to his House fills it with Armed Men plants Guns at the Windows But this being the Act of a young Man was of no Consequence But had the Portugueses been so resolute in their own cause there is no doubt but they had soon put an end to this trouble nor did they want being set in a way to free themselves from all fear of ever having the like again For seeing themselves cast off by the Pope in so unworthy a manner they had recourse as 't is affirm'd in a Letter or Remonstrance of the three Estates to the Pope to the most celebrated Universities and Doctors in Europe to know their Opinions concerning that course which was fittest for them to take in this Case the answers they received as they are set down in that Letter are as follow Some were of Opinion that the best way to bring the Pope to Reason was to take care that no Money should go out of the Kingdom to Rome upon any account whatsoever whether for Matrimonial Dispensations or Renunciations of Benefices that all beneficed Portugueses abroad should be called home upon pain of having their Profits sequestred that no Pensions be paid to any Persons residing at Rome whether Subjects or Strangers with other things which the Estates out of their great Respect to the Holy See conceal Of this Advice as they say were some belonging to the Court of Rome it self Others would have had the King call a National Council wherein the Clergy might elect a Patriarch who should govern the Kingdom in Spirituals with the Power to Institute and Consecrate Bishops which belonged to Patriarchs according to the Ancient Canons Others thought that the Bishops nominated by the King and proposed to the Pope who had not rejected them by any express Act of denial might immediately enter upon their Charge and exercise the same since the Pope neglected to confirm them in the ordinary way and yet had no objection against them for he had offered to confirm them de motu proprio A fourth was the opinion of a learned Fryar who thought that in this case of necessity they were obliged to have recourse to the way of choosing Bishops anciently practised and approved of by the Canons and used in the Church as he asserted for a much longer time than any other Method viz. For the Chapter of each Diocess to choose their own Bishop and that the Elect being approved of by the Clergy People and King and consecrated by other Bishops the most ancient of the Order in case of want supplying the place of a Metropolitan might immediately enter upon his Charge without waiting for the Pope's confirmation which in this case was not necessary it being saith the Author of this Advice the truest and most certain Opinion and follow'd by most Authors that Bishops upon their Consecration receive their Authority immediately from God This he affirm'd to be grounded upon the words of St. Paul in the 1st Gal. where the Apostle saith that he had receiv'd his Apostleship from God alone and not from the other Apostles no not from St. Peter the chief of them Paulus Apostolus non ab hominibus neque per hominem sed per Jesum Christum and in the 2 Chap. Mihi nihil contulerunt unt aliquid esse nihil i. e. nullam Jurisdictionem nullam Dignitatem nullam Potestatem They that were of this Opinion said further That it is clearly proved from Christ's words to the Apostles sicut me misit Pater in mundum Ego vos mitto in illum whence say they St. Cyprian and St. Cyril gather that our Lord gave as much Power and Authority to his Apostles when he sent them into the World to Preach as he did to St. Peter when he said Quodcunque ligaveris super Terram erit ligatum in caelis quodcunque solveris super Terram erit solutum in caelis it should be ligaveritis solveritis the words being spoken to all the Apostles in the Plural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 18. 18. the reason is because the words are absolute and will admit of no interpretation from whence it was infer'd that Bishops succeeding the Apostles in their ordinary Office succeed them likewise in the ordinary Jurisdiction annext to that Office and since it cannot be denied but that the Apostles received their Authority immediately from Christ it must be acknowledged that Bishops upon their Consecration do so receive it likewise and therefore have no need that any other should invest them with the Authority they are possess'd of already Two other Opinions were Printed and sent into Portugal upon this occasion both concurring in one conclusion though different ways were taken to it that which both agreed in was that Portugal might and was in duty bound to proceed to the Consecration of the Bishops nominated by the King One of the Authors of this Conclusion asserted that according to the Divine appointment the Right of Election was in the Clergy and People after the same manner as it was practised in the Primitive Church and a long time after which Right he said was afterwards transferred to the Emperors and Princes who had Authority in Ecclesiastical Affairs in order to the good Government of the Common-wealth Ecclesiastical and Civil matters having that mutual Dependence upon each other that they are inseparable That the Popes have acquired the Right of naming Bishops by the Tacit consent and liberality of Princes and this was permitted the rather because Ecclesiastical Discipline was much slack'ned partly by the remisness of Seculars partly by their being taken up in Military Affairs But in case the Pope should become guilty of the like failure the same Right devolved again to the Princes as given up and abandoned by the Pope It was affirm'd likewise that this Right had actually been put in practice on some occasions even in these later times particularly in Castille where in the Year 1399. Bishops were chosen and Consecrated without any Confirmation from the Pope King Henry the 3d. during the great Schism having renounced the Authority of Benedict the 13th and committed the Administration of Ecclesiastical Affairs to the Archbishops and Bishops willing them to make the same Provisions as had been used to come from the Pope Others who were for the same things in effect asserted That according to the ancient Canons it belonged to the Prelates of each Kingdom to institute and consecrate Bishops before the Popes had reserv'd that Power to themselves and undertook to prove that the same thing ought de Jure Divino to be done in the present Case To have Bishops in the Church was they said de Jure Divino Naturali since they are Shepherds of the Souls which cannot all be taken care of by the Pope but their being to be confirm'd by the Pope before their Consecration is only de Jure Humano the Obligation whereof ceases not only in cases of extreme
