and the onely sweete and pleasant life consisted in liuing holily , in walking in gods waies , in meeting with satans temptations , in bridling the corruptions of his nature , and in seruing god truely and sincerely without hypocrisie : vnto all which steps of happines he thought he could neuer attaine , but by the preaching of the word ; wherunto he also adioyned a daily course of reading the scripture ; thus labouring out of the scriptures to lay the foundations of his own saluatiō , which he applied to the profit and comfort , not ofhimselfe , alone , but of many others with him . besides al this , for the loue he beare vnto the church , and the desire he had to do al good he could ; he tooke vpon him the office of an elder in the church : the duety whereof he supplied daily , carefully obseruing and inquiring into the maners and liues of professors ; allowing & incouraging the good , and censuring the offenders , which he did with great care & conscience , lest that scandals & offences might arise in the church , whereby either the quiet and good estate ofthe of the church at home might be disturbed , or the enemie might haue any occasion to slander the profession of religion . neither stayed he here , but beside this publike care and labour , hee also was daily well occupied in more priuate matters : for where euer he saw , obserued , or heard of any dissensions , sutes in law , or controuersies amongst christian neighbours , hee was exceeding carefull to end and compasse them ; and for that end , as he had a ripe wit and a good conceit and deepe insight , so hee would imploy them all to the finding out the trueth and state of the cause : and hauing found it , hee would vse all his authority , yea he would make himselfe beholden to men , on condition they would yeelde one to another , and 〈◊〉 in peace . in a word , his whole course of life sauoured of grace , and did shew him to to be a sanctified man ; yet doubtlesse he thoght himselfe borne not for himselfe , but for god and for the church ; and he thought no time so well spent , nor any busines so wel dispatcht , as that wherin , not any priuate gain , or pleasure to himselfe was sought or obtained , but only gods glory aduanced , his church edified , religion maintained , and the good worke of gods grace confirmed in himselfe and others . chap. xxvii . being aged he falleth into a long and languishing sicknesse . and thus he liued at geneua many yeres full of ioy and quietnes , comfort , and contentment : farre from all worldly ambition , and as it were forgetting what he was , & what he was borne to in this world , onely respecting what he was to inherite in the world to come ; & as he had begun , so he continued in a loathing and detestation of all popish superstition , and impieties . but with this great quietnes of mind and conscience there wanted not some outward and corporal vexations : for after his long peace , new afflictions & storms came vpon him , wherby the almighty would yet better trie him , and make his faith , his hope , his patience and perseuerance to shine more gloriously ; that so afterward he might receiue a more excellent reward , and a more glorious crowne . for first of all , he fell sicke of a grieuous , doubtful & dangerous disease , which had bred vpon him by abundance of rheume , wherby he became so short winded that he could hardly draw his breath ; by force of such weakenes he was exceedingly tormented night and day : for the good gentleman was constrained oftentimes to sit vp whole nights together and was faine to be remoued from roome to roome , and from one place to another , to see if by any meanes he might take some sleepe , which by the vehemency of this disease was almost quit gone from him . this disease had growen vpon him by reason of his many and long and sore iournies , which he had taken by sea and by land for his conscience sake : and of the great distempers and alterations of the state of his body , which for his soules sake he had vndergone . chap. xxviii . a new temptation assaults him : a iesuite is sent from his friends in italy to reclaime him , by offring him great summes of money , and to ▪ make his yonger sonne a cardinall : but he valiantly scorneth it all , and sends him backe with shame . bvt this languishing sickenesse did not so much afflict his weake and aged body as satan laboured by another deuice , and a new temptation to trouble and vex his righteous soule . for it came to passe that about the same time , when this disease had seazed vpon him , there came to geneua out of italy a nephew of his , the naturall sonne of his owne sister , with letters to him from his former wife victoria the marchionesse , as also from his eldest sonne the yong marquesse : vnto which letters this yong gentleman being also a scholar , added many words of his owne to little purpose ; labouring to perswade and allure him with much and vaine babling , that now at the last he would acknowledge his error , and returne home againe to his owne countrie to his former religion , and to his ancient inheritance , that goodly marquesdome . the principall cause both of their writing , and his comming so farre was this : because that if he would now at last returne againe , hereby he said that out of all doubt he might aduance his yongest sonne charles , either to the princely state of a cardinall , or at least to be some great bishop . for , saith he , whereas your sonne is now admitted into holy orders , and is ( for his great friends and alliance , and for his special towardlines ) in possibility of so great preferment , your pertinacy and obstinate peruersenes , in following and defending a new found and vpstart religion ; and condemned ( as he said ) by al the great estates of italy , is the very only hindrance of your sons preferment . these kind of news how highly they offended the holy and christian soule of this thrice noble galeasius , who from his hart abhorred , and in his soule detested those vaine and vngodly and prophane dignities in the popish church ; i leaue it to be iudged by the christian reader . and therfore hauing with much griefe of mind hard thus much of this vnsauory and vnpleasant message , and not ablelonger to forbeare , lie first of all tooke the letters , and before his face that brought them , threw them into the fire ; and then briefly , but grauely , wisely , and zealously hee shaped him his answere by word of mouth : thinking so badde and base a message vnworthie the time and labour of writing . and first of all hee tolde him , that there could not haue come to him more heauie and vnwelcome newes of his sonne then these ; that hee was so blind a papist , that for the hope of this worldly aduancement he would venture the ruine and subuersion of his soule . and bad him tell his sonne that he would hinder him in that vngodly course by all meanes he could : and hee said , hee knew not whether it more grieued him to see the vanity of his sons proceeding , then it reioyced him that it lay in his power any waies to hinder him in the same : yea , saith he , know thou , and let that my seduced sonne know , that you could haue vsed scarce any argument vnto me so forcible to make me persist in my religion , and to detest popery , as this ; that in so doing i may hinder my sonne from the abominable dignities of the popish church : and therefore , saith he , returne my son this answere ; that in stead of helping him to these preferments , i will pray for euer to the lord for him , who is the father of his soule and mine , that he would open his eyes to see the truth , and that he may haue grace after the example of me his father to see the horriblesuperstitious idolatries & impieties of popery , & seeing thē to abhor & detest them : & renouncing the vanities of al worldly pomp and honor , to direct his foote steps to the lord , and embrace his holytruth , and yeeld his soule and conscience obedient to the heauenly calling , and so become the seruant and childe of the most high god : whereby he may aspire and attaine to the true and highest dignity ; which is to enioy the fauour and comfortable presence of god , & his holy grace ; to loue god , and to be loued of him ; and so at last to be aduanced to that heauenly and eternalglory which is prepared for them who in this world do forsake themselues and their owne desires , that they may in true holines serue the lord. with these and such like holy speeches he answered the disholy and dishonest demand of this carnall papist . but for all that this importunate and vnreasonable iesuite ( for he was of that sect ) ceased not to be troublesome to this noble and holy gentleman ▪ still vrging him with fond and friuolous reasons , and pressing him with rediculous arguments : as this especially for one ; he promised him a huge sum of money , if he would returne home : which , saith he , lies ready at lions for you , and the brokers and exchangers there are prepared to pay it . and he further assured him , that if he would come againe into italy , they had procured him liberty of his conscience and religion at turing : and there also ( he said ) he should find a great summe of money ready for him . but when this importunatefellow presumed to presse the good conscience of this resolute gentleman with such base arguments ▪ and began to weigh religion in a paire of gold weights ; then the noble heart of this holy christian could not but shew it selfe mooued , and therefore in a holy zeale and an ardent loue of his sauior christ iesus , he cryed out , let their money perish with thē who esteeme al the gold in the worldworth one daies society with iesus christ , & his holy spirit : & cursed , saith he , be that religion for euer , which shal wed men to the world , & diuorce them from god. go home therfore , saith noble galeacius , take away thy siluer again , & make much of that drosse of the earth , together with your dregs of popery , lock thē vp together in the chest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as for me , know it , that my lord & sauior christ , hath made me enamored of far more precious iewels and durable riches . but the heauenly constancy of this holy man , droue this frantike papist from his bias , into an extreme choller , for he according to the nature of his popes holy religion thought that when all arguments had failed , yet money would haue wonne him , and therfore seeing him so highly to scorne , and so disdainfully to contemne so great offers , hee thought it very strange ; and therefore seeing all his labor lost , and his best hold proue so weake , he fell from mony to meere madnes ; and forgetting himselfe , and his duty , brake out into ill words , and reproohfull termes : but when the magistrate was informed of it , and saw that this arrogant papist durst so far abuse the patience of so honorable a man , therfore by their authority , they forbad him the citie ( as the manner of that place is in such cafes ) and so this newes bringer had his pasport to be packing , and to go home and count his siluer ; and there to bragge of his good successe ; for he now could say by good experience , that so much money as was enough to lead an hundred popish friers to and fro whither a man would , like beares by the nose , could not touch the conscience of one protestant , much lesse make him a papist . chap. xxix . being deliuered from the importunitie of the iesuit : not long after , came a monke , nimble witted and learned , a kinsman of his owne , who had a strong conceit that he could haue reclaimed him : but he came too late , the marquesse being dead before he came . and thus it pleased god to deliuer this sick gentleman from this troublesome tempter , and this messenger of satan which came to haue buffeted him ; but he buffeted , yea and vanquished him , & satan in him ; and he might report at home , that he found the marquesse sicke in bodie , but whole in mind , yea that he neuer saw in all his life so resolute a conscience , and so couragious a mind in so weake a body . and thus the lord doubtlesse did in mercy to him ; that being from this disquiet companion ▪ he might with more comfort and lesse griefe , beare the burden of his sickenes , which now grew vpon him more and more , and left him not till it made him leaue the world , and till it had translated him from this his pilgrimage , to his eternall rest ; and till it had made him of a poore marquesse vpon earth , a glorious king in heauen . whose death as it was wonderfully lamented of the whole church for the vnrecouerable losse they had of him : so it was a merciful blessing , and a welcome messenger of god to him : for it freed and deliuered him from many stormes of new temptations which the diuell was raising against him ; for within a short time after his death , there came to geneua a certaine monke , a good scholar , a gentleman by birth ▪ and neere a kin to galeacius ; who being puft vp with monkish pride , and a conceit of his owne ability for such an enterprise , thought so farre to haue preuailed with galeacius by his nimble wit and eloquent tongue , as to haue perswaded him now at the last , either to haue relinquished his religion , or at least to haue left geneua and to haue returned into italy ( where his vncle had beene lately pope ) that so by his presence and countenance , and the helpe of his great friends ( which he had both in the popes and the emperours court ) his children might be in more possibility of those high dignities and great places in the world , which they and their other friends aimed at : and for the attainment whereof , nothing so much hindred them as their fathers religion , and course of life . but he returned home a proud foole as he came , and ashamed of his proud and insolent spirit ; which perswaded him by his vaine babling he could haue ouercome him whom he found when he came to geneua to haue ouercome the world , and all spirituall enemies , and now to be triumphing in the glory of heauen . and so leauing him and all other his popish carnall kinred , gnashing their teeth for anger to see his admirable constancy ; let vs returne againe to our sicke gentleman , whose end now hasting on , will also hasten an end of this strange story . chap. xxx . his long and languishing sickenes grew and increased vpon him in such measure , as his paine was most grieuous ; but hee bare it all with an heroicall and heauenly courage : so that it might manifestly appeare that euen the lord from heauen did lend him strength ; and as the torments and pangs of the disease increased , so hisfaith and patience and all heauenly vertues shone in him more and more : so that it was most true of him which the apostle saith , as the outward man perished so the inward man was renued daily . his body pined away , buthis minde and soule grew from strength to strength : and as a by-stander feeles not the paines of him that is tormented or racked before his eyes : so his soule and mind stood as it were a farre off , beholding the paines and vexations of the body ; and being vntoucht it selfe , did as it were laugh at satan , sinne , death , and damnation ; who by all their ioynt power could doe no more , but onely to vex and racke this poore carcase with bodily disease , but were not able to touch the soule , to vexe the minde , or wound the conscience . if any man aske the reason why his mind and conseience were so quiet in this so great torment of the body : the reason was ▪ for that his mind was imployed in holy meditations , as of the singular loue of god his father vnto him in christ iesus ; whereby he assured himselfe vndoubtedly of saluation , of the manifold holy graces , wherewith god had adorned him : by the force whereof , he said , he had borne off so many buffets of satan , had passed so many pikes of troubles , and come away conquerer in so many fearefull fights , as had opposed themselues against him in his conuersion . these gifts and graces of god he weighed with the crosses of his sicknes , and found them far heauier ; and he compared these momentany and light afflictions , with that exceeding and eternall weight of glory , which , he said , he knew was laid vp for him in heauen . these and such like meditations cheered vp his spirit more then the force of his sickenes could appall him . but aboue al things he felt vnspeakable comfort and sweetnes in his prayers to the lord ; which he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 feruently , and with a zealous and faithfull heart . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often say , that in the midst of his prayers , his soule seemed to him to be euen rauished out of himself , and to taste of the blessed ioyes of heauen . so that the saying of the blessed apostle was verified in him , as the suffrings of christ abounded in us , so consolation by christ abounded much more . in his sickenes he wanted no helpe of the physitions , for they came to him out of all parts of the citie : and willingly did they all do their diligence about his body ; whose soule they knew had christ iesus to be the physition for it . his friends also continually visited him , who were of the chiefe men in the citie ; and they were all welcome to him rich and poore : and it is hard to say whether he receiued more comfort by them , or they more spirituall edification by him ; his speeches and behauiours were so full of patience , and so well seasoned with all grace . all his friends performed to him what duety soeuer was in their power , but especially his worthy wife did then shew her selfe most louing and loyall , for she was neuer from about him , and saw that he wanted nothing which the world could yeelde for the recouery of his health . but all was in vaine , for the time of his dissolution was at hand , and he had runne the royall race of a most holy christian life ; and now nothing remained but a blessed death . he might say as the apostle did with much ioy of heart : i haue run my race , i haue finished my course , i haue kept the faith : from henceforth is laid vp for me a crown of righteousnes , which christ the righteous iudge will giue to me , and to all such as wait for his appearing . after few daies the violence of his sickenes was such , as it ouercame all power of physicke ; so that it was manifest , that that blessed houre approched , wherin the lord had appointed to accomplish his owne good worke in him ; therefore he sequestred himself altogether from any more care of his body , and from al worldly cogitations ; he renounced the world and all in it ; he tooke his farewell of his wife , and all his christian friends , and said , hee should lead them the way to heauen . hee fixed all his thoughts vpon his soule , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ixed on the lord in heauen : and cried to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hat as he had sought him al his life , so he would ●● him , and acknowledge him for his owne . and thus as all his friends sat about him , and as the preachers and ministers were occupied in holy praiers and reading of the scriptures , and applying to him the heauenly consolations of god ▪ word , in the performance of these exercises he ended his dales , wherein hee had taken ▪ delight all his life long : and as hee reioyced to haue them in this life , so it pleased the lord that he should haue them at his death . and so in the midst of all his friends , in the presence of the ministers , euen in the fight of them all , he peaceablie and quietly yeelded vp his spirit , and rendred his soule into the hands of his mercifull god and faithfull creator , of whom he had receiued it ; who immediatly by the ministery of his holy angels receiuing it at his hands , and washing it pure in the blood of iesus christ , crowned it with the crown of eternal & heauenly happines . and thus this holy man was translated from a noble man on earth , to be a noble saint in heauen : and of a marquesse on earth in bare name and title , he was aduanced to be a glorious & triumphing king in heauen : where he now raignes in glory with that god whom he so faithfully serued on earth . that god and mereifull father grant that all we that reade this admirable story , may be allured to take vpon vs the same most holy profession , that this thrice noble marquesse did ; and may renounce and cast off what euer in this world we see doth hinder vs from the holy fellowshippe of christ iesus ; and strengthen vs that we may be faithful to the end : that so we may obtaine the crowne of life in that glory , where this noble galeacius and all the heauenly host of gods saints do wait for vs. amen . this was his life , this was his end : let thy life be like his , and thy heart walke in the same way ▪ then shall thy soule die his death , and thy latter end shall be like his . o lord how glorious art thou in thy saints ! finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a02187-e150 genes . 47. heb. 11. notes for div a02187-e1100 a the very yeare when luther began to preach the gospell . * that is , pope paul the fourth . notes for div a02187-e1730 see how the first step of a mans conuersion from popery , is true and sound mortification of carnall lusts , and a change of life . see also how the first meanes to bring a man out of error to the truth , is study of holy scriptures . notes for div a02187-e2000 1. cor. 1. 26 , 27. iohn . psal . psal . psalme . psalme . 1. chron. 28. ieremy . phillip . notes for div a02187-e3830 hieronymus fracastorius . notes for div a02187-e4780 sinus adriaticus . notes for div a02187-e5850 his seruants , but two . his attire plaine , but comely . his humilitie and lowly minde . euidences of nobility shining in his actions and behauiours . how greatly he was esteemed in geneua . they stil called him by the title of marquesse . he was alwaies visited by strangers , and trauellers , especially princes and noble men . his company and conuersation . his courtesie and affabilitie . his rare perfections . his eloquence and ability of speech . his mildnesse to his inferiors . his charity to the poore . his good workes and charitable deedes . his ordinary exercises of religion , publike and priuate . his particular and personall calling . his courage and iustice . his loue of peace , and continuall ending of contentions , and setting men at vnity that were at variance . the letter writ by the last assembly general of the clergy of france to the protestants, inviting them to return to their communion together with the methods proposed by them for their conviction / translated into english, and examined by gilbert burnet. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. 1683 approx. 242 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 105 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48243 wing l1759 estc r2185 12185340 ocm 12185340 55745 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. a48243) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 55745) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 605:15) the letter writ by the last assembly general of the clergy of france to the protestants, inviting them to return to their communion together with the methods proposed by them for their conviction / translated into english, and examined by gilbert burnet. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. catholic church. assemblée générale du clergé de france. [20], 179, [9] p. printed for richard chiswell ..., london : 1683. includes bibliographical references. advertisement: p. [2]-[9] at end. "the letter writ by the assembly of the clergy to the calvinists in france.": p. 1-14. 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 catholic church. -assemblée générale du clergé de france. protestants -france. calvinism -france. 2003-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-12 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the letter writ by the last assembly general of the clergy of france to the protestants , inviting them to return to their communion . together with the methods proposed by them for their conviction . translated into english , and examined by gilbert burnet , d. d. london , printed for richard chiswell at the rose and crown in s. paul's church-yard . m dc lxxxiii . the preface . the fate of most that answer any particular book or treatise , is such , that , one may be justly discouraged from undertaking it : for besides the great trouble the answerer is put to , in following his author in all his digressions , and perhaps impertinences , and the small game he is often engaged in , about some ill-sounding expression , or some misunderstood period ; the issue of the whole business in matters of controversies , comes at best to this , that it may be confest his adversary has been too unwary in some assertions , or unconcluding in some of his arguments : but still men retain their old perswasions : and if one whom they had set up for their champion , should happen to be baffled , they will only say that they mistook their man ; and be being made quit the stage , another is set in his room . so that at most their engagement proves to be of the nature of a single combate , in the issue of which only two individuals , and not two parties are concerned . but when a whole body speaks in one voice , here the undertaking of a single person , in opposition to them , may be thought indeed too hardy and bold ; but yet the debate becomes of more consequence , at least to the one side , because the credit of those against whom he writes , is so well established , that a satisfactory answer to what they offer as the strength of their cause , must needs have great effect on these who examine those matters critically , and judge of them impartially . the world hath been filled with the noise of the conversions lately made in france ; but it has been generally given out that the violences of monsieur de marilliac and the souldiers , and the payments dispensed by monsieur pellisson , have been the most prevailing arguments hitherto made use of . that great king has indeed interposed in this matter , with a zeal , that if it were well directed , might well become one who reckons these to be his most esteemed titles , that he is the most christian king , and the eldest son of the church . but amidst all this noise of conversions , we have heard more of the temporal than spiritual sword ; and except in the violences and out-rages of some of the clergy , we have not heard much of any share they have had in this matter . it is true , the celebrated explication of their faith , written some years ago by the then bishop of condom , now of mea●x , has made a great shew , and most of the conversions are esteemed the effects of that book : and the eminent vertues of the author , joined with that great gentleness , by which he insinuates himself much into the hearts of all those that come near him , have perhaps really wrought much on some , whose consciences were by other motives , disposed to be very easily perswaded . soft words and good periods , have also had some weight with superficial enquirers . but that explication of his , which may be well called a good plea , managed with much skill and great eloquence for a bad cause , has been so often , and so judiciously answered , that i am confident such as have considered these answers , are no more in danger of being blinded with that dust , which he has so ingeniously raised : for it must be confessed , that his book deserves all the commendations that can be given it , for every thing except the sincerity of it , which ( i am sorry to say it ) is not of a piece with the other excellent qualities of that great prelate . but now we have before us a work of much more importance , in which we may reasonably conclude the strength of the roman cause is to be found : since it is the unanimous voice of the most learned and soundest part of that communion : for while the spaniards have chiefly amused themselves mith the metaphysical subtilties of school-divinity , and when the italians have added to that , the study of the canon law , as the best way for preferm●nt ; the french have now for above an age been set on a more solid and generous pursuit of t●ue learning : they have laboured in the publishing of the fathers works , with great diligence , and more sincerity than could be expected in any other part of that church ; where the watchful eyes of inquisitors might have prevented that fidelity which they have observed in publishing those records of antiquity : so that the state of the former ages of the church is better understood there than in any other nation of that communion . nor has the secular clergy , or laity , only laboured with great faithfulness in those enquiries , such as albaspine , de marca , godeau , launnoy , huetius , rigaltius , valesius and balusius ; to name no more ; but even that order , which is not so much admired over the world for great scrupulosity of conscience , has produced there several great men , that are never to be named but with honour , such as fronto ducaeus , and petavius ; but above all , sirmondus , through whose writings there runs such a tincture of candour and probity , that in matters of fact , protestants are generally more enclined to acquiesce in his authority , than those of his own perswasion are ; which made them afraid at rome to give him free access to their manuscripts . nor is the learning of the gallican church that for which they are chiefly to be esteemed : it must also be acknowledged , that from the study of the ancient fathers many of them seem to have derived a great measure of their spirit , which has engaged diverse among them to set forward as great a reformation as the constitution of their church can admit of . they have endeavoured not only to discover the corruptions in morality and casuistical divinity , and many other abuses in the government of the church , but have also infused in their clergy a greater reverence for the scriptures , a deeper sense of the pastoral care , and a higher value for holy orders , than had appeared among them for divers ages before . some of their bishops have set their clergy great examples : and a disposition of reforming mens lives , and of restoring the government of the church according to the primitive rules , hath been such , that even those who are better reformed , both as to their doctrine and worship , must yet acknowledge that there are many things among them highly imitable , and by which they are a great reproach to others , who have not studied to copy after these patterns they have set them . the world will be for ever bound to honour the names of godeau , paschall , arnauld , and the author of the essays of morality ; and those thoughts which they have set on foot are so just and true , that though their excellent bishops are now almost all gone off the stage , and are not succeeded by men of their own tempers , yet it is to be hoped , that these seeds so sown do still grow where they find a soil disposed for them . for though such notions are not very grateful to some whose interests biass them another way , or to others whose ill lives make them look on all books of a severe piety , and that design a strict discipline , as so many satyrs writ against themselves ; yet to such as are not prepossessed nor corrupted , nothing does so easily enter , and continue so fixed as those maximes which they infuse ; particularly those of the necessity of a vocation of the holy ghost before one enters into holy orders , and a strict application to the care of souls , after one has engaged in them . truth and goodness are in their natures so congenial , that there is no way so certain to lead men to the knowledge of the truth , as to form their minds inwardly to such a sense of piety and goodness , as may make them fit receptacles of truth . thus did the heathen philosophers begin at the purging their auditors minds , by their cleansing doctrines before they communicated to them their sublimer precepts . among the jews , the sons of the prophets were long prepared in a course of mortification and devotion , that so they might become capable of divine illapses ▪ and our saviour began his instructions with the correcting the ill morals of his followers and hearers ; and did not communicate the higher mysteries of his doctrine to them till they were well prepared for it ; since , as he said himself , the way to know his doctrine , whether it was of god or not , was to do his will , which makes the sense of the soul become as exact in judging of its object , as a sound state of health makes the organs of our bodily senses fit to represent their objects distinctly to us . and therefore that church that has advanced so far in the reforming the morals of the people , and the conduct of the clergy , may be very justly esteemed the best , as well as the most learned part of the roman communion : though it is not to be denied , but the iealousie that those men of better notions have fallen under , what by the interest the jesuites have gained both at court and in the sorbonne , what by the willingness that is in the greatest part of men , particularly of corrupt ecclesiasticks , to love looser principles , and what by the odious names of innovators , of men enclined to heresie , schism or faction , is such , that as on the one hand they are lookt at with an ill eye , as a sort of men that are neither good subjects to the king nor to the pope ; so they on the other hand , to free themselves from these imputations , have perhaps departed too much from these sincere principles which they had at first laid down , and have betaken themselves to some arts and policies that do not become men so enlightned as they are . but i will not enlarge more on this , because i honour them so much , and have learned so much from them , that i will rather bewail , than insult over their failings . but though they themselves are thus suspected , yet such is the force of truth , and the evidence of those maximes which they hold , and the world is so possessed with them , that even their greatest enemies are forced to yield to them , rather perhaps because they dare not scandalize the world , by keeping up abuses , of which all people are convinced , than out of any inward affection they bear to a severe or primitive discipline . by this means it is that there is now nothing more common in all the parts of france , than to talk of a reformation of abuses , even in those places where the prelates example is perhaps one of the most conspicuous of all the abuses . to what has been said this may be added , that their glorious and conquering monarch being now possessed with this maxime , that he will have but one religion in his dominions , every one there looks on the reducing many of those they call hereticks , as a sure way to obtain his favour , and so to attain to great dignities in the church . it is certain , the most refined wits there are now set on work to bring out the strength of their cause with the greatest advantage that is possible . therefore the assembly general of their clergy being called together , ( and being so much the more engaged to shew their zeal against heresie , that they might cover themselves from the reproaches of some that are more bigotted , for their compliance with the king in the matter of the regale , ) hath now made an address to all the calvinists of france , inviting them to return to their communion ; to which they have added directions to those that shall labour in these conversions ; which they call methods , by which their minds are in general to be wrought upon , without entring into the detail of these arguments , by which the controversies have been hitherto managed . i confess , when i read these first , i was astonished at most things in them , and could have almost thought that a veron or a maimbourg had published their visions in the name of that august body ; but i know the press there is so regulated , and the constitution of that kingdom is such , that so gross an abuse could not be put upon the world. besides , when i had over and over again laid all these methods together , i found that indeed all the strength of their cause lay divided among them : so that if there is no extraordinary force in them , it is because the cause can bear nothing that is more solid or more convincing . i doubt not but the letter , and these methods will be examined in france , with that clearness and exactness that may be expected from the many extraordinary pens that are there . but i being earnestly desired to write somewhat concerning it , have adventured on it , i have first begun at home , and since here we have the concurring voice of so great and so learned a church concerning the methods of converting protestants , i hope it will be no unacceptable thing to this nation to put these in english , together with such reflections on them as may be more easily apprehended by every reader that has but a due measure of application and iudgement , though ●e has not amused himself much with deep studies of divinity . i shall hold in the general and to the rational part as they do , without going further in any particular enquiry , than shall seem in some sort necessary . i ought to make great apologies for so hardy an enterprize , but i cannot do that without giving the reasons that determined me to it , which is not at present convenient . therefore i must only in general beg the readers charity , and that he will not impute this attempt to any forwardness of mine , or to any extravagant opinion i may have of my self , as if i were fit to enter the lists with such great persons , to whom i pay all that reverend esteem which becomes both to their characters and qualities , and to whom i know better what is due , than to presume to say any thing in contradiction to them , if i were not led to it by that which i owe to truth , and to the god of truth : after i have examined both their letter , and the methods added to it , i will venture further , and offer on the other hand such considerations as are just and lawful prejudices against that communion , and are such as ought , at least , to put all men in doubt that things are not right among them , and to dispose them to believe that matters in controversie between them and us ought to be examined more exactly and impartially , and that upon a general view , the prejudices lie much stronger in our favours , than against us . the letter writ by the assembly of the clergy , to the calvinists in france . the arch-bishops , bishops , and the whole gallican clergy , assembled at paris by the kings authority , wish to their brethren of the calvinist sect , amendment , and a return to the church , and an agreement with it . brethren , the whole church of christ does now of a great while groan , and your mother being filled with holy and sincere tenderness for you , does with regret see you rent from her belly , her breasts , and her bosome , by a voluntary separation , and continue still to stray in the desart . for how can a mother forget the children of her womb , or the church be unmindful of her love to you that are still her children , though you have forgot your duty to her ? the infection of errour , and the violence of the calvinistical separation having drawn you away from the catholick truth , and the purity of the ancient faith , and separated you from the head of the christian unity . from hence is it , brethren , that she groans and complains most grievously , but yet most lovingly , that her bowels are torn : she seeks for her sons that are lost , she calls as a partridge , as a hen she would gather them together , as an eagle she provokes them to fly ; and being again in the pangs of travel , she desires to bear you a second time , ye little children , that so christ may be again formed in you , according to truth , in the way of the catholick church . therefore we the whole gallican clergy , whom the holy ghost has set to govern that church in which you were born , and who by an uninterrupted inheritance hold the same faith , as well as the same chairs , which those holy bishops held , who first brought the christian religion into france , do now call on you , and as the embassadors of christ , we ask you , as if god did beseech you by us , why have you made separation from us ? for indeed , whether you will or not , such are your circumstances , that you are our brethren , whom all our common father did long ago receive into the adoption of children , and whom our common mother , the church , did likewise receive into the hope of our eternal inheritance . and even he himself who first bewitched you , that you should not obey the truth of the gospel , the standard-bearer of your profession , did at first live amongst us as a brother , in all things of the same mind with us . were we not all of the same houshold ? did we not all eat of the same spiritual meat ? and did not he perform among us the mutual offices of brotherly charity ? see if you can find any excuse either to your father , your mother , or your brethren , to take off the infamy of so wicked , so sudden , and so rash a flight ; of this dividing of christ , the renting the sacraments of christ , an impious war against the members of christ , the accusing the spouse of christ , and the denial of the promises of christ ? excuse and wash off these things if you can : but since you cannot do it , then confess that you are fallen under that charge of the prophet , an evil son calls himself righteous , but he cannot wash off his departure . wherefore then , brethren , have you not continued in the root with the whole world ? why did you break the vows and the wishes of the faithful , with the altars on which they were offered ? why did you intercept the course of prayer from the altars , from whence was the ascent to god ? why did you then with sacrilegious hands endeavour to remove the ladder that came down to those stones , that so prayers might not be made to god after the customary manner . other sectaries hitherto have indeed attempted that , not that they might overthrow the altar of christ , but that they might raise up their own altar , such as it was , against the altar of christ. but you , as if you had designed to destroy the christian sacrifice , have dared to commit a crime unheard of before these times . you have destroyed the altars of the lord of hosts , in which the sparrow ( christ ) had chosen to himself an house , and the turtle ( the church ) a nest , where she might lay her young . it was this schismatical fury that brought forth these things , and allhat has followed since , either of wars against the church , or of errours against the ancient doctrine : nor would we have those things ascribed so much to your inclinations as to the nature of schism . but this is that upon which we expostulate with you in particular , and which we ask of you without ceasing , why have you made the schism ? and unless you answer this , how well soever you may speak or write of other things , it is all to no purpose . we do not doubt , but in answer to this , you will make use of that old and common defence of all schismaticks , and that you who upon trial , know that it is not possible to shake the doctrines believed by us , will begin to inveigh against the morals of our men , as if holier persons , who love severer laws , could not hold it creditable for their reputation , or safe to their consciences , to live with such men . these are the things forsooth , brethren , for which the unity of christ is rent by you , the inheritance of your brethren is blasphemed , and the vertue and truth of the sacraments of the church are despised : consider how far you have departed from the gospel in this . these things that you object were less considerable both for number and weight , or perhaps unknown , and may be not at all true . but if they had been true , and acknowledged , and worse than they were , yet those tares ought to have been spared by christians , for the sake of the wheat : for the vices of the bad are to be endured , because of the mixture of the good . moses endured thousands that murmured against god. samuel endured both eli's sons and his own , that acted perversly christ himself , our lord , endured iud●s that was his accuser , and a thief , and also his betrayer . the apostles endured false brethren , and false apostle● that opposed them and their doctrine ▪ and s. paul , who did not seek his ow● things , but the things of jesus christ conversed with great patience among those that sought their own things , an● not the things of iesus christ. but you ▪ dear brethren , not only have not endured the church , your mother , and th● spouse of christ , but have rent , torn and violated her unity : and that yo● might thus rend , tear and violate he● ▪ you have charged the blemishes of private persons on her , whom christ has cleansed with the washing of water through the word of life , that he might present her glorious to himself , without either spot or wrinkle , or any such thing . what remains then , brethren , but that for your sakes we follow that advice of the holy ghosts , blessed are the peace-makers , for they shall be called the sons of god. and that by the bowels of mercy , which you have hitherto torn ; by the womb of the church , your mother , which you have burst ; by the charity of brethren , which you have so oft violated ; by the sacraments of god , which you have despised ; by the altars of god , which you have broken ; and by every thing , sacred or divine , that is worshipped either in heaven or earth ; we exhort you with the hearts of brethren to amend , to return , and to be reconciled . and what indeed remains , but that you , forgetting the schism , and remembring your mothers breasts , should again come home , where there are so many hired servants that have bread enough , while you cannot gather up crumbs for satisfying in any sort your spiritual hunger , being in a dry and untrodden desart . why then do you delay or withstand this ? are you ashamed to be reckoned children with those , among whom the eldest son lewis is daily erecting new trophies to the church his best mother : who , by reason of your wilfulness , is in this only not entirely happy , that although he is daily decreeing many things both religiously and piously for maintaining christianity , yet he sees some of his own subjects , who have of their own accord , forsaken the religion of their country , and have betaken themselves to foreign rites , being apostates from religion , and deserters of the ancient warfare , to continue still in their errour . and this most christian king did lately in our hearing say , that he did so earnestly desire to see all those broken and scattered parcels brought back to the unity of the church , that he would esteem it his glory to compass it with the shedding of his own royal blood , and even with the loss of that invincible arm , by which he has so happily made an end of so many wars . will you then , brethr●n , envy that palm of victory to this most august prince , and your king that has subdued so many and such mighty enemies , that has taken so many strong towns , and has conquer'd such great provinces , and is eminent in his triumphs of all sorts , and yet would prefer this victory to all the rest ? but , brethren , while we thus call upon you , and exhort you to the counsels of peace , do not you say , seek us not , for this is the language of iniquity , by which we are divided , and not of charity , by which we are christians . remember that the spirit of truth and peace has commanded us by the prophet not to cease to say to those who deny that they are our brethren , you are our brethren . what time can offer it self more fitly for calling you back to the roman communion than this , in which pope innocent governs the roman church ; whose life and manners being formed according to the ancient and severe discipline , present a perfect pattern of holiness to the christian world : so that it will be both for your honour as well as for your happiness , and a mark of great vertue in you , to joyn your selves to him who is such an eminent cherisher of all vertue . therefore as for you that need a physician , that are the members of christ , and noble ones too , bought with the same price , but are torn from the head and body of the church , through the wicked fraud of all our common enemy , we pray you by the eternal god suffer your selves to be healed , receive this admonition , and this humble prayer of ours : for such is our gentleness and compassion towards you , that we can confidently use the lowest expressions possible . and do you in a brotherly manner take hold of this occasion , that we offer you with such brotherly love , that so at last , through the grace of our god , the night of stupifying errour being dissipated , the light of divine truth may shine daily more and more ; suffer nor the weak and ignorant part of the christian flock to perish , because of some jealousies that you have rashly taken up against our faith ▪ do you think it unseemly to discover your disease to the physician ? give place both to repentance and physick ▪ and address your selves humbly to god , and esteem this to be that which is chiefly , and only honourable in christians . but if you will with obstinate minds refuse to do this while we thus exhort you , if you will not be overcome by prayers , nor bended by charity , nor wrought on by admonitions to a reconciliation , the angels of peace will weep bitterly ; but yet for all that we will not leave you to your selves , though that were but just to be done to persons so excessively obstinate ; we will not give over our seeking for the sheep of christ among the hedges and thorns ; and when we have done all by which your minds ought to have been reconciled to us , at last our peace , which is so earnestly and sincerely offered to you , when it is rejected by you , shall return to us : nor will god any longer require your souls at our hands . and as this your last errour will be worse than your former , so your last end will be worse than any thing you have formerly felt . but brethren , we hope better things , and things which accompany salvation . francis arch-bishop of paris , president . charles maurice arch-bishop and duke of rheims . charles arch-bishop of ambrun . iames arch-bishop and duke of cambray . hyacinth arch-bishop of alby . mi. phelipeaux arch-bishop of bourges . iames nicholas colbert arch-bishop of carthage , coadjutor of rouen . lewis of bourlemont arch-bishop of bourdeaux . gilbert bishop of tournay . nicholas bishop of riez . daniel bishop and earl of valence and die. gabriel bishop of autun . william bishop of bazas . gabriel bishop of auranches . iames bishop of meaux . sebastian bishop of st. malo. l. m. ar. de simiane bishop and duke of langres . fr. leo bishop of glandeves . lucas bishop of frioul . i. b. m. colbert bishop and duke of mountauban . charles bishop of montpellier . francis bishop of mande . charles bishop of la vaur . andrew bishop of auxerre . francis bishop of troyes . lewis bishop and earl of chalons . francis bishop of triguier . peter bishop of bellay . gabriel bishop of conserans . lewis bishop of alet . humbert bishop of tulle ▪ i. b. d' estampes bishop of marseilles . fr. de camps designed coadjutor of glandeves . de st. george designed bishop of m●scon . paul phil. de lusignan . lud. d' espinay de st. luc , c. leny de coadelets . la faye . cocquelin . lambert . p. de bermund . a. h. de fleury . de viens . f. feu . a. de maupiou . le franc de la grange . de senaux . parra dean of bellay . de boshe . m. de ratabon . clement de pouudeux . bigot . de gourgues . de villeneuve de vence . i. f. de l' escure . peter le roy. a. de soupets . a. argoud dean of vienna . gerbais . de bausset . g. bochart de champigny . courcier . cheron . a. faure . f. maucroix . de la borcy . de francqueville . armand bazin de besons , agent-general of the clergy of france . i. desmaretz agent-general of the clergy of france . remarks on the former letter . the tender expressions with which this letter begins , give the world some hopes that the gallican clergy have bowels of compassion , for those they call their brethren and little children , though the figures of a partridge or an eagle are too forced to flow from affections much moved . but the severities now exercised in mos● parts of france look like esau's hands , while the clergy speak with iacob's voice . the many terrible edicts that come out daily against those of that perswasion , and the much greater severity with which they are executed , do not very well agree with this melting language . perhaps some may think those edicts are civil things , and that the intendants or other officers who execute them , being of the laity , therefore the clergy are no way concerned in it . but if the blame of this is taken off from them , it must be laid somewhere else . it is notoriously known that the king himself is not at all of a bloody disposition , but is merciful and gentle : so that for all the hard measure that many of those who are forced to fly hither for refuge , feel , yet they do acknowledge that they owe it to the kings tenderness to his people , and aversion from cruelty , that it is not worse with them ; and that they are not massacred and destroyed to be the effect of his clemency and protection . and of this he has lately given the world a double assurance , both in the letters he sent to the bishops of france , and in those he sent with them to the deputies in the several provinces , printed together with this letter of the clergy . in the first are these words , recommending to you above all things the managing the spirits of those of that religion with gentleness ; and to use no other force but that of reason , for the bringing them again to the knowledge of the truth , without doing any thing against the edicts and declarations , by the vertue of which the exercise of that religion is tolerated within my kingdom . this is a little varied in the second letter thus , i recommend to you above all to manage the spirits of those of that religion with gentleness , and to hinder the doing of any thing that may be an invasion on that which is granted them by the edicts and declarations made in their favours . we will not have so criminal a thought of so glorious a prince , as to suspect his sincerity in this : and therefore when it ●is as visible as the day , that those edicts are broken almost in every branch of them , we must conclude that either the king is not well informed of the nature of those edicts , or is not acquainted with the violation of them : and since no king , how great soever , can see but with other mens eyes , and that it is not to be imagined that a prince so employed , as he is , can have read and examined the edicts granted by his ancestors in favour of that religion , it must be concluded , that those who have procured the passing those late edicts that contradict the former , have either flatly imposed on him , by making him believe they were not contrary to them , or have found out some slight equivocation in the words of the former edicts , upon which that great king has been induced to pass those edicts , which have come out of late so frequently against them . in this whole matter no political consideration is so much as pretended , the interests of state lie clearly against it . the design is well enough understood . a zeal for extirpating heresie , and the advancement of the kings glory is all that we hear given out for warranting those severities , which lie so heavy on such great numbers of the best subjects that france has . the interest that some of that assembly , the president in particular , has in the management of the affairs that concern the spirituality , and the high panegyricks which that body both offer to the king , and give of him for his proceedings in that affair , shew that as some of them set them on , so the rest approve of them : so that upon the whole matter , all the hard usage the poor protestants meet with , lies at their door . it is hard to perswade the world that they can have such bowels , while they thus tear those they call their little children with their paws : suppose their children were mistaken , and in errours , yet they should be fathers still , and not starve them to death , because they cannot either change their thoughts , or become so impious as to joyn in a worship which they think is not only superstitious but idolatrous . mens opinions are not in their own power , their understandings are necessary agents , and are determined by the evidence of things set before them : our wills can indeed engage our understandings to make enquiries with more application : they can also biass us with some partiality , for that in which we find our interests ; they can likewise command our actions , so that we may disguise and dissemble our opinions : but their dominion goes no further . it is not to be doubted but a small part of that hard usage which those oppressed french-men have met with , has more than determined them to enquire narrowly into those opinions , which were infused in them by their education : and has wrought so effectually on them , as to make them wish they could be of another mind ; but after all , if they see nothing but force to work on them , and manifestly discern the weakness of those reasons that are offered for their conviction , what remains but that either they must do violence to themselves , and so joyn in that monstrous idolatry of a worshipping as a god , that which they believe to be only a piece of bread ; or that they must still groan under those miseries to which they see themselves condemned ; which must needs possess them with such an opinion of the cruelty of those that call themselves their fathers , that all the tender expressions they read in this letter cannot root it out : for deeds are much surer evidences of mens affections than words . the title of a father agrees ill with the rage of an enemy . the members of this assembly pretend they go in the traces of those who first brought the christian religion into france ; and that they hold the same faith , as well as they possess the same chairs . it were to be wished , that they were also acted with the same spirit of meekness and gentleness towards those who differ from them , and that they had the same aversion to cruelty that we find among the ancients . i shall not here alledge what tertullian and cyprian have said in general against cruelty on the account of religion , nor what lactantius has more copiously enlarged on . but since they mention those that first established the christian religion in france , i shall offer to them what the first of the gallican bishops ( who had an occasion given him to write of such matters , hilary of poictiers ) said against the arians , who were persecuting the orthodox under constantius ; though their greatest severities were not equal to those that the protestants are now made to suffer . it will be unreasonable to alledge that what hilary said against that persecution cannot quadrate with the present case , the one being done by an heretical emperour , and the other by a most christian king. i shall avoid the making any odious comparison in this matter ; but this must be acknowledged , that it is to beg the question to say , the one persecuted to advance an errour , whereas the other does it to suppress errour ; and it will appear that he wrote not sincerely , if he did not condemn that way of proceeding in what cause soever it were employed : for he plainly says , the bishops would have opposed such methods even to advance truth . * hilary addressed himself to constantius , that he would slacken his severities , and suffer the people to hear those preach , and celebrate the holy mysteries , and pray for his safety and success , whom they liked best , and esteemed most , and had made choice of ; then he promises that all things would be quiet , and that not only there would be no sedition , but not so much as any murmuring . and as a reason for enforcing this , he says a little after ; god has taught , but not imposed on us the knowledge of himself , and conciliated authority to his commands by the miracles that were wrought ; but he despises that confession that flows from a compelled mind . if such force were used to draw men to the true faith , the episcopal doctrine would interpose and say the earth is the lords , and he needs not an enforced obedience , nor does he require a constrained confession . he is not to be deceived , but his favour is to be desired , and he is to be worshipped for our caus● , not for his own . i could not receive any but such as were willing , nor hear such as did not entreat me , nor confirm such as did not profess ( the faith. ) to this he adds , " but what is this that priests are forced by chains to fear god , and commanded by the terrour of punishments ? that priests are kept in prisons , and the people are delivered over to the jaylors ? and upon this he runs out more largely than is necessary to transcribe . but let us also hear how he addresses himself to those bishops that were the chief procurers and instruments of all the sufferings of the orthodox : and indeed , what he says to them does serve as so apposite an answer to a great part of this letter , that i hope it will not be irksome to translate a large quotation out of it . the name of peace ( saith he ) is specious , and the opinion of unity is beautiful : but it is past all doubt , that that peace only which is the peace of christ is the peace of the church and the gospels : we have desired to recover that same peace that is now lost , of which he spake to his apostles after his glorious sufferings , and which he being to leave them , recommended to them as a pledge of his eternal laws . and we have desired to compose the disorders now made in it , and having again recovered it , we have also desired to maintain it . but so prevalen● have the sins of this age been , and the sore-runners and ministers of antichrist that is approaching , have been so active , that we could neither procure this peace , nor partake of it : while those who boast of the unity of their peace , that is , of their impiety , behave themselves not like the bishops of christ , but like the priests of antichrist . but that we may not be blamed for using reproachful words , we will not conceal the cause of this common ruine , that so none may be ignorant of it . we know from what s. iohn the apostle has delivered , that there are many antichrists , and whosoever denies christ , as he was preached by the apostles , is an antichrist . it is the property of antichrist , marked by the very name , to be contrary to christ. now by the opinion of a mistaken piety , and under the pretence of preaching the gospel , this is effected or endeavoured , that the lord jesus christ while he seems to be preached , is denied . in the first place , we must pity the labour of this age , and lament the foolish opinions of those times , in which god is thought to be protected by men , and by secular ambition the church of christ is laboured to be defended . i pray you , o you bishops , who believe your selves to be such , what were the assistances which the apostles made use of in preaching the gospel ? by what earthly powers were they supported when they preached christ , and converted almost all nations from idols to god ? did they derive any authority from the palace , when they were singing hymns to god , in prison , in chains , and after they were whipped ? did paul gather a church to christ by vertue of royal edicts , when he himself was exposed as a spectacle on a theatre ? did he secure himself by the protection of a nero , a vespasian or a decius , by whose hatred of us the confession of that divine preaching did flourish ? they maint●ining themselves by their own handy-work , and assembling in upper rooms and secret places , went over all countries , both villages and strong places , through sea and land , notwithstanding the decrees of senates and royal edicts against them . and i suppose it will not be denied , that they had the keys of the kingdom of heaven . did not the divine power exert it self manifestly against the hatred of men , when christ was preached so much the more as the preaching of him was prohibited ? but now , alas , humane aids are employed to recommend our divine faith , and christ is accused as having lost his former power , while his name is promoted by ambition . the church now terrifies others by banishments and imprisonments : she depends on the favour of her communicants , who was consecrated by the terrour of her persecutors . she banishes priests who was propagated by the banishment of her own priests : and now boasts that she is beloved of the world , who yet could never have been christs , if the world had not hated her . the present state of affairs , which is in all mens eyes and discourses , gives us this parallel of the condition of the church , as it was anciently conveyed down to us , and as it is now ruined in our days . there needs no application of these words to the present purpose , they express the plea of those persecuted men so fully , that it may be well concluded that the spirit that acted in hilary , is not the same with that which now inspires the reverend prelates of that church . to this i might add the known history of the priscillianists that fell out not long after . i shall not presume to make a parallel between any of the gallican church , and ithacius , who persecuted them ; of whom the historian gives this character , that he was a vain , sumptuous , sensual ▪ and impudent man , and that he grew to that pitch in vice , that he suspected all men that led strict lives , as if they had been inclined to heresie . and it is also to be hoped , that none will be so uncharitable as to compare the priscillianists with those they now call hereticks in france ; whether we consider their opinions , that were a revival of the blasphemies of the gnosticks , or their morals , that were brutal and obscene , even by priscillian's own confession . now ithacius prosecuted those in the emperours courts , and went on in the pursuit , though the great apostle of that age , martin , warned him often to give it over . in conclusion , when ithacius had set it on so far that a sentence was sure to pass against them , he then withdrew from it : sentence was given , and some of them were put to death , upon which some bishops excommunicated ithacius , yet s. martin was wrought on to communicate with him very much against his mind ; being threatned by the emperour maximus that if he would not do it , troops should be ordered to march into spain , to destroy the rest of them . this prevailed on that good man to joyn in communion with those that had acted so contrary to the mercifulness of their religion , and to the sacredness of their character . but no arts could work on s. martin to approve of what they had done . the effects of this were remarkable , for when s. martin went home , if we will believe sulpitius , an angel appeared to him , and reproved him severely for what he had done ; upon which he with many tears , lamented much the sin he had committed by his communicating with those men , and would never after that communicate with any of that party : and during the sixteen years that he survived that , sulpitius who lived with him , tells us that he never went to any synod , and that there was a great withdrawing of those influences and graces , for which he had been so eminent formerly . and thus if s. martin's example and practice is of any authority , the cruelty of that church that has engaged all the princes of europe , as much as was in their power , to do what maximus then did , and the present practices of the bishops about the court , might justifie a separation from them . but we do not proceed upon such disputable grounds . to this i shall only ●dd the a●thority of another father , who t●o●gh he was none of the gallican bishops , 〈◊〉 since he is more read and esteemed in that church than any other of all the ●athers , it is to be hoped that his authority may be somewhat considered . it is s. austin . he was once against all sorts of severity in matters of religion , and delivered his mind so pathetically and elega●tly on that subject , that i presume the reader will not be ill pleased to hear his own words , writing against the manicheans , whose impieties are too well known to be enlarged on ; so as to shew that even in the account which the church of rome makes of things , they cannot pretend that the protestants are as bad as they were . he begins his book against them with an earnest prayer to god that he would give him a calm and serene mind , so that he might study their conversion ▪ and not seek their ruine ; to which purpose he applies those words of s. paul to timothy , the servant of the lord must not strive , but be meek towards all men , apt to teach , patient , in meekness instructing them that oppose themselves : to which he adds these words , let them exercise cruelty upon you , who do not know with what difficulty truth is found out , and how hardly errours are avoided : let them exercise cruelty upon you , who do not know how rare and hard a thing it is to overmaster carnal imaginations with the serenity of a pious mind . let them exercise cruelty upon you , who do not know with what difficulty the eye of the inward man is healed , that so it may behold its sun. let them exercise cruelty upon you , who do not know with what groans and sighs we attain the smallest measure of the knowledge of god. and in the last place , let them exercise cruelty upon you , who were never themselves deceived with any errour like that with which you are now deceived ▪ it is true , it may be pretended , that he became afterwards of another mind , but that will not serve to excuse the severities now on foot , the case being so very different . the donatists in his time very generally fierce and cruel , one sort of them , the circumcellionists , acted like mad men : they did lie in wait for s. austin's life ; they fell upon several bishops with great barbarity , putting out the eyes of some , and cudgelling others till they left them as dead . upon this , the bishops of africk were forced to desire the emperours protection , and that the laws made against hereticks might be executed upon the donatists , and yet even in this s. austin was at first averse . it is true , he afterwards in his writings against the donatists justified those severities of fining and banishing , but he expresses both in his own name , and in the name of all those churches , great dislike not only of all capital proceedings , but of all rigour ; and when the governours and magistrates were carrying things too far , he interposed often and ●ith great earnestness to moderate their severity : and wrote to them , that if they went on with such rigour , the bishops would rather bear with all the violences of the donatists , than seek to them for redress ; and whole synods of bishops concurred with him in making the like addresses in their favours ; and though there were excesses committed in some few instances , yet we may easily conclude how gentle they were , upon the whole matter , from this that he says that the fines imposed by law had never been exacted , and that they were so far from turning the donatists out of their own churches , that they still kept possession of several churches which they had violently invaded , and wrested out of the hands of the bishops . it is plain then , since he justified those severities only as a necessary restraint on the rage to the donatists , and a just protection of the bishops , that this has no relation to the hardships the protestants now suffer , it not being pretended that they have drawn it upon themselves by any tumultuary or irregular proceedings of theirs . so much seemed necessary to shew how different the spirit of the present clergy o● france is from that which animated the church in the former and best ages . the reverend prelates say in their letter , that they hold the same faith with their predecessors . if this were true in all points , it were indeed very hard to write an apology for those that have separated from them : i shall not engage in a long discussion of the sentiments of the ancient bishops of the gallican church ; yet that the reader may not be too much wrought on by the confidence and plausibleness of this expression● , i shall only give a taste of the faith of the first of all the gallican clergy , whose works are yet preserved , and that is irenaeus : i shall instance it in two particulars , the one is the hinge upon which all our other controversies turn ; that is , whether the scriptures or oral tradition is to be appealed to , for determining matters of controversie : the other is the most material point in difference among us , concerning the presence of christ in the sacrament , whether in it we really receive the substance of bread and wine , or only the accidents . as to the first , he directly appeals to the scriptures , which he says were the pillar ●nd ground of truth ; and adds , that the valentinians did appeal to oral tradition , from which he ●urns to that tradition that was come from the apostles ; on which he insists very copiously , and puts all the authority of tradition in this , that it was derived from the apostles : and therefore says that if the apostles had delivered nothing in writing , we must then have followed the order of tradition : and after he has shewed that the tradition to which the valentinians pretended was really against them , and that the orthodox had it derived down from the apostles on their side , he returns to that upon which he had set up the strength of his cause , to prove the truth from the scriptures . now the scriptures being the foundation on which the protestants build , and oral tradition , together with the authority of the church , being that on which the church of rome builds , it will be easie to every one that considers those chapters referred to in irenaeus , to gather upon which of those he grounded his belief . as for the other particular , he plainly calls the sacrament that bread over which thanks have been given ; and says , our flesh is nourished by the body and blood of christ ; and concludes that our flesh by the sacrament has an assurance of its resurrection and incorruptibility . more particularly he says , our blood is encreased by the blood of christ , and that he encreases our body by that bread which he has confirmed to be his body , and that by these the substance of our body is encreased ; and from thence he argues , that our bodies receive an encrease not by any internal or invisible way , but in the natural way of nourishment ; and so concludes , that our bodies being nourished by the eucharist , shall therefore rise again . every one that considers the force of these words , must conclude that he believed our bodies received in the sacrament a real substance which nourished them , and not bare accidents . if then upon this essay it appears , that the first writer of all gallican bishops does agree with the protestants , both in that which is the foundation upon which they build their whole cause , and also in that particular opinion which is believed to be of the greatest importance , then the reader has no reason to believe that the present bishops of france hold the same faith which their predecessors taught who first preached the christian religion in that kingdom . but now i come to answer the main question , which is indeed the whole substance of the letter , why have they made the schism ? if such a letter with such a demand in it , had come from the abassin or armenian churches , or perhaps from the greek churches , whose distance from us is such , and the oppressions they groan under are so extreme , that they have little heart and few opportunities to enquire into the affairs or opinions of others , it could not have been thought strange ; but to hear it from these : among whom those live , who have so often both in writings and discourses answered this question so copiously , is really somewhat unaccountable : yet this is not all , but it is added , that the protestants , upon trial finding they could not shake their doctrine , have charged them only for their ill lives , as if that were the ground of the separation . this it must be confessed , had better become the affected eloquence of a maimbourg , than the sincerity of so many eminent men ; of whom the mildest censure that can be past in this particular is , that some aspiring priest being appointed to pen this letter , that was better accustomed to the figures of a clamorous rhetorick , than the strict measures of truth , gave it this turn , hoping to recommend himself by it , and that the bishops signed it in haste , without considering it well . who of all the protestants have made that experiment , and found that the faith of the church of rome was not to be attackt , and that she can only be accused for the ill lives of some in her communion ? if this were all we had to object , we do not deny but that all that the fathers retorted on the schismaticks , particularly the donatists , did very justly fall on us ; and that we could neither answer it to god , to the world , nor our own consciences , if we had separated from their church on no other account : and this is indeed so weak a plea , that the penner of the letter shewed his skill at least , if he was wanting in his sincerity , to set up a pretence which he knew he could easily overthrow , though the reasons he brings to overthrow it , are not all pertinent nor convincing : but this in conclusion , is so managed as to draw an occasion from it to complement the present pope , some way to make an amends for their taking part with their king against him . all that is to be said on this head is , that protestants are not so unjust as to deny the pope that now reigns , his due praises ; of whose vertue and strictness of life they hear such accounts , that they heartily wish all the assembly of the clergy , from the president , down to the secretaries would imitate that excellent pattern that he sets them . a zeal for converting hereticks does not very well become those whose course of life has not been so exemplary , that this can be imputed to an inward sense of religion , and to the motives of divine charity . but in this point of the corruption of mens lives , we may add two things more material : the one is if a church teaches ill morals , or at least connives at such casuistical doctrines as must certainly root out all the principles of moral vertue and common goodness out of the minds of men , then their ill morals may be improved to be a good argument for a separation from them . how much the casuistical doctrine of those who are the chief confessors in that communion has been corrupted of late , we may learn from what has been published by many among themselves , particularly by their late address to the present pope , and by the articles condemned both by pope alexander the seventh , and by the pope that now reigns . but yet how faint those censures are , every one that has read them , must needs observe . this is not all : the dissolving of oaths and vows , the dispensing with many of the laws of god , the authorizing subjects to shake off their princes yoke , if he does not extirpate heresie and hereticks , the butcheries of those they call hereticks , and that after faith given to the contrary ; having been for some ages the publick practices of the court of rome ; in which several general councils have also concurred with them , are things both of such a nature , and have been so openly avowed as well as practised in that church , that this argument from the corruption of their morals , may be well fastened on their whole church . if likewise many opinions are received among them , which do naturally tend to slacken the strictness of holiness , and give the world more mild ideas of sin , and make the way to the favour of god accessible even without a real reformation , then there will be more weight in this argument than may at first view appear . the belief of the sacraments conferring grace , ex opere operato , the vertue of indulgences , the priestly absolution , the communication of merits , the vertue supposed to be in some pilgrimages , in images and priviledged altars , in fraternities , and many consecrated things , together with the after-game of purgatory , and of redemption out of it by masses ; these with many more devices , are such contrivances for enervating the true force of religion , and have such effects on the lives of men , who generally are too easie to hearken to any thing that may make them hope well , while they live ill ▪ that when we complain of a great dissolution of mens morals that live under the influences of that religion , this charge is not personal , but falls on their church in common . in the next place , that vast corruption of ecclesiastical discipline , and of all the primitive rules , occasioned chiefly by the exorbitant power the popes have assumed , of dispensing with all laws , the gross sale of such graces at rome , the intrigues in the creation of the popes themselves , the universal neglect of the pastoral care among the superiour orders of the clergy , do give men just and deep prejudices against a church so corrupt in her ruling members , and do raise great dislike of that extent of authority which the bishops of rome have assumed , that have cut all the banks , and let in such an inundation of ill practices on the world. and if once in an age or two a pope of another temper , of better morals , and greater strictness arises , we are notwithstanding that , to judge of things not upon rare and single instances , but upon their more ordinary and natural effects . thus laying all these things together , it will appear that our exceptions to that church upon the account of their morals , is not so slight as the penner of that letter has represented it ; and that his instances for living among ill men have no relation to this matter . but this is the weakest plea we have for our separation , and as strong soever as it may be in it self , we build upon solider foundations . in order to the opening this , i shall premise a little of the true end and design of religion , which is to beget in us so deep a sense of the divine nature and perfections a● may most effectually engage us to become truly holy. there are two inclinations in the nature of men , that dispose him to corrupt the ideas of god ; the one is an inclination to cloath him in some outward figure , and present him to our senses in such a manner , that we may hope by flatteries or submissions , by pompous or cruel services to appease him : and the other is a desire to reconcile our notions of religion to our vicious habits and appetites , that so we may some way pacifie our consciences in the midst of our lusts and passions : and thus the true notion of idolatry is the representing of god to us so as that we may hope to gain his favour by other methods than our being inwardly pure and holy : and the immorality of this consists not only in the indecency of such representations , and their unsuitableness to the divine nature , but likewise in this , that our notions of god which ought to be the seeds of vertue and true godliness , by which our natures are to be reformed , are no more effectual that way , but turn only to a pageantry , and spend themselves in dressing up our worship , so as we think will better agree with one that is like our selves : now we find the chief design of the gospel was to root this out of the world , and to give us the highest and perfectest ideas of the purity and goodness of the divine nature , that might raise in us that inward probity of soul , comp●ehended in the general name of charity or love , which is the proper character of the christian spirit : we have also the divine holiness so presented to us , that we can never hope to attain the favour of god here , or eternal happiness hereafter , but by becoming inwardly and universally holy . now our main charge against the church of rome is , that this which is the great design of the christian religion is reversed among them , and that chiefly in four things . 1. in proposing visible objects to the adorations of the people , against not only the current of the whole scriptures , but the true idea and right notion of god ; and this not only by precept in the images of our saviour and the saints , but by a general tolerance in the images of the blessed trinity it self . thus the senses having somewhat set before them on which they may work , do naturally corrupt the mind , and convert religion , which is an inward and spiritual work , into an outward gross homage to these objects . 2. in setting up the intercession of saints , as if either god had not a capacity of attending to the whole government of the world , or were not so merciful or good , but that as princes are wrought on by the interposition of their courtiers , so he needed to have such importunities to induce him to be favourable to us : the very plea commonly used for this from the resemblance of earthly courts , is the greatest debasing of the divine nature that is possible : and when the addresses made to these saints in the publick offices of the church , are the very same that we make to god or our saviour , that they would pardon our sins , give u●●race , assist us at all times , and open the kingdome of heaven to us ; and when after those things have been complained of for above an age , and that upon a general review of their offices , they are still continued among them , we must conclude that the honour due to the creator is offered to the creature . i need not bring instances of these , they are so well known . 3. in ●the many consecrations that are used among ●hem of images , crosses , habits , water , salt , oyl , candles , bells , vessels ▪ agnus dei's , and grains ; with a vast deal more , by which those things are so consecrated , as to have a vertue in them for driving away devils , for being ▪ a security both to soul and body , and a remedy against all temporal and spiritual evils . this way of incantations was one of the grossest pieces of heathenism , and is now by them brought into the christian religion : and the opinion , that upon these consecrations a vertue is conveyed to those things , is infused into the people by their authorized offices : in which if in any thing it is not to be believed that the church lies and deceives her children : this is plainly to consider god as the heathens did their idols , and to fetch down divine vertues by charms , as they did . and 4. their worshipping with divine honour , that which by all the indications that we can have of things , we know is no other than what it appears to be , even bread and wine in its substance and nature : thus divine adoration is offered to those elements , contrary to the universal practice of the christian church for 1200 years ; and this passes among them as the most important piece of their worship , which has almost swallowed up all the rest . thus the true ideas of god , and the chief design of the christian religion is overthrown in that communion ; and what can we think of a church that in the most important of her offices , adds this prayer to the absolution of sinners , the passion of our lord iesus christ , the merits of the blessed virgin , and all the saints , and whatever good thou hast done , and whatever evil thou hast suffered be to thee for the pardon of sin , the increase of grace , and the reward of eternal life ; where we see clearly what things they joyn in the same breath , and in order to the same ends with the passion of christ. when they have cleansed their churches of these objects of idolatry and superstition , and their offices of those impious addresses to saints , and that infinite number of enchantments , then they may upon some more advantage ask , why have we made the schism ? it is because they have corrupted the doctrine of christ and the gospel ; and if those things upon which the separation subsists were removed , it could no more subsist than accidents can do without a subject . the next thing upon which we ground our separation is , that not only the church of rome would hearken to no addresses nor remonstrances that were made to her for reforming those abuses , but that by anathema's and the highest censures possible , all are obliged to believe as she believes in those very particulars , and are bound to joyn in a worship in which those things which we condemn , are made indispensable parts of our publick devotions : so that we must either mock god , by concurring in a worship which we believe impious and superstitious , or we must separate from them . none can be admitted to benefices of cure or preferment , without swear●ng most of these opinions which we think are false : nor can any eminent heretick be received among them , without swearing that he in all things receives the doctrines of the church of rome , and that he thinks all that do not receive them worthy of an anathema . if the errours of the church of rome had been only speculative opinions , or things of less moment , we could have better born with them , or if they had only held to their own customes without imposing them on us , we could have held in several things a sisterly communion with them , as we do with the greek churches ; but when they have not only brought in and obstinately maintained those corruptions , but have so tyrannically imposed them on the world , it is somewhat strange to see men make such grimaces , and an appearance of seriousness , while they ask this question , of which they know so well how to have resolved themselves . one thing is likewise to be considered , that in the examination of the corruptio●s of that communion , it is not sufficient to say somewhat to sweeten every one of them in particular , but it is the complication of all together that we chiefly insist on , since by all these set together we have another view of them , than by every one of them taken asunder . this then is our answer to the question so often repeated : we have not made the schism from the church of christ , as it was setled by the apostles , and continued for many ages after them , but they have departed from that , and have refused to return to it . on the contrary , they have condemned and cursed us for doing it : upon this , all that they obj●ct against the first reformers , as having been once of their communion , falls to the ground : for if these things which we object to them are true , then since no man is bound to continue in errours , because he ▪ was bred up in them , this is no just prejudice against those men . all the flourishes raised upon this ground are but slight things , and favour more of a monastick and affectate eloquence , than of the weight and solidity of so renowned a body . what is said of pulling down the altars , and of that elegant figure of christs being the sparrow , and the churches being the turtle , that loved to make their nests in them , is really very hard to be answered ; not for the strength that is in it , but for another reason , that in reverence to that assembly i shall not name . the sacrifice of the death of christ we acknowledge , as that only by which we come to god , and in a general sense of that term , the commemoration of it may be also called a sacrifice , and the communion table an altar , and such we still retain : and for any thing further , either of altar or sacrifice , till they give a better authority for it , than a fanciful allusion ●o an ill-understood verse of a ●salm , we shall not be much concerned in it . if wars and confusions have followed in some places upon the reforming those abuses , they were the effects of the rage and cruelty of those church-men , that seemed never like to be satiated with the blood of those that had departed from them . and if the specious pretence of edicts , princes of the blood , the preserving the house of bourbon , the defending france from foreigners , joyning with that natural appetite that is in all men to preserve themselves , engaged some in wars under the minority of their kings , it is nothing but what is natural to man : and these who condemn it most , yet ought to pity those whom their predecessors , in whose steps they now go , constrained to do all that they did . and the rebellions in england and ireland , in king henry the eighth , edward the sixth , and queen elizabeth's time , when no persecutions provoked them to them , and no laws gave them any colour for them , are a much stronger prejudice against their church , chiefly since these were set on by the authority and agents of rome , so that they may well give over the pursuing this matter any further . as for the argument set before them from the greatness and glory of their king , and his zeal to have all again re-united into one body , how powerful soever it may be to work upon their fears , and to touch them in their secular concerns , it cannot be considered as an argument to work on their reasons . they expressed their zeal for their king in his greatest extremity , while he was under age ; and after all the heavy returns that they have met with since that time , they have continued in an invincible loyalty and submission in all things , except in the matters of their god : if the heroick greatness , glorious success , and the more inherent qualities of a princely mind , are good arguments to work on subjects , they were as strong in the times of a trajan , a decius , or a dioclesian , to perswade the christians to turn heathens : but it is very probable this is the strongest of all those motives that have produced so many conversions of late , while men , either to make their court , or to live easie , are induced to make shipwrack of the faith , and of a good conscience . and i shall not add , that it seems those who are so often making use of this argument , feel the mighty force it has on themselves , and so imagine it should prevail as much on others , as they find it does on their own consciences , or rather on their ambition and covetousness . i will prosecute the matter of this letter no further , and therefore shall not shew in how many places the secretary that penned it has discovered how much he is a novice in such matters , and what great advantages he gives to those who would sift all the expressions , the figures , and the periods in it . but the respect i pay to those that subscribe it , as well as the importance and gravity of the subject stop me : so from the reviewing this letter , i go next to consider the methods laid down by the assembly for carrying on those conversions . a memorial , containing diverse methods , of which very great use may be made for the conversion of those who profess the pretended reformed religion . the first method is that which cardinal richelieu used for reducing , either in the way of disput● or conference , those of the p. r. r. and to perswade them in an amicable manner to re-unite themselves to the church . this method is to attack them by ● decree of a synod of theirs tha● met at charenton , 1631. by which the● received to their communion those of th● ausbourg confession , who hold the rea● presence of the body of iesus christ in the eucharist , together with diverse other articles that are very different from the confession of faith of those that are the p. reformed . vpon which the minister dailee in his apology says , that if the church of rome had no other errour besides that , they had not had a sufficient reason for their separating from her . it is certain , that none of all the other points of our belief that are controverted , are either of greater importance , or harder to be believed than this which has been ever esteemed even by themselves one of the chief grounds of their separation , and is that by which the people are most amused . as for that which the minister dailee says for eluding the force of this objection , that the lutherans do not adore iesus christ in the sacrament : it is altogether unreasonable , since calvin himself reproves the lutherans for that , and is forced to acknowledge that adoration is a necessary consequence of the real presence . what is more strange ( says he ) than to put jesus christ in the bread , and not to adore him ? and if he is in the bread , then he ought to be adored under the bread. thus since , according to the calvinists in the same synod , one does not overthrow the grounds of salvation by the belief of the real presence , and the other points of their confession concerning which they dispute , that cardinal thought he could convince them of their errour , in separating faom the communion of the church of rome , in which , according to their own maximes , one could be saved . it was by the like reasoning that the african fathers convinced the donatists , called the primianists , that they had unjustly separated themselves from the catholick church , because it received cecilian i●to its communion , since they had made a decree of vnion with the maximianists , whom they had formerly condemned . it was in the council of carthage , held under anastasius , that the fathers used this against those hereticks , and in the fourth canon they set this before them , * that they might see if they would but open their eyes a little to the divine light , that they had as unjustly ●ut themselves off from the unity of the church ; as the maximianists according to what they said , had separated themselves from their communion , remarks . if cardinal richelieu had not ●een an abler states-man , than as it appears by this argument , he was a divine , the princes of europe would not have such cause as they have at present , to dread the growth of the french monarchy , of which he laid the best and strongest foundations . it is a common maxime , that no man can excel but in one thing ; so since his strength lay in the politicks , no wonder he had no great talent for divinity : but if this at first view seemed to him to have somewhat in it to amuse weak minds , especially when it surprized them with its novelty ; yet it is a little unexpected to find it taken up by so great a body , and set in the front of their methods for making proselytes , after the weakness of it has been so evidently discovered . 1. great difference is to be made between a speculation that lies in the mind , and is a mans particular opinion , and that which discovers it self in the most solemn acts of worship ; for the former , unless it is such as subverts the foundations of religion , we can well bear with it : these are errours in which the person that holds them is only concerned , whereas the other errors become more fruitful , they corrupt the worship , they give scandal , and infect others . therefore we will without scruple own , that whether a man believe consubstantiation or transubstantiation , so long as that lies in his brain as a notion , we may conclude him a very ill philosopher , and a worse divine , for holding it ; but still we will receive him to our communion , that being a solemn stipulation of the new covenant made with god through christ : and therefore since such a person acts nothing contrary to that covenant , we ought to admit him to it : but idolatry being contrary to the laws upon which that covenant is grounded , we cannot receive an idolater , though we do admit such as are in errours , that produce no other effect but mistaken apprehensions and judgements . it is unreasonable to say that if the presence is acknowledged , adoration ought to follow ; for we will excommunicate none for a consequence , were it never so well deduced , so long as they hold not that consequence : and if calvin argued as he did from that absurdity , it was not that he thought they ought to adore , because they believed consubstantiation ; but rather to let them see how unreasonable it was to believe it , since they did not adore it ; and yet it must be confessed the argument is not unanswerable : for it may be said , that as princes when ●●ey are in any place incognito , even though they are known , yet their being incognito shews that they will not have that respect paid them which is otherwise due to them : so that christ being present in an invisible manner is not to be adored . i shall not determine whether the argument or the answer is stronger , yet this must be confessed , that upon so dubious a consequence , it were a very unreasonable cruelty to deny the holding communion with those that believed such a presence , though we refuse to communicate with those that joyn adoration to it . 2. there is a great difference to be made between the receiving men that hold erroneous tenets , to our ●ommunion that we believe is pure and undefiled , and the joyning our selves to a communion in which we must profess those very errours which we condemn ; and by solemn acts of worship must testifie before god and the world that we believe that which inwardly and in our consciences we think false . the former is only a tolerating or conniving at the errours of others , without any sort of approbation of them ; whereas the other is the fullest and most publick contradiction to our consciences that is possible . 3. as long as any errours do not strike against the foundations of the christian religion , we own that we will bear with them , at least not oblige others , especially the laity , in whom there is not that danger of spreading them to renounce them , before we admit them to the sacraments : but the case of the church of rome is very different , among whom this opinion is but one of very many opinions , that we think reverse the whole nature and design of christianity , of which some short hints were given in the remarks upon the letter of the assembly general . 4. it is a very ill inference to conclude , because that we think a man can be saved that believes the corporal presence , therefore we have done amiss to separate from their communion . we may think men may be saved though they are in some errours , that in us were damnable , after the illumination we have had ; especially if we should profess that we believe them when we do not believe them , and therefore if we cannot continue in their communion without professing that we believe those errours , they were to blame for imposing them on us , and not we for separating from them , when they had imposed them . 5. that which the african fathers objected to the donatists was very pertinently urged against them , who grounded their separation only upon this , that there were some corrupt members in the communion of the church : and this was very justly cast back on them , upon their receiving the maximianists , whom they had formerly condemned as schismaticks , to their communion . but it has no relation to us who have not separated from their church upon any such personal account : therefore since the chief grounds of our separation are the corruptions in their worship , and our being obliged to bear a share in those corruptions , it is clear that our receiving to our communion those who have not corrupted their worship , and come to joyn with us , has no relation to that dispute b●tween the african fathers and the donatists . 6. there is one thing in the method which we freely confess to be true , that there is none of the controverted points that are harder to be believed than this of the real presence . it is no wonder it should be so , since it has the strongest evidences both of sense and reason against it : but if it is so hard to be believed , it is very severe to prosecute those who cannot bring themselves to believe it , in so extreme a manner as that church has done and still does . upon the whole matter , this method is so weak in all the parts of it , that its being set first , gives no great hopes of any thing extraordinary to follow . the second method is to lay this before them , that according to the light of nature , and their own confession , in the matters of our salvation , which is the one thing that is needful , we ought always to chuse the surer side : now it is certain , that according to that decree of the synod of charenton , it is indifferent to them whether one believes the real presence , or whether they believe it not ; and we hold it necessary to believe it , therefore it is the surer side to believe it : and if they could but disengage themselves a little from their prejudices , they would follow this way . the same may be said of all the other points in dispute . mestresat the minister , in his treatise of the church , says that things necessary to salvation are only those that are so expressly set down in the scriptures , that no doubt can be made of them . such as are the articles of the apostles creed . if there is any thing that is obscure ( says he ) then i assert it is not necessary , and therefore one may be a very good christian without it , and may have both faith , hope and charity . it is evident that the points in dispute which they maintain against us are not so clearly expressed in the scripture , that one cannot doubt concerning them : since we maintain on good grounds , that they are not there : so that according to their own doctrine , one can disbelieve them , without endangering his salvation . but we say that it is necessary , under the pain of damnation , to believe the contrary opinion , and therefore if they will take the surest side , they ought to submit to us . remarks . 1. it is something odd to see so great a body use this logick , that because we think an errour is not damnable , and such as obliges us to excommunicate all that hold it , therefore we think it indifferent to believe it or not . we judge it an errour , and while we think it so , it were a lie for us to say that we did believe it , and this , especially in such publick acts of worship of god , which are grossly idolatrous , by their own confession , while we hold this persuasion , is so far from being a thing indifferent , that we know nothing more damnable ▪ for this were to lie every day to god and the world , and to commit idolatry in a manner more absurd , than the most barbarous nations have been guilty of , which is to worship that as a god which we do believe is only a piece of bread. 2. in this very article it is plain that our opinion is the surer side : for as to the spiritual efficacy of the sacrament and due preparation for it , which is all that we hold concerning it , by their own confession there can be no sin in that : whereas if their opinion is false , they are guilty of a most horrid idolatry . so there is no danger in any thing we do , whereas there may be great danger on their side ; all the danger that is possible to be on our side , is , that we do not adore christ if he is present , which may be thought to be want of reverence : but that cannot be reasonably urged , since we at the same time adore him , believing him to be in heaven ; and if this objection against us had any force , then the primitive church for twelve hundred years must have been in a state of damnation , for none of them adored the consecrated elements , nor has the greek church ever done it . 3. it is clear this general maxime of taking the surer sid● is against them . there is no sin in not worshipping images , whereas there may be a sin in doing it . they confess it is not necessary to invocate the saints , and we believe it is sinful . they do not hold that it is necessary to say masses for redeeming souls out of purgatory , and we believe that it is an impious profanation of the sacrament . they do not hold it is necessary to take away the cup in the sacrament , we think it sacrilegious . they do not think those consecrations , by which divine vertues are derived into such a variety of things to be necessary , we look on them as gross superstitions . they do not think the worship in an unknown tongue necessary , whereas we think it a disgrace to religion . so in all these , and many more particulars , it is clear that we are of the surer side . 4. we own that maxime , that nothing is necessary to salvation but what is plainly set down in the scriptures ; but this is not to be carried so far , as that it should be impossible by sophistry , or the equivocal use of words , to fasten some other sense to such passages in scripture ; for then nothing can be said to be plain in any book whatsoever : but we understand this of the genuine meaning of the scriptures , such as a plain well-disposed man will find out , if his mind is not strongly prepossessed or biassed with false and wrong measures . 5. the confidence with which any party proposes their opinions , cannot be a true standart to judge of them ; otherwise the receipts of mountebanks will be always preferred to those prescribed by good physicians ; and indeed the modesty of one side and the confidence of the other , ought rather to give us a biass for the one against the other , especially if it is visible that interest is very prevalent in the confident party . the third method is to confer amicably with them , and to shew them our articles in the scriptures and tradition , as the fathers of tbe first ages understood both the one and the other , without engaging in reasonings , or the drawing out of consequences by syllogisms , as cardinal bellarmin , and perron , and gretser , and the other writers of controversie have done ; which ordinarily beget endless disputes . it was in this manner that the general councils did proceed , and thus did s. austin prove original sin against julian : to this end ( says he ) * o julian , that i may overthrow thy engines and artifices by the opinions of those bishops who have interpreted the scripture with so much glory . after which he cites the passages of the scripture , as they were understood by s. ambrose , s. cyprian , s. gregory nazianzene , and others . remarks . 1. we do not deny but amicable conferences , in which matters are proposed without the wranglings of dispute , are the likeliest ways to convince people : and whenever they shew us their doctrines directly in the scripture and tradition , we will be very unreasonable if we do not yield upon that evidence . when they give us good authorities from scripture and tradition for the worship of images and saints , for adoring the host , for dividing the sacrament , for redeeming souls out of purgatory , for denying the people the free use of the scriptures , for obliging them to worship god in a tongue not understood by them , we will confess our selves very obstinate men if we resist such conviction . 2. the shewing barely some passages , without considering the whole scope of them , with the sense in which such words were used , in such ages , and by such fathers will certainly misguide us , therefore all these must be also taken in for making this enquiry exactly . allowances also must be made for the heats of eloquence in sermons or warm discourses , since one passage strictly and philosophically expressed is stronger than a hundred , in which the heat of zeal and the figures of rhetorick transport the writer . and thus if the fathers disputing against those who said that the humane nature of christ was swallowed up by his divine nature , urge this to prove that the humane nature did still subsist , that in the sacrament after the consecration , in which there is an union between the elements and the body and blood of christ , they do still retain their proper nature and substance ; such expressions used on such a design le●d us more infallibly to know what they thought in this matter , than any thing that they said with design only to beget reverence and devotion can do . 3. the ancient councils were not so sollicitous as this paper would insinuate , to prove a tradition from the fathers of the first ages . they took great care to prove the truth , which they decreed , by many arguments from scripture ; but for the tradition , they thought it enough to shew that they did innovate in nothing , and that some fathers before them had taught what they decreed . we have not the acts of the two first general councils , but we may very probably gather upon what grounds those at nice proceeded , by what s. athanasius wrote as an apology for their symbol , in particular for the word consubstantial , which he proves by many consequences drawn from scripture , but for the tradition of it he only cites four fathers , and none of those were very ancient : they are theognistus , denis of alexandria , denis of rome , and origen ; and yet both that a father , b hilary , and c s. basil acknowledge that denis of alexandria wavered much in that matter ; and it is well known what advantages were taken from many of origen's expressions . so here we have only two undisputed fathers that conveyed this tradition . we have the acts of the third general council yet preserved , and in them we find a tradition indeed alledged , but except s. cyprian and s. peter of alexandria , they cite none but those that had lived after the council of nice ; and pope leo's letter to flavian , to which the council of chalcedon assented , is an entire contexture of authorities drawn from scripture , without so much as any one citation of any father . it is true , there is added to the end of that letter a collection of some sayings of six fathers , hilary , ambrose , nazianzene , chrysostome , austin and cyril , who had all except one , lived within sixty years or a little more , of that time . so it is certain they founded their faith only on the scripture , and not on tradition , otherwise they had taken more pains to have made it out , and had not been so easily satisfied with what a few late writers had said : and thus it may be presumed , that all the end for which they cited them , was only to shew that they did not broach new and unheard of opinions . and s. austin could no● think that s. cyprian's opinion al●ne was a sufficient proof of the doctrine of the first three centuries for original sin , and yet he cite● no other that lived in those ages . no● could s. ambrose , and nazianzene that had lived in his own time , be cited t● prove the tradition of former ages and whereas it is insinuated that he cited others , one would expect to fin● a catalogue of many other father● wrapt up in this plural , whereas al● resolves into hilary alone . and we have a more evident indication of s. austin's sense , as to the la●t resort in matters of controversie , than this they offer in that celebrated saying of his , when he was writing against maximinus the arian bishop . * but neither may i make use of the nicene council , nor you that of arimini , as that which ought to pre-judge us in this matter ; for neither am i held by the authority of the one , nor you by the authority of the other . let the one side and cause , and their reasons , be brought against the other from the authorities of the scriptures , that do not belong to either side , but are witnesses common to both . the fourth method is to tell them that their ministers can never do this , nor shew in the scriptures any of their articles that are controverted , and this is very true . for example , they can never bring any formal text to prove that original sin remains , as to the guilt of it after baptism , that we receive the body of iesus christ only by faith ; that after the consecration , the sacrament is still bread ; that there is no purgatory , and that we do not merit any thing by our good works . and to this it may be added , that among all those passages that are on the margent of their confession , there is not one that says that which they cite it for , either in express or equivalent terms , or in the same sense . this is the method of mr. veron , which he took from s. austin , who says to the manichaeans , shew me that that is in the scripture ; and in another place , let him shew me that that is to be found in the holy scripture . we must then boldly tell them , that they cannot prove any of their articles that are in dispute , nor dispute against any of ours by any passages of scripture , neither in express terms , nor by sufficient consequences , so as to make their doctrine be received , as the faith , and ours pass for errour . remarks . the first part of this article proceeds upon veron's method of putting us to prove our doctrines by express words of scripture , but some more cautious person has added in the conclusion a salvo for good consequences drawn from them ; upon which we yield that this is a very good method , and are ready to joyn issue upon it . if they intend still to build upon that notion of express words , we desire it may be considered , that the true meaning of all passages is not to be taken only from the bare words , but from the contexture of the discourse , and the design upon which they are made use of ; and that rule of logick being infallibly true , that what things soever agree in any third thing , they do also agree among themselves , it is certain that a true consequence is as good a proof as a formal passage . thus did our saviour prove the resurrection from the scriptures by a very remote consequence , since god was said to be the god of abraham , isaac and jacob , and was the god of the living and not of the dead . so did the apostles prove christ's being the promised messias , and the obligation to observe the mosaical ceremonies to have ceased upon his coming , by many consequences , but not by the express words of scripture . all the arguings of the fathers against the hereti●ks run on consequences drawn from scripture , as may appear in all their synodical letters , more particularly in that formerly cited of pope leo to flavian , to which the fourth general council assented . this plea does very ill become men that pretend such reverence to antiquity , since it was that upon which all the ancient hereticks set up their strength , as the most plausible pretence by which they thought they could cover themselves . so the a arians at arimini give this reason for rejecting the word consubstantial , because it was not in the scriptures . the b macedonians laid hold of the same pretence . c nestor●us gives this as his chief reason for denying the virgin to be the mother of god : and d eutyches covered himself also with this question , in what scripture were the two natures of christ to be found ? and his followers did afterwards insist so much on this plea , that theodoret wrote two large discourses on purpose to shew the weakness of this pretence . so that after all the noise they make about the primitive church , they follow the same tract in which the hereticks that were condemned by the first four general councils , went ; and they put us to do the same thing that the hereticks then put on the orthodox : but we make the same answer to it which the fathers did , that the sense of the scriptures is to be considered more than the words : so that what is according to the true sense , is as much proved by scripture , as if it were contained in it in so many express words . and yet this plea had a much greater strength in it , as it was managed by those hereticks ; for those contests being concerning mysteries which exceed our apprehensions , it was not an unreasonable thing at first view to say , that in such things which we cannot perfectly comprehend , it is not safe to proceed by deductions or consequences , and therefore it seemed safer to hold strictly to scripture phrases , but in other points into which our understandings can carry us further , it is much more absurd to exact of us express words of scripture . 2. most of the points about which we dispute with the church of rom● , are additions made by them to the simplicity of the christian religion . so much as we own of the christian religion they own likewise . in the other particulars , our doctrine with relation to them is made up of negatives , and theirs is the affirmative ; and since all negatives , especially in matters of religion prove themselves , it falls to their share to prove those additions which they have made to our faith , and to the doctrine contained in the scriptures . 3. though this is a sure maxime , yet our plea is stronger , for there are many things taught by them against the express words of scripture ; as their worshipping images , their no● drinking all of the cup , their worshipping of angels , their not worshipping god in a tongue which the unlearned understand , and to which they can say , amen ; their setting up more mediato●● between god and us than one : whereas s. paul exhorting us to make prayer● to god , tells us there is one m●di●tor , which shews that he spake there his single intercession with god on our behalf . 4. we do not only build our doctrine upon some few passages of the scripture , in which perhaps a critical writer might easily raise much dust , but upon that in which we cannot be so easily mistaken , which is the main scope of the whole new testament , and the design of christianity , which we believe is reversed in their church by the idolatry and superstition that is in it . 5. as for the particulars which they call on us to prove , as they are very few , so scarce any of them is of the greatest consequence . the first is a speculative point , about which we would never have broke communion with them . for the second , that we receive christ only by faith , if the third is true , that the sacrament is still bread , then that must be also true : now s. paul calls it so four several times , as also our saviour calls the cup the fruit of the vine . as for our denying purgatory , it is a negative , and they must prove it . nor should we have broken communion , for their opinion concerning it , if they had not added to that , the redeeming souls out of it with masses , by which the worship is corrupted , contrary to the institution of the sacrament . and for the last , in the sense in which many of them assert it , we do not raise any controversie about it , for we know that god rewards our good works , or rather crowns his own grace in us . the fifth method is the peaceable method , and without dispute founded on the synod of dort , which all the pretended reformed churches of france have received , and which has defined according to the holy scripture , that when there is a dispute concerning any controverted article between two parties that are both within the true church , it is necessary to refer it to the judgement of the synod , and that he who refuses to submit himself , becomes guilty of heresi● and schism . now if we will run back to the time in which the dispute began concerning any article , for instance that of the real presence , both the parties in th● debate , as well the ancestors of those of the p. r. religion as ours , were in th● same church , which was the true church ; for there was no other before the s●paration , which was not then made : then their ancestors , who would not submit to the iudgement of the church , and have separated from her on no other account but because she had condemned their sentiments were schismaticks and hereticks : and those who at this day succeed them are in the same manner guilty , since they follow their opinions : and to this they can make no other answer , but that which the hereticks that have been condemned in all ages might have made . this method is proved in all its parts in the little treatise that has been made about it . remarks . it is not unwisely done to call this a method that is to pass without dispute , for it will not bear one : and 1. there is this difference between the principles of protestants and those of the church of rome , that whereas the latter are bound to justifie whatever has been decreed in a general council as a rule either of faith or manners ; the sormer are not so tied , and much less are they bound by the decision of a national council , though never so solemn . it is natural for all judicatories to raise their own authority as high as they can , and so if any synod has made any such declaration , it lies on them to justifie it , but the rest of those who have separated from the corruptions of the church of rome are not concerned in it . 2. the principle of protestants , with relation to the majority even in a general council , is , that when any doctrines are established or condemned upon the authorities of the scriptures , those who differ from them , and do think ●hat the council misunderstood the scriptures are bound to suspect themselves a little , and to review the matter with greater application , and not to adhere to their former opinions out of pride or obstinacy : they are also bound to consider well of their opinions , though they appear still to be true , yet if ●hey are of that importance that the publishing them is necessary to salvation ; for unless it is so , the peace of the church is not to be rent by them : yet if they are required to profess that they believe opinions which they think false , if t●ey were never so inconsiderable , no man ought to go against his conscience : but if a man after his strictest enquiries , is still persuaded that a council has decreed against the true meaning of the scriptures , in a point necessary to salvation , then he must prefer god to man , and follow the sounder , though it should prove to be the much lesser party : and if any company or synod of protestants have decreed any thing contrary to this , in so far they have departed from the protestant principles . 3. difference is to be made also between heresie and schism in a legal and a vulgar sense , and what is truly such in the sight of god. the sentence of a supream court from which there lies no appeal , makes one legally a criminal : but if he is innocent , he is not the less innocent because a hard sentence is past against him . so heresie and ●chism may take their denominations from the sentence of a national or general council : but in that which is the sense of those words that makes them criminal , heresie is nothing but an obstinate persisting in errours , contrary to divine revelation , after one has had a sufficient means of in●truction : and schism is an ill grounded separation from the body of the church : so it must be the divine revelation , and not the authority of a synod that can prove one who holds contrary opinions to be an heretick , and the grounds of the separation must be likewise examined before one can be concluded a schismatick . 4. though the conclusions and definitions made by the synod of dort are perhaps generally received in france , yet that does not bind them up to subscribe every thing that was asserted in that synod : nor do they found their assent to those opinions on the authority of that synod , but upon the evidence of those places of scripture from which they deduced them . 5. since those of that communion object a national synod to the protestants , this may be turned back on them with greater advantage , in some points established by councils , which they esteem not only general but infallible . in the third council of the lateran it was decreed , that all princes who favoured hereticks did forfeit their rights , and a plenary indulgence was granted to all that fought against them . in the fourth council at the same place it was decreed , that the pope might not only declare this forfeiture , but absolve the subjects from their oaths of obedience , and transfer their dominions upon others . in the first council at lions they joyned with the pope in thundring the sentence of deposition against the emperour frederick the first , which in the preamble is grounded on some places of scripture , of which if they were the infallible expositors , then this power is an article of faith. and in the last p●ace the council of constance decreed , that the faith of a safe-conduct was not to be kept to an heretick , that had come to the place of judgement relying on it , even though he would not have come without it . when cruelt● , rebellion and treachery were thus decreed in courts , which among them are of so sacred an authority ; it is visible how much gre●ter advantages we have of them in this point than any they can pretend against us . 6. for the synod of dort i will not undertake the apology neither for their decrees nor for their assertions ▪ and will not stick to say that how true soever many of their conclusions may be , yet the defining such mysterious matters as the order of the divine decrees , and the influences of gods grace on the wills of men , in so positive a manner , and the imposing their assertions on all the ministers of their communion , was that which many as sincere protestants as any are , have ever disliked and condemned , as a weakening the union of the protestant church , and an assuming too much of that authority which we condemn in the church of rome . for though they supposed that they made their definitions upon the grounds of scripture ▪ so that in this sense the authority of the synod was meerly declarative ; yet the question will still recur , whether they understood the passages which they built on , right or not ? and if they understood them wrong , then according to protestant principles , their decrees had no such binding authority , that the receding from them could make one guilty either of heresie or schism . the sixth method is to shew them that the roman church , or that church which acknowledges the pope or the bishop of rome , the successor of s. peter , to be her head all the world over , is the true church : because there is no other besides her that has that undoubted mark , which is a perpet●al visibility without interruption , since christ's time to this day . this is a method common to all the catholicks , and is very well and briefly set forth in the little treatise of the true church , joyned to that of the peaceable method . this is that of which s. austin makes most frequent use against the donatists , and chiefly in his book of the vnity of the church ; and in his epistles , of which the most remarkable passages relating to this matter , are gathered together by the late arch-bishop of rouen , in the first book of his apology for the gospel , in which he handles this matter excellently well . one may add to this method the maxims , of which tertullian makes use in his treatise of prescriptions against the hereticks , and also vincentius lyrinensis in his advices . it is enough to say on this occasion that those two treatises may satisfie any that will read them without prepossession , in order to their forming a just iudgement of the true church of iesus christ , and of all those societies that would usurp that name ▪ remarks . this method is so common that there was no reason in any sort to give mr. maimbourg the honour of it , unless it was that the assembly intended to do him this publick honour to ballance his disgrace at rome : but let us examine it . 1. this asserts that no other church has a perpetual succession without interruption , but that which derives it from rome , which is so contrary to what every one knows , that mr. maimbourg was certainly inspired with the spirit of his order when he writ it . do not all the greek churches , and all the churches that have their ordination from them , all from the northern empire of muscovy to the southern of the abassines , together with all those in the east , derive from the apostles by an uninterrupted series ? for till the authority of the church of rome is proved , which is the thing in question , their being declared schismaticks or hereticks by it , does not interrupt this succession . 2. the church of england has the same succession that the church of rome had in gregory the great 's time ( to wave the more ancient pretensions of the brittish churches ) and the bishops of this church being bound by one of their sponsions made at their consecration , according to the roman pontifical , to instruct their flock in the true faith according to the scriptures , they were obliged to make good this promise . nor can it be pretended that they have thereupon forfeited their orders , and by consequence their succession . 3. the succession of the church of rome cannot be said to be uninterrupted , if either heresie or schism can cut it off . it is well known that felix , liberius , and honorius , to name no more , were hereticks ; and if ordinations by schismaticks or unlawful usurpers be to be annulled , which was judged in the case of photius , and was often practised at rome , then the many schisms and unjust usurpations that have been in that see ▪ will make the succession of their orders the most disputable thing that can be , especially during that schism that lasted almost forty years ; all the churches of that communion having derived their orders from one or other of the popes : and if the popes at avignon were the usurpers , then let the gallican churches see how they can justifie the series of their ordinations : to all which may be added the impossibility of proving a true succession in orders , if the vertue of the sacraments depends on the intention of him who officiates , since secret intentions are only known to god. 4. the ground on which the donatists separated from the orthodox churches being at first founded on a matter of fact , which was of the pretended irregularity of those who ordained cecilian , which they afterwards defended upon this , that the church could be only composed of good men , and that the sacraments were of no vertue when dispensed by ill hands ; all that s. austin says is to be governed by this hypothesis , against which he argues : and it being once granted that the church was not corrupted neither in doctrine nor worship , we are very ready to subscribe to every expression of his ; and do freely acknowledge that the making a rent in a church , that is pure both in doctrine and worship , upon any particular or personal account , is a sin that cannot be sufficiently detested and condemned . i shall not enter into a particular discussion of every passage of s. austin's , but if in some he seems to go too far for the authority of the church , i shall only offer two general considerations concerning these . the first is , that it is a maxime with lawyers , that general words in laws are to be restricted to the preambles and chief design of these laws : and if this is true of laws that are commonly penned with more coldness and upon greater deliberation , it is much more applicable to warm discourses , where the heat of contradiction , and the zeal of a writer , makes that things are of●en aggravated , and carried too far ; but still all those expressions are to ●e molli●ied and restricted to that which was the subject matter of the debate ; therefore those expressions of s. austin's , supposing that the church was still sound in her doctrine and worship , are to be governed by that hypothesis . the second is , that many of those who urge these passages on us , do not deny but s. a●stin in the disputes about grace and original sin was carried too far , though those were the subjects on which he employed his latest years with the greatest application : if then it is confessed that he wrote too warmly against the pelagians , and in that heat advanced some propositions that need a fair construction , is it unreasonable for us to say that he might have done the same , writing against the donatists ? 5. as for tertullian , he that might have conversed with many that could have known s. pol●carp , who was both instructed and ordained by the apostles , so that he might have been the third person in the conveyance of the sense of what the apostles had left in writing , could reasonably argue as he did against the hereticks ; but certainly no man that considers the distance we live at from those ages , and the many accidents that have so often changed the face of the church , can think it reasonable to argue upon that ground now . and yet it were easie to bring many citatious out of that very book of tertullians , to shew that he grounded his faith only on the doctrine of christ , delivered in the scriptures , how much soever he might argue from other topicks against the hereticks of his time , who indeed were bringing in a new gospel into the world. we willingly receive the characters that vincentius lyrinensis gives of tradition , that what the church has at all times and in all places received , is to be believed , and are ready to joyn issue upon this , and when they can prove that the church at all times and in all places has taught the worshipping of images , the invocation of saints and angels , the adoring the sacrament , and the dividing of it , with many more particulars ; we will yield the whole cause , and confess that we have made a schism in the church . the seventh method is to let them see that those who at first pretended to reform the church in which they were amongst us , neither had nor could have any mission , either ordinary or extraordinary , to bring us any other doctrine but that which was then taught ; and that by consequence none ought to believe them , since they had no authority to preach as they did . how can they preach if they are not sent . this is the ordinary method that puts the ministers to the necessity of proving their mission , which is a thing that they can never do . this cuts off all disputes , and is one of the methods of cardinal richelieu . remarks . 1. if the first reformers had delivered a new doctrine which was never formerly taught , it had been necessary for them to have had a very extraordinary mission , and to have confirmed it by very extraordinary signs , but when they grounded all ●hey said upon that very book , which was and is still received as the unalterable law of all christians ; then if every man is bound to take care of his own salvation , and is in charity obliged to let others see that same light that guides himself , then i say an extraordinary mission was not necessary when the thing in dispute was not a new doctrine , but the true meaning of those writings which were on all hands acknowledged to be divine . 2. if notwithstanding the necessity of not raising war in civil government , without an express commission from the prince or supream authority , yet in a general rebellion , when the ways of intercourse with the prince are cut off , if it be not only a lawful but a commendable action for any subject , even without a commission , to raise what force he can for the service of the prince : then if it be true , that the western churches had generally revolted from the rules of the gospel , that was a sufficient warrant for any person to endeavour a reformation . 3. the nature of the christian religion is to be well considered , in which all christians are a royal priesthood : and though it be highly necessary for all the ends of religion to maintain peace and order , and to convey down an authority for sacred administrations in such a way as tends most to advance those ends ; yet this cannot be lookt on as indispensable and absolutely necessary . among the iews , as there were many services in which none but priests and levites could officiate , so the succession went in the natural course of descent . but in the christian church there are no positive laws so appropriated , and therefore in cases of extream and unavoidable necessity every christian may make use of that dormant priviledge of being a royal priest , and so this difficulty must be resolved , by examining the merits of the whole cause , for if the necessity was not extream and unavoidable , we acknowledge it had been a sacrilegious presumption for any that was not called in the ordinary manner to meddle in holy things 4. it is but a small part of the reformed churches that is concerned in this . here in england our reformers had the ordinary mission ; and in most places beyond sea the first preachers had been ordained priests : and it will not be easie to prove that lay-men , yea , and women may baptize in cases of necessity , when that is often but an imaginary necessity , and that yet priests in a case of real necessity may not ordain other priests . for all the rules of order are superseded by extraordinary cases , and in moral as well as in natural things , every individual has a right to propagate its kind , and though it may be reasonable to regulate that , yet it can never be wholly cut off . the eighth method is to tell them , you do not know that such or such a book of the scripture is the word of god but by the church in which you were before your schism : so that you cannot know what is the true sense of those passages that are in dispute , but by that same church which conveys it to you . this is s. austin's method in many places , but above all in his book de utilitate credendi , and in his book contra epistolam fundamenti : in which he says , i would not believe the gospel , if the authority of the church did not oblige me to it . this method is handsomely managed in the treatise of the true word of god , joyned to the peaceable method . remarks . 1. great difference is to be made between the conveyance of books and an oral tradition of doctrine . it is very easie to carry down the one in a way that is morally infallible : an exact copying being all that is necessary for that : whereas it is morally impossible to prevent frauds and impostures in the other , in a course of some ages , especially in times of ignorance and corruption , in which the credulity of unthinking people , has made an easie game to the craft and industry of covetous and aspiring priests . few were then at the pains to examine any thing , but took all upon trust , and became so ready of belief , that the more incredible a thing seemed to be , they swallowed it down the more willingly . 2. if this way of reasoning will hold good , it was as strong in the mouths of the iews in our saviours time ; for the high priest and sanhedrim might have as reasonably pretended that since they had conveyed down the books in which the prophecies of the messiah were contained , they h●d likewise the right to expound those prophecies . 3. a witness that hands a thing down without additions , is very different from a judge that delivers things on his own authority . we freely own the church to be such a witness that there is no colour of reason to disbelieve the tradition of the books , but we see great cause to question the credit of her decisions . 4. in this tradition of books we have not barely the tradition of the church for it . we find in all ages since the books of the new testament were written , several authors have cited many and large passages out of them : we find they were very quickly translated into many other languages , and diverse of those are conveyed down to us . there were also so many copies of these books every where , that though one had resolved on so sacrilegious an attempt as the corrupting them had been , he could not have succeeded in it to any great degree . some additions might have been made in some copies , and so from those they might have been derived to others , but these could not have b●en considerable , otherwise they had been discovered and complained of , and when we find the church engaged in contests with hereticks and schismaticks , we see both sides appealed to the scriptures , and neither of them reproached the other for violating that sacred trust. and the noise we find of the small change of a letter in the a●ian controversie , shews us how exact they were in preserving these records : as for the errours of transcribers that is incident to the nature of man , and though some errours have crept into some copies , yet all these put together do not alter any one point of our religion ; so that they are not of great consequence . thus it appears how much reason we have to receive the scriptures upon the credit of such a tradition . but for oral tradition , it is visible how it might have been so managed as quickly to change the whole nature of religion . natural religion was soon corrupted when it passed down in this conveyance , even during the long lives of the ancient patriarchs , who had thereby an advantage to keep this pure , that after ages , in which the life of man is so shortned , cannot pretend to . we also see to what a degree the iewish tradition became corrupted in our saviours time , particularly in one point , which may be called the most essential part of their religion , to wit , concerning their messias , what the nature of his person and kingdome were to be . so that they all expected a great conquerour , a second moses , or a david ; so ineffectual a mean is oral tradition , for conveying down any doctrine pure or uncorrupted . the ninth method is to tell them the church in which they were before they made the separation , was the true church , because it was the only church ; so that they could not reform the doctrine without making another church : for then she must have fallen into errour , and by consequence the gates of hell must have prevailed against her , which is directly contrary to the promise of iesus christ that cannot fail , * the gates of hell shall not prevail against her remarks . 1. a church may be a true church , and yet be corrupted by many errours , for a ●rue church is a society of men , among whom are the certain means of salvation , and such was the iewish church in our saviours time : for their sacrifices had still an expiatory vertue , and the covenant made with that people stood still , and yet they were over-run with many errours , chiefly in their notions of the messias . and thus as long as the church of rome acknowledges the expiation , made by the death of christ , and applied to all that truly believe and amend their lives , so long she is a true church . so that those of that communion who adhere truly to that which is the great fundamental of the christian religion may be saved : but when so many things were added to this , that it was very hard to preserve this fundamental truth pure and entire , then it was necessary for those who were better enlightned , to call on others to correct the abuses that had crept in . 2. it is hard to build a great super-structure on a figurative expression , of which it is not easie to find out the true and full sense : and in this that is cited there are but three terms , and about every one of them great and just grounds of doubting do appear . 1. it is not certain what is meant by the gates of hell , which is an odd figure for an assailant : if by gates we mean councils , because the magistrates and courts among the iews sate in the gates , then the meaning will be , that the craft of hell shall not prevail against the church , that is , shall not root out christianity : or if by gates of hell , or the grave , according to a common greek phrase , death be to be understood , it being the gate through which we pass to the grave , then the meaning is this , that the church shall never die or be extinguished . nor is there less difficulty to be made about the signification of the word church : whether it is to be meant in general of the body of christians , or of the pastors of the church , and of the majority of them . the context seems to carry it for the body of christians , and then the meaning will be only this , that there shall still be a body of christians in the world. and it cannot be proved that any thing else is to be understood by the word church in that place . a third difficulty may be also raised upon the extent of the word prevail , whether a total overthrow , or any single advantage is to be understood by it ; or whether this prevailing is to be restrained only to the fundamentals of christianity , or is to be extended to all sorts of truth ; or whether it is to be understood of corrupting the doctrine , or of vitiating the morals of christians ? thus it is apparent how many difficulties may be started concerning the meaning of those words . so that at best the sense of them is doubtful , and therefore it will be a strange and rash adventure to determine any thing in matters of great moment upon the authority of such a figurative expression . 