your most incontestable Right will be soon Vsurped He that attacks me to day will declare himself against you to morrow should a Wise Man stand with his Arms folded when his Neighbours House is on Fire The Advice was wholsom but his Majesty of Great Britain had the Dissatisfaction to hear several Catholick Princes did not dare to read his Apology for fear of giving offence to the Pope A strange Slavery Can Policy or Superstition reduce Princes to so mean a Complaisance to a Bishop who would have great Honour done him in leaving him the first Subject of the Empire Henry IV. of France was as weak as the rest Coeffeteau writes against K. James his Apology He forbid any Translation should be published of that Book which his good Ally had sent him His Care and Orders were ineffectual the Apology appeared in French in spite of him Coeffeteau a Religious Dominican after Bishop of Marseille an Author who successfully began first to give an Elegance and an Agreeable and Neat turn to the French Language Coeffeteau I say was desirous to Signalize himself on this occasion and so enter the List against a King This Man was obliged to speak after the manner used in France and to own the Independance of Sovereigns in regard of their Temporal Concerns But the poor Dominican Embarassed himself terribly Indeed says he to the King of Great Britain If the Catholick Church teacheth this Furious Zeal if she arms her own Children against Kings and puts them on making Attempts against their Lives she is not only unworthy of their Favours but deserves to be Exterminated and her Memory erased by a General Decree of Mankind but if on the contrary she condemns all these Attempts as Parricides if she desires Princes should securely enjoy their Dominions have their Armies Victorious an obedient People a Faithful Counsel and all Happiness that can be desired is not her Greatness Harmless notwithstanding the Rage of some private Persons whom Despair and not Religion has pushed on to Brutality She knows she cannot subsist without the State that she is born in it and the State is her Support The Catholick Church this is a word strangely Equivocal in France If it may be allowed to fignifie a certain Number of the most enlightned and sincere Persons in the Roman Communion the Author I have just now cited may speak Truth But if by the Catholick Church we must understand as is more reasonable its Supreme Pastor the great number of those which fill its chief Dignities its most Famous Writers I very much fear the good Coeffeteau has advanced a Notorious Falshood The Pope and Cardinals gave him the Lye in a very Remarkable manner the very same year he answered King James Barclay had wrote against Bellarmine about the Authority of the Pope and followed the Principles commonly received amongst the better Men of France His Book was Condemned at Rome as well as the Noble History of Mr. De Thou the Famous Argument of Antony Arnaud against the Jesuits and the Sentence it self of the Parlement of Paris against John Chastel who had made an Attempt on the Life of Henry IV. That poor Prince was not yet dead This strange Censure which he endur'd so patiently did it not serve to Animate the Rage of that Wretch who Assassinated him the year following If the pretended Head of the Church of Rome if the Cardinals and the greatest number of its Paftors did not teach this Furious Zeal If they condemned their Attempts as Parricides would they have destroyed so many good Books so Just and so Christian a Sentence Let us then conclude with the Opinion of the Eminent Coeffeteau The Pope and Cardinals deserve to be exterminated and their Memory erased by a publick Decree of Mankind As the Cardinals pretend they are not Inferior to Crown'd Heads Cardinal Pellarmine Addresses to the Emperor and Kings of the Popal Communion his Answer to the King of England's Apology Bellarmine in the same manner Addresses to the Emperor and the Kings who own God for their Father and the Catholick Church for their Mother the Answer which he had some time since made under a borrowed Name to the King of Great Britain's Apology It must not be thought strange says the Cardinal that I undertake to refute a King It is for the Defence of the Faith I have taken my Pen in hand after the Example of divers Prelates of Antiquity Hilary of Poitiers and Lucifer of Cagliari have writ against the Haeretical Emperor Constantius Gregory Narianzen and Cyrill of Alexandria have Encountred Julian the Apostate This did James the first draw on himself from a Priest for turning Controvertist without necessity If he had contented himself with publishing a Manifesto to prove the Justice of the Oath he required of his Popish Subjects he would have embarass'd the Court of Rome and its Advocates But he labour'd to shew the Pope was Antichrist and that Rome is the Seat of the Son of Perdition Was not this a way to please the Sovereigns of the Popes Communion by furnishing them with a pretence for not receiving kindly the Kings Apology and applauding the Cardinals Answer A Deeree of the Parlement of Paris against the Treatise of Bellarmine of the Authority of the Pope The Dispute stopt there Bellarmine set himself to reply to Barclay This Man had refuted what the Cardinal advanced concerning the Authority of the Pope in the first Volume of his Controversies The Magistrates opposed the printing them at Paris and the first Sheets which were work'd of were Suppressed by order of the Solicitor General As soon as they had notice of the New Book which Bellarmine had published of the Authority of the Pope in Temporal Matters Servin Advocate General moved the Parlement to provide against any Mischiefs which the Publication of so ill a Book might cause This Magistrate urged the Duty of his Place obliged him not to be less Diligent or Zealous for the Service of his Master than Peter de Cugnieres and John le Cooq his Predecessors had been the one in the Reign of Philip of Valois and the other in that of Charles the VI. Farther he alledged the late proceedings of the King of Spain and his Officers against that Volume of the Annals of Cardinal Baronius wherein the Monarchy of Sicily is attacked The Chambers meeting upon the occasion of this Remonstrance ordered Cardinal Bellarmines Work to be Supprest let us now see what was done this year in Spain against Baronius An Edict of the King of Spain against the XI Volume of the Ecclesiastical Annals of Cardinal Baronius The Kings of Sicily have for a long time been the only Popes of this little Kingdom By Virtue of a certain Bull which Pope Vrban the Second granted say they to Roger Count of Sicily and his Successors the Sovereign is Legatus Natus or Born Legat of the Holy See His Spiritual Power is so great that he
Dr. Duval at the Head of his Party promis'd to answer in case the Parlement press't them to it that the Faculty could do nothing without the Bishops or without an express Order from the Queen that the Articles in question had not only a Reference to Religion but to State Affairs also In the mean time the Jesuits were at a stand they long'd to open their College of Clermont To obtain this Permission The Jesuits puzl'd how they could content the Court of Rome and the Parlement at the same time they were to follow the Advice which the President Seguier their good Friend and some others gave to the Society which was to content the Parlement by a Promise to conform to the Doctrine generally received in the University of Paris But this exposed them too to the Indignation of the Holy Father and Court of Rome The Cardinal Perron the Bishop of Paris and many other Prelates Counsell'd them not to content the Parlement so far Vbaldini entreated them from it being persuaded that the Honour of the Holy Chair was concern'd in this Affair After great Consults the Provincial accompanied by five other Jesuits goes without giving notice to the Nuncio or Cardinals to make a Declaration in Writing before the Register of Parlement like to that which the Provincial had made in Parlement vivâ voce The good Fathers believed they should easily Extricate themselves in this Affair with the Court of Rome when the thing was done and should escape with only a chiding from the Nuncio and their General who would not be sorry for it at the bottom of his Heart As soon as the Nuncio had understood what the Jesuits had done he was in a furious Passion Father Coton was order'd to wait on him to Appease him The oily Tongu'd Jesuit represented to him to little