necessity but in that which is called Gravissima That it could not be denied but the Necessity of the Churches of Portugal for Bishops at that time was Gravissima and that of the Dominions thereof in other parts of the World Extreme This grand Arcanum of the Papal Empire that Bishops may be made out of Rome and without the Pope's concurrence being thus happily discovered the Portugueses were now put in a fair way to restore the Ancient Discipline to their Church and with it prosperity to their Nation it being evident that the Miseries they labour under as well as the horrible Corruptions in their Religion are no other than the necessary Effects of the Papal Usurpation and Tyranny and it appears that King John did for some time approve of the good Advice that had been given him at least that he would have it thought so at Rome for he ordered his Agent there to get a Remonstrance to be put into the Pope's hands wherein among other things he declares That he had been assured by very learned Men that when access and recourse to the Holy See could not be had it belonged to the Chapters to choose their Bishops upon his Nomination according as it had formerly been practised in Spain and was still observed in some places that his Holiness had no reason to be dissatisfi'd if he took up with this Resolution after he had suffered himself to be so much slighted while he had the Remedy in his own hands that if his Holiness were finally resolved to prefer the Interests of Castille to his just Rights he for his part would justifie himself before all Christian Princes so that the blame of what followed should never be laid on him Had the King proceeded so far as to convince the Pope that he was in earnest he had brought him no doubt to his own terms or else might have done that for which his Posterity and Country would have the greatest cause to bless his Memory that is have shaken off that intolerable Yoke under which they are now sinking The very mention of having Bishops chosen by the Chapters upon the King's Nomination put Innocent into a terrible Fright he had nothing to say against the practice or the necessity of it in the present case But here the Inquisition of Portugal interpos'd its Authority and delivered the Pope from the Agony he was in by condemning the two last Opinions and that for a reason which comprehends the rest they declaring the Pope as Universal Head of the Roman Church to have all Monarchical Power and to be the Fountain of all Spiritual Jurisdiction which cannot be derived to Ecclesiastical Ministers without his express Concession and Will This peremptory sentence of the Inquisition put a stop to all further Proceedings in this Affair The Pope reassumed new Courage and continued as Insolent as ever after the King's Declaration had brought him to his Wits-end for as the Conde da Ericeyra in his Portugal Restaurado tells the World his Holiness did not stick to declare That the Holy Office had delivered him out of the greatest Perplexity by cutting a knot which of himself he durst not meddle with The same noble Author tell us That the King desisted from his Resolution for no other reason but because the Inquisition did not approve of it while there were as he saith a great number of learned Men both within and without the Kingdom ready to justifie and maintain it so that according to the Conde it is to the Inquisitors that the Portugueses owe the continuance of their Bondage and there is no question but they did their utmost to obstruct the King's Design supposing that he had a real intention to shake off the Roman Yoke for should the Church of Portugal recover her Liberty and have her Bishops restored to their just Authority the Holy Office must fall of course were the design of that Office no other than is pretended it is at best but an encroachment upon the Episcopal Jurisdiction for to the Bishops it belongs of right to give Judgment in matters of Religion and superintend the Discipline of the Church and they all along exercised this Jurisdiction which they derive through the Apostles from Christ with that Gentleness Tenderness and Charity as became the true Fathers of the Church till the Popes began to usurp the whole Power to themselves or impart it to Creatures of their own and among the rest to these Wolves of Inquisitors whom in the heighth of their Tyranny they let loose upon the Church to dispossess the Shepherds and ravage the Flock but should an end be put to the Papal Usurpations there would be no further occasion for Inquisitors and therefore it had been no wonder if of their own heads they made this desperate Effort to preserve their Master and themselves But in Truth had King John been fully bent to break with Rome it is much to be question'd whether all the Power of the Inquisition as great as it is suppos'd to be could have frustrated his design for in reality this Tribunal since its last establishment in Portugal hath had its chief support from the Kings who on several occasions have maintain'd it in spight of the Court of Rome it self Had the King withdrawn his Protection it is not unlikely but the Bishops of themselves might have made their Party good For the People doubtless would prefer their Government to that of the Inquisitors as chusing rather to be under the Discipline of a Father than in the hands of those barbarous Executioners Besides it was an easie matter for the King to hinder the Inquisitors from giving him any trouble some of the chief of them ow'd their lives to his Mercy the Inquisitor General for one who stood convicted as a Principal of the most horrible Treason that ever Traitor was charg'd with it was for no less a Crime than a design to murther the King fire the City and betray his Country to the Spaniards It is said that in order to the Execution of this Treason the Holy House had been fill'd with Arms and that which made the Plot the more remarkable the undermanagers of it were some of the leading Men among the New Christians against whom the Inquisition was erected and upon whom the Inquisitors for the most part exercise their Barbarities and thereby gain what favour they have with the People for the rest of the Portuguses bear a mortal hatred against those among them that go by the Name of New Christians whom these Impostors represent as Jews in their hearts pretending that their Jewish blood makes them such whether they will or no. But on this occasion it was observed That the Inquisition and the Synagogue were of accord together to destroy their Country and it is very likely that the King had he pleased might have rendered the one as odious to the people as the other was But he took other measures and though several Noble Men of the first