3. though the roman church had been corrupted , that will not infer that the gates of hell had prevailed against the church , for that being but the center of the union of some of the western nations , a corruption in it does not prove that the whole church was corrupted , for there were many other churches in other parts of the world besides those of that communion . the tenth method is that of the bishop of meaux , lately of condom , in his book entituled , the exposition of the doctrine of the catholick church . in which he does in every article distinguish between that which is precisely of faith , and that which is not so ; and shews that there is nothing in our belief that may give distast to a reasonable spirit , unless they will look on the abuses of some particular persons which we condemn , as our belief , or impute errours to us falsely , or charge us with the explications of some doctors that are neither received nor authorized by the church . this method is taken from s. hilary in his book of synods . * let us ( says he ) altogether condemn false interpretations , but let us not destroy the certainty of the faith. — the word consubstantial may be ill understood , but let it be established in a sense in which it may be well understood . — the right state of the faith may be established among us , so as we may neither reverse that which has been well establishedpunc ; nor cut off those things that have been ill understood . remarks . somewhat was said in the preface , with relation to this , which shall not be here repeated . it is not to be denied but in the management of controversies the heat of dispute has carried many too far , and some have studied to raise many imaginary controversies , which subsist only upon some misunderstood terms and expressions of the contrary party : and things have been on all hands aggravated in many particulars out of measure : so that they have deserved well of the church that have brought matters as near a reconciliation as may be . but after all this , it were a strange imposition on this and the preceding age to persuade the world that notwithstanding all the differences of religion , and the unhappy effects that have followed upon them , that they really were all the while of the same mind , but were not so happy as to find it out till that excellent prelate helpt them to it , by letting them see how near the concessions of both sides are to one another ; so that a little conversation and dexterity i● putting the softest construction that may be on the contrary persuasion might bring them to be of the same mind . but if in order to this , the sense of both sides is so far stretched , that neither party can own it for a true account of their sentiments , then this must be concluded to be only the ingenious essay of a very witty man , who would take advantage of some expressions , to perswade people that they have opinions which really they have not . i shall not enter into a particular disquisition of those things which have been already so fully examined , but refer the reader to the answers that have been given to that famous book . 2. the received and authorized offices of the church of rome , and the language in which they do daily make their addresses to heaven is that on whi●h the most unanswerable and the strongest part of our plea for our separation is founded , and it is not an ingenuous way of writing to affix some forced senses to those plain expressions , because they being so gross as they are , all wise or learned men are ashamed to defend them , and yet know not how to get them to be reformed , or thrown out : therefore it is that they set their wits on work to put some better construction on them . but this is a clear violence to the plain sense of those offices , extorted by the evidence and force of truth , and gives us this advantage , that it is plain those that so qualifie them , are convinced that their church is in the wrong , and yet for other ends , or perhaps from a mistaken notion of unity and peace , they think fit to continue in it . 3. it is to be hoped , that those who have cited this passage out of s. hilary , will consider those other passages cited out of him against persecution , though a great errour made in the translation of this citation , makes me fear that they who rendred it had read him very cursorily . the eleventh method is drawn from those general arguments which divines call the motives of credibility : it is that made use of by tertullian , in his book of prescriptions ; and by s. austin , * who reckons up the motives that held him in the catholick church . remarks . 1. as for the case of tertullian and s. austin , a great deal was said formerly to shew the difference between the age they lived in , and the grounds they went on ; and the present state of the western church . 2. when it is considered that a course of many ages , which by the confession of all were times of ignorance and superstition , has made a great change in the world , that the gross scandals and wonderful ignorance of those that have governed the see of rome , that the dissolution of all the rules of ecclesiastical order and discipline both among clergy and laity , that the interest the priests , particularly the popes and the begging orders that depended on them , had to promote those , was so great and undisput●d , that it is notorious , all the worst methods of forgeries , both of writings to authorize them , and of miracles and legends to support them , were made use of . when , i say , all these things are so plain to every one that has lookt a little into the history of former ages , it is no wonder if the church of rome is so much changed from what it was formerly , that the motives made use of by tertullian and s. austin do not at all belong to the present state of the churches of that communion : but on the contrary , instead of motives to perswade one to continue in it , there appear upon a general view , a great many just and well-grounded prejudices to dispose a man to forsake that communion . the twelfth method is both very short and very easie : it is to catch them in this dilemma . before wickliff , luther and calvin ( and one may say as much of the waldenses that lived in the twel●●h century ) the church of those of the p r. religion was either made up of a little number of the faithful , or was not at all in being . if it was not at all in being , then theirs is a false church , since it is not perpetual , as the true church ought to be , according to the promise of iesus christ , * the gates of hell shall not prevail against her , and † i am with you even to the end of the world. if their church was in being , it must have been according to their own principles corrupted and impious : because they cannot shew that little number of the pretended faithful , who before the reformation did condemn , as they now do , * all the assemblies of the popish churches , as over-run with idolatry and superstition . they behaved themselves , at least as to outward appearance , as others did . and thus their church which was composed of that small unknown flock , was not holy , and by consequence was not the true church . remarks . 1. to the greatest part of this , answer has been already given : we acknowledge the church of rome was a true church , and had in it the means of salvation though it was over-run with errours , and christ is truly with his church as long as those means of salvation do remain in it . so was the iewish church a true church after she was in many points corrupted in her doctrine . 2. in those dark ages many might have kept themselves free from the defilements of their worship , though no account is given of them in story . so seven thousand had not bowed their knees to baal in elijah's time , who were not so much as known to that prophet , though it might have been expected that they would all have willingly discovered themselves to him : and since he knew nothing of them , it is very probable they concealed themselves with great care from all others . 3. all good men have not all the degrees of illumination , for there might have been great numbers that saw the corruptions of their church , but were so restrained by other opinions concerning the unity of the church , that they thought it enough to infuse their notions into some few disciples , in whom they confided : and on some perhaps that which elisha said to naaman the syrian , being wrong understood by them , had great influence . others observing that the apostles continued to worship at the temple , and offer sacrifices , which s. paul and those with him that purified themselves must have done , might have from that inferred that one might comply in a worship , though they disliked many things in it ; which , if i am not much misinformed , is a maxime that governs many in the roman communion to this day . i do not excuse this compliance , but it is not so criminal as at first view it may appear to be : if it is truly founded on a mistake of the mind , and not on a baseness in the will , or a rejecting of the cross of christ , especially in men that had so faint a twilight as that was which they were guided by in those blind times . 4. but to make the worst of this that can be , and should we grant that through fear they had complied against their consciences , this only must make the conclusion terrible to them , if they did not repent of it . but god might have ordered the conveyance of truth to be handed down by such defiled hands , and their not being personally holy , must not be urged too far , to prove that they could not be the true church . this will come too near the doctrines of the donatists , and many of s. austin's sayings which they unreasonably object to us , may be turned upon them . and it will very ill become a church that acknowledges the succession of the bishop of rome to have been the chief conveyance of tradition , which is a much greater matter in their principles than it is in ours , to urge the holiness of the members to be essential to the being of a church , when it is acknowledged what a sort of men the heads of their church have been for diverse ages . the thirteenth method is taken from the nature of schism , which one ought never to make , what reasons soever may be pretended for it , for according to the minister ▪ ●hemselves , no other reason can be given for their separation , but the errours which they pretend had crept into the church . but those who were in it as well as th●y were , did strongly assert , as we do to this day , that these were no errours at all but truths . and it is certain that of opinions which are so different , the one must be the true doctrine , and the other must be errour and falshood ; and by consequence the one must be the good grain , and the other must be the tares . now it does not belong to particular persons by their private authority to pluck up that which they pretend to be tares . there is none but god , who is the true father of the family , that has this authority , and can communicate it to others . it is he who appoints the reapers , that is the pope and the bishops , who are represented by the angels , to separate the cockle from the wheat , and to pluck out the one without touching the other till the time of harvest , that is in a council , or by the common consent of the whole church , and in that case a council is not necessary . * wilt thou then that we go and gather them up ? but he said , nay ; lest while ye gather up the tares , ye root up also the wheat with them , let both grow together until the harvest . therefore one ought never to s●parate upon what pretence soever it be , but he must bear with that which he thinks is an abuse and errour , and stay till the church plucks up the cockle . * this is one of the methods of s. austin in his treatises against the donatists , in which he shews from the examples of moses , aaron , samuel , david , isaiah , jeremy , s. paul , who tolerated even the false apostles , that we ought never to separate from our brethren , before the solemn condemnation of the church . he says purs●ant to this , that the donatists were intolerably wicked for having made a schism , for having erected an alta● against an altar , and for having separated themselves from the inheritance of jesus christ , which is stretched ou● over all the earth , according to the promise that was made to it . he add● ▪ that if they thought that was but a sm●● matter , they had nothing to do but to s● what the scripture teaches us by the examples we find in it of the punishment of s● great a crime ; for says he , those that made an idol of the golden calf were only punished by the sword , whereas those who made the schism were swallowed up by the earth : so that by this diversity of the punishments , one may know that schism is a greater crime than idolatry . we may likewise see how upon the same subject he exhorts the donatists to renounce their wicked schism in his ●71 epistle , in which among other things he has those excellent words . * why will you tear the lords garments ? and why will you not with the rest of the world leave that coat of charity entire , that is all woven of one thread , which even his persecutors themselves would not rend ? and a little after this , you pretend that you would avoid that cockle , that as you alledge , is mixt among us , and that before the time of harvest ; whereas indeed it is you your selves that are this cockle , for if you were the good grain , you would bear with it , and would not separate your selves from the corn of jesus christ. we need only change the name donatists into calvinists : this is it that shews to what degree the church ever was and ever must be acknowledged to be infallible , since we must submit to its decisions ; and the fathers have established this so strongly that one ought never to separate from her , and that one is by so much the more obliged to continue united to her , because she never refuses to hear the remonstrances made to her by her children . remarks . 1. it was observed before how unreasonable it was to build much on ●n allegory , but on this occasion the allegory is so clearly forced , that it gives just cause of suspicion that the cause is weak that must be supported by such arguments . for our saviour makes it so plain that the harvest is the end of the world , that the reapers are angels , and that upon his last coming they shall gather together the wicked , and cast them into hell , and that the righteous shall shine in heaven : that the applying this to a general council , in which heresie shall be condemned , is such a fetch , that it must be confessed they have as easie consciences as they have warm fancies , that are wrought on by it . 2. as for that which s. austin drew from this against the donatists who justified their separation on the account of the sins of those who were in the communion of the church , it was as pertinent as this is strained ; for the ground of the schism being only the mixture of the cockle with the wheat , nothing could be more strongly urged against them . but it is quite out of the present controversie between them and us , who do not separate for this mixture , but finding the wheat it self so much corrupted , took care to cleanse it . 3. we freely acknowledge the great sin of schism , and the severe punishment due to it , but for all the severity of the punishment inflicted on corah and his partners , we do not doubt but when the temple was so defiled by idolatry , under the kings that polluted the altar and the courts of the lords house with idols , it was not only no sin , but a commendable piece of religion in such cases to have withdrawn from so impious a worship . this is our present case , and if what we object to their worship is true , then our separation from it is as necessary a duty as is the preserving of our lives from poysons or infectious diseases . 4. the true scope of that parable seems to be a reproof to the violence of such church-men as are too apt to condemn and pluck up every thing that they think to be cockle ; and when the declaring what is cockle is lodged with them , they will be sure to count every thing such that does not please them . and then that same heat that makes them judge those opinions to be cockle sets them on to root them out with such violence , that much good wheat is in danger to be pluckt up . therefore to repress this , our saviour commands them under that figure , to let both grow till the end of the world , that is , not to proceed to extremities and to rigorous methods , but to leave that to god who will judge all at the last day . if this were well considered , it would put an effectual stop to that spirit of persecution which ferments so violently in that church : the language of which is always this , let u● go and pluck up the tares , or that of the two disciples who would have called for fire from heaven ; and because heaven will not answer such bloody demands , they try to raise such fires on earth as may burn up those whom they call the tares : not knowing what the true spirit of christianity is , and that the son of man came not to destroy mens lives , but to save them : and forget that our saviour commanded them to let the tares grow till the harvest . but this is one of the mischiefs that follows the humour of expounding the scriptures fancifully . that the plain meaning of clear texts is neglected , while forced and allegorical expositions are pursued . 5. when it is clearly proved that the majority of the pastors of the church is infallible , then we shall acknowledge that all separation from them is simply unlawful : but till that is done we can no more think it a sin , when in obedience to the rules of the gospel we withdraw from such false teachers as corrupt it ; then it were for common subjects to refuse to obey the subordinate magistrates when they clearly perceive that they have revolted from their duty to their supream authority . and since we are warned to beware of false teachers , we know no other way to judge of them , but the comparing their doctrine with that which is delivered to us in scripture . the fourteenth method is for the confirmation of the former : in order to which we must ask the calvinists upon all their articles , that which * s. austin asked of the donatists , when the church reconciled to her self hereticks that were penitent without re-baptizing them : for example , whether was the church still a true church or not , when before the schism was made , iesus christ was adored in the holy eucharist ? if she was the true church , then none ought to have separated from her for any practice that was authorized by her . † if she was not the true church , from whence came calvin , out of what soil did he grow , or out of what sea was he cast , or from which of the heavens did he fall ? from whence are these reformers come ? from whom have they received their doctrine , and the authority to preach it ? * let those who follow them consider well where they are , since they can mount no higher than to those for their original . for us we are secure in the communion of that church , in which that is to this day universally practised that was also practised before agripinus 's time , and also in the interval between cyprian and agripinus : and afterwards he subjoyns these excellent words that are decisive , * but neither did agripinus , nor cyprian , nor those that have followed them , though they had opinions different from others , separate themselves from them , but remained in the communion and unity of the same church with those from whom they differed . that is to say , they waited till the church should have decided the difference ; and after he had resumed a little of what he had formerly said , he concludes thus , † if then the church was lost for holding that the baptism of hereticks was good , they cannot shew the original of their communion . but if the true church did still subsist , they cannot justifie their separation , nor the schism that they have made . one may say all this against the waldenses , the lutherans , the calvinists , and the other hereticks who cannot mount higher than to waldo , to luther , to calvin , or their other heads . this method of s. austin's is most excellent . but if our brethren , the pretended reformed , will defend themselves by saying , as in effect they do say in some of their books , that it was not they who made the separation , but rather that it came from us , and that we have cut them off from our communion . to this it must be answered , that there are two sorts of s●paration , the one is criminal , the other is iudicial . in the first , one separates himself from his pastor by a manifest disobedience ; in the second , the pastor separates him from the flock who is making a party , and refuses to submit to the orders of the church . the one is a sin , and the other is the punishment . the one is a voluntary departure , the other is the being cut off by a s●ntence , even as the iudge pronounces a sentence of condemnation against one that has killed himself . the proof of those two different separations is to be found in the thirty eighth letter of s. cyprians , where he speaks of one augendus , who had gone over to the party of felicissimus the deacon , and it appears that that great saint had suspended and excommunicated him for having withdrawn himself from his obedience , and for having engaged others in the same separation . * let every one , says he , that has folfollowed his opinions and faction , know that he shall communicate no more with us in the church , since of his own accord he has chosen to be separated from the church . in his seventy sixth epistle he says the same thing of novatian , and those who had joyned with him in his revolt ; because they leaving the church by their rebellion , and breaking the peace and unity of jesus christ , have endeavoured to establish their authority , and to assume a supreme jurisdiction to themselves , and to usurp power to baptize , and to offer sacrifice . this distinction is also clearly stated in the fourth action of the council of chalcedon , where those two ancient canons of the council of antioch that were drawn out of canons of the apostles , were cited . the first is concerning those that were separated , the other is concerning those who of their own accord did separate themselves . the greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * it was thought proper for this purpose to transcribe here those two canons , which are the fundamental laws of the practice of the church , with regard to hereticks and schismaticks whom she throws out of her bosome , and who have separated themselves from her . these canons are the fourth and fifth of the council of antioch , and the twenty seventh and thirtieth of the apostolick canons , and the pretended reformed cannot reject their authority , since they observe among themselves the same discipline , when any particular persons , whether ministers , or others of their communion , will not submit to the decisions of their synods . remarks . 1. for the first branch of this method the reformed are not at all concerned in it , for they do not deny the church of rome to be still a true church ; and that her baptism and ordinations are valid , and that they are not to be repeated , and therefore though it was very pertinent to urge the donatists as s. austin did , who held that the sacraments in an ill mans hands had no vertue at all , and that the church had every where failed , so that there was no church but that which was among them . yet all this is foreign to the state of the controversie between us and the church of rome , and we do freely acknowledge that in such a matter as the re-baptizing hereticks , it had been a very great sin to have broken communion with the rest of the church . 2. yet upon this very head p. s●ephen did excommunicate s. cyprian , who yet for all that did not depart from his former opinion or practice : so here was such a schism as they object to us , s. cyprian thought the rebaptizing hereticks was well grounded ; stephen thought otherwise , and did excommunicate him . if upon that a lasting schism had followed in the church , s. cyprian might have been held the fountain of it by those who condemned his opinion , but if his opinion was true he could be no schismatick : so we desire the grounds of our separation may be examined : if they will not bear such a superstructure , we confess we deserve the severest censures possible ; but if they are solid , then the guilt of the rent that is in the church , must lie somewhere else than on us . 3. we do not deny but there are two sorts of separation which are here very well distinguished ; and without seeking for any proof in so clear a matter , we confess that when any separates himself from the church , upon any unjustifiable account , those canons , and the highest severities of church-censures ought to be applied ●o them : but all this is upon supposition that the departure is ill grounded , and therefore all those rules that have been ●aid down in general against heresie and schism must still suppose the church to ●e pure and uncorrupted . 4. it is plain by these very canons , how much that power of the church may be and was abused . the council of antioch , being composed of the favourers of arius , deposed athanasius , and resolved to silence him , and such other church-men as receiv'd the nicene doctrine , in such a manner that they should be no more able to withstand their designs : and therefore they made those canons according to former customes , which in the stile of that age was called the canon or rule ( for none that has considered things , will believe that the canons that are called apostolical , were made by the apostles ) and their chief design was levelled against athanasius and the orthodox party . but at that same time as the orthodox in the east did not submit to this ▪ so nei●her did the bishops 〈◊〉 the west take any notice of it ; an● chrysostome , who was bred up at a●tioch , and so could not but know in what esteem those canons were held , did not look on himself as bound by them , an● made no account of them when they were objected to him . thus , though i● general these are goo● rules ▪ and such a● ought to be obeyed where the synod or the bishop do not abuse their power , yet when the power of the church is used not to edification but to destruction , then the obligation to obedience is not to be too far extended . and as in laws that oblige subjects to obey inferiour magistrates , a tacite exception is to be supposed , in case they should become guilty of treason , so there must be supposed likewise in this case the like exception , in case a synod deposes a bishop , or a bishop censures his clergy , for asserting the true faith. and as a separation from an uncorrupted church is a very great wickedness , so the separating from a corrupted church , in whose communion we cannot continue without being polluted in it , is but a part of that care which we ought to have of our own salvation . the fifteenth method . to all the former methods a fifteenth may be added , by letting our p. reformed see that many articles are to be found in their confession of faith , in their catechisms , in the articles of their discipline , in the decisions of their synods , and in the books of their chief ministers who have writ upon the controversies ; from which , arguments may be drawn against them to prove the truth of our belief , even by their own confession : for example , their discipline allows the communion in one kind only , to such as cannot drink wine : from which one may infer that the communion under both kinds is not an article of necessity , and that they are in the wrong , to alledge that as they do , to be a lawful ground for their separation . the minister dailée , and many others confess , that in the time of s. gregory nazianzene , s. chrysostome and s. jerome , the invocation of saints was received in the church : john forbes adds to this , that the tradition of the church was uniform concerning prayer for the dead : and since he denies that the books of the maccabees are canonical , he says the scripture speaks nothing of it . but without engaging into the difficulty concerning the books of the maccabees , in which they have no more reason on their side , than in the rest ; it is easie to conclude from their own principles , that it was no ways to be allowed to separate themselves for matters , that according to themselves , were established by so great an authority , and so constant an union of all ages . remarks . 1. it is not an equal way of proceeding , to object to the protestants what some particular writers have said , or to strain inferences too far , at a time when the celebrated book of the bishop of meaux is in such high esteem . the chief design o● which is to set aside all the indiscretions of particular writers , and to put the best colours on things that is possible . now tradition being of such authority among them , whatsoever passes down through many of their approved writers , has a much greater strength against them , than it can be pretended to have against us : and therefore though particular writers or whole synods should have written or decreed any thing against the common doctrines of the reformed , they ought not to object that to us : if they will allow us the same liberties that they assume to themselves . 2. it is not a consequence becoming so great an assembly to infer , that because in some few extraordinary cases the general rule of gods desiring mercy and not sacrifice is carried so far , as to give weak persons so much of the sacrament as they can receive , and not to deny that to them because a natural aversion m●kes them incapable of receiving the wine : that therefore a church may , in opposition to christs express command , drink you all of it , and the constant practice of thirteen centuries take this away . it is not of necessity for salvation that every one drinks the cup , but it is of necessity to the purity of a church that she should observe our saviour's precepts . 3. it is confessed that some fathers used the invocation of saints ; yet that being but a matter of fact , it is of no consequence for the decision of any point of doctrine : for we found our doctrine only on the word of god , and ●ot on the practices of men , how eminent soever they might otherwise be . but in relation to these fathers , these things are to be observed , 1. they lived in the end of the fourth century : so this is no competent proof for an oral tradition , or conveyance of this doctrine down from the apostles days . 2. figures and bold discourses in panegyricks are rather to be considered as raptures and flights of warm affections , than as composed and serious devotions . therefore such addresses as occur in their funeral orations , are rather high strains of a daring rhetorick , than instructions for others , since in their expositions on scripture , or other treatises of devotion , they do not handle these things by way of direction or advice . iohn forbes is mis-cited for william forbes , bishop of edenburgh : iohn was not of such yielding principles . it is true , william though he was a man eminently learned , and of a most exemplary life , yet he was possessed with that same weakness , under which grotius , and some other great men have laboured , of thinking that a reconciliation with the church of rome might be obtained by an accommodation on both sides ; and this flowing in him from an excellent temper of soul , he is to be excused if that carried him in many things too far : but he is a writer that has been taxed by all men , as one that had particular notions . and we may object erasmus to those of the church of rome , as well as they may argue against us from bishop forbes . 5. if the church of rome used only a general commemoration of the dead , with wishes for the compleating their happiness by a speedy resurrection , and went no further , we might perhaps differ in opinion with them about the fitness of this , but we would not break communion with them for it . but when they have set up such a merchandize in the house of god , for redeeming souls out of purgatory , and saying masses for them ; this is that we except to , as a disgracing of the christian religion , and as a high profanation of the holy sacrament . and it is plain that the fathers considered the commemoration of the dead rather as a respect done to their memory , and an honourable remembrance of them , than as a thing that was any way useful to them in the other state ; which may appear by this single instance : s. cyprian was so much offended at a presbyter , when it appeared after his death that he had left another presbyter guardian of his children ; that he gave order that no mention should be made of him in the commemoration of the dead that was used in the holy eucharist ; because , by the roman law , such as were left guardians were under some obligations to undertake the trust : and that saint thought such a trust might prove so great a distraction to a man that was dedicated to the holy ministry , that no honour ought to be done to the memory of him that had so left it by his will. certainly if that commemoration was believed to be of any advantage to the dead , this had been an unreasonable piece of cruelty in him to deny a presbyter that comfort for so small a fault : and therefore we may well infer from hence , that by this remembrance , and the thanksgivings they offered to god for such as had died in the faith , they intended only so far to celebrate their memories as to encourage others to imitate those patterns they had set them . 6. i shall not engage in any dispute concerning the canonicalness of the books of the maccabees , only as this general prejudice lies against all the books called apocryphal , that the council at laodicea , which was the first that reckoned up the c●non of the scripture , does not name them : so as to the book of the maccabees , it is hard to imagine that one who professes that he was but an abridger of iason's five books , and gives us a large account of the difference between a copious history and an abridgement , could be an inspired writer . the sixteenth method . to conclude , one may solidly confute our innovators by the contradiction that is in their articles of faith , shewing ●hem the changes that they have made in the ausburg confession , as also in all the different expositions of their faith which they have received and authorized since that time ; which shews that their faith being uncertain * and wavering , cannot have the character of divine revelation , which is certain and constant . there is nothing but the faith that admits of no reformation . tertullian made use of this argument in many of his books , and hilary handles it excellently well against the emperour constantius , upon the occasion of the new symbols , which the arians published every day , changing their faith continually , while the catholick church continued firm to that of nice . one may likewise use another method , which is to make it appear that there is a conformity between the roman and greek churches , in the chief articles of faith , that are in dispute between us and the p. reformed , and that in these the roman church does likewise agree with those soci●ties which separated themselves from the church , for errours which the p. reformed condemn with her , such as the nestorians and eutychians . to these methods it will be necessary to add particular conferences , solid writings , sermons and missions , and to use all these means with a spirit of charity , without bitterness , and above all , without injuries . remembring that excellent saying of s. austin's , * i do not endeavour to reproach those against whom i dispute , that i may seem to have the better of them , but that i may become sounder by convincing them of their errour . and following the canon of the council of africk , that appointed that though the donatists were cut off from the church of god by their schism , yet they should be gently dealt with , that so correcting them with meekness , as the apostle says , god may give them the grace of repentance to know the truth , and to retire themselves out of the snare of the devil in which they are taken captives . remarks . 1. if we did pretend that the first reformers , or those who drew the ausburg confession were inspired of god , in compiling what they writ there were some force in this discourse : but since we build upon this principle , that the scripture is the only ground on which we found our faith , then if any person , how much soever we may honour his memory on all other accounts , has misunderstood that , we do not depart from our principle when we forsake him , and follow that which appears to be plainly delivered in the scriptures . 2. we freely acknowledge that the faith admits of no reformation , and that we can make neither more nor less of it than we find in the scriptures ; but if any church has brought in many errours , we do not think it a reforming the faith , to throw these out . the faith is still the same that it was when the apostles first delivered it to the church ; nor was it the faith , but the church that was pretended to be reformed : and if after a long night of darkness and corruption , those that began to see better , did not at first discover every thing , or if some of the prejudices of their education , and their former opinions did still hang about them ; so that others who came after them saw further and more clearly : this only proves that they were subject to the infirmities of the humane nature , and that they were not immediately inspired of god , which was never pretended . 3. great difference is to be made between articles of faith and theological truths . the former consists of those things that are the ingredients of our b●ptismal vows , and are indeed parts of the new covenant , which may be reduced to the creed and the ten commandments . the other are opinions relating to these , which though they are founded on scripture , yet have not that influence either on our hearts or lives , that they make us either much better or much worse . among these we reckon the explanation of the presence of christ in the sacrament , and the influence of the divine grace upon our wills. if some of the confessions of faith among the protestants differ much in these matters ▪ that is not concerning articles of faith , but theological truths : in which great allowances are to be made for difference of opinion . and as particular churches ought not to proceed too hastily to decisions in matters that are justly disputable , so the rigorous imposing of those severe definitions on the consciences of others by oaths and subscriptions , and more particularly all rigour in the prosecution of those that differ in opinion , is both disagreeing to the mildness of the christian religion , and to the character of church-men ; and in particular , to the principles upon which the reformation was founded . 4. as for the greek churches , together with the other societies in the east , we do not deny that many of those corruptions for which we condemn the church of rome , are among them , which only proves that the beginning of these is elder than the ninth or tenth century : in which those churches began to divide , such is the worshipping of images , the praying to saints , and some other abuses . 5. to this it must be added , that for diverse ages the oppression under which those churches have fallen , and the great ignorance that has overspread them , have be●n such , that no wonder if those greeks that have been bred up in the states of the roman communion , and so were leavened with their opinions , have found it no hard task to impose upon their weak and corrupt countrey-men , whatsoever opinions they had in charge to infuse into them : so that we may rather wonder to find that all those abuses for which we complain of the church of rome are not among them , than that some have got footing there . 6. but after all this , the main things upon which we have separated from the church of rome , are not to be found among those churches : such as the adoring the consecrated elements , the denying the wine to the people , the saying masses for redeeming souls out of purgatory , the having images for the trinity , the immediate invocation of saints for the pardon of sin , and those blessings which we receive only from god : besides an infinite variety of other things . not to mention their denying the popes authority . and to turn this argument on them , those parts of their worship , in which they differ so much from the eastern churches , do afford us very good arguments to evince that they are innovations , brought in since these ages , in which those churches held communion with the roman church : and do prove that at the time of their separation they were not introduced in the western church : for when we find such a keenness of dispute concerning one of the most indifferent things in the world , as whether the sacrament should be of leavened or unleavened bread ; can we think that if the latines had then worshipped the sacrament , they had not much rather have objected to the greeks their irreverence upon so high an occasion , than have insisted on the matter of unleavened bread ? as for the conclusion , we do acknowledge it is such as becomes an assembly of bishops . but whether it becomes men of their characters , of their birth and of their qualities , to pretend to such gentleness and meekness , when all the world sees such notorious proofs given to the contrary , i shall not determine ; but will leave it to their own second thoughts to consider better of it . we find both the king and the clergy of france , expressing great tenderness towards the persons of those they call hereticks , togetherwith their resolutions of gaining them only by the methods of persuasion and charity , and yet the contrary is practis●d in so many parts of france , that considering the exact obedience that the inferiour officers pay to the orders that are sent them from the court , we must conclude these orders are procured from the king , without his being rightly informed concerning them : and since we must either doubt of the sincerity of the kings declarations or of the assemblies , we hope they will not take it ill , if we pay that reverence to a crowned head , and to so illustrious a monarch , as to prefer him in the competition between his credit and theirs ; and they must forgive us if we stand in some doubt of the sincerity of this declaration , till we are convinced of it by more infallible proofs than words or general protestations . the conclusion . thus i have made such remarks on these methods as seem both just and solid : i have advanced no assertion either of fact or right concerning which i am not well assured , and which i cannot justifie by a much larger series of proofs than i thought fit to bring into a discourse , which i intended should be as short as was possible . but if that be necessary , and i am called on to do it , i shall not decline it . i have with great care avoided the saying any thing meerly for contentions sake , or to make up a muster of many particulars ; for i look on that way in which many write for a cause , as some advocates plead for their clients , by alledging every thing that may make a shew , or biass an unwary hearer , as very unbecoming the profession of a divine , and the cause of truth which we ought to assert : and there is scarce any thing that shews a man is persuaded of the truth he maintains , more evidently than a sincere way of defending it : for great subtilties and deep fetches do naturally incline a reader to suspect that the writer was conscious to himself of the weakness of his cause , and was therefore resolved to supply those defects by the quickness and nimbleness of his parts . but having now said what i think sufficient in the way of rem●rks upon the letter , and the methods published by the late assembly general of the clergy of france : i now go on to some methods which seem strong and well grounded for convincing those in communion with the church of rome , that they ought to suspect the ground they stand on . in which i shall observe this method : first , i shall offer such grounds of just suspicion and jealousie , as may dispose every considering man to fear and apprehend that their church is on a wrong bottom ; from which i shall draw no other inferences , but that they are reasonable grounds to take a man a little off from the engagement of his former education and principles , and may dispose him to examine matters in dispute among us with more application and less partiality : and then i shall shew upon more demonstrative grounds how false the foundations are , on which the church of rome is established , both which i shall examine only in a general view , and in bulk , without descending by retail unto the p●rticulars in controversie between us . 1. and first , it is a just ground to suspect any church or party of men , that pretend to have every thing pass upon their word or authority ; and that endeavour to keep those who adhere to them in all the ignorance possible ; that divert them from making enquiries into religion , and do with great earnestness infuse in them an implicite belief of whatsoever they sh●ll propose or dictate to them . the world has found by experience that there is nothing in which fraud and artifices have been more employed than in matters of religion : and that priests have been often guilty of the basest impostures . and therefore it is a shrewd indication that any sort of them that make this the first and grand principle which they infuse into their followers , that they ought to believe every thing that the majority of themselves decree , and do therefore recommend ignorance and implicite obedience to their people , and keep the scriptures out of their hands all they can , and wrap up their worship in a language not understood by the vulgar , are not to be too easily believed : but that they may be justly suspected of having no sincere designs , since truth is of the nature of light : and religion was sent into the world to enlighten our minds , and to raise our understandings . 2. it is a just ground of jealousie of any church , if she holds many opinions which have a mighty tenden●y to raise the empire and dominion of the clergy to a vast height . a reverence to them for their works sake is due by the light of nature : but if priests advance this further to such a pitch that every one of them is believed qualified by his character to work the greatest miracle that ever was : the change of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of christ , besides all the other consecrations , by which divine vertues are brought down on such things as they bless : if it is also believed necessary to enumerate all secret sins to them ; and if their absolution is thought to have any other vertue in it , than a giving the peace of the church , with a declaration of the terms upon which god pardons sinners : if the vertue of the sacraments , upon which so much depends , according to their principles , is so entirely in the priests power , that he can defeat it when he pleases with a cross intention ; so that all mens hopes of another state shall depend on the priests good disposition to them , by which every man must know how necessary it is to purchase their favour at any rate : if likewise they pretend to an immunity from the secular judge ; and do all enter into oaths which center in him whom they acknowledge their common head , whose authority they have advanced above all the powers on earth , so that he can depose princes and give away his dominions to others : it must be confessed that all these have such characters of interest and ambition on them , and are so little like the true spirit of christianity , or indeed the common principles of nat●ral reason and religion , that a man is very partial who does not think it reasonable to suspect such proceedings , and a church that holds such doctrines . 3. it is likewise reasonable to suspect any church that holds many opinions that tend much to a vast encrease of their wealth , and to bring the greatest treasures of the world into their hands . the power of redeeming souls out of purgatory has brought more wealth into the church of rome , than the discovery of the indies has done to the crown of spain . such also was the power of pardoning , and of exchanging penances for money , by which the world knew the price of sins , and the rates at which they were to be compounded for . the popes power of granting indulgences , the vertue of pilgrimages , the communication of the merits of orders to such as put on their habits ; and in a word , the whole authority that the c●●r● of rome has assumed in these latter ages , that tend so much to the encrease of their revenue , are all such evident indications of particular ends and private designs , that he must be very much wedded to his first impressions , that does not upon this suspect that matters have not been so fairly carried among them , that nothing ought to be doubted which is defined by them . 4. it is a very just cause of suspecting every thing that is managed by a company of priests , if they have for several ages carried on their designs by the foulest methods of forgery and imposture ; of which they themselves are now both convinced and ashamed . when the popes authority was built on a pretended collection of the letters , which the popes of the first ages after christ were said to have writ ; and their assumed jurisdiction was justified by those precedents which are now by themselves acknowledged to be forgeries . when the popes temporal dominion was grounded on the donations of constantine , of charles the great , and his son lewis the good , which appear now to be notorious forgeries : when an infinite number of saints , of miracles , visions , and other wonderful things were not only read and preached to the people , but likewise were put into the collects and hymns used on their festivals , which wrought much on the simplicity and superstition of the vulgar ; many of which are now proved to be such gross impostures , that they are forced to dash them out of their offices , and others against which there lyes not such positive proof , yet depend on the credit only of some legend , writ by some monks . when many books past over the world as the writings of the most ancient fathers which were but lately writ , and many of their genuine writings were grossly vitiated . when all those things are become so evident , that the most learned writers amongst themselves , particularly in the gallican church , have not only yielded to the proofs brought by protestant writers in many of these particulars , but have with a very commendable zeal and sincerity , made discoveries themselves in several particulars , into which the others had not such advantages to penetrate . there is upon all these grounds , good cause given to mistrust them in other things , and it is very reasonable to examine the assertions of that church with the severest rigour , since an imposture once discovered , ought to bring a suspicion on all concerned in it , even as to all other things . 5. there is likewise great reason to suspect all that are extream fierce and violent ; that cannot endure the least contradiction , but endeavour the ruine of all that oppose them . truth makes men both confident of its force , and merciful towards such as do not yet receive it : whereas errour is jealous and cruel . if then a church has decreed that all hereticks , that is , such as do not submit to all her decisions are to be extirpated ; if she has bound all her bishops by oath at their ordinations to persecute them to the utmost of their power . if princes that do not extirpate them , are first to be excommunicated by their bishops , and after a years contumacy , are to be deposed by the popes , and their kingdomes to be given away . if all hereticks upon obstinacy or relapse are to be burnt ; and if they endeavour in all places as much as they can , to erect courts of inquisition with an absolute authority , in which church-men , forgetting their character , have vied in inventions of torture and cruelty with the bloodiest tyrants that have ever been : then it must be confessed , that all these set together present the church that authorizes and practises them with so dreadful an aspect , so contrary to those bowels and tendernesses that are in the nature of man : not to mention the merciful idea's of god , and the wonderful meekness of the author of our holy religion ; that we must conclude that under what form soever of religion such things are set on foot in the world , such a doctrine is so far from improving and exalting the nature of man , that really it makes him worse than he would otherwise be , if he were left to the softness of his own nature : and certainly it were better there were no revealed religion in the world , than that mankind should become worse , more cruel , and more barbarous by its means , than it would be if it were governed by nature or a little philosophy . upon all these grounds laid together , it is no unreasonable thing to conclude , that a church liable to such imputations ought justly to be suspected , and that every one in it ought to examine well on what grounds he continues in the communion of a society of men , against which such strong prejudices lie so fairly , without the least straining or aggravating matters too much . i proceed now to the second part of my undertaking , which is to shew , that the grounds upon which that church builds , are certainly weak if not false . and 1. they boast much of a constant succession , as the only infallible mark to judge of a church , and as that without which we can never be certain of the faith. but if this is true , then into what desperate scruples must all men fall ? for the resolution of their faith turns to that which can never be so much as made probable , much less certain . the efficacy of the sacraments depending on the intention of the priest , none can know who are truly baptized or ordained , and who are not : and it is not to be much doubted but that many profane priests may have , in a sort of wanton malice , put their intention on purpose cross to the sacrament : for the impiety of an atheistical church-man is the most extravagant thing in the world. beside this , what evidence can they give of the canonical ordination of all the bishops of rome ? the first links of that chain are so entangled , that it is no small difficulty to find out who first succeeded the apostles : and it is not certainly known who suceeeded them afterwards ; for some few catalogues gathered up perhaps from report by historians , is not so much as of the nature of a violent presumption . if we consider succession only as a matter of order , in which we go on without scrupulosity , i confess there is enough to satisfie a reasonable man : but if we think it indispensable both for the conveyance of the faith , and the vertue of the sacraments , then it is impossible to have any certainty of faith ; all must be sounded on conjecture or probability at most . it is but of late that formal instruments were made of ordinations , or that those were carefully preserved and transmitted . in a word , difficulties can be rationally enough proposed concerning succession , that must needs drive one that sets up his faith on it to endless scruples , of which it is impossible he should be ever satisfied . there is one thing of great consequence in this matter , that deserves to be well considered : under the mosaical law god limited the succession to the high priesthood , so that the first-born was to succeed ; and the great annual expiation for the whole people was to be performed by him . yet when in our saviours time this was so interrupted , that the high priesthood was become annual , and wassold for money , god would not suffer the people to perish for want of such expiation ; but the sacrifice was still accepted , though offered up by a mercenary intruder : and caiaphas in the year of his high priesthood prophesied : so that how great soever the sin of the high priest was , the people were still safe in him that was actually in that office . and if this was observed in a dispensation that was chiefly made up of positive precepts and carnal ordinances , it is much more reasonable to expect it in a religion that is more free from such observances , and is more spiritual and internal . 2. another ground on which those of the roman church build is this , that a true church must hold the truth in all things : which is so sophistical a thing , that it might have been expected wise and ingenious men should have been long ago ashamed of it . it is certain the iewish church was the true church of god in our saviours time , for their sacrifices had then an expiatory vertue in them : so that they had the certain means of salvation among them ; which is the formal notion of a true church : and yet in so great a point as what their messias and his kingdome were to be , we find they were in a very fatal errour . the opinion of his being to be a temporal prince had been handed down among them so by oral tradition , that it had run through them all , from the priests down to the fisher-men : for we find the apostles so possessed with it , that at the very time of christs ascension , they were still dreaming of it : and yet this was a gross errour , and proved of most mischievous consequence to them : of this they were so persuaded , that the supream judicature or representative of their church , the sanhedrim , that had much more to shew for its authority , than a general council can shew in the new testament , erred in this fundamental point , and condemned christ as a blasphemer , and declared him guilty of death . so that while they continued to be the true church of god , yet they erred in the point which was of all others the most important ; upon which it is evident , that it is no good inference to conclude , that because a church is a true church , therefore it cannot be in an errour . 3. another pretence in that church , on which they build much , and which makes great impression on many weak minds , is the churches infallibility in deciding controversies , by which all disputes can be soon ended , and they conclude that christ had dealt ill with his church , if he had not provided such a method for the end of all disputes . but it is certain they have lost this infallibility if they ever had it , unless it be acknowledged that it is lodged in the pope ▪ against which the gallican clergy has so lately declared : and yet it can be no where else , if it is not in him ; for as they have had no general council for about one hundred and twenty years , so they cannot have one but by the popes summons ; and if the pope is averse , they cannot find this infallibility : so at best it is but a dormant priviledge , which popes can suspend at pleasure . in the intervals of councils where is it ? must one go over europe , and poll all the bishops and divines to find their opinions ? so in a word , after all the noise about infallibility , they can only pretend to have it at the popes mercy : and indeed he that can believe a pope , chosen as he generally is , by intrigues and court factions , to be the infallible judge of controversies ; or that a council managed by all the artifices of crafty men , ( as that at trent appears to have been , even by cardinal pallavicini's history ) was infallibly directed by the holy ghost , is well prepared to believe the only thing in the world that is more incredible , which is transubstantiation . there was as good reason for lodging an infallible authority among the iews as among christians ; for their religion consisting of so many external precepts concerning which disputes might rise , it seemed more necessary that such an authority should have been established among them , than under a dispensation infinitely more plain and simple . and the supream authority was lodged with the sanhedrim in much higher expressions under the old testament than can be pretended under the new , as will appear to any that will read the fore cited place in deuteronomy . there was also a divine inspiration lodged in the pectoral , by which the high priest had immediate answers from the cloud of glory ; and when that ceased under the second temple , yet , as their writers tell us , that was supplyed by a degree of prophecy ; which is also confirmed by what s. iohn says concerning caiaphas's prophecying ; and yet after all this , th●t in●allibility was not so obstinately lodged with them , that a company of lewd and wicke● prie●ts could not mis-lea● the people , a● they did in the doctrine concerning the messias . from all which it may be well inferred , that how large soever the meaning of those disputed passages that relate to the authority of the church may be supposed to be , yet a tacite condition must be still implyed in them , that while church-men continue pure and sincere , and seek the truth in the methods prescribed by the gospel , they shall not err in any point of salvation . and it is not reasonable to expect that our saviour should have left a more effectual provision against errour than he has done against sin ; since the latter is certainly more pernicious and destructive of those ends for which he came into the world ▪ so that as he has only left sufficient means for those who use them well to keep themselves from sin , in such a manner that they shall not perish in it ; so has he likewise provided a sufficient security against errour , when such means of instruction are offered that every one who applies himse●f to the due use of them , shall not err damnably . 4. another foundation on which they build is oral tradition , which ●hey reckon was handed down in every age since the apostles days . this some explain so as to make it only the conveyance of the exposition of the scriptures , though others stretch it further , as if it might carry down truths not mentioned in scripture : and for finding this out two methods are given : the one is presumptive , when from the doctrine of the church in any one age , it is presumed from thence , that those of that age had it from the former , and the former from those who went before them , till we run it up to the apostles days . the other method is of particular proof , when the ●onveyance in every age appears from the chief writers in it . i shall not here run out to shew upon either of these hypotheses , the unfitness of this way of conveying doctrines , nor the easie door it opens to fraud and imposture ; but shall only shew that they cannot prove they have a competent evidence of oral tradition among them . and first , it is certain that we have not handed down to us a general exposition of the scriptures , and that almost all the ancient expositors run after allegories , according to the way of the greek philosophers ▪ for some whole ages we have not above two or three writers , and those lived very remote ; and what they say , chiefly in the passages that are made use of in the later disputes , fall in oft on the by , and seem rather to have dropt from them , than to have been intended by them ; so that this cannot be thought decisive . and when it is likewise confessed , that in their disputes with the hereticks of their days , they have not argued so critically from those places of scripture , which they considered more narrowly ▪ it will not be reasonable to conclude too positively upon those things that rather fell in their way occasionally , than were the designed subjects of their enquiries . so that it is not possible to prove an oral tradition by the instances of particular writers , in all the ages and corne●s of the church : for almost an age and a half we have not one copious latine writer but tertullian and cyprian , that both lived in carthage : and it is not very clear of what persuasion the former was when he wrote the greatest part of his treatises : that he was a heretick when he wrote some of them is past dispute : now can one think ●hat if god had intended that the faith should have passed down by such a conveyance , there would have been such uncertain prints left us by which we might trace it out ? as for the other method of presumption or prescription , it is certainly a false one ; for if in any one particular it can be made appear that the doctrine of the latin church has been in these latter ages contradictory to that of the primitive times , then this of prescription is never to be any more alledged ; and of this i shall give two instances that seem demonstrative . the first is about the worshipping departed saints or martyrs , which has been the practice of the l●tin church for several ages : and yet in the second century we have the greatest evidence possible that it was not the doctrine of that age ; and that not in any occasional word let fall by some single writer , but in a letter writ by the church of smyrna , concerning the martyrdom of their late biship s. polycarp : in which there appears that warm affection for his person , and honour for his memory , that we cannot think they would have been wanting in any sort of respect that wa● due to the ashes of so great a saint . and what they say to this purpose is deliberately brought out ; for it being suggested by the iew that had set on the heathens against that martyr , that it was necessary to destroy his body , lest the christians should worship him ▪ they reject that imputation in these words : they being ignorant , say they , that we can never forsake christ who died for the salvation of the world , nor worship any other , for we adore him as the son of god. but for the martyrs , we do worthily love them , as the disciples and followers of our lord , for their unconq●ered love to their king and master , and therefore d●s●re to be their partne●s and disciples . to this i shall add another instance that is no les● evident ▪ which is concerning the presence of christ in the sacrament . the tradition of the church can be best gathered from the liturgies , which are the publickest , the most united and most solemn way in which she expresses her self . in s. ambros●'s time , or whosoever else was the author of the book of the sacraments that goes under his name , we find that the prayer of consecrations , as it is cited by him , differs in a very essential point from that which is now in the canon of the mass : in the former they called the sacrifice that they offered up in it , the figure of the body and blood of christ ; but since that time they have changed that phrase , and instead of it they pray , that it may be to us the body and blood of christ. we cannot tell in what age this change was made , but we may certainly conclude that the latin church in s. ambrose's time , had a very different opinion concerning the presence of christ , from that which is now received among them ; and that then she only believed a figurative presence . and thus it is certain that the presumptive method for finding out oral tradition is a false one , and that the particular proof of tradition by enquiring into the doctrine of every age is impossible to be made . 5. i shall enlarge a little further upon one particular instance , which is concerning one of those propositions lately condemned by the assembly g●neral : in which i intend to shew that they have departed from the tradition of the church , much more evidently than they can pretend that we have done : and this is concerning the popes power o● deposing kings , which they who live under so mighty a monarch have very prudently renounced : but whether they have not more plainly contradicted the tradition of the church than the reformers did , shall appear by the sequel of this discourse . in order to which i shall lay down two grounds that seem undeniable in their own principles ; the one is , that the tradition of any age or ages of the church , when it is universal and undisputed , is of the same authority with the tradition of any other age whatsoever : for the promises made to the church last continually , and have the same force at all times : and therefore a tradition for these last six hundred years is of as strong an authority as was that of the first six ages . the second is , that a tradition concerning the measures of mens obedience and actions , is of the same authority with a tradition concerning the measures of their belief . the one sort are practical , and the other are speculative points ; and as more are concerned in a practical truth than in a speculative point , so it has greater effects and more influence on the world ; therefore it is as necessary that these be certainly handed down as the other : and by consequence a tradition concerning any rule of life is as much to be received as that concerning any point of belief ; for the creed and the ten commandments being the two ingredients of the positive part of our baptismal vow ; it is as necessary that we be certainly directed in the one as in the other ; and if there were any preference to be admitted here , certainly it must be for that which is more practical , and of greater extent . upon these two grounds i subsume , that all the characters of oral tradition , by which they can pretend to find it out in any one particular , agree to this doctrine of the popes power of deposing princes that are either hereticks , or favourers of them . the way sof searching for tradition are these four : first what the writers and doctors of the church have delivered down from one age to another . the second is what the popes have taught and pronounced ex cathedrâ , which to a great part of that communion is decisive , their authority being held infallible ; and to the rest it is at least a great indication of the tradition of such an age. the third is , what such councils as are esteemed and received as oecumenical councils have decreed as general rules . the fourth is , the late famous method of prescription , when from the received doctrine of any one age we run a back-scent up to the apostles , upon this supposition that the doctrine of the church , chiefly in a visible and sensible thing , could not be changed . these are all the ways imaginable to find out the tradition of past ages ; and they do all agree to this doctrine . all the writers for five or six ages , both commentators on scripture , the school-men , the casuists and canonists agreed in it ; so that cardinal perron had reason to challenge those of the contrary persuasion to shew any one writer before calvin's time , that had been of another mind . we do not cite this as a proof , because cardinal perron said so , but because the thing in it self cannot be disproved ; and in the contests that fell in between the popes and those princes against whom they thundred , no civilian nor canonist ever denied the popes power of deposing in the case of heresie . it is true , when the popes pretended to a temporal dominion , and that all princes were their vassals , some were found to write against that ; other princes contended about the particulars laid to their charge , and denied that they were either hereticks or favourers of hereticks . but none ever disputed this position in general , that in a manifest case of heresie the pope might not depose princes ; and it is too well known what both the sorbonne determined in the case of henry the third , and likewise how the body of the clergy adhered to cardinal perron in the opposition he made to the condemnation of that opinion . the next mark of tradition is the popes pronouncing an opinion ex cathedrâ , that is , in a solemn judiciary way , founding it on scripture and tradition . if popes had only brutally made war upon some princes , and violently thrust them out of their dominions , this indeed were no mark by which we could judge of a tradition : but when we find gregory the seventh , and many popes since his time , found this authority on passages of scripture , as that of the keys being given to s. peter , jeremiah the prophet's being set over kingdomes to root out , to pluck up and destroy , and that all power in heaven and earth was given to chr●st ; and his bidding his disciples to buy a sword , we must look on this as the declaring the tradition of the church . so that it must eit●er be confessed that they are not faithful conveyers of it , or that this is truly the tradition of the church . and this has been done so often these last six hundred years , that it were a needless imposing on the readers patience to go about the proving it . the third indication of tradition is the declaration made by synods , but chiefly by general councils . i need not here mention the many roman synods that have concurred with the popes in the depositions which they thundered out against kings or emperours , since we have greater authorities confirming it . the third council of lateran declared that all princes that favoured heresie fell from their dominions , and they granted a plenary indulgence to all that fought against them . the fourth council of the lateran vested the pope with the power of giving away their dominions , if they continued for a year obstinate in that their merciful disposition of not extirpating hereticks . the first council of lions concurred with the pope in the deposition of the emperour frederick the second , which is grounded in the preamble on the power of binding and loosing given to s. peter . after these came the council of constance , and they reckoning themselves superiour to the pope , lookt on this as a power inherent in the church , and so assumed it to themselves ; and therefore put this sanction in many of their decrees , particularly in that for maintaining the rights of the church , and in the passports they granted , which had been often added in the bulls that confirmed the foundations of monasteries , that if any , whether he were emperour , king , or of what dignity soever he might be , opposed their order , he should thereby forfeit his dignity . the council of sienna confirmed all decrees against hereticks , and the favourers of them , that had been made in any former councils , and by consequence those of the third and fourth councils in the lateran . the council of basil put that threatening clause of forfeiture , used by those of constance , in their decree for a general council : and at trent it was declared , that if any prince did suffer a duel to be fought in his dominions , he was thereupon to forfeit that place in which it was fought . now by the same authority that they could declare a forfeiture of any one place , they could dec●are a for●eiture of a princes whole dominion ; for both those sentences flow from the same superiour jurisdiction : and thus we see seven of those councils which they esteem general , have either decreed , confirmed , or assumed this right of deposing kings , for heresie , or indeed for breaking their orders and writs . 4. the fourth mark o● tradition is ●hat which has been of late so famous by mr. arnauld's endeavours to prove from thence that the belief of the corporal presence in the sacrament is a doctrine derived down from the apos●les days , which is this : if any one age has universally received an opinion as an article of faith , it must be concluded that that age had it from the former , and that from the preceding till we arrive at the apostles days : and this he thinks must hold the stronger , if the point so received w●s a thing obvious to all men , in which every one was concerned , and to which the nature of man was inclined to make a powerful opposition . i shall not examine how true this is in general , nor how applicable in fact it is to the doctrine of the corporal presence ; but shall only say that allowing all these marks to be the sure indications of apostolical tradition , the doctrine of deposing princes for favouring heresie , has them all much more indisputably than the other has . take any one age from the eleventh century to the sixteenth , and it will appear that not only the popes , the bishops , and all the ecclesiastical order received it , but that all the laity likewise embraced it : though this was a matter obvious to sense , in which many were much concerned . it might have been hoped that princes upon their own account for fear of an ill precedent , would have protected the ●eposed prince : but on the contrary , they either entred into the croisades themselves , or at least gave way to them : vast armies were gathered together to execute those sentences , and the injured princes had no way to keep their people firm to them , but by assuring them they were not guilty of the matters objected to them , which shewed that had their people believed them guilty , they had forsaken them : and yet as it was , the terrour of a croisade was such , and the popes authority to depose princes was so firmly believed , that they were for the most part forced to save themselves by an absolute submission to the popes pleasure , and to what conditions or penances a haughty pope would impose on them . so certain it is that this doctrine was universally received in those ages . and thus it appears that all the characters by which it can be pretended that an apostolic●l tradition can be known , agree to this doctrine in so full and uncontestable a manner , that they cannot bring such evidence for the points in dispute between them and us . so that the assembly general by condemning this doctrine , have departed from the tradition of their own church more apparently than it can be pretended that either luther and calvin did in any of those doctrines which they rejected ; and therefore they ought not any more to complain of us for throwing off such things as they found on tradition , when they have set us such an example . from which i shall only infer this , that they themselves must know how weak a foundation oral tradition is for divine faith to build upon , and that it must be established upon surer grounds . finis . erratvm . page 85. line 21. for first read second . books printed for , and sold by richard chiswell . folio . speed's maps and geography of great britain and ireland , and of foreign parts . dr. cave's lives of the primitive fathers , in 2. vol. dr. cary's chronological account of ancient time. wanley's wonders of the little world , or hist. of man. sir tho. herbert's travels into persia , &c. holyoak's large dictionary , latine and english. sir rich. baker's chronicle of england . wilson's compleat christian dictionary . b. wilkin's real character , or philosophical language . pharmacopoeia regalis collegii medicorum londinensis . judge iones's reports in common law. cave tabulae ecclesiasticorum scriptorum . hobbs's leviathan . lord bacon's advancement of learning . sir will. dugdale's baronage of england in two vol. hooker's ecclesiastical polity . winch's book of entries . isaac ambrose's works . guillim's display of heraldry with large additions . dr. burnet's history of the reformation of the church of england , in 2. vol. — account of the confessions and prayers of the murtherers of esquire thynn . burlace's history of the irish rebellion . herodoti historia gr. lat. cum variis lect. rushworth's historical collections the 2 d. part in 2. vol. — large account of the tryal of the earl of strafford , with all the circumstances relating thereunto . bishop sanderson's sermons , with his life . fowlis's history of romish conspir . treas . & usurpat . dalton's office of sheriffs with additions . — office of a justice of peace with additions . keeble's collection of statutes . lord cook 's reports in english. sir walter raleigh's history of the world. edmunds on caesars commentaries . sir iohn davis's reports . judge yelverton's reports . the laws of this realm concerning jesuites , seminary priests , recusants , the oaths of supremacy and allegiance explained by divers judgments , and resolutions of the iudges ; with other observations thereupon , by will. cawley esq . william's impartial consideration of the speeches of the five jesuits executed for treason . 1680. iosephus's antiquities and wars of the jews with fig. qvarto . dr . littleton's dictionary , latine and english. bishop nicholson on the church catechism . the compleat clerk : precedents of all sorts . history of the late wars of new-england . dr. outram de sacrificiis . bishop taylor 's disswasive from popery . spanhemii dubia evangelica , 2 vol. dr. gibbs's sermons . parkeri disputationes de deo. history of the future state of europe . dr. fowler 's defence of the design of christianity against iohn bunnyan . dr. sherlock's visitation-sermon at warrington . dr. west's assize sermon at dorchester 1671. lord hollis's relation of the unjust accusation of certain french gentlemen charged with arobbery 1671. the magistrates authority asserted , in a sermon , by iames paston . cole's latine and english dictionary . mr. iames brome's two fast-sermons . dr. iane's fast-sermon before the commons . 1679. mr. iohn iames's visitation sermon april . 9. 1671. mr. iohn cave's fast-sermon on 30. of ian. 1679. — assize sermon at leicester iuly 31. 1679. dr. parker's demonstration of the divine authority of the law of nature and the christian religion . mr. william's sermon before the lord mayor 1679. — history of the powder treason with a vindication of the proceedings relating thereunto , from the exceptions made against it by the catholick apologist and others ; and a parallel betwixt that and the present popish plot. speculum baxterianum , or baxter against baxter . mr. hook's new philosophical collections . dr. burnet's relation of the massacre of the protestants in france . — conversion and persecutions of eve cohan a jewess of quality lately baptized christian. — letter written upon discov . of the late popishplot . — impiety of popery being a second letter written on the same occasion . — sermon before the lord mayor upon the fast for the fire , 1680. — fast serm. before the house of com. dec. 22.80 . — sermon on the 30. of ianuary 1681. — sermon at the election of the l. mayor . 1681. — sermon at the funeral of mr. houblon . 1682. — answer to the animadversions on his history of the rights of princes , 1682. — decree made at rome 1679. condemning some opinions of the jesuites and other casuists . published by dr. burnet , with a preface . — a letter giving a relation of the present state of the difference between the french k. and the court of rome . bibliotheca norfolciana , sive catalogus libr. manuscript . & ●mpress . in omni arte & lingua , quos hen. dux norfolciae regiae societati londinensi pro scientia naturali promovenda donavit . octavo . elborow's rationale upon the english service . bishop wilkin's natural religion . hardcastle's christian geography and arithmetick . dr. ashton's apology for the honours and revenues of the clergy . lord hollis's vindication of the judicature of the house of peers in the case of skinner . — jurisdiction of the h. of peers in case of appeals . — jurisdiction of the h. of peers in case of impositions . — letters about the bishops votes in capital cases . duporti versio psalmorum graeca . dr. grew's idea of philological history continued on roots . spaniards conspiracy against the state of venice . dr. brown's religio medici : with digbies observations . dr. salmon upon the london dispensatory . brinsley's posing of the accidence . several tracts of mr. hales of eaton . bishop sanderson's life . dr. tilletson's rule of faith. dr. simpson's chymical anatomy of the york-shire spaws ; with a discourse of the original of hot springs and other fountains . — his hydrological essays , with an account of the allum-works at whitby , and some observations about the jaundice . 1 s. 6. d. dr. cox's discourse of the interest of the patient , in reference to physick and physicians . organon salutis : or an instrument to cleanse the stomach . with divers new experiments of the vertue of tabaco and coffee : with a preface of sir hen. blunt. dr. cave's primitive christianity , in three parts . a discourse of the nature , ends , and difference of the two covenants , 1672. 2 s. ignatius fuller's sermons of peace and holiness . 1 s. 6 d. a free conference touching the present state of england , at home and abroad , in order to the designs of france . 1 s. mystery of jesuitism , third and fourth parts . doctor sanway's unreasonableness of the romanists . record of urines . doctor ashton's cases of scandal and persecution . cole's latin and english dictionary . the tryals of the regicides in 1660. certain genuine remains of the lord bacon in arguments civil , moral , natural , &c. with a large account of all his works , by dr. tho. tennison . dr. puller's discourse of the moderation of the church of england . dr. saywel's original of all the plots in christendom . sir iohn munsons discourse of supream power and common right dr. henry bagshaw's discourses on select texts . mr. seller's remarks relating to the state of the church in the three first centuries . the country-mans physician ; for the use of such as live far from cities or market-towns . dr. burnet's account of the life and death of the earl of rochester . — vindic. of the ordinations of the church of engl. — history of the rights of princes in the disposing of ecclesiastical benefices and church-lands . — life of god in the soul of man. markam's perfect horseman . dr. sherlock's practical disc. of religious assemblies . — defence of dr. stillingfleet's unreasonableness of separation . — a vindication of the defence of dr. stillingfleet in answer to mr. baxter and mr. lob about catholick communion . the history of the house of estée , the family of the dutchess of york , octavo . sir rob. filmer's patriarcha , or natural power of kings . mr. iohn cave's gospel to the romans . dr. outram's 20. serm. preached on several occasions . dr. salmon's new london dispensatory . lawrence's interest of ireland in its trade & wealth stated . dvodecimo . hodder's arithmetick . grotius de veritate religionis christianae . bishop hacket's christian consolations . the mothers blessing . a help to discourse . new-englands psalms . an apology for a treatise of human reason , written by m. clifford esq . the queen-like closet , both parts . vicesimo qvarto . valentine's devotions . guide to heaven . pharmacopoeia collegii londinensis reformata . books lately printed for richard chiswell . an historical relation of the island of ceylon in the east-indies : together with an account of the detaining in captivity the author , and divers other english-men now living there , and of the author 's miraculous escape : illustrated with fifteen copper figures , and an exact map of the island . by capt. robert knox , a captive there near 20 years , fol. mr. camfield's two discourses of episcopal confirmation , octavo . bishop wilkin's fifteen sermons never before extant . mr. iohn cave's two sermons of the duty and benefit of submission to the will of god in afflictions , quar. dr. crawford's serious expostulation with the whiggs in scotland , quarto . a letter giving a relation of the present state of the difference between the french king and the court of rome ; to which is added , the popes brief to the assembly of the clergy , and their protestation . published by dr. burnet . alphonsus borellus de motu animalium , in 2 vol. quarto . dr. salmon's doron modicum , or supplement to his new london dispensatory , octavo . sir iames turner's pallas armata , or military essayes of the ancient , grecian , roman and modern art of war , fol. mr. tanner's primordia : or the rise and growth of the first church of god described , octavo . a letter writ by the last assembly general of the clergy of france to the protestants , inviting them to return to their communion ; together with the methods proposed by them for their conviction . translated into english and examined by dr. gilb. burnet , octavo . dr. cave's dissertation concerning the government of the ancient church by bishops , metropolitans , and patriarchs : more particularly concerning the ancient power and jurisdiction of the bishops of rome , and the encroachments of that upon other sees , especially constantinople , octavo . — his history of the lives , acts , death , and writings of the most eminent fathers of the church that flourished in the fourth century : ( being a second volumn ) wherein amongst other things is an account of arianism , and all other sects of that age. with an introduction containing an historical account of the state of paganism under the first christian emperours , folio . books in the press . doctor iohn lightfoot's works in english , fol. mr. selden's ianus anglorum englished , with notes : to which is added his epinomis , concerning the ancient government and laws of this kingdom never before extant . also two other treatises written by the same author : one of the original of ecclesiastical jurisdiction of testaments ; the other of the disposition or administration of intestates goods ; now the first time published , fol. mezeray's history of france , rendred into engl. fol. gul. ten-rhyne med. doct. dissertat . de arthritide , mantyssa schematica , & de acupunctura . item orationes tres de chemiae ac botaniae antiquitate & dignitate . de physiognomia & de monstris . cum figuris & authoris notis illustratae , octavo . d. spenceri dissertationes de ratione rituum iudaicorum , &c. fol. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48243-e2970 * ad const. permittat lenitas tua populis ut quos voluerint , quos pu●averint , quos elegerint , audiant docentes , & divina mysteriorum solennia concelebrent & pro inco●umita●e & beatitudine tua offeran● preces . non quisquam perversus aut invidus maligna loquatur . nulla quide● suspicio eri● non modo sedi●ionis , sed nec asperae murmurationis . — deus cognitionem sui docuit potius quam exegit , & operationum coelestium admiratione praecep●is suis concilians au●hori●a●em , coactam confitendi se aspernatus est , voluntatem . si ad fidem veram istiusmodi vis adhiberetur , episcopalis doctrina obviam pergere● , dicer●●que , deus universitatis est , obsequio non eg●t necessario , non requirit coactam confessionem . non fallendus est sed promerendus ; nostr● potius non sua causa venerandus est . non possum nisi volentem recipere , nisi orantem audire , nisi profitentem signare . — at vero quid istud quod sacerdotes timere deum vinculis coguntur , poenis jubentur ; sacerdotes carceribus continentur , plebs in custodiam catenati ordinis disponitur ? idem contra a●ian●s in prin●i●i● . sp●ciosum quid●m nomen est pacis , & pulchra est opinio unitatis ; sed quis ambigat eam solam ecclesiae atque eva●geliorum unicam pacem esse , quae christi est ? quam ad apostolos post passionis ●uae gloriam est locutus , quam ad mandati sui aeterni pignus abiturus commendavit . hanc nos , fratres dilectissimi , ut amissam quaerere & turbatam componere & repertam t●nere curavimus . sed hujus ipsius fieri nos v●l participes ●el authores n●c temporis nostri pecca●a meruerunt , nec imminentis antichris●i pr●● vii ▪ ministrique sunt passi : qui pace su● , id est impietatis suae uni●ate se j●ctant ▪ agen●es se non ut christi episcopos sed 〈◊〉 ●ntichristi sacerdotes . ac ne maledicis verborum in eos uti convitiis arguamur , cau●am perditionis publicae ne cuiquam ●gnorata sit , non tacemus ▪ antichristos plures etiam apostolo joanne praedicante cognovimus . quisquis enim christum qualis ab apostolis est praedicatus , negavit , antichristus es● . nominis antichristi proprietas est . christo esse contrarium . hoc nunc sub opinione falsae pietatis efficitur , ho● sub specie praedicationis evangelicae laboratur , ut dominus jesus christus dum praedicari creditur denegetur . ac●primum mis●reri licet rostrae aetatis laborem , & praesentium temporum stul●as opin●ones congemiscere , quibus patrocinari deo humana creduntur , & ad tuendam christi ecclesiam ambitione seculari laboratur . oro vos episcopi qui hoc vos esse creditis , quibusnam suffragiis ad praedicandum evangelium apostoli usi sunt ? quibus adjuti potestatibus christum praedicaverunt , gentesque fere omnes ex idolis ad deum transtulerunt ? anne aliquam sibi assumebant è palatio dignitatem , hymnum deo in carcere inter catenas & post flagella cantantes ? edictisque regiis paulus cum in theatro spectaculum ipse es●et christo ecclesiam congregabat ? nerone se credo aut vespasiano aut decio patrocinantibus t●ebatur , quorum in nos odiis confessio divinae predicationis eff●oruit ? illi manu atque opere se alentes , intra coenacula secretaque coeuntes , vicos & castella gentesque fere omnes terra ac mari contra senatus consulta & regum edicta peragrantes . claves credo regni coelorum non habebant ? aut non manifesta tum dei virtus contra odia humana porrexit , cum tanto magis chris●us praedicaretur , quanto magis praedicari inhiberetur ? at nunc , proh dolor ! divinam fidem suffragia terrena commendant , inopsque virtutis suae christus , dum ambitio nomini suo conciliatur , arguitur . terret exiliis & carceribus ecclesia , credique sibi cogit , quae exiliis & carceribus est credita : pendet à dignatione communicantium , quae persequentium est consecrata terrori . fugat sacerdotes quae fugatis est sacerdotibus propagata : diligi se gloriatur à mundo , quae christi esse non potuit nisi eam mundus odisset . haec de comparatione traditae nobis ollm ecclesiae , nunc quam deperditae , res ipsa quae in oculis omnium est atque ore , clamavit . sulp. sev. l. 2. sacr. hist. & dial. 2. de vita martini . illi in vos saeviant qui nesciunt quo cum labore verum inveniatur , & quam difficile caveantur errores . illi i● vos saeviant qui nesciunt quam rarum & arduum si● carnalia phan●asmata piae mentis fere●itate superare . illi in vos saeviant qui nesciunt cum quanta difficultate sa●ietur oculus interioris hominis ut possit intueri solem suum . illi in v●s saeviant-qui nesciunt quibus suspiriis & gemitibus fiat ut ex quantulacunque parte possit intelligi deus . postremo , illi in v●s saeviant qui nullo tali errore decepti sunt , quali vos deceptos vident . contra epist. fund . cap. 1 , & 2. ep. 48. & ep . ●0 . lib. 3. cont . ●etil . c. 47. & 50. ep. 60 , 127 , 158 , 160. lib. cont . don lib. 1. cont . parm. cap. 7 contra haeres . lib. 3. cap. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , & 5. ●ib . 4. cap. 34. & lib. ● . cap. ● . notes for div a48243-e5090 cal. lib. de vera participatione co●poris . christi in coena . * ubi eis divinitus demonstratur si attendere veli●t , tam inique illos ab ecclesiae unitate praecisos , quam inique clamant maximianistas à se schisma fecisse . concil . carth. sub anast . can. 4. * ut senrentiis episcoporum qui scripturas ●acras ingenti g●oria tractaverunt , tua , juliane , machinamenta subvertam . lib. 2. contr . iul. c. 1. lib. de decret . conc. nic. a ath. epist. de senten . dion . alex. b lib. de syn. c epist. 41. conc. eph. act . 1. * sed nunc nec ego nicenum , nec tu debes ariminense tanquam praejudicaturus proferre concilium ; nec ego hujus authoritate , nec tu ●llius detineris . scripturarum authoritatibus non quorumque propriis sed utriusque communibus testibus , res cum re , causa cum causâ , ratio cum ratione concerter . lib. 3. co●t . max. cap. 14. a athan. de syn. arim. & sel●uc . hilary de synod . aueust . lib. 3. cont . maxim. cap. 3. & ep. 74 , & 78. b nazianz. orat . 37. c act. syn. eph. action 1. d act. 6. syn. const. in act. 2. syn. chalced. ego vero evangelio non crederem , nisi me ecclesiae catholicae moveret authoritas cont. epist. fund . cap. 5. * portae inseri non prae●aleb●nt adv●rsus eam . ma●th . 1.16 . * damnemus in commune vitiosam intelligentiam , non auferamus fidei securitatem . — sed homoousion potest male intelligi , constituatur qualiter possit bene intelligi . — potest inter nos optimus fidei status condi , ut nec ea quae bene sunt constituta vexentur , & quae male sunt intellecta resecentur . hil. lib. de syn. pag. 394 , & 396. of the paris edition . 165● . * contr. epist. fund . cap. 45 , paris ▪ edit . * portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus ●am . † ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem seculi . * art. 31. of their confessio● of fait● . * vis imus & colligimus ea ? non ; ne forte eradicantes zizania , eradicetis & triticum ; sinite utraque crescere usque ad messem . * lib. de unitate ecclesi●e , & psal. con . par . don. & epist. 162 & 171. non enim nobis displicent quia tolerant m●los , sed quia intolerabiliter mali sunt propter schisma , propter altare contra altare , propter separationem ab haereditate christi toto orbe diffus● , f●cut tanto an●e promissa est . a●g . ep. 162. diversirate poenarum , diversitas agnoscitur meritorum . ibid. * quare divisores vestimentorum domini esse vultis ? & tunicam illam charitatis desuper tex●am , quam nec persecutores ejus diviserunt , terere cum toto orbe non vultis ? — fingi●is vos ante tempus messis sugere permixta ziz●nia , quia vos es●is sola zizania : nam si frumenta essetis , permixta zizania tolerare●is , & à segete christi non vos divideretis . aug. e● . 171. * si autem tunc non erat ecclesia , quia sacrilegi heretici sine baptismo recipiebantur , & haec universali consu●tudine tenebatur , unde donatus apparuit ? † de qua terrâ germinavit ? de quo mari emersit ? de quo coelo cecidit ? lib. 5. de bapt. cap. 2. * ipsi considerent ubi sint qui neque unde propagati sint , possunt dicere . sed nos in ecclesiae communione securi sumu● , per cujus universitatem ●d nun● agitur , quod & ante agripinum , & inter agripinum & cyprianum , per ejus universitatem similiter agebatur . ibid. * et cujus universitatem neque agripinus deseruit , neque cyprianus , neque illi qui iis consenserunt , quamvis aliter quàm caeteri saperent , sed cum iis ipsis à quibus diversa senserunt , in eadem unitatis communione manserunt . ibid. † quapropter si temporib●s cypriani perdidit ecclesia malorum communionem , non habent isti suae communionis origin●m . si autem non perdidit , non hab●nt praecisionis suae aliquam desensionem . ibid. lib. 3. co●tra donatista● de bapti●mo . * interim cum felic●ssimus comminatus sit non communicaturos in morte secum qui nobis obtemperassent , id est , qui nobis communicârint , accipiat sententiam quam prior dixit , ut abstentum se ● nobis sciat quisquis se inspirationi & factioni ejus se adjunxerit . sciat se in ecclesia nobiscum non esse communicaturum , qui sponte maluit ab ecclesia separari . cypr. ep. 38. quod nunc hi ecclesiam scindentes , & contra pacem atque unitat●m christi rebelles , cathedram sibi constituere , & primatum assumere , & baptizandi atque off●rendi licentiam vindicare conantur . idem ●p . 76. * concil . chal. ●ct . 4. can. 83. si quis epis●opus à 〈◊〉 deposi●us , 〈◊〉 pr●s●●ter , 〈◊〉 diaconus , 〈◊〉 omnino qui est sub regu●● ▪ à proprio episcopo , ausus suerit amplius aliquid sacri ministerii ge●●re , sive episcopus juxta superiorum consuetudinem , sive presbyter , sive diaconus , postea non liceat ei , ne in altera quidem synodo , spem restitutionis nec satisfactionis locum habere : sed & omnes qui ●i communicent , ●jiciantur ex ecclesiâ , & maxime si postqaam cognoverint sententiam in praedictos latam , iis communicate ausi fuerint . can. 84. de iis qui seipsos separant , si quis presbyter aut diaconus contemp●o proprio episco ●o , se ab ecclesiâ segregaverit , aut seorsim congregationem habuerit , & altare constituerit , si commonenti episcopo non acqu●everit , nec consentire vel obedire voluerit , semel & iterum , ac t●r●ium vocanti , is omnino deponatur , nec ultra remedium consequi , ●ec proprium honorem recipere possit : quod si perseveraverit tumultuari & ecclesiam perturbare , per potestatem externam tanquam seditiosus . corrigatur . these two can●ns were read and reported in the fourth 〈◊〉 of the council of chalcedon , in the process of those two monks caroze and dorothee , that had made a schism , and having joyned themsel●es to eutyches , did separate from the church , as luther and calvin , and thos● who have followed them , have separated themselves in these latter ages . e● . 34. * regula quidem fidei una omnino est , sola immobilis & irreformabilis , caetera jam disciplinae & conversationis adm●ttunt novitatem ▪ tertull . de virg. ●el . c. 1. lib. 1. adv●rsus marc. c. 21. and almost in his whole book of prescriptions . * non ago ut efficiar homini convitiando superior , sed errorem convincendo salubr●or . notes for div a48243-e11330 see the oath in pontif. rom. see deu● . 17. from 8 , to 14. ambro● . ●o . 4. de sa●ram . c. 5. fac nobis h●nc oblationem as●riptam , rationabilem , accept●bilem ▪ quod est figura corporis & s●nguinis domini nostri ●esu chr●sti 〈◊〉 pridie ●●am 〈…〉 the same prayer 〈◊〉 thus varied in the canon of the mass. quam oblationem tu deus in omnibus quaesumus benedictam , ascriptam , ratam , ration●bilem accep●abilemque facere digneris , ut nobis corpus & s●nguis fiat dilectissimi ●lii tui domini nostri jesu christi . lib. 8. ep. 21● extravag . d● major . & obed . cap. 1. later . 3. c. 28. later . 4. cap. 3. const. s●ss 11 , 13 , 17 , 19. tid . 〈◊〉 ●● . c. 19. a representation of the threatning dangers, impending over protestants in great brittain with an account of the arbitrary and popish ends, unto which the declaration for liberty of conscience in england, and the proclamation for a toleration in scotland, are designed. ferguson, robert, d. 1714. 1687 approx. 253 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 30 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a70105 wing f756a estc r201502 99825137 99825137 29511 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. a70105) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 29511) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1793:6) a representation of the threatning dangers, impending over protestants in great brittain with an account of the arbitrary and popish ends, unto which the declaration for liberty of conscience in england, and the proclamation for a toleration in scotland, are designed. ferguson, robert, d. 1714. [2], 54 p. s.n., [edinburgh : 1687] by robert ferguson. place and date of publication from wing. 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 protestants -great britain -early works to 1800. great britain -history -james ii, 1685-1688 -early works to 1800. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-07 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion representation of the threatning dangers , impending over protestants in great brittain . with an account of the arbitrary and popish ends , unto which the declaration for liberty of conscience in england , and the proclamation for a toleration in scotland , are designed . neque enim satis amarint bonos principes , qui malos satis non oderint . plin. in panegyr . c. 53. sedem obtinet principis , ue sit domino locus . id . ibid. c. 55. tantum tibi licet , quantum per leges licebit , pacat. ad theodos. august . they are great strangers to the transactions of the world , who know not how many and various the attempts of the papists have been , both to hinder all endeavours towards a reformation , & to overthrow and subvert it where it hath obtained and prevailed . for beside the innumerable executions and murders committed by means of the inquisition to crush and stiffle the reformed religion in its rise and birth , and to prevent its succeeding and settlement in spain , italy , and many other territories ; there is no kingdom or state , where it hath so far prevailed as to come to be universally received and legally established , but it hath been through strange and wonderful conflicts with the rage and malice of the church of rome . the persecutions which the primitive christians underwent by vertu ' of the edicts of the pagan empero●s , were not more sanguinary and cruel , than what through the laws and ordinances of popish princes , have been inflicted upon those , who have testified against the heresies , superstitions , and idolatries , and have withdrawn from the communion of the papal church . nor were the martyrs that suffered for the testimony of jesus against heathenism , either more numerous or worthier of esteem for vertu ' , iustice and piety ; than they who have been slaughtered , upon no other pretence , but for endeavouring to restore the christian religion to the simplicity and purity of its divine and first institution , and to recover it from the corruptions , wherewith it was become universally tainted in doctrine , worship , and discipline . how have all the nations in europe been soak't with the blood of saints , through the barbarous rage of popish rulers , whom the roman bishops and clergy stirred up and instigated , in order to support themselves in their secular grandure , and in their tyranny over the consciences of men , and to keep the world in slavery under ignorance , errors , superstition and idolatry , which the reducing christianity again to the rule of the gospel , would have redeemed mankind from , and been an effectual means to have dissipated and subverted ? they of the roman communion , having strangely corrupted the christian religion in its faith , worship , and discipline , and having prodigiously altered it , from what it was in the doctrines and institutions of our saviour and his apostles ; they found no other way whereby to sustain their errors and corruptions , and to preserve themselves in the possession of that empire , which they had usurped over conscience , and in the enjoyment of the wealth and secular greatness , which by working upon the ignorance , superstition , lusts , and prophanness of people , they had skrewed and wound themselves into , but by adjudging all who durst detect or oppose them , to fire and sword , or to miseries , to which death in its worst shape were preferrable . nor have they for the better obstructing the growth , and compassing the extirpation of the reformed religion , omitted either the arts and subtlities of julian , or the fury and violence of gal●rius and di●cletian . whosoever hath not observed the craft and rage that have been employed and exerted against protestants for these 170. years , must have been very little conversant in histories , and strangely overlook't the conduct of affaires in the world , and the transactions in churches and states , during their own time . and tho the papists do not think it fit , to put their maxim's for preserving the catholick religion , and converting hereticks , in execution at all times , and in every place , yet some of their writers are so ingenuous , as to tell us the reason of it , and that they do not forbear it upon principles of christianity or good nature , but upon motives of policy and fear , lest the cutting one of our throats might endanger two of their own . however they have been careful not to suffer a period of twenty years to elapse since the beginning of the reformation , without affording us in some place or another , renewed evidences of papal charity , and of the roman method of hindring the growth of heresie , either by a massacre , war , or persecution , begun , and executed , upon no other account or provocation , but meerly that of our religion , and because we cannot believe and practice in the matters of god , as they do . and having obtained of late , great advantages for the pursuing their malice against us , more boldly and avowedly than at an other season , and that not only through a strange concurrence and conjunction of princes in the papal communion , who are more intoxicated with their superstitions and idolatries , or less wise , merciful , and humane , than some of their predecessors of that fellowship were , but through having obtained a prince intirely devoted unto them , & under the implicit guidance of their priests , to be advanced unto a throne , where such sometime used to sit , as were the terror of rome , the safeguard of the reformed religion , and the sanctuary of oppresed protestants ; they have thereupon both assumed a courage of stirring up new and unpresidented persecutions in divers places , against the most useful , best and loyallest of subjects , upon no other charge or allegation , but for dissenting from the tridentine faith , and denying subjection to the tripple crown , and are raised into a confidence of wholly extirpating protestancy , and of reestablishing the papal tyrannies and superstition , in the several countries whence they had been expelled , or stood so depressed and discountenanced , as that the votaries and partizans of their church , had not the sway and domination . nor need we any other conviction both of their design , and of their confidence of succeeding in it , than what they have already done , & continue to pursue in france , hungary and piedmont , wheretheir prospering to such a degree in their cruel and barbarous attempts , not only gives them boldness of entertaining thoughts of taking the like methods , and acting by the same measures , in all places where they find rulers at their beck , and under their influence , but to unite and provoke all popish monarchs to enter into a holy war against protestants every where , that by conquering and subduing those states and kingdoms , where the reformed religion is received and established , they may extirpate it out of the world , under the notion of the northern heresie . if principles of humanity , maxim's of interest , rules of policy , obligations of gratitude , ties of royal and princely faith , or the repeated promises , oaths , edicts , and declarations of soveraigns , could have been a security to protestants , for the profession of their faith and exercise of their worship , in the forementioned territories and dominions , they had all that could be rationally desired , for their safety and protection , in the free and open profession and practice of their religion ; whereas by a violation of all that is sacred among men , of a binding vertu unto princes ( except chains and fetters ) or that confer a right , claim , and security unto subjects , the poor protestants in those places , have been , and still are , persecuted with a rage and barbarity , which no age can parallel , and for which it is difficult to find words proper and severe enough , whereby to stamp a character of infamy , upon the treacherous , cruel , and savage authors , promoters , and instruments of it . nor do's it proceed from a malignancy of nature peculiar to the emperor , the french king , and the duke of savoy , above what is in other princes of the same communion , or that they are more regardless of fame , and less concerned how future generations will brand their memories , than other papal monarchs seem to be , that they have suffered themselves to be prevailed upon , to violate the promises and oaths they were bound by to their protestant subjects ; seeing the emperour is character'd for a person of a meek and gentle temper , and of the goodness of whose nature , thereremain some shadows interwoven with the bloody streaks of the hungarian persecution . and the french king tho he stand not much commended for sweetness and benignity of disposition , is known to be unmeasurably ambitious , of having his name transmitted to posterity in letters of greatness and honor , which his behaviour towards his subjects of the reformed religion , is no way 's adapted unto , but calculated to make him hereafter listed with nero and julian . as to the duke of savoy , there seems by the whole course of his other actions , to be a certain greatness of mind in him , not easily consisting with that savage and brutal temper , which the cruelties he hath exercised upon the protestants in piedmont , would intimate and denote . but it ariseth from the mischievousness and pestilency of their religion , their bigottry in it , and their having put themselves so entirely under the conduct of the clergy , particularly of the jesuites , who are for the most part a set of men , especially the latter , that through acting in the prospect of no other ends , but the grandure , wealth , and domination of the church of rome , do with an unlimited rage , and a peculiar kind of malice , persecute all that have renounced fellowship with it , and care not if they sacrifice the honor , glory and safety of monarchs , and bring their kingdoms into contempt and desolation , by rendring them weak , poor , and dispeopled , provided they may wreck their spleen , and revenge , upon those , whose religion is not only dissonant from theirs , but should it prevail to be the religion of the legislators and rulers of nations , those springs of wealth would be immediately dried up , by which their superior clergy , and all their religious orders are enriched and fed up in idleness . and should the people come to be generally imbued with principles of gospel , light and liberty , they would immediately shake off a blind and slavish dependence upon pope and priests , and thereby subvert the foundation upon which the monarchick grandure of the romish church and their whole religion is superstructed and destroy the engine by which they are inabled to lord it over the bodies , estates , and consciences of men . and if protestants every where , especially under popish rulers , were not under a strange infatuation , they would look for no fairer quarter from papists , than what their brethren have met with in france and piedmont , nor would they rely upon the faith of any king , that stiles himself a roman catholick , seeing sacred promises , tremendous oaths , and the most authentick declarations , are but papal arts , and tricks sanctified at rome , whereby to full subjects into a security , and delude them into a neglect of all means , for preserving themselves , and their religion , till their rulers can be in a condition , of obeying the decrees of the fourth lateran council , that enjoins kings to destroy and extirpate hereticks , under pain of excommunication , and of having both their subjects absolved from allegiance to them , and their territories given away to others ; and till without running any hazard , they may comply with the ordinance of the council of constance , which not only releaseth them from all obligation of keeping faith to hereticks , but requires them to violate it ; and accordingly made sigismond break his faith to john hus , whom in d●fiance of the security given him by that king , they caused to be condemned and burnt . nor is the practice and late example of the great louis , designed for less than a pattern , by which all popish princes are to act , and his proceedings are to be the coppy & moddel , which they who would merit the name of zealous catholicks , and be esteemed dutiful sons of the church , are to transcribe and limn out in lines of force , violence , and blood , and for the better corresponding with the original , to imploy dragoons for missionaries . and tho i will not say , but that there may be some popish princes , who through an extraordinary measure of good nature , and from principles of compassion , woven into their constitution , previously to all notices of revelation whether real , or pre●ended , and who through sentiments im●ib'd from a generous education , and their ●oming afterwards to be under the influence , ●nd management , of wise and discret counsellors , may be able to resist the malignant ●mpressions of their religion , and so be preserved , from the inhumanities towards ●hose of different perswasions from them in the things of god , which their priests would lay them under obligations unto , by the doctrines of the romish faith ; yet there appears no reason why an understanding man should be induced to believe , that the king of england , is likely to prove a prince , of that great and noble temper , there being more than enough , both to raise a jealousie and beget a perswasion , that there is not a monarch among all those who are commonly stiled catholicks , from whom protestants , may justly dread greater severities , than from him , or look for worse and more barbarous treatments . i am not ignorant , with what candor , we ought by the rules of charity and good manners , to speak of all men , whatsoever their religion is , nor am i unacquainted with what veneration and deference , we are to discourse of crowned heads ; but as i dare not give those flattering titles unto any , of which there are not a few in some of the late addresses , presented to the king , by an inconsiderable and foolish sort of dissenting preachers ; so i should not know , how to be accountable to god , my own conscience , or the world , should i not in my station as a protestant , and as a lover of the laws and liberties of my countrey , offer something , whereby both to undeceive that weak and short-sighted people , whom their own being accommodated for a season by the declaration of indulgence , hath deluded into an opinion , that his majesty cherisheth no thoughts of subverting our religion , and also further to enlighten and confirm others , in the just apprehensions they are possessed with , of the design carrying on in grear brittain , and ireland , for the extirpation of protestancy , and that the late declaration for liberty of conscience , is emitted in subserviency thereunto , and calculated by the court ; toward the paving and preparing the way , for the more facile accomplishment of it . and while mercinary sycophants , by their flatteries infect and corrupt princes , and by their representing them to the world , in colours disagreable from their tempers and dispositions , and in milder and fairer characters , than any thing observable in them , either deserveth , or correspondeth with , do delude subjects , into such opinions of them , as beget a neglect of means for preserving themselves ; 't is become a necessary duty , and an indispensable service to mankind , to deal plainly and above board , that so by describing kings as they are , and setting them in a true and just light , we may prevent the peoples being further imposed upon , or if through suffering themselves to be still deceived , they come to fall under miseries and persecutions , they may lay all their distresses , and desolations , at the door of their own folly , in not having taken care , how to avoid , what they were not only threatned with , but whereof they were warned and advertised . for as i am not of sr. roger l'estranges mind , that if we cannot avoide being distrustful of our safety , yet it is extreamly vain , foolish , and extravagant to talk of it ; so i am very sensible how many of the french ministers , by painting forth their king more like a god than a man , and by possessing their people with a belief of wisdom , justice , grace , and mercy in him , of which they knew him destitute , they both emboldned him , to attempt what he hath perpetrated , and laid them under snares , which they know not how to disentangle themselves from , in order to escape it . nor would the king of england , have acted with that neglect of the future safety of the papists , nor have exposed them to the resentment , and hereafter revenge of three nations , by the arbitrary and illegal steps he hath made in their favour , if he intended any thing less , than the putting protestants for ever out of capacity and condition , of calling them to a reckoning , and exacting an account of them , which neither he , nor they about him , can have the weakness to think they have sufficiently provided against , without compelling us by an order of à la mode france missionaries to turn catholicks , or by adjudging us to mines and galleys , according to the versailles president , for our heretical stubborness , or which is the more expeditious way of converting three kingdoms , to cause murder the protestant inhabitants , according to the pattern , which his loyal irish catholicks , endeavoured to have set anno 1641. for the conversion of that nation . had his majesty been contented with the bare avowing , and publishing himself to be of the communion of the church of rome , and of challenging a liberty , tho against law , for the exercise of his religion , it might have awakened our pity , and compassion , to see him embrace a religion , where there are so many impediments of salvation , and in doing whereof , he was become obnoxious unto the imprecation of his grandfather , who wished the curse of god , to fall upon such of his posterity , as should at any time turn papists ; but it would have raised no intemperated heats in the minds of any against him , much less have alienated them , from the subjection and obedience , which are due unto their soveraign , by the laws of the several kingdoms , and the fundamental rules of the respective constitutions . or could he have been contented , with waving the rigorous execution of the laws against papists , of whatsoever quality , rank , or order they were , and with the bestowing personal , and private favours , upon those of his religion , it would have been so far from begetting rancor or discontent in his protestant subjects , that they would not only have connived at , and approved such a procedure , and those little benignities and kindnesses , but had the papists quietly acquiesced in them , and modestly improved them , it might have been a means of reconciling the nation to more lenity towa 〈…〉 them for the future , and might have i● fluenced our legislators , when god sh 〈…〉 vouchsafe us a protestant on the throne , 〈◊〉 moderate the severities to which by th● laws in being they are obnoxious , and 〈◊〉 render their condition as easie , and safe , 〈◊〉 that of other subjects , and only to take car 〈…〉 for precluding them such places of powe● and trust , as should prevent their being ab 〈…〉 to hurt us , but could bring no damage or i● convenience upon themselves . but th● king instead of terminating here , an● allowing only such graces and immun 〈…〉 ties to the popists , as would have been 〈◊〉 nough , for the placing them in the priva 〈…〉 exercise of their religion , with security 〈◊〉 them , and without any threatning dange● to us . he hath not only suspended all th● penal laws against roman catholicks , but 〈◊〉 hath by an usurped prerogative , that is par 〈…〉 mount to the rules of the constitution , and 〈◊〉 all acts of parliament , dispensed with , an● disabled the laws that enjoin the oath of a 〈…〉 legeance and supremacy , and which appoi 〈…〉 and prescribe the tests , that were the fence● which the wisdom of the nation ha 〈…〉 erected , for preserving the legislative a 〈…〉 thority , securing the government , and keeping places of power , magistracy and offic 〈…〉 in the hands of protestants , and thereby 〈◊〉 continuing the protestant religion , and engli 〈…〉 liberties , to our selves , and the generation that shall come after us . and as if this wer● not sufficient , to awaken us to a consideration of the danger we are sin , of havin● our religion supplanted and overthrown ▪ he hath not only advanced the most viole 〈…〉 papists , unto all places of military comman 〈…〉 by sea and land ; but hath established many of them , in the chief trusts and offi 〈…〉 of magistracy , and civil judicature , so th 〈…〉 there are scarce any continued in powe● and employment , save they who have 〈◊〉 ther promised , to turn roman catholicks , 〈◊〉 who have engaged , to concur and assist 〈◊〉 the subverting our liberties , and religion , u● der the mask and disguise of protestan 〈…〉 〈◊〉 is already evident , that it is beyond the ●●lp , and relief , of all peaceable and civil ●eans , to preserve and uphold the protestant ●eligion in ireland , and that nothing but force ●nd an intestine war , can retrieve it unto , ●nd reestablish it there , in any degree of safe 〈…〉 . nor is it less apparent , from the arbi●●ary and tyrannous oath , ordained to be ●●quired of his majesties protestant subjects 〈◊〉 scotland , whereby they are to swear o●●dience to him without reserve , that our re●●gion is held only precariously in that king●●m ; and that whensoever he shall please to ●●mmand the establishment of popery , and 〈◊〉 enjoin the people to enter into the com●union of the church of rome , he expects 〈◊〉 have his will immediately conformed ●nto , and not to be disputed or controlled . ●ut lest what we are to expect from the ●ing , as to the extirpation of the reformed ●eligion , and the inflicting the utmost seve●ties upon his protestant subjects , that papal ●ge , armed with power , can inable him un●● , may not so fully appear , from what hath ●een already intimated , as either to awa●en the dissenters out of the lethargy , into which the late delaration hath cast them , or 〈◊〉 quicken those of the church of england , to ●hat zealous care , vigilancy , and use of all lawful means , for preserving themselves , ●nd the protestant religion , that the impen●ent danger , wherewith they are threatned ; ●equires at their hands ; i shall give that farmer confirmation of it , from topicks and motives of credibility , moral , political , and ●istorical , as may serve to place it in the ●rightest light , and fullest evidence , that a ●atter future and yet to come , which is on●● the object of our prospect and dread , and ●ot of our feeling and experience , is capa●le of . it ought to be of weight upon the minds ●f all english protestants , that the king of ●eat brittain , is not only an open and avowed ●apist , but as most apostates use to be , a ●ery bigot in the romish religion , and who 〈◊〉 the leige letter from a jesuite to a bro●●er of the order tells us , is resolved either to convert england to popery , or to die a martyr . nor were the iewish zealots , of whose rageful transports , iosephus gives us so ample an account , nor the dervises among the turks , and indians , of whose mad attempts , so many histories make mention , more brutal in their fanatical heats , than a popish bigot useth to be , when favoured with advantages , of exerting his animosity against those who differ from him , if he be not carefully watched against , and restrained . beside the innumerable instances of the tragical effects of romish bigottry , that are to be met with in books of all kinds , we need go no further for an evidence of it , than to consult the life of dominick , the great instigator and promoter of the massacre of the waldenses , and the founder of that order , which hath the management of the bloody inquisition ; together with the life of henry the third of france , who contrary to the advice of maximilian the emperor , and the repeated intreaties of the wisest of his own councellors , the chancellor de l'hospital , and the president de thou , not only revived the war and persecution against his reformed subjects , after he had seen what judgments , the like proceedings had derived upon his predecessors , and how prejudicial they had proved to the strength , glory , and interest of his crown and kingdom , but he entred into a league with those that sought to depress , abdicate , and depose him , and became the head of a faction for the destroying that part of his subjects , upon whom alone he could rely for the defence of his person , and support of his dignity . nor were the furies of the duke de alva heretofore , or the present barbarities of louis the fourteenth , so much the effects of their haughtie and furious tempers , as of their bigottry in their inhumane and sanguinary religion . that the king of england , is second to none , in a blind and rageful popish zeal , his behaviour both while a subject , and since he arrived at the crown , doth not only place it beyond the limits of a bare suspition , but affords us such evidences of it , as that none in consistency with principles of wisdom , and discretion , can either question or contradict it . to what else can we ascribe it , but to an excessive bigottry , that when the frigat wherein he was sailing to scotland anno 1682. struck upon the sands , and was ready to sink , he should prefer the lives of one or two pittiful priests , to those of men of the greatest quality , and receive those mushrom's into the boat , in which himself escaped , while at the same time , he refused to admit , not only his own brother-in-law , but divers noblemen of the supreamest rank , and character , to the benefit of the same means of deliverance , and suffered them to perish , tho they had undertaken that voyage out of pure respect to his person , and to put an honor upon him , at a season , when he wanted not enemies . nor can it proceed from any thing but a violent and furious bigottry , that he should not only disoblige and disgust the two universities , of whose zeal to his service , he hath received so many seasonable and effectual testimonies , but to the violation both of the laws of god and the kingdom , offer force to their consciences , as well as to their rights and franchises , and all this in favour of father francis , whom he would illegally thrust into a fellowship in cambridg , and of mr. farmer , whom he would arbitrarily obtrude into the headship of a colledg in oxford , who as they are too despicable to be owned , and stood for , in competition against two famous universities , whose greatest crime , hath been an excess of zeal for his person , and interest , when he was duke of york , and a measure of loyalty , and obedience , unto him , since he came to the crown , beyond what either the rules of christianity , or the laws of the kingdom , exact from them ; so he hath way's enough of expressing kindness , and bounty , to those two little contemptable creatures , and that in methods as beneficial to them , as the places into which he would thrust them , can be supposed to amount unto , and i am sure with less scandal to himself , and less offence to all protestants , as well as without offering inj 〈…〉 to the rights of the university , or of co● pelling those learned , grave , and vene 〈…〉 ble men , to perjure themselves , and act 〈◊〉 gainst their duties and consciences . t 〈…〉 late proceedings towards dr. burnet , a 〈…〉 not only contrary to all the measures of j● stice , law , and honor , but argue a stran 〈…〉 and furious bigottry in his majesty for po 〈…〉 ry , there being nothing else into which 〈◊〉 man can resolve the whole tenor of his pr● sent actings against him. seeing setting 〈◊〉 side the doctor 's being a protestant , and a m● nister of the church of england , and his havin● vindicated the reformation in england , fro● the calumnies , and slanders , wherewith 〈◊〉 was aspersed by sanders , & others , of the roman communion , and the approving himself in some other writings , worthy of th● character of a reformed divine , and of tha● esteem which the world entertains of him for knowledg in history , and all other part 〈…〉 of good learning ; there hath nothing occurred in the whole tenor and trace of hi● life , but what instead of rebuke and censure , hath merited acknowledgments , and the retributions of favour and prefermen● from the court. whosoever considers , his constant preaching up passive obedience to such a degree and height , as he hath done , may very well be surprised at the whole method of their present actings towards him , and at the same time that they find cause to justify the righteousness of god , i● making them the instruments of his persecution , whom in so many way 's he had sought to oblige , they may justly conclude that none save a bigotted papist could be the author of so infutable , as well an illegal , and unrighteous returns . for as to all whereof he is accused , in the criminal letters against him , bearing date the 19. of april 1687. i my self am both able to assert his innocence , and dare assure the world , that none of the persons whom he is charged to have conspired with against the king , would have been so far void of discretion , ( knowing his principles ) as to have transacted with 〈◊〉 in matters of that kind ; but whether 〈◊〉 letters since that , to the earl of midle 〈…〉 , with the paper , inclosed in one of 〈…〉 m , have administred any legal ground 〈◊〉 their second citation , i shall not take up 〈…〉 me to determine , and will only say , that 〈◊〉 i heartily wish , he had not in those letters 〈…〉 orded them , any probable pretence , for 〈…〉 oceeding against him , so there are excesses 〈◊〉 loyalty in them , to attone for the utmost 〈…〉 discretions , his words are capable of being 〈…〉 rested unto , nor can any thing but papal malice , and romish chicanerie , construe , and ●ervert them , so far contrary to his inten 〈…〉 on s , as to make crimes , and much less to 〈…〉 ake treasons of them . now as nothing , 〈…〉 n be of more portentous omen to british ●nd irish protestants , than to have a popish 〈…〉 igott exalted to rule over them ; so thro 〈◊〉 concurrence of ill nature , and a deficien●y in intellectuals , met in him with his fu●ious zeal and bigottry , they are the more ●o expect , whatsoever his power inables him ●o inflict , that is severe and dreadful . 't is possible , that a ruler may be possessed with a ●ondness , and valuation of popery , as the only religion , wherein salvation is to be obtained , and thereupon in his private judgment and opinion , sentence all to eternal flames , who cannot herd with him in ●he same society ; and yet he may thro a great measure of humanity , and from an extraordinary proportion of compassion , and meekness , woven into his nature , hate the imbrucing his hands in their blood , or treating those with any harshness , whose supposed misbelief is their only crime ; and that finding them in all other respects , vertuous , peaceable and industrious , he may leave them to the decretive sentence of the soveraign and infallible judg , without disturbing , or medling with them himself . nor is it impossible , but that there may be a prince so far bigotted in popery , as to have inclination , and propensity , to force all under his authority , to be of his religion , or else to destroy and extirpate them , yet thro being of that largeness of understanding and political wisdom , as to be able to penetrate into the hazards of attempting it , and to foresee the consequences that may ensue upon it , in reference to the peace and safety of his government , as well as the wealth and power of his dominions , he may come to check and stiffle his furious inclinations , and chuse rather , to leave his subjects at quiet , than to impoverish , weaken , and dispeople his countrey , either by destroying them , or by driving them to abandon his territories , in order to find a shelter , and sanctuary , in other places . but where ( as in the king of england ) a small measure of understanding , accompanied with a large share of a morose , fierce , and ill nature , and these attended with insolency and pride , as they usually are in weak and froward people , come to have a bigottry in such a religion as popery , superadded to them , whose doctrines and principles instigate , and oblige , to cruelty , towards all of other perswasions , there protestants , do find nothing , that may incourage to hope for security , and protection , under a prince of that temper and complexion ; but all that does affect and impress their minds , bidds them prepare for persecution , and to look for the utmost rigours and severities , that pride , malice , brutal zeal , backt and supported with force and power , can execute and inflict . and how much such a princes religion , proves too weak to restrain him from uncleannesses , and other immoralities , by so much the more , is he to be dreaded , in that he thinks to compound for and expiate crimes of that nature , by his cruelty to hereticks , and his offering them up in sacrifices of attonement to the triple crown . nor are the priests either displeased with , or careful to diswade princes , from offences of that kind , tho they know them to be great provocations to god , and of mischievous example to subjects , seeing they are masters of the art of improving them , to the service of holy church , and the advantage of the catholik faith. for instead of imposing , upon those royal transgressors , the little and slavish pennances , of pilgrimages , whippings , and going barefoot ; they require them to make satisfactions for those and the like crimes , by the pious and meritorious acts of murdering protestants , and of extirpating the northern heresie . and as one of the french whore's of state is reported to have been a person that hath principally instigated to all the cruelties against the reformed in france ; so no doubt but as she did it under the influence and conduct of her confessors to compensate for her adulteries , so she advised and perswaded louis to it upon motives of the same nature . nor do they who have the guidance of consciences at whitchal want matter of the same kind , to improve and work upon , and as there are of the licentious femal's that will be glad of attoning for their filthy pollutions by acts so agreeable to the articles of their religion ; so there are some who as they have influence enough upon the king to councel him to the like method's , so they will find him sufficiently disposed to compound for his loathsome and promiscuous scatterings at a rate so sutable to his temper , as well as to the doctrines of the papal faith. if any be deluded into a good opinion of his majesty , and brought to flatter themselves with expectations of their being protected in the profession of the protestant religion , they may be easily undeceived and prevailed upon to change their sentiments , if they will but consider his behaviour towards protestants in the post wherein he formerly stood , and what his carriage was to them , while he was fixed in a meanner and more subordinate station than now he is . tho there have been many whose behaviour in their private condition , would have rendred them thought worthy to rule , if their actions after their advancement to governing power had not confuted the opinion entertained concerning them ; yet there have been very few that have approved themselves 〈◊〉 just and merciful after their attaining to soveraignty , whose carriage in an inferior station , had been to th● dammage , and general hurt of mankind , 〈◊〉 far as their narrow power and intere●● would extend . it ought therefore to lay u● under a conviction , what we are to expec● from his majesty on the throne , when w● find the whole thread and series of his conduct while a subject , to have been a continued design against our religion , and an uninterrupted plot for the subversion of our laws and liberties . 't is sufficiently known how active he alway's was to keep up and inflame the differences among protestants , and how he was both a great promoter of all the severe laws made against dissenters , and a continual instigator to the rigorou● execution of them : so that his affirming it to have been ever his judgment that none ought to be oppressed and persecuted for matters of religion , nor to be hindred in worshipping god according to their several perswasions ; serves only to inform us , either with what little honesty , honor , and conscience h● acted , in concurring to the making of the foresaid laws , or what small faith and credit is now to be given to his declaration , and to what he hath since the emission of it repeated both in his speech to mr. penn , and in his letter to mr. alsop . and to omit many other instances of his kindness and benignity to the fanaticks , whom he now so much huggs and caresseth ; it may not be amiss to remember them , and all other protestants , of that barbarous and illegal commission issued forth by the council of scotland , while he , as the late kings high commissioner , had the management of the affaires of that kingdom ; by which every military officer that had command over twelve men was impower'd to impannel juries , try , condemn , and cause to be put to death , not only those who should be found to disclaim the kings authority , but such as should refuse to acknowledg the kings new modelled supremacy over that church ; in the pursuance and execution of which commission , some were shot to death , others were hang'd or drowned , and this not only during the conti 〈…〉 〈◊〉 o● the reign of his late majesty , ●ut 〈◊〉 〈…〉 e a year and a half after the pre●●nt king came to the crown . but what ●eed is there of insisting upon such little par●●culars , wherein he was at all times ready 〈◊〉 express his malice to protestants , seeing 〈…〉 e have not only dr. oates's testimony , 〈…〉 d that of divers others , but most authen 〈…〉 ck proofs from mr. coleman's letters , of 〈…〉 s having been in a conspiracy several years 〈…〉 r the subversion of our religion , upon the 〈…〉 eritorious and sanctified motive of extir 〈…〉 ating the northern heresie . of which be 〈…〉 de all the evidence that four successive ●arliaments arrived at , i know several who 〈…〉 nce the duke of york ascended the throne have had it confirmed unto them by ●ivers forraign papists , that were less re●●rved , or more ingenuous than many of 〈…〉 hat communion use to be . to question 〈…〉 he existence of that plot , and his present majesties having been accessory unto , and in 〈…〉 he head of it , argues a strange effrontery and 〈…〉 mpudence thro casting an aspersion of weakness , folly and injustice not only upon those three parliaments that seem'd to have re●ained some zeal for english liberties , but by fastning the same imputations upon the 〈…〉 ong parliament , which had shew'd it self at all times more obsequious to the will of the court , than was either for their own honor , or the safety and interest of the kingdom , and who had expressed a veneration for the royal family , that approached too much unto a degree of idolatry . whosoever considers that train of councels wherein the king was many years engaged , and whereof we felt the woful effects in the burning of london ; the frequent prorogation and dissolution of parliaments ; the widening and exasperating differences among protestants ; the ●●irring up and provoking civil magistrates and ecclesiastical courts , to persecute dissenters ; and the maintaining correspondencies with the pope and catholick princes abroad , to the dishonor of the nation and danger of our laws and religion , cannot avoid being apprehensive what we are now to look for at his hands , nor can he escape , thinking that he esteems his advancement to the crown , both a reward from heaven for what he hath done and plotted against these three kingdoms , and an opportunity and advantage administred unto him for the perfecting and accomplishment of all those designes with which he hath been so long bigg and in travel for the destruction of our religion , the subversion of our laws , and the reestablishment of popery in these dominions . the conduct and guidance under which his majesty hath put himself , and the fiery temper of that order to whose government he hath resigned his conscience , may greatly add to our fears , and give us all the jealousie and dread that we are capable of being impressed with in reference to matters to come , that there is nothing which can be fatal to our religion or persons , that we may not expect the being called to conflict with and suffer . for tho most of the popish ecclesiasticks , especially the regulars , bear an inveterate malice to protestants , and hold themselves under indispensable obligations of eradicating whatsoever their church stiles heresie , and have accordingly been alway's forward to stirr up and provoke rulers , to the use and application of force for the destruction of protestants , as a company of perverse and obstinate hereticks , adjuged and condemned to the stake and gibbet by the infallible chaire ; yet of all men in the communion of the romish church , and of their religious orders , the jesuites are they who do most hate us , and whose councels have been most sanguinary , and alway's tending to influence those monarchs , whose consciences they have had the guiding and conducting of , to the utmost cruelties and barbarities towards us . what our brethern have had measured out to them in france thro father de la chaise's influence upon that king ' , and thro the bewitching power and domination he hath over him in the quality of his confessor , and as having the direction of his conscience , may very well allarm and inform us what we ought to expect from his majesty of great brittain , who hath surrendred his conscience to the guidance of father peters , a person of the same order , and of the like mischievous and bloody disposition that the former is . 't is well observed by the author of the reasons against repealing the acts of parliament concerning the test , that cardinal howard's being of such a meek and gentle temper that is able to withstand the malignity of his religion , and to preserve him from concurring in those mischievous councels , which his purple might seem to oblige him unto , is the reason of his being shut out from acquaintance with , and interest in the english affaires transacted at rome , and that whatsoever his majesty hath to do in that court is managed by his ambassador under the sole direction of the jesuites . so that it is not without cause , that the jesuite of leige in his intercepted and lately printed letter , tells a brother of the order what a wonderful veneration the king hath for the society , and with what profound submission he receives those reverend fathers and hearkens to whatsoever they represent . nor is his majesties being under the influence of the iesuites thro having one of them for his confessor , and several of them for his chief councellors and principal confidents , the only thing in this matter that awakens our fear in what we are to expect from his armed power , excited and stirred by that fiery tribe ; but there is another ground why we ought more especially to dread him , and that is his being entred and enrolled into the order and become a member of the society , whereby he is brought into a greater subjection and dependence upon them , and stands bound by ties and engagements of being obedient to the commands of the general of the iesuites , and that not only in spirituals , but in whatsoever they shall pretend to be subservient to the exaltation of the church , and for upholding the glory of the triple crown . this is a mystery which few are yet acquainted with , and which both his majesty , and the order judgd it their interest to have industriously concealed , but whereof the world may ere long receive that convictive intelligence , that there will be no room left for suspecting the truth of it , and whereof a jesuite in the late printed letter from liege hath given us already sufficient intimation , both in telling us , that the king of england stiles himself a son of the society , and how that he wrote to father de la chaise , that he would account every injury done to the jesuites to be a wrong committed against himself . neither is it so surprising as it may seem at first view , that the king should list himself a member of the order , seeing there have been four other crowned heads of whose entrance and matriculation into the society , there is all the evidence and assurance imaginable . and tho one of them is acknowledged to have been in the classis of the directors , while the other three are generally believed to have been in the form of the directed , yet such was the power of the society over them all , that a great part of the cruelty exercised towards protestants both in the last age and in this , is to be ascribed to that implicite and blind obedience which they were bound to yield to the injunctions of the order , and to the commands of the general . philip the second of spain , who was the first king that entred into the order , and who did it upon motives of policy in hopes by their means to have compassed the universal monarchy which he was aspiring after , and who thro being in the classis of directors , had advantages of using and improving , and not of being in that degree of servitude unto them which the others have been ; yet to what barbarous cruelties did they overrule and instigate him , not only to the destruction of unconceivable numbers of his subjects , whose only crime was that they could not believe as the church of rome doth , which issued in the depopulating some of his dominions , and his being deposed from the soveraignty in others but to the sacrificing his son and heir prince charles , whom to gratify the society , he caused upon an accusation of his favouring the low countrey hereticks , and the being himself tainted with lutheranism to be murdered in is own court and palace . sigismond of po 〈…〉 d , who was the second crowned head admitted into the order , thro complying with he councels , and serving the wrath , rage ●nd passions of the jesuites , in endeavouring ●o suppress religion in swedland to which he was heir , and in striving to subvert their civil rights , drew upon himself the resentment and wrath of that nation to such a degree , that they abdicated him and his heirs from the government , and advanced another to the throne . casimire who was also king of poland is reckoned to be the ●hird soveraign prince that entred into the society , and he thro coming under the domination of the iesuites , and being bound to follow their directions , and to execute whatsoever the general of the order thought fit to enjoin for the promotion and benefit of the church , became not only an instrument of a severe persecution against all sort of dissenters from the romish faith , so that many were put to death , and more driven to abandon their countrey , but through committing many things in the course of his government that were prejudicial to the rights , and thereupon disgustful to the polish nobility , they conceived such an aversion and hatred for him , that to avoid the effects of their resentment and indignation , he was forced to lay down his crown , and to chuse to end his day 's in france in no higher a post , and under no more glorious a character , than that of abbot of saint german . there is a fourth prince , and who is yet in being , that is generally believed to be enrolled into the order , and the persecution he hath carried on in hungary , contrary to his natural temper , and to all the : rules of interest and policy , and to the violation of his promises and oaths for continuing unto them the liberty of their religion , is both too probable an evidence of it , and a strong confirmation of the cruelties which the iesuites instigate princes unto over whom they have influence , and whom they have wheedled into engagments of obeying their commands and pursuing their injunctions . and as the desolating of hungary thro a long and bloody war , and the tempting the turks to invade the austrian territories , are some of the effects that have ensued upon the emperor's complying with the fierce and heady councels of the iesuites ; so we have not seen all the mischiefs that the persecution , which they have engaged him in against protestants is like to issue in , tho beside the disgusting several electoral princes and states in germany , and the furnishing the ottoman potentate with encouragements of continuing the war , there are wonderful advantages afforded by it , to embolden the french king in his encroachments upon the empire , which otherway's he would not have dared to attempt , and whereof the result at last may prove fatal to the imperial dignity and to the whole house of austria . now what the protestants in great brittain and ireland ought to dread from the king , upon his being entred into a society that hath breathed nothing but fire and blood since its first institution , i leave to the serious consideration of all men who value their lives , liberties and estates , and that do not think of renouncing their religion , and turning papists . nor is it to be imagined that the king , before he can be supposed well setled on the throne , and while under a declining state of body , as well as in an advanced age , having the weight of four and fifty upon his shoulders , beside something else that he is obliged to the earl of southesk for , which i shall not mention , would have taken so many bold , wide , and illegal stepps for the supplanting our religion and laws , and for the introduction and establishment of popery and tyranny , and this not only to the losing and disobliging his former votaries and partizans , but to the strange allarming and disgusting most persons of honor , quality , and interest in the three kingdoms , were he not beside the being under the sway of his own bigottry , and the strong ballance of a large measure of ill nature , bound by ties of implicite obedience to the commands of that extravagant and furious society , to the promoting of whose passions and malice , rather than his own safety and glory , or the lasting benefit of the roman catholicks themselves , the whole course of his government hitherto seems to have been shapen and adapted . the occasion and subject of the late contest between him and the pope , which hath made so great a noise not only at rome , but thro all europe , may serve to convince us both of the extraordinary zeal he hath for the society , and of the transcendent power they have over him , and that 't is no wonder he should exact an obedience without reserve from his subjects in scotland , seeing he himself yields an obedience without reserve to the iesuites . 