of Bishops as is acknowledg'd by Dr. Johnston in his assurance of Abby-Lands p. 27. I shall proceed to shew First That the Pope hath no such power as to confirm these Alienations and this is expresly determined by the insallible Pope Damasus in the Canon-Law Caus. 12. 9. 2. c. 20. The Pope cannot alienate Lands belonging to the Church in any manner or for any necessity whatsoever both the buyer and the seller lie under an Anathema till they be restored so that any Church-man may oppose any such Alienations and again require the Lands and Profits so alienated So that here we have a full and express Determination of the infallible See. And tho' in answer to this it is urg'd by Dr. Johnston that this Canon is with small difference published by Binius in the Councils and so as to confine it to the suburbicacy Diocess of Rome yet that this Answer is wholly trivial will appear First Because if the Bishop of Rome hath no Authority to confirm such alienations in his own peculiar Diocess where he hath most power much less can he do it in the Provinces where his power is less Secondly That in all Ecclesiastical Courts of the Church of Rome it is not Binius's Edition of the Councils but Gratian's Collection of Canons that is of Authority in which Book these words are as here quoted Thirdly Since this Book of the Popes Decree hath been frequently reprinted by the Authority and Command of several Popes and constantly used in their courts this is not to be look'd upon as a Decree of Pope Damasus only but of all the succeeding Popes and in the opinion of F. Ellis Sermon before the King Decem. 5. 1686. p. 21. what is inserted in the Canon-Law is become the Judgment of the whole-Church Fourthly It 's absolutely forbid by Pope Gregory the Thirteenth in his Bull ptefixed before the Canon-Law A. D. 1580 for any one to add or invert any thing in that Book So that according to this express Determination in the Popes own Law the Bishops of Rome have no power to confirm any such Alienations as have been made in England and agreeable to all this Pope Julius the Fourth the very Person that is pretended to have confirm'd these Alienations declar'd to our English Ambassadors that were sent upon that Errand That if he had power to grant it he would do it most readily but his Authority was not so large F. Paul's H. of Council of Trent Land. A. D. 1629. p. 392. And therefore all Confirmations from the Bishop of Rome are already prejudg'd to be invallid and of no force at all Secondly No Bishop of Rome did ever confirme them The Breve of Pope Julius the Third which gave Cardinal Pool the largest powers towards effecting this had this express limitation Salvo tamen in his quibus propter renem magnitudinem gravitatem haec Sancta sedes merito tibi videritur consulenda nostro prefatae sedis beneplacito conformatione i. e. Saving to us in these matters in which by reason of their weight and greatness this holy See may justly seem to you that of right it ought to be consulted the good pleasure and confirmation of us and of the holy See which is the true English to that Latin and that this whole Kingdom did then so understand these words is evident from the three Ambassadors that were sent to Rome the next Spring viz. Viscount Montecute Bishop of Ely and Sir Edward Carn these being one to represent every state of the Kingdom to obtain of him a Confirmation of all those Graces which Cardinal Pool had granted Burnet's H. Ref. p. 2. f. 300. So that in the esteem of the whole Nation what the Cardinal had done was not vallid without the Confirmation of the Pope himself Now this Pope Julius and the next Marcellus both dyed before there is any pretence of any Confirmation from Rome but this was at length done by Pope Paul the Fourth is pretended and for proof of it three things are alledged First The Journals of the House of Commons where are these wordes After which was read a Bill from the Popes Holiness confirming the doing of my Lord Cardinal touching the assurance of Abby-Lands c. Secondly a Bull of the same Pope to Sir Will. Peters Thirdly The Decrees of Cardinal Pool and his Life by Dudithius To all which I answer First That it s confess'd on all hands that there is no such Bull or Confirmation by Pope Paul the Fourth to be any where found in the whole World not any Copy or Transcript of it not in all the Bullaria nor our own Rolls and Records tho' it be a matter of so great moment to the Roman Catholicks of England and what cannot be produced may casily be denied Nor can it be imagin'd that a Journal of Lay-persons that were parties concerned or a private Bull to Sir Will. Peters or some hints in the Decrees and Life of the Cardinal will be of any moment in a Court at Rome whensoever a matter of that vast consequence as all the Abby-Land's in England shall come to be disputed especially if it be observed that this very Journal of the house of Commons is no publick Record but hath past through private hands hath been corrupted and defaced and that in Passages of the greatest moment as are the words of of W. Hakewell Esq in his Observation upon them 70 Years since printed A. D. 1641. And whereas the Journal's of the House of Lords are true Records and kept by their proper Officer there is not one word to be sound of any such confirmation Secondly If there ever was any such Bull it had this limitation in it that the Possessors of such Lands should bestow them all on Colleges Hospitals parochial Ministers or other such like spiritual Uses and this I prove First Because the famous Instances that are usually given of the Popes Alienations of Church Lands were only a changing them from one religious Use to another Thus when Pope Clement the Fifth A. D. 1307 supprest the Knights-Templars in this Nation and seiz'd all their Lands and Goods he gave them all to the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem and that was ratified in Parliament 17. Fdw. Second which Act sets forth That tho those Lands were escheated to the Lords of the Fee by the said Dissolution yet it was not lawful to detain them When Pope Clement the Seventh A. D. 1528 gave Cardinal Woolsey a Power to surpress several Monasteries he was to transferr all their Goods and Possessions to his Collegiate Church at Windsor and to Kings College in Cambridge and when the same Pope gave the same Cardinal many other Religious Houses it was for the endowing Christ-Church in Oxford and his College in Ipswich And to name no more when Pope Alexander the seventh A. D. 1655. suppress'd the Order of the Fratres Cruciferi he disposed of all their Houses Farms and Rights to such uses and
rejected there they made their Application to you in the second place The Instances of this might be given in all times I do not repeat them because whatsoever is unnecessary must be tedious the truth of this Assertion being so plain as not to admit a Dispute You cannot therefore reasonably flatter your selves that there is any Inclination to you They never pretended to allow you any Quarter but to usher in Liberty for themselves under that shelter I refer you to Mr. Coleman's Letters and to the Journals of Parliament where you may be convinced if you can be so mistaken as to doubt nay at this very hour they can hardly forbear in the height of their Courtship to let fall hard words of you So little is Nature to be restrained it will start out sometimes disdaining to submit to the Usurpation of Art and Interest This Alliance between Liberty and Infallibility is bringing together the Two most contrary things that are in the World. The Church of Rome doth not only dislike the allowing Liberty but by its Principles it cannot do it Wine is not more expresly forbidden to the Mahometans than giving Hereticks Liberty is to Papists They are no more able to make good their Vows to you than Men Married before and their Wife alive can confirm their Contract with another The continuance of their kindness would be a habit of Sin of which they are to repent and their Absolution is to be had upon no other terms than their Promise to destroy you You are therefore to be hugged now only that you may be the better squeezed at another time There must be something Extraordinary when the Church of Rome setteth up Bills and offereth Plaisters for tender Consciences By all that hath hitherto appeared her skill in Chirurgery lieth chiefly in a quick Hand to cut off Limbs but she is the worst at Healing of any that ever pretended to it To come so quick