purpose that his Provincial did not think to do any Mischief in signing what he had already said viz. That the Rules of the Society required it should conform to the Sentiments of the Universities where it had Colleges that their good Friends counsell'd them to prevent the Troubles which the Parlement would not fail to give them if the Society should obstinately refuse to obey the Edict Lastly that they had believ'd the Pope to have Reasons why he did not give them expresly Permission to submit to a Law which the Parlement would impose upon them but that they hop'd the Pope would not take it ill from them likewise to have contented the Parlement without the knowledge of the Court of Rome The Nuncio was not paid with these Reasons Doth it belong to you said he to Coton to guess the Intentions of his Holiness You should have consulted his Minister who knows them better than any one else And since you ought to conform to the Sentiments of Vniversities why have you not tarried till the Sorbonne explain'd clearly what it believes In stead of consulting your President Seguier and the Lawyers it might have been more expedient to have taken mine and the Prelates their Advice who have good Intentions and have expected Orders from your Father General Coton had nothing to reply but the business was over The Nuncio likewise could not further complain to the Queen of the violence the Parlement had done the Jesuits for one might have answer'd him that the good Fathers went of their own accord without any new Summons to promise to conform to the Sentiments of the University and Intentions of the Parlement As Equivocations Silence keeping and Mental Reservation are always the Society's great help the Jesuits of Paris made wonderful use of them in the Letters they wrote to the Pope and Cardinal Borghese his Nephew Can any one forbear laughing and see Coton speaking down right to his Holiness that by the Liberties of the Gallican Church they understood nothing but the Concordate made betwixt Leo X. and Francis I. A Book of Doctor Richer Sindic of the Doctors of Paris occasions there a great stir Vbaldini bestirr'd himself yet farther with the Clergy and Sorbonne to ruine Richer Doctor and Syndic of the Faculty at Paris At the beginning of the year two Books were put out one of which brought great trouble to the Author tho' his Name was not put to it The first was but a Collection of some Decrees of the Faculty at Paris upon the Authority of the Pope T' was intended to prove herein that the ancient Doctrine of Sorbonne is That Jesus Christ hath instituted an Aristocratical Government in his Church And because the Court of Rome accuseth all those of Huguenotism who oppose it's Usurpations the Author of this Collection was willing to prevent this Reproach against the Faculty in joyning to his Collection the Sorbonne Decrees against Luther and du Plessis Mornai The second Book unfolds the Hypothesis of the Aristocratical Government of the Church The Title of the Book is Of Ecclesiastical and Politick Power The Author pretended that Spiritual Jurisdiction belongs properly to the Church and that the Pope and Bishops are but the Instruments and Ministers whom she makes use of to exercise this Jurisdiction that Jesus Christ is the Essential Head of the Church of which the Pope is only Head Ministerial as they term it and that the Authority of the Pope extends only to particular Churches where he is to see that the Decrees and Canons publish't in General Councils be observ'd that the Church ought not to be govern'd by one Absolute Monarch but by the Canons that Infallibility is given to the Church in general that is to say to the Body of the chief Pastors every particular Bishop and Pope likewise being subject to Error that the frequent calling of General Councils is necessary that the Decrees of the Pope oblige no further than they are Conformable to the Canons Lastly that the Pope cannot impose any Obligation upon the Church against her will and without her consent to it As to politick Power the Author maintains that Jesus Christ hath given no Temporal Jurisdiction to the Church and that she hath not any power to use the Sword or Constraint that Censures and Excommunications are the Spiritual Arms of the Church and that they could not heretofore be employ'd without the Counsel of the Assembly which they call'd Presbyters that the King is the Defender and Protector of the Natural Divine and Canonical Law and that in this Quality he hath right to make Laws and use the Sword to maintain what God and the Councils have ordain'd that Christian Emperors have by Right call'd the first General Council That Appeals as Appeals from Abuse or Error are lawful and that Sovereigns ought to receive them in quality of being Protectors of the Canons that the Church hath an indirect Power over Temporal Matters by way of Persuasion and Excommunication but not by way of Constraint and Deposition of Sovereigns that the Decrees of Popes wherein Sovereigns who don 't Exterminate Hereticks are Excommunicated have no
HISTORY OF LEWIS XIII THE HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF LEWIS XIII King of France and Navarre CONTAINING The most Remarkable Occurrences in FRANCE and EUROPE during the Minority of that Prince By Mr. MICHEL Le ASSOR LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs and Bible against Grocers-Hall in the Poultrey 1700. Advertisement THE Remaining Parts of this History will be Printed in the same Size with this Volume TO MY Lord Viscount WOODSTOCK My LORD AS soon as I began to write the Book I now present you with My Lord the Earl of Portland your Illustrious Father did me the Honour to employ me in your Service to read History to you I was surprized with Pleasure to observe that the Providence of God having designed me for this Employment had turned my thoughts upon a Subject the knowledge of which is so absolutely necessary for you that so you may reap the full advantage of those wise Instructions which your Father who loves you tenderly will one day give you concerning those extraordinary Revolutions which Europe has with Amazement beheld for thirty years together He knows the secret Motives and hidden Springs which produced them all and he has always been the Depositary of the Secrets of that Great Prince who had the greatest hand in them he has served him in his brave and hazardous Enterprizes with equal Zeal and Courage 'T is from a Father so exquisitely skill'd in all the Arts of Politicks and War that you will learn my Lord the Intrigues of all the Negotiations which have been transacted in his time the present Interests of Princes the Account of Battels Sieges Marches of Armies in which he has always held a considerable Post In giving you the Narrative of his own Actions he will instruct you how a Person of your Rank and Quality may equally love your Country and a Prince who do's you the Honour to trust you with his Secrets what Rules you are to observe that so you may do good service for the one without intrenching upon that inviolable fidelity which you owe to the other In short he will teach you what a Peer of England is obliged to do that he may be serviceable to the King in Parliament and at the same time deserve the Esteem and Approbation of a People extremely jealous of its Rights and Priviledges Others besides my Lord the Earl of Portland may possibly be able to give you good Counsel in these Affairs But there is one thing yet behind which your incomparable Father alone can teach you And that is My Lord Moderation in an elevated Fortune He has himself lately given you a rare example of it The Greatness of his Soul in this respect is a thing so extraordinary that you will scarcely find an equal Instance in all those Ancient and Modern Histories which you design to read Keep your Eyes always fixt on this Domestick Example It can't but powerfully impress this weighty Maxim in your mind That to set bounds to your Ambition though just and reasonable is truer and more substantial Glory than 't is to rise to the highest Dignities I have told you my Lord that the History of the Reign of Lewis the XIII will be of great use to you to let you into the understanding of those Revolutions which have happened for some time past in Europe You will there see how the Affairs of the Empire put on a new face after the Peace of Munster And there find the causes and first beginnings of the Decay of the Spanish Monarchy which before that time was dreadful to its