't is known , how that by the rules of their institution no iesuite is capable of the myter , and that if the ambition of any of them should tempt him to seek or accept the dignity of a prelate , he must for being capacitated thereunto , renounce his membership in the order . yet so great is his majesties passion for the honor and grandure of the society , and such is their domination and absolute power over him , that no less will serve him , neither would they allow him to insist upon less , than that the pope should dispense with father peters being made a bishop , without his ceasing to be a iesuite , or the being transplanted into another order . and this the old gentleman at rome hath been forced at last to comply with , and to grant a dispensation whereby father peters shall be capable of the prelature , notwithstanding his remaining in the ignatian order , the iesuites thro their authority over the king not suffering him to recede from his demand , and his majesties zeal for the society not permitting him to comply either with the prayers , or the conscience and honour of the supream pontiff . not only the kings unthankfulness unto , but his illegal proceedings against , and his arbitrary invading the rights of those who stood by him in all his dangers and difficulties , and who were the instruments o● preventing his exclusion from the crown , and the chief means , both of his advanc 〈…〉 ment to the throne , and his being kept in are so many new evidences of the ill w 〈…〉 he bears to all protestants , and what they a to dread from him as occasions are admin 〈…〉 stred of injuring and oppressing them : a 〈…〉 may serve to convince all impartial a 〈…〉 thinking people , that his popish malice to o 〈…〉 religion is too strong for all principles of h 〈…〉 nor and gratitude , and able to cancel t 〈…〉 obligations , which friendship for his pers 〈…〉 and service to his interest , may be suppos 〈…〉 to have laid him under to any heretofor had it not been for many of the church 〈◊〉 england , who stood up with a zeal and v 〈…〉 gour for preserving the succession in t 〈…〉 right line , beyond what religion , co 〈…〉 science , reason , or interest could co 〈…〉 duct them unto , he had never been able 〈◊〉 have out-wrestled the endeavours of thr 〈…〉 parliaments for excluding him from the i 〈…〉 perial crown of england : and had it n 〈…〉 been for their abetting and standing by 〈◊〉 with their swords in their hands upon th 〈…〉 duke of monmouth's descent into the kingdom anno 1685. he could nothave avoid 〈…〉 the being driven from the throne , and th 〈…〉 having the scepter wrested out of his han● whosoever had the advantage of knowin 〈…〉 the temper and genius of the late king , an 〈…〉 how affray'd he was of embarking into an 〈…〉 thing that might import a visible hazard t 〈…〉 the peace of his government , and dra 〈…〉 after it a general disgust of his person ; wi 〈…〉 be soon satisfied that if all his protestant subjects had united in their desires , and co● curred in their endeavoures , to have ha 〈…〉 the duke of york debarred from the crow 〈…〉 that his late majesty would not have on● scrupled the complying with it , and th 〈…〉 his love to his dear brother , would hav● given way to the apprehension and fear 〈◊〉 forfeiting a love for himself in the hear 〈…〉 of his people , especially when what wa 〈…〉 required of him , was not an invasion upo● the fundamentals of the constitution of th 〈…〉 english monarchy nor dissonant from th 〈…〉 practice of the nation in many repeated i 〈…〉 stances . nor can there be a greater evidence 〈◊〉 the present kings ill nature , romish bi 〈…〉 ry , and prodigious ingratitude , as well 〈◊〉 of the design he is carrying on against our 〈…〉 ligion and laws , than his carriage and be 〈…〉 viour towards the church of england ; tho 〈◊〉 cannot but acknowledg it a righteous 〈…〉 gment upon them from god , and a just 〈…〉 nishment for their being not only so un 〈…〉 ncerned for the preservation of our reli 〈…〉 n and liberties in avoiding to close with 〈…〉 e only methods that were adapted there 〈…〉 to , but for being so passionate and indu 〈…〉 ious to hasten the loss of them thro put 〈…〉 g the government into ones hands , who 〈…〉 s they might have foreseen ) would be 〈…〉 e to make a sacrifice of them to his belo 〈…〉 d popery , and to his inordinate lust after 〈…〉 spotical and arbitrary power . and as the 〈…〉 ly example bearing any affinity to it , is 〈…〉 t of louis the 14 th , who in recompence to 〈◊〉 protestant subjects for maintaining him 〈◊〉 the throne , when the late prince of con 〈…〉 assisted by papists would have wrested the 〈…〉 own from him , hath treated them with barbarity , whereof that of a●●iochus to 〈…〉 ards the jews , and that of diocletian and 〈…〉 aximian towards the primitive christians 〈…〉 ere but scanty and impersect draughts ; so 〈…〉 ere wants nothing for compleating the pa 〈…〉 lel between england and france but a little 〈…〉 ore time and a fortunate opportunity , and 〈…〉 en the deluded church men will find that 〈…〉 er peters is no less skilful at whitehall for 〈…〉 nsforming their acts of loyalty and merit 〈…〉 wards the king into crimes and motives 〈◊〉 their ruin , than pere de là chaise hath shewn 〈…〉 mself at versailles , where by an art peculiar 〈◊〉 the iesuites , he hath improved the loyalty 〈…〉 zeal of the reformed in france for the house 〈◊〉 bourbon , into a reason of alienating that 〈…〉 onarch from them , and into a ground of 〈◊〉 destroying that dutiful and obedient peo 〈…〉 . it will not be amiss to call over some 〈◊〉 his majesties proceedings towards the 〈…〉 urch of england , that from what hath 〈…〉 en already seen and felt , both they and all 〈…〉 glish protestants may the better know what they are to expect and look for hereafter . tho it be a method very unbecoming a prince , yet it shews a great deal of spleen , to turn the former persecution of dissenters so maliciously upon the prelatical and conforming clergy , as his majesty doth in his letter to mr. atsop in stiling them a party of protestants , who think the only way to advance their church , is by undoing those churches of christians that differ from them in smaller matters . whereas the severity that the fanaticks met with , had much of its original at court , where it was formed and designed upon motives of popery and arbitrariness ; and the resentment and revengful humour of some of the old prelates and other church men that had suffered in the late times was only laid hold of , the better to justify and improve it . and tho it be too true that many of the dignified rank , as well as of the little levites were both extreamly fond of it , and contentiously pleaded for it ; yet it is as true that most of them did it not upon principles of judgment and conscience , but upon inducements of retaliation for conceived injuries , and upon a belief of its being the most compendious method to the next preferment and benefice , and the fairest way of standing recommended to the favour of the two royal brothers . nor is it unworthy of observation , that some of the most virulent writers against liberty of conscience , and others of the most fierce instigators to the persecuting dissenters , among whom we may reckon parker bishop of oxford and cartwright bishop of chester , are since adressing for the declaration of indulgence became the means of being gracioully lookt upon at whitthall , turned foreward promoters of it , tho their success in their diocesses with their clergy hath not answered their expectations and endeavoures . for as these two mytred gentlemen will fall in with and justify whatsoever the king hath a mind to do , if they may but keep their seas and enjoy their revenues , which i dare say that rather than lose they will subscribe not only to the tridentine faith but to the alcoran ; so it is most certain that they two as well as the bishop of durham have promised to turn roman catholicks ; and that as crew hath been several times seen assisting at the celebration of the mass , and that as cartwright payd a particular respect to the nuncio at his solemn entrance at windsor , which some temporal lords had so much conscience and honor as to scorn to do , so the author of the leige letter tells us that parker not only extreamly favours popery , but that he brands in a manner all such for atheists who continue to plead for the protestant religion . 't is an act of the same candor and good nature in the king with the former , and another royal effect of his princely breeding as well as of his gratitude , when he endeavours to cast a farther odium upon the church of england , and to exasperate the dissenters against her , by saying in the forementioned letter to mr. alsop that the reason why the dissenters enjoyed not liberty sooner , is wholly owing to the sollicitation of the conforming clergy ; whereas many of the learned and sober men of the church of england , could have been contented that the nonconforming protestants should have had liberty long ago , provided it had been granted in a legal way ; and the chief executioners of severity upon them were such of all ranks , orders , and stations as the court both set on and rewarded for it . 't is not their brethrens having liberty that displeaseth modest & good men of the church of england ; but 't is the having it in the virtu ' of an usurped prerogative over the laws of the land , and to the shaking all the legal foundations of the protestant religion it self in the kingdom . and had the declaration of indulgence imported only an exemption of dissenters and papists from rigours and penalties , i know very few that would have been displeased at it ; but the extending it to the removing all the fences about the reformed doctrine and worship , and laying us open both to the tyranny of papists , and the being overflowed with a deluge of their superstitions and idolatries , as well as the designing it for a means to overthrow the established chur 〈…〉 is that which no wise dissenter no more t 〈…〉 a conformable man knows how to digest . 〈◊〉 i am not of sr. roger l'estranges mind , w 〈…〉 after he hath been writing for many yea 〈…〉 against dissenters with all the venom and m 〈…〉 lice imaginable , and to disprove the wisdo 〈…〉 justice , and convenience of granting th 〈…〉 liberty , hath now the impudence 〈◊〉 publi 〈…〉 that whatsoever he formerly wrote ; bears an exact conformity to the present resolutions of state , in that the liberty now vouchsased is an act of grace issuing from the supream magistrate , an 〈…〉 not a claim of right in the people . and as to r 〈…〉 cited expressions of the king , they are onl 〈…〉 a papal trick whereby to keep up heats an 〈…〉 animosities among protestants , when both th 〈…〉 inward heats of men are much allay'd , and th 〈…〉 external provocations to them are wholly removed , and they are meerly iesuitick method's by which our hatred of one another may b 〈…〉 maintained , tho the laws inabling one part 〈…〉 to persecure the other , which was the chie 〈…〉 spring of all our mutual rancour and bitterness , be suspended . it would be the sport and glory of the ignatian order , to be able to make the disabling of penal laws as effectual to the supporting differences among protestants , a● the enacting and rigorous execution of them , was to the first raising , and the continuing them afterwards for many years . and if the foregoing topicks can furnish the king arguments whereby to reproach the church of england , when he thinks it seasonable and for the interest of rome to be angry with them ; i dare affirm he will never want pretences of being discontented with & of aspersing fanaticks , when he finds the doing so , to be for the service of the papal cause . and if the forementioned instances of his majesties behaviour to the church of england to which he stands so superlatively obliged , be neither testimonies of his ingenuity , evidences of his gratitude , nor effects of common , much less royal justice ; yet what remains to be intimated , do's carry more visible marks of 〈…〉 malice and design both against the le 〈…〉 established church and our religion . for 〈…〉 ing satisfied with the suspension of all 〈◊〉 laws , by which protestants and they 〈◊〉 the national communion might seem to be 〈…〉 urious to papists in their persons and e 〈…〉 tes , such as the laws which make those , 〈…〉 ho shall be found to have taken orders in 〈…〉 e church of rome , obnoxious to death , or 〈…〉 ose other statutes by which the king hath 〈…〉 ower & authority for levying two thirds of 〈…〉 eir estates that shall be convicted of recu 〈…〉 cy ; but by an usurped prerogative and an absolute power he is pleased to suspend all 〈…〉 e laws by which they were only disabled 〈…〉 rom hurting us , thro standing precluded 〈…〉 rom places of power and trust in the government . so that the whole security we have in time to come for our religion , depends upon the temperate disposition and good nature of those roman catholicks that shall be advanced to offices and employments , and does no longer bear upon the protection and support of the law ; and i think we have not had that experience of grace and favour from papists , as may give us 〈…〉 just confidence of fair and candid treatment from them for the future . now that we may be the better convinced , how little security we have from his majesties promise in his declaration , of his protecting the arch bishops , bishops and clergy , and all other his subjects of the church of england , in the free exercise of their religion as by law established , and in the quiet and full enjoyment of their possessions , without any molestation or disturbance whatsoever , which is all the tenour that is left us ; 't is not unworthy of observation how that beside the suspending the bishop of london ab officio , and the vice chanceller of cambridg both ab officio and beneficio , and this not only for actions which the laws of god and the kingdom make their duty , but thro a sentence inflicted upon them by no legal court of judicature , but by five or six mercinary persons supported by a tyrannous and arbitrary commission , his majesty in his proclamation for toleration in scotland , ●earing date the 12. of february , doth among many other laws , cass , disable and dispense with the law enjoining the scots test , tho it was not only enacted by himself while he represented his brother as his high commissioner ; but hath been confirmed by him in parliament since he came to the crown . surely it is as easie to depart from a promise made in a declaration , as 't is to absolve and discharge himself from the obligation of a law which he first concurred to the enacting of , and gave the creating fiat unto as the late kings commissioner , and hath since ratified in parliament after he was come to the throne . as there is no more infidelity , dishonor and injustice , so there is less of absolute power and illegality , in doing the one than the other . nor is it possible for a rational man to place a confidence in his majesties royal word for the protection of our religion , and the church of england men's enjoying their possessions ; seeing he hath not only departed from his promise made to the council immediately after his brothers death , but hath violated his faith given to the parliament of england at their first session , which we might have thought would have been the more sacred and binding , by reason of the grandure , state and quality of the assembly to which it was pledged . if we consider how much protestants suffered , what number of them was burnt at the stake as well as murderd in goals , beside the vast multitudes , who to avoid the rage and power of their enemies , were forced to abandon their countrey and seek for shelter in forraign parts , and what endeavoures of all kinds were used for the extirpation of our religion under queenmary ; we may gather and learn from thence what is to be dreaded from james the ii. who is the next popish prince to her that since the reformation hath sat on the throne of england . for tho there be many things that administer grounds of hope , that the papists will not find it so easie a matter to bring us in shoals to the stake , nor of that quick and easie dispatch to suppress the protestant religion , and set up popery , at this time as they found it then ; yer every thing that occurs to our thoughts , or that can affect our understandings , serves not only to persuade us into a belief that they will set upon and endeavour it , but to work us up to an assurance that his majesty would take it for a di 〈…〉 ution of his glory , as well as reflection upon his zeal for the church of rome , not to attempt what a woman had both the courage to undertake , and the fortune to go thro with . and there is withal a concurrence of so many things both abroad and at home at this juncture , which if laid in the ballance with the motives to our hope of the papists miscarrying , may justly raise our fears of their prospering to a very sad and uncomfortable height . whosoever shall compare these two princes together , will find that there was less danger to be apprehended from mary , and that not only upon the score of her sex , but by reason of a certain gentleness and goodness of nature which all historians of judgment and credit ascribe unto her ; than is to be expected from the present king , in whom a sourness of temper , fierceness of disposition , and pride joined with a peevishness of humour not to bear the having his will disputed or controlled , are the principal ingredients into his constitution , and which are all strangely heightned and enflamed by contracted distempers of body , and thro furious principles of mind which he hath imbib'd from the iesuites , who of all men carry the obligations arising from the doctrines of the popish religion to the most outragious and inhumane excesses . nor can i forbear to add , that whereas the cruelty which that princess was hurried into , even to the making her cities common shambles , and her streets theatres of murder for innocent persons , for which she became hated while she lived , and her memory is rendred infamous to all generations that come after , was wholly and entirely owing to her religion , which not only proclaims it lawful , but a necessary duty of christianity , and an act meriting a peculiar crown of glory in heaven , to destroy hereticks ; 't is to be feared there will be found in the present king a spice of revenge against us as we are englishmen , as well as a measu 〈…〉 heap't up and running over of furious 〈◊〉 zeal against us as we are protestants . 〈◊〉 the wrath he bears unto us for our depar 〈…〉 from the communion of the romish chu 〈…〉 and our rebellion against the triple crow 〈…〉 the war wherein many of the kingdom wer 〈…〉 engaged against his father , and the issue of it in the execution of that monarch , is what he hath been heard to say , that he hopes to revenge upon the nation . and all that the city of london underwent thro that dreadful conflagration 1666. of which he was the great author and promoter , as well as the rescuer and protector of the varlets that were apprehended in their spreading and carrying on the fire , is but earnest in respect of what is designed farther to be payd them , for the having been the great supporters of that war , both by continued recruites of men , and repeated supplies of treasure . tho it was queen mary's misfortune , and proved the misery of protestants , that she was under the influence of popish bishops , and of religious of several orders , by whom she was whetted on and provoked to those barbarities where-with her reign is stained and reproached ; yet she had no iesuites about her , to whom all the other orders are but punies in the arts of wheedling and frighting princes forward to cruelty . the society being then but in its infancy , and the distance between its institution , which wasin the year 1540. and the time of her coming to the crown , which was anno 1553. not affording season enough for their spreading so far abroad as they have since done , nor for the perfecting themselves to that degree in the methods of butchery , and in the topicks whereby to delude monarchs , to serve and promote their sanguinary passions , as they have in process of time attained unto . nor have the protestants now any security for their religion , whereby it or themselves may be preserved from the attempts of his majesty for the extirpation of both , but what our predecessors in the same faith had in the like kind , tho not to the same measure and degree , when queen mary arrived at the throne . for tho our religion was of late fenced about with more laws , and we had royal promises oftner repeated for the having 〈◊〉 preserved , and our selves protected in the profession of it ; yet it is certain that it had not only received a legal establishment under , king edward the vi , but had the royal faith of queen mary laid to pledg in a promise made to the men of suffolk , that nothing should be done towards its subversion , or whereby they might be hindred in the free exercise of it . but as neither law nor promise could prove restraints upon mary , to hinder her from subverting religion , and burning protestants ; so the obligation of gratitude that she was under to the men of suffolk for their coming in so seasonably to her assistance against the duke of northumberland , who was in the field with an army in the name of the lady jean gray , whom the council had proclaimed queen , could not excuse them from sharing in the severity that others met with , it being observed that more of that county were burnt for religion , than of any other shire in england . and 't is greatly to be feared , that this piece of her example , will not escape being conformed unto by the king in his carriage towards those that eminently served him , as well as all the rest of it in his behaviour towards protestants in general . nor is it possible to conceive that the papists living at that ease and quietness which they did under his late majesty , of whose being of their religion they were not ignorant , as appears by the proofs they have wouchsav'd the world of it since his death , would have been in so many plots for destroying him , and at last have hastned him to his fathers , as can be demonstrated whensoever it is seasonable , had they not been assured of more to be attempted by his successor for the extirpation of protestants , than charles could be wrought up unto , or prevailed upon to expose his person and crown to the danger and hazard of . for as 't is not meerly a princes being a papist , and mild , gentle , and favorable to catholicks , that will content the fiery zealots of the roman clergy and the regular orders , but he must both gratify their ambition in exalting them to a condition above all others , and serve their inhuman lusts and brutal passions , in not suffering any to live in his dominions that will not renounce the northern heresie ; so it is not more i 〈…〉 edible that they should dispatch a prince by an infusion in a cup of tea or chocolate , whom tho they knew to be a papist yet they found too cold & slow in promoting their designs ; than that they should have murder'd another by a consecrated dagger in the hand of ravailac , the one being both more easie to be detected , and likelier to derive an universal hatred and revenge upon them than the other . and as the kings being conscious of that parrici●● committed upon his brother , plainly tells us that there is nothing so abominable and barbarous , which he hath not a conscience that will swallow and digest , so the promotion of the catholick cause being the motive to that horrid crime , we may be sure that what is hitherto done in favour of papists , falls much short of what is intended , there being something more meritorious than all this amounts unto , needful to attone for so barbarous a villany , which can be nothing else but the extripating the protestant religion out of the three kingdoms . nor is it probable that the present king , who is represented for a person ambitious of glory , would lose the opportunities , wherewith the present posture of affaires in the world presents him , of being the umpire and arbiter of christendom , and of giving check to the grandure and usurpations of a neighbouring monarch , to whom all europe is in danger of becoming enslaved ; if he were not swallowed up in the thoughts of a conquest over the consciences , laws , and liberties of his own people , and of subjugating his dominions to the sea of rome , and had he not hopes and assurances of aid and assistance therein from that monarch , as he is emboldned and encouraged thereunto by his pattern and example . what the papists have all along been endeavouring for the subversion of our religion during and under the reigns of protestans princes , may yet farther inform and confirm us , what they will infallibly attempt upon their having gotten one into the throne , who is not only in all things of the●●●n faith , but of an humour agreeable unto their desires , and of a temper every way suited and adapted to their designes . tho the protestant religion had obtained some entrance into several states and kingdoms , and had made some considerable spread in europe , before it came to be generally received , and established upon foundations of law in england ; yet they of other countries , were little able to defend themselves from the power and malice of the church of rome , and of popish princes , and many of them were very unsucceful in endeavours of that nature , till england , in queen elizabeths time by espousing their cause and undertaking their quarrel , not only wrought out their safety but made them flourish . this the court of rome and the priests grew immediately sensible of , and have therefore moulded all their counsels ever since against england , as being both the bulwark of the protestant religion , and the ballance of europe . all the late attempts for the extirpation of the protestant religion in france and elsewhere , are much to be ascribed to the confidence the papists had in the late king and his brother of their giving no discouragement nor obstruction to so holy a design ; and thereupon as the first edicts for infringing the liberty , and weakning and oppressing protestants in france , and the persecution in hungary , commenced and bore date with the restoration of the royal family , and multiplied , and encreased from year to year as they grew into farther assurance of the royal brothers approving as well as conniving at what was done ; so that for the abolition of the edict of nant's and the total suppression of the reformed religion in france , was emitted upon his present majesties being exalted to the throne , and the encouragement he gave them to a procedure , which as he now justifies he will hereafter imitate . it were to suppose english protestants exceedingly unacquainted with the history of their own nation , to give a long deduction of what the papists have attempted fo● the extirpation of our religion , while we had princes on the throne whose belief and principles in christianity , led them to assert and defend the reformation , and who had courage as well as integrity to punish those that conspired against it . their many conjurations against queen elizabeth's person , and their repeated endeavours of bringing in forraigners , and of betraying the nation to the spaniards , who were to convert the kingdom as they had done the west-indies by killing the inhabitants , are sufficiently known to all who have allowed themselves leasure to read , or who have been careful to remember what they have been often told by those that have inspected the memoires of those times . the gunpowder plot with the motives unto it , and the extent of the mischief it was shapen for , together with the insurrection they were prepared for in case it had succeeded , and the forraign aid they had been solliciting and were promised , and all for the extirpation of english hereticks , are things so modern , and which we have had so many times related to us by our fathers , that it is enough barely to intimate them . the irish massacre in which above two hundred thousand were murderd in cold blood , and to which there was no provocation but that of hatred to our religion , and furious zeal to extirpate hereticks , ought at this time to be more particularly reflected upon , as that which gives us a truè scheme of the manner of the church of rome's converting protestant kingdoms , and being the copy they have a mind to write after , and that in such characters and lines of blood as may be sure to answer the original . at the season when they both entred upon and executed that hellish conjuration , they were in a quiet and peaceable enjoyment of the private exercise of their religion , yea had many publick meeting-places , thro the means of the queen and many great friends which they had at court , and were neither disturbed for not coming to church , nor suffered any severities upon the account of their profession ; but that ●ould not satisfie , nor will any thing else 〈…〉 less they may be allowed to cut the 〈…〉 roats , or make bonefires , of all that will 〈…〉 ot join with them in a blind obedience to 〈…〉 e sea of rome , and of worshipping st. pa 〈…〉 ick . the little harsh usarges which the papists at any time met with there or in england , they derived them upon themselves 〈…〉 y their crimes against the state , and for their conspiracies against our princes and their protestant subjects . for till the pope had ●aken upon him to depose queen elizabeth , and absolve her subjects from their allegiance , and till the papists had so far approved that act of his holiness as to raise rebellions at home and enter into treasonable confedaracies abroad , there were no laws that could be stiled severe enacted in england against papists , and the making of them was the result of necessity in order to preserve our selves , and not from an inclination to hurt any for matters of meer religion . such hath always been the moderation of our ru 〈…〉 ers , and so powerful are the incitements to lenity which the generality of protestants through the influence and impression of their religion , especially they of a more generous education , have been under towards those of the roman communion , that nothing but their unwearied restlessness to disturb the government and destroy protestants , hath been the cause either of enacting those laws against them that are stiled rigorous , or of their having been at any time put into execution . and notwithstanding that some such laws were enacted as might appear to savour of severity , yet could they have but submitted to have dwelt peaceably in the land , they would have found that their meer belief and the private practice of their worship , would not have much prejudiced or endangered them , and that tho the laws had been continued unrepealed , yet it was only as a hedg about us for our protection , and as bonds of obligation upon them to their good behaviour . to which may be added , that more protestants have suffered in one year , by the laws made against dissenters , and to the utmost height of the penalties which the violation of them imported , and that by the instigation of papis 〈…〉 and their influence over the late king and his present majesty , than there have papists from the beginning of queen elizabeth's reign to this very day , tho there was a difference in the punishments they underwent . however we may from their many and repeated attemps against us , while we had princes that both would and could chasten their insolencies , and inflict upon them what the law made them obnoxious unto for their outrages , gather and conclude what we are now to expect , upon their having obtained a king imbu'd with all the persecuting and bloody principles of popery , and perfectly baptised into all the doctrines of the councils of lateran and constance . and it may strengthen our faith as well as increase our fear , of what is purposed against and impends over us , in that they cannot but think that the suffering our religion to remain in a condition to be at any time hereafter the religion of the state , and of the universality of the people , may not only prove a means of retrieving protestancy in france , and of assisting to revenge the barbarities perpetrated there upon a great and innocent people , but may leave the roman catholiks in england exposed to the resentment of the kingdom , for what they have so foolishy and impudently acted both against our civil rights , and established religion , since james the ii. came to the crown ; and may also upon the government 's falling into good hands , and magistrates coming to understand their true interest , which is for an english prince to make himself the head of the protestant cause and to espouse their quarrel in all places , give such a revolution in europe as will not only check the present career of rome , but cause them repent the method's in which they have been ingaged . these things we may be sure the papists are aware of , and that having proceeded so far , they have nothing left for their security from punishments because of crimes committed , but to put us out of all capacity of doing our selves right and them justice ; and he must be 〈…〉 ll who do's not know into what that must necessarily hurry them . it being then as evident as a matter of this nature is capable of , what we are to expect and dread from the king both as to our religion and laws ; we may do more than presume that the late declaration for liberty of conscience , and the proclamation for a toleration , are not intended and designed for the benefit and advantage of the reformed religion , and that whatsoever motives have influenced to the granting and emitting of them , they do not in the least flow or proceed from any kindness and goodwill to protestant dissenters . and tho many of those weak and easie people may flatter themselves with a belief of an interest in the kings favour , and suffer others to delude them into a perswasion of his bearing a gracious respect towards them ; yet it is certain , that they are people in the world whom he most hates , and who when things are ripe for it , and that he hath abused their credulity into a serving his ends as far as they can be prevailed upon , and as long as the present juggle can be of any advantage for promoting the papal cause , will be sure not only to have an equal share in his displeasure with their brethren of the church of england , but will be made to drink deepest in the cup of fury and wrath that is mingling and preparing for all protestants . no provocation from their present behaviour , tho it is such as might warm a person of very cool temper , much less offences of another complexion administred by any of them , shall ever tempt me to say they deserve it , or cause me to ravel into their former and past carriages , so as to fasten a blott or imputation upon the party or body of them , whatsoever i may be forced to do as to particular persons among them . for as to the generality , i do believe them to be as honest , industrious , useful , and vertuous a people ( tho many of them be none of the wisest nor of the greatest pr 〈…〉 spect ) as any party of men in the kingdo 〈…〉 and that wherein soever their carriage ( eve 〈…〉 abstracting from their differences with thei 〈…〉 fellow protestants in matters of religion hath varied from that of other subjects they have been in the right , and have acte 〈…〉 most agreeably to the interest & safety of th 〈…〉 kingdom . but it can be no reflection upo 〈…〉 them , to recall into their memories , tha 〈…〉 the whole tenor of the kings actings towards them both when duke of york and since he came to the crown , hath been such 〈◊〉 might render it beyond dispute , that the 〈…〉 are so far from having any singular room i 〈…〉 his favour , that he bears them neither pit 〈…〉 nor compassion , but that they are the objects of his unchangeable indignation . fo 〈…〉 not to mention how the persecutions , tha 〈…〉 were observed alway's to relent both upon his being at any distance from the late king● and upon the abatement of his influence 〈◊〉 any time into counsels , were constantl 〈…〉 revived upon his return to court , and wer 〈…〉 carried on in degrees of severity proportionable to the figure he made at whitehall an 〈…〉 his brothers disposedness and inclination t 〈…〉 hearken to him ; surely their memories can not be so weak and untenacious , but the 〈…〉 must remember how their sufferings wer 〈…〉 never greater , nor the laws executed wit 〈…〉 more severity upon them , than since hi 〈…〉 majesty came to ascend the throne . as it is no 〈…〉 many years since he said publickly in scotland , that it were well if all that part of th 〈…〉 kingdom , ( which is above half of the nation ) where the dissenters were known t 〈…〉 be most numerous , were turned into a hunti 〈…〉 field , so none were favoured and promote 〈…〉 either there or in england , but such as wer 〈…〉 taken to be the most fierce and violent of a 〈…〉 others against fanaticks . nor were me preferred either in church or state for the learning , vertu ' or merit , but for the passionate heats and brutal rigours to dissenters . and whereas the papists from the ve 〈…〉 first day of his arrival at the governmen 〈…〉 had beside many other marks of his grac 〈…〉 〈…〉 s special testimony of it , of not having 〈…〉 e penal statutes to which they stood liable 〈…〉 t in execution against them ; all the laws 〈◊〉 which the dissenters were obnoxious , ●ere by his majesties orders to the judges , 〈…〉 stices of the peace , and all other officers 〈…〉 vil and ecclesiastical most unmercifully exe 〈…〉 ted . nor was there the least talk of lenity dissenters , till the king found that he 〈…〉 uld not compass his ends by the church of 〈…〉 gland , and prevail upon the parliament 〈…〉 r repealing the tests , and cancelling the 〈…〉 her laws in force against papists , which if 〈…〉 ey could have been wrought over unto , 〈…〉 e fanaticks would not only have been left 〈…〉 ttiless , and continued in the hands of the 〈…〉 rious church-men to exercise their spleen 〈…〉 pon , but would have been surrendred as a 〈…〉 crifice to new flames of wrath , if they of 〈…〉 e prelatical communion had retained 〈…〉 eir wonted animosity , and thought it for 〈…〉 eir interest to exert it , either in the old or 〈◊〉 fresh method's . but that project not suc●eeding , his majesty is forced to shift hands , 〈…〉 d to use the pretence of extending com●assion to dissenting protestants , that he may ●he more plausibly and with the less hazard , ●●spend and disable the laws against papists , ●nd make way for their admission into all ●ffices civil and military , which is the first 〈…〉 ep , and all that he is yet in a condition to 〈…〉 ke , for the subversion of our religion . and ●ll the celebrated kindness to fanaticks , is ●nly to use them as the catt's paw , for ●ulling the chesnut out of the fire to the monkey , and to make them stales under whose ●hroud and covert , the church of rome may undermine and subvert all the legal foundations of our religion , which to suffer themselves to be instrumental in , will not in the issue turn to the commendation of the dissenters wisdom or their honesty . nor is there more truth in the kings declaring it to have been his constant opinion , that conscience ought not to be constrained , nor people forced in matters of meer religion , than there is of justice in that malicious insinuation , ( in his letter to mr. alsop ) against the church of england , that should he see cause to change his religion , he should never be of that party of protestants , who think the only way to advance their church , is by undoing those churches of christians that differ from them in smaller matters : forasmuch as he is in ●●e mean time a member of the most persecuting and bloody society , that ever was cloathed with the name of a church , and whose cruelty towards protestants he is careful not to arraign , by fastning his offence at severity upon differences in smaller matters , which he knows that those between rome and us are not , nor so accounted of by any of the papal fellowship . it were to be wished that the dissenters would reflect and consider , how when the late king had emitted a declaration of indulgence anno 1672. upon pretended motives of tenderness and compassion to his protestant subjects , but in truth to keep all quiet at home , when in conjunction with france he was engaging in an unjust war against a reformed state abroad , and in order to steal a liberty for the papists to practice their idolatries , without incurring a suspition himself of being of the romish religion , and in hope to wind up the prerogative to a paramount power over the law ; and how when the parliament condemned the illegality of it , and would have the declaration recalled , all his kindness to dissenters not only immediately vanished , but turned into that rage and fury , that tho both that parliament addressed for some favour to be shew'd them , and another voted it a betraying of the pretestant religion to continue the execution of the penal laws upon them , yet instead of their having any mercy or moderation exercised towards them , they were thrown into a furnace made seven times hotter , than that wherein they had been scorched before . and without pretending to be a prophet , i dare prognosticate and foretel , that whensoever the present king hath compassed the ends , unto which this declaration is designed to be subservient , namely the placing the papists both in the open exercise of their religion , and in all publick offices and trusts , and the getting a power to be acknowledged vested in him over the laws ; that then instead of the still voice calmly whispered from whitehall , they will both hear and feel the blasts of a mighty rushing wind , and that upon pretended occasions arising from the abuse of this indulgence , or for some alledged crimes wherein they and all other protestants are to be involved , ( tho their supiness and excess of loyalty continue to be their greatest offences ) this liberty will not only be withdrawn and the old church of england severities revived , but some of the new à là mode à france treatments come upon the stage , and be pursued against them , and all other perverse and obstinate british hereticks . the declaration for liberty of conscience , being injurious to the church of england , and not proceeding from any inward and real good will to the dissenters ; it will be worth our pains to inquire into and make a more ample deduction of the reasons upon which it was granted , that the grounds of emitting it being laid under every man's view , they who have addressed may come to be asham'd of their simplicity and folly , they who have not may be farther confirmed both of the unlawfulness and inconveniency of doing it , and that all who preserve any regard to the protestant religion and the laws of england , may be quickned to the use of all legal and due means for preventing the mischievous effects , which it is shapen for , and which the papists do promise themselves from it . the motives upon which his majesty published the declaration may be reduced to three , of which as i have already made some mention , so i shall now place every one of them in its several and proper light , and give such proofs and evidence of their being the great and sole inducements for the emitting of it , that no rational man shall be able henceforth to make a doubt of it . the first , is the kings winding himself into a supremacy and absoluteness over the law , and the getting it acknowledged , and calmly submitted unto and acquiesced in by the subjects . the monarchies being legal and not despotical , bounded and regulat 〈…〉 by laws , and not to be exercised acco●ding to meer will and pleasure , was th 〈…〉 which he could not digest the though 〈…〉 of when a subject , and had been hea 〈…〉 to say that he had rather reign a day in th 〈…〉 absoluteness that the french king doth , th 〈…〉 an age tied up and restrained by rules as 〈…〉 brother did . and therefore to persuade t 〈…〉 prince of orange to approve what he h 〈…〉 done in dispensing with the laws , and 〈…〉 obtain him and the princess to join wi 〈…〉 his majesty and to employ their inter 〈…〉 in the kingdom for the repealing the t 〈…〉 acts , and the many other statutes ma 〈…〉 against roman catholicks , he used this arg●ment in a message he sent to their roy 〈…〉 highnesses upon that errand , that the ge 〈…〉 ting it done would be greatly to the a●vantage and for the increase of the prorog 〈…〉 tive ; but this these two noble prince 〈…〉 of whose ascent to the throne all pr●testants have so near and comfortable prospect , were too generous as well 〈…〉 wise to be wheedled with , as knowin 〈…〉 that the authority of the kings and quee 〈…〉 of england is great enough by the rul 〈…〉 of the constitution , without grasping at new prerogative power , which as the la 〈…〉 have not vested in them , so it would b 〈…〉 of no use but to inable them to do hur 〈…〉 and indeed it is more necessary both fo 〈…〉 the honor and safety of the monarch , an 〈…〉 for the freedom and security of the peopl 〈…〉 that the prerogative should be confined withi 〈…〉 its ancient and legal channels , than be left t 〈…〉 that illimited and unbounded latitude , whic 〈…〉 the late king and his present majesty have e●deavoured to advance and screw it up unto 〈…〉 that both the declaration for liberty of co●science in england , and the proclamation for toleration in scotland , are calculated for ra●sing the soveraign authority to a transce●dent power over the laws of the two kingdoms , may be demonstrated from the papers themselves , which lay the dispensin 〈…〉 power before us in terms that import n 〈…〉 less than his majesties standing free an 〈…〉 solved from all ties and restraints , and 〈◊〉 being cloathed with a right of doing ●hatsoever he will. for if the stile of 〈…〉 yal pleasure to suspend the execution of 〈…〉 ch and such laws , and to forbid such 〈…〉 d such oaths to be required to be taken , 〈…〉 d this in the virtu ' of no authority decla 〈…〉 d by the laws , to be resident in his ma 〈…〉 sty , but in the virtu ' of a certain vagrant 〈…〉 d indeterminate thing called royal prero 〈…〉 tive , as the power exercised in the english ●eclaration is worded and expressed , be not 〈…〉 ough to enlighten us sufficiently in the 〈…〉 atter before us ; the stile of absolute power ●hich all the subjects are to obey without re●●rve , whereby the king is pleased to chalk ●efore us the authority exerted in the scots ●roclamation , for the stopping , disabling , and 〈…〉 spensing with such and such laws as are 〈…〉 ere referred unto , and for the granting 〈…〉 e toleration with the other liberties , immu●●ties , and rights there mentioned , is more 〈…〉 an sufficient to set the point we are dis●oursing beyond all possibility of rational ●ontrol . as 't is one and the same kind ●f authority that is claimed over the laws ●nd subjects of both kingdoms , tho for some ●ertain reasons it be more modestly desig●ed and expressed in the declaration for a ●iberty in england , than it is in the proclama●ion for a toleration in scotland ; so the utmost that the czar of mosco , the great mo●ull , or the turkish sultan ever challenged over their respective dominions , amounts only to an absolute power , which the king both owns the exertion of , and makes it the fountain of all the royal acts exercised in the forementioned papers . and as the improving this challenged absolute power into an obligation upon the subjects to obey his majesty without reserve , is a paraphrase upon despotical dominion , and an advancing it to 〈◊〉 pitch , above what any of the ancient or modern tyrants ever dream't of , and beyond what the most servile part of mankind was ever acquainted with till the present french king gave an instance of it , in making his ●eer will and pleasure to be the ground and argument upon which his reformed subjects were to renounce their religion , and to turn roman catholicks ; so it is worth considering whether his maj. who glories to imitate that forraign monarch , may not in a little time make the like application of this absolute power , which his subjects are bound to obey without reserve ; and whether in that case , they who have addressed to thank him for his declaration , and thereby justified the claim of this absolute power , being that upon which the declaration is superstructed , and from which it emergeth , can avoid paying the obedience that is demanded as a duty in the subject inseparably annexed thereunto . that which more confirms us , that the english declaration and the scotts proclamation , are not only designed for the obtaining from the subjects an acknowledgment of an absolute power vested in the king , but that no less than the usurpation and exercise of such a power , can warrant and support them , are the many laws and rights , which a jurisdiction is challenged over and exerted in reference unto in the papers stiled by the forementioned names . all confess a royal prerogative setled on the crown , and appertaining to the royal office ; nor can the supream magistrature be executed and discharged to the advantage and safety of the community , without a power affixed unto it of superceding the execution of some laws at certain junctures , nor without having an authority over the rights of particular men in some incident cases ; but then the received customes of the respective nations , and the universal good , preservation and safety of the people in general , are the measures by which this prerogative in the crown is to be regulated , and beyond which to apply or exert it , is an usurpation and tyranny in the ruler . all the power belonging to the kings and queens of england and scotland , ariseth from an agreement and concession of the people , wherein it is stipulated what rights , liberties and priviledges they reserved unto themselves , and what authority and jurisdiction they delegated and made over unto the soveraign , in order to his being in a condition to protect and defend them , and that they may the better live in peace , freedom , and safety , which are the ends for which they have chosen kings to be over them , and for the compassing whereof they originally submitted unto , and pitched upon such a form of civil administration . nor are the opinions of particular men of what rank or order soever they be , to be admitted as an exposition of the extent of this prerogative , seeing they thro their dependencies upon the king , and their obnoxiousness to be influenced by selfish and personal ends , may enlarge it beyond what is for the benefit of the community ; but the immemorial course of administration , with the sense of the whole society signified by their representatives in parliament upon emerging occasions , are to be taken for the sense , paraphrase , and declaration of the limits of this royal and prerogative power ; and for any to determine the bounds of it from the testimonies of mercinary lawyers , or sycophant clergy-men , in cases wherein the parliament have by their votes and resolutions setled its boundaries , is a crime that deserves the severest animadversion , and which it is to be hop'd a true english parliament will not let pass unpunished . now a power arising from royal prerogative to suspend , and disable a great number of laws at once , and they of such a nature and tendency , as the great security of the people consists in their being maintained , and which the whole community represented in parliaments have often disallowed and made void princes medling with , so as to interrupt their execution and course , is so far from being a right inherent in the crown , that the very pretending unto it , is a changing of the government , and an overthrowing of the constitution . fortescue say's , that rex angliae populum gubernat non merâ potestate regiâ , sed politicâ ; quia populus iis legibus gubernatur quas ipse fert ; the king of england doth not so properly govern by a power that is regal , at by a power that is p●litical , in that he is bound to rule by the laws● which the people themselves chuse and enact . an● both bracton and fleta tell us , that rex angliae habet superiores , viz. legem per quam factus est rex , ac comites & barones qui debent ●i fraenum ponere ; the king of england hath for superiors , both the law by whi 〈…〉 he is constituted king , and which is the measur 〈…〉 of his governing power , and the parliament whic● is to restrain him , if he do amiss . and thereupon we have not only that other saying of bracton , that nihil aliud potest rex , nisi id solum quod jure potest ; the king can do nothing , but wha● he can do by law : but we have that famous passage in our parlament rolls , non est ulla regis prerogativa , quae ex justitiâ & aequitate quicquam derogat ; that there is no prerogative belongs to the king by which he can decline from acting according to law and justice ▪ so careful were our ancestors both in england and scotland to preserve their laws from being invaded and superceded by their kings ; that they have not only by divers parliamentary votes and resolutions , and by several st 〈…〉 tutes , declared all dispensations by the king ▪ from laws and enjoined oaths , to be null and void , and not admittable by the iudges or other executors of law and justice ; but they have often impeached , arraigned , and condemned those to one penalty or another , that have been found to have counselled and advised kings to an usurpation of power over , the laws , and to a violation of established and enacted rules . it would draw this discourse to a length beyond what is intended , should i mention the several laws against papists as well as against dissenters , that are suspended , stopt , disabled , and dispensed with , in the two fore-mentioned royal papers , and it would be an extending it much more , should i make the several reflections that the matter is capable of , and which a person of a very ordinary understanding cannot be greatly to seek for ; i shall therefore only take notice of two ●r three efforts which occur there of this ●oyal prerogative and absolute power , which ●s they are very bold and ample exertions ●f them for the first time ; so should the ●ext exercises of them be proportionable , 〈…〉 ere will be nothing left us of the protestant ●eligion , or of english liberties , and we must ●e contented to be papists and slaves , or else 〈◊〉 stand adjudged to tyburn and smithfield . one is the suspending the laws which en 〈…〉 in the oaths of allegeance and supremacy , ●nd the prohibiting that these oaths be at any 〈…〉 me hereafter required to be taken ; by which ●●ngle exercise of royal prerogative and absolute ●ower , the two kingdoms are not only a●ain subjected to a forraign iurisdiction , the miseries whereof they groaned under for several ages ; but as the king is hereby deprived of the greatest security , he had from ●is subjects both to himself and the government , ●o the crown is robb'd of one of its chiefest ●ewels , namely an authority over all the sub●ects , which was thought so essential to sove●aignty & royal dignity , that it was annexed to the imperial crown of england , & adjudged inherent in the monarch , before the reformed religion came to be received & established . and it concerns their royal highnesses of orange , to whom the right of succeeding to the crown● of great brittain unquestionably belongs , to consider whether his majesty may not by the same authority , whereby he alienates and gives away so considerable and inherent a branch of the royal iurisdiction , transferr the succession it self , and dispose the inheritance of the crown to whom he pleaseth . nor will they about him , who thrust the last king out of the throne to make room for his present majesty , much scruple to put a protestant successor by it , if they can find another papist as bigotted as this to advance unto it . however were they on the throne to morrow , here is both a forraign iurisdiction brought in and set up to rivall and controll theirs , and they are deprived of all means of being secured of the loyalty and fealty of a great number of their subjects . nor will his majesties certain knowledg and long experience ( whereof he boasts in the scots proclamation ) that the catholicks , as it is their principle , to be good christians , so it is to be dutiful subjects , be enough for their royal highnesses to rely upon , their religion obliging them to the contrary towards princes , whom the church of rome hath adjudged to be hereticks . a second instance wherein this pretended royal prerogative is exercised paramount to all laws , and which nothing but a claim of absolute power in his majesty can support , and an acknowledgment of it by the subj●st● make them approve the declaration for liberty of conscience , and the proclamation for toleration ; is the stopping , disabling and suspending the statutes whereby the tests were enacted , and thereby letting the papists in to all benefices , offices , and places of trust , whether civil , military , or ecclesiastick . i do not speak of suspending the execution of those laws , whereby the being priests , or taking orders in the church of rome , or the being reconciled to that church , or the papists meeting to celebrate mass , were in one degree , or another made punishable , ( tho the kings dispensing with them by a challenged claim in the crown be altogether illegal ) for as diverss of these laws were never approved by many protestants , so nothing would have justified the making of them , but the many treasons and conspiracies that they were from time to time found guilty of against the state. and as the papists of all men have the least cause to complain of the injustice , rigour , and severity of them , considering the many laws more cruel and sanguinary that are in force in most popish countries against protestants , and these enacted and executed meerly for their opinions and practices in the matters of god , without their being chargeable with crimes and offences against the civil government under which they live , so were it necessary from principles of religion and policy to relieve the roman catholicks from the forementioned laws , yet it ought not to be done but by the legislative authority of the kingdoms , and ●or the king to assume a power of doing it in the vertue of a pretended prerogative , is both a high usurpation over the laws , and a violation of of his coronation oath . nor is it any commendation either of the humanity of the papists , or of the meekness and truth of their religion , that while they elsewhere treat those who differ from them in faith and worship with that barbarity , they should so clamorously inveigh against the severities which in some reformed states they are liable unto , and which their treasons gave the rise and provocation unto at first , and have been at all times the motives to the infliction of . but they alone would have the allowance to be cruel wherein they act consonantly to their own tenets ; and i wish that some provision might be made for the future , for the security of our religion , and our safety in the profession of it , without the doing any thing that may unbecome the merciful principles of christianity , or be unsutable to the meek and generous temper of the english nation , and that the property of being sanguinary may be left to the church of rome as its peculiar priviledg and glory , and as a more distinguisting character than all the other marks which she pretends unto . that which i am speaking of , is the suspending the execution of those laws , by which the government was secured of the fidelity of its subjecte , and by which they in whom it could not confide were meerly shut out from places of power and trust , and were made liable to very small damages themselves , and only hindred from getting into a condition of doing mischief to us . all governments have a right to use means for their own preservation , provided they be not such as are inconsistent with the ends of government , and repugnant to the will and pleasure of the supream soveraign of mankind , and it is in the power of every legislative assembly to declare who of the community shall be capable or incapable of publick imploys , and of possessing offices , upon which the peace , welfare , and security of the whole politick body does depend . without this n 〈…〉 government could subsist , nor the people b 〈…〉 in safety under it ; but the constitution woul 〈…〉 be in constant danger of being subverted● and the priviledges , liberties , and religion of the subjects laid open to be overthrown . and should such a power in legislators , be upon weak suspitions and il 〈…〉 grounded jealousies , carried at any tim● too far , and some prove to be debarre● from trusts , whose being imployed woul● import no hazard ; yet the worst of that would be only a disrepect shewn to individual persons , who might deserve more favour and esteem , but could be of no prejudice to the society , there being alway's 〈◊〉 sufficient number of others , fit for the discharge of all offices , in whom an entire confidence may be reposed . and 't is remarkable , that the states general of the unite● provinces , who afford the greatest liberty to all religions , that any known state i● europe giveth ; yet they suffer no papists to come into places of authority and iudicature ▪ nor to bear any office in the republick tha● may either put them into a condition , o● lay them under a temptation of attempting any thing to the prejudice of religion , o● for the betraying the liberty of the provinces ▪ and as 't is lawful for any government to preclude all such persons from publick trusts , of whose enmity , and ill will to the establishment in church or state , they have either a moral certainty , or just grounds of suspition ; so 't is no less lawful to provide tests for their discovery and detection , tha● they may not be able to mask and vizo● themselves in order to getting into offices , and thereupon of promoting and accomplishing their mischievous and malicious intentions . nor is it possible in such a case , but that the tests they are to be tried by , must relate to some of those principles by which they are most eminently distinguished from them of the national settlement , and in reference whereunto they think it most piacular to dissemble their opinion ▪ nor have the papists cause to be offended , that the renouncing the belief of transubstantia●●on should be required as the distinguishing ●ark whereby upon their refusal , they may ●e discerned , when all the penalty upon their ●eing known , is only to be excluded from a ●●are in the legislation , and not to be admitted ●o employments of trust and profit ; seeing it ●ath been and still is their custome , to require ●he ; belief of the corporal presence in the sacra●ent , as that upon the not acknowledgment whereof we are to be accounted hereticks , ●nd to stand condemned to be burnt , which is ●omewhat worse than the not being allowed ●o sit in the two houses of parliament , or ●o be shut out from a civil or military ●ffice . neither are they required to declare ●uch less to swear , that the doctrine of transubstantiation is false , or that there is no 〈…〉 ch thing as transubstantiation , ( as is affirmed 〈…〉 n a scurrilous paper written against the loyalty of the church of england ) but all ●hat is enjoined in the test acts , is that , 〈◊〉 a. b. do declare , that i do believe that there 〈◊〉 not any transubstantiation in the sacrament 〈◊〉 the lords supper , or in the elements of bread ●nd wine , at or after the consecration thereof by ●ny person whatsoever . tho the parliament ●as willing to use all the care they could , for ●he discovering papists , that the provision for ●ur security , unto which those acts were de●igned , might be the more effectual ; yet ●hey were not so void of understanding , as ●o prescribe a method for it , which would ●ave exposed them to the world for their ●olly , 't is much different to say , swear , or ●eclare , that i do believe there is not any transub●●antiation , and the saying or declaring that ●here is not a transubstantiation ; the former ●eing only expressive of what my sentiment or opinion is , and not at all affecting the doctrine it self , to make , or unmake it , other ●han what it is , independently upon my judgment of it ; whereas the latter does prima●ily affect the object and the determination of its existence to such a mode as i conceive ●t ; and there are a thousand things which i can say that i do not believe , but i dare not say that they are not . now as 't is the dispensing with these laws that argues the kings assuming an absolute power ; so the addressing by way of thanks for the declaration wherein this power is exerted , is no less than an owning and acknowledging of it , and that it rightfully belongs to him . there is a third thing which shame or fear would not suffer them to put into the declaration for liberty of conscience in england , but which they have had the impudence to insert into the proclamation for a toleration in scotland , which as it carries absolute power written in forehead of it , so it is such an unpresidented exercise of despoticalness , as hardly any of the oriental tyrants or even the french leviathan would have ventured upon . for having stop't , disabled , and suspended all laws enjoining any oaths , whereby our religion was secured , and the preservation of it to us and our posterity was provided for ; he imposeth a new oath upon his scots subjects , whereby they are to be bound to defend and mantain him , his heirs and lawful successors in the exercise of their absolute power and authority against all deadly , the imposing an oath upon subjects hath been always look't upon as the highest act of legislative authority , in that it affects their consciences , and requires the approbation , or disapprobation of their minds and judgments , in reference to whatsoever it is enjoined for ; whereas a law that affects only mens estates may be submitted unto , tho in the mean time they think that which is exacted of them to be unreasonable and unjust . and as it concerns both the wisdom and justice of law-givers to be very tender in ordaining oaths that are to be taken by subjects , and that not only from a care that they may not prostitute the name of god to prophanation when the matter about which they are imposed , is either light and trival , or dubious and uncertain ; but because it is an exercise of jurisdiction over the souls of men , which is more than if it were only exercised over their goods , bodies , and priviledges ; so never any of our kings pretended to a right of enjoining and requiring an oath that was not first enacted and specified in some law ; and it would have been heretofore accounted a good plea for refusing such or such an oath , to say there was no statute that had required it . it was one of the articles of high treason ( and the most material ) charged upon the earl of strafford , that being lord deputy of ireland , he required an oath of the scotts who inhabited there , which no law had ordained or prescribed ; which may make those councellors who have advised the king to impose this new oath , as well as all others that shal require it to be taken upon his majesties bare authority , to be a little apprehensive , whether it may not at some time rise in judgment against them , and prove a forefeiture of their lives to justice . and as the imposing an oath not warranted by law is a high act of absolute power , and in the king an altering of the constitution ; so if we look into the oath it self , we shall find this absolute power strangly manifested and displayed in all the parts and branches of it , and the people required to swear themselves his majesties most obedient slaves and vassalls . by one paragraph of it , they are required to swear that it is unlawful for subjects on any pretence or for any cause whatsoever to rise in arms against him , or any commissioned by him ; and that they shall never resist his power or authority ; which as it may be intended for a foundation and means of keeping men quiet when he shall break in upon their estates and overthrow their religion , so it may be designed as an encouragement to his catholick subjects , to set upon the cutting protestants throats , when by this oath their hands are tied up from hindring them . it is but for the papists to come authorised with his majesties commission , which will not be denied them for so meritorious a work , and then there is no help nor remedy , but we must stretch out our necks , and open our breasts , to their consecrated swords , and sanctified daggers . nay if the king should transfer the succession to the crown from the rightful heir to some zealous romanist , or alienat and dispose his kingdoms in way of donation and gift to the pope , or to the society of the iesuites , and for the better securing them in the possessio● hereafter , should invest and place them i● the enjoyment of them while he lives ; th● scotts are bound in the virtue of this oat● tamely to look on , and calmly to acquiesc● in it . or should his physitians advise him to 〈◊〉 nightly variety of matron's and maids , as th● best remedy against his malignant and venemous heats ; all of that kingdom are boun● to surrender their wives and daughters to him with a du'tiful silence and a profound veneration . and if by this oath he can secur● himself from the opposition of his dissenting subjects in case thro recovery of their reason a fit of ancient zeal should surprise them ▪ he is otherway's secured of an asiatick tameness in his prelatical people , by a principl● which they have lately imbib'd , but neithe● learned from their bibles nor the statutes o● the land. for the clergy upon thinking that the wind would alway's blow out of one quarter , and being resolved to make that a duty by their learning , which their interest at that season made convenient ; have preached up the doctrine of passive obedience to such a boundless height , that they have done what in them lyes , to give up themselves and all that had the weakness to believe them , fettered and bound for sacrifices to popish rage and despotical tyranny . but for my self ( and i hope the like of many others ) i thank god i am not tainted with that slavish and adulatory doctrine , as having alway's thought that the first duty of every member of a body politick , is to the community , for whose safety , and good , governours are instituted , and that it is only to rulers as they are found to answer the main ends they are appointed for , and to act by the legal rules that are chalcks out unto them . whether it be from my dulness , or that my understanding is of a perverser make than other mens , i cannot tell ; but i could never yet be otherway's minded , than that the rules of the constitution and the laws of the republick or kingdom , are to be the measures both of the soveraigns commands , and of the subjects obedience ; and that as we are not to invade what by concessions and stipulations belongs unto the ruler , so we may not only lawfully , but we ought to defend what is reserved to our selves , if it be invaded and broken in upon . and as without such a right in the subjects , all legal governments , and mixt monarchies , were but emptie names , and ridiculous things ; so wheresoever the constitution of a nation is such , there the prince who strives to subvert the laws of the society is the traitor and rebel ; and not the people who endeavour to preserve and defend them . there is yet another branch of the foresaid oath , that is of a much more unreasonable strain than the former , which is , that they shall to the utmost of their power assist , defend , and maintain him in ●he exercise of this absolute power and authority ; which being tack't to our obeying without reserve , make us the greatest slaves , that either are , or ever were in the universe . our kings were heretofore bound to govern according to law ( and so is his present majesty , if a coronation oath , and faith to hereticks , were not weaker than sampson's cords proved to be ) but instead of that , here is a new oath imposed upon the subjects by which they are bound to protect and defend the king in his ruling arbitrarily . it had been more than enough to have required only a calm submitting to the exercise of absolute power ; but to be injoined to swear to assist and defend his majesty and successors in all things wherein they shall exert it , is a plain destroying of all natural as well as civil liberty , and a robbing us of that freedom that belongs unto us both as we are men , and as we are born under a free and legal government . for by this we become bound to dragg our brethren to the stake , to cutt their throats , plunder their houses , embrew our hands in the blood of our wives and children , if his majesty please to make these the instances wherein he will exert his absolute power , and require us to assist him in the exercise of it . as it was necessary to cancell all other oaths and tests , as being directly inconsistent with this ; so the requiring the scotts to swear this oath , is the highest reveng he could take for their solemn league and covenant and for all other oaths , that lust after arbitrariness , and popish bigottry , will pronounce to have been injurious to the crown . but no words are sufficient to express the mischiefs wrapt up in that new oath , or to declare the abhorrency that all who value the rights and liberties of mankind ought to entertain for it , nor to proclaim the villany of those who shall by addresses give thanks for the proclamation . there may a fourth thing be added , whereby it will appear that his majesties assuming absolute power , stands recorded in capital letters in his declaration for liberty of conscience . for not being contented to omit the requiring the oaths of allegeance and supremacy and the test oaths to be taken , nor being satisfied to suspend for a season the enjoining any to be demanded to take them ; he tells us that it is his royal will and pleasure that the foresaid oaths shall not at any time hereafter be required to be taken , which is a full and direct repealing of the laws in which they are enacted . it hath hitherto passed for an undoubted maxim , that eorum est tollere , quorum est condere , they can only abrogate laws , who have power and authority to make them , and we have heretofore been made believe , that the legislative power was not in the king alone , but that the two houses of parliament had at least a share in it ; whereas here by the disabling and suspending laws for ever , the whole legislative power is challenged to be vested in the king , and at one dash the government of england is subverted and changed . tho it hath been much disputed whether the king had a liberty of refusing to assent to bills relating to the benefit of the publick that had passed the two houses , and if there be any sense in those words of the coronation oath of his being bound to govern according to the laws quas vulgus elegerit , he had not ; yet none till now , that his majesty doth it , had the impudence to affirm that he might abrogate laws without the concurrence and assent of the lords and commons . for to say that oaths enjoined by laws to be required to be taken , shall not at any time hereafter be required to be taken , is a plain cancelling and repealing of these laws , or nothing of this world ever was or is , nor can the wisdom of the nation in parliament assembled , find words more emphatical to declare their abrogation , without saying so , which at this time it was necessary to forbear , for fear of allarming the kingdom too far , before his majesty be sufficiently provided against it . for admitting them to continue still in being and force , tho the king may promise for the nonexecution of them , during his own time , ( which is even a pretty bold undertaking ) yet he cannot assure us that the oaths shall not be required to be taken at any time hereafter , unless he have provided for an eternal line of popish successors , which god will not be so unmerciful as to plague us with , or have gotten a lease of a longer life than methusalah's , which is much more than the full century of years wished him in a late dedication by one that stiles himself an irishman , a thing he might have foreborn telling us , because the size of his understanding fully declares it . however here is such a stroke and exercise of absolute power as dissolves the government , and brings us all into a state of nature , by discharging us from the ties , which by vertue of fundamental stipulations , and statute laws we formerly lay under ; forasmuch as we know no king but a king by law , nor no power he has but a legal power . which thro disclaiming by a challenge that the whole legislative authority does reside in himself , he hath thrown the gantles to three kingdoms , and provokes them to a trial , whether he be ablest to maintain his absoluteness or they to justify their being a free people . and by virtu ' of the same royal will and pleasure , that he annulls ( which he calls suspending ) the laws enjoining the tests and the oaths of allegeance and supremacy , and commands that none of these oaths and declarations shall at any time hereafter be required to be taken ; he may in some following royal papers , give us whitehall , or hampton court edicts , conformable to those at versailles , which at all times hereafter we shall be bound to submitt unto , and stand obliged to be ruled by instead of the common law and statut● book nor is the taking upon him to stamp us new laws , exclusively of parliamentary concurrence , in the virtu ' of his royal prerogative , any thing more uncouth ' in it self , or more dissagreeable to the rules of the constitution and what we have been constantly accustomed unto , than the cassing , disabling and abrogating so many old ones , which that absolute , out of date , as well as ill favoured thing upon monarchs , called a parliament , had a share in the enacting of . i will not say that our addressers were conscious , that the getting an absolute power in his majesty , to be owned and acknowledged , was one of the ends for which the late declaration was calculated and emitted , but i think i have sufficiently demonstrated both that such a power it issueth and flows from , and that such a power is plainly exercised in it . which whether there coming now to be told and made acquainted with it , may make them repent what they have done , or at least prevent their being accessory to the support of this power in other mischievous effects that are to be dreaded from it , i must leave to time to make the discovery , it being impossible to foretel what a people fallen into a phrenzie may do in their paroxism's of distraction and madness . nor was the seruing himself into the possession of an absolute power , and the getting it to be owned by at least a part of the people , the only motive to the publishing the declaration for liberty of conscience in england , and the proclamation for a toleration in scotland ; but a second inducement , tha● sway'd unto it , was the undermining an subverting the protestant religion , and the opening a door for the introduction and establ●●hment of popery . nor was it from any compassion to dissenters , that these two roya● papers were emitted , but from his majestie● tender love to papists , to whom as there arise many advantages for the present , so the whole benefit will be found to redound to them in the issue . we are told ( a● 〈…〉 ave already mentioned ) that the king is ●esolved to convert england , or to die a martyr ; ●nd we may be sure that if he did not think ●he suspending the penal laws , and the dis●ensing with requiring of the tests , and the ●ranting liberty and toleration , to be means admirably adapted thereunto , he would not have acted so inconsistently with himself , nor in that opposition to his own designes , as to have disabled these laws , and vouch sav'd the freedom that results thereupon . especially when we are told by the leige iesuite , that the king being sensible of his growing old , finds himself thereby obliged ●o make the greater hast , and to take the larger steps , lest thro not living long enough to effect what he intends , he should not only lose the glory of converting three kingdoms , but should leave the papists in a worse condition than he found them . his highness the prince of orange very justly concludes this ●o be the thing aim'd at by the present indulgence , and therefore being desired to approve the suspension of the test acts , and to cooperate with his majesty for the obtaining their being repealed ; was pleased to answer , ●hat while he was , as well as prosesseth himself a protestant , he would not act so unworthily as ●o betray the protestant religion , which he necessarily must , if he should do as he was desired . her royal highness the princess of orange , has likewise the same apprehension of the tendency of the toleration and indulgence , and therefore was pleased to say to some scotts ministers that did themselves the honor , and performed the duty that became them , in going to wait upon her , that she greatly commended their having ●o accession to the betraying of the protestant religion , by their returning home to take the benefit of the toleration . what an indelible reproach will it be to a company of men , that pretend to be set for the defence of the gospel , and who stile themselves ministers of iesus christ , to be found betraying religion , thro justifying the suspension of so many laws whereby it was established and supported , and whereby the kingdoms were fenced about , and guarded against popery ; while these two noble princes to the neglect of their own interest in his majesties favour , and to the provoking him to do them all the prejudice he can in their right of succession to the imperial crowns of great brittain , do signify their open dislike of that act of the king , and that not only upon the account of its illegality and arbitrariness , but by reason of its tendency to supplant and undermine the reformed religion . and they are strangely blind that do not see how it powerfully operates , and conduceth to the effecting of this , and that in more way's and method's than are easie to be recounted . for thereby our divisions , are not only kept up at a time , when the united councels and strength of all protestants is too little against the craft and power of rome ; but they who have addressed to thank the king for his royal papers , are become a listed and enrolled faction , to abet and stand by the king in all that naturally follows to be done for the maintaining his declaration , and justifying of the usurped authority from which it issues . 't is matter of a melancholy consideration , and turns little to the credit of dissenters , that when they of the church of england , who had with so great indiscretion promoted things to that pass , which an easie improvement of would produce what hath since ensued , are thro being at last enlightned in the designes of the court , come so far to recover their witts , as that they can no longer do the service they were wont , and which was still expected from them ; there should be a new tribe of men muster'd up to stand in their room , and who by their vows and promises made to the king in their addresses , have undertaken to perform , what others have the conscience , and honesty , as well as the wisdom , to refuse and decline . nor are the divisions among protestants only hereby upheld and maintained ; but our animosities and rancours are both continued and enflamed . for while they of the established way are provoked and exasperated to see all the legal foundations both of the protestant religion and their church subverted ; the addressing-dissenters are emboldned , to revenge themselves upon the national clergy , in terms of the utmost opprobry , virulence , and reproach , for their accession to the sufferings which they had endured . surely it would have been not only more generous , but much more christian , and becoming good as well as wise men , to have made no other retaliations but those of forgiveness and pardon for the injuries they had met with , and to have offered all the assistances , they could give , to their conformable brethren , for the stemming and withstanding the deluge of popery and tyranny that is impetuously breaking in upon the kingdoms . and as this would have united all protestants in bonds of forbearance and love not to be dissolved thro petty differences about discipline , forms of worship , and a few rites , and ceremonies ; so it would in the sense and judgment of all men , have given them a more triumphant victory over those that had been their imprudent and peevish enemies , than if they were to enjoy the spoiles of the conformable clergy , by being put into possession of their cures and benefices . the relation i have stood in to the dissenting party , and the kindness i retain for them above all other , make me heartily bewail , their losing the happiest opportunity , that was ever put into their hands , not only of improving the compassion , which their calamities had raised for them in the hearts of the generality , into friendship and kindness , but of acquiring such a merit upon the nation , that the utmost favoures which a true english protestant parliament could hereafter have shewed them , would have been accounted but slender as wel as just recompences . nor can i forbear to say , that i had rather have seen the furnace of afflictions made hotter for them , tho it should have been my own lot to be thrown into the most scorching flames , than to have beheld them guilty of those excesses of folly towards themselves , and of treachery to religion , and the laws of their countrey , which their present ease , and a shor● opportunity afforded them of acquiring gain , have hurried and transported so many of them into . it plainly appears with what aspect upon our religion the declaration for liberty of conscience was emitted , if we do but observe the advantages the papists have already reapt by it . how is the whole nation thereupon , not only overflow'd with swarms of lo●●sts , and all places filled with priests and iesuites , but the whole executive power of the government , and all preferments of honor , interest , and profit are put into roman catholick hands ? so that we are not only exposed to the unwearied and restless importunities of seducers , but through the advancement of papists to all offices civil , and military , if not ecclesiastick ; the covetous become brib'd , the timorous threatned , and the prophane are baited with temptations sutable to their lusts , and they that stand resolved to continue honest are laid open not only to the bold affronts of priests and fryers , the insolencies of petulant popish justices , the chicaneries and oppressions of the arbitrary commission court , but to the rage of his majesty , and the danger of being attaqu'd by his armed squadrons . to which may be added , that by the same prerogative and absolute power that his majesty hath suspended the laws made for the protection of our religion ; he may disable and dispense with all the laws by which it is set up and established . and as it will not be more illegal and arbitrary to make void the laws for protestancy , than to have suspended those against popery ; so i do not see how the adressers that have approved the one , can disallow or condemn the other . for the king having obtained an acknowledgment of his absolute power , and of his royal prerogative paramount to laws on his exercising it in one instance ; it now depends meerly upon his own will ( for any thing these thanks-giving gentlemen have to say against it ) whether he may not exert it in another , wherein they are not likely to find so much of their ease and gain . there is a third inducement to the emitting those royal papers , which tho at the first ●iew , it may seem wholly to regard forraig●ers , yet it ultimately terminates in the sub●ersion of our religion at home , and in the kings putting himself into a condition of ●xercising his absolute power in whatsoever acts he pleaseth over his own subjects , whe●her after the french fashion in commanding them to turn catholicks because he will ●ave it so , or after the manner of the grand ●eignior to require them to submit their necks to the bow string ; because he is jea●ous of them , or wants their estates to pay ●is janizaries . the united provinces are they whom he bore a particular spleen and indignation unto , when he was a subject , and upon whom he is now in the throne , he resolves not only to wreak all his old malice , but by conquering and subduing them ( if he can ) to strengthen his absoluteness over his own people , and to pave his way for overthrowing the protestant religion in great brittain , without lying open to the hazards that may otherwise attend and ensue upon the attempting of it . and instead of expecting nothing from him , but what may become a brave and generous enemy , they ought to remember the encouragement that he gave heretofore to two varlets , to burn that part of their fleet which belong'd to amsterdam , an action as ignominious as fraudulent , and that might have been fatal to all the provinces , if thro a happy and seasonable detection and the apprehension of one of the miscreants , it had not been prevented . he knows that the states general are not only zealous assertors of the protestant religion , but alway's ready to afford a sanctuary and a place of refuge to those , who being oppressed for the profession of it elsewhere , are forced to forsake their own countries , and to seek for shelter and relief in other parts . and as he is not unsensible , how easie the withdrawment and flight is into these provinces , for such as are persecuted in his dominions ; so he is aware , that if multitudes , and especially men of condition and estates , should for the avoiding his cruelty betake themselves thither , that they would not be unthoughtful of all ways and means , whereby they might redeem their country from tyranny , and restore themselves to the quiet enjoyment of their estates and liberties at home . but that which most enrages him is the figure which the two princes do make in that state ( of whose succession to the crown the protestants in brittain have so near a prospect ) and the post which the prince filleth in that government , so that he dare neither venture to difinherit them , nor impose upon , them such terms , and conditions , as their consciences will not suffer them to comply with , while either these states remain free , or while such english and scotts as retain a zeal for religion and the ancient laws and rights of their respective countries , can retreat thither under hopes of admission and protection . and so closely are the interests of all protestants in england and scotland , woven and inlaid with the interest of the united netherlands , and such is the singular regard that both the one and the other bear to the reformed religion , the liberty of mankind and their several civil rights ; that it is impossible for his majesty to embarque in a design against the one , without resolving at the same time upon the ruin of the other . neither will the one be able to subsist , when once the other is subdu'd and enslaved . as philip the ii. of spain , saw no way so compendious for the restoring himself to the soveraignty and tyrannous rule over the dutch , as the subjugating of england that hel'p to support and assist them , which was the ground of rigging out his formidable armado , and of his design against england in 1588. so his brittish majesty , thinks no method so expeditious for the enslaving his own people , as the endeavouring first to subdue the dutch. and as upon the one hand it would be of a threatning consequence to holland , could the king subjugate his own people , extirpate the protestant religion out of his dominions , and advance himself to a despotical power ; so upon the other hand , could he conquer the dutch , we might with the greatest certainty date the woful fate of great brittain , and the loss of all that is valuable to them as men and christians , from the same moment and period of time . they are like the twins we read of , whose destiny was to live and die together ; and which soever of the two is destroyed first , all the hope and comfort that the other can pretend unto , is to be last devoured . now after the advances which his majesty hath made towards the enslaving his subjects , and the subverting the reformed religion in his kingdoms , he finds it necessary before he venture to give the last and fatal stroke at home , and to enter upon the plenary exercise of his absolute power , in laying parliaments wholly aside , in cancelling all laws to make way for royal edicts or declarations of the complexion of the former , and in commanding us to turn roman catholicks , or to be dragoon'd ; i say he thinks it needful before he proceed to these , to try whether he can subdue and conquer the dutch , and thereby remove all hopes of shelter , relief , comfort , and assistance from his own people , when he shall afterwards fall upon them . and how much soever the court endeavoures to conceal its design , and strives to compliment the states general into a confidence that all alliances between them and the crown of england shall be maintained and preserved ; yet they not only speak their intentions by several open and visible actions , but some of them cannot forbear to tell it , when their blood is heated and their heads warm'd with a liberal glass and a lusty proportion of wine . thence it was that a governing papist lately told a gentleman after they two had drunk hard together , that they had some work in england that would employ them a little time , but when that was over they would make the dutch fly to the end of the world , to find a resting place . delenda est carthago is engraven upon their hearts , as being that without which rome cannot arrive at the universal monarchy that it aspires after . it was upon a formed design of a war against the united provinces , that the king hath for these two years stirr 〈…〉 up and incited , as well as countenanced a 〈…〉 protected the algerines in their piracies , th 〈…〉 thro their weakning and spoiling the du 〈…〉 before hand , it may be the more easie a ma●ter for him to subdue them , when he sh 〈…〉 think fit to begin his hostilities . 't is in o●der to this , that he hath entred into ne● and secret alliances with other princes , th● purport of which is boldly talk't of in lo●don , but whether believed at the hague i ca●not tell . for as monsr . barrillion and mons● bonrepos present transactions at whitehal relate to something else than meerly to the a●fair of hudsons bay ; so prince georges erran● to denmark , is of more importance than bare visite , or a naked compliment to hi● brother . 't is upon this design that all tha● great marine preparation hath been so lon● making in the several ports of england ; bu● to the hindring the execution whereof som● unexpected and not foreseen accidents hav● interposed . and it is in subserviency not to be disquieted at home , while he is carrying on this holy war abroad , that the declaratio● for liberty of conscience in england , and the proclamation for a toleration in scotland , are granted and published . 't is well enough known how that after the french king had , among many other severities exercised against protestants , made them uncapable of employments and commands ; yet to avoid the consequences that might have ensued thereupon , while he was engaged in war against the emperor , the king of spain , and the states of holland , and to have the aid ' of his reformed subjects ; he not only intermitted and abated in many other rigours towards them , but in anno 1674. restored them to a capacity of being employed and preferred . and that this did not flow from any compassion , tendernes or good will , towards them , his carriage since the issue of that war , and the miserable condition he hath reduced them unto , do's sufficiently testify and declare . nor can we forget , how that the late king , after a rigorous execution of the penal laws for several years against dissenters ; yet being to enter into an unjust ●ar against the united provinces anno 1672. ●ot only forbore all proceedings of that kind , ●ut published a declaration for suspending the ●xecution of all those laws , and for the al●owing them liberty of assembling to wor●hip god in their separate meetings , with●ut being hindred or disturbed . what ●rinciple that proceeded from , and to what ●nd it was calculated , appeared in his beha●iour to them afterwards , when neither the ●anger the nation was in from the papists , ●or the application of several parliaments ●ould prevail for lenity towards them , much less for a legal repeal of those impo●itick and unreasonable statutes . nor does ●he present indulgence flow from any kindness to fanaticks , but it is only an artifice to stiffe their discontents , and to procure their assistance for the destroying of a forraign protestant state. and it may not be unworthy of observation , that as the declaration of indulgenct anno 1672. bore date much about the same time with the declaration of war against the dutch ; so at the very season that his present majesty emitted his declaration for liberty of conscience , there were commissions of reprisal prepared and ready to be grantrd to the english east india company against the hollanders , but which were suppressed upon the courts finding that they whom the suspending the execution of so many laws , and the granting such liberties , rights and immunities to the papists , had disgusted and provoked , were far more numerous and their resentments more to be apprehended , than they were , whose murmurings and discontents they had silenced and allay'd by the liberty that was granted . now as it will be at this juncture , when the protestant interest is so low in the world , and the reformed religion in so great danger of being destroyed , a most wicked as well as an imprudent act , to contribute help and aid to the subjugating a people , that are the chief protectors of the protestant religion that are left , and almost the only asserters of the rights and liberties of mankind , so it may , fill the addressers with confusion and shame that they should have not only justified an act of his majestys that is plainly designed to such a mischievous end , but that they should by the promises and vows that they have made him , have emboldned his majesty to continue his purposes and resolutions of a war against the dutch. which as it must be funestous and fatal to the protestant cause , in case he should prosper and succeed ; so howsoever it should issue , yet the addressers , who have done what in them lyes to give encouragement unto it , will be held betrayers of the protestant religion , both abroad and at home , and judged guilty of all the blood of those of the same faith with them , that shall be shed in this quarrel . that liberty ought to be allowed to men in matters of religion , is no plea whereby the kings giving it in an illegal and arbitrary manner , can be maintained and justified . since ever i was capable of exercising any distinct and coherent acts of reason , i have been alway's of that mind , that none ought to be persecuted for their consciences towards god in matters of faith and worship . nor is it one of those things that lye under the power of the soveraign and legislative authority , to grant or not to grant ; but it is a right setled upon mankind antecedent to all civil constitutions and humane laws , having its foundation in the law of nature , which no prince or state can legitimately violate and infringe . the magistrate as a civil officer can pretend or claim no power over a people , but what he either derives from the divine charter , wherein god , the supream instituter of magistracy has chalk't out the duty of rulers in general , or what the people upon the first and original stipulation , are supposed to have given him in order to the protection , peace and prosperity of the society . but as it does no where appear that god hath given any such power to governors , seeing all the revelations in the scripture , as well as all the dictates of nature , speak a contrary language , so neither can the people upon their chusing such a one to be their ruler , be imagined to transferr and vest such a power in him , for as much as they cannot divest themselves of a power , no more than of a right , of believing things , as they arrive with a credibility to their several and respective understandings . as it is in no mans power to believe as he will , but only as he sees cause ; so it is the most irrational imagination in the world , to think they should transferr a right to him whom they have chosen to govern them , of punishing them for what it is not in their power to help . nor can any thing be plainer , than that god has reserved the empire over conscience to himself , and that he hath circumscribed the power of all humane governore to things of a civil and inferior nature . and had god convey'd a right unto magistrates of commanding men to be of this or that religion , and that because they are so , and will have others to be of their mind ; it would follow that the people may conform to whatsoever they require , tho by all the lights of sense ▪ , reason and revelation , they are convinced of the falsehood of it : seeing whatsoever the soveraign rightfully commands , the subjects may lawfully obey . but tho the persecuting people for matters of meer religion , be repugnant to the light of nature , inconsistent with the fundamental maximes of reason , directly contrary to the temper and genious , as well as to the rules of the gospel , and not only against the safety and interest of civil societies , but of a tendency to fill them with confusion , and to arm subjects to the cutting of one anothers throats ; yet governors may both deny liberty to those whose principles oblige them to destroy those that are not of their mind , and may in some measure regulate the liberty which they vouch save to others , whose opinions tho they do not think dangerous to the peace of the community , yet thro judging them erroneous and false , they conceive them dangerous to the soules of men . as there is a vast difference betwixt tolerating a religion , and approving the religion that is tolerated ; so what a government doth not approve , but barely permitts and suffers , may 〈◊〉 brought under restrictions as to time , plac 〈…〉 and number of those professing it , that sha 〈…〉 assemble in one meeting ; which it wer 〈…〉 an undecency , to extend to those of th 〈…〉 justified and established way . now wha 〈…〉 soever restrictions , or regulations , are e 〈…〉 acted , and ordained by the legislative a●thority , in reference to religions or religio 〈…〉 assemblies ; they are not to be stop't , disable 〈…〉 or suspended , but by the same authority th 〈…〉 enacted and ordained them . the king say 〈◊〉 very truely , that conscience ought not to 〈◊〉 constrained , nor people forced in matters of me 〈…〉 religion ; but it does not from thence follo 〈…〉 ( unless by the logick of whitehal ) th 〈…〉 without the concurrence of a parliamen 〈…〉 he should suspend and dispense with the law 〈…〉 and by a pretended preroragtive , relieve an 〈…〉 from what they are obnoxious unto by th 〈…〉 statutes of the realm . his saying , that th 〈…〉 forcing people in matters of religio 〈…〉 spoils trade , depopulates countries , discour 〈…〉 geth strangers , and answers not the end 〈◊〉 beinging all to an uniformity , for which it 〈◊〉 employ'd ; would do well in a speech to th 〈…〉 houses of parliament , to perswade them t 〈…〉 repeal some certain laws , or might do we 〈…〉 to determine his majesty to assent to suc 〈…〉 bills as a parliament may prepare and offe 〈…〉 for relieving persons in matters of co 〈…〉 science ; but does not serve for what it 〈◊〉 alledged , nor can it warrant his suspending th 〈…〉 laws by his single authority . and by th 〈…〉 way , i know when these very argument 〈…〉 were not only despised by his majesty , an 〈…〉 ridiculed by those who took their cue fro 〈…〉 court , and had wit to do it , as by the pr●sent bishop of oxford in a very ill natur 〈…〉 book , called ecclesiastical polity ; but whe 〈…〉 the daring to have mentioned them , woul 〈…〉 have provok'd the then duke of york's i 〈…〉 dignation , and have exposed the party th 〈…〉 did it to discountenance and disgrace . t 〈…〉 question is not , what is convenient to 〈◊〉 done in some measure and degree , and 〈◊〉 reference to those whose religion does n 〈…〉 oblige them to destroy all that differ fro 〈…〉 ●om , when they have opportunity for it ; 〈…〉 t the point in debate is , who hath the le●●l power of doing it , and of fixing its bounds ●●d limits . it was never pretended that the 〈…〉 ing ought to be shut out from a share in spending and repealing laws ; but that the ●●le right of doing it belongs to him , is ●hat cannot be allowed , without changing 〈…〉 e constitution , and placing the whole le 〈…〉 slative authority in his majesty . and as it is 〈◊〉 usurpation in the king to challenge it , and 〈◊〉 treachery in english subjects to acknowledg 〈…〉 ; so the inconveniences , that this , or that ●arty , are in the mean time exposed unto , 〈…〉 ro the laws remaining in force , are ra●●er to be endured , than that a power of 〈…〉 ving case and relief ( farther than by con 〈…〉 vance ) should be confessed to reside in ●●y one , in whom the laws of the com●unity have not placed it . 't is better to ●●dergo hardships under the execution of ●●just laws ; than be released from our ●roubles , by a power usurped over all laws . ●or by the one , the measures of government , 〈◊〉 well as the rights and priviledges of a na 〈…〉 on , are destroy'd ; whereas by the other , ●●ly a part of the people are afflicted and ●●duly dealt with . while we are govern'd 〈◊〉 laws , tho several of them may be in 〈…〉 st and inconvenient , yet we are under a ●●curity as to all other things which those ●aws have not made liable ; but when we ●ll under an illimited prerogative and abso 〈…〉 e power , we have no longer a title 〈◊〉 , or a hedg about any thing , but all lies ●●en to the lust and pleasure of him , in ●hom we have owned that power to be 〈…〉 ated . a liberty is what dissenters have 〈◊〉 right to claim , and which the legislative ●uthority is bound by the rules of justice 〈…〉 d duty as well as by principles of wisdom 〈…〉 d discretion to grant . and i am sorry 〈…〉 at while they stood so fair to obtain it 〈◊〉 a legal and parliamentary way , any of 〈…〉 em by acknowledging a right in another 〈◊〉 give it , and that in a manner so subver 〈…〉 e of the authority of parliaments , should 〈…〉 ve rendred themselves unworthy to receive it from them , to whom the power of bestowing it does belong . not but that a toleration will be alway's due to their principles , but i know not whether the particular men of those principles , who have by their addresses betray'd the kingdom , may not come to be judged to have forfeited all share in it , for their crime committed against the constitution , and the whole politick society . nor is there any thing more just and equal , than that they who surrender and give away the rights both of legislators and subjects ; should lose all grace and favour from the former , and all portion among the latter . and how much soever some protestant dissenters , may please themselves with the liberty , that at present they enjoy in the vertue of the two royal papers ; yet this may serve to moderate them in their transports of gladness , that they have no solid security for the continuance of it . for should a parliament null and make voide the declaration for liberty , and impeath the judges for declaring a power vested in the king to suspend so many laws , and for forbearing upon the kings mandat to execute them ; the freedom that the dissenters possess , would immediately vanish , and have much the same destiny that the liberty had , which was granted unto them by the declaration of indulgence anno 1672. or should the parliament be willing to grant ease and indulgence to all protestants , by a bill prepared for repealing of all the laws formerly made against them , and should only be desirous to preserve in force the laws relating to the oaths of allegiance and supremacy , and the statutes which enjoin the tests , of whose execution we never more wanted the benefit in order to our preservation from popery , and which an english parliament cannot be supposed willing to part with , at a time when our lives , estates , and religion , are so visibly threatned to be swallowed up , and destroyed by the papists ; in that case we may confidently believe , that the king instead either of assenting to such a bill for separate favour to protestants , or persevering in his compassion and kindness of continuing the suspension of the laws against dissenters , he would from an inveterate enmity as well as from a new contracted resentment , be stirred up and enraged to the putting the laws in execution with greater rigor and severity , than hath been seen , or felt heretofore . and all that the addressers would then reap by the declaration ; would be to undergo the furious effects of brutal rage in their persecutors , and to be unpittyed by the kingdom , and unlamented by their fellow protestants . or should his majesty in favour to his good catholicks , resolve against the meeting of a parliament , or to adjourn and prorogue them whensoever he shall find , that instead of confirming what he hath done , they shall make null his declaration , vote his pretended prerogative illegal and arbitrary , and fall upon those mercinary and perjured villains , who have allowed him a power transcendent to law ; yet even upon that supposal , which is the best that can be made to support mens hopes in the continuance of the present liberty , the protestant dissenters would have but slender security , all the tenure they have for the duration of their freedom being only precarious , and depending meerly upon the kings word and promise , which there is small ground to rely upon . nor can he be true to them , without being false to his religion , which not only gives him leave to break his faith with hereticks , but obligeth him to it , and to destroy them to boot , and that both under the pain of damnation , and of forfeiting his crown and losing his dominions . and how far the promise and royal word of a catholick monarch is to be trusted unto , and depended upon , we have a modern proof and evidence in the behaviour of louis de grand towards his reformed subjects , not only in repealing the many edicts made and confirmed by himself , as well as his ancestors , for the free exercise of their religion ; but in the method's he hath alway's observed , namely to promise them protection in the profession of their faith , and practi●● of their worship , when he was most ste● fastly resolved to subvert their religion , a 〈…〉 was about making some fresh advan 〈…〉 and taking some new step for its extirpati●● thus when he had firmly purposed , not 〈◊〉 suffer a minister to continue a year in t●● kingdom , he at the same time , publish●● an edict , requiring ministers , to serve b 〈…〉 three years in one place , and not to retur● to the church , where they had first officiate● till after the expiration of twentie years . 〈◊〉 the same manner , when he had resolve● to repeal the edict of nantes , and had giv● injunction for the draught , by which it w●● to be done ; he at the same season , gave th● protestants , all assurances of protection , an● of the said edicts being kept inviolabl●● to which may be added , that shameful an● detestable chicanery , in passing his sacre● and royal word , that no violence shoul● be offered any for their religion , tho at th●● very moment , the dragoons were upo● their march , with orders of exercising a 〈…〉 manner of cruelties , and barbarities , upo● them . so that his majesty of great brit 〈…〉 tain , hath a pattern lately set him , an● that by the illustrious monarch , whom h● so much admires , and whom he makes i● his ambition , and glory , to imitate . no● are we without proofs already , how insigni ficant the kings promises are , ( except to de lude ) and what little confidence , ought t● be put in them . the disabling , and suspen ding , the 13 th statute of his late parliame●● in scotland , wherein the test was confirmed and his departing from all his promises registred in his letter , as well as from those contained in the speech made by the lor● commissioner , pursuant to the instruction● which he had undoubtedly received , together with his having forgotten and recede● from all his promises made to the church o● england both when duke of york , and since he came to the crown , are undeniable evidences , that his royal word , is no more sacred , nor binding , than that of some other monarchs ; and that whosoever of the 〈…〉 rotestants , shall be so foolish , as to rely ●pon it , will find themselves as certainly ●isappointed , and deceived , as they of the 〈…〉 ormed religion elsewhere , have been . 〈…〉 d while they of the established way , find 〈◊〉 small security by the laws , which the ●ing is bound by his coronation oath to ob●erve ; the dissenters cannot expect very ●uch , from a naked promise , which as it ●ath not a solemn oath to enforce it , so 't is ●oth illegal in the making , and contrary to 〈…〉 he principles of his religion to keep . nor is 〈◊〉 unworthy of observation , that he hath ●ot only departed from his promises , made ●o the church of england ; but that we are told , 〈◊〉 a late popish pamphlet , entitled , a new test 〈◊〉 the church of englands loyalty , published 〈…〉 as it self say's ) by authority , that they were 〈…〉 ll conditional ( to wit by vertue of some ●●ntal reservation in his majesties breast ) ●nd that the conformable clergy , having fai 〈…〉 ed , in performing the conditions , upon which they were made ; the king , is ab●olved , and discharged , from all obliga●ion , of observing them . the church of england ( say's he ) must give his majesty leave ●ot to nourish a snake in his bosom , but rather ●o withdraw his royal protection , which was pro●ised , upon the account , of her constant fidelity . which as it is a plain threatning of all the legal clergy , and a denunciation of the un●ust and hard measure , thy are to look for ; so it shakes the foundation , upon which all credit unto , and relyance upon , his majesties word , can be any way 's placed . for tho threatnings may have tacit reserves , because ●he right of executing them , resides in the threatner ; yet promises are incapable of all ●atent conditions , because every promise vests 〈◊〉 right in the promise , and that in the vir●ue of the words in which it is made . but 〈◊〉 is the less to be wondred at , if his majesty 〈…〉 y to equivocations and mental reserves , being ●oth under the conduct of that order , and a member of the society , that first taught and ●racticed this treacherous piece of chica●erie . however it may inform the dissen 〈…〉 s , that if they be not able to answer the end , for which they are depended upon ; or be not willing in the manner and degree , that is expected ; or if it be not for the interest , of the catholick cause , to have them indulged ; in all these cases , and many more , the king may be pronounced , acquitted , and discharged , from all the promises , he hath given them , as having been meerly stipulatory , and conditional . and as he will be sure then , finem facere ferendae alienae personae , to lay aside the disguise that he hath now put on ; so if they would reflect either upon his temper or upon his religion , they might now know , hand gratuitam in tanta superbia comitatem , that a person of his pride would not stoop to such flattery , ( as his letter to mr. alsop expresseth ) but in order to some design . but what need other proof , of the fallaciousness of the two royal papers and that no protestants can reasonably depend upon the royal word , there laid to pledg for the continuation of their liberty ; but to look into these two papers themselves , where we shall meet expressions , that may both detract from our belief , of his majesties sincerity , and awaken us to a just jealousie , that the liberty , and toleration , granted by them , are intended to be of no long standing and duration . for while he is pleased to tell us , that the granting his subjects , the free use of their religion for the time to come , is an addition to the perfect enjoyment of their property , which has never been invaded by his majesty since his coming to the crown ; he doth in effect say , that his fidelity , truth , and integrity , in what he grants in reference to religion , is to be measured , and judged , by the verity that is in what he tells us , as to the never having invaded our property . and that i may borrow an expression from mr. alsop , and to no less a person than to the king himself , namely , that tho we pretend to no refined intellectualls , nor presume to philosophise upon mysteries of government , yet we make some pretence to the sense of feeling , and whatever our dulness be , can discern , between what is exacted of us according to law , and what we are rob'd of by an exercise of arbitrary power . for not to sist upon the violent seisure of mens goods , by officers , as well as souldiers , in all parts of england , which looks like an invasion upon the properties of the subject ; nor to dwell upon his keeping an army on foot in time of peace , against the authority , as well as without the countenance of law , which our ancestors would have stiled an invasion upon the whole property of the kingdom ; i would sain know , by what name we are to call his levying the customs , and the additional excise , before they were granted unto him by the parliament , all the legal establishment of them upon the nation , having been only , during the late kings life , till the settlement of them upon the crown was again renewed by statute . it were also worth his majesties telling us , what titles are due to the suspending the vice chancellor of cambridg a beneficio , and the turning the president of maudlins in oxford out of his headship , and the suspending dr. fairsax from his fellowship , if they be not an invasion upon our property ; seeing every part of this , is against all the known laws of the kingdom , and hath been done by no legal court , but by a set of mercinary villains , armed with an arbitrary commission , and who do as arbitrarily exercise it . and as the end unto which that inquisition court was instituted , was to robb us of ours rights and priviledges at the meer pleasure of the king ; so the very institution of it , is an invasion both upon all our laws , and upon the whole property of the nation , and is one of the highest exercises of despotical power , that it is possible for the most absolute and unlimited monarch to exert . among all the rights reserved unto the subjects by the rules of the constitution , and whereof they are secured by many repeated laws and statutes , there are none that have been hithero less disputed , and in reference to which our kings have been farther from claiming any power and authority , than those of levying money without the grant as well as the consent of parliament , and of absolving and discharging debtor ; from paying their creditors , and of acquitting 〈◊〉 from being sued and imprisoned in case of no 〈…〉 payment ; and yet in defiance of all law and to the subverting the rights of the peo 〈…〉 ple and the most essential priviledg and i 〈…〉 risdiction of parliaments , and to a plain chan 〈…〉 ging the ancient legal constition into an absolute and despotical governing power , the king ( they say ) is assuming to himself a 〈…〉 authority , both of imposing a tax of five pound per annum upon every hackney coach , and of releasing and discharging all debtors , of whom their creditors cannot claim and demand above ten pound sterling ; which as they will be signal invasions upon property , and lea●ing cases for the raising money in what other instances he pleaseth , by a hamp●on cour● or a whitehall edict , without standing in need of a parliament , or being obliged to a dependance upon their grant , for all taxes to be levied upon the subjects , as his predecessors have heretofore been ; so they may serve fully to instruct us what little security either the dissenters have as to being long in the possession of their present liberty , or protestants in general of having a freedom continued unto them of professing the reformed religion , if we have nothing more to rely upon for preventing our being abridged and denyed the liberty of our religion , than we have had for preserving our property from being invaded and broken in upon . we may subjoin to the clause already mentioned , that other expression , which occurs in the foresaid declaration , viz. that as he freely gives them leave to meet and serve god after their own may and manner , so they are to take special care , that nothing be preached or taught amongst them , which may any ways ●end to alienate the hearts of the people from his majesty , or his government ; which words as they import the price at which the dissenters are to purchase their freedom ( whereof we shall discourse anon ) so they admirably serve to furnish the king with a pretence , of retrenching their liberty whensoever he pleaseth , nor are they inserted there for any other end , but th●● 〈…〉 on a plea , of their having abused his gra 〈…〉 us indulgence to the alienating the hearts of 〈◊〉 his people from him , they may be adjud 〈…〉 d to have thereby deservedly forfeited , 〈…〉 th all the benefits of it , and of his royal 〈…〉 our . nor is it possible for a protestant 〈…〉 nister to preach one sermon , which a 〈…〉 ish critick , or a romish bigot , may not 〈…〉 ily misconstrue , and pervert , to be an 〈…〉 enation of the peoples hearts , from the kings 〈…〉 son , and government . and of which as we 〈…〉 ve heard many late examples in france , so 〈◊〉 will be easie to draw them into president , 〈…〉 d to imitate them in england . i might add , 〈…〉 e observation of the ingenious author of 〈…〉 e reflections on his majesties proclamation for 〈◊〉 toleration in scotland ; namely , that where 〈…〉 s the king gives all assurance to his scotts ●ubjects , that he will not use invincible necessity ●gainst any man , on the account of his per●uasion , he does thereby leave himself at a li●erty , of dragooning , torturing , burning , and ●oing the utmost violences , all these being ●incible to a person of an ardent love to god , ●nd of a lively faith in jesus christ ; and which accordingly many thousands have been ●riumphantly victorious over . nor is it likely that this new and uncouth phrase of ●ot using an invincible nec 〈…〉 , would have found room in a paper of that nature , if it had not been first to counceal some malicious , and mischievous design , and then to justify the consistency of its execution , with what is promised in the proclamation . moreover , were there that security intended by these two royal papers , that protestant dissenters might safely rely upon ; or did the king act with that sincerity , which he would delude his people into a belief of , there would then be a greater agreeableness than there is , betwixt the declaration for liberty of conscience in england , and the proclamation for a toleration in scotland . the principle his majesty pretends to act from , that conscience ought not to be constrained , and that none ought to be persecuted for meer matters of religion , would obliege him to act uniformly , and with an equal extention of favour to all his subjects , whose principles are the same ; and against whom he hath no exception , but in matters meerly religious . whereas the disparity of grace , kindness , and freedom , that is exercised in the declaration , from that which is exerted in the proclamation , plainly shews , that the whole is but a trick of state , and done in s●bserviency to an end , which it is not yet seasonable to discover and avow . for his circumscribing the toleration in scotland , to such presbyterians as he stiles moderate ; is not only a taking it off from its true bottom , matters of meer religion , and a founding it upon an internal quality of the mind , that is not discernable , but it implyes the reserving a liberty to himself of withdrawing the benefits of it from all scots dissenters , thro fastning upon them a contrary character , whensoever it shall be seasonable to revive persecution . and even as it is now exerted to these moderate ones , it is attended with restrictions , that his indulgence in england is no ways clog'd with . all that the declaration requires from those that are indulged , is that their assemblies , be peaceably , openly , and publickly held , that all persons be freely admitted to them , that they signify and make known to some justice of the peace , what places they set apart for these uses ; and that nothing be preached or taught amongst them , which may any ways tend to alienate the bear●s of the people from the king or his government ; whereas the proclamation , not only restrains the meetings , of the scots presbyterians to private houses , without allowing them either to build meeting houses , or to use out-houses or barns ; but it prohibits the hearing any ministers , save such as shall be willing to swear , that they shall to the utmost of their power , assist , defend , and maintain the king , in the exercise of his absolute power against all deadly . nor is it difficult to assign the reason , of the difformity that appears in his majesties present actings , towards his dissenting protestan● subjects in those two kingdoms . for should there be no restriction upon the toleration in scotland , to hinder the greatest part of the presbyterians from taking the advantage of it ; the bishops and conforming clergy would be immediately forsaken by the generality if not all the people , and so an ●ssue would not only be put to the division among protestants in that kingdom , but they would become an united , and thereupon a formidable , body against popery , which it is not for the interest of the roman catholicks to suffer , or give way unto . whereas the more unbounded the liberty is , that is granted to dissenters in england , the more are our divisions not only kept up , but increased and promoted , ( especially thro this freedom's arriving with them in an illegal way , without both the authority of the legislative power , and the approbation of a great part of the people ) it being infallibly certain , that there is a vast number of all ranks and conditions , who do prefer the abiding in the communion of the church of england , before the joining in fellowship with those of the separate and dissenting societies . upon the whole , this different method of proceeding towards dissenting protestants in matters meerly religious , shews that all this indulgence , and toleration , is a trick to serve a present juncture of affairs ; and to advance a popish and arbitrary design ; and that the dissenters have no security for the continuance of their liberty , but that when the court and jesuitick end , is compassed and obtained , there is another course to be steered towards them ; and instead of their hearing any longer , of liberty and toleration , they are to be told , that it is the interest of the government , and the safety , and honor of his majesty , to have but one religion in his dominions , and that all must be members of the catholick church , and this because the king will have it so , which is the argument that hath been made use of in the making so many converts in france . they who now suffer themselves to be deluded into a confidence in the royal word , will not only come to understand what mr. coleman meant , in his telling pere de la chaise , that the catholicks in england had a great work upon their hand , being about the extirpation 〈◊〉 that heresie , which hath born sway so long 〈◊〉 this northern part of the world ; but they wi●● also see and feel , how much of the desig 〈…〉 of rome was represented in that passage 〈◊〉 the popes nuncio's letter dated at bruxel 〈…〉 aug. 9. 1674. wherein upon the confidenc● which they placed in the duke of york , whic● is not lessened since he came to the crown he takes the confidence to write , that the● hop'd speedily to see the total and final ruin 〈◊〉 the protestant party . and as protestant dissenters , have no secu ▪ rity by the declaration , and proclamation , fo● the continuance of their liberty , so the● that have by way of thanksgiving addresse● to the king for those royal papers , have no● only acted very ill in reference both to the laws and rights of the kingdoms , and of religion in general , but they have carried very unwisely in relation to their own interest , and the avoiding the effects of that resentment , which most men are justly possessed with , upon the illegal emission of these arbitrary and prerogative papers . i shall not enter upon any long discourse , concerning this new practice of addressing in general , it having been done elsewhere some years ago , but i shall only briefly intimate , that it was never in fashion , unless either under a weak and precarious government , or under one that took illegal courses , and pu●sued a different interest from that of the people and community . as he who ruleth according to the standing laws of a countrey , over which he is set , needs not seek for an approbation of his actions from a part of his subjects ; the legality of his proceedings being the best justification of him that governs , and giving the truest satisfaction to them that are ruled ; so he who enjoy's the love of all his people , needs not look for promises of being assisted , stood by and defended , by any one party or faction among them ; there being none from whom he can have the least apprehension of opposition and danger . it was the want of a legal title in oliver crom●el , and his son richard to the government , that first begot this 〈…〉 vice of addressing , and brought it upon 〈…〉 e stage in these brittish nations ; and it was 〈…〉 e arbitrary procedures of the late king , as 〈…〉 is of his present majesty , and their acting 〈…〉 on a distinct bottom from that of the three 〈…〉 ingdoms , that hath revived , and does con 〈…〉 nue it . nor is there any thing , that hath 〈…〉 ndred those two princes more contempti 〈…〉 e abroad , and proclaimed them weaker 〈◊〉 home , than their recurring unto , and 〈…〉 lliciting , the flatteries and aid , of the 〈…〉 ercinacy , timorous , servile , and for low 〈…〉 nd personal ends byass'd part of their 〈…〉 ubjects , and thereby telling the world , 〈…〉 at neither the generality nor the most ho 〈…〉 orable of their people have been united in 〈…〉 heir interest , nor approvers of the coun 〈…〉 els that have been taken and pursued . and 〈…〉 f any thing did ever cast a dishonor upon 〈…〉 he english nation , it hath been that loath 〈…〉 ome flattery , and slavish sycophancy , wherewith the addressers , both now , and ●or some years past , have stuff't their ap●lications to the two royal brothers . the thr●n● that is sustained and upheld by the pillars of law and justice , needs not to 〈…〉 hew out unto its self other supporsers , nor 〈…〉 lean upon the crooked and weak s 〈…〉 lts , of the insignificant , and for the most part de 〈…〉 ceitful as well as b●ib'd vows , of a sort of men , who will be as ready upon the least disgust , to cry cruci●y to morrow , as they were for being gratified , may be in their ●usts , humours , and revenges , and at the best in some separate concern , to cry hosanna to day . i shall decline prosecuting what concerns the honor , or dishonor , of him , to whom the adresses are made , or how politick , or impolitick , the countenancing and encouraging them is ; and shall apply my self to this new set of addressers , and endeavour to shew how foolish as well as criminally they have acted . nor is it an argument either of their prudence or honesty , or of their acting with any consistency to themselves , that having so severely inveighed against the addresses , that were in fashion a few years ago , and having fastned all the imputations and reproaches upon those that were accessory to them , which that rank of addressers could be supposed to have deserved , they now espouse the practice which they had condemned , and in reference to as arbitrary and an unjustifiable an act of his present majesty , as the most illegal one the late king was guilty of , or the worst exercise of prerogative , for which any here●ofore either commended , or promised to stand by him . for tho the matter and subject of the a●bitrary act of him now upon the tbrone , be not as to every branch of it so publickly scandalous , as some of the arbitrary proceedings of the late king were , ( as relating to a favour which mankind hath a just claim unto ) yet it is every way as illegal , being in reference to a priviledg , which his majesty hath no authori●y to grant and bestow . and were it not that there are many dissenters , who preserve themselves innocent at this juncture , and upon whom the temptation that is administred makes ▪ no impression ; the world would have just ground to say , that the phanaticks are not governed by principles , but that the measures they walk by , are what conduceth to their private and personal benefit , or what lyes in a tendency to their loss and prejudice . and that it was not the late kings usurping , and exerting , an arbitrary and illegal power , that offended them ; but that they were not the objects in whose favour it was exercised . 