from another extream is such an unnatural motion that ye ought to be upon your Guard the other day you were Sons of Belial Now you are Angels of Light. This is a violent change and it will be fit for you to pause upon it before you believe it If your features are not altered neither is their opinion of you whatever may be pretended Do you believe less than you did that there is Idolatry in the Church of Rome sure you do not See then how they treat both in Words and Writing those who entertain that opinion Conclude from hence how inconsistent their favour is with this single Article except they give you a Dispensation for this too and by a Non Obstante secure you that they will not think the worse of you Think a little how dangerous it is to build upon a Foundation of Parodoxes Popery now is the only friend to Liberty and the known enemy to Persecution The men of Taunton and Tiverton are above all other eminent for Loyalty The Quakers from being declared by the Papists not to be Christians are now made Favourites and taken into their particular Protection they are on a sudden grown the most Accomplished men of the Kingdom in good Breeding and give Thanks with the best Grace in double refined Language So that I should not wonder tho a man of that Perswasion in spite of his Hat should be Master of the Ceremonies Not to say harsher words these are such very new things that it is impossible not to suspend our Belief till by a little more Experience we may be inform'd whether they are Realities or Apparitions We have been under shameful mistakes if these Opinions are true but for the present we are apt to be incredulous except we could be convinced that the Priests words in this Case too are able to make such a sudden and effectual change and that their Power is not limited to the Sacrament but that it extendeth to alter the nature of all other things as often as they are so disposed Let me now speak of the Instruments of your Friendship and then leave you to judge whether they do not afford matter of Suspition No Sharpness is to be mingled where Healing only is intended so nothing will be said to expose particular men how strong so ever the Temptation may be or how clear the Proofs to make it out A word or two in general for your better caution shall suffice Suppose then for Argument's sake that the Mediators of this new Alliance should be such as have been formerly imployed in Treaties of the same kind and there detected to have Acted by Order and to have been Impowered to give Encouragements and Rewards Would not this be an Argument to suspect them If they should plainly be under Engagements to one side their Arguments to the other ought to be received accordingly their fair Protences are to be looked upon as part of their Commission which may not improbably give them a Dispensation in the case of Truth when it may bring a prejudice upon the Service of those by whom they are imployed If there should be men who having formerly had Means and Authority to persuade by Secular Arguments have in pursuance of that Power sprinkled Money amongst the Dissenting Ministers and if those very men should now have the same Authority practice the same Methods and Disburse where they cannot otherwise â—… It seemeth to me to be rather an Evidence than a Presumption of the Deceit If there should be Ministers amongst you who by having fallen under Temptations of this kind are in some sort engaged to continue their Frailty by the awe they are in least it should be exposed The Persuasions of these unfortunate men must sure have the less force and their Arguments tho never so specious are to be suspected when they come from men who have Mortgaged themselves to severe Creditors that expect a rigorous observation of the Contract let it be never so unwarrantable If these or any others should at this time Preach up Anger and Vengeance against the Church of England may it not without Injustice be suspected that a thing so plainly out of season springeth rather from Corruption than Mistake and that those who act this Cholerick part do not believe themselves but only pursue higher Directions and endeavour to make good that part of their Contract which obligeth them upon a Forfeiture to make use of their inflaming Eloquence They might apprehend their Wages would be retrenched if they should be Moderate And therefore whilst Violence is their Interest those who have not the same Arguments have no reason to allow such a Partial Example If there should be men who by the load of their Crimes against the Government have been â—… down to comply with it against their Conscience who by incurring the want of a â—… have drawn upon themselves the necessary of an intire Resignation Such men are to â—… lamented but not to be believed Nay they themselves when they have discharged their Unwelcome Task
shall stipulate to object himself in case of his failure to have his â—… cut or his Nose stir by the other with security given that he shall not be prosecuted for executing this part of the Agreement the Penalty is heavy enough to discourage a Man from breaking his Contract but on the other side it is of such a kind that the other how much soever â—… may be provoked will not in cold blood â—… to inflict it Such an extravagant Clause would seem to be made only for shew and sound and no man would think himself safer by a thing which one way or other is sure to prove ineffectual In a publick Case Suppose a Government so constituted that a Law may be made in the nature of a Bargain it is in it self no more than a dead â—… the life is given to it by the execution of what it containeth so that let it in it self be never so perfect it dependeth upon those who are intrusted with seeing it observed If it is in any Countrey where the chief Magistrate chuseth the Judges and the Judges interpret the Laws a Penalty in any one particular Law can have no effect but what is precarious It may have a loud voice to threaten but it has not an hand to give a blow for as long as the Governing Power is in possession of this Prerogative but who will chuse the Meat if they chuse the Cooks it is they that will give the taste to it So that it is clear that the rigour of a Penalty will not in all cases fix a Bárgain neither is it Universally a true Position that the increase of punishment for the breach of a new Law is an Equivalent for the consent to part with an old one XVIII In most Bargains there is a reference to the time to come which is therefore to be considered as well as that which cometh within the compass of the present valuation Where the Party Contracting hath not a full power to dispose what belongeth on him or them in Reversion who shall succeed after bim in his Right he cannot make any part of what is so limited to be the condition of the Contract Further he cannot enjoyn the Heir or Successor to forbear the exercise of any Right that is inherent to him as he is a Man neither can he restrain him without his own consent from doing any act which in it self is lawful and liable to no objection For Example A Father cannot stipulate with any other Man that in Cousideration of such a thing done or to be done his Son shall never Marry because Marriage is an Institution Established by the Laws of God and Man and therefore no body can be so restrained by any power from doing such an act when he thinketh fit being warranted by an Authority that is not to be controuled XIX Now as there are Rights inherent in Mens persons in their single capacities there are Rights as much fixed to the Body Politick which is a Creature that never dieth For instance There can be no Government without a Supreme Power that Power is not always in the same hands it is in different shapes and dresses but still whereever it is lodged it must be unlimited It hath a jurisdiction over every thing else but it cannot have it above it self Supreme Power can no more be limited than Infinity can be measured because it ceaseth to be the thing it s very being is dissolved when any bounds can be put to it Where this Supreme Power is mixed or divided the shape only differeth the Argument is still the same The present State of Venice cannot restrain those who succeed them in the same prower from having an entire and unlimited Sovereignty they may indeed make present Laws which shall retrench their present Power if they are so disposed and those Laws if not repealed by the same Authority that enacted them are to be observed by the