Devotion which the Catholick Kings above all other Princes have ever born in mind and testify'd by their Actions towards the Apostolical See Their meaning was understood well enough at Rome and this Intimation of what they should do gave a strange force to their Arguments and so confirm'd the wavering Pope that he remained ever after steady to their Interest The Portugueses had apparently all the Right on their side but the Spaniards were Masters of Milan Naples and Sicily From this time forward Pope Innocent turned a deaf Ear to all that could be said in Favour of King John of Portugal and could never be brought to grant him that which was never deny'd to an Usurper That Prince had his Agents continually soliciting for him at Rome in his own Name and in behalf of the Clergy and of the three Estates of the Kingdom but all to no purpose The French made the most pressing Instances in his behalf but the Pope did not mind them at that time for France being embroil'd with intestine Dissentions He was sure they could do him no harm Great Court and Application was made to Donna Olympia as we are told by the Conde da Ericeyra who observes that she seldom used to fail in any Temporal Business that she undertook alluding I suppose to a Saying to that purpose which was current at that time in the Courts of Popish Princes where upon any Disappointment of their Affairs at Rome the Nuncio's were sure to be told That if the Business had been solicited by Donna Olympia it had never miscarried But on this occasion Donna Olympia her self could do no good for either she did not heartily espouse the King of Portugal's cause or if she did all her Artifices were ineffectual upon the obdurate Pontiff All the answer that could be got from this and the former Pope besides those frivolous Complaints before mention'd for which satisfaction was still offered was that the Pope as the common Father of Christendom thought himself bound to carry it equally between Castille and Portugal and not acknowledge or oblige one Son when it could not be done without offence to the other but the Portugueses could not perswade themselves that in this case He in any sort acted the part of a common Father whilst to gratify the unreasonable Ambition of the one he did not stick wholly to cast off the other and to use him in a more barbarous manner than he could have done an Infidel But in short the Spaniards were very rugged in their Threats and that stood them in stead of Right and Merit the Portugueses valuing themselves upon their blind Obedience to the Holy See kept within the terms of Respect which instead of gaining ought upon those of Rome gave encouragement to their Insolence Had King John but follow'd the Spaniards Example or come to any vigorous Resolution he had doubtless soon brought his Holiness to a compliance or he might have had a fair opportunity to vindicate his Country's Liberty in a yet more glorious manner than he had done already by shaking off the Spanish Yoke For we must know that all these Applications to the Court of Rome were not made to the end only that his Title might be acknowledged there but in order to have the vacant Sees in his Dominions supplied with Bishops for in a few years after the Revolution there was but one Bishop remaining in Portugal and he not Resident upon his Diocess being obliged to attend the Court and there was a like want of them in the East and West-Indies in the Madera and Cap Verde Islands and upon the Coasts of Africa the Portugueses therefore laboured all they could to make his Holiness sensible of the miserable state of their Churches thus destitute of Pastors petitioning for a supply the King according to the Practice of his Ancestors proposing the Persons for that end and to remove all Objections he agreed that his Nomination of the Bishops should be admitted with the Clause sine Praejudicio Tertij notwithstanding its being a clear Maxim in the Rota and confirmed by the practice of the Roman Church That the simple possession of an Inheritance City or Territory that has Jus Patronatus annext to it gives the right of Presentation to the Possessor but neither the reason of the thing nor the desolate condition of the Orphan Churches could have any weight upon the obstinate Pope He was more apprehensive of the Spanish Threats than the loss of Millions of Souls all that could be got from him was that He would appoint Bishops for Portugal on condition that he might name them de motu proprio he offered indeed another very strange Concession which was that the Bishops he chose of his own mere motion should be the very same Persons that the King had named But the Portugueses could not agree to this Proposal for this among other Reasons that the Popes might make it a Precedent for assuming to themselves a Right of nominating Bishops in after times which would prove a great grievance to the Nation since the Benefices that were already at his Disposal were generally the worst supply'd Things being thus at a stand the Gallicane Church undertook the cause of her Sister of Portugal and took the liberty to mind the Holy Father of his Duty in a Letter written by the Prelates assembled in a Synod which was presented in their Name by Cardinal Francisco Barbarini but the Pope at that time had as little regard to the French Church as he had to the French Coutt The Clergy of that Kingdom sent their Agent to Rome to take care of the concerns of the Portuguese Church as well as their own the Bishops whom King John had nominated sent their humble Petition to his Holiness that they might be admitted to the Exercise of their Charge and their Petition was rejected with scorn the Cardinals of the French Faction did all the good Offices they could but to no purpose Este signalized himself in a very particular manner on this occasion the Pope taking notice that he loytered about the City more than became him ordered him one day to his Diocess saying That it went against his Conscience to see him absent from it so long the Cardinal who was Young and Resolute answered That his Holiness had a great deal of reason to be thus scrupulous but being so much concerned as he was for one single Church he ought not wholly to neglect so many as there were in Portugal unprovided of Bishops and therefore he conjur'd him before God and in the Name of the King of France from whom he had Commission so to do that he would speedily grant Bishops to that Kingdom The Pope not a little surpriz'd at so brisk an Attack was going away without making any other reply than saying I shall pluck the Cap from off that Boy 's Head Este turns to him again and crys If you do I shall put on another of Iron and thereupon retires