't is also an aggravation of their folly as well as their offer●c● , that they should revive a practice which the nation was grown asham'd of , and whereof they who had been guilry begun to repent , thro having seen that all the former declarations , assurances , and promises of the royal brothers , which tempted to applications of that kind , were but so many juggles , peculiar to the late breed of the family , for the deceiving of mankind ; and that never one of them was performed and made good . but the transgression , as well as the imprudence , of the present addressers , is yet the greater , and they are the more criminal and inexcusable before god and men , in that they might have enjoyed all the benefits of the kings declaration , without acknowledging the justice of the authority by which it was granted , or making themselves the scorn and contempt of all that are truely honest and wise , by their servile adulations , and their gratulatory scribles unbecoming englishmen and protestants . they had no more to do , but to continue their meetings , as they had sometimes heretofore used to do , without taking notice that the present suspension of the laws , made their assembling together more safe , and freed them from apprehension of fines and imprisonments . nor could the king , how much soever displeased with such a conduct , have at this time ventured upon the expressing displeasure against them ; seeing as that would have been both to have proclaimed his hypocrisie , in saying , that conscience ought not to be constrained , nor people forced in matters of meer religion , and a discovering the villanous design in subserviency to which the declaration had been emitted ; so it were not possible for him , after what he hath published , to single out the dissenters from amongst other protestants ; and to fall upon all , before matters are more ripe for it , might be a means of the abortion of all his popish projections , and of saving the whole reformed interest in great brittain . neither would the church of england men , have envied their tranquillity , or have blamed their carriage ; but would have been glad that their brethren had been eased from oppressions , and themselves delivered from the grievous and dishonorable task of prosecuting them , which they had formerly been forced unto by court injunctions and commands . and as they would have by a conduct of this nature had all the freedom which they now enjoy , without the guilt and reproach which they have derived upon themselves by addr●ssing ; so such a carriage , would have wonderfully recommended them to the favour of a true english parliam 〈…〉 which tho it will see cause to condem 〈…〉 the kings usurping a power of suspending t 〈…〉 laws , and to make void his declaratio 〈…〉 yet in gratitude to dissenters for such a behaviour , as well as in pitty and compassio 〈…〉 to them as english protestants , such a parliament would not fail to do all it could to give them relief in a legal way . where as if any thing enflame and exasperate t 〈…〉 nation , to revive their sufferings , it wi 〈…〉 arise from a resentment of the unworth 〈…〉 and treacherous carriage of so many 〈◊〉 them , in this critical and dangerous ju 〈…〉 cture . but the terms , which thro their a 〈…〉 dressing , they have owned the receivi 〈…〉 their liberty and indulgence upon , does in peculiar manner enhance their guilt again 〈…〉 god , and their countrey , and strangely ad 〈…〉 to the disgust and anger , which lovers 〈◊〉 religion , and the laws of the nation hav 〈…〉 conceived against them . for it is hot onl 〈…〉 upon the acknowledgment of a preroga 〈…〉 in the king over the laws , that they hav 〈…〉 received and now hold their liberty ; b 〈…〉 it is upon the condition , that nothing be preach 〈…〉 or taught amongst them that may any ways tend 〈◊〉 alienate the hearts of the people from his majesti 〈…〉 person and government . he must be of an u 〈…〉 derstanding ▪ very near allied unto , and approaching to that of an irish man , who do 〈…〉 not know what the court sense of that clau 〈…〉 is ; and that his majesty thereby intends , th 〈…〉 they are not to preach against popery , nor t 〈…〉 set forth the doctrines of the romish church i 〈…〉 terms that may prevent the peoples being i 〈…〉 ●ected by them , much less in colours th 〈…〉 may render them hated and abhorred . t 〈…〉 accuse the kings religion of idolatry , or 〈◊〉 affirm the church of rome to be the apoc 〈…〉 lyptick babylon , and to represent the articl 〈…〉 of the tridentine faith , as faithful ministers 〈◊〉 christ ought to do ; would be accounted a 〈…〉 alienating the hearts of their hearers from t 〈…〉 king and his government ; which as they 〈◊〉 in the foresaid clause required no● to do , 〈◊〉 they have by their addressing confessed t 〈…〉 iustice of the terms , and have undertaken 〈◊〉 〈…〉 old their liberty by that tenor. and to give 〈…〉 em their due , they have been very faithful 〈…〉 itherto , in conforming to what the king 〈…〉 xacts , and in observing what themselves have 〈…〉 ented to the equity of . for notwithstan 〈…〉 ing all the danger from popery , that the na 〈…〉 on is exposed unto , and all the hazard that 〈…〉 e souls of men are in , of being poysoned 〈…〉 i th romish principles ; yet instead of prea 〈…〉 ing or writing against any of the doctrines of 〈…〉 e church of rome , they have agreed among 〈…〉 emselves , and with such of their congre 〈…〉 ations as approve their procedure , not so 〈…〉 uch as to mention them ; but to leave the 〈…〉 rovince of defending our religion , and of 〈…〉 etecting the falshood of papal tenets , to the 〈…〉 astors and gentlemen of the church of eng 〈…〉 nd . and being ask'd ( as i know some of 〈…〉 em that have been ) why they do not preach 〈…〉 gainst antichrist , and confuse the papal do 〈…〉 rines ; they very gravely reply , that by prea 〈…〉 ing christ , they preach against antichrist ; 〈…〉 nd that by teaching the gospel , they re 〈…〉 te popery ; which is such a piece of fraudu 〈…〉 ent and guilful sub●erfuge , that i want words 〈…〉 o express the knavery and criminalness of it . what a reserve and change have i lived to see 〈…〉 n england , from what i beheld a few years 〈…〉 go . it was but the other day , that the con 〈…〉 rmable clergy were represented by some of 〈…〉 he dissenters , not only as favourers of 〈…〉 opery , but as endeavouring to hale it in upon 〈…〉 s by all the methods and ways that lay within 〈…〉 heir circle ; and yet now the whole defence of 〈…〉 e reformed religion must be entirely de 〈…〉 olved into their hands ; and when all the 〈…〉 ces are pulled up , that had been made to 〈…〉 inder popery from overflowing the nation , 〈…〉 ey must be left alone , to stemm the inun 〈…〉 ation , and prevent the deluge . they among 〈…〉 e fanaticks that boasted to be the most avo 〈…〉 ed and irreconcilable enemies of the church 〈…〉 f rome , are not only become altogether si 〈…〉 ent , when they see the kingdom pesterd with 〈◊〉 swarm of busie and seducing emissaries ; but 〈…〉 e both turned advocats for that arbitrary 〈…〉 aper whereby we are surrendred as a prey 〈…〉 nto them , and do make it their business to detract from the reputation , and discourage the laboures of the national ministers , who with a zeal becoming their office , and a learning which deserves to be admired , have set themselves in opposition to that croaking fry , and have done enough by their excellent , and unimitable writings to save people from being deluded and perverted , if either unanswerable consutations of popery , or demonstrative defences of the articles and doctrines of the reformed religion , can have any efficacy upon the minds of men . among other fulsom flatteries adorning a speach made to his majesty by an addressing dissenter , i find this hypocritical and shameful adulation , namely , that if there should remain any seeds of disloyalty in any of his subjects , the transcendent goodness exerted in his declaration would mor●isie and kill them ; to which he might have added with more truth , that the same transcendent goodness had almost destroyed all the seeds of their honesty , and mortied their care and concernment for the interest of iesus christ , and for the reformed religion . their old strain of zealous preaching against the idola●ry of rome , and concerning the coming out of babylon my people , are grown out of fashion with them in england , and are only reserved , and said by , to recommend them to the kindness , and acceptation of forraign protestants , when their occasions and conveniencies draw them over to amsterdam . whosoever comes into their assemblies , would think for any thing that he there hears delivered from their pulpits , that she which was the whore of babylon a few years ago , were now become a chast spouse ; and that what were heretofore the damnable doctrines of popery , were of late turned innocent and harmless opinions . the kings declaration , would seem to have brought some of them to a melius inquirendum , and as they are already arrived to believe a roman catholick the best king , that they may in a little time come to esteem papists for the best christians . the keeping back nothing that is profitable to save such as hear them , and the declaring the whole counsel of god ; that are the terms upon which they receiyed their commission from iesus christ , and wherein they have pauls practice and example for a pattern , would seem to be things under the power of the royal prerogative , and that the king may supercede them by the same authority , by which he dispenses with the penal statutes . which as it is very agreeable unto , and imported in his majesties claim of being obeyed without reserve ; so the owning this absolute power with that annex of challenged obedience , does acquit them from all obligations to the laws of christ , when they are found to interfere with what is required by the king. but whether gods power , or the kings , be superior , and which of the two can cassate the others laws , and whose wrath is most terrible ; the judgment day will be able and sure to instruct them , if all means in this world prove insufficient for it . the addressers know upon what conditions they hold their liberty ; and they have not only observed how several of the national clergy have been treated for preaching against popery ; but they have heard how divers of the reformed ministers in france ( before the general suppression ) were dealt with , for speaking against their monarchs religion ; and therefore they must be pardoned , if they carry so , as not to provoke his majesty , tho in the mean time thro their ●●lence , they both betray the cause of their lord and master , and are unfaithful to the soules of those , of whom they have taken upon them the spiritual guidance . as for the papers themselves that are stiled by the name of addresses , i shall not meddle with them , being as to the greatest part of them , fitter to be exposed and ridicul'd , either for their dulness and pedantry , or for the adulation and sycophancy with which they are fulsomly stuff● ; than to deserve any serious consideration , or to merit reflections that may prove instructive to mankind . only as that address wherein his majesty is thanked for his restoring god to his empire over conscience , deserveth a rebuke for its blasphemy ; so that other which commends him for promising , to force the parliament to ra●i●y his declaration , ( tho by the way all he says is , that he does not doubt of their concurrence , which yet his ill succ 〈…〉 upon the closetting of so many member 〈…〉 and his since dissolving that parliament shews that there was some cause for the doub 〈…〉 ting of it ) i say that other address , merits severe censure for its insolency against th 〈…〉 legislative authority . and the authors of 〈◊〉 ought to be punished , for their crime com 〈…〉 mitted against the liberty and freedom 〈◊〉 the two houses , and for encouraging th 〈…〉 king to invade and subvert their most essen 〈…〉 tial and fundamental priviledges , and withou 〈…〉 which , they can neither be a council , judi 〈…〉 cature , nor lawgivers . after all , i hope the nation will be so in 〈…〉 genuous , as not to impute the miscarriages 〈◊〉 some of the nonconformists , to the whole part 〈…〉 much less to ascribe them to the principles o 〈…〉 dissenters . for as the points wherein the 〈…〉 differ from the church of england , are purel 〈…〉 of another nature , and which have no re 〈…〉 lation to politicks , so the influence , that the 〈…〉 are adapted to have , upon men as member 〈…〉 of civil societies , is to make them in a specia 〈…〉 manner regardful , of the rights , and fran 〈…〉 chises , of the community . but if some nei 〈…〉 ther understand the tendency of their ow 〈…〉 principles , nor are true and faithful unto them these things are the personal faults of thos 〈…〉 men , and are to be attributed to their ig 〈…〉 norance , or to their dishonesty ; nor are thei 〈…〉 carriages to be counted the effects of thei 〈…〉 religious tenets , much less are others of the party to be involved under the reproach an 〈…〉 guilt of their imprudent and ill conduct 〈…〉 which there is the more cause to acknow 〈…〉 ledg , because tho the church of england , ha 〈…〉 all the reason of the world , to decline addressing , in that all her legal foundation , a 〈…〉 well as security , is shaken by the declaration yet there are some of her dignitaries and c 〈…〉 gy , as well as divers of the members of he 〈…〉 communion , who upon motives of ambition covetousness , fear , or courtship , hav 〈…〉 enrolled themselves into the li●● of addre 〈…〉 sers ; and under pretence of giving thanks 〈◊〉 the king , for his promise of protecting 〈◊〉 arch-bishops , bishops , and clergy , and a 〈…〉 〈…〉 erof the church of england in the free exer 〈…〉 of their religion , as by law established ; 〈…〉 ve cut the throat of their mother , at 〈…〉 ose breasts they have suckt till they are 〈…〉 own fat , both by acknowledging the usur 〈…〉 prerogative upon which the king assumes 〈◊〉 right and authority of emitting the de 〈…〉 ration ; and by exchanging the legal stand●●g , and security of their church , into that 〈…〉 ecarious one of the royal word , which 〈…〉 ey fly unto as the bottom of her subsistence , 〈…〉 d trust to as the wall of her defence . and 〈◊〉 most of the members of the separate so 〈…〉 ties , are free from all accession to ad 〈…〉 essing , and the few that concurred were 〈…〉 eerly drawn in by the wheedle and impor 〈…〉 nity of their preachers ; so they who are 〈◊〉 the chiefest character , and greatest repu 〈…〉 tion for wisdom and learning among 〈…〉 e ministers , have preserved themselves 〈…〉 om all folly and treachery of that kind . the apostle tells us , that not many wise , not ●any noble are called ; which as it is verified 〈◊〉 many of the dissenting addressers , so it ●ay serve for some kind of apology , for their 〈…〉 ow and sneaking , as well as for their in 〈…〉 iscret and imprudent behaviour in this mat●er . and it is the more venial in some of ●hem , as being not only a means of ingra 〈…〉 iating themselves ( as they phansie ) with ●he king , who heretofore had no very good ●pinion of them ; but as being both an easie ●nd compendious method of attoning for offences against the crown , of which they were strongly suspected ; and a cheap and expenceless way of purchasing the pardon of their relations , that had stood actually 〈…〉 ccused of high treason . nor is it to be doubted , but that as the king will retain very little favour and mercy for fanaticks when once he has served his ends upon them ; so they will preserve as little kindness for the papists , if they can but obtain relief in a legal way . and as there is not a people in the kingdom , that will be more 〈…〉 oyal to princes , while they continue so to govern , as that fealty by the laws of god 〈…〉 or man remains due to them ; so there are none of what principles or communion soever , upon whom the kingdom it its whole interest come to ly at stake , may more assuredly and with greater confidence depend , than upon the generality of dissenting protestants , and especially upon those that are not of the pastoral order . the severities that the dissenters lay under before , and their deliverance from oppression and disturbance now , seconded with the kings expectation and demands of thanksgiving addresses , were strong temptations upon men void of generosity and greatness of spirit , and who are withall of no great political wisdom , nor of prospect into the consequences of councils and tricks of state , to act as illegally , in their thanks , as his majesty had done in his bounty . so that whatsoever animadversion they may deserve , should they be proceeded against , according to their demerit ; yet it is to be hoped , that both they , and the addressers of the former stamp , may all find room in an act of indemnity , and that the mercy of the nation towards them , will triump over and get the better of its iustice. as it would argue a strange and judicial infatuation , should they proceed to farther excesses , and think to escape the punishment due to one crime , by comitting and taking sanctuary in another , thro improving their compliments into actions of treachery ; so all their hope of pardon , as well as of lenity and moderation , from a true protestant and rightly constituted authority , depends upon their conduct and behaviour henceforward , and their not suffering themselves to be hurried , and deluded , into a co-operation with the court , for the obtaining of a popish parliament . all their endeavours of that kind would but more clearly detect , and manifest , their treachery to religion and the kingdom , it not being in their power to ontvote the honest english part of the people , so as to help the king to such a house of commons as he desires ; and were it possible , that thro their assistance , in conjunction with violence and tricks used in elections and returns by the court , such a ●ouse of commons might be obtained , as would be serviceable to arbitrary and papal ends ; yet neither the king nor they , would be the ne●rer the compassing what is aimd at ; it being demonstrable that the majority of the house of lords , are never to be wrought over to justify this illegal declaration ; or to grant the king a power of suspending laws , at his pleasure ; nor to give their assent to a bill for repealing the test acts , and the statutes that enjoin and require the oaths of allegeance and supremacy . and if they should be so far left of god , and betrayd by those among themselves whom the court hath gained , as to become guilty of so enormous an act of folly and villany ; and should the election of the next parliament , be the happy juncture they wait for , and the improving their interest , as well as the giving their own votes , for the choice of papists into the house of commons , be what they mean by an essential proof of their loyalty and of the sincerity of their humble addresses , and that whereby they intend to demonstrate , that the greatest thing they have promised , is the least thing they will perform for his majesties service and satisfation : as in that case , they will deserve to forfeit all hopes of bei 〈…〉 forgiven ; so it would be an infidelity to go 〈…〉 and men , and a cruelty to our selves 〈◊〉 our posterity , not to abandon them as betray 〈…〉 of religion ; expunge them out of the roll 〈◊〉 protestants ; strip them of all that where 〈…〉 free subjects have a legal right ; and not 〈◊〉 condemn them to the utmost punishment 〈…〉 which the laws of the kingdom adjudg th 〈…〉 worst of traitors and malefactors unto ▪ there are some , who thro hating of them do wish their miscarrying and offending t 〈…〉 so unpardouable a degree , that they ma 〈…〉 hereafter be furnished with an advantage both of ruining them , and the whole di●senting party for their sakes . but as the lov 〈…〉 that i bear unto them , and the perswasio 〈…〉 and belief i have of the truth of their religious principles , do make me exceeding solic 〈…〉 tous to have them kept and prevented , from being hurried and transported into so fata 〈…〉 and criminal a behaviour ; so i desire 〈◊〉 make no other excuse for my plain dealin 〈…〉 towards them , but that of solomon , who tell us , that faithful are the wounds of a friend , whi 〈…〉 the kisses of an enemy are deceitful ; and that h 〈…〉 who rebukes a man , shall find more favour afterwards , than he who flattereth with the tongu 〈…〉 postscript . since the fore-going sheets went to the press , and while they were printing off , there is come to my hands a new proclamation dated at windsor the 28. of iune 1687. for granting further liberty in scotland , and which was published there by an order of the privy council of that kingdom bearing date at edinburgh the 5. of iuly . this super●●tation of one proclamation after another in reference to the same thing , is so apportio●ed and parallel to the late french method of emitting edicts in relation to those of the reformed religion in that kingdom , that they seem to proceed out of one mint , to be calculated for the same end , and to be designed for the compassing and obtaining the like effects . for as soon as an alarm was taken at the publishing of some unreasonable and rigorous edict , there used often to follow another of a milder strain , which was pretended to be either for the moderating the severities of the former , or to remove 〈…〉 d rectify what they were pleased to call 〈…〉 isconstructions unduly put upon it ; but 〈…〉 e true end whereof was only to stiffle and 〈…〉 tinguish the jealousies and apprehensions 〈…〉 at the other had begotten and excited , and ●hich had they not been calmed and allayd , 〈…〉 ight have awakened the protestants there 〈◊〉 provide for their safety by a timely with●rawing into other countries , if they had ●ot been provoked to generous endeavoures ●f preventing the final suppression of their ●eligion , and for obviating the ruin which 〈…〉 at court had projected against them and ●as hastning to involve them under . nor 〈…〉 es my suspition of his majesties pursuing ●e same design against protestants , which ●e great louis glories to have accompli 〈…〉 ed , proceed meerly from that conjun 〈…〉 ion of counsels that all the world observes ●etween whitehall and versailles ; nor meer●● from the kings abandoning his nephew ●nd son in law the prince of orange , and not 〈◊〉 much as interposing to obtain satisfaction 〈◊〉 be given him , for the many injuries , dam 〈…〉 ages , spoiles , and robberies , as well as 〈…〉 fronts done him by that haughty monarch ; ●hen one vigorous application could not 〈…〉 il to effect it ; nor yet meerly from that ●greeableness in their procedures , thro the ●ing of englands imitating that forraign po 〈…〉 ntate , and making the whole course that 〈…〉 at h been taken in france the pattern of 〈…〉 ll his actings in great brittain ; but i am ●uch confirmed in my fears and jealousies 〈…〉 y remembring a passage in one of mr. cole 〈…〉 ans letters , who as he very well knew what 〈…〉 e then duke of york , had been for many 〈…〉 ears ingaged in , against our religion and 〈…〉 ivil liberties , and under what vows and 〈…〉 romises he was , not to desist from prose 〈…〉 ting what had been resolved upon and un 〈…〉 ertaken ; so he had the confidence to say 〈…〉 at his masters design and that of the king of 〈…〉 ance , was one and the same ; and that this ●as no less , as he farther informs us than 〈…〉 e ex●●●pating the northern heresie . had the ●ing of england acted with sincerity from 〈…〉 at noble principle , that conscience ought not to be constrained , nor people forced in matters of meer religion , as he would delude weak and easie people to believe ; and had not all his arbitrary and illegal proceedings in granting liberty to dissenting protestants , been to subserve and promote other designes , which it is not yet seasonable and convenient to discover and avow ; he would have then acted with that conformity to the principle he professeth to be under the influence and government of , and with that consonancy and harmonious agreeableness , in all the degrees of indulgence , vouchsased to those of the reformed religion in england and scotland , that differ from them of the established way , that there would have needed no second proclamation apporting new measures of liberty and favour to scotts dissenters , seeing they would have had it granted them at first in the same latitude and illimitedness , that it was bestowed upon the english nonconformists . but when princes carry on and pursue mischievous designes , under the palliations of religion , publick good , and the right of mankind ; it comes often to pass thro adapting their methods to what they mean and intend , and not to what they pretend and give out , that their crafty projections , by being not sufficiently accommodated to their purposes , prove ineffectual to the compassing what was aim'd at ; and this forceth them to a new game of falsehood and subtilety , but still under the old varnish and gloss , and obligeth them to have recourse to means that may be more proportioned than the former were , for their reaching the end that they ubtimately drive at . thence it is that those rulers , who are engaged in the prosecution of wicked and unjustifiable designes , are necessitated not only to apply themselves to opposite methods towards different parties , and those such as must be suited and apportioned to their discrepant interests , without the accommodating of which they can neither hope to mould them to that tame and servile compliance , nor work them up to that active and vigorous abetting of their malicious and crasty projections as is necessary for the rendring them succesful ; but they are forced to vary their proceedings towards one and the same party , and that as well when the ways they have acted in towards them are found inadequate to the end unto which they were calculated , as when the mischief hid under them comes to be too soon discovered . this weak and short-sighted people fancy to arise from an uncertainty in princes councels , and from their being at no consistency with themselves ; but they who can penetrate into affairs and that do consider things more narrowly , can easily discern , that all this variation , diversity , and shifting of methods in rulers actings , proceed from other causes , and that it is their stability and perseverance in an illegal and wicked design , that compels them to those crooked and contrary courses , either for the gaining the unwary and ill applyed concurrence of their subjects , to the hastning distress and desolation upon themselves , or for the throwing them into that lethargy , and under that supiness , as may hinder them from all endeavours of obstructing and diverting the evils , that their governours are seeking to bring upon them . nor is there a more certain indication , of a princes being engaged in a design , contrary to the good and happiness of the society , over which he is set ; than his betaking himself to illegal ways , upon pretence of promoting the ease and benefit of his people ; or according as he finds his subjects to differ in their particular interests , his applying himself to them in methods , whereof the contrariety of the one to the other , renders them the more proper and adapted to ensnare the divided factions , thro accosting each of them with something that they are severally fond of . legal means are always sufficient to the pursuing and compassing legal ends : and whatsoever is for the general good of the community , may either be obtained by courses , wherein the generallity find their united interest and common felicity , or else by application to a parliament freely and duly chosen , which as it represents the whole politick society , so there may be expected most compassion and tenderness , as well as wisdom and prudence , for redressing the grievances , easing the troubles , and providing for the benefit and safety of all that are wrapt up in and represented by them . and as every prince , who sincerely seeks and pursues the advantage of his people , will so adjust and attemper all his actions towards them , that his whole carriage shall be uniform , and all the exercises of his governing power , meet in the benefit of the community , as so many lines from a circumserence uniting in their centre ; so there needs no other proof that these two or three late actions of his majesty , which a foolish sort of men are apt to interpret for favours , and to account them effects of compassion and kindness ; are but to conceal his malice , and to subserve as well as cover some fatal and pernicious design , that he is carrying on against his protestant subjects , than that while he is gratifying a few of them in one thing , he is at the same time robbing all of them of many ; and that while he is indulging the dissenters with a freedom from the penal laws for matters of religion , he is invading the properties , and subverting the civil rights of the three nations , and changing the whole constitution of the government . he that strips us of what belongs unto us as we are english and scotts men : cannot mean honestly in the savours he pretends to vouchsafe us as we are christians ; nor can he that is endeavouring to enslave our persons , and to subject our estates to his arbitrary lust and pleasure , intend any thing else by this kindness granted to fanaticks in matters of religion , than the dividing them from the rest of the people , in what concerns the civil interest and external happiness of the community , and to render them an engaged faction to assist and abet him in enthralling the kingdoms . whosoever considers the whole tenor of his majesties other actings , in proroguing and dissolving parliaments , when he finds them uncompliant with his 〈…〉 pish and despotical ends ; his keeping on 〈…〉 ot a formidable ar●● , against all the 〈…〉 aws of the land , and upon no other in 〈…〉 ention , but to maintain him in his usurpa 〈…〉 on s over our rights , and to awe us into 〈…〉 tame and servile submission to his preroga 〈…〉 ve will ; his filling all places of judicature , ●ith weak as well as treacherous persons , who instead of administring justice may be ●he instruments of tyranny ; his robbing men of their estates , by judicial forms , and under ●retence that nullum tempus occurris r●gi , after they have been quietly enjoyed by the subjects for several hundred years ; his advan●ing none to civil or military employs , but whom he hath some confidence in , as to the finding them ready to execute his despotical ●njunctions ; and his esteeming no persons loyal and faithful to himself , save those who ●re willing to be●●●y their countrey , and be rebells and traitors against the legal constitution : i say whosoever considers all this , and a great deal more of the same hue and complexion , cannot imagine ( unless he be under a judicial blindness and a strange insatuation ) that any thing arriving from the king , tho it may be a matter wherein they may find their present ease and advantage should proceed from compassion and good will to his protestant subjects , but that it must be only in order to promote a distinct interest from that of his people , and for the better and more easie accomplishing of some wicked and unjustifiable design . and tho his majesty would have us believe , that the reasons moving him to the emission of this 2●● proclamation , were the s 〈…〉 istruous interpretations which either have , or may be made , of some restrictions in his former ; yet it is not difficult even without being of his privy council , to assign a truer motive , and a more real and effectual cause of it . for as that of the 12 th of february , came forth attended with so many limitations , not casie to be digested by men of wisdom or honesty , lest if it had been more unconfined and extensive , and should have opened a door for all scotts dissenters to have gone in and taken the benefit of it , the generality of protestants in that kingdom , abstracting from the bishops , cura●es , and a few others , should have joined in the separate interest , and thereby have become an united body against popery ; but upon finding that hardly any would purchase their freedom from the penal laws , at so dear a rate , as to do things so unbecoming men and christians , as the conforming to the terms therein prescribed obliged them unto ; and that as they of the national communion were alarm'd and disgusted , so few or none of the dissenting fellowships were pleased ; and that both were not only angry at the many illegal favours , and threatning advantages , bestowed upon the papists , but were grown so sensible of the design carrying on against the protestant religion , and the liberties and priviledges of the subject , that tho they could not renounce their respective tenets in the matters wherein they differed , yet they were willing to stifle their heats and animosities , and to give that encouragement , aid , and assistance to one another , as was necessary for their common safety : upon these considerations , his majesty ( if he would have spoken sincerely ) ought to have said , that he had published this new proclamation , in order to hinder scots protestants from uniting , for their mutual defence , against turkish tyranny , and romish idolatry , and in hopes thereby to continue and exasperate their undue and passionate heats , and to keep them not only in divided and opposit interests , but to make them contribute to the suppressing and ruining each other , or at least to look on unconcernedly , till he have ripened his designes against them both , and be prepared for extirpating the reformed religion , and for subverting the fundamental as well as statute laws , and for bringing such to the stake and gibbet , as shall have the integrity to assert the one , or the courage to plead for the other . and yet in this last proclamation , wherein he grants a more illimited freedom , than in the former , and promiseth to protect all in the exercise of their protestant religion , as he disdainfully and ignominiously calls it ; there is a clause that may discourage all honest men from owning their liberty to the authority that bestows it , and from which it is derived and conveyed to them . for not being satisfied to superstruct his pretended right , of suspending , s 〈…〉 pping , and disabling laws , upon his soveraign authority and prerogative royal , but as knowing that these give no such pre-eminence and iurisdiction over the laws of the kingdom , he is pleased to challeng unto himself an absolute power , as the source and spring of that exorbitant and paramount claim , which he therein exerciseth and exerts . and forasmuch as absolute power , imports his majesties being loose and free from all ties and restraints , either by fundamental stipulations , or superadded laws ; it is very natural to observe , that he allows the government under which we were born , and to which we were sworn and stood bound , to be hereby subverted and changed , and that thereupon we are not only absolved and acquitted , from the allegiance and fealty , we were formerly under to his majesty , but are indispensably obliged by the ●ies and engagements that are upon us , of maintaining and defending the constitution and government , to apply our selves to the use of all means and endeavours against him , as an enemy of the people , and a subverter of the legal government , wherein all the interest he had , or could lawfully claim , was an official trust , and no● an absolute 〈◊〉 or a despo●icat dominion , the first whereof he hath deposed a●d abdicated himself from , by challenging and usurping the latter . and should any scots dissenter , either in his entrance upon the liberty granted by this proclamation , or in addressing by way of thankfulness for it , take the least notice of this freedom's flowing from the king , which cannot be done , without recognising this absolute power in his majesty as the fountain of it , he is to be lookt upon as the worst of traitors , and deserves to be proceeded against both for his aecession unto , a 〈…〉 justifying the subversion of the laws , libe 〈…〉 ties , and government of his country , an● for betraying the rights of all free-bor● men . for those few reflections in th● fore going sheets , which this new proclamation may not only seem to render useless and frustrate the end whereunto they wer● intended , but may make the publishing an● animadversions upon that , which the kin● by departing from , does himself censure an● condemn , be esteemed both a faileur i● in genuity and candor , and a want of rega 〈…〉 to those measures of justice , which ough● to be observed towards all men , and mor● especially towards crowned heads ; i shal● only say that as the proclamation arrived wi 〈…〉 me too late , to hinder and prevent the communication of them to the publick ; so i have this farther to add in justification o● their being published , that it will thereby appear , that what his majesty stiles sinistruo 〈…〉 interpretations made of some restrictions mentioned in his former , are no other than the just , natural , genuine , and obvious constructions , which they ly open unto , and are capable of , and which a man cannot avoid fastning upon them , without renouncing all sense and reason . and while the king continues to disparage and asperse all sober and judicious reflections upon that royal paper , by charging upon them the unjust and reproachful character of sinistruous interpretations ; it is necessary as well as equal , that the whole matter should be pl●i●ly and impartially represented to the world , and that the 〈◊〉 ●be re 〈…〉 tted and l●●t to the understanding and 〈…〉 ass ' 〈…〉 part of mankind who are the calumniators and slanderers , they who accuse the proclamation of importing such principles , consequences , and tendencies , or he and his ministers , who think they have avoided and answered the imputations fastned upon it , when they have loaded them with hard and uncivil terms . for tho he be pleased to assume to himself an absolute power , which all are bound to obey without reserve , and in the virtue of which 〈…〉 e suspends , stops , and disables what laws he ●leaseth , yet i do not know but that his 〈…〉 ntellectuals being of the size of other mens , 〈…〉 nd that seeing neither his soveraignity , 〈…〉 or catholicalness , have vested in him an 〈…〉 nerrability , why we may not enter our 〈…〉 lea and demurr to the dictates of his judgment , tho we know not how to withstand the efforts of his power . nor shall i sub 〈…〉 oin any more , save that whereas his ma 〈…〉 esty declares so many laws to be disabled to 〈…〉 ll intents and purposes , he ought to have remembred , that beside other intents and purposes that several of them may hereafter serve unto as the papists may possibly come to have experience ; there is one thing in reference to which , he cannot even at present , hinder & prevent their usefulness and efficacy , and that is not only their raising and exciting all just resentments in the minds of free-born and generous men , for his challenging a power to suspend and cassate them , but their remaining and continuing monuments of his infidelity to the trust reposed in him , of his departure from all promises made at and since his entring upon the government , and of his invading and subverting all the rules of the constitution . finis . pag. 4 col . 2. lin . 3. after court put . ibid. lin . 41. r. knew . p. 5. col . 1. l. 3. r. account . ibid. l. 30. r. inpemperate . ibid. col . 2. l. 35. r. in . p. 6. col . 2. l. 18. aite● order put . p. 7. col . 2. l , 39. for an● . as . p. 11. col . 1. l. 32. r. stirred up . ibid. l. penult . 1. judg . p. 25. col . 2. in the margin r. rot. parl. 7. hen. 4. p. 31. col . 2. l. 11. r. obsole●e . p. 40. col . 1. l. 38. r. promisee . p. 47. col . 1. l. 27. r. reverse . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a70105-e270 hist. of the times . proef. to h 〈…〉 hist. of th 〈…〉 times . p. 〈◊〉 de laudib . leg. angl. c. 9. bract. lib. 〈…〉 cap. 16. fle 〈…〉 lib. 1. c. 17. lib. 3 〈…〉 cap. 9 〈…〉 rol. parl. 7. hist. 4 ▪ num. 59. see mr. alsops speech to the king. the great pressures and grievances of the protestants in france and their apology to the late ordinances made against them : both out of the edict of nantes, and several other fundamental laws of france : and that these new illegalities, and their miseries are contrived by the pop. bishops arbitrary power / gathered and digested by e. e. of greys inn ... ; humbly dedicated to his majesty of great britain in parliament. everard, edmund. 1681 approx. 388 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 44 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a38821 wing e3529 estc r8721 13534067 ocm 13534067 100016 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. a38821) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100016) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 453:24) the great pressures and grievances of the protestants in france and their apology to the late ordinances made against them : both out of the edict of nantes, and several other fundamental laws of france : and that these new illegalities, and their miseries are contrived by the pop. bishops arbitrary power / gathered and digested by e. e. of greys inn ... ; humbly dedicated to his majesty of great britain in parliament. everard, edmund. france. sovereign (1643-1715 : louis xiv) france. edit de nantes. [4], 82 p. printed by e. t. and r. h. for t. cockeril ... and r. hartford ..., london : 1681. "the epistle dedicatory" signed: edmond everard. contains the edict of nantes granted by henry iv of france and two declarations of louis xiv. "the second declaration of the same second day of april, 1666, entitled against the relapsed and blasphemers": pp. 72-82. 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 france. -edit de nantes. protestants -france. france -history -henry iv, 1589-1610. france -history -louis xiv, 1643-1715. 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 the great pressures and grievances of the protestants in france . and their apology to the late ordinances made against them ; both out of the edict of nantes , and several other fundamental laws of france ; and that these new illegalities , and their miseries are contrived by the pop. bishops arbitrary power . gathered and digested by e. e. of grays-inn , sometime under-secretary to the french king. humbly dedicated to his majesty of great britain in parliament . london , printed by e. t. and r. h. for t. cockeril at the three legs over against the stocks-market ; and r. hartford at the angel in cornhil , near the royal exchange . 1681. to the king in parliament . great sir , it is for the amplyfying of your name and dignity , for the patronizing and securing of true religion at home and abroad , and in special gratitude to my masters in the faith , that i introduce these undone french supplicants to petition and appeal to your majesty and your grand council for your mediation or some other redress , which they with all possible submission and reiterated applications , nay with tears of blood , and with broken hearts and backs , have long sought in vain of that incroaching monarch that rules and tramples over them : as may appear by these following sheets . that which makes them conceive the greater trust and confidence , is certain titles of your majesties , and that particularly of defender of the faith , which they hope you will think to fulfil , according as occasion at home will suffer your prudence to turn your eyes to their exigencies and the present opportunities abroad . the solemn embassies that your majesties protestant predecessors sent thither , for to expostulate with the french kings concerning the illegal oppressions of the huguenots , contrary to the edict of nantes , ( whereof the kings of england were held the guaranties , ) were allowed and are found recorded in their own memoires and registers of state , without the least animadversion or disclaim , it being a privilege that the kings of this realm had used as their right to practise and insist upon ; and which we in our days ought by no means to lose by prescription . now if that king should go about to huff at any forraign princes concerning himself in this nature , with the state of his subjects ; besides the premised reasons , his mouth may be stopped with this argumentum ad hominem . that he himself took the same liberty in writing to the duke of savoy in favour of his oppressed protestant subjects of the valleys of piedmont , at that time when not only england , but sweadland , denmark , and most of the protestant princes of europe had done the same . but this patronizing spirit for the protestant interest , which was so conspicuously famous even in a woman , a princess of this nation , was not suffered to decay in the hearts of the english people it self during that unhappy absence of your majesty from your kingdom , for amidst their civil distractions , they forgot not the right our nation had to mediate and succour their french brethren of the reformed religion ; for , besides letters and messages they sent for their present solid relief twenty thousand two hundred thirty three pounds by sir samuel morland , as part of a general collection made for them throughout england , whereof remained in ready cash , sixteen thousand three hundred thirty three pound ten shillings to be improved for them ; and we know in whose hands this sum was deposited at your majesties happy restoration , but since it is so scattered , that few knows what is become of it , which is a thing that we humbly beg your majesty and parliament to give order to inquire into , who they were that laid sacrilegious hands on such an holy offering of the nations to the indigent members of christ in foraign churches . the french church in london have a procuration to receive it for the piedmontoes . in fine , both divine and humane reasons do clearly demonstrate , that whatever temporizing pseudo-polititians may insinuate , nothing would ( as it is presumed ) so much strengthen your majesty at home and abroad , as to give all possible proofs to your neighbours , that you roundly and vigorously intend to shew your self the head of the protestant religion , and that you will appear to be defender of the faith indeed . and certainly the opposite interest ( god be thanked ) does so visibly decay , according to his unsurmountable decree ; that the protestants are and shall be found to be the best friends and strongest supporters your majesty may have , did worldly prudence it self lead one to make a choice . now the matter of this book will afford sufficient matter for your royal compassion and protection , and though you see here but a rough draught of their miseries , and a few of the very many decrees ( which i have by me ) that were made against them , yet here is as much as may satisfy your majesty and the world , that they suffer not as evil doers ; as 't is plain by the edict of nantes here inserted , and their plea out of it , and other french laws . france was sadly distracted and disjoynted within it self for many ages upon this account of religion , when the popes emissaries would never suffer the poor huguenots to live as peaceable subjects among them , striving ( though in vain ) utterly to extirpate and root them out . but all their devices turned to their own shame , and all their other attempts for the s●tling the peace of that nation in any other way , still proved unsuccessful till this healing edict called of nantes was enacted by henry the fourth at that city , whereby the free exercise of religion in determined fixed places throughout the nation with sundry other priviledges , were allowed to those of the reformed religion . this wrought such a general unity and harmony and such a blessing from god upon that kingdom , that both popish bishops and presbyterian professors lived quietly together for about a whole century , till now of late , those proud prelates not induring any fellows in the ministry , and not content with the whole fleece , will have all the room to dilate their phylacteries , and so upon several superstitious pretences and jealousies they drew that king to grant those decrees against protestants , as oft as he would require money of their convocated clergy . thus they first of all break the bonds of charity and christian unity , and afterwards that of the civil concord of the nation , by incroaching upon the civil magistrates power of making and executing of penal laws , in their courts against their fellow christians ; wherein they are antichrists successors , not christs , nor his apostles : for his kingdom was not of this world. but may it not then be hoped and humbly offered that the ordaining of such another edict of nantes here in england , would in allowing some limited privileges to the non-conformists conforming in fundamentals , ( whose principles are not destructive to monarchy nor morality ) work the same good effects here as it did in that country , and prevent those further growing divisions and distractions in church and state. in sine , both we and the french protestants ought in all humble thankfulness to acknowledge the late bountiful relief of your majesties , for the conveying some of the most indigent banished french protestants into carolina , and giving them an azile there ; but be pleased to consider , that if some course be not taken to protect them , rather where they are , that it seems no greater pleasure can be done to the french king nor his bishops ; for by a too considerable transportation of them , the protestant interest in christendom will grow weaker , and the french and popish will become by so much the stronger , the ballance of europe shall not be maintained , which may be your majesties true interest and privilege to preserve ; and besides , religion will be made to flee to america , while state-policy calmly looks on , and inthrones itself in its place : therefore the premisses , and the finding out any other more fit expedient , is humbly laid at your majesties feet , and your grand councils censure and better deliberation and resolve , by your majesties meanest and dutifullest servant and subject , edmond everard . the edict ; or statute granted by henry the iv of france . to those of the reformed religion of that kingdom , for the free exercises of their consciences , in matters of their religion , &c. called the edict of nants , because enacted at that city , with the king's declaration upon the precedent edicts of pacification . henry , by the grace of god , king of france , and navarr , to all present , and to come , greeteth . among the infinite mercies that god hath pleased to bestow upon us , that most signal and remarkable is , his having given us power and strength not to yield to the dreadful troubles , confusions , and disorders , which were found at our coming to this kingdom , divided into so many parties and factions , that the most legitimate was almost the least , enabling us with constancy in such manner to oppose the storm , as in the end to surmount it , reducing this estate to peace and rest ; for which , to him alone be given the honour and glory , and us the grace to acknowledge our obligation , in having our labours made use of for the accomplishing so good a work , in which it hath been visible to all , that we have not only done what was our duty , and in our power , but something more than at another time , would ( peradventure ) have been agreeable to the dignity we now hold ; as in not having more care , than to have many times so freely exposed our own life . and in this great concurrence of weighty and perillous affairs , not being able to compose all at one and the same time , we have chosen in this order ; first to undertake those who were not to be suppressed but by force , and rather to remit and suspend others for some time , who might be dealt with by reason , and justice : for the general difference among our good subjects , and the particular evils of the soundest parts of the state , we judged might be easily cured , after the principal cause ( the continuation of the civil wars ) was taken away , in which we have , by the blessing of god , well and happily succeeded , all hostility and wars through the kingdom being now ceased , and we hope he will also prosper us in our other affairs , which remain to be composed , and that by this means we shall arrive at the establishment of a good peace , with tranquility and rest , ( which hath ever been the end of all our vows and intentions ) as all the reward we desire or expect for so much pains and trouble , as we have taken in the whole course of our life . amongst our said affairs ( towards which it behooves us to have patience ) one of the principal hath been , the many complaints we received from divers of our provinces and catholick cities , for that the exercise of the catholick religion was not universally re-established , as is provided by edicts or statutes heretofore made for the pacification of the troubles arising from religion ; as also the supplications and remonstrances which have been made to us by our subjects of the reformed religion , as well upon the execution of what hath been granted by the said former laws , as that they desire to have some addition for the exercise of their religion , the liberty of their consciences and the security of their persons and fortunes ; presuming to have just reasons for desiring some inlargement of articles , as not being without great apprehensions , because their ruine hath been the principal pretext and original foundation of the late wars , troubles , and commotions . now not to burden us with too much business at once , as also that the fury of war was not compatible with the establishment of laws , how good soever they might be , we have hitherto deferred from time to time giving remedy herein . but now that it hath pleased god to give us a beginning of enjoying some rest , we think we cannot imploy our self better , than to apply to that which may tend to the glory and service of his holy name , and to provide that he may be adored and prayed unto by all our subjects : and if it hath not yet pleased him to permit it to be in one and the same form of religion , that it may at the least be with one and the same intention , and with such rules that may prevent amongst them all troubles and tumults : and that we and this kingdom may alwayes conserve the glorious title of most christian , which hath been by so much merit so long since acquired , and by the same means take away the cause of mischief and trouble , which may happen from the actions of religion , which of all others are most prevalent and penetrating . for this cause , acknowledging this affair to be of the greatest importance , and worthy of the best consideration , after having considered the papers of complaints of our catholick subjects , and having also permitted to our subjects of the reformed religion to assemble themselves by deputies , for framing their complaints , and making a collection of all their remonstrances ; and having thereupon conferred divers times with them , viewing the precedent laws , we have upon the whole judged it necessary to give to all our said subjects one general law , clear , pure , and absolute , by which they shall be regulated in all differences which have heretofore risen among them , or may hereafter rise , wherewith the one and other may be contented , being framed according as the time requires : and having had no other regard in this deliberation than solely the zeal we have to the service of god , praying that he would henceforward render to all our subjects a durable and established peace . upon which we implore and expect from his divine bounty the same protection and favour , as he hath alwayes visibly bestowed upon this kingdom from our birth , during the many years we have attained unto , and give our said subjects the grace to understand , that in observation of this our ordinance consisteth ( after that which is their duty toward god and us ) the principal foundation of their union , concord , tranquility , rest , and the re-establishment of all this estate in its first splendor , opulency and strength . as on our part we promise to cause all to be exactly observed , without suffering any contradiction . and for these causes , having with the advice of the princes of our blood , other princes and officers of our crown , and other great and eminent persons of our council of state , being near us , well and diligently weighed and considered all this affair ; we have by this edict or statute perpetuall and irrevocable said , declared , and ordained , saying , declaring , and ordaining ; 1. that the memory of all things passed on the one part and the other , since the beginning of the month of march , 1585. untill our coming to the crown , and also during the other precedent troubles , and the occasion of the same , shall remain extinguished and suppressed , as things that had never been . and it shall not be lawfull or permitted to our attorneys general , nor other person or persons whatsoever , publick or private , in any time , or for any occasion whatsoever it may be , to make mention thereof , process or prosecution in any courts or jurisdiction whatsoever . 2. we prohibit to all our subjects of what state and condition soever they be , to renew the memory thereof , to attaque , resent , injure , or provoke one the other by reproaches for what is past , under any pretext or cause whatsoever , by disputing , contesting , quarrelling , reviling , or offending by factious words ; but to contain themselves , and live peaceably together as brethren , friends , and fellow-citizens , upon penalty for acting to the contrary , to be punished for breakers of peace , and disturbers of the publick quiet . 3. we ordain , that the catholick religion shall be restored and re-established in all places , and quarters of this kingdom and countrey under our obedience , and where the exercise of the same hath been intermitted , to be there again , peaceably and freely exercised without any trouble or impediment . most expresly prohibiting all persons of what state , quality or condition soever , upon the penalties before-mentioned not to trouble , molest , or disquiet the ecclesiasticks in the celebration of divine service , injoyning of receiving of tythes , the fruits and revenues of their benefices , and all other rights and duties belonging to them : and we command , that all those who during the troubles , have invaded churches , houses , goods , and revenues belonging to the ecclesiasticks , and those who detain and possess them , to deliver over to them the intire possession thereof with a peaceable enjoyment , and with such rights , liberties , and security as they had before they were deseized . most expresly forbidding to those of the reformed religion , to preach or exercise their said religion in the churches , houses , and habitations of the said ecclesiasticks . 4. it shall be the choice of the said ecclesiasticks to buy the houses and structures built upon their ground in profane places , and made use of against their wills during the troubles , or compell the possessors of the said buildings to buy the ground according to the estimation that shall be made by skilfull persons , agreed upon by both parties : and to come the better to an agreement , the judges of the place shall provide such for them , except the said possessors will try the title to whom the places in question belong . and where the said ecclesiasticks shall compell the possessors to buy the ground , the purchase-money if of estimation , shall not be put in their hands , but shall remain charged in the possessors hands , to make profit thereof at five per cent. untill it shall be imployed to the profit of the church , which shall be done within a year . and after that time , if the purchaser will not continue any longer at the said interest , he shall be discharged thereof by consigning the money to a responsible person , with the authority of the justice . and for such places as are sacred , advice shall be given therein by the commissioners who shall be ordained for the execution of the present edict , for which we shall provide . 5. nevertheless the ground and foundation of places used for the reparation and fortification of cities and places in our kingdom , and the materials imployed therein , may not be sold nor taken away by the ecclesiasticks , or other persons publick or private , untill the said reparations and fortifications shall by our order be demolished . 6. and not to leave any occasion of trouble and difference among our subjects , we have permitted and do permit to those of the reformed riligion , to live and dwell in all the cities and places of this our kingdom and countreys under our obedience , without being inquired after , vexed , molested , or compelled to do any thing in religion , contrary to their conscience , nor by reason of the same be searched after in houses or places where they live , they comporting themselves in other things as is contained in this our present edict or statute . 7. we also permit to all lords , gentlemen and other persons , as well inhabitants as others , making profession of the reformed religion , having in our kingdom and countreys under our obedience , high justice as chief lord ( as in normandy ) be it in propriety or usage , in whole , moiety , or third part , to have in such of their houses of the said high justice or fiefs , as abovesaid ( which they shall be obliged to nominate for their principall residence to our bayliffs and chief justice each in their jurisdiction ) the exercise of the said religion as long as they are resident there , and in their absence , their wives or families , or part of the same . and though the right of justice or whole fief be controverted ; nevertheless the exercise of the said religion shall be allowed there , provided that the abovesaid be in actual possession of the said high justice , though our attorney generall be a party . we permitting them also to have the said exercise in their other houses of high justice or fiefs abovesaid , so long as they shall be present , and not otherwise : and all , as well for them , their families and subjects , as others that shall go thither . 8. in the houses that are fiefs , where those of the said religion have not high justice , there the said exercise of the reformed religion shall not be permitted , save only to their own families , yet nevertheless , if other persons , to the number of thirty , besides their families , shall be there upon the occasion of christenings , visits of their friends , or otherwise , our meaning is , that in such case they shall not be molested : provided also , that the said houses be not within cities , burroughs , or villages belonging to any catholick lord ( save to us ) having high justice , in which the said catholick lords have their houses . for in such cases , those of the said religion shall not hold the said exercise in the said cities , burroughs , or villages , except by permission of the said lords high justices . 9. we permit also to those of the said religion to hold , and continue the exercise of the same in all the cities and places under our obedience , where it hath by them been established and made publick by many and divers times , in the year 1586 , and in 1597 , until the end of the month of august , notwithstanding all decrees and judgements whatsoever to the contrary . 10. in like manner the said exercise may be established , and re-established in all the cities and places where it hath been established , or ought to be by the statute of pacification , made in the year 1577 , the particular articles and conferences of nerat and fleux , without hindering the establishment in places of domain , granted by the said statutes , articles , and conferences for the place of bailiwicks , or which shall be hereafter , though they have been alienated to catholicks , or shall be in the future . not understanding nevertheless that the said exercise may be re-established in the places of the said domain , which have been heretofore possessed by those of the said reformed religion , which hath been in consideration of their persons , or because of the privilege of fiefs , if the said fiefs are found at present possessed by persons of the said catholick religion . 11. furthermore , in each ancient bailiwick , jurisdiction and government , holding place of a bailiwick with an immediate appeal ( without mediation ) to the parliament , we ordain , that in the suburbs of a city , besides that which hath been agreed to them by the said statute , particular articles and conferences ; and where it is not a city , in a burrough or village , the exercise of the said reformed religion may be publickly held for all such as will come , though the said bailiwicks , chief jurisdictions and governments have many places where the said exercise is established , except , and be excepted the bailiwick , new created by the present edict or law , the cities in which are arch-bishops and bishops , where nevertheless those of the said reformed religion are not for that reason deprived of having power to demand and nominate for the said exercise certain borroughs and villages near the said cities : except also the signories belonging to the ecclesiasticks , in which we do not understand , that the second place of bailiwicks may be established , those being excepted and reserved . we understanding under the name of ancient bailiwicks , such as were in the time of the deceased king henry , our most honoured lord and father in law , held for bailiwicks , chief justice-ships and governments , appealing without intercession to our said courts . 12. we don't understand by this present statute , to derogate from the laws and agreements heretofore made for the reduction of any prince , lord , gentleman , or catholick city under our obedience , in that which concerns the exercise of the said religion , the which laws and records shall be kept and observed upon that account , according as shall be contained in the instructions given the commissioners for the execution of the present edict or law. 13. we prohibit most expresly to all those of the said religion , to hold any exercise of the same as well by ministers preaching , discipling of pupils , or publick instruction of children , as otherways , in this our kingdom or countries under our obedience , in that which concerns religion , except in the places permitted and granted by the present edict or law. 14. as also not to exercise the said religion in our court , nor in our territories and countries beyond the mountains , nor in our city of paris , nor within five leagues of the said city : nevertheless those of the said religion dwelling in the said lands and countries beyond the mountains , and in our said city , and within five leagues about the same , shall not be searched after in their houses , nor constrained to do any thing in religion against their consciences , comporting themselves in all other things according as is contained in our present edict or law. 15. nor also shall hold publick exercise of the said religion in the armies , except in the quarters of the principal commanders , who make profession of the same , except nevertheless where the quarters of our person shall be . 16. following the second article of the conference of nerat , we grant to those of the said religion power to build places for the exercise of the same , in cities and places where it is granted them , and that those shall be rendered to them which they have heretofore built , or the foundations of the same in the condition as they are at present , even in places where the said exercise was not permitted to them , except they are converted into another nature of building : in which case there shall be given to them by the possessors of the said buildings , other houses and places of the same value that they were before they were built , or the just estimation of the same , according to the judgment of experienced persons , saving to the said proprietors and possessors , their tryal at law to whom they shall belong . 17. we prohibit all preachers , readers , and others who speak in publick , to use any words , discourse , or propositions tending to excite the people to sedition ; and we injoin them to contain and comport themselves modestly , and to say nothing which shall not be for the instruction and edification of the auditors , and maintaining the peace and tranquillity established by us in our said kingdom , upon the penalties mentioned in the precedent statutes . expresly injoyning our attourney generals , and their substitutes , to inform against them that are contrary hereunto , upon the penalty of answering therefore , and the loss of their office. 18. forbidding also to our subjects , of what quality and condition soever they be , to take away by force or inducement , against the will of their parents , the children of the said religion , to baptize or confirm them in the catholick church ; as also we forbid the same to those of the said reformed religion upon pain of being exemplarily punished . 19. those of the reformed religion shall not be at all constrained , nor remain obliged by reason of abjurations , promises , and oaths , which they have heretofore made , or by caution given concerning the practice of the said religion , nor shall therefore be molested or prosecuted in any sort whatsoever . 20. they shall also be obliged to keep and observe the festivals of the catholick church , and shall not on the same dayes work , sell , or keep open shop , nor likewise the artisans shall not work out of their shops , in their chambers or houses privately on the said festivals , and other dayes forbidden , of any trade , the noise whereof may be heard without by those that pass by , or by the neighbours : the searching after which shall notwithstanding be made by none but by the officers of justice . 21. books concerning the said reformed religion shall not be printed or sold publickly , save in the cities and places where the publick exercise of the said religion is permitted . and for other books which shall be printed in other cities , they shall be viewed and visited by our theological officers , as is directed by our ordinances . forbidding most expresly the printing , publishing , and selling of all books , libells , and writings defamatory , upon the penalties contained in our ordinances , injoyning all our judges and officers to seize the same . 22. we ordain , that there shall not be made any difference or distinction upon the account of the said religion , in receiving scholars to be instructed in the universities , colledges , or schools , nor of the sick or poor into hospitals , sick houses or publick almshouses . 23. those of the reformed religion shall be obliged to observe the laws of the catholick church , received in this our kingdom , as to marriages and contracts , and to contract in the degrees of consanguinity and affinity . 24. in like manner those of the said religion shall pay the rights of entry , as is accustomed for offices unto which they shall be chosen , without being constrained to observe or assist in any ceremonies contrary to their said religion : and being called to take an oath , shall not be obliged to do it otherwise than by holding up the hand , swearing and promising in the name of god , to say all the truth : nor shall they be dispensed with for the oath by taken in passing contracts and obligations . 25. we will and ordain , that all those of the reformed religion , and others who have followed their party , of what state , quality or condition soever they be , shall be obliged and constrained by all due and reasonable wayes , and under the penalties contained in the said edict or statute relating thereunto , to pay tythes to the curates , and other ecclesiasticks , and to all others to whom they shall appertain , according to the usage and custom of the places . 26. disinheritations of privations , be it in disposition in life-time or testimentary , made from hatred only , or for religion sake , shall have no place neither for the time passed or to come among our subjects . 27. to the end to re-unite so much the better the minds and good will of our subjects , as is our intention , and to take away all complaints for the future ; we declare all those who make or shall make profession of the said reformed religion , to be capable of holding and exercising all estates , dignities , offices , and publick charges whatsoever , royal , signioral , or of cities of our kingdom , countreys , lands and lordships under our obedience , notwithstanding all oaths to the contrary , and to be indifferently admitted and received into the same , and our court of parliament and other judges shall content themselves with informing and inquiring after the lives , manners , religion and honest conversation of those that were or shall be preferred to such offices , as well of the one religion as the other , without taking other oath of them than for the good and faithful service of the king in the exercise of their office , and to keep the ordinances , as they have been observed in all times . also vacancies hapning of such of the said estates , charges , and offices as shall be in our disposition , they shall be provided by us indifferently , and without distinction of persons , as that which tends to the union of our subjects . understanding likewise that those of the reformed religion may be admitted and received into all councells , deliberations , assemblies , and functions depending upon the abovesaid things , without being rejected or hindred the injoyment thereof by reason of the said religion . 28. we ordain for the interrment of the dead of the said religion throughout the cities and places of this kingdom , that there shall in each place be provided for them by our officers and magistrates , and by the commissioners that we shall depute for the execution of our present edict or statute , a place the most commodious that can be : and the burying places which they have had heretofore , and whereof they have by the troubles been deprived , shall be restored unto them , except they be found to be converted into buildings of what quality or kind soever it be , in which case a compensation shall be made another way . 29. we enjoyn most expresly our officers to look to it , that no scandal be given in the said interrments , and they shall be obliged within fifteen dayes after request made , to provide those of the said religion with convenient places for sepulchres , without delay , upon penalty of five hundred crowns in their own proper and private names . and it is also forbidden , as well to the said officers as to all others , to exact any thing for the conduct of the said dead bodies upon penalty of extortion . 30. to the end that justice be given and administred to our subjects , without any suspition , hatred or favour , as being one of the principal means for the maintaining peace and concord , we have ordained and do ordain , that in our court of parliament of paris shall be established a chamber , composed of a president and sixteen counsellors of the said parliament , which shall be called and entituled the chamber of edict , and shall take cognisance not only of the causes and process of the said reformed religion which shall be within the jurisdiction of the said court ; but also of the appeals of our parliaments of normandy and bretagne , according to the jurisdiction which shall be hereafter given to it by this present edict or statute and that until in each of the said parliaments , there shall be established a chamber for rendring justice upon the place . we ordain also , that of four offices of councellors in our said parliament , remaining of the last erection which hath by us been made , there shall be presently provided and received in the said parliament , four of the said reformed religion sufficient and capable , which shall be distributed ; ( to wit ) the first into the chamber of edicts , and the other three in like manner shall be received in the three chambers of inquests ; and besides , the two first offices of councellors of the said courts , which shall come to be vacant by death , shall be supplied by two of the reformed religion , and the same distributed also in the two other chambers of inquests . 31. besides the chamber heretofore established at castres , for appeals from our parliament of tholouse , which shall be continued in the estate it is , we have for the same reasons ordained , and we do ordain , that in each of our parliaments of grenoble and bourdeaux , there shall be in like manner established a chamber , composed of two presidents , one a catholick , and the other of the reformed religion , and twelve councellors , whereof six shall be catholicks , and the other six of the said religion ; which catholick president and councellors shall be by us chosen and taken out of the body of our said courts . and as to those of the religion , there shall be made a new creation of one president and six councellors for the parliament of bourdeaux , and one president and three councellors for that of grenoble , which with the three councellors of the said religion which are at present in the said parliament , shall be imployed in the said chamber of dauphin . and the said officers shall be created by a new creation , with the same salleries , honours , authorities , and preheminences , as the others of the said courts . and the said seat of the said chamber of bourdeaux shall be in the said city of bourdeaux , or at nerat , and that of dauphine at grenoble . 32. the chamber of dauphine shall take cognizance of the causes of those of the reformed religion within the jurisdiction of our parliament of province , without having need of letters of evocation , or appeal , or other provisions , than in our chancery of dauphine . as also those of the said religion of normandy and brittan shall not be obliged to take letters of evocation or appeal , nor other provision than in our chancery of paris . 33. our subjects of the reformed religion of the parliament of burgundy , shall have the choice to plead in the chamber ordained in the parliament of paris , or in those of dauphine , and shall not be obliged to take letters of evocation or appeal nor other provisions than in the said chanceries of paris or dauphine , according as they shall make choice . 34. all the said several chambers composed as is said , shall have cognisance , and by decree shall judge in soveraignty and last appeal , exclusive to all others , the process and differences that are already , or shall arise , in which those of the reformed religion are or shall be parties , principalls or guarrantees , in demanding or defending in all matters as well civil as criminal , if demanded before contestation in the cause , and commencing of the suit : whether the process be by writing or verbal appellation ; excepting nevertheless all customs belonging to benefices and the possessors of tenths , not infeoffed , the ecclesiastical patrons and their suits for their rights and duties , and the demains of the church ; all which shall be tryed and judged in the courts of parliament exclusive to the said chambers of edict . as also we will and require that as to judging and deciding the criminal process which may happen betwixt the said ecclesiasticks and those of the reformed religion , that if the ecclesiasticks are defendant in such case , recognizance and judgment of criminal process shall belong to our soveraign courts distinct as to the said chamber ; and where the ecclesiasticks shall be plaintiff , and one of the reformed religion defendant , the cognizance and judgment of criminal process shall belong in last appeal to the said chambers established . and we acknowledge also the said chambers in time of vacations for matters attributed by the edicts and ordinances to belong to the said chambers established for times of vacation , each within his jurisdiction . 35. the chamber of grenoble shall be from henceforward united and incorporated into the body of the said court of parliament , and the president and councellors of the reformed religion shall be called president and councellors of the said court , and hold the rank and number of the same , and to this end shall be first distributed through the other chambers , and then drawn from them to be imployed and serve in that which we now ordain of new , with condition nevertheless , that they shall assist and have voice and session in all the deliberations which the chamber assembled shall have , and shall enjoy the same sallary , authority and preheminence which the other presidents and councellors of the said courts do enjoy . 36. we will and ordain , that the said chamber of castres and bourdeaux be united and incorporated in the same parliaments , in the same manner and form as others : and when need shall require , and that the causes which have moved us to make this establishment shall cease , and shall not have any more place among our subjects ; then shall the presidents and councellors of the same , of the said reformed religion , be held for presidents and councellors of the said courts . 37. there shall also be a new creation or erection in the chamber ordained in the parliament of bourdeaux , of two substitutes for our procurators , or attorneys and advocates generall , whereof one shall be catholick , and the other of the reformed religion , which shall have the said offices with competent sallaries . 38. these substitutes shall not assume other qualities than that of substitutes ; and when the chambers or courts ordained for the parliaments of tholouse and bourdeaux , shall be united and incorporated to the said parliaments , the said substitutes shall have the office of councellors in the same . 39. the dispatches of the chancery of bourdeaux shall be perused in the presence of two councellors of the same chamber , whereof one shall be a catholick , and the other of the reformed religion . in the absence of one of the masters of request of our pallace , one of the notaries and secretaries of the said court of parliament of bourdeaux , shall be resident in the place where the said chamber shall be established , or else one of the ordinary secretaries of the chancery to sign the dispatches of the said chancery . 40. we will and ordain , that in the said chamber of bourdeaux , there shall be two commissioners of the register of the said parliament , the one civil and the other criminal , who shall exercise their offices by our commissions , and shall be called commissioners to the register civil and criminal ; but nevertheless shall not be revoked by the registers of the parliament , yet shall be accountable for the profits of the offices to the said registers , which commissioners shall be sallaried by the said registers as the said chamber shall think fit to appoint , there shall be ordained some catholick messengers , who shall be taken in the said court or elsewhere , according to our pleasure ; besides which , there shall also be two de novo freely chosen of the reformed religion : and all the said messengers , or door-keepers shall be regulated by the said chamber or court , as well in the exercise of their offices as in the profits or fees which they shall take . there shall also be a commission dispatched for payment of sallaries and receiving of americaments of the said court , which shall be such as we shall please to appoint . if the said chamber shall be established in other place than the said city , the commission heretofore agreed for paying the sallaries of the chamber of castres , shall go out in its full and intire effect , and there shall be joyned to the said office , the commission for the receipt of the amerciaments of the said court. 41. there shall be provided good and sufficient assignations for the sallaries of the officers of the chambers ordained by this edict . 42. the presidents , councellors , and other catholick officers of the said chambers or courts , shall be continued so long as we shall see it to be for our service , and the good of our subjects : and in the dismissing any of them others shall be admitted in their places , before their departure , they having no power during their service to depart , or be absent from the said chambers , without the leave of the same , which shall be judged of according to the ordinance . 43. the said chambers or courts mypartis shall be established within six months , during which ( if the establishment shall be so long in doing ) the process commenced , and to be commenced , where those of the religion shall be parties within the jurisdiction of our parliaments of paris , rouen , dyon and rennes , shall be presently removed to the chamber or court established at paris , by vertue of the edict of 1577. or else to the great councell at the election of those of the said religion if they require it : and those which shall be of the parliament of bourdeaux , to the chamber or court established at castres , or to the said grand councell at their election , and those which shall be of provence to the parliament of grenoble . and if the said chambers , or courts , are not established within three months after the presentation of our edict that parliament which shall make refusal thereof , shall be prohibited the cognizance and judgement of the causes of those of the religion . 44. the process not yet judged , depending in the said courts of parliaments and great counsel of the quality abovesaid , shall be sent back in what estate soever they be , to the said chambers or courts , each within his jurisdiction , if one of the parties of the religion require it within four months after the establishment of the same ; and as to those which shall be discontinued , and are not in condition of being judged , those of the said religion shall be obliged to make declaration upon the first intimation and signification to them of the prosecution , and the time past shall not be understood to require the dismission . 45. the said chambers ( or courts ) of grenoble and bourdeaux , as also that of castres , shall keep the forms and stile of parliament , where the jurisdiction of the same shall be established , and shall judge by equal numbers of the one and the other religion , if the parties consent not to the contrary . 46. all the judges to whom the address shall be made for execution of decrees , commissions of the said chambers , and patents obtained in chancery for the same , together with all the messengers and serjeants , shall be obliged to put them in execution , and the said messengers and serjeants shall do all acts throughout our kingdom , without demanding a placet , or peremptory warrant , upon penalty of suspension of their estates , and of the expenses , damages and interests of the parties , the cognizance whereof shall belong to the said chambers . 47. no removal of causes shall be allowed to any whereof the cognizance is attributed to the said chambers , except in cases of ordinance , the removal by which shall be made to the next chamber established according to our edict . and the dividing of the process of the same chambers shall be judged by the nearest , observing the proportion and forms of the said chambers , where the process shall be proceeded upon ; except the chamber of edict in our parliament of paris , where the process divided shall be distributed in the same chamber by the judges , which shall be by us named by our particular letters patents for that effect , if the parties had not rather wait the removing of the said chamber . and happening that one and the same process be divided in all the chambers , myparty , or half on religion , half th' other , the division shall be sent to the chamber of paris . 48. the refusal that shall be proposed against the presidents and councellors of the chambers , half one religion and half the other , called the court of edict , may be judged by the number of six , to which number the parties shall be obliged to restrain themselves , otherwise they shall be passed over without having regard to the said refusal . 49. the examinations of the presidents and councellors newly erected in the chambers of edict , mypartis , shall be made in our privy council , or by the said chambers each in his precinct , when they shall be a sufficient number ; and nevertheless the oath accustomed shall be by them taken in the courts where the said chambers shall be established , and upon refusal , in our privy-council : except those of the chamber of languedoc , in which they shall take oath before our chancellor , or in the same chamber . 50. we will and ordain , that the reception of our officers of the said religion , judged in the said chambers half papist and half of the reformed religion by pluralities of voices , as is accustomed in other courts , without being needfull that the opinions surpass two thirds , following the ordinance which for the same cause is abrogated . 51. there shall be made in the said chambers mypartis , the propositions , deliberations , and resolutions which shall appertain to the publick peace , and for the particular state and policy of the cities where the same chambers shall be . 52. the article for the jurisdiction of the said chambers ordained by the present edict , shall be followed and observed according to its form and tenure , even in that which concerns the execution or breach of our edict , when those of the religion shall be parties . 53. the kings subordinate officers , or others whereof the reception belongeth to our courts of parliament , if they be of the reformed religion , they may be examined and received in the said chambers , viz. those under the jurisdiction of the parliaments of paris , normandy and bretagne , in the said chambers of paris ; those of dauphine and provence , in the chamber of grenoble ; those of burgundy in the said chamber of paris , or dauphine , at their choice ; those under the jurisdiction of tholouse , in the chamber of castres ; and those of the parliament of bourdeaux , in the chamber of guyenne ; without that others may oppose themselves against their reception ; and render themselves parties , as our procurators general and their substitutes , and those enjoying the said offices : yet nevertheless the accustomed oath shall be by them taken in the courts of parliaments , who shall not take any cognizance of the said receptions ; and in refusal of the said parliaments , the said officers shall take the oath in the said chambers ; after which so taken , they shall be obliged to present by a messenger or notary , the act of their reception , to the register of the said courts of parliaments , and to leave a coppy thereof examined by the said register , who is enjoyned to register the said acts , upon penalty of all the expence , dammage and interest of the parties ; and the registers refusing to do it , shall suffer the said officers to report the act of the said summons , dispatched by the said messengers or notaries , and cause the same to be registred in the register-office of their said jurisdiction , for to have recourse thereunto when need shall be , upon penalty of nullity of their proceedings and judgments . and as to the officers , whereof the reception hath not been accustomed to be made in our said parliaments , in case those to whom it belongs shall refuse to proceed to the said examination and reception , then the said officers shall repair to the said chambers for to be there provided as it shall appertain . 54. the officers of the said reformed religion , who shall hereafter be appointed to serve in the body of our said courts of parliaments , grand counsell , chambers of accompts , courts of aids , officers of the general treasuries of france , and other officers of the exchequer , shall be examined and received in places where they have been accustomed , and in case of refusal or denying of justice , they shall be appointed by our privy councel . 55. the reception of our officers made in the chamber heretofore established at castres , shall remain valid notwithstanding all decrees and ordinances to the contrary . and shall be also valid , the reception of judges , councellors , assistants , and other officers of the said religion made in our privy-councill , or by commissioners by us ordained in case of the refusal of our courts of parliaments , courts of aids , and chambers of accompts , even as if they were done in the said courts and chambers , and by the other judges to whom the reception belongeth . and their sallaries shall be allowed them by the chambers of accompt without difficulty ; and if any have been put out , they shall be established without need of any other command than the present edict , and without that the said officer shall be obliged to shew any other reception , notwithstanding all decrees given to the contrary which shall remain null and of none effect . 56. in the mean time untill the charges of the justice of the said chambers can be defrayed by amerciaments , there shall be provided by us by valuable assignations sufficient for maintaining the said charges , without expecting to do it by the goods of the condemned . 57. the presidents and councellors of the reformed religion heretofore received in our court of parliament of dauphine , and in the chamber of edict incorporated in the same , shall continue and have their session and orders for the same ; that is to say , presidents , as they have injoyed , and do injoy at present , and the councellors according to the decrees and provisions that they have heretofore obteined in our privy councel . 58. we declare all sentences , judgments , procedures , seisures , sales , and decrees made and given against those of the reformed religion , as well living as dead , from the death of the deceased king henry the second our most honoured lord and father in law , upon the occasion of the said religion , tumults and troubles since hapning , as also the execution of the same judgments and decrees , from henceforward cancelled , revoked , and anulled . and we ordain , that they shall be eased and taken out of the registers office of the courts , as well soveraign as inferiour : and we will and require also to be taken away and defaced all marks , foot-steps , and monuments of the said executions , books , and acts defamatory against their persons , memory and posterity , and that the places which have been for that occasion demolished or rased , be rendred in such condition as now they are to the proprietors of the same , to enjoy and dispose at their pleasure . and generally we cancell , revoke and null all proceedings and informations made for any enterprize whatsoever , pretended crimes of high treason , and others : notwithstanding the procedures , decrees and judgments containing re-union , incorporation , and confiscation ; and we farther will and command , that those of the reformed religion , and others that have followed their party , and their heirs re-enter really and actually into the possession of all and each of their goods . 59. all proceedings , judgments and decrees given , during the troubles against those of the religion who have born arms , or are retired out of our kingdom , or within the same into cities and countries by them held , or for any other cause as well as for religion and the troubles ; together with all non-suiting of causes , prescriptions , as well legal , conditional , as customary , seizing of fiefs fallen during the troubles , by hindring legitimate proceedings , shall be esteemed as not done or happening ; and such we have declared and do declare , and the same we have and do annihilate and make void , without admitting any satisfaction therefore : but they shall be restored to their former condition , notwithstanding the decrees and execution of the same ; and the possession thereof shall be rendred to them , out of which they were upon this account disseised . and this , as above , shall have like place , upon the account of those that have followed the party of those of the religion , or who have been absent from our kingdom upon the occasion of the troubles . and for the young children of persons of quality abovesaid , who died during the troubles , we restore the parties into the same condition as they were formerly , without refunding the expence , or being obliged for the amerciaments not understanding nevertheless that the judgements given by the chief judges , or other inferiour judges against those of the religion , or who have followed their party , shall remain null , if they have been given by judges sitting in cities by them held , which was to them of free access . 60. the decrees given in our court of parliament , in matters whereof the cognizance belongs to the chambers or courts ordained by the edict in the year 1577 and articles of nerac and flex into which courts the parties have not proceeded voluntarily , but have been forced to alledge and propose declinatory ends , and which decrees have been given by default or foreclusion , as well in civil as criminal matters , notwithstanding which allegations the said parties have been constrained to go on , shall be in like manner null and of no value . and as to the decrees given against those of the religion , who have proceeded voluntarily , and without having proposed ends declinatory , those decrees shall remain without prejudice for the execution of the same . yet nevertheless permitting them , if it seem good to them , to bring by petition their cause before the chamber ordained by the present edict , without that the elapsing the time appointed by the ordinances shall be to their prejudice : and untill the said chambers and chanceries , for the same shall be established . verbal appellations , or in writing interposed by those of the religion before judges , registers , or commissioners , executors of decrees and judgements , shall have like effect as if they were by command from the king. 61. in all inquiries which shall be made for what cause soever in matters civil , if the inquisitor or commissioner be a catholick , the parties shall be obliged to convene an assistant , and where they will not do it , there shall be taken from the office by the said inquisitor or commissioner one who shall be of the religion , and the same shall be practised when the commissioner or inquisitor shall be of the said religion for an assistant who shall be a catholick . 62. we will and ordain , that our judges may take cognizance of the validity of testaments , in which those of the religion may have an interest if they require it ; and the appellations from the said judgements , may be brought to the said chambers ordained for the process of those of the religion ; notwithstanding all customs to the contrary , even those of bretagne . 63. to obviate all differences which may arise betwixt our courts of parliaments , and the chambers of the same courts , ordained by our present edict , there shall be made by us a good and ample reglement , betwixt the said courts and chambers , and such as those of the religion shall enjoy entirely from the said edict , the which reglement shall be verified in our courts of parliaments , and kept and observed without having regard to precedents . 64. we inhibit and forbid all our courts , soveraign and others of this realm , the taking cognizance , and judging the civil , or criminal process of those of the religion ; the cognizance of which is attributed by our edict to the chambers of edict ; provided that the appeal thereunto be demanded as is said in the fortieth article going before . 65. we also will and command , for the present , and untill we have otherwise therein ordained , that in all process commenced , or to be commenced , where those of the religion are plaintiff or defendants , parties , principals or guarrantees in matters civil , in which our officers and chief courts of justice have pow●●… to judge without appeal , that it shall be permitted to them to except against two of the chamber , where the process ought to be judged , who shall forbear judgement of the same ; and without having the cause expressed , shall be obliged to withdraw , notwithstanding the ordinance by which the judges ought not to be excepted against without cause shown , and shall have farther right to except against others upon shewing cause . and in matters criminal , in which also the said courts of justice and others of the kings subordinate judges do judge without appeal , those of the religion may except against three of the said judges without showing cause . and the provosts of the mareschalsie of france , vice-bayliffs , vice-presidents , lievetenants of the short robe , and other officers of the like quality shall judge according to the ordinances and reglements heretofore given upon the account of vagabonds . and as to the houshold charged and accused by the provosts , if they are of the said religion , they may require that three of the said judges , who might have cognizance thereof , do abstain from the judgement of their process , and they shall be obliged to abstain therefrom without having cause shewn except where the process is to be judged , there shall be found to the number of two in civil , and three in criminal causes of the religion , in which case it shall not be lawfull to except without cause shewn : and this shall be reciprocall in the like cases , as above , to the catholicks upon the account of appeals from the judges , where those of the religion are the greater number , not understanding nevertheless that the chief justice , provosts of the marshalsies , vice-bayliffs , vice-stewards , and others who judge without appeal , take by virtue of this that is said , cognizance of the past troubles . and as to crimes and excess happening by other occasions than the troubles since the beginning of march , 1585. untill the end of 1597. in case they take cognizance thereof , we will that an appeal be suffered from their judgement to the chamber ordained by the present edict , as shall be practised in like manner for the catholick and confederates , where those of the religion are parties . 66. we will and ordain also , that henceforward in all instructions other than informations of criminal process in the chief justices court of tholouse , carcassonne , roverque , loragais , beziers , montpellier and nimes , the magistrate or commissary deputed for the said instructions if he is a catholick shall be obliged to take an associate who is of the religion , whereof the parties shall agree ; or where they cannot agree , one of the office of the said religion shall be taken by the abovesaid magistrate or commissioner : as in like manner , if the said magistrate or commissioner is of the religion , he shall be obliged in the same manner , as abovesaid , to take and associate a catholick . 67. when it shall be a question of making a criminal process by the provosts of the marshalsies or their leivetenants , against some of the religion , a house-keeper who is charged and accused of a crime belonging to the provost , or subject to the jurisdiction of a provost , the said provost or their leivetenants , if they are catholicks , shall be obliged to call to the instruction of the said process an associate of the religion : which associate shall also assist at the judgement of the difference , and in the definitive judgement of the said process : which difference shall not be judged otherwise than by the next presidial court assembled with the principal officers of the said court which shall be found upon the place , upon penalty of nullity , except the accused shall require to have the difference judged in the chambers ordained by the present edict : in which case upon the account of the house-keepers in the provinces of guyenne , languedoc , province , and dauphine , the substitutes of our procurators general in the said chambers , shall at the request of the said house-keepers , cause to be brought into the same the charges and informations made against them , to know and judge if the causes are tryable before the provost or not , that according to the quality of the crimes they may by the chamber be sent back to the ordinary , or judged tryable by the provost , as shall be found reasonable by the contents of our present edict ; and the presidial judges , provosts of mareschalsie , vice-bayliffs , vice-stewards , and others who judge without appeal , shall be obliged respectively to obey and satisfie the commands of the said chambers , as they use to do to the said parliaments , upon penalty of the loss of their estates . 67. the outcries for sale of inheritances , and giving notice thereof by warning passed or chalked according to order , shall be done in places and at hours usual , if possible , following our ordinances , or else in publick markets , if in the place where the land lies there is a market-place ; and where there shall be none in the next market within the jurisdiction of the court where judgement ought to be given : and the fixing of the notice shall be upon the posts of the said market-place , and at the entry of the assembly of the said place , and this order being observed , the notice shall be valid , and pass beyond the interposition of the sentence or decree , as to any nullity which might be alledged upon this account . 69. all title and papers , instructions , and documents which have been taken , shall be restored by both parties to those to whom they belong , though the said papers , or the castles and houses in which they were kept , have been taken and seized by special commission from the last deceased king , our most honoured lord and brother in law , or from us , or by the command of the governors and lievetenant generals of our provinces , or by the authority of the heads of the other party , or under what pretext soever it shall be . 70. the children of those that are retired out of our kingdom since the death of henry the second our father-in-law , by reason of religion and troubles , though the said children are born out of the kingdom , shall be held for true french inhabitants : and we have declared and do declare , that it is lawfull for such as at any time within ten years after the publication of this present edict , to come and dwell in this kingdom without being needfull to take letters patents of naturalization , or any other provision from us than this present edict , notwithstanding all ordinances to the contrary touching children bron in foraign countreys . 71. those of the reformed religion , and others who have followed their party , who have before the troubles taken to farm any office , or other domaine , gabel , foraign imposition , or other rights appertaining unto us , which they could not enjoy by reason of the troubles , shall remain discharged , and we discharge them of what they have not received of our finances , and of what they have without fraud paid otherwise than into the receipts of our exchequer , notwithstanding all their obligation given thereupon . 72. all places , cities , and profits of our kingdom , countries , lands , and lordships under our obedience , shall use and enjoy the same priviledges , immunities , liberties , franchises , fairs , markets , jurisdictions and courts of justice which they did before the troubles began 1585. and others preceding , notwithstanding all patents to the contrary , and translation of any of the seals of justice , provided they have been done only by occasion of the troubles , which courts or seats of justice shall be restored to the cities and places where they have been formerly . 73. if there are any prisoners who are yet kept by anthority of justice , or otherwise , in gallies , by reason of the troubles , or of the said religion , they shall be released and set in full liberty . 74. those of the religion shall never hereafter be charged and oppressed with any charge ordinary or extraordinary more than the catholicks , and according to their abilities and trades ; and the parties who shall pretend to be over-charged above their ability may appeal to the judges , to whom the cognizance belongs , and all our subjects as well catholick as of the reformed religion , shall be indifferently discharged of all charge which have been imposed by one and the other part , during the troubles , upon those that were on the contrary party , and not consenting , as also of debts created and not paid , and expences made without consent of the same , without nevertheless having power to recover the revennue which should have been imployed to the payment of the said charges . 75. we do not also understand , that those of the religion , and others who have followed their party , nor the catholicks who dwell in cities and places kept and imployed by them , and who have contributed to them , shall be prosecuted for the payment of tailles , aids , grants , fifteens , taillon , utensils , reparations , and other impositions and subsidies fallen due and imposed during the troubles hapning before and untill our coming to the crown , be it by the edicts , commands of deceased kings our predecessors , or by the advice and deliberation of governors and estates of provinces , courts of parliament , and others , whereof we have discharged and do discharge them , prohibiting the treasurers-general of france and of our finances , receivers general and particular , their commissioners and agents , and other intendants and commisseries of our said finances , to prosecute them , molest , disquiet , directly or indirectly , in any kind whatsoever . 76. all generals , lords , knights , gentlemen , officers , common-councills of cities and commonalties ; and all others who have aided and succoured them , their wives , heirs , and successors , shall remain quitted and discharged of all money which have been by them and their order taken and levied , as well the kings money , to what sum soever it may amount , as of cities and communities , and particular rents , revennues , plate , sale of moveable goods , ecclesiastick , and other woods of a high growth , be it of domains or otherwise , amerciaments , booty , ransoms , or other kind of money taken by them , occasioned by the troubles began in the month of march , 1585. and other precedent troubles , untill our coming to the crown , so that they or those that have by them been imployed in the levying of the said money , or that they have given or furnished by their orders , shall not be therefore any wayes prosecuted at present , or for the time to come : and shall remain acquitted as well themselves , as their commissaries , for the management and administration of the said money , expecting all thereof discharged within four months after the publication of the present edict made in our parliament of paris , acquittances being duly dispatched for the heads of those of the religion , or for those that had been commissionated for the auditing and ballancing of the accounts , or for the communities of cities who have had command and charge during the said troubles , and all the said heads of the reformed religion , and others who have followed their party ( as if they were particularly expressed and specified ) since the death of henry the second our father-in-law , shall in like manner remain acquitted and discharged of all acts of hostility , leavies , and conduct of soldiers , minting and valuing of money ( done by order of the said chief commanders ) casting and taking of ordnance and ammunition , compounding of powder and salt-peter , prizes , fortifications , dismantling and demolishing of cities , castles , burroughs , and villages , enterprises upon the same , burning and demolishing of churches and houses , establishing of judicatures , judgements , and executions of the same , be it in civil or criminal matters , policy and reglement made amongst themselves , voyages for intelligence , negotiations , treaties and contracts made with all foraign princes and communities , the introduction of the said strangers into cities and other places , of our kingdom , and generally of all that hath been done , executed and negotiated during the said troubles , since as aforesaid , the death of henry the second our father-in-law . 77. those of the said religion shall also remain discharged of all general and provincial assemblies by them made and held , as well at nantes as since in other places untill this present time ; as also of councils by them established and ordained by provinces , declarations , ordinances , and reglements made by the said assemblies and councells , establishment and augmentations of garrisons , assembling and taking of soldiers , levying and taking of our money , be it from the receivers-general or particular collecters of parishes , or otherwise in what manner soever , seizures of salt , continuation or erection of taxes , tolls , and receipts of the same at royan , and upon the rivers of charant , garronne , rosne , and dordonne , arming and fighting by sea , and all accidents and excess hapning upon forcing the payment of taxes , tolls , and other money by fortifying of cities , castles , and places , impositions of money and day-works , receipts of the same money , displacing of our receivers , farmers , and other officers , establishing others in their places , and of all leagues , dispatches and negotiations made as well within as without the kingdom : and in general , of all that hath been done , deliberated , written , and ordained by the said assembly and councell , so that those who have given their advice , signed , executed , caused to sign and execute the said ordinances , reglements and deliberations , shall not be prosecuted , or their wives , heirs and successors , now and for the time to come , though the particulars thereof be not amply declared . and above all , perpetual silence is hereby commanded to our procurators-general and their substitutes , and all those who may pretend to an interest therein , in whatsoever fashion or manner it may be , notwithstanding all decrees , sentences , judgements , informations , and procedures made to the contrary . 78. we further approve , allow , and authorize the accounts which have been heard , ballanced , and examined by the deputies of the said assembly : willing and requiring that the same , together with the acquittances and peices which have been rendred by the accomptants , be carried into our chambers of accompts at paris , three months after the publication of this present edict , and put into the hands of our procurator-general , to be kept with the books and registers of our chamber , to have there recourse to them as often as shall be needfull , and they shall not be subject to review , nor the accomptants held in any kind liable to appearance or correction , except in case of omission of receipts or false acquittances : and we hereby impose silence upon our procurator-generall , for the overplus that shall be found wanting , or for not observing of formalities : prohibiting to our accomptants , as well of paris as of other provinces where they are established , to take any cognizance thereof in any sort or manner whatsoever . 79. and as the accompts which have not yet been rendred , we will and ordain that the same be heard , ballanced and examined by the commissaries , who shall by us be deputed thereunto , who without difficulty shall pass and allow all the parcels paid by the said accomptants , by vertue of the ordinances of the said assembly , or others having power . 80. all collectors , receivers , farmers , and all others , shall remain well and duly discharged of all the sums of money which have been paid to the said commissioners of the assembly , of what nature soever they be , untill the last day of this month. and we will and command , that all be passed and allowed in the accompts , which accompts they shall give into our chambers of accompts , purely and simply by vertue of the acquittances which shall be brought ; and if any shall hereafter be delivered they shall remain null , and those who shall accept or deliver them , shall be condemned in the penalty of forgery . and where there shall be any accompts already given in , upon which there shall have intervened any raisings or additions , we do hereby taken away the same , and re-establish the parties intirely , by vertue of these presents , which being needfull to have particular patents , or any other thing than an extract of this present article . 81. the governors , captains , consuls , and persons commissioned to recover money for paying garrisons held by those of the religion , to whom our receivers and collectors of parishes have furnished by loan upon their credits and obligations , whether by constraint , or in obedience to the commandment of the treasurers-general , and the money necessary for the entertaining of the said garrisons , untill the concurrence of the state which we dispatched in the beginning of 1596. and augmentations since agreed unto by us , shall be held acquitted and discharged of all which hath been paid for the effect above said , though by the said scedules and obligations no mention hath been thereof made , which shall be to them rendred as null . and to satisfie therein the treasurers-general in each generality , the particular treasurers of our tallies shall give their acquittances to the said collectors ; and the receivers-general shall give their acquittances to the particular receivers : and for the discharge of the receivers general , the sums whereof they should have given account , as is said , shall be indorsed upon the commissions levied by the treasurer of the expenses , under the name of treasurers-general for the extraordinaries of our wars , for the payment of the said garrisons . and where the said commissions shall not amount to as much as the establishment and augmentations of our army did in 1596. we ordain that to supply the same , there shall be dispatched new commissions for what is necessary for the discharge of our accomptants , and restitution of the said promises and obligations , in such sort as there shall not for the time to come be any thing demanded thereof from those that shall have made them , and that all patents of ratifications which shall be necessary for the discharge of accomptants , shall be dispatched by virtue of this present article . 82. those also of the said religion shall depart and desist henceforward from all practices , negotiations , and intelligences , as well within as without our kingdom ; and the said assemblies and councels established within the provinces , shall readily separate ; and also all the leagues and associations made or to be made under what pretext soever , to the prejudice of our present edict , shall be cancelled and annulled , as we do cancell and annull them ; prohibiting most expresly to all our subjects to make henceforwards any assesments or leavy's of money , fortifications , enrolments of men , congregations and assemblies of other than such as are permitted by our present edict , and without arms : and we do prohibit and forbid them to do the contrary upon the penalty of being severely punished as contemners and breakers of our commands and ordinances . 83. all prizes which have been taken by sea , during the troubles , by vertue of the leave and allowance given , and those which have been made by land , upon those of the contrary party , and which have been judged by the judges and commissioners of the admiralty , or by the heads of those of the religion , or their councell , shall remain extinguished under the benefit of our present edict , without making any prosecution ; the captains or others who have made the said prizes , their securities , judges , officers , wives and heirs , shall not be prosecuted nor molested in any sort whatsoever , notwithstanding all the decrees of our privy councell and parliaments , of all letters of mart and seizures depending and not judged of , we will and require that there be made a full and intire discharge of all suits arising therefrom . 84. in like manner there shall not be any prosecution of those of the religion for the oppositions and obstructions which they have given formerly , and since the troubles , in the execution of decrees and judgements given for the re-establishment of the catholick religion in divers places of this kingdom . 85. and as to what hath been done , or taken during the troubles out of the way of hostility , or by hostility against the publick or particular rules of the heads of communalties of the provinces which they commanded , there shall be no prosecution by the way of justice . 86. forasmuch that whereas that which hath been done against the rules of one party or the other is indifferently excepted and reserved from the general abolition contained in our present edict , and is liable to be inquired after or prosecuted , yet nevertheless no soldier shall be troubled , whence may arise the renewing of troubles ; and for this cause , we will and ordain , that execrable cases shall only be excepted out of the said abolition : as ravishing and forcing of women and maids , burnings , murders , robberies , treachery , and lying in wait or ambush , out of the way of hostility , and for private revenge , against the duty of war , breaking of pass-ports and safeguards , with murders and pillages without command from those of the religion , or those that have followed the party of their generals who have had authority over them , founded upon particular occasions which have moved them to ordain and command it . 87. we ordain also , that punishment be inflicted for crimes and offences committed betwixt persons of the same party , if acts not commanded by the hands of one party or the other by necessity of law and order of war. and as for the leavying and exacting of money , bearing of arms , and other exploits of war done by private authority and without allowance , the parties guilty thereof shall be prosecuted by way of justice . 88. the cities dismantled during the troubles , may with our permission be re-edified and repaired by the inhabitants at their costs and charges , and the provisions granted heretofore upon that account shall hold and have place . 89. we ordain , and our will and pleasure is , that all lords , knights , gentlemen , and others of what quality and condition soever of the reformed religion , and others who have followed their party , shall enter and be effectually conserved in the enjoyment of all and each of their goods , rights , titles , and actions , notwithstanding the judgements following thereupon during the said troubles , and by reason of the same ; with decrees , seizures , judgements , and all that shall follow thereupon , we have to this end declared , and we do declare them null and of no effect and value . 90. the acquisitions that those of the reformed religion , and others which have followed their party , have made by the authority of the deceased kings our predecessors or others , for the immovables belonging to the church , shall not have any place or effect ; but we ordain and our pleasure is , that the ecclesiasticks enter immediately , and without delay be conserved in the possession and enjoyment really and actually of the said goods so alienated , without being obliged to pay the purchase-money which to this effect we have cancelled and revoked as null , without remedy for the purchasers to have against the generals , &c. by the authority of which the said goods have been sold . yet nevertheless for the re-imbursement of the money by them truly and without fraud disbursed , our letters patents of permission shall be dispatched to those of the religion , to interpose and equalize bare sums of the said purchases cost , the purchasers not being allowed to bring any action for their damages and interest for want of enjoyment ; but shall content themselves with the re-imbursement of the money by them furnished for the price of the acquisitions , accounting for the price of the fruits received , in case that the said sale should be found to be made at an under rate . 91. to the end that as well our justices and officers as our other subjects be clearly and with all certainty advertised of our will and intentions , and for taking away all ambiguity and doubt which may arise from the variety of former edicts , articles , secret letters patents , declarations , modifications , restrictions , interpretations , decrees and registers , as also all secrets as well as other deliberations heretofore by us or the kings our predecessors , made in our courts of parliaments or otherwayes , concerning the said reformed religion , and the troubles hapning in our said kingdom , we have declared and do hereby declare them to be of no value and effect : and as to the derogatory part therein contained , we have by this our edict abrogated , and we do abrogate , and from henceforward we cancell , revoke , and anull them . declaring expresly that our will and pleasure is , that this our edict be firmly and inviolably kept and observed as well by our justices and officers , as other subjects , without hesitation , or having any regard at all to that which may be contrary or derogatory to the same . 92. and for the greater assurance of the keeping and observing what we herein desire , we will and ordain , and it is our pleasure , that all the governors and leivetenants general of our provinces , bayliffs , chief-justices and other ordinary judges of the cities of our said kingdom immediately after the receit of this same edict , and do bind themselves by oath to keep and cause to be kept and observed each in their district as shall also the mayors , sheriffs , principal magistrates , consuls , and jurates of cities either annual or perpetual . enjoyning likewise our bayliffs , chief justices , or their livetenants , and other judges to make the principal inhabitants of the said cities , as well of the one religion as the other , to swear to the keeping and observing of this present edict immediately after the publication thereof : and taking all those of the said cities under our protection , command that one and the other respectively shall either answer for the opposition that shall be made to this our said edict within the said cities by the inhabitants thereof , or else to present and deliver over to justice the said opposers . we will and command our well beloved the people holding our courts of parliaments , chambers of accounts , and courts of aids , that immediately after the receipt of this present edict they cause all things to cease , and upon penalty of nullity of the acts which they shall otherwise do , to take the like oath as above , and to publish and register our said edict in our said courts according to the form and tenure of the same , purely and simply , without using any modifications , restrictions , declarations , or secret registers , or expecting any other order or command from us : and we do require our procurators-general to pursue immediately and without delay the said publication hereof . we give in command to the people of our said courts of parliaments , chambers of our courts , and courts of our aids , bayliffs , chief-justices , provosts and other our justices and officers to whom it appertains , and to their leivetenants , that they cause to be read , published , and registred this our present edict and ordinance in their courts and jurisdictions , and the same keep punctually , and the contents of the same to cause to be injoyned and used fully and peaceably to all those to whom it shall belong , ceasing and making to cease all troubles and obstructions to the contrary , for such is our pleasure : and in witness hereof we have signed these presents with our own hand ; and to the end to make it a thing firm and stable for ever , we have caused to put and indorse our seal to the same . given at nantes in the month of april in the year of grace 1598. and of our reign the ninth signed henry . and underneath , the king being in council , forget . and on the other side , visa . this visa signifies the lord chancellors perusal . sealed with the great seal of green-wax upon a red and green string of silk . read , published , and registred , the kings procurator or attorney-general hearing and consenting to it in the parliament of paris , the 25th . of february , 1599. signed , voysin . read , published , and in-registred the chamber of accompts , the kings procurator-general hearing and consenting , the last day of may , 1599. signed de la fontaine . read , published , and registred , the kings procurator-general hearing and consenting , at paris in the court of aids the 30th . of april , 1599. signed bernard . observations upon the kings two declarations given at st. germains in laye the second of april , 1666. the one , concerning the affairs of those of the pretended reformed religion . the other , entituled against the relapsed and blasphemers . the preface of the first declaration . lewis , by the grace of god , king of france and navarr , to all those to whom these presents shall come , greeting . our greatest care since we came unto the crown hath been to maintain our catholick subjects , and those that be of the pretended reformed religion in perfect peace and tranquility , observing exactly the edict of nantes , and that of the year 1629. but although the laws foresee those cases which happen more ordinarily , so as to apply thereto necessary pre-cautions ; yet seeing a multiplicity of actions which daily occurr , cannot be reduced to one certain rule ; it was therefore necessary to make particular provisions assoon as difficulties of any sort did occasionally arise , and therein to make judgement and decision by the ordinary rules and forms of justice : which thing hath made way for many decrees made in our council , and sundry others passed in our chambers of the edict , of which there having been no publick notice given , our subjects have found themselves often ingaged in suites ▪ and contestations , which they might have then avoided , if they had known that the like questions had been already decided by former judgements : insomuch that for preventing the like inconveniencies , and to nourish peace and amity amongst our subjects , as well catholicks as those of the pretended reformed religion , the arch-bishops , bishops , and other ecclesiastick deputies in the general assembly of the clergy , which is held at present by our permission in our good city of paris , have very instantly besought us to reduce the said decisions into one single declaration , adjoyning thereunto certain articles touching some actions thereupon occuring , to the end that the whole may be made more notorious and publick to all our subjects ; and that by this means they having no cause to pretend ignorance , may conform themselves thereto , and cause to cease the discords and altercations which may arise on such like actions ; and that what hath been judged and decided by the said decrees , may be for ever confirmed and established , and may be put in execution as a law inviolable . for these causes with the advice of our counsel , and of our certain knowledge , full power and authority royal , we have by these presents signed with our hand , said , and declared , say and declare , we will , and it is our pleasure that the said decrees made in our counsell , be kept and observed according to their form and tenour , in such manner . observations upon this preface . if this declaration , which contains fifty nine articles , had hurt them of the pretended reformed religion only in points of commodity and convenience ; they have so much respect for whatsoever bears the august name of their soveraign , they would have contained themselves in silence , and not have troubled by the importunity of their complaints , the satisfaction which this great monarch doth injoy in the sweets of peace and prosperities of his estate . but the deplorable extremity to which they see themselves to be reduced , doth forcibly draw from them whether they will or no , those groans which they would have stifled if their sorrows had not been extreme . for this declaration which they esteem as the greatest and most rigorous blow , by which they could be smitten ; like a clap of thunder , doth throw them into the greatest terrors , and doth not suffer them to be silent : and it seems to them that they should make themselves criminals , if upon this so pressing an occasion , which threatens their goods , their honours , their families , their lives , and which is yet more and more dear unto them , their religion , and the liberty of their consciences , they should not cause their sad voice to be heard by his majesty , for that were no other than to testify an injurious distrust , as if his justice and his royal protection could be wanting to his miserable subjects , who come to prostrate themselves at the feet of this extraordinary prince , given of god expresly for this end , that he might do good unto men , and that his scepter , no less just than puissant , might be the sanctuary of afflicted innocence . so that it is not only their necessity but their sence of their duty it self , which gives them of the pretended reformed religion the boldness to address themselves unto the king , to demand of him with all profound humility , the revocation of an ordinance , which is not properly his own work , but of them of the clergy who have suggested it . kings have alwayes at the highest point of their grandeur and of their puissance , made no difficulty to change their most absolute oders , when they have been caused to understand that they had been surprised . and yet even from this also they have received glory ; because to give laws , is only to rule over others ▪ but to revoke those , which persons interessed have imposed upon the spirit of the prince , is to reign over himself ; and this is the means by which soveraign force may make it self to be acknowledged through all the world as truly worthy of empire , if the love of justice be more powerfull in his heart than that of his soveraign authority . there is then reason to hope for these generous sentiments , from a king whose soul is yet more noble than the crown it self which he wears ; and whose resolution hath already begun to display it self in naming commissioners of the highest dignity to review the declaration now in debate . which is a piece that appears so many strange wayes , that they themselves who made it would confess it to be so , if they could but for some moments of time devest themselves of their prejudice . i. first of all , the declaration sets forth , that it was granted at the request , and upon the very instant supplications of the arch-bishops , bishops , and other ecclesiastical deputies in the assembly of the clergy . which had it not been so clearly expressed , might nevertheless have been easily known by reading the memoires of the clergy , those publick memoires which were printed in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty six . for all the same things which were remarkable , and which the clergy pretended to at that time : all the demands which they made ; all the decrees they proposed to themselves to obtain , are found in the articles of this declaration . in regard whereof they can be looked upon no otherwise than as the execution of those so destructive memoires , since therein may be seen all the pretentions of the clergy turned into form of rules , and ordinances . ii. besides , who else but the ecclesiasticks , that is to say , most passionate parties , could ever have conceived that thought which they had , and which they have by surprize caused to be set in the preface of this declaration , where it is said , that what hath been judged and decided by the decrees of the counsell , should be confirmed and established for ever , and be executed as a law inviolable . for to desire that the decrees in generall made in counsel , that is to say , decrees whereof many were given upon a petition only , and without cognisance of the cause ; or upon particular actions and upon circumstances extraordinary , should pass into a law inviolable throughout the realm , certainly is a thing that cannot easily be conceived . there is no thing more common than to see the decrees of the counsel annulled by others subsequent , because the king being better informed of the state and truth of things , wills that the rights of justice should be maintained on the same tribunal where the artifice of the parties would have given it some defeat ; decrees being indeed no rules of the law , but on the contrary , the law the true rule of decrees . iii. the form and tenure of the articles makes it no less clear that the declaration was a surprize . for they are all prejudicial to the pretended reformed religion . and in the mean time the king in the beginning of the preface doth say expresly , that his greatest care since his coming to the crown , hath been to maintain his catholick subjects and those of the petended reformed religion in perfect peace and tranquility : and a few lines after , that the design of this declaration was to nourish peace and amity amongst his majesties subjects as well catholicks as those of the pretended reformed religion . in pursuance of this design truly worthy the justice and goodness of the king , the declaration ought to have been conceived in such sort , that in giving satisfaction to the one , some regard might have been had at least of the weal and subsistence of the other ; and that not only they of the roman catholick religion , but they also of the pretended reformed religion might have found therein some matter of contentment . but contrary to this so just a maxim , this whole declaration is to the disadvantage of the latter ; and so far from being proper to nourish peace and amity that it can serve for nothing else but to beget eternal troubles and divisions . this is one manifest proof that it was neither the king nor his counsell that formed this declaration , not only so partial but so openly contrary to so considerable a party of his majesties subjects . for kings have not been wont to deal after this manner in the regulations which they make for the union and repose of the persons whose differences they would appease . they do alwayes conserve the interest of the one part with the other betwixt whom they seek to establish concord and good understanding . the edict of nantes hath been conceived by this true spirit of royalty . for it propounds so to regulate the affairs of those of the catholick , apostolick and roman religion and those of the pretended reformed religion , that both the one and the other might find therein some cause to be contented . and also for the composing thereof henry the great called unto his person , the most prudent and best qualified of the two religions , that he might confer with them . he received their bills , he hearkned to their complaints and to their remonstrances , to the end he might not be surprized in any point . but here they of the pretended reformed religion were neither heard nor called ; the ecclesiasticks only in this ( rencounter ) had the honour to approach unto the person of the king ; and having disguised matters unto him according to the dictates of their passion , they have imposed upon him sinister impressions to the prejudice of the truth , to the end they might cause him to set forth a declaration which they had a long time before framed in their own bosoms . it is then the clergy who have suggested it through the motives of their hatred against them of the pretended reformed religion , and who were desirous therein to accumulate all things whatsoever their passion could enable them to imagine , as most proper to atchieve their overthrow and ruine . iv. but that which renders this surprize in every respect sensible and palpable , is the pablick protestation which the king makes in the entrance of this declaration , that he will observe exactly the edict of nantes and that of 1629. for it will be found that this declaration is so very far from exactly observing those edicts so authorised , that it repeals them in many of its articles ; so that none can doubt but that it is contrary to the intention of his majesty , and that they who have obtained it have surprised him in the sincerity of his heart . for where is the person so rash or so wicked , as to dare to say that the king doth indeed protest that he will observe the edict of nantes , but that notwithstanding it is not his intention ? they are none but the enemies of france and of the glory of our illustrious monarch who can make such discourses . they of the pretended reformed religion who are resolved to live and die in the respects which they owe unto his sacred majesty , can never have such a suspicion of so admirable a prince , and the grand-child of henry the great . for that great heroe who hath transmitted unto him his vertues with his blood , gives us very well to understand that his posterity are uncapable of any such procedure , when he pronounces these generous words which the history hath preserved and he addressed in so firm a tone to them of the parliament of paris about the matter of the edict of nantes . i find it not good , saith he , to intend one thing and write another , and if any have done so , i will not do the same . cousenage is altogether odious , but most of all in a prince , whose word ought to be unchangeable . the successor then and worthy imitator of henry the great having given his royal word , and willed himself that the publick should be thereof both depositary and witness even of this his word , by which he hath engaged to observe exactly the edict of nantes ; it cannot be denyed that all that whatsoever it be which clashes with this perpetual and irrevocable edict , is at the same time contrary unto the will of his royal majesty . being then it is so , that almost in all the articles of the declaration of 1666. there are contrarieties to the edict , we must needs conclude that they are so many surprizes , of which his majesty will do right to his justice by making a solemn revocation of the same . v. they who have contrived them believed that they had found a very specious pretext under which they might procure them to pass , when they represented to his majesty that the law could not foresee all those particular actions which might occurr in the succession of time , and that therefore besides the edict of nantes some other declaration must be had , which might serve for a certain rule . but this pretense is also another surprize . for the edict it self stiles it self a general , perspicuous , clear and absolute law , by which all those of the one or the other religion should be regulated in all the differences which had befaln or should hereafter occurr betwixt them . but for the full discovery of the vanity of this artificial pretext , they of the pretended reformed religion maintain , that this declaration under the pretence of explicating and interpreting this edict , doth ruine it , and that the settlements of the one are the overturners of the other . which thing will appear as clear as day by the following observations , which will give us to see that the greater part of those things which are contained in this long declaration are contrary to the edict of nantes , or if there be any which are not of that number , they are unprofitable innovations , and which can serve for nothing unless it be secretly to dress a trap for the liberties of those of the pretended reformed religion . these are the two hinges upon which all these following remarks do rowl , and these two principles do equally conclude to cause a revocation of this declaration ; since that the articles contrary to the edict cannot accord with the intention of his majesty , and those which are fruitless are unworthy to hold any rank in a royal ordinance . article i. prohibition to preach any other where than in the places appointed for that usage . that the ministers may not make their sermons in any other places than those destinate to that usage , and not in publick places on any pretext whatsoever . observation . if this article carried no other sense than what appears in open view , they of the pretended reformed religion had found nothing to say unto it , seeing that they never pretended that it was permitted them to preach in any publick place . but these last words which are read in the end of this article under any pretense whatsoever , are an artifice which the ecclesiasticks have invented for to ruine the liberty of those of the pretended reformed religion , and to authorize certain decrees gotten of the counsel ; by surprize for they would joyn these terms , under what pretext soever it be , not to the second clause of the article where it speaks of publick places , but to the first , which in general forbids to preach else-where than in places appointed for that usage . so that by vertue of these words they will prohibit them who have petty fees to cause sermons to be made in their own houses , where they have no temples nor places particularly appointed for preaching : which notwithstanding is contrary to the eighth article of the edict of nantes , wherein the right of these fees is formally established . and besides , if a temple fall to ruine , or is pulled down in some popular sedition , or burnt by fire , they will pretend that they who have accustomed to hold their exercise in that place , cannot assemble in any near place , or neighbour house untill such times as the temple is re-built , and if a temple be made unaccessible by a deluge of waters , or if the plague , or enemies , or any other obstacle hinder their approach thereunto ; they will pretend the same thing , against reason and justice , and also against the sixth article of the particulars of the edict of nantes . finally , if they of the pretended reformed religion be obliged to transfer their exercises for necessary reasons , and there observe all conditions requisite ; or if they preach to their assemblies in the country in places uncovered where they have right ; they will thereupon raise troubles and suits in consequence of this article . this is the cause why they of the said religion do most humbly beseech his majesty to revoke this article as tending to give occasion to many vexing contestations , and contrary to the intention of the edicts : or it will be necessary for removing all matters of vexation instead of these terms , under any pretext whatsoever , to employ these without intending notwithstanding to do any prejudice to the priviledge of the fees ; or to forbid in case of hostility , contagion or fire , overflowing of water , or ruine , or other lawfull causes to preach in any neighbour place , provided it be not a publick place , notwithstanding any decrees or judgements made to the contrary . article ii. places of demesme . that they of the pretended reformed religion aforesaid may not establish any preachings in the places of their demesme which are adjudged unto them , under pretence of any priviledge annexed to courts of high-justice contained within their said adjudications . this is formally contrary to the seventh article of the edict of nantes , by which — it is allowed to all lords , gentlemen and other persons of the reformed pretended religion , having right of high justice-courts , or tenure of knights , whether as proprietors ; or as vsufructuaries only , to have the exercise of religion in their houses : these words have respect to those that obtain the demesme of the king as well as others , for they are general ; they speak of all persons that have power of high justice without any distinction ; and there is as to this point no difference betwixt those that enjoy the right of high justice by the king's engagement , and those that possess it as their own proper estate , because the morgagee enjoys all the rights which depend on the fee of which he is the possessor , until such time as he is reimbursed . the liberty then of publick exercise being one of the attributes of high justice , and of the fee of knights service ; it is but reason , that the morgagee of the domain , do enjoy it , during his possession . the edict it self leaves no place to doubt of this . for in the article we have now alledged , mention is made of those that have high justice , whether as proprietaries or vsufructuaries . now the possessor of a demain by morgage is an usufructuary : and by consequent is comprised expresly in the edict . but the thing will be entirely out of question , if we consider the tenth article of the edict , where these words are read — so that the said establishment be not hindred in such places of demain as have been given by the said edict , articles and conferences for places of bailiwicks , or which hereafter shall be , although they have been alienated heretofore , or shall be hereafter by persons of the catholick apostolick , roman religion . an exception which shews , that the places of the demesnes are subjected to the right of exercise as well as others . and to the end that we might not suppose that it was the intent of the edict to be restrained to the places of bayliwicks only ; this tenth article proceeds thus — however we do not understand , that the said exercise may be re-established in places and seats of the said demain , which have been heretofore possessed by them of the said p. r. r. which they did enjoy in consideration of their persons , or because of their fees , if those fees be found at present in the possession of persons of the said catholick apostolick and roman religion . an exception which doth evidently testifie that fees of demain engaged follow in this respect the condition of others ; which when they are withdrawn out of the hands of those of the p. r. r. the exercise cannot be any longer continued ; for that the privilege was personal , and affixed to the fee : whence it follows , that according to the edict , so long as the said fees are possessed by persons of this religion , the exercises thereof ought to be freely made there , as in other fees of requisite qualification . his majesty therefore out of the design which he hath to cause the edict of nantes to be observed , will be pleased to accord to the revocation of this article ; as also in like manner to an evacuation of a decree made in council january 11 , 1667 ; in which they of the p. r. r. are not only forbidden to — establish any preaching in the place of demain , which shall be adjudged unto them under pretence of right of high justice comprised within their adjudications : but moreover in it they find another settlement , yet more rigorous , in as much as it import that — when his majesty accords to the right of high justice in any of the lands of those of the p. r. r. there must be express mention made in the erection of those rights of high justice , that the exercise of their religion may not be established there under the pretext of that high justice . a strange surprise imposed on the king , and we have cause to promise our selves , that his majesty cannot suffer this rigour , which turns his favour into a punishment , and depriveth them of the p. r. r. of a liberty , which is of the number of those which the edict hath most formally expressed . article iii. places of high justice . that in places where the lords of the p. r. r. having the right of high justice do exercise the same , there shall be no marks of publick exercise . this article is incompatible with the thirty fourth of the particulars of nantes , which expresseth — that in all places where the exercise of the said religion shall be publick , the people may be assembled , and that also by the sound of a bell , and do all the acts and functions that appertain as well to the exercise of their religion , as the regulation of their discipline , as to hold consistories , colloquies and synods provincial and national by the permission of his majesty . this settlement is formal ; for it speaks generally , and without exception of all places where the exercise is publick . therefore it intends the places of high justice as well as other places accorded by the edict , since by the seventh article of the generals , the right of exercise is attributed to the places of high-justice , and to the fees of knight-service , in which the lords and gentlemen , possessors thereof may cause sermons to be made , as well for themselves , their families and subjects , as for others that will resort thither , which thing makes the exercise publick . further , this thirty fourth article of the particulars permits in all places where the exercise of the p. r. r. is publick ; to assemble the people by the sound of the bell ; which bell for assembling the people , supposeth a power to have a bell-house , and the bell-house supposeth a temple : so that according to the intention of the edict , temples may be had in the places of high justice . and here we may perceive also by the settlement of this 34th . article , that it is permitted in all places where the publick exercise is celebrated , to hold synods not only provincial , but national also . by consequent all places of this nature , of the number of which are those of the high justice , may have the marks of a publick exercise . for how can a provincial or a national synod be held in a place , where there is neither chair to preach nor bench to sit ? is it credible that the edict did command that there should be a place where the deputies from the whole kingdom should have liberty to assemble in a synod without giving power to their ministers notwithstanding to ascend the pulpit , to make there the sermons necessary to such solemn assembles ? being therefore this article cannot be made to agree unto the edict , his majesty is most humbly besought to revoke it , as also those decrees , which the clergy have obtained by surprize , for authorising so ill founded a pretention . and this thing appears yet more strange , because the places wherein the pretended reformed religion is exercised have nothing at all in outward shew , which might move jealousie to any person : for they are places altogether simple and plain , without pomp , without imbellishments , and without ornaments . there is nothing but a chair , and seats without curiosity , and being they have nothing but what is absolutely necessary , those places cannot reasonably be deprived thereof whereunto the edict gives right of publick exercise . article iv. consolation of prisoners . that the ministers may not comfort the prisoners in the goals , but with a low voice , in a chamber apart ; and assisted only with one or two persons . here may be seen also a manifest contrariety to the fourth article of the particulars of nantes , where it is said , — as to them who shall be condemned by course of justice , the said ministers may likewise visit , and comfort them , without making publick prayers , except only in places where the said publick exercise is permitted unto them by the edict . this article permits in the places authorised by the edict , publick prayers to be made , that is to say , in a publick place , at the very place of punishment , before all the great concourse of people assembled there : and the declaration on the contrary forbids without distinction of places , prayers to be made with a loud voice , and even in private also , in the chambers of the prisons , with the doors shut . are not these two settlements opposite , which destroy one the other ? it seems likewise , that the declaration contradicts it self . for if the ministers be obliged to comfort prisoners in a chamber apart , wherefore are they commanded to speak with a low voice ? since one hath free liberty to speak in a chamber distinct from others : or if it be their will that they should speak with a low voice , why do they oblige them to a chamber apart ? since a low voice needs not a distinct place . and besides , what stream of processes will there issue from this obligation to speak with a low voice ? for they will without intermission make trouble to the ministers for the tone of his voice ? they will pretend , that he hath not spoken low enough , and it will be in a manner impossible to find the just mean betwixt a voice too low , which the prisoner cannot hear , and by which he cannot be comforted ; and a voice a little too high , which may be understood by others . it will be therefore necessary at the least to regulate this , so that itmay be understood of a low voice , that it is to be spoken in such a sense as it is used in the case of the noise of those that work on a festival day , that it be such a voice as cannot be heard in the street , nor of the neighbours . it is also hard to conceive how the ministers can observe that clause which speaks of a chamber apart ; for shall it be in their power to bring the prisoners into a chamber apart : if the question were only of them that are condemned to death , the matter would be easie ; for they do ordinarily put them in a place apart , after their condemnation : but the article of the declaration speaks of all prisoners without distinction . and shall the minister have authority to cause to lead , or carry into a chamber apart a sick prisoner , whom they find in the same place with many others ? and if the jaylor will not suffer it , then what means shall the ministers have to cause him to obey them . and it may so fall out , that an unfortunate person detained in prison for his debts , or for any other cause , may die there without consolation , or exhortation to repentance , for that he cannot be in a chamber apart . this article being then impossible to be executed , and tending to leave poor prisoners to die miserably , without being assisted in their consciences : his majesty is most humbly besought to cause this article to be put out , and to be content in the affair of prisoners , with the regulation contained in the fourth article of the particulars of nantes . article v. to speak of the catholick religion with all respect . that the ministers shall not in their sermons and elsewhere , use any injurious or offensive terms against the catholick religion , or the state , but on the contrary shall carry themselves with that moderation which is ordained by the edicts , and speak of the catholick religion with all respect . they of the p. r. r. cannot behold without sensible grief , that their ministers are forbidden to use injurious terms against the estate . for this prohibition seems to presuppose , that they either have been guilty of this crime , or that they have some propensity to commit it . and notwithstanding there is nothing that they abhor more , and of which they are more incapable . the love of the estate , and zeal of their religion are inseparable in their hearts and mouths . they never express themselves neither in their sermons , nor in their discourses , but as good french and faithful subjects , and they never ascend their pulpits , but they pray to god for the sacred person of the king , for all the royal family , and for the prosperity of his estate . as for what belongs to the catholick religion , they always speak thereof with the moderation ordained by the edicts . but to make a law which commands them to speak with all respect , is to expose them to the uttermost misery : and they can never assure themselves any longer neither of their goods , nor of their liberty , nor of their lives , if this ordinance continue ; for whatsoever moderation they use in their sermons , whatsoever pains they take to chuse their terms , when they are obliged to touch matters of controversie , there will be found , notwithstanding , persons who will pretend that they have not spoken with all respect ; so will it come to pass , that they shall see themselves every hour overwhelmed with fines , imprisoned , and condemned to many kinds of punishments . this is the reason wherefore his majesty is instantly besought to give remedy to this mischief , by expunging this article which renders it inevitable , and to be satisfied with that regulation which is found in the edict of nantes , where in its seventeenth article it forbids all preachers , lecturers and others who speak in publick , to use any speeches , discourses or propositions illuding to stir up the people to sedition , with a strict command to demean themselves modestly , and to speak nothing which may not be for the instruction and comfort of their hearers , and for maintaining the tranquillity and repose of the realm . a prohibition which of good right was made general and common to all sorts of preachers , as well of the one religion , as of the other , notwithstanding that indeed the ministers have less need of this injunction , in this matter , than the preachers of the catholick apostolick and roman religion , amongst whom it is easie to find , that they give