may be by that which the Diuine Prouidence hath judged and chosen for the best For as Gerson sayth to beleeue that nothing is well done but that which thou doest or that which thou causest to be done alas this is a poynt of great hazard If this be to seeke God there are indeede very many who are much deceiued for men are wont to call this a seeking of ones selfe and not a seeking of God or if it be a seeking of God it is for the finding of himselfe in that search and to build as a man may say at the cost of God a Temple or Trophy â—or a mans owne glory and reputation Si adhuc hominibus placerem Christi seruus non essem sayd that man of Heauen that instructer of Bishops But now wee must consider the reasons that men alleadge against vs in this argument and what those windes are which make such a tempest in the sea of the Church as that a man would say all were lost So full haue men their mindes of zeale and so inflamed vpon this businesse and so much noyse doe they make As for me I aske for such mindes of men as may be coole and quiet and wise and by no meanes troubled and boyling vp And I demaund no grace nor fauour but onely a sober and setled judgement without any other interest then of Gods seruice and which may not be pre-occupated by certaine inueterate opinions which haue no soliditie in them In fine my Lords I desire no other kinde of mindes in men but such as are made like yours that is to say such as are solid firme dis-interessed and which desire but to meet with thâ— true meanes of saving the soules of your Diocesses and to comfort the sheepe of your Flockes and I am well inclined to beleeue that of you which Saint Paul sayd of himselfe in Rom. 9. relation to others Optabam n. ego ipse Paulus anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis Let vs therefore see the reasons which some alleadge to prooue that there is no necessity of Religious men but rather that they are of prejudice to the Hierarchy of the Church THE FIRST REASON â—t Charles did not serue himselfe of â—eligious men for the establishment of the Hierarchy of his Diocesse which yet was the honour of Diocesses THe first the most specious and peraduenture the most strong reason is this which heere wee finde alleadged namely that the great and incomparable Saint Charles did not serue himselfe of Religious men for the establishment of his Diocesse which is neuerthelesse the most flourishing or at least one of the most flourishing in Italy and perhaps euen in the whole World Can any man doe better then Saint Charles Can a man fayle by imitating Saint Charles Can it be disliked if a man doe that which was done by S. Charles who is Canonized both in Heauen and in earth My Lords I cannot counsell you to make Saint Charles the judge of this question for if you doe you will infallibly loose your cause I say you will infallibly loose it Before I prooue this truth I will tell you by way of surplussage that supposing Saint Charles had proceeded so as hath beene sayd which yet is not so it cannot be inferred thereupon that all the World eyther must do or hath done the like There may bee reasons which are good at Milan which are not gusted elsewhere and some things are good in some season which are not so in others If hee were now liuing and in France hee must be faine to hold another stile and to goe in another ayre then this But yet they say still that Saint Charles was of that opinion Let it bee so But Saint Bonauenture was of an opinion directly â—ontrary to this who was a Cardinall as Saint Charles a Pastor like him at least as learned as hee and a Saint as hee was and yet neuerthelesse hee taught and practised the direct contrary and found himselfe very well therewith But let us heare him speake by his owne mouth or rather take the paines to reade a Treatise which hee made altogether vpon this subject vnder this faire Title Quarè fratres minores praedicent confessiones audiant And you shall see whether Saint Bonauenture be of the opinion of Saint Charles or at least whether hee be of that which is imputed to him See but his Apologie for those poore Religious men and my turne is serued You will tell me perhaps that it is so indeede but then you will say that Saint Bonauenture must goe for a suspected man It is certainly as easie for me to say that Saint Charles maâ— also bee suspected though inâ—eede hâ— ought not to be so But then yoâ— say that Saint Bonauenture was 〈◊〉 Religious man and Saint Charles was hee not so too And if not theâ— I demaund justice of you my Lords for why will you haue Religious meâ— beleeue St. Charles in this busines anâ— yet you will noâ— that such as are noâ— Religious should beleeue St. Bonâ—uenture Either beleeue them both oâ— relinquish them both or else you will ordaine men to bee both judges and parties which is contrarie to all forme of justice in France Saint Thomas also was of a contrary opinion to St. Charles But you will say that hee was no Archbishop any more then Saint Bernard who was also none but yet of the same opinion with him Hee was not indeede but it was long of no bodie but St. Bernard that hee was not Arch-bishop of Millan as well as St. Charles nor of any but Saint Thomas that he was not Archbishop of Naples Now whom my Lords doe you esteeme more in the sight of God eyther him who refuseth to be an Arch-bishop being prest to bee so by the Pope and by the whole World or him who presseth that he may be so as they say Saint Charles did whilst yet he was yong and before his conuersion Or do you thinke perhaps that St. Bernard or St. Thomas would say any thing against their conscience in a matter of such moment But let vs yet say more let vs leaue the Character a part doe you not beleeue that the testimonies of these two Seraphins bee as weightie and as important in the way of conscience as that of the great St. Charles who esteemed these two great Doctors and great seruants of God so much that hee esteemed nothing of himselfe in comparison of them You say this was the opinion of St. Charles and I will shew you by good account nine and forty Popes of a contrary opinion I wll shew you 500. Cardinalls Arch-bishops Bishops most illustrious most reuerend most holy most wise And which importeth most dis-interested both in France and elsewhere who were of a contrary opinion I will shew you Emperours Kings Monarchs and euen Oracles amongst men who are also of a contrarie opinion I doe highly esteeme Saint Charles and God forbid but I should But yet if I