Neighbours You will there read the first steps of France to that height which it arrived at under the Conduct of the violent and refined Politicks of a Cardinal who renders his Master powerful at home by humbling the Princes and great Men there and formidable abroad by entring him into a seasonable League with the Crown of Swedeland and the United Provinces The good Correspondence which the great Frederick Henry Prince of Orange and this able Minister held together did not a little assist the Cardinal in compassing his vast Designs The Swedes were hitherto hardly known but for their Wars against Denmark Poland Muscovy and some extraordinary Revolutions which Religion or the differing interests of King and Subjects had produced in Swedeland We shall see in the course of this History a new Warrier arising out of the North with a small number of Troops for the Rescue of Germany almost entirely enslav'd by the Ambition and Arms of Ferdinand the Second Gustavus Adolphus King of Swedeland makes the Emperor Tremble for fear of losing his Hereditary Countries The Rapid course of his Victorius Arms carryed to the Rhine makes jealous even those Princes which call'd him to their Assistance and those Sovereigns which had desired his Alliance That which you ought particularly to be affected with My Lord is the reading of the resolute Efforts of your Dear and Illustrious Country to defend it's Liberty after the twelve years Truce was expir'd The Spaniard's pleas'd themselves with the hopes of making great Advantages of the Divisions which arose in Holland and some other Provinces after the Conclusion of that Truce But the Valour and Wise Conduct of Maurice and Frederick Henry Princes of Orange defeated those hopes which seem'd to be but too well grounded You will be very much pleased to find here Sieges Form'd by those Two Great Masters in the Art of Taking Towns and Victories Won by those Two Famous Generals to whom they came from all Parts of the World to learn the Art of War and in short That Courage not Inferiour to that of the Ancient Romans with which the United Provinces did weary out the King of Spain until he renounc'd all his Pretensions to 'em and was forc'd to acknowledge them in a Solemn Treaty for a Free Republick I believe you have not forgot that which my Lord your Father told you in one of his Pleasant and Profitable Discourses which he had with you the last Summer in the Walks of his beloved Solitude near the Hague He recited to you one Day the Prediction of Prince Frederick Henry a little before his Death That his Posterity would be under a Necessity one Day to declare against France as he had been to oppose the Ambitious Designs of the House of Austria It has fell out as this Judicious and Knowing Politician had foretold The House of Orange hath had the Honour to have given the first Blow which shook the Power of Spain and by a surprizing Turn of Affairs the only Remaining Branch of that Noble Stock which hath been so fruitful in Heroes can glory this Day that by his Prudence and Valour he hath defended that same Monarchy threatned with approaching Ruin Could that fierce and bloody Philip II. have ever thought that the Posterity of that Man whom he had basely murder'd after an unworthy and ridiculous Proscription should be one Day the best Support of
King is Master of the Body and the Goods of his Subjects The Courtiers who instil'd this Doctrine into Sovereigns this Judicious Divine without Ceremony calls Dogs and Court-Parasites To prevent the ill effects of the bad Politicks of the Cardinal Director of the Education of King Lewis the XIV they printed the same things during the Minority of that Prince Neither the Bookseller nor the Author did dare to set their Name to it This Book was writ by a Churchman Eminent for his Learning and Probity Mr. Jolli Chantre de Nôtre-Dame de Paris Maximes veritables impnrtantes pour l'institution du Roi. He since enjoyed one of the first Dignities of the Church of Paris but what was spoken freely to Henry the II. and what was published covertly about 50 years since the French would have now lost the Memory of if it were as easie to forget as it is to be silent to avoid Danger all Books of this kind are now burnt by the hands of the Hangman Can those unworthy Magistrates who order this believe that the flames by consuming of Paper will erase out of the Hearts of good Frenchmen those Sentitiments that right Reason hath deeply inscrib'd in them The Oath which James the 1. King of England requirâ—…d of his Pâ—…pish Subjects caus'd a Dispute concerning the Independance of Sovereignty in Temporal Matters The Parlement of Paris on the 26th day of November the same year made a Decree for the Suppression of the Treatises which Cardinal Bellarmin a Jesuit had published concerning the power of the Pope in Temporal Matters since this new Book was a Consequence of the Dispute of the Author with James the first King of Great Britain upon the occasion of the Oath which that Prince required of the Roman Catholicks of England I will in a few words Relate the beginning and Progress of the Controversie After the Horrible Gunpowder Plot King James thought for his own Safety it was necessary to require the English Papists to take a particular Oath of Allegiance to him The Form of this was so ordered that it might not offend the Conscience of those who without renouncing their Religion would pay that duty to their Sovereign they rightfully ow'd him In this they acknowledg'd the Pope had no right to Depose Kings or dispose of their Kingdoms or any Foreign Prince to Invade them or Absolve their Subjects of their Oath of Allegiance or Command them to take Arms against their Sovereign they promis'd farther to be faithful to the King and serve him notwithstanding all that the Pope should attempt against him or his Successors and to discover all Conspiracies which should come to their Knowledge They Abjured and Detested as Impious and Heretical the Doctrine of those who teach it is lawful to Depose and Assassinate Princes Excommunicated by the Pope and lastly they protested they believed that neither the Pope nor any other power could dispense with the keeping of their Oath and Renounced all Dispensations which the Pope might think fit to give The thing appear'd reasonable to the English Papists the Nobility Gentry Priests and all others swore in this Form George Blackwell nominated Arch-Priest of England by the Pope not content with taking the Oath himself wrote in Defence of it against all its Opposers Paul V. forbids the English of his Communion to take the Oath The Court of Rome made a quite different Judgment in the matter Thinking Men were not surpriz'd at it a Proposition which she makes one of the Fundamental Articles of her Religion was here Rejected as Impious and Heretical Whatever be said on this Subject those who approve the Oath reason inconsequently if they own the Pope for the Vicar of Jesus Christ Paul V. scared at these proceedings of the English Catholicks without his Knowledge and Consent sent a Brief immediately to forbid them to take an Oath Inconsistent as he said with the Catholick Faith and the Salvation of their Souls These Expressions are as moving and strong as if he designed to disswade these poor People from subscribing the most Impious Tenets against the Divinity of Jesus Christ This thundering Brief discompos'd them so much they thought they could not do better then regard it as Subreptitious or Spurious His Holiness not being well inform'd of the proceedings in England King James his Apology for his Oath without setting his Name to it They were not suffered long to remain in this voluntary Mistake Paul soon dispatch'd another Brief to confirm the first Cardinal Bellarmin was the greatest and most eminent Champion of the Pontifical Power since the Death of Cardinal Baronius which happened not long before Bellarmin I say wrote a well studied Letter to Blackwell to reduce him into the right way A more passionate Remonstrance could scarce have been made to one who had renounc'd the Gospel and embrac'd the Alchoran This made James loose all Patience he wrote himself to defend his Oath against the two Briefs of the Pope and the Letter of Bellarmin and now he did not set his Name to the Work Had not a King better forbore Writing at all and left this care to another This good Prince own'd himself publickly that it became a King more to Judge than Dispute A little Jesuit made a Cardinal by blotting of Paper was not an