themselves liberties apt to trouble the publick peace of all , art . vi. acts of notaries . that notaries who receive the testaments and other acts of the p. r. r. shall not speak of them of the said religion in other terms than such as the edicts permit . they of the p. r. r. find not any thing of their concern in this article , and cannot divine upon what consideration the ecclesiasticks have caused it to be put in this declaration ; unless it be , that they well fore-seeing that justice would infallibly prevail with his majesty to reform a piece wherein they had surprised his royal goodness in so many ways ; they have expresly for that end caused articles unprofitable , and to no purpose to be foisted therein , to the end , that when this work comes to be examined , they may have therein certain matters which they might remit ; to give pretence that afterwards the declaration should be very moderate , and could no more give cause of complaint to any person . but our monarch hath an understanding too much enlightned not to discover this artifice : and when this sixth article of this declaration , and divers others of like nature which may be found therein , are outed ; they of the p. r. r. cannot esteem their condition any thing the better , nor more supportable , if the other points which ruine their liberties be maintained ; their subsistence being nevertheless in this kingdom impossible . this is the cause wherefore his majesty is besought to keep this in mind , to the end , that this observation may be applyed to many other articles insignificant , or of small consequence , with which this declaration is swoln apparently for some design worthy to be observed . art . vii . books . that those of the p. r. r. may not cause any books to be printed concerning the p. r. r. which are not attested and certified by approved ministers , for which they are to be responsible , nor without the permission of the magistrates , and the consent of our attourneys , and that the said books shall not be vended , but in such places where the exercise of the said religion is permitted . there needs no law to oblige them of the p. r. r. to observe the former part of this article , which wills , that their books may not be printed without the attestation of approved ministers ; for this is an order which is observed inviolably amongst them , and which is established by their own synods . but as for the second part which forbids them to cause any books to be printed concerning their religion , without the permission of the magistrates , and the consent of the king's attournies , is a rigour altogether opposite to the edict of nantes ; for thus it speaks in the one and twentieth article , let not the books which concern the p. r. r. be printed , or sold publickly , except in the towns and places where the publick exercise of that religion is permitted : and for other books which are printed in other towns ; let them be viewed and revised , as well by the king's officers , as divines , according to the true intent of the ordinances . where may be observed an express distinction of books of the p. r. r. some printed in the towns where the publick exercise of the p. r. r. is permitted , and others which are printed in places where this exercise is not permitted . as for those this edict wills , that they be viewed and visited by the king's officers ; which indeed is but reasonable , being there the p. r. r. is not openly and publickly professed . but of the other , the edict speaks in a far different manner , permitting to print them , and sell them publickly in the towns and places where the p. r. r. is prosessed , without submitting them to the visitation of permission of the kings officers , which is required in the other case . now therefore the declaration forbids what the edict of nantes permits in express terms . and this is a matter very considerable , and whereof they of the pretended reformed religion have just cause to complain , in that this new declaration is more rigorous in this point than the edict of 1576 it self , notwithstanding that it was made during all the heat and animosity of the civil wars . for the edict of 1576. was content to require that the books of them of the pretended reformed religion should be viewed and approved by the chambers my parties , of which one half was alwaies found to profess the said religion . in place whereof this new declaration subjects them of the said pretended reformed religion to obtain a permission from the magistrates and consent from the kings attorneys who are all of a contrary religion . this is to make it impossible , for the kings attorneys who will never give their consent to the impression of books which treat of another religion than their own ; and to permit them to print with this condition , is to forbid them absolutely against the clear and express intent of the edict of nantes . this then is a meer surprize of the clergy , who have passionately longed and aspired to have such an article as this to be made , as may appear by their memoirs which were published 1661. for their desire is there found expressed thus , it is requisite , say they , to have a decree containing a prohibition to print any books which have not been formerly viewed and approved by the kings officers , which also testifies that before this time , no decree had forbidden this , and that it was formerly unknown . and surely it is a matter of admiration that the ecclesiasticks desired to obtain this prohibition , for it is not for the advantage of the catholick roman religion . it will seem that they are afraid of the books which they oppose and mistrust they cannot answer them . they therefore of the pretended reformed religion hope that his majesty according to their most humble supplication which they make unto him , will revoke this article concerning the books of their religion , and vacate all the decrees by which he hath been surprized in this matter . article viii . the quality of pastors , and prohibition to speak of the church with irreverence of holy things . that the said ministers shall not take on them the quality of pastors of the church , but only that of ministers of the pretended reformed religion ; as also that they shall not speak irreverently of holy things , and of the ceremonies of the church , and shall not call the catholicks by any other name than that of catholicks . vve cannot admire enough that they have caused to be entred in a declaration royal and of consequence a prohibition of the name pastor . for this term hath nothing considerable in it , nor any thing that makes for the honour of those who bear it . it is common both to good and bad pastors , and the holy scripture doth often cry out against false pastors that abuse and corrupt the people . they make no difficulty to give to the pretended reformed churches the name of a flock ; by what reason then do they refuse their ministers the name of pastors which is relative thereto , since a pastor is he that feeds the flock ? so that no more exception is to be taken against the quality of a pastor than is against the appellation of a minister , since it doth barely set out their duty without determining whether they discharge it well or ill . and this language cannot be blamed , being warranted by the example and authority of his majesty himself . for when he did them the honour to write to their national synod at london the 30th of november , 1659. the superscription of his letter was in these terms , to our dear and well-beloved the pastors and elders , the deputees in the assembly of the national synod of our subjects professing the pretended reformed religion at london . the residue of this article of the declaration is of the same nature with the fifth article ; and if there be any difference , it is in this , that this aggravates the other and goes above it . it is an endless source and everlasting seed of all sorts of mischief to the ministers , who notwithstanding all the most accurate pre-caution , and the most wise and modest continence , will be continually halled before the tribunals , cast into prisons , ruinated in their goods , and overwhelmed in their very persons ; because there will be alwayes found some ill-minded people who will accuse them for having spoken irreverently of the holy things , and ceremonies of the catholick apostolick roman church . to the end therefore that they may injoy in this realm the liberty which was granted to them by the edict , his majesty is most ardently besought that he would cause these two articles , the fifth and the eighth to be excluded , as which draw innumerable calamities on those persons whom he hath been pleased to declare that he will take into his royal protection . neither is it only the concern of the ministers security that causes them to demand the revocation of these articles , but the repose and subsistence of all those persons in general who are of the pretended reformed religion . for a method hath been taken up of late which doth sufficiently make known how much a prohibition to speak of holy things and the ceremonies of the church may hurt them . that is , that the parish priests when they please publish their censures and monitions ▪ against any person of the pretended reformed religion obliging all their parishioners in general to depose if they have heard any thing spoken by him against the catholick apostolick roman religion , which makes way for them to rip up all a mans life from his very infancy ; and if it have hapned that he have spoken of any controversie they impute it unto him to have uttered some blasphemies against the mysteries and ceremonies of the church . and sometime witnesses are found who by false reports bring the honour and life of men in hazard ; and we have already seen persons unreproachable whose innocence could not secure them from such calumnious accusations , and who have been condemned to death for words maliciously contrived with design to destroy them ; your majesty is therefore humbly prayed to hinder this so great a mischief , not only by removing this article which will serve for pretext to evil disposed spirits ; but also by ordaining just and reasonable penalties against the accusers and the witnesses , who in such contests shall be convinced of falshood and fall short of proving their accusations ; and above all forbidding those minatories , and those wandring uncertain and undetermined informations which smell of the inquisition , and are capable of troubling all the whole realm . article ix . robes and cassocks of ministers . that the ministers may not wear gowns or cassocks , nor appear in the long robe elsewhere than within their temples . the liberty of habit is so great in france , that it were to strip the ministers of the quality of french-men , to bring the form of their garments into controversie . if cassocks or long robes were in such manner peculiar to church-men , that it might pass for an infallible mark of their character and order ; it might be that they might have some reason to dispute them with those whom they will not acknowledge for ecclesiasticks . but the cassock and the gown are worn of many persons that are not of the orders of the church . judges , counsellors , attorneys themselves , recorders , ushers , physicians , regents of schools or colledges have this priviledge without contestation . and the quality of doctors , licentiates , or masters of arts , in which ministers may be invested as well as others , and are in a manner , is that which properly giveth right of wearing the cassock and long robe . it cannot therefore be imagined for what reason they ought to be forbidden unto ministers ; and when the ecclesiasticks required this prohibition and obtained it by a decree of the counsel gotten by surprize the 30th of june 1664. to serve for a foundation of this article of the declaration , it was meerly the effect of their dissatisfaction to the ministers and only upon design to blast them . but the ministers who are born subjects of the king , hope to find his justice in the defence of their honour as well as of their persons . article x. registers of baptisms and marriages . that the said ministers shall keeep registers of the baptisms and marriages which are made by those of the pretended reformed religion , and shall produce from three months to three months an extract thereof to the registers of the bailywick and constableries of their precincts . this article is altogether useless , in regard that the new ordinance which is now observed through the whole realm , hath sufficiently provided for the recording of baptisms and marriages . article xi . celebration of marriages . that they may not make any mariages betwixt persons that are catholicks and those of the pretended reformed religion whereon any opposition is made , untill such time as such opposition have been removed by the judges to whom the cognizance thereof doth appertain . this settlement is also to be numbred amongst the fruitless , and there is no need of an ordinance to inforce this duty upon the ministers . for they do never bestow the nuptial blessing on marriages contracted betwixt persons of divers religions , unless it be by vertue of some decree or judgement of the magistrates . their own ecclesiastick discipline forbids them to do otherwise ; and when there is opposition the cognizance whereof belongs unto the judges , they never proceed till they be determined . art . xii . consistories . that those of the pretended reformed religion may not receive into the assemblies of their consistories others than those whom they call elders with their ministers . the consistories of those of the pretended reformed religion are composed , not only of ministers and elders ; but also of deacons who have the particular care of feeding , cloathing , and harbouring the poor . the discipline of the pretended reformed churches makes express mention of these three sorts of persons , regulates their charges , their imployments and their functions , being therefore the edict of nantes in the thirty fourth article of the particulars doth authorize the exercise of this discipline , and that even the thirty fifth article doth formally name the deacons as being part of the consistories ; it is not credible that the kings intention was to exclude the deacons from thence . but as it is usual to draw advantage of every thing against them of the pretended reformed religion , if the word elders be left alone in this article of the declaration ; occasion undoubtedly will be taken thereby to hinder the deacons from entring into their consistories , contrary to the order of their discipline and the intent of the edict . wherefore it is necessary to add unto this article the term deacons which is there omitted . besides this illustration there are three other particulars also , no less necessary to make this article accord with the discipline of the pretended reformed churches , and with the edict of nantes which doth authorize it . for their discipline , which is the rule of their conduct in their ecclesiastical politie wills , that when they are about the calling of a minister all the heads of the families of one flock should be assembled to give their voice ; as being all concerned in the establishment of a person who is appointed for their service : so that if they of the said religion may receive none into their assemblies but ministers , elders , and deacons , they cannot call any ministers to the service of their churches when they have need ; which cannot be the kings intention . besides the edict of nantes in the forty third article of the particulars , permits those of the pretended reformed religion to assemble , to make impositions of monies which are necessary for the charges of their synods and entertainment of their ministers , which notwithstanding they cannot do , if this article of the declaration be continued as it is , and if they cannot receive into the assemblies of their consistories other persons than their elders and deacons . and it may may also come to pass that there may be found troublesome spirits who will contend that they may not call offenders and scandalous persons into their consistories , to censure them according to their merit and to reduce them to their duty . for the avoiding therefore all ambiguity , and that there may not be left any advantage for contentious spirits to trouble those of the pretended reformed religion without cause ; this present article had need to be explicated , in such sort that his majesty thereby doe declare , that he intends not at all to deprive those of the said religion of the liberty of calling into their consistories those whom they shall think fit to cause to come thither because of scandal ; nor to assemble the heads of families for the calling of their ministers ; nor to hold assemblies permitted by the edict for imposition of monies for the entertainment of their ministers , and charges of their synods . art . xiii . donations and legacies . that the elders of the consistories may not be appointed inheritours nor legatees universal in their said quality . the forty second article of the edict of nantes is repealed by this . for it contains that the donations or legacies made or to be made , whether it be by last will in the case of death , or made by the living , for the entertainment of their ministers , doctors , scholars , or for the poor of the pretended reformed religion or other matters of piety , should be valid , and obtain their full and intire effect , notwithstanding all judgements , decrees , or ether things to the contrary thereof whatsoever . this settlement is general and absolute ; and it distinguisheth not betwixt the universal and particular donations . and by consequent it respects the one as well as the other . for there where the law distinguisheth not , men are not to distinguish . also the king lewis the just , your majesties father , finding this law to be indisputable , confirmed it solemnly in 1616. by his royal answer to the paper of those of the pretended reformed religion in these terms . the forty second of the private articles made at nantes concerning donations and testamentary legacies let it be observed in favour of the poor of the pretended reformed religion notwithstanding any judgements to the contrary . and all the decrees of the counsell and parliaments have been alwayes conformable to this law : this change is therefore surprizing and a notable breach of the edict . at the least we cannot doubt that the kings justice will make him find two things reasonable and necessary , to which his majesty is most humbly besought to have regard . the one is that being no ordinances have any power retroactive , nor touch any thing that is past ; he would be pleased to ordain in the explication of this article of the declaration that it may not prejudice those donations or legacies universal which were formerly made to the consistories . the other that it is not the intention of his majesty to hinder particular donations which may be given to consistories . it is very certain , that the king's design is not to forbid them . for being that in this article he forbids only donations universal , it follows necessarily that he confirms the particular . in the mean time they begin by an excessive transport to dispute the particular gifts and legacies ; and parliaments have lately made some rigorous decrees , against which , those of the said religion demand justice of his majesty , at whose feet they seek their only refuge ; beseeching him to authorise the particular donations which have been , or shall hereafter be made unto the consistories , conformable to the forty second article of the particular of nantes , notwithstanding all decrees and judgments to the contrary . art . xiv . preaching and residence of ministers in divers places . that those of the said p. r. r. assembled in their synod national or provincial , permit not their ministers to preach , or reside in divers places by turns , but on the contrary do enjoyn them to reside and preach only in one place which is given them by the said synods . this article contains two parts , the one regarding the preaching , and the other the residing of ministers in more than one place . as for the preaching by course in divers places , it is true , that there have been many decrees pro and con about this matter ; so that indeed the business being at this day as it were suspended , amongst many decrees contrary to one another ; it belongs now unto his majesty to determine of them by his soveraign authority . and his justice gives them of the p. r. r. to hope that he will maintain them in the liberty of their annexes , taking away the prohibitions which have been made against their preaching in divers places . that which gives them this hope , is this , that these prohibitions have been founded on no other thing than a misinformation . for they never had any other foundation than from the edict of the month of january one thousand five hundred and sixty one , by which it was forbidden ministers to walk from place to place , and from village to village to preach there by violence and without right . but it doth not treat at all of this business of annexes . for it is agreed , that ministers ought not to be vagabonds , and wander from place to place of their own fancy . their discipline it self doth sorbid this ; and the maxims of a good conscience , as well as those of good polity do oppose it . therefore the edict of january is in this point altogether just . but the annexes suffer not the ministers to be vagabonds ; but on the contrary fix and settle them with certain flocks . they do not give them liberty to go and preach in places where the exercise is not permitted ; but on the contrary fix them in places where they have right to exercise according to the edict . what is it then that should hinder the ministers that they may not preach in two or three places of this nature ? what pretence can the ecclesiasticks find to give a colour to their enterprise ? will they alledge the edict ? but that forbids not to preach in divers places , when they have a right to exercise . besides , there is found a decree made in the council in the month of may 1652 , by which the king doth formally declare , that all the decrees which have outed the ministers of this liberty , are contrary to the edicts . so that the intent of his majesty's being to cause the edict of nantes ; to be exactly observed , there is ground to believe , that he will leave unto the ministers this liberty , the prohibition whereof he hath himself declared to be contrary to the edicts . will they alledge the declaration given at s. germain the nineteenth of december 1634 , which they will pretend to be so much the more available , for that it was verified in the chamber of the edicts of castres the first of january , 1635 ? but this declaration was founded upon this , that the ministers of languedoc went to preach in divers places of that province , where that exercise was not allowed them . these are the proper words which are read in that declaration , which by consequence concerns not the annexes where they have right to exercise . will they alledge reason ? but what reason is there to hinder a minister to preach in many places , when one is not of sufficient ability , nor furnished with fruits of the earth to entertain him ? can the estate or the publick suffer any prejudice thereby ? do we not see , that when cures are too weak every one to maintain a curate alone , they put two together under one rector ? that which is approved amongst parish priests , how comes it to be criminal amongst ministers , when the poverty of the flock permits them not to have one person whole and entire unto themselves ? besides this poverty of these small p. r. c. is come from no other cause , than that the pension of a hundred and thirty five thousand livers agreed unto by henry the great , for the entertainment of their ministers , hath for some time ceased to be paid . for if they had continued to be paid , every flock might have had its own minister without annexing any . it is not therefore probable , that at the same time when the king withdraws his liberality , that he will hinder the feeble flocks in the country to find out some other means to conserve unto themselves , at least , a part of the ministry , by joyning themselves to some other neighbour's flock , which may help its subsistence . do they alledge the usage ? that is all contrary to the pretence of the clergy , for unto this very day it hath been always seen in all the provinces of the realm , that the small p. r. churches have united themselves two or three together for to raise a pension for one and the same minister . finally , do they alledge the interest of the ecclesiasticks ? besides , that they ought not to be heard in this sort of affairs , because they are the principal parties , against whom the complaint is made , it seems also that it would be for their interest to diminish the number of the ministers , instead whereof , if they hinder them from preaching in many places , they will oblige them in every p. r. church , to use their uttermost endeavour to have a minister apart , which will much augment their number . for there is no person who will not resolve rather to sacrifice his temporal commodities , than continue deprived of spiritual sood , which he supposes needful for his salvation . so that all the pursuit of the clergy in this affair will effect nothing but only to incommodate them of the p. r. r. in their estates , and thereby render them less able to contribute to the necessity of the publick . these considerations are they which give hope that his majesty taking particular cognizance of this affair will leave them of the p. r. r. in the liberty of their annexes ; and that in expounding the present article of the declaration , he will have the goodness to say that in forbidding the ministers from preaching in divers places , he intends not to hinder them from preaching , save only in those places where they had not right to exercise , according to the decrees of the council of the twenty sixth of sept. 1633 , and of june 1635 , and may 1652. as for the residence of the ministers , the edict doth not only authorise it in every town , and every place of the realm indifferently in the sixth article of the generals , and first of the particulars : but moreover hath interpreted himself by a decree made in council , april 24 , 1665 , by which it is permitted to ministers to make their residence with their families in such cities , burroughs , and villages near the place of their settlement as they shall choose . and without doubt the king intends no otherwise here . but notwithstanding because this article of his last declaration may receive another interpretation , his majesty will be pleased of his goodness to remove all ambiguity which may be found therein , declaring with reference to the residence of the ministers , that his intention is agreeable to his decree of 24th of april , 1665. article xv. the churches of foedary estates . as also that they of the p. r. r. who assist at their synods , shall not enter in the tables of their churches , the places where the publick exercise of their religion is forbid , nor those wherein it is permitted only by the priviledge of the lord and in his castle . since the churches of the feodary estates are established by the edict as well as those of possession or of bayliwicks ; they ought to be comprized in the tables of the synods as well as others . and they have at all times used this order from the beginning ; and there is no cause to change an usage so constant and innocent . all that they can require of those of the p. r. r. is that in the tables of their synods they distinguish their churches , and express which are of feodary estates , which of possession , and which of bailywicks whereto they shall yield obedience if it be judged necessary . but to require absolutely that they should not put into the tables of the synods the churches feodary estates , were to make the ministers of those places so far independents , that they should neither have superiour nor discipline , nor be restrained by any other curb , so that they might live after their own fantasie to the prejudice of the estate it self . for the tables of the synods are nothing else but the appearances of the ministers in their assemblies , where every one of them is set down by his name , and that of the church he serveth . being therefore it is necessary that the ministers appear in their synods according to their discipline which straitly enjoynes them to be there ; so it is necessary that the churches of feodary estates should be entred in the tables of those societies . article xvi . correspondence betwixt the provinces . as also in like manner , that they of the pretended reformed religion may not entertain any correspondence with them of other provinces , nor write unto them under pretext of charity or other affair whatsoever , nor receive appeals from other synods , save only to remit them to the national synod . the artifice of the clergy have fitted this article expresly to render the inviolable fidelity of those of the p. r. r. suspected , of which they have given so essential proofs to the king , that this great prince hath been pleased to testify by publick marks how well he is satisfied therein . for in his declaration may 21 , 1652. he useth these terms , and for as much as our said subjects of the p. r. r. have given us certain proof of their affection and fidelity in these present occasions , wherewith we rest very well satisfied . and his majesty may be pleased to remember that in a certain letter which he wrote in the year 1655. and which is found in a publick book whose impression is dispersed into the hands of all the world , he makes use of these words which are a perpetual commendation to them of the p. r. r. i have cause to praise their fidelity and zeal for my service , they on their part not omitting any occasion to give me proof thereof , and also beyond all that can be imagined , contributing in every thing to the behoof and advantage of my affairs . these good testimonies which his majesty hath given them in so authentick manner , will incline him to reject this article which tends to the dishonour of their fidelity ; as if they were a people capable to betray the estate , and to carry on by their correspondencies with the provinces , criminal caballs against the service of their soveraign , whose prosperity is more dear unto them than their very lives . since the king is pleased to permit them to live and to profess their religion in the realm , necessity requires that they be permitted to write and correspond with the provinces for their ecclesiastick affairs , as well as their secular : for without this neither can their universities subsist any longer , who have no other maintenance but by the relief of the provinces , neither can they demand nor receive the payment of the sallaries of their professors and of their regents : and when they want a professor they cannot provide if they be deprived of the liberty of searching out , and sending for them by letters , the only means to be imployed in such exigencies . it is also evident that this article of this declaration contradicts it self . for in forbidding to receive appeals from other synods , save only to transmit them to the national synods , they authorize national synods , and approve the convoking of them . but how can they be convocate if the provinces may not correspond one with another , and it be not permitted unto them to write ; being the convocation of national synods is not nor cannot be made without letters sent into the provinces , as well to advertize them of the time as of the place where they are held , as to authorize the deputies which ought to be present in those assemblies . finally this article gives occasion to them of the p. r. r. to beseech his majesty to consent unto their national synods in the term of their discipline , which requires that these general assemblies may be held from three years to three years . for during the long interval of time which intervenes betwixt the national synods , to hinder appeals unto other synods , were to open a gate to infinite helpless unredressable inconveniencies . this were to forego the means of removing scandals , extinguish vices , and to oppose the abuses of the discipline , and corruption of manners . this would bring in disorders whose course and progress all good men ought to desire to obviate , stop , and prevent . so that this article being of very dangerous consequence in every part of it , they of the p. r. r. do fervently beseech his majesty to revoke the whole , as being inconsistent with the liberty which is given them by the edicts , and also ruining their discipline which permits appeals from other synods in the tenth article of the eighth chapter . article xvii . colloquies . the same prohibitions are made to the ministers , elders , and others of the p. r. r. to assemble any colloquies , except at such times as the synod is assembled by the permission of his majesty , and in the presence of his deputed commissioner . the establishment of this article doth not only stifle the edict of nantes , but blows it up all at once . for the edict authorizes the colloquies in such a manner as permits not to contest their establishment . this is in the thirty fourth article of the particulars which hath been already rehearsed on another occasion , that in all places where the exercise of the said religion shall be publick , the people may be assembled , and that also by the sound of a bell , and do all the acts and functions that appertain as well to the exercise of their religion , as the regulation of their discipline , as to hold consistories , colloquies , and synods provincial , and national by the permission of his majesty . it cannot be imagined that they can elude these so authentick words , and say that the declaration doth permit our colloquies only during the session of the synods , and that the edict goes no farther . for the contrary doth appear manifestly ; and they must first make them of the p. r. r. renounce all common sence , before they can perswade them a thing so evidently irreconcilable to the intent , disposition , drift and settlement of the edict , which distinguishes the colloquies from the synods , as different assemblies , and which may be held at divers times . if the edict would only authorize colloquies during the sitting of the synods ; they may maintain by the same reason that they are not permitted to hold consistories but in the synods , nor provincial synods but in the national . the article of the edict being not more express for the consistories than for the colloquies , and not expressing the one in any other manner than the other , wherefore like as the one is intirely unsustainable , and cannot sall into the thoughts of any person , so the other is no less to be rejected . besides , ever since the edict the p. r. churches have alwayes without impeachment enjoyed this liberty of their colloquies , and the answers made unto their papers at divers times by the king's majesties predecessors , have maintained them in this usage , which by this means is found to have the edict for its foundation , and also the possession of threescore and ten years , which alone is a title more than sufficient . this is the reason wherefore nothing herein can be changed without contradicting his majesties intention , who declares that he wills that the edict of nantes be exactly observed . and certainly the ecclesiasticks cannot pretend to any thing wherein they will find themselves more destitue of all appearance of reason than in this point , for what pretence can they make to colour the prohibition of the colloquies ? do they conclude of any thing that may render them odious or suspected ? have they not there a commissioner for the king as well as in the synods ? the affairs which they handle there are they not purely ecclesiastick ? and the shortness of the time which they imploy therein , which in ordinary extends not beyond a day or two , shews it not that these innocent societies propose nothing to themselves but readily to expedite some points of their discipline ? finally , being they permit the synods , for what reason do they forbid the colloquies , which are nothing but small synods peculiar to one class , one bailywick , or one stewardship , as the synods are general colloquies for the whole province ? what then can be the scope of this condemnation of the colloquies ? surely it cannot come but from a bare meer design of inconveniencing those of the p. r. r. and hurting their affairs . but this cannot be the design of the prince , who seeks on the contrary the repose , comfort and commodity of his subjects , as the preface of this declaration it self doth testify . this is only the intent of the ecclesiasticks , who hate them of the said religion and seek all possible means to cross them and to render their condition miserable . for to exclude them from the colloquies , would be a means to cast them into inexpressible inconveniencies , for that the synods not sitting but from year to year , and in some provinces from two years to two years , they cannot without colloquies held in the meanwhile intervals , remedy those previsory and pressing affairs which will be now worse by delay , and which for the most part require to be handled in those very places where they happen , about which they easily assemble the colloquies , because they are composed of few persons and they not far distant , which cannot be said of the synods . without these little societies which assemble easily , they must suffer vice and scandals to take their course without providing against them . their flocks must remain whole years and sometimes longer without ministers , when death deprives them of those that did serve them . in one word , so it might come to pass that they of the p. r. r. might have a whole year without discipline . for when persons of bad lives amongst them cannot be reduced to their duty , there are none but the colloquies that are capable to censure them , and they will enjoy license and impunity in their sins during a whole year , if the colloquies be abolished , or remitted to the times of the synods only . for this is more truly to abolish them than remit them in this manner , for the colloquies have nothing to do when once the synods are assembled , for then all their affairs may be decided in the synods . and this is also to require an impossibility to oblige them of the p. r. r. to hold their colloquies during their synods , and that in the presence of the deputed commissioner . for there are provinces that contain seven or eight colloquies . what means then can there be to send the commissioners to eight places at one time ? or if they will that it be done successively , how tedious must those synods henceforth be , for regulating as well the general affairs of the province as the particulars of all the several classes ? and where shall they find commissioners that will have the patience to attend so long time from their houses , and to quit their charges and imployments ? and will the governors of the provinces or lievetenants of the king suffer the synods to continue their assembly for many months ? his majesty is therefore most instantly besought to revoke this article , which suppresseth their colloquies , and to leave matters of this concern to the terms of the edict and usage , notwithanding all decrees and judgements that have been made to the contrary . art . xviii . assemblies , commissions , deliberations and letters in the interval of synods . neither to make any assemblies in the intervals of the said synods , wherein during the said interval they may receive any candidates , give commissions , or deliberate of any affairs by circular letters , or in any other manner , on any cause whatsoever , on pain of being punished according to our edicts and ordinances . it was not enough for the clergy to assault our colloquies . they were affraid that for want of these ordinary meetings we should attempt a supply by assemblies extraordinary , or by letters-missives or by some other means . wherefore to the end that they might make it impossible for them of the pretended reformed religion to exercise their discipline , which is so formally authorized by the edict , that they might ruine them by division ; the clergy have proposed to have them forbidden all sorts of assemblies , commissions , deliberations and common letters for what cause soever , on pain of being punished ▪ according to the rigour of the ordinances . this is a grief uncapable of any consolation to them of the said religion to see themselves thus treated . for god be praised , they have done nothing wherefore their zeal to the kings service ought to be suspected , and their adherence to the good of the estate is immovable . their conduct and their actions speak for them in the one and in the other of these two things , and they shall continue all their lives in these sentiments which make one essential part of the duty of their consciences . in the mean time if they had a design to betray their country they could not be tyed and chained more strongly than by forbidding them all sorts of assemblies , commissions , deliberations , and letters . above all this the passion of the clergy cannot suffer that they should receive candidates in the intervals of synods : this is the effect of an animosity whereof the pretence is hard to be imagined . for since we are permitted to have ministers and since we are not hindred to receive them in the synods ; what reason can the ecclesiasticks alledge to forbid them to receive candidates in the intervals of synods in which they think good that they should be examined ? it is manifest they can render no other reason than their own animosity , which carries them on to desire that they of the pretended reformed religion may continue oftentimes unprovided of ministers . for if a minister happen to die immediately after the session of a synod , it may so fall out that his church as a widow shall not only keep a year of mourning , but remain subjected also to two years of widow-hood , in those provinces where the synods assemble not but from two years to two years . and it must needs be , that during all this time , she be deprived of the word of god preached , and the administration of the sacraments ; that the sick die there without consolation , and infants without baptism ; this inconvenience being so much more remediless in the terme of the declaration , because by the fourteenth article , ministers are forbidden to preach in divers places , and by that all means are taken away from a church that is destitute to have assistance from any neighbour-minister : so a place that hath right of exercise very certain and well known , shall hereby be uncapable of enjoying it notwithstanding . but this mischief doth not stay here neither . for if this article of the declaration stand , we must speak no more of synods themselves . it will be impossible to call them , or execute their orders . for how shall they call them if letters-missives be forbidden ? being this assembly cannot be called but by circular letters sent to all the flocks of a province , to give them warning to cause their deputies to appear in the place and time designed for holding those assemblies ? and how shall they execute their orders and acts , if commissions and letters be forbidden them ; for the resolves of synods are not executed but by these wayes , or by deputing commissioners to carry them to the places , or giving them charge to write letters to the persons concerned , to the end they may be reduced to their duty when the synods do sit no longer ; or by authorizing some ministers to deliberate with their consistories , and so to conclude those affairs which the shortness of the time permits them not to project and design by the synods , nay , it will not be possible to have ministers if commissions have no place any more ; for ministers are not installed in their charge , nor invested in their ministry but by means of commissioners named in the synods for laying hands on them , which cannot be done but in the intervals of synods , because the discipline of those of the pretended reformed religion ordains , that the candidates who have been examined by the synods , shall make three sermons of tryal on three lords dayes successively before the church whither they are sent , before they can receive imposition of hands and power to administer the sacraments , from the commissioners deputed for that purpose . it must here be added that this article proceeds yet farther , and leaves them of the pretended reformed religion no more any surety for their persons or their lives . for they are forbidden to deliberate of any affairs for any cause , or in any manner whatsoever on pain of being punished . so as soon as two or three persons of that religion be seen together , their enemies will pretend that they are consulting of affairs , and bring process against them . there will be no tranquillity for them in the realm , neither can there be any society , conversation or commerce amongst them without danger . his majesty is therefore besought with all the ardour of which his subjects of the pretended reformed religion are capable , that he would take off this prohibition , and take away an article so fatal to their repose . article xix . the validity of marriages . that the ministers , consistories and synods of the said pretended reformed religion , take not on them to judge of the validity of marriages made and contracted by those of the said pretended reformed religion . an article needs not for a thing which they of the pretended reformed religion have never designed to undertake . they leave it to the magistrates to judge of the validity of marriages , and their ministers do pretend nothing therein : only their calling obligeth them to reprove and censure the incestuous ; and the king without doubt doth not intend to deprive them of this power which is given them by their discipline , the exercise whereof is authorized by the edict of nantes . article xx. those that are sent to catholick colledges . the like prohibition is also made to their consistories and synods to censure or otherwise to punish fathers , mothers , and tutors who send their children or pupils to the catholick colledges or schools or elsewhere to be instructed by catholick masters , notwithstanding that the said children be not constrained to imbrace their religion . this prohibition cannot stand with the thirty fourth article of the particulars of nantes , by which it is permitted to them of the pretended reformed religion to exercise all acts and functions that belong to the regulation of their discipline . and it may be seen in this discipline the fourteenth chapter and fourteenth article , that it is forbidden to fathers and mothers of that religion , to send their children to the colledges and schools of those of the catholick apostolick and roman religion . this is therefore a manifest repeal of the edict to take from the consistories and synods the power of censuring fathers and mothers in this case , being that censure is part of that discipline the exercise whereof is established by the edict . this doth not hinder but that when the regents of colledges and masters of schools are of sufficient discretion and fidelity not to discourse of religion to infants , their fathers , mothers , and tutors may send them to their classes to be there instructed , for this is a daily practice . but if they do attempt to induce them to change their religion , can the consistories then be blamed for doing their duty in advertizing fathers and mothers to withdraw their children from a place where they believe their souls are in danger . this article then is of the number of those of which the edict demands the revocation . article xxi . bonefires . that when bonefires are to be made by the order of his majesty in publick places , and when execution is done upon criminals of the p. r. r. there ministers and others of the p. r. r. shall not have power to sing psalms . the prosperity of the king and of the estate will alwayes produce sentiments of joy and gladness , in the hearts of those of the p. r. r. as becomes the true and faithfull subjects of his majesty . they will render thanks unto god publickly in their temples , and also bless him privately in their houses . that it is to no purpose to forbid them to sing psalms in publick places on what occasion soever ; and the clergy have made use of this prohibition only to make shew that they attempt things which never came once in their thoughts . article xxii . burials in churches or church-yards . that the dead bodies of those of the said p. r. r. may not be interred in the church-yards of the catholicks , nor in their churches , upon pretext that the tombs of their ancestors were there , or that they had there any right of lordship or patronage . this prohibition is also needless , for that they of the said religion have never had any thoughts of interring their dead in the churches , nor in the church-yards of them of the c. r. r. but this article that speaks of patronages , gives occasion to them of the p. r. r. to complain unto his majesty of the wrong which is done them in all the provinces of the realm , by hindering them to enjoy their right of patronage which was left them by the thirty fourth article of the generals of the edict of nantes , and confirmed by an authentick decree of the council of estate , july 10 , 1651. by which his majesty doth keep and confirm his subjects of the p. r. r. in the possession and enjoyment of naming capable persons to the benefices of which they are patrons , with the charge only of naming persons that are catholicks , of whom it gives them power to make the said nominations and presentations : which being done the bishops , arch-bishops , and other ecclesiastical collators shall be obliged to admitt in the ordinary form such nominations and presentations as shall be so made ; his said majesty ordaining that this regulation should be executed from point to point according to the form and tenure thereof , notwithstanding all judgements to the contrary . if the clergy have gotten any decrees since this differing therefrom , they are decrees gotten by surprize , and which ought not to be put in ballance with this of 1651 which was granted in foro contradictorio and upon full cognizance of the cause . they of the p. r. r. do therefore promise themselves from the kings justice , that the consideration of his own ordinance , joyned with the authority of the edict , which in the eighty ninth article willeth , that all lords , knights , gentlemen and others of what quality or condition soever they be of the p. r. r. shall be effectually preserved in the enjoyment of all their goods , rights , nominations , reasons and actions , will cause him to maintain his subjects of the said religion in a right which doth appertain so legitimately unto them , and which is annexed to their fees and lands which they possess . if there be any small appearance of difficulty in this matter , it is fully removed by the condition prescribed in the decree of 1651 , which orders that the nominations and presentations unto benefices shall be made by persons of the c. r. r. to whom the lords of the p. r. r. shall have given their power . this condition was more than sufficient to remove from the most scrupulous what they might find to object against the right of patronages possessed by them of a different religion , for as to the capacity and manners of those whom they shall name to benefices , there is no fear of abuse therein , because that it pertains to the bishops and ecclesiasticks to judge thereof , and that it is in their power not to admit any persons in whom they do not find the necessary qualities . article xxiii . exposing dead bodies before the gates . that those of the said religion may not expose their dead bodies before the doors of their houses , nor make any exhortations or consolations in the streets upon occasion of their interrments . they pretend not hereto at all , and this tends only to perswade his majesty that they of the p. r. r. are an adventurous presumptuous busie people , and which take to themselves liberties which they are not allowed , to the end they may hinder this great king from having compassion on their miseries and hearing their groans , which the violence of their grief doth continually draw from them . article xxiv . the hour and number requisite for interrments . that the interments of the dead bodies of those of the said pretended reformed religion may not be made in those places where the exercise of their religion is not permitted , but in the morning at the break of the day , and in the evening in the entrance of the night , and that no greater number may be assisting thereunto than ten persons of the kindred and friends of the dead , and that for those places where the publick exercise of the said religion is permitted , the said interrments be made from after the month of april to the end of the month of september precisely at six of the clock in the morning , and six of the clock at night ; and they may have for convoys , if they please , the nearest kindred of the deceased , and to the number of thirty persons only , their said kindred being comprised in that number . the greatest animosity ceaseth for the most part after the death of the persons who are hated , and those who cannot be born with whilst they are alive , become an object of compassion after they are dead ; this notwithstanding the hatred of the clergy against them of the p. r. r. extends it self also beyond their decease , and they are desirous to trouble them in their sepultures , of which the said consolation is not denied to the greatest enemies . the article which the ecclesiasticks have obtained , as also the decree which they have gotten by surprize from the counsel about this sad affair , is capable of engendring endless troubles and suits . for they will continually molest persons about the hour , namely whether the interrment be made after six in the morning , or before six at night : about the number , namely whether the carriers of the dead be to be esteemed to make part of them that assist as convoys ; in which case it often falls out , when the number is limited to ten , that the children cannot perform their last duty to their father , or else be constrained to carry him themselves to the grave . they will dispute also whether those that betake themselves to the church-yard to behold the interrment , and those which are found in the street looking on the bier as it passeth , are not to be considered as exceeding the number permitted ; and they will find many other means to disquiet them of the p. r. r. on these occasions , which are sufficiently dolourous of themselves . by which means we shall daily find some poor families who in the midst of the tears they shed , and sorrows which overwhelm them because of the loss of their dead , will see themselves also against all sense of humanity , committed into the hands of judges who will condemn them , and of serjeants who will execute their sentences upon them with all rigour . the edict of nantes , nor other edicts and declarations made thereupon , have never yet limited neither the time of funerals , nor the number of persons . they of the p. r. r. have alwayes enjoyed a full and entire liberty in this respect , and it is but of late that they have been deprived thereof by the solicitation of the clergy : wherefore they hope that his majesty considering that this limitation is a nursery of suits and disorders , will revoke all this article of the declaration , and the decrees which have been made conform thereto , and will leave them of the said religion in the liberty of their burials , that they may enjoy them so and in the same manner as they have been accustomed to use them before such decrees . but besides all this his majesty will be pleased to understand , that in the countrey the execution of this article is absolutely impossible , for the church-yards are very far distant , and oftentimes it behooves them to travail two or three leagues to commit their corps unto the earth . if then they be not to part from the house of the dead untill the entry of the night , how can they make so tedious a convoy through the horror of darkness , many times through dreadful wayes and mires , through which they will have all trouble imaginable to make passage ? the morning hour doth not help this mischief at all , for if they set out at break of day it will be necessary thereupon that they travel two or three hours after the sun is risen : from whence the parish priests will not sail speedily to lay hold of occasion to raise suits , and also to oppose the convoy by violence , as it hath fallen out in many places , so that the dead corps hath been abandoned in the midst of a great high-way ; upon pretence that the interrment ought to have been accomplished by break of day , for which reason the parliament of rouen , who cannot be suspected to be too favourable to them of the p. r. r. have made a regulation importing that burials in the country may be made at all hours , except only those of the divine service of catholick apostolick roman churches . this being a thing evidently just , should be ordained through all the realm , adding only an explication of what is intended by the hours of divine service , that it comprizeth only the morning service and the celebration of the mass , because if the hours of divine service be understood to contain all those in which any sort of ceremonies or religious offices may be performed , there will be no hours left free in the whole day for the interrments of those of the p. r. r. from whence many suits have been seen to arise in normandy , about the hours of divine service . but instead of making an article against them of the p. r. r. about the matter of burials , it were much more necessary to make one against them of the c. a. r. religion ; for they trouble and abuse the others excessively in their interrments , making insolent noises and cries after them ; pursuing them with blows of stones , many times breaking open the gates of their burying places ; filling the graves appointed for their sepulture with bones and ordure , and act many other indignities , of which the examples are so frequent , that it were a vain thing to make report of them . it is also a thing very ordinary with them to hinder those of that religion from burying their dead in their parishes where their predecessors have had burial places , upon pretence that the publick exercise of their religion is not there had or is not there permitted . and oftentimes violence is used to disseize them of the liberty acquired by the edicts , and sometimes they come to arms , and that with a confused rout of people to dispute with them the entry of their burying places . it is to these disorders that his majesty is most humbly besought to provide remedy , which may hinder that no such violences nor seditious practises may happen any more ; by ordaining that the funerals of those of the pretended reformed religion may be freely made , without molestation or scandal ; and with prohibition to insult over them in word or deed , according to the twenty ninth article of the exict of nantes ; as also to disturb them in regard of the hour or number of persons in these occasions . article xxv . burying places . that the burying places possessed by those of the p. r. r. and those which belong to churches , shall be restored to the catholicks , notwithstanding all acts and transactions to the contrary . and for those burying places possessed by them that are not belonging to churches , in places where they have none but what are common with the catholicks , they of the said p. r. r. shall exhibit within three months the antient registers of those places before the commissioners , executors of the edict , or their catholick subdelegates , to make proof that the said burying places do not belong to the catholicks ; in which case they shall be restored without any re-imbursement : and in case they of the said p. r. r. do not produce the said registers within the said time , they shall be obliged to quit the said burying places to the catholicks , without pretending to any damages by reason thereof . and in case of eviction from the said burying places , his majesty doth permit them to buy others at their own charge and expence in places commodious , and which shall be appointed them by the said commissioners or their subdelegates . the hatred of the clergy against the deceased of the p. r. r. is declared by degrees . in the twenty third article they have forbidden them the liberty of exposing them before the doors of their houses , to expell them from that small honour unto which notwithstanding they of the said r. r. have never pretended . then afterwards they deprived them of the convenience and benefit of convoys in the 24th article . and behold here also they would take from them their burying places that they might deprive them of burial , which humanity and the laws of nations have allowed all the world. it is manifest that the ecclesiasticks have observed no moderation in this article , for they will that notwithstanding all acts and transactions , the burial places should be taken from them of the p. r. r. if they had pretended that they had usurped their burial places there had been reason to oblige them to restore them , but to dspossess them of what belongs unto them by just titles , and by vertue of good acts and authentick transactions , is to have no regard to right never so well established . they will alledge that the burying places belong to churches , and that this is a sufficient reason to deprive them of the p. r. r. because that their divine service is disturbed by their burials in this case . but the funerals of those of the said r. cannot cause any the least trouble to them of the c. a. r. r. in their churches , because they are not made with singing , preaching , prayers , or any ceremony at their interrment . and if the burying places of them of the p. r. r. belong to any churches , or are nigh them , they were the commissioners deputed by his majesty who have chosen and assigned those unto them in those places by the consent of the parishioners . it is very true that those of the said religion refuse not to forgo those burial places which appertain to churches , and they will be very glad that others be given them in convenient places . but since that those burying places have been given them by the kings commissioners , and they enjoy them by titles unquestionable ; it is altogether just that the catholicks should deliver unto them others ; or repay unto them the price of the ground , and charges of reparations and augmentations which have been made by them . and this is the most humble supplication which they direct unto his majesty in this particular . for the other burial-places which belong not to churches , and which nevertheless are common to them with those of the c. a. r. r. the article of the declaration is in that point very surprizing . for it requires that those of the p. r. r. should make proof that those burying places do not at all appertain to the catholicks . that is to say , they would oblige them to prove a negative , against all the law of the world. it had been sufficient to require them to prove that these priviledges had belonged unto them . for possession alone of more than forty years suffices , and hath the force of an uncontrovertable title . but to constrain them to prove that these burying places belong not to others , is indeed without all excuse . it is also true that those of the p. r. r. refuse not to quit the burying places which they have common with them of the c. a. r. r. but since these also have been assigned them by his majesties comissioners , and that they possess them by acts and transactions whose truth cannot be drawn into question ; reason requires also , that they be re-imbursed , or that they who would have their burying places , should give them others at their charge and expence in convenient place . but instead of disputing with them of the p. r. r. the possession of their burying places , it were more necessary to provide against the troubles which are given them to hinder their enjoyment of those which are not belonging to churches , nor common to them with the catholicks . for this is a very common evil , and which hath of late caused strange disorders . for so it is , that when there dies in the country any person of the p. r. r. in a parish where there is no burial-place appointed for them of that communion ; if they would carry the corps to some burying place which they have in some neighbour-parish , the parish-priests oppose them with incredible heat , yea some of them have come also to that excess , as to threaten to raise the country against the bearers , and those which did accompany the bier . being this is an inhumane action and which natural compassion cannot suffer , that the earth should be forbidden to any dead person whatsoever ; the king is most humbly besought to imploy his authority in this matter , and to ordain that either in every village , some burying place be delivered to them of the p. r. r. according to the twenty eighth article of the edict of nantes ; or that in such places wherein they have no burying place , they of the said religion may carry their dead to some burying-place , which they have in some neighbour-parish . article xxvi . process for cases reserved to provosts . that house-keepers of the said p. r. r. against whom the presidial courts shall issue process , in any case subject to the jurisdiction of the ordinary judges or provost , shall not cause the competence to be judged in the chamber of the edicts when the said presidial courts have commenced the suit before the provosts ( or ordinary judges ) but the competence shall be judged by the said presidial courts ; in which case the defendant may refuse three judges without cause known , according to the sixty fifth article of the edict of nantes . notwithstanding the said house-keepers of pretended reformed religion being defendants upon any crime under the jurisdiction of the ordinary local judges , may demand their remission to the chambers of the edict , for to cause the competence to be there judged , where the provost or ordinary local judge shall begin the suit according to the 63 , and 67 articles of the edict , which shall be executed as to vagabonds according to their form and tenor . and the judgement made upon the declinator by the said chamber , for the housholders of the said p. r. r. shall take place for the catholicks defendants , for , or upon the same crime where the process shall be made conjunctly . the import of this article is terrible , in that it respects the lives of those of the p. r. r. whom it throws back , especially those of the provinces of guyenne , languedoc , province and dauphine , into the first condition in which they were before the erection of the chambers of the edict , which were expresly agreed upon for their sakes , that they might not be left exposed to the passions of the inferiour judges , whose motions are commonly more suddain , more hot , and violent than those of soveraign courts . this notwithstanding , this article withdraws the house-keepers of the p. r. r. from under the chambers of the edict , to subject them in causes in the jurisdiction of ordinary judges unto the presidial court , that they may judge of them with soveraign authority . which the clergy pretends to ground on this pretence . so it is , say they , that the edict of nantes in its sixty seventh article hath not attributed to the chambers ordained by this edict , the power of judging of competencies in process criminal , but only when they are brought by the provosts ( ordinary local judges ) and not when they are brought by presidial courts . but there can be nothing more unreasonable than this imagination of the clergy . for if presidial courts cannot judge of the competition of provosts , ( inferiour judges ) and are obliged to remit their judgement to the chambers of the edicts , when the defendant requires it ; how much less are they capable to judge of their own proper competence ? for being herein they are concerned in their own personal and particular interest , there is cause certainly wherefore they should be the more suspected ; what appearance of reason can there be to make them judges of their own proposals ? and to what danger shall not the lives of them of the p. r. r. be exposed for the future , if they be abandoned to those judges , out of whose hands they have been withdrawn so many years by the edict , who come now to revenge themselves on them for the time they have lost ? neither may they pretend to diminish this danger , by saying that the presidents cannot make criminal process against any house-holder of the p. r. r. but only in cases subject to provosts , ordinary local judges ; for if they be once established judges of their own competencies all crimes shall become provostall in their hands , wherein persons of this religion shall be concerned ; so instead of one provost ( inferiour judge ) from whom the edict doth exempt them , they shall have many who shall treat them severely upon all occasions . and it will come to pass oftentimes that the presidial courts by a suddainness as formidable as that of the most fiery provosts ( ordinary judges ) will dispatch an honest man in twenty four hours time ; because he hath not any means to bring himself before his proper judges , who are the chambers of the edict . farthermore , it appears manifestly by the settlement of this 67 article of the edict of nantes , that the intention of the law-giver was to comprehend equally under the same law the provosts and the presidial courts : for after that he had ordained that the competency should be judged by the said chambers , if the defendant did require it , he adds , that as well the judges in presidial courts as the provosts marshal , vice-bayliffs , vice-sheriffs , and all others that judge finally , should be obliged respectively to obey and satisfie the commands given them by the said chambers , in such manner as they have been accustomed to do to parliaments , upon pain of deprivation from their estates : where it is manifest that the right of judging competencies granted unto those chambers , respects the one as well as the other ; for the presidials have not received power to judge finally in the four provostal cases ( i.e. which belong to inferiour judges ) otherwise than those provosts had it before : so that the authority of the one ought not to be priviledged more than that of the others who first exercised it . in a word , there needs but one thing to be noted for discovery of the surprize in this article of the declaration , which is this . that the edict hath absolutely taken away from parliaments the cognizance of process criminal against them of p. r. r. and the declaration hath attributed soveraign judgements of the same unto the presidial courts . is it because the presidial courts are more capable more illuminate , and less passionate than the parliaments ? who sees not in this the surprize of the clergy , from which may it please the king to secure those of the said religion by a revocation of this article ? but they have need that his majesty would herein also redress another mischief . for they have attempted to ruine their liberty likewise in regard of criminal process , which they make against them by the provost marshals or by their leivetenants . witness the decree got from the council by surprize the 15 of october 1647. which declaring that the crimes of making and uttering false moneys , altering the species and clipping of gold or silver ; and the adherents and accomplices of these crimes , should be in the sole jurisdiction of the provosts in case of citation by them , whether the defendants were housholders or not ; did forbid the chamber of the edict in castres to receive the petitions of appeal , which should be presented unto them by these of the p. r. r. upon these capital heads , when they should be accused thereof ; or to decree any distresses against the clerks of the provosts ( ordinary judges ) for not remitting of the proceedings , which had been made before them against the defendants , if they were not actually in their prisons . whereupon it comes to pass that the provost marshals will no longer obey the chambers of the edict , which having made way for divers conflicts about jurisdiction before the council , decrees were observed with astonishment to be given shortly after , which denied unto the parties accused , the remission which they demanded of the chamber of castres to judge of the competence . there can be nothing more contrary than this not only to the edict , but even to the kings last declaration , who in this 26th article agrees so expresly that the housholders of the p. r. r. being defendants in any case provostal ( i.e. subject to ordinary judges ) should be remitted to the chambers of the edict , where their process is made by the provosts ; so true is it that one prejudice granted against them of the said religion makes way for many others , and gives boldness to push on against them the extremity of rigour . for this cause , the king taking notice of the consequence of the breaches which may be made of the edict , will be pleased to preserve it intire , causing for that intent this article to be expunged , which is found so opposite unto this edict , giving such assurance unto his subjects of the p. r. r. or to provosts marshal , that they may never more have cause to fear any thing because of their jurisdiction , from which they are so formally exempted , nor of the decrees which would subject them thereunto , which they instantly demand of his majesty to rescind . article xxvii . the preceding of judges . that the judges of the said p. r. r. in sheriffs courts and others , may not preside in the absence of the heads of their company , but catholicks only , who shall be mouth to the rest ; so as to exclude the officers of the said p. r. r. notwithstanding that they be the more ancient . how shall this blasting article be reconciled with the 27th of the edict of nantes ? in which they of the p. r. r. are declared capable to hold and exercise all estates , dignities , offices and charges publick whatsoever , and to be indifferently admitted and received without being rejected or hindred from enjoying them , because of the said religion . and with the forty eighth of the peculiars of the said edict which expresseth , that the most ancient president in the chamber 's miparties should preside in the audience , and in his absence the second ; the order and rank established for the presidents , serve for a rule to the judges assessors . besides , this matter hath also been decided by the royal answers of henry the great , as well in the paper of 1599. upon the first article of the twelfth chapter , as that of 1663 upon the 19 article . the king therefore , who with a design truly worthy the greatness of his soul , is resolved to walk in all things after the glorious steps of his grand-father , will be pleased to maintain that which hath been so justly established by that admirable prince , and will cause this article which is contrary thereunto , to be put out of the declaration . the importance is so great , that if this prohibition be left therein , it will continually furnish new matter for insulting over the officers of the p. r. r. and to put such affronts upon them as will render their lives extremely bitter . this hath been seen of late in mountaubau , where the private lievetenant of the presidial court of that town , hath had a pretension the most unreasonable in the world , and notwithstanding hath procured it by surprize to be authorized , having obtained upon petition to the council a decree , importing that another leivetenant of the same bench but of the c. a. r. r. should take place , not only in that which is proper to the presidency , but in all other functions of his charge , notwithstanding that he was the younger in admission ; which is expresly against not only the edict , but also to a decree of the council given in the 26th of february , 1664. on the behalf of the officers of the court of aids of montpellier : for there it is ordained that the officers of the p. r. r. should in all other acts as well as that of presiding , and being mouth of the courts be preserved in their rank , sitting , place of seniority , and prerogatives according to the order of their admission . therefore the other decree which respects the leivetenant of montaubau being contrary to the preceding settlement of the edict and the decrees of the council , cannot in any wise stand good , and the king is humbly besought to null it , as a surprize made upon him by a petition as uncivil in its ground as artificial in its utterance . article xxviii . process of commonalties . that the process that concern the generality of the towns and communalties , whose consuls are parties in this quality , although the consulat be miparties , shall not be drawn into the chambers of the edict for affairs that concern accompts only ; although also amongst them the number of the persons of the said p. r. r. be greater than of the catholicks , saving only to the particular persons of the said p. r. r. . to enjoy their priviledge of appeal to the said chambers of the edict , in which we will that they be preserved according to the edicts . the intent of this article is more dangerous than the words . for therein is found by all appearance a fault in the impression , and that in these words , for affairs which concern accompts only , the word accompts is put by mistake for that of commonalties . for this article is taken out of a decree made in council the seventeenth of november 1664. by which the cognizance of all affairs of towns and of corporations , in which the consuls are parties in this quality , is taken from the chambers of the edict , albeit in those communities the consulate be mipartie and that therein be more persons of the p. r. r. than catholicks . but both that decree , and this article of the declarations are a surprize made upon the kings justice . for the edict of nantes is to all purposes contrary to this new settlement . and the 34th article of the generals cannot suffer it . there it may be seen that the law-giver after he had established the chambers of the edict , regulates their competence , and ordains that they should take cognizance and judge soveraignly and finally by decree privative to all others , of process , and differences , moved and to be moved , in which those of the p. r. r. should be the principal parties or securities , whether plaintiff or defendant , and in all matters civil or criminal , whether the process were made in writing or by verbal appeal . it is not possible to give a larger extent to the competence of those chambers . for the edict speaks generally of all processes , and all differences , moved or to be moved , in all matters civil and criminal , when they of the p. r. r. are defendants or plaintiffs , parties principall , or security , by writing or word . can there be any doubt , considering this exactness , that it was not the mind of the edict to attribute to the chambers which it erected , the cognizance of all affairs of them of the said religion , in what manner of cause soever they might be ; and that in this generality , process in which communalties were made parties , should not be comprized as well as others ? and that which affords a proof yet to more clear , is , that in the same article of the edict , after that he had so strongly extended the competence of the chambers , he comes in the sequel to specifie the restrictions which ought to be made thereto . except saith he , for all matters of benefices and possessions of tythes not inscoft , ecclesiastick patronages , and causes wherein shall be concerned the rights , duties or demaines of the church , which shall be created and judged by the courts of parliament , so that the said chambers of the edict shall have no cognizance thereof . there is no person that may not easily gather from hence , that if the process of communities , in which they of the p. r. r. have interest , could not be brought to the chambers of the edict , they ought to have been placed in this exception , which so particularly notes out all the reserved cases : and in that it hath not spoken thereof , it is an indubitable proof that the edict had no intention thereof to deprive the said chambers . on the contrary , it appears manifestly by the 51. article of the generals , that it would have the chamber of judge of the affairs of communalties and towns. for there these words are read , there shall be made unto the said chambers miparties , propositions , deliberations , and resolutions which belong to the publick peace , or for the peculiar estate and polity of the towns where these chambers shall be . for if the affairs which respect the publick peace , and those which concern the estate and polity of the towns , be under the jurisdiction of these chambers ; it may reasonably be concluded that those of the communalties are not without their competencie , being that of all the affairs of the communalties there are none of greater importance , than those of the publick peace and polity of the towns. and certainly reason also doth evidently agree in this with the edict . for if in particular affairs , wherein one person alone of the p. r. r. is concerned , the cognizance belongs to the said chambers , to the exclusion of parliaments , then much more in general affairs , in which thousands of people are included , and how much more in the affairs of those commonalties wherein they of the p. r. r. are found to be many more in number than the catholicks ? every thing follows the nature of the parties ; and being the chambers of the edict only have the power to judge soveraignly of all the particular interests , in which they of the said religion pretend to have some right , how can they contest against their judgement in their general interests , who are the body and compositum whereof the others are only members and parts ? for to say that the commonalties ought alwayes to be esteemed catholicks , how great soever the number be of those of the p. r. r. is an allegation which cannot satisfie any equitable persons . this maxim though it were certain , cannot be extended farther than to respect things purely honourable , and where the publick authority is not only touched ; but not to respect matters of gain , in which the question is only of interest ; and of this rank are the processes in which the generality cannot suffer , but the particulars must also infallibly suffer at the same time . being therefore the edict doth secure the lives and estates of those of the p. r. r. their interests ought to be preserved in all sorts of affairs , whether they be common or particular . it is in vain to reply here that the article of the declaration provides sufficiently for their interest in agreeing that every one should have apart , the priviledge of his appeal to the chambers of the edict . for besides that this benefit , which doth only regard private persons of the said religion , hinders not but that they may be hurt in common : it is certain that the private persons themselves will find no relief for their sufferings . for when once they are condemned by the parliaments in their body , in the community ; they will deride them when every one in particular comes to help himself by his priviledge , and betakes him to the chambers of the edicts . they will treat them as persons already condemned , they will hear them no more : they will despise all their reasons , they shall have brave demanding justice , they will not forbear to ruine them piecemeal , and send them back with their appeal to pay those sums from which they were exempt by the edict . this article therefore being so troublesome , and so prejudicial to them of the p. r. r. his majesty is most humbly besought to discharge them thereof , without having any regard to the decree of the seventeenth of november 1664. and to permit the chambers of the edicts the soverain judgement in all their process and all their differences , with reservation only of those , whose cognizance belong to the courts of aids and chambers of accompts , which they do not pretend to decline in affairs which are in their competence . article xxix . states and sessions of diocesses . that according to the declaration of 1631 , and the twenty seventh article of the edict of nantes , in the towns where the consulates and consul politicks are miparties , the first consul shall be chosen out of the number of such inhabitants as are best qualified , and of ability to bear cesses ; with prohibition to those of the p. r. r. to demand admittance to the first consulate , neither into the estates they held in the provinces , nor in the sessions of the diocesses . hitherto the clergy have done nothing else but contradict the edicts , but here they also contradict themselves . for in this article which they have suggested , and is a surprise , they would , that according to the declaration of 1631 , and the twenty seventh article of the edict of nantes , the first consul should be of the c. a. r. r. and that those of the p. r. r. be not admitted to the first consulate , nor be admitted into the estates , nor into the sessions of the diocesses . in the mean time , the twenty seventh article of the edict , admits those of the said religion to all estates , dignities , offices , and publick charges ; as also it receives them into all councils , deliberations , assemblies and functions , which depend thereon indifferently , and without distinction . so that whilst they alledge this article , they destroy it ; and making semblance to execute it , they utterly overturn it from top to bottom . as for the declaration of 1631 they have but little more faithfully cited it to his majesty . for here we see is a general settlement , which forbids them of the p. r. r. to enter into the assemblies of the estates which are held in the provinces . whereas that declaration of 1631 was particularly for them of languedoc and guienne ; and it speaks nothing at all of their entrance in the assemblies of the estates ; but only of the my party division of the consulates and politick charges . it is indeed true , that the declaration ordains , that the first consul should be always of the c. a. r. r. and because of all the consuls none but the first enters the assembly of the estates in languedoc , the said declaration by that means shuts the door against all the consuls of p. r. r. in that province ; which is a formal opposition to the said twenty seventh article of the edict , and they of the p. r. r. have good ground thereof to demand a revocation . but so far are they at this day from repairing the wrong which they did then , that they have aggravated it yet more , and have in divers places outed them of the p. r. r. from the consulate whole and entire , which the declaration of 1631 had only made miparty ; and now over and above all , the clergy by an evident surprise have here taken occasion by an ordinance which hath respect only to the consuls of languedoc , to forbid the entrance into the assemblies into the estates generally to all those of the p. r. r. in what part of france soever they live ; that they might comprehend in this exclusion those persons which have right thereto by the edict , and which is more , which are in peaceable possession , and who never have been questioned for their entrance into , aud rank in the estates of their country ; as the jurats of bearn , who without distinction of religion have been always for more than this hundred years received into the estates of their province . as also the lords , gentlemen and others of this religion , who without any difficulty have been admitted into all the estates of the realm , and who here implore the justice of his majesty for the conservation of their right , beseeching his majesty to declare , that it is not his intention to deprive them thereof . but the surprise of the clergy doth not stay here ; but that which renders it altogether insupportable , are the last words where they mention the sessions of the diocesses , this is a novelty which was never heard of before , and renders the condition of those of the p. r. r. wholly deplorable . though it might well be said , that as to the estates , the first consulate being taken from them of the said religion by the declaration of 1631 , they could not , according to the terms of that declaration , pretend to have any entrance there : yet the same cannot be extended to the sessions of the diocesses , for to this day all the consuls from the first to the last as well of the one as of the other religion have always without difference had entrance into these sessions of the diocesses , because they are coaequators ( i.e. assessors ) born , as they speak in languedoc , that is to say , that in the quality of consuls , they have all the right of proceeding unto the division of the taxes , and other impositions laid on the diocesses by the order of the estates ; the sessions being nothing else but an assembly made in every diocess , after the sitting of the estates , for making necessary impositions . being then there is nothing treated of in these sessions , but the division of the charges which are to be born by them of the p. r. r. as well as others ; and that all the consuls without exception have right to assist there , it is just that they should be admitted as heretofore , for the preservation of their interests there . for by what justice can they banish from those sessions the persons who are to bear the greatest part of the charges , who pay to the king much more than they of the c. a. r. r. because they are more in number , and possess more lands ; the difference being so great , that of eight parts they have seven in divers places ; wherefore shall they be driven from those assemblies where they have so great an interest , if not to this end , that in their absence they may cast on them the whole charge to be born , that they may ruine them , and overwhelm them by unreasonable impositions , and many times contrary to the edicts , and that they may treat them not as subjects of the king , and natural french , but as strangers and prisoners of war , whom they would put to their ransom ? being then all this article is contrary to the edict , and to the liberties of those of the p. r. r. and drawing after it the ruine of their estates , let it by the king 's good pleasure be cast out of the declaration , and above all , the end which excludes them of the said religion from entring into the estates and the sessions of the diocesses ; and for to secure their repose in a point of so great consequence , they do most humbly beseech his majesty to rescind all the decrees , judgments , and declarations , which may have given any occasion to this article . article xxx . common council of towns and commonalties . that in all assemblies of towns and communities , the catholick consuls , and common-council-men be at least of equal number to those of the p. r. r. into which assemblies the rector or vicar may enter , as one of the common-council , and have the first vote , in want of other inhabitants better qualified , and without prejudice to the right of those places which may appertain to ecclesiasticks , provided of benefices situate in the said places . the manner then of putting this article into execution in all communities , being there are divers places in the realm , where all the inhabitants are of the p. r. r. is reserved to the parson and his vicar . it will therefore come to pass , that in such places they can never assemble , and that the publick affairs be wholly deserted ; where the voters are not above four in number , which is not at all reasonable ; and besides there are occasions in which it will be impossible . for sometimes affairs occur which concern the parson and other ecclesiasticks ; so that in those places where there are none of the c. a. r. r. but the parson and his vicar , no deliberation can possibly be had in those accidents . adde hereunto , that in many places there are ancient statutes which exclude the ecclesiasticks from entring the town-houses , for that they contribute nothing to the ordinary charges , by reason of their privileges ; and therefore it is not just to put into their hands the conduct of the affairs which concern the communities . and it may also be feared , lest the affairs of the king receive prejudice , because in these assemblies the curats , parsons and vicars will have so great care of the interests of the clergy , that those of his majesty may thereby be incommodated . this article therefore not being possible to be executed , doth of it self require to be suppressed . article xxxi . single municipal employments . that the charges of the secretaries to consular houses , clerks to communities , clock-keepers , porters , and other charges municipal , which are single , shall not be held by any but catholicks only . it must needs be , that the clergy have a strange hatred against those of the p. r. r. being they cannot suffer them to be so much as clarks , clock-keepers , or porters . should not they take notice how contrary this pretension is to the intent of his majesty , who declares , that he wills that the edict of nantes be exactly observed ; that edict which admits indifferently , and without distinction in the twenty seventh article , those of the p. r. r. to all estates , dignities , offices and charges publick whatsoever belonging to knights , nobles or cities , of which these last are they which this declaration terms municipal . in the mean time against a settlement so clear repeated and confirmed in the tenth article of the particulars , they will not allow the least employments , nor the smallest offices to them of this r. ought not the clergy to have had more respect to the king 's royal promise , and not to have demanded of his majesty things which he hath published to the whole world , to be contrary to his will , whilst he declares , that he will observe the edict of nantes ? but this article doth not only combat the edict , but it surpasses also the rigour of the declaration 1631 , which imports that all the municipal charges should be miparties , and that one half of them should be supplyed with those of the c. a. r. r. and the other half of the p. r. r. which is so well observed , that the single places , as those of the secretaries to the consular houses , are used by turns one year by a person of the c. a. r. r. and another year by one of the p. r. r. and so in order consecutively . there are therefore no bounds to the animosity of the ecclesiasticks against them of the p. r. r. in the year 1631. they were content to demand that the municipal offices should be m●parties , now they will wholly exclude those of the said religion . in which it must be avowed , that they little consider reason so they satisfie themselves . for goods and lands being possessed by them of the p. r. r. as well as others ; the inequality it self being so great in divers places that of eight parts those of the p. r. r. possess seven , as hath been already observed ; can there be any reason to require that all the titles and the records of heritages and of lands , should remain in the hands of those of the c. a. r. r. to dispose at their pleasure , and to cause the substance of others to disappear when they shall be possessed with envy toward them , or any other emotion inspired by the diversity of their religion , shall cause them to conceive such a design ? this is therefore an article upon which the justice of the king is implored to cause it to be intirely abolished , and his majesty may easily judge of how great importance it is to retain a settlement so rigorous , in that it continually furnisheth new vexations to his subjects of the p. r. r. as appears by the injury done to them of castres , where under pretext of this article which forbids them all single municipal charges , they will not permit them any longer to be porters to the town ; notwithstanding that this charge is not a single one , and that there are many porters according to the number of the gates ▪ this is a very clear proof that the least pretext serves to bring the uttermost extremity upon them of the p. r. r. because they look on them as persons upon whom they may attempt all things without fear of punishment . article xxxii . trades and professions . that in the assemblies of the sworn masters of trades , the catholicks shall be at least equal in number to those of the p. r. r. it behooves that we voluntarily close our eyes that we may not perceive that this article proceeds farther than it seems , and that the clergy hath here another design than what appears in their words . for they know that there are places where all the masters of certain trades are of the p. r. r. for that those of the c. a. r. r. neglect those professions , and apply not themselves thereunto . from whence the clergy could not fail to infer , that it was impossible to put this article in execution in those places . but the ecclesiasticks would in this affair cover another more secret intention . that is , to reduce and limit the number of the masters in every trade . for , if in the companies of the sworn masters , those of the c. a. r. r. ought to be at least in like number with them of the p. r. r. it will quickly be concluded from thence that no masters are to be received , untill the number of those of the catholick a. r. r. become equal to the others . and they will then proceed yet much farther , for then they will have the number of the masters of the c. a. r. r. to be much greater than that of the others , and that the same proportion is to be kept which is in every place betwixt the persons of both religions . this is the reason that the parliament of normandy hath forbidden the admitting of any goldsmith , or grocer of the p. r. r. in the town of rouen , untill such times as they are reduced to fifteen , that is to say , that for fifteen goldsmiths of the c. a. r. r. there can be but one of the p. r. r. that which is done in trades is done also with the same rigour in all liberal arts , in all professions , and in all imployments . it is no more possible to cause them to receive any advocates of the said religion , and the parliament of rouen have made a regulation , secret indeed , but which is executed with all possible exactness , importing that they will not receive any more advocates of the p. r. r. untill such times as they are reduced to the number of ten for the parliament , two for the presidial courts and bailywicks , and one only for the sheriffs courts , that is , that there be none received into parliament for fifty years , for that half an age at least will be necessary to make this reduction to the number of ten . in like manner they receive no more clerks , no more notaries nor messengers , no more ushers nor serjeants , no more attorneys . and we see with grief in the suppression which is made of a certain number of attorneys in every seat of judicature , they have pitched alltogether of them of the p. r. r. that they may drive them from all the jurisdictions of the realm . it is incredible that ever such a change could be seen to come in an estate where the edict of nantes hath been so well verified by parliaments , and so authentickly confirmed by the successors of henry the great . upon what grounds do they interdict them of the p. r. r. of the functions of counsellors , clerks or attorneys ? what have those charges common with religion ? and to exclude them of the p. r. r. from the quality of counsellors , is no other than to cause that their innocence and the merits of their causes should be without support before the tribunals , that they may be oppressed at the pleasure of their enemies , and adverse parties . for to reduce them of the p. r. r. to serve themselves of no others than councellors of the ca. a. r. r. were to take from them all means to defend themselves in matters of religion , there being no likelihood that counsellors of another faith would take on them to defend interests of that nature ; or if they would , it must needs be done with such feebleness and negligence , that no success could be thereupon expected . they proceed so far herein as not to be willing to suffer any physitians of the p. r. r. as if the precepts of hyppocrates and galen were incompatible with the consession of the faith of the p. r. r. churches . the parliament of rouen have limited the number of two to that great town , and almost all the universities of france begin to refuse the degrees of doctor in physick to those of the p. r. r. notwithstanding that we see the jews , open and declared enemies of christianity , do exercise this profession , and fill even the chairs of physick in the most famous universities of italy . finally it is not sufficient to say that they do at this day limit the number of those of the p. r. r. that aspire to professions and arts , we must also add that they exclude them wholly . for it is not without incredible pains that any one hath admittance . and as for trades , they refuse with a high hand in a manner all those that offer themselves , without alledging any other cause than their religion . this is not only simply to shut upon them the gate to honours and dignities ; but it is also to take away from them of the said religion , all means of gaining their lively-hood ; and to condemn them cruelly to dye of hunger ; as if there were left no more humanity for them neither in their hearts nor in their spirits . it is true that the king hath been willing to remedy this injustice by his decrees given in council the 28th of june , the 18th of september and 10th of november 1665. by which it is ordained that those of the p. r. r. should be indifferently admitted to arts and trades serving their apprentiships , and doing their master-pieces , by which also the contrary decrees of the parliament of rouen are rescinded . but there are three things which grief and necessity force them of the said religion to present before his majesty . the first is , that neither the parliaments nor the inferiour jurisdictions depending on them have any regard at all to these decrees of the council . they make open profession not to regard them , and they are not afraid to say aloud that they will not yield to them at all , if the king do not express himself otherwise , nor make them understand his will by a declaration formal . in effect the court of money by a decree of the 17th of december 1666. have forbidden any master of the goldsmiths to be received in rouen , untill such times as the number of the catholicks be supplyed : and thereupon the jurisdiction of mony in the said town hath refused an apprentice-goldsmith to be received master , and have dismissed him lately by their sentence of the 12th of july 1668. the parliament of paris hath fined one named magdalen de la fond , and put her to pay costs and damages , and forbids her the exercise of the trade of a linnen merchant by their decree of the seventh of september 1665. somewhat more than two months after the first decree of the council which ordained , that those of the p. r. r. should be indifferently admitted to arts and trades , being dated june 28 , 1665. and which is yet more astonishing , the council it self made a decree of the like nature , august 21 of the same year 1665. to forbid that there should be any linnen merchant in paris of that religion . by which one may conclude that the decrees of the council are not sufficient to establish a certain law , and that the declarations of the king are necessary to determine affairs , especially in the savour of them of the p. r. r. who find always strong opposition in the spirits of their judges . the second thing to be considered in this place is , that the decrees of the council speak only of arts and trades , and not of professions and charges , such as be of small consequence , as those of clerks which hath given them occasion obstinately to refuse physitians , counsellors , attorneys , clerks , ushers and serjeants by a marvellous hard usage , which constrains them which have these gifts and talents proper for the service of the publick , to continue in forced silence which renders them unprofitable to the estate , and which overwhelms them in confusion ; as if they were persons notorious and infamous , and which had deserved for their evil actions not to be admitted into any honest profession , nor received into any remarkable employment . this is the reason , that they of this religion which perceive themselves to have any capacity , and which may be profitable to their country , think of nothing else but to retire themselves out of the realm : and the estate by this means will see it self deprived of many persons of merit and service , by whom strangers benefit themselves to the prejudice of france . the third thing which ought here to be observed , is , that the decrees of the council receive not them of the p. r. r. to arts and trades , but under condition of apprentiships and performing master-pieces , to deprive them by this clause of those letters of master-ship which the king hath been accustomed to grant upon important and advantageous occasions , as hath been done in favour of the general peace , the happy marriage of his majesty , the birth and baptism of my lord the dolphin . they of the p. r. r. cannot express the grief they have conceived from a decree gotten by surprise from the council july 21 , 1664 , by which they are deprived of these letters , which are the gracious favours of their soveraign , the refusal whereof cannot be unto them but most sad , not only because of the prejudice which they receive thereby , but especially because of the dishonour which it casts on them . for to refuse them these letters of mastership , is loudly to declare them unworthy of the least grace from their prince : and what would they not do to recover themselves from this blasting ? are they not french by birth and original as well as others ? take they not part as they ought in the prosperities of the estate ? the general peace , the happy marriage of his majesty , the birth and baptism of my lord the dauphin , and the other advantages of the crown and royal house , are not their hearts therewith sensibly affected ? have they acted any treachery , or any attempt which might exclude them from those graces which diffuse themselves to all others subjects ? on the contrary his majesty hath testified himself for them , that they have given proofs of their fidelity and zeal beyond all he could have imagined . this is therefore a surprise made upon his majesty , whereby a decree hath been obtained from the council , wherein the rigour proceeds so far as to declare them of the p. r. r. unworthy the favour of being shooe-makers , or joyners . they are those of this r. especially that have need of these letters of freedom , for that the most part of the masters of the c. a. r. r. will not take them for apprentices , and the guardians being almost never satisfied with their master-pieces , the entrance into trades in this way is to them ordinarily impossible . besides these letters have never been denyed them hitherto , they have always very easily obtained them ; they peaceably enjoyed them ; and this hath made their refusal more pungent and afflicting . but above all this they cannot sufficiently complain of the unjustice of the parliaments , who overbearing that infallible maxim of right , that no law hath any effect but for the time to come , would this notwithstanding , that the decree of the council of july 21 , 1664. which deprives those of the p. r. r. of the letters of mastership , should have a virtue retroactive . for they condemned those persons to shut up their shops , who in consequence of such letters were admitted masters , and who had many years before exercised their trades . therefore the king is most humbly besought to redress this : and for to stay those disorders which cast his subjects of the p. r. r. into a famine worse than that which comes through the barrenness of the earth , or which will force them to seek their bread in strange countries , as many in considerable numbers have done already , to the great prejudice of the trade , and manufactures of the realm ; his majesty will be pleased to ordain , that they of the said religion may not be refused upon what pretext soever it be to be admitted into arts , and into trades , and that they be received indifferently , whether it be by letters of mastership , or apprentiships , or master-pieces ; and that those who have heretofore obtained letters of mastership may not be hindred to make use thereof , and that at length those of the said religion may be admitted into all sorts of professions , of arts and trades , without restriction or limitation of number , that they may enjoy all the rights , and perform all the functions which depend thereon . and that his majesty would have the goodness to insert this into a declaration in good form , that may not leave any more place of disobedience to passionate judges and officers . article xxxiii . ceasing of singing psalms in churches whilst processions pass . that when the processions in which the holy sacrament is born , pass before the temples of those of the p. r. r. they shall cease to sing their psalms until the said processions be past by . here is no appearance that they would have this article to be extended to all sorts of procession of that quality which is here specified , for that it would be impossible to obey what pains soever were taken therein . for the most part of these processions are arbitrary , and unforeseen , and made on days and hours not fixed , nor settled ; how then can it be possible for those who are in an assembly to know when they are to pass ? and how shall they who sing in a temple , many times far distant from the street or way , shut in with walls , and in a place apart , understand whether a procession pass or not ? there is therefore sufficient reason to believe , that the intention of the king in this article is to speak only of that solemn procession of the day called corpus christi day , which being known and foreseen of all people , those of the p. r. r. may be forewarned not to preach in the morning of that day , but to chuse some other , as is already practised in divers places . this is the interpretation which they herein request of his majesty for preventing the evil intentions of those who seek to trouble their repose , and will raise a thousand suits against them , if this article remain in the condition it is in at present . for if they of the p. r. r. whilst they are in a temple , be not silent when a procession passeth , although they could neither foresee it , nor discover it , nor perceive it ; they will not fail to fall on them , and draw them into law , and condemn them to pay great amercements ; and perhaps will use them far worse . for they will think themselves sufficiently authorised to assault the temple , and to treat it as rebellious , and demand to have it pulled down , and it may even so come to pass , that the people in the procession will seditiously pull it down at that instant , through their fervor , without attending the order of justice , as hath been often seen in those times in which they have had no declaration which might serve them for a pretext for such popular commotion . and this may happen to be the mean to raise whole cities , and to cause such flames as cannot be extinguished but by the blood of many persons . his majesty therefore will be pleased to revoke this article ; or at least to make it clear , by restraining it to the procession of the day named corpus christi day , and leaving , in regard of other processions to them of the p. r. r. the liberty which they have always enjoyed , notwithstanding all contrary decrees , judgments and ordinances . article xxxiv . to make clean the streets before their doors against festival days . those of the said p. r. r. shall be obliged to suffer their houses to be hung in the streets by the authority of the officers of the place , and other places appertaining unto them , on the feasts days ordained so to do , according to the third of the private articles of nantes , and that they of the said p. r. r. shall make clean before their doors . it is true , that by the third of the private articles of the edict of nantes , they of the p. r. r. are obliged to suffer hangings to be put up before their houses , but not to clean the streets before their doors . this is an addition to the law , and which appears also contrary to the law , for that the edict in the sixth general article doth expresly signifie , that those of the p. r. r. may not be constrained to do any thing to any religious purpose against their conscience . they then humbly beseech his majesty to dispense with them for sweeping before their doors , on the occasion of the feasts , because this is a thing repugnant unto their consciences , being done as a religious ceremony , which their faith approves not of . this also will be after a short season a matter of suit also ; because they will always pretend that they have not swept clean enough ; and there will be found people so ill disposed , as to cast ordure before their doors , to the intent they may make them criminal offenders . for this cause , being the civil ordinances are sufficient for cleansing the pavements of towns , and those of the p. r. r. are at all times very careful to acquit themselves well herein before their horses ; there is no need of the last clause of this article , and his majesty is besought to revoke it . article xxxv . meeting the sacrament in the streets . that those of the pretended r. r. meeting the holy sacrament in the streets , carried abroad to the sick , or otherwise , be obliged to retire at the sound of the bell which goes before it ; or if not , to put themselves in a posture of respect , by putting off their hats , if they be men , with prohibition that they appear not at the doors , shops , nor windows of their houses , whilst the holy sacrament passeth , unless they put themselves in such posture . being the king leaves unto them of the p. r. r. the liberty of the alternative , and permits them to retire in these incident cases ; they never give cause to complain of them . but they find themselves constrained in this matter to represent three things unto his majesty . the first is , that they are always in these occasions hindred from retiring ; the way is stopped , the doors of the houses are shut upon them , they are held by force , they are outraged , they are laid on with blows , after all this they are over and above punished , as not retiring : his majesty is therefore besought to add unto this article , that no hindrance be made to them that would retire ▪ and that those who attempt to stay , force , or outrage them in any manner whatsoever , be punished as disturbers of the publick peace . the second is , that whereas in this article nothing is said save only of meetings in the streets , many flye out so far as to require them to put off their hats , who are closed in chambers and houses , and in case they refuse , they make criminal process against them , and hold them a long season in prison without any other cause , by an unexcusable violence . so far that they would even oblige the councellors of the p. r. r. to be uncovered when they are within the tarress , where the object of the adoration of those of c. a. r. r. is neither seen , nor perceived , and whence it is not possible for them to retire . his majesty is therefore besought to declare , that this article is not extended , but to those meetings which happen in the street only , and not otherwise . the third thing is , that the parliament of rouen , in verifying the king's declaration have much aggravated this article . for whereas the king obliges those that will not retire , only to put off the hat , which respects men only , and insists on an action less than bending of the knee ; the parliament extending the rigour of this authority against both the sexes , have carried it on so far , as to command : that they should put themselves in the same observance as the catholicks , that is to say , to kneel : which cannot be reasonably exacted of them of the p. r. r. so long as they are left in the liberty of their faith. therefore his majesty expounding this article in the manner which hath been represented , may be pleased to forbid to hinder them who would retire , or , to do them any displeasure ; by declaring that this article is not to be extended , save only to meetings which happen in the streets , without having any regard to the verification of the parliament of rouen , which he discharges , as contrary to his intention . article xxxvi . levies of moneys . that those of the p. r. r. may make no levies of money amongst themselves , in the name and pretext of collects , but only those that are permitted them by the edicts . those of the p. r. r. make no levies of money amongst themselves , but what are permitted them by the edicts , they pretend not to make any others ; and those who would raise this suspition amongst them , do impose upon them a thing of which they are extremely innocent . and by consequence this article ought to be rescinded as to no purpose . article xxxvii . collectors of money appointed for the affairs of those of the pretended reformed religion . that the money which they have power to impose may be imposed in the presence of a royal judge , according to the 43 article of the particulars of the edict of nantes , and the state thereof be transferred to his majesty or his chancellor , and with prohibition to the collectors of the taxes to charge themselves directly or indirectly with the levying of the money of them of the said p. r. r. which they have imposed for their particular affairs , which shall be levied by distinct collectors . nothing should have been said to this article , if the zeal which they of the p. r. r. have for the service of the king , had not obliged them to speak thereto . for it is certain that those who have suggested this settlement in thinking to hurt them , have done nothing but to the prejudice of his majesties affairs . the reason is manifest which is this , that the collectors of the taxes of the provinces of guienne and languedoc , making at the same time the levies of the money appointed for the entertainment of the ministers ; these collectors have still more money in their hands , and by consequence the king is much better paid ; because the collectors do alwayes take of all the money which comes into their hands , that which belongs unto his majesty by preference in the first place . but this is not the interest of them of the p. r. r. save only so as the interest of the prince is the same with that of all his true subjects . and it suffices them here to remark only how the ecclesiasticks are animated against them ; being they regard not at whose cost their passion is declared , and that the interest of the king himself cannot hinder them from hurting them of the said religion , when occasion is presented them . article xxxviii . contribution to the charges of chappels and guilds . that according to the second article of the particulars of the edict of nantes , the artisans of the said p. r. r. may not be obliged to contribute to the charges of chappels , fraternities , or other the like ; if there be not statutes , conventions , or foundations to the contrary : and yet notwithstanding that they may be constrained to contribute and pay the rights which are ordinarily paid by the masters , and the freemen , of the said trades , that the said sums may be imployed to the relief of the poor of the said trades , and other necessities and affairs of the trade . the clergy who see that it is the intention of his majesty in his declarations to cause the edict of nantes to be exactly observed , imploy all their force and art to ruine the edict , whilst they make shew to conform themselves to it , and in searching out biases which may give it some supposed senses , whereby they may turn it against them whose protection it undertakes . this is the principal artifice of the ecclesiasticks . this is that wherby they think to cast powder in the eyes , and this method appears in no part of these declarations more naked than in this article . for here we see the second article of the particulars of the edict of nantes cited , by which the artisans of the p. r. r. are discharged from contributing to the charges of chappels and fraternities . but we find three wayes practised to make this article unprofitable to them of the said religion ; and to imploy it even against them . the first is , that they apply to the fraternities the exception which is found in that article , when it saith , except they have any foundations , donations , or other settlements made by themselves or their predecessors . and yet it is certain that the foundations and donations have no respect unto the brother-hoods , but only to the other things specified in that article , as churches and chappels . the second means is , that by an ingenious shift whilst they discharge the artisans of the said religion from contributing to the charges of chappels , and brother-hoods , and such like ; they condemn them nevertheless to pay the same sums from which they exempt them , to be imployed to the relief of the poor , and necessitous of their trades . this is directly to pull away with one hand what they will not receive with the other . the king hath not the terms of his declaration so intended ; being in this place equivocal , those persons which are enemies to them of the p. r. r. will never fail readily to give it an inconvenient sence . therefore his majesty is besought to expound himself , and to make it known that in subjecting the masters and artisans of this religion to the payment of the dues to the trades , he hath not intended those which are paid to the services and devotions of the guildes ; but only those which the masters of the one and the other religion are obliged to pay for the relief of the poor , and for the sustaining the affairs of their trade which are purely politick . the third is much more considerable and dangerous , which is , that in this article of the declaration they have inserted the word statutes , which is not found in the second article of the particulars of nantes ; and by this word statutes they will elude the whole settlement of the edict . for there is no guild which hath not its statutes , so that they of the p. r. r. shall find themselves bound by the force of this word , to contribute to all the guilds , to the prejudice of the edict which exempts them from doing any thing contrary to their consciences . and that they may leave them of the said religion no hope of saving themselves therefrom , they have contrived of late to make new statutes for their trades , obliging the masters to cause masses to be said , expresly to this intent , that they may subject them to the charge of the service of the guilds from which the edict hath exempted them . yea , and by vertue of these new invented statutes they will pretend to exclude all those of the p. r. r. from trades , because there are found in them articles which oblige the masters to the service and ceremonies of the c. a. r. r. church , and which amount to thus much that none shall be admitted masters who make no profession of the c. a. r. r. and because these statutes are made since the edict of nantes , they will maintain that they do derogate therefrom . his majesty therefore to obviate this mischief which is contrary to his intention , and to the decrees of his council , will be pleased to hear the most humble petition which his subjects of the p. r. r. make unto him to expunge this article of the declaration , and to be contented in the matter of chappels and guilds , with the second article of the particulars of nantes , and to expell out of his ordinance , the word statutes , which is not found in the edict ; and acording to his equitable wisdom to impede those new statutes which they would establish in the trades ; or at least to cause them to withdraw the articles which concern the difference of the two religions , as being of great prejudice to the traffick and behoof of the publick , which thereby will be found most remarkably injured . article xxxix . eliquidation or stating of debts that the debts contracted by them of the p. r. r. be paid by themselves only , and that the clearing the sums may not be made before any other than the commissioners of the provinces deputed by his majesty . here is another attaint which they would pass against the chambers of the edict , to whom properly belongs the cognizance of the debts contracted by them of the p. r. r. the commissioners of his majesty and the intendants of the provinces may well make the liquidation of the debts of the community , but those of the communities are different from those which respect them of the p. r. r. alone . it belongs to the chambers of the edicts to verify their debts , with exclusion to all other judges . article xl. inducements to change religion . that those of the said religion may not suborn the catholicks , nor induce them to change their religion under any pretext whatsoever ; and that the catholicks which shall abjure their religion may not be married for six months after their change. pure and simple subornation which is not accompanied with violence , nor threats , nor promises , nor presents , hath no reference to those that are of age ; for that they being of age to know , discern , and choose , are capable to defend themselves from suborners ; and when they suffer themselves to be perswaded to any thing , it is by an acquiescence of the soul altogether free , which is carried of its self to imbrace that which it esteemeth reasonable ; and this is the cause also why the 18th article of the edict of nantes , which forbids inducement to the change of religion , speaks only of infants , willing that they should not be induced to this change without the consent of their parents . and the same article makes the prohibition reciprocal for them of the one and the other religion under the same pains ; yet beginning at the children of those of the p. r. r. because they are in effect more exposed to this danger . according to this model his majesty is besought to cause this article of the declaration to be reformed , restraining it to infants and minors , who only are capable of being suborned in the manner which hath been above described . for as to others who are at the age of reason and choice , what would follow if it were forbidden to induce them to change their religion ? how many mischiefs and troubles would this prohibition occasion ? for they would pretend that it were no more permitted unto any person of the p. r. r. to talk at all in any manner of his faith , no nor to render a reason thereof to them who shall come to question them about their belief . if one touch upon any point in discourse , if one lend any book of religion to those who intreat it , if one instruct even his own children in the presence of any of the r. c. a. r. immediately they will pretend that he had a design to induce and suborn them to change their religion and put him in trouble with process . so will there be no more liberty of conscience in the realm , there will be no more security for masters of families of the p. r. r. in their houses , for if they are about to chastise their servants , or houshould , they to revenge themselves , may accuse them to have gone about to suborn them . this also would be a pretext to dive into the secrets of families , and to introduce a kind of inquisition into france , against the liberties not only accorded to by the edicts , but alwayes established in this realm . there can then be nothing more equitable than to restore and bring back this article of the declaration to the terms of the 18th of the edict , forbidding as well those of the c. a. r. as those of the p. r. r. to suborn one anothers children , and to induce them to change their religion without the consent of their parents , rescinding for this purpose an arrest gotten by surprize from the council by the syndic of the clergy of neemes , novemb. 3 , 1664. which decree doth generally forbid to induce the catholicks to change their religion in any manner whatsoever it be . as for the prohibition made unto them who shall abjure the c. a. r. r. to marry for six months after their change , it is a novelty and an innovation never known till now , and contrary to the liberty granted by the edicts . article xli . observations of the laws of the romish church . observation of the laws of the r. c. in point of marriage . those of the p. r. r. shall be obliged , according as they are enjoyned by the 23 article of the edict of nantes to observe the laws of the r. c. received in this realm , in the case of marriages contracted and to be contracted both in the degrees of consanguinity and affinity . it may seem that this article were altogether innocent , being taken in a manner word for word , from the 23 of the edict . but there is notwithstanding cause to fear that it is no other than a trap set by the clergy , to out them of the p. r. r. from the liberty which is given them by the 40th article of the particulars of the edict of nantes , where his majesty doth permit them to contract marriage in the third and fourth degree , and promise to dispence for the second , one of the second and another of the third , or second and half ; which hath been constantly and without any lett practised untill now , these dispensations and letters of the prince being never refused to them who had recourse unto his majesty and did demand them . notwithstanding it is this right and this usage so well established and so reasonable which they intend to shake by this article , which therefore by consequence ought to be erased , as being of ill consequence , and against the edict : or at the least there ought to be added unto it , that it is without prejudice to the fortieth article of the particulars of nantes . by this also in all appearance , they have had a design to confirm a decree gotten by surprize from the council january 16 1662. taking from them of the p. r. r. of the country of gez , the power of celebrating their marriages in the times forbidden by the c. a. r. c. which his majesty is besought to revoke as an innovation made against the edict , and a thing contrary to the discipline of those of the said religion , and to the liberty of their conscience . article xlii . ministers converted . that the ministers being converted shall be preserved from payment of taxes and quartering of souldiers , as they were before their conversion . the king may bestow his favours on whom he pleaseth ; and they of the p. r. r. do in this place only beseech him , that seeing the exemption of ministers after their change is founded only on what they had before , by vertue of their character , that it would please his majesty to cause the ministers exercising their charge , peaceably to enjoy the exemption which belongs unto them , and to hinder the crosses which are continually laid upon them in the provinces , where they attempt to impose taxes upon them notwithstanding so many decrees of the council which have fully discharged them , and for the execution whereof the ministers address themselves unto his majesty , humbly beseeching to give his order in such manner , that they may be observed by the generalities and in the elections of the kingdom . article xliii . exemption of converts from the debts of them of the p. r. r. that those that are converted unto the c. r. be exempted from paying the debts of those of the p. r. r. this settlement being indeed an astonishing one , is of that sort which testify most the credit of the clergy . for to obtain this it behooved them to reverse a decree given expresly to the contrary in the council the 30th of march , 1661. this is a decree quite contrary to this article ; and which ordains that the catholick inhabitants of the town of privas , who have purchased the houses and inheritances of those of the p. r. r. of the same place , obliged or condemned with the other inhabitants of the same religion for the payment of the common debts contracted , the community should pay the part which belonged unto them , of the debts contracted by them of the p. r. r. for the lands and inheritances which have formerly appertained to them of the said religion , and now belong to catholicks , whether by succession , donation , or purchase , saving their remedy against the sellers : this decree adding also in formal terms that those who were converted should not pretend exemption from paying their debts , whether they were obliged in particular , or in the body and communitie for the lands which they possessed . the nature of things hath not changed since 1661. the rules of reason , right and justice , are still the same in the council and in all the tribunals of the earth ; and notwithstanding 1666. they destroy what they have ordained in 1661. and have made one express article , that converts to the catholick religion should be exempt from payment of the debts of those of the p. r. r. what lights could there be had in this case to make so considerable a change ? it is hard to imagine . for , can it be that the change of religion should change the nature of contracts and obligations ; and introduce this novelty in commerce , that those who are debtors , cease so to be , to the prejudice of their creditors , who have lent them their money upon their credit , and upon just confidence they had upon the validity of publick acts , by which they who borrowed their money , became their debtors ? the king will never consent to a favour or priviledge to the prejudice of others : but here the favour which they would shew to these new converts turns to the damage , and it may be even to the ruine of their creditors , whose bond may not only happen to be relaxed by the discharge of some of their debtors : but it may fall out also that all his obliges becoming converts , some one man may loose all his whole debt in general , and so may see himself reduced to beggery . if the king would except these converts , it would seem necessary for him to reconcile his grace with his justice , that his majesty would be pleased to pay their debts , and to discharge them with his own money . otherwise this were to give away the estate of another , and to cause a loss without recompence , to those of whom the prince is the natural tutor is the quality of a father of his country . it is also a thing worthy to be considered that in the provinces of languedoc and guienne , the debts contracted by bodies corporate are charges real , which follow the land and immovable goods , into what hands soever they pass . because the possessor is obliged to pay his part according to the proportion of his inheritances , when they come to the division of these debts . how then can the converts be reasonably discharged of these debts , being their obligation is not only personal but real also , and affecteth the lands which they possess , and whose enjoyment by consequence is a sufficient title against them to make them liable unto this payment ? how great soever this matter of complaint is in it self ; yet it must here be added that they go about to make it yet more insupportable . for although this article is not extended farther than the debts of communalties , yet there are many notwithstanding so absurd as to desire to extend it to particular debts , and to make use of their conversion as an infallible means to cross the books of the merchants of the p. r. r. of the sums of which the new converts find themselves accountable , and to extinguish and acquit all the rents with which they shall be charged , and to cancel all the promises by which they are held obliged to them of the said religion . the king without doubt never intended to authorize an imagination so unreasonable . this were to do outrage to the christian religion , to make it serve a design so contrary to its precepts , to whose disciples it is commanded by the mouth of st. paul. ( rom. 12. 