succeeding Senate till they think fit eto abrogate them and no longer for if the Supreme Power shall still reside in the Senate perhaps composed of other Men or of other minds which will be sufficient the necessary consequence is that one Senate must have as much right to alter such a Law as another could have to make it XX. Suppose the Supreme Power in any State should make a Law to enjoyn all subsequent Law-makers to take an Oath never to alter it it would produce these following Absurdities First All Supreme Power being instituted to promote the safety and benefit and to prevent the prejudice and danger which may fall upon those who live under the protection of it the consequence of such an Oath would be that all Men who are so trusted shall take God to witness that such a Law once made being judged at the time to be advantageous for the publick though afterwards by the vicissitude of times or the variety of accidents or interests it should plainly appear to them to be destructive they will suffer it to have its course and will never repeal it Secondly If there could in any Nation he found a set of Men who having a part in the Supreme legislative Power should as much as in them lieth betray their Country by such a criminal engagement so directly opposite to the nature of their Power and to the Trust reposed in them If these Men have their power only for life when they are dead such an Oath can operate no farther and though that would be too long a Lease for the life of such a Monster as an Oath so composed yet it must then certainly give up the ghost It could bind none but the first makers of it another generation would never be tied up by it Thirdly In those Countries where the Supreme Assemblies are not constant standing Courts but called together upon occasions and composed of such as the People chuse for that time only with a Trust and Character that remaineth no longer with them than that Assembly is regularly dissolved such an Oath taken by the Members of a Senate Diet or other Assembly so chosen can have very little effect because at the next meeting there may be quite another set of Men who will be under no Obligation of that kind The eternity intended to that Law by those that made it will be cut off by new Men who shall succeed them in their power if they have a differing Taste or another Interest XXI To put it yet farther Suppose a Clause in such a Law that it shall be criminal in the last degree for any Man chosen in a subsequent Assembly to propose the repealing it and since nothing can be Enacted which is not first proposed by this means it seemeth as if a Law might be created which should never die But let this be Examined First such a clause would be so destructive to the being of such a Constitution as that it would be as reasonable to say that a King had right to give or
reason for it that one should be offended than the other For the Dissenters who are wise and considering are sensible of the snare themselves and though they desire Ease and Liberty they are not willing to have it with such apparent hazard of Church and State I am sure that tho' we were never so desirous that they might have their Liberty and when there is opportunity of shewing our inclinations without danger they may find that we are not such Persecutors as we are represented yet we cannot consent that they should have it this way which they will find the dearest Liberty that ever was granted This Sir is our Case in short the Difficulties are great on both sides and therefore now if ever we ought to besiege Heaven with our Prayers for Wisdom and Counsel and Courage that God would protect his Church and Reformed Christianity against all the devices of their Enemies Which is the daily and hearty Prayer of SIR Your Friend and Brother May 22. 1688. POSTSCRIPT I Have just now seen H. Care 's Paper called The Publick Occurrences which came out to day and cannot but set you right as to his News about the Reading of the Declaration on Sunday He tells you That several Divines of the Church of England in and about this City eminent for their Piety and Moderation did yesterday Read his Majesties late Declaration in their Churches according to the Order in that behalf but some to the great surprize of their Parishioners were pleased to decline it You in the Country are from this Account to believe that it was Read here by the generality of the Clergie and by the eminent Men among them But I can and do assure you that this is one of the most impudent Lyes that ever was printed For as to this City which hath above a Hundred Parishes in it it was Read only in Four or Five Churches all the rest and best of the Clergy refusing it every where I will spare their Names who read it but should I mention them it would make you who knows this City a little heartily to deride H. C's Account of them And for the Surprize he talks of the contrary of it is so true that in Wood-street where it was Read by one Dr. M. the People generally went out of the Church This I tell you that you may be provided for the future against such an impudent Lyar who for Bread can vouch and put about the Nation the falsest of things I am Yours An ANSWER to the City Minister's LETTER from his COUNTRY FRIEND SIR IT is not for me now to acknowledge my private Debt to you for the favour of your Letter since the publick is as much concern'd in it as I and if I may judge of all by the compass of my Neighbourhood and Acquaintance I may assure you they are not insensible of your Obligation though they are ignorant of the Author The Country as far as my Intelligence reaches has followed the Example of the City and refused to read the Declaration of Indulgence according to a certain Order said to be the Kings which we in the Country can scarce believe to be His. For it has neither been signified to the Ordinaries according to the usual manner nor could those that dispersed it give any Account whence it came to them I have heard indeed that an Act of Council concerning it has been published in the Gazette which I never saw and if I had I should scarce have thought Authentick For I alwaies took that Paper as for its Authority to have been all of a piece and that we were no more bound to take notice of any Order published there under any penalty than we are to believe all the News from Poland or Constantinople Nay though this Order had come to us in due form yet had we had great reason to suspect something of surreption and surprize upon his Majesty in this matter and that it could not proceed from his Majesty's free and full consent for we cannot yet forget his repeated professions of kindness to us and of saitisfaction in cur Principles and Duty and having done nothing since which might forfeit his good Opinion we are unwilling to believe that it is His Majesties own mind and pleasure to load us with such an Order as we cannot execute with any congruity safety of good conscience For I. As to his Majesties Declaration We of all his Majesties Subjects are the least concern'd in it and with all duty be it spoken we cannot see that our legal Establishment receives any Addition by this Declaration For there are yet thanks be to God no Penal Laws to which our Congregations are obnoxious and therefore we do not stand in need of any Toleration Yet it is upon us onely that the Reading of it is imposed An Act which cannot well be construed otherwise than as a solliciting and tempting our own people to forsake our Communion If this Declaration must needs be read in any Religious Assemblies in reason surely it should be in those that wholely owe their subsistence to it It would better have become the Roman than the Protestant Chappels But in the Roman Church Indulgence hath another signification and belongs to those only that freequent their Churches but not to such as leave them for with them this is the only sin that is not capable of Indulgence But the Priests desire to be excus'd lest while they proclaim Toleration to others they bring an Interdict upon themselves Or why I pray was not Father Pen Ordered to publish it in his Meetings Or the worthy Mr. Lob the reputed Father of this Project why had not he the benefit of his own Invention and a Patent for being the sole Publisher of it within his own Pound Or why was not my Lord Mayor's private and elect Congregation thought worthy of so great a grace Surely it is not to draw upon us the envy of the Dissenters that the honour of publishing this Declaration is impos'd upon us alone when it belongs to all other Communions in the Kingdom except our own and if we refuse it I hope it will be imputed to our Modesty for we are not ambitious of being impertinent or busie-bodies in other mens matters A certain person much greater than he deserves but perhaps not so high is said to have used the Words of Rabshakeh upon this occasion That the Church of England Clergy should eat their own Dung. Isa. 36. 12. This sentence might better have beome a Messenger of the K of Assyria than a pretended Counsellour of our own Prince though some make a question to which King he belongs but God be thanked we are not yet so straitly besieg'd as to be reduc'd to that extremity and though by the permission of God We should be reduc'd to so miserable a condition We should I hope by the grace of God be content to endure that and worse extremities if possible rather than Betray or Surrender