bee substituted to the place of others and so the Clergy of Millan would infallibly grow to be reformed both in Country and City by the substitution I say of of good Priests who might lead holy liues and that all the younger Priests moulding themselues by those others might thus put themselues vpon the way of Ecclesiasticall perfection obtayned by secular Priests who shortly would people Lombardie with excellent men for the Church That Religious men not being come in but to succour the Church when it was in decay and seemed to hang towards ruine there would now bee not great neede of them but for singing their Office in the Quier and to make mentall Prayer 8. That good secular Priests were the men who would vphold the dignity of Bishops and who liue not but by them nor take any thing to heart but their Commaundâ—ments and who would euer be at their feete and euer neere at hand to bee imployed by them in all kinde of labour without contrâ—diction 9. That for the greater assurancâ— and stability hereof they would take an Oath nay they would maâ— a particuler vowe betweene thâ— hands of the sayd Lord Cardinall whereby they would irreuocably oblige themselues to him and would make themselues as his Creatures This is that in grosse which I haue learned both in Millan as also out of the life of the Saint afore-said touching that which they alleadged to him And now he who imbraced all sorts of people for the seruice oâ— God was much pleased by the lustre of these faire and winning propositions And as for the men hee receiued them after a paternall manner and gaue them the Church of the holy Sepulcher and obtained the yearly reuenew of a thousand crownes for them of Pope Gregorie the thirteenth and by occasion of offering themselues to him hee gaue them the name of Oblati which continueth with them till this day and in truth they haue done God good seruice in the Diocesse of the holy Cardinall Now as for saying whether afterward they grew vp to frame a bodie or whether they haue chosen a Generall or no or what Hierarchy they haue I must clearely auow mine owne ignorance For in truth I know not how the case stands and I am so little curious that I haue not taken care to informe my selfe It is true that I haue bin told many times but I put not this eyther into my booke of receites or of expences as a thing which concernes me not But I beseech God to conserue and enrich them with all the benedictions both of heauen and earth for the seruice of the Church and the good of soules 9. This was then the occasion of that change which arriued at Millan wherein my Lords you may be pleased to obserue that it grew vpon the desire of the Religious men and at their instant 〈◊〉 that Saint Charles discharged them of that too great imployment for these are the expresse words of the Historie Besides that the holy Cardinall did neuer giue ouer euen till the end of his life to serue himselfe of Religious men and to imploy them vppon the conduct of his soule and you may well beleeue of so great a Cardinall that since hee trusted his conscience and his heart in the hands of Religious men hee might also well trust the rest his flocke and whatsoeuer was in his Diocesse which was the honour of Diocesses 10. To tell you now which of the two is better eyther to haue serued Saint Charles in the establishment of his Arch-bishopricke and to breake through difficulties or to haue helped to conserue that which was established alreadie would be but odious and without fruite In like manner to debate whether this bee not sitter at one time then in another would proue to make a discourse apt to breed iealousie and to discouer a high way couered with thornes To know moreouer whether the Oblati doe better seruice to Bishops then Religious men yea or no for the loue of God do not ingage me vppon this taske When you goe to Millan you maâ— take the paynes to informe and instruct your selues herein As for mee I know in a manner what might be said but I also know withall that I will not say it That which I wil be bold to say is this that I doe infinitely commend the large heart of Saint Charles and his affections of a father He euer loued both the one and the other euer imploied both the one the other and as his life doth witnesse he better loued to be a Father to all then partiall to any And seeing that hee had all in his power he would not commit himselfe wholy to any nor put himselfe into parallel with other folkes and to the end that all might be good children to him hee was a louing Father to all His life doth further relate that he had often in his mouth that word of the wiseman Discurre festina suscita Cap. â—7 animam tuam ne dederis somnum occulis tuis nec dormicent palpebrae suae In fine he awaked all the world he imployed all the seruants of God and hee neuer thought himselfe to haue men enough to cultiuate his Diocesse whereof he so much procured the aduancement 11. True but yet he wished for some things to be in regular persons and there were many little things which pleas'd him not Alas is there any kind of people wherof a maÌ„ is not weary at â—ngth since a man groweth weary eâ—en of himselfe and many times he â—ares not for that after noone which he passionatly desireth before In fine the minde of man is so made But now my Lords tel me if it please you doe you beleeue that there hath been nothing done by those others which might haue beene wished otherwise and which displeased Saint Charles and his successors Are they perhaps impeccable or are they men dropped downe from Heauen and confirmed in grace If a man will not serue himselfe but onely of such as make no faults infallibly hee must serue himselfe of none but hee must as Saint Paule sayth goe out of the World and seeke them beyond these parts of the earth which are inhabited by men Euery man is a man and extreamely a man and subject to many tokens of humanity and 〈◊〉 inhumanity too Hee is the most excellent amongst them who committeth the fewest faults A good oldâ— Religious man of the Mendicants sayd thus at Millan When those other good men shall haue serued St. Charles as long as wee and shall haue sweate blood and water so many yeares the world wil then be able to judge who shall haue done better seruice And is it therefore fit that for some little fault all former seruices should be forgotten Some one man will haue committed some light indiscretion and a hundred others of the same Order wil haue performed a thousand good seruices and must the mis-fortune be so great as to impute the fault of that one to