Adversary worthy of a great Monarch Borghese behav'd himself like a King and James acted the part of a Doctor one Commanded and the other Disputed Except a Prince then write as Julius Caesar or Marcus Aurelius he is in the wrong to become an Author Julian was pleas'd to take his Pen to defend his Philosophick Gravity and Religion and with all his Learning made himself Contemptible and Ridiculous The King of England declares himself Author of the Apology to the Princes and States of Christendom Bellarmin did not fail to reply to the King but under a borrowed Name A Learned Prelate of England undertook to refute the Cardinal he shewed that before Gregory the VII no Ecclesiastical Writer had attempted to maintain the Authority of the Pope over the Temporalities of Sovereigns The King of England caused another Edition of his Apology to be printed and declared himself the Author of it Shall I say he thought in this to do himself Honour by becoming a Champion for the common cause of all Sovereigns or had a mind to display a Learning not very common in Persons of his Rank The Work appeared with a very pompous Preface at the Head of it This was a Manifesto addressed to all the Kings Princes and other Republicks of Christendom to give an account of his Oath and his Conduct with regard to his Roman Catholick Subjects Rouse your selves it is high time said the King to them The Common Interest of all Sovereigns is concerned a Formidable and Obstinate Enemy is undermining the Foundations of your Power unless you act in Concert to put a stop to the Progress he makes every Day
them desiring to know if the Faculty of Paris thought it fit a Doctor of their Body should give his Approbation to such Pieces Filesac proposed the Question in one of the Meetings which the Faculty ordinarily have upon the first Day of the Month This was in the beginning of October One of the Propositions was this Thaâ—… Ignatius with his Name writ on Paper could do more Miracles than Moses and aâ—â— many as the Apostles The second pretended that the Life of Ignatius was so Holy and so elevated in the Opinion of Heaven that only the Popes as St. Peter the Empresses as the Mother of God or some Sâ—…vereign Monarch as God the Father and 〈◊〉 Holy Son had the Happiness to see 〈◊〉 One of the two Dominican Preachers aâ—…serted that the Founders of preceding Oâ—…ders were sent by God but God added he 〈◊〉 these latter Days has spoken by his Son Iâ—…natius whom he has made Heir of all thing There is one thing only wanting to consuâ—…mate his Praise That God did not make 〈◊〉 World for him There was nothing be excepted against in the third Sermoâ—… but that the Preachers had advanced thâ—â— the Martyr Ignatius was particularly â—â—voted to the Holy Father and the Pope Rome as the lawful Successor of Jesus Christ and his Vicar upon Earth Andrew Duval a Famous Doctor of the Sorbonne who was in the Interest of the Jesuits and the Court of Rome opposed the Censure of these four Propositions They may be piously Interpreted said he But the Enemies to the Society prevailed What Pious Interpretation could Duval give to words which were manifestly Impious The three first Propositions were condemned as False Heretical Execrable Impious and full of Blasphemies This Censure was more Just and Judicious than that of Du Plessis Mornay's Book The Wise Masters of the Sorbonne were more Reserved and Circumspect on the fourth Proposition the Authority of the Pope was concerned here This contains said they two Contradictious Positions The one is true and Orthodox that the Pope is the Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth But the other that the Pope is the Lawful Successor of Jesus Christ is manifestly False and Heretical The Jesuit was not long without answering He wrote an Apologetick Letter against the Censure Here by a Subtilty which a Limosin would never have thought of if he had not been instructed somewhere else besides at Bricue la Gaillarde he feigned not to have a Copy of the Condemnation This was to avoid speaking of the Power of the Pope His Friends he pretended had sent him an Article quite different from that which the Faculty had Censured There is nothing more violent than the conclusion of this good Father's Apology He Reproaches the Doctors of the Sorbonne as those of their Society always Reproach their Adversaries that they are Huguenots in their Souls The Sorbonne Curses the Jesuits says he while the Hereticks at Charenton pray to God for the Sorbonists Reflections on the Miracles ascribed to Saint Ignâ—…tius and the Character given of him An Author who was Contemporary with the Rise of the Society honestly owns in the first Edition of his Life of Ignatius that he wrought no Miracles He labour'd to give good Reasons that a Man might be a Saint without doing any The Establishing a Society which was become so Numerous so Famous and Powerful in so small a time seem'd a great Miracle to the Author But this was not enough to Canonize Ignatius and for this Reason they were obliged to seek for others Till this was done Rome would never put him in her Martyrology And what Mortification must this be to so good Children that their Father was not a Saint of the first Order As soon as once they got it in their Head that Ignatius must work Miracles as well as other Saints they found a Million of Glorious Ones The Author who had been too honest Retracted fifteen years after as handsomly as he could His Saint then wrought some every day if we may believe the second Edition of his Book As for the flourishing Estate of the Company before and after the Death of the Founder those who shall read the History of its Settlement and Progress will find nothing more than Human in it if they reflect on the Nature of Mankind and what is proper to give Interest and Reputation in a Body Composed and Governed as the Church of Rome has been for many Ages I am Astonished that Men of Sense and Learning should become Disciples of such a Person as Ignatius is Represented to be in the different Histories of his Life wrote by Jesuits with too much Sincerity in some places and too much Art and Disguise in others But my Surprize is over when I Reflect that the greatest Men fall into Superstition and Trifling They might fancy there was something Divine in the Irregular and Fanatick Fancy of a Spaniard who imposed on the World by an Exterior shew of Gravity and Mortification When they saw this they were soon ready to serve him in his vast Designs Ignatius who was Master of as much Craft and Dissimulation as any Man in the World knew how to make his Advantage of the Light which the Admirers of his Sanctity gave him and make the World believe he drew that out of his own Stock which he learnt from others The Jesuits have pusht the Extravagance so far as to compare their Saint with the Caesars and Alexanders They came nearer the Mark in my mind who said he was an absolute Don Quixot in Devotion The good Fathers must have an ill Opinion of Mankind if they believe them capable of esteeming their Founder after what they relate themselves of his Paladin and Romantick Actions of his Whimsical fancy of becoming a Knight of the Virgin and an Infinity of other Circumstances of his Life Vie de S. Ignace par le P. Bohours The reading of it politely writ in French fully convinced me that Melchior Canus a Learned and Judicious Bishop of the Canaries saw perfectly well the Genius of the Man in a Conference he had with him at Rome Ignatius there without any necessity told him so many filly Stories of his pretended Sanctity of the Persecutions he had suffered in Spain of the Revelations and Private Favours he received from God Almighty that this clearsighted Divine soon perceived in him a great Distraction and Pride of Mind Canus adds one very singular Passage Ignatius brought him a pretended Saint who was a Member of the Infant Society Canus soon discover'd this Companion of Ignatius was an absolute Idiot He mixt so much Folly and Heresie in his Discourse that Ignatius was in some Confusion This good Man says he to Canus is not an Heretick but his Mind is a little out of order at present He has his Intervals at times The New Moon makes him talk so Heretically A Man who can let a Fool pass on him for a great Saint can he be very wise himself