apt to suspect that the best way to preserve Liberty of Conscience is to keep the Test and Penal Laws III. For Thirdly If there be any reasou to suspect any other design than Liberty of Conscience as suppose to promote Popery and by degrees to make it the Established Religion of the Nation which certainly is the Design unless you can imagine that Priests and Jesuits and one who hath given up his Understanding and Conscience to them can ever be without this Design You will easily be convinced that there is infinite hazzard in repealing the Test and the Penal Laws This sets Papists upon an equal level with Protestants and then the Favour of the Prince will set them above them and when the whole power of the Nation and the whole administration of Justice is in Popish hands there will need no Penal Laws to persecute Protestants If you say this is done in a great many instances now before such a Repeal I answer then you may certainly guess what will be done when those incapacitating Laws are repealed And yet the difference is very great For while they are under such a legal Incapacity the distrust of their power will make them more modest which is the only thing that can plead excuse hereafter but when they have legal authority they will shew their Nature without restraint Men who have any thing to lose will act cautiously in prospect of an After-reckoning or while these legal incapacities continue will be afraid to act but when the Legal Authority and Power is in their hands Protestant Subjects will quickly find what a Popish liberty of Conscience means While these Laws continue some professed Professed Protestants whose Consciences are govern'd by their Interest are afraid to declare and by these means Popery wants hands and numbers to do its work But when these Laws are removed hopes of preferment will prevail on some and fear on others and when this frozen Adder begins to grow warm and recover its blood and spirits it will find its sting too This would certainly overthrow the Constitution of the Church of England which is the most effectual way to let in Popery For when all Incapacities are removed Papists are as well qualified for Church-Preferments as Protestants and it will be an easie matter to find pretences to remove the best Men to make way for them We have four Catholick Bishops as they vainly call themselves already prepared to fill vacant Sees and if such Men have the impudence to publish their Pastoral Letter and make their publick Visitations while all the Laws against them are in force judge what they will do when they are repealed Thus our Parishes may be filled with Roman Priests and they indeed are the fittest to serve under Roman Bishops And if one Colledge be already seized into Popish hands and the Protestant possessors turned out of their Freehold when those Laws are Repealed we may quickly see more follow them and judge whether this be not a fair and easie step to Popery Nay I have heard some good Lawyers say that when the Penal Laws are repealed Popery is the Established Religion of the Nation That when a repealing Law is repealed the repealed Law revives I am not so good a Lawyer as to judge of this but I think it is worth your Considering But who knows when all the Ecclesiastical Laws are Repealed what the King's Supremacy and his Ecclesiastical Commission may do There have been great and big words said of it of late and I believe You had better keep your Penal Laws than fall under the lash of a Popish Supremacy I know there hath been a great talk of an Equivalent but I would gladly know what that Equivalent should be Shall it incapacitate all Papists for any Office either in Church or State That must not be for fear of depriving the King of the natural right he has to the service of his Subjects and then I am sure there can be no Equivalent for the repeal of the incapacitating Laws But you say there shall be a New Charter for the Church of England the Protestant Religion and Liberty of Conscience Now shall this be with a Penalty or without one If with a penalty then you do not repeal but only exchange your Penal Laws and if Penal Laws are not such Unchristian things but they may be allowed we cannot have better for the security of our Religion than we have and therefore we had best keep these Is there any other fault in our Penal Laws especially when they are not executed but that they are too great a security to the Church of England and the Protestant Interest And if this be a reason for Protestants at this time to repeal them I have done But if this new Establishment be without a penalty what is it good for When these Penal Laws are removed Papists are qualified to sit in both Houses of Parliament and who knows whether Closetting and Reforming of Corporations and such other Arts may not quickly make a Popish Parliament And then Good Night to your New Establishment and Liberty of Conscience These things I hope Sir You will consider in your Choice of Members for Parliament and not be cheated with the Popular cry of Liberty of Conscience into the vilest and most despicable Slavery both of Soul and Body I am SIR Your very Cordial Friend and faithful Monitor A Plain Account of the PERSECUTION laid to the Charge of the CHURCH of ENGLAND THE desire of Liberty to serve God in that way and manner which Men judge to be most acceptable to him is so Natural and Reasonable that they cannot but be extremely provoked against those who would force them to serve him in any other But the conceit withall which most men have that their way of serving God is the only acceptable way naturally inclines them when they have Power to use all means to constrain all others to serve him in that way only So that Liberty is not more desired by all at one time than it is denied by the very same Persons at another Put them into different Conditions and they are not of the same mind but have different inclinations in one state from what they have in another As will be apparent by a short view of what hath passed in these Churches and Kingdoms within our memory II. Before the late Civil Wars there were very grievous Complaints made of the Bishops that they pressed the Ceremonies so strictly as to inflict heavy Censures upon those called Puritans who could not in Conscience conform to them Now no sooner had those very Persons who thus complain'd got their liberty to do as they pleased but they took it quite away from the other and Sequestred all those who would not enter into their Holy League and Covenant for the Reforming all things according to the Model which they propounded Nay they were not willing to bear with Five Dissenting Brethren among themselves who could not