Quality were Executed for this Plot yet the Inquisitor General was spared for fear of violating the Ecclesiastical Immunities yet it was as much as His Majesty could do to preserve him and some others of the Conspirators from being torn to pieces by the Rabble For these reasons I am perswaded that some other considerations might concur with the authority of the Inquisition to with hold the King from with drawing his Obedience from the Pope what they were I shall not pretend to guess at It is certain that this Prince was so ill advised that neglecting the Counsels of Wise and Learned Men he would never make use of any other remedy but Supplications and most humble submissions to his Holiness and he was ever after despised and slighted at Rome accordingly For this great Deference of his to the Holy See made those he had to deal with there presume the more upon his Patience and reject with the greater contempt all the Petitions that were offered up in his behalf The Portugueses do not use to grow tame under Indignities one would think therefore that Nation should begin to resent this barbarous Usage of their King and themselves And its true they shew'd themselves to be not altogether insensible on this occasion for in the Year 1653. six years after the King's Remonstrance had been given to the Pope the three Estates of the Realm publish a kind of Manifest Entituled The Bleatings Balidos of the Churches of Portugal after the Sovereign Pastor the Pope wherein they give a most lamentable account of their Grievances and how rigorously the Holy Father had dealt with them and to make their Patience appear the more meritorious they let his Holiness understand that they might have remedied themselves if they had a mind to it setting forth at large the opinions of the Learned on their Case and the reasons they were grounded on which yet instead of making a right use of them they set themselves after their manner to confute and afterwards enter'd a solemn Protest which since it contains the substance of their answers to the advice their Friends had given them I shall here set down that the World may see upon what solid grounds the three Estates of a Kingdom thought fit to intail the most intolerable Yoke of Bondage upon themselves and their Posterity They declare That they hold it for an infallible Truth that the Pope as he is Christ's Vicar on Earth Universal Pastor of the Church and the lawful Successor of St. Peter is the Sovereign Monarch of the Church all the Authority and Power of other Ministers being derived wholly from him which he may suspend and limit in what form and manner he thinks convenient it being unlawful for any other Potentate to intermeddle with his Government secular Princes having nothing to do in the Affairs belonging to the Church any further than contributing to her Defence and Prosperity That though various methods have been used for the Election and Confirmation of Bishops yet it is an undoubted Truth that it hath always been with the express or at least the Tacit Approbation of the Pope who has appointed and consented to those several ways according to the different circumstances of the Times nor hath it been ever proved say they that there were Bishops at any time without this confirmation Particularly they confess and hold for certain that in the Primitive Church after the Apostles times this Power returned to and remained in the Pope That if Bishops were afterwards chosen by the Clergy and People it was by the Pope's Permission if secular Princes in those times intermeddled in these Elections either by concession from the Pope or by their own Authority with an Usurpative Right yet they had never any true Right of their own to do it and for this reason the Apostles in the very beginning of the Church forbad them to concern themselves in these matters and if any Princes pretended to it the Popes severely censured and checked them for it and they coming to understand from whence they had this Right were brought at last to lay it aside and by this means it came to pass that no Respect was had to Princes or the consent of the People but the Power of Elections remained by the Pope's Authority in the Clergy and Fryars of the Diocess and at last in the Chapters alone And thus it continued to the Pontificate of Boniface the 8th and Clement the 5th who began to reserve the Power of instituting Bishops to themselves in some Cases and after that Innocent the 4th by a Rule in Chancery reserved it wholly to the Apostolical See So that say they This Prerogative and Right to create Bishops was always in the Pope as 't is at present they acknowledge indeed that even after the Rule in Chancery came to be in force many Princes continued to nominate Bishops for their own Kingdoms and Dominions but this was by Concession from the Pope or upon Presumption of a Privilege arising by Custom approv'd of by the Apostolical See But that it was in the Pope's breast to receive or reject their Nomination which did no more than capacitate the Person named to procure the Pope's Confirmation and sue out the Apostolical Bulls It is likewise say they An undoubted Truth that the Power of Election which hath formerly been in the Chapter is now wholly extinguished by means of the Reservation made by the Rule in Chancery so that at this time the Pope's Creation or Institution of Bishops cannot properly be called a Confirmation because Confirmation supposeth a preceding Election but Elections are now wholly abolished by reason and virtue of the aforesaid Rule in Chancery and lastly they hold for certain that notwithstanding there was a time when Patriarchs Metropolitans and National Councils had power to confirm Bishops they have now no such Power nor can they exercise it in any case since they enjoy'd it only by the Pope's permission and while there was place for Confirmation before Elections were abolished when the Power to appoint Bishops had not been yet reserved by the Pope to himself viz. by the aforesaid Rule in Chancery Had an Agent from Rome or an Inquisitor argued after this manner it had been no wonder since daily experience shows how far Interest and Passion will blind a Man's Reason and what silly Arguments shall serve the turn for want of better when one is prepossest with hopes of some vast Advantage by gaining the cause but for the three Estates of a Nation after what had been demonstrated to them from Scripture and Fathers from the constant Tradition and uniform practice of the Catholick Church thus to renounce their Sense and Reason in order only to enslave themselves when Liberty was offer'd them is such a Prodigy that I believe no History can furnish us with a like Instance Here we have People exposing their Church and Nation to ruin because a Negative was never proved it having never