the New Institution was Dangerous to the Faith capable of disturbing the Peace of the Church and in one Word more tending to destroy than edifie When the Jesuits desired to be incorporated in the University she rejected them with Indignation and Contempt When they attempted to teach publickly she opposed them with Vigour The Pasquiers and Arnauds undertook her Defence The Learned Arguments are still extant in which they lay before the Parlement of Paris the Reasons which the University had to declare against this Hermaphrodite Body said they which is neither Ecclesiastical nor Regular The Attempt of John Chastel against the Person of Henry IV. was the cause which moved the Parlement of Paris whose most Eminent Members were bred in that University to give a terrible Sentence against them commanding all Jesuits to remove out of Paris and all other Cities within three days and out of the Kingdom in fifteen branding them for Corrupters of Youth Disturbers of the Publick Peace and Enemies to the King and Government After when Henry IV. at the Sollicitation of the Pope at the Instigation of Sillery and Villeroy and Instances of de la Varenne the Infamous Minister of his Pleasures had granted them his Letters Patents for their Reestablishment the President de Harlay employed all the power of his Wit and Eloquence to perswade the King this Act of his was inconsistent with the Safety of his Person the Preservation of his Authority and the Welfare of his Kingdom But neither the Decrees of Sorbonne nor the excellent Discourses of two Illustrious Advocates nor the wise Remonstrances of the gravest Magistrate of that time could hinder the King from being worse advised than the Mayor and good Commonalty of Troies in Champagne Henry resolved to forget the League was first conceived among the Jesuits and that Barricre and Chastel who made an Attempt on his Life were instructed and pushed on by Varade and Guignard Jesuits His Imprudence cost him dear poor Prince Ravillac profited by the Doctrines and Lessons of the Writers and Doctors of the Society The World was not exceedingly Surprized to see them within three Months after the bloody Death of Henry IV when all the Preachers of Paris were exclaiming against the Jesuits and an Infinity of Pamphlets had been published to expose their Temper and Doctrines have the boldness to desire a Permission from the New King to open their College of Clermont Mercure Francois 1611. which had been shut up ever since their first coming to Paris and to make their Publick Lectures there All Men were now pretty well acquainted with the humour of that Body A long experience had taught them that they are not confounded with Noise That Just and Reasonable Confusion which makes other Men fearful and modest encreases the Courage and Boldness of these good Fathers That which most amazed all Honest Men was to see the Regent and her Council give the Jesuits Letters Patents to be confirmed in Parlement at the same time that these Magistrates all well affected to the King and Government 's Repose declared peremptorily in their Decrees that the Doctrines of Mariana and some other Writers of the Society had plunged the Knife in the Heart of the two last Kings of France Father Coton was not less busie in the Hall than at Court He demanded the entring the King's Letters with the same boldness that he had Sollicited the Regent and her Ministers for them But the Rector and the Faculties of the University of Paris opposing this the Decision of the Affair was remitted till the following year During a pretty long delay caused by the Proceedings and Formalities of Law the Jesuits got together four-score or a hundred Scholars whom they taught in the College of Clermont At length the matter came to a publick Hearing This was in the Month of December 1611. La Merteliere Advocate for the University made a long Discourse where he repeated with Emphasis what Pasquier Arnaud and the first President de Harlay had formerly said against the Jesuits He added all they had been accused of having done in England Holland at Venice Genoa and elsewhere The Divinity of these good Fathers was not forgot He shewed the Corruption and Danger of it In the last place the University concluded by the Mouth of her Advocate that if the Parlement would not have regard to her wholsom Remonstrances she should at least have the Consolation of having done her Duty and having given more than once by her repeated Oppositions to the Enterprizes of the Society a certain Testimony of her sincere and continual Affection for the Service of the King and the Good of her Coutry Montholon Advocate for the Jesuits answered in a very short Discourse He affected too to speak so low that the greatest Part of the Auditory could not hear his Defence After this Hardivillier Rector of the University spoke a long Harangue in Latin This was rather the Declamation of a College Rhetorician than a Solid and Eloquent Discourse The Advocate General Servin spoke according to Custom after the rest and concluded in favour of the University The Parlement being tired with the Importunities of the Jesuits thought of a good Expedient to free themselves They proposed to them to subscribe to four Articles repugnant to the Doctrines imputed to them You cannot be incorporated with the Vniversity nor have Permission to teach publickly said the Magistrate to the good Fathers unless your Sentiments agree with those of the Sorbonne This Turn was well devised They foresaw the Jesuits would never sign such Propositions for fear of incurring Displeasure at Rome and their Refusal would clear the Parlement at Court for not passing the King's Letters Can we the Magistrates might have said allow a Body to teach publickly which refuses to subscribe the Doctrine commonly received in France The first President de Verdun then ordered eight Jesuits to be called who were in Court to hear the issue of their Cause Will you says he to them Subscribe these four Propositions and undertake your General shall likewise do it The first was That a General Council is above the Pope The second That the Pope has no power over the Temporalties of Sovereigns and that he cannot deprive them by Excommunication The third That a Priest who by way of Confession comes to the Knowledge of a Design or Conspiracy against the Person of a King or his Government or any Act of High Treason is obliged to Reveal the Matter to the Magistrate The fourth That Church-men are Subjects of the Temporal Prince and Civil Magistrate The Provincial of the Jesuits did not know how to extricate himself in this difficulty In our Statutes says he with a Modest and Devout Air taking a Book and setting himself to read We have a positive Order to obey the Laws of the Country where we live but we cannot promise any thing for our General We will write to him upon this Matter and do all we can
defended the Cause of his Party but has done it a great Injury too Though he do's not think as Socinus do's of the Trinity the Incarnation the Nature and Operations of God yet he maintains that the Socinian Doctrine is tolerable and not contrary to the Fundamental Articles of Christianity The Arminians of Holland embraced the same Sentiment which makes it to be believed that Arminianism and Socinianism are near a kin Yet these two things are very different It is common in the Church of England to find Learned Divines who think in the same manner as Arminius did on the five Articles and yet vigorously Defend the Decisions of the four first General Councils James King of England opposes the Election of Vorstius I will not speak of this Conference at the Hague This was as Fruitless as the preceding ones Vorstius appeared here He made a Harangue to the States to justifie himself against the Errors imputed to him These Gentlemen were well satisfied They demanded next of the Ministers of both Parties if they had any thing to say against Vorstius The Remonstrants declared they thought him Orthodox But the others alledg'd so much against him and intervened with so great Opposition that he continued still without doing any thing tho' the States were well affected to him Mercure Francois 1611. The Opposition of James I. King of Great Britain made the greatest Noise in Europe Vorstius's Books were brought to the King when he was taking the Diversion of Hunting in the Country King James run over these in less than an Hours time He saw such Shoals of Heresies with one cast of his Eye he immediately sent an Extract to his Ambassador to the States-General with an express Order to declare to them from him that if they suffered such a dangerous Man at Leyden his Majesty would publish a Manifesto to shew the World his Aversion