And they are not so void of common sense as to adventure to incur his most high displeasure when they have nothing to rely upon but his favour In short Trust to those who own you for their Brethren as you do them for tho' they have been angry Brethren yet there is hope of Reconciliation between such near Relations But put no Confidence in those who not only utterly disown any such Relation to you but have ever treated you with an implacable hatred as their most mortal Enemies unto whom it is impossible they should be reconciled Prov. 12. 19 20. The lips of Truth shall be established for ever but a lying Tongue is but for a moment Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord but they that deal truly are his delight Abby and other Church-Lands not yet assured to such Possessors as are Roman Catholicks Dedicated to the Nobility and Gentry of that Religion SInce it is universally agreed on that so great a matter as the total alienation of all the Abby-Lands c. in England can never be made legal and valid and such as vvill satisfie the reasonable doubts and scruples of a religious and conscienciousPerson except it be confirm'd by the supreme Authority in this Church its evident that the Protestants vvho assert the Church of England to be autokephalor and such as allows of no Foreign Jurisdiction or Appeals having had these Lands confirmed to them by the King as Head of the Church the Convocation as the Church representative and by the King and Parliament as the supreme Legislative Power in this Realm have these Alienations made as valid to them as any Power on Earth can make them but the Members of the Church of Rome who maintain a Foreign Superiour Jurisdiction either in a general Council or in the Bishop of Rome or both together cannot have these Alienations confirm'd to them without the consent of one or both of these Superiour Jurisdictions If therefore I shall make it appear that these Alienations in England were never confirm'd by either I do not see hovv any Roman-Catholick in England can without Sacriledge retain them and his Religion together As to the first of these since there hath been no Council from the first Alienation of Abby-Lands in England to this day that pretends to be general but that of Trent vve neeed only look into that for the satisfaction of such Roman Catholicks as esteem a general Council above the Bishop of Rome And I am sure that that Council is so far from confirming these Abby-Lands to the present Possessors that it expresly denounceth them accursed that detain them Sess. 22. Decret de Ref. Cap. 11. Si quem c. If Covetousness the root of all evil shall so far possess any Person whatsoever whether of the Clergy or Laity though he be an Emperour or a King as that by force fear or frand or any art or colour whatsoever he presume to convert to his own use usurp the Jurisdiction Goods Estates Fruits Profits or Emoluments whatsoever of any Church or any Benefice Secular or Regular Hospital or Religious House or shall hinder that the profits of the said Houses be not received by those to whom they do of right belong let him lie underan Anathema till the said Jurisdiction Goods Estates Rents and Profits which he hath possessed and invaded or which have come to him any manner of way be restored to the Church and after that have Absolution from the Bishop of Rome So great a Terrour did this strike into the English Papists that were possessors of Church-Lands against whom this Anathema seems particularly directed that many of the zealous papists began to think of Restitution and Sir William Peters notwithstanding his private Bull of Absolution from Pope Julius the Fourth was so much startled at it as that the very next year he endowed eight new Fellowships in Exeter Colledge in Oxford Again the same Council Sess. 25. Decret de Ref. c. 20. Cupiens Sancta Synodus c. Decreeth and commandeth that all the Holy Canons and general Councils and Apostolick Sanctions in savour of Ecclesiastical Persons and the Liberties of the Church and against those that violate them be exactly observed by every one and doth farther admonish the Emperor Kings Princes and all Persons of vvhat estate soever that they vvould observe the Rights of the Church as the commands of God and desend them by their particular Patronage nor suffer them to be invaded by any Lords or Gentlemen whatsoever but severely punish all those vvho hinder the Liberties Immunities and Jurisdictions of the Church and that they vvould imitate those excellent Princes who by their Authority and Bounty encreased the Revenues of the Church so far were they from suffering them to be invaded and in this let every one sedulously perform his part c. And now after so full and express Declaration of the Council of Trent I do not see hovv any of those Roman Catholicks who esteem a general Council to be the supreme Authority in the Church and receive the Trent Council as such can any way excuse themselves in point of Conscience from those heavy Curses that are there denounc'd against all those that detain Church-Lands especially since the Papists themselves vehemently accuse King Henry the Eighth for sacrilegiously robbing of religious Houses and seising of their Lands a great part of which Lands are to this very day possess'd by Papists Now though there may be some Plea for the Popes Authority in the interim of a general Council and in such things vvherein they have made no determination yet in this matter there is no colour for any such pretences since the Council of Trent was actually assembled within few years after these Alienations and expresly condemned the possessors of Abby-Lands and after all this was all confirm'd and ratified by the Pope himself in his Bulla Super conf gen Concil Trid. A. D. 1564. And tho' we have here the Judgment of the infallible See as to this matter in the Confirmation of the Trent Council yet because there be some that magnifie the Popes extravagant and unlimited power over the Church and pretend that he confirm'd the Abby-Lands in England to the Lay-possessors of them I shall shew Secondly That the Pope neither hath nor pretends to any such Povver nor did ever make use of it in this matter under debate only I shall premise that whereas some part of the Canon-Law seem to allow of such particular alienations as are made by the Clerks and members of the Church with the consent of the Bishop yet such free consent was never obtained in England and as to what was done by force fraud and violence is of so little moment as to giving a legal Title that even the alienations that were made by Charles Martell who is among the Papists themselves as infamous for Sacrilege as King Henry the Eighth yet even his Acts are said to be done by a Council
and so continued to be in a great measure in Henry III's time and so would in all likelihood have continued had not the wise Edward I. opposed the Pope's Usurpation and made â—… Statute of Mortmain But that which chiefly â—… the Neck of this was That after the Pope and Clergy had endeavoured in Ed. II's time and the beginning of Ed. III. to usurp again Ed. 3. â—… resist the Usurpation and made the Statutes of Provisors 25 Ed. 3. and 27 Ed. 3. And Richard II. â—… those Acts with 16 Rich. 2. ca. 5. and kept â—… Power in the Crown by them Laws which being interrupted by Queen Mary a bloody Bigot the Church of Rome during her Reign there was an Act made in 1 Eliz. ca. 1. which is intituled An Act to restore to the Crown the ancient Jurisdiction over the Estate Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and abolishing foreign Powers repugnant to the same From which Title I collect three things 1st That the â—… had anciently a Jurisdiction over the Estate Ecclesiastical and Spiritual 2ly That that Jurisdiction had for some time been at least suspended and the Crown had not exercised it 3ly That â—… Law did not introduce a new Jurisdiction but restored the Old but with restoring the old Jurisdiction to the Crown gave a Power of Delegating the Exercise of it And as a Consequence from the whole that all Jurisdiction that is lodged the Crown is subject nevertheless to the Legislative Power in the Kingdom I shall now consider what Power this Act of 1 â—… 1. declares to have been anciently in the â—… and that appears from Sect. 16 17 18. of the same Act. Section 16. Abolisheth all Foreign Authority in â—… Spiritual and Temporal in these words And the intent that all the Usurped and Foreign Power and Authority Spiritual and Temporal may for ever clearly extinguished and never to be used or obeyed within this Realm or any other Your Majesties Dominions or Countries 2. May it please Your Highness that it may be further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That no Foreign Prince Person Prelate â—… or Potentate Spiritual or Temporal shall at any â—… after the last day of this Session of Parliament â—… enjoy or exercise any manner of Power Jurisdiction Superiority Authority Preheminence or Priviledge Spiritual or Ecclesiastical within this Realm or within any other Your Majesties Dominions or Countries that now be or hereafter shall be but from â—… the same shall be clearly Abolished out of this â—… and all other Your Highness's Dominions for â—… any Statute Ordinance Custom Constitutions â—… any other matter or cause whatsoever