was given for a Reason the last Lateran Council and other Canons of their Church had made it unlawful for any Prince to receive Tribute from the Clergy without the Pope's leave even tho' it were voluntarily offer'd by themselves as this had been by the Ecclesiastical as well as the two other Estates in Cortes And since that time at the end of every Sixth Year a Breve hath been procured from Rome for continuing the Taxes for Six Years longer therein the Pope impowers the Nuncio residing at Lisbon to use his Apostolical Authority in obliging the Clergy to pay them This Breve is of course published in Portugal and tho' it chiefly regards the Clergy yet it is not unlikely but it may be design'd to induce the People likewise to pay their Taxes quietly without putting the King and the Three Estates of the Realm to the trouble of meeting together in Cortes For it must needs be a great Argument among them that the thing is but just and reasonable since the Holy Father consents to and approves of it and it weighs much with them no doubt when they consider why his Holiness grants the Breve which as 't is declared in the Narrative of it is The Exchequers being exhausted by the vast Expences that the Crown hath been continually at for the maintenance and propagation of the Catholick Faith in the Dominions abroad especially in Brazil and the East-Indies where the Dutch Hereticks and other Infidels were endeavouring to extirpate it Which Reason is said to continue still or rather to become more strongly urgent every time there is occasion for a new Breve The Pope gives Commission to his Nuncio to enquire into the Truth of this and other Allegations as that the Three Estates the Clergy more especially have given their Consent the Nuncio cites the King's Procurator before him and puts him upon the Proof He shews that the Nobility and People have agreed to the continuance of the Taxes because they still pay them and that the whole Body of the Clergy are likewise willing because the Bishops have given their Consent which as he pretends to prove withal comprehends that of all the rest But it does not appear how he makes good the Main Point viz. The Danger that the Catholick Faith is in from the Dutch Hereticks and other Infidels As for the Dutch they renew'd their Peace with Portugal in the Year 1669 and have kept it ever since However the Nuncio is entirely satisfied with the Proofs whatever they be and thereupon gives order for the Execution of the Breve requiring Obedience thereto from all Persons Secular as well as Ecclesiastical upon pain of the greater Excommunication and 500 Crowns applicable to the Reverend Chamber Apostolick as the Words of the Order run Under the Title of Monopolies we may reduce the other part of the Supply granted at the same time which was an Impost upon Tobacco made into Snuff by which 500000 Crowns per Annum were design'd to be rais'd In order to make this Sum the King had the whole Trade of Snuff put into his own Hands and it became almost as great a Crime in Portugal for any to Make Snuff for themselves as 't is with us in England to Coin Money tho' People almost universally take it here This Monopoly was let out to Farm to the Duke of Cadaval the principal Person in the Kingdom next His Majesty and it was so managed that 't is said the King receiv'd much more than double the Value of what it was given for The Tobacco as it come from Brazil was bought up for the King at a Teston and half or less per Pound and sold out in Snuff for 16 or 20 and sometimes more the best and 14 the more ordinary sort But 't is said that this Trade is now laid aside and an Equivalent with the Advantage of 600 000 tax'd upon Tobacco in Rolls The King hath likewise in his Hands a great part of the Trade from Foreign Plantations as that of Elephants Teeth from Africa of Wood from Brazil Besides great Duties upon Sugar and of all Goods coming from the East-Indies This last Trade is indeed but of little worth for he hath several times offered to make it over to a Company of Merchants but could never get a sufficient Number of Subscribers The King is likewise Grand Master of the Orders of Knighthood in his Kingdom and has the disposal of all the Commenda's belonging to them viz. of the Order of Christ which in Portugal succeeded to that of the Knights-Templers and is still in possession of their Lands and hath 454 Commenda's belonging to it 2dly The Order of St. Jago which hath 60 Commenda's and those of considerable Profit 3dly Of Avis which hath 43 and these esteem'd very rich Besides the King hath the disposal of the Commenda's in his Kingdom that belong to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem commonly called the Knights of Malta the chief of which viz. the Priory of Crato accounted one of the richest in the World is at present bestowed upon Dom Francisco the King 's Second Son I reckon these among the King's Revenues because they are put to the same use as the greatest part by much of his other Incomes are viz. given away in Pensions or Rewards for Services But the Kings of Portugal have for this last Century made use of one extraordinary way to raise Money which among all Ways and Means perhaps hath never been thought of by any other Temporal Prince the Kings of Spain excepted who first brought it up in this Kingdom and this is by selling Indulgences to the People for the Pardon of their Sins and the Deliverance of their own or their Relations Souls out of Purgatory The Popes having been for some time shamed out of this Trade by the Noise that Luther made in the World the Kings of Spain thought fit to take it up and have made more Money of it with less Scandal To this end Philip the Second after he had got Possession of the Crown of Portugal obtained Bulls of Pope Gregory the 14th in the Year 1591 which since that time have been publish'd almost every Year in Portugal And the Profits arising from them are become a part of the Standing Revenues of the Crown And indeed they may well be accounted a very considerable part of them The Substance of these three Bulls are all contain'd in one which carries for Title The Bull of the Holy Croisade But they are retailed out to the People under the Names of The Bull for the Living The Bull of Composition And The Bull for the Dead They have their general Name from the Croisade as if they were granted for carrying on the Holy War and were we to judge of the Levies I mean of Money that are here made one would think that War was still prosecuted with as great Vigour as it was 500 Years ago It 's true indeed that the Kings of Portugal even