against the Authors of these Heresies and those who allow them to be taught in their Universities The Ambassador punctually executed his Master's Orders The States-General were a little surprized to see the King concern himself in an Affair that was purely Domestick The Zeal which a King shews for the preserving the Purity of the Faith is not to be blamed He do's well to extend it beyond his Kingdom But however there are Measures to be kept towards his Allies and Neighbours His Britannick Majesty's Threat was very high and brisk The States-General gave their Answer some days after to the Ambassador If Vorstius said they with great Discretion and Respect be guilty of the Errors he is accused of we will not suffer him to teach in Holland The High Esteem we have of the King of Great Britain's Goodness and Wisdom gives us grounds to hope that his Majesty will be satisfied with our Conduct when he shall be better informed of this Matter and the Vprightness of our Intentions In the mean time James burnt the Books of Vorstius at London Oxford and Cambridge The Reply of the States-General did not satisfie him He wrote a long Letter exhorting them to Banish Vorstius out of their Provinces Arminius was treated in this as an Enemy of God and for Vorstius his Majesty looked upon him as a downright Atheist He concluded his Letter with threatning the States to separate from the Communion of their Churches if they suffered so abominable a Man as Vorstius amongst them He was at Leyden before this Letter of King James came The English Ambassador made a long Remonstrance when he delivered it to the States-General He gave them the Propositions which his Majesty had extracted out of Vorstius's Books and exhorted them to shew no less Zeal and Courage to preserve the Purity of the Faith against so pernicious an Heretick than they had done in the Defence of their Liberty against the Spaniards The States-General did not know what to think of the Letter nor the Harangue They answered the Ambassador that the Matter in Question only regarded the particular States of Holland who were Sovereigns in their own Province That Vorstius was only at Leyden as a simple Inhabitant in the Town and waited till he should justifie himself in the next Meeting of the States of Holland For the rest said they we humbly thank his Majesty for his Concern for the good of these Provinces and the preserving the Purity of the Gospel in our Churches The States of Holland were not to meet till three or four Months after This made the English Embassador look upon this Delay as a Civil Denial And now there was a New Remonstrance from the King his Master to the States-General This bad a Text after the manner of Sermons The Ambassador began with that place of the Gospel which orders Brotherly Correction and will have those brought before the Church who will not hearken to it He complained of their want of Respect to the King in receiving Vorstius not only in their Country but in a Famous University The States-General were threatned a second time with a Manifesto from his Britannick Majesty These Gentlemen kept their Flegm They answered the King should have Satisfaction in the next Meeting of the States of Holland This was to be in the Month of February the following year In the mean time the King of England saw his Zeal against Vorstius was not so favourably Interpreted The King of England's Apology for his Conduct in the Business of Vorstius as he hoped for Ill-natured Wits Censured him for making Ostentation of his Learning and Divinity Others imputed this to his Ambition and thought it an Usurpation on the Liberty of the Provinces for him to concern himself in Matters which Sovereigns are not obliged to give their Neighbours an Account of The King of Sweden this year sent a Challenge to the King of Denmark to fight a Duel with him A thing not seen since Francis the I and Charles V. James I. like another sort of Fighting better To justifie himself from the Sinister Interpretations put on his Conduct he took his Pen in Hand and printed his Apology In this the King gave an account to the Publick of what had passed between the States-General and him His Majesty farther protested he had no other design than to oppose the Rise of a Heresie to give the States-General a new Mark of his Kindness and to hinder the young Hollanders and the English themselves who should go to Study at Leyden from being infected with the Pernicious Opinions Vorstius should spread there The King's Apology had the same Fate with all Personal Quarrels Every one believed as he pleased The Revolution in Sweden after the Death of Gustavus Ericson Let us conclude this year with the Death of Charles the IX King of Sweden and speak something of his Elevation to the Throne He was the youngest Son of Gustavus Ericson so Famous in History for having delivered his Country from the Oppression of the Danes for having by his Great Services Merited the
Crown to be Entailed on his Heirs Male in short for setling Luther's Reformation in his Country and Abridging the too great Power of the Clergy Eric the Eldest Son of Gustavus Succeeded him but wanted the Virtues of his Father He introduced into Sweden the Dignities of Count and Baron which before were unknown there It was thought this was done to divide the Nobility among themselves The too great Union of this Powerful Body was able to create Trouble to a Family newly raised to the Throne The Dignities bestowed on some gave a Jealousie to the rest Those who had most Ambition made their Court to the King to obtain the same Distinction And the New Nobility were obliged to support the Authority of the King and adhere here to his Family to preserve their Privileges Eric made himself Odious by his Cruelties and Despicable by his Debauches and Extravagancies His ill Treatment of John Duke of Finland and Charles Duke of Sudermannia obliged them to rise and put themselves at the Head of the Malecoutents These two Princes Attacked Eric in Stockholm it self He first delivered up his Favourite whom all the Kingdom Exclaimed against They inflicted an Infamous punishment on him John and Charles would have something more than all this They agreed to take the Sovereign Power from Eric who abused it unjustly and that the Duke of Finland should be declared King and the Duke of Sudermannia should share with him in the Government without having any outward Marks of Royalty John thought himself now discharged from the Oath he had taken when Eric delivered him out of a close Prison where he had kept him three or four years The Duke had given Assurance by a Writing under his Hand that he would continue faithful to the King and not aspire to the Crown neither before nor after the Death of the King his Elder Brother and that he would acknowledge those Children for lawful Heirs of the Kingdom which Eric had by a Mistress of Mean Birth whom he afterwards Marryed Solemnly But John was not very anxious about the Religious observing his Promises When he was Master of his Eldest Brother not contented with shutting him up in a Castle he soon poisoned him John and Charles continued to attack Stockholm The Senate of the City delivered it up to them and poor Eric reduced to Extremity was left to the Discretion of his two Brothers The States of Sweden declared him fallen from the Crown and John Duke of Finland was set up in his place John King of Sweden endeavours to alter the Religion Established by his Father The New King of Sweden was not truer to the Duke of Sudermannia than he had been to his Predecessor Charles had no share in the Administration of the Kingdom Men promise any thing when they are to ascend a Throne but when they are once Established in it they find other Principles of Religion and Honour John had Married Catherine Jagellon Daughter to the King of Poland Whether the Princess had inspired her Husband with an Aversion to the Protestant Religion or the Reading the Books and Conversation of able Men of the Papal Communion had raised doubts in him or he hoped to be King of Poland after the Death of Sigismund Augustus his Brother-in-Law who had no Children as soon as John had made a Peace with Denmark by the Treaty of Stetin in Pomerania he applied himself seriously to change the Religion which his Father had setled in Sweden It is not a place here to relate all the Artifices he made use of to prepare the Minds of his People for the Alterations he designed I shall only observe that the King who wanted not Wit or Judgment