7. ) to render unto all that which is their due . this article then drawing after it so many bad consequences ; they of the p. r. r. demand with all respect and instance the revocation of it ; and beseech his majesty to expound it in such sort , that converts may not imagine that they may be freed from paying their creditors of the said religion their personal and particular debts , with which they are charged by contract , or by obligation , or otherwise . article lxiv . temples and burying places not to be discharged of taxes . that the temples and burying places of them of the p. r. r. be not left out of the rolls nor discharged of taxes , but shall be used as heretofore . it is hard to comprehend the sense of this article , for it contains an evident contradiction . it imports that the temples and burying places should not be left out of the codastre , i. e. out of the common register , which contains the roll of the houses and lands of one parish , and that they shall not be discharged of the taxes of the countries where they are real , and in the mean time the same article adds , that they should be used as heretofore . this is a contradiction impossible to be reconciled . for if they be to be used as in times past , the temples and the burying places shall be left out of the parish rolls and freed from taxes , because they have been alwayes used in this manner heretofore . to establish the settlement contained in the beginning of this article were to overturn order and use . and reason opposes it no less than custom , for temples and burying places are places fallen into mortmaine , which are no longer in commerce amongst men , and which being not possessed by any particular person , are not subject to any charges which are put upon particular persons only . and this is that which hath been formally ordained by the answer of henry the great to the 26th article of the paper of 1601. on the behalf of the dauphine ; and by that of lewis the just to the 10th article of the paper of 1612. in behalf of all the burying places of them of the p. r. r. in general . justice therefore and the royal decision of the two last soveraigns of this estate , demand the revocation of this article . article xlv . infants . that the children whose fathers are or have been catholicks , shall be baptized and brought up in the c. c. though their mothers be of the p. r. r. and also the children whose fathers are departed in the said c. r. shall be brought up in the said religion ; for which purpose they shall be committed to the hands of their mothers , tutors , or other kindred which are catholicks , upon demand ; with express prohibition to lead the said children to the temples or schools of the said p. r. r. or to bring them up therein , albeit their mothers be of the said p. r. r. being fathers have nothing more clear than their children , this article doth cause also an inexpressible grief to them of the p. r. r. because it takes away from many amongst them the liberty of causing their own children to be baptized and brought up in the religion which they profess , upon pretence that they have sometimes been catholicks . if this article had spoken only of parents who are or who dye in the c. a. r. r. it would have been thought less strange . but to require that a man should not baptize his child in the communion in which he lives , because he hath been of another religion 30 or 40 years before ; certainly is a severity sufficient to throw a man into despair . besides , here is also a contradiction in this very article , which speaks not only of fathers which are , but which have been catholicks . for wherefore will they that infants , born of a catholick father , should be baptized and brought up in the catholick church . it is without doubt because it is just and reasonable that the children should follow the religion of their fathers , when as yet they are not of age nor in estate to choose one . and by the same reason the children of those who actually profess the p. r. r. ought not they be baptized and trained up in the same religion , being the same with their fathers , and wherein they were born , and being that whilst they are yet in their infancy , they are not capable to choose a different one ? this were to tear away from fathers their bowels , thus to ravish from them their infants , and to cause them to be baptized in a church , and instructed in a religion which they have renounced . and we must talk no more of liberty of conscience in a realm , where it is given and authorized solemnly by so many edicts , if this prohibition take place . this is to chase out of france all those persons how many soever there be who have imbraced the pretended reformed religion within this eighty years . for where is that father that can resolve to see his infants in whom he hopes to live after his death , lead whether he will or not into a communion from whom he is retired , as not finding there any repose for his conscience ? where is there a father that can digest the mortal displeasure to see himself bereaved of the fruits of his marriage , and to be condemned afterwards to pay them a pension , as we have seen examples in divers places , and particularly in rouen in the person of one named bindel painter , whose children are brought up in this manner . if then his majesty be touched with any compassion towards his poor and humble subjects of the p. r. r. he is besought herein to lend an ear unto their grief , and cause these terms to be put out of this present article , which seem to have been slipped into it , and added thereto by surprize against the intention of so wise a soveraign . for the other part of this article which imports that the infants , whose fathers are departed in the catholick religion shall be brought up in the same religion ; they intend not at all against it , provided it be intended of infants that are under twelve years for fe-males , and fourteen years males , according to the decrees of the council , regulating the age from which infants may change their religion . but here is cause to complain of two things in this matter . the one , that notwithstanding by the edict of nantes , and by two decrees made in council of the twenty eighth of september 1663 , and of the twenty fourth of april , 1665. the same thing hath been decreed for the infants whose fathers have dyed in the p. r. r , i. e. that their infants should be brought up in the same religion , and for this purpose should be committed into the hands of their mothers , tutors , or other kindred of the pretended reformed religion : yet notwithstanding they have nor here made this article reciprocal . from whence they may in time infer that in this they have derogated from the edict and decrees of the council which were before . for this cause the king rejecting these words which have been , will be pleased to render this article reciprocal for them of the p. r. r. as well as for them of the c. a. r. the other cause of complaint is , that even since the two decrees came to be published , they have not ceased to hale away also by force from the kindred of the p. r. r. infants whose fathers and mothers have alwayes been of this religion and dyed therein . moreover now very lately , the parliament of rouen by an arrest of the first of february , 1668. have decreed that a little maid whose father and mother were departed in the p. r. r. should be taken out of the hands of her kindred of that religion , notwithstanding they offered to bring her up for nothing , that she might be put into the hands of her tutor who is of the c. a. r. the reason which serves them to authorize such violences to the prejudice of the preceding decrees is , say they , because these decrees of the council are not registred , and by consequence oblige not , albeit that the last of the fourteenth of april , 1665. enjoynes all officers to be conformable thereunto , and to cause it to be executed under pain of rebellion . the king therefore to give some means unto his subjects of the p. r. r. whereby his orders may take effect in this important matter , is besought to make thereof an authentick declaration which may be registred in the parliaments . article xlvi . schools . that they of the said p. r. r. may not keep any schools for the instruction of their own children or others , but in places where they have right to the publick exercise of their religion , according to the 13th article of the particulars of the edict of nantes , in which schools whether they be in the towns or in the suburbs , they may not teach save only to read , write , and arithmetick . to understand well what the schools of those of the p. r. r. are , it is necessary to observe that they are of three sorts . the first are their academies and colledges where they teach their divinity . the second are publick schools where they may teach grammar and humane learning with open doors . the third sort are particular petty schools which they keep with their doors shut , where the infants of the said religion , learn to read , write , and arithmetick only . for their academies and colledges they are fixed to certain places , and they shall not be insisted on here , because this article deals not with their concerns . for the publick schools , the edict permits them in all towns , and in all places , where the exercise is publick , as the 37th article of the particulars , doth prove , they of the said religion ( saith it ) may not keep publick schools , save only in the towns and places where the publick exercise thereof is permitted . but as for petty schools , the edict supposeth them as permitted in all places indifferently by natural reason and equity , which authorises fathers no less to give instruction than bread unto their children , and as well to nourish their spirits by a familiar instruction , as to sustain their bodies by an ordinary nourishment . so that it cannot be doubted that this is the intent of the edict , for that when it forbids to have schools elsewhere than in places where the exercise is permitted ; it speaks expresly of publick schools ; whence it results , that it leaves a liberty for particular schools in other places where the publick exercise is not had . in effect , this practice hath alwayes been followed since the edict , and parliaments have formally authorized this usage by their decrees . the parliament of rouen have granted many on this occasion and two remarkable ones , amongst others , the one in the month of may , 1605. by which , notwithstanding the opposition of the abbess of montivilliers , one named haise was permitted to teach to write , and read in that town of montivilliers , notwithstanding that there was no exercise of the p. r. r. neither in the town nor in the suburbs , nor within more than two leagues round about ; upon condition only that he might not dogmatize . the other was of the first of february ; 1623. by which the same thing was permitted to one named poignant under the same condition , not to dogmatize , and not to use the prayers of his religion in the parish of st. anthony of the forrest , where the said exercise was not at all established : and this , notwithstanding the opposition of the official of rouen , since which time , the thing hath not been any more disputed ; and they of the p. r. r. have not been troubled untill these last years , in which the hatred which many persons bear unto them , hath been permitted , all things without restraint , they have been desirous to forbid them these particular petty schools in all places . and the same hath passed even to that excess , as to forbid masters to go teach children in particular houses : and to heap up this measure , it is carried on to a refusal of receiving masters of the arts of writing and arithmetick , as this may be seen all in one decree of the parliament of rouen made against one named du perry . this is one of the evils of which they of the p. r. r. do complain with the greatest sorrow ; this is one of those for which they have the least pretext . for what danger can there rise from these petty and obscure schools , which are rather a mark of the weakness of those of this r. then of their power ? is it then a crime for their children to read and write ? will they bring process against a man for putting a pen into the hands of a simple flock of infants which come to seek him in his chamber without noise or shew ? and shall fathers be compelled to let their children live like beasts , or send them to masters whom they suspect , or send them two or three leagues from their houses to find there a master of the religion which they profess ? the distinction which here is made of the schools of those of the p. r. r. shews clearly how many surprizes are to be found in this forty sixth article of the declaration . for first , the thirteenth article of the edict of nantes , is cited to prove that they of the said religion may not have any schools , but in the places where they have publick exercise ; and yet it speaks only in the thirteenth article of the instruction of infants in that which concerns religion ; an evident proof , that in the places where the exercise is not publick , it is permitted to them of the p. r. r. to have other schools , that is , such as intermeddle not at all with religion , and where they are taught nothing but learning that is purely humane . secondly , the article of the declaration wills , that in the schools whether they be in towns , or in suburbs , where the exercise of the said religion is established , they may teach to read , write , and arithmetick only , which is true indeed of the particular petty schools which may be kept indifferently in all places with their doors shut , but not of the publick schools which are authorized by the 37th article of the particulars . for that article doth not restrain the permission of those schools to reading nor to writing , nor to arithmetick alone , but leaves them the intire liberty of schools , to give the same lessons there which they practise in other schools of the kingdom . therefore to bring back and restore these things to the settlement in the edict , it is just and necessary to permit publick schools in all the towns and all the places where the publick exercize of the said p. r. r. is had : and to consent to the particular petty schools in all places of the realm . this is that concerning which his majesty is most humbly besought ; as also to stay the course of the devices and injustice which is done to them of the said religion concerning their schools . for they do continually raise suits against them about the word places , which is found in the edict of nantes , when it is said , that they may not have publick schools but in the towns and places where their exercise is permitted ; there are many who have the rigour to desire to oblige them to keep their schools in the same place with their exercise , i.e. within the enclosure of their temples : notwithstanding that king henry the fourth expounded himself in this matter , by his answer to the paper of 1612 , art. 9. wherein he consented that the children of the towns and suburbs should have schools in the towns and suburbs where the exercise of their religion was permitted : and that the children of the neighbour villages round about should have schools in the suburbs . wherefore to hinder us a vexation so ill conceived , his majesty is most humbly besought to renew this explication , and to declare , that by the places of publick schools permitted to them of the p. r. r. he intends the townes or suburbs where the exercize is publickly enjoyed , and wholly extended to the suburbs , burrows , and villages where they have the right of exercise , notwithstanding all decrees and judgements to the contrary . article xlvii . sojourners with ministers . that the ministers of the said religion may not entertain any sojourners save of the p. r. r. nor in greater number than two at a time . this is a thing which is not common to see ministers entertain sojourners . but it was not expected that a law of the realm would have been made to hinder them . for every one may use his house , his table , and his time as seems good unto himself , provided he do nothing against the estate . and it is not easie to imagine in what the estate receives prejudice when ministers entertain sojourners in their houses . for all the instructions which they can give them is only particular , which is no where forbidden but in the countries of the inquisition . it is only publick instruction which is limited in france to the places where the publick exercise of the p. r. r. is permitted . yet in these authorized places ministers must at least be permitted , to entertain as many sojourners as they will to agree with the edict . they who have suggested this article ought to have thought that it was not worthy to be put into the declaration of a great king , and for that very reason ought to be outed . article xlviii . the sick. that the ecclesiasticks and the religious may not enter into the houses of the sick of the p. r. r. if they be not accompanied with some magistrate , or an alderman , or the mayor of the place , and sent for by the sick : in which case no hinderance shall be given unto them . notwithstanding it shall be permitted to the rector of the place assisted with some judge , alderman or consul — to present himself to the sick to know of him if he will dye in the p. r. r. or not , and after his declaration he shall withdraw himself . here we have the most important article of all the declaration . there is nothing more contrary to them of the pretended reformed religion , nothing more capable to trouble the publick tranquility , nor to cause so deadly consequences of all sorts . for it is in sickness , and above all , at the approach of death , that men have the greatest need of repose , and that trouble is to them most insupportable ; for that being otherwise sufficiently toyled , they cannot indure to be molested in that estate , nor to be hindred in the injoyment of the peace and comfort of their souls , the salvation whereof is then their sole interest . the clergy in their other articles have striven to take from them of the p. r. r. the means to live , in this they come to deprive them of the liberty of dying in the profession of their faith , against that so express settlement of the edict of nantes in the 14th article of the particulars , they of the said religion ( saith it , ) shall not be obliged to receive exhortations when they are sick and nigh unto death , whether it be by condemnation of justice or otherwise , of others than they of the same religion ; and they may be visited and comforted by their ministers , without being molested . and this point was judged to be of so great consequence that the king ratified it by his answer of 1636. art. 19. for his majesty there ordained , that the fourth article of the particulars of the edict of nantes should be entirely observed , with injunction to his officers to hold their hand therein , on pain to answer it in their proper and private names . can there be any thing more opposite to the declaration ? the edict of nantes wills that the sick of the p. r. r. shall not be obliged to receive exhortations of others than those of their own religion , and the declaration on the contrary wills , that they be obliged to suffer the parish priests and aldermen to enter into their houses without their consents , and without being called . how shall we agree these two settlements so contrary ? for to say that the declaration only permits the parish priests to presents themselves to the sick to know their minds , not to make any exhortations unto them , this is in truth to say nothing at all . for where is the parish priest that seeing himself master of the chamber of a sick person , will not adventure to speak somewhat unto him for to gain him ? and if any attempt to hinder him , what uproar and what mischief shall not follow upon it ? they will cry rebellion against those that assist the sick . they will pretend that they offer violence to the parish priest who making himself to be heard through the windows , the neighbourhood and almost all the people will run thither in a tumult , break open the doors , throw themselves in a fury into the chamber of the poor agonising person , who shall at the same time see himself miserably molested , all his family terrified and discomforted , at what time as he ought to be left in repose , to bethink himself of his salvation . and how many other mischiefs will this permission given to the parish priests draw after it ? for the least word that one can say to them to free ones self from their urgencies and importunities shall be taken for an attempt on his person ; their persons shall be seized who let fall any word wherewith they are not satisfied , they will drag them to prison , they will in the conclusion condemn them to so great fines and such rigorous reparations , as are to be seen by divers examples in many places . humanity it self ought to oblige unto more compassion to families who are in sorrow , and not to establish means to give trouble over and above to a wife that hath more than enough by the sickness of her husband , or to a mother that is weeping over a child ready to give up the ghost , or to children that have their hearts wounded for the sad estate of their father . furthermore , if a man be in a phrenzy by the heat of a violent feaver , and he in the distraction of his spirit let fall any word conrary to his intention before the parish priest ; they will quickly lay hold on it as a good and formal conversion , and thereupon they will drive out of his chamber all those that attend him : they will hale away the wife from her husband , and the husband from his wife , under pretext that the sick hath changed his religion , and ought to have the liberty of his conscience . and if any person dye in this phrensie , they will seize on his body , and interr him after the ceremonies of the c. a. r. r. though he never had any thoughts on it . yea , and force his children to leave the church wherein they were born , and pass over to that in which they pretend their father dyed , by vertue of the 45th article of this declaration , which imports , that the children of the fathers , who departed in the r. c. a. r. should be brought up in the said religion . but if the sick man escape , they will constrain him to go unto the mass , and hinder him from returning to the p. r. r. by vertue of the declaration against the relapsed , though he never thought in the least to quit his belief ; and if he have said any thing it hath been the pure effect of his feaver , in a time when he knew not what he said , and when he was not himself . and above all this , they will constrain his children also to go unto the mass , in consequence of this declaration , which in the 45th article ordains , that infants whose fathers have been catholicks shall be brought up in the catholick church . is it possible to be any misery like to this ? there is also herein another inconvenience which must not here be forgotten : which is , that the parish priests , when they present themselves to the sick , put to them captious and artificial questions , upon design to entangle and surprize them , for example , they will ask them whether they would not be of the true faith ? whether they be not willing to believe the pure and sound doctrine ? whether they would not live and dye in the true church ? and other such like things . to which , if a man answer only one , yes , immediately they take this word for an abjuration , and at the same time they put his friends from him , because they pretend by this one yes , that the man is become a good roman catholick . they must not pretend to put them of the p. r. r. into shelter against all these disorders , by the presence of the judge and the magistrate , whom the declaration wills to accompany the parish priests . for the parish priests ? will choose the judges and officers according to their liking ; and they will find many as ill-disposed as the parish priests themselves ; and who far from moderating them , will push them on to undertake any thing . so that their presence instead of helping , many times will hurt , because it giveth more authority to that which he doth , and the sick and his friends are less able to cause a judge to depart , than a simple parish priest . but if on the other hand the parish priest and the judge transported with zeal , be minded to report the declaration of the sick otherwise than he hath made it , what means hath he to make the truth known ? will he oppose the testimony of his friends and the standers by ? why they will be suspected , and shall not be believed to the prejudice of the judge and the parish priest . neither shall they for the most part of the time serve themselves of their testimony , because the judges and parish priests do commonly send all people out of the sick mans chamber whereinto they enter , this is a mischief for which there is no remedy but by revocation of this article . for the other ecclesiasticks and religious , it may seem that the declaration doth not give them so much power , because it wills that they be sent for by the sick . but at bottom this limitation is a fruitless remedy , for that when a monk hath a mind to see a sick person , he will always find persons enough who will testify that he desired and sent for him ; and experience hath already made us see sufficiently that these witnesses will never he wanting ; in such sort , that upon their report , a poor sick person well setled in his religion , and that hath no design to change it , sees those persons enter into his chamber , whose presence alone is capable to trouble his spirit . this article therefore which concerns the sick , being of so sad and destructive consequence , and casting them of the p. r. r. into dangers which they cannot think of without uttermost consternation , they do demand with most profound humility , and yet at the same time with the most vehement ardour of their souls , the revocation thereof whole and entire . to be content with a moderation herein were to no purpose , because there needs no more than the least shadow of permission to the parish priests to carry them beyond all bounds . witness the declaration which permits them not to go in to any sick without a judge or an alderman , or a consul . and yet we see they go boldly beyond this rule , and intrude alone into the houses of the sick ; and in the same manner the simple priests and monks go without a magistrate , and without calling , because they have the power in their own hands , and they have nothing to fear whatsoever they enterprize . the king therefore may be pleased to consider that the yoke which this article imposeth on them of the p. r. r. is unsupportable , and that he may discharge them thereof according to justice , without which it may be said most truly , that they cannot any longer subsist in the kingdom , because they have no longer any liberty to live or dy in repose . article xlix . hospitals . that the poor sick catholicks and those of the p. r. r. shall be received indifferently into the hospitals in all places , without being constrained by violence to change their religion : and the ministers and others of the p. r. r. may go and visit and comfort them of the said r. on condition that they make no assemblies , prayers , nor exhortations with a loud voice which may be heard by the other sick . the end of this article destroyes the beginning . for if it be not permitted to them of the p. r. r. to make prayers nor exhortations in the hospitals which may be heard by others ; certainly their sick can neither be visited nor comforted , and therefore cannot remain in the hospitals . for it is well known in what manner the hospitals are made ; every sick person hath not his chamber apart ; there are alwayes many together , and often two in the same bed . it is therefore impossible to speak unto one without being heard of some others ; and it comes all to one to exclude the p. r. r. from the hospitals , as to receive them upon an impossible condition . but over and above this , the clergy have also proposed another scope unto this article , which yet every one cannot perceive ; so going on to surprize them who pierce not into their secret intentions , for in causing it to be ordained , that the catholicks and those of the p. r. r. should be received indifferently into hospitals in all places ; this is to hinder them of the said religion from assisting their poor sick in their particular houses , and to constrain them to cause them to be carried to their hospitals , where the priests and monks will not fail to belabour them , for to cause them to change their religion , so that in consenting that they may enjoy the hospitals they consent to nothing at all ; because they add thereunto a condition which takes from them in those places , the means of being visited and comforted by their ministers . and at the same time forbid them those houses wherein they may be assisted in their bodies without prejudice to the liberty of their consciences , and consolation of their souls . this article therefore deserves to be rescinded ; and there is no need to add any thing in this matter to the edict of nantes , which in the twenty second article runs thus ▪ that the sick and the poor may be received into publick , hospitals , spittles and alms-houses , without difference or distinction in regard of the said religion . article l. infants exposed . that infants which are , or shall be exposed shall be carried into the hospitals of the catholicks , to be nourished and brought up in the catholick religion .   article li. alms of chapters . that the alms which are at the disposal of chapters , priors and rectors , be made by themselves , or by their order at the places of their foundation , or church doors , to the poor , as well catholicks as those of the p. r. r. and that in the presence of the consuls of the place . and as for alms which are to be distributed by aldermen or consuls , they shall be dealt publickly at the gate of the town house , in the presence of the priors or vicars of the place who may thereof keep record .   article lii . administration of hospitals and spittles . that the hospitals and spittles , of the foundation of corporations be ruled by the consuls of the place . these three articles are altogether useless . article liii . festivals . that they of the p. r. r. keep and observe the feasts instituted by the church , and may not on the dayes which are to be observed in those feasts sell nor retail in open shops , and that their handicrafts likewise work not out of their chambers and houses close shut on the said prohibited dayes , in any trade whose noise may be heard without by those that pass by , or by their neighbours , according to the twentieth article of the edict of nantes , for which purpose the said feasts shall be published by the sound of a bell , or proclaimed by the diligence of the consuls or aldermen . vvhat makes this article here which is nothing else than the twentieth of the edict of nantes , wherein sufficient provision is made for the observation of feasts ? notwithstanding , the clergy would not have given themselves the trouble to copy out so long an article for nothing : and this without doubt is their design ; namely , to cut off the end of this twentieth article of the edict in which it is ordained , that the inquisition after the violation of the feasts , should not be made by any other than the officers of justice . and in place of those words they substituted these , that the feasts should be declared by the sound of a bell , or proclaimed by the diligence of the consuls or aldermen , but this addition is of little benefit ; instead whereof the end of the twentieth article is absolutely necessary to repress the ill humour of the parish priest and other ecclesiasticks , who will pretend to be competent parties against them of the p. r. r. in the not observation of feasts , and who will bring against them an infinity of suits if they be not excluded from this inquiry by attributing it to the officers of justice only . therefore this article of the declaration making a breach upon the edict ought to be expunged , to the end that that of the edict may abide in force . article liv. sale of meats on dayes forbidden . that they of the p. r. r. may not retail or sell victuals publickly on the dayes which the catholick church hath appointed for abstinence therefrom . this prohibition is needlesly made against them of the p. r. r. for they will not give this occasion of offence to the catholicks . article lv. ringing of bells . that the bells in the temples of them of the p. r. r. in the places where the exercise is permitted , cease to ring from holy thursday at ten of the clock in the morning , untill holy saturday at mid day , as those of the catholicks are wont to do . if the bells of those of the p. r. r. were rung at divers hours of the day : if they were in great number to make much noise ▪ or had a shrill sound , or had an harmonious chime like those which are heard on the feast dayes , and upon occasions of joy ; it would be thought less strange that they would impose silence on them so long as those of the catholicks are silent . but those bells which are never more than one in every temple , and which ring not but one moment in the day , to give notice of the hour of the sermon ; and whose sound is exceeding simple ; there is no more reason to cause the bell to cease which calls to the temple , than that of the clock which tells the hour of the sermon and prayers . article lvi . bells in temples , in places of citadels and garrisons . that in towns and places where there are citadels or garrisons by our order , they aforesaid of the p. r. r. may not assemble by the sound of a bell , nor place any in their temples . the same design which the clergy have already made appear in divers articles , is remarkable also in this ; it is this , that they would bring the fidelity of those of the p. r. r. into suspition , as if there were some cause to fear that they would make use of their bells , as a signal to betray the places where there were a citadel or a garrison . but the knowledge which his majesty hath of their inviolable zeal , and faithful affection which they have unto his service , will cause him to pierce through all the vain clouds of unjust suspitions which they would give him , and to revoke an article so injurious to his subjects whose obedience is without reproach , and who deserve not in this point to be treated otherwise than the rest of their fellow citizens and country men. article lvii . judgment of the validity of marriages . and being we have been informed of certain actions occurring , not yet decided by any decrees , to prevent altercations and differences betwixt our catholick subjects and those of the p. r. r. we ordain , that the marriages made and contracted in the catholick churches , or before their proper rector shall not be judged but by the officials of the bishops , who may take cognizance of their validity or invalidity . and if the said marriages be made in the temples of those of the said religion or before their ministers , in this case , if the defender be a catholick , the said officials shall have the cognizance thereof in like manner ; and if the defender be of the p. r. r. the royal judges shall have the cognizance thereof ; and by appeal the chambers of the edict . this is a rude blow which the clergy would reach the edict of nantes in favour of the officials of the bishops . for the edict in the 41 article of the particulars had ordained , that the cognizance of processes concerning marriages should appertain to the judges royal ; and by appeal to the chambers of the edict , then when both parties are of the p. r. r. not attributing the cognizance to the officials , but when the one of the parties is of the c. a. r. r. and so much the more if he be defendant . but the article of the declaration is contrary hereunto in two manners . for first , it wills that the marriages which are made before the parish priests or in the catholick churches , should be judged by the officials of the bishops , though the defendant be of the p. r. r. secondly , this article is couched in such sort , that even when both the parties are of the p. r. r. it gives to understand that notwithstanding , if their marriages were made in the churches of those of the c. a. r. r. or before their papish priests , it should belong for all that to the officials to take cognizance and judge thereof . thus here they of the p. r. r. who are in no sort at all justifiable by the ecclesiasticks , are subjected unto their tribunals : and what may they expect from judges prejudiced and passionate , but rigorous condemnations ? this article then takes them of the p. r. r. out of the hands of the kings judges , to put them in the hands of the officials . this is properly to repeal the edict , whose settlement in this matter is so just and so reasonable , that the new commentator who hath imployed all his spirits to endeavour to take away this sacred buckler of the edict from them of the p. r. r. hath notwithstanding said nothing at all to elude this 41 article of the particulars : on the contrary , he hath elsewhere confirmed it by the conference of fleix on the 23 article of the generals . so also the usage hath alwayes been hitherto conformable to the edict . they of the p. r. r. have hitherto never pleaded in causes matrimonial , but before the judges royal and those of the chamber of the edict . this is therefore an innovation , which the king out of the design which he hath to cause the edict of nantes to be exactly observed , without doubt cannot suffer . article lviii . tythes infeoft . that criminal causes in which the ecclesiasticks are defendants , may be handled before the royal judges and the stewards , and in case of appeal before the parliaments , and that the chambers of the edict may not have cognizance of the propriety nor of the possession of tythes , no not of those that are infeoffed , nor of other rights , dues , and demains of the church ; with prohibition to the said chambers of the edicts to take any cognizance thereof . all this whole article was contrived by the clergy for no other purpose than to foist into it one word which doth clash with the edict , and enervate the powers of the chambers appointed in favour of them of the p. r. r. for the edict having declared in the thirty fourth article , that the said chambers should take cognizance and judge soveraignly , and without appeal by decree privative to all others the process moved or to be moved , in which they of the p. r. r. were parties principal or security , plaintiff or defendant , in all matters civil or criminal ; it after adjoyns this exception ; except notwithstanding all matters of benefices and the possession of tythes not infeoft &c. the edict then takes not from the chambers allowed them of the p. r. r. the judgement of tythes but when they are not infeoft , and the declaration on the contrary prohibits them the cognizance of tythes even infeoft . is not this i , and nay , pro , and con , affirmative , and negative ? in a word , the most formal opposition that can be imagined ? if then the king will that the edict be exactly observed , as cannot be doubted after the solemn protestation that he hath made thereof , it is impossible that this clause should subsist , and it ought necessarily to be revoked . article lix . reparation of churches and presbyteries . that those of the said p. r. r. pay the impositions ordained as well for the re-edification , and reparation of parochial churches and rectories , as for the entertainment of catholick school-masters and regents ; notwithstanding that they may not be rated in regard of the head-money which may be ordained for this purpose , according to the second particular of the edict of nantes . they say commonly the end crowns the work : but here it destroys and ruines it . for we must remember that the preface of this declaration imported that it had for its scope to cause the edict of nantes to be observed , and the decrees since interposed according to their form and tenure . but the clergy having lost all memory of this project , suggests here an article which equally repeals the edict , and all the decrees which have hitherto treated upon this matter , which is the re-edification and reparation of parish churches , rectories , with the entertainment of catholick school masters and regents . for as for the edict of nantes , it is so formal that it is an astonishment to any one , doubtless , to see it cited in this place as conformable to this declaration . thus it speaks in the second article of the particulars , which is alledged in this place . they of the said religion may not be constrained to contribute to the reparations and constructions of churches , chappels , presbyteries , nor to buy ornaments for priests , lights , founding of bells , holy bread , rights of guilds , hiring of houses for residence of priests and religion persons , and other such like ; if they were not obliged by their foundations , endowments , or other settlements made by themselves , their authors and predecessors . he that compares with this article of the edict that of the declaration , shall find betwixt them the most perfect contrariety in the world. the edict of nantes saith , that they of the p. r. r. may not be constrained to contribute to the reparations , and buildings of churches and presbyteries , and the declaration saith , they of the said religion shall pay the impositions that are appointed for the re-edification or reparation of parish-churches or parsonage-houses . nor indeed is black more opposite to white , and the day to the night , than the edict and the declaration are in this point . besides , it is a thing worthy of consideration , that not only the edict hath exempted those of the p. r. r. from reparations , re-edifications and buildings , both of churches , and parsonage-houses ; but also the author of the edict henry the great , and lewis the just his son , both of glorious and immortal memory , have afterwards confirmed this exemption throughout , so many times as occasion was presented , as may be seen in their answers to the papers of 1606. art. 23 , 1623. art. 19 , 1625. article 4. and not only the edict and the royal answers which are the explications and sequels thereof , have established this right in favour of them of the p. r. r. but also it is certain that the decrees both of the council , and chambers of the edict have been alway conformed thereunto . there are found four decrees of the council that make proofs of this . the first is of the fourth of march 1602. by which francis boutillon and others making profession of the p. r. r. at quellebeuf , were discharged of the re-edification of the said church at quellebeuf , and the catholicks of that place , their adversaries were condemned to restore unto them that which they had paid , both the principal and costs . the second was of the one and twentyeth of august following , by which the inhabitants of the p. r. r. of conde upon noireau were discharged , without regard to the sentence of the baily of that place , of the rate set upon them for the re-edification of the church and altar of that burrow ; with a prohibition to the parson and the catholick inhabitants to rate them for those reparations , on the pain of five hundred crowns , and to answer in their own proper and private names . the third was of the twenty eighth of august 1623. which discharged the inhabitants of the p. r. r. of the country of bearn , from contributing to the reparation of the churches and covents of the catholicks , as well as the catholicks from contributing to the building and re-edification of the temples of those of the said religion ; making those two things equal and reciprocal ; the which decree was enregistred by the parliament of pau , the first of july 1624. and agreeable to so authentick a settlement , my lord the count of gramont , governor and lievetenant general for the king in his kingdom of navarre , and in his country of bearn , gave forth his ordinance on the twenty third of june 1642. by which he condemned the jurats of the place of st. susannne to be arrested , and carried to the prison of the castle of orther for having commanded the inhabitants of the p. r. r. of that place , to work in the reparation of the parish church there , and for having seized their goods upon their refusal . the fourth decree was of the counsel of the fourth of may 1650. by which the inhabitants of the c. a. r. r. of the parish of st. thomas in the town of st. lo , were debarred upon their own proper petition , tending to cause those of the p. r. r. to contribute to the sum of 5000. livers , which was to be raised on the parishioners in common for the re-edification of the church of saint thomas ; notwithstanding that the catholicks alledged that the said church had been heretofore demolished by them of the p. r. r. during the troubles . as for the chambers of the edict , they have given like decrees in so great number , that their multitude only hinders from citing them , so that this question hath not been dubious in the parliament of normandy it self , and the usage of the palais of that court hath been so constant to discharge them of the p. r. r. that they condemned them also to pay costs , who had the rashness to assail them in this matter of reparations of churches and parsonage-houses , of which those of the said religion have the decrees in readiness to justifie the truth of their allegation in case there be need . what strang surprize then is this to see at this day a practice of justice so well established to be changed all at one blow , and to repeal a possession founded on the edict , on the answer-royal . on the decrees of the council and the chambers of the edict , without any one appearing to the contrary , to the time of this declaration . the preface of this declaration it self setting down — that what hath been judged and decided by the decrees should be firm for ever , and executed as a law inviolable . a maxim surely , which is one of the greatest surprises that the clergy have made upon the justice of the king , as hath been shewn in the beginning . but notwithstanding that this maxim cannot be received in other things , the exemption granted unto them of the p. r. r. in respect of the churches and parsonage houses ought to pass for a law inviolable , since it hath been judged and decided in all occurrences by the decrees of the council and chambers of the edict ; decrees which are so much the more indisputable because they are founded on the law , which is the edict of nantes . what can the ecclesiasticks then alledge for to colour their pretensions ? all that they have in their mouths is a vain consequence which they draw by a false reasoning , and which serves only to shew how ill founded they are . they say that they of the p. r. r. do indeed pay tythes to the parsons : and by consequence they ought also to contribute to the charges of churches and parsonage-houses . but there can be nothing less reasonable . for there is found in the edict one express article which obligeth them of the said religion to pay the tythes . but so far it is from having condemned them to contribute to the repaires of the churches , and building parsonage-houses ; that on the contrary it hath one to exempt them . they cannot then argue rightly from tenths to reparations . and if one might draw a consequence from the one to the other , they of the p. r. r. might as well have good grounds to maintain , that because they are exempt from reparations , they ought not to be subject unto tythes : as the other think they have good ground to maintain , that because those of the said religion are subject to tythes , therefore they ought to contribute to reparations . but the principal foundation of this affair is indeed , that they of the p. r. r. were not made subject unto tythes but by the pure and only authority of henry the great , who would have it so that he might give that satisfaction to the ecclesiasticks ; for at the bottom , the parish priests are not the pastors of them of the p. r. r. and do them no manner of service in spiritual things ; they are not bound to entertain them , but only their own ministers who take care of their souls ; which also king henry the fourth knew so well , that for to indemnify them in a thing from which their religion did exempt them ; he was willing to pay them yearly the sum of 45000. crowns for the subsistence of their ministers , to the intent that this sum might be in the place of the tythes which they ought not to have paid . with what appearance of reason then can they draw a consequence from tythes to reparations ; being the payment of tythes themselves is a charge to which they of the p. r. r. were so little subject , that the king himself thought that it was just for him to indemnify them in that particular ? would it not be a case very deplorable , that the money being taken away which was expresly allowed them to mitigate their payment of tythes ; yet notwithstanding nevertheless , the tythes should obtain to oblige them to reparations ? and doth it not seem rather to be justice to restore their pension of 45000 crowns for to recompense the tythes which they pay in consideration of that sum , than to will that they be charged with new payments for reparations , from which they are exempt by all manner of reason ? it were in vain to pretend to make that limitation valid , which is found in the end of this article , where it is said , that they may not be cottized , rated by the poll , i.e. that they may not be obliged to contribute , with respect to their persons ; but only according to the proportion of their lands and inheritances which they possess in their parishes , so that they who have neither houses nor lands should pay nothing . this is a very sad consolation , which regards only those miserable persons that have neither house nor home . and which is more , this sort of rating is not ordinarily set , save only on inheritances , so that to allow this exemption only to those that have no estate in lands , is to allow nothing in effect . the edict it self will not suffer a thought of this fruitless exemption . for can it be said that when the edict of nantes exempts them of the p. r. r. from contributing to the reparation of churches and parsonage-houses , that its intention was only to discharge persons and not lands ? there is no appearance that any person would propose a thing so unreasonable . for the decrees of the council and of the chambers of the edict alledged above do fully evince the contrary , by authentick decisions which have been made in this matter during the term of more than threescor● years ; alwayes discharging those of the p. r. r. which possessed lands purely and wholly of these ecclesiastick reparations . being then the edict exempts the inheritances as well as the persons ; it follows clearly that this new declaration in pronouncing that they of the said religion should not be rated in regard of their heads , makes nothing at all for them , and that it cannot be otherwise looked on than as the ruine of the article of the edict . a ruine which infallibly draws after it that of his majesties subjects who profess the p. r. r. for this will be a sure means for the ecclesiasticks to spoil them of their estates : because that out of hate to their religion , the parsons , treasurers and guardians of parishes will make them bear almost all the charges of these reparations ; as is seen of late by experience . they invent even every day a thousand crafty shifts , for to charge all the load of expences on them , and to discharge those of the c. a. r. r. and it will quickly be found , if there be no remedy , that all the mony which should be paid to the king , or imployed to the publick weal , will go to the re-edification of churches , and building of parsonage-houses , or trimming up of altars . this article then is one of them , the revocation whereof is of most importance , and his majesty shall do a thing worthy his justice and his royal bounty to condescend thereto , and to evacuate the decrees and judgements that have been given in consequence thereof . thus they of the p. r. r. justify what they have undertaken ; maintaining that this whole declaration of the second of april 1666. is composed of nothing else but articles either frivolous which deserve not to have any place therein , or contrary to the edict of nantes , and by consequence worthy to be rejected , as contrary to his majesties intention , who would that this perpetual and irrevocable edict be exactly observed in his dominion . this great monarch who by god's example , whose living image he is , hath no respect unto the appearance of mens persons , and who heares the least of his people as well as the greatest of his realm , is besought to give to these observations , some moments of that equitable attention which he allows to all those who implore his justice : to the end , that knowing how reasonable the complaints of his subjects of the p. r. r. are , he may revoke a declaration which is the tomb of the edict , the work of the hate and animosity of the clergy , the ruine of the liberty of conscience , and a sourse of infinite mischie● publick and private , and which will bring to the extremest misery , more than a million of persons , whose religion commends nothing unto them after the service of god , above fidelity unto their king ; and whose carriage hath made the whole world to see , that the zeal to be good christians , and that of being good french-men , is in their hearts inseparable . the second declaration of the same second day of april , 1666. entituled against the relapsed and blasphemers . lewis , by the grace of god , king of france and navarr , to all those to whom these presents shall come , greeting . since it hath pleased god to give peace unto our realm , we have applyed our cares to reform the disorders which the licence of the war hath introduced ; and because the violations of the edicts of the pacification were the most considerable , we have laboured to repair them exactly by commissioners , as well catholicks as of the p. r. r. whom we have sent for this purpose into our provinces , by whose report we having understood that one of the greatest evils , and against which it was necessary to make some provision , concerned the abuse which hath been introduced of late time , by which , many who professed the p. r. r. did abjure it to embrace the catholick , and after they had participated of the most holy mysteries , returned by a scandalous contempt and sacriledge to their first heresie . as also , that those who were engaged in holy orders , whereunto they were obliged by vows , quitted their order , and forsook their monastery , to profess the p. r. r. against which we believed we had sufficiently provided by our declaration of the month of april 1663. having prohibited our subjects of the p. r. r. who had once made abjuration thereof , to profess the catholick religion , and those who were engaged in the holy orders of the church , and to the religious men and women , to quitt the catholick religion , to take up the p. r. r. upon any pretext whatsoever . but because these prohibitions without any penalty , have not produced the effect which we did promise our selves , we were obliged to give out a second declaration of the twentieth of june , the last year , 1665. by which we ordained that the relapsed and apostates , should be punished by the penalty of banishment ; which declarations have also continued without effect , because those who were guilty of these crimes , betook themselves unto the chambers of the edict , notwithstanding the cognizance of that fact was appropriated by the said declaration , to our parliaments , to whom for this purpose we had addressed them , and that under pretext that we had not precisely forbidden the cognisance thereof unto the said chambers , to whom the jurisdiction thereof could not pertain , our edicts being not made in favour of them who were convict of such crimes , no more than of blasphemies and impieties uttered against the mysteries of the catholick religion . know therefore , that for these causes and other good considerations thereunto moving vs ; by the advice of our council , and of our certain knowledge , full power and royal authority , we have said and declared , and do by these presents , signed with our hand , say and declare ; we will , and it is our pleasure , that according to our said declaration , all who are guilty and accused of the crime of relapse or apostacy , shall be judged by the parliaments every one in his precinct , and the process by them made and perfected , according to the declaration of june 22 , 1665. as also in like manner , they who are convicted of blasphemy and impieties uttered against the mysteries of the catholick religion , with prohibition to the chambers of the edict to take cognizance thereof directly or indirectly , under any pretext or occasion whatsoever , under pain of nullity , and evacuation of the proceedings , costs , damages , and interests of the parties , and greater , if need be ; which our attorneys of the said chambers shall take notice of , upon pain of answering therefore : giving commandment to our beloved and leige counsellors holding our courts of parliament , baylifs , stewards , and all other our officers and justices to whom it appertains , that they cause these presents to be registred purely and simply ; and the contents thereof to be executed , kept and observed according to the form and tenure thereof ; for such is our pleasure . in witness whereof we have caused our seal to be put unto these presents , to the copies whereof credit is to be given as to the original , given at st. germains in laye the second day of april , in the year of grace , 1666. and the twenty third of our reign . signed , louis ; and below . by the king phelypeaux . observations upon this second declaration . as this second declaration is brought forth in the same place and on the same day with the former , so is it conceived by the same spirit . for the clergy who suggested the former , are also the authors of this , and the character of the ecclesiasticks appears so visible therein , that one cannot read it without perceiving immediately that it is their work , and that the sacred name of his majesty was not set to it without a most evident surprize .. the style alone of this ordinance shews sufficiently from whom it doth proceed , we need only consider the terms it makes use of , to avouch that it is not the king that speaks therein . for the p. r. r. is therein called heresie ; they that have quitted it , and return thereto , are named relapsed : the priests and monks which embrace it , apostates and sacrilegious ; and those that speak at all as they think of matters in controversie , are qualified as blasphemers against the mysteries of the catholick religion . all france knows that since the edicts of pacification , our kings have never expressed themselves in this manner , and there is not found any declaration , decree or publick act , that have used these injurious terms . on the contrary , the edict of nantes in its second article hath forbidden all those of the one and other religion to outrage or offend one another in word or deed , enjoyning them to contain themselves and to live peaceably together as brethren , friends , and fellow-citizens , upon pain upon the transgressors to be punished as infringers of the peace and disturbers of the publick repose , which was no other than a renovation of the ordinance made in the year 1570 , by charles the ninth , confirmed by henry the third in his edicts of 1576 , and 1577. and found so just and necessary by lewis the thirteenth father of his majesty , that he would expresly re-iterate the same in his declaration given at blois , in the year 1616. how is it possible to cause this prohibition to be executed , and to hinder them of the catholick apostolick religion from outraging in word and in deed these of the p. r. r. if the declarations themselves which bear the kings name , treat the religion and belief of the latter as heresie ? for is it not to authorize the other to call them hereticks ; a term which without contradiction is an injury of all other most outragious , and most capable to wound the hearts and provoke the spirits of men : and so far off is this odious name from consisting with the design of their living together as friends and brethren , that it is certain that it is capable to make brethren and themselves irreconcilable enemies . the wisdom and justice of our kings have caused them to condemn formally this factious name of hereticks , and sometimes to imploy the authority of their ordinances to banish it from the writings and language of their subjects , in respect of them who profess the p. r. r. this may be seen by the answer of henry the great to the fourteenth article of the paper presented unto him in 1602. by those of the p. r. r. who complained that contrary unto the tenure of the seventeenth article of the edict many preachers , and the advocates of the parliaments of tholouse , bordeox , province and britain , and other benches of their precincts did licence themselves to hold scandalous discourses , calling them of the said religion hereticks , whereupon it was enjoyned the attorneys general and their substitutes thereof to inform ex officio on pain to answer it in their own proper private names . it may be seen also by the answer of the same king to the sixth article of the paper of 1604. for they of the said religion having conceived that in the great church of bazas , there was left an inscription made , during the troubles , in which were these words , ab hereticis huguenotis ; it was said that a commission should be given out to the steward of bazas for to cause them to be put out . above all , the answer of lewis the just to the third article of the paper of 1615. reviewed and ratified by that of the third and sixth of may 1616. is extreamly considerable . for they of the p. r. r. who saw that the clergy would serve themselves of the oath which the king made at his coronation to extirpate heresies to animate him unto their ruine , demanded that it would please his majesty to declare that this oath did not respect them at all ▪ nor imported any prejudice to the liberty of the edicts of pacification made in favour unto them ; it was answered in these terms , the king hath not intended in the oath which he took at his coronation to comprehend those of the p. r. r. living in this realm , under the benefit of his edicts . is it not then a thing wonderful strange that against the settlement of so many edicts ; against the declarations of four kings , and particularly those two great princes , the grand-father and father of his majesty ; against the usage of so many years , and sentiment of a whole age , the ecclesiasticks have enterprized to give the p. r. r. the defaming title of heresie , and to cause them who make profession of this doctrine to pass for hereticks in a royal declaration ? they have done it without doubt to make themselves a dispensation from the observation of the seventeenth article of the edict , which forbids all readers , preachers and others who speak in publick , to use any words , talk , or discourses tending to stir up the people to sedition ; enjoyning them to contain and comport themselves modestly , and to say nothing but what might tend to maintain the repose and tranquility established within the kingdom . for having by surprize caused the kings declarations to talke after their manner , what will they not allow themselves in their chaires ? what licence will they not inspire into their auditors ? what aversation and hate will they not draw upon those whose peace the edict did intend to procure ? since after this their countrymen considering them under the masque of heresie , will look on them no longer but with horror ; and the example of the parliament of bretaigne , testifies very well how far this impression may carry men . for amongst the parliaments of france this is one of the most eager against them of the p. r. r. and the condemnation of mounseiur de la touche whom they caused to be taken and burnt with cruel torments for a crime whereof he never had a thought , and of which the providence of god was pleased to justifie him after his death in an admirable manner , is but too sad a proof ; and others no less convincing may be also alledged . these transports are the consequents of the licence which this parliament hath alwayes given it self to treat them of this religion as heretick , of which it hath taken so strong a habit , that it condemned the last year by a decree , the bayliffs deputy of the town of vitre in 21 livers fine , for having ordained joyntly with other two catholick judges that the term of heresie imployed in the writs of a conplainant should be rased out . they of the said religion complain unto his majesty of this unjust decree , and humbly demand of him the revocation of it ; and they also at the same time do beseech him to prohibit the ecclesiasticks and all others , and particularly the writer of the gazets , whose writings are the more dangerous , because they pass into all places of europe , to blast them by the name of hereticks , being it cannot but tend to cause sedition in the estate , and to make union and concord amongst his majesties subjects to become impossible . but though the stile of this declaration in which it delivers it self be strange , certainly the settlements which it contains are no less , and the passion of the ecclesiasticks is here manifested without any converture . for herein they speak of three sorts of persons , of the relapsed , apostates , and blasphemers of the mysteries of the catholick religion . the two first are condemned to be banished out of the kingdom ; and the cognizance of the process to be made against all the three , is taken absolutely from the chambers of the edicts , and attributed intirely to the parliaments . so it is , that the clergy thrust forward and advance alwayes their enterprizes against them of the p. r. r. to throw them at last , if they can , into despair . for in the month of april , 1663. they have gotten a declaration by surprize , against those whom they call relapsed and apostates . but that said nothing at all of those others whom they call blasphemers against the mysteries of the catholick religion . afterwards in the month of june 1665. the clergy suggested another declaration to express and fix the penalty which they would impose upon these pretended relapsed and apostates , causing them to be condemned unto perpetual banishment . but the chambers of the edict were not forbidden to take cognizance thereof . in the end the animosity of the clergy being not yet satisfied , and fearing they had not yet got force enough to banish those out of the realm whose abode in france is to them insupportable ; they would give them the last blow in 1666. procuring this declaration , which leaves them no means who shall be accused for relapsed or apostates , or blasphemers against the catholick religion , to bring themselves before the chambers of the edict , to the end they may find no shelter any where against the ardour of the pursuit of their adversaries . it is easie to shew that in all these heads the king is imposed on , and that they have surprized him in his religion and equity . of the relapsed . as for the relapsed , the ecclesiasticks have given his majesty to understand , as it appears by the first declaration of the month of april 1663. that he should not suffer the profanation and impiety of those who for the considerations of marriages and other like motives , after they had made abjuration of the p. r. r. and profession of the catholick religion turned to their first error . and certainly it is true that those who out of an impious and profane spirit , sport themselves so with the mysteries of r. or that seek only to deceive the world with a dissembled profession and for interests meerly humane , are infinitely condemnible and deserve to be punished exemplarily . but under this pretence , the clergy , by a visible artifice have caused a general law to be made against those who would return unto the profession of their first belief , whatsoever their motive be , and although their return be altogether disinteressed , and though they have no other end of their change than the repose of their consciences . in this the surprize appears manifestly . for , is it credible that the king would force by the severity of his ordinances and by rigorous penalties , a person wounded in his soul , to stay against its resentments in a religion which it esteems not good , and wherein it hath no hope to be saved ? if a man through infirmity , or ignorance , or by some temptation which dazles his spirit and surprizes his heart , suffers himself to be transported to quit his religion , and afterwards a serious reflection , or more ample instruction , give him apprehensions , and perswade him that he cannot be saved but by re-entring into the church from which he was departed ; is it possible that any should desire either to constrain or punish him whilst he acts by this principle , and hath no other motive but the discharge and duty of his conscience ? his majesty knows that of all things in the world , conscience is most free , and that the authority of those soveraigns whose yoak is born by the whole earth , pretend not to have a right to constrain it . if st. bernard had not said it in his time , that faith is to be perswaded and not to be commanded , ( fides suadenda est non imperanda . ) reason it self hath spoken it enough ; and the example of the king of kings affords us thereof a good proof . for this adorable master to whom the whole world oweth obedience , hath never imployed the terror of his thunder , nor the greatness of his authority to oblige men to believe his gospel . he hath not used in this his design any thing but the truth of his mysteries and the preaching of his apostles . faith ( saith st. paul , rom. 10. 17. ) is by hearing , and hearing by the word of god , he saith not that faith is by hearing of declarations , nor of decrees , nor of menaces , but of that divine word whose perswasion alone is capable to beget it in mens spirits . how then would they put on the king to enforce man by the terror of his banishments to continue in that religion which he approves not ? for what can come of this constraint ? but only that he should be inwardly of one religion ; and outwardly of another ; that is to say , that he should be an hypocrite , sacrilegious , and impious who prophanes two religions at once ; who doth violate the one by the thoughts of his heart , and the other by the words of his mouth , and actions of his body . or to speak more truly , he will be a man without religion . for he that serves himself of two religions at once hath none at all , and differs very little from an atheist . the king himself cannot have confidence in him , nor be assured of his fidelity . for how shall one believe that his obedience was sincere towards his prince , whilst it is dissembled towards god ? finally , the edict of nantes needs only to be considered , for to avouch that the declaration intituled against the relapsed , can be nothing else than a surprize . for it is manifest that that edict gives an entire liberty of conscience without exception to them of the p. r. r. without distinguishing of those that are born in it , and those that come over to it , betwixt them that have alwayes followed it , and those that return after they have quitted it for some time . the sixth article of the generals expresseth it self in these terms , that we may not leave any occasion of troubles and differences amongst our subjects , we have permitted and do permit them of the said p. r. r. to abide in all the towns and places of this our realm and the countries under our obedience , without being inquired after , vexed , molested , nor constrained to do any thing in the matters of religion against their conscience , nor by reason thereof to be sought out in their houses and places where they are pleased to dwell . according to this article then all those that are of this religion of what sort soever they be , may dwell safely and peaceably in their houses ; and the declaration on the contrary banisheth them from all places of the whole realm , one part of them of that religion , i. e. those who return thereto after some slight change . the first article of the particulars is also more considerable and more express . for it gives such an extent to this liberty of conscience , that no person is therefrom excluded , making use of these words , the sixth article of the said edict , touching liberty of conscience , and permission to all his majesties subjects to live and abide in this realm , shall take place and be observed according to its form and tenure , as well for ministers and schoolmasters , as for all others who are , or shall be of the said r. whether they be inhabitants of this kingdom , or others . it cannot be doubted , that this settlement doth comprize those whom they call relapsed , since it speaks not only those which are , but those also which shall be of the p. r. r. authorizing also those persons that may return thereunto hereafter , as well as those who have not departed from it at all . this hath been so constant from the time of the edict , that the edict it self wills , that this liberty of conscience should be extended unto those who before were returned to the p. r. r , and that it hath in it one article to hinder all inquiry after them , notwithstanding any security that they might have given for assurance of the contrary . this is in the ninth article , which imports , that those of the p. r. r. should not be any ways constrained , nor continue obliged , by reason of any abjurations , promises , or oaths which they have made heretofore , or securities that they had given , concerning any matter of religion , and that they might not be molested or troubled therefore in any sort whatsoever . it is therefore without all reason that any one should make use of this article against them , who after the edict , re-assume the religion which they had abjured , as if the intention of the law-giver had respected that only which was past . for before the edict , the liberty of conscience not well established throughout the realm , and the records being full of decrees , of arrests against the bodies , and other rigorous sentences against those , who notwithstanding their abjurations and securities had changed once more , it was therefore necessary to provide for that . but by the edict this liberty being so plainly and generally granted to all people , as is seen by the articles already rehearsed ; the thing was not afterwards any more in question , and there were no more sureties to be taken of those who after their abjuration should change in the future , for that they were comprised in the common liberty of all persons within the realm . it is not possible to have any doubt of this matter , when it is considered , that until the declaration 1663 , there was never any inquiry nor pursuit made against those who returned in this manner . an indubitable proof that they were within the terms of the benefit of the edict . otherwise we must accuse all the attourney-generals , and all their substitutes to have been ignorant of their duty , or not to have executed their office for so long a space of time . and how come the ecclesiasticks that are so active , and so vigilant against those who depart from their communion to enter into another which they hate , to have slept so many years without enterprising to disquiet them by justice ? that decree it self given by the council of estate , september 18 , 1664 , to declare that the ordinance of the king against the relapsed , might have no effect retroactive against them who before were returned from the p. r. r. is an evident testimony , that this is a new law contrary to the intention of the edict , that since the edict until then there had been no pursuit made against these persons , and that they had not pretended only so much as to have right to do . for he that hath acted against the law , is a debtor to the law. being then they have let pass sixty five years , without demanding any thing against the pretended relapsed , it is concluded that they were not debtors , and that they had not transgressed the edict ; satis est argumenti nihil esse debitum naevio , quod tam diu nihil petivit . orat. pro quinctio . it is argument enough that there is nothing due unto naevius , because of so long time he hath demanded nothing . as the roman orator speaks . of apostates . the same reasons which have been alledged for those whom they named relapsed , serve equally for those whom they qualifie as apostates . for the liberty of conscience is acquired by the edict to all sorts of persons , whether ecclesiasticks , or laicks . where the question was of regulating the interests of the ecclesiasticks , who before the edict changed their religion , there was nothing at all touched concerning their subsistence , or abode within the realm , because that was presupposed as certain and assured , by the liberty of conscience given universally unto all ; but provision was only made for their marriages to declare them good and valid ; and the succession to their moveables , purchases and acquisitions were confirmed to their children by the thirty ninth article of the particulars . is it possible that the condition of these persons is made worse by the edict which is the foundation of the publick liberty ? this is a thing not conceivable ; and notwithstanding that would come to pass , if the marriages of the ecclesiastick and religious persons which were before the edict , being authorized ; it were not permitted to others who would imitate them at this day , to live only in france , and to continue in the possession of their goods . this were to bring them back to be under the yoak of the edict of charles the ninth , that edict which was made in 1563. in the midst of the height of the wars , and in the greatest aversation of spirits . for in the twelfth article it is ordained , that the professed religious men and women who had liberty given them to depart ( out of their monasteries ) during , and since the troubles , should return to their monasteries , to live there according to the constitutions of the c. a. r. c. otherwise they should be obliged to depart the kingdom . it s known that this edict and all those that followed were abrogated by that of nantes , in the ninety first article ; so that this were to bring back the settlement of the edict 1663. and to evacuate that of nantes which had annulled the other . the ecclesiasticks themselves ought to hinder them of their orders from being thus handled , by the maxim which they teach , that the intention of the priest is necessary to the sacraments . for what intention can they have who are retained by constraint in a religion which they believe not to be orthodox ? for this cause it is to be hoped that his majesty seeing things by lights much clearer than those of passionate persons , will re-establish that liberty which they inforce themselves to very ill purpose to destroy , and that he will find that it will not be just to condemn unto banishment the ecclesiasticks who would embrace the p. r. r. being they recompence the ministers who abandon it and allow them priviledges , and assign them yearly pensions . of blasphemers of the mysteries of the catholick religion . we cannot promise our selves less justice towards those whom they would have to pass for blasphemers against the mysteries of the catholick religion . this is a point of the highest importance , and which throws them of the p. r. r. into mortal allarms . for by these mysteries of the catholick religion , they mean without doubt the doctrines and ceremonies with which they of another communion do not accord . so that all the sermons of their ministers , all their books of controversie , all private discourses of these disputed matters , shall hereafter be treated as blasphemies and impieties . so that they may never hereafter pretend neither to speak of these things in their chaires , nor to write thereof in their books , nor to conserr about them upon the most just and inevitable occasions . there must therefore be no more liberty for them in the kingdom . there can be no more for them any sort of security . they must of necessity either be cowardly or prevaricators , in not daring to speak of their faith ; or miserable , in exposing their lives at every word which they shall dare to pronounce in maintainance of their belief . to establish this rigour were infallibly to banish them all out of the state , which is a rigour impossible to be reconciled with his majesties intention . for being in france , the liberty is left them of the p. r. r. to believe and to profess their doctrine , it follows of necessity that that of speaking also be allowed unto them . the language of the mouth ought to be conformable to the apprehensions of the heart , and the profession of any doctrine cannot be otherwise made than by words , which are thereof the natural image and portraiture . this is the reason also why the clergy knowing well that the pretended crime of a blasphemer against the mysteries of the catholick religion , even as those of the relapsed and apostates , were no other than supposed crimes ; they believed that to attain to their design , of causing them to be punished , it was necessary to take away the cognizance thereof from the judges who are obliged to keep close to the edict , and who knew how they of the p. r. r. ought to live and ought to speak ; upon this account they have caused the chambers of the edict to be prohibited to judge in these matters , that they might attribute it only unto parliaments , and to the great chambers , as the declaration imports , of which complaint is now made . of the prohibition made to the chambers of the edict , to take cognizance of the relapsed apostates , and of blasphemers against the mysteries of the catholick religion . of all complaints which can be made by them of the p. r. r. there is not any that can give them more fear and more disquiet than this , and therefore they cast themselves in this matter , at his majesties feet , beseeching him with extreme consternation that he would have pitty on them . for to send these back unto the parliaments , of whom this declaration speaks , is an assured means , not only to destroy them , but to destroy all those of that religion ; for hereafter to destroy a person of that profession , it will need only to impute unto him that he hath held some discourse against the mysteries of the catholick religion , to the end that he may be brought before the great chambers , whereof the greatest part of the judges are so animated , that it sufficeth with them to be of the p. r. r. to make him criminal and punishable in their spirits . they will mingle also this ingredient even in all the causes of them of the said religion , so that there shall not be any more any chambers of the edict for them , and all their affairs shall be brought before the parliaments . this is to repeal the great design of the edict , and to give them of the p. r. r. cause to fear that they shall not be suffered any longer in france . for that they might enjoy any repose , the edict of nantes judged it necessary to take them out of the hands of the parliaments , and to allow them particular chambers , where justice might be done them without suspition or hatred , as the thirtieth article of the generals doth speak . how great then hath the surprize of the clergy been in this point ? and of what reason can they serve themselves to cause the chambers of the edict to be prohibited to judge of those whom they name relapsed , apostates , and blasphemers ? for being they have given unto these people such names as they pleased ; and conceived an action against them under the idea of the greatest crimes , therefore the rather according to the edict , ought the chambers ordained for them of the p. r. r. take cognizance thereof , with exclusion of the parliaments . for the thirty fourth article of the generals imports , that the said chambers should take cognizance , and judge soveraignly and with final determination by decree , privatively to all others , the process and differences moved and which shall be moved , in which they of the said religion were parties , principal , or security , plaintifs or defendants in all matters civil or criminal . the fifty second article in confirming this settlement , addes thereunto a clause decisive in these terms , the article of the jurisdiction of these chambers ordained by this present edict , shall be followed and observed according to the form and tenure even in what concerns the execution and not execution or violation of our edicts , when they of the said religion shall be parties . from this an invincible argument may be drawn ; for the action of them whom they call relapsed , apostates and blasphemers , is either a violation of the edict or not : if it be not , then is it not to be inquired after , nor condemned , nor punished . if it be , it ought then to be sent back to the chambers of the edict , to whom alone , as competent judges belongs the jurisdiction of the inexecution or violation of the edicts . one may say , that the law-giver foreseeing these very assaults which the clergy would one day make against the jurisdiction of these chambers , he hath been desirous to prevent them by all means possible . for not content with the two articles which have been already represented , he hath made another also , which is as it were the last seal of his will : inhibiting , saith he , and forbidding all our soveraign courts and others of our realm , to take cognizance of , or judge process civiles or criminals of those of the said religion , whose cognizance is by our edict attributed to the said chambers , provided that the reference thereof be by them demanded . art. 64. can there be now a contrariety more formal than that of this article and the declaration ? that prohibits all the soveraign courts of the realm to take cognizance or to judge of the criminal process of them of the p. r. r. and this ordinance reversing it , wills that all guilty and accused af the crime of relapse , apostasie , or blasphemies uttered against the mysteries of the catholick religion , shall be judged by the parliaments every one in his precinct ; with prohibition to the chambers of the edict to take cognizance thereof directly or indirectly , under what pretext or occasion soever , upon pain of nullity , evacuation of proceedings , expenses , charges , damages and interests of the parties , and greatter if need require . the ecclesiasticks then can never attempt any thing more highly against the edict , then in suggesting this declaration ; and it is clear that they had not pursued thus far , but to the end their prey might not escape them , because the animosity of the parliaments is so great against them of the p. r. r. that they are infallibly lost , if they be left in their power . there have been infinite vexatious experiences had of this ; and that we may not pass from the matter that is here in question , a decree was made by the parliament of tolouse , feb. 23 , 1665. against one named john gayrard , who had forsaken his religion , and was returned on the second of april , 1662. a year before the first declaration against the pretended relapsed . notwithstanding by this decree , he was condemned to be delivered into the hands of the executioner of the haut justice to be led with a halter ahout his neck , in his shirt , his head and feet bare , on a lords day before the cathedral church of montauban , at the close of the great mass ; where being on his knees , he should ask pardon of god , the king , and justice for his misdeeds , be banished the town and shrievalty of montauban , for three years , and condemned in a hundred livers for a fine , and in the charges , and sent back to the consuls of montauban to cause this decree to be put in execution . in pursuit whereof , having been re-closed three months in the prisons of tolouse , he was led to that of montauban , where he hath been ever since , and there he is at present . so it comes to pass that this parliament gives it self all license , not only to surpass the rigour of the declarations , in turning one part of his banishment into a reparation much more infamous and insupportable ; but which is more , they have condemned a man , who according to the decree of the council of estate , of the 18th of september , 1664. ought to have been absolved and discharged of all penalties , because he was re-entred into his religion a year before the first of the declarations by which they would prevail against him . but we need not be surprised at this proceeding of the parliament of tholouse . for in all times it hath made appear in all sorts of occasions and excessive hate against them of the p. r. r. so far , that king charles the ix . having ordained by his edict of 1570. that untill such times as the chambers of the edict should be established , they of the said religion might refuse in the parliaments four judges of the chamber , wherein their process were depending without expressing any cause , and without prejudice to the ordinary right of chalenges , but as for the parliament of tholouse , it was declared to be wholly refusable in process , wherein they of that religion were interested . and in case they could not agree of another parliament , it was ordered that the parties should be sent back to the court of requests , to be there judged with final determination . afterward in the year 1573. when the towns of the p. r. r. gave hostages to the same king , it was decreed that they might be sent to any town of the kingdom which it pleased him saving that of tholouse ; the royal authority , the publick faith , and the law of nations , being not judged a sufficient warrant from the violence of that parliament . also in the edict of 1577. which in the 32 , and 33. articles did import that the catholick officers serving the chambers of the edict were to be taken from the parliaments , that of tholouse was excepted , and it was ordained that the catholick commissioners of the chamber of the edict in languedoc , should be taken from other parliaments , or from the grand council , which was executed in that sort , till the parliament being displeased to see themselves so chastized , promised to moderate it self and to do justice . but they have not observed their promise , and have alwayes continued to give such great proofs of their ill will , that there is now no more cause to trust them than heretofore . the grief is , that the other parliaments have imitated their example , and a certain spirit of fierceness and aversion hath so pre-possessed them for some time , that they of the p. r. r. can well say , that they and their liberties are at an end , if they must abide under a jurisdiction so contrary and averse . witness the decree of the parliament of remes against james caillion seiur de la touche , and the parliaments of pau , bordeaux , and rouen , have done of late things which render them no less formidable . the king therefore who will not see his subjects to perish miserably , of whom he knows himself that he hath no cause to complain , will be pleased to revoke this rigorous declaration which subjects them unto parliaments , in many of which there are not so much as any counsellors of the p. r. r. for to defend their innocence . he will maintain of his justice and equitable goodness , the chambers of the edict in their power , without permitting any breach to be made upon their jurisdiction . he will remove the prohibitions gotten by surprize against those who are painted out under the name of relapsed , apostates , and blasphemers , leaving to all his subjects full liberty of conscience , which the edicts confirmed by his majesty have established throughout the realm ; and for that person named gayrard in particular , your majesty is besought to cause him to be freed from prison , by evacuating the decree made against him by the parliament of tolouse , and ordaining that the warrant of his imprisonment be cancelled and the gaoler constrained by all sorts of means , and even arrest of his body it self to suffer him to depart . a brief table of the estate of those of the p. r. r. after all these several observations which a hard necessity hath in a manner haled from the breast of those of the p. r. r. it is now easie to judge unto what extremity they are reduced , and how deplorable their condition is , if the king to whom they look as their only support on earth do not suffer himself to be touched with their supplications and their tears . for at length , what can be thought of their estate ? they behold the most part of their temples to be condemned and demolished in all the provinces of the realm , so that a possession of threescore and ten years and titles authentick could not save them . they dare no more correspond one with another , nor write of their affairs . their ministers dare not preach , without exposing themselves to the peril of being informed against to the justices , for not having spoken with all respect of the catholick religion . they cannot any more cause any books to be printed to defend their doctrine , without the permission of the magistrates and consent of his majesties attorneys , which makes the impression impossible . they have no more liberty to hold their colloquies for the conduct of their flocks , and for the exercise of their discipline . in the interval of provincial synods , it is forbidden them to receive any candidates , to the end that their churches may often remain whole years without ministers ; and consequently without consolation , without sermons , without sacraments . the synods national are refused them , or consented to at such distance from one another , that they serve for little else than to make them feel their misery ; and in the mean while they hinder them from calling one provincial synod after another , for the affairs for which they provide . the schools are taken from them in all places , and they cannot any longer cause their children to be instructed by masters unsuspected . their children themselves are ravisht from them every day to be thrown into cloysters , and to heap up the measure of this evil usage which is sufficient to cause pity in the most insensible , their fathers are condemned to pay a pension to those places where they behold them with most bitter sorrow . all wayes of getting their liveli-hood are denyed them . for they are excluded from all charges , from all professions , from all arts , from all the most mechanick trades ; and if one of them be received into any mystery , it is a grace so rare as it doth not deserve to be accounted of , and is bought so dear that the profits of his trade will not of a long time equal the expence he must be at to enter it . they have not only taken from them the means to gain their bread , but they have also brought in innovations to hale from them that little estate which they possess , by constraining them to contribute to the charges of chappels and guilds , to the re-edifications and reparations of churches and parsonage-houses . they are not assured of their lives themselves , because that in criminal process they do not permit them to be brought before the chambers of the edict , and they subject them to the presidial courts in cases provostal , or to parliaments and great chambers in pretended crimes of religion . the liberty of conscience which is granted unto them is so straitned , that it is no longer a liberty , but a rack ; because they that persist in their belief , do not speak of it without fear of being accused of blasphemy , those who quit it cannot return to it without being driven out of the kingdom for ever : and the ecclesiasticks who would embrace it , have not at all permission to say it , so that they are necessarily obliged to chuse banishment or dissimulation ; credidi , propter quod locutus sum , psal . 116. i have believed , therefore have i spoken , is no more a good maxim for them , they must hold the quite contrary ; credidi propter quod tacui , i have believed , therefore have i been silent . the sick of this religion themselves cannot be comforted in repose . the parish priests may trouble them without penalty in their very beds ; and there procure unto them agonies more cruel than those of death it self , finally , they are still pursued even after death , and cannot promise themselves to be quit of their travels in their coffins . because for the most part they take away their burying-places , and they must sustain incredible pains who bring them to their graves , so difficult do they make their interrments . see here a lively picture of the unhappy state of those of the r. r. they present it to his majesty , with assurance that it need only to make him know these things for to receive the effects of his justice . hitherto the church-men have hindred him from seeing the miseries of those whose ruine they desire . they themselves who suffer have been silent out of respect , hoping that their patience would sweeten or weary the hatred of their adversaries : but the excess of their grief hath this day constrained them to speak , and to offer this sad draught to the eyes of their prince . they hope he will have compassion of their misery , and his royal goodness having a sence of their evils , will consent unto some remedy . and that which principally promotes this hope is , that the remedy which is necessary for them is the self-same which the king hath protested to have in his intention , to wit , to cause the edict of nantes to be exactly observed . this is all they demand of his majesty ; they require of him no other favour at all than the observation of that important edict , which the best and most zealous catholicks have named the establishment of the kingdom of god amongst the french , the law of concord and union , the true cement of peace , a holy and sacred law , a work worthy of the great king who made it , and which deserves not only to be imprinted in books , but also to be engraved in the memories of all them who desire the peace and welfare of france . but seeing it is the kings pleasure to cause the edict to be religiously observed , they of the r. r. will to that end address here two supplications to this great monarch , with all the respect which is due to his sacred majesty . 1. that the ecclesiasticks hereafter may not be permitted to make themselves their opposite parties neither in the council , nor in parliaments , nor before other jurisdictions when any thing is in hand that concerns the execution or violation of the edicts : for it cannot be hoped that the edict ever will be observed hereafter in the kingdom while these church-men ( whose authority is so great , and whose name alone is so puissant and revered by the spirits of the judges ) shall become adverse parties against them , whose religion renders their persons odious and prejudiced . this is one of the principal springs of the grievances and griefs which are brought upon them , and there can never be peace nor repose for them in the nation , if this manner of dealing take place ; for the ecclesiasticks do hate them with an ardour which is almost unseparable from their characters ; if they continue in this allowance and liberty , to make themselves ex professo , their adverse parties , as if it were a duty incumbent upon them , they will bring thus , suits and vexations against them to an infinite number . this also the edict of nantes did provide for . for in the 17 , 20 , 21 , 29. articles , where it speaks of inquiries touching the violations of the edict , it is always said , that it should be by the kings officers , to exclude therefrom the ecclesiasticks . and by the answer of lewis the 13th . unto the 12th article of the paper of 1611. it is expresly imported ; that the parish priests should not make themselves parties in the non-observation of feasts , agreeable to the 20th article of the edict . if the parish priests be excluded from this inquisition , because they find it to make for their interest , to make processes against the protestants upon this point ; by the same reason ought not the clergy in general to be rejected as uncompetent prosecutors , touching the violations of the edict , being it is their great interest and one of their principal satisfactions to trouble them of this religion , and to ruine them with all their powers ? the order of justice also requires , that ecclesiasticks meddle not with things but what are purely spiritual . it cannot be without passing their bounds and without attempting an enterprize dangerous to the estate , for them to intrude themselves into politick affairs , such as are the violations of edicts . it is their part to defend their doctrine by their sermons and writings , but as for the interests of state , it becomes the kings ministers and officers only to manage them . the ecclesiasticks have no right , they have no qualification or call to this affair ; all that they have to do is to become denunciators against them that are culpable . but the action and the pursuit belongs unto his majesties officers , and the clergy cannot pretend to it , unless they will confound spirituals with temporals ; the distinction whereof is so necessary for the weal of kings and kingdoms . to the end therefore that these things may be left in their due order and station , and that the root of a thousand troubles otherwise inevitable may be pulled up , they of the r. r. do instantly beseech the king , that the ecclesiasticks may contain themselves in the functions of their charges , and that if any be guilty of any violations of the edicts , the enquiry after them only may be made by competent parties , who are the kings attornies , as it hath been always practised . 2. the other supplication they present unto his majesty is , that he would take care to recall or reduce the two declarations of april , 1666. ( and others such like made since ) to the terms of that inviolable edict , by revoking those things which are contrary thereunto , and that he would be pleased at the same time to make known his will therein , by the means and way of a declaration . for that shall quiet all and stop the mouth of both catholicks and religionaries , it will reduce them to their former state of tranquility and quietness , which they injoyed on both sides for many years ; else such new surreptitious orders drawn from your majesty ( without due and impartial information ) will be a precedent and inlet for a thousand more , that will totally subvert a fundamental law and edict established by your famous and wise predecessors , with the full advice and consent of the states of the realm , and which was by your majesty often allowed and ratified ; so that thence would follow a thousand secret and publick oppressions , without the redress or due representation to your majesty , which would bring the judgments of god upon your majesties kingdoms and throne , ( which god forbid ) and might destroy and scatter a great part of your subjects , and reduce their adversaries to those extremities against them which disquieted this nation for many years , and that could have no end but by establishing that impartial reconciling and sacred edict of nantes . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a38821-e210 mem. of rohan . and others . notes for div a38821-e3000 mathieu in the history of henry the fourth book 2. notes for div a38821-e10560 beloi . mathien conference des ordonances & edicts royaux , &c. an apology for the protestants of france, in reference to the persecutions they are under at this day in six letters. apologie pour les protestans. english. 1683 approx. 374 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 66 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a25703 wing a3555a estc r12993 12934409 ocm 12934409 95734 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. a25703) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95734) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 730:13) an apology for the protestants of france, in reference to the persecutions they are under at this day in six letters. apologie pour les protestans. english. l'estrange, roger, sir, 1616-1704. [6], 3-31, 94 p. printed for john holford ..., london : 1683. includes bibliographical references. translated from the french by sir roger l'estrange. original published (amsterdam, 1681) with title: apologie pour les protestans. reproduction of original in huntington library. (from t.p.) the first, treats of the priviledges they have by the edict of nantes -the second, gives an account of some part of the injuries and outrages they do them, whereby to force them to change their religion --the third, proves that their religion inspires no other principle into them, but an unmoveable loyalty to their prince -the fourth, justifies their innocence against the unjust charge of monsieur maimbourg -the fifth, defends them in relation to those troubles that fell out in lewis xiii reign, and the affair of rochel -the last, shews that the papists, by the principles of their religion, are guilty of all the crimes, they wrongfully lay to the protestants, in reference to kings. 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 protestants -france. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-02 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an apology for the protestants of france , in reference to the persecutions they are under at this day ; in six letters : the first , treats of the priviledges they have by the edict of nantes . the second , gives an account of some part of the injuries and outrages they do them , whereby to force them to change their religion . the third , proves that their religion inspires no other principle into them , but an unmoveable loyalty to their prince . the fourth , iustifies their innocence against the unjust charge of monsieur maimbourg . the fifth , defends them in relation to those troubles that fell out in lewis xiii . reign , and the affair of rochel . the last , shews that the papists , by the principles of their religion , are guilty of all the crimes , they wrongfully lay to the protestants , in reference to kings . london , printed for iohn holford , at the crown , in the pall-mall , 1683. to the reader . several accidents have till now hindred the compleating the number of these letters ; thô such as make not to our present purpose to relate . only it is fit i should let you know , that by the mouth of august last , mentioned in the third letter , is to be understood august , in the year 1681. but if you would know why i publish these letters : know , that the implacable hatred the persecutours of the french protestants do pursue these poor people with , who have taken sanctuary under the protection of our good king ; has made it absolutely necessary . for when by all imaginable ways of cruelty , they have forced them to a resolution of abandoning their country and all they have ; they not only make it the utmost penalty on this side life , so much as to attempt a departure , but after they are escaped , endeavour to prevent their subsisting any where else , especially in england . amongst some they are represented as enemies to our religion established : thô they desire to be esteemed as brethren , by professing the same faith and submitting to the same discipline . to others they are made appear as a mixt multitude , part protestant part papist : whereas the strict examination of their testimonials by the churches here of their own nation , makes the suggestion impossible . but that nothing may be wanting to add affliction to the misery of these poor fugitives , and render them at the same time worse than unprofitable to their brethren : it is suggested to the common people , that they come to take the bread out of their mouths , by over-stocking those populous manufactures , which seem already rather to be overcharged , and by surfeiting the land with people . which objection , if we consider strictly according to interest , comes not up to any weight or consideration . for many of the manufactures they bring over , are such as we had not before , and by consequence of the greatest and most unexceptionable benefit to us . others , tho not wholly new , yet bring so great improvement to those we had already of the same kind : that they do in a manner create a new manufacture . there are likewise that give help to a full trade that wanted hands before to supply it . and now if any are so unfortunate , as to bring over such as we are more than fill'd with already : i would beg , that as men ▪ we would consider the common laws of humanity , and let necessity take place of inconvenience ; and as christians , to have especial regard to those that are of the houshold of faith. now that we should be over-peopled , i think there is no danger ; when no considering man but will allow that our nation wants more than a million of people , and that no country is rich but in proportion to its number . but be the politick consideration what it will ; never was there greater objects of christian charity and compassion , than these poor people . 1. if we look upon the privileges of mankind , we shall find them here infringed to the scandal of our being . men not only forced to renounce their thoughts , and say the contrary to what at the same time they declare themsevels to believe ; but having by violence holy water cast upon them , and dragged at a horse-tail to mass , they shall be pronounced roman catholicks , and made to suffer as relapse , if they dare renounce what they never consented to . they are neither permitted to live at home , nor to go abroad . the holy and religious duty ( as the papists account it ) of confession is prostituted to oppression , and polluted with the intermixture of secular concerns . for the confessors now in france conjure their penitents , upon pain of damnation not to conceal any debt they owe to a protestant , and when revealed , immediately they attach it in the debtors hands , under the same penalty . 2. if we consider them as they are protestants of france , never had people greater privileges , better settled , nor upon juster grounds ; of which the first letter will abundantly convince any reasonable person . and yet it will appear by the second letter , that no people were ever reduced to a more miserable estate , and lived . but that which ought to move an englishman in all diversities of his passion at once is , not only that they are of our communion , but that we are in a manner punished in them . for a great inducement to this inhumane usage , not only seems to be , but is really owned by papists to be from the rage they have conceived against us for preventing their bloody and hellish designs by the exemplary punishment of some popish traytors . nay , if they durst for shame speak out , i am sure they would tell us , that since they could not execute their malice upon english protestants , they are resolved to wreak their revenge upon the french and scourge them for our sakes . the three next letters make good by invincible proofs the innocence of these poor sufferers , together with their affection and loyalty to their soverains . and the last shews plainly that the papists themselves are the real enemies to all crowned heads . you will find that i use no authority for the justification of the french protestants , but what i have taken out of popish authours , who cannot be suspected of partiality . since the finishing of my last letter , i met with an ingenuous acknowledement of the gunpowder-treason-plot by a jesuite . who tho he seems to speak with some abhorrence of the fact , and would excuse garnet , and others of his society ; does however acknowledge the thing in so plain a manner , as makes all his excuses frivolous . you will find the story in a book entitled historia missionis anglicanae soc. jesu , authore henrico moro lib. 7. n. xix . printed at st. omers anno. 1660. the present state of the protestants in france . letter i. you are not at all mistaken ; i can now easily satisfie you in what you desire to know concerning the protestants of france . one that is a friend to us both , who is lately come thence , hath fully acquainted me with the condition they are in . i saw him the day after his arrival , and found him ordering his books , and loose papers , which were just opened . after our first salute , i ask'd him what they were . they are , said he , french books ; and those printed sheets , are the new edicts , declarations , and acts which the king of france hath lately publish'd against the protestants of his kingdom . i am very happy , said i , in lighting on you at the opening of your papers . i was extremely impatient of knowing , with some certainty , what it was drove so many of them from their native country ; and i perceive , by the care you have taken to collect all the pieces which concern them , that i could not have met any one who might better satisfie my curiosity . they come hither in troops almost every day , and the greatest part of them with no other goods , but their children . the king , according to his accustomed goodness , hath had pity on them , so far as to provide means whereby they may be able to gain their lively-hood ; and amongst other things , he hath ordered a general collection for them throughout the kingdom . we were all resolved to answer the charitable intentions of our gracious prince , and were beginning to contribute freely . but to tell you the truth , we were extremely cooled by certain rumors . it is confess'd , that their king is very earnest to make them embrace his religion : but they assure us , that he uses none but very reasonable means , and that they who come hither with such outcries , are a sort of people not gifted with much patience , who easily forsake their native country , being dissatisfied , that their merit , as they conceive , is not sufficiently rewarded . besides , they are represented to us very much suspected in the point of their obedience and loyalty . if we may believe many here , they have been very factious and rebellious ; such as in all times have struck at the higher powers both in church and state ; which , you must needs see , would not be much for our purpose in these present conjunctures . in truth , this is intolerable , ( cry'd our friend ) i cannot endure that the innocence of these poor people should be run down at this rate : i perceive father la chaise is not content to persecute them in their own country with the utmost cruelty , but trys all ways to shut up the bowels of their brethren in foreign parts : he endeavours to ruine , and to famish them every where ; in england as well as france : a hatred so cruel , and , if i may so say , murderous , agrees not so well with the gospel of the meek iesus , whose companion father la chaise styles himself . for , he came not to destroy men , but to save them . let this jesuite alone , said i , and his emissaries , i do not doubt but he hath too much to do in all the affairs of protestants . but tell me ingenuously , do they give just cause to them of france , to quit their country as they do , and are they persons whom the state and the church may trust ? you your self shall be judge , said he , and that you may be fully inform'd of the cause , i will give you a particular account of the state of these poor people . but before i speak of the evils they have suffered , it is sit you should know , what it is that they have right to hope for from their king , and from their countrymen ; you will then be more affected with the usage they find . you cannot but have heard of the edict of nantes . here it is , said he , ( taking up one of the books that lay upon the table . ) it is a law which henry the fourth confirmed to establish their condition , and to secure their lives and privileges , and that they might have liberty freely to profess their religion . it is called the edict of nantes , because it was concluded of at nantes whilst the king was there . it contains 149 articles , 93 general , and 56 particular . you may read it at your leisure , if you please : i will only observe some of them to you at present . look , i pray , ( said he ) on the sixth general , and the first particular article . liberty of conscience , without let , or molestation is there most expresly promised , not only to them who made profession of the protestant religion , at the establishment of the edict , but , ( which is principally to be observed ) to all those who should imbrace and profess it afterwards . for the article saith , that liberty of conscience is granted for all those who are , or who shall be of the said religion , whether natives or others . the seventh general article grants to all protestants the right of having divine service , preaching , and full exercise of their religion , in all their houses who have soveraign iustice : that is to say , who have the privilege of appointing a judge , who hath the power of judging in capital causes , upon occasion . there are a great many noble houses in france which have this privilege . that seventh article allows all protestants who have such houses , to have divine service and preaching there , not only for themselves , their own family and tenants , but also for all persons who have a mind to go thither . the following article allows even the same exercise of the protestant religion in noble houses which have not the right of soveraign justice , but which only hold in fee-simple . it is true , it doth not allow them to admit into their assemblies above thirty persons besides their own family . the ninth article is of far greater importance : it allows the protestants to have , and to continue the exercise of their religion in all those places where it had been publickly used in the years 1596 , and 1597. the tenth article goes farther yet , and orders that that exercise be established in all places where it ought to have been by the edict of 1577 , if it had not been ; or to be re-established in all those places if it had been taken away : and that edict of 1577 , granted by henry the third , declares , that the exercise of the protestant religion should be continued in all places where it had been in the month of september that same year ; and moreover , that there should be a place in each bailywick , or other corporation of the like nature , where the exercise of that religion should be established , tho it had never been there before . these are those places which since have been called , with reference to the exercise of religion , the first places of the bailywick . it follows then from this tenth article of the edict of nantes , that besides the cities and towns in which the exercise of that religion ought to be continued , because they had it in the years 1596 , and 1597 , it ought to be over and above in all those places where it had been in the month of september in the year 1577 , and in a convenient place of each bailywick , &c. altho it had not been there in that month. the eleventh article grants also this exercise in each bailywick , in a second place where it had not been either in the month of september , 1577 , or in the years 1596 , or 1597. this is that which is called the second place of the bailywick , in distinction to that other place of the same nature , which is granted by virtue of the edict of 1577. when henry the fourth sent commissaries into the several provinces to see his edict put in execution , there was scarce found any considerable city or town where the commissaries did not acknowledge that the exercise of the protestant religion had no need to be confirm'd , or re-established , because it had been used there in some one of the three years above-mentioned : in so much , that there were whole provinces which had no need of those two places , granted out o● pure favour , i mean , the two places of each bailywick ; all the cities , and all the towns of those provinces claiming that exercise by a better title . this is it which made the bishop of rodes , ( monsieur perifix ) afterwards archbishop of paris , in his history of the life of henry the fourth , to say , that that prince by his edict of nantes granted to the protestants liberty of preaching almost every where . but he granted them farther , the means and full power of breeding up , and teaching their children . read , as to that , the thirty seventh particular article . it declares , that they shall have publick schools and colleges in those cities and places where they ought to have the publick exercise of their religion . the edict having secured , as you see , the exercise of the protestant religion , secures also the condition of them who should profess it , to the end that they might , without any molestation , each one according to his quality , follow those trades , employments and offices which are the ordinary means of mens livelyhood . indeed , the thing of it self speaks this . for it is plain that they do not grant in good earnest the free exercise of a religion , who debar the persons that profess it the use of means necessary for their subsistence . nevertheless for their greater security , henry the fourth hath declared to all europe by his edict , that he would not that there should be any difference , as to that point , between his protestant and his papist subjects . the thirty seventh general article , as to that is express . this it is : we declare all them who do or shall make profession of the pretended reformed religion , capable of holding and exercising all conditions , offices , honours , and publick charges whatsoever , royalties , seigneuries , or any charge in the cities of our kingdom , countries , territories , or seigneuries under our authority . the fifty fourth article declares , that they shall be admitted officers in the courts of parliaments , great council , chamber of accounts , court of aids , and the offices of the general treasurers of france ; and amongst the other officers of the revenues of the crown . the seventy fourth article puts them in the same state with their fellow subjects , as to all publick exactions , willing that they should be charged no higher than others . those of the said religion pretendedly reformed ( saith the article ) may not hereafter be overcharged or oppressed with any imposition ordinary or extraordinary , more than the catholicks : and to the end that justice might be done and administred impartially , as the edict explains it self , the 30th . 31st to the 57th articles set up chambers of the edict in the parliaments of paris and roan , where the protestant counsellors ought to assist as judges : and chambers miparties in the parliaments of guienne , languedoc and dauphine , consisting each of two presidents , the one protestant , the other papist , and of twelve counsellors , an equal number of each religion , to judge without appeal , ( exclusive to all other courts ) all differences of any importance which the protestants might have with their fellow subjects as well in criminal , as in civil matters . in short , this great edict forgets nothing which might make the protestants of france to live in peace , and honor : it hath not fail'd even to explain it self , as to the vexations which might be created them , by taking away or seducing their children . for , read the eighteenth general article . it forbids all papists of what quality or condition soever they may be , to take them away by force , or by perswasion against the will of their parents : as if it had foreseen that this would be one of the ways which their persecutors would use , to vex and ruine them . but the 38th . article goes farther yet : that wills , that even after their death , fathers shall be masters of the education of their children , and consequently of their religion ; so long as their children shall continue under guardians , which is by the laws of france till the 25th year of their age : it shall be lawful for fathers , who profess the said religion , to provide for them such persons for their education , as they think fit , and to substitute one or more , by will , codicil , or other declaration made before publick notaries , or written and sign'd with their own hand . you perceive then plainly , continued our friend , that by this edict king henry the fourth made the condition of the protestants equal almost in all things to that of his other subjects . they had reason then to hope that they should be allowed to exercise their religion , to breed up and instruct their children in it , without any disturbance ; and that they should have as free admission to all arts , trades , offices and employments as any of their fellow subjects . this is very clear , said i , and i am much obliged to you for explaining to me what this famous edict of nantes is , which i had heard so much discourse of . but they who have no affection for the protestants tell us , that it is a law which was extorted by violence ; and consequently , is not to be kept . i will not stand now ( said our friend ) to examine whether that consequence be good ; you cannot but perceive that it is dangerous . but i dare assure you that the principle from whence it is drawn ; namely , that the edict was extorted by violence is very false . i would not have you take my word for it . but i will produce an unexceptionable witness . it is the archbishop of paris ; he who writ the life of honry the fourth . that one witness is worth a thousand ; for he was a declared enemy of the protestants . according to him : the general peace was made , the ligue extinguish'd ; and all persons in france had laid down their arms , when this edict was granted in favour of them . it is ridiculous now , to say , that it was extorted by violence , there being then no party in all the kingdom in a condition to make the least attempt with impunity . moreover , that prelate could not forbear owning expresly what it was mov'd the king to grant them that edict : it was the sense of the great obligations he had to them . see the book it self ; read the passage . the great obligations which he had to them would not permit him to drive them into despair ; and therefore to preserve them a just ballance , he granted them an edict larger than any before . they called it the edict of nantes , &c. indeed the obligations he had to them were not small . they had testified an inviolable loyalty to him in all his troubles . they had spent freely their lives and fortunes to defend his rights , and his life against the princes of lorrain , who made so many attempts to keep him from the throne of his ancestors , and to usurp his place . had it not been for their valour , and their loyalty , the crown had gone into the hands of strangers ; and ( since we must speak out ) had it not been for them , the blood of the bourbons would not this day have been possessed of the throne . the edict of nantes then , was the effect and the recompence of the great obligations which king henry the fourth had to his loyal protestants , and not as is slanderously reported , the fruit of any violence , gained by force , and granted against the hair . but farther , the law of nature and common policy might challenge such an edict for them as well as gratitude . it is true , that soveraign magistrates are appointed by god to preserve the publick peace , and by consequence , to cut off , or prevent , as much as in them lies , whatever may disturb it : it is true also that new establishments in matters of religion may cause great troubles in a state , and that there are religions which have maxims so pernicious , that when magistrates are of a different opinion , or but so much as tolerate such a one , their lives and their kingdoms are never in safety . but henry the fourth found the protestant religion wholly establish'd in the kingdom when he came to the crown : besides , he who had so long profess'd it , knew perfectly well that it had none of those dreadful maxims , which makes princes and states jealous ; that on the contrary , in it , loyalty and obedience of subjects to soveraigns of what religion , and what humor soever , was to them an article of faith , and an obligation of conscience . he knew that protestants , by their religion were peaceable men , who sought but to serve god according to his word , and were always ready to spend the last drop of their blood for the service and the honor of their king. but he knew also that the zeal of the romish clergy always animated the popish common people against them , and that they would be sure to fall upon them , unless he took them into his protection . the law of nature then did not permit him to abandon to the rage of the multitude so many innocent persons ; and common policy warned him to preserve so many faithful subjects for the state , so capable of supporting it on occasion , as he had so freshly experienc'd . it being certain , that had it not been for them , the pope and the ligue had ruin'd the whole kingdom ; but it was not possible , either to defend them from the fury of the people , or to preserve them for the service of the state , if he had granted in favour of them any thing less than the edict of nantes : so that this edict in truth was to be ascribed to common equity and prudence no less than gratitude . but , said i to my friend , do you believe that the grandson of henry the fourth is bound to make good what his grandfather did ? i do not doubt it at all ( answered he ) otherwise there would be nothing secure or certain in civil society ; and wo be to all governments if there be no foundation of publick trust. 1. for if ever law deserv'd to be regarded by the successors of a prince , it is this . it was establish'd by a hero , who had recovered the crown for his posterity , by his sword : and this establishment was not made but after mature and long deliberations , in the calm of a prosound peace , obtained and cemented by many and signal victories . that hero hath declar'd expresly in the preface of the edict , that he establish'd it in the nature of an irrevocable and perpetual law ; willing , that it should be firm and inviolable ; as he also saith himself in the 90th . article . accordingly he made all the formalities to be observed in its establishment , which are necessary for the passing of a fundamental law in a state. for he made the observation of it under the quality of an irrevocable law , to be sworn to by all the governors and lieutenant-generals of his provinces , by the bailiffs , mayors , and other ordinary judges , and principal inhabitants of the cities , of each religion , by the majors , sheriffs , consuls and jurates , by the parliaments , chambers of accounts , court of aids , with order to have it publish'd and registred in all the said courts . this is expresly set down in the 92d . and 93d . articles . was there ever any thing more authentick ? 2. the same reasons which caused the establishment , remain still , and plead for its continuance . 1. the family of bourbon preserved in the throne . 2. the law of nature and common policy . 3. the two successors of henry the fourth look'd not upon themselves as unconcern'd in this edict . their word , and their royal authority are engaged for its observation no less than the word and royal authority of its illustrious author . lewis the thirteenth confirm'd it as soon as he came to the crown by his declaration of the 22d . of may , 1610 , ordering , that the edict of nantes should be observed in every point and article . these are the very words . read them ( said he ) shewing me a book in folio , called , the great conference of the royal ordinances and edicts . i read there in the first book , title 6 , of the second part of the volume , not only the article he mention'd , but also the citation of nine several declarations publish'd at several times by the same king , on the same subject . lewis the fourteenth , who now reigns , ( says our friend ) hath likewise assured all europe by his authentick edicts and declarations , that he would maintain the edict of nantes according to the desire of his grandfather , who had made it an irrevocable law. he himself acknowledges and confirms it himself anew ; by his edict of iune , 1680 , where he forbids papists to change their religion . there it is ; pray take the pains to read it . lewis by the grace of god , king of france and navarre , to all persons to whom these presents come , greeting . the late henry the fourth ; our grandfather , of glorious memory , granted by his edict given at nantes in the month of april , 1598 , to all his subjects of the religion pretended reformed , who then lived in his kingdom , or who afterwards should come and settle in it , liberty of professing their religion , and at the same time provided whatsoever he judged necessary for affording those of the said religion pretended reformed means of living in our kingdom , in the exercise of their religion , without being molested in it by our catholick subjects : which the late king , our most honored lord and father , and we since have authorised and confirmed on other occasions , by divers declarations and acts. but this prince is not content to tell what he hath formerly done , in confirmation of the edict of nantes ; read some lines a little lower , and you will see that he repeats again his former ingagements . we declare , that confirming as much as is , or may be needful , the edict of nantes , and other declarations and acts given in pursuit of it , &c. that is to say : that by this new edict he signs once more the edict of nantes , and for a more authentick confirmation of that important law , he ratifies together with it , and seals with his royal seal all the declarations which had already confirmed it . if all this is not sufficient to render his word sacred and inviolable , there is nothing in the world can do it : all things are lawful , and it is to no purpose to talk of any obligation , or of any bond in humane society . they cannot make void , or break the clauses of an edict so well deserv'd by the protestants , so just and so wise in it self , so solemnly establish'd , so religiously sworn to , and so often , and so authentically confirm'd by three kings , without shaking all the foundations of publick security , without violating , in that act , the law of nations , and silling the world with fatal principles , which by ruining all mutual faith among men , render divisions in states incurable ; and consequently immortal . dear sir , said i , i am much pleased with what you have inform'd me . o how i shall dash them out of countenance , who hereafter shall compare the condition of our papists in england with that of the protestants in france . there is no sort of good usage but what is due to these in their own country ; of which they have deserved so well by preserving that family which now reigns there . what have they not a right to hope for under the protection of an edict so authentick ? but our papists in england have they ever deserved a like protection ? hath there ever been pass'd any act of parliament in favour of them , like to this edict ? on the contrary , have not there been pass'd 1000 against them ? and not one , but upon the provocation of some sedition , or open rebellion . you need but review the fundamental laws of the land now in force against the pope , against the jesuits , seminary priests , and in general against all the papists . there is decreed justly against them all the contrary that by the edict of nantes is promised to the protestants . you are much in the right ( said our friend ) when you use the word justly on this occasion : princes and protestant magistrates cannot look upon , nor by consequence , treat papists otherwise than as declared an● mortal enemies of th●ir persons , and of their states . they may disguise themselves as they please : 〈◊〉 in truth , every papist is a man who takes the pope to be the soveraign head of the universal church , and believes that on that very account , there is no prince , nor king , nor emperor who is not subject to his censures , even to excommunication . now who knows not that it is a general maxim of that religion , that they ought to treat all excommunicated persons , as common pests ? upon this all subjects are dispensed with from their oaths of allegiance to their princes , kingdoms are laid under interdicts ; and they are no way obliged to keep faith with hereticks . this is the original and damnable cause of the many conspiracies that have been made against the sacred lives of our kings : and if you will search our histories , you will find none of the forementioned acts ever passed but upon some previous provocation given by the papists insolence , or rebellions : of the massacres in france and ireland , wherein they of rome have so triumph'd , and of the general consternation into which so lately our nation was cast . they would fain perswade us , that these pernicious maxims are peculiar to the jesuits and some monks : but a little treatise , called , the disserence between the church and court of rome , proves undeniably , that it is the judgment of all true papists . i could produce other invincible authority , if this point were here to be proved . there cannot then be too great caution against such persons : whatever they pretend , they do not design simply the exercise of that belief which their conscience dictates to them , they grasp at the power , and aspire at dominion : they design , whatever it cost them , to have their church reign once more here in england ▪ there is nothing they dare not attempt , nothing they are not ready to act , that they may compass it . they are implacable enemies who wait but for an opportunity to cut our throats : and we must needs be very senseless and stupid , if after so many proofs as they have given us of their desperate malice , we should repeal those laws which tie up their hands . you are much in the right , i replyed , but let us leave them for the present , and return to our protestants of france . you have shewed me their rights , now let me understand their grievances . i am willing to do it , said he ; but it is a little late : and if you please , being somewhat weary with my journey , we will defer it till to morrow . i will expect you here in my chamber at the same hour you came to day . i told him with all my heart . and as our conversation ended there , i think it not amiss to end my letter also , intending in another to let you know the present condition of those poor people . i am your , &c , letter ii. i did not fail to wait on my friend at the appointed hour . sit down ( said he ) as soon as he saw me in the chamber , and let us lose no time in needless ceremony : i was just putting my papers in order , by which i would desire you to judge of the protestants complaints , and the reasons that have made them leave their country : but since you are here , take them as they come to hand . the first is a verbal process of the extraordinary assembly of the archbishops and bishops held in the province of the arch-bishop of paris , in the months of march and may , this 1681. it is a piece which justifies a truth , that the world will hardly believe : namely , that whereas the protestants by virtue of the edict had the exercise of their religion almost every where , they have it now scarce any where . see the proof in the tenth page of that verbal process , where one of the agents , general of the clergy of france , alledgeth as so many publick testimonies of the piety of their king , an almost infinite number of churches demolish'd , and the exercise of the religion pretended reformed suppress'd . i leave you to imagine what a consternation such a terrible blow must have put those poor people into ; not to mention their grief to see those holy places beaten down , whose very stones they took pleasure in ; instead of having the heavenly mannah shower down at the doors of their tabernacles , at this present they are forc'd to go 30 or 40 miles through the worst of ways , in the winter , to hear the word of god , and to have their children baptized . but let us go on to a second piece . here is a declaration hath lain heavy upon them , in reference to an infinite number of living temples , who are ●ar otherwise to be lamented for , by reason of the rigor they are us'd with , than the temples of stone that are demolish'd . it is of the thirteenth of march , 1679. pray read it . it forbids all popish clergy-men , whatever desire they have , to turn protestants ; and even all those protestants , who have forsaken their religion out of lightness , or infirmity ; to return to it again , upon better knowledge of the truth , press'd to it by their consciences , and desiring to give glory to god. this dreadful edict , will not suffer , that any of them shall satisfie their consciences , in so important an affair , under any less penalty , than that of the amende honorable , perpetual banishment , and consiscation of their goods . i beseech you ( said i ) what doth the declaration intend , by making amende honorable ? you have reason to ask , replyed he , it is that you ought not to be ignorant of . know then , that for them to make amende honorable is to go into some publick place , in their shirt , a torch in their hand , a rope about their neck , followed by the hangman , in this equipage ( which is that of the most infamous criminals ) to ask pardon of god , the king , and justice for what they have done : that is to say , on this occasion , for having dar'd to rep●nt of sinning against god , for having forsaken a religion which they believ'd heretical and idolatrous , and consequently , the infallible way to eternal damnation ; and for being willing thence-forward to profess the protestant religion , in which only they are perswaded they can be saved . this is , dear friend , what they in●lict upon all popish ecclesiasticks to whom god vouchsafes grace to discern the true religion , and upon all protestants , who having been such wretches as to forsake it , are a●terwards so happy as to be convinc'd of their sin ; and to repent . they call the first apostates , and the other relaps . but names do not change the nature of things : the misery is , that all this is executed with the utmost rigor . the prisons of poictiers , and those of other places are at this present filled with this sort of pretended relapsed persons ; and it is not permitted to any one to relieve them . what possibility is there then for such as are in like circumstances , and whose number every day increases , to continue in france ? but the mischief is much increas'd since this declaration . what was particular to ecclesiasticks and relapse protestants , is now become universal to all roman catholicks . i shewed you the piece yesterday . it is that very edict of iune , 1680 , wherein they pretend to confirm the edict of nantes . a blessed confirmation ! the edict of nantes , as i have shewed you , allows the liberty of conscience to all them who were then protestants , and to all such as would be afterwards , inhabitants , or others . but ▪ what doth this new edict declare ! our will and pleasure is , that our subjects , of what quality , condition , age or sex soever , now making profession of the catholick apostolick roman religion , may never forsake it , to go over to the pretended reformed religion , for what cause , reason , pretence or consideration soever . we will that they who shall act contrary to this our pleasure , shall be condemned to make amende honorable , to perpetual banishment out of our kingdom , and all their goods to be confiscated . we forbid all ministers of the said pretended reformed religion , hereafter to receive any catholick to make profession of the pretended reformed religion , and we forbid them and the elders of ●heir consistories to su●fer in their churches or assemblies any such , under penalty to the ministers of being deprived for ever of exercising any function of their ministry in our kingdom , and of suppression for ever of the exercise of the said religion in that place where any one catholick shall be received to make profession of the said pretended reformed religion . lord ! what a horrible proceeding is this ! ( cryed i , as soon as my friend had read it ) do they call this confirming of edicts in france ? what a violence is this to the consciences of ministers and elders , to command them to shut the doors of the church of jesus christ to all their neighbours who come thither for admission : ( and to have this done ) by them who are called by god to open the door to all the world ? is not this to force them to violate the most essential and sacred duty of christian charity ? in truth , if there were nothing else but this ; i do not see how they can stay there much longer with a safe conscience . they must swallow worse potions than these ( said my friend ) you shall see presently quite other preparations . what ( replyed i ) have they the heart to use thus cruelly those poor churches within whose walls any roman catholick changes his religion ? don't doubt it ( said he ) they make no conscience at all to exceed their commission , whensoever they are enjoyn'd to execute any penalty . i will give you an example , which will amaze you there is a great town in poitou called la motthe , where the protestants have a church consisting of between three and four thousand communicants : a young maid of about seventeen years old , who from a protestant had turned papist , had stole her self into the congregation upon a communion-day ▪ now you must observe , that the protestant churches are full on those days . for they would believe themselves very much to blame , if they lost any opportunity of partaking at the lord's supper . nevertheless , without considering how easie it was for that young maid not to be discovered by the consistory in such a crowd , and tho those poor people were not at all within the letter of that rigorous edict , they have made them undergo all the penalty . the exercise of their religion is wholly suppress'd there , and their minister not allowed to preach in france . this is very cruel ( said i to our friend ) and tho it were true that those ministers and those elders were guilty upon such an account , why should the whole flock be punished ? those poor sheep what have they done ? that is very usual for those gentlemen ( answered he : ) i have a hundred stories to instance in . i cannot forbear telling you one , which many of their own devotees were scandalized at . s. hippolyte is a place in where all the inhabitants are protestants , except the curate , and it may be , two or three poor wretches , who are not natives of the place neither . a fancy took the curate to put a trick upon the protestants ; for this he chose a sunday ; and the very moment that they came out of the church , he came and presented himself before them with his sacrament , as they were almost all come out . you must know that the church is on the farther side of a bridge , which must be pass'd over , going and coming . several of them were upon the bridge , others had pass'd it , and part were yet on the other side ; when the curate appear'd , all of them , who could possibly , got away and hid themselves : but neither the place , nor the great haste of the curate would permit all of them to do so . he went up directly to one of the company , whom he had born an ill will to for some time : he bids him kneel : and the other answering that his conscience would not suffer him to do it ; he gave him a cuff on the ear. he that was struck grumbled ; and so did two or three who were about him . the curate went on his way , threatning hard . next day there were informations made on both sides : the curate in his , not complaining of any person but him he had struck , and two or three others who had grumbled at it . the friends of the curate perceiving that he had done the wrong , propos'd an accommodation . it was by misfortune consented to . prosecution ceased on each side , and it was believed that there was an end of that business : there was not a word spoken of it in above a year . but the intendant of languedoc revived it last winter , when they thought of nothing less ; and of a matter particular to two or three , made it a general concern of the whole congregation . he cites them before the presidial of nismes , to whom he joyn'd himself . he condemns them to demolish their church in a months time . those poor people go and cast themselves at the feet of the court ; but to no purpose . the king's council hears and confirms this strange order of the intendant , and the church is rac'd to the ground . the council which gave this sentence was the first in which the dauphine was present . the report of such an order being spred among the courtiers , and all being amaz'd that heard it , a certain person took the liberty to tell the dauphin , that for the first time he had been at the council , he had assisted to a great injustice . what say you to that ? said a duke and peer , to the dauphin , who had made no reply to the former . i say , answered the dauphin , that he may be much in the right . i told our friend , i had enough of this . you must not be weary , said he , this is but the beginning of sorrows . let 's go on to the rest . here is , said he , a little book which comes just now to my hand , in it are stitch'd up together , three acts concerning schools . the first is of the ninth of november , 1670. it forbids all protestant schoolmasters to teach any thing in their schools , but to read and write , and arithmetick . the second , which is of the 4th . of december , 1671 , ordains , that the protestants shall have but one only school in any place where they have the publick exercise of their religion ; and but one master in that school . the third is of the ninth of iuly , this present 1681. look upon them ( said he ) and give me your opinion . it seems ( said i ) that the first contains nothing which the protestants may complain of , at least , if that which i read there be true , namely , that by the edict of nantes it is expresly ordain'd , that in the schools of those of the pretended reformed religion , there shall not any thing be taught , but to read , write , and cast account . for according to this , the edict of 1670 is entirely conformable to that other edict which is the law. you are in the right , said i , but they who fram'd the act , have deceived you , and have made no scruple to ground it upon a matter of fact entirely false . for the article which speaks of schools , doth not mention the least word of that restriction , which the act assures us to be there expressed , namely , of teaching only to read , write , and cast account . see the article length : it is the 37th particular . those of the said religion may not keep publick schools , unless in cities and places where the publick exercise of their religion is allowed , and the provisions which have heretofore been granted them for the erection or maintenance of colleges , shall be authenticated where occasion shall require , and have their full and entire effect . where is that express order ? it is expresly ordered to teach only to read , write , and cast account ; upon which the act is grounded . is it possible ( said i ) that they should have no sense of the horrid shame which must arise upon conviction of forgery in a matter of fact of this nature ? they never stick at so small a matter as that ( said he ) in the design they have of rooting out the protestants . those who are in france dare not open their mouths to discover such kind of falsities ; and strangers , whom they carry ●air with , will not so far concern themselves as ever to suspect there should be falshood in a matter of fact so easie to be made out ; and which they make to be so positively af●irm'd by so great a king. so that they do not fear at all the shame you speak of . after all , they are but pious frauds , at which , they of the popes communion never blush . and what say you ( continued be ) to that other act which reduces all schools to one , in each city and town where the protestants have the publick exercise of their religion , and that which requires that there should be only one master in that school . i replyed that it was an excellent way to restore ignorance , the mother of the roman faith and devotion . in truth , says he , the care of one master cannot go far . besides there is a protestant church which alone hath two thousand children of age to be taught . those poor people have done all they could to obtain of the council , that at least there might be two schools in each place , one for boys , and the other for girls . but it was to little purpose that they pleaded good manners for it , which such a mixture of both sexes visibly was offensive to . they were deaf to all their prayers and to all their remonstrances . but this is not all yet . in the execution of this rigorous act , they have taken away ●rom them that little which was left them . for the judges of the places will not suffer that any schoolmaster teach , unless they have first of all approved of him , and receiv'd him in all their forms . as therefore their approbation is a matter full of invincible di●●iculties ; above all , when they are to give it to a man of merit , and who may do good , it is come to pass by means of these two acts , that all the little schools of the protestants are shut up . from the little schools they have proceeded to colleges . you see by the act of the last of iuly , which suppresses for ever that of sedan . they have taken away also the college of châtillon sur loin . so that , hereafter the protestants in france are to lie under worse than egyptian darkness . i leave you now to judge whether they are to blame to seek for light in some goshen . in truth , said i , this is very hard . but if they who inspire into the king such strange acts , have no respect for henry the great and his edicts , at least they ought to be more tender of the glory of their own illustrious prince , and not to expose him , as they do , to be ranked with that emperor against whom the holy fathers have cryed so loudly . is it possible they can be ignorant that this method o● extinguishing the protestant religion is exactly the same that iulian took to extinguish the christian religion ? i do not think ( said our friend ) that they can be ignorant of a truth so well known ; especially since one of their eminent writers hath publish'd the history of the life of s. basil the great , and of s. gregory nazianzen . there they might have read in more than one place , that it was likewise one of the secrets of that emperor , to ruine the christians by keeping them from all improvement in learning , and to prohibit their colleges and schools ; and which the father 's judg'd to be most subtle policy . but their zeal transports them above the most odious comparisons . they stick not to give occasion for them every moment . i will shew you an example which will astonish you , i have here light upon the paper . they are now come to take the measures of that barbarous and inhumane king who us'd midwives of his own religion to destroy the race of the people of god in egypt . for by that declaration of the 28th of february , 1680 , it is ordered , that the wives of protestants shall not be brought to bed but by midwives or chyrurgeons who are papists . this they make to be observ'd with the utmost rigor , so far that they put a poor woman in prison for being present at the labour of her sister , whose delivery was so quick and fortunate , that there was neither time nor need to call a midwife . that , you may in few words understand of what consequence this is to our poor brethren , i need but acquaint you , that the king of france in his edict of the month of iune , 1680 , where he forbids papists to change their religion , acknowledges himself , what experience doth but too plainly justifie , namely , that the roman catholicks have always had an aversion , not only against the protestant religion , but against all those that profess it , and an aversion which hath been improv'd by the publication of edicts , declarations and acts. that is to say , that whatever pretence the roman catholicks make to the contrary , they have always been , and still are enemies of the protestants ; and that the protestants ought to look to be treated by the catholicks as enemies . after this what can they judge of the design , and consequences of a declaration , which puts the lives of their wives and children into those very hands which the king , who makes the declaration , acknowledges to be hands of enemies ? but farther , the declaration it self discovers , that one of its intentions was , to make the children of protestants to be baptized by midwives , or by popish chyrurgions . and what mischief do they not open a way for by that ? the protestants will hold that baptism void , which hath been administred by such hands , they will not fail to make it be administred anew , by their pastors . this shall pass for a capital crime in the pastors and fathers , and they shall be punished as sacrilegious persons who trample on the religion in authority , the religion of the king : for the most odious representations are still made use of . nay , said i , by this they will likewise claim a right , from the baptism's being administred by papists , to make themselves masters of the education of their children . you are in the right ( said he ) and that article ought not to be forgotten . it is just , will they say , that they should be brought up in the church which hath consecrated them to god , by baptism , at least , that they should be bred up there , till they are of age to chuse for themselves : and when they are of age , they will say then , that it is just they should , as well as others , be liable to the same edict which forbids catholicks to change their religion . is not this enough already to make one forsake such a kingdom ? a christian for less than this would surely flie to the utmost parts of the world. but to proceed , here is that terrible decree which fills up the measure , as to what concerns the poor children . it comes to my hand very seasonably . it is the declaration of the 17th . of iune last . this ordains that all the children of protestants shall be admitted to abjure the religion of their fathers , and become papists as soon as they shall be seven years old : it declares , that after such an abjuration , it shall be at the choice of the children , either to return home to their fathers , and there to be maintain'd , or to oblige their fathers and mothers to pay for their board , and maintenance , where ever they please to live . it adds extreme penalties to be laid on them , who breed up their children in foreign parts , before they are sixteen years old . but i pray read over the whole edict . upon that i took the de●●aration from our friends hand , read it , and returning it to him again , could not forbear declaring , that i did not now wonder any more that the protestants of france were in so great a consternation . they are much in the right ( said i ) discretion and conscience oblige them to depart out of a country , in which there is no security for the salvation of their dear children . they are of too great a value to be so hazarded . what is more easie , for them who have all the power , than to induce such young children to change their religion ? there is no need for this , to shew them all the kingdoms of the world and their glory . a baby , a picture , a little cake will do the business ; or if there want somewhat more , a rod will not fail to complete this worthy conver●ion . in the mean while , what a condition are their wretched fathers in , besides the most inexpressible grief of seeing what is most dear to them in the world seduc'd out of the service and house of god ; they shall likewise have this addition of anguish of having their own children for their persecutors . for , knowing , as i do , the spirit of that religion , i doubt not but they will all prove rebellious and unnatural , and renounce all that love and natural respect which is due to them , whom they owe their lives to . they 'll give law to their parents , they will oblige them to make them great allowances , which they will dispose of as they list ; and if their fathers pay them not precisely at the time appointed , i am sure , no rigors shall be forgotten in the prosecution . no certainly , said our friend , and i could give you an hundred instances , if there were need . even before this merciless declaration was made , the goods of parents were seis'd upon , exposed to sale , to pay for the maintenance of their children , who had been inveigled from them , and been made papists . if they dealt with them so then before the declaration , what will they not do when they see themselves supported and armed with royal authority ? but there is no need i should insist farther on the dreadful consequences of this declaration . it hath been lately printed in our language , and notes made upon it , wherein nothing hath been forgotten . the book is written impartially : tho i can scarce believe what is express'd in the title page , that it was written in french ; however , some gallicisms are put in to make you believe it : but the protestants of that nation are not us'd to such bold expr●ssions upon such kind of subjects : and i doubt much whether they could do it . if they have reason to fear for the birth , and for the tender years of their children , they have no less for themselves . here is a proof of it . it is the declaration of the 19th . of november , 1680 : by which it is ordained , that whenever they are sick , they shall suffer themselves to be visited by the papist magistrates . thus , having made their lives burdensome to them , they take a thousand ways to torment them in their beds , as soon as any disease hath seised them . it is not henceforth permitted to them either to be sick , or die in peace . under colour of this declaration they are persecuted , and all means are tryed to shake their faith , under the pretence of being ask'd what religion they will die in . first a judge presents himself with the awe of his presence , accompanied by one of the king's sollicitors and two papist witnesses . they begin their work by driving all protestants , who are with the sick man , out of his chamber : father , mother , wife , husband , children , none are excepted . after that , they do with the sick person as they list : they draw up a verbal process , or such as they like . lies with them are but pious frauds . whatsoever the sick man answers , he hath still abjur'd , if these gentlemen please to make a conversion of it ; and there is no possibility of disproving it . the verbal process is drawn up in good form. if the sick man recovers , and refuses to go to mass , immediately he is subject to all the penalties of a relapse . if he dies and chances to be the father of a family , they take away all his children , to breed them up in the popish religion ; and his estate , to preserve it , as they pretend , for the children of a catholick father . can any one who hath any care of his own salvation , or any affection for his children , live expos'd to such dreadful inconveniences , if god offers any means to avoid them ? i am afraid i tire you with the recital of so many calamities . fear not that , answered i , i am resolv'd to know all . you do not consider what you say , replyed he , i should need whole weeks to tell you all . imagine all the suprises , all the indirect practices , all the base tricks of insinuation , and little quirks of law are put in ure : together with all manner of violence , to accomplish the work. neither do those enemies of the protestants always neglect the oracles of the scripture . it says , i will smite the shepherd , and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered . these gentlemen then , that they may the more easily scatter the sheep , smite , every where , the shepherd , and constrain them to fly . they imprison one , for having by the word of god confirm'd some of his flock , whom the popish doctors would pervert : another , for being converted to the protestant religion in his youth , long before any law was made against pretended apostates . they hire forlorn wretches to go to the sermons of the protestant ministers , and to depose before a magistrate , that the ministers said , that the church of rome was idolatrous , or that the faithful are persecuted , that they spake ill of the virgin mary , or of the king. upon this , without being heard , ( and tho it be offered to be made out by the deposition of an infinity almost of persons of credit , that the testimonies of these two or three wretches are absolutely false ) orders are issued out for the seising the bodies of the ministers . they are clap'd in jayl as soon as taken : they are condemn'd to pay excessive fines : they force them to make the amende honorable , they banish them the kingdom . the intendant of rochefort suppress'd one there , upon the most extravagant deposition that was ever taken . the deponent having , been at the sermon of that minister , said , that there was nothing to be found fault with in his words , but that he perceiv'd his thoughts were not innocent . if there are any amongst them so happy as to consound so the false witnesses , that the judges are asham'd to use all those rigors ; none of the charges of imprisonment , or of the suit are ever recovered against any one . a minister who may have sixty or seventy pounds a year , and seven or eight in family to maintain , must be condemn'd with all his innocence to pay all these great costs . i could , upon this head , tell you a hundred stories , but that it would be too tedious . i have met both at paris and in other provinces many of these persecuted ministers , who acquainted me with their adventures , germany , holland and switzerland are full of them , and i am told , there are some of them here in england . their absence from their flocks is but too good a proof how hot the persecution is against them . and so let 's go on . you may remember that the edict of nantes judg'd it necessary for the preservation of the estates , and credit of the protestants , and for the safety of their lives , to erect tribunals where supreme justice might be administred by judges of the one , and of the other religion . but all these tribunals are suppress'd : namely , the chambers of the edict of paris , and of rouen . it is some years since the chambres miparties were suppress'd by the delaration of iuly , 1679 : so that here is their fortunes , their credit , their lives , all at the mercy of their sworn enemies . for you have not forgot that the king of france acknowledges , in one of his declarations , that the papists have always hated the persons of the protestants . judge then if it be safe for them to stay longer in such a kingdom . but there is no method proper to ruine them , which is not made use of , that if one fails , another may be sure to take . synods and conferences are absolutely necessary , for the admission of their ministers , for the correction of scandals , for the preservation of peace in their congregations , for the subsistence of their colleges , and for the support and exercise of their discipline . at first they kept them with all sort of liberty . under lewis the thirteenth , they thought fit to forbid them to hold any synod , unless some protestant commissary , who was to be named by the court , were present . this was observed till the year 1679 , when a declaration was publish'd , requiring that there should be a papist commissary in their synods . that is to say , sir , said i , interrupting our friend , they will pry into their hearts , and perfectly know where their strength or their weakness lies . if there were nothing but that in it , replyed our friend , that declaration would not allarm them so much as it doth . for there is nothing done in their assemblies , which they are not willing all the world should know . they defie their most mortal enemies to prove the contrary . can there be a more undeniable proof of this , than the practice of the protestant commissary , who sends to the court a copy well attested of all the results of the deliberations which are made , while the synod or conference is held ? what do they fear then , replyed i , from the presence of a papist commissary ? because they know that the end of the court cannot be to discover their secrets , since they have none ; therefore it is that they justly fear , that this papist commissary hath been set over them , to create them trouble in the most innocent affairs , to hinder those deliberations which are most necessary for the due preservation of their flocks , to silence those ministers among them whom he shall perceive to be of greatest ability , and of credit , to dishearten one by threatnings , to corrupt another by promises , to sow dissention and division among them , and to employ all means possibly to ruine them . these are the just fears which have hindred them till this present , from assembling any synods with this so destructive a condition , hoping continually that , it may be , god would touch the heart of their king. but perceiving no favourable change , and not being able to subsist without holding their synods , i learn'd , as i came out of france , that these poor people are resolv'd to run these hazards , and that their synods are upon assembling in several places . may god vouchsafe to preside in the midst of them by his grace , and remove far from them all the evils ●hey have cause to fear . it may be , by their good examples , and their religious behaviour they may convert them , who are set over them for a snare , as it happened to their fathers in the last age also . then was contrived the placing of papist commissaries , to spie out their liberty . but these commissaries were so taken with the modesty , the piety , the charity , the decency of order , and the devout prayers of the first reformers , that they gave glory to god , and embrac'd the religion which they had persecuted , the jesuites nevertheless have thought all these evils of which i have spoken , too slack and gentle . that they may not be at any more trouble , they will do the business once for all . they have contrived to starve all the protestants : and to effect this , they have made all the means of gaining a livelyhood , to be taken from them , by the acts of the council of state , of the sixth of november , 1679 , and the 28th . of iune , 1681. 