of one of them at least who dyed miserably In fine you shall haue in Saint Thomas all those very arguments which are brought against us at this day with the angelicall and most solid answeres of this Oracle who at his returne to Paris did publikely make good all his Doctrine and answered all them who went to assault him with their Canon shot and with arguments which they conceived to bee omnipotent But there hapned an accident which discovered that spirit well whereby they were animated who banded themselues against these For uppon a certaine Palme-Sunday when Saint Thomas Preached publikely in the Vniversity and spake like an Angell behold a strange and very unworthy case which hapned For a certaine silly fellow called Iuliot a Picard who appeared about the middle of the Sermon and opening a great paper wherein was contayned a list of injurious speeches against the great man and a thousand outragious slanders against his holy Order After I say that hee vomited out all this he concluded thus with a loud voyce How now my maisters can you be content after all this to heare the Sermon of so wicked a man and of a Doctor who teacheth so abhominable errors And you brother Thomas what doe you answere to this Now the people was confounded to see the vnspeakeable modesty of Saint Thomas who harkened to all that poysoned Discourse with so profound humility and with a silence so full of modestie and holy mortification that they esteemed him as a Saint of Heaven for hee did never so much as answere any one word But the people calling up their spirits and considering the insolency of this bold meane fellow did that which you may read if it please you in the story for I will not loade this paper with it nor yet importune you But so it is that the Auditors did that which perhaps you your selues wold haue done if you had beene at that Sermon and the King caused him and those maisters of Arte to bee punished who had made him commit that base tricke so full of insolency and scandall Now all those good Religious seeing themselues opprest on all sides and that the earth and this World fayled them they had recourse to Heaven and to the holy mother of God who appeared to Saint Thomas and made him see these Words written in letters of Gold Liberavit vos Deus abinimicis vestris de manu omnium qui oderunt vos In a word in the yeare of our Lord 1259. all this tempest broake up and those holy men remained in peace But I dare not forbeare to tell you that all this storme grew not into that heigth but by reason of a certaine rage and a strong passion of a Prelate who had seene a Nephew of his enter into the Order of Saint Dominicke and had never beene able to draw him thence Alas a little winde doth sometimes stirre up great stormes uppon the Sea of this World and how many things do men ill vnder colour of good if they take not heed 28. Methinkes you doe yet desire at my hands the Theses which Saint Thomas defended publikely in this matter and the Propositions which hee maintayned against all them who disputed thereof which was the cause why all the World yeelded to the truth and which calmed this tempest which was so blacke and so terrible that it was likely to swallow up these two Orders I wil obay and giue you here the chiefe points therof and I will draw them out of his booke and doe you but see if they be not the very same of these dayes 1. Cum misit Deus Apostolos 12. Opusc 15. c. 4. 72. Discipulos dedit illis facultatem alios mittendi sicut fecit Sanctus Paulus 1 Cor. 4. 2. Multo melius potest Papa Episcopus delegare alios mittere in vineam Domini quam Parochus 3. Minores Angeli in caelesti Hierarchia mitti possunt a superioribus eadem plane opera exercâ—nt ideoque dicuntur Seraphin Cherubin quia eorum opera exercent sic in Hierarchia Ecclesiastica 4. Papa non destruit Ecclesiasticam Hierarchiam cum mittit Monachos ad praedicandum quod enim potest inferior ut Curatus concedere committendo curam alicui hoc potest ejus superior ut Episcopus Papa 5. Papa in hoc non facit contra decreta Canorum nec contra statuta Sanctorum quod si daretur eum facere contra verba statutorum certum est eum servare intentionem statuentium quae est vtilitas Ecclesiae 6. Quae sunt de jure positiuo relicta sunt sub Papae dispensatione ut est hoc de quo quaeritur nempe mittere Monachos ad Praedicationes Confessiones audiendas 7. Quisquis Papae vel Episcopo suo vel alicui ejus vicem habenti confessus est ille confessus est proprio Sacerdoti 8. Cum Episcopus subditum Sacerdotis absoluit perse vel per alium cui commisit tum Sacerdos Parochialis itâ debet se reputare cognoscere eum ac si sibi confessus esset Nam cognoscere potest aliquem aut ex propria Confessione aut ex sententia superioris an sit dignus communione 9. Licet concedatur posse aliquod malum oriri ex hoc quod aliquis non confitetur Parocho suo tamen multo plura majora mala nascuntur si quis cogatur necessario illi confiteri vt patet experientia 10. Quicquid Sancti Doctores Canones videntur dicere de Monachis quorum Officium esse dicitur magis plangere quam docere hoc dicitur de Monachis illis qui nec Sacerdotes erant neque Diaconi sed solitarij Heremitae non de ijs qui ad hoc vocati sunt qui non ex propria authoritate id faciunt sed ex commissione Praelatorum 11. Etiamsi daretur duos tantum Ordines a Domino esse institutos qui possent propria authoritate praedicare c. posset tamen Ecclesia tertium statuere Ordinem qui posset propria authoritate praedicare multum magis eorum quiex commissione sicut in Primitiua Ecclesia fuerunt tantum duo Ordines sacri scilicet Presbiteri Deaconi tamen postea Ecclesia minores Ordines statuit 12. Quidam a Confessione desisterent nisi possint alijs quam suis Sacerdotibus confiteri propter multas causas 13. Ex communi consuetudine Orientalis Ecclesiae omnes fere Monachis confitentur 14. Quidam novellum sibi statuentes errorem in tantam prorumpunt audaciam vt asserant non posse per Episcopos Religiosis praedicta committi absque voluntate Parochi quod pernicio sius est non posse hoc asserunt concedi per Privilegium sedis Apostolicae 15. Optimè ait S. Dion Eccl. Hier. c. 6. summus Sacerdos per suos ministros aut Sacerdotes purgans aut illuminans ipse dicitur purgare illuminare ergo Episcopus eodem modo qui autem