was convinced there were a great many things to be altered in the Worship and Doctrine of the Church of Rome He can neither be reckoned among the good Catholicks nor the true Protestants Ever uncertain and wavering sometimes he relished the Project of Accommodation which Cassander had given to the Emperor Maximilian II. at other times he was inclined to the Greek Church The Answers of Jeremiah Patriarch of Constantinople to the Divines of Wirtembergh pleased him so much that he once thought to unite with that Communion Possevin a Learned Jesuit whom Pope Gregory the XIII had sent into Sweden thought he had persuaded King John to Reunite himself in earnest to the Church of Rome He confessed himself to that Jesuit the Popes private Nuncio he received the Communion in the Form used in that Church Possevin imposed as a Pennance on him for the Murther of his Brother Eric whom he had poysoned to fast every Wednesday throughout the year It is said John observed this Practice regularly all the rest of his Life Nevertheless he frequented the publick Service of the Church of Sweden There was a New Liturgy used which himself had introduced and the Pope refused to approve of The Mixture of these two Religions was one of the ways by which this Prince pretended insensibly to bring the People to forsake the Worship and Belief of the Protestants of the Ausburgh Confession Several Romish Churchmen came into Sweden The Irresolution of King John and his Indulgence drew them thither Several of his own Subjects too favour'd his dissembled Designs By their manner of Discourse the more unthinking People took these Preachers for free Protestants But others observed in spight of their Disguises all they spoke tended to insinuate into the Minds of the People the Doctrines of Popery The Archbishop of Vpsal suffered himself to be won by them Some Prelates and divers ignorant or ambitious Churchmen follow'd his Example There were some Bishops ordained according to the Roman Pontifical The Bishop of Linkoping several of his Brethren and a great number of Churchmen couragiously defended the Reformation setled by Gustavus Ericson The Clergy of the Dutchy of Sudermannia shewed a firmness of Mind which much confounded King John Charles his Brother declared highly for the Ausburgh Confession He opposed this Alteration with all his Might Neither the King nor I can make any Innovation in the Religion established by Law he replied to those sent to dispose him to comply All things are well regulated by the last Will and Testament of the late King our Father We must fix there For my part I am resolved never to depart from it The States of Sweden shew'd great Vigour on several Occasions They represented to the King that mighty Jealousies were risen in Sweden and Foreign Countries that his Majesty would overthrow that Constitution which his Father had wisely established and that to put an end to all those Rumours it concerned him to declare publickly that the Reformation received in that Kingdom was conformable to the Sense of the Primitive Church Farther the States commanded several Popish Books brought into that Country to be suppress'd they press'd the King to place able Men of unblemish'd Reputation in the Publick Schools to instruct the Youth In the last
more Authority than the Decrees of Boniface VIII and other Constitutions of Ambitious and Usurping Popes that the Examples of Emperors and Princes Excommunicated and Deposed by Popes are facts which can't prove a Right lawfully acquired And so this Work ended in submitting all these Propositions to the Judgment of the Church Richer's Testament at the end of the 2d Vol. of his Works Edmund Richer had composed this Book at the Entreaty of the chief President Verdun He put it into the Press after the Sentence made betwixt the University of Paris and the Jesuits As soon as this Book appear'd Duval and other Doctors of the Popes Faction excited by the Nuncio made a fearful noise they got at first too strong and numerous a Cabal for having the Work to be censur'd at Sorbonne Vbaldini's Auditor and Forgemont Mercure Francois 1612. went from Door to Door to Sollicite the Censure When the Parlement had cognisance of it they sent for Richer and Forgemont The first was Reprimanded for that he had publish't his Book without permission and any Precedent Examination according to the Statutes The other Doctor was much blam'd because he was in League with a Foreigner to procure by extraordinary ways an Assembly of the faculty at Paris which was to Deliberate upon a Work where the Author treated of many Important Questions touching the Rights and Liberties of the Gallican Church The Parlement put forth another Act to prohibit the Faculty from proceeding to the Examination of Richer's Book and to order that all the Copies should be carried to the Registry of Parlement The most Prudent and most Apprehensive Doctors declared themselves for Richer but Duval and some hot Spirited Men penn'd bloody Books against him The Cardinal Perron and the Bishops of the Province of Sens condemn Richer's Book in an Assembly The outcry was so furious as they threatned him with nothing less than Transportation to Rome and sending of him to the Inquisition to be burn't there afterwards The greatest and most dangerous Enemy of Richer was Cardinal Perron push't on by the Cardinal Gonzaga and the Nuncio Vbaldini Perron had the Malice to say in the Queen's Council that he had been a long time heretofore in the party of the League that he did not set the Council above the Pope but because he supposed that the States General are above Kings Lastly that he had it in his Eye to fling at the birth of the King and his State with the Children of Henry IV. and the Validity of the Marriage of the late King with the Queen Mother Richer ask't leave to defend himself against the Calumnies of the Cardinal but the Nuncio made so great a noise on his side as so just a Request could not be granted him Vbaldini even threatned to depart presently from Paris without taking his leave of the King The Cardinal de Bonzi declar'd one day to Richer from the Chancellor Sileri that he should be taken into Custody if he answer'd any of the Libels which his Adversaries publish't against him How said Bonzi The King and Queen his Mother know how to deal with the little Republick of Geneva And why will you say can't their Majesties as well keep the Pope in awe who is otherwise more powerful than the Seignory of Geneva Besides that his Spiritual Dominion extends over all the World he is Sovereign of many Provinces in Italy T' was thus that the Grandees imagined their Elevation gave them right to pay others with most extravagant Answers The Enemies of Richer seeing there was nothing to do in the Sorbonne by reason of the Parlement they sought some other Means to stain the Reputation of this good Man Cardinal du Perron was to hold an Assembly at Paris consisting of the Bishops of the Province of Sens of which he 's the Metropolitan for to depute at a General Assembly of the Clergy to be held in the Month of May and to Nominate an Agent of the Clergy An occasion was taken to present Richer's Book to this sort of Provincial Council The President fail'd not to have it condemn'd there as containing many false Propositions Erroneous Scandalous Schismatical and Heretical without touching however said they the Rights of the King and Crown of France or the Rights Immunities and Liberties of the Gallican Church Never was there a more Irregular Censure than this The Prelates had not power to Assemble but upon some certain Temporal Affairs of the Clergy of their Province The pretended Cardinal's Council was not therefore call'd according to the rightful Form Of eight Bishops who compos'd it five Signed the Condemnation without having been present at the Examination of the Book One might have been surpriz'd to find there the Name of Gabriel de l'Aubespine Bishop of Orleans well known by his Books wherein he endeavours to clear some curious Passages of Ecclesiastical Antiquity if one did not otherwise know that this Prelate was a Courtier who led a Disorderly Life The Bishop of Orleans they were won't to say in those days is writing for the Church when he hath no more Money to game withal The Parlement having taken in hand the Affair of Richer's Book the Bishops of the Province of Sens could not pronounce upon it without encroaching upon the King and Parlement's Authority They ought to send for the Author and hear his Defence At