to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And after the said Act hath abolished all Foreign Authority in the very next Section Sect 17. It annexeth all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to the Crown in these words And that also it may likewise please Your Highness That it may be Established and Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That such Jurisdictions Priviledges Superiorities and Preheminences Spiritual and Ecclesiastical as by any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Power or Authority hath heretofore been or may lawfully be exercised or used for the Visitation of the Ecclesiastical State and Persons and for Reformation Order and Correction of the same and of all manner of Errors Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities shall for ever by Authority of this present Parliament be United and Annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm From these words That such Jurisdiction c. as by any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Power or Authority had then-to-fore been exercised or used were annexed to the Crown I observe That the Four things aforesaid wherein the Pope had incroached were all restored to the Crown and likewise all other Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction that had been exercised or used in this Kingdom and did thereby become absolutely vested in the Crown Then Section 18. gives a Power to the Crown to assign Commissioners to exercise this Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in these words And that Your Highness Your Heirs and Successors Kings or Queens of this Realm shall have full Power and Authority by Vertue of this Act by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England to Assign Name and Authorize when and as often as Your Highness Your Heirs or Successors shall think meet and convenient and for such and so long time as shall please Your Highness Your Heirs or Successors such Person or Persons being natural horn Subjects to Your Highness Your Heirs or Successors as Your Majesty Your Heirs or Successors shall think meet to exercise use occupy and execute under Your Highness Your Heirs and Successors all manner of Jurisdictions Priviledges and Preheminences in any wise touching or concerning any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within these Your Realms of England and Ireland or any other Your Highness's Dominions and Countries 2. and to Visit Reform Redress Order Correct and Amend all such Errors Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever which by any manner of Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Power Authority or Jurisdiction can or may lawfully be Reformed Ordered Redressed Corrected Restrained or Amended to the pleasure of Almighty God the increase of Vertue and the conservation of the Peace and Unity of this Realm 3 And that such person or persons so to be named assigned authorised and appointed by your Highness your Heirs or Successors after the said Letters Patents to him or them made and delivered as is aforesaid shall have full Power and Authority by vertue of this Act and of the said Letters Patents under your Highness your Heirs and Successors to exercise use and execute all the premisses according to the tenor and effect of the said Letters Patents any matter or cause to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding So that I take it that all manner of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was in the Crown by the Common Law of England and declared to be so by the said Act of 1 Eliz. 1. and by that Act a power given to the Crown to assign Commissioners to Exercise this Jurisdiction which was accordingly done by Queen Eliz. and a High Commission Court was by her Erected which late and held Plea of all Causes Spiritual and Ecclesiastical during the Reign of Queen Eliz. King James the first and King Charles the first till the 17 year of his Reign Which leads me to consider the Statute of 17 Car. 1. ca. 11. which Act recites the Title of 1 Eliz ca. 1. and Sect. 18. of the same Act and recites further Section 2. That whereas by colour of some words in the aforesaid branch of the said Act whereby Commissioners are Authorized to execute their Commission acording to the tenor and effect of the Kings Letters Patents and by Letters Patents grounded thereupon the said Commissioners have to the great and insufferable Wrong and Oppression of the Kings Subjects used to Fine and Imprison them and to exercise other Authority not belonging to Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction restored by that Art and divers
other great Mischiefs and Inconveniences have also ensuid to the Kings Subjects by occasion of the said Branch and Commissions issued thereupon and the executions thereof Therefore for thr repressirg and preventing of the aforesaid abuses Mischiefs and Inconveniences in time to come by Sect. 3. the said Clause in the said Act 1 E. 1. is Repealed with a Non obstante to the said Act in these words Be it Enacted by the Kings most excellent Majesty and the Lords and Commons in this present Paliament Assembled and by the Authority of the same That the aforesaid Branch Clause Article or Sentence contained in the said Act and every word matter and thing contained in that Branch Clause Article or Sentence shall from benceforth be Repealed Annulled Revoked Annihilated and utterly made Void for ever any thing in the said All to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And in Sect 5. of the same Act it is Enacted That from and after the First of August in the said â—… mentioned all such Commissions shall be void in these words And be it further Enacted Toat â—… and after the said First day of August no new Court should be erected ordained or appointed within this Realm of England or Dominion of Wales which shall or â—… have the like Power Jurisdiction or Authority as to said High Commission Court now bath or pretendeth â—… have but that all and every such Letters Patents Commissions and Grants made or to be made by â—… Majesty his Heirs or Successors and all Powers and Authorities Granted or pretended or mentioned â—… be granted thereby And all Acts Sentences and Decrees to be made by vertue or colour thereof shall â—… utterly void and of none effect By which Act then the power of Exercising Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by Commissioners under the Broad-Seal is so taken away that it provided no such power shall ever for the future be Delagated by the Crown to any Person or Person whatsoever Let us then in the last place consider Whether the Act of 13 Car. 2. ca. 12. hath Restored this Power or not And for this I take it that it is not restored â—… the said Act or any Clause in it and to make that evident I shall first set down the whole Act â—… then consider it in the several Branches of it that relate to this matter The Act is Entituled An Act for Explanation of a Clause contained in an Act of Parliament made in the 17th Year of the â—… King Charles Entituled An Act for Repeal of a Branch of Statute in primo Elizabethae concerning Commissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical The Act it self runs thus Whereas in an Act of Parliament made in the Seventeenth Year of the â—… King Charles Entituled An Act for Repeal of a Branch of a Statute primo Elizabethae concerning Commissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical it is amongst other things Enacted That no Arch-bishop bishop nor Vicar-General nor any Chancellor nor â—… of any Arch-bishop Bishop or Vicar-General â—… any Ordinary whatsoever nor any other Spiritual Ecclesiastical Judge Officer or Minister of Justice nor any other person or persons whatsoever â—… Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Power Authority or Jurisdiction by any Grant Lisence or Commission of the King Majesty His Heirs or Successors or by any Power â—… Authority derived from the King his Heirs or Successors or otherwise shall from and after the First Day of August which then should be in the Year of our Lord â—… One thousand six hundred forty one Award Impose or Inflict any Pain Penalty Fine Amercement Imprisonment or other Corporal Punishment upon any of the Kings Subjects for any Contempt Misdemeanor Crime Offence Matter or Thing whatsoever belonging â—… Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Cognizance or Jurisdiction 2 Whereupon some doubt hath been made that all ordinary