facit per alium per seipsum facere potest 16. Blasphemiae vicinum est dicere quod Episcopus non potest vsum clauium exercere in quemlibet suae Diaecesis sicut Christus posset 17. Potest institui Religio ad subveniendum pauperibus in necessitatibus corporis ergo multo magis potest institui ad subueniendum animabus per Praedicationes Confessiones 18. Quod potest inferior potest etiam Superior quod ergo potest Curatus potest Episcopus potest Papa Cui vt ait Cyrillus omnes iure diuino caput inclinant 19. Alij gubernationes alij opitulationes inquit Apost 1. Cor. 12. Opitulationes Opusc 14. c. 23. sunt ij qui ferunt opem maioribus vt Titus Apostolo Archidiaconi Episcopo c. Hoc autem non destruit Hierarchiam 20. Alter alterius membra vnum corpus in Christo Rom. 12. Manifestum Opusc 15. c. 3. est quod Ecclesiasticae vnitati derogat quicunque Religiosis impedit ne docere possint c. 21. Qui Romanae Ecclesiae Privilegium ab ipso summo omnium Ecclesiarum capite traditum auferre conatur Ibid. c. 3. hic proculdubio in haeresim labitur vt dicitur in Decretis Dist 22. Cap. Omnes à Sancto Ambrosio qui ait se in omnibus sequi Magistram sanctam L. 3. de sacram c. 1. Romanam Ecclesiam It is Pope Nicholas the second who speaketh against them of the Church of Millan for entring into competition with Rome and would needes march hand in hand with the Romane Church which Saint Thomas applieth also to the point in question 22. Ab Apostolis 7. Diaconi instituti fuerunt qui erant in statu perfectionis Opusc 14. c. 23. nam relictis omnibus secuti erant Christum Ab horum exemplo omnes Religiones deriuatae sunt Quemadmodum ergo Apostolu Episcopi discipulis Parochi sic Diaconis Religiosi successerunt 23. Behold here is a part of the Propositions which Saint Thomas defended at Paris in publike manner and with such amazement of all the Vniuersity that there was not found a man so bold as to dare once stirre this stone The Preface of his Booke carrieth these very wordes in the front Praedictus Doctor post diuinitùs obtentam victoriam Pariseos rediens omnes dicti operis Articulos public◠solemnitèr repetens disputauit firmavitque That which goeth immediatly before these words and the sentence of the Pope is a thing which I will not cite here but let him see it who will I will say nothing here which may offend or which may sauour of recrimination or which by any ill odour of strong passion may poyson this discourse which is dedicated to pure and free but yet strong truth I coniure you my Lords to weigh well these foure words Publice Solemniter disputauit Firmauit So that all Paris had the contentment to see this great person sustaine all the assaults of the whole world and hee was so happy and so puissant that he made truth tryumph and did with a little stone beate downe that huge Colossus which men had erected to the ende that falling vpon him it might driue both himselfe and all his Order into dust 30. That which Gulielmus de sancto Amore had enterprised at Paris with so ill successe a certaine Richardus Armaeanus the Primate of Ireland after he had played rex in England did also enterprise in Auignon in the yeare 1356. vnder Innocent the sixth before the Pope himselfe and the Cardinals and presented them with a booke made aduantageously in the behalfe of Parsons and Vicars yea and also of Bishops against Regulars wherein he deliuered the same things which had beene offered before by Gulielmus de sancto Amore for in this businesse there is neuer any thing but repetitions and noyse enough without any fruite at all and ordinarily the matter ends in some disastrous death I will not tell you here how this poore 〈◊〉 died but I will only put you in mind that the book was held worthy to dye with him and that many who haue banded themselues against the seruants of God haue either sooner or later had regret and sorrow in their hearts or else some other thing which was worse The face of death makes the face of businesse chaunge very much 31. The wisest men haue euer iudged that they haue no good bargaine who make themselues opposites to the seruants of God especially in those things which are established by his diuine Maiesty or his Grand Vicar and there bee a thousand and a thousand Histories to shew this as lamentable and feareful as they are authenticall Men vse sometimes to dispute in Diuinity whether the Pope may erre in the Canonization of Saints as also about the approbation of Religious Orders For my part I will not enter at this time into that question but I will not feare to say that when God hath any such desire and that he sendeth some to this effect if any man then make opposition God doth certainly find himselfe offended therby and is wont to resent it and therfore Saint Paule saith aloud Itaquè qui haec spernit non hominem spernit 1. Thes 4. sed Deum c. Now after points of faith and some others of the most important of the Church I knowe fewe thinges whereof there is more formall cleere and authenticall proofe then of the point which here I defend For twenty Popes three Generall Councels so many Prouinciall Synodes in France so many Cardinals Primates Arch-bishops Bishops Canons expresse Texts fifty Buls Sentences of Parliaments Iudgement of eminent Doctors in great number consent of some Parsons and Vicars euen of Paris doctors of the Sorbonne Saints Miracles Reasons Arguments possession beyond the memory of man Texts of the Gospell particular vocations of God who hath expresly sent vs more then sixe Religious Orders all entire the authority of so many Emperours Kings Potentates soueraigne Courts of Iustice heauen and earth such a number of ages and the voice of the world Is not I say all this sufficient to fortifie this truth against those poore reasons which they alledge and which in very deede in the sight of God and of disinteressed men are not of such moment as to warrant that account and noyse which some make thereof There was a time when a sentence was giuen against Saint Bernard and that from the highest Tribunall in the Church of God The Saint seeing himselfe ouer loaden by so mighty an authority here on earth had recourse to heauen and sayd Tuum Domine Iesu Tribunall appello tuo me iudicio servo tibi committo causam Epist 1. meam Tu vides qui tua video qui quaerunt sua It que arbiter meus esto Domine Iesu de valtu tuo tudicium meum prodeat oculi tui videant aequitatem O Iesu bone quam multa facta sunt prounius animulae perditione c.