1. they have turn'd out of all jurisdictions and seignuries ( which are almost infinite in france ) all protestants who had been admitted officers in those jurisdictions . all stewards , bailifss , sollicitors , officers of the exchequer , registers , notaries , clerks , serjeants and ushers that were protestants , of all sorts , throughout the whole kingdom , are cashiered by virtue of these acts ; they have reduc'd to beggary thousands of families , which had no other subsistence , but by these employments . 2. look upon those two pieces , which they procured also , for the same intent . the title of the one is , the order of the council royal of the finances ( or treasury ) of the 11 th . of june , 1680. the other is , an order of the council of state of the 17 th . of august of the same year . by the means of these two pieces , the jesuites have made the protestants to be kept out of all the affairs of the finances , customs , which they call traites forains , of aids , gabelles , taxes of all sorts of commissions , to which the edict of nantes ordered , that they should be admitted indifferently with the papists . this second hath taken away the bread of a vast number of families more . 3. they every day make the protestant captains and officers ( who have serv'd so worthily by land and sea ) to be turn'd out of their commands . those brave men after they have spent their estates to advance their masters honor , and ventured their lives a thousand times for his glory ; see themselves shamefully , as so many cowards , cashiered , without any exception for them who having signaliz'd and distinguish'd themselves by particular actions , had deserv'd extraordinary pensions . because they will not be less faithful to god , than they have been to their king : they are resolved disgrace and beggary shall be the reward of their service . by this , they take away from all the protestant nobility the means of maintaining themselves in that rank in which god by their birth hath placed them . 4. as to the merchants , look what the jesuits have thought upon to ruine them . they have obtain'd an order of council of state , of the 19th . of november , 1680 , which grants to all protestants who change their religion , the term and forbearance of three years for the payment of the principal of their debts , with prohibition to all their creditors to bring any action against them , during that time , upon pain of non-suit , noli prosequi , and all charges , damages , costs and interests . i perceive very well , ( said i to our friend ) that this puts those who revolt in a way to secure and withdraw their goods ; and to enjoy in peace the fruits of their turning bankrupts . but i do not see how this tends to the ruine of those merchants in general , who persevere in the protestant religion . that is ( said he , smiling ) because you have not so subtle a wit , nor are so quick-sighted as the jesuits . you know very well that merchants subsist by their credit : if their credit be low , they must fall ; there is no more trading for them , their business is done . now do you not perceive , that the credit of all protestant merchants is ruined by this order , which puts them in a way of turning bankrupts as they please , with all indemnity ; and of inriching themselves with those goods they have been trusted with ? who do you think after this will be so silly as to take their word ? who can tell , with any certainty , whether they with whom they deal , are persons who will continue in the protestant religion ? is there any thing more common than such changes in religion now adays ? it 's enough ( said i ) i was mistaken , i perceive now very well that the ruine of the protestant merchants is unavoidable . go on to the other professions . for i see they are resolved that no protestant shall get bread among them . you are in the right ( said he ) you have seen it in many of them , i 'll shew it you now in the rest . 5. all papists who drive any trade , or exercise any art , are forbid ●o take any protestant apprentice . i have seen the order , but have it not now by me . by this you see that all young men of the protestant religion ( who have not means of their own ) are reduced to this extremity , either of starving in france , or turning papists , or forsaking that kingdom . for the same order forbids any protestant who drives or professes any trade , to have under them any apprenti●e ▪ either papist or protestant , that so they may not be able to do work enough to maintain their families . 6. the grand master and grand prêvot have given notice , by virtue of letters under the signet , to all protestants who had privileges , whereby they had right to keep shops , as chyrurgions , apothecaries , watchmakers , and other tradesmen , to forbear using their privileges any longer , and to shut up their shops , which hath been punctually executed . 7. they have establish'd societies of physicians at rochelle , and in other places , where , as i am assured from good hands , there were none ever before . none but papists will be received into those societies . by this , the jesuits have found out the way , at one stroke to hinder the practice of all the protestant physicians ; however able and experienc'd they may be . in so much that the lives of all sick protestants are by this means put into the hands of their enemies . 8. in short , there is scarce now any place in all france where they may get their livelyhood . they are every where molested and hindered from exercising in quiet any trade or art which they have learn'd . to dispatch them quite ; they require of them not only that they shall continue to bear all the burdens of the government , altho they take from them the means of doing it : but also that they bear double to what they did ; that is to say , they use a rigor far greater , than what was practised upon the people of god , when they were commanded to deliver the same tale of bricks , and yet had not straw given them as formerly . in effect , at the same time that they will not allow them , of the protestant religion , to get a penny : they exact of them to pay the king double , nay , treble , to what they paid before . monsieur de marillac , intendant of poitou , hath an order of council which gives him alone the power of the imposition of the tax in that great province . he discharges the papists , who are at ease , and overcharges the poor protestants with their proportion , who before that fainted under their own proper burden ; and could bear no more . i will tell you farther on this occasion , that the jesuits have obtain'd an order of the king , by which all protestants who change religion , are exempted for two years , from all quartering of soldiers , and all contributions of moneys which are levied on that account , which also tends to the utter ruine of them who continue firm in the protestant religion . for they throw all the burden upon them , of which the others are eas'd . from thence in part it is , that all the houses of those poor people are filled with soldiers , who live there as in an enemy's country . i do not know if the zeal of the jesuits will rest here : for they want yet the satisfaction of keeping s. bartholomew's day , as they kept it in the former age. it is true , what is allowed them is not far from it . for which is the better of the two , to stab with one blow , or to make men die by little and little , of hunger and misery ? as to the blow ( said i to our friend ) i do not understand you . pray , if you please , explain your self , what do you mean by keeping s. bartholomew's day ? monsieur de perisix , that archbishop of paris , who hath writ the life of henry the fourth ( answered he ) shall tell you for me . there 's the book , the place may be easily found . here it is ● six days after , which wa● s. bartholomew 's day , all the huguenots who came to the ( wedding ) feast , had their throats cut , amongst others , the admiral , twenty persons of the best quality , twelve hundred gentlemen , about four thousand soldiers and citizens : afterwards through all the cities of the kingdom , after the example of paris , near a hundred thousand were massacred . an execrable action ! such as never was , and i hope to god never will be the like . you know then well , continued our friend , directing his speech to me , you know well now what it is to keep s. bartholomew's day , and i believe that what i said is no riddle to you . the jesuits and their friends set a great value on themselves in the world , because they forbear cutting the protestants throats , as they did then . but , merciless as you are , do you ere the less take away their lives ! you say you do not kill them , but do you not make them pine to death with hunger and vexation ? he who gives slow poison is he less a poisoner , than he who gives what is violent and quick , since both of them destroy the life at last ? pardon this short transport ( said our friend ) in good earnest i cannot restrain my indignation , when i see them use the utmost of cruelty , and yet would be looked on as patterns of all moderation and meekness . let me impart to you three letters which two of our friends who are yet in france have written to me since i came from paris . i received the two first at calis , before i got into the pacquet boat ; the last was delivered me last night after you went away from any chamber . you will there see with what gentleness they proceed in those countries . he thereupon read to me his letters , and i have since took copies of them , and send them here inclosed . a copy of the first letter . we are just upon the point of seeing that reformation which hath cost so much labour and pains , and so much blood , come to nothing in france . to know the condition of the protestants in the several provinces of this kingdom , you need but read what the first christians suffered under the reigns of the emperors nero , domitian , trajan , maximin , dioclesian and such like . there are four troops of horse in poitou who live at free quarter , upon all of the protestant religion without any exception . when they have pillaged the houses of them who will not go to mass , they tie them to their horse tails , and drag them thither by force . the intendant whom they have sent thither , who is their most bitter enemy , hath his witnesses ready suborned , who accuse whom they please , of what crimes they please , and after that cast the poor men into dark dungeons , beat them with cudgels , and then pass sentence of death to terrifie them ; and afterwards under-hand , send others to try them by fair means , to promise them that their mourning shall be turn'd into joy , if they will but go to mass. those whom god gives the grace to resist , die in the dungeon , through unspeakable anguish . three gentlemen of quality who went about to confirm some of the poor people in their village , that began to waver , were presently clapt up , flax put about their necks , then set on fire , and so they were scorch'd , till they said they would renounce their religion . there would be no end if i should relate all that is done . this you may be assured of , that the people of israel were never so oppress'd by the egyptians , as the protestants are by their own country-men . a copy of the second letter . to make good my promise of giving you an exact account of the continuance of the persecution which is rais'd against the protestants in france , i shall acquaint you that they of poitiers are threat'ned with being made a garrison this winter . i say they , the protestants : for none but they must quarter any of them . monsieur de marillac gives himself up wholly to the making of proselytes . the deputies of poitiers are now here to make complaint of the violences they still labour under . they offer , by a petition which they have presented , at the cost of their lives , if they are found guilty of any falshood , or if they do not make out what they say . they set forth , that by the orders of monsieur marillac , the protestant are dealt with as declared enemies ; that their goods and their houses are plundered ; their persons assaulted ; that the soldiers are employed as executioners of these outrages . that they are quartered upon the protestants only , that besides the excessive expence they put them to , they exact money of them with dreadful oaths and execrations . they knock them down , they drag women by the hair of the head , and ropes about their necks , they have put them to the torture with screws , by clapping their fingers into a vice , and so squeezing them by degrees , they have bound aged men , eighty years old , and beaten them , and have misused , before their eyes , their children , who came to comfort them : they hinder handicrafts men from working ; they take from labourers what they use for their livelyhood ; they set their goods openly to sale , and they clap their swords and pistols to their breasts , who are not frighted with their other usages : they drag them in sheets into their churches , they throw holy water in their faces , and then say they are catholicks , and shall be proceeded against as relapsed , if they live otherwise . it is not permitted to these miserable persons to complain ; those who would have attempted it have been seised on , and the prisons are full of them . they are detained there without any process being made against them , and even without so much as having their names entred in the iayl-books . if any gentleman speak to monsieur marillac , he answers them , that they should meddle with their own business , that otherwise he will lay them fast . this is a taste of what they are doing here . a copy of the third letter . being very busie , it shall suffice at this time to send you a copy of a letter ; which i just now received from saintes , concerning the protestants of this kingdom ; sir j. p. our common friend writ it me . he is now making his tour of france . i intreated treated him to inform himself as well as he could how they treated the poor people in those places he was to pass through , that he might give me a full account . this is the letter , dated the last of august , old style . i am now going out of aulnix , where i meet with nothing but objects of compassion . the intendant of rochefort , which is monsieur du muins , lays all waste there . it is the same person concerning whom at the segnelay's we were told so many pleasant stories last winter at s. germain . do not you remember that they talked much of a certain picard , who owed all his fortune to his wife , and whom the marquis de segnelay treats always as the worst of men ? that 's the man , he is born to do mischief as much as ever man was , and his employment hath increas'd bis insolence beyond measure . to this he hath added , to the protestants grief , all the barbarous zeal of ignorance . and if the king would let him do it , he would soon act over again the tragedy of s. bartholomew . about ten days since he went to a great town in aunix , called surgeres , accompanied with his provost , and about forty archers . he began his feats with a proclamation that all the huguenots should change their religion , and upon their refusal he quartered his troop upon those poor people : he made them to live there at discretion , as in an enemies country ; he made their goods to be thrown into the streets , and their beds under the horses feet . by his order the vessels of wine and brandy were staved , and their horse heels wash'd with it ; their corn was sold , or rather given away , for a fourth part of what it was worth , and the same was done to all the tradesmens goods : men , women and children were put to the torture , were dragged by force to the popish churches ; and so great cruelty was used towards them that the greatest part not being able longer to indure the extremity of the pain , renounced their religion . by the same means they forced them to give it under their hands , that they had abjured without constraint , and of their own free choice . the goods of those who found means to escape , are sentenced to be sold , and to be pillaged . proud of so noble an expedition , our good man returns to rochefort , the place of his ordinary abode , forbids all the prot●s●ants , who are there pretty numerous , to remove any of their g●ods out of the town , under penalty of confiscation of what should be seised , and corporal punishment over and above ; and he commands them all to change their religion in five days . this was done by sound of trumpet , that no one might pretend ignorance . the term expires to morrow . after this he marched to moze ( it is another great town in aunix ) where there is a very fair church of the protestants , and a very able minister , there he set out the same prohibitions , and the same commands that he had at rochefort . upon this a very worthy person of the place , and elder of the church , named mr. jarry , addressed to him with a most humble remonstrance ; and this cruel and barbarous man made him presently to be clapt up in irons . a●ter this he quartered his men upon those of the protestant religion , where he exerciseth the same violence which he did at surgeres . nevertheless hitherto no one hath made shipwrack of his conscience in this place . they suffer all this cruel persecution with an admirable constancy . god of his mercy support them to the end . all the rest of aunix is in extreme consternation . there are likewise prohibitions made at rochelle , against the shipping of any goods . in so much that all they who slie away run a great hazard of carrying away their lives only for a prey . adieu . i will end mine as sir j. p. doth his : all your friends — do you intend to conclude there , said i to our friend ? i have a mind to do so ( replyed he ) tho i have a thousand insolences and outrages more yet to acquaint you with . but it is late ; and i have produced but too much to justifie the french protestants who forsake their country , from any suspicion of impatience or wantonness . you see now what are the reasonable means that are used to convert them . those goodly means which have been employed are , to despise the most sacred edict that was ever made by men ; to count as nothing promises repeated a hundred times , most solemnly by authentick declarations ; to reduce people to utmost beggary ; to make them die of hunger , in my opinion , a more cruel death than that by fire or sword , which in a moment ends life and miseries together ; to lay upon them all sorts of afflictions , to take away their churches , their ministers , their goods , their children , their liberty of being born , of living , or of dying in peace , to drive them from their employments , their honors , their houses , their native country ; to knock them on the head , to drag them to the mass with ropes about their necks , to imprison them , to cast them into dungeons , to give them the question , put them to the rack , make them die in the midst of torments , and that too without so much as any formality of justice . this is that they call reasonable means , gentle and innocent means : for these are the terms which the archbishop of claudiopol●s useth , at the head of all the deputies of the clergy of france , in the remonstrance they made to their king , the last year when they took leave of his majesty . i must needs read you the passage : here is the remonstrance , and the very words of that archbishop : those gentle and innocent means which you make use of , sir , with so much success to bring the hereticks into the bosom of the church , are becoming the bounty and goodness of your majesty , and conformable at the same time to the mind of the divine pastor , who always retains bowels of mercy for these strayed sheep : he wills , that they should be brought back , and not hunted away , because he desires their salvation , and regrets their loss . how far is this conduct from the rigor wherewith the catholicks are treated in those neighbouring kingdoms which are infected with heresie . your majesty makes it appear , what difference there is between reason and passion , between the meekness of truth , and the rage of imposture , between the zeal of the house of god , and the fury of babylon . in good truth , cryed i to our friend , after the reading of this passage : this is insufferable , and i cannot forbear taking my turn to be a little in passion . methinks they should blush to death , who call those cruelties , which have been executed upon innocent sheep , meekness ; and that rigor , and the fury of babylon which we have inflicted upon tigers , who thirsted after our blood , and had sworn the destruction of church and state. they plague and torment to death more than a million of peaceable persons , who desire only the freedom of serving god according to his word , and the laws of the land , who cannot be accused of the least shadow of conspiracy , and who by preserving that illustrious blood which now reigns there , have done to france services deserv'd , together with the edict of pacification , the love , and the hearty thanks of all true french men. and we have put to death in a legal manner , it may be twenty wretched persons ( the most of which had forfeited their lives to the law , for being found here ) convinced by divers witnesses , who were the greatest part papists , of having attempted against the sacred li●e of our king , and the lives of millions of his faithful subjects . surely they would have had us let them done their work , let them have rooted out that northern heresie , which they were , as they assure us by their own letters , in so great , and so near hopes of accomplishing . but we had not forgot the massacre of ireland , wherein , by the confession of one of their own doctors , who knew it very well , more than a hundred and fifty thousand of our brethren , in the midst of a profound peace , without any provocation , by a most sudden and barbarous rebellion , had their throats cut by that sort of catholicks , whose fate they so much bewail . altho your transport be very just , and i am very well pleased with it , said our friend to me , i must needs interrupt you ; to bring you back again to our poor protestants . what say you to their condition ? i say ( answered i ) that there can be nothing more worthy compassion ; and that we must entirely forget all that we owe to the communion of saints , if we open not our hearts , and receive them as our true brethren . i will be sure to publish in all places what you have informed me , and will stir up all persons to express in their favour all the duties of hospitality and christian charity . to the end ( said he to me ) you may do it with a better heart , at our next meeting , i will fully justifie them against all those malicious reports which are given out against their loyalty and their obedience to the higher powers . let us take for that all to morrow seven-night , as you please , said i , so we took leave one of another : and thus you have an end of a long letter , assuring you , that i ever shall be , sir , yours . finis . the third letter . the french protestants are no antimonarchists . sir , since you know the reason why this my third letter comes so late , i will not take up your time in excusing my long silence . our friend being now recovered from his indisposition , which was the main stop hitherto , we agreed upon a day , when i came to his chamber at the hour appointed . i cannot tell , sais he , whether , before we enter upon this matter , to justifie our french protestants in point of fidelity towards their superiours , i should not impart to you several letters , which have since come to my hands , wherein i have an account of several fresh persecutions since august last . i told him , no : for besides that what you related to me at our second meeting is more than enough to convince the greatest infidel , that the mischiefs are at the height in that kingdom , and that there is no security of conscience for the protestants who stay there ; besides all this , our streets are full of instances of the new troubles they give them . there is no man but knows what was the event of the marquiss venour's deputation , wherein he gave a list of the cruelties used in poictou against our poor protestants : he was forced to fly from his estate and country . every body has heard how many gentlemen of good condition , and several ministers , have been imprisoned for no other fault but their zeal for a religion they believe to be the only true and safe one , the exercise of which is likewise tolerated by one of the fundamental laws of the kingdom , as you have already so well made out . in short , we are assured by a thousand credible witnesses , as likewise by the sight of several proclamations , that they ruine all the protestants that are taxable in france , by a secret they have found out to tax the people at will , and then make one or more responsible for all the rest ; that they are barbarously cruel upon the least complaint of any thing , that falls from them in the height of their misfortunes ; that they demolish their best established temples , upon the least pretence ; and that besides all this , they condemn them to the galleys , if they offer to quit the realm , to serve god according to a good conscience in any other countrey , with a fine of a thousand crowns for the first fault , and corporal punishment for the rest , upon their friends that shall any way countenance , directly or indirectly , their departure out of the realm . i have read the proclamation , and you may read it , says our friend , when you please , for it lies there upon my table . the strangest thing in it is , that they glory of their pretended conversions in poitou and elsewhere , as if they had been carried on with all the gentleness and christian temper imaginable , when all europe knows they have used no other but carnal means , and since i am provoked to say it , the devil's weapons , the allurement of riches , promises of worldly advantages , threats , force , and a thousand unheard of cruelties , whereby they have brought the poor people to this hard choice , either to turn papist , or perish by hunger and ill usage . and many times we see their consciences will not suffer them to continue in that communion they have been thus forced into ; for they come over by flocks , and the prisons in france are full of these pretended relaps . but because you know all this already , i proceed now , says he , to the justification of our poor persecuted brethren . i am very well satisfied that this groundless accusation , as if they were seditious firebrands , and enemies to monarchs and monarchy , has given them no prejudice with you . if accusation were enough to render guilty of this crime , moses and christ , the old and new people of god had certainly lost their cause . the enemy of truth has ever made this his charge against the innocence of gods children . moses was accused for seducing the people ; elias , for troubling israel ; ieremiah , that he did not pray for the prosperity of this people , but their mischief ; the people of god , that they designed to revolt from the king of persia ; iesus christ himself , that he perverted the people , and forbad to pay tribute to caesar ; and his apostles , that they were common pests , movers of sedition , and that turned the world upside down . you have read turtullians apologetick , and arnobius against the gentiles . you see there , how the most innocent of the primitive christians , and the meekest of men , were charged with the same crime . our protestants of france have no reason to expect other measure than that of their saviour and the saints departed , since it is the same religion they strive for : and by the grace of god we shall with as much ease acquit them of all those imputations laid to their charge . there is certainly no stronger proof of what the opinions of a church are , than the publick declarations her self has made of her principles , by open professions or confessions of faith ; these are authentick pieces , composed with the approbation of the whole body , and published on purpose to declare to the world what in sincerity such a church believes in matters of religion . the protestant church of france has not been wanting in this particular , but has composed and published a confession of faith that all the world might be sure what really are her thoughts and belief : and certainly , without the highest injustice , we cannot reject what she has thus made protestation of . then i told our friend , you need not enlarge upon this point , for no man of sense will dispute this principle with you . let us come to the question . i shall soon dispatch it , says he ; i will read to you the two last articles of our protestants confession of faith. we believe , that god will have the world governed by laws and policies , to the end there may be a restraint upon the inordinate appetites of men ; and for this end , that he has appointed kingdoms , commonwealths , and all other sorts of government , hereditary or otherwise , and whatever appertains to the dispensation of justice , and that he himself will be acknowledged the author of it . for this cause he has put the sword in●o the magistrates hand , to punish faults committed , not only against the second table , but likewise against the first . we ought therefore , for god's sake , not only to submit to the government of superiors , but also to honour them , and hold them in such regard , as esteeming them his lieutenants and officers , whom he has constituted to exercise a lawful and sacred trust. we hold it therefore our duty to obey their laws and statutes , to pay tributes , imposts , and other duties , and to bear the yoke of subjection with a cheerful and good will , be they infidels , provided the sovereign empire of god be kept entire . thus we detest those that would reject authority , put all things in common , and overthrow the course of justice . here you see the confession of the protestants of france , where you find they make it a part of their religion and faith to believe that it is god who appoints kingdoms , hereditary , and others ; that we ought to honour princes , and hold them in all reverence , as the lieutenants and officers of god , to obey them , to pay them tribute , to submit to them with a good will , though they happen to be of another religion than ours ; and they reject with horror all those that reject the powers . can any thing be said stronger , or with greater exactness ? moreover these protestants of france have a liturgy , a form of common-prayers , as well as our church of england , there it is that in the presence of god , and speaking to god , they do confirm by a publick act of worship all that they say of kings and potentates in their confession of faith. after they have said to god , we have thy precept to pray for those whom thou hast set over us , superiors and governors , they add , we beseech thee therefore , o heavenly father , for all kings and princes , thy servants , to whom thou hast committed the dispensation of iustice , and particularly for the king , &c. if ever we ought to believe mens words , no doubt it is when they speak to god in the act and fervor of their devotion : if a man be not wicked to the last degree , or an athiest , he will then at least speak the thoughts of his heart . and upon such an account it is that the protestants of france own , in conformity to their confession of faith , that it is god who has set rulers over them , to govern ; that all princes are the servants of god ; that the justice they dispence to men , is that of god himself , of which god has committed to them the administration or rule . and upon that score it is they pray to god for their own king , and for all other princes , that he would give them his holy spirit , and all graces requisite to well governing . is this the stile of a seditious people , enemies to monarchs and monarchy ? since therefore the confession of faith , and form of common-prayer , speaks the mind of the whole body of the french protestants , it will be needless to quote the sermons and writings of their particular ministers ; yet because i observe , to my great grief , there are many here cry down the incomparable calvin , as if , in this point of obedience to monarchs , he were not very sound , i must needs read to you what he has said upon that subject in his excellent institution : it is in his fourth book , chap. 20. where , after he has shewed , sect. 22 & 23 of this chapter , the duty of subjects towards princes and magistrates , which he makes consist in having a profound reverence for them , to observe their commands with a perfect submission , to pay such taxes and rates as they put upon them , to offer up prayers and thansgivings to god for their prosperity ; and when he has there proved by scripture , that we cannot resist the magistrate without resisting god , who is prepared to defend them , he considers , sect. 24. that there are many who fancy we owe not this respect and obedience , but to good princes , and so may despise the wicked , and shake off the yoke of tyrants . this maxim he confutes , as a most pernicious error , in the following sections , of which i shall here give you a taste . the word of god obliges us to submit , not only to the authority of princes that use us well , but in general to the dominion of all those , after whatever fashion , that exercise sovereign power , though they perform nothing less than the duty of a prince . for however the lord assures us , that magistrates are the bounty of his grace , set up for the conservation of men , and that therefore he sets them bounds , within which they ought to keep , yet he declares at the same time , that whatever they prove , they hold their power of him ; that they who seek the publick good in their sovereign administration , are the lively images of his goodness ; that they which rule with violence and oppression , were raised by him to the throne for a scourge to a sinful people ; but that the one and the other are equally invested with that sacredness of majesty which he has stamped upon the forehead of all lawful authorities . i shall insist upon this point , which the spirit of the multitude does not so easily conceive , to wit , that this admirable and divine authority , that the lord by his word confers upon the ministers of his justice , remains no l●ss with a man that is never so wicked or unworthy of all honour , if once he be raised to the sovereign power ; so that his subjects ought no less to reverence him , in regard of allegiance due to sovereigns , than if he were a good king. first , i would have it carefully observed , the special providence of god in bestowing crowns , and setting up kings , of which we are so often told in scripture . it is god , says daniel , that removeth kings , and setteth up kings . and speaking elsewhere to nebuchadnezz●r , thou shalt be , says he to him , wet with the dew of heaven , till thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men , and giveth it to whomsoever he will. we know well enough what a kind of king this n●buchadnezzar was , who took ierusalem . he was an usurper , and an accomplished villain . nevertheless the lord assures us in ezekiel , that he had given him egypt as a reward for the service he had done him , in the mischief he did to tyre . and daniel says to the same king , the god of heaven has given thee a kingdom power , and strength , and glory , and wheresoever th● children of men dwell , the beasts of the field , and the fowls of the heaven , has he given into thine hand , and hath made thee ruler over them all . he says also to belshazzar , this king's son , the most high god gave nebuchadnezzar , thy father , a kingdom , and majesty , and glory , and honour , and for the majesty that he gave him , all people , nations , and languages trembled and feared before him . whenever we find god has set up any man to be king , let us call to mind the heavenly oracles , which appoint us to honour and fear the king , and then we shall not fail to bear respect , even in the persons of tyrants , to this mighty character wherewith god has been pleased to honour them , samuel , telling the people of israel what they were to suffer from their kings , uses these words , this will be the manner or right of the king that shall reign over you ; he will take your sons , and will appoint them for himself , for his chariots , and to be his horse-men , and some shall run before his chariots . and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries , and to be cooks , and to be bakers . and he will take your fields , , and your vineyards , and your olive-yards even the best of them , and give them to his servants . and he will take the tenth of your seed , and of your vineyards , and give to his officers , and to his servants . and he will take your men-servants and your maid-servants , and your goodliest young-men , and your asses and put them to his work. he will take the tenth of your sheep , and ye shall be his servants . doubtless kings have no right to deal thus , those that the law so carefully directs to moderation and temperance : but samuel calls this the right of the king over the people , because the people are under an indispensable obligation to submit , and are not allowed to resist , as if the prophet had explain'd himself after this manner , the mismanagement of kings shall come to this height , and you shall have no right to oppose it , your part must be to take their commands , and to obey them . calvin , after this , produces a long passage out of ieremiah , where great punishments are denounced against all those that would not submit to the government of nebuch●dnezzar , who originally was but an usurper as wel as a tyrant . and he concludes , that we ought to reject these seditious thoughts , that a king ought to be handled as he deserves , and that there is no reason we should behave our selves as subjects towards him , if he carries not himself like a king towards us . after which , he most substantially answers the objections which unquiet spirits are used to make against this doctrine . and now i leave it to reasonable men to judge , whether it be not the greatest injustice to this excellent person , to declare to the world , that he was an enemy to kings . they that followed him , have after his example , all taken the same side upon this subject . no doubt you have read what their great salmasius has writ in defence of our blessed martyr king charles the first . their famous amyraldus likewise took occasion from the martyrdom of our good king , to print an excellent discourse of the power of kings ; where , by the strongest arguments , taken out of the word of god , he proves beyond dispute , that the majesty and person of sovereign princes ought at all times to be sacred to all their subjects . we have likewise , to the same purpose , the letter of their learned bochart , to doctor morley , then chaplain to his majesty , and now most deservedly bishop of winchester . you may see there how this excellent person defends the rights of all crowned heads ; he takes in there , in the compass of a few pages , the strongest things that can be said . the force of all this , is , that the performance of these protestants has exactly answered their confession of faith , the prayers of their liturgy , and what their doctors have taught , as often as there was occasion for it . they have been always the first in assisting their kings , when there was need , with their lives and fortunes . every body knows how many mischiefs the queen , catharine de medicis did them . yet when the guises had seized the person of charles the ninth , who had nothing but tears to oppose their violence , as mezeray well observes ; and that the queen , finding her self under the same streights with the young king , had called for help upon the prince of condè and his friends : the protestants came in from all parts , and ventured all they had to set their majesties at liberty . it is a remarkable story . mezeray does all he can to di●guise the matter : but so known a truth could not but extort this confession from him . the queen writ two letters the same day to the prince , full of pitty and good words , recommending to him the safety of the kingdom , beseeching him to take compassion of the innocent tears of his king , who was held captive by his own subjects ; and that he would generously attempt his rescue , a●suring him , that he should be maintained in whatever he should do . the same historian confesses in his chronological abridgement , that by these letters , the queen who was then regent , gave to the prince who was then a protestant , a just ground to take up arms : which he did , so soon as he received the order . then flew in like lightning to the assistance of the king and queen , the same protestants , that with so much rigour and violence had been persecuted by them . he sent presently , says m●zeray , to the reformed churches ; especially to those upon the river loire , to bourges , poitiers , and others more remote , ordering them immediately to seize all the passes : and that for his part , he was resolved to expose his person , and all that was in his power , to make good the kings commands , and revenge the injury done to his majesty . you have here , sir , the true cause of these prote●●ants first taking up arms : and , as you see , it was upon a glorious account . for it was , in short , to succour their king , whom stranger-princes ( who aimed at his crown , as it appeared at last ) held captive . besides , all here was lawful . they take not up arms , but by order of the regent , who promises the head of the protestants , that he should be justified in all he did . and she made her word good to him , however , the great credit his enemies had , and the queens inconstancy , had for some time run down the credit of this glorious action with the people . for the king gave an authentick testimony of the innocence and loyalty of the prince and his friends upon this occasion . it is by the sol●mn edict of 1563. where the king says , that the sincere and true intent of our said cousin the prince of conde may not be doubted , we have said and declared , and do say and declare , that we esteem this our said cousin , as our good kinsman , faithful subject and servant ; as likewise we hold all those lords , knights , gentlemen , and other inhabitants of towns , communalties , boroughs , and other places of our kingdoms and countries of our dominion , that have followed , assisted , aided , and accompanied him in this present war , and during the said tumults , in what part or place soever of our kingdom , for our good and loyal subjects and servants ; believing and esteeming what was done before this by our s●id subjects , as well in regard of the taking up of arms , as the articles of justice agreed among them , and the judgments and executions of the same , was done with a good intent , and for our service . henry the third was their mortal enemy : he was the chief author of that detestible massacre , where by the confession of the bishop of rhodes himself , near a hundred thousand protestants had their throats cut . and yet all this did not hinder them from coming in to his assistance ; so soon as ever they saw his crown and life in danger . they forgot that he had been their pers●cutor , and remembred only that he was their king. and all europe knows , that without their aid he had been lost . he was shut up in tours , hard pressed by the army of the ligue , which consisted , as every one knows , all of roman catholicks . already three parts in four of his party , and those of the bravest , as mezeray assures us , were slain , and the duke of mayenne , general of this army of parricides , had made himself master of the suburb , when the protestant recruits came . this brave captain , says mezeray , ( speaking of chastillon ) lodged his men in the isle , in despite of their continual firing upon him from every part of the suburb , and made them work so hard , that they had covered themselves in less than two hours . the liguers , so soon as they had discovered them , and knew him by his face , did well to cry , to your quarters white scarfs , this is none of your quarrel : brave chastillon , we have no design against thee , retreat , it is against him that murdred thy father , let us but alone , and we will revenge his death ; adding several reproaches against the king , more insolent , than commonly upon such occasion souldiers use to do . chastillon answered , that he they spake so ill of , was their king ; that it was for women to rail , and that he would see the next day whether they were as good at fighting as they were at scolding . but the duke of mayenne fearing to stand the shock of the protestant troops , considering , as mezeray says , that it might not be safe to encounter with old souldiers that had been used to blows , he quits all his advantages and marches silently away at three a clock in the morning . thus was tours relieved , and henry the third saved by the same protestants , to whom he had done so much mischief . and by this the protestants preserved the crown to the family of bourbon , f●om which it had been gone past recovery , if tours had been taken . for indeed , they that laid the siege , and intended to dethrone their king , were heads of that powerful faction which , ( as the bishop of rhodes testifies ) would have broken the succession of the royal line . and the general of the army was own brother to the duke of guise , who , as the same bishop tells us , designed the crown for himself . as for king henry the fourth , grand-father to our king , as well as to the present king of france , there is no man that understands the least of those histories , but knows it was his faithful protestants that preserved him for the throne , and set the crown upon his head. the bishop of rhodes acknowledges , that this great prince had been bred up from his birth among the huguenot party , and that they were his best support . and indeed , they expended their blood more than once to save his , against the rage of the ligue , and the ambition of the lorain princes , who would have usurped his right . so soon as ever henry the third , his predecessor , assassinated by the fryar iaques clement , was dead : they did not do , as papists that were then in his army . for whereas these for the most part fell into cabals , and gave him a thousand troubles by their seditious resolutions , which tended either to exclude him from the succession , or tear the government in pieces : the protestants kept steady : they immediately owned him for their king. the huguenot nobility , with the forces they had brought ( which were all protestants ) swore allegiance to him presently . they are the very words of the bishop of rhodes . and when unhappily , which cannot be enough lamented , he forsook their religion , fearing the papists should choose another king in his stead ; their fidelity failed them not for all that , they maintained his cause with the same zeal , whil'st divers ●apists continued to keep his garrisons from him , and armed several assassins to take away his life . peter barriere , says mezeray , had designed to kill the king , because he heard some of the clergy say , that it would be an exploit worthy eternal praise , and that would carry a man straight to heaven . when he was come to lions with this resolution , the same popish historian adds , he communicated it to the archbishops vicar general , to a capucin fr●ar , and to two other priests , who all approved of it , and encouraged him to do it . mezeray tells us afterwards , that barriere having a little demurred upon the kings having forsaken the protestant religion , christopher d' aubry , curat of s. andrè des arces , and varade rector of the jesuits , heartened him by their advice to pursue his hellish design of stabbing the king. you know the story of iohn chastel , one of the jesuits scholars , to the same purpose , how he wounded the king in the mouth with the stab of a knife , which he intended for his throat . it is well known what share the jesuits had in this attempt : this young desperate confessed , that he heard them say , that it was lawful to kill the king. there were found in their colledge several pieces full of invectives , and most pernicious propositions against the honor and life of henry the third , and henry the fourth his successor then reigning . the famous act of parliament at paris has eternized the memory of this execrable attempt . it ordains , that all the priests and scholars of the colledge of clermont , and all others that stiled themselves of the society of j●sus , should quit the kingdom in fifteen days , as corrupters of youth , disturbers of the publick peace , and enemies to the king and kingdom . which was done accordingly . and it is fit i should tell you upon this , how cardinal d'ossat bemoaned their loss , by reason of the apparent advantage the poor protestants had by it : you may see it in the eighth letter of his first book ; these are his words : it must needs give a prince converted to the catholick religion , whom we should have comforted and confirmed by all means possible , great offence and prejudice against catholicks : when they that boast themselves the pillars of the catholick religion , have thus endeavoured to get him murdered . whereas if there had been any pretence for assassinates , it should have been the hereticks that should have procured it and seen it done , because he had quitted and forsaken them , and they had reason to apprehend him : and yet they have attempted no such thing either against him , or any of the five kings his predecessors , whatever slaughter their majesties made amongst them . you have here at once an authentick witness of the exact loyalty of the protestants of france to their soveraign , how viol●nt soever the soveraign might have been : and a dreadful warning for all princes to consider the spirit of popery , perpetually engaged in murder , and ready to spill the most sacred blood , if they think it runs cross to their interest , the death of this great prince henry the fourth , is a precedent enough to make the heart of any prince ake , that is so unhappy as to have in his dominion , or near his person , these sort of common pests . it was to much purpose to profess the romish religion , while these monsters , out of a suspicion perhaps that his heart was not roman enough , never rested till they had pierced it by the hand of that abominable villain ravilliac , who had been a monk , as the bishop of rhodes assures us . and what he says of the hardiness of this wicked fellow , to suffer all without speaking a word ▪ plainly shews us who were those devils and furies that inspired him with such cursed thoughts . he was taken in the very fact , says the bishop of rhodes , ( after he has given an account of the crime of ravilliac ) being interrogated several times by the commissioners of parliament , condemned , the courts met , and by sentence torn between four horses in the place of execution , after they had tormented him with hot burning pincers in the breast , arms and thighs , without discove●ing the least fear or grief in the midst of so great torment : which confirmed the mistrust they had , that certain emiss●ries , under pretence of zeal , had instructed and charmed him by false assurances , that he should die a martyr if he kill'd him , whom they made believe to be a sworn enemy of the church . but i should not make an end this day , if i were to take notice of all the stories of the malice and fury of the papists against such princes , as have not had the happiness to please them , and give you all the proofs of the affection and untainted loyalty of the protestants for their kings , how little secure soever they have been to them . however , said i to our friend , do not conclude before you have quitted the subjects from that suspicion , which the proceedings of the present king of france has ●aised every where of the innocence of this poor people . for according to the manner he has treated them within his kingdom , he must needs look upon them rather as his enemies than his subjects : must there not have been some failure on th●ir part , and that they have entred into some conspiracy , or are revolted , to deserve such hard usage ? i must confess , says h● , it would make one suspect some such thing by that course is taken with them : for who could ever think , that so great and wise a prince would deal with loyal subjects , as if he had to do with traytors ? and yet , which is the prodigious part of the history of lewis the fourteenth , there is nothing more certain , than that these very protestants , to whom they have done so much mischief , have always observed exactly their duty towards their king. one may safely say , by their behaviour , they have loved him as their eyes : their loyalty has been yearly tryed , during the minority of this king. all the world knows it : neither could any thing ever corrupt or shake it . by their care and address , all the towns , where they had any interest at that time , as montauban , nimes , rochel , declared for their king , and disposed not only the provinces that belonged to them , but those adjoyning likewise . god knows what had become then of the crown , had it not been for the warm sermons of those ministers , whose mouths are now stopt , and the courage of those very protestants they now persecute with so much violence : whil'st the popish prelates and great lords drank publickly the health of lewis the fifteenth , these poor persecuted people were with sword in hand exposing themselves to the utmost dangers to preserve the kingdom to lewis the fourteenth . it is matter of fact , which the king knows . he has born them witness more than once , that their loyalty upon this account , had contributed in the highest degree to the security of his crown . and it is fit upon this occasion i should impart to you a wonderful piece : it is a letter of this kings , writ to his electoral high●ess the marquess of brandenburg . my friend that gav● me this l●tter , copyed it from the original , which was seen by a thousand ho●orable witnesses , that may be produced in time and place . it may not be impossible , but that i may shew you the original . this was the letter , brother , i should not enter into discourse with any other prince besides your selfe , concerning what you write to me in behalf of my subjects of the pretended reformed religion . but that you may see what a particular respect i have for you , i will freely tell you , that some ill affected people to my service , have published seditious libels in forreign countreys , as if the edicts and declarations which the kings my predecessors have made in favour of my said subjects of the pretended reformed religion , and which i my self have confirmed to them , were not punctually observed in all my estates , which i never intended . for i would have them enjoy all their priviledges which were granted them . and i take care that they be suffered to live upon equal terms , and without distinction , among the rest of my subjects : i am obliged to it by the word of a king , and from the acknowledgment i owe upon fresh proofs they have given me of their loyalty in my service , during the late troubles , when they took up arms , and vigorously and successfully opposed the wicked designs against my government , of a rebellious party at home . i pray god , &c. from st. germain , octob. 13. 1666. such happy beginnings were followed with suitable success . the protestants have been remarkable upon an hundred occasions since , both by sea and land : they were always observed to be the first when they were to fight for their king and countrey . all the world knows to whom they owe their victories in portugal , over the spaniards , which was so highly advantagious for france ; and the defeat of the famous de ruyter , who after so long and great a reputation , was at last overcome by a french protestant . i will conclude with an observation which they assure me this king made himself , that neither in that great number of conspirators , who had laid so dangerous a plot against him , some years since , nor amongst that monstrous croud of poisoners , that have alarmed all france , and destroyed so many considerable families , was there found one single protestant . after all this , to persecute them as they do , and proclaim them to be firebrands and disturbers of the publick peace , enemies of monarchs and monarchy ; is it not to punish those that deserve reward ? is it not by a shameful aspersion , no less ridiculous than fowl , to contrive the oppression of persecuted innocence ? you are in the right , said i , but yet pray do not forget to answer some objections which are made every day to blast or render suspicious the loyalty of these poor people . first , they accuse them for concealing dangerous poison under these words , in their confession of faith , so long as the sovereign power of god be kept inviolable . we hold , that we ought to obey their laws and ordinances , pay tribute , imposts , and other duties , and bear the yoke with a cheerful and good will , although they were infidels , provided the sovereign power of god be kept inviolable . whence they infer , that they hold it for an article of faith , that subjects may take arms against ●heir lawful prince , whenever they fancy that what he commands is not suitable to the principles of their pretended reformation . that is a gloss , replies our friend , that spoils the text , and a new aspersion , these protestants have given no ground for : nay they foresaw , and have confuted it before-hand , in resolving , as they have done , that subjects ought to bear the yoak of their subjection with a cheerful and good will , though their princes were infidels . for this plainly intimates , that although our kings were enemies to our religion , we are always obliged to submit to their orders . and if you would know what then is the meaning of this exception , provided the sovereign power of god remain inviolable , i answer , it means no more than what st. peter and st. iohn intended when they said to the great council of the jews , whether it be right in the sight of god , to hearken unto you more than unto god , judge ye : or what all the apostles meant when they said to the said council , we ought to obey god rather than man : than what st. ch●ysostome intended when he told his auditors , when we say , give unto caesar the things that are caesar's , we only mean such duties as are not against piety and religion , because whatever harms faith and virtue , is not c●sar's , but the devil's tribute . or to bring an authority of greater weight to those of the popish persuasion , this exception imports no more than what we find in the canon of the papal decree : if the master command those things that are not repugnant to the holy scriptures , let the servant obey his master ; if he command the contrary , let him rather obey the lord of the spirit than him of the flesh. if what the emperor command you be lawful , execute his commands ; if it be not , answer , we ought to obey god rather than man. in a word , the french protestants mean no more by this their exception , than what all mankind ought to think in this matter , if they have the fear of god before their eyes , viz. that as god is king of kings , and by consequence , to whom our princes and we owe an indispensible obedience , without any reserve , we must never admit of a dispute between the one and the other , to obey the orders of the prince , when they are contrary to those of god. provided the soveraignty of god be kept inviolable , that is , to the end we diminish not the soveraign power of god , but that god be always owned for the king of all kings : it is absolutely necessary , that in such a contrariety between his orders and that of the prince , we prefer his without any manner of hesitation . to do otherwise , would be to place the prince in god's stead , and so make an idol of him . this is all the protestants would say . but then i asked our friend , what would they have the subjects do upon such occasions , especially if princes proceed to violence and punishing , thereby to make themselves be obeyed with preference to god ? methinks , says he , they explain themselves clearly enough , when they say , we ought to bear the yoke of subjection with a chearful and good will , though our princes were infidels . for an infidel prince signifies here , a prince that in his laws and in his practice is opposite to the appointments of god : is an ene●y , and so , a persecutor of the true religion , whenever he has a fair opportunity , and is so disposed . to say then , as do the protestants in their confession of faith , that although princes were infidels , we ought to bear the yoke of subjection : is it not to declare it to be the duty of subjects to suffer quietly whatever their prince pleases to inflict upon them ? indeed they do not mean , that we should exec●te the commands of princes , when they are contrary to the commands of god : but on the other side , they are not for casting off their allegiance , upon pretence that their prince does not herein do his duty , and is unjustly s●vere to them . whence it is plain from the doctrine of the french protestants , that christian subjects upon these unhappy occasions , ought to continue alike faithful to their god and to their prince : to their god , in being careful to observe his statutes in the midst of all the threats and outrages of men : to their prince , by suffering with all humility and christian patience , whatever is imposed upon them , either to torture their conscience , or force them to renounce their holy religion . their worthy calvin makes it evident , that this was his opinion , when from what the scripture ordains , to honor and ●ear the king , he concludes , that christians are obliged to reverence , even in the person of a tyrant , the mighty character with which it hath pleased god to honor crowned heads . for a tyrant is an unjust and cruel prince , who thirsts after the blood of his people , and is always invading their goods , or life , or good name . therefore when calvin teaches , that christians ought to pay respect , even in the person of these sort of princes , this mighty character with which it hath pleased god to honor kings : it shews plainly , that in his judgment whatever wrong or oppression a prince commits upon his subjects , they remain always under an indispensible obligation of being subject to his scepter , so far from ever having a right to take up arms to depose him , or to set force against force . it is the same which m●ses amyraldus , that famous protestant of saumur , proves at large in his discourse of the power of kings , upon the occasion of those unhappy troubles , which had so fatal an end , and so reproachful to the nation . he m●kes it appear by undeniable proofs , that nothing can be more pernicious to mankind , more against the word of god , nor more opposite to the practice of jesus christ , that of his apostles , the behaviour of the primitive christians , and the very genius of christianity than to assert a right for subjects to take up arms against their king upon any pretence or ground whatever . and it will not be amiss , that i thereupon read to you a passage or two out of the letter of the learned bochart , minister of caën , to doctor morley bishop of winchester , if one had any right to arraign a king , says he , why not saul , who had twice revolted from god , who had slain with the edge of the sword a whole town of the priests of the lord , who had taken away davids wife by force and given her to another , and sought his innocent life , after so many eminent services done the state by this young prince : and who could pretend more to it than david , who was appointed by god , anointed and consecrated to the government of israel ? yet david , who was a prophet , and a man after gods own heart , was of another mind , as we are assured by holy writ . saul seeking him in the desarts , went alone into a ca● where david lay hid , who finding him in such a condition , might as ●asily have killed him as macrinus did carcalla , . nay , one would think he ought not to have omitted so fair an occasion of ridding himself of his enemy , especially when he was in a manner constrained to it by his own souldiers , who minded him of the prophetick promise god had made him , to deliver his enemy into his hand : but he calmly disswades them by a sober reply , to attempt nothing against saul : the lord forbid , says he , that i should do this thing to my master the lords anointed , to stretch forth my hand against him , seeing he is the anointed of the lord , that is to say , a man that god has set apart for so sacred and divine a charge , if he make ill use of it , as did saul and such like : nevertheless , as he is a king , he ought to be exempt from all civil punishment , and left to the judgment of the last day . in another place this learned person lays down for a maxim , that against the oppression of a king there is no humane remedy . he maintains likewise , that when kings abuse their power , and treat ill their subjects , all ought to be remitted to gods iudgment-seat , and in the mean time to have recourse to our tears and prayers , which are , saith he , the weapons of a true christian. thus the author of the books called , [ les derniers , efforts de pinnocence assligè , the last attempts of persecuted innocence ] who is a french protestant , very well known to the world , and my particular friend , takes it for a religious principle , and that which bears the charact●r of the ancient christian moral , that the king is master of the exteriour part of religion : that if he will suffer none but his own , if we cannot conform , we ought to die without resistance : because the true religion is not to employ the arm of flesh to establish it in a flourishing condition : that princes become very guilty , when they oppose by force the setling of the true religion , but they are to answer to none but god for it . this is sir , says our friend , the true sense of the french protestants , in this important affai● ▪ i could make it out by a thousand more witnesses of credit , if it were needful . and i am well assured , that after so many pregnant testimonies , there is no reasonable person can be offended at their confession of faith : therefore let us go to your other objections . i would with all my heart , said i , but that it is so late . and besides , i would be glad to make my objections stronger , by running over a new book , which the enemies of the french protestants make a great noise with in england , and put it into the hands of all our people of quality , to prejudice them against these poor protestants . it is the history of calvinism , by monsieur maimbourg , a secularised jesuit . if you will take my word , let us put it off till this day sevennight . be it so , says our friend , and so we parted : this shall be also the end of my letter : i am , sir , yours , &c. the fourth letter . the protestant loyalty vindicated against maimbourg . sir , i failed not to be at our friends chamber at the time appointed : well , says he , so soon as we were sat down , what do you say of our secularized jesuit and his book ? i told him , his book smelt strong of a libel . and as for him , he is a man so full of equivocation , that he will hardly ever forget his former profession . he would fain have us believe , that his design is to make a satyr against the french protestants , whom he charges at random with many crimes : and yet when he comes to cast up his reckoning , one would swear he set pen to paper for no other end but to write in their praise , and to let after-ages know , that the huguenots or calvinists , as he is pleased to call them , were far honester men and better christians , than their enemies the papists : for what is it he omits for the advantage of those , he himself acknowledges to be true protestants ? lewis de bourbon , prince of condè , had a strength of parts , a constancy and greatness of mind , worthy his high quality of prince of the blood. he had the courage of a hero , and as much wit as valour . he had a largeness of soul and of understanding , equal to the greatest men of former ages , and ought to be reckoned amongst the chiefest men of the royal house of bourbon , had he not spoiled so many rare qualities , which made him one of the most beloved men in the world , by unfortunately dying a huguenot . the lady de roye , his mother-in-law , and eleonor de roye his wife , were both very wise women , couragious , and of great vertue : but both these likewise , the most zealous and resolute huguenots of their time . cardinal odet , the elder of the three brothers of coligny , was one of the handsomest men in france , and who got the greatest love and esteem of any man at court for his wit and learning , for his prudence and ability in the management of affairs , for his sweet and obliging deportment , and for his magnificence and wonderful generosity . he had certainly been one of the greatest and most accomplished prelates of the kingdom : had he not disgraced his coat and character by heresie , in becoming a calvinist . the chancellor michael de l'hospital , was a man of extraordinary merit . it is not to be denyed , but that he was one of the most considerable men of his time , in all curious and substantial knowledge , and in all the perfections of moral virtues . but after all this , we neither can nor ought to conceal what eclipsed the beauty of so many ra●e endowments , which was , that he openly countenanced calvinism . ia●es du bosc of esmendreville , second president in the court of aids of the parliament of roüen , a man of high birth , and great worth , disgraced all his good qualities by an obstinate adherence to the huguenot party . francis de la noüe , surnamed bras de fer , was one of the bravest men of his time , as he has evinced by a thousand noble exploits : he was not only equal to the stoutest , but to the wisest and most knowing commanders of old . iasper de coligny , admiral of france , a man of method , wit and courage , quick and watchful , bold , a good souldie● and great captain , was almost the only person that was a good huguenot amongst all the people of quality on his side . now we must know what monsieur maimbourgh means by a good huguenot : he explains himself very clearly in that passage where he commends the queen of nuvar , mother to henry the fourth : these are the words , she was a princess , that besides the perfections of her body , had so great a soul , so much courage and wit , that she had deserved the glorious title of the heroess of her time , had not heresie , which though at first she was hardly brought too , yet at last she cleaved to with an unmoveable resolution , been so great a blot in her scotcheon . however , we must allow her to have been a good huguenot , living up , in all appearance , to the greatest piety and regularity : for as to the other great persons of this sect , except the admiral , they only carryed the name of calvinists , not very well knowing what they were themselves ; and to speak truly , the court was then very corrupt , where there was little difference between catholick and huguenot , but that the one went not to mass , nor the other to a sermon ; as to any thing else , they agreed v●ry well the one with the other , for the most part , having no religion at all , either in devotion or the fear of god , which this queen iean d' albret bewails in one of her letters . whence it appears , that according to monsieur maimbourg , to be a good huguenot , is to lead a virtuous life , contrary to that of a deb●uched court , to be very devout in the fear of god , and to grieve for the corruption of the age. this is the notion he gives us of the true french protestants , whom he calls , the good huguenots . he is very far from giving so advantageous a character to those zealous catholicks , whom he makes the bulwark of his church against the pretended heresie of the protestants . he affects the contemptuous compellation of little king , when he speaks of francis the second , of whom he says in another place , that he had conceived so great a prejudice against the huguenots , that he bound himself under a solemn oath to drive them all out of the kingdom . the reign of the little king francis. the little king francis being dead , &c. at the death of the little king francis , &c. and what doth he not say of the queen , katharine de medicis , the other scourge of the calvinian heresie ? he has represented her as the most wicked of all women : as he says , she had principles that favour'd little of christianity : she was an ambitious queen , who by a wicked policy would govern at any rate , even to the sacrificing religion it self . she did not deal faithfully with the huguenots , when she made the peace with them . her only design was , to deceive them . it was she that put the king upon that barbarous resolution , which was executed upon that bloody and accursed day of st. bartholomew . he sets out charles the ninth , as a son worthy of such a mother . this prince was of an impetuous humour , cholerick , revengeful , and very cruel , which proceeded from his dark melancholy temper , and from his wicked education . he was so good a proficient in what his mother taught him , who was a woman the best skilled of any in her time in the art of dissimulation , and deceiving people , that he made it appear , he had outdone her in her own craft . what was it he did not do for two years together to deceive the poor admiral ? he expressed the greatest value and love for him imaginable : embraced him , kissed him , called him his father . and yet so soon as ever they advised him to dispatch him out of hand . he stood up in the greatest rage , and swore by god , ( according to his wicked custom ) ay , i will have him dispatched ; nay , i will have all the huguenots destroyed , that not a man remain to reproach me hereafter with his death . they hung the body of the admiral by the heels upon the gibbet of mount-faucon , lighting a fire underneath to make him a more frightful spectacle . it was so miserable a sight , that charles the king would needs see his enemy thus dead : which certainly was an act altogether unworthy , i will not say of a king , but of a man of any birth : to such a degree had this spirit of hatred , revenge and cruelty , which he had learn'd of his mother , prevailed upon him . as for henry the third , another mortal enemy to the protestants , monsieur maimbourg sets him out as the falsest and most unnatural of mankind . the sieur aubery du maurier , says he , tells us in the preface of his memoirs , that he has heard his father say , that he had it from the mouth of monsieur de vellievre , that at the same time he shewed large instructions to oblige him earnestly to intercede for the life of mary queen of scots , he had private ones quite contrary from the hand of henry the third , to advise queen elizabeth to put to death that common enemy to their persons and kingdoms . and could there be a stranger cruelty , than what he makes this prince guilty of , when as yet he was only duke d'anjou ? the prince of condè , after he had defended himself a long time most bravely at the battle of iarnac , was forced at last to yield up himself : two gentlemen received his sword with all manner of respect . but the baron of montesquiou , captain of monsier's swiss guards , being come up whil'st this was doing , and finding by them that it was the prince of condè , kill him , kill him , says he , and with a great oath , discharged his pistol at his head , and shot him dead at the stump of a tree , where he leant . it was an action doubtless no ways to be excused , especially in a french man , who ought to have had respect and spared the royal blood , had it been in the heat of the battle , much more in cold blood. they say , this was done by the express command of the duke d'anjou . he says of the duke of montpensier , an irreconcilable enemy to the huguenots , that he would give them no quarter ; that he always talked of hanging them ; that all he took prisoners , he put to death presently without mercy ; that he said to that brave and wise la noüe , ( who came to surrender himself prisoner of war ) my friend , you are a huguenot , your sentence is passed , prepare for death : that the day of the massacre , this bigotted catholick went through the streets with the marshal de tavannes , encouraging the people , that were but too forward of themselves , and provoking them to fall upon every body , and spare none . he makes the cardinal of lorrain , that great champion for popery , to be author of a sordid and cruel proceeding . he says of the duke of guise , whom the catholicks looked upon as the invincible defender of their faith , that indeed he did service to the religion , but that he likewise made it serve his turn ; and to invest him with that almost regal power , which in the end prov'd so fatal to him . now a subject that makes religion a step to mount him into his princes throne , and take away his crown , can he be otherwise esteemed than as a prophane and wicked man ? speaking of the ligue , which as he says , had for the chief actors philip the second , queen katharine , and the duke of guise , the great supporters of the pope , that it had like to have destroyed church and state at once , and that the greatest part of those that ran headlong in with that heat and passion , and chiefly the people , the clergy , and the fryars , were but the stales of such as made up this cabal , where ambition , revenge and interest , took more place than religion , which was used but for a shew to cheat the world. at last he represents the court of charles the ninth , which had been that of francis the second , and was afterwards that of henry the third , as a pack of miscreants and atheists . the court , says he , was at that time very corrupt , where there was no difference hardly between a catholick and a huguenot , but that the one went not to mass , nor the other to sermon : as for any thing else , they agreed well enough , for as much as the one and the other , at least generally speaking , had no religion at all , profane , without the fear of god. and yet it was from this court , as from a deadly spring , that flowed all the persecutions which the protestants suffered under the reigns of three of their kings . and monsieur maimbourg is very pleasant ; when he makes it up of huguenots as well as papists . all the world knows , that the huguenots were banished from the court of charles the ninth , so that all he says of this court , can light upon none but the papists , who alone were admitted at that time . you are in the right , says our friend , and it will do well , to finish the draught , monsieur maimbourg has given us of this court , that i read to you what the bishop of rhodes writes of it in his history of henry the fourth , there never was one more vitious and corrupt , wickedness , atheism , magick , the most enormous uncleanness , the fowlest treacheries , perfidiousness , poysoning and murder , predominated to the highest pitch . but i beseech you , sir , says he , tell me what you would infer from these words of monsieur maimbourg , that gives such encomium's to the same protestants , whom he would seem at the same time to cry down with all his might : and makes such heavy reflections upon those same roman catholicks , whom he makes the pillars of his church , and the greatest enemies to the protestant rel●gion . i make no doubt , replyed i , but i draw the same consequences from hence as ●ou do : that monsieur maimbo●rg plainly shews by this , that he ought no● to be believed , when elsewhere he charges so many faults upon th● first protestants of france , and imputes all the great exploits to their enemies the papists : and that the true protestants , or the good huguenots , being so pious , and having the fear of god before their eyes , for which he comm●nds them , could not be the causes of disorders ; though very likely their adversaries might have been , whom the historian represents as the most wicked , ambitious , ungodly and cruel of men . by this he likewise convinces us , that his book ought not to be regarded , and that we ought not to look upon his accusations against that which he calls calvinism , otherwise then as railing and aspersions invented at will to make way for his better reception at court , or some other by end that is not worth enquiring after . it is that which prejudices his book with all ingenious persons , and renders it unworthy the least consideration . yet since the enemies of the french protestants make such a noise with it , let me intreat you , sir , to clear the matters of fact to me , which he produces with so much confidence , to raise a jealousie in princes upon these poor men , as if they were the authors of those troubles and disorders in the last age , which came within a very little of ruining france . first , he charges their religion with being a mortal enemy to monarchy . i confess , you have made the contrary appear beyond dispute in our former conference . but he lays his charge upon matters of fact , whereof i have not knowledge enough to clear the objections . one shall hardly see , says he , more dreadful conspiracies , than those which the huguenots have made against our kings : for instance , that cruel business of amboise and that of meaux ; not to mention their terrible rebellions which have cost france so much blood ; and the unhappy intelligences they have held with the enemy , to withdraw themselves from their allegiance , and set up openly for a commonwealth , as they have done more than once . i beg of you to give me all the light you can to deliver innocence from so black an aspersion . with all my heart , says our friend ; and besides , when i have taken off this reproach , i promise to make it as clear as the sun at noon-day , that they are father maimbourgs catholicks , who are guilty of all these desperate conspiracies against the persons of kings , which he so unjustly and fasly lays to the protestants . his first proof of the dreadful conspiracies of the huguenots against that of their kings , is the business of amboise and meaux . but before i enter into particulars , i set against him an unexceptionable witness , who openly declares , that the huguenots entred not into any conspiracy against their kings in either of those places : my witness is one of the same religion with monsieur maimbourg , and what is more , a cardinal , and one so knowing and of so extraordinary worth , that monsieur sainte-marthe is not afraid to stile him , the flower of the colledge of cardinals , the light of france , and the new star of his age : sacrati ordinis aureum florem , ocellum nostrae galliae , sui denique seculi novum sidus . he had over and above this advantage of monsieur maimbourg , that he lived in the time of the businesses of amboise and of meaux . he was above twenty years old at the time of the ●irst : and he was too exact and too knowing , not to have throughly examined the causes and motives of two occurrences , that made such a noise all over europe . you shall hear what he says in his eighth letter of the ●irst book , upon the occasion of an attempt against the life of henry the fourth . you had it already : but i cannot forbear reading it again to you , for it deserves to be writ in letters of gold upon the front of all the french kings palaces . to a prince turned catholick , who should have been encouraged and confirmed by all means possible , it was to give him great offence and distaste at the catholicks , when they that call themselves the support of the catholick religion , should go about to have him assassinated ; that , which if there were any pretence for , the hereticks ought to have procured , or done it themselves , because he had quitted and forsaken them , and they had therefore reason to fear him ; and yet they attempted no such thing , either against him , or any of the five kings his predecessors , whatever butchery they had made among them . these remarkable words , and yet they attempted no such thing , either against him , or any of the five kings his predecessors , are a manifest confutation of all that monsieur maimbourg's libel sets forth against the loyalty of the french protestants , from the beginning of the reformation , which was under francis the first , to the reign of henry the fourth . the businesses of amboise and of meaux happened , the one under francis the second , the other under charles the ninth , two of the five kings , predecessors to henry the fourth , of whom cardinal d'ossa● speaks . assuring us therefore , as he does , that the protestants never attempted any thing against the life of these five kings , he positively denies what monsieur maimbourg asserts , that in 〈◊〉 two affairs , the huguenots had entred into terrible conspiracies against their kings . now in the presence of god , which of these two ought we rather to give credit to , the cardinal , a man of an unspotted reputation , and who was an eye-witness of these two passages now in dispute , or monsieur maimbourg , who writ his libel sixscore years after the business of meaux , and whom the pope himself has turned out of the jesuites order for an untoward reason ? for every body knows it was for being detected of falsehood in his writings , that the pope put this high affront upon him . but to come to our present purpose , and to be short , we will stick to the account monsieur maimbourg himself gives of that he calls the business of amboise . this is that he says , that at a very close meeting at la fertè sous ioûare , they determined a high point of conscience , by the advice of divines , canonists , and lawyers , who all agreed , that * during the present state of affairs , men might take up arms to seize in any manner the duke of guise , and the cardinal of lorrain , his brother , to bring them to tryal , provided a prince of the blood , who is in this case a lawful magistrate , would head the party : that all this having been allowed of by a general consent , the prince of condé † resolved to head them , upon condition that they attempted nothing against the king and the royal family , nor against the state ▪ that to carry on this attempt under the authority of the prince , they chose la renaudie , a gentleman of perigord : that he contrived | a meeting of a considerable number of gentlemen and other deputies at nantes : that after he had discovered to this meeting what had been concluded at la fertè , he told them that the concealed head of this party was the prince of condè , who had made him his lieutenant ; that it was agreed that five hundred gentlemen , and a thousand foot , under thirty chosen captains , should upon the tenth of march meet from several quarters at blois , at which time the court was to be there , and pretending to present a petition to the king , should secure his apartment , that they might effect their designs upon the guises : that the guises having discovered this , immediately removed the court to amboise : that la renaudie , who was resolved to do that at amboise which he could not now do at blois , was betrayed by one he trusted : that by this means they apprehended most of his associates without much trouble : that they hanged a great many presently , without the form of a tryal : that they cast some into the river : that they hanged up the body of la renaudie , who was slain , and afterwards cut it into quarters : that the chief of his captains were beheaded , after they had all confessed : that three of their captains , who came last , and had attacked the castle , were cut to pieces . this was the end of that attempt . after this general account , monsieur maimbourg comes to the prince in particular , and this he says , as to the prince of condè , when the king reproached him for attempting against his person , and against the state , he justified himself like a great man , and suitable to his high courage ; for in presence of all the great ones at court , that were then by , and before the king , the queens , and royal family , he gave the lie to as many as should dare to say that he headed those that had attempted the king's sacred person , or his state , profering to lay aside the consideration of his being prince of the blood , and maintain that challenge in single combate ; but no body took him up . this he might do questionless with all justice , it being certain that he was resolved the first article of the consult at la fertè should be , that they should attempt nothing against the king's majesty , nor against the state. mezeray adds something here that is too remarkable to be passed by . the prince , after he had profered , to justifie his innocence against his accusers , by sword or lance , said , that he assured himself he should make them confess that they themselves were the persons who had sworn the subversion of the state and royal family . he had no sooner done speaking ( says this popish historian ) but the duke of guise , seeming not to take it to himself , addressed to him , and told him , that it was not to be endured so foul a charge should be laid upon so great a prince , and offered to be his second , if there could be any so audacious as to maintain these false accusations . it appears by what monsieur maimbourg sets down and asserts , that the design of that business of amboise was only to seize the duke of guise and the cardinal of lorrain , to bring them to their tryal ; that it was resolved at the undertaking of this business , that they would attempt nothing against the king , the royal family , or the state ; that indeed the prince of condè did not attempt any thing against the kings majesty or state in this business of amboise . when therefore monsieur maimbourg , so shamefully contradicting himself , dares say in another place , that you shall hardly meet with a more desperate conspiracy than that of the huguenots against their king in the business of amboise : what can he pass for less , in the sense of all honest men , than an infamous libeller ? against the testimony of his own conscience , against what himself had writ and avowed , does he lay a heavy accusation upon the innocent ; and all this in hopes to afflict the afflicted , and to shut up the bowels of their brethren in foreign parts , from taking compassion of the poor french protestants , who are so terribly persecuted in their own countrey . he would make all the world jealous of them , that they might no where find reception , but be reduced , wherever they go , to dye with hunger and affliction . you see what a worthy wight this author proves , that they make such a do about amongst persons of quality , to prejudice them against their poor brethren . for we must not think that the argument he makes in his recital , to perswade us , that to attack the guises was to fall upon the king , can excuse him from contradiction and calumny in this particular . they are not groundless proofs that will justifie an accusation of this weight , especially when it has been acknowledged that the persons accused designed neither against king nor state , but only against the guises . there never was any thing ( says he ) so heinous as this plot. for to seek to possess themselves of the king's appartment to seize his principal ministers , and kill them before his face , as captain mazeres , who with others , undertook the bloody execution , attests : is it not to set upon the king himself , and to seek to make themselves masters of his person and government . i shall not trouble my self to take off what he says of the confession of captain mazeres . mezeray observes expresly in his chronological abridgment , that the brave and wise castelno , when he was confronted , sufficiently reproved this captain : and the famous monsieur de thou has the same passage in his history . monsieur maimbourg himself acknowledges , that the result of this meeting was not to kill the guises , but only to apprehend them , that they might be brought to tryal by the ordinary course of justice . these are the very words of their resolution , as mezeray reports them : that whilst the king , by reason of the tenderness of his years , and the artifices of those that had shut him up to themselves could neither foresee nor prevent the danger his pers●● and government were in : they ought to seize upon the duke of guise , and the cardinal his brother , to bring them to iustice before the states . as to what monsieur maimbourg pretends , that to endeavour to secure the kings appartment by force , and in his presence to seize his principal ministers , is to seize the king himself , and endeavour to become master of his person and government . i say , his pretence is unjust and very rash , in regard of those extraordinary circumstances france was then under . 1. francis the second who then reigned , was very young , and monsieur maimbourg , who calls him so often the little king francis , gives him no very advantageous character . 2. the duke of guise and the cardinal of lorrain , who were strangers , having become masters of the person and government of this young prince , played the tyrant so , as to make the whole kingdom desp●rate ; and then they had put all the princes of the blood from having any thing to do with the government , the children of the hou●e , whose chiefest interest it was , to preserve king and state. 3. this illustrious prince of condè , whom mezeray represents to us of so sweet a temper and great a courage , sincere and loyal , an enemy to all tricks and cheats , and detesting to do an ill thing , and who for this reason cannot be suspected in this matter , had got the informations to be drawn by men of known & unblemished reputation concerning the behavior of the guises ; by which information he had made it appear , that they were guilty not only of many oppressions & violences , but had moreover a design to extinguish the royal line , that they might possess themselves of the crown , having already got into their hands the justice , the money , the garrisons , the souldiers , and the hearts of the common people . 4. indeed , the guises declared publickly , that provence and anjou belonged to them , and it was a thing commonly known , that they set men to work who were versed in history , to find out their genealogy in the line of charles the great , on purpose to challenge their right of succession against the descendants of hugh capet ; of which francis the second , then reigning , was one ; as is likewise lewis the fourteenth who now reigns . it was because the protestants opposed this design , and that the business of amboise , as well as other contests which they had afterwards with the guise faction , down to the reign of henry the fourth , were to no other end , but to preserve the crown to the posterity of hugh capet ; it was , i say , for this cause , that the protestants were called huguenots , from the name of hugh . mezeray observes very well , that this was always esteemed by them to be the original of this appellation : but they , says he , took this name for an honor , giving it another sense , as if they had been the preservers of the line of hugh capet , whom , they said , the guises intended to destroy , that they might restore the crown to the posterity of charlemayn , of whose issue they boast themselves to be . a great man of the popish religion has made it appear , that this is the only probable etimology of the name . so that far from the protestants of france taking it as a reproach , they ought to be proud of it , as a lasting work of their inviolable loyalty to their kings , and their glorious oppositions they made against the attempts of the guises , who aimed at the crown . 5. besides , that we have the word of such a prince as the most renowned prince of condè , who asserted it more than once in great assemblies ; the whole conduct of the duke of guise makes it evident , what detestable design this ambitious family had . when he had got francis the second into his hands , he took upon him , says mezeray , to equal himself with the princes of the blood , and to give orders in the military affairs , and the cardinal his brother to direct the treasury : whereas the ancient laws of the realm ( as the same historian has very well observed ) ordain , that the blood royal shall have the preference before 〈◊〉 , in matters of government . they had in a short time made a way for themselves to the soveraign power : as mezeray adds , ( speaking of the duke and the cardinal ) and possessed themselves of all charges and places of trust , the garrisons and the treasury , so ordering it , that all this passed either through their own hands , or through those of their creatures . when the king of navar came to court , his purvoyer could find no room for him in the castle ; and the duke of guise , who had taken up the next apartment to the king , told him plainly , that it should cost the life of him and ten thousand of his friends , before he would quit it : as much as to say , he would have the preference before the first prince of the blood ; and in truth he did trample upon him . the event shewed plainly afterwards , that the prince of condè and his friends understood very well , that the guises aimed at the crown . the duke procured full power to summon all the princes , great lords , captains , and others of all conditions , to give them his orders what they were to do , to raise men immediately as many as he should think fit : and generally to provide and order all things , either in ammunition or repairs of fortifications , in as ample manners as the king himself could do . so that he wanted nothing but the name of king. and mezeray is forced to acknowledge , that since the mayors of the palace , there had never been such an encroachment made by any french man upon the crown . he takes notice moreover , of the bitter resentments the french had of an edict so injurious to their king. when the queen-mother intreated him to go strait to the court , which was then at monceaux , and not pass through paris : he took no notice of her request , but made his entry in the capital city of france , by the gate of st. dennis , in the midst of the peoples acclamations , the provost of the merchants going before him : all ceremonies , says mezeray , which ought to be paid to the king alone . the dukes death , and the incessant opposition of the protestants , hindred him from going farther . but his son , who succeeded him in his ambition and in all his designs , made it appear upon the first occasion , how far the treacherous intentions of this family went. he shuts up his king in the louvre , on purpose to lay him aside . you have the story of it in mezeray's chronological abridgement , under the year 1588. he put himself in the head of that powerful faction , which , as the bishop of rhodes assures us , designed to take away the succession of the royal family . the same bishops tells us , that this new duke of guise , had thoughts of making himself king , and that he endeavored it several ways . 6. the prince of condè , who was so well assured that the duke of guise , father to this man , had so foul a design , did questionless look upon him with another eye then maimbourg do's , who would make us believe , that he was in a very high degree master of all the excellent qualities which can contribute to make a great prince , without any fault that might ecclipse the splendor of so glorious perfections : and that he was a truly christian hero. at this rate , a profound dissimulation and horrid bloody treason are to be reckoned as nothing . the prince of condè profers to justifie his innocence against his accusers by combat , assuring himself to make them confess , that it was they themselves who had conspired the overthrow of the government and blood royal. this defiance was chiefly intended to the duke of guise . but this duke would not take it to himself : but deeply dissembling the matter , he commends the prince his generosity , and said , he was likewise ready to justifie his innocence , though privately he took care to have him apprehended . in good earnest , monsieur maimbourg's morals must be strangely depraved , since he is no longer a jesuit , not to find any fault in a prince guilty of so prosligate a dissimulation and notorious treachery . and does he think , if lewis the fourteenth ever comes to open his eyes , he will think himself obliged to those that would make such a man pass for a truly christian h●ro , who has done his utmost to disappoint him of the crown , by taking it from his ancestors , and endeavoring to cut off the illustrious race of the bourbon's ? if an ●nglishman should canonize cromwell , and place him among the hero's , can you imagine he should be well received at court , or that the king should repose any great confidence in his loyalty ? monsieur maimbourg must know , that the prince of condè , being what he was , could not look upon this pretended hero otherwise than as a monster . he was obliged , by the duty of his relation , his honor , loyalty , and all that was becoming a great mind , with all his might to set himself against those wicked designs , which he saw the duke of guise and the cardinal of lorrain had so plainly layed . would you have had him stood with his hands in his pockets , when he discovered so great danger , and suffer strangers to ruine the state , and take the crown away from his family with a high hand ? 7. these usurpers had laid their business so well , and were become so absolute masters of the person , the mind , the authority , and the whole power of the young king , that it was impossible to carry any address to the king , unless by their means : and to do any thing against them to bring them to justice , but , as one may say , in the kings presence , who was continually in their hands ; and by consequence , to redress a mischief that so absolutely required a remedy , without resolving upon some great and extraordinary attempt . either therefore the prince of condè must have done what he did , or else have suffered the throne to be usurped , and the royal family sacrificed , contrary to that duty he owed to france , to his king , to himself , and to his whole race . if monsieur maimbourg will have it , that the prince of condè should have let the guises go on , his king ought to look upon him as his mortal enemy : if he believes he did his duty , let him retract , and be ashamed of those unadvised words , that he would have taken the kings lodgings by force , as affairs then stood , to seize in his presence upon his chief ministers , was to attack the king himself , and to seek to make himself master of his person and government . in the condition matters were then , it was the only humane means left to rescue the young king from slavery , to give a stop to the outrages of a forain domineering power , or rather tyranny , and to preserve the crown to its right heirs . if god was not pleased , in his all-wise providence , to give so good success to the attempt as was hoped : it failed not nevertheless of doing some good . it gave a check to the wicked designs of the guises , and made them sensible , that whil'st they had to do with men of that courage , they should not purchase the kingdom at so cheap a rate as they thought for . besides , i must not conceal it from you , that the protestants were not the only men that lifted themselves under the prince of condè for this important service to their country , and to the royal family : several roman catholicks shared with them in the glory of this attempt . the famous mezeray has published it to all the world. so that monsieur maimbourg is 〈◊〉 out , when he would make it a quarrel upon religion . and much 〈◊〉 unjustly is he mistaken , when he offers to say , that at the business of amboise , the huguenots entred into a horrible conspiracy against their king. i am satisfied , says i to our friend , and i am confident every honest man , that knows as much as you have told me of this matter , will look upon this jesuits imputation with amazement and detestation . pray give me an account now of the business of meaux . the french protestants , rep●yed he , are no less innocent of conspiracy against their king in the business of meaux , than they were in that of amboise . the testimony of the eminent cardinal d'ossat , is an invincible defence to them in this affair , and puts them beyond the reach of calumny . but i suppose you would be throughly informed of this matter . i will do it in as few words as possibly i can : and i will take the account partly from monsieur maimbourg himselff ; partly from two other popish historians , who have much a greater esteem in the world than he , it is the famous president de thou , and mezeray . we will take it from the beginning . you have not forgot what i told you at our former meeting , when i gave you an account of the first war the prince of condè was forced to make for rescuing the king , at the earnest intreaty of the queen-mother , then regent . i shall not need to take off a thousand odious reflections , which monsieur maimbourg lays upon the french protestants in relation to this war. they are either the faults of some private persons , who having acted contrary to the principles of the reformed religion , were disowned by all sincere protestants ; or false suggestions , which the solemn edict of charles the ninth , in the year 1563. has sufficiently confuted : the king there owning , as done for his service , all that the prince of condè and his friends had done in this first taking up of arms. this noted edict ordains , that the protestant religion should be publickly exercised in several parts of the kingdom , which the edict names ; it puts all the french protestants under the protection of their king , in what part of france soever they should make their abode ; it wills , that every one of them , when they come home , should be maintained and secured in their goods , honors , estates , charges , offices , &c. the prince and the protestants observed the articles of the treaty of peace most exactly . monsieur maimbourg tells us himself , that all the places which the huguenots held , submitted to the king. nay , we english have occasion to complain of their too great exactness in this point : for they were the hottest in taking havre de grace from us , which we had possessed our selves of , only to give them succor against their persecutors . all their great souldiers came against us to the siege of this town . the prince of condè lodged all the while in the trenches . all the french , says mezeray , went thither in great fury , especially the huguenots . but their adversaries dealt not so with them : they broke the edict every where in a shamful and barbarous manner . this illustrious queen of navar , that made france happy with henry the great , was the first that experienced how little sacred that protection was held , which had been so solemnly promised to the protestants . some great men , to curry-favor with philip king of spain , by some signal service entred into a conspiracy with him to seize the queen iane d' albret and her children in the town of pau in bearn , and carry them to the inquisition in spain . an attempt , says mezeray , which escaped punishment , for the qualities sake of those persons which were engaged in it . afterwards they put it into the kings head to take a progress through france , and in this unhappy progress it was , that the ruine of the protestants was agreed upon and sworn to , contrary to so solemn an edict . the queen was perpetually importuned by the pope , by all the catholick princes , and especially by her two sons-in-law , philip the second king of spain , and charles the third duke of lorrain , to perswade the king to take up a generous resolution , to prohibit the huguenots the exercise of their calvinism , &c. that is , to break his royal word , and to demonstrate by so pregnant a proof , that the church of rome does not think her self obliged to keep faith with hereticks : and consequently , that they whom she holds hereticks , ought never to take her word , no not when she expresses her self by the mouths of the greatest princes of the world , and by the most authentick records . monsieur maimbourg , without the least scruple or ceremony , calls these breaches of publick faith , a generous resolution . and as ill luck would have it , his predecessors knew but too well how to perswade catharine de medicis , and charles the ninth that so it was . the queen and the king , says he , who were at least staggered by these remonstrances , being under such a disposition , it was no wonder , if the huguenots were not very kindly used during this progress , though nothing was done directly against the pacification . they built another citadel at lyons in opposition to the huguenot party , who were yet the strongest in that place , and they ordered the slighting of those new fortifications in the places they held during the war. they forbid the exercise of their pretended religion ten leagues round such places as the court should pass , though it was allowed by the edict in certain towns within that compass , which they interpreted to be when the king was not there , or within ten leagues . they made a new edict at rouseillon , the counte de tournons house , by which they were forbidden , upon pain of death , to hold any meeting but in the presence of officers appointed by his majesty to attend there . and the magis●rates had order to force the apostate fryars and priests , who were turned huguenots that they might marry , to quit their wives upon pain of the gallies for the men , and perpetual imprisonment for the women . whenever the catholicks made any complaint against the huguenots , or the huguenots against the catholicks ; these had always more favour shewed them than the other , who were generally found in the fault right or wrong . the conference the queen had , as she passed by avignon with the vice-legat , which gave him wonderful satisfaction , pleased them not so well : so that they chose rather to be directed by that she had at bayonne with the duke d' alva . they did believe that a league was made between the two crowns , to drive the calvinists out of the dominions of both the kings , and the rather , because they knew that the queen was then contriving an interview between the pope and the catholick princes . according to monsieur maimbourg , it is no ways to act directly against the edict of peace , to hinder the exercise of the protestant religion in several towns where it was permitted by the edict , to impose conditions upon protestant congregations , enough to disturb that peace and repose the edict had promised them ; to deprive many of them of that freedom of conscience the same edict allowed them . nor to offer all those other injuries to the huguenots , which monsieur maimbourg himself tells us they did , though the edict had given assurance of quite the contrary . mezeray deals more sincerely : he ingenuously confesses , that they daily retrenched that liberty , which had been allowed them by the edict , in so much that it was in a manner reduced to nothing , and that they undermined the liberty of conscience they had promised them , by several expositions they put upon the edict . he gives many instances but one amongst the rest , which i am resolved to set down : it is this , the count de candale had contrived a league with his brother christopher bishop of aire , montluc , gabriel de chaumont , laytun , descars , mervilles his younger brother , and gaston marquess of trans , of the same house of foix , who was the author of this advice : the contents of which being published , he afterwards made open war against the huguenots . by this means he became guilty of high treason , neither could they excuse the action from being an attempt against the kings authority , and the faith of the edicts . but his zeal was not displeasing to the catholicks : besides , that regard was to be had to his quality , and to so many great men that were engaged in this affair : which is the reason why the king , to stop the huguenots mouths , owns by a declaration all that this count and his complices had done , as having had his order for it . this is that which monsieur maimbourg calls , to do nothing directly against the edict of peace . it is fit you should know what the same mezeray relates concerning the conferences of the queen at bayonne with the duke d' alva , one of the greatest enemies the true religion ever had . she had discourse every night with the duke d'alva : and the event has shewed since , that all these conferences drove at a secret alliance between the two kings , utterly to root out the protestants . the huguenots believed , the duke d'alva had advised the queen to invite them to some great assembly , and so to rid herself of them without mercy : that he had let fall these words , that a ioal of salmon was better worth , then all the frogs of a marsh : that from the time of the assembly of moulins , the queen had executed this design , had things happened as she expected . st. bartholomews day does not a little confirm this mistrust of the huguenots . but you shall hear what it was made the prince of condè take those resolutions monsieur maimbourg so exclaims against . the intention of destroying the huguenots , was , evident , because they daily retrenched them of that liberty , which was given them by the edicts , so that they had in a manner brought it to nothing : the people fell upon them in those places , where they were the weaker party ; where they were able to maintain their ground , the governor made use of the kings authority to oppress them ; they dismantled those towns that had shewed them any favour ; they built citadels in the same places ; no justice was to be obtained for them , either in parliament or council ; they murdered them without restrai●t , neither were they restored to their estates or offices . these complaints were brought two or three times to the prince of condè , and to coligny , who at two meetings , had given this answer both times , that thoy ought to endure all patiently , rather than to take up arms . but when one of the chief men at court , had given them certain notice that they were resolved to seize the prince and the admiral , to confine the first to perpetual imprisonment , and bring the other to the block : dandelot's advice , who was bolder than the rest , put them upon a resolution , not only of defending themselves , but likewise to attack their enemies by open force ; and for this end , to drive the cardinal of lorrain from the king's presence , and cut off the suisses . they were six thousand suisses they had raised , under pretence of hindring the duke alva's passage , but indeed to destroy the protestants , as monsieur maimbourg himself sufficiently hints , and as i shall plainly shew you from a remarkable passage of monsieur de thou : which passage shall likewise serve to confirm what mezeray has told us , that one of the chief men at court gave certain notice to the protestants , that they were resolved to seize the prince and the admiral : and to convince monsieur maimbourg of the greatest impudence , and at the same time of the highest injustice done to a prince , that was the hero of his age , see but how this jesuit relates to us the occasion and motive of that he calls , the business of meaux : the prince was always in hopes , that the queen would have procured for him to be lieutenant general over the whole kingdom : that she had promised to bring him to the point he aimed at , when the treaty of orleans was made . tho she was no ways inclined to put so great a charge in his hands , but said it only to fool him . she was resolved to set the duke of anjou upon him , who was the dearest to her of all her children : and she instructed him so well , that when the prince of condè came some days to the queens supper , monsieur , who watched for an opportunity to affront him , took him aside to a corner of the reom , where he treated him in a strange manner , so far as to tell him in a threatning way , laying his hand upon his sword , that if ever he thought of this place , contrary to that respect he ow'd him , that he would make him repent it , and make him as inconsiderable as he aspired to be great . after this , the prince touched to the quick , disputed no farther with himself what party to take , though he concealed his resentment at that time , to make his revenge the surer , of which from that moment he laid the design . and this was the true cause of the second troubles , which he cloaked with the pretence of religion ; which had the least share , if any at all , in that violent resolution which he took , and in that unhappy and abominable attempt at meaux . indeed he had already had two meetings with the colignies & chief of his friends , one at chastillon , and the other at valery , where nothing was as yet agreed upon . but presently after monsieur had used him thus , and that he found himself thus tricked by the queen , and all his credit at the court lost , he went , and had a third at chastillon : and there it was , that without discovering any thing more , than what had been said in the two former about the ligue , which they said was made to oppress and ruine their religion ; they resolved to take arms , not only to defend themselves , but likewise to assault , and to cut in pieces the suisses which the king had caused to be raised , and to make themselves masters of the whole kingdom , by seizing upon the sacred person of the king , the princes his brothers , and the queen . really this is intolerable . i could never have thought so private a person , as monsieur maimbourg , could have dared to blast by so impudently false a story , the memory of so great a prince , in the face of his highness the prince of condè now living , who no doubt shares in so foul a disgrace cast upon one of the most renowned of his ancestors . 1. mezeray gives monsieur maimbourg quite another reason of the second troubles : and to find out those that were the cause of them , there was no need that he should go to make of one of the sincerest princes the world ever had , a hypocrite and a wicked person that made a stale of religion , using it for a cover to his pernicious designs , and to a mad unbridled ambition and revenge . philip the second , king of spain , says mezeray , contrived a second civil war in france : the severe effects of which , had almost put it to its last gasp . see , from a papist writer , what was the true incentive of discord in these second troubles . surely then monsieur maimbourg has some secret malice against the house of bourbon , to impute , as he does , the crime of a blood-thirsty king , to the generous prince of condè . 2. but with what face dare he say , that they resolved , at the third meeting of the protestants to take arms , though at that time they discovered no more than what they had done at the two former , where , by the way , no such thing was concluded ? with what face dare he say this , who is told by mezeray , that in this last meeting , they determined to resist force by force , forasmuch as one of the chief men at court gave certain notice that they had resolved to seize the prince and the admiral ? in short , the learned president de thou , whom he quotes some times in his history , could have informed him of all that was needful to hinder him for ever doing so cruel an injustice to so excellent a prince . for he tells us in the beginning of his 42 book , that the protestants met one and another time with the prince of condè , the admiral , and d' andelot , at valery first , and afterwards at chastillon upon loin ; that after having well discussed the matter pro and con , they at last unanimously agree to try all means before they came to the last remedy , that is , to take arms : but that after this , provocations growing higher , especially by reason of the suisses , which the king would not dismiss , though he was entreated to do it , and that the duke d' alva was now entred into the low-countries . there came letters from one of the great lords at court , who was a friend to the protestants , by which the prince was advised , that it was determined in a private councel that they intended to seize upon him and the admiral , to cramp the one in prison , and cut off the others head : that at the same time they would put two thousand swisses into paris , two thousand into orleans , and as many into poictiers : that then they would repeal the edict , and set out others for the extirpation of the protestants . for that reason it was , according to monsieur de thou , that they came to a resolution : and not as monsieur maimbourg reproaches them , without proof or ground , that they might seize the sacred person of the king , his brothers , and the queen , ( the guises , monsieur maimbourg's hero's , are only capable of such exploits : ) but to present their most humble petitions to the young king in such a posture , as might secure them from the rage of their irreconcileable enemies ; and to drive the cardinal of lorrain from the court , who had sworn the ruine of the princes of the blood , and sought the extirpation of the huguenots , for no other end , than because they opposed with all their might this detestable design , as mezeray very well observes . i fancy , it will not be amiss to read the passage to you . the duke of guise and the cardinal of lorrain looked upon the protestants as a hindrance to the establishment of their grandeur . they easily foresaw , if the a king should happen to dy of that sickness , which they apprehended very dangerous they should have no farther pretence to keep the authority longer in their hands , which then they held in his name , the b duke of orleans that was to succeed him , being a minor , and that therefore the princes of the blood had all the reason in the world to take it from them . they knew likewise very well the weakness of these princes , and thought they had strength enough to order them like the others , could they but hinder the gathering together of the factions of the c religionaries , who came to joyn them from all parts ; for which cause they made haste to disperse them , before they should be able to form themselves into a body , which would certainly prove very sturdy and formidable , and might serve as a retreat for all the rest . some thought , and indeed their private dealings , and those they confided in , made it appear , that they had attempted to draw them on their side ; nay they had a mind to declare themselves head of this party , if the princes of the blood should have got the better at the beginning ; but that the religionaries did always refuse to come in to them . it was , they say , one of the chief reasons why they set themselves upon their ruine . this cardinal thirsting after the blood of the huguenots , because they would not betray the interest of the blood-royal , and who was wonderfully desirous of troubles , as necessary for the setting a value upon his power , and placing his nephews in their fathers credit , became an unmoveable obstacle to the kingdoms peace . besides the prince knew that he was to fall into the hands of this merciless prelate , who had caused him to be condemned to have his head cut off under francis the second , and that the whole royal family was in danger , especially the house of bou-bon , if he made not haste to prevent it , in seizing upon his person , that he might † rid the court of him . therefore he takes horse , with about * four hundred of his friends , to make his way to fall at the kings feet , where he might offer his ‑ complaints of the severe persecutions the protestants lay under all over the kingdom , and to remove from his majesties presence this publick pest , who had ingrossed him to himself , and imposing upon his tender years , possessed him with resolutions so pernicious to the princes of his blood , and to his best subjects . the queen , upon the news of this , withdraws the king to meaux , a town of brie . by her order the marshal of montmorancy goes to while off the prince , till six thousand suisses should be got into meaux . the constable argued exceeding well for staying at meaux , forasmuch as there was not the least danger to the kings person . at first , says mezeray , the queen liked well of this advice , but within an hour after , her mind was altered , either through the inconstancy of her sex , or the cardinal of lorrain's dissuasions . they say that this prelate , being very desirous of troubles , as requisite to put a value upon his power , and to establish his nephews in their fathers credit , suggested as if montmorency held intelligence with the prince , that she and her children would be delivered into their hands ; representing to her likewise , that if this should not so fall out , yet she was to consider , that by staying at meaux , she would be confined and helpless under the imperious austerity of the constable , who set himself to keep their majesties in so inconsiderable a town for no other end than to have them at his own disposal at the same time , to encrease her suspicions , his emissaries spread a rumour about the court , that the constable and chancellor had sent a secret dispatch to the prince , and were to deliver him up one of the gates of the town . the queen , startled at the cardinal's suggestions , and it may be at those false reports , called the council a second time , in the apartment of the duke of nemours , who was strongly tyed up by interest with the house of guise : there it is resolved by the advice of this duke , that it was fit to carry the king to paris , and to be gone presently aft●● mid-night . it was to no purpose , that the chancellor layed before the queen the inconveniences that would happen upon this course , and cryed out , that they exposed the sacred person of the king to the utmost peril ; that they betrayed the publick interest for private ones ; that they cut off all means and hopes of accommodation ; and that the ambition of some , was engaging the kingdom to the necessity of entring into an implacable war. the cardinal 's evil counsel carryed it . the king went away in the midst of seven or eight hundred horse , flanked with the six thousand suisses . at peep of day they discovered the princes troops , who were not in all above four hundred horse . the kings troops seeing them in their way , and that they cut off their passage , made a halt to receive orders . in the mean time the prince , knowing that the king was there , advanced leisurely with his horse , and asked to speak to his majesty : but the young king would not vouchsafe to hear him , but kept himself all the while covered under the guard of his suisses . the prince , enraged , that they would not suffer him to lay his just complaints before the king , changed both his countenance and his purpose , says mezeray , and put himself in a posture to vent his fury upon the suisses , who stood here in his way , and whom he knew his enemies had appointed to destroy him and all the protestants : but what could four or five hundred men do against above seven thousand ? all ended in some slight skirmishes of words rather then blows , as appears from monsieur thou's history , who , no doubt , had better ground for what he said , then either mezeray or monsieur maimbourg , who makes here a great deal of noise about a very inconsiderable business . whatever it was , the constable thought fit to have the king conveyed speedily to paris through by-ways with a strong party , which brought him thither the same day without any hazard ; and all the rest of the army got thither the next day . this is the truth of the business of meaux , which monsieur maimbourg calls a terrible conspiracy of the prince of condè against the sacred person of his soveraign lord the king. he has the impudence to call those wicked arms , which were taken up for no other end , but to preserve to france the noble blood of the bourbons , which at this day does it so much honor , and which a conspiracy of cruel and unreasonable adversaries , were at the very point of spilling to the last drop , that they might afterwards usurp to themselves the right of the heirs of the house . is it , that monsieur maimbourg would have had all this noble house extinct , and that the guises , who pretend to come from charlemain , should have possessed the throne at this day ? in good truth , his king is much beholding to him . thus then it is , that he begins to observe what he promises in his advertisement , to serve † his gracious protector with more warmth , zeal and freedom , than ever . you must give me leave , says i , smiling , to give a check here to the carier of your victory : monsieur maimbourg is very unjust to attribute to the genius of the reformed religion of france , the outrages of subjects rebellion against their prince . you have , beyond dispute , shewed the contrary in our former conference , from their confession of faith , the prayers in their liturgy , and from what their most famous doctors have taught publickly : therefore when our jesuit ( for his change of habit does not hinder , but that we have still too much cause to call him by this name ) charges the protestant religion , to which unjustly he imputes heresie , with inspiring rebellions and outrages : he gives us a cast of his office , to put the sham upon us , well knowing what the j●suits religion is really guilty of in this point ; and to augment the displeasure of his king against the poor huguenots , the most faithful of his subjects . but setting aside this jesuitical pliableness and malice , tell me a little , do you think this action of the prince of condè very regular , to shew himself before the king , in arms , as if he would wrest from him by force that justice which was denyed him ? i will allow , that his enemies had sworn his ruine , and that of all the protestants of france , i cannot question it , after all those proofs which you have brought ; i will allow besides , that the six thousand suisses which environed the king , had never been raised nor kept up , but to be the executioners of this unjust and bloody design : should a subject endeavor to cut them off , even before his soveraigns eyes , who secured them by his royal authority ? was not this to invade that soveraign authority , which ought never to be touched by any subject ? in a word , this attempt of the prince , is it not point blanck contrary to the maxims of the protestant religion of france , as you have represented it to me , that we ought never to repel force by force , when it is our soveraign that does the wrong ? i am very glad , says our friend , that you have made this objection : it will give me occasion to say somthing that will help to clear all that they reproach the huguenots with till the reign of lewis the thirteenth . 1. all that pretend to be protestants , are not so . monsieur maimbourg himself is of the same opinion . and it is a shameful injustice to make the religion answerable for the miscarriages of those , that are a disgrace to it , and that make it appear , by leading a life quite contrary to its maxims and instructions , that they are not its followers but its enemies . this is the injustice monseiur maimbourg does to the protestant religion in every page of his libel . for example , he imputes to it the beastly and barbarous behavior of the baron des adrets , though he himself acknowle●ges , he was a man of no religion , far from being what he elsewhere calls a good huguenot , a man truly devoted to the principles of the protestant religion , who breathes nothing but piety towards god , and love and bounty towards his neighbor . he likewise imputes to it the exploit of certain seditious fellows , that coyned silver money with the princes stamp , and this inscription in latin , ludov. xiii rex franc. i cannot tell , whether what he says of this coyn , be true : i have not the book by me which he quotes . de thou and mezeray , who are otherwise so exact and curious , speak not a word of it . and considering the hatred that has always been against the huguenots , they would in all probability , have kept some of this coyn very carefully , to have stopt their mouths , as often as they should reproach the papists with the several attempts they had made against kings . however it be , if the story be true , they that caused such money to be coyned , are wicked wretches , and have most insolently transgressed the 39th and 40th articles of the confession of faith made by the reformed church of france : so that the true french protestants , are so far from owning them for their brethren , that they detest them as utter enemies to their holy religion . in general , all they that have failed in the respect which is due to potentates , having thereby acted contrary to the principles of the reformed religion , cannot be reckoned among the true protestants . it is therefore an idle thing to reproach us with the extravagancies and enterprises of such men . we have nothing to do with them . and if the prince of condè , was no otherwise a protestant , than as monsieur maimbourg would maliciously insinuate , if under a false pretence of religion , to deceive a simple people that put great confidence in him , he concealed a criminal revenge and ambition : the honest huguenots disown him ; and it would be an unconscionable thing to make them guilty of what this prince had committed , when at the same time he must have declared himself an enemy to their religion , by having violated , after such a manner , their confession of faith in so essential a point . but god forbid we should have so ill an opinion of this hero , as monsieur maimbourg would perswade us to ! mez●ray himself assures us , that the prince was sincere , an enemy to cheats and treacheries , and abhorred to do an ill thing . he was then , doubtless , what he desired that men should take him for , a true protestant , which is to say , a good christian. 2. but the best christians have their faults : wherefore there is no man that does not sometimes yield to the temptations offered him . and when w● know the temptations to be strong , as no doubt they are , which aristotle calls iust griefs , we are apt rather to pity than blame men , for the faults they have committed . i am well assured , monsieur maimbourg will not deny , but that the prince's integrity has been put to the severest tryal . for he confesses , that the queen broke her word with him in a matter of the highest consequence : and that the duke d' anjou had passed a cruel affront upon him , which touched him to the quick . besides , the prince knew upon very good grounds , that his enemies were about to seize his person a second time : it is true , they talked only of shutting him up in prison during life : but he could not forget , that they were not men to be satisfied with so little , when once they had got him in their hands . for when he was first in prison , they condemned him to lose his head by the hand of the common executioner : and then , it was manifest , they designed the death of the admiral , his great friend , and of a million of innocent persons more . suppose it therefore to be true , that at the sight of death , and of so many injuries and so great a spilling of blood , the prince's head was a little turned , and that being intent upon saving his own life and honor , and the lives and honor of so many brave men as were engaged with him , &c. he forgot that he could not , without a want of respect to his king , attack his ministers , how wicked or injust soever they might be ; supposing this to be true , ought he to be used after that insolent manner , as monsieur maimbourg treats him ? is he the only hero , the only true christian , that has discovered his infirmity under so heavy a temptation ? and when is it , that a fault is most excusable , if it be not , when a man is hurryed away by such violent storms ? 