power of Coertion and proceeding in Causes acclesiastical were taken away whereby the ordinary cause of Justice in Causes Ecclesiastical hath been obstructed 3. Be it therefore Declared and Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled and by the Authority thereof That neither the said Act nor any thing therein contained doth or shall take away any ordinary Power or Authority from any of the said Arch-bishops Bishops or any other person or persons named as aforesaid but that they and every of them Exercising Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction may Proceed Determine Sentence Execute and Exercise all manner of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and all Cenfures and Coertions appertaining and belonging to the same before any making of the act before recited in all Causes and Matters belonging â—… Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction according to the Kings Majesties Ecclesiastical Laws used and practised in this â—… in as ample Manner and Form as they did and might lawfully have done before making of the said Act. Sect. 2. And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the afore recited Act of Decimo â—… Car. and all the Matters and Clauses therein contained excepting what concerns the High-Commission Court or the new Erection of some such like court by Commission shall be and is thereby Repealed to all intents and purposes whatsoever any thing cause or sentence in the said Act contained to the contrary not withstanding Sect. 3. Provided always and it is hereby Enacted that neither this Act nor any thing herein contained shall extend or be construed to revive or give Force to the said Branch of the said Statute made in the said First Year of the Reign of the said Late Queen Elizabeth mentioned in the said Act of Parliament made on the said Seventeenth Year of the Reign of the said King Charles but that the said Branch of the said Statute made in the said First Year of the Reign of the said Late Queen Elizabeth shall stand and be Repealed â—… such sort as if this Act had never been made Sect. 4. Provided also and it is hereby further Enacted That it shall not be lawful for any Arch-bishop Bishop Vicar-General Chancellor Commissary or any other Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Judge Officer or Minister or any other person having or exercising Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to Tender or Administer unto any person whatsoever the Oath usually called the Oath Ex Officio or any other Oath whereby such person to whom the same is tendered or Administred may be charged or compelled to Confess or Accuse or to purge him or her self of any Criminal matter or thing whereby he or she may be liable to Censure or Punishment any thing in this Statute or any other Law Custom or Usage hertofore to the contrary hereof in any wife notwithstanding Sect. 5. Provided always That this Act or any thing therein contained shall not extend or be construed to extend to give unto any Arch-bishop Bishop or any other Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Judge Officer or other person or persons aforesaid any Power or Authority to Exercise Execute Inflict or determine any Ecclesiastical
and better Rule to steer mankind than the empty Motions of the Schools â—… only to perplex and confound our â—… lest it should discover the naked Truth of things The present Letter will confine it self only to Publick Promises Oaths and Solemn Contracts scandalonsly violated by the Roman Catholicks nor with Heathens and Hereticks only but amongst themselues We will begin with the more remote Countries The Spaniards and Portugueses have acted so treacherously with the Africans and the Natives of both Indies that the Cruelty of the History would be incredible if it was not related by their own Historians their Leagues and Treaties the most sacred Bonds under Heaven were soon neglected and the Spirit of their Religion broke all before it how many Millions of those innocent Creatures were murder'd in cold Blood and for Pastime sake with all the variety of Torments that the Devil could inspite into them how soon were the vast Regions of Mexico New Spain Peru Hispaniola Brasel c. depopulated above twenty Millions of the poor harmless Inhabitants being put to death in full Peace and they the best natur'd People in the World and very Ingenious tho' they may seem Savages to a sort of Men who think all Barbarians that differ from them in Habits Manners Customs Diet Religion Language c. not considering that all-wise Nature hath contriv'd a different Scene of things for various Climates Nay such is the Inhumanity of these Catholick Nations here at home that they will frequently bring Strangers settled amongst them by the Laws of Commerce and their own fellow Subjects into the Inquisition especially if they are Rich upon a pretence of some Heretical opinion tho' they themselves at first protect and license the Opinion is in the case of Molino whose Book had receiv'd an Imprimatur from most of the Inquisitors of Spain and Italy and even from the Infallible Head of the Church yet afterwards it was burnt and he himself together with many of his Followers miserably tortur'd the Pope scarce escaping the Punishment The Generous Marshal Schombergh driven out of France for his great Services who had won many Battels for the Portugueses and sav'd their Country could not be suffer'd to end his Old Age amongst them but was forc'd in the midst of Winter to commit himself to the Sea and fly to an Inhospitable Shoar The present French King renounced all his Pretences on Flanders concluded the Pyrenean Treaty and swore at the Altar not to meddle with that Country but how well he observ'd that Sacred Covenant Baron D'Isola will best inform you in his â—…â—… for which he was thought to be poison'd neither hath the French Monarch been contented to break all Faith and Measures with the Spaniard but he hath gone about to deceive and ruine the Pope Emperour all the Princes and Electours of the Empire the Prince of Orange Duke of Lorrain the Swizzes the Dutch and the English and not only these his Neighbours and Allies but his own Protestant Subjects who had all the Security that Solemn Edicts Oaths and Promises could afford then besides many other obligations upon the Crown for bringing the King to the Throne yet all of a sudden they found themselves oppress'd and destroy'd by his Apostolical Dragoons their Temples razed their Wives and Children taken away their Goods and Estates confiscated themselves cast into Prisons sent to the Gallies and often shot at like Birds His seising of Lorrain Franch Compte Alsact Strasburgh Luxembergh the Principality of Orange the County of Avignon Philipsburg the whole Palatinate the Electorates of Mentz Trevis and Cologn his building of Citadels in the Empire and in Italy c. are so contradictory to National Agreements and Publick Treatles that scarce a Jesuit or a Frenchman can have Impudence enough to defend them a Banditto a Pyrate or a Pick-pocket would be asham'd of such Actions and an ordinary Man would be hang'd for a Crime a Million times less His seising upon Hudson's Bay and leading the English into Slavery the French Treachery in the Engagement at Sea between us and the Dutch their frequent seizing of our Ships are light things not worthy our Resentment being under the Conduct of a Monsicur whom the World so justly vilifies and despises The Emperour can have no good Pretence to condemn the King of France or any other Catohlick Prince for breach of Common Faith and Honesty since he himself hath plald the same Game with his Protestant Subjects inviting some of the â—… of the Hungarian Nobility to Vienna under the colour of Treaty and Friendship and then cutting of their Heads seizing their Estates and Properties destroying their Pastors and Churches and extirpating the whole Reform'd Religion after he had promis'd and stipulated to protect and give them the liberty of their Consciences The Parisian Massacres were carried on and executed under a Mass of Friendship all the Principal Protestants of France being invited to the healing Marriage to Revel and Caress were Barbarously Butcher'd at the Toll of a Bell in their Beds when they dream'd they â—… securely The Irish Massacre of above 200000 Protestants was no less Treacherous it was a Copy of the Spanish Cruelty in the West Indies to whom the Irish are compar'd by Historians for their