one day to Father 〈…〉 Maldonatus that in very truth theâ— Church had formerly beene in such â—ermes that shee had had necessitie â—hat Religious men should come into the World to helpe her to re-establish Ecclesiasticall discipline but now said hee when all goes so well we have no more neede thereof and therefore let them suffer vs euery one to follow his occupation I would to God hee had said true and that the World were in so present state as that Religious men had no more to doe but to say their prayers Alas and what could we desire more then this But in conscience my Lords are wee now growne to be in such case as this and is France so well sanctified both in City and Country 6. The wish of a certaine worthy Prelate of this Kingdome is much more worth the making hee useth these very words and for all kindes of reason his testimony is worthy to bee received both with affection and with honour hee beeing such as hee is leading such a life as all the World doth know and admire Lord how happy a thing it is when the Ecclesiasticall men who are of the Clergy and when the men of Religious Orders be in good accord and maintaine good intelligence for the seruice of those soules which haue cost the Sonne of God so much blood When these Hurs and Iosuahs hold up the arme of these Moses that is to say of the ordinary Pastors to whom the government of soules committed to their charge doth belong How great benedictions grow from this holy vnaminity and correspondâ—nce But on the other side what confusion springeth forth when they who both by their Character of Priest hood and by a Reguler life ought to be in Order doe encounter and oppose one another For if the salt be unsavory with what shall any thing be seasoned If Order be disordred by what meanes shall the extreame corruptions of disorder be remoued If the rule be not streight with what shall one be able to measure the dimensions of any building O how truly doth the poore Church indure by these debates other manner of torments then Rebecca suffered by the combate of her Children I confesse it carrieth difficulty with it for two men to runne in a Tilt-yard at the same time and in the same way against one another without justling but that againe grows very easie when there is a partition which cutteth the length of the carrier in the middle and in the same manner is it easie for divers to labour in the same Vine-yard without contestation where the businesse is so great and the labourers so few euery one seeking not his owne interests there but the interest of Iesus Christ provided alwaies that they passe not the limits which the Sonne of God hath prescribed c. And a little after hee sayth thus The Church which is the seamlesse Coat not of Ioseph but of Iesus Christ is torne by these Schismes nothing indeede beeing so contrary to it as internall divisions which doe afflict it more then externall hereresie c. 7. That the first honours be rendred to my Lords the Bishops and the second to the Pastors and Parsons or Curats of Churches is out of all dispute Let them be great in dignitie and eminency let them commaund let them governe let them triumph They shall never be either so great or so holy but that all good Religious men will wish that they may be so more and more and that they may see them also many St. Charleses That which Religious men desire is neither greatnesse nor honour nor revenew nor precedence nor any thing which carrieth lustre and noyse with it That which they desire is but to sweat blood and water to labour day and night to serue and comfort the whole World to Preach to take Confessions to visite Hospitals and Prisons and must this be for troubling the Hierarchy The Orientall Church is so far off from euer having had this beleefe that even in these dayes they scarce make any Patriarke Arch-bishop or Bishop but such as are Religious of the Order of Saint Basil And still this Hierarchy of the Church must needs haue a head who may gouerne and range it as is fit Since therefore fiftie Popes without interruption one after an other haue sent these Regulars in ayde and succor of the Hierarchy who will presume to say that so many Popes and after them so many Cardinalls and great Prelates haue troubled the Order of the Church together with so many Kings who haue desired them sent for them honoured them and who would needes appoint by their expresse commandements that they should haue imployment in their Dominions and in fine who haue served themselues of them in their owne soules 8. A very learned Doctor in Paris hath obserued in the relation which hee makes of those Hierarchies of Heauen to those on earth that the Prelates or Gouernors of Religious men are as the Principalities of Heaven in the Hierarchy of the Church on earth Is this to trouble the Order of the Church and to bring in coniusion The Cardinals sayth hee answerâ— to the Seraphins the Bishops to the Cherubins the Parsons and Curates to the Arch-angels the Abbots and Superiours of Regular men to the Principalities c. If now wee should examine this businesse by the fruite which both the one and the other doe produce in the Church there would bee much to be sayd but this would bee odious It is better that you be pleased to imploy your memories upon that which hath beene sayd already and to retaine that in your minds which was delivered by two Holy Prelates speaking in these wordes Petri Successor pia prouidet saluti S. Coâ— l. c. animarum in nullo praejudicat authoritati Pontificum tanquam ornans non deornans Ecclesiasâ—â—um Hierarchiam dum mittit Religiosos Vnde Sanctus Gregorious ecce mundus Sacerdotibus S. Greg. in Past. plenus est tamen in Dei messe rarus operarius inuentiur This great Pope and this great Cardinall when they speake these wordesâ— do they thinke they trouble the Hierarchy of the Church 9. If these Regulars did intrudâ— themselues and as Tertullian saythâ— Si quis missus est a seipso If they made hauocke where they goe and disturbed the Order of the Church iâ— would indeede be inexcuseable and punishable But beeing inspired by Almighty God authorised by Councells sent by Popes approoved by the Bishops of all times and of all Countries in the World hauing biâ— in possession of so many ages and succeeding their predecessours who haue lost their liues in cultiuating the Vine-yard of Iesus Christ Alas shall this be called a trouble to the Hierarchy of the Church Hierarchicha opera non peragunt authoritate sua sed Ordinariorum potissimê summi pontificis 〈…〉 l. c. Saith this great Cardinall cujus dispositionis authoritas positiua â—urae transcendit For these are his very words 10. It is