last the Cardinals condemn'd and absolv'd at the same time All the Propositions pretended to be erroneous and heretical in Richer's Book respected the Rights of the King and Liberties of the Gallican Church and this was the reason why the Fathers of the Council would not meddle 'T was expected from their Knowledge and Equity that they would have declared to the Publick Richer's Heresies which have no Relation to the Rights of the Crown and Privileges of the Gallican Church Gondi Bishop of Paris having caused to be publish't in all his Parishes the Decree of the Council where he was present Richer appealed as from an Abuse He presented a Relief of Appeal to be Sealed but they refused him the Letters he askt for without any regard to the good Reasons he alledg'd in offering to justifie himself The Cabal was so strong as the Parlement dared not receive the Petition which Richer had presented to demand from the Court that they would be pleased to order his Letters of Relief should be Sealed Perron was too subtile to suffer that the Decree of his Provincial Council should be examin'd in Parlement The Advocate General would not have fail'd to prove to the Cardinal that t' was himself who was downright ignorant or at least a Malicious Accuser and Cowardly Flatterer of the Pope Recher is devested of his Sindic or Headship of the Doctors of the faculty of Paris Injustice was push't to the utmost against poor Richer Some Months after Harlai de Chanvalon Abbot of St. Victor at Paris a Man who according to the Nature of his Family declared for
maintain their Right of Patronage But to remedy the disorders which frequent disputes about this Point occasioned they endeavoured in the Year 1591. in the Assembly of the States of this Province to make a New Regulation concerning the manner of choosing Pastors According to this Project the Magistrates and the Consistory were to Name each Four Persons of their own Body to Elect Jointly The Act of Election was to be carried afterwards to the Body of the Magistrates who should have power to Accept or Reject the chosen Minister And in this last Case they were to proceed to a new Election This Law was agreeable enough to the Civil Law Establish'd by the new Constitutions of the Emperor Justinian touching the Election of Ecclesiastical Ministers And because it was convenient to Reserve some Priviledges to particular Persons who had the Patronage of Churches it was added in the same Law that if there were a Pastor to be chosen to a Church of which a particular Person was the Patron then this Person was to depute Four others to Elect in Conjunction with the Four Named by the Consistory So that a Gentleman had the same priviledge with respect to the Church of which he was Patron as the Magistrates had reserved with respect to the Churches of Towns and Cities A Regulation so well Contrived for the Satisfaction of all the World met with so much opposition in the Assembly of the States of Holland in the Year 1591. from several considerable Cities that it was not possible to pass it into a Law In the Year 1612. the Pensionary Barnevelt propos'd a second time to the States of the Province as more necessary than ever by reason of the Quarrels that arose about the Five Articles Besides that the Synod and Classes did not dare to make use of the pretended Heresie 〈◊〉 Remonstrants to Interdict those which haâ—… been chosen after this manner by thâ—… Consent of the Consistory's and Magistrates and Patrons this Project had a considerable Advantage in the present Posture of the Churches of Holland It allow'd the Magistrates to choose none but wise and moderate Pastors and such as should be acceptable to all the World and well inclined to Peace When Barnevelt spoke in the Assembly of the States of the Province of the Revival of the Law propos'd in 1591. Their Opinions were then decided Some thought it fit that they should publish it others thought that it was more convenient first to have the consent of the Synode These latter were apparently afraid that this Law should more provoke the Ministers of the Contra-Remonstrant Party who grumbled very much that the States pretended singly to decide matters belonging to Religion and the Government of the Church Barnevelt in this Affair in which he was so heartily engaged so managed those that were concern'd that he brought them all over to his own Opinion The States of Holland at last resolv'd that the Laws which had been Projected concerning Ecclesiastical affairs in the Year 1591 should be from that time observ'd but they found great difficulty in the Execution of them There arose immediately great Disputes both by word of Mouth and by Writing concerning this Deliberation of the States The Contra-Remonstrants said that the States had gone beyond the Bounds of their Lawful Authority and that it was not fit for them to put their hand to the Censor in Regulating the Doctrines of Faith and the Government of the Church The Remonstrants side with the States By this means they had opportunity to curry favour with the Government and likewise found their account in the Enacting of this Law The Armenians maintain'd and not without Reason that the States of Holland being Sovereigns in their Province had power to Establish any thing that was not contrary to the Law of God and to regulate the Government of the Church to make Laws for the Security of it's Peace according to the Example of Christian Emperors and Princes which have done so before them without any Contradiction from the primitive Church So that for the future we shall find there were disputes in the Vnited Provinces not only about the Five Articles of the Remonstrants but also about the Right of Patronage and the Lawful Power of Sovereigns in matters of Faith and Discipline of the Church This was the occasion of an excellent Treatise which Grotius published to the World This Learned Man does in that Book defend at large that which he had before advanc'd in an Apology for the States oâ—… Holland Grotius De Imperio summarum potestatum circa Sacra touching the Authority of thâ—… Sovereign Power in Ecclesiastical Affairs But before we speak of this Apology publish'd by Grotius It is fit to say something concerning this Quarrel which intreas'd every day in the Vnited Provinces The divisions increased in the United Provinces Before this time there had been Synod â—…gainst Synod that of Vtrecht in 1612. â—…eclare that the Five Articles of the Reâ—…onstrants were Tolerable That of the â—…rovince of Guelderland maintains that â—â—l the Doctrine contain'd in the Confesâ—â—on of Faith and in the Catechism of â—â—e Belgick Churches was agreeable to â—â—e Word of God Preface des Actes du Sinode de Dordrecht The Synod Solemnâ—â—â— Engage themselves to maintain and deâ—â—nd it In Some Cities they Suspend and â—…epose the Remonstrant Ministers as Hereâ—â—ks in others they drive out the Contra-â—â—monstrant as Violent and Seditious â—â—e People being devoted to their Old â—â—nisters would not acknowledge those â—â—t were put in their Room So that there â—â—s a Schism in one and the same Church Brand Hist de la Reformation Liv. XX. XXI â—â—e part of the People assembled with 〈◊〉 Depos'd Minister in spite of the Maâ—â—rates Another part stuck to the new â—â—e One Geselius gave a great deal of â—â—ble to the magistrates of Rotterdam â—â—ey Depose him he sets up Conventiâ—â— they Banish him and he refuses to â—â—ey them The Magistrates publish'd Manifesto giving an account of their â—â—duct to the People Geselius answers 〈◊〉 his own Justification In one Word â—â—e were not greater Divisions in the Church in the time of Arianism Circular Letters flew about to Exhort to forsake the Communion of those who embrac'd the Five disputed Articles The Contra-Remonstrants call'd themselves the unjustly persecuted Church They had a private Meeting in a Barn at Rotterdam The Magistrates ordered it to be shut up the Contra Remonstrants open'd it again Could they have had more Zeal and more Heat about the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion During these Confusions Gomar quitted the Chair of Divinity-Professor at Leyden and retir'd to Middleburg in Zealand Polyander a great Stickler for the same Opinion was put in his Place The Remonstrants comforted themselves under this disappointment with Episcopius being call'd to the same University He had obtained a great Reputation in the Party by his strong Defence of the Five Articles at the Conference in the Hague in 1611.