Idleness and Inhumanity tho'not for their Wit. The Persecutions of the Protestants in the Valley of Piedmont are another instance of Popish Immunity and baseness they were under the common shelter of publick Pactions and Treatles and â—… been solemnly own'd by the Dukes of Savoy to â—… the most Loyal and the most Couragious of the Subjects The present Duke who undertook the last Persecution was not content to destroy the with his own Troops but call'd in the French assist at the Comedy to shoot them off the Rock to hunt them over the Alps and to sell the stronger of them to the Gallies that the very Turkish Slave themselves might deride and insult over â—… Catholicks who have not Power or Opportunity execute the same things seem to condemn the Conduct in Publick but sing Te Deum in Private and soon as ever they have got a sufficient Force commit the like Barbarities so essential to their Religion that all the instinct of Nature cannot separate them The Holy Father at Rome tho' he sets for a moderate and merciful Pontificate order'd Deum to be Sung up and down for the extirpation of Heresie out of France and Pidemont and â—… English Catholicks have given us as their Army â—… Interest encreas'd several proofs how well â—… can juggle and disguise themselves setting up â—… of Inquisition turning Protestants out of all â—… and even out of their Freeholds dispensing â—… Laws Ravishing Charters packing Corporations â—… and all under a notion of Liberty or a Divine â—… they with their Accomplices defended illegal Declarations and set up an Authority above all our â—… under the Cloak of a sham Liberty of Conscience racking at the very same time the
Consciences of the Church of England Men and â—… the Foundation of our State If Mr. Pen â—… his Disciples had condemn'd the unlawfulness the Declarations and the Dispensing Power â—… they wrote so fast for Liberty of Conscience they had then shew'd a generous zeal for a just freedom in Matters of Religion and at the same â—… a due veneration to the Legislative Power Kings Lords and Commons but the secret of the â—… was to maintain and Erect a Prerogative â—… all Acts of Parliament and consequently to produce upon that bottom Tyranny and Popery yet â—… all this uncontroulable Power and â—… of Grandeur an Easterly Wind and a Fleet Fly-Boats would cancel and undo all again Our â—… Historians relate of King John that being some distress he sent Sir Tho. Hardington and â—… Sir Ralph Fitz-Nichols Ambassadours to â—… the great Emperour of Morocco with â—… of his Kingdom to him upon Condition he should come and aid him and that if he prevail'd â—… would himself turn Mahometan and renounce â—… I will not insist upon the violations of Laws and Treaties in the Low Countries or the Spanish â—… over them because the Spaniards have got so much by that Persecution and Cruelty that they might be tempted to practise the like again for forcing the Netherlanders to take up Arms for their defence and by necessitating Queen Elizabeth â—… and preserve them they have set up a â—… and Glorious State as they themselves have call'd them in some Treaties that hath preserv'd â—… languishing Monarchy of Spain and the Liberty of Christendim The base and cowardly Massacre of that great â—… William Prince of Orange of the Renowned â—… Coligny and the Prince of Conde the many bloody Conspiracies for the Extirpation of the whole Race of the House of Orange The Murders â—… Henry the 2d and Henry the 4th are all Rewards and everlasting Monuments of Popish Barbarity What incredible Effusion of Blood hath been occasion'd by the frequent revolts of the Popes against the Emperours by he Image-Worship and the Holy Wars What Treachery in the Bohemian Transactions and Treaties What Inhumanity burning Jerome of Prague and John Hus when they had the Emperours Pass and all other â—… securities from the Council it self that put to â—… those two Good Men. The Reign of Queen Mary is another Scene of the Infidelity and Treachery of the Church of Rome what Oaths did she take what Promises and Protestations did she make to the Suffolk Men who had set the Crown upon her head and yet they were the first that felt the strokes of a Persecution from Her. Read her History in Fox's Martyrs and Doctor Burnet's History of the Reformation The many Conspiracies to destroy Queen Elizabeth and King James the Gunpowder Plot the Counsels carried on in Popish Countries to take off King Charles the First and the many late Popish Plots are a continued Series and Thred carried on by the Church of Rome to break thro' all Laws both of God and Man to erect an Universal Monarchy of Priest-Crast and to bring the whole World under their Yoke The Sweeds have taken an effectual and commendable way to keep Popish Priests and Jesuits those â—… and disturbers of Societies the declared Enemies to the Welfare of Mankind out of their â—… by Gelding them and consequently rendring them incapable of Sacerdotal Functions tho' the Priests have found out a Salvo and will say Mass and Consess if they can procure their Testicles again and carry them in their Pockets either preserv'd or in Powder In aethiopia China and Japan the Roman Priests have been so intolerably turbulent and such extravagant Incendiaries that they have been often Banished and put to Death so that now they disguise themselves all over the Eastern Nations under the Names and Characters of Mathematicians Mechanicks Physicians c. and dare not own their Mission to propagate a Faith which is grown ridiculous all over Asia The long and dreadful Civil Wars of France the many Massacres and Persecutions and lastly the Siege of Rochel are living Instances how far we may rely upon Engagements and Laws both as to the taking of that Bulwark and the promised relief from hence The Protestant Defenders of it refusing to rely any longer upon Paper Edicts and the Word of a Most Christian King had this City granted them as a Cautionary Town for their Security for before they had always been deluded out of their Advantages by fair promises insignificant Treaties and the word of a King yet Lewis the 13. following the vitious Examples of Treacherous Princes fell upon this Glorious City which upon the account of their Laws and Priviledges made a resistance and brave defence having never heard of Passive Obedience amongst their Pastors thinking it more lawful to defend their Rights than it was for Lewis to invade them As for the late and present Reign here in England they are too nice and tender things for me to touch whether the Transactions of them are consistent with the Coronation-Oaths the many Declarations Protestations publick and solemn Promises I am no fit Judge they are more proper for the Gravity of an Historian or the Authority of a Parliament to handle than for a private Gentleman in a Letter to his Friend The Bishops Papers and the P. of Orange's Declarations are the best Memoirs of them but they only begin where the two parts of the History of the growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government left off and how far we may trust to Catholick Stipulations Oaths and Treaties the facts of past and the present Age are the best Criterions and Rules to guide and determine us for what happens every day will in all probability happen to morrow the same Causes always produce the same Effects and the Church of Rome is still the same Church it was a hundred years ago that is a Mass of Treachery Barbarity Perjury and the highest Superstition a Machine without any principle or setled Law of Motion not to be mov'd or stopt with the weights of any private or publick Obligations a Monster that destroys all that is sacred both in Heaven and Earth so Ravenous that it is never content unless it gets the whole World into its Claws and tears all to pieces in order to Salvation a Preteus that turns it self into all shapes a Chamelion that puts on all Colours according to its present circumstances this day an Angel of Light to morrow a Beelzehub Amongst all the Courts of Christendom where I have conversed that of Holland is the freest from Tricks and Falshood and tho' I am naturally jealous and suspitious of the Conduct of Princes yet I could never discover the least Knavery within those Walls it appear'd to me another Athens of Philosophers and the only Seat of Justice and Vertue now left in the World as for the Character of the Prince of Orange it is so faithfully drawn by Sir Will. Temple Doctor Burnet and in a half sheet