to bee feared that the Church will finde her selfe like the poore Rebecca who felt two brothers contend so furiously in her wombe and that shee may say as the Spouse doth by the relation of Saint Bernard Filij matris meae pugnauerunt contra 〈◊〉 quia pugnauerunt contra se Si sic futurum erat quid quid necesse erat me concipere I must needes make you heare the voyce of this worthy Prelate That the rankes M. de Belley Serm. 10. de S. Ignat. of this Militant Church haue been addressed according to the Orders of the Triumphant there is no doubt at all The Hierarchy of the one hauing beene formed according to the modell of that Mountaine of Heauen amongst the inhabitants of the eternall Syon Besides in this Hierarchy which contained the Order of Pastors in the Church of Godâ— there bee added certaine troupes oâ— succours which enter into the Ordeâ— with them as Michael did into thaâ— of the Angell of Israel and thesâ— troupes compose a kinde of Hierarchy by reason of their particular government and of a speciall kindâ— of Oeconomy which they obseruâ— under the name of Orders and oâ— Regularity And although these congregations of men haue many differences yet are they without any diuision amongst themselues and especially without separation from the body of the Church in generall And they beautifie this Spouse of the Lambe by those delightfull varieties for which the Holy Scripture declareth her to be so gratefull And they compose the pretious Carguanet which adorneth the necke of this chast Doue with so great lustre I say therefore that the Orders of Regulars compose a particular Hierarchy yet â—nexed neuerthelesse to the generall Hierarchy of the Church Not â—at Religious men make any new Religion in point of beleefe or that they maintaine any difference therein from the rest of the faithfull but on the other side for as much as their life is more exemplar and more perfect and in regard that they are the most illustrious portion of the flocke of Iesus Christ their piety doth make their faith much more delicate and more docile Their soules not finding difficulty to beleeue any thing so that it make for the aduantage of his glory who drew them out of the darkenesse of this World to the admirable light of the practise of those counsells of his which put them into the state of acquiring perfection But I was saying that they seemed to compose a kinde of Hierarchy by reason of their exemptions whicâ— substract them from the jurisdictioâ— of the ordinary Prelates and Pastorâ— because their life is sequested froâ— the wayes of worldly men and because the correspondencies of their Oeconomy which finally pitcheth vpon the holy seate of Rome by thâ— degrees of their locall Superiours their Prouincialls and their Generalls is a coppy drawne out of the Originall of Parish Priests Diocessaries hnd Metropolitans according to that order which the Sonne of God hath established in his Church the whole rendring it selfe into the vnity of the Apostolicall Seate of St. Peter as into the center upon which as upon an immoueable Rocke our Lord hath established his Holy Church 11. And now since they will mould the Hierarchy of the earth uppon that of Heaven it commeth fitly to our purpose for besides the Angells â—uardians who are they which goâ—erne the World in the ordinary â—ay Such as are good Diuines â—ow that there is not in a manner â—ny Quier of Angells whereof God doth not sometimes send one or other to performe some great charities to mankind Sometimes a Cherubin sometimes a Seraphin sometimes an Arch-angell and as Saint Paul sayd to the Hebrewes Omnes sunt administratorij spiritus in Ministerium missi propter cos qui hereditatem capient salutis And now doe you beleeue that the ordinary Angels take it ill when the extraordinaries come to succour and helpe to saue soules and thinke you that this is a troubling of the Hierarchies But you will say haue not perhaps the ordinary Angels sufficient power to doe what is fit To which I make you this answere Shall wee give Law to God and prescriâ— to him what he shall doe and shaâ— we offer to change the unspeakeabâ— designes of his holy Prouidence anâ— of his Charity when the Apostleâ— were so loaden that they could noâ— draw their net being then so fullâ— fish they saw another boate whicâ— Luke 5. passed Et annuerunt socijs qui eraâ— in alia naui vt venirent adjuvareâ— eos So farre off are they from mis-lâ—king that others should put theiâ— hands to their worke that they intreate them to doe it with great instance and without that succoâ—â— they might perhaps haue lost botâ— their paines and their fish and thiâ— passage is applied to this argumenâ— by some great personages for thâ— Apostles represent the Prelates and Pastors and that little boate the Regulars who are called to succor and assist in the sauing of soules 12. If men say that the Hierarâ—y is no other thing then my Lords â—e Prelates and the Parsons and â—urates if that be so it is certaine â—at Religious men are not of it If â—en say that none are of the Hieâ—rchy but they who haue charge of soules in that case neither the Cardinalls nor Canons nor Religious nor Abbots nor Chapters nor a world of Ecclesiasticall persons shal be of it But wee must consider whether in very deed the nature of a Hierarchy consist in that For St. Dennis of whom all the World hath taken and learned what beâ—ongeth to a Hierarchy and Saint â—homas after him saith first that Hierarchia est saier Principatus P. p. q. 108. 1. 1. multitudo ordinata sub vno principe 2. Vna est Hierarchia hominum Angelorum sub vno principe Deo 3 In diuinis personis est Ordo sed non est Hierarchia quia non est ibi purgare illuminare perficere 〈◊〉 quo consistit Hierarchia 4. Non essâ— multitudo ordinata sed confusa siâ— multitudine diuersi ordines non essenâ— Vt ergó sit Hierarchia debent eâ— diuersi Ordines sub vnius Principâ— gubernatione In this sence all thâ— which is in the Church beeing auowâ—ed and addressed by the Pope whâ— is the chiefe of this Ecclesiasticaâ— Hierarchy and put in that plaâ— which hath beene destined for it 〈◊〉 purge illuminate and giue perfection is so farre of from being out oâ— the Hierarchy that it is a very profitable part thereof and which in aâ— times hath done admirable thingâ— for the seruice of God of the Churchâ— of Prelates of Pastors and for thâ— good of soules But if the word oâ— Hierarchy be taken in the most rigorous sence and if it comprehend nothing else but Prelates and Pastorâ— and them whom they imploy themselues not being able in their owne â—ersons to do al that which is fit in â—his case the Regulars will fall out in â—ood earnest to bee of the