Nature and Grace being a Consequence of the Author's Principles contained in the Search together with F. Malbranch's Defence against Mr. de la Ville and several other Adversaries All English'd by J. Taylor M. A. of Magdalen-College Oxon and Printed there The Second Edition with some Additions communicated by the Author QVARTO A Critical History of the Texts and Versions of the New Testament In two Parts By Father Simon of the Oratory A Discourse sent to the late King James to perswade him to embrace the Protestant Religion By Sam. Parker late Bishop of Oxon. To which are prefixed two Letters the first from Sir Lionel Jenkins on the same Subject the second from the Bishop sent with the Discourse All Printed from the Original Manuscripts A short Defence of the Orders of the Church of England By Mr. Milbourn Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions In Three Vol. By Robert South D. D. Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions By G. Strading D. D. and late Dean of Chichester Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions By R. Meggot D. D. Of the Reverence due to God in his Publick Worship In a Sermon before the King and Queen at White-Hall By the Right Reverend Father in God Nicholas Lord Bishop of Chester Three Sermons upon several Occasions By the Right Reverend Father in God William Lord Bishop of Oxford Two Sermons one before the House of Commons the other before the Queen By W. Jane D. D. and Dean of Gloucester Three Sermons before the Queen By Nath. Resbury D. D. Five Sermons upon several Occasions By Mr. Francis Atterbury Two Visitation-Sermons and one before the Societies for the Reformation of Manners By Mr. William Whitfield The Certainty and Necessity of Religion in General or the first Grounds and Principles of Humane Duty Established In Eight Sermons Preached at St. Martins in the Field At the Lecture for the Year 1697. Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyl Esq The Certainty of the Christian Revelation and the Necessity of Believing it establish'd in opposition to all the Cavils and Insinuations of such as pretend to allow Natural Religion and reject the Gospel Both by Francis Gastril B. D. Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolns-Inn A Conference with a Theist In Four Parts compleat By W. Nichols D. D. Mr. Luzancy against the Socinians In Two Parts A Discourse of Religious Assemblies for the Use of the Members of the Church of England By G. Burghorpe Rector of Little Gaddesden in Hertford-shire A Discourse of Schism address'd to those Dissenters who conform'd before the Toleration and have since withdrawn themselves from the Communion of the Church of England By R. Burscough M. A. The Inspiration of the New Testament Asserted and Explained in Answer to Mr. Le Clerc and other Modern Writers By G. Lamothe The Lives of all the Princes of Orange from William the Great Founder of the Commonwealth of the United Provinces Translated from the French by Mr. Tho. Brown Monsieur Bossu's Treatise of the Epick Poem containing many curious Reflections very useful and necessary for the right understanding of the Excellency of Homer and Virgil. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Roman Emperor concerning himself treating of a Natural Man's Happiness wherein it consisteth and of the Means to attain it Translated out of the Original Greek with Notes by M. Casabon D. D. To which is added The Life of Antoninus with some select Reflections upon the Whole By Monsieur and Madam Daceir Never before in English The Art of Glass Shewing how to make all sorts of Glass Crystal and Enamel likewise the making of Pearls Precious Stones China and Looking Glasses To which is added The Method of Painting on Glass and Enameling also how to extract the Colours from Minerals Metals Herbs and Flowers A Work containing many Secrets and Curiosities never before discovered Illustrated with Sculptures Written originally in French by Mr. H. Blancourt and now translated into English With an Appendix contaning Exact Instructions for making Glass Eyes of all Colours Jacobi Patriarchae de Shiloh Vaticinium a depravatione Johannis Clerici in Pentateuchum Commentatoris Assertum Opera Studio Sebastini Edzardi Accedit Ejudem Dissertatio de nomine Elohim Aurocti Judicii de R. Simonii Historia V. Test Critica opposita An Essay concerning Self Murther Wherein is endeavour'd to prove That it is unlawful according to Natural Principles With some Considerations upon what is pretended from the said Principles by the Author of a Treatise intituled Biathaenatos and others By J. Adams Rector of St. Alban's Wood street and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty The Pretensions of the several Candidates for the Crown of Spain discuss'd and the Necessity of the King of Portugal's being declared Successor to his Catholick Majesty prov'd In a Letter from a Spanish Nobleman to a Counsellor of State at Madrid OF THE INTERESTS OF PORTUGAL With Relation to other SOVEREIGNS CONTAINING An Account of the most Considerable Transactions that have pass'd of late between that Court and those of Rome Spain France Vienna England c. PART II. Of the Interests of Portugal with Relation to Rome OF all the Courts with which this of Portugal hath any Intercourse that of Rome challenges the Pre-eminence and not without Reason considering what great Interest and Power the Pope has within the Kingdom for however He may be slighted in other Countries accounted Catholick he hath hitherto made shift to maintain his Authority in this by virtue of the extraordinary Devotion of the Portuguese Kings towards the Holy See which his present Majesty has inherited from his Ancestors together with the Title of The most Obedient Son of the Church It is well known what Power Popes have had in former Ages in other parts of Christendom and by what means they procured and maintained it notwithstanding the Opposition they almost every where met with from Princes who were perpetually strugling to preserve or recover their Liberty But the Case of Portugal seems peculiar in this respect That as it hath brought its self into a greater subjection to the See of Rome than any other Kingdom so it can plead the Merit of a voluntary Obedience Other Nations have shown that they were in a State of Violence while the Soveraign Pontiffs were exercising the Plenitude of their Power over them since all of them have in some measure more or less eased themselves of the Oppression while the Portugueses who doubtless might have gone as far as any towards the recovery of their Liberty do to this day bear the Yoke It is indeed with some Impatience for they are not insensible of its weight and smart and see plainly that its like to lie heavier upon them still Alfonso Henriquez their first King refused to accept of the Crown till it was made Tributary to his Holiness John the 2d who in other Cases knew as well as ever any Prince did how to assert the Royal Authority exceeded his first