3. but i cannot endure , that so glorious an attempt should be blemished with the least imputation . the prince by his birth , and the great concern that engaged him in , was under a particular obligation to watch for the preservation of the crown and the blood royal : all the world must grant it . it is most certain , that the princes of the house of lorrain aimed at the crown , under a pretence that it belonged to them as the lawful successors of charlemain , and that they only waited a fit opportunity to possess themselves of it . experience shews plainly that he was not deceived , when henry the third , to escape the ambitious attempts of the duke of guise , nephew to the cardinal of lorrain , was forced to run from his palace and his capital city , where the duke had made every body against him , and where they shewed the suissers with which they intended to make him a monks crown , when they had taken away that of a king. the prince knows moreover , that the cardinal of lorrain , to compass his wicked design , was resolved to rid himself of all the princes of the blood , whatever it cost him . they had thoughts of stealing away the queen of navar , and her son , the first prince of the blood , to destroy them in a most cruel and shameful manner , by putting them into the spanish inquisition . they had raised six thousand suisses to seize his person , put the admiral to death , and to root out all the protestants , that is , the main supporters of the rights of capet's true line , against the false pretences of the mock-posterity of charlemain . the prince , who sees and knows all this , is he not obliged to set himself with all his might against this bloody conspiracy of strangers , who are about to shed the noblest blood of france , to supplant the heirs of the family , and usurp their place ? there is no question of it . but things were come to such a pass , that the prince could no longer set himself effectually against the wicked purposes of the house of guise , by the common methods of remonstrances and petitions to his majesty , and by the course of justice either in council or parliament : for the cardinal of lorrain and his party , swayed all in the parliament and council : they had all the power at court : there was no coming to the king , but by them : they were so got into this young prince , who was , at the most , but sixteen years of age , that he would hear nothing but what these people told him , and blindly took their advice in every thing . it was then absolutely necessary , either that the prince , against his duty of prince of the blood and a faithful subject , should suffer all the royal blood to be spilt , with that of all true french men , and that the crown should be usurped by strangers : or else that he should do something extraordinary , and put himself in a posture to overcome all the difficulties , which hindred him from undeceiving the king , making him to understand who were his real enemies , and bringing them to condign punishment : which could never be done , without the assistance at least of several of his friends , and cutting off the six thousand swisses , who were to seize his person and ruine all the honest party ; unless , in short , he would become a prey to the cardinal , when he should present himself before the king to request justice . i must confess , the protestant , that is , the christian religion , never allows a subject to take up arms against his soveraign , upon any pretence whatever . but a prince of the blood does not take up arms against his soveraign , when he takes them up to no other end , but to hinder strangers from laying hands upon the crown , and changing the succession . it is true indeed , that these strangers , taking the advantage of charles the ninth his tender years , were predominant in his court , and that it is an odd sort of a way for a subject to come armed before his king , and to seize upon his chief ministers before his face , and as it were tea● them out of his arms . but prudence directs us , of two evils always to avoid the greatest . and i do not think any one will dispute it in earnest but that to suffer a kingdom to be taken from its lawful heirs , and all the royal family to be oppressed by tyrants , who have ingrossed their king for no other end , but to destroy him , is an evil infinitely greater , than to come short , for some little time , of the laws of good manners , till the king and kingdom were safe . there are none , but such as would be glad to have the way left open , either to invade the throne or royal authority , whereby to work the overthrow of the state ; i say , there are none , but the ambitious and common pests , that have the impudence to perswade the king , that to fail in these rules of good manners , when it is upon the utmost necessity , and in prospect to save the crown , is to give a mischievous example , and encourage rebellion . extraordinary actions upon absolute necessity , as this attempt of the prince , never ought to be drawn into example for ordinary proceedings , which should always be directed by the laws and customs of the country . had the business succeeded , it had been easie for the prince and his friends to have excused to the king this indecent violence , and justified by the event of the sincerity of their intentions , in the same manner as by the event it proved , that when charles the seventh , whil'st he was dauphin took up arms , it was neither against the king his father , nor against the kingdom : which was the example that was brought to resolve the scruples of some of the prince's friends , who were afraid of the odious reflections which might be made upon the attempt at meaux , how necessary or innocent soever it might be in it self . and monsieur de thou , who gives us an account of this particular , tells us likewise , that the design the prince and his friends had in arming themselves , was to drive from the helm the enemies of the publick peace , to undeceive the young king , and to settle all things quiet in his kingdom . but i ought to read you the whole passage , since it is in my hand . objiciebatur , cardinalem semper regi ejusdem , &c. it was objected , that the cardinal always beset the king , and that the swisses were continually about him , whom if they should attack in these circumstances , they would not seem to assault the cardinal and the swisses , but the king himself . this must , no doubt , draw the utmost envy of all men upon them ; but the king , whose favour they should seek , would never forgive them . to this d' andelot , who was almost always for the warmest counsel , answered , that the intention of the protestants would be judged by the event : as formerly charles the seventh , when he was yet but dauphin , made it appear to all the world by the conclusion of the war , that he fought neither against his father nor his king. nor indeed could any one imagine , that a body made up of french , should conspire their kings ruine . for though we have an account of the conspiracies of some single persons , an universal revolt was never yet heard of : but if fortune should favour their first attempts , there would be an end of a fatal war , which being crush'd at the beginning , the enemies of our common repose might be removed from the government and the king , of whom , being better informed of things , a confirmation of the edicts might be obtained , and a firm peace setled in the kingdom . here is enough to convince all the world of the insolence and malice of monsieur maimbourg , in treating the renowned grandfather of the present prince of condè so rudely , in an attempt , which as it had nothing in it contrary either to the principles of christian religion or good politicks , was , doubtless , every way glorious , and deserves the highest commendations . the prince appeared in this a true hero : he comes to the succor of his king and country , and all the honest part of the kingdom , and with five or six hundred men he attempts to cut off the six thousand swisses , who were to be the tools and bulwork of a forain tyranny : he had not failed of success , had not the contrivances of the queen , who then favored the enemies of the state , disappointed him of the conquest . but god was not yet pleased to give repose to france . the king retreats from meaux to paris , against the advice of the wisest of his councel . and the prince , to hinder the utter ruine of a party , that was the only check to the wicked designs of the house of lorrain , found himself obliged to raise a small army to give battle at st. dennis , to besiege and to take several towns : but the deep respect he had for his king , made him and all his party lay down their arms , at a time when he was just ready to take the town of chartres , and to have reduced all the enemies of the state. so soon as ever they proposed any safety for his person , and for the security of his faithful protestants , who were the only true supports of the crown against the ambition of the guises ; he immediately quitted all his advantages , and accepted of the peace which was offered him . this was the substance of the articles , says mezeray , that they should fully and peaceably enjoy the edict of ianuary , without any qualification or restriction whatever . that they should be put and maintained under the kings protection , as to their estates , honor and priviledges . that the king would esteem the prince for his good kinsman , and his loyal subject and servant , and all those that followed him for good and loyal subjects . you see now what this business of meaux was , with the consequences of it , that monsieur maimbourg has made such ado about so as to make it pass with the affair of amboise , for horrible conspiracies which the huguenots have contrived against the kings of france . to hinder the princes of the house of guise from usurping the crown of the french kings , and taking it from lewis the fourteenth , in the person of his predecessors , and destroying the whole race of the bourbons , must pass according to this man , for contriving horrible conspiracies against the kings of france . thus it is that he courts his hero , and complements the present prince of condè . but what does he mean , said i to our friend , when he says moreover , not to speak of their cruel rebellions , that have cost france so much blood , and the mischievous intelligences they have held with the enemy to rid themselves of the monarchy , and with open face set up a commonwealth , as they have done more than once ? our friend answered me , that since he distinguishes this from the pretended conspiracies of amboise and meaux , he must by the rebellions and plots he imputes to these protestants , needs mean the other troubles that happened after these two first , to the reign of henry the great , and those that were revived in the beginning of the reign of lewis the 13th . indeed he accuses them upon this account , that contrary to the treaty they had made , the protestants refused to surrender to the king sancerre , montauban , milhaud , cahors , albi and castres , but especially rochel , the rebellion of which town , says he , openly maintained by the heads of the huguenot party , who were resolved to make it their chief place of strength was the true ground of the breach , because it would not admit the garrison , which the king would have put in there , but received several of the chief leaders of the huguenots , went on with the fortifications , and gave the court reason to believe , that the prince and the admiral were preparing for a war. upon which it was resolved , to surprise them , and carry them away . the marshal de tavannes , a great friend to the house of guise , and confident of queen catharine , undertook to do the thing , whil'st the prince was at his house called noyers , in bourgoyne . but the matter being discovered just as it was to be executed , the prince made his escape to rochel with his fami●y and the admiral : his friends , upon this news , came in to his aid from all parts ; whil'st the king repealed all the edicts made in favor of the protestants , and drew all his forces together . this is , in short , the account monsieur maimbourg gives , who , according to his custom , fails not to charge the huguenots with all the villanies that were committed in this third war , by profligate fellows on both sides . but the towns he complains of , knew very well at that time , what mezeray has since published to all europe , that the councel , which is to say , the cardinal of lorrain , and his creatures , had no other end in making this peace , but to remove the imminent danger the parisians would have been in upon the taking of chartres , and to disperse the great force the huguenots had got together , that they might oppress them , when scattered . the same historian tells us , that some of the court sent them word , that if they took not good caution they would be cheated ; and the admiral made it appear to them what the inconvencies would be . being a person of an excellent judgment , he plainly discovered that treaty to be nothing else , but a trick to amuse , and so surprise them . this ought , at least , to have perswaded these poor people to have gone warily to work in surrendring their garrisons , till they had seen how the guise party , that governed all , would observe the articles of this peace , which , as mezeray expresses it , exposed them to the mercy of their enemies , without other security than the word of an italian woman . it was not long , before the huguenots found by experience , that the intelligence they had received from court was but too true , and that the admirals opinion was ●ut too well grounded . immediately the parliament of toulouse beheaded rapin , a worthy gentleman , whom the king had sent thither to solicit the ratification of the edict of peace . monsieur de thou gives an account of it . whatever complaint the prince could make of so outragious a breach of the peace , the court , where the guises were predominant , made him not the least satisfaction . i leave you to judge then , whether the protestants had reason to believe they had dealt fairly with them , when they saw they had murdered a man , without being questioned for it , who was sent by his soveraign to solicit the verification of the edict of peace . they found themselves constrained therefore , for the safety of their own lives , and the lives of the princes of the blood , to shut up the gates of their strong places against those emissaries that came from their deadly enemies , who at the bottom had no other design in destroying the huguenots party , than thereby to make the way more easie for the destruction of the princes of capet's line , and open themselves a passage to the throne , or tyranny rather . doubtless , they ought to have stood more carefully upon their guard , forasmuch as they could not but know what mezeray , after monsieur de thou , assures us was acted so publickly ; to wit , that the popish preachers stirred up the people incessantly by their vehement declamations , saying , that if there was a necessity to make the peace , it was a sin to keep it ; that there could be no alliance betwixt christ and belial that there is no obligation to hold faith with hereticks , but that all christians ought to fall upon them as monsters and common pests ; that it was an acceptable sacrifice to god , to wash their hands in the blood of these unclean beasts . and for this , they quoted in their own sense , a decree of the councel of constance , imp●●●ing , that no faith was to be kept with them ; adding examples out of holy scripture , of those that were slain by the levites upon moses his order , of those that had worshipped the golden calf ▪ and of iehu , that slew all the priests of b●al , when he had got them together upon promise of safe conduct . monsieur de thou observes , that those preachers were j●suits . so that all the protestant princes and their loyal subjects , may well think , from the account these two popist historians give , what hazzard they run , when either they receive or su●●●r in their dominions ▪ these bloody spirits , enemies to publick faith ▪ and by consequence to mankind . but i must needs give you all that mezeray says upon this subject , in his chronological abridgement , which will wholly suppress the impudence of the jesuit maimbourg , in charging the protestants with the breach of this peace : these are his words ▪ they ●ailed not to cheat the hu●uenots both of their peace and liberty of conscience . they were then in greater danger than during the war. in th●●e 〈◊〉 time , there were more than two thousand killed in several parts , either † by their particular enemies , as renè lord of sipiere , son to claud of savoy count of tende , and thirty persons of his train , which gaspar de villeneuve marquess d'ars , murdered in fraius , or else by popular insurrections , as at amiens near a hundred , at auxerre a hundred and fifty , several at blois , bourges , issoudun , troyes , and twenty other places . the prince was at noyers in burgundy . there they caught a soldier measuring the graft and the wall in order to scale the place . when the project failed , the queen sent some troops into burgundy , to take him by force , whom they could not catch by craft . he sent teligny , and afterwards iaquelin de rohan his wives mother , to court , to beseech the queen mother to observe the peace & the edicts but it was not a thing longer to be hoped for , when he found , that whoever was of that opinion , he was called libertine and politician , and that the chancellor of the hospital , who advised to peace , was dismissed from court , and sent to his house of vignan , as suspected for a huguenot . the prince's mother-in-law was scarce gone from court , when he understood that the troops had private orders to block up noyers , and that if he continued there three or four days longer , he would not be able to get away . coligny perceiving plainly the trains that were laid for them , was come to tanlay castle , whence going to the prince , they both wen ftrom noyers with a party only of a hundred and fifty horse , under whose guard were , a sad sight , their wives and children , most of them in their nurses arms , or not out of their hanging-sleeves . the p●ince having escaped all danger by his expedition , got to rochel the 18th of september : soon after the queen of navar came thither likewise , with the prince her son ; and afte●●er , all the huguenot officers ▪ with the greatest part of their forces . now let all the world judge , whether it was the protestants of france that were authors of this third war , or not rather the guises , who thirsted after the blood of this innocent people , to clear the way to that of the royal family . i will prove hereafter , that rochel in particular was not so much in the wrong , for pleading her priviledges , to avoid the admitting those men , who came for no other end but to destroy her . monsieur maimbourg is scandalized at it , under pretence that the cardinal of lorrain , who did all at court , had invested them with regal authority , who came to take away their religion , liberty and lives . but a scandal very absurdly taken . there is no man but sees it plainly : and what i shall tell you hereafter , will make it more plain . i will not enter into the particulars of this unhappy war , where the prince of condè was killed in cold blood , after the battle of iarnac , and which concluded wit● a peace yet more unfortunate . they allowed , in this peace , several very great advantages to the protestants : but it was only to have an opportunity to cut their throats in the most treacherous and inhumane manner that was ever heard of . to say the truth , says monsieur maimbourg , as the queen made this treaty , it is very likely , that such a peace as this was never really meant on her side , who concealed her intentions , and did not grant so many things to the huguenots , otherwise than to make them lay down their arms , that she might fall upon such as she had a mind to be revenged of , the admiral especially , upon the first favorable occasion that should offer it self : which she thought she had met with at last , when she had prevailed with the king to take that horrid resolution , which was executed upon that bloody and accursed day of st. bartholomew . under pretence of marrying the prince of navar to the lady margaret , sister to charles the ninth , all the protestants , that were of any quality , were drawn to paris . the queen of navar was taken away in five days by a hot fever , occasioned , as many believed , by the art of the perfumer messer rené , a florentine , suspected for a skillful man at poysoning , as monsieur maimbourg himself acknowledges . at last to make the feast more solemn , they had the admiral murdered by an old retainer to the house of guise , called louviers monrevel , who shot him with a carabine : and they concluded it with this cruel butchery , which monsieur de perefixe , archbishop of paris , sums up in these words , in his history of henry the great . all the huguenots that came to the feast , had their throats cut ; amongst others , the admiral , twenty other lords of note , twelve hundred gentlemen , three or four thousand soldiers and citizens , and then through all the towns of the kingdom , after the pattern at paris , near a hundred thousand men a detestable action , such as never was before , nor never will be , by the help of god , the like . but all the popish world was of the archbishop of paris his mind , witness what mezeray says , the holy father , and all his court , expressed a mighty joy at it , and went in a solemn procession to the church of st. lewis , to give god thanks for so happy a riddance : where the cardinal of lorrain , who found not himself in such a transport of joy , had placed over the door a latin inscription after the ancient manner , giving the reason of this ceremony . they were not less rejoyced in spain , than at rome , where they preached up this action before king philip , under the title of the triumph of the church militant . it is true , that monsieur maimbourg , papist as he is , could not bring himself to second this joy of his high priest , and one of his hero's the cardinal of lorrain . but on the contrary , he has highly condemned so shameful a fact ; neither could he forbear to declame , in more than one place , against those barbarous people that did it . my reader , says he , ought not to expect from me an account of all that was done upon this unhappy day , which i wish , with all my heart , had been buryed in the sh●des of eternal oblivion . so soon as it rung the warning † bell at the palace , there were more than fifty thousand men armed running up and down the streets , like so many furies let loose , breaking open doors , crowding into the houses that were marked out , or that they themselves had observed , making the air sound with the hideous cries that were heard from the groans of men and women that were assassinated , and the oaths and blasphemies of those that murdered them , dispatch , kill , stab , knock them down , fling them out of the windows , made paris all that day , which was upon a sunday , and a feast , a bloody theater of cruelty , or rather an abominable butchery , by the slaughter of above six thousand persons , whose blood ran down the kennels , and their bodies , all gored with wounds , dragged into the river . this was what we might reasonably expect from the brutish and blind rage of a rabble , when they are let loose to do what they please with impunity . but that which we find in this altogether mis-becoming the french generosity , which ought to be the proper character of the nobility of the kingdom , especially those of the highest rank , was , that the marshal de tavannes , the chief contriver of this massacre , and the duke de montpensier , too warm a catholick , went up and down the streets encouraging the people , who were already but too much transported of themselves , and setting them on upon every body sparing none . the king himself , who saw out of his chamber-window the mangled bodies floating upon the water , was so far from being troubled at the sight , that he shot with a long gun , though to no p●rpose , cross the river , at those , who they had told him , were got into the faubourg st. germain to save themselves from the massacre , and cryed out as loud as he could stretch his voice , that they should pursue and kill them . however , he was afterwards extreamly trouble at it ; and to excuse himself from the imputation of so cruel an act , he caused letters to be writ the same day , to all the governors of the provinces , that all which was done at paris upon st. bartholomew's day , was the effect of an old quarrel that was b●tween the duke of guise and the admiral , which drew on such deadly consequences , it being impossible to hinder them during that rage the parisians were then stirred up to , by running into arms for the guises against the huguenots . however , this excuse passed but for a little while . they made the king sensible , that besides it would not be credited , it would expose his majesty to the contempt of his subjects , when they should see by this , that he had not authority enough over the guises to be obeyed by them , nor power and resolution to punish so great a fault . wherefore wholly changing his mind , he appointed the tuesday following to appear himself in parliament , where he declared , the same which he likewise caused to be writ to all the governors , that this massacre was committed by his order , though to his great grief , for prevention of a hellish conspiracy , which the admiral with the huguenots had entred into against his person , and against all the princes of the blood , thereby to possess himself of the soveraign power and of the regality , when they should at one blow have destroyed all the royal line . the premier president , christopher du thou , though in his heart he abhorred so foul an action , as that of st. bartholomew's day , and openly disclaimed against it all his life , does yet undertake , out of a flattery little becoming so great a magistrate , to commend it , as the effect of a singular prudence , and in his speech to extol the king , who to preserve the government , by suppressing those that would have overthrown it , understood so well how to practice that excellent rule of lewis the eleventh , who was used to say , he that knows not how to dissemble , knows nothing of the art of governing . and the better to prove this plot , which gained but little faith then , and that no body believes now , they proceeded against old briquemaud , marshal du camp to the princes army , against caragnes chancellor to the party , and against the dead admiral . they were all three hanged , the last in effigy , by something made up like him , with a tooth-pick in his mouth , as he was almost always used to have , and the two others in person , before the king and the queen , who would needs see the execution out of the town-house window . they thought by this likewise , to perswade the † princes , whom they had a mind to draw over from that party , by making them believe , that they had engaged with those , who were their greatest enemies , and the most profligate of all men . what do you think , says our friend , after he had read all this long story out of monsieur maimbourg ; what do you think of the enemies of the french protestants , and their dealings ? i assured him , i was extreamly surprised : and that out of respect to the quality of those that acted , i durst not tell him all i thought . but i heartily thank monsieur maimbourg , for letting the world know , that this pretended hellish conspiracy , charged upon the huguenots , to take away their good name , after they had taken away their lives , was but a shameful story , raised by a devilish malice to excuse a hellish action : and for so freely censuring the meaness of the premier president , christopher du thou , who was so base to commend that in publick , which he abhorred in private , and to countenance such a story , against the dictates of his own conscience . all the world may by this easily discern the spirit of popery : it is a spirit of murder and lying . it causes the shedding rivers of blood , and it invents lies to colour its murders , and to commit fresh ones , by which briguemaud and cavagnes were hanged . this is to say much in a few words , says our friend . and if monsieur maimbourg had been constantly so ingenuous , as he is upon this occasion , his book would be no libel , but a true and righteous defence of the protestants innocence . all those dreadful things which he there alledges against them , are the stamp of the same spirit , which vouches a conspiracy , to justifie the massacre . neither was it harder for him to be assured of that , than to satisfie himself , that this last report was a meer story . this story was , as he says himself , the first means his church thought fit to use for the conversion of the young king of navarre , who was afterwards henry the great , and the young prince of condè to the roman religion . they likewise believed , says he , that this , meaning the false rumour of a hellish conspiracy against all the royal line , would help towards the conversion of the princes , by making them believe , they were engaged with those that were their greatest enemies and the worst of men. an excellent way of converting truly ! and becoming the christian religion . i will now read to you , what account monsieur maimbourg gives of charles the ninth's proceedings in the accomplishment of this excellent work , after as christian a manner , as it had been begun . whilst they were massacring the huguenots in the louvre , and all over paris , the king sent for those princes into his closet , where , after he had in short given them the reason of this bloody proceeding , of which they themselves had seen some part , and which was yet in execution , he tells them with a stern countenance , imperious and threatning according to his custom , that being resolved no longer to suffer in his kingdom so wicked a religion , which teaches its followers to revolt , and even to conspire against the person of their sovereign , he expected they should presently renounce this cursed sect , and that they should embrace the faith which was always professed by the most christian kings , from whom they had the honor to be descended : and that if they refused to comply with him in this , he would use them just as they had seen them used , whose rebellion and impiety they had hitherto been directed by . to this the king of navarre answered , with all respect , that he was no ways obstinate , but was ready to submit to instruction , and sincerely to embrace the catholick religion when he should be convinced of the truth of it , which as yet he was ignorant of . the prince of condè answered , that his majesty , whose subject he was , might dispose of his life and fortune as he pleased ; but not of his religion , for which he was accountable to god alone , of whom he held it . this answer given to a fierce and hasty master , put him into so great a rage , that falling into hard words , calling him ever and anon , seditious mad-man , rebel , and son of a rebel : he swore by god , that if he did not comply , in that little time which he should give him , he would have his life . nay more , not being able to endure to see , that in spight of all their endeavors to convert him , this prince should still continue unmoveable : he drew his sword , and vowed he would destroy all the rest of the huguenots , that persisted in their heresie , beginning presently with the prince of condè . and it was with much ado , that the young queen prevailed with him to lay by his sword , casting herself at his feet to entreat him , with hands lifted up , and tears in her eyes , but to forbear a little while . he yielded , but at the same time , making the prince be brought before him , he cast two or three thundring looks at him , without saying any more than these three words to him in a threatning and frightful tone , mass , death , or the bastile : and so turning away , he dismissed him . this wrought so strongly upon the mind of the poor prince , and so terrified him , that he solemnly abjured calvinism in the presence of his uncle the cardinal of bourbon , as had done before him , the king of navarre , the lady catharine his sister , and the princess of condè . you see what were the motives , that converted the princes . and this detestable massacre was the introduction of the fourth war upon the protestants , as mezeray says . as to the fact , our jesuite , jesuite as he is , notwithstanding condemns it . neither has he the heart to charge the huguenots with these new troubles . the king raised several armies to extirpate those that had escaped the massacre . they layed the two so much talked of sieges of rochel and sanvane ; which were raised at the arrival of the polish embassadors , come to seek for the duke of anjou , elected king of that kingdom , whither he went. charles the ninth falls very ill . the prince of condé flies into germany , and returns again to the protestant communion . the king dies after a thousand remorses of conscience upon the account of st. bartholomew's massacre . for we are told , that oftentimes he fancied that he saw a sea of blood flowing before his eyes , and that they should hear him from time to time cry out , ah! my poor subjects , what have ye done to me ? they forced me to it . then though too late , he acknowledg'd , that it was not the protestants , as the jesuite maimbourg so maliciously reports , but the montmorency's and the guises , who had been the real authors of all the troubles . he had owned , says mezeray , that the houses of montmorency and guise were the true causes of the civil wars . the king of poland , who was afterwards called henry the third , returns into france , and succeeds charles the ninth . the protestants apply to him for peace , and at the same time , that atheism and blasphemy may be exemplarily punished , and that the ordinances against enormous and lewd whoring , which drew down the wrath of god upon france , might be execu●●● ●ut , says mezeray , this untoward reproof , made the huguenots mere ha●ed at court than did all their insurrections and heresies . they had no fruit 〈◊〉 their demands : they would not be hearkned to . the war was kept up every where . the duke of alanzon , presumptive heir to the crown , retired from court , and headed the protestants . " the king of navarre likewise withdrew four months after . their conjunction with the prince of condè , who had raised a considerable army , obliges the court at last to agree to peace , which they had so long desired . the edict was prepared and verified the 15th of may , 1576. it allowed the protestants the free exercise of their religion , which from that time forwards , was to be called * the pretendded reformed religion . it allowed them church-yards , and made them capable of all offices both in the colledges , hospitals , &c. forbid farther enquiry after priests and fryars , that were married ; declared their children legitimate , and capable of succ●ssion , &c. expressed a deep resentment of the slaughters upon st. bartholomew's day : exempted the children of those , that had been killed , from the * duty of the militia , if they were gentlemen , and from taxes , if yeomen : repealed all the acts which had condemned the admiral , briquemaud , cavagnes , montgommery , montbrun , and others of the religion : owned the prince and d' amville for his good subjects , casimir for his allie and neighbor , and owned all they had done , as done for his service : gave to those of the religion , for their better security of justice , the * chambres my parties , in each parliament or court of justice , &c. but all this was only for a new decoy to catch the huguenots . mezeray observes , that so soon as they had got the duke of alanzon from them , they began afresh to contrive their ruine . and then it was , that terrible league broke out , which under pretence of extirpating the protestants , set the whole kingdom in a flame . all the historians agree , that it was the pernicious cause of all the wars , that were made against the huguenots , during the reign of henry the third , and that had like to have laid france waste . wherefore , to justifie the innocence of the protestants , during all these troubles , we need only observe the measures and designs of the league , which was the cause of them . i will keep to what monsieur maimbourg says . he is thus far ingenuous , this league , says he , had like to have overthrown both church and state. the most of those that went into it , or rather run headlong and blindfold with so much heat and passion , and especially the common people , the clergy and the fryars , were but stales to those that composed the cabal , where ambition , malice , and self-interest had more share , than religion , which in all probability was brought in for no other end , but to ch●at the world. these were the king of spain , queen catharine , and the duke of guise : who cast up their accounts together , though upon very different reasons , yet such as agreed all against the state : the duke , to make himself head of a party , which after the expiration of the * valois , might advance him to yet a higher pitch ; the queen , that she might have a pretence to bring in her grandchild henry , son to charles duke of lorrain , instead of the lawful successor to the crown ; the king of navarre , her son-in-law , whom she cared not for ; and the spaniard , to take advantage of the division the league would cause among the french , to make them ruine one another , and afterwards become their master . this league divided the catholicks , who took arms one against anther , the one to s●cure religion , as they said , the other to defend the royal authority , and the fundamental law of the land , which they designed to overthrow . it obliged the king , for prevention of the dangerous conspiraci●s of the leaguers , to come to a difficult extreme , and to join his forces with those of the huguenot party , to reduce the catholick rebels to their duty . it stirred up terrible commotions all over the kingdom . this cursed league was made in opposition to the royal authority , under the fair pretence of religion . it had a fowl beginning , though contrary to the common apprehension of those , who know not how to fift into the bottom of it . it s procedure was abominable , being neither more nor less , but almost a continued attempt against the government of a king , who was at least as good a catholick as they that headed the league . in conclusion , that the rise and design of the league extended to the subversion of the royal family . i shall not need to give an exact account here of all the steps the contrivers of this violent conspiracy took , since the holding of the estates at blois in the year 1576. where , as the bishop of rhodes says , the king , henry the third , was forced to declare himself head of the league , whereby from a soveraign he became head of a faction , and enemy to a part of his subjects , down to the year 1589. when they caused this unfortunate prince to be stabbed by iaques clement the fryar . it is enough to understand , that by the confession of monsieur maimbourg hims●lf , the duke of guise and his complices , did not put henry the third upon persecuting the protestants with that heat and violence , for any other end , but by the ruin● of the protestants to compass the subversion of the royal family . this was the bottom of all their designs ▪ all their aim was to take the crown from its lawful heirs . the first thing the guises and the queen mother proposed to themselves , when the duke of alenzon was dead , says the bishop of rhodes , was each to make sure of the crown , as if the succession had been at an end . this prelate says further , that the duke of guise his design was to secure the crown to himself . so soon as ever the league was co●● to a heighth and strengthened , they that had contrived it , made it 〈◊〉 that it was not only to s●cure religion for the future , but from 〈◊〉 moment to get themselves up to the throne ; and that thei● 〈◊〉 was not only upon the king of navarre , who was to succ●●d , 〈◊〉 upon henry the third , who then reigned . they had hired certain new divin●s , who undertook to maintain , " that a prince who does not his duty , ought to be deposed ; that nothing but a power well disposed , is of god ; else , when it is out of order , it is not authority , but invasion ; and that it is as ridiculous , to say such a one is king , who knows not how to govern , and is void of understanding , as to believe that a blind man may be a guide , or that a sensless statue may give motion to living men in short , the same bishop asse●ts in express terms , that the duke of guise , ' perpetually urged henry the third , to give him forces to accomplish the extirpation of the huguenots , in whose ruine he certainly expected to involve the king of navarre . it appears from all this , that the protestants could not omit defending themselves with all their might , in the wars which the league stirred up against them , without betraying their king , their country , the lawful heir of the crown , who headed them , and the whole line of the bourbons . i do not think there needs any more to take off all aspersions . neither can i imagine what the jes●ite maimbourg means , who understood all this so exactly well , to say of these worthy defenders of the crown , they became more obstinate and more insolent under henry the third . what! would he have had , all the protestants suffered their throats to be cut , he that maintains the design of those , who would have cut the protestants throats , to have been the subversion of the fundamental law of the land , the extinguishing of the royal family , and to have taken away the crown from his kings renowned grandfather ? in good earnest his king is much beholding to him , to call that obstinacy and insolence , which was the heroick attempts of those , who so often hazarded th●ir lives , to preserve that throne for for him which he enjoys with so great glory . you see easily then , says our friend ; that justly they can no more charge the french protestants with rebellion , than they can do with any plot against their king , down to the reign of henry the fourth , whom they delivered from the fury of the league , and seated in the throne in despite of all the obstructions of this powerful faction . therefore monsieur maimbourg is but an infamous detractor , when he charges them with rebellions , which cost france so much blood , and plots , which he accuses them to have layed with the enemies , to withdraw themselves from under the monarchy , by openly setting up for a commonwealth . the later part of this accusation is so absurd , that it deserves not to be considered . whom would this man perswade , that they who made no other war , but under the conduct of princes of the blood , who were so nearly concerned for the support of the monarchy , should ●v●r end●avor to set up a commonwealth ? besides , is there any likelihood , that so many protestants of the nobility , who hold all their honor of the monarchy , and had no other lustre , but as they were rays of the royal sun , should have renounced their glory and dependence upon the court , to lie obnoxious to the caprice of a seditious multitude under the obscurity of a commonwealth ? they took up arms about the beginning of henry the fourths reign , or indeed rather , they continued in arms : but it was only to compleat his conquests , and to settle him in the throne , by dispersing the remainder of the league , which held out as long as it could , from owning him king , even when he was turned roman catholick , and reconciled to the pope . so soon as all the troubles were appeased , and every one reduced to his duty , he setled the famous edict of nantes , under the title of perpetual and irrevocable , as i shewed you at our first meeting : which gave the protestants a full peace , during the remaining part of this prince's life . his life had been as long as glorious , in all appearance , but for the wicked knife of the vile ravillac , who had the confidence to spill this illustrious blood , in time of peace , which was so much reguarded in the heat of war. the disorders broke out again , after france had lost its wise pilot , and invincible protector . but because this conference has held us so long ; let us , if you please , defer what we have more to say in justification of the french protestants , till another time . only give me leave , before we part , to read to you a passage out of mezeray . he confutes in very few words , all monsieur maimbourg's calumnies , by which he would maliciously charge the protestant religion , with all the mischiefs in france , and all the rest of europe , during the reigns of francis the second , and charles the ninth , whereas this excellent historian , who has more sincerity than the jesuite , though of the same religion , lays them all to the abominable wickedness , the papists of these two courts were alone guilty of . these are his words charlee the ninth lived 25 years wanting 31 days . but he began not to reign , till after the siege of rochelle . his mother always kept the government in her own hand , with three or four of her confidents , who turned all upside down , to keep the authority to themselves . thence sprung the continual civil wars , pursued with so many fatal battles , pillages , and all sorts of waste . thence came the abuse of military discipline , the corruption of manners , the overthrowing of laws : in short , this barbarous day of st. bartholomew , and a thousand other mischiefs that perplexed his reign , had all their rise from hence . three great evils prevailed likewise in those days , which did most provoke the divine majesty , to wit , blasphemy , sorcery , and all sorts of villanies ; which having begun ever since the reign of henry the second , drew the vengeance of heaven upon this unhappy kingdom , and were the cause that god visited it with so many judgments one after another . after we had read this passage , we appointed a day to meet again , and so parted . i take my leave therefore , for this time , and remain , &c. the end of the fourth letter . the fifth letter . french protestants innocency , under lewis the thirteenth . sir , i was no sooner come to our friends chamber , and that we were sate down , but we fell to our business . i am very well satisfied , says i to him , in all that you have told me hitherto in behalf of the french protestants ; and i am convinced , that till the reign of their king lewis xiii . they cannot justly charge them with any plot or rebellion against their kings . if at any time they have taken up arms , it was always to secure the crown to their lawful prin●es , against the ambitious designs of the house of guise , and under the authority of the first princes of the blood , who had a natural right to oppose the usurpation these strangers would have made ; who , making an ill use of the simplicity , minority , and weakness of the kings francis the second , charles the ninth , and henry the third , had taken the scepter out of their hands , or at least would have deprived their rightful successors of it , had not the protestants given succour with their utmost force , the great prince of condè first , and afterwards the king of navarre . therefore to say the truth , they armed only in their kings quarrel , and especially to secure to france the illustrious house of bourbon , which sits on that throne at present . after all , it is clear , that hitherto they cannot question their loyalty , or their innocence , but through the heart of henry the great , by blasting his memory , and disgracing his crown and all his posterity . but i must confess to you , that i am to seek , how well to defend them against the reproaches for their several insurrections under the reign of lewis the thirteenth . for in the year 1615 they joined with the prince of conde against their king , which had like to have set the whole nation in a flame . in the year 1620 they sided with the queen-mother , who raised forces against the king her son. in the years 1621 and 1622 they gave the occasion , by the meeting they held at rochel , contrary to the king 's express command , of a most bloody war , in which many of their garisons were besieged , taken , and sacked . in the year 1525 they carried away their king's ships from blavet , they seized upon the island of oleron , they had divers battels . lastly , in the years 1627 and 1628 they gave fresh disturbances under the command of the duke of rohan , and rochel revolted from its allegiance to that degree of obstinacy , that nothing but the utmost extremity of famine could make them open their gates . these several insurrections , which are continually objected against them , gives occasion to their enemies to cry them down at court amongst the nobility , and indeed all over the nation , as a restless sort of people , active , and dangerous , whose religion inspires them with a spirit of sedition and back-sliding , pernicious to monarchs and monarchies . therefore pray instruct me what i may answer in their justification and defence . i know not , says our friend , whether you are in jest or earnest , but for my part i find nothing more easie than to satisfie any reasonable perso● in this point . 1. ●tis is a hundred and sixty years since there have been protestants in france . for by the confession of monsieur maimbourg himself , the reformation begun to be settled ever since the year 1522. and all the world agrees , that from this year to the death of henry the second , who was killed with a lance by montgomery , in the year 1559 , which was about 37 years after , the protestants continued all along exactly loyal an● in the deepest veneration for their kings . monsieur maimbourg indeed disputes the thirty years under the reigns of francis the second , charles the ninth , and henry the third , but i have confuted all his calumnies in this particular , and you have allowed the strength of my arguments for clearing the protestants during these three reigns ; so that here are 67 years of allegiance and loyalty . neither have they any thing to say against them upon this account for the one and twenty years that henry the fourth reigned , or for the four first years of lewis the thirteenth , no more than for the 54 years that passed between the year 1629 , at what time all the wars about religion ceased , and this present time 1682 , when they are persecuted with the utmost rigour . so that for a hundred and sixty years that the protestants have been in france , there are but fourteen in which they have any thing to object against them , that is , from their uniting with the prince of condè in the year 1615 to the general peace concluded in the month of iuly 1629. and of these fourteen years , we must deduct seven , which are the years 1616 , 1617 , 1618 , 1619 , 1623 , 1624 , and 1626. in which there were no civil wars . thus when all is cast up , and due deduction made , allow the worst that can be , there are but seven years which they can reproach them with . and suppose it true , that the protestants , during these seven years , should have forgot themselves so far as to have come short of their duty towards their sovereign ; is it just to infer from thence , that the principles they go by proceed from a spirit of sedition and rebellion ? is there any proportion between seven years misbehaviour and uneasiness , and above a hundred and fi●ty years duty and loyalty , such duty and loyalty , as have undergone the greatest proofs ? and since they have testified twenty times more zeal and constancy for the service of their kings , than they have shewed disobedience and opposition to their orders ; does not reason and justice plainly oblige us to conclude from thence , that they are animated by a spirit of loyalty and obedience ? it must be confessed , that their loyalty , which stood firm for more than fourscore years , was shaken to some degree for the space of seven years . but he that swounds away is not dead : the sun goes not out when it is ●clipsed ; and the loyalty of the protestants is so well recovered from its fainting fit , that it is more than half an age that we find it resisting all manner of provocations and ill usage , without yielding in the least . this long and constant perseverance of the protestants in their duty , is that we ought to have regard to , if we would be just in taking the true character of their spirit , and not the infirmity of a hasty and short-lived transport . this ought to be enough to satisfie all reasonable men : and yet it is not all that can be said in behalf of these poor persecuted people . 2. it is a great matter , sir , that they can with no justice impute those insurrections you spake of , to the whole body of the french protestants . for , first , there was an infinite number of them not in the least concerned . secondly , they that were the ring-leaders , were only protestants in name , but really men only of this world , ambitious or covetous , who only made use of religion for a mask to hide their wicked purposes , and for a pretence to ●ish in troubled waters . but if there happened to be any sincere protestants who were drawn in by these hypocrites to take up arms with them , as it is not to be doubted , they did it not in pursuit of the principles of their religion , which is point-blanck against such proceedings , but out of too great a fear of death , or something worse , through a usual infirmity of nature , from which the best of christians are not wholly exempt . the first need no defence ; the second deserve it not , and the third sort plead their fear ( the rather because just , as it were easie to prove ) as well as their repentance . as the first are they that held to the true principles of their religion , it is but reasonble that we should make our judgment of the french protestants from their behaviour . the second , as they did but act a part , and were impostors , there is no reason their extravagancies and rebellions should be charged upon the true protestants , who disown their fraternity : and because the third falled out of weakness , it is the duty of a christian compassion , and the sense of our own infirmities to forget and forgive their failures . i propose nothing in all this , but upon the most authentick authority that could be wished for upon such an occasion ; it is a declaration of lewis xiii . given at bourdeaux the 10th of november , 1615. upon the joyning of the protestants with the prince of condè . many , says this king , speaking of the protestants of his kingdom , have taken up arms against us , to assist the commotion begun by our cousin the prince of condè ; amongst which , there are that use religion only for a better pretence to conceal their ambition and extream thirst of bettering themselves by the disturbance and ruine of the state ; and the rest have been cheated , and imposed upon by false suggestions and vain fears that the former sort have put into their heads , as if there were no avoiding persecution , but presently to take up arms with them in their own defence , making them believe , the better to work upon their easiness , that in the private article , upon the match with spain , it was agreed and covenanted to drive them out of the kingdom , or wholly to destroy them ; which they being too forward to believe , have run into this engagement , out of a conceit that they are forced to it in their own defence , which makes their fault pardonable , and worthy rather of pity than punishment . but these tricks have not prevailed or seduced the wiser and better sort , who profess the same religion purely out of conscience , as expecting to be saved by it , and not to promote a faction ; who , to a considerable number , as well lords , gentlemen , towns , corporations , as other private persons of all qualities , condemn and abhor the wickedness and rashness of their attempt , and have publickly declared by word of mouth , and writing , that it ought to be esteemed as neither more nor less than a down-right rebellion , &c. we have declared and ordained , and do declare and ordain , upon consideration , and in favour to the loyalty which has been observed towards us by an infinite number of our good subjects of the said religion , amongst which there are of the chiefest and best quality , who deserve a special proof of our good-will , that what has been committed by those of the same religion , who have taken up arms against us , or that have in any manner aided or assisted them , have likewise the favour of our edicts , and that they share in this grace as if they had always continued in their duty , &c. this same king would by no means have the least reproach lie upon those protestants , whose fault he had declared pardonable , though they had joined with the prince of condè . for when they came to consider ' all things for appeasing these first troubles , he owns them for his faithful subjects , and maintains all they had done , as done for his service . it is in article xvii . of the edict of blois , in the year 1616. and by your leave i will read you the article that there may be no question of the good intention of our dearest cou●in the prince of condè , and of those that joyned with him , we declare , that we hold and esteem our said cousin the prince of condè to be our good kinsman and faithful subject and servant ; as likewise the other princes , duk●s , peers , o●ficers of our crown , lords , gentlemen , towns , communalties , and others , as well catholicks as those of the pretended reformed religion , of what quality or condition soever , that have assisted , joined , and united themselves with him , either before , or during the cessation of arms , understanding also thereby the deputies of the pr●tended reformed religion , lately assembled at nismes , and now at our city of rochel , to be our good and loyal subjects and servants : and having seen the declaration addressed to us by our said cousin the prince of condè , we believe and look upon what was done by him and the aforenamed , to have been done for a good end and purpose , and for our service . in all the following troubles , the same distinction is to be made . the whole body of protestants was never engaged in them ; the greater and more sober part always kept to their obedience and duty , in despite of all the injuries that were done them . they were contented to encounter god and their ●ing with tears and prayers , or if they were seen in arms , it was in the armies , and under the standards of their king , whil'st they that were not protestants , but in shew , made all the stirs , which they unjustly impute to the true protestants , of which , if any were drawn in by the insinuation of several disaffected persons , and through impatience of the unjust severities they were treated with , against the engagement of the edicts , to defend themselves by force of arms , their religion , which is from jesus christ , never allowed it in opposition to their superiors . but after all , it was but a small number of the protestants that gave in to those rough provocations they then lay under : in so doing , they departed from the principles of the protestant religion : their own brethren , an in●inite number of them , have condemned them for it , true christians are pardon'd daily for faults committed upon far more flight motives : the king himself , that then reigned , has determined , that the cause of their taking up arms , which was undoubtedly a very just grievance as well as a sudden terror , made their crime pardonable , and rather deserving pity than punishment . however , to lay the fault of particular men , upon the whole body , or the protestant religion it self , as their enemies do every day , is as if we should charge the whole church and romish religion with the faults of those papists , who to a very great number followed either the late prince of condè in the troubles of the year 1615. or the queen-mother , mary de medicis in those of the year 1620. or the present prince of conde in the civil wars during the minority of lewis xiv . i am confident the papists would cry out against it , as a great and foul injustice done to their church . and yet why do they continually use the protestants thus unreasonably ? i presume this may serve for a full justification , in reference to the spirit of rebellion imputed upon the account of what passed in the beginning of the reign of lewis xiii . they cannot wrong them more , than to make their religion answerable for the weakness of some of them , who were disapproved by the wisest among them , who have more reason to be considered , than a few , who acted contrary to the principles of the protestant religion , as they are contained in their confession of faith , established by their most eminent divines , as i shewed you at our third conference . so that i suppose , sir , it will be needl●ss to run through all the several troubles , which followed the first , down to the year , 1629. this may answer the whole . yet methinks , said i , you should not have done , before you have said something particularly of rochel . it s rebellion and siege have made too great a noise in the world , and perchance that which happened about this town , is what has raised the greatest cry against the french protestants , as commonwealthsmen and traytors . therefore i shall no more question their loyalty , and you will enable me to defend them sufficiently under the reign of lewis xiii as well as under those that went before ; if you can set me right in the excuse of rochel . it will be no hard matter for me , says our friend , to satisfie you in this point . and we english are particularly oblig●d to make out the innocence of the protestants in this affair . if any be to blame , we are . for it was we that engaged them in this last war. but , god be thanked , they can charge us with nothing , to make it the clearer to you , we must take the business a little higher . rochel did belong to the kings of england , being a part of their dominion by the marriage of eleanor , countess of poitou , in the year 1152. with henry ii. when he was yet but duke of normandy . but the king of france , lewis viii . assaulted and took it by force in the year 2224. it fell again into the hands of our kings , who were the rightful lords of it , in the year 1359. by the peace of bretegny , as part of the ransome for iohn king of france , who was taken prisoner at the battle of poitiers , by edward prince of wales . but in the year 1372. the rochellers were so unhappy as to withdraw their allgiance from their natural lord our king edward iii. and to compleat their revolt , they put themselves under the pow●r of the french king. this occurrence ought to be observed , though i shall say nothing of it , but in mezeray's own words . this town , says he , having shaken off the english yoke , desired to come under the french , upon condition of prese●ving that liberty it had acquired by its own means . and therefore , it delivered it self up to the king , it made so good a bargain for it self , ( which was agreed by letters under the broad seal , and the seals of his peers ) that the castle should be demolished , and that there never should be any within or near the town , &c. the same historian touches upon this in another place . in consideration , says he , that rochel came voluntarily into france , the king , charles v. seeing that the townsmen having of themselves quitted the power they were under , to the great hazard of their lives , could either continue free , or give themselves up to whom they pleased , granted them all the priviledges they could d●●●re , as , that they might coin florins , mony of a mixt metal ; 〈◊〉 the castle should be demolished , and that no other should be built in their town . and by other letters he promises them , that their walls and forts should stand ; and that he would raise none upon them . he goes on with the other great immunities that were granted to rochel by this king , and by his successors , not sticking to declare ingenuously , that henry ii. and francis i. by sometimes placing their governors and garisons , had infringed their priviledges . he adds , ' that the rochellers looked upon this as a violation , and always waited for a more favourable occasion to restore themselves to their original right . by this you see that rochel did not deliver it self up to france , but upon conditions , and so were to continue their obedience no longer than the articles stipulated by the rochellers , and accepted by the king of france , were observed . it appears that one of these articles says expresly . that they were never to build castle or fort either in or about the town . notwithstanding contrary to this agreement , they raise a fort before rochel , in time of the war , which was in the years , 1621 ▪ 1622. and though they promised by the articles of peace , which were afterwards agreed upon , that this fort should be slighted , yet it always continued : which was the cause of those troubles , that followed in the years , 1625 , 1626. the rochellers being no longer obliged to keep touch with the king of france , because he had broke the treaty , by vertue of which alone , they became his subjects . the affairs of europe disposing the late king , our soveraign lord charles i. to interpose for a pacification : the rochellers , and such other protestants of france as had engaged in their quarrel , agreed to refer all their concerns to him . and he obtained it for them a second time , that this fort , which was so great an eye-sore to rochel , should be demolished ; for which he was guarantee by an authentick declaration , that his embassadors gave in writing . i will read it to you . we henry rich , baron of kensington , ●arl of holland , captain of the guards to the king of great britain , knight of the order of the garter , and counsellor of state ; and dudley carleton knight , counsellor of state , and vicechamberlain of his majesties houshold , embassadors extraordinary from his said majesty to the most christian king , to all present and to come , greeting . it so falling out that montmartin and manial , deputies-general of the reformed churches of france , and other particular deputies of the dukes of rohan and soubise , with those of several towns and provinces , who were engaged with them , have made their peace with the most christia● king ; by our advice and interposition it is agreed and consented to 〈◊〉 the said king their soveraign . and the deputies have released many things , which they esteemed very important for their security , and all conformable to their ●dicts and declarations , which they had express order to insist upon at the treaty of peace , and which they had resolutely persisted in , saving the obedience they owe and desire to pay their king and soveraign , and saving the respect and deference they would shew to the so express summons and demands of the most serene king of great britain our master , in whose name we have exhorted and advised them to condescend to the conditions offered and given in upon the abovenamed peace , in kindness , and for the good of this kingdom , and the satisfaction and aid of christendom in general . for these reasons we declare and certifie , that by the words they had before agreed upon with us , for the finishing of the said treaty , and which were produced in the presence , and by the command of his most christian majesty , by the lord chancellor , in order to the acceptance of the peace , importing , that by long services , and a continued obedience , they had reason to expect the kings favour , which they never could procure by any treaty , even of matters esteemed of greatest importance , for which in due time they might receive humble addresses with all humility and respect : there was a clearer explication on his majesties part , and his ministers reported to us by the commissioners for the peace ; persons of great quality , appointed and put in , with directions and power from his majesty and his ministers , the sense and meaning of which is , that they mean the fort lo●is before rochel , and thereby , to give assurance of the demolishing of it in convenient time , and in the mean while for the ●aking off those other matters , which rest by the aforesaid treaty of peace , to the prejudice of the liberty of the town of rochel ; without which assurance of demolishing and taking off the garisons , the aforesaid deputies have protested to us , that they had never consented to the continuation of the said fort , being directed and resolved to hold the right of its demolition , as they do by the present declaration , in confidence that the king of great britain will endeavour by his mediations , together with their most humble intreaties for shortning the time of the said demolition : for which we have given them all the words and promises of a king , they could wish for , after we had laid before them , that they ought and might rest satisfied therein . in confirmation of which , and what else we have above said , we have signed and sealed this present with our names and coats of arms , and made the same he countersigned by one of our secretaries . given at paris the eleventh of february 1626. signed thus , holland , d. carleton . with the seals under each of their names . and below , by command of my lords , avgier . our king pressed the performance of so solemn a promise , for demolishing the fort louis , to little purpose : when they neither took notice of his sollicitations , nor the obligation to which his embassadors had tyed him up , to see this treaty of peace executed you may perceive it by the duke of buckingham's manifesto , who at last landed upon the isle of rè , with an army , to discharge the royal word of our soveraign . this is the manifestò . ; what share the kings of great britain have always taken in the concerns of the reformed churches of this kingdom , and with how much zeal and care they have laboured for their good , is notorious to all men , the experiences of which have been as frequent , as the occasions . the present king , my most honoured lord and master , comes nothing short of his predecessors in this point : had not the good and laudable purposes for their good , been perverted to their ruine , by those , that were most concerned in their true accomplishment . what advantages has he let slip ? what course has he not taken , by his alliance with france , to enable himself to procure more e●fectually and powerfully the restitution of the churches to their ancient liberty and splendor ? and what could be expected less , from so strict an alliance , and so many repeated promises from the mouth of a great prince , but effects truly noble , and suitable to his high quality ? but so far has his majesty been , after so many promises , and such strict ties of amity , from being able to obtain freedom and security for the churches , and restore france to peace , by reconciling those , that breath nothing but entire obedience to their king , under the liberty of the edicts : that on the contrary , they have made use of the interest he had in those of the religion to deceive them ; thereby not only to disingage him from them , but likewise to render him , if not hated , at least suspected , in diverting the means he had appointed for their good , to a quite contrary end . witness the english ships , intended not for the extirpation of those of the religion : but on the contrary , an absolute promise made not to employ them against that party : whi●h were nevertheless brought before rochel , and employed in the last sea-fight against them . what then could be hoped for from so powerful a prince , as the king my master , so grosly disappointed , but a resentment equal in proportion to the injuries received ? but he forbore beyond all patience . whilst he had hopes by other means to advantage the churches : he sought not to do it by force of arms , till he had been made the instrument and mediator of the last peace , upon very hard terms ; and such as never had been accepted of without his majesties intercession , who interposed his credit and mediation towards the churches to accept of it , even with threats , that he might save the honor of the most christian king , upon assurance on his side , not only of making good , but likewise of bettering the terms , for which he became surety on behalf of the churches . but what was the event of all this , but an abuse of his goodness ? and which his majesty looked upon as the chief remedy of all their miseries , has it not almost given the last blow to the ruine of the churches ? it missed very narrowly , by keeping up the fort before ro●●el , the slighting of which was promised , by the outrages of the soldiers and garisons , and of the said fort and islands , as well upon the inhabitants of the said town , as upon strangers , who instead of being wholly withdrawn , were daily increased , and other forts built , and by the stay of the commissioners in the said town beyond the time agreed , to make cabals there , and by means of the divisions they stirred up among the inhabitants , to set open the gates to the neighbouring troops , and by other contraventions and breaches of the peace it missed , i say , very narrowly , that the said town , and with it all the churches had given up the ghost . and for all this his majesty yet contained himself , and used no other weapons against so many affronts and breaches of faith , but complaints and intercessions : till he had certain advice , confirmed by letters that were intercepted , of the great preparations the most christian king had made to set down before rochel . and now what could his majesty have done less , than vindicate his honor by immediately arming himself against those that had made him party to their false dealing , and given proof of his integrity , and the zeal he has always had for reestab●ishing the churches , a work which will be ever valued by him above all other things ? and this was the only end of arming him●elf , and not any private interest ; if any one shall yet question , let him but consider the circumstance of the time , and the po●ture of his affairs . for who can believe , that the king my ma●ter has any design upon ●rance , or making any conquests there , at so improper a time , when he has already upon him an enemy , one of the most powerful princes in the world ? and that , if he had any such thoughts , of so many men as he has raised , which are the same charge to him , as if he had them here , and which he is always ready to send over , if the churches want them , he should only send a handful , in comparison of so many as would be needful for so great an undertaking , besides the great succors he sends at the same time into germany ? who would not conclude rather , as in truth it is , that the forces here , are but auxiliaries , and that they are for no other purpose , but to assist the churches , which for so many reasons , and upon such important accounts he finds himself obliged before god and man to aid and protect ? that if they will say , the king my master was provoked to arm himself upon other considerations , as the imbargo and seizure of all the shipping , goods and effects of his subjects at bourdeaux , and other places of this kingdom , to the open breach and overthrow of the treaties between the two crowns , which are direct in this point , and to the irreparable prejudice , even the entire ruine of trade , in the disappointment of which , the poor people of this kingdom , not being able to put off their commodities , groan not only under the burden of so many taxes and impositions , but even of the necessaries of life it self ; that the apprehension the king my master has of the growth of the most christian kings power by sea , has put him upon taking arms , to hinder the progress ; and in conclusion , that he was forced to put himself in a warlike posture , through despair of an accommodation : the answer to all this must be , that whoever will take notice of the stops , seizures , and prizes that were on the one side and the other , shall find that the king my master and his subjects have hitherto got most by this breach , and that it has been an advantage to them in some measure . in the second place , he is so far from being jealous of the growth of this pretended power at se● , and seeking to obstruct it : that there needs no more , whenever the king my master shall see his time , but to give out letters of mart to his subjects , to disappoint all these vain and weak attempts , without making use of his royal power . and lastly that we were necessitated to this arming of our selves out of a despair of an accommodation : the contrary is most apparent to any one , that will consider the applications that have been made at several times , as well by their own , as by the ministers of stranger princes to the king my master , at their instance , to treat about an accommodation . all which justifies the king my master , who has not been forced to arm upon any private account , but only in aid of the churches , for whose safety and freedom he had undertaken . and there are , that would possess the world , that his majesty has a private design , and that he makes use of a pretence of the religion to form a party , by the help and addition of which , with his own forces , he thinks to carry on his design to his own purpose . but our religion teaches us otherwise , and the goodness of the king my master , in which he comes short of no man living , will never suffer him to do it . his purpose is to settle the churches , his interest is their good , his end to give them satisfaction . this being done the beating of drums and displaying of colours shall cease , and all this noise of war shall be buried in oblivion , as what was never done but upon their account , nor set forward but for their sakes : given on board the admiral this wednesday the one and twentieth of iuly 1927. signed , buckingham . this declaration shews that our kings are resolved to love and che●ish the protestants of france ; and that our great monarch in holding his arms open to them at this day does but follow the steps of his princely father . he demonstrates thereby to all his people , that he inherites his goodness , as well as his crown ; and that , as this holy martyr , he knows assuredly , that these poor persecuted , would breath nothing but loyalty in the enjoyment of the edicts . the same declaration shews undeniably the innocence and justice of our arming upon the occasions , whereof we are treating , as not having been made but upon the extreamest necessity , when there was no other way left to hold france to that promise , of which our king was the garante , and to prevent the lo●s of rochel , which was undone only for committing its concerns to his majesty . honour , sincerity , publick faith , the law of nations , the urging duty of conscience , all obliged us to run in to the succour of a town , that had cast it self upon our monarch , and that had full right to shake off the yoke of france , since it had been no otherwise given up to the french , but upon a condition that was broken , which was , that they should build no fort upon its territory , whereby to give cause of suspicion . nevertheless , as the declaration ob●erves , they had not only built one , against the article of the treaty , which made the treaty void , and put rochel , into its full liberty , which it had acquired at other times : but they had built several , which blocked up the town on every side , and destroyed its trade , our arming therefore upon this occasion , was just . it was justified by the publick faith , and the law of necessity , and had no other end but to protect the weak , who were oppressed contrary to the ●ngagement of the treaty , which was the supporting of a good cause . for rochel , which they wasted after so many manners , was then in right to defend it self , being no longer subject to the prince , who attaqued it . conditio non impleta liberat fidem , say the civilians , a condition not fullfilled takes off all engagement . rochel had said to the king of france , you shall be my king , if you build no fort upon my territory , but not otherwise ; and the king of france consented , or rather swore , to a solemne treaty , that he would not be master of rochel , but upon this condition . so that from the moment , in which he had broken the condition agreed upon and accepted of , he put rochel into its orignal right . the rochellers are no longer his subjects ; and therefore , if they shut the gates of their town against him , if they defend themselves as well as they can against his invasion , if they call in their friends for succour ; they do it in their own right , and it is to do them open wrong , it is traducing them , to charge them with rebellion upon this account . are men rebells , when they defend themselves against the invasions of a prince , that is not their king ? this is so evident , said i here to our friend , that you need say no more . i must confess , the french protestants are set right in my opinion . they are not guilty of the wars , which infested france from the reign of francis the second , to that of henry the fourth . they lived in perfect good understanding with their countrymen during the reign of this great prince . the wars under lewis the thirteenth cannot justly be imputed to them : because the greater and sounder part of them , were not engaged ; because the real promoters of difference , were protestan●s only in name ; because if any true protestants did go in , it was upon motives and mistakes , which in the opinion , even of their king , made their fault pardonable ; and because the standing out of rochel , must by no means pass for a rebellion . so that indisputably , it is the effect of a dark and devilish malice in monsieur maimbourg and his brethren , to cry them down , at such a rate , as incendiaries and seditious , by which they would render them suspected to the magistrates and people , where they go to be out of the reach of that cruel persecution that was●s them . i cannot recover my s●lf out of the astonishment , that so wise a prince , as theirs is , should desire to lose such subjects , by driving them into despair . all europe , sayes our friend , is of the same mind . they say plainly , that the king of france cuts off the hand , which saved his crown , and of which he or his son may stand in need some time or other , to defend themselves against the ligues of the roman clergy . it is more then fifty years , that they whom they persecute , have given the highest testimony of their loyalty and zeal for the service of their kings . but what is yet more surprizing , they make use of their loyalty for an occasion of persecuting them more severely . for i know it from the first hand , in the memorial , which was presented to their king by a certain abbot some years since ; to invite him to root them out , and to open to him the way , they lay down plainly their loyalty , which sayes this memorial , they make an article of faith and a point of conscience , to satisfie him that there was no danger from them , whatever injury or rigour they used towards them . i have seen this memorial , of which there was means found to get a copy : the abbot , who was the bearer , having forgot the rule and charge , that he was under , to be secret . but i can assure you , the french court were not a little pleased with this motion , since it doth only follow the memorial step by step , in all the tricks and outrages that have been practiced upon the protestants against the security of the edicts . to be short , that which will compleat your amazement , is that this great lewis the fourteenth whom the whole world has in admiration , was disposed quite another way , as appears not only by his letter to the elector of brandenburg , which i have already communicated to you , and is but a private transaction ; but by a solemne declaration , which i must needs read to you before we part . the king's declaration , by which he confirms the edicts of pacification . lewis by the grace of god king of france and navar , to all that shall see these present letters , greeting . the late king our most honoured lord and father , whom god rest , being convinced that one of the most necessary things to preserve the peace of the kingdom , was to maintain his subjects of the pretended reformed religion in the full and entire enjoyment of the edic●● made in their favour , and to have the free exercise of their religion ; took special care by all prudent means to hinder that they should not be molested in the fruition of the liberties , prerogatives , and privileges granted to them by the said edicts : having to this end , immediately upon his coming to the crown , by letters patents of the 22. of may 1610. and after he came of age by his declaration of the 20. of november 1615. declared it to be his will , that the edicts should be observed , thereby to incourage his subjects so much the more to keep within their duty . and after the pattern of so great a prince , and in imitation of his bounty , we intend to do the like , having upon the same grounds and considerations by our declaration of the eight of july 1643. willed and ordained , that our said subjects of the pretended reformed religion , enjoy all the concessions , priviledges , and advantages , especially the free and full exercise of their said religion , in pursuance of the edicts , declarations , and ordinances made in their favour upon this account . and for as much as our said subjects of the pretended reformed religion have given us certain proofs of their affection and loyalty , particularly in the present affairs , of which we are abundantly satisfied : be it known , that we for these reasons , and at the most humble request which has been made us from our said subjects professing the said pretended reformed religion , and after having it debated in our presence at council : we by the advice of the same , and upon our certain knowledge and royal authority , have said , declared and ordained , say , declare , and ordain , will , and it is our pleasure , that our said subjects of the pretended reformed religion be maintained and protected , as indeed we do maintain and protect them , in the full and entire enjoym●nt of the edict of nantes , other edicts , declarations , acts , ordinances , articles , and briefs set out in their favour , registred in parliament and edict chambers , especially in the free and publick exercise of the said religion , in all places where these orders have allowed it , all letters and acts , as well of our council , as of soverain courts or other iudicatories to the contrary notwithstanding . willing that the transgressors of our said edicts be punished and chastised , as disturbers of our publicke peace . so we give in command to our well beloved and faithfull the persons holding our courts of parliament , edict chambers ▪ bayliffs , seneschalls , their deputies , and other our officers whom it shall concern in their respective places , that they cause these presents to be registred , read and published where it shall be requisite , and keep , observe and retain according to their forme and tenure . and forasmuch as there may be need of these presents in divers places , we will that the same credit shall be given to copies duly collated by one of our well beloved and faithfull counsellors and secretaries ; as to the present original : for such is our pleasure . in witness whereof we have caused our seal to be set to these presents . given at st germains en laye 20. of may in the year of grace 1652. and of our reign the tenth . signed , louis , and a little below , by the king , phelipeaux . and sealed with the broad seal . can we doubt , but , they who perswade this great prince to violate a word so solemnly given , are his mortal enemies , enemies to his glory as much or more then the protestants ? were i not obliged to go abroad , i would instantly discharge my self of the last part of my promise to you : which is to shew you , that the papists are the really guilty persons of the sins of rebellion and conspiracie , which the jesuits maimbourg , and such as he , falsly impute to the french protestant . but this shall be for our next meeting . upon which , having first appointed an other time , we parted . i am &c. the sixth letter . papists themselves antymonarchists . sir . i was sure to come at the hour appointed . our friend had two little books in his hands , just as i came into the room . he compared them one with an other , and i observed him to smile , whilst he was doing of it . pray , said i , give me leave to awake you out of your pleasant dream , and ask you , what you are so intent upon , that , for what i can perceive , pleases you very well . if you please to sit down , replied he , i will tell you in short . so i took my seat , and he went on . one of the two books , that you saw me have , is the history of calvinisme , and the other the policy of the clergy of france . whilst i was expecting you , i read what monsiuer mainbourg says in the first , to take off the prejudice protestant kings and princes might have taken against the principles and usual practice of papists . and i must confess to you , i could not forbear smiling , when i saw the ridiculous evasions this man made use of , especially after i had compared them with the objections of the author of the policy of the clergy of france , which he pretends to confute . i must needs read all this to you . you shall find proofs enough there to justifie you in what i promised , that they are the papists who are really to be feared in the point of rebellion and conspiracies , into which the principles of their religion have so often lead them ; and not the protestants of france , whose religion is so directly opposite to these sort of practices , and who , by the help of god , have never been guilty of them , properly so speaking , as i have before demonstrated to you . it is certain , says monsieur maimbourg , that in the glorious condition the king is at this day , having vanquished all those , that conspired against this soverain power , to which they all bow : he might with ease , and justly deal with the huguenots , as the protestant princes do with the catholicks . nay , his glory seems to oblige him to it . for is it not a wonderful thing , to see some princes , who come infinitely short of him in every thing , denying the catholicks the free exercise of their religion within their territories : and yet to have it expected , th●● he should endure those that profess theirs freely to exercise in his kingdome ? might he not very reasonably say to the huguenots : either let these princes allow the free exercise of my religion under them , or else do not look that i ●hould allow you the freedom of ●xercising yours and theirs in france . if you would have us observe the edicts , that were made in your favour ; see then that they make the like in favour of the catholiks . and it signifies nothing , what one of their last witnesses has 〈◊〉 of late , to give the best answer he could to this powerful argument , which overthrows them . he thought to take it off , by saying , that there is a great difference betwixt the one and the other in this respect , in as much as the catholicks believing that the pope may depose a prince , who is esteemed at rome a heretike or excommunicated person , there is reason to be at defiance with them , and to apprehend their conspiring against such a prince ; which cannot be said of the protestants , who are far from any such belief , so that there is no ground to suspect them , or imagin they should attempt any ill against the catholick princes their soveraigns . to shew , plainly how little force there is in such an answer , which is indeed but a poor shifting , we need only mark these two things , which have been laied down in this history of calvinisme , and which cannot be denied . the first is , that more dismal conspiracies are hardly to be met with , then those the hugunots have made against our kings , such as the accursed attempts of amboise , and of meaux ; not to take notice of their terrible rebellions , which have cost france so much blood , and of the unhappy plots they have entred into with their ●nemies , to withdraw their subjection from the monarchy by openly setting up a commonwealth ; as they have done more then once . the second is , that it is by no means our belief , that a pope can depose princes , though they be hereticks , nor absolve their subjects from the oath of allegiance , and give up their right to him that can first take it . far from this , our most christian kings , who are known to have been the most zealous defenders of the catholike faith , and the greatst protectors of the holy see , to which they have always unmoveably held , notwithstanding all the differences they had with some popes about temporal affairs , and the right of their crown , which they must never give up : our kings , i say , have ever protested against this pretension , grounded upon a principle , which our doctors have always condemned , as directly contrar● to the divine law. there may be seen to this purpose the remonstrances and the protestations , that i have mention●d , which charle● the ninth directed to pope pius the fourth , upon the occasion of queen iean of navar , as obstinate a huguenot as she was . therefore the king might justly use the huguenots , as the protestant princes in their states do the catholicks . i should not have done to day , if i should take notice of all that monsieur maimbourg says upon this subject . he makes it consistent with the duty and honour of the king of france , to overthrow an edict , which was the reward of the loialty and of the eminent services of the protestants , an edict confirmed in all the parliaments of the kingdome under the title of a perpetual and irrevacable law , ratified by a thousand royal promises , and by a thousand authentike declarations , which lewis the fourteenth had himself solemnly sworn to observe upon so many occasions . it seems , says the jesuite , that he is bound to do it for his glory , which is to say , according to this man of conscince , that one does his duty , when he breaks his word , and his oath ; and that he acts for his glory , when he dishonours himself and his ancestors , by perjuries and overthrowing the most religiously established laws . but above all , it is a pleasant fancy , that the argument , he furnishes his king with to stop the mouth of the huguenots , who do not prevail with the princes of their religion , to permit the free exercise of the roman religion in their dominions . might he not very justly say to the huguenots , says he , speaking to the king of france , either see that these princes allow the free exercise of my religion with them , or do not think to have the free exercise of yours and theirs in france . if it be expected that we should consider the edicts which have been here made in your behalf , let them shew then the like favour to the catholicks . monsieur maimbourg calls this a powerful argument , which overthrows the huguenots . but as to that i remit him to the author of the critique general of his history . he will there find his dream entertained , as it deserves . it is sufficient for my purpose , to let you see that what the author of the policy of the clergy urges , to prove that the papists , upon account of the principles of their religion , are always to be feared in protestant states , is no poor groundl●ss evasion , as monsieur maimbourg would have us believe . and that you may be the better judge of it , give me leave to read all that this exellent author has writ upon the subject . i am confident , after you have heard it read , you will not less wonder , then i do , at the confidence of the jesuite , who never appears more positive , then where he has least reason . so then our friend read to me this following discourse . hugonot princes cannot allow the same toleration to catholicks in their states , that catholick princes can allow to hugonots ; because protestant princes cannot be assured of the fidelity of their catholick subjects , by reason they have taken oaths of fidelity to another prince , whom they look upon as greater than all kings . it is the pope ; and this prince is a sworn ●nemy of the protestants . he obliges the people to believe that a soveraign turned heretick has forfeited all the rights of soveraignty ; that they owe him no obedience ; that they may with impunity revolt from him , that they may fall upon him as an enemy of the christian name , even to assassinate him . [ see the iesuits morals , cap. 3. book the third . ] and thereupon he cited to me , mariana , carolus , scribanus , ribadinera , tolet , gretser , hereau , amicus , les●ius , valentia dicatillus , and several others , that are cited by the iansenists , in the book of the j●suits morals , and by the ministers . all these authors , said he to me , teach conformably to the divinity of rome , that a heretick prince , and excommunicated by the pope , is but a private person , against whom arms may be taken ; that he may be likewise assassinated , or poysoned . he added to this , the examples of the many parricides that have been committed , or attempted in pursuance of these maxims . how many times , said he , would they have assassinated queen elizabeth ? prince william of orange was twice assassinated , and lost his life the second time . henry the third , was not he killed by a iacobin , as excommunicated by the pope , and stript of the royal dignity ? iohn chastel , did not he attempt the same thing upon henry the fourth ? and did not ravilliac out of a false zeal assassinate him ? after which he gave me an account of the gun-powder plot in england ; by which , in the year 1606. the catholicks had undertaken to blow up the king and all the grandees of the kingdom , by a mine they had made under the parliament house . he told me of the jesuits garnet and oldcorn , chief of that conspiracy , who were put into the number of the martyrs , whether they would or no ; for the jesuit garnet going to execution , some one of his companions telling him so●tly in his ear , that he was going to be a martyr , he answered , nun●u●m audivi parricidam esse martyrem , i never heard that a parricide was a martyr . he related to me a hundred scandalous stories of that nature . amongst others , he told me one that extreamly surprized me ; he read it to me with all its circumstances , in a little book that had been published by an english minister , who calls himself the king of englands chaplain . thus it is in short : a divine , who had been the chaplain of king charles who was beheaded , turnd catholick some time before his masters death , and the english jesuits put such confidence in him , that they imparted to him a very dreadful thing ; it was a consultation allowed of by the pope , about the means of re-establishing the catholick religion in england . the english catholicks , seeing that the king was a prisoner in the hands of the independants , formed the resolution of laying hold on that occasion to d●stroy the protestant , and re-establish the catholick religion . they concluded that the only means of re-establishing the catholick religion , and of laying aside all the laws that had been made against it in england , was to dispatch the king , and destroy monarchy . that they might be authorized and maintained in this great undertaking , they deputed eighteen father-jesuits to rome , to demand the popes advice . the matter was agitated in secret assemblies , and it was concluded , that it was permitted and just to put the king to death . those deputies , in their passage through paris , consulted the sorbonne , who , without waiting for the opinion of rome , had judged that that enterprise was just and lawful ; and upon the return of the jesuites , who had taken the journey to rome , they communicated to the sorbonnits the popes answer , of which several copies were taken . the deputies , who had been at rome , being returned to london , confirmed the catholicks in their design . to compass this point , they thrust themselves in amongst the independants , by dissembling their religion . they persuaded those people that the king must be put to death ; and it cost that poor prince his life some months after . but the death of king charles not having had all the consequences that was hoped ; and all europe having cryed out with horrour against the parricide committed upon the person of that poor prince ; they would have called in again all the copies that had been made of the consultation of the pope , and of that of sorbonne ; but this english chaplain who had turned catholick would not restore his ; and he has communicated it , since the return of the family of the stuarts to the crown of england , to several persons who are still alive , and were eye witnesses of what i have now told you . par. i never heard this before . but the english calvinists not producing any authentick pieces to prove this accusation , it may be looked upon as a calumny . prov. my hug●not gentleman would not answer for it , for he is very just ; however he added , that what rendred it very probable , is that this conduct is a sequel of the divinity of the zealous catholicks of spaim , italy , and even of france : mor●over there are several circumstanc●s which render the thing apparent . for example , he that lately published this story , had already once published it in the year 1662 , to answer a little book that insulted over the english calvinists , in that they had put their king to death . the divine , who knew the story that i have related , published it to prove that the catholicks were guilty of the crime which the calvinists were accused of . when this story came to light , there was a great alarme in the house of the queen-mother of the king of england , that house being full of jesuits ; and even that great lord , who had lead the jesuits to rome , and had made himself chief of that conspiracy , was one of the principal officers of the house . they immediately demanded justice of the king , by the means of the queen-mother , for the injury that he who had published this scandalous story had done them . the doctor offered to prove his accusation , and to produce his witnesses , who were still living . the great lord and officer of the queens house , and the jesuits , seeing the resolution of this man , durst not push him on ; they only obtain'd from the king , by the means of the queen-mother , that he should be silenced . you must avow that there are but few that are innocent , who would have been so easie in so terrible an accusation . besides , it is certain that this consultation of rome has been seen by several persons . if it is false , it must have been forged by this chaplain who was turned catholick , and who shewed it since ; tho it must be confessed that this is not very likely . however , as all this is reduceed to a single witness , my gentleman acknowledged that the proof was not wholly in forme ; but he stood much upon the late conspiracy of england , which was discovered two years ago , by which half the kingdom was to have had their throats cut to become masters of the rest . prov. be it as it will , my hugonot gentleman concluded from all this , that a protestant prince can never be assured of the fidelity of his catholick subjects . on the contrary , said he , the protestants are subject to their prince out of conscience , and out of a principle of their religion : they acknowledge no other superiour than their king , and do not believe that for the cause of heresie it is permitted , either to kill a lawful prince , or to refuse him obedience . they oppose against us , said he to me , the english and holland catholicks : but what has been promised to those people that has not been performed ? the united provinces of the low countries are entred into the union with this condition , of not suffering any other religion in their states , than the protestant . though england was reformed under edward the 6 th , afterwards under elizabeth , by several acts of parliament , which are the fundamental laws of the kingdom , it was ordered that no other religion should be suffered than that the anglicane church made choice of , and that they would not suff●r the assemblies of those , whom they at present call nonconformists . it was even forbidden to the priests and monks to set foot in england , and to make any abode there . however they have not kept up to this rigour , and every one knows that there is at present above ten thousand priests and monks disguised in england , and that there has ever been so . wherefore more has been given to the catholicks , than was promised them . but in france , where we live under favourable edicts , they have promised us what they have not performed : it is only against us that they make profession of not performing what they have promised . the edicts of pacification are in all the forms that perpetual laws ought to be ; they are verified by the parliaments , they are confirmed by a hundred declarations , which followed by consequence , and by a thousand royal words : in fine , they have been laid as irrevocable laws , and as foundations of the peace of the state. we rely upon the good faith of so many promises ; and on a sudden we see snatcht from us , what we looked upon as our greatest security , and which we had possessed for above a hundred years thus there is neither title , nor prescription , nor edicts , nor acts , nor declarations which can put us in safety . this is what he told me , and i avow to you , that this part put me in pain , for i am a slave to my word , and an idolater of good faith : i look upon it as the only rampart of civil society ; and i conceive that states and publick persons are no l●ss obliged to keep what they promise , than particular men . far. that is true . but do not you know that the safety of the people , and the publick good , is the soveraign law ; very often we must suffer , and even do some evil , for the good of the state. peaces and treaties are daily broken , which have been solemnly sworn , because that the publick interest requires it should be so . prov. my hugonot made himself that difficulty , and told me thereupon , when war is declared against neighbours , to the prejudice of treties of peace and alliances , this is done in the forms . they publish manifesto's ; they expose , or at least , they suppose grievances and infractions in the articles of the treaty , that have been made by those against whom war is declared . when a soveraign revokes the graces that he had done his subjects , it is ever under pretence that they have rendered themselves unworthy of them . but are we accused , or can we be accused of having tampered in any conspiracy , of having had intelligence with the enemies of the state , of having wanted love , fidelity and obedience towards our soveraigns ? if it be so , let us be brought to tryal , let the criminals be informed against , and let the innocent be distinguished from those that are guilty . we speak boldly th●rein , because we are certain they can reproach us with nothing ; and we know that his majesty himself has very often given testimony of our fidelity . he knows that we did not enter into any of the parties that have been made against his service , since he has been upon the throne . during the troubles of his minority , it may be said , that none but those cities we were masters of , remained loyal . when the gates of orleans were shut upon the king , he went to gien ; and that city was going to be guilty of the same crime , without the vigour of a hugonot , who made way with his sword in his hand to the bridge , and let it down himself : this action was known , and recompenced ; for the king immediately made him noble who had done it . we had not any part in the disturbances of bordeaux , in those of britany and auvergue , nor in the conspiracy of the chevalier do roban : not one hugonot was engaged in these criminal cases . the king has been pleased to acknowledge it ; and we look upon the testimony of so great a king as a great recompence . but our enemies , who continually sollicit him to our ruin , ought to be mindful , that it would be more civil in them , to leave the king the liberty of following his inclinations : these would without doubt move him to preserve the effects of his kindness for people who have preserved for him an inviolable fidelity . this is what he told me upon that point ; and i confess i was in great perplexity how to answer him ; for i durst not make use of that maxim that i have seen often maintain'd by some people , that one is not obliged to keep faith with hereticks . i have ever admired that saying of charles the fifth : he caused martin luther to come to worms , and gave him safe conduct , and his imperial word , that no hurt should be done him . but not having been able to obtain from him what he desired , he sent him back ; ●ome one would have persuaded charles , that he ought to cause luther to be seized without having regard to the safe conduct , because that this man was of the character of those with whom one is not obliged to keep ones word . though ●incerity , were banished from all the earth ; answered he , it ought to be found in an emperour . a saying very worthy of so great a man ! but tell me , sir , is it not an opinion very contrary to that of charles the 5 th , which is the cause that so little conscience is made of keeping touch with those people in what has been promised them ? par. this doctrin , that one is not obliged to keep faith with hereticks , is taught by some casuists , and they pretend that it is founded upon the authority of the council of constance , because that that council caused iohn hus to be burnt ; contrary to the faith of the safe conduct that the emperor sigismond had granted him , and ierome of prague , notwithstanding the safe conduct that the same council had given him . prov. this morality ever appeared to me terrible ; and i have been oft●n scandalized at the conduct of that great council of constance . par. the most part of the catholicks reject that morality , and maintain we are obliged to keep faith with all the world , without excepting infidels and hereticks ; otherwise there would never be any treaty between the turks and the christians , that were real . it is pretended that the council of constance has not established this maxim , that we are not obliged to make good to hereticks what we have promised them . iohn hus had no safe conduct from the council , he had only the emperours ; and thereupon the council in the nineteenth session declared , that any safe conduct , granted by the emperour , by kings , and the other secular princes to hereticks , could not do prejudice to the catholick faith , and to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction , and could not hinder from proceeding in the tribunal of the church , to the punishment of hereticks , who had provided themselves with such a safe conduct , thus the council did not violate its promise , for it never gave any ; neither did it oblige the emperour to violate his faith : but the ecclesiastical tribunal , that had not given any word , made iohn hus his process . prov. that distinction seems pleasant to me : i have heard say , that the church does not put its hand into blood : when iohn hus was convicted of heresie by the council , he was delivered without doubt to the secular arm to be burnt . those secular judges , were not they imperial judges ? thus the emperor violated his safe conduct , in permitting his judges to put a man to death , to whom he had promised all security . but what do they say of ierome of prague , to whom the council it self had given a safe conduct , and yet was burnt ? par. they say that the council , in the safe conduct that was given to ierome of prague , had inserted this clause , salva iustitia ; that thus they had only promis'd to warrant ierome of prague , from violence , and not from the arrests of justice : but i avow to you that all this is not capable of justifying the conduct of that council . neither does it pass in france for a rule that they will follow . if they do not keep with the hugonots all that has been promised them , it is not that they ground themselves upon the morality and the conduct of the council of constance . they do not pretend to depart from sincerity ; they make profession of keeping the edict of nantes : do you not see this at the head of all the declarations which are made against them ? and now lately , in that by which the catholicks are forbidden to embrace the p. r. religion , upon pain of confiscation of goods , loss of honour , and banishment ; though never any declaration was made that was more contrary to the edicts of nantes . we have one called bernard , and another lawyer of the city of poictiers , called tilleau , who have made large commentaries upon the edict of nantes , to make it appear , that without formally revoking that edict , the hugonots may be deprived of all that edict grants them , in giving to every one of the articles interpretations and glosses that would never have been imagined : and these are the measures they follow , prov. this is good to amuse . but after all , this does not satisfie the conscience , and one is no less convinced of having violated his word : for those who obtain declarations against the hugonots , according to the glosses of bernard and tilleau , are well perswaded that they are glosses of orleans , which overturn the text. but do you know what i told my hugonot , to stop his mouth , upon these infractions in the edicts ? par. perhaps you told him , that one is not o●liged to keep a word that has been extorted by violence ; that the hugonots have obtained those ●dicts by main force : that ours were constrained to yield to the misfortune of the times ; but that at present the king is in right of nulling those promises . our advocates plead daily thus at the bars , and there are likewise grave authors who write it . prov. you have guessed right : but thereupon my hugonot grew strangely passionate . ah! this is , said he , a cruelty we cannot suffer . this is our strength , and they are so bold as to attacque us in this part , as if it was our weak side . it is true , that we were armed some years before that the edict of nantes was made . but in favour of whom did we bear those arms ? it was to establish the illustrious branch of bourbon upon the throne , that belonged to it . we shall ever be proud of having shed the purest of our blood , to restore to france it 's lawful kings of which they designed to deprive it . a●ter this growing more cool , he made me an abridgement of the history of the league . he shew●d me that the house of lorrain , in that time , aimed not so much at heresy as at the crown . he minded me that from the time of charl●s the 9 ●h , the princes of that house caused a book to be printed , for the proving their genealogy , and to make appear that they were descended in a direct line from the second race of ou● kings , for the making way to the crown . he acquainted me that there was at the same time a concordat passed between the duke of guise , the duke of montmorency , and the marshal de st. andrew , which was called the triumvi●ate . one of the articles of that concordat bore , in express terms , that the duke of guise should have in charge to deface intirely the name of the family and race of the bourbons . henry the third , said he to me , could he be suspected of heresie , or an ●ider of hereticks ? never was any man more linked to the catholick church than he . yet the house of guise had sworn his ruin : they would have shaved him , which they highly threatned him with , and they one day writ upon the chappel of the battes , to the augustins of paris , these four french verses . the bones of those who here lye dead , like cross of burgundy to thee are shown , and make appear thy days are fled : and that thou surely lose thy crown . they are of the same sense with those two latin verses which were found set upon the palace dyal . qui dedit ante duas , unam abstulit , altera nutat ; tertia tonsoris nunc facienda manu . he that gave two , has taken one , the other shakes ; but the barber still shall give another . the faction of the house of guise caused this to be done : and this poor prince , after a thousand delays and troubles , resolved at length to make that execution so famous in our history ; it is that of the duke and cardinal of guise , who were executed at the states of blois . that prince must needs have seen his ruin approaching , and inevitable to come to that , since that he well foresaw that this blow would raise him so many storms , and give him so much trouble . who knows not that the faction of rome , and of spain , had a design of raising the house of lorrain to the throne of france , for the excluding the house of bourbon ? in the year 1587. the pope sent to the duke of guise a sword engraven with flames , telling him by the duke of parma , that amongst all the princes of europe , it only belonged to henry of lorrain to bear the arms of the church , and to be the chief thereof . almost all the kingdom was engaged in that spirit of revolt : the king found no o●her support , than the king of navar and of his hugonotes . it was chastillon , the son of the admiral de coligny , who saved the king from the hands of the duke of mayenne at tours . this chief of the league cryed to him , retire ye white scarfs ; retire you chastillon , it is not you we aim at , it is the murderer of your father . and in truth , henry the third , then duke of anjou , was president in the council when the resolution was taken of making the massacre of st. bartholomew , in which the admiral coligny perished . but his son , forgetting that injury , to save his king , answered those rebels ; you are traytors to your country ; and when the service of the prince and state is concerned , i know how to lay aside all revenge and particular interest ; he added , that after the assassinate committed by the league , in the person of henry the third , henry the fourth was ready to see himself abandoned by his most faithful servants , because of the protestant religion , which he made profession of , which appears by a declaration that this prince made in the form of an harangue to the lords of his army , on the 8 th day of august , 1589 , in which he says , that he had been informed that his catholick nobility set a report on foot they could not serve him , unless he made profession of the roman religion , and that they were going to quit his army . nothing but the firmness and fidelity of the hugonots upheld this wavering party . he must be , said my gentleman , the falsest of men , who dissembles the ardour and zeal with which those of our religion maintained that just cause of the house of bourbon , against the attempts of the league : and to prove , said he , that their interest was not the only cause of their fidelity , we must see what they did when henry the fourth turned roman catholick . it cannot be said but that they then strove to have a king of their religion : however , there was not one who bated any thing of his zeal and fidelity , the king was peaceable possessour of the crown , the league was beaten down , he was master in paris , he was reconciled to the court of rome when the edict of nantes was granted and published : our hugonots were no longer armed , nor in a condition of obtaining any thing by force of arms . since that the change of religion had reduced all the roman catholicks to him , he would have been in a state of resisting their violence . it was the sole acknowledgment of the king , and of good frenchmen , that obliged all france to give peace to a party that had shed their blood with so much zeal and profession for the preserving the crown , and the restoring it to its legitimate heirs . i acknowledge that we did our duty ; but are not those to be thanked who do what they ought ? how is it possible that these things are at present worn out of the memory of men ? i am certain , that if the king was made to read the history of his grand-father , he would preserve some inclin●tion for the children of those who sacrific'd themselves for the glory of his house . no man can be ignorant of the necessary dependance that must be between the roman catholick clergy and the court of rome . this court is the head , the clergy is the body , the ecclesiasticks and monks are the members , and all these members move by the orders of the head. again , i have no design to chocque the gentlemen of the clergy , whose persons i respect : i do not doubt but that they have good french hearts ; but in fine , they have their maxims of conscience ; they are of a religion , and they must follow its principles . now the principles of their religion binds them to the holy see , and its preservation preferably to all things ; moreover , interest deceives the hearts and minds of men . their interest obliges them to take the popes part , who is their preserver and protectour ▪ and what they do out of interest , they perswade themselves that they do it out of conscience . first , it may be said of the monks , that all the houses they have in france , are so many citadels that the court of rome has in the kingdom . those great societies have withdrawn themselves from the jurisdiction of the bishops , they depend immediately on the holy see ; they have all their generals of orders at rome ; and those generals who are italians and spaniards , are the soul of the society ; they are obliged to follow their opinions and their orders ; the italian divinity is the divinity of the cloisters . thus the king may reckon , that all the monks look upon him as the pope's subject , as being lyable to be excommunicated , his kingdom put under an ecclesiastical censure , his subjects dispensed and released from the oath of allegiance , and his states given by the pope to another prince . and every time that this happens , they will believe themselves obliged , out of conscience , to obey the pope . if in those orders of monks there happen to be some particular men , who follow other principles , it is certain that they are in no number , so that the body of the monks is absolutely in the interests of the court of rome , and by consequence in that of spain . thus you see already a considerable party of whose fidelity the kings of france cannot be assured . and what is this party ? one may say that it is all france : for the begging monks and the jesuits are masters of all the consciences ; they are confessors , they are directors , they persuade what they will to those that are devoted to them . the house of bourbon ought not to doubt of this truth , if it never so little calls to mind the endeavours that were used by the monks for the forcing from it the crown , when the ra●e of the valois came to fail . it is against this so considerable party that the state ought to take its precautions , in preserving that other party which can never be of intelligence with this ; it is that of the reformed . history tells us how impossible it is to be long without having disputes with the court of rome . it is always attempting , and we are obliged to defend our selves against its enterprises . it is capable of setting great engines a going , of making engagements and alliances : it had twenty times like to have ruined germany , it has dethroned great emperours , it has likewise caused great troubles in france , and one cannot be too secure against its ambition , par. i fancy that your hugonot's advocate would not spare the rest of the clergy , and that he endeavoured to prove that w● can be no more assured of their fidelity than of that of the religious . prov. what you have already heard may make you easily imagine that , for the giving the more force to what he had to say against our divines , he prevented what might have been objected if you understood these matters , sir , said he to me , you could tell me that our clergy of france teach a divinity wholly different from that of rome ; that all make profession of maintaining the liberties of the gallicane church ; the principal articles of which are , 1. that the king of france cannot be excommunicated by the pope . 2. that an ●cclesiastical censure cannot be laid upon their kingdom . 3. that it cannot be given to others . 4. that the pope has nothing to do with the temporality of kings . 5 that he is not infallible . 6. that he is inferiour to the council . these , you would tell me , are the maxims of the sorbonne , that have often censured the contrary propositions . this divinity is maintained by the authority of the parliaments , who have often declared the bulls of the pope abusive , null , scandalous and impious , and have appealed from the execution of these bulls , when they found them contrary to the liberties of the gallicane church . the estates assembled at tours , during the league , caused the bul 's of excommunication to be burnt by the hands of the executioner , that had been published against henry the third and henry the fourth . this looks great and magnificent , if you please , but these fair appearances have no foundation ; i do not speak of the divinity of the parliaments , which is that of the politicians ; i speak of the divinity of the clergy . once more , added he , i do not at all doubt of the fidelity of the divines of france to their king ; but they shall never perswade me , that this fidelity and zeal for their prince is without exception ; and i make no other exception agai●st it than what they themselves make : will you hear them speak ? read the harangue that cardinal du perron made to the third estate , in the name of all the clergy of france ▪ in the assembly , 1616. and remembe● that it is not the cardinal du perron who speaks , it is the clergy of france assembled in a body who speak by the mouth of that cardinal . all france struck with a sense of the two horrible parricides that had been committed in the persons of the two late kings , both of them assassinated out of a false zeal for religion , would draw up a form of an oath , and establish a fundamental law of the state , which all the subjects were to swear to ; and this law imported , that every one should swear to acknowledge and believe , that our kings as to their temporalities do not depend on any but god ; that it is not lawful for any cause whatsoever to assassinate kings ; that even for causes of heresie and of schism kings cannot be deposed , nor their subjects absolved from their oath of allegiance , nor upon any other pretence whatsoever . this law , methinks , is the security of kings , this is a doctrine which all the hugonots are ready to sign with their blood. what did the clergy of france do thereupon ? it formally opposed that law ; ( works of cardinal du perron , p. 600 and following ) they were willing to acknowledge the independancy of kings , in regard of the temporalty ; they consented that anathema should be pronounced against the assassinates of kings . but they would never pass the last article ; that for what cause soever it was , a king cannot be deposed by the pope , stript of his states , and his subjects absolved from the oath of allegiance . he who spoke for them , alledged all the examples of emperours and of kings , who had been deposed and excommunicated by popes , upon account of refusing obedience to the holy see , and approved them ; he alledged the example of st. vrban the second , who excommunicated philip the first , and laid an ecclesiastical censure upon his kingdom ▪ because he had put away his wife bertha , daughter of a count of holland , to marry bertrade wife of foulques count d' anjou , then still alive . he made use of the testimony of paul emile , who said , that pope zacharias discharged the french from the oath of ●ide●i●y that they had made to chilperick . these two princes were no● hereticks ; yet the clergy of france approved their having been stript of their states by the popes ; which makes appear , that the clergy in the bottom judges that the pope has right to lay an ecclesiastical censure upon the kingdom of france , and to depose its kings for any ●●●er cause as well as that of heresie . is it not to abuse the world , to confess on one side that the temporalty of kings does not depend on the pope , and establ●sh on the other , that the pope may in certain cases interdict these kings , excommunicate them and absolve their subjects from the oath of allegiance ? in fine , this is the result of that famous opinion of the clergy of france . so that if christians are obliged to defend their religion and their lives against heretick or apostate princes , when once absolved from their allegiance , the politick christian laws do not permit them any thing more than wha● is permitted by military laws , and by the right of nations , to wit , open war , and not assassination and cl●ndestine conspiracies : that is to say , that when a pope has declared a prince deprived of his s●ates , his subjects may set up the standard of rebellion , declare war against him , refuse him obedience , and kill him if they can meet with him , provided it be with arms in their hand , and by the ordinary course of war. i cannot comprehend how one ●an be secured of the fidelity of those who hold such like maxims . for in fine , kings are not infallible , and if they happen to do any thing that the court of rome judges worthy of excommunication and int●rdiction , they are kings without kingdoms and subjects , acco●ding to our clergy of france , as well as according to the divines of italy . but perhaps the sorbonne , which is the depository of the fren●h divinity , does not receive these maxims so fatal to the safety of ki●gs : let us see what it has done . in the month of december , 1587 , because henry the third , for the security of his person and of his state , made a treaty with the rütres , or the german protestants , the sorbo●ne , without staying for the decisions of rome , made a private determination which said , that the government might be taken from princes , who were not found such as they ought to be , as the admini●tration from a suspected tutor : this was known by the king , he sent for the sorbonne some days after , and complained of it . after the death of the princes of guise , which happen'd at blois , the sorbonne did much worse : they declared and caused to be published in all parts of paris , that all the people of that kingdom were absolved from the oaths of fidelity that they had sworn to henry of valois , here●ofore their king : they ra●ed his name out of the publick prayers , and made known to the people that they might with safe conscience unit● , a●m and contribute to make war against him , as a tyrant . if i would add to that the story that i know this gentleman told you concerning the death of the late king of england we should find that the sorbonne has ●ver been of the same opinion . this is the truth of it , every time that our kings affairs shall carry them to extremity against the court of rome , the clergy of france will suppress their discontents while matters go well for the court of france ; but if things turn other ways , the maxims of our divines against the king will be sure to break out . every sincere person will allow , ●ha● it has never been otherwise than so , and that it will be always thus ; which may be observed in the very least disputes . i was willing to read all these passages to you out of the policy of the clergy of france , because the author of that excellent piece , proves there exceed●ng well , all that i pr●m●sed to shew you , for the close of our conferences , which is , that the papists are truly guilty of the conspiracies and rebellions , which monsieur maimbourg would falsly fasten upon the hugonots . of this the murder of henry the third , that of henry the fourth , the violence of the league , the several attempts against queen elizabeth , king iames , and our holy martyr charles the fir●t , not to mention the late plot , that has made such a noise in the world , are undeniable proofs . but you have seen likewise , which ought to awaken the protestant princes to a purpose , that all these black attempts , have not been the fruit of impatience and human frailty , under the temptation of some severe persecution ; but the natural consequence and effect of the principles of the roman religion , as we are assured by those very men , who pass for the oracles of this religion . for you have seen just now out of authentick pieces , that the pope , the cardinals , and all the divines of italy , who are the pillars of the roman catholike religion , all the regulars of france , who draw after them more then three fourths of the french papists , and the sorbonne it self , when the rod is not over it , own publickly , that the pope may excommunicate kings , when he judges them hereticks or countenancers of heriticks , to interdict their kingdoms , absolve their subjects from their allegiance , and expose them to the fury of all the world. you have also seen , that the whole clergy of france was of this opinion , by the mouth of cardinal perron , so that this pernicious doctrine is the vowed faith of the whole popish gallican church , as well as of the court of rome , the great depository of the roman religion and all its misteries . from whence evidently follows , what the author of the policy of the clergy of france , infers , that there is no safety for the crown , nor for the life of kings , whether they be protestants themselves , or only protect such as are , whilst they are beset with papists : so that there is not the same reason to tolerate popery in protestant kingdoms , as there is to to●erate protestants in popish kingdoms . monsieur maimbourg would make us believe , that all this is but a poor shift . and to convince us of it , he says , that we need but to consider these two things : first that there are not to be found more detestable conspiracies , then those the hugonots have made against their kings &c. secondly , that it is by no means th● belief of the roman catholicks , princes , that a pope may depose princes , though they were hereti●ks , acquit their subjects from their allegiance , and bestow their dominions upon those that can first take them . but i have evidently shewed you the falsness of the first assertion : and for the second it is expresly disproved by those undeniable proofs , the author of the policy of the clergy , has produced , to shew that the roman catholicks hold that belief , which monsieur maimbourg af●irms they do not . you say , monsieur maimbourg , that it is by no means your belief , that a pope can depose princes &c. at this rate , the pope , who is the head of your church , this head , for whose infallibility you have so much disputed , knows not the belief of your church : for he believes , that by the principles of the church of rome , he has the power , which you seem to deny him : the cardinals , the bishops , and all the divines of italy , all your regulars , all your clergy of france , speaking by the mouth of your cardinal du perron , your sorbonne it self , so renowned for its great number of able men , did not know , in so important a case , what was the belief of your church . for they have all held , that it believes the pope can depose princes &c. at least he should have given some answers to the authentick acts and notorious matters of fact , which the author of the policy of the clergy , had quoted to this purpose . to say nothing of all this , and to think it enough , to say at randome , it is by no means our belief , that a pope may depose princes , even though they were hereticks &c. this is to pass the sentence of an unjust judge , who rather then fairly to confess his errour , makes no conscience of denying that in words , in which his heart gives him the lie . and i beseech you , consider what he adds , to make us believe , that the roman catholicks have not that belief , which the popes themselves attribute to them . so far from that , says he , that our most christian kings , who are known alwais to have been the most zealous asserters of the catholick faith , and the chiefest protectors of the holy see , to which they have inviolably held in all times , notwithstanding all the disputes , they have had with some popes about temporal concerns and the rights of their crown , which they are bound never to relinquish : our kings , i say , have ever protested against this claim , which is grounded upon a doctrine , that all our doctors have ever condemned , as point blanck against the divine law. to this purpose may be seen the remonstrances and protestations , which i have said that charles the ninth addressed to pope pius the fourth upon the account of queen jane of navarre , as obstinate a heretick as she was . what can be said to such childish stuff ? is it not an excellent way of arguing , the kings of france do not believe the pope has that power over them , as he challenges to him self : therefore it is by no means the belief of the roman catholicks , that the pope has such a power ▪ so that princes who are protestants , or protect such as are , can be in no danger either of life or crown from their popish subjects ? the remonstrances and the protestations , which monsieur maimbourg makes such a noise with , did they prevail , that more than half the papists of france should no● rise against their king henry the third so soon as ever the pope had thundred out his ●xcommunication against him ? this crowd of people of churchmen and of fryars , who by monsieur maimbourg's own confession , entred into a league with so much heat against this poo● prince ; did they not make it appear plainly , that the good catholick subjects take much notice of the particular belief and the weighty protestations of the french kings , when the pope has pronounced anathema ? the almost perpetual conspiracies of our papists against the sacred majesty of our kings , and against their faithful subjects , are likewise a strong evidence of monsieur maimbourg's sound reasoning . do not the catholicks of england plainly shew , that they take these particular decisions of the french kings for the rule of their faith and of their practice ? but this assertion , all our doctors have ever condemned the doctrine , upon which is grounded the claim of popes against kings , as directly opposite to the divine law , is such a piece of confidence , as , it may be , never was the like . i must confess , i could not have believed , that what is said of the jesuitical impudence , could have gone thus far . what then ! is it that anthony santarel , the jesuite , who has written , that a pope has power to depose kings , discharge their subjects from the obedience they owe them , and deprive them of their kingdoms for heresy , nay if they governe negligently , or are not useful to their kingdom , that cardinal bellermin , who was likewise a jesuite , and has maintained , that the pope may absolve subjects from their oath of allegiance , and deprive kings of their dominion ; that a thousand other priests of the same society , quoted in the second part of the moral divinity of the jesuits , ought not to be reckoned among the doctors of the church of rome : that monsieur maimbourg pronounces so positively , all our doctors have ever condemned this doctrine , as directly opposite to the divine law ? but perchance , monsieur maimbourg , since he left the society , has almost as good an opinion of the jesuits , as their good friend sof the port royal : no doubt he has taken up the same prejudice , which these gentlemen have done , that those jesuits are no other in the harvest of the church , than the tares that annoy the good corne , and that they ought not to be reckoned among the christian doctors . however he ought to have the best intelligence , and know them better than any man. at least he should not have forgotten , that he was informed how the whole sorbonne , in a body , declared it self in this point of the same judgment with the jesuites , upon the particular case of henry the third . he should as little forget , that cardinal du perron , in one of the greatest assemblies of the world , maintained with open face , not in behalf of the jesuits , but of the whole clergy of france , and as the mouth of all the prelates of the kingdom , that the pope has all that power over kings , which the je●u●ts attribute to him . therefore , not to s●ay longer upon these ●●●llings of monsieur maimbourg , you may easily see , says our friend , that as much as it is false , that the protestants , who abhor all those principles , above mentioned , are to be suspected by any king of any religion whatever , in whose dominion they abide : so far certain and undeniabl● is it , that roman-catholick subjects , of what countrey soever , from the cursed tenents o● their religion , ought to be dreaded by their kings , whether protestants , or favourers of such . i told our friend , interrupting of him , that i was already fully satisfied of the second article : neither can i imagine how it is possible , that any man in this kingdom should doubt of it , after the no less cleer then convincing proofs , that our worthy bishop of lincolne has brought , in his learned observations upon the bull of pius the fifth for the pretended excommunication of our renowned queen elizabeth . as to the loyalty and honest intentions of the protestants of france i am likewise fully satisfied by all that you h●ve said ▪ and i make no question ; but they that have been so good subjects in a kingdom , where their loyalty has undergon such rough tryals , will be all zeal and flame in the service and for the honour of our good king , who takes them into his protection with so much charity and compassion . but pray tell me , before we part , what do you think of a little story , which monsieur maimbourg has printed at the end of his libell , under the title of the declaration of the dutchess of york ? i could tell you a great many things upon this subject , said our friend . for i have the whole history of it . i have it here in english. but to speak particularly to it , would force me to discover too many misteries . it would carry us a great way , and is much more proper for another time . i will only tell you , that this declaration was drawn up for quite another person , then the late dutchess of york ; and it were easie to prove , that the greater part of what is there said , does not at all sute with this lady . it was from much a different principle , to what is reported in this piece , that she made so suddain a change of her religion . and they who were by , when she lay a dying , have testified of quite other thoughts , then those they have made her declare when they make her say , she found the romish religion so plainly taught in the holy scripture . her great unquietness of spirit which she discovered , when she lay a dying , is as little sutable to these words in the declaration , i have been particularly and strongly convinced of the real presenc● of iesus . christ in the holy sacrament of the altar , of the churches infallibilit● &c. but all these things will be set out in their proper colours . however they are not to our present purpose . i hope i have set you right , a● to the justification of the french protestants quitting their countrey , and of their unshaken loyalty to their soveraign . i do acknowledge , says i , and am extremely obliged , for the light you have given me in this matter . i will be sure to improve it upon occasion ; neither shall it be my fault , if these poor persecuted people do not find a better countrey with us , than that they are come from . after which i took my leave of our friend , and remain sir yours &c. end of the sixth and last letter . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a25703-e440 declaration of the 17th : of iune , 1681. art. 1. pa●●tic . ann. 1599 , p. 285 , and 286 , e●it . amsterdam , 1664. p. 156 , & 157 , of the lions edition . see statures at large . 1 elizab. 1. 5 eliz. 1. 13 eliz. 1. 23 eliz. 1. 27 eliz. 2. 35 eliz. 2. 1 iacob . 4. 3 iac. 4 , 5 , &c. printed for henry brom● , 1674. art. 1. pat● . mr. god. hermant , doctor of the sorbin . tom. 1. book 2 p. 204. and note● of the same chap● . p. 625. surl ' an . 1572 edit . amsterd . p. 30. printed at p●ris cum privi●●gio chaz lionard , inprimt●r du ●●y . 1680. omahon s. th. mag. disputatio apolegitica de iure regni hib●rni● pro catholicis , n. 20. exod. 5.4 . 1. king. 18.17 . ier. 38.4 . neb. 6.6 . luc. 23.2 . act. 24.5 . & 17.6 . art. 39. art. 40 dan. 2.21 . & 4.25 . ezek. 29.19 . dan. 2.37.38 . dan. 5.18 . 1 sam. 8.11 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17. mez. hist. de franc. tom. 2. p. 841. ibid. hist. de hen. le grand . s●r l'an . 1571. tom● pag 634. hist. de hen. le grand sur l'an . 1576. id sur la même ane● . id sur l'an . 1589. sur l'an . 1593. mez. sur l'an . 1594. hist. de hen. le grand sur l ' an . 1610. mons. le mareschal de sbamberg . mr. du quesne . acts 4.19 . acts 5.29 . chrys. in matth. c. 17. decr. caus. 11. q. 3. c. 93. si dominus . let. de m. boch . 3. part . deuxi●m● . entret . p. 75. hist. du calv. ed. de holland . 1682. pag. 124. pag. 415. pag 422. pag. 124. pag. 197. & 198. pag. 203 , 204. pag. 280. pag. 414 , 415. pag. 475. pag. 462 , 463. pag. 157. pag. 154. pag. 179.319 . pag. 164. pag. 248. pag. 453. pag. 454. pag. 456. pag. 458. pag. 460. pag. 474. pag. 189. pag. 421 , 422. so they called the duke of anjou : pag. 418. pag. 478. pag. 171 , 172. pag. 132. pag. 491. pag. 490. pag. 462 , 463. hist. de hen. le grand . sur l'an . 1572. pag. 96. pag. 501. cardinal d'ossat . ex elog. clar. vir. sammart . the insurrection of amboise happened in the year 1560. and cardinal ' d ossat was born 1536. pag. 127 , * this present st●te of affairs was , that the duke of guise , and the cardinal of lorrain having made themselves masters of the mind the person , and the authority of the young king francis the second , became insufferable tyrants in the kingdom , committed a thousand insolencies upon the princes of the blood , and gave all imaginable suspicion that they aimed at the crown , as pretended heirs to charles the great . † p. 128. | p. 129. p. 130 p. 131. p. 132. p. 133. mez. hlst. de france , tom. 2. p. 771. p. 501. p. 13● . 〈…〉 mez. hist. de franc. tom. 2. pag. 1016. id. ib. pag. 768. id. ib. pag. 758. id. ib. pag. 756. id. ib. pag. 773. guy coquil●e dans ses memoirs pour la reformation de l' estat ecclesiastique . mezeray hsst. de france , p. 578 , 771. idem ib. p. 744 , 745. pag. 746. pag. 749. id. ib. pag. 766. id. ib. pag. 840. hist. de hen. le grand . sur l'an . 1576. id sur l'an . 1584. hist. du cal. pag 317. id. pag. 318. mez. hist. de franc. tom. 2. pag. 771. mez. abreg . chro. mez. hist. de fran. tom. 2. pag. 757 , & p. 763. hist. du calv. pag. 261. popelin . hist. de fran. vol. 1. l. 9. an . 1563. thuan. l. 34. mez. hist. de fran. tom. 2. pag. 903. hist. de calv. pag. 341. mez. hist. de fran. tom. 2. pag. 904. in his abridg . chr. iul. 1563. id. hist. of france , tom. 2. pag. 924. maimb . hist. du calv. p. 344. id. ib. pag. 345. mez. ubr . chron. id. hist. de fr. tom. 11. p. 926. id. ib. p. 932. id abregè chron. sur l'an . 1565. id. abreg . chron. sur l'an . 1565. maimb . hist. du calvin . p. 355. pag. 362● pag. 364. mez. hist. de fran. tom. ●i . pag. 946. abrig . chron. sur l'an . 1569. mez. hist. de fr. tom. 2. p. 714 , & 841. id. ib. pag. 754 , 755. a the king was francis the second . b who was afterwards charl●s the ninth . c huguenots . id. ib. p. 958. hist. de l' etat de fran. &c. ●ons le reg. de francois h. p. 688. to p. 699. † mez. hist. de fran. tom. 11. p ▪ 956. * id ib. p. ●57 . l. p. 958. id. ib. p. 957. ib. id. ib. p. 958. p. 959. ibid. pag 960. thuan hist. l. 42. hist. du calv. pag. 363. † ep. dedicat . hist du calv. pag. 368. the nature of that heresie which the prince professed , i● to harden the heart and to infuse into it all the rage , which the spirit of rebellion is capable of . hist. de calv. pag. 462 , 463. p●g . 273 , 274 , 275. pag. 370. hist. de france , tom. 2. p. 768. & 1016. mez. hist. dr franc. tom. 111. pag. 508. thuan. hist. l. 42. ad ann . 1567. pag. 467. hist. de franc. de mez. tom. 2. p. 985. id. ib. pag. 986 , 987. hist. du calv. p. 399 , &c. id. ib. pag. 402. pag. 403. pag. 404. pag. 405. pag. 406. pag. 407. mez. hist. de fran , tom. 2. pag. 985. id. ib. pag. 986. ahr. chr. sur l'an . 1568. thuan : hist. l. xlii . sub . sin . mezeray hist. de france , tom. 2. pag. 995. thuan. hist. lib. 44. ad an . 1568. ad ann ▪ 1568. † the same mezeray in his hist. tom. 2. pag. 995 , & 996 , observes , that it was shrewdly guessed , that the murder of some persons of quality , as that of sipierre , who were set upon during the time of these rumours , was not done without the privacy of the highest powers ; and that d'arsy , or the marquess d'ars , who killed sipierre , said publickly . that he did nothing but what he had good warrant for . hist. du calv. pag. 402. ib. pag. 422. id. ib. l. 6. pag. 453. id. ib. l. 6. pag. 4●● . id. ib. pag. 468. upon the year , 1572. histor. de france ▪ tom. 2. p. 1110. hist. di● calv. pag. 476. l. 6. ib. 477. † toxin , it is called in french , which i● a certai●●● flow s●●nd they give the bell , when it is to warn of fire , or any thing extraordinary . pag. 478. pag. 479. pag. 480. † they were the new king of navarre , and the new prince of condè . joh 8.44 . id. ib. p. 481. p. 482. p. 483. abr. chr. sur l'an . 1573. id. ib. hist. de hen. le grand par l' eveq . de rhodes sur l'an . 1574. mez. hist. de fran. t. 11. p. 1168. id. ib. 1170. mez. abreg . chr. s●r l an . 1575. id. ib. id. ib. id. ib. id. ib. sur l'an . 1576. id. ib. * la religion pret●ndue reformed . * arriereban . * a court of justice consisting of half protestants , and half papists . ib. hist. du ca. v. p. 490. p. 491. * the line b●fore that of bourbon . p. 492. p. 494. hist. de hen. le grand sur pan. 1576. ib. sur l'an . 1584. id. sur l'an . 1588. hist. du calv. p. 490. id. ib. p. 501 , 502. mez hist. de fr. tom. 11. p 1171. hist. du calv. p. 10.11.12 . see the following quotation . collection of edicts and declarations , printed at paris by allowance , by anth. stephens , in the year 1659 p. 104 , 105 , 107 , 108 , 109 , & 110. see the same co●lection . m●z . hist. de fr. t. 1. p. 456. id. ib. p. ●54 . & d● chesne antiq. de la fran. p. 584.585 . mez. ib. p. 842 , 843. id. ib. p. 885 , 886. tom. 11. p. 978 , 979. id. 16. p. 16. recuil des edicts &c. imprime avec privilege à paris par antoine etienne l'an . 165 . ● p. 272. &c. hist : of calv : lib : 6. p 151 ▪ 152. crit. gen. de hist. de calv. à ville franc. 1682. let . 22. p. 322. la pol●●● du cler●● de fran. 3. m e edit . à la hage p. 102. hist. de calv. p. 501. ● . 50● . witness the medal , where one of them caused to be engraven . perdam babyloni● nomen . i will root out the name of babylon . p. 33● . p. 490.491 . sant . tract . de haeres . et de potest . summi . pont. c. 30. & 31. bell. tract . de potest . summi pont. in temp. a●vers . barel rome 1●10 . p. 35