life to the glory of God â—nder the authority and by the â—ommandement of so many Popes and holy Prelates even of this Kingdome of France If this I say be to trouble the Hierarchy if this bee a mortall sinne if this be a Schisme wee cannot indeede deny but that by the space of so many Ages the Regulars haue committed these disorders and that so many holy and wise Prelates at whose feete they dyed in labour under them and for them throughout their Dioceses that these great Prelates I say haue committed a very grieuous fault But so also on the other-side if these proceedings doe merit any returne of friendship if any kinde of sweetenesse it seemes that it were more honourable for men to shewe some little good will to them who desirâ— to imploy their liues and their labours under the authority of my Lords the Prelates to liue and dyâ— at their feete for the glory of Godâ— and the good of soules which arâ— very glad to finde themselues assistedâ— and comforted by them and doe accept of the little services which they can doe 16. O how highly do I commendâ— that good and gallant Pastor in Paris who did so holily and so ingeniously say as followeth Let us doe better then the Regulars and let us not busie our selues with crying out Hierarchy Hierarchy for infallibly if wee doe better then they wee shall conserue our Hierarchy and wee shall neede to be in no feare least it diminish or that wee shal bee entred into by a breach or that it shall grow to bee dissipated But till such time as wee see our selues in that condition why shall wee not serue our selues of the holy labours of so many good servants of God who are withall of our owne flesh and bone and of our owne blood and our brethren and who might perhaps haue beene that which wee are and perhaps better then wee But for the loue of God they would not accept it If all the World heere had a heart and a tongue like that of this worthy personage the Gallican Church would be a Heauen upon earth but as soone as men permit the infernall Dragon to whisle there and that he promise certaine divinities and sublime greatnesses a thousand divisions and a thousand sorts of miseries enter in which God of his great goodnesse shall remooue if it pleaseth him as I beseech him with all the powers of my soule to doe As for that which one of the chiefe men of Paris sayd concerning proper interest the offerings the respects the honour the power and such other things as these I wil bee farre from objecting it and so doubtlesse these things would not be good for the Hierarchy and sure there is no such matter amongst them Besides that this is without the compasse of my designe and I haue somewhat else to doe then to touch those strings which sound not well and it would never become me well to doe it since it was so ill taken at the hands of that great person a Doctor of the Genebrard de Hierarchia facultie of Paris an Arch-bishop and a man of so great reputation I had rather make Saint Paul say this word which issued out of an Apostolicall and Seraphicall heart Noli frater cibo tuo perdere eum pro quo Christus mortuus est As if hee would say alas doe not amuse your selues about your owne commodities nor about your owne greatnesse doe not hinder the good â—nd comfort and perhaps the salvaâ—ion of those soules which are bathed â—n the blood of Christ our Lord. Though this should cost you somewhat it will never cost you so much as it cost him who imployed even to the last droppe of his blood upon it If the Regulars doe good to your flocke will you bee offended with them for that if they doe them no good the World indeed is much deceived which beleeues and daily sees the contrary Salus populi suprema lex esto The Law of Lawes is the safety of the people and the assistance of soules and it is evidently seene that both the people and God himselfe haue blessed and as it were canonized a million of innocent actions of good Religious men who haue assisted a World of persons If I durst descend deeply into this matter and shewe you the necessity which the Church conceiues it selfe to haue of this succor so faâ— of would it be from tearing this Hierarchy in peeces that you would evidently see that perhaps it would haue prooved a meere Anarchy aâ— was sayd by a great Arch-bishop of France if the goodnesse of God had not sent this helpe But I will not enter upon this Discourse nor giue any manner of offence to any it sufficeth for me to plead the cause of God and of his servants shewing the innocency of their proceeding and the purity of their intention THE THIRD REASON That Religious and Priviledged men do abase the authority of my Lords the Bishops and become as it were insolent by reason of that power which is imparted to them by their Priviledges THis is the source of all our great and most important difference There is nothing so insupportable as contempt â—specially when it growes upon any â—an from his inferiour contempt â—hether it be truely offered or but â—magined produceth most prejudiâ—iall effects If Regulars haue indeede â—oÌ„mitted this sin it is certainly worthy â—f blame and intolerable but so if it â—e not true without doubt they who â—ould needs suggest this to our Lords â—he Prelates and perswade them to beleeue it hath beene a little in thâ— wrong and to omit the speaking 〈◊〉 any thing which may offend them 〈◊〉 will onely say that their zeale haâ— had a little more of the smoake theâ— of the fire At the worst hand theâ— is no mischiefe without a remedyâ— and when the objection were truâ— men should rather apply a plaistâ— with some lenity then teare off thâ— arme which hath some little hurt 〈◊〉 it and which afterward might do good seruice being cured and restâ—red to former health 2. But I maintaine that this is 〈◊〉 meere and most ougly slander anâ— I hope that by the helpe of God I shall make the matter so cleare thâ— no man of a good minde wil bee â—ble to refuse me his beleefe nor euâ— contradict me with reason There hath not beene any timâ— when the Diuell hath not endeauorâ— to put jealousie into the mindes 〈◊〉 the greatest and to make Religious â—en who are his capitall and irreâ—onciliable enemies to be suspected Who would euer haue beleeved that â—n France there could haue bin found â—ny Prelate whom Saint Bernard â—ight put into jealousie and paine And yet the while Iosilinus the Biâ—hop of Soissons wrote backe to him Ep. 213. 〈◊〉 terrible letter whereof the title â—was this Bernardo Abbati salutem â—n Domino non spiritum blaspheâ—iae The poore Abbot being stroâ—en with this word as if it had beene 〈◊〉 pointed stone or