Predecessor in his Respect and Deference to the Holy See for he gave the Pope an uncontroulable kind of Soveraignty within his Dominions granting that his Bulls should be Publish'd for the future without being examin'd by the Chancellor or any other of the King's Ministers which was the former practice of this and is still observed with great exactness in other Kingdoms to prevent incroachments upon the Civil Power When that Magnanimous Prince John the 3d. had been treated with the utmost Indignities by those of Rome and they conscious to themselves of their Offences were apprehensive of his Resentments Inigo Loyola Founder of the Jesuits could assure them that he knew the King of Portugal to be so good a Catholick that he would suffer his very Beard to be trampled under feet by his Holiness without showing the least sign of Disobedience The Brave Sebastian when the Pope to flatter his desire of Glory bid him choose what Title he pleased answered That he was ambitious of no other but that which his Ancestors had so well deserved viz. That of The most obedient Son of the Church This great Devotion of the Portuguese Kings toward the Romish See hath given the Pope the advantage to establish an Absolute Dominion within their Kingdom It s true his Holiness hath the Title of Soveraign only in Spirituals but he so manages the matter that Temporals fall in of course in Ordine ad Spiritualia he is not indeed at the trouble nor the charge of maintaining the Civil Government but then he has the Power and the Emoluments of a Temporal Soveraignty He has his Nuncio always residing at Lisbon with a Legantine Power and wanting only the Title of Vice-Roy exercising his Jurisdiction in his own Courts whence there is no appeal but to Rome over the whole Body of the Clergy who with their Dependents may well be reckon'd one half of the Kingdom They are commonly supposed to have much above two thirds of the Wealth the secular Clergy who are more exempt than the rest from his Dominion are yet his Tributarys great summs are extorted from them for Collations to Benefices and Bulls for Bishops There goes to Rome as I have been informed no less than 90 Thousand Crowns before an Archbishop of Evora can be setled in his Chair and all the rest may be supposed to pay in their Proportion As for the Regulars they are his more immediate Vassals or Soldiers rather its true they are not in his Pay for they live upon free Quarter and keep the Country under Contribution and his Holiness comes in for a share of the Spoils by continually draining them of what they scrape from the People every Monastery having always some Business or other depending before the Nuncio or their Agents at Rome to procure Privileges or Indulgencies or Composition for unsaid Masses that have been paid for of which they will sometimes be behind hand for many thousands but upon Composition made at Rome one high Mass said at a privileged Altar will serve for all or to make the Ministers of that Court acquainted with their Squabbles among themselves And on all these occasions the Money of the Kingdom is carried to Rome to be dispos'd of there by underhand Conveyances as well as open Practices for when a Fryar is to pass the Mountains he is furnished with Bills for Secret as well as Publick Service and it is not impossible that the Holy See may by this means undergo greater Scandal than it deserves for the Fryars Account is allowed of upon his own word so that should he convert a considerable summ to his own use he cannot be discovered unless it be by a very rare Accident indeed and yet it is no unheard of thing at Lisbon for one to be found out in reckoning some Thousands of Crowns for Bribes which never were expended in the Service But these are not the only ways by which the Riches of Portugal are drawn to Rome his Holiness hath his Apostolical Collectors for so they are called to raise Tribute from the King's Subjects as well as his own and to receive his share of the Taxes which the King levys in his own Dominions by his Holiness's Permission Dispensations for Marriages must necessarily bring him in a very considerable and constant Revenue the forbidden Degrees being so very many in the Roman Church whether upon the account of Consanguinity or Spiritual Relation that one would think there could scarce be a Wedding among Neighbours or People that have for any time been acquainted without a Dispensation and it rarely if ever happens that a Match is broken off for want of one supposing the Parties will come up to the price of it if they apprehend any difficulty in it it is but beginning the Marriage at the wrong End and then the Dispensation is granted of course and the Price being rais'd according to the Quality of the Persons and nearness of the Relation great summs are continually drawn from Families of the better sort who commonly marry within themselves and some of them intrench so far upon the Laws of Nature that the House of Austria in the last Age was not more confounded by the various Relations of its several Branches to each other than some Noble Families in Portugal are at this day In fine Portugal is so beneficial a Province to his Holiness that could a just Computation be made there is no doubt but his Revenues from thence would be found to exceed the Kings by far the necessary Charges of the Government deducted They are so great that if some sudden stop be not put to them the Kingdom is like to be exhausted in a very short time which gives thinking People here a sad prospect of the approaching Ruin of their Country This may appear strange to the rest of Europe considering the vast advantages that must necessarily have accrued to this Kingdom from an undisturbed Peace of above Thirty Years continuance during which time all other parts of Christendom have been more than once engaged in Expensive Wars one would think that during the last War at least which among many other advantages brought hither so great and gainful a Trade with England as took off all the Commodities the Country could vent and that too at prodigious Rates I believe I may safely say above double to what they formerly sold for one would think I say by this time that Riches and Plenty should have abounded every where But they that have travelled the Country of late beheld another Face of Things and at the late Assembly of the Cortes the Mouths of the Deputies were full of complaints of an Universal Desolation and Poverty and I have been told that some of them were sensible enough of the cause of their Misery but I have not heard that any Motion was made in their Publick Meetings for a Redress to this their greatest Grievance Having given some Account of the State of Portugal with respect to Rome it
been demonstrated to them that Popes did not Tacitly consent to the Election of Bishops in which for so many Ages together they had nothing at all to do no more than a King of France has to do in the choice of a King of Poland and would the Poles think we be content to abandon their Country to the mischiefs of an Interregnum and submit their Necks to the Yoke of a Foreign Tyrant because it can never be made out that their Kings have not been made by his Tacit Consent but when I see People laying so much stress upon the Tacit Consent of the Popes for my part I do not at all wonder that they ascribe so much virtue to a Rule in the Pope's Chancery that it shall be able to destroy the whole Hierarchy and turn into an Arbitrary lawless Tyranny that most Regular and Beautiful frame of Government which hath obtain'd in the Church ever since the Apostles days However these Reasons such as they were satisfi'd the three Estates of Portugal so that instead of helping themselves as they might and ought they took up with a Resolution to throw themselves wholly at the Holy Father's Mercy and in conclusion of their Bleatings declar'd That they would wrestle with Christ's Vicar the Roman Angel the Figure of God on Earth exerting all the vigour that their love and necessity inspired them with till they got from him his Blessing and would never let go their hold till his Apostolical Hand was upon them and till he offered his most Holy Feet to their Mouths The Pope finding them to be thus resolv'd thought he was sure enough of them and therefore let 'em Bleat and Bray too as they pleased for him for his part he would trouble his Head no more about them all his concern was how to oblige and humour the boisterous Spaniards who by their rugged behaviour were ever and anon threatning him into a Compliance with their unjust and unreasonable Pretensions He knew not what mischief they might do him While the Portugueses took care to satisfie Him that he had nothing to fear from them and I do not find but that they sent in their Money in the usual course so that he lost but little excepting what was to be got by the Bishop's Bulls which yet as the Spaniards would perswade him was like to come speedily in all in a lump they feeding him all along with hopes that they should make a quick dispatch of the War In this state did the Affairs of Portugal at Rome continue for part of Urban the 8th's Pontificat all Innocent the 10th's and Alexander the 7th's and till the latter end of Clement the 9th's and during the whole Reigns of this King's Father and Brother but upon Dom Pedro's coming to the Government the Spaniards having made Peace with Portugal and acknowledg'd the King's Title left his Holiness at Liberty to do so likewise And now Portugal having no such need as before of the Pope's Protection or Favour and being more at Liberty to make Returns of the ill usage it had receiv'd the Blessings of Rome began to shour down upon that favourite Kingdom without measure Clement the 9th had a happy Opportunity before he died to signalize his Fatherly Tenderness or rather indulgence towards his present Majesty and make full amends for all the Rigour used by former Popes towards his Father and Brother for a little before the conclusion of the Peace Alfonso was deposed in the manner as hath been related and Dom Pedro possest of his Throne and a little after of his Bed by marrying the Queen the King his Brother still living and here was a large Field for the Apostolical Graces For now it was not only the King's Title that was to be acknowledged but the Prince his Right to his Brother's Wife and Kingdom and his Highness found in the Pope all the easiness he could desire This Prince did but mention in a Letter written on another occasion his design of sending an Ambassador to pay his Obedience and his Holiness returns answer That his Ambassador upon his coming to Rome should as he thought but just meet with a kind and honourable Reception no scruple was made about the Prince's Right of sending one no enquiry into the manner of his taking upon him the Government nor so much as mention made of the Clause sine Praejudicio Tertij How different was this usage from what his Father met with King John had an undoubted Right to the Crown and the same was manifest to the World yet his Ministers were called to account at Rome to show the grounds of their Master's Title whereas the Reasons for deposing King Alfonso and placing Dom Pedro in the Throne whatever they were were not as yet well known to the Publick and yet after all King John was treated like a Traitor and a Robber and it was but just that Dom Pedro's Ambassador upon the first intimation of his coming should meet with a kind and honourable Reception at Rome The World is not to be informed now what work they used to make at Rome in Causes of Divorce especially between Royal Parties and one would think his Holiness might have taken some time to consider of it before he gave way to a Marriage which I believe never had a Precedent in the Christian World But here we have an instance of a Queens casting off her Husband without the least Difficulty and both that and her Marriage with her living Husband's Brother confirm'd by his Holiness with as much Facility as if these were things done every day of course so that it cannot be denied but the submissive Compliance of this Pope with the Will and Pleasure of the Portuguese Court now in the time of its Prosperity did equal at least if not exceed the insolence of his Predecessors towards that Nation in its distress It is certain that Clement did not a little value himself upon his having thus far stretch'd the plenitude of his Power in Dom Pedro's Favour he thought he had done enough to atone for all Offences and to inspire this Prince with as great Devotion towards the Holy See as any of his Predecessors have had before him Certainly saith he to him in his Letter on this occasion Certainly we have labour'd to do you all the Favour in the present Cause that the sacred Canons will permit and we receive the greatest content upon finding You so well pleased with this Pontificial Kindness But in Truth the thanks you give with so much Piety and Affection are no more than are due the thing it self consider'd so that we with Justice require that you acknowledge your self indebted for it to the Goodness of the Holy See and you will perfectly comply with this Obligation if you go on to show as truly you do on all occasions a greater concern and affection for whatsoever hath Relation to the Holy See and the Catholick Religion imitating herein the Ancient Devotion of