In fine men removed both Heaven and earth at Cluny at Rome in France at Clairivaux but at length the holy Abbot wonne the cause and God payed him that which hee had lost and tooke part in the businesse with his servant and it was a miracle which hee wrought writing this Epistle and hee sayd boldly to his Secretary Scribe Scribe quia opus Dei est It is for God it is on the behalfe of God It is by the expresse Commandement of God it is for the saving of a soule redeemed by his blood it is for interest it is for the conseruation of an Order which he hath established by meanes of a servant of his Saint Bennet who was our Founder and therefore saith hee write boldly feare nothing my good brother neyther the hayle nor the floud nor the tempest for resolutely God wil be Maister 32. I will not my Lords appeale to any body from you but to your selues and howsoever it is sayd that a man must neuer be both Iudge and party yet I avow to you with all candour that I confide so much in your goodnesse your zeale towards the pure honour of God of the Church and of France and I adde yet further in the goodnesse of our cause which hath beene combated so often and through the mercy of God hath neuer beene Conquered that for my part I desire no other Iudges but your selues In truth it seemes to me that you and wee in this difference are as anciently the two Angels in Daniel were who had both a good intention and aymed at nothing but at the glory of God and fought not but for the salvation of soules and therefore God sent an Angell who is called of great Counsell who accommodated all and made it evidently appeare who was in the right and who in the wrong And I will hope and beleeue so well of his eternall and paternall providence as that hee will doe the like in our case and wil make you most evidently discerne his holy will Sicut ergo fuerit voluntas in Coelo sic fiâ—t c. I tell you therefore yet once againe that I will not appeale from you to any but your selues but I will imitate that good Abbot and good St. Bern. Ep. 213. French-man as good as ever was in the World You may bee pleased to remember that Pope Innocent the second had employed him extraordinarily to appease the Schisme and hee did all that which a Saint was able to doe who had his hands full of miracles and was ever able to worke them But what did the innocent Abbot gaine by this A thousand jealousies rose up against him a thousand slanders were darted against the white of his poore heart the Pope himselfe in a Letter calling him Rebell and Traytor against the See Apostolicke Who would ever haue beleeved this Yet in fine so it was The holy man opening the Popes Letter to him was as if hee had opened a Cloud full of fire with a bolt of thunder in the midst and with a blow as if it had pierced his heart But yet calling his spirits to himselfe and adoring the admirable but secret providences of God hee wrote in these tearmes to the Pope Quis mihi faciet iustitiam de vobis Si haberem Ep. 213. iudicem ad queÌ„ vos trahere possem iam nunc ostenderë vobis vt parturiens loquor quid meremini Extat quideÌ„ tribunal Christi sed absit ut ad illud appellem vos qui illic si vobis necessarium mihi possibile esset vellem magis totis viribus insistere respondere pro vobis Itaquoe recurro ad eum cui in praesenti datuÌ„ est judicare de vniuersis hoc est ad vos vos apello ad vos vos indicate inter me vos In quo quaeso puer vester tam male meruit de vestra paterninate vt eum inurere insignire placeret Nota nomine Proditoris Nunquid non me vestrum VicariuÌ„ dignatio vestra constituit in reconciliatione Petri Pisani c. This vertuous Abbot firmely thought that hee should haue met with thankes for hauing euen defeated himselfe with labour to appease this Schisme and in place thereof hee found himselfe qualified with the name of Traytor and a perfidious man who had as it were betraied both the Pope and the Church All his choller was such as that hee had none at all and his appealing as for a wrong was not to appeale at all but to remit it to the providence of God to make the truth appeare and to make his innocency subsist which was evidently afterward as you know 33. I beseech you most humbly to consider well that notwithstanding men haue desired so many and so many times to stirre up this businesse in France in Italy in Germany in England and in Avignon there hath indeede beene made a great deale of confused noyse but the Authors thereof haue never gathered any other fruite then a great deale of paine and things haue still remayned in the same state they were in before In fine all that which ordinarily men got in those times was to bâ— able to obserue in whom there was a little passion and in whom there was none There was never God be thanked lesse reason to bee affraid then now since now wee see France to bee filled with so many worthy Prelates and so zealous of vertue and of the salvation of soules as you are I beseech God to multiply these great fauours towards you and ever to giue you hearts which may be truely Apostolicall and all full of caelestiall fire and giue grace to us that wee may well and worthily serue the Church under your fauours and by imitation of you And I pray God that wee may never bee reproached for that for which St. Paul reproacheth 1 Cor. 3. the Church of Corinth Cum sic inter vos zeluâ— contentio nonne carnales estis secunduÌ„ hominem ambulatis Cum enim quis dicat ego quidem sum Pauli alius autem ego Apollo nonne homines estis Quid igitur est Apollo Quid vero Paulus Ministri ejus cui credidistis vnicuiâ— sicut dominus dedit Ego plantaui There is for you my Lords and for the Pastors and Vicars Apollo regauit behold this is for priviledged Persons whom God hath sent to succour them Deus autem incrementuÌ„ dedit Itaque neque qui plantat est aliquid neque qui rigat sed qui incremenâ—uÌ„ dat Deus Qui autem plantat qui rigat vnum sunt unusquisque autem propriam mercedem accipiet secunduÌ„ suum laborem Dei enim sumus adjutores c. I pray God I say that the first part of this Discourse all which is so Divine may never bee verified uppon us but that the second passage may bee verified which certainely is a most rich one and able to make the